Welcome back to another installment of our tale of love interrupted by things that go bump in your mind at all hours of the night… It is our hope that you are enjoying our offering as we take this as far as it is going.
Now our thanks to the following for their Reviews, Faves or Alerts: Sentinel103, readerjunkie, Jimmy1201, RomanianPrincess, pcfreak30, Mahler Avatar (back-to-back, thanks!) and eckles (glad to hear from ya again from Down Under). Thank you one and all.
Last chapter, Kim found that Ron had left GJ with a legacy that just makes her miss him even more, his cooking. Though painful, she found some comfort in the comfort food recipes her future employer got right, for a change. She brought Wade up to speed about her life after leaving Middleton and later her 'rents of the true story of what happened at Graduation. Meanwhile we caught up with Monique and how she's kept her roots in Middleton, thanks to a friendship with Justine and her family. And Ron's vacation time with his family is winding down as Yori explains to his Mom her 'relationship' with Ron in the intervening years since leaving the US. But I bet there's a little more than that to the tale… Ron's Mom reciprocates by explaining how the Stoppables have been able to stay off the radar from inquiring hackers and how their lives have been since leaving Middleton.
And now the necessary disclaimer: The characters of the Kim Possible show are the express property of the Disney Empire, all others are the property of Larry and me, so there.
Now onto the next chapter.
Storm Chaser
5
Global Justice:
"Kim let's take the tube to your and Ron's old hangout.", Wade Load suggested for the fifth day in a row. He knew the former heroine went straight home every night from GJ, so he and Dr. Director wanted her to take the time to relax, get a bite to eat and decompress from the day's activities. They especially wanted her to return to some semblance of what was a normal life before the trauma and drama that followed her high school graduation.
The former heroine wasn't aware how much the international law enforcement agency wanted Kim to get out and either make new friends or re-connect with old ones. They were especially interested in one particular old friend reinserting himself back into Kim's life, but no one a clue where the greatest running back in Mad Dog history had gone off to.
"Not there.", Kim sighed, "From what I gathered from the surveillance tapes, he's never gone back to 'our' booth since I stopped talking to him."
"Been busy watching tapes haven't you Kim?", Wade asked, getting a nod in answer.
Kim sighed, "Yeah I still miss him, Wade. It's harder than you know, trying to get Ron Stoppable out of your system."
"Yeah I guess so Kim, but you never know. Anyway you've been gone so long now it's really not your booth anymore."
"Yeah I know…it's...just…..so hard. I don't know if I can face the place."
"We're just going out for a soda Kim…but do you know how hard this is on my…Sigh…..Man I'm scared out of my pants with me being out in the open. W…with all those people being able to see me. I've had to fight through the fear of being out in the open and it's every bit as hard as what you are going through. So humor me here, if I can go out and order Tex-Mex, you can sit and watch me make a pig of myself.", Wade told his friend his greatest fears, as her eyes widened in surprise.
"Wade I never knew that….."
"Kim, it's my personal hell not yours. Man you have more than enough demons inside your head than to care about mine.", the genius responded.
"Ok Wade, let's head out. You at least deserve it for all the work you've been putting in practicing in the dojo.", Kim replied realizing that even her own friend had his own problems, "And all the other stuff too."
"Thanks Kim. So what are you going to have when we get there?"
"I guess a taco salad."
"No Nacos?", Wade asked in surprise, hoping she'd opt for the dish that her old boyfriend developed.
Shaking her head with an apologetic smile, "My boyfriend created them Wade, that doesn't mean I liked them. I only endured the things because of him."
X
"First I loved Ronnie as a friend, then later when it became deeper…..I would have done anything for him…..ex…except invite him over to England to live with me when I needed him most", Kim lamented.
Sighing, "What a loser I turned out to be huh?", she groused to Wade after they exited GJ's favorite, and their recipient's most annoying, mode of travel.
