The Bargain

AN Yes, the Nabiki/Kodachi confrontation is coming up, oh impatient ones. I couldn’t do a chapter yesterday; sometime my boss is mean enough to make me work. Have a nice day.

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Using Tatewaki’s cell phone, Nabiki called ahead to warn Kasumi. She felt sorrow when her older sister seemed so disappointed in her. Feeling a twinge of pain, she was surprised when Tatewaki took her hand and pulled her forward again stroking it as if in sympathy. They were met at the door by Kasumi and a stony faced Soun. Their small group were escorted the living room, while Kasumi went to get everyone some tea.

While she was gone Soun, who had been staring at Tatewaki said “you’re the boy who used to harass my daughter, Akane every morning. I see that you decided to settle for one of my other daughters instead? Is it that you just have a thing for my daughters or will anyone’s do?” he said bluntly, while staring at Tatewaki with cold eyes.

“Daddy” hissed Nabiki.

Tatewaki could feel himself blush “Yes, that would have been me. I was different then and hope that Akane will forgive me for my past ill treatment of her” he said, looking at Akane, who nodded.

“And now you taken my daughter Nabiki’s innocence, used her to satisfy your lechery and left her to deal with an unplanned pregnancy. Is that was happened?” said the deceptively calm Soun.

Only his honour as a gentleman prevented Tatewaki from saying that it was actually Nabiki doing that to him, except for the pregnancy part of course. “The only reason why I am no longer with Nabiki, is that she didn’t wish to be romantically involved with me. Had I known about her pregnancy, I would have remained” he said.

Soun looked at him “well now that you have ruined my daughter’s life. What do you plan to do about it?

“That’s for Nabiki to decide” Tatewaki explained.

“Really? How progressive of you” Soun said sarcastically. “In my days, if a woman was carrying your child, you asked for her hand in marriage”

“I am perfectly willing to do that if she wishes to marry me. I am not going to trap her into a situation that she doesn’t wish to be in” Tatewaki said, giving the strangely silent girl’s hand a squeeze.

Soun turned to his suddenly pale daughter and said “Nabiki, you have disappointed me. I predicted a great future for you; instead you throw it away for pleasures of the flesh with this, this hooligan. You’ve broken your father’s heart” looking at her with tears streaming down his face.

“Daddy, neither one of us meant for this to happen, we did use protection. Somehow it failed” she said, finally managing to look bored again.

“You can stay here until your baby is born, but after that you’ll need to find another place to live. I can’t see you ruin your life this way” said the anguished Soun.

“Now hold it right there Father!” Kasumi said, putting down her tray of tea with a crash. “This is her home and she will stay as long as she likes! It isn’t like you were so virtuous yourself, I was born six months after you and mother married!” Now it was Soun’s turn to blush. “If Nabiki goes, I go! She’s the only one around here who gives me any money for running the household anyway! You and Mr. Saotome just sit around drinking sake and going on training trips when you should be teaching students and bringing in income for this family!” said a livid Kasumi. “Kuno-kun might you be looking for a maid?” she asked Tatewaki pointedly.

“You are welcome to stay with me anytime” said Tatewaki, amused to see the shy Kasumi become a roaring tiger, and then blushed when Nabiki glared at him. ‘So she uses her money to support her family?’ he thought, seeing a different side of Nabiki that he never knew existed.

“So you aren’t even going to offer to marry her?” demanded Soun

“Nabiki Tendo will you marry me?” he asked her almost facetiously; fully expecting to be turned down by the proud, independent young woman.

Nabiki listened to what was being said by all parties and realized that she would never really be welcomed in this household again. Her days would consist of forced cheerfulness on the part of her sister’s; acting like nothing was wrong and cold looks of disapproval on her father’s part. “Yes, I will marry you” she said in her most defiant voice.

Tatewaki looked at her with surprise, as did everyone else in the room. “Really?” he said incredulous tone of voice. The softened his tone and repeated “really?”

“Yes” she said and turned red when the excited boy latched his lips onto hers and kissed her furiously, until a blushing Akane cleared her throat.

“Very well, I shall sign your wedding documents since she is under aged; but don’t expect me to be happy” said Soun grudgingly. “Then we can get Ranma and Akane to marry first so that they can inherit the dojo together” he said with some satisfaction.

“No way Daddy!” cried Akane.

