Disclaimer : Ranma and related characters and concepts are the

creation of Lady Takahashi Rumiko to whom I tip my hat .

For more extensive disclaimers and credits please see the

separate file entitled DBDF : Credits and Continuity .

Readers ; Please make certain to read the author's after-word . It

will explain why .

Warning : Some characters through-out the DBDF series may seem out of

character but there are reasons for this and if you pay close enough

attention you may even figure out why before it is revealed .

The Difference Between Destiny and Fate :

Grabbing Hold :

by Mils Twillinjer

WHEN RANMA DISAPPEARED FOR TWO DAYS NO-ONE REALLY THOUGHT ANY-

THING OUT OF THE ORDINARY.

When Ranma disappeared for two days no-one in

the Tendou house-hold

really thought much of it . Oh Akane became (predictably) mad and

jumped to the

conclusion that Ranma was with one of his other innazuke ( despite

the lack of evidence

{not that that ever deterred her } ) , Nabiki of course began to plan

how she would get the

information out of Ranma when he returned and use it to her advantage

and amusement ,

et cetera , however no-one actually thought much of it . After all

Ranma had gone missing before and things always went back to what

passed for (ab-)normal around Nerima .

This time would be no different .

Right?

### ### ###

With-out pre-amble or fanfare Ranma walked in the door

to the Tendou house-hold after a two day absence .

The re-actions of the various members of said house-

hold were predictable .

The re-actions of the fathers were not worth mentioning and

predictable and so the others all did their best to tune them out .

Kasumi gave out a friendly greeting .

Akane gave out a predictable shout of , " Ranma , you jerk !

Where the hell were you !? " , and with-out waiting for Ranma to

answer or explain ( if she had no-one would have believed that she

was the real Akane ) she reached into the corner where her trusty

mallet was kept and with a single powerful motion swung it into play

with enough force that it would have surely embossed Ranma into the

ground .

Nabiki immediately took note of the condition of Ranma's

clothes and began to try to figure out where he had been , what he

had been doing and how to turn matters into a tidy profit for her ….

…. Thoughts which evapourated in a shocked instant when she saw

Ranma reach up with one hand to intercept the in-coming mallet-head

and it snapped off in his hand .

The momentum that Akane had invested in the mallet sent her ,

with the now headless handle in hand , nose first into the floor .

Ranma ? Defending himself from Akane !?

Unheard of !

As Akane met the floor-boards face first , Ranma , with-out

braking stride , simply stepped over her as he said , " hello Akane "

Ranma's pace continued , un-interrupted , and as he went past

Nabiki he said , " Nabiki I need to speak with you , now ."

The words were calm but were delivered with-out any

possibility of compromise .

Kasumi tried to restore a measure of normality .

" Ranma would you like some-thing to eat or some tea ?" she

asked pleasantly .

" Thank you Kasumi but there is no need for you to go to any

special trouble , supper at the regular time will be more than kind

of you ."

Ranma turning down food !?

Even if no-thing else did that would be ,and was, a clear

indicator that some-thing very strange was going on .

Nabiki looked over to where Kasumi was helping Akane up

from the floor , her nose bleeding from the abrupt introduction of

her hard-nose to the even harder floor .

" Nabiki , now , please "

Nabiki did indeed turn to follow Ranma , her eyes

reflecting the determination that she was feeling .

How dare Ranma defend himself from Akane's unprovoked

assault !

The shear nerve !

Nabiki would find out the meaning of this !

### ### ###

Nabiki walked away completely at a loss .

She never once had a chance .

Ranma had taken control of the situation from the start

and did not relent through-out the entire conversation .

The very one sided conversation .

The very one sided conversation where -in she did not get

answers to any of her questions .

Now Nabiki found herself , much to her discomfort , in

the same position that she frequently inflicted on Ranma , uncertain

whether he had just asked a favour or issued an ultimatum .

