Disclamer: These characters and situations belong to the wonderful
Rumiko Takahasi and her licensees. This work is strictly not for profit.

=========================
Neko No
Chapter 4
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic by Tew
Status: Draft
Last Update: 2002-12-28
=========================


--- AUTHORS NOTE ---
Nabiki has been a real problem for me. She was supposed to have a
nervious breakdown in this chapter. Instead she decided she wanted to
learn ki manipulation. Now I have to either replot around her. I hate
it when characters do that to me.
---------------------

The walk home from Sayuri's house gave Akane a headache.

It wasn't that walking gave her a headache. It was just that she was
alone and not concentrating on school, Ranma, or her friends. She
finally had a chance to think about everything that had happened in the
other time to her and Ranma. *That* gave her a headache. Sometimes, when
the memories came flooding back, she had trouble telling if she was the
younger Akane with some extra memories, or the older Akane trapped in
the younger's body.

She was thankful when she finally got to the dojo. She could take some
asprin and maybe get a nap before helping Ranma with his homework.

When she entered the main room she realized she wasn't likely to get
either nap or asprin soon. Her father and Genma were sitting on one
side of the table with their arms crossed and looking at her.

"Sit, daughter." Her father said.

She sighed and sat across from them.

"I want you to tell me how you knew about Ranma and Genma's curses, and
where you know Ranma from." Her father said.

Akane managed not to sigh again, she'd been doing that way to much
recently. "I've already explained this. I have memories from my future
self, who went back in time to save Ranma." She avoided saying who she
was saving him from, but her glare at Genma got the point across.

"You don't actually think we buy that story do you?" Genma growled.

She just stared back at him. She never expected this. The old fool
*had* to know it was true. He was the one who'd seen her in the past.
If he refused to believe he was even a bigger fool than she though. If
he wasn't...

"I think, under the circumstances..." Genma began.

She figured it out then. Genma didn't like her. That wasn't surprising,
the feeling was mutual. Genma was trying to get the engagement switched.
Well, she knew how to handle the coward.

Akane sat up straight and looked Genma in the eye. "I swear, upon my
honor as a martial artist, that everything I've told you of my future
self's trip back in time is true."

The old man looked at her with a glint in his eye. Anger, and...respect
maybe? Or at least wariness.

Genma kept his eyes on her as if he was afraid she'd explode. "You are
too young to understand such matters. I still think that..."

Shit, he didn't buy it. Time to ratchet things up a bit. "I'm not too
young to know what to do when my honor is besmirched so, Genma Satome.
I insist you appoligize."

That should shake the old fool up.

Both of the fathers looked at her in surprise. She kept herself calm
and her eyes as hard as she could manage.

Her father spoke. "Genma, maybe we were wrong..."

Genma held up his hand. "I say you are mistaken, girl. Your story is
impossible."

Oh, well. She had no choice now. "Genma Saotome, you have bismirched my
honor. I demand satisfaction."

She gave him a moment to back down. She was in for it now. Her older
self could have mashed him easily, but while she had the knowledge her
body wasn't trained to handle that knowledge. Maybe she could give
herself some time to train.

"I challange you. In two weeks time we will meet and I will show you
who is *mistaken*."

"Very well, girl." Genma said with a snort.

"Now you're in trouble pop." Ranma said from the door.

"What do you mean boy?"

"This is the same person who told you about the chestnut-fist
technique. She's got to know that and more."

"I don't believe she is that old woman." Genma said a bit uncertainly.

"It's your funeral pops. Come on Akane, you were going to help me with
my homework." Ranma said.

Akane nodded at him and got up, glad for an excuse to leave. At least
her headache was pretty much gone now.

They were about halfway up the stairs when Akane stopped.

"Hey, watch it." Ranma said from behind her.

"Ranma, I can't help you with your homework. I'm sorry."

"Huh? Why not?"

"I've got to train or your dad is going to cream me."

"Why? You know the chestnut fist right? That should be enough by
itself. Pop is fast, but not that fast."

"I *know* it, but I can't *do* it."

