Shadow Reality

Chapter 1: Gray Times REVISED

In the times of Feudal Japan there were two clans. Neither 
were particularly interesting clans, being average in most respects. 
Average size, average power, all in all nothing significant about 
them... at first that is. The event that would change the clans' role 
in the world, and all of Japan in the process, was at best a 
dishonorable one. At worst the beginning of the society's decline. An 
enemy clan had assassinated the heirs to each family and framed it 
upon the opposite clan. This started a feud which lasted generations. 
During the feud both clans grew in power, even as they decreased in 
number. One clan specialized in the strength of the body, and the 
power of the soul. The other in magic and a lesser emphasis on the 
body. They fought for years on end, each becoming more powerful in 
their own way. Then for a time there was peace of sorts, each clan 
had honed their skills to such a point that neither was able to gain 
the upper hand. It was during this time that the treachery was 
discovered. Enraged both clans joined together and attacked the now 
large enemy clan, scattering it.

The action did not go unnoticed by the emperor. The two small 
clans had defeated one more then three times their combined number, 
with a loss of less then fifty. A member from each clan was called 
into his service that day. A month later, and after the disappearance 
of many who angered the emperor, several more members of each clan 
were asked into the service of the shogun and lesser nobles.

In the years that followed the hatred and distrust eventually 
disappeared from within the two clans and they became close allies. 
This the now ancient emperor saw and realized that with their 
combined might they would be unstoppable. So before his death the 
clans were forbidden permission to join and a series of strict 
prohibitions were laid on them. Time passed and generations came and 
went, then suddenly and without warning the enemy clan re-emerged. 
Larger and more powerful then before it struck at the two clans, 
nearly obliterating them. But once again the two fought off the 
enemy, scattering them and laying a powerful curse so that they could 
never join together again. After the attack both clans were few in 
number. As time went on, their numbers continued to shrink and 
their 'services' became less available. This led to the formation of 
a group under the control of those with power and money. The group 
took up the job the two clans had held, although the clans services 
were still highly in demand and considered 'superior service'. Time 
continued, the nobles waged their secret wars, emperors fell and 
rose, and the two clans continued to decline in numbers.

The declining members of each clan gave the current emperor a 
problem. If they continued with the laws that prohibited the clans 
from growing to power, he might lose that assest forever. Yet if he 
did resend the laws it was possible they would once again be a 
threat. The choice was obvious. After all, what ruler has ever been 
known to release a power merely because it might some day betray him? 
So it was that the children of Genma Saotome and Soun Tendo would be 
allowed to unite the clans and continue serving as only they could.



He smiled at the sleeping form before him. He had done it 
again, sneaked up on his fiancee. He reached down to brush a stay 
strand of her short brown hair out of her face. Nabiki stirred, then 
abruptly sat up. She recognized the figure. "Ranma?!" She swore. She 
lost the bet.

Said male smirked. "I win again Nabiki-chan."

Nabiki pouted, not completely sincere but cute looking none 
the less. "How did you get past? I doubled the wards when I got word 
you were coming."

Ranma put his hands behind his head. "You know I never lose." 
He said in an off handed tone.

"We'll see." Without warning Nabiki leapt at him, hands in 
offensive positions. Almost before she realized it he was holding her 
wrists, one in each hand. Just as she knew he would. Leaning forward 
she kissed him. "It's good to see you."

Ranma answered with a kiss in return. "Let's go have some 
fun." He hopped out the window. Without any hesitation Nabiki 
followed.

The doorknob turned and a figure stepped into the now empty 
room. "Nabiki?" The curtains billowed in response. Walking sleepily 
to the window Akane brushed back her long hair and looked into the 
outside world. "Again." Akane sighed. Sure she was used to it, but 
that didn't mean she had to like it. As she moved to shut the open 
window Akane knocked a small figurine from the sill and to the ground 
below. Eyes widening in shock she reached for it, but the porcelain 
object slipped through her fingers and landed with a distinct 
cracking noise on the ground far below. "Oh no..." Akane looked down 
at the destroyed figure, a nearby streetlight offering enough light 
to see the scattered pieces. Akane bit her lower lip and closed the 
window. "I'm sorry Nabiki..." She said to the empty room and left.


Ranma and Nabiki stood outside of a estate. The main house 
was enormous, nearly a palace. Around it were smaller houses which 
would be called shacks if not for the magnificent craftsmanship with 
which they were built. Nabiki raised an eye. "The Hitagami estate?"

"Remember three months ago I said I had a big job to take 
care of?" Ranma blinked, his own words catching him off guard. Had it 
been that long?

Nabiki nodded, frowning a bit as the cold wind blew through 
her rather thin jammies. Muttering an incantation Nabiki waved her 
hands in a complex series of motions, causing her clothing to 
shimmer. The shimmering covered her body and eventually faded, 
leaving Nabiki clad in tight fitting black pants topped with a snug 
fitting short sleeve shirt. She smiled and moved her arms around a 
bit. Just loose enough for movement, but tight enough for the desired 
effect. Perfect as usual.

Ranma grinned a little and continued. "Well it turned out to 
be an assassination of a rival to the Hitagami's. The remnants of the 
rival family gained enough power to have access to us now and they 
want revenge. The council granted their request and I was given the 
job."

Nabiki's face looked thoughtful. "Isn't this a little below 
your abilities?"

Ranma shrugged. "I need the break." He tugged down the collar 
to his black Chinese shirt and revealed a dull red scar. Noticing 
Nabiki's shocked look he explained himself. "Amazon Matriarchs are a 
bit tough on the body."

"Amazon Matriarch? You have gotten better..." There was pride 
in her voice as she said it. Nabiki moved a hand to the wound 
gently. "If you want-"

Ranma took her hand in his. "No thanks." A playful spark lit 
his eye. "A true martial artist has no need for magic!"

Nabiki sent a powerful jolt of electricity through his 
body. "Is that so?" She asked the still smiling figure.

"Uh huh." Before she could react he leaned forward and 
pressed his lips to hers, completing the circuit. Nabiki epped in 
surprise and the spell dropped.

"I'll get you for that one." she said as she poked him in the 
ribs.

"Promises, promises." He said mockingly. "Okay here's the 
game. Entire estate, most kills wins."

Nabiki grinned. Ranma couldn't match her speed. "Okay. Let's 
go!" She leapt over a wall.

Undisturbed Ranma reached behind his back and pulled out a 
small flask of water, dumping it over his head.



Nabiki dropped the dead guard to the ground and ran down the 
hallway into another door. Two women, one pretending to be asleep, 
one awake and looking fearfully at her. Stepping in close Nabiki 
grabbed the woman's throat just below the chin and twisted, rotating 
her head a full one hundred eighty degrees. The corpse dropped to the 
ground with a thump and Nabiki turned to face the supposedly sleeping 
woman.

"DIE!" The woman sprang from the bed with her hands extended. 
A bright light lit the room and a bolt of energy hit Nabiki directly 
in the chest. At the impact a flash of blue light flooded the room, 
blinding the caster. As her eyes gradually re-adjusted to the room 
she gasped at the sight before her.

Nabiki lifted a hand to the newly created hole in her shirt 
in an almost sensual motion. "Mmmm that was rather... refreshing." 
She traced the round hole lazily with her forefinger. The tingling 
sensation reminded Nabiki of a massage.

The woman looked in shock, then paled as she recognized the 
figure. "Tendo-sama..." Her knees gave out. It was hopeless. Utterly 
hopeless. "Please Tendo-sama.. no..." She begged, all the while 
knowing it was futile.

Nabiki spread her fingers wide, proceeding to curl them until 
her hand formed a claw. She then made a slashing motion and calmly 
left the room. Four parallel red lines traced themselves along the 
kneeling woman moments before the body collapsed into a pile 
misshapen gore.


