Akane sat quietly in her room. On her desk before her sat a textbook and notebook listing her homework. But it was plain to see that nothing had yet been done, as Akane had not yet moved since leaving the living room hours before. Glancing at her alarm clock she saw that it was fast approaching midnight. In frustration she closed the book and set both back into her school satchel. She decided her friends could probably help her out with the answers in the morning.
She sat back in her chair, replaying the conversation and ultimatum the parents had discussed with their children. Any normal girl, in fact almost every one of them at school, wanted to be with Ranma. She had a hard time believing sometimes the events that had brought the two together. She could still remember the first day he had shown up. It had been quite an introduction, as both Ranma and his father had shown up in their cursed forms. An ancient Chinese water activated curse, splash of cold water to activate the curse and warm water to deactivate it.
Ranma had been cursed to turn into a girl, a rather pretty one at that. With her red hair and rather large endowments, most guys were attracted to her female self as the girls to his boy half. But when Ranma had first shown up things had gotten rather complicated. Her father had ended up passed out and that left a rather quite girl sitting there. Akane had invited her out to the dojo in a bit of pity to her behavior. It was ironic that the quite young girl had turned out to be a rather loud young man. It was even surreal to suddenly find herself engaged to him, and to even end up…liking him.
Through all the adventures they had Ranma had been there for her. From the martial arts ice skating competition to the top of Mt. Phoenix Ranma had never given up on her. It was just to bad that that the rest of Ranma's life had made things so complicated. Between his fiancées interference and their own constant bickering they had ended up here preparing to go on what could be their final date. Suddenly the fear from before gripped her again, what if this was wrong? What if Ranma didn't want her, or if she couldn't accept his cursed half? It seemed unlikely that they would ever find a cure for the curse. They never really got anywhere close in the past. As he was now she would end up with a wife as well as husband in her marriage to Ranma.
But did she want to marry him? Akane didn't know, but she did know that when the Saotome matriarch had made her ultimatum Akane had been seized for a brief instant with a heart stopping moment of terror. She didn't know yet if she wanted to marry him, but she knew she didn't want to lose him. Akane jumped slightly at the knocking on her bedroom door.
"Akane? May I come in?" Came the gentle voice of her elder sister. Akane quickly stood up and let her sister in.
Kasumi was dressed in a nightgown and looked like she had been getting ready for bed. "Kasumi, what are you doing up so late?" Asked Akane.
"The same could be asked of you little sister. I was worried after the meeting when I saw neither you nor Ranma the rest of the evening. You both never responded when I called out for dinner either." At this Akane suddenly realized that she was hungry, partly as her stomach decided to make itself known just then. "Oh my, well that can be take care of easily enough." Said Kasumi as she lead the blushing Akane to the kitchen.
As they waited for some leftovers to thaw in the microwave Kasumi looked across the kitchen table at Akane. The younger sister looked depressed, and Kasumi could easily guess why. "Are you that worried Akane?" She asked gently.
Akane looked up, across her face emotions flashed one after another. Anger, hurt, depression, and many others. Kasumi sighed, Akane had always been the one that held her heart out in the open the most. Both of the older sisters had learned to hide their feelings at an early age, partly from the death of their mother, and partly to hold the house together in the wake of that death. Kasumi had become the surrogate mother, Nabiki the one to keep track the family finances, and Akane had simply been allowed to be the child they could not be. Their father had taken almost a full year to pull himself together enough to try and make an income for the family again. But still the sisters had continued their roles to this day.
Even to this night, where the eldest would console the youngest. "Akane, what's wrong?" Kasumi asked again gently."
"What's wrong? Kasumi what isn't wrong?" Akane said loudly. As Akane took a deep breath to calm herself Kasumi heard the almost imperceptible squeaking of the staircase outside the kitchen. "Why did he do that? Why did Dad decide to do this Kasumi?" Akane asked with tears in her eyes.
"Akane, what Father and the Saotomes are trying to do is-" Akane cut her off suddenly, the tempest of emotions playing across her face now settling on anger.
" I know what they are trying to do Kasumi! But it is just so unfair! Why now? Why suddenly now are we being forced to decide?" Akane demanded.
