Novelas:A Day and Night - Desperate Youth

Prologue
The city streets were bustling with activity at the days lunch hour. The many businessmen and women littered the streets with warm bodies, many talking on their phones, others looking for a place to eat, but each one oblivious to the world around them.

But none of them noticed the ragged looking young man as he staggered down the sidewalk as if in a trance.

Nor did they notice his charred clothing, or the bloodied tourniquet he had fashioned from one of his bandannas.

But then, the bleeding has mostly stopped, save for a few of his larger wounds.

Still, he limped and staggered through the streets with no destination in mind. His mind was already working too fast for him to comprehend. There were emotions that he had never experienced. Feelings that he could not express.

Depression as he'd never felt before.

Ever.

Finally, the lunch hour crowd began to dull, and he found himself walking among a smaller crowd, though equally oblivious to his condition.

Suddenly, he stopped. The faceless blurs avoiding him like a river parting. What had caused him to pause he could not discern, nor did he care to, but he did.

Falling to his knees was an option he was considering, to die in the street alone. He deserved that fate. He deserved to lie in a pool of his own drained blood. After what he had caused, he deserved it all.

But something nagged at him. Something wouldn't let him drop to his knees and die.

Something--

"Ryouga?" a voice penetrated through the haze of his mind. It barely registered at first, but he soon found himself turning towards the source.

It was a girl. No. It was someone he knew.

The face was there, as was the person. But the name couldn't escape his lips.

The girl placed one hand over her mouth and gasped. "Oh my God!" she exclaimed. "What happened?"

The nagging feeling that had prevented his dropping to his knees suddenly flooded away from him.

Like a sack ton of bricks, Ryouga hit the ground and fell unconscious. The last thing he heard was a frantic yelling on behalf of the girl.

Desperate Youth
"And how are we today, Mr. Saotome?" Yume, one of the day nurses asked as she entered Ranma's room carrying a chart.

Ranma sat on the edge of his bed and languidly stretched his legs. "Great!" he exclaimed, then suddenly retracted them, rubbing his calf muscles frantically.

Yume chuckled wholeheartedly. "Charlie Horse?"

Ranma nodded and experimentally tapped the bandage at his side, where he had been shot.

"Still sore?"

Ranma winced. "A little."

"Well, two more days, Mr. Saotome, and you'll be able to go home."

"Ucchan's already out," he said. "Why do I hafta stick around that much longer?"

"Ms. Kuonji was shot in the shoulder," Yume smiled. "Once, and she had it treated right away. You, on the other hand, Mr. Saotome, suffered three gunshot wounds. It's a wonder you didn't lose as much blood as you should have."

Ranma just flexed his muscles and smiled. "What, me?"

A moment later, he brought his right arm down and started to rub the muscles.

Once again, Yume laughed.

Yume wrote a few things down on a small chart. "So your fiancee isn't visiting you today? I could have sworn I saw her come in this morning."

Ranma shrugged. "Nah, she hung around for a bit. She said she wanted to do some shopping. Her sister should be stopping by, though."

Yume raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Aren't you the ladies man?"

Ranma blushed furiously as Yume laughed again. "I'm only teasing, Mr. Saotome."

Ranma looked back up at the nurse. "Anything new with my Pop?"

Yume flipped through a few pages on the chart before answering. "He's still in no shape to move about," she replied. "But he's already gone through three nurses and two doctors. He's quite an infuriating man, isn't he?"

Ranma laughed. "That's Pop. But think about it, how would you feel if you woke up after a three week nap and found out both of your legs were broken? Especially if you're a martial artist?"

Yume nodded and smiled. "Well, we'll release him in a few days as well. He just needs someone to watch over him."

Ranma nodded. "Mom'll probably do that."

Ranma leaned back in his bed. It had been four days since the incident with Mazuhara had happened. Four days since Ranma had been declared a hero. Strangely enough, only two days after that, his father had awoke from his coma, and started to yell at his nurse.

Four days. Ranma scoffed. It seemed like a lifetime ago.

He stretched his legs once more, yearning for some physical workout. After lying in a bed for four days, he desperately needed it.

"Well, Mr. Saotome," Yume said, finishing her chores for the room. "I'd best continue my rounds."

Ranma yawned and waved at Yume as she left the room, then leaned back in his chair.

"Are you aware of the patients name?" the triage nurse asked.

Nabiki nodded. "His name is Ryouga Hibiki. I'm not sure of his address, but I'd like to cover him through my family's insurance."

The nurse paused. "Is he listed on your policy?"

Nabiki shook her head. "No, but I don't think that's a problem." She eyed the nurse thoughtfully.

Abruptly, the nurse typed in a few things into the computer. "He's being treated right now, afterwards, would you like a private room, or a communal room?"

"Room 206," she said.

The nurse blinked. "206? But that's--"

"Ranma Saotome's room. Trust me, he won't mind sharing."

The nurse sighed. "Very well, then." She typed the excess information in, and gave a small sheet of paper to Nabiki. "He'll be moved up after his wounds are treated."

Nabiki nodded towards the nurse and made her way towards the elevator. That had been the easy part. Fortunately, the hard part was getting Ryouga to the hospital. It wasn't as hard as it should have been, the hospital was only half a block away, but Ryouga weighed more than a mule, and for someone like Nabiki, it was only that much harder.

Fortunately, Nabiki knew how to get peoples attention.

The three kind souls who took time out of their busy schedules were a godsend.

However, had they chosen NOT to be a godsend, Nabiki would have made their lives very, VERY miserable.

But now Ryouga was on a stretcher, being treated by doctors. That was all that mattered now.

As the elevator doors opened, she headed straight towards Ranma's room. Boy did she have news for him.

"Forceps," Doctor Kadowaki said, putting her hand out in expectation. The nurse immediately placed a pair of forceps in her hands, if a bit clumsily.

Doctor Kadowaki raised one eyebrow. "Some wrong, Nene?"

The nurse shook her head. "No, it's just... He's all..."

"Burnt," the Doctor finished. "Not only that, but..." She grunted as she pulled something from the mans shoulder.

"Shrapnel," she said, holding the small piece of metal in front of her. "This man either stepped on a land mine, or he just barely made it out of a heavy explosion."

"There was that explosion on the news last night," Nene said. "You think he's got something to do with that?"

Doctor Kadowaki shrugged as she pulled another piece of shrapnel out. "Err, you might want to suction that," she said, motioning towards the small pool of blood collecting on the mans shoulder.

Nene did so, and whistled. "What's this world coming to? First that Saotome boy, and now this?"

Kadowaki scoffed. "I'm used to treating cuts, stab wounds, car accidents. But bullet wounds and explosions? Forget the world, that's already screwed beyond recognition... what's JAPAN coming to?"

Nene shook her head. "His pressure is pretty low. It's a miracle he survived long enough to be found."

Another nod came from the doctor's position. "Miracles do happen. But this man is almost pure muscle. He's got excellent endurance. If it wasn't for that, I think he would have died hours ago. He's just lucky he got burns with these cuts, or he would have bled to death. The burns cauterized most of this."

"ECG looks okay," she said. "We almost ready to stitch?"

"Yeah," Doctor Kadowaki said. "Just gotta clean these out a bit."

"Jock itch? I've got the perfect solution-- *click* --Today on Shinjuku Heights, 90210-- *click* -- o/~ I'll be there for you, when the rain o/~ -- *click* But Shiro! I love-- *click* -- LOOK AT HIM GO! HE'S ROUNDING THIRD-- *click* --Ryouga Hibiki. Who is believed--" *click*

Ranma paused for a second. Did he hear that right? He switched the channel back.

"To repeat, viewers," the news anchor said. "A preliminary investigation on the explosion in the Aoyama district reveals at least two dead, and one missing. Miss Rin Tosaka, the daughter of the now deceased restaurant owners, Kaoru and Mika Tosaka is presumed to be in the company of Mr. Ryouga Hibiki."

Ranma's eyes popped open as the news anchor shuffled through some papers.

"He is believed to be holding Miss Tosaka against her will and is considered possibly armed and dangerous. The police are in the process of tracking him down, and should have--"

"Ranma!" Nabiki called as she entered the room.

Ranma jumped a good three feet, and shot his gaze towards Nabiki. "What the hell?!" he exclaimed.

"Wow, Saotome. I'd have thought you would have heard me."

"I was distracted!" he said, then pointed to the TV. "The news anchor said--"

"Can it, Ranma. I've got more important news. I just found Ryouga."

Ranma's eyes popped open. "WHAT?!"

"Don't get overexcited, Saotome. He was hurt badly. Like he walked through an incinerator barefoot or something. They're stitching him up right now."

"But--"

"Wait until I'm finished, Ranma. I've arranged for him to share this room with you."

Ranma wasn't getting through. He did the only thing he could. He turned up the volume on the TV.

Nabiki winced as the volume overrode her own voice. "Ranma, what's--"

"If you see any of these two people, please contact the police immediately," the news anchor said as a photograph appeared on screen. Nabiki looked towards it and gasped. It was Ryouga, undoubtedly. He wore a cooking apron and held a small spatula in his hand, but it was him. The girl, although she didn't recognize her, was smiling at him.

"What the hell?" Nabiki said.

"It just showed up on the news. They think he kidnapped this girl."

Nabiki fumed. "Well, why didn't you tell me this before?!"

Akane carried a small bag over her shoulder as she entered the hospital. Catching a quick smile from the nurse at the triage, who she knew quite fondly now, she made her way towards the elevator.

"Miss Tendo?" the triage nurse called

Akane looked over. "Yes?"

"I expect you're going up to see Mr. Saotome. Can you tell your sister that the new patient will be there in about two minutes?"

Akane blinked. "New patient?"

The nurse merely nodded, and then diverted her attention to the moderately wounded young man sitting in the intake chair.

With an unsure feeling, Akane entered the elevator and pushed the button to the second floor. The doors closed with an audible click.

Although an incredibly short ride, she found time enough to consider this new development. A new patient? Nabiki had something to do with it, but why would she allow Ranma's room to be shared. She was the one who arranged the private room to begin with...

The the possibility hit her. It obviously meant someone she knew was hurt. Hurt badly, to be deserving of a room.

As the elevator doors opened, she went on a short jog to Ranma's room, and threw open the door.

"Who's hurt?!" she asked.

"Akane? What the hell?" Ranma exclaimed.

"Nabiki, who's hurt? The nurse said 'the new patient' will be up in a minute or two," Akane practically yelled.

"Keep it down, Sis. This is a hospital," she replied. "And it looks like we've got more to worry about than just his getting hurt. He's a wanted man."

Ranma nodded. "What should we do?"

Nabiki shrugged. "I don't know. I already gave his name to the triage. It's only a matter of time before the police catch on it and show up here with handcuffs."

"Hello?" Akane interrupted from the doorway.

"Yeah," Ranma continued, ignoring Akane. "But the question is, did he do it? I mean, he's thick headed and all... But to kill two people and kidnap a third? You saw the picture. He looked HAPPY there."

Nabiki nodded. "And the whole explosives thing. Doesn't fit his personality. But it still doesn't mean he didn't do it."

"Him? The only way HE could blow people up is if he did it by complete accident."

Unnoticed by both, Akane fumed in the doorway. She was about to speak up again, until-

"Excuse me, miss. We have to get this gourney through here," the voice from behind her stated.

She turned around, almost ready to blow up at the new voice until she saw it was an orderly. Then she saw prone form the person on the gourney.

Almost immediately, she dropped her bag and put her hands to her mouth. "Oh my God, Ryouga!"

"Hmmm," Nabiki pondered. "Looks like they cleaned him up."

Ranma scoffed. "At least they used warm water."

Akane raised an eyebrow. "What difference would cold water make?"

"Umm... none, I guess."

"Now the question remains... How long until he regains consciousness and tell us what the HELL is going on?"

Ranma shook his head. "I'm almost positive Mazuhara had something to do with this."

Akane gasped. "Ranma, Mazuhara is DEAD."

With a nod, Ranma continued. "But not all of his little henchmen are."

"So you think the Paved Future is behind this?"

Ranma nodded again. "There's no way Ryouga could do something like that. No WAY."

"Not on purpose, anyway," Nabiki said.

"Now stop that, Nabiki. I don't think Ryouga would EVER be capable of that, accident or not," Akane replied. "I refuse to believe that. He's an honest, caring person!"

Ranma coughed involuntarily at that remark, and Nabiki just stared up at the ceiling.

"Excuse me, Mr. Saotome?" someone asked from the doorway.

The three of them looked over to see Yume, Ranma's regular nurse standing there. She seemed rather edgy about something.

Ranma raised an eyebrow. "Yume?"

"There are... some men here to see you and the new patient," she said, and then moved to allow the people in.

As Ranma feared, the uniform and the blue jacket with the word 'Police' written across the back gave the identity of them men away.

"Mr. Saotome," the first one said. It was a greeting. They had no other interest here, that much was obvious.

He turned to the nurse. "Can you wake him up?"

Yume nodded, and walked over to Ryouga, took something out of a small vial and waved it around under his nose. After a moment, he started to move, and opened his eyes a moment later.

"Ryouga Hibiki, you are under arrest for the murder of Kaoru and Mika Tosaka. If you tell us where Rin Tosaka is, the judge may go easier on you. Now, where is she?"

Ryouga groaned a little, still looking like he was between worlds. Slowly, he began to utter a word.

The policeman brought his ear closer, trying to make out the word.

But Ranma's superior senses could make it out the first time he said it.

"He said she's dead," Ranma replied, heart pounding.

The policeman looked up at Ranma, then down at Ryouga. "Bastard," he said with a sneer. "Get him out of here. Move him to the prison facility."

"Wait! You can't do that!" Akane exclaimed.

Nabiki agreed. "No, you can't. You still don't have any actual proof he did it!"

"He's the only survivor," the policeman replied. "And you heard him say himself that he killed the girl!"

"You know DAMN well he never said that!" Ranma exclaimed.

"It doesn't matter," he said, turning to the nurse. "Get him ready for movement."

Yume looked over at Ranma for a moment, and then down at Ryouga. "I.. well, we can't."

The policeman raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"He's still hurt far too much for movement. If you move him now, he might die."

"Well, wouldn't THAT be a shame," the policeman said. After catching several less-than-friendly glares from people in the room, he sighed. "Fine. We'll move him in the morning. BUT we're posting two men outside of the room."

Yume watched as the two men left the room, waited until she was sure they couldn't hear her, and then continued.

"You two had better go home for now," she told Nabiki and Akane. "I don't like him much. I'm sorry I could only buy you one day."

Ranma waved his hands in front of her. "That's fine. I think it'll have to do for now." Ranma sighed and then looked out the window. "It's starting to get late, guys. Maybe you'd better go home."

Nabiki nodded and walked over towards Yume. Akane went over to Ranma and gave him a light kiss.

"Call me," she said quietly.

Ranma nodded and then let them leave. "Thanks, Yume," he said as the nurse started to leave the room. Yume nodded.

"He can be moved, but be careful, and only do it if there are no other choices," she mentioned.

With a nod, Ranma allowed her to leave the room.

