Chapter 1: Enter the Players
Tatsuo was a big man, at least that is the impression anyone who has ever met him came away with. Standing at just over six feet tall, it wasn't his height that made him seem big. He weighed two hundred and forty pounds, all of it hard bone and brutal muscle but it wasn't his girth that made him seem big either. It was his presence, an overwhelming aura of menacing strength and waiting violence that went beyond his physical size.
His face, like his body, was all hard planes and sharp angles. It lacked the distinctive roundness normally associated with Asian people because his diet was predominantly red meat, not rice.
His suits were the finest in Armani from Italy, specially tailored not to restrict movement or tear at the seams when the violence within him inevitably broke loose. Even so he still destroyed them on a regular basis. If his movements didn't rend them then the resulting bloodstains would render them unwearable, at least in public.
His hardened features were framed by a thick mane of swept back black hair that gave him the feral appearance of a vicious predator, but it wasn't his hair that grabbed the attention. Just as it wasn't his build that people most strongly remembered. Most people didn't even notice the jagged scar that ran vertically down the outside of his right cheek, made by a broken bottle during a youthful indiscretion. No, it was his eyes that seized a viewer and they are the first thing to come to mind when remembering him.
There was no visible separation between the pupil and iris, both being a uniform black that stood out in sharp contrast to the white that surrounds them. His eyes were cold, flat and lifeless. Yet filled with a burning hunger that struck everyone who looked in them, calling forth the flight instinct, freezing the marrow in their bones.
In fact the only people capable of looking Tatsuo in the eye without flinching were the seven men he called brothers.
A study of their family histories wouldn't find any blood relation between them. Tatsuo was an orphan, the illegitimate offspring of a forgotten whore who died when he was yet a child. His brothers all came from similar backgrounds, none of them having any siblings living or dead. Yet he knew they were his brothers, not of the flesh but of the spirit. They were eight men, but they shared one soul. Splintered into ten parts, that soul united them with a bond greater then blood, closer than any twins ever were. They moved as one, as if each could read the mind of the others. For in truth they were one entity and Tatsuo was its heart. It was he that found them, drawing them to him like sharks to a fresh kill. It was to him they looked for direction, if not appetite. That was the one thing that each had of his own, their hunger.
There were eight of them yet their single soul was broken into ten pieces, two more remained to be found. Without those two parts they would never be whole, never claim their rightful place in creation. Their role as the great devourer.
At the moment Tatsuo was standing in his office, looking down through mirrored glass on the crowd of people below. The outward sloping windows overlooked the bar in the 'Burning Dragon', the nightclub that was his only 'visible' possession. There were no less than three stages, complete with poles, where scantily clad young ladies danced for the pleasure of the drinking clientele.
It wasn't his only business, not even the only one in the Kabukicho district of Shinjuku. He also owned two pachinko parlors with associated pawn shops, an automotive garage in Minato ward, a small warehouse in Koto, and an apartment building where he currently kept twenty three working girls. He lived here, on the floor above the club. Besides the office over looking the bar there were three bedrooms, a kitchen that he never used, two full baths and on the roof a small greenhouse that he never entered. In the center of it all was a large central room that still wore the trappings of the seventies in America. Tatsuo didn't care for the look, he just didn't care enough to bother changing it. Besides, it was better than traditional Japanese with Tatami mats and paper screens.
The rooms only other occupant at the moment was Masumi. Freakishly tall and cadaverously thin, Tatsuo's self proclaimed brother was sitting sprawled and motionless on the couch. Dressed all in black, the contrast with the white face paint he wore, along with his sallow cheeks, gave him the look of a fresh corpse. Sitting perfectly still, his vacant gaze and wandering eyes gave the impression that he wasn't all there. Like his mind was on a bad acid trip and the world he saw wasn't the one inhabited by the rest of us.
On the surface the two would appear to have nothing in common, should according to stereotype be hostile towards each other. Yet each felt strangely comforted by the presence of the other. It was like that with all of the brothers. They were each so different, yet when together it was like a void within them was partially filled. It was that feeling, that need, that bound them together with Tatsuo at the heart. He was the first to awaken, it was he that bound them together and his was the dominant will.