"You haven't been asked to decide anything yet. I merely wish to know if you two are serious about your relationship or not." Came a woman's voice from the doorway. Akane jerked her head around, settling her gaze upon Nodaka. The older woman was dressed in a house Kimono, and had just risen from sleep judging from the slightly unkempt hair.
"A-auntie? What do you mean serious? Auntie what do you want from us?" Akane stammered out. She was upset enough not to question why the Saotome had been up, mealy that she could present herself as a target to vent her frustration on.
"Lots of grandchildren would be nice." The older woman deadpanned with a smile. It was enough to shock Akane into sitting again along with deflating most of her anger. "Akane we are not doing this to hurt either you or Ranma, but this foolishness must end. In less then a year you two will be going to college, after that if you two are married you will be taking over the Dojo." Nodaka sighed and took a seat with the other two girls at the kitchen table.
"Akane, you and Ranma sometimes are like the immovable object and the irresistible force. It has been so bad at times your Father has admitted that he has thought of switching to one of your sisters for the responsibility of the engagement on a permanent basis. But, like him, every time I came to the same point you two would suddenly work together on a problem in such perfect unison that it was as if you were of one mind and soul." Nodaka gave a feminine snort, "In a very disturbing way you two remind me of my own engagement to Genma." she said with a smile.
Both girls suddenly looked surprised. "Your own engagement Auntie?" Akane asked in surprise. Nodaka simply laughed.
"Of course, does Genma seem like the one to sweep a girl off her feet?" Nodaka asked with a smile. Akane tried to think of an instance where Genma had shown any grace or charm…and couldn't find anything.
"We were engaged in a method similar to your own, where else do you think Genma and your father came up with this idea? True arranged marriages are still common, but not nearly as common as they used to be." Hearing the microwave chime Kasumi stood up to fetch the food. "I was like you, and Genma was like Ranma, almost like a perfect echo it feels like sometimes." She said while leaving a tone of remembrance in her voice.
"Then why…?" Akane trailed off, her question hanging in the air.
"Because we managed to work it out in the end, though it would be untrue to say that everything went smoothly. But we did admit it eventually between us the love we shared, and I feel that you and Ranma will do the same one day. He is a man amongst men, and he will do the manly thing or he will lose something I know he holds dear. However I think he will be like his father and be stubborn to the bitter end. It will be up to you to force his hand in this matter Akane. He is most likely waiting for you to make the first move." Nodaka said gently. As Kasumi placed the food in front of Akane, Nodaka stood and walked back towards the staircase. "Be sure to get some rest, you have school in a few hours. We can talk more another time." With that the matriarch made her way back to bed, leaving Akane to ponder the information given. She only paused at the doorway to smile in return to Kasumi's grateful one.
Kasumi turned back to look at her sister eating slowly. Oh mother, please help them both make it past their test, she prayed silently.
Her boots slapped solidly against the cold marble floors. Walking down this stretch of the hallway was reminiscent of walking through a church cathedral. On either side the walls were lined with stained glass murals depicting various scenes of peace and prosperity. The echoes of her passage seeming muted despite what one would normally expect. That was what He wanted, for anyone who walked this path to so in quite contemplation of what they were working towards.
She adjusted her cap, the white star catching the light and flashing brightly as she did so. She didn't know why he had come, but there was no mistaking the effect he had on their organization in the few short decades. In that time they had pushed the darkness back, already some cities were having record lows for violent crimes. They had better funding then they ever had, and weapons that allowed them to take on the Dark with equal footing. There were some dissenters, as there always were, complaining about the man's agenda.. It was obvious he had an agenda of his own, but he made no secret of that fact. It was refreshing is an odd way. But as long as his goals helped their fight she didn't think their was any reason to not follow his orders.
She came upon the dark mahogany double doors leading to his chambers. Set in the doors were two silver plated brass knockers fashioned into the shape of lions heads. Grasping the ring held in one lion's mouth she brought it down three loud times. She could hear echoes of the impacts inside the room beyond the door. It was quite for a moment, then the door began to open under its own volition to allow her access.
Stepping into the room she noticed the man she sought kneeling in his usual position on a raised dais. The door shut itself behind her, the heavy thud of its closing echoed within the spacious room. In front of her the scenes of heaven looked down on her, and she felt judged by the innumerable cold inanimate eyes of the glass faces. The rest of the room looked like an old study, with bookshelves along the walls and their contents scattered around the room in piles or on tables. There was no bed or any modern convenience. Even the light in the room was given off dozens of candles.