Thirty kills later Nabiki felt it. Stopping she turned to 
face a red headed woman. A threat. Nabiki shifted into a defensive 
stance and started chanting. Then the woman moved. An arm swept at 
Nabiki's face. Catching the arm she clenched tightly and twisted, 
attempting to throw the woman. Still standing and with an unbroken 
arm the woman yanked roughly, sending Nabiki into her. The two 
struggled for a moment, each attempting to gain some kind of leverage 
on the other. Finishing the incantation Nabiki pressed against the 
girl's ribs with her hands and released the spell. The red head was 
flung harshly against the solid wood wall, yet still landed on her 
feet. She turned a framilar grin on Nabiki. "Learned a new trick Nabi-
chan?"

Nabiki blinked and looked at the shorter woman. "Ranma?" The 
girl nodded. "You got your Shadow!"

Ranma put her hands behind her head. "So what'cha think?"

Nabiki analyzed the body. "How much strength does it have?"

"Not much. You're probably stronger then me like this."

"You're faster aren't you." It was a statement.

Ranma grinned. "Don't be too upset Nabi-chan."

"How many?" Nabiki asked, sighing in resignation.

"Eighty six. Out of a hundred sixty two. I win-" Ranma was 
cut off as Nabiki tackled and pinned her to the ground.

"Nahh!" Nabiki stuck her tongue out the younger girl. Ranma 
struggled, but couldn't free herself. "As punishment for cheating...."

"It wasn't cheating" Ranma said, smiling all the while. It 
had been months, quite literally, since he had this much fun.

Not responding Nabiki leaned down and bit at the side of her 
throat.

Ranma winced. He had forgotten how much more vulnerable this 
body was. "So you wanna play it that way huh?" Ranma summoned her 
battle aura up in a swift burst, moving Nabiki away from him through 
sheer energy. Moving quickly Nabiki jumped up, then used the ceiling 
as a spring board to launch herself down at Ranma. The two playfully 
scuffled throughout the blood soaked estate until the second thermos 
Ranma carried, filled with hot water, burst and changed him back to a 
male.



Ranma and Nabiki walked hand in hand back to the Tendo's 
home. "I can't believe we did that, can you imagine what the council 
would say?"

"Probably send us back to Infiltration for a year." Ranma 
shuddered at the thought.

"It'd be worth it." Nabiki clenched Ranma's hand a bit 
harder. "How long before you have to leave again?"

"Never... well not counting jobs of course."

Nabiki blinked. "What?" 

Ranma turned and caught Nabiki's other hand so he was holding 
both of them then stooped to a knee. "Nabiki Tendo, heir to Tendo 
Anything Goes Mystic Arts.. will you marry me?"

Nabiki's visage softened slightly. Her normally hard eyes lit 
up and her mouth formed a smile she reserved for only him. "Baka." 
She knelt into Ranma and pressed her lips eagerly against his.

A police officer noticed them. It was past curfew, they 
shouldn't be out. He moved to interrupt but then noticed Nabiki. With 
a fearful gulp he turned and left the area. The happy couple ignored 
him.


Akane rested her hand on Nabiki's door. Never in her life 
could she remember Nabiki sleeping in late. She had often woken up 
with Nabiki missing, but if she was there she was never late. 
Shrugging off the strangeness of it all she opened the door. "Na..." 
There was a man in Nabiki's bed. For several minutes Akane was unable 
to do anything. Her sister, Nabiki. Ms. Cold and Heartless. With a 
man in her bed. As her shocked state slowly wore off she noticed the 
way they were holding each other. Nabiki had a near-gentle smile on 
her face... a look of contentment. Akane was mesmerized by the sight. 
Nabiki was unmistakably happy. Nabiki. Her sister had never looked 
like that before. Akane suddenly found herself smiling as well. It 
didn't matter who it was. He had made her sister happy. Quietly Akane 
closed the door.

Ranma relaxed when the footsteps retreated. Nabiki hadn't 
even woken up. "Nabiki-chan, you trust me too much." He kissed the 
figure in his arms then allowed himself to drift back to sleep once 
again.


"Kasumi!" Akane motioned to her older sister. The brown 
haired girl looked up from breakfast.

"Yes Akane?"

"You gotta see this!"

Curious, Kasumi set down her utensils and, after making sure 
nothing would burn, followed her younger sister. Kasumi frowned 
slightly when Akane stopped at Nabiki's door. Some things her sister 
did were best not to be investigated. But Akane looked happy so it 
couldn't be anything bad... right? After some urging on Akane's part 
Kasumi peeked through the now open door. "Oh my.."

Inside the bedroom Nabiki opened her eyes a little. "You two 
mind? It's not a peepshow." Yawning Nabiki curled closer to the man 
who was, apparently, still sleeping.

Face bright red Kasumi closed the door, a gentle smile 
gracing her face. The two sisters made their way downstairs, not 
speaking until in the kitchen once more.

"Who was that?" Akane asked, excited and very curious.

"I believe, we have met Ranma."

"Ranma?" Akane said in disbelief. "You mean he's real?!"

Kasumi expertly stirred the cooking soup before turning to 
answer Akane. "It seems that way." She smiled brighter. "Which means 
Nabiki will be getting married!" Kasumi found herself already 
thinking of dishes to cook for the celebration.

'Visiting Ranma.' That was the excuse Nabiki used whenever 
she disappeared. Sometimes it would be weeks, sometimes it would be 
months but it was always the same excuse. 'Visiting Ranma'. Until now 
Akane had assumed him to be just that, an excuse. Nabiki's mysterious 
fiancee who would one day come and marry her.. now it seemed to be 
happening. "That explains why father never asked her about where she 
had been.." Akane mused aloud. What she didn't know was that much of 
the time Nabiki was not visiting Ranma, but rather taking care 
of 'jobs'.

"Say something?" Soun walked downstairs, toothbrush in hand.

"Dad!" Akane practically bubbled over to her father. "I think 
Nabiki is sleeping with Ranma."

Soun wasn't that shocked. He had guessed as much, and they 
were fiancees so it was fine with him... wait a minute. Akane wasn't 
supposed to know Ranma was real. "How did you fi.. er..."

Fortunately Akane mistook Soun's slip as confusion. "He, at 
least I think it's him, is upstairs sleeping in her room right now!"

Oh! He was here! But wasn't that a little early? Soun 
shrugged it off. According to his last report Ranma was passing all 
expectations so this wasn't too unlikely. "I'm glad you didn't attack 
him Akane." And Soun meant that from the bottom of his soul. An 
attack against Ranma would likely be met with swift, and lethal, 
force.

A slight blush. "Well I was about to, but Nabiki looked so 
happy." Akane met her father's eyes "Happy Dad. She was really happy."

Soun smiled even as a chill ran down his spine.

"Well if you're all done discussing me" Nabiki spoke as she 
walked down the stairs, startling everyone but Kasumi, "then I'll 
make introductions." A man walked into the sight of the group. 
Everyone immediately thought him a man, even though he could be no 
more then sixteen or seventeen years of age. There was something 
about him... an almost palpable aura that spoke of experience. He 
gave them a smile and bowed slightly to Soun. "Dad, Akane, Kasumi 
meet Ranma Saotome. My fiancee."


Akane glanced to her right at Nabiki and Ranma once more. 
They were a perfect match. During the impromptu celebration he had 
managed to remain slightly aloof, even though he and Nabiki were the 
center of attention. That was a trait she thought only Nabiki 
possessed. He gave Akane the same feeling Nabiki did as well. Nothing 
that she could describe or explain, there was just a 'feel' to him 
that was off, wrong somehow. He carried himself with that same 
grace... same self assurance that Nabiki did. He even had that same 
look in his eye...

"So." Akane struggled for something to say. "What grade are 
you in?" She finally asked.

"Your grade actually." He replied easily.

"Oh." Akane couldn't find anything else to say for the 
remainder of the walk to school and decided to watch the ground.

"Akane Tendo! We love you!!"
"I'll beat you for the sake of our love!"
"AKKAAANNNEEEE!!!!"

The object of all this attention looked up, clearly startled. 
How could she have forgotten? It was ritual, she almost did it in her 
sleep! Even as she hefted her bag and prepared to rush the mob of 
boys she mentally kicked herself. If they rushed her right now, there 
was a chance that Nabiki could be hurt! "You idiots! If you hurt 
Nabiki you'll be sorry!" With that said and done Akane started 
fighting.

