Author: Leopold Goenitz
Email: Leopold_Goenitz@hotmail.com

Disclaimer: All the characters that will be mentioned in this story are
either property of Capcom, SNK, Eolith, and/or Rumiko Takahashi.

Warnings: Resistance is futile! Escape is impossible!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Reckless Fire
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Prologue
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

It was almost in the middle of the night at the city of Kyoto, and Sakura
Kasugano was mad as hell. The sudden rainstorm that had taken over the
city had caught her by surprise, and thus the reason why she was soaked
to the bone right now.

"Damn with this stupid weather!" Sakura had been running for almost half
an hour already, just trying to get across the city and back home. With
the weather being what it was, she was starting to worry that she might
catch a fever at this pace. And that would mean she would get another
scolding period from her mother. Again.

The dark streets of her home city were cold and dark despite the fact that
it was springtime and there were plenty of working streetlights
everywhere, any normal sixteen years old female high school student
would have been scared of running through in a neighbourhood like this in
the middle of the night, but Sakura was far from the ordinary. She was a
martial artist, a damn good one if you asked her, which wasn't exactly a
lie either. She was good, not just world class yet though. But she was
getting there.

For good proportion of the past six months this girl has been chasing the
world famous wandering martial artist who went by the name of 'Ryu',
praying that he would take her as his student one day, but so far she had
only seen him from afar, never close enough to actually speak with him.
She had not let her setbacks dampen her efforts though, and everyday
she practiced the art that she had tried to copy from her idol, taking
examples from the tapes of Ryu's various fights that she had collected
from here and there. Her sometime sensei Dan Hibiki had been a great
help too, at times when he wasn't out from the country that is.

At first Sakura's parents had been strongly against her foolish 'hobby', but
after seeing how adamantly she pursued it despite their words the decided
it in unison that if they can't stop her they might as well as support her.
Lately her mother had even started to even admire her daughter, wishing
that she would have possessed her daughter's determination and energy
when she had been young. Sakura's father didn't seem to mind as long as
his wife didn't, and according to his philosophy if the person was happy
with what he or she did, then they should not be oppressed but
encouraged.

This had been fine with Sakura, she didn't mind if her parents supported
her, as long as they didn't get in the way with all the fussing parents
usually did when they became bit too enthusiastic in their efforts. But
when all things considered, she was quite happy with her current
situation, for the exception of the weather and her soaked clothing of
course.

But just when her life was about to become filled with regularity and
predictability, it was all brought into a crossroad tonight by the sudden
pained groan Sakura heard emanating from the dark alley just ahead of
her. Being adventurous and thrill seeking personality didn't let Sakura just
pass this by, and thus made her take a look what it was that was making
all the noise in there.

What she saw was not exactly what she had been expecting. Maybe a
bum or two or perhaps even some junkie lying on a pool of their own
puke, but surely not a boy of her own age with his body lying face down
next to the fallen trashcan he had obviously collided with before taking his
involuntary nap, his clothed soaked wet just like hers.

However, it was not until she noticed the large blood stain on his shoulder
that she acted. "Oh man, what happened to you?" she asked while
carefully kneeling at the boy's side. He did not respond, unless you
counted the incomprehensible quiet groan as one.

The boy had a sleek black hair that he had coiffed back in wild spiky
looking fashion, giving the impression as if he had walked against a
constant wind for his whole life. His choices of clothing were rather
peculiar too, as the skin-tight, deep red sleeveless shirt, the baggy looking
black slacks, his black Marine Corps leather boots, and his elbow length
padded black gloves weren't part of the modern fashion used by today's
youths. Nor was the thick, deep red scarf he wore around his neck for that
matter.

