Debt of Honor
Chapter 1
Headway
Ryoga knelt down beside Ranma. She moved her hands down to his sides and ran her fingers over the small wound that adorned Ranma's side.
"Looks like the bleedings stopped," Ryoga said shaking her head. "Damn fool had to faint."
"So he wasn't shot?" Akane asked. Her uneasiness over being around someone that had her exact figure was quickly fading.
"No," Ryoga shook her head. "He was caught with a piece of shrapnel that was sent flying when that soldier's shot went wide. I managed to pull it out," she held it up. There was a two inch long piece of twisted metal. "Luckily it missed his spine."
Akane smiled. "Thank you for helping him Ryoga."
Ryoga frowned, looking thoughtful. "Well, I just couldn't let him bleed to death could I?"
"No, but what I meant was that you are a better friend to Ranma than anyone could be. You're always there when he needs you."
Ryoga blushed at Akane's compliments. He didn't trust himself to reply.
"I didn't mean to embarrass you Ryoga," Akane said sincerely. "I just wanted to let you know how much you mean to Ranma, and to me."
"Thank you Akane, you have always been so nice to me, even after I've done so many terrible things to you," Ryoga said, then looked even more embarrassed. "Now I've even stolen your form."
"That was not your fault Ryoga," Akane said sternly. "It's true that you have done some things that can be looked upon as wrong, but everyone has done stuff that they regret later. No one is exempt from such things, and you are one of the few people that try and fix what they have wronged."
"Are you sure that my curse does not bother you?" Ryoga asked, his voice showing his doubt.
"It bothered me at first," Akane said truthfully. "But, I don't feel like that anymore. Right now when I look at you, I see my friend Ryoga, the man who has always been there when I need him, and is the only man that can truthfully call himself Ranma Saotome's best friend."
Ryoga's embarrassment slowly faded. "Thank you Akane, I want you to know that I will always think of you as my friend. You have been more than a friend to me even though I did not deserve it, and you have been a wonderful friend to Akari."
"Speaking of me," Akari said as she wrapped her arms around Ryoga's shoulder, shocking her. "I found a hot spring."
"Jeez Akari," Ryoga said. "You scared the hell out of me."
"I'm sorry, but you were saying such sweet things that I just couldn't interrupt," Akari said, the lightly blew into Ryoga's ear. "So, would you like to go take a bath?"
Ryoga blushed. "I don't think we should go until Ranma wakes up, I don't want to leave Akane alone."
Akari smiled and sat down on the grass.
Ryoga looked back at Ranma and saw he was slowly coming to. She leaned over and looked a little concerned when Ranma's face screwed up in a look of pain. Ranma's eyes opened and he stared right at Ryoga, he smiled and slowly raised his head and placed his lips against Ryoga's.
Ryoga stood stock still as Ranma lowered his head back down. He wore a sexy smile across his face and he was about to reach out for Ryoga's hand when Ryoga's anger took over.
"Ranma! You are dead!"
Ranma's expression changed to one of surprise when Ryoga raised her arms to strike him. He was even more surprised when another Akane stopped the other Akane from attacking him. That was when realization struck him.
"Augh! I kissed Ryoga!" Ranma rushed to the nearby stream and began sucking water into his mouth.
"I'm going to kill you!" Ryoga shouted as she tried to rush forward. But Akari was holding onto her arm.
"Wait, calm down Ryoga, how could Ranma have known that it was you?" Akari asked as she struggled to hold Ryoga back.
Ryoga stopped and turned to Akari. Her hand rose to the bandanna that adorned her head. "Akane doesn't wear a bandanna! I wear a bandanna!"
Akari shook her head and kept her hold on Ryoga's arm.
Akane went and knelt down beside Ranma. She stopped Ranma from spitting out anymore water.
"I think you should apologize to him Ranma," Akane said. When she saw Ranma's incredulous look she continued. "When you feinted Ryoga was nearly in tears when he reached you."
Ranma seemed to remember something and looked down at his side. There was a large rip in his shirt, and a lot of dried blood.
"Ryoga pulled the piece of shrapnel from your side, and kept his hands on your side for almost an hour to try and stop the bleeding," Akane told him.
Ranma looked up at Ryoga, whose look of pure rage was replaced by one of annoyance.
Ryoga saw Ranma staring at her and snarled. "Next time I'm going to let you bleed to death."
Akari smacked Ryoga's head. "That's a terrible thing to say!"
Ranma smiled and got to his feet, he cautiously approached Ryoga and stopped three feet from him.
"I'm sorry that I did that Ryoga, if I had known that it was you, you can bet that I would not have kissed you. I'm sorry for making you worry."
Ryoga looked away and snorted. "I wasn't worried about you; I just didn't want to have to carry your limp corpse all the way back to Japan."
Ranma smiled again. If Ryoga was talking like that, he wasn't angry anymore.
Akari shook her head. "Ryoga, how can you call yourself Ranma's friend when you talk to him like that?"
"Ah don't worry about it Akari," Ranma said. "I know he doesn't mean one damn word of it." Ranma punched Ryoga lightly on the arm.
"He still shouldn't talk like that," Akari said, but she was smiling now.
"So what are we going to do now?" Ranma asked the assembled group.
"I'm worried about those soldiers tracking us down," Ryoga said. "If they catch up to us, things could get very messy. I know that I don't want to wait around for them."
Ranma nodded. "Ryoga's right, we are probably going to have to kick things into high gear if were going to have the chance to escape China without confronting any type of authority."
"I think we should probably head back to Nerima," Akane said. "If Phillip was able to get to Seiji in time I'm sure he could have saved him. I think that they will try and find us at home once they get out of China."
"Akane's probably right," Ryoga said.
"Yeah, I agree with the tomboy," Ranma said.
Akari nodded her head but didn't speak. Ryoga looked over at her.
"Is something wrong Akari?"
"I just really hope the others are okay," she said, her voice very emotional.
Ryoga put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. Akari turned around and started crying into Ryoga's chest, which was very difficult considering that Ryoga's chest was not as flat as before.
Ryoga looked at the others and smiled. "I think I had better take her to that hot spring, I can't very well comfort her like this."
Ryoga led the weeping Akari into the trees.
Ranma turned to Akane. "I really don't think Seiji could have survived Akane."
Akane nodded sadly. "I know Ranma, I just hope the others managed to get out of there okay."
"Ah, I don't think we have to worry about Phil he's probably already back in Japan," Ranma said. Then he looked at Akane a little lewdly. "Do you know if Akari said that there was more than one hot spring?"
Akane smiled, "I don't know, let's go check it out."
===============
Ryoga set Akari down on a rock. She had stopped crying, but she looked like she would start any time soon.
"I'm sure everyone made it away from Jusenkyo Akari, you know how strong they are. I hardly think that something like a gunshot is going to keep Seiji down."
Akari looked at Ryoga. "Your right, I'm sorry it's just, he was always so nice and he did so many wonderful things for us."
Ryoga nodded her head. "Yeah, when you were taken, he stopped me from destroying myself. Not physically, but mentally."
Akari smiled. "Don't you ever do something like that Ryoga Hibiki, no matter what happens, I'll always come back to you."
"Only if you promise that you'll never get kidnapped again, that stuffs for Akane, not you."
"That's horrible," Akari said as she laughed.
Ryoga smiled and got to her feet. "I'm going to change back; it's hard having a conversation with someone when you're in another person's body."
As Ryoga was about to jump into the water Akari stopped him.
"Don't you think it would be better if you didn't get your only set of clothes wet?" When Ryoga looked at her she smiled. "I know Ryoga, but you're going to have to get used to seeing yourself in this body."
Ryoga took a breath and then quickly stripped out of her clothes. She didn't look down but instead kept her eyes at a perfect level gaze with Akari's. Slowly Ryoga backed up until she fell into the hot spring.
When Ryoga came up he smiled and laughed. "Ah, now this is better."
He did a few strokes through the water and then realized that Akari's gaze was still on him. He blushed and swam back to grab his boxers. When he reached the shore he found that his clothes were missing.
"Akari, where's my clothes?" Ryoga asked, turning to look at her.
Akari smiled and pointed to the branch from a tree. His clothes lay spread out on the branch.
"Do you think you could get me my boxers please?"
Akari walked over to the branch, but instead of complying with Ryoga's request, she began to remove her sweater-vest. She heard Ryoga 'eep' and heard the distinct sound of someone turning around very fast in water. She removed her blouse next. She pulled down her slip and knee-high socks. After that she was clad only in her bra and panties. She quickly removed those, aware that she was blushing furiously.
