Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma, I just rent him.
Chapter 1: Here's Ranma, again?
Nabiki walked to school with a smile on her face and was trying very hard to fight the urge to skip. Things at home were going great, at least in her personal opinion. It was true that the wedding was a complete mess, but the money she had made would keep her family going for a while. That family now included one Ranma Saotome, at least in Nabiki's mind.
She still couldn't believe half of the crap that followed him around. When Ranma First arrived he quickly went from potential boyfriend to potential brother in law with the revealing of his curse. As time passed Nabiki realised that her and Ranma's personalities were too different. Nabiki had long determined what qualities about Ranma she liked, even if Akane refused to understand some of them. Ranma was loyal, honorable, quick thinking when it counted, and that body of his. Too bad Ranma had some flaws that Nabiki didn't want the headache of dealing with. Ranma was gullible, didn't take school seriously, had a large ego, and to top it off was his curse.
Nabiki knew she was being a biggot telling Akane to deal with it when Nabiki was just a little freaked by it.
Those were thoughts for another time. Now was time to get to school and aquire the profits made over the weekend. Nabiki entered the gates and saw her employees gathered together. One of them spoted her and waved Nabiki over. Something was wrong.
Nabiki approached the group and they seperated so that Nabiki could see one of them in the middle. It appeared he had been talking to the others. "What's going on Jiro?"
Jiro looked at Nabiki with a slightly scared look in his eyes. "Nabiki-sama, has something happened to Ranma lately? Has he started acting strange again?"
Now Nabiki was really curious. "No. What would make you say that?"
"It was just that he looked a little different yesterday with that haircut and new clothes. He was also talking about himself in the third person. He.. he was fighting Mousse."
Nabiki was a little confused but thought that she should hear everything before she asked questions. "Go on."
"I was working the crowd as usual and made a nice profit from the bets when the fight was over, but then Ranma turned on me. My god Nabiki-sama, I thought he was going to kill me."
"What, exactly, did he do?"
"He grabbed me and jumped to the roof of a building. He held me over the roof and said that he didn't like me making money of one of his fights. I told him it never bothered him before. Then he got quiet. I could only stare into his eyes. There weren't any emotions. Nabiki-sama, it was just like one of your looks when you're making a bussiness deal. Finally he said he was going to take all of the profits I just made, and then we were all suppose to make a better deal with him about his cut from these fights."
"And you said he kept refering to himself in the third person?"
"Actually, I think he said his fight, not Ranma's fight, when he talked about taking the bet money."
Nabiki stood there and thought for a moment. Her employees were obviously scared. If Nabiki was right, they were about to be even more scared. Jiro was an honest guy, he also knew how not to answer a question without lying. It made him a great worker in her network, and yet gave a trustworthy face for some people to deal with.
Finally Nabiki looked Jiro in the eyes, he deserved to know. They all did if it meant trouble. "Ranma didn't fight Mousse yesterday. He was at home all day. Ranma did fight Ryouga when the lost boy showed up. And lastly, Ranma did not get his hair cut or new clothes. I think we've got an imposter. Everyone start keeping your eyes out. If this guy is targeting bussiness dealing with Ranma, tghen redirect all Ranma bussiness to me personally."
"But Nibiki-sama, isn't that dangerous?"
"I'm going to have a talk with Ranma, I'll get him to back me up. I don't think he'll like an imposter running around either."
Nabiki started to walk off when Jiro put a hand on her shoulder. "Nabiki-sama, two things. One, when this imposter fought Mousse he seemed as good as Ranma."
"That's good to know before I run across him. And the other thing?"
Jiro reached into his pocket and handed Nabiki some money. "I thought 'Ranma' was a little nuts at the time, but he gave this to me when we were back on the ground and said it was 'Ranma's cut.'"
Nabiki looked at the wad on money in her hands and nodded. "Alright, go." Nabiki started again to go to class. She had a lot to think about.
So, where should she start? This new 'Ranma' was appearantly skilled. That would almost be a given. This guy didn't like someone making money off him. At least not with out a cut. This guy had even taken what Nabiki would guess was about 20 and wanted it to be given to Ranma. This guy was a bussinessman. One with high martial arts skills.
How could she not know about this guy showing up? Where had he come from? Nabiki knew for a fact that Ranma was an only child, right? Even if Genma had cheated on his wife and had another son, that wouldn't explain the looks. Ranma looked like his mother. Ranma's curse only brought that fact out more. Ranma's mother couldn't have had another child without Genma knowing, at least not one that was Ranma's age. That ruled out this guy being a brother or something.
Could he be Ranma's cousin or something? Jiro had made it seem like this guy was actually protecting Ranma's interests. This deffinately bared further investigation. The best source of info was Ranma's mother. That would have to wait...
There was someone there. Nabiki could feel the eyes on her. She had felt the same before her date duel. Nabiki looked around herself and saw nothing at first. Then she saw him. It was as if he just appeared there. He was leaning against the school's outer wall and he was looking at her.
"My god, he does look like Ranma..." Nabiki cursed herself for letting that slip. As Nabiki studied this guy she noticed slight differences in his build and face. This guy was older than Ranma, maybe Nabiki's age. Nabiki suddenly realised that this guy was actually letting her study him. This was an intimidation move. Nabiki started to walk toward the stranger when he finally spoke.
"Tommorrow." Then he was gone. It took Nabiki a moment to realise what that move was, what it had to be. Umisenken, Genma's art of invisibility. This wasn't good. She needed to talk to Ranma, now.
Market
Kasumi was humming a little tune to herself as she shopped. It was good to take care of her family, and she loved that she now had Auntie to show her some more recipes. It felt a little like having her mother back. Auntie was caring and noble. She was the kind of woman that Kasumi wanted to be. Kasumi could almost have accepted being Ranma's fiancee if it meant Kasumi would be able to call Auntie 'mom'.
Kasumi stopped humming. That wasn't right. Ranma was Akane's fiancee and they both loved each other very much, even if they didn't want to admit it in public.
Kasumi was so lost in thought that she didn't see the sidewalk's crack and tripped. Just as she was about to fall and drop everything, she was held in a strong yet gentle arm. She turned her head and saw the last of the stranger's little dance as he caught everything Kasumi had been carrying. Kasumi applauded as she saw the guy balence bags in his head, on one foot, and on one arm. Kasumi's savior turned to her with a smile in his face.
"You should be more careful miss. Someone as nice as yourself doesn't deserve to get her dress dirtied or her groceries ruined. Here you go."
Kasumi was breathless. This guy had short black hair and wore a pair of glasses. He looked to be about her age and yet the balancing act testified to years of martial trainig. Kasumi suddenly blushed when she realised that his other arm was still holding her to stop her fall. She stood straight and started to take her packages again.
"I'm so sorry to bother you. Thank you so much. Perhaps you could come for dinner as a proper thank you?" What was she doing? Was she actually flirting with him?
"It was my pleasure, and although I'd love to accept such a kind invitation, I've got to get back. My brother will be wondering where I am and I still have dinner to prepare." The young man turned and started to walk away.
Kasumi didn't know what to do. She called out before she could stop herself. "But I don't even know your name."
The man looked over his shoulder as he walked away. "My name is Yoshi. It was a pleasure to meet you Kasumi." Then he was gone.
Kasumi went home in a daze. She was half way though making dinner that night when she realised that she had never given the guy her name.
Author's Notes:
Well, this is my second fanfic I've posted. I have not abandoned After the fall of giants. I was just wanting to see what kind of response I could get with this story.
It's just a little something I've had running around in my little head.
Please read and review.