A Day and Night in Tokyo, Japan

by TydRipper1

When Ranma goes missing, he creates a bit more trouble than he had hoped. When Akane and Ukyou set out on a mission to find him, they cause nothing less than a national incident...

A Day and Night

By: Kyle Emmerson (kyle_emmerson@geocities.com)
Using Characters and situations from: Ranma « By
Rumiko Takahashi.

Prologue:

Dear Everyone,

Hey, its me, Ranma. You may be wondering where I am
right now, but just don't worry. I'm safe, and there
ain't nothing gonna happen to me. The point is, I
left. Nothing can be done about that now. Pop, stay
put. When I don't wanna be found, I won't be found.

I know you guys are wondering why I left. The only
answer I can give is cuz I wanted to. I've had
enough over the past year there. Too many things
have happened, and I just miss life on the road. I
probably won't be coming back, so there's no point
in looking for me.

Mr. Tendo and Pop: I'm sorry the agreement between
the two schools couldn't be filled, there's nothing
that can be done about that. It's over, deal with
it.

Kasumi: Thank you so much for the hospitality you've
shown me. I'll always remember it, and cherish it
until the day I die.

Nabiki: The money I owe you, you can find under the
thirteenth floorboard in the Dojo. The one with the
black scuff-mark on it.

Akane: I'm sorry we couldn't work it out. I wish you
the best of luck in the future years.

Sincerely,
Ranma Saotome...

****

Powerless. Insecure. Ill. Those were just a handful
of feelings Akane had felt since the day Ranma left. She
knew exactly why she felt that way, but refused to do
anything about it.

Love. It took her so long to admit to herself that
she felt that way about Ranma, but at last she did. It
felt good for a moment, then she realized it was too
late. He had left.

Since he left, Ukyou had been coming over daily,
trying to comfort Akane. At least, that's what the
pretense was. She was really scouting for information on
Ranma's whereabouts, which she didn't know. Neither did
Akane for that matter.

Shampoo and Cologne had returned from China the day
earlier, stating that Ranma had not gone to Jusenkyo,
like so many had thought. Ryouga hadn't been around seen
since a few days before Ranma left.

After the first day, Akane felt sure Ranma would
come back, and she even felt a little heartsick mere
moments after he left. Now, after three weeks time, she
was a total wreck. Akane hadn't been to school in nearly
four days, and spent most of her time in her room,
either thinking of the events of the past year,
sometimes laughing at the funnier events of the past,
and crying at some of the serious ones.

But she was still unsure at what she should do. Many
told her to move on, especially Kuno, who seemed to be
coming over daily to 'cheer her up' with his 'honorable
presence'. It had quite the opposite effect, as either
Akane or Soun would kick him off the property.

But things were looking worse. Genma had set off two
weeks earlier, searching for his son, and promising to
call. No such luck. He hadn't called.

Akane lay down in her bed and stared at the ceiling.
She couldn't go on like this. She just couldn't sit and
wait any longer. She sat up and decided it was time to
make a decision.

A moment later, she nodded to herself, and walked
down the stairs.

Since Ranma had left, Akane had only left her room
for three things. School, which she hadn't done in four
days. Food, when she was feeling well enough to eat. And
bathroom breaks, which weren't very often. Even breaking
bricks had become a thing of the past for her.

She sat down at the table and looked at her sister,
who had a confused expression on her face.

"Akane? Are you alright?" Kasumi asked, genuinely
worried.

Akane tried her best to keep her feelings in check.
Several times in the past week, Akane had broken down in
front of Kasumi, exclaiming how much she loved Ranma,
and that she would never get him angry again if only he
would come back. As it was, he never did.

"I've made a decision, Kasumi."

Kasumi blinked. "Should I get father and Nabiki?"

She nodded.

A few minutes later, Nabiki walked down the stairs
with a calculator in hand, and her father followed.

"What is it, Akane, dear?" Soun asked.

"I've made a decision. I'm going to look for him."

Nabiki smirked. She had been expecting this for some
time. Soun also allowed a smile to seep out of his
mouth, as the tears slowly drained from his eyes.

"Here." Nabiki pulled an envelope from out of her
pouch and passed it to Akane.

"What's this?"

"Enough Yen to get you to China and back."

Akane smiled. "Thank you."

"Akane, dear." Soun asked. "Will you be alright?"

Akane nodded. She was proud of her father for being
so strong under such a circumstance.

Soun smiled.

"Ukyou should be here in a few minutes, Akane."
Kasumi mentioned. "Why don't you ask her to accompany
you? She'd help you."

Akane nodded. "I'll ask her." The truth was, even
though the rivalry between her and Ukyou was now on a
more solid foundation, she was being such a good friend
over the past few weeks.

"Do you have an idea of where you'll go?"

She shook her head. "Shampoo says he wasn't at
Jusenkyo, and the Guide said he hadn't been there.
That's the only place I can think of. I'm going to ask
around a bit, maybe Hiroshi and Daisuke know something
they're not sharing. If, by then I haven't got any
leads, I'll head to Jusenkyo."

"Perhaps, but you should prepare yourself well."

She nodded. "I plan on it."

At that moment, there was a knock at the door, and
Ukyou let herself in. Already on her way up the stairs,
Akane called from the tea room.

"Ukyou, I'm in here!"

Ukyou blinked and turned towards the tea room.

"Akane?" She asked at the doorway, she was shocked
to see such a lighthearted face on her. "What's going
on?"

"Ukyou, I'm going to find him." She said.

Ukyou smiled. "It's about damn time, girl." She put
her hands to her hips and laughed. "What's the plan?"

Akane shrugged. "Not much of one right now. We're
going to do some asking around, maybe we'll luck out and
someone will have seen him."

Ukyou smiled. "Now we're talking." She looked at her
patiently for a moment. "You gonna get ready, or what?"

Akane smiled, for the first time in weeks, and got
herself ready.

****

"What's first?" Ukyou asked.

"Yuka and Sayuri are waiting for us at your
restaurant. I hope you don't mind, but I decided to use
it as our 'base of operations'.

Ukyou smirked and shook her head. "If you hadn't
suggested it, I would have."

"Good. They've brought Hiroshi and Daisuke with them
on the pretense of a date."

"What makes you think they'll know anything about
it?"

"Nothing, I've just gotta check."

"Akane?"

"Yes?"

"How do you... Well... Why do you suppose he.. Uh...
Left?"

Akane looked down at the ground for a moment. "If I
knew that, Ukyou, I wouldn't have to search for him.

Ukyou nodded and walked onward in silence for a few
moments before noticing what was before her. "They're
here already."

Akane looked up and nodded. Yuka and Sayuri stood in
front of Ucchans, talking to a couple of very confused
looking teenage boys. Upon seeing Ukyou and Akane
approach, they looked even more confused.

****

"Alright, boys. What do you know?" Ukyou asked
menacingly.

"Know about what?" Daisuke asked, sitting in the
chair inside of the
restaurant.

"Don't play dumb. You know what we're talking
about."

Hiroshi leaned over towards Daisuke. "Do you suppose
they mean Ranma?"

Daisuke merely shrugged.

"Well?"

Daisuke opened his mouth to speak. "If you mean
Ranma, we don't know anything."

"Yeah, you'll never beat it out of us!"

Akane and Ukyou quickly brought their attention to
Hiroshi's comment. "So you do know!"

Hiroshi blinked for a moment, then cursed himself
inwardly.

"What did you say that for?" Daisuke asked.

"I don't know, it just seemed like the thing to
say."

"The wrong thing to say!"

"Look, I'm sorry alright!"

"Sorry? We promised him we wouldn't say--"

"Ixnay! Ixnay on the Anmaray!"

Daisuke clammed up. He looked at Ukyou, who was now
holing her battle spatula tightly, with a menacing look
on her face.

"What was that?" She asked.

Daisuke shook his head. "Nothing. Nothing at all."

Ukyou brought her spatula up, readying it for a
swiping motion. Daisuke closed his eyes.

"Wait." Yuka grabbed the shaft of the spatula.

Sayuri stepped in front of Ukyou. "I think we can
handle this."

Ukyou blinked for a moment. "And if it doesn't
work?"

Yuka winked. "Then you can smack them up all you
want."

Akane looked at her two friends, then nodded.

"Privacy, please?" Sayuri suggested.

Ukyou blinked and then nodded. She looked towards
Akane and then gestured her to the stairs near the back
of the restaurant. The two of them walked up the stairs,
leaving Yuki and Sayuri with Hiroshi and Daisuke.

****

"What do you suppose they're doing?" Ukyou asked.

Akane shrugged. She actually had a fairly good idea,
but basically left that train of thought alone. She was
too focused on Ranma.

"Ukyou?"

Ukyou looked towards Akane. "Yes?"

"What..." She began. "What will we do once... If we
find him?"

Ukyou scoffed. "If? Honey, you listen to me. We will
find him."

Akane smiled. She liked Ukyou's attitude on the
situation. It gave her more hope. "That's not exactly
what I mean, Ukyou. I... I mean, what will we do when
he's back?"

Ukyou blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean you and me. Shampoo. Kodachi. Everyone. I
think that's why he left. He didn't like everyone
claiming him as his own."

"Well, Akane. Don't get me wrong here, but you
weren't doing much claiming when he was around."

"But what about now? I know how I feel about him
now. Absence makes the heart grow fonder."

Ukyou sighed. "I guess you're right. Something will
have to be done. I guess..." She paused, thinking.
"Look, Akane. Let's just not worry about that right now.
If we dwell too much on the subject, we'll lose sight of
what we've got to do."

Akane nodded. A moment later, they were interrupted
by a knock on the door.

****

"We saw him. He made us swear that we wouldn't tell
anyone." Hiroshi said.

"What? Where was he? Why doesn't he want you telling
anyone?" Akane asked.

"Downtown Tokyo General. We saw him leaving the
lobby, and he just said he didn't want us telling
anyone."

"Did he say anything about where he was going, or
what he was doing there?"

Hiroshi shook his head. "He told us nothing, just
that he didn't want us to tell anyone where he was."

Ukyou smiled and looked towards Akane. "Well, it's a
start. At least we know he's still around."

Akane nodded. "How long ago was this?"

Hiroshi shrugged. "About four days. We were there
because Hiroshi's aunt was being released, and she
wanted our help in getting her out of the hospital.

Akane managed to let a small smile grow. She looked
towards Ukyou. "Let's go."

Ukyou nodded and joined her, as Ukyou gathered
everyone out of the restaurant and locked the front
door, she looked towards Yuka.

"How did you get it out of them, anyway?"

Yuka smiled. "Do you really want to know?"

Ukyou thought about it for a second. "Nothing nasty,
right?"

Yuka shook her head. "Nothing TOO nasty."

Ukyou smiled and walked off towards Akane, who was
looking at the sky by a fence.

"He's out there, Ukyou. He's there. Somewhere."

Ukyou nodded. "At least now we have someplace to
start."

"Should we go now?"

"What are we going to do there?"

Akane looked at her. "There was any number of things
Ranma could have been doing there. Maybe he was injured,
and they had to treat him, in which case, Nabiki would
be able to help us by getting the records. He could have
even been visiting someone."

"Who?"

Akane shrugged. "There is so much neither of us know
about Ranma. Ten years have gone by for him, that
neither of us knew what he was doing. He could have
friends that neither of us have even heard of."

Ukyou thought about it for a moment.

"The truth is, Ukyou, we may have only scratched the
surface of him. There could be an entirely different
person underneath what you and I both know as Ranma."

"But he's still Ranma. He's still the person I...
We... uhh... Have feelings for."

Akane nodded. "That's right. And I'm not going to
let it rest until I've found out why he left."

Ukyou smiled. "We're together on this, girlfriend."

****

"I'm sorry miss, that information is confidential."

Akane frowned. "I just need to know if he's been
here."

The nurse continued to shake her head. "It's against
Hospital Policy. I cannot divulge the information of any
patients without a court or police order."

Ukyou grabbed Akane's shoulder. "What if he wasn't a
patient?"

"What do you mean?"

"Who do we know, that's missing, that may very well
be in this hospital, other than Ranma?"

It began to dawn on Akane. She quickly turned to the
nurse. "Can you tell me if someone is in the hospital
right now?"

"It depends on your relation." The nurse stared at
her, unamused.

"Father-in-law." They both stated. After a confused
look from the Nurse, she nodded.

"Name?"

"Genma Saotome."

The nurse tapped through the computer, after a beep,
she replied. "Nobody by that name has ever been to this
hospital."