With closer inspection Sakura realized that the boy had been shot, a bullet
had passed right through his left shoulder and had caused a pretty bad
blood loss if the large dark patch underneath his body was anything to
judge from. And while the shot had not been lethal, even Sakura knew
that the wound it had caused would become one if not tended soon. "I
guess I'll need to get some help for you," the girl mumbled as she slowly
reached out to pull the boy off the ground and drape one of his arms over
her shoulders so that she could walk him. "My mom's a nurse so I guess
I'd better take you home rather than to the hospital."

The boy didn't complain, much due to his unconscious state. He wasn't
light either, but thanks to the straining practice regimen Sakura had been
going through for the past months she wasn't exactly weak and could at
least drag him. "Man this sucks. First I get caught in the rain an' now
you," she pouted but then let it fall into one of her slightly lopsided grins
as she glanced down at the unconscious boy's face. "Well at least you're
not half bad looking," she chuckled by herself and then continued to move
towards her home that luckily wasn't more than two blocks ahead.

She never noticed that the boy opening his eyes for a short period of time
while she was dragging him, his emerald green eyes gazing at her profile
as if trying to memorize it, and then they were closed once again.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Somewhere else, in a room where no light could find its way past the
impenetrable darkness that filled its every corner, there was a meeting
going on.

"He's still alive," spoke the voice of an elderly man, rough and dry,
consumed by the years he has lived through.

"We don't know yet, there has been no confirmation of that yet. You
shouldn't always expect the worst my friend," came the response from the
other side of the room, this one being a voice of a young man, firm and
somewhat authoritative.

"Yes, you heard what our men said. He was shot in the back over an hour
ago and after fell into the bay there has been no word of him. Even he
couldn't have survived from that," agreed the feminine voice not too far to
the second speaker.

The old man could be heard snorting with disgust. "Fools! You both have
seen what he is capable of surviving! He's not a normal human anymore,
he never was! Do you honestly expect me to believe he would die from
something simple as this!?"

"But sir!" snapped the woman, her tone sounding defensive. "Even if he
would be alive, do you really think we can find him anymore? You've seen
the forecast yourself. The weather is getting only worse by the minute and
our search parties can't go on forever without being noticed. Do you really
want to risk this organization just because of one failed experiment!?"

"Be silent Miyazaki!" the old man roared from the shadows of the room,
while striking floor with some sort of wooden cane. "None of the other
subjects we have tested have performed with the efficiency and tenacity
as that boy! Three days ago, it was because of your carelessness that he
was able to escape in the first place, remember!? It was you who was in
charge of keeping him contained in our underground Tokyo headquarters."

"…" The room fell silent at the, the undeniable truth behind the claim
being too much for the woman, or her colleague next to her, to deny.

"But what should we do then?" the man next to the woman asked while
breaking the uncomfortable silence. "Our regular field operatives won't be
able to find the boy in the current weather and by tomorrow there will be
no traces left. That boy knows our procedures well enough to stay out of
sight, and even if he were to be discovered, he knows how to defend
himself. And then there is the matter that while his powers still may be
dormant at the time, it will be only a matter of time until he will unleash
them."

There was a heavy sigh from the other side of the room, and then the old
man spoke up again. "Very well, draw our men from the field," he said.
"But I want you to send 'him' there to search the boy as in exchange."

"What? Are you serious!?" the other man gasped, sounding rather startled
at the suggestion.

"He's right, sending 'him' there would be almost the same as sending a
time bomb. There's no way we know what he might do if he starts to think
that he has free hands to do whatever he wishes!" agreed the woman
identified as Miyazaki.

"But he is the only one capable for this mission, don't you agree?" the old
man responded calmly. "Sending anyone else would be futile considering
how capable the boy is, and that is why I want 'him' to go there."

"But…" the two others in the room tried to complain but were immediately
cut off.

"No buts. You will send 'him' in there with the assignment of finding the
boy or I will do it myself, after disposing you two, is that clear?!"

After a moment of silence there was a response from the two others
again. "Yes…sir, it is clear."

"Good, then this meeting is closed for today."

