A Lesson in Love Chapter XV: Obsessions
By Marisa Price
This story is copyright to Marisa Price, 1997, all rights reserved. Based
on characters created by and copyright to Rumiko Takahashi.


Chapter XV: Obsessions
Part II: An Invitation to the Dance

	It seemed like only seconds later when Nabiki's ears jangled with
the sound of her alarm, and she reached her hand out to slap down the OFF
button. She opened her eyes slowly and noticed pale sunlight glowing 
on her soft lightweight comforter. Nabiki blinked a few times in the
sudden white brightness, then yawned and stretched her arms over her head.
	Turning slightly to peer at her alarm clock she saw the hands read
6:58 am; just enough time to get cleaned up, eat breakfast, and head off
to meet Nakoto at her house before walking the rest of the way to school.
Nabiki swung her legs over the side of the bed and then stood up, slipping
her feet into her fuzzy blue house-slippers. As she stood she caught the
faint shouts of Ranma and his father already dueling it out on the pond.
	"Don't they EVER take a break?" Nabiki muttered, her own voice 
sounding strange and sleepy in her ears. Grabbing a brush off the white 
vanity table, she ran it quickly through her hair, not bothering to look
at the result as she tossed it back down, clanging it against the mirror.
	Nabiki pulled her robe off the hanger on the back of the door and
shrugged into it, wrapping the tie around her waist before opening the way
to the hallway. The wood door slid open to reveal a disheveled, sleepy 
Akane, dressed like Nabiki, except in shades of yellow instead of blue.
	Akane visibly brightened upon seeing her sister, and Nabiki
inwardly sighed at her sister's cheerful smile.
	"Good MORNING, Oneechan!!" Akane enthused.
	Her eyes glazed over, but Nabiki hid it well as she turned to close
her door. She replied over her shoulder, "Yeah, mornin' Akane."
	Nabiki turned back to look at her sister and noticed that Akane's
smile was unusually bright, and, now that she was fully awake, she seemed 
to be on Cloud Nine. Akane had been a lot happier since her "understanding"
with Ranma, but this state of enthusiasm was unusual.
	"So, why are you so...HAPPY... this morning, Akane-chan?" Nabiki
probed, following her sister as they headed to the stairs to go down to
the bathroom.
	Akane giggled and Nabiki tried not to grimace. Akane, giggling,
was still too strange for Nabiki to deal with, especially so early in the 
morning. Then, to Nabiki's even greater shock, Akane looped her arm 
through her sister's and turned shining eyes up at her.
	She said jubilantly, "Oh, Oneechan! I KNEW you would notice! Only
someone as in love as I am could possibly notice!"
	Nabiki rolled her eyes. Only someone absolutely dead or stupid 
wouldn't... Then she paused, mid-thought, as she realized what Akane
had just said.
	"In love? What are you talking about?" Nabiki asked, puzzled
and a bit wary.
	Akane laughed again, starting down the stairs, her arm still 
linked through Nabiki's. "Oh come on Nabiki, you don't have to keep it
a secret! Ranma told me last night about you and Kuno! I'm so happy for
you!"
	She didn't even notice that Nabiki stood still for a moment on
the stairs and murmured, "Um...!"
	"Anyway," Akane continued, "Ranma is so wonderful, he asked me
to go to the Junior Dance last night! You know how much he hates that
stuff, so it was really nice of him to even come up with the idea on his own.
It shows he's FINALLY learning to..."
	She paused as she realized that Nabiki wasn't following her
down the stairs anymore.
	"Oneechan?" Akane asked, curiously.
	Nabiki shook herself out of her stupor at Akane's supposition
