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"I cuh... can't do it, Kasumi."
"You have to."
"I cuh... cuh... can't. I'm sorry. I just can't do it. Pleasedontmakemego."
Kasumi sighed at her younger sister's display of emotion. "But it's Akane's
funeral. You need this for closure in your life."
"No! It's too much like when we buried Momma. I don't want to have to go
through that again! I can't take it! I can't!"
Kasumi's voice remained gentle, but firm in spite of Nabiki's hysteria.
"Think very carefully about this. You can only really say goodbye to Akane
once. Father's going. You wouldn't want to disappoint him, would you? Ranma
was her fianc�, and he's going despite how hard it is for him. He loved
her."
"So did I! She was my sister!"
"Which is why you should go," Kasumi pointed out, exasperated as one could
be when trying to be reasonable with an unreasonable person.
"Please don't make me go!" Nabiki pleaded.
For a moment, it appeared to Nabiki that Kasumi's face tightened and she was
going to try again, perhaps ordering her this time. But just as suddenly the
strength seemed to leave her older sister's form, and her shoulders slumped
in defeat. "Very well. You can pay your respects after you've calmed down.
We won't make you go. I'll tell the others."
To Nabiki's eyes, it appeared Kasumi had suddenly become three times older
than her true age. It was a tired woman, worn down by the burden that was
called life, that left the living room, allowing her younger sister to sob
endlessly on the table in the middle of the room.
The sounds of conversation drifted from the entryway, heard by Nabiki over
her tears.
"I don't think it would be a good idea to make Nabiki go. With the way she
is now, there could be an incident. It would be a disservice to Akane's
spirit to have something happen now."
"It's hurting me too, but I'm going. I mean, Akane was her sister, for
crying out loud. She should be there."
"Son, calm down. Nabiki intends no disrespect. It's just hurting her harder
than she knows how to deal with it. Give her time, and she'll come around."
"Nabiki will pay her last respects later, once she's calmed down. I'll see
to it myself. I promise you."
Kasumi's assurance seemed to settle things as the sound of a mutual, if
reluctant, agreement came from the others. The tears continued to flow in
buckets from Nabiki until she heard the door in the entryway slam shut,
indicating the remainder of her family and the Saotomes had departed the
household for the funeral. The affair would take place under open skies, in
spite of the fact it was nearly pitch black from the dark clouds high
overhead. It would take a miracle for it to not rain.
Nabiki remained sobbing on the table, for one minute. One became two. Then
two became five. It was somewhere after the fifth minute that the sobs
changed from those of heartbreak to that of unbridled laughter.
"Hahahaha! I can't believe you fell for it, you airheaded twit. You're even
more spaced out than when Mother died. Hahahahaha."
Nabiki rose from the chair and went to the bathroom to take a good look at
herself in the mirror. Her eyes were bloodshot and tears still trickled
freely, traveling down her cheeks and around her pouting lips. "Damn. Next
time I have got to use less soap on my eyes."
Wiping her face, Nabiki tried to restore some appearance of her old self,
mindful not to look too together for the others' sake. Within a couple of
weeks, she could go back to acting relatively normal, and within a month she
could be fine, with only making an occasional token display of the loss she
had suffered. One had to keep up appearances, after all.
As Nabiki made her way upstairs to her bedroom, she gave some thought to the
smaller details she was going to have to take care of. Kasumi seemed to be
all right. But honestly, with the way her father was going on you'd have
thought it was the end of the world instead of him just losing a daughter.
Nabiki knew he certainly wouldn't have gotten this upset if it had been her
that had died. But Akane always had been the apple of his eye. Still, she
needed him in some semblance of working order. Perhaps Genma and Nodoka
could do something since they were going to move in for the duration after
this tragedy. The bond between the men was tight, and most likely the elder
Saotome could bring her father out of his depression given a little time.
Nodoka could make the place feel like a home again. It would help bolster
Kasumi too, for that matter. Lord knew if Kasumi was concealing her grief,
Nabiki sure wasn't going to waste time trying to uncover it and help her
deal with it.
As she made it to the top of the stairs she, paused in front of Akane's
door. Dead for over a week and the little duck plaque bearing her name was
still hanging on the door. It would probably remain there for quite a while
in some senseless sentimental gesture. It was such a waste. They could use
that room for either the Saotomes or Ranma himself. It wasn't like there was
an infinite amount of space in the home. On the other hand, Ranma sleeping
in Akane's room was probably a bad idea. He didn't need to be reminded of
his loss. At the moment, he was holding up remarkably well, though there was
a vacant look to his eyes, and he had burst into tears several times when he
thought no one was watching. Still, Nabiki suspected that if he was going to
self-destruct it would have happened by now. So starting today, she'd
provide a helping hand to bring him back up to his old self. She'd have him
forget Akane in no time at all. Lord knew, Nabiki was starting to forget her
already.
