Chapter 7
It was quiet that morning in the Tendo residence for a change. The weather was peaceful, Happosai was nowhere to be seen and even Ranma and Akane were getting along.
"Ah, you couldn't ask for a better morning." Soun said, standing on the porch as he watched the birds in the sky. Suddenly, the doorbell rang, followed by Kasumi's sweet voice. "I'll get it, father." she said walking towards the door.
When she opened it, Kasumi was greeted by the sight of two men. One of which, was very small. Almost the size of a dwarf. The other man was tall with long black hair tied back in a loose ponytail, a beard and was wearing a blue and green robe with gold embroidery.
"Good morning, Miss." the tall man saidpolitely"My name is Kiagi Yamada and this is my associate; Bosu. We're looking for a Mr. Ranma Saotome, does he live here?"
"Why yes, Ranma lives here." answered Kasumi "He's just taking a bath, would you like to come inside and wait for him?" The two men both bowed and removed their shoes.
"Thank you that is most kind of you." Kiagi answered, leading Bosu inside.
"Father we have guests, they're here to see Ranma." Kasumi said, leading Kiagi and Bosu into the living room.
"Kiagi Yamada at your service, Mr Saotome." Said Kiagi extending his hand.
"I'm sorry Mr Yamada," Soun said before shaking Kiagi's hand "But I'm actually the father of Ranma's fiancée. Soun Tendo."
"Apologies for my mistake, Mr Tendo but it is still a pleasure to meet you, nonetheless." Kiagi said. "I'll just go and tell Ranma, while I make some tea" Kasumi said, excusing herself.
"Thank you very kindly Miss, that would be nice." Kiagi said, as he and Bosu sat down at the table next to Soun. "Your daughter is a most exquisite host."
"Thank you very much, Kiagi." Soun said, "So how do you know Ranma?"
"Actually, I've never met him." Kiagi answered "In fact I heard his name for the first time early this morning. Then I had Bosu ask around, until I found out where he lived."
"For what purpose?" Soun asked, knowing what usually happens whenever someone comes to the door looking for Ranma.
"That's none of your business!" Bosu interrupted rudely, before being slapped on the back of the head by Kiagi.
"Bosu, behave! We are guests in this man's house. Show some manners and don't speak until you're spoken to." he said, disciplining his associate. "Mr. Tendo, you'll have to forgive him, he's not the most sociable person in the world. Downright rude in fact. But I'm afraid he does make a valid point, the business I have with your future son in law is strictly between him and I. I'm sorry that I cannot tell you anymore."
As Ranma stood out of the bath and dried himself off, he heard a knock at the bathroom door. "Ranma," Kasumi said from outside "There are two men in the living room, who want to see you."
"Did they say why?" Ranma asked, putting on a fresh pair of boxers.
"No," Kasumi answered "But one of them seemed very nice. The other didn't speak at all though."
"Ok, I'm on my way out." Ranma said, now fully dressed.
As he made his way to the living room, Ranma saw the two men, Kasumi was talking about. He recognised Kiagi almost immediately, but had no idea who the short one was.
Leaning against the doorway Ranma tried to eavesdrop on the conversation and find out what the two men wanted. "So let me get this straight," Soun said "You're here to see Ranma, but you've never met him and I'm assuming you're not from Jusenkyo, are you?"
"Absolutely not, Mr Tendo." Kiagi answered as Kasumi entered with the tea. "Although I have been to Jusenkyo, I have no affiliations with that dreadful place whatsoever."
"Then I must remind you that you are both guests in my home." Soun said firmly "And I also insist that you tell me what it is that you want with Ranma. You're not here to try and cause any trouble with him and Akane, are you?"
"Such as?" Kiagi asked curiously, serving himself with a cup of tea and admonishing Bosu for commandeering the sugar bowl. "Bosu, that sugar isn't yours, put it back."
Bosu mumbled something as he returned the sugar bowl to the table but not without taking two cubes for his own tea.
"Well, Ranma's father hasn't arranged for him to marry one of your daughters, has he?" Soun asked, getting straight to the point.
"Mr Tendo, there are two issues that I have with your question, sir." Kiagi started "First of all, I don't have any children. And second, if you recall, a couple of minutes ago I mistook you, yourself as Ranma's father. So no, I am not here to affect their engagement. But now you have my curiosity, so I will ask you this. Does that happen a lot to you, or is this a side effect of some new form of recreational narcotics you've partaken in?"
After hearing this, Ranma began to chuckle to himself. So much so, that he was loud enough to break his cover and alert the three men that he was listening.
"Ranma, have you been eavesdropping on us, this whole time?" Soun asked, before Kiagi sipped his tea and signalled to his associate.
"Bosu, bind him!" he said, directing the shorter man to lift his arms towards Ranma and shoot out a series of black threads at him. Wrapping around him the threads tightened to the point that Ranma couldn't move and fell onto the floor.
"Now, come to me thief, so that I can look at you, myself" Kiagi said, lifting his hand into the air and waving his fingers towards himself, causing the tied up Ranma to levitate and float closer to Kiagi's position.
"Why you're the boy, who was arguing with my sign yesterday, aren't you?" Kiagi asked, looking at Ranma suspiciously as he put down his tea. "Where is it?" Ranma tried to struggle free, but the bindings were far too tight.
