“…they’ve already left, I expect,” said the boy. “I don’t really know, but Ranma – she’s the redhead, isn’t she? – she hasn’t been here long enough to be in any of the clubs yet.”
She raised an eyebrow in patently faked interest.
He coughed nervously. “I, uh, Akane’s sister is still here, though. I saw her a minute ago.”
“An introduction to her might suffice, “ allowed the visitor. “Lead the way, if you will.”
“I, uh, I have to…” In the face of her impassive expression, he wilted and turned back to the school, shoulders bowed.
She strolled in his wake, directing faintly supercilious attention to the worn décor and the ragged clumps of departing students. Fastidiously, she disdained use of the handrails as she followed him upstairs.
A classroom door stood open, and several students waited in the hallway nearby. There was no conversation between them, and most kept their eyes down, or directed out the window, or otherwise ostentatiously not paying attention to the others around them. Only the efficiently bulky form waiting in the doorway looked at them directly, and even she merely raised an eyebrow at the sight of the visitor and her guide; more the latter than the former. As he came closer, she turned her head and said, “Boss, Shiro’s back.”
“Ah? Send him in.”
The figure stepped aside just sufficient for the boy to slip past her, and the visitor stepped past behind him with the air that came with knowing that no one would consider stopping her.
Inside, she found her guide hovering before an alert looking young woman with brown hair in a utilitarian style. A few others sat about other desks, and it was clear from the body language that there were two groups of people here: the young woman and her assistants, and supplicants.
“You know, Shiro, that debt won’t pay itself off.”
“I, uh…”
“The less so if you get fired again,” she added severely.
“Uh, this, that is…”
“And I don’t offer cashbacks for bringing me new customers, either.”
The visitor smiled faintly. “I am Kodachi Kuno,” she said clearly. “This one indicated that he could lead me to the sister of one Tendo Akane…?”
“Did he?” The girl regarded Shiro intently for a few moments. Finally, as he opened his mouth, she said, “If you run, Shiro, you may get to work in time that you don’t get your pay docked.”
Gulping, the boy turned and squeezed out of the room. Kodachi declined to move out of his way, and from the sounds behind her the doorguard also chose not to be obliging.
“I suppose it is too much to hope for that you are here to deliver the news that your family has banned Tatewaki from associating with my sister?”
Kodachi raised an eyebrow. “I regret to say that, as far as I know, my family has no official opinion of the relationship. For myself, I find it unlikely that she is a suitable match.”
The girl frowned slightly. “Really?”
“Yes – by all accounts, she doesn’t seem to be psychotic, or a gold-digging bitch solely interested in my family’s wealth.” Kodachi shrugged. “Gven that, I would suggest that permitting my brother to be inflicted upon her is a crime against all women.”
“I’m glad you’re aware of the flaws in members of your family. I’m Tendo Nabiki,” introduced the other girl with a smile. “A pleasure to meet you.”
“Likewise, I’m sure.”
Nabiki leaned back in her chair, silently watching the visitor. Unfazed, Kdachi returned the assessment. The others in the room waited, Nabiki’s followers calmly and the remainder subserviently.
Nabiki turned her head slightly, not taking her eyes off Kodachi. “Naru, everything else this afternoon should be routine. Keep the normal records.” She scooped a satchel off the floor, and stood as the girl addressed calmly nodded. “Out of curiousity, Kodachi, why didn’t your brother come to school today?”
“That, Tendo-san, is somewhat of a tale…”
“I’m sorry, Saragakure-san, but it would be quite inappropriate to release a patient to you.”
“”
“I.m certain you are a trusted retainer of the family, but it is imperative that I should speak to his father.”
“”
“Hnnm.” The doctor leaned back in his chair. “I would have to consult with the administrators of the institution regarding policy, in that case. I am certain we would require documentation to prove that you are the legally appointed guardian…”
“”
The doctor stared at the telephone. “I…see. Ah, yes, you do that…”
“”
The doctor carefully hung up the phone, and settled into his seat. After a moment, he remarked to no one in particular, “It’s times like these that I wish I still had that bottle of sake in the office…”
“Welcome to my home,” said Nabiki, throwing open the gates to the Tendo compound. Kodachi nodded courteously as she walked through. So far, the honours were about even, thought Nabiki as she noted her visitor assessing the house and dojo. Kodachi had an undoubted advantage in meeting many individuals from circles Nabiki was, as yet, unable to enter; however, she did not seem to understand why that was an advantage. Her interests were quite different to the middle Tendo’s, as well, which meant that Nabiki was able to more than keep up on their discussion of finances, business and politics even if she was quite lost when the conversation drifted to horticulture.
