Author's Notes: Okay, only after uploading this thing did I realize what a beast it was at 2,800+ words without author's notes so I'll try to keep this short. This is the fourth chapter, and you've all read enough of these by now that you know the drill. I own nothing but the plot and the OC's. Ken Kanzuki is technically my OC even though Karin Kanzuki has a canon father, I just don't feel like taking the time to look him up and fix the name. If you've made it this far in thanks for reading and enjoy chapter 4 of The Secrets We Keep.
Chapter Four
One-Week Ago
The schoolyard of Furinkan was littered with bodies. Which was a not too unusual sight for any given morning at the high school. Whether it be from the effects of a ki vampire, a deranged lunatic with a strange obsession with haircuts and exploding fruit, or simply the aftermath of an angry blue-haired girl venting her rage, a ground littered with unconscious or barely conscious bodies was hardly a rare sight for this particular high school. This morning, however, was different as the center of the chaos contained a strange blond-haired girl in a red, sailor-style school uniform.
"Where is Ranma Saotome?" The girl called. "I, Karin Kanzuki, wish to fight the one who defeated Kodachi Kuno! Where is she?"
"Geez, pipe down will ya?" A sleepy-eyed Ranma said as he slowly walked through the chaos. "Here I was minding my own business trying to catch some shut-eye in Ms. Hinako's class and you just keep yelling my name."
"Who are you?" Karin asked, "I seek not a boy, but the red-haired one who fought Kodachi Kuno."
"Look I'm Ranma Saotome. Martial-artist extraordinaire and all around awesome guy."
"And you are the same Ranma Saotome who fought-"
"Kodachi." Ranma interrupted "Yeah, I heard you the first two times."
"Really?" Kodachi asked, "You are the red-haired girl?"
"You want a demonstration don't you?" Ranma sighed. Taking a moment to search the nearest unconscious student, he came up with a water bottle. He then proceeded to dump the contents over his head.
Karin merely raised one immaculate eyebrow as the male Ranma disappeared and left the female Ranma standing in front of her.
"Physical transformation? Interesting."
Looking around further at the chaos around him Ranma spoke up. "You know you could have called for me before you beat everyone up."
"And ruin my warm-up?" Karin asked
"Warm-up?" Ranma asked, "You could take out half of these yutzes with a stiff breeze."
The ace of the baseball team who was just barely clinging to consciousness summoned the last of his strength for one last comment.
"Screw you." was all he said before lapsing into unconsciousness.
Ranma looked at him with boredom. "He's just jealous 'cause I'm better than he is."
"Enough of this tomfoolery!" Karin shouted.
"Geez, crank it down a notch. I'm right here."
"Fight me!" Karin said and launched herself at Ranma.
The red-haired girl just dodged Karin's opening salvo.
"Hmmm. No bad speed." She said as she ducked under a punch that connected with the front wall of Furinkan creating a small crater. "Strength's not bad either. You're overextending a bit and you're balance isn't quite right."
"Quit mocking me!" Karin shouted
"Hey, I'm just pointing things out." Ranma said. "I haven't even started mocking you yet. But you know, I could use a fight and you're pretty macho. Maybe if I close my eyes I can pretend you're a guy."
Karin had given up talking by this point, focusing all her energy on hitting her elusive opponent. It just made her angrier that Ranma wasn't even taking this seriously. She was dodging with her eyes closed!
Karin's anger only made her sloppy, as she was unprepared for the basic foot sweep that came from Ranma. Flat on her back Karin could only watch in shock as a fist descended for her head, only to stop less than an inch from the bridge of her nose.
"Nah, I can't do it after all." Ranma said straightening up.
"NO!" Karin yelled as she got to her feet. "It can't end like this!"
Ranma just ignored her and just kept walking away.
"No! I will not permit this!" Karin screamed.
"Face it. It's over." Nabiki said as she walked up. "I made quite a bit of money off of you. Nobody expected Ranma to beat you so quickly. It was a sure thing he was going to win, I've learned that much, but not nobody expected it to be over so fast."
Karin whirled on the mercenary girl, ready to vent her rage. For a moment Nabiki was afraid that Karin would strike her. It was only for a moment though, as just then Nabiki heard a very welcome sound at the moment.
"What a haul! What a haul!"
