A/N: This is a repost and rewrite of my previous story, "Nerima in the Dark", taking away most of the palagrism.
Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or Sailormoon.
CHAPTER 4"Well, this is convenient." Ranma-chan said aloud, looking at the sign hanged on the front gate of the Tendo Dojo.
"What do you mean, Ranma?" Kasumi asked, turning to the petite red head just before she entered the gate.
"Well, believe it or not, this is exactly where I was headed today."
"Then it is quite convenient then. Please, would you like to come inside?"
"Sure." Ranma said, following the sweet older girl inside the gate. But as soon as she passed the gate's threshold, he felt a barrier surrounding the entire compound. He wasn't able to see it outside because of the charms that make it invisible. But once inside, he could clearly see the dome-like barrier protecting the entire place. Even though there are a couple of holes on the wards, it was strong enough to repel most supernatural beings of average powers.
"Is something wrong, Ranma?" Kasumi asked when she saw him staring at the walls of the compound.
That brought Ranma-chan back from her intent observations. Turning towards Kasumi, she said, "Um, nothing, Kasumi-san."
"Kasumi, is that you?" Came a voice from inside the house, where an old skinny long black-haired man wearing a dark gray gi appeared behind the front porch. He seems to have just woken up from a nap since his eyes weren't really focused.
"Hello, father. I just came back from grocery shopping."
The old man nodded. And upon seeing Ranma there, he said, "Oh, hello there. I see my daughter had brought a guest. Welcome. I am Soun Tendou, owner of this Dojo." Then he bowed slightly.
"Hello, sir." She said with a slight bow herself. "My name is Ranma Saotome and I came to see you about . . ."
"Did you say Saotome?" Soun asked immediately, cutting her off.
"Um, yes." She answered uncertainly when she saw the intense gaze the old man was directing at her.
"As in Genma Saotome?"
"Uh . . ."
"Of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts?"
Ranma-chan took an involuntary step back from the intense gaze of the man. He had encountered such gazes before, particularly whenever she met someone that had the unfortunate luck of being swindled by her father. "Look, sir, I don't know what my stupid pop stole from you but I,"
Ranma-chan wasn't able to finish her sentence again when the old man suddenly embraced her in a bear hug, crying his heart out, and saying, "Oh! Happy Days! I never thought I'd see the day that my old friend's son would finally come to fulfill his side of the pact!"
"W-what? What are you talking about?" Ranma-chan was getting nervous now. Having his father's old acquaintances attacking her at the first sound of his name is annoying at best, but having someone who knew Genma Saotome that actually is glad about it is totally unreal, scary even. And what family pact is he talking about?
"Father, please calm down. You're frightening her." Kasumi said. She was also quite confused at her father's actions, especially since it has been quite a long time she ever saw him this excited about anything.
"Her?" Soun asked, confused. Why would her daughter use female suffixes to describe Genma's son? It was just then that he felt two mound of soft flesh on his chest. Focussing his eyes, it was just then that he finally noticed what Ranma really looks like.
"Yes, father, Ranma is a girl." Kasumi said again.
"A girl?" Soun shouted in horror, just before passing out.
For a couple of minutes, an awkward silence fell between them as they try to figure out what had just happened.
For Kasumi, she was asking herself what had happened to his father that made him jumped onto her guest like that? She was also a bit startled at seeing her father show other type of emotions rather than depression and sadness? It's been years since she ever saw her father show happiness, although it was only for a couple of seconds, but happiness nonetheless.
For Ranma, he was still a bit freaked out when the old man suddenly glomped him like that. But still, this man knew her father. And the strange part is, he doesn't seem to hate Genma for one reason or another. Who is this old man and what does he knows of Genma? And what is this pact he was talking about?
"Please forgive my father. He doesn't usually acts like this to guests." Kasumi said as soon as she was able to get her bearings back.
"Oh, um, no problem, I guess." Ranma said. "Do you know what he was talking about? About his old friend I mean."
