Shadow Reality, Chapter 3 "Is all well?" "Very well, the preparations have begun. Now it is just a matter of time." "Good. What about the.. anomaly?" "Ahh her? I'm afraid that's out of our hands. With the right steps it may turn to our advantage however." "Oh?" "I'll explain it later, the air itself has ears." "Yes, I realize that all too well." A pause. "Do you ever find our cause ironic?" "In what way? Fire is fought with fire, is it not?" "Perhaps. But is decay combated with decay?" "........ I've never been a philosopher. Very few like us have such a luxury. To fight decay with decay? Perhaps it's not right. But right or not, we shall stop the reapers. Good luck my friend." "And to you as well, death to Us." **** "Sara-chan?" Akane turned over in bed, looking down at the futon on her floor. Akane had been introduced to Sara a week ago, apparently she was one of Dad's friend's daughters who needed a place to stay for a bit. Akane liked her... even if she was odd at times. "Yes?" Sara sat up, looking directly at Akane. Akane sighed. "I asked you to stop that. You can be comfortable and listen at the same time, it's not like I'm a higher life form who deserves that kind of respect." Sara hesitated then lay back down, giving the white cloth about her eyes a tug to make sure it was tight. Akane smiled "Better." She paused, recalling what she had been saying beforehand. Oh yeah. "What do you think of Ranma?" "Ranma-sam... san?" Must not use sama, Nabiki-sama said so. "Yeah." Akane wouldn't have been able to talk with anybody else like this. As it was she was blushing furiously. Sara said nothing for a moment, gathering her thoughts. "He's very powerful." The love-struck girl remained silent, waiting for more. She waited in vain. "That's it? Just powerful?" "Powerful... and frightening." Akane sighed. Why was it that so many of her friends thought that? "What makes him so scary?" "The darkness. There's a darkness to him." "I don't understand it!" Akane said exasperatingly. That was nearly the same thing some of her friends had said. She looked down at the girl on her floor. "Sara-chan, I'm going to tell you something. But you have to promise not to tell anybody." Sara nodded. She was good at keeping secrets. "I think I'm falling in love with Ranma." Shock. No, that couldn't be. Normal people shouldn't, couldn't fall in love with Them. Only They could love Them. "I know he and my sister are engaged, but I can't help it. He's just so... mysterious. He never says a lot unless Nabiki is around, and he's always so aloof and cool. He's the best martial artist I've ever seen and Kami-sama he's gorgeous. Have you ever seen him without his shirt? When he trains me sometimes he..." Sara listened to her friend despairingly. It was an idolization, not love. Sara knew next to nothing about relationships, but she had enough common sense to know that Akane was abominably wrong to even think of loving one such as him. Akane finished her ramble with a sigh. "Haven't you ever felt that way about someone? Fallen in love like that?" Love? If she spoke of physical love, then Sara had plenty of experience. Many of Them had taken a liking to her body and had her in such a way. Her first master was very gentle, in that area alone however, and he had taken her virginity in such a way that it hadn't hurt much and she had even been able to enjoy it somewhat. The mistress she had been given to next was a much different story. Sara looked at her body. Originally she had thought they had done it to her out of boredom or cruelty, but if what Hiroshi said was true then it was because of an attraction to her. Why hadn't she been born ugly? "Sara?" Akane asked, reminding her of the question. "No. I have never been in love." "Aw come on!" Akane sat up, the pale moonlight illuminating her yellow pajamas. "You have to have fallen in love at least once. Or maybe just a little crush?" Sara shook her head again. She had lived around Them all her life. She would never be able to love one whose soul was so dark. "Oh really? Then what about Hiroshi, huh?" Akane smiled slyly. "You don't invite him to over to study every day just because you like to study do you?" Sara blushed. While it was true she had no choice but to help him learn how to use his power, she was also beginning to grow attached to him. What little, pain filled glimpses of his mind she managed to get revealed that he was just as kind inside as he was on the outside. He was the first human her age that was not like Them. Well, him and Akane that is. "I mean you even lock the door when you study. Which tells me there has to be something going on between you two." Akane waited for some kind of response. When none came she sighed and lay back down. "Well in any case, I think you should go for it." Sara finally fell asleep an hour later. Kasumi was in the kitchen as usual. Humming a soft tune she quickly prepared her own breakfast. Basically it was a bit of what she would make for everyone else, but seasoned to her own personal taste. After eating she washed the dishes she had used and set aside the family's breakfast and took the moment for herself, gazing out the window. It was going to be a beautiful day. There wasn't a cloud in site, pure blue sky. Walking to the door she let herself outside, sitting down and leaning against the wall of the house. She sat with her legs stretched out for a moment, then feeling slightly uncomfortable drew her knees to her chest (making sure her dress remained decent of course). After a short period of time a bird landed in the yard about five meters from Kasumi. She smiled. Birds were such simple pleasures. They never asked much, yet gave their pretty music freely to the world. Kasumi whistled softly, splicing it with a bit of magic. The bird cocked it's head at her. "Come little one, I won't hurt you." She held out her hand, palm up. It twittered a bit, then jumped off the ground and flew onto the offered platform. Kasumi smiled and ran a gentle finger over it's head. Birds didn't seem to enjoy being petted, but they didn't seem to take offense either. She watched the small bird hop around on her palm for a moment then reached into her apron pouch. "Hungry?" She poured a bit of seed in her hand. The bird chirped happily and helped itself to the meal. "What is this? Using magic for such small things. For shame Kasumi Tendo." A man's voice said to Kasumi's left. The bird looked at the stranger in alarm and flew off. Kasumi sighed and looked at the man. "Hello Kojiro. How are you?" She stood up. "That's not a happy voice Kasumi-chan." The man was tall, moreso then Ranma, with dark brown hair. He was dressed, badly at that, in a tuxedo with a black bowtie. He also had the privilege of being the only person Kasumi truly hated. "You should be more pleased to see me. I am after all going to be the future leader." With a flourish he swept his hand out at the sky and pulled his bottom three fingers back, making his hand vaguely resemble a gun. "Bye, bye birdie." A small blue ball of energy shot from his hand at the distant form of a bird. Kasumi frowned and managed to push the ball off course after a brief chant. "Now why did you do that? The aim was perfect, don't you think?" He looked at her with a giant smile. "I'm not impressed." Kasumi's tone was somewhat unkind. Kojiro scowled. "You know Kasumi, I've been kind to you. I've treated you like an equal, even though you're just a leftover, not even one who received the Tendo heritage. I try and send you flowers, you send them back. I give you diamonds, you send them back. You and your whole damn family should be grateful I'm showing any interest in you at all." He took a step towards her threateningly. "My brother is 18th in the line of succession, while the Saotomes and you Tendos aren't even in it. A marriage between the Tendo's and my family would-" "Destroy