I figure the best way to visit a story is to explore the characters themselves and their thoughts.

Ranma tried to settle as much as possible while waiting for Nabiki to compose herself enough to talk and tell him how much he owed for his most recent mistake. He slowly took a seat at the far edge of Nabiki’s desk careful to keep as much space between them as possible. He wasn’t sure what to make of the situation.

Ranma’s training began to creep back into his head making him scope out the room staying wary of anything that may delay escape or trap him. Everything looked fine to his trained eyes so he began to relax a bit wondering what could have happened to leave Nabiki in this state. He hesitated for a moment before vocalizing his curiosity, “So…” He pulled at his pigtail slightly in embarrassment, “Something wrong?” By the time he was done, Ranma was staring down at the floor trying to avoid eye contact.

Nabiki couldn’t resist a small giggle which caused Ranma to look up. Half her face was still covered by the pillow and all Ranma could really make out was her disheveled hair and red tinted eyes indicating her crying. Her voice still wavered a bit as she spoke but as she continued to speak her voice regained its firm resolve. “I’m having a bad night.” The statement seemed to be enough to her. After a moment, Nabiki decided to expand, “I had a very bad date.”

Neither Ranma nor the family was aware that Nabiki was dating. This was the first he had heard of her seeing anybody. “So…” Ranma couldn’t think of anything that would leave Nabiki in the state she was in, “Didn’t like the food?” He could only offer a small lopsided smile.

“No, the food was horrible.” Nabiki still hadn’t exposed more than half her face causing a bit of concern but her voice was a bit reassuring. “He just didn’t know how to treat a girl is all.”

The cryptic response didn’t cut the tension much, “What do ya mean?”

“He was a total pig and it’s better to leave it in the past.” Nabiki sat up a bit revealing her entire face as she moved into a sitting position with the pillow in her lap. Ugly red/blue marks could be seen just below her collar. She was starting to feel a bit better venting to Ranma, of all people. Nabiki couldn’t explain it but something about talking to him was comforting.

Just as she was about to continue, the door to her room burst off its hinges to reveal an irate Akane staring down at Ranma with burning eyes. “You pervert! What do you think you’re doing with Nabiki!?”

Ranma didn’t have a chance to respond with anything more than to simply say “Huh?” He turned just in time to receive a fist to his face from Akane.

“Get out of her room!” was all that followed Ranma as he rocketed out the window and across the ward. Rounding on Nabiki, Akane was quick to assume the worst, “Oh my god! What did that pervert do to you?!” Akane began to try fussing over Nabiki.

Pushing Akane away gently was hardly ever the most effective method but it worked when Nabiki used it, “Nothing. He was only trying to cheer me up. No go.” Her voice ran flat at the end indicating she wasn’t willing to talk, “And put my door back when you leave.”

Huffing, Akane stalked out of Nabiki’s room feeling entirely righteous about her actions and still not understanding what she did wrong. Once her door was back in place and Akane was gone, Nabiki let out the breath she was holding and wondered why she was so quick to defend Ranma in that situation. It was mostly unnatural as far as she was concerned but the evidence was all there. The door was still a bit shaky and the window would need to be replaced the next day along with about half the wall.

Nabiki reached into her desk to begin balancing the budget to account for the most recent repairs needed on the house. A realization suddenly occurred to her when the books were open that night and she began to search for the solution. There was, quite simply, more money in the account than the books said there should have been. The most recent inconsistency was in the bank statement nearly two months before. The bank had provided the deposit information along with the bank statement so she leafed through it.

What she found shocked her. The handwriting was horrible. Only one person would be considerate enough to make a deposit and have handwriting that awful. Shuffling through more bank statements confirmed her suspicions about where the extra money was coming from in the household. Ranma had been adding money to the house budget over the years. The additions were so random and small that she hardly noticed the transactions until the amount had reached a sufficient amount.

