[soundtrack for this one: Seven Doors, by ZAQ]

Nabiki walked side by side with Akane in silence for a minute or so. She knew that Akane was, wisely, waiting until they were out of earshot of Riko and Yui before speaking. As she waited for Akane to speak her mind, she worked through a focusing and relaxing drill to slow her heart rate down and center her breathing. The air smelled like grass and flowers.
They were headed towards the back fields where the students didn't tend to go during lunch. There was nothing out there except for an old equipment building. Akane shot a few hesitant glances at her, which she met in friendly silence. If Akane wanted to have it out with her, she wasn't going to shut her sister down, but she wasn't going to welcome it either. Once they had cleared the crowds as they headed further out into the fields, Akane started to talk.
"How are you feeling?" Akane asked quietly.
She looked over at her sister and smiled as she rubbed her jaw with a wink. "I don't know, how do I look? Is it bruised yet?" She asked.
Akane smiled back at her nervously. "Yeah, a little bit."
"Well, there go my chances with the guys." She joked.
Akane's eyes got cloudy. "Not all the guys. Ranma doesn't care about stuff like that." Akane whispered sadly.
She could hear the longing in Akane's voice. It was soul crushing. For approximately the millionth time, she wished that Akane really did hate him as she so often pretended, instead of being secretly in love with him like she so plainly was.
She looked off into the fields and away from Akane. She couldn't bear to look into Akane's eyes when they looked like that. She knew the pain Akane had to be in, but she wasn't just going to give up on him.
Not now. I can't give up now. 
...get better ... 
...he promised... She fought with her thoughts as they crashed into each other and she had to steady herself a moment as she gathered herself. Obviously Akane wanted to try to talk about Ranma again. This was going to be a battle. She braced herself both emotionally and intellectually to fight Akane off.
I am NOT giving him up! She swore to herself. She controlled the response she actually voiced, though. "I know he doesn't care." She said carefully.
There was silence between them for a few more moments, then Akane sucked in a shaky deep breath. She winced and waited for it, she could only imagine how upset Akane was, but it had to be pretty serious for Akane to call her out alone like this.
"You two ... are good together." Akane whispered without looking at her.
Her brain had to slam itself into reverse as she spun the wheel to try to recover from the sudden skid she found her mind in. She hadn't been expecting that. She nodded to buy herself time and looked around at the sky before she answered. "Yeah ... I think we're good together too..." She said guardedly.
"I'm happy for you..." Akane said in a voice that sounded anything but happy.
She sighed and looked at her younger sister. She didn't know what Akane was playing at, but she would rather Akane just fight openly for him instead of trying to guilt-trip her. She opened her mouth to say just that, but closed it slowly as her eyes met her sister's eyes. In Akane's eyes, she saw sadness, and shame, and even some anger, but she didn't see deceit.
She can't have given up yet ... so ... what's she doing? She thought as she tried to figure out Akane's angle.
"I'm ... happy ... you're happy for me, but Akane—"
"Nabiki..." Akane interrupted her in a normal toned voice, but with an inflection that made her heart skip a beat then start racing as adrenaline flooded into her system. Something was wrong.
"Yes?" She asked in her best normal tone as well, mimicking Akane.
"Are any of your friends playing any games with you right now? Any hide and seek type of thing or sneaky tag or anything like that?" Akane asked lightly, but with a trace of worry in her voice.
"N-no. Not that I know of." She said in as normal of a voice as she could. She was suddenly very aware of the fact that Ranma wasn't with her, and they were out by themselves on the edge of the school grounds as their walk had taken them near to the back of the fields near the old equipment building.
"I was afraid of that." Akane said with a bit more worry in her voice. "Don't look around, but we're being surrounded." Akane whispered as her little sister started to make a turn with her in their walking path. If she hadn't known what Akane was doing, she wouldn't have thought twice about it. A few moments later they were facing back towards the center of the school. They were still leisurely walking, though.
"It's such a nice day today." Akane said a little louder than normal. Under her breath, Akane added, "Act normally. The longer we can delay them, the better."
"H-how many are there?" She whispered. "Yes, it is very nice today." She added in a louder voice.
"I can't tell. A lot." Akane said as she picked up her pace a little.
"Should we run for it?" She whispered as she matched Akane's pace.
"I don't know, may— oop—" Akane started to answer as they started to walk faster towards the school, then stopped when several masked people all dressed in simple Chinese clothes melted away from the shadows of the nearby buildings, walls, trees and bushes and stood in their path.
There were at least a dozen of them, and they were all armed with various traditional Chinese hand weapons.
"A lot was right, you weren't kidding." She said as Akane stepped fully in front of her and threw her arms out wide protectively in a sharp motion. She could see Akane summon her full strength. Her little sister changed right in front of her from just her sister to someone in a combat situation ready to fight.
She watched Akane moving to protect her, and reached for the little chain she kept around her neck while at school, and pulled a whistle out that she kept on the chain with a shaking hand. She quickly blew three sharp blasts on it, paused a moment, and then blew two more.
The masked people started to walk towards them.
"That seems to have ... provoked them. What was that?" Akane asked over her shoulder as she backed up in front of her which forced her to step backwards as well.
"That was my holy-crap-help whistle." She said with a touch of a smile on her face. The whistle was something she and Riko had setup a long time ago when they had been involved in some pretty serious loan-sharking against some shady underworld types who had deserved it. She had never actually blown the whistle to summon help though. What she hadn't told Akane was that the whistle was a last-ditch, my life is in danger, drop everything and help me NOW signal. Riko would be moving Heaven and Earth to get to her now, and Riko would send for literally everyone. The whistle was the signal to activate code-white. Anyone who owed her a favor, and could fight, would be sent for.