"Not bad." Ranma said aloud as he watched Akane fight the 
horde of suitors.

Nabiki looked bored. "She's okay for an average person. Daddy 
really should have trained her better though. We better get to 
class." Nabiki leaned up and kissed Ranma goodbye....

....and the world froze.

"Did I just see what I thought I saw?" Asked a boy dressed in 
a karate gi, temporarily forgetting Akane.

"Couldn't be..." Said a pretty girl, knuckles white around 
her bag.

"Nabiki has a.. a.... a.."

"BOYFRIEND?" Screeched the majority of the students.

With a disdainful look Nabiki and Ranma walked past the 
shocked crowd.


"Students, this is Ranma Saotome. He's transferring from-" 
The teacher paused and looked angrily at the class. Everybody was 
talking in hushed tones about the new student. He cleared his throat 
loudly, silencing them. "Why don't you go sit over there." The 
teacher pointed to an empty seat by the window.


Hiroshi paused again. He nervously fidgeted in his chair, 
glancing between the teacher and Ranma. One of his friends glared at 
him. Hiroshi returned the glare then looked back at Ranma. He had no 
idea why, but Ranma scared the life out of him. Finally he summed up 
his nerve and tossed a little white paper on Ranma's desk. Without 
even looking Ranma reached out and took the paper, then looked at 
Hiroshi who visibly flinched. With a silent chuckle at the boy's 
reaction Ranma unfolded the small slip of paper.


Are you REALLY Nabiki's boyfriend?
~Daisuke


With another silent laugh Ranma scribbled a reply and passed 
the paper back to Hiroshi who took it very carefully, making sure not 
to touch Ranma's hand. As soon as Ranma turned away Hiroshi wiped 
some sweat off his forehead and passed the note to his awaiting 
friend.

Daisuke eagerly opened and read the note. Then he proceed to 
jump up in surprise. Or he would have if the desk wasn't in the way, 
as it was he only managed to get into a partial standing position 
before the top of his legs collided painfully with the bottom of the 
desk. That did manage to grab the attention of both the teacher and 
the class however.

"IN THE HALL!" Thundered the teacher at him.

"He.. he..." Daisuke stuttered, pointing at Ranma. "Fiancee.. 
Nabiki!" The classroom became rather noisy at that point.


"You guys, I'm telling you. This is a BAD idea!" Hiroshi 
plead desperately to the assorted group of students.

"Come on 'Roshi. You saw him, he can't be that strong. 
There's ten of us, what's he gonna do? I'll tell you what, nothing!" 
Said one of the bigger boys.

"Yeah! This is our only chance to get back at Nabiki! It's a 
challenge so he can't go tell about it without losing honor. Nabiki 
won't be able to do anything to us either!" The junior smiled. "It's 
perfect."

"Besides," Added another, "it's not like your going to be in 
any danger."

Daisuke stood beside Hiroshi, supporting his friend. "I'm 
with 'Roshi. You know his instincts are always right. Besides, if 
Nabiki's sister could beat you guys up every day then you gotta think 
that Nabiki's fiancee might have some skill."

A couple of the boys glanced at each other nervously, 
suddenly unsure. "Come on guys!" The bigger boy spoke up again. "This 
guy won't be anything! Remember what she's done to us? All the times 
she's ripped us off, embarrassed us?" He stuck his hand out, palm 
up. "Who's with me." Heartened by the vengeful speech each boy, save 
Daisuke and Hiroshi, laid their hands on his. The bigger boy 
smiled. "Okay! Hiroshi, you go give the challenge!"

Hiroshi nodded, sighing, and walked off to do as he was bid. 
Daisuke 'hmmed' to himself and went off in another direction.


"Excuse me.. Saotome-san?"

Ranma looked up, surprised at being treated with such respect 
outside of 'the circle'. "Hiroshi right?" He and Nabiki were sitting 
under a tree relaxing. The rest of the students kept far away, but 
watched intently as Hiroshi spoke to them.

"Yeah..." Hiroshi wiped his sweaty palms against his school 
uniform. He forced himself to look into Ranma's eyes. Violence, 
death, destruction. He looked away again. As he began to speak the 
words muddled themselves. "A bunch of guys wanna.. I mean they 
challenge Nabiki- YOU to a fright- I mean fight. They're waiting at 
the gym." He finished quickly.

Nabiki raised an eyebrow. Somebody wanted to fight Ranma? 
Idiots. Trying to get revenge on her like that? They might as well 
toss themselves off the school roof while they were at it. She made 
herself a little bet as to what Ranma would do. Not that it mattered. 
People such as she and him did the same thing. Whatever they pleased.

"A challenge huh?" Ranma stood, laughing darkly.

Hiroshi glanced at Ranma's eyes again. Death. "No!" He begged 
quietly, reaching to pull Ranma back but unable to actually force 
himself to make contact. "Saotome-san... please don't hurt them... 
please..." Nabiki blinked in surprise.

Ranma turned to face the boy. "Interesting... Nabiki, you've 
heard of empaths right?" Hiroshi felt Nabiki's gaze turn to him and 
could picture the expression on her face.

"E-empath?" Hiroshi asked.

"Don't worry about it." Ranma made a mental note to discuss 
the topic farther with Nabiki. "I'll make you a deal about your 
friends...." The two walked off leaving Nabiki to her thoughts.


Hiroshi coughed once more and wiped the bile from his 
mouth. "Why didn't they listen?" He asked the heavens. "Why?!" He 
looked up at the scene before him again. Akira, the leader of the 
group, lay with his throat torn out. The blood still ran from the 
wound, dripping down the short distance to the gym floor. The 
gruesome paint had no effect on the floor, which was already covered 
with the same substance. This background was overlaid by twisted and 
broken figurines which had been created by carnage's broad brush. The 
smallest figure lay in two parts, head and body. Others were 
similarly painted, limbs missing, torsos a gaping hole, heads 
reversed... The faces, however, remained untouched. Each was locked 
into a combination of terror and pain. An unwilling tribute to the 
skill and artistry of the painter. Silently Hiroshi sat, untouched by 
the painter's brush. A spot of white within the blood red painting. 
With a final cough he left the canvas.

School was dismissed early.


Akane looked pale as she walked though the door. "Kasumi, 
could you tell Dad I'll be in my room? I don't think I'll make it to 
dinner tonight."

Kasumi looked up from her book worriedly. "Are you feeling 
okay."

Akane smiled weakly. "Not really.. but I'm not sick. 
Something happened at school." She made her way upstairs. 

Kasumi watched her, concerned, then turned at the sound of 
the door opening. "Nabiki, did something happen at school?"

Nabiki turned from her conversation with Ranma. "School? Oh. 
Some kids were killed in the gym. Akane was the first one to stumble 
in on the mess and it gave her a fright."

Kasumi brought a hand up to her lips. Poor Akane! "Nabiki 
please start the vegetables, I'm going to make sure Akane's okay." 
Kasumi hurried upstairs.

Sighing Nabiki walked into the kitchen, motioning for Ranma 
to follow. "You know Ranchan, you could have been a little less... 
messy about the whole thing."

"It wouldn't have been as impressive then... Things need to 
be done with a certain flare. Besides, they insulted you." Ranma 
picked up a knife.

"You're going to clear the school out if you live by that 
policy. I'm not the most popular person as you know." Nabiki took an 
apron with her name sketched across it in blue letters from a 
rack. "Actually," She amended as she opened the refrigerator and 
grabbed the vegetables. "I think I am the most popular person there. 
I'm practically a legend."

"It's called infamy Nabi-chan." He moved so that he faced her 
across the table.

"Close enough." Nabiki went to slice the carrots, but was 
parried by a quick movement from Ranma's knife. She struck back and a 
fight ensued. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. You're so immature Ranma. Competing 
over every little thing..." She reached behind her and grabbed ahold 
of another knife, bringing it to bear against Ranma.

