{These characters are not property of me. I would never attempt to claim them as my own. This story may not be used without my permission, and may not be used to make money in any way, shape or form. Characters and certain situations were created by Rumiko Takahashi, so don't try any funny stuff!}

Tatewaki lifted his son into the air and looked at him. He looked healthy, he acted healthy, he seemed healthy. But that was the problem. He seemed healthy. What if he wasn't? The doctor had repeatedly said Takuma was fine, but the doctor had also said Kodachi had been fine...

Takuma looked back at him, his eyes wide and unblinking. Tatewaki jiggled Takuma in the air a little and received a toothless grin. Tatewaki did it again and got a squeal from Takuma. Tatewaki continued the game until Nabiki caught them.

"Keep doing that and he's going to throw up on you," she said.

"He likes it."

"Of course he likes it. It means he'll get to throw up on you." She stood off to the side to avoid any accidents.

"Kuma-chan wouldn't do that to me, would you Kuma-chan?" Tatewaki made a funny face at the baby in his hands.

"Give him here before you make a mess all over." Nabiki held her arms out, waiting to receive Takuma.

Tatewaki brought Takuma back close to his body and cradled him in his arms. "My little Kuma-chan would never do that."

"Maybe not on purpose," Nabiki said, still waiting. Everyday she felt like she was walking on pins, just waiting for something to be wrong with Takuma. Always waiting for something to be wrong, waiting for something bad to happen to her... to Takuma. "Please, let me hold him," she said quietly.

Tatewaki looked up from Takuma at Nabiki. The look on her face spoke volumes, and he wordlessly handed the baby over. He watched Nabiki hold Takuma for a little bit, not knowing what to say. All his fault, it was all his fault, and there was nothing he could do to help.

"It's almost time," he finally said. "We have to be there in 20 minutes."

Nabiki nodded, but didn't relinquish her protective hold on Takuma at all.

"I'm going to get ready," Tatewaki said and walked off, leaving Nabiki and Takuma alone. There were times he still felt like everyone was blaming him for what had happened and nothing relieved his sorrow then. It was a good thing it was Thursday.

Kasumi walked in after Tatewaki had left and touched Nabiki on the shoulder. "Isn't it time?" she asked.

"Yeah. I suppose I should get going." Still, she couldn't give up Takuma. "It's not any easier, you know."

"I don't imagine it will be for a while, Nabiki. In time..."

"Why not now? Why does it have to be in time? Why can't it be now?"

"I don't know. Only when you come to terms..."

"Screw that! Why doesn't it ever get better?" What Nabiki meant to be an angered and impassioned voice was more of a sob.

"Hush, Nabiki." Kasumi hugged Nabiki and Takuma. "You'll see. It will, it will."

"Excuse me, do you know how I can get to Tokyo from here?"

"What? You're IN Tokyo, kid." The man walked away, bewildered by the question from the strange looking boy.

"I'm in Tokyo?" The tears almost started flowing. "Ranma Saotome, you shall pay for sending me to hell!"

Ranma sneezed.

"I hope you're not coming down with a cold, Ranma," Kasumi said, handing him a tissue.

"Man, why does school have ta start so early in the mornin'?" Ranma scratched the back of his head, coming down from the fight with his father. The euphoria of the win dissipated quickly when he knew he had to be at school shortly afterwards.

"You'll get into the schedule eventually. So quit whining and let's go." Akane tossed Ranma's bag at him.

"Jeez, why do ya have to be so violent all the time?" he asked, catching the bag and making his way to the door.

Akane stuck her tongue out at him. "I guess you just bring out the best in me," she said jokingly, smiling.

"Tomboy," he answered, hiding his smile until her back was turned. "Yo, Nabiki, are you comin'?" He called up the stairs.

"Yeah, I'll be right down. Just let me finish up here," came her reply.

"OK, we'll wait for ya." Ranma went to the door, slipped on his shoes, then went outside to wait with Akane. "What takes her so long?" he asked.

"Ranma, don't you know anything about babies?"

"No! Why would I! I'm a guy, ya know."

Akane sighed. "She has to feed Takuma."

"Feed him? OK, so why should that take so long? She just shoves the food in... his... mouth..."

Akane was shaking her head. "You really DON'T know anything about babies." Akane leaned over and whispered something in Ranma's ear.