"Kim don't do this to yourself, a lot of stuff happened…and a lot of it you couldn't control. Come on you can watch while I feed my face like Ron used to do.", Wade laughed as they approached the eatery.
Kim snorted, "Just like old times."
"After you Kim, Mom's been working on my manners.", the African-American genius explained, "But it's not quite like old times."
X
Bueno Nacho, Middleton, Colorado:
"Are you sure it was her?", the teal eyed former cheerleader asked her old teammate.
"As sure as I know who you are Bonnie. She was getting her driver's license renewed.", the Chinese-American woman responded, "She looked like she had been sick or something, and that great head of hair…..it looked dingy and it was cut short."
"Sick? I wonder what's wrong with her; I hope Ron didn't do anything bad to Kim.", Tara frowned. "And something's not right, she was so proud of her hair. But since she's back maybe we should go see her."
"Why should we? She should make the first move, it wasn't us who…who ignored everyone.", Bonnie huffed. "You're just too nice T. It was like she went all high and mighty on us and left us in the dirt. And if Stoppable did anything to her she probably deserved it, sometimes she treated him worse than I did."
"And you were no different with her too, Bonnie. Whatever Kim's faults were, you just aggravated them.", Tara admonished her best friend. "She only had problems with you and people who didn't even try with her. Anyway she played a lot nicer than you did.", she pointed out. "I think the only trouble she ever had with Ron was when he was being childish; and Ron was a little difficult if you remember."
"He wasn't that diffi…", Bonnie's rant was cut off by Hope. "Hey there she is now.", she pointed as Kim and Wade entered Bueno Nacho.
"Kim? Kim, Kim over here.", Tara called as she waved and stood up so that the red head could see her.
"Hope? Tara? Bonnie?", Kim gasped as she quickly walked towards her friends' booth.
"I see you finally came back to Bueno Nacho.", Hope snorted as she also stood up from the booth and followed Tara towards their old cheer captain, "I knew you'd come back some day."
Both Hope and Tara could see the tears now rolling down the cheeks of the former heroine. "G…guys i…it's so g…good to s…see you.", Kim sighed softly as she opened her arms and then hugged her two friends, then glanced at her former nemesis, "Bonnie?"
Tara turned to her longtime friend and motioned for her to join with them.
As Bonnie got up Hope told Kim, "I told them you were back in town…..finally."
X
"You dope why didn't you tell anyone what was happening to you? It was so unlike you to not say anything, and then you just disappear and all sorts of crap happened to you.", Bonnie accused in a low tone.
Kim looked at them for a moment, "I'll spill, but first I want to introduce my partner at GJ. Girls this is Wade Load, Super Genius, he's my old tech guy from Team Possible. Wade this is Bonnie, Tara and Hope. They were members of the cheer squad with me at Middleton."
Bonnie nearly exploded, "Your partner? What about Stoppable? I thought he was your partner!" Like all Kim's friends she wanted to get to the bottom of this mystery.
"Long story girls, let's get some food and I'll tell you as much as I can remember."
"OK you get a snack while we get our questions ready.", Tara replied as she pulled Bonnie back to their booth, hoping to take care of some business.
X
Five minutes later Ned, who still worked at the Bueno Nacho, had filled Kim and Wade's tray which they took to the booth where three anxious girls were waiting.
"OK what the hell happened to you Possible?...And where is your boy toy?", Bonnie shot out as Kim and Wade slid into the booth.
"Remember at graduation…when I got kidnapped?"
"Yeah, your Dad and the green woman went to get you back. Then you and the same green woman kicked the aliens' asses and sent them packing.", Bonnie replied reciting the 'facts' everyone had gleaned from the video the UN had released to the media.
"Ron went with Shego to rescue me not Dad.", Kim told them, and suddenly had their absolute attention.
"Ron?", Tara frowned, "Then why did he tell me that your Dad went?"
"I'm not sure Tara, but that's not all of it. Wade do you want to tell them?…..After all you did make the video that reinforced the lie.", Kim continued.
