Note: This is a remake of my original story Nerima in the Dark
Enjoy!
CHAPTER 5'Where am I?' Nabiki thought as she sat up from the couch she was laying on. Looking around the place, she saw that she was alone in someone's living room, with several cardboard boxes scattered around. By the looks of it, whoever owns this place must have just recently moved in and haven't had enough time to place all his or her stuff. Looking out the window behind her, she saw that it was almost past dawn. If her estimates were correct, which they usually are, then she must have been unconscious for at most two hours.
She was just about to get up when the door to the other side of the room opened and an old man wearing a lab coat entered casually. He was also holding a tray of tea with him. "Oh, I see you're awake."
For a moment, Nabiki merely stare at the old man as he set the tray down on top of one of the boxes there. Then she asked the first question that came to her head, which was, "What happened?"
"My ward and her friend brought you here after that youma incident. At least, that is what my ward tells me."
At the mention of a youma, Nabiki's mind immediately recalled all that had happened barely a few hours ago, getting kidnapped, almost getting raped and killed, and using a lightning ofuda, or spirit ward as they call it, against a youma. No wonder she felt weak. "Where is she now, the ninja that saved me I mean."
"Oh, Konatsu. He's in his room at the moment, resting his shoulder."
"He?" she asked in genuine confusion.
The old man chuckled a bit before answering, "Yes. He. Despite his feminine look, Konatsu is a boy. Let's just say his stepfamily has a very twisted sense of humor. Would you like to meet him anyway?"
For a moment, Nabiki hesitated. Of what she remembers of the ninja, the said ninja looked and moved like a girl. Then, she said, "Yes, please."
The old man nodded and walked towards the door, followed by the girl, who asked the question, "Where are we?"
"We're still in Nerima, a couple of blocks from your school. We're on the second floor of a Ucchan's Okinomiyaki Restaurant."
As they walked by the corridor, she noticed a lot of thick electrical wires all over the place. Some of which are already clamped securely on the ceiling while others were still sprawled out on the floor. Most wires were connected to a single room on the end of the corridor. The door was slightly opened so she was able to see quite a lot of computers and electronic equipment. There are also several odd looking gadgets assembly on the shelves there, most of which, she noticed, were shaped like weapons of some sort. "Must be some restaurant to have the need for these electronic stuffs."
The doctor sweated a bit as he answered in a not so convincing voice, "Yes, well, er, it is the best okinomiyaki you could ever taste. Anyway, here we are." He knock on the door he stopped in front of and a second later, Konatsu in his flowery kimono opened the door with his good arm, his other arm in a sling.
"Dr. Ikamura. Is there anything you need?" Konatsu asked in his still feminine voice.
"Actually, Konatsu, this young girl wished to see you."
"Oh." Konatsu said as she finally noticed Nabiki standing there. "Please, come in."
"I have some things to do downstairs so I'll leave you two alone." The doctor said as he immediately left.
Nabiki, upon entering the room, noticed that it was almost barren. There was no decorations of any sorts. Not even a picture frame. Only a small table to the left, a shelf full of books, and an unrolled futon on the floor.
"Are you all right now, miss? That was a rather nasty experience there at the warehouse."
Instead of answering, Nabiki formally bowed down low and said, "Thank you for saving me."
Konatsu, not used at recieving gratitude except from his mistress, blushed a bit and said, "It's, um, alright. My mistress had ordered me to go after you so I have no choice but to obey even if I didn't want to."
"Don't listen to him, sugar." Came a voice behind them. Turning around, they saw a feminine looking boy with long brown hair tied in a ponytail and was wearing a school attire leaning by the door frame and smirking at them. The boy turned to Nabiki and said, "Konatsu here really like to sell himself short. He wouldn't have left you there even if I ordered him to. He's just too modest to admit it." The boy then turned to the ninja and said, "And you, stop trying to sell yourself short. You did a good job today."
"H-hai, Ukyo-sama." The ninja said.