"Are you just hoping someone will hear—" Akane started to say, when a shrill whistle blast came from the direction of the school. It was a very long and sharp note, and then it was followed by a tiny pause, and then two short notes very close together. The notes weren't clean notes, they warbled unsteadily and hurriedly.
She breathed a tiny bit easier. "That was Riko. That signal means she is on her way and bringing help."
"I ... don't think they're going to get here in time." Akane said nervously as the people who clearly meant to attack them walked towards them and herded them back towards the equipment building.
Their attackers were all masked, but she was pretty sure they were all Amazons. They all had long hair tied back in simple ponytails, and they were all wearing the same loose-fitting black Chinese silk simple pants and shirts. They looked mostly gender-neutral, but the way they moved was a touch feminine.
Not that it mattered if the people who attacked her were male or female. She willed Riko to arrive sooner. She closed her eyes momentarily and screamed at herself in her mind for being stupid enough to fall for the trap.
OF COURSE, they must have lured Ranma away! What was I thinking?! Akane is strong, but she isn't strong enough to fight off even Shampoo by herself. I am such a freaking IDIOT!
Akane stopped suddenly a few dozen meters away from the building they were being herded towards. Her little sister obviously didn't want them pressed with their backs up against a wall. Their attackers began to split up into groups and spread out.
"Nabiki, get ready to run." Akane whispered to her. "I can take two, maybe three of them, so I'll clear you a path, and you run for it as fast as you can. Don't ... don't look back." Akane said in a brave voice that cracked with emotion. She realized Akane was trying to keep her from seeing what happened to her.
"I can't leave you to—" she whispered back in protest as the masked people advanced on them and it dawned on her that she was in real danger of being hurt, maybe killed, and her voice broke as the fear started to overwhelm her.
"You can't help me, Nabiki. Please, please just listen to me and run when I tell you to. I can hold them off long enough ... for you to get away." Akane said in an uncertain voice that struggled to sound confident.
"Akane ... " she whispered, not knowing what else to say. She couldn't ... she just couldn't run away and leave Akane to these people. Could she?
I can't...
I can't, I can't, I CAN'T!
The masked people started to surround them. Akane was still holding her arms out protectively as she tried to shield her and turn to keep them all in her sight, but there were too many of them.
In the distance she could now see Riko and some others running towards them, many of them waving weapons, but she didn't think they would arrive in time. She started to hyperventilate as the fear fully overwhelmed her. She wasn't trained to handle this. She felt her legs starting to give out as the edges of her vision started to blacken. She wanted to throw up and cry at the same time. Her mind was working overtime trying to figure out how to save her life, but she was drawing a blank.
I can't handle this! I can't, I can't, I can't!
There were two layers to the attackers. There was an outer layer that was acting as a rear guard between them and the people rushing over to help, and an inner layer that had started to circle them. Even if Riko and the rest reached them in time, they'd have to get through—
I see Ranma! He's coming! She interrupted her own thoughts as she caught sight of him. He was moving like she had only ever in her life seen one other person move. Ranma was running to her like Doctor Tofu had run to their mother near the end. He was moving so fast, he was blurring, as he sprinted towards them ... towards her.
She could only tell it was him, at the distance he was at, because of his red Chinese shirt. But he was getting closer by the heartbeat. She and Akane just had to hang on a bit longer. Her heart surged with hope as tears of relief flooded to her eyes and she pulled in a shuddering breath that was a mixture of a sob and a choking sound while shivers ran up and down her spine. She was so scared, she could feel her heart beating in her chest. She closed her eyes tightly and wished harder than she could ever remember, for Ranma to arrive in time.
Ranma was running to her with inhuman speed. He was dodging around students, trees, walls and anything else that got in his way like they weren't even there. Whatever or whoever he couldn't move around, he simply destroyed or knocked over to move past. He reached the rear guard about the same time that Riko and the others did, and simply jumped over them.
He ran to the inner layer that was just starting to run towards her and Akane as they began to attack. She could tell that Akane wasn't focused on Ranma or the others, Akane was focused on their nearest attackers. As soon as the first one stepped into range, Akane lashed out with a vicious kick and knocked the Amazon back.
Akane then turned to her with dark eyes. "RUN! NOW!" Akane yelled the command while pointing towards the hole in the hole that had just been cleared.
She shook her head in defiance as Akane swung her attention back to the fight. There were six attackers in the layer closest to them. Her eyes widened and she gasped as another of the attackers lunged towards herself. She raised her hands into a guard, but without a weapon of her own, or the expertise to disarm the Amazons, she knew it would do no good.
Akane heard her gasp and pivoted to get to her, but she could tell Akane wouldn't get to her in time. Terror flashed across Akane's face and her little sister lunged for her anyway. She started to squeeze her eyes shut as the Amazon's bladed weapon arced towards her—
Then Ranma was there.
He exploded up from under her attacker's legs as he slid under the Amazon and kicked up into their stomach to get in between them and her with a flash of frantically violent motion. The Amazon doubled over and slumped to the ground as he smoothly regained his own feet. The Amazon he had kicked didn't get back up.
She wobbled backwards and tried to get out of his way. Akane reached her and yanked her out of the way of another attack in a combination of a hug and a spin. Ranma blurred into cold, lethal motion. He knocked everyone back away from them, hard. His feet and hands were everywhere. He slapped their defenses down like they weren't even there. He was breathing hard and visibly furious. She let out a shaky breath as tears flooded her eyes and her body quaked with emotions that ranged from relief to joy.