Nabiki wasn’t one for sentimentality but the thought of the boy doing what little he could to contribute to the household could have brought a tear to her eye. At times, Ranma was so considerate regardless of how she had treated him that Nabiki nearly regretted pushing the engagement onto Akane. The thought was quickly squashed by the boy’s lifestyle which just didn’t suit Nabiki very well at all.

Giving up on the books for the time being, Nabiki leaned back in her chair after locking up the books. She idly turned to look at the time and realized how early the evening was. She thought a long soak in the furo was in order. With luck, she might have a chance to actually talk to Ranma without interruptions later that night. Maybe some time deep in thought in the furo was exactly what she needed to decide how to approach the issue. She simply had to tell somebody or the feelings would continue to eat away at her from the inside.

Without much preamble, Nabiki found herself standing before the furo. Leave it to Kasumi to keep the water fresh throughout the day in case any cursed individuals might need a quick soak to return to their true forms. Nabiki’s clothes lay in total disarray covering the occupied sign she had forgotten to put on the door. A long sigh escaped her lips as the hot water began to relax her body. The slow steady drip of water in the room began to dull her senses enough for her mind to wander. Idle fantasies drifted past her overworked mind.

A life with Ranma could have easily been all the adventure Nabiki would ever need. The random excitement would have left little time for her to forge a living and support the family in the ways she needed to. Nobody in the family seemed to understand her and her reasons but they did support her as much as family should be expected to. Nabiki sunk in the furo until half her face was covered in water. Nobody seemed to want to get close to her unless there was something they wanted. A single tear tracked down her cheek as her mind touched on the nature of her problem.

Blowing bubbles in the water was a habit Nabiki had acquired as a child and still had not outgrown it. It helped her relax at times and would be comical enough to draw some laughter if people were not afraid of the retaliation. One aspect of Nabiki hardly anybody touched on was her sense of humor and desire to play with others. That was the primary reason she chose to make money buy setting up bets and outright extorting people when the opportunity presented itself. People would often assume her intentions were malicious.

Shifting positions, Nabiki moved to the side of the furo facing the door crossing her arms to act as an impromptu pillow for her head. She had managed to calm herself enough to think rationally about everything that had happened in the past week. While things didn’t go according to plan, it could have all turned out much worse than it did. Nabiki considered staying home the next day and simply saying she felt a bit under the weather and wanted to rest but that would have caused a panic in the house.

Just as Nabiki was about to leave the furo and return to her room, the inner door slid open revealing a very wet, very female Ranma. Nabiki would never admit it but she was a bit jealous that a boy would have a better body than most women she knew. There were many in and around the school that would often rank Ranma at the top of their hot girl list. Through hearsay, Nabiki had learned that she scored rather low on that list with all but the most desperate or unsociable of boys.

Ranma seemed lost in thought as he began to prepare to get into the furo. He still hadn’t noticed her presence as he began to grumble. “Stupid Akane… I was only talking to Nabiki and she has to go and hit me through the roof.” He scrubbed a bit at the back of his shoulder trying to wipe away some invisible bit of grime. Since Nabiki was in a bit of a playful mood, she let Ranma continue to rant. “She didn’t have to hit so hard.” Nabiki was a bit surprised that Ranma’s speech had improved. She was only a bit surprised since Ranma had a phenomenal learning curve if he used it the right way and Nabiki knew it. “That girl needs to calm down before she seriously hurts somebody. She has no discipline at all.” Ranma began to scrub his hair with shampoo. “Why can’t she just trust me?”

Just this short session began to clear some of the mystery around Ranma to Nabiki. Nabiki still wondered why such a top ranked martial artist would constantly fall victim to her little sister’s attacks. Nabiki was beginning to realize there was much more to Akane’s attacks than met the eye. Sensing the time to strike, Nabiki answered Ranma’s question, “Because you never made a firm decision.”

She wasn’t disappointed in Ranma’s reaction. “GAH!” He latched onto the ceiling peering around intently until his gaze fell on Nabiki in the furo. His eyes immediately glazed over and Ranma came crashing down to the floor sputtering as his brain tried to catch up.