The Dying of the Light

A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic by Alan Harnum 

All Ranma characters are the property of Rumiko Takahashi, first
published by Shogakukan in Japan and brought over to North
America by Viz Communications.

This copy of the story is from my centralized fanfiction archive
at http://www.thekeep.org/~harnums/fanfic.  I can be reached by
e-mail at harnums@thekeep.org

Part 7 : Even a Worthless Weapon     

     A long, long time ago...

     A beach at night, with water lapping at the shore in an ocean caress.
Out in the distance, grey shapes, slick-wet and webbed of toe and finger,
swimming towards the shore in powerful strokes.

     The sky overhead looked very different then.  It was brighter,
clearer, with more stars visible than any person today might see.  There
was no fog of pollution or glare of city lights to hide the light of the
stars.

     Light of stars that illuminated the dozens of the sea-children coming
towards the beach.  It had been a nice beach, once.  But now some miasma
hung over the whole area that had scarred the natural beauty of the place
almost irreperably; it would take it a long time to recover.

     Once the land had been beautiful as the stars above.  Now, it was
faded and grey like an old photograph, as if something had sucked the very
life and vitality from it.  Everything looked brittle, as if it would snap
at a touch.  Even the water was somehow wrong, too dark even in the night's
darkness, and the stars did not reflect in it.

     Two friends stood on the beach, watching as the sea-children swam
inland, lifting their croaking voices in a song of the sea, a song that
bubbled through the night air.  It was haunting and horrible, so utterly
alien it posessed almost a strange kind of cold beauty.

     One of the two was tall and thin, rangy and ropy and powerful.  The
other was powerful as well, stockily built and nearly as broad as he was
tall.  But there was a sense of something more than physical power to the
two of them, standing unafraid on the sand as dozens of grey shapes drew
closer.

     "We's it, then?" the taller one said after a moment, flexing his hands
in anticipation.  Short, sharp nails caught the starlight and glittered.

     "Yes, my friend," replied the shorter.  "We are the last line here.
All of our forces are stretched so thin, guarding from all sides as they do
their work."

     "Not good," the taller being rumbled.  "Lots of 'em."

     "Yes," the shorter said.  "There are indeed a great number."

     "I forget.  These ones good eating?"

     "Rather like big fugu, as I recall."

     "Tasty."

     "Better than most of them."

     "How long do you think it'll be?" the taller one said.  His speech was
rough and growling, while his companion's was light and smooth.

     The shorter being sniffed the air, scenting something far off, and
when he spoke again there was a wistful mixture of joy and regret in his
voice.  "Not long.  They're nearly finished.  It will be soon; we will hold
them as long as we need to."

     "Good," the bigger one rumbled.  "But... why?"

     "Why what?"

     "Well, we... won't be here when it's done," the big one said with a
nervous uncertainty.  "Why are we..."

     "Why are we fighting, then?" the smaller one said with an indulgent
smile at his friend.  "It's simple, really.  If we remain here, we fight a
losing war in which they only grow stronger with our presence.  Look at
what all these years have done to the land already; it will take a dozen
times that for it to recover a fraction of its beauty.  It is better to
leave it a thing of beauty in their hands then leave it a wasteland in the
hands of... those things..."

     "Ah," the bigger one said.  "I understand."

     And he did, sort of.  As much as one such as him was capable of
understanding a concept such as self-sacrifice.

     "I shall miss this place, you know," the shorter being said with a
toothy smile.  "So delightful it was.  So beautifully fragile at the
beginning, so temporal, so perfectly flawed. 'Mono no aware', and all
that."

     "Yeah," the bigger one said, a bit sadly, although he didn't really
understand what his friend was talking about.  "Plus the food was good."  

     "And then they had to show up and ruin all our fun, didn't they?" the
short one said with a sigh.

     "Bad," the bigger one commented taciturnly.

     "Oh yes," the shorter being said.  "They're very bad."

     "How many?" the big one said. "I can't count that high."

     "I'd say three dozen or so," the small one said.  

     "What's that mean?"

     "Nearly twenty times as many as us."

     "Twenty?"

     "Twice as many as ten times."

     The bigger one chuckled.  "Unfair."

     "Yes.  No challenge at all."

     "You first?"

     "Oh, no, my dear companion.  I insist."

     "Okay."

     The first of the grey shapes reached land, stood up on webbed feet and
croaked hoarsely his leadership of the song and the war party.

     That croak became a shriek when the larger of the two beings loomed up
from the darkness and tore its belly open as easily as a man peels a piece
of fruit.  "Hello fishies," the larger one said with a chortle.  "Come to
play with us?"

     It was over in a few minutes, and the few that had managed to escape
by swimming out into deeper waters didn't return.

     Until five minutes later, when the main body of them arrived, and
over a hundred grey shapes abruptly exploded from the water and began to
charge the two beings, croaking hoarse battle cries in their alien
language.

     "I say, how terribly rude," the smaller one said between bites.  "Just
when we were sitting down to eat."

     The larger one said nothing, for his mouth was too full.

     The smaller stood up.  "Come then.  Back to work, old friend."

     He grabbed two of the grey shapes, lifted them with impossibly great
strength for something of his size, and pounded their heads together until
they didn't really have heads anymore.

     But the things swarmed around them in huge numbers, and died in huge
numbers as well.  The two beings were blurs of teeth, claws and immense
inhuman power, and none of the sea-children could touch them.

     "Bored," the larger one said as he eviscerated one of the things with
a casual backhand swing.

     "Yes, frightfully so," the smaller one said.  "I wonder if we'll ever
have something interesting show up..."

     He paused and kicked backwards, and the blow snapped the thick neck of
the thing coming at him from behind.

     "Look," the larger one said, pointing out to the sea, which bubbled
and boiled as if the very water itself were burning.

     "Oh my," the smaller one said as he looked out.  "That's a very big
one, isn't it?"

     The shape coming from the water was vast and round, about the size of
a small hill.  It was of mottled green flesh, scabrous and tattered and
leaking thick yellow-black fluid that boiled away the ocean water where it
touched and left oily pestilence in its place.  Great dripping mouths
filled with jagged teeth occasionally yawned in it and vanished, or eyes
the size of a man's torso emerged randomly from beneath a flap of skin to
glare at them balefully, rheumy-eyed and half-blind from their own
corruption.

     After a little while, they realized it was the top of a head.

     "Dear me," the small one said with a sigh.  "I'd guess the ocean floor
is about two hundred feet deep out there."

     "Uh-oh," said the larger as he tore out the jugular on one of the
grey-slick sea creatures with his teeth.  

     "Yes, uh-oh," the smaller one echoed.  "But in a strange way, I'm
almost flattered.  They've sent one of them.  Against just the two of us;
I believe we've gotten quite a reputation for killing their children."

     "Them?"

     "The leaders.  The abominations.  The true unnatural ones," the small
one said, and there was terrible loathing in his tones, hatred mingled with
disgust.  "That big bastard out there's one of them.  Look what he's doing
to the water..."

     "Bad," the large one said mournfully.

     "Ah well," the smaller one said with a shrug.  He smiled.  "I think
we'll have the last laugh after all."

     He smirked.  "Watch this..."

     A few seconds passed, during which four more of the hunched shapes
that had come from the sea died.  The smaller one suddenly thrust his hand
forward, pointing out towards the vast being wading slowly inland like a
walking mountain.

     "Begone, abomination!" he shouted.  "I banish you with my mighty
magic!"

     And then his words were swallowed by silence, as the night sky flared
bright as day in every colour of the spectrum.  The silence was only a
moment long, for then the sea-children gave an awful cry and shielded their
eyes from the light, and raced back towards the ocean.  The two beings
pursued, killing them as they ran until they got deep enough to get away.

     And their screams were matched by a horrible keening voice from far
out in the ocean.

     And far away in the night, other voices screamed with rage as well,
and then abruptly died away.

     "Good trick, that," the bigger one said with a laugh.

     "All in the timing," the smaller one said.  "So long, my friend."

     "Where are we going?"

     "Wherever it is we must.  Perhaps some place has been prepared for
us.  Fare you well, sweet comrade, should we not meet again."

     "Bye."

     Their forms were already turning misty and smoky, going from opaque to
translucent to finally transparent, whereupon they vanished altogether.

     And then a very, very long time passed...

**********

     "You lie, Nabiki Tendo."

     "Am I the type to lie, Kuno-baby?"

     "Yes."

     "Well, maybe.  But not about this.  Wednesday night, Ranma asked Akane
to marry her, and she accepted."

     "LIES!"

     "Kuno," Nabiki said icily from her seat on the couch in his apartment.
"I've told you the truth.  You can either choose to believe it, or you can
rationalize it in with one of your little fairy tales."

     "It cannot be," Kuno said.  "Even if it is as you say, he must have
done something, some sorcery, to coerce my dear Akane into this.  It is not
right!  I shall not allow it!  It is I she loves!"

     His hands were shaking in front of him as he paced the room.  "I shall
not allow it!"

     "Listen up, Kuno," Nabiki said softly.  "I'm doing this for your own
good, because lately you've been almost tolerable and you've been behaving
in a way that makes me think you may have something resembling an IQ.  I'm
going to associate you with some truths you're probably not going to like.
I'd suspect you already know them yourself, but you live in this wonderful
fantasy world most of the time, so I'd guess it's probably hard for you to
see them."

     "Do you mock me, woman?" Kuno growled, stopping in his pacing to stare
at her.  "It would be best if you took care, or..."

     "Or what?" Nabiki said.  "You'll challenge me to a duel, Kuno?
Beating me up make you feel better, maybe?"

     She saw, for a moment, the mask drop from his face to show an
expression of hurt underneath.

     But then it was back.  "No, Nabiki Tendo.  I shall not fight one who
is not a warrior.  I save my battle-fury for the foul sorcerer Saotome."

     "Calm down, Kuno," Nabiki said.  "Sit.  On the floor.  Now."

     Kuno glared, but complied with her words.  "You think to order me
around..."

     "Kuno, shut up," Nabiki said forcefully.  Seemingly surprised, he did.
"Thank you.  Now, be quiet and listen to me for a few minutes.  I'm telling
you this because I've known you for a very long time, and I suppose we're
friends in a way.  But when you act like this, I don't even want to be near
you.  So grow up and listen to me."

     Kuno opened his mouth, but closed it when Nabiki raised a finger.
"Now.  I'm going to tell you some things you should have been able to
figure out a long time ago, okay?"

     Kuno nodded mutely, his face gradually losing the expression of
righteous indignation and sinking into a neutral, unreadable mask.  His
eyes were cold and hard.

     "First of all," Nabiki said slowly.  "Akane doesn't love you.  From
what I can see, she doesn't even like you very much.  Frankly, you harassed
her for years, threatened every guy who ever tried to be nice to her, and
basically made her life hell until Ranma showed up."

     There was a small tremble in Kuno's face, and she saw his jaw tighten.

     "Second," she continued.  "You don't have any claim to my little
sister.  She was engaged to Ranma by our father and Ranma's father.  They
didn't seem to like it at first, but somewhere along the lines things have
changed.  She accepted his proposal of her own free will, and any attempt
you make to disrupt their marriage only dishonours you and your family."

     Kuno's eyes blinked shut for a moment, then opened, still hard and
steely like sword blades.  He said, nothing only continued to look at her.

     "Third," Nabiki said.  "You're eighteen years old, Kuno.  It's time to
grow up and stop changing everything that happens to fit your own little
picture of the world.  You have to face reality, and the biggest obstacle
to you doing that is my sister and your pig-tailed goddess.  You know who
I'm talking about, right?  The one who dislikes you even more than Akane
does?  The one who has the same name as Ranma?  The one who dresses the
same as he does?  The one who appears whenever Ranma gets wet, and you
never, ever see the two of them together?"

     Kuno's lips moved, but no sound came out.  He hung his head, covered
his face with his hands.

     "The truth hurts, Kuno," Nabiki said softly.  "When you take a look at
yourself and realize that maybe the way you see things, the way you see
yourself, that's not the way everyone else sees it.  The truth hurts a lot,
when you find out what someone really thinks of you."

     A low sound issued from him, something that seemed to stretch on into
forever.  "No..."

     "Yes, Kuno," Nabiki said, trying to avoid having any sympathy for him.
It was true; sometimes you needed to be cruel to be kind.  "It's true."

     "She must love me," Kuno said, flatly and emotionessly.  "She must
love me."

     The next part was said so quietly she could barely hear it.  "Someone
has to love me..."

     "What about your family?" Nabiki said, remembering her own family.
Every time she felt like that, felt as if no one loved her, she only had to
think of her sisters, or her father.

     "My sister and I have built too many walls between us," Kuno said.
"My father is a madman."

     There was a long silence that seemed to fill the room.  "And my
mother..."

     Nabiki felt a sinking feeling in her heart.  She got down off the
couch and knelt next to Kuno.  "What about your mother?"

     "My mother left over ten years ago," Kuno said.  "Abandoned us.  Could
not love us.  We did not deserve her love, she said."

     Kuno shuddered slightly.  "Perhaps she was right.  Perhaps I do not
deserve the love of anyone."

     "Oh geez..." Nabiki whispered.  She just couldn't handle stuff like
this; where was Kasumi when you needed her?