The rest of the attackers paused for a moment. They clearly hadn't been expecting this. Meanwhile, their rear guard had been surrounded by Riko and the others. She could see that Riko had brought the Brute Squad.
Good, they're finally going to earn their keep. She thought absently as her adrenaline levels spiked.
Riko took advantage of the pause to throw Ranma the staff she had been carrying. Tears were streaming down Riko's face. She could tell her friend was hysterical with fear.
Ranma caught the staff easily and twirled it expertly around his head, behind his back, to either side of himself, and then abruptly he stopped it and pulled it back into a guard position in his right hand as he took up a position in front of her and Akane with his back to them. She fixed her eyes on him with absolute certainty in her heart, and started to allow her muscles to unclench ... Ranma was here.
Ranma's presence changed the situation entirely. He would never allow her or Akane to be hurt. The Amazons wouldn't be able to touch her or Akane now. The situation had changed from a potentially life-threatening one, to a simple problem on a school playground. Akane did not drop her defensive stance though, even with Ranma present.
Ranma stood roughly centered between herself and Akane, and about two steps in front of them. He held the staff loosely tucked under his right arm, with his right hand snaked around it and grasping it in a reverse grip. His left hand he held at his waist level positioned like he was getting ready to pick something up. All of the attackers had frozen in place. The attackers eyed him for a moment then looked at their leader uncertainly. She would have bet money Shona was the leader.
"They'd be idiots to attack him now. With the staff, he has twice their reach." Akane whispered to her. She looked over at Akane and nodded. She hadn't been worried anyway. She had absolute faith in Ranma's skills. But, it never hurt to have more information. She could feel adrenaline surging in her veins still. She felt giddy and floaty at the same time — it was a mixture of fear and relief.
"LEAVE! NOW!" Ranma yelled in a voice dripping darkly with anger. His voice echoed off the walls and building around them, and was so loud it sounded like he had used a loudspeaker. It was a voice she had never heard him use before. It was scary.
She could feel heat coming off him. She tried to concentrate like Ranma had shown her, but she was still too disoriented. "Is he glowing?" She asked Akane.
"Yes." Akane said without looking back at her. Akane had her eyes locked on Ranma, and nodded at him very slowly for some reason. She could see that Akane was readying herself to fight as well.
Her little sister was standing in a fighting stance with her hips angled back away from Ranma, and was focused behind them. She carefully tilted her head to either side and realized they were surrounded. She was impressed Akane had noticed that. She was sure Ranma knew.
The leader of the attackers waved a hand forward in answer to Ranma's order, and the attackers rushed at them.
"No!" Ranma yelled as he whipped the staff out from under his arm and grasped it strongly in his left. She could see the muscles in his arms cording as he flexed them. He whipped the staff into picture-perfect left-right strikes that snapped against the sides of the heads of the first two attackers as he took several steps backwards.
As he dropped the two in front of him, he pulled the staff backwards and switched his grip. "Akane, NOW!" He yelled.
She blinked in confusion as she wondered what he expected Akane to—
Akane answered the question by lunging for her, and knocking her to the ground. As they hit the ground, Akane wrapped her body around her protectively, then Akane tucked her head down next to her own.
She was stunned and the wind had been knocked out of her, and what little air she was managing to pull in was filling her nose with dust, but she could still see what was happening, albeit from a world turned sideways. As she gasped painfully for breath, she watched Ranma complete his steps to what had been his rear, and shift his hips as he pivoted and dropped the staff into a low sweeping arc with the leading tip of the staff.
He swept one of the attackers off their feet who had been rushing her and Akane, and then brought the other end of the staff around to complete the arc and smashed it into the face of the fourth attacker. He pulled that end of the staff back and brought the staff vertical as he locked his hands into a cross-hold and brought the staff stabbing down in a brutal strike to the solar plexus of the attacker he had knocked off their feet as they started to get up.
Without missing a beat, he whipped the staff behind himself and blocked a strike from the leader of the attackers as he twisted his stance and faced them. The leader was the last one standing.
She twisted herself in Akane's arms to continue watching as she gulped in ragged breaths. It was amazing to watch Ranma when he was serious. She could barely follow his movements, they were so fast. But unlike a lot of other people, Ranma didn't lose any of the power behind his strikes when he moved fast and he was serious. Every time he struck she could tell, just from the sounds of the impacts, that he was putting enough power behind it to seriously injure his opponent.
Ranma and the leader of the attackers traded rapid blows, each of them blocking each other's strikes. But it was clear even to her non-expert eyes that Ranma outclassed his opponent. Ranma was driving the Amazon backwards, and the Amazon was having trouble blocking Ranma's strikes even though she was expertly dual wielding some sort of fighting sticks.
Both she and Akane sat up as the fight moved further away from them. Akane put an arm around her and stood up, bringing her to her feet as well. It was easy to forget how strong Akane was, until her little sister did things like that. She was still having a hard time breathing from having the wind knocked out of her. Akane seemed fine, she noticed with annoyance.
Ranma was pressing the leader of the attackers harder and harder. He kept stepping into his opponent's stance and taking her balance, forcing her to backpedal and rapidly try to circle around Ranma to stay on her feet. 
Ranma responded by whipping his staff out to its full length and brutally slapping his opponent's legs as he herded her towards the wall of the equipment building they had been walking around. Some of Ranma's strikes were getting through now. She idly wondered if Ranma knew he was fighting a girl.