Nabiki didn't failed to noticed the admiration in the ninja's eyes, as well as a slight blush on his face when Ukyo complimented him. Ukyo, on the other hand, missed it completely. Then she noticed something different about Ukyo that she didn't realize a second ago. Taking a risk, Nabiki said in an emotionless tone, "You're a girl."
For a moment, the other occupants in the room just stared at her in mild surprised. Then, Ukyo grinned at her and nodded before saying, "That's new. You're the first one to guess my gender when I'm dressed like this. Yes, I am a girl."
"I'm Tendo Nabiki, and I'm a very observant person." Nabiki smirked.
"I'm sure you are, sugar." Ukyo smirked back. "Now let's get you home. You're family must be worried sick by now."
Nabiki nodded and gave another thank you to Konatsu before following the other girl out.
Minutes later, and the two found themselves walking silently besides each other on the street heading for the Tendo Dojo. Until Nabiki finally decided to break the silence by saying offhandedly, "So, you're on the restaurant business?"
"Yeah. Best okinomiyaki in Japan." Ukyo said with a bit of pride in her voice.
"Must be some great tasting okinomiyaki to need all those weapons and electronic stuffs."
"What makes you say those stuff were weapons?" The chef asked with genuine curiosity.
"I saw you holding one before passing out at the warehouse."
Ukyo chuckled before saying in an amused tone, "My, my, sugar. You're definitely sharper than you look. So, what theories did you come up with?"
For a moment, Nabiki was thinking of lying to the other girl, but considering that she and her ninja had saved her life earlier, she decided against it and gamble. "You're either a group of demon hunters trying to make a name for themselves or you're a government sanctioned group trained to do this."
"Close, but not quite. We are not sanctioned by any government factions. This is the professor's personal vendetta. I just got drafted along while on my own personal quest a couple of years ago. Konatsu came by later."
"So, you're demon hunters then?" Nabiki asked coolly. But inside, she felt a sudden dread for her family that aint quite human anymore.
"Yup. Until such time the professor finds that one demon he's pinning for." Ukyo said casually.
"You're quite open about this stuff." Nabiki said with a frown.
Ukyo smirked at her as she said, "It doesn't really matter if you spread the word around. It would just make my job a lot easier if people knew who to call if they ever got into situations involving the supernatural."
There was another round of silence. Nabiki was deep in thought. She doesn't have enough knowledge on these people to be sure that they wouldn't kill her younger sister if they ever found out about her demonic traits.
"Care to tell me any distinguishing characteristics about this entity the old man is searching for?" Nabiki asked not only for her own curiosity but also for her sister. If she could persuade them that not all demons, particularly half demons, are evil, then she could persuade them to leave Akane alone.
Ukyo sighed and said in a somber tone, "That there lies the problem. The professor have no idea who exactly the demon that he wants dead. So were eliminating every demon we could find."
"Sounds like a rather crude way of searching if you ask me."
"I know. But the old man has a very valid reason. Me, I just find it quite helpful as a training regiment for my own personal quest."
"So you wouldn't mind if I spread the word that there are demon hunters in town?"
"Go right ahead. Maybe you could even spread the word about my restaurant."
"Sure, why not. I may not even require a payment for this one time." Nabiki said casually.
The okinomiyaki chef eyed the other girl for a moment and said, "You seem nonchalant about all this, considering the stuff you went through this afternoon."
"Let's just say I'm more open minded about this stuff than other people."
"Is that why you were carrying that ofuda around with you?"
"You could say that." She answered vaguely as she saw the gates to the Tendo Dojo up ahead. "Well, this is my stop. Thank you again for saving my life. As well as Konatsu. Please tell him I'm very grateful." She vowed deeply once more.
"I'll make sure he gets it. Goodbye Miss Tendo Nabiki. See you around." Ukyo said before leaving.
Nabiki watched the other girl until she was out of sight before entering the house. "I'm home." Passing through the living room, she saw her father sleeping on the couch. When she came into the kitchen, she saw her eldest sister cutting vegetables.