Kiagi seemed to be getting impatient "I will ask you one more time, boy." he said grabbing Ranma's hair "Where is the ring of legions?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Ranma answered, much to Kiagi's annoyance. "This morning I found my store had been broken into and that a very powerful artifact was taken." he said letting go of Ranma's hair. "This artifact is known as the ring of legions. An item which gives the wearer the strength of a thousand men. In its place, there was only a letter." Kiagi was then handed the letter by Bosu and placed it in front of Ranma, so he could read it.
It read:
Ha ha I took your ring. Its mine now and there ain't anything you can do about it.
Signed Ranma Saotome
"Grr that's not even my handwriting!" Ranma shouted "And I ain't no thief!"
Disappointed with Ranma's reply, Kiagi folded the letter up and threw it behind him. "Liar. I will get back my property; even if it requires killing you." he said raising his hand in a striking motion "Tell me where it is!"
Before he could come close to striking him however, Ranma had had enough. "I told you, I didn't steal anything!" he screamed, snapping the bonds, dodging Kiagi's hand and landing a hard punch into his face. Taken back by this, Kiagi was surprised. Wiping the blood away from his mouth, he grinned.
"In the thousands of years, I've lived in this world, only a handful of people have ever been able to do that." he said "You are truly one of a kind."
"Hey I can do it again if you like pal" Ranma said, preparing himself for combat.
"How dare you strike my master? You'd best know your place in Kiagi's presence!" Bosu said, readying his binds again, before being stopped by his master.
"Enough Bosu." Kiagi said "He is far more powerful than we had anticipated. But I sense that you are still no match for me."
"Anytime you wanna test that theory is fine by me." Ranma retorted, causing Kiagi to smile.
"Then its agreed." he said, picking up his tea and finishing it. "We will meet in combat in order to settle this matter. You will come to my store tomorrow. Bring the ring of legions, but I implore you not to wear it. I want things to be fair. Come Bosu I believe we're no longer welcome here."
As Kiagi turned away from him, Ranma launched another attack, only for it to be stopped by Kiagi using a single finger. "Patience, Ranma." he said smiling "You will have your chance tomorrow." he then turned to Soun Tendo and bowed
"Mr Tendo, I apologise for this disturbance and we thank you again for your hospitality, as well as the delicious tea." he said, returning to his polite behaviour.
As Kiagi left, Ranma was in a state of shock. "How did he do that? He stopped me with a single finger." he said to himself, just as Nabiki came into the living room dressed in her pajamas.
"Did I miss something?" Nabiki asked, surveying the damage brought to the room. "So what did Ranma do this time?"
"I didn't do anything." Ranma answered "I ain't no thief!" Walking up to the table, Nabiki noticed the letter, Kiagi left behind and read it.
"That's not what this note says, Ranma." she said, as a small card fell to the floor from inside the letter. "Ooh the Dragon's Eye. This store is supposed to be awesome. Is it open yet?"
"What do they sell?" Kasumi asked looking at the card.
"Magic." Nabiki said "You know, like potions, magic carpets, charms and stuff like that."
"Oh my, that sounds interesting." Kasumi said.
"What sounds interesting?" Akane asked as she came into the living room, having returned from her morning jog. "Well somebody came from the new store in town and ended up challenging Ranma to a match tomorrow" Kasumi answered.
"Why?" Akane asked curiously "What'd he do this time?"
"Hey wait a minute." Ranma protested "I didn't do anything. The guy just walks in here, ties me up and then accuses me of being a thief!"
"Well anyway, I think he was a very nice man." Kasumi said much to everyone's surprise, as she laid the table for breakfast.
As they sat and ate, Ranma couldn't stop thinking about just how strong Kiagi seemed to be. One finger. He thought to himself, remembering the incident I gave him my best strike and he stopped it with one finger. Not even the freak can do that anymore with his pipe. Turning towards him, Akane noticed that Ranma was being very quiet.
"You ok there Ranma?" she asked, tapping his shoulder. "Huh?" Ranma said, as he returned to the world. "Uh yeah, yeah I'm fine."
"Well come on, we're gonna be late for school." she said getting up. "Oh, right" he said, wolfing down the rest of his breakfast, before jumping up to his feet.
As they walked along the street, on their way to school, Akane was curious about what had happened earlier between Ranma and Kiagi. "So what did I miss earlier?" she asked, looking up to Ranma as he walked along the fencing in his usual manner. He then began to bring her up to speed.
"This guy's strong, Akane." he said "I've never fought anybody that strong, before." Akane realised that he was worried
"But what about the time you fought Saffron?" she said "I always thought that he was the strongest person you had ever fought."
"So did I and I've gotten a lot better since then." Ranma answered "But this Kiagi guy's something else entirely. I mean, I hit the guy as hard as I could the first time, and he just smiled as if he was impressed or something. And the second time, he stopped me with one finger."
"Well maybe Xian Pu's grandmother knows about him." Akane suggested "We should probably go see her after school."
Ranma thought about Akane's suggestion for a moment, before reaching a decision. "Might as well." he said "It wouldn't hurt to see if this guy has any weaknesses that the old ghoul might know of. Yeah sure we'll go after school."
"Oh that reminds me," Akane said "You'll need to change when we get to class"
Ranma stopped in his tracks "Huh?" he said "Why?"
"Girl's sex ed." she said smiling, leaving Ranma both shocked and mortified as she continued walking on.
