[FFML] [Fanfic][Drama][R1/2] Hardships - C2: Bitter Memories.

[Ignacio Moreno]

Disclaimers:

- Ranma belongs to Rumiko Takahashi

- This story is made for fun and is meant for the enjoyment of the fans.

- I have to thank HitokiriHERO & Loverly Light for preread this chapter.
Thank you very much.

- I thank all kinds of comments and suggestions, as well as illustrations
based on the history.

- Please C&C.

- You can find the first chapter of this story in ff.net.

--------------------------------- Chapter 2: Bitter Memories.

Nabiki entered her room and started to pick up some magazines scattered over
the bed, while Ranma remained stunned at the door trying to assimilate what
he had just heard.

“Raped? By whom? Why?” He stuttered surprised.

Pretending not to pay attention, his hostess continued with her task. Once
the bed was cleaned out, she turned to face him and with a slightly annoyed
tone, asked.

"Would you please come in and close the door?"

The young Saotome apologized clumsily before following Nabiki’s
instructions, who took the opportunity to sit down in the room’s only chair
to try to arrange her thoughts.

After entering the room, Ranma stood in the centre of the room without
knowing what to do.

“Sit down!"

The young man turned around, startled by the tone of the order, which seemed
almost like a shout. He met with the girl that, without moving, pointed to
the bed with her right hand.

‘Calm down!’ she berated to herself. ‘It isn’t the poor guy’s fault and
you’re shouting at him as if it were. What happened to the “ice queen”?’ On
remembering her old nickname, an ironic smile appeared on her face. ‘Dead
and buried, thanks. But it’s true that I have to calm down.’

After executing several deep breathes, she recovered the control of her
emotions. Now being calmer, she turned towards her guest, who finally had
sat down on the bed and watched the room unworried.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized with a tone of voice so low that he could
understand it; however it was enough to attract his attention again.

“Did you say something?”

“I’m sorry.” She repeated louder with great effort. “I shouldn’t have
shouted at you.”

Her guest waved the matter away with a slight movement of his hand.

“Nah! Don’t worry! I understand that you were angry because of what happened
in the furo. At any rate, your sister could have asked…”

The expression of Nabiki’s face told Ranma that it was better to close his
mouth and not end the phrase. Surprisingly, Nabiki finished the sentence for
him.

“…or you could have put the busy sign on the door, or Kasumi or I could have
checked if the furo was really free...” She let a sigh out before
continuing. “This doesn’t matter anymore. What’s done is done.”

After the mutual reproaches, the silence took hold of the bedroom.

The young man was very uncomfortable with the situation; he knew that he had
put his foot in his mouth, but he was thinking whether to apologize or keep
quiet. Meanwhile his speaker turned towards the writing desk to avoid having
to look at him, while trying find a way to tell her guest something that she
wanted to forget.

Finally she broke the silence.

“I want that to be clear that I am not telling you this by whim, or so you
could feel sorry for my sister.” she warned him. “I’m only telling you this
so you don’t hurt her again.”

Ranma gave his consent nodding vigorously with the head.

Once this point has been clarified, Nabiki sighed and started her story.

“Everything began two years ago; no, less, a year and a half ago. Back then
our life was very different. We were very different!”

“My father had been an emotional wreck since the death of my mother. One
minute he was crying, the next, he was smiling with joy, though most of the
time he simply ignored everything that happened around him.”

“Kasumi had taken the role of the mother, and took care of the house and us
as best as possible. Even with a smile on her face.”

‘A smile behind which she hid her dreams and aspirations,’ she admitted to
herself, while her face saddened when decorated with the memories.

“I was obsessed with the money and labeled everything according to the
profits that it could give me.” She couldn’t avoid a sardonic laugh before
adding. “I was so stupid!”

The young Tendo remained silent for a few seconds while she energetically
shook her head, perhaps to reject her past actions or perhaps to drive the
thought from her mind.

Her guest didn’t add anything, because he didn’t know what to say.

