[Ranma/AMG][FanFic] A New Life
Luke Thrythlind Green
hanging around here anymore. Cologne is enough to deal with, three
gods, that's beyond what I want to try."
He tapped his foot, and considered the situation. Ranma still thought
of Happosai as a comparatively harmless sort of evil, and he was
right. Most of the time.
Happosai's primary joy in life was in groping woman and stealing their
underwear, no more than that. He had set about becoming a martial
artist for that goal, since he especially loved the idea of getting
the better of powerful women.
That did not make him evil, however. There were plenty of perverts out
there like him and none of them quite reached the status of evil.
What made Happosai evil wasn't that he enjoyed grabbing a woman's
breast or buns or bra. What made Happosai evil was that he enjoyed
twisting other people onto his path. The path of self-appeasement and
ease. Those he couldn't corrupt, he ruined. It was a matter of
jealousy in some ways, he hated seeing people that reached his level
of power without making the same sacrifices.
Soun's emotional stability had been shattered. Hinako Ninomiya had to
live with her cursed body and mind. Genma had all but shifted to
Happosai's path, but he was lazy and stupid. His evil was all
accidental, not intentional like Happosai's.
He did not really care much one way or the other about any of the more
obvious sorts of evil. Which was just as well since they attracted a
lot of attention.
No Happosai's evil was the silent, pernicious kind that grew like
cancer. This generation he had not accomplished much, no Shi-Shio, no
Naraku.
But he was capable of a little murder and mayhem if he wanted.
That was not what worried him though. An evil man could pass under the
radar of a deity if they didn't attract attention. Diabolism, however,
that was a different matter. Especially if the diabolist in question
had courted the powers of hell rather than being tempted into it.
Happosai had worked hard to become the martial artist he was, and that
work was all his own. The techniques, however, the ancient techniques
that he had used to build his own deadly style of martial arts out of
his Jujutsu knowledge had to be located first. A large number of them
had been lost for ages before he found them. The Anything Goes Style,
as he practiced, it was a match for the Amazon Wu Shu for one simple
reason.
Happosai had made a deal all those years ago. The locations of where
every martial arts technique known might be learned, in exchange for
his mortal soul.
He had hoped to drag Ranma down, for the boy was quickly going to
surpass his capability. Not to mention the fact that he barely needed
to find ancient techniques, he created new ones as he needed them. And
that really frightened the ancient pervert, since the map he had sold
his soul for showed no technique that had been created since he had
asked for it.
That would never happen now. Instinct would keep the three of them on
the more or less straight and narrow. Bringing a god down to hell was
nigh impossible for a demon even. A mere diabolist had no chance.
So now Happosai was faced with an odd choice. Find a way to make
Nabiki and Ranma leave with that little brat, or leave himself. And he
wasn't about to concede defeat to that either the punk or miss frigid.
Especially not since Nerima was the region of Japan most friendly to
him. A "harmless" evil like him could hide in this weird place.
He had to do it soon before they felt the wrongness about his souless
body, and before Ranma learned to control his mana any more. If he was
lucky he could even get Nabiki and the little brat killed. That might
certainly convince Ranma to leave Nerima and never look back.
So, a word in the right place...
*****
"So why does everyone have to go?" Ranma asked.
"Think about how much we have to buy, baka," Akane said irritably.
"You think you're going to carry her and all that by yourself."
"Right," Ranma said, looking like he wanted to scratch the back of his
head in consternation. "Heh."
"Besides," Nabiki said. "This is a daughter you're shopping for, and
the more women involved the better."
"Exactly, Nabiki-chan," Nodoka said smiling. Ranma grimaced. He
glanced around for a moment nervously.
"Something wrong, Ranma-kun?" Kasumi asked curiously.
"I thought I heard something," Ranma muttered.
It was like whispering from the alley's as they passed. He'd thought
he'd heard his name, only it wasn't his name not as his friend's said
it anyway. Something out of his dreams or nightmares...
"I'm sure it was nothing," Akane said. She was acting a little less
petulant now, but she still seemed to be taking this accident as a
direct afront to her woman-hood.
*****
They didn't quite reach the stores.
"Oh shit," Ranma gasped suddenly. He'd heard another "name" in those
whispers, and this time understood the jist of the message. He turned
to Nabiki. "Get out of here!"
"What?" Nabiki asked as Ranma handed her Midori.
"Your the only other one that can take care of her," Ranma said.
Nabiki frowned, and would have snapped back if it weren't for the
serious look on Ranma's face.
"What seems to be the matter?" Nodoka asked.
"Hurry!" Ranma said.
"Just say what..." Akane started.
"Shampoo's coming!" Ranma said. "And she's not going to give us time
for a story!" Nabiki's eyes widened.
"Damn!" she muttered and turned head back down the road to the dojo.
Too late.
Shampoo landed, sword in hand, on the path only a leap away from the
group and looked from Ranma's face to Nabiki's and the baby's. Being
too far away, she failed to note the Chinese features on the girl.
"Is TRUE!!!" Shampoo growled. "Airen have baby with greedy girl!!!"
Her face darkened to purple with rage as she launched herself forward.
"Get out of here!" Ranma snapped as he intercepted the Amazon. Nabiki
nodded and headed down the road, Nodoka and Kasumi going with her.
"Airen get out of Shampoo's way!!" Shampoo growled as she slashed with
her sword. Ranma could practically see the arc of motion and breezed
around the strike, then using Shampoo's own momentum to send the
Amazon away from them.
"She's not Nabiki's daughter!" Akane shouted moving to stand next to
Ranma and getting in stance.
"No!" Ranma snapped moving past Akane to intercept Shampoo again. "Go
with them!"
"Shampoo KILL THEM!!" Shampoo shouted, before being redirected by a
few well placed taps and shoved into a tree.
"But," Akane started.
"I can't watch them while I'm fighting Shampoo!" Ranma shouted. "Go
keep an eye on Nabs and Midori!"
"Nabs," Akane repeated with narrowed eyes.
She shook her head, now was not the time for jealousy, even she saw
that. Shampoo again tried to get around Ranma and again was sent into
a piece of the landscape. Akane chased after her sisters and Nodoka.
"Ranma, how dare you abuse my Shampoo's trust!!!" Mousse shouted as he
entered the scene.
Ranma could already feel the chains edging for his back, and Shampoo
was positioning herself to go past Ranma while Mousse kept him busy.