"You like earning money, I like winning." Ranma's knife was 
soon whittled down to nothing as he was forced to block Nabiki's two 
attacking knives. Discarding the handle he reached out and caught 
each of Nabiki's blades. One in each hand. "And I always win." He 
broke the tips off and cut an R shape in Nabiki's apron with them.


Kasumi sighed as she walked upstairs. "Nabiki-chan what have 
I done to you?" She knew Nabiki wasn't responsible for the murders, 
but she also knew that Nabiki could have stopped them. Kasumi 
couldn't hold it against her though. She couldn't hold anything 
against Nabiki. After all, it was her fault...


***
Kasumi stood in her gi, waiting for her father. Beside her 
stood her younger sister Nabiki. Kasumi knew she was better then 
Nabiki, but Nabiki was catching up.

"Good, you both are here." Soun walked into the Dojo. Kasumi 
had never seen that look on his face before but she would come to 
recognize it as a look of guilt in the later years of her life.

"Are we gonna learn some more pressure points father?" Kasumi 
asked eagerly. She liked learning. Sometimes when Mommy hurt she 
could help with what she knew.

"No.. not today." He sighed. "How old are you Kasumi?"

Kasumi's little face tensed up in confusion. "Seven! You know 
that Daddy!" He said something under his breath but she heard it 
anyhow. 'All too well.'

Nabiki fidgeted with her belt. It was too big. She didn't 
like fighting, she didn't know why she had to learn. With a little 
sigh of impatience she waited for Big Sister and Daddy to finish 
talking.

Soun lowered himself to his knees so he was about the same 
eye level as Kasumi. "Kasumi...." He stopped for a moment, then his 
face took up a determined look and he started again. "Today is a very 
important day."

"Is it my birthday?" Kasumi asked hopefully.

A slight smile from Soun. "No.. it's not your birthday. You 
have something very important to do today."

Confusion. She was so little though, Daddy always told her 
big people make important decisions. "What is it Daddy?"

Soun opened his mouth, then closed it again. Kasumi wrinkled 
her nose a little. She could smell sake on his breath. Daddy always 
had two sips of sake before important decisions. Soun opened his 
mouth again and spoke. "Kasumi do you like fighting?"

Kasumi looked down at his intense gaze. It was a little 
scary. She rubbed her big toe against the wooden floor. "It's okay."

Not the answer he needed. He was going to have to do it the 
hard way. He opened his right hand which had, until now, been loosely 
clenched. A small cricket lay in it. Taking Kasumi's hand he lay the 
cricket in it. "Kasumi.. later on in life you may have to do very 
hard things. You might have to hurt people... hurt them badly..."

Nabiki rose to her tiptoes so she could peer over her 
sister's shoulder. It was a pretty cricket she decided. It looked 
like her cricket.

"Kasumi that cricket in your hands is not a good cricket, or 
a bad one. It is just a cricket." Soun received a blink in 
response. "There are people who don't like that cricket though. They 
don't like it so much that they want to come and destroy the entire 
house to make sure the cricket is dead."

"Why Daddy? What did it do?" Kasumi's voice was sad and 
trusting. It's innocence was enough to make Soun weep.

"It woke up a man from sleeping. The man doesn't want it to 
do that ever again."

"But if it's here he won't here it! He doesn't have to hurt 
the cricket or the house!" Tears filled Kasumi's eyes.

Nabiki frowned. Anybody who wanted to hurt the pretty cricket 
was a meany.

"He doesn't think that Kasumi. In fact he wants to blow up 
the entire neighborhood to make sure the cricket is dead." Soun upped 
the stakes in his story and hated himself for it. "That means all of 
your friends will die." Nabiki started crying behind Kasumi. She 
didn't want her friends to die. She had just met Tate-chan and Kod-
chan.

Kasumi looked back at her sister, then to her father. She was 
getting frantic. "But I don't want anybody to die! You can stop the 
bad man Daddy!"

"No, I can't. The only way to stop him is if you kill the 
cricket."

Kasumi looked down at the cricket cupped in her small hands. 
As if acknowledging the attention it began to chirp prettily. "Don't 
wanna kill the cricket!" Kasumi cried in defiance.

"You have to do it Kasumi. If you don't everyone will die."

"NO!" Kasumi began crying. It wasn't right, the cricket 
didn't do anything. Why was Daddy making her kill it?

Soun hardened himself. "Kasumi!" He said seriously. "If you 
don't kill it that means Nabiki will have to." Soun reached over and 
grabbed Nabiki's hand, stretching it open.

"I don't wanna kill the cricket Kasumi! Don't make me kill 
the cricket! It's pretty!" Nabiki pled to her sister, struggling in 
Soun's grasp.

Kasumi looked at her sister's pleading face, then the cricket 
in her hands. Hesitantly she began moving her hand forward to dump it 
in her sister's hand.

"NO!" Nabiki began kicking at Soun and struggling more 
forcefully. He didn't let go. "NO Kasumi! I don't want to! NOO!" 
Nabiki screeched the word, dragging it out. Tears coursed down her 
little face and she began hyperventilating as she frantically tried 
to escape.

Biting her lower lip hard enough to draw blood Kasumi dropped 
the cricket into Nabiki's hand and ran out of the dojo, tears 
splashing lightly against the wooden floor. Her mother was waiting 
and scooped her up into her arms, crying as hard as she was. "I'm 
sorry I didn't kill the cricket Momma! I'm a bad girl. I made Nabiki 
do it! I'm a bad girl.." With a last glance in the dojo Kimiko 
carried her daughter inside the house and comforted her.

"Nabiki!" Soun yelled, getting the hysterical girl's 
attention through fear. Nabiki looked at him with terror. It tore at 
Soun's heart. "Do it!"

He released her hand. Nabiki looked at the tear-blurred 
figure before her. "Don't wanna!!" She said again, crying even more.

"You have to! Do you want your friends to die?"

"No!" Blubbered the sobbing child.

"Kill it!" He yelled, causing Nabiki to jump in fright.

"I do-"

"If you don't do it then everyone; Mommy, Kasumi, Tatewaki, 
EVERYBODY will die! NOW KILL THE CRICKET!"

Pushed beyond her limits Nabiki closed her small hand about 
the cricket. She could feel it's small body squirming against her 
hand. As her hand continued to close tighter it began to chirp 
frantically as it tried to escape. Nabiki looked up a final time into 
her father's face. A plea for mercy.

Hurt beyond words by the look Soun was forced to look 
away. "Do it!" He said through gritted teeth.

With a small whimper Nabiki closed her hand. She felt it's 
small body break, it's final spasm, then stillness. Nabiki fell to 
the floor and wept until she drifted to sleep.

After she had fallen asleep Soun bent down and picked her up. 
Tears fell from his eyes onto her now stained gi. Tears for a future 
that had died. Tears for his innocent daughter. Tears for the path 
she would now walk.
***


Logically, Kasumi knew that she couldn't be held accountable 
for a decision she made at such a young age. But she did. She had 
forced Nabiki onto her harsh future and couldn't forgive herself for 
it. The guilt was tempered by the knowledge that if forced to choose 
once more, Kasumi would make the same decision again. She would shove 
off the harsher future onto somebody else. Wiping a small tear away 
Kasumi took a deep breath and opened the door to Akane's 
room. "Akane?" She called gently to the figure sitting on the bed.

Akane continued to sit with her legs hugged to her chest for 
several minutes without talking. When she raised her head her eyes 
were red from crying. "They were all torn up. It looked like an 
animal had attacked them. And they all looked so scared..." Akane lay 
her face on her knees and began to cry again.

With her innate motherly grace Kasumi sat next to the figure 
and gathered her in her arms. Akane turned and hugged Kasumi tightly, 
crying onto her shoulder. All the while Kasumi spoke gently to Akane. 
The words didn't manage to get through Akane's confused and fearful 
state, but the tone the voice carried was soothing. "You feel any 
better?" Kasumi asked when Akane's tears had stopped.

Akane looked up and nodded. "A little. Thanks sis."

"You want me to bring dinner up to you?"

