Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½, nor claim to.
Chapter Twenty Four: Approaching Critical:
"Hold on to me, love; you know I can't stay long. All I wanted to say was I love you and I'm not afraid. Can you hear me? Can you feel me in your arms?" Evanescence: My Last Breath
"So, you're all going out again tonight?" Akane asked quietly, sitting quietly on the bed.
"Sure are, Akchan." Ranma replied while pulling on a clean undershirt over his arms, before pausing to get his head through the hole. "He's been getting closer, so we're goin' to try to get him tonight."
"Everyone's coming here this time, aren't they?"
"Yep . . . 'cept for Kasumi and Tofu. They're stayin' right where they are, just in case. But everyone else is gonna' be here."
Akane slowly stood up, walking over to her husband as he pulled on his red shirt, gently straightening it, before starting to button it up. She let her hands trail around his sides, gently griping her hands into the chest, leaning onto him to whisper into his ear. "Just don't forget what you promised us."
Ranma nodded solemnly. "Yeah, I know. Don't fight alone, and keep an eye on the kids. I won't forget."
"One more thing." Ranma glanced up. "Since you're probably going to find him tonight, I want you to do something for the rest of us."
"What is it?"
"Kick his ass for that year and a half."
Ranma smirked a bit, before gently kissing her on the lips, and smiling. "You don't have to ask me twice."
- - -
Sauske rubbed his forehead as he slowly stepped out of the bath. The time was getting closer. This would be his fifth trip on the search party, out of the soon to be fourteen trips over the last two weeks. It had been a long, and altogether depressing, two-week search so far. With December already begun, the mood was still quite low. They had barely caught more than glimpses of Happosai, and few were definite beyond a reasonable doubt. His father had said he almost caught up to him, but "the old freak ran off before I could catch him."
Other than that, though, the last two weeks had been a blur, shredding what little nerves he had when they began. Hearing that Happosai was back was bad news enough, but not knowing when and where the fight would be meant constant, never ending suspense if he'll attack, or they'll attack first. School didn't help at all, especially after he was spotted there during the day, before bolting off. He wasn't stealing nearly as much as he had long ago, just enough to get attention, then disappear. He was drawing them out, taunting and tantalizing them. And even Sauske knew that was his plan.
But they had no choice but to follow, even if everyone knew the reasons were pre-planned by Happosai. Stepping out of the bath and into the changing area, Sauske began to towel down, trying to dry his body as best he could with so much on his mind. Since it wasn't just Happosai eating away his sanity right now, but Aki too.
To be totally honest, she hadn't done anything to try to force out his aura again yet. The incident of him throwing her into the wall spooked her pretty bad, so she seemed reluctant to try to pull it out again. But that didn't stop her from watching him, constantly. He could feel her intense glare on his back every day of class, and most times at lunch. That was far worse than what she had done before. If it were just those isolated incidents, the stress would build up quickly, but then would lessen after time.
Now, the stress never healed. It just kept building and building. He had to be careful.
Slowly, he stood back up, pulling a pair of boxers on, before glancing over at the mirror on the wall. It showed his body from just below his waist to above the top of his head from where he stood. He could see the toned muscles from the nearly constant training since birth. There were those scars that everyone eventually picked up in this sport, but nothing compared to what some people he had seen had, especially his father and Hibiki-san. There was his damp, messy mop of black hair, dangling down over his forehead.
But none of that registered. His eyes focused on his chest, base of the rib cage, where the bones all met and ended, that small little indent that existed where the stomach began and the chest ended. Set in the center of the body, center of the torso, center of him, there was a single mark, seemingly insignificant, set slightly to the right of dead center of that little indent on his body. It was a small, black kanji, tattooed, or burned, if you prefer, there from long ago.
"Akuma."
As soon as the word registered in his brain, Sauske turned away, shaking his head out, and dressing as fast as he could. He never again looked to the mirror until he was dressed, and the mark was hidden. And once he was, he walked out the door and away from that memory as fast as he could, trying to meditate on the fly.