Smiling, Nabiki opened the door to her darkened room. She was about to turn
on the light when a voice spoke from within.
"Leave it off."
Nabiki felt her heart skip a beat. That voice! It couldn't be! It just could
not be!
"Close your mouth and come inside."
Nabiki could just make out the figure sitting in a chair in front of the
room's solitary window, the little light trickling in silhouetting the
figure's form so that it appeared as little more than a darkened shadow. One
of the few things she could be sure of was that the shadowy form's hairstyle
matched that of the voice it belonged to.
Fast. Nabiki had to think fast, even if she was being confronted with the
impossible. It would be best to do what the figure wanted to buy enough time
for her to turn the situation around in her favor. She did as the seated
figure bade, leaving the lights off and walking just beyond the entryway of
her door.
"Better. Much better," the figure soothed.
The figure was being secretive, staying where it was with the light turned
off and remaining sitting next to the window. Why? Was it just to keep
anyone outside the room from seeing what was going on, or was there some
ulterior motive? Nabiki hated not having a clue as to what was going on.
There were some things she needed to know, or else she would go mad. But she
needed to protect herself too, for she knew what ultimate fate the other had
in store for her. A potential solution came to her mind, one that was hidden
in the room from the prying eyes of the intruder. But she would have to be
subtle, real subtle, in order for it to work.
"How can you be here?" She needed time and answers. Though she could go to
the grave without the latter, as long as she remained alive she needed to
know.
That brought a light snicker in response. "Maybe you not know how to tie a
knot, stupid bitch," Shampoo snarled.
Nabiki cursed herself. She had been so certain the knot was good and the
sack durable. It seemed impossible Shampoo could have gotten out of it in
her cat form. She should have drowned!
"No be so disappointed. It was a nice plan. Just with one little hole in it,
and there was no way you could know about that, so you couldn't take it into
account."
Nabiki hated the sly taunting in that voice, wanting the bimbo dead more
than ever. Still, she had no illusions as to what Shampoo would do to her
for the attempted murder. Why the Amazon was taunting her instead of killing
her outright evaded Nabiki, but she would be damned if she would let the
opportunity to save herself pass by. Putting more panic in her movement and
voice than there really was, she made it appear she was terrified and moving
randomly as she drew closer to her dresser and the all-important top drawer.
As long as Shampoo remained right where she was, Nabiki had a chance. Just a
little distance to go.
"What hole?" Nabiki asked, inching her way to potential freedom.
"That's a secret," Shampoo said.
That's it, Nabiki thought. Just play with the prey a little more, then
you'll find out this prey is actually a hunter too. One who's a whole lot
smarter and has a bigger gun. "Come on. Let me know where I screwed up."
The shadowy form answered, "When you mess with Shampoo. Now it's my turn to
ask a question. Why you want to kill Akane?"
That made Nabiki pause for a moment. She had assumed the question would be
what her true motives were, or why she had stabbed everyone in the back, but
Shampoo had surprised her. Again. Nabiki really hated the slut. "For the
money, of course. Kodachi and Ukyou paid me a good hunk of change to help
take her out."
"Liar. Shampoo has seen that sort of look in people's eyes before when we
discussing plan. You wanted to kill her long before you were made the offer.
You just use the money as an excuse."
For a moment, Nabiki considered protesting the accusation, but much to her
surprise, she found herself wanting to answer. "You want the truth? Fine,
I'll tell you the truth. You're right. I hated her. I've despised her for
years, and I've wanted her dead for about the last two."
Even Nabiki was surprised at the amount of venom in her voice. "Everyone
always goes on and on about how great and wonderful Akane is. Daddy always
treated her like she was the best of us, like I wasn't worth giving the time
of day. She was willing to learn martial arts, so that made her Daddy's
little pride and joy. She was going to inherit the dojo with whomever she
married. She received all of his attention, all of his love, while I didn't
get shit from him. Everyone was like that. Kasumi liked her better than me.
Mom showered her with attention. Even that fucking Dr. Tofu treated her
better than he did me when we got checked up.
