An Unexpected Visitor by David Eddy A fan fiction based on Takahashi Rumiko's Manga series, Ranma 1/2. The characters of Ranma 1/2 are the property of Takahashi Rumiko and her licensees. This is a revengefic... well, sort of. I've been doing a bit of travelling lately and this sort of came to me. It's set just after I finished part 4 of Nekophobia. C&C is welcomed as usual. ======================================================= "Binggg-bonggg." I jerked my head up in surprise, the characters of Nerima fading from my mind. Who could be calling at this hour? I hadn't ordered room service. Frowning, I pushed back the chair from the desk and wandered through to the front room. I opened the door. The young woman standing there was shortish, her silken, straight black hair finishing on her neck. She was dressed in jeans, a tee-shirt, and a jacket, and she was as cute as hell. She was also Japanese. "Er, arr, err, um," I said intelligently in shock. I swallowed to get my vocal cords in working order. "May I help you?" She frowned at me. "You know me," she said. Oh no. It couldn't be. "Nabiki?" She nodded with a smile. "Aren't you going to invite me in?" My social programming kicked in, and I smiled and stepped back from the door, holding it open. "Please come in. Make yourself at home." Still smiling, she walked past me into the lounge room. As she passed I could smell her perfume. It was... something floral. I let go the door and allowed it to close, watching her as she looked about the room. She walked up to me where I was standing by the door, still shell-shocked, and stopped about two feet away from me. She looked me up and down. She seemed to study my hands for a moment. "You *are* a big one, aren't you?" With a shock I realised that her head didn't even come up to my shoulders. Still, the comment served to get my brain functioning again, pushing the paralysing "how" and "why" questions to one side for the moment. I followed her as she headed past the bathroom into the bedroom. She brushed past the open closet doors to the desk, where my laptop's screen glowed white into the dimly- lit room. She glanced at the screen. I followed her in and sat cross-legged on the bed, watching her bend over to read the contents of the screen. "What's this?" she asked, tapping the screen. "Nekophobia five. It's not finished yet." "Oh, good." She smiled again as she shed her jacket and draped it carefully over the back of the desk chair before sitting down on the bed. I frowned. "'Oh, good?'" Nabiki frowned. "You weren't easy to find, you know," she said, vaguely accusing. "This isn't Melbourne." I raised my eyebrows at her. "I still can't believe that you exist at all." She looked around ostentatiously. "This is a nice place." I shrugged, deciding to let her lead the conversation. "It's okay." "Do you normally stay in a two-room suite?" "Sure, in this hotel I do. All the rooms are suites." I smiled. "Hmph." She lay down on her side on the bed. "You know, Akane and Ranma aren't very happy with you." I frowned. "What do you mean?" "Neither of them are all that thrilled with Akane's curse." I snorted but managed to suppress a laugh. "They're not meant to be. They needed something to bring them closer together." "But that's not why Akane got cursed is it, hmmm?" I sighed. "No, it's not. You know as well as I do that the story's essentially about inflicting that curse on Akane and seeing what happens as a result." "That was a bit of a cruel thing to do, wasn't it?" I quirked my lips downward in a show of sympathy. "Yah, a cat curse is something *I* wouldn't want, that's for sure. But it's only a story. It's not as though they really exist or anything... err..." Nabiki smiled at me, that smile I knew so well, as my stomach got stuck on "down elevator". "It's not all that bad, is it?" I asked weakly. "I mean, they're getting together, and maybe Ranma's going to learn to deal with his ailurophobia." "Ailuro-what?" "Fear of cats." "Oh. Well, to tell you the truth, he's not real happy about that, either." "Eh? Why on earth not?" I was starting to feel nervous. "The neko-ken is his most powerful technique. He's used it deliberately before today. You must know about the time he got the phoenix pill? Well, if he's not afraid of cats, how's he going to access the technique?" I sighed. "Yeah." I looked at her. Oddly, she was looking pretty happy. Not angry. She didn't seem to be wearing a bra. "You're just full of good news." "Oh, I haven't even told you about Ryouga yet... or Happousai, the old pervert, not that he doesn't deserve it... or Shampoo... or Cologne... or Ukyou--" "Ukyou?! What's *her* gripe?" "You've only had her play a bit part, and even then she had to acknowledge that Akane had a superior claim to Ranma than she did." "Oh, gods, this isn't happening," I moaned, shaking my bowed head. Suddenly my feet seemed really interesting. A thought occurred to me. Looking up again, I saw