Ranma promptly turned seven shades of red. "Oh. I'll... take your word for it." OK, so maybe he didn't need to know that much.

Nabiki was upstairs sitting at her desk. In one arm she was holding Takuma, and holding a pencil in her other hand. She was currently going over her homework while Takuma took his time feeding. "Don't you even think of biting me," she mumbled, her eyes wandering over the numbers, doing the calculations in her head.

She subconsciously changed Takuma to her other side as she caught a stupid mistake in her math. She erased the number and wrote down the correct one, her arm getting tired from holding Takuma for so long. "Hurry up, hurry up," she said disinterestedly. "I don't have all day."

After a few more minutes, Takuma did finish and it was time to pass him off to Kasumi. When did kids get over the puking/crapping stage anyway? Redressing and gathering her homework, Nabiki went downstairs and handed off Takuma with a little pang of guilt.

Kasumi took him, smiling happily. "Have a nice day, Nabiki."

Nabiki sighed unhappily. "Yeah. I'll try."

"Please be sure you're home in time for dinner, and bring Tatewaki with you."

"He has class tonight. It doesn't get over until eight." Tatewaki, of course, was taking cram classes to help make up for the nine months he had missed, and was slowly catching up. As it was, his schedule was break-neck with classes every day, along with some more intensive college instruction, and his training sessions with Ranma.

"We'll wait."

Nabiki sighed again. "OK, I'll let him know. I think he was supposed to practice with Dr. Tofu tonight." He was also learning some shiatsu from Dr. Tofu in realization that he would never be able to keep up Ranma.

"There'll be be enough time after for that. I'll let the doctor know." Kasumi would not be swayed otherwise.

Oh no. That meant something was being planned. Nabiki hated surprises of any type. The ones by her family were the worst. "Fine. We'll be back here as soon as possible."

Kasumi smiled. "Don't worry. I'm sure you'll be pleased to find out..."

"Nabiki, we've got to leave now or we'll be late!" Akane called into the house.

"Guess that means me," Nabiki said before walking away. She stopped and turned. "Thanks, Kasumi." And then she left.

The group of students was wandering around the zoo. What a day to go to the zoo. The sun was out, there was a gentle breeze, the air was pleasantly warm... It should have been perfect. It wasn't.

Nabiki was in a funk that the beautiful day couldn't cure. Ever since Kasumi had inadvertently given away the fact that there was some sort of surprise, Nabiki had been completely in the dumps. It just had to be a late night for Tatewaki, didn't it?

Slumping against a railing, she looked disinterestedly out at the lion pen. She could hear, clearly, her classmates laughing and talking around her, but never to her. Every time she thought about that, it seemed her heart would swell, and she would came a hair's breath from crying.

The last person that had talked to her had been... It took a moment of thinking. The new girl, who hadn't know anything about her. The new girl who now shied away from her, who didn't say anything except 'good morning' now. That first day, it had seemed like there was finally someone who could see past all the stories, all the lies, all the rumors... But no.

There was some intensive whispering from her left, just loud enough for her to hear, by a group of girls. Not giving them the satisfaction of affirming their presence, Nabiki continued to look out at the lions, trying very hard to block out the things they were saying.

It was hard; that bitch, Yukiko, knew it all, knew what hurt the most and didn't hesitate to use that knowledge. Yukiko had been someone Nabiki had had a cool rivalry with before Tatewaki had... Before. Now, Yukiko liked to flaunt the fact that each of them had been... appreciative of Tatewaki Kuno's form and money, and that obviously, Nabiki had captured his fancy more than her.

The idea that what had happened had been a... good thing made Nabiki want to throw up. And Yukiko never gave up; her relentless teasing often drove Nabiki home after school into her room until the next morning. And here she was, doing it now.

Some ways away, Nabiki could hear Akane and Ranma arguing over something, insulting each other. Even from the distance away she was, she could hear the joking, teasing tone they were using. It really hurt to see them act so casually under their circumstances; Nabiki wished she could be that way, not have a care in the world. She sighed heavily, the sleeping lions in her vision getting blurry.

She didn't notice the whispers die down, and it wasn't until the arms were around her that she knew someone was behind her. "The fierceness of the lion could not compare to your beauty," he said, then kissed her neck.