"Oh, hello, Nabiki. How was your day?" Kasumi asked as pleasant as ever without pausing from her work.
For a moment, Nabiki was contemplating telling her older sister everything that happened to her this afternoon. But she thought better than to have her sister worry about her more.
"It was okay." She said casually as she took out the cookie jar from the shelf and took a piece. "When will be dinner ready?"
"About half an hour." She said as she stirred the soup cooking on the stove.
"Okay. I'll go wash up." She then went upstairs, leaving Kasumi busy with the food.
Nabiki was already gone when a stray thought came to Kasumi and she said to herself, "Hmm, I forgot to tell her about Ranma-chan."
She was just about to go after her younger sister when the phone rang. Picking it up, she said to the other end, "Hello, Tendo residence . . . Oh, hello, Akane . . . Yes, alright . . . Have fun sleeping over with your friends, okay . . . Bye, Akane."
Putting the receiver back on the phone, she went back to the kitchen forgetting about Nabiki and Ranma-chan all together.
Nephrite came out of the elevator when it stopped at the 60th floor of the Himura Tower. He walked confidently at the dimly lit hallway towards the large double doors at the end, where Jadeite, Kuznite, and Zoite were already waiting for him. He gave then a simple nod in acknowledgement, which they returned in kind. Then, all four waited until the big doors opened up by themselves. Upon entering, instead of an office, they found themselves in a huge throne room of some kind. In the throne itself was a beautiful woman in black swirling robes.
As one, they went down on their knees showing proper respect and said, "My Queen."
"Rise, my Dark Generals." The queen said in an emotionless voice. "What news have you brought me?"
Nephrite decided to volunteer to be first and said, "Queen Beryl, Youma rebirths are almost one hundred percent complete. All we need to bring them to life are Negaverse energy and they would be ready to do your bidding."
Jadeite was next as he stood up and said, "Our scouts have already picked out Juuban and Nerima District to have the most amount of people that has quite a high rate of life force on them."
Kuznite was next and he said, "Training of the recruited humans have been quite successful so far, my Queen, including the Musk people. They will be able and ready to handle any troubles that may arise from any outside factors."
Then, Zoenite said, "All possible threat inside the Himura Clan had been dealt with, my Queen. No one suspects that we are just using this human clan as a cover up for our other operations. Even the local Yakuza would not dare tangle with us."
"Very good, my generals. I am please. And what of the senshi?"
"I have taken the liberty of letting loose several low level youma around here and several cities to plush them out but no senshi was reported to be seen on any of them." Kuznite said.
"I see. So it either means that they haven't managed to get resurrected yet or they are just buying their time to show themselves." Queen Beryl said mostly to herself. Then she turned towards the generals and said, "Proceed with Operation Life Drain as soon as all preparations are complete. Meanwhile, I will resume my disguised as the head of the Himura Clan's 2nd wife."
"Yes, Queen Beryl." All four answered as one before they disappeared in a flash of purple light.
As soon as they were gone, Queen Beryl transformed her gown into an elegantly crafted black kimono and the entire throne room shimmered out to be replaced by a huge office. She then walked towards one of the door to the right and entered it. Inside she saw a respectful looking old man sleeping soundlessly on a hospital bed strapped with several life support gadgets on him.
The man is known as Shiro Himura, head of the Himura Clan, which was once a very respected clan in Japan, that is until Queen Beryl lured Shiro into marriage and took over everything.
She put her hand on his forehead, as if trying to get his temperature, but in truth, she was renewing the spell she had cast on him to put him on endless sleep. It wouldn't do good for her to have him wake up and ruin her long time plan to resurrect Metalia. She could almost see his spirit struggling to fight her powers. She admits that Shiro Himura is very strong for a human, but he was still powerless to do anything about it.
"Do not worry, dear." She said to his sleeping form. "Very soon my plan will bear fruit and your usefulness would be at its end. When that time comes, you will die by my hands."
