A/N: In this chapter, Ranma makes use of the Chi Nova Blast, something that hasn't been mentioned until now. It is a technique Akane developed in this Continuum. She taught it to Ranma and a few others. It is an instant blast of 'light' that temporarily blinds anyone who is facing it, but the caster is immune. Closing your eyes does not help against the blindness, neither does sunglasses as the blast is at least partially 'spiritual' – you need steel, living bone, or thick wood to block it. The technique also reveals to the caster anyone or anything hidden by whatever means, including the Umisen-ken.
Chapter 5: The Judge and the Assassin
Ranma roof-hopped his way towards the judge's condominium. He had made a point of calling and asking for permission first - Kasumi had ground enough good manners into his skull for that. Tofu had returned early with the expressed purpose of whapping Ranma with a newspaper for his little magic show (the irony was not lost on Ranma) and then excused his student from lessons so Ranma could talk to Sanu. Akane had asked if he wanted company, but Ranma just shook his head. Tofu had cut off any further wheedling on the young woman's part by saying she wasn't excused from lessons and that this was an ideal time to work on her Elemental studies since there was one less inexperienced Elemental mage about to muck up the Power flows.
He landed on the street in front of the judge's home and walked up to the door. Mr. Maruyama let him in and had Ranma wait in a sitting room while he told the judge Ranma was here. The room was comfortable-looking and the chairs were soft. Books lined the walls and the light was provided by tall floor lamps set by the chairs. Somehow, it seemed to fit Ranma's idea of a judge's relaxation area – comfortable chairs were one could drink sake and discuss obscure points of Law or Philosophy with a fellow judge. There was even a fireplace completing the scene. Ranma smirked a little regarding the room's predictability.
As he sat there though, he began to notice a faint but disagreeable odor. He closed his eyes and searched his memory. Drain cleaner: the smell was boiling drain cleaner. The last time he smelled this was when Akane had tried to soften some overcooked octopus with drain cleaner. Ranma still shuddered at the memory of that. Fortunately, he had been able to distract her and dump the whole dish down the toilet (it cleared the pipes well). She was better these days, especially when he watched over her, but he still had nightmares about some of the meals she first served him when he arrived at the dojo over two years back. He got up and followed the smell to the kitchen. Sure enough, there was some type of soup cooking on the stove, and the odor was coming from the pot. He grabbed a bottle of vinegar and added a few drops to the soup – the resultant reaction told him everything he wanted to know. He killed the heat and noticed that the pot was already sitting under a fume hood, much like in a chemistry lab. "What the hell?" he thought.
"Hey! What are you doing here?" Mr. Maruyama shouted from the kitchen doorway. "I'm cooking that for the judge's supper!"
Ranma's arm shot out and grabbed the man by the throat. "Unless the judge is a troll in disguise, I don't think he'll enjoy Drain Cleaner Surprise," Ranma growled. Mr. Maruyama eyes widened and he made a gesture at the floor. Suddenly Ranma was surrounded by smoke and he felt Maruyama hit a pressure point on Ranma's wrist, forcing the hand to go numb. Ranma immediately withdrew the hand while launching a kick, using his other hand to reverse the pressure point. Ranma heard Maruyama flee down the hall; the assassin masked his aura as he went. The sounds vanished too. Ranma immediately masked his own aura and stalked after him. At the first doorway, Ranma fired a Chi Nova blast into what was apparently a large dining room. The blast did no physical damage, but lit up the room, except for one corner where the assassin was obviously hiding. Ranma heard a muttered oath and then began catching poisoned darts as Maruyama tried to get out of the corner. Ranma leaped up on the table, but Maruyama dove under it and was out the door with Ranma in hot pursuit.
Sanu saw Ryuu and Ranma flash by his doorway. The judge calmly checked the time. "2:45 PM. Oh dear," he thought. "Well, I suppose I better do something. I should probably attend to my constitutional, and then stop Ranma from killing Ryuu or vice versa." He was about to head towards the bathroom when he heard swordplay in the den. "Actually, this could be interesting…" He wandered slowly down the hall toward the den and peeked in. Both men had katanas and both were trying to disarm while guarding against a fatal thrust. Ranma was definitely a swordsman. Ryuu tried a smoke bomb, but Ranma's eyes blazed and something pushed the smoke back at Ryuu. Ryuu immediately set off a flash bomb, blinding everyone else in the room. Ranma did a back flip away from the assassin, guarding against a forward attack. The young man then held up his hand and another flash appeared, catching the assassin off guard.
Sanu stumbled down the hall away from them while his sight returned. He heard the clash of steel again. "Great," he thought. "Now they are blind fighting. I suppose I really should stop this." He walked back to his room, his eyes clearing as he went. Once there, he pulled out a small revolver, and, after carefully checking the cylinders and the chamber, he loaded two blanks into the gun. Then he walked back to the den.
As he stepped back into the room, he heard a sword fall and Ranma immediately disarmed Sanu, taking the gun and covering Ryuu with it. "He's trying to kill you, sir!" Ranma shouted.
