Author's notes: Sorry about the delay. My second pre-reader has been having some difficulties going through all the chapters I've been sending them. Then again, they are extremely thorough which helps weed out my numerous mistakes. That said, thanks goes to both of my pre-readers; idcallie and James Axelrad. Additional thanks goes to Hee-Haw for taking time to review chapter 9 for improvements.
Disclamer: I own neither Noir nor Ranma ½
The Fourth Sapling
By: brindani
Chapter 10: Motherly Reminiscence pt1
Ranma stood by Akane's bedside as her shallow breathing made his own tremble. Her pale features especially set his hair stand on edge. She truly looked one step away from the grave. His only reassurance was a steady beeping from the heart monitor in the background.
He glanced to the other side of Akane's bed where Soun lay. He had been there for thirty minutes giving blood in what could take up to four hours. His eyes had not shifted away from Akane's limp form since they started the procedure. They said transfusions were typically not done this way, but given the emergency at hand, they had little choice. It was apparent that Soun also didn't like needles as he steadfastly avoided looking at the one in his right arm; the one slowly transferring the precious life giving blood that would save Akane.
Ranma had stood there ever since the doctor informed them that Akane's condition had partially stabilized. She still had a long way to go before everything was certain, but at least, it appeared she was pulling through with Soun's help.
Kasumi remained asleep, clutching her pillow in her arms. She did not even awake when Ranma carried her in and settled her into one of the lounge chairs in the corner. Whenever he checked on her he would find a periodic tear trailing down her smooth cheek.
Seeing those tears on Kasumi's innocent face tore at Ranma's heart. This was all his fault. If he had not come to the Tendo's, the hit men would not have been there either. His senses told him that he was the target from the very moment their presence became known. They were after him and yet the Tendo's were the ones left suffering.
Anguish turned to anger as he thought about those black suited men. 'I'm going back to that hospital and introduce them to more pain than they ever thought existed.' Ranma thought, pounding one fist into his palm. He wanted to jump out the window right now and put his thoughts to action; paying them back for what they had done, but he forced himself to calm down.
'Who ordered the strike? Those guys were likely the lackeys. I need to find the main boss; they are the ones responsible for this. They knew where I was going to be. Yet, how could they have known when I had just arrived? I hadn't even told Altena or Chloe where I was planning on going after I returned home. I could just as easily have gone to my parent's house as gone to the Tendo's and yet, there they were. There was no way that anyone could have followed me given how fast I had been running. But that meant that there were two teams to intercept me, one stationed at the Tendo's and the other…' Ranma's eyes widened.
'My parents!'
Soun blinked as he watched Ranma's face turn to horror before launching himself out the hospital window. 'I wonder where he is going to?' Soun thought, turning his eyes back to Akane.
After dropping four stories to land without a sound he launched himself forward, leaping two roof tops at a time. It was a fair distance to his house. To cover it, he desperately forced as much speed as he could from his legs; leaving cars and motorcycles behind in the congested streets.
It was a testament to his speed that, despite the distance, it took only five minutes to reach his destination. Breathing raggedly, Ranma took in a deep sigh that the house appeared undisturbed. It appeared rather peaceful actually, small moths hovering around the front porch light; the trees gently swaying with the cool spring breeze and, more importantly, no sign of danger.
He thanked every god that might be listening that his parents seemed to have avoided the violence suffered by the Tendos. Shaking his head that he had worried for no reason, Ranma walked up the steps of his home, ringing the door bell. Moments later his mother answered the door. She looked rather surprised at first. She even frowned for a moment looking out both ways as if checking to see if anyone was with him. Ranma was starting to become concerned when Nodoka straightened herself.
"Ranma, what a pleasant surprise, please come in." Nodoka invited, happiness radiating from her features. Her welcoming smile lightened his heavy heart though he was concerned about why she was looking around. It seemed something may not be right here after all.
Ranma entered the house, moving to the family room under his mother's gentle insistence.
He found tea already layed out on the table as if his mother had been expecting guests. After each sat down, Nodoka turned her attention to her son. "I made some tea for Genma and I, but please have some." She offered, gesturing to the kettle before her. Ranma nodded his head, politely pouring the tea for both himself and his mother.
"Thank you very much," she said, lifting her cup from the table before taking a long sip. "Ahhh, that is very refreshing. Your father is rather partial to Sencha tea. I myself did not appreciate its flavor for a long time, but have come to enjoy it over the years." Nodoka took another sip with her eyes closed. "I heard that you left." She said, leaving the real question unasked.
Ranma nodded. "Yes, I helped a lot of people. It came at a price, however." Nodoka accepted his words, calmly taking another sip of her tea without asking for further details.
