Project A-Ko Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Vampire Hunter (Darkstalkers) Fan Fiction ❯ Nabiki 1/2 (A Very Scary Thought) ❯ A Typical Day... ( Chapter 46 )

Nabiki 1/2

(A Very Scary Thought)

Written by Jim Robert Bader

Proofread by Shiva Barnwell

Based Upon the Altered Destinies Storyline

Inspired by the works of such fans as

Wade Tritshler

Richard Lawson

James Jones

And Many Others

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

"Come back here!" cried Nabiki as she chased her Master across the yard, followed by an angry mob of crazed school girls who themselves were after the panty thief (and not coincidentally Nabiki in the present form she was wearing), "I'm not letting you get away with this!"

"That's some kind of gratitude you're showing to your Master, girl!" Happosai called back over his shoulder, "Can't a man be allowed a few indulgences at my age?"

"Not if it means you make off with half the lingerie of every girl in Furinkan High!" Nabiki growled as he made a concerted effort to catch up with the fleet-footed founder of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts, "And implicate me in the process!"

"Oh come now!" Happosai said cheerfully, "A little panty raid never hurt anyone, and it might even brighten your reputation with the ladies."

"I don't need to brighten my reputation any more than it already is!" Nabiki said hotly, glancing over his shoulder before increasing his pace, "If anything that's a key part of my problem!"

"Oh posh," Happosai scoffed, "You see every little obstacle or challenge as a problem girl, that's your problem in a nutshell! Aren't you always telling your boy Ranma that there are no problems, only opportunities just waiting to be exploited?"

"Exploit this, Gramps," Nabiki snarled as he kicked up a loose tile off the roof they had just vaulted onto and caught it with one hand then threw it towards Happosai, catching the bag of stolen lingerie and propelling the spry little man forward.

"Wee!" the old man cried gleefully as he turned the added momentum to his advantage and vaulted the space between that building and another that would have been difficult to reach by a conventional leap, "That's the idea, my boy! Help your old master on his way! What a fine apprentice you are turning out to be…"

Nabiki halted at the edge of the roof and just stared in dismay before shaking his head and saying, "I don't believe that guy! He really must be possessed by some kind of demon…"

"KANEDA-SAMA!"

"Oops," Nabiki glanced down, seeing two groups of women converging on the building he was on, with some actually scaling the sides to get close to the roof, which prompted Nabiki to decide that it would be a very good idea to be somewhere else at the moment.

The way back towards the school did not look like a safe bet, but the Tendo dojo was only a few blocks away, and if he could just make it there and find some hot water his…or rather her problems would be as good as over. Nabiki turned and leaped towards the nearest safe route then vaulted down to a lower house, cut through one yard then vaulted onto a low fence and started running along the edge, only two blocks away from the safety of his family home.

Unfortunately, his movements had not gone unnoticed and a new group of eager young females came running up to join the chase, making Nabiki wonder if this was what Major Idols had to go through on a daily basis, and him without even so much as one recording contract to his credit. Worse still, when he risked looking back over his shoulder, he found that some of the girls were running along the fence after him as though they had practiced doing that for many days with precisely this purpose in mind, and--worse still--they were gaining!

Nabiki silently damned the curse for giving him this male form that some women found so irresistible. More than ever he was convinced that the curse must have some element of magnetic attraction that was effective on both sexes, regardless of preference or orientation. Almost a hundred women were now joining in a pursuit that began with only a score, and if he did not find a quick exit from this situation it looked as if a gang rape were not to be ruled out of the question…

All of a sudden, he saw his pursuers break off the chase while others halted in place on both the fence and either side of it. Nabiki turned to look at the figure that stood directly in his path and at once knew why these crazed women were suddenly acting so timid.

Shampoo stood on one leg balanced effortlessly upon the fence and giving them all a very cross expression. She did not have her Bonbori at the moment, but that did not necessarily mean they were not close to hand, and from the expression she was wearing it was more than likely they would appear at any moment.

"Husband," she said in heavily accented Japanese, "What is meaning of this?"