She could see that Ranma's opponent was rapidly losing the ability to block. In a lot of fights she had seen Ranma in, he would usually stop when he saw that. But not this time. She couldn't see his face as he drove the attacker away from her and Akane, but she could tell by the relentless assault Ranma was using to drive the Amazon back, that he was out for blood. If anything, the strength of his attacks increased at the signs of the flagging strength of his opponent.
A moment later, the Amazon crashed up against the wall, and Ranma reacted with incredible speed. His hands and the staff became a blur. As his opponent bounced off the wall she suddenly had no weapons in her hands. A heartbeat later she doubled over like he'd been hit in the gut, then a beat after that her head snapped back hard and hit the wall, and it was all over. The Amazon slowly slid down the wall, unconscious.
Ranma paused for a heartbeat with the staff raised in the last striking position he had used to sweep up and knock her back, as he stood in a twist-stance, crouched low and powerfully close to the ground. He then straightened up and immediately whipped the staff back up under his arm in a guard position and pivoted to survey the battlefield for a new target, and she finally could see his face again.
His eyes... holy crap, his eyes! She thought when she could see his face again. It chilled her to look at him. His face was a blank mask, but his eyes were burning with darkness.
Akane noticed it too. She felt her little sister stiffen next to her as Ranma's eyes scanned for anyone else left to fight. His eyes settled on them, and both of them flinched. It was ... scary ... having that stare of his directed at them.
There was nobody left for him to fight. The six he had dealt with weren't moving. And Riko and the brute squad had either knocked the rest out, or chased them off, as she could see no sign of them.
A moment later the terrible spectre in his eyes cleared and shifted to concern. He sprinted over to them and dropped the staff as he pulled them both into his arms. "You're okay, right? They didn't hurt you, did they?" He asked anxiously.
Both she and her sister shook their heads no. But she was lying. She wasn't all right. She could feel her legs giving out under her as the adrenaline wore off and the fear slammed into her. She could feel Akane next to her shaking a bit as well. Ranma was rock solid.
Figures. He's probably an adrenaline junkie at this point. She thought as she shook even harder as the adrenaline faded from her body, and the delayed reaction to the fear made her feel like throwing up and very weak in the knees.
She felt herself slipping downward against Ranma and her vision started to go dark as she passed out. Before she slipped into unconsciousness, she felt Ranma's iron muscles contract in his arm and arrest her fall. He called out to her in a worried tone as she faded. "Hey, Nabiki ... hey! Hold on! I've got you!"
I know you do. She thought absently as the darkness folded over her vision. I know you do.
Weirdly, as she lost consciousness and slumped in his arms, she could have sworn she saw the nurse, Miso, whom she'd met on Monday, standing on top of the equipment building Ranma had driven the Amazon leader into. As she passed out, she could have sworn that Miso had a weird glow around her, and very hard eyes. Then the darkness claimed her.

***
"—was impressive tha—"
"—ot so bad yourself, Akane, y—"
Nabiki was rocking back and forth. She didn't know what was going on. She could hear Ranma talking to Akane. Her eyes were closed.
"—pressive control, how did yo—"
"—imple staff control, your dad could show ya, it's j—"
Ranma and Akane were talking about the fight. She could tell by their voices that they weren't upset. They even sounded ... somewhat ... happy?
"—ever seen you take on that many before, did you have a pla—"
"—ah, ya know me, I never have a plan." Ranma said with a laugh.
Ranma's voice was coming from right above her, Akane's was coming from the right. She realized that Ranma was carrying her cradled in his arms. That would explain the swaying motion she felt, and also why her core felt warm on one side, but not the other, and her arms and legs felt cold. She was rapidly climbing back up from unconsciousness. She had to admit that it annoyed her that neither of them seemed all that disconcerted about the fight that had just happened where her life had been in danger.
"—aybe you could show me how t—" Akane's voice asked quietly, but with a note of seduction to it to her ears.
"—eah, maybe ... sometime..." Ranma's voice replied in an embarrassed tone.
All right, that's enough of that. She thought as she deliberately stirred in Ranma's arms to let him know she was awake.
Ranma responded immediately. "Hey, I think she's wakin' up." He said in a happy voice.
"Let me see." Akane's voice said much more closely. A moment later she felt a cool female-sized hand on her cheek. "Nabiki ... Nabiki ... are you awake?" Akane asked softly. She could feel the warm breath from her sister's lips on her neck and her ear. Akane had to be leaning over her in Ranma's arms.
She sighed. She didn't really want to be dealing with Akane right now, especially when her little sister was using her unconsciousness as an opportunity to sidle up to Ranma again.
She nodded and mumbled a response with surprisingly clumsy lips. "M'kay, m'wake." Was all she was able to get out. She felt Ranma's arms tighten around her. In her mind it was out of affection and relief.
"She doesn't sound too good." Akane said with concern. That annoyed her even more.
"We'll be home soon, then the Doc can look at 'er." Ranma said with a note of concern in his voice. She felt him start moving again, faster than before. She felt a momentary flush of anger at that. She was getting awfully tired of being treated like a defenseless child.
"P't m' d'wn!" She said in a voice that was angrier than she had intended. She may have been slurring her words a bit, but her mind was clearing rapidly.
Ranma slowed down, but didn't stop moving. She turned her head so it was no longer buried in his chest and looked up at him. He was looking down at her with concern in his eyes. She sighed as her anger melted away from the forefront of her mind.
"You sure?" He asked her.