that Nabiki was still smiling at me. "So what's *your* gripe, Nabiki? May as well collect the whole set." I covered my face with my open hand. "Gods, I can't *believe* I'm havin' this conversation," I said to myself. "Oh, *I* don't have a gripe. I really like it." Surprise washed through me. I lowered my hand and looked over my index finger to see Nabiki smiling at me. One hand was playing with her trousers and faint indentations were visible in the front of her shirt. "Eh?" "Kasumi, Nodoka, and me: We all really like it, though the others think you're a bit crass for discussing Ranma's honour problems so bluntly." "I'm writing for Westerners, it's gotta be blunt," I said automatically, leaning forward. "Most of 'em have -- or had, I should say -- no idea." "You still got some of it wrong, but they don't hold that against you. You, too, are a Westerner, after all." "Nobody's perfect." She laughed. At a joke so old it had moss growing on its lichen, she laughed. Bemused, I shook my head. She really was pretty. "I'm glad to hear that *some* of you guys like the story," I said. "And you'd better make sure it stays that way," she said. My stomach sank again and ants feet ran up my spine. "What?" "So far, the three of us have been able to keep the others under control. But if Ranma and Akane get tired of being jerked around, they might bring the others on a little... visit." "Oh, great," I said listlessly. "Ruin the story, or get some visitors I'm still having difficulty believing exist." Nabiki frowned prettily. "What are you talking about?" "Listen, Nabiki, have you ever written fiction?" "Not if you don't count my tax returns," she said. I smiled and shook my head. After a decent pause I continued. "Then pay attention. We're now a bit over halfway through. Lots of things have happened, one or two things have been resolved but mostly there's a whole lotta threads hanging around in mid-air. The funny thing is, after a while it acquires a momentum of its own and you can't just change course in mid-stream." Nabiki blinked at me slowly. "What are you talking about?" "I'm afraid I can't just not put Akane and Ranma through some more trials. There's certain things they've got to do to get to the end of the story... if only because the others are going to do it to them." "Oh, that! Oh, don't worry, they don't mind normal goings-on. Just don't overdo it." "Oh. Err, right. Okay." "And I wouldn't worry too much about Ryouga anyway. He'll never find you." I raised one eyebrow at her. "You have no idea how much that comforts me." "Good, I'm glad to hear it." I slapped my open hand over my face with a loud *smack* and shook my head. "I was being *sarcastic*," I said from under my hand. With a sigh, I put my elbows onto my knees and leaned forward, studying my guest. She was still lying on the bed, head propped up on one hand, only now her free hand was toying with her shirt. She was still smiling. The silence drew out until I had to break it. "So, to what do I owe the pleasure of your presence, then?" I asked. "I can't believe you came to tell me to be a good boy or I'll have ravening characters after my blood." "Not completely, no." She toyed with her lip and looked me in the eyes. "I really came to thank you, and to ask a favour. I've been thinking of doing an MBA." "Oh, that's good. I'm sure you'll do well. Where?" "Well, I've been accepted by Oxford and Harvard and a couple of others, but I've always wanted to see Australia. So I'm going to a university here, and I'm looking for a place to stay. Can I stay with you?" "Oh, okay, fine. But... what on earth did you want to thank me for?" "Oh, that? I've always wanted a little brother... I've always wanted love. It looks like you're giving me both." She got up onto her knees, and I watched two hard points move about under her shirt. She walked on her knees over to where I sat, took my face in her hands, and kissed me. I awoke with a start, a faint ache in the back of my head telling me that I had stayed up far too late the previous night getting that revengefic idea out of my head. I sat up and reached for the glass of water on the bedside table and used it to rinse out my mouth. Ugh. Thank god it'd been a dream. Oh, boy, was I glad that the characters were imaginary. "Ohayou, anata," came a female voice. "Genki?" "Eh? Oh, good morning, Nabiki. I'm fine thanks. How are-- urk!!" Nabiki. In my bed. Calling me "darling". Oh my god. It hadn't been a dream. Nervously I thought back to our conversation of the previous night. "Err... Nabiki? When do you start at the University of Sydney? You see, I'm flying home tomorrow night, and I'll have to check out of the hotel tomorrow morning so I'm afraid you can only stay here until then." "I'm studying at Melbourne University. You know, where you live. Why else would I ask to stay with you?" My stomach headed for the floor again. I had the feeling it was going to become a common feeling. "Oh."