Chapter 3: Modifications

Tofu woke from sleep at the sound of the war cries outside. Akane and Ranma were at it early because they had to go to Saturday class today. Kasumi was already gone from the bed, and he knew he needed to move as well. He quietly gathered up his things and stuffed them in a bag. Then he opened the window and shaped-changed into a rather large fox. Casting a quick Glamour spell on himself so as not to be noticed, he grabbed the bag in his mouth and leaped out the window. Katsunishiki was under Nabiki's window and seemed to be looking at him with interest – the Glamour spell only worked against humans. He waved his tail at the sumo pig and sprinted home to the clinic. Twenty minutes later, he was back at the Tendos, showered, shaved, and dressed for the day. "Good morning" he called to the house as he entered.

He heard Nodoka and Kasumi answer him. He swept his mind through the house and the dojo. Chiyoko and Akari were waking in the upstairs guest room while Soun, Maomolin, and Ryoga were watching Akane and Ranma spar. Nabiki was out cold in her room which she had shared with Nodoka. Tofu went into the kitchen and found Nodoka savoring a cup of tea while Kasumi put the finishing touches on breakfast. Nodoka looked bleary-eyed at Tofu and complained: "Whatever you gave me worked a little too well. I never woke up until the wonder twins began sparring."

"You needed your sleep. Yesterday was a stressful day for you. How do you feel? I could increase your dosage a little if you feel the OCD is too much to handle," he said.

"No, leave things be. A good cry yesterday helped," Nodoka replied as she reached up and squeezed his hand. "Thanks for being there."

"Hey, no problem. That's what a friend and a doc are good for," he answered. Kasumi's eyes sparkled as she looked at her fiancé.

"It's funny," Nodoka said. "I never thought much about Airi since she died. I had blocked everything out about her and Hajime to survive, so that I never even recognized him until Father identified him."

"You must have loved her very much," Kasumi stated.

"I adored Airi," Nodoka said. "I loved everything about her. We fought like all sisters do, but she was my idol. When she died, my world fell apart. Everything I did later was to try and fill her shoes. But that wasn't possible." She sighed and asked: "Is my father still around? He and I need to talk. I think he is suitably remorseful that we can start re-building."

"Yes," Tofu answered. "He'll call on you about lunch time. Do you think you're strong enough to talk to him one-on-one?"

She nodded: "Yes, but we will do it here. This home is my sanctuary. I feel stronger here."

"Of course you do. I'll make sure there's enough food," Kasumi commented. Nodoka chuckled at that.

Later on, after Ranma and Akane had gone to school for the half-day and the rest were off on errands about Nerima, Tofu was alone with Kasumi in the kitchen. He had about half-an-hour before he needed to be at the clinic. While she was washing up the breakfast dishes, Kasumi was talking about the things she needed to get done this morning before Ranma and Akane got home, but Tofu was not really listening to her words. Instead he was watching how she moved and listening to the tone of her speech. Finally, he had enough – he needed to do something about the tremor in her hands and her voice now.

He got up from the chair and took a plate out of her hands, much to her surprise. Then he pulled her to himself and held her tight. She didn't resist him, but she didn't press into him either for a minute or so. Then he heard her sob once and she relaxed into him. He continued to hold her while the tears ran down her cheeks silently – as they had her entire life.

They stayed like that for a few minutes until she said: "You warned me. You warned me things would get out of hand. I just didn't count on how quickly they would. Shigeo and Hayato told me Nodoka's madness had started when her sister died, but they never told me why."

"They were afraid you wouldn't call them, if you knew," Tofu told her. He kept a tight hold of her.

"They were right on that point. I didn't want Ranma to feel even more trapped. The idea was to start snipping away these stupid Bindings," she said.

"And to a large extent, it worked," Tofu comforted her. "Because we got Sanu in place, and the fact that he reacted largely as expected. He also gave Ranma enough latitude to discourage almost every one of the spouse hunters in a Court of Law. Ukyo is now on our side, and so is Cologne. The field is clearing dramatically. And this is in spite of the Summoning and Genma's idiocy. We have been able to use both to strengthen our position. We are down to *one* claimant. Do you know how impossible that seemed a month ago?"

Kasumi gave a soft laugh among the tears.

Tofu went on: "And Genma is almost out of the picture. Plus Ranma is thinking for himself now. Our pig-tailed martial artist is starting to really think about Love and Honor. I think seppuku is no longer a danger for him. He may declare an Honor Debt to the little girl, but that's about it. He doesn't think Tanaka's claim is valid because of Tanaka's lack of honor. Nodoka will probably follow Ranma's lead."