- - -
Ranma slid the door open. "Hey, you guys!" he said cheerfully. The group relied with a chorus of "Hello!" before the four, Keira, Haku, Ukyo, and Konatsu, entered the house. The two siblings seemed as distant as the usual younger-brother older-sister situation worked, each carrying their own bag of things as they entered. There was something different about Keira's appearance, but Ranma ignored it.
Ranma let the children pass, before catching Ukyo by the shoulder, reaching his arm out in front of Konatsu. "You two sure this is okay? I mean, this is the fourth time you closed the restaurant. If you need to stay open, we don't mind . . ."
Ukyo smiled, before sliding his hand off. "Ranma, it's fine, okay? We know what we're doing, hon'." And with that, she followed her children into the living room, passing Keira, who went back towards the dojo, having heard that was where Sauske had gone. She gave another quick hello to Ranma, which he returned, before the two parted, Keira down one hall, Ranma the other, towards the kitchen.
The girl sighed to herself, pausing at the door. She was still worried about all this. Happosai was really here. Was she ready for this? Could she really take care of herself if something went wrong? Yes, she was an accomplished fighter, and she could take care of herself, but . . .
Suddenly, Keira shook out her head quickly. "I can't think like that." She muttered in her thoughts, before taking a deep breath, and swinging open the door.
She was immediately met by a flurry of calm chatter from the room. She glumly walked in, realizing she was the last one here. Naruto, Kite, Aki, Chii, Tenchuu, Sakura, and Sauske-kun were already here. Slowly she closed the door behind herself, before taking a few steps into the room, and dropping the bag onto the floor.
She adjusted the upper half of the dark blue body suit she always wore when she was prepared. The biggest area of focus for tiny adjustments was the edge along her left arm, which she had cut away to keep it from interfering with her tekko (forearm guard). But it wasn't cut as cleanly as she wanted, and she had never gotten the time to fix it, so the little edge kept bothering her. After a minute of fiddling with it, she was satisfied, and slid down to her knees, opening up her bag.
Naruto, noticing the girl had entered, slowly walked across the room and up to the girl. "Keira!" he said cheerfully. "How are you?"
The girl didn't look up as she slid the cloth over her left forearm, before locking the tekko over it. "I'm all right, so far . . . except for maybe the fact that there's a crazed pervert out on the streets and my chest is too tight so I can keep him away." She pulled out a small cloth roll, before laying it on the floor and opening it, revealing the seven sharpened kunai, which she then began inserting, one by one, into the tekko.
Naruto smiled. "Don't worry, Keira! I'll protect you!"
Keira, holding the last kunai in her hand, glanced up at the boy, back at the knife, up at Naruto again, then back down towards the shuriken. "Riiiight." She murmured, locking the last knife into place. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a sword and the shuriken pouch for the throwing stars. Attaching the pouch to her belt, she removed the wire from the scabbard, which had locked it into place, before sliding it into her belt. "I'm sure you will, Naruto." She replied sarcastically.
Naruto looked down at her as she drew more equipment from her bag. "How much stuff do you have?"
"Not enough, probably." Keira replied, sliding the second pouch, holding a collapsible grappling hook and a ten-meter length of climbing wire, thinner than most fishing line and almost as strong as eighth-inch steel cable.
"Don't you think that if you start taking any more," Naruto began, "that you're just going to get weighed down?"
Keira looked up as she tied on the tiny bag holding the few smoke grenades she had. "No."
- - -
"Haku!" Auska said cheerily as she carried in one of the plates of cookies being churned out by the cooking team in the kitchen, made up of Amy, Nabiki, and Brandon. Akane had offered to help, but was quickly denied the right to do so. "Want a cookie?!"
The boy smiled, nodding. "Sure." Taking one off, he smiled more after taking the first bite. "This is great!"
"Well, thank you." Nabiki replied, as she carried in the other tray, before returning to the kitchen with a smile.