And so the three left the room, unseen and unheard, as if they had never
even been there…

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Back in Kyoto, an hour after Sakura had found the boy in the dark alley;
she had received the scolding of her life back at home despite the fact
that she had tried to save someone's life. The girl hadn't let it put her
down any further than what she already was and just let her mother try
taking care of the boy.

Sakura's father had wanted to call the police and take the boy to the
hospital, but as late as it was, it wouldn't have probably been the wisest
thing to do, and thus it was decided that the police would be left out until
they knew more about the boy. Hospital treatment he didn't need though,
Mrs. Kasugano having explained it that the wound the boy had was not
too severe and that there was no real threat for him dying despite the
blood loss, the wound hadn't been very large.

"He will need a lot of rest if he is to get back up soon, so don't go and
bother him until he's awake, ok?" Sakura's mother explained to her
daughter as she came out from the guestroom, a bloodied towel in her
hands. She was a well preserved looking woman in her mid thirties with
long, light brown hair that she had inherited from the side of her own
mother and had passed on to her daughter, and liked to dress in western
type of skirts and dresses, which could have been confirmed with a single
glimpse into her wardrobe.

"Yeah, yeah…I know," Sakura responded lamely. She had gone ahead and
changed her wet school uniform that she always liked to dress in when
she went out, even when it was not a school day, and was now dressed in
a simple dark blue pyjama that went almost to her knees. "So how long
do you think it'll take before he'll be up an' running again?"

Her mother frowned at her due to the crude speech pattern she had been
acquiring lately, but did not press on it. "It is hard to tell until tomorrow.
If he's lucky he will regain consciousness tomorrow morning, but if not,
then he might need to be taken to the hospital. There he would be taken
better care than in here if his situation gets worse."

"Okay, I'll go and hit the bed then," Sakura chirped cheerfully and was
about to turn around and dash down the second floor hallways and into
her room, but the sudden feeling of her mother's hand grabbing her
shoulder stopped her. "Huh?"

Mrs. Kasugano looked firmly at her daughter as she turned her deep
brown eyes to meet hers, and for a moment they stayed like that, until
she spoke. "Sakura-chan," she began with her 'mother' tone that told her
daughter that she was about to be questioned something embarrassing, "I
know you've been running around in different kinds of places than before,
and that you have met all kinds of people, but I want you to answer me
honestly to the question I'm about to ask you, ok?"

"Uh…okay." Sakura nodded.

"Is he your boyfriend?" her mother asked as bluntly as she could.

"W-What!?" Sakura sputtered while visibly jumping from the idea. "I just
found him an hour ago lying on a pool of his own blood, mom! I don't
know who he is, I just though I should help him!"

The look on her mother's face told Sakura that she wasn't quite buying it
yet. "I know you are a growing girl Sakura-chan, and I admit he is
handsome and well built, but want you to consider your future carefully so
that you won't do anything you might regret later on."

"MOM!" Sakura grumbled with her face turning red. "He's not my
boyfriend! I don't know him! I've never even seen him before! I was just
getting back in that damn rainstorm when I found him!"

For a moment Sakura's mother gaze stayed firm and unforgiving, but then
suddenly slacked as she closed her eyes and crossed her arms in almost
apologetic manner. "Oh well," she sighed while sounding almost
disappointed, a small pout forming on her lips. "I guess you can go then,"
she said while turning around, facing the stairs that would take her to the
lower floor, "Just make sure I don't find you sneaking into the guestroom
during the night." There was a odd sense of lightness in the last phrase
Mrs. Kasugano had said, making it sound like she would have been happy
if it happened.

"Mom! I'd never…!" the girl shouted after her mother but stopped in mid
sentence when she realized that it would probably be futile to convince
her mother right now. She knew her mother was 'secretly' hoping that she
would have finally catch a boyfriend for herself, she was sixteen after all,
but hoped she would be a bit more discreet about it.

However, just as she was about to turn around and leave, she made
glance towards the guestroom's door, her mind occupied with the boy's
welfare, but then just shook it off and went to prepare herself for the
night. Luckily it was Sunday tomorrow, so there would be no school.

