LOST
by Jason L. 'Jai-kun' Langlois
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R2096 characters and situations used with permission. Takahashi's aren't.
Please, Takahashi-sama, don't send Nodoka for my head! .;;
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[TOKYO INSTITUTE FOR THE CRIMINALLY INSANE, MAY 16, 2024, 5:14 PM
Ukyou smiled at him from behind the glass. "H-how is everything, Ryo-chan?"
Ryouga fell into his usual pattern, setting the small gift set of paper and pen on the table, slowly, for the orderly to take to his wife, as he chatted with her about mundane things. He wanted so badly to ask her about the institution, about how they were treating her, or to tell her about Kioku, who would be starting college soon, but the doctors had been very adamant. 'Don't say anything that would excite her, Hibiki-san. We don't want a repeat of last month's... incident.'
Last month's 'incident' was when Ukyou had broken one orderly's arm, and sent a second to the infirmary with a severe kick to his groin. And that wasn't even Ryouga's fault.
Had hurt to watch, though.
Ryouga held his information inside, waiting for the day when he could take his wife home.
It'd been nearly twenty-five years since Ukyou had willingly put herself in this place. He still couldn't understand why they wouldn't let her go. They had claimed it was because of her violent tendencies. If that were the case, he'd argued, half of the population of Furinkan's class of '98 would have to be in here, too!
Ukyou giggled as Ryouga came back out of his thoughts and smiled at her. "Did you even here what I'd said, Ryo-chan?"
Ryouga blushed. "No. I'm sorry."
Ukyou smiled softly. "I said, Kasumi must be feeding you well."
Ryouga smiled broadly. "Actually, with her daughter and husband, she only comes by about once a week. Kioku does most of the cooking."
Ukyou's eyes shone with pride. "That's wonderful!"
Ryouga watched as her face turned from happiness to sadness. Her voice was barely audible, but it broke Ryouga's heart.
"Ryo-chan... I want to go home."
Tears spilled down her face as she looked at him. He leaned closer to the glass, his lips almost touching the holes that allowed them to speak.
"Soon, Oko-chan. Soon."
That's when all hell broke loose.
A broad-shouldered orderly walked up behind Ukyou. "Time's up."
Ukyou turned, startled. "Wait! We were supposed to have a whole hour."
The orderly wasn't listening. He pulled her up roughly, twisting her arm around her back painfully. "Don't argue with me, you little bi-"
The rest of his growl was muffled by his sudden impact with the floor. Ukyou had manoeuvred her foot behind his, twisted out of his grip, and planted him into the ground.
Ryouga stood up as more orderlies began to crowd around Ukyou, pulling her toward the door. "Hey! She didn't do anything!"
No one listened, and Ukyou was quickly subdued and dragged to her cell.
The sedative they had given her acted quickly, so that only muffled sobs followed her down the corridor to her room.
Ryouga seethed at the orderly getting up, the one that had first tried to pull Ukyou away. "What the hell do you think you're doing? We had an hour together!"
The guard looked at him with cold eyes. "We have instructions to intervene at any sign of trouble, sir."
"Trouble? There was no trouble! All she said was that she wanted to go home!"
The orderly sneered. "I have my orders, 'sir'." The inflection was not missed by Ryouga.
He stormed down the hall, and slammed open the administrator's door.
"Do you know what your damned orderlies did?"
Dr. Takamoshi looked up at Ryouga with hooded eyes. Ryouga was always reminded of a cobra when he looked at the administrator. "I'm sorry, Hibiki-san, how may I help you?"
Ryouga placed his palms on the doctor's desk and leaned forward. "Your goons attacked my wife for no reason!"
Takamoshi smiled up at the Hibiki, seemingly oblivious to the anger on the man's face. "Hibiki-san, I'm sure there was a reason."
Ryouga visibly tried to remain calm. "No," he said through gritted teeth, "all that happened was she said she wanted to go home, and the next thing I know, a guard is calling her names and twisting her arm." Ryouga spoke calmly, but his ki was beginning to burn hotter and hotter. It flared up when the doctor beamed.
"Well, there is your reason!" The doctor sobered a little when he noticed the ki energy roiling around Ryouga. "Hibiki-san, you must realise that things that may seem small to you and me escalate into something more serious all too quickly, here. What may have seemed to be a normal request to you could have caused another outburst like last time. With an unstable person like Ukyou-"
Ryouga had reached his limit. He grabbed the doctor's lapels, and with an ease that secretly terrified Takamoshi, pulled him over the desk and slammed him roughly into the wall opposite it. The doctor was face to face with Ryouga, his face dangerously close to Ryouga's fangs. "Don't you dare say she's unstable, dammit! I saw what happened!"
Takamoshi hid his fear with practised ease. "Hibiki-san, your wife sees ghosts. She personally destroyed a section of downtown Nerima.. She left her baby alone to chase a ghost. You cannot possibly describe those things as normal--"
Ryouga shook the doctor. "I want her out of here. NOW."
Takamoshi sighed. "Hibiki-san, you know as well as I do that your wife cannot go-"
He was slammed into the wall. "Wrong answer."
Takamoshi was a bully. He treated his patients with the disdain he felt they deserved. To be truthful, he enjoyed the pain he put these miserable wretches through. But like most bullies, he was not used to actually being confronted with violence. He began to sweat, and his voice betrayed his fear.
"N-now, Hibiki-san, you must realise... precautions must be taken..."
Ryouga's face slowly lowered to bring his angry eyes to the doctor's level.
Then Takamoshi realised...
-Hibiki isn't lowering his face, he's lifting me! - When their noses almost touched, he growled low into the doctor's face.
"To hell with your precautions. I'm taking her out of here."
He put the doctor down roughly, and walked toward the window to look outside.
The doctor puffed himself up. "H- Hibiki-san, I am afraid I cannot allow you to see Ukyou Hibiki any longer. You have become an... unstable influence."
Ryouga looked back at the doctor, his expressionless face more intimidating than Takamoshi let on. Wordlessly, he turned back to the wall and struck it with one finger.
The wall exploded outward, exposing the office to the outside. "Stop me," came a growl from Ryouga's back.