"There could still be other claimants out there," Kasumi said softly. "And the DNA test Tanaka requested will re-establish Genma's and Ranma's genetic tie."

"We'll see," Tofu told her. "We still have Ciren and Mausu to work behind the scenes. Let's see where things fall. I'll bring Daran down from Hokkaido to help us. I also need to talk to Maomolin and see where he stands on things."

"He's very fond of Ranma. I'm sure he's on our side," Kasumi said.

"Oh, I don't doubt that," her fiancé reassured her. "But he showed up just in the nick of time to provide support for Ranma, which left you and me free support Nodoka. That worked a little *too* cleanly. That tells me there are other players involved – most likely from the Council or the Animal Spirits."

"Or maybe me?" a familiar voice called out. Tofu's eyes hardened and he immediately called a Foxfire strike centered at the doorway. Kasumi was startled by the blue electric blast that appeared there as she and Ono spun apart. However, Happosai was not standing there.

"Oh, come on now, Ono. I'm not that stupid," Happosai's voice echoed around the kitchen.

"You knew, bastard!" Ono growled. "You knew that Ranma, Akane, and Ryoga had been marked to be sacrificed!"

"Yes, I knew – so did the entire Council. Will you punish them too?" Happosai asked.

"If I could! They are my friends!" Tofu shouted.

"Which is why you were not told. I'll also point out that they are alive and well now. One of the three baptisms was a Ryugenzawa – although baptism is only an approximate word. 'Blessing' might be a better word. Besides, what you told Ranma about the Storm is still true – unless the Summoning was executed properly, a good part of Japan would soon be underwater. Do you think we would have allowed that?"

"Who is the fourth Child to be sacrificed? Has she also been 'blessed' at Ryugenzawa?" Tofu demanded.

"Someone who is not your friend," Happosai answered. "Strictly speaking, she hasn't been Anointed a third time yet. That's for the Champion to do, and that's all the hints you get. I make no promises about re-birth – I can't. The Council doesn't want you to know and I'm not going to cross them. Neither do your Elders, who are playing yet another game. Now, will you stop trying to kill me?"

"Maybe if you tell me what you mean about the Elders," Tofu snapped.

"The Elders are convinced Ranma is someone called the Defender. You tell me," Happosai challenged as he appeared in the kitchen.

Tofu resisted calling another strike. Instead he answered, "The Defender is someone who appears in a time of change and upheaval. His (or her) job is to protect the Kitsune people and make sure we survive the upheaval. The title is often bestowed in retrospection."

"Makes sense. The Bakenekos also feel Ranma is the Defender, but they have a more hands-off approach," Happosai said.

"Is Maomolin still trying to manipulate Ranma as well then?" Kasumi asked.

"Not as far as I know," Happosai denied. "Maomolin is Chinese – while he is friendly with the Japanese Bakenekos, the Japanese Bakenekos are keeping their own counsel. Maomolin is here because he looks on Ranma as his son after having watched him and Ryoga over the years. Actually, the Kitsunes sent word to him that Ranma was in trouble and that's all it took. Why they did such a thing, I don't know. Maomolin has his own means of scrying future possibilities, but he's keeping what he knows to himself."

"So Ranma's more than one of the four Children of the Balance," Tofu prompted.

"Yes. He can actually draw on the Nerima Nexus without disturbing it. He pulls in the Power and feeds the Spirit inside himself and passes power to Ryoga through the Cat Fist to feed the Spirit inside of Ryoga. His Bond of Love to Akane allows him to pass power to her and feeds the Spirit inside of her. This is all without his conscious knowledge. His own spirit is adept at balancing the flows of Power, shielding everyone attached to him – the three Spirits, his Love, his Family, and his Friends."

"What about Ryoga and Akane?"

"I don't have any more information to give to you about Akane, but there are a couple of Ainu prophecies that mention someone fitting Ryoga's description. He is called the 'Suma' or 'Shield'. Why? – I don't know," Happosai answered.

Kasumi raised an eyebrow. "You're not telling us everything," she stated.

"No, I'm not. But I will state I'm still on your side. I want the Four Children to survive, and the Spirits they care for. I want the last Child to be 'Blessed' by Ryugenzawa if that is possible – it may not be. But, surely that's enough common ground to move forward?" he asked.