Akane appeared in her field of vision then, walking behind him and peeking over his shoulder. Akane looked concerned as well. It didn't escape her notice that Akane was standing very close to him and had put her hand on his shoulder with casual familiarity.
She nodded her head firmly, and Ranma sighed and stopped walking. She then felt him relax his arm under her legs. As she slid down him so her feet swung downward, he shifted his grip on her upper body with his other arm so that he was holding her loosely enough to allow her body to change positions, but still firmly enough so that she didn't just drop out of his arms.
As soon as she felt her feet touch the ground she tried to stand up and take her weight back on to her own feet. A wave of dizziness hit her immediately and she knew she would have fallen if she hadn't felt Ranma's arms steady her.
She wobbled on her feet for a few more moments as she regained her equilibrium while she kept her hands on his chest, and rested her forehead on him as well. She eventually felt strong enough to lift her head off him, and looked for his eyes again. She found him staring at her with concern still in his eyes, but with a touch of exasperation as well. She could tell he thought it was a bad idea for her to try to be standing.
Well ... tough. I may not be as strong as Akane is, but I'll be damned if I am going to let him carry me all the way home while Akane walks next to him and merrily chats about fighting techniques. She groused to herself as she plastered a fake smile on her face for him. He smiled back weakly and waited until she pushed herself off of him.
She wobbled again for a moment, and she saw him start to lunge for her, but she held a hand up to ward him off. He paused and just watched her as she regained her balance. When she was done she looked up again and found both Ranma and Akane eying her with worry in their eyes. She sighed and reached for his hand.
A part of her knew she was reaching for him as a way to assert her claim on him for Akane's benefit. Another part of her just simply wanted to hold him. And a very small, and secret, part of her wanted to hold on to his hand in case she did lose her balance again. She sighed inwardly about that.
She tugged on Ranma's hand to start him walking again. She saw him glance over at Akane and share a look before looking straight ahead again. Akane looked over at her with an unreadable expression then looked straight ahead. The anger inside her started reaching for the surface again.
They walked in silence for about a block before she finally broke it with a question. "So ... w-what happened?" She asked in a slightly shaky, but no longer slurred voice.
"The Amazons attacked us. Don't you remember?" Akane asked with worry in her voice.
She rolled her eyes. "Yes, I remember being attacked. I meant how did it happen? It seems like it was an awfully large coincidence that they attacked right when Ranma had been called away to see the principal."
"Yeah ... about that..." Ranma said in a guilty voice.
She looked over at him expectantly. He met her gaze with guilty eyes before he went back to looking around for danger like he always did. He spoke up again a few moments later after he had collected his thoughts. "I guess ... the Amazons were behind that too. The lady who told Akane to come get me doesn't work for the school..." He said with embarrassment.
"Then how—" She started to ask.
"Miso stopped her." Akane said with a note of admiration in her voice.
"Miso ... you mean the nurse?" She asked as her foggy memory, or was it a dream, of the nurse standing on top of the equipment build watching the end of the fight with a weird presence about her, rose up in her mind.
"Yeah. She stopped us in the hall and started asking the lady I was with who she was, and why she was with a student." Ranma said softly. She could tell he was embarrassed that he had been tricked.
"Wait, but if Miso stopped her, then why did it take you so long to get back?" She asked.
"Oh, well Akane brought me over to see her in that building, and she was sittin' in a classroom and had a clipboard 'n stuff. As soon as Akane found her, the lady told Akane to leave, and then had me sit down in one of the desks. She asked me a bunch of questions like what my homeroom was and stuff like that. She didn't seem to be in much of a hurry. I thought she was just fillin' out a form or somethin'." He said softly.
A sharp, cold fear stabbed her in the heart. "What ... did you tell her?" She asked with a hint of distress building in her voice.
"Nothin' important. Just my homeroom, the building its in, who my teacher is, an stuff. I didn't tell her nothin' about home or anything like that. I guess she was just tryin' ta keep me busy as long as possible, but she didn't try to get any secrets from me." He said defensively.
She relaxed. She knew Shampoo already knew where his classroom was, because Shampoo had been to it before. And if Shampoo knew, the rest of the Amazons knew as well.
"So yeah, anyway then she asked me to follow her to the office. We walked a little bit then the nurse stepped into the hallway, took one look at her, and blocked her path and wouldn't let her go any further without showing ID. The lady squared off with the nurse for a moment, and I could have sworn I felt a battle aura for a bit." Ranma said absently, like he was reliving the moment in his mind.
"What's wrong?" Akane asked.
Ranma looked over at Akane and then went back to scanning for danger before he answered. "It's just ... I dunno, it felt ... wrong, for a bit, when it was happenin'. I can't really explain it, but it felt like something else was going on that I could feel the edges of, but I couldn't see. But, yeah, anyway I don't know how that all ended."
"Why not?" She asked, genuinely curious. Her anger and annoyance with him already forgotten.
"Because I realized somethin' must be goin' on with you." He said quietly.
"So you just left Miso there?" Akane asked in a scandalized tone.
He shook his head strongly at that. "No. I took a step to head back outside, then I stopped and turned to help deal with that other lady first. But ... " He trailed off, again lost in thought. She and Akane waited patiently for him to continue. "...But ... the nurse looked right at me for a moment and yelled for me to run." He said in an almost haunted voice.
"And?" Akane asked.
"Nothin', I ran outside as fast as I could. I almost ran right into the two girls that Riko sent to get me. They pointed me to where you were, and you know the rest." He said quietly.