"You have found the first?" His deep voice queried from beneath his hood. The woman simply reached within one of her pants pockets and produced the brilliant red stone she had retrieved from her visit to the middle east. It had been a simple matter of having the mystics use their knowledge to reduce its size to a more manageable state.
"Yes my liege, the stone of Fire and Courage has been found. However the Enemy has the stone of Earth and Strength. We are still trying to track down the last two stones." The woman stated crisply. The figure seemed to nod and stood. Making his way down the dais he pulled his hood back revealing his face.
His features were perfect, though his skin seemed to be of a tanned Caucasian man it held no blemish. Though he grew his beard into a goatee that framed his mouth, his cheeks were so smooth that is was impossible a razor had ever touched them. His chestnut brown hair framed his face as it spilled down to his shoulders in a haphazard way that only seemed to enhance his looks. In short he was a perfect specimen of manhood, the only thing that seemed out of place on his face were the brilliant golden eyes that seemed to be the same shade of the sun itself.
Walking over to the simple wooden table he picked up the stone, holding it up to the light and gazing upon the refractions that seemed to dance within. He spoke to the woman as he continued to study the stone. "That they have one of five is of no consequence. It simply means that we know where to go to retrieve it when the time comes." Placing the stone down he turned to face the woman. "Perhaps it is time to meet the Gatekeeper." Gently he tucked the stone away into his robes.
The woman appeared shocked, "Meet him? Sir that would be exposing ourselves and our intentions to the enemy." She protested. The man simply seemed to chuckle.
"Perhaps, but I've been informed that the Enemy is already setting plans in motion to ensnare him. It seems that others have had their eye on our young friend for as long as we have." He explained gently.
"Th-they know?" The woman stammered in confusion despite herself, "How can they possibly know? We have made no motions towards him in any way!" She declared in anger.
"Perhaps that is why in itself. He is simply that kind of young man that is impossible to ignore. Regardless of how they know, it is simply enough to know that they do. Perhaps he can be reasoned with to join us willingly . If not there are other ways to persuade him if need be." He made a motion to the woman to follow him as he walked towards the door.
"What are your orders Sir?" Asked the woman as she opened the door for the man. He never broke stride as he continued out into the corridor.
"We will make our way to Japan to speak with this Gatekeeper. I also think it is time for you to visit your granddaughter. I've been thinking of a way to make her useful to us once again." He said with a warm smile that did not reach his cold eyes.
The Cat Café was a popular Chinese restaurant that had only opened in the last year and a half. In that time it had become quite a popular meeting place for teens and adults. Though it seemed that most of the patrons were male, it wasn't hard to guess why when you saw the waitress.
This waitress was exactly the first thing Dr. Tofu saw as he entered the Café that morning. She was obviously of Chinese decent, beautiful, and had very long deep violet hair. The fact that she was also a deadly Amazon who knew many varied and secret fighting techniques was hidden under a very frilly waitress outfit.
"Ni Hou! Welcome to Cat Café. Shampoo show you to table today Dr. Tofu?" Came the sing song voice of the waitress. Shampoo was more or less a bastardization of her Chinese name, Xian Pu, but she had simply gotten used to it over the last year.
"Yes thank you Shampoo. Could you please tell Elder Cologne that I wish to speak with her as well?" Shampoo glanced around the café, the lunch rush wasn't due for a few more hours so the café was relatively empty.
"I ask, should be Ok." Replied Shampoo as she lead him to a table. "Wait a moment, ask Great-Grandmother for you Dr. Tofu." With that Shampoo disappeared behind a counter into the kitchen.
A few minutes later the Matriarch of the Amazons appeared hopping on a wooden staff as if it were a pogo stick. It was painfully obvious that the Matriarch was old as she had wrinkles to spare. In fact it almost looked like her skin was two sizes to big for her diminutive frame. However one only had to look into her eyes to see years of wisdom and experience shining as well as a keen intellect that constantly was working.