Nabiki turned and looked up at Tatewaki. He was smiling gently down at her, his hair being ruffled in the breeze. As soon as he saw her face though, his smile fell. "What are these?" He ran his finger underneath her eye, catching some unshed tears.

"Nothing, they're nothing." Quickly trying to change the subject, she sniffed, and drew one shakey breath. "What are you doing here?" Nabiki asked.

"Lunch. They said I could go. I only have half an hour left."

"You should get yourself something then. That's more important than..."

"Nonsense. You should know that you are the most important thing to me." The silence of the people around them was almost stifling.

Nabiki's eyes slid over to look at the group to her right, staring at her.

"Don't look at them, look at me." Tatewaki put two fingers to the side of Nabiki's jaw.

Nabiki turned her eyes back his, then he tilted her head up a fraction. "Don't you see, they don't mean anything. Nothing." Tatewaki leaned his head down and kissed her softly, deeply.

Somewhere, far away, Nabiki heard a person or persons make some disgusted, disapproving sounds, but she quickly shut those out. The sound she couldn't shut out was nearly a hysterical scream.

"Ranma Saotome! Don't you know I've seen hell!"

"Who..." Before Ranma could finish his question, he was dodging a series of vicious attacks. Duck. "Who." Dodge. "Are." Leap. "You?"

"Don't play innocent! It's all your fault!" The stout young man in front of Ranma was attacking furiously, using all his strength in each futile punch. "It's because of you that I've seen hell!"

"I don't have any clue what you're talkin' about." Ranma performed a compact little backflip and ended up on a high branch in a tree. "Look, I got no problem with you. So why don't we just work this out?"

The young man whipped off his belt and swung it through the air, slicing right through the tree trunk. He looked up at Ranma, a nasty little smile on his face, with... fangs? His smile turned into a scowl when Ranma jumped to another tree.

"Yo, Akane," Ranma called as he saw Akane approach the two combatants.

"Ranma, what's going..."

"Get out of here, Akane. This guy's bonkers."

As if to prove Ranma's point, the young man swung his belt again and sliced through another tree.

While he was distracted, Akane walked up behind the boy and grabbed his shoulder, using her uncommon temper and strength to figure out just what the hel... heck was going on. This was a public place after all! She started to turn him around. "What do you think you're..."

A hand on his shoulder. The first thing that came to mind was 'Saotome!' and his hand came around with the sword-like belt still clutched in it. He didn't even see who he was swinging at until it was too late.

Akane let out a frightened gasp, dropping to her knees with her self-preservation instinct in full effect. Unfortunately, that didn't quite save her.

"Akane!" two voices shouted simultaneously.

Nabiki came running up, dragging Tatewaki behind her, her face a mask of worry. All she had seen was some nutcase swing something that looked like a weapon at her sister.

Ranma hopped out of the tree he had jumped to when the second had been cut down and rushed over. "Akane!" He looked at her inert form for a moment before turning to the culprit. He could not form words through his anger. His face was contorting into new and interesting shapes as he tried to say something appropriately nasty.

Nabiki was almost panicking with worry. "Tate-chan, what's wrong with her? How badly is she hurt?" she asked worriedly, her hands shaking too bad to check herself. She didn't want Akane to go through anything like she had... or worse.

Tatewaki felt Akane's wrist first. "I think she's passed out," he said, feeling her pulse, then felt her head carefully. Feeling no bumps or cuts, no blood, he lifted her carefully, where a large portion of her hair fell away. "I think..."

"Her hair," Nabiki said quietly. Akane's hair... her beautiful hair. Akane's pride, even before her martial arts ability. Akane would be PISSED. "Ranma, she's fine. It was just her..."

With the speed of the wind, Ranma was carrying Akane away, knocking the perpetrator aside into the ruined tree where a several intimidating branches introduced themselves to his head. "Goin' to see Dr. Tofu!" Ranma yelled as he disappeared down the sidewalk.

Tatewaki walked up to the young man and grabbed the front of his shirt. "You were lucky... this time. Don't expect it to be this way the next time we see your face." Tatewaki dropped him, then started to walk away with Nabiki. Before they got too far away, Tatewaki turned back. "Don't ever touch Akane again, or things will be..." He looked up at the sky for a moment. "Most unfortunate for you." Then they did leave, leaving the dazed boy among the destroyed tree.

