Assassination of Nabiki Tendo Ranma « continuation of sorts By KPJAM Chapter 2: Identities Nabiki woke to the smell of food cooking and coffee brewing, a good blend if her nose was right, and her nose never lied about coffee. A look out the window showed that dawn had yet to break, although that was also a norm, the sun usually rose around six thirty this time of year. Like most other professional people she was an early riser, used to waking at five thirty, so the lack of a sun didn't faze her. She stretched, trying to get the kinks out of her system. The couch, although comfortable by couch standards, had a lot to be desired in terms of luxury sleeping accommodations. She shuffled over towards the kitchen, sticking her face over the counter and peering in. She was greeted with her first sight of Ranma-chan in over ten years. The girl had aged as well, losing some of the cuteness in her face, replaced with a mature attractiveness that Nabiki found herself slightly jealous of. She had also grown a few inches, making her 'healthiness' appear more proportional to her body. Her short salary-man's haircut, made her appear even younger than she was. "Good morning, Kiyoshi," she grumbled. "Morning," he replied. "I hope you like hard-boiled eggs." He placed a cup of coffee in front of her which she quickly sipped from. "Sounds good," she replied after she felt the caffeine start to hit her system. She paused for a moment, considering her next question. "Why are you a girl?" "I need to run a few errands later," he quickly replied. None of the expected hesitancy or embarrassment, which she remembered from his youth, showed in his answer. "I still don't understand." She was wondering if he could only run errands as a female, which made no sense to her. "Certain people only know me as a female. It's just the way things happened, and I don't feel like becoming re-acquainted with them as a guy, or telling them about this curse." "Ah." His explanation made a certain amount of sense, she wondered what she would do if faced with the same set of circumstances. "So what do we need to do?" "I need to pick-up some information for work. We also need to pick up a few things for you." "Like what?" She wouldn't mind an answer to either question. She realized she knew little to nothing about him, spending last night filling him in on what she knew about him, and despairing about her situation, she had ignored any real interest in the man she would be living with. "Would you prefer to be a red-head or a blonde?" She was really beginning to get annoyed with his new-found habit of answering a question with a question. "I actually like my hair color," she responded defiantly. "I never said I didn't. It's a shame your hair isn't longer, cutting would be much easier than letting it grow or getting a wig." She wondered if she was even a part of this conversation. "Why the interest in changing my appearance?" "We need to make it as difficult as possible for people to recognize you as Nabiki Tendo. Little changes like hair color and length may not fool people who know you well, but they can throw off people who have only seen once or only a photograph. The object isn't vanity, it's blending in and staying alive." This pompous attitude had to go too, she hated being talked to like a child, and he seemed to be doing it perpetually. "I know that," she finally said, more to reassure herself and save a little face than from any true belief that she had thought it through. Ranma Saotome was mentally lapping her and it was infuriating. Actually it was Kiyoshi who was lapping her, which made things worse. She had other ways to deal with Ranma on the rare occasion when he held the upper hand in their past dealings, but she had no idea where Kiyoshi's weak points were. Tabling that problem for a moment, she decided to concentrate on something that might allow her to regain some balance and control, finding out more about him. "What do you do?" "Hmmm?" he mumbled as he dropped off breakfast on the counter. She was about to pick up the plates and move to the table, when he said, "Leave them there. I usually eat breakfast on the counter." She complied and sat on one of the high back chairs, waiting as he set down eating utensils and some orange juice. "What do you do for work. Is what I meant earlier." He sat besides her, taking a sip of his Miso. "I'm a consultant," he replied, before taking a sip of his coffee. "I help people solve their problems." She considered the non-answer for a second. "How exactly do you do that?" "Depends on the problem," he answered. She noticed his eyes shrinking, appearing cold and distant as he stared across the kitchen while eating. She briefly considered following up again, but decided to let the matter drop. She decided to switch her line of questions, in order to hopefully open him up a little. "This is a very nice place. It must cost a fortune in rent, someplace this big." "No. I don't pay rent. I bought the building." Nabiki's mind whirled with