Hope looked at the suddenly fidgeting African-American genius, "Spill! What the hell happened?"
"Ron had me do some editing of the official video." Looking fearfully at the harsh glare of the girls lined up before him, "Kim and Shego took no part in beating up the aliens. That was all Ron's doing…and he had me alter the video…he was covering something up."
"Then who got them to leave?", Bonnie interrupted.
"They didn't leave on their own, Bonnie, Ron killed them.", his audience now jaw dropping shocked. "He beat them up pretty badly and actually threw them into their spaceship which blew up and crashed." You could have heard a pin drop in the booth.
"Warmonga's and Warhok's bodies were incinerated in the crash.", Wade told the young women, "What is left of their skeletons are in a room deep in a subbasement at GJ."
"Stoppable couldn't do something like that…..", Bonnie was cut off by the red head.
A glazed far off look in her eyes as she swallowed hard, "I must have seen a part of it..I now remember I was down…Warhok was going to remove my head and spine…and give it to his girlfriend as a gift.", Kim's audience now shaken and queasy at this revelation.
"I didn't know any of that for sure then, but I ah sorta remembered that in the dreams that came to me after I got to college and it freaked me out. It was bad enough that I thought that Ron had killed someone, but to have the event play out over and over again at night really got to me.", now all were leaning forward to catch her hushed tones.
"In short I had a breakdown, a ferociously bad one, and I was afraid to let Ron see me like that so decided to not tell him anything, even to the point that I got my Parents and the Tweebs to not say anything to anyone. Not even Ron or his 'rents.", again she swallowed hard, "It got to where I couldn't eat or sleep…I was even afraid of hearing his voice.", Kim explained.
"So that's why you wouldn't even talk to him on the phone?", Bonnie asked in disbelief.
Nodding, "I really didn't want him to find out so I told my 'rents not to tell him or anyone else.", Kim said as she pulled a handkerchief from her pocket to wipe a tear from her eye.
Bonnie frowned, "So Stoppable was freaking out and your family didn't tell him what was going on. I can see how he'd believe that you had dumped him even if you didn't."
"Yeah, but the nightmares…..hell the daymares were just as bad…I had to drop out of Oxford for a year and a half to get help and rebuild from the wreckage my life had become.", wiping her nose as she sniffled, "I was finally able to go back about a year and a half ago.", Kim explained, "You see I couldn't focus, I couldn't sleep, I didn't eat well, and I so didn't want Ron to know about this."
Tears flowing down her cheeks, "I just didn't want to let him see me this way, after what he went through for me to go to school there while he was still here. That and I wasn't sure what I would have been to him anymore if he knew what I had become over there."
Placing a hand on her arm, "Kim, I'm sure it wouldn't have mattered to Ron, no matter what your fears were. I'm sure he would have loved you the same way he always had and would have flown to your side to have your back like he always did in high school." Tara said to murmurs and nods of agreement from all present.
Then breaching another topic Kim brought up, "But that must have been expensive, first you at Oxford, then not, and in treatment and back at Oxford again…why didn't your Mom and Dad fly you home? I'm sure you could have been treated at a hospital here at home.", Tara noted.
Kim sighed as she wiped her eyes, "Mom and Dad didn't pay for my college or my 'treatments'. I was a little too out of it to question anything going on at the time, so the whole time it went right over my head. Then when I got home last week they told me that someone else must have been paying my schooling bills, even paying off the shrinks."
Tara thought for a moment, "Yeah and whoever is footing the bills for you must be very good at keeping secrets, especially as big yours.
"Why do you say that Tara?", Hope asked.
"Look at it this way, if someone wanted to make a splash out of this all they had to do was leak that information to the media. Imagine the headlines: 'World Famous Kim Possible Loses It!' that would sell a lot of wood pulp in one of those celebrity rags."
Wade added, "And if any of your enemies found out, you would have been dead meat, Kim. I don't think you could have defended yourself when you were going through that."