"What's in the bag?" Auska asked, placing her tray down on the table and glancing at the large bag hanging limply from one shoulder.
"AV equipment. Mom and Dad asked me to set up some here just in case he tried to sneak in." Haku said with a calm voice, before looking over at Auska, who seemed quite interested. "Want to help?"
"Sure!"
- - -
Chii leaned gently against the wall, his hands pressed between the building and the back of his head, his elbows pointing up in a pair of triangles, and his silver hair draping down between his fingers. His eyes gazed up at the ceiling, letting the time pass by as if nothing was going on. "You seem pretty relaxed." A girl's voice observed.
Chii glanced down to see Saotome Sakura leaning against the wall next to him, staring at him through the corner of one eye. He smiled, before leaning back with a calming sigh. "Nothing to get worked up about."
"So, you're not worried at all?"
"Not feel-ly."
"Huh?"
"Sorry . . . I mean, not really." Chii replied, correcting himself.
Sakura took a good look at the boy. Except for his long silver hair, the clothes he was wearing, and a slightly different face, his body reminded him of Sauske. He wasn't too built up, in fact looked even less than her brother did. He was also a little shorter, but not enough to really notice.
The only feature that stood out were his arms. Since he wore a pair of black pants and a plain, loose white shirt with the sleeves cut at the elbow, he looked perfectly normal except for his arms. They were covered by a large wrapped bandage. It wasn't a hand wrap, since it stopped right at his wrist, where it was button and weighted.
"Did you hurt your arms or something?" Sakura inquired.
"What do you clean?" Chii responded with a straight face.
"Huh?"
"Sorry . . . mean?"
"Your arms." Sakura replied, pointing to the bandages. "Why do you wear so many bandages over them? Did you hurt yourself or something?"
Chii glanced down, before turning back to her with a smile. "Nah. I just use them to keep warm."
"If you're cold, why not wear a long sleeved shirt?"
"Isn't that what this is?"
Sakura sniffed the air a few times, peering cautiously at him, before sighing. "Whatever."
- - -
Akane laid the ladder against the wall calmly, letting the top clang against the edge of the roof. Shaking it a bit to make sure it was stable, she began to climb up to the roof three rungs at a time. After a moment, she reached the top, and so the woman pulled herself up the last two rungs, and stepped easily onto the roof. She was close enough in skill to make it up in a single leap, but it was always good to have a ladder set up anyway.
THUNK! Akane spun back to see a pair of fingers gripping into the edge of the roof, a small piece of metal just barely visible over the edge. The woman sighed, before walking to the edge and sticking out her hand. "Why do you think I put the ladder out?"
One of the hands slipped off, grabbing the woman's hand, before gripping tightly. Akane pulled up, lifting the chef onto the roof. Ukyo slid onto the edge, before shaking her head. "I thought I could make it."
"Well, maybe if you kept up the training you had been doing before, you might be able to." Akane said with a friendly smile. Ukyo glared at her for a moment, before the two shared a small chuckle.
Slowly, the chef stood, and the two walked to the top of the roof. The stars above them were in the hundreds, all twinkling down on the suburb. Nothing compared to the wilderness, but it was still pretty and serene. The two stood on the arc, looking out at the city around them.
Ukyo was first to break the silence. "Do you think he'll come here?"
Akane shook her head. "No, it's too risky to do that. He doesn't know who's going to stay and who's going to go. Besides, he's making it obvious that each night his raids get closer and closer. He wants us to come after him. He's just getting closer so that we're sure to hear about it."
"Are you worried? I mean, . . . about what's going to happen tonight?"
Akane glanced over at her friend, who had her eyes firmly set on the city in front of her. "Yeah, I am. More worried than ever." She turned back out to look at the city.
"Worried about what?"
"Everything. I . . . I don't know. All I know is something is going to happen tonight. I don't know what, but something coming." There was a small pause. "What about you?"