     Hesitantly, she put a hand on Kuno's shoulder, and was shocked to feel
his entire body trembling.  She'd never seen him like this, or even
imagined she would ever see him like this.  "Ku... Tatewaki, it'll be okay.
It's not the end of the world."

     She put her other hand under his chin and tilted his head up to look
into his eyes.  They were suffused with deep pain and sadness, but only for
a moment.  When he realized she could see his eyes, see the grief in his
face, he hardened it, slipped back on his mask.

     "You will address me as Ku-"

     "I will address you as whatever the hell I want," Nabiki said.  "Right
now, I'm addressing you as a friend, Tatewaki.  Understand?"

     He nodded.  She took the hand off his face, but kept the other one on
his trembling shoulder.  "My sister getting married to Ranma does not mean
that no one will ever love you.  Unless you let it; unless you keep on with
this stupid clinging to two women you can never have."

     "No," Kuno said flatly.  "One woman and one... man..."

     He shuddered and closed his eyes.  "Oh, 'tis with ease we blind
ourselves to that which half-blind eyes should see, and love the maiden
temptress hath a blind man made of me."

     "Do you see, now, Tatewaki?" Nabiki said softly.  "See what I'm trying
to tell you here?"

     "I have always seen," he said numbly.  "I simply have not wished to
see."

     "People do that sometimes," Nabiki said.  "They don't see what's right
in front of their faces.  They don't see that what they're doing may be
hurting people that they care for."

     She wasn't really sure now whether she was speaking for Kuno, or for
herself.  Perhaps for the both of them.  "They build walls around
themselves, walls that help keep out the things they don't want to see.
They wear masks, so no one can see how they feel.  Eventually, though, any
mask you wear has a danger of becoming your true face."

     Kuno nodded.  "Your words are wise, Nabiki Tendo.  I would do well to
listen to them."

     "Of course you would, Kuno-baby," Nabiki said, glad to see he'd
finally calmed down a little.  "I'm the smart one in this friendship,
remember?"

     "That is what it is, is it not?" Kuno said, smiling a bit ruefully.
"A friendship.  It... it is interesting.  I had never thought us friends
before, Nabiki Tendo.  I realize now you are the best friend I have ever
had."

     Nabiki was taken aback.  "Thanks, Kuno.  You're not so bad yourself,
at times."

     He nodded.  "Nabiki Tendo, I would like time.  To meditate, to think
by myself.  I have much I must ponder."

     "Okay," Nabiki said, standing up.  "You gonna be okay, Kuno-baby?"

     "Of course," Kuno said.  "There is nothing I cannot endure."

     "Alright," Nabiki said.  "I'll see you this afternoon, right?  Last
exam, you know."

     "Of course," Kuno said.  "And... thank you.  For telling me all of
this.  For helping me realize the truth."

     "Take care Kuno, okay?" Nabiki said.  She grabbed her purse from the
couch and made her way quickly out the door.

     Kuno watched her go impassively, then stared at the closed door
through which she'd left.  After a moment, he drew a long, shuddering sigh
and shook his head.

     "Is she kind as she is fair?  For beauty lives with kindness; love
doth to her eyes repair, to help him of his blindess; and, being help'd,
inhabits there," he said softly, not sure whether it was question or
statement.

**********

     "How'd it go?" Sayoko asked, looking up from her textbook as Nabiki
stepped into the apartment and let out a long sigh.

     "It went," she said, with a small laugh.  "He was pretty mad for a
while, though.  But I got him calmed down in the end."

     "That's good," Sayoko said, brushing back some of her dark hair with
her hand.  "He's a pretty nice guy, you know."

     "Yeah, Kuno-baby's okay," Nabiki said, wincing as she saw her
roommate smile as she used her pet name for Kuno.  "Don't get that look on
your face, Sayoko.  He's just a friend."

     "He could probably be more," Sayoko said quietly.  "Jun thinks he
likes you."

     "Jun thinks a lot of things," Nabiki said guardedly.  "Besides, if you
think he's such a nice guy, why don't you go for him?"

     "Because I've already got someone," Sayoko said, blushing furiously.

     Nabiki blinked; like her, her roommate was a very private person, and
although they'd become good friends, she still didn't know much about her.
"Who?  Do I know him?"

     "No," Sayoko said, shaking her head slightly.  "He's from back home.
We met near the end of high school... I write to him now and then, and he
writes back.  He's off studying engineering at the University of Tokyo; he
got a scholarship like I did."

     "Really?" Nabiki said.  "Whoa.  You go, girl.  Is he cute?"

     "I think so," Sayoko said, blushing even more deeply.  "I've got a
photo of him.  You want to see it?"

     "Of course," Nabiki said, sitting down on the couch beside her
roommate.  "Let's see."

     Sayoko pulled out her wallet and flipped it open, searching through
it.  After a moment, she pulled out a much-handled photo and gave it to
Nabiki.  The picture was of a skinny, somewhat gawky looking boy with
glasses.  His face was attractive, though, graced by a goofy smile in the
photograph, which looked to have been taken specifically to show him.

     "He's kinda cute," Nabiki said.  "He a nice guy?"

     Sayoko nodded.  "He's the best.  He wasn't very popular in school, and
everyone thought he was kind of weird, but I got to know him in the final
year and it just kind of happened.  He's smart, and sweet, and..."

     She blushed and trailed off.  "I really want to see him again when
winter vacation comes around."

     "Yeah," Nabiki said.  "It must be nice to have someone like that to go
home to."

     Sayoko nodded.  "Uh-huh.  We've got our final exam this afternoon,
right?"

     "You bet," Nabiki said.  "Then, we're free."

     "We've got to go to the party, of course," Sayoko said.  "At Keiko's."

     "Of course," Nabiki said.  "Wouldn't do to miss Jun making a fool of
herself over whatever guy catches her eye."

     Sayoko laughed.  "Yeah.  Maybe you should ask Kuno to go with you,
Nabiki."

     Nabiki blinked.  "Hmm... he never seemed the type for parties.  It
might cheer him up, though.  He could sure use it."

     She saw the gleam in her friend's eyes.  "Oh no, it's not like that.
I'd just ask him as a friend, not as my escort or anything."

     "Of course," Sayoko said with a nod.  "Wanna study now?  Let's make
sure we remember everything."

     "Okay," Nabiki said.  "I'll go get my books."

     She headed to her bedroom to find the textbooks she'd need to study,
not quite sure why she was finding herself blushing.

**********

     "You looking for anyone in particular, Nabiki?"

     "Hmm?"

     Jun cupped her chin in her hands and leaned on her elbows to look at
Nabiki from her seat in front of her.  "You keep on looking up every minute
as if you're expecting some tall, handsome stranger to come in and sweep
you off you're feet."

     "Well, Kuno is hardly a stranger," Sayoko said quietly from her seat.

     Jun grinned broadly at Nabiki.  "So, you guys are an item now, then?"

     "Keep your voice down," Nabiki said, waving her hands frantically at
her friend.

     "Oh, so you are an item but you don't want other people to find out?"
Jun asked.  "I understand Nabiki.  Don't worry.  My lips are sealed."

     "No, no, that's not it," Nabiki said.

     "Then you don't mind if I tell people?" Jun said delightedly.  "I'm so
happy for you two!"

     "We are not an item," Nabiki hissed.  "Would you please purge any
thoughts of Kuno-baby and I being any kind of item from your dearly sweet
but occasionally empty head, Jun?"

     It came out a little harsher than she'd meant it to, and Nabiki winced
when she saw her friend wilt a little.  "Sorry.  That should have had a bit
more humour in it than it did."

     "No prob, Nabiki," Jun said, smiling gamely.  She cocked her head and
looked at Nabiki concernedly, her eyes magnified by the round glasses she
wore.  "Are you okay?"

     "No," Nabiki said with a sigh.  "On top of my little sister agreeing
to get married, there's been a whole bunch of other stuff going on at home
in my absence.  A friend of Ranma's, that's my little sister's fiancee, her
great-grandmother died a few nights ago.  She and a friend of hers are
staying at our house."

     Jun put a hand to her mouth.  "That's awful.  What happened?  Old
age?"

     Nabiki laughed slightly.  "With Cologne?  Not likely.  She got caught
in a fire in the restaurant she ran."

     Nabiki left out some of the other details that Kasumi had told her
over the phone, such as the attack upon the house and the fact that Cologne
was probably dead because of her own son.  She wasn't totally clear on what
had happened while she was away at college, but she had some idea it was
going to be a more interesting winter break than most, even for the Tendo
household.

     "That's too bad," Sayoko said.

     "Yeah," Nabiki said.  "Plus I've gotta deal with Kuno-baby's little
adjustment to the situation with Akane and Ranma."

     She chewed on the end of her pen and looked at Jun.  "Hey Jun, you
think Keiko would mind if I brought him to the party tonight?  He looked
like he was feeling pretty low, might cheer him up."

     "Sure, the more the merrier," Jun said with a wave of hand.  "Keiko's
place is big."

     Her friend sighed theatrically and toyed with the bun she'd pinned her
hair into with an elaborate tortoiseshell clip.  "I wish I had a date to
the party..."

     "He's not a date," Nabiki said, burying her face in her hands.  "Why
does everyone think Kuno-baby and I have something going?"

     "Didst I hear my name mentioned, Nabiki Tendo?"

     Nabiki turned with a feeling of cold dread to see Kuno standing behind
her.  His face held none of the pain she'd seen this morning at his
apartment; it was set into the handsome, cold mask he assumed so often.

     "Ahh!  Tatewaki," Jun said, raising a hand in greeting.  "Good to see
you.  Nabiki was just explaining to us how the two of you do not have
something going."

     "Jun!" Nabiki said indignantly, watching Kuno out of the corner of her
eye for any reaction.  He blinked his eyes twice, then nodded.

     "I see," he said, even though he probably didn't.  He took a seat
behind Nabiki and began to toy with his pencil.

     "Well, everyone," the professor said from the head of the room.
"Welcome to your last exam at Yasuyori before the winter break.  I wish you
all luck, and a pleasant vacation.  I will now hand out the exam; please,
no talking until it is over."

     "Good luck, Kuno-baby," Nabiki said, glancing back at Kuno.  He
nodded, and gave her a wan smile.

     "And fortune follow thee as well, Nabiki Tendo," he said quietly.

     Nabiki turned her head back to look to the front of the room.  She
could almost feel Kuno's eyes watching her for a few seconds, before he too
dropped his eyes away from her.

**********

     "The exam is now over.  Please turn over your papers and wait for them
to be collected."

     Nabiki put down her pencil and rubbed her eyes.  The exam had been
simple, as all the exams had been for her, but her mind hadn't really been
on it.  It was good she'd finished early; checking over, she found she'd
made several mistakes that should have been obvious to her.  A second check
after correcting the ones she'd spotted had shown nothing else amiss, but
it had left her a bit shaken.  She didn't make mistakes, not on things like
this.  Numbers were not like people; you always knew how numbers were going
to react.  They would never suprise you, never turn and you and do the
unexpected; three did not become two, or two become three.  You couldn't
make mistakes with numbers, if you were careful.

     Not like people; no matter how carefully you handled some of them, you
were bound to screw up at times.

     The professor came by and plucked the exam from her desk.  He caught
her eye with his.  "Miss Tendo, I look forward to seeing excellent work as
always.  Have a good vacation."

     "You too, professor," Nabiki said, embarassed at being singled out
while still taking a little pride in it.

     The professor smiled and moved on down the row to Kuno.  "And, you,
Mr. Kuno, you have a fine vacation as well."

     "Thank you, educator," Kuno said grandiosely.  "And may you too enjoy
your break from this fine facility."

     "Of course," the professor said as he took Kuno's exam and carried on.

     "How'd you do, Kuno-baby?" Nabiki said, turning back to look at him.

     "Adequately," Kuno said with a shrug.  "And you?"

     "Just fine, Kuno," Nabiki said.  "Just fine."

     "You may all go now," the professor called, tucking the exams under
his arm.  "Please enjoy your vacations, and don't get into too much
trouble."

     A happy whoop rose from the students in the room as they got up from
their desks, laughing and clapping each other on the shoulder.  The
professor opened his mouth as if to tell them to calm down, then simply
smiled resignedly and shook his head as he made his way back through the
crowd to his desk.

     "Free at last," Jun said, standing up from her desk and stretching her
arms over her head.  "Time for a few weeks of R&R, my friends.  Home again
to see the relatives and all.  I feel like celebrating; who's for lunch?"

     "I'm in," Sayoko said as she stood up.  "I'm glad this is all over
with."

     "Lunch sounds good," Nabiki said as she got up from the desk and
tucked a few loose hairs back into place.

     "Hey Kuno, wanna tag along?" Jun said, walking over to the still
seated boy and leaning down with one elbow on his desk.  Her smile was
friendly and inviting; with a start, Nabiki realized her friend was
flirting with Kuno, if only just a little.

     "I fear not, fair Jun," Kuno said smoothly, his mask hardening
slightly.  Only Nabiki had known him long enough to notice it, but notice
it she did.

     "You sure?  It'll be fun," Jun said, her smile drooping slightly.

     "I have matters I must attend to," Kuno said, rising quickly out of
his desk.  "I hope you three enjoy your celebration.  I will see you at a
later time."

     Without another word, he walked quickly out of the examination hall,
not even giving them a chance to say goodbye.