Ranma chewed on that for a minute. "Okay, I see what you mean. You knew
is when you were twenty and remember that, but haven't practiced it."

"Something like that." Akane agreed.

"So what are you going to do?"

"First, I'm going to get Nabiki to help you with your homework. Then
I'm going to the dojo and see how much work I've got to get myself
ready."

"Okay. Mind if we spar later?" Ranma asked.

"I'd love it. After dinner I'll finish my homework, and then we should
have time to spar a little before we get ready for bed."

"Sure."

"Right, let's go find Nabiki."

* * * *

Nabiki frowned as she walked to the dojo. Her plan to separate Ranma
from Akane hadn't worked the way she'd planned. She'd hoped that
separating Akane from the pig tailed boy would help her with this
time-travel obsession she seemed to have. Besides, Ranma was cute, and
Nabiki herself was the next obvious choice for fiancee. Nabiki thought
about how nice it would be to have someone of her own, especially
someone with a body like Ranma's.

He wasn't even as dumb as he acted. He was behind on his studies, but
he caught on quickly enough when she'd tutored him. That had been fun,
she'd even flirted with him a little bit. He'd been pretty clueless
about it and that was cute too.

Nabiki paused with her hand on the dojo's doors. Akane shouldn't know
anything about her plots. Akane *never* caught anything subtle. Having
convinced herself it was safe to call Akane in for dinner, Nabiki
opened the dojo doors.

* * * *

Akane wasn't having much luck with her speed training, so she'd decided
to go through her special techniques and see which ones she might be
able to polish up quickly. She started with the first ki blast Ranma
had taught her. She concentrated her ki into her hands then threw them
forward as she whispered the attack name.

The attack names used by various martial artists for thier special
moves are interesting. They are more than bluster or bad acting because
the phrase acts as a trigger to aid in the concentration and mental
effort. Once the attack is fully mastered, the attack phrase is no
longer necessary. However, until that time it *is* required, so most
advanced martial artists pick out cool phrases and shout them to let
their opponents know they've decided to mess with the wrong person. The
names they choose say a lot about their personality.

Akane hadn't known all that when Ranma taught her this attack. In
particular she hadn't known that you could choose almost any name you
wanted, as long as you always used the same name when performing the
attack. Thus Akane ended up using a name that Ranma thought was
appropriate, but which Akane hated. This explains Akane's habit of
whispering the phrase rather than shouting it out as Ranma and Ryoga
did their attack names.

"Pissed-off bunny strike" Akane whispered as she released the small ki
blast. 

A small red ball of ki shot out of her hands and hit the training dummy
in the chest, knocking it over with a chared and smoking hole in its
chest.

Akane smirked. That should surprise the old fool, and it had been
pretty easy. Maybe her other ki techniques would come back quickly too.

A small wimpering noise caught Akane's attention and she spun around.
Nabiki was in the dojo, her back pressed up against the closed door.
Her eyes where wide and staring at Akane in naked fear.

Akane stepped toward her sister. Nabiki shook her head and pushed
herself against the door harder. Akane stopped and held her hands out
like she was trying to make friends with a frightened dog.

"Nabiki, it's okay. It's just a ki attack Ranma taught me a few
years...from now." Akane said in as soothing a voice as she could. That
helped some, Nabiki stopped trying to get away from her, instead she
dropped to her knees and started crying. 

Akane hurried over and put an arm around her older sister. "Please stop
Nabiki, I'm not going to hurt you. I just need to practice some special
techniques for my fight with Ranma's father." 

That didn't seem to help at all, if anything Nabiki started crying
harder. Akane was completely at a loss as to what to do, Nabiki *never*
lost control like this.

A minute or so later Akane realized that Nabiki had switched from
sobbing to whispering something over and over. Akane leaned down and
could just make out "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

The sixteen year old Akane would never have been able to figure out
what was going on. The twenty year old Akane would have known when
Nabiki broke down crying. The whispered 'I'm sorry' was enough for the
Akane who was somehow both sixteen and twenty.

"Nabiki." Akane said in a low hard voice. "You're the one that
convinced Genma to switch the engagement, aren't you?"

