Out of Sight, Out of Mind
Chapter 16
"Time for some more footwork I guess…"
An hour later
Train station
Nabiki stared at her motley crew, as each one had travelled through Ryugenzawa together, and further in some cases. Even her appearance was horribly dishevelled. I'm a mess…
"Right, before we buy tickets, I'm going to get some new clothes, there's cake on mud and dirt everywhere… I do have respect for my image…"
Monlon walked beside her. "Lord Kirin didn't specify how much your fee was, but I'll be happy to pay for the clothes in his stead. I believe he won't mind."
Nabiki grinned, and began to think of luxurious outfits, before realising that she had no idea how long the journey would last for once she reached Nerima.
"Okay, let's go here then…"
They left the station and walked into the nearby shopping centre. She pointed a finger at Lime and Sarutoru. "You two, get yourself cleaned up, there's some men's toilets over there. We'll meet you in half an hour."
Nodding dumbly, they did so, sat on the benches, and waited.
One hour later
The snore bubble around Lime's nose burst as Nabiki poked him on the forehead.
"Hey, wake up sleepyhead."
Lime blurrily rubbed his eyes and stared upwards, as his vision focussed clearer. "Hey Nabiki…" He looked at the electric time on the nearby bus stop and frowned. "I thought you said you would be half an hour…"
"Well…" She showed a toothy grin. "You know how girls are like…" She shared a look with Monlon, who also began to giggle.
Sarutoru got up from his seat, amused at Lime's sleepiness. "You seem to be in good spirits, Nabiki." He bowed slightly. "Are your new clothes adequate?"
Nabiki now wore a new outfit completely; sharp to reflect her business and financial brain, but also hard wearing and durable, as if whatever she did takes time, and may be required to be as strong as the person inside. Well, that's what the salesperson said at least…
Lime checked out Monlon carefully, and saw that she had a bag hidden behind her. She didn't look any different however. He gave a sly and leery smirk. "What did you get?"
She jerked her bag away from his grabbing arms, dodging from him constantly. "Don't make me hurt you…" She warned, her ki beginning to mix with the lute on her back.
"Come on now…" He was obviously enjoying the challenge, using his own ki to make himself faster. "Just a look… I bet you got some skimpy underwear… Maybe a bikini!"
Monlon blushed. "Y-You ingrate! How can you be so crude!"
"Stop this!" Sarutoru jumped in the middle, holding his arms out at both sides. "This isn't getting us anywhere!"
Lime wasn't in the least bit intimidated by him, not having been pushed back by the stopping hand. "Oh yeah… Are you going to -"
He stopped at feeling a huge burst of ki, and felt his skin tingle. His eyes widened when he realised it wasn't coming from the man opposite him.
Sarutoru was sweatdropping, as he knew where it was coming from, and why. He nervously looked to his left to see Monlon, her eyes glowing red, with his hand pressed tightly against her chest.
"Y-You…" Her lute sprung to hand and the wire began to dance around her. "H-How dare you…"
Sarutoru raised his arms, panicked. "W-Wait! It was an accident!"
Lime built up his ki. "You bastard, you felt her up! And before I had a chance!"
Nabiki felt her head as if plagued by a serious headache. Great, another migraine… The fists, wires and shadows began dancing as people closed their shutters and store fronts.
Cupping her hands in front of her mouth, she shouted. "Hey!"
They all stopped to look at Nabiki, their respective method of attack suspended for the time being.
"Stop your squabbling! We have a train to catch…" She walked in and punched the men lightly in the stomach. "Control your powers you two, you know we're in normal company now, so you'll have to watch what you do." She turned to the other woman. "Monlon, try not to be so trigger happy either, those wires hurt a damn lot if someone normal got caught up in them."
Each one of them drooped their heads, and flushed at their rashness. "I'm sorry…" They all mumbled at the same time.
"Good." Hand on hips, Nabiki strode through them and headed for the train station. "Monlon, heal Lime and Sarutoru, your wires cut them a bit, and we don't want any questions on the bullet train."