     "Sheesh," Jun said, a bit disappointed.  "How unfriendly can you get?"

     "Oh geez," Nabiki said.  "I forgot to invite him for tonight.  I'll be
right back, guys."

     "We'll meet you by the side doors," Jun said, as Nabiki hurried after
Kuno.  She caught up with him as he left through the main entrance and
stopped him with a hand on his arm.

     "Hey Kuno," she said.  He turned to regard her evenly.

     "Yes, Nabiki Tendo?  What may I do for you?"

     "I was wondering," Nabiki said.  "Have you heard about the party
tonight?"

     Kuno nodded.  "In the ramblings of some of my fellow students.  It
sounds as if it shall truly be a saturnalian debauch in the fine tradition
of college life."

     "You bet," Nabiki said, repressing a smile.  "I was wondering, you
wanna come along with me tonight to it?  You know, get out of your
apartment, have some fun maybe?"

     "Fun is not befitting of a warrior," Kuno said after a moment.

     "Ah, come on," Nabiki said, giving him a light punch in the arm.  "All
work and no play makes Kuno a dull boy, right?  You can't mope over my
sister and Ranma forever, can you?"

     Nabiki realized she'd said the wrong thing, as Kuno's eyes narrowed
and the hesitant smile he'd had dissolved into a thin line across his face.

     Yes, people were a lot harder to figure out than numbers.

     "I'm sorry, Kuno," Nabiki said, realizing she had to say something.
"That was the wrong thing to say."

     "No," Kuno sighed.  "You are entirely correct.  I must go on; I must
endure.  It can be no less.  I will gladly attend if you ask, Nabiki Tendo.
I owe you a debt."

     "Kuno," Nabiki said.  "Don't come because you feel you have to.  Come
because you want to."

     "Very well," Kuno said with a nod.  "I want to come."

     "Great," Nabiki said.  "I'll call you up when it's time to go, and me
and Sayoko will come by and get you.  Your place is on the way to Keiko's."

     "I will look forward to it," Kuno said smoothly.  "Farewell, Nabiki
Tendo."

     "So long," Nabiki said, raising a hand in farewell as Kuno turned and
went, his posture rigid and unbending.  She sighed, for a reason she
didn't quite understand, and headed to meet her friends.

**********

     "It's nice he agreed to come," Sayoko said as the two of them left the
apartment together to head for Kuno's place.  "Who knows?  Maybe he'll
reveal his true feelings to you tonight."

     Nabiki glanced narrowly at her friend.  Sayoko was wearing a nice
green dress that showed off her slender figure well without being immodest;
Nabiki remembered helping her choose it a few weeks ago.  She herself had
gone for a different look, dark, stylish slacks combined with a loose white
shirt, tied at the throat with a small red bow.  She liked the way it
looked on her, which was what counted.

     "Kuno's already revealed his true feelings to me numerous times," she
said after a moment.  "You do realize that I hate you?" she mimicked,
imitating Kuno's voice, albeit poorly.

     "Oh, he doesn't hate you," Sayoko said, shaking her head.  "Jun thinks
he really likes you."

     "Well, I think Jun likes him," Nabiki said.  "Did you see how she was
flirting with him after the exam?"

     "You sound jealous, Nabiki," Sayoko said quietly.  "I thought she was
just being friendly."

     "Maybe," Nabiki said with a shrug.  "Either way, it doesn't matter to
me."

     "Okay," Sayoko said.  They turned the corner at one of the streets and
continued towards Kuno's apartment building, which they could now see
rising in the distance.  "Do you think there's going to be a lot of
drinking at this party tonight?"

     Nabiki glanced at her friend.  "Well, yeah.  Any place you get a lot
of college students in the same place with no parental supervision..."

     "Oh," Sayoko said.  "It's just I've never really been... well, drunk
before."

     Nabiki laughed.  "That's two of us."

     Sayoko looked at her.  "Really?"

     She blushed.  "Oh, that sounded bad, didn't it?  I just meant, you
always seem so much better at dealing with people than I am, I thought that
you'd probably have a lot more experience with things like this."

     "I've been to some parties," Nabiki said.  "But I never get drunk.  It
just doesn't appeal to me."

     It didn't; the thought of losing control, of removing your
inhibitions, that was something she didn't like.  She remembered a quote
she'd heard somewhere; 'drunkeness reveals what soberness conceals'.

     She really didn't like the idea of revealing anything she normally
wouldn't.  She knew you had to show your feelings sometimes.  She just
didn't like the idea of it very much.

     "Here we are," she said as they arrived outside Kuno's apartment
building.  "Let's collect Kuno-baby and get to the party."

     "Jun's meeting us there, right?" Sayoko asked.

     "Yup," Nabiki said as she approached the intercom system in the lobby.
She keyed in Kuno's number.

     "Hello?" his voice said from the speaker.  "Who calls?"

     "Hey Kuno-baby," Nabiki said.  "Get down here.  It's rude to keep
ladies waiting."

     "I shall be with you in a moment," Kuno said.  There was a click as he
hung up the phone in his apartment.

     "He's on his way," Nabiki said, glancing back to Sayoko.

     "He lives in such a nice building," Sayoko said softly, looking around
the tastefully decorated lobby.

     "Well, that's one of the advantages of being rich," Nabiki said,
surprised at how bitter she sounded.  Sayoko gave her a strange look, and
then turned to examine an ink sketch of Mount Fuji that hung on the wall.

     "It's so beautiful," she said after a moment.

     "Hmm?" Nabiki responded.

     "Mount Fuji," Sayoko said, looking a bit embarassed.  "I've always
liked it.  My room back home has posters of it all over the walls."

     Nabiki had never had much appreciation for natural beauty herself.
She studied the painting of the mountain, then nodded.  "I guess it's nice.
For a mountain."

     "My mother told me stories when I was a little girl," Sayoko said.
"Did you know the kami who lives in Mount Fuji is supposed to be protecting
all of Japan?"

     "No, I didn't," Nabiki said, because she hadn't.

     Sayoko nodded.  "Uh-huh.  People used to think of Fuji as the centre
of the world, the most important point on earth.  Now it's just a mountain,
you know.  In the old days, people said it rose in a single night, and Lake
Biwa is the crater from which the earth was taken to make Fuji by the gods.
Now we know it took thousands of years to form, and it's really a volcano."

     Nabiki nodded.  This was out of her area of expertise; neither
mythology or geology had ever been of interest to her.

     "It's interesting, isn't it?" Jun said, glancing back at Nabiki.
"The way people's view of things changes.  Wouldn't it be strange if we're
the ones who are wrong, and a thousand years from now people think again
that Fuji really did rise in a single night?"

     "I guess so," Nabiki said, feeling awkward.  She didn't like getting
into situations where she couldn't converse effectively; this was rapidly
becoming one of them.

     Fortunately, Kuno saved her by choosing that moment to come into the
lobby.  "Greetings, ladies.  Let us depart then; the night and revelry
awaits us."

     Nabiki looked him over; to her surprise, he'd lost the samurai garb
somewhere, and was wearing expensive-looking trousers with an equally
expensive silk shirt, and a dark tie.  He looked almost modern, and to
Nabiki's eyes, quite handsome.

     She pushed the thoughts down; it wouldn't do to think of Kuno that
way, even if it was just a purely aesthetic appreciation.

     The three of them walked outside and hailed a cab, which pulled up to
the corner quickly.  It was nearly ten at night, but the sky seemed
strangely bright for this time of year.  Perhaps it was that the thick,
snow-choked clouds no longer hung in the sky.  The moon was bright and pale
as milk above their heads as they got into the cab, Kuno in the front and
Nabiki and Sayoko in the back.

     "Where to?"

     Nabiki told the cabbie the address, and they sped off into the night.

     Sayoko looked out the window as she smoothed out her dress.  "Moon's
pretty tonight."

     Nabiki murmured something noncommital and tried to think of a way to
steer the conversation away from anything that might get Sayoko talking
about Japanese legends again.  "Hey, Kuno, what are you doing this winter
break?"

     "I will be visiting with my sister at our estate," Kuno said.  "There
is also business to attend to, of course.  The management of our various
investments and all."

     "Must be tedious taking care of all that money," Nabiki said
sarcastically.

     "Which is why I thank you for relieving me of so much of it over the
years," Kuno shot back smoothly.

     Nabiki found herself laughing, to her surpise.  "Not bad, Kuno-baby.
I'm going to have to come up with some new ones."

     "See that you do," Kuno said seriously.  "Thy razor wit has been one
of the few aspects of our relationship I find pleasurable."

     Nabiki smirked despite herself.  "Thanks, Kuno."

     Sayoko shook her head and continued to look out at the moon, as the
cab rolled on towards the party that would cap off the first few months of
college.

**********

     "Come on in," someone said as they answered the door to the large
house, exposing a frenetic inside that contrasted the calm, quiet exterior.
There was a haze of cigarette smoke drifting around that made Nabiki's eyes
sting as she stepped into the house, followed by Kuno and Sayoko.

     "Nabiki!  Sayoko!  Over here!" Jun called from where she stood with
several other girls near a table laden with bottles and bowls.  The two
girls approached their friend, followed after a moment by Kuno.  The
kendoist was engaged in glancing around in a combination of horror and
wonder at the celebrating students.

     "Such unrestrained carousing..." he murmured.

     "Welcome, you three," Jun said, waving a hand in greeting.  A
cigarette glowed between her fingers.  "We've got beer, sake, whiskey, and
some other stuff.  Drink up; the party's just beginning."

     "I'm sure it is," Nabiki said, glancing around the room.  There was
music playing loudly on the stereo, some love song near the top of the
charts in Japan.  She shrugged and stood a bit uncomfortably, unsure what
to do.

     Jun took a drag on the cigarette, then offered it to Nabiki.

     "No thanks," Nabiki said.  She'd smelt enough smoke on her father to
last her a lifetime.

     "Tatewaki?" Jun said, holding it out to him.

     "A warrior does not pollute his body with such substances," Kuno said
coldly.  Jun smiled, apparently deciding he was making a joke.

     "Sayoko?"

     The other girl accepted the cigarette a bit apprehensively, and took
an inexperienced puff.  She immediately began to cough, and Jun thumped her
on the back.

     "You get used to it after a while," she said, taking her cigarette
back.  She turned to the crowd of friends she'd been standing with.  "Guys,
this is Nabiki, Sayoko and Tatewaki."

     Introductions were quickly made between them, and Nabiki almost
immediately forgot the names of all the other girls.  She noted with
quickly suppressed annoyance that several of them were eyeing Kuno, who
seemed to be standing as still as possible while looking around.

     "Want anything to drink?" Jun said after a moment.

     "Gimme a beer," Nabiki said.  She'd never developed much taste for
any alchohol, but as long as she watched herself, she would be okay.  No
reason to stand out.

     Jun handed her a beer, taking it from a bowl full of rapidly melting
ice.  "Sayoko?"

     "Nothing right now," Sayoko said shyly.  Nabiki knew how she felt; she
was just as out of place at a gathering like this as Sayoko was, although
she'd long ago learned how to blend in.

     "Tatewaki?" Jun said, turning to look at Kuno.  Nabiki narrowed her
eyes; if anyone else called him Tatewaki, he got annoyed, so why was he
putting up with it from Jun?

     "Yes, fair Jun?" Kuno said after a moment, snapping his eyes away from
wandering around the room.

     "Is alchohol to much of a pollutant for the body as well," she asked.
"Or do you want something to drink?"

     "I am not adverse to a small cup of sake at times," Kuno said after a
moments hesitation.

     "Help yourself," Jun said, pointing to a stack of cups and several
bottles of the rice wine.  Kuno nodded and moved over to the table, as
Nabiki popped open the bottle and took a gulp of her drink.  It wasn't
good; beer never tasted good to her.  But it was tolerable.

     Jun, Sayoko and Nabiki gradually migrated away from the other girls
and stood near a corner of the room, talking quietly.

     "I'm glad you got Kuno to come," Jun said with a slight giggle.  She
tapped her cigarette into an ashtray on a shelf, and left it burning there.
"He's so funny."

     "I think he's a little shocked," Sayoko said with a smile.  "You'd
think he didn't realize this was the twentieth century or something."

     "I don't think that," Nabiki said.  "I know that."

     "Gotta admit he looks handsome dressed like that," Jun said.  "Better
than that samurai outfit.  Although that's cute as well."

     "And you're the one who's always accusing me of having a thing for
him," Nabiki said.

     Jun blinked.  "Hey, I just said he's cute, okay?  Don't jump down my
throat; I'm not moving in on your man or nothing."

     "He is not my man," Nabiki said vehemently.  "And you can move in on
him if you want."

     Jun blinked again.  "Major hostility vibes detected emanating from
Nabiki Tendo."

     "Sorry," Nabiki said, taking another sip of her beer.  It was bitter
and sour, and she resisted the urge to spit it out.

     Kuno stepped over, moving as surely as he usually did, like he owned
the place and everyone in it.  There was little left of the shaking
half-wreck he'd been this morning; he sipped at the cup of sake and looked
at all of them.

     "A most lively affair," he said after a moment.  "What is
traditionally done at these gatherings?  I have little experience in them."

     "You drink," Jun said with a shrug.  "You socialize.  You say goodbye
to people you're not going to see for a while."