Nabiki smiled as she immediately thought of a plan. A dangerous and unpredictable plan, but a plan nonetheless.
"Oh Happosai!" she called "Look a pretty blonde, Japanese girl!"
Immediately Happosai's attention was riveted towards Karin.
"Sweeto!" he yelled as he attached himself to Karin's chest.
She screamed in equal parts horror, anger, and humiliation as Happosai shamelessly rubbed himself against her. She managed to grab a hold of the back of his gi and pulled him off. It was only after he came off of her that she felt something weird. Her chest felt odd, like something was lacking. Looking down at the perverted gnome she noticed that somehow her bra was in his hands and he was dancing with it!
Nabiki took this moment to whip out a disposable camera and snap a picture of the scene before her. Karin Kanzuki, a powerful martial artist, with a face nearly the color of her uniform while she tried in vain to snatch her bra back from Happosai's clutches. Karin took notice of this and let Happosai go to focus on Nabiki.
"Give me that camera!" she screamed and lunged at Nabiki.
While she had given up martial arts years ago, Nabiki still remembered enough to dodge a sloppy lunge from a desperate opponent.
"If you want this camera so badly I'll make you a deal. Eighty thousand yen and it's yours."
Karin realized she was in no position to bargain. Pulling a small purse from her skirt pocket she pulled out a wad of bills and threw them at Nabiki.
Nabiki was quite surprised for moment that this girl had that kind of money on her and that she could just throw it away, but she filed that thought away for later. She counted the bills, found the amount to be correct, and tossed the camera at Karin.
"Thanks for your business." was all Nabiki said as she turned to walk away.
Karin caught the camera and swiftly destroyed it. She stood up and stared at Nabiki.
"You have shamed me today." She said, "You and that blasted Ranma Saotome. I will not forget or forgive this action towards my person. My father shall hear of this."
"Yes, yes" Nabiki said dismissively "Just run on home to your daddy little girl."
Karin literally growled before spitting out one last retort. "You will live to regret this day Nabiki Tendo."
Nabiki waited for the girl leave before heading back to class. Though for the rest of the day she couldn't concentrate on her work very well. For some reason she couldn't immediately identify the other girl's parting words bothered her. She said her name was Karin Kanzuki and this name sounded a bit familiar. Nabiki decided to do some research later.
Present Time
After leaving the park Ranma and Nabiki found a place where they could get some hot water. The owner of the shop couldn't resist two very attractive young girls asking for something as simple as a cup of hot water. Of course had he known that one of the pretty girls would turn into a boy he might have hesitated a bit longer. As it was the pair was gone before the man could ask any questions.
They walked along for a minute before Nabiki stopped.
"Hey Ranma, can you hold on for a second?" Nabiki asked, "I want to make a call." She pulled a phone from her pocket and flipped it open.
"Uh, sure Nabiki" He said "But that's not your phone."
"I know." She said "I took it from one of those thugs you fought earlier. I want to talk to Ken Kanzuki. I have to."
"I don't know if that's such a good idea."
"I have to Ranma."
"All right, just be careful."
Nabiki laughed, "It's just a phone call." And then she dialed the only number in the phone's memory.
The phone rang a few times before the line was picked up. "Ms. Tendo, how nice of you to call."
"How…?" she started.
"The GPS of that phone you're using shows you to be in a residential area any of my employees would have no business in. And I'm all about business." The voice that spoke over the phone was smooth and refined, but there was a hint of underlying power.
"In that case let's get right down to it. You almost killed someone I care about tonight."
Ranma quirked an eyebrow at this, but wisely chose to say nothing at the present.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." the voice said with casual disinterest.
"Don't lie to me." Nabiki hissed into the receiver. "Some of your thugs attacked my friend and I tonight."
"Hmm, it's possible some of my more…enthusiastic…employees took it upon themselves to express my displeasure at the humiliation my daughter suffered last week."
"If it's about the money, I can get it back. I just need a little time."
"Dear Ms. Tendo, weren't you listening? This isn't about the money. The paltry sum you won at my daughter's expense is nothing. I recouped my losses, financially speaking, from that little incident inside a day."
"Then why are you doing this?" Nabiki was starting to sound a little desperate.
