Shoveling his feet Gordo started talking. "Ming's parents are going to be out of town for a few days, so I figured a little party wouldn't hurt. Two of my boys, and two girls, were going to our bakery for a quick fix of pastries. Taking a short cut through this alley to buy some beer, they came across yonder girl. Would've missed her if she didn't whimper at that moment. You saw the girls, one broke down into tears and the other loses her lunch. One of the boys was smart enough to call me on my cell. Rounded up my gang and went to investigate. Found the girl and took steps. First I send messengers to the other gangs, you and your brother included, with the request for info about this and a warning. Second step I took was to send three members into the neighborhood to find out what the word is on this. Finally I had a blanket brought for the girl."
"I would hunt these… monsters down myself if I didn't see what had caused some of them marks before. I had a nasty electrocution a few tears back, when I was in the hospital. Faulty equipment left some burn marks. Same marks are on the girl. And they don't come from faulty equipement." Gordo added in a whisper.
" Ambulance?" Ranma sternly questioned.
"Hell no. Whomever did this would finish the poor thing off, given the chance. Yakuza are known for freaky things like this or some psycho had some fun. She would've seen something when it happened, a face or something. She talks and points a finger, that's little more than a death sentence. No witnesses and all that." Gordo exclaimed.
Frowning Ranma checked on the condition of the girl a bit more closely. Carefully wrapping the girl in the blanket, Ranma slowly stood muttering soothing words to the shivering bundle.
"Doctor Tofu will know what to do. Find out how she got here and who did this. I'll be with doctor Tofu." Ranma said, giving Gordo the address and phone number.
After receiving Gordo's nod, Ranma bounded to the rooftops and went in a straight line to the doctor. Ranma whispered silent prayers to the Kami's for strength for the girl and gratitude for learning doctor Tofu's new address in Juuban. Akane had set a new record that day with her distance.
20 minutes later Ranma barged into doctor Tofu's clinic. Ignoring the receptionist as she tried to stop her, Ranma entered the examination room hollering for doctor Tofu.
"Hello Ranma. Is there a specific reason why you are interrupting this consultation?" Tofu mildly asked as he handed the blouse back to the middle-aged woman sitting on the examination table.
"Sorry doc, but this girl needs your help more than tha old hag." Ranma stated as she averted her eyes and placed the girl on a second table. Slowly pulling the blanket off the girl, Ranma looked at doctor Tofu defiantly.
Ignoring the gasps of both his patient and receptionist, doctor Tofu ushered them outside the room. Grabbing several bandages and cleaning medicine, doctor Tofu turned his attention on the girl.
"Can you tell me what happened to this girl?" Tofu questioned.
"No, Gordo just send for me and he said she was found this way. I believe him. Is she going to be all right?" Ranma replied.
"From what I can tell at first glance, most of this is superficial. There is no obvious internal damage, as far as I can tell anyway. Her ki is strong and regular. Malnutrition is evident and suggest she has not eaten for a few days. These marks on her wrists say she was bounded with restraints. This is clearly a case for the police." Tofu stated firmly.
Shaking her head, Ranma explained her reluctance to this idea. "Don't think tha idea is good, doc. Gordo said that the Yakuza could be involved or a psycho, either way if the person who did this learns she's breathing, he, she or whatever would most likely hunt her down and kill her."
"The police should be able to protect the girl. On a side note, I am glad that you have made some new friends, Ranma. Still, an ambulance should have been called." Tofu commented as he bandaged and cleaned the wounds of the girl.
"Uhm, I ain't calling Gordo a friend, doc. More like someone I know." Ranma answered bitterly.
"Well, be that as it may, it is good to know that this young man looks up to you for guidance en reassurances." Tofu responded.
"Nah, more like him being afraid of a beating if I thought he did this to the girl." Ranma said with a haunted smirk.
"I must say that you lost me with that comment. How do you know this Gordo then?" Tofu asked.