Ranma spun around and met the first chain with a touch of hand. With
the same efficiency of motion that he had been using to deal with
Shampoo, he altered the chains' course.
He seemed to almost casually touch the chain and lightly push it to
intercept the next, and that one to intercept the next and so on. To
the naked it eye it almost seemed as as if Ranma had waved his hand
and the entire array had curved around toward a new target.
"SHAMPOO!!?" Mousse shouted as his chains wrapped around to force
Shampoo to a skidding stop as they barred the path before her.
"Stay out of this Mousse!" Ranma shouted as he moved to place himself
between Shampoo and the retreating Tendos again.
"How DARE you!?" Mousse demanded. He landed and leaped again launching
a volley of daggers.
"Shampoo no want to hurt Airen," the female Amazon warned.
"You want to hurt them, you have to get past me," Ranma snapped,
casually spinning back to avoid the daggers.
He hadn't even technically attacked them yet, merely used their own
motion against them. He always did that, but against artists of such
caliber as Shampoo and Mousse, what he was doing should have been
impossible. It was like his instincts about the way motion could be
manipulated had increased a thousandfold.
Shampoo charged forward with a swipe that was a feint, Ranma could
already feel the kick building up. At the same time, Mousse was
lashing out with his own kick.
Ranma walked into the sword slash, away from Mousse's kick, ducking
under the blade and pushing tapping the inside of the blade with one
finger while pushing up on Shampoo's leg with his other hand.
With what seemed barely a touch of two fingers, Shampoo was sent in a
dizzily twirling path straight into Mousse.
"Give up," Ranma said seriously as he again arrayed himself in stance
between the Amazons and his family. He hadn't even broken a sweat yet.
*****
Nabiki stopped dead as Ukyou stepped into her path.
"It's not my baby, Ukyou," Nabiki said quickly. The chef looked to the
baby with a sour face and then up again.
"I had to see if it was true," Ukyou said grimmly.
"It's not my baby," Nabiki repeated, stepping back.
"Young lady," Nodoka said. "This is most unseemly." She stepped
forward, drawing her katana. Nodoka rolled her eyes and easily
disarmed the woman with a tossed spatula, slicing open Nodoka's hand
lightly.
"This ruins everything," Ukyou repeated, not moving from her spot.
Nabiki started to relax, feeling that Ukyou wasn't about to attack
them.
"Ukyou-san," Kasumi said desparately. "There is a reasonable
explanation!" Ukyou looked bleakly to Kasumi, and the Tendo sisters
felt a pang of pity at the look.
Akane caught up with them at this point.
"GET AWAY FROM MY SISTERS UKYOU!!!" Akane roared
"Oh for goodness sakes!" Ukyou snapped. "All right!!! You want a
fight?! You GOT ONE!!" Ukyou dodged Akane and readied her spatula.
"Great," Nabiki said as she broke and ran from the fight, carrying a
wailing Midori. Kasumi was helping Nodoka and didn't see where her
sister had run, but someone else had.
*****
The Amazons both hobbled to their feet looking determined to continue.
Shampoo's eyes flicked past Ranma to where the Tendos had vanished in
the distance. Mousse was upset that Ranma hadn't been addressing him
in that imperative. The pig-tailed martial artist had only one person
in his focus.
"Ah ha!" a new voice said. "So tis true that the vile sorcerer has
been trifling with the affections of the Chinese Princess." Kuno
shouted. Almost instantly launched into his thousand strikes.
Kuno lacked Shampoo and Mousse's near absolute control of their
momentum.
This time Ranma did merely raise his hand to catch and deflect the
first blast of air pressure. Shampoo and Mousse watched in shock as
Kuno suddenly rocketed the way he had come from and slammed into a
brick wall unconscious.
"Give up," Ranma said again. Shampoo seriously considered it.
*****
Nabiki took paused and took a seat on a bench to catch her breath and
quiet down a crying Midori. A shiver went down her spine as she
suddenly felt that she wasn't alone.
"So this is the abomination I was told of," a tight voice declared.
Nabiki, terrified and very alone aside from Midori, turned to see
Kodachi standing a little ways down the path. Her ribbon was in hand,
and Nabiki was well within reach.
~I'm sorry, Ranma,~ Nabiki thought.
*****
"Hmmm," Happosai said. "It is a very good thing I didn't try to take
him on myself. He hasn't even used any mana beyond enhanced physical
capabilities yet, and that hardly at all."
Then he noticed another newcomer, one he hadn't expected, and smiled.
This would be a decent test of what Ranma's abilities truly were.
*****
"RANMA!!! PREPARE TO DIE!!" Ryouga shouted. Ranma turned to see the
other boy and expected him to be as enraged as Mousse or Shampoo.
Instead he saw the small smirk on Ryouga's face that signified that he
had no specific grudge against Ranma at the moment and merely wanted
to get in on the fun.
Shampoo welcomed the Lost Boy's unfortunate appearance with an evil
smile as she made use of Ranma's distraction. She broke for the path
the Tendos had taken.
Ranma felt the shift and moved to block her again, but found Mousse in
his way. And Ryouga was still following behind him.
Ranma didn't have time to stop both the male martial artists and still
get in front of Shampoo, but if he ignored them, the hits would slow
him down to much as well.
Frustrated and desparate beyond anything before Jusendo. Ranma lost
his temper.
"ENOUGH!!!!!" Ranma shouted angrily.
Suddenly a blast of golden energy radiated out from in a brilliant
flash. When it cleared only seconds later, all three of his opponents
were in their cursed forms. Ryouga's umbrella was embedded in a wall
near Kuno's head.
Shampoo, Ryouga and Mousse glanced around in confusion. Shampoo was
too shocked to notice that Ranma was approaching her without fear,
until he picked her up by the scruff of the neck.
She hissed and yowled angrily, and Ranma recognized the sounds coming
from her mouth as the whispers he had heard earlier. The ones that had
warned him of Shampoo's coming. He filed that away for later, along
with the fact that he wasn't terrified of Shampoo's cursed form.
"You went too far this time Shampoo!" Ranma growled, his marks still
flared brilliantly. All three of the Jusenkyo-animals vainly fought
the desire to abase themselves. "You shouldn't have tried to kill my
daughter!"
That same golden light moved from his hand into Shampoo's body. Ranma
almost lost his grip in surprise, but maintained it.
"Never," he said. "NEVER try that again!! This is your only warning!"