Nabiki didn't answer but she became very still. Even her sobs changed
to small shutters and uneven breathing. That was enough for Akane.

"Nabiki, I lost Ranma once. I will *not* lose him again, no matter what
it takes. Do you understand me?"

Nabiki managed to lift her face up to face Akane. She opened her mouth
several times but didn't get anything out. Finally she just nodded. 

Akane considered her sister for a moment, she could be a serious pain.
In fact she had been a serious pain last time. Akane would have to make
sure that didn't happen again, and that meant keeping a very close eye
on Nabiki, maybe trying to enlist her help. Having her help sounded
good if only she could be sure of Nabiki's motivations. Well, the first
step in either case was to have a long talk with her and that would have
to wait until after Nabiki recovered a little.

"Nabiki, I will not forget this but I do forgive you. Let's try and
talk later this evening. Oh, and remind me to tell you about what
happened when you actually were Ranma's fiancee for about a week."

Nabiki raised one eyebrow, looking like her normal self if you ignored
the red eyes and tears still on her face. "I'd...like to hear about it.
I origionally came in her to tell you dinner was ready."

Akane nodded and helped her sister up. "Let's go. And please remember
that I'd like to keep anything you see me doing while training a secret
from our fathers. I want to surprise Genma." 

Nabiki looked ready to object, then nodded.

 Akane thought as she
followed Nabiki to the main room.

* * *

"Magic is real." Nabiki whispered to herself again. She just couldn't
get over it. Somehow Akane's creating that fireball in the dojo had
convinced her in a way that Mr. Saotome's turning into a panda never
had. Maybe it was because it was a member of her family doing
it--someone she'd known all her life--rather than some stranger.

Nabiki looked down at the book in her hands. It was a book about
witches. It had been a favorite when she was little. Her mother had
read her the stories first, then she had slowly read through it herself
when she'd started school. She had put it away a few weeks after her
mother passed away. The magic had died with for Nabiki then, had become
make-believe, something to snear at rather than enjoy.

Now it looked like she'd been wrong. Magic existed, and her sister was
doing it. That meant that Nabiki could learn it too. The world was
suddenly a much more interesting place.

She hid the book under her pillow when she heard the knock on her door.
"Come in!"

Akane opened the door, with Ranma right behind her. Nabiki blushed a
little when they both stepped into the room. She'd put on an older
nightgown. It was very comfortable, but more than a little worn. It was
also rather tight across the chest and Nabiki never wore a bra to bed.

Nabiki's reaction was nothing compared to Ranma's. He spun around and
started stuttering and appoligizing. He probably would have bolted, but
Akane grabbed the back of his shirt before he could go.

"Just a second Nabiki, let me see Ranma off to bed." Akane smiled up an
Ranma and took his hand, tugging to lead him out of the room.

Ranma started stammering harder at that but Akane just giggled and
continued to drag him out of the room. A few minutes later she came
back and slipped back into the room. Nabiki was a bit shocked by Akane
"boy hater" Tendo acting like this. Still, she wasn't one to let a
little shock keep her from teasing her sister.

Nabiki grinned at her little sister. "So Akane, just which bed did you
put Ranma in?"

Akane snorted. "Mr. Boy Scout? His own of course. It'll be a long time
before he's ready for more than that." Akane's face turned thoughtful.
"Too bad, that would be one way to make sure Genma-baka didn't try to
switch the engagement."

Nabiki's grin fadded. She looked down at her hands, she'd been trying
to forget what she'd tried to do to her sister. 

Akane dropped onto the bed next to Nabiki, the bouncing caused Nabiki
to rock back and forth, briefly touching shoulders with her little
sister. Nabiki forced herself to look up into Akane's eyes. She
swallowed as she looked into those warm, compasionate, and yet hard
eyes. She suddenly realized that Akane was no longer her younger
sister. Whatever the birth records might show, this Akane was older and
more experienced than she was.

Akane took her hands. "Nabiki, I really want you on my side. I'm going
to have to fight Genma and eventually Kuno, Happosai, Taro, Kodachi,
and a dozen others that are going to come looking for a piece of Ranma
or a piece of me. I'd rather not have to fight you too."