Akane shook her head. "No. I don't want to be alone... If I'm 
alone I'll just start thinking about IT again." Akane sniffled and 
wiped at her nose with the top of her hand. "Ick... I'm going to go 
wash up. I'll be down in a little while."

Kasumi looked at Akane, judging if she should be left alone 
or not, then nodded and left the room.



Daisuke paced the room nervously, glancing at his watch every 
two minutes or so. Did they know who sent it? Did Ranma REALLY know 
he was there? If he did know would he kill him? This continued until 
Daisuke looked at his watch and it read seven o'clock. Running over 
to the television he clicked it on and changed it to the evening news.

"...And now to our top story, the Furikan Massacre. Today ten 
students of Furikan High were found brutally killed inside the school 
gym. The police are going to release a statement in about ten minutes 
so stay tuned. While we're waiting, let's go to the scene with Gendo 
Moyamoto." The picture on the television changed to the front of 
Furikan gym. The entrance was crisscrossed with police tape and there 
were crowds of reporters filming the scene.

A man stepped in front of the camera and began speaking. "As 
you can see, the police have completely secured the area. It is 
unknown if there are any witnesses, but as previously mentioned the 
police will be releasing farther information just minutes from now."

The reporter continued speaking but Daisuke's eyes were drawn 
to the camcorder on his bed. He had video taped the whole thing from 
beginning to finish. Every bloody death, every pain filled cry. Right 
in the middle of the fight Ranma had turned and looked directly in 
his direction. It couldn't have been at him though. He had hidden in 
the shadows, it wasn't possible. "Not possible, I'm okay. He couldn't 
have possibly have seen me." He told his empty room. After the fight, 
and a good three hours to collect his wits, he had dropped the tape 
of at the police station and walked out. They would catch Saotome. 
Keep him from hurting anybody else. Put him behind bars far, far 
away... His attention was drawn back to the television by a uniformed 
man.


Sergeant Ukato inwardly sighed and began to address the 
public. "As you all know, ten students were found dead inside of the 
school gymnasium. The names will not be released, however their 
families have been notified. It is approximated the attack took place 
at twelve forty or so, the manner of the deaths makes it particularly 
hard to judge."

"Are there any witnesses or suspects?" Interrupted a reporter.

"At this time no witnesses have come forth, and we think that 
it is unlikely that there are any. As for suspects, all evidence 
points to an animal of some sort. The damage dealt to the bodies was 
immense, far beyond that of a human. In addition to this there were 
claw marks on the bodies, and we have retrieved a fur sample." Lied 
the Sergeant. If they timed things correctly they could get a lion or 
something from the zoo and make it look realistic.

"What kind of animal?" Interrupted another reporter  . "And 
how did it get onto school grounds without being noticed?"

"We suspect something feline, and as for how it got into the 
gym itself we are still unsure. Right now we are in the process of 
checking zoos in the surrounding areas for any cases of missing 
animals." Please buy this, please please please.... The reporter sat 
down and the sergeant let out the breath he had been holding in. An 
officer walked up and whispered something in his ear. The sergeant's 
face turned pale and he addressed the crowd once again. "Excuse me 
ladies and gentlemen, there's a matter I must attend to." He 
hurriedly left the podium and got into a squad car. The gathered news 
groups stayed for a while longer, trading rumors and information. A 
reaccruing theme were the words 'just like two years ago' 
and 'another animal?'



"Damnit Koji, give me that cassette!" A senior officer 
demanded of the younger one. Behind him were several other older 
officers.

"Why are you trying to destroy it? That's destruction of 
evidence!" The younger looking man retorted. "This incriminates 
whoever that kid is. Not that line of crap about an animal your 
feeding the public!" A few younger officers behind him nodded.

"You don't know what you're talking about kid. Just give me 
the tape." He took a threatening step forward.

"Back off old man!" Koji stood an imposing six foot five and 
had an impressive build to match. "I don't know what the hell's going 
on but this isn't what I signed up for. This guy's gotta be caught, 
he's a danger to societ-" Koji fell to his knees as something hard 
struck him in the back of the head.

Sergeant Ukato picked up the video and put his nightstick 
away. "He's Nabiki Tendo's fiancee."

Glaring, Koji got up from the ground. The hit had only 
surprised him, not harmed. "So what?"

One of the younger officers put his hand on Toji's 
shoulder. "Man, she's bad news. Let it go."

Koji glared at his former supporter. "So? Who cares who's 
fiancee he is."

"Everyone shutup!" Ukato yelled. "Koji, in my office. Now!" 
Glaring at his peers Koji followed. Ukato's office was a rather laid 
back place, several coffee mugs lay empty on the desk, pictures of 
his children and relatives hung on the wall, plush chairs and a oak 
desk. Quite comfortable. With a sigh Ukato sat down on the edge of 
his desk and motioned for Koji to take a seat. A scowl on his face 
Koji complied. "You weren't born here were you?" Ukato asked him.

"No." Came the curt response.

"Have you ever heard anything about the Tendos?"

"No."

Ukato picked up a letter opener that looked like a 
sword. "The Tendo clan has lived here for generations. They are very 
well known and respected." He paused, looking into Koji's eyes. "And 
powerful."

"So? Just because he's the fiancee of some rich bi-"

"Watch your tongue!" Reprimanded the Sergeant. He looked 
about nervously then continued. "As I was saying they are very 
powerful. They have connections with everybody and everything. It's 
even rumored that the current head of the clan is on a first name 
basis with the emperor himself." He rose form his desk, letter opener 
in hand, and paced the length of the small office. "They have an 
interesting history too. Almost wiped out a couple times, but they 
always survived. Them and the Saotomes... You recognize the name?" 
Koji looked like he had just remembered something.

"Yeah... my Great-grandfather used to tell me stories about 
some old clan war. I think he said it was against a clan called 
Saotome."

Ukato looked at Koji sharply, but then calmed himself. Koji's 
last name was Shiro. Nothing to get worked up over. "Anyhow, these 
clans had some nasty rumors going around about them. Some said they 
were the emperor's personal ninja, others said they were mercenaries, 
or evil wizards.. things you would laugh at now days." He took a deep 
breath and set the letter opener on the desk. "The hell of it was 
some of the rumors were true..."

Koji shrugged. Who cared about what happened then.

...and still are true."

"What?"

The older man opened his desk drawer and pulled out a file, 
handing it to Koji. "In there is all you need to see. None of those 
pictures were forged, nothing in there is false."

Silence reigned in the office as Koji looked through the 
folder. With each turned paper, each picture viewed his face became 
more and more pale. "What are these people?"

"Gods." Answered Ukato. "They go where they want, do what 
they want and if we stay out of the way we don't die. We are their 
lap dogs. Our job is to cover up their actions, to keep the public 
from suspecting anything."

"But why doesn't.. why don't.."

"Why don't we try and expose them?" He let out a bitter 
chuckle. "Because just that girl in the picture could kill all of us 
without breaking a sweat."

This was almost too much for Koji. "Do the others know?"

"Not really. They only know that the Tendos are outside of 
the law. We leave them alone, they leave us alone. I'm sure some of 
them suspect, but they grew up here and know the rules. Koji, you're 
a good kid. You got a good head on your shoulders and with a little 
guidance you could make a great officer. As you get older you start 
to learn that there are things you can't do anything about. The 
sooner you learn this lesson, the better." The sergeant dropped the 
cassette on the floor. "It's not so bad really. For the most part the 
Tendos are decent people. Akane's a bit of a fireball and Kasumi is 
the sweetest girl you ever laid eyes on, but Nabiki... She's the 
snake. Stay away from her, and her fiancee. What you saw on this 
tape? It probably doesn't even come close to his real power." The 
heel of his boot slammed down on the video, destroying it.

Koji stood up weakly and set the folder back on the desk.

"You probably know this, but don't tell anybody about what 
you know. Things would get... messy."

Koji nodded and walked out the door. He needed to lie down 
for a while.



"Hey Kasumi, Do you know where Dad is?" Nabiki asked her 
sister as she entered the kitchen.

Kasumi slipped her apron on and began preparing dinner. "He 
said he was going to a meeting."

