Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction, I do not claim any rights to any of the characters or concepts created or owned by Viz Video or Rumiko Takahashi. This is just the work of one fan to the others. The only characters or concepts that i claim are the ones I created or introduced. That said, I bring you:
For Love and Money, Chapter 16: Crime and Punishment.
Qiang Pu sat in silence as the ladies of the Teahouse moved around her and cleaned up the mess that she was part of. That she was responsible for.
Michi had arranged a triage in one corner where she was tending to the injured. Qiang Pu could not stop glancing at the several covered forms that sat off to one side, evidence of the ramifications of the actions that had taken place that night.
Asuka was settled in a corner, a blanket carefully wrapped around her as her unseeing eyes stared forward into nothingness. To Qiang Pu, she felt like this, too, was on her. Just like how Yaayaa"s injuries were surely her own fault.
Qiang Pu looked up after she heard her name called again, and her bleak eyes met the worried gaze of Nabiki Tendo. Qiang Pu looked down, unable to meet the eyes of the person she had betrayed the most with her actions. Nabiki had taken her in, had treated her like she was her own, and how had she repaid that kindness? Disobedience, defiance, outright rebellion. She deserved whatever came of this, she deserved to be cast out and shunned by the woman she had rightfully called an Elder, then disrespected.
Qiang Pu tensed as she heard the hurried steps of Nabiki Tendo as she rushed towards her and she held her breath as she expected the first scornful words. What she was not ready for was for Nabiki to drop to her knees and embrace her tightly. Nabiki held her tight for a time then pushed her gently back to look her over before she pulled her in tight again.
"You're not hurt. Thank the Kami, you are not hurt." Nabiki said with a stifled sob as she held Qiang Pu tightly.
Qiang Pu felt fresh tears welling up, but this time she was unable to deny them anymore, not in the face of this strong, capable woman who was crying over someone like her. Someone who had failed them all in the most profound ways possible. Someone who was weak, and had been fooled by an enemy that had appealed to the faults and weakness that lay hidden within her.
Nabiki slowly rocked the sobbing girl in her arms as she cast a lost look towards Tachi who looked away, clearly out of her element here. Nabiki took a deep breath and started to talk softly to her ward. "It's going to be okay. Mother Konatsu is talking to the head of the Ayame family right now, to make sure that this doesn't escalate more than it has already. The ladies of the Teahouse are getting ready to find Xaph Ti and take care of her. It's going to be okay, dear."
Qiang Pu went still then said softly to Nabiki, "What's going to happen to Xaph Ti?"
Nabiki sighed. "She will be taken care of. She won't be able to hurt anyone else ever again."
Qiang Pu shook her head as she held on tighter. "We can't kill her, Elder Nabiki….We can't."
Nabiki smoothed the hair gently of the young girl. "Why is that, dear?" She asked softly.
Qiang Pu bit her lip and looked into the eyes of her guardian. "We can't, Elder. She is my sister. She said that Ranma is her father."
Nabiki took in a quick, slow breath then let it out. "And you believe her. You believe that Ranma had a child with Rai Zur, and that child is Xaph Ti."
Qiang Pu bit her lip and nodded. "She has same eye… It just now make sense why. Why would father sleep with someone like Rai Zur? He did not sleep with Mother. They use outsider medicine to make me possible. Why Rai Zur? Why do I have a sister like her?"
Nabiki sighed and hugged her ward tighter. "You might have just answered your own question, dear. He might not have. If they could put you in your mothers belly with medicine, then perhaps the same method was used by Rai Zur. We will look into it, okay? If we don't take care of her, then… Others might. Others will. She is too dangerous to just let go, dear…"
"Qiang Pu know….I know.. But… I thought she was my friend.. And if it's true… She is my sister…."Qiang Pu said softly, and Nabiki was reminded once more that her ward was just a twelve year old girl. Qiang Pu took a deep, shuddering breath. "There.. is a punishment from my village… One perfected by my mother… I… I can take it all from her "
"Take what, dear heart?" Nabiki asked quietly as she held her ward close
"Everything. All her memories. Everything that makes her… Who she is " Qiang Pu said softly.
"Is such a thing even possible?" Nabiki asked as she continued to stroke the back of the upset young girl in her arms.