As Kodachi paused in the front yard, Nabiki acknowledged another field in which the two girls were evenly matched. They had been nearly halfway home before she noticed that she had subconsciously adopted the seductive hip sway she occasionally used to draw attention, and then only when she noticed that Kodachi was using exactly the same technique. Thereafter, she had quietly noted the reactions of the men and boys they passed, keeping score.
She closed the gate, and was about to lead her guest into the house when a kiai broke the quiet. It was followed by a rapid-fire stream of impacts, yells, and sounds of controlled destruction.
“You wanted to meet my sister, didn’t you?” remarked Nabiki.
“Indeed,” returned Kodachi. “And her fiancé, and the ‘flame-haired maiden’ my brother has mentioned.”
Nabiki’s lips twisted, and she walked up the path to the dojo. Accepting the implicit invitation, Kodachi followed, standing at her shoulder as the door was slid aside to reveal two figures in gi in the process of transitioning from brutal kenpo to closer grappling. Nabiki couldn’t help a certain thought crossing her mind, and it seemed her guest had something similar.
“Dear me. It appears my brother is so repulsive as to drive his paramours to each other’s arms…”
The two combatants froze. Unfortunately, Ranma was in the middle of a sophisticated hip-throw, and lost her balance.
“Yeeek!” “Whaghph!”
“You know, ‘Dachi, you might just have something there,” mused Nabiki.
“Ahh!” “Yiike!”
The pair tangled on the floor made efforts to separate themselves. Unfortunately, they both tried to lunge in the same direction, so Akane buried her face back into Ranma’s cleavage.
“‘Might’, ‘Biki?” queried Kodachi urbanely. “I am, I submit, a paragon of perceptiveness.”
“I – it – It’s not want it looks like!” protested Ranma, grabbing Akane and flipping her away to the right. Unfortunately, Akane was trying to stand up, and had her hand on her friend’s gi.
The girls at the door graced her with frank appraisal. “I’m afraid I am quite firmly heterosexual,” announced the guest. “While you are obviously talented, I don’t find myself attracted to you in the slightest.”
“Wha?” uttered Ranma. Then, following the guest’s gaze, “Ahh!”
She span around, hurriedly facing away from the doors. Before she could refasten her gi, Nabiki added, “Are you sure it isn’t what it looked like? I mean, letting my little sister look when you won’t let us see…”
“Yaaah!” Blushing nearly as red as her hair, the martial artist ran for the gap where a shoji had been left ajar and escaped into the garden. Moments later, another high-pitched yelp and the sound of scattered game pieces indicated that she had encountered the fathers before managing to adjust her clothing.
“Na-bi-kii…” growled Akane. Her fury would have been more impressive if she hadn’t been nearly as redfaced as Ranma, and propped on her head against the dojo wall.
“At any rate,” continued Nabiki, thinking that it was a good idea to defuse things before Akane’s temper got the better of her, “this is Kuno Kodachi, Tatewaki’s sister. She wanted to talk to you and Ranma.”
“Can’t she talk nicely?”
“I do apologise,” said Kodachi without particular evidence of sorrow, “but the notion has substantially more merit than that you would actually seek my brother’s affections. I take it your sparring partner is the ‘Flame Haired Maiden’ he has been eulogising of late?”
Akane rolled crashingly to her feet. “Yes, Ranma is his latest obsession,” she admitted harshly, straightening her gi.
“‘Ranma’?” started the guest. “But isn’t – I thought…” She visibly drew her reserve back around herself. “Is that not your fiancé’s name?”
“Oh, now that is quite a tale,” interrupted Nabiki. “One we’ll tell you in return for hearing your explanation why dear Tatewaki wasn’t at school today.”
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(Posted Wed, 31 Oct 2007 09:22)
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