PERSONALITY MAKEOVER III
The Trouble with Fiancees
That night, Nabiki Tendo found that it was
impossible to
fall asleep. She tossed and turned in the hopes of finding a
comfortable position, but it was all for naught. She was too
overwrought. All night her imagination had been working overtime,
conjuring up unwelcome images of Kuno and Akane on their date.
She could see it now. Akane would be gushing and clinging to
Kuno's arm, and he in the meanwhile would be acting like it was
all his due. No...it wouldn't matter to him in the least that
Akane had done nothing but spurn him in the past.
A part of her wanted to wonder at her
concern. Surely, she
should be glad. If a match was imminent between the Tendos and
the wealthy Kunos, then money would pour in like it never had.
But the stronger side of herself refused to probe her intentions.
Perhaps because the direction from which the money would come was
not the one of her choice...
Where the heck are they? she fumed. It's
after midnight!
They've been gone long enough for them to...to have done... She
squelched the thought.
It was another agonizing half hour later
before she heard
voices just outside. Silently she rose to look out the window.
Akane was giggling and throwing her head back. Unsisterly
thoughts exploded inside her. Then, before her wide open eyes,
Kuno leaned forward as if to kiss Akane. Unable to hold herself
back any longer, she made a sharp sound and drew back into the
shadows.
Immediately, the two glanced up in her
direction. They saw
nothing, but the moment was broken nonetheless. Stepping into the
house, Akane laid her hand briefly on Kuno's arm and whispered
something in his ear. He smiled and walked away, Nabiki's eyes
following his proud and erect figure.
"Nabiki?" Akane called softly. She opened
her sister's door
a crack, and the light that spilled in revealed her sister
snuggled deep under her blankets. She shut the door as quietly as
she could.
Nabiki's eyes snapped open and she sat up
with an irritated
mutter. It would be a long while yet before she found some
sleep.
Ranma groaned and threw an arm over his
eyes to block out
the sunlight that insisted on creeping under his eyelids. Then
his eyes opened and he sat bolt upright. "Wait a minute. Today's
a schoolday!" He scrambled out of the covers and dressed
hurriedly. Man he was going to be late. Not that he wasn't most
of the time, but Akane had always been there to wake him up. He
paused in the act of stuffing his shirt into his pants.
Akane...
He wondered what time she'd gotten in last
night. God forbid
that she and Kuno...
"Good morning!" Akane stepped out from her
room cheerily.
Ranma sighed in relief. That's when he
looked down at the
rest of her. He staggered back, eyes nearly popping out of their
sockets.
"Akane???" Nabiki, just out of her own
room, looked as
shocked as he. She didn't look like she'd had much sleep either,
if the bags under her eyes were any indication.
Akane turned to face her, an innocent smile
lighting up her
face. "Yes, sister dear?"
Unable to get the words out of her mouth,
Nabiki could only
gesture wildly at her dress.
Akane looked down. She was wearing the
standard Furinkan
uniform, but its appearance had changed dramatically. It seemed
to have shrunk in the wash with the way it clung to her body,
emphasizing her curves. The skirt's hem did not quite reach her
waist. "Oh this? The uniform was so out of fashion that I just
had to liven it up a little."
"A little? A little's what's left of
it."
Ranma, finding himself capable of movement
again, dashed up
the stairs and threw a robe over her shoulders. His eyes darted
feverishly from left to right. "Quick. Before anyone sees
you!"
Akane turned to stare at him. Instantly,
she shrank from his
touch. Oh it's you! That rude man from Saisaki."
"About that. Look I'm really sorry, but I
don't see-"
Akane stuck her nose in the air and sniffed
delicately.
"Come on, sister," she said, dragging Nabiki down the stairs and
out the house.
"What's going on?" Nabiki demanded,
breaking Akane's grasp
from her arm.
Instead of answering immediately, Akane
shot an annoyed
glance behind them. Ranma was walking on the fence, head bowed.