"Oh." Nabiki frowned and put her apron back.

"They keeping you out too?" Ranma asked his fiancee.

"Yeah, it's really starting to get on my nerves." For the 
past eight months she had been forbidden to attend the council 
meetings. This meant she had to get all her information second hand 
from either her father or through her 'sources'.

Ranma shrugged. "I never could stand them anyway. Wanna 
spar?" Ranma gave Nabiki a grin.

"Baka! You know I can't spar while Akane is around." She 
turned to walk out of the kitchen, but was held by Ranma putting his 
arms around her.

"Really?" He pulled her back against him and kissed the base 
of her neck, causing her to shiver lightly.

Nabiki hated, and loved, when he was like this. She drew in a 
sharp breath as he hit another 'sensitive' spot. "Ranma..." Her voice 
was faint. She hadn't realized he meant THAT sparring.

Kasumi felt her cheeks burn as she watched her sister and her 
fiancee. Those two had obviously done this quite a few times. 
Realizing she was staring Kasumi turned her head and coughed politely 
to remind them of her presence.

Drawn back to reality by her sister Nabiki broke free from 
Ranma's arms and faced him. "Not in front of Kasumi, Ranma!"

Ranma had the decency to look slightly ashamed. "Sorry bout 
that." He said to the figure in the corner. She gave him a slight nod 
and continued going about her business.

Nabiki tensed herself, Ranma was up to something. He looked 
back at her and she recognized that glint in his eye. "Not this 
time!" Nabiki turned to run but it was too late. Ranma swept her up 
and flung her over his shoulder. "Ranma!" Nabiki said between 
laughs. "You jerk, put me down!" Of course she could get down if she 
really wanted to, but that wouldn't be any fun. Ranma just smiled and 
carried the laughing brunette upstairs.

Akane walked downstairs a moment later with an amused look on 
her face. "Nabiki and Ranma were playing." Kasumi smiled at Akane's 
appearance and nodded.

"I'm glad your feeling better. Would you like some water?" 
Kasumi offered her a glass.

Akane nodded and took it. "I've never seen Nabiki play 
before. Have you?" Life had been very interesting for Akane of late. 
Nabiki had always been the 'odd' sister. Disappearing at all times, 
always so cold and aloof.. Sometimes she seemed more like a stranger 
then a sister. But now that Ranma appeared she was so much more... 
more human.

Kasumi felt a painful twinge at Akane's question. Had she 
ever seen Nabiki play? Long long ago, before the training had 
began... Nabiki had always been a happy little girl...

Not noticing her sister's look Akane rambled on. "I can't 
remember her ever-" Akane paused. "What was that noise?"

You mean that loud moaning sound that came from upstairs? I 
don't know maybe it was a really strange bird! Kasumi sighed then 
spoke aloud. "Nabiki and Ranma are fiancees..."

"Yeah I know, but what was that noise?" Akane failed to make 
the connections.

"They've known each other for a very long time."

Akane blink-blinked, starting to get the general idea. 
Another 'noise' helped push it further along.

"They're practically a married couple..." Kasumi looked 
vainly at Akane. She didn't want to say the word, that would be so 
embarrassing!

Akane "You mean they're-? Nabiki is-? With him?" Akane face 
turned red. "What a pervert!"

"He's not a pervert Akane! It's just something people do when 
the-"

"I know Kasumi." Akane interrupted. "Sorry, it just kinda 
slipped out..." She sighed. "Can we go out to eat?"

Kasumi nodded.



"Ranma." Nabiki lifted pushed herself up on her elbows, using 
Ranma's chest as support.

"Hmm?" Ranma opened his eyes and looked up lovingly at Nabiki.

"You left the door open." She laughed gave him a light kiss. 
Ranma smiled lazily then began to close his eyes again.

"Don't go to sleep yet." She dug her elbows into his bare 
chest.. or tried to rather. It ended up hurting her more then him. "I 
don't understand why you're always so tired after!" She sighed.

Ranma yawned. "I think it's an unspoken rule." Betraying his 
seemingly exhausted appearance Ranma quickly put his hands in-between 
Nabiki's arms and pushed, sending her sprawling onto his chest. "You 
should pay more attention." He grinned at her.

"Baka." rolled herself off of him and watched the ceiling for 
a moment. "Why did you ask me about empaths?"

Ranma rose into a sitting position. "I think Hiroshi might be 
one."

"I don't know Ranma. They're incredibly rare. Even the circle 
only knows of one, and they have contacts everywhere." Nabiki pulled 
her blanket up to cover her chest.

"I know.. But I think he is. A low level one, but an empath 
is an empath." Ranma stretched then stood up. "Think you can test him 
tomorrow?" He put on his clothes.

Nabiki yawned. "Yeah, sure."

Ranma opened the closet and pulled out a change of clothes 
identical to the ones he was wearing. "You coming?"

She smiled and shook her head. "Go ahead, I'll wait till 
morning." Ranma nodded and walked downstairs to the furo.

"Well Mom? What do you think of him?" Nabiki turned to the 
windowsill. "Huh?" Nothing was there. Nabiki stood up quickly. Where 
was it? It had been here when she left last night. She knew she 
didn't knock it off... But she had left the window open. Nabiki 
opened said window and peered down to the ground below. Immediately 
discernible to her eyes were the broken pieces of porcelain. "No.." 
Nabiki took a silver colored robe off her bedpost and slipped it on. 
Hurriedly tying the belt in place Nabiki gracefully leapt out the 
window.


Ranma walked up to the bent figure of his fiancee. "Nabiki? 
What's wrong?"

Nabiki looked away from him. "It's nothing."

He bent down next to her and gently forced her to face 
him. "You've been crying... What happened?" He brushed the remnants 
of a tear from her cheek.

Nabiki sniffled then collapsed against him, crying 
softly. "It's so stupid.. I shouldn't be upset over it."

Frowning Ranma held her. What could have possibly made her 
cry? He continued to hold her until she regained her composure.

Nabiki gently detached herself from him and picked up 
something from the ground. She pulled open Ranma's hand and dropped 
it onto his palm. He held it up to the light. "When I was little, 
before my training began, I was scared of the dark." She sighed and 
stood up, looking into the night sky. "Mother used to sit with me 
every night and wait until I went to sleep. Sometimes it would takes 
hours, but she would always wait. Every single night..." Nabiki 
smiled. "I hope our kids aren't like that. I don't have the 
patience." Ranma started to rise and walk to her but she motioned for 
him to stay. "Anyways, I turned four years old and decided that I 
shouldn't be afraid anymore. So I would sit there huddled under my 
blankets for hours waiting for sleep to come. Sometimes I stayed up 
all night, only falling asleep when I could start to see the sun." 
She crossed her arms and rubbed them gently, trying to keep warm. "So 
Mother made me something to keep me from being scared. And it worked. 
She enchanted it so that it made a nice little noise at night. I used 
to love it more then anything. I bought it a cage and treated it like 
it was real. And it worked, I was never scared of the dark again. 
When she died I always thought her spirit went to live in it, to help 
keep away the dark." She wiped at her eyes again. "Silly huh?"

"Yup." Ranma smiled brightly.

She stared at him for a moment then started 
laughing. "Bastard. See if I tell you anything again." She held her 
arms out to him. "Carry me inside the house? The ground's cold."

Complying, Ranma lifted her easily and began to walk. "I was 
only kidding you know."

"Of course I know baka. Besides, if I didn't know you'd be 
dead."

"Now Nabiki-chan, is that any way to talk to your beloved 
fiancee?" Ranma opened the door to the house and stepped through.

"What beloved fiancee?"

"Hey!" The door shut.



Akane opened the bathroom door, caught sight of Ranma kissing 
Nabiki, and slammed it shut again. "Don't you two ever quit?" She 
complained.

"You're just jealous." Nabiki's voice called from behind the 
door.

"I am not!" Akane blushed. "Why would I be jealous of-"

"I'm kidding Akane." Nabiki sighed.