Sweating and pale, the doctor waited until Ryouga was out of sight, and then shakily activated the phone. "Gosunkugi, K."
He put his headset to his ear, and then, in a shaking voice, spoke in a whisper. "Kyoofu. We have a problem."
Kyoofu listened patiently to the doctor, knowing some of the fear coming across the line was directed at him. -Good. I prefer it that way-.
He had been expecting action from Hibiki for some time. Oh, he had tried to pull strings to keep him busy. The fact that the idiot was lost for weeks at a time was a great help to him. But he knew, sooner or later, he would act. That was the problem with Hibiki Ryouga.
He always needed to act.
On the phone, Takamoshi was still babbling. "...never should have kept her this long! I'm going to sign the papers to let he-"
"You will do NOTHING of the kind!" Kyoofu's voice was raised to an uncharacteristically loud level. He calmed himself, satisfied at the silence over the line. His voice took on a menacing tone, one that he never showed to anyone that was not on his payroll. "I am working far too hard and far too long on a cloning technique for us to lose such a prime template as Hibiki Ukyou. If I am to get the material I need, I must have her in a place where I have access to her 24 hours a day. Have I made myself clear?"
He heard a gulp over the line that warned him of the other's doctor's protest. "B-but, Kyoofu, there isn't anything wrong with her. And... And Hibiki will come back, and he'll..."
"And what do you think Hibiki will do if you let her go and she tells him exactly how you managed to convince the board to keep her there?
Hallucinogenics in her food, Subliminal messages, having the guards attack her for no apparent reason just to make her fight back, so that she would... how did the report go? 'Cause problems'? How do you think Hibiki will react to that, hmm?"
Takamoshi stammered intelligibly, then fell silent. -I swear, this fool is easier to scare than my relatives.-
"Now, doctor," he continued, emphasising the title mockingly, "let me take care of Hibiki. You just make sure my... Template is kept in line."
"Y-yes s-sir."
Kyoofu hung up the line, made one other call, and left to continue his act for Tofu.
[TOKYO INSTITUTE FOR THE CRIMINALLY INSANE, MAY 17, 2024, 8:00 AM
Hibiki Ryouga patted Kuroshiro's flanks as he saw the gates of the institute. The young dog had served him as faithfully as her grandmother had... years ago. "Good girl. Wait here, O.K.? I may need you to guide us home when I'm done." The dog whuffed playfully, quivering in seeming anticipation, as if she knew her mistress was coming home.
Ryouga adjusted his bandanna, tightened his grip on the red bamboo umbrella that had been his constant companion in his younger days, and stalked to the rear of the complex, where he knew his wife was waiting.
Silently, he crept around the corner of her building. Walking swiftly, he located her window with an uncanniness he didn't have time to be proud of. He leapt up and peered through the bars of Ukyou's window.
She lay on her cot, sleeping, curled up in a tight ball. Her eyes were tightly shut with the strain this place had put upon her. The place that was supposed to help her... He called her gently, but she did not stir.
He released the cell window and dropped to the ground. -Don't worry, Oko-chan. I'll get you out.-
He began to concentrate, gathering his ki, focusing his vision to find a single point in the masonry of the wall. Finding it, he pulled his arm back and prepared to strike.
"Bakusai-"
"I wouldn't do that if I were you."
Ryouga whirled to be confronted by Gosunkugi Kyoofu, surrounded by four of the largest orderlies he had ever seen. He crouched into his stance, umbrella at the ready. "I'm taking my wife home."
He was shocked by the rather amused expression on the younger man's face. "Oh, I doubt I could stop you. After all, I'm only a scientist, whereas you are the premiere martial artist in Nerima."
With a smirk, Ryouga turned back to the wall, noticing the orderlies trying to flank him. It didn't matter. If Ukyou woke up, they'd both take care of these monsters. If not... If not, Ryouga could do it alone... and would, gladly.
He prepared to strike when Gosunkugi's high, nasally voice rang out once more. "It would, however, be a shame if Kioku couldn't find a promising job after his graduation this summer, wouldn't it?"
Ryouga whirled on him with a growl. "What are you-"
Kyoofu held up a sheet of paper. "I have here a letter, signed by Ono Tofu, stating the emotional instability of Hibiki Kioku. After all, he is the son of a well-known lunatic. One might expect him to be a little... off. This letter would effectively blacklist him for life."
Ryouga stammered, feeling as powerless and stupid as he had as a teenager. "B-but, Kioku already has a job lined up. At USE... Tameshi already did the interview..."
Kyoofu smiled, obviously enjoying the older man's confusion. "The word of Dr. Ono-sensei goes far with USE, ne?"
Ryouga stalked him dangerously, hoping his father's timidness had transferred itself to him. "Don't toy with my family, boy."
Three of the four orderlies stepped forward hesitantly, still remembering the beating a police officer had received when he had tangled with the martial artist. The fourth was that police officer, and was eager to regain his lost face. He charged...
Only to be stopped by the point of an umbrella in his face. "Do it, and I'll break your other arm," came the growl that he knew meant business. He stepped back, fuming.
In the meantime, Ryouga continued to stare at the Gosunkugi descendant before him. The younger man's arms were crossed, and there was a glint of challenge in his eyes. "One more step, Hibiki-san, and not only does this letter go out, but I make sure that Hibiki-sama is told the nastiest little bit of information about you."
Ryouga half sneered, half smirked at the younger, smaller man. "You have nothing to tell."
"She doesn't know that. How would it feel to have your loving wife hate your guts. Mighty lonely, ne?" Kyoofu had to stifle a laugh at the pained, confused look on Ryouga's face. -Deity, I LOVE this power!-
"Sh-she wouldn't believe you!"
The young Gosunkugi's face reflected a touch of sadness. "Wouldn't she, Hibiki-san? You know as well as I do how quick she is to judge. The stresses of Institution life haven't calmed her down any. If anything, it's made her," he sighed for effect, "more paranoid." Then, his face hardened and his eyes shone. "Your wife is not well. She is a danger to herself, a danger to her son, and a danger to this community. If you try to take her out, I will release this letter!"
At a loss for words, Ryouga's mouth opened, then closed. He couldn't get her out legally. Now, he couldn't get her out by force.