"But it got worse as we got older. All the boys absolutely adored her. They
fought over the right to date her, for kami's sake. And what did she do? She
COMPLAINED about it. She actually fought off her fucking admirers and told
them she wasn't interested. But they wanted her so bad they were willing to
get beaten up by her and came back for more. But me? The gutless worms
wouldn't even give me the time of day. The few guys that went out with me
never wanted a second date, and it was because they thought I wasn't as
desirable as that bitch sister of mine. They were always comparing me to
that stupid, ugly, ill-tempered thug and thought she was better than me!
It's like that with everyone she meets. Ranma, Kunou, Ryouga, even that
dipshit Shinnosuke fell in love with her. He couldn't remember anything else
BUT HE REMEMBERED HE LOVED HER! I would have given anything to have been
adored like Akane was, and she hated the way everyone loved her. She had
everything I wanted, but could never have.
"Why did I want to kill her? Hell, why wouldn't I want to kill her?"
The confession made Nabiki feel relieved, as though a great weight had been
taken off her shoulders. Almost as great was when she knew Akane had been
killed.
"You is one sick person."
Nabiki felt no anger at the statement. The soon-to-be-deceased's opinions
meant nothing to her. Besides, Shampoo was just a Chinese tramp who got
lucky in surviving one murder attempt and was too stupid to realize it.
Well, she wasn't going to survive the second one. Especially since Nabiki
had finally figured out why the Amazon had stayed in the shadows. Now
recovering the object would be easy, and ending her one remaining problem
even moreso.
"Why did you come back? Why didn't you just kill me the moment I entered the
door?" Nabiki asked, no fear in her voice anymore.
If Shampoo noticed the change, she gave no indication of it. "Shampoo needed
to know Nabiki's motives."
"Why?"
The shadowy figure gave no answer.
Another secret. Nabiki mentally shrugged. It didn't matter anymore. She
didn't give a damn about Shampoo's motives, even if the Amazon cared about
Nabiki's. It was over. At last, the middle Tendou daughter arrived at the
dresser. Without the slightest bit of hesitation, her hand whipped up to the
top drawer and darted into the back left corner of it. She had no fear of
the item ever being found. Everyone knew better than to mess with her
things. Even Kasumi.
It was in an inconspicuous plastic case. The lid was easy to flip open with
just the touch of a finger, which she did. An instant later, the cool grip
of a very old .38 revolver was in her hand. Trademark smirk plastered on her
features, Nabiki whipped the gun out and leveled it at Shampoo. The Amazon
hadn't moved a muscle in all of that time.
"You have no idea what I went through to get this little piece of personal
protection," Nabiki spat. "I had to sleep with some greasy, stupid Yakuza
hitman, with a taste for willing high school girls that have a dirty mouth,
three times, and promise him some more, before he was willing to SELL it to
me! Even then I had to convince him it was for my protection with all of the
headcases that run around here. The bastard charged three times what it was
worth. The only thing I liked about him was his head for business. Looks
like my sacrifice has paid off, though. For me, not for you, of course."
Nabiki backed away from the dresser and drew nearer to the door. She didn't
think Shampoo could possibly move in time to stop her, but why take the
chance? Much to Nabiki's surprise, and annoyance, Shampoo had not reacted in
the slightest to the change in events. Having achieved control of the
situation, and unable to resist the urge, Nabiki decided to brag a bit of
her own. It was the last time she would ever get a chance to revel in what
she had done, after all.
"You're still injured, aren't you? From those kicks I gave you in the sack?
That's why you're just sitting there, not even trying to make a move to stop
me, not that you would be able to even if you could. Even at your best you
aren't that fast."
Shampoo didn't answer.
Nabiki made her way to the lightswitch next to the doorway. "You're sitting
in those shadows, hiding how much pain you're in, maybe so I can't see your
facial expressions. Well, let's change that, shall we?" She flicked on the
lights. There was Shampoo, unmistakable and right before her. There was the
faded discoloration of the flesh below her right eye, indicating a wound she
had received there, and it did appear from her facial expression she was in
at least a little bit of discomfort. There were no weapons visible near her,
nor anywhere on her Chinese style pink and cream white cheogsam and pants
she was dressed in. At least Shampoo wouldn't die in one of those too tiny
dresses she frequently wore, Nabiki thought to herself. Her death would have
some measure of dignity, at least.
"Just as I thought," Nabiki smirked. "You really, really, should have killed
me when you had the chance. A quick blow to the head as I entered the room
would have done the job. I'm no martial artist. I would have been lucky to
even see it coming."
"How will you explain shooting Shampoo?"
