Looking over Ranma's shoulder, Nabiki scoped out Kodachi's character profile. "Now that you have two of us Saotome, you should think about roles. My character is a martial artist basically, so it's all stuff you're familiar with. Kodachi is a miko, which should come in handy against demons and cursed stuff. You have more options with her though because she's got weapons she can learn, martial arts and magic."
Looking over the stats, Nabiki pointed out a few new things. "Ah, see the dark elf thing is pretty much cosmetic, but it makes her better suited to magic than fighting. Still more agile than strong when it comes to fighting though. The geisha bit is just mannerisms and how to behave, but since it helps her be a better behaved harem-girl, the points cancel out so that's basically free."
Standing up, Nabiki put her hands on her hips and smirked down at the back of the young man that was her Master for the next month. "You got that handled Saotome?"
Getting a distracted grunt from Ranma, the bunny-girl turned to the dark elf. "Alright 'dachi-chan, I trust you can take care of him."
Glancing briefly from Ranma, the miko turned a pleasant little grin towards Nabiki. "Why of course Bunny-san." Bearing a pleased little smile, the dark elf turned her head back to her beloved, seemingly content to just sit by his side and watch him.
Smirking herself, Nabiki hopped, skipped and bounced over to the card-playing girls, pleased so far with how things were getting along. This had the result of getting the assembled girls to stare at her instead of the uneventful pairing of Ranma and Kodachi. "Well girls, what are you waiting for?"
Shrugging, Shampoo started dealing, confident that she could get the one more loss required for her to join Kodachi in what she considered the winner's circle. Dealing the cards to the three other remaining girls, she found herself with a pair of Kings straight off the bat. Discarding one as her discard, she was dismayed to find herself receiving another King.
When all the cards were down, everyone had a pair except Kasumi, who turned up nothing of value. That Shampoo was the one pouting puzzled Akane, at least until Nabiki spoke up in a marginally comforting tone. "Ah, such bad luck there. At least you didn't end up with all three kings. If that had happened, the rest of the girls would be tied with you. As it is though, they're all just one place behind you now."
Turning to Kasumi, Nabiki confirmed the score for her, also noticing that Kasumi was pleased to have lost her hand. "Well sis, that means you get one more piece, with one more to go."
As Kasumi began putting on the golden anklets and bracelets that accented her costume, Akane turned suspiciously to her sneaky middle sister. "Why are you acting like losing is a good thing here?"
Grinning in amusement, Nabiki couldn't help letting an amused chuckle escape. "You haven't figured it out yet sis?"
Seeing Akane grump at her, yet remain tight lipped on the issue, Nabiki switched into lecture mode. "Well, I suppose it's okay to let you know now, it's not too difficult after all. Tell me, just what is it the winner gets for 'winning'?"
That momentarily brought Akane up short. While she knew she was trying to avoid Nabiki's perverted game, the emphasis gave her pause to consider the situation. Now that she recalled it, nothing changed for the winner. Suspicious but not seeing what Nabiki was digging at, she cautiously answered, "Well, she's not forced to do the harem thing."
Shaking her head, Nabiki wagged a finger at her younger sister. "Alright sis, I'll make it simple. Look at what I got out of it. I had first pick of the costumes, which means I got my kick-ass bunny-outfit. More importantly, for the next month, I can spend as much time as I want with Ranma as long as I behave. That might not mean much to you, but by the same token, for the next twenty days, Kodachi gets the same deal."
Seeing Akane look at the new sexy and exotic Kodachi sitting close to Ranma and demurely chatting with Ranma in an eye-opening light, Nabiki nodded to herself. "The card game is an analogy to what's been going on. You girls compete with each other, but you don't get any closer to Ranma. You're sitting here trying to win at cards, while Kodachi lost on purpose and is over there getting quality time in with your fiancée."
Looking over her shoulder at Ranma, Nabiki glanced back at Akane. "So, now that you know there's no prize for winning, is the price worth it?"
Frowning at her conniving big sister, Akane was no where near ready to capitulate on the issue. "Yeah, well what happens afterwards? You think we're just going to stay a happy little harem?"
Shrugging, Nabiki let her lack of concern show in her voice and manner. "Maybe. You girls could all end up staying in a relationship, or maybe you'll learn to get along enough to solve this peacefully in some other way. Either way it's time for you girls to change tactics before it's too late."
Sensing that something more was up here from Nabiki's tone, Ukyou spoke up with concern, "Is there something you're not telling us here?"
Pursing her lips thoughtfully, Nabiki seemed to weigh her answer carefully before responding. "Well, I guess you girls may as well know about the problem now. Auntie came to me concerned it wasn't going to work out for you girls, but she didn't know what to do. She asked me for ideas because she didn't know how to go about giving you one good last chance. She didn't suggest the harem-deal for you girls though. I got the impression though that she was about to kebab this mess by taking Ranma somewhere and setting him up with some girls she knew."
Still frowning, Akane had temporarily settled to a warm simmer. "So, you're arranging this harem mess because you think Auntie might have a hidden harem waiting for Ranma somewhere?"
On the fence herself, Ukyou thoughtfully slipped into the devil's advocate position. "Well, as odd as that might sound, this is Ranchan we're talking about here. I think Nabiki is serious about this sugar."
Giving a curt nod of gratitude to Ukyou, the bunny-girl-in-command carefully spoke up. "I personally don't like going out on a limb like this, but I've been suspicious of Auntie from day one that's there's more to her than she's letting on. In this case, the saying 'Where there's smoke, there's fire.' is in effect.
"In that regard, consider what we know. Five of the girls in this room are involved with Ranma directly because of Genma. Kodachi is only involved with Ranma because he was engaged to Akane, so even Genma is involved with her. Plus there's that noodle girl that gave up and any other girls we don't know about. That said, Genma has made it well known he's been trying to keep girls away from Ranma, not attract them. Now consider that Nodoka is the opposite in that regard, with Ranma being manly high on her list, and just what her concept of manly entails. Also consider she's had ten years to herself, seemingly content to wait until Ranma was of age for 'mature' relationships."
Shrugging, Nabiki spoke up while she still had the assembled girls' rapt attention. "So, maybe it's just wishful thinking on her part. Maybe Ranma made a lot of childhood friends before the trip, except unlike Ukyou he knew they were girls. Heck, maybe there are a half dozen ninja-maids just waiting for the day when their training to serve Ranma is put to use."
Sighing and letting out a deep breath, Nabiki took on a more upbeat tone. "That's why when I arranged this, we're not preparing for what ifs like that. I just want you girls to give getting along with each other a try. Maybe you girls will actually start to get along with Ranma if you do that, while Kasumi and I get to have a bit of fun out of the deal while helping out."
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(Posted Wed, 30 May 2007 12:04)
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