Several girls began to back away, others turned and fled, knowing full well what an angry Shampoo could do to the lot of them had she a mind to. Nabiki just stood his ground contemplating retreat but knowing better than to attempt it. Shampoo turned her scowl towards the other girls as if only just noticing them then said, "Leave or else. No bother Airen."

The crowd began to melt away like mist until only Shampoo and Nabiki remained, still balancing on the fence. Shampoo continued to scowl Nabiki's way while he acted like a little boy caught doing something naughty. At last Nabiki said, "Uh…Sham-chan, I can explain this…"

Shampoo sighed, "No need. Shampoo know silly school girls think they can take what does not belong to them. Shampoo sometime have to remind them they no have business with Airen," she patted her own abdomen meaningfully and said, "Shampoo have only one Airen, and Airen knows this."

Nabiki smiled at his wife, "Yeah, I know it, and I'm sorry if I annoyed you. Thanks anyway for bailing me out of this mess."

"What cause chase this time?" Shampoo inclined her head, "You change at bad time?"

"Happosai," Nabiki replied, which was all the answer Shampoo needed.

"Aiii! Him again!" Shampoo said in a mixture of dismay and annoyance, "Old Demon no take personal things from young girls again?"

"It's an obsession with him," Nabiki said, "Worse still, he splashed me, so I started chasing him when the sea of raging hormones took notice."

"Why Ranma or Ucchan no come to aid?" Shampoo asked, "No sense you in trouble?"

"They're probably still in class, where I ought to be," Nabiki sighed, "Look, let's continue this indoors. I feel awfully stupid looking like this in broad daylight."

"You no look stupid to Shampoo," Shampoo grinned, and now Nabiki knew she had been forgiven as her wife had that look again that promised no short bath was in the offing.

It would do little good to persuade Shampoo that it was the wrong time of the day to get into that sort of thing, so Nabiki never even made the effort. She just smiled in resignation as the newlyweds entered the dojo and sought out the main house. As usual, Kasumi somehow contrived to be there in time to greet them with her usual cheerfulness, though her eyes held more than sisterly warmth for the now masculine Nabiki.

"Ohiyo, Neechan," she said with no hint of the sensualism she most probably was contemplating, "A warm bath has already been drawn for you. I was going to use it myself, but I had a sense that you would be coming home early when Shampoo-chan went out to greet you."

"Thanks, Oneechan," Nabiki smiled in spite of feeling his usual unease at the regard Kasumi was paying to his male body. It had been increasingly an issue with them of late, though of late Kasumi had been making an honest effort at controlling her incestuous urges. It was more disturbing to Nabiki at how his body sometimes reacted to Kasumi when he was made acutely aware of her attention.

Shampoo said nothing, and Nabiki wondered if she were suffering another bout of intense jealousy over this, but instead Nabiki saw her looking thoughtful, which was hardly an improvement. Seeing no help or hindrance that way, Nabiki turned another glance towards his sister and said, "Where's Perfume at?"

"She's helping her Great Grandmother set up the restaurant in time for when Ukyo-san gets home from school," Kasumi answered, "I imagine she'll be on her way to the school a few minutes early…you know how she hates to wait for her Airen."

Nabiki smiled at that. Perfume's attachment to the Okonomiaki chef was becoming public knowledge in spite of many efforts to keep the matter private, unlike his own marriage to Shampoo, which was considered conventional by all but those who knew the truth about Nabiki's false identity as Kaneda. Ukyo could not legally marry Perfume in Japan, but she had accepted the Chinese vows of Joketsuzoku that made the matter legal in the eyes of Perfume's people. It had been a hard struggle, of course, with much inner turmoil and handwringing, but in the end Ukyo had given in--not to pressure or tradition but rather her own growing affection for the perky Amazon who had once been the chief Enforcer of Joketsuzoku.

Trying to explain their actual relationship was difficult with outsiders, but explaining that Ukyo was honor-bound to another woman had been especially complicated when the matter came to explaining Perfume to Ukyo's father. Nabiki had concocted a convincing story to satisfy the older man and allay his suspicions, but the reality was that Ukyo--like Nabiki herself--had two strong commitments that equally commanded her attentions.

