[Episode 153534] [Episode 153534]Akane slipped inside Nabiki's room, a frown on her face, a knapsack slung over her back, dressed in a white blouse and blue jeans.
"Well look who's here," Nabiki announced, her tone venomous as she glared at her younger sister.
That harsh, hateful glare from her sister made Akane flinch and gasp, the young girl clearly nervous. "I... I, um..." Akane stammered, looking slightly away.
"Will you just spit it out!?" Nabiki exclaimed as she bounced off the bed. "I have to get ready for a job interview."
It took a few seconds for Akane to calm herself down enough to speak. "Um... Where are you going to work?"
"Strip club," Nabiki said, her tone flat as she went to her closet. "It was either that, get paid crap as a waitress, or get harassed by Americans all day. Lesser of the evils and all that."
Akane blinked several times in shock. "S-strip club!?" she shouted. "But that's so unlike you! Why would you go to get pawed at by perverts!?"
It was taking all of Nabiki's will not to start screaming at Akane. "I wouldn't normally," she admitted. "Hell, I'd pass all three up in heartbeat were anything normal around this house. But of course, someone crippled Kasumi, and the bills are stacking up way too fast to wait for a respectable job."
Nabiki's words pierced Akane's heart, the younger girl biting her lip as she tried not to sob, watching her older sister picking out her clothes.
"Anyway, what do you want?" Nabiki asked coldly. "I don't believe you came here to criticize my career path."
Akane shook her head feverishly at Nabiki's words. After all, it's not like Akane could have known what Nabiki had in mind before walking in. "It's just that, I wanted..." Akane sighed as she paused, trying not to cry. "I wanted to say goodbye."
"Goodbye?" That piqued Nabiki's curiosity, and she turned from the closet to face Akane. "Just where are you going?"
"I don't know, really," Akane admitted. "I'm gonna take a train to Shinjuku, then try to find some work there, maybe at a dojo Mr. Saotome mentioned a friend owning. Daddy says I need to find a way to control my temper before I come back home."
Akane's words made Nabiki smirk. "Guess that means this is the last we'll see of each other," she quipped.
"That's not funny!" Akane shouted.
"It wasn't supposed to be."
That shut Akane up instantly, the younger girl looking at the older plaintively.
Nabiki let the silence linger for a little while, savoring the helpless look in her younger sister's eyes before continuing. "I don't know what you thought coming here would accomplish, but I'm really not interested in talking to you. The sooner you're gone, the better."
It was far too much for Akane to keep from crying. She hurriedly bowed her head and muttered a goodbye before fleeing, her tears shimmering in the dim light as she left.
"Okay, now to get my clothes ready..." Nabiki turned back to the closet and resumed looking through her clothes, looking for her old school uniform.
***
Akane hugged her father and Genma goodbye, then slowly made her way out the door and into her new, lonely life. The two men saw her leaving, both with long faces.
"Do you think this is the right thing to do, Saotome?" Soun asked his friend.
"I don't think you can do anything else," Genma assured him. "She's clearly not going to learn what she needs to here. All we can hope is that she finds her own way and comes back to us better than she was."
A sigh escaped Soun's lips. "You're right, of course." He turned around and headed for the kitchen, his shoulders slumped over, his head sunken in defeat. "I'm gonna get some sake, try to take the edge off. Want some?"
The smile on Genma's lips was painfully fake, and his words felt flat as he spoke. "Sounds like a good idea. It's been a rough few days." He followed his friend into the kitchen to drink his sorrows away for a while.
***
Nabiki finally got her uniform on and smiled as she looked at herself in the mirror. Beauty was always my strong suit, she thought to herself as she twirled before the mirror. After making sure her hair was just perfect and just the right amount of blush and eyeliner was applied, she pursed her lips together and left her room.
This was going to be a hard night.
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(Posted Sat, 03 Dec 2005 19:09)
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