Love Letters from the Edge
A Ranma 1/2 Elseworlds by the Scriviner
Foreword:
What actually set off this story was an episode
of Kinyo Chui Ho Wapiko-chan, I saw a couple of
months back, where one of the characters hit her head
and had a long elaborate dream sequence where
everyone was acting the opposite of how they normally
acted. I figured it was a great idea for a fic... but
then I figured, it'd be more intriguing to see if I
could make a single change which would result in a
cascade of events which would lead to the resulting
opposite personalities/behavior in people.
In any case, rights belong to Rumiko Takahashi,
and I wouldn't dream of trying to steal em. C&C
always welcomed. And now... on with the story...
- - -
Chapter 3: The Best Laid Plans...
Morning in Nerima. The birds were singing, the
sky a perfect azure blue, and Nabiki, Ranma and Akane
were just about to turn the corner to the school.
They'd made a specific point to come early just to
make sure everything worked out in time for them to
get to class.
Nabiki looked rather annoyed, "I really, really
don't see how this can work... it's not even like he
knows how to..."
"He doesn't really have to know how," Akane
replied, "But I'm pretty sure he does. Besides, Ranma
was drilling him all of last night to make this look
good. Now you just do what I told you to, and
everything's going to be just fine," she adjusted her
glasses pointedly.
Nabiki grumbled, "I still say this won't work."
Ranma merely glanced in the direction of the
school gates where the massed ranks of the Nabiki
Tendo suitors had gathered, decked out in their full
regalia, sports gear and all.
Nabiki gave a sigh, then roared a battlecry,
rushing forward to meet their charge.
Ranma looked to Akane, "You really think
this'll work?"
"Course it will." Akane grinned, "I mean, you
were working with him..."
"Yeah and he surprised me," Ranma said nodding.
"Makes sense. I mean he IS the heir to the Kuno
School of Anything Goes Martial Arts, so logically he
has to be a practitioner, right?"
The two jumped easily over the wall to the
school, as the gate had been rendered impassable by
the unconscious bodies. Nabiki easily cut a swathe
through them, throwing people into each other, single
strikes to their vitals, flying kicks. Quite a number
were tossed a good distance away from the main
battlefield.
Ranma noticed Kodachi in the crowd watching and
waved to her. She waved back and gave him a thumbs up
signal. Akane noticed it too and grinned. She turned
to Ranma, "You stay here, I'm going to circulate a
bit."
"Pick up some bets you mean." Ranma replied.
"Precisely." Akane winked, giving Ranma a pat
on the cheek. She handed him a long brown paper bag,
"Now you know what to do with this and make sure no
one sees you do it, okay?"
"Gotcha."
In fairly short order, Nabiki disposed of her
attackers. She stood triumphant among the unconscious
boys and breathed heavily, relaxing herself for what
was going to happen next.
There was a sudden blur of motion as something
was hurled at Nabiki. She ducked to the side and
caught the object with no difficulty... it was a
rose.
The crowd of onlookers, some of whom had
already drifted away all looked at the rose in
Nabiki's hand in surprise... murmurs began rising
from the crowd, wondering who had thrown it when a
voice suddenly declared, "Nabiki Tendo, I challenge
you!"
There was a shuffling movement in the crowd as
it parted to reveal Tatewaki Kuno. Ranma used the
crowd's movements to cover up the wadded up brown
paper in his hand which he disposed of.
Kuno's hands were in his pockets and he was
looking straight at Nabiki. He flinched unconsciously
from the attention the crowd was giving him... more
loud mutterings arose as he strode boldly forward.
Towards Nabiki.
He hoped he was giving a good show. His knees
were practically shaking and his palms were sweating.
This entire plan of Akane's did not bode all to well
for him. He was nervous and scared out of his wits.
And worse was the way Nabiki was looking at him...
but it was odd... like she'd only seen him for the
first time today.
He gave a nervous gulp which he covered up for
by standing straighter. He took his glasses off,
putting them away safely into the breast pocket of
his school uniform and said, "I... um... I am
Tatewaki Kuno of the Kuno School of Anything Goes
Martial Arts... and I challenge you, Nabiki Tendo."
"Fine," Nabiki replied, dropping into a ready
stance once more.
Kuno took a deep breath, murmuring to himself,
"It's now or never..." and assumed a defensive
stance.