-This kid could give Nabiki a run for her... - An idea took form in his head, slamming into place with the force of a blow. Ryouga suppressed a smile, and turned to leave. "Tell my wife I'll see her when she wakes up."
"Ummmm... No." Gosunkugi smiled in satisfaction as Ryouga stopped and turned, aghast. "Dr. Takamoshi believes you to be a bad influence on Hibiki Ukyou's recovery. He has asked that your visiting privileges be halted for the time being while there is a review."
News of a review would have encouraged Ryouga months ago, but he was now far too used to the sloth and politics of the 'review' system. More than likely, it was a ploy to make him behave. Fine. Then he'd behave.
"Then tell her... that I miss her."
Not waiting for a response, he turned and walked away.
A bark rang out. Ryouga turned toward it, listened as three more barks tried to direct him toward them, then waited until a shaggy half black, half white dog romped up to him. "Home, Kiroshuro."
The dog and her owner tromped home. Kyoofu chuckled as the larger men dispersed. -That was easier than I thought...-
---
Nabiki bolted awake, shaking with her dreams. Dammit, am I ever going to get a full nights sleep?
She rose on shaking legs and stumbled toward her computer. Why not? The stock updates from America should be back by now...
First she tried working out her current problem. -If I don't get the Ono estate, would the centre still work? Hmm... If I take out the gym here, work in the health bar here... But why would people go to a health bar with no gym around?-
She sighed, a long, drawn-out sigh that repeated itself night after night. There was no way around it. She needed the land Kasumi's house was on.
Giving up, she hit the Stock Site. Before long, she was wrapped in the stream of numbers. "USE, hey, we gained a point this week. Micro-" The realisation hit her mid-thought.
Suddenly, she could see the figures for what they really were.
Numbers.
Images of light transmitted on a flashing screen.
And they had become her entire existence.
For a split-second, the realisation that haunted her in her sleep, a realisation that refused to be completely drowned out, tossed her into a sea of sorrow. -Deity, what is wrong with me? I spend more time with sycophants and numbers than I do with real people...-
Her mind rushed to destroy that errant thought, the flaw in her otherwise perfect mask.
"And exactly what is wrong with that?" she spoke aloud, her voice lending firmness to her convictions. "The others have their ways to keep busy. Kasumi has Tofu... and Belladonna..." She began to fantasise, thinking of a home, rather than an apartment, with a strong man beside her and a little boy rushing into her arms. -Mommy!-
She shook her head violently, dropping the dream with practised ease.
"There's nothing for me there. Akane..." Her throat tightened involuntarily. She swallowed through it. "Akane's gone... with Ranma," a sour taste rose in her mouth. She ignored that, as well. "Daddy's...well, Daddy's..." Tears began to form in her eyes.
-Nobody really thinks about Daddy anymore.- Something whispered to her from the back of her own mind, -The others. Get away from your family.-
She wiped the tear away impatiently, mentally chiding herself for the errant emotion.
"Shampoo's off to kami-knows-where. The Kunous have 'found religion'..."
A rather amusing image of Tatewaki speaking to a large crowd, his hair slicked back, with Kodachi crying in the background, causing her makeup to smear...
Nabiki almost smiled.
"And Ukyou is married to Ry..."
Wait.
Her hands moving quickly to her information files, she called up Kuonji Ukyou, slightly embarrassed that she hadn't had time to change the family name. Her embarrassment turned to guilt after she read the file. A file she had updated herself, obviously without paying attention.
"Currently a ward of the Tokyo Institute For The Criminally Insane...good lord..."
She looked at the desk clock. -10:00... it's later than I thought...-
She got dressed, then dialled the number to her direct line.
"Kurenai?"
"Yes?"
"I want a limo downstairs at eleven-fifty. Cancel the rest of my afternoon appointments. I'm going to visit... a friend."
She could almost hear the younger man blink. "Madam?"
She smiled. He was a good business man, always on the lookout for his opportunity to 'get in good with the boss'. "Just do it."
"Of course, Madam."
The limousine pulled into the sterile parking area of the institute.
Nabiki stepped out and promptly wrinkled her nose. -Ukyou's been stuck here all this time? What has Ryouga been doing with himself?-
As she walked to the door, the chief medical doctor came rushing up to her. "Tendo-san! We are honoured by your visit! How can we humbly be of service?"
Nabiki almost sneered at the grovelling administrator. -If he drools on my shoe, so help me...-
"I'm here to see Hibiki Ukyou."
The doctor paled visibly. It always did Nabiki's heart good to see that. "H-Hibiki Ukyou? Yes, m-ma'am, if you like... She has been rather... dangerous of late, however..."
Nabiki stared him in the eye, one of the few times she ever looked anyone in the eye. "I'm a friend." Her voice was sweet, but her eyes told the doctor just who was in charge. "Please, tell her I'm here."
If the doctor could have sweat anymore, Nabiki would have needed new pumps.
Ukyou was brought to the visitors' area, where Takamoshi and Nabiki were waiting by four large orderlies. The doctor had given strict instruction that she was to be 'kept quiet'. Dr. Takamoshi silently congratulated himself. If someone as important as Tendo Nabiki saw her go... crazy, her husband wouldn't stand a snowball's chance in Okinawa of getting her out...
His good mood was instantaneously dashed. "Leave us alone."
His mouth dropped six inches. "But... But... Tendo-san, she is dang-"
Nabiki whirled on him, driving the larger man back with her anger.
"What she IS, is malnourished, poorly kept, and lonely! What you are," her manicured finger pointed at the frightened face of Takamoshi, "is in deep trouble if we are not left alone to visit!"
The doctor fearfully waved his men away.
"A-a-as you wish, Tendo-san."
As the door closed, Nabiki turned to Ukyou, a smile warm upon her face.
"I'm so sorry I didn't visit sooner, Ukyou..." Nabiki herself was surprised at the sincerity in her voice.
Ukyou sat down, still surprised that Nabiki had shown as much vehemence as she had, especially on her behalf. It seemed as if the only ones who ever done that were... Ryo-chan and... and Ran-.
"It's... It's OK..." A deep, heartfelt smile spread across her face. "I haven't seen you in so long, Nabiki-chan! How are you?"