They walked in silence after that until they got back home, each of them lost in their own thoughts. She passed Doctor Tofu standing on top of the wall of their lands without saying a word, and headed inside. He nodded at her, but didn't divert his stony eyes from scanning the horizon for danger. She didn't know what to think about anything anymore. Her life was sliding out of her control, and she knew it.
She trailed after Ranma and Akane who both headed for the kitchen and then out to the dining room to eat. Nobody said anything about them being home during the middle of the day. She hung back and leaned on the wall and sipped a soda as they restarted their discussion about the fight.
Akane and Ranma spent the better part of the next half hour discussing the fight, and techniques, and Kenpo and training. Ranma tried to include her in the discussion a few times, but even though he asked her things or commented on things that were related to the martial arts on a level that she understood, she just didn't really feel much like joining in. She gave him polite answers, but didn't engage in the conversation at all.
Inside, she was at total war with herself. Her desire to be with him, to marry him, and to build a life with him was clashing strongly with her desire to be free to live her own life in her own way, to not be under constant threat, and to live a normal life.
Can I handle this? She thought as she watched him chat excitedly with Akane about the pros and cons of techniques for multiple opponent fights. She listened to them with part of her attention as she pondered what she should do.
"—ey is to keep attackin' that wa—"
Am I strong enough?
"—hat if they double team yo—"
Will this be what my life would be like?
"—n that case, ya just—"
Will it ever end? Is this what I want my life to be?
"—sed to do something similar when those boys would try to beat me before school every da—"
I want to be with him ... but ... do I want to be with him at any cost? She asked herself as she pushed herself up from the wall and wandered out of the room. She saw Ranma notice her leave, and tense his muscles to get up to follow her, but she waved him back. They were at home where Daddy and Doctor Tofu were watching the house. She was safe inside the house. Well, she was as safe as she could be anyway. This morning had illustrated to her quite clearly that if the Amazons really wanted to, they could probably get inside the house. All of the comfortable illusions most people had about being safe at home were gone for her now.
She sighed and wandered into her room and changed and threw herself into her studies that she had been neglecting for far too long. A knock sounded on her door once or twice as she worked, but she ignored it. She shut her active mind off and let her mind slip into studying mode where she was only aware of what she was reading and writing. It was something she did occasionally to handle stress.
She got a decent amount of studying done before it was time for dinner. She could smell the wonderfully savory smells of roasted meats and vegetables from upstairs. It smelled like Kasumi had outdone herself again. When she emerged from her room to eat she found Ranma sitting at the table across from Akane. He wasn't looking at Akane though, he looked straight at her when she entered the room, and his eyes never left her face. She could tell just from the expression on his face, that he was worried about her.
She smiled a small smile for him and sat down next to him without comment. She could tell just by the relaxation of his body language, that her small gesture made him happy. She darted her eyes over to Akane and found her little sister watching them with eyes that were both thoughtful and somewhat ... wistful? She wasn't exactly sure. Akane wasn't all that readable to her these days. That probably had more to do with the emotional turmoil she was going through more than anything Akane was doing.
As they ate, Ranma kept doing the same thing he always did. He sneaked little looks at her, and made small body language gestures to show he was interested in her. He wasn't being obvious, but the signs were there for those who knew to look for them.
Akane was giving off signals too. Her little sister was watching both of them, but mostly him. She could tell by the subtle tells in Akane's body language that Akane hadn't given up. She didn't blame Akane. He was an incredible person.
But am I strong enough to be with him? Am I willing to pay the price? She asked herself. She had no answers for her questions.
Kasumi joined them for dinner but didn't say anything. Her elder sister spent all of her time staring outside through the porch doors. She was sure Kasumi was watching for Doctor Tofu.
The men protecting their home came to eat in shifts, one at a time. Ranma's dad ate first. He had his bandages off, and just had small wraps around his wounds now. He glared at Ranma a bit before eating, but didn't say anything. She was sure Genma was probably still sulking about how he had been woken up this morning, but was smart enough not to complain about it in the presence of the two people who had been in danger while he had slept.
Daddy took Genma's place, and ate quietly while chatting softly with Kasumi. She didn't know what they were talking about, but Kasumi nodded a lot. Doctor Tofu came in briefly and grabbed a few rice balls off the table, then left without a word. Of all of the men watching the house, Doctor Tofu was the most serious about it. She didn't know why that was. She also didn't know why that fact didn't really reassure her. If anything she felt some uneasiness about it whenever she thought about it, which made no sense as Doctor Tofu was easily the strongest of the four of them.
She looked over at Ranma and felt a little better. His simple presence allowed her to relax a bit from the nervousness she felt, and calmed her chaotic thoughts down a bit.
...he promised...
She didn't have much time to think more on the subject though, because Daddy chose that moment to clear his throat to get their attention.
"I've thought about it, and for the next few nights, I think it would probably be better if I revised the sleeping situation for the household. It is much easier for us to protect just this one room. I realize this will interfere with Nabiki and Ranma getting to know each other, but their engagement will just have to be on hold until this situation with the Amazons is resolved."
She had been expecting something like this. She cast her eyes quickly around the table, and found reactions mostly as she would expect. Ranma looked equally relieved and also disappointed. Akane was trying hard not to show satisfaction on her face, but failing. Kasumi seemed happy about it, and Daddy was his usual serious self. The only face she couldn't see, was her own. But she knew how she felt. Or, rather, she knew how she didn't feel.
This ... is probably for the best ... for now. It will remove the temptation for me to scare him away. She thought as she reached over and patted his hand to reassure him. He flexed his hand under hers. She didn't know what he was signaling, but she assumed it was acceptance.
...he promised...
