Ranma ½
Love Note
Usual disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, well with the exception of Trista, Sira, Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Epsilon. I suppose, but you get the idea. Any resemblance to Ranma ½ or Death Note is purely intentional, and the rest of that jazz.
For the purposes of this story, any text within single quotes like 'this' is considered a thought.
Chapter 20
Within the hidden room, Maho tapped her foot impatiently. The computer, while locally operational, was largely useless as the network connection was dead, as it had been all night. It was a contingency L had mentioned, but his time limit for such a black out was nearing and that was worrisome.
However, just as Maho was starting to plot out her own contingency plan, the computer sprung to life at last. "About damn time!" Maho exclaimed. "L, you there?"
L appeared on the monitor. "I am indeed. My apologies for the extended down time. We had an intrusion."
"No, really?!" Maho replied sarcastically. "You never mentioned anything about explosives."
"I did not as they were a highly unlikely possibility. However, even the unlikely can occur on occasion. Do not fear, our situation here is stable."
"What is your situation?"
L looked to the side before turning back to the monitor. "Watari is working his hardest to restore full network access. As I said, we had an intrusion, but not simply by a mob, but by some particularly interesting individuals."
Maho leaned back. "Oh?"
"Yes. They attempted to hack the network from within, and although they were repelled, in an abundance of caution, we chose to take the network offline to inspect it. However, it does not appear they made any significant penetration of the system."
"That's good, but who were they? I can't see Cupid picking up a hacker on such short notice, never mind getting high grade explosives."
"Nor do I. We can't completely rule out the possibility, but a far more likely alternative is a 3rd party with significant backing taking advantage."
"Third party?"
"Nothing to trouble yourself with, for the moment. I have a notion who, and I am moving to deal with them. You should remain focused on Cupid for now."
Maho frowned but nodded. "Fine. How's the damage in there?"
"They successfully breached all the security doors between the outside and here, but the police have taken control and we have rearranged the remaining security doors to close the gap, albeit in a weakened state. Repairs will certainly be required. However, for now the situation appears stable. There were no serious injuries within. Ranma did encounter one of our intruders that appeared to have some special ability and was able to overcome him, but he has recovered."
"Hmm, I see. That's good I guess. Could have been much messier."
"I don't believe the intruders' goal was to cause us harm. They merely used the crowd as a distraction."
"If so, that means they are probably after Cupid too."
"Yes, I came to the same conclusion, but as said, leave that matter to me. Let us focus on Cupid for now. I would like you to begin reviewing the recordings from within and give me any input you have. If I am right, time is of the essence."
"Right, I'll get on it," Maho replied and the communication ended. "Hmm, third party huh," she repeated aloud before shaking her head and getting to work.
XXXXX
Moments earlier, Beta sat impatiently at her desk, drumming her fingers. The others of Gamma's crew were busying themselves in various ways as they too waited, Gamma himself content apparently with just folding himself up in a chair and staring at the opposite wall. It was at that time that Beta's computer came to life and she nearly jumped out of her chair.
"Alright, they're back on!" Beta said excitedly, gaining everyone's attention, save Alpha who continued reading his doujin.
"Any signs of detection?" Gamma asked.
"Nope," Beta replied. "Motion sensors are clean, nothing on the camera... if they found it, they were insanely subtle about it."
"Yes, good," Gamma replied. "Remember, caution is paramount."
"Yeah, yeah, this isn't my first sensitive hack you know! There they go, the network is all lit up, they're obviously busy reconnecting things by the looks of it, which means I can go in nice and unnoticed."
Delta sat down with a can of pop next to Epsilon, commenting. "She's excited."
"I suppose she's in her element," Epsilon replied.
"Now, let's see. Mm...hmm... yep, on the latest firmware, but did you see that security bulletin... NO!" Beta proudly declared with a maniacal laugh.
"Okay, now she's having entirely too much fun," Delta said with a shake of his head, gaining a sideways look from Epsilon. "What?"
"Nothing."
"How long will this take?" Gamma asked.
"Not long, but sorry to say their main computer is just as much a fortress as their outer firewall."
Gamma nodded. "Yes, but that was expected. Just get access to what you can. Every piece will help." Gamma turned to Delta. "I believe it is time for you to arrange our phase two."
Delta sighed but nodded and got up. "Those guys aren't going to be happy that we're just sacrificing them."
"Their happiness is of no concern to me. Are you expecting their organization to cause trouble?"
Delta considered but shook his head. "Not really, at least not in the short term, but if they get... excited you better have a good excuse ready to calm them down."
"I already have laid out such plans far in advance. Please see to it."
Delta nodded and headed out. With his departure, Gamma looked briefly to Epsilon, then got up and headed to the fridge. Epsilon sighed and got up as well, joining him in the kitchen, supposedly waiting for a moment at the appliance herself.
"It is about time, do you not think?" Gamma quietly commented.
"Yeah, guess so," Epsilon replied. After Gamma retrieved a jar of jam, Epsilon took out a can of juice and walked back to the main room. There she briefly eyed the unawares Alpha before opening her can and sitting directly next to him. This was enough to get a bit of his attention as he turned from his book to eye her. She returned a smile in response.
Gamma was about half way through his jar by the time Epsilon and Alpha departed the room, and he nodded approvingly. "Surprisingly efficient."
A short while later, Delta returned just in time for Beta to loudly announce. "Alright!"
"That good?" Delta asked.
"I got control of their entire network and they don't even know it!" She said with a beaming smile. "Sadly, they are super paranoid and encrypt near everything by the looks of it."
"So nothing of immediate use?" Gamma asked.
"Well, I got outside cameras. Internals must be hardwired, but the externals are locked into the network, and they're raw," she said as she flipped through the various feeds. However, on her fourth jump, instead of a view of the nearby buildings and street, she got a long angle focused shot on a house. "Uh... that's not outside."