The muttering from the crowd was getting
louder... "Kuno does martial arts?", "Two hundred yen
on Nabiki.", "Oh no... Nabiki's going to kill him!",
"A hundred yen on Tendo.", "He's a dead man... push
him over, this won't last a minute.", "Fifty yen on
Nabiki!", "That wimp? Against... HER? He's dead.",
"Let go of me, we have to save Kuno-sempai!", "This
is a martial arts thing, they look dead serious.", "I
thought he was her fiancé already, so what's he
trying to prove?", "Better call the infirmary, we'll
probably have to haul his poor carcass outta there."
"A thousand yen on Tatewaki." Kodachi said to
Akane calmly as she received her claim stub. She
smiled, untroubled. That shook people in the near
vicinity, a few of whom placed small bets on Kuno
themselves.
Tatewaki and Nabiki stood staring at each other
for long seconds, both maintaining their stances
easily. Nabiki found herself surprised at Tatewaki.
She'd never really looked at him before, and when she
did, he looked nothing like this. He had a look of
fierce determination on his face, his eyes locked on
her, his skin glistening slightly in the sunlight. He
was holding his stance perfectly. Low center of
balance, no trace of fatigue at all. What she didn't
realize was that he had his teeth clenched to keep
them from chattering and he was sweating from fear.
Nabiki surged forward charging recklessly at
him, her arms and legs lashing out in a complicated
sequence of attacks. She was holding back, not using
her full strength in her strikes, so that at worst
they would sting rather than knock him out... but it
looked very impressive to onlookers.
To her shock, Kuno did not simply stand and
block as she'd assumed he would do, he began to duck
and weave, his hands behind his back. She'd seen
Uncle Kuno do this to her father before, so she
assumed that it was a Kuno school move. Even more
surprising was the fact that not a single blow
connected.
There were gasps of awe from the onlookers as
he seemed to effortlessly dodge each of her strikes.
Akane looked to her brother and muttered, "You didn't
tell me he was THIS good."
Ranma shrugged weakly while Kodachi smiled
smugly, "Well, father did train him. But mom always
insisted that he not use it except in real
emergencies."
Tatewaki was beginning to relax into Nabiki's
sequence, growing less apprehensive by the moment as
he realized he was holding his own. But the gnawing
worry returned as he realized that he would have to
hit her sooner or later in order for it to look
credible... he just... could not do that.
By this time, a number of the unconscious
suitors had regained consciousness, and were watching
the fight with surprise... a thought occurred to them
that perhaps there was a very good reason why Nabiki
was engaged to Kuno...
Nabiki meanwhile was beginning to grow
frustrated. She was observing him carefully and if
anything he looked as if he could keep dodging all
day. She sent a blow towards his stomach, expecting
him to sidestep, so she could follow up with a side
kick, but somehow, he grasped hold of her wrist. With
a movement almost too fast for her to see, he somehow
managed to intertwine his arm with hers, bringing her
wrist up and over her shoulder, locking it into
place.
He held her like that, but without applying any
pressure... she understood instinctively that at any
moment he could apply enough pressure to pop her
shoulder out of joint. She frowned, going over the
possible ways to escape such a hold as Kuno shouted,
"Yield!"
Nabiki's face burned with fury and
embarrassment. She knew at least half a dozen ways to
escape the lock, and was about to throw him off when
she caught sight of Akane. Her younger sister gave a
small smile and nodded once. Nabiki gave a sigh.
"A... alright... I surrender," she said with bad
grace.
This was met with loud gasps of astonishment.
Tatewaki whispered to her in a low voice,
"I'm... r...really sorry about this."
"Just don't let it go to your head, I can still
stomp you into the ground," she growled back softly.
"Um... yeah," he mumbled, releasing her.
Nabiki rubbed her arm a little. It didn't hurt,
but they had to maintain appearances. She felt low...
really low... not only did they just deceive the
entire campus... everyone believed that she lost to
Tatewaki... Tatewaki of all people... the wimp... she
didn't know how she could've allowed Akane to talk
her into this... she gave Kuno a disgusted look. She
ran before the crowd of onlookers could gather around
them... incidentally trampling some of the still
stunned former combatants.
Tatewaki reached an arm out to Nabiki, but
before he could chase after her, the crowd had
gathered around him, questions being shot rapid fire
in his direction. Kuno, unused to such attention was
reduced to stammering uncertain and vague replies.
Akane gave a self satisfied look, quietly
counting her earnings. She smiled as she pocketed
them. Part one was completed. Everything was going
smoothly.
Kodachi and Ranma both noticed Nabiki run
off... they traded a glance between them and gave
chase. The chimes which signaled the start of school
sounded, but was soundly ignored.