"I suppose so," Tofu agreed reluctantly. "But the next time one of these Events threatens, how about a warning, even if it is generic?"

"It won't help, but all right," Happosai agreed. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have things to attend to." With that, the little man hopped out the door.

"Can we trust him?" Kasumi asked.

"No. He's either lying to us or he's got his facts wrong," Tofu said. "The Ainu word 'suma' means 'rock' or 'stone', which makes sense for Ryoga. 'Shield' is a different word altogether – 'abai'. I'm not sure how or why he confused them. I think he also knows something about Akane he's not telling. I need to pay a visit to the Elders and see what they know. Of course, what they will tell me is a whole other matter."

"Out of curiosity, what's Ainu for 'wind' and 'fire'?" Kasumi asked.

"Wind is 'rera' and fire is 'apay'," he answered. "Why?"

"Just curious. Who is the Champion?" she asked.

"The one who will defeat Henna. I think its Taro, but I'm beginning to have my doubts," he said. "The Champion will have to be pretty ruthless, and Taro is getting more and more grounded."

"Why ruthless?"

Tofu sat down heavily and said: "Because the Champion is going to sacrifice a 'child' in the presence of the last Sprite to kill the Sprite and break Henna's power. Apparently, the definition of 'child' is from birth to just short of their twentieth birthday. Also, the definition of 'sacrifice' is getting stretched to mean that the child dies one way or other – all of the previous sacrifices were self-inflicted deaths and not intentional."

Kasumi's eyes became very large. "You mean Akane, Ranma, and Ryoga…" she started.

"Were sacrificed," he finished. "Someone somehow selected them, consecrated them to the Balance, blessed/baptized them three times each, and made sure they died in the presence of a key Sprite/Spirit. The Wind Spirit, who is also called the Winter Sprite, was probably stuck in the Gekkaja, the Fire Spirit/Summer Sprite was stuck in the Kinjakan, and somehow the Earth Spirit/Autumn Sprite was trapped in the Stone Oni. But our someone also altered the ritual. He/she had the sacrifices drink from the Water of Life. When our teenagers came back from the dead, they dragged the Spirits/Sprites back with them. But now the Sprites are Bound Spirit-to-Soul with our three heroes."

"Oh my…"

Tofu went to his clinic. He planned to be there until 1PM and then he would close it for the weekend and get back to the Tendos. The morning schedule was routine up until 11:30AM when he planned to interview a new patient. Right on-time, an old man appeared in the doorway, but the aura belonged to a much younger man. "Mausu," the doctor said firmly. "Drop the disguise, I know it's you."

"You are absolutely no fun, Ono. Fine," Mausu grumbled as he started to pull off the make-up. "At least I fooled the nurses."

"What's up? I thought you'd join us at the Complex tonight," Tofu asked.

"Still planning to, but there is something you need to know now…" Mausu started.

"And?"

"Someone just erased Genma Saotome," Mausu said smugly.

"He's dead?" Tofu exclaimed.

"No, the panda is still in quarantine at the Nerima Zoo. But his CODIS profile has been erased from the national database. Someone also erased Nodoka's and Ranma's," Mausu said.

"What the hell is Kuno up to now?" Tofu said with exasperation.

"I don't know, but I have to wonder how far he's going to take this – Genma's stuck in panda form," Mausu commented.

Tofu's eyes showed that he registered what Mausu was saying and he ran from his office to the records room. When Mausu caught up to him, the doctor had already pulled the Saotomes' files. "They're gone," Tofu said. "Someone has taken the CODIS sheets. Someone good enough to temporarily disable the alarms and set them up again. I can't even tell someone was here last night - they never tripped any of the spirit alarms. We are talking ninja class or better and they were reinforced."

"They were also good enough that they never disturbed you, Ono. I'd pay a pretty penny to know how," Mausu added.

Tofu flushed a little. "I wasn't here last night," was all he said. He ignored the smirk on Mausu's face.

Sanu thanked the police officer for the message politely and closed the door quietly (you're not suppose to kill the messenger). He discretely watched through the window as the officer drove away. Then he exploded: "Ryuu! What the hell were you up to last night?!"

Ryuu came out of his bedroom. "What's up boss?" he asked innocently.

"Where are the Saotomes' DNA samples? The lab cannot find them! Not the old or the new ones! Nor can they find the results – someone hacked the systems last night! Someone good, someone very good!" Sanu demanded.

"Thanks for the compliment boss, but I didn't take them," the assassin said smugly. "The samples were destroyed before I got there. I watched the lab techs find the cleaned sample phials and the empty folders. Then they sterilized the phials, smashed them, and shredded the folders."