Ranma had requested ( demanded ? ) that she get complete

medical exams with all the details and every test that was available

for all of the iinazuke .

It was Ranma's last words how-ever that still rang in her

mind .

The ones that he said about including her and Kasumi as

well .

Did he simply mean to include them as getting medical

exams or did he mean to include them as getting medical exams and

as iinazuke as well ?

### ### ###

That night Ranma refused to get into a fight with Akane no

matter how much she taunted , and goaded him .

The next day was even more bizarre .

If it could be said that a person was both distracted and

paying attention in class then that description fit Ranma .

Nabiki gave her spy network orders to follow and keep track

of Ranma at all costs until further notice .

Thirty-six seconds after the last bell of the day sounded

Ranma disappeared over the school wall and none of Nabiki's network

could find him the rest of the day .

Nabiki was not happy .

### ### ###

Ranma stood before the door and took a long moment before

he inhaled deeply and did one of the hardest things in his life .

He rang the door-bell .

Immediately Ranma was in motion darting around to the

side of the very large house and slipped inside .

He paused until he heard footsteps go past his hiding

place and quickly , quietly went toward his goal .

Every-thing went as planned , the family servant had

gone to answer the door-bell , and now he could make his way

unnoticed through the building .

At last he stood before a door inside the house , ( not

a home , no not a home at all ) a door that he had gone to great

lengths to avoid in the past , but now here he was of his own accord .

Ranma knocked .

*** **** ***

Kodachi sat on her bed thinking and unconsciously playing

with a ball from her rhythmic gymnastics routine ( an ordinary ball

for once ) when she heard a knock at the door to her room .

~` Now who could that be ? `~ she wondered . The servant

would never have the courage to interrupt her solitude on his own and

her family -( how laughable that word was , but she did not feel like

laughing right now )- would not be so timid , they would have simply

barged in . ~` perhaps brother dear sent the servant here `~ she

reasoned .

" Kodachi ? Can I come in ?

I would like to talk . "

Kodachi's heart skipped a beat .

She knew that voice very well indeed !

She often fantasized about hearing it when she first

woke up in the morning .

In an instant Kodachi flashed over to the door and nearly

tore the door free front the door-frame she was in such a hurry to

open it .

When she finally openned the door she was rewarded with a

sight that she had so often longed for .

" RANMA-SAMA , you came to me !" Kodachi through her arms

around the young man that she so desired , assuring herself that it

was not just some hallucination but real and tangible .

Ranma's arms paused slightly but then returned the

embrace .

When finally they broke apart Kodachi found herself some

what flushed at her own actions .

" um … may I sit down ?"

" Of course , of course Ranma-sama !" Kodachi eagerly

consented .

Ranma sat down on her bed and Kodachi flushed to remember

all of the times that she had masturbated herself while she had been

on and in that bed thinking of Him .

The same Him who now was sitting there Himself .

Rather than risk passing out by sitting next to Him ,

Kodachi elected to sit in the chair at her desk , the better to think

over her good fortune .

Besides she did not want Ranma-Sama to think her a slut

and if she sat near Him , on Her bed she was not certain that she

could contain or control herself .

For several seconds there was a long awkward silence that

Kodachi was actually grateful for as it gave her the chance to try

and gather her thoughts .

However she was not entirely successful in this endeavor .

As the moments continued to drag on Kodachi heard a voice

in the back of her mind say that he most likely just wanted some-

thing .

" Kodachi how do you feel about me ?"

`~` there you traitor !`~ she mentally spoke to the voice

in her head , ~` his first words were not to ask for some-thing

but to ask me about some -thing ! It was to ask me about how I

feel to and about Him !`~ Having triumphantly squelched the

blasphemous part of her self with-out mercy , Kodachi prepared to

gush for her guest ….

" NO ." the voice was strong and masculine even as it

carried in it the compassion that Kodachi hoped to one day be wed to .

" No . Wait . I do not want just a bunch drivel and

gushing , …

I want you to actually stop and think about it first ."