     "Ah," Kuno said.  He sipped the sake again.

     "Can I try that?" Sayoko said hesitantly.  Kuno nodded and handed her
the cup.  Sayoko put it to her lips and hesitantly drank.  Swallowing, she
handed it back to Kuno.

     "Not bad," she said after a moment.  "I kinda like it.  Think I'll get
some for myself."

     "I'll come with you," Jun said.  "I could use another beer or two."

     The two girls walked off, leaving Nabiki alone with Kuno.

     "So," Nabiki said.  "What do you think so far?"

     "I think there is far too much emphasis put on the consumption of
alchohol here," Kuno said finally, regarding the sake cup in his hands as
he held it up to the light.  "While it is surely a fine thing to enjoy in
the company of friends, is it not somewhat careless to indulge too freely
in the spirits in the presence of so many strangers?"

     "Read my mind, Kuno-baby," Nabiki said.  She found an empty spot on a
shelf and put her mostly-full beer down.

     Kuno drained the last of his sake and nodded.  "Is there naught else
to do but this?"

     "I dunno," Nabiki said.  She sighed.  "Sorry if you're not having a
good time.  I invited you because I thought it might cheer you up.  You
seemed pretty down this morning after I told you about Akane and Ranma."

     Kuno's eyes closed momentarily.  "Perhaps it is better if we do not
speak of them.  It would not do for me to slip into melancholy at an event
such as this."

     "Hey, Kuno," Nabiki said.  "If you want, you can go home.  If you just
feel like being by yourself, then..."

     He shook his head.  "No.  I would not offend thee by declining your
invitation, nor the pleasure of thy company, Nabiki Tendo."

     "Pleasure of my company?" Nabiki said, cocking her head to one side
and looking at Kuno as if he'd grown a second head.

     "I find thy wit often cutting," Kuno said slowly.  "And sometimes your
stated opinion of me wounds me dearly.  But in truth, Nabiki Tendo, I hold
thee in high esteem."

     Nabiki blinked.  "Thanks, Kuno.  You can be okay at times too."

     He turned his back to her, clasped his hands behind him.  The muscles
of his shoulder and back rippled under the thin shirt with the movement,
and Nabiki tore her eyes away.  "It is strange how much can change in so
short a time.  Six months ago, all was as it had been.  And then that
monstrous thing came, and we were forced to unite against it.  All of us."

     "But that's happened before, hasn't it," Nabiki said.  "Every time
Akane gets kidnapped, all of you go rushing off to save her together."

     "It was different that time," Kuno said.  "Less selfish reasons,
perhaps.  They sought to kill that beast out of some sense of duty."

     His hands tightened.  "My motives were different.  I wanted vengeance
for my sister; that thing nearly killed her.  I regret only that I was so
indisposed at the time as to be unable to strike the killing blow."

     "What happened to you?" Nabiki asked.

     "I was buried under a shelf at the time," Kuno said darkly.  "As so
often seems to happen, I was of no use to their efforts.  Perhaps it was
some sign that I chose to ignore; perhaps I have been ignoring all the
signs for too long."

     "Huh?" Nabiki said.

     "I always said I would never be like them," Kuno said softly.  "I
would not be an obsessive madman like my father, or ever display the lack
of honour my mother did."

     Nabiki frowned; she'd met Kuno's father, of course, but of his mother
she knew nothing.  He'd mentioned her this morning as abandoning them, but
little beyond that.

     "Kuno, are you sure you wanna be here?" Nabiki said.  Dealing with a
melancholy Kuno was not on her list of fun ways to spend the evening.

     "Subtle hints, Nabiki Tendo," Kuno said softly.  "Do you perhaps
regret now that you invited me?"

     "Hold on a minute," Nabiki said, moving around to stand in front of
him.  "I don't mean that at all.  It's just you're getting more and more
down every minute you spend here, it seems."

     "Forgive me, Nabiki Tendo," Kuno said.  His tone was excessively
formal, and his face was inscrutable.  It brought back memories of a few
days ago, when she'd had lunch with him after the first exam and he'd
called her simply Nabiki.  Not Nabiki Tendo.

     "I think I will have something else to drink," Kuno said, heading off
towards the table.  Nabiki watched him go impassively, and told herself
that she was only glad they'd been quiet enough not to attract too much
attention.

     "You're impossible, Kuno-baby," she said after a moment, sending out a
long breath between her lips that rustled her bangs slightly.

     "Hey, Nabiki," Sayoko said, coming over with a sake cup in her hand.
"You should try this sake.  It's really good..."

     "Don't drink too much," Nabiki said, resolving to keep an eye on her
friend tonight.  "I don't wanna have to carry you home."

     "Okay," Sayoko said, draining her cup.  She hiccuped, and giggled.

     Nabiki sighed and looked to Kuno.  He'd gotten himself another cup of
sake, and was now standing in one corner of the room, watching people drink
and socialize with a strange expression on his face.  It was a pensive
look, one full of an equal mix of observation and confusion.

     "You okay, Nabiki?" Sayoko said, putting a hand on her arm.  Her
friend's face shone with sincere concern, and so far just the tiniest bit
of inebriation.

     "Yeah, I'm good," Nabiki said.  "Come on.  Let's go find Jun."

     With a last glance at Kuno, she headed off with Sayoko in the
direction away from him.  Kuno looked at the two of them for a moment, but
a second later he swept his gaze away to look at the rest of the room,
seeking some answer he could not find to a question Nabiki did not know.

     The song changed on the stereo, from a happy tune about young love to
something sad, a lamentation for love lost.  Kuno stared about the room,
taking measured, regular sips of his drink every thirty seconds.

**********

     The party wound on into the night, and Nabiki gradually lost track of
Kuno.  Sometimes, out of the corner of her eye she'd see him, standing or
sitting out of way, an invisble space around him that no one would pass
through, sipping cup after cup of sake and just observing.

     She spent most of her time with Jun and Sayoko.  Mostly with Sayoko,
as Jun was distracted every five minutes by some guy.  Nabiki had pretty
much appointed herself guardian of Sayoko, and had tried futilely to get
her to cut back on the sake.  She'd been somewhat sucessful, but the last
time she'd seen her friend she was pretty tipsy.

     She'd really been meaning to keep an eye on her, but for the last
twenty minutes she'd been having a vigorous debate with a half-drunk,
card-carrying member of the Japanese Communist Party on capitalism versus
socialism.  He'd argued fairly well, considering he had to stop every five
minutes and tell his girlfriend, who had sat quietly next to him and glared
daggers at Nabiki throughout the entire conversation, that he loved her,
that everything was cool, and that he loved her.

     By the time he'd finally passed out and Nabiki had decided she'd won
by default, Sayoko was nowhere in sight.  With a sigh, Nabiki got up from
the couch and looked about the room for her friend.

     She finally spotted her through the crowd of half-drunk college
students, heading upstairs supported by some guy who Nabiki could only see
the back of his head.

     Her eyes narrowed; there was no reason for them to be heading
upstairs but one.  If it was anybody else, Nabiki wouldn't have thought
anything of it; people did these things.  But Sayoko was her friend, and
unless Nabiki had been severely wrong in her judgement, she wasn't the kind
of person to do something like this.  She cursed herself for not keeping a
better eye on her friend, and made her way through the crowd, drawing a few
looks with her urgency.

     "Hey!  Sayoko!  Where you going?" she called as she started up the
stairs.  Sayoko didn't turn, but the guy did, and Nabiki felt a sick
feeling in her stomach.  It was Tetsuya Butaigawa; it looked as if she'd
gotten here just in time.

     Tetsuya was one of a certain breed of boy found everywhere; they were
handsome, charming even, but behind their faces and their words there was
always a trace of cruelty, of sarcasm.  No one really liked them very much,
but everyone seemed to know them.  Most girls avoided them; some didn't,
but they seldom repeated a date with them, and they usually wouldn't talk
afterwards about what happened.

     Nabiki had hated him on sight, the first time she'd seen him in a
class.  She knew how to judge people, and she'd been dead on the mark about
Tetsuya.  He'd approached her after the class, mentioned he'd seen her
eyeing him, offered a date.  She'd told him in no uncertain terms exactly
what she thought of him, and then gotten away from him as quickly as she
could.  His eyes had watched her leave, and she'd resisted the temptation
to look back.

     Whenever she saw him, he smiled leeringly at her, but didn't say
anything.  Sometimes, he brushed against her in the hallways, in what would
look like a total accident to anyone else.

     She hated him and everything he was, but she hadn't yet made enough
connections here to do anything.  Any guy at Furinkan who'd tried to pull
something like this on her would have been very sorry the next day.  And
all the days after that as well.

     "Just what do you think you're doing?" she said, striding up the
stairs towards the two of them.

     "She's had a bit too much to drink," Tetsuya said, sneering at her.
"I'm just going to have her lie down for a bit."

     "Nabiki..." Sayoko mumbled, looking back blearily.  "Whatz goin' on?"

     "Nothing," Tetsuya said.  "Go back to sleep."

     "I'll take her, Tetsuya," Nabiki said, narrowing her eyes and giving
him the most intimidating look she could.  Since he was a head taller, much
more muscular, and drunk enough not to notice, it didn't work too well.
"Thank you so much for your concern."

     "Nahh," Tetsuya said.  "I think she'll be much happier with me.  So
would you, you know.  After I finish with her, I could have you lie down
for a bit."

     "You're filth, Butaigawa," Nabiki said.  "Give her to me and go wallow
in your own crepulence or something."

     Tetsuya turned and began to pretty much carry Sayoko down the
upstairs hallway.  Nabiki was after him in a flash, spinning him around
with a hand on his shoulder.

     "You think I'm joking here?" Nabiki said, glaring up at him.  "I don't
joke about things like this.  Step aside; I'm taking her home."

     "Nabiki, why are you yelling?" Sayoko said, slumping out of Tetsuya's
grip against the wall.  "What's happening?"

     "Nothing, kiddo.  Just relax," Nabiki said.  Tetsuya folded his arms
over his chest and sneered at her.

     "No need to get jealous," he said.  "There's plenty of me to go
around, Nabiki.  Can I ask you something?"

     "No," Nabiki said.

     "You as uptight underneath those clothes as you are on the surface?"
he said, grinning lecherously.

     Nabiki, of course, slapped him.  On reflection it was the wrong thing
to do.  The worst thing was to give a guy like this a chance to respond
physically; they'd take it, of course, in a second.

     His hand reached out and grabbed her by the shoulder, pushing her back
against the wall.  It hurt, not much, but enough to let her know he meant
business.

     "Hey there," he said, smiling low and dangerously.  "That wasn't
nice."

     "Remove your hand," someone said.  Nabiki glanced back to see Kuno
standing nearby.  His face was tight, and his eyes narrow.

     "Hey, Kuno," Tetsuya said.  "Where's the skirt?"

     He didn't let go; on her shoulder, his fingers tightened.  Nabiki
weighed the possibility of lifting her knee into his groin, but decided
against it.  He would probably block it anyway.

     "It is called a hakima," Kuno said, low and dangerous enough to match
Tetsuya's voice.  "Now remove your hand.  It stains Nabiki Tendo's virtue
by its mere presence upon her."

     An intense contest of staring happened between the two boys in the
space of a few seconds.  Both were about the same size; Nabiki guessed that
neither had much knowledge of the others fighting ability.  She, to tell
the truth, had no idea how Kuno would do without a sword.  Probably not too
well.

     His stance was one of readiness, though, loose and relaxed with no
tension.  Tetsuya, on the other hand, was obviously nervous.  He didn't
like being confronted by someone who looked as if they might be able to
beat him up, as no bully ever did.

     Finally, he took his hand off her and crossed his arms again.  "You
got a problem with me, Kuno?"

     "Yes," Kuno said.  "Thy very existence is odious, Butaigawa."

     "Fine," Tetsuya said, with more bravado than brains.  "I used to be in
the karate club at high school, and I like to think I was pretty good.  So
come on, you samurai-"

     Tetsuya's eyes crossed and he slumped to the floor, gasping for air
and finding none within his lungs.

     Nabiki pulled back the fist she'd just driven into his stomach,
pushing up so as to force all the air out of his body.  "Good for you," she
said, resisting the temptation to kick him when he was down in the soft
bits.  "I grew up in a dojo."

     She turned and looked at Kuno.  "Wanna help me take Sayoko home,
Kuno-baby?  This party isn't really to either of our tastes, I think."

     "I agree entirely," Kuno said.  He glanced down at Tetsuya.  "Perhaps
we shall continue this at a later time, Butaigawa."

     The only answer from Tetsuya was a wheezing gasp.  Nabiki stepped over
him and pulled Sayoko to a more upright position.

     "I don't feel so good Nabiki," she said.  "I'm sorry.  I had too much
to drink, even though you told me not to, and I..."

     <If she starts crying, I'm going to scream,> Nabiki thought.

     "Come on, Sayoko.  Party's over for you," Nabiki said, starting to
lead her down the stairs, with Kuno walking ahead of them.  She could see
much of the partygoers who were still conscious were watching them.
"Goodnight, folks.  We're outta here."

     There were a few muted farewells, and a path cleared to the front
door.  Jun staggered up, leaning on the arm of a boy shorter than she was.
He was good looking, in a slightly chubby, boyish way.

     "What happened?" she said.

