Assassination of Nabiki Tendo A Ranma « Continuation of sorts By KPJAM The characters and situations in this short work are mine except for the characters and situations I borrowed from Ranma « which is the work of Rumiko Takahashi, and owned by Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty and Viz Communications. Chapter Three: Nabiki's Loss ><_><_><_<>_><_><_><_><_<><_><_<_<_><_>_><_><_><_><_><_> Nabiki continued to cry, tears tricked down her face, no matter how hard she tried to stem them. Her little sister was gone, the baby of the family. Life at the dojo, and therefore there family, seemed to center around her, and now that center was gone. She picked up her hand, a little steadier now, and wiped away the tears. She focused on Kiyoshi, fighting back the water that continued to cloud her vision. He was just standing there, stoic and uncaring. A light touch of curiosity crept onto his face. Her life had been ruined two days ago and shattered yesterday, and he was untouched. A killer, she had decided a few moments ago. No different from the bastards that killed her baby sister. He was a lightning rod; she decided then and there. Her life had been going well until his return. She had a good career, was making plenty of money, and her life had been what she wanted. Her family had been safe, as stable as it had been since the death of her mother, and then he had returned. Even more disruptive and chaotic than the first time. This time he brought chaos and confusion, misery and suffering, without any hope. All in the span of a few days. She looked at him just standing their examining her and wondered. Did he? Could he have? She felt her body begin to tremble in rage as that awful possibility swirled around in her head. Maybe Mr. Yamada was a false trail he had left to cover up his real activities with? Did he leave the folder out on purpose? In order to confuse her. Did he leave evidence of one crime in order to absolve himself of another? He frowned at her as she was beginning to shake with rage now. Her mind long gone down the tunnel of blame, her body followed it swiftly. She grasped the paper that was still under hand, she felt it crumple as she whipped it at him with all her might and followed it after him. She ignoring the kitchen doors as they banged open and the shut behind her. His hands were at his face, trying to knock the paper away as it had scattered around him. She swung wildy at him; her vision was obscured by the water still present in her eyes and the pages of the newspaper strewn around his face. She felt her right fist land against clothed flesh as her left arm descended to strike him again. Before she could connect, both her wrists captured in a grip that could easily break them both. The kitchen spun around her for a moment before the breath was knocked out of her when her back collided against something hard. Her eyes had closed instinctively on impact, she blinked to clear out the water from the tears that had begun to flow again, from pain both physical and emotional. "You! It's all your fault she dead!" she shrieked, as she began thrashing around against her restraints. "What are you talking about!?!" She felt his hot breathe on her face as he spoke back to her firmly, raising his voice slightly. "Akane! My sister's dead." She was lashing out at the most convenient target, the one right here, the symbol and catalyst for all that was wrong. "I'm sorry," she heard him say calmly. That statement stunned her, derailing her anger slightly. "You're sorry." she spat out. "Yes. Death is an unfortunate occurrence." The words sounded hollow, belief without feeling, or maybe it was acceptance of the unacceptable. She could only gape at him as he looked at her, his face was calm and immobile but his eyes looked sorrowful, she wasn't sure if they were filled with sympathy or pity. She noticed how his eyes focused on her, like he was looking inside her. She noticed the proximity of their bodies and began to feel uncomfortable under his gaze. She didn't want his sympathy or compassion, and definitely not his pity. He wasn't human, he was a killer, somewhere, their was Mr. Yamada's sister that was feeling the same things she was, and he was responsible. She felt the anger rise again as thoughts bombarded her brain. The thought process that had been recently set aside began to reemerge. She embraced it, she was used to it, maybe not to this degree, but she could focus while angry, something she couldn't do while sad or scared. And maybe he was the cause of her grief as well? "Did you do it?" She accused, putting as much venom and ice in her voice as she could muster. Her voice sounded weak to her, scratchy also, but it was much better than she felt. She needed the answer, needed it now. She needed some clarity to this situation, to help navigate her through this nightmare. "What ? No," he sounded surprised at the question and unemotionally attached to the answer. He didn't show the outrage of one wrongly accused, or the even the outrage of the justly accused. She had stopped struggling against his hold on her, but he still held her fast against the refrigerator. "You are a killer, aren't you? You killed Raneko Yamada. That's where you had to go last night!" Her voice continued to slowly regain its strength, as she focused on her anger and allow it to give her strength. He didn't answer right away. She watched as his eyes drifted off to the side and felt relief flood her body as the strange intimacy of the situation