Nabiki shrugged, only giving it a cursory thought. "Somehow you survived and
came here for who knows what. I saw you, and you tried to kill me just like
you killed my sister. I managed to get to this gun and kill you first."
"How you explain the gun?"
Nabiki, finally tired of explaining everything, drew back the hammer. "I'll
think of something. Bye, bye." She pulled the trigger.
The gun's only response to her pull was to make a clicking sound and rotate
the cylinder.
A misfire. Refusing to lose control, in spite of her panic, Nabiki pulled
the trigger again.
Another click.
Breath now coming in gasps, Nabiki pulled again and again. Six times she
pulled, and six times all the pistol did was roll its cylinder and click.
The sound of something small and metallic hit the wooden floor behind
Nabiki. She stopped trying to shoot and listened to it. It sounded like the
metal rolled back and forth slightly, almost as thought the object was
round.
A second clink joined the first.
Then a third.
Then several, all of them hitting too close together for Nabiki to determine
how many there were. Terrified beyond all measure, she unwillingly turned
around to discover the origin of the noise.
"NOOOOOOOOOO! Nabiki wailed upon seeing what, or more specifically who, had
made the noise.
Akane Tendou let the last bullet drop, bouncing off another one of the five
that had already fallen to the floor. "I've known that gun was back there
for a while. You're not the only one that goes rifling through other's
possessions."
"You're dead! You drowned! I saw you die!" Nabiki protested.
"You saw what anyone watching was supposed to see." Akane moved into the
room. "Shampoo let me know everything that happened that night you guys came
up with the plan to kill me. Since we knew you guys wouldn't rest until I
was dead, and it would only be Shampoo's word against yours that your little
meeting had taken place at all, we came up with a plan to counteract yours.
We decided to fake my death, thereby lulling you into a false sense of
security, so that we could nail you all for what you had done and tried to
do. Things were going along pretty well until we got to the canal and you
tried to kill Shampoo. You really screwed everything up with that one."
As angry as Nabiki felt at the turn of events against her, she was also
fascinated as to how she had been outmaneuvered. "But I saw Shampoo throw
your body in the canal. I looked for it myself and even if you were awake
when she threw you in, you were definitely not swimming around or anything."
"Of course I was, you saw me floating right there," Akane said.
Nabiki replayed the events of that night in her mind. What was Akane talking
about? She hadn't been there. No one was there. The only thing that had been
floating in the canal was...
Akane watched the knowing light Nabiki gained in her eyes. "That's right. I
was only pretending to be unconscious by that time. Shampoo had undone the
pressure point after she placed me on the ground. She then slipped me a
packet of Instant Spring of Drowned Goose. Once I hit the water, I changed.
I might not be able to swim as a human, but it's easy when you're a
waterfowl. That was how I rescued Shampoo too, though it was a near thing.
She had nearly drowned by the time I was able to undo the knot you tied on
that sack. After that we had to lie low while I helped her recuperate from
the wounds you inflicted on her. During that time, you went on to murder
Kodachi and Ukyou. There was nothing we could do about it until now."
Nabiki shook her head. "But that still doesn't explain why Shampoo would
tell you anything, and why the two of you would work together. She had as
much to gain out of your being dead as anyone else."
"You don't know anything." Akane turned to look at Shampoo, momentarily
ignoring Nabiki. "Are you all right?"
Nodding, the Amazon gave Akane a reassuring look. "She didn't figure out
Shampoo was hurt until it was too late to do anything about it."
Shampoo rose to her feet slowly, in obvious pain. Akane moved closer,
keeping one eye on Nabiki the entire time, letting her sister know she
couldn't escape no matter how fast she ran. Once Shampoo was close enough,
Akane slipped a hand around her waist and held her tight in an unmistakable
move of affection.
"Just what in the hell is going on here?" Nabiki's jaw had nearly hit the
ground at witnessing the sight before her. She had thought her quota of
surprises had used up for her lifetime.
"I think it would be obvious." Akane reluctantly released her arm from
Shampoo's waist. "Shampoo and I are in love. We've been that way for a
little over two months now."
"But you love Ranma!" Nabiki protested.
"Oh? When did I ever say that?" Akane asked.
"When you..." Nabiki trailed off at that.
After giving her several moments, which Nabiki only managed to fill with
silence, Akane answered for her. "You can't remember."
Nabiki started to protest, but then stopped. After a moment, she gave Akane
a frustrated sigh. "Fine. I never heard you actually say you love him, but I
have eyes. I saw everything that happened between the two of you. Hell, you
were going to marry him, and it was obvious you weren't being dragged into
it."