Gamma took immediate interest. "Yes, this is quite distant. Obviously a home of particular interest. Is this the only one?"
Beta quickly flipped through the remaining channels and nodded. "Yep, only one that is remote."
Gamma examined the feed intently. "Map!"
"Map?" Delta repeated.
"Get me a map!" Gamma ordered.
"Oh, one sec," Delta replied quickly as he rushed over to a cabinet nearby and began hunting within.
"This is interesting," Beta said, gaining Gamma's attention. "There are some other audio channels here. Doesn't look like anyone is listening though."
"Audio..." Gamma said and leaned back. "How long would it take you to rig up a time delay on these signals?"
"Uh, remotely? Don't know if that laptop is up to the task," Beta pointed out just as Delta returned with a map.
"No," Gamma replied, quickly scanning through the map, referencing the video feed a few times, before grabbing a nearby pen and marking the map with an X. "At the source."
"Uh... an hour maybe. How much delay?" Beta asked.
"15 minutes minimum, with the ability to splice and loop," Gamma replied, handing the map off to Delta. "Keep it subtle too, so the bypass is not easily detected."
"You don't ask for much... uh, yeah, I think we can swing that."
"Good, then get to this spot quickly. I'm confident you'll find the camera at that location, and likely its uplink as well. L will likely be preoccupied for a time dealing with his various dead man switches, but that window is rapidly closing."
"Uh, right!" Beta declared. "I'll get the gear!"
"I'll warm up the truck," Delta replied and the two rushed to their tasks.
Gamma took over the computer as Beta left it. 'So, L, you too have been playing a bit at distractions I see.'
XXXXX
Across town, at Ucchan's Okonomiyaki, a very particular foursome was currently gathered in the main bedroom upstairs. One of these was Ranma, who was periodically being doused in cold and hot water by the second, Kodachi. His attention, however, was locked with a frown on the third, Ryoga, who was singing sadly to himself, spaced out of the goings on around him, sitting on the floor
and rocking slowly back and forth. Ukyo was naturally the last, overlooking Ryoga with a shake of her head.
"He's totally out of it," she muttered before turning back to Ranma just as Kodachi turned him back to a girl.
"Are you quite done?!" Ranma finally exclaimed, glaring up at Kodachi who was lifting a kettle. The gymnast hesitated then poured the kettle's contents over him.
"Now I'm done," Kodachi said at last.
"Good, then get a mop!" Ukyo growled. "My room is NOT a swimming pool!"
Kodachi looked down at the soaked floor then nodded. "As you wish," she replied and headed out the door as Ukyo passed by her and sat down next to Ranma.
"I thought you were staying with L?" Ukyo asked.
"I was, until pig boy here decided to jump off the roof!" Ranma answered.
"That bad, huh?"
"I can't leave the idiot alone in this state," Ranma said with a shake of his head as Kodachi returned with the desired mop and a bucket, and began obediently cleaning.
"I'm still trying to grasp that P-chan is Ryoga myself," Ukyo said with a sigh. "Why didn't you tell Akane? You knew, right?"
"Yeah, I knew," Ranma replied.
"Yes, why did you not tell your dear fiancee that she was being exploited by a shape changing pervert?" Kodachi inelegantly asked.
"Uh... it's complicated okay, and can you tone it down?" Ranma pleaded, looking to Ryoga.
Kodachi scoffed. "He's so spaced out he is likely not even aware we're here. Besides, I believe it is an accurate description of the situation, whether you both admit to it or not."
Ranma cringed and looked away.
"So now what?" Ukyo asked.
"I just... he'll snap out of it eventually, and then I talk him down some," Ranma answered.
"Maybe but that's not what I meant. I meant about you and Akane? You have to face the music sometime."
Ranma's shoulders sagged at hearing this. "Ye...ah, but not right now."
"Whatever," Ukyo replied, getting back up. "I have to open up, so you all stay out of trouble."
"Of course," Kodachi replied with a smile.
"And what are you doing here, anyway?" Ranma asked Kodachi as Ukyo reached the doorway.
"I'm here to ensure you do not exploit my dearest Ukyo's hospitality."
Ukyo paused at the staircase before beginning her descent, muttering, "Maybe I'd like him to exploit it." This, however, went unheard by any of the others.
Kodachi finished her task and after emptying the bucket returned to the room to find Ranma having switched on the television. She frowned at him before sitting down and crossing her arms. "I find it quite... vexing that you saw fit to let this deception go on for so long, and I do not speak of this one," she said, gesturing to Ryoga.
"Hey, I wasn't hiding anything from you."
"Oh no? I never recall you trying to explain things either."
"I..." Ranma started to argue but paused in thought. "Okay, I don't think I really tried with you, but I did try with your brother and he was so thick headed he just couldn't get it."
"That hardly covers it," Kodachi said with a continued frown before thinking. "Hmm... brother dear can be rather dense sometimes. Still, think of the damage to his ego this deception is no doubt to cause?"
"And you want me to tell him?" Ranma asked in surprise, looking back.
"Of course," Kodachi replied with a devious grin. "Both for my own amusement and his own good, of course."
"Of course," Ranma echoed with a frown. "Well, you're welcome to try. I gave up on him getting it long ago." Ranma returned his attention to the television, switching channels to a news broadcast with a reporter on site at L's building. "What a bloody mess that was."
"Still quite the crowd too," Kodachi responded as she too switched her attention to the television.
Ranma turned up the volume in time to hear the reporter speak. "...And while there has been no further statement from the police, we have been assured the situation is in hand and there is no immediate danger."
"What are the feelings in the crowd?" the female news anchor asked.
"From what I'm hearing here, there is still a great deal of anger, but unlike yesterday we are seeing pockets of people claiming support for L and his Cupid ally. There have been a few scuffles between the two groups, but so far the police presence has kept things from getting too violent. The bulk of those passing by though appear to be unaligned," as the reporter noted that a young woman in the background took notice of the camera and began waving with a bright smile.