Akari took small steps toward the spring. She had heard correctly, Ryoga was now facing away from her. She silently slipped into the water and made her way over to Ryoga, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"I love you Ryoga," she whispered into his ear as she moved closer to him, hugging her arms around Ryoga's chest.
Ryoga was very embarrassed. He didn't know what he would do if Ranma or Akane showed up. He also didn't know what he would do if they didn't show up. Slowly he found his voice.
"I love you too Akari. But I don't know if this is a good idea," he said softly.
"Why is that dear?" she asked as she moved her hands up his chest.
"Because I don't know where this is going to lead, and I don't want to do something that you're not ready for," Ryoga said truthfully.
"When a girl presses up against you when you're both naked, that generally means that she's ready for anything," Akari told him. To emphasize her words, she slowly swam around him, so she could look at his face and so he could see her. "And I am ready Ryoga; I've been ready for a long time."
Ryoga looked at her and she could see that his blush was slowly decreasing.
"Are you sure you're ready?" Ryoga asked, making sure his eyes did not divert any lower that Akari's neck.
Akari didn't answer him; instead she moved her body right up against his and kissed him. Ryoga's arms came down around her and held her tightly. He stood up and carried her towards the edge.
"If we are going to do this Akari, let's do it right," Ryoga said huskily.
Akari could only nod her head as she felt herself begin to swoon. Ryoga set her down on the cool grass and stood in front of her, taking in the sight of her body. He didn't look embarrassed and he wasn't getting a nosebleed. Akari took this as a sign that he was really going to do it.
Ryoga smiled and moved down on top of her. He felt like he might faint any second. But when he saw Akari's face, looking at him with a look of pureness and love it made him want to cry.
Akari saw Ryoga's look, she was finding very hard for her to not pounce on him, but she knew that she needed to let him take his time.
Ryoga found some sound footing and lowered himself onto her.
===============
Mousse looked across the alleyway. He looked intently down it, but he didn't see anyone so he slowly moved down it.
"Shampoo, are you in here?" Mousse whispered sharply. There was no answer.
Mousse shook his head sadly, he still couldn't find Shampoo. She had left the Cat Café earlier and said that she was going to do some reconnaissance. His offer to go along was denied and he had waited, and waited, until he could no longer deny that something must have happened. He had neglected to call any of the others and he was now coming to the understanding that it was a mistake.
He left the alley and turned down the busy streets. He jumped to one of the many shop's roof and began scanning the crowd from there. He pushed his glasses back up his nose and cursed. His near-sightedness was going to cause him to lose Shampoo. He spotted what looked like someone leaping across a rooftop further down the street.
Mousse took off after the figure and quickly caught up to them. It was Shampoo and she didn't even pay attention to him. Mousse followed her and could see that Shampoo was following some car. When the car finally stopped outside a large apartment building, Mousse made his presence known.
"Who are they?" he asked. Shampoo looked over her shoulder in surprise but quickly regained her composure.
"I no know, they sit outside Tendo house and then drive away. I follow across town, see them pick up more people," Shampoo told him.
"Do you think it's them?" Mousse asked.
"Maybe, they go inside building and we wait until come back yes?"
Mousse nodded. "It would be best if we waited for them. Tell me Shampoo, did you call anyone and tell them about this?"
"No," Shampoo shook her head. "I no close to any phone."
Mousse looked at her puzzlingly for a moment. "Didn't you have the cell phone that the old ghoul gave you?"
Shampoo blushed and looked embarrassed. "I don't know how to use such a thing."
Mousse smiled and knelt down, holding out his hand for Shampoo's phone. "It's really not that hard Shampoo, let me show you."
Mousse showed Shampoo the basics of the cell phone and how to call someone.
"Should we call great-grandmother?" Shampoo asked.
"Yes," Mousse nodded. "She already made it quite clear that she wanted to be kept up to date on everything that happens."
Shampoo dialed a number and when she placed it to her ear she was greeted by static.
"You see!" she whispered loudly. "I tell you I know nothing of these machines."
Mousse chuckled and took out his own cell phone. He dialed Cologne's number and held it up to his ear. He was greeted by static as well.
"What the hell?"
"Look like Shampoo not only one that have trouble with phone," Shampoo said smugly.
Mousse looked at her and shrugged. "Maybe the batteries are in wrong."
Mousse did everything he had been shown to do in case his phone went out, but nothing worked. He stared at the phone, willing it to work.
"Something is very wrong, I did everything there is to this damn thing, and it still doesn't work."
"What should we do?" Shampoo asked.
Mousse shrugged. "Perhaps we could just leave for a minute?"
Shampoo didn't get to answer. Both Amazon's attention was diverted to the other side of the rooftop. There stood five men dressed in expensive black suits, all holding handguns at arms length.
"You won't be going anywhere," one of the men said. He saw that both of them were considering jumping down from the roof. "If you jump I'm going to give the order and all the men that I put on the Tendo Dojo and the Kuno mansion will enter, and they will kill everyone inside."
Mousse stood, dropping his cell phone. "We won't try anything, just don't give that order."
The man backed up and stepped to the side. "Okay, if you'll be so kind as to come with us, we'll take you for a little ride."
===============
Yumi kicked in the front door of the Tendo house, dashing inside with his gun drawn. Three other Yakuza members dashed in and followed Yumi as they moved through the house, checking every room. He found the two women sitting at a dinner table. Before they could react he had motioned for one of the others to stay in the room. Yumi ran across the room and quickly moved upstairs. He searched every room but they were all empty.
"Shit!" Yumi cursed as he came downstairs. But his mood changed when he saw the other two had gotten Ono Tofu. He herded the doctor into the room with the other two women, the doctor stood protectively in front of them.
"There are still the two old men," Yumi told the others as he turned around. "Search the Dojo," he ordered.
The last two Yakuza left.
Five minutes later they had still not returned.
Yumi left the room and walked outside to where the last of the Yakuza that had gone with his group were patrolling the area. He stopped one of them.
"Go into the dining room where Hiro is and help him hold the hostages."
Yumi walked to the Dojo and found the two older men; they were tying the two Yakuza he had sent together with rope. They turned when they sensed Yumi. He drew his pistol and held it out, keeping his sights lined up on the man wearing the white gi. They didn't move, Yumi slowly approached, knowing that there was no way he could hit either of them from the distance he was at.
"Don't move. If you so much as move your finger I'm going to shoot you," he said, all the while moving closer and closer. Once he was about five feet from the Dojo doors he stopped. "Both of you come out, one at a time."
They began to move out, but when the one with the mustache tripped and fell, the other man stopped. Yumi moved his gun to point at the man wearing the white gi. But as he directed his attention to the other man, the mustached man rolled when he hit the ground and popped up, kicking Yumi's hand, sending the gun flying. The mustached man then used his extended leg to sweep around and knock Yumi's legs out from underneath him. As he fell, the man in the white gi came charging, delivering a double fisted punch to Yumi's chest.
Yumi was sent flying into the walls that surrounded the house. His breath was knocked from him and he couldn't stand. He watched as the two men congratulated each other.
"Excellent Tendo!" the man in the white gi said, clapping the man he called Tendo on the back.
"Well, you were great getting the other two using the Umisen-Ken, Saotome," Tendo said.
With their elation over they hopped onto the roof, moving across it at a speed that surprised Yumi.
===============
Genma watched from the roof as the Yakuza members guarded the entire house.
"This is going to be tricky Tendo," he said.
"I agree, do you have any ideas?" Soun asked.
"I think it would be best if did this separately. That way we can get this done faster," Genma explained.
"Okay, I'll go towards the gates; you go to the rear of the house and get inside through the bathroom window," Soun told him as he moved across the roof.
Genma didn't reply as he quickly moved in the other direction across the roof, slipping into the Umisen-Ken as he did so. His entrance went unnoticed and Genma was relieved to see that the bathroom was empty. He silently slid the door open and entered the laundry room. His ear was pressed to the door and he neither heard nor sensed any movement from the other side. He cracked the door open and moved into the hallway. Before he had moved to the stairs he could tell that there was someone at the base of the stairs.
Genma decided that jumping at the man would be best, which he did. As he descended on the man Genma lashed out, punching the man at the base of his neck, making his body collapse like a sack of potatoes. Genma forgot to catch the body and it slumped to the floor, making a rather distinguishable noise.
There were a few muffled noises and then the sound of some people running. Genma hung from the roof until the other Yakuza came running to the stairs. He fell behind them and smacked their heads together. This time he caught their bodies and slowly lowered them to the ground.