Looking over at the unconscious form of Ryouga, he sighed. "Now what the hell are we going to do with you?"

The night passed by quickly as Ranma's thought processes overtook him. He thought of several options besides escape, but none could be a surefire way to work. Ryouga was perpetually unconscious, which meant he'd have an especially hard time moving him while trying to remain stealthy.

But nonetheless, he'd planned it. The police officers peeked in every twenty minutes to check on them. The shift change took place at 11 PM. He figured the best time to pull it off would be between 1:30 and 2 AM, and set forth to organize the escape.

At around midnight, he started to time his actions. Spend ten minutes separating the bars on the windows, which was a lot harder than it seemed. The thick steel bars were tougher than any brick wall Ranma could break through with ease.

But the bars were so tough that a bulldozer wouldn't be able to bend them.

So after three unsuccessful sessions of trying to bend, then pretending to sleep, he finally resolved to break the bars right off of the wall.

That only took him two minutes.

The escape would take seconds, really. All he had to do was take Ryouga onto his shoulders-- Ranma didn't dare try to wake him up-- and jump out the window. Even with Ryouga's added weight, it would be no trouble. He was only one story from the ground. Below the window was a solid surface, and only a block away was the train station.

From there, he could make his way to Nerima and--

He paused. Then what? He couldn't go home, the police would surely look there first.

Then there was the school. No, too many people know his face. Someone would see him and squeal.

Ranma's thoughts started to work harder than he imagined, trying to fight off the growing weariness in his tired body. He managed to fight it off with ease, but once he got really tired, he knew the sleep would overtake him. He had been off of the painkillers for a day or two now, and the effects were drastic.

He had been almost constantly drowsy.

Ranma grabbed the small stuffed cat on the stand by his bed and stuffed it into his pocket. As much as he hated cats, he respected Shampoo well enough not to leave it behind.

Suddenly, he heard the telltale footsteps outside of his door, and a brief exchange of words between the policemen and the new voice.

He could make out a few words, but it was hard to hear through the door. What he had gathered was that the new man was an orderly.

Ranma immediately jumped into his bed, and covered himself with blankets. A moment later, the door creaked open.

Ranma peeked out of the corner of his eye. The orderly was new, he could tell that much. The first thing he did was walk over to the cupboards under the sink at the side wall, and then kneel down.

Although he couldn't see anything because of the obstruction Ryouga caused, he figured he was gathering some of the linen and various supplies in the cupboard.

Ranma paid no attention to the apparent length of time the man spent there, and just patiently waited for him to leave. Once he did, he waited for the police to check in on them one final time before preparing the escape.

Almost as soon as the door was closed, Ranma leapt silently to his feet and changed his clothes. Ryouga's clothes were still burned, but freshly washed. While he couldn't very well change him where he was, he could still take the clothes and allow him to change elsewhere, when he was conscious.

He grabbed the small stuffed cat on the stand by his bed and stuffed it into his pocket. As much as he hated cats, he respected Shampoo well enough not to leave it behind.

Now, for the final task.

Ranma wrapped Ryouga in one of the wool blankets on his bed, leaving his head out in the open and allowing him to breathe. It would draw less attention than if he were carrying a man in a hospital gown through the trains.

Finally, he hefted him up on his shoulder, and sat in the window. With a light push, he found himself standing on the ground outside of the hospital. It took him all of one second to break into a jog and get away.

Ranma ran the two blocks to the train, paid for the ticket with the money he had left in his pocket, and hopped on.

As the doors closed and the train pulled away from the station, a loud noise was heard. It rocked entire neighborhood and caused death and destruction where it lay.

The fire crews arrived in minutes to pick through the remains of the ruined wing of the hospital and pull the survivors out. Thankfully, most got by with scratches, bruises, light burns and mainly minor injuries...

Some, however, were not as fortunate. Two policemen and a elderly patient were pulled from the wreckage dead.

The calming, serene sound of the sweeping was Mousse's only company in the now-empty Nekohanten. Cologne was dead, and it was Shampoo's duty to have her buried in the greens and etch her name on the wall back at the village...

However, it was Mousse's job to finish up all the loose ends in Japan. Which meant selling the property, and making it suitable for prospective buyers. He had already had several people look at the place the day earlier. None of them seemed truly interested, so Mousse had forced himself to wake up early and do some extra cleaning.

However, he woke up earlier than expected.

It was three in the morning, and Mousse was busily cleaning the parts of the restaurant he had missed in his earlier sweeps. As it turned out, silence made a big difference. With no distractions, Mousse found himself able to focus all of his attention on cleaning.

That is, until the noises started.

With a decreased visual acuity, Mousse had to compensate for it by training his ears to hear and recognize nearly any sound. Therefore, the scraping and thumping from outside was no mystery to him. It was quite simply, a man dragging another man.

Normally, Mousse would have ignored it. What was it of his business to go out and tell them to keep quiet, especially since they didn't know Mousse could hear that well. However, it was kind of hard to completely ignore the noises when they reach closer to the restaurant with every step.

Then the grunt.

Mousse dropped his broom in shock. The grunt... it was Saotome's voice. He was sure of it.

He ran to the door and swung it open. Ranma stood there, carrying another form on his shoulders.

"Mousse, help me get him in," he said.

Mousse did so without question. He took the unconscious form of Ryouga by the arms and helped Ranma move him inside. Laying him down on the wooden floor, he looked over him. The hospital gown and bandages did nothing to hide the extent of his wounds.

"Saotome... what happened?" he asked.

Ranma leaned up against the wall and sighed. "They said he was in an explosion... Hell, they said he CAUSED the damn explosion. The cops were gonna take him to a prison facility in the morning. If I hadn't--"

"Wait," he said. "He's in trouble with the law?"

Ranma shook his head. "He didn't do it, Mousse. He couldn't have. He doesn't have it in him. At least, he couldn't have done it purposely... I just... I can't let the cops have him until I'm sure."

Mousse stood up. "Why did you bring him here?"

"I didn't know you were here. I figured it would be the only place I could go where the cops wouldn't find me or Ryouga. Look, that's beside the point," he said, sighing. "The point is I think whatever happened to Ryouga has something to do with what happened to me."

"The Paved Future?" Mousse raised an eyebrow. "But they were all arrested. It said so on the news--"

"You think an organization as simple as the police could pick up all the members of a group that large? It's not easy. Even for the government."

Mousse sighed and looked down at Ryouga. "Did he have an IV?"

Ranma nodded. "Yeah, I had to disconnect it to get him here."

"Do you know what it was?"

Ranma shrugged. "Discombobutol or something. All those drugs are Greek to me anyway."

Mousse walked swiftly into the kitchen and brought out a small, dried herb with a wooden bowl. He poured water into a glass and then began to grind the herb up.

"What are you doing?"

"Cologne's stash," he said, not looking up. "Shampoo left it behind when she left for China. This might help his situation better than any... Professional drugs." He said the last words with no small amount of contempt.

"Will it get him back on his feet?" Ranma asked.

Mousse shrugged. "It's hard to say. He'll regain his health a bit faster than in the hospital, but his wounds won't heal much faster. Pretty much all it will do is make it so he can walk sooner. It might still take a day or two before he's able to go out though."

"That's a hell of a lot better than a week at the hospital..."

"Or a prison facility."

Ranma nodded, but didn't answer.

Mousse sighed as he finished grinding the herb. He poured the contents of the bowl into the glass of water and mixed it around.

"Tilt his head back," Mousse said, gesturing to Ryouga.

Ranma did just as the slightly blind man said, and allowed him to pour the glass down his throat. Ryouga choked and sputtered a bit of it, then swallowed without any further trouble.

A moment later, Mousse stood up. "Help me bring him upstairs. He should stay in a bed until he can walk again. You should catch some sleep too."

Ranma nodded and helped Mousse bring Ryouga upstairs. It took only a few moments to get Ryouga safely tucked in to Shampoo's old bed, and when it was done, Ranma soon found his way into Mousse's bed, and fell straight asleep.

Mousse, however, continued his sweeping and cleaning downstairs. After all, he did have an open house to attend to.

"Akane?" Soun asked, nudging his daughter.

"Nnmfph?" Akane mumbled into her pillow. She slowly opened an eye and began to register shapes and sounds into her brain.

"Akane, wake up. The police are here."

Akane jerked awake, and sat up in her bed. "P... Police?" she sputtered.

"They're waiting downstairs. They want to talk to you."

"Oh, God. Ranma, what did you do?"

Akane quickly jumped out of bed and got dressed. She paid no attention to make-up or even to WHAT she put on. She just threw on the first thing she could find, which happened to be her gi, and ran down the stairs.

As she entered the tea room, the two police officers looked up. She recognized the both of them from the day before.

"Miss Tendo," the tall one greeted.

"What's wrong?" she asked, rather forcedly.

The officer stood up. "Last night, at approximately 1:36 AM there was a... complication."

"What?"

"An explosion, Miss Tendo. At your fiancé's hospital room."

Akane's jaw dropped. "Oh my God! Is he okay--"

"As far as we can tell," the other officer said with a spit.

"What? What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means, Miss Tendo, that Ranma Saotome and Ryouga Hibiki are now wanted for the premeditated and brutal murder of six people now."

Akane suddenly began to feel lightheaded. "What?! _SIX_ people? They'd never--"

"Don't give me that bullshit," the officer spat at her. "We lost TWO officers last night. _TWO_. Your goddamned fiancee and his boyfriend were found NOWHERE in the wreckage. And guess what we find when we viewed the surveillance tapes at the train station?"

Akane's mouth opened and closed as if she were going to say something.

"Now," the police officer said. "He's obviously not here. He wouldn't be that stupid. But he _IS_ in Nerima. If you see him, Miss Tendo, you tell us. If not, we'll haul you in for aiding and abetting. I'm sure the other guys at the station would LOVE you."

Akane tightened her gaze and pursed her lips in anger. "Get out," she said.

The police officer stood up and bowed. "Thank you for your audience, Miss Tendo."

As the policemen left the room, Akane found herself staring into space for a great deal of time. Finally, she regained her senses and walked over to the phone. There was only one thing she could do.

She picked up the receiver and dialed out. A few rings later, there was an answer on the other end.

"Hi, Konatsu?" Akane greeted.

Ukyou stretched her arms as she reached the main room of her restaurant. Konatsu was already awake, probably had been awake for hours already, and was busily readying the grill for the breakfast rush.

"Mistress Ukyou!" Konatsu smiled.

"Hey, Konatsu," she yawned. She had long since given up on trying to convince him to call her just plain Ukyou, but Konatsu was far too formal. It was near impossible. "Anything new?"

"Mistress Akane called," he replied, his finger to his mouth. "She's on her way over. Something about Master Ranma going missing."

Ukyou jerked her head towards the feminine, but quite male Kunoichi. "What?!"

A hundred thoughts ran through her head. Ranma was missing again? Did that mean all they went through earlier in the week was for naught? Was he in the hands of those maniacs again? Would she get shot again...?

As if on cue, a sudden rap came to the door of her establishment. Ukyou moved over and opened it, allowing Akane in.

Akane bent over and tried to catch her breath as Ukyou got out of her way.

"Akane?" she asked. "What's happening?"

"Ranma..." She gasped for air. "Ryouga..." Another gasp. "Hospita--"

"Whoa, slow DOWN, sugar!" Ukyou placed her hands on Akane's shoulders. "Catch your breath, and tell me what happened."

Akane did just that. She found her way to a nearby chair and caught her breath. A moment later, she had gathered enough of herself to speak.

"Remember I told you about Ryouga last night?" Akane asked.

Ukyou nodded. "Yeah, something about the police being after him for some horseshit."

"Murder," Akane said. "They were charging him with the murder of two people, and possible abduction of a third."

"Ryouga? Murder?" Ukyou's heart jumped. How could he be charged with murder? As much as he talked big with Ranma, he would never actually... kill someone, would he?

"Anyway, there was an explosion in Ranma's hospital room last night. Ryouga was staying there as well. The two police officers who were outside of the room were killed by the blast, but when they searched the wreckage, neither Ranma or Ryouga were anywhere to be found."

Ukyou gasped. "Could they have..."

Akane shook her head. "I refuse to believe that. Besides, the police said the blast wasn't hot enough to incinerate them. There would have been something left."

Ukyou plopped into the chair next to Akane. "Then what--"

"I can only think of one thing," she continued. "Ranma got Ryouga out of there. I don't think they set the explosion up. Ryouga was far too weak and Ranma... well, it just isn't like him."

Ukyou put her hand on Akane's shoulder. "It's not like either of them, honey."

"But somebody did it. I'm also willing to bet it's the same person who set the blast in Aoyama."

Ukyou's eyes shot open. "Aoyama? THAT'S what Ryouga's being framed for?"

Akane nodded. "But I'm positive Ranma got Ryouga out of there. Even if it meant his own life, he would have."

With a sigh, Ukyou looked towards the ceiling. "So the police came looking for him at your house. Do they have any idea where he might be?"

"They seemed pretty sure he was in Nerima. I overheard one of them mention a surveillance tape. Maybe they caught him on tape at the station or something. The train station is only a couple blocks from the hospital..."

Ukyou nodded. "He's not here, and he's not at your place... The only thing I can think of is..."

Akane met Ukyou's gaze and nodded.

"Konatsu!" Ukyou called. "Keep an eye on things for me today. If the police show up, let them look around the place."

"All right, Mistress Ukyou! I'll do that!" Konatsu smiled, and ran over to fetch an apron.

"Hey," Ukyou cried, rapping on the door. "Open up! We know you're in there!"

"Ukyou, maybe they aren't there. I mean, the police might look here if--" Akane jumped as the lock was jingled around inside and Mousse poked his head out.

"Be quiet," he said. "They're trying to sleep."

Akane's eyes narrowed. "They're here?"

Mousse nodded and let Ukyou and Akane in. "Were there any police following you?" he asked.

Akane shook her head. "No. The police would have been more obvious to us than the other guys."

Ukyou nodded. "Are they okay?"

"Saotome is perfectly all right. He's sleeping upstairs. Ryouga, however, is in pain. I've done what I can for him. Hopefully he should be back on his feet by tonight or tomorrow some time. As for his consciousness... who can say? Minutes, hours..."

"He's hurt badly, then?"

With a nod, Mousse continued. "I hadn't even heard of all this explosion business before Ranma got here with a half-dead Ryouga. I admit I don't really know Ryouga all that well-- but murder? I don't buy that for a second."

Ukyou nodded. "Trust me, Sugar. We feel the same way."

"You think he'll mind us waking him up?" Akane asked.

Mousse shook his head as he picked up a window cleaner and cleaning towel. "Ranma? No. He's in my room upstairs right now. You can go talk to him if you need to."

"Thanks, Mousse," Akane said as she bound up the stairs.

"Anytime," he smiled.

The miniature twister raged within the confines of the dilapidated warehouse, sending anything not tied down up into the fresh new sunroof created by Ranma's Flying Dragon Ascension technique.

Falling to the ground in a relaxed lump, Ranma sighed with relief. It was over. All over. Mazuhara was dead, and now--

"Is that the best you can do, Saotome?"

