Nabiki and Akane, having missed the show the first time, stood in stunned awe as Genma and Ranma sparred. For one thing, it looked more like a duel to the death than a spar. For another thing it was taking place, on average, about twelve feet off the ground.
They continued to stare in outright shock as Tarre came out of the kitchen to put breakfast on the table. She glanced nervously at the sparring herself, but they had explained that to her yesterday, so she wasn't so nervous as she could have been. In any case, she did know what to do to end the disturbing display.
"Breakfast is ready," she called out.
Instantly the two martial artists turned their attention toward her...and dropped into the koi pound. Tarre winced at the impact, but was relieved to see Ranma and her father walk out seemingly unharmed.
"Stupid old man," the redhead was muttering. "Couldn't you just let us land dry for once?"
[We must never let ourselves become soft.] The panda's sign read.
"What...was that?" Nabiki asked awakened without heavy amounts of caffeine for once.
"That was Ranma-san and Saotome-san sparring," Tarre said. "They did the same thing yesterday."
"You mean...I'm going to learn how to do that?" Akane asked, eyes widening. Ranma looked at her in surprise for a moment before remembering there was food to protect.
"You can't do that?" Ranma asked indicating the area he had been sparring his father. He knew he was losing food to this, but he had to know what he'd be training.
"I can hit the roof from the wall," Akane said. "If I try hard, but I can't leap like that on the spur like you were."
"Huh," Ranma said.
"I don't want you getting my sister into danger like that again," Akane snapped as they were walking toward school fifteen minutes later.
"Excuse me," Ranma said. "One minute it's friends, the next I'm a pervert, then yer looking at me like I'm the coolest thing since winter, an' now I'm trying to get your sister killed? What is with you?"
"Are you lecturing me about how I should behave?" Akane asked. "You don't even talk properly. Listen just let's get through this day without you embarrassing me or getting my family members hurt, okay?"
"Yeah, whatever," Ranma said.
"Look," Akane said after a few more minutes. "You scared me, you really scared me when you came to school with her. She may be stronger and tougher than me, but she's the most defenseless person I've ever met. And I don't want to see her hurt because of...anything ever again. Okay?"
"Sheesh, if you're so worried about her," Ranma said in answer. "Whydidja yell at her like that?"
"Well..." Akane paused, trying to find a reasonable answer. She couldn't really find a good one, but said something anyway. "She's like a little kid sometimes, you have to yell to get her to pay attention."
"You act like she's stupid or something," Ranma said.
"She's my sister," Akane snapped. "Not yours, so don't try to say you know more about her than I do."
"All right, all right," Ranma said, though his opinion of Akane had gone up a couple of notches once she admitted that she had been worried about the dark-skinned girl.
Nabiki looked at the stuffed panda in front of her.
"What," she asked. "Is this?"
"It's a stuffed panda," Kuno said.
"I know that," Nabiki said. "What's it doing on my desk?"
"It's a gift," Kuno said. Nabiki rolled her eyes.
"Sorry Kuno, I'm secretly Sailor Pluto's lover," Nabiki said turning away from Kuno.
"Did I say it was for you, Tendo Nabiki?" Kuno asked fervantly. "This is for the pig-tailed girl." Nabiki's soda went spraying.
"Now look what you made me do," Nabiki growled.
"My apologies," Kuno growled. Then he blinked. "Wait, did you say Sailor Pluto's lover?"
"It was meant to get you off my..."
"Certainly one of the Sailor Senshi would be lucky to have one such as myself as their paramour," Kuno said as Nabiki slammed her face into her desk in surprise. "But alas...I have sworn my heart to your sisters and the pig-tailed girl. I cannot betray them in such a way."
"Yeah, right Kuno," Nabiki said. "So now your three-timing my sister then?"
"You would give me this speech again, Tendo?" Kuno asked harshly.
"Nope," Nabiki said. "I'll offer these instead." She laid down a collection of pictures on the table.