The common link for both of them, of course, was Ranma.

"Well," Nabiki sighed, "I hope she'll be discrete this time. It's bad enough convincing people that Ucchan isn't a pervert because she prefers masculine dress and won't strictly conform to the school dress code. People still think she conned Per-chan with her guy pose. Even Kuno's started making rambling speeches about the perversity of women who eschew the company of men for their own sex," he winced and added, "I wonder if that means he's finally figured out the truth about Kaneda?"

"Stupid boy no figure out," Shampoo snorted derisively, "He still think you cunning sorcerer who use special charm to wind heart of Shampoo. He think maybe other girls also under spell you cast. No think Nabiki-Airen and Kaneda-Airen one and same or he treat you same way, no torture you with poetry and roses."

Nabiki chuckled at that, "Yeah, but think of how much I've made off those roses so far! They make dandy corsages, which reminds me," he reached around behind his back and handed Shampoo a lavender colored rose, "I saved one for a science experiment, and this is the result. What do you think, is it you?"

Shampoo gasped as she took the purple flower in her hands and stared at it, then compared the shade with her own odd hair color. She looked at Nabiki again, then fixed the rose to her lapel and smiled as broad a smile as anyone had ever seen upon the beautiful face of his young bride from Joketsuzoku.

"Yep, it's you all right," Nabiki nodded, "I can report to Gosunkugi that his efforts were successful, and worth ten times what I paid him."

"Airen," Shampoo sighed in bliss.

"I…" Kasumi politely coughed to break the trance that was starting to fall over them, then she picked up a canteen and said, "You can use this if you would rather skip the bath? I'll see to it you're not disturbed."

"Guess I'll have to figure some way to excuse myself from school for the rest of the day," Nabiki chuckled, then winced as she felt a tell-tale tap on her shoulder and said, "What do you want now, you old…"

"You can waste your time with the Chinese cutie later," Happosai said in totally indifference to the murderous glare Shampoo fetched him, "Right now you have other exercises to do, and since you've decided to skip the less meaningful portion of your education…"

"It's not less meaningful," Nabiki whirled around, "I have a lot of work to do if I'm going to maintain my grate-point-average, and if I miss many more days like this I'm going to suffer a lot worse than not being able to graduate on time! If you can't control those Hentai urges, old man…"

"Tut, tut, girl," Happosai said as he fetched the canteen from Kasumi and gave it a toss so that its contents splashed Kasumi and turned him from male to female, "You don't need a diploma to graduate from my school, you just have to survive the training, and I'd much rather see you do it in this form."

"Why you…!" Nabiki started to lurch forward when she found Happosai already attached to her chest like a refrigerator magnet, "You---DIE!" Nabiki made a fist like a hammer and aimed it for his head, but she should have known better, and would have if she had been thinking with less emotion.

She suddenly found herself outside the house heading for the Koi pond. Only by twisting her body at the last second was she able to bring one hand down to catch the stone temple in passing and use it to deflect her angle so that she landed on the opposite bank, still mildly damp but entirely female.

She whirled around to meet her Master as he came sailing at her like a love-crazed missile, (no doubt helped on his way by Shampoo) but this time she managed to twist her body so that he missed glomming onto her a second consecutive time, but Happosai still bounded off the wall to strike a tree before vaulting happily at her feet and looking up at her in his bright and cheerful manner.

"Well, that was fun for a warm-up, but you've still got a ways to go before I'm satisfied with you, Apprentice," he announced.

"Well, don't I feel special," Nabiki sniffed in withering contempt, silently impugning the dignity of her father for having been so quick to sign over his parental responsibilities to his aged mentor, so great was his fear of Happosai returning him to training status, along with her ex-Sensei, Saotome Genma.

"Right this way," the ancient founder of the Anything Goes School said as he walked towards the dojo, "There's something I want to show you, girl, that can further your training."