"Some appear to be treating it like just a bit of amusement it seems," the anchor said with her own smile at the sight.
"Ah yes," the reporter said, looking behind him to see the girl in question. "Ah, miss," he called out and approached, and the girl obediently joined him. "What brings you here today?"
"Well howdy there! Am I really on TV?"
"That's right, miss," the reporter confirmed. "Have to come for the whole Cupid affair."
"Oh no... well sorta I suppose. You see, me and Pa were watching the tele the other night when we saw that whole incident at the TV station, you know the one, right?"
"Oh yes, the Cupid's Arrow incident," the reporter replied.
"That's the one! That was a right exciting night, but then, I saw someone, someone I thought... well, I saw him right there, sure as sugar! Oh, he was all covered up, but I know my man Joe anywhere!"
"Joe?" the reporter repeated.
"Joe?" Ryoga unexpectedly repeated as well from over Ranma's shoulder, startling both him and Kodachi.
"Damn it, Ryoga, don't sneak up on me like that!" Ranma exclaimed. "Wait, you know this girl?"
Ryoga looked at the screen for a long moment. "Couldn't be her."
"Her who?" Ranma asked as Ryoga seemed to lose interest.
"Anna."
"Anna?" Ranma repeated as he returned his attention to the television.
"And that's why I came. I'm sure it was Joe and I just had to find him!"
"Well, best of luck to you, miss," the reporter said as they parted ways, the young woman waving once more happily to the camera.
Ranma frowned, looking back at Ryoga who had already returned to his moping. 'What could it hurt,' he thought before getting up. "Can you keep an eye on him?"
"I suppose," Kodachi answered. "You know this Anna person?"
"Nope, but I think I'll go check things out anyway," Ranma replied.
"Yes, she at least got a reaction out of him," Kodachi agreed as Ranma headed out.
XXXXX
Elsewhere, Mariko was in a mixed mood. On the surface she was keeping her upbeat face on, but beneath that she was still seething. L and the original Cupid had declared war on her, and she was ready to accept. Little did he know she knew someone likely working with him, namely Ranma. So, she was already formulating her plan to take down the great detective and her rival in love! So, while she was certainly angry, she was also confident... too confident as it was soon to turn out.
At that moment, the cheerleader had entered the bathroom at the restaurant she was at, set her love note down on the counter by the sink and began checking herself over. Beside her, completely unnoticed, Nabiki sighed, walked over and picked up the note and began leafing through it. It took nearly a minute for Mariko to finally realize what was happening.
"Hey, give-" Mariko started to say before having a paper thrust in her face.
"Read that," Nabiki calmly ordered before returning to her examination. Mariko calmly obliged. Nabiki sighed once again. "God, you really went to town for such a short time having this."
As Mariko finished reading, she looked at Nabiki in shock, finally noting the distinct lack of compatibility lines on her. "Oh no."
"Oh yes," Nabiki said with a grin before growing suddenly serious. "Stall!" she ordered, pointing to one of the bathroom stalls.
"How?!" Mariko complained as she seemed to have no will to resist the order and simply stepped inside. Nabiki followed soon after, shutting the door behind her. "You don't have the eyes!"
"You stupidly showed up at L's, and he had cameras all over that place. I had Trista here just tell me when another love goddess showed up and where so I could take a look at the feed. You stood out like a sore thumb. Wasn't hard to figure out who... what about the eyes?"
"I can see who owns a note by them not having compatibility lines," Mariko explained, before muttering, "I thought I would be able to find you."
"Probably would have, but I found you first," Nabiki replied before looking up at Sira who was looking amused. "And you are?"
"Sira," the goddess replied. "Hey Trista."
"Sira!" Trista greeted, finally letting loose and hugging her counterpart. "Did you drop your book too?"
"Uh... something like that," Sira replied.
Nabiki shook her head, noting Mariko's confusion at the scene. "Can't see mine, I take it?"
"Uh... no," Mariko said.
"She could only see Trista if she touched your note, or a piece of it," Sira explained as she and Trista separated.
"You don't seem overly concerned about current events," Nabiki noted and Sira shrugged.
"Why would I be? I don't care what happens here. You, her, it is all the same to me," Sira replied.
"You knew something was up, didn't you, Sira!" Mariko accused.
"I warned you, and you didn't listen. You brought this on yourself," Sira countered calmly. "Nice trick using commands on plain paper."
"I find it much more flexible than using the note directly," Nabiki explained before turning to Mariko with a frown. "Now, you!"
"Me?"
"You messed everything up!" Nabiki said harshly, causing Mariko to cower back. "I was cooling the situation off, and you just had to cause a big stir. Now look what you've done. You got a massive cult following running wild on the streets, and L is sure to find you."
"He won't-"
"He will!" Nabiki countered. "He has those same feeds. Sure he doesn't have Trista to point you out, but I know it won't take him forever to see you as a suspect!"
"No way," Mariko replied but Nabiki just shook her head.
"Whatever... just what are the limits on those eyes of yours? Actually first, how bad is it?"
"Bad... oh... it's bad," Mariko said after a moment. "I get maybe two days."
"Ugh," Nabiki groaned. "That's what I thought. I'm not touching that with a 50 foot pole. Alright, so you get to fix this mess. Back to the eyes, what do you need to get a name?"
Mariko considered her response a moment. "Well, a face obviously. In basic terms, I guess you could say if you could recognize the person with reasonable certainty, I can see their name in the same circumstances."
"What about pictures, video?..."
"Those work, assuming they are high enough quality."
"Drawing?"