Lost for words, she did just that, the healing music stitching together the skin and evaporating the blood. Following a mumble from Lime, the bickering between the threesome started up again, and Nabiki sighed loudly. As long as they don't kill each other…
5:35pm
Tokyo
Four tired people slumped from their carriage into the throngs of people.
"Great… just great…"
Nabiki looked over to see the military coaxing people into the proper areas. Evacuees… She looked at the train itself and made a pensive face. Well, we were the only ones trying to get in to Nerima…
"We should get moving, I don't like the looks the police and army are giving us…" Monlon commented, as several pairs of eyes tracked the group.
"You're right…" Nabiki walked ahead as the others followed close behind.
Once they were a suitable distance away from the area, they breathed a sigh of relief.
"Good… Well, as you know, we're not in Nerima yet, they're not allowing anyone inside there directly via the train, and there's no bus service, so we're going to have to walk." She looked at them closely. "Once I reach Nerima, we can go our separate ways. There'll be no need for us to stay together longer than necessary, and besides, everyone will keep asking why you're with me."
Two of them nodded and one sighed sadly.
Sarutoru spoke up. "Why do you think they were looking at us?"
Nabiki quirked a smile. "Probably your strange clothes, Lime wears tiger skin, you wear Goku's outfit and Monlon…" She looked at the Nekonron God. "She wears very little."
"Thanks a lot…" Her wry expression made the others chuckle.
Lime began to inspect himself. "I don't look that bad. This has been with me for years…"
Monlon peered at him through half lidded eyes. "Smells like it has too…"
Lime twitched, his hands forming cupping motions.
Sarutoru was getting upset that Monlon kept criticising everything and everyone. "You do realise that your clothing leaves little to the imagination. How is it suited to life in the jungle, or a city, or even a battle?"
An anger cross flared up on her cyan hair, pounding slowly. "It may not be suited in your eyes, but at least I look good, rather than a reject as a trained monkey."
"For the last time, don't call me a monkey!"
"Hey! Don't you talk that way to a lady!" Lime interjected, turning his angry eyes to Sarutoru.
"Oh really, and what will you do, Kitty?"
An infuriated yell made them hold their ears. "For God's sake!"
Nabiki was mad, for one of the few times in her life, and this time, she really showed it. "Will. You. Get. Along!" Her voice lowered, but the effect was lost on them. "This is getting really tiring for me, I've been travelling for a month now. One month!" She held a finger out to illustrate. "I've been tracking Ranma's shadow for that long… First I go to everyone he knows, and they don't remember him, then I find that all physical trace of him is gone, he wasn't even born according to Public Records!"
She dropped her backpack and sat down hard on a nearby bench, head held by both hands.
"Then I see his grave… That's when everything changed. I thought he was gone for good, then I got lucky and go off to China without even knowing whether he was still alive…"
Monlon sensed the distress that their leader was going through, and sat down next to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I know this must be hard for you, but you are looking for him, and you've done remarkably well to get this far."
Lime snorted but shrugged. "That's right, even though you did have my - I mean our - help, you've been able to go through many places."
Sarutoru rolled his eyes at Lime's praise, but chose to ignore it. "Prince Toma would not have assigned me to you if he thought this journey of yours would be easy. Herb and Kirin must have thought the same. You've undertaken this difficult task all on your own, which makes it most admirable."
Nabiki looked up at her retainers, and smiled wanly, the tiredness evident on her face. "Thank guys... I really needed that..."
Monlon could see the slumped shoulders and body language clearly. "Do you want to rest somewhere? We could rent a hotel for a night..."
"No..." Forever stubborn, Nabiki stood up shakily. "We're going to move, now. We've wasted enough time as it is."
She strode on ahead, as the others looked at each other quietly and slowly followed her.
She hadn't gone ten metres before the ground beneath her expanded upwards and outwards. Not expecting this behaviour, she was taken by surprise and blown backwards into Lime's arms.
"You okay?" He asked, glad that the cloud of dust covered his blush.