He looked down the hall but saw no one. Slowly but purposely he made his way until coming right beside the doors that lead into the dining room. He could here Dr. Tofu talking in a hushed whisper. Genma couldn't tell just how many people were on the inside so he decided to make an improvisation. He reached across from him towards a small table that held a vase, and tipped it over.
Someone instantly ran from the room and into the hallway, gun raised.
Genma grabbed the man's extended arm and pulled it down. The gun went off, sending a few rounds harmlessly into the ground. As the man spun to face Genma, his gun was slapped from his hand and kicked down the hall. Genma effortlessly picked the man up and threw him down the hall. Genma left him alone and ran into the dining room.
There was only one other Yakuza inside and Genma made a dive for him. As he did so, he heard a gun go off. That surprised him, but what surprised him more was when a bullet slammed into his leg. He grunted but otherwise he didn't recognize the hit, until he was knocked to the ground by the butt of the pistol the man he had dived at held. Genma felt his vision fading to black and he slowly turned and saw that the man he and Soun had taken out was the one that had shot him.
Before Genma could slip into unconsciousness, he heard the sound of a katana being drawn.
"Stay away from him!"
Genma's eyes widened in horror when he heard Nodoka yell out. He raised his head and saw that his wife was standing off to his right, holding her katana to point at the man that had pistol-whipped him. He could see that Nodoka's hands were shaking and the Yakuza member she was facing was smiling at her.
Genma placed his palms on the floor and shot to his legs. He didn't bother wincing when his leg protested the movement.
"Don't Move!"
The man looked at Genma in surprise and didn't react when Genma lunged at him.
"Moko Kaimon Ha!"
Genma threw his arms in a curving motion across the man's chest and kicked him in the abdomen at the same moment.
The Yakuza man flew back, his chest cut open and his arms flailing wildly.
Before Genma's feet touched the ground, the pain overcame him and his foot missed the ground and he slowly fell to the ground. He looked over at the man in the yard and saw that Soun had come from the roof and knocked him unconscious.
Genma hit the ground and heard Nodoka cry out. He slowly turned over so he could face her. She was kneeling beside him with tears streaming down her face. Genma's last coherent thought before he passed out was that his wife's pretty face shouldn't have to shed so many tears.
===============
"These cell phones are a godsend," Cologne said. She lifted her cup of tea to her lips and sipped.
Cologne and Happosai had decided to stay at the Kuno mansion for the night. After making sure that everyone was present and accounted for, they began to relax.
"Yeah, but the only bad thing I can find is that people can find the most annoying times to call," Nabiki said. "Last night I was taking a shower when this thing rang."
Happosai checked the clock on the wall and got to his feet.
"I'm going to call Shampoo and see how they're doing," he told everyone as he left the room.
"Is it just me or has he been kind of depressed?" Nabiki asked Cologne.
"Oh, well he's probably sad because I've been keeping his perverseness at a minimum for the past week," Cologne said.
Happosai came back into the room.
"Cologne, give me your phone, something's wrong with mine."
"What's wrong?" Cologne asked as she handed her cell phone over.
"When I tried to call Shampoo all I got was static," he answered as he dialed a number. He put it to his ear and frowned. "Yours is doing it too."
"Let me see," Cologne said, taking the phone from Happosai and dialing Shampoo's number from memory. She was greeted with static as well.
Nabiki took out her phone and dialed Cologne's. She received static as well.
"I hardly think that all three phones could have suddenly been broken," Happosai said.
Cologne got to her feet. "We had better check up on everyone first."
Cologne and Happosai left and Nabiki was left alone. She sighed and left the room.
Walking the halls of the mansion Nabiki felt very alone. Most of the hallways did not have their lights on and Nabiki could not find the light switch. After five minutes of stumbling through the dark she bumped into someone.
"Oww, sorry," she muttered as she looked up at whoever she had bumped into.
"Don't move," the person said, he held a gun that Nabiki recognized as one of those things that the American guards wear at the Embassy. She didn't have time to think of anything else. The man swung the gun around and smacked her across the head. She fell back down to the ground.
===============
Ukyo watched the night sky from her room. It was quite large for one person, and for someone that didn't have a lot to do but sit in it, it was very large. She sighed as a flicker of lightning flashed across the clouds.
The rumble of the thunder was a little loud, and her window rattled a little.
There was a knock at her door and she called out to whoever it was to come in.
Konatsu entered and bowed formally to her, Ukyo didn't bother returning it.
"Good evening Miss Ukyo," he greeted. Ukyo grunted in reply. "I was just wondering what you were doing."
Ukyo waved absentmindedly towards the window.
"Oh," the Kunoichi said. "How are you feeling?"
Ukyo snorted. "About as well as anyone can when they're being hunted by the Yakuza."
Ukyo realized that Konatsu was not responsible for any of this, and she was being a complete and total jerk to him. She turned to face him.
"I'm sorry Konatsu, I guess I'm still feeling sorry for myself," she said. "Having your heart broken is never something that makes you feel cheerful."
Konatsu seemed to deflate over her response. "I'm bothering you, I will leave."
He got up to leave.
"No!" Ukyo's response was a little louder than she had intended. "You will sit here and talk with me."
Konatsu immediately complied and sat down on the floor. Ukyo motioned for him to sit on the bed.
"What do you wish to talk about?" Konatsu asked as he sat down on the bed.
"I don't know," Ukyo admitted. She slowly turned and looked out the window again. It had begun to rain.
"Perhaps we should just sit then?" Konatsu suggested lightly. His voice held a sad note to it.
This did not escape Ukyo's notice and she turned back around and got up from her perch and sat down beside Konatsu.
"Listen Konatsu, I'm not exactly the best person with words, and I've never really been good at expressing my feelings or anything," she told him. "But what I want to tell you is that I very appreciate your being here. I get very depressed when I'm alone."
"You are a very happy person Miss Ukyo," Konatsu said. "It is never fitting to see you looking sad."
"Drop the Miss part, I'm just Ukyo."
"Yes Mis-, Ukyo," he said proudly. "Maybe we should talk about the restaurant?"
"No," Ukyo shook her head. "Maybe we should talk about you."
"I don't think I am a very interesting subject," Konatsu said. "I would like to hear about you though."
"Did I ever tell you that you are a very good friend?" Ukyo asked.
"Just a friend?" Konatsu asked quietly.
"Maybe you are more, I'm not sure," Ukyo said. "I've never been too sure of things in my life, but there have been some constants. Ranma being one of them," She saw Konatsu's pained look. "And now I come to feel that you are a constant as well."
Ukyo looked at Konatsu's face and saw that he was frowning. She was about to say something else when Konatsu pushed her to the floor. He motioned for her to remain quiet.
He peered out the window and saw the parked sedans outside the house. There were people rushing into the house with guns. Konatsu came back and knelt down beside Ukyo.
"They are here," he told her.
Ukyo immediately reached for her battle spatula, but her hand was stayed by Konatsu's. She looked up at him.
"You must remain here Ukyo; these men are far too dangerous."
Ukyo was about to spout a protest when she saw Konatsu's face. He was deadly serious. She nodded and moved her hand back. Konatsu seemed to let go almost reluctantly. He smiled once for her and then dashed out of the room, closing the door and turning the light off.
Konatsu removed some small shurikans from his kimono and moved silently through the house. He looked into the courtyard from a window and saw the men had split up, and was now moving through the house to cover every inch of it. And there were enough men for them to cover every room inside the Kuno mansion.
As he moved down the hall there was a brilliant flash of lightning and the lights flickered out. He smiled to himself. He could very easily attack the intruders now.
===============
Nabiki awoke when she felt someone kicking her in the side. Her eyes slowly opened and she was greeted to the sight of three men standing beside her. She realized that she was lying on the grass inside the courtyard.
"What are we going to do with her?" One of the men asked.
"They told us we were to shoot all inconsequential people," another man answered in a tone that made Nabiki shiver. "I didn't see her picture on any of the files that came our way."
"But I'm sure we can find some things to do with her before we have to kill her."
Nabiki's stomach twisted itself into knot. She fought back the tears in her eyes when one of the men reached down and grabbed her by her short hair and lifted her to her feet. As she was being led back to the house she stumbled and fell to the ground. It was dark out and Nabiki had tripped over a rock. One of the men growled and reached down and punched her in the stomach. The air rushed from her lungs as her eyes filled with tears again.
I'm going to die, Nabiki thought. Bile rose in her throat when she heard what they were saying now.
"Don't hurt her too bad; we'll want her in good condition when we get back. That way she'll last a lot longer."
The man reached down and his hand was clearly not going for her hair this time. Nabiki tried to scream her defiance but instead she started crying. The man laughed and Nabiki finally saw his face when lightning flashed. She spit at his face and tried to get to her feet.