     "Little run in with Tetsuya Butaigawa," Nabiki said.

     "Eww.  He's such a scum," Jun said.  "Not like... what was your name
again, cutey?"

     "Nobuo," the boy said.

     "Not like Nobuo here," Jun said.  "You gonna take Sayoko home?"

     "Yeah," Nabiki said.

     "Okay," Jun said.  "I'll be there at the train station to see you off
tomorrow, 'kay Nabiki?"

     "Okay, Jun," Nabiki said.  "You take care.  You too, uh..."

     "Nobuo," the boy said again, smiling and nodding with the casual
acceptance of someone who has absolutely no idea of what's going on.

     "Goodnight, Jun," Sayoko said.  "Goodnight..."

     "Goodnight," Nabiki said, leading her half-conscious friend out the
door.  Kuno was waiting on the street, his arm out to hail a cab.  A moment
later, one pulled up.

     The three of them piled in, Nabiki and Kuno on the left and right of
Sayoko in the back seat.

     "Drive slow," Nabiki told the cabbie.  "She's had a bit too much to
drink."

     "You think I've never driven college students home at the start of
winter break before or something?" the cabbie said, as he stepped on the
gas and gently wheeled the vehicle away into the night towards home.

**********

     Nabiki closed the door to Sayoko's room as softly as she could and
stepped out into the living area of the apartment with a mild sigh.

     "Finally," she said.  "I got her to go to sleep and stop apologizing
to me."

     "She is alright?" Kuno said from where he sat on the couch.

     "Yeah.  She's gonna be a little hung over in the morning, I think,"
Nabiki said, brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ears and sitting
down next to him at the opposite end.

     "And yourself?" Kuno said.  "You are well?"

     Nabiki looked at him.  "Yeah.  Why?"

     "Butaigawa did no injury to thee, did he?" Kuno said softly.  In the
dim light thrown by the lamp on the table, his eyes looked warm and
concerned.

     Nabiki smiled.  "He got the worst of it."

     "I had not known you to be so skilled," Kuno said.

     "As I said, I grew up in a dojo," Nabiki said.  "Lessons were free,
and it helped get me in shape.  I haven't done any serious practice in
years, but you never lose it, I guess."

     "Ah," Kuno said.  "You are alright, then?"

     "Of course," Nabiki said.  "Thanks for helping me get her up here,
Kuno.  I probably could've managed on my own."

     "Courtesy," Kuno said with a shrug.  "It was the honourable thing to
do."

     "Okay," Nabiki said with a yawn.  "I'd love to chat, Kuno, but you
know we gotta head back home tomorrow, and it's past one.  So why don't you
head home and I'll call you in the morning?"

     "Very well," Kuno said, rising up from the couch.

     "One thing," Nabiki said.  "How'd you know what was happening upstairs
with Sayoko, anyway?"

     "I saw Butaigawa leading her for some nefarious purpose," Kuno said
slowly.  "I followed."

     He sighed and turned his back to her, a clear sign by now that he was
going to say something depressed.  "It is disturbing how much of myself I
see reflected in him."

     "What?" Nabiki said before she could stop herself.  "You're nothing
like him!"

     "Am I truly?" Kuno said, glancing back at her with a sad smile.  "I
behaved no better towards your sister and the pig-tail... Ranma then he did
towards yourself and fair Sayoko."

     Nabiki sighed.  "But you changed, Kuno, didn't you?"

     "I hope so," Kuno said after a moment.

     "And I know you loved them," Nabiki said quietly.  "You had a weird
way of showing it, though."

     "I know little of love," Kuno said.  "Either of giving or receiving.
All I know I learned from what I have read, and while books may give you a
window unto life they are no substitute for experience."

     Nabiki frowned slightly.  "Kuno..."

     "It is not fair I burden you with my problems," Kuno said.  "You have
extended a hand in friendship to me despite my actions, and have forced
open my eyes."

     He walked quickly to the door, and before Nabiki could even say
anything he was gone, closing it softly behind him.

     After a moment of confused indecision, she hopped up and ran out into
the hall after him, in time to see the door to the stairs close.  For a
moment, she pondered going after him.

     Then, with a sigh, she stepped back inside the apartment and closed
the door.  She made her way to her room, her footsteps heavy.  She'd only
just realized how tired she was.

     She closed the door, the moonlight spilling in through the window
providing enough light for her to see by.  She stripped off her clothing,
hung it carefully in the closet, and slipped into her pyjamas quickly as
she could.

     She nearly tripped over her suitcase, left at the foot of her bed to
remind her to pack.  She'd do it in the morning.

     Nabiki crawled under the covers and laid her head down on the pillow.
Through the thin wall dividing her room from Sayoko's, she heard the soft,
regular breathing of her roommate.

     The events of the day played themselves out in her mind as she drifted
off to sleep, but it always came back to two things, Kuno's eyes deep with
sadness, and his mouth curved into a small, regretful smile.

     Finally, Nabiki slept, and awaited what the morning would bring.

**********

     Morning brought another clear winter day, crisp and bright, that sent
sunshine streaming through the window when Nabiki opened the curtains and
gazed out onto the streets.  The snow had been a nice change, but hopefully
they'd be having warmer weather now.

     After a long shower that relaxed some of the tension from her body,
she dressed and began to make herself breakfast.  Sayoko was still asleep;
she'd checked on her before showering, and her roomate was peacefully dead
to the world.

     She was nervous about going back home, although she wouldn't admit it
to herself that often.  Everything had changed since she'd left for
college, it seemed.  She'd seen Ranma and Akane's feeling growing near the
time she'd left, but she'd never expected he would propose to her within so
short a time.

     To top that off, there was all this business with Shampoo and Mousse.
Kasumi had been vague on the phone, but it sounded like something pretty
bad was going on.

     Scratch that; if Cologne had ended up dead, then something very bad
was going on.  The old woman had been the one person Nabiki wouldn't ever
have tried to pull some scheme on; she knew perfectly well that Cologne
would see through it in an instant.  If Cologne had fallen, then whatever
was happening was very dangerous.

     She was startled from her thoughts when the microwave beeped,
indicating her breakfast was done.  Instant ramen didn't compare to
Kasumi's cooking; that was one thing she was looking forward to when she
got back home.

     Sitting down at the table with her noodles, she looked through the
paper that had been delivered to the door this morning.  It was one of the
big Tokyo dailies, chosen because it had the best financial section out of
all of them.

     She paged quickly through the news section, as she always did, looking
for anything of interest.  She found a short article talking in vague terms
about the disappearance of the entire crew of a research ship out in the
Pacific ocean; it sounded as if the paper hadn't had much to go on beyond
rumours and speculation.

     A few pages after, she found another article, with the header "Night
of Chaos in Nerima".  She glanced quickly through it, but it gave her
little information beyond what Kasumi had told her.  There was a picture of
a small, sad-looking man, identified as Captain Jotari Otani of the Nerima
Police Department.  The accompanying quotation from him was about how
Nerima was usually one of the safest areas in Tokyo, despite an unusually
high rate of property destruction.

     Nabiki shrugged and turned to the financial section, checking on her
various investments.  She frowned when she saw there'd been another large
drop in the value of practically everything; the current financial
situation in Japan and other parts of Asia was making her extremely
nervous about the state of her investments, and thus her college fund.  If
things continued as they did, she was going to have to try to find some
kind of job, or other way of making some money.

     She heard a door opening, and a few moments later Sayoko stumbled into
the kitchen, wrapped in a robe and looking miserable.  "Need coffee," she
mumbled.

     "I'll start it up," Nabiki said.  "How you feeling this morning,
Sayoko?"

     "Like something crawled into my mouth and died, but not before it
invited all its friends along as well," her roommate said unhappily.  "I'm
never drinking again."

     Nabiki smiled slightly and stood up to make the coffee.  "How much you
remember of last night?"

     "Not much near the end," Sayoko said.  "I get the idea I avoided
something really awful."

     "Yeah, that was the general consensus," Nabiki said.

     "Huh?"

     Nabiki explained.

     Sayoko grimaced at the end.  "Oh geez... I can't believe I almost did
that.  He's such a pig."

     "Well, he was practically dragging you," Nabiki said.

     "What a total bastard," her friend said.  "I wish you'd done more than
hit him in the stomach."

     "You'd be surprised how much one punch to the stomach can hurt,"
Nabiki said as the coffee began to percolate.  "He was still down when we
left."

     "Thanks, Nabiki," Sayoko said.  "I wouldn't ever have been able to
forgive myself if..."

     She trailed off.  "Damn."

     "Don't dwell on it," Nabiki said.  "The important thing is, it didn't
happen.  I was keeping an eye on you; so was Kuno."

     "That was nice of him," she said.  "You think he had a good time?"

     "I dunno," Nabiki said with a shrug.  "That reminds me.  I've got to
call him."

     "Yeah, you're going home today, right?" Sayoko said.

     "Uh-huh," Nabiki said.  "With Kuno-baby."

     She looked at Sayoko.  "Wipe that smile off your face.  We live in the
same area, that's all."

     "Really?" Sayoko said.  "Is that really all?"

     Nabiki paused for a moment.  "I guess it isn't.  He's a friend as
well... STOP SMILING!"

     She threw her hands up in the air in mock indignation.  "He's only a
friend.  That's it."

     "If you say so," Sayoko said.

     The coffee machine dinged; glad for the distraction, Nabiki jumped up
and poured mugs for both of them.  She sat down, handed one to Sayoko, and
began to study the financial pages again.

     "How're your stocks doing?" her friend asked as she sipped the coffee.

     Nabiki sighed.  "Not good."

     "The whole market's in a slump," Sayoko said.  "Professor Tanaka said
it's because of a general decline in the worldwide financial markets."

     Nabiki nodded.  "Yeah.  He says stuff like that.  You know the real
reason, though?"

     "What?" Sayoko said.

     "Because we're not running things," Nabiki said.  "It's still too many
men working in the financial business and owning everything; look at
Kuno-baby.  He's rich, but he doesn't have the business sense they gave a
horse."

     "You really think he's that stupid?" Sayoko said.

     Nabiki was silent as her friend continued.  "You really put him down a
lot, Nabiki."

     "I'm just joking most of the time," Nabiki said.

     "Do you think he knows that?" Sayoko said pointedly.

     "Dunno," Nabiki said.  "Never really though of it before."

     "Maybe you should," Sayoko said.

     "Yeah, maybe.  But you know what I mean, don't you?  In the
traditional Japanese household, the woman makes the financial decisions,
right?"

     "Right," Sayoko said.

     "So shouldn't that also be applied to the business world?  I mean, you
and I probably have more smarts than the heads of some of these
corporations."

     "Of course," Sayoko said with a smile.  "I'm sure we're going to do
just fine when we get out of college, Nabiki."

     Nabiki nodded.  "You've got that right."

     She sipped her coffee and sat with her friend, as outside the sun rose
higher in the sky, and the morning swung on towards the afternoon.

**********

     "Okay Kuno-baby, we'll be by your place in a little while," Nabiki
said to the phone.  "You all packed up?"

     She waited for the response.  "Good.  See you then."

     She turned to Sayoko.  "Okay.  Ready to go?"

     "Uh-huh," her friend said.  "You made sure you have everything you'll
need, right?"

     "Yup," Nabiki replied.  "All packed and ready to go.  Off to the old
family home to see my father and sisters, and Ranma and his father and
mother, and our two houseguests."

     "Houseguests?" Sayoko said.

     "Long story," Nabiki said.  "Short one, actually, but I don't really
have the time.  Let's get going."

     "You have an interesting family life, Nabiki," Sayoko said with a
slight smile.

     "You don't know the half of it," Nabiki said as she bent down and
picked up her suitcase and purse from the floor.

     "Place is going to seem pretty empty without you until my father comes
to pick me up next week," Sayoko said.

     "Hey, hey, save the emotional goodbyes for the train station," Nabiki
said teasingly as they headed out the door and down the hallway.

     Out in the street amidst the early afternoon bustle of the town,
Nabiki and Sayoko hailed a cab and hopped in.  Like last night, they headed
towards Kuno's apartment.

     Outside the windows of the moving cab, the people went by about their
business, going into stores or homes, greeting friends.  Maruimachi had
become a home for her, and she would be sorry to leave it behind, if only
for a few weeks.  She'd be back after vacation, of course, but there was
always a little sadness in parting.

     The cab pulled up and Nabiki and Sayoko got out.  Nabiki paid the
driver and told him to wait, and the two of them headed into the lobby of
the apartment building.  Nabiki buzzed Kuno's apartment and waited.

     "Yes?"

     "Kuno, how much longer?" Nabiki said.

     "Only a moment.  You two may come up if you wish," Kuno's voice said
from the intercom.  The door clicked open, and Nabiki and Sayoko headed to
the elevators inside and rode up to Kuno's floor.

     He opened the door as Nabiki was about to knock and smiled.  "Welcome.
It is good to see you in a better state than last night, fair Sayoko."

     Sayoko blushed as she and Nabiki entered.  "Anything to drink,
Kuno-baby?" Nabiki asked.  "The cab's waiting, so hurry up."

     "You know where my fridge is, Nabiki Tendo," Kuno said.  "Help
thyself and thy friend."