- - -
Kodachi and Ranma eventually found Nabiki a
little before lunch. She was sitting with her back
against one of the trees which overlooked the soccer
field.
Nabiki noticed them and smiled weakly, "Hi
guys."
Ranma smiled, "Hey. You okay?"
Nabiki nodded, "Yeah... sorta. I guess."
Kodachi smiled, kneeling down next to Nabiki,
"Well, you'll be happy to know that your suitors have
given up. They talked it over among themselves and
decided that they were glad Kuno won. Actually I
think they're just scared they'd have to fight him."
Nabiki gave a snort, "Great..."
"They'll stop attacking you and won't attack
him, wasn't that what we wanted to do in the first
place?" Kodachi pressed.
"It is... it's just... I feel really rotten
about throwing the fight like that," Nabiki shrugged,
"Feels like I lied to everybody... or like I betrayed
myself for not doing my best."
"Well... if its any consolation, sis," Ranma
replied, "Kuno-sempai is at least as good as you are.
I'm sure of it."
"He's strong but he's not that strong..."
Nabiki started to say, but Ranma interrupted.
"I was training with him last night,
remember..? He's as fast as I am. In a fair fight it
would probably have gone either way."
Kodachi smiled, "Try not to worry too much
about it... if its any consolation, he's just as
distressed over this as you are. But everything's
going to be fine."
Nabiki smiled tentatively at them, "Thanks
guys..."
Kodachi leaned closer to Nabiki and whispered,
"Besides... if the rest of Akane's plan works, you
won't have to marry him... and I get Ranma."
Nabiki blinked, then glanced over to Ranma who
glanced back confused. She giggled, "I don't think
you would mind at all, huh?"
"Nope." Kodachi confirmed.
"What're you two talking about?!" Ranma
demanded.
Kodachi looked over her shoulder at him and
winked playfully, "Nothing..." as she joined Nabiki's
giggling.
Ranma pouted, sitting down next to them.
As the two girls finally sobered... Nabiki
looked off into the distance, her expression
thoughtful, "Look... can you guys keep a secret?
There's another reason why that fight earlier upset
me so much when it was over... I hadn't really
thought much about it, but... it just kind of hit me
afterwards...
"What is it?" Kodachi asked sympathetically.
"There's... there's a guy I like..." Nabiki
spoke slowly.
Kodachi and Ranma both blinked in surprise,
"Really?"
Nabiki nodded, "Well... actually," she blushed,
"I have no idea who it is..."
The pair blinked again, "Wha?
"He just leaves me these love letters in my
locker... and..." she blushed deeply, "You two
probably think I'm crazy don't you?"
Ranma withheld comment, but his face looked a
great deal as if he wanted to say something. Kodachi
smiled, "I think that's very romantic... so what kind
of guy is he?"
"Well... from the letters he seems pretty
intelligent... he's sweet... romantic... and he's
kind of shy, that's why he just leaves the notes in
my locker."
"So you have absolutely no idea what this guy
looks like?" Ranma asked slowly.
"No." Nabiki admitted.
"Now, now Ranma... looks aren't everything."
Kodachi spoke.
"Yeah, but you don't know anything about this
guy..." Ranma said worriedly, "He could be some crazy
psycho lunatic or something! Or some kind of
stalker!"
"He's not like that!" Nabiki shot back.
"How would you know?!" Ranma replied.
"I know enough okay?" Nabiki shot back, "I know
he cares enough to write to me every day... and I
know he's in my class, he's said as much in his
letters..."
"So you could probably figure out who it is,
right?" Ranma pressed.
Kodachi looked a bit sternly at Ranma, "Come
on, Ran-chan... where's your sense of romance?"
Nabiki sighed, "I don't know who it is... I
don't want to know... it would just ruin the
illusion..."
"Romance is fine, I guess." Ranma mumbled, not
wanting to argue, "but that kinds sorta impersonal if
you ask me..."
"Anyway... I was just... worrying... about how
he'd take the fight..." Nabiki said after a while.
Kodachi was silent a moment then said, "Well...
if he really likes you, it shouldn't matter to him
right?"
"Yeah, yeah... but Tatewaki's not only supposed
to be engaged to me, he's supposed to have beat me
too... what if he can't wait for me? What if he gives
up?"
"Who? Kuno-sempai?" Ranma asked, feeling a
little left behind.
"My secret admirer, Ranma. Pay attention."
Nabiki said sternly. She sighed and continued, "I
wish he knew how much those letters mean to me..."
Kodachi and Ranma traded glances...
"Haven't you ever written back?" Kodachi asked.