"Does he always go to school like that?" she hissed.
Nabiki arched an eyebrow at her.
They walked in silence for a few moments.
Then Akane burst
out, "That cretin dared to call me a tomboy."
Nabiki waited. "That's it? But Akane...he
always calls you
that! Why didn't you just punt him into orbit like you usually
do?"
It was Akane's turn to shoot her a puzzled
stare. "What are
you talking about?"
Nabiki studied her. "You're not acting like
yourself,
Akane," she remarked after awhile. "Has this got something to do
with the talk we had yesterday?" She snuck her a sidelong glance
and realized her sister wasn't listening.
She was humming and twirling a strand of
her hair around a
finger. "Tatchi-chan was so wonderful yesterday," she informed
her dreamily.
Nabiki stiffened. "Oh? I take it your date
went well?"
Akane giggled. "Did it ever!"
"What did-"
"Well I don't know where to start! That
dreamboat sure knows
how to show a girl a good time! Then again, I suppose he has a
lot of money to do it with."
"Tell me about it," Nabiki muttered under
her breath.
Akane whirled on her. "You say
something?"
"No, nothing."
"Oh. Well, as I was saying..." Akane's face
lit up as she
continued to babble on about how fabulous her date had been.
Nabiki tuned it all out, but she felt sick to the stomach.
Apparently, they had had a good time together. When Furinkan High
loomed into sight she cried out rather desperately. "Oh look I
see my friends! I gotta, uh, go." She hurried off to the left,
although there was no one to be seen.
Akane stared at her retreating figure with
surprise, then
shrugged it off. Already boys were taking notice of her outfit.
They were bumping into each other and falling all over themselves
...not really caring all the while.
Yuka and Sayuri cautiously appeared by both
her elbows. "H-
Hi Akane," Yuka ventured. "That's...interesting...what you did to
your dress."
"You think? I'm so glad! Everybody else had
such negative
reactions. I altered it myself you know." She started to twirl
around, but Sayuri stopped her in time.
"Er-I don't think that would be a good
idea, Akane."
"Tee-hee. Of course." She blushed
becomingly. "Silly me."
"Wait." Yuka spread her arms incredulously.
"You altered
it?" When Akane nodded eagerly, she remarked. "But everyone knows
you can't handle a needle to save - oof!" She rubbed her injured
side and glared at Sayuri. "I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said
that."
"But why did you? What kind of woman would
I be if I
didn't?"
Both stared at her in surprise. "Akane,"
Sayuri gasped. "Why
you were always the first to scoff when other people said such
things!"
"I did no such thing."
"Oh yes, you did."
"No, I didn't."
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
All of a sudden, Akane was sobbing. "Why
are you being so
mean to me?" she wailed. She blew loudly into a handkerchief.
Sayuri's forehead creased with concern. She
leaned forward
to touch Akane tentatively. "I-I'm sorry. I never meant to-"
Akane snatched the handkerchief off her
face. "Didn't!" Then
she collapsed into a fit of giggles, until her face became quite
red.
Her two friends could not help but exchange
alarmed glances.
"Akane..." Yuka began, but she saw something over Sayuri's
shoulder that made her eyes widen in fright. "Oh no!" she cried.
She seized Akane by the shoulders. "Hide!"
"Hide?" Akane repeated, baffled. "Whatever
for?"
"It's Principal Kuno! He's coming this
way!"
"Nonsense. I have nothing to fear from him.
He's Tatewaki's
fa-" And with that, she abruptly fainted.
Sayuri shrieked and managed to catch her in
time.
Ranma heard the shriek and looked up from
the group of boys
he was talking to. He immediately left them to race to where they
were. "What happened?! Here let me." He moved to take her.
"Touch her not, Saotome!"
He turned around to find Kuno standing
before him, blocking
the sunlight. His bokken was aimed at his throat. He straightened
up and stared him in the eye. "Oh come on, Kuno! She's sick!
Anyway," he added with a smirk, "what could you do about it?"