She was kicked in the ribs and Nabiki fell to the ground, gasping for air. One of the men picked her up again, roughly by the hair. She looked and saw that he now held a knife in his hands.
"Try that again and you'll have a new hole to breath out of."
Nabiki sobbed and tightly shut her eyes, praying that it would all be over. When nothing happened she slowly opened her eyes and saw that the man was gazing down at her chest. Her shirt had been ripped and now showed a fair deal of cleavage. The man's hand moved to her chest.
There was a flash of lightning and Nabiki heard the whoosh of air as the sound of a sword swinging downward passed her ears. The man screamed as his hand was very cleanly sliced off and Nabiki was dropped to the ground.
The other men brought their guns to bear on someone that Nabiki couldn't see. She tried to sit up but her body didn't want to comply. She heard the sound of a gun going off, that was immediately followed by the sound of muffled screams.
She heard someone breathing heavily and then the padding of feet on grass. The person was walking towards her. He knelt down beside her and she clenched her eyes shut again.
"Did they hurt thy Nabiki Tendo?"
Nabiki's eyes shot open. That didn't sound like some Yakuza scum.
"Kuno?" she asked quietly as she fought the pain that came when she sat up. Kuno was kneeling before her, a katana at his side, covered with blood. His eyes held nothing but concern. Her eyes filled with tears again and she wrapped her arms around Kuno, not caring about the pain that presented itself from her side.
"I apologize for my lateness Nabiki Tendo, but I could not find my blade in the dark," Kuno told her. He wrapped his arm around her and heard her hiss in pain. "They harmed thee," it was a statement.
Nabiki felt Kuno very slowly set her on the ground; she opened her eyes and saw the kendoist walking towards the bodies of the men that had attacked her. He took his katana and wiped the blood on the man's shirt.
"Your blood is far too stained to have the honor of touching my blade," he told the lifeless body as he came back to Nabiki.
He lifted her in his arms and cradled her until they reached the house. He set her on the ground and stood to go inside.
"Wait Kuno-baby!" she heard herself saying.
He stopped and turned. "I am sorry Nabiki Tendo, but there is something I must do before I can tend to your wounds."
"What are you going to do?" It was a stupid question; she knew exactly what he was going to do.
"I shall teach these men what the consequences are when you enter the Kuno house uninvited," he said then looked at her. "They will pay for harming thee. I will not be long."
Nabiki watched him go. She felt a wave of terror wash over her as Kuno disappeared from view. That meant that she now had no protector. She spun around when she heard someone approaching from the courtyard. She saw Konatsu walking towards her.
"He asked me to watch over you," he told her.
Nabiki nodded. Konatsu picked her up and carried her upstairs towards Ukyo's room. He opened it and set Nabiki down on the bed. He turned to Ukyo.
"Make sure she doesn't try and get up, I think she may have some broken ribs," he said and then walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Ukyo turned back to Nabiki and saw that she was asleep. She smiled to herself and went back to the chair she had been sitting in. She hoisted her battle spatula back to her shoulder and waited.
===============
As the cars sped down the streets of Tokyo, no one seemed to notice the two Chinese amazons in the back seat of one of the cars. Nor did they notice that the cars were heading down towards Nerima.
"Do you want to know why your cell phone didn't work?" the man from the passenger seat asked.
Mousse looked at the man but didn't answer. Shampoo was very still next to Mousse. He suspected that she was fighting the urge to beat the shit out of their captures.
"We went down to the generators on the far side of town, the one's that supply the city with power, and stuck this disk into their computers that we got from America. What it does is it sends out a signal that intercepts any cell phone signal, and sends it back to the person's phone, so all they get is static or some message that says their phone is not properly working."
Mousse didn't reply, and instead settled for looking out the window. As he did so, he spotted someone running and jumping across the rooftops, taking glances at the cars every few seconds. Mousse knew that there were very few people in Nerima that could do that and he had narrowed the suspects down to Happosai or Cologne.
He leaned over to Shampoo and nudged her. When she looked at him he motioned with his head to look out her window. He watched as her eyes widened in surprise. She turned to face him and he nodded his head once. When Mousse went back to his window, he gave the figure on the rooftop the thumbs up.
Shampoo did the same on her side and then turned and grabbed the man's head from the passenger side and swung it to the left as Mousse did the same to the man driving. Their heads smacked together with a sickening thud, and they lost consciousness. The driver fell forward and landed on the steering wheel. The car swung and nearly flipped but instead slammed into a lamppost. Shampoo and Mousse were fazed but unhurt.
The car ahead of them came to an abrupt stop, and then its occupants poured out. Before they even got past the car, a wooden staff was sent flying from a rooftop and passed through one of the Yakuza's member's legs, sending him stumbling to the ground. The men on the other side of the car were stopped when a very short man appeared in front of them. One of the men drew his gun and fired a three-round burst at the small man.
People on the streets started screaming and running when the shots rang out.
The small man smiled when the shots rang out. The bullets were traveling at a speed of 850 feet per second. He simply plucked them from their intended path and dropped them casually to the ground. He moved with speed that surpassed the bullets and dispatched the two men with a quick ki shot.
By this time the police had been called and their sirens were faint but distinguishable. Shampoo and Mousse had freed themselves from the car and were walking over to the other car when Cologne called to them.
"Lead them up here Happy!"
Happosai jumped to the rooftops on the other side of the street with Mousse and Shampoo following him. They quickly made their escape; the police had arrived on the scene.
"What happened?" Cologne asked as they made their way across the rooftops.
"It seems the Yakuza knew of our following them," Mousse told her. "They also said that they were going to commit operations tonight against the Tendo Dojo and the Kuno estate."
"Then we had best hurry," Cologne said.
When they arrived at the Tendo Dojo, there was an ambulance. Cologne sent Happosai inside to check on things while the others went to the Kuno estate.
There was no ambulance or police there. And all the lights in the estate were off. They entered and were greeted by a very grisly sight. Bodies littered the hallways. All looked to have been hit with either a sword or by small throwing devices. Some of the men were alive and Cologne decided that the police would need to be called.
They found Konatsu outside a room. His clothes were blood soaked and he looked very tired.
"Where is everyone?" Cologne asked. There was no need to ask what had happened, that was very obvious.
Konatsu looked at her tiredly for a second. "Ukyo and Nabiki are in here. I don't know where Kuno went, but from the sounds of all the screams, I'd say he was around the northern end of the house."
Konatsu promptly fainted when he had finished telling them that. They carried him into the room. Ukyo and Nabiki were awake and looking at the door with terrified expressions. Once they recognized who they were, they relaxed.
"Where's Kuno?" Nabiki asked first.
"I'm not sure, I'll go look for him," Cologne said. She left Mousse and Shampoo to tell the others about what had happened.
Cologne found herself feeing very sick to her stomach as she continued down the halls. There were bullet holes and sword slashes all over the place. Men had their limbs cut off, and they were still more or less conscious. Cologne was thankful that she had reminded Happosai to tell the ambulance crew to send some people over to the Kuno estate.
She found Kuno collapsed against the wall of the room leading to the kitchen. He had many marks upon his torso. Cologne could tell that he had been nicked by ricochets and fragments from bullets. He wasn't dead, but he had collapsed from exhaustion.
Cologne found herself marveling at the boy's resiliency. He had move through the entire house and had taken many hits, but had only collapsed once the last of the Yakuza were down.
The night had been a long one, but it eventually gave way to daylight. Though for some it could not have come soon enough.
===============
Author's Notes: This chapter was released about two days after I arrived home, which goes to show just how determined I was to churn out another chapter as quick as I could.
I'm going to write a few explanations about this chapter. The scene between Ryoga and Akari is as close as I'm going for sex scenes. For those wondering about the thing the Yakuza used to cancel out the cell phones, that technology does exist. And through some exhaustive research I found that it did indeed exist in 1995 as well, so I included it in the story. The Yakuza does not usually do such things as I have them doing in this story. For the most part they act like petty criminals, but they can become very violent during little gang wars
Some people may be asking why Dr. Tofu did not try anything when the Yakuza attacked. First of all, he is a doctor, and doctors, no matter what part of the world, take an oath to never harm a living creature. I believe Dr. Tofu would be a man that would take such an oath seriously and even if his and his friend's lives were threatened, would not lash out.
The American military has already investigated and finished their research on the Yakuza and they conclude that they are not a threat to the American people. While I agree that they do not pose a threat towards America or neighboring countries, I do feel that the Yakuza should be dealt with. The Japanese police force and military are certainly not equipped to deal with them.
That's all the ranting I'm going to do for now, I would greatly appreciate it if people could write a review.