Akane let her heart drop. She quietly thanked the
nurse and turned towards Ukyou, walking away.

"Damn it!" Ukyou swore. "What else can we do?"

"I'll call Nabiki. If Ranma was here as a patient,
she'll get it out of her."

"And if that doesn't work?"

"Don't even say that, Ukyou. We'd have to stay here
around the clock in hopes that he would come back."

Ukyou nodded. She would be willing to do that, if
the problem arose. "What if he was here as a patient,
but used a different name?"

Akane shook her head. "No. They double-check your
identity before they admit you. If not, then they
classify you as--" She stopped, mid-sentence.

"As what?" Ukyou asked.

Akane put her finger up and ran to the nurse. She
asked her something, and after a quick nod of approval
from the nurse, she smiled and ran back to Ukyou.

"What's going on?"

"There are three Unidentified men in the building.
One is in a coma, the other two are conscious, but
unable to respond. One of them was admitted four days
ago."

"Are you serious? You think he could be...?"

Akane shrugged. "She gave me his room number. We
have to check it out."

"Well, what are we waiting for, girl? Let's go?"

****

"415? Are you sure that's the room she gave you?"

Akane nodded. "Look, right here. It even says
'unidentified male'." She said as she pointed at the
patients chart.

Ukyou looked onward in disappointment. She and Akane
had been treated to feelings of achievement until they
had seen the face of the person they had so desperately
hoped to be Ranma's father. They were, quite obviously,
wrong.

"So what do we do now?"

Akane shook her head, stifling back tears. "This is
only a minor setback. Looks like we're going to have to
bring Nabiki in on this."

"You wait here. I'll go give her a call." Ukyou
offered.

Akane shook her head. "No, she's my sister. I'll
take care of it." She sighed.

As Akane walked down the hall towards the public use
telephone, Ukyou sighed and leaned against the wall
outside of the room they had hoped Genma would be in.

"So, what's going on with number two?" Ukyou
overheard.

"It's quite tragic. The guy who brought him in said
he didn't know him, but he's been in here every day
since. At least some people still have compassion."

"Which is more than you can say for the people who
did that to him."

Ukyou let the conversation flow through her ears.

"Has he shown any signs of movement?"

"Not yet. It's to be expected. With those kinds of
injuries." The nurse sighed. "Who knows. He may not ever
wake up again."

"But then, would he want to? He may never walk."

"Who's that guy who keeps coming in every day,
anyway?"

Ukyou noticed Akane gesturing to her frantically
from the phone, and got up to meet her. As she walked
out of listening range, the other nurse answered a
question.

"He said his name was Ranma. Ranma Saotome."

****

"What's going on?" Ukyou asked.

"Nabiki is on her way. It'll still be a while, maybe
close to an hour. Do you want to grab a bite to eat?"

Ukyou looked at the clock on the wall. "Yeah, it is
getting late. We should eat."

"Where do you want to eat?"

"No." Ukyou said. "I'll go and get us something, and
bring it back here. You should wait here, just in case."

"But--"

Ukyou put her finger up. "No buts, Akane. It's my
treat!"

Akane started to argue again, but according to the
gaze she was receiving from Ukyou, the conversation was
over.

"Alright." She said.

Ukyou smiled. "I'll pick something up. Don't worry.
Feel like western food?"

Akane shrugged. "I suppose whatever you get will be
fine."

Alright then. I'll be back in ten minutes. And then
she was off.

****

Nabiki took the train ticket from the automated
machine at the corner of the station. It was now getting
late, a time when she did not want to be outside,
especially alone. The sun was just going down over the
horizon, and the sky had already grown a dark tint of
purple.

As she walked into the train and took a seat, she
sighed. The train offered some protection, she knew the
exact schedules of the guards. She chose her particular
car because it was the car which was most often checked.

She looked at her watch. The first guard should be
coming through in less than thirty seconds.

Nabiki looked around at her. The car was mainly
empty, so she eased up on her paranoia. Paranoia had
been a big part of Nabiki's life for as long as she
could remember. It was the best way to keep money, and
even to make money. She had to keep tabs on everyone.

The passengers of the car seemed like a rag-tag
group. A businessman leaning against the window on the
opposite side, seemingly dozing off. An old woman, who
somehow managed to knit a scarf, regardless of the
vibration the train was making. A young man in a
business suit, sitting three seats behind her. He seemed
to have his eyes focused on a spot on the window.

Thirty seconds were up. She looked to the front of
the car. It opened on schedule, and the guard came
through and checked each persons ticket. After that was
done with, he went into the next car. It would be five
more minutes until the next patrol came through.

Watching the scenery go by, she noticed the next
stop was coming rather quickly. As the train slowed to a
stop, she noticed the businessman and the old woman get
up and leave.

The doors closed.

Nabiki was nervous. She always was when she was
alone in a train car with someone else. It made her even
more nervous when she realized the guard would not be
coming through for another four minutes.

Nabiki tried to refrain from looking behind her for
as long as possible, but it was though he could feel the
eyes of the young man burning holes into the back of her
head.

She turned and looked.

The car was empty.

Nabiki sighed in relief. He must have gotten off
without her noticing it, although she was sure she would
have noticed. She just shook her head and paid no
further attention to the matter. Two stops later, she
got off.

****

Akane sat in wait in the hallway, thinking. She knew
there had to be some reason that Ranma would be coming
to the hospital, but she couldn't think of why.

The only thing she could think of was an injury. He
probably wouldn't have gone to Doctor Tofu, for fear of
him telling. It had to be the only reason.

And then she heard it. A scream, a dreadful scream
coming from a room two doors away from her. Instinct
took over, and she came running, briefly noticing the
patient chart with the telltale 'Unidentified Male'
stamped out the outside of it. It wasn't the same one
from earlier, but she continued in.

Normally, anyone would have screamed at the sight.
Akane, however smiled in delight.

"Mr. Saotome!" She yelled. The panda didn't reply.

A dazed nurse standing over an overturned pan of
water blinked at her. "Uhh, Miss." She began, her voice
obviously quivering. "I'm afraid you can't be in here."

Akane shook her head. "I know him, it's alright."

The nurse, still quivering, looked at her
confusedly.

Akane smiled even wider after seeing the telltale
strokes of Ranma's handwriting with a sign clearly
stating 'No Cold Water'.

Akane acted fast and ran over to the sink in the
corner of the room. She picked up a small cup that had
been placed there, and filled it with hot water, she
then splashed it at Genma.

The nurse looked even more dazed, and so did Akane
after noticing he wasn't waking up.

"What... What's wrong with him?" She asked.

The nurse tried her best to maintain her sanity, and
thus, succeeded, for the moment. "He... He was beat
pretty badly."

"By who?"

"We don't know. The man who brought him in wasn't
sure either, he says he found him in an alleyway, shot
and beat--"

"SHOT?!" Akane screamed.

"Yes, twice. One in each kneecap."

"Oh My God." She muttered.

"He... He's human, isn't he?"

Akane blinked for a moment. She nodded. "Yes, it's
just a curse."

Hearing the word 'curse' as though it were alien,
the nurse blinked.

"Could you keep the curse secret? I'm not sure it
would be wise to have it too widely known."

The nurse nodded. "I'm not sure anyone would believe
me, anyway." She looked towards Akane. "You can
identify him?"

Akane nodded.

The nurse bent over to pick up all she had dropped.
"We'll need some information from you."

****

A few minutes later, Akane had finished giving all
the information she knew on Genma Saotome, and all
changes had been made, including changing the name on
the patient chart. The bill was going to the Tendo's.

"What about the boy who's been visiting him?"

"Ranma? Oh sure, he shows up every day." The nurse
replied.

"Hasn't he said anything about him to you?"

The nurse shook her head. "That's the disturbing
part. His own father, and he wouldn't even tell us. It's
even more confusing that he visits every day."

"I'm not sure either."

"Do you mind if I ask how you know him?"

"He's... Well, he's my fiance."

The nurse blinked.

"Has he been in today, yet?"

The nurse shook her head. "No. He usually doesn't
keep the normal visiting hours, but we allow it, since
he makes no noise and causes no trouble. He just goes in
there and stares at him."

"I can't believe he wouldn't tell you who--" Akane
was suddenly distracted.

A man wearing a hooded cloak walked past her, she
wasn't sure if he noticed her or not, but something was
definitely familiar about him. He walked onward down the
hall, and paused in front of a room. He then turned and
walked away, with a hurried motion.

Why Akane hadn't noticed flat out what was
happening, she didn't know. Maybe she was too
distressed, maybe it just didn't make sense, but as the
figure left the hall and entered an elevator, she
noticed he stopped in front of Genma's room, must have
seen his name on the patient chart, and left.

Akane set off for the stairs, as fast as she could.

****

Ukyou muttered to herself. "I wish these bags came
with handles."

She walked up the side of the semi-busy Tokyo street
carrying two papers bags filled with Fast food take-out.
She was finding it difficult to maintain a good grip on
the bags, and the idea of holding the heat in her arms
didn't seem to attractive. She continued her walk.

She had taken a tad longer than she thought she
would. The sun was now completely over the horizon, and
the darkness spread itself over the sky. Not that she
couldn't see, however. The lights of the city
illuminated her way easily.

She found her mind drifting to Ranma. She couldn't
imagine, no matter how hard she tried, what he could be
doing, so all she did was wonder.

Wonder if things may have turned out different ten
years earlier. If only his father hadn't run out. If
only he had said 'Ukyou' when his father asked him such
an important question.

She found now she couldn't blame Ranma for what
happened. She still relished the fact she could lay some
blame on Genma, but even that was diminishing. Things
could have been so much different.

She sighed as she stepped to the front entrance of
the hospital, ready to open the door and enter. To her
surprise, someone else had not only opened the door for
her, but knocked her over. All she heard was a muffled
'sorry' as the figure ran off.

"Hey, you jerk!" She yelled. She got up and brushed
herself off, and then frowned at the oozing paper bag
that had been crushed in the commotion. Looking at the
other bag, which seemed unscathed, she shrugged.

"At least the fries survived." She bent over to pick
them up, but was interrupted by the running form of
Akane, running out of the hospital lobby, and chase
after the figure that just passed her. Ukyou did manage
to avoid getting hit again, but did not manage to save
the fries in time.

"Damn it." She muttered, and then gave chase after
Akane.

The chase lasted a good five minutes. Going up and
down city streets, running across busy streets and
jumping over cars, narrowly avoiding getting hit by a
bus, Ukyou followed Akane, who in turn seemed to be
chasing the man in the cloak. Suspicions began to grow
in Ukyou's heart.

Finally, it ended. Ukyou had lost them for a moment,
but then a clump of cloth on the ground outside of an
alley gave away the location. She realized what the
clump was. It was the cloak the figure had been wearing
earlier.

Being as quiet as she could, Ukyou slipped into the
darkness of the alleyway.

****

Akane blinked.

"R.... Ranma?"

The figure in front of her froze and slowly turned
around. "Akane?" He yelled.

She walked towards him. "Ranma, it is you!"

He jumped away from her.

"What are you doing here, Akane?"

Akane blinked. She had been afraid of this. "Ranma,
I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything. It took me so long
to realize this Ranma.... I love you."

He flinched. "...What?"

"Ranma, I'm so sorry, just come home with me. We
can--"

"NO!"

"...What? Why? Ranma, I--"

"I can't Akane..." he said slowly. "I... I just
can't."

"But, R--"

"Akane, go home. Forget you saw me, just forget you
ever knew me."

"Ran--"

"Don't you get it, you stupid Tomboy?! I don't love
you back, I never loved you! And... And I've got someone
else now!"

Akane could feel the tears begin to well up in her
eyes. "R..." She turned around and ran throughout the
alley, not stopping until she reached the street, where
she huddled herself against a building in the corner and
cried.

A moment later, Ranma showed his face to the light,
and two thin streams fell from his eyes. He looked at
his hand, which had been clenched into a tight fist, and
noticed the blood. "Damn it." He managed to choke as he
bounded away into the night.

Ukyou showed herself from the blackness of the alley
as he bounded away. The tears evident on her face. She
slowly began to approach the entrance to the alleyway,
to find Akane.

****

"Damn." Ranma muttered. "Damn, damn, damn, damn,
DAMN!"

He should have been paying closer attention. He
should have realized the fact that if someone had found
his father, they would find him.

He thought over of the events of the past few weeks.
He didn't want to do what he had just done, in fact, he
hated himself for it. But it had to be done. They
demanded it of him, and there was nothing more he could
do.