He dropped the shivering cat on the ground and turned to Ryouga as
Shampoo ran for the Nekohanten. Both the pig and duck were on the
ground and staring at him in shock. As the light of his marks faded
they began to glare at him.
"Mousse," Ranma said seriously. "I ain't interested in Shampoo. I'll
never marry her, and I'd rather never see her until she changes. So
get it through your head that I'M not your obstacle. She is. Oh, and
sorry Ryouga, bad timing you know?"
Ranma reached down into Mousse's robes and pulled out a thermos which
he poured on Ryouga. Before the Lost Boy could do more than growl at
him and get grab his clothes Ranma was heading away.
"We'll fight later!" Ranma said. "I gotta make sure Nabiki and Midori
are alright."
*****
"Well," Happosai said sourly as he finished cowering. He had felt the
divine aura even as far away as he was. "It's apparent that most of
the Jusenkyo cursed types have no chance against Ranma anymore."
He didn't like not knowing the limits of his old pupil, even if he
hoped to drive him away forever.
*****
Ranma found Akane and Ukyou wearily glaring at each other. They were
circling and getting ready for another round of battle, though neither
looked in a condition to continue fighting.
"Ranma-kun!" Kasumi called out. "You have to stop them before somebody
seriously hurt."
"She was attacking Nabiki," Akane said, she was bleeding from several
small cuts and looked fairly battered as well. Both fighters were
covered in flour.
"I was not!" Ukyou snapped. "I came to see if what I'd heard was true,
that's all!" Ukyou was holding her spatula one handed.
"You attacked Saotome-san!" Akane countered.
"Actually," Nodoka said. "She disarmed me when I threatened her."
"See!" Ukyou snapped. "She attacked me, just like you!"
"Where's Nabiki and my daughter?" Ranma demanded finally. Everybody
froze and looked very nervous suddenly.
"She ran off when the fight started," Ukyou said. "I didn't notice
which way."
"I was looking the wrong way," Akane said.
"Oh my," Kasumi said. Ranma paled and looked around in desparation for
a moment.
He almost missed Nabiki's and Midori's scents, not used to these new
senses. Fortunately he caught and recognized them and took off
running.
*****
"This is the abomination that would take my Ranma-sama away from me,"
Kodachi said coolly fingering her ribbon. She stepped forward
gracefully, like a serpent.
~Okay, how do I get her to go away,~ Nabiki asked herself.
The usual way that Nabiki got what she wanted was to give someone
something else that they desired. She had always been exceptionally
good at figuring out what someone needed, and offering it. But she
couldn't give Kodachi Ranma. Or was that what she really wanted.
"You don't really think Ranma will love you if you hurt his baby, do
you?" Nabiki asked nervously.
"Ranma can't possibly want this noisome little burden," Kodachi said.
"And I believe you've been a trouble yourself from time to time."
"Why do you even like Ranma?" Nabiki asked, carefully not moving
except to cradle the crying Midori tighter. Kodachi smirked at the
question and shook her head.
"That is a ridiculous question," Kodachi said.
"I don't think so," Nabiki said, trying to keep her voice from
cracking. "He's poor, ill-cultured, and by your standards low-born. So
what's the attraction."
Kodachi laughed again and shook her head, though she seemed to look a
little disturbed.
"How many other men with whom could a share the thrill of flying
through the air?" she asked.
"There are several throughout Nerima," Nabiki countered.
"But none better than Ranma," Kodachi countered. "And its only the
best for the Kunos."
"What's the real reason," Nabiki asked, gaining confidence as Kodachi
kept talking.
Nabiki didn't see Midori's markings flaring lightly, nor did she
notice her own glowing just slightly. Not enough for Kodachi to notice
from her position.
"If it is your dying wish," Kodachi said, she sounded uncertain
though. "Fine. He was kind to me." Nabiki heard all the varied layers
of meaning to that simple statement.
"That's all you want?" Nabiki asked, somehow knowing the answer. She
stood up. "Isn't it?"
Midori's cries came to a small end.
Kodachi no longer seemed so intimidating, in fact she seemed very sad
and pitiful. The gymnast's shoulders didn't seem so firm as before,
they were almost slumping.
"D..don't try anything," Kodachi stammered, wondering just when she
had lost the initiative.
"You don't really want to hurt anybody," Nabiki said, stepping
forward. Kodachi took a step back branishing her ribbon. "You don't
think Ranma can be kind to more than one person?"
"Stay b..back," Kodachi gasped as Nabiki's markings flared brighter
now. Nabiki tried to ignore the fact that she was taking Midori and
herself closer to Kodachi.
She had unnerved the gymnast somehow, and if she wanted to get out of
this she had to maintain her confidence. And she found herself truly
wanting to help the girl somehow.
"And you don't think anybody else would truly be kind to you," Nabiki
said coming closer. Kodachi stumbled back, somehow terrified and
ashamed. She dropped her ribbon but managed to keep her feet.
"Pl..please don't hurt me," Kodachi whimpered as Nabiki closed the
distance. Nabiki shifted Midori to one hand and reached out to circle
an arm around Kodachi's shoulders.
"Ssh," Nabiki said.
This felt unusual, this comforting. Especially considering that
Kodachi had been intent on killing her. And for some reason Kodachi
was still looking at her as if ashamed.
"I'm sorry," she said softly. Nabiki reached her arm up to Kodachi's
head and softly pulled it down to her shoulder. She stroked the other
girl's hair soothingly, the way Kasumi had to her.
"It's okay," Nabiki said. "I'm not going to hurt you." Suddenly
Kodachi's arms were around Nabiki and the girl was crying loudly into
her shoulder. Nabiki's and Midori's marks ceased glowing, and the
gymnast continued weeping.
Midori turned in Nabiki's arms and looked at the strange person that
had seemed scary before but now wasn't. She made a questioning noise
and reached out a tiny hand to pat Kodachi's head in a manner similar
to what Nabiki was doing.
"Nabiki!" Ranma's voice called out. "Is Midori okay? Are you hurt?"
Nabiki nodded and continued soothing the sobbing Kodachi. Midori was
cooing something that almost sounded like melody.
"We're fine," Nabiki said. She sighed as she came to an uncomfortable
conclusion. Ranma walked over and took Midori from Kodachi, and Nabiki
nodded her thanks as she used her other arm to hold Kodachi while she
cried.
They waited patiently and quietly for Kodachi to calm down before
anything else happened. Nabiki stepped back from the now subdued Kuno
and held her eyes.