Ranma's eyes jerked upwards. At the center of the whirlwind, stood Mazuhara, still alive and grinning wildly.

"M... Mazuhara?" Ranma asked, his eyes wide.

Mazuhara stepped out of the wind as if they were nothing, and walked right up to Ranma, dropping his gun. "You'll have to do better than that," he said, the bullet wound in his head still completely visible and bleeding profusely.

"No," Ranma said. "You're dead. You are DEAD."

"I'm coming for you, Saotome. You and those bitches you hang around," he said, his face beginning to fade into the air, as if every molecule in his body had lost its adhesion.

And then he woke, jerking his head up in shock. He grabbed his head and allowed his eyes to focus. He was in Mousse's room, at the Nekohanten. Mazuhara WAS dead. It was only a dream.

"Ranchan?" a voice asked from the doorway. Ranma looked over and saw the telltale shape of a battle spatula and sighed.

"Ucchan? What are you doing here?"

Ukyou ran into the room and poked Ranma's bandage. With a slight wince, he grimaced. "What was THAT for?"

"I think it'd be a better idea to tell us what the explosion was all about," Akane said, leaning against the door frame. "It WAS all over the news."

Ranma blinked in surprise. "Didn't Nabiki tell you? The restaurant in Aoyama? It couldn't have been Ryouga's fault, it--"

"Not that explosion, Ranma," Akane frowned. "The one at the hospital."

Ranma furrowed his brow. "The one at.... the hospital?"

Ukyou nodded. "Yeah, some cops stopped by at Akane's this morning. They're pretty upset with you, Ranchan... The blast killed two of their own."

Ranma smacked his forehead. "The orderly!" he exclaimed.

"What?" Akane asked.

"Before Ryouga and I made our way out, an orderly popped into the room. He was playing around with something under the sink, but I thought he was just checking the linen! That MUST have been it!"

"Did you see his face?"

Ranma shook his head. "No, I didn't get a good look. I was trying to pretend to be asleep, you know..."

"But your sure it was the orderly, right?"

Ranma nodded. "It had to have been. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but they don't usually come in during the night. And at that time of night, it's a nurse named Hikari. Come to think of it, I've never seen any man besides the doctor come into my room."

"And of course, Ranchan would notice that," Ukyou quipped. "So it's obvious that these guys are after Ryouga, then?"

Ranma nodded. "It seems a little coincidental, though. Doncha think? I mean, a couple days after Mazuhara, then this happens to Ryouga? It stinks of Mazuhara."

"Mazuhara is dead, Ranma," Akane said, her voice laced with loathing for the man's name.

"I don't mean Mazuhara specifically, Akane. I mean his group. There is no way the cops could have gotten all of them."

Ukyou nodded. "Ranchan is right. If there are more, they could be doing this to Ryouga."

"But why? Why Ryouga? Why not just try and blow up Ranma?"

"Because I can identify them," a labored voice stated from behind Akane. "I've seen them."

Ranma leapt up from his bed and ran out of the room to see Ryouga trying to lean up against the wall.

"Ryouga!" he exclaimed, then went over to assist his friend. "Are you all right?"

Ryouga looked towards Akane and Ranma while Ukyou poked her head out of the room. "I couldn't stop it, Ranma," he said. "I tried to, but they killed them all."

Ranma sighed. "Ryouga, listen--"

"NO!" Ryouga threw Ranma's grip from his arm. "I killed them! I may well have just set the damned bomb for them! I couldn't do a damn THING for them! Mr. and Mrs. Tosaka, Rin... I killed them all..."

"You mean Rin is dead, too?" Ranma asked.

"What do you mean?" Ryouga said.

"The news said her body wasn't found... Ryouga, did you SEE her die?"

Ryouga blinked. "I... I saw them... and her..." he looked up. "Could she still be alive?" he asked, his voice masked with a small ray of hope.

"Ryouga, hon..." Ukyou began, walking towards the man, who was having enough trouble standing, let alone talk. "Maybe you should lay down."

"No, wait," Ryouga looked into Ranma's eyes, pleadingly. "Is she alive?"

Ranma tightened his jaw. "I don't know," he said. "But we're gonna find out."

"Ryouga, how did you get mixed up in this?" Akane asked.

Ryouga sighed. "I don't know... I felt someone shadowing me for a while before I found the restaurant. I had been going for quite some time, and then I--" he looked towards Akane, and then took the speech in another direction. "err... collapsed on their doorstep. They helped me get back on my feet, and let me work there for a bit. Before long, the men who were shadowing me showed themselves. I fought them off easily the first time, and protected the people in the restaurant. Then... they came back with their leader. I could have fought them off, but-- well... they had Rin."

"Who was Rin?" Ukyou asked.

"The daughter of the owners... She was... a friend," he said. "But I couldn't do anything. Mr. and Mrs. Tosaka were already dead. Then they told me I had five minutes."

"Five minutes?"

Ryouga nodded. "To find the bomb. I ran, I checked every place I could think of. I didn't even KNOW where it was. Then it went off... I thought they had killed Rin, or at least left her in the building, but... They may have taken her."

Ranma nodded. "I wouldn't put it past them," he said. "You were caught in the blast?"

Ryouga nodded. "I was almost right on top of the bomb when it went off. I went flying through the window. I was sent clear of most of it, but I still got pretty messed up."

"Who were they?"

Ryouga shook his head. "I don't know. I think they may be part of Mazuhara's group, though."

"You know about them?" Ranma asked.

Ryouga nodded. "I'm not blind. I saw it on the news, Ranma. But I don't blame you," he sighed. "I could have protected them better."

Ranma sighed. "You will. We're going to find Rin, Ryouga."

Ryouga looked up. "You'll help?"

Akane placed her hand on Ryouga's shoulder. "Of course, Ryouga. We're not going to let you do this alone."

Ryouga looked into Akane's eyes, she was smiling, and Ryouga could feel his eyes begin to tear up.

A moment later, he closed them and said two simple words. "Thank you."

"So, how are you feeling, Ryouga?" Mousse asked. "Those wounds healing okay?"

Ryouga nodded as Ukyou and Akane helped him down the stairs. "I'll be okay in a little while," he said.

Mousse pulled out a chair at one of the tables and allowed Ryouga to sit down in it, while he himself pulled another chair, and sat in it. "So, have we got a plan?"

"A plan?" Ranma asked.

"Sure, Saotome. You don't expect to get Rin back without me, do you?"

Ranma narrowed his eyes. "How did--?"

Mousse merely tapped his ear lobe and smiled. "One thing you learn in living here for almost a year... All the air vents carry sound downstairs."

Ranma blinked. "Oh."

"I think Ryouga should stay and heal up before doing anything strenuous," Ukyou said. "You too, Ranchan."

"Hey! I'm fine!" he said, flexing his biceps as an example. A moment later, he winced.

"Sure," Mousse said.

"Ukyou's right. She and I found Ranma last week easily. The first step I think would be to head down to Aoyama and check out the restaurant. There might be something the police missed... They won't be linking this to Mazuhara's group, so there's a chance we'll find something," Akane suggested.

Ukyou nodded. "That's right. You guys should stay here and let us handle this bit," she smiled, grabbing the hilt of her battle spatula for effect.

Mousse nodded. "Obviously. It's the first step. If we find anything, we can move to the second step together."

Ranma reluctantly nodded. "Yeah, well... It's not like they'd get into any trouble there. Fine," he said.

Ryouga nodded. "Call if you find anything."

With that, Akane and Ukyou got up, said their good-byes and left the restaurant.

A brief train ride later, Akane and Ukyou found themselves staring at the burnt out ruins of the restaurant. Much of the building itself was still standing, but was surrounded by police tape, and many of the entrances were boarded up.

In fact, according to the sign, the building was scheduled to be torn down the next day.

"Looks like we made it in time," Ukyou suggested.

Akane nodded and punched out the boards that covered one of the windows. Without wasting another moment, the two of them hopped in.

The inside of the restaurant was even worse. The main room was large, with a counter near the back. It was obvious that at one time, it had been filled with tables and chairs. In fact, some unburned, but slightly charred, remains of a few chairs lay on the side of the room.

The nearby stairs looked somewhat intact, but neither of them wanted to test out the floor-- yet...

"So what should we look for?" Akane asked.

Ukyou shrugged. "I'm not sure, hon. We found our way around last week easily enough. Maybe if we're lucky enough, something will drop in on us."

No sooner than it had been spoken, the ceiling above them started to crumble away charred gyprock, in a distinct pattern.

Ukyou and Akane looked at each other. Both of them knew the pattern quite well.

"Footsteps?" Akane asked.

Ukyou nodded. "There's someone up there."

Ranma sat impatiently at the small table that he had become accustomed to over the past year. Usually, he was there to find out some secret of a long lost tribe of male warriors, or hear the legend behind the Phoenix Tribe. This time, he was merely waiting.

Mousse calmly swept the floor around the restaurant, as he HAD been doing for quite some time now. And the sheer fact that he seemed HAPPY doing it had made Ranma even more irritable.

"Must you do that?" he asked.

Mousse looked up and shot an expressionless smile in Ranma's direction. "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about, Saotome."

Ranma gave a derisive snort. "You're just going around, sweeping and sweeping and sweeping. Do you have ANY idea how irritating that is?"

Mousse looked up in what appeared to be a genuine illustration of deep thought. It lasted all of three seconds before Mousse shrugged and replied, "Nope."

It didn't take him long to continue sweeping.

Ranma got up from his chair, muttering something about the true evil of brooms, and leaned against the wall. He tossed a casual glance up the stairs. Ryouga had long since gone back up the stairs to get more sleep, and had consequentially left Ranma downstairs with Mousse.

"You know," Mousse said. "The police will be checking here sooner or later."

Ranma nodded in assent. "We can get around that pretty easily," he replied. "Just need a fair warning."

Mousse stopped sweeping and looked directly at Ranma. "Fair warning."

Ranma blinked. "Huh?"

Mousse jabbed his thumb towards the front door, just as a deep rapping came to it. Ranma's eyes widened in surprise. "You couldn't tell me SOONER?" he exclaimed.

Mousse shrugged as he went off to open the door. "I like seeing you squirm."

Ukyou kept herself pressed tightly against the wall while Akane hid at the end of the hallway, awaiting her signal. The two of them had easily made it up the stairwell without alerting the other occupant of the restaurant to their presence.

Now, it was up to Ukyou to get a visual of the stranger and find out who it is.

Ukyou paid attention to every part of the floor that could make so much as a creak, and stepped over it. She avoided every possible obstacle, and before long, she essentially was invisible.

She made her way to the doorway where the noise was coming from, and took a quick peek around the corner. The person was fully visible to her now, and was kneeling on the ground, looking at something Ukyou couldn't see yet.

But the figure was male. Around thirty years old, and wearing an Italian suit, complete with the leather shoes, and even greased back hair. She couldn't see his face yet, but she was more interested in finding out what HE was so interested in.

She silently moved into the room, making sure not to betray any sound, and kept her back pressed against the wall.

Her first mistake was to get careless. Her second, was to assume that the wall was strong enough not to make any noise.

The man spun around in surprise and saw Ukyou. It took him all of two seconds to reach into his jacket and pull out a semi-automatic weapon, and train it's sights upon Ukyou.

It took Ukyou even less time to whip one of her throwing spatulas and knock the gun from his hands.

"What the hell?!" he exclaimed, grabbing his right hand. He kept an eye on Ukyou, watching for every movement, and then glanced back to his gun, which was lying on the floor a few feet away.

Ukyou kept her eyes narrowed. She wasn't going to allow him even a CHANCE to get the gun. She'd already been shot once, and wasn't even going to CONSIDER being shot again.

She sneered. "Don't even try it, scumbag," she said. "Akane!"

It only took Akane a moment to enter the room, and look around. She noticed the gun on the floor, with Ukyou's throwing spatula only a foot away from it, and then looked at the expressions on the faces of both Ukyou and the stranger.

"What the heck happened?" she asked.

"What are you girls doing here?" the man asked.

"Don't you think we're wondering the same about you?" Ukyou sneered.

The man looked at the both of them and smiled. Slowly, he reached into his jacket once again.

"Hey! Keep 'em where we can see 'em!" Ukyou exclaimed, obviously not intending it to sound so corny.

The man kept one hand out in the open, and continued to reach into his jacket, slowly, he pulled something back out.

Ukyou visibly relaxed when she saw it wasn't another gun. It was... a wallet? Did this guy think they were trying to rob him?

The man quickly flipped his wallet open, displaying a golden shield. "Inspector Osamu Iwazaki, Aoyama Precinct."

Akane's eyes shot open to the size of saucer plates. Ukyou, on the other hand blushed a deep red.

"Err..." Ukyou began. "Uhh... Sorry, I thought--"

The Inspector visibly relaxed and tucked his wallet back into his pocket. "Now.... could you tell me what you're doing here?"

"Well... Our... friend was involved with the explosion," Akane began. "We just... came to see if we could find anything."

"Oh? You're a friend of Rin Tosaka?" he asked, raising a speculative eyebrow.

"Yeah," Ukyou interrupted. "We need to see if she left any clues to where she is..."

The Inspector reached down to the ground and picked up his gun, attaching it back to the holster under his jacket. "You likely won't find anything," he said. "We've gone through this place rather thoroughly."

"Then what were you doing here?" Akane asked.

The Inspector smiled. "You never know, right?" he said. "Now, if you girls will excuse me, I'll be going."

He made his way past Ukyou and Akane and made his way down the stairs. "Oh, you shouldn't really be in here either, girls. I'd suggest you leave before the demolition team comes by tomorrow," he called as he left their sight.

"Well, THAT was embarrassing," Ukyou claimed.

Akane looked into the room and frowned. "What was he doing in here?"

"I dunno, I came in and he was looking at something. Down on the--" she paused as her eyes caught what the man was looking at. Or through, rather.

"Is that Ryouga's pack?"

"Mr. umm... Mousse?" the police officer asked at the doorway.

"Yes?" Mousse asked, adjusting his glasses.

"I'm Lieutenant Kojiro with the Nerima Police? I've been asked in conjunction with the Aoyama and Inner Tokyo Police to go around looking for any place that Ranma Saotome or Ryouga Hibiki might be hiding. Would you mind terribly if I came in to take a look around?"

Mousse frowned. "I suppose," he said. "But try not to make a mess."

Lieutenant Kojiro bowed. "Of course not," he said. "It won't take but a moment, Mr. Mousse."

Mousse moved to one side and allowed the police officer in. "Please," he said.

"Is there anyone besides you in the restaurant right now, Mr. Mousse?" he asked, giving a quick scan of the area.

"There's just me, my pet pig, and--"

"MOUSSE-HONEY!" the shrill voice called as it tackled Mousse against the wall. "Why are you taking so long? You KNOW I miss you!"

Lieutenant Kojiro let a bead of nervous sweat run down his face as he witnessed the spectacle before him. The girl was quite obviously Mousse's wife, or girlfriend... or... something.

"What the HELL are you doing?!" Mousse exclaimed, pushing the girl off of him. "Are you CRAZY?!"

The girl backed away for a moment and began to sniffle. "But... Mousse-honey... How could you say that to me after last night? After I spent the night in YOUR bed!"