this tidbit. The cost of buying property in Tokyo was substantial, to buy a place at as young an age as Kiyoshi meant either his company or his parent actually bought it. She new Genma couldn't have afforded it, so "You got your company to loan you the money?" she asked. "No. I bought it myself." "You must be really good at helping people solve problems." There was a trace of sarcasm in her voice, her natural tone when she was jealous or envious of someone else. "I do alright." They finished the rest of their breakfast in silence. When they were done, Ranma took the dishes into the kitchen, while she lingered at the counter. She was startled when he called out to her. "Do you have any substantial savings?" She was thrown off by another non-sequitur. "A little. A lot of it is invested in the market," she replied a little hesitantly. "I'd liquidate everything you can by say three p.m. today." He went over to a closet, pulling out a small bag and another laptop. He moved back to the table they were sitting at and placed both down. "How familiar are you with clandestine Internet communications?" "I can hold my own." "Can you access your accounts, using a dummy account you set-up today, liquidate, and transfer them all to this account?" He handed her a card, which she took gingerly. She looked at the simple white card, which had the routing number of some bank, and a thirty character account number. "I could." "Good. Do that, and after we set a new identity for you, I can have it transferred to an account in that name." He pulled out a power cord and another device, only she didn't recognize. She watched as he took hold of the computer and pulled a slot out of the back, tossing it in a garbage can in the corner. He took the device, which she could now tell would fit into the open computer slot, and placed it in. "What was that you just switched out of the computer?" she asked, as he continued to set up the computer. "Mobile calling card set-up. There's a wireless modem in here, the card gives it a new home phone number. If you're traced, they won't be able to pinpoint us unless they're using the most sophisticated of equipment. I set-up a small boosting tower a few buildings down, so even if they track it that far, they'll still be a little off the mark." "Paranoid?" she quipped. "Cautious," he replied flatly. He went and retrieved the laptop he had been using yesterday, and began to set it up across from her. She hadn't noticed yesterday, but he hadn't used a land modem yesterday, the only connection to the computer was a power cord. He tossed a floppy disc over to her. "Any information you have to save, copy onto there. If it doesn't fit, you're trying to save too much. I'm going to wipe that computer tomorrow, so make sure." "Okay... Okay." she replied harried. Just then the computer finished booting up, she looked for the dial up program and the default ISP. She was surprised when she didn't recognize it, she thought she knew all the major ones serving the area and even a lot of the minor ones. Changing the settings, she dialed into the Todai. She had obtained the administrative passwords and protocols when she had gone to school there, she knew how to find them when they were updated. With so many students, a bogus account or two wouldn't be noticed. She had gained her start in real computer knowledge by dating a hacker. He had been more than willing to tell her all his secrets, falling, like most men, for the Tendo charm. Another benefit of using Todai's was that since the student accounts were a low priority, she could also play with the routing and other encryption codes that were used to trace e-mail and logged on accounts. She also knew how to alter the history to make it appear that her connection was from elsewhere, denying people the opportunity of tracing her after the fact. Knowing all this she was spooked that she had been traced yesterday, and quickly. She would like to know how, it was a big blow to her confidence that it had happened, and the only way to avoid it happening again was to find the person who had done it. \\_____________ ___ / ___________{=============================== / /_`/ /__/ Commander Abe sat down at his desk. An early riser, he was customarily in his office before seven. He quietly logged on, taking a sip of coffee, while the computer booted up. He had spent the night in contemplation, something felt off, he was going to wait a couple days before sending this e-mail, but decided it was time now. TO: Beta Subject: Assignment Alpha has gone rogue. Use extreme caution. Forwarding personnel file and last incomplete assignment. He quickly attached the aforementioned files and reread his missive. Taking a moment to run through the possible scenarios and potential repercussion of his actions, he pressed the send key. \\_____________ ___ / ___________{=============================== / /_`/ /__/ It had taken a little over an hour, but Nabiki had successfully liquidated all the holdings that been in her