That caught Kodachi some-what off guard but she was

determined to persevere so she paused for a moment to gather her

thoughts and think of supporting arguments for her desire to be

with Ranma .

" Ranma-sama , you are person with some very rare

qualities , qualities that many women seek in a potential mate but

seldom find .

You are brave , kind , compassionate , and while you are

not perfect in some -ways , you have consistently shown that you

would do almost any-thing that others need of you , even if it means

that you know that you will be hurt in the process ."

Ranma blushed then a look of shame crossed his face as he

softly spoke . " You might not feel that way if you knew some of the

things about me . "

Seeing Ranma vulnerable like that Kodachi let her guard

down enough that she spoke just as softly , no hint of her maniacal

cackle in her voice . " I know more about you than you may realize

Ranma-sama .

I know that three times as a child you nearly died of

pneumonia ."

Ranma's head raised with a start at that revelation .

Kodachi recognized an openning when she saw one and pressed

her advantage . "

as well I know that on at least two occasions your father abducted

you right out of the hospital after the doctors deduced that the

injuries could not have simply been the result of ` training

accidents ' as he maintained ."

I know of many more `incidences' that haunted your younger

days .

I do not rely on the mercenary Tendou Nabiki alone for such

information .

I hired the best private investigators available to learn

more about you .

I know that the year that that Mizuno girl tutored you was

the only time that you got passing grades in school because your

father dragged you around so much that you never had the chance to

get a decent education despite the fact that you have shown a keen

intellect many times , out-thinking your opponents and getting

almost passing grades in school now that you have been at one

school , Furikan , for a consistent period for the first time in

your life .

Does Akane know any of this ?

Has she even ever asked ?

I doubt that even Tendou Nabiki knows all of this , but

then again , as it is of little use to black-mail you with would she

even care ?

Has XianPu ever given a thought to these considerations ?

Would she be able to ?"

Kodachi stopped herself from making any disparaging

comments about Ukyou remembering that she was one of the few bright

points in Ranma's past .

" I know that your father subjected you to the abominable

ordeal of the neko-ken ritual when you were but a tottler barely able

to walk or talk , and certainly not old enough to consent .

I know that as a result your fear of cats is both a

weakness at times and makes you the single most dangerous fighter

known at the same time .

I know that you also have a slightly less paralyzing fear of

the dark , an-other legacy of the neko-ken ordeal .

The Tendou family knows some of these things , and yet they

do no-thing to aid you , and they have exploited them for both profit

and amusement .

That is an-other reason why I wish to be with you ;

I too have known how undeserving of respect some parents

can be and want to be with some-one , to be with you , that we might

raise a family and give our children all of the things that we were

deprived of ourselves ."

Ranma had since turned to face away from Kodachi but none

the less she could hear the expression in his voice as he said , "

There are other things as well , other things that you do not know

about me , things which may make you change your mind about wanting

any-thing at all to do with me ."

Kodachi got up from her seat and soft fingers caressed

Ranma's chin drawing him to face her .

" Then tell me these things and let me prove you wrong in

that ."

Ranma had difficulty inhaling but finally draw a deep

breath .

" You will have your chance .

I am working to settle these matters , all of those that

you mentioned and others besides .

If you still want me afterwards then you will have your

chance ."

" What must I do ?

If I must endure the neko-ken myself to prove to you my

sincerity then I shall ."

" NO! I would not wish that on any-one ! "

" I would do any-thing to show you that you should choose

me ."

" Actually it will be you girls who will be making the

choice but I will go into that when the time comes .

If you are sincere in wanting to help then there are some-

things that fall under your unique skills that I have need of in

order to pull this off ."

Over the coarse of the next forty-nine minutes Kodachi was

hard pressed to contain a squeal of excitement when she heard what it

was that Ranma required .

### ### ###

Ranma left the Kunou family estate and was planning his

next move when he happened to look up and see Kunou Tatewaki

returning to his family abode .