 Nabiki told herself. .

She thought of a half-dozen things that could be profitable, from
swimsuit pictures to bodyguard duty. Somehow none of them seemed
worthwhile right now. *Money* didn't seem worthwhile now that the magic
was back. All right, Akane knew some magic, maybe she could learn that.

"I want to learn to do what you did in the dojo." Nabiki said.

Akane looked at her oddly. "You'd be better off asking daddy to teach
you martial arts."

"Not martial arts. I want you to teach me magic." Nabiki realized she
was leting herself get too excited. She shouldn't be letting Akane see
just how much she wanted this.

"I don't know any magic." Akane said.

Nabiki jumped up out of the bed and started pacing around her room.
"Don't give me that Akane, I saw it. The fireball you used to char that
practice dummy! If that's not magic then what is  it?

"That was ki." Akane said.

Nabiki stopped her pacing and looked at her sister. Nabiki wasn't a
martial artist herself, but she was the daugther of a martial arts
family. She knew what ki was, and had heard stories about what masters
were supposed to be able to do with it. It wasn't the same as real
magic...or was it? Maybe magic like the curse aflicing Mr. Saotome was
just very advanced ki manipulation. She'd have to look into it.

Nabiki sat back on the bed next to her sister. "That will do for now. I
want to learn to manipulate my ki and I don't want it to take forty
years of practice first."

"Oookaaay" Akane drawled out. "I guess we can get you started learning
the basics of ki manipulation. You'll have to learn at least some
martial arts in the process, and that means sweating. I thought you
hated that sort of thing."

Nabiki grimiced. "I'll do it. When do we start?"

"I'm pretty tied up getting ready for this fight with Genma. If you can
get yourself out of bed early tomorrow I can get you started on some
basic forms. You should probably talk to daddy about meditation
techniques."

Nabiki nodded. "Okay, you'll have to wake me up though."

Akane smiled at her sister. "It'll be nice having you on our side
Nabiki."

"Hey, I'm always on the winning side!"

Akane got up and headed for the door. "Get some sleep. I'll be getting
you up early."

Nabiki nodded, though she knew she'd be too excited to sleep for a long
time. She was going to learn magic, real magic.

* * * *

Breakfast that morning was strained. Ranma wasn't letting Genma even
get close to his food. He was also eating with supprisingly good
maners, which seemed to irritate his father even more than not being
able to steal food. Akane frostily ignored both fathers, going so far
as to ignore her father's question about how she'd slept. Kasumi and
Nodoka obviously realized something was wrong and tried to draw
everyone into a conversation. Akane answered any direct questions
cheerfully, then went back to eating and ignoring the fathers. Genma
mearly grunted and Soun read his paper.

Nabiki wasn't there. She was soaking in the tub in the vain hope that
she wouldn't be too stiff to move after and intense two hours working
on a Tai Chi form.

Eventually things broke up. Akane and Ranma headed out to school,
followed shortly by Nabiki. Kasumi and Nodoka cleared the table and
started on the dishes.

* * *

Nodoka brooded in silence for a few minutes while she washed. Something
was up, and she had a feeling it was Genma's fault. Maybe Soun was
involved too, her husband wasn't a good influance on his old friend.

She'd have to find out, and soon. She would not have her family bring
disharmoney on the Tendo household. She looked sidelong at Kasumi,
calmly drying and putting away dishes. Calmly, but she also looked
thoughtful. Perhaps she should enlist the girls aid in finding out what
was going on.

"Kasumi, dear? Do you know of any nice teahouses in the area?"

Kasumi looked up at Nodoka, her eyes sharp in her calm face. "Of course
Mrs. Saotome. I must say that it would be nice to get out of the house
for a bit. Maybe right after lunch?"

"Yes, just what I was thinking dear. And please call me 'auntie', we'll
be related someday after all."

"Of course Auntie." Kasumi said with a warm smile.

"Good. I'm sure we have much to talk about."

=== End Chapter 4 ===

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