name, about half her actual worth. A quarter was co-mingled with Kasumi and Akane, the Tendo women's fund, it was for a rainy day, while the rest was nestled safely away overseas, in what she assumed was similar to the account Kiyoshi had told her to transfer her money to. She would have been done sooner, but she had balked at actually sending the money to the account. He had told her how to send the money there, but not how to retrieve it. She finally decided to trust him, she had so far and she was still breathing. It was still a feeling she loathed, dependence on another. The fact that she knew him, both made it easier and harder. It made it easier in the fact that there was trust already in place. She had never known him to be dishonest or to let someone down. That instinct had permeated through all her dealings with him in the last twelve hours or so, even if she had no current basis for such a trust. The part that made it harder, was who he was when she had known him, someone completely devoid of any knowledge she deemed important, especially concerning money, and here she was, 'giving' him roughly four million yen of her hard earned money. "Done," she said, as she pressed the enter key that would make the last transaction. "Good. Remember to copy any info you need onto that disc." "Yeah, Yeah. I remember. I wish you would stop treating me like the dumb jock." He looked at her harshly, an apparent rebuke ready on his lips, when he just shook his head. "Speaking of you?" "We weren't," he said quickly. "If I'm going to help, like you said I had too, I need to know what you remember." "I told you, nothing." "What is the last thing you remember, or first thing as the case may be?" "I woke up a little over two years ago. The doctors said I had been in a crash, both my parents were supposedly dead, and I had amnesia." She went over those things in head, wondering about the still missing nine years. "Okay. Then what?" "Not much. A family retainer came by; apparently I didn't have any family left. He told me about my life and filled me in on things he said I should know. I've been living the life of Kiyoshi Shinigami ever since." "You didn't believe that was who you were?" she asked seriously. Responding to the phrasing he used for the last sentence. "It's not important. Are you any good at tracing e-mails, or finding out who owns bank accounts, like the one I had you send your money too." "Yes, I'm pretty good," she said without a trace of modesty. "Okay. Come here." She got up and walked around the table, curious as to his intention. She looked over her shoulder at the screen. It was an e-mail, dating back a couple years. It was addressed to Alpha, from HQ, and was just a message to confirm a meeting. "Ah, Ranma... Sorry, Kiyoshi, this e-mail is a couple years old." "That account is still in use today." "That's fine, but by your actions, I say you don't know where the e-mails are coming from, correct?" He nodded in response. "Well, if that's the case, I can't believe they would still be using the same routers to send it here." "You're probably right. I'm sure the original address is still the same though, so unless one of the routers is out of existence, you should be able to track it, correct?" She was annoyed at his rebuttal, but had to concede the point. "Yes, but a fresh e-mail would be much easier," she really wanted another e-mail from this HQ person. In all the horror of the previous day her natural curiosity had been decimated by her fear, anxiety, and quest for survival. Now that she was calming down, her curiosity was peaking. She wanted to know what had happened all those years ago, and Kiyoshi wasn't cooperating. "Try this one first, I'll e-mail it to you, along with an account number I need the owner located for. You can put them on that disc you have." He started typing adding an account number to the text of the e-mail before asking, "What's the e-mail you just set-up?" She begrudgingly spouted out the address, depressed at her lack of control in this situation and losing another round to this man. She had to start winning these verbal battles eventually, didn't she? \\_____________ ___ / ___________{=============================== / /_`/ /__/ Akane Tendo moved about her house, doing her morning chores. She had just started the washing machine and was busy straightening up the rest of the house. A husband, three small kids, and an infantile father required a lot of housework. She had married well in her opinion, an opinion which was shared by her friends and family. Jiro was a gentle soul, athletic, kind, understanding, and patient. They had met at college and he had respected her space and her reluctance to trust men. She had flourished under his care, learning to trust others, especially a man. He was a salaryman in a communications company, located about an hour away by train. He was doing quite well for himself, bringing in more than enough now to support his family and father-in-law. Jiro had helped her learn how to