"And yet, I never said I loved him, not even up to when I walked down the
wedding aisle, did I?" There was pain in Akane's voice as she reminded
Nabiki of the past events.
Nabiki felt her temper boiling. What sort of twisted game was Akane playing?
"You've always acted like you did love him. Are you telling me you don't?"
That declaration seemed to hurt Akane. "I never said that either. As a
matter of fact, you're right. I do love him. For all the times he's
egotistical and unthinking, he's caring and nice five times more. He always
helps others when they're in need, even his enemies. He's quick to forgive
those that wrong him, even those that give him a hard time over and over
again. He's frequently giving and will sacrifice things for others if he
thinks it's the right thing to do. He has plenty of standards and ethics.
And there's a whole list of other nice traits that's too long to mention.
He's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, not at all, but he does
try. I've always felt warm inside when he's around me. He's always been
there for me when I've needed him, even if I told him I didn't want him
around but really did. I'd give my life for him without a moment's
hesitation if I had to. I do love Ranma. I really and truly do.
"But I'm not in love with him."
Nabiki's temper flared at what she perceived as being jerked around. She
snarled, "That made absolutely no sense whatsoever."
Akane shook her head sadly at the display. "I knew you wouldn't understand
the difference. There are different kinds of love, Nabiki. For a while, I
tried to convince myself what I felt for Ranma would grow into the love he
wanted from me, and the sort of thing I wanted in my life. I was even
willing to marry him with that hope. Once Dad revealed to me he had arranged
some Nanniichuan water as a wedding present, that settled things. I decided
I'd marry Ranma just to give that to him alone. For all of the crap he's had
to put up with from everyone, he deserved a little happiness that water
could give him. And no matter how I felt, I knew he truly loved me. After
Mount Phoenix, there were no doubts. I knew he loved me more than anyone
else in the world.
"And after that fact got a chance to sink in, I also realized I didn't love
him as much as he did me. Not like that. Never like that.
"I care for him almost more than I do anyone else in my life. Even more than
my family. And I still do. But a marrying kind of love? No. No matter how
much a part of me would like the idea that I could do that, it just doesn't
work that way for me. You can control your thoughts, but your heart has a
mind all of its own and goes its own way. You just have to deal with it."
She gave a meaningful glance to Shampoo. "Mine's like that. I could have had
the man just about every woman around here wants, and I don't want him the
way they do."
At last realization started to set in for Nabiki. "You mean you're really-"
Akane cut her off. "When I was about nine, I told Kasumi I didn't like boys.
They were all dull, unattractive, stupid jerks that treated girls like they
were worthless and didn't understand them at all. They just wanted to use
girls to make themselves happy. I told her I liked girls instead, since they
got to be pretty, and nice, and could understand things other girls went
through. I told her I really liked Kyoko, who lived down at the end of the
street, and I thought she liked me too.
"And then Kasumi slapped me.
"I was stunned. Kasumi never even raised her voice to anyone no matter what
they did, and she had slapped me. Hard. I was in too much shock to cry.
Kasumi told me that girls couldn't like other girls. It wasn't natural. It
was wrong and immoral and people like that would go to Hell when they died
and be damned forever. She told me it would break Mom's heart up in heaven
if I was like that. She told me you, Dad, and her would hate me if I liked
girls. So I was to not talk that way ever again, and I was to like boys just
like a normal girl would, since I was really a normal girl and couldn't
possibly like other girls, you see?
"Of course, by that time I was bawling like a baby and agreed to everything.
I promised her I would never think about girls like that again and would
only like boys and would behave myself. I'd never be bad ever again and
would only have girls as friends and nothing else since that would be bad
and everyone, including kami-sama himself, would hate me if I was that way.
"As much as I love Kasumi, I think I hate her too. I know I still haven't
forgiven her for that day. I don't think I ever will."
"So you're a fucking dyke," Nabiki said, momentarily forgetting the
situation she was in.
Akane's face crinkled at the rude appellation. "I am what I am. I do like
the attention boys give me, I just don't like it when they come on to me. I
will admit I do have an ego, and it's nice to know guys find me attractive,
even if I don't think of them in the same terms. I know that makes me sound
like Ranma, wanting attention from others without being willing to give it
back in return. I think that's one of the reasons I resented him wanting the
other girls' interest; it reminded me too much of myself."
Nabiki shook her head. It sort of made sense, in a weird, twisted, distorted
way. "If you didn't like Ranma that way, why did you agree to get engaged to
him?"