Sanu looked at Ranma and said: "I'm aware, son. He's been trying to kill me for the last twenty-five years."
Ranma's brain froze for a fraction of a second, but his reflexes did not – he still kept the gun trained on Maruyama. Much to Ranma's surprise, Maruyama relaxed and hung up the sword again. "Geez, Boss. Next time see if I come running to your rescue!" Maruyama scolded. The assassin looked at how Ranma was holding the gun. "Great," he groused. "The kid's a marksman too."
"You can put the gun down, Ranma," Sanu told him. "First off, the gun is loaded with blanks. I checked very carefully. Second, Ryuu's on my side, believe it or not."
"But he poisoned your dinner!" Ranma exclaimed.
The judge's eyebrow shot up. "Crap, that's tonight's trap," he muttered. "I'll be right back."
The judge ran from the room and went back into his bedroom. There was a swishing sound followed by a sudden "thwack". The judge exclaimed "Ah ha! There's a guillotine in the bathroom!"
Maruyama looked at his watch. "A little early," the man commented.
Ranma sighed and unloaded the gun, noting the rounds really were blanks. He tossed the blanks to Maruyama, who caught them deftly. Ranma recognized a One-Upmanship Duel when he saw one.
"Next time, Boss, could you check and see which trap I'm catching flack for?" Ryuu said with some exasperation as he sat back in his chair after having brought some drinks into the den.
"I didn't know you started the prep work so early. I thought Ranma caught you setting up the 3PM trap, in which case, you deserved the flack. Even so, you knew he was coming over. What possessed you to start cooking tonight's while he was here?" Sanu defended himself.
"That fume hood is a damn good one. I didn't think anyone would recognize the little trace that escaped," Ryuu answered. Then he turned to Ranma and asked: "Speaking of which, how did you recognize the smell?"
"Let's just say that, while Akane is not getting a perfect husband, I'm not getting a perfect wife either," Ranma stated.
"Drain cleaner?" Sanu prompted.
"She thought it would soften overcooked food," Ranma answered. "A domestic goddess she is not, but I'm fond of her anyway. And she is getting better." He took a sip of his cola as the other two men chuckled.
"You lead an exciting life, Ranma," Sanu commented.
"Seems like I'm not the only one. So how do a federal judge and a Yakuza enforcer end up working together? And how do they end up in a One-Upmanship Duel?" Ranma asked.
Ryuu looked at his boss and said, "You might as well tell him, Isao. He stumbled into it, and it's not like we don't know his secrets. Besides, we should accept our allies as they come – he's not without his own abilities."
"I suppose…" Isao agreed. "But I'm not sure where to start; the beginning is a little murky…"
"Well if you cannot start at the beginning, what's the summary?" Ranma asked.
"Well, I suppose the summary is that Ryuu was ordered to kill me by his oyabun…," Sanu started.
"But my oyabun will be killed if I carry through on the order…" Ryuu added.
"But if his oyabun cancels the order, then the other groups in his family will think he is weak, so the oyabun can't cancel the order," Sanu finished. "Also, my hastened death would launch a war between a Chinese Triad and several Yakuza families."
"And if the order to assassinate the Boss is lifted, then the Italian Mafia will start sending assassins to kill Sanu since they also carry a grudge and since it would no longer be considered poaching on Yakuza territory. Then, of course Isao's niece is married to one of the big guys in the Cabinet, who will start cracking down on all Yakuza families for the loss of a family member," Ryuu said.
Ranma was ticking through things on his fingers. "Who will kill Ryuu's oyabun if Ryuu carries through on his orders?" Ranma asked.
"The head of the largest Yakuza family in Tokyo," Ryuu answered. "He's a big fan of the boss. He's also a big fan of 'you don't kill cops or judges'. The same man has threatened to end all ties between the families if anything happens to Isao."
"Of course, it helps that I saved the life of that fan twenty-five years ago," Sanu tossed out with a grin on his face.
"Which means that the oyabun wants to cancel the order to repay the judge for the fan," Ranma deduced. "But if he does, he looks weak to his own family and the Mafia feels they can come in and make the hit, which means the Yakuza will start fighting the Triad, the government, and themselves."
"Just everyday politics," Ryuu commented while taking a sip of whiskey.
"So you're held in no-man's-land until the oyabun is dead," Ranma concluded to the Sanu.
"Actually, the oyabun died fifteen years ago," Sanu said. "Ryuu's new oyabun…"
"By succession only…" Ryuu cut in.
"Now maintains the assassination order simply to keep the Mafia out of my hair and keep the peace. He and I were classmates in high school," Sanu finished.
"I'm still under orders to assassinate Isao, but I've been told that if I do, I will also be killed," Ryuu said.
"O.K….and I thought I lived a complicated life," Ranma said.
"Oh, that's the simple version of the story," Ryuu laughed. "I left out that my niece is married to Isao's nephew…"
"Which was due to an international incident between Japan and Russia over fishing rights," Sanu tossed out.
"It's getting higher and deeper in here," Ranma noted with some skepticism.