"I don't know what to worry about." Ukyo replied almost immediately, as if she had spent the last five minutes trying to pin down her worries. "I can't say what worries me most: Happosai hurting someone out there, or coming here and attacking. They're both bad, especially with half my family at both."
Akane paused. "Let's hope neither."
All Ukyo could do was nod.
- - -
Joseph smiled as he carried down the game. This would be great to get everyone's mind of Happosai. Plus, it would keep them going for the long, dark hours of the December night. Or, at least those people not going out tonight. But it would be bad to distract them anyway.
Pai and Amy were sitting at the table, talking . . . er, having a conversation. There were several balled up pieces of paper lying around Pai; probably meant they'd been talking for a few minutes. Suddenly, Brandon's voice came out from the kitchen. "Amy, sweety, do you still want to help cook?"
Amy suddenly looked up, turning to the kitchen, saying, "Be right there!" before turning and excusing herself from Pai. Joseph smiled, before walking to the table. "Hello, Pai!" he said cheerfully.
The girl looked up, smiling back. Squeaky-Squeaky! "Hello, Joseph!" He placed the box down at the table, which Pai immediately glanced down at. Squeaky-Squeaky! "What is 'Monopoly: Tokyo Edition'?"
"Monopoly? Oh, it's a great game. You try to win a lot of money by owning all the squares on the board. A little hard to start, but it can be fun after a little while."
Squeaky-Squeaky! "Will you teach me how to play?"
"Of course!" the boy replied back, smiling.
Pai smiled as well, before glancing back into the kitchen. Suddenly, her cheerfulness died. Squeaky-Squeaky! "Joseph, can I ask you something?"
The boy blinked, sitting down at the table. The change in the girl's face told him it was serious, but he wasn't sure what. "Yes, of course. What's on your mind?"
Squeaky-Squeaky! "Why is everyone so worried about one man?"
Joseph blinked. "What do you mean?"
Squeaky-Squeaky! "Everyone here is worried about something. Even you." Squeaky-Squeaky! "You were smiling, but very worried when you came in the room." Squeaky-Squeaky! "Auska is the only one I have seen not worried."
"What do you mean? You can see people are worried?" Joseph asked incredulously.
Pai paused, before nodding. Squeaky-Squeaky! "I have a special ability to see auras. I was born with it." Squeaky-Squeaky! "That's why I cannot talk. It took my ability to speak so I can see every aura." Squeaky-Squeaky!
Joseph cut her off before holding up the next sign. "What? It took your ability to speak?!"
Pai nodded again, before flipping the page. Squeaky-Squeaky! "Everyone in my family is gifted with seeing auras. Most Amazons are." Squeaky-Squeaky! "But I was born with these silver eyes, and I can see more than battle auras. I can see every aura a person creates." Pai flipped back to what she had written before. "That includes the golden aura. It shows the biggest feeling someone has."
Joseph blinked. "That's . . . incredible."
Pai nodded, smiling a bit. Squeaky-Squeaky! "It's very useful."
Joseph nodded. "I'm sure. You could learn a lot with something like that."
There was a pause in the conversation. Pai flipped back to a previous message. "Why is everyone so worried about one man?"
Joseph paused, thinking about how to reply. "Well, about eight years ago, he tried to take Auska from here on a training mission. Without asking anyone. My uncle Ranma got in a big fight with him, and almost died at the end of it. We thought Happosai had disappeared for good, but after two years, my aunt Akane saw him for a full minute. Since then, everyone knows he's alive, and it was just waiting for him to come back."
Squeaky-Squeaky! "How did he get Auska to go along with him?"
"Because . . . she trusted him. It wouldn't surprise me if she still does. She's always been a bit naïve about some things. And besides, she'd gotten used to being around him."
Squeak! "?"
Joseph sighed. "Well, for about a year, maybe year and a half or so, before the big fight, Ranma had been letting Happosai stay here. He had disappeared for a few years, and came back pretty much all alone. My uncle said he could stay, if he started to work to make himself better. And he did, for a while.