"Like I have any choice about it?" Nabiki asked rhetorically, but followed dutifully in spite of her reservations. Happosai was undeniably weird, but he did know a lot more about the art than anyone except Cologne, and his training had helped to improve her style considerably in the month-or-so since he arrived to make life that much more interesting for everyone in Nerima.

Training with him was bound to make her a more formidable fighter, if his methods did not kill or drive her crazy first! Living three hundred years was a heck of a recommendation for any Martial Artist, let alone a man who did everything possible to insure he had no shortage of enemies to train against. The way her life was heading, it seemed like a very good idea for Nabiki to copy at least some part of this methodology, if only to insure that she lived to see her graduation from Furinkan High School…assuming the fates allowed her to last out the semester…

"Man," Ranma winced, "That was a tough math quiz! I sure hope I did all right or Mom will ground me for sure!"

"Hey, I'm sure you did all right, Ranchan," Ukyo said encouragingly, "Nab-chan and I grilled you hard enough for something to penetrate that thick skull of yours, if only by osmosis."

"Harde-har!" Ranma grimaced, "And I suppose you aced it? You're usually pretty good at this math stuff."

"Have to be if I want to stay in business," Ukyo replied, "Only I'm not as sharp at calculus as Nabiki, and you're better than me at geometry, so that makes us even."

"Think so?" Ranma smiled, "Well, geometry's got some basic math in it, but it's pretty much second nature for me. I don't understand logarithms, but I can figure out tangential angles and stuff like that. I use something like it in my Martial Arts training."

"A natural Savant," Ukyo smiled as she patted his shoulder and leaned against him in her affection, "My iinazuke isn't a total loss for your education."

Ranma smiled in spite of feeling awkward at Ukyo's public display of affection. It was not that he minded her presence--far from it! But Ukyo still tended to dress like a guy during school hours, preferring the boy's uniform to that of the girl's dresses. Most people knew that Ukyo was most definitely female (and to emphasize the point she had stopped taping down her breasts, which gave her a noticeable bulge around the chest area), but from a distance she could still be mistaken for a guy, and having another guy glom onto him like that was definitely not something Ranma wanted for his public image. Even Nabiki in guy form never made the mistake of putting him in the spotlight.

"Uh oh," Ranma suddenly caught a shadow looming over them and said, "Speaking of which, here comes your other beloved intended…"

"Huh?" Ukyo followed his glance just a fraction too slow and was thus surprised when a pair of arms latched firmly around her in an open hug that showed no hesitation in displaying her assailant's affection.

"Airen!" Perfume cried happily, "Perfume so glad to see you! You come home from school soon?"

Now it was Ukyo's turn to look mildly uncomfortable about the image she presented to the public, though there was no doubt at all about the gender of the Amazon girl treating her to such a possessive embrace, "Perfume…haven't I warned you about doing that around other people?"

"I very sorry, Airen," the girl said insincerely as she hopped around to where Ukyo could see her more fully. A not very tall girl with hip-length long brown silky hair, wearing a pale pink silk outfit that accentuated her curves while revealing less skin than regular feminine attire, she was all smiles and radiant joy bound up in one package, the kind of girl any man would be proud to claim for his own, and utterly devoted to Ukyo as her beloved wife-husband.

"What are you doing here?" Ukyo asked, aware that she was blushing in spite of her desire not to show it, "I thought you and Cologne were setting things up in the restaurant."

"Great Grandmother say Perfume can go see Airen," Perfume said brightly, "She take care of business until Airen get home to serve public."

"All by herself?" Ukyo remarked with a raised eyebrow. Elder Cologne was certainly more than capable of running the restaurant on her own, but it was unusual for her to dismiss the help around noontime.

"Ah," Perfume hesitated, "Perfume have…other reason leave Restaurant early. Great Grandmother hire new help. He work for room and board, no make trouble for Perfume and Airen."

"She hired somebody without consulting me?" Ukyo asked then saw the nervous expression Perfume wore and had a sudden suspicion, which she voiced, "Wait a minute…you don't mean…?"

Shampoo reluctantly nodded, "Mousse. He now work as busboy…"

"MOUSSE?" both Ukyo and Ranma said together.