"Yeah, I'm fine thanks..." She looked forwards. "Just be prepared this time..."
"AM I THERE YET?"
The earth covered individual stooped out of the tunnel he created, and coughed out more dirt. He looked out of the pit and saw his target.
"There you are... Nabiki."
"Hello Ryoga..." She smiled wryly at seeing his body all scratched up. "Do your wounds hurt?" I hope they do...
"No..." he cracked his knuckles. "They don't hurt as much as what you put me through."
"That's a shame..." She looked to Lime, Monlon and Sarutoru and nodded.
They jumped away in front of her and prepared for a fight. Ryoga grinned.
"Well, well, if it isn't Lime... Still sore after your last defeat?"
The tiger man snarled. "Not really, seeing as you're the one to be going down today."
Ryoga saw Sarutoru and kept his eerie smile. "Your last attack didn't work on me, you'd better have something up your sleeves this time."
While he was turning his head, wires snapped around his wrists, Monlon not moving from her position. Another wire took away his umbrella and whipped it far from their reach.
Lime took this as a queue while Ryoga was distracted, leaping forwards. He drew his fist back, aiming directly for Ryoga's temple.
"Fear my newest technique! Futae No Kiwami!"
As the fist collided, the explosion jolted Ryoga, creating double vision in the lost boy. He staggered back.
"I won't leave until..." His green ki leaked out. "... I have my revenge!" His hands flew forwards, the pain from the constantly humming and vibrating wire forgotten for the moment, a ball of ki gathered up there.
"Shi Shi -" He stopped as a liquid black substance covered him up. He shifted his eyes to the person he knew did that attack. "I told you it wouldn't work..."
Sarutoru smirked. "Just for you, I made this special version..." He pumped more ki into the shadow. "Since you love to use your depression as ki blasts, I'll just make you happier until you can no longer produce any ki."
As the shadow receded, Ryoga felt incredibly happy, but with that rare emotion inside him, he could no longer generate his most powerful attack. Screaming in outrage he tried again, only for the shadow to cover him and deplete the sadness away.
"No... I won't have it..." He pointed his finger at the ground. "Bakusai Tenketsu!"
As the rocks flew around, more wires flipped about and snapped onto the person in the middle. Enraged, Ryoga burst through the cover.
"I'll get rid of you first!" He reached her before she had a chance to react, finger poised to attack. "Baku Chaiten Kechu!"
Monlon looked on in horror as her heirloom came apart, the wood flying everywhere and sending splinters into her hands. A swift fist in her gut then knocked her out to the world, and she slumped to the ground.
"You bastard!" Lime yelled, running in fast. "You should never hit a lady!" He sent two fists into Ryoga's chest "Double Futae No Kiwami!"
The shockwaves reverberated in the area as Ryoga coughed up some blood, the strikes hit him deep. Lime growled and held his hands, the knuckles receiving a lot of pain from repeating the technique. Seeing an opportunity, Ryoga ran and tackled Lime to the ground, sending him many punches to his upper torso, and left him bruised badly while hurting all over.
Sarutoru was keeping the shadow trained on him to not allow the depression to increase, but he could do little else in a physical fight.
Nabiki smirked and stared down Ryoga from inside a shop entrance.
"Ready to take me on?"
He returned the smirk, as Lime grasped at his leg weakly. "Any time..." He leaped for her, not before kicking Lime unconscious and roared.
She pulled back her hands behind her back and cried out.
"Anything Goes Final Attack!"
Ryoga looked on incredulously, never seeing her practice martial arts, ever. However, he was still in midair and couldn't move out of the way. He bolstered his defence with ki.
"Jusenkyo Counter!"
Withdrawing the two Super Soaker 2000s tucked in the back of her trousers, she aimed them at Ryoga and fired. The streams of ice cold water hit him dead on, and soon the body vanished inside the clothing, a weak 'Bwee' sound emanating from the baggy yellow top.
"Success!"
Her delighted smile over her victory was short lived, as her water projectiles hit another person, this time rather tall with curly bangs. He stared at her for a few seconds before he changed.
