If I went by the actual chapter outline, it should be about twice as
long as it is. Why isn't it? Well... I managed to loose this on
Tuesday. Not hard to do when it's on floppy and you've got over forty
separate disks. There's this little pile of them sitting on the edge of
my desk. By little pile, I mean there are fifteen disks sitting there.
All of them have stuff on them. If they didn't they'd be in my desk.
The disk this was on was at the very bottom of the pile ^-^;;
Don't worry, the other half will be in the next chapter.
False Identity
Chapter Five: Redhead
Li Xiang
Tsukiyono Omi sighed, shaking his head at the sight before him. Ranko--
that's who the girl had to be, she looked almost identical to the
picture he'd gotten from Nabiki-- refused to even look at Yohji. And
she was muttering about idiots who couldn't mind their own business
under her breath.
After having broken up the argument, or at least, attempting to do so,
Omi had introduced himself. Ranko didn't really seem to care all that
much, just muttering a 'Whatever. Nice to meet you, too', before she
turned her back on the dirty blonde playboy. He'd spent the last five
minutes watching Yohji try to explain why she had to stay away from
Schuldich.
Well, the seventeen year old mused, at least we know where Ranko is. I
should call Nabs back.
With that thought, the young man walked back over to the phone,
searching his mind for a moment before he remembered the number of the
Tendou Dojo.
"Hello, Tendou residence"
Omi grinned a bit, "Good afternoon, Kasumi-neesan. Is Nabiki there?"
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ranko's head snap up, and the
redhead began to prowl closer. The feline grace in her step made him
shiver a bit. No wonder Farfello had called her 'Kitty', "Oh! Omi-chan,
is that you? It's so nice to hear from you again! I'll get Nabiki for
you, it'll only take a minute."
"You know Nabiki?" Ranko's voice was so soft it sounded deadly. Again,
a shiver ran up his spine, but before he could comment, Nabiki picked
up the phone.
"Omittchi?"
"Hey Nabs. You don't have to worry about Ranko. She's standing beside
me."
The amount of surprise in her voice was rather considerable, "She's
WHERE?!"
And the phone was removed from his hand. Ranko was smirking as she held
the receiver up, "I'm right here, Nabiki. I don't want to be, but here
I am."
"Ranma!" This of course, was impossible for Omi to hear-- he didn't
have the whole heightened martial artist senses Ranma/Ranko did. Sure,
his own were higher than normal, he was an assassin, after all, but
nowhere near the level of a martial artist who'd been attacked out of
the blue repeatedly for years, "How did you get to the Koneko? When did
you get there?!"
"Why so many questions Nabiki," the sneer was readily heard over the
phone, "I thought you knew where everyone was, and who everyone was
with?"
"This isn't the time for jokes, Ranma! Those men you took off with are
dangerous!"
Ranma snorted, "You're the second person to tell me that. Why should I
believe _you_ Nabiki?"
"That was low."
"And you've manipulated me for your own gains since I arrived. You've
held the truth back from me, repeatedly."
Nabiki sighed, and Ranma could just see her pinching the bridge of her
nose in annoyance, "Ranma, Jei and Farfello are assassins. They're just
using you!"
"It wouldn't be the first time," again, Ranma's voice had gained that
soft, deadly quality, "None the least of them, was you, Nabiki. Why do
you think I'm better off with you, than with them?"
"Ranma, listen to me--"
"Why should I?!" voice still soft, still deadly, but a hint of
annoyance had crept into it, "No one listens to me! No one gives a damn
about what I want, and who I want to hang out with! It's always turned
around, so I come up bruised and bleeding! EVERY SINGLE DAMNED TIME!!"
Omi and Yohji had been listening to their side of the conversation with
growing confusion, when Ranma's suddenly yelling voice made both
assassins jump. Omi reached for the phone, but his hand was batted out
of the way, an irritated glance in return. Looking down at his stinging
hand, he gave a hiss of breath.
It looked like he'd been sliced by a set of claws. And hurt just as
bad.
"Look, Ranma..." silence was her answer, and when she was sure that the
ready to explode martial artist wasn't going to interrupt, she gave a
small sigh of relief and continued speaking, "If you stay with Omittchi
at the Koneko... I could keep Akane from finding out where you are."
"Why are you being so nice, all of a sudden?"