Akane blinked. Nabiki had never teased her like that before. 
Shaking her head Akane left the room and waited for them to finish. 
She was glad school had been canceled, but it seemed staying home 
might turn out to be just as stressful. Soun looked up as she entered.

"I thought you were going to take a bath?"

"I was. Nabiki's in there." Soun's face was blank. "With 
Ranma."

"Oh." He went back to reading the paper.

"Dad?"

"Hmm?"

"How did Nabiki meet Ranma?"

Soun set down his paper. This might take a while. "How much 
of the family history do you remember?"

Akane laughed nervously. "Umm.. nothing."

This might take a LONG while. "Well do you remember the 
Saotomes?"

"They were our allies a long time ago right?"

Soun nodded. "And still are. Well my friend Genma, he should 
be here sometime this week, and I had been working together for a 
while and decided to make a deal. One of his children and one of mine 
would marry!" He smiled proudly.

"An arranged marriage?" Akane seemed rather.. unhappy about 
the idea.

"Er.. yes. But you don't have to worry about it because 
Nabiki and Ranma are going to take care of it. But getting back to 
how they actually met.. let's see. It must have been about  eleven 
years ago, right after Nabiki's first ki- er.. cat."

"Nabiki had a cat?! I don't remember that."

Soun coughed uncomfortably. "Small orange one.. died a week 
after we got it, you were young probably wouldn't remember..."

"Oh." Akane frowned. She never got a pet.

"Well me and Saotome introduced the two and it was love at 
first sight!"

"Really?"

"No. Actually Ranma pinned Nabiki her to the 
ground, declared his victory and walked away."

Akane was shocked. "You let him do that?"

Soun shrugged. "It happened fast. Apparently Ranma thought it 
was a fighting contest." He laughed. Those were the good days... or 
at least the better days. "But Nabiki got him back good. She cast a 
fir- mud ball right in his face."

"Threw." Akane corrected. Soun stared blankly. "She threw a 
mud ball, not cast."

"Er.. right. Nothing else really happened after that and we 
each left. Every couple of weeks we would bring the two to play 
together and when Nabiki got old enough to take a cab she started 
going on her own."

Akane smiled. That could be a heck of a romance story if Dad 
would go into more detail. She wondered if Nabiki would tell her 
about their first kiss. "Why didn't he ever come over to our house?"

Soun big sweated. How to explain this way around this 
one? "Umm Ranma was on a training mission. Usually he was so far away 
they had to meet at a halfway point to get any reasonable amount of 
time together."

"Training? What kind of training?"

"Martial arts! Saotome Anything Goes School of Martial Arts."

"Like ours!" Akane smiled as she wondered how good he was.

Soun took this as his que to leave before he got himself in 
trouble. "Well I'd love to talk more but I have an important meeting. 
Why don't you ask Nabiki about it?" He stood and left the house.


After breakfast Akane approached Ranma, who was watching the 
TV. "Dad told me you know martial arts.."

Ranma looked up from the news and grinned. "I know a little 
bit." Nabiki, drinking from glass of orange juice, choked as she 
tried to laugh.

"I was wondering if you'd wanna spar?" She already had her gi 
on and was hoping for a good round.

Ranma smiled and stood up. "Sure, why not?" The two headed 
out towards the dojo.

"Father asked me to give these to you Nabiki." Kasumi handed 
her two manila envelopes.

"Ahh, the jobs have arrived. Thank you." Nabiki set down the 
juice and opened the envelope with her name on it.


Akane was breathing heavily as she stood back and glared at 
the man in front of her. She hadn't landed a single hit yet, but had 
been hit plenty of times. She had the bruises to prove it. "What kind 
of training did you do?" She finally gasped out.

Ranma grinned irritatingly in response. "You're not bad 
Akane. If you work on your speed and technique a little more you'd be 
even better."

She muttered something incoherent and was about to call it 
quits when Nabiki saved her the trouble. "Mind if I borrow Ranma for 
a minute?" She called from the doorway. Akane nodded and sat down 
against the wall.

"You didn't embarrass her too much did you Ranma?" Nabiki 
asked him as they walked back to the house.

"I tried not to. I didn't let her land anything, but I made 
it seem like she almost hit me a couple times." Ranma opened the door 
for Nabiki and the two walked in.

"Good enough. New jobs arrived." She grabbed the envelope 
with his name on it and passed it to him.

Ranma grimaced. "Hope they didn't hear about the gym incident 
before they assigned it." Not they would do anything serious. It was 
just when the council got annoyed they often gave boring and time 
consuming jobs. Ranma sighed and opened it.

"Well yours has to be better then what I got. Apparently the 
emperor wants another of his mistresses dead." Nabiki sniffed 
indignantly. "And of course they assign me to it. I can understand 
him not wanting the job botched, but you'd think he could use a less 
valuable person. My time could be spent in SO many better way.." 
Ranma groaned, getting Nabiki's attention. "What is it?"

"Two hours? Damnit! This sucks." Ranma continued complaining 
about how unfair life was.

Sighing Nabiki took the packet of papers from his hands and 
began to flip through them. "Hmm... Rape job? When did you start 
getting these?"

Ranma shrugged. "A couple months after I turned fifteen. I 
don't care that much but geeze! Two hours?!"

"We've taken longer Ranma... She's pretty. That has to help a 
bit." Nabiki looked at the photo. Not beautiful, but pretty.

Ranma sighed and sat down on the couch. "She's under guard 
twenty-four hours a day, always has at least one other person in the 
room with her, and I'm not allowed to kill anybody but her. Getting 
her alone for two hours is going to be nearly impossible."

Nabiki worked her way through the packet of papers, verifying 
what Ranma had said. "Your best shot would be when she goes to bed. 
The guards are on five hour shifts and the two  outside the door are 
there all night. Hmm.. you could probably get in through the window-"

"And use pressure points to knock the guard unconscious, but 
that would still leave the two guards outside the door. Even if I 
manage to keep the girl from screaming a lot of noise would be made 
when I got started." Ranma sighed. Why couldn't he just kill her? 
Nice and simple. He had to kill her when he finished anyhow.

"I could come with you and cast a sound barrier around the 
room." Nabiki offered.

Ranma frowned. "I don't know..." He didn't like to have to 
resort to magic. It felt like cheating.

"Ranma..." Nabiki said dangerously.

"Okay, okay... let's do it tonight though." Nabiki always 
got 'touchy' when he refused to let her help.

"See? Was that so hard?" Nabiki sat on Ranma's lap, body 
facing his. "So. Who was she?"

"Who?"

"Your first rape job."

"Ukyo Kounji." Ranma replied with a smile.

"Ukyo?" That name sounded familiar. "Didn't you know somebody 
named Ukyo when you were little?"

"Yeah. Same person actually. She grew up to be a great cook 
too."

"What did she do?"

He rolled his eyes. "Walked into some government meeting or 
something. Supposedly heard a state secret."

Nabiki readjusted herself on his lap. "Supposedly?"

"Yeah. I hung out with her for a little while and caught up 
with old times before I got on with the job. Turned out the only 
thing she heard was the tax increase." Ranma smiled at Nabiki. "You 
would have liked her Nabi-chan. Good personality, intelligent, great 
body."

"Watch it you, I'm getting jealous." She poked him in the 
chest.

"They gave me a week to get the job done so I hung around 
with her. It was nice. We talked about how things used to be, went to 
movies.. almost had as much fun with her as I do with you." Nabiki 
was watching him avidly. It was rare for Ranma to get like this. "The 
last day we were alone in her apartment. I applied my usual charm.. 
hey don't give me that look. You've fallen for it too." Nabiki stuck 
her tongue out at him playfully and he continued. "Anyhow, we romped 
around for a little while then she fell asleep. Her hair was fanned 
out on the pillow, and she had this cute little smile on her face.. I 
used pressure points so she didn't feel a thing and left her like 
that." Ranma leaned his head back against the couch. "It was one of 
the best times of my life..."

Nabiki put her hands on his face and pulled him in for a 
kiss. "I didn't know you had a romantic bone in your body!" She had 
that gentle smile on her face. Ranma laughed and kissed her back.