“And finally Akane, your typical tomboy.” A slight twisted smile lit
Nabiki’s face. “Although normally she was very kind with everybody, she was
very proud and had a quick temper.” Her smile disappeared and was replaced
by an expression full of sadness. “Anyway she was the more normal one in our
dysfunctional family.”

“Dis...What?” Ranma asked, not because he hadn’t understood the word, but
because he didn’t know its meaning.

“It doesn’t matter.” She assured before returning to focus in her history.
“Everything started a day of spring vacation that Akane had gone to skate
with her friends. It was the first time that she went, so she was very
excited. She always has enjoyed the sports, except swimming. Inside the
water she is a perfect hammer. It didn’t matter what she did, she always
sank.”

The young man thought he saw a fleeting smile on her face; but it
disappeared just as quickly, leaving him doubting if he’d really seen it at
all. He hadn’t a lot of time to think about it, though, before her hostess
continued with her story.

“I still remember when I met Akane and her friends.”
------------------------------
The day had been sunny with a few clouds and a pleasant temperature. This
had favored the residents of Nerima as they went out to enjoy the good
weather.

Despite being the end of the day, the commercial district was still packed
with people. However, this caused no concern to Nabiki, who moved among the
crowds like a fish swimming in a stream.

The young Tendo had had an enjoyable a fantastic afternoon. She had met with
friends to go shopping and had ended taking something in a trendy cafeteria
while they observed the hunks. After two hours of gossiping and some good
views, they had considered the day over. Nabiki had said goodbye to her
friends and had decided to have a last look at the shops.

She was looking at a beautiful dress displayed in a shop window, thinking
where she could get the money to purchase it, when she heard a familiar
voice shouted infuriated.

“I’ll show that idiot! I’m going to beat him to pulp!”

Nabiki raised her eyes to confirm that, as she had assumed, the one shouting
was her sister. She stormed down the street furiously, followed by her two
friends: Yuka and Sayuri.

“And who is the poor fool, dear sister?” Nabiki asked with a mocking tone as
she appeared in front of the group.

Akane, on seeing her, stopped dead and fixed her sister with a furious gaze,
who put up with it with a smile.

“I warned you that I’m not in the mood for your jokes.”

“I already assumed this when I heard your shouts; in fact, myself and
everybody in the street.” After a short pause Nabiki added. “Well?”

“Well what?” Her sister asked annoyed.

“What happened?”

The only thing that her insistency achieved was that her younger sister let
out an irate snort and continued on her way, followed by her two friends.
However Nabiki didn’t give in.

‘If you think that you can escape from me, lil sis, you are very wrong.
After all we live in the same house.’

And, with a mischievous smile, she joined her sister’s group.

They didn’t take long to leave the commercial district to go deep into less
crowded streets until finally arriving to a half-empty residential street.
At this moment, and taking advantage that there weren’t people near, Nabiki
launched a question quietly to Akane’s friends.

“What happened?”

They looked at each other discussing in silence whether they should tell
what happened to the sister of their friend. Finally Yuka, the girl with a
long light brown hair, shrugged her shoulders and, while they continued
walking, she turned towards Nabiki and began to explain what had happened.

“Sayuri and I were teaching Akane to ice-skate when a boy clashed with us by
accident.”

“I continue saying that he did it on purpose.” Sayuri commented.

“It doesn’t matter anymore.” Yuka answered before turning again towards
Nabiki. “The thing is that we lost our balance. We could, more or less,
stand on. Akane said no. When we saw her, an older guy…”

“Drop-dead gorgeous.” Her friend intervened, earning an elbow.

“...held her by her hip preventing her fall.”

“And then?” Nabiki asked with curiosity, feeling that they had reached the
interesting part.
------------------------------
Surprised to not end up in the ice, Akane opened her eyes and found herself
a few centimetres from the face of her saviour; he turned out to be a
good-looking young man with black hair and blue eyes, slightly older than
her.

Upon seeing her lose her balance, he held her by her hip with great skill
and gentleness as he stood there, staring at her.