"Now I want you to go to my sister Kasumi and talk to her, okay?" she
said. "Tell her anything that bothers you, okay? And don't get into a
fight with my little sister, okay?" Kodachi nodded with each "okay."
"Thank you, Nabiki-sama," Kodachi said silently, wiping her eyes. She
turned to Ranma and muttered the same before leaving.
"What happened to Kodachi?" Ranma asked.
"She got what she was needing," Nabiki said. "I think. What happened
to Shampoo?"
"I think I scared her away for now," Ranma said. "We can't stay here,
can we?"
"No," Nabiki said. "We can't. Ukyou wasn't going to attack I think,
but there's still Shampoo. And if Tarou or someone on like Herb shows
up...I don't know how we're going to handle it. And if Happosai or
Cologne had gotten involved..." She shrugged and looked around seeming
haggard.
"Yeah," Ranma said soberly, looking at his daughter. "I have to leave
Nerima with Midori."
"We, Ranma," Nabiki said. "We.
"You don't have to..."
"This is my responsibility, too," Nabiki insisted, then she smirked.
"Besides, you'll need my help."
"Yeah, well, we should say goodbye to people," Ranma said. Nabiki
nodded.
"But make it short," Nabiki said. She didn't feel safe saying that she
thought they should come back eventually. She'd tell him that later.
*****
"Excellent," Happosai smirked rubbing his hands. "Just according to
plan."
Next: Meeting the Goddesses
Oh yeah, I'd like to name Brian Drozd's "Deification"
and Tarqhan's "A Divine Daughter" as inspirations for
this fic...
**************************************************************
Nabiki counted out the money and frowned.
"After living expenses, we're about ten-thousand short," she said.
"Again."
"Damn it," Ranma said. "An' Midori's gonna need some new clothes
again."
Midori was watching TV across the room, occasionally glancing back at
the whispering adults. She had been growing fast, not nearly as fast
as Ranma's quick pregnancy, but still fast. She looked more like she
was three years old than anything else.
"We aren't getting anywhere staying in motels like this," Nabiki said.
It was a rather standard catch twenty-two situation. They couldn't use
their family names for fear they'd be tracked down. So, despite the
fact that they hadn't renounced their families, they were considered
ronin virtually everywhere. That made it difficult to earn money,
especially for two teenagers with a young child.
They had eventually decided to start a new family name, at least until
they felt they could safely return home. They even had a name picked
out, a nice, simple common hard to distinguish name like "Tanaka".
Doing this was possible, but...it took money. And getting money,
again, was hard.
They had cut out a number of expenses. Somehow, they discovered that
they didn't have to eat, and so "food" was limited to Ranma's sodas
and food for Midori, because they weren't risking her health.
Nabiki, having discovered that money had the same effect on her that
caffeine had on Ranma, originally kept a few yen notes and coins
around for anytime she felt peckish. Unfortunately, she soon
discovered that if she didn't use the money it didn't do anything for
her. No, she was revitalized by the action of spending, receiving and
otherwise handling money. Saving was okay, but outright hoarding
seemed to invalidate the effect.
"We need to find new living quarters," Nabiki said, glancing around
the motel room that was eating their so much of their funds.
"Worse comes to worse," Ranma said. "We can always ask for help."
"Last resort, Ranma," she said.
Midori watched from her bed as her mommy and daddy talked quietly
among themselves. She understood, basically, that they were trying not
to worry her. She still felt the tension though.
"Play in sand," Midori cried out, almost singing the words. "Mommy
play in sand?"
"Maybe a walk would help clear things up," Nabiki agreed.
*****
"I'm sorry, Megumi," a girl said apologetically. "We just can't afford
that rent."
"Not even split three ways," her friend agreed.
"Listen guys," Megumi said, almost hysterically. "It's the ONLY place
I can find. I can handle half the rent on my own! I can even handle
the first two months on my own. That's plenty of time for you both to
figure something out."
"Sorry," her friend said shrugging. "I'm not going to take the risk, I
got a place already, I don't want to lose that and end up not being
able to make it."
"Besides," the second girl said. "You can always just move in with
your brother."
"He doesn't have that much space anymore," Megumi said sorrowly.
"Sorry," her friend said again.
"Excuse me," a new voice said. Megumi turned around to see a
brown-haired teenager sitting on a bench watching the playground's
sandbox.
"Yeah?" Megumi asked wearily, she was too frustrated to notice the
blue tattoos on the girl's face.
"I couldn't help but overhear your predicament," Nabiki said. "I think
we can help each other."
"Really?" Megumi said doubtfully, the girl couldn't be older than
eighteen.
The girl nodded and looked toward the playground where some men were
joking around with another teenager on the basketball court. Megumi
shook her head irritably at that, some big bad jocks they were, making
sport of a kid like that.
"Ranma!" she called out. One of the children from the sandbox stood up
and walked over to her. Megumi glanced at her, still missing the
marks, but noting the girl's dark violet hair.
"Huh?" the teenager said, turning to Nabiki. As he did one of the
college jocks stole the ball from him with a laughing smirk.
"What happening, Mommy?" the girl asked. Megumi's eyes widened. The
girl turned to her daughter for a moment before answering Ranma.
"Don't worry, Midori, everything is fine," she said soothingly. Then
she turned back to Ranma. "Cut it early, okay? I think I found
something."
"Oh! Got it," Ranma called back. Megumi was about to ask what Nabiki
what she meant by cut it early when the teenager flew into action.
Ranma leaped from mid court, with no run, and caught the ball in mid
arc from the jump lay-up the college jock had set it into. Then he
brought it through the hoop as he landed.
The college jocks, and virtually everybody else stared in shock as
Ranma walked to the free throw line holding the ball.
"Change," he said. Then he threw the ball and it swished through the
net and bounced off the pole back to Ranma, who didn't have to move to
recover it. "Change. Change. Change. Change. Change. Change. Change.
Change." This went on for minute or two.
"You, you, you lied to us!" one of the jocks shouted as Ranma sunk the
last goal in to reach the set score.
"Uhh, I just tricked you is all," Ranma said.
Really, he couldn't lie, it never worked. People always knew somehow
when he tried to. He hadn't figured it out yet. Nabiki had mentioned
something about a poker face, but Ranma didn't know what his bad poker
face had to do with lying.
"Same thing," the jock snapped. Megumi shook her head clear as she and
her friends vaguely followed Nabiki to the altercation.
