Though, he was a bit disappointed at the moment. Having realized that there wasn't going to be the time to turn her initial idea into something more in tune with her style, Nabiki had sent him out of her room. She did like having him in there, and wanted him to be inside it, but there were other concerns at the moment. So, the pigtailed boy was sent off with a kiss, a promise of more chances to have his 'wicked way' with her, and a teasing little wriggle to make himself comfortable with the house while she took care of some homework so that it wouldn't interfere with her reunion more than it had to.
This left one slightly frustrated young man walking along the halls of the Tendo home, trying to replace the odd images of possible encounters with his wife with mundane observations of the house around him, and not succeeding in much more than feeling a little embarrassed by the directions of his thoughts.
Fortunately for him, her sister spotted him before his frustration made him too nervous. "Ranma! Glad that you don't look busy."
"Huh? I don't, Akane?" he asked her.
"Well, you don't seem to be doing anything much. I'm sorry if I'm wrong...."
"Actually, ya ain't too far off. Ya see, Nabiki has homework ta do, so...."
"You're left at loose ends."
"Pretty much."
"Well, that's actually pretty good for me," Akane admitted. "I need to talk to you about something to do with school."
"Ya got homework too?"
"Of course, but that doesn't have anything to do with what I want to talk to you about."
"That's good, 'cause I don't know how much help I'd be. I've never been real good with book stuff, and I haven't been in class for a while."
"I'm sure that they'll do something about that. But what I want to talk about has to do with my situation at school."
"You havin' trouble there?" Ranma asked.
"A whole lot of it! You see, there is a boy in Nabiki's class who's really full of himself. Thinks that he's a samurai, since his family used be in that class...."
"Kuno."
"That's him."
"She told me 'bout him before. Said that he thought a lot of himself, out of what isn't a lot of thinkin' ta begin with."
"That's him. And he's got it in his head that I love him," she groused.
"Do ya?"
"What? NO!"
"Then what's the problem?"
"He is the problem. The idiot thinks that when I tell him what I really think of him, I'm playing hard to get. And at a speech contest in the school, he declared that anyone who wants to date me has to beat me first!"
"He actually said that?!"
"Actually, his exact words were 'if you wish to date Akane, you must defeat her. I will allow no other terms'."
"He said that?"
"It's kind of hard to not remember something like that," his sister-in-law sighed. "Especially since...."
"What?"
"Every morning, on my way in to school for the day, a mob of boys comes along to attack me, with each one of them trying to win a date with me."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Well then, I guess that ya came ta the right guy."
"Oh?"
The pigtailed boy cracked his knuckles. "Yeah. Now that I'm here, ya don't have ta worry 'bout anythin' at all. I can beat 'em up real quick...."
"Hey!"
"Huh?"
"I don't want you to fight my battles for me! Don't you think that I can fight?"
"Sure, ya can."
"Then why attack them?"
"Figured that was what you wanted. I mean, they're jerks, and I could make it easier on you, since they would know that they ain't wanted. No way that I wouldn't protect a friend, ya know."
She patted his shoulder. "That's really nice of you, but I want to fight them myself, if they're going to be that stupid."
"Then ya want me ta fight along side ya?"
"That's nice of you to offer, but I can handle them. Really."
"Oh. What d'ya want then?"
"For your ideas of how I can deal with them. I mean, you've got to have some moves that I can use, what with your level of skill in the Art."
"I am great, ain't I?"
"At least your ego is...."
"Akane...."
"But I do trust your abilities in figuring out ways to handle messes, and at least want a suggestion."
"And there's no way that I won't give ya one... later."
"Why 'later'?"
"They've been on your back for a while now, haven't they? he asked.
"They have, unfortunately."
"If that's the case, ya ain't gonna give them a reason ta stop on a single moment's thought. What ya gotta do is ta come up with some sort of a plan ta handle it."
"But I haven't come up with something during this entire mess."
"Ya've been too close ta it ta really pay attention, probably. Remember, in a bad mess, ya've gotta pull back and weigh your options before get back inta actin' on it."
"And you can do that?"
"We won't know how good it'll be until I try," he told her with a grin.
"That's true. But you know what? No matter how it turns out, I'll be glad that you helped me."
"Then I'd better do my best."
"I'm sure that you will. Just one thing? Don't tell Dad about this."
"Why not?"
"He'd go overboard, and I can handle this without him charging in, and making it worse."
"I can imagine what ya mean...." Ranma admitted, thinking of some of his own father's problematic behavior.
"Thank you!" she said, and gave him a cute smile, which he returned in his own cocky manner, while:
(Posted Thu, 06 Apr 2006 21:00)
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