Tomorrow she hoped she could get to talk to her mystery guest, as for
some reason she had this strange feeling that there was more to the boy
than the eye could see…

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Darkness surrounded him from all around, embracing him in uneasy
feeling that this was not the place where he belonged. It was cold in here
and he hated it. There was no floor, ceiling, or even walls in this place.
Even his body felt weightless. But he didn't care about that, he just
wanted to get away from here and see the light, to feel its warmth against
his skin again.

"To see the light you must first ignite the fire…" came the disembodied
voice from all around him.

"W-Wha-?! Whose there!?" he shouted, his tone incapable of hiding his
fear. He tried to spin around to see whomever it was that he had heard
speaking but no matter how he twisted and spun around, he could not see
anyone, or anything else for that matter. Just darkness.

"The fire inside you…all you need to do is reach out for it…" the voice
started again. "Only when you ignite the fire will you be able to see the
light again…"

"Who are you!? And what are you talking about!?"

"Remember…call upon the fire and you shall see the light…" the speaker
continued regardless the demands that were being handed. "The fire is
within you…you must bring it out…"

"I can't understand what you're trying to say! Show yourself and face
me!" he demanded. This time there was no response. "Hello? Anybody
there?!"

Nothing.

He was alone again.

All alone in the deep, dark chamber of nothingness…

"'To see the light you must first ignite the fire'?" he repeated to himself,
obviously puzzled by the meaning behind the words. "Yeah right, and how
am I supposed to do that?" Silence was the only response he got.

"Should've guessed…"

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

In another place, almost equally dark, there was another person
surrounded by the darkness who also wanted to see the light once again.
The only real difference was the he was in a jail cell with no windows and
a single steel door at the far end of the room where he could not reach
due the shackles that bound him into the wall.

Sometimes he could hear voices from the other side of the door, words he
could not interpret due to the distance. It had been a long time since he
saw anyone aside the kind woman who always brought his meals and fed
him, she had not visited today though, he was sure of it even though he
could not count time in this place. But he was guessing it had been at
least six months since he last saw sunlight.

Then as if summoned by his thoughts the door opened, but whom he saw
standing at the doorway with bright, near blinding light shining from
behind his back, was not the woman he had been expecting. It was a
man, he could tell it from the silhouette of his body and from the clothing
he wore.

"Who're you?" he asked weakly, his voice sounded rough and dry. And
now as the light shined upon his body one could see that this man had not
been outside for quite some time, his pale skin rivalling almost the colour
of snow while his eyes burned red like two coals straight from hell. His
hair looked unusual for someone of his obvious young age, silver grey, it
was nearly shoulder length with most of it sticking out into almost every
direction in a messy mop.

"Who am I, is not important," the man at the doorway responded. "But
what I require from you, in the other hand, is."

The shackled man squinted his eyes at that. "What d'ya mean ye need
me?" he asked while tugging his shackles, "Aren't you one of those
fuckers that locked me up in here?!"

"No," the other man responded calmly, "I voted for your extermination."

"Well, looks like ye got outvoted then."

The man snorted and moved closer, taking slow steps as he approached.
"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't, but as I said earlier, it is not important right
now. I came here with a task for you, one that will allow you to become
fully reinstated as one of our agents again should you accept…"

"Oh yeah? And what this task might be?" the prisoner chuckled.

"Find and bring us back a boy with power similar to yours. We know the
general area where he is but cannot use our regular manpower to find
him. That is where we need you to get into the picture." Now that the
other man was more in the dark, his features were starting to become
clearer. He was wearing a simple black suit, matching straight pants, and
black sunglasses that hid his eyes from the view.

"What makes ya think I won't just ditch the country once ye let me out?"