Ranma quickly ducted out of the other persons line-of -

sight around a corner .

Peering around the corner Ranma watched Kunou and thoughts

went through his mind and he came to a decision and came up with a

plan . He ran the plan through his mind quickly looking for any

obvious flaws , then satisfied that it was feasible , Ranma boldly

ambled around the corner looking as though he did not have a care in

the world .

As he had expected Kunou spotted him at once .

" Saotome ! How dare you show your ignoble face in the

environs of my home ! Have at you ! "

Kunou charged , Ranma dodged and after a few moments of this

Ranma caught the bokken and held it fast .

" Release my blade you knave ! I demand it !"

" If you keep this up you never find out what the message

is from the pig-tailed girl ."

" What ?! You bare tidings from my beloved ?! Out with

it ! I demand that you tell me at once !"

" I do not know , it seems to me that I should be getting

some-thing for my troubles ."

" Why you insolent !…"

" I am getting tired by all of this crap so if I give you

her message then I want five weeks with-out you harassing me ."

" Ah -ha ! So at last you admit that the mighty Blue

Thunder is proving to be to much for you !"

" Yeah , right , what-ever , how about it ?"

" …mm .. very well . I agree ."

" Oh , and no pestering Akane either . You know that that

will just lead to a fight ."

" Abandon the fair Tendou Akane to your honourless

advances !? NEVER !"

" Oh , well , then I guess you will just not learn what

it was that the pig-tailed girl wanted to tell you ." Ranma said as

he turned and began to walk away .

" Saotome …!"

Ranma paused , and half-turned . " Three weeks each ?"

" Agreed ." Kunou grated out .

" Promise on your honour ?"

" I already agreed Saotome , do not push it by questioning

my honour ."

" Okay , the pig-tailed girl wants to meet you on the

tennis courts behind the Ichiwa Towers Apartments in thirty minutes ."

Kunou was already gone , a cloud of dust swirling in his

wake .

### ### ###

Ranma-chan hurried to make her appointment .

She had taken the time to trigger her curse and change

her clothes , now she coming up to the apartments .

Ranma-chan slowed down to a rapid walk as she walked

around the apartment building and pulled off her wig and sun-

glasses that she had worn on the way to keep from being recognized on

her way to the meeting point .

Nabiki's network was some-thing to be avoided at all costs

for the next few weeks .

There in the middle of the tennis courts was Kunou

waiting `

Ranma-chan stopped , took a breath , and then moved

foreword again at a normal modest pace .

### ### ###

Kunou looked around for the forty-third time since he

had arrived , however this time his eyes found that which he sought .

"Pig-Tailed Girl! How wonderful to at last have you seek

me out ."

"Hello Kunou ," she said with a smile .

She was actually smiling .

### ### ###

The next day followed much the same pattern as the previous

day had with Ranma being both distracted and attentive in class at

the same time , answering all of the teachers questions in full and

in detain even though he seemed to be thinking about some-thing else .

That all of Ranma's answers were correct was more then just

strange ; Akane and Nabiki both found the whole thing to be

unnerving .

And again Ranma was out of sight with-in seconds of the

dismissal bell .

And again Nabiki was not happy .

*** *** ***

XianPu was pleased to see Ranma enter the Neko-Hanten and

immediately rushed over to greet him .

To her pleasant surprise he did not even try to discourage

her bubbly embrace .

As she returned to her waitressing duties Ranma took a

table in the back of the room and waited for closing .

Naturally XianPu made certain that all of the food that

was left over from the day was packed up and ready to go with Ranma

when he was ready to leave as he indicated that he could not eat

yet .

XianPu immediately knew what that meant .

Ranma had come learn a special technique from KhuLon .

*** *** ***

" So son-in-law what is that brings you here this night ?"

" I need to learn a technique that I can use to render a

girl fully aware and able to see and hear but not able to move for at

least two hours .'

" Oh ? And why would need this ?"

