Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Memoirs of being in the Saddle ❯ The nudge ( Chapter 12 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

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It took me a minute to figure out where to get started. I knew I had to talk about things eventually, and I had a few stories prepared for various things, but this was a bit early. I was going to steal pieces from several to make this.

 

Finally, I was ready.

 

"Ever wonder why I have that full-length mirror in the bathroom?" I said, gesturing with my empty hand in its direction. "It's because of this."

 

I pushed my chair back slightly, leaned back, grabbed my bad leg, and unceremoniously dropped it onto the table. Then I pulled my pant leg up until not only could she see the metal, but all the way to mid-calf where the metal ended and the stump began.

 

Ranma knew I had it, she'd seen glimpses of it, and there was that one time I swapped feet in front of her, though the baggy pantleg obscured all details. She didn't ask, mostly as I think she was terrified it might drive me away if she did, and she had few friends as it was.

 

Though she tended to forget I had it. She and so many others. That was because, for short distances on level ground anyway, I could walk so well that no one could tell. It took a lot of practice for that to be so.

 

Of course, as the day wore on, the limp would start, and only get worse.

 

It was why I had that little table by the bath, not that it couldn't rust, it was titanium after all, but because it felt weird the few times I'd taken it in the water.

 

"Back in high school, before... this," I tapped my glass against the titanium for emphasis. "I loved to run, hell, I was on the track team. I ran everywhere."

 

I didn't know what was on my face, but I don't think it was happy.

"And then one day I couldn't. Because of a stupid accident, one that wasn't my fault, one I had no real involvement in, something had been taken away from me."

 

I shrugged. "Well, several somethings, but I won't go into that until some other time. As it was, a precious part of my life had been taken from me, a core aspect of who I was and how I defined myself, and there was nothing I could do about it."

 

Yes, it was a rough mirror of what Ranma had gone through, and yes it was on purpose. I wanted her to latch onto the parallels.

 

"After I healed I gradually got used to the prosthetic, I could walk almost normally and go for long stretches pretending I wasn't a cripple. But, only for so long, not forever. Eventually, I realized I was just pretending to be who I was before, so I had to deal with that fact that I was a different person now."

 

"And to do that, I bought that mirror."

 

She was enthralled at my bullshit story. I dragged my leg off the table and continued.

 

"You see, the mirror goes all the way down to the floor. So when I stood in front of it, I could see the stump. And that's what I did. I stood right in front that mirror and I said 'I'm still me', over and over, until it stuck."

 

"I'm still me?" She parroted my words back at me. 

 

I nodded. "It took a while. Every now and then I still do it."

 

"And that leads to the only advice I can give you for this Ranma." I leaned forward and put my hand on top of hers. She didn't seem to notice the contact. "Don't flee from yourself."

 

"If you have a quality, be proud of it. Let it define you, whatever it is." I clenched her hand as hard as I could and finally, she noticed we were touching, pretty much for the first time ever. 

 

"You don't have to trumpet it from the rooftops, but you must never be ashamed of anything about you, of anything you like. It took me a long time to figure that out, and I'd spare you the pain of that if I could."

 

We both looked down at my hand, and I withdrew it.

 

And of course, the moment was shattered by my phone ringing.

 

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We both jumped at the noise, Ranma almost leaving her seat. 

 

I sighed. "Excuse me a second." And made my way to my workroom.

 

So close. I was so close. Goddamnit.

 

What could I have persuaded her to try? Now we'll never know.

 

And the call wasn't even that important. A request to cover the cameras for a stupid story about talking cats seen in Juuban. Fine sure, whatever, I'll hold the camera. 

 

I hung up and took a breath. 

 

Breathe, it was important to breathe.

 

I sat in my comfy office chair and thought. Could I salvage something out of this? Beyond the words?

 

Maybe...

 

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I gave myself three minutes total, as a phone call shouldn't take too long. 

 

Ranma was still at the table and had turned back into a man while I was gone. Any attempt to guide her further was over now that his defenses were back up.

 

He turned to look at me as I approached.

 

"That was work about an emergency gig." And that was mostly true, a tomorrow emergency, but still. "I'm gonna have to head out for a bit."

 

I held up a hand as Ranma started to rise. "Stay. At least for a couple hours till the booze is out of your system. Hell, have a nap on the couch if you need it."

 

I showed him how to use the remote, and where my movies -the safe ones- were. 