"Humph!" the man in the black suit snorted. "Do you really think you
could escape from us? We have people everywhere. There is nowhere
where you could hide from us. The only reason why we need you to do us
this job is because you're the only one who can find this boy fast enough
before his powers manifest in their full form."

The prisoner sighed at that. "Yeah, I guess so. But does that mean I won't
be going alone again? Ya trying to push another one of those stupid
guards on me, just like the one ye put with me on that last mission?" he
asked with a light smirk on his face. "Ya remember what happened to
him, don'cha."

"No, this time you're going in alone."

The prisoner nodded and settled back. "When do I get to leave?"

"First thing tomorrow morning. You still have few hours before you will be
unchained and equipped for your mission, until then I suggest that you
sleep. The one you will be seeking is not one of your regular targets…"

And after that the man in the suit left the cell, leaving the prisoner in his
cold darkness once again.

Deciding to take on the advice the prisoner reared his head and let it rest
against the cold steel wall behind his back, a silent whisper passing
through his lips before he fell asleep.

"I hate my life…"

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The next morning came like clockwork, the sun rising from the horizon
and slowly ascending into the clear sky where one could not see nothing
but few traces of the last nights storm clouds.

This was fine with the certain sometime over energetic martial arts
teenager who was up and jumping seven in the morning. "I feel good and
I AM good!" Sakura chimed to herself as she changed into her spare
school uniform, the one from the last night still being in the laundry room
waiting to be washed and dried up before she could use it again.

Then without any further delay she dug out her trademark banana she
had caught from Ryu all those months back when she had first seen him
fighting in that harbour area, and the set of bright red bracers she had
been given by her sensei Hibiki.

"Yosh! I'm set!" she shouted while flexing her left arm and the rushed out
from her room and down into the first floor where her sleepy looking
father greeted her.

"Morning Sakura-chan, did you sleep well?" Mr. Kasugano asked while
moving in slow motion. He was still dressed in his nightwear and there
were small bags underneath his eyes; he never slept well when it rained.

"Morning dad! I'm just fine! I gotta do my morning practice so I can't stay
and chat!" Sakura responded as she sped past the man, her words trailing
behind.

Mr. Kasugano just nodded to himself and moved into the kitchen where he
could make some breakfast for himself. His wife, Mrs. Kasugano was still
fast asleep and wouldn't be up until nine or ten, she had the habit of
sleeping bit longer than anyone else in the household.

He hadn't bothered peeking into the guestroom, as he suspected that the
boy his daughter had brought in last night was still unconscious and
wouldn't still be up for some time. The best thing to do right now was to
just wait and see on his opinion.

But little did he know, that the mentioned guest was just about to awaken
from a rather unpleasant dream…

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
On the second floor of the Kasugano household…

"Gah!" the boy in the guestroom gasped with a start as he woke up. He
had jumped into sitting position and was looking at his surroundings with
wild look in his eyes, but then slowly started to calm down despite the
unfamiliar furniture and tapestries.

"What a dream…" he muttered to himself as he let his head crash back
into the pillow, and almost immediately regretted his sudden move when
the sudden pain touched his left shoulder. Looking at it he noticed that it
was wrapped in fresh bandages and that he was missing a shirt and his
scarf, everything else he still had though, even his gloves, which seemed
to relieve him greatly.

"Good thing nobody didn't take them off, I'd hate to think what might've
happened if someone would've done that." He caressed his gloved palms
together as if trying to bring warmth to them, but then stopped as he
started to look around himself some more.

He began to wonder where he was. The room he was in was unfamiliar,
but nothing like the ones he had spent his time before, which was more
than enough to make him comfortable.

There weren't that many furniture there, just the futon he was lying on,
few cabinets and one wardrobe on the other side of the room. The walls
were covered in pale tapestries that gave him a feeling of lightness and
the light shining in from the small window to his right was quite pleasing.
"It's been a long time since I saw 'you'," he chuckled while addressing the
sun. He loved the way it warmed his pale skin.