Akane seemed almost embarrassed to answer. "At first, because he put down my
looks and called me uncute. I wanted to prove to him I wasn't, even if I
went about it backwards. Though I guess it ended up being the way to catch
Ranma's interest, ironically. He hates being chased. Once I got to know him
and found out what a nice person he was, and that he could turn into a girl,
I tried convincing myself that it just might work out. But it was only a
pack of lies I told myself to try to fit in. He's a guy, even when he looks
like a girl. Even if I could somehow change that part of him, I wouldn't; I
care and respect him too much to do that sort of thing. He is who he is,
even as I am who I am. We just have to learn how to live with what we are."
"And Shampoo?" Nabiki asked.
That caught Shampoo's attention as she finally entered the conversation.
"After bombing the wedding, Shampoo eventually realize Ranma never love her
the way she love him. Never the way he love Akane. If Shampoo can no go back
home with her airen, Shampoo can never go back at all. So Shampoo figure if
she can no leave and no get Ranma, she would see to it Akane would not get
him either. Since Shampoo could not convince Ranma to be with her, then
Shampoo would try to seduce Akane instead and break them up that way."
Akane laughed at that and looked to Nabiki. "Isn't that the most ridiculous
thing you've ever heard of? It has to be the most stupid of stupid plans
she's ever come up with." Akane caught the angry glare Shampoo shot her.
"Shampoo, I love you to death, but your plans are stupid. It's just ironic
that the most stupid one of all ended up being the only one that actually
worked."
Akane turned back to Nabiki. "I've always been attracted to Shampoo, even if
her behavior really put me off. Heck, the first time she left I tried to
goad Ranma into bringing her back by complimenting her looks and asking why
he didn't try to stop her, even if I didn't realize why I was doing it at
the time. It's also the reason I've always hated the way she threw herself
at Ranma and never minded it quite as much as when Ukyou and Kodachi showed
their affection towards him. It was jealousy, pure and simple.
"So when Shampoo hit on me a couple of times in private, I was flattered,
even though I resisted her advances because I figured it was probably some
kind of trick. But then Kunou bought that magic charm from the cursed
antique store that made that colony of ants grow huge and all of us had to
fight them. During the fight, Shampoo saved my life by taking a blow meant
for me."
"Which was ironic since Shampoo was trying to kill Akane at the time," the
Amazon admitted. "She not see giant ant trying to attack Akane from behind,
and Shampoo accidentally take blow instead."
Akane gave her a forgiving look. "Luckily, I didn't realize it and
mistakenly thought Shampoo had risked her life to save me. So I ended up
risking my life to protect her when she was hurt and carried her to safety.
Once we got a few seconds alone in private, I was seized by the moment and
kissed her."
"Since that was Shampoo's intention all the time, she return kiss and from
there go on to successfully seduce Akane. Only it not go the way Shampoo
thought it would. Instead of being happy she make Akane betray Ranma,
Shampoo found she liked Akane being so nice and affectionate to her. It was
the first time anyone had treated Shampoo like that in her whole life,
except Mousse, and we know all about him. So instead of telling Ranma what
happened, Shampoo wait and think about things. She was left with choice of
making Ranma hate Akane too, and make everyone miserable, or making Shampoo
and Akane happy by having a relationship. Shampoo always prefer being happy
to miserable."
Akane nodded. "So we kept things quiet until we could figure out a way to go
public and somehow not hurt everyone, especially Ranma. There was also the
problem of Kodachi and Ukyou. And there was no way I would risk leaving him
in their hands. He deserves better than them." There was an edge of anger in
Akane's voice. "But then the meetings with you guys began, and you saw how
things deteriorated from there. Things probably would have turned out all
right in the end if you hadn't screwed everything up by betraying everyone."
Having somehow managed to absorb the information, all Nabiki could do was
shake her head. "Congratulations. I had absolutely no idea. Not much slips
by me, but that one completely did."
Akane gave Nabiki a serious look. "There's just one thing I want, no, I need
to know. Why did you really get involved with all of this? And don't tell me
it was for the money or the opportunity to kill me. You were motivated by
something else, or you wouldn't have killed Ukyou and set her up to take the
blame."
Nabiki debated holding out, then shrugged. What was the point? She wanted
Akane to know. It was about the only weapon she had left to use against her
sister. "The answer's simple. You know I always get what I want, no matter
what it takes or how long. I just wanted Ranma for myself."
Akane looked at her sister in disbelief. "But... but you were engaged to him
and just used it to harass him and the others. It was obvious you weren't
interested in him at all."