Qiang Pu nodded as she bit her lip. "Is. Can do. Better than dying… Is selfish. Qiang Pu is selfish. No want Xaph Ti die, so will take everything. Death nicer. Qiang Pu is selfish and cruel." Qiang Pu said in a small, broken voice as Nabiki found there was nothing she could do but hold her close.
They sat like that for a while before Tachi walked over and bowed to the pair. "We will need to talk when Mother Konatsu arrives. She was able to make peace, but there must be an admonishment."
Nabiki nodded as she held Qiang Pu close.
Elsewhere, a desperate Xaph Ti tried to reach her mother on the satellite phone. She knew that she had broken the rules in trying to contact her mother, but she needed guidance. She didn't know what to do, how to proceed. Everything had gone wrong lately. It had looked so perfect! She had been so close to showing her sister the truth! Her sister would have been the perfect subordinate, the perfect person to help her oversee the legacy that her mother had built!
Now, all her plans were in ruins.
Yaayaa had been hurt, but not killed. It had driven Qiang Pu into a grief-driven rage, as intended but without constant pushing, Qiang Pu was bound to start to return to this new path she had seemed to find. Asuka was no longer useful, if the details of how she had been used were ever revealed, even her current fate would not be useful to Xaph Ti to continue to drive QIang Pu forward. That scarred, broken woman had interfered at the exact wrong time, and all of her careful planning had been cast asunder. Now there was no way she would be able to get close to Qiang Pu to either finish turning her, or kill her.
That was a major problem with Qiang Pu being the Heir. Regardless of what her Mother had done and achieved, the Amazons that had not yet been quelled would surely rally behind her to oppose the forced modernization of the Joketsuzoku. More assets and resources wasted.
Her mother would not be pleased.
Yet, it was not all lost. With her Mother's new allies, and the ruthless tenacity that Rai Zur had always shown it was possible that even a failure like her would be able to be saved, to be redeemed, to still be of use to her Mother. She didn't want to be cast aside like the others had been, she didn't want to be culled like the others that would have been her sisters had been. She was the daughter of Rai Zur, not one of the cast offs of the other exiles. She was special!
That is what she had always told herself when another one of her sisters was taken away to never return.
Still, there was no answer or reply from her mother. No matter how many times she called, or sent messages, there was nothing. Surely her mother had not had an issue with taking care of her father? Surely, with the aid of the other Amazons that had seen the true path that had been opened up to them, and their newfound allies, they had been able to take care of one lone man?
There was no way her father had bested her mother yet again.
No, of course not. Her mother would respond soon, and scold her. Harshly. But then she would remind her of how special she was, and how the future was her burden to carry. How, with her mothers guidance, she would become the true Heir. How she would lead the backwards people that had been the legacy of her biological mother into the glorious future of her birth mothers vision.
Until then, she would hide and wait. She wouldn't be caught. There was no way they would find her before then. She just wished that she still had some of the allies that her mother had sent in the first place to attempt to take care of Qiang Pu.
Surely the warriors that had been sent from her mothers allies would have been more than adequate to deal with a bunch of glamorous whores and entertainers.
Xaph Ti shuddered as she remembered the single wrathful eye of that scarred woman.
Yes, she would stay here and wait, just like her mother would want her to.
Otherwise, she might be cast aside like the others were.
Nabiki and Qiang Pu waited in Konatsu's private study while Tachi sat silently nearby. They had been transported in a separate vehicle from the injured, who even now were being tended to by the best doctors in the shady underworld that the Teahouse was connected to. The dead had been taken as well, to be prepared before they were returned to those that waited for them. That only left those that awaited judgement to sit in silence and contemplate what could lay before them.
Qiang Pu didn't know what to expect. She had started to think that they were soft, weak people on the outside. Her eyes had been blinded by her grief and rage, and allowed Xaph Ti to pull the veil of her own intolerance and stupidity over her. She knew that in her village, death or exile would be what awaited her, and she was resolved to accept whatever fate those that she had wronged had determined was best for her.
Nabiki was worried. She knew all too well how things were resolved in the oddly honorbound world of the Yakuza. Death or maiming were the most likely outcomes from this, and she had already decided that she would accept whatever punishment was laid out for Qiang Pu in her place. It had been her fault, her failing as a mother, as a guardian and guide. She should never have allowed this to come to pass.