Nabiki allowed herself, for once, to let the smile warm her. "I've kept busy..."
The two girls swept into a lively conversation, each nearly forgetting the partition between them. Only once did Nabiki have to put her business face back on, when Dr. Takamoshi tried to cut their visit short. "When we're finished," she nearly hissed, "we'll let you know."
Dr. Takamoshi retreated to his office, muttering something about making a call...
Nabiki laughed, letting her business face melt off. "Enough about me, Oko-chan," she smiled inwardly at the new pet name, "tell me about yourself!"
Ukyou smiled as she reminisced about her strong, sweet husband and her little boy, the boy who had so recently become a man. Nabiki's thoughts turned inward as she listened. Somehow, she knew she had never had that look in her eyes.
She listened, noting almost casually that it was what Ukyou had seemed to need. What Nabiki was doing almost as an afterthought, Ukyou was grasping at as a life-line. The years of hardship and pain seemed to melt from the poor woman's face as Nabiki merely spoke of things she hardly had time for anymore. Even more, it almost seemed as if she hadn't had the opportunity to really... well, talk, in years. She was practically bursting with the pent-up emotions and feelings.
As Nabiki listened to her gush about her wonderful life with Ryouga and the happiness when her child was born, her own mind touched lightly on the trysts she had called relationships. They had been... intense, like a blaze in the night. But, like many blazes, they had extinguished themselves too soon. As Ukyou spoke of her son, her own mind wandered to Kasumi's precious daughter. -Bell-chan is the closest thing I'll ever have to a child... - She shoved that thought out of her head in desperation.
She could not, would not, break down in front of Ukyou.
Ukyou's eyes glittered as she spoke of Ryouga, painting him incongruously as a dashing hero, a humble caregiver, and, sometimes, as a class-A moron. But no matter how she described him, the same light shone in her eyes. A light, Nabiki knew from experience, she had at one time reserved only for Ranma.
-That idiot, macho, stubborn fool!-
Nabiki felt her heart softening. The pain that Ukyou had shared was dredging her own pain to the surface. She looked at Ukyou, not as an insane woman, or even as a charity case, but as a living, breathing human.
And the treatment she knew Ukyou had received here began to make her livid. She was nearly fed up with Ryouga's seeming inaction, leaving his own wife here to rot.
"So why hasn't pig-boy gotten you out of here?" She nearly shouted.
Ukyou looked up, surprised. "You haven't noticed how Takamoshi keeps me surrounded in guards? Ryo-chan... he's really tried, Nabiki. When I was first in here, I wanted to be. Those dreams... they really frightened me."
Ukyou's face withered. "But they wouldn't let me leave. Ryouga, he's been trying to fight the case honourably, through the system... I guess it's not working."
Nabiki stared in saddened shock. She's defending him... -How can she still love him?- Her voice nearly broke. "Why doesn't he just blast his way in here and get you?"
Ukyou actually smiled. "He wants to. But that would probably get him put in here with me. That is what got me here in the first place, sugar." Her face drooped even more, and some tears flowed down her cheeks. "I- I just want to go home."
Nabiki stared at Ukyou. If what she said about Ryouga was true...
Somehow, she new that it was. She had looked through her information on Ryouga on the way here. He lived with his son, and made daily visits to the records departments. The only woman he'd had contact with was his son's fiancee... The realisation only added to her growing melancholy.
He's stayed faithful to her...
As Ukyou spoke on, bringing up happier subjects, Nabiki's mind wandered back to her 'liaisons'. They had been... interesting, filling a small need. But the larger need, the one that ate at her control daily, wouldn't be filled by sex, no matter how passionate it was...
She began to imagine the couple as they might have been, had the tragedies that led Ukyou to this place not happened. Ryouga, coming home, maybe having lost his wandering ways... more than likely using that dog of his, she thought with a smirk. Ukyou greeting him cheerfully, cooking her famous okonomiyaki for their dinner. Little Kioku playing happily with a possible little brother or sister...
In Nabiki's mind, time sped by almost as fast as it seemed to in her own life. The happiness for the couple lasted that fleeting lifetime, Ukyou providing Ryouga with the necessary joy to break his depression, Ryouga giving Ukyou the stability she needs to run her business, to run the household, to... to live in peace. The children grew, the family thrived.
Nabiki's vision, for a reason she could not fathom, focused on Ukyou, lying in a hospital bed, very old now. Ryouga was weeping as her whispers of love trailed off, and her breathing, and heartbeat, stopped. In her mind, he walked outside, wept, with a final cry of sorrow, blasted the air with his ultimate technique. His son walked him home.
Nabiki swallowed, blinked, and smiled out of her reverie. How weird.
Ukyou was still chatting away, but Nabiki hadn't been listening. - I hope she hadn't asked a question.-
The slip of her imagination had brought back some memories. Ryouga's ultimate technique, the Sassy Slowdance or something like that... Where had she seen that before?
Bomb testing.
The realisation hit Nabiki like a sunbeam. It all became clear. -This would solve a huge problem... As long as sis stays stubborn.- As soon as it clarified, it was again obscured by conscience. -That's her home! I don't care how long I've wanted that land...-
She shushed herself as the numbers poured in anew. Her eyes lit up as Ukyou yawned.
"Oh, Ukyou, you must be getting tired. I should go." As she rose, she noticed the slightly disappointed look in Ukyou's eyes. She cringed inside.
"OK, Nabiki." Ukyou forced a smile. "Take care of yourself, OK?"
The goodbyes were more forced than Nabiki had wanted them to be. After promising to tell Ryouga she missed him, and promising to visit again soon, a promise she definitly intended to keep, Nabiki almost fled into then parking lot. She caught her breath near the Limo. -Ukyou, I swear, as soon as I... finish some things... I'm getting you out of there!-
As he opened the car door, her chauffeur asked her, "How was your visit with Hibiki-san, Madame?"
She smiled softly as the wheels of 'plan B' turned unfettered. "I found it most... enlightening."
After noticing his watchful gaze in the rear-view, she instructed him to drive. But as she left the car, she slipped him a key to her bed-chamber.
Takamoshi watched nervously as Tendo Nabiki drove away. "I tell you, Gosunkugi-san; she's up to something."