"Well I know for a fact that the Seniors wouldn't have tried to hurt you when you were going through that, Kim.", Bonnie said to the red head's raised eyebrows, "Neither Elder Senior nor his son were really serious about hurting you. When you retired so did Papi, and then I sorta pressured Junior too."
"How do you know that Bonnie?"
"Still dating Junior, K.", she reminded Kim. "And I think he's gonna pop the question after I get back to the island in a couple of days.", Bonnie smirked as Kim's and Wade's jaws dropped.
Before any other reaction came from them, Tara, turning to Wade and back to Kim, "And that reminds me…uh Kim what's your friend's name again?"
"Wade."
"Wade what you hear in the next few minutes is more classified than anything that you ever heard…got that?", Tara's demeanor became serious as she jabbed a finger at the young man.
"Yeah OK.", Wade gulped nervously and nodded as he fearfully succumbed to the wiles of a pretty female with an agenda.
"Good, remember I can do things to you that will give you nightmares for the rest of your life if you spill.", Tara warned, surprising the other girls.
Then to Kim she asked, "I need a bridesmaid next Christmas Kim, can you come back home to be one?"
After the obligatory squeals and hugs, "Yeah, I can be back in town, but I'm gonna have to get fitted for a bridesmaid's dress this summer since you're getting married at Christmas.", Kim said as she released her winded friend, "So who's the lucky guy?"
"Your sophomore crush silly, and if you're not busy we can go shopping over the weekend."
"Josh?", Kim asked a little shocked by the news.
"Yeah he sorta grew on me, he's still arty and all that, but he's so nice. He's even nicer than he was in high school.", Tara blushed as her eyes glazed.
Coming back to the moment, she sighed, "I guess it was meant to be, just like it wasn't for me and Ron…After our second visit to Wannaweep, I was so smitten with Ron, but before long I finally realized that he was so devoted to you that I didn't think I could have ever won him over." A tear welled up and streamed from one of Kim's eyes.
After the painful moment between the red head and blonde passed, "Then before Prom I decided to cut my losses and started to date Josh, not really sure if I was settling, or had found the real thing.", Tara said. "But by midsummer I was so sure he was who I had been looking for, and after a while I realized just how great a husband he would be to me."
A small smile on her face, "Yeah I can see that with you two, he's gonna make you a great husband.", Kim agreed.
"And before that can happen, we both need to know if you have any idea where Ron Stoppable might be. Joshua really needs to talk to him; he's got something important to ask him.", Tara asked, to put to bed whether or not Kim knew where Ron might be.
A painful shudder ran through her, "I wish I did Tara, but after what I did to him, I'm not sure I'll ever find him again…there's so much I want to beg his forgiveness for, I don't know where to begin.", Kim frowned, then, "But why do you need him anyway?", she asked somewhat defensive of Tara's interest in her former boyfriend.
Striking a thoughtful pose while rubbing her chin, "Well then, Josh is gonna have to work around that."
Kim asked, "Work around what, Tara?"
"You don't know?"
"Know, what?"
Bonnie butt in, "Kim, Josh wanted Ron to be his best man."
"Huh?"
Tara reminded the red head, "Don't you remember? Ron suggested to Josh that he ask me out on a date…If I remember correctly that was just after you and he started dating, so I don't think Ron's intentions were so unselfish.", the bubbly blonde giggled, "But it worked out for us somewhat, didn't it?"
"I didn't know about that.", Kim said in surprise, "But now that answers some questions I had at the time about you two dating.", she said while striking her own thoughtful pose.
Then relaxing, "So that mystery's solved, and I have many more to deal with, but for the short term… I'd love to go dress shopping with you this weekend, Tara."
"Good, I'll call Saturday morning."
XXX
Tokyo Airport:
"Now Mom and Dad you guys behave yourselves on the flight back.", Ron chided his parents while standing with them at their departure gate. His being out past the 'passengers only boundaries' was something that no one questioned when he passed through the Security Gate without showing a Passport.
