Growing Pains

Baby Daddy

Side Two

…from the previous chapter…

"Ranma-san," Kenji began, "what would you give for the life of your daughter?"

"Anything," he shot back quietly.

"Would you die for her, Saotome?"

"Yes."

"Would you fight for her?"

"Yes."

"And if her life were in danger, if she would have died without help, and someone came along to give her that help, what would you give them in return for your daughter's life?"

"I would give him everything," he whispered quietly, fighting the sudden emotion and tears that threatened to overtake him.

"Can you see why what I offer you is but a token of what I would give? Can you see why I offer you these trifles that I do?" his voice was nearly a whisper, but again crystal clear in the silence of the room. "Can you see why I must offer these gifts to you? Can you see why you must accept what gifts I can offer to you?"

"I do," he risked then, his voice cracking with emotion. "I accept these gifts, your Eminence, to your humble servant, that I may be worthy of what you have given me."

Ranma made a fast friend in the Emperor, and Kenji-san- Kenji- was very gracious to give him his personal contact information. When the two finally parted, Hanzo- the retainer to the Emperor- had taken him to a computer room, where he'd shown him that yes, the Emperor- Kenji- had been very serious in his gifts; the aquatransexual now had an account with a very respectable- and very well-known- bank, full to the brim with yen. Ranma had made a silent vow to consider sharing a small portion of his funds with Nabiki, for all of her help with him over the years. Kasumi, too, he thought as well; she had been at least as much help over the years as Nabiki, if not much more so, and she deserved to be thanked, too.

The young martial artist sat down with Detseru, and talked with him briefly about what the Emperor had done for him. The older man had offered to help him move to another location if he wished, but Ranma expressed to Detseru-san that he would need to think on the matter some more before he made any decisions. Yoshi offered her 'five yen' when he told her a bit about his visit with the Emperor, and after his excitement and storytelling of the day, he spent the rest of the evening playing with Sakura, realizing once again just how precious she was, and feeling very blessed to be able to be her father.

The morning brought warmth, sunshine, and a knock at his door from Yoshi, offering to keep an eye on Sakura while he attended his other appointment; the teen girl was apprehensive on his behalf about who he was dressing up to meet this time, but seemed for the moment to keep her own counsel on the matter.

His outfit this time was a more casual- and yet more business-like- version of his usual attire; his pants were instead very well cultured silk slacks, and his shirt a western-style silk blend dress-style, over which he wore a dark 'sport' jacket. On his feet were a pair of more durable, but still flexible dark leather shoes. He took a good look in the mirror, and deemed himself worthy. Not so stiff and formal in his selection that he would seem too serious, but not so casual that he would be taken too lightly, either. And while he didn't really know the Yakuza, he knew that there were folks for whom appearances were very important, and he needed to appear nice enough not to be threatening, but tough enough not to be toyed with.

Promptly at the time the 'salaryman' had discussed with him prior, a large vehicle- a limousine- pulled up in front of the dojo; Ranma was already waiting, and he quickly slipped inside the vehicle. One extra stop later, and Nabiki was sitting across from him on the other side of the rear of the vehicle, very slightly fidgeting, seeming to be as nervous as he felt. He understood her nervousness though, and that helped him to calm his own nerves.

The limousine drove the pair of teens to a small office building on the edge of the greater downtown Tokyo area, where the two were escorted into the lobby. Four men, almost obviously bodyguard-types as they were all dressed in black suits and wore sunglasses, stood at the cardinal points of the lobby, close enough to the lone desk- which contained two more bodyguard-types- to be of help if needed, but far enough to be able to watch and cover one another.

Ranma noticed this as one of the bodyguards at the desk stood, and began to approach them. The teen male took a couple steps forward, putting himself between the man and Nabiki.