Ranma decided it would be easier if he didn't visit
his father anymore. As he let the tears flow from his
eyes, he stopped on top of a building long enough to
tend to his bleeding hand.

****

Nabiki shook her head at the two bags of fast food
which had been apparently hammered into the ground.
"What
a waste."

Nabiki stepped forward and opened the door to the
lobby of the hospital, and looked around for her sister.
There was no sign of her. She shook her head and walked
up to the nurse.

"Can I help you, Miss?" The triage nurse asked. She
was a young woman. This would be easier than Nabiki had
thought.

****

Akane leaned herself against the side of the
building. The tears were flowing freely, but she was a
bit more coherent than she was moments earlier. She
leaned her eyes towards the bright lights all around her
as she started to rise. The world was much more darker
than she had realized, and only the past few minutes had
revealed that to her. The moon was barely visible beyond
the clouds.

She began to walk. Where, she didn't care anymore.
Home. The hospital. To find Ukyou. Heck, she didn't care
if she were to go back to Jusenkyo, at least then she
could have a curse to take her mind off of Ranma.

But as it was, that was impossible.

She was beginning to go back to her old train of
thought. From before she met Ranma. But that would never
happen, she had too many good times surfacing in her
memories to say 'I hate boys!'

She looked down towards her feet. She smiled as she
remembered his first day. Walking in on him in the bath,
calling him a pervert, even when Nabiki--

Akane looked up for a moment, memories forgotten.
"Nabiki!" She shouted, and then ran off to the hospital.

****

"This is all the information you've got?" She asked
the triage.

The nurse sheepishly nodded. "That's it."

Nabiki looked through the papers in her hands. Three
papers with Ranma's name on them. Two holding the
address of the Tendo's. The third was much more recent.

Nabiki smiled and turned around. Seeing Akane come
through the door in a frantic hurry, she jumped.

"And just where were you, little sister?" She asked
with an amused smile on her face.

Akane shook her head. "I... I just stepped out for
some fresh air."

Seeing the look on her sisters face, Nabiki knew she
was down. She decided to cheer her up. "I think I've
found where Ranma's staying." She said. "It's not too
far from here, either."

Akane looked at her sister. She could feel the tears
starting to stream out again. She shook her head. No.
That wasn't going to happen. "I don't care anymore,
Nabiki. I could care less what that... Pervert is
doing."

Nabiki blinked. "What? But this morning, you were
so--"

"That was this morning. I don't care anymore."

"What happened? Did you find him or something?"

"It doesn't matter Nabiki. Let's just go home."

"What about Ukyou?"

Akane paused. She had nearly completely forgotten
about her. "You mean, she isn't here?"

"No. I figured both of you would be together."

"She left for some food awhile ago. And then I..."
She looked down.

Nabiki put her hand on her sister's shoulder. "Let's
find her."

Akane nodded.

"Where would she have gone?"

"She said she would get some western food. Probably
a fast food restaurant, she said she'd only be a few
minutes."

Nabiki blinked. "Fast food?"

Akane nodded.

As the two of them stepped outside, Nabiki pointed
to the ground. Two crushed paper bags full of fast food
were becoming more and more a part of the sidewalk. One
footprint seemed to match the bottom of Akane's shoe.

"Oh no." Akane muttered. "She must have followed
me."

"Followed you where?"

Akane shook her head. "But I never saw her. Maybe...
Maybe I lost her?"

It was clear to Nabiki it would take some more
poking and prodding to get the information out of Akane,
but now was not the time. "We should head in the
direction you went in, then."

Akane nodded. "Let's check the direct path, we can
split up, we might find--"

"No. It's too dark. Let's stick together."

Akane blinked at her sister. "Don't worry, sis. I'll
be fine." She said.

Nabiki nervously thought about it. They were fairly
busy streets. What was the worst that could happen?

Nabiki nodded, and then unconsciously stuck the
papers into her pocket.

****

"Damn it." Ukyou muttered to herself. She had set
out to follow Ranma, to talk to him. She had to do
something, anything but sit there in the alley, crying.
But he had lost her faster than one would have believed.
So she set in the direction she thought he would be most
likely to go.

And now he was nowhere in sight. Ukyou paused for a
moment, and then gave up. She jumped off of the rooftop
and climbed down the fire escape. She checked her
position before deciding which way it was to get back to
the hospital. The place she most figured Akane would be.

She stepped out into the street. She recognized the
place. She wasn't far from the hospital, only six
blocks. She could get there in no time flat.

As she walked along the side of the street, she
failed to notice the young man in a business suit emerge
from the alleyway, completely out of breath.

****

"What's the plan?" The first one asked.

"Mazuhara wants us to test her," the second one
said.

"Test her? You mean...?"

The second one nodded.

"Three on one doesn't sound too fair, does it?" The
third one asked.

The second one shook his head. "Hardly seems fair,
but that's our business."

"How are we supposed to make it look?"

The second one thought for a moment. "Make it look
like a rape."

The third one smiled. "My favorite."

****

Akane set off to search for Ukyou. She knew Ukyou
had probably seen what had happened, and may have been
off after Ranma. Ukyou would do that. She would want to
know who and why.

As she searched the streets, she tightened her
resolve not to return to the alley where she found
Ranma. She absolutely refused to. But in the end, she
found she had to. There was no sign of Ukyou at all.
There was however, a sign of someone else.

"Well, well. Look what we have here, boys." A voice
said from the shadows.

Akane sneered as the three men came out of the
darkness of the alleyway. "What the hell do you want? I
don't have time for this!"

The leader chuckled. "I think we'll make you have
time for this."

Akane sighed and shook her head. "I said I don't
have time for sexual deviants. Get lost!"

The leader blinked in surprise. "I don't think you
realize who you're dealing with, bitch!"

"I don't? Why, I'm SO sorry, I didn't realize you
were IMPORTANT sexual deviants."

The leader growled. "Get her!" He yelled.

Akane seemed fairly certain of her victory. As the
two men approached her from either side, she sent one
flying against the brick wall with a kick to the cheek.
He fell unconscious immediately. The leader then joined
in the attack. Akane tried to lure them out of the
alley, to the street. It was working for the most part.

The leader seemed slightly more skilled than the
others. He could at least block some of Akane's attacks,
but the other one seemed without skill, and she was
having no trouble fending off his attacks, although the
leader seemed to keep her occupied for the most part.

Finally they were nearly upon the main street, and
Akane managed to uppercut the other henchman, sending
him flying a few feet into the air, and executing a
perfect nose-dive into the pavement.

There was only the leader left.

"You're pretty good, girlie."

"Like I'd accept any compliment from someone like
you." She sneered. "You give up?"

"The thing is, girlie. I don't give up that easily.
These two are simple fish bait compared to me."

"That must make you the worm."

The leader lashed out at her, and managed to catch
her in the side, Akane yelled out in pain and then did a
jumping spin kick and tried to catch him on the side of
the face. He blocked it however.

Then Akane did something he never expected. As she
landed, she knelt and did a straight punch, catching him
somewhere men don't like to be hit. He doubled over in
pain. Akane then kicked him in the stomach several
times. She was so engrossed in what was going on in
front of her, she failed to notice the limo come up from
behind her.

"You have been naughty, miss Tendo."

Akane stopped what she was doing, she turned around.
"Who the hell are you?"

"Ahh, miss Tendo. I'm an associate of your...
fiance, I believe."

Akane clenched her fist and frowned. "I don't have a
fiance anymore."

"Oh, that's right, isn't it. He ran from you, he
left you for the love of another."

"Just shut up!"

"I think not, miss Tendo. You see, Ranma loves
someone, as it is painfully evident. He loves someone
with all his heart and--"

"SHUT UP!"

"Why miss Tendo, you'd think you would be glad to
hear this."

"Why should I be glad? Who cares who that pervert
loves?! Probably someone equally as perverted!"

The man smirked. "Why, miss Tendo. I did not know
you were perverted."

"What? What are you--" Then it hit her.

The man continued to smile.

"What?"

"Ever feel like you're being watched, miss Tendo?"

"What do you mean?"

The man pulled a video tape out of his coat pocket.
"Watch this and you'll understand." He passed it to her.

"What is this?" she asked.

"I can't say much more, miss Tendo. Lets jut say my
organization is interested in you and your friends..."

"What--"

"I must make my leave, now miss Tendo." He said as
he stepped into the car.

Akane was left standing in the night along three
unconscious thugs as the man drove off. Thinking, she
finally slumped to the ground in confusion.

****

"Ukyou?" Nabiki asked.

Ukyou turned around, startled at hearing her own
name. "Oh... Uhh, Nabiki. Hi."

"There you are. We were looking for you."

"We? Oh. You mean Akane."

Nabiki nodded. "What's wrong? Ever since I found
Akane, she's been acting weird. She says she couldn't
care less where he was."

Ukyou considered telling her, but decided against
it. "I think its better you hear it from Akane, Nabiki."

Nabiki shook her head. "She wouldn't tell me."

Ukyou looked at her. "Trust me. You wouldn't want to
hear it from me."

"So, anyway. Let's go find her. She sad she'd meet
me back at the hospital lobby if--"

"Actually, can you tell her I just went home. I... I
just don't feel like talking to anybody today."

Nabiki frowned. "So, basically I came all the way
out here today, did all this stuff for you guys to find
Ranma, and now it's over? Who cares about Ranma?"

Ukyou blinked. "It's not like that, Nabiki."

"I even found an address where he might be staying,
and you're not looking for him anymore... Sheesh. Try
and help someone."

"I-- You found an address?"

Nabiki nodded. "Yeah. It's not far from here,
either."

"Give it to me."

"But I thought--"

"Give it to me!"

Nabiki blinked and pulled the papers out of her
pocket. She chose the one with the different address and
gave it to Ukyou.

"Wait, what's..." She began as Ukyou began to run
down the road. "Going... On?"

Nabiki shook her head and sighed as she made her way
back to the hospital. She would have to tell Akane what
had happened. But she tightened her resolve to get the
information out of Akane. Not knowing was sometimes
worse than knowing. Especially when it involved family.

As she looked back towards the retreating figure of
Ukyou, she noticed something strange. Two men that had
been previously talking had now abruptly split up. One
in pursuit of Ukyou, then other walking toward her.

Nabiki gasped as she realized who it was.

****

Akane stared at the videotape in confusion. Whatever
was going on, she hopes would be explained in the tape.
She hoped it would explain Ranma's behavior. Why, and IF
he lied to her in the alley. She also hoped it would
explain what the man in the Limousine had to do with any
of it.

She looked up from her seat in the hospital lobby.
The triage nurse was eyeing her suspiciously, but she
shook it off for the most part. She stared out the
doors, hoping that Nabiki or Ukyou would walk in any
second.

It was ten minutes before she was answered. Nabiki
walked in, looking flushed and completely out of breath,
constantly looking over her shoulder.

"What's wrong?" Akane asked.

Nabiki bent over with her hands on her knees. "I...
I'm being followed." She nearly coughed out.

Akane blinked. "By who?"

She shook her head. "I don't know... Some man in
a... business suit." She stood up and took a deep
breath, when she noticed the videotape in Akane's hand.

"Where is he?" She frowned. "I'll take care of him.
Three guys tried to get me in an alley earlier, I took
care of them."

"He's not following me any more. I lost him."

Akane nodded in understanding.

"What's that?" Nabiki pointed at the videotape in
her hand.

"I don't know. Some guy gave it to me after I beat
those three thugs into submission. He said it would have
the answers I need."

"Answers for what?"

"Ranma I think."

"I thought you didn't care anymore."

"I... I do, I guess. And I don't. Nabiki, I just
don't know. Things have been happening so fast tonight,
it's just..." She shook her head. "Do you want me to
explain what happened?"

Nabiki grabbed her sister by the shoulder. "Yes."

****

Nabiki blinked. "Why would he say that?"

Akane shrugged. "I don't know. But the man in the
limo said Ranma loved me. But I don't know how he knows
him, or even why."

"What did the man say to you?"

"He said that his 'organization' is very interested
in me and my friends."

Nabiki blinked for a moment and looked up. "And the
tape would explain things."

Akane nodded.

"Well, lets watch it."

"I was waiting for you and Ukyou to come so we can
go home and watch it."

Nabiki shook her head. "Ukyou isn't coming. She ran
off after I gave her the papers with Ranma's new
address."

Akane looked up at her. "Do you still have them?"

Nabiki shook her head again. "No. But I remember the
address. It's not far from here. Maybe eight blocks."

"Well, we should watch this videotape first, lets go
home."