Even more important then the way they felt when together were the gifts they gave each other. Alone they each had a unique gift, one bordering on the supernatural, but when together it was like the addition of each part of their collective soul expanded on those gifts. In their case it was sadly true that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
For Masumi his gift made time seem fluid, malleable and when he was with Tatsuo he was sometimes able to catch ephemeral glimpses of possible futures. Together they made a killing in the stock market.
Tatsuo was watching a new girl dancing on stage and had just decided that tonight he would demand she give him a private performance, when a sudden outburst from Masumi intruded on the solitude of his thoughts.
"She's coming." Masumi's voice was tight, higher in pitch than normal. His facial features slack and eyes feverish, signs that he was having one of his unerringly accurate insights into the future. "We are not alone." His voice brought to mind a death rattle.
A shiver ran through Masumi's body, his eyes blinking rapidly, gazing about the room as if lost. He looked like he had just woken up and was still lost halfway between the waking world and a nightmarish dreamscape.
Tatsuo turned back to the windows, eyes unfocused, no longer seeing the girl dancing on stage. They all knew this day would come, that she would return just as they had. They were strong but were they strong enough? They still had two parts of their soul to find and she was the only one to ever defeat them, even if she had fallen as well. Tatsuo felt a sliver of fear the likes of which he hadn't suffered since he was a small boy, hiding under his covers, the thin walls of their apartment doing nothing to muffle the sounds of his mother 'entertaining' clients in her room. Mostly though he felt the ever present hunger and the memory of flesh that was sweeter than that of any girl or woman he had tasted since.
His lips curled up in the tight, fierce grin of a predator.
"Call the others." He told Masumi. It was time for the brothers to gather for the hunt. Their prey was waiting and Tatsuo couldn't wait to eat.
****
Amaterasu: Sun goddess who ruled the heavens, "Shinning Over Heaven"
Ranma Chan was hot. She was not only hot, she was extremely hot. Not a big surprise that, considering she was in a sauna and that is how saunas are meant to be. The heavy steam was condensing on her skin, running down her body in a hundred small streams.
She wasn't sure how long she had been in there, the heat was making it harder and harder to focus, but it had been long enough for several other women to come and go. The last had given her naked form strange looks before leaving, glancing back repeatedly until the closed door blocked her from sight. This too wasn't so strange once you realized that Ranma was in the women's side of the public bath house and that there were signs on the door warning that a person should not remain in the sauna for more than twenty minutes, for health and safety reasons.
It would be too embarrassing to suffer if the hot water running down her body changed her to her boy form right now. Considering how weak and light headed she was feeling after spending who knows how long in this sweat lodge, it might even result in him being arrested.
Right now that didn't seem too likely, no matter how much she would welcome the trouble. Sure she would hate the embarrassment and might not survive the beating the women would give her for invading their sacred territory, but at least she would die a man. Looking down even in her muddled state she could clearly see her breasts.
Nope, not much danger of embarrassment or violent death right now.
She let her eyelids droop shut for a moment, then she was brought back to attention by something striking her face. Opening her eyes she saw that the last woman, the one who looked at her funny had returned and with her was another woman, this one wearing a light pink uniform.
Ranma hated pink, it was so feminine and she was a guy.
She also wasn't very fond of the way the woman kept patting her face and barking in her ear.
She tried to push the woman away but lacked the strength to even raise her arms. Soon another woman in a pink uniform was there, the two picked her up between them carrying her out of the sauna and seating her on a cold wooden bench. In front of her there was a wall of small lockers and standing periodically among them were full length mirrors, one of which just happened to be directly before her. She starred at her reflection for several minutes while the two women fussed over her. Studying herself in the mirror she realized something was wrong with what she was seeing, the naked girl in the mirror looked like her but had a full head of black hair. Just before she passed out from heat exhaustion, she watched as the black seemed to flow away leaving a fiery red in its wake.