Ryoga knelt down beside Ranma. She moved her hands down to his sides and ran her fingers over the small wound that adorned Ranma's side.
"Looks like the bleedings stopped," Ryoga said shaking her head. "Damn fool had to faint."
"So he wasn't shot?" Akane asked. Her uneasiness over being around someone that had her exact figure was quickly fading.
"No," Ryoga shook her head. "He was caught with a piece of shrapnel that was sent flying when that soldier's shot went wide. I managed to pull it out," she held it up. There was a two inch long piece of twisted metal. "Luckily it missed his spine."
Akane smiled. "Thank you for helping him Ryoga."
Ryoga frowned, looking thoughtful. "Well, I just couldn't let him bleed to death could I?"
"No, but what I meant was that you are a better friend to Ranma than anyone could be. You're always there when he needs you."
Ryoga blushed at Akane's compliments. He didn't trust himself to reply.
"I didn't mean to embarrass you Ryoga," Akane said sincerely. "I just wanted to let you know how much you mean to Ranma, and to me."
"Thank you Akane, you have always been so nice to me, even after I've done so many terrible things to you," Ryoga said, then looked even more embarrassed. "Now I've even stolen your form."
"That was not your fault Ryoga," Akane said sternly. "It's true that you have done some things that can be looked upon as wrong, but everyone has done stuff that they regret later. No one is exempt from such things, and you are one of the few people that try and fix what they have wronged."
"Are you sure that my curse does not bother you?" Ryoga asked, his voice showing his doubt.
"It bothered me at first," Akane said truthfully. "But, I don't feel like that anymore. Right now when I look at you, I see my friend Ryoga, the man who has always been there when I need him, and is the only man that can truthfully call himself Ranma Saotome's best friend."
Ryoga's embarrassment slowly faded. "Thank you Akane, I want you to know that I will always think of you as my friend. You have been more than a friend to me even though I did not deserve it, and you have been a wonderful friend to Akari."
"Speaking of me," Akari said as she wrapped her arms around Ryoga's shoulder, shocking her. "I found a hot spring."
"Jeez Akari," Ryoga said. "You scared the hell out of me."
"I'm sorry, but you were saying such sweet things that I just couldn't interrupt," Akari said, the lightly blew into Ryoga's ear. "So, would you like to go take a bath?"
Ryoga blushed. "I don't think we should go until Ranma wakes up, I don't want to leave Akane alone."
Akari smiled and sat down on the grass.
Ryoga looked back at Ranma and saw he was slowly coming to. She leaned over and looked a little concerned when Ranma's face screwed up in a look of pain. Ranma's eyes opened and he stared right at Ryoga, he smiled and slowly raised his head and placed his lips against Ryoga's.
Ryoga stood stock still as Ranma lowered his head back down. He wore a sexy smile across his face and he was about to reach out for Ryoga's hand when Ryoga's anger took over.
"Ranma! You are dead!"
Ranma's expression changed to one of surprise when Ryoga raised her arms to strike him. He was even more surprised when another Akane stopped the other Akane from attacking him. That was when realization struck him.
"Augh! I kissed Ryoga!" Ranma rushed to the nearby stream and began sucking water into his mouth.
"I'm going to kill you!" Ryoga shouted as she tried to rush forward. But Akari was holding onto her arm.
"Wait, calm down Ryoga, how could Ranma have known that it was you?" Akari asked as she struggled to hold Ryoga back.
Ryoga stopped and turned to Akari. Her hand rose to the bandanna that adorned her head. "Akane doesn't wear a bandanna! I wear a bandanna!"
Akari shook her head and kept her hold on Ryoga's arm.
Akane went and knelt down beside Ranma. She stopped Ranma from spitting out anymore water.
"I think you should apologize to him Ranma," Akane said. When she saw Ranma's incredulous look she continued. "When you feinted Ryoga was nearly in tears when he reached you."
Ranma seemed to remember something and looked down at his side. There was a large rip in his shirt, and a lot of dried blood.
"Ryoga pulled the piece of shrapnel from your side, and kept his hands on your side for almost an hour to try and stop the bleeding," Akane told him.
Ranma looked up at Ryoga, whose look of pure rage was replaced by one of annoyance.
Ryoga saw Ranma staring at her and snarled. "Next time I'm going to let you bleed to death."
Akari smacked Ryoga's head. "That's a terrible thing to say!"
Ranma smiled and got to his feet, he cautiously approached Ryoga and stopped three feet from him.
"I'm sorry that I did that Ryoga, if I had known that it was you, you can bet that I would not have kissed you. I'm sorry for making you worry."
Ryoga looked away and snorted. "I wasn't worried about you; I just didn't want to have to carry your limp corpse all the way back to Japan."
Ranma smiled again. If Ryoga was talking like that, he wasn't angry anymore.
Akari shook her head. "Ryoga, how can you call yourself Ranma's friend when you talk to him like that?"
"Ah don't worry about it Akari," Ranma said. "I know he doesn't mean one damn word of it." Ranma punched Ryoga lightly on the arm.
"He still shouldn't talk like that," Akari said, but she was smiling now.
"So what are we going to do now?" Ranma asked the assembled group.
"I'm worried about those soldiers tracking us down," Ryoga said. "If they catch up to us, things could get very messy. I know that I don't want to wait around for them."
Ranma nodded. "Ryoga's right, we are probably going to have to kick things into high gear if were going to have the chance to escape China without confronting any type of authority."
"I think we should probably head back to Nerima," Akane said. "If Phillip was able to get to Seiji in time I'm sure he could have saved him. I think that they will try and find us at home once they get out of China."
"Akane's probably right," Ryoga said.
"Yeah, I agree with the tomboy," Ranma said.
Akari nodded her head but didn't speak. Ryoga looked over at her.
"Is something wrong Akari?"
"I just really hope the others are okay," she said, her voice very emotional.
Ryoga put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. Akari turned around and started crying into Ryoga's chest, which was very difficult considering that Ryoga's chest was not as flat as before.
Ryoga looked at the others and smiled. "I think I had better take her to that hot spring, I can't very well comfort her like this."
Ryoga led the weeping Akari into the trees.
Ranma turned to Akane. "I really don't think Seiji could have survived Akane."
Akane nodded sadly. "I know Ranma, I just hope the others managed to get out of there okay."
"Ah, I don't think we have to worry about Phil he's probably already back in Japan," Ranma said. Then he looked at Akane a little lewdly. "Do you know if Akari said that there was more than one hot spring?"
Akane smiled, "I don't know, let's go check it out."
===============
Ryoga set Akari down on a rock. She had stopped crying, but she looked like she would start any time soon.
"I'm sure everyone made it away from Jusenkyo Akari, you know how strong they are. I hardly think that something like a gunshot is going to keep Seiji down."
Akari looked at Ryoga. "Your right, I'm sorry it's just, he was always so nice and he did so many wonderful things for us."
Ryoga nodded her head. "Yeah, when you were taken, he stopped me from destroying myself. Not physically, but mentally."
Akari smiled. "Don't you ever do something like that Ryoga Hibiki, no matter what happens, I'll always come back to you."
"Only if you promise that you'll never get kidnapped again, that stuffs for Akane, not you."
"That's horrible," Akari said as she laughed.
Ryoga smiled and got to her feet. "I'm going to change back; it's hard having a conversation with someone when you're in another person's body."
As Ryoga was about to jump into the water Akari stopped him.
"Don't you think it would be better if you didn't get your only set of clothes wet?" When Ryoga looked at her she smiled. "I know Ryoga, but you're going to have to get used to seeing yourself in this body."
Ryoga took a breath and then quickly stripped out of her clothes. She didn't look down but instead kept her eyes at a perfect level gaze with Akari's. Slowly Ryoga backed up until she fell into the hot spring.
When Ryoga came up he smiled and laughed. "Ah, now this is better."
He did a few strokes through the water and then realized that Akari's gaze was still on him. He blushed and swam back to grab his boxers. When he reached the shore he found that his clothes were missing.
"Akari, where's my clothes?" Ryoga asked, turning to look at her.
Akari smiled and pointed to the branch from a tree. His clothes lay spread out on the branch.
"Do you think you could get me my boxers please?"
Akari walked over to the branch, but instead of complying with Ryoga's request, she began to remove her sweater-vest. She heard Ryoga 'eep' and heard the distinct sound of someone turning around very fast in water. She removed her blouse next. She pulled down her slip and knee-high socks. After that she was clad only in her bra and panties. She quickly removed those, aware that she was blushing furiously.