"Excuse me?" the judge asked confused.

"I said the lab techs found…" Ryuu started.

"Stop! You mean the lab techs didn't destroy the data either?" Sanu asked.

"Nope. All they did was clean up the evidence that a break-in occurred. Then they reported the data loss and said the samples were missing. The police somehow determined that a break-in happened. Next time, use a lab outside of Nerima," Ryuu said with a smirk.

"What else happened last night?" the judge demanded.

"Let see. Someone cleaned out Genma's apartment last night," Ryuu told him.

"They stole everything?"

"No, I mean the apartment was cleaned very thoroughly three times. Lots of fun chemicals. I don't think the landlord did much damage to the DNA evidence, but the bio-hazard squad did – they even switched out the couch and the bed. I'm not sure who the third squad was though. They were about to use ammonia which could have been bad after the squad's chemicals, but some kind soul told them to use hydrogen peroxide instead. That worked very well."

"Did this kind soul leave a name?" Sanu rumbled.

"Not that I heard," Ryuu said blandly.

"Did anything else happen last night?" Sanu demanded.

"Let's see…Genma's favorite bar was shut last night. Something about a yearly fumigation requested by the town. Of course, that was after the owner burned some trash out back – looked like a bar stool among other things," Ryuu said. "Oh, and Genma's office underwent a thorough cleaning a couple of times before the bio squad got there."

Ryuu paused for a second before he said brightly: "Kato wasn't joking when he said Genma wasn't liked in this town."

Sanu sat down heavily in a chair. "Amazing. They are all trying to erase him. There's no way this is one grand conspiracy. It has to be several groups. I'm sure Kuno is involved with the bio-unit, but I probably won't be able to pin it on him because the other groups have corrupted the evidence of the erasure. Most likely, word of the lab break-in started all the balls rolling."

"Looks like you'll have to get the Saotomes to submit new DNA samples on Monday. Bummer. At least you don't have to request Genma's – even if you could get it. He's not part of Tanaka's paternity request, and we already have medical proof he's sterile. It would be insult to injury. With Genma's CODIS stats missing, Ranma can never be linked to Genma," Ryuu told him.

Sanu thought about it for a bit and finally gave a little smile. "There's no reason to inform Tanaka that Genma's CODIS profile has been erased. It's none of his business. Let's let the paternity test go forward and have Tanaka sit in jail for sixty days. Once he gets out, I can tell him CODIS returned no paternity matches for Ranma. In the mean time, I need to keep thinking about how Nodoka's madness affects her marriage status. Some of the ramifications are rather interesting and I'm gathering up cases to support a decision."

"No problem, Boss. I'm going to work on lunch," Ryuu answered. Ryuu was a thoughtful man. He saw no reason to worry his friend by telling him that the bio-team had missed Genma's desk because Genma's co-workers had simply thrown it out and replaced it. Or that Ryuu had taken the desk and burned it until it was nothing but ashes…

Shampoo listened to the gossip in the restaurant from the lunchtime crowd. Everyone was buzzing about the break-in at the testing lab and that Judge Sanu was going to have to re-test Ranma. She waited until the crowds thinned and asked Mousse what a DNA test was exactly. He was pondering how to explain it when Cologne cut in: "It's a test using technology to determine who your parents are." Cologne knew that Shampoo would translate the word "technology" as "barbarian magic", which was good enough.

"How good is it?" the purple-haired girl asked.

"Very good," the old woman answered. "It can pretty much tell if two people are child-parent or not. If you just test the child alone, you can find out a lot about the parents, including their heritage. There's a man falsely claiming to be Ranma's father. In all likelihood, the test will prove that he is not."

"In all likelihood?" the young warrior asked.

"The test is better at saying 'definitely no' than 'positively yes'. There are a few circumstances where the test says 'maybe', but they are rare," Cologne explained.

"How's it done?" Shampoo asked again.

Mousse was about to launch into a detailed explanation when Cologne cut him off. "They take a special sterilized cotton swab and scrape the inside of your cheek with it. Then they sent it to the lab, and run the test."

"Shampoo see," the girl said and then bounced back into the kitchen.

Cologne turned to Mousse and said wisely: "Yet another lesson: Never tell people more than they want to know. Shampoo has no interest in cell structure or DNA replication. When you answer a question, give them the minimum to make them happy. If they ask more questions, then you answer them."

