An Honorable Lie
By: Jaqui K
Chapter 5: Reel 'Em In

"Sensei? Sensei. Aunt Nodoka!"

Nodoka allowed Akane's cries to harmlessly pass around her as she calmly and properly marched back into the family room and without missing a step went directly over to the wall where a few well kept blades were hung on display. Above them, newly hung in a place of honor, was her family katana. Her intentions, along with an unspoken promise to her daughter, was to keep the sword there, not to be taken down until the day Ranko would finally accept the mantle of her heir and take up the blade as her own. Nodoka paused, hand within grasp of the sword's scabbard, wondering how well she would be able to clean the blood from it afterwards.

"Aunt Nodoka?" Akane's words could be heard just behind her. "I'm sure this is just a misunderstanding or something. Ryoga's not like that. I mean, he might be like *that*, since he did follow Ran…Ranko all the way to China, but he wouldn't use a love spell like that. At least, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't. I bet if we just go and talk to him about it, maybe…maybe…"

Nodoka did not turn to face the girl, keeping her focus on the sword still waiting for her from its place upon the wall. "Akane." Her voice was quiet, still, cool, like a calm winter's night in Hokkaido. "How much do you truly care for Ranko?"

"W-what?" The Tendo girl sounded genuinely caught off guard by the question, her voice cracking slightly as she continued her denial. "It's not like that! I don't…I mean, it's not like we're really…"

"I see." Nodoka gave a nod in understanding. "Ranko is…" She paused before taking a calming breath to help steel herself. Perhaps the times for subterfuge and half lies were indeed over. She had already accepted her daughter for who she truly is regardless of the circumstances of her birth, and she would never punish her for such a thing. However…would others do the same? Would the rest of the world accept Ranko, or would they force her to follow through with a foolish, ill proclaimed pledge made more than a decade ago? And would noble and pure Ranko then agree to sacrifice herself to meet the satisfaction of that cold and cruel world?

"I have accepted Ranko as my daughter," Nodoka continued, keeping her words as close as possible to the razor's edge of absolute truth without any blood being spilt. "I hope one day soon she will accept this as well and I can be officially recognized as her mother. Until then, I still have a responsibility as Sensei for her, a poor orphan, abandoned by her parents, with no family to call her own. And now, that girl has been taken from me. Her mind and heart changed against her will." Nodoka's eyes went down to one of the lesser but still quite effective swords as she carefully took it off the wall. She then turned halfway to meet Akane's eyes with a cold gaze, pointing the hilt of the sword out to her. "So, I have one question for you, Akane Tendo. How far are you willing to go to get Ranko back?"

Akane did not say anything in response, instead looking off to the side for several moments in deep thought before turning back with a hard look of grim determination in her own eyes. Her final response was a silent nod as she reached up and accepted the offered sword.

Nodoka gave a curt nod in return with the ghost of a satisfied smile on her face. Then she reached back to pull her katana off the wall, nearly ripping the supports out with it. "I must also apologize, Akane. I never intended for your first lesson to be like this."

"It's alright, Sensei," Akane responded with a quiet, almost apologetic tone of her own. "This isn't the first time one of us needed to rescue the other."

"I…see. All of us will need to have a discussion about that later. For right now, though…" Nodoka walked with determination, fully prepared to do whatever necessary to get her daughter back. When she reached her front door, she suddenly stopped in place. "Akane, I have one more question for you."

"What is it, Sensei?"

Nodoka turned towards her student, taking great care to not let the stoic expression slip from her face as she calmly asked, "Do you happen to know where that boy lives?"

Akane was able to lead the both of them to the house in question. It ended up being a fruitless endeavor, though, as the only occupant was a two-toned dog guarding the place who seemed quite happy to see Akane and who also looked at Nodoka with a strange but still friendly expression. Nodoka found herself confused as to why such a nice and friendly animal such as this would associate with that boy. At any rate, they quickly left to continue their search, although with one additional party member included.

"I'm sure the dog can handle herself alone at that house just fine," Nodoka commented as she rushed down the road, grateful that she had the thought to change to her keikogi and hakama outfit before leaving her house. She could feel her sword secured against her hip as she ran.