"Him and his gang control parts of Nerima round the fancy restaurant across the old bookstore. I've been kinda making sure the gangs play nice, ya know. Preventing people from getting hurt." Ranma answered.
"I see. Why did you choose to condone these gangs to claim control over parts of Nerima?" Tofu asked mildly.
"Before this 'arrangement' I had little time to do anything (too busy with staying alive) and since tha rules were made I donna have ta do much. Just be an arbit… something when they have big fights. I make sure nobody gets hurt badly and tha everyone accepts the outcome. They even have made use of something called BC locations. Often this is a parking lot or a empty park. And they clean up when they're done fighting." Ranma explained.
Blinking doctor Tofu considered this. "I see." He said.
A knock on the door and the receptionist poked her head into the room.
"Excuse me doctor, but I have a rather persistent young man on the phone demanding to speak to a miss Saotome about your current patient." She said.
"Tha would be me." Ranma noted dryly and followed the receptionist to her desk.
Doctor Tofu continued to work quietly, occasionally pressing a pressure point to help the healing process. Keeping an eye on her ki-flows, doctor Tofu carefully prodded and poked the girl looking for internal damage. Soft curses signaled the entry of Ranma.
"Doc, the police is out of the question on this. I just got off the phone with Gordo. His boys found something and he's bringing it here now. He said this file was a medical record or something. He mentioned experiments, doc." Ranma stated flustered.
"That is not a good sign." Tofu responded, frowning.
Finishing his work doctor Tofu motioned Ranma to pick up the girl and to follow him to his apartment above the clinic. Telling Ranma to prepare a simple meal for the girl with some herbal spices and a herbal tea, doctor Tofu returned downstairs to tend to his remaining patients.
Humming softly Ranma laid the girl down on the sofa and started on the meal. Seeing his emergency backpack, Ranma picked it up and removed his old gi from it. Smirking wryly at his backpack Ranma started mending his old gi with his sowing kit.
Good thing that me old pack is still here from when that big blow up occurred. Never thought old man Tendo would kick me out of the Dojo. Not my fault Akane blew her top or her getting hurt. Stupid tomboy. Shampoo has more experience and practice then Akane. If I hadn't stepped in Akane woulda been worse off. Course tha didn't stop Akane from yelling at me. And I hadda make apologies, of course. Ranma thought, fuming.
Still, was nice of ta doc to let me stay here. And this old gi will make some nice clothes for the girl. Never thought tha Martial Arts Clothes Designing Challange would actually have some real use. Specially with the Amaguriken. Looks like the tea's about done. Ranma thought.
Quickly finishing the clothes, Ranma poured the tea in a cup and tended to the meal. Picking up the smaller set of clothes, Ranma returned to the living room. Stopping in the doorway, Ranma noted that the girl was finally awake.
"Ah, ya're awake. How are ya feeling." Ranma asks with a smile.
The girl simply tried to become as small as possible and wraps the blanket around her body leaving only her eyes visible. Blinking Ranma stood still for a moment, at a loss of what to do. Deciding on a course, Ranma swiftly set into motion.
Returning from the kitchen with the meal and the tea, Ranma approached the girl slowly. Placing the plate and teacup on the table, Ranma showed the girl her new clothes. White trousers and a white blouse with buttons to close it on the left side. A modest, but formal attire. A white briefs completed the set.
"Well, little one? What do you think of your new clothes?" Ranma asked, trying to coarse the girl in responding and releasing the blanket. The only response from the girl was a silent staring with her blue eyes.
Sighing Ranma gently unwrapped the girl and carefully dressed her in her new clothes. Nodding to herself, Ranma appraised the girl. Dark-red hair and blue eyes above a formal set of clothes, creating a virgin maiden image. Hair like mother. Ranma mused. Gently picking up the girl, Ranma sat on the ground next to the table with the girl on her lap.
