Akane ran from Furinkan High School at her best speed, and on a route different to her normal journey home. In her mind the thought beat, "I'm too late! I'm too late! This is all Nabiki's fault! She should have told me sooner! Much sooner!".
In Akane's mind she wondered desperately what to do, she was racing to the Saotome residence to speak to Aunty Nodoka, but if what Nabiki had told her at lunch was true, then Aunty had already set the time and place for the Omiai, and most importantly, had dropped the bombshell on Ranma. And for all her resolution to seduce the pig-tailed by, Akane had not done so, had not, in fact, even taken the first steps towards doing so. Her promise to her ancestral deity hung in the balance, her future with Ranma hung in the balance. And all Akane could do was run to Aunty to find out what had been said to Ranma.
Ranma had stayed out last night, but Akane hadn't thought much about it - not after Kasumi had said Ranma was on an errand for her. That the errand was to Aunty Nodoka to give the Saotome Matriarch a chance to speak to Ranma alone was a total surprise, but it shouldn't have been, somehow Akane had just assumed Kasumi and Aunty Nodoka would keep her informed of their plans and warn her before they told Ranma anything. And she had done nothing to let Kasumi know she wanted to be warned. Thus Nabiki's news came as a bolt from the blue, forcing Akane to face the fact that she had been shying away from the seduction she had told herself she had to do.
Ranma had been acting unusual all day, much quieter and more restrained than he normally acted, and this was mixed in with occasional glances from the pigtailed boy, some directed at her, others directed at Ukyou. Different enough from Ranma's usual routine to make Akane wonder, wonder enough that Akane had asked Nabiki if something was up with Ranma. Nabiki's reply - "Last night Nodoka-san told Ranma-kun that he is going to attend an Omiai in a few days" - had frozen Akane for a moment, had driven a bolt into her heart as she suddenly realised that the events she had set in motion were racing onwards with no concern as to whether or not Akane was ready.
At the school gate Ranma watched in puzzlement as Akane faded into the distance:
"Damn", he muttered, "I wanted to talk to the Tomboy on the way home."
With a sigh Ranma moved over to intercept Nabiki as she came up to the gate. As Ranma moved into her path Nabiki tilted her head and looked thoughtfully at him:
"What's up Saotome?"
Ranma resisted the urge to tell her to mind her own business, that would only guarantee she would bother him for days afterwards, instead he plastered a friendly (he hoped) smile on his face and asked:
"Ah... Nabiki, do you know where Akane is off to? I... I sorta wanted to talk to her"
Nabiki looked at him for a moment, then shook her head:
"I don't *KNOW* where she's off to. Mind you, for say... 500Yen, I could give you my best guess."
For a long moment Ranma pondered, then he drew forth a coin with a sigh and handed it over to Nabiki, who looked him in the eye:
"I told her at lunch about your meeting with your mother. I think little sister is off to see her", then Nabiki paused and shrugged, "That's just a guess remember Ranma-kun, still if you hurry, you can probably catch up with Akane."
Ranma turned and faced down the road for a second, then shook his head:
"Nah. Mum said she was going to come to the Dojo today to talk to Kasumi and your dad. No point racing across town, I'll catch up with Akane when she gets home."
Nabiki smirked for a moment, then spoke:
"You do realise what Akane will be like if she races to your Mothers place only to find that Aunty was at the Dojo. She'll be tired and with an even worse temper than usual. Still, Akane-chan's not likely to hit me, *I* know when to keep my mouth shut."
Ranma glared at Nabiki for an instant, then turned and raced off after Akane, leaping to the roof-tops as he ran.
Nabiki smiled to herself as she watched Ranma chase after Akane, the boy made very nice eye-candy plus the way he was running after Akane made the middle Tendo sister suspect that her sister would have a much easier time pulling off her planned seduction than she expected.
"Where's Ran-chan off to?"
Nabiki turned to Ukyou and held out her hand, her mind racing as she did so. There had not been time to formulate a real plan for the seduction Akane had in mind, ideas were still coming to Nabiki and they had drawn most of her attention during the day. The basic outline seemed clear, Ukyou and Shampoo had chased after and thrown themselves at Ranma with no success and the more Nabiki thought about it, the more she thought Akane's desire to let Ranma catch her was actually the only viable method. The wild horse was all but uncatchable by others, but in the right circumstances, he might well choose to capture himself.
Ukyou put bill in Nabiki's hand and focussed a glare that the merely amused Nabiki as she answered the question:
"He's trying to keep Akane's temper under control", Nabiki glanced at the bill in her hand and decided that Ukyou had paid for a little more than that, "Specifically he's trying to tell Akane that Aunty Nodoka is at the dojo this afternoon so that my little sister doesn't run all the way to Aunties house for nothing and then take out her frustration on him."
Nabiki watched Ukyou carefully as she spoke, while she had nothing against the Okonomiyaki chef, the immediate future would be much simpler if Ukyou just kept to her normal routine. Hopefully the way Nabiki had answered would lead the other girl to think it was just business as usual.
"How late is Ranma's mother staying at the dojo?"
Nabiki shrugged, "I don't really know. I'd expect Kasumi to offer her dinner at least, but beyond that I wouldn't care to guess."
Ukyou glanced in the direction Ranma had run off, but there was no sign of the pig-tailed boy, turning back to Nabiki the Chef let a firm expression appear on her face as she pulled out another bill and held it out to Nabiki:
"Please tell Nodoka-sama and Kasumi that I will stop by the dojo once the evening rush at Uc-chans has died down. I'll bring some Okonomiyaki with me."
Nabiki watched Ukyou walk away, then turned and headed for home. She had already warned her associates that she would be busy for the next few days and told them to only bother her in an emergency. Events were moving faster than Nabiki liked and she had too few levers to work with, the prize Akane had dangled before her needed to be grasped but the keystone to it all lay with Ranma... which came as no surprise. As she walked Nabiki considered possibilities. Ranma needed to take the initiative, then it would be up to Akane to keep him encouraged and after their 'discussion' last night, Nabiki had faith in her sister-lover's ability to encourage. The trick would be getting Ranma to make the first move in a fashion that Akane could lead further.
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(Posted Mon, 21 Aug 2006 18:02)
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