Ranma and Co. is Copyright Rumiko Takahashi/Shogakukan, Inc. 1993 Ranma ½ is a trademark of Viz Communications, Inc. Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai is Copyright Tamiki Wakaki/Shogakukan, Inc. 2008. OneChanbara 2008/2004, distributed by Jollyroger/Tamsoft.

Frost

Chapter 2 part 1/3

"Like I was saying, all I want is to pick up my friend, and we can forget this whole thing. Your boss might not know her, from what I could tell, but not you. You recognized the name, I could tell that much. Right? So why don't we make this easy on the two of us, and you tell me what's got you so worked up?" I spoke as clear as I could through wind that was picking up, soaking the both of us with more rain. If there was something I could do without, it was crap like this. I wasn't about to walk out of here and have the night be a waste.

"What did you do," the woman spat out from beneath hair that was plastering her face. "That was no spell," she grit her teeth, apparently doing her level best to will her body to respond through the paralysis that had set in.

"Look, lady. I don't really know jack about spells. I've had my fill of magic to last a lifetime, lemme tell you," I creased my brows, not feeling like getting into a pointless discussion while stuck out in a downpour.

"You, you're not from Hell are you," she spoke as if she'd come to a stunning revelation.

"Hell, nah…though I've been told to go there more times than I can count, if that helps," I shrugged, it was true, even if ninety-nine percent of those times was from the tried and true thorn in my side, Ryouga Hibiki.

"Anyway, I'm pretty sure you're supposed to be answering my question here, not the other way around. You don't look too comfortable like that, and I sure don't care to be out here any longer than necessary. This weather isn't my cup of tea. Fess up and we can both get back to our lives all the faster," I kept as close as I could to her back, while keeping an eye on those damn kamas of hers. I wasn't sure how long the pressure points I'd tagged would stay active, and I didn't doubt that she'd leave such a gaping hole in her defense a second time.

I watched her jaw clench again, apparently she wasn't done trying to struggle against her own body. Physically, she wasn't anything impressive, but she could sure take a beating with the best of 'em.

After another few seconds, I could see the tension leeching out of her. Maybe she'd decided to play along, and I didn't mind the break, for one.

"Nonomura, you said, right?" she spoke, and I thought I could hear a hint of resignation in her voice, but it might have just been my wishful thinking.

"Nonomura Chiiko, yeah."

"God wasn't all that impressed with her, as I recall. I had her sent away, as there was no reason to waste his precious time on girls with little potential," the woman spoke with nothing short of pure conviction.

My eyelid started to twitch, sure Nonomura wasn't more than a passing acquaintance of mine, but it was something else to hear someone so casually dismissed. More to the point, if it had been like that, why would this woman have acted surprised at hearing that name, "And," I questioned, wanting to hear what was obviously a more complicated tale.

"As I said, I had her sent away. But, just because God had no want of her here, that didn't mean she was useless elsewhere. We have many establishments across the city, much like this one," she did her best to glance backward out of the corner of her eye as she spoke, putting forth a great deal of contempt in that one look. "If knew to come to the Jade, surely you knew that much at least."

I could feel that glance turn from undisguised scorn to mild curiosity. But, like I just told her, this was about Nonomura, not me. Unfortunately, as Nabiki made it all too clear over the years that I'd known her, I have a terrible poker face, and this Elsee lady could see through it, even stuck as she was.

"You didn't know, did you? Hah, you must have the dumbest kind of luck. God doesn't have a high tolerance for fools, and less so for useless ones that disturb him."

"Look lady, get to the point. I don't care about that glasses guy one way or the other, especially if the girl I'm tracking down isn't here. If you know where she is, just spit it out already, or you'll be the useless one, got it?" I felt a little bit of the old heat rising up. Beating around the bush wasn't my style, and straight answers were the best kind. None of that old smart-ass riddle crap that people like the old ghoul and the thrice-damned geezer liked to spout off. Why couldn't people just be straightforward for once, I don't think it's too much to ask.

Apparently, I was missing out on some big joke too, because the lady flashed me a real bright smile, completely out of the blue for the situation she was in. It was just enough to kick start my brain into noticing something wasn't quite on the up and up. Now that I was on edge again, I noticed it, a faint whisper of the earlier twisty ki she'd been putting out. My busy mouth was going to be the end of me, hopefully sometime after all this was done, "Shit," I blurted out as I leapt backward, away from the suddenly much heavier ki that burst outward from the crafty woman.

None too soon, either, because several thin lances of pink burst up through the ground where I'd been standing. I'd completely forgotten about her damn scarf. It had to be magic, or something other than a simple ki technique, otherwise she shouldn't have been able to work it with most of her body in shutdown. Naturally, it mattered a whole lot less what it was, than what she was capable of doing with it. That was what concerned me in the here and now. I wasn't going to stand here and be anyone's pincushion, not if I had something to say about it.

"Watch where you point those, lady. That damn ribbon of yours is getting on my nerves."

The energy rolling off of her once again shrunk down, and the points of cloth shot back from where they'd come. She gave a final shake, almost as if she were having some kind of fit, until the energy all but vanished from my senses. Then she took one step, and another, turning around to face me in the process.

"That took a bit longer than I expected," she gave me another one of those cat at the canary grins. "You're positive he didn't send you from Hell? You dodged my attack, after all. And there's that pretty face of yours to consider."