"Saotome... All you fault..." he said weakly.

As more students began to mill around the scene of the crime, one tall slender girl watched the unlucky couple walk away, her eyes narrowed. 'Not important, eh? We'll see about that,' she thought.

"Please, sit. Dinner will be ready in a few moments." Soun was already seated at the table, though not in his usual spot. In fact, the place he was offering was his usual seat: the head of the table.

Tatewaki stared for a moment, then bowed. "I thank you."

"No need to thank me. Just enjoy the wonderful meal Kasumi is making with us." Soun was strangely subdued, yet talkative. It was a strange mix of character that hadn't been seen since before his wife had died.

Soun watched Tatewaki sit gingerly at the head of the table and smiled a little. "You are our guest tonight," he said from the place immediately to Tatewaki's right.

Nabiki, who was sitting across from Soun, watched everything with a slightly bewildered look on her face. She kept silent, knowing this was planned, and not just by Kasumi. There was something building, but what, she didn't know.

Genma was seated stoically beside Soun, a bit annoyed that the usual schedule of shogi had been interrupted and that dinner wasn't ready yet. He was secretly disappointed that Kasumi had "informed" him that he would behave and eat civilly, including not making a total pig of himself.

Ranma had been walking around with the same dejected look on his face, which meant Kasumi had given him the same lecture. Genma sighed inwardly, waiting for dinner to be served. If there was one thing that was hard to do, that was break a Saotome of his appetite, but Kasumi knew how to pierce right through the defenses and flip that guilt switch. She was even better than his wife, which was saying quite a bit.

Maybe it was the fact that she was so young and had had to deal with so much in such a short amount of time. She never asked for respect, yet she always got it from everyone. That type of thing was almost unheard of when it came to a 19 year old girl. And she didn't even practice the Art! 'Sometimes the mind boggles,' Genma thought. His stomach rumbled its agreement.

"Say, uh, Tendo, do you know when..."

"Momentarily, Saotome," Soun said mellowly.

The whole atmosphere was almost too creepy for words. It was pleasant and civil, and there wasn't a hint of fighting or violence at all. In fact, neither Ranma or Genma had visited the pond since Ranma had gotten home from school. Somewhere, Bruce Lee was turning over in his grave and there was a Martian eating the cheese the moon was made out of.

"Akane, Ranma, could you help me in the kitchen?" Kasumi called out.

Akane came from upstairs, and Ranma came in from the dojo, both making a beeline for the kitchen without a protest. Moments later, all three came back out, their arms filled with plates and bowls, each one covered and filled with food.

In silence, they set everything on the table, everyone eyeing the food appreciatively. "It looks delicious, Kasumi," Genma said finally, breaking the silence.

"Thank you, but wouldn't it be a shame if someone were to disgrace our beautiful dinner by making a pig of himself?" she said, smiling at him.

Genma winced and nodded. "A shame," he said quietly, then his ego regained prominence. "So don't go making a pig of yourself, boy," he said loudly, directing his comment at Ranma.

"Thanks, Pop. I'll try to remember," he said sourly, giving his father a dirty look.

The table was set, the people were in their seats and hungry. They were all poised to eat. "Before we get started," Kasumi began, bringing almost inaudible groans from Genma and Ranma, "Father and I have something we'd like to do."

With that said, Ranma gave Akane a questioning glance that she returned with a shrug.

"Yes, this needs to be said, as a matter of our family honor," Soun said, picking up where Kasumi had left off. "We treated our honored guest very poorly and he deserves a proper apology." Soun stood up with Kasumi, and even Akane. "On behalf of the Tendo family, please accept our most sincere apologies for treating you in a way that was most improper." All three bowed.

Tatewaki looked stunned, but managed to say, "Apology accepted."

The three stood straight and resumed their seats. "And we thank you for not thinking poorly of us." Soun was acting like the head of the house again, not the overly emotional man that he often portrayed. He looked at Kasumi, who nodded her support.

Taking a short breath, Soun lifted the bottle of sake that had been brought out with the food. "Shall we drink to happiness then... son?"

Tatewaki lifted his cup in numb fingers and nodded.