Lieutenant Kojiro began to sweat profusely.

"What are you SAYING?!" Mousse shot back.

The girl ran over to Mousse again and twirled her finger around Mousse's chest. "Mousse-honey... Didn't you like last night?"

"WELL!" Lieutenant Kojiro said, a little louder than he should have, nodding at the restaurant. "Everything looks to be in order around here, Mr. Mousse. I don't think I'll have to worry about Saotome popping up around here... Sorry to have bothered you. Mr. Mousse. Miss." He bowed, backing out of the restaurant.

Mousse blinked. "Hey, wait! She's not--"

Ranma took this opportunity to grab hold of Mousse's collar, and stare him into silence as the police officer pulled out in his car.

When Ranma let go, Mousse glared at him. "What the HELL was that all about, Saotome?"

Ranma simply winked at him. "I like seeing you squirm."

The rooftop had been easily accessible. It was merely carrying Ryouga's pack that had slowed them down. Still, they had easily been able to keep up with the 'Inspector'.

"What kind of Inspector walks back to the police station?" Ukyou asked, carrying Ryouga's incredibly heavy pack.

Akane nodded. "Or leaves evidence behind, just as he's been looking at it."

Following the Inspector had proved to be no problem whatsoever, and even as he had crossed the street, Ukyou and Akane had made their way across by going over the power lines. With their balance, it was a very menial task. Still, with Ukyou carrying Ryouga's pack, and Akane's limit with her skills, it was a bit harder than one would have imagined.

But they made it, just in time to see the Inspector walk into a large restaurant.

Scrambling to the ground, they found the best place to stand in order to spy inside, which happened to be while hanging off the ledge of the second floor, and staring in through the plate glass window.

"Ahh, Shuji. Welcome!" the old, burly man said, pulling out a chair. "Find anything?"

Shuji nodded. "Yes sir," he said. "A fairly recent photograph of the girl, and this." He pulled a small cuff link from his pocket. "The police must have overlooked it. I also found the boys pack, but I was... interrupted before I could take it. Still, it was heavy enough that I doubt I could have taken it."

The man took the cufflink and examined it. "I see," he said. "Anything else?"

Shuji looked over his shoulder for a moment and smiled. Akane gasped as Shuji made eye contact with her.

"Those two?" the man asked, gesturing towards the two faces hanging upside down off the second floor ledge of the restaurant.

Shuji nodded.

It didn't take much to get Ukyou and Akane inside. The two men hanging out of the windows on the second floor with guns trained on the two made it even easier. Ukyou had no time to defend, and Akane wasn't even aware of it until she was pulled into the window.

"Mr. Miyazaki would like to meet with you," the man with the gun said, packing it into his jacket. Obviously he meant no harm, but Ukyou still didn't like it. The men gestured the two of them to walk down the stairs, but left Ukyou her weapon. It was confusing at first, but Akane soon understood.

As they approached the main floor of the restaurant, Akane caught a good look of the man. He was slightly overweight, balding, and in his late forties, at least. He stood up and smiled warmly as the two of them approached the table.

"Welcome!" he exclaimed, gesturing towards two empty spots on the cushion. "Please, have a seat."

Ukyou sneered at the man. "Why should we?"

Akane sneered as well, but at the 'Inspector'. "A Police Officer, eh?"

Still, Ukyou and Akane took a reluctant seat at the table.

"Now, I believe introductions are in order," the older man said, smiling. "My name is Kintaro Miyazaki." He bowed politely and smiled at the two of them.

"Yeah, and?" Ukyou said. Looking over at the other man, she frowned. "And I'm willing to put money on the fact that your name isn't Osamu Iwazaki?"

"Osamu Iwazaki?" Kintaro laughed. "What HAVE you been telling them, Shuji?"

Shuji smirked. "They surprised me and managed to get the gun out of my hands. I had to tell them something."

Kintaro raised an eyebrow. "Indeed?" He looked at the two girls. "Well you must have been taken aback by their beauty. This, girls, is my most trusted associate, Shuji Kowichi."

Shuji then bowed in introduction.

"Look, is there a point to all this? Are you gonna kill us or not, 'cause if so, you've got another thing coming," Ukyou said, her eyes trained on any swift movement.

Kintaro broke out into laughter. "KILL you? Why would we do that? You know, you should be nicer to me! I am a very important man!"

"Oh yeah? What are you, the spokesperson for the International Coalition for Chocolate Lovers?" Akane quipped.

Kintaro laughed once again. "On the contrary, my dear Akane," he smiled upon seeing Akane's eyes widen. "I'm the Oyabun for the local Gumi here in Aoyama."

Ukyou blinked in surprise. "How did--"

"How did I know her name, Ms. Kuonji?" Kintaro smiled. "Both of you were all over the news for the past few days. It's kind of hard not to know your names. Now what I would like to know... Is how you're involved with our friendly neighborhood bombing."

Akane narrowed her eyes. This man was an Oyabun, which meant she had to watch herself. "First you tell us your involvement," she said.

The Oyabun smiled. "Fair enough." He leaned back a bit. "We had nothing to do with it. In fact, we're looking for the person who WAS behind it. You see, we protect businesses around here, and having this happen to one of our clients... well... you see, it's bad for business, and we intend to deal with it."

"You were extorting the Tosakas?" Ukyou asked.

"Bah!" Kintaro frowned. "Extortion is such a harsh word! I prefer to call it... providing a service. Our rates are quite low, and, believe it or not, we're quite civil about it."

"Wait, you said you're looking for the person behind this... you mean... Ryouga?"

Shuji spoke up at the mention of Ryouga's name. "That's him. I've seen him in that restaurant before. Do you know where he is?"

"Hey!" Ukyou exclaimed. "Ryouga's not at fault here! He didn't do this!"

"The police are hunting him down now, he's on the run, and you say he's not behind this?" Shuji asked.

"Look here, sugar. Ryouga can barely find his way around a one room apartment. You expect him to find his way around bomb making?"

Kintaro raised an eyebrow. "So, it's true? Ranma Saotome is... connected somehow with Hibiki?"

Akane looked over to the Oyabun and nodded. "Yes, but Ryouga didn't do this. He saw the man who did, and even tried to STOP it, but he DIDN'T do it."

Shuji dropped a small gold and silver cufflink in front of Akane, which bore a single roman letter.

The letter Y. "Do you know what this is?" Kintaro asked.

Akane picked the cufflink up and looked at it. "I don't... But I may know someone who does."

Kintaro clapped his hands together. "Splendid! Then if what you say is true, and Hibiki DIDN'T do this, then we're another step closer to the man who really DID do this!"

"We?" Ukyou asked.

"Of course... I've got to protect my investments, correct?" He smiled. "Shuji, you'll accompany them, of course?"

Shuji nodded with a smile. "Of course, Mr. Miyazaki."

Akane blinked. The Yakuza were going to help them? "Mr. Miyazaki?"

"Please, one so pretty as you can call me Kintaro!"

"Err... Kintaro?"

"Yes?"

"Well... What will you do?"

"About what?"

"Well, when we find the man responsible?"

Kintaro sighed. "Well, Akane, dear... I suppose we'll leave that up to you..."

Ranma shook his now-male head at the moist, sleeping form of Ryouga. It hadn't even been necessary to change him in to P-Chan, but still... He had to take every precaution.

But he was surprised that the police officer, completely native to Nerima, knew nothing about Ranma's curse. He was sure at least half of the school did, and magical things that didn't do a good job of hiding, usually sprung out in full force. Especially here in Nerima.

Still, he had gotten away with it, and that's all that counted.

Plus, he had stung Mousse pretty good. That would teach the guy to make Ranma squirm.

Ranma put the kettle down on the floor and sat next to Ryouga. He was still sleeping most of it off. The only difference now was that he was naked-- and the burns seemed amazingly smaller. Even now that the bandages were off.

"Hey, Mousse," Ranma called. "How fast is that stuff supposed to work?"

"It cuts the time need to heal by a factor of four."

Ranma looked down at Ryouga again. He'd seen burn patients in the hospital. "You can't tell me this is a couple days worth of healing here. It looks like a month!"

"Yeah, and he's in tune with his ki, Ranma. Don't forget, normally, people who are shot in the legs don't walk for a while. You managed to pull off a Hiryu Shoten Ha after getting shot."

Ranma thought. Well, he couldn't argue with that. Ranma himself did tend to heal faster than any normal person, but somehow he hadn't thought Ryouga would be the same.

Suddenly, he heard a rap coming from the downstairs door. That would be Akane coming back. Covering Ryouga up with a blanket, he made his way down the stairs.

"Mousse?" Akane spoke up when she entered the front door of the Nekohanten.

Mousse poked his head up from behind the counter. "Akane Tendo? Is that you? Who's with you?"

Akane blinked. She hadn't even brought Shuji into the restaurant yet. "I've brought someone that can help us," she said.

Mousse dropped his glasses onto his nose and took a close look at the newcomer as he stepped into the restaurant. Mousse took one look and frowned. "I don't think you'll need a gun," he said.

Now it was Shuji's turn to blink. "What?" he asked.

"Please," Mousse sighed. "I'm the master of hidden weapons. Even with my visual acuity, I can see the bulge in your jacket. You may be here to help us, but don't even think about going for that thing."

Shuji shook his head. "I wouldn't dream of it, sir."

"Mousse, he's here to help," Ukyou frowned. "At least show him some courtesy."

Mousse just shrugged and went back to scrubbing the floor.

"Hey, Akane, find anyth--" Ranma started as he walked down the stairs. "Who's this?"

"The name is Shuji Kowichi, Mr. Saotome," Shuji bowed. "It's an honour to meet you."

"What's with the gun?"

Shuji blanched and opened his jacket. "Is it me, or does this thing just not hide well?!"

"He's Yakuza, Ranma. He's here to help us," Ukyou said.

Ranma narrowed his eyes. "What does the Yakuza want to help us for?"

"We've got a... common interest in the Tosaka restaurant."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes," Shuji continued. "They were clients of ours."

"Ranma, he's here to help. I think we should accept it," Akane said.

Ranma raised one eyebrow. "Fine," he said. "Now, did you guys find anything?"

Ukyou dropped Ryouga's pack by the wall. "We didn't, but Shuji did."

Shuji nodded and pulled the cufflink from his pocket. He lay it in his hand and produced it for Ranma. "There is this... The only lead we have."

Ranma took the cufflink and examined it closely. "Y? Yoichi? No, couldn't be him. He was arrested..." he began.

"Needless to say, we're as interested in finding the guilty party as you are. We were... hoping with your supposed connection with the Paved Future organization, that you may recognize this..."

Ranma held the cufflink between his thumb and index finger and held it up. "Yamagami," he said. "That's it. Yamagami!"

Shuji's eyes popped open. "You recognize it?"

Ranma nodded. "Eichi Yamagami. He was Mazuhara's... right hand man, so to speak. If anyone could have gotten out of that whole mess, he could have. But... I thought he was smarter than that..."

"Smarter?"

"The aura I picked up from him pegged him as... well.. somewhat less maniacal than Mazuhara. I think all he cared about was the money... Revenge just doesn't seem part of the equation-- and even if it was, I was in the hospital... Why not just come straight after me?"

Shuji sighed. "I can't say. But if it was this... Eichi Yamagami person, then would you know where to find him?"

Ranma sighed. "I... It's hard to say. I know he lived in some kind of high rise in Tokyo, I don't think it was too far from the hotel where I was supposed to have killed that guy."

"Is that his true name?"

"Eichi Yamagami? Yeah, as far as I know."

Shuji nodded. "All right. I've got to make a call. If you'll excuse me." He pulled out a cellular phone and backed out of the restaurant.

"So we know who is behind this now... Do we tell the police?" Akane asked.

Ranma shook his head. "They ain't gonna believe us without evidence. And even with Shuji here... Well, hell. You think they'll believe us any more if we're working with the Yakuza?"

Ukyou nodded. "He's got a point."

"How's Ryouga doing?"

"Better," Ranma laughed. "A helluva lot better. I was surprised enough as it is to see him walking around this afternoon. Now I wouldn't be shocked if he could beat the crap out of some guy in a stuffy suit once he wakes up."

"How about accompanying us downtown?" Shuji asked, coming back into the restaurant.

Ranma raised an eyebrow. "Eh?"

"Eichi Yamagami, Apartment 2306, in a building about four blocks away from the hotel you were at last week."

"You serious?" Ranma asked, his eyes wide. "You found him?"

Shuji smiled and nodded. "I've got my resources."

"Should we wait for Ryouga to wake up?" Akane asked.

Shuji nodded. "I doubt he's going anywhere. How long before he's able to walk again?"

Ranma shrugged. "Probably not long."

"Yo, Ryouga," Ranma began. "You awake?"

Ryouga groaned as he sat up in his bed. "Yeah... I am now," he frowned as he looked down at himself. "Where the hell are my clothes?"

"Underneath you, man. Cops showed up. Had to pull a P-Chan. And here's some clothes," he passed Ryouga a small bundle.

Ryouga got up from his bed and began to dress himself. "Where'd you find these?"

"There was a change of them in your pack."

"My pack?" he asked. "Where did you find it?"

"Apparently, it survived the blast at the restaurant. Ukyou grabbed it and literally dragged it here."

"She would have had to," Ryouga said.

"Look... we... ahhh... We may have found the guy responsible for this."

Ryouga paused. "What?"

With a nod, Ranma continued. "Eichi Yamagami. You up for a short trip?"

Ryouga flexed his biceps. "Damn straight. Where?"

"We've got someone on our side here, Ryouga. The cops ain't helping, so we've gone to the other side," he said with a slight smirk.

"Huh?"

"Friendly neighborhood Yakuza," Ranma said, smiling again.

"So, what does that have to do with us?"

"A guy downstairs. Shuji Kowichi, or something. He got Yamagami's address, and we're heading up there to get a hold of Yamagami."

Ryouga finished getting dressed and looked over to Ranma. "Take me to him."

Shuji eyed Ryouga appraisingly, then smiled. "Why, hello Ryouga."

"You," Ryouga said. "I've seen you."

"I would imagine so," he said. "The restaurant was a favorite eating place of mine."

Ryouga raised an speculative eyebrow. "You're Yakuza?"

Shuji bowed. "Yes. But even us Yakuza eat too."

"I didn't mean it like that. I mean... why are you helping? What's in it for you?"

Shuji sighed. "I don't know how many times I should explain this... First of all, Mr. and Mrs. Tosaka were clients of ours. It was our job to protect them, and we failed. It is... bad for business. Therefore, we are expending every resource available in order to bring this man down... And besides, it is very uncivilized to just sit back and watch, wouldn't you say?"

"So you don't think I did it?" Ryouga asked, leaning back against a wall.

Shuji shrugged. "We had our suspicions in the beginning. But young Akane and Ukyou here were more than willing to share their side of the story, which pegs you as a good guy. Call me sentimental, but I'll believe two young visions of beauty over the police any day."

Ukyou and Akane both blushed at this.

Ryouga took a seat at a table. "So, how are we getting there? It's obvious that by now, my face would be posted up all over the place, right?"