that she was "in love" and managed to get out, "Um, Junior Dance?"
	Akane rolled her eyes at her older sibling and said, "Yeah,
you know! Everyone does! It's combined with the Senior Dance this
year because that useless principal..."
	"I know about it, Akane," Nabiki interrupted.
	"Then why...?" Akane started to ask.
	Nabiki started to move forward on the stairs again, this time
dragging Akane behind her, before she said, "I just don't understand
why you would be so excited over a silly dance."
	Nabiki knew all too well about the combined dance, she had made
quite a bit of money through bets on who would ask who; one of those 
had been heavily weighted on Akane's and Ranma's potential match.
Thankfully she had bet in the right direction on that one! Everyone 
else thought that Akane wouldn't be able to drag Ranma there in a 
million years... The prospect of a new influx of funds was enough to 
cheer Nabiki up considerably, and she prudently decided to just 
avoid the whole topic of her "love" for Kuno.
	They both entered the bathroom, and Nabiki started to brush her
teeth, basically ignoring Akane's chatter except for an occasional tooth-
pasty grunt.
	Then Akane dropped the bombshell.
	"Well, I guess I just figured you would be going, since it's being
held at Kuno's mansion and all. . ."
	"What?!" Nabiki practically choked on her toothbrush and 
splattered the toothpaste into the sink. She desperately tried to recover
her decorum as Akane stared at her in surprise.
	"You mean, you didn't know?"
	Nabiki rinsed out her mouth and the sink while she tried to calm
her nerves.
	"Last I heard it was at the Chateau Blanc restaurant in that French
'Hotel Marceau'," she said slowly.
	Akane's faced brightened.
	"OH! Well, it was! See, the Chateau double booked us with the 
wedding reception of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and they couldn't 
very well tell HIM that his party was canceled."
	"So why didn't  the school just move it to another hotel or
something?"
	"Well, the committee thought of that. But it turns out that it was too
late to make a reservation. We made that one at the Chateau Blanc MONTHS
ago. Lots of other schools are having their dances on the same day, so most
of the nice places are already booked. They were getting so desperate that it
was going to be called off, and then on Friday morning. . ."
	Nabiki interrupted, "Let me guess. Kuno-chan offered to host it at
his mansion."
	"Yeah," Akane nodded. "I'm surprised you didn't hear about it."
	"I missed school on Friday, remember? I had to go to the dentist
to get that cap put on my molar," Nabiki ground out, frustrated at the 
position she was in. She figured that Kuno was going to ask her to go, and
if she didn't show up there was going to be a lot of gossip concerning HER.
Nabiki liked to be behind the rumors, not the subject of them.
	Akane paused while washing her face and said, "But wasn't Kuno
over here Saturday morning? I thought he would have asked you then, or at
least told you about it."
	"It never came up in the conversation."
	"Hmm. But. . ."
	Akane never got a chance to finish her sentence. The door burst 
open and a sweaty girl and a panda fell into the bathroom.
	"Ranma!" (Slap) "Don't you know how to KNOCK? We could have
been undressed or something!" Akane shouted.
	Panda-Genma held up a sign, "Maybe that's what he hoped to see!"
	"POP!!" Ranma yelled, trying desperately to get away from Akane
before she could hit him again.
	"Ranma you HENTAI!!!"
	Nabiki decided this would be a good time to get out of the bathroom,
and pushed her way through the door as she made her way back to her room to
finish getting ready for school.