"I know," Akane said as she was pulled along by the overly excited canine, her own sword also at her waist. "But Shirokuro here knows Ryoga's scent. I'll bet she can lead us right to him, or maybe even just Ranko. Shirokuro's been pretty friendly with her too, especially during the whole Yoiko thing."

"Yoiko?" Nodoka asked.

"Oh, um…" Akane glanced away for a few seconds before turning back with a big smile. "It was just a name Ranko used for a little bit. Not a big deal."

"Ah, I see." Nodoka gave a nod of understanding. "I'm glad to hear that she has taken the time to properly decide the name she will adorn herself with." She then allowed an almost whimsical laugh to escape from her lips. "If she does decide to change it again before it becomes official, I will of course support her completely, even if it takes me some time to get used to her new name. To be honest though, I do rather like the one she has currently chosen. It allows her to at least partially acknowledge her past while still being able to cut out the worst parts of it."

"Wait," Akane looked back at Nodoka again with an expression of shock. "Sensei, what are you-"

"Oh hey, Akane!"

Nodoka turned along with Akane to see a young woman with long brown hair that was tied back in a loose ponytail jogging up to them. The type of yukata she was wearing along with the pan full of bathing supplies in her hand suggested that this girl was either going to or coming back from the public baths.

"Oh, Ukyo! I'm so glad to see you," Akane said as they met up with the girl.

"Huh? Somethin' up?" the girl named Ukyo asked. "Why're ya running 'round with Ryoga's dog, and what's with the weird fishin' pole?"

As the Ukyo girl took said item from Akane and looked it over, Nodoka couldn't help but narrow her eyes. "Please tell me, young lady. What exactly do you know of him?"

"Huh?" The Ukyo girl looked up, apparently just noticing her. "Hold on. Are ya Ryoga's Ma?"

"Excuse me?" Nodoka could feel her eye begin to twitch.

"No, Ukyo," Akane said, quickly stepping between her and the Ukyo girl. "This is Nodoka. She's my iaido instructor, and also she's…um…she's Ranchan's mother."

"Oh! Ya are…" The Ukyo girl took a step back and gave a deep bow. "My name is Ukyo Kuonji. It is a great honor to meet you, Mrs. Saotome," she said with a noticeable lack of the accent from before. "Your quite manly son has spoken a great deal about you. All very positive, of course."

"I'm sure," Nodoka responded with a smile as pleasant as her tone, although she could feel the twitch threatening to start again. While she was grateful for the Ukyo girl's efforts, she was becoming more and more aware of just how much those well meaning lies were slicing through her soul. "At this moment, I am more concerned about Ranko. Have you seen her this evening, or perhaps…that boy named Ryoga?" Her well practiced training wasn't quite able to keep her pleasant tone from dropping momentarily at saying that name.

"No, I haven't seen either of them recently," Ukyo said while she casually played around with the bamboo rod, the line attached to it flying back and forth. "Did those two get into another dumb scheme or game or some-"

Nodoka quickly shot a hand out in front of Akane, catching the fishing line and stopping the attached suction cup from striking the girl's forehead. "I assure you, Miss Kuonji, what that boy did to my little Ranko is the farthest thing from a game," she said to the now frozen in surprise Ukyo girl, her words both calm and sharp.

"Wha…what's goin'..." the Ukyo girl managed to stammer out.

"Um, here," Akane said, cautiously backing away from the suction cup that was still centimeters from her face and going around to hand the fishing rod manual to the Ukyo girl.

Nodoka observed as the color slowly drained from the girl's face while she read the cursed instructions. The Ukyo girl then glanced down at the rod in her hand and paled completely before quickly shoving the object back to Akane. "Gah! Get that thing away from me. Ah crap, I almost hit ya with it. That woulda been real terrible. I mean, not that yer bad or nothin'. I think yer a real nice girl and all. It's just that you crushin' on me would make things real awkward with Ranchan, y'know?" Why'd ya even got this thing anyway?"

Akane's face went flush for a brief moment before she quickly shook it off. "Hey, it's not mine. I found it in Ryoga's stuff. That's why we need to find him and Ranko as soon as possible!"