Perfume reluctantly nodded, "Great Grandmother work deal, he call off challenging Airen for Perfume. Elder say he trustworthy as long as she keep eye on him…"

"Perfume," Ukyo said slowly, "He wants to kill me and take you away! I'm his rival, after all, and he's already made dozens of attempts on my life…"

"Mousse very stubborn and stupid," Perfume said, "But he know he not good enough to beat Airen. Besides, is old saying among Amazons: keep friends close…"

"And your enemies closer," Ranma finished for her, "I guess she figures he'll be easier to manage if she keeps him where she can see him, and he won't be as able to plot trouble if he spends most of the day where you can find him. Can't say I approve of the idea, though…"

"I sure as hell don't approve!" Ukyo growled, "That half-blind obsessive-compulsive has been making my life hell ever since we met…"

"Yeah, I agree with that," Ranma nodded, "Only I'm not so sure he's been as serious about it lately. I mean, you're good, Ucchan, but he's pretty good, too, and you can only get lucky just so often…"

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Ukyo glared at him suspiciously, "You think he could take me if he really went all out?"

"It's a definite possibility," he replied, "You've got to admit that. Maybe he's starting to come around to see the light…"

"And pigs fly," Perfume snorted.

"If you give one a good kick," Ranma said, then shrugged, "Sorry, bad sports joke.

"So what are you saying, Ranchan?" Ukyo asked, "That I should ignore what this guy has done and let bygones be bygones?"

"Oh yeah, that'll work," Ranma sniffed, "I just mean that these Amazons live by a code…back me up on this, Per-chan, Mousse has to prove himself worthy of being your Airen as well as…um…remove the obstacle in his path."

"So now I'm an obstacle," Ukyo snorted, "Whatever became of not wanting to hurt me?"

"Rules only allow you be defeated if you no take wife and be Airen," Perfume said simply, "When you no take Perfume you only be obstacle. When you…accept Perfume as wife…Mousse no have other option."

"Great," Ukyo sniffed, "So now he has to kill me to have you. So much for options."

Perfume looked at Ukyo seriously, "Airen…you regret? Perfume know you no want her at beginning…"

"Hey, we've already been over that," Ukyo said, "Whatever I said or did in the past, it's over. I may not have wanted another relationship…the kami know I didn't need the complication, but…like it or not, you're a part of my life now and I've learned to live with that. So will Mousse, even if I have to bash it into his skull repeatedly until he gets the message."

"Why does he keep after you?" Ranma asked, "That's what I don't understand. If somebody ever told me to take a hike…"

"Like Kodachi?" Ukyo asked with a sidelong smirk.

"Ah," Ranma hesitated, "Okay, good example. Thing is I finally did learn to get over her, and now I've got four other women in my life, two of them I'm engaged to, and I don't need any more distractions."

"Mousse," Perfume sighed, "He not bad by nature, was time Perfume felt very sorry. He get picked on by other boys and made fun of by Amazon girls our age. His eyesight very bad, no see well close up, see better at longer distance…"

"Farsighted," Ukyo nodded, "A form of Astigma, which is why he wears those thick glasses."

"That also might explain why he uses weapons he can throw at a distance," Ranma noted, "Up close is a different matter, which is why he must have studied Crane fighting, which uses distance as an advantage."

"You make good observation," Perfume nodded with approval, "Airen Concubine good match for Ucchan. Strong Warrior, see style of Mousse and know how counter. Same with Nabiki-chan, only she see pattern like Great Grandmother, know how to fight on instinct."

"Yeah, Ranchan and Nab-chan are quite a combination," Ukyo sniffed, then sighed, "How did I ever wind up in this five-way engagement thing? My best friend from ten years ago is engaged to my iinazuke and is married to another woman who just happens to be the adopted cousin to the woman I married. If I were selling this to a publisher they'd never buy it. I have trouble believing it myself most of the time, but if somebody tries pinching me, I'll brain him!"

"Don't look at me," Ranma said innocently, as he turned back to Perfume, "You were saying?"

Perfume resumed her explanation as they reentered the school building and began to wander through the corridors with other students who were hurrying back from their lunch break.