Turning to look to his sister, "I don't want to get a bad report from Hanna." Ron said to the super active ninja child who was much more restrained than the last time he had spent time with the 'Master of Tot Kwon Do', as he dubbed her from his babysitting days gone by with Kim.
"Don't worry about us Ronald, we'll be fine. Now when are you going back to Sapporo?", Dean asked.
"In a couple of weeks I should be all in. As you saw I was pretty well moved in at the apartment.", the blond replied with a shrug, "I just have a couple things to take care of."
Barb stepped up to hug her only son, "Ronald, are you going to be able to visit us in Norway during semester break?"
"I don't know, I'd like to…but something tells me I'm not going to be able to do that until spring."
"If you can promise a week in Norway next spring, you'll make your Mother very happy. I'm sure it'll be fun; you can stay with us at the farm. Maybe by then the snow will be all melted and we can go for walks in the mountains.", Barb suggested while missing her husband's flinch.
Ron chuckled, "Mom I think Dad is having problems with some of your plans."
Turning partially to her husband, "You can look upon this as incentive to get him out of the house and into a more active life style. Hanna and I have been enjoying mountain walks since we got there, and it's high time he dropped some weight. He'll live a lot longer.", Barb smugly replied turning back to her son and giggling daughter while ignoring her 'suffering' husband.
"Now that I think about it, getting him to walk a little while here was a challenge…."
"When we return home, getting a rucksack on his back and cross country skis in his feet will be the mission this fall and winter.", Barb informed her son, then conspiratorially lowered her voice, "I already have an appointment with a ski instructor set up for three days after we get back. Dean will begin daily walks with him to get in condition, but don't let your Father know the plans."
Chuckling lightly, "Good luck there Mom. But I guess this means I'd better get a good pair of walking shoes before I visit you next time. With the mileage you'll have built up by the time I get there I can only hope to keep up with you guys."
Surprised at the comment, "Ronald you seem to be in pretty good shape and from what you told us that Yamanouchi place is on a mountain. You should do just fine.", Barb said.
"Yeah but I'll spend time skiing this winter too…..Sapporo is placed pretty well for that."
Dean butt in to discuss one last piece of business before leaving, "Ronald do you need any more funds transferred into your accounts?"
The young blond gave his Father a questioning look before Dean continued, "You should be controlling a larger portion of your trust and remember you do have to pay for your apartment and schooling."
"Ah sure Dad, I guess I could use the funds; so how much are you going to transfer?", Ron asked not realizing how well his accounts had grown under his Dad's watchful eyes.
Dean looked at his son, his smile growing larger before he broke the news softly, "I am going to transfer a couple billion to you, from there you can move it around as you see fit. With that much money, it could last a while, even if you develop a playboy lifestyle.", he grinned nervously at the end.
"A…a couple billion?", Ron coughed, "How the heck did that happen?" Then shaking his head to clear it, "Never mind, I should know better than to ask an Actuary how he invested money." His Dad grinned mischievously.
"But as to your fears of me living the life of a playboy…let's just say that after what happened with my first Naco check, I no longer have the desire to develop any kind of lifestyle. I really don't need more money than I already have."
"You really have no idea what you are worth do you son?"
"I don't need to know that, but there is one thing I do need to know…is KP's education and everything she needs…is all that taken care of?", Ron asked, his net worth the farthest thing from his mind.
"It is. Like you, we have no idea what is going on in her life. We set it up during the winter before you graduated high school if you remember.", Dean said as Ron nodded. "Now the people running Kimberly's trust have plenty of money and are so honest it makes my teeth ache. I didn't talk to them after it was setup because we wanted to get away quietly and not leave the potential of a trail from meeting with them.", Dean informed his son after he glanced both left and right.
"Good, thanks Dad, I hope Kim and whoever she's with right now are happy. After all she deserves it; she was sitting there with me when I invented the Naco, so she should get something out of it.", Ron smiled thinly.