Soun filled the cup, then offered the sake to the other members of the family. Each cup was filled until only his own was empty. He offered the bottle to Tatewaki, who set down his cup and accepted the bottle.

Barely controlling the shaking of his hand, Tatewaki filled Soun's cup, then set down the bottle and picked up his cup carefully, trying not to spill any of the sake.

Soun lifted his cup and watched as everyone followed suit.

"Kampai!" they all said in unison and drank in celebration. Then dinner began.

It was morning and there were people around him. That meant one thing: directions. He grabbed a young man by the shirt. "Where is Furinkan High School?" he demanded.

The man, caught very much by surprise, pointed at the sign on the wall. It said 'Furinkan High School'.

'At last. Revenge will be mine, Ranma Saotome.' He released the student he had grabbed. "Revenge will be mine!"

"Did you hear that?" Akane whispered.

Ranma gave a non-committal murmur as he adjusted his hand that was supporting his head. Asleep as usual.

Akane shook her head and turned her attention back to Mrs. Okimura. Sometimes she wished she could fall asleep as easily as Ranma could.

Opening his eyes, he could see it was almost dark. "Damn!" he yelled, getting to his feet. "Curse you, Saotome! You won't escape me a second time! I will find you!" With that hearty proclamation, one Ryoga Hibiki set off in search of his rival.

He didn't consider that if he had just waited in the little grove of trees in the Furinkan yard that Ranma would show up the next morning.

"More rice, Ranma?" Kasumi offered.

"Mm-mm-mph" he accepted, holding his bowl out.

Akane looked at him, rolling her eyes. "You're such a pig, Ranma."

That woman! How dare she! He would never be able to find that... that...

"You're such a pig, Ranma."

Hold it a moment. He distinctly heard someone say 'Ranma'. Letting out an angry 'bwee!', the little black pig ran down the sidewalk, charged around the corner and ran smack into a garbage can that knocked him thoroughly unconscious.

"Why do I always have to clean up after his messes?" Akane grumbled, carrying a garbage bag outside. Ranma had made a huge mess and it had been her responsibility to clean it up. Just because she had hit him with the table and spilled food all over...

And outside, the garbage cans were knocked all over. Great. Akane set down the bag she was carrying and set the can upright. She caught sight of a small shape on the ground. Crouching down, she peered at it, trying to see what it was.

A pig! It was a little pig! The garbage was summarily forgotten and Akane gently prodded the pig. It was warm and soft, so it was still alive. She picked it up gently and looked at it in the light. It was wearing the most adorable black and yellow tie around its neck. She just HAD to keep it!

Back inside, Akane couldn't help but shout, "Look what I found outside!"

"What? Some hips?" Ranma asked just before he was launched into the pond.

"What's that, Akane?" Kasumi asked.

"It's a pig. I found it outside. It looks like it's hurt, doesn't it?"

Soun was staring at the shape huddled in Akane's arms. A pig of all things. How he wished his wife was alive to take care of things like this.

"Oh my, it does."

"Can I keep it? It won't be any trouble, really." Akane begged and pleaded with her eyes and facial expressions.

Kasumi couldn't help herself. "You can keep it Akane, but you have to take care of it."

Akane hugged the small pig close. "Don't worry, Kasumi, I will."

The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was... a baby.

"Does Takuma-chan like P-chan?" Akane's voice came from behind him. "P-chan, this is my nephew, Takuma."

'P-chan' gave Takuma a little piggy snarl.

"P-chan, I heard that. Don't be mean; he's only a baby," Akane scolded, then picked up the pig. "You have to be nice to Takuma; he doesn't know any better." Akane scratched between the pig's ears and held her close to her bosom.

Suddenly, 'P-chan' was in heaven. He began to grunt contentedly.

"That's a good pig. Now play with Takuma and be nice." Akane set the pig down again.

"I don't think this is a good idea, Akane. It's a filthy animal," Nabiki said, watching the pig and the baby eye each other warily.

"Don't be so worried. They won't hurt each other."

"Bwee! Bwee!"

Akane immediately snatched 'P-chan' up, pulling him from Takuma's grasp.

"Now, now, Kuma-chan. Don't pull on the little pig's ears," Tatewaki said. "They're delicate."