Gosunkugi's pandering voice flitted over the headset. "Whatever she's planning is probably for her own ends. She's far too embroiled in her business plans to pay attention to the mumblings of a mentasl patient." Gosunkugi disconnected the line and radioed the chauffer. "Keep an eye on her. If anything happens, let me know."
Seeing that Tendo-san was engrossed in her figures, he quietly acknowledged his orders.
[USE CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS, JUNE 6th, 2024
"C'mon Doc, it's a sweet deal! Large spacious place, free of-"
Nabiki was cut off for what seemed the hundredth time by a gentle male voice on the other end. She was the only person left at USE that still used the old style 'vocal-interface' phones. Her eyebrows rolled as she heard the same argument for the fiftieth time.
"No offence, Tofu, but I'll tell you what I told Kasumi. Get in the 21st century, will you? Nobody does the 'stay in the family house thing anymore!" She listened again, then slumped her shoulders. "Are you sure? All right, Tofu. OK. Tell Kasumi and Bell-chan I love them. Bye bye."
She hung up, dejected. She really hadn't wanted to go with that plan, but now she saw no choice. She signed the paper labelled "Field Test" and checked the calendar. Yes. That would be perfect.
Her phone on her desk began to ring again. "Tendo Nabiki."
Her eyebrows went up in amusement. -Perfect timing, 'P-Chan'.-
"I'll be there tonight. 6:00 OK? All right then. Bye now!" She hung up the phone, and began planning her outfit for the very special visit.
---
Bow. Sweep kick low, spinning to a high roundhouse. Three punches high, four low, turn, kick, turn, punch, jump and kick high.
Ryouga pushed his kata faster, battling the depression and frustration of his earlier failure. He had just received Ukyou's latest letter. It was mostly a series of black felt pen lines.
-I can't get her out, I can't see her, and they censor her letters! Dammit, what the hell good am I?-
As he flung his fist to the ground from his position in the air, he screamed his attack's battle cry.
"BAKSAII TEN-"
There was a knock at the door.
In the old days, that distraction would have shattered his concentration, causing him to shatter the floor rather than stopping. As it was, his finger stopped two millimetres away from his target. Grabbing a towel, he walked to the door, still sweating from his workout. He put the towel over his bare shoulders and opened it.
Tendo Nabiki, dressed in a low cut blouse and an extremely short skirt, smiled up at him. "Ryouga-kun. It's been a long time."
Ryouga smiled back, feeling his nose heat up. He knew he wouldn't bleed though. Ukyou had been very... helpful in curing him of that weakness.
"Come in, Nabiki. Thank you for coming. It's been a while."
Nabiki's brow furrowed, ever so slightly, but she quickly regained her composure. -I was almost positive this outfit would make him hemorrhage! Now what am I going to do for evidence?-
She had come with a 'plan B', but for some reason, seeing him now... it just didn't seem right. She smiled at him, a smile meant to at least break him into a sweat, but by that time he was already turned toward the kitchen, following arrows placed on the walls. When she looked closer, she recognised Kioku's handwriting indicating where the arrows lead.
Ryouga made it to the kitchen with ease thanks to his son's directions.
He began to make tea for the guest. "I hope I'm not keeping you from a date or anything."
"No, not really," she said in low tones, walking to the door. "How can I help you, Ryouga?" She looked up at him to bat her eyelids, but he was concentrating on the tea. Unheard by Ryouga, a low grunt of frustration escaped her throat.
"I need your help. Someone has a... hold over me, and it's keeping me from getting Ukyou out of the hospital." Ryouga made a fist with his free hand. "I could have gotten her out years ago if it hadn't been for that pompous, long-winded..." He sighed, reining in is frustration. "Anyway, I can't get Ukyou out with Gosunkugi holding Kioku's future over my head."
Nabiki nearly laughed out loud. "Who would have thought that little Hikaru's kid would be so... ruthless?" Mentally, she was getting frustrated with Ryouga.
-Here I am, putting everything I have into trying to turn him on, and he's not even looking at me! - Nabiki looked at her outfit. She prided herself with still having the body she had grown into as a teenager. The outfit she wore only added to her long, smooth curves.
-So why the hell isn't he looking at me?-
Before long, the tea was done, and they adjourned into the main living room.
Ryouga outlined his problem, while Nabiki listened intently. She had decided to concentrate on Ryouga's problem, and was now lapsed into thoughtfulness, wondering how much information she had on the Gosunkugi. She was surprised to realise that it wasn't much.
"Ryouga, do you happen to have a fax?"
Ryouga blinked twice. "Yeah, I mean, I think Kioku has some fax thing on his computer..."
Nabiki jumped up and booted up the computer on the table in the next room. After making a call, she started the fax program.
"This will send me all the information I have on any one person." Her face softened at Ryouga's almost desperate expression. "Don't worry. I'll figure SOMETHING out, or I'm not Tendo Nabiki."
As they waited, they spoke of mundane things. Kioku's graduation, Nabiki's businesses, and Kasumi's daughter, Belladonna. Nabiki, in the meantime, studied Ryouga, looking for a weakness she could exploit as much out of habit as out of need to go forward with her plan. He didn't offer as much of an opportunity as he would have in their younger days. He was more confident, or at least more cautious. Every time she'd notice his eyes roaming down to her cleavage or the hem of her skirt, he would avert his gaze. Ryouga, my boy, she thought, smirking inwardly, you are far too honourable for my own good. The conversation continued as small talk, never occupying Nabiki's mind fully. It never had. She had trained herself to use small talk as a tool, not a pastime. But, before long, the computer beeped, signalling that the task had been completed.
They walked into the room, and Nabiki took the paper from the printer.
"'Gosunkugi Kyoofu. Age: 20. Parents: Gosunkugi Hikaru (missing), Gosunkugi Akari, nee Unryuu (missing). Present occupation: Medical assistant at... USE.' Well, well, well!"
Ryouga strained over to see. "What," he asked, impatient as always.
Nabiki clucked her tongue and waved him away.
"'Criminal Record: None, Address, Medical History, Schooling. End of File?" Nabiki looked at the paper in shock. "He works for me, and that's all I have?"
Ryouga sat heavily into a nearby chair. "Well, I guess I just have to keep looking for another way..."