"May we help you?" the guard began, pausing just out of easy reach. Where his companions were more than passingly intimidating to the average person, the guard who stood before them was quiet and seemingly soft-spoken; his sunglasses were tucked into the breast pocket of his suit jacket. His face was more open, his expression was what the pig-tailed martial artist later thought of as 'congenial'- an oddity among his peers, the boy had thought. He was slightly smaller than the other guards in stature and build, but he moved a bit more fluidly than the others, Ranma noticed, and decided that this one was likely more dangerous than the others, or if not more dangerous, at least someone he needed to keep his attention focused upon more.

"We have an appointment," Nabiki commented, stepping just to the side of her companion. "I am Tendo Nabiki and my escort is Saotome Ranma."

Ranma noticed the guards in his field of view stiffen, ever so slightly, at the mention of his name. He did the same.

"Yes, you are expected," the guard before them spoke again. "If you will please step forward so that we may search you…" He allowed the rest of the sentence to drop off.

Ranma stepped in front of Nabiki again, a very clear signal this time. "You cannot search her," he spoke softly.

"Why may I not?" the guard asked in a quiet, pleasant tone. Almost immediately on the heels of his words, Nabiki also spoke. "Saotome," she chided, lightly slapping a palm onto his shoulder, "He's just doing his job. It's fine."

"Nabiki, you're a-" he turned to face her; he was about to say "girl", but decided almost immediately to amend his words, in part so as not to sound so childish in front of the guards. "Woman," he finished, then continued, "And they're men; if you have to be searched, they should have a woman do that."

Nabiki pursed her lips, giving Ranma a slightly disappointed look. "They're just doing what they're told, Saotome," she repeated. "I don't think they mean us any harm, at least not yet."

"Your companion is correct," the guard spoke, catching Ranma's attention and making him turn around to face him again. "We are appointed with the safety of all, be they employees or merely guests; it is our task to see to that safety to the best of our abilities." He paused, then continued, "Perhaps if we use this metal-detection device? would that be agreeable?"

The guard turned slightly and reached out to the guard still at the desk, who provided a thick, heavy cudgel-like device, with a few electronics lighting up along its length. Ranma turned to Nabiki, who gave a disinterested gesture of agreement, and then turned back to the guard, nodding.

Ranma stepped to the side, out of Nabiki's path but not so far that he couldn't be near her in the space of a heartbeat if needed. Nabiki stepped forward, and held her arms up and straight out perpendicular to her sides when the guard indicated. He began at her feet, even though it was clear to see to the untrained eye that the young woman was concealing little, if any. He continued until the point where the young woman's tasteful pencil skirt took over- just at knee length- and continued waving the device up her body in small increments until it emitted an loud electronic squeal, just at bust-level.

Ranma tensed slightly, doing his best to hold still lest his tension kick off hostilities- he could likely take care of himself, and could remotely even escape relatively unscathed, if he were only concerned about himself. But with Nabiki here, and his pledge to protect her, his best option at the moment was to wait and see what happened next.

And what happened next was that the guard continued to wave the device over the mercenary young woman, until he was satisfied that the only place worth investigating was the first- and only- place discovered thus far.

"If you would please," the guard spoke, gesturing politely at her, and taking a couple of steps back. The other guards tensed, Ranma could see, but so far seemed to be holding themselves back from doing anything.

Nabiki nodded, and then slowly slipped her hand inside of her jacket, and then equally slowly withdrew it, holding a small canister. The guard held out his hand, and with the same measured movement, she placed the canister there.

"It's a homemade aerosolized pepper spray," she explained. "A bit of juice from wasabi and some thai chili peppers. It's perfectly legal, and effective against folks who would try to harm a poor, defenseless young woman."

"Nabiki!" Ranma couldn't constrain himself any longer, "What in the world did you think you were doing? They thought you had a weapon; they could have shot you!"

The young woman glanced back over her shoulder and somehow managed to toss him a chiding look.