Standing quickly Dr. Tofu bowed deeply, this produced a chuckle from the woman. "It is nice to see that some young people still know how to show respect for their elders." She said as she took a seat across from the Doctor. "It is rare that you come in here Dr. Tofu, what do I owe the pleasure to for today's early morning visit young man?" There was a hint of amusement in her voice.
Coughing into his fist the doctor began to explain his problem, "Five days ago I received an…unusual patient. She just woke up two days ago." He trailed off in uncertainty. How could he explain everything about Rachel without explaining everything. Cologne took the pause to ask a question of her own.
"Unusual you say? Would she have anything to do with the disturbance around the afternoon that day?" Cologne asked simply, however there was something lurking in the undercurrent of her question.
Tofu turned his head to look around the Café. It was obvious that the answer he had to give was making him uneasy. "Yes, I think she did, her aura seems to suggest so at least."
"Does she know what she is then?"
"I don't think she does, not yet at least." Tofu said tiredly, "However it will be only a matter of time. That is why I came to you, to ask for the Naban mirror."
Cologne simply stared at him for a very long moment, "No." Was her reply. She held up a wrinkled hand to stay the doctor's protests before she continued. "It won't work like you think it will young man. With the mirror shattered it simply is to unpredictable to use. You cannot send her back were she belongs with it." Dr. Tofu seemed to deflate visibly at her response.
"What do you suggest then Cologne?" Bowing his head.
"We could simply kill her and put her out of her misery." The matriarch said plainly. The Doctor looked up sharply at the older woman.
"I will not kill one of my patients!" He said passionately, the few patrons in the restaurant turned their head in curiosity. Tofu meekly looked down at his lap.
Cologne simply shook her head. "She may end up killing herself when she finds out. That is if she has any regard for the sanctity of life. If she does, it may be the kindest thing we can do for her. The longer you wait doctor the more dangerous it will be to do if the need should arise, for all of us." Cologne tilted her head, "Where is she now?"
Tofu removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Somehow she managed to acquire money last night that she won't tell me about. She is currently out shopping for clothes before she plans to try to get a job at Furinkan. Again she won't tell me why the sudden interest." He was startled by a the sound of the matriarch slapping the table.
"Are you mad?," The old woman nearly shouted. She turned her head and glared at the patrons who had taken interest in the two, the few who had quickly returned to their own business. Turning back to the doctor she continued, "She is a threat to us all, she will become corrupted, and she will end up killing thousands." The matriarch listed off.
Tofu shook his head, "You're wrong, I've seen her aura, it holds no evil intent despite the influence! Her very nature and belief ties her with life. I think there must another way, there has to be!" He looked into the eyes of the matriarch as he said this. The woman's eyes narrowed in an accusatory fashion.
"Why do you wish to protect her Tofu?"
The question caught the doctor off guard. He cared for his patients true, but this was outside anything the Hippocratic Oath could ever cover. But something in the nature of the woman temporarily staying with him made him want to trust her, even though he had only known her for two days. He said as much to the matriarch.
"Then it is quite possible she has already sunk her claws into you, as will be her nature. But as you wish I will let the matter rest for now, though I expect to meet this girl and decide myself her fate soon. Agreed?" Cologne stated sternly, "Now, what is this girls name?"
"Her name is Rachel Hunter." Cologne nodded dismissively, letting Dr. Tofu stand and leave the Café. He didn't know yet if it had been a good idea to have gone to the Elder about this, but perhaps having a second pair of eyes observing his patient might not be a bad idea.
Rachel was stressed, there were many reasons for this. Not just because she found herself in a world she had considered to be fictional. It didn't even have to do with a being who claimed to have brought her here, using her as a pawn, though it didn't help. Nor was it simply trying to navigate a foreign country with no guide or ability to read the language, at least not more then a few dozen different characters. Even the realization that all the crazy shades that people had in anime for hair or eye color were commonplace here didn't really faze her. It had been slightly unnerving though having a sales clerk who had light green hair with orange eyes.
No the thing that currently had her stressed was simply the fact of having made the mistake of walking past an electronic store. In usual marketing fashion it had been playing the news, though Rachel thought it had been playing an anime.