"Sorry to disappoint ya, but I'm local, born and bred. But, you're not from around here, I take it?" I kept a little more distance, as well as an eye on the surroundings, if that ribbon could go through asphalt, what other tricks did she have?

"I've been here long enough to consider it home. But as for you, God asked me to take out the trash, and has deemed you such. I have to discipline that ugly brute out front too, as much as I'm not looking forward to it," true to her word, her vicious smile dropped for a moment, replaced by a look of disgust. "I'll never understand why he was given such an important job," she shook her head, "anyway, that is that, and this is this."

"Ah, whatever you say," I shrugged, dropping into a lower stance in case I needed to move suddenly. This was dragging on too long for my taste, but I didn't see any easy way to deal with this lady, not if I couldn't subdue her outright. I was just going to have to hit her hard and fast. I couldn't help but grin a bit myself. "I'm not the one that's gonna be taking a dip in the dumpster, lady."

"We'll see soon enough, won't we," she furrowed her brows and did something with her hands that I didn't quite catch. Suddenly, something appeared in her hands, it must've happened in between my blinking, because one moment, she was bare-handed, the next holding what looked like a big, "you've got to be kidding me, a broom?" I wanted to slap a hand across my face, but it wasn't like I hadn't seen more ridiculous weapons before. Plus it brought to mind a few incidents that were better left in the past.

"It's a very effective weapon, believe me," Elsee said, spinning in in her hands until the bristled end was facing me.

This was about to get a whole lot more interesting, I figured. It would also be a lot better if I had my sword on hand too. Without thinking, I stole a glance back toward the totaled Honda, the Saotome family blade glistening in the puddle that it was resting in. I'd feel a whole lot better about this mess if it was back in my hands, I was sure of that.

"If you say so, I'll just have'ta take you at your word," I responded by cracking my knuckles.

"Why don't I just show you," she cried out, brandishing the broom as if it were an oddly shaped spear.

For one, it definitely gave her an advantage in reach, not that she needed it, with that blasted ribbon wrapped around her shoulders. The way she wielded the weapon clicked, and I realized why she'd been using her makeshift sword in that weird manner earlier. This was what she was more comfortable using, that was pretty damn clear, the first few times it whipped past my face, trying to remove my head from my shoulders, forcibly if need be.

There was also the whole issue of her height to deal with. She had almost a handspan over my usual rakish good looks, and now that I'd gone girl-side, it felt like she was towering over me. I leapt backward, tucking my legs up as she went for a wide leg-sweep, quite literally in this case. If anything, I wished I'd picked a different jacket. While it was great for hiding a weapon, I was damn near swimming in the thing right now, and the last thing I wanted was to get my own legs tangled in it.

Bending backwards to dodge a flurry of swipes, I did my best to angle her away from the car, so I could make a grab for my own weapon. I don't know where she pulled the broom from, but judging from the crazy ribbon she had, it was safer to assume it wasn't your run of the mill push-broom. I might not be able to cut it, but I could parry, and probably disarm her if I had my sword.

"Stop hopping around like a bug," the woman frowned, growing more relentless in her attacks. "This won't hurt, much-I promise."

"Like that makes me feel any better," I almost slipped on the wet ground , and turned the unanticipated momentum into a slide that carried me under a particularly zealous swipe, right toward the Honda and my waiting blade, "Hah, gottcha," I shouted, maybe getting a little too carried away myself as my fingers wrapped around the hilt. "Let's keep this interesting, shall we," I flipped around, narrowly blocking a downward chop with the haft of the sword.

As I'd guessed, the blade didn't so much as chip the wood bearing down on me. "Figured as much. What's that thing made of anyway?" It didn't appear as if she was going to answer my half-hearted question, intent on bludgeoning me into paste as she was.

I blocked a few more strikes, finally pushing aside her broom to land a dozen or so hits to her ribs, but like before she grimaced, shrugging off the pain. Any other time, I might have felt like applauding her efforts, but this was getting ridiculous. Why did getting a little bit of information have to be so freakin' annoying? What was this lady, one of the musk or something? It had been a really long time since I'd had a fight quite like this, and it was beginning to tell. Maybe Nabiki was right after all. I was getting soft, and right now, I couldn't afford that.

Pushing back her strikes a second time, I slipped in a few heavy kicks, aiming low for her legs. I felt three of them land, hitting hard against her thigh before striking what felt like an iron pole. "Gah!" Sure enough, that infuriating ribbon was coiled beside her leg like a neon piece of rebar. "Look, just tell me where she is, and we can quit dancing around like this." I was pretty sure I'd be feeling that last hit in the morning, and sporting an nice lump to go along with it.

Shooting me another one of those grins when she realized she'd gained a little sneaky victory, she stepped back mildly favoring the leg I'd managed to throttle just a bit. "Don't think you can beat me that easily." She held her broom to the side and the ribbon wrapped around it, forming a makeshift spear point over the bristles at the head. "I knew that girl was trouble when she was brought in. God didn't understand, thought she was just another one to collect, but I knew otherwise. I asked him to be more careful when picking, and now look at the mess he's left me to clean up."

With that she leveled the tip of the spear at my chest. I just knew this had to be something more than she'd been letting on. Not that I cared about the details when that thing was pointed at me dead center. Yet something else I owed to Nabiki. What kind of mess had she gotten us into this time?