Kuno returned the sneer. "You are mistaken.
I will not do
anything."
"Hahahahaha!!!" The principal popped up
behind Ranma's
shoulder, brandishing his shears and razor and grinning
maniacally.
Ranma jumped. "Yikes!!!" He bolted, with
the principal not
far behind.
"I'll take it from here," Kuno murmured to
the two stunned
girls, scooping Akane up.
Akane came to suddenly. Her eyes opened and
she saw her two
friends gazing at her in concern. "What are you two doing here?
What happened?"
"You fainted," Yuka told her. "You're in
the school clinic.
Last bell has already rung, but we've been excused for a few
minutes."
She lay back down.
"Anyway, we forgot to tell you... The main
reason Sayuri and
I came over was to remind you of the volleyball game this
afternoon against St. Hebereke. It's the championship match."
Her eyes snapped open. "No! I can't play in
the game!"
They nodded. "We understand. You must not
be feeling well
enough to."
"It's not that." She held her hands up for
inspection. "I
just had them manicured, see?"
The two face-faulted, just as the nurse
walked in with a
cold compress. "Good grief!" the woman exclaimed. "There must be
a virus going around."
Ranma was eating lunch in the school
cafeteria when Yuka and
Sayuri converged on him. His hair automatically stood on end. An
atmosphere of doom and darkness fairly crackled from them. "Uh,
uh, hi." he stammered, cowering back. "Uh...I didn't do it?"
They shook their heads ominously, then sat
down beside him,
one on each side. Hiroshi and Daisuke immediately got up,
carrying their lunch trays.
"Hey!" Ranma called. "You ain't just
leaving me here, are
you?"
They faced him, looking chagrined. "Sorry
Ranma, but we've
learned not to interfere with your women troubles." With that,
they hightailed it to another table.
He glowered after them, but remembered the
two at his side.
"Wh-what can I do for you?" he said, turning to look at them
both.
"Akane refuses to play in the volleyball
game today." They
exchanged quick looks. "We need a replacement." With that, they
looked straight at him.
"M-M-Me? But girls, you're forgetting
something. I'm a guy,
remember?"
==SPLASH!!!==
Ranma-chan slumped, acknowledging defeat.
"I-I'd be
delighted to."
They studied her face, making sure she was
saying the truth,
then with a quick nod to each other, left. Ranma let out the
breath she'd been holding and closed her eyes in relief.
The shout hit her with the impact of a
sonic boom and she
screamed. A moment later, Ryoga careened down the corner and
skidded to a stop in front of her.
"It's nice to see you again too," she
winced, whapping the
side of her head to get some feeling back.
Ryoga grabbed her by the collar. "Ranma!
What did you do to
Akane?" he barked.
Ranma stared at him dumbly. "Huh?"
His eyes were glowing with rage. "I've
journeyed all the way
across Japan, and the only thing that kept me going was the
thought of being cradled in Akane's arms. But last night, when
she came upon me in her room, the most terrible thing happened."
He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the horror. "Sh-
she was all over me, kissing and cuddling me, calling me her cute
little pork chop. And I was never so frightened in my life! The
way she carried on...she reminded me of Azusa." He covered his
face with his hands and wept.
Ranma-chan watched him from lowered lids.
She rolled her
eyes.
Ryoga whirled around and grabbed her by the
shoulders and
shook her. "This is all your fault, Ranma!"
She squirmed out of his grasp. "I swear I
had nothing to do
with it! Honest! She's been acting really strange lately. Beats
the heck out of me why."
"But you must have done something."
"Not me!" She paused. "Except...I did throw
something and it
hit her on the head."
"You hit Akane?!"
"It was an accident! An accident! Anyway
that couldn't
possibly be it..."
"Well do you plan on doing anything
about it?"
"I'm thinking, I'm thinking! I've got this
volleyball game
after school..."
"You're putting a stupid game before
Akane???"