"So have you ever looked in on her?", Dean asked.
"Nope, like I said even a dope like me can take a hint. As fast as she dropped me after getting settled in at school, she musta found herself a real 'hottie', so as far as I'm concerned it's for the best.", he shrugged. "I've found myself and I'm going to go to college to make something out of myself too. No more Smarty Mart Employee of the month for the Ronster."
"You DO know you are now worth a little more than Mr. Smarty.", Barb cut in.
"Don't really care about that Mom.", Ron shook his head.
"And your five year class reunion should be announced sometime next year; you really should think about attending.", Barb suggested.
"Not gonna happen Mom, the only reason anyone ever knew who I was, was because I was Kim's friend. No other reason. Besides people slip through the cracks all the time…I just happen to be one of them."
"You shouldn't be that way Ronald.", Dean assured his son, "You did good things on your own."
"Dad I was in Kim's shadow my whole life. She's moved on, so have I. If I were to go to the reunion, the only person I'd like to talk to is Felix, but then he'd tell everyone what I was doing and I really don't want anyone back there to know what I've up to or where I've been.", Ron told them.
'And a reunion visit might start questions about where I've been and somehow end up at Yamanouchi, something I can't let anyone find out about. If Wade got wind of us and started digging further, it could be our greatest nightmare. That guy doesn't know when to stop turning over rocks to find information. And that would greatly hamper the way I've been setting things up to hide in plain site while blending into the background like I've been doing.'
"I understand Ronald; you have to do things your own way."
"Yes Sir, before, I followed others even though I was scared outta my mind most of the time. Now I'm not scared anymore…", he began when the last call for his family's flight sounded overhead, "Listen it looks like they are going to load the plane, so you'd better start up the ramp."
Then after giving them hugs and kisses that were going to have to last them all for a while, "You guys have a good flight, I'll call you at my first opportunity. Be safe over there, you hear?"
Waving one last time before his family disappeared; Ron sighed and turned away from the window to retrieve a duffel bag he staged in an airport locker before his family's visit two weeks ago. After that his next stop was Yamanouchi, so he made sure to pack light so he could pack everything he wanted to take with him from his old dorm room. Besides the necessities he'd take with him, he'd also include pictures of his Mom, Dad and Hanna.
Though his 'rents knew he had pictures of them with him, what they didn't know was that he had one more picture which he kept beside his sleeping mat where Rufus also bunked down for the night. The picture was that of a boy in an out of date tuxedo and a girl in a damaged light blue dress, dancing under a sparkling disco ball.
'Man I really should get rid of that old photo,', Ron mused as he made his way through the airport and to the exits, 'but Rufus would bite me if I tried.'
After exiting the airport and avoiding the evening rush of passengers, the young blond hailed a taxi. Within minutes he was enroute to the bus station for the ride to the footpath leading Yamanouchi.
When he first arrived, he would have considered walking the treacherous paths up the mountain to be dangerous. Not anymore for someone who was Yamanouchi's covert warrior hero, and had come to know all the paths on the mystical mountain. In the few short years since his return, he was no longer the frightened insecure boy who left Middleton. Instead he had grown in his travels to remote corners of the world seeking the wisdom, knowledge and training to become what was foretold in the ancient scrolls he learned of in his conversations with the school's founder: the True Master of Tai Xing Pek Kwar, Mystical Monkey Power, and the Chosen One, who was destined to wield the Lotus Blade as a Guardian of the World.
X
(Around the next curve there is a pullover, please stop there. It is where I must get off to continue my journey.), Ron told the driver.
(Are you sure? I'm new on this route, but I have been told the mountain is haunted.), the driver called back.
(I am sure, this is where I have lived the last few years, do not worry, it is safe for me. The Kami know who I am and have accepted my worthless self.), Ron explained.
(Very well, but it is not safe from what I've heard.)
(I know, when I first came here it was much the same for me, but it is not that bad once you have lived here; though I would caution anyone from just walking any of these paths at night.)