cook, explaining to her he loved her anyway. Patiently helping her learn how to be a better cook, by encouraging her to follow the recipe. He had a way of pointing out her shortcomings without making her feel inadequate. He used those same tactics to help her solve some of the other problems she had, letting her grow into things slowly, patiently. He had been understanding about the name also. The name went with the Dojo, and while her passion for the art had died with Ranma's disappearance; Soun's hopes for a male heir to take on the family practice didn't. She had recently started practicing again. Her son, Kakeya, was now a year old, and although it wasn't spoken about, Soun wanted to make sure someone well versed in the family style was around when the boy was ready to learn. She hadn't decided if she would train her twin girls or not. She wanted a normal life for them, away from the art. A life like her sister, Kasumi had. A marriage and loving husband, not insane challenges every month, and striving for a perfection that didn't exist. Her struggle with Ranma's disappearance had lasted a long time, she had of course assumed she had been abandoned. Others had told her that he must have been kidnaped, but she felt in her heart he had abandoned her. In retrospect, it might have been the ego of youth, believing that the world revolved around her, and that all actions that affected her, where aimed at her. When she had finally come to terms with the situation and the fact that his disappearance might have nothing to do with her, she had decided the art was not a path she wanted to take. She looked back at the year that Ranma had been there and found the life not to her liking. She liked the art, but as a hobby, a beloved hobby, but just a hobby. The adventures, while fun at times, required too much of her life that she would rather spend with family. She would spare her children that if she could, but the demands of family required that at least one of the children carry on the family branch of the art. She reminded herself to get a present for Nabiki. She was expecting to see her this weekend, a little late for her actual birthday, but Nabiki wouldn't know when the present was bought. It was a good two hours on public transportation to make the trip to her sister's apartment, which explained why they hadn't gathered together yesterday, for her big day. Nabiki wasn't very sentimental, and as long as the she was given attention, she didn't mind if it was a few days late. She was considering gifts for her sister when the phone rang. "Hello," she answered. "Mrs. Tendo?" an unknown voice asked. "Yes. Who is speaking?" "This is Kentaro Oe. You don't know me---" "Oh! You're the man Nabiki is dating," Akane said excitedly. "Yes, that's right. But Akane... I'm sorry to bother you, but Nabiki is missing." "What?!?" "We were supposed to have dinner last night, but she never showed. I called her cell, her apartment, and her office repeatedly, but no answer." Akane frowned. Nabiki had dumped some guys in the past, pretty cruelly, but not on her birthday. "She was probably busy, and didn't think to pick up the phone. I'm sure she's fine." "No, I don't think so. I thought maybe she was just... well I thought maybe she didn't want to see me, so I called her office to check on her this morning. She never showed. Her secretary said it was extremely strange, not like Nabiki at all. In fact her secretary said she was worried, Nabiki always left an e-mail or voice mail with tasks for her to do in the morning." "You're right. That's not like Nabiki. Her work is her life, she's always in touch with her office. Let me call around and see if I can locate her. What's a number I can reach you at?" Akane scribbled down the cell phone number and politely said her thanks and good-byes. She frowned slightly as she went over to her address book and retrieved the various phone numbers she had for Nabiki. She would spend the next hour in a fruitless attempt to get in touch with her sister. \\_________________ / ___________{=============================== / /_`/ /__/ A young man looked into his closet, carefully cataloguing his wardrobe. He had a busy day planned, he needed new clothes. His kimonos had all been worn at least once and that would not do. He had grown up in poverty, mistreated by those who should have cared for him, instead they treated him like property, a beast of burden actually. The funny thing was he couldn't remember who they were; he had visions of grotesque creature- like women when he thought of them, like something out a bad manga. He also didn't remember how he had escaped from the life of servitude and degradation that he had grown accustomed to. These mere trifles didn't bother him though, he had all the money he needed to buy nice clothes and look pretty in. His computer beeped, alerting him to e-mail. He glided over to the desk he had set the computer upon, gliding silently, with a grace and style both men and women would be jealous of. He