" If you teach it to me I will tell you afterwards ."

Intrigued , KhuLon agreed .

What followed was a half-an-hour of highly accelerated

training that left even KhuLon amazed at Ranma's eidetic learning

abilities as XianPu looked on from the side-lines .

In less than the space of a single night Ranma learned some-

thing that others might take months or even years to learn and

possibly cripple people in the process of learning it . KhuLon had no

doubt what-so-ever that Ranma would perform the maneuver perfectly

the first time .

" Now then son-in-law , the reason for this ?"

" Oh , yes that . Well I needed this technique ….. so that I

could render a girl unmoving but able to see and hear ." Ranma

responded simply .

KhuLon nearly face-faulted .

Ranma had told her exactly what he had agreed to with-out

telling her a thing .

" For the counter-techniques I will give you more details ."

"… grr… agreed ."

*** *** ***

An hour later the sessions were all done and the three ,

Ranma , KhuLon , and XianPu were all sitting down .

XianPu took the opportunity to sit down next to Ranma and not-

quite drape herself

over him . KhuLon raised an eye-brow when Ranma did not protest . In

fact , Ranma

seemed to , ever-so slightly , lean into XianPu , although he did

not put his arm around

her .

KhuLon was not certain but she could not help but receive the

impression that

Ranma actually wanted more , and was resisting the urge to more

actively embrace the

bubbly warrior .

Simply wishful thinking on her part ? … hmmm …

Ranma finally broke the silence .

"This has gone on for too long"

KhuLon could tell that hope and fear convulsed with-in

XianPu . Neither of the

woman was in any doubt as to what "this" was .

"Most of the main players in this matter are about to

graduate high school .

I can not put this off any longer .

A Decision must be made ."

A pause held all of them before KhuLon broke it .

" … and ? …"

"Ranma ?" XianPu prodded softly .

Finally Ranma continued .

" In three weeks I intend to hold a gathering . I would

like you two and MuTsu to attend ."

"Ranma ?" XianPu inquired gently . "Who will you ? …"

" It will be a challenge of sorts ."

" What manor of `challenge' ?" pressed KhuLon .

" I can not tell you yet , that would be unfair ."

"XianPu not afraid . Am better at every thing than

SpatulaGirl or ViolentGirl ."XianPu responded confidently .

"It will be a quarter - finals how-ever there are certain

conditions . If any of you fail to meet them you will disqualify

yourselves . "

With an exterior calm KhuLon inquired , "What would these

conditions be ?"

" One : I will need the next few weeks to prepare , there-fore

you will suspend any and all attacks , schemes and such against both

me and the others .

Two : At the gathering you are not to disrupt the

proceedings . In fact …

Three : In the event that Happosai attacks you are the only

one who can match him there-fore I am calling on you to help keep

disruptions none-existent at the gathering .

Not just Happosai but any-one .

Four : Before I leave today I will speak to both MuTsu and

XianPu separately .

If you attempt to learn the content of either conversion it

will result in XianPu `s

disqualification ."

### ### ###

XianPu stared after Ranma long after he had disappeared

from sight .

She did not understand every-thing that had happened this

afternoon .

She was certain that Ranma had been sincere in that she

would have a chance at him and that he was not out right lying or

deceiving them .

But mysteries remained .

Ranma would not tell them any details about

the `gathering' .

While Ranma had indicated that she could bring her

weapons he had indicated that she would not be expected to use them .

What manor of challenge would Ranma be thinking of ?

If it was a cooking challenge then Akane was out of

contention before it ever began .

If it was physical combat XianPu was certain of victory .

If it was some-thing other than those categories her

chances grew more imperiled .

If it was a matter of friendship she knew that she and

Akane were both in trouble but she had a slight lead in that arena

she figured . True she had begun by trying to kill Ranma but he was

not the sort to hold that against a person she knew . Certainly she

had tried to win him over since then where-as Akane …

XianPu burned a bit at the thought .

