Chapter Text
Arisugawa's Locket
Nabiki's Day
The after Christmas rush was over, and Nabiki Tendo was upstairs in Juri's office going over the year end books. So far, the bar looked like it had made a reasonable profit this year, though not as well as some years. The financial crisis had hit the bar just like everywhere else, though probably not as bad as most places.
"We really need to try to get our liquor costs down somehow," Nabiki sighed as she noted their highest area of overhead. Her black hair fell into her eyes as she silently mused, 'Maybe we can get it cheaper in an alternate Tokyo?'
There was a tentative knock on the door, then it opened a bit as Keiko looked inside. "Hey," she smiled, her brown hair falling down her back in a neat braid.
"Hi," Nabiki wrote down a final figure in her journal then closed it with a soft thump. "Busy night?" she asked curiously as she stretched, wearing a blouse and knee length skirt.
"Not too bad," Keiko admitted, walking in dressed in her usual long pants and shirt. Her lover May prefered her in variations of that outfit, though Keiko did mix it with dresses for variety.
The two women got along quite well, in part because they were the most 'normal' of the staff. They weren't magical heroes, robots, aliens or destined champions, but instead basic human beings. Of course, Nabiki still had the Tendo style of 'Anything Goes Martial Arts' to fall back on, and Keiko was pretty good with a sword or knife...
Sitting down on the opposite side of the desk Keiko smiled impishly, "May was telling me you seemed awfully cozy with a newcomer..."
Nabiki looked a bit sheepish, "We just talked a while." She smiled wryly, "She's a scientist with the worst name ever... Nina Einstein."
"That must make things interesting," Keiko agreed. "Probably got teased a lot as a kid too," she noted with gentle sympathy.
"I think so," Nabiki agreed then she admitted sheepishly, "We ended up mostly trashing our exes, to be honest."
Keiko raised a eyebrow, "Which you haven't really done here. In fact, I think everyone's been surprised at how... gentlemanly you've been."
Nabiki made a face, "Talk to Akane if you want to hear me badmouth her. When I saw Ayaka and her boyfriend, I was livid and I called Akane to vent."
"Well, she is your sister," Keiko agreed, making a mental note to call Akane. She was kind of curious about how mad Nabiki had been... Getting back on topic she asked, "So I take it Nina has a similar tale of woe?"
"Yeah," Nabiki agreed. In some ways she thought Nina's was a bit worse, with Nina dating a woman deeply uncomfortable with her sexuality, whom was also dating a nice guy as a 'beard' and then finally dumping Nina to marry the guy.
"Gonna tell me about it?" Keiko asked.
"Sorry," Nabiki said, "but I don't think she'd want the story spread around."
"Fair enough," Keiko agreed, but still feeling curious she asked Nabiki, "so what else did you talk about.?"
"Oh, work," Nabiki hid a smile, thinking that Keiko would have been bored to tears hearing about Nina's work in physics, "coming out to family, that whole thing." Nabiki had been able to keep up only because of her own interest in mathematics from her younger gambling days, and it had stretched her limits a bit to follow Nina's swift thoughts.
"Well, you did spend nearly two hours talking to her," Keiko grinned.
Nabiki blinked, "It wasn't that long."
"Alpha timed you," Keiko winked, "and we both know her time sense is pretty good." She looked at Nabiki thoughtfully, "So you like her and you had a great conversation," she said patiently, "so why haven't you phoned her? She did give you her number, right?"
"Nina did," Nabiki admitted as she looked uncomfortable, "and I don;t know why I haven't called."
Keiko got up, noting she had spent as long up here as she could and gently said, "Well, maybe you should."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The dojo was a small, less well known place not too far from the apartment Nabiki rented, near to the Shijuku district. The master of the dojo had sparred with Nabiki and had quickly determined that the mixed martial artist had nothing to learn from him, so except for the monthly membership fee he left her alone to work out. Well, except for occassionally asking if she'd give a class.
'It's strange,' Nabiki thought to herself as the karate gi clad woman practiced her kicks against a punching bag, 'compared to Ranma and some of the others in Nerima I'm a amature, but I'm incredible compared to normal karate students.'
Nabiki switched to alternating front and side kicks, watching the bag move and jerk as she kicked it, taking only a second or two to aim. She didn't use the ki techniques her father had taught her, instead letting the fatigue gradually burn through her body. She wanted to tire herself out, still the restless thoughts that sometimes haunted her.
Finally, panting softly Nabiki stepped back, the bag swinging to a halt. She was sore but it felt good, as if she had pushed herself past a new level. She felt the eyes of students on her as she stepped away, picking up her towel and walking towards the woman's changing room. Emerging later in jeans and a sweatshirt she saw the sense waiting nearby and went over to talk.
"Miss Nabiki," Sensei Murasame nodded respectfully, the leader of the North Pole school smiling at her wryly, "I suppose I cannot convince you to lead a class?"
"Sorry," Nabiki smiled at the older man as she honestly answered, "no time." In between her accounting and occassional waitress duties at the Locket, she felt like she had very little time to herself.