"Well, getting there will be easy. It's not like we'll be taking public transportation."

"We won't?" Ranma asked.

"Well," Mousse began. "I'll assume the Lexus out front might be a non-public form of transportation..."

Shuji nodded. "There should be room for all of you, although we may have to... pack it in, so to speak."

Ryouga stood up and cracked his knuckles. "Well, what are we waiting for?"

They arrived at the building two hours later, none the worse for wear. The sun was just going down over the horizon, and they had found a secure, out of the way parking space underground.

The first thing Shuji did was pop open the trunk and run over to it.

"Okay," he began, motioning everyone over. "I've got some things here that may be somewhat useful."

Ranma raised an eyebrow. "No guns, right? I don't do guns."

Shuji laughed and shook his head. "No, I'm not stupid enough to carry them around in my trunk. It's one thing to carry one on my person, but in my car? Never," he said. "No, these are communication radios."

Ranma took one of the two-way radios and examined it. "What are these for?"

"In case we get separated. Let me run through a few things first. They won't work in stairwells at all, but in elevators, they may work. It depends how far away you are," he passed one to Mousse, Ryouga, Akane and Ukyou, and then took one for himself, slamming the trunk. "I'm on channel four, set them."

Each of them turned the small dial to the four. "Ten-Four good buddy," Ukyou spoke into the radio, then chuckled.

"I'd suggest not using official lingo. Someone might pick up on it."

Ukyou shrugged. "That's okay, I don't know the official lingo, anyway."

"So, how are we getting up?" Ranma asked. "I mean, there are twenty-three floors to climb, right?"

Shuji nodded. "I suggest we each take different routes, and converge on the twenty-third floor. From there, we can jump in on Yamagami together, and find out what we can."

Ranma nodded, then looked around the parking lot. There were three stairwell doors, and two elevator vestibules.

"There are five routes, and six of us. Who's doubling up?" Ranma asked.

"Ms. Tendo, you go with Ranma," Shuji said. "The rest of you, head up whichever route you want."

"Actually-- I think it might be better if Ryouga doubles up with someone," Ranma suggested.

Ryouga nodded in agreement. Quite vigorously.

"Whatever. I'll head up the northern vestibule. The rest of you guys go wherever. Try to keep in contact if possible from your area, and we'll converge on twenty-three in ten minutes. Wait until everyone is there before we go in on him."

Ranma nodded and grabbed Ryouga, pulling him towards the northeastern stairwell, while Akane took the southern elevator vestibule, Ukyou took the western stairwell, and Mousse took the southeastern.

"Twelve," Ranma said, climbing the stairs three at a time. "Eleven floors to go, Ryouga."

"Whatever," he replied, cracking his knuckles again. "I can't wait, Ranma. I'll get this bastard."

"I'm almost positive it's him, but before you go and kill him-- just think about a few things first. I killed Mazuhara because I had to. He would have-- and did-- kill several others. Including Happosai and Cologne."

"He killed Rin's parents. He has to die!"

"But what about Rin herself? There's no evidence of her being dead yet, Ryouga. What if you killed him, and because there was nobody to tell us where she was, she starved to death? Then what? Fourteen."

"I'm not dumb enough for that, but--"

"There's jail Ryouga. I hated having to kill Mazuhara, but it had to be done, or else he would have taken more life with him. That's the only excuse I can come up with, and it's the only one that keeps me relatively sane. If it could have been done, I would have had him put in jail. I only killed him because there was no choice."

"The news said he killed himself."

"Hiryu Shoten Ha, Ryouga. Who would've thought the bullets would get caught up in the whirlwind? Sixteen."

Ryouga sighed. "Still, I can't let him go without being punished."

"Neither can I, Ryouga. But... it may have to go that way."

Ryouga remained silent the rest of the way up.

Gods, this was fun. Mousse would have to remember it in the future. Of all the places he'd been while in Japan, the stairwell of a high rise building he had not. And with his grappling hooks, getting up floor by floor was incredibly easy.

He'd walked up the first three flights, and then started tossing the hooks around, climbing up and nearly four times the speed that walking would have done.

Nine, ten, eleven.

He passed a confused looking security guard on twelve, then continued up to thirteen, fourteen, fifteen.

The elevators would probably beat him to the top, but he'd most likely be the first out from the stairwells.

This whole situation had been dropped on Mousse like a ton of bricks. But truthfully, he enjoyed it.

As far as his war with Saotome was concerned, it was over. And they had worked together enough times in the past for a friendship to blossom.

Well, as close as a friendship could get, especially when one was trying to kill the other time after time.

But now, it was like his final good-bye. One last quest to go on with Ranma, and he'd run back to China to be with Shampoo.

Mousse smiled as the wind rushed through his hair.

Nineteen, twenty, twenty-one.

He was almost there. Time to slow down.

Ukyou started to get tired around fifteen. But she had turned it into a game of sorts when she started to pole-vault her way up the stairs using her spatula.

She had originally gone with Akane the previous week to help her. Even when they found Ranma, Ukyou had only thought of Akane's feelings. It didn't take much for Ukyou to wake up to her own emotions at that time, either. Ranma was her brother. Ukyou was his sister.

It was easy to figure, and even the pain of having realized this wasn't great. It just meant she and Ranma would be together forever, but not as husband and wife-- as brother and sister.

She wasn't blind. She could see Akane's feelings for Ranma, and his for her. For a time, she had hoped it would pass, that Ukyou would be the recipient of Ranma's emotion.

But for that long, she never realized she was the recipient. Yes, even when they were young, she could see it.

Sibling rivalry. That was it.

Ukyou continued to vault up the stairs, while letting her mind wander.

Akane fidgeted against the back of the elevator. It was completely mirrored inside, so it gave her a distraction as it climbed the floors up to twenty-three.

But in the lobby, as she went up to it, she gained a small troupe of people.

"Hello, Miss," one man smiled, pushing the button for the eighth floor.

Akane smiled at the man, and even as the elevator continued to pack up, with people pushing the buttons for nearly every floor under twenty-three.

Of course, when more people got on at the stopped floors, Akane's smile quickly turned into a frown. Maybe she WOULD have been better off taking the staircase.

"Yes," Shuji spoke into his phone. "We're at the building now. We're going to converge on twenty-three and jump in on his apartment."

Shuji listened to Kintaro on the other end. "Good. Keep me posted, Shuji."

"Yes sir."

Shuji turned off the cell as the elevator stopped on twenty-three, and he popped out. Having to make calls to his superiors had become a way of life, but even having to do so in an elevator on his way to infiltrate was pushing it a little.

Still, it was best to keep them informed. Especially his direct boss.

He walked down the hallway, looking for the right apartment. No sooner had he found it, than the door to a nearby stairwell popped open.

"Well," Shuji said. "That was rather quick."

Mousse nodded. "I found a shortcut," he smiled.

"Akane isn't even out yet," he said, motioning towards the elevator at the other end of the hallway, which was still on sixteen.

"Hey, you guys here yet?" a male voice called from around the corner.

Mousse and Shuji ran over to the other stairwell to see Ranma and Ryouga pop out. Ryouga was breathing hard, but Ranma seemed fine.

"I guess he's not over his injuries yet," Ranma said, jabbing a thumb in Ryouga's direction.

"No, he wouldn't be... not yet," Mousse said. "But he'll be all right."

An elevator ding soon produced an angry looking Akane, who popped out of it, leaving an unconscious old man behind.

Ranma blinked in surprise. "What--"

"DON'T ask," Akane warned.

As the elevator doors closed, Ranma decided it would be best NOT to ask.

"Ukyou's not up yet?"

Ranma shook his head. "No, she should be up soon though."

A scant thirty seconds later, Ukyou opened the door to her stairwell, and stepped out. "Well," she said. "That was interesting."

Shuji looked around. "Okay, we're all here. His apartment is right there," he said, pointing towards a door.

"Well, let's go!" Ranma said, jogging up to the door, and then pausing.

"Do you want to break it down?"

Ranma thought for a moment. "He might not even be in there," he said. "And we might draw a little too much attention. Anyone good at picking locks?"

Shuji pulled out a few small tools and moved towards the doorknob. "Shouldn't take but a moment," he said, moving in to work his magic upon the doorknob.

A few moments later, the door made a satisfying click, and allowed entry to the team.

Ranma was the first in, he jumped in and ran to one side, checking out the area. The others soon followed, each one spreading across the apartment, while Shuji hung close to the door. He wasn't a martial artist, but he wasn't stupid, either.

It was well furnished, and had several expensive pieces of art, including Chinese vases, a few paintings, a sculpture sitting in the middle of the room, and an amazing amount of electronics. The big-screen projection TV was what drew most attention, but that wasn't what they were looking for.

But the only problem was, quite simply... Yamagami wasn't there.

In fact, nobody was there.

"So where the hell is he?" Ryouga exclaimed. "He's supposed to be here!"

"We must have missed him," Ukyou said.

"No," Ranma said, laying his hand on the projection TV. "It's warm. He must have just left."

As if on cue, the telephone rang.

The entire group eyed it suspiciously.

"Do you suppose...?" Akane began.

Ukyou trod over to the phone carefully, and picked it up. "Hello?" she asked.

"Turn on the speaker phone," the voice ordered.

Ukyou narrowed her eyes and did as the voice asked. "Who is this? Yamagami?"

"You fools think I'm stupid?" the voice asked. "You think I'll just wait around for you to come up and get me? You ARE dumber than you look, Saotome."

Ranma clenched his teeth together. "Yamagami! Where the hell are you?!"

"Oh, far away from you now, my friend... There's no WAY I'd hang around there with what's about to happen."

Mousse angled his ear for a moment. "Do you guys hear ticking?"

Ukyou backed away from the phone in a heartbeat, but it wasn't until Shuji yelled "Bomb!" That everyone jumped into action.

Shuji and Mousse made their way out of the apartment door first, closing in on the northeastern stairwell, while Ryouga grabbed Ukyou and forced the two of them out the window, and on to the fire escape outside. Finally, Ranma grabbed Akane and made it as far as the door before the explosion went off, sending Ryouga and Ukyou down three floors, hanging on to the fire escape rail. Ranma caught the brunt of the blast from behind, but managed to throw himself away from it just enough to knock he and Akane through the gyprock wall separating the hallway and the elevator shaft.

The fire alarm started going off nearly a moment later.

Akane held on to Ranma as tightly as she could as the two teens slid down the cable holding the elevator up. Ranma gripped it as tightly as he could, causing the friction to burn his hands. With a loud grunt, he was finally able to stop their descent.

"DAMMIT, YAMAGAMI!" Ranma exclaimed.

"Ranma can you get us out of here?" Akane asked.

Ranma winced. He had been holding on too tightly to the metal cable, and the added weight had come as more of a disadvantage as he burned his hands from the friction caused when holding on to the wire.

"Yeah," he said, climbing. "Just hold on."

The elevator was about three floors up. As long as it didn't move, he would easily be able to--

It moved.

"Ranma! The elevator is coming down!"

"Oh, thank you for the news update, Connie Chung!"

Unfortunately for the two of them, the wire Ranma held on to was moving upwards, towards the mechanical pulley at the side of the elevator.

"Ranma!"

"Hold on!"

"Ryouga!" Ukyou exclaimed, trying her best to hold on to Ryouga's hand. Unfortunately, the sweat that both of them were now leaking at a faster-than-normal rate were making the task a bit more slick than they would have hoped.

Coupled with Ryouga's injuries, it didn't make things any easier.

"Hold on!" he shot back, trying to lift both him and Ukyou up to the platform which they had both been thrown off of. If he had been in peak physical condition, he could have done it with the utmost ease-- but not today. Not with his injuries.

Ukyou shot a quick gaze downwards. They were at least twenty stories up. No matter HOW good they were, they wouldn't survive the fall. Ukyou was hanging too far away from the rail herself to reach out and grab, so she found herself having to rely on Ryouga.

Ryouga struggled to keep a grip on both ends. He had to do something rather than just hang there.

He opened his eyes and went for it. It was all or nothing, he had to flip Ukyou up on to the platform, and only then could he worry about himself.

He jerked his arm up, in an effort to bring Ukyou up.

But she had been unprepared. Her hand slipped, and the grip was lost.

"NOOO!" Ryouga screamed, not wanting to look down. "Ukyou!"

The blast rocked the entire building when it hit, and even Shuji and Mousse felt it from the stairwell. Fortunately, they were encased in concrete, and the blast wasn't strong enough to break through.

"DAMMIT!" Mousse exclaimed. "Why couldn't I hear it earlier?!"

"No matter," Shuji said, narrowing his eyes. "The others should be all right. But there's only one way he could have gone without our seeing him."

"We don't even know what he looks like. Saotome and Hibiki are the only ones who know," Mousse shot back, leaning against the concrete wall.

"Still, I think up is our best bet. If we hurry-- hey, are you listening?"

Mousse put his hand up. "Just wait," he said, angling his ear towards the concrete wall.

"What? What is it, do you hear something?"

"Is this the elevator shaft?" he asked, motioning to the wall.

"I think so. Why?"

"Back up," Mouse said, backing a few feet away from the wall and pulling out a few of his tougher weapons.

"Ranma, do something!" Akane exclaimed, looking up towards the elevator, which was getting ever so closer. The hole they had fallen through was nearly upon them. Maybe Ranma could--

"Hold on!" he shot back. The hole was too small and too far away. Even alone and at his full strength, it would be a tricky jump. But with Akane on his back, and his muscles still cramping up from time to time... Even then, there was smoke bellowing out from the hole. It almost wasn't worth the risk.

...Almost.

"Okay, when I jump for the hole, I want you to--" Ranma paused. "Do you hear something?"

Akane cocked her head, straining to hear past the roar of the elevator motor. "Is that....?"

Ranma frowned. "It sounds like someone is mining," he said, then looked towards the darkened wall. "It's coming from there."

"The elevator is getting closer, Ranma!"

Ranma frowned. He needed to know-- then he saw it. Light started pouring in from the newly made hole on the opposite side of the elevator shaft.

"Saotome, is that you?!" a voice echoed through.

"It's Mousse!" Ranma exclaimed. "Hey, Mousse! Help us out, here!"

No sooner had a moment passed than the wall had exploded outwards, pelting Ranma and Akane with bits of concrete. But the hole was now large enough for the two of them to pass into. Safely.

Ranma leapt from the cable just as the elevator sucked the wire he was holding into the pulley. If Ranma's hand had still been there, they would have been crushed.

Ranma and Akane leaned back on the concrete floor as the elevator passed by.

"Jeez," Ranma sighed. "Don't these idiots know you're NOT supposed to use an elevator during a fire?"

Ukyou tumbled through the air, feeling her heart race as a speed previously unknown to her. Twice in a week, she thought to herself.

Trying to time it just right, she readied her spatula and shot it out just at the right time, getting it caught between the bars of a fire escape platform, and using the leverage to swing her to the next level below.

She hit the wall with no small amount of force, and took a few moments to become composed. She had a nasty scrape on her arm, but other than that, she was none the worse for wear.

She pulled her spatula out of the railing of the platform above her and looked up.