"Saotome," she sighed with exasperation, "they would have been more suspicious of me if they hadn't found anything to be suspicious of." She shook her head. "And it's not like I always have you or any of the rest of the Nerima Wrecking Crew pulling bodyguard duty for me. I do have to protect myself."

"We will not shoot you for a small canister of pepper spray," the guard offered a polite smile. "Either of you, to be clear. It is understood why the young woman carries some protection of her own, but," and here he turned to more clearly address Nabiki, "we will have to keep your protection here in our control, until you are ready to leave the building. Again, it is for the safety of all, employees and guests alike."

Nabiki pursed her lips at that, and gave another exasperated sigh. "I understand," she remarked.

"Thank you," the guard gave her a slight bow.

Once the guard was finished dealing with Nabiki, she stepped to the side and then it was Ranma's turn.

"I have nothing on me," Ranma commented, belatedly considering that perhaps they were, again, just doing their jobs, and that part of the job was to make sure he didn't have any weapons on him, even if he told them that he didn't. Thinking about that, he gave a brief nod to himself on the matter; if it meant that he could lose his job, or even his life, if he were to trust the wrong person, he wouldn't simply take the word of another, either.

The guard took his time checking over the martial artist, only putting away the metal detection device when he seemed satisfied that Ranma was unarmed. The guard stepped away, and gestured for Ranma to join Nabiki. A moment later he stepped back near to them, and gestured for the pair of teens to follow him as he reached what appeared to be an elevator; he confirmed that by pressing the call button.

When the elevator doors opened, two more bodyguard-types stood to either side of the doors, facing one another. The teen martial artist moved first, gently taking the hand of his companion and lightly pulled her behind him into the elevator, where he turned and pulled her behind him, pressed up against the back wall, making it clear that he was protecting her. Nabiki gave only two futile tugs against his determination before she decided that she could suffer a bit of overprotectiveness from him, just this once.

The ride up in the elevator was carried out in complete silence, but it wasn't a very long journey, and the doors opened out into a hallway where another pair of guards stood in attendance at a pair of closed doors at the end of the hallway, where the salaryman Ranma had met previously waited for them.

"Come with me," he spoke softly, "I will take you to see Sempai."

The man gestured to the pair of teens, and behind him the doors were opened by the two guards, and the three of them quietly strode into the room.

The room they stepped into would have been more comfortably called a conference room than an office, though it did indeed look like a very well-appointed office. At the far end of the room lay a rather large, but quietly tasteful glass and metal desk, before which sat a couple of comfortable looking chairs sat across from a small futon, between which sat a glass coffee table.

Closer to the center of the room, sat a large, glass conference table, around which sat seven men; six of them were clearly subservient to the seventh, who sat at the head of the table. His hair was slightly longish, hanging down to just about his shoulders, and was vaguely messy-looking, but in the manner of one who usually kept it bound, and was allow it freedom on this occasion. He wore a pair of designer sunglasses- unlike the guards- and wore a suit jacket over a dress shirt with the top three buttons undone, exposing a bit of his chest and a small bit of jewelry displayed there.

The man at the head of the table looked up at them as they entered the room, and conversation seemed to come to an immediate halt. The man gestured for the salaryman to come to his side, and the two had a quick moment of conversation.

"Our business is concluded for now," the man all called Sempai announced, and the six men seated around the long conference table stood up, and headed for the door.

"Please, Saotome-san, Tendo-san, enjoy my hospitality. Have a seat, if you will. My assistant Sung-Mai will provide refreshments if you desire them." The door closed quietly, leaving the pair of teens with the man called Sempai, the salaryman, and a young woman- Sung-Mai- who moved to a bar in the corner near the door and began to gather together glasses and other items on a tray.

Ranma looked towards Nabiki, and then with a nod from her, moved to her side to sit down at the table.

"Thank you for accepting my invitation, Saotome-san; I believe I know a bit about you, and while it might be that my reputation as a….business man, may be…very physical, I wish to assure you that my invitation was just that, an invitation. I wished to thank you for your timely assistance, and I wish to speak with you, man to man, if you wish it. I give you my words, upon my honor, that I have no intentions of harm to either you or the lovely Tendo-san."