us." Kasumi finished for him. He sighed as if bothered by a child. "Now, now, Kasumi-chan. There you go again. Don't you understand how good I could be for you? How good I could be _to_ you?" he reached forward to touch her but had his hand slapped away. "You would dare?!" Kasumi said angrily, starting to lose her control. "Would I dare you ask? And why wouldn't I?" He grabbed her arms roughly. "Don't forget your place Castoff! You were only taught the bare minimum, it is only your sister with true skill. You are an E level magic user, and not even enough fighting skill to rank. Do you know what I am?" Kasumi's eyes blazed. "If you do anything my sister will kill you." Suddenly Kojiro jerked his head towards the sky. At what he was looking Kasumi couldn't tell. "Such power... How could a mongrel posses such power...?" Seeming to remember himself he turned back to Kasumi. "I'm not afraid of that slut, she knows her place. I'm the child of our leader do you think he would allow such a thing?" He laughed. "You Tendo's are all alike, you wouldn't disobey an order, let alone kill one of Us." Kasumi headbutted him. In shock he released her, raising a hand to wipe at a small trickle of blood. "Your sister is sleeping with the a mongrel Saotome, one who is too powerful for his own good, one with illusions of grandeur. He may think he has the position of the future leader secured. He is wrong though, I will be that leader." Kojiro gave a self satisfied laugh before continuing. "But the mongrels do have very interesting skills and powers, ones which when combined with the refined magic of the Tendos would make both clans into the most powerful in Japan. Do you truly think the other clans will stand for it? I mean to have you one way or another Kasumi, come to me willingly while you can." He held out two manila envelopes. "For the Slut and the Mongrel. I had decided to bring them myself instead of them being sent the usual way." Faster then Kasumi could react he cast a holding spell on her. "And it wasn't a wasted trip." He kissed her harshly and left. There was silence as Kasumi stood in the spell's grip. She wanted to spit, she wanted to punch, she wanted to scream. Anything would be better then being like this. After several minutes the world shimmered briefly. "Kasumi?!" Nabiki seemed to materialize on the lawn. Moving swiftly Nabiki ran to her broke the spell. "Who did this?" Kasumi spit several times before answering. "Kojiro." There was disgust in her voice. Nabiki's eyes flashed "He didn't..?" She looked at her sister worriedly. "No. Just a kiss." Nabiki swore. "He was using a simple illusion spell. I should have been able to sense it. Why couldn't I?" Nabiki was a class A mage.... and then some. She was without contest the most talented mage alive, a practitioner of the Tendo Anything Goes Mystic Arts. There should be no way such a simple spell could escape her notice. "The council is going to hear about this.." Kasumi blinked. She was forgetting something, something important. Kojiro had been talking about something.. the other clans not standing for it... standing for what? It was gone. Kasumi put a hand to her head. "You okay sis?" "Yeah, I just can't think straight right now." Nabiki put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, the council will punish him. He won't ever try a stunt like this again." "And if the council fails," Ranma hopped off the roof, "there's always me. You okay? I came as soon as I felt your ki." Kasumi nodded. That's right. Ranma hadn't felt her ki. A simple illusion spell couldn't possibly hide ki.. something strange was going on. Nabiki hated it when things were happening that she didn't know about. Kasumi gazed into the distance sightlessly. Things had been said by Kojiro, things she should needed to talk about... weren't there? She could have been sure he had said something... maybe it was just her imagination. "Oh my! I should go finish cooking-" "Sara-chan's got it Kasumi, just go ahead and relax we'll get you when it's ready." Nabiki smiled at her sister then went inside to do some quick researching before school. She would find out why she didn't sense the spell. Ranma stayed a moment after. When Nabiki was gone turned to Kasumi. Clenching his ki tightly he slowly began to turn a bright blue color. "Kasumi, when I'm like this even the Gurus don't know what I'm doing. It's a secret technique and one not used lightly. Is there anything Kojiro said that you haven't told us?" Kasumi shook off her amazement. "No.... I mean I had thought there was something, but now I'm not sure..." Ranma nodded firmly. "Okay then. If you remember anything, let me know." Ranma had to hurry, it was nearly impossible to maintain the 'cloak'. "One more thing Kasumi. Do you want me to kill Kojiro?" "You couldn't! You'd be in serious trouble." "I have my ways to avoid that, besides the council wouldn't dare go up against me. Just answer the question. Do you want me to kill him?" Kasumi sighed and looked away. "No. He's a horrible person, and I want him to suffer.. but to want him dead would forsake everything I value." Ranma nodded again and the blue faded away. "Kasumi, I looked as hard as I could for you this morning. I tried everything I could think of, but it wasn't enough." He clenched his fist tightly. After a moment he slowly released it and set it on her shoulder. "Even though Nabiki and I aren't married officially, I still consider you family. As long as you are loyal to Nabiki, I will protect you like I would her. If anybody ever hurts you again Kasumi, I'll kill them." It had to be the most harsh and death filled possible way to say you cared about somebody, but to Kasumi it was still touching. She moved forward and hugged him, then pecked him lightly on the cheek. "Thank you big brother Ranma." Ranma grinned. Even though she was older by age it just seemed right to be called big brother. "Well I've done my good deed for the decade." He put his hands behind his head and started walking towards the door. "Food should be about finished." He called before entering the house. "I brought you some food." Mousse said softly, setting a small plate beside the poorly built bed. It had taken him several days to get used to the rocking motion of the ship, but now it was second nature. Shampoo muttered something about not needing anyone's help and weakly pushed at Mousse. "I know you don't. I'll leave the food there." Shampoo watched as he left, waiting until the door had closed to speak. "Thank you." With a small grunt of effort she sat up. Outwardly she appeared healthy, better then ever in fact. She moved gracefully, her senses were heightened, she could even see in the dark. Inwardly however she was much worse off. The demonesses who resided within her battled restlessly against each other, and her will. Worse yet one of them had already bonded with all but one of the other consciousnesses. When the final one was bonded there would be a battle for control of her body. "I'm sorry, but I really do want to be free. If you would only give me control once a month I would be more then willing to leave you be." Kitara, the strongest demoness, said within Shampoo's mind. "Never." Shampoo said feverently. "You would kill and destroy all you could before I regained control." "Yes, it's true. I would. But you would never be thought the cause." She laughed throatily. "I might even find myself a man for a night or two." Shampoo's lip curled disdainfully. "You would sleep with a man to merely satisfy the longings of the body? It shames all amazons that you were once among us." The body of an amazon was a precious gift which she only shared with her husband to show that she truly did love him. To lie with a man out of wedlock was an atrocity of the highest order. The demoness laughed again. "Oh to be able to think as you do. Would you