"Hey, Ryouga!" she exclaimed. The fool was still hanging from the platform.

He had dropped her. Idiot! he thought. How could he have done that? First the Tosakas, now this?

Ryouga choked back a sob as he hung from the fire escape rail. Had he been in a better position, he would have punched a hole through the wall. As it was now, however--

"Hey, Ryouga!"

Ryouga paused. Now he was hearing things. It must have been Ukyou's ghost, ready to take her revenge on him.

"I'm SORRY, Ukyou!" he exclaimed, calling out to nowhere in particular. "I didn't mean to kill you!"

There were a few moments of silence before the reply came. "Kill me?! Ryouga, you dope! I'm fine! Look down, you jackass!"

Ryouga blinked. "Fine?" he asked, then cast his gaze downward. Ukyou was sitting on a fire escape platform about five stories down, looking back up at him.

"Ukyou!" he cried. "You're all right!"

"Duh!"

"Hold on," he said, hoisting himself up on to the platform. "I'll be right there!"

"Are you sure it's only a drill?" Miki asked, allowing Yuu, her boyfriend, to her her neck. Repeatedly.

"Of course," he said. "They're always doing these thing unannounced."

Miki took Yuu's hand and pressed it against her face. "All right," she said. "Let me go... get ready." She smiled.

Yuu smiled in return, and then leaned back on the bed, waiting for Miki to disappear into the bathroom.

Miki looked back over her shoulder and draped the robe she was wearing back over her shoulders, pouting her lips at Yuu and--

The side window slid open and distracted both of them.

"I can't believe you thought you killed me," said a strange woman carrying... a giant spatula?!

"Well, all I know is that you fell. How was I supposed to know. You DID fall five stories, right?" another man said from behind her as they both stepped into the apartment.

Both of the paused upon seeing the situation they had just walked in on. A half-naked man sitting on the bed, coupled with a woman wearing only a bathrobe-- which was already down below her waistline.

"Err," the man said, boggling. "Excuse us."

The woman blushed furiously. "You know, there IS a fire alarm going off!" she shouted.

"Uhh... Don't mind her," the man said, grabbing on to her sleeve. "Let's go Ukyou." He started pulling her towards the door.

Ukyou didn't say another word as she allowed the man to pull her out of the apartment.

After they left, Yuu sat in wonder of the happenings of the past few moments. "Yuu?" Miki asked.

"Yes?"

"Are my breasts showing?"

"Err... Yes," Yuu replied.

"Oh. That's what I thought," she said, and promptly fainted.

Ukyou and Ryouga made their way up the stairwell and met up with the others soon after.

"Hey, you guys made it!" Ranma exclaimed in half-step.

"Where is he?" Ryouga seethed.

Shuji pointed his finger upwards. "My bet is on the roof."

"Well, what the hell can he do on the roof? Ain't that a bit stupid, considering he just set off a bomb?" Ranma asked.

"Hell, I think it's stupid enough that we're going up. The structural support of this building can't stand up to much more damage," Mousse mentioned.

"There's that hotel across the street," Ranma said. "I think it's around the same height as this building. We'll just hop across. Besides, even when we DO go down, the place will be packed with cops and fire department guys anyway."

Shuji blinked. "Err, that's all fine and good for you, but I'll take the old fashioned way down. Besides, my car IS in the parking lot."

Ranma shook his head. "If the cops decide they wanna search you and find the gun, then you're in for it. We can always get your car later, I think it'd be better if you came along."

"I can't jump like that," Shuji said, quietly.

"That's okay," Mousse said from below. "We'll throw you."

Shuji silently eeped.

The door to the roof was unlocked, meaning someone had just recently passed through the door, as it was usually meant to be locked. The sign on the door confirmed that.

But when they burst through the door and spread across the roof, they found... nothing.

"Where... where the hell is he?" Ryouga asked.

Shuji swore quietly. "He must have gone down," he said. "In the elevator. Maybe we were looking straight at him, since the only people who can recognize him are Ryouga and Ranma."

Akane blinked. Several people DID get on the elevator while she was in it... including the one man who had felt her up. She clenched a fist at the memory of that.

"What about the helicopter?" Mousse asked, pointing towards a shape about half a kilometer away.

Ranma looked over towards it. "There's no way to know if that came from here, or just flew over."

"Yes there is," Shuji said, narrowing his eyes. "It'd be higher up if it just flew over." He squinted, trying to make out the words on the side. "Damn, I wish I brought a pair of binoculars."

"I think I have one," Mousse said, scrounging around inside of his robes. A moment later, he pulled out a nice looking pair of long range binoculars. He pointed it in the direction of the helicopter.

"It says," he paused. "Microsoft?! What the?"

"Microsoft?!" Ryouga exclaimed. "You mean... Yamagami is a western billionaire?!"

"No, wait... Microwave? Microprose? Micro Machines?"

"Give me those!" Ranma shot out and grabbed the binoculars away from Mousse. He soon trained them in the right direction, adjusted the focus, and--

"Mikeroto Production lines."

"Mikeroto?" Akane asked. "Could that be one of Mazuhara's shell companies?"

Ranma shrugged. "Hard to say," he said, then looked over towards Shuji. "How 'bout you, Mr. Yakuza? Care to check on your contacts again?"

"Well, my first contact was the phone book," he said.

Everyone but Mousse nearly fell over. "The PHONE book?!" they chorused.

"Why not?" he muttered, shrugging. "It worked, didn't it?"

"Well, checking the phone book for Mikeroto Production lines shouldn't prove to be too difficult, then," Mousse said, a wan smile on his face.

"Well," Ukyou said, looking over the edge of the building. "The police are here. Time to jump, I guess."

"Right," Ranma said, looking across to the other building. "Boy, they pack these buildings close together, don't they. That's only a twenty foot jump."

"Only?!" Shuji exclaimed.

"What's the matter?" Ryouga asked. "Fear of heights?"

"Fear of falling," he retorted.

"I'll throw you across. Don't worry. Ranma'll catch you," Mousse said.

Ranma promptly jumped across and called back. "Yeah, sure thing."

Once again, Shuji eeped.

Once across to the other building, they made their way back to the ground. Shuji promptly got down onto his stomach and kissed the asphalt, professing his love for it, and how he'd never leave it again.

"Jeez, and he's supposed to be Yak?" Ukyou muttered.

"Well, I guess I can see where he's coming from," Akane shrugged.

"I wonder if I shouldn't have just made a bridge across the buildings..." Mousse wondered aloud.

"You could have made a BRIDGE?!" Shuji exclaimed. "Why didn't you?"

"Are you good at tightrope walking?" he asked.

"Eep."

"Anyway," Ranma said, lifting Shuji back to a standing position. "You gonna look up Mikeroto?"

Shuji nodded and flipped his phone open, dialing a number.

"Hey, Ruri," he greeted. "Look, I need another look-up."

Everyone watched in mute fascination as Shuji gathered the needed information.

"Mikeroto Production Lines. Probably one of the larger companies, they've got a private helicopter."

A lengthy pause pushed all of them into silence as they found their way to the underground parking lot, the one place the police weren't hanging all over.

Shuji's facial expression twisted into one of confusion. "Are you sure?"

Another short pause.

"All right," he said. "Thanks, Ruri." He flipped the phone shut and looked up at the others.

"Well?" Ranma asked.

"Mikeroto Production Lines went bankrupt last autumn. They sold all of their assets, including that helicopter at a public auction."

"Does she know who bought it? Their address?"

"The auction was public. The buyers, however, were promised confidentiality. The only person who could tell you who bought it would have to be someone who was there."

"Well, is there a list of people who attended?" Akane asked.

"Well, that was also part of the confidentiality," Shuji replied. "No public lists. One thing I can tell you, though, is that it would have attracted a lot of attention."

"Oh great," Ranma muttered. "So we're at a dead end?"

"Until we can find out who owns that helicopter," Shuji said, sighing. "Yes."

"So we're supposed to sit back and wait for Yamagami to drop into our laps? Is that it? Let him... keep doing whatever it is he's doing to Rin?" Ryouga seethed. "Are we--"

"Ryouga, you're attracting attention," Ranma warned. "There's nothing we can do right now." He looked towards Shuji. "Let us know if you find anything," he said.

Shuji nodded. "I'll give you a ride back to the restaurant," he said. "From there... Well, I'll call you tomorrow and we can pick up on the trail if we can."

"It's too bad he burned up his apartment," Ukyou said. "Might have been something in there we could have used."

"Doubtful," Ranma said, climbing into the back seat of the car. "If anything, Yamagami is smart. He won't have anything linked up between home and business lives."

As the rest of them piled into the car, Akane sighed. "We were so close, but... That helicopter..."

"It was a public auction," Shuji said. "Chances are, we'll know someone who was there. It's just a matter of finding and getting the information from them."

"Fine," Ranma said. "You come get us when it's gathered. You know where we'll be."

Shuji nodded.

"I don't like it," Ryouga said, dropping into the first chair he could find, which happened to be at the rear of the restaurant. "It's too easy for him. After that whole... whatever it was that we did over there, we come up with NOTHING."

"We do have something, Sugar. Mikeroto."

"Which went out of business last fall!" Ryouga shot back.

"Hi, Daddy," Akane greeted over the phone, then immediately winced. "Yes, I'm fine... No, I didn't. Yes, I did. No. Yes. I--... Dad--... DAD!"

Ranma chuckled. "Lemme guess," he said, then put on his best Soun impression. "Oh! My beautiful daughter has gone to the wrong side of the law! Oh, she's mixed up with the Yakuza! Oh, she's been bombing apartment buildings! Oh! Oh! Oh!"

Akane blushed a little and then poked a finger in Ranma's direction, then touched her nose.

Ranma laughed.

"Daddy," Akane continued. "I need to speak with Nabiki."

"Hey," Ranma exclaimed, snapping his fingers. "Nabiki! Of course! If anyone would know, she would!"

Mousse continued wiping the counters down with a cloth rag.

"Nabiki?" Akane began. "What do you know about Mikeroto Production Lines?"

Slowly, but surely, Akane's expression turned to awe, with a touch of wonder, and finally, a wide smile appeared on her face.

"Great! Look, we need to know who bought the helicopter. Did you happen to catch that?"

A few moments later, Akane's smile grew even wider, if such a thing was possible. "That's GREAT, Nabiki! I owe you!" she exclaimed. A few moments later, she winced, but her smile was still sitting on her face. "All right. Tell Kasumi I love her, and tell Daddy... Well, tell him whatever you want."

She hung up the phone and looked towards the others. "Get this," she said. "Nabiki not only heard of the company, but she was AT the auction. She even bid on the helicopter itself."

"Nabiki has the money for that?" Ryouga raised an eyebrow.

"Who knows? It was more than likely she was just having fun by raising the price. She tends to do that at auctions," she said, her fingering lingering on her lip. "But anyway, that's beside the point. She knows who bought the helicopter!"

Ranma ran over to Akane and put his hands on her shoulders. "Who?"

Akane looked into Ranma's eyes. "A private company called Yoshoto Enterprises. They own a small factory on the other side of the bay."

Ranma's eyes popped open. "That's quite a trip," he said. "We'd be better off taking the train."

"Yeah, but hon... In case you haven't noticed, the police ARE after you," Ukyou said.

"Easily fixed!" Ranma said, then doused himself with a glass of water. "Now, are we ready?"

"What about Ryouga?" Akane asked. "I mean, he can't just splash himself with a glass of water and hide from the police like you, Ranma."

Unnoticed by Akane, Ryouga immediately tensed up.

"Well," Ranma began, looking towards Ryouga appraisingly. "If we can't turn him into a girl with water..."

Ryouga suddenly resemble a deer trapped in the headlights of an oncoming semi.

"...Whaddaya say, Ryouga? You DID make a cute nurse."

Ryouga promptly facefaulted.

Ukyou leaned against the balance pole of the train doing nothing more than trying to hide her smirk.

Unfortunately, she wasn't doing too well.

Truthfully, neither were Mousse and Ranma.

"Please," Akane said, frowning. "Why did it have to be me?"

"You were the closest fit, Hon," Ukyou said, smiling. "There's no way he would have fit into my clothes. And besides..." She flashed a smile towards Ryouga. "You've gotta admit he looks cute."

Ryouga replied by silently fuming.

Akane replied by tugging at the loose tunic she wore.

Apparently, everyone other than Ryouga and Akane had decided that the situation would have been better suited by their switching clothes, so Ryouga was forced into wearing Akane's skirt and blouse (after a brief trip upstairs to shave wax legs) while Akane wore his usual tunic and bandanna. The end result was...

...well. Truthfully, Akane was wearing clothes that were at least three sizes too big, and Ryouga had a rather large gob of tissue paper in his chest, while the rest of the outfit hugged his proportions a little too tightly for comfort.

Well, at least he was allowed to wear his own underwear. But Mousse's extra pair of glasses were just plain messing up his point of view.

Ranma was busily sitting with her legs crossed against one of the seats parallel to the car walls. Needless to say, she too was trying not to laugh.

"Oh, please," Akane muttered. "It's hard to stay undercover when you're all laughing at us."

"Maybe," Ranma smirked. "But it's so much damn FUN!"

Ryouga never said a word during the entire trip. When the train stopped, however, he got up and stepped out, muttering about how his legs itched.

"This is Yoshoto Industries?" Ryouga asked, raising his eyebrow.

"That's what it says," Ranma said, gesturing toward the nearby sign.

"So... Why a house?" Akane asked.

"Sugar, this ain't no house. That there is a mansion," Ukyou stated.

And indeed it was. The outer grounds were covered by a chain link fence with concertina razor wire attached to the top, making anyone who planned to climb it think twice.

However, it was hardly challenging for some of the best martial artists ever to have graced the face of the planet.

But Akane and Ukyou, who couldn't jump as high as the others were left to ponder at what could be inside of the nearby mansion.

It was late, about two o'clock in the morning, which meant the outer perimeter was patrolled every twenty minutes or so by a security guard. Which gave them about that much time to slip in, find Yamagami, and take care of business without the police arriving.

And Ranma was positive that Yamagami was inside. The helicopter from Mikeroto was perched on a concrete platform in the middle of the Yoshoto yard, and the house-- if it could be called as such, had several lights on inside, illuminating some of the yard.

"I'd rather not go in like this," Ryouga said, tugging at the skirt he wore.

"Ahh, but Ryouga-chan," Ranma said, smirking. "You look so cuuute."

Ryouga clenched his teeth and tightened his fist. "Ranma," he began. "You take that BACK!"

"QUIET!" Mousse ordered. "Someone could hear us!"

Ryouga sighed. "Fine," he said. "But how are we supposed to get in?"

"Well," Ukyou began, readying her spatula. "I say we all jump in at once."

"Wait," Mousse said, barring her path with an arm. "At least one of us should stay out here. In case something goes wrong."

"Right," Ranma said, nodding. "Akane, you know what to do."

"What? Why do _I_ have to stay out here?"

"Do I need to remind you about what happened LAST time? Yamagami isn't just playing around like Mazuhara is, Akane."

Akane growled to herself and leaned against a light post, once again pulling on Ryouga's tunic.