"Eventually, though, he started talking, I've heard, about finding a new heir to train. He had already taught my grandfather and my uncle's father, and he wanted one more person to train to pass down all of his best skills. My uncle and aunt refused immediately, and after a while, he gave up on asking them. And after finding out neither Sauske nor Sakura would train under him, he asked Auska, supposedly, and she agreed.
"Unfortunately, he didn't tell her that it would be several years of training before she could come home. Fortunately, Aunt Akane and Uncle Ranma found out a few minutes after they left, found him, and rescued Auska." Joseph sighed. "We never talk about it anymore anyway, so Auska never really knew what was going on. Wouldn't surprise me if she still didn't."
Pai was watching him carefully, taking in his gold aura, tracing the emotions as his story went along. Nothing that seemed deceptive, and very genuine fear and sadness accompanying his changes in expression. No reason to suspect him. Squeaky-Squeaky! "Well, we will not let it happen again."
Joseph paused, reading the sign, before looking up at the girl with a smile. "Yeah, we won't."
- - -
Auska grabbed the small bundle of cable Haku had asked for. "This one?"
The boy glanced over, before nodding. "Yeah, hand that here." He said, leaning down and reaching out with one hand while placing the screwdriver down onto the floor with the other. He grabbed a small amount of the putty he was using to hold the lines up along the edge of the ceiling. Standing up on the stool he was on, he began to lock the wire up on the ceiling.
"Why do you use that stuff anyway?" Auska asked, looking at the small pile of blue putty laying on the floor.
"What, that?" Haku pointed out, before noticing Auska nod in reply. "It's easier than staples, and it doesn't damage the walls. I don't think anyone's going to want me to have cameras set up in their house after we find Happosai . . . Well, maybe your aunt."
"Who?" Auska asked inquisitively.
Haku smiled as he cut away the end with a small pocketknife. "Nabiki-san. I heard she took pictures of everyone when she was younger."
Auska blinked, before realizing what he meant. She glanced away a bit, sliding her foot on the floor. "Oh, yeah, she did. But, well, not anymore."
Haku smiled, watching the ends of the wire carefully as he stripped the small plastic casing surrounding the copper. "Yeah, I thought so. But, it's nice to know someone else has done this before."
"What's that?"
"Spying."
"Do you really spy on other people?" Auska asked, turning back up to him. "Keira-san said you had, but nobody ever told me for certain, Haku."
"Sure do." He replied calmly, before clenching the knife in his teeth for a minute as he separated out the wires a bit more. Once that was done, he took the blade back out of his mouth, and continued talking. "If you need me to find out something, like get pictures of Sauske's girlfriend, just let me know, Auska. I'll even do it for free for you."
"You mean, people pay you to find out things? Like in the movies?!"
Haku paused, before turning to the girl below him, chuckling. "Nah, not yet. But anyone who wants me to find something, I always tell them they're going to have to pay me for it. So, nobody's really asked me to find anything out yet . . . Maybe someday, though."
Auska paused, watching the boy work, and thinking over what he had said. She opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Haku. "Auska, can you hand me that screwdriver again?"
Auska bent down, pulling it up off the floor, before handing it up to the boy. "Here you go."
"Thanks." The boy replied immediately, before fiddling with the back of the camera. "Okay, can you hand me my pad?"
Auska leaned down again, pulling the Palm Pilot up and handing it to him, taking back the screwdriver. The boy replied with another "Thanks," before pulling a wire up and connecting the small computer with the camera. Glancing at the screen, he adjusted it until the view covered as much of the hallway as possible. After several minutes of fiddling, he unplugged it, smiling to himself, before hopping down. "There we go, all set." He turned to Auska, smiling. "Your house is now un-burglarable."
The girl smiled back, and the two began gathering up all the stuff Haku had carried up here. "Uh, Haku?" Auska began, which caused the boy to look up at her. They paused for a moment, staring at each other. "Thanks for doing so much for me."