fled. "Yes," she almost missed his soft reply as she was retreating into her own thoughts, trying to retreat from the world. She focused her eyes on the man that still held her. She felt numbed at his words, assumption and truth were seldom the same. She wondered if there was any of 'Ranma' left in this person. She had expected his reply but found that she wasn't prepared for it. "You can let me go now." she said, marshaling her nerve and trying to sound as composed as possible. "Only if you promise to behave," he said. She felt her anger returning from his condescending tone. "Just let me go." She re- started her struggles, trying to break her wrists free of his grasps, while she stared him down. Finally he released her and her momentum sent her across the room into the sink. She propped herself up on slightly wobbly legs and turned to face him, fighting down tears and thoughts of anything other than this discussion. "So you are an Assassin." she said. "Yup." "And you killed that guy, Raneko Yamada , last night?" "That was me," he replied calmly, not a shred of remorse or shame. His demeanor only stoked the flames of her anger. His callousness in the face of her grief, and his causing such grief to others. "God Damn you! What happened to you! Akane is dead killed by someone just like you! It could have been you!" "I don't know." "You don't know!" Nabiki felt her eyes tear-up again, as she began to shake. He was walking towards her. "You loved her. God Dammit. You would have killed anyone who tried to hurt her and now you don't care." Her words were losing furry as she began to sob. "What happened. What's happening." "Shh," she heard as she felt his arms come around her. She stiffened at his touch squirming to get out of his grasps. "It's okay. I don't know what's going on either. It'll be okay." His voice was soft and soothing, she felt all the emotions drain away from her through her tears as he held her gently. She struggled against his hold, against the world that had been turned upside down. "Shhh," He soothed again. His grip tightened slightly, but made her feel safe, something she hadn't felt in days. She broke down then, crying for what seemed like hours. After a while, minutes, hours, she didn't know, and didn't care, she sniffled for the thousandth time and broke away form him. She started to stammer something out, embarrassed by her break-down, when he shushed her. "It's been a rough couple days. Just go relax. Go back to sleep, use the bed." She didn't know what to say, couldn't say anything so she left, trudging on weak weakened legs to his bedroom and threw herself atop it, squeezing the pillows tight as her tears erupted again, the fear and pain of the last few days overwhelming her. \\_____________ ___ / ___________{=============================== / /_`/ /__/ Soun Tendo laid on his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. His tears wouldn't come anymore, the ducts had been dried out from the endless bawling the previous evening and earlier this morning. The police had called and talked with Jiro, informing him of the details. Soun only remembered a little of the relayed message, his world shattering after the part about his Akane being killed registered in his mind. He felt Nabiki was gone too, the shame of his past catching up to him now. He hoped to die, maybe with is death, the Kami would spare his last daughter, and his grand-children. He had outlived his spouse, surviving her as a man broken man. She had been his light, his redemption. If someone as wonderful and loving as she had been, could find worth in his worthless soul, maybe he could be worthy of that, or so he had thought. With her death, returned his self-doubts with a passion. He never voiced them, but they essentially crippled him, using his daughter's strength and is own fear of death to keep moving, if at an altered state. He wondered if the sins of his past had taken her as payment, payment on an overdue account. He stopped using the dojo, a reminder of his mistakes, although he allowed others access to it, it was dead to him. He had sinned greatly to earn it and hoped that his ignoring it would preempt any further payments from its use. It had been too good a deal, the deal that had made him wealthy, that had allowed him to purchase this property and find the confidence to support a wife and children, but had it cost him those same things. A warrior shouldn't outlive his wife. A man should never outlive his children, did this mean he was neither? "Father. We're here." Soun heard Kasumi's voice from downstairs. "My only daughter left," he thought to himself. He had cried himself to sleep last night in front of the family shrine. Praying to the Kami and the spirit of his dead wife to take him so he could join her. "Father. How are you doing?" Kasumi asked, as she opened the door to his room. He turned his head to face her direction and tried to look up to face her, failing even in that task. He made it to her chin and imagined the sympathy in her face, before breaking down in shame and anguish. "It's my fault," he whispered. His voice cracking with emotion, barely audible as he began to weep anew. "There, their father. It will be alright." Kasumi had walked up to the side of his bed, sitting on the edge she placed a hand upon his shoulder that he instinctively grasped. "I should have... I should have protected them." "You did your best father." He heard the strain in his older daughters voice, and wondered if she would believe that