"Oh shit! Pantyhose!"
The bull-yeti-crane-eel-octopus cursed individual bellowed, his eyes bugging out. He jumped at Nabiki and delivered a crushing punch to the ground in front of her.
Her eyes widened as the store began to cave in, metal supports giving way and wooden beams crashing to the floor.
She looked up to see part of the roof fall towards her.
And the world went black.
One week later
3:00pm
"- waking up..."
"Look, her eyes are open..."
Nabiki groaned, her body felt like hell. And why is my left eye all bandaged up?
She looked over to see Lime in tears. "N-Nabiki... You're alright!" He went to hug her before Monlon put her foot in his face.
"Relax Lemon, she's still healing herself, you'll break her back."
Lime pulled back and rubbed at the imprint of her foot, now darkened against his head.
"H-How long have I been out for?" Nabiki asked.
"About a week." Sarutoru answered. "The doctors have kept you sedated for some time to prevent your body from damaging itself. You also fell into a coma for three days."
He looked to his right rather evilly for some reason, and so curious she was, Nabiki followed his gaze and felt her heart slow.
"Pa-Pantyhose..."
The now human Pantyhose clenched his fist as anger crosses popped up everywhere. "Don't... call me that..."
The three guards began to tense up, to hold him back, before he calmed down. They all breathed a sigh of relief.
"And where's that pig hiding?" She asked, glad the danger was over.
A malicious Lime licked his lips and rubbed his stomach. "You know, with some spices, he tasted pretty good..."
Nabiki quirked an eyebrow, then found it hurt all of a sudden. "Oh really? Even you wouldn't eat something that was an actual person."
Lime grumbled something about morals and pulled out a bruised P-chan from under his heel. Handing him to Nabiki, as she held out her hand in anticipation, she smiled.
"So, Ryoga-kun…" She narrowed her eyes. "What should I do with you? Send you to Uuchan's as a pork substitute? Maybe the Nekohanten could do with more bacon."
The dark skin paled and he began to 'Bwee' pathetically, trying to escape from her, but her hands were both holding him tightly.
"I know… We can't have pigs like you running about, who knows how many there'll be in the future? I think I'll have you neutered."
This time, P-chan squealed frantically, fearful of what might happen to him in his normal form. Nabiki chuckled.
"See? It won't work trying to threaten me with bruises, broken bones, and other things to do with martial arts. I can damage you in simpler ways that would scar you for life…" She looked to Pantyhose for a moment, before returning to P-chan. "I'm going to have a talk with the knucklehead here alone, but I want to speak to you when you come back."
She threw him into Lime's hands, where be promptly began to beat the skull of the pig. "Give me a few minutes, then call the nurses in so I can leave."
They nodded, and Lime (still holding P-chan by the ears), Monlon and Sarutoru left the room, closing the door behind them. The silence grew until neither could bear it any longer.
"Why did you attack me?" Nabiki asked.
Pantyhose hmphed and smirked. "None of your business."
She reached out and grabbed his top, pulling him closer so she could sneer at him. "Don't think I'm like the others. You're paying for my health insurance for the coming year, and I'll bring you hell if there's any more problems with me…" She let him go, pushing him back briefly, and tapped at the bandage over her eye.
Pantyhose tried not to be affected by her ramblings and shrugged it off. "How's the transgender bitch?"
Nabiki paused. "You mean Ranma?"
He was beginning to lose his temper. "Of course I mean him! Who else do you who changes into a girl!"
She smirked. Well, there is Herb after all… She grew serious. "So, you weren't wiped… Did you see him at all?"
"Yeah, why's it any of your business?"
"Look, you're in enough trouble as it is, so explain to me why before I lock you in your human form."
Pantyhose paled slightly. "Y-You wouldn't…"
Nabiki knew full well that his chances when fighting other martial artists while still human would be diminished greatly. She was also hoping that he wouldn't guess at her bluff. The only way she knew to lock a curse in the original form was by using the Waterproof Soap, but even then it wears off after time. Her grin widened.
