The Bargain

Tatewaki watched Nabiki; she wore a hair band today that matched her uniform which had a small, jeweled flower on the side. She also wore small silver hoop earrings which hung from her delicate earlobes and peeked out of her dark, shiny hair bewitchingly. It was a curiously feminine look for the normally non-fussy girl; she liked her clothing simple and wore little jewelry. ‘Is she wearing lip gloss?’ Tatewaki thought to himself. His thoughts were interrupted when one of his fellow Kendoists, who he was eating his lunch with him, snapped his fingers in front of Kuno’s face.

“Earth to Kuno” he said facetiously.

Tatewaki could feel himself turn beet red. He’d been staring at Nabiki with his chopsticks paused enroute to his mouth, as if frozen and not saying a word. He was watching Nabiki talk to her own friends, mesmerized by her flashing earrings. He could almost hear her rapier sharp wit from his table. Once in a while, she would flash one of her female friends her natural smile, which was a beautiful sight and a vast improvement over the cold calculating one that she normally assumed for business dealings.

“Watching the table of babes huh? Which one you looking at? I don’t see Akane among them” mused his friend.

“That cute blonde sitting beside Nabiki Tendo” Tatewaki explained, averting his face quickly to hide his blushing cheeks. They’d been lovers for a month now; he still hadn’t slipped up. He even felt different these days, and sometimes he thought back on his past behaviour with bewilderment.

He thought back to the night before; Nabiki had rewarded him for acting ‘normal’ by tying him to his bed with silk scarves and used another as a blind fold. The she had teased him with ice; the coldness of the ice on his naked body, mixed with the warmth of her mouth, breath and tongue was intoxicating. When she was done with teasing him, she heated his cold member with her bare, liquid heat. She had ridden him agonizingly slow, denying him release for hours; he loved every second of it.

Kuno no longer really thought about Akane, except to admire her for simply being a beautiful girl. As for the Pigtailed Girl, he hadn’t seen her around for a long while. Both had been replaced in his affections by Nabiki, the girl who didn’t want him. Well, she did want a certain part of him. He had her body whenever he wanted; she was a passionate girl with a high sex drive that he kept up with rather well he thought. This kept him in pretty good shape. However, he didn’t just want a warm body in his bed; he felt envy for couples that causally strolled around in public holding hands. Who would share their lunches and flirt and giggle. He bet that they went to the movies on Saturday night together and didn’t go with their socially awkward sibling, who was also a dateless wonder like himself. He thought about asked Nabiki out, but knew that she would turn him down flat and probably laugh at him. They used to hang out together in the past, but that was more like a business arrangement that would cost him a lot of money. These days she was too worried that someone would find out about them and her reputation would be shot. That she would be exposed as looking weak by being just another lonely female who wants a male.

He knew he was being stupid for developing feelings for someone who clearly would never return them. He tried to rationalize it away. That she was his first sexual relationship. That he suffered a sense of alienation both in his home life and personal life, leaving him emotionally vulnerable. That he was clueless when it came to the opposite sex, so was likely to get emotionally attached to someone who understood him and accepted him. Yes, he understood all these things about himself, but that didn’t make it any easier to construct the emotional barriers like she had. He simply hadn’t had enough experience at this stuff for that and simply wasn’t as sophisticated as Nabiki. It was sad; it was pathetic and so typical of him; always chasing the girls that didn’t want him.

Then he remembered her anger of the night before.

Flashback

After they dressed, Sasuke was summoned to escort her out. Nabiki had seemed disturbed by Tatewaki’s treatment of his servant in the past.

“Sasuke, where do you sleep?” she asked him suddenly.

“The garden during the summer and the basement in the winter” replied the confused Ninja; no one had ever asked him these questions before.

“Show me where you sleep!” Nabiki demanded. Tatewaki followed them, as he was curious about where Sasuke slept now; he’d never thought to ask before. The Ninja led them to the basement, where a bedroll was set up in a corner, beside a cheap alarm clock.

“Thank you” Nabiki said to the Ninja. “Could you please retrieve my coat?” she asked. The Ninja bowed and then hurried away.

She turned to Tatewaki; she looked livid. “This is how you treat a human being!” she demanded. “How long has he worked for you!”