Nabiki turned on him, her eyes ablaze. "Oh, no you don't, Ryouga! You are not giving up like that! All I need is more time!" She saw the defeat in his eyes, and tried anger, out of desperation. "Don't tell me you're giving up on Ukyou now, too?"
It worked.
"NO!" Ryouga began to pace. "It's just that everything I've tried has only met with... failure. I can't get her out legally, I can't break her out... I just don't know what to do." Ryouga's familiar depression began to settle on him like a dark shroud. Nabiki stared at him, as if noticing him for the first time.
Nabiki had always thought of her self as emotionally stable. Sometimes, she had been described as cold. It was not an impression that she liked, but it also wasn't anything she cared to disprove, either.
Lately, though, she'd been feeling strained emotionally. Almost ready to snap. She'd tried everything she could; men, exercise. Only her business dealings were enough to keep her feelings at bay. She could now feel her resolve cracking. She slumped into a chair opposite him, thinking of a way to help him.
-He's not giving up. - She began to look him up and down. Her eyes rested on his muscled chest, hard won from a lifetime of martial arts training. She saw the lines of his face, leaner than in their youth, but still... rather handsome...
She quickly derailed that thought. Or at least, tried to. She looked up past his chin, over his lips, the bridge of his nose, until she finally locked with his eyes.
Eyes that were full of raw pain.
Eyes that were full of kindness, kindness that had always been seen but never noticed.
Eyes that reminded her... of days that now seemed so long ago...
Nabiki turned away to try to hide her tears.
Ryouga noticed. "Nabiki? I- I'm not giving up. It's just so hard sometimes, you know?"
Nabiki nodded, her throat too closed to do anything else.
Ryouga leaned forward in his chair. "Are you OK?"
Nabiki sniffed. "No. No, I'm not OK." She turned to him, tears she had long ago refused to shed brimming over her eyes. "I keep trying to run from it, but it won't go away. I can't help but think that if my stupid sister had seen in you what I see now, instead of falling for that macho jerk, maybe she wouldn't have let him drag her down-" A sob interrupted her thoughts.
Ryouga looked at her, shocked at this thought that had come from no where out of the distant past. What shocked him more was that he agreed with her.
Nabiki began to cry in earnest. Years of torment, grief, and pain shed themselves in salty tears. As her sobbing subsided, she became aware that she was being held by warm, strong arms. A soothing voice drifted from above her as a strong hand gently stroked her hair. The words, unheeded until now, were not as important as the comfort they brought. The warmth of Ryouga's chest, the gentleness of his touch and voice, and the strength of her previously suppressed emotion pushed action from her.
She rose against his chest and gently pressed her lips to his. Ryouga didn't react, at first. As they stared into each other's eyes, Nabiki again gently caressed his lips with her own. The gentle encouragement was all he needed, and he tightened his hold to her as the kiss lingered. Warmth slowly turned to heat, and two minds blanked of everything but each other.
As they progressed into another room, one thought flickered through a heated mind, unheeded.
-Plan B has begun...-
She awoke, sweating, almost panicked, not knowing where she was. Beside her, in the bed, was a softly sleeping form. As the haze burned away from her mind, she remembered.
-Oh, Deity.-
It wasn't the first time she had woken up with that feeling. But as she watched the form asleep beside her, a sick feeling spread in her stomach.
-I never meant for this to happen.-
At first, the sickness threatened to overwhelm her. Then, her natural defences kicked in.
-Where is it? Oh, deity, what if I forgot...-
She hadn't. It was there, to the side of the bed. If she hurried, she'd still have time. She grabbed it up, careful not to spill what was inside. She had truly prepared for this, even if she had decided it wasn't a good idea. The condom was specially treated to preserve it's contents.
She stopped, and looked at Ryouga, sleeping peacefully. A soft smile crossed her lips.
"Thank you, Ryouga. You've helped me more than you know." -And I don't just mean with my plans...-
She dashed off a note, then hurried outside. She had to get to the USE offices before the sample lost all viability...
Ryouga awoke, head pounding, body more tired than any workout he had ever put himself through.
-I haven't felt this good since... - His eyes snapped wide open, and he sat bolt upright in the bed. -Deity, no...-
He looked around, frantically, praying he had merely been victim of over-active hormones as he had sometimes in the past. The note, left on a pillow beside him, shattered that hope.
Ryouga,
This night was truly a night to remember. Thank you for treating me so kindly. You have given me something I needed. Hospitality, someone to lean on, and most importantly, comfort during a dark time in my life. I will always remember your kindness and warmth. Please forgive me for leaving so soon...
Perhaps it's better this way.
Nabiki
Ryouga stared at the note, the night before coming to him in bits and pieces. Nabiki had started to cry, he... held her... and then...
She kissed him.
And he did nothing to prevent it.
She had not seduced him, she hadn't pushed herself on him. She kissed him, and he crumbled.
Images of Ukyou flooded his mind then, trying desperately to drown out the recent memory. The happy images he tried to conjure changed to angry visages of his wife, then weeping. It broke his heart to imagine her crying, as much as it had when he had witnessed it.
The images morphed again, to a time very long ago, when he and Ukyou had first met. She had arranged for him to go on a date with Akane, and everything was actually going well. That is, until Ranma showed up. With one pathetic disguise, he'd brought Ryouga to shame, and shaken what had been the very foundation of himself: his love for Akane.
Later, he was to realise that what he had taken as a crumbling of his world had been the mistake of a teenage boy. But at the time, it was as if his heart had been ripped in two by his betrayal of his 'one true love'.
Now, he truly had betrayed someone. His wife.
His Oko-chan.
And it hadn't been a trick of a jealous boy, it had been something he could have stopped. Something he could have prevented. He had taken his own needs into consideration before those of his wife's. And worse, he had truly loved the woman he was now guilty of hurting.
The note crumpled as his fist balled up, and singed as the flames of depression were fuelled to capacity. Ryouga placed his head in his hands, and wept.
"Oko-chan... I'm sorry..."
Ryouga had a record month. He had gone the entire time without getting lost.
Mainly because he hadn't left his house.
Only after the explosion was reported did Ryouga come out of his stupor.