"No," Sira said in place of Mariko, gaining Nabiki's attention. "A drawing involves an interpretation by an independent agent, no matter how accurate it will thus be contaminated and useless... well, in theory if you had a robot make the drawing in a hyper accurate way it could work, but that's not exactly something common now is it."
"More like nonexistent," Nabiki replied before frowning and holding her chin in thought. "So, I'll need to get you a picture or video of him. That will be hard now, but not impossible." After a few more seconds thought she glared at Mariko. "Go take your seat and order your food. I'll send Sira back to you with instructions in a minute, that fine?" she asked, looking to the goddess in question.
"Fine by me," Sira replied.
"Can I at least ask who-" Mariko started as she was already in the process of setting out.
"No," Nabiki replied harshly. "Consider it a surprise," she added as Mariko left, moaning. Nabiki sighed once more before looking up at Sira. "You really don't give a damn, do you?"
"Not the least of a damn," Sira replied with a smile.
Nabiki looked over the goddess with a frown. "Why do you look so old? Are you bad at your job?"
Sira groaned but Trista spoke up to explain. "Sira kinda... bent the rules a bit too far, and the Queen punished her... twice."
"So unfair," Sira muttered. "I was within the rules, she just retroactively changed them. Not my fault they were easily exploited."
"Sounds like quite the tale, but I don't have time for it," Nabiki said. "Does sound like you know your stuff though. Can you tell me more about these notes and their rules? Trista here is..."
Sira chuckled. "Oh, I know Trista all too well, and yes, I know the rules very well. What you want to know?"
"For starters, what does someone remember in place of the memories they lose if they give up their note?"
"Nothing," Sira answered to Nabiki's surprise.
"Nothing?!"
"Nothing," Sira repeated. "You humans are rather self-deceptive creatures. You'll fill in gaps with your imagination quite easily. So if you're thinking you can use some perfectly conjured replacement memory to avoid interrogation, sorry, but won't work. Pushed hard enough, people will realize they have missing memory."
Nabiki frowned but nodded. "I suppose that makes sense. How much memory is removed?"
"Any information gained from the note, or the goddess of the note. So, if you gave up your note, for instance, you'd still know about L, and Cupid existing, and have a general idea of how Cupid's power works, but nothing you learned from the note itself, or from Trista. Funny enough you would remember talking to me since you're not the owner of that note yet."
"What if I owned two notes and gave up one?"
"Almost nothing happens in that instance. If you gave up Trista's note and had mine for instance, you wouldn't be able to see Trista anymore, but you could still see me, and you'd still know pretty much everything about both notes, including that Trista exists, although you couldn't remember what she looked like and some of the details of your conversations."
"Weird. What about the opposite, I owned one note, gave it up then acquired another?"
"It would all be new to you then. All your original memories are tied to the original note. Unless you reacquired it, your memories from that time are still gone. So, unless there is overlap time, the notes aren't linked."
"Hmm," Nabiki said with a nod. "How long can someone go without their note before it switches owners?"
"Over a year," Sira answered.
"Really?"
"Yeah, it is super long. Not sure the exact duration as I didn't bother to memorize it, but I do remember it being more than long enough. If you're planning to keep Mariko's note, just be sure she comes into contact with it once a year and you're good. She'll keep ownership of it. I assume you know about losing the eyes?"
"Yes, Trista told me," Nabiki answered with a look to the goddess in question. "Okay, one last thing, why are you really here?"
"Hmh?" Trista murmured in confusion but Sira shrugged.
"Okay, it wasn't exactly an accident," Sira admitted. "Honestly, the whole situation seemed kinda interesting, and Queeny gave me a spare note so I could do something for her."
"Oh?" Nabiki asked.
"The Queen gave you a quest?!" Trista asked in excitement.
"Yeah, but it is hush hush. I can assure you my task here doesn't interfere with you at all."
Nabiki looked at the goddess in suspicion but sighed after a moment. "Suppose I'll just have to trust you for now. Alright, tell Mariko I'm borrowing her note for the time being."
"Will do, boss!" Sira said with a salute, gaining a frown from Nabiki. "Oh, one last thing. That trick of yours, with the plain paper command..."
"What about it?"
"It's great and all, but did you know it has a limit that the note commands don't?"
Nabiki shook her head. "I suspected, but no."
"Yeah. How best to put this?" Sira said in thought before tapping her fist into her palm. "Okay, how about this. Let's say, you wanted someone to take their favorite painting in the world and burn it! If you commanded them via the note itself, they'd do it, wouldn't even hesitate. However, if you use normal paper commands, they may actually disobey."
Nabiki crossed her arms on hearing this. "I get you. That makes sense. The whole point of the plain paper is to give them a looser order, but that comes at a cost. Duly noted."
Sira smiled and bowed slightly before departing. As she did, Nabiki looked to Trista, "Everything she say on the up and up?"
"Sure! I told you she'd cooperate. Wonder what the Queen has her doing though."
"Yeah, that worries me a bit. I take it the Queen is in charge? She can even change the rules?"
"Yeah, and sure, but only some of the rules. There is like 3 tiers. Me and Sira are on the bottom, with the Queen above us, and someone above her. Like THE God maybe, I don't know. She's in charge of all love goddesses, but there are others for the other types."
"Other types... like?"
"Like death gods for instance."
Nabiki paled slightly. "Wait... there is some group of gods like you that just have to write my name in a note and I up and die?"
"Fraid so," Trista said with a sigh of her own before growing annoyed. "Rotten lot they are, but don't worry much. There aren't many of those, and I hear all of them have a ton of banked time, so they don't care much anymore."
"Still, that is disconcerting," Nabiki said looking to the side.
"Well, if you're really worried, you can always write your own name in the note a bunch of times. Commands from one note override any conflicting later command from another note, so long as they conflict, but you can't fall in love when you're dead, so..."
"Yeah, I'll keep that in mind," Nabiki said with a roll of her eyes before stowing away Mariko's note and heading out. "Although, I suppose if I wanted to live forever..."