"Ahh," Kuno gasped as he saw pictures of his three loves spread on the table. "She is so...unashamed before the camera."
"Yes, almost like a boy one might say," Nabiki said.
"Perish the thought!" Kuno gasped as he continued to look upon the pictures.
"I'll let you have them for," Nabiki paused. "Say, five thousand yen?"
"Why the very heavens themselves would weep at such a price, I won't pay," Kuno said.
"I suppose you wouldn't be interested in these then?" An array of pictures of Akane and Tarre were spread out on the table.
The pictures of Akane practicing her Art in the dojo were as expected. Those of Tarre, on the other hand, were less than expected.
About three months ago, the Tendos had gone to the beach, giving Tarre the chance to try out the swimsuit Nabiki had given her for what they celebrated as her birthday, the anniversary of her arrival.
She had worn it for about ten minutes before becoming overwhelmed by a sense of self-consciousness and fled to the changing rooms to try something more modest. She had felt obligated to at least try it on once receiving it as a gift, but she would have reconsidered had she been aware of just what she looked like in it.
The swimsuit was obstensibly a one piece, but the majority of it was a tightly woven mesh that was mostly transparent. It made Tarre's nervous expression seem rather fetching overall.
Those few male Furinkan students that had seen her in the outfit and quickly spread the word, and now the mesh-swimsuit of Tarre Tendo had been firmly bestowed the status of one of Furinkan's hallway legends.
"These are..." Kuno started.
"That's right Kuno-Baby," Nabiki said. "The mythical mesh bathing suit. Now, you realize that I can't just let these rare images pass through my hands for anything less than...twenty thousand for all three sets." Nabiki smirked as she saw interest piqued in another male nearby. Word would soon spread.
Nabiki couldn't believe that the swim-suit company had decided not to pursue the matter when she had shown them the photos. The model companies may have not wanted to pursue the matter, Nabiki's bad luck that Kasumi had answered the return phone call, but she knew of other people that would.
"Sold!" Kuno declared loudly.
"And I think I know how you can get that toy of yours to the pig-tailed girl," Nabiki offered.
Tarre was still in a little shock as she walked to the market. She'd barely had the groceries necessary to make breakfast. It was like some ravenous beast had descended upon her kitchen while she was asleep. Nabiki had grumbled something about houseguests when told and then had left.
Tarre knew she'd get the money somehow. She did wish she knew where Nabiki worked, however. If there was a job that offered so much money for so little time it would be nice.
She had little idea of Nabiki's source of income. All she knew was that Nabiki went to school and came back about an hour or two later and dispensed the funds necessary for Tarre to attend her duties.
Nabiki watched the short exchange between Kuno and Ranma with a smirk. Then stepped out with a kettle of water while Ranma-chan was being hugged by the idiot swordsman. She poured of a suddenly screaming Ranma.
"Oh...I'm sorry, Ranma," Nabiki said. "Was that too hot?"
"Ranma?" Kuno repeated, confused and looked down to see that he was apparently smothering the other boy.
"That's right, Ranma," the martial artist said bitterly. "Have you figured it out now? My secret?"
"Oh dear," Nabiki said. "I guess we'll have to spell it out for him..."
Ranma and Kuno were tearing at each other a minute later. Akane strode up to watch her sensei to be curiously, analyzing his style in a real fight. To her irritation he was practically ignoring Kuno in the "fight."
Nobody noticed Tarre walk by the park, groceries in hand, and do a double take upon seeing what was going on as she walked by.
That is nobody noticed until Ranma stopped cold in the fight and glanced from something in his hand and towards the grey-skinned girl watching the fight. How he had known to look that was a question, perhaps he had seen her out of the corner of his eye.
In any case, he was in the process of looking back down in his hand when Kuno struck him in the side. Ranma grunted with the impact and rolled away, breaking off combat to regather his wits.
"You should pay more attention, Ranma," Akane said coolly as he stopped in front of her. She was more than a little upset that he was making a joke out of her greatest opponent. "Kuno is much better when fighting a male opponent."