"All I said was that I hadn't played basketball before," Ranma
protested. Nabiki smirked a little, her coaching was really paying off
of late. "I never said I wasn't an athlete or nothin'."
"I'm not paying a ronin street hustler," the jock snapped back. Ranma
crossed his arms and frowned. He glanced back to Nabiki and Midori and
then glared meaningfully at the jock.
"Hey, Kenji," Megumi said walking up. "Do you want it to get out that
all four of you lost to a 'ronin street hustler?'" The looks on their
faces clearly said no.
"Here's your money, kid," Kenji said finely giving the Ranma a small
roll of cash. Then he walked away, looking sore.
"Thanks," Ranma said. "Now, uh, what're we doing?"
"Are you really going to talk to them, Megumi?" one of her friends
asked quietly.
"Well I have to get that place somehow," Megumi said.
*****
In Nerima, meanwhile, Akane was silently fuming as she went through a
day in her senior year. Nabiki and Ranma had run off together with
that brat and barely a goodbye. Nabiki had given her some lecture
about growing up, not being ready, and trust, but Akane hadn't really
paid attention. All she knew was that her sister and fiancee had
betrayed her.
When she discovered "P-Chan", she was doubly incensed. She was mad
enough that she actually seduced Ryouga in the illogical assumption
that it would get back Ranma and make him jealous. Certainly he and
Nabiki were having such fun together. Though she wouldn't admit that
outloud.
Which brought her to her current predicament. The one that was going
to slow down her college plans. And she'd be damnded if she accepted
KODACHI'S help with this.
Ryouga had not worn protection.
"When I see that pig," she muttered to herself at lunch. She was
sitting alone today, she liked to be alone when her temper was at its
worse, she didn't want to hurt anybody.
She sighed and shook her head, some of the anger releasing. SHE had
made the effort to seduce Ryouga, not the other way around. And then
she had TOLD him what she had done. Spat in his face, stomped on his
heart and laughed at him. She had no right to accuse him of anything,
and that was the source of her frustration.
To make matters worse, he was spending a lot more time with Akari
lately. And the last time she had seen him, he had been less than
happy to see her. He had virtually flinched away like a beaten dog. At
the time it had amused her, now...
"What am I going to tell Kasumi?" Akane wondered quietly. "What have I
done? What am I going to do?"
*****
Cologne sighed at the sound of a clattering tray and she looked out to
where Shampoo was angrily clawing up a salaryman's leg. Said salary
man was screaming like a little girl to the enjoyment of the patrons,
especially the female ones. Cologne guessed what had happened fairly
well.
The salaryman had probably grabbed some piece of anatomy he shouldn't
have. Shampoo, forgetting herself, had probably decided to mangle said
salaryman into something unrecognizeable. Once the actual decision to
seriously hurt someone had been reached. Poof...instant Shampoo-neko.
"Mousse if you would please dislodge Shampoo from the customer,"
Cologne said dryly. The blind boy nodded and moved to grab Shampoo,
and found himself grabbed instead, as the scream of pain testified.
Cologne hadn't yet figured out exactly how the son-in-law had called
down a divine curse on her daughter to alter the Jusenkyo magic. She
did know why, however, and after hearing about the whole story was, to
put it mildly quite disappointed with her grand-daughter. The changes
were still reversed with hot-water, but now there were two changes.
Cologne remembered what had happened when some abusive boyfriend had
caught Shampoo's attention by smacking his girlfriend in front of the
store. Cologne was about to do something herself to teach the young
man a lesson, but Shampoo beat her to it. A cat-hybrid Shampoo that
had caught the second slap and then proceeded to crush the hand while
growling angrily at the man.
So, Shampoo had a curse that gave her power if she used it according
to Ranma's code, protecting the weak, but took it away if she tried to
hurt someone for petty reasons. It was a vast disappoint to Cologne
that Shampoo had not yet realized this fact. She was on the verge of
telling the girl herself, outright.
Cologne briefly wondered why she bothered staying in Japan. But that
question was easily answered. There were several reasons.
First, Shampoo insisted they stay. She often took her days off seeking
out Ranma and Nabiki's whereabouts. She swore every time that she had
almost found them, but every time she sought them out it was a dead
end.
Cologne especially remembered the close call with that girl and her
private eye guardian. Suzuki-san had certainly LOOKED like Ranma's
girl form, but that was all. Ranma did not speak so formally, nor did
he use a Katana in that manner.
The second reason was that she liked it here. The kids were mostly of
a good sort, and she made it her business to check up on them from
time to time. Some were doing better than others with the changes that
happened a year ago.
The last reason was that she didn't trust Happosai. The old man had
always struck her as more than he seemed, or maybe less, and she made
it her business to watch him.
*****
Ukyou sighed wearily as she closed up her restaurant. They said that
once you lost your youth, it never came back. She thought she had lost
it more than ten years before. There were times that she contemplated
ending it all, but she didn't. She wasn't certain why, except that
doing so would hurt a lot of people.
Konatsu needed her, Ryouga would probably starve without her,
surprisingly Cologne seemed to be giving her attention recently, as
was Kasumi (though that was less of a surprise) and Ranma still cared
for her.
At least she thought so from the fact he and Nabiki said goodbye
before leaving, and she didn't want to put a burden on him that he
caused her death even by suicide. Besides, suicide was a weak person's
way out.
So Ukyou trained with Konatsu, sometimes Cologne, and ran her
Okonomiyaki shop, and existed.
"Ahh, tis the wonderful smell of Kuonji-san's cooking," a new voice
said. Ukyou frowned, thinking that a certain samurai was paying her a
visit.
"Look Kuno, I'm not..." Ukyou blinked as she lifted her eyes and
recognized Pantyhose Tarou. She'd served him once or twice in between
his pestering Ranma and Happosai, but she hadn't seen him for a long
time.
"You actually thought I was that idiot?" Tarou said rolling his eyes.
"Really, so, Crossdresser #2, do you know where Crossdresser #1 is
today?"
"Ranma left Nerima a year ago, jerk," Ukyou said.
"What?" Tarou demanded.
*****
Happosai was having the time of his life. Most people still refused to
actively learn from him, but that could always come later. As it was,
he was free to persue his primary past time. Stealing girl's
underwear.
"Whatta a haul," Happosai declared cheerfully. "What a haul! Hee hee.
Not so fun without the games any longer, but some of the
second-stringers around her can be fun."
Happosai's ear caught the sound of someone bemoaning his life.