But before he could bathe in his feelings his moment of silence was
broken by the sudden series of feminine battle cries from the outside. It
sounded like they were coming from the backyard.

"KIYAAA! HYAAA! SHORYAAA!!"

Out from curiosity the boy pushed himself back into sitting position,
ignoring the pain over his left shoulder as he used his left arm, and then
got up to move up to the window where he suspected he could see
whoever it was that was making those shouts. He almost fell over when
he first stood up, the blood loss making him slightly dizzy and weak at the
moment, but managed to get to the window after putting some effort into
it.

Outside, in the middle of the grassy yard was girl in with dark blue school
skirt that barely reached down to her knees, white sailor shirt with short
sleeves, and a pair of red tennis shoes that went well with her bracers.
She had short brown hair and a long white bandana tied around her hair,
its tails billowing wildly according to her movement. She was a martial
artist, the boy noted to himself with a surprised look on his face.

For a while he just watched as the girl went through her kata, moving in
fluid motions, using fast kicks and strong looking punches that hinted that
she was more into ground based fighting than aerial. But the he saw her
perform a rather impressive looking flying roundhouse kick, that much to
his surprise did not stop after the initial spin, as she kept spinning and
spinning like propeller, and while doing it he could hear her shouting,
"SHUNPUKYAKU!"

Then just when he was about to move away from the window, he got a
good look at the girl's face as she finally stopped moving and was showing
her profile to him. "I remember her," suddenly realized, "She's the one
who was carrying me…" But how long it had been since then, he had no
idea, everything was still bit too messed up in his head.

Shaking off his dreamy state, the boy noticed that the girl had started to
move back to the house and decided to go and thank her for dragging his
carcass from wherever she found him. It was the least he could do. But
then he realized that he was still feeling pretty weak and couldn't move
quite steadily.

"Now, how do I do this without tripping over?" he mused while looking at
the doorway.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

After getting back from her training session Sakura had intended of hitting
the shower before she would eat her breakfast, but all those thoughts
were driven out from her mind when she came face to face with the boy
whom she had dragged from that alley last night.

"Yo," the boy greeted with cheerful expression that was obviously forced,
the way he was gritting his teeth revealed that he was in quite pain from
trying to descend the stairs with his hands firmly on the support pole.

"What do you think you're doing?! You shouldn't be up yet!" Sakura didn't
waste time and rushed to the boy's side and began to walk him back into
the guestroom. "Are you trying to get yourself killed? Mom got you
patched up and I think she'd hate to renew your stitches."

"Sorry…just wanted to come down…" the boy mumbled quietly before he
was shushed by the girl and then bit forcefully taken back into his room.

Sakura was feeling bit odd now that the boy was standing in his full
height, she almost foot shorter than him. She blushed at the possibility
that her mother might see them now, her arms around his waist with his
other over her shoulders. She really didn't want to give her mother the
wrong impression right now!

Fortunately they both made it without incident.

The boy let go of Sakura once they were inside the guestroom, insisting
that he could make it out on his own to the futon. "I'm not…a child…I cant
take care…of myself…" the boy wheezed with light frown on his face as he
turned around to face his saviour. "But thanks…anyway…"

Sakura just smiled and shook her head, boys, they were all the same.
Stubborn and hard headed. "So, how are you feeling, aside the wound on
your shoulder I mean," she asked while moving bit closer.

"Fine I guess," the boy responded with a shrug.

"Uh…" Sakura seemed to be a bit loss at words after that, until she
realized that they didn't even know each other's names. "By the way, my
name is Sakura Kasugano, I'm the one who dragged your carcass from
the alley last night."

"Last night?" the boy repeated with slightly mixed look on his face, one of
genuine surprise and relief. "Good, then I'll probably have a day or two
before they find me again…" he mumbled silently to himself.

Sakura blinked at that. "Huh? You say something?"

"Uh, no…just forget that I said anything," the boy responded while making
some warding gestures. Sakura looked at him with suspicious glare but
didn't press on it.