"I'll stay with her," Ukyou suggested. "No sense in endangering any of us unless it's necessary, right?"

Ranma nodded, then looked toward Ryouga and Mousse. "Okay, we ready?"

With a nod, the three of them cleared the fence as if it were a small hurdle. They hit the ground on the other side, and silently made their way up to the house.

Ranma peered around the corner quickly, and turned back toward Ryouga and Mousse.

"Okay," he began. "One guard, he's sitting at the desk. Remember. He's a non-combatant until he sees us."

Mousse nodded. "And if he sees us?"

"Take him out, but mercifully. He's only doing his job... I hope. Just knock him out, even if he is one of Yamagami's crew, he won't be able to do anything if he's out of commission."

Ryouga cracked his knuckles. "How do we get by?"

"Mousse and I can keep to the ceiling," he said. "We can hop in through a window and keep things quiet... How well can you keep to ceilings, Ryouga?"

"I... uhh..."

"Right. We'll distract the guard, then. Wait for our signal, all right?"

Ryouga nodded as the two of them hopped in the window, and... as they said, kept to the ceiling.

The guard below them seemed to be keeping a fair vigil upon the surveillance monitors, tapping each one of them.

Ranma tapped Mousse on the shoulder and pointed down the hall. If they were going to distract the guard, they needed to do it quickly.

Mousse, getting the idea, nodded, and made his way through the hall, turning a corner here and there.

A moment later, one of the monitors on the guard's console went offline.

"What the?" the guard began. He tapped the monitor. "Dammit. Friggin' maintenance guys." He stood up and looked down the hallway. "Would figure they'd do a half-assed job."

A moment later, he walked off in the direction of the failed camera.

Ranma dropped to the floor and ran to the window. He yanked on Ryouga's... err... dress, and pulled him into the room.

"Come on," Ranma said. "Mousse is keeping the guard busy. We've got to find Yamagami and have this taken care of."

Ryouga nodded and ran down the hallway, keeping his eyes peeled.

"Do you suppose they're doing all right?" Akane asked.

Ukyou nodded. "It's quiet. With those three, noise is a BAD thing. Besides, Ranch-- er.. Ranma isn't done in that easily."

Akane sighed and nodded. "You know," she began. "What if we... get Yamagami, and there's another one?"

"Hmm?"

"I mean... We beat Mazuhara, and now it's Yamagami... What if there's someone else?"

"You're worrying about having to fight against these freaks for the rest of your life?" Ukyou asked.

Akane nodded. "I mean... When Mazuhara died, it was... partially by Ranma's hand, and partially by his own. So Ranma can't feel guilty for having killed him... But what if we're forced to kill Yamagami?"

"Then we are," Ukyou said, looking toward the ground. "People like Yamagami... Well, they deserve to get back what they put out."

"I wish the world worked like that."

"So do I, sugar. But... ya know, I believe in Ranma and the others. If anyone can take care of this, it's them."

Akane nodded. "I know."

"Why are we so glum?"

Akane smirked. "Want me to make a list?"

"No, seriously. I mean, Yamagami doesn't know we're here. I betcha this'll all be over with tonight. In mere minutes, even."

"Still... something doesn't seem right. Someone like Yamagami should have more... protection."

"Well, I guess he just didn't need to--"

Ukyou's words were interrupted by an unlikely source. A sharp, loud noise that was easily identified as an explosion rocked their ears, and sent them sprawling to the ground.

Before the two of them could get up, they saw the source.

The entire west wall of the... mansion had erupted in a haze of fire and smoke.

"Well," Ukyou said. "I think we know what that means..."

There it was.

Eichi Yamagami, the nameplate read.

"Well, at least he advertises," Ranma quipped.

"Should we go in?"

"We should wait for Mousse," Ranma suggested.

"Why wait for me?" Mousse asked from behind him.

Ranma nearly jumped out of his skin before he noted the tall boy behind him. "How did you--?"

"Just got here," he said.

"Interesting place to have an office," Ryouga said, looking down the hallway. It was directly at the end of a long hallway. Like... a king's throne.

"You think he's inside?"

Ryouga nodded. "Where else could he be?"

Ranma sighed. "Okay... You ready?"

Mousse nodded.

Ranma leaned forward, and slowly turned the knob.

Of course, Mousse was the first to react. The silent clicking noise he had heard was far from normal. Mousse grabbed a surprised Ranma and Ryouga by the collars and pushed against the door frame with his legs just enough to fly clear of the doorway.

No sooner had he done that, the door came flying off of its hinges and almost missed the three of them as they flew for cover. The explosion rocked the entire mansion, and probably alerted everyone in it to their presences.

"BOMBS!" Ranma screamed. "What the HELL is it with BOMBS?!"

Mousse jerked his head upward. "Someone's coming," he said.

"Gee, ya think?! We only just made a noise loud enough to wake up Nobunaga himself!" Ranma exclaimed.

A moment later, the security guard turned the corner, tearing his hair out from his skull. "GAH!" he screamed, then pointed a finger at the three intruders. "What the HELL are you doing?!"

Ranma dropped into a defensive stance. "Where's Yamagami?!"

"You BLEW UP my workplace!"

"Where IS he?!"

"Mr. Yamagami isn't here!" he exclaimed. "He left for his ship HOURS ago!"

"Ship? Where?" Ryouga asked, his eyes narrowed.

"I don't know!... You!! Why did you do this?"

"Hey, we're asking questions here!" Ranma screamed.

"And you expect me to answer?! I'm going to get FIRED! I'll never work as a security guard again because of this!"

"He's a non-combatant," Ranma said. "Look, just tell them we knocked you out or something."

"No! I was told to WATCH for you!... Where are the other two, anyway?"

"What?"

"You were told to watch for us?"

"YES!" the guard exclaimed. "Mr. Yamagami left me a message to give to you! You WEREN'T suppose to BLOW UP his office!"

Ranma began to sweat visibly. "Uhh, message?" he asked, trying to make light of the situation.

"Here," the guard said, pulling an envelope from his pocket. He tossed it at the others. "Look what you did!"

Ranma picked up the envelope and examined it. It didn't appear to be a letter bomb, but then... He'd never seen one. Slowly, he began to tear it open.

A piece of paper fell out, followed by a Polaroid photograph.

Ranma picked up the paper, while Ryouga grabbed the picture.

Ryouga's aura began to glow a deep green. "Yamagami you BASTARD!" he exclaimed. He threw the picture to Ranma.

It was Rin. Tied up in the corner, with a gag covering her mouth. The caption on the bottom read, 'She's safe... for now...'

Ranma growled and began to read the letter aloud. "Saotome and Hibiki... Gather your little troupe and meet me tomorrow at sunset where it all began."

Ranma crushed the note in his hands and began to walk away. Ryouga and Mousse followed, leaving the security guard who was frantically trying to put out the fire with a small extinguisher behind.

"Where it began? The restaurant?" Akane asked.

"No," Ranma said, his eyes narrowed. "He's not that stupid... He means... where they first got me."

"What?"

"Where Mazuhara gave me their ultimatum."

"So," Ryouga asked. "Where is that?"

Ranma crumpled the letter in his hands. "Furinkan," he said. "It all started at Furinkan."

The rest of the night passed in a heartbeat, it was the day that took so long. The five of them made it back to the Nekohanten before dawn, and most of them took turns sleeping. If things were to end that night, they'd need their sleep.

Ryouga finally manage to heal himself up to the point where he could spar with Ranma, and so he did, during the day. The roof of the Nekohanten was secluded enough that nobody would recognize them, and allowed them enough room to move around.

As the day moved along, however, they could only sit and wait anxiously. The news had said sunset would be around 8:30, and each minute that passed seemed to drag on forever.

The call to Shuji went out around noon, and he had said he would be there.

Mousse made dinner with the supplies that were left over in the kitchen, and everyone ate heartily.

And then, the time came.

"It's almost sunset," Ryouga growled. "Are you SURE this is where he meant?"

Ranma nodded. "It was the start of everything. Hell, it was after a fight I had with YOU that they came up to me. Besides, where else would the 'start of it all' be?"

"He may have meant the restaurant," Akane brought up.

"No, too easy. It's covered by my Gumi, and besides... The police are probably still hanging all over that place. They wouldn't think to look here for Ranma," Shuji said. "He'll be here... just wait."

"Well," Ukyou began. "It's still... I dunno. I don't think it's gonna be as easy as that. They're gonna have guns or something, I know it."

"Guns or not," Ryouga seethed. "I'm not letting this end until Rin is safe."

Ranma looked over to his friend and sighed. He couldn't tell his intentions towards the strange girl, but... More likely than not, it was a sense of responsibility. Ranma himself felt more than a small bit responsible for what had happened to the girl and her family. But self responsibility was negligible. It was Mazuhara and Yamagami who were at fault, not Ranma OR Ryouga.

But still... It was laid on their shoulders to get the girl back safely... Or the guilt would eat them alive.

Still, her parents were dead. There was some responsibility there. There had to be.

And Ranma himself was going to take it out of Yamagami's hide if Ryouga didn't get to it first.

"Hey, are there cars allowed on school grounds?" Mousse asked, adjusting his glasses.

Ranma blinked. "What?"

Mousse pointed to the corner of the building just as a car rounded the corner. It was a black Lincoln, not too unlike the car that Shuji had parked outside of the school walls.

"Doesn't that... attract attention or something?" Ukyou asked. "I mean, driving a car into the school grounds?"

"I don't think he cares," Ranma growled.

Slowly, the car came to a stop about thirty feet away from them and someone stepped out.

It was Yamagami.

"YOU!" Ryouga exclaimed, and started to advance toward him.

"Look here, Saotome. You and your little Scooby Doo troupe had better back off, or--"

"Or WHAT, you sick fuck?" Ryouga growled. "What have you done with Rin?!"

"I'll do a hell of a lot more to Miss Tosaka unless you BACK OFF, kid."

"What is it you want, Yamagami?" Shuji asked, his eyes narrowed.

Yamagami smirked. "Well," he said. "I hadn't expected the Yakuza to become involved with this... Well done, Saotome. But it was pointless. Kill me now, and Rin will die a horrible, slow death. Let me go and I'll ensure she lives a long and fruitful life... In Hong Kong."

"What?!" Akane exclaimed.

"The kid is mine," Yamagami said. "Call it... spoils of war... She'll bring me a good price. She is very pretty, in case you haven't noticed..."

"What?!" Ryouga exclaimed. "You're going to SELL her?!"

"Well, did you expect me to give her to you and run off? No. Keeping her alive is the only thing that is keeping you fine folks from ripping me limb from limb. Now, my message is this... It's over, Saotome. You too, Hibiki. I'll no longer bother either of you, and I expect the same from you as well. The girl will live-- so long as she remains obedient, and will be well cared for at this time. Once in Hong Kong, it will be up to her what she wishes to do. Live as a whore, or die as a martyr."

"No deal, Yamagami," Ryouga sneered.

"Oh, but I'm afraid you aren't in that position. Are you so worried about your petty revenge that you would kill me, thus killing the very thing you are searching for? I think not. You may talk tough, Hibiki, but you're just a pussycat."

"I say we torture it out of him," Ranma frowned.

"Another futile course, I assure you. If I am held up in any way, my men are instructed to blow the brains out the back of her head... In fact, I should be calling in about sixty seconds," he smirked. "But, it is your call."

Ranma stood with his fists clenched as Yamagami turned and walked back to his car.

"GRAH!" Ryouga exclaimed, punching the ground and sending dirt and rock spraying in every direction.

"This isn't OVER, Yamagami!" Ranma exclaimed.

Eichi Yamagami looked over towards Ranma and smiled. "Oh, but I'm afraid it is, Saotome." He stepped into the back seat of the car and slammed the door shut, and then the car drove off.

"Come on!" Akane exclaimed. "We've got to follow him!"

"No," Shuji said, holding her back. "He'll see us and then we'll risk Rin's life."

"We can't just let him win!" Ukyou shot out.

"Can't we look up his license plate or something?" Mousse asked.

Shuji shrugged. "I'll try, but it may be a dud. Yamagami's not stupid. Don't forget, he managed to realize we were coming for him at his apartment, and then knew that you would come for him at Yoshoto. No. Right now all we can do is wait."

"Hong Kong," Ranma sighed. "There's... no way we can let him go. He couldn't fly, but... by boat. That guard said he had a ship!"

"There are over fifty-three marinas and ship ports within the immediate Tokyo AREA, Saotome," Shuji said. "Not even with the help of my entire Gumi could we even hope to find the right one. And besides. What then? They'd likely shoot the girl the very moment you're seen."

Ranma sighed. "There's got to be something," he said. "Anything."

Shuji shook his head. "Nothing right now," Shuji said. "But it's far from over. We'll track him right down into Triad territory if we need to." He stole a glance at his watch. "I'll report back to Mr. Miyazaki. Perhaps he'll have an idea."

"Yeah, don't you guys have like... a special assault force or something?" Ranma asked. "I mean, seriously. We can't let this guy get away with it."

"Nothing I can do right now, Saotome," Shuji said, walking towards his own car. "I'll contact you if something comes up." He got into his car and started the engine.

"How could we just let him go like that?" Ryouga asked, growling to himself. "She'll die in his hand, I know it!"

"Death would be better than living as a... as a..." Akane began. "It's not right."

"God. I knew her for a MONTH. A month, and then... and then they take her," Ryouga looked to the ground. "DAMMIT!"

"Hush, Sugar," Ukyou said. "It's not your fault. It's Yamagami."

"And Shuji said he'd look it up, remember?" Akane pointed out. "It shouldn't be long."

"Shuji," Ryouga scoffed. "I remember him. He ate at the restaurant all the time... Mr. Tosaka was always asking about his family. Especially his brother."

"It's all right, Sugar. Shuji will think of something," Ukyou said, patting Ryouga on his back.

Ryouga paused. "Wait..."

Ranma looked back. "What? What's the matter?"

"Does the name Kowichi mean anything to you?" Ryouga asked, his eyebrow raised.

Ranma scratched his head. "What do you mean?"

"Kowichi. Does it mean anything?"

"It sounds familiar. Other than that, no," Ranma stated.

Ryouga sighed. "Oh well, it was worth a shot anyway."

"What?"

"Well, Mr. Tosaka was always talking about Shuji's brother. How he was a big powerful man in Japanese business, and that he and their father were good friends before. He said his name was Eichi, so... I dunno, I guess I'm grasping at straws."

"Wait... Eichi Kowichi?" Ranma asked, looking at Ryouga. "Is... that?"

"Yeah, but... I dunno, it's just--"

"Bloody HELL!" Ranma exclaimed, and then brought his fist towards the ground, but stopped short. "Why didn't I see it sooner?! Ryouga, you're a genius!"

He turned back to the empty street.

"Ranma? What's the matter?" Akane asked.

"Don't you guys see it? I thought there was something fishy. How we were able to get out of the apartment so easily... How he knew we were coming for him at Yoshoto... It's Shuji!"

"What?" Ryouga asked.

Sighing, Ranma turned towards Ryouga, Mousse and Ukyou. "Don't you see? His brother *IS* Yamagami. Eichi Yamagami!"