like to know why I was imprisoned? Why they let my soul rot in that world of nothingness until I became what you so detest now? I am like this because I loved a man. I loved him more then anything, more then life itself. He was an outsider however and was not nearly strong enough to defeat me in combat. So instead I had to get permission from the elders, which they hesitantly granted. We were wed quietly as that my friends couldn't understand how I could love such a weak man. Only one showed up for the wedding." Shampoo made no motion to interrupt her. It was a peaceful moment of conversation, no struggling involved. She would take every such moment offered. "He was a religious man. According to his god, men were above the women. Not how you might think though, we always treated each other equally and never once did he try to take advantage of me or force his way. He said that although he was higher then me, he would die if I were to leave him. I didn't believe in his religion, but it never truly became a trouble between the two of us. We lived happily. One day however, he was overheard talking of his religion to one of his friends. The matriarchs were appalled. He was executed before I even knew what was happening. The matriarchs whispered among them selves about it. Such a religion could collapse the whole amazon way of life. The overly weak willed men would fall under it in an instance and rebel against the women, destroying the peace of the women..." The demoness laughed mockingly. "Idiots. They didn't understand that all the men had mocked him for his beliefs. Every village male was content to live his life as it was. They cared not if the females held the higher status, they were treated fairly and loved their wives. All he received for his faith was pain. But the fear the matriarchs held grew quickly, fanned by old superstitions which have long sense died. In the end however, it was decided that I was a threat to the tribe who would eventually bring it's downfall. After all, if my husband believed such a thing then I had to too right?" She scoffed. "Bitches. Well that's my story and you know the rest. My soul lay in the void for thousands of years until I slowly changed, become subverted by the evil presences which surround the nothingness." Her voice changed slightly, becoming curious. "Did you know that? The void is surrounded by demons the likes of which are only mentioned in legends. I think the creators of the void understood this. Over the years the evil perverts the trapped souls, reforming them into demonic souls." "We would never do such a thing!" Shampoo said angrily, defending the pride of the amazons. "What reason would I have to lie to you? What purpose would it serve?" Shampoo frowned. "It may be true that you were unjustly punished, but such things happen while attempting to fight for the greater good." "Yes, I suppose they do. When I was alive I may have thought otherwise, but I'm afraid I have grown cynical in my 'evilness'." Shampoo ignored her. "But no amazon would ever create such a place intentionally!" Kitara giggled, the sound unnerving Shampoo. Giggles came from children, not from evil demons. Or demonesses for that matter. "But they would create a place where souls could be trapped for all eternity? Please Shampoo-chan, you are a precious little girl but your naivete really ruins all illusions of intelligence." Shampoo shook her head. "I don't believe you. I was told you would try to trick me, to fool me." "Trying to trick and fool you would involve being meek and acting like your friend. Right now I have you suspicious of me, how is that a trick?" "Your doing this to trick me into thinking your not tricking me!" Shampoo screamed, holding her hands to her ears as if to stop the voice. "To hell with you girl." Kitara snarled. "Although I have none of my humanity left I still have mercy, believe me there is a difference between the two. I have done my best to show you the truth but you insist on closing your eyes. Be prepared, for when I finally overcome your consciousness you shall sit in this body as I do now. I was willing to share it, but you refused that offer." One of Shampoo's hands lifted against her will and gently caressed her face. Shampoo gasped and re-asserted her will, pulling the hand away. "This beautiful body shall be mine. Within it I will find a mate whose darkness can match my own. Together we will kill and destroy everything we can until we are sent back into hell where we may be among our own kind." Shivering, Shampoo set aside the food and lay back down. Pulling the blankets tight around her she softly cried herself to sleep. Ranma and Nabiki sat side with their backs to the tree. It was lunch and they were reviewing the jobs. "Kojiro should have given us these, not left them lying on the ground." Ranma muttered as he opened his packet. Nabiki shrugged. "Well at least this way I didn't have to see the bastard. After what he did to Kasumi though I wish he had shown himself." "I got eight, how about you?" "Ten." Nabiki took a bite of food before starting to read them. "Hmm.. Three old men, two thefts, one poisoning, a guard job, and one building." Ranma grinned. He liked the destruction jobs, especially when they were big. It gave him a chance to show off. "Are you going to be okay?" Nabiki set down looked at him closely. "You let off a lot of power this morning," there was an awe in her voice, "I've never seen anything like it before." "I'll be fine, I've still got enough left in me to take out a couple class A's. I'll be back up to full strength by the end of this week." "That long?" Nabiki was shocked. "Yeah, even as quick as I regain energy it's going to take a lot of time to store all that back up again. You should have seen me after I fought Cologne. I spent a whole week barely able to fight a level C fighter." "Cologne?" "That amazon matriarch I fought." Nabiki gave him one last concerned look then went back to scanning the new jobs. Akane sighed. "Akane!" "Huh?" She turned away from the tree and looked at her friend. "You gotta get over him, he's marrying your sister for crying out loud." Yuka scolded the love-struck girl. "I don't know what you're talking about." Akane said quickly, trying to hide her blush by inspecting her dress. "Uh-huh, sure Akane." The girl across from her said disbelievingly. "Look, it's obvious enough. Everybody in school knows you've got the hots for him.... of course your not the only one, but your going to be his sister-in-law which just makes things wrong." A blonde shook her head. "I just don't get it. That guys worse then Gosenkugi." "What? How could you compare Ranma to Gosenkugi?" Akane demanded. Yuka blinked. "Who's Gosenkugi?" Akane sighed. "You wouldn't know him, nobody does. I only know him because he was following me around and taking pictures of me for a couple years. He's a real scrawny guy with dark circles under his eyes, kinda creepy." "That's what I'm talking about!" The blonde spoke up again. "Ranma's kinda like that, except worse. Gusenkugi's a harmless kinda cute creepy. Ranma's just plain scary." This started a rather loud argument which lasted until the end of lunch. Hiroshi yawned quietly. He had finished the test five minutes ago, and the rest of the class was starting to finish up. He was usually good at history, but ever since Sara had been teaching him about his power he had developed a photographic memory. Which really helped with these tests. He carefully watched the teacher, trying to do as Sara had shown him and pick up feelings. A lot of paranoia. He tried harder, attempting to pick up any stray thoughts. Sara said that on a very rare occasion she could read other people's thoughts, Hiroshi however that he could almost always do it. He could never read that deeply into them, but he thought he was making progress. Suddenly a man in a