"You know, Akane," Ranma said from his position crouched on his head and hands and looking up. "If I'm going to be training you, we gotta do something about your wardrobe."
Akane blinked in confusion for a moment until she realized what Ranma's position gave him a view of. Predictably she kicked him back towards Kuno. Tarre gasped in surprise and almost lost her grip on the groceries.
The remainder of the fight was short but spectacular, as Kuno shattered a statue through the air pressure of his strikes. He was topped, however, as Ranma made ten smoothly and surgically placed kicks to vital points upon the swordsman's body, all in the space of a blink.
"Oh dear," Tarre said setting down her groceries and rushing over once the coast was clear. "Ranma-san, are you hurt?"
"Now," Ranma said, hands behind his head. "It's nothing."
"But he seemed to hit you so hard," Tarre said, casually poking Ranma in the side. Ranma immediately crumpled to Tarre's embarrasment.
"Serves you right," Akane said. "What had you distracted anyway?"
"These," Ranma said, handing over a collection of photos.
"What?!" Akane roared. "What are you doing with pictures of me you pervert?!"
"What am I...?" Ranma said. "Kuno had them!!"
"Nabiki!" Akane gasped turning to her sister. Tarre blinked in confusion looking at the photos over Akane's shoulder.
"I've got to make a little money somehow," Nabiki said, shrugging and smirking.
"My own sister," Akane snapped.
"I don't see why he'd want pictures of you like that," Ranma said, meaning yelling, screaming, destroying things, but sounding as if he meant Akane in general. "Besides she's got us both beat."
He pointed to Tarre. He admitted her looks as being superior reluctantly. It was as if some part of his pride was determined that, if we was going to be a girl he'd be the best damn-looking girl around.
"Ano?" Tarre said, not understanding until Ranma handed over more of the photos he had collected.
"What's a raging tomboy compared to that?" Ranma asked, not heeding his danger. He was including himself as a tomboy, but of course, he did not make that clear.
"RANMA!!!!" Akane roared. Tarre seemed to change a whiter shade of gray for a moment as Akane proceeded to pound on Ranma. Whether she was in shock from the photos or the violence it was hard to say.
Nabiki counted the photos up that she had recovered and decided that she could make another two thousand by selling them back to Kuno before beginning on mass distribution.
Unfortunately, the best photo of Tarre was missing. She still had the negative, but it would mean that she'd have to wait a while before selling it to Kuno again. Obviously he had managed to keep on to that one, since she knew which ones Tarre, Ranma and Akane had collectively disposed of.
It was highly unfortunate. That one was a true work of art, and she was very proud of the result from the point of view of someone that looked at photography as almost a way of life.
Tarre had been sitting on a small boulder out in the surf, facing out to sea and trying to ignore the looks she was getting from people on the beach. The wind had been whipping her hair, free for once, about dramatically, and Nabiki had managed to catch the image as an especially strong wave broke against the rock she was sitting on.
The expression of Tarre dreading the fact she was about to be drenched and probably tossed off her perch had a different look in the photo. She was slightly turned upward toward the wave and the little amount of her emotion she'd let into her face seemed more or less a serenly pensive look.
A couple seconds after the picture was taken, Tarre's shock-born stoicism had broken into full scale screaming. Then she was swamped. After she'd recovered her feet she'd made the aforementioned break for the changing rooms.
It was lucky that she had those negatives.
A few days later Tarre blinked to discover the picture framed and hung on her wall with a note.
"You're pretty, you know that?"
It wasn't signed, but she recognized the smell on the framed photo and note. She blushed, though it was hard to tell with her coloring, and glanced around anxiously and wondering how to react.
It would be rude to turn down such a gift, but Father obviously did not approve her matching with this boy. Then again, only she could tell WHO had sent it...she blinked. She was actually contemplating not revealing something to her family.
Perhaps she should talk to Kasumi about it.