Nabiki's Side Nabiki Tendo sighed to herself softly as she went over the family balance sheet once again. Despite the reddish black haired woman's best efforts the figures still came out the same as she sat back tiredly in her room. 'Revenues are generally down,' she thought glumly. Since her mother's death she along with her sister Kasumi had taken up those motherly duties, with Kasumi maintaining the house while Nabiki ran the finances. While their father Soun might bitch and moan at times Nabiki had managed to keep the house afloat, even with few students or income coming in. 'Of course, things are a little tougher for me now,' Nabiki mused. Since her elder sister had become involved with Ranma Nabiki had been obligated to cease selling erotic photos of Ranma, one of her most fruitful sources of income. Of course she still had her money lending to fall back on, not to mention a bit of blackmail and other activities, but it was clear she was not making as much as she was. A loud crash jerked her from her work and with a growl of frustration Nabiki headed downstairs to see what was going on. Humming cheerfully Kasumi was wiping down the table as Nabiki neared, the taller woman clearly reading the place for dinner. "What's going on now?" she demanded of Kasumi. "It looks like Ryouga-san has found his way here again," Kasumi explained mildly, "I think Ranma is dealing with it." Taking a short detour into the kitchen Nabiki headed outside, watching a moment as Ranma and Ryouga fought. The boy dressed in yellow was good, Nabiki had to concede, Ryouga fighting with a raw power that few could match. But the red clad Ranma was better, moving with greater speed and agility, dodging blows while dealing powerful strikes. "I can do this all day," Ranma boasted, bouncing lightly from foot to foot. "You aloud Akane to be despoiled by the treacherous Ukyo," Ryouga pointed, his black hair falling into his eyes, "and for that..." Ryouga never had a chance to finish his sentence as Nabiki took the pitcher of water she grabbed from the kitchen and poured it over his head. In a poof of displaced air Ryouga shifted to his pig form, and Nabiki quickly reached down to grab him by the scruff of his neck. "Hey," Ranma protested, "why'd ya do that for?" Nabiki gave him a look, "You two would keep fighting forever without a winner, you're too damn evenly matched." She frown, "And I am not putting up with the kind of collateral damage you two tend to do!" "Squuee!" Ryouga tried to claim he was better. Holding Ryouga up to her eyes she gave the pig a dangerous glare as Nabiki said, "Ryouga, I don't care if you ambush Ranma elsewhere, but you will cease doing it at our home." Before the pig could protest she continued, "If you persist, I will turn you into a pig and make bacon out of you." "Squee?" Ryouga said weakly. "I am not a martial artist and I feel no hesitation to fight dirty," Nabiki continued firmly, "is that clear?" Ryouga nodded weakly, the pig looking mildly stunned. Nabiki dropped him, "Now get OUT of here!" The kick she delivered sent Ryouga flying off until he disappeared into the distance. "Been saving that up for awhile?" Ranma guessed as they headed inside. "As a matter of fact, yes," Nabiki responded, smiling slightly. "Welcome back," Kasumi smiled warmly at Ranma as she stopped for a moment to kiss the young man lingeringly. 'Heh,' Nabiki smiled slightly as she walked past, heading into the kitchen a moment to give them some privacy. She had a reputation as a hard person, one she had intentionally developed for hers and the others safety, but even she could feel happy to see her sisters in love. She heard a sound and looked up, nodding as her father came in "Daughter," her father Soun nodded, his hand out as usual this time of week. Coolly she handed him his weekly allowance and he nodded, tucking it away before anyone could see. They maintained the illusion that he was the man of the house to keep his dignity, but the truth was that Nabiki handled all money matters. "You and Genma need to be taking in students," Nabiki reminded him, "with RAnma and Akane's reputation, we could be pulling in students." "Not everyone is suited to our style," Soun noted, "but we will try," "Thank you," Nabiki nodded as a slightly mussed looking Kasumi hurried in to finish work on their dinner. After dinner Nabiki headed out, noting how happy her other sister Akane had been at dinner. After Ranma had chosen Kasumi over her Akane had been quite upset, even joining a unofficial Ranma Revenge Squad, but over the past few weeks had become increasingly mellow. 