opened up his e-mail and read his message. He quickly replied, acknowledging his receipt and his compliance with the tasks listed in the message. He returned to his closet, all thoughts of frivolities gone for the day. He removed a one-piece outfit, a dark gray that had a hood that would cover all but his eyes when worn. He dressed quickly, Beta had work to do to. Tomorrow he would shop, after he was paid for disposing of Alpha. \\_____________ ___ / ___________{=============================== / /_`/ /__/ Nabiki and Kiyoshi pulled up to small caf‚. Kiyoshi had announced as they were leaving the apartment that she was to be addressed as Kimiko in public. Nabiki had shrugged and accepted the order, finding it weird the way she had started to think of him as a 'her' from the movements and characteristics she had been displaying that morning. They left the car after Kiyoshi announced they would have lunch at the cafe. Nabiki tagged along as the other woman walked into the establishment, stopping only to exchange a quick greeting and handshake with the matron, before being pointed to a table in the corner. They had spent the last couple hours running various errands, picking up hair dye and scissors, along with a brief stop at a department store for clothing for Nabiki. She was slightly peeved at the way she was rushed through her clothes shopping. Kiyoshi had said they only had time for the bare essentials, they could shop later for specifics to round out her wardrobe later. They sat down and the waitress brought over a pair of menus. Kiyoshi ordered a drink and the paper, as Nabiki ordered an iced-tea, before looking at the menu. She had continued to try and get her to open up a little, tell her about what she did remember, but she continued to put her off, saying she'd tell her when she needed to know. The drinks and paper came, Kiyoshi set the paper on one of the empty chairs on the table, before giving Nabiki a few recommendations. The waitress waited patiently for Nabiki to decide before taking their order and departing. Nabiki was bored, she realized she hadn't even read the paper today. Reaching for the paper she said, "If you don't mind---" She stopped as Kiyoshi grasped her hand in a vice-like grip. "Later," she said, her voice was calm, contradicting the force which was holding her hand in place. "Okay," she squeaked. They sat in silence until the food arrived. The smell went straight to her stomach, which informed her of it displeasure at being ignored for so long by giving her a slight cramp as she felt it close up on itself. She quickly drank from her juice, which had remained untouched since they arrived. She looked over to Kiyoshi, further fascinated by the differences from the boy she knew. She ate slowly, politely. Taking delicate portions of food, befitting the lady she now appeared to be. She thought back to the wars over food he had had with his father, how disruptive and rude it was to the others who were eating. Kiyoshi looked up and caught Nabiki staring. She caught the quizzical look and found herself quite embarrassed at her social gaff. She quickly looked down and began eating in earnest. \\_____________ ___ / ___________{=============================== / /_`/ /__/ Kiyoshi and Nabiki got into the car. The food had been good, surprisingly the meal Kiyoshi had cooked the night before had been better. She was expecting to drive off immediately when Kiyoshi pulled a thick manila folder out of the newspaper she had ordered at the caf‚. She watched as the other woman quickly scanned through the loose documents. "What's that?" she asked. "Work," was the distracted reply. "I don't suppose you're going to show me what's in there?" Sometimes questions should be asked, even when the answer is evident. "No." Kiyoshi continued reading for a couple minutes, before placing the contents back in the folder and placing the folder in the driver's side door pocket. Nabiki watched in frustration as the folder was placed out of reach as they drove off. \\_____________ ___ / ___________{=============================== / /_`/ /__/ They had driven for a half-hour, arriving in one of the more affluent areas of the city. This ward had a suburban feel to it, reminiscent of Nerima, although slightly more up-scale. Kiyoshi pulled to a stop in front of one of the houses. "Stay here, I'll be back in about ten minutes." She watched as she quickly jumped out of the car and walked along the sidewalk, taking the folder with him. Kiyoshi wasn't looking around, walking with her head forward and slightly lowered until she arrived at the next intersection, where she quickly vanished down a side street. She leaned back in her seat, looking around the area, realizing she would never be able to afford an area like this. A little while later she was jolted by the driver's door opening. "Alright, time to go home," Kiyoshi said as she started the car. "All done?" "Yes." Nabiki sat back as they drove off. \\_____________ ___ / ___________{=============================== / /_`/ /__/ Beta quietly dropped down from the roof of the building. It was the address for his target. He felt the thrill course through his veins, the same emotions he felt before every 'job'. He landed on the fire escape, slipping in through the open window he crept along the hallway. Finding the correct apartment, he examined the handle and lock. Checking the hallway, he removed a few tools form on of his pockets. He worked quickly, breaking the lock in less than thirty seconds, he slipped in quietly as he heard voices in the hall. He ducked into the closet in the entrance way, waiting to pounce on his targets when the opportunity presented itself. \\_____________ ___ / ___________{=============================== / /_`/ /__/ Kiyoshi and Nabiki entered the apartment quietly. Kiyoshi dropped the paper on the table and took the folder to the bedroom. Nabiki heard water running from the bedroom and went over to and sat on the couch, she had found the afternoon very peculiar. Kiyoshi had been evasive or just silent when asked bout their side- trip, the folder she had received, pretty much everything. She was becoming suspicious and that frightened her. She used to be able to read Ranma like an open book, this person was an enigma. She looked up as Kiyoshi came out of the bedroom, drying his hair. He stopped and stared at her. "He can probably read my thoughts," she quipped to herself. Kiyoshi seemed to be great at everything else, maybe he had become omniscient. He shrugged and moved to the kitchen and she heard him rummaging around in the refrigerator. \\_____________ ___ / ___________{=============================== / /_`/ /__/ Beta peered through the small opening in the door when he heard keys in the front door. He waited patiently. He saw two women enter the apartment quietly, one was carrying a shopping bag while the other was carrying some papers. He didn't get a good look at either and waited for them to move past him. He inched out the closet moving with a silence the empty night would be envious of. He inched towards the room and peered around the wall and fingered the poison shuriken in his hand, looking at the brunette intently. \\_____________ ___ / ___________{=============================== / /_`/ /__/ "How long have you lived here?" Nabiki called out. "A couple days," he yelled back from the kitchen. It explained why the apartment look so bare, although she would have though there would be half- unpacked boxes and other things strewn about. She remembered the last time she moved it had taken her a month before she was settled. "You seemed to have settled in quickly. Did you spend the last couple days, unpacking?" "I only moved a few things. I didn't feel like taking anything other than the essentials." He walked out of the kitchen with a glass of iced tea and headed over to the sofa. "Where did you use to live?" She was actually surprised the conversation had lasted this long, maybe he was opening up to her. "Across town, Juuban district." "That's a pretty nice neighborhood. Why'd you move?" she wondered. This neighborhood was a step down, maybe more, from his old one. "I wanted to start this search into my past. I don't think the people who set me up there would like it too much if they knew I was nosing around." She was almost shocked at the answer. It was one of the few times he had given a complete answer, from her point of view at least. His answer, along with the other facts she had learned, were sending her mind into overdrive, trying to connect those facts together to form a picture. She frowned, when she realized the picture she was creating was extremely disturbing to her. \\_____________ ___ / ___________{=============================== / /_`/ /__/ "So the tenant just left everything," Beta heard the woman call out from the kitchen. "Yes, so we need to catalogue what's here for the sale." Beta cursed to himself quietly, realizing that his quarry had slipped past him, by a few days if what that lady had said was correct. He ran through a few possibilities for finding Alpha's new address. \\_____________ ___ / ___________{=============================== / /_`/ /__/ Taking his newfound openness as an invitation to try and find out more information about her host, Nabiki tried to learn more about his occupation. "How long have you been a _consultant_?" she asked, as moved to join him on the couch.. "I was told, since I was a teenager." "Oh," she replied. She noticed the proximity he had to her, it was making her uncomfortable. He seemed oblivious to her existence as he drank some of the iced tea he had retrieved from the kitchen. He grabbed a remote control and turned on the television, switching to the financial channel she knew so well. She watched with interest as they broke into the current show, which was following the market for the day. The news analyst began discussing the rumored deal between one of Japan's secondary electronics companies and one of America's leading ones. The deal would reportedly