"What are ya…" The Ukyo girl's eyes widened. "Hold on. Are ya telling me Ryoga and Ranchan?"

Akane gave a small nod as she looked at the fishing rod. "It happened yesterday when we were heading home from school. I didn't really think about it at the time, but…" Her gaze went to the ground as she curled in on herself slightly. "Ranko started to act strange. I thought she was just teasing and making fun of Ryoga, so I took it out on her. With everything we've gone through, I should have known…"

Nodoka raised an eyebrow at that last statement. Her response was interrupted though by a growl coming from the Ukyo girl's lips.

"Figures," the girl muttered under her breath. "Ryoga stumbles ass backwards into somethin' like this, and the idiot can't even…alright," she declared, pulling out an oversized baker's peel and wielding it like it was a greataxe. "We got a Ranchan ta save, and a complete jackass ta punish!"

Nodoka gave a smile and approving nod towards Ukyo before turning and placing a reassuring hand on Akane's shoulder. "It's alright, dear. I was also witness to Ranko's altered behavior and never once thought to question it. Come now, let us save our regrets and apologies for after we rescue her."

Akane looked down for a few more moments before wiping her eyes and looking up at Nodoka with a determined smile of her own. "Yeah, we'll get her back. I just know it."

"Well, the first step's actually finding her first," Ukyo grimly noted. "And if the jackass is the one leadin' em round, that's gonna be a bit of a problem."

"Don't worry, we got some help," Akane said, gesturing to the dual colored dog who was being surprisingly patient during the three's conversation. "I'm sure Shirokuro will track them down in no time. She received an enthusiastic bark as if in confirmation. "Yeah, that's the spirit. Let's go!"

30 minutes later, Nodoka was very much starting to suspect that the dog just wanted to be taken for a walk. There seemed to be no logic whatsoever to the path they were following and she was fairly certain that was the fourth time they passed the exact same street corner. Yes, she had noted everyone's comments, but there was no way anyone could possibly be this lost.

"This is getting ridiculous," Ukyo said, apparently in agreement with her.

"Hey now," Akane replied as they were running past the walls of a high school. "We're getting really close. I just know this is the right street."

"You said that seven streets ago, I'm starting ta think-"

"Hold on, do you hear that?" Akane came to a quick stop and looked over towards the forested area next to the school.

"Hear what, dear?" Nodoka and Ukyo also stopped and carefully listened. After a few seconds of silence, a sound could indeed be heard coming from the direction of the trees, high pitched and melodic.

A girl's laughter.

"There! I knew it," Akane declared. "That sounds like-"

"Ranchan!" Ukyo yelled out, dashing into the woods, followed closely behind by the others. They quickly found the source of the sound, but ended up all stopping short at the sight. There Ranko was, giggling and prancing around a tree as the boy chased after her. It was painfully obvious, even as she found herself trapped against the tree, that the redhead was in complete control of the situation. A smile almost appeared on Nodoka's face at the antics in front of her before the vice once more crushed down on her heart as she remembered that this appearance of control was all a lie. Her daughter's actions were though no will of her own.

As the boy leaned in closer to Ranko, Ukyo was the first one to react, leaping in and smacking the boy away with her oversized kitchen utensil turned weapon. "Don't even think about it, jackass!"

"Ucchan?!" Ranko exclaimed in surprise. "What the heck are you doing here? You're interrupting me and…" Her voice trailed off as she noticed the others there. "Sensei? Akane? Oh, I'm really sorry I…" Ranko paused for a moment, a look of confusion on her face, before she scratched at that same spot on her chest again and looked back up with a cheerful smile. "Sorry I missed our practice, but my dear sweet darling Ryo wanted to go on a walk with me and I just couldn't say no. I guess I must have lost track of time."

Akane dropped the leash for the dog, who was patiently sitting again, and walked over to Ranko, fishing rod held tentatively in both her hands. However, her focus was instead directed to the boy a few meters away who was just getting back to his feet. "Ryoga," she said, a slight tremor in her voice. "If that's really how you feel about Ran…Ranko, then I…you should have just told her instead of resorting to this Fishing Pole of Love."