"You wish! Doesn't work THAT well," Trista said.
"Why am I not surprised."
XXXXX
Kodachi was amusing herself as best as she was able with the television, but was mostly trying to tune out Ryoga's sorrow filled whispered song that he simply continued to repeat endlessly. 'What a sad sack,' she thought. 'And what exactly is this attraction he has for Akane Tendo of all people? I mean, she's nothing special to look at, and from what I've observed her personality isn't exactly that great either. Hmh, perhaps she has an allure I'm unaware of?'
As Kodachi pondered that, a voice called out from the stairs. "Joe, you up there?"
The reaction from Ryoga was startling as he suddenly grew aware of his surroundings once more, almost like he had been shocked. "What? Anna?" he asked in confusion.
In response to his question the girl in question appeared at the door. "Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit, it really is you Joe!" she exclaimed as she rushed in to Ryoga's surprise. "And hear I thought this sketchy fell'r was just trying to get me alone."
"Hey," Ranma complained as he too arrived at the door. "I'm not sketchy!"
"I find you very sketchy," Kodachi said with an amused grin.
"Uh, what are you doing here?" Ryoga asked in a bit of a panic at the attention.
"Why, I com-a-look-in for ya. You disappeared so suddenly, and then I saw you on the tele... Oh Joe, I'm so glad you're really here!"
"Ya, Joe, what you thinking running off on a fine young lady like this?" Ranma asked, renewing some of Ryoga's usual ire toward him.
"It's not... hold on a minute," Ryoga said to Anna before getting up quickly and dragging Ranma into the hall and apparently getting into a whispered conversation.
'This has gotten interesting,' Kodachi mused before addressing Anna. "So, you new to the city I take it?"
"Oh yes," Anna replied. "Me and Pa run ourselves a farm, and Joe there was a great help with getting us out of a might of trouble a while back."
"You don't say. Cattle rustlers?" Kodachi asked with a grin but was shocked by Anna's answer.
"How'd you know? He tell you all about it?"
Kodachi blinked. 'Seriously?' "Uh... no, just a guess."
At that moment, Ryoga and Ranma returned. "So, Anna, you got a place to stay in town?" Ranma asked.
"Sure do. Auntie Lousie is letting me stay at her place," Anna replied.
"See," Ranma said to Ryoga, Kodachi guessing the answer had just refuted some argument Ryoga had been relying on.
"Joe, yall wrapped up in this Cupid business?" Anna asked. "Ranma here said you were rather down."
"Uh... well, sorta. It's complicated."
"Complicated," Kodachi echoed but said no more.
"Well, don't you worry none. I am here now and ready to help out any way I can!" Anna declared.
"That's really not necessary," Ryoga said, waving his hands in front of him.
"Nah, we'd love to have you, Anna. It has been a tough battle so Joe here could use all the moral support you can muster," Ranma said.
"Ranma!" Ryoga complained, but neither Ranma nor Anna seemed to care.
"Right, you can count on me!"
Ryoga sagged his shoulders in defeat. "I'll get you for this, Ranma," he muttered.
"Why don't you two get reacquainted. Hey, Kodachi, can I see you for a sec," Ranma directed and with a sigh Ryoga rejoined an excited Anna who started barraging him with questions.
Knowing exactly his intent, Kodachi smiled and joined Ranma in the hall, and followed him downstairs as they talked. "His other, less desired girlfriend?"
"Seems that way," Ranma replied.
"I take it you omitted the specifics of Ryoga's current situation."
Ranma nodded. "I'm not out to ruin the guy. Not like it matters to her at all."
"I think it matters, but for the time being at least, I'll play along," Kodachi replied as they reached the main floor where Ukyo was serving customers.
"So I take it Ryoga is this Joe?" Ukyo asked.
"Yeah, seems that way. Not sure what that's all about, not that I care much either."
"Hmh," Ukyo replied as the pair entered the dining area. "And what now?"
Ranma sagged his own shoulders. "I guess, so long as she has him distracted, I should deal with things. I'm not looking forward to this."
"You brought it on yourself," Kodachi replied.
"I-" Ranma started to argue, but immediately stopped. "Never mind. If Ryoga gives you any more trouble, I'll probably be at the Tendos... hopefully."
"You're welcome back if that falls through," Ukyo replied.
"Thanks," Ranma replied as he waved and headed out.
Ukyo looked to Kodachi. "And you?"
"Do I have to leave?" Ukyo glared at her. Kodachi sighed sadly. "Very well. I suppose I shouldn't outstay my welcome. However, if you have any further need of me, you know where to find me," she said before departing, barely catching Ukyo's parting mumble.
"I didn't have much need in the first place."
XXXXX
With Ranma's ultimate destination set, he was not above delaying such just a bit longer. As such, his immediate destination was the Nekohanten. He arrived to find Mousse waiting the tables, and Shampoo nowhere in sight. 'Out on delivery I guess. Good,' he thought before heading through the restaurant to the kitchen where Cologne worked.
"Hey, Gh-... uh, Cologne, I need to talk with you," he said as he entered.
The old woman glared at him briefly, but let the matter slide and simple set to smoking from her pipe. "What about?"
"That guy. The one with the weird... poison, or whatever it was," Ranma explained.
"Ah yes," Cologne said with a slow nod.
"You always got some trick, so let's cut to the chase and just tell me," Ranma demanded.
"That worried about another encounter?" Cologne asked but didn't bother waiting for an answer. "It matters little. I'm sorry to say, you have few options, and all of them you have likely already considered."
"Ranged attacks," Ranma said.
"Without the use of chi, yes. Your chi techniques are still part of your aura, so while they would connect, the chi poison would contaminate you as well."
"What about clothes? Maybe covering my hands?"
