Chapter 11: Kasumi's and Toshio's Conversation

Kasumi sat in the private jet across from Toshio Kuno, ostensibly making use of the laptop Toshio had provided. There was a large table between them. The plane was due to land in a little over an hour and a half, dropping Kasumi about a half hour drive from Nerima. Mr. Kuno had already arranged for a limousine to take Kasumi to the hospital, but would not be joining her in Nerima. He had already explained that he had other appointments around Tokyo. The gentleman (Kasumi guessed he was about fifty or so) was the absolute soul of courtesy, but kept his thoughts to himself and did not seem interested in making small talk.

This did not bother Kasumi too much, but she was very curious and took the opportunity to study him discretely. Here was the mysterious uncle behind the infamous Kuno clan. He ran a very large corporation, and presided over a large extended family (especially his brother's family), but he had no close friends or wife and children. The titans of Industry feared him and he was the ruling overlord of Nerima when all was said and done, but he also gave tremendous amounts of money to charities, both inside and outside of Nerima. He was an extremely strict employer and maintained an army of ninjas, but his people never feared to call his attention to a real issue or a problem or to express their opinion. In fact, they were forbidden not to; the only unforgivable sin was to lie to their Overlord, something both the gossip chain and he himself made abundantly clear. His employees did not love him, but they respected him and that was how he wanted it.

Kasumi supposed that some might have called her foolhardy by accepting the ride to Nerima, especially since she was sure there were no coincidences, but it wasn't as if she was unarmed. It was abundantly clear that, while Toshio was in tip top shape, he was not a warrior and could not stand against Kasumi in a fight. Kasumi could also call her staff and the Chaos Gi on a moment's notice and Tomo, her little bodyguard, was still with her. The little Kitsune was actually the one driving the computer. Kasumi was amused to see that his interests were pretty much like that of any other young teen. While Tomo was not a warrior, he was not defenseless and could drop Kuno in his tracks five different ways.

Besides, Kuno's aura burned cleanly when he made the offer. There was no lust or desire emanating from him, no evidence of a trap. He had made a point of having her notify people that she was on her way and what her schedule was – hardly the actions of a kidnapper. He wanted Kasumi back in Nerima and that was that. Since Kasumi wanted to be in Nerima and tend to Ranma, she was happy to oblige him.

A steward approached Mr. Kuno. "Excuse me, sir?" Kuno looked up at the man. "Should I prepare dinner? We still have a ways to go and you should really eat something, sir. It's not like starving yourself will make the plane move any faster."

Kuno smiled briefly at the polite admonishment. He looked at Kasumi and said: "Ms. Tendo, beware taking on servants. There's very little difference between a good servant and a good master. Will you please join me for some dinner?"

"Yes, Mr. Kuno, that would be nice," she replied.

Kuno looked back at the steward. "Yes, Mr. Ruyama. Please prepare dinner for two. Bring me a light red wine, and bring the lady whatever she would like."

Mr. Ruyama looked at Kasumi. "Just a cola," Kasumi responded.

The steward retreated and the two (three) occupants resumed what they were doing until Mr. Maruyama returned a little later with their drinks and two bowls of lobster bisque. Both of them closed the laptops and Mr. Kuno put away the papers he had been reviewing. He then addressed Kasumi: "Please forgive me, Ms. Tendo, for being an inattentive host, but there is much I need to attend to. I have very few free moments."

"That's quite all right, Mr. Kuno," Kasumi answered. "I am grateful for the flight to Nerima." She gave the man a very direct look – she was not going to play his game and fence politely with him. She knew he was far too skilled at manipulation for her to win. "As you know, I am very concerned about Ranma and need to get back to him."

Kuno seemed to consider his options at her comment. Kasumi was watching his aura run through the spectrum as he picked a weapon. Finally, he decided on the truth, or at least enough of the truth to keep her moving in the direction he wanted. She could tell by the lightening of his aura. "Interesting…" Tomo murmured in her ear.

Toshio smiled briefly and took a sip of wine. "Yes, I am aware of Ranma's predicament, or at least as much as I understand it anyway. I do maintain a watch on Nerima constantly."

"And what else do I need to know?" she prompted.

Kuno suppressed a short laugh, and then thought about it as they both drank their soups. Finally, he said: "You also need to know Tatewaki is on the loose again. He managed to get away from me before I learned of Ranma's condition. While I would rather no one knew about his escape, I do not want you blind-sided either. Tatewaki must be kept away from Ranma and from Akane. Neither person would be good for his physical health or their mental health. I have people in Nerima trying to intercept him, but it's not as if he doesn't have some ability."

"Yes," Kasumi said, agreeing with the last statement. "Someone who can drive a wooden stick through a cement wall has to be called 'gifted'. It looks like our families are once again linked together in battle."