"Anyways, what's your name?" she asked suddenly, "I've already told you
mine, I think it'd be only fair if you told me yours."

"Ah, sorry about that, I wasn't really thinking when you brought me here,"
the boy apologized with his right hand scratching the base of his neck.
"The name's Ranma, Ranma Saotome…"

"Well then, Ranma, care to tell me how you ended up the way you were
last night?" Sakura inquired. "Did you pick up a fight with the Yakuza or
something? As far as I know, there aren't that many criminals in this
country that can get their hands on a gun these days."

"Um…errr…yeah," the boy responded hesitantly. "I c-can't quite remember
what exactly happened, my head's bit messed up right now and I can't
really remember anything from last right now."

"Oh, ok…" Sakura looked slightly disappointed, and perhaps bit suspicious.
She could see that the boy was hiding something, but she knew she
couldn't just go and beat the truth out of him yet and let the matter slide
for now. "Then can you tell where do you live? I could get my mom call to
your home and let your parents know you're okay."

The mentioning of parents and home caused the boy's features turn tense
at first and then cold in almost a blink of an eye. "Got no home, and I
don't care if my parents are still alive. My dad was a complete asshole, a
lying thief that would sell his own mother, should anyone have offered him
money or just some food for doing it."

"Uh, what about your mom?" Sakura was looking at Ranma with mild
unease. She could see that the question she had given before had set off
some unpleasant memories in the boy's mind.

"My mom? My mom was…she was…" Ranma started vehemently, but then
faltered as he settled back down on the futon. "I can't really remember
anything about her. Just things that my old man told me before we
got…separated…" He fell silent for a moment. "But I don't think there's
much good in her if she married a man like my pop, and then let him take
me away from home when I was five!" Ranma immediately regretted
shouting as the pain struck his nerves again, and slowly settled down
again.

Sakura frowned at the boy. "Are you sure you aren't jumping into
conclusions here? I mean, how can you judge someone you don't even
really know? I think you should go and find her if you really haven't seen
her for so long, I know I would."

"…" Ranma went silent and seemed to be examining the ceiling with great
interest. But then broke out from it as he turned his face towards Sakura
again. His upper eyelids were drooping however, indicating that he wasn't
going to stay awake for very long. "Maybe…I don't know if I can face her
just yet…I'll think…about…it…zzzzzzz…"

Sakura blinked. "Uh…? You didn't fall asleep again, now did you?" she
asked and she got in response was slow and steady breathing from the
boy's part. "Oh man, I guess I'll just have to wait until you wake up
again…" She had intended on leaving the room unnoticed, but once she
got out, the first thing she saw at the other side of the doorway was her
mother.

"Anoo…I can explain this mom, it's not what it looks like…" she started,
but then wisely shut her mouth when she saw the stern look she was
being given.

"Young lady, I think you and I are going to have a little talk …right now!"
The look on Mrs. Kasugano's face showed that it was going to be a long
chat.

Sakura just groaned and hung her head before she was lead into her own
room.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Are they all really necessary?" asked a certain woman with wavy
shoulder length auburn coloured hair. She was dressed in a neat black
business dress and was holding a suitcase in her hands, with two dozen
armed guards behind her back, all aiming at the front steel door in front of
them.

"I'm afraid so, miss Miyazaki, I'm afraid so," confirmed the man with the
black suit and sunglasses, he was the one who had talked with the
prisoner during the night and seemed to be slightly nervous about the
prospect of meeting the mentioned prisoner without the shackles.

"Oh well, just open the cell and lets get this thing over with." Miyazaki
ordered the two guards right behind her; they just nodded and moved to
the steel door with the other one holding the keys to the lock. After few
moments they had the door unlocked and then slowly opened it, so that
they could confirm that the prisoner was still in shackles before moving in.