"B-But Shuji's family name is Kowichi! We just covered that!" Ryouga exclaimed.

Ranma narrowed his eyes. "And I heard Mazuhara call Yamagami that on several occasions. It just never leaked through!" He went over to punch a nearby tree. "DAMMIT! How could I have been so stupid?!"

Mousse removed his glasses for a moment. "If he's Yamagami's brother," he began. "Then that would mean..."

"The Oyabun?" Ukyou gasped. "Is he in on this?"

Akane shook his head. "I... I don't know."

Suddenly, a sharp crack was heard. Ryouga massaged his knuckles as his expression changed.

"We'll find out."

"Kintaro?" the girl called from the other room. "Are you coming?"

"Ahh, yes, my dear! I'll be right in... just allow me to fix up a few things for you," he called back.

Kintaro wiggled his way around the small room adjoining the jacuzi room and picked a bottle of sake and a couple glasses from the table. He was in for an interesting night, after all.

The girl was just over twenty, and extremely overexcited at meeting an actual Oyabun. Needless to say, it didn't take long for Kintaro to feel the same way about a nubile young--... err, anyway.

He made sure the towel he wore was on tightly and peeked his head out the door. He left two guards to watch for trouble and keep Kintaro and the young woman out of harms way.

"Don't come in unless it's life threatening," Kintaro said. "You got me?"

The guards both nodded as he closed the door.

Only moments later, he heard a small commotion from outside of the door, and it took all of two seconds for both guards to come flying into the room.

Kintaro turned just to see the doors shattered to splinters and two distinct shapes with their foots up in the air.

Suddenly, he recognized them.

"Okay, Oyabun," the one on the right began, cracking his knuckles. "It's time for an explanation."

"Hey!" Kintaro exclaimed. "You're... uhh... Saotome... What... what are you doing here?"

The other one, who Kintaro recognized as Hibiki, stepped into the room and grabbed Kintaro by the chest hair.

"Where's Rin?" he exclaimed.

"Settle down, Ryouga," Ranma said. "He may not know."

Ryouga growled and released him to the floor.

Ranma knelt down to Kintaro and produced a hand. "Now. I want you to tell me all about Shuji Kowichi, and I'll try to keep Ryouga away from you."

Kintaro scrambled back toward the wall. "I... He's my kobun!"

"Yeah, and? I want to hear about his brother," Ranma said.

"His... his brother? He's an only child!"

Ranma shook his head. "Look, he's NOT an only child. We have reason to believe he's Yamagami's brother," he said. "Now... what do you know?"

"Yamagami's... brother? But..." Kintaro blinked. It was fully possible, he thought to himself. He had checked Shuji out himself just a few years previously, and he rose through the ranks to become one of Kintaro's most trusted advisors. But... to be Yamagami's brother?

"Look, where is he?" Ryouga growled.

"He's... I thought he was with you!"

"Well, he's not."

"No, I TOLD him to stay with you guys until she was found! I TOLD him!"

Ranma motioned toward the other three people standing in the hall behind them. "Do you SEE him here?"

"Hi, Mr. Miyazaki," Ukyou waved.

Kintaro furrowed his brow. Suddenly, he stood up. "If he's not with you, then..." He brushed himself off. "I know where he'd be."

"Where?"

"About six months ago, I bought him a boat. He spends all of his free time there, and I know someone else has been using it, but he hasn't explained who."

"Where is it?"

"I'll take you there," Kintaro said.

"About time," Yamagami said, his back facing Shuji. "I'd have expected you to be out of there right away."

"Sorry," Shuji apologized. "Had to turn them off of the idea of following you... or me, for that matter."

Yamagami turned around and smiled. "Hong Kong looms on the horizon, brother... well, figuratively."

"What about the girl?"

"I'll dump her off the boat once we're in international waters. She's become too much of a complication, and I doubt Saotome or Hibiki will let the idea rest."

"Is that wise?"

Yamagami sighed. "You have so little faith in me, brother?"

"It's not that. You started this to get Saotome and Hibiki out of the way."

Yamagami smirked. "And I'll still do it."

"What?" Shuji said. "You told them--"

"I told them what they needed to hear. With those damn... kids in the way, I'll never achieve Mazuhara's level of power."

"Mazuhara died because of those kids, Eichi."

"Mazuhara died because he got stupid and cocky. He involved those kids, and left the disease behind for ME to cure. I'll cure the disease, Shuji. And once it's cured, I'll take Mazuhara's place. Screw changing the world! That was some pathetic pipe dream from a die hard imperialist."

Shuji nodded. "What's the plan?"

Eichi put his arm around his brother and walked up the boarding plank to the boat and began to explain.

"This one?" Ranma asked as Kintaro's limousine pulled up to the pier. "Isn't this a little close to Nerima?"

"Nobody ever blamed him for being the most intelligent of the species," Ukyou quipped.

Kintaro reached is arm out the window. "Three piers down. The boat is called the Kiyonoshi Maru. It's a 60-foot yacht."

Ryouga squinted his eyes as he looked out the window. "You mean that boat out there?" he said, pointing at a boat as it pulled away from the pier.

Kintaro blinked. "Dammit!" he exclaimed. "He DID take it out!"

"Come on," Ranma said as he nearly removed the limousine door from its hinges. "We've got to catch it!"

"Wait!" Akane exclaimed. "You can't do it alone!" She turned to face Kintaro. "Are there any boats here we can use to catch up with them?"

Kintaro nodded and fished through a small box of keys in the back seat of the limo. He pulled out a keychain and threw it to Akane. "The motorboat, it's right next to the Kiyonoshi Maru's docking space."

Akane nodded, then motioned for the others to follow as the bunch of them ran out to the pier.

Kintaro narrowed his eyes as they met with the retreating Kiyonoshi Maru. Gritting his teeth, he picked up his cell phone and dialed in a number.

"Hello, Shiro? I need a favour."

"Well," Yamagami chuckled. "Will you take a look at that?"

Shuji looked back toward the pier, where his brother pointed and let his jaw drop open. "My God," he exclaimed. "They must have gotten to the Oyabun!"

"That fat bastard isn't a threat. And neither are these idiots," Yamagami said as he watched the whole troupe pile into a motorboat and start the engine. "I can take care of this... Hey, Genji, bring out the RPG."

Shuji's eyes popped open. "What? Are you nuts? We're not even in international waters yet!"

Yamagami frowned. "We're not even out of Tokyo Harbour yet, Shuji. But it doesn't matter. They'd catch us before we reached International waters..."

"Yeah, but the police! They'll be alerted to it and--"

"It's too dark," Yamagami said, motioning toward the quarter moon that hung in the sky. "Nobody can see which boat fired it. All they'll see is the explosion... And I ask you, what's better? Facing down a few wounded martial artists, or facing a whole gaggle of perfectly healthy martial artists?"

Shuji gulped as the Rocket-Propelled Gun was pulled out from it's case and loaded atop Genji's shoulder.

"Got the aim right?" Yamagami asked.

"Yes, sir," Genji confirmed.

Yamagami waited for a few moments, until the boat that they had taken reached about fourty feet away from their vessel.

"Fire," he said.

"This one?" Akane asked, poking at the motorboat.

Ranma grabbed the keys from her hand and hopped in, putting them in the ignition and starting the engine. "I'd say that was a yes," he said.

Mousse waited until the lot of them had climbed into the boat and then pulled a dagger from the confines of his robe, then cut the rope tying the boat to the dock in one clean slice, and then jumped in himself.

Ranma pushed his foot down on the pedal and aimed the small craft towards Yamagami's yacht.

"What if they see us?" Akane asked.

"From the way they're looking over the bow, I'd say they CAN see us, Sugar," Ukyou said.

"Err..." Mousse began. "That's not a good thing."

Akane, Ranma, Ryouga, Ukyou and Mousse looked at each other for a moment before realizing the implications. Of course, the very moment they realized it, a sharp flash of light appeared from the bow of the yacht.

"Oh shit," Ranma said. "JUMP!"

Ranma grabbed Akane and jumped overboard, taking the both of them as far down as they could go. Ranma knew he was female now, but could care less. The explosion lit up the water underneath the boat, and pieces of shrapnel were sent flying about.

Luckily, because he and Akane were underwater, it didn't affect them. At all.

Quickly, while the light was still shining, he looked around to try and peg down the others. Ukyou was only three feet away from him and Akane, and gave Ranma a thumbs up to indicate she was all right.

Mousse swum around in his small duck form and stayed underwater for as long as he could. He was among the first to return to the surface.

Ryouga was nowhere to be seen, however. The bulky bundle of clothes he wore dropped like a lead weight to the bottom of the bay. But the lost boy was nowhere to be found. Ranma knew he was a pig, but where--

The clothes. Ranma acted quickly, checking on Akane quickly to ensure she was still conscious. She was, although she was looking at Ryouga's clothes in sheer confusion.

Damn. Ranma couldn't tell her now... but...

Damn bushido, he had a life to save.

He pulled Akane down with him, fully knowing that she, too would sink if he let her go. He grabbed the bundle of clothes and pulled them apart as quickly as possible, and then grabbed the small pig that was struggling to breathe inside of them.

Then, he started toward the surface.

P-Chan?

Akane blinked in shock. P-Chan was there? Underwater? In... in Ryouga's clothes?

Years of misunderstandings flooded Akane's mind as if the floodgates had been let loose. It made sense. All of it. Ryouga WAS P-Chan. He was with her through all of it.

Akane knew she should be angry. She knew she should have been steaming, both at Ryouga AND Ranma...

But the situation was far too dire.

She gasped for breath as she broke the surface of the water, next to Ranma and... Ryouga. Ranma looked over to her right away, in an effort to regulate the possible anger.

Akane was angry, all right. But she was far more angry at being shot at with a rocket launcher.

"We've got to get aboard the boat," she said, not paying any attention to Ryouga.

Ranma looked toward the boat and nodded. Looking back and noticing Ukyou and Mousse, both treading water on the surface, although one more... naturally doing so.

"Ukyou, I need you to watch Akane," he said.

"Nuh uh, Sugar. I'm in on this one, too," Ukyou said. "Besides, we stick around in the water any longer, and they're liable to launch another thingie at us."

Ranma growled. She was right.

"All right," he said, looking around. "Mousse, fly up there and be subtle about it. Do some recon. The rest of us... We've gotta get aboard."

Mousse nodded and took flight.

Mousse hoped that by some miracle the bad guys didn't know about Jusenkyo curses.

"I think we nailed two of them," the man holding the big gun said.

Thank God.

"Look at Saotome," Shuji said. "When was... I swear, he looks..."

"What, you just noticed that now?" Yamagami laughed. "Another thing with Mazuhara. He had such a closed mind. As far as I can figure, it's some kind of genetic mutation that occurs with cold water. Hibiki has one too."

Mousse looked down to the surface of the water. He KNEW that Ranma and Ryouga had curses... but not him? This would work to his advantage. He reared one wing back and extended the knives from within his feathers. One strike and it would be all over.

"When is the bombing happening?"

Mousse paused.

"They're ordered to bomb the place in about ten minutes, whether they get a hold of me or not."

A bombing? Where?

"The Tendos won't expect it," Yamagami smiled. "Now drag those three up and we'll have a little fun."

Mousse quacked in frustration and hid the knives in his feathers. He looked off toward the horizon and sighed. Suddenly, he took flight.

"Hey, where the hell is he going?" Ukyou asked, pointing toward Mousse as he took off overhead.

Ranma looked up toward Mousse and growled.

"He's... is he leaving us?" Akane asked.

"It doesn't matter," Ranma said. "Come on, let's get up--"

He was interrupted by a small rope ladder draped over the side of the yacht.

"He's... inviting us up there?" Ukyou asked.

Ranma narrowed his eyes. Chances are, they could see Ukyou, Akane and himself... but they may not have seen Ryouga in the blackness... A small black pig in pitch black night, in black water... what were the chances?

He saw the telltale sign of a light appearing over the edge.

Act quickly.

"Hold tight, bud," he said, and then tossed Ryouga at the side of the boat. He oinked in protest to begin with, but as he sailed right through an open porthole, it became silent.

"I suggest you and your friends start climbing, Saotome," Yamagami called from above. "We DO have more ammunition, I'm afraid."

Ranma grabbed a hold of the rope ladder and hefted himself up, making sure that Akane was directly behind him. He then began to climb, reaching over the top.

Ryouga sailed through the window effortlessly. Thank God Ranma had good aim. Ryouga wasn't sure he wanted to deal with another wall in his face.

He landed on the floor in the small, pitch-black room. He could tell it was small simply because of the way the sound of his landing carried.

It was like a... closet.

"Who's there?" he heard. A small, whimpering voice.

Ryouga turned toward the source of the voice and walked onward, smelling the air. It smelled of... blood and tears.

He oinked experimentally, seeing if it would get any reaction. Was this... was it...?

"Ry... Uncle Ryouga? Is... is that you?" Rin stammered.

Ryouga ran toward the source of the voice, rubbing his face against Rin's back, oinking happily. He had revealed his curse to Rin, mainly by accident at first, but she was somewhat accepting of it. In fact, she thought it was cool.

"How did you find me?" Rin cried, trying to remain silent.

Ryouga oinked, in an effort to keep her quiet, and then found her bounds. He then worked on trying to chew his way through them. He had to get her loose, and then find some hot water.

Ranma sneered at Yamagami as he topped the edge, but Yamagami could only smile at the girl.

"My, my, Saotome. Talk about a quick change. I had no idea you swung that way," he joked.

"Shut up, Yamagami," Ranma growled, pointing at him. "You're going down, now!"

"I think not," Yamagami said, lifting his gun.

Shuji smirked as he joined his brother, holding a gun of his own.

Ranma smiled. "You should know by now that I'm quick enough to disarm the both of you without a single shot hitting me."

"Let me think," Yamagami said. "There's a good... what, twenty feet between us? Considering you're a tad quicker as a girl, you could probably dodge the bullets and disarm us before we could shoot YOU... but I guess poor Akane and Kuonji here would have a little problem, wouldn't they?"

Ranma paled. With Akane and Ukyou there... Damn.

"Now... I thought I warned you, Saotome," Yamagami began. "Don't try to follow me... I guess you can't hear so well, eh?"

"I hear just fine," Ranma growled. "And what I heard is that you were a sneaking, lying bastard. You would have killed her anyway."

Yamagami shrugged. "Probably. I would have let my men have a little... fun with her first. It's not like they haven't already had their way with her."

Akane and Ukyou gasped as Ranma continued to growl.

"You ARE a sick fuck."

"Maybe," Yamagami said. "But at least I'm an intelligent sick fuck. Now, I believe it's come time to start the show."

"What show?" Akane asked.

"Live, via broadcast over cellular airwaves, I present..." he sneered. "The Death of the Tendo Family."

"I would have some tea," Tatewaki Kuno bellowed out loud, and struck the practice dummy before him, which bore the face of Ranma Saotome.

"Yes sir," one of the Kuno servants replied, and retreated back into the house.

Tatewaki levelled his gaze at the practice dummy and pointed his bokken toward it. "Ranma Saotome... You may have fooled