When next she woke she was lying on a padded table and there were cold, wet towels draped across her body and forehead. There was also a strange man trying to induce her to drink water from a squeezable sports bottle. After taking a few sips her mind and vision began to clear. She could see that the man was middle aged and wearing a white uniform. His name tag announced him to be one Tetsuo Eyemasu, medical assistant. Now that she was awake he was asking for her name.
She hesitated, then being careful told him it was Ranko Tendo.
Now that she was speaking to him he seemed to calm down. Stepping away from her he told the woman she could now see standing on the other side of her to see to it she drank plenty of liquids but that she should be alright. After he left the woman in the pink uniform helped her rise to a seated position then handed her the water bottle.
"Here, you better drink this young lady, but not too quickly. You shouldn't have stayed in the sauna for so long, didn't you see the signs?"
"Sorry `bout this." Ranma responded, her voice sounding strained. "Must have fallen asleep." She lied, trying to give the lady her best innocent smile.
The woman, who's name tag said 'Miwa', gave her a concerned look.
"What is your home phone number, I'll call and see if someone can come get you."
Ranma felt a flash of panic sweep through her, if they saw her now they would know.
"No!" pausing to stomp down her panic, "I mean I'm fine, no reason to bother calling them out. I don't live very far from here, I'll be fine going home alone."
She was lying again, she had intentionally gone to a bath house that required her to ride two separate buses to Suginami, a neighboring ward of Tokyo. She hadn't wanted to risk bumping into anyone who might recognize her. Apparently she was still a lousy liar, the look the other woman was giving her made it clear she didn't believe her.
"Just give me a moment and I'll get dressed and out of your way, okay?"
Miwa wasn't convinced the girl was being entirely truthful, but she was looking better and they couldn't force her to wait for a ride.
"Okay." she said, "If you think you'll be alright, but don't hesitate to ask to use the phone if you change your mind."
Miwa handed her a new bottle and a robe, then led her back to the locker room. Ranma downed the bottle as quick as she could. Stumbling a little she dressed in her red silk shirt and black pants, then grabbed her rain slicker and umbrella.
It was like the kami were mocking her. Soon after she discovered it was getting harder and harder to change back to a boy, requiring more and hotter water, it started to rain day and night. While it made it easier to hide her problem from the Tendos, it also meant she couldn't go outside without changing. So she stayed inside for several days, doing her best to avoid changing into a girl even after she found out the curse could now be activated just from drinking something cold.
After that she drank only hot tea.
That lasted for two days until today when she spontaneously changed into a girl, no water required. She fled the house before anyone noticed and after wandering aimlessly for hours, she made her way to this bath house figuring it was the hottest water she would be able to get her hands on short of boiling it. Apparently it wasn't hot enough and now she was going home, still a girl. Soon she was on the bus making her way back to the dojo, the dismal rain falling against the window matching her mood perfectly.
****
When Ranma entered the Tendo home it was early evening and thanks to the rain already dark outside. She didn't call out not wanting to draw attention to herself, but quickly realized it wouldn't have mattered. No one else was home. A quick search found a note on the dinning room table. It was from Kasumi, it said they had all gone out to eat and had given up on him but there was some ramen noodles on the kitchen counter he could prepare for his dinner. Relieved that she wouldn't have to face them yet but feeling lonely and more than a little sorry for herself, Ranma made her way to the kitchen. She put a pan of water on to boil her noodles in and was watching the bubbles start to rise to the surface when a desperate idea settled into her mind. Not giving herself time to think twice about how much it was going to hurt, she took off her shirt, then grabbed the pan and upended its contents over her chest and shoulder. She couldn't stop a pain filled scream from escaping as the water seared her delicate skin. When she stopped jumping around and the pain settle down from searing fire to just terrible burning, she could see that the flesh of her breast, torso and shoulder were an angry red color. Blisters hadn't yet formed but the skin was painful to the touch, too sensitive for even the silk of her shirt. Leaving the shirt on the counter, she draped her rain slicker back over her body keeping the one arm in so she could hold the plastic material away from her abused flesh. Tears rolling down her cheeks she ran out into the rain.