* * * * *

	Nakoto met Nabiki at their usual meeting point.
	"Good morning, boss!"
	"Yeah, morning," Nabiki said sullenly.
	"Gee, you don't sound very chipper today," Nakoto noted.
	"Have I EVER sounded chipper?"
	"That's a good point," Nakoto laughed. "How's your tooth feeling?"
	"Fine. It hurts a bit with hot and cold water though. So what happened 
at school on Friday?" Nabiki was being very casual, interested in what Nakoto
had to say.
	Nakoto shrugged. "Not much. You know I would have called you if
anything interesting happened, Boss. I just collected a few more bets on the
Dance couples."
	"Ah. What about the Dance being held at Kuno's house now? You 
didn't think that was important enough to tell me?"
	Nakoto looked surprised. "Why, no, Boss. I mean, I knew he was going
to visit you over the weekend, so I figured he would tell you. Hey, I never
asked
him OR you. Are the two of you going together or what?"
	"Would I not go to the Dance if it's going to be held at Kuno's house?"
Nabiki asked, careful to say something that didn't answer the question, but that
Nakoto would hear as "Yes I am going".
	Nakoto sighed. "You are SO lucky Boss. To have a guy like Kuno, I
mean. He is so handsome. I haven't been asked yet."
	"Really?" Nabiki asked, surprised. Nakoto wasn't the most popular of
girls at their school, but she had several guys who found her attractive.
	"What about Kanzaki-kun?"
	"He got a girlfriend last month in Hokkaido."
	"That's pretty far away. Is she still coming?"
	"Yeah."
	"Hmm. So what are you going to do?"
	"Well, I thought about calling in one of my debts to get a date. But, you
know, I'm not THAT desperate. Maruka and Kei and I are thinking of going in
a group."
	Nabiki knew how Nakoto felt. She had been in the same position herself
last year, which was why she didn't bother to go to the Junior Dance. She
wondered
if Kuno's plan was to ask her. He hadn't said a word about it yet, and the
thought
hadn't even crossed her mind. Now, however, it was a matter of appearance that
they go together.
	"Nabiki?"
	"Hmm? Sorry I was thinking. What did you say, Nakoto?"
	"Silly, they must have given you too much Novocain at the dentist and it
numbed your brain," Nakoto laughed.
	"Very funny," Nabiki rolled her eyes.
	Nakoto smiled and repeated, "I was wondering if you wanted to go shopping
for dresses after school today."
	After school. That meant she would need to talk to Kuno at lunchtime and
settle this matter.
	"Sounds great. I'll meet you by the water fountain near the HomeEc classroom."
	The two entered the gate to the school five minutes before the last bell.

* * * * *

	As usual Ranma and Akane were running late, it having taken most of their
remaining pre-school time to finish arguing, kiss and make up, and, of
course, eat
breakfast. Ranma ran along the fence above her, and Akane did her best to
keep up.
	"Come on, slowpoke."
	"Oh, shut up Ranma."
	"Akane!!" Akane stopped as she heard a voice yelling behind her. She turned
around and saw Ukyou dragging along Ryouga and speeding towards them. Ukyou
finally caught up, a bit breathless, and said to Ranma, "Could you take
Ryouga to
school? I need to talk to Akane for awhile."
	"I can make it to school without Ranma's help!" Ryouga protested loudly,
adjusting his slightly askew bandanna.
	"Sure you can, Porky. What's up, Ucchan?" Ranma looked a bit concerned.
	Ukyou actually blushed and looked down at her feet. She mumbled, "Well,
uh, it's sorta private. You know, GIRL stuff."
	"Girl stuff? Ucchan! I didn't..." Ranma began, and Akane stomped on his 
foot, silencing him before he could further embarrass Ukyou.
	"Ak..." Ranma yelped. Akane inclined her head toward Ukyou and Ryouga,
and they both stared.
	"You going to be okay, Ukyou-chan?" Ryouga asked, reaching his fingers
under her chin to gently lift her eyes up to look into his.
	"Ukyou-chan??!" Ranma and Akane both wondered to themselves.
	She gave him a sweet smile, and said softly, "Yeah, you just go on ahead,
OK?"
	"OK." Ryouga nodded, as if satisfied, and added,"I'll see you in class,"
before he finally turned to go to school
	"Uh, Ucchan? Are you and...." Ranma wanted to know.
	Akane interrupted, "Just take Ryouga and go on to school, Ranma.
Look, he's already headed in the wrong way." 
	Ranma looked from his girlfriend to his best friend and back again, then
said, "Uh, OK, sure. Ryouga, wait up man!!" 
	Ranma ran after the eternally lost boy before he could get any further.
	Ukyou was bright red, and Akane patiently waited a moment for her to
regain her composure. Finally she said, "We are going to be late if we don't
hurry.
You want to tell me what's up as we walk to school?"
	"Oh! Sure, sorry about that, I'm just not used to talking about this kind
of stuff." Ukyou started walking and Akane followed.
	"What stuff?"
	"Well. . . Uh. . . Ryouga and I got together last night," Ukyou said
shyly.
	Akane teased, "You're kidding! I never would have known."
	Ukyou grinned and giggled. "Yeah, I never thought it would happen,
but he finally had to make a decision. . ."
	"And he chose you."
	"Yeah."
	"Ukyou, I'm so happy for you. I really like you both, and more than
anything I want you to be happy."
	Ukyou blushed again. "Thanks Akane, for understanding and all."
	"That's what friends are for, right?" Akane smiled.
	"Akane, I was wondering if I could ask you a favor. . ."
	"Sure! What do you need?"
	"Well, Ryouga also mentioned that there is going to be this school
dance. . . And without thinking I said that I would go. Then he told me that
it's a formal thing, and that I'm going to have to wear a dress if we go."
	"Eek. You're right. Guys have to wear suits and girls dresses. So does
that mean you aren't going to go?" Akane asked.
	Ukyou smiled at her and shook her head. "No, I decided that I should
go. I want to try and develop the feminine side of myself a bit more. But, the
problem is that I really don't know what kind of dress to get or anything."
	"Ohhhh!" Akane said in realization. "And you want me to help you
pick out something!"
	"Would you?"
	"Sure!! Do you want to go shopping after school?"
	"That would be GREAT. Thanks again, Akane. . ."
	"Hey, like I said, no problem. But we better run if we want to go 
shopping after school. If we're late, we'll have detention instead!"
	Ukyou laughed and the two girls started to run, evenly pacing 
each other, running through the gates and the halls to slide into their 
respective desks just as the bell rang.