Nabiki shrugged. "I changed my mind since then."
It took almost a full minute for Akane to find her voice. Slowly, in
carefully measured words, she said, "Do you mean to tell me you killed two
people, and tried to kill two more, including your very own sister, because
you changed your goddamn mind about a guy you were interested in? One that
had no interest whatsoever in you?!"
Nabiki looked at Akane as though she was stupid for even asking the
question. "Why not?"
Suddenly, the anger seemed to leave Akane. She stared at Nabiki, almost as
though she was looking at a chick that was unable to break out of its shell,
no matter how hard it tried. The most emotion she could muster was to shake
her head sadly. "It's time to finish things up. I'm sorry."
Nabiki backed away towards the window, trying to figure out what words to
use to postpone her fate so that she could escape it. But for the first time
in recent memory, nothing came to her. There wasn't anything she could think
of that had even a remote chance to get her out of the situation. It was as
if she had been trapped in one of her own schemes, a spider caught in its
own web of lies and deceit.
It wasn't fair. She was the mastermind. She had come up with all of the
plans and was the smartest one around. She had set everything up perfectly,
and it had all come apart because she hadn't noticed that her sister was a
dyke that was screwing some Chinese slut. Impossible! If Nabiki Tendou was
to be taken down, it should have been for better reasons than that wild tale
she had been given.
And then it struck her all at once. Of course! It all made sense when she
thought of it that way. Rather than be afraid, Nabiki began laughing, a
high-pitched thing that bordered on hysteria. "I get it. I finally get it.
Very nice, you two, very nice indeed. I should have realized you were this
devious. My apologies."
The duo looked at each other, mystified. "What are you talking about?" Akane
asked.
"You set up this whole thing to make me confess what I did. Very nice,"
Nabiki almost drawled. She pointed to Akane. "You're somebody that's fallen
into Akaneniichuan and is impersonating her. Maybe you're that Kiima woman
and you're doing this as a favor to Ranma. And you," she pointed to Shampoo.
"You're probably Shampoo's older sister made up to look like her. I think I
remember Mousse mentioning you once and how much you looked like Shampoo.
They're really dead, so you guys pretended to be them and came up with that
weak story about Akane and Shampoo being lovers and outsmarting me to throw
me off. You've probably got a tape recorder going and just taped everything
I said so you can turn me in to the cops. I applaud you and your duplicity.
Even I wouldn't have come up with something so... Machiavellian. So who came
up with this? Cologne? She's always been pretty on the ball. I could see her
suspecting me and coming up with something like this. I don't mind being
outsmarted by her. Or was it Ranma? When he's forced to, he can be pretty
crafty, though I don't see him being this smart. I bet it was the little
troll."
'Akane' shook her head sadly and moved forward. Nabiki knew she could do
nothing to defend herself, so she remained motionless and allowed her
'sister' to embrace her intimately in those powerful arms she possessed.
Nabiki had to admit, even up close, she couldn't tell the difference between
this girl and the real Akane.
Leaning close enough so that she could whisper in Nabiki's ear, Akane said
in soft, almost affectionate tones, "Do you remember when I was eight and
broke my arm?"
The question froze Nabiki's blood in her veins.
Feeling her older sister stiffen, knowing that Nabiki at last understood and
accepted the truth, Akane said softly, "It was because you shoved me down
the stairs and pretended it was an accident. It's time for me to return the
favor."
And with that Akane released Nabiki from her hold and shoved her in the
direction of the open window. Nabiki's hand lashed out to try to arrest her
flight, but all she managed to do was grab a vase on the stand near the
window, sending it tumbling outward with her. There was no time to grab
anything else as her body went out the window, heading downward as she
completely cleared the opening and dropped downward, headfirst towards the
concrete of the patio below.
As Nabiki saw her face about to impact with the ground, which had drawn
close enough to make out a column of ants making their way across the rocky
surface in a serpentine line, one final thought went through her mind.
In that last instant, she hated Akane more than any other moment in her
entire life. It wasn't because her younger sister was killing her; Nabiki
could accept that since it's what she would have done had their positions
been reversed. No, it was because not only had Akane been more popular and
attractive than Nabiki, but she had also proven herself smarter and more
devious in the end as well.
And then the delicate bone of her face, and the vase that had gone tumbling
out after her, met the ground at the same instant, both shattering into
dozens of smaller fragments and creating a cacophony of noise from the twin
impacts that broke the otherwise quiet afternoon.