'I wonder if those stories about her and Ukyo are true?' Nabiki mused. Deciding not to worry about it Nabiki continued on in her expedition to Chinatown, nodding to familiar faces as she headed for Shampoo's restaurant. Ducking beneath the curtain she entered the caf‚, heading up to the front as she passed mostly empty tables. "What you want?" Shampoo asked, the light purple haired amazon's head resting on her arms as she moped. Of all the potential suitors to Ranma's hand Shampoo had taken his betrothal to Kasumi the hardest. Instantly declaring her intention to kill Kasumi her many attempts were blocked by Ranma, then Ranma had shockingly told Shampoo that if she DID succeed, Ranma would only hate her forever. Since then she had been moping about, doing her work at the caf‚ and otherwise staying out of trouble. "Actually, I have a business proposal," Nabiki answered crisply as she watched the old crone Cologne emerge from the back. "What sort of proposal?" Cologne asked suspiciously, her long white hair tied back as she studied Nabiki. "I know you're in exile from the Amazons," Nabiki said in a businesslike way, "I assume due to your failure with Ranma?" "Is no failure!" Shampoo protested hotly, "It's... a setback." "Either way," Nabiki said smoothly, "you need to stay here... and having a successful business will make it easier." "Oh?" Cologne asked. "For a reasonable cut," Nabiki gave a shark like smile, "I can boost your business at least by half." Cologne leaned forward, her eyes sparkling as she asked, "What kind of cut?" With that they proceded to negotiate, Nabiki drawing on natural skill while Cologne drew on her many decades of experience. 0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 "Well," Cologne admitted as she looked out at the packed caf‚ less than three weeks later, "I have to admit you did it." Shampoo rushed by, a tiny bikini barely holding back her assets as she served another table full of young men. "It just takes knowing your target audience," Nabiki said with a impish little smile. The bikini was no problem for the uninhibited Shampoo, and putting the word out was easy for Nabiki's network of agents. All it took was a few satisfied customers and the word spread like wildfire through the local schools, to the point where they were now forced to turn customers away! The six o'clock bell rang and there was a moan of disappointment as Shampoo's shift ended and a local, less busty girl took over. Shampoo stalked from the back in her usual Chinese dress, looking beautifully dangerous as she joined them. "Here's your cut," Cologne passed over a fat envelope, "and thank you, Nabiki." "You're welcome," Nabiki tucked the envelope away then excused herself. As Nabiki left she became aware that Shampoo was following her and gave the girl a questioning glance. "Grandmother's idea," Shampoo said as they walked along together, "is bad if you're robbed on way home." Nabiki looked amused as she answered, "I was trained in the Tendo school of anything goes martial arts, you know." "Shampoo never see you fight," she looked skeptical. "I never said I was very good at it," Nabiki conceded wryly, "but most people know not to try anything." "Eh?" Shampoo blinked. Nabiki winked at her, "Trust me, they know they'll regret it." Shampoo nodded doubtfully, "I suppose so." They walked on for a while them Shampoo quietly asked, "How is Aerin... I mean, Ranma?" Nabiki thought about charging her for the information, then decided it might impact their business relationship. "He seems very happy," she answered, knowing that Shampoo probably wouldn't want any punches pulled. "Ah," Shampoo nodded as they walked along. They traveled a bit then she began to smile, "And what is this I hear about Akane being happy too?" "What did you hear?" Nabiki asked. "Pay first," Shampoo held out a hand. With a chuckle Nabiki drew out a few yen, "Here. If it's worth it, I'll add more." "Well," Shampoo leaned over, "it seems that she and Ukyo are..." 'Damn, that's two out of three Tendo sisters,' Nabiki blinked as she tried not to let her gaze rest on Shampoo's breasts, 'maybe gayness is genetic.' End. Notes: Based on the anime, more than manga version of Nabiki. She's still miserly and money focused, but she's a bit nicer than the nearly heartless manga version.
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