It was her turn to snap, "Whether you realize it, or not, Saotome,
you're family. You've been living with my family for two years now, I'm
used to having you around--"
"--To make money off of--"
"--and I don't want you to end up dead because you got yourself
involved with assassins. Just... stay with Omittchi, until we can make
sure Jei won't hurt you."
"Are you suggesting that Jei-sama would _hurt_ me?"
"Yes. Dammit, Ranma, it's been years. People change! The guy is
sociopathic! You don't know what he's like anymore!"
Silence. Ranma had closed her eyes, bowing her head for several
moments, before taking a breath, "Alright. I'll stay here. But only
because it gets me out of Nerima for awhile."
"Good," again Nabiki gave a sigh, "And Omittchi can keep Jei away--"
"He does, and I'll kill him," it wasn't a threat. It was fact, spoken
without inflection.
"... alright. Just be careful, Ranma. I don't want to lose my little
brother." Even if, the young woman thought to herself, I still have to
get revenge for him hitting me. "Could I talk to Omi, again?"
The phone was passed without another word, and Ranko wandered off to
glare at the girls standing around the shop, getting ready to go in and
get giggly over the staff. A flash of orangish red hair caught her eye,
and she turned to see Schuldich grinning at her. He lifted a finger to
his lips, and winked.
//I'll contact you later. This might work out better than we'd planned.//
//Maybe,// Ranko sent back to the older man, before turning back to the
shop and hopping up on the counter with a disinterested glance. Another
young man came out of the back, hefting a potted plant to put on
display-- brown hair, blue eyes.
He blinked, "Who...?"
"Saotome Ranko, desu," the redhead narrowed stormy blue eyes on the
young man, "and you?"
"Hidaka Ken," he rolled his eyes as the girls who had specifically
waiting for him began to swamp him, and Ranko snorted. They guy
couldn't even keep his admirers away from him.
//And you're any better?//
//Get out of my head, Schuu. Omi's headed this way.//
"Do you have to go back to get anything?"
Ranko gave the other teenager The Look, "No. Nothin' there of much
importance."
The assassin nodding, sighing mentally. He'd hoped the redhead would
have to go back to Nerima so he could at least discuss this with his
teammates. Where would they keep Ranko? There weren't anymore empty
rooms, and what would Aya think? He cringed, quite visibly. The icy
swordsman wouldn't take to well tot he idea-- let alone the reality!--
of having a young woman staying with them.
"Something wrong, Omi?"
"Ah, it's nothing," Ranko smirked at the slightly forced smile that
crossed the older boy's features, "... how did you run into Yohji?"
"He dragged me away from talking to a friend."
"Schuldich?"
Ranko hiked a ruby eyebrow, "Nabiki tell you that? Or Kudou?"
The teenager shook his head, "Nabiki. But we've met. You have to be
careful around him. He's a dangerous man. Farfello-- Jei-- is just as
dangerous, if not more, Ranko. I'd be careful around both of them."
Ranko's eyes flashed dangerously, "Are you sayin' I can't take care of
myself?"
"Nothing of the sort!" Omi'd heard the stories from Nabiki, seen the
destruction in Nerima on the news. He'd never tell someone capable of
knocking a building down with a simple punch that she couldn't take
care of herself, "It's just that Schuldich can play games with your
mind. He could trick you into believing he's perfectly harmless."
Ranko let a growl escape the back of her throat, "First Kudou, then
Nabiki, and now you, Tsukiyono. What have you got against my friends?"
"It's not that, Ranko. They just... might attempt to hurt you!"
Ranko lashed out with her fist, stopping it millimeters before the
other's nose, "Are you sure _I_ won't hurt _you_?"
Omi hadn't even the time to reflexively snap his eyes shut before
seeing the fist in his face. He flinched. Ranko dropped off the
counter, sauntering over to the brunette at the front of the shop. She
could feel for the guy-- he was drowning in obsessive fan/school girls.
"Hey!" One of the girls yelped as the redhead shoved her way through
the crowd. A quick glare from the not-so-happy redhead stopped her in
her tracks.
"Hello, Again."
"Eh?" the blue eyed teen blinked, a bit confused, the grinned, "Oh, hi
Ranko. What can I do for you?"
"Nothing. I just don't want to have to talk to Kudou or Tsukiyono."