"Hope ya're hungry. Cause I made some nice food for ya. Not as good as a meal from Kasumi, but it should be okay." Ranma babbled, hoping to get a response from the girl. Only to be met again with those blue eyes.
Smirking Ranma slowly coerced the girl to eat, feeding her by hand, with the occasional sip from the tea. Humming a tune she had heard, Ranma tried her best to properly tend to the girl and trying to remember what he had learned from Kasumi and doctor Tofu about taking care of people.
"There. Tha wasn't bad, now was it?" Ranma asked as she cleaned the face of the girl. Blue eyes looked into blue eyes.
Creaking the door to the apartment opened and doctor Tofu entered with a file in his hands.
"I cancelled my appointments for the rest of this evening, when I had a look at this." Tofu explained at Ranma's raised eyebrow, indicating the file.
"That bad, ne?" Ranma responded rising to sit on the sofa, girl in her lap.
Nodding, doctor Tofu sat in a chair and opened the file. "This file belongs to a rumored medical group, supposedly sponsored by the government. This is the first real evidence of that abominable group to the best of my knowledge. Human testing is at the core of what this group does."
"The police would not be able to help, in fact the opposite seems more likely. I have considered what we could do with this information to help the girl, but there is not a lot possible." Tofu continued.
"Ya mean she should vanish, doc? What about exposing these creeps?" Ranma said after thinking it over.
"They would deny anything the press says, if the press says anything. Public embarrassment of the government is not what they would do on this little bit of information. As for vanishing, perhaps. There would be no guarantee of success and if found it would not take much to retrieve her, all things considering. What if… What if you would adopt her, Ranma?" Tofu mused, scratching his chin.
"What would tha do? Sure I could beat up anyone trying to harm her, but I ain't exactly a parent." Ranma responded perplexed.
"This is more to give her a real identity. This file has her picture, but only a number as an id instead of a name. If she would get a name and was made part of a clan, then it would be hard to cover things up, such as kidnapping. Before you ask, I can not adopt her. Mostly because I live alone and have a busy schedule. You could get your mothers help and the help of the Tendo's." Tofu formulated as he looked thoughtfully through the file.
"I ain't sure, doc. Depends on what this little one wants, ne? Should tell her about my curse and life." Ranma answered softly.
Nodding his consent, doctor Tofu returned the plate and teacup to the kitchen. Exiting the kitchen with a glass of hot water and a glass of cold water, doctor Tofu approached Ranma. Placing the girl on the sofa, Ranma stood and accepted the glasses with a thanks.
"Now I hope ya can understand what I'm saying. I picked up this curse during a martial arts trip in China. Hot water reverses the curse." Ranma stated, pouring the hot water on her head. The girl cocked her head to the side as Ranma turned into a man.
"Cold water activates the curse again." Ranma unenthusiastically said and poured the cold water on his head. The girl cocked her head the other way as Ranma became a girl again.
"If ya want to be part of my family, then ya deserve ta know a few things about my life." Ranma started and went into a short account of his day-to-day life for the past two years, leaving the bigger events alone for the moment. The girl gave no response at the end, except for the staring with her eyes.
Invited to stay for diner, Ranma phoned the Tendo's about his absence. Considering the situation for a moment, Ranma asked doctor Tofu if it would be a problem to stay the night. Getting doctor Tofu's consent, Ranma informed the Tendo's to not expect her 'till lunch the next day (any reason to avoid accusations of all kinds and malleting should be grasped, especially if Akane is cooking).
Settling on the sofa after a small (for her anyway) diner, Ranma pulled the girl close to her body and laid down. Ensuring the blanket was covering them, Ranma slowly drifted into sleep, only to jolt into alert as the girl turned over and looked her into the eyes again.
"Hitomi." The girl whispered.
"Wha?" Ranma muttered intelligently.
"My name is Hitomi." Hitomi restated quietly before turning over again. She snuggled close to a bemused Ranma and fell into a deep sleep.