In a household such as hers, there were plenty of examples of that sort of work ethic. Her father was the person who got the paper soon after it arrived, and her mother liked to practice when the sun was rising. Then there were her little sister, who practiced every morning before school, and her elder sister, who always rose smiling and happy with the dawn, or so it seemed.
It was that sort of thing that had her wondering about the possibility that she'd been adopted.
And apparently, he step-grandfather, and new uncle were early risers as well, since her bleary eyes focused on the sight of the two Saotome men leaping around the yard as she shuffled into the family room in an attempt to find the grunts, yells and sounds of flesh hitting flesh that had awakened her. "Please tell me that they don't do that every morning."
"Sorry, Nabiki," Ranko replied with a sympathetic smile. "This is Pop's idea of sparring."
"Sparring is a practice fight. This is a full out battle first thing in the morning."
"Like I said. 'Pop's idea of 'sparring''."
"How nice for him."
"At least he isn't beating upon his son," her father commented from behind his paper.
"Maybe you're not seeing what I am, Dad," the Tendo daughter snorted. "Either that, or one of us needs to change their definitions."
"The latter one."
"Eh?"
Soun pulled his paper down and gave his child a measuring look. "When Genma and I were training under our cruel and evil instructor, our mornings were spent running from being struck, and watching as the food for our breakfast was eaten before our eyes... again."
"Your teacher really was that bad?"
"Worse."
"Okay...." Nabiki murmured, and tried to put it along side what she knew of his years as a student of the Art. He tended not to talk of that time, and she had a feeling that she didn't want to know how bad he'd had it.
"Good."
"I hope that you're not talking about how he got Ranma up this morning," Akane muttered as she entered.
The elder girl frowned. "Why would you say that?"
"He threw Ranma out of the window."
"Nice move there. Did he actually think that was a good idea?"
"I seriously doubt that he actually thinks."
"Ah... Would someone tell Ranma and Grandfather that breakfast is nearly ready?" Kasumi asked as she popped her head out of the kitchen.
"I'll do it."
"Thank you, Akane."
With a frown, the younger girl walked over to the yard and called out. "Hey, you two!"
"Huh?" Ranma grunted as he turned to look at her... which was when his father struck with a fist. "What's the big idea?!"
"You're supposed to be ready for a strike even when you don't have to prepare!" his father barked.
"She was calling for us!"
"Then answer without getting distracted."
"I wasn't distracted!"
"She's just a girl, and your niece to boot..." Genma told him smugly... right before the shogi board smacked him in the back of his head, knocking him to the grass.
"Idiot," the youngest Tendo grumbled.
"Nice shot," the pigtailed boy commented.
"Thanks!"
"Now, ya were sayin'?"
"Oh, yeah," Akane said with a smile. "Kasumi says that breakfast is almost ready."
"Great! I'm starvin'!"
"That's good to hear, little brother," Ranko murmured.
"Why's that?"
"You need plenty of food to do well at school."
"I kinda doubt that I'd do good at school. 'Sides, it's not like I'm gonna be able to just go in today."
"Why not?"
"Well, I don't even have supplies."
His sister simply held up a schoolbag with a smug expression on her face.
"Guess I'm going then."
"Good boy."
"Don't worry," Akane told him. "Nabiki and I go there too, so you won't be going it alone."
"At least there's that."
Fighting an urge to chuckle, Nabiki looked over the boy's disgruntled expression, and realized that she wouldn't quite be bored with him around. Her uncle was certainly cute, though his ability to turn into a younger copy of her mother, and that whole family connection thing made her only appreciate his attractiveness. They might not have been biologically related, but what they had was close enough. Though, she did see that he would have the girls of Furinkan wanting to get to know him when he got there.
Fortunately for her, his arrival wasn't as bad as she'd first thought. Sure, she'd been severely put out, and concerned when a young girl had appeared instead of the boy she'd expected had shown up. She could freely admit that she'd behaved badly then, but she wouldn't trouble herself over it. With the sort of mother that her Mom had been, she was very protective of the redhead, and of her family, and she didn't want to risk any trouble coming to do serious damage. But it looked like Uncle Ranma was going to be a helpful, and useful addition, considering that he appeared to be a thoughtless jock.
His father however, was a bit bothersome on the nerves, and she left to get bathed and dressed before he started his babbling again. The man could be almost as bad as Kuno-baby sometimes, and she preferred to freshen up before facing that sort of thickheadedness. In any case, she was up, and pajamas were not school clothes by any stretch of the imagination.
So, she headed out to get cleaned up, while:
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(Posted Sun, 07 Aug 2005 05:19)
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