"Never thought I'd tell you this, Saotome, but you're thinking too much," Nabiki said.
Ranma stared at the older girl. "What?"
"Major life decisions aren't a bad thing, but you're missing two things. First, right now you want to keep your options open, not commit to a path outright."
"We're not the ones signing up for a bite, Nabiki," Akane answered.
Nabiki smiled wryly. "I need to be able to negotiate with foreign clans on behalf of the Werecheetah Clan at a moment's notice, which means at a moment's notice I need to be a werecheetah myself and be comfortable enough in that body that it doesn't throw me off my game."
"You could walk away," Ranma pointed out.
"No, I can't," Nabiki said. "I don't follow your Code, Ranma, but that doesn't mean I don't agree with parts of it. When it's important, when people I care about need me, Nabiki Tendo does not run away."
Ranma leaned back. "Never heard you talk like that, Nabs."
"Never needed to, Ranma."
"Fair enough, but what's the second point?" Ranma asked.
"School tomorrow."
The highschoolers blinked at eachother.
Ukyo's hands went to her long, newly blonde hair and screamed. "What are we going to do!?"
Nabiki looked to Cologne. "Got any sedatives?" she asked.
Cologne hopped into the kitchen and started a pot of tea.
It took a while to calm Ukyo down, but they managed to get half a glass of tea into her, which noticably helped. Nabiki frowned at the glazed look on Ukyo's eyes and turned to Cologne. "Exactly what is in this tea?" she asked warily.
"Catnip," Cologne answered. "Everything else would be too strong for that mild panic attack."
"I think you forgot to account for the fact that she is a cat," Nabiki said wryly.
"Meow," Ukyo sang, then giggled.
Cologne frowned. "It should be far too dilute to have a strong effect. Anything bigger than a housecat should barely feel it."
"Homeopathy and magic mix way too easily," Nabiki grumbled.
"I should make catnip okonomiyaki," Ukyo sighed, reaching for her tea.
Nabiki pulled it away. "No more tea for you. Or you two, Akane, Ranma."
"Mou," Ukyo pouted.
"Um, anyway," Akane said, looking a bit weirded out by Ukyo, "plan?"
"Plan A is shot straight to hell by now," Nabiki grumbled. "And with it, a chunk of my own credibility."
"The rumor that Akane had been kidnapped by a hairstylist prince?" Cologne asked. "I can only assume that plan was put together in haste. It would never have lasted long."
"We were hoping it would last long enough for the 'weird things happen around Ranma' feelings to kick in and cover for revealing more of what happened," Nabiki explained.
Cologne thought that over. "That wouldn't have worked with us, but I can see how that could work. But not any longer."
"No," Akane agreed. "Thanks to pig brain blabbing to the whole school, tomorrow everyone is going to know exactly what we are."
"Not exactly, sis," Nabiki corrected. "I've done some searching. There's nothing out there about werecheetahs other than some unanswered questions posted since Ryoga blew our cover. Internet, library, common mythologies, it's a complete ghost. So people will only have questions, mostly patched together from what they've read about werewolves. Oh, you two should avoid the Twilight freaks for at least a month."
"I don't want to know," Ranma said to that. Akane agreed.
"You really don't," Nabiki confirmed. "But no matter what, there are going to be questions. And since Ryoga already revealed the whole shapeshifting thing..." Nabiki sighed. "From a tactical information control standpoint, this is blown. Unless we want to make up a whole new set of lies, whatever information we give out is our choice."
"No lies," Ranma said. "With Ryoga out there, any story we tell is going to blow up anyway. Besides, the fiancees are in on it now, anyway."
"True," Nabiki agreed. "So all you need to do is decide what questions you want to answer. I'll work up an answer sheet, you'll sign it so they know it's legit, and we can get the school off your back for a while at least."
"We could just go to school like this," Ranma suggested.
Nabiki looked over the seven foot tall werecheetah. "You'd never fit in your desk like that," she pointed out.
"Oh, right," Ranma said.
Nabiki noted the disappointment in Ranma's voice and reminded herself that this transformation was altering his self-image a lot more than his curse ever did. "But I take it you wouldn't mind letting everyone know about that form," she confirmed.
"Why would we?" Akane asked.
Ukyo looked at the werecheetahs...the other werecheetahs, anyway. "What? Uh, guys, you barely look human like that. You're going to freak people out walking around like that."
"They'll get used to it," Ranma said calmly.
Ukyo worked her mouth silently. Ranma she could see being so calm about introducing massive weirdness into Nerima, but it looked like Akane agreed with him. "Am I going to start thinking that way?" she whimpered.
Konatsu frowned at Ukyo and considered giving her a hug, but his shyness held him back.
Akane smiled at Ukyo. "Probably," she said. "We got used to this a lot faster than we should have."
Ukyo sighed. "Well, I guess that's better than being uncomfortable the rest of my life."
"Yeah," Ranma agreed.
"Which doesn't explain how I've gotten used to seeing you like that," Nabiki grumbled. "Anyway. Silver."
"No way," Ranma said. "You saw what happened when they learned about the nekoken."
"He's got a point," Akane agreed.
"But the werewolf legends talk about silver," Ukyo argued. "It's not exactly the most reliable source..."
"...but people around here have done dumber things on less," Akane finished. "Okay. So we need to say something about silver."
"Most everyone that actually wants to challenge you isn't willing to kill," Nabiki mused, looking Ranma over. "If we emphasize, even exaggerate the lethality of silver, the only ones you'll have to worry about are nutjobs like Gosunkugi."
"Hello?" Ranma asked, pointing out the door at the Kunos. "Kuno, Ryoga, Mousse? They've all tried to kill me. And we all know Happosai can't be trusted with that kind of information."
"Mousse already knows, Ranma," Cologne interrupted. "And the Kuno boy's sword, do you recognize it?"
Ranma frowned and looked out at the katana sticking up awkwardly from the trash heap like a beacon of stupidity. "Isn't that the wish granting sword?" he asked. "Why is he still carrying that around?"
"It hardly matters," Cologne said darkly. "But it is good that you recognized the magic sword when you saw it."
Ranma's eyes widened. "But...but the wishes are all gone," he said.
"Regardless, the blade is an artifact of magic. And that fool has often meddled in powers beyond his understanding."
"Breathing is beyond Kuno's understanding," Akane pointed out.
"True," Cologne allowed. "But more importantly, he likely has a sizable supply of magic blades with minor enchantments. Heirlooms, relics, prizes of battle from his ancestors. He does not need silver to be a threat."
"And Ryoga's a werepig," Akane growled. "He doesn't need anything but his bare hands."
Ranma sighed. "so much for invulnerability."
Cologne chuckled. "No such thing, I'm afraid. Oh, and I can't imagine Happy not knowing at least enough to find out about the silver weakness. You will need to be cautious around him."
"I always am," Ranma said grimly. "Anything else?"
Nabiki thought that over.
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(Posted Tue, 15 May 2012 14:46)
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