Kuno winced at Kasumi's first remark and then considered the second. Kasumi could feel the curved ball coming; he wanted her a little off-balance. "You know, there's some truth to what you say. Our families have been linked for quite some time," he commented.

"Not going to work, Mr. Kuno," she thought. "I will not take a slow sucker punch. Let's try something hard, fast, and direct." Out loud, she said: "Please don't tell me Tatewaki is my half-brother or cousin." There was a serene smile on her face as she said it.

Kuno slammed the inside of his elbow to his mouth to prevent a spit-take, and then began laughing after a moment. "Very good, Ms. Tendo! Ten points to you," he said while laughing. Once he got himself under control, he said: "No, no. Any of the required parties are/were much too proper for that. As far as I know, there's never been any attraction between the two families – I cannot call Tatewaki's obsession with your sister (or Ranma) a proper romantic attraction. Not that there's anything wrong with your parents or my family members or myself. Despite the various rumors out there, I am heterosexual, but your mother was a bit young for me when I knew her and her personality was not what I would have called compatible with mine."

Now it was Kasumi's turn to be caught off-guard. "You knew my mother?" she said with surprise.

Toshio nodded. "Yes, I did. Well enough that I made a point of going to her funeral. That was actually the first time you and I met, although I doubt you will remember it. You see, your mother was more or less a partner in my first successful business enterprise, despite the fact she was fourteen when we first met." Kasumi knew she had lost the ten points back to Kuno by her shocked look, but she couldn't help it. Kuno smiled at the look on her face, and continued: "I was recently out of college and was looking to make my mark on the world. I was trying to come up with an idea when a friend invited me to a National Tai Chi competition. I saw your mother win the competition and recognized that she was good. Not only that, but she had style – something that the audience ate up. I immediately talked to your grandparents and managed to convince them to let me represent her, just beating out several agencies. The contract I had them signed was a work of art. They could not go elsewhere, and I had claimed a decent percentage of any advertising revenue, but I quickly made sure that they didn't want to. I managed to get several sponsorships and commercial gigs for your mother. We did very well there for a while."

He finished his soup and motioned for Kasumi to keep eating, then continued: "Eventually, I noticed her rivalry with another girl – Shizuka Fujii. I signed up Fujji as well and played the two against each other in the media. Fujii was definitely jealous of your mom, but your mom just wanted to be friends. Once, your mom complained to me about what was appearing in the newspapers and magazines, and I had a long talk with her about perceptions verses reality. I told her she was free to make her own reality and so she did. Finally, when Shizuka beat her in competition, your mom was her biggest fan. I never forgot the look on Shizuka's face. The press absolutely loved it. Shizuka realized she was being an idiot and they became best friends, which also played well. Those two girls provided a lot of my starting capital for other ideas."

As Kasumi finished her soup, the steward cleared the bowls and brought them the main course: chicken, fish and mixed vegetables. "How did you part company?" Kasumi asked.

Toshio laughed. "That's all your father's fault. She met him and fell in love, the silly girl. They were married quietly and then you came along. When she was pregnant with you, she came and talked to me directly. I was sad to lose her, and said so, but I told her I understood. That was a lie; I couldn't understand giving up the money or prestige, but I had told her to make her own reality and this was a consequence. She thought she would be happy, and I think she really was though, so that's the final say on whether she made the right move or not."

"What about Shizuka?" Kasumi asked.

Kasumi saw a flash of something (regret?) in his eyes as he answered: "I think that's a question you should ask your Sensei – I know very well Shizuka Fujii became Shizuka Jouda. I'm not telling tales out of school," he finished with a smile. They continued dinner for a bit in silence before he spoke again. "I think you need to know something else though. You see, in some ways, Tatewaki's obsession with Akane is my fault."

"I'm sorry?" Kasumi prompted.

Toshio sighed. "About two and a half years ago, Tatewaki came home from school one day smitten with a young Freshman, and I was intrigued to hear the name of Tendo again. When I told of the families' association several years back and spoke well of your family, Tatewaki became obsessed with Akane. He fancied himself a samurai of noble linage. The Tendo family was "subject to" the Kuno family as they were employees. That started a royal row. I stressed again and again that the contract between us had been as business partners. If anything, someone could have easily said that I was her agent and I was employed by her (I didn't bring up the wording of the contract)."

He made a face and continued: "Unfortunately, Tatewaki only saw me as I am, not as I was. He could not imagine that I was ever 'subject to' someone else. I also tried to impress upon him that 'partners' was not the same as 'employed by', and 'employed by' was not the same as 'subject to'. Also, the families had parted ways a long time ago – the woman was dead (God rest her soul). And this was NOT feudal Japan."

"Oh my," Kasumi said. "He didn't listen, did he?"