"Why! WHY! Can't I make her see me?" a scrawny kid, yelled. "Ranma's
gone and she still won't say anything to me."
Happosai pulled out his pipe and examined the boy. Dark circles under
the eyes, gangly, stringy, featherweight. A rather small potential,
but perhaps, an interesting challenge.
"Perhaps we can come to a deal, boy," Happosai said, surprising
Gosunkugi almost to death.
*****
"Well," Ranma said as they left the city offices. "That's that I
guess. We're finally Mr. and Mrs. Tanaka..."
"Finally," Nabiki agreed. "Legally married, with a child." It was
rather momentous actually.
They had spent the last year several times sleeping in the same bed,
but just that, sleeping. Nothing else the rest of the Nerima crew
might have been thinking. It just made it safer for Midori to be
between the two adults, that's all.
There was certainly no other reason for it. He/she couldn't possibly
be interested in that with her/him. Could he/she?
"Now we can get some real jobs and make some real money," Nabiki said.
"Okay," Ranma said. "Let's go help move the stuff into the house."
Nabiki nodded, and glanced down at the little girl between them.
"Are we done now?" Midori asked wearily, yawning.
"We're done now," Nabiki assured her.
"Yay!" Midori cheered. "Can I ride on your shoulders, Daddy?"
"Sure kid," Ranma said, reaching down to pick her up and place her on
his shoulders.
After that Midori spent the time humming a random wordless tune that
changed from moment to moment and watched the world go by from the
shoulders of her father.
Her parents were talking about "explaining the growth spurts" to that
Megumi person, and they were using lots of words she didn't know.
Well, Nabiki was, Ranma was being vague and using as few words as
possible. In any case, Midori paid close attention to the
conversation, she really loved learning new words.
*****
"I thought she said this came fully furnished," Urd said peevishly.
"And she has roommates, why does she need us to help move things
around."
"Urd," Belldandy chided. "We should be happy to help Megumi settle
into a new home."
"Remember the last new apartment she got?" Skuld asked nervously. She
still had nightmares about ghosts from that.
"Really, it can't be as bad as that," Belldandy said.
"Let's hope not," Keiichi sighed. "Well here we are." Megumi appeared
on the small sidewalk in front of the house and waved vigoursly. The
need for help was obvious, the house, in good condition itself, seemed
to be a disaser zone, with lots of trash being removed.
"Hey guys!" she called out. "Over here, isn't it great?"
"Oh, how charming!" Belldandy said, though Keiichi thought he detected
a strained tone in even HER cheerful manner.
"Yeah, great Megumi," Keiichi said dryly. Skuld was crying her eyes
out and Urd was trying to scheme a way to get out of this.
"Go inside and get something to drink," Megumi said. "And then we can
get to work."
"All right," Keiichi said, following Megumi's advice and heading
inside with his own housemates. "I wonder where her roommates are?"
"I'm sure they're around," Belldandy said. The sound of working in the
back of the house drifted to their ears. "See."
"This is a big house," Skuld noted, much less despairing when she saw
the, comparatively, cleaner inside.
"So where are the drinks?" Urd asked wearily as she entered the house
and started looking for the kitchen. Keiichi shrugged and turned to a
door and opened it. He saw nothing interesting, just more debris and
"storage."
~Fully furnished,~ Keiichi muttered to himself with narrowed eyes.
~Right.~
He opened another door and found himself faced with a brown-haired
teenager cleaning the room while a small child followed her around
"helping." The girl turned around to look at who entered the room and
Keiichi saw the goddess marks.
"Who that, Mommy?" the little girl, also with goddess marks, asked.
The girl seemed about to answer but Keiichi beat her too it.
"Excuse me," Keiichi said, stepping out of the room and closing the
door behind him, leaving a confused Nabiki.
"Is something wrong Keiichi?" Belldandy asked as she caught up to him.
"You seem pale."
"There's a goddess and her daughter in the room behind me," Keiichi
said.
"Oh my," Belldandy said.
He felt the door opening behind him and jumped away from it. Nabiki
came out quickly, face curious and a little anger.
"Excuse me do you have a pro...?" Nabiki's anger was derailed as she
saw the marks on Belldandy's face. "...blem?"
"Oh, hello," Belldandy said.
"Uhh, excuse me," Nabiki said. "Where'd you get those marks on your
head?"
"Oh I see you met Nabiki and Midori," Megumi said coming in.
"Belldandy, Belldandy!" Skuld came running, shouting. "There's a god
in the...back...room...there's another one...err...two."
"Gods," Nabiki and Megumi said dizzily at once.
"Yeah," Urd said, joining the scene. "What did you think these little
things on your face were?"
"Hey Megumi," Ranma said. "Who was the little kid that came back here
and then went running." He looked around at the various faces,
confused. "Did I miss something?"
************************************************
"What was that about 'gods?'" Megumi asked.
"Uhhh, Goth," Keiichi said, suddenly. "She meant Goths, they're ones
that paint themselves blue right?"
"Actually, that's the Celts," Urd said.
"You're not helping, Urd," Keiichi muttered under his breath while his
sister's eyes were on the white-haired goddess.
"Right," Megumi said, eyes narrowed. "Is that what you meant, Skuld?"
"Uhh..." Skuld stood there trapped. She couldn't lie, well she could,
but that would be very bad. She didn't really want to tell the truth
either, and in her predicament she forgot the rule of answering
questions with questions.
Midori meanwhile watched this curiously, holding Nabiki's hands and
humming.
"Who believes in gods these days?" Nabiki asked dismissively a smirk
on her face. "Really, that's a silly idea. Like something you'd hear
out of Juuban or Nerima."
"Yeah," Ranma said, confused. He was about to add more but he caught a
look of Nabiki flashing him the "keep quiet" face. "Weren't we going
to have break when they got here?"
"Right," Megumi said. "It is silly. Especially since that would mean
my brother's been shacking up with a bunch of goddesses, and I just
know that's not possible." She shrugged with a smirk toward a fuming
Keiichi as she left the room to get the promised sodas.
"We shall need to talk to you later," Belldandy said.
"Of course," Nabiki agreed almost off-handedly. Then Megumi came back
with sodas and they all retreated to their intangible corners.
"Okay everyone," Megumi said. "These are my housemates, Ranma, Nabiki
and Midori Tanaka. And this is my brother, Keiichi. His girlfriend,
Belldandy, and her sister's Urd and Skuld." She gestured toward each
person in turn.