Ken frowned at that, a confused light entering his eyes. He was used to
some girls-- the ones with steady boyfriends, or husbands-- getting mad
at Yohji for hitting on them, but this was a girl who'd fit right in
with the normal giggling girls. Well, if she wasn't wearing a Chinese
style tang and black silk pants. "What got you mad at _both_ of them?"
"Watch it girl," Ranko snapped at a girl who was actively trying to get
Ranko out of the way, and catch Ken's attention at the same time. The
redhead gave Ken an exasperated look as the girl failed to stop, "They
believe I can't take care of myself."
Ken picked up an empty pot next to the display he'd been attending to,
and started towards the back of the shop, "So why don't you just
leave?"
"Because my personal manipulator said I had to stay here until
Schuldich and Jei-sama decided to leave me alone. And she said she'd
keep the lunatics off my back."
"Schuldich and 'Jei-sama'?"
Ranko cast him a look out of the corner of her eye, "If you so much as
think to tell me they're dangerous, you'd better pray you have an
up-to-date will."
"Ah... right... oh, hey look! It's Aya," Ken made a gesture towards the
redheaded man only now entering the shop. Ranko assumed he was
returning from a delivery, but the way he moved caught her eye. She'd
seen someone move like that before...
Now who... she flicked through her memories of battles passed, and
hiked an eyebrow. A Swordsman. Much better than Kunou... a blade master
if the way he moves is any indication of his skill. He looks like he's
missing something-- like he should have a katana with him.
Her eyes tracked the swordsman for several minutes before he looked up.
Smokey blue eyes met intense violet, and Ranko's lips quirked in a
smirk.
---
The flame haired assassin continued to be infuriating. As in, a smug
smirk in Crawford's general direction, the telepathic assassin keeping
his lips shut. The American's eyes narrowed.
"Why did you leave Saotome with Weiss?"
Schuldich's smirk widened, "Didn't you tell me to do _anything_ that I
thought might get Ranma to help us?"
Bradley frowned, but he understood what Schuldich meant. The American
crossed his arms, and leaned over the seated German, "How do you plan
for him to get the information we want?"
"_She_ is able to use the Umi-sen-ken, and render herself invisible,"
Schuldich's smirk widened into a full grin.
End Chapter
long as it is. Why isn't it? Well... I managed to loose this on
Tuesday. Not hard to do when it's on floppy and you've got over forty
separate disks. There's this little pile of them sitting on the edge of
my desk. By little pile, I mean there are fifteen disks sitting there.
All of them have stuff on them. If they didn't they'd be in my desk.
The disk this was on was at the very bottom of the pile ^-^;;
Don't worry, the other half will be in the next chapter.
False Identity
Chapter Five: Redhead
Li Xiang
Tsukiyono Omi sighed, shaking his head at the sight before him. Ranko--
that's who the girl had to be, she looked almost identical to the
picture he'd gotten from Nabiki-- refused to even look at Yohji. And
she was muttering about idiots who couldn't mind their own business
under her breath.
After having broken up the argument, or at least, attempting to do so,
Omi had introduced himself. Ranko didn't really seem to care all that
much, just muttering a 'Whatever. Nice to meet you, too', before she
turned her back on the dirty blonde playboy. He'd spent the last five
minutes watching Yohji try to explain why she had to stay away from
Schuldich.
Well, the seventeen year old mused, at least we know where Ranko is. I
should call Nabs back.
With that thought, the young man walked back over to the phone,
searching his mind for a moment before he remembered the number of the
Tendou Dojo.
"Hello, Tendou residence"
Omi grinned a bit, "Good afternoon, Kasumi-neesan. Is Nabiki there?"
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ranko's head snap up, and the
redhead began to prowl closer. The feline grace in her step made him
shiver a bit. No wonder Farfello had called her 'Kitty', "Oh! Omi-chan,
is that you? It's so nice to hear from you again! I'll get Nabiki for
you, it'll only take a minute."
"You know Nabiki?" Ranko's voice was so soft it sounded deadly. Again,
a shiver ran up his spine, but before he could comment, Nabiki picked
up the phone.
"Omittchi?"
"Hey Nabs. You don't have to worry about Ranko. She's standing beside
me."
The amount of surprise in her voice was rather considerable, "She's
WHERE?!"
And the phone was removed from his hand. Ranko was smirking as she held
the receiver up, "I'm right here, Nabiki. I don't want to be, but here
I am."