Five minutes later the young blond hopped off the bus at the deserted stop to the astounded look of the rest of the passengers. After the doors closed he waved and stepped back as the bus pulled back out on the road.
Without a light to guide him, Ron turned into the forest to begin his trek into the clouds and his destination above them…Yamanouchi, the school which had been carved out of the mountain over fifteen hundred years before.
It was near midnight when the solo traveler stepped onto the old footbridge as he came to the end of his night's journey. The trip made in solitude, the blond young man had no need to make any noise. In truth he traveled making less noise than the tiny rodents he encountered along the trail. They never heard him coming or going, although he could sense them.
Instead, he carried an ongoing conversation with the rodent who rode in a side pocket in his pants.
"Can you hear them Rufus?", Ron sent to his mole rat friend.
"As can you Ron.", came the sharp reply.
"Didn't get your required twenty hours of sleep today did you?", Ron almost said out loud, "You're getting snippy in your old age."
"It's been a long two weeks entertaining our Sister. I'll be old and withered before she ever calms down.", Rufus snarked.
"I like being around her buddy, she reminds me of happier times. Now do you want to stay up for a little while? I need to perform my nightly meditations."
"I'll take a rain check loser. Go ahead and have fun..but you could unwrap that cheese you got for me earlier. I'm starved.", Rufus added, seeming to have fun with an old adjective.
Ron snorted then silently added, "I thought you had forgotten about that. Are you getting absentminded in your old age?"
"I should bite you on the leg like I did that synthodrone and see if all your goo spews out. Remember I hold a grudge.", Rufus warned lightly.
"You did good that night."
"You did good too Ron, too bad it didn't work out for you and her. You know you could give it one last chance…."
Ron smiled lightly to himself he answered his little friend's observation, "We were young Rufus, the odds were against us. Even if Kim's 'rents had been for it, keeping a long distance relationship may have been too hard anyway." Shrugging, "It was for the best my little warrior. I think we both know what would happen if I tried and I will not embarrass Kim that way. I like her way too much to do that to her." Then reaching into Rufus' pocket, "Listen I'll leave you in the room with some Sakura Cheese I got you in Hokkaido so you can have a snack before you turn in."
"Well at least you're not going to waste it by eating it yourself.", Rufus sent as Ron walked into the west gate at the Yamanouchi School, then bowed to a particular statue as he entered the compound.
"I knew you would like it…are your teeth getting soft by any chance?"
"You know me and cheese. I like most kinds. I have a better sense of taste than you humans do."
"Well one good thing about moving up to Sapporo is you get more of it."
"What, you are only going to get me one kind from now on?", there seemed to be an edge to the mole rat's thought.
"I didn't say that Rufus. You'll get a selection like you always have don't worry."
"I'd better; I've saved your butt too many times not to be appreciated."
"I appreciate you doing all this for me, Rufus, but you know Sensei is a little worried about your health.", Ron informed his rodent friend.
"What ails me he can't do anything about, though you could at least talk to 'Mom'.", Rufus implored Ron.
"Yeah that's all we need Rufus, all that would happen is that she'd be embarrassed. And it'd be our luck that her boyfriend just might be a little protective of her with an old boyfriend showing up on her doorstep with his hat in his hand. It might send the wrong signals…No we're better off here." Then sighing as he looked at the mole rat, "Anyway I wish you would stop calling KP that."
"Since you messed it up with Yori it looks like a lonely life for you once I croak.", Rufus chided.
"Yori thought I was this super honorable guy, she didn't notice what was next to her. I should never have given in to her advances after we got back from Tibet."
Rufus seemed to snort as Ron slipped open the door to his domicile, "Yeah you were all mystical this and mystical that. It was pretty annoying you know."
"It helped me eventually be able to talk to Toshimuru."
"And he's been trying to get you to settle down with one or two girls, I mean the guy's older than sin, he ought to know something."