"I am pleased to meet you," Belldandy said, bowing politely. Urd waved
and seemed to be trying to dissect (oer maybe dismantle) them
visually.
"Yeah, us too," Ranma said. Nabiki nodded from her seat next to Ranma.
Midori at this point felt herself falling to sleep, and fought
valiently against the emerging yawn. It eventually came out in a loud,
stretched yawn. This produced the reaction she was dreading.
"Oops," Ranma said. "Looks like nap time."
"I don't need nap, Daddy," Midori protested, blinking and yawning
again.
"Don't try to fool us, little girl," Nabiki said in an amused voice.
"Let's go. Ranma want to help me with this?"
"No problem," Ranma said, following Nabiki.
"Don wanna," Midori complained loudly as Nabiki picked her up and
carried back to one of the cleared rooms.
"She even sings her whining," Megumi noted, blinking at the departing
family.
"Well," Urd said watching them go. "I've had my fill, why don't the
squirt and I go and get started on cleaning one of these rooms?" She
grabbed Skuld, who was discovering the wonders of the root beer float.
"But..." she said hesitantly before being dragged away, barely
managing to save her drink from spilling.
"Well, that was a shorter break than I expected," Megumi said somewhat
surprised, more at Urd saying she was heading to do some work.
That statement worried her actually.
"I'm sure they'll be right back," Belldandy said.
"Yeah," Keiichi said. "When was the last time you knew Urd to work for
longer than ten minutes at a stretch?"
*****
As they set Midori down for her nap, which she struggled greatly but
vainly against, Ranma and Nabiki looked at the girl's little bed with
its safety bars.
"I don't know if I'm going to be able to get used to this," Nabiki
said as she watched Midori sleeping quietly.
"Yeah," Ranma said. "Be kinda odd sleeping alone now."
"Who says you'll be sleeping alone," Nabiki asked, a trifle hurt.
"But..." Ranma started before Nabiki cut him off.
"You don't think it would be a little funny for a married couple our
age to be sleeping separately in this day and age?" Nabiki asked.
"Really, we've gotten by this long without anything happening."
~Just barely,~ both thought in addition to that. ~Good thing I never
tried anything.~
"Besides," Nabiki said. "You're better, and cheaper, than an electric
blanket."
"Errr, thanks," Ranma said blushing. ~I wish she wouldn't tease me
like that.~ "Now, uhh, what did I miss?"
~I really shouldn't tempt myself like that,~ Nabiki thought as she
softly rocked the crib. Ranma stood right behind her, less than an
inch away, but she barely noticed that. "Saffron called himself a god,
right?"
"Yeah," Ranma said. "Why?"
"And you said our auras resemble his, right?" she asked.
"Sorta," Ranma said. "We're more whole and balanced, and a lot more
powerful. Though you still don't fight the best. But I sorta
interrupted his growth or somethin' so maybe that's why."
"So is there a possibility that we're gods?" Nabiki asked. Ranma's
gaze broke from his daughter to look into Nabiki's face, now turning
up from the little girl to look at him.
*****
"Okay squirt," Urd said. "We're clear now, pull down some files."
"You almost made me spill my drink Urd!!" Skuld whined. "I would have
lost all the ice cream!"
"Just figure out who these gods are and what they're doing her," Urd
asked. "There's something odd about two gods with an infant daughter
coming to midgard."
"Don't I know it," Skuld said, producing a square out of her pocket
that unfolded into a computer. She typed at hyper speed for a few
moments, and then laughed out in victory as her computer began to
display three files.
"All three third class gods," Urd noted. "Provision, Change, and
Rebirth. Okay, okay, this is all the basic stuff, can you pull up
affiliations?"
"Of course, I already glanced at that," Skuld said, rolling her eyes
at the unintenional insult. "There are no official affiliations, but
Ranma's a cat deity."
Contrary to popular belief, and Bast's supporting implications, there
were many cat deities. Just like their were many powers connected to
ravens and wolves and bears, and so on. Bast was just the most well
known.
It wasn't really a domain, the afforementioned "Goddess of Cats"'
official title was "Goddess of Pleasure and Pregnant Women." (A domain
she had acquired for obvious reasons) However, those deities connected
to animals did have certain tendencies attached to them, however.
"And a dual god(dess)," Urd noted whistling. "Cat, that makes him
trickster, war, or hearth."
"Or all three," Skuld said. "Primarily concerned with hearth and home,
very strong martial aspect and trickster trends. Nabiki has a
trickster aspect strong enough to be her secondary domain. Still most
likely a hearth goddess."
"What about the kid," Urd asked, reaching around Skuld.
"Hey!" Skuld snapped irritably as Urd scrolled down.
"Hearth," Urd said as if it were predictable. "If she grows up with
that father she may have a martial aspect before long, too. Now to
pull up their backgrounds."
"Urd," Skuld said warningly. "Get your hands off my computer."
*****
"Do gods live hand ta mouth?" Ranma asked.
"Do mortals go without food for a ten months?" Nabiki countered.
"Because, before that meal with Megumi yesterday, that was the last
time either of us had eaten anything."
"It don't make sense," Ranma said shrugging.
"And you conceiving and giving birth within two days does?" Nabiki
asked.
"Point taken," Ranma said reluctantly.
"And that is something straight out of a myth," Nabiki said.
"What made you think of this?" Ranma asked.
"Something Megumi's friends let slip," Nabiki said.
"Oh yeah," Ranma said. "Did you notice they have those same marks on
their head that we do?"
"You don't say Ranma-Baby," Nabiki said dryly.
At which point there was a muffled explosion and scream. Nabiki
glanced to Ranma, who nodded before leaving for the sound. Nabiki
looked down nervously at Midori and then back at Ranma.
"Don't be concerned," a voice said as Belldandy appeared in the door
to block Ranma's path. "My sister's sometimes fail to get along."
"Urd, Skuld!" Keiichi called out from elsewhere in the house. "Can't
you two avoid destroying other people's property for once?"
"My poor house!?" Megumi cried out, somewhere near her brother.
"Is this a regular occurence?" Ranma asked tightly.
"Because we left our homes to avoid situations like that," Nabiki
added. "Random explosions and such."
"Bad for kids," Ranma finished.
"Urd and Skuld would never allow any child to be endangered,"
Belldandy said. Then she laughed. "In any case you live with Megumi,
not us."
"Good point," Nabiki said.