After the first moment of disorientation, Akane realized that she was in the
arms of a stranger, and tried to move away of her saviour as quickly as
possible without being bad-mannered.

“Thanks for catching me, but I already can on my own.” She commented while
gently trying to released herself from his hip.

“Don’t you think that I deserve anything more than the thanks?” He asked her
with a smile.

This took her completely by surprise for a second.

He took advantage of the moment of his weakened prey to put his arm around
her waist and bend her body slightly backwards.

“I think that a kiss would be the most suitable in these circumstances,” her
saviour suggested seductively.

Akane didn’t manage to react. The situation was so surrealistic that a part
of her still doubted that it really was happening.

Yuka and Sayuri, without knowing what to do, observed with a mix of horror
and surprise how the lips of the young play-boy approached closer and closer
to her friend’s.

The distance had already been reduced to half when his breath, which stank
of mint, returned her to the reality. Without losing a second, she
interposed her hands between both of them and pushed him backwards. However,
that wasn’t enough to make him release her.

“I am grateful that you caught me, but I’m not going to kiss you because of
this.” And, raising her voice, she added, “So, let me go right away!”

Akane’s tone of voice started to attract the rest of skaters, who slowly
surrounded the pair with curiosity. However, since they didn’t know what
happened, nobody tried to interfere with the discussion.

Suddenly the young man took hold of her arms with his free hand and moved
them out of his way.

“Come on, don’t be shy,” her captor insisted, at the same time that he lent
over her again.

Akane helplessly watched how the young man was about to steal her first
kiss. Without being able to use the force needed to escape from his
clutches, she backed her body back as far she could, but it wasn’t enough.
Only a couple of centimetres separated their lips when the only skate that
kept her balanced on the ice slipped, launching her leg upwards and throwing
both of them off balance. The young man reacted quickly and separated
slightly the legs to keep standing.

Then she acted.

She inserted her right leg between her captor legs, bent it, and, with the
rage roused by feeling defenseless, launched it upwards, crushing his
genitals against the pelvis.

The young man’s scream resonated in the building, winning him commiseration
looks.

Weakened by the attack, he released his prey, whom fell heavily over the ice
causing a dull thud, before he himself fell down, curled up on the floor
when his knees lost the strength to support him.

Despite her whole body aching due to the fall, Akane was the first to try to
rise, only to realize that her legs were under the whining figure of the
young man. She took her right leg out and, none too gently, pushed him away
with the blade of her skate. Having been freed, she stood up again with the
help of her friends, who, finally, had approached to help her.

“Are you alright?” Yuka asked.

“Yes, don’t worry,” said Akane, assuring her with a smile. “Though tomorrow,
I’ll probably be covered in bruises.”

“Don’t know about you girls,” said Sayuri, taking part, “but I don’t feel
like skating anymore.”

Yuka agreed completely.

“Of course! You can always rely on a jerk to ruin your evening. Come on! We
can forget this hard time with an ice cream.” And taking Akane’s hand, she
led her off the rink. Akane gave her friends a silent thanks for her their
understanding.

With the show finished, the spectators began to disperse, leaving the way
clear to the trio of friends.

Everybody seemed to have forgotten the cause of the commotion. Said cause of
said commotion began to recover slowly. With great difficulty he stood up,
supporting himself more with his willpower than his knees. Unable to take a
step, he turned towards his retreating prey.

“Wait!” he shouted at her.

Akane immediately recognized the voice of the predator and, in spite of have
a foot already out of the rink, stopped. He smiled when he got his prey’s
attention again.

“Well, I have to admit that you know defend yourself.”

His voice sounded mocking in Akane’s ears, which started to tremble with
restrained rage. Sayuri, who was at her side, tried to calm her friend down.

“Come on Akane! Forget him! He is only an idiot!” she whispered to her
friend. However, this did nothing to calm her down.

“I would like to know how much you trust you place in your skills,” he
continued.