Nabiki stopped. "Akane, this is a hospital."

Akane blinked. "And?"

"They've got VCR's in hospitals."

"They wouldn't let us use one."

"It's not like we're going to steal it. Hold on."

Nabiki walked over to the triage nurse, who nearly
jumped at the sight of her. A moment later, she nodded
and pointed towards the elevator. Nabiki smiled, bowed
and walked back to Akane.

"Room 613, lets go."

****

The room was empty as the nurse had stated, and in
the corner of the room was a TV with a built-in vcr,
attached to the wall. Nabiki took the tape from Akane
and put it in the vcr.

As the tape started, Akane closed her eyes for a
moment, hoping that it would bring answers.

It did.

The date showed itself in the bottom right corner.
It was today. The first scene showed Ranma. He was
practicing his kata in the corner of a large gym. When
he noticed the camera, he walked over.

"Get that thing out of my face, Mazuhara." He
sneered.

"Come now, Saotome, don't you believe in capturing
memories?" The voice behind the camera asked calmly.

"These are memories I'd rather soon forget."

The scene cut again.

"What's first?" The voice caught Akane off-guard. It
was Ukyou.

"Yuka and Sayuri are waiting for us at your
restaurant. I hope you don't mind, but I decided to use
it as our 'base of operations'." The sound of Akane's
voice was distant, but she could recognize herself
easily.

"What is this?" Nabiki asked. "This was today?"

Akane nodded. "Someone must have been following us."
She stared in disbelief.

The scene cut again. It showed Akane on the phone.
In the hospital.

"Yes, Daddy, we're fine. I've got to speak with
Nabiki."

A pause.

"Nabiki, listen we need your help."

Another pause.

"Yes, we're at Tokyo general, we've got to find out
if Ranma's been here as a patient, and the nurse won't
tell us a thing."

Another pause as Akane showed her smiling face on
the telephone.

"Thanks, Sis. I'll tell Ukyou."

The scene cut again.

"They must have been following you guys all day."

Akane nodded, still in awe.

The next scene showed the back of someone's head. In
an empty train.

Nabiki gasped. "Oh my god."

"Is that you?"

Nabiki nodded. As she turned her head in the video,
the person holding the camera ducked underneath the
seat. A moment later, he rose again and continued to
videotape.

The scene cut.

"Who are these people?"

The next scene was an alleyway. Akane gasped.

"Don't you get it, you stupid Tomboy?! I don't love
you back, I never loved you! And... And I've got someone
else now!"

Nabiki blinked as she realized it was Ranma saying
those words. And again as she realized her sister was
the other person in the alley, as she ran away. A few
moments later, she saw Ranma appear from the darkness of
the alley.

"Damn it." She heard from the videotape. She could
barely make out of blood dripping from his hand, but the
expression on his face was quite readable. Another
moment later, she saw Ukyou emerge from the darkness.

Akane was staring wide-eyed at what was happening on
the tape.

The scene cut again.

"Here's what's going to happen, Tetsuya." A
mysterious voice came from behind the camera.

"Yes?" Tetsuya showed his face. Akane gasped. It was
the leader of the three men in the alley.

"You're going to test Miss Tendo out."

Tetsuya nodded. "Make it look like a random crime?"

"Whatever suits you and your men, Tetsuya."

Tetsuya smiled.

The scene cut.

The tape ended.

Akane and Nabiki were left staring.

"What's going on?" Nabiki asked.

Akane shook her head. "I don't know."

"They were following us. All day?"

Akane thought for a moment. She had been so
engrossed in what was happening, she forgot about the
tape.

"Wait." She said. "Rewind it, to the beginning."

Nabiki went up to rewind the tape, once she had, she
pressed play again.

Ranma was in the corner of some kind of gym,
practicing his kata. The katakana on the side of the
wall gave it away.

'I-ka-ni-sa'

"Isn't that...?"

"Ikanisa." Akane knew the name, but she couldn't
place it.

"Wait." Nabiki said. "That's a manufacturing
company."

Akane looked up. That's where she had heard the
name. "Do they have any buildings in Tokyo? Nearby?"

Nabiki thought for a moment. It was her business to
keep tabs on successful companies.

"They're based out of Hokkaido. They've got some
holding in Tokyo. A warehouse, and a manufacturing
plant."

"What's closest?"

"The warehouse. It's by the docks. This would be
closest to the hospital."

"How close is the address Ranma gave to the nurse to
the warehouse?"

"Four blocks."

Akane thought for a moment. "Nabiki, something is
going on. Something bigger than we originally thought.
You'd better go home and tell Father."

Nabiki thought for a moment. "I think that would be
the best idea."

"Tell them about Mr. Saotome too."

Nabiki nodded and hugged her sister.

****

The apartment was empty.

Well, mostly empty, besides the clutter of papers,
several receipts and wall plaster from the several holes
that had apparently been punched. And one kettle.

Ukyou frowned. She had hoped Ranma would be here,
but the place looked like it hadn't seen life in at
least a week. The window was left open, and the carpet
was partially damp, apparently from the rain they'd had
a few days earlier.

Ukyou bent over to examine the papers. Several
receipts boasting purchases of ramen, or fast food. One
receipt showed the purchase of a thermos, hot water
bottles. A mail-order package of waterproof soap. Ukyou
frowned. Ranma had been there. She was sure of it.

And she was even more sure when she found the
crumpled papers. They were letters. Mostly addressed to
Akane, but she found one addressed to herself.

After more searching, she found something. An
address. Four blocks away. The place she assumed Ranma
would be.

A few minutes later, after searching the rest of the
apartment, she decided it would be best to check out the
other address. She left the place as she had found it. A
complete mess.

****

Akane looked around. One of the warehouses by the
docks had to belong to Ikanisa. She kept going up the
row of warehouses. There were over 100 of them on the
docks, and it could be any one of them. As she
approached the fifteenth warehouse, she paused.

She HEARD something. She was alone on the docks, for
the most part. It was fairly empty, off in the distance,
even though it was past midnight, she could hear the hum
of forklifts, cranes and other machinery. But at her
position, she could see nothing. She slowly and quietly
crept along down the row. She had to find the warehouse,
or she would never learn the truth.

Then she heard it again. A scuff. The noise of
someone scraping their shoe along the ground. She turned
around. "Who's there?" She shouted.

She wasn't answered. "I know someone's there, come
out!" She shouted again.

Again, no answer. She turned around and started to
run. But she was blocked.

Three men. The SAME three men from earlier. "You
again?" She said. "Why are you people following me?"

This time, they were dressed in business suits.
However, it didn't do much to hide the fact that two of
their faces had been covered in bandages.

"Miss Tendo. Come with us." Tetsuya said.

"Why should I?"

"You wish to see Ranma, do you not?" He asked. They
walked onward.

Akane thought for a second. They weren't forcing her
to go by any means. They simply walked onward.

"Wait!" She called out after them.

****

Nabiki boarded the train more paranoid that usual.
She had to do something. She knew there would be people
following her now, and past midnight, it made her even
more paranoid.

She made doubly sure that she would pick the most
patrolled car. She wasn't sure of the schedule of the
guards at night, but assumed it was very similar to the
daytime.

As she boarded an empty car, she sighed. She sighed
in relief as the car doors closed and the train was on
its way.

If things went as she estimated, the guard should
show up at least once before every stop. She absently
looked at her watch and waited.

The door between cars slid open.

The guard walked up to her, checked her ticket, and
then walked past her to the next car. Nabiki was left
feeling more secured than before.

Then she heard a cough.

The guard hadn't left. She shrugged it off and then
let her mind wander.

The men who were following them all day must have
been good at it. Nabiki was, as far as she knew, the
only one to notice them. The young man in the business
suit had been following her since she was on the train
originally, but then she lost him in the crowd of
people.

Which was confusing. Obviously he would have known
that she would head back to the hospital to find Akane.
Even if he hadn't shown up until after they'd gone to
watch the tape, he still probably stick around to watch
for her. Then he most definitely would have seen her
exit the lobby and head to the train station.

But then there was nobody else in the car, except
for the... Security guard...

"Hello, Miss Tendo." The voice came from behind her.

Nabiki's heart jumped. She had to remain calm. Calm
and controlled. "So, why are you following us?"

The security guard laughed. "It doesn't concern
you."

"Need to know basis, eh?"

"Yes, you could call it that."

Nabiki turned toward him. "Well, it concerns me
because you're following me. So believe me when I say,
'I need to know'."

The guard laughed. "Need to know what, Miss Tendo?
You think I'll tell you just like that? I alone know
more about you than you could ever imagine."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that."

"I would."

Nabiki swallowed hard. "So, what do you want with
me, then?"

"You are of no major concern to us, Miss Tendo. We
will allow you to live, however, I'm afraid I won't be
able to allow you to tell anyone of Ranma's
whereabouts... Not just yet, anyway."

As the guard leaned over to her, Nabiki let out a
small whimper.

****

"Ah, Miss Tendo. We meet again." The man smiled.

"What's going on?" Akane asked, showing a fierce
frown. "I want to know why you people are following us!"

The man shook his head. "I don't believe I've
introduced myself quite yet, Miss Tendo. My name is
Mesaki Mazuhara, pleased to meet you." He extended his
hand.

Akane narrowed her eyes. "I don't care who you are.
Where's Ranma? Who are you people?"

Mazuhara frowned. He took his hand away and pulled
out a handkerchief. As he wiped his hands, he answered,
"Ranma should be along any minute now. As for your other
question, I'm afraid I can't explain that to your...
satisfaction."

Akane brought herself into a defensive position.
"You'd better damn well try."

"Please Miss Tendo. Violence is so... unbecoming of
you." He looked at her. "You see, your fiance is doing
some... Work for us. Work that requires his obedience,
and with you in our possession, that obedience will come
as no problem."

"What do you mean?"

"Look about you Miss Tendo. Ikanisa Manufacturing,
Hasamoto Enterprises, Roginokami Incorporated. We own
all of these companies." He looked towards Akane and
smirked. "And we will own all of Japan soon."

Akane blinked. "What?" It caught her off guard,
which
turned out to be a mistake. Two of the guards grabbed
her and forced her down into a chair.

"You bastards! Let me go!" She screamed as she tried
to struggle from her chair."

"Miss Tendo, I apologize for harming a lady such as
yourself. In return, after Ranma has done his task, I
shall allow you and your family nobility in the new
government."

Akane blinked. "New government?!"

Mazuhara smirked. "The world is ever changing, Miss
Tendo. Monarchies are fast becoming obsolete." He looked
at her. "Which is why Japan must return to its former
stature as an empire."

"E...Empire?" Akane gasped. "My God, Mazuhara. What
are you doing?"

"Only one man stands in the way. One man stands
against a monarchy. And only one man can... change his
mind, so to speak." He smirked. "Which is why we must
rely on Ranma Saotome."

"You can't do that! It will never work! The
people--"

"The people are mindless masses. Look at them. They
wake up before dawn, commute in vast quantities on these
contraptions, work through the day, and go home. They
have no lives. I will give them purpose. I will give
them something to strive for, to FIGHT for."

Akane blinked. "What?"

"It's already been organized, Miss Tendo. After
tonight, the new government will reign Japan. After
tomorrow, the new government will reign all the world."

Akane narrowed her eyes. "Are you crazy?"

Mazuhara smirked. "Many of the greats were called
eccentric. I am simply one of them."

"But World Domination?! If you even show other
countries that that's what you're after, they'll band
together and destroy Japan! Don't you remember what
happened fifty years ago?!"

Mazuhara frowned. "What happened fifty years ago was
simply an error in the judgment of our leaders. It will
not be repeated."

Akane shook her head. "You would risk so many
innocent lives, just to--"

"Innocent? Who is innocent anymore? Not one person.
All have... 'sin'... All should worship the very ground
I walk on, Miss Tendo."

"Mazuhara, you're crazy!"

He frowned again. He made a gesture with his hand
and turned away. "Do not speak to me. I must prepare for
Saotome's arrival."

Akane began to speak again, but the sound couldn't
get past the gag she was now wearing.

She could only stare at Mazuhara, who was looking
out the window with a smirk on his face.

****

Ranma walked up to the warehouse. He was not in the
mood for any of what was happening recently. First he
runs into Akane, and then he realizes Ukyou is following
him. It hasn't been a good day.

"Saotome, you're late." The man in front of the
warehouse said to him.

"So what?" He shoved him aside and walked in. He
gasped.

"Akane?" He looked at her. "Mazuhara, what the hell
is this? What the hell is she doing here?!"