"Sorry but I'm not sure myself. You could ask him later, if you want. It usually takes father a couple of hours for him to wake up from his fainting."
"I think I'll do just that." Ranma said, determined to know more.
"Thank you for the refreshment, Nodoka-san. I hope I didn't bother you too much." Ryouga said after stepping out of the small coffee shop, guided by Nodoka of coarse.
"It was no trouble at all, Ryouga-kun. It's the least I can do after this morning." The auburn haired woman said pleasantly. "Are you sure you don't need any help getting to Shinjuku?"
"Nah. I'm not really in a hurry to go there anyway. My friend and I just arrived from China so I was thinking of site seeing for a while." And with my sense of direction, I could get us both lost for weeks even if you were leading the way. I can't have a nice woman like you getting an unexpected world tour, he added mentally. "Anyway, goodbye, ma'am. It was a pleasure meeting you."
"Likewise, Ryouga-kun." She said as she watch the young man depart in the opposite direction of Shinjuku, thinking that Ryouga was going to do some site seeing now. But of coarse, we all know that wasn't the case.
Ryouga had just turned on a corner, disappearing from Nodoka's range of sight when a car drove by a puddle of water right beside him, splashing him with water and activating the curse that turned him into a little black piglet with a yellow and black stripped bandanna, and a Chinese mark of 'Void' on it's forehead.
"Bweeeee!" which translates to 'Darn it! Why does these things always happens to me!'
"AWWW! IT'S SO CUTE!" came a sudden shriek just in front of him. Looking up, he saw a young brown haired girl wearing a school uniform kneeling in front of him.
"Bwee?" 'What the heck?'
The girl suddenly picked up the still confused piglet and hugged him tightly in her arms, not even noticing the wet pile of clothes, bamboo umbrella, and camping bag beside him. "Are you lost Mr. Piggy? Are you someone's pet? I bet you are since you're just too cute not to be one! What's your name? Wait, you can't tell me of coarse. I know! I'll call you P-chan because you're a little pig and just SOOOOO CUTE! Do you wanna be my pet?"
'What the . . . This girl is worse than a diabetic in a sugar high! Ranma, this is all your fault!' he thought. But all it came out was, "Bweeeee! Bwee!", which, unfortunately for him, the girl thought as a yes.
"You will! YAY!" The girl shrieked once more in hyperactive happiness as she smother the little piglet in her arms.
"Kurumi-chan, what have you got there?" came a familiar pleasant voice nearby.
Turning around, both the pig and the little girl saw Nadoka approaching them with a pleasnat smile on her face. The little girl, which is named Kurumi, brightened immediately and bounced towards the woman showing her the little black pig while saying, "Look, Mama! I found the cutest little piglet, his name is P-chan, and he just promised to be my pet!"
"Bwee? Bwee?" 'Nodoka-san? You mean, this girl is the daughter you were talking about?' he squealed as he looked back and fort between the two females.
"Kurumi-chan, you know perfectly well that you can't just take home stray animals from the street. What if he was someone's pet and his owner is frantically looking for him now?" she chided the little girl calmly.
"But, Mama," the girl started to protest with a cute pout but the older woman cut her off.
"No buts, Kurumi-chan." She said calmly but sternly. Then she smiled at her and said, "And if he doesn't have any owner and he still wants to be your pet then I'm sure we'll have enough space in the house for him, okay?"
The girl immediately perked up at the suggestion and nodded. Then, suddenly she said in a more sedate voice, "Um, mama, how come you don't have any flowers for onii-chan yet?" Narrowing her eyes, she asked, "Grandpa's people didn't tried to harass you again, did they?"
In a split second, Ryouga felt the young girl's ki bursting out of her. By the intensity of her aura, she's going to be one hell of a fighter if she ever get trained properly.