"All true, son. We can pull out the newspapers clipping and show you the connections. You're free to investigate things yourself," Sanu laughed.
"And you two first met when?" Ranma asked and then started to take a sip.
"When Sanu had to serve as my public defender thirty-five years ago," Ryuu answered.
Ranma began coughing as the soda went down the wrong pipe. "You're joking!" he sputtered.
"Nope." Sanu said rolling his eyes. "And I was so sure he was guilty. Turned out that the evidence said otherwise."
"Not until you kicked a few wheels and uncovered who really killed that poor merchant – intimidation means you break a few bones – dead people don't make payments. I seem to recall that was also the first time I saved your life," Ryuu said smugly.
"Did wonders for your street cred," Sanu noted.
"Protecting an honest lawyer? Merely saving an endangered species," Ryuu bantered. "Since then, Sanu and I were forced to solve a fair number of crimes together for one reason or another before he got a judgeship. Then we ended up getting stuck together permanently."
Ranma was shaking his head. "I'm going to say 'I am suspending my disbelief' and leave it there," Ranma said. The shape-shifter then raised an eyebrow and asked: "And the one-upmanship competition got started how?"
"Despite what you may believe, I'm actually fairly good at staying alive," Sanu told him. "History will back me up. My eyes are pretty sharp and my brain works fairly well. However, Ryuu was afraid that if something was to happen to him, I might end up with someone who was really trying to kill me."
"So I wanted him to become better at recognizing traps and assassination attempts," Ryuu continued. "And to teach him to monitor his environment and arrange it to protect himself."
"The Rules evolved over time. Both of us constantly re-arrange the house to accomplish our objectives. The key thing is when to have a truce. There are times when we need to have each other's back, especially when there is work to do," Sanu added.
"Or when it is time to call for a rest – we are only human. During a rest cycle, one of us can rest and the other can guard," Ryuu said.
"And 3PM is game time?" Ranma asked.
"11AM and 3PM," Sanu answered. "The trap is set and I have five minutes to find it and either avoid its range or disarm it. To avoid rigidity in thinking or laxity in observation, there's an early morning contest and an evening contest, but these occur in this house and only in this house to protect outsiders."
"So what happens if you don't avoid the trap?" Ranma questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"Depends on the trap," Ryuu answered. "In the case of the soup, as soon as he put his spoon in to the bowl, I would have stopped him. Other times, I would let him ingest the poison, but then hand him the antidote."
"Sometimes, the morning ambush is a crossbolt, but the target is offset. What matters is that I react before the bolt hits its target," Sanu said.
"And the constant sparring doesn't wear you down? There are times when I actually relax with my rivals," Ranma noted.
"Oh, the Game pauses two weeks in five. And there are months when we switch roles," Ryuu explained. "Several of my rivals will actual approach the boss with ideas, but I've sometimes been brought low with the simple things…"
"Like when I removed the slats in his bed," Sanu interrupted with a grin.
"The follow-through would have been to have a spike there," Ryuu agreed. "It's a reminder that I have to keep in shape too."
"The Game keeps us both from getting flabby," Sanu agreed. "And, of course, if someone asks if there is really an assassination order against me, Ryuu can honestly say that he's made a recent attempt."
"Politics again…" Ranma commented.
"True," the judge laughed lightly and then said: "But it's time to move on. You are now a secret-keeper, Ranma. Be our ally and we will be yours. Deal?"
The judge and Ryuu raised their glasses. Ranma raised his and answered: "Deal."
The judge drained his glass and said: "You want to speak to me, Ranma?"
Ranma finished his drink and leaned forward. "Yes, judge. I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, and I've decided I need to start taking control of the situation. This whole thing with Mom's family has been sort of a wake-up call. I'm tired of living for other people's expectations – I want to live for mine. Honor is a personal thing, more than it is a public thing and I want to put my own stake in the ground. I have things I want to accomplish, but I'm underage and I'm not sure where I stand legally."
"All right…where do you want to go?" Sanu asked. "I have a collection of cases that apply to your situation. We have some latitude in the matter believe it or not."
Ranma took a deep breath and started talking….
That night Akane and Ranma sat on the roof alone watching the stars. She could tell something was bothering him, but was waiting for him to bring it up. Finally, Ranma spoke: "Akane? Do remember the other night when we were talking about the Burakumin?"
"Yes, Ranma?" she acknowledged.
"You never said how you felt about it. Would you still love me if you found out I was a Burakumin?" he asked her.
The girl smiled gently. "Idiot. Of course I would. And if you're worried about your birth status, or your Ainu blood, or your family history – STOP. I love YOU, not your heritage. Just don't change who you are right now and we will be fine. O.K.?"
"O.K." he answered. He pulled her closer to him, drinking in her fragrance. "I can do this," he thought. "If I have her, I can do anything…"
Kimiko looked at her handiwork with the Book of Life. She wanted to be sure she had erased everything cleanly. Finally, she bent down and blew at the Page. Her breath pushed all the debris off the Page…
N/A: Next up - Sorry, no hints. Besides, it should be obvious what Ranma is thinking. The question is: "Will he get there?"