if she knew... "There coming for me... it's my punishment. First Nabiki now Akane. Kasumi, stay here, I have to protect you." He had made the choices he made in life, it was a warriors duty to protect those he loved, ever since that stupid deal with his friend, a deal he had little to do with his life had been haunted by it, and it's implications. It was about time he fought back. He climbed out of bed, putting his robe on as he started for the door. "Father?" Kasumi asked, placing a hand on his shoulder again. He stopped at her words, the worry he heard in his voice affecting him further. Everything would be alright, he was going to see to that, and he was going to start now. "Everything will be fine, Daughter. I'll make sure of that." He pressing his hands atop hers to steady himself and appear to comfort her. He had failed his other daughters, his wife, and his grandchildren, he wouldn't continue to fail them. A fire had been lit in his belly, sparking amidst the emptiness that had consumed him. He made it downstairs to the phone, walking past both his sons-in-laws, knowing that they would take up positions with his daughter and follow him. He picked up the receiver with a certainty of purpose that was lacking moments before, lacking for ages and dialed a number he knew by heart but had never used. "Hello?" A voice he knew well answered the phone. "Saotome. They killed my babies," he wailed. His resolve destroyed when he heard his dearest friend's voice. \\_____________ ___ / ___________{=============================== / /_`/ /__/ Sato Fujiyama sat quietly behind his desk as detective Yamamoto seated himself in the chair across from him. Sato really didn't have the time or desire to worry about the whereabouts of Miss Tendo, and the death of her sister concerned him even less, but appearances must be met. "Thank you for seeing me, Mr. Fujiyama. I'm sure you're very busy. I'll try and keep this brief." "No problem. I'm sure I speak for everyone here when I say how concerned we are about Ms. Tendo and how tragic the incident with her sister is. If there is anything I or my firm can do to help the police or Ms. Tendo's family, we will of course do it," he spoke sincerely, reflecting the gravity of the situation through his words and voice. He practiced his sympathetic and understanding tones constantly. Sympathy and grief played a major role in lawsuits. He prided himself on coming across as sincere and trustworthy, two attributes that weren't a part of his personality, but extremely important to his success as a lawyer. "That's very good too here, sir. I just have a few questions that shouldn't take up too much of your time." "So. No one from the office called the police yesterday when ms. Tendo failed to show-up for work?" "Not to my knowledge detective. While strange and out-of-character for Ms. Tendo to be negligent of her job. I don't think anyone considered it a police matter." "Did anyone try and contact Ms. Tendo?" "I assume her secretary did." "Was Ms. Tendo working on anything extra sensitive? Anything that might prompt actions such as these to get rid of her?" "No, inspector. Ms. Tendo wasn't working on anything extraordinary to my knowledge. She was leading up a small case that was headed towards arbitration, and she was second or third on a few others. All of those cases are extremely straight-forward, and in distinctive." "Do you know if Ms. Tendo had any enemies, or people who would benefit from her disappearing?" "No. I don't know her personally, and I can't think of anyone here that has nothing but the highest regards for her. She was had a very bright future here, she had handled herself with distinction and everyone appreciated her efforts and abilities. It really is a large loss for our firm, someone of her caliber doesn't come around too often. I feel there really is little I can help you with." "You've been most helpful. Is it possible for me to obtain a copy of her cases?" "I'm sorry, detective. Cases are extremely sensitive. It would be possible for me to provide you with public summaries of them, but that would be all." "That would be acceptable for now. Thank you for your time," he said when standing. "My pleasure, Detective Yamamoto. If you need anything further please call my secretary," Mr. Fujiyama said, as he watched the detective walk out of the room. The intercom buzzed as soon as the detective walked out of the door. "Yes," he said immediately after he depressed the button. "Mr. Mori on line seven." "Okay." He picked up his phone and pressed the necessary buttons to receive the call. "Mr. Mori, so glad you could return my call." "Yes. What can I do for you?" "Everything is going according to plan. We should meet and official close this case." "I'm pleased to hear that, how does dinner sound?" "I can have the paper work drawn up and ready on our end." "Wonderful, bring an account and I'll have both transfers completed in the morning, we can then put this unfortunate situation behind us." "Everything will be ready." Mr. Fujiyama placed the receiver down. He need to get a lot of paper work settled by dinner, and their was also the plans for his much needed vacation, first class thanks to the generosity of Mr. Mori. \\_____________ ___ / ___________{=============================== / /_`/ /__/ Nabiki woke later in the morning, feeling like crap. Although the bed was much more comfortable than the couch she felt drained. She made her way out of the bed, exiting the bedroom to an empty