"Mousse want acceptance by tribe, he try hard to be best male Warrior in village, make Amazon girls take him seriously. Think Perfume maybe want be friend when Shampoo cousin reject him. He try impress us, make himself useful, but many times he get in way. Shampoo-cousin finally make him leave alone, but he just try harder on Perfume. Maybe he afraid to admit failure, think win Perfume other Amazons see he great fighter."

"What, like a trophy wife?" Ranma asked, "He can't be working himself so hard just because of that!"

"Why not?" Ukyo asked, "I slaved for ten years training myself to prove I was good enough that I wouldn't need any man to protect me. I suppose if I'd known you when I was six I might have trained just as hard for the other reason."

"I don't know," Ranma said, giving Perfume a side-glance, "Maybe I'm mistaken, but I kind of think the guy really likes you."

"I no see why,"Perfume shrugged, "Perfume no give him good cause to like. No be as rough with him as Shampoo-cousin, but I try discourage Mousse, tell him no want, but he no listen."

"I guess the only way I'll ever get him to leave me alone is if he finally does give up on you, Per-chan," Ukyo sighed, "Which means finding him somebody else he can care for."

"Good luck there," Ranma snorted, "I'm still trying to get Kuno to stop harassing Akane. Doesn't help much that she and Keiko are over at his house visiting Kodachi nearly every day now."

"I thought he was taking a liking to Keiko-chan," Ukyo sniffed, "Talk about barking up the wrong tree. Well, here's our next class, Ranchan, and for once we're not late back from lunch break."

"Hope the teacher doesn't have a coronary," Ranma nodded.

"You might as well go back to the Restaurant, Per-chan," Ukyo told her Amazon bride, "We won't be completely off for another two hours."

"That okay," Perfume nodded, "Great Grandmother no need, and Perfume no want be around Mousse without Airen. Perfume wait until school over."

"You might consider enrolling," Ranma said, "You're pretty smart, so you'd do better than most of the other students."

"Perfume think maybe that good idea," Perfume noted, "Talk to Great Grandmother, she maybe see to enrolling me as foreign exchange student."

"Great," Ukyo grinned, "With any luck we could even get the same classes. Shampoo was going to enroll with us until she found out about her pregnancy. Well, catch you later, and try staying out of trouble, okay Per-chan?"

Perfume raised a hand and smiled, "Perfume promise she behave. No hurt fly unless he bite first."

"Just leave their hands if anybody tries getting fresh," Ranma said as he and Ukyo continued onto class, and then he smiled as he leaned closer to her and said, "You really like her a lot, don't you?"

"Yeah," Ukyo smiled a bit crookedly, "She's great. You jealous?"

"What do I look like?" Ranma snorted, "Some love-sick jealousy crazed fool like Kuno? I know what you've got with her is special, but you're still my iinazuke."

Ukyo felt a warm glow of pleasure as she said, "You're one in a million, Ranchan."

"I'll settle for being man enough to survive the two of you," Ranma chuckled, "It's bad enough with me, Nabiki and Shampoo. Talk about interesting lives…"

"Yeah," Ukyo sniffed in lopsided amusement, "Tell me about it…"

As they entered the dojo, Nabiki reflexively scanned the insides with her greatly enhanced sensitivity, finding everything in place as it usually was. There was no sign of anything out of place, so she asked her ancient Mentor, "All right…what's this you want to show me?"

"You tell me," the little gnome-like man replied, "There's something different. Can you tell me what it is?"

Nabiki sighed, knowing it was futile showing her irritation to the Master of her school. She might not respect him much as a human being, but when it came to the art he was unquestionably her superior, so she settled herself to relax and focus her mind and perceptions. Whatever he wanted her to find was important, so she did as he requested and began to examine the entire dojo on more than one level of existence.