"Calm down! I won't be helping her any if I
were dead, would
I? Look, we gotta think things through. I think the best idea
would be for you to follow her around all day; make sure she
doesn't do anything crazier than dating Kuno."
Ryoga gaped at her. "She went on a date
with Kuno???"
"Yeah, go figure." She fixed him a piercing
gaze. "Look
Ryoga, I'm counting on you."
Ryoga held his head and laughed. "Me? You
doubt me?"
She narrowed her eyes
suspiciously. "Like I said, go
figure."
An exhausted Ranma-chan trudged out of the
Furinkan gym with
the rest of the volleyball team. In her limp hand was the
tournament trophy. They had won in the end, but it had been a
gruelling match against St. Hebereke. She followed the team into
the girls' locker room without thinking.
She was greeted by a strange sight. The
before bone-weary
girls were in a feverish excitement. They chattered noisily while
undressing. Some were taking formal dresses(!) out of their
lockers.
"Hey what's this?" she demanded weakly.
A tall girl with wavy red hair, breezing
past, stopped long
enough to answer her. "Haven't you heard? Akane's getting married
to Kuno!"
That certainly woke her up. "WHAT?!?!
B-B...how-?" she
sputtered.
"Well I suppose he proposed to her and she
accepted. Anyway,
they're getting married in an hour at the Kuno mansion." She
sighed dreamily. "Oh it's going to be such a grand wedding!"
"Why th-th-that's outrageous!!!" Ranma
blustered. "She can't
get married to him! She's engaged to me for one!"
A freckled girl to his left tittered.
"You're one to talk,
R-" She suddenly stopped, her eyes growing wide. "R-Ranma!!!
Eeeek!!! You pervert! This is a women's locker room!"
All the girls started shrieking and hurling
everything they
could lay their hands on. She ran out as fast as she could and
narrowly missed getting hit with the trophy they'd just won.
"Hey!" she cried angrily. "No wonder Akane's so violent!" she
shouted at the closed door.
She heaved and slumped against the wall
dejectedly.
"Akane...getting married? I didn't think that macho chick had it
in her. And to a creep like Kuno, no less! And that Ryoga. If I
ever get my hands on him-" She broke off, noticing a familiar
figure to her left that was trying to skulk past. She charged and
rammed him into the wall.
Ryoga raised his hands up in defense. "I
swear I don't know
anything about Akane's engagement," he babbled.
"Moron! How can you deny something you're
not aware of?!"
His face was red with shame. "I only let
her out of my sight
for an instant."
"And promptly got lost, didn't ya? I should
have known
better than to trust a lost boy like you." She grabbed him by the
hair and dragged him down the corridor.
"Where are you taking me?" he demanded,
looking about
wildly.
"Kuno mansion. I've got a funny feeling
something's wrong
with Akane."
Ryoga lay on his stomach in the dirt,
peering through the
blades of grass at the Kuno mansion. His eyes followed the
samurai armor clad young man who was patrolling the doors leading
inside. There was some rustling behind him, then Ranma-chan was
flattened beside him. "Well?"
She grunted. "Kuno's got the entire Kendo
club guarding all
the entrances." She paused. "They won't be a problem. We can take
them easy."
Ryoga grinned, revealing his fangs. The two
chuckled evilly.
They heard a laugh from behind them. They
whipped back their
faces in surprise to find Nabiki gazing down at them with
amusement. "Don't you two think the situation calls for a bit
more subtletly?"
Ranma glared at her. "And I suppose you
have a better plan?"
"Don't I always?"
"Yeah well, how much is it gonna cost this
time, Nabiki?"
Her expression was inscrutable.
"For...reasons I won't go
into...I'll waive my service fee. All I ask is your cooperation
in the matter."
They gaped up at her in shock. "You-you're
kidding right?"
Ryoga managed to voice.
"There's no catch?"
"None whatsoever," she crisply replied. She
arched an
eyebrow. "So do we have a deal?"
They glanced at each other. "Deal," they
announced in
unison. They shook hands.