Akari took small steps toward the spring. She had heard correctly, Ryoga was now facing away from her. She silently slipped into the water and made her way over to Ryoga, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"I love you Ryoga," she whispered into his ear as she moved closer to him, hugging her arms around Ryoga's chest.
Ryoga was very embarrassed. He didn't know what he would do if Ranma or Akane showed up. He also didn't know what he would do if they didn't show up. Slowly he found his voice.
"I love you too Akari. But I don't know if this is a good idea," he said softly.
"Why is that dear?" she asked as she moved her hands up his chest.
"Because I don't know where this is going to lead, and I don't want to do something that you're not ready for," Ryoga said truthfully.
"When a girl presses up against you when you're both naked, that generally means that she's ready for anything," Akari told him. To emphasize her words, she slowly swam around him, so she could look at his face and so he could see her. "And I am ready Ryoga; I've been ready for a long time."
Ryoga looked at her and she could see that his blush was slowly decreasing.
"Are you sure you're ready?" Ryoga asked, making sure his eyes did not divert any lower that Akari's neck.
Akari didn't answer him; instead she moved her body right up against his and kissed him. Ryoga's arms came down around her and held her tightly. He stood up and carried her towards the edge.
"If we are going to do this Akari, let's do it right," Ryoga said huskily.
Akari could only nod her head as she felt herself begin to swoon. Ryoga set her down on the cool grass and stood in front of her, taking in the sight of her body. He didn't look embarrassed and he wasn't getting a nosebleed. Akari took this as a sign that he was really going to do it.
Ryoga smiled and moved down on top of her. He felt like he might faint any second. But when he saw Akari's face, looking at him with a look of pureness and love it made him want to cry.
Akari saw Ryoga's look, she was finding very hard for her to not pounce on him, but she knew that she needed to let him take his time.
Ryoga found some sound footing and lowered himself onto her.
===============
Mousse looked across the alleyway. He looked intently down it, but he didn't see anyone so he slowly moved down it.
"Shampoo, are you in here?" Mousse whispered sharply. There was no answer.
Mousse shook his head sadly, he still couldn't find Shampoo. She had left the Cat Café earlier and said that she was going to do some reconnaissance. His offer to go along was denied and he had waited, and waited, until he could no longer deny that something must have happened. He had neglected to call any of the others and he was now coming to the understanding that it was a mistake.
He left the alley and turned down the busy streets. He jumped to one of the many shop's roof and began scanning the crowd from there. He pushed his glasses back up his nose and cursed. His near-sightedness was going to cause him to lose Shampoo. He spotted what looked like someone leaping across a rooftop further down the street.
Mousse took off after the figure and quickly caught up to them. It was Shampoo and she didn't even pay attention to him. Mousse followed her and could see that Shampoo was following some car. When the car finally stopped outside a large apartment building, Mousse made his presence known.
"Who are they?" he asked. Shampoo looked over her shoulder in surprise but quickly regained her composure.
"I no know, they sit outside Tendo house and then drive away. I follow across town, see them pick up more people," Shampoo told him.
"Do you think it's them?" Mousse asked.
"Maybe, they go inside building and we wait until come back yes?"
Mousse nodded. "It would be best if we waited for them. Tell me Shampoo, did you call anyone and tell them about this?"
"No," Shampoo shook her head. "I no close to any phone."
Mousse looked at her puzzlingly for a moment. "Didn't you have the cell phone that the old ghoul gave you?"
Shampoo blushed and looked embarrassed. "I don't know how to use such a thing."
Mousse smiled and knelt down, holding out his hand for Shampoo's phone. "It's really not that hard Shampoo, let me show you."
Mousse showed Shampoo the basics of the cell phone and how to call someone.
"Should we call great-grandmother?" Shampoo asked.
"Yes," Mousse nodded. "She already made it quite clear that she wanted to be kept up to date on everything that happens."
Shampoo dialed a number and when she placed it to her ear she was greeted by static.
"You see!" she whispered loudly. "I tell you I know nothing of these machines."
Mousse chuckled and took out his own cell phone. He dialed Cologne's number and held it up to his ear. He was greeted by static as well.
"What the hell?"
"Look like Shampoo not only one that have trouble with phone," Shampoo said smugly.
Mousse looked at her and shrugged. "Maybe the batteries are in wrong."
Mousse did everything he had been shown to do in case his phone went out, but nothing worked. He stared at the phone, willing it to work.
"Something is very wrong, I did everything there is to this damn thing, and it still doesn't work."
"What should we do?" Shampoo asked.
Mousse shrugged. "Perhaps we could just leave for a minute?"
Shampoo didn't get to answer. Both Amazon's attention was diverted to the other side of the rooftop. There stood five men dressed in expensive black suits, all holding handguns at arms length.
"You won't be going anywhere," one of the men said. He saw that both of them were considering jumping down from the roof. "If you jump I'm going to give the order and all the men that I put on the Tendo Dojo and the Kuno mansion will enter, and they will kill everyone inside."
Mousse stood, dropping his cell phone. "We won't try anything, just don't give that order."
The man backed up and stepped to the side. "Okay, if you'll be so kind as to come with us, we'll take you for a little ride."
===============
Yumi kicked in the front door of the Tendo house, dashing inside with his gun drawn. Three other Yakuza members dashed in and followed Yumi as they moved through the house, checking every room. He found the two women sitting at a dinner table. Before they could react he had motioned for one of the others to stay in the room. Yumi ran across the room and quickly moved upstairs. He searched every room but they were all empty.
"Shit!" Yumi cursed as he came downstairs. But his mood changed when he saw the other two had gotten Ono Tofu. He herded the doctor into the room with the other two women, the doctor stood protectively in front of them.
"There are still the two old men," Yumi told the others as he turned around. "Search the Dojo," he ordered.
The last two Yakuza left.
Five minutes later they had still not returned.
Yumi left the room and walked outside to where the last of the Yakuza that had gone with his group were patrolling the area. He stopped one of them.
"Go into the dining room where Hiro is and help him hold the hostages."
Yumi walked to the Dojo and found the two older men; they were tying the two Yakuza he had sent together with rope. They turned when they sensed Yumi. He drew his pistol and held it out, keeping his sights lined up on the man wearing the white gi. They didn't move, Yumi slowly approached, knowing that there was no way he could hit either of them from the distance he was at.
"Don't move. If you so much as move your finger I'm going to shoot you," he said, all the while moving closer and closer. Once he was about five feet from the Dojo doors he stopped. "Both of you come out, one at a time."
They began to move out, but when the one with the mustache tripped and fell, the other man stopped. Yumi moved his gun to point at the man wearing the white gi. But as he directed his attention to the other man, the mustached man rolled when he hit the ground and popped up, kicking Yumi's hand, sending the gun flying. The mustached man then used his extended leg to sweep around and knock Yumi's legs out from underneath him. As he fell, the man in the white gi came charging, delivering a double fisted punch to Yumi's chest.
Yumi was sent flying into the walls that surrounded the house. His breath was knocked from him and he couldn't stand. He watched as the two men congratulated each other.
"Excellent Tendo!" the man in the white gi said, clapping the man he called Tendo on the back.
"Well, you were great getting the other two using the Umisen-Ken, Saotome," Tendo said.
With their elation over they hopped onto the roof, moving across it at a speed that surprised Yumi.
===============
Genma watched from the roof as the Yakuza members guarded the entire house.
"This is going to be tricky Tendo," he said.
"I agree, do you have any ideas?" Soun asked.
"I think it would be best if did this separately. That way we can get this done faster," Genma explained.
"Okay, I'll go towards the gates; you go to the rear of the house and get inside through the bathroom window," Soun told him as he moved across the roof.
Genma didn't reply as he quickly moved in the other direction across the roof, slipping into the Umisen-Ken as he did so. His entrance went unnoticed and Genma was relieved to see that the bathroom was empty. He silently slid the door open and entered the laundry room. His ear was pressed to the door and he neither heard nor sensed any movement from the other side. He cracked the door open and moved into the hallway. Before he had moved to the stairs he could tell that there was someone at the base of the stairs.
Genma decided that jumping at the man would be best, which he did. As he descended on the man Genma lashed out, punching the man at the base of his neck, making his body collapse like a sack of potatoes. Genma forgot to catch the body and it slumped to the floor, making a rather distinguishable noise.
There were a few muffled noises and then the sound of some people running. Genma hung from the roof until the other Yakuza came running to the stairs. He fell behind them and smacked their heads together. This time he caught their bodies and slowly lowered them to the ground.
He looked down the hall but saw no one. Slowly but purposely he made his way until coming right beside the doors that lead into the dining room. He could here Dr. Tofu talking in a hushed whisper. Genma couldn't tell just how many people were on the inside so he decided to make an improvisation. He reached across from him towards a small table that held a vase, and tipped it over.