Akane didn’t tolerate it any longer. Not only he had embarrassed her in
front of everybody by almost stealing her first kiss, but, furthermore, he
made fun of her skills as a martial artist; someone like him, for her, was
only a pervert without honor.

She turned, extremely angry, and confronted him.

“Enough to humiliate someone like you!”

“Then, you don’t mind to defend your lips in a duel, do you?”

Without stop to think about the possible consequences, she answered
immediately.

“Ok!”

“Akane, no!” Yuka exclaimed trying to stop her friend, but it was too late.

Her friend looked at her surprised.

“What happened?”

“I just realized that he is Mikado Sanzenin, Kolkhoz High’s champion of
martial arts skating.”

“Exactly!” he confirmed at the same time that, standing as erect as his
aching body would allow; he ran a hand by his well groomed hair in an effort
to look elegant. However, his clothes, which were dirty and wet for having
remained in contact for too long with the ice, and the mark that the skate
had left on his face, turned his pose into a little more than a parody.
------------------------------
Nabiki interrupted the narration with a guffaw and, addressing to her
sister, she said:

“I hope that he’s really handsome, lil sis, because I think that you’ll have
to give him your first kiss.”

Akane, who in spite of not taking part in the conversation and having not
missed a word of it, turned to look at her with a devious smile.

“I think that you forget something, dear sis.”
------------------------------
Her friends looked at Akane worried because they knew that it was impossible
that a beginner could beat the champion in his field.

“It is already too late to back out,” Sanzenin announced, smiling. “Your
friend has agreed to the challenge. It will be here, in one week’s time,
where I will win her lips.”

“No!” Akane exclaimed. “You challenged me, so I get decide how, when and
where.” The emphasis that she used to accentuate the pronouns silenced any
discussion about who have the right to choose the conditions of the duel.

The effect of this declaration was such that, for a moment, the entire rink
paid attention to her next words. However, she didn’t seem to realize what
she was getting into.

“The duel will be next Saturday, at five p.m. in the Tendo Dojo.”

That said, she turned around and went to the changing room, followed by her
friends.
------------------------------
“What a surprise! It seems that, for once, you’ve thought before act,”
Nabiki acknowledged.

The smile on her sister’s face grew upon hearing the flattery. However, she
did so without realizing the implied insult in it.

“But I think that your plan has a failure.”

“Oh, really? Which?” Akane spat out with arms akimbo.

“I suppose that if the duel is in our Dojo, the referee will be dad.”

“And?” The voice of her younger sister didn’t sound very sure, because she
started to see what could be the possible error.

“Do you think that dad will allow that you confront a stranger in a duel?”

The rhetorical question was left there.

Akane lowered her head and sighed, resigned.

She, better than anyone, knew how protective that her father could be
towards his daughters. When he learned about the duel, the most likely
course of action he would take is that he would forbid her to fight, or
worse, that he would want to fight instead of her. The thought made her
blush from the shame. Luckily for her, the shadows that were made because of
the streetlights, the night sky and having the head lowered, joined forces
to hide it.

Before her sister could say anything, Nabiki continued.

“And, even if he allowed it, Sanzenin always could invalidate it by saying
that the referee wasn’t impartial.”

Akane raised her face and looked directly at Nabiki.

“I couldn’t care less,” she said with a haughty voice. “I’ll beat him as
often as necessary!”

“But this way, you’ll never manage to get rid of him.”

Yuka and Sayuri, who observed the conversation in silence, realized that the
fire of their friend’s rage had been defeated by the cold logic of her
sister.

Her next words meant her surrender.

“Then, what do you suggest to do?”

“Don’t worry,” her sister answered with a smile. “I have an idea. We’ll hold
the duel at my high school and I’ll ask to the captain of the Kendo team to
be the referee.”

“OK.”

Yuka, who wasn’t as sure, expressed her doubts loudly.

“Nabiki, are you sure that they will give permission? After all, it is your
first year in Furinkan High.”

“Trust me,” she said, accompanied with a smile of supreme confidence.
“Furthermore, we even can give them a percentage from the tickets.”