"Yes, Elder," Mousse acknowledged bowing politely.

That evening, Mousse would have been delighted to know that Shampoo snuck into his room, but he was soundly asleep due to some herbs that the young woman had placed in his tea that evening. Shampoo quickly swabbed the inside of his cheek and left. "The Elders will have to accept Ranma if he tests positive for Amazon heritage…" she thought closing Mousse's door quietly.

Early afternoon that same Saturday:

Toshio sat in his tower listening to the reports from the Bio-Team over the phone. Finally he said: "Good work. You have accomplished all the mission directives. Please take a few days off and then return to base. Thanks very much." Both sides exchanged 'goodbyes' and hung up.

Kuno then called Ms. Nakagawa and asked for Dr. Nishimura to be sent in. After the customary greeting, Kuno got straight to the point: "Doctor, is it possible to take skin cells from two people and generate something that would test positive for both people in a parental DNA test?"

"You mean as a substitute for a child's test sample?" the doctor pressed.

"Yes, something like that," Kuno acknowledged.

"Hmph. Usually people are looking to deny a true paternity test, not confirm a false one," the doctor stated.

"Nonetheless…" Toshio prompted.

"Well, it would be easier to use sperm and an egg. I suppose it could be done, but it would be cost and time prohibitive using today's technology. "

"What if you don't have to build an entire cell/tissue sample – I just want to fool a CODIS test," Toshio clarified.

"Well, we could make a solution containing the desired nucleotides for the thirteen loci, but as soon as the solution was checked under a microscope, it would be extremely obvious that it was a phony sample. The solution would probably not survive the preparatory steps anyway. Besides, you'd have to slip the test sample in for the real sample in the lab – it would be easier to just substitute the desired results in for the real results at the end of the process rather than the beginning. Depending on the lab setup, you might get the job done via computer networks instead of breaking-and-entering."

Kuno's thought processes stopped for minute. "I am an idiot," was his first clear thought. Out loud, he said: "Thank you very much for your time."

The old woman waited for her favorite shape-shifter. Out of all of them, he was the fastest. She could nail the others with casual ease, but he was a challenge. A lot of the fun would go out of her life whenever he was stuck, but now he was back.

She heard him running with his fiancée towards her and distinguished his steps from the young woman's. He was on the outside this time – more of a challenge to hit him and miss the girl. She listened carefully and began the countdown silently: five, four, three, two, one… *SPLASH*

"Really?!" Ranko called out. "This has got to happen at least once a week." The old woman turned half-blind eyes to her and sniffed, looking very distracted. The boy-girl just sighed and took the Tendo girl in search of hot water. The old woman walked back into her house and fell on the floor laughing. "Gods! That was so much fun!" she thought. Her streak was unbroken even though Ranma tried to dodge her. She would sometimes appear at other houses just to catch him if he was trying to avoid her. But no matter how many times she caught him, he never got angry with her – he always just sighed and walked away. "May all the Kami bless you Ranma," she thought. "You have a good soul, and you will be a great teacher – especially with the patience I am forcing you to learn." Sometime or other, she would have to come 'clean' with him, but not yet. "Maybe for your twentieth birthday," she thought.

The old woman (Mrs. Ohayashi to her neighbors) sat down at her computer and pulled up the Nerima Gossip Forum. She read a few postings, and then ran across the latest from Chie, the Ono Clinic Office Manager. Oh dear. She reflected on the situation, and then she made up her mind. This was too perfect to pass up. She liked Akane and Ranma. If she could make their life easier, now was the time, even if it meant giving up the Game. She'd find a new one to amuse herself…

A/N: Just a heads up: I tampered with the word representing the Ainu concept for 'fire'. Instead of using the spelling that would result from the Japanese phonetic translation (as would be traditional in translating from the Ainu language), I used an American phonetic translation instead. I didn't like the spelling for the word that resulted from Japanese phonetic translation. It's not an offensive word per se, but the same spelling as an English word is likely to cause confusion. You'll see why later. Only those who check my research would notice the difference.

A/N: Yes, I know the "water-ladle ninja from hell" is more prevalent in Fan Fiction than in the Manga, but I still like the concept. If she bothers the reader, consider her a character I created like 'Judge Sanu', or borrowed from other writers. Besides, she's "featured" in the Anime opening (which is probably why she's a favorite in Fan Fiction).

A/N: 9/16/2014 - The Ladle Lady is given an name here to avoid confusion in the next chapter.

A/N: Next up: Complications