****
Doctor Tofu Ono had already closed down his clinic and retreated to the apartment above it for the night. He was preparing something to eat when the silent patter of falling rain was disrupted by a loud buzzer. It was the intercom box by the clinic doors. He wondered who would be visiting him after hours. Walking over to the speaker box on the wall he pressed the button and asked,
"Yes, who is it and how may I help you?"
He was surprised to hear a stuttering voice respond
"Doc, it's Ranma, could you help me?"
"Of course Ranma, just give me a second to come down."
He turned off the stove before rushing down the stairs and through the clinic. Ranma didn't sound very good and that worried Tofu. Opening the front doors he allowed a dripping Ranma Chan to enter before locking the door behind her.
"Sorry `bout this." She said as he turned to her.
He saw that without the benefit of an umbrella her hair was soaking wet , he also noticed that she had one arm inside her rain coat and seemed to be holding it away from her body. She looked uncomfortable and he could see that her eyes were red and puffy like she had been crying, but the rain water rolling down her face made it impossible to confirm the presence of tears.
The possibility of a crying Ranma set off alarms in the doctor's head. Ranma wouldn't cry for even broken bones, he would shed blood long before he shed tears. Something was definitely wrong.
"What's wrong Ranma?" the concern in his voice was obvious.
"N-nothing really doc, I just burned myself a little when I spilled some hot water making ramen."
Ranma couldn't tell a lie convincingly enough to fool anyone but Ryouga and Tofu knew she was telling one now. That worried him even more, Ranma didn't lie lightly, his sense of honor made it difficult. Tofu placed a hand on her shoulder to shoo her into the exam room. She hissed in pain and jerked away from his touch.
"Oh, sorry Ranma. Please?" he pointed to the exam room then followed her in.
Once they were safely out of sight of the street he helped her remove the slicker. He was surprised to find her half naked underneath and shocked by the angry red skin that was exposed. It hadn't blistered but she had second degree burns running from her shoulder, over one breast and down her side. Settling her on the table he went to a cabinet to retrieve some burn ointment. He had learned of it from a monk in Kobe and nothing he knew of healed burns faster.
Ignoring Ranma's grimace and the feel of her breast under his fingers he rubbed the cream into her abused flesh. He waited till after he was done wrapping loose cotton bandages around her, protecting the skin and her modesty before questioning her.
"If this happened while you were preparing your dinner than I take it you haven't eaten yet."
Her growling stomach answered for her. Tofu smiled, then without hesitating he offered her his arm. "Would you care to join me for dinner then? I was just preparing to eat myself and I have plenty."
She gave a shy nod and smiled.
"Thanks doc, no one's at home and I - I probably shouldn't go out just yet. Don't want to get the bandage wet in the rain. Maybe it will stop soon."
He knew she was going to say something else, like she didn't want to be alone right now, but he also knew Ranma was too proud to ever admit needing the presence of others so he accepted her excuse gracefully and picking up her rain coat he led her upstairs.
Soon Ranma was kneeling by a traditional Japanese table drinking hot tea and watching the doc heat up something that judging by the familiar plate Kasumi must have dropped him earlier. Ranma couldn't help but smile when she thought of how much the oldest Tendo girl and the doc cared for each other. Her smile soured and disappeared when such thoughts led to ones about another Tendo girl and what now seemed like an increasingly impossible future. She was pulled from that dark place by the doc placing a plate of noodles, fish and vegetables in front of her. He gave her a pair of chopsticks and poured more tea before joining her at the table.
After they finished eating and Ranma helped him clear away the dishes, Tofu poured them both some more tea and they settled in to watch the rain fall.
"Ranma,"
He drew her gaze away from the window, he could tell she was afraid of what he might ask.
"Your burns do look like they were caused by boiling water but their placement, added to the fact you weren't wearing a shirt, I'm sorry but I don't believe they were caused by an accidental spill while cooking ramen."