     "Right," Nabiki said, heading into the kitchen with Sayoko.  They
helped themselves to some of the few cans of soda that remained in the
near-empty fridge, and returned as Kuno was kneeling down by the simple
wooden sword rack that held a bokken, a sheathed tanto and a katana in an
elaborate leather sheath.  He had a long cloth bag in his hand with a
zipper, and as Nabiki watched with mild interest he carefully wrapped the
three weapons in cloth and put them inside.  Finished, he stood up,
grabbing the handle of a suitcase that stood nearby.

     "I am ready," he said.  "Let us depart."

     The three of them headed down and got into the cab, loading Kuno's
sitcase into the back.  Kuno tipped the cabbie for waiting and got into the
car, carefully propping the bottom of the bag that held his weapons on the
floor of the cab and supporting it with his hands as the cab drove off.

     Arriving at the train station a little while later, the three of them
got out, paid the cab driver a third time, and took Nabiki and Kuno's
luggage from the trunk.  They headed into the train station, and Jun sat
down on a bench as Nabiki and Kuno went to buy their tickets.  The station
was crowded with students who were also returning home today, and they
spent a few minutes saying goodbye to those who they knew as friends.

     "Hey!  Nabiki!" Jun's familiar voice called as she headed in from the
street outside the station.  "Thought I might have missed you guys."

     "We're still here," Nabiki said.

     "I'm gonna miss you two," Jun said, clasping Nabiki and Kuno on the
shoulder.

     "We'll see you when school gets back," Nabiki said with a smile.
"Don't worry."

     "Train 507 to Tokyo," the PA system called.  "Passengers for Train 507
to Tokyo are asked to board now at Platform 1."

     "That's us," Nabiki said.  "So long."

     She hugged Jun and Sayoko tightly, surprised at the depth of her own
sadness at leaving them.  She'd see them again in a few weeks, of course,
but they were really good friends.  "Bye, you guys."

     "Farewell," Kuno said as he grabbed his bags and headed towards the
train with Nabiki.

     "Hey Kuno," Jun called.  "You take care of Nabiki, okay?  Keep her
outta trouble."

     "To my experience, the situation is usually the other way round," Kuno
answered back.  "But I shall try my best."

     They found their seats in the crowded train and settled in, storing
their sparse luggage in the rack above.  Nabiki got the seat by the window,
and Kuno settled in beside her.

     "Home we go," Nabiki said, waving to Jun and Sayoko through the
window.  Her friends waved back, and she smiled a bit sadly as the train
began to move.

     "Aye, Nabiki," Kuno said.  "Towards home and family and whatever else
may await."

     She only a realized he'd called her Nabiki again a few minutes later,
as the train began to leave the town behind and roll off into the
countryside.  She smiled at him in the comfortable silence, and he smiled
back.

     And the train rolled on, towards Tokyo, towards home, and towards
whatever else awaited.

**********

     Two hours after it left Maruimachi, the train stopped in a small town
along the way, Fuinkawa.  A voice came over the PA system, sounding
apologetic.

     "We are sorry, but we are experiencing unknown difficulties with the
train," the voice said.  "We expect we shall discover the problem shortly.
Passengers who wish to stretch their legs are asked to return to the train
within a half hour with their ticket stubs.  We apologize for the
inconvenience."

     There was some discontented muttering throughout the train car.
Nabiki put down the magazine she'd been reading and nudged Kuno, who was
half-asleep.

     "Hey, Kuno-baby, wake up," she said.  He blinked awake and looked at
her.

     "Mmm?" he said intelligently.

     "Train's stopped for a bit," Nabiki said.  "Wanna walk around?"

     "Certainly," Kuno said, rising up.  He headed out into the aisle and
reached up into the luggage rack, taking down the long cloth bag that he'd
put his weapons into earlier.

     Nabiki looked at him.  "What do you want that for?"

     "A warrior must always carry his weapons," Kuno said.  "For he never
knows when he may have to fight."

     Nabiki nodded dubiously.  "Right."

     The two of them headed off the train and into town, gradually
breaking away from the crowd of people who did the same thing.  Nabiki
glanced around; the place was extremly rural.  It brought back memories of
family vacations, of exploring forests with her sisters, her father and
mother walking behind them.  She smiled a bit sadly.

     "Is everything alright, Nabiki Tendo?  You bear a melancholy
expression on your countenance," Kuno said.

     "Yeah, fine," Nabiki said.  A childish impulse seized her.  "Hey Kuno,
wanna go have a look around that forest over there?"

     "It is hardly fitting for a-"

     Nabiki grabbed his hand.  "Oh, come on.  Just for a little while.
It'll be fun."

     Kuno sighed.  "If it is your wish."

     Nabiki smiled at him.  "It is.  Come on."

     The two of them headed out of town towards the large forest that could
be seen.  It was full of bare trees at this time of year, and probably
would have looked much better had there been leaves.  The ground was damp
and a little muddy, probably from the melting snow that still clung in
places to trunks.  Nabiki regretted wanting to go to it almost immediately,
but didn't want to tell Kuno to turn back after she'd insisted they come.

     "Not exactly a sylvan glade," Kuno said as they headed into it.

     "Probably looks better in the summer," Nabiki said as they walked.

     "Undoubtedly," Kuno said.  He paused for a moment and took a
cloth-wrapped shape from the bag, unwrapping it to reveal his bokken.  He
put the wadded cloth back into the bag and gripped the wooden weapon
loosely in one hand.

     "What have you got that out for?" Nabiki said.

     "It is good to have it at hand," Kuno said.  "One never knows when one
shall have to fight a duel of honour."

     "Well, why don't you just take katana out then?" Nabiki said,
glancing at him.  A strange look passed across Kuno's face that silenced
her.  They walked for a few more minutes, getting deeper into the forest,
until they paused in a large clearing.

     "May I show you something, Nabiki Tendo?" Kuno said, putting the bag
gently down on a dry spot on the ground.

     "Sure," Nabiki said.

     He unzipped the bag again and pulled out the wrapped tanto and katana,
unwrapping them and laying them down carefully on the bag.  "Know you
anything of swordplay, Nabiki Tendo?"

     "Not really," Nabiki said.  Kuno stood up and came to stand beside
her.

     "The sword you see there," he said, indicating the katana.  "Has been
in my family for many generations, and yet it is never used in battle.
Would you like to know why?"

     "Of course," Nabiki said.  "You've got my interest piqued."

     Kuno held out his bokken to her, handle first.  "Put thy hands on the
grip of the bokken, Nabiki Tendo."

     Nabiki did so, feeling the smooth wood slip between her fingers and
rest on her palms.  Kuno stood even closer, put his fingers carefully over
hers.

     "Wrap the little finger of the left hand under the hilt," he said,
showing her what to do by laying his hand over hers.  His fingers were
rough and callused against her skin, and warm.  Nabiki found herself
resisting the urge to blush.  Somewhere in the background silence of the
forest, she realized she could hear a stream trickling like crystal music.

     "Let your grip be loose.  Do not tighten your fingers so that you will
not have sufficient motion in the blade," Kuno said softly.  "Your right
hand should grip the same way, near the top.  Extend your index finger
along the length of the blade.  Let the sword become an extension of
yourself, of your arm and your spirit.  It is not a weapon; it is a part of
you."

     Nabiki did what he said, caught up in the conviction of his words.
The feeling was as he said it was; the bokken seemed almost to become a
part of her.  "Wow.  So... this is what it feels like to fight with a
weapon..."

     "Yes," Kuno said.  "Some do not understand the appeal.  The blade is
not just a weapon; it is part of you, and a part of your life."

     He moved away and let her hold the bokken.  "It is an experience like
no other, the first time you grip a sword in the correct way.  Does it not
feel balanced and perfect?"

     "Yeah," Nabiki whispered.  "It does."

     She shook her head.  "But I don't see what it has to do with that
sword on the ground."

     Kuno nodded, looking a bit embarassed, and bent down to pick up the
katana in the leather sheath.  "We men of the Kuno family have always
carried this sword to remind us of certain things, certain things I have
not often thought of myself."

     He slid it from the sheath and held it carefully, the blade resting in
one palm.  It shone beautifully in the sunlight filtering between the
leaves of the trees.  The handle was in the shape of a serpentine dragon's
head, with the blade rising from between the jaws where the tongue should
have been.  The blade seemed to gleam with trapped scarlet fire, and it
looked as if it could cut through anything.

     "It's beautiful," Nabiki said, not quite sure why.

     "Is it not?" Kuno said a bit wistfully.  "A perfect weapon in
appearance.  But put down the blade you hold, upon the bag."

     Nabiki did so, almost reluctantly.  The trickle of the stream seemed
almost too loud now, discordant to her ears.

     "Take a grip on the sword as you did with the bokken," Kuno said.
"Careful that you do not cut yourself.  It is not nearly as sharp as it
looks, but it is sharp enough to cut you."

     Nabiki took it, and frowned.  The blade felt too heavy in certain
places as she held it in a fighting grip, too light in others.  The curve
of the katana seemed wrong, the width and length of the blade incorrect.
There was none of the feeling of extension as there had been with the
bokken.

     "I don't get it," Nabiki said.  "What's wrong with it?"

     She slid it back into the sheath and put it back down on the ground
next to the tanto and bokken, then looked at Kuno expectantly.

     "I have always supposed there to be flaws in the quality of the
metal," Kuno said after a moment.  "Or in the forging.  But it is a poor
weapon for fighting, beautiful as it may be.  The lesson I should have
learned from this blade was a simple one; that no matter how perfect the
surface may seem, if the forging and the internal structure are not as
perfect, then it is a worthless weapon and nothing more."

     Nabiki frowned at the expression of deep sadness on his face, and
tried to think of the deeper meaning of his words.  He was obviously
talking about something more than weapons here.

     "Perhaps there is no remedy for a weapon such as this," Kuno said.
"No matter how beautiful.  Perhaps the only use is for it to be melted
down, so that it might be forged anew into something worthwhile."

     Nabiki saw his eyes glance towards the naked tanto, gleaming and
steel-sharp on the ground, and her heart jumped for a moment.  "Kuno..."

     "Greetings!" someone yelled in a booming voice.  Nabiki turned to the
source of the voice, and realized that she could no longer hear the stream
at all, except in the voice of the speaker.

     The thing that had spoken was a strange, scaly green creature about
five feet tall.  It had a turtle's shell upon its back, a stocky build, and
broad, powerful hands with slightly webbed fingers and sharp nails.  The
face was comical, as green as the rest of it, with tiny dark eyes over a
broad, almost flat nose.  The mouth was wide, and curved into a happy
smile.  She could see the top of the head was slightly concave, and a few
drops of water ran down the sides of the thing's head.

     "What manner of creature are you?" Kuno said, his eyes widening.  He
stooped and picked up his bokken; the creature watched unconcernedly.

     "Why, I am Yundermaro," the thing said.  It spoke perfect, slightly
formal Japanese, sounding vaguely as if it were talking to them from
underwater.  "My taciturn friend behind you is Kurupo."

     Nabiki and Kuno whirled around, to see a taller, slightly more slender
version of the same creature.  It was grinning as well.  "Hey there," it
said.

     "Demons," Kuno said.  "We are in a forest of demons..."

     "Oh, don't be insulting," Yundermaro said.  "We are hardly some lowly
oni, fresh up from Jigoku, with only thoughts of devouring human flesh and
souls."

     "Careful there," Kurupo said.

     "Oh, come now," Yundemaro said.  "I know if our seals are broken, his
probably are as well.  But he can't hear us.  Arrogant bastard, thinks just
because he can crack rocks with his teeth he can boss us around."

     "He can," Kurupo said pointedly.

     "Oh yes," Yundermaro said.  "I'd forgotten about that part."

     Kuno scratched his head.  "What is going on?"

     "Oh, are you still here?" Yundermaro said.  "I thought you might have
had the sense to leave.  We are not demons, my dear swordsman.  Kurupo and
myself are kappas, of course."

     "Yup.  That's us," Kurupo said.  His smile was even bigger now, but
without opening his mouth.

     "Kurupo, how long do you reckon it's been?" Yundermaro said.

     "Dunno.  Long time," Kurupo said.

     "Well, this place isn't a blasted wasteland," Yundermaro said.  "So
I'd guess its safe to say it worked just like they said it would.  And yet,
now we are awake.  This is a most intriguing situation."

     "Yup," Kurupo said.

     "The old truces no longer apply, I suppose," Yundermaro said.  A long,
broad tongue flickered out for a moment and licked the kappa's fleshy lips.

     "We can eat 'em then?" Kurupo said.

     "Yes, of course, dear friend," Yundermaro said.  "We can eat them.  I
can only just remember the sweet taste of human flesh... especially the
children.  I hope there are still some children around."

     He tapped his green chin with a finger.  "Pardon, do you still have
children in this world?"

     "Of course," Nabiki said, before she could stop herself.

     The smaller kappa clapped his hands delightedly.  "Wonderful!  I'm so
happy!  We love children, don't we Kurupo?"

     "Yup," Kurupo said.  "With horseradish."

     "You still have horseradish, don't you?" Yundermaro said hopefully.

     "SILENCE!" Kuno bellowed.  "I grow tired of listening to your silly
words, you foolish creatures!  Get from my sight before I strike you down!"

     Nabiki saw the tiny dark eyes of the kappas narrow slightly.