"No," Toshio said. "Then I made an even worse mistake. I warned the boy that he was very young and so was the girl. The families valued different things. I said people of action like the Tendos may not be content with the boardrooms of downtown Tokyo." Toshio snorted and then added: "I had not yet built a profile on Nabiki yet." He continued: "So, Tatewaki came up with a plan to convince Akane of his worth – he would save her from a hoard of molesters. The idiot boy managed to get several of his classmates to attack the girl, figuring she would lose to one and then he would gallantly rescue her."

Kasumi winced. Kuno just nodded his head grimly. "As you know, that backfired magnificently – Akane was cut from the same cloth as your mother and cut down her attackers like a harvest man with a scythe. So, my idiot nephew upped the ante, inciting most of the jocks in his school to attack every single morning with the idea that only one who defeated her could date her. I didn't find out about the attacks for a bit – my idiot brother was protecting his son, even from Hawaii. To this day, I worry about the damage to Akane's psyche (I will admit that I'm not completely heartless). When I did find out about things, I was preparing to have Tatewaki sent away over the family's objections. Then Ranma showed up on the scene, relieving the pressure on Akane. I have hoped since then that Ranma would knock some sense into him, but Tatewaki has only gotten worse."

Toshio finished his meal and took a sip of wine. Then he continued: "After Akane's and Ranma's first date, I came face-to-face with the depth of Tatewaki's delusions. (1) He refuses to believe his eyes and ears. In some ways, I can understand that – the whole Jusenkyo thing is a tough idea to swallow. But his substitute explanation is even more ridiculous. I'd loved to blame everything on unrequited love (hopefully something that would heal eventually), but his delusions of grandeur are beyond his obsessions. My clan has begged me not to have him committed. The fools are afraid of the scandal. But he's put me at wit's end, so I pulled him to an estate on Hokkaido with his sister." Toshio started to brood then.

Kasumi finished her meal and then asked: "Do you have any idea where he is now?"

Kuno seemed to remember she was there. "Sorry about that. I became lost in my thoughts. No. My estate on Hokkaido is by the sea. He stole a very fast yacht from the local village. Unfortunately, he's learned to sail very well over the past few months. But, he cannot sail it into Tokyo harbor, so he'll put it ashore somewhere and catch a train down the coast. It's still a long way to go, but there are a few trains that could put him into Nerima by late tomorrow morning. My men haven't found the yacht yet, so I cannot be any more specific."

He paused for a second and looked at Kasumi directly. "Let me cut to the chase, Ms. Tendo. Ever since your family has become reluctant players in the Kuno family drama, I have made a point of studying all of you. I do this with all potential allies and enemies. I know many of your family's secrets and desires. I also know your abilities, and your sisters'. Tatewaki is no match for any of you, not even Nabiki if she decides to cut loose – there are many forms of Power. Please remember that should I fail and you confront Tatewaki, I am your ally. Please bring him back to me in one piece if at all possible."

"I'm not a murderer!" Kasumi protested.

Kuno snorted lightly, acknowledging the comment. "I'm aware, Ms. Tendo. I wish I could say the same about Tatewaki's state of mind."

Toshio watched Kasumi's limousine pull away from the plane. It would take her straight to the hospital. He already knew that Ryoga Hibiki and Akari Unryü were in the lobby, trying to see Ranma, but they were not on the list, so they were waiting. Kuno's ninjas were also watching over Ranma discreetly, trying to figure their own way of snapping him/her out of it. Sasuke had booked several rooms across from the hospital and Toshio would setup his command base there. He would not go to the Kuno home for fear that his brother would try to interfere. Two men stepped out of the plane behind him once the car was out of sight. "Well?" he asked.

"She is definitely a Seer as well as a Mystic, sir," the man on the right answered. "She shows all the classic signs."

"Good. The more power drain on the Nexus, the better," Kuno answered. "Anything else?"

"Yes, she's way more advance than she should be," the man answered.

"Why do you say that?" Toshio prompted.

"She has a Familiar with her, and it's fairly advanced too." At Toshio's raised eyebrow he continued: "Unless Ms. Tendo is a teenage boy in disguise, something else was working her laptop."

The other man cut in: "It focused on games, computers, and cars. It also tried to browse to certain sites that Ms. Tendo found objectionable and she physically forced the computer elsewhere. It also seemed to enjoy teasing Ms. Tendo a little, so I wonder if 'Familiar' is the right term. 'Ally' might be closer."

The first man looked surprised, and then nodded thoughtfully. "In which case, she might be even more advanced if she has allies."

Kuno addressed the second man. "Does she suspect that I'm trying to manipulate her?"

"Oh, yes," the man answered. "Pardon me for saying so, sir, but you were rather obvious about it."

"Good," Toshio responded. "Does she know that I know she suspects?"

"No, sir. She showed no signs."

"Perfect," Kuno finished.

Footnotes:

(1) Toshio confronted Tatewaki in the last chapter of "The Date - The Flip Side"

A/N: Next up - Back at the Hospital