The boy smiled widely, a twinge of red in his cheeks. "What are friends for?"
- - -
Ranma slid the door open, walking in with Ryoga, having found the man lost in the Reynolds side of the house. Shutting the door behind himself, he walked further in, before stopping. "All right, everybody! Listen up!" he shouted, quickly gathering all the attention. "Everybody already knows what we're doing, right? We don't have to go through it again?"
There was a group nod.
"Well then, yesterday, Happosai was raiding just on the edge of the Nerima district. He's been getting' closer every time, and this time, he's in our turf. We're not gonna' lose him tonight, okay?"
Another group nod, accentuated by a few grunts of affirmation.
Ranma nodded back. "All right. Then, here's the plan. We're splitting into two man teams again, so listen up. Mousse, you're with me." The Amazon male nodded solemnly from across the room.
Ranma turned to face the Hibiki standing behind him. "Ryoga, you're with Konatsu." He turned around to face the ninja. "Try not to lose him, okay?" Both nodded solemnly.
"Chii, you're with your brother, Tenchuu."
"Sakura, you and Sauske are staying together."
"Aki, with Kite."
"Naruto, you're with Keira." There was a sigh of pain from the girl, but nothing else beyond that.
The man started walking to the far end. "Remember, we need to find Happosai. Then, tail him until the rest of us get there. Do not attack without me, Mousse, Ryoga, or Konatsu with ya. Defend yourself if ya need to, but don't go pickin' a fight with him. He's much stronger than he looks, and we're not going to get in trouble for makin' a mistake before the battle starts."
Everyone nodded again as Ranma opened the dojo doors. "Well, then, if everybody knows what's goin' on, then tell me: is everybody ready?"
There was another nod, this time with some shouts of "Yeah!" mixed in.
Ranma smiled. "Then, let's go!" he shouted, before the whole crowd ran out, and spread along the street, running in all different directions. The plan was set, and now, all they needed to do was find Happosai.
Next Chapter: Finding Happosai is the easy part; getting everyone through the fight safely is something entirely different, as many soon learn.
And, there you go; chapter twenty-four. Sorry if it wasn't as good as some other chapters and that I missed putting it up last week. But, I had to get in some important facts before the upcoming story, and the next few chapters are going to have a lot of action. I hope this chapter wasn't too disappointing.
Anyway, on with the reviews:
Shinjiku: Thanks for reviewing, and again, I'm sorry this is a week late.
Fan: YAY! A new reviewer who likes my story!
Paige Crews: Okay, on the argument between Aki and Keira last chapter,I can definitely see what you're saying. Keira is a pretty big jerk then, but there's some reasoning to why she is:
1. Aki only ever refers to her as "Fast-girl". Definitely not a flattering name.
2. Calling Aki a "murderer", or something similar, is the only thing Keira has found that she can say to get Aki riled up.
3. Keira has to accept being second best to the Amazon since she can't challenge the girl to a fight. Sauske already told her she can't, and if Keira does challenge her, she'll either lose, or get the Kiss of Death.
4. Keira is, as she said several chapters before, extremely jealous of Aki. The Amazon is better looking than Keira, already a friend of Sauske, and can get away with a lot with the boy. As of now, Keira's known him for her whole life, and Aki has only known him for about a month. And even as Aki attacks and/or plots against Sauske, he constantly forgives her without any hesitation. And then there was that time the two of them talking on the roof still in her mind.
5. Having grown up with Sauske, she knows more about him, a whole lot more, than Aki does. She knows almost everything about him, and she can't stand the way the Amazon has been treating him, at least from her point of view.
While I personally can't agree with Keira knowingly calling Aki a murderer, I can understand where she's coming from. After all, it's disrespect for disrespect.
As for the two people from the restaurant becoming important characters soon, all I can say is they might be, so don't forget them. But you'll need to wait to see who is and who isn't. I will say some characters who've only appeared slightly will be important.