The news, told to him by his red-faced, panting son, shocked him deeply. Someone had destroyed the Ono clinic/household. But the shock didn't end. While listening to the story on the news for the fiftieth time, Ono Kasumi was found within the wreckage. She had been severely injured, and was being rushed to the hospital. Ryouga blanched. -Deity.-
A knock pulled him from his reverie. He walked mechanically, still listening to the story on the news, and opened the front door.
In the second it took for his muddled reflexes to react, he was on the floor and cold metal braces were placed on his hands and feet. A detective walked in seconds later, after an all clear sign had been shouted outside.
"Hibiki Ryouga?" he asked, voice clear and commanding.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"
"I'll take that as a 'yes'." The detective sobered after his little jest. "I do apologise for this treatment, Hibiki-san, but given your history in dealing with law enforcement, we felt it was the safest way for all involved. Hibiki Ryouga, you are charged with the destruction of the Ono Chiropractic and Moxibustion clinic, and the severe injury of one Ono Kasumi."
The rest of the day passed by in a blur. He was processed, searched, and put in a cell. The idea that he could have willingly hurt Kasumi drove any thought of any kind of action, violent or otherwise, out of his mind.
He went through everything stiffly, as if his soul had detached from his body and stood by to watch what was going on. The police treated him with professionalism, even respect in most cases. Everything flitted through his mind at once.
-Kasumi's hurt, I need to visit her.
I'm supposed to visit Oko-chan Saturday...
Kioku's turn to cook tonight...-
"Name."
The statement shocked him to awareness. He was at a desk, with a policeman, who was preparing to type his information into the computer.
"Hibiki Ryouga."
"Occupation." The voice was dispassionate, professional, even a little cold. The information was not asked for, but rather made as a statement. He typed dispassionately, and then gestured for the guard to take Ryouga away.
He was led to a large, dimly lit room, with sections separated by bars. A door was opened, and he was lead inside. Before the guard left, Ryouga turned to him.
"Why?"
The guard looked perplexed, and blinked in surprise. "Why what, sir?"
"Why am I here?" Ryouga's confusion began to surface. "Why am I being charged with hurting Kasumi?"
"Sir, I am not-"
Ryouga looked at him, eyes full of hurt and anger. "Ono Kasumi practically raised my son. She has shown me nothing but kindness. Why would I of all people want her hurt?"
The officer closed his eyes. He walked out of the cell, closed the door behind him, and pulled to make sure it was locked. Then he walked to the side of the cell where Ryouga had slumped on the one cot.
He crouched down, and whispered to him. "If I get caught telling you this, it will be my job. Supposedly you were inside of the clinic when you found a letter, addressed to you, from a Miss Tendo Akane, blaming you for her suicide."
-No.-
"The theory is that you saw the letter, became upset, and blasted the clinic with your ki-technique. Ono Kasumi was inside at the time, and was trapped by a fallen wall."
-Deity, no.-
Ryouga stared at the wall, lips trembling in anger, in frustration, and deep, deep sadness. "Why do people think I did it?" he whispered, more to himself than the guard.
The guard answered anyway. "First of all, you are the only person left in Nerima who knows how to do that technique. Secondly, there were tissue samples that were genetically identified as being yours."
Ryouga looked confused. The memory of that fateful night came back.
-Nabiki...-
"Thank you," was all he said. The guard left him in silence. Ryouga tossed and turned that night, betrayed by his dreams as he was by his 'friend'.
The weeks passed by slowly. It fit Ryouga's mood perfectly. Kioku had come to visit him whenever he had time. During one of those visits, Ryouga had broken down.
"You WHAT?" Kioku's face showed shock, but no anger. "You- you had an affair?"
Ryouga nodded, shamefaced. His head hung limply between his hunched shoulders. "I couldn't bear to see your mother's face when she found out..."
Kioku stared, his face, his body going numb. His father, the man he had practically idolized, who had taught him what honor was, had failed.
His father, who had held him up to the highest standards of honor, could now not look him in the eye.
"How?" He knew his voice was strained, knew that more disappointment had come through than even he had wanted to. But he needed to know. Ryouga's shoulders slumped, even more than they had been. He had heard the disappointment in his son's voice.
Kioku cleared his throat. "Pop," he started, "look at me."
After several seconds, Ryouga looked up.
"What you did, was it... I mean..." He began to blush madly, frank talk about women being a weakness he had definitely gotten from his father. "What I mean is, did you... more than once-"
"NO!" Ryouga's voice came out louder than he had desired, and he looked nervously at the guard. He hadn't budged. "No. It was... a moment of weakness."
Kioku relaxed visibly. "OK then. I think I can understand where you might have been tempted, maybe even wanted it, but I know you, Pop. I know that you love Mom as much as any man has ever loved a woman. And I think Mom knows that, too."
Ryouga smiled at his son. His fears were not relieved, because Kioku barely knew his mother, but it was nice to hear all the same. "Thank you, son."
Ryouga sat in silence for a couple of uncomfortable moments when he arrived on a topic that he felt was safe. "So, how are you and Asuka getting along?"
Ryouga hadn't exactly approved of his son dating an older woman, especially one whose only desire seemed the conquest of his son. But she had changed, and while a bit obsessive at times, she was, in the very least, devoted to him. Sometimes, she reminded him of Kunou Kodachi (Times that made him shudder), but she was kind to his son, and he truly seemed to care for her.
Besides, any topic would have been preferable to the one they had just been talking about.
Also, it was worth it to see the blush on his son's face.
They talked for the rest of the visiting time, then Ryouga was sent to his cell.
Kioku was his only visitor until after the first of the year.
"Hibiki! You have a visitor."
He was lead out to see a face that in his dreams drove him to anger. The way it looked now, it also drove him to pity.
Tendo Nabiki was a mess. Her face was puffed, her hair dishevelled,and her clothes didn't reflect a businesswoman on the rise, but a woman in despair. In her eyes was a desperation, as if she truly had no where to turn. Part of him pitied her, wanted to reach out to her.
The other part of him hoped she was getting what she deserved.
"Why are you here?" he hissed through clenched teeth.
Her eyes darkened, as if she had expected this despite her hope for warmth. "I came to apologise."