Someone instantly ran from the room and into the hallway, gun raised.
Genma grabbed the man's extended arm and pulled it down. The gun went off, sending a few rounds harmlessly into the ground. As the man spun to face Genma, his gun was slapped from his hand and kicked down the hall. Genma effortlessly picked the man up and threw him down the hall. Genma left him alone and ran into the dining room.
There was only one other Yakuza inside and Genma made a dive for him. As he did so, he heard a gun go off. That surprised him, but what surprised him more was when a bullet slammed into his leg. He grunted but otherwise he didn't recognize the hit, until he was knocked to the ground by the butt of the pistol the man he had dived at held. Genma felt his vision fading to black and he slowly turned and saw that the man he and Soun had taken out was the one that had shot him.
Before Genma could slip into unconsciousness, he heard the sound of a katana being drawn.
"Stay away from him!"
Genma's eyes widened in horror when he heard Nodoka yell out. He raised his head and saw that his wife was standing off to his right, holding her katana to point at the man that had pistol-whipped him. He could see that Nodoka's hands were shaking and the Yakuza member she was facing was smiling at her.
Genma placed his palms on the floor and shot to his legs. He didn't bother wincing when his leg protested the movement.
"Don't Move!"
The man looked at Genma in surprise and didn't react when Genma lunged at him.
"Moko Kaimon Ha!"
Genma threw his arms in a curving motion across the man's chest and kicked him in the abdomen at the same moment.
The Yakuza man flew back, his chest cut open and his arms flailing wildly.
Before Genma's feet touched the ground, the pain overcame him and his foot missed the ground and he slowly fell to the ground. He looked over at the man in the yard and saw that Soun had come from the roof and knocked him unconscious.
Genma hit the ground and heard Nodoka cry out. He slowly turned over so he could face her. She was kneeling beside him with tears streaming down her face. Genma's last coherent thought before he passed out was that his wife's pretty face shouldn't have to shed so many tears.
===============
"These cell phones are a godsend," Cologne said. She lifted her cup of tea to her lips and sipped.
Cologne and Happosai had decided to stay at the Kuno mansion for the night. After making sure that everyone was present and accounted for, they began to relax.
"Yeah, but the only bad thing I can find is that people can find the most annoying times to call," Nabiki said. "Last night I was taking a shower when this thing rang."
Happosai checked the clock on the wall and got to his feet.
"I'm going to call Shampoo and see how they're doing," he told everyone as he left the room.
"Is it just me or has he been kind of depressed?" Nabiki asked Cologne.
"Oh, well he's probably sad because I've been keeping his perverseness at a minimum for the past week," Cologne said.
Happosai came back into the room.
"Cologne, give me your phone, something's wrong with mine."
"What's wrong?" Cologne asked as she handed her cell phone over.
"When I tried to call Shampoo all I got was static," he answered as he dialed a number. He put it to his ear and frowned. "Yours is doing it too."
"Let me see," Cologne said, taking the phone from Happosai and dialing Shampoo's number from memory. She was greeted with static as well.
Nabiki took out her phone and dialed Cologne's. She received static as well.
"I hardly think that all three phones could have suddenly been broken," Happosai said.
Cologne got to her feet. "We had better check up on everyone first."
Cologne and Happosai left and Nabiki was left alone. She sighed and left the room.
Walking the halls of the mansion Nabiki felt very alone. Most of the hallways did not have their lights on and Nabiki could not find the light switch. After five minutes of stumbling through the dark she bumped into someone.
"Oww, sorry," she muttered as she looked up at whoever she had bumped into.
"Don't move," the person said, he held a gun that Nabiki recognized as one of those things that the American guards wear at the Embassy. She didn't have time to think of anything else. The man swung the gun around and smacked her across the head. She fell back down to the ground.
===============
Ukyo watched the night sky from her room. It was quite large for one person, and for someone that didn't have a lot to do but sit in it, it was very large. She sighed as a flicker of lightning flashed across the clouds.
The rumble of the thunder was a little loud, and her window rattled a little.
There was a knock at her door and she called out to whoever it was to come in.
Konatsu entered and bowed formally to her, Ukyo didn't bother returning it.
"Good evening Miss Ukyo," he greeted. Ukyo grunted in reply. "I was just wondering what you were doing."
Ukyo waved absentmindedly towards the window.
"Oh," the Kunoichi said. "How are you feeling?"
Ukyo snorted. "About as well as anyone can when they're being hunted by the Yakuza."
Ukyo realized that Konatsu was not responsible for any of this, and she was being a complete and total jerk to him. She turned to face him.
"I'm sorry Konatsu, I guess I'm still feeling sorry for myself," she said. "Having your heart broken is never something that makes you feel cheerful."
Konatsu seemed to deflate over her response. "I'm bothering you, I will leave."
He got up to leave.
"No!" Ukyo's response was a little louder than she had intended. "You will sit here and talk with me."
Konatsu immediately complied and sat down on the floor. Ukyo motioned for him to sit on the bed.
"What do you wish to talk about?" Konatsu asked as he sat down on the bed.
"I don't know," Ukyo admitted. She slowly turned and looked out the window again. It had begun to rain.
"Perhaps we should just sit then?" Konatsu suggested lightly. His voice held a sad note to it.
This did not escape Ukyo's notice and she turned back around and got up from her perch and sat down beside Konatsu.
"Listen Konatsu, I'm not exactly the best person with words, and I've never really been good at expressing my feelings or anything," she told him. "But what I want to tell you is that I very appreciate your being here. I get very depressed when I'm alone."
"You are a very happy person Miss Ukyo," Konatsu said. "It is never fitting to see you looking sad."
"Drop the Miss part, I'm just Ukyo."
"Yes Mis-, Ukyo," he said proudly. "Maybe we should talk about the restaurant?"
"No," Ukyo shook her head. "Maybe we should talk about you."
"I don't think I am a very interesting subject," Konatsu said. "I would like to hear about you though."
"Did I ever tell you that you are a very good friend?" Ukyo asked.
"Just a friend?" Konatsu asked quietly.
"Maybe you are more, I'm not sure," Ukyo said. "I've never been too sure of things in my life, but there have been some constants. Ranma being one of them," She saw Konatsu's pained look. "And now I come to feel that you are a constant as well."
Ukyo looked at Konatsu's face and saw that he was frowning. She was about to say something else when Konatsu pushed her to the floor. He motioned for her to remain quiet.
He peered out the window and saw the parked sedans outside the house. There were people rushing into the house with guns. Konatsu came back and knelt down beside Ukyo.
"They are here," he told her.
Ukyo immediately reached for her battle spatula, but her hand was stayed by Konatsu's. She looked up at him.
"You must remain here Ukyo; these men are far too dangerous."
Ukyo was about to spout a protest when she saw Konatsu's face. He was deadly serious. She nodded and moved her hand back. Konatsu seemed to let go almost reluctantly. He smiled once for her and then dashed out of the room, closing the door and turning the light off.
Konatsu removed some small shurikans from his kimono and moved silently through the house. He looked into the courtyard from a window and saw the men had split up, and was now moving through the house to cover every inch of it. And there were enough men for them to cover every room inside the Kuno mansion.
As he moved down the hall there was a brilliant flash of lightning and the lights flickered out. He smiled to himself. He could very easily attack the intruders now.
===============
Nabiki awoke when she felt someone kicking her in the side. Her eyes slowly opened and she was greeted to the sight of three men standing beside her. She realized that she was lying on the grass inside the courtyard.
"What are we going to do with her?" One of the men asked.
"They told us we were to shoot all inconsequential people," another man answered in a tone that made Nabiki shiver. "I didn't see her picture on any of the files that came our way."
"But I'm sure we can find some things to do with her before we have to kill her."
Nabiki's stomach twisted itself into knot. She fought back the tears in her eyes when one of the men reached down and grabbed her by her short hair and lifted her to her feet. As she was being led back to the house she stumbled and fell to the ground. It was dark out and Nabiki had tripped over a rock. One of the men growled and reached down and punched her in the stomach. The air rushed from her lungs as her eyes filled with tears again.
I'm going to die, Nabiki thought. Bile rose in her throat when she heard what they were saying now.
"Don't hurt her too bad; we'll want her in good condition when we get back. That way she'll last a lot longer."
The man reached down and his hand was clearly not going for her hair this time. Nabiki tried to scream her defiance but instead she started crying. The man laughed and Nabiki finally saw his face when lightning flashed. She spit at his face and tried to get to her feet.
