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"A tournament?" Nabiki arched an eyebrow as she stared at her master.
"Yep." Ranma nodded. "We'll get all the martial artists in the neighborhood to join in. All the fiance's and all the rivals."
"Don't you think that you're already the shoe in for winning it?" The brunette asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
The pig-tailed youth just shot her his famous grin and shook his head. "I'm going to be one of the judges. I figure that between me and the old ghoul, we'll be pretty impartial about it. Maybe even grab one or more people to sit on the panel or something like that."
"So we're going to sell tickets?" She asked, mentally figuring on how much space they'd need and how much to price the tickets for.
"Yeah, that and charge an entrance fee." He agreed, his brows furrowed in thought.
"If we work this right, the entrance fee should cover the overhead and any prize money we'd give out." Nabiki responded.
"That's a good idea." Ranma told her. "I figure that we'd use the money I'm making for classes as seed money to start this thing off right. You know... advertising, rental money, and all that."
"Oh." The girl pratically cooed with excitement. "If we do this right, we could get some of the martial arts magazines to help sponsor it."
The boy smiled at her quivering body as she started making plans. "I think I'll leave the business arrangements up to you." He added.
Nabiki stilled for a second before slumping her shoulders. "We'd need an adult to sign the paperwork for us." She sighed regretfully. "Neither one of our father's could be trusted to handle it without stealing us blind."
"So who do you think we could get and actually trust?" Ranma asked gently.
The mercenaries mind started running calculations and scenarios. One by one, she rejected each person she thought of. Even the ancient Amazon couldn't be trusted to this extent. She'd push some plan forward to further her own aims. Both fathers were out of the question. Doctor Tofu hadn't been seen for over a year. None of the staff at the school was trustworthy, even if she wasn't blackmailing a small portion of them into being more lenient.
Over and over, her mind kept coming back to one person. Granted, she was trustworthy, but something of this magnitude required loyalty to her master. The loyalty that was required went beyond a simple promise or oath of service. No, this required her target to be conquoered the same way that she herself had been. Body and soul must be behind her master and his goals or else all would be lost.
Sighing, Nabiki knew what she had to say. Everything in her heart argued against it, but couldn't find another way to accomplish the same goal. If this worked, her family could quit living on a day-to-day basis and actually have money for the future. College would be within the grasp of all three sisters and she could quit blackmailing her fellow students for lunchmoney. The door was there to step into something legal and great, if she would just take the next step.
Feeling her heart break, she knew that she would do it. If they allowed the target to simply take an oath, the father's would badger the poor girl until she gave in, thereby stripping them of all liquidable assets... just to go on a drinking binge.
"M... Master?" Nabiki whispered, closing her eyes to prevent the tears from falling down her cheeks.
"Yes, Nabiki?" Came the calm and reassuring voice of the man who had conquored her.
She threw herself into his arms and burst into tears. For several minutes, all she could do was weep. She wept for her lost innocense. She wept for lost opportunities. She wept for a father who had failed at life and left his children to fend for themselves. She wept for her older sister, who she had decided to betray.
When she had finally calmed down, she found herself sitting in his lap as he comforted her by rocking her back and forth. She had to admit that she felt safe. Safe and loved. Shoot, for the first time in her life, she felt appreciated for just being her.
"Kasumi?" Ranma asked quietly, knowing that whoever she had decided on had to be someone close to tear her up this badly.
"Yes, Master." Nabiki nodded into his chest. "You... you have to..."
The young man sighed and looked at the horizan. "I have to enslave her like I did you, right?" He asked, his voice sad and weary.
"Yes, Master." The Ice Queen agreed, tears still streaming down her cheeks. No matter what happened now, she knew that she had crossed an invisible line that she had always watched out for in the past. Never before had she tried anything on her naive but older sister. Now she was selling into a life of servitude in exchange for a secure future, for her and her family. The worst thing of all, though, was that she wasn't sure or not if her sister wouldn't be happier in her new position or not.
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(Posted Fri, 30 Jul 2004 02:37)
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