"Ranma!" This of course, was impossible for Omi to hear-- he didn't
have the whole heightened martial artist senses Ranma/Ranko did. Sure,
his own were higher than normal, he was an assassin, after all, but
nowhere near the level of a martial artist who'd been attacked out of
the blue repeatedly for years, "How did you get to the Koneko? When did
you get there?!"
"Why so many questions Nabiki," the sneer was readily heard over the
phone, "I thought you knew where everyone was, and who everyone was
with?"
"This isn't the time for jokes, Ranma! Those men you took off with are
dangerous!"
Ranma snorted, "You're the second person to tell me that. Why should I
believe _you_ Nabiki?"
"That was low."
"And you've manipulated me for your own gains since I arrived. You've
held the truth back from me, repeatedly."
Nabiki sighed, and Ranma could just see her pinching the bridge of her
nose in annoyance, "Ranma, Jei and Farfello are assassins. They're just
using you!"
"It wouldn't be the first time," again, Ranma's voice had gained that
soft, deadly quality, "None the least of them, was you, Nabiki. Why do
you think I'm better off with you, than with them?"
"Ranma, listen to me--"
"Why should I?!" voice still soft, still deadly, but a hint of
annoyance had crept into it, "No one listens to me! No one gives a damn
about what I want, and who I want to hang out with! It's always turned
around, so I come up bruised and bleeding! EVERY SINGLE DAMNED TIME!!"
Omi and Yohji had been listening to their side of the conversation with
growing confusion, when Ranma's suddenly yelling voice made both
assassins jump. Omi reached for the phone, but his hand was batted out
of the way, an irritated glance in return. Looking down at his stinging
hand, he gave a hiss of breath.
It looked like he'd been sliced by a set of claws. And hurt just as
bad.
"Look, Ranma..." silence was her answer, and when she was sure that the
ready to explode martial artist wasn't going to interrupt, she gave a
small sigh of relief and continued speaking, "If you stay with Omittchi
at the Koneko... I could keep Akane from finding out where you are."
"Why are you being so nice, all of a sudden?"
It was her turn to snap, "Whether you realize it, or not, Saotome,
you're family. You've been living with my family for two years now, I'm
used to having you around--"
"--To make money off of--"
"--and I don't want you to end up dead because you got yourself
involved with assassins. Just... stay with Omittchi, until we can make
sure Jei won't hurt you."
"Are you suggesting that Jei-sama would _hurt_ me?"
"Yes. Dammit, Ranma, it's been years. People change! The guy is
sociopathic! You don't know what he's like anymore!"
Silence. Ranma had closed her eyes, bowing her head for several
moments, before taking a breath, "Alright. I'll stay here. But only
because it gets me out of Nerima for awhile."
"Good," again Nabiki gave a sigh, "And Omittchi can keep Jei away--"
"He does, and I'll kill him," it wasn't a threat. It was fact, spoken
without inflection.
"... alright. Just be careful, Ranma. I don't want to lose my little
brother." Even if, the young woman thought to herself, I still have to
get revenge for him hitting me. "Could I talk to Omi, again?"
The phone was passed without another word, and Ranko wandered off to
glare at the girls standing around the shop, getting ready to go in and
get giggly over the staff. A flash of orangish red hair caught her eye,
and she turned to see Schuldich grinning at her. He lifted a finger to
his lips, and winked.
//I'll contact you later. This might work out better than we'd planned.//
//Maybe,// Ranko sent back to the older man, before turning back to the
shop and hopping up on the counter with a disinterested glance. Another
young man came out of the back, hefting a potted plant to put on
display-- brown hair, blue eyes.
He blinked, "Who...?"
"Saotome Ranko, desu," the redhead narrowed stormy blue eyes on the
young man, "and you?"
"Hidaka Ken," he rolled his eyes as the girls who had specifically
waiting for him began to swamp him, and Ranko snorted. They guy
couldn't even keep his admirers away from him.
//And you're any better?//
//Get out of my head, Schuu. Omi's headed this way.//
"Do you have to go back to get anything?"
Ranko gave the other teenager The Look, "No. Nothin' there of much
importance."