"Don't worry, Kurumi-chan. You know very well that I can take care of myself." She said calmly. Then, a smile came to her lips as she added, "Besides, there was this strong, nice young man who was there to helped me."
"Really? Am I going the have a step father soon?" the girl asked innocently.
"BWEEE?" 'WHAT?' The piglet tensed immediately. Fortunately, neither females noticed.
Nodoka just giggled at the girl's question and said, "No, Kurumi-chan. Ryouga-kun just happens to remind me so much of your older brother, that's all."
P-chan immediately relaxed.
"Anyway, we should get going now to visit your brother." Nodoka said with a cheerfulness that had failed to reach her eyes.
Both the young girl and the pig noticed the sadness behind it and Kurumi nodded silently before following the older woman to the flower shop a few blocks away to buy some fresh orchids.
Ryouga doesn't really know where they were going but both women were radiating enough sadness in their auras to intrigue him. The walk was spent in silence. It didn't take long before they finally reached their destination, the cemetery.
He was wondering what the two women were doing in a place like this, that is until they stopped in front of a certain well cared for grave. The little piglet's eyes almost bulged out from its socket when he saw the name engraved on it.
HERE LIES SAOTOME RANMA
SON AND MARTIAL ARTIST
MAN AMONG MEN
BORN: JULY 7, 1980
DIED: AUGUST 20, 1992
Nodoka placed the flower in front in front of her son's grave and offered a small prayer. Kurumi did the same and soon both women were lost in their own thoughts.
Ryouga examined the grave carefully. By the looks of it, the grave has been kept tidy every week. There was not a smudge of dirt on it anywhere, and the surrounding grass around it is trimmed regularly. If he hadn't seen the date engraved on it, he would have guessed that the tombstone was only placed there a week ago instead of almost five years ago.
'Ranma, I think I've accidentally found your long lost family.' Ryouga thought to himself.
"Konatsu, what's next on the list?" Ukyo asked as she stroll down the market place along with Konatsu.
"I believe we only need to pick out the new chairs and tables for the restaurant. We already have everything else covered."
The two of them have spent the entire afternoon travelling the entire marketplace to find the best deals they could get on materials and supplies for the opening of the new restaurant next week. They have already ordered raw materials to be delivered at the restaurant by next week since the storage room at their building was still getting renovated for use.
They were just about to enter another shop when Ukyo suddenly stiffened.
"What is it, Ukyo-sama?" Konatsu asked in concern.
"There's some demonic presence nearby. Be on your guard, Konatsu." She said her hand touching the handle of her huge battle spatula. Konatsu's hand begun to inch towards inside of his kimono, where his shurikens are hidden.
Suddenly, a black car drove by beside them. For a split second, when the car passed by, Ukyo's eyes were fixed on the big black man in a business suit riding in the front passenger seat. He was radiating enough demonic energy to make the hairs on her back stand on one end. She almost missed the struggling girl with short brown hair in a school uniform struggling on the back of the car being held by another man in a black business suit.
The car was already out of sight before Konatsu said, "I think that girl was being kidnapped, Ukyo-sama."
Ukyo took a deep breath to calm herself before saying in a serious voice, "I know. Konatsu, turn on the tracking beacon on your communicator and follow them. I'll head back to the restaurant to get some weapons. That huge black guy is a youma and that girl could be in real danger."
"Hai, Ukyo-sama." Konatsu said seriously before disappearing in a puff of smoke.
As soon as he was gone, Ukyo turned to run towards the restaurant to arm herself for the coming battle.
Nabiki saw the car entering an old abandoned warehouse. She knows whoever it was who hired these people to kidnap her on her way home from school was either the mob or someone rich enough that she pissed off before, maybe even Kuno. But since she knows despite how insane the kendoist is, doing such things is below for someone of his stature, or mental capability. So it must mean that the Yakuza or other crime organization had finally decided to take over her turf.