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'How did he know my father? Did pops stole something from him before? No, the old man seems too happy about hearing from pops. He mentioned something about him being my pops' training partner. Maybe that's just what he is. But what about that pact he was talking about? And why do I get the feeling that whatever it is he was talking about could not be good for me?' These have been the thoughts on Ranma's mind as he, in his male form, soak comfortably on the furo of the Tendo residence. Kasumi was nice enough to allow him to use it while he waits for old man Tendo to wake up from his fainting spell earlier.
He decided, that once old man Tendo wakes up, he'll demand answers immediately. If he does know his pops, then maybe, just maybe, the old man could tell him where his mother's grave is located, or even if he has any other relatives somewhere.
With his mind made up, he stepped out of the furo in all his naked glory when the inner door suddenly opened and a totally naked girl came in saying, "Hey, Akane, mind if we share a . . ."
The girl's voice died on her lips upon seeing a naked guy inside their furo. By the looks on her face, she was quite shock when the person in there isn't who she thought it would be. For several seconds, neither of them could say or do anything. They just stood there staring silently at each other in complete shock.
After an entire minute of silence, the girl slowly stepped back and closed the inner door in silence, leaving the still dumbfounded boy inside.
It took a couple of more seconds before Ranma was able to say, "Well, that was strange. No scream."
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Ranma, hearing the loud screech, slap himself in the forehead and said dejectedly, "I just had to jinks it, don't I?"
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"Oh my, Nabiki, what seems to be the problem?" Kasumi asked calmly when her youngest sister, wearing nothing but a bathrobe, run straight into the dining room and grabbed the phone and started dialing furiously.
"Calling the police! There is a perverted boy in our bathroom and I want him arrested!"
"A boy? I don't remember sending any boy to the bathroom earlier. Just Ranma-chan. And she's a girl. Are you sure it was a boy you saw?"
"Kasumi, I know what a boy looks like, okay! And that pervert upstairs is definitely a boy!" She blushed furiously at the thought that it was definitely a boy up there before her face contorted in rage once more. "Normally, I would handle this myself. But I just had the roughest day in my life and I don't like ending it with killing some perverted boy in our bathroom." She was just about finished dialing up the police number so she could get someone arrested when a definite male voice was heard.
"Please allow me to explain." When both sisters turned, they were shocked speechless when they saw a young man about Akane's age standing by the foot of the stairs wearing a red Chinese silk shirt and black baggy pants. His raven black hair was still wet, excess water dripping down his muscular shoulders. He looked at them with a resigned look on his deep blue eyes as he said in an apologetic voice, "I'm Saotome Ranma. Sorry about this."
Both sisters gasped and said the first thing that came into their minds. "Oh my."
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"So, what do you guys want to do now?" Akane asked as soon as she got back from the phone booth. Her friends, Sayuri and Yuka, had been waiting patiently for her in front of the ice cream parlor before all three of them went in.
"How about after ice cream, we all go to my house and test my comlink?" Sayuri said as she sat down on one of the empty seats inside the shop followed by her friends.
Akane groaned at the mention of that darn comlink. Yuka, being such a gadget freak that she is, made a communication device using an old hearing aid and several parts of a broken radio. She may not look like it but Sayuri is one hell of a wiz when it comes to fixing and making tiny electronic gadgets using spare parts. "I told you guys that I am not putting that thing anywhere near my ear. I mean, it WAS your grandmother's. I mean, Ewwww!"
"Hey, my grandma aint that bad!" Sayuri said in defense, but immediately deplated at her half-demon friend's glare. "Okay, so maybe she is. But it wasn't her fault she had that ear infection."
"Sayuri, that's not helping." Yuka said at her friend, shivering slightly at remembering that one time when Sayuri's grandmother was cleaning her hearing aid with a gallon of alcohol, seven packs of cotton, and a steel brush. It wasn't pretty, especially when she had asked all three of them for help to clean it. It was worse than one of Akane's more colorful tries in making dinner.
"Well, anyway, I still don't see why she couldn't just use it. I mean, you saw me and Yuka disinfect that thing before I even started messing with it." Sayuri added in her defense.