Physically she could see little that was out of place. The dojo had a certain feel about it that denoted great age and dignity, almost like an elderly member of the family that had taken many punches over the years yet still somehow managed to remain in one place, much like Happosai himself (only without the hentai parts). You could breathe the air and sense the weight of many years in the timbers and floorboards, the arrangement of the sparse furnishings and workout equipment and the shrine at one end with the Iroha principles of the Anything Goes school spelled out for all to see. Her family dojo certainly felt strangely comfortable and familiar three months after her return from ten years on the open road. It was starting to feel like a part of her, the home she had been missing for so long, so familiar it was like a phantom from her childhood dreams made flesh. It…

No, wait, there was something out of place here. She could feel it somehow, some indefinable sense of something that did not fit the pattern. Her brief scan of the room itself failed to turn up a clue, so she opened her thoughts to perceiving the currents of energy about the room, seeing the translucent wavy lines of force that flowed throughout the dojo like a living pulse, and--sure enough--she sensed the irregularity in that flow. She followed her senses to the source of the disturbance and found it emanating from a single point at the far end of the chamber.

Nabiki walked slowly over to that area, letting her intuition guide her until she knelt down and moved her hand over the floorboards, then paused over one board that felt slightly out of place from the others. She used her fingers to lightly explore around the edges of the board, then pressed against a certain spot and was rewarded by a slight clicking noise, and suddenly the board raised up by a few millimeters. With some care she was able to pry it open to reveal a hidden cubbyhole in which she found a scroll and several coins of indeterminate minting. She jostled them a bit until she recognized them as foreign currency, then turned a questioning look to the Master, who beamed at her a wide smile of approval.

"Good," he said, "You sensed the discrepancy. What did it feel like?"

"I don't know," Nabiki frowned, "It's hard to describe…just a sense of something being out of place…"

"Good call," he smiled, nodding to the scroll, "And that?"

She carefully undid the ties that held it rolled up then carefully unrolled it, sensing great age in the silk-parchment paper, and a moment later she was staring at a chart displaying the human body with many lines and characters inscribed delineating various nerves and points of interest.

Nabiki read the name on the chart and said, "Anything Goes Pressure Point Techniques?"

"One of the rarest treasures of the Anything Goes School," Happosai revealed, "I had it copied a couple hundred years ago when I gained possession of the Moxibustion scroll. What you have there are the secret pressure points that can show you how to cripple or disable any foe with just a touch. With this in your hands you never need fear for the Cat Tongue or any of the other special attack centers that old bag might use against you."

"Master," Nabiki said in awe, and for once she actually meant it in respect, "I don't know what to say…"

"Study it carefully and commit these points to memory," Happosai replied, "Then hide it back in the same spot. It's too dangerous to leave lying around. Anyone who uses it might put it to evil ends. Since you are my appointed heir, it is only fair that I leave this legacy to you and your iinazuke."

"Thank you," Nabiki said as she rolled the scroll up and retied it before slipping it into her belt, "Guess I'd better be careful where I put this. I'll learn the techniques then teach them to Ranma."

Happosai nodded his approval, "I thought it'd be a better idea to teach you first since you're the only one smart enough to appreciate the danger. Just don't do anything with these techniques that might come back to haunt you. It's easy to take a power such as this for granted."

"I can imagine," Nabiki shuddered, remembering the effects of the Cat Tongue.

"The scrolls been here for most of the last century since I first created that catch-hold," Happosai continued, "I just put the coins in because I knew you'd sense them. You've got a real nose for money, and by following your intuition it shows me how much you're learning."

"Glad to know I meet with your approval," Nabiki snorted, this time meaning it in a sarcastic light.

"I'd consider that a pretty dubious distinction myself," another voice observed, causing Nabiki and Happosai to turn and see someone else reclining against the frame of the dojo while favoring them with a nonchalant expression.

"Saki?" Nabiki reacted in surprise, most particularly as she had not heard the pink-haired Undercover Vice Cop approach the dojo.

"Honeybunch!" Happosai cried in delight as he launched himself at the other girl, "Come to Poppa--!"

Saki moved too quickly for the ancient Master, interposing her first in the path his face was taking and stopping him cold. She withdrew the hand and growled, "Back off, Gramps, before I haul you in for violating the morals code!"