"Respect Ms. Tendo, respect." The voice had gained a hard edge to it. "You and your boyfriend humiliated my daughter and subjected her to the hands of that inhuman creature known as Happosai. You made her look weak, and by extension made me look weak. I'm afraid, Nabiki, you will have to deal with the consequences of your actions." And then the line went dead, leaving Nabiki quivering in one part fear and one part anger.
Miles away in a plush office in an inconspicuous Tokyo skyscraper sat Ken Kanzuki. On the surface he appeared to be very well off, but legitimate, businessman but in reality he was the head of one of the largest Yakuza groups in Japan. At the moment he was sitting at his desk very pleased with how his conversation just went, and allowed himself a moment to savor it. But only a moment as there were things that needed to be attended to. Reaching forward to a button on his desk he hailed his secretary.
"Ms. Otonashi, I would like you to send in my new security associate."
"Of course Mr. Kanzuki. Right away sir."
One hour later
Ken Kanzuki was normally a very patient man, but this was really trying his patience. After all, how long could it take for someone to travel less than an hundred feet?
"Ms. Otonashi where is my associate?"
"Sir?"
"My associate has yet to arrive."
"I don't understand sir. I sent him to your office an hour ago."
Suddenly the door to Ken Kanzuki's private bathroom opened and out stepped a weary Ryoga Hibiki.
"Did I finally make it?"
Ken was completely shocked at the lost boy's sudden appearance. "How the devil did you get in there?"
"I, uh, I got lost."
"There are only two doors between my secretary's office and this office." Ken was completely baffled at this.
"Yeah, you might want to think about changing that. It's confusing for some people."
"Ahem, anyway now that you're here I have some business to discuss with you. I saw your skill first hand, the other day when you suddenly wandered into this building and took out six of my best bodyguards."
"They started the fight and I finished it." Ryoga shrugged.
"Exactly!" Ken said, "That decisiveness is exactly why I'd like you to do me a favor. You will be well compensated of course."
"Well sure I could always use a little extra walking around money. I, uh, I tend to do a lot of walking around."
"I'm sure." Ken said dryly. He handed two photographs to Ryoga that had been acquired at greatly exaggerated cost.
"Anyway, these two people, one Nabiki Tendo and her boyfriend Ranma Saotome, have been somewhat troublesome as of late. I want you to find them for me. Bring the Tendo girl to me."
"And what about Saotome?"
Ken waved his hand dismissively. "Kill him. He's of no use to me."
Ryoga smiled a feral smile. "Gladly."
One hour ago at the park
As soon as the line went dead Nabiki snapped the phone shut and hurled it away from herself.
"So I take it things didn't go so well." Ranma said
"No" Nabiki said bitterly. "He's still after us."
"No worries. If they attack us again I'll just beat 'em all up." Ranma said confidently.
"Ranma you were shot today."
"Lucky shot. One-in-a-million type of thing."
"Sooner or later they're going to get lucky again." Nabiki pointed out.
"So we just gotta find the big boss and beat him up."
"If only things were that simple." Nabiki sighed.
Changing the subject Ranma asked, "So what'd you do with the money?"
"What?"
"The money. That you won from betting on my fight?"
"Gone." Nabiki shrugged "I used it all."
"For what?"
"Wedding expenses." Nabiki said and started ticking items off on her fingers. "The cake, the decorations, the priest, your suit, Akane's dress. That took about half of it."
Ranma boggled. He had no idea weddings were so expensive or complicated. He didn't really want to ask the next question, but he did anyways.
"What about the other half?"
"Repairs to the house and the dojo." Nabiki said, "Everybody made a huge mess of it, and that martial arts construction company isn't cheap."
"Okay I guess I can understand that." Ranma said "but I gotta ask you one more thing. You knew at least Shampoo and the Old Ghoul would do something. Some magic B.S. or something. So why'd you send invitations to them anyway?"
Nabiki made a disgusted face "Actually I didn't send them any invitations."
Ranma scratched his head in confusion. "So how'd they get 'em then?"
"Daddy" Nabiki said, "He found out I was sending invitations out. He took a few and sent them to the Nekohanten, Ukyo's place, the Kuno mansion, and even Ryoga's house."
"Why would he do that?" Ranma asked.
"He wanted to rub their faces in the fact that you were marrying Akane."
"Geez, so it was your Pops that caused the whole mess?" Ranma asked.