The boy stood rooted in place, the guilt of having been caught marring his face turned to pure terror as he looked over to Nodoka, who brought her hand over to the sword resting at her side.

Ranko, however, had her confused expression return. "'Fishing Pole of Love'? What are you talking about?"

Akane handed the manual for the dark artifact to Ranko who started to read. "The heck? 'The egg of love will be implanted in the one you have reeled in. As the love continues to develop…'" Ranko pulled down the top of her dress slightly, revealing a very large hickey mark in the shape of a carp right on the spot she was scratching at previously. "Yep, there it is."

As her daughter examined the evidence of the horrid spell cast on her, Nodoka calmly and determinedly strode up to the boy who was starting to back up, her sword now drawn. "Your crimes have been laid bare, Ryoga Hibiki." Once more, the name was like acid upon her tongue. "Will you still try to deny this heinous act, or shall you follow with your honor and accept the consequences?"

"Yeah, ya jackass," Ukyo added, brandishing her weapon in front of her as well. "How the heck did ya manage ta screw up that bad?"

"It's not what you think!" the boy tried to protest, waving his hands in front of him. "It was all an accident. I'm trying to fix this!"

"Oh?" Nodoka said, her eyes narrowing. "And I take it you owning such a malicious item in the first place was an accident? Was it also an accident for you to drug me and take my daughter away to do whatever unspeakable actions you had planned?"

"No, you don't understand!" the boy whined out. "I'm trying to take Ranko to the guy who sold me that thing in the first place, so we can get a cure for-"

-PLOP-

"-it?" Three sets of eyes slowly looked down at Ryoga's chest, and more specifically at the suction cup now attached to it.

"Ranko, stop!" Akane's voice could be heard from behind Nodoka. "You don't know what you're doing!"

Nodoka turned to look at Ranko, who had a cheerful smile on her face, the fishing pole now in her hands. "Sure I do, tomboy." Her smile turned to a determined grin as she finished her words with a hard tug on the pole. "I'm taking my man and I am REELING. HIM. IN!"

Time seemed to be going in slow motion for Nodoka as she watched the boy fly through the air and land hard on the ground right in front of Ranko. The suction cup dislodged from his chest as he groaned and started to get back up. Ranko gave a small, almost machiavellian smile as she dropped that accursed fishing rod and put a hand on the boy's shoulder, stopping him as he got up to one knee. She then gently put her other hand on his chin and tilted his head up, looking directly into his eyes. Instantly, his expression changed from confusion and annoyance to one of magically generated awe and admiration.

"My darling Ryo," Ranko cooed.

"Oh," the boy replied, his voice mimicking the same faux sweetness. "You look so beautiful. My beloved little Ran-"

"Stop!" Akane cried out as she threw a kick right at the boy's head. However, the attack was stopped dead in its tracks as the boy, without breaking his gaze from Ranko, lifted up one hand and blocked it.

"Akane?" Ranko looked over to the girl with genuine shock.

Akane gave a grunt and hopped back half a step in a defensive stance towards the boy as she looked towards Ranko with pleading eyes. "Ran…Ranko, please! This isn't you. You have to snap out of it. I know you can do it!"

Ranko seemed to freeze in place for a moment, before a hand went up to her chest and her expression slowly merged to hurt mixed with anger. "How…how could you? You of all people." She suddenly lashed out with a kick towards Akane. The other girl was barely able to get out of the way of the attack, falling to the ground hard in the process. There was a clear burning hatred in Ranko's eyes as she readied another strike on the prone Akane. "How dare you try to get in the way of our love, you-"

Ranko was interrupted by a large metal spatula striking her from behind and knocking her away. "Sorry, Sugar," the wielder of said weapon called out to the redhead who was now sailing up and over the trees towards the direction of the school. Ukyo then immediately shifted from her follow through and swung straight for the boy. However, even though his focus was entirely on the spot where Ranko disappeared, he still was able to block the attack with ease. Ukyo let out a small grunt and then yelled out. "Akane! Mrs. Saotome! We need ta take care of this jackass quick!"