Ranma frowned a bit, and once again glanced over at Nabiki, who glanced back at him with an expression that seemed both surprised and relieved.

"Please allow me to introduce myself; I am Xio Fong, and I am the…CEO of our….business organization. But I am also a father, as you are well aware of, and it is as a father I wish to speak with you."

Ranma gave a brief nod of his head, a gesture for the older man to continue.

Xio Fong sat back in his chair and removed his sunglasses; and almost before the teen martial artists' eyes, he could see the man shed a bit of the shell he seemed to be wearing, the shell he figured that the man wore in front of his underlings on a daily basis; he suddenly seemed less intimidating, and more human.

"I love my son," Xio Fong said quietly. "My world would be a darker place without him in it. And for that, Saotome-san, I thank you. I thank the Kami for your intervention, for allowing you to be the instrument of His will that allowed for my son to continue to live. For that, you have my eternal gratitude. What things you may wish to have, within my abilities to give, I will give to you, if you will accept them."

Ranma was quiet, but it was of the thoughtful quiet. Xio Fang, a man of murder and lawlessness, and Kenji, a man of power and nobility. Two men, with nearly the same message. Thank you for the life of my child. And for that life, I give you the world.

He hadn't done it for the world. He hadn't done it for any thought or idea of some physical gain. He hadn't done it for anything more than because it was the right thing to do, and he was in the right place at the right time to do that right thing.

"I didn't do it for some sort of gain," Ranma said, speaking his thoughts aloud.

"And yet that is exactly why I must give to you, Saotome-san," Xio Fong returned. "You gave of yourself, without seeking something more. There is nothing that can be a sufficient reward for the sacrifice you give, and so I offer the best of what I am able to do, to…to honor that what you gave."

"I understand, Xio Fong-san," Ranma returned quietly; he did understand; he'd gone through the same with the Emperor the day before. "I will accept that which you are able to give, to honor your desire and abilities to satisfy honor." He gave a gentle bow from his seated position, and the Yakuza lord returned the gesture.

"I wish to ask of but a few small things," Ranma began, and then paused, thinking.

"Name them," Xio Fong replied, sitting up a bit taller in his chair now. The mask was back, not fully, but more so than before; he was on more familiar ground here, the teen supposed.

"I ask that you leave the Tendo clan alone."

Xio Fong blinked a couple of times, before he responded. "I have no troubles with the Tendo clan," he offered, a smile beginning to form on his lips, "though as for Tendo Nabiki…I have heard much about her, and to be honest I only wished to talk with her about working with….with my organization. In an honorable fashion, of course."

"Honorable?" Ranma intoned, stressing the word, expressing his disbelief.

"Honorable," Xio Fong repeated. "She has the ear of those who would either be able to help us, or who we may be able to offer help to. There is much skill, much talent there, and I would be quite able to take advantage of such skill and talent. She would not be placed in harms way, and she would eventually be something of an information broker, with our organization as one of her clients, as it were."

"I don't think-" Ranma began

"I could possibly live with that," Nabiki interrupted him.

"Nabi-ki!" the pig-tailed teen turned towards her, growling softly.

"Saotome, look" she shot back at him, her tone that of one speaking to a child, "I get it that you're trying to look out for me, but right at this moment all…Xio Fong-san has said is that he wants to talk. Now that I don't think he's going to have me killed in a bloody display in front of the school gates, I'm willing to talk. I can always back out….can't I?" she added, turning towards Xio Fong. Ranma did the same, looking intently at the other man.

Xio Fong nodded gently. "It is only a discussion, for now, and should the lovely Tendo-san decide that she does not wish to seek a mutually beneficial relationship, I would agree that so long as neither she nor any members of her family sought to cause harm or discontent to myself or those of my organization, I would leave the Tendo clan in peace."