Daddy stood up and looked directly at Ranma. "Let's go, son. You'll be taking the first watch with me. Your father and Doctor Tofu have the second watch." Daddy said to Ranma. It wasn't a suggestion. She knew that Ranma was under no obligation to obey Daddy. He could walk away from everything, and not look back, and nothing truly terrible would happen to him. He'd lose everyone he'd made a relationship with in Nerima, but he'd also lose all of the baggage he'd picked up here too.
But Ranma didn't walk away. Instead he stood up like the man she knew he was, ready to do what he saw as his duty. He looked down at her for a moment and smiled. "Don't worry, nobody'll get inside." He said confidently.
She smiled for him, because she knew he expected her to. "I know they won't. I trust you." She said. She knew the role she was expected to play in all of this. It wasn't a role she had ever played before, and her strong inner-feminist-warrior spirit wasn't happy about it, but she ignored that part of herself right now.
There will be time in the future to change the shape of our relationship. Right now, is not the time, though. Right now, he needs to focus on what he's doing, without worrying about how I feel about it. She thought resolutely. She ignored the part of herself that reminded her that she didn't really know what shape she wanted the relationship to be in, or even if there would be a relationship to shape.
Am I strong enough? She asked herself as he walked over to stand next to Daddy.
Daddy and Ranma walked towards the door. Ranma went out first with a last backwards glance at her. Daddy stopped at the door and turned around slowly. He looked straight at Akane. There was a fire burning in his eyes.
"Akane ... " He said in a tone she didn't hear him use very often. It was his extremely-serious tone.
Akane looked up at him and nodded. "Yes, Dad?"
"Akane, if we should fail ... if the Amazons make it into the house, then you three will be the last of the Tendo line." He said quietly, but in a voice that had their attention.
She looked over at Akane and saw darkness enter her sister's eyes. She didn't know what it was, but it was scary. Akane nodded once, slowly, to Daddy.
"If the Amazons are in the house ... Akane ... it will be up to you to keep our line from falling. Do your duty, Akane. Do what must be done." Daddy said quietly.
What does he mean by that?! She thought in shock as she stared at him with unblinking eyes. She wanted him to look at her so she could ask him, but he was focused on Akane.
Akane nodded again, even more slowly this time. "I understand." Akane said quietly, in the same tone Daddy was using.
"Swear it, Akane. Swear it on your honor." Daddy demanded.
She blinked. Daddy had never once demanded that they swear an oath for a promise. What is going on?! She wanted to scream.
"I ... I swear it ... on my ... my honor." Akane whispered without looking away from Daddy. She could tell Akane really wanted to though. Daddy's eyes looked uncomfortable to look at right now.
"Say the words, Akane." Daddy said without flinching.
"I ... I swear I will do what must be done ... on my honor." Akane whispered even more quietly.
Daddy held her gaze for a handful of heartbeats longer, then nodded curtly, stepped through the door, and was gone.
"What the hell was that about?!" She demanded as soon as Daddy was gone. Akane looked down and wouldn't look up again. The only sign Akane would give that she'd even heard her was to shake her head. "Akane? Akane answer me! What the hell was that about?!" She demanded even more loudly as panic raced around in her chest and her breathing rate increased. Akane didn't answer, her little sister just kept shaking her head. "Akane, answer me or I—" She said in a voice that was rising to a shout.
"That's enough." Kasumi interrupted her. She turned and looked at Kasumi with angry eyes. Kasumi smiled gently at her. "Don't worry about it. You know Father is just ... overly dramatic sometimes. The Amazons won't get past them. Father may tire, and Mister Saotome may not have the endurance to last through the night. But Doctor Tofu won't fail. And you should know by now, Nabiki, that Ranma doesn't give up. I would believe that the sky was falling before I would believe that either of them would fall to the Amazons." Kasumi said with gentle confidence and a calming voice.
"Yeah, but—" She started to protest as Kasumi's voice did indeed start to calm her down.
"Let it go, Nabiki." Kasumi said gently, but firmly.
She opened her mouth to argue further, then stopped herself, nodded, and sighed as she let out a breath that carried her empty arguments away.
I don't know what I would do with the information, even if they told me. I am sure that was some sort of a 'fight to the death' or 'run away and save yourself as the last practitioner of the Art' plan anyway. Knowing specifically what it was about would probably just make me angry. She thought with no small amount of consternation.
She stood up from the table and wandered out of the room in a daze. She made her way up to her room and changed into her sleeping clothes. When she was done she went to stand by her window and looked out at the part of her family's lands she could see. Ranma walked by next to Daddy. They were probably on patrol. As they passed her window, Ranma looked up and right at her, and winked. She smiled weakly for him and held the smile until he was out of her sight, then she turned from the window on suddenly shaky legs and walked unsteadily to the bathroom to take care of her nightly routine.
Am I strong enough? She asked herself repeatedly as she went through the motions of a routine which felt like it was happening to another person. Her life was so far outside of the bounds of being normal right now, that doing any part of her prior life's normal routine felt alien to her now. With everything else going on, it was almost comical that she was still doing anything from her normal routine.
She walked uneasily back downstairs and found the dining room again transformed into a group sleeping arrangement. Kasumi had setup a tea pot on the table, which had been pushed into a corner and was taking sips from a teacup and staring out of the crack between the doors to the balcony. She watched Kasumi's hands carefully, and saw that they were shaking a little bit.
Akane was sitting on the bedding, and looked up at her when she entered the room, and kept her eyes on her. She smiled a polite smile for her little sister as she made her way over to the bedding.