He watched her face as she struggled with what to say. He was relieved when he saw her delicate features settle in resignation.
"I'm sorry I lied to ya' Doc, I poured the water on myself on purpose and I didn't want the shirt in the way."
"Why Ranma? Surely you knew what would happen."
She squeezed her eyes tightly shut and he could see she was holding back fresh tears.
"I, I was trying to change Doc. Ever since China and the wedding attempt I've…"
He heard the tightness in her voice when she mentioned China, it was even worse than when she mentioned the failed wedding and again he wondered what had happened on the mainland to disturb the Tendo household so much. He knew Kasumi wondered too but no one would tell her.
"Ever since it started raining I've had trouble changing back into a guy and its taken even less to change me to a girl. Something's wrong with my curse Doc. I spent nearly an hour in a steaming sauna and all it did was change my hair to black and even that for only a few minutes before it turned red on its own. Before that all I had to do was drink a glass of water and I changed into a girl. This morning I changed into a girl without any water at all. When I poured a whole pot of boiling water on my bare skin, nothing happened. I...I was still a girl."
She looked up at him, pain and worry etched upon her face.
"I don't know what to do Doc. What do I tell Ak- the Tendos?"
Tofu didn't miss the slip.
He knew Ranma loved Akane just as much as he loved her sister Kasumi. He also knew that thanks to his lonely upbringing Ranma had an even harder time expressing it, or even admitting it. Seeing the fear in her eyes and hearing it in her voice he suddenly understood something else, it wasn't being stuck as a girl that frightened Ranma so much, it was the fear of losing Akane that was unbearable.
He felt deep sympathy for her, he understood her fear because he shared it. Whenever Kasumi was near he lost his reason and babbled like an idiot. He often despaired of ever being able to tell his angel how much he loved her, feared that someone else would tell her first and steal her away while he was dancing with his skeleton Betty.
"Ranma, maybe you should tell me what happened in China."
Ranma looked around, eyes never meeting his.
"Uh, nothing really happened Doc, the tomboy just got herself kidnapped again and I had to rescue her. Same old thing really."
Ranma really needed to learn how to lie properly if she was going to be doing it so much.
"Somehow Ranma, I don't think this was a case of another Chinese prince looking for a bride. I can tell that something happened that really upset you and the others. If I'm to have any hope of helping you, you can't be keeping secrets from me."
"Well Doc, your right, it wasn't just another prince wanting to marry the tomboy."
Tofu was shocked to see Ranma get progressively angrier as she continued her tale.
"This bastard was no prince and he wasn't interested in marrying anyone. He was just a kid but he was the strongest opponent I ever faced, even stronger than Prince Herb. He wasn't a fighter, but with his wings he could fly and stay out of reach. He threw fire around like it was nothing and no matter how bad I hurt him it just healed back real quick. Heck, it was so quick he grew back one of his wings before he could even fall from the sky. He didn't want Akane, didn't care about her at all. She had just been the means to steal a map from the Jusenkyo guide that led to the source water of all the springs. Once he had that he didn't need her anymore. Instead he was going to let her die just for the fun of watching. The bastard laughed when I tried to save her, he mocked us for being mortal. It was all just a game for him and I hated him! More than anything I wanted to rip that smug smile off his shoulders along with his head... I was losing Doc, bad. We were nothing to him, less than nothing. He was going to let her die and kill me just for a moments amusement."
The anger left her face to be replaced by shame, she looked down, couldn't face him anymore.
"I, I never killed anyone before Doc. Pop always taught me that killing was wrong, it meant you were too weak to beat your opponent. I wasn't strong enough, and I killed him."
Tofu was horrified by Ranma's story. The idea that anyone was powerful enough to so overwhelm the boy who was stronger than anyone he had ever met was bad enough, but the idea that such a person would kill for kicks like some psycho was terrifying. He knew he should feel bad that Ranma had to kill, that the burden was too much for the child she still was, but deep down he was too relieved that such an individual was gone.
"Doc, uh, that wasn't the worst of it."
The shocks just kept coming.