"Ranma, Ranma. I thought you would be happy. Having
Akane here was the wish of the myself, who merely wished
to please our greatest fighter."

"There's no need for her to get mixed up in this,
Mazuhara."

"Oh, but there is, Saotome. There is. By having her
here, alongside us, we can assure your loyalty. Don't
think we don't know why you went out that night." He
made a hand gesture. A moment later, two men walked out
of the back room holding a third man between them. Ranma
gasped.

"You should thank the Gods I took this lightly,
before he had a chance to tell anyone, otherwise, there
would be several peoples blood on your hands, including
the blood of this young maiden." He cupped her chin and
looked at her in the eye. She scowled back at him.

"Leave her alone, Mazuhara. I'll... I'll do whatever
you want."

Muffled screams from Akane's direction distracted
Ranma somewhat, but for the most part it remained
ignored.

"Excellent." He smiled. "Saotome, everything you'll
need to know is in that envelope." He pointed to a small
table in the corner.

"Under one condition."

Mazuhara squinted his eyes. "You aren't in any
position to make conditions."

"I demand it. Don't think I can't take all of you
out right here and now, Mazuhara. I only do what you say
because it may prevent people from getting hurt."

"And what are these, 'conditions'?"

"Let him go." He pointed at the man.

Mazuhara scoffed. "Are you insane? You realize what
will happen if we let him live!"

"I do. But I also believe he is too smart to say
anything to anyone at this point."

The man nodded frantically.

Mazuhara scowled. "Very well. After you have
returned, it will be too late for him to make any
difference, anyway. But we will not release him until
you have returned."

"That's all I ask."

****

Ukyou paused. She was only a block away from the
docks now, but she felt no need to go any further. Ranma
was on the other side of the street.

She quickly ran across the street. It wasn't too
busy, especially at this time, but there were enough
people around to give her adequate cover. She ran up to
him.

"Ranma!" She shouted.

Ranma stopped and turned around. Ukyou continued to
run up to him.

"Ranma, I can't let you do this."

He sighed. He didn't know how Ukyou knew about
anything, but there wasn't much he could do now. "Ukyou,
you've got to understand."

"Ranma, Akane cares for you. It took me so long to
realize it, but she does. She cares so much for you, and
believe it or not, I know you do as well."

"I know, Ukyou."

"And... You know?"

"Ukyou, I've already seen Akane. And once this is
all over with, I'll tell her how I feel." He blinked for
a moment. "What about you?"

"What?"

"You. You've been after me ever since you came to
Nerima. How... Why are you telling me to go to Akane?"

Ukyou blinked. She never realized it that way. She
did care for Ranma, a great bit, and had even gone to
the point where she'd be willing to hurt others just to
get to him.

Ranma smiled. "You've changed, haven't you?"

Ukyou blinked again. She realized it. Yes, she had
changed. Since Ranma had left, she had been spending
time with Akane. Originally because she thought Akane
would know where Ranma is, but after Akane admitted how
she felt, and Ukyou realized that she didn't know where
he was, she just went to help her out. Cheer her up.

"Ranma... I..." She looked up at him. Her heart
seemed to melt for a moment, and then she walked up to
him. She put her arms around his shoulders and pulled
him down into a deep kiss.

A moment later, they parted.

"Uhh... Ukyou?" Ranma muttered.

Ukyou just stared. No feeling. It was as if she was
kissing her brother.

"Ranma. I..." She thought.

"Why did you--"

She laughed. "I had to see. I had to see what I felt
for you."

"What--"

"It's not love." She smiled at him. "It's not LOVE
love. It's more... It's like brotherly love. I... Ten
years for revenge, and I never realized it until now. It
felt like more of a blood feud than... Than betrayal."

"Ukyou, I--"

"Shhh." She put her finger to his lips. "Ranma, you
don't know how much better I feel. It's like.. A weight
has been lifted. I feel... Free."

"Free?"

"Ranma, I... I'm your best friend, right?"

Ranma nodded sheepishly.

"And that's all we are." She smiled. "I don't even
feel that bad. Just... remorseful for all I've done to
sabotage you and Akane, while I was just being...." She
looked into his eyes. "An overprotective sister."

"Ukyou, I've--"

"Akane loves you Ranma. I know that. I guess before
it was just a feeling of... I don't know what. But I see
it now. She loves you, and you love her. And I love you,
as a brother."

"Ukyou. I'm glad to have you as a friend. I really
am. But if I don't do this, Akane may never see the
light of day again."

Ukyou blinked. "What?"

"Look, its hard to explain. Akane never told you why
I left because I never told her why. All I did was leave
a letter that I _THOUGHT_ would stop her, or anyone else
for that matter, from finding me. But two people did."

"Two?"

Ranma nodded. "They shot him Ukyou."

"Shot who?"

"Pop."

Ukyou's heart jumped. "What? How? Is he--"

"He's alive. They shot him twice in the kneecaps.
Right now, he's in the hospital in a coma. Having them
let him live was the
only way I would continue to work for them."

"Who's them?"

"I don't know. People. They've got pictures of me.
Of you. Of Akane, Shampoo, Ryouga. Everyone. They can
even tell me where Ryouga is at this exact moment."

"How can--?"

"I don't know, Ukyou. Things have happened so fast.
They've sent me out on missions, but I refused to kill.
That was the one thing I refused to do." He chuckled. "I
was almost shot several times, and beat some gangsters
loaded to the teeth with ammunition down to the ground,
but I never killed anyone."

"What do they need you to do?"

"I'm still not sure. They talk about making a
change. They say there's something wrong with our
country." He paused. "They talk about transients walking
the streets. Crime going out of control." He shook his
head. "They want to rule with an iron fist. Starting
with Japan."

"They want to take over Japan?"

"Yes. They've even got people in the government
working for them. Apparently I've got to go kill a
government official right now, and make it look like an
accident, all because he's against what the others are
doing."

"But I thought you said--"

"I wouldn't kill. Yes. But they've got Akane. And
they're probably watching me right now."

"So--"

"So if I don't do as they say, they'll kill Akane
and the reporter."

"Reporter?"

"I tried to go to the press, but they caught him
before he could tell anyone."

Ukyou blinked. "Could we go against them?"

"They keep tabs on most of us. Some they don't
consider a threat, some they do."

"Who don't they consider a threat?"

"You're one of them. Cologne and the old freak as
well. Apparently, they figured I learned most of my
special attacks from my father."

"They don't consider me a threat?"

"No. But if you were with Akane, they probably sent
someone to follow you."

"Why don't--"

"It doesn't matter, Ukyou. Maybe they think its just
because you run a restaurant, but they don't consider
you a threat."

Ukyou smirked. "I could show them a thing or two."

"You can't take them all on. Not with guns." He
paused. "I've got to continue on my way, but you've got
to find Cologne and the old freak."

"But--"

"They can help. I know they can, Ucchan."

Ukyou blinked and then nodded. "I'll do my best."

"Good. There are two of them across the street.
Don't look, but one will probably follow you, because
we've been talking for too long. Can you take
him?"

"Skill level?"

"I could take about 6 without getting shot, but any
more..."

"Right. One should be no problem. They armed?"

"These two, I'm pretty sure. They seem to like to
keep tabs on people."

Ukyou nodded. "Where are they being kept?"

"By the docks. Warehouse Seventy-Two."

"Right. What are you going to do about this guy?"

"I've got an idea." He looked up. "But I can only do
it alone. Go find them, now." He said.

Ukyou nodded and gave him a sisterly peck on the
cheek, and then ran off. Ranma smirked as he noted one
of the men across the street, amidst the crowd of people
walking in either direction, give chase to Ukyou.

****

"You've got her?" he asked. As Mazuhara produced a
toothy smile, Akane cringed away. "Bring her here."

Mesaki Mazuhara flipped the cellular phone shut and
placed it into his pocket. As he smiled at Akane, he
spoke.

"Well, Miss Tendo. It seems as though you're going
to have some company." He looked back towards the
reporter, who was now tied up to a chair.

Akane narrowed her eyes. She tried her best to
scream obscenities at him, but for the most part, they
remained muffled utterances of gibberish.

Mazuhara smiled. "Your sister should be here in any
minute."

****

Ukyou ran.

It wasn't as if, when put to the test, she wouldn't
prevail against the armed man who was now chasing her,
but it seemed easier to just run, and avoid him if
possible.

It was easier. Constantly looking over her shoulder,
she checked if the armed man was still in chase. There
was no way he would pull out his gun. It may have been
late past midnight, but there were enough people around
for him to cause a scene.

It didn't take Ukyou terribly long to reach the
train station. Although, for the most part, she was
worried she would have to wait for the train.
Coincidentally, she got there just as it seemed the
doors were going to close.

They did. But not before Ukyou slipped into the
second car. The armed man bangs his hands against the
window as the train pulled away. Ukyou smiled and
relaxed in a seat.

****

It was a leap of faith.

Well, not exactly, it was a fairly certain jump,
just extremely dangerous if anything went wrong. And
that's what found Gendo Tosaka clinging to the rear car
of a passenger train, at nearly one clock in the
morning.

Many would say he was risking his life in making
such a jump. But he would say he was saving it. He was
only a peon. A simple worker bee to the monarch of his
organization. And a worker that doesn't produce much, is
of no use to the hive. That's the mentality Gendo had
carried with him for over five years.

But as it was, he found himself clinging to the rear
ladder of a passenger train. From the speed it was
moving, there was pretty much no chance of him being
able to jump onto the rear carriage and gain entry into
the car. He knew his mark was in the train. Her smiling
face made his heart jump as she waved while the train
left the station.

But as it was, he was stuck. How long till the next
stop, he wondered as the wind blew through his hair,
causing the jacket of his suit to flap, even with the
extra weight of a 92 series beretta.

He could barely see past the front of his face.
Whether it was because of the darkness of the night, or
the wind stinging his eyes. But he held on.

If something hit him, it would be all over. A fate
that he found he would not mind much, as long as it
meant not having to face failure and death at the hands
of Mazuhara.

As the wind eased, Gendo felt the feeling in his
heart ease. The train was slowing to the next stop, and
if Gendo was correct, his mark wouldn't be getting off
until Nerima, which was another two stops away. He could
get to her before she left the train.

The train stopped. He hopped on the rear carriage
and gained entry into the last car of the train. If he
wasn't mistaken, the train had a total of five cars.
Three cars away, his mark would be sitting, totally
unexpectant of what was going to happen.

****

The chill came unexpectantly. The chill she always
got when something wasn't right. It had happened the
moment the train stopped, but after seeing noone enter
her car as it pulled away from the station, she tried to
ease.

Unsuccesfully, of course. The ease never came.
Something was wrong, and she knew it with all of her
inner being.

She got up from her seat and looked around. Her car
was empty. She was alone. A quick looked at the front
car revealed two passengers, but there was no other sign
of anyone. Then she walked to the rear of her car.

She gasped. The man who had been following her,
however he had managed to get on the train, was in the
next car.

Thinking quickly, she pulled a mini-spatula from her
bandolier and wedged it between the car door and the
hinge. Luckily, it had worked. The man was nearly upon
her when she managed to strategically place it.

He frowned.

Ukyou gave a quick gesture that would have been
considered unladylike, if she had been a proper lady.

The man yanked on the door furiously. As a final
attempt, he pulled out his gun.

Ukyou reacted as fast as she could. Already she
could feel the train slow to its next stop, she pulled
her battle spatula from her back and held it in front of
her, barely managing to deflect the bullet.

But that wasn't the intent of the bullet. The window
on the train car door had been smashed, and the man had
removed the mini-spatula. He was now in the car.

Ukyou had to think quickly. She ran as fast as she
could to the front car, opening the door and making a
similar blockade using another mini-spatula.

The man frowned again. This time, using the butt of
his pistol, he smashed the window open. Fortunately for
Ukyou, she hadn't blocked the door to prevent him from
getting to her, but instead to buy her time.

When the man got through the door, standing the on
carriage between cars, he blinked. Ukyou wasn't there.

****

"What the hell?" He muttered to himself.

He knew she hadn't entered the next car. He would
have noticed that. He looked around in confusion. The
only thing he could think of was that she had jumped.

Holding the ladder to the train roof, he swung his
body to get a good view of the ground in the area the
train had gone past.

Nothing. He blinked when he realized where she was.
Swearing to himself and pocketing his gun, he climbed up
the ladder.

****

Ukyou was having trouble holding her grip, but she
tried to climb along the roof nonetheless. Seeing the
lights of the train station go by, she realized they had
skipped a station.