Tatewaki was confused “he doesn’t receive a salary; he’s here voluntarily and has served my family since he was a young man, like his father did before him”

“How many bedrooms are in this house?” she asked coldly.

“Fourteen” he replied.

“And you can’t spare one for your loyal servant?” she said glaring at him.

“Look, he’s never complained before or asked for one” Tatewaki said in his defense.

“Who raised you when your mother died and father left you?” She demanded.

“We were both young, but too old for a nanny, so that would be Sasuke I suppose” he replied.

“So he’s like a second father to you; yet he sleeps in the basement and is an unpaid slave for you? You make me sick!” she said and stalked off in a rage.

Tatewaki sat in his room, thinking about what she’d and wondered why he’d never thought to inquire about Sasuke’s living conditions. Probably because he’d always just kind of been there, like a piece of furniture. Sasuke knocked on the door “Master Kuno, I thought you might like something to eat” he said, setting down a tray of food in front of him.

“Thanks” he said, absently reaching for a grape. Then he looked at the Ninja through new eyes and asked “When was the last time you ate?”

“I stole some eggs off your plate, which you didn’t eat this morning. I hope that was okay?” he asked humbly.

“Help me eat this then” Tatewaki requested, pushing the loaded tray towards Sasuke. “Sasuke” he began hesitantly.

The Ninja happily helped himself to melon bread “yes Master Kuno?” he said as cheerfully as ever.

“I just want to apologize for my treatment of you in the past; I do appreciate all that you’ve done for this family. From now on, you shall receive a salary and you may take the empty room above the kitchen. You’ll eat all your meals with the staff” he ordered the stunned man.

“Thank you, that’s most generous of you Master Kuno!” he cried happily.

“You’re welcome Sasuke, now I have to ask you for a favour” he requested. Tatewaki looked around the room, at his collection of photos and memorabilia of the two girls he no longer even really thought about. He was sick of looking at them and felt slightly nauseous when he made love to Nabiki surrounded by images of his perversions. One of them was her own sister for Kami’s sake! “I need to get rid of all this” he told him, indicating the décor. “Will you help me?” he asked.

Sasuke smiled to here him say this; Master Kuno’s obsession had always disturbed him. “It would be my pleasure” he said fondly to the young man who was like a son to him. They stripped and boxed up the collection, leaving the walls bare except for some art work. “Shall I store these up in the attic in case you change your mind?” he inquired.

Needing a clean break Tatewaki answered “no, throw them out or burn them. Just get rid of them” he said solemnly.

“I’m proud of you Master Kuno” Sasuke said with approval. Then he stopped “Mr. Kuno, I hope that you don’t mind me butting into your business. But I hope Miss Tendo and yourself are using protection, because teenage pregnancy is never easy”

Tatewaki could feel his face turn bright red at being lectured by Sasuke on birth control...... and that Sasuke knew what they were doing. He opened his mouth in astonishment, but nothing came out.

Sasuke realized what was going on and said “Thank you for everything Master Kuno, I’ll send someone for the boxes” and beat a hasty retreat, leaving the still blushing boy standing there.

End Flashback

Nabiki started to exit the cafeteria, Tatewaki hurried to catch up with her. He wanted to tell her what he did for Sasuke and that he was trying to change as a person; that he wasn’t the jerk that everyone thought he was. But Ranma blocked his path.

“Kuno, what gives? You aren’t acting like yourself at all and I want to know why” he insisted.

“Why does Akane miss my mindless pursuit of her?” he asked impatiently.

“No, it isn’t that. I mean, the uniform, no sword, even the way you speak is different. What gives?”

Tatewaki intimated his own poetic way of speaking “Like the caterpillar, I seek change to become the butterfly” he said. “Is that good enough for you?” he asked sarcastically, wanting to get rid of the boy. He wanted to catch up to Nabiki.

Ranma looked at him suspiciously “Wait a minute; you’ve totally transformed yourself in a short period of time. So there has to be a reason. You have a girlfriend!” he proclaimed.

Tatewaki watched Nabiki’s retreating back and said with just a hint of sadness in his voice “No I don’t.”

Ranma looked at the other boy, wondering what was bothering him.