“Wait just a second now, why would you force a pair of sixteen years olds to marry? They clearly aren’t ready for it” interjected Tatewaki.

“If Nabiki marries first, then she inherits the dojo, it’s simply the law of succession in this case” Soun explained.

“But why would she even want it? Does anyone even use that thing outside of family and friends?” he asked dubiously.

“It’s a fully functioning dojo dedicated to our martial arts style” Soun said primly.

“Yes, but in that case, shouldn’t you be teaching classes to have it generate an income rather then just using it to spar in?” asked Tatewaki.

“That’s besides the point; the first daughter to marry inherits the dojo” Soun said hotly.

Tatewaki finally understood the strange engagement “So Ranma, this is how your engagement began?” the other boy nodded. “Why do they have to marry at sixteen, these aren’t the Middle Ages? That makes no sense. Why not wait until they are in their twenties at least?” he asked.

Soun seemed flustered by this question “well.......” he started. Not able to think of a good reason.

Tatewaki turned to Nabiki “do you want the dojo?” he asked.

“No interest” she said.

“Then couldn’t you just hold it in trust for the next one in succession?” he asked.

‘Daddy inherited the dojo when he married Mother” explained Nabiki

“That isn’t the way it goes!” Soun said.

“Very well, if she receives it when she marries, then we shall need managers. We appoint Ranma Saotome and Akane Tendo” Tatewaki said.

“We accept” Ranma said with a grin.

“Good and is one hundred percent share of the profits a decent salary?” asked Tatewaki. Soun looked on furiously as the two boys shook hands on the deal.

Tatewaki was walking home in grim kind mood. He was glad that Nabiki had accepted him as husband and believed it to be the best solution for all concerned; however he didn’t like that it felt she was being forced into marriage with him.

He was so lost in thought while he walked towards home, that he didn’t even notice the male in front of him, until he said “Kuno-kun” in a facetiously respectful way. Tatewaki turned to see a tall, powerful male smirking at him. He recognized Hiro, the captain of the Furinkan High School Summo Wrestling Team. They were often in competition with the Kendo club and Hiro held a special hatred for Tatewaki for reasons unknown. “So heard you claimed my kid as your own? That’s so nice of you. I remember banging Nabiki; she’s great lay” he said in a taunting voice. Tatewaki noticed other club members surrounding him until there were eight of them.

“You will take back what you are implying about my fiancée” said Tatewaki in a deadly voice.

“Or what? There’s eight of us and one of you! Would you like to take us all on so that you can be knocked unconscious as usual? Why, over a slut like Nabiki Tendo? You’re weak as well as stupid Kuno! You don’t even have your stupid stick to defend yourself with!” he taunted.

Tatewaki assumed a stance that the others had never seen the Kendoist take, this caused a few of the males to glance at each other nervously, then yelled “let’s go!” with a confident smile.

Tatewaki stood amongst the eight unconscious bodies of the boys, struggling to catch his breath. He was bruised, bloodied and battered and his uniform was torn, but he was still standing victorious for once. “I did it” he said in triumph and began walking home. He took stock of his injuries in a distant sort of way, as if they belonged to someone else. ‘One broken rib on my left side and my left wrist is also sprained’ he thought, tucking it around his rib. ‘My right knee is stiff where someone kicked it, possibly sprained as well’ he thought, limping on it gingerly. ‘Finally, I might have a mild concussion from where someone unfairly hit my head with a rock’ he concluded.

Throughout it all, he was smiling while he remembered Ranma instructing him in the Saotome School of Anything-Goes Martial Arts. It had humiliated him at first; Ranma had made him start at the very beginning. Some of the positions caused both boys to blush during hands on instruction periods. But in the end, he was the one who now stood tall while the others were knocked out. He smiled with satisfaction while he limped through the streets.

He halted before his door and reached for his key, only to find it missing. Hurting, he simply knocked and gasped in surprised when his father opened it. “Dad, you’re back!” he said happily “and you don’t have a palm tree on your head!” he managed to finish before he collapsed into his father’s loving arms. Kuno-kun scooped Tatewaki up and carried him to bed as if he were still a child.

Tatewaki awoke to feel someone bathing his wounds with a cool cloth. “Nabiki?” he questioned. Then looked up to see his father and realized that it hadn’t been a dream. “You’re back for good?” he asked.