business suit came running up and put a little magnifying on his desk, then ran back out the door. Hiroshi groaned and picked it up. It was the principal's "secret call". The teacher nodded his permission to go and Hiroshi headed to the eccentric principal's office. About twelve years ago the Principal Kuno's wife had fallen down the stairs and died. It had been a tragedy to be sure, the Kuno's were of some nobility and were loved by the community. Mr. Kuno had gone a bit overboard though. Convinced that "secret agent assassins" had been sent to assassinate his wife he started to dress up in what he though qualified as secret agent clothing and attempting to sneak around everywhere. Attempt was the main word. The poor guy was a joke now, only maintaining his position as principal because of his family heritage. He and the history teacher got along well enough. Between his paranoid theories and the principal's money the two had managed to cause an incredible amount of trouble. To his knowledge both men had collected no less then fifty restraining orders from "tracking down clues". Hiroshi's stopped his wandering thoughts as he reached the door to the principal's office. He took a deep breath and opened the door. "Ahh Hiroshi, how are you!" The room was completely dark save for a single lamp shinning directly in Hiroshi's eyes. It took him a moment to see the man sitting behind the desk. "Hi Pr-" "Shh!" Interrupted the principal putting a finger to his lips. "Don't say my name!" He glanced around the room suspiciously. "They're everywhere." He glanced around again, then looked at Hiroshi as if he had done something wrong. "Sit, sit! Why are you standing there? You plan to shoot me and run away?" "What? No, of course not." The principal smiled. "Ahh, good. Sit then." Hiroshi sat down in a chair placed in front of the desk. "Good." Still glancing suspiciously around he reached inside his desk and took out a radio and a large tablet of paper. He set the tablet on the desk between him and Hiroshi, then handed a large black marker to him. "What's this for?" Hiroshi looked at the pen curiously. "Shh! This room may be bugged! They're everywhere you know. I had to disconnect the phone because I heard static on it. Static is just a cover you know, that's really them listening. He held up the phone. "Um.. Isn't that a cellular phone...?" "No more talking!" He put something in his ears then plugged the radio into the wall and switched it on. A loud screeching sound filled the room, so loud Hiroshi thought his ears would burst. Taking his own black marker out the principal wrote on the paper. "This way they can't hear us." Hiroshi read. Still covering his ears with his hands he nodded that he understood. This had to be one of the strangest experiences in his life.... well, maybe not. "Genius isn't it?" The older man continued scribbling on the paper. "Your history teacher and I developed it a week ago. And since I'm using ear plugs, the noise doesn't even hurt. We just thought of the ear plugs yesterday." Ear plugs? Hiroshi removed his hands from his head to frantically write a response. "Can I have a pair?" The principal looked at him suspiciously then wrote on the paper. "You trying to steal my ear plugs?" Hiroshi shook his head. "Good." The word came out half written, apparently the ink was beginning to run out. He looked at the ink in horror then threw the pen across the room and dove under the desk. After a minute the principal popped his head up, then sat back into his seat. Reaching into a drawer he took another pen out. "Can't be too careful. Sometimes they kill people with exploding pens." He nodded sagely then continued to write. "They can only put a little bit of ink in because they need the rest of the room for explosives. You'll be sitting there and writing then the ink will run out and BOOM!" He double underlined the final word and put little explosions drawings around it. "You'll be dead as my poor wife." Hiroshi did his best to nod sympathetically. He had been in here how long? "Now for why I called you in here." Hiroshi straightened, watching the tablet closely. "I noticed you've been walking home with Nabiki Tendo." Hiroshi felt the blood drain from his face. Did he know what Nabiki really was? Did he think that he was one of them too? Hiroshi could see it now. The principal would find some kind of evidence on Nabiki and she would use poor him as a scapegoat. He was going to spend the rest of his life in prison! All because of some stupid paranoid principal. he would never see his friends again, his parents... Sara... It wasn't fair. His entire youth lost in an instant. It couldn't happen, not yet. He was still a virgin! He began to take his hands off his ears to make a pleading gesture to the heavens but immediately put them back on as the piercing noise returned. "I don't want you doing that anymore. She's gonna be my Tate-chan's wife." Hiroshi face-faulted. Risking his hearing he wrote on the paper. "I just go to her house to visit someone who's staying there." The principal appeared mollified, and Hiroshi continued writing. "Besides, she already has a fiancee." The principal turned off the radio and took out his earplugs. "What?! Tatewaki proposed to her." Hiroshi stared blankly and the principal repeated himself louder. "No." Hiroshi yelled, unable to judge how loud he was talking. He was left momentarily deaf by that damned noise. "She's Ranma-sama's wife." Ranma-sama? He was starting to pick up Sara's habits. "Who?" Hiroshi hadn't actually heard him say it, but he managed to guess the question. "Ranma Saotome, new student..." Why was he telling this paranoid freak about Ranma? Hiroshi could almost feel 'stupid' being stamped on his head. "Hmm.. I must talk to this.. Saotome." He looked at Hiroshi. "You see Tatewaki isn't so good with the women. Nabiki, she's the only one who really treats him good. But Tate's a good boy and thinks that she's just a good friend." The principal laughed loudly. "He's too naive for his own good, ne? I'm sure she's just getting engaged so my Tate will get jealous and propose to her." "But doesn't he like Akane more?" Hiroshi asked confusedly. The principal shrugged. "I think he only says that as a way to get to Nabiki." Hiroshi doubted that, but said nothing. His hearing was mostly back and he wanted to leave before the principal remembered that he turned the stupid thing off. "That's all. You can go back to class." Hiroshi nodded and hurriedly left. "Ranma." It was after school and she, Ranma, and Hiroshi were headed towards her house as usual. "Usually once every week I go out with Tatewaki." She paused attempting to read his face. "It's not like a real date or anything." She hurridly added. "It's just something we've been doing since we were little." There was no response for a moment, then Ranma smiled at her. "And tonight is going to be one of those times?" Nabiki nodded. "If you don't mind.." She loved Ranma every bit as much as he loved her. She would do anything for him. She would never speak to any of her friends again, she abandon her family, she would die for him. Her life meant nothing without him. "I thought about you and him some more." He paused as they reached the gates to the school "He's your friend isn't he?" Nabiki nodded, feeling optimistic about where he was headed but still somewhat worried. Ranma scratched his head and continued walking, leaving the gates behind him. "I shouldn't have gotten angry about it the first time. It was just..." He sighed. "I didn't think you would be willing to drop your guard like that around anybody you weren't in love with." Nabiki nearly jumped in happiness. Ranma was in sentimental mode! That was almost twice within a month! When he was like this he was always the most understanding and gentle.. Hiroshi began to say something to Nabiki but she clamped her