"So? Ready to talk yet?"
He clenched his fist, and she watched as it shook for a few moments, before stopping. "Fine then, I met him about two weeks ago. We had a… fight, and he beat me pretty quickly with some weird staff…"
Must've been either the Kinjakan or Gekkaja, probably the former… "Go on…"
"The bitch tied me up with pantyhose in human form, and against a tree!" He sat down in the chair beside Nabiki, apparently tired from recounting everything he'd been through. "He spoke to me, and said if I wanted my name changed, that I should go to see Happosai again."
"Not like it's made any difference before…" Nabiki muttered to herself, remembering the times the house and dojo were damaged from Pantyhose and Happosai running amok.
"That's what I said… But…" Pantyhose looked pensive. "He said that Happosai has changed, and if I ask him nicely, after walking in through the front door as a human, then he'll agree, and won't go back on his agreement…"
"Is that so?" Nabiki quirked an eyebrow. "How impressive of Ranma…"
"He also said that you lot don't remember him. How come you're different?"
Nabiki sat up and smiled. "Because I'm special, he had no chance to beat me."
Pantyhose gulped, then stood up again. "That's all he told me, I haven't seen him since…"
"Good…" Nabiki looked to the door. "Could you bring the others in please?"
He nodded and opened the room. After a few words, a nurse came in to look over Nabiki. "It's good to have you back with us, we were worried for a while after that gas explosion."
"Ah…" She smiled and kept up the deceit. "Yes, it all happened so suddenly, I didn't get a chance to run away in time…"
The nurse began unhooking machines and monitors. "We tried to contact your family, but we get no reply. Their home has probably been evacuated since that abnormal weather in Nerima…" She moved closer and peeled off the eye bandage slowly. "Let's see here… Don't open it yet, it should still be sensitive to light… Do it under your hand, and expose it to light gently."
Nabiki did as she was told, and was surprised when she saw nothing different. "Why was there a bandage here?"
The nurse gave a tight smile, a sign of bad news. "I'm afraid that you were left with a scar, and we weren't able to stitch it up in time." She had a mirror in her hands, "There was nothing we could do, it has already healed and left its mark. If you wish, at a later date you could inquire for plastic surgery to have it removed. We were only available to operate on you as it was an emergency."
The quiet in the room intensified as Nabiki looked herself over. It was a fairly thick line of darker skin, from the middle of her forehead, cutting through her left eyebrow and stopping at her sideburns. The eyebrow now looked a little deformed, the spilt making the further side permanently raised, as if to say she was always curious about something or other. This… This is horrible… My looks… Her eyes welled up as the nurse also felt a tinge of sympathy for her patient, and took back the mirror.
Nabiki sat up, glad to be rid of the face that stared out of the reflection. "Am I free to go?"
"Yes, just sign these forms…" A few scribbles later and the nurse had them back. "Thank you, and take care of yourself."
Nabiki chuckled dryly. "Thanks, I'll try my best."
She walked out of the clinic, her guards and guests near her. "So, are you heading into Nerima now Pa- Taro?" She avoided use of his painful name to prevent another 'gas explosion'.
"I've got nothing better to do, and I want to get rid of this name once and for all…"
She looked at P-chan and recalled something. "Oh yeah…" She looked to Lime. "Throw some warm water on him and get his clothes, we need some words together."
"Uh… Sure Nabiki…"
5 minutes later
Outside the clinic
A wet Ryoga came out; Lime following him close behind, but the lost boy's angry expression wasn't there any more, now looking more thoughtful.
Nabiki could see what was wrong immediately and pulled him by the sleeve away from the others. "Look Ryoga, I know it was wrong to expose your curse in front of Akane like that, but even you must admit that the charade couldn't go on forever…"
Ryoga was ashamed and lowered his face, allowing his fringe to cover his face.
"About the things I said in there, if you do try to kill me again, then I won't hesitate to torture you as a pig." Her teeth were showing, making the threat more deadly. "If you think you've been through hell now, wait till I'm done with you…"
Ryoga swallowed hard and nodded.