boost the Japanese company's value along with its working capital, potentially vaulting into the top-tier of Japanese electronics, while giving the American company an in to the Japanese markets. The deal was being led and financed by Raneko Yamada. She had heard that name before, he was a well known broker who dabbled in finance along with money management and stock predictions. He had an uncanny sense of almost always picking winners, it was believed everything he touched was turned to gold. When that segment finished she turned to regard Kiyoshi again, wondering about the man she sat next to. Kiyoshi finally noticed her staring at him, he turned to look at her, lifting an eyebrow defiantly. She asked one of the questions she had been mulling over recently, "Last night, how can you be sure they weren't there for you?" He thought for a second before he replied. "I didn't even know I was going to be there. And if they had been after me, they would have been a hell of a lot better, than they were." She turned back to the news, not comforted at all by his response. \\_____________ ___ / ___________{=============================== / /_`/ /__/ Nabiki had grown bored of the television and Kiyoshi had gone into his bedroom a little while ago. She had moved to the table, attempting to find the origin of that e-mail Kiyoshi had shown her earlier. She had identified the tags that had followed it as it was routed from internet hub to internet hub, and was busy trying to decipher them. "I need to go out for a couple hours," Kiyoshi said as he walked out of the bedroom, carrying the small bag he had in his car yesterday. "Okay. I guess I'll stay here." She had intended it to be funny, where else was she going to go, but Kiyoshi had just seemingly ignored the comment and exited the apartment. Nabiki watched as he left the apartment. She waited a few moments before heading straight to his bedroom. She wasn't going to pass up a golden opportunity to find out anything she could about Kiyoshi. \\_____________ ___ / ___________{=============================== / /_`/ /__/ Akane walked up to her sister's apartment building. It was a little chilly and she was wearing a hooded sweatshirt, which was pulled up over her heard, not hiding the fact that she was female but hiding her exact identity. She had failed to get in touch with Nabiki, so leaving the kids with her husband, she had made the trip here to check on her. It was very unlike Nabiki to drop out of touch like this, even if it wasn't unusual to go weeks without hearing from the middle sister, it was unheard of for her not to return a phone call from her family within an hour. It was shocking for her to go a full-working day without being in contact with her office, which hadn't heard a peep out of her all day. Akane walked past the man at the desk, yelling out a greeting, as he nodded one in return. He was a very nice man, but she always forgot his name, which caused her no small amount of embarrassment. If it weren't for that fact, she might have been inclined to inquire about her sister with him, avoiding the consequences of said insecurity. She entered the elevator and pressed the button for her sister's floor, double-checking to make sure she had the apartment keys. She smiled again as she watched the doorman waving to her through the closing double doors. A few moments later she made her way up to her sister's apartment. Quickly opening the door, she entered the darken apartment, hoping to find her sister, or at least a clue to her whereabouts. \\_____________ ___ / ___________{=============================== / /_`/ /__/ Across the street, in a building facing Nabiki's apartment, two men were situated by a window looking out across the street. The first man was looking through the magnifying lens of a sniper rifle. Seeing the door open in the darkened apartment he called out to his partner, "Someone's entering the apartment." "Is it her?" "I can't tell, she's wearing a hooded sweatshirt." "What's she doing." "Searching for something. Wait... she's taking off her hood." "Is it her?" "Short black hair, right height. I can't get a clear look at her face. What do I do?" "Does it look like she's staying?" "No, she's keeping her sweatshirt on. She's listening to her answering machine, looking at something. She's writing something and putting something into her pocket. It looks like she's getting ready to leave, her hood is going up." "Can you tell?" "No." "She's going to the door." "Take her." A few moments passed by before a shot rang out in the small room. "Target down. Head shot," he informed his partner smugly. "Let's pack up. Good shot." The first man began to quickly disassemble the rifle as the second man did a final sweep of the room, ensuring no trace of their presence was left. They had lucked out, the couple who lived in this apartment was on vacation, two less assassinations needed to be committed, and if the police determined this was where the shots had been fired from, the couple