What could be worse than having to kill, or than facing such an inhuman monster to begin with?
"I was too late, Akane, when I got to her… there was no life left in her Doc. Her chi, it was gone and she was already growing cold."
Now there were more tears and her voice was breaking up with the strength of her emotions.
"She was dying in my arms and I couldn't let her, I tried forcing life into her, my own chi but it wouldn't work."
Has a doctor Tofu understood her pain and the desire to save another, he also knew that chi didn't work that way. You couldn't give life to the lifeless.
"I kept trying, when my chi wouldn't save her I just dug deeper. The cat was there, the neko ken. The fear rose up and tried to stop me but my fear of losing her was too strong and I crushed it."
Somehow the way she said that made it seem to mean that the act of crushing the fear of the neko ken was more than symbolic.
"I crushed it good Doc, I ain't afraid of cats no more."
Tofu was amazed, Ranma had conquered the neko ken, did that mean he had mastered it? There was still one thing missing from the story. One thing that didn't make sense.
"Ranma," he said, "I saw Akane this afternoon and she was just fine."
That drew a smile to her face that banished the darkness of her tale to this point and he could swear he felt its warmth on his skin.
"I did it Doc, after I crushed the fear, it was like coming out of a tunnel and there she was. I knew she was right there and I called out to her. She came back, she was dead but now she was alive."
Her mood was still lighter for sharing her joy that Akane was alive, but now she grew more somber. "That's when I first felt it. I don't know what happened, but the stuff I pushed into Akane to bring her back wasn't chi. It's something else and ever since then its been growing, changing my chi into whatever it is. The more it changed, the harder it became to change back to a guy. Now there's no chi left and even boiling water won't change me back. What's happening to me Doc? I would have given up anything to keep Akane from dieing, but I don't want to lose her this way either. What do I do? Please tell me what to do!"
"Come back down to the clinic Ranma and I'll see what I can find."
****
One hour and a thorough examination later, Ranma was looking at the doctor with a mixture of hope and fear. Tofu knew what she was hoping to hear and he wished he could give it to her. Oh how he wished he didn't have to tell her what he knew he must. Swallowing to moisten his suddenly dry throat, he prepared himself to deliver the news.
"Well doc, what's the verdict?"
The desperation in her eyes and voice only made what he had to tell her harder.
"Ranma, I don't know what force is keeping you alive, but it isn't chi that much I'm sure and Ranma, whatever it is it's female. I'm sorry Ranma, but your life force, you are a woman now Ranma, its not just a curse changing your body anymore."
He placed his hand on her bare shoulder, the other lower down her arm below the bandage wrapped burn. Trying to comfort her he went on,
"Whatever it means, whatever this new energy is, I want you to remember that it saved Akane's life. Whatever happens now, remember that you saved her when no one else could, take comfort in that Ranma. I think you need to talk to someone else. Maybe Cologne could help or, Ranma, I know you've never given much thought to religion, but considering that giving life to the dead is only possible with help from the divine. I think you should go to a shrine and talk to a holy man. In the mean time I want you to know that I am your friend and if you need someone to talk to or a place to stay my door is always open. I don't want you disappearing on me. Promise me that you won't run away Ranma."
He held her eyes until she responded with a nervous smile,
"Okay Doc, I promise. Could I stay here tonight, I can't face anyone at the dojo right now. I need, I need to think about what to do. Maybe I'll try to talk to a priest like you said. Try to find out what's going on before I get pops and Tendo-san all excited. Would that be okay Doc?"
Tofu felt the tension leave him. Now that he had Ranma's promise he knew she wouldn't try to leave and face this alone.
"That would be fine Ranma. I'll enjoy the company. Come back upstairs and I'll fix you a futon. Do you want me to call the Tendo's and tell them you'll be staying here? I know they'll worry if you don't come home without a word."
Sliding off the table she gave him a weary smile,
"No Doc, I'll call them, you're doing enough already. `Sides, they'll just worry more if they get a call from a doctor telling them I won't be coming home."
He gave a small chuckle at her little joke.