Man, just how messed up is this situation going to be? She thought of some of the headlines she had heard. Sailor Senshi saving civilians from oni attacks again? Mithril receives praise from the U.N. for rescue of hostages? Lupin the III strikes again in an European country? What, am I in the middle of some great junction of Animes? Rachel thought miserably in the guest room above Dr. Tofu's clinic. Beside her sat the fruits of her mornings efforts to get clothes. A few different casual outfits she had managed to find along with some business wear for her interview, which she hadn't expected at all to be today. Sighing she picked up the slip of paper she had written upon.
The phone had decided to ring as soon as she had placed her bags down in her room an hour before. The eerie part about it had been who was on the other end trying to reach her specifically by name. It had been the Furinkan High School's Principal's Office, confirming an appointment to talk to the Principle about employment as an English teacher later that day. The secretary even apologized about not confirming it with her sooner. She had just found the slip of paper on her desk earlier that morning.
Rachel suddenly clenched her fist, crumpling the paper containing the time of the meeting within her fist in anger. She never liked the feeling of manipulation, and this stunk so much of it that she knew exactly who to blame. "Loki." The name slipped out of her mouth like a vile curse. "What are you after here? Why the trouble?"
She had been up for hours last night trying desperately to figure out what was going on. As a result her sleep had been minimal to say the least and even her morning ritual had failed to calm her nerves. The woman simply could not figure out any reason to the madness she currently found herself in. It was to chaotic, but she felt instinctively that it was vital she figured out Loki's plan as soon as could be before it was to late. Even though 'to late' was as vague as the rest of it.
Glancing at her new watch Rachel decided to start getting ready for her interview. Twenty minutes later she was on her way to Furinkan Dressed in her brand new black dress pants, black pumps, and a forest green short sleeved dress shirt. A gold necklace and pair of earrings completed her ensemble and making her modest looks stand out more. Her hair normally kept up in a ponytail was let loose to flow down her backside. In one hand clutched the envelope with her papers she knew she would need.
Another ten minutes she was walking through the gates of the high school. Though she had walked by it the previous evening it had been starting to get dark leaving details unable to be seen on the building. In the noonday sun it was plain to see the patchwork condition, and she knew exactly who to blame for most of it. I'm going to be working here? Inner city is one thing, even Midwest schools were sometimes stressful, but this is going to be a whole new challenge. Rachel gave a small smile as she made her way down the walkway to the front entrance. Then again, maybe that will be fun. Not everyday you get to teach in as crazy a place as this one.
About halfway to the door she became aware of just how much attention was currently focused on her. Smiling she forced herself to steadily walk to the front entrance. Jeez, now I know how the monkeys in the Zoo must feel. It hadn't occurred to her until just then how being American was very much an oddity, it was her that was the foreigner and out of her element being in this country. Now she knew why the exchange students at her college had been so nervous all the time Ok, this might be a lot tougher then I thought.
Quickly she ducked into the building as soon as she reached the door, not trying to make it seem like she was running away from the stares of the student. A few questions later gave her directions to the Principle's office. The Secretary portion of the office was very neat and well organized. Walking up to an older Asian woman dressed in business casual who was typing away at a computer, she stood patiently waiting to be recognized.
A moment later the woman looked up from her work to the Caucasian woman before her, "Ah, Miss. Hunter I presume?" She glanced at a table clock, "You are a little bit early, but I don't think that will be a problem. May I have your certificates to copy as you talk to Mr. Kuno?"
Kuno? Why does that strike a memory? I know Kuno the kendoist, but Principle Kuno? Shaking her head Rachel handed over the papers. "Will I need to fill out anything before my interview?"
The secretary smiled, "No that won't be necessary, we will simply need your address for mailing you any paperwork that may occur while you work here. But other than that Mr. Kuno prefers to keep paperwork to a minimum." Rachel could swear she saw the woman's eye twitch nervously at her own comment.
"R-right, so I guess I simply need to meet the man?" Something was setting her on edge, the name Kuno and the secretary's behavior seeming a bit to strange to Rachel.
"Yep, his door is right over there," She said gesturing over to the far wall where a simple wooden door was. "He is expecting you so you can just walk on in." Smiling again Rachel was suddenly struck again with the feeling that the Secretary's smile was forced somehow.