She had learned many things between then and now .

Years on the road with Genma ( worse than being alone ) ,

Ranma had been hard pressed for friendship . In fact other than

Ukyou , Ami and his cousins the closest to a friend that Ranma had

ever had was Ryouga .

… hmm …

XianPu mulled over recent developments .

Was there any thing that she was missing ?

She thought about what Ranma had spoken to her

earlier .

### ### ###

Nabiki was not happy .

Nabiki was very not happy .

When Nabiki was not happy then none of her employees were

allowed to be happy either .

Now on top of the strange-ness involving Ranma himself

there was an un-expected event that further compounded the bizarre

situation in that XianPu and MuTsu had both dis-appeared a few days

ago and she had no idea where they were .

The neko-Hanten was " Closed until further notice"

Well , Nabiki had succeeded in getting XianPu to get a

medical exam before hand and had all of the other girls examined as

well before the Chinese girl had left so she only had to wait a few

days for the results to come back then she would have some leverage

to finally get some answers out of Ranma .

*** *** ***

" Ranma , you have been busy ." Ukyou said sedately as

the two of them enjoyed a cup of tea together after closing time at

the restaurant that bore her name .

" Yes , I guess you could say that ." Ranma answered .

" So , ….

Tell me all about it ."

" Well I can not tell you every-thing but I will tell

you what I can ."

*** *** ***

Akari was a little , … uneasy did not seem to be the

right word but she certainly felt odd .

In the time that she had known the Nerima Wrecking Crew

she could not remember a single case that compared to the situation

in which she found herself now .

She was sitting across the table from Saotome Ranma and

the two of them were sharing a quiet later evening serving of tea .

Under other circumstances the quiet could have been nerve

wracking but instead Ranma , with-out saying a word seemed to radiate

a calm , even almost an accepting serenity .

This was probably the most traditional Japanese thing

that she had done since she had meet the Wrecking Crew . She

snickered . And here she had once overheard two of the girls in

Furikan describing the local area as an "anti-Kyoto" .

In many ways it seemed an apt description indeed , as it

seemed to be almost an exact opposite of the ultra-strict , overly-

formal , tradition-strong ( -strangled ) Kyoto .

Ranma raised an eye-brow , obviously inquiring as to the

snicker .

Akari explained her train of thought and Ranma himself

began to chuckle at it .

After a few moments Akari ventured the obvious question .

" What did you wish to see me about Ranma ?"

" First I wish to apologize for the lateness of the hour

but I wished to see my student to bed first before I came here ."

" Student ?" Akari raised an inquiring eye-brow herself .

Ranma turned a little red . " .. Ah .. please forget that

I said that … if the others ever found out about it … well … I have

no wish to see the chaos of my life inflicted on my student and if

even one of the others knew of this ,…" he left the rest unspoken .

" I understand , I will not even tell Ryouga ." Akari

assured him .

" ArigatouGozaimaz , I appreciate that very much ."

Ranma's relief was obvious . " I asked you to meet me because … well

I am certain that word has gotten out about how … odd … I have been

acting this last week ."

" Hai ." Akari acknowledged .

Ranma paused visibly trying to decide how to say this next

part .

" I am trying to develop a resolution for at least

some of the matters going on ."

Akari nodded to show her understanding and support for

him to go on .

Encouraged Ranma continued . " I need your help to

end the feud between Ryouga and myself ."

" How can I help ? "

" I need you to make absolutely certain that Ryouga

gets to a meeting that I am holding at the Tendou Dojo in two weeks .

It is imperative that he gets there at precisely the right time and

place , possibly even an hour early ."

" You make it sound so dire ." Akari was slightly uneasy

now .

Ranma did not answer her right away .

The way that he did not answer made Akari even more

uneasy .

" You should ideally catch Ryouga two or three days

ahead of time and tie yourself to him . And not let him go , not even

when he goes to the bathroom . "

" Ranma … ?"