hand down on his mouth. "Go away. Just wait ten minutes, then come to the house." She whispered quickly. The sight of another person would bring Ranma back to his normal cautious self. Hiroshi nodded and walked back towards the school. "But now I understand it." Ranma turned to look back at her. "He's to you what Fuko is to me." "Minus the sex." Nabiki added. Ranma let out a short laugh. "Yes, minus the sex." "So you don't mind then?" Ranma shook his head. "Not at all. Your mine Nabi-chan, and I know that you'll always be mine." Another woman may have been offended, but Nabiki didn't mind the possessiveness. Mainly because she belived it, she was his. Body and soul. She caught up with him and the two continued their trek home. "Your not quite right you know." She told Ranma. "Hmm?" "It's not really the same thing as you and Fuko. You would have married her if it weren't for me." Ranma opened his mouth but Nabiki shook her head firmly. "Don't deny it Ranma. You love her in your own way, I know that. But I also know that you love me more. That's the difference. I can't see marrying Tatewaki, even if you had never been born there would be no way to see him as anything more then a friend." Nabiki sighed and leaned against him. "I don't know what I would have done without you." She felt Ranma's posture change slightly and knew he was back to normal. "I have to leave tonight." "For what job?" "The poisoning and one of the thefts. It'll take me two days to get there and I only have three days to do it. The rest of the jobs are within a day of there, so I'll be gone about five days." "Okay." Ranma turned to her. "Geeze, I haven't even left and your making me feel guilty. Typical woman." Nabiki scowled at him. "What's that supposed to mean." He looked at her innocently. "I only speak the truth." Nabiki punched him in the arm and nearly broke her fist. Sara stood as she heard the door open. A moment later Nabiki and Ranma walked past her, headed towards their room. "Nabiki-sama?" Only happy feelings today? Sara nearly smiled. She didn't need to fear their minds at the moment. "Yes Sara-chan?" "Where's Hiroshi?" It was a little dangerous, but neither Ranma-sama nor Nabiki-sama seemed too strict with her asking questions. "He'll be here in a few minutes, don't worry. Is your report finished for the council?" Ranma whispered something to Nabiki and went upstairs. "Yes Nabiki-sama." The brunette nodded approvingly and turned to leave. "Nabiki-sama!" Sara called out again. Nabiki looked back over her shoulder at the girl. "About Hiroshi.. may I be with him if I choose to?" Nabiki raised an eyebrow. "Be with? Oh my Sara-chan, could it be your not quite as innocent as you act? Have you two been working on more then your abilities in that locked room?" Sara flushed bright red. "No Nabiki-sama." Nabiki laughed. "Sure Sara-chan, you can 'be with' Hiroshi all you want. But not during the lessons." Sara nodded. "And don't get yourself pregnant." Nabiki said firmly. "I assume you know the technique?" "No Nabiki-sama. I've never needed too. I've been barren since Mistress-" Sara nearly bit her tounge trying to stop speaking. She had almost revealed a name. "I've been barren since a mistress enjoyed my body." There was a flash of emotion across Nabiki's face and the intense feeling of anger. Sara went pale. She had said too much. She bowed her head and waited for her punishment. A hand touched her shoulder, causing her to flinch. "Sara-chan." Nabiki's voice was emotionless. "No woman should be stripped of the abilty to bear children. When the time comes the council will no doubt wish for you and Hiroshi to have children." She lifted Sara's face to meet her eyes. Sara flinched at the contact. Many of Nabiki's feelings poured into her, and even thoughts and memories. Sara could only manage such contact with another's mind in very rare occasions. But all that aside, Sara understood. "Thank you Nabiki-sama." There were tears in her eyes. Such a kindess had never been offered to her by any of Them, and Sara would be eternally greatful. Nabiki released Sara and stepped away. "Kami-sama, I've been hanging around Kasumi too long." She flicked her short hair then waved a finger at Sara. "Don't think this means anything. You have done well since you came here Sara, Hiroshi seems to be learning. But if you start to slack off, know that any pain you recieved before would be a mere pinprick to what I can do to you." Sara went pale and nodded. "I understand Nabiki-sama." Nabiki smiled her usual cold smile. "Good." She went upstairs. "Daddy." Nabiki walked into the main room. It was after dinner. Akane had returned from drama practice around five o'clock as per usual, Ranma had left, Sara and Hiroshi had finished today's lesson, and Nabiki was dressed and ready for her date with Kuno. Everything was well in hand, almost. "Yes Nabiki?" Soun looked up from the paper. "I haven't seen you around much lately." "I've been helping Genma build a dojo." He smiled. "Don't tell Ranma though, it's supposed to be a surprise." Nabiki accepted the news quietly, Ranma would be happy to learn about that when he got back. "Kojiro showed up this morning." Soun's face turned serious and he set down the paper. "What did he want." "Kasumi, as usual. He practically attacked her." Nabiki's eyes were cold. "What did he do?" Soun's voice was calm and Nabiki could feel his magic slowly rising, summoned by his anger. "Somehow using a simple illusion spell he masked both Kasmi's spiritual and ki signature. I couldn't even sense the spell." She sat down across from him at the table. "What's more is Ranma used an incredible amount of his energy trying to find her. I don't know what technique it was, but I got the impresion it could rip through just about any masking spell." Soun knew the technique. Genma had done it once. "Is that how you found her?" His voice was still calm, but Nabiki could hear the strain in it. "No. It didn't work." "Impossible." Soun said in disbelief. A thousand years of trying had failed to produce any mask spell which could stand up to that technique. "Impossible or not, it didn't work." Nabiki gazed at her father expressionlessly. "Only after he had left was I able to sense the illusion spell. After breaking it I found Kasumi captured by a holding spell. He had stolen a kiss." Soun sighed in relief. "So it was only a kiss?" Nabiki knew he was still angry, but the strain in his voice had left and his magic had receeded. "Only a kiss?" Nabiki's eyes flashed dangerously. "A Tendo has been assualted, no matter of seemingly trivial the matter it cannot be let go. We have stood too long for Kojiro's little games, this is the last straw. If nothing is done I will declare war on his clan." "You will do no such thing!" Soun was outraged. A clan war could be disasterous. "I can and I will." Nabiki's voice was still cold, as it usually was when she was parted from Ranma. "We are a peaceful clan Nabiki. War brings nothing but death." Nabiki laughed. "Brings nothing but death? Daddy have you grown senile so soon? Everything I do brings death. Death is life, and a war would end a threat." "Need I remind you of your place?" Soun slammed his hand on the table. "I am still the leader of this clan." The air condensed and hit Nabiki across the face with a large slapping sound. Nabiki lifted her hand and wiped away the small trickle of blood. Soun was aghast. "Nabiki.. Kami-sama I'm so sorry. It's just that all that talk of war... You don't understand Nabiki, things are happening in the council. Such talk is very dangerous." Nabiki licked the blood off her hand. "You don't understand father. We are losing our place. We have been losing it ever since the restricitons were placed. I, the future leader of the Tendo clan, have been banned from council meetings. Such a thing would have seen somebody dead a hundred