"Useless. Your aura extends beyond your skin, far beyond as you well know. And before you ask, hand held weapons are out too. Your training has you instinctively charge them with your aura."
"Damn it," Ranma cursed, looking away. "This is like fighting Ms. Hinako but worse."
"Ah yes, that disciplinarian from your school. I heard she was giving you quite the lot of trouble. The problems are definitely similar, but with distinct differences. Chief among those is that funny enough we actually have someone here who is practical ideal for fighting that man."
"Huh, who?"
Cologne took a long puff from her pipe before answering, "Mousse."
"Mousse?" Ranma echoed in surprise, looking back at the dining area. "Why is he ideal?"
"Have you not noticed? Have you never wondered why Mousse goes for quantity rather than quality of weapon? It is because his aura is very restrained. He has one, but naturally very little ability to use it. This means everything he carries functions at its natural level."
"And uncovered by his aura," Ranma concluded. "And he also wears those heavy clothes, and is good with ranged attacks... I see now."
"Exactly," Cologne said. "It was actually a specialty of his family at one time, but due to the technique falling completely out of use, that specialty became a hindrance."
"Yeah," Ranma said with a nod before frowning. "Damn annoying."
"All I can advise is to keep your distance. Remember, he will completely lack the ability to use chi offensively, so your speed is your greatest asset. So long as your aura is kept separate from his, he cannot poison you. Of course, that does limit your defensive options. I should note, don't take ranged attacks from him lightly either. They will carry some of his aura with them, if only briefly."
"Right," Ranma said before turning to leave.
"Son-in-law, may I ask why you withheld the truth of Ryoga's curse from Akane?"
Ranma stiffened sharply at the question. "I... what business is it of yours?"
"Mostly curiosity, but also to gauge your character. Shampoo honestly thought Akane knew."
"She what?!" Ranma exclaimed as he turned.
"In retrospect it was a poor conclusion, likely tainted by Shampoo's dislike of Ms. Tendo."
"And what about you?"
"Me? Ah, yes, I had... some notion of the circumstances, but I chose to not get involved. That still leaves the question of you though. You knew the particulars of what was going on, yet did not act."
"I did... okay, maybe I didn't say it bluntly, but I tried to get her to figure it out," Ranma tried to explain.
"Why not simply say it bluntly then?" Cologne asked, taking another puff from her pipe.
"I... I kinda promised him not to, before he was with Akane that is."
"Oh? Truly?" Cologne asked suspiciously.
Under the elder's gaze, Ranma looked away. "Well... sorta... it was more a silent vow."
"A silent vow," Cologne repeated before shaking her head.
"Yeah, I know that isn't going to go over well with Akane," Ranma said as he hung his head.
"It is also a lie," Cologne said, but before Ranma could argue she continued. "I'm sure you gave such a vow, but that isn't why you kept it a secret. I know you, Ranma Saotome. You will game the rules in every way you can to achieve your goals. You know very well a silent vow means nothing. Even if you gave it some undo value, you could well have forced the matter with Ryoga, yet you did not."
Ranma looked up at the elder then down at the floor again. "No, I didn't."
Cologne shrugged. "I see you still have yet to fully understand your reasoning either. Very well, I will pry no further. If you wish to escape before Shampoo returns you had best do so soon."
Ranma looked back at Cologne curiously before heeding her advice and departing with a final, "Thanks."
XXXXX
The day wearing on, Maho stretched after finishing with her overview of the latest video feed. "How many of these do you have?"
"Several days' worth of video, I am afraid. However, you have covered the important ones. Any thoughts so far?" L responded.
"Only that nothing seemed very suspicious. Nabiki, Ranma... neither of them did much of anything I'd call telling. Only thing I found a bit odd was Nabiki staying in the main room practically the whole time."
L nodded. "Yes, but her attention was pretty firmly on her reading material, not the monitors. Otherwise her actions were that of someone clearly unconcerned about being watched."
Maho frowned and looked at L on the monitor. "Which you somehow find suspicious?"
"Normally, no. However, you noted something the other day that adds a wrinkle to the situation."
Maho thought back then realized. "When she seemingly looked at something that wasn't there."
"Yes. I never did get to brief you on my discussion with Cologne," L noted, and Maho shook her head. "It was an interesting conversion. It seems those from Joketsuzoku have some history with a potential Cupid, long ago."
"Truly?"
"It is ancient history, so we can only speculate, but I did find it compelling. Sadly, much of what it revealed was more trivial in nature, but it did have two interesting elements. One, it is said that the power affects only humans."
"How is that helpful?" Maho asked.
"Normally, it wouldn't be, but with Jusenkyo..."
"Ah," Maho said knowingly.
"Yes. However, unfortunately this is of little practical use. While I could certainly acquire Jusenkyo water of my choice, the protection only works if you are in animal form when the power activates. It does not reverse an already active affect."
Maho nodded in understanding. "Meaning, you'd have to stay in animal form all the time. I'm guessing Shampoo's curse was used to prevent her falling for Tofu?"
"Correct, or at least they believe so. Obviously, there is no way to be sure. However, that is the reason for the act, or so they say, but I believe this to be true."
"Explains things."
"Yes, and also, while short times in animal form may be non-harmful, long durations are dangerous to one's mental wellbeing. As such, while it is interesting knowledge, it is ultimately not a viable defense at this time."
"You don't think Ranma's curse would work?"
"Doubtful since he remains human. It does change his appearance, so perhaps there is an effect, but we cannot rely on such."
Maho once more nodded in agreement. "And the second thing?"
"Yes, that is the more interesting part for the matter of Nabiki. You see, according to the tale, they killed Cupid."
"Killed?"
"Yes, a man apparently from a nearby village. He was said to have taken advantage of the power to enspell numerous women, including Amazons. Unfortunately, there is nothing in the tale to say how he gained the power, or used it. There is, however, a complication to the tale."