"Mom, what do you know about the Soldats?" Ranma asked abruptly after taking a sip of his own tea. He didn't expect his mother, the very image of a traditional Japanese housewife, to provide much information. At the same time, he had to start somewhere in his search for information.
His mother was a good starting point as, before he left, his father's comments indicated Nodoka may know more than she appeared. Nodoka didn't even pause from her cup. She lightly set it down after finishing the tea it held. "The only thing I may say about the Soldats is that they are all powerful. They see all…" Ranma almost blinked when he caught Nodoka's eyes quickly turn to the left. Ranma tracked the gaze with his own eyes and found a small black dot hiding just below the window. She returned her gaze so fast that her answer appeared uninterrupted. "…and hear all," she glanced to the right this time where Ranma found another black dot near the kitchen entryway.
Ranma frowned, 'It appears I was right. More is happening here than what was first apparent. She knows about the Soldats. I don't know how she does, but she does. The bugs also explain how they knew where I was. They probably bugged the Tendo residence too and once they knew I had arrived, they attacked. But if this is true, then the same people that took Soun's daughter appear to be the origin of the attack on me. That still does not explain why they attacked me. Not unless they are associated with Jamal and his country.'
"By the way, where is Pops? It's been a long time since I've had the chance to beat the tar out of him." Ranma said, trying to find a way to ask his questions without alerting the very people he needed to know about. Besides, the old man would come in handy if they decided to stage another attack here. It would give him a good chance to release some of his pent up frustration.
Nodoka covered her mouth to hide her giggle. "Yes, he has missed you as well. I sent him out on an errand. He should return shortly. In fact, why don't I give him a call? Nodoka pulled a cell phone from her pocket and pressed a very well worn auto-dial.
It appeared to ring a few times before the person on the opposite end answered.
"Yes, dear. How is it going? The radishes appeared to be spoiled. I see, would you mind taking them out to the trash? Yes, Ranma is here, and expressed an interest in getting reacquainted. So we can expect you in two minutes? Good, good. We'll see you then."
Nodoka stowed the cell phone away after disconnecting. "He should return soon. Would you care for another cup of tea while we wait for him?" Nodoka asked, lifting the teapot before blinking. "I guess I didn't make enough after all. How about I make some more for us? It should only take a few minutes." Nodoka asked, standing up, carrying the tea kettle back towards the kitchen. "Ranma?" She asked stopping halfway there.
"Yes?"
"I thought I saw a spider near the window. I was waiting for your father to handle it, but could you be a dear and take care of it for me? I've had the worst fear of them since I was a little girl." Nodoka asked as she continued on her way to the kitchen.
"Sure thing Mom, I'll smash the bug for you." Ranma said, standing up and walking towards the window. He put a finger to his chin as if in thought as he carefully examined the window. He appeared to be examining it for anything creeping around, but was really trying to figure out how to destroy the real pest without the viewer on the opposite end realizing it.
Crash
"Oops,"
Ranma turned around, using the opportunity to hit the black spot while he did. It stood no chance against his strength, crumbling to bits.
He found his mother on the floor, the kettle having escaped her grasp and was currently spilling its remaining contents across the tatami mats.
"Are you alright?" Ranma asked moving to help her stand. He was a little impressed that the kettle through happenstance had hit the bug on the other end of the room.
Nodoka nodded, accepting Ranma's hand before discreetly looking over his shoulder.
"I'm fine Ranma."
THUNK
The appreciative look on Nodoka's face evaporated, turning serious.
"What was that?" Ranma asked as he attempted to look out the window.
"There's no time. We have to leave immediately."
Heeding her words, Ranma prepared to leave through the front door. He blanched when he realized his mother was quickly removing her Kimono.
"Mom, what are you doing?" Ranma asked, hastily turning away.
There was a heavy sigh from behind him before he felt a hand on his shoulder.
Tentatively he allowed the hand to turn him around where he was quite surprised to find his mother in a loose pale pink t-shirt and a pair of black shorts with the Nike emblem stenciled along the side.
"The Kimono is confining and very impractical if a real fight ensues. We do not have time for further explanations right now, Dear. I'm afraid they will arrive soon to find out what has happened to both of their bugs and their sniper."
Ranma was stunned, he had his senses on high alert and never felt a sniper. That means that the sniper had to be well beyond a hundred meters. Ranma left the thought behind as he followed after his mother. She brought only her katana.
Her eyes glanced both ways making sure there were no suspicious people loitering around in the dark. Seeing none, she tugged on Ranma's arm to continue.