years ago. And now a member of our family is openly assualted and we will do nothing?" Her face changing from expressionless to suppressed rage. "The dogs need to be reminded who their masters are." Soun was worried. No, that was wrong. Soun was very worried. "Nabiki, we are not strong enough. There are only five masters of the Anything Goes Mystic Arts, each one is slightly weaker then the next. And out of all of them only you are truly a master. We cannot afford to risk a clan war." "And what will happen if we don't? If this attack goes without retaliation more will follow until we are merely one of the dogs. IT WILL NOT BE TOLLERATED!" Nabiki's magic had risen and could be in small sparkles, flashing in the air about her intermitedly. Soun sighed a bone weary sigh. "Nabiki, would it be so bad? If we lose our position, then the Saotomes will soon follow. With neither of us the council will crumble and perhaps the nobels could work out their solutions peacefully." Nabiki sniffed indignantly, under control once more. The sparkles faded away. "Please father, you and I both know that the ways are set. Changing them is no longer an option. Besides, what would we do? Teach people? I'm sure the emporer would be _so_ happy to have his citizens capable of destroing a police force." Soun ran a hand through his graying hair. "You are right of course, forgive this old man his hopes for a better world." He met her eyes. "But there will be no clan war. It is simply too dangerous." He started chanting, his chant joined by Nabiki's voice a second later. At the finish the air about them both was colored a deep blue, protecting them from the Gurus. "I don't deny that I want Kojiro to pay, but a clan war is simply too much. Please Nabiki, don't be so hasty. Patience will reveal a better course. If you will absoulty refuse to see an alternative, then ask Ranma to take vengence." "So now a family of assassins has to use an assassin?" "It's not that Nabiki." Soun said, expasperated. "It's just that even if caught the Saotomes are beyond the council. They would not dare to attempt anything against the Saotomes." "Exactly! And do you know why father?" She leaned forward. "Because Ranma is a god. They fear him, they fear him more then anything. We used to be feared in that same way. Ranma's power is beyond belief, and he uses it freely. This is a lesson we have forgotten. And one I had forgotten as well." She sat back down. "This morning Ranma was going to go kill Kojiro and his closest family. I stopped him. Even that almost didn't work, he went to ask Kasumi. If she had said yes Kojiro would have died." She laughed. "Daddy, don't you see? We're a decoration! We are the things to point at and say 'look, there is the Tendo family once they were great. Once they had power beyond belief.... They don't belive in our power anymore Daddy. Even I am only feared by those who I have fought against, or by those who still remember the ledgends." Soun said nothing, there was nothing he could say. "But have you ever seen the effect Ranma's name has? I've seen A class fighters run in terror from him, even the emporer is unwilling to raise a word against his actions. Remember the attempted rape? Two years ago, I ripped them limb from limb for daring to attempt such a thing. What happened? The emporer decided I was using my power to freely and I had a new set of restrictions set on me. Restrictions which will only expire on upon my marrige to Ranma. He tore apart ten students because they bothered him, his 'punishment' was wasting two hours raping a girl." Her mask dropped, beneath was a tired and depressed girl. "The walls are closing in Daddy. It's dark. My cricket is the only one who is free." A car horn spilt the evening air. Nabiki looked away from Soun and swallowed, her eyes clearing. "That's Tatewaki. I'll be back tomorrow." "Sara-chan" The whispering in her mind awoke her. "Tendo-sama?" She said sleepily, rubbing at her eyes. "Come." She stood, the cold night air cutting through her nightgown. She reached just before Akane's door when she could go no further. She pressed her hand against empty air, it was a barrier. "Tendo-sama, I can't." A second later her hand passed through as the barrier was dispersed. She carefully made her way downstairs and to where Soun still sat at the table. "Sara-chan, if you be so kind I would like your company for the night." He looked weary. "It is a small comfort, but at the moment any amount of comfort will do." "Of course Tendo-sama." Sara began to disrobe. **** "There's trouble." "Yes." "Well what are we going to do? No matter what we do it's going to hurt us." "Then we do nothing." "What?" "We stand much to lose if we choose one side or another, but if we stay netural..." "How can we convince our clans of that?" "Point out the risks. Make sure to point out that doing this would be going against Ranma." "Isn't that the point? To stop the Saotomes?" "This is truly an idiot's attempt." A sigh. "Use that, tell them that the only way to avoid having him come after them would be to be subtle." "What about the Tendos?" "What about them?" "Will the fear of Ranma carry over to protect them?" "It should. Everybody knows what happened to the last man who slighted Nabiki." "But that's only Nabiki. Kojiro did much worse to Kasumi today and recived nothing." "That's only because of her goodwill, I am postive Ranma would have killed him if she had not asked him otherwise." "They won't belive that. The leaders will be willing to risk it." "Do the best you can. Spread the word among our little group to stay out of the fight if possible, keep attacks to the weaker portions of the clan. Let the foolish attempt an assualt against Nabiki." "If she dies Ranma will kill us all." "He could not get all of us, don't let your fear of him drive away all reason. And I wouldn't be so sure of Nabiki dying." "I know she's good, hell the best mage alive, but nobody except Ranma can go against five class A mages, let alone ten of them." "You don't kick a sleeping dragon. Just because the power isn't shown doesn't mean it's not there." "....." The young man paused, looking over at a red head girl. He motioned to one of his guards. "Who's she?" The guard made his way through the crowds of dancing college students to his current employer. "Who, sir?" "That girl with the red hair, hiding behind the plant." He pointed. "I don't know sir, there's nobody on the list matching her description." Guards such as him were very expensive, and very well trained. Memorizing a list of names and features was among the least of his talents. The young noble scowled. "I'm not paying you to not know. Who do you think she is?" Resisting the urge to strangle his employer the guard thought of all the likely possiblities, then decided to stick with the most probable. "If I had to guess sir, I'd say she was a high school student. We've caught two others trying to sneak in today." "Really?" He looked at the girl for a little longer. "How could you tell?" "She's wearing the local school uniform sir." "Oh! Of course.. I just couldn't see that because her body was hidden." He did his best to assure the guard of his intelligence. "Yes sir." Damn, why couldn't he be hired to a decent employer? This was the fifth yuppie in a month. "I've never done a redhead... Could you bring her to my room? I'll pay you more." The boy reached for his wallet. "It's covered in the contract sir." "Oh." The youth smiled happily, then attempted to appear threatening. "I knew that. I was just making sure you'd be loyal and not try to cheat me." "I see, sir." He appeared immensly pleased with himself. "And if you tell anybody about this..." He made a cutting motion across his throat. "I know people who know people." The guard's eye twitched. "Of course sir." Cannot kill, cannot kill, cannot kill... "That's all." The boy made a dismissing motion with his hand. The guard left. "See that?" He walked up to a girl attending the party. "That's how you handle those guards, gotta show them who's boss. But I'm sure a beautiful lady like yourself wouldn't be interested in that stuff." The dizty girl looked at him blankly then smiled. "Nice party." The guard crept up behind the redhead. Making sure she was looking away he stepped forward and tapped several pressure points on her neck, rendering her unconscious. With a sigh he slung her over his shoulder and headed towards the upper rooms. "Freaking little bastard, if I get another job like this one I swear I'll quit. 