"Damn electronic trains." She muttered. "It had
better stop at Nerima or I'm going to write a stern
letter of complaint."

Then she heard it. Or rather saw it. A quick spark
of light appeared by her head. When she noticed the
telltale dent in the roof, she looked back. The man had
found her.

The sound of the wind rushing by had obviously
drowned out the sound of the bullet. There was nothing
she could do without risking losing her grip. If she
could just hold out until the train reached Nerima, she
would be fine.

Another shot barely missed her. She realized the man
was having just as much trouble aiming as Ukyou was
having climbing. She increased her rate of movement when
she realized the latest factor.

The lights of Nerima began to loom before her. It
wouldn't be much longer.

There was another shot. Ukyou screamed in pain as
the bullet ripped through her shoulder.

****

"Are you sure about this?" Hiroshi asked.

"Sure," Daisuke replied. "They told us to meet them
here at 1:30."

"Yeah, but what if they meant 1:30 in the
afternoon?"

Daisuke blinked. "Well, you know how they are.
They're girls. They do weird things."

"Yeah, but I don't think they'd be dumb enough to
come to the train station at 1:30 in the morning."

"Oh come on." Daisuke shook his head. Then something
caught his attention. "Hey look, there's the train. I'll
bet they're on it!"

"Either that or a crazed madman with a gun."

As the train entered the station, Hiroshi and
Daisuke prepared themselves. As it slowed, they began to
peek into each car.

"So, where are they?" He asked.

Daisuke glared at his friend. "Girls can be late
sometimes, you know."

Suddenly, they were interrupted. A small and quick
figure loomed over the two of them, knocking Daisuke
over as it landed and took off into the distance.

"What the heck was that?!" Hiroshi asked.

"How should I know?!"

"Where did she go?!" Another voice called out.

Hiroshi and Daisuke perked up. The image of a man in
a business suit holding a menacing looking pistol in his
hand appeared before them. It took the two of them a
moment to realize it was real.

"Which way, you fools?!" He demanded.

Hiroshi stuttered.

Daisuke stared.

"IDIOTS! WHERE THE HELL IS SHE?!" He pointed the gun
at them.

Suddenly, the two of them started to speak.

Daisuke pointed towards the shopping street. "Over
there!"

Hiroshi did the same. "Saw her with my own two
eyes!"

The man took off in pursuit and left Hiroshi and
Daisuke by themselves.

Silence ensued.

A moment later, Daisuke spoke up. "Hiroshi?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you alright?"

"No. I think I wet myself."

"Oh... Me too."

"Hiroshi?"

"Yeah?"

"Next time I get a bright idea to come to the train
station in the middle of the night, don't listen to me."

"Roger that."

****

Ukyou hid. It was the only thing she could do. After
jumping from the train and running nearly two blocks,
she found the first unlocked door she could and hid
inside.

As it was, the door belonged to a small storage
building. She chose it for the location.

She winced as she set herself down behind a crate.
As she heard the footsteps outside of the building, and
the door open, she frowned.

He had found her.

"Here, bitchy, bitchy, bitchy." He muttered, holding
his gun out in front of him.

Ukyou frowned. "Bite me, you freak!" She yelled from
behind the crate.

"Oh, that hurts my feelings. Come on and make me
better, I'm pretty certain I could--"

"Are all you gangsters this perverted?"

"Not entirely." He said, walking through the maze of
crates in the supply room.

"Must be just you then."

"You know, honey. You're pretty mouthy for someone
who just might die in a minute." He looked down at the
ground and noticed something. "Looks like I clipped you,
after all."

Ukyou frowned. The wound on her shoulder was
bleeding profusely, and the bandage she had just made
from her sleeve didn't seem to be working all that well.

"Lucky Shot." She taunted.

The man with the gun followed the trail of blood,
slowly. Being extra cautious.

"You know honey, you don't HAVE to die. You and me
could get pretty cozy, all you have to do is say the
word."

"I'd rather screw a horse." Was her reply.

The gangster remained pretty calm for the most part.
As he approached where the blood trail stopped, and
looked around carefully.

"Looks like you don't bleed much, Honey."

Ukyou smirked. "You'd be surprised." She said from
above him. She brought her spatula down and crowned him
on the side of the head, sending him sprawling against a
crate. She frowned and jumped away as she realized that
he was still holding his gun. A moment later, he got up
and started to yell.

"You are going to DIE now, you bitch!"

He began to shoot at random, at nearly everything he
could see. Thankfully, Ukyou was hiding behind a thick
crate.

"I think not, fool." A new voice came from outside
the door. The gangster turned around to see the door
blast off its hinges and hit the floor, as a lone figure
stood.

"What the hell are you doing here, you old bag? This
has nothing to do with you. Go and knit something for
your grandkids before I shoot you too!"

Cologne smirked. "Come, child." She said to Ukyou.
"You've much to explain."

Ukyou sighed in relief as she called out. "I'm over
here. I've been shot."

Cologne nodded. "I had expected as much."

"What the hell is this?" The gangster shouted. "I
told you to get lost, old woman. Now go!"

"I will not be ordered around by a common thug." She
smirked at him. "Besides, you're about Seventy years too
young to mess with me."

The thug raised his eyebrows. "Oh really?" He raised
his gun and smiled. "Good-bye!"

He shot.

As the smoke cleared from in front of his face, he
frowned. The old woman still stood there. She produced
something from her hands and tossed it at him.

"I believe that was yours?"

He looked down at his feet to see a small metal
object. Closer examination revealed it to be a bullet.

"No way." He muttered. He shot at Cologne three more
times.

As the smoke cleared again, he looked at her smiling
face.

"No way! I know I got you that time!"

Cologne put her hand out, palm up and revealed two
more bullets. The third she spit out of her mouth.

"That's enough, boy." She said. "I can no longer
play such games with you." She crossed the distance
between them in mere seconds. The gangster barely saw
her move. She swung her staff and knocked him to his
feet, as she then placed her fingers on his neck and the
side of his head. He then lay absolutely still.

"Come child, he is taken care of."

Ukyou raised herself from the side of the crate and
walked out to meet her. "Is he dead?"

"Nay, Child. He is merely paralyzed."

"So he can't move?"

"No."

"Can he feel?"

"Not at the moment, although any damage that is
dealt to him he will feel tenfold after the paralyzing
has worn off. By then the police will have arrived."

"Good." She smiled, and proceeded to flatten his
face with her spatula.

"Now Child, I assume it is not by mere coincidence
that you should happen to commence this fight this close
to the Nekohanten?"

Ukyou shook her head. "Ranma's in trouble."

Cologne smiled. "As I had expected."

"You knew?"

"Nay, Child. I simply assumed. Why else would a
crazed gangster with a gun be chasing after you, unless
because of my
son-in-law?"

Ukyou could think of several reasons, but decided to
remain silent. "We've got to find the old--... We've got
to find Happosai."

Cologne raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"It's hard to explain. You, me and Happosai are the
only ones they don't consider threats."

Cologne nodded. "Understandable. However, Child, you
must remain here. Shampoo and Mousse are inside, and
they will tend to your wounds."

She shook her head. "I want to help too."

"Nay, Child. They will be looking for you as well.
If they sent this man after you, and he has not returned
word that he has caught you, they may well send others
after you. At least Shampoo and Mousse can offer some
protection as to your wound."

"But--"

"No buts, Child. Tell me what I should know, and
Happosai and I will take care of it."

Ukyou began to speak again, but from the adamant
look on Colognes face, she caved. She then told her all
she knew.

****

Ranma swallowed hard.

It was all he could do to keep his nerves steady. If
things were going to work out as he had planned, he had
to stay calm.

Easier said than done.

He pushed open the door.

Empty. The room was empty. He looked around. Was it
a trap? Was he supposed to come to an empty room while
they...

Oh God. Were they doing something to Akane? Visions
of horror passed through Ranma's mind. And then he heard
it.

A snore. Ranma felt a rush of relief, but tensed up
as he realized what was still at hand.

He approached the bed.

He pulled an object out of his pocket. Poison. It
had been supplied to him from Mazuhara for the sole
purpose of killing the man who slept in the bed before
him.

He poured some poison into a small cloth and
scrubbed it in.

The cloth now reeked with poison.

He bent down to the sleeping man.

How easy it would be for him to kill him. Even
without the poison, he could snap his neck, or throw him
out the window.

Ranma shook his head. It wasn't healthy to think
that way.

He placed his hand on the mans shoulder.

He shook him awake.

"Wha?" The man groggily blinked his eyes. A moment
later, he let his vision focus. Another moment later, he
realized someone had woken him up. He scrambled to the
side of the bed.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" He asked,
frantically.

Ranma tried to calm him down. "Relax, old man. I'm
not going to hurt you."

"There's some money on the desk, just leave
peacefully."

"I don't want your money. I was sent here to kill
you."

"Oh God." He curled himself into a fetal position.
"Don't kill me, God please no."

"Oh relax! I said I ain't gonna hurtcha!"

"But you said--"

"I said I was sent to kill ya. That ain't what I'm
gonna do, ya old fool!"

The man blinked. "How do I know your not going to
hurt me?"

Ranma sighed. "Look, your just gonna hafta trust me.
I haven't killed anyone before, and I ain't about to
start now."

"Then why are you here?"

Ranma swallowed. "I need your help."

"Help? You break into my home, threaten to kill me,
and you ask for my help?!"

"Hey, I never threatened to kill ya!"

"You still broke into my home!"

"I was forced to!"

"Oh, great. A robber FORCED to rob someone blind.
The courts would love to hear that!"

"Will you stop already? I was forced to come in here
and kill you, to prevent some kind of bill from going
through. But you know what? I want you to live. I like
Japan the way it is, and if things work out the way I
hope they will, it'll be staying that way for a long
time!"

"What?"

"Look, there's this guy. His name is Mesaki
Mazuhara.
At least, that's what he says his name is. He's got my
fiancee, and he's threatening to kill her unless I do
you in, but I ain't killing nobody."

"Mesaki Mazuhara? I know that name."

"Ikanisa manufacturing?"

The man pounded a fist into his hand. "Of course."

"He's some kind of crazy. He keeps saying he's gonna
bring about a 'new era' for Japan and the world."

"Ikanisa Manufacturing is a heavy donator for some
of the other politicians in Japan."

"Exactly, he's probably got all sorts of 'em on the
payroll. But he wants you out of the picture."

"Understandable. I know what kind of seedy
background he's from. I vote against everything he's got
his fingers into."

"Obviously why he wants you dead."

The man nodded. "I'll call the police. you can
explain everything to them, and they'll arrest him."

"No, you can't. Not yet."

"Why? Oh, that's right. Your fiancee."

"He'll kill her if he so much as senses something
out of place. I've spent the last month with him. He may
not be skilled, but he's smart. And ruthless."

"So what do you suggest we do?"

Ranma smiled. "There's one thing he doesn't yet know
about me."

"And that is?"

Ranma thought for a second. "Here's what we do."

****

"I don't like this. He's taking too goddamn long."
Masato muttered to nobody in particular.

Masato had a history of talking to himself. Some
people called it a psychological problem. But the truth
was, he talked to himself, because he understood
himself.

Not entirely, of course, but for the most part.
Masato just found no pleasure in talking to others,
unless it was required. To him, nobody but himself could
provide a good, entertaining conversation.

Nobody except Mesaki Mazuhara.

Masato had known Mesaki for three years now. And he
was one of Mazuhara's few men that could boast a
personal relationship with him. As friends.

Whether Mazuhara would do things for his friends was
not the question. It was whether his friends could do
something for Mazuhara.

As it was, Masato could. He was a martial artist of
high caliber. He had studied his entire life, and often
won competitions. Though it was true he was nowhere near
the caliber of martial artist that Saotome was, he could
handle his own.

But he had a weakness. It was a weakness many men
had. The weakness for the opposite sex.

Masato was a ladykiller. Literally. He could
remember on two separate occasions he had had to kill
his mate, for one reason or another. But Mazuhara had
protected him. Even during the trials, he stood up for
him. And that's why Masato owed him so much.

But he still suffered from his weakness. Perpetual
attraction to the opposite sex. He got it from many
sources. Prostitutes, young school girls looking for a
good time. Even, at times, he had forced it upon some.

Maybe that's why he was so distracted by the girl
across the street.

He knew she was looking at him. He couldn't explain
how or why, but he just knew.

Finally, having nearly given up on Saotome, he
walked across the street to the hotel lobby entrance.

"How you doing?" He asked her.