Takuma only squealed happily in response, lifting one hand up toward where Akane was holding the pig.

'P-chan' began to struggle and 'bwee' indignantly as Akane lowered him to the baby's level again.

"Bwee, bwee! Bukii, bwee, bwee, bukii!" translated to 'Saotome! I am in hell!'

She slipped the note into the locker, making sure she hadn't been seen by anyone. She controlled the smile that wanted to break through. This was not the time to look like she had been planning things. She walked off, feeling sure, but there was a tiny knot of doubt in her stomach. 'What if he really was a maniac?' No time for such silly questions now; it was too late for that.

After a morning of lectures and note taking and homework and quizzes, lunch was a much needed chance to refresh everyone's will to live. As the bell rang and classrooms emptied, Nabiki went to her locker alone. She would meet Akane and Ranma (unless he had been beaten to a pulp again) for lunch, and that was nice, but it just wasn't...

A slip of paper fell out of her locker as she opened it. Picking it up and unfolding it, she began to read. Her eyes narrowed as she got to the last line. "If that's the way you want it," she said under her breath.

Tucking the note into her pocket, she changed her shoes and left as quickly as possible. There was some serious business to attend to.

"We've just received a call. You're to go meet your wife at this address," the instructor said in a low voice. "She said it was an emergency." He placed a slip of paper in front of Tatewaki.

"An emergency?"

"Yes. You're excused for the day."

Tatewaki stood up and bowed. "Thank you." And then he was gone, barely remembering to gather his belongings first.

This was a house he didn't recognize. What would Nabiki be doing here? But if it was an emergency, there was no telling what had happened. Paying the cab driver, Tatewaki got out of the car and went to the door.

After a moment of hesitation, he knocked politely and waited. The whole situation was very strange; he wasn't exactly comfortable with it even if he did get a phone call about an emergency. After only a few seconds of waiting, the door was opened by a girl who looked to be a year or two younger than himself. She was dressed in a Furinkan uniform.

"I got a call that my..."

"Yes, in here." The girl sounded nervous and troubled. She stepped aside so Tatewaki could enter the house, and when he did so, she closed the door. She hated being so close to him. What if he suddenly lost it again and attacked her?

"Where is she? What's happened?" He looked at the girl, not paying attention to the poshness of the house at all.

"It was... uh... There was an accident. Outside. I don't know what happened." This didn't feel right. Yukiko didn't say anything about having to lie like that. "We, uh..."

"Is she all right? Where is she?" Tatewaki couldn't tell that the girl was lying badly; he mistook it for reluctance to tell him what had happened. "Just let me see her."

"Back here... to, you know..." The girl let her sentence end there, and led Tatewaki up the stairs to a door near the back of the house. "In there." She pointed at the door.

Tatewaki didn't hesitate to open the door and go inside. Right away he was struck by the darkness of the room. It was amazingly dark in the room for it being the middle of the day. He could make out the bed only because of the light coming through the doorway. Starting to turn to ask the girl what was going on, the door was suddenly shut.

Darkness, alone, a strange place, without anyone... Tatewaki turned and rushed forward to try the doorknob and discovered that it was locked. Balancing precariously on the edge of panic, he pounded on the door, the same way he had done those nights in the hospital.

"What's wrong?" a female voice asked him. "Don't you like my room?"

Tatewaki turned around and felt the door at his back. The darkness was too deep for him to see the speaker, as his eyes hadn't adjusted yet. "Where's my wife?" he asked, someplace between panic and anger.

"Probably back at school. Convenient, isn't it?"

"No. Let me out of here." He could see a shape that was brighter than everything else moving toward him.

"But I'm not done with you. Now that you're healthy, this is my perfect chance."

"I don't know what you're talking about, but I suggest you open this door right now." This was extremely unfunny, and he had far better things to do than be the butt of someone's stupid joke.

The shape closed in. "Perfect chance." The fear was coming off him in waves so heavy that even she could tell. "It's just not right that you should be with her. I have so much more to offer you, after all."

"I don't care what you think. I only want to get out of here. Just what the hell is going on?" And then the girl was standing right in front of him.

"Nothing's going on... yet." She leaned forward, standing on her toes a little, and kissed him full on the mouth, her hands wandering over his body. It didn't matter though, as his entire body was as tight as a drum. To Yukiko, this was almost as good as any other torture she could come up with.