He glared at her. "Too late. That genetic material they found at the blast site. That was why you came to me, isn't it. That was why you slept with me."
Nabiki's thin mask shattered. Her eyes went wide, and tears, real tears, sprang to them. "NO! Ryouga, you have to believe me! I didn't come there to sleep with yo-"
He would have none of it. "I saw your note. 'You have given me something I needed.' I didn't know what that meant until I was arrested."
She wilted under his hot gaze. "I never meant for this to happen, Ryouga. I... that night, I was only..."
"Only using me for your own ends." He leaned into the glass, the handset moved so that she could see his face. "You used me, Nabiki. You used Akane's name, you used your sister, and you USED ME! I thought you were my friend, but all you have ever done is use the ones who care about you. And Deity help me, I did." He could see her shoulders slumping, see the hot tears flow down her cheek, but he didn't care.
Then her mask fell into place, hard. "I won't bother you again after today, Ryouga. And I did care for you, too, though I won't waste our time convincing you of that. You'll be out soon. Goodbye, Hibiki-san."
With that, she stood and left, her shoulders slumped, and her head held high. Ryouga burned her back with his stare.
He went back to his cell and fell into another fitful sleep.
---
Nabiki watched the timer go down.
Lost. Everything was lost.
She had killed her sister, all in the name of money. She had used one of her last friends, an honourable man, to cover her tail. She had ruined the lives of the kindest man in the world, and the most beautiful niece a woman could want.
And in the process, lost them all.
1:30... 1:29... 1:28...
Tears, hot and salty, poured down her cheeks. She had tried to make everything right. The condo for the family, USE for the pain Ryouga had suffered... All empty gestures. Even in the end, the best way she could think of to rectify her mistakes was with money. Money had always solved her problems in the past.
But none of it would bring back Kasumi.
0:49... 0:48... 0:47...
She had disappointed everyone, made a mess of everything. Daddy would have been furious. Akane would have been mortified. Even the macho Ranma would have thought she was nuts. Everyone hated her, or would have.
Everyone but the person she'd killed.
Everyone but Kasumi herself.
0:23... 0:22... 0:21...
Only Kasumi would have forgiven her. In her nightmares, she did.
She stood at Mother's grave, and watched in horror as the ground trembled, then turned up, revealing the now rotted casket. She nearly screamed as it slowly opened.
There, burned almost beyond recognition, was Kasumi. 'It's all right, Nabiki-chan. I forgive you, little sister.
She had woken up screaming every night for the last month.
0:11... 0:10... 0:09...
The nightmare's would end soon. She would have finally paid for all the hurt, all the suffering she had caused.
0:07...
Akane's imaged flashed in her mind, watched, sadly, frusterated. Nabiki thought she saw her mouth, you didn't have to do this...
0:05...
Tears flowed from Nabiki's eyes. "I love you, Akane..."
0:03...
Nabiki closed her eyes.
0:02...
A sob escaped her lips, no longer held back by her facade.
0:01...
-Onee-chan... I'm sorry, sis...-
0:00...
There was light.
Then there was darkness.
---
Hibiki Ryouga's world was beginning to change. He didn't like it one bit. He had been released after the second explosion, done with the same type of weaponry, happened while he was in jail.
They had also found samples of his 'genetic material' in the labs at USE. A company he now owned, in full. Which meant Gosunkugi Kyoofu no longer had a hold on him. He and Dr. Tofu were leaving the company. So much the better, probably. Even though he was exonerated, he still could not bring himself to face the Doctor.
Tofu was not the only person he could not face. His own wife was becoming a stranger to him.
He had tried to visit with her after he had gotten out of prison. The shame of his affair coupled with the paranoia Ukyou had manifested lately had made that visit nothing more than a strained exercise in futility. It had ended with him blurting out 'I'm sorry' and heading for the nearest exit.
As the years passed, He kept trying to visit. He had ended up getting lost. Kuroshiro had gone blind. She could still travel within the house, but could not find her direction any better than Ryouga. Kioku had made himself busy with work, and his marriage to Asuka. Ryouga had tried to go himself, but in the thirteen times he tried to make the trip, he had ended up in three hotels, two bathrooms, four dojo's, and a pagoda somewhere in China. The other three times, it had started raining...
After sometime, he had merely given up. In all that time, he had received one letter. Surrounded by the censors and tear stains was one sentence:
"Ryo-chan, were have you been."
[TOKYO INSTITUTE FOR THE CRIMINALLY INSANE, OCT. 15 2038 1:54 PM
-C'mon, Hibiki! It's her Birthday, for crying out loud!-
Ryouga's hand tightened on the handle of the institution door, trembling slightly. He stared at it in wonder. He could have counted on one hand the number of times his hands had shaken in fear during his life time. That number had doubled in the last four months. Whether it had been monsters, or Saotome, or even a herd of pigs, he had never had that deep since of foreboding. Only the prospect of being splashed in front of Akane had made him tremble. Now, it seemed, the prospect of seeing his wife gave him the same sense of failure, failure that a martial arts technique could not rectify.
In the past, that fear had always driven him to action. And it did this time, as well.
He walked away from the door.
His depression was severe, but he had learned to handle it without the green hued light show that had marked him in the past. He walked, head down, out the gates of the Tokyo Institute for the Criminally Insane.
Then he turned back. -The time for running is over.-
After all, it was her birthday.
His hand touched the handle, and he pulled the door open. The nurse at the reception desk looked up at him as he walked up to her.
"Can I help you?"
"Yes," Ryouga said, his voice husky with emotion. "I'm here to see my wife, Hibiki Ukyou."
The nurse looked through her paperwork, and then stopped. She looked up at him, straining to keep her face under control.
"I'm sorry, Hibiki-san. She... She died early this morning."
Ryouga's face paled to a sickly white, and he staggered against the desk. "What- How... ?"
"She went into cardiac arrest at around three o'clock this morning. The doctors did everything they could, but..." The sight before the nurse stopped her explanation in cold terror.
Ryouga was glowing dark, fiery green. There was no anger in his face, but the fire engulfing him threatened to destroy the entire building.
He turned, slowly, and walked out the door.
He found his way home with ease. But it didn't matter.
Ryouga had never felt more lost.
FIN