Kasumi noticed her enter as well, and stood up from the table and turned off the lights before returning to the table to continue sipping her tea while staring out the doors.
She had never seen Kasumi openly worried before. It was ... unsettling. She sighed and sat down on the bedding next to Akane, and laid down with a deeper sigh. The bedding was cold. She hated that. She knew if Ranma was with her, he would be warm.
She shook her head to dismiss such thoughts from her mind. Dwelling on things like that, which she had no control over, was not going to make her feel any better.
She felt Akane lay down beside her. She closed her eyes and tried to drift off to sleep as fast as she could, to avoid having to deal with Akane. But her little sister had other plans.
"I'm sorry..." Akane whispered to her as her little sister put a hand gently on her arm.
She nodded without opening her eyes. "It's okay." She whispered back. She didn't know what Akane was sorry about, but she didn't want to get into it at the moment anyway.
"If ... if it wasn't for me ... they never would have been able to get Ranma away from you ..." Akane whispered in an anguished voice.
Ah, so she's still on that? She thought to herself with some amusement. "It's fine, Akane. If they hadn't tricked you, they would have just tricked someone else. You know how it is at school. Any adult giving orders is usually obeyed." She replied as she reached across her body and patted Akane's hand.
She kept her eyes closed, and breathed a small sigh of relief as she felt Akane lift her hand up. She then felt Akane settle back down into the bedding, and hoped that her little sister would take the hint and go to sleep. She didn't.
Akane scooted closer to her so their bodies were laying side by side on the bedding. She didn't know if Akane just wanted to cuddle for warmth, or if Akane wanted to still—
"I can't tell you what Dad wanted me to promise. I wish I could, but I also promised I would keep it a secret." Akane whispered again.
She nodded strongly enough that the motion could be felt in the bedding. She didn't know if Akane was looking at her or not, but she knew Akane would be able to feel that. She still hadn't opened her eyes to look at Akane.
"Do you understand?" Akane whispered right into her ear.
She sighed and cracked her eyes open and looked over at Akane. Her little sister was laying next to her, but was laying in her side in a position that was halfway into the fetal position. Her little sister had her hands tucked between her legs, and her chin resting on her chest. Akane's shoulders were hunched in, and her legs were partially curled up. It was a pathetic pose, it cried out with a need to be held.
She steeled herself against the emotional manipulation and answered Akane in a neutral voice. "I understand that you and Daddy have secrets, if that's what you mean." She whispered tiredly.
Akane shook her head softly without looking up at her. "It wasn't a promise I made to Dad." Akane whispered in a voice that was trembling with emotion.
She had to admit, Akane had succeeded in piquing her interest. She sighed and propped herself up on an elbow and stared at her sister. "Who then? Doctor Tofu?" She asked.
Akane didn't answer right away. Her little sister kept looking down at nothing for a few heartbeats, then finally raised her eyes to meet her own and whispered a single word that sent shivers running down her spine. "Mom."
She started at Akane wide eyed for a moment. "What do you mean?" She asked.
Akane sighed. "I made Mom a promise about what Dad asked about, when I was really little. Dad was reminding me of the promise." Akane said quietly, with a shaking voice.
She laid back down and shook her head softly to try to clear it. She closed her eyes and pulled in some deep breaths. I swear, with everything going on lately, it's almost like Mom's back. She thought with no small amount of bitterness.
She sighed and reached over to Akane and slid her hand down Akane's shoulder then arm, and finally to her little sister's hand, without looking at her. Once she had Akane's hand in her own, she squeezed gently. "I understand." Was all she said, in a gentle tone of voice. "I guess Mom got a lot of promises out of us before we lost her..." She added in a weak voice as she fought back the familiar wave of emotions she felt whenever she thought about Mom.
The wave seemed to be stronger these days, as if the emotions were getting stronger, or she was getting worse at dealing with them. The straining feeling she had been feeling inside resonated again as she struggled against the emotions.
Akane didn't say anything to her, but did squeeze her hand in return. She closed her eyes and tried to drift off to sleep, but Akane whispered to her again and interrupted her.
"Nabiki ..." Akane said in a hesitant voice.
"Yeah?" She answered tiredly. She hadn't realized it until she laid down, but she was more tired than she had thought she was.
"I'm afraid..." Akane said weakly.
"Don't let Daddy hear you say that, he might demote you." She tried to joke to lighten the mood.
"Not ... about fighting. I'm afraid ... I think ... I think I'm starting to forget Mom..." Akane whispered in an anguished voice.
Her heart stopped for a moment as emotions hit her hard. She pulled in a strong breath as she rolled over to face Akane, and pulled her little sister into her arms.
Akane stayed balled up into her pitiful semi-fetal position for a few more moments as her little sister's frame shook from the efforts to suppress whatever feelings in Akane were fighting to the surface.
A few moments later, Akane relaxed into her arms and scooted into her to entwine her legs and arms with her own in a proper cuddling position. She whispered soft shushing sounds to Akane as she stroked her little sister's hair. Once Akane had calmed down, she began whispering softly into Akane's ear all about Mom.
Her memory was generally very good. When it came to Mom, her memory was a steel trap. She remembered every little detail about her, from the way Mom had smelled, to how soft her hands were, what her clothes felt like, what her voice sounded like, what she said ... everything.
And she patiently told it all to Akane as she held her little sister, and comforted her. Akane slowly unclenched in her arms, and was soon relaxed and near sleep.
While she was telling Akane about Mom, a single question kept repeating in her own mind, over and over again, as she grappled with her own fears.
Am I strong enough?