"If you want, you're welcome to come with us to the dojo, I'm going there myself, but if you want to go somewhere else, just walk without us and you'll get lost easy, far from here." She gave a genuine smile. "Despite everything, I want to make things up with you. If we ever meet again, let's go out for a friendly drink, as long as you bring me some exotic gift from all the places you visit, and something that doesn't spoil either! I'll even smooth things over with Akane for you, so that she won't kill you the moment she sees you." She put a hand on his shoulder. "Akari must be worried about you, huh?"
"Yeah… I haven't seen her for such a long time." His eyes shimmered a bit more in the sunlight. "I should go look for her."
"Well, I'm off now. Take care of yourself Ryoga…"
He picked up his heavy backpack and umbrella and walked alongside the rest of them, waving as he took a left turn and them a right. Sure enough, when Sarutoru jumped up on the middle house separating the roads, he couldn't see Ryoga any more, having vanished into thin air.
Nabiki sighed. Thank God… I'm glad I'm rid of him. Hopefully he won't try to get me again, it's better to have him as a reluctant ally than an outright enemy…
Monlon was quiet, cradling a box with splinters and wood. "What's wrong Monlon? You've been quiet all this time."
"I'm sorry I couldn't help, Nabiki…" She had tears on the edges of her eyelids. "If I was quicker, my lute wouldn't have broken and you could have been healed within seconds, rather than a week…"
"Hey." Nabiki stopped and peered closely at her face. "Stop that, you did what you could against Ryoga, and you did great. Besides, I'm still alive, so there's nothing to worry about."
"But… Your scar…" She looked down at her box. "I can't heal that now, it needs to be done within the first day of the injury…"
Nabiki thinned her lips. "It'll be okay…" She said it more to herself. "I'll get a plastic surgeon and have it repaired in no time. Now if only I had a way of earning enough to get it… "Will you be able to fix it?" she said it was her mother's, so it must be pretty important to her…
Monlon nodded. "I'm doing it now, my ki is getting the pieces to match one another, but it'll take a long time, at least two weeks…" As they spoke, a small orange line appeared to magnetise two splinters together, forming an ever-so-slightly larger piece.
"Good luck with that then, I know that it was a gift to you."
Monlon smiled. "Thank you, it's my only treasure."
Lime looked forwards and sniffed the air. "It's getting a lot colder, look at the sky…"
There was no need to point, they could all see the gloomy skies and snow falling. Indeed, it seemed to be a blizzard no more than a hundred metres ahead of them.
They were approaching Nerima.
Sarutoru scratched his head, picking out a random flea and flicking it away in the street. "What do we do now, Nabiki?"
Pantyhose, who was still with them, sneered. "Chickening out, are you?"
Nabiki gave him a confident smirk. "Hardly."
She strode on determinedly into the storm.
---
Author's Notes
Baku Chaiten Kechu – Don't know what it translates to, but Ryoga used this in the 'Mushroom of Ages' arc. When he was changed to a three year old, he used this and made small explosions in the wooden floor of the Tendo home. I decided to bring back this move and make it effective in blasting wood to smithereens.
Futae No Kiwami - Mastery of the Two Layers, the signature move of Sagara Sanosuke (from Rurouni Kenshin), after he learned it from Anji. More condensed in power to the Breaking Point, it can reduce a fairly substantial amount of surface area to dust (as Sanosuke demonstrates on a boulder, and succeeds in powderising a quarter of it). Lime has learned it, and can use two fists as well, though it still hurts him to use the technique.
So, Nabiki injured? This was unexpected I'll bet. Perhaps I've overpowered Ryoga a bit in this chapter, but his depression was his most powerful weapon, and once that's gone, he just has his brute strength, Breaking Point and stamina to keep him going. That Nabiki could now prepare for his arrival meant that she could easily buy water pistols to soak him. Pantyhose is a bit of a git too… Not to mention he caused her scar…
Next chapter is Nerima, look forward to it, it's going to be very special indeed!
- J