"What are you doing here?" Nabiki asked as she approached the other woman at a more leisurely pace."

"Wish I could say this was a social visit," Saki smiled at her in genuine affection, "This is the first time I've had a chance to see the insides of your infamous dojo. Truth is I'm here unofficially, but it has to do with the business."

Nabiki nodded warily. There was only one kind of business that could interest Asamiya Saki or the people she worked for.

Saki saw her caution and said, "Don't worry, this isn't that sort of business. Actually I came in person to deliver a warning. Something up on the grape vine and I thought you ought to know about it."

Nabiki perked up her ears, "I'm listening."

"Like I once told you, I've been keeping an eye on you and watching your progress from a distance," Saki replied, "My superiors are not as yet concerned with your dealings since you actually seem to be doing some good with your Nabiki/Kaneda-Sempei act, scaring away the pushers and pimps just like you promised. Unfortunately, that seems to have earned you the wrong sort of attention from other quarters. You ever hear of a group called the Road Warriors?"

"What, like the movie?" Nabiki asked, picturing Mel Gibson.

"Somewhat," Saki replied, "Only these guys are the genuine article. They're a Motor gang of strong arm thugs and professional muscle that have earned a hairy reputation for brutality in the short time they've been in existence. We've been tracking their movements since they were founded but so far haven't been able to nail them on anything but misdemeanors. They hire themselves out to gangs who can afford to pay big bucks for their protection and have a reputation for ruthlessness that's made them a feared name in the Underworld, but they're not officially linked with the Tongs, Triads or Yakuza. They're way too high profile."

"Okay," Nabiki said, "So far it's been interesting, but what does it have to do with me?"

"Only the fact that their leader has proclaimed that he's personally out to get you," Saki replied, "Goes by the name of the Road Ronin, and that's all we know about him…except…"

"Except?" Nabiki prodded.

"Except that he's a student of Two-Gun Nine-Millimeter fighting-slash-Martial Arts," Saki explained, "And someone's paying him a lot of yen to take you down or drive you out of Nerima. The people you've inconvenienced have decided to strike back by hiring someone from outside of their organization, and he's deadly enough to have a chance if you're not on your guard against high-powered ambush."

"I see," Nabiki said quietly, "Thank you for the warning. I knew I was stirring up trouble for myself when I started trying to clean up Furinkan…"

"This doesn't just concern you," Saki said with a sobriety that was chilling, "Remember what I once told you before about not being able to protect everyone you love and care for? Well, the Ronin's MO suggests a tendency to send a challenge message to his intended victims by killing or injuring someone close to the victim, such as a friend or a family member, maybe even a loved one."

"What?" Nabiki gasped, suddenly feeling her body temperature drop by several degrees.

Saki just nodded and said, "School won't be out for another hour, but my best guess is that Furinkan is the perfect place from which to strike in ambush, right as your iinazuke, sister and friends get out from class. If I were you I'd hurry over there just in case they need you."

"I'll leave right away," Nabiki said, then gave Saki a studied look before saying, "You coming?"

"I'd love to," Saki shook her head, "But I think somebody ought to remain here, just in case. This is the next most logical place to strike, and I've been after these guys long enough to know how they think. I'm offering your family and house my protection."

"What will this cost me?" Nabiki asked, then smiled as she said, "Never mind. Thanks, I don't know what I've ever done for you to deserve this."

"You've tried to make a difference," Saki nodded, "That's payment enough. Better get going, and keep your ears peeled. If the Warriors make their strike it's bound to be loud, hard and aggressive. The Ronin likes a good show, and he can make as grand an entrance as a major Rock Idol. That's the one hope you have of seeing him in time to defeat him."

"I'll remember that," Nabiki turned and handed the scroll to Happosai, "Better hold onto this for me, Gramps, I wouldn't want to lose it."

"Just go do what you have to, my girl," Happosai waved the scroll pleasantly, "I'll stay here with the cutie and…"

"Watch where you put your hands," Saki noted in a tone that dripped acid.

"Party pooper," Happosai growled in undertone, "That's what's wrong with kids these days, no respect for their elders…"

Continued

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