The girl sheepishly blushed and muttered under her
breath. "Fine."

"Nice night, eh?"

She nodded.

"Kinda cold."

She nodded again.

"My name is Masato, mind if I ask yours?"

She widened her eyes for a moment. After she calmed
again, she answered. "Umm. I'm Ranko."

"Ranko. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

"So, what are you doing out here? Waiting for
someone?"

"You could say that."

"Oh yeah? Boyfriend?"

She coughed for a second. "GOD no."

"So you're single, then?"

She nodded.

Masato smiled. "You, uhh.. got a room in the hotel?"

She nodded.

"Tell ya what, cutie. Give me your room number, and
I'll be up there as soon as I've checked on something."

She looked at him confusedly for a second, and then
answered. "1007."

Masato smiled.

****

Ranma was out of breath. "Okay, he's on his way up.
Look dead."

"Already? How did--"

"Nevermind, it doesn't matter."

"Why are you all wet?"

"Just look dead!"

"Alright, alright!"

The old man lay down on the bed, arms stretched out
wide and stuck his tongue out.

"Not like that, you idiot! Try and look like you've
been poisoned!"

"I am!"

Ranma shook his head. "Just... look like you're
asleep, okay?"

The door creaked open. Ranma heard it and quickly
sat down beside the man, hands in his face.

"Is it done, Saotome?" Masato asked.

Ranma shook his head. "Leave me the hell alone."

"You listen to me, Saotome. You work for us. You
answer me when I ask you a question."

"It's done, alright?! Just look at him!"

Masato eyed the man suspiciously.

"Let me check his pulse." He said.

Something inside Ranma clicked.

"Goddamn it! The guys already dead, just leave him
alone!"

"I've gotta check, Saotome. I don't want to waste
any time."

"Smell the goddamn air, why don't you? That crap you
made me give him is gonna make both of us sick if we
hang around here any longer!"

Unnoticed by Masato, the old man on the bed
twitched.

"I don't want to waste any time, either Masato.
Just... Just call Mazuhara and get him to let them go."

Masato narrowed his eyes. He gave a quick look at
the old man and then smirked. "Fine, Saotome."

****

The phone rang.

Mazuhara smiled. "That should be Masato with the
information I need."

Akane looked over at the new arrival of the room.
Her sister sit in a chair opposite her, next to the man
from the press. They exchanged glances every time
Mazuhara spoke.

"Mazuhara." He greeted as he answered the phone. He
smiled. "Ahh, Masato. How do things fare?"

A pause.

He smiled. "Perfect. Bring Saotome back here and
we'll take care of him."

Another pause.

He frowned. "Masato, I care not of your simple
conquests. The girl may wait."

And yet another.

"Bring Saotome here and I'll allow you your choice
of the two I currently hold in my possession."

A final pause.

"You have one hour to bring him here, Masato. Do not
fail me."

He hung up.

Mazuhara smiled.

****

"Stay here, Saotome." Masato said. "I'll be back in
twenty minutes, and then we'll allow you your precious
Akane."

Ranma blinked. "Where are you going?"

"Does it matter? If you must know, I'm going to get
myself some ass."

"You'd do that while there's a man lying dead here?"

Masato shrugged.

"Doesn't Mazuhara want us back there, or something?"

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him. Now if you'll
excuse me, Saotome, I'm off to get lucky with a sweet
young thing."

Ranma smiled. "Oh, you mean 'Ranko'?"

Masato paused.

"What?"

"Ranko, room 1007?"

"How did you know that?" Masato stared at him.

A moment later, the man in the bed sat up. "How'd I
do?"

"Perfect, old man. Go call the police now. I'll take
care of this one."

The old man nodded. "Right-O."

"Saotome, what the hell is this?"

"You ever ask what Ranko's last name was?"

"What?"

"Saotome."

Masato blinked. "Your sister... Clever, Saotome."

"You know what's even more clever?"

"What's that?"

Ranma brought himself into a defensive stance. "I
don't even have a sister."

Masato remained calm. He pulled the phone out of his
pocket.

Ranma had to act quickly. If he managed to even dial
Mazuhara's number, it would tip him off. He was too far
to take it from him by force. There was only one other
means he could use.

"Moko Takabisha!" He yelled. A large ball of
channeled ki released itself from his form and blasted
the phone from Masato's hands, while simultaneously
knocking him against the wall.

****

"What... What the hell was that?" He asked himself.

He hadn't even seen it coming. Whatever it was that
he had done, he had done it from across the room. It was
almost as if he had lobbed a cannonball.

But it wasn't. His suit was charred. His hands felt
blistered as if burned in a fire. He looked back at
Ranma. It dawned on him.

He got up. "So, it seems you have other talents as
well, eh Saotome?"

Ranma smiled. "Damn straight."

"Looks like I'll have to get serious." Masato
brought himself into a defensive position.

"Wait." Ranma put his hand forth. He suddenly
calmed.

"What now, Saotome? Scared to fight me?"

"No. I just want this over with as soon as possible,
and I think I know how."

"Oh yeah, how's that?"

Ranma smirked as he pulled a small water bottle from
his pocket.

"What are you going to do? Squirt me to death?"

"Just watch."

He poured the content over himself.

He was now a she.

Masato dropped his jaw.

"Okay," The old man walked into the room. "They're
sending up security, but the police will take a little
longer to get here." He looked around. "Where did that
kid go?"

Ranma looked over at him. "When the cops get here,
tell them Warehouse Seventy-Two, at the docks. Let them
know there are innocents."

The old man blinked. "Who are you?"

Ranma smiled as she looked back at Masato, who was
staring in disbelief. "Ranma Saotome."

As the security guards entered the room and tackled
Masato to the ground, Ranma leapt past them, and out the
door.

****

The guards were careless.

"Utterly dreadful." Cologne muttered to herself. If
she saw the guards of the village treating their duties
this lightly, she would have to treat them to a lesson
of Jusenkyo.

But as it was, Happosai and Cologne were doing just
fine keeping themselves hidden from the guards of the
warehouse.

Cologne worked out what to do. From her surveillance
of the building, there were eight guards outside. Easily
detainable. Inside there appeared to be four, along with
the leader, a fool man who appeared to have gotten mixed
up in something he didn't belong in, and two of the
Tendo girls.

Then there were the guns.

Happosai and Cologne both knew the consequences if
they were to attack too prematurely when there were guns
involved.

As it was, with so many armed men inside, there
would be no way they could disarm all of them before one
of the children, or the fool man was shot.

Cologne needed a sign. She looked over at Happosai,
who seemed to be concentrating on something, much the
same as she herself was.

And then he pointed.

Cologne turned to see what he was pointing at. A
figure in the distance. Over 100 years of living does
inhibit one's eyesight somewhat. But the figure in the
distance was easy to make out.

It was Ranma.

She looked towards Happosai and nodded. It was time
to take out the trash.

****

The first signs of dawn broke over the horizon as
Ranma returned to the warehouse. His heart was pounding.

"Saotome." Mazuhara greeted.

"Nabiki?" He asked, giving an incredulous gaze in
her direction. He suddenly narrowed his eyes. "We have a
deal, Mazuhara. Let them go."

Mazuhara looked past Ranma. "And where is Masato?"

"I don't know."

Mazuhara narrowed his eyes. "He should have entered
the building after you had." He looked around for a
moment, then looked towards one of his men. "Where is
he?"

"He sent me back here. He said he had someone to
take care of at the hotel."

"Saotome," he scowled. "If something has happened to
Masato, you will pay dearly."

Ranma shrugged. "I did nothing to him. Remember our
deal, Mazuhara. Release him." He pointed at the
reporter.

Mazuhara shrugged. "You heard him, release him."

Akane's sudden screaming tipped Ranma off that
something was up. As Mazuhara punched her in the side of
the head, Ranma crossed the distance between them. He
threw Mazuhara towards the ground and screamed at the
top of his lungs.

"NOW!"

The two men holding the reporter were knocked down
to the ground as he looked up and about in amazement.
Two blurs came about and knocked several other men in
the warehouse to the ground as well. As the blurs slowed
down, Cologne and Happosai were easily visible.

Mazuhara pulled out a gun from his inside pocket and
aimed it at Ranma. "Damn you, Saotome!"

Ranma smirked. "You think you can get me before THEY
get you? You'll have to empty that thing out before you
even graze me, Mazuhara."

Mazuhara smiled. "Not quite, Saotome." He pulled his
aim towards the figure strapped to the chair beside
Ranma. As he saw Mazuhara pulled the trigger, Ranma put
all of his weight into a fierce kick, which sent Akane
and the chair she was in sprawling across the room. The
bullet went searing through Ranma's calf, barely missing
the bone.

It took Cologne and Happosai seconds to disarm him
and send him to the ground. It was that moment that the
police piled into the warehouse.

"Took you long enough." Ranma muttered at them,
cradling his leg. He began to get up.

"It's best you stay down, boy." Happosai remarked.

"Shut up, ya old freak."

Happosai began to protest, but felt Cologne's firm
grasp on his arm.

"Do not interfere, Happi. He is too headstrong, and
what he does affects my life as well."

Happosai stared at her in confusion for a moment,
but then realized what she was saying. He nodded in
agreement.

Ranma limped over towards Akane, amidst a small
swarm of police who set about arresting most of the
people in the warehouse.

He set himself down beside her and removed her gag.

She smiled at him. "Ranma, I--"

He put his finger to her lips. 'Shhhh.' He said.
"Just be quiet." He proceeded to fix her chair so she
would be sitting up, and then untied her.

She felt a few tears flow down her cheek. "Ranma,
I... I'm sorry, I--"

"Akane. Don't worry about it." He smiled at her.
"You're safe, and that's all I care about." He brought
his lips to hers, and closed his eyes as he embraced her
into a deep kiss.

She returned it just as eagerly, letting tears of
joy flow from her eyes unrelentingly.

As they broke the kiss, neither spoke a word for
several moments. Ranma placed his arms around her and
embraced her. She did the same. He then managed to
whisper into her ear. "I love you, Akane."

More tears flowed from her eyes as she heard the
words. "I love you too, Ranma."

A few moments later, a police officer approached the
two embracing teens. "Ranma Saotome?" He asked.

Ranma looked towards him and nodded, noticing Nabiki
exit the building, accompanied by two police officers.

"I'm sorry, I was under the impression that she was
Ranma Saotome." He apologized. "Ranma Saotome is a
woman, is she not?"

"Not quite."

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you a few
questions."

"Can it wait?"

Suddenly, a commotion interrupted Ranma's
conversation as he heard several shouts, and two
individual bursts of a gun. Ranma looked over to realize
that somehow, Mazuhara had gotten away from the police
long enough to grab two automatic weapons from on of his
unconscious guards. Two policemen lay down on the
ground.

The policeman questioning him suddenly pushed them
away just as Mazuhara opened fire upon them. The
policeman was ripped apart by the bullets.

Happosai was first to react. He was facing away from
Mazuhara, which turned out to be a folly. A bullet
grazed his leg, sending a fine mist of blood out around
him. He jumped out of the way just in time.

"Damn you, Saotome!" He shouted as he continued to
fire.

Ranma pulled Akane to her feet and began to retreat
to the safest place possible, going as fast as he could
with his wound. The bullets whizzed by his ear as he
yanked on Akane's hand.

Cologne was jumping about, trying to get the best
advantage possible. She grabbed bullets out of the air,
and dropped them to the ground. Suddenly, she noticed
Mazuhara's second gun was aimed at Ranma and Akane.
She moved swiftly to intercept.

Happosai managed to catch a few bullets in the air
and return them with his pipe. It wasn't doing much
good, no matter how strong the old martial artist was,
he couldn't match the force of a gun, and the bullets
ended up either bouncing off the reporters chest, or
causing him to flinch. That was all he needed.

Ranma had to act quickly. He knew there was no way
of him finding cover before either he or Akane was shot,
so he pulled Akane to him, and covered her with his
body. He stood absolutely still and looked onward, as he
realized several bullets were heading toward him, he
closed his eyes in anticipation.

A few moments later, he opened them again. The
reporter was still shooting, but the bullets weren't
getting through. Ranma finally noticed Cologne.

"What are you waiting for, boy?" She yelled at him.
"Get her to safety!"

Ranma noticed a moment later that Cologne was
literally grabbing bullets out of mid-air and dropping
them to the ground.

"Go!"

Ranma didn't need anymore convincing, he and Akane
ran out of there as fast as he possibly could. Finally
behind a crate, he had Akane sit behind it.