"Pretty much." Nabiki said with shrug.
"Man why can't those old guys just leave us alone?"
Lacking an answer to Ranma's question, the pair just lapsed into a comfortable silence. As they neared Nodoka's house Nabiki was the one to break the silence.
"Do you realize that today was the longest amount of time we've ever spent together? And that the last hour was the longest conversation we've ever had?"
"Heh" Ranma laughed, "I guess I am your friend right?"
"Okay so you have kind of…grown on me…I suppose." Nabiki admitted.
"Sooo, are we friends now or what?" Ranma asked.
"Yeah, I guess we kind of are." Nabiki said "But don't push it Saotome."
And with that they lapsed back into their comfortable silence as they came up to Nodoka's house.
At the Tendo Household.
The sound of a door slamming and heavy footsteps in the front hall were the signs of Akane's return to the Tendo home. A smiling Kasumi stepped out of the kitchen to greet her youngest sister.
"Welcome back Akane. Did you find Ranma while you were out?"
"Yeah, that two-timing jerk was on a date with Ukyo ad Nabiki at the same time." Akane growled.
Hearing key words like "Ranma," "date," and "Ukyo" Soun Tendo ran to the front hall to squeeze his daughter for details.
"Ranma was cheating on my darling little girl!" Soun roared charging up ki for a demon head technique.
"He was just being a pervert like usual" Akane said "but I showed him what's what." She held up her fist to emphasize her point, while her father nodded vigorously.
"Oh dear" Kasumi sighed "Will Ranma be down in time for supper?"
At the question Akane's anger melted to a confused and concerned look. "He said he wasn't coming back. He said he was going to Auntie Nodoka's house and Nabiki went with him."
"WHAT!" Soun roared again.
"What's all the commotion about Tendo my friend?" Genma asked as he ambled into the entranceway.
He didn't really care what Akane was so mad about. These days the girl would go off at the drop of a hat, but he did want to know when supper was going to be. He really worked up an appetite cheating at Shogi with his friend all day.
"Oh, Kasumi dear girl, what time is sup…"
"YOUR SON IS CHEATING ON MY LITTLE GIRL!" Genma was interrupted by Soun exploding into his demon head technique.
Having seen this technique in action both before and after he came to live with the Tendos he was mostly unaffected by the technique. Mostly.
Chuckling nervously he scratched the back of his head. "I'll, uh, I'll make sure to reprimand the boy when he gets back."
"He's not coming back," Akane pouted. "He went to Auntie Nodoka's house."
Genma was completely unprepared for what happened next. Soun's demon head technique experienced a sudden power up. It morphed into something bigger, uglier, and scarier.
"GO GET YOUR SON!" Soun's demon head version 2.0 roared out.
"And no supper for you until you do." Kasumi added calmly.
While Soun's demon head version 2.0 technique was fearsome, it was the last part put in by Kasumi that really got Genma moving. He would do anything to fill his stomach. He had even sold his only son, more than once, for the sake of satiating his hunger. And so with thoughts of Kasumi's cooking in his head he set out to face the one thing he feared more than the Master. His wife.
End Notes: Okay, I hope you all enjoyed that. Please let me know what you think. If you liked it give me a review and tell me why. If you didn't like it, first thanks for finishing the thing and second give me a review and tell me why.
A special thanks to Tai Khan who gave me some good questions to think about and try my best to answer. If you're still reading thanks a bunch, and here are my answers to a couple questions you brought up:
Ranma didn't realize the fourth thug was pointing a gun at him because he wasn't taking the fight seriously. He wasn't being as aware as he should have been
Nabiki feared an attack on her life. She didn't want her little sister to potentially caught up in that. As for why she didn't have Ranma near her during school hours, Furinkan is a crazy place. It is well known for insane martial arts battles and its lunatic principle with his love for cutting hair. Nabiki figured that no yakuza thug would dare attack her on school grounds. Finally as for why she entered into dealings with the Yakuza, the fact is that she didn't. She merely set up her usual bidding ring around the fight between Ranma and Karin. She didn't know that Karin had ties to the Yakuza until after she had already collected the money.
One final thing I'm still in the market for an editor if you're interested at all send me a message and we'll talk. Until next time.
Mysterious One D
EDIT: More small changes to dialogue, spelling and grammar. Still nothing major.