"Ranma, we need to be three blocks in that direction," she pointed directly towards the house opposite of theirs. "I'm afraid that even in my youth I was unable to travel across rooftops easily. Would you be a dear…?"
Answering his mother's question with action, Ranma scooped Nodoka up before dashing forward, leaping clear over the indicated house and into the next yard. A very startled teenage pair broke from their illicit kiss as he landed in front of them. By the time the two startled lovebirds blinked, Ranma was gone.
Ranma kept low, avoiding actual roof-hopping as it would be very visible to the people they were trying to avoid so he barely skimmed over the houses.
"Over there." Nodoka pointed, protectively cradled in her son's firm grasp.
Ranma nodded as he changed course to intercept a badly damaged house, its brown paint peeling from the wood, several boards jutted out at odd angles. It was no surprise that the 'for sale sign' in front of the house was worn as well.
He landed in back of the house lightly placing his mother onto the ground. Extending his senses, Ranma probed as far as he could for potential danger. It appeared that remarkably few people had seen them. Then again, it was night and his top speed made him appear a blur to the average person.
After steadying herself from the rollercoaster ride known as her son's primary means of transportation, Nodoka walked up to the back door, opening it without a key and entered. Ranma followed his mother in. He kept up his senses despite how draining it was to insure no one would interrupt them. He had a feeling that his mother didn't just bring him here for no reason.
At first he could see very little of the interior of the room as light from the street lights outside did not penetrate well through the boarded up windows. This changed abruptly as a light flared to life from the middle of the room. He found an old oil lamp lit, his mother stood blowing out a match.
Looking around at the now revealed room, he found the inside of the house just as run down as the outside. Dust caked the floorboards and walls alike. Appearing as if someone had come in and painted both the floor and walls a dingy grey. The only thing to disprove this theory, were the footprints his mother made before him uncovering red carpeting. In the center of what he assumed was the main room stood three old wooden chairs.
Nodoka took one of these chairs, gesturing towards the one opposite herself. Ranma accepted the invitation, sitting down to face his mother.
"I'm very sorry about all of the fuss, but it was necessary to avoid prying eyes."
Ranma nodded. He could appreciate the need for security given that someone had tried to kill him earlier and likely would try again if they had stayed longer.
"Where is Pops? I'm guessing he took out the sniper." Ranma asked. 'Gees, he must have thrown the guy a long way for us to hear it. Must have been the signal that Mom was waiting for.
Nodoka nodded, a large smile spread across her face. Ranma was surprised to find pride in that smile with more than a hint of strong affection. He had never noticed before, but his Mom truly loved his father. He pondered his own feeling about the old man. His father had done a lot of very stupid things, placing Ranma into situations more chaotic and embarrassing than anyone had the right to. At the same time, he always tried to help Ranma back out if he could, even if he typically made things worse.
"Your father is distracting our pursuers, leading them along a false trail to buy us time. He should be fine."
"Yeah, there isn't many things that could give Pops a run for his money. Now, what did you want to talk to me about?" Ranma asked his mother.
Nodoka simply nodded her head, lightly placing her katana on the ground within easy reach.
"There are many things that we need to discuss, but have not had the chance to do so. I take it you have already spoken with Altena?"
Ranma blinked in surprise. "How do you know Altena?" Ranma asked dumbfounded.
"It is a long story. Unfortunately, many aspects we do not have the time to go over. Suffice it to say I too was chosen to become a part of Noir."
"Noir? Soun mentioned Noir. What is it?" Ranma asked, his face scrunching up as he confirmed that Soun's tragedy may be more related to his circumstances than he thought. Nodoka blinked, shaking her head.
"Yes, that would be something she would do," Nodoka murmured to herself before answering Ranma's question. "Noir represents the hands of the Soldats…"
Ranma's mind swam as connections were made. The Soldats were the ones trying to kill him. His mother just said that Altena was associated with Noir and therefore the Soldats. Could Altena really have ordered a hit on his life? Ranma shook his head. No, it just wasn't possible. Altena had been nice to him. She had been the only one to comfort him at a time when even he needed it. She couldn't be the person responsible.
Ranma tried to force the doubt to the back of his mind, but it kept resurfacing. The idea that he had denied her proposition to stay with her and thus may have been considered a security risk. He could have led others to the Manor. Maybe the assassins were sent to take him out for security reasons. No! If she wanted that she could have killed me in my sleep that night. There was no way that Altena would do that.
"Are you all right?" Ranma lifted his head, meeting his mother's concerned gaze. He realized he must look quite upset holding his head like this.