Kasumi tried hard to keep her breakfast down. He was a 
monster! Nabiki thought that was romantic? Face tinged slightly green 
Kasumi went about preparing dinner.



Ranma looked up as the door opened. Soun stepped through 
followed by a large figure in a business suit. "Hey Pop! What's with 
the suit?"

Genma looked over at his son. "Your mother wanted a night on 
the town." He sighed and pulled uncomfortably at the tie.

"She here?"

"No. She went back to the house, I thought I might as well 
stop by. Hi Nabiki." This to the figure who walked downstairs.

"Hey Pop." She replied easily.

Soun looked curiously at Genma who shrugged. "She's been 
calling me that ever since she found out she was Ranma's fiancee." 
Genma drew back his arm. "Catch!" He threw a small vial to Nabiki.

Nabiki easily caught it. She looked at it then smiled 
happily. "My Shadow!"

Ranma jumped up from the couch. "Great! Let's go see!" The 
two ran outside to get a bucket of water.

Soun motioned for Genma to take a seat at the shogi 
table. "When did you drop by Jusenkyo?"

Genma sat, careful not to rip his suit. "A couple months ago. 
I just never got around to giving her it."

Soun laughed as he set the pieces up. "Don't tell her that. 
She's been waiting for it ever since her sixteenth birthday."

"Nabiki's record was updated."

Soun paused. "What's her standing?"

"She's fifth, Ranma's fourth." Genma sighed. "The only people 
above them are decrepit old men. They're going to beat their records 
too though. It's only a matter of time."

"Yes. We trained them well...." Soun's voice wasn't prideful.

"Maybe too well." Genma moved a piece. "I always wanted Ranma 
to be the best...  but now that he is I wonder if.. if.." He faltered.

"I know friend. I know. I often wonder the same thing about 
Nabiki." Soun took a deep breath. "Were we ever like that Saotome? So 
blood thirsty, uncaring? Kami-sama, what would Kimiko say if she saw 
Nabiki now?"

"She'd understand. She knew what she was getting into when 
she married you. Just as Nadoka did." Genma took off a pair of silver 
framed glasses and wiped them with the sleeve of his suit. "I see a 
lot of Grandfather in Ranma. If that's good or bad I don't know. He 
was the best of his time, but he was also uncontrollable. Completely 
uncontrollable." Soun said nothing. "You heard about the incident at 
the school right?"

"The students in the gym? Yes, I did."

"That's how Grandfather was. You didn't anger him, you didn't 
speak to him wrong, you didn't insult him. Because if you did, you 
were dead. And Ranma is more powerful then Grandfather ever was."

Soun knew how Genma was feeling. He had felt the same way 
several years ago. "You're retiring aren't you?"

Genma sighed, then nodded. "I can't do it anymore. I'm tired 
of this lifestyle.. the killing..." He put his glasses back 
on. "Besides, Ranma has shown that he's more then capable of handling 
the duties. I did my time, now I just want to grow old in peace."

Soun nodded. "I know exactly what you mean." The sound of 
laughter was heard then the door opened. Standing in the entryway was 
an incredibly beautiful woman. Her skin was so pale as to appear 
white, a cream color. Her sparkling blue eyes were framed by blond 
hair that was cropped short, brushing against the base of her neck.

"Well Daddy, what do you think?" The woman asked.

"N-Nabiki?"

The angelic woman giggled. "Yup!" She stretched her arms 
out. "It's incredible... I can feel everything..." Closing her eyes, 
she lifted her face upwards. Her blond hair swept back, revealing 
long pointed ears. She smiled as she felt somebody walk through the 
door behind her. "So you finally caught up."

Ranma nodded, slightly winded. "Fast."

Nabiki felt giddy. Everything was new. The feeling of 
everything, even the air. She could hear her fiancee's heart beat, 
she could smell him. All her senses were magnified. The currents of 
magic which had only been discernible in deepest concentration now 
appeared highlighted to her eyes. Nabiki turned to Ranma and tasted 
him.

Ranma was caught by surprise as Nabiki gave him a rather 
passionate kiss. It took him  a moment to readjust to the height 
difference. She was still shorter then him, but not by much. Ranma 
moved to break away, but Nabiki pressed forward, continuing the kiss. 
Ranma wasn't sure what she was doing, but the only thing that kept 
his hormones under control was the fact that both their fathers were 
in the room. Putting his hands on her shoulder's Ranma gently broke 
away. Nabiki looked at him with hurt eyes and made a small noise of 
dissatisfaction. "I think you need this more then I do." Ranma pulled 
a small flask out from behind his back and poured the contents over 
Nabiki. Her body blurred slightly and cleared into her natural form.

Nabiki winced as her senses changed. She felt the giddiness 
slip away and her normal thought process reestablish itself. "Oww..." 
She put a hand to her head.

"You okay Nabi-chan?" Ranma moved close to support her.

"Yeah." Nabiki shook her head to clear it.



"You sure you're up to this?" Ranma asked, pausing outside of 
a large estate.

Nabiki sighed. "Ranma. If you ask me that one more time I'm 
gonna get very angry." She softened at the concerned look in his 
eyes. Reaching out she grabbed ahold of his hand. "Look Ranchan. I'm 
fine, I just wanna get this over with so we can go home and get 
some... sleep." Actually she didn't want sleep, she wanted some cold 
water and her fiancee.

Ranma nodded at her and leapt up onto the second story 
balcony. Even as Ranma's feet started to land he saw the guard's eyes 
open in surprise and a handgun raise to shoot. Ranma's feet touched 
the ground, the guard's finger tightened around the trigger. Then 
Ranma was there. Shoving his thumb behind the trigger to keep it from 
firing, Ranma grabbed the man's throat tightly, not allowing any air 
to pass through. He stood there and held him as Nabiki leapt up onto 
the balcony behind him.

"I thought you were going to use pressure points?" She 
whispered to him.

Ranma shook his head. "More fun this way." The guard 
collapsed, unconscious. Seemed the information was a bit off, the 
guard should have been inside the room with the girl. Ranma put a 
hand to the guard's throat and tapped just below the jugular. "He 
should be out for six hours." He turned around. There was glass door, 
through it he could see an expensive looking bed and beyond that 
another door leading into the hall. Ranma walked to the glass window 
and placed a hand on the doorknob. The doorknob started to glow a red 
color, then melted away. Ranma glanced at Nabiki to make sure she was 
ready then shoved open the door.

Nabiki spread her hands wide and a blue glow spread across 
the walls of the room. "See? Easy."

Not responding Ranma walked over to the lavish bed and looked 
at the girl. About sixteen, he judged. Thick black hair that ran all 
the way down her back. Pretty. "Hey, wake up." He shook the girl.

"Ungh. Go way.... Tired." She mumbled sleepily.

"Too bad." Ranma grabbed her arm and pulled her savagely from 
the bed. The girl screamed in surprise and pain then looked up at 
Ranma.

"Who are you!? You're not one of the guards!" Her voice was 
frightened, coming in quick breaths.

"Correct." Ranma grabbed the top of her nightgown and pulled 
down, ripping it open.

"What are you doing?! HELP!!" The girl cried out desperately.

"Shhh..." Ranma grabbed her wrists in one hand and held them 
over her head, pinning her body to the floor with his. Nabiki's eyes 
watched intently.


Nearing the end of the two hours Nabiki's eyes strayed from 
the sobbing girl to the room. She had noticed it when she entered the 
room, although hadn't thought of using it. Smiling Nabiki picked up a 
glass of water from the girl's nightstand and dumped it over herself.

Ranma flipped the girl onto her stomach and put his knee in 
her back. Reaching down he put his hand under her chin and pulled up. 
With a loud tearing noise the head came loose from the body. Yawning, 
Ranma stood and turned around, only to come face to face with a very 
wet, and very naked Nabiki. With a small noise of pleasure she 
tackled him onto the bed. Ranma laughed and kissed his fiancee. "You 
get turned on by the weirdest things Nabiki-chan.." Tired of talking 
Nabiki drew Ranma into another open mouthed kiss.

They were long gone by the time the corpse was found.