"Yes, using two bottles of acid and a twelve hour boil bath." Akane said sarcastically.
"See!" Sayuri said proudly.
This time, both of her friends groaned. Then, Yuka said, "Sayuri, that is still not helping." She then turned towards Akane and said, "I think you should really try it, Akane. Sayuri really did work her ass off on it. Besides, you wouldn't really disregard all our hard work, would you?"
Akane really hated her friends at the moment. Not only did they used the 'guilt trick' on her, but they also used the 'puppy dog pout' on her. Those two could be quite devious when they wanted to be.
After several minutes of contemplation, Akane finally gave a sigh of relief and said, "Fine, fine. I'll use it tonight."
"YAY!" Her friends cheered.
"Anyway, why do you want me to test it so soon, anyway? I thought you're still having problems with the satellite tracking system?" she asked Yuka, the computer wiz of the group. She may not look like it but Yuka is one of the best computer hackers in Japan.
"Already fixed." Yuka said proudly before leaning in to whisper, "There was a problem with hacking through Tokyo Cable Company's main frame so I had to find another satellite to use."
"Really? Whose satellite did you used?"
"The JSDF."
Akane almost face faulted at that. Leave it to Yuka to hack through Japan's Self Defense Force's computer main frame so she could use their highly expensive satellite to keep track of Akane's nightly adventures in secret.
Despite everything, Akane can't help but smile at it all. There's Sayuri, the engineering wiz, then there's Yuka, the computer hacker, and then there's Akane herself, the half demon. All three with lives outside the norm, and all three of them best of friends.
For a moment, Akane felt completely content. That is, until Yuka said in a scolding voice, "With all of this, maybe we could get you to think before blowing off another cute guy who wants to have a conversation with you."
"Yeah!" Sayuri agreed enthusiastically.
And with that, Akane actually face faulted. She should have known better.
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"So, let me get this straight," Soun said in a very serious tone as he stare at the young pig tailed boy sitting in front of him across the dining room table. Beside him are his daughters, one of which has a look of calm confusion, and the other with a cool look of indifference. "You are really a boy cursed to transform into a girl with the application of cold water? And to regain your birth form, you only needed to splashed with warm water? And this cursed originated from Jusenkyo, a mystical valley of cursed pools in the Byakalan Mountain in Quingha Province in China? And that, as of the moment, there is no known cure for your curse?"
"Not until for the next couple of years, according to the Jusenkyo guide." Ranma said in a sheepish voice. The stare the old man was giving him was sending chills down the root of his spine. It was if he was being put on observation under a microscope.
"And why is that?" Nabiki chipped in with a voice of indifference, but genuinely curious nonetheless.
Ranma was about to answer when Soun cut him off and said, "Nevermind that, Nabiki. I'm sure there are valid reasons." Then he turned towards Ranma with an expectant smile that sent shivers down Ranma's spine. "Tell me, boy, are you really Saotome Ranma, son of Sotome Genma, heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts?"
"Um, yes." Ranma answered cautiously. For a moment, nothing happened. That is, until he found himself in a tight bear hug from the weeping old man.
"OH HAPPY DAYS! THE SCHOOLS WILL FINALLY BE JOINED!"
Soun would have said more but Ranma, totally creep out by the close contact, gave the old man a punch on the face and pushed him off as he shouted, "WOULD YOU QUIT DOING THAT!"
It took several seconds for Soun to compose himself. He once again turned back towards Ranma as if nothing has happened. "Anyway, my boy, how is my old training partner Genma doing?"
Ranma knew this topic would come up eventually but he can't help but shift uncomfortably as he said in a meek voice, "Dead, sir. He died five years ago in a fire while we were in China."
"Oh, I see." He was silent for a few seconds, contemplating the answer the young man deeply. Of coarse, it didn't last long. "WWWWWHHHHHAAAA! MY GOOD FRIEND GENMA IS DEAD! HE WAS SUCH A GOOD MAN TO LEAVE THIS WORLD SO EARLY IN LIFE! WWWWWHHHHHHAAAAA!"