Ranma frowned, pursing his lips a bit, but then nodded. "I suppose I can ask no more than that," he remarked.

"Indeed," Xio Fong returned.

The aquatranssexual teen pursed his lips at that response, but didn't attempt to counter it.

"If I may, Fong-san?" he continued, "I would also ask the same of you for my clan."

Xio Fong frowned at that. "Saotome-san, you have saved the life of my child," he responded, sounding confused. "I have no ill will whatsoever for you or your clan; I am confused as to why you would ask that I 'leave your clan alone'?"

The teen male sighed. "My father," he began.

"Ahh," Xio Fong grinned now, "I see. Yes, we have had interactions with your father on occasion." His grin became something of a smirk. "I think I understand now why you ask what you ask." He offered a bow of his head. "I will make a counter offer to you? Perhaps…we will leave your clan alone and in peace, so long as no one other than your father offers cause harm or discontent to myself or those of my organization, and that I will…attempt to limit our actions to our encounters with your father to the minimum of our usual responses."

"I thank you," Ranma responded, giving the gentle bow once again. "I only have one more thing I would like to ask of you, Fong-san," he continued; the older man nodded, indicating that he go on. "I would like to ask, if you would…if your…organization, would…could, act with more honor." He held up his hand to forestall the older man, who had begun to open his mouth. "I don't mean to imply that you…that your organization has no honor, Fong-san; I mean to ask, if your organization would do more. I can't ask you to give charity to all who need it, but I would like to ask if maybe you might try to…" He paused, thinking quickly. "I am a martial artist," he tried another train of thought, "and it is a part of my duty to protect those who aren't as able to protect themselves as I, when I can be of help. I'd like to ask if you might…if your organization might try and do the same."

Xio Fong blinked for a moment, and then laughed softly. "I…" he chuckled again, before getting himself under control. "That is definitely an unusual request," he grinned. "But coming from you, and what I know of you, Saotome-san, I will at least take it into consideration; I can promise no more than that right now."

"Thank you for your consideration, Fong-san," Ranma smiled gently. "That is all I would ask of you."

Xio Fong's smile gently faded into a more impassive look. "But you've asked for so little!" he remarked. "Allow me to offer to pay for your daughter's education! I won't accept 'no' for an answer, Saotome-san, and I believe you cannot refuse; what father would deny his child an education?"

Ranma opened his mouth to protest, but found that he couldn't. As Xio Fong had said, what father would deny his child an education? And while he remembered the rather large sum of money that the Emperor had given him yesterday, he hadn't yet thought about what he would do with that money. And further, while what he'd received likely would be quite enough to take care of Sakura, making sure that her education was secure, in the event that something happened to him, was definitely something that appealed to the new father in him.

"As you say, Fong-san, I cannot refuse; I am not a father who would deny his child an education," Ranma gave another bit of a bow.

"And I have heard through various means that you are having some problems with housing; allow me to give you a small property I am…settling on, that you may be able to raise your child in peace and security. I cannot imagine that a father would desire less for his child, no?"

Ranma chuckled despite himself. "No, Fong-san, and so I accept these gifts of yours, but it would not be honorable for me to take more from you than this."

Xio Fong seemed to pull himself short at that, but only for a brief moment. "Very well, Saotome-san. I will not make further offers at this time, but I will say that if you ever have a favor you need of me, please do not hesitate to ask. I will attempt to be of help if you require it."

"See, Saotome?" Nabiki smirked at him as they walked out of the building and into the sunlight, striding towards the limo that had brought them to the Yakuza offices in the first place. "Nothing to worry about."

Ranma shook his head, smirking gently to himself, even as the other teen began calling her informant network to gather everyone together. He hadn't been the one who was so worried, but he decided not to remind her of that. Besides, he could now see a future for himself and Sakura, and it wasn't a bad vision at all.