*****
"Really," Megumi said irritably. "Sneaking off to play video games, I
thought better of you Skuld."
"Hey, what about me?" Urd protested cutely. Keiichi, Megumi and Skuld
glanced at Urd before turning back to Skuld.
"Yeah, Skuld," Keiichi said. "I thought at least you knew how to
behave maturely." ~Better than Urd at least.~
"Hey!" Urd protested.
"Well," Belldandy said returning with Ranma. "Nabiki is watching
Midori, but I suggest that the rest of us get started on working."
"Right," Megumi said. "The sooner we get started the sooner we're
finished."
"Aww, man," Urd sighed. "I should have skipped while I had the
chance."
*****
It took most of the day to clear out the house of all the junk
infesting it. Urd kept grumbling to herself about "easier ways" and
Skuld about manual labor. There was little other complaint, however.
Everyone was certainly impressed by Ranma's physical skills. Keiichi
kept worrying that the pig-tailed god was going to blow the goddesses'
cover. If he had known that Ranma was doing what had been mild labor
before ascending, his eyes would have bugged out.
"Thanks a lot for the help guys," Megumi said cheerfully, as she
considered the bath she was going to draw in a moment. "Come by and
visit anytime!"
"And you and your friends may visit us as well," Belldandy said. "As
usual, at any time."
"Of course," Megumi said. "As usual."
"Thanks for the offer," Nabiki said bowing.
"Can we go home now?" someone whined. It wasn't Skuld, but it was
female.
"Be careful, Megumi," Keiichi said.
"Bye bye!" Midori sung.
He wasn't too worried. With a couple of gods watching over her, his
sister was probably fairly well protected. Until, of course, he
remembered the "act of god" clause on most insurance policies. It was
the reason most such policies were useless in his life.
"Stop worrying, Bro," Megumi said, waving off the concern and waving
goodbye as the temple group walked down the path. She turned to Ranma
and Nabiki. "I don't know about you two, but I'm getting a bath and
heading for bed, see ya."
"Good thing there's a separate shower in this place," Nabiki said.
"I'm tired and I don't feel like waiting for the bath."
"But why can't I sleep in the bed with you?" Midori whined wearily
when they set her in her bed.
"Because you have your own bed now," Nabiki said. "You're getting to
be a big girl, and big girls don't sleep with their parents."
"If you need us we're right in the next room," Ranma said.
"Are we going to get a TV?" Midori asked petulantly changing the topic
of conversation.
"We'll see," Nabiki said. "Now, go to sleep." And her tone allowed for
no argument, though it was laced with affection.
"Night, kid," Ranma said. "And if there are monsters under your bed
you know what to do."
"Tie 'em into knots," Midori said proudly, yawning. Then she was
pleading. "Can you tell me a story Daddy?"
"Yeah, you do that and I'll get my shower," Nabiki said, patting Ranma
on the shoulder.
"Uh, okay," Ranma said shrugging as he tried to remember a story to
tell Midori.
"Tell me about the silly panda again!" Midori asked, clapping. Ranma
sighed as Nabiki rolled her eyes on the way out.
****
Ranma and Nabiki looked at the western bed they had salvaged. It was
full-sized, not much room. Still, they'd shared smaller beds with
Midori between them before.
Nabiki and Ranma settled down on opposite sides of the bed, their
customary foot or so apart. By habit they both lay facing the other.
"How do you think they're doing in Nerima," Nabiki asked.
"I hope they're doing good," Ranma said. "You know we'll go back to
make sure they're all right and help them if not. We promised that."
"Yeah," Nabiki said. "But how soon? Good night, Ranma-Baby." Nabiki
yawned.
"You too, Nabs," Ranma answered, yawning himself before shifting
around for a little and falling asleep.
Midori yawned as woke up later that night and wiped at her eyes. She
looked at the safety bars for a moment in puzzlement before finding
the "childproof, hidden" latch and unlocking it. She slipped out of
bed and rubbed at her eyes some more as she walked to through the
darkness to where her parents were. She opened the door quietly and
yawned loudly
Nabiki shifted forward in bed, reacting unconsciously to hearing
Midori, and reached out with arm to locate the noise she had heard. At
the same time Ranma also reached out to unconsciously protect and
sooth his daughter.
Midori giggled musically as her mommy's hand found her daddy and,
fogged by the fact that Nabiki was technically asleep, grabbed the
young man tightly and pulled herself closer, reaching one hand up to a
strangely tall child's head. Still she was quite strongly asleep, and
even the presence of an arm holding her gently and securely also went
mostly unnoticed.
Nabiki started to snuggle closer to the big warm thing that made her
feel safe. Her sleeping mind had somehow forgotten Midori once it had
determined that Midori was not in her bed. And now she was grasping
more like someone seeking comfort than giving it.
Ranma's arms held her tighter, but still gently. The thing in his arms
didn't seem to be Midori, and something in the back of his sleeping
mind reminded him that she was in her bed, but he still responded to
the other's desire to be held.
Then Midori took a step and tripped on a loose section of the floor.
The charm of the scene was ended as she smacked into the floor and
loudly complained about the impact.
Ranma and Nabiki had originally been deep sleepers, the both of them.
The earth could move and they wouldn't even notice, and that had been
proven in the last earthquake.
This was before parenthood.
They both woke up and realized exactly the situation they were in. The
pose wasn't sexual, but was very intimate, more intimate than sex on
its own really. Rather more intimate than they had expected,
especially considering they had fallen asleep about a foot apart
originally.
They did not dwell on this issue at all, and it was hardly a split
second before they were out of bed to see what Midori needed.
Later, after Midori had been soothed back to sleep, they stared across
from each other cautiously.
"Well, Ranma-baby?" Nabiki asked trying to keep her voice at its usual
tone.
"I think we need to talk," Ranma said.
"Yeah, that seems obvious," Nabiki said.
"Right now?" Ranma asked nervous and tired.
~I need more time,~ Nabiki thought. "Maybe tomorrow."
"Yeah, tomorrow is good," Ranma agreed. ~Whew that was close.~ They
both lay back down on the small bed and Ranma started to pull the
covers.
"It really doesn't make sense to sleep so far apart," Nabiki said, not
noticing the implications of her choice "so far."
"Yeah, it'll be more comfortable in the center of the bed," Ranma
agreed. Ranma and Nabiki, cautiously at first, snuggled closer, in
more or less the same position they had been on waking up, before
letting themselves fall back to sleep.