"Which is?" Maho asked eagerly.
"It seems the power of Cupid continued to haunt them long after his death."
Maho blinked, confused. "So they didn't kill him. They got the wrong guy."
"That is one way to interpret it, but there was an unmistakable shift in the post death behavior. It was clearly vengeance. You can read the details I have on file, but it is my belief that they did get the correct person, but they were someone linked to another."
"I think I see where you're going here. You think there is some kind of other being we can't see."
"Exactly. And suppose Nabiki has such a being too. Suppose that being could watch the monitors for her."
Maho leaned back with a murmur of realization. "Of course, she'd probably need to stay close, but wouldn't need to watch herself, but if that is the case, what good does it do us?"
"Not much. In fact, it greatly complicates things. This being could easily be a direct threat to us as they clearly have access to the same power. Although, so far at least they have not shown themselves to be a threat."
"So, couldn't it just being this other being doing all the Cupid stuff just at our human Cupid's direction."
"Possibly, but consider the situation with the police director."
"Right, right, he used the power too. Still could have been... but he accessed the records himself," Maho thought aloud.
"And all the while with normal Cupid still active."
"Yeah, so unless our being can split up too..."
"Which, sadly, we can't rule out at this point, but does seem unlikely. Still, it does seem like our human Cupid at least needs to be the one to acquire the information. In which case, it does make the few occasions when Nabiki does personally regard the monitors interesting. If she needs to personally see the individual to use the power, then she would have to at least go to the monitors at that point."
"You think she can actually identify another Cupid?"
"If there is another being involved, she might be able to see the other Cupid's equivalent as well as her own. In fact, I think it is quite likely that not only could she identify them, she may well have succeeded, which could mean our third Cupid is already under the power of the second."
"That's not good," Maho replied.
"It certainly raises the stakes. However, it is also an opportunity. If I am right, isolating those times she looked at the monitor, then isolating individuals appearing specifically on or just before those times on the feeds would greatly limit the suspect pool for our third Cupid."
"Assuming this is all true," Maho retorted to which L nodded.
"Indeed. However, in this instance, although I cannot firmly say I am correct, I am nonetheless confident this is exactly the situation we find ourselves in."
"And what about this other being... or beings I guess now?"
"We will have to deal with that when we have more information to go on. So far they have not acted, so we must push forward. It is risky, yes, but there are always risks."
Maho nodded sadly. "Right."
"Oh yes, there is another matter I did not get to brief you on. A success in our favor."
"Oh?"
"While the Tendos were out of their home, my associates were able to infiltrate it and place a number of listening devices."
Maho blinked in shock. "Why is this the first I'm hearing of this?"
"Honestly, I was not that hopeful for the effort. While most occupants were here, there was one who was not."
Maho frowned in annoyance. "Oh yeah, that old freaky pervert."
"Yes. I expected him to thwart the attempt, but one of my associates, through great personal sacrifice, managed to keep him distracted long enough for the other to complete the work. Audio only I'm afraid, and due to the attack, we only got the recording setup here a few hours ago. I suspect it could have been quite helpful had we had access on the Tendos return, but that opportunity was lost."
"Still, that's big. If there is another being involved, she may have to communicate with it verbally," Maho concluded.
"Exactly. So now, we are in a race. Who can capitalize on our advantages before the other?"
"We darn better win. I'm not in the market for a boyfriend right now," Maho declared gaining a laugh from the unseen Watari.
"I concur with the young lady," Watari said.
"Then we need to all be at our best. Continue your tasks. I am already reviewing the outside video for the times in question and Watari is already reviewing audio. I should have a suspect list by the end of the night."
Maho nodded before punching up another video feed to review.
XXXXX
Around that same time, Ranma finally arrived home. He had delayed, and delayed some more, but finally he knew he could dodge it no longer. 'Get ready for a beat down, Ranma,' he thought, although the thought of this merely coming to an end with a physical attack from Akane was doubtful.
He barely made it in the front door before finding Akane glaring at him from the stairs. "Hey," he greeted weakly, but she said nothing. After a long moment of silence between them, she stomped the remaining few steps to be in the entryway with him.
"You knew," she said quietly.
"I... yes," he said.
"Why?" she asked simply but forcefully.
'Why?' Ranma repeated the question to himself. He already knew all the excuses would fall on deaf ears. The truth, however, wasn't much better. "Because it would destroy him."
"What?" Akane asked in a mix of surprise and anger.
"Look, I know it is stupid, but I knew he wasn't doing anything super serious, and... the stupid idiot just couldn't live with himself if you knew. Hell, he tried to throw himself off the building just today."
Akane gritted her teeth, clearly not having expected such an answer. "And you think that makes it okay?!"
"No," Ranma replied. "I didn't say it was a good reason, but it was the reason. Then things got more complicated. I knew you'd react badly, like you are." Akane glared at him but said nothing. "Come on, you know that idiot didn't mean to hurt you, and I'm sure he didn't aim to get into that mess."
"Are you blaming me now?"
"No, I just... I just want you to understand," Ranma replied, but Akane continued her angry glare. No further words came to him.
After a minute Akane took in a slow breath. "You're right, he probably didn't mean it, and yeah, he didn't pull any of the worst stunts he could have, but that in no way makes it okay."
"No, it doesn't," Ranma agreed.
"And where is he now?"
Ranma hesitated. "Do you really want to know?"
Akane considered the question then dropped it. "Anything else?"
"Uh-"
"Anything else you haven't told me?"
"No, nothing," Ranma quickly answered. Akane slowly nodded and turned away. "Don't think I'm over this, Ranma. You chose Ryoga, of all people, over me." With that, Akane marched back up the stairs.
Ranma hung his shoulders. 'Well, she didn't beat me to a pulp, that's good... right?' he asked himself but already was concluding the answer was no. With a sigh he headed down the hall and found Kasumi in the kitchen.