     "He called us silly, Yundermaro," Kurupo said.

     "And foolish, dear friend, do not forget," Yundermaro said.

     "Not nice," Kurupo said.

     "Well, I suppose we kappas are as a whole a bit silly," Yundermaro
said.  "We certainy do not have the terrifying appearance and size of an
oni, or the withered horror of a gaki."

     "Don't like gaki," Kurupo said.  "Bad taste.  No meat."

     "Yes, I suppose we could be thought of as silly, even foolish,"
Yundermaro said.  "People have often thought that upon meeting us.  Usually
right up until we pulled off all their arms and legs."

     Kurupo opened his mouth and smiled, exposing row upon row of sharklike
teeth, and suddenly his face didn't seem so comical anymore.  "Yup."

     "Do you want first pick, Kurupo?" Yundermaro said.  "The man's got
more meat on him, but I suspect the woman's a tad more tender."

     "Split 'em," Kurupo said.  

     "Excellent idea!  The best of both worlds," Yundermaro said, grinning
with his own mouthful of broken glass fangs.  "You see, my friends, we may
be foolish, but we're also very, very dangerous."

     Kuno came at Kurupo with a yell and an upraised sword.  He thrust down
quickly at the kappa's head.  Yundermaro leaned back against a tree and
watched, as Nabiki tried to figure out just what the hell was going on.

     Kurupo lifted up a broad hand and caught the bokken with a slight
grunt.  His other hand came up and grabbed Kuno by the front of his shirt,
lifting him off the ground without apparent effort and hurling him off into
the air.  Kuno clipped his head on the branch of a tree and fell to the
ground with a groan.

     Nabiki realized these things were probably a lot more dangerous than
they looked, and darted quickly for the tanto on the ground.  Her wrist was
caught suddenly in a grip that held her completely still without any
pressure or pain.

     "No, no," Yundermaro said.  "We can't be having that now."

     Nabiki kicked the kappa behind what looked like a knee, trying to
bring him down.  It was like trying to trip a mountain.

     His grip tightened momentarily, and Nabiki got the impression that it
could have gotten a lot tighter than it did.  "Hold perfectly still or I'll
tear your arm off.  Kurupo's going to finish off your gentleman companion,
or maybe he'll just play with him a bit and let me finish him."

     Nabiki saw Kuno get up off the ground and come at Kurupo again.  The
larger kappa hit him in the chest with an open palm and sent him flying
backward to crash into the trunk of the tree he'd hit his head on.  Kuno
staggered back up, shaking his head to clear it.

     "Resilient one, isn't he?" Yundermaro said to Nabiki casually,
sniffing her arm.  "Hmmm... young and healthy you are.  A prime specimen, I
say.  You keep yourself in good shape, I see."

     Nabiki was stuck between laughing and screaming.  The comical
appearance and behaviour of the two kappas was balanced against their
incredible strength and their seeming intention to eat her and Kuno.  She
tried to remain calm; when faced with any problem, consider the probem
first of all.

     She strained her mind, trying to remember any details about kappas
beyond the fact that they were spirits who dwelt in rivers.  She used a
technique she used often; look upon the situation not as a participant, but
an observer.  Don't get caught up in emotions; consider the problem
rationally.

     But how could you rationally consider the problem of two Japanese
river-spirits who wanted to devour you and your friend, possibly with
horseradish?

     Nabiki winced in sympathy as Kuno's third charge was stopped by a
casual backhand from Kurupo that spun him around several times still
standing up.  The kappa grabbed him, lifted him overhead, and threw him
into a tree.

     "Want a turn?" he said, glancing to Yundermaro, who was intent in
eyeing Nabiki up and down.

     "No, no, go ahead," Yundermaro said.  "It's a pleasure to watch you
work."

     "Thanks," Kurupo said.  He stepped to the side as Kuno came at him
again and lifted a stout leg into the swordsman's stomach, then brought a
fist down sharply against the back of his head.  This time, Kuno went down
and didn't get back up.

     "Make sure he's out," Yundermaro called.  "He seems to have a very
hard head."

     "Okay," Kurupo said.  "Don't take no bites of her till I'm done here."

     "Perish the thought," Yundermaro said.  Nabiki tried to will her heart
to stop beating so fast, and her breathing to come easier.

     Kurupo knelt down and grabbed Kuno by the hair, lifting his face up
off the ground.  "You awake?"

     Kuno groaned and started to lift his bokken.  Kurupo shrugged and
drove his face into the ground with a smack, then did it again.  Kuno lay
still at last, and the bigger kappa got up.  "You stay down, you."

     "Alright," Yundermaro said.  "Appetizers first, Kurupo?  This one here
will do nicely."

     "Righto," Kurupo said.  He started to walk over towards Nabiki, shark
teeth glinting in the sunlight.

     "Honourable kappas," Nabiki said, finding her voice at last, along
with a plan.  "Please, wait..."

     "But we're hungry," Yundermaro said.  "Very hungry."

     "But I offer you a wonderful opportunity," Nabiki said.  "That you
will lose if you eat my friend and I."

     "Let's eat," Kurupo said.  Yundermaro held up a scaly hand.

     "No, friend Kurupo.  Let us listen," he said.  The grip released on
Nabiki, and the two kappas stood eagerly in front of her.

     "Tell us, young friend," Yundermaro said.  "And don't get any idea of
running.  We're very fast."

     "I would not think of it," Nabiki said, hoping her voice sounded more
confident and assured to the kappas than it did to her.  She remembered
things about kappas now, little stories her mother had told her.  She took
a deep breath to steady herself, and began.

     "Honourable kappas, I offer you many cucumbers," she said.  "Many
fine, delicious cucumbers."

     The kappas eyes lit up.  "Cucumbers?" they said in unison, Kurupo's
grating growl mingling with Yundermaro's smooth voice.

     "Yes," Nabiki said.  "Many cucumbers."

     "How?" Yundermaro said.  "This isn't even the season for cucumbers..."

     "You have been gone many years," Nabiki said grandiosely.  "In this
day and age, EVERY season is the season for cucumbers!"

     She swept her arms wide for emphasis, and gave the kappas her best
'You can trust me' smile, the one that had lost countless Furinkan students
money over the years.

     The kappas smiled back like delighted children, albeit it hideous and
excessively fanged ones.  "Really?" Kurupo said.

     "I would not lie to such noble spirits as you," Nabiki said smoothly.
She was growing calmer and calmer as this went on; it was becoming just
another business deal.

     "Yes, of course you wouldn't," Yundermaro said.  "Go get us those
cucumbers and hurry back."

     "There are many cucumbers," Nabiki said.  "I will need help to carry
them.  Perhaps my friend..."

     Nabiki thought of what she could remember from her mother.  Kappas
love cucumbers more than anything; kappas are tied to their rivers, and
can't go far from them.

     One of the things was not that kappas are stupid.  Yundermaro frowned.
"No, no.  You might just run off and never come back.  Bring back some
cucumbers by yourself; your friend stays here."

     "Let us discuss terms," Nabiki said quickly, trying to distract the
kappa from any suspicion.  Yundermaro was obviously the leader, and the
smarter of the two.

     "Here's our terms," the smaller kappa said.  "Go and get us as many
cucumbers as you can carry.  Bring them back here, and we'll eat you, the
cucumbers, and your boyfriend."

     "There seems to be little in the way of profit for me in that deal,"
Nabiki said.  "I am the only one who can get you those cucumbers.  And why
should I do that if you will eat me and my friend anyway?"

     "Yes, yes," Yundermaro said with a sly grin.  "However, if you do not
get the cucumbers, we'll eat your boyfriend, and then you."

     It was starting to irk her how they kept on referring to Kuno as her
boyfriend, but she wasn't about to point out otherwise.  No reason to risk
compromising a business relationship with something that apparently had no
compunctions about pulling her arm off.

     "But you get no cucumbers that way," Nabiki said.  "Why not..."

     "Ahh.  But, you see, if you get us the cucumbers," the small kappa
said.  "We'll eat you first, and we'll make it quite painless.  You won't
have to see your boyfriend die, and you won't feel anything but for a
moment."

     The kappa's mouth opened again, exposing a cavern of jagged razors
twisted into a grin.  "However, if you don't go and get us the cucumbers,
we'll eat your boyfriend first.  You can watch him die, and before we start
on him we'll pull off your legs so you can't run away."

     Nabiki paled.  The kappa continued nonchalantly.  "When we're done
with him, we'll pull off your arms and eat those, along with the legs.  It
can take you a very long time to bleed to death after all your limbs are
pulled off."

     "Yup," Kurupo said, breaking his silence.  "Takes a while."

     Nabiki felt as if her blood had turned to ice.  For a moment, just a
moment, she considered agreeing to the kappa's deal, running away, getting
as far away as possible, even if she had to leave Kuno.

     Then she steeled herself.  If this didn't work, she'd have to think up
some other way.  "Very well, honourable kappas," she said smoothly,
resisting the urge to gulp.  "It shall be as you say.  I will go and get
your cucumbers and return with them."

     "Excellent," Yundermaro said, his smile growing.

     "It has been a pleasure to deal with such honourable kappas," Nabiki
said, bowing deeply.  She turned the thoughts over in her mind, the old
legends her mother had told her all those years ago.

     Kappas love cucumbers; kappas are tied to their rivers and can't go
far from them.  Kappas carry some water from their rivers in their heads,
so they don't lose their strength.

     Kappas are very polite, under the right circumstances.

     The kappas bowed in unison in response to her, and in unison, the
water spilled from the bowl-shaped depressions in their scaly heads and
splashed on the floor of the clearing.

     "Oh, you littllllleeeee..." Yundermaro said, falling from bowing at
the waist to bowing on his knees, and then to planting his face down into
the dirt.

     "Shiiiiiiiiittttt..." Kurupo said, doing the same.

     "Oh dear..." Yundermaro said, weakly struggling as if to stand as
Nabiki backed carefully away.  "I can't beeelieeeve we felll for thattt.."

     "You did," Nabiki said, revelling in the feeling of warmth returning
to her body as her fear gradually left her.  "Sorry."

     "I feel a bit weak, Kurupo," Yundermaro said.  "What about youuuuu..."

     "Oooooh..." Kurupo groaned.  "Water....."

     "Be a good girl and go get ussss soooome waterrrrr, would youuuuu..."
Yundermaro said.  "Then we can have you and your boyfriend for dinnerrr to
thank youuuu..."

     Kurupo coughed wetly.  The green skin of the kappas was cracking and
peeling like a terrible sunburn, and they looked dry as desserts.  A thin
stream of watery green fluid trailed from the mouth of each of the
creatures.  Nabiki felt a bit sorry for them, despite everything they'd
been intending to do.

     "Can't do that, I'm afraid," she said.

     "Nice triiiiiiick, humannn," Yundermaro said.  "I always knew I and
Kurupo were too polite for our own good... we should have eaten you and
your boyfrienddddd right away..."

     "He's not my boyfriend," Nabiki said.  The smaller kappa grinned
weakly.

     "Reaaallyyyyy?"

     Nabiki didn't like the tone of amusement in his voice.  "So what if
he's not my boyfriend?"

     "Oh, he'll be soooo pleasssed..." Yundermaro said.  "Won't heeee,
Kurupo?"

     "Yup," Kurupo said.  "He's looking for a wife, he is..."

     "Who?" Nabiki said.  "What are you talking about?"

     The kappas' eyes were nearly closed now, and they seemed to be growing
smaller.  Their skin was semi-translucent now, and dark shapes pulsed
beneath that Nabiki tried not to look at.

     "Funny, isn't iiit..." Kurupo said.  "Weee fought the waaaar against
the abominations, survived all through that, and then we end up getting
done in by a human..."

     Yundermaro chuckled.  "I think that's the most I've ever heard you say
at one tiiiiiiime..."

     "You never let me talkkkkk," Kurupo said.  "Always with your gabbbbing
and silly gamessss..."

     "Really?  I do apologize...." Yundermaro said.  "Well, fear not, my
old friendddd... we are kappas... so long as the rivers live, so shall
weeeee... I'll see you in the spirittttt planeeeee..."

     "Answer me!" Nabiki finally said.  "Who are you talking about?  Who's
looking for a wife?"

     "Any lasttttt wordssss, Kurupo," Yundermaro said.

     "Bye," Kurupo said.

     "Feel like thrashing around a littttttleee?" Yundermaro said.  "That
looks real impressivvvvveee..."

     "Okayyyyyy," Kurupo replied.

     "WAAUUGUGHHHH!"

     "AURGGGHGHGHHHH!"

     "WAAUUGGGHHHH!"

     "AUURRRRHGHGHGGH!"

     "SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!" Nabiki yelled.  "Who are you talking
about?"

     The kappas had stopped thrashing, and were very still.  They were only
half the size they'd been when she'd first seen them, and they were
shrinking by the second, draining away like groundwater as green fluid
poured from every part of them.  In only moments, they were gone.

     "Damn," Nabiki said, wiping her hand across her bangs, which were wet
with both sweat and water.  The whole clearing seemed damper now, and a fog
seemed to be forming.  Kuno was still lying motionless on the ground, and
Nabiki ran to him, concerned.  She felt for a pulse, and was relieved to
find it was strong and steady.