" Otherwise with his sense of direction he could get

lost and miss it and that would be … very … mm… unfortunate ."

Ranma took another sip of tea .

" This is very good tea ."

*** *** ***

There was absolutely no way that Nabiki was going to

let Ranma out of explaining himself this time . She would not give

him these reports until he told her exactly what was going on and

exactly what he was up to . She would make him explain his strange

behaviour the past week and a half . She would make him tell her what

the story behind that back-pack that he had been wearing for the last

week ( he had even worn it to bed on the rare three times that he had

returned to the house to sleep so she had not had the chance to

invade his privacy , uh , inspect the back-pack in question .) She

would make him tell her exactly what …

" Nabiki "

" YYEEE- OUWW !!!"

Ranma was looking upwards trying to figure out how a simple

tap on the shoulder could have produced such a re-action . Nabiki was

clinging to …

…. ( THUMP)…

….falling from the ceiling ( Nabiki obviously did not have

the experience that Ranma and the others had in either clinging to

the ceiling or in controlling a fall ) .

~` Must be a guilty conscious '~ Ranma thought (

correctly ) to himself .

Ranma wondered for a moment if perhaps he should give

Nabiki chest compressions to re-start her heart but reasoned that if

she was breathing that strongly ( actually she was hyper-

ventilating ) then her heart was most likely beating as well .

" ahh …" he said as he reached down to pick some-thing

up . " This is just what I wanted to talk to you about ."

Nabiki groaned inwardly to herself ( or at least she would

have if she had the breath to do so ) to see Ranma holding and going

through the very medical reports that she had been intending to use

as leverage .

~` … hey ! what a minute since when can Ranma read medical-

ese ?! `~ she thought to herself unable to speak it aloud .

" hmm …. Good … that looks good …. Hmmm I think that that

is okay but I probably should ask Tofuu -Sensei just to make certain

… hmm … no-thing out of the ordinary there … hmmm … right … hmm …

okay … clean bill of health … better than normal fitness , well that

is to be expected I suppose … well that is a bit of a pleasant

surprise …"

The speed with which Ranma was going through the reports

seemed far greater than Nabiki would have thought him capable of .

" hmmm? Hey wait a minute … where is mother's report ?"

" y-you did not say her too ." was Nibiki's weak reply .

Ranma sighed . " Well then I am saying that now . I need a

complete medical report on her as well by this time next week .

Also what do you know about trusts ?

And estates ?"

The changes of venue left Nabiki's head spinning .

" … and for that matter what do you know about your grand -

parents ?"

" … grand-parents ?" the rapid changes of topic were giving

poor Nabiki whiplash .

" Yes I need to know every-thing about all of our grand-

parents , especially my mother's parents but all of your and my grand-

parents by a week from this Thursday .

Oh , and Ryouga 's parents as well . "

With that Ranma reached behind him .

Nabiki cringed but all that Ranma pulled out was a handful

of yen .

" That should help with any bribes or graf that you need

to get the information ."

Then Ranma was gone ,the precious medical reports with

him leaving Nabiki in much the same state of confusion that she

herself frequently had left Ranma in , not certain whether he had

asked a favour or issued an ultimatum .

After a few minutes Nabiki trusted her legs enough to

support her and she levered herself against the wall that she had

been propped up against . As she got up she noticed that one of her

hands had reached for some-thing as she was getting to her feet .

Looking at the hand in question she realized that she had reflexively

picked up the yen that Ranma had dropped at her feet .

Now where had Ranma gotten this much money ? He was

always poor because Nabiki kept swindling ..urmm… earning it off of

him by means of her services .

… and what was that about trusts ? … as in trust funds ?

… and why the questions about their grand-parents ? …what did that

have to do with any-thing ?

So many questions and it looked as though the first

place to look for the answers was in the various family registers and

by calling a few lawyers .

No , she corrected herself first she would set up a

complete physical and medical exam for Auntie Nodoka but then …

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