'That's how you handle those guards', little incompetent boot licker. People like him make me wish I was still in the army. At least then I could kick the shit out of him and get away with it, but no. I had to go join the Wolves. Elite guards we may be but what the hell's the point when we guard little freaks like that." The man began to stomp up the stairs angrily. "Shithead thinks he's so smart, getting college girls to fuck officals and take pictures. Only one way to deal with blackmailers, kill um. What kinda dumbass high and mighty noble sleeps with college girls anyhow? Most of them have they're own personal harem for crying out loud." The guard reached the top of the stairs and was confronted with a large steel door blocking enterance to the hallway. He pounded in a ten digit code on a nearby keypad and opened the door. "Hope that Ranma Saotome guy hurries up and kills him. Hell, I might even let the guy through on 'accident'." The guard paused in the hallway. "Saotome.. I could swear I've heard that name before.." He dismissed it with a grunt and continued walking. "Suppose it doesn't matter. My only job is to protect the bugger for tonight, then I'm outta here. Fucking job can't be over soon enough." He opened a door and tossed the girl onto the bed inside and shut the door again, continuing to mutter to himself all the way back downstairs. Ranma remaind motionless on the bed. Somehow information on the job, and the person doing it (namely herself) had gotten out. But that wasn't possible, the only people who knew of it's existance were the council and herself... which meant a leak somewhere. But leaks weren't possible, the Guru's were there to prevent that. Occupied by this puzzle the time passed quickly and the target entered the room. "And here's my little redhead.." The boy chuckled and walked towards the bed. Ranma was behind him before he knew what was going on. She pressed a white powder up to his face. After he inhaled a bit of it while attempting to breathe she blew the remaining powder off his face. As he opened his mouth to call for the guards Ranma tripped him, sending his head carrening towards a bedpost. He screamed moments before he was knocked unconscious and the guards rushed in. "What the hell?" One guard looked at the unconscious college student in confusion. "He must have tripped and knocked himself out." Said the other. The first guard sighed. "I'll go get the house doctor. What should we do about the girl?" "Probably be best to just get her out of the house, I'll dump her outside." "Shouldn't you kill her or something?" "No you fucking idiot! Look you're new here and I don't know or care who you worked for before this, but in the Wolves we don't kill anyone unless they're a threat to our current employer. We're a legal group, we gotta keep it legal. Remember that." The guard shifted uncomfortably. "Legal never sat very well with me." "Well you shouldn't have joined then! Just go get the fucking doctor, I'll take care of the girl." "Alright already." The first guard left. "Comeon missy, let's get you out of here." The guard picked up Ranma and carried her outside. Ranma was careful not to let her powerdered hands go near her face. It was a very potent poison. It would kill the target within the 48th hour of ingestion, with no visible effects until that final hour. One nice side effect was horrific dreams after the inital contact. Dreams that would make a thing like a red haired girl shoving white powder into ones face seem a mere illusion. Nabiki opened the door to her father's room. He didn't even stir. "You just keep slipping farther and farther Daddy." She shook her head sadly. At this rate he'd be killed before the year was out. "Nabiki-sama?" Came a hushed voice. "Sara-chan? What are you... ugh, nevermind. I'd rather not know. When the old man wakes up there tell him he has three weeks to tell Akane, then I'm going to break it to her the hard way. I'll be out for a couple days.." Nabiki bit her lower lip somewhat worriedly. "Tell Kasumi to be careful and to keep 'it' onhand. I've hired some decent security, but if any high class mages or fighters show up they might be able to break through. Tell Kasumi I said to stay in the house, that goes for you too." "Yes Nabiki-sama. What about Hiroshi?" "He won't be able to come until either I or Ranma get back. The wards will be fully powered up so make sure to keep the gate closed. I'm sure the police have better things to do then cover up the death of some traveling salesman." Nabiki turned to leave. "Nabiki-sama." Nabiki turned to look back at Sara. "Be careful." Nabiki lifted an eyebrow. "Careful Sara-chan, I might start to think you don't want me dead." She left the house. Sara sighed as the room went dark once more. She looked over at the clock. Three thirty. Kasumi would be getting up around five, that left her time to take a bath. She lifted the sheets off herself, careful not to disturb Soun, and stepped into her house shoes. She carefully slipped on her nightgown and opened the door. "Sara-chan." Soun's voice called. Sara froze. "Yes Tendo-sama?" "Make sure to get back to Akane's room before she wakes up, or at least have a good excuse." He said sleepily, then flipped over in his bed and went back to bed. "Yes Tendo-sama." "Kasumi I.... Look Kasumi I.... You know..." Koji slammed his head against a nearby wall in frustration. "Forget it. I'll just play it by ear and hope I don't mess up too badly." Sighing Koji walked towards the gates to the Tendo estate. Street? "Whoops." Koji turned around. He was always getting mixed up like that. Heading the correct direction he reached the gates and pressed gently against them. They didn't move. Maybe she isn't home? Koji reached into his pocket and took out a letter. "Suppose it's plan B." He grabbed the top of the fence and hurled himself over. Trouble! Koji froze without knowing why, his six foot five frame still in a crouched position from landing the jump. What the heck? Why couldn't he move. Koji looked down at his body to see what the problem was. He was moving!? As he watched his legs slowly carried him foreward inch by inch. The movements were seemingly random. He would move foreward a few feet, left a couple inches, foreward again, then back, right an inch or two, foreward again.... This continued for fifteen minutes until he stopped suddenly. He attempted to stand but found that he still couldn't move. "Ko su tai ne sa ju." His hands moved, corresponding with each spoken syllable. At the finish there was a flare of red and a small piece of paper fluttered to the ground. He looked up, there was the entrance to the door. "What?" Koji looked at his hands as if they were foreign objects. Finding he could stand he walked towards the doorway. As he was still attempting to figure out just what was going on the doorway opened. "Looks like somebody wants to play." A large man with roughly the same build as himself grabbed Koji by his shirt and pulled him inside. Koji had always considered himself to be in good shape. Just to continue meeting the requirments of the police force he had to spend three days a week in the gym, he usually took that farther and spent at least four hours a day in there as