The assassin nodding, sighing mentally. He'd hoped the redhead would
have to go back to Nerima so he could at least discuss this with his
teammates. Where would they keep Ranko? There weren't anymore empty
rooms, and what would Aya think? He cringed, quite visibly. The icy
swordsman wouldn't take to well tot he idea-- let alone the reality!--
of having a young woman staying with them.
"Something wrong, Omi?"
"Ah, it's nothing," Ranko smirked at the slightly forced smile that
crossed the older boy's features, "... how did you run into Yohji?"
"He dragged me away from talking to a friend."
"Schuldich?"
Ranko hiked a ruby eyebrow, "Nabiki tell you that? Or Kudou?"
The teenager shook his head, "Nabiki. But we've met. You have to be
careful around him. He's a dangerous man. Farfello-- Jei-- is just as
dangerous, if not more, Ranko. I'd be careful around both of them."
Ranko's eyes flashed dangerously, "Are you sayin' I can't take care of
myself?"
"Nothing of the sort!" Omi'd heard the stories from Nabiki, seen the
destruction in Nerima on the news. He'd never tell someone capable of
knocking a building down with a simple punch that she couldn't take
care of herself, "It's just that Schuldich can play games with your
mind. He could trick you into believing he's perfectly harmless."
Ranko let a growl escape the back of her throat, "First Kudou, then
Nabiki, and now you, Tsukiyono. What have you got against my friends?"
"It's not that, Ranko. They just... might attempt to hurt you!"
Ranko lashed out with her fist, stopping it millimeters before the
other's nose, "Are you sure _I_ won't hurt _you_?"
Omi hadn't even the time to reflexively snap his eyes shut before
seeing the fist in his face. He flinched. Ranko dropped off the
counter, sauntering over to the brunette at the front of the shop. She
could feel for the guy-- he was drowning in obsessive fan/school girls.
"Hey!" One of the girls yelped as the redhead shoved her way through
the crowd. A quick glare from the not-so-happy redhead stopped her in
her tracks.
"Hello, Again."
"Eh?" the blue eyed teen blinked, a bit confused, the grinned, "Oh, hi
Ranko. What can I do for you?"
"Nothing. I just don't want to have to talk to Kudou or Tsukiyono."
Ken frowned at that, a confused light entering his eyes. He was used to
some girls-- the ones with steady boyfriends, or husbands-- getting mad
at Yohji for hitting on them, but this was a girl who'd fit right in
with the normal giggling girls. Well, if she wasn't wearing a Chinese
style tang and black silk pants. "What got you mad at _both_ of them?"
"Watch it girl," Ranko snapped at a girl who was actively trying to get
Ranko out of the way, and catch Ken's attention at the same time. The
redhead gave Ken an exasperated look as the girl failed to stop, "They
believe I can't take care of myself."
Ken picked up an empty pot next to the display he'd been attending to,
and started towards the back of the shop, "So why don't you just
leave?"
"Because my personal manipulator said I had to stay here until
Schuldich and Jei-sama decided to leave me alone. And she said she'd
keep the lunatics off my back."
"Schuldich and 'Jei-sama'?"
Ranko cast him a look out of the corner of her eye, "If you so much as
think to tell me they're dangerous, you'd better pray you have an
up-to-date will."
"Ah... right... oh, hey look! It's Aya," Ken made a gesture towards the
redheaded man only now entering the shop. Ranko assumed he was
returning from a delivery, but the way he moved caught her eye. She'd
seen someone move like that before...
Now who... she flicked through her memories of battles passed, and
hiked an eyebrow. A Swordsman. Much better than Kunou... a blade master
if the way he moves is any indication of his skill. He looks like he's
missing something-- like he should have a katana with him.
Her eyes tracked the swordsman for several minutes before he looked up.
Smokey blue eyes met intense violet, and Ranko's lips quirked in a
smirk.
---
The flame haired assassin continued to be infuriating. As in, a smug
smirk in Crawford's general direction, the telepathic assassin keeping
his lips shut. The American's eyes narrowed.
"Why did you leave Saotome with Weiss?"
Schuldich's smirk widened, "Didn't you tell me to do _anything_ that I
thought might get Ranma to help us?"
Bradley frowned, but he understood what Schuldich meant. The American
crossed his arms, and leaned over the seated German, "How do you plan
for him to get the information we want?"
"_She_ is able to use the Umi-sen-ken, and render herself invisible,"
Schuldich's smirk widened into a full grin.
End Chapter