Nabiki's eyes widened, "I... I don't think I
can do that! I'm not very good at expressing
myself..."
"Well how is he going to know what you feel if
you two don't communicate?" Kodachi asked,
exasperated.
"He's seen me smiling when I read his letters,
isn't that enough?" Nabiki asked half panicked.
"Alright," Kodachi said slowly, "That's a
start..."
Ranma sighed, "This gets more complicated by
the minute.
Kodachi gave a snort, "This is the sort of
situation I'd expect my brother to get into."
Nabiki sighed, "Let's please not talk about
your brother right now, Kodachi? Please?"
Kodachi's brow furrowed as a thought occurred
to her, "Nabiki... could I see one of those letters?"
Nabiki blushed, "Um... sure... I keep them at
home... but I'm sure he'll leave me one later
today..."
Kodachi nodded slowly, "Sure."
Ranma simply glanced at Kodachi, feeling as he
usually did with Akane, that he'd walked into the
movie halfway and no one would tell him what had
happened.
- - -
At lunch, Akane found Tatewaki sitting alone at
a cafeteria table, which was surprising considering
how crowded the cafeteria was, and at the same time,
not surprising because of the events earlier in the
day. He was jotting something down into his journal.
She was pretty happy everything had worked according
to plan so far, now that she'd dropped off the
information at the principal's office... sharing a
little gossip with the people who worked there, part
two would be underway at any moment...
She slipped quietly into the seat opposite him
and said cheerily, "Hi."
Tatewaki looked up in surprise, snapping the
journal shut, "Oh... um... hello, Akane."
"How're you doing?" she asked.
"I am fine... your plan seems to have worked
thus far... although no one has seen Nabiki all day."
"She's fine, I saw her, Ranma and your sister
talking with her out near the soccer field."
"That's good... she looked pretty upset this
morning."
"I guess she's just not used to the idea of
losing." Akane ventured, "Or looking like she lost."
"That could be so," he replied.
"Aside from that, why do you look so worried?"
"It's... well... I'm just not entirely certain
how my mother will take it if she hears about this
morning's incident. It made perfect sense earlier,
but now that I've had time to think about it, there
are a number of consequences which were not taken
into consideration."
Akane pushed her glasses up, "Such as?"
"My mother is rather vehemently opposed to the
violent use of martial arts... and especially towards
a man fighting with a woman... er... she may take
this news amiss... I'm certain Kodachi would cover
for me... but there's father who may be in another of
his moods..."
"I see," Akane nodded, "What's the worst she
could do to you?"
"A reprimand and a grounding I suppose."
"That doesn't sound so bad..."
"You've not been reprimanded by my mother," he
replied with a sardonic smile.
"Tatchi!!" the principal's voice bellowed on
the speakers, "Will my son please report to my office
immediately?"
Once more the normal buzz of rumor increased.
"Ahh..." Tatewaki said, rising to his feet, "I
believe news of this morning's events have finally
reached my father."
"I'll come with you," Akane said firmly.
Tatewaki glanced at Akane then smiled,
"Alright. I am certain I could use whatever moral
support I can muster. This way."
The two walked out of the cafeteria. It was a
short walk to the principal's office which was also
on the ground floor. As they reached the secretary's
desk, she nodded to them and waved Tatewaki in, "He's
been waiting..." she said.
Tatewaki took a deep breath to steel himself
and opened the door slowly.
The room was unimpressive enough. A fairly
normal one for a distinguished educator and
administrator of many years. The only thing setting
it apart from the norm was the opulence and style of
the furniture.
The chair at his father's desk was turned away
from the door, facing the window.
"Come in and shut the door." The elder Kuno's
voice said gravely.
Akane took it to mean herself as well and
stepped in after Tatewaki... who it must be noted was
steeling himself for what was coming.
"I heard about what you did today, son..." the
principal's voice said slowly.
"Er... yes, father I can explain."
"Fighting Nabiki? Defeating her in front of the
whole student body?" the principal rumbled, "Making
her other suitors surrender to you?"
"Honestly father there's a perfectly
rational..." Tatewaki tried to get a word in
edgewise.
The elder Kuno whirled his chair around
suddenly to face him. On his face was a huge grin, "A
stroke of brilliance my son! I congratulate you! Now
there's no one else to oppose your engagement to
her!"
Tatewaki took a step back, "You... you are not
angry?"
"Angry?" the principal asked bemused, "Why
should I be? I know perfectly well about her
announcement at the start of the term and I couldn't
think of a better way for you to cement your claim
for her than with that single gesture! Well done!"