well as morning jogs. However walking around in a crouched position with no control of his body left him numb or in the case of the numbness wearing off, as was happening at that moment, with painful cramps. In other words he was defenseless. "Don't know how you made it past those wards, boy." The man kneed Koji in the gut, bowing him over. "But you are going to really regret it." He clasped his hands together and smashed them over Koji's skull with enough force to knock him completly to the floor. Koji winced as a foot connected to his ribs. He managed to get a single glance at his surroundings, revealing five more guards standing and watching him. The beating continued. "Must be a mage, no fighter is that weak. Shit, my wife could beat him." One of them said disdainfully. "No." A man dressed in robes colored the same dark green as the guards shook his head. "I sense no magic in him save that of a normal human's." Koji was lifted off the ground by the scruff of his color. "Who are you? Kasumi-san said to check names before killing, so if you want to live I suggest you fucking co-op-er-ate." The guard frowned, peering closer at him. "What the fuck?" "What is it?" The man in robes asked. "His ki level... it's only slighter higher then natural. Can't you sense it?" "Only you and the boss can sense that shit, you know that." "Then he's not a fighter either..." Another of the guards said, frowning. "But if he's not a mage or a fighter then how the hell could he get past the wards?" "Maybe he's a Ghost." A previously silent gaurd said worriedly, backing away from Koji. One of the other guards slapped the back of his head. "Shut the fuck up with that Ghost crap. I'm really sick of all your conspiracy shit. If they did exist, and half of what you said was true, then we would have had our asses handed to us in nice little packages by now." The guard sneered and turned away from him. "Dumb fuck." "What's going on?" A female voice came from behind the group. As one they turned and saluted. "Intruder!" Said the man holding Koji words loud and pronounced with military percision. "Means of entry as of yet unknown. Apparently no fighter nor mage skills ma'am!" Kasumi managed not to wince too badly. Loud military voices grated on her nerves. She looked closer at the intruder. "Koji?" She rushed to him. "Hi Kasumi." He said weakly. "I'm so sorry!" He was beat badly everywhere. At a glance Kasumi saw several broken ribs, probably a broken nose, two black eyes, and uncountable bruises and scrapes. She turned to the guards. "Take him to the couch." "Yes ma'am." He motioned for one of the other guards to grab his feet and the two moved him into the other room, followed by Kasumi. They laid him carefully on the couch. "Is that all ma'am?" Kasumi fought back any spiteful words. They were only following orders, they hadn't done anything wrong in attempting to protect her. "Yes, thank you. Please go back to your posts." The men saluted agian and left. Kasumi flooded her legs under on the floor beside the couch. "Kasumi-" "Shh.." Kasumi put her hand over Koji's mouth. "Don't talk just yet." She placed her hands on his face and said a brief incantation. After his face she moved to his ribs, then his arms. The whole process took about ten minutes. "There!" She said, breathing heavily but smiling. Koji sat up feeling warm all over. Nothing hurt anymore. "How..?" Kasumi cocked her head to one side, looking at him curiously. "Magic. Isn't that why you were so afraid of me that day?" The fact that he had come to see her gave hope that he thought otherwise now. "No..." He scratched the back of his head. "It was just... I saw pictures of what your sister could do. I didn't realize that she was your sister until after I had dropped you off that day so when I found out.. I guess I over reacted." Kasumi sighed, then smiled at him. "It's alright. Most people get scared because of my family name... So the magic doesn't scare you?" Koji shook his head. After what he had seen that Ranma kid do everything seemed much more belivable. The fact that it just healed him helped too. "Really?" He nodded. Kasumi hugged him. It was a hug that a friend would give to another friend after a long parting, nothing romantic nor relationship wise. "Thank you." Koji awkwardly returned the hug. Kasumi laughed and withdrew. "Your not very good at hugs." "I never had that much practice." He said sheepishly. His face turned serious. "Kasumi.. what were the guards for? Those looked like the Wolves." "They are." Kasumi stood up and grabbed Koji's hand. "Come on, let's go on the balcony and talk." "Okay." Koji let himself be led through the house. Everywhere he looked he saw plain and simple elegance, certainly not what he expected from the rumors of the Tendo's he had been hearing around the office lately. Of course if he had seen blood dripping alters and human skeletons lying about he would be rather worried... Daylight hit him full in the face as he stepped onto the patio. Kasumi took a deep breath and smiled complacently. "The house is nice, but with those men around it's uncomfortable." "Are you in some kind of trouble?" Koji was rather surprised at how he was taking all this. Everyone always said he was good at taking situations calmly, but this was a little much even him.... or so he would have thought. "Trouble?" Kasumi gave a short laugh and leaned against the railing. "No, I don't think trouble would be the right word. Nabiki's just being cautious. Things have been a little unpredictable lately and with both her and Ranma gone she wanted to make sure we would be protected." Both were silent a moment. Kasumi peering over the railing at he city and the blue sky and Koji watching Kasumi watch. The sun warmed both of them, beaming away happily up in the sky. The noise from the streets below faded, the rare honking of a horn blending in with the laughter of children and the chirping of birds. Everything Koji had experienced less then an hour seemed to fade away as if a dream, the only true reality being the moment he was experiencing now. Kasumi stirred, flicking a bit of peeling paint from the railing. "So you really came to see me?" This said without looking back. "Huh? Oh, yeah." He paused. "I was hopping that you wouldn't be too mad at me about the other day.. and if you weren't maybe you'd like to go the fair this friday?" His voice cracked on the last word, making him feel even more like a school kid asking out some girl he had a crush on. Kasumi giggled, turning to face him. "I would love to." There was a knock on the patio door. "Come." Kasumi called, the wind blowing her brown hair. A man in a now framilar dark green suit opened the door and stepped onto the patio. "Five o'clock ma'am. One unidentified intruder, no other disturbances. Shift change in three hours and fourty five minutes." "Five o'clock?" Koji repeated. Maybe it had taken him longer then he thought to work up his nerve and actually try to get in... he had walked up to the estate gates at one thirty.. "I should leave, I have my shift soon." Kasumi nodded. "Would you please escort Shiro-san to the door?" The soldier snapped a salute and waited for Koji. He knew the wards didn't effect those walking out so he didn't need further information on letting him out. Koji smiled at Kasumi and waved good-bye, turning to walk towards the door... and fell off the balcony. It was quite a feat considering that when the railing got in his way he somehow managed to flip over it.... "Whoa there boy." The soldier was holding Koji's foot. With little strain he pulled Koji back up to the balcony. "No need to leave that quickly. This way." He pointed Koji towards the door. Kojio chuckled nervously and waved goodbye to Kasumi again before leaving the correct way.. "They're so similar..." Kasumi smiled and shook her head, returning to her view of the city.