As Rachel opened the door and walked into the office a male teacher walked into the Secretary's office. He noticed the door to Mr. Kuno's office closing as he came up to the woman manning the desk. "So Mrs. Honda, I assume the Principle is busy right now?" He asked gesturing to the now closed door.
"Yep, some unlucky soul beat you to the loon Keitaro." She said showing him Rachel's envelope.
"No kidding? New hire? Must have gotten poor grades at a University to land a job here." Keitaro said shaking his head sadly.
"Nope, she's American if you can believe it. Top grades in her class and all that." She looked over to the door, "Even asked specifically to get a job here from the teacher exchange program. A real glutton for punishment if you ask me, and she had such beautiful long hair."
"Really? American girl, eh?" The man gave a low whistle as he to looked to the door as well. It currently was quite, but both knew it only had a moment if not seconds to last. "Bet you she manages to escape with about half her hair left." He said sideways nonchalantly.
Mrs. Honda raised an eyebrow, "Oh? What if I bet it's a complete shave?"
"Loser buys from Ucchan's?"
"Deal. It should be starting," She glanced at her desk clock, "in five…four…three…two…now!" Almost on cue a scream came from the office followed by several thumps and crashes. The door handle for the office jerked once, then a few more times desperately before being followed by more shouts and crashes.
"They always try the door first, next is usually the window right?" Keitaro asked.
"What they assume is a window, its just painted onto the wall. Otherwise the students would be constantly vandalizing it. Remember?" Several more crashes coming from one side of the room confirmed the pattern. A few more minutes seem to go by with continued crashes, shouts, and even the odd explosion.
"She seems to be handling herself quite well. If she had been shaved she would have been dragged out here already." Keitaro noted, "She might be able to survive here yet. I managed to survive ten minutes before he knocked me out with one of his pineapple bombs." He said proudly.
"I remember, you didn't stop complaining about your shaved head for the first month you worked here." Mrs Honda smiled brightly to the younger man to deflate some of his ego. Suddenly a particularly large explosion sounded from the office before everything got quite. "Oh well, she got beaten already. Guess you better get ready to take my order Keitaro." Mrs. Honda grinned triumphantly.
Suddenly the handle rattled a few times before opening to reveal Rachel…with all her hair despite a few locks that had gotten a slight buzz. Her outfit had a few tears however, and overall had the same singed look as her hair did. She was also, oddly enough, missing a shoe. Staggering a few steps out of the office she closed the door before leaning back gasping heavily for breath.
Mrs. Honda put on a big smile for the young woman, despite sending a few curses to the man under her breath, "Ah, you passed the interview process. Congratulations!" The secretary said with a bright fake cheery tone.
From underneath her bangs Rachel looked across the room at the pair. "Interview process? The lunatic was throwing pineapple bombs at me! He was going on about shaving my hair to be in some sort of regulation."
Keitaro nodded his head sagely, "Yes our Principle here is a bit…eccentric. But don't worry, think of it as a sort of initiation, we all got the same 'interview' from Mr. Kuno."
"Ya kidden right?" Came Rachel's reply. No wonder she felt she remembered a Mr. Kuno, he was the other Kuno's father! He was just as, if not more so, delusional and crazy as his son. If he only had that Hawaiian fetish that would have been bad enough, but the man even had a palm tree growing out the top of his head! "Great, I'm working for a lunatic." She moaned.
"Actually, he fits right in with quite a few of the students here at Furinkan." Keitaro helpfully supplied causing the distressed woman to groan. The secretary suddenly coughed to get their attention.
"Miss. Hunter, I'm sure Mr. Hiro here will be more then happy to show you to your desk in the teacher's lounge. If you still wish you can start teaching classes tomorrow."
Rachel hung her head. She would love to say screw it and go back to Tofu's, but she knew that wasn't an option. At least she managed to get the job without getting losing her hair in the process. Looking back up at Mr. Hiro she simply gave a weak nod. Standing up she followed him out of the office weakly, while trying to minimize the awkwardness of missing a shoe.
"By the way Miss. Hunter," Mrs. Honda called after her, "How did you beat him? You must be the third person at this school to beat him."
Smiling over her shoulder Rachel gave her answer, "I spent a large part of my childhood playing soccer as a goalie. When one of his bombs fell short I simply returned it to him. To bad I lost a shoe in the process though." With that she was gone.