"Stay here, Akane. I've got to--"

"Ranma, no. You can't!"

"Akane, I've got to take care of this. All the
police have already been shot. It won't be long until
the other guys realize what's going on and take
advantage of this." He looked out towards Cologne and
Happosai.

"Ranma--"

"I have to, Akane."

Akane looked towards the ground. "Promise me."

"Promise what?"

"Promise me you'll come back."

Ranma smiled. "Akane, I promise." He cupped her
chin, and brought her into another deep kiss. After
letting go, he got up and looked towards the action.

"Please, Ranma."

He smiled. "Of course."

He ran out into the action.

****

Damn them.

Damn them all.

Years of planning, millions of dollars spent.

And he had to risk it all for the service of one
young boy.

Idiot.

He truthfully did not expect to live. But he would
sure as hell kill Saotome and his bitch fiancee in the
process.

The old ones too, if he could manage to get a bullet
through. It had confused him at first. It took him a
moment to realize they were actually picking them out of
the air. He hadn't seen things like that happen before,
and was having trouble believing it.

But it was a slight setback. He would kill them all.

****

"Damn you, Mazuhara!" He yelled. It wasn't as if the
sound of his voice could rise past the sound of the
gunfire, but just getting the message across would be
good enough.

"Take him down, boy!" Cologne yelled. "We'll cover
you!"

Ranma blinked for a moment. He was having a hard
enough time dodging the odd bullet that would slip past
Cologne's defense. How could he get all the way up to
him?

He thought. Moko Takabisha? Was a ki blast stronger
than a bullet? No. It couldn't be, his ki blast would
manage to knock someone out at most, but never kill. At
least, he had hoped.

The Moko Takabisha would be deflected. Probably
cause alot more pain.

Then it dawned on him.

"I've got him!" He yelled. "Cover me!"

"Go boy!" Happosai yelled.

Ranma started his attack. A simple spiraling motion,
surrounding Mazuhara.

Then it happened.

Happosai got careless.

The bullet ripped through his throat. The old
martial artist gurgled on his own blood for a few
seconds before he finally fell limp to the floor.

It did not go unnoticed.

"DAMN YOU, MAZUHARA! I'LL KILL YOU!"

Cologne saw what was happening. "The spiral boy,
keep in the spiral!"

Ranma sneered. He couldn't believe it. The old man
was a pain, but when it really came down to it, he was
an invaluable help.

"I'll avenge you." He said under his breath.

****

The spiral continued, thankfully. It didn't have to
last much longer. Happosai was gone. Dreadful, but he
would be remembered in death. Cologne let a vague tear
drop from her eye. It had been long since she had let
feeling interfere in her life. But it was not an easy
thing to witness.

"Continue the spiral, boy," she muttered as she
continued to pick bullets out of the air.

It was obvious from the facial expression of the man
with the gun, that he was not happy. And unhappiness
leads to pain, she often found.

This was not an exception. Several police officers
were wounded, possibly dead. Her childhood... Friend was
lying dead on the ground not several feet away from her.
And she may never see her great-granddaughter again.

It was becoming too much. She closed her eyes for a
split second, to clear her eyes of the tears that were
welling up. A split second too long.

The bullet caught her in the ribcage. It shattered
ancient bone and settled in a place next to her heart.
She fell over, arms still moving like a blur.

It was too late.

"HIRYU SHOTEN HA!"

It was just in time.

****

Mazuhara looked in confusion. He had stopped firing
after the wind had picked up. Nothing was visible past
the spiraling force of the wind.

"A.. Tornado?" He muttered.

He dropped his guns as he was picked up by the wind,
rising up, higher towards the ceiling. As he realized
there was no ceiling, he stared in awe.

He closed his eyes as he realized. He was being
brought to the afterlife. A place in heaven just for
him, because he died. His dreams of a perfect world
unrealized.

As the searing pain went through his leg, his eyes
shot open.

No. He wasn't dead. He was alive. He was still in
the warehouse. The ceiling had somehow been ripped off.

He was being caught in a tornado of his own bullets.

Another one caught him, this time in the side,
embedding itself deep inside of him. He doubled over.

Another one, passing right through his left cheek,
and exiting through his right. He gasped as he started
to choke on his own blood.

Yet another, hitting him in the arm.

Time seemed to slow. The ebbing pain becoming more
and more searing by the moment.

He barely saw the final bullet. He saw a black
shape, but that was it. As it entered through his eye
socket and burrowed deep into his brain, he fell dead.

****

Ranma coughed. He hadn't gone without injury in the
tornado of bullets. A bullet entered his side and his
forearm, and he was having trouble keeping
consciousness.

He coughed again as he looked towards the several
prone figures on the ground. One of them more familiar
than others.

"Come here, boy." Cologne called to Ranma.

Ranma crawled over to her.

"That was foolish of us, you know, Boy."

Ranma nodded. "I'm sorry. Are... Are you going to be
alright?"

Cologne nodded. "It'll take a lot more than a bullet
wound to take me out, Boy." She began to get up, and
then collapsed back down.

"You truly love her, do you not?"

"Akane?" He said. "Yes. Yes I do." He looked down
towards the ground. "I'm sor--"

"Don't you dare say you're sorry, Boy."

Ranma looked at her in confusion.

"There is a way out of the law."

"What?"

"The kiss of marriage. There is a way to break it.
Shampoo must follow it, it is Joketsuzoku law."

"Really?"

"Yes. You're in love with Akane Tendo. That is it.
If Shampoo hears these words from your mouth, she will
abide to the law."

"Cologne... Why--"

"Why do I tell you this?" She laughed. "I'm not an
old troll, Ranma. I do care. I do have feelings. Some
would rather you not admit your feelings for Akane, to
tell the truth, I was more inclined to have you marry
Shampoo at the beginning. But that was before I saw it,
Ranma. And that is why I eased up and allowed you time
to bond with her."

"I... Cologne, why are you telling me this now?"

She smiled. "Tell Shampoo I will await her in the
afterlife."

"What?" He looked at her. "Cologne, no. You can't
die. Not now. Not after all of this!" He looked towards
Happosai's prone body several feet away. "You can't.
First him, now you? No. You can't die, Cologne."

Cologne looked Ranma in the eyes as she began to
close them. "Ranma. Live a full life. I have, and I have
no regrets. I have died a warrior, and I will be
remembered a warrior."

Ranma let tears seep out of his eyes. "Cologne, no.
Stay with me. Stay with me Cologne!"

Cologne's life slowly seeped from her, giving way
for the next.

Ranma sat there for three more minutes, until the
medic had come in for him. He soon met Akane in the
ambulance.


****

"Listen to this," Akane began, "'Ranma Saotome, a
young martial artist from Nerima Ward, almost
single-handedly brought down a dangerous criminal
organization last night. The organization, which called
itself 'The Paved Future' had several 'front companies'
including Ikanisa manufacturing and Masamoto
Enterprises. Cleverly outsmarting several of the
criminals and bringing them to justice, Saotome made his
way through the organization, eventually rescuing his
fiancee. Though many innocents were killed, including
several police officers and two of Saotome's
acquaintances, he caused no casualties. Most of the
criminals were arrested, with the exception of Mesaki
Mazuhara, who was killed by his own bullets. The
circumstances of his death still remain a mystery by the
police, but it is being ruled as a suicide.'"

She paused to catch her breath. "'Consequently,
several government officials and high ranking
politicians were arrested in conjunction of the previous
arrests. Investigations are still underway. Young
Saotome now lies in a hospital bed, recovering from his
ordeal.'"

Ranma sighed.

Nabiki spoke up. "You're a hero, Saotome. How does
it feel?"

"Who cares?"

Nabiki shook her finger. "Come on now, Ranma. You
can't tell me you don't see where I'm going with this.
Ranma Saotome, the movie. Ranma Saotome, the action
figure. Ranma Saotome, the actor! With me as your agent,
we could make a fortune!"

"Nabiki?" Akane asked.

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

"Right-O."

****

Epilogue

"Shampoo's here?" Ranma asked, sitting himself up in
the hospital bed. He had a cast on his leg from where
he'd been shot, and a bandage on his side.

Akane nodded. "I met her on the way up. She said she
had to stop somewhere else in the hospital before she
saw you."

A moment later, Shampoo entered into the hospital
room. "Hello, Ranma." She said.

"Uh. Hi uhh... Shampoo..."

"Ranma?"

"Yes?"

"You love Akane, yes?"

Ranma thought for a moment, and then remembered
Colognes words. "Yes."

Shampoo closed her eyes for a moment, and then
opened them. She smiled. "Is good. Good that Ranma with
someone he loves."

Akane smiled and sat next to her fiancee.

"What are you going to do now, Shampoo?"

She shrugged. "Go back to village. Many want to hear
word of how Great-Grandmother died. She have place on
Wall of Honor."

"Wall of Honor?"

"Yes. She elder who die in battle. One of greatest
honors of Joketsuzoku."

Ranma smiled.

"I also have this for Ranma. To remember me by."

Akane walked over to Shampoo as she gave her a small
box. "Is present. Not open until Shampoo leave, okay?"

Ranma took the box from Akane and nodded.

"Shampoo?"

"Yes, Akane?"

"Will you come back? To visit, at least?"

She looked up in the air for a moment. "You both
good friends, now. I come and visit whenever I can."

Ranma smiled.

Akane walked up to her and gave her a hug. "Come
back soon, Shampoo. Please."

Shampoo smiled. "Yes. Will. I go now." She turned
around and walked to the exit. "Ranma?" She asked
without turning around.

"Yes, Shampoo?"

"Did. Did Ranma ever love Shampoo?"

Ranma was at a loss for words. He wrestled with
several answers, but couldn't bring them out.

Shampoo shook her head. "Nevermind. Shampoo not want
to know. Is better not knowing."

Ranma let his mouth close. "Good-bye, Shampoo."

Shampoo turned around one last time and smiled at
them. "I see you as soon as possible, okay?"

Ranma and Akane both nodded.

A few minutes later, Akane turned to Ranma. "Do you
think she'll come back?"

Ranma shrugged. "I hope so. It'll be nice to have
her as a friend instead of someone who will slobber all
over me."

Akane nodded. "I think so too."

"Should I open this?"

Akane nodded. "What do you think it is?"

Ranma began to untie the bow and open the lid of the
box. What he saw inside made his heart jump, for a
moment. And then, as he calmed down, he laughed.

"What is it?"

Ranma pulled the object out of the box. It was a
small stuffed cat.

Akane laughed and took the cat from him. "Cute
little fellow, isn't she?"

Ranma nodded. "I love you, Akane."

She looked back at him and hugged him.

"I love you too, Ranma."

As they brought each other into a deep kiss, the
world seemed to fade away. They were no longer simply
Ranma and Akane, but lovers. Embracing each others
warmth.

****

Authors Notes: I know, its been a while since I've
released new chapters of 'A life once Lived' or
'Converging Fates'... It seems I'm at a bit of a
creative standstill. As it stands, however this is my
first serious straight Ranma fic. It's also my first
serious COMPLETED Ranma fic... For some reason, I come
to a complete blank when I try and write new chapters of
ALOL or CF, but I managed to write this over a weekend.
Shrug... Go figure.

Anyways, The first 30k of this, I wrote during a
boring day at school... (30k at school, with a
facilitator constantly looking over your shoulder..
HOO BOY!)... I estimated the size would be about 100 k
when finished, looks like I was right.. :) __._ K isn't
bad, eh? I'm happy.. :)

Anyways, the idea came to me one day when I was
bored out of my skull. I knew I wanted to write a 'love
story' between Ranma and Akane, where it starts from
Akane's POV, and ends in Ranma's POV, and I also wanted
a few things solved as well... I'm also considering
writing a sequel using Ryouga... (He's gonna be
surprised, he didn't even know Ranma went missing
in the first place)... But still, I'm only
considering... Anyways, I could use some real C&C
(Either directly to me or on the list, don't matter)
before I post this to the RAAC. I put alot into this fic
over the past few days, and I'm rather amazed I wrote
this much, considering how busy I was.. :)

I'll be working on finishing off A Life Once Lived
before I continue with Converging Fates, but don't be
surprised if I don't keep my word.. If I have more
creative success with one over the other, then I'll be
doing that. Oh, and I'm building up chapters of a new
fic (Already working on Chapter 2) that should prove to
blow my previous ones out of the water. The current
working title is 'Book of the Final Stand', and that
also is a straight Ranma fic. Until that time, I'll cya
around. Oh, and BTW, I also appreciate any comments
you'll have on this fic. Thanks, cya!