"Hmm," Murasame looked at the students practicing katas as he noted, "I was also hoping I could ask you to speak with my daughter."
Nabiki gave him a curious glance, "Oh?"
"My daughter, Sumika, is a natural," he admitted with a sigh, "but she's quite katate because it's not cute." He gave her a wry glance, "I was hoping you could be a example."
"I'm not particularly cute," Nabiki chuckled softly, politely excusing herself before heading out into the January weather.
Grocery shopping was fairly easy, then Nabiki headed home to her annoyingly quiet and empty apartment. As she dropped the bags of food on the counter she mused that while she wished she and Ayaka had lived together here, she was glad that there were no little reminders left of her former lover. She packed away the food then peered into the refrigerator, trying to decide what she wanted to eat. Moodily she shut the door and walked over to the living room couch, sitting and turning on the stereo with the remote.
Finally Nabiki made herself ask, 'Why haven't I called Nina?' Clearly she liked the young woman, they got along well and it was easy to talk with her. Yes, they were both emotionally vulnerable but they didn't have to date, they could just be friends. But deep down Nabiki realized she was scared, frightened to reach out to someone else and find out they weren't what they seemed.
"What does Ranma always say?" Nabiki smiled to herself, "The life of a Martial Artist is fraught with peril?" She snorted softly, "He should try dating."
Despite her comments Nabiki dug out her wallet and took out a piece of paper with a name and number on it. She picked up her phone, dialing before she could stop herself. "Yes?" that soft voice asked after a moment.
"Nina?" Nabiki smiled as she summoned up her courage and said, "This is Nabiki Tendo. We met about a week ago at Arisugawa's Locket."
"Nabiki, it's good to hear from you," Nina answered, and Nabiki could almost imagine her smile. She cheerfully confessed, "I was trying to get up the nerve to call you."
She had to smile as Nabiki admitted, "I was nervous to call you, too." She looked around her quiet home as she asked, "Do you want to go out or something? I don't think I could stand cooking tonight..."
"I'd love to," Nina said eagerly. Her voice sounded a bit sheepish as she admitted, "I haven't been out in a while. Can you suggest something?"
"Why not meet somewhere with a couple of good choices?" Nabiki suggested, giving the address of a neighborhood nearby. "There's a lot of different but good places to go."
"All right," Nina said cheerfully, "I'll meet you there in twenty or so, okay?"
"Will do," Nabiki agreed, both of them saying goodbye almost at once.
Quickly Nabiki ducked into her bedroom, swiftly pulling off her jeans and shirt. She opened up her closet, thinking of the boyish clothes Nina had worn on Halloween. 'What the hell,' she decided, grabbing one of the few medium length dresses she wore, colored a soft blue. She pulled on stockings then slipped the dress on, firmly telling herself that this was not a date. It was just two new friends, having dinner, that's all. Putting keys and wallet into a purse her father bought her Nabiki slung the strap over her shoulder and headed out.
It took Nabiki only ten minutes to walk to the busy street lines with shops and a few resturants, known for their quality around the community. She was a b it early so Nabiki chose to wait by a store, wishing she had picked out something warmer to wear.
"Hey, pretty lady," a young man leered, the scruffy looking man in what was probably the latest style followed by several friends. "Wanna go do some kareoke together?"
"Kid," Nabiki said to him, feeling far older than her twenty something years, "I am way too old for you. Go away."
The boy looked offended. "Hey, we're just being friendly," he complained as he forcefully tried to grab at her arms.
Instinct took over as Nabiki swept up her hands to break the grip, then took a firm step forward as she drove the base of her palm into his chest, sending him staggering backwards. As another boy moved she kicked gracefully, stopping with the edge of her foot a inch from his nose.
"Eep," the boy froze.
"Go away," Nabiki ordered again, "or you will not like what happens next." The men chose the better part of valor, running away as the men and women watching cheered.
Nina Einstein was clapping as the black haired woman smiled at Nabiki, "That was very impressive. Can you teach me to do that?"
Nabiki noticed that Nina was wearing trousers again, her glasses giving her a intellectual look. "Only if you want to train," she shrugged. "To be honest, it's a pain staying in practice."
"I guess so," Nina admitted. She smiled at Nabiki as she added, "That was very brave."
"Thanks," Nabiki blushed. Deciding it might be best to change the subject she asked, "Where do you want to eat?"
To be continued...
Our Cast: Nabiki Tendo is from Ranma ½, Keiko is from Revolutionary Girl Utena and May is from Hand Maid May.
Characters: Master Murasame is from Sasameki Koto, Nina Einstein is from Code Geass.
Notes: I'm operating under the assumption that Nabiki trained in the anything goes style as a child, but dropped it as a teen, possibly when her mother died and Soun Tendo kinda fell apart. After that she concentrated on her money making, of which I assume she used at least part of to keep the family afloat. In my canon she restarted training after Soun kicked her out for being a lesbian, partially to channel her anger and also to stay fit.