"Ahh... thank you... father..." Tatewaki
responded weakly... he thanked his lucky stars that
his father was in a jovial mood. For now at least.
"What I would like to know though is how you
came up with such a brilliant plan? Also, I know how
skilled you are, son, I have been training you after
all... and I know you aren't THAT good... so tell
me... did you and she cook this up together? She's in
on it too isn't she? You really do want your
engagement to her to work don't you?!" he smiled
happily, tears starting to fall from his eyes.
"Erhm... ah... that is..."
"Oh, my son!" the principal cried happily,
leaping over his desk to embrace his son. "You make
your father so very proud!"
Tatewaki could only reply with a vague muffled,
"Thang yuu..."
"And don't worry about your mother, I won't say
a thing to her! Ahh... and here I was worrying that
you would be too timid... but you've made me so
proud! Such a plan! I cannot wait to tell Soun!"
"Erghk," was the extent of Tatewaki's reply.
The elder Kuno continued to hug his son for
long moments before he blinked and realized
something. He turned his head to look at Akane who
was smiling sheepishly from the corner, "Er...
Akane... how long have you been there?"
"A while." She replied passively.
"Er... I see," The elder Kuno spoke.
"Aheh..." Tatewaki said as his father loosened
the death grip hug on him, "It was Akane actually
father who..."
"Helped talk Nabiki to go with the plan." Akane
interrupted him.
"Ahh... well, I am glad Tatchi had your
assistance then." The principal nodded solemnly,
"Well... erhm..." he said gathering his dignity
visibly, "Now back to lunch, children, I'm certain I
must've interrupted. I still have work to do..."
And with that, the principal hustled them out
of his office, followed by their being ushered by the
secretary into the hall.
Akane turned to Kuno, smiling slightly, "Let me
guess... your father isn't very good at public
displays of affection?"
"He's not very good at public displays of any
sort. We are much alike in that sense," Tatewaki
replied.
"I don't know, you did okay earlier."
"I was under a great deal of strain. I fear for
my blood pressure."
Akane giggled.
"One thing I am not entirely clear on however,
Akane..." Tatewaki said as they walked down the
corridor, "Why did you allow my father to believe
that it was my plan?"
"Well that's obvious enough..." Akane smiled
warmly at him, "If he thought it was your idea, he'd
be under the impression that you and Nabiki want the
engagement to work out. So that when we show them
later on how incompatible you two are, they won't be
able to assign blame. Simple."
"I suppose." Kuno replied warily, "Nevertheless
it sits ill with me to lie to anyone, especially my
father."
"You didn't say a thing." Akane grinned, "He
convinced himself. Making it all the easier. And here
I thought I was going to have to talk him into it..."
"So we are not lying... merely not correcting
his misapprehensions?" Kuno said after a moment.
"Precisely. It's a lot less difficult to get
caught in THAT."
"You sound as if you've had a great deal of
experience in these matters." Kuno ventured.
"You'd be surprised at what you learn on the
road." Akane replied vaguely.
"Ahh."
"Say... Kuno-sempai..." Akane said tentatively
after a few moments of silence, "Is there any girl
you feel strongly for? Aside from Nabiki of course,
since you two obviously strongly dislike each
other... Someone you like?"
"Erhm... why do you ask, Akane Tendo?" Kuno
asked nervously.
"Well it would be easier all around for us to
do part three of the plan if you haven't got anyone
else you're interested in... you know..." she blushed
slightly.
"Oh... well... the way you phrased the
question... no. There's no girl in particular." Kuno
replied in a level voice.
Akane sighed in relief, then grinned at him,
"That's good, sempai." She glanced around as they
stepped out of the building into the populated
courtyard. She waited to make certain that people
could and would see the two of them.
Akane lightly kissed her fingertips, then
reached up and pressed those fingertips to Tatewaki's
lips. She smiled sweetly at him, the playful gleam in
her eye back and a slight flush on her cheeks. "I'll
see you around then, sempai." She said before dashing
off.
Tatewaki, wide eyed with surprise, couldn't
help but notice the attention Akane's act had
garnered. Akane was either a very convincing
actress... or she genuinely liked him. Well... he
leaned more towards the actress hypothesis... she
seemed far too practical for it to be the other. He
sighed... well, he hoped that part three worked out
well... and at the same time... he hoped it wouldn't.
He picked a private place and sat down, as far
away from everyone as possible, then he opened his
journal and resumed writing the journal entry which
had been interrupted earlier.
- - -
end chapter 3
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