Yuka and Sayuri looked at each other in surprise when confronted with this
suggestion.

“Don’t even think about it!” Akane warned, annoyed.

In that instant, Nabiki was about to reply, but seeing how her were sister’s
arms folded, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to change her mind.

“All right,” she agreed resignedly and, with a great, theatrical sigh,
added, “though, it’s a pity.”

Before the young martial artist had the opportunity to reproach this last
comment, she raised both arms in a reassuring gesture.

“Don’t worry! I understand. No tickets.”

Although her younger sister didn’t seem very convinced by her words, Nabiki
considered this the end of the conversation. After quickly saying goodbye to
Yuka and Sayuri, she started to walk towards the Dojo.

When she passed Akane, she raised her right hand in a farewell gesture.

“I’ll see you at home, sis.”

The person in question didn’t answer, but she did quietly observe with her
arms folded, looking at the retreating figure of her sister.

As she moved away, her expression changed from anger to calm.

For once she had managed to win an argument with her sister. With said
victory, Akane hadn’t a reason to continue irritated.

When Nabiki disappeared around the corner, Akane turned towards her friends,
happy for the first time since the incident.
------------------------------
“I perfectly remember the satisfaction when I came back to home. I knew
Akane well enough to know that she would be congratulating me because she
had managed to persuade me. Naive! I never intended to sell tickets!”

Nabiki turned slightly towards Ranma and commented to him in a didactic tone
of voice.

“Did you think there was enough people to be interested to see this duel and
pay for it? No. Betting, however, is a very different story. Very few people
would miss a chance to earn easy money, and a duel between the famous and
undefeated champion of martial arts skating versus the extremely young
heiress of an obscure and little know martial art is one of them. Only took
a couple of rumors to persuade the undecided.”

At the moment that Nabiki finished the explanation, Ranma noticed a shine on
her eyes that surprised him. However, before he could ask what the meaning
of this was, his hostess started speaking again.

The mix of rage and bitterness in her voice surprised Ranma, especially when
the target was Nabiki herself.

“I thought that I was really clever, so goddamn smart. Smart enough to take
advantage of my sister’s impulsivity and, at the same time, so selfish as to
not worry about what could happen.” An ironic smile appeared in Nabiki’s
lips. “I could say that I wasn’t worried because I knew that she was going
to win, but I would only be lying to myself.”

Suddenly Nabiki turned towards Ranma and asked him shouting, “Do you know
how much I won this damn day? Do you?”

Ranma, completely taken by surprise by Nabiki’s outburst, was only able to
shake his head.

“16,550 yen. 16,550 fucking yen.”

And, unable to bear the pressure anymore, the young woman rested her arms on
the table and burst into tears.

Ranma didn’t know, but the fact was that Nabiki felt responsible for Akane’s
rape. This was very likely due to her bad conscience for all the times that
she had taken advantage of her sister. But she didn’t tell to anybody
because she feared the possibility of being hated. The feelings of guilt, to
that day, continued torment her. That is, until that very moment when,
unconsciously, she had told everything to someone that she had met just a
few hours ago.

After her confession, her tears served as both, at least to her, her penance
and absolution.

Ranma, for his part, didn’t know what to do. Throughout his life had been
trained to react quickly under any situation. However he was paralyzed when
he saw Nabiki cry.

After a few moments of indecision, he raised his arm shyly to touch her and
ask if she was alright but it didn’t work. For a moment it remained half
stretched, until feeling that he was making a fool of himself and lowered it
again.

Totally powerless, Ranma could only sit there, watching her as the minutes
pass by.

After the agonizing silence punctuated by only Nabiki, her crying was
transformed in a faltering sob as she ran out of rage and strength. He took
this moment to try and change the topic.

“How was the fight?”

The young woman raised her head in surprised and looked at him. Her eyes and
face were red from crying, the streams of tears flowing down her face.

Before answering, she looked away from his inquisitive, grayish-blue eyes
and wiped away the last tears with her hand.

“I don’t know.”