In fact, she couldn't believe he hadn't tried to push her away yet. It was obvious he wasn't enjoying it, but he wasn't making any effort to stop it either. For now, Yukiko had to manipulate things for maximum humiliation. She broke contact and pulled Tatewaki away from the door, his body neither willing or resisting.

Spinning him around, she shoved him down, knocking him onto the bed. Yukiko kneeled on the edge of the bed, one knee between Tatewaki's legs and the other on the other side of his leg. She started to undo his belt and felt his whole body tremble.

"No... don't," he said weakly.

Yukiko smiled in the darkness, taking his protest completely wrong. Once his belt was undone, she undid his pants and pulled his shirt out, pushing it up so his stomach was bare.

It was dark and he couldn't move, couldn't make himself move, and this person was going to do things to him, and if he moved he might feel something, might make this person mad, mad and he'd get hit with the strap then the electricity and he couldn't scream because of the pain and...

The door burst open, and looking like some sort of hellish guardian angel was Nabiki. Yukiko turned her head, a little surprised, but not overly concerned.

"Oh my," she said in an innocent little voice, "you've got us, Tendo. You've discovered our little secret." Not believable, but if it worked to get Nabiki really upset, then that was just as well. Yukiko could always see the tears waiting to fall whenever the whispers had started, and was looking for the same thing here.

Nabiki walked forward into the room. "Get off of him."

"But Tendo, we weren't quite done yet. Come back in..." Yukiko looked at Tatewaki for a moment. "Five minutes should be adequate."

The snarl Yukiko received was not at all what she had been expecting. Nabiki walked up to her and grabbed her arm, pulling her to her feet. "Leave him alone."

"Oh that's right, I forgot that he chose you, didn't he?" Yukiko teased. "That day when he carried you off and beat you? What a wonderful relationship you two must have." The look on Yukiko's face was pure poison.

Nabiki was trying very hard not to do something foolish. She looked at Tatewaki on the bed, seeing that he appeared to still be shell-shocked, and decided that she had finally had enough. "Don't ever bother us again," she hissed, then, after many months of watching Ranma and his father spar and learning a thing or two, gave Yukiko one very nasty right hook.

As Yukiko collapsed to the floor, Nabiki shook her hand. It was going to need some medical attention most likely; she just hoped she hadn't actually broken anything. Ignoring the fallen girl, Nabiki stepped up to the bed and quickly redressed Tatewaki. They needed to get out of the snakepit Yukiko called a house as quickly as possible.

"Come on, Tate-chan, we have to leave right away. Get up," she said gently, and pulled on his hand.

He flinched at the sound of her voice at first, but then seemed to come around. Tatewaki looked up at Nabiki, his skin a bit pale, and blinked. "Nabiki?"

"It's me. Let's go." She pulled his hand again, and he sat up. "We have to get away from here."

Tatewaki looked down at Yukiko. "What happened?" He was suddenly faced with the prospect that he had assaulted another helpless girl. "I didn't... To her..."

"No, Tate-chan. She got what she deserved. Let's go." Nabiki pulled his hand more and got him standing. "You've got better taste than that," she said as they left the room.

"I wanted to... thank your family."

"What for?"

"For the other night." Tatewaki and Nabiki were walking home after school. "It makes me... very happy."

"Yeah, they're like that sometimes."

"With no family of my own any longer..." Tatewaki's mouth tightened into a thin line, holding back the dam of emotion.

"I have to admit, that was pretty sneaky of them. I never would have thought Daddy had it in him. It's probably all because of Kasumi; she knows more than she lets on, I swear."

Tatewaki nodded, still unable to speak.

"Do you believe now that they don't hate you?" He still harbored fears that her family hated him for what had happened.

He let out a ragged breath. "Yes, but..."

"But?"

"I still can't believe..."

"Believe what? That they don't hate you? That they actually like you? You know they wouldn't have made you an unofficial official member of the family if they didn't." Even though they were married, Tatewaki still acted disconnected from the rest of the Tendos. Whenever he was around, he tried his hardest to not draw attention to himself. Maybe it was time to change that.

"No, but it feels like more than I deserve."

Nabiki leaned against him. "It's not," she said as he put his arm around her.