could take the blame. \\_____________ ___ / ___________{=============================== / /_`/ /__/ Nabiki peered around the darkened bedroom, feeling around for a light switch, a sly smile donned her face as the lights in the room went on. Kiyoshi's bedroom was decorated in the same manner as the rest of the apartment, sparse. The room consisted of two doors and a king sized bed. If she remembered correctly there was a dresser in the closet, and the other door probably led to a bathroom. Her eyes became as large as saucers as a feral grin formed on her lips when her eyes zeroed in on the folder that was lying on the bed. Nabiki quickly moved to the object of her attention and sat down to start perusing it's contents. It was a dossier on a Raneko Yamada. She whistled under her breath as she recognized the name from this afternoon's show. She looked through the rest of the documents, finding a schedule for yesterday and today, along with a floor plan to a house with an address in the area they had driven by today. If she remembered correctly it had been the next block over from where they had parked earlier today. She felt a surge of adrenaline kick in as she became skittish again. She placed the folder back, as close to the exact place she had found it and went on to explore the rest of the room. Finding nothing under the bed she quickly check the closet, annoyed at finding the door locked, she moved on to the bathroom. She was quite disappointed in the bathrooms contents, the only thing surprising was a box of cosmetics she found under the sink. Sighing in frustration, she decided to search the closet in the main room. Giving one last lingering look at the closet door she turned of the lights and left the bedroom. She quickly made her way through the closet in the main room. Envious of the two other lap-tops he had stored there, along with the other computer equipment he had. She found about twenty of those phone-cards he had used earlier, along with assorted floppy-discs and other spare parts. The rest of the closet's contents were of small note, a printer, a few screw drivers and a hammer. She moved onto the kitchen, only to be further disappointed at the lack of anything juicy in the apartment. She went to retrieve the bedding for the couch, deciding that sleep would be the best thing for her. She turned on the television, turning the volume low, hoping the monotony would help her sleep. She feigned sleep when Kiyoshi returned a few hours later and turned off the television. Not willing to speak with him. Sleep was still many hours in coming, she knew Raneko Yamada was now dead, and her mind went over the implications living with, depending on, and trusting an assassin. \\_____________ ___ / ___________{=============================== / /_`/ /__/ Nabiki arose again to the smell's of food and coffee. She might not like the accommodations, and she hated her 'bed', but she could grow used to waking up to the smell of good coffee in the morning. She wandered over to the counter, greeting Kiyoshi as he cooked breakfast. She was pleasantly surprised to see the paper laying on the counter, opened to the financial section. Normally she would have started there, but she had suspicions about her host's nocturnal activities of the previous night, and was desperate to see if they would be borne out. "Thank you," she said absently as a cup of coffee was placed in front of her. She flipped to the city section. "Prominent Banker, Raneko Yamada, found dead in his sleep," was the headline that greeted her. She skimmed the article quickly, gathering the details of the man's death while he had been sleeping during the night. She looked up at Kiyoshi. She knew he had killed the man, but the article said he had died of a heart attack. "It says here that Raneko Yamada, died last night," she said, studying his reaction intently. "I read." She wondered if he read it? Or did it? Nabiki was again lost in a quagmire of contradictory facts and suspicions. Being to much for her to dwell on at this moment, she glanced back at the paper. The next paragraph caught her attention. "Woman murdered in downtown apartment." She started reading the first line and felt a fist clench tightly around her chest. Her breathing stopped as tears came to her eyes. She placed the paper flat on the counter, her hands shaking too much for her to read while holding it. "Akane Tendo was found shot in her sister Nabiki Tendo's apartment," was the first line of the article. She laid her head on the table, and cried. -------------- Author's notes: 1) I had to do it 2) Two chapters, two deaths. I think that's a decent ratio. 3) It really had to be done. 4) I like this story, things aren't going to get better for Nabiki, at least not emotionally. 5) A lot of the Ranma cast will start popping up, I've already included 5, and mentioned a couple others. 6) This and other stories can be found at my site. Http://kpjam.anifics.com, http://www.fanfiction.net/ and http://www.nabikiandranma.com/