"I'm okay. I… just thought of something. Please, continue." Ranma said, forcefully dropping his hands to his side. Nodoka nodded uncertainly, but continued despite her reservations about Ranma's health.
"Yes, they represent the black hands that carry out the Soldats' less savory work. They are the best assassins of their generation. They surpass all others. It was what I was to become at one point. I was chosen to become one of those hands; taking life to protect innocents everywhere. Altena was another candidate for Noir. As tradition holds, there were two sets of possible candidates to be initiated.
I don't remember it, but I was taken from my family when I was only a baby and trained intensely to become the best of the best. I absorbed all of their training as easily as you did the martial arts. Of my generation, I was the best at killing."
Ranma listened uncomfortably to the explanation. His mother, a killer? Somehow the image of her caring persona killing felt wrong on many different levels. He could only hope that if he listened, it would make sense.
"It may sound odd, but I did not begrudge my fate. We protected innocent people from corrupted politicians, mass murders, dictatorships, and many others. Besides, at the time I knew nothing else.
There were no assassins better than Sakura and I. The underworld trembled when mere rumors of our presence circulated. As there was another group for the title, we called ourselves Rion, or Noir spelled backwards. It was a private joke between the two of us." Nodoka whispered, her eyes going distant as she remembered days long past.
"To become the true Noir, we underwent ritual trial by combat. We passed each test with ease, letting no one, male or female, stand against us. By the end of the trials we truly believed ourselves invincible. If ever Sakura got into trouble, I was there to help her and the same went for me. We watched each other's back.
A very hard time came for me then. The final trial was held near the Manor; Sakura and I against Altena and Mio. It went very well in the beginning. We out flanked Altena and Sakura took out Mio. With two to one odds, we thought our victory was assured. How wrong we were. Seeing her partner fall, Altena became a demon incarnate, moving faster than I have ever seen. In minutes, she had outmaneuvered Sakura and left her to die in a pool of her own blood. Everything became a blur past that point; it was a battle of rage as I too became incensed when I found my precious Sakura dead. We traded shots at fanatical speeds, each scoring our own hits.
It was a long drawn out battle and by the end we were both riddled with wounds. It all came down to a stand off. My gun pointed at her head and her's at my heart. We would both have died that day if we were not so drained."
"So what happened?" Ranma asked, leaning forward as he became engrossed in the story.
Nodoka smiled at Ranma's interest. "Well, Altena's eyes rolled up into the back of her head and she fainted."
Ranma fell off his chair.
"Yes, I know, very anticlimactic."
"Then you won. That also means you spared her life." Ranma said recovering his seat while nodding in understanding.
His mother shook her head. "I did not win, and I would not have spared her life after what she stole from me."
Ranma's brow scrunched in confusion. "Then…"
"I fainted just after she did."
Down Ranma went again. Nodoka stifled her laughter behind her hand. It took a little while for her to control her laughing and for Ranma to reseat himself.
"The witness for our fight took our battered bodies away for healing. When I awoke next, I found the high priestess standing before my bed, shaking her head. We had failed the final test. The trials were meant to separate out the weak, leaving the strongest pair to serve the Soldats as Noir. As Altena and I could not become a pair, we were stripped of our title as Noir candidates. Given the choice to stay with the Soldats or leave, I choose to leave.
At the time, I was far beyond incensed. In less than three hours I was not only stripped of the partner that I loved dearly, but of the title that I had spent countless years to attain. From that day on, I became hotheaded, taking any assassination job available no matter the danger. More than once I almost died on those suicidal missions and very likely would have if I hadn't met your father." Nodoka said closing her eyes in resignation.
"That's right; you've never mentioned how you met Pops."
"I suppose I have not. Would you like to hear about it?" Nodoka asked.
"Yes, actually. It's something I've always been curious about."
"True, you have a right to know that as well. It is a story in itself. I am slightly parched, why don't we take a small break to get something to drink? I placed a reserve of a few gallons in the house" Nodoka asked, moving to the kitchen to fetch some water.
Author's end notes: Originally this scene continued up until the end of their conversation. I thought it best to split it into two parts to push an important scene to the end of the next chapter.
It takes me an average of 14 hours to complete a chapter between writing and editing. Please take 30 seconds of your time to hit the little Go button on the bottom left and tell me how I'm doing. Unsure of what to say? Tell me what I am doing right. Tell me what I am doing wrong, preferably with an explanation of why and how to fix it. Tell me I'm doing a good job. Tell me I'm doing miserably, again with an explanation of why. You could also offer suggestions for things you would like to see in the future. I try my best to use ideas from readers as long as they do not cause problems with the planned story.
brindani