 

And I left the booze on the table along with the soda.

 

And then I got dressed in my suit and left.

 

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I grabbed a take-out bento and detoured over to my room by the Tendos, I had some tapes to review. 

 

Things to confirm.

 

Fact: There was no way those little bastards managed to have the money in one day, not that they couldn't have that much saved up, but they said they cleaned out their savings from their bank. That meant hitting a bank.

Fact: From here the nearest bank branch in Nerima, not necessarily their own branch but the closest one, closed at 3:30 PM And was about forty minutes away on foot. Not a problem for me given the hours I keep, and it wasn't even my bank, but I had checked it when I moved here. The others were further out still, near the busy roads.

 

Ergo, unless they had a car, they couldn't get there in time. 

Remember, this wasn't modern times with electronic banking everywhere and places open till civilized hours. Banks closed early. 

 

Fact: I knew about the fight. Since it was Monday now, that made it eleven days ago on a Thursday. It was repaired by Wednesday as most of the repair guys weren't working on the weekend, at least without charging extra, which Nabiki would never spring for. 

 

Thus, a week after the damage she presented the bill, and the day after the little brats handed Ranma the money, Saturday it happened, Sunday she broke down in my bathroom, and Today we talked about it. 

 

I listened to the idle household banter as I selected the reels to listen to. But then I heard something startling. 

 

Something damning.

 

Akane was wondering where Ranma was, he'd taken off pretty quick after school. Her anxiety about herself was only rivaled by her fears that Ranma might run off with someone else. 

I know, self-esteem issues in a teenager, quite the shock. 

That wasn't what was important. No, it's what Nabiki said in response.

 

"Him? Nah, I think he's off doing things with Hiroshi and Daisuke." You could taste the smirk in her voice. "You know, guy stuff."

 

I stopped hunting for the other tapes, I'd just heard all I needed to hear. 

 

She knew. She knew because she'd set him up.

 

I sat back in my chair and sighed. And I couldn't touch her, at least not yet. She was one of the smart-ish ones; and was both petty and vindictive enough to throw sand in the gears just because she could.

 

Still, that didn't mean I couldn't do a little payback...

 

And so I schemed for a few hours, hashing out some plans. 

 

=-=-=-=

 

I came home to a nearly quiet house. There was only the hiss of the TV static, and the light snoring of Ranma, curled up on the couch.

 

Female.

 

I glanced over at the kitchen table and smirked slightly. The vodka and 7up were both empty. 

 

Still, not wanting to be punched, I poked Ranma with a long wooden cooking spoon until she woke up.

 

She yawned and stretched, which I watched out of the corner of my eye. It wouldn't do to be leering at her now that she was sober. 

 

"Hey." She said. "Thanks for all this. I feel a lot better." Sleep had been good for her, I can't imagine she had gotten much on Saturday or Sunday.

 

I nodded. "Good. Now it's pretty late, so you head on your way." I never called the Tendo house her home, one of the many things I'd been careful for. "Stop by tomorrow and we'll talk a bit more."

 

She nodded. 

 

I led her to the door where she grabbed her shoes. She hesitated at the door.

 

"If," She said, not turning to face me. "If I figure it out, and I tell you, would you tell me..." She trailed off, not sure how to say it.

 

On the inside, Jackpot! On the outside I hesitated, stretching out the moment till it was nearly uncomfortable, then finally nodded. Then felt foolish as she was facing away from me.

 

"If it'll help you."

 

And with that, she left.

 

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That was a lot of Vodkas gone. And I don't think he or she ate anything out of my fridge, what little I had that wasn't leftover takeout so it was practically on an empty belly.

 

And so I cleaned up the drinks, did a check for glass splinters (If you think it's bad getting one of those in A foot, imagine when it's your ONLY foot.), and did a sweep of my house. 

 

Just in case Ranma was watching somehow. I get like that when I drink. A bit paranoid.

 

Without time to prep, I hadn't placed any tiny tape strips on any door-frames, but I had become a stickler for hiding my collection of Ranma whenever I was done, just in case.

 

Still, a room check showed nothing out of place.

 

I moved onto the bathroom, opening it while holding the switch down so I wouldn't trigger the camera. 

 

It was immaculate. Like far more than what I normally leave it at. 

 

Had Ranma cleaned it? Now, why would he, or she, do that?

 

I used the little stick to pop open the mirror. 

 

A red dot was waiting for me.