Ranma’s surprised expression couldn’t hide his disappointment.

“Oh! I thought that you had gone to see...”

“Yes!” She cut him off quite abruptly. “But, I was more concerned with
estimating my possible profits than with the combat.” Her voice had lost
almost all its rage, leaving in its place a trace of tiredness and sadness.

She placed her hands on the table and remained staring at the wall in front
of her. After a moment of silence she added, “Nevertheless, I remember
perfectly what happened after it.”
------------------------------
The fight had ended a long time ago and most of the people had already left
the area when Nabiki finished her work as bookmaker. She went towards the
changing rooms, grinning from ear to ear whilst counting her profit.

Whilst she did say that she had gone to support Akane, the truth was that
she had only paid attention to the fight when the referee proclaimed her
sister as winner; she spent the rest of the time noting down names and
figures. However, she spared no thought about it since she didn’t think that
her sister had realized if she was cheering up or not. The important thing
was that everything had turned out just as her plans had dictated and now
she had the necessary funds for the dress.

When she arrived outside the changing room’s door, she spared a moment to
put the money in her pocket. Satisfied, she got ready to open the door when
she heard a male voice.

“It’s a pity that you took as little time as you had taken to have a shower;
I would have preferred to see you naked.”

If Nabiki had any doubt about who could be talking, her sister’s voice
trampled it.

“Sanzenin! What are you doing here? You had promised to leave me alone if I
won you!”

Her tone, annoyed and slightly surprised, contrasted the mocking tone of her
adversary.

“When did I say that? Remember it well! The challenge was for your lips
only. Nothing else!”

“You…you…” was the only that Akane managed to articulate. Her indignation
made her choke on her words.

Behind the door, her sister had lost her smile, and the satisfaction that
she felt earlier was being replaced by irritation.

Her change of mood wasn’t as a result of any feeling of guilt for not having
confirmed the terms of combat. She had only volunteered to agree the time
and the place of the duel; it was never her intention to have fallen victim
to such a crude trap. Her annoyance came from her pride as a manipulator,
pride that had been hurt by the words of a teenage Don Juan. If she was as
clever as she had boasted, she would have seen his scheme from a mile away.
However, this hadn’t been the case.

Lost in these thoughts, Nabiki almost missed Akane’s words, who, after
giving free rein to her outrage, allowed to her pride to talk.

“It doesn’t matter! I’ll beat you as often as necessary!”

Sanzenin didn’t seem to flinch, since he answered with the same mocking
tone.

“Do you think that it will be as easy? Now you haven’t a referee to pull us
apart.”

At this moment Nabiki opened the door and entered in the room, determined to
give a surprise to the cocky young man.

“Perhaps I can take his place.”

“Nabiki!” her sister exclaimed, while the young man, surprised on hearing a
new voice, turned towards the door.

To the young woman, one look was enough to get a clear idea of what had
happened.

Akane, half-dressed and with the hair wet, was at the back of the room near
the showers, while her opponent, fully clothed, was in the middle of the
doorway, blocking her way. The narrowness of the room limited her sister’s
options. If Akane made a break for the only exit and if he managed to catch
her, he only needed his strength and weight to immobilize her on the ground.
Nabiki understood that both contenders knew it and that this was the cause
of the stalemate. The young predator waited for the attack and his prey,
knowing this, hesitated like a deer caught in headlights.

Sanzenin, recovering from the surprise, regained his smile and insulting
mocking tone.

“Look who’s here! If it isn’t the pimp sister! Did you come to watch the
show?”

‘You’ve got another thing coming if you think that this is enough to make me
lose my temper,’ the person in question thought, amused. ‘Moreover, don’t
forget that two can play this game.’

Without moving from the door, Nabiki folded her arms and stared at the young
man before answering him.

“Which one? The one with the vulgar, honourless playboy?”

Her tone of voice, a mix of indifference and disdain, didn’t seem to affect
the young man who answered proudly.

“Yes! Your sister surrenders to my charms; like the multiple young women
that I have seduced before.” Nabiki made no move to acknowledge what he
said, at least the first part.