"Is he always like this?" Ranma asked the Tendo sisters with a huge sweat drop on the back of his head.
Nabiki merely disregard his question and stared at her father with an annoyed frown.
Fortunately for him, Kasumi was too polite not to answer. "Yes, pretty much so, ever since mother died."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."
"It's all right, Ranma-kun. Mother has been gone for quit a while now. Almost ten years, in fact. Father was just very devoted to her." Kasumi said pleasantly.
"Oh, I see." Ranma said looking back at the still wailing old man before turning towards the Tendo sisters. "Anyway, do either of you know anything about this joining-of-schools he's talking about?"
"Nope. But I'm sure dad would explain everything." Nabiki said before turning a glare at her father. "Isn't that right, daddy?"
Feeling the silent threat in his daughter's voice, Soun immediately went sober and said to the pigtailed boy, "Well, you see, my boy, before either Genma and me settled down with our own families, we made a pact of honor that would ensure the continuation of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts for the next generation."
At his sullen words, all others in the room felt a shiver ran down their spine telling them that whatever this pact is, it could only mean trouble for them.
"And how do you plan on doing that, daddy?" Nabiki drawled.
"Through marriage of coarse!" Soun answered cheerfully, oblivious to the glare shot at him from two people in front of him and a blushing "Oh my!" from the third.
"You're kidding, right?" Ranma asked, feeling quite murderous as Nabiki at the moment.
"Of coarse not! This agreement had been made even before any of you were even born. It's a matter of honor!"
Ranma was just about to contemplate murder on this poor sod of a man when the jibe about his honor finally set on him. All his life, Ranma Saotome didn't have much. The things he owned he protected and valued as much as his life. And the one thing he valued most of all is his sense of honor.
"Honestly, daddy." Nabiki said, spitting the name like a vile drink. "Arrange-marriage are so out of date. This isn't exactly like in your time where you can expect kids to do as they're told."
"Really, father." Kasumi added in a scolding voice.
"Now, now, girls. I know this is sudden but I'm just looking out for my daughters. And this agreement has the approval of your dear mother."
That startled both girls enough to gasped. It is one thing to disobey one of their father's foolish schemes but having such schemes approved by their dearly departed mother is another. Both girls cherishes their mother's memory even in her death. Neither one is willing to disregard something that Kimiko Tendo approves for them.
Ranma didn't fail to notice the reactions on both girls when the talk of their mother came out. He knew what both of them were thinking at the moment or the choice they were contemplating. It was either go through with the engagement or defy their father, and indirectly, their mother's wishes as well. He knows how hard a choice that could be. He was contemplating the same thoughts right now; a strain on his honor or being married to someone he hardly knew.
Seeing that he, as well as the girls, would need time to think about all of this, Ranma decided to abruptly stand up and said in a neutral voice, "I'm sorry Mr. Tendo but I think it's time for me to leave."
"What? You can't! You have an obligation to fulfill! It's a matter of family honor!" He wailed.
Ranma flinched. He wasn't sure if it was because of another jibe at his honor or the old man grabbing to his legs like a barnacle. "Look, Mr. Tendo, I need time to think about this. I'm not saying I'm agreeing to the idea of having my wife chosen without my consent, and by the looks of it, neither are your daughters. But that doesn't mean I'll let this thing be a stain on my honor if I can help it."
"B-but the schools," The old man stuttered but was immediately cut off when Ranma snarled.
"I SAID I need time to think about it!" The pigtailed boy gave him the most menacing glare he could throw at the now quivering man hiding behind his oldest daughter. When he saw the Tendo patriarch wouldn't be interrupting him with his stupidity anymore, he turned an apologetic look at the two Tendo daughters and said softly, "I'm sorry about this. If you don't mind, I'll be back in a few days to settle this matter."
Receiving a small nod from Kasumi, Ranma walked out of the house and into the night. He had a lot of things to think about.