apartment. "Ran... Kiyoshi," she called, silently berating herself for the slip. She waked around the apartment curious of the silence until she spotted a short letter on the table. All it said was that Kiyoshi was out running errands and would return shortly. She sat down and began eating some fruit and drinking her coffee wondering what was going to happen to her. Someone killed her sister, and it wasn't Kiyoshi, or at least she didn't think it was. If it was him, then her being alive made no sense, why hadn't he killed her. He must not have killed her, that was a certainty, or as certain as she could be about anything. So whoever killed her sister was trying to kill her, that was the most logical assumption. The same people who tried to kill her the other night, but why? What had she done that warranted her death. She thought back to the folders she had seen on her birthday. Ranma had been Alpha, the e-mail she had been shown confirmed that, but what she didn't understand was what it was doing in Homohato's computer system. Her second question was what was in the other folders? She didn't consider herself paranoid, or that life was filled with too many coincidences, but could she know the others also? Shampoo, Mousse, Cologne, Ukyo, Konatsu, and Ryoga had all disappeared shortly after Ranma. Did they share the same fate. What was Ranma's fate? He was currently living as an Assassin, without memories of anything more than a few years ago, what happened in the intervening years? Most importantly what did he know about the people who had tried to kill them? He had told her little, but that meant less than a one-yen piece. The door opened and Kiyoshi walked in carrying a couple shopping bags. She nodded to him, not sure of what to say when he dropped of both bags on the counter. He reached inside and produced two boxes and walked over to her. She looked at both boxes, her curiosity piqued. They were hair-dyes, good quality dyes, one red one blonde. "We need to disguise you, sooner rather than later. I can do it for you if, you, want?" She took both boxes from his hands. She had forgotten about disguising herself. She considered each box, weighing them in her hands while trying to picture what she would look like under either color. She grabbed the blonde dye, neither one would be inconspicuous, but there were a few more blonde women in Japan then red-heads, and she felt the color looked less trashy. "Tomorrow after it sets completely we can go get some pictures taken for a new ID's and Passports, before we make a trip." Nabiki's mind worked hard to catch-up with the man. He constantly withheld information and now he was spewing it out in a rush. "New ID and Passport I can understand, but a trip?" He reached into the bag and produced another folder, dropping it on the counter in front of her. She looked at it curiously for a second before she picked it up. She almost gasped when she saw the name on the top of the folder, "Ukyo Kuonji." "There are two ends to every story, a beginning and an end. I've had little luck finding out the end of my story, I though we might start at the beginning." She thought for a second, skimming through he folder. She found a current address in the outskirts of Kyoto, apparently she lived alone. "Why her?" "Other than your family and Mrs. Saotome, she was the first that could be located. I don't believe your family would know anymore than you do, the same with Mrs. Saotome." "Do you really believe Ukyo would know anything?" "Not really, but it's worth a shot. It should be an easy assignment, maybe not the most important, but it's the one were most capable to handle right now, and I have a few free days to kill." She blanched at his reference to his work, but considering the few things she knew about the situation it wasn't that bad of an idea. "What about my sister's killer?" Kyoto would only be a day trip, she wasn't complaining per se, but if he had already forgotten she would make sure he didn't. "I did a search for contracts out on you or her. It came up empty. Either they placed a contract directly with a person or they went through a central database." "You searched for contracts?" "There are a few places where contracts are floated, usually for the simpler jobs. People just starting out usually take those, they don't pay as well and because they're posted, security is a problem. For people starting out it a good way to get known, until they can set up there own system of contacts and informants." Nabiki just blinked, this was something she was completely unaware of. "The listings are small and hard to come by. The contractors are anonymous, and so are the people contracting unless a job is matched, which is done through a central location. The people who run the operation are low-level members of various organizations trying to prove themselves." "But back to your sister. I can only assume they were trying to hit you and made a mistake. So it has something to do you, and the only thing you were suspicious about is this Homohato company. You can use the laptop tomorrow to continue your looking, otherwise there's no reason we need to stay in Tokyo right now. In fact it's better that we do this now when we are free to move, as opposed to a time when we might need to stay in Tokyo." She couldn't dispute any of his arguments, so she nodded her head and headed to the bathroom intent on making herself look like a different person. \\_____________ ___ / ___________{=============================== / /_`/ /__/ Genma Saotome