“1. I called your fiancée and assured her that you’re fine. She seems happy that you weren’t the one getting clobbered for once; she’ll be by to see you tomorrow. 2. Yes, I’m back. It was a bit of a shock to learn that my eldest is getting married from his fiancée, but I have to be here for the wedding. Besides, you aren’t twenty yet, so I have to give my permission” he said pointedly.

He glared at his father “I already have my own money; so there is nothing that you can do to stop this wedding!”

Kodachi cried “stop him daddy, he can’t marry a Tendo. They’re as common as rats. Besides, how does he even know that it’s his kid?” she suggested with a sneer.

“I was there the night it was conceived; my eighteenth birthday. Now, I suggest you stop slandering my fiancée or else I will have to punish you and I hate hitting women” he challenged.

She threw her ribbon towards him, only to be stunned when her father caught it and yanked it from her hand. “I’ll make the decisions about who can marry who around here, as I’m head of this household. Tachi shall marry Nabiki Tendo as he wishes to, besides he’s already given her his word” commanded Kuno-kun. “If I married a waitress from a sexy teahouse, then my son can certainly marry a well-educated, intelligence schoolgirl” he said with authority in his voice.

Both children gaped at him “sexy teahouse?” questioned Kodachi, blushing at what that implied. “You’re not suggesting that Mother used to sell her body?” she asked with a gasp.

“Not that sort of sexy teahouse; she just wore a brief, peek-a-boo uniform when she served the tea”

“What was the heir to the Kuno family fortune doing in such a place?” demanded Tatewaki.

“Playing peek-a-boo” replied Kuno-kun with a wicked gleam in his eye. “She had legs that wouldn’t quit” he said, causing both children to blush.

“You said that Mother was minor nobility!” protested Kodachi.

“The place was called the king café” Kuno-kun offered. “Look, your mother had tons of suitors and I couldn’t have been happier when she agreed to marry me had she been a king’s daughter or the greengrocers’ daughter that she was. We had many happy years together that I wouldn’t have traded for the world. A marriage based only on social status looks great in the society pages, but doesn’t guarantee that you’ll be happy”

“So you don’t object?” questioned Tatewaki, just to clarify.

“Of course not, Nabiki Tendo is the smartest girl in the whole school and besides, she got you to dress normal and stop swinging that sword around all the time. Oh how you used to embarrass me!” said Kuno-kun with despair.

“You used to wear a palm tree on your head, wear Hawaiian shirts and talk with a fake accent! How could I possibly have embarrassed YOU?!” Tatewaki challenged back.

“Oh, so now you admit you recognized me when I was your High School Principal?” Kuno-kun said shrewdly.

Kodachi watched their lively bickering with a sinking heart; not only had her plan failed, but Nabiki Ten.....no, Kuno was going to be living with Kodachi as her sister-in-law.

Sasuke caught up with Kuno-kun and said “Master Kuno, welcome back. I have some news concerning Miss Tendo’s pregnancy and Miss Kodachi......”

Ranma stopped by Akane’s room late that night because she had seemed depressed at dinner.

“You ‘kay ‘Kane” he asked, letting himself silently into her room.

She sat on her bed, wearing some shorts and a t-shirt in lieu of her normal pajamas, due to the warm weather. “I’m just sad that Nabiki's leaving” she said.

He sat down beside her and put his arms around her. He said “It’ll be fine, it’s not like she’s moving far away” he assured her, stroking her back. 'No bra’ his brain happily supplied, he tamped that thought down.

“I know, but she’ll be busy with the baby and won’t have time to see us” she said sadly, enjoying the feeling of his chiseled chest pressed against her own.

“She’ll see us” he assured her, slipping his hands underneath her t-shirt to caress her soft, warm globes. What had started as comfort, was fast turning into something else. Their shedded clothes mingled on the floor of Akane’s room.

Ranma dug out the condom that he had taken to carrying in his pocket “better safe than sorry” he explained with a shrug. He slipped on the thin latex sheath.

“You sure I shouldn’t go on the pill like Nabiki?” Akane questioned as he positioned himself at her wet entrance.

“Those don’t seem to work as well as these?” Ranma said giving her a kiss, reveling in how beautiful she looked.

“Would you marry me if I got pregnant?” she questioned, while he rubbed himself against her clit to tease her, and then shifted down to ready himself.

“Of course ‘Kane” he promised as he moved his hips forward, causing Akane to arch and moan.

Lemon (A/N See how annoying that is just when things are starting to get interesting?)