The older woman simply smiled, "Yep, she is going to do just fine here." Looking at the door she stood up and grabbed her purse before making to leave the room as well. "I think I'll take a long lunch today."
Nabiki was not happy. The reason she was not happy was staring at her from her shoe locker. Someone had decided to fill her shoes with mud, then left a toothpick sticking out of it with a note glued to it.
Hey Nabiki, don't be such a stick in the mud. It was of course unsigned, but it did have a little smiley face drawn where one would have signed.
Someone was challenging her. Someone was challenging her on her turf. Inside she was practically boiling with rage while her outside showed only a narrowing of eyes. Behind Nabiki two of her lieutenants stood twitching nervously. They couldn't believe it, no one had ever dared to cross Nabiki since middle school. The last had been a girl who had her reputation so thoroughly and viciously crushed she had to transfer to a completely different district. Now someone had dared to challenge the Ice Queen by messing with her stuff?
"Names," Nabiki said quietly, icily, "I want to know who did this, someone must have seen them." She knew already with certainty just who had done it, but she wanted proof to make it easier to completely crush the insolent girl.
"B-boss," Stammered one of the girls, "We already asked around as soon as we heard. Nobody had seen anything." The other girl take a few steps away as Nabiki turned to face the messanger with bad news. Nabiki didn't scowl exactly, but the air around her seemed to drop to a chilly temperature.
"You are telling me one of the areas of the school that always has someone in it had no witnesses to this?" Her question was calm and as cold as a winter's night. The girl swallowed audibly before continuing.
"Y-yes Boss. No one saw anything." The girl stammered out, she was definitely regretting opening her mouth at all. When Nabiki turned back to the shoe locker the girl let out a breath she hadn't known she had been holding.
"It doesn't matter, there is only one girl who would dare to do this." She made a motion to the girls to follow before walking back to her classroom. Students in the hallways in an instinct of survival moved out of the Ice Queen's way. Though she didn't show it, and didn't walk any differently then before; they somehow knew that to cross the Queen today was to do so at one's own peril.
"I want dirt, any dirt, on Rei Hibiki, now." Nabiki said without facing her liutenants. "What have we found so far?"
"Nothing, her records are clean." The second girl who had been silent up to now supplied. "She was orphaned at a young age and had gotten into an exchange program due to her own merit."
"If she is clean then she isn't. Dig deeper, I know her type and I know she has something. Everyone has something. Follow her, capture her every movement on tape. I don't want her dropping a grain of rice from her bento without us knowing it." Nabiki said tersely. Nodding their heads even though their employer couldn't see them the two girls left to follow their orders.
Nabiki entered her classroom and sat at her desk. Reiko hadn't turned up anything while tailing Rei. Rei had simply given her the slip. That meant that Rei wasn't going to be her usual challenger that popped up every once and awhile. Most of those fools were dealt with before anyone knew there had been a challenge in the first place. But Rei was different, she had publicly challenged Nabiki and though she couldn't prove it the American had done so again. She had to be dealt with quickly before the other sheep got any ideas.
She folded her hands before her. It was time to make a few calls regarding Miss. Hibiki.
Author's corner:
Hey all, if you read this far into my story I want to thank you. This story and its chapters are hard for me to write because of several things. First is real life, always a pain. Second is that I have never written a story out that is this complex. (Least I hope it is complex so far.) The third reason ties directly into the second in that all my limited skill is being pushed to the limit in writing this story, so I have a lot of fear that I'm not describing enough or not being clear in what I'm trying to write.
I also want to answer some questions I've been getting over my two OC's. The first is if Rachel and Rei are both OC's, I'm flattered at the emails that some people think that I took them from an anime somewhere. That means they fit in to an anime world, which I'm trying to do. But no, these characters came exclusively from my head.
The second is if Rachel or Rei are me. That is a firm no. There are some qualities that get transferred, but all authors do that to a degree. She isn't a Mary Sue or Self Insert and I'm taking pains to keep them both from either of those territories.
If you like my story please leave a review, it inspires me greatly. I want to tell the best story I can but that is meaningless if my readers don't understand what I'm trying to write. So tell me what yall think please!
Now to get back to my corner to write the next chapter. ^.^