Tachi sat in quiet acceptance. She had known Qiang Pu for what was a relatively short time, but she had grown fond of the strong, defiant girl. She had seen her start to blossom into someone who would be welcomed into the world of the Teahouse, much less the Willow and Reed world. As fierce as the young Chinese Amazon was as a fighter, her intelligence and adaptability were impressive as well. Given the chance, she would have endorsed her for acceptance into the Teahouse with little concern. Now, that was unlikely. She would do her best to sway them towards taking a lenient outlook on the young girl, but there was not much she could accomplish.
All of them looked up as Konatsu entered, and Nabiki drew in her breath as the young master of the Tanaka entered. Nabiki had come to know Kyo Tanaka well over the years, and his presence reassured and worried her in equal parts.
"It is good to see you again, Mrs. Tendo. I wish that it was under a better occasion, but it is what it is." Kyo Tanaka said as he walked over to stand in front of Nabiki and Qiang Pu. He noticed how Nabiki tensed a bit and drew the young girl into her protectively and gave a subtle nod to himself as he settled down on a knee to get a better look at this daughter of Ranma. "Greetings, young lady. I am Kyo Tanaka, head of the Tanaka Family. I see your father in you."
"I… Was not aware that your family had ties with that group." Nabiki said in a very carefully controlled voice.
He looked at her and sighed. "We do not. Relax, Nabiki. We would never condone such activities, and you know it." He shook his head and stood back up. "No, but as one of the senior families, I was able to step in to see that this was resolved. The Teahouse has agreed, on your behalf Nabiki, to pay an amount in recompense. But, there will have to be a punishment." He looked down at Qiang Pu sadly then stepped back. "A flogging. A show put on for the benefit of the honorable head of that den of serpents and leeches. It is as mild as I could allow it to be. There must be a lesson taught, and punishment paid. Blood must have blood. I am very sorry, young lady."
"I see. Qiang Pu accept, and she is sorry for all that she has done." Qiang Pu said as Nabiki paled and bowed her head.
"Then I will take the punishment for her." Nabiki said.
"As will this One.." Tachi said quietly yet clearly.
"She has to be punished, and she will be. That can not be stopped, Nabiki. And you are not responsible for this, Tachi." Kyo Tanaka said as he looked at the three of them.
"I will still sit beside her, and take the punishment." Nabiki said with steel in her eyes. "She might not be of my flesh and blood, but I am responsible for her while she is here. I swore I would treat her as my own, and that is what I will do."
"This One should have been able to stop this from happening, but she was unable to. The fault lies on many. What are a few more scars, but more proof of the lessons learned?" Tachi said as she sipped from her tea, then fixed Qiang Pu with that steely gaze. "Never be ashamed of the scars you bear. They are proof of the road you have traveled, evidence of your tenacity and strength. Bear them with honor, and never forget the lessons that they teach."
Qiang Pu nodded and then bowed deeply to Tachi. "Yes, Teacher."
Tachi nodded as she looked at the Tanaka. "Let this lesson be well learned, and not forgotten. Regardless of where she ends up, she will be a better person for the lesson this will teach her." Tachi fixed Nabiki with her gaze as well. "It's a lesson she must learn, but you are right as well. We all erred, so we shall bear the scars of this lesson."
Qiang Pu looked down and swallowed hard. "What… Of my sister? What of Xaph Ti?"
Tanaka sighed and looked down at her. "She has to die. No other punishment is sufficient."
Qiang Pu looked up, and Kyo took an involuntary step back as he gazed into eyes as fiercely determined and unwavering as the looks that Ranma gave. "There is another way. One that will satisfy all, I hope. A punishment from my village. Some consider it a fate worse than death." Qiang Pu said as her knuckles paled and her fingernails bit into her palms.
"Explain, and I will rule on it. Unless you can convince me otherwise, she must die." Kyo Tanaka said as he sat and listened to what Qiang Pu had to say.
Afterwards, he nodded grimly and looked at her. "If she can be captured alive, I will allow it. You were not wrong. Many would consider physical death better than the death of self."
After he took his leave, Nabiki spent a long time comforting the young girl she considered her own. Their punishments would be carried out in three days. They had until then to capture Xaph Ti and make sure that she was punished.
Time was running out. And the entire time, Konatsu had sat quietly and watched, the very image of impassivity and unwavering grace.