     "Hey, Kuno-baby, wake up," she said, rolling him over and patting his
cheek.  His face was a little bruised, and his lip was split, but he seemed
otherwise okay.  Kurupo's backhand had left a score of four long red
scratches across his cheek.

     Kuno let out a long breath and sat abruptly up.  "DEMON!"

     "Kappa, actually," Nabiki said, smiling at him and patting him on the
cheek again.  "And I took care of them.  You don't need to worry about the
big bad kappas, Kuno-baby."

     "Demon..." Kuno said again, a strange light in his eyes.

     "Hey, Kuno-baby," Nabiki said.  "You delusional or something?  I
thought your head was stronger than that."

     "DEMON!" Kuno said again, waving his hands around.

     "Kuno, there isn't..."

     Nabiki paused, feeling more than seeing the shape of something very
large behind her.  She was sure she felt every nerve in her body working
slowly as she turned her head and looked behind her.  Kuno dropped
soundlessly to unconsciousness again.

     She craned her neck up.  And up again.

     "Hello," the oni boomed in a voice like soft thunder.  "What have we
here?"

     Nabiki screamed, but it never got past her throat, dying there as she
looked upon the demon in all his horror.  This was no silly little thing
like the cartoonish creature that had given her big sister cute horns and
an evil disposition.  This was nine feet of massive, bull-horned oni, with
eyes that glowed brightly red in his hideous face.

     The skin was a blue so dark as to be nearly black, and it glistened
with an oily sheen.  A huge spiked iron bar, taller than Nabiki by more
than two feet, was held loosely like toothpick in one massive hand.  The
demon was nearly naked, wearing only a white sash wrapped around his waist.

     "What luck," the oni said, looking at her.  He smiled, exposing a
forest of fangs that made Kurupo and Yundermaro look like kittens.  "Here I
was, freed from the binding after Jigoku only knows how long, and I've
already found myself a bride."

     "I don't think you're my type," Nabiki said weakly.

     "I didn't give you a choice," the oni said, reaching out with speed
belying his size and grabbing Nabiki by the arm.  It lifted her up, nearly
dangling her off the ground and forcing her to stand on her tiptoes to
avoid having her arm wrenched out of her socket.  The grip was strong, not
in the way Yundermaro's had been, a strength that had been impossibly great
given the kappa's small size.  This was pure strength, so strong that the
oni was incapable of not hurting her if it touched her.

     "You'll do nicely," the oni said, licking his lips and gazing at her.
"A fine human woman."

     Nabiki finally screamed, and the oni jerked her arm.  "Quiet now.  We
oni can give a human pleasures they'd never get from one of their own."

     "No thanks," Nabiki said as vehemently she could.

     "Unhand her," Kuno said groggily, standing up and brandishing his
wooden blade at the oni.  His eyes were unfocused, but angry and
determined.  "Tatewaki Kuno says you shall not touch Nabiki Tendo until he
lies dead upon the ground!"

     "Works for me," the oni said with a shrug, tossing Nabiki aside like a
rag doll.  She remembered how her father had showed her to fall, and got up
quickly.

     "Kuno, you idiot!" she screamed, shaking with fear.  "Run!  You can't
beat that thing!"

     Kuno and the oni squared off.  The demon raised the bar of iron and
grinned.  "Come, little man."

     "YAAAAAAAH!!!"

     Kuno attacked brilliantly, darting past the casual swing of the oni's
club and swinging at his neck with the wooden sword in a perfectly aimed,
decapitating blow.

     The bokken shattered against the oni's hide.  The oni backhanded Kuno
and knocked him flying to land in a heap.  He stood up, groaning.

     The oni advanced on him, then paused.  He turned and looked back at
Nabiki, who was finding it rather difficult to drive the tanto into his
back when it kept bouncing off.

     "We'll play later," he said.  "For a long time, don't you worry."

     He grabbed her and tossed her back; she landed badly this time,
hurting her leg.  The oni rushed Kuno, and a swing of the iron bar smashed
the tree behind him into splinters as Kuno rolled under the blow and came
up to his feet behind the oni.

     "My kingdom for a sword!" he lamented, as the oni slowly turned and
Kuno began to backpedal away from him.

     "KUNO!" Nabiki shouted, rising painfully to one knee.  "Catch!"

     She grabbed the sheathed katana by its hilt and tossed it spinning
through the dozen feet of empty space between them.  It might be a
worthless weapon, but under the circumstances, it was better than nothing.

     Kuno caught it by sheath, and slipped the weapon out, three or so feet
of glimmering razor-edged steel that seemed to sing as it touched the air.
To Nabiki's eye, the red glow that had looked as if were trapped within the
blade was brighter now.

     "Come, demon," Kuno said exultantly.  "Let us duel!"

     And the demon came.

**********

     The weight of the sword in Kuno's hand felt right, perfect even, for
the first time ever when he held this weapon.  The handle seemed to have
been shaped with his hands in mind, and it almost felt as if his fingers
had worn grooves in the weapon from constant use.

     He felt revitalized, refreshed, as if he had taken no injury before
now.  His face stopped throbbing, his breathing grew easier.  He saw the
sword blade shimmer in his hands.

     The sword no longer felt like a worthless weapon; now, it seemed as if
it were an extension of him, moreso than any weapon he had ever held.

     The oni was coming, in seeming slow motion.  He took in the details of
it almost absently; the ropily muscled arms and legs, the broad chest, the
red-glowing eyes, and the huge iron weapon it wielded.

     He stepped to the side as it swung at him, pivoted perfectly, and
slashed open a long but shallow wound across the oni's chest.  The oni
bellowed and whirled, quicker than he would have thought possible, and
brought the iron bar down at him.

     The sword felt like a bolt of lightning in his hands, a raw, living
thing of such power that he could not hope to wield it so much as direct it
somewhat.  He brought up the blade and drove forward.

     <Strike, warrior,> something whispered in his mind.

     Tatewaki Kuno struck, throwing all his strength, all his rage, all his
weight and power behind the blow.  The katana struck the oni's weapon, the
kanabo, the spiked iron bar that had in the stories he'd read as a child
sitting alone in his room, smashed so many heads and bodies.

     There was a tearing sound, and then the katana sliced through the
kanabo as if it were made of soft butter.

     The top half of the kanabo dropped to the ground with a heavy thud.

     The oni's arm that had gripped the bottom half followed a moment
later.  The oni screeched, a cry of rage and pain, and clamped his free arm
instinctively over the stump.

     Kuno screamed as well, and whirled around, swinging his sword in a
full circle impossibly quickly as he leapt into the air and took the
demon's head off at the shoulders.  The body slumped to the ground, and the
head rolled away and came to rest near Nabiki's feet.  She jumped back,
looking at it with disgust.

     Kuno's feet hit the ground and he gasped for breath, all his injuries
seeming to flare anew.  He dropped to one knee, holding the sword in front
of him.

     Nabiki rushed to his side.  "Magnificent," she said enthusiastically.
"You okay?"

     "I... won..." Kuno said, almost disbelievingly, his eyes shining as he
looked at Nabiki.  The body of the oni was dissolving into a thick, greasy
black smoke, but that seemed an afterthought to the two of them.

     Kuno slipped the katana into its sheath, almost reluctant to put it
away.  Nabiki suddenly threw her arms around his neck and hugged him
tightly.

     "We won, Kuno-baby," she said, her breath hot and hard against his
face like a caress.  "There's no monster in the world that can survive in
the face of my business smarts and your fighting skills."

     Kuno laughed, still seeming a bit shocked at his victory against the
oni, and put a hesitant arm around her waist.  The two of them were both
covered in muddy forest dirt, having been tossed about by the kappas and
the oni several times, but it didn't seem to matter in that moment as they
held each other, glad to be okay.

     After a little while, they realized just what it was they were doing,
and broke apart with embarassed grins.

     "Nice work," Nabiki said.

     "How did you ever get rid of the kappas?" Kuno said.  "They were
mighty warriors indeed."

     "Negotiation," Nabiki said, snapping her fingers and looking at Kuno
cockily.

     Kuno stared at her blankly, then smiled.  "Ah.  I see," he said, even
though he didn't.

     "Of course you do, Kuno-baby," Nabiki said, smiling and trying without
success to get some of the dirt off her shirt and pants.  "Of course you
do."

     Kuno knelt down by the bag and picked up the tanto.  He gazed at it
for a moment, and then carefully rewrapped it and put it back inside the
bag with a strange kind of finality.  He looked at the sheathed katana, and
then at the splintered remains of his bokken on the ground.

     "You know, Nabiki," he said softly.  "Perhaps, under the right
circumstances, even a worthless weapon can be wielded for some greater
good."

     "I hear you, Kuno-baby," Nabiki said, even though she didn't.  Not
entirely.

     Kuno wrapped the katana and put it away, then picked up the bag from
the ground.  "Let us depart, Nabiki.  The train will be leaving soon."

     "Twice in a row," Nabiki said as she looked at him.

     "Hmm?" Kuno said, looking back at her.

     "You called me Nabiki," she said.  "Not Nabiki Tendo.  Twice in a
row."

     "I often added your family name because I had not wished to be
presumptious," Kuno said, wondering if he'd done something wrong.  "I had
thought that now that we had fought together, I could assume a less formal
tone.  Forgive me if..."

     "No, Kuno-baby," Nabiki said.  "Nabiki's just fine.  Call me Nabiki
any time you want."

     "Very well," he said.  "Nabiki."

     He hesitated.  "And you may call me Tatewaki, if you wish."

     "Can I still call you Kuno-baby sometimes, Tatewaki?" Nabiki asked.

     "If you must," Kuno said resignedly.  "Come.  We must get to the
train."

     "We're not exactly presentable here," Nabiki said, indicating the dirt
on both of them.

     "Warriors seldom are," Kuno said, turning and starting to go.  He
glanced back at the edge of the clearing.  "Coming, Tendo-baby?"

     Nabiki's mouth opened.  She hadn't thought anything could surprise her
again after what had already happened today, but she was wrong.  Kuno
started to walk out of the clearing, a small, triumphant smile on his face.

     After a moment, Nabiki hurried after him.  "Hey!  Wait up!"

**********

     The train rolled on, over the bridge that spanned the large river near
the town of Fuinkawa.  Two pairs of beady black eyes watched it go from
somewhere that both was and wasn't this river.

     "Strange, isn't it?" Yundermaro said.  "Metal serpents and such."

     "Nope," Kurupo replied.  "Seen stranger."

     "Ah, yes, of course we have," Yundermaro said.  "In the war against
the abominations and all.  Remember the Battle of-"

     "Hey," Kurupo said.  "You think the seals are broken?"

     There was a long pause from Yundermaro.  "Dear oh dear.  I never
thought of that.  That is a distinct possibility.  After all, if we are
awake, surely..."

     He trailed off, stroking his face with one clawed hand and sighing
slightly.

     "Bad," Kurupo said, and the word carried a sense of much more than
just bad.  It carried hatred, the memory of events millenia old that were
as fresh as yesterday in the cold minds of the water spirits.

     "Yes, friend Kurupo," Yundermaro said with a watery sigh.  "Very bad."

     "Maybe we shouldn't have tried to eat those humans," Kurupo said.
"Maybe the truce was still in effect."

     "No, no," Yundermaro said.  "We were within our rights.  Once the
great seals were in place, all truces were over.  That was the agreement."

     "Hmm..." Kurupo said.  "Okay."

     "Still," Yundermaro said.  "You never know.  Perhaps we'll be called
to fight again."

     "Why'd we fight in the first place?" Kurupo said.  "I forget."

     "Because, dear Kurupo," Yundermaro said.  "Next to the abominations
and their children, humans and kappas are brothers.  I don't hate humans; I
feel sorry for them, not being kappas and all."

     "I don't," Kurupo said.  "I just like eating them."

     "Well, to each his own," Yundermaro said.  "I don't hate humans.  But
I hate those things more than I hate anything in the world.  And I've had a
long, long time to lose that hatred, and I haven't lost it yet."

     "Me neither," Kurupo said.  "They hurt the rivers."

     "Yes, my friend," Yundermaro said slowly.  "And in return, we did unto
them tenfold!"

     "Hundredfold," Kurupo said.

     "Thousandfold!" Yundermaro cried happily.

     "Whatever fold is... uh, after thousandfold!" Kurupo said with
cheerful enthusiasm.

     "Those two humans..." Yundermaro said.  "You see what they did to that
oni?"

     Kurupo chuckled wetly.  "Yup."

     "If that is what the majority of humanity is like these days, we may
not even need to fight," Yundermaro said.  "I'd almost feel sorry for those
things, if I didn't hate them so much."

     The two kappas laughed, and their laughter rang on into the night, and
was carried through the river's edge and up its banks, singing along the
tracks of the railway like a spark through copper.

**********

     Nabiki looked to Kuno.  "You hear something, Tatewaki?"

     "No, Nabiki," he said, glancing to the girl beside him.  "Did you?"

     "Almost sounded like someone... laughing..." Nabiki said.  "Must be
hearing things."

     "Mmmm..." Kuno said.  He leaned back in his seat, as Nabiki looked out
the window at the river passing below.

     The train rolled on, into the day and past the river, and carried
Nabiki Tendo and Tatewaki Kuno towards home.

     And in the luggage rack above, the sword shone dimly red in the
darkness of the bag, and it waited with a patience more terribly sharp than
even its edge.