"Oh, Ranma, we missed you at dinner. Have you eaten?" Kasumi asked.
"Uh, no, not yet."
"I can heat up some leftovers, if you'd like?" Kasumi suggested.
"That'd be great, thanks."
With a smile, Kasumi set to the task. Ranma turned to head to the common room, but was brought up short as Kasumi said, "It is good to see you and Akane made up."
"Uh... yeah," he replied with a hung head. 'You know, maybe choosing... no... no,' he thought before dismissing it and continuing on.
XXXXX
The sun now set, Epsilon returned to the main room to find only Beta present. She was at the computer watching with bored eyes as numbers scrolled by. "What's happening?" Epsilon asked looking over the other woman's shoulder.
"A whole lot of nothing right now," Beta replied before yawning. "The boss is checking out the feeds in his room and he's got me tracing that outside computer."
"Oh right, that one. Can't find it even now?"
"Not like it broadcasts its position, even to a computer behind their firewall. I did get one thing, it will now properly respond to a 'hello' in computer speak without raising any suspicion since I can mimic the main system and it is none the wiser. Still, that's about all I can do as everything past that wants an encrypted exchange which I naturally can't mimic. So, I have to do this the hard way."
"And that is?"
"Measure distance, which is no easy feat. Wherever they have this computer, it isn't on any official books, so all I can do is figure out approximately how long it takes to respond and take a good guess based on where the last known network connection is. However, we aren't dealing with smoke signals here. We're dealing with electronics, so everything is measured in like nanoseconds, and I don't even get the benefit of an accurate stopwatch so I have to do a TON of tests and comparisons."
"Fun," Epsilon said sarcastically.
"Yeah," Beta agreed with a sigh, "assuming this even works, it is going to take hours!"
At that moment the door opened and Gamma entered, heading directly for the fridge. "Did you get that other assignment complete?" he asked as he passed by.
"Messing with the bank records? Yeah, sure. What's that all about?" Beta asked.
Opening the fridge and looking within, Gamma quickly extracted his latest jar of jam from the fridge, prompting Epsilon to intervene and ask, "Gods, do you eat anything else?"
"On occasion," Gamma replied as he opened the jar. "As to the other question, L will no doubt already know I was involved in the attack."
"Really?" Epsilon asked, before quickly adding. "You two go back somehow?"
"Somehow, yes. Regardless, if it were anyone else, he might be willing to simply dismiss the attack as a failed attempt due to a tight timetable. However, knowing I'm involved will make him extra cautious, so we have to distract him. Delta's efforts were the first stage, getting a few of our local friends to attempt to penetrate the workers coming in to conduct repairs. This will inevitably fail, and again, such an obvious second stage will not distract L long. That's where Beta's efforts come in."
"I get it," Beta declared. "Those guys are repairmen too, and the bank records are just suspicious enough to make it look like we might have paid them off."
"Correct, but not suspicious enough to swoop in immediately. After all, L will likely want to neutralize me at the source, so will be attempting to use all of this to trace back to me. L will waste time observing them, waiting for them to make a move, and in his mind use them to get to me. While he does he is not considering how we have compromised his system, and that in truth our original attack was successful in its own way."
"Still, if this L is as smart as you let on, he won't chase this trail of breadcrumbs forever," Epsilon concluded.
"Quite right. And, once he does conclude it is a distraction, he'll go back and reexamine everything up to that point, and almost certainly order a thorough inspection of the building and find our laptop. At that point we lose our insider advantage. We must capitalize on it while we can. Which makes it all the more important you find that external computer quickly."
"I'm working on it!" Beta complained. "It isn't easy you know. All I have is an IP address, but that's not that helpful to physically find it."
"Tell me the moment you have isolated it," Gamma instructed as he left.
Beta groaned and turned back to the computer. "I hate this sort of grunt work."
Epsilon chuckled and patted Beta reassuringly on the shoulder. "I'm sure you'll get plenty of excitement ahead."
"Sure," Beta muttered as Epsilon started to follow Gamma's lead, but then asked. "You and Alpha..."
"Yeah," Epsilon answered.
"That sucks," Beta said.
Epsilon shrugged. "It could be worse. He isn't near as bad as I expected. Got a feeling, we might even be able to turn him to our side."
"Really?"
"Don't know for sure yet, just an educated guess."
Beta cringed. "Yeah, Delta sorta told me what sort of... work you do."
"I figured. Honestly, so far, this is a nice change of pace," Epsilon said before heading out.
"I can just imagine," Beta muttered to herself before refocusing on the numbers on screen and sighing.
XXXXX
End Chapter 20
So first of all, Anna is not a new character. For those unfamiliar, she is a character from the anime, and contrary to some thoughts, she is not the anime knock off of Akari. Anna actually predates Akari by several years, so if anyone is a knock off it is Akari, although I would say they both probably just draw from a similar archetype as their similarities are pretty thin.
And yes, in this continuity, death gods and death notes exist, if B having the death god eyes didn't already make that obvious. Will we see them? No, at least not in the main story. Assuming I ever finish this, I am seriously considering a brief story about the ramifications to the Death Note story, but that is far off.
Speaking of which, anybody have any thoughts on that? Assume the L, Cupid situation is resolved, but not in such a manner that it is clear what the outcome was, just the Cupid seemed to stop, and in a few years, Light gets his hands on the death note as usual. How do you think things would play out from there. I obviously have my own ideas but am curious what others think.
Special thanks to For Spite for allowing me to revive a plot element that I had to shelve with their wonderful insight that didn't even occur to me that L probably would have exploited the situation even more. It doesn't overly change things, but does let me use it and I thought it sucked to have to cut it but I couldn't justify it, but now I can. What? Well, you'll find out in the coming chapters... well, you'll see it at least, not sure it will be obvious what changed.