“I heard something about it. The truth is that I couldn’t imagine that there
were so many desperate girls in Japan. Or are you counting the ones that you
have forced against their will?”

A slight change in the smile of the young man confirmed that she had hit the
nail on the head.

“You can laugh all you want. You’ll change your mind when you see your
sister moaning with pleasure in my arms. And you’ll be the next.”

“I don’t think so.”

Annoyed by her tone of confidence, Sanzenin dropped his facade of the
self-confident playboy, and sneered with a menacing tone.

“Oh? And what are you going to do to prevent it?”

Nabiki, feigning to be surprised by the question, placed her right hand over
her breasts.

“Me?” She asked with her more innocent tone, before smiling mischievously.
“Distract you.”

At that moment, the young predator, realizing his serious mistake when he
stopped keeping an eye on his prey, tried to turn around as fast as
possible, but it was too late.

Akane had taken advantage of his distraction to finish getting dressed
quickly and was ready.

When he started to turn around, she threw her sports bag at him before
charging at him. On seeing that something was approaching, he dodged it,
instinctively pulling back. The bag missed, but fulfilled its purpose;
Sanzenin, completely off balance, couldn’t avoid the next attack. She buried
her knee deep into his abdomen, draining his lungs completely. Without air,
the supposed hunter fell on his knees, gasping like a fish out of the water.

With her adversary on the floor, Akane didn’t lose any more time. She picked
up her sports bag and quickly went to the door. Her sister, who waited for
her there, moved away to allow her to leave. When she passed at her side,
Akane simply told two words to her.

“Let’s go!”

As they were moving away, the enraged shouts of the frustrated hunter
reached them.

“You fucking bitch! You’re gonna pay for this! I’m going to screw you,
bitches! Just wait and see!”
------------------------------
“On the way to home I noted that Akane was slightly trembling. At that
moment, I thought that happened because of her anger. I wonder if she could
be trembling in fear.”

Ranma kept quiet. He, better than anybody else, knew the meaning of be
afraid of something.

“It was three or four weeks before we heard from him again. Then, one night,
Akane didn’t return in time to have dinner. I remembered that I was hungry
and I made myself a mental note to give her a good scolding when she
arrived. Then the phone rang...”

Nabiki had thought that she would be strong enough to tell what happened
during this night, but her fortitude had cracks. The pain of that time
reappeared in her faltering voice and wet eyes.

“They had found her in the park. They told us that we have to go and... When
we saw her, she didn’t recognize us. She was lying with her eyes wide open,
staring at the ceiling; completely oblivious to the world surrounding her.”

She tried to add something more, but she wasn’t able to.

“Was Sanzenin the culprit?” Ranma asked unconsciously.

On hearing this name Nabiki’s voice recovered part of its strength.

“Yes! It took us a lot of time to find out the culprits, and it took us even
more time to obtain proof, but finally everything fit.”

Her voice oozed such hate that the young man felt a shiver on hearing it.

“Whatever their punishment may be, it couldn’t pay for the time that my
sister was catatonic.”

Upon mentioning her sister, sadness flooded her voice again.

“You couldn’t know what it means to see your sister each day without being
recognized by her. Lying there as a doll, unable to do anything by herself;
isolated in her mind. Perhaps reliving again and again the hell she
suffered.”

Her voice cracked and she wasn’t able to continue. The painful memories of
these months were too fresh in her mind to recall them.

In any case, she only had one last thing to say.

“You understand it now, right?” she asked to her guest. “Akane has already
suffered too much and I won’t allow that anybody hurt her again. Do you
understand?”

Although he didn’t consider himself to be able to understand all her pain,
Ranma nodded.

“Now, leave me alone, please,” she asked him with a quivering voice.

The young man stood up and crossed the room quietly. After a moment, the
sound of the door closing quietly was heard.

Alone, she lost the little control that was left. The tears didn’t take long
to appear again, relieving her anguish.

TBC...
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