"He's a dead guy who lived fifteen hundred years ago, and died an old bachelor too. Remember that so don't count on him for matters of the heart.", Ron set Rufus down his nest of over a year in Ron's room.
"But his heart is in the right place…."
"He was smart enough not to give his heart to anyone buddy, so he is ahead of me there. I wish I had studied more about him when I first came here, maybe I would have made better choices."
"They only gave you a week to choke down all that information your first visit Ron, it's not like you were really ready for what they hit you with."
"NO excuse for being juvenile Rufus. Kim stepped up early in her life…If she could do it so could I. I refuse to fail again."
"Ifs and buts, if you humans could all go back and correct your mistakes…do you know how boring it would be?", Rufus snarked his reply, "But we'd have a good fruit salad as long as you don't forget the cheese."
By now Ron changed into the robe he now preferred to meditate in as he relaxed his breathing and sent to his friend, "See you later buddy."
"Hnk, you too buffoon.", Rufus said, finally too tired to continue the mental conversation.
"Outlasted ya this time; goodnight buddy.", Ron replied as he turned to go to the temple.
X
The Monkey Master entered the shrine where several other Masters were sitting in a circle in the Lotus Position. The white haired Ninja Master nodded as Ron eased himself down silently to take a place in the small circle as he finished relaxing himself.
"Please try to make contact with our founder my friend.", Sensei sent to Ron.
"As you wish Master.", Ron replied as he cleared his mind and entered a deeper trance.
XXX
Global Justice:
"Will, what do you make of all those disturbances in Asia over the last several years.", Dr. Director asked her Top Agent as she read through the reports of that region.
"Well Ma'am over the last couple years, if anything, they have become more spectral in nature, if you don't mind me saying.", the Deputy Director informed his superior.
"What do you mean by that?"
Du paused to think for a moment before responding, "As of late, when we get calls from that region to deal with incidents of a criminal or terroristic nature, we send a team in to investigate, but upon arrival they find no such problem and the locals act as if nothing untoward had ever taken place. It's like chasing a ghost, if you will."
Betty raised an eyebrow at this. "I see…And how long has this condition existed in that part of the world?"
"Well, up until three years ago when we investigated such issues we usually broke up criminal enterprises, arrested criminals or terrorists and generally cleaned up a nest of vermin terrorizing the local populace. And while there we used to get all manner of Intel on the region…"
After a small shrug, "Now damned few of the Asian nations even bother to call us, even when something of a criminal nature has been detected by GJ. When we contact the local authorities, we are told that there's nothing going on for us to be concerned about, but thanks for asking." Expelling a frustrated breath, "Trying to get them to admit to anything is like trying to pull teeth from a piranha."
"Would you care to speculate?"
"Well we used to get a fair amount of collaboration from the Asian Theatre of Operations, but that dried up over the last three years, as did reported incidents. Now I highly doubt that region of the world has suddenly gone law abiding, so I think there is a new dog in town and he's very good, very big or very scary to the bad guys, or all of the above. Until we know more, I'd say we should sharpen our focus on that region to be prepared for whatever comes from this situation. One possibility to be prepared for is an influx of what's being driven underground over there suddenly appearing here or elsewhere where the waters aren't as threatening to them and their operations."
After contemplating the information she received, "I agree, we need more information from the region. And if they aren't as forthcoming as they had been in the past, I think it's time to lean on some governments to see what is really going on. I'd hate to have an undercurrent of mobsters or terrorists from there come here and surprise us.", the one eyed leader of Global Justice decided.
"Yes Ma'am, I concur."
XXXX
More things moving along here alright; Kim's getting her feet under her in Middleton, while Ron's on his way to the next steps in his life and 'career'. GJ is still moving around Kim and Ron from the edges of the periphery but they are looking out for the best for them. And then there's this nagging issue of their Far East Theatre of Operations being uncharacteristically quiet for some unknown reason…
Hope you enjoyed and you leave word either way. Until next time.