"All clear," the other one of the guards said and then motioned his partner
to move in with him. Miyazaki and her colleague waited outside, looking
into the dark cell while listening to the sounds of the prisoner's cuffs being
released. And after short while the pale form the prisoner came into the
view as he stepped into the hallway, revealing that he didn't have any
other clothes than his worn black leather pants and his boots.

"My glove," he said while raising his right hand, which was covered almost
to the elbow with some kind of black mesh that was probably capable of
withstanding great amount of heat. It also looked like it had been glued
onto his skin.

Miyazaki nodded and opened the briefcase she had been holding and then
handed the prisoner the strange looking dark red glove with lots of seams
to it. It looked like a hockey glove, only less bulky and was padded from
the palm side too. "I believe it will be satisfactory for your purposes," she
said with small smile on her face, while her eyes seemed to linger on the
prisoner's muscled chest and his broad shoulders.

"Bit lighter I notice," the silver haired man noted while pulling on the
glove that covered the meshed proportion of his hand completely. "Few
modifications perhaps?"

This was the point where the black clad man beside miss Miyazaki decided
to step in. "Yes, we had our scientific department improve it slightly so
that it could endure bit more abuse than before, but remember, it still has
its limits."

The prisoner smirked and balled his gloved hand into a fist as he
examined it. "I guess it'll have to do then." And for a moment there was a
small crimson flame waving around the gloved fist, but then its owner
snuffed and let it drop back to his side as he turned to face his superiors.
"Well, give me a picture of the kid and show me the place where he was
last seen, and I'll get into work."

The man with the sunglasses frowned for a moment but didn't say
anything as he handed the ex-prisoner a small photo of the target. It was
Ranma. "You will be escorted to the Kyoto harbour where you shall meet
with one of our agents, he will explain it to you how and where our troops
lost sight of your target. After that, its all up to you."

"Just like old times, eh?" the silver haired man snorted.

Miyazaki took this as her cue to finish this conversation. "Well, that is all
you need to know for now. However, before you leave, you will be given
rest of your clothes and the gear that you might need on your mission.
You have one week to find the boy, after that we will send someone else."

The ex-prisoner just nodded and began to walk down the corridor with
half of the guards walking right behind him, but stopped as he heard the
woman calling him. "Oh yeah, and you will probably need this," she said
and threw a small plastic card that the silver haired man caught between
his fore- and index finger. It was a simple dark grey ID-card with his
picture on the center and a single letter printed below it, "K'". The name
he had been given.

"That will give you the access to some of our lower security doors in this
base and few others," Miyazaki explained.

K' nodded and pocketed the card before turning back to the direction
where he had originally intended to go, leaving Miyazaki and her colleague
standing in the hallway with the rest of the guards.

"I don't like this," Miyazaki's colleague muttered with light frown on his
face. "He didn't rebel as much as he usually did. I think he's up to
something…

"Of course he is," Miyazaki chuckled while turning around. "But unlike last
time, this time we know to keep an eye on him. He won't try betraying us
unless he sees a perfect opening, one that we will not be giving."

The man with the sunglasses continued to frown but didn't say anything
as he continued to watch after K' and the security guards that were
following him. After the group disappeared behind the corner, he turned
around and moved after Miyazaki, the rest of the guards following his
lead.

"I still think this was a bad idea..."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
End of prologue…
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Next time: The burning warrior
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Author: This is just something I've been planning to do for a long time but
never had the energy or the creativity to actually do it. Let me know what
you think and I might continue along side the two other stories I've been
writing. I might be a bit slow but I get the job done once I set into the
right gear…

And yes, I know Sakura's (the one from SF) real last name is Shiozaki,
but since everybody else are using the 'international' Kasugano, I thought
'What the hell' and went along with the stream since I wanted at least the
majority of my readers to know of whom I was talking about from the
very beginning.

Oh, and sorry if this story seems bit rushed, I did it in one night, so
forgive me if I messed up. I'll try to do it better next time…if there'll be
one, it depends on the responses I'll get.

-Goenitz