She was kicked in the ribs and Nabiki fell to the ground, gasping for air. One of the men picked her up again, roughly by the hair. She looked and saw that he now held a knife in his hands.
"Try that again and you'll have a new hole to breath out of."
Nabiki sobbed and tightly shut her eyes, praying that it would all be over. When nothing happened she slowly opened her eyes and saw that the man was gazing down at her chest. Her shirt had been ripped and now showed a fair deal of cleavage. The man's hand moved to her chest.
There was a flash of lightning and Nabiki heard the whoosh of air as the sound of a sword swinging downward passed her ears. The man screamed as his hand was very cleanly sliced off and Nabiki was dropped to the ground.
The other men brought their guns to bear on someone that Nabiki couldn't see. She tried to sit up but her body didn't want to comply. She heard the sound of a gun going off, that was immediately followed by the sound of muffled screams.
She heard someone breathing heavily and then the padding of feet on grass. The person was walking towards her. He knelt down beside her and she clenched her eyes shut again.
"Did they hurt thy Nabiki Tendo?"
Nabiki's eyes shot open. That didn't sound like some Yakuza scum.
"Kuno?" she asked quietly as she fought the pain that came when she sat up. Kuno was kneeling before her, a katana at his side, covered with blood. His eyes held nothing but concern. Her eyes filled with tears again and she wrapped her arms around Kuno, not caring about the pain that presented itself from her side.
"I apologize for my lateness Nabiki Tendo, but I could not find my blade in the dark," Kuno told her. He wrapped his arm around her and heard her hiss in pain. "They harmed thee," it was a statement.
Nabiki felt Kuno very slowly set her on the ground; she opened her eyes and saw the kendoist walking towards the bodies of the men that had attacked her. He took his katana and wiped the blood on the man's shirt.
"Your blood is far too stained to have the honor of touching my blade," he told the lifeless body as he came back to Nabiki.
He lifted her in his arms and cradled her until they reached the house. He set her on the ground and stood to go inside.
"Wait Kuno-baby!" she heard herself saying.
He stopped and turned. "I am sorry Nabiki Tendo, but there is something I must do before I can tend to your wounds."
"What are you going to do?" It was a stupid question; she knew exactly what he was going to do.
"I shall teach these men what the consequences are when you enter the Kuno house uninvited," he said then looked at her. "They will pay for harming thee. I will not be long."
Nabiki watched him go. She felt a wave of terror wash over her as Kuno disappeared from view. That meant that she now had no protector. She spun around when she heard someone approaching from the courtyard. She saw Konatsu walking towards her.
"He asked me to watch over you," he told her.
Nabiki nodded. Konatsu picked her up and carried her upstairs towards Ukyo's room. He opened it and set Nabiki down on the bed. He turned to Ukyo.
"Make sure she doesn't try and get up, I think she may have some broken ribs," he said and then walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Ukyo turned back to Nabiki and saw that she was asleep. She smiled to herself and went back to the chair she had been sitting in. She hoisted her battle spatula back to her shoulder and waited.
===============
As the cars sped down the streets of Tokyo, no one seemed to notice the two Chinese amazons in the back seat of one of the cars. Nor did they notice that the cars were heading down towards Nerima.
"Do you want to know why your cell phone didn't work?" the man from the passenger seat asked.
Mousse looked at the man but didn't answer. Shampoo was very still next to Mousse. He suspected that she was fighting the urge to beat the shit out of their captures.
"We went down to the generators on the far side of town, the one's that supply the city with power, and stuck this disk into their computers that we got from America. What it does is it sends out a signal that intercepts any cell phone signal, and sends it back to the person's phone, so all they get is static or some message that says their phone is not properly working."
Mousse didn't reply, and instead settled for looking out the window. As he did so, he spotted someone running and jumping across the rooftops, taking glances at the cars every few seconds. Mousse knew that there were very few people in Nerima that could do that and he had narrowed the suspects down to Happosai or Cologne.
He leaned over to Shampoo and nudged her. When she looked at him he motioned with his head to look out her window. He watched as her eyes widened in surprise. She turned to face him and he nodded his head once. When Mousse went back to his window, he gave the figure on the rooftop the thumbs up.
Shampoo did the same on her side and then turned and grabbed the man's head from the passenger side and swung it to the left as Mousse did the same to the man driving. Their heads smacked together with a sickening thud, and they lost consciousness. The driver fell forward and landed on the steering wheel. The car swung and nearly flipped but instead slammed into a lamppost. Shampoo and Mousse were fazed but unhurt.
The car ahead of them came to an abrupt stop, and then its occupants poured out. Before they even got past the car, a wooden staff was sent flying from a rooftop and passed through one of the Yakuza's member's legs, sending him stumbling to the ground. The men on the other side of the car were stopped when a very short man appeared in front of them. One of the men drew his gun and fired a three-round burst at the small man.
People on the streets started screaming and running when the shots rang out.
The small man smiled when the shots rang out. The bullets were traveling at a speed of 850 feet per second. He simply plucked them from their intended path and dropped them casually to the ground. He moved with speed that surpassed the bullets and dispatched the two men with a quick ki shot.
By this time the police had been called and their sirens were faint but distinguishable. Shampoo and Mousse had freed themselves from the car and were walking over to the other car when Cologne called to them.
"Lead them up here Happy!"
Happosai jumped to the rooftops on the other side of the street with Mousse and Shampoo following him. They quickly made their escape; the police had arrived on the scene.
"What happened?" Cologne asked as they made their way across the rooftops.
"It seems the Yakuza knew of our following them," Mousse told her. "They also said that they were going to commit operations tonight against the Tendo Dojo and the Kuno estate."
"Then we had best hurry," Cologne said.
When they arrived at the Tendo Dojo, there was an ambulance. Cologne sent Happosai inside to check on things while the others went to the Kuno estate.
There was no ambulance or police there. And all the lights in the estate were off. They entered and were greeted by a very grisly sight. Bodies littered the hallways. All looked to have been hit with either a sword or by small throwing devices. Some of the men were alive and Cologne decided that the police would need to be called.
They found Konatsu outside a room. His clothes were blood soaked and he looked very tired.
"Where is everyone?" Cologne asked. There was no need to ask what had happened, that was very obvious.
Konatsu looked at her tiredly for a second. "Ukyo and Nabiki are in here. I don't know where Kuno went, but from the sounds of all the screams, I'd say he was around the northern end of the house."
Konatsu promptly fainted when he had finished telling them that. They carried him into the room. Ukyo and Nabiki were awake and looking at the door with terrified expressions. Once they recognized who they were, they relaxed.
"Where's Kuno?" Nabiki asked first.
"I'm not sure, I'll go look for him," Cologne said. She left Mousse and Shampoo to tell the others about what had happened.
Cologne found herself feeing very sick to her stomach as she continued down the halls. There were bullet holes and sword slashes all over the place. Men had their limbs cut off, and they were still more or less conscious. Cologne was thankful that she had reminded Happosai to tell the ambulance crew to send some people over to the Kuno estate.
She found Kuno collapsed against the wall of the room leading to the kitchen. He had many marks upon his torso. Cologne could tell that he had been nicked by ricochets and fragments from bullets. He wasn't dead, but he had collapsed from exhaustion.
Cologne found herself marveling at the boy's resiliency. He had move through the entire house and had taken many hits, but had only collapsed once the last of the Yakuza were down.
The night had been a long one, but it eventually gave way to daylight. Though for some it could not have come soon enough.
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Author's Notes: This chapter was released about two days after I arrived home, which goes to show just how determined I was to churn out another chapter as quick as I could.
I'm going to write a few explanations about this chapter. The scene between Ryoga and Akari is as close as I'm going for sex scenes. For those wondering about the thing the Yakuza used to cancel out the cell phones, that technology does exist. And through some exhaustive research I found that it did indeed exist in 1995 as well, so I included it in the story. The Yakuza does not usually do such things as I have them doing in this story. For the most part they act like petty criminals, but they can become very violent during little gang wars
Some people may be asking why Dr. Tofu did not try anything when the Yakuza attacked. First of all, he is a doctor, and doctors, no matter what part of the world, take an oath to never harm a living creature. I believe Dr. Tofu would be a man that would take such an oath seriously and even if his and his friend's lives were threatened, would not lash out.
The American military has already investigated and finished their research on the Yakuza and they conclude that they are not a threat to the American people. While I agree that they do not pose a threat towards America or neighboring countries, I do feel that the Yakuza should be dealt with. The Japanese police force and military are certainly not equipped to deal with them.
That's all the ranting I'm going to do for now, I would greatly appreciate it if people could write a review.