Nodoka had other priorities, namely rushing over to the place her daughter was knocked to. Getting past the trees, she found an athletic field and Ranko lying prone right in the middle. "Ranko!" she called out as she ran up.

"Ugh, Sensei?" Ranko groaned out as she slowly got to her feet. She quickly snapped out of her stupor and turned to Nodoka with a slight panic in her eyes. "Come on! We have to hurry and save my Ryo from those two!"

"Ranko, stop!" Nodoka declared with a hard voice and her arms out wide.

"What?" Ranko asked. Although the girl was frozen in place, that was more out of confusion than from any obstacle Nodoka could provide as it was clear to both she could very easily get past the older woman.

"Ranko, please!" Nodoka properly commanded, hoping that her authority as a teacher (and secretly as a parent) could override some cheap little love spell. "Do not let this control you. You can fight it. I know you can. I believe in you."

"Y-you too? I thought you…" Ranko flinched and brought a hand up to her chest again. After a moment, she looked back up with the eyes of a woman betrayed. "Of course. You were just pretending to be supportive so you could wait for the perfect time to try and break us up. Why? Why can't you accept our love?"

"Because it's a lie!" Nodoka called out, unmoving from where she stood. "Akane is right. This is not you. Please, let me help free you of this!"

"Free me?" Ranko took a threatening step forward. "And how exactly are you going to…" The girl's eyes widened for a brief moment before narrowing. "I should have known."

"What?" Nodoka blinked in confusion before realizing she had instinctively shifted to a defensive position, hand on her katana ready to draw. She immediately stood back up straight and brought her hands up in front of her. "No, Ranko! I promise, I would never hurt you like that."

"Oh, I know," Ranko agreed, although the words she spoke were very noticeably saturated with venom. "You'll just have me do it instead. That's your big solution. I do something you don't approve of, you make me commit seppuku, and you never have to worry about me being an embarrassment to you anymore. Isn't that right, Mother?"

Nodoka could feel the blood in her veins freeze over, her throat tightening, blocking the words of denial she so desperately wanted to cry out. No. No no no, please no. Don't let it end like this.

Ranko, undeterred, gave a malicious, defiant grin as she threw her arms out wide, giving a full display of the very feminine white dress that Nodoka specifically picked out for her. "Yes, Mom, it's me. What do you think, am I manly enough for you, or are you going to pull out a tanto and demand that damned contract be fulfilled?"

Her breathing rapid, the sound of her heart pounding in her ears, Nodoka tried to push out the explanation and reassurance to her child. "I…Ranko, please…the contract…it…"

"It says Ranma Saotome has to be a man among men, or else seppuku," Ranko growled out before an actual bright and cheerful smile appeared on her face. "Oh, but it doesn't say anything about a 'Hibiki'. See, the answer is so simple. I go and get married to Ryoga. You already got me the perfect dress for it, right? I even know a place where we can get it done right now, and since it's so late, we don't have to worry about any crazed gymnasts interfering. Then we can forget about the dumb contract, and you get to be my mom for real. Everyone wins!"

"Ranko. I…" Nodoka turned her gaze to the ground in front of her as she felt the tendrils of temptation wrap around her heart. It would be that easy, wouldn't it. In fact, it was the very thing she herself had thought about earlier that evening. All she would have to do is say yes, and everything would be solved. She would have her daughter back for real.

Except, it wouldn't be real, would it.

It wouldn't be the truth.

"I'm sorry," Nodoka continued, doing everything she could to keep her voice from cracking as she spoke. "I can't."

"That's your choice, huh?" Ranko responded, her voice devoid of emotion. "Okay, then. Ryo and I will go live happily somewhere together, and you can spend the rest of your life pretending to wait for the son that will never return."

"Ranko, wait!" Nodoka lifted her gaze back up and found the girl was no longer in front of her. She automatically reached for her sword again, only to realize it was no longer at her side. Before she could react, the icy voice of her child came from behind her, speaking two words that struck her infinitely harder than the hand chop to the back of her neck a moment later which rendered her unconscious.

"Goodbye, Nodoka."