* * * * *

Lunchtime.

	"Dating" Kuno could have it's advantages, Nabiki thought as she
took a bite of her spaghetti. Kuno, as the Principal's son, got to go off 
campus for lunch, and Nabiki was allowed to join him. It sure beat 
cafeteria food, or even Kasumi's cold lunches. Today, however, Nabiki 
wasn't in the best of moods. She stirred her food around, not really that 
hungry, and looked up at Kuno.
	He was staring at her as she ate.
	"What?" She asked.
	"Nothing, Nabiki-chan. Just admiring your beauty."
	"Hmm," Nabiki mused as she wiped her hands off on her napkin.
	Kuno, surprisingly astute, commented, "You do not appear to be 
in the best of humors this fine day."
	"You could say that again."
	"You do not appear to be in..." Kuno began.
	Nabiki slapped her hand over his mouth. "I didn't mean that
LITERALLY, Kuno."
	"I see," Kuno intoned.
	Nabiki wondered what he DID see, because it obviously wasn't
what everyone else saw. He seemed to truly have no idea why she wasn't
in a good mood. Nabiki sighed and decided she might as well broach the
subject.
	"So, Kuno-chan, I hear that you are having the Senior and Junior
Dance at your house. . ." She offered leadingly.
	"Ah yes, I did offer to do that. As there were no other options, 
and as my father will be in the Islands on that date, I decided that the
most noble thing for me to do would be to host the event."
	"I see... And... ?" Nabiki pressed.
	"And what, my dove?"
	Nabiki groaned and threw her napkin down on the table. She 
steamed, "Are we supposed to be going to this 'event' together?"
	Kuno looked surprised. "But of course, Nabiki my love."
	"I see." Nabiki rapped her fingers impatiently. "So, when were
you planning to ask me?"
	"Ask you?"
	"You know, usually the boy asks the girl to go to the dance, and
she says yes or no...."
	"Oh, that foolishness. I saw no need for that, in our situation."
	Nabiki was startled by that response, her eyes open wide, blinking.
	"What?"
	"Well, as we are dating, I would of course expect you to attend
any function that I host," Kuno droned.
	"Well, well, Kuno, " Nabiki said coldly. "I guess I should have 
known better than to have an opinion on the subject. I should just let you
take care of all my problems for me."
	Kuno thought it over for a minute before responding, "Yes, that
would be a good idea."
	Nabiki put her hands up to her face and sighed in defeat. "If he
wasn't so stupid, I would be more mad at him than I am right now. There's
just no reasoning with an idiot like this," she thought to herself.
	Kuno put his hands on the table and leaned forward toward her,
proclamating, "I will send a driver over to pick you up at 7:30 pm on 
Friday evening. I, of course, will not be able to pick you up personally 
as I will be preparing for the guests."
	"Of course," Nabiki said numbly.

* * * * *