walked out of his office building, he had been blissfully ignorant of the happenings to the Tendo family until Soun's phone-call. They had talked for hours until Soun had berate him into visiting and coming up with a plan. If they hadn't so much history together he would have refused, he was going to refuse until Soun had mentioned his wife Nodoka. If nothing else he had to keep his whereabouts a secret from his wife. He walked tp the across the plaza in-front of his building towards the street, intent on making his way to the train line to catch a train to Nerima, a place he hadn't been in over ten years. There was a Limo, with tinted windows parking in front. The driver was walking around the front of it towards him. He paid little attention to it until a hand was placed on his shoulder and the driver leaned into him to whisper. "Genma Saotome, Mr. Abe wants to speak with you." Genma stopped dead in his tracks. The use of a name, that he hadn't been called in years, scared him almost as much as it was being used to summon him to see that man. He bowed his head in resignation and allowed himself to be escorted to the Limo, looking in he saw the face of the man that ruined his life. "I hear you're on your way to Nerima. I though I'd give you a lift, it's only proper for us both to pay our respects to Soun." Genma shivered as he stepped into the car. \\_____________ ___ / ___________{=============================== / /_`/ /__/ Soun Tendo was busy being a Grandfather, he had taken out his old game board in anticipation of his friend arriving. He was passing the time teaching his grandson how to play, trying to refocus his mind with this action. He didn't have a concrete plan yet, but thought that it would come down to murder. He didn't like the idea, but it was for his family. He had to protect the pieces that were left. He was still agonizing over Nabiki, lost as to what he needed to do. The police had no leads and Nabiki was the person in the family that would normally take care of these things. Hopefully Genma would provide some answers there as well. Just then the doorbell rang. "I'll get it," he cried out, as he hoped from his seat, telling his grandson he's be back in a minute. He rushed past a startled Kasumi as he hurried down the hallway to the front door. He flung the door open, a big grin was plastered to his face, anticipation his long lost old friend. His grin changed instantly to a snarl when he beheld the person standing there. "You!!! How dare you defile this doorway. Have you no shame!" he spat at Commander Abe. "I have merely come to express my condolences for the loss of you daughter," the man said gently, confusing Soun greatly. "I take it she was your sister," Abe said to Kasumi, who had walked up behind her father. "Yes. Thank you for kind words Mr. Ah?" "Abe, Shissio Abe. And I assume you're Kasumi?" "Yes?" She replied questioning. "I'm an old acquaintance of your Fathers." "Yes. One who was just leaving." Soun said rudely. "Father. I'm sorry, Mr. Abe. You'll have to forgive my father." "I understand the situation. Although I must ask Soun to come with me for a short time. It concerns a phone call he made this afternoon." He said apologetically, while he turned slightly pointing at the black limo parked in front of the house. Soun was about to protest when he noticed the man standing in front car. When Shissio Abe pointed the man casually reached inside his coat pocket as if he was grabbing for something. Soun nodded in acquiescence. "I'll be back shortly, Kasumi," he said without looking and walked slowly towards the car. He walked through the front gate straight to the door that the man indicating, stopping momentarily only when he saw Genma sulking in back seat. \\_____________ ___ / ___________{=============================== / /_`/ /__/ Nabiki fired a shot at the imaginary figure, imagining it was the person responsible for all this trouble. She couldn't believe she was at a shooting range, practicing with a real gun. Kiyoshi had said he was going to practice, and asked her casually if she wanted to try. She surprised herself when she agreed, curiosity about where he was going mixed with a desire to protect herself and her family. A desire of retribution. She absently flicked a strand of blonde hair out of her eyes. It looked strange in the mirror, and even stranger looking at it directly. She had also styled her hair slightly differently, perming it add more waves and the feathering it off to one side. Hopefully anyone who looked at her would have to look closely to recognize her. She wondered what she was becoming, as she put the gun down and pressed the button that called back the target. She knew she wanted revenge, but doing physical things directly usually wasn't her style, but now she wanted blood, she wanted to find the person responsible and watch him die. She looked at her marks, one heart shot, and three of the other five hit, she was getting better. She smirked to herself as a final thought raced through her mind, "I want to pull the trigger on this operation." ----------------------------------------------------- Author's rant: It's still a lot of fun, but it's getting complicated. Also heavy emotions are difficult to write, in my opinion so any constructive criticisms about the first two scenes will be especially welcomed with much gratitude. So, the questions are should Ukyo die? And if she should, who should kill her. I already have my ideas but I thought I'd throw it out to the masses.