At her position in the window, Akane looked down to see the shattered
remains of her sister far below. The way her head and neck were turned, as
well as the matted gore of the remains of her face, informed Akane that
Nabiki was as dead as one could get. There would be no miraculous 'escape'
from death as there had been in Akane and Shampoo's case.
Tears would not come. Akane had already mourned the loss of her sister when
Shampoo had informed her of the plan Nabiki had come up with to kill her.
More were spilled after witnessing her sister throw her lover in a sack and
toss it into a near watery grave. There were no more tears for the monster
her sister had become, or perhaps had been the entire time and had just
hidden it well. The evil creature was dead, and the world was a better place
for it. Akane was just sorry she didn't do something to prevent what had
happened, even if she still hadn't figured out what that something was.
The sound of a hammer being pulled back from somewhere behind Akane
shattered the silence even more loudly than Nabiki's body striking the
ground had.
It was Akane's turn to stiffen, even as Nabiki had in her embrace just
moments before. The shock of what the sound meant was immense, perhaps the
worst that the youngest Tendou girl had suffered in her entire life. It
almost made her turn around, but at the last second she refused to. The
image of what was happening behind her was all too vivid in her mind's eye.
That would do. Akane had no desire to see the reality that lay there.
It was only now she realized that Shampoo was no longer at her side for a
reason. Really, it had been sloppy of Akane to leave the bullets just lying
there. She should have gotten rid of them altogether, but she had been
reluctant to dispose of something she might have needed later, even if she
had no plans to use a gun, or even knew how to fire one accurately.
The words came easily to Akane's lips. She was surprised by that, but then
again, sometimes the truth was easy to say once one could accept it within
her heart. Lies were always difficult for Akane to manage, even if much of
her life had been based on one. "I always knew you still loved Ranma, even
when we were lying in bed together after having made love. I just thought
maybe you would realize he'd never love you, and that you would come to care
for me just as much as you did him. I guess I sound just as stupid as
Kodachi, huh? Pining away and hoping someone's heart could change on the
basis of how I behaved?"
"Turn around, Akane."
Akane shut her eyes, trying to keep the tears from coming. She didn't want
to cry. She didn't want to appear weak in front of the woman she had come to
love, even if that woman didn't love her. "Just shoot me in the back,
please. It won't make any difference where you do it. You're going to have
to get rid of my body anyway."
"Turn around."
No! Akane didn't want to have to see it coming. Didn't want to see the
betrayal happen before her eyes. It was too much to ask.
"Shampoo said turn around. Now."
Unable to resist the Amazon's wishes, even now, Akane turned around. It was
just as she had pictured it. Shampoo standing there, grinning smugly, with
Nabiki's gun pointed directly at her chest. The only thing the youngest
Tendou hadn't pictured was the small open thermos that Shampoo was holding
out to the side.
Seeing Akane's puzzled gaze at the container, Shampoo continued grinning in
an almost mocking fashion. "This is Akaneniichuan mixed with water from
Chiisuiton, and no ask Shampoo what she had to go through to get that.
Shampoo grab some last time she went home to Joketsuzoku. Now it's going to
be very useful when 'Akane' show up from nearly drowning and have very bad
memory of what happen. Maybe hit self on head too so it look like partial
amnesia is likely. And as to Shampoo's speech pattern, when 'I' concentrate,
'I' can speak pretty good Japanese. I've been studying and practicing it for
months now, but keeping it hidden in case I needed to throw someone off by
speaking it well. It's a pretty good plan, yes?"
That Shampoo was taking such delight in tormenting Akane made the betrayal
hurt even more. Why couldn't she have just shot her in the back without
gloating and be done with it?
The Amazon made a show of looking at a nearby clock. "There's not much time
left. My plan actually has a lot more phases to make it look convincing, but
that's the gist of it. Do you have any last words?"
There should have been a million curses and threats on Akane's lips for this
treachery. She had been used in body and soul by the most heartless monster
among a neighborhood full of them. Nearly everyone Akane knew, when it came
right down to it. But all she could manage to say was, "For what it's worth,
I honestly believed we would be happy together. I know it wouldn't have been
easy, but I would have done everything in my power to make you never know
another moment of pain. I'm sorry I failed you. I hope you and Ranma have a
happy life together and even though you're still doing this, I really and
truly still love you." There wasn't anything else to say. It was everything.
Simple, yet complete.
Shampoo just shook her head. "Nice try, but flattery like that only works on
the really stupid, and I'm anything but. You should know that by now."
Satisfied Akane was finished with what she had to say, Shampoo threw the
contents of the container over her head and pulled the trigger of the gun at
the same time.