She tried to calm herself. She will need all the cunning intelligence of the 'Ice Queen' to come out of this without being rough up a bit and maybe even make a deal with them that makes sure that they would spend most of their time away from Nerima.
As soon as the car stopped in the middle of the warehouse, where another expensive looking sports car was already parked, the suited men dragged her out of the car. At the same time, a man wearing an expensive white suit with a blue shirt underneath and wearing several gold jewelry, stepped out of the sports. Nabiki noticed that the man was sporting a few bruises on his face and seems quite annoyed at being here.
"Tendo Nabiki, I presume?" The man asked in bored tone of voice as he stares at her up and down, as if sizing her up like a piece of old meat. And that just pissed her off.
Using her Ice Queen facade, she used her great observation skills to come up with a viable analysis of the man. "Let me guess, you 'invited' me here to either scare me into buying 'protection' from you or demand I turn over my business to you."
"I see you are smart girl, Tendo Nabiki. And I must say the pictures on your files don't do you much justice." He said as he leered at her body once again.
Internally, Nabiki shivered at the lecherous look the guy was giving her. But none of it showed through her Ice Queen mask. Showing fear in front of them is not an advantage she wants them to have over her.
The man frowned a bit at the lack of response from the girl. Then, he grinned and said, "My name is Oda Himura of the Himura Clan."
Externally, Nabiki didn't even seem affected at the declaration, but inside, her mind was running at speeds she never thought possible. The Himura Clan was one of the most wealthy and powerful families in Japan. Since the end of the Meiji Restoration Era, they were considered as the most respected clan in the city. But just twenty years ago, the clan suddenly started getting into crime and soon became very powerful in the world of organized crime. They literally own half the city and have full or partial control on almost every illegal establishment on Tokyo as well as the nearby cities.
But then, if this guy was a direct member of the family, then why is he here doing simply muscle work? Coming up with several unlikely theories, she came up with the most possible explanation. Thinking about it, it does make a bit of sense. He does seem annoyed when she first saw him so it must mean that he was forced into doing this, which also means that he isn't that up on the clan politics. If she plays her cards right, then she might be able to come out on top after all.
Giving Oda her patented Ice Queen smirks, she said, "I must say, Mr. Himura, I'm flattered at the attention a local business woman as myself is getting from someone as high up in the Himura Clan as you." When she saw him leering at her again, she added in a cool yet venomous voice, "Either you see potential in my talents or you're not as high up in the clan as you think you are."
For a moment, Oda's face contorted with rage. The girl had hit a sore spot on him. Nabiki knew that aggravating this man was quite dangerous, but she can't let him think that she would be intimidated so easily or else they would see it as a weakness and use it against her.
Then, in a cold emotionless business-like voice, she said, "You are a businessman, are you not, Mr. Himura? Then I suggest we make a deal already. Time, after all, is money. And the more time we waste, the less money I earn."
For a moment, Oda didn't said a word. Then finally, he said while looking at the girl with the most menacing look he could give her, he said, "You are right of coarse, Miss Tendo. But then again, I'm sure there would be enough time later to talk business." He leered at her once more as he cupped her chin with two fingers before saying, "I think we should first have a little fun with each other to celebrate such a merging of interests."
Nabiki was revolted beyond belief. She can handle being leered at, but having this man touch her and suggest something like that, she just lost control. Before she could reprimand herself, her foot lashed out and kicked the perverted guy in the groin with all her might. She felt quite a bit of satisfaction seeing Oda fell on the floor in a fetal position while holding his bruised crown jewels. But it lasted only until Oda finally managed to get back up.
The first thing he did was glare menacingly at Nabiki before hitting her face with the back of his hands with enough force to throw her to the ground with a little bit of blood trickling down the side of her face. "YOU FRICKING BITCH! NO ONE, ABSOLUTELY NO ONE DOES THAT TO ME AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!" He said as he took out a gun from his suit.
BANG!
A scream broke out when the bullet shot out of the gun. Nabiki had her eyes closed at the time, waiting for the pain of a bullet wound to finally register on her body.
When she didn't felt any pain, and hearing that it wasn't her screaming in pain, she opened her eyes and saw the gun on the floor and a shiny flat object embedded on Oda's bleeding hand.
"W-What the fuck? Kill her! Kill her now!" Oda ordered under pain.
The two men immediately took out their guns from their jackets while Vhan didn't even paid attention. The two men was about to shoot Nabiki when three small black spheres rolled by their feet. The spheres suddenly exploded and the entire place was covered in thick smoke.
Inside the smoke, several gun shots were heard as well as the sound of flesh hitting flesh accompanied by a short feminine scream. When the smoke cleared, Oda saw that the girl was gone and his two bodyguards were on the floor, unconscious. Vhan has his fist stretched and was looking at something. When Oda turned to look, he saw a feminine looking person in a ninja outfit holding Nabiki on one arm while the other arm was hanging uselessly by its side. By the looks of it, the other arm seems to have been dislocated.
It may not look like it but inside, Konatsu was seething. After his smoke bomb ignited, he was able to get the girl out of the way before rendering the two goons unconscious with several well-placed strikes. But he underestimated the ability of the youma disguised as a black man and was hit by a single punch on the shoulder while he was trying to run away.
"Who the fuck are you?" Oda managed to shout after getting his bearings back.
Instead of answering, Konatsu tried to run away. But Vhan suddenly appeared in front of him with such blinding speed. The kunoichi barely managed to avoid the strike, which had punched through the concrete wall. Vhan attacked once more, forcing Konatsu in an evasive action. With the girl on one arm and his other arm useless, his offense was almost nil.
"Darn it! This youma is stronger than I thought." Konatsu said between breathes.
'Youma?' Nabiki thought. If the black man was really a youma, then she knows she could do something to even out the odds. Up until now, she felt totally useless being a burden for her unknown savior. But since they were dealing with the supernatural, she knew she could do something.
Taking out a spirit ward from inside her pocket, Nabiki waited for the perfect moment to use it. When Vhan tried to strike her and the ninja once again, Nabiki threw the placed the spirit ward on the monster's outstretched arm, concentrated as much power as she can on the spirit ward, and shouted to her savior, "Get back! NOW!"
Konatsu, seeing the urgency on the girl's voice, immediately sprang back a couple of feet, barely missing the thousands of volts of electricity shooting out from the spirit ward when it was activated, making the huge beast writ in pain.
After a couple of seconds later, the spirit ward finally burned out, leaving the monster's entire body charred. Seeing this, Oda immediately left the scene as fast as he could.
The monster suddenly roared in fury, tearing off the burned clothes as well as skin off its body, which was replaced by red scaly skin underneath and red slit eyes. Both Konatsu and Nabiki knew that they won't be able to escape alive, not with the ninja injured from the first attack, the girl exhausted from powering up the spirit ward, and this monster standing in their way.
Konatsu knows that he at least could escape if he left the girl behind. But he knows his mistress would be very disappointed in him if he abandon her for this beast. Resolving what he must do, he stepped in front of Nabiki and said to the girl, "Try to run while I distract it."
"I can't." Nabiki said between breaths. "I used up too much on that spirit ward earlier."
"Darn." Konatsu swore softly as he took out several small spatulas out of his belt pockets and prepared to defend himself and the girl behind him.
The beast roared once more and was just getting ready to pounce the two when, a sphere of light came out of nowhere and hit the beast's stomach, where it was absorbed. A second later, the beast's belly exploded in a rain of bits and gore. Despite the big hole on it's belly, the monster turned around to attack once more, but another sphere of light on the head killed it instantly.
Nabiki, seeing that she was finally safe for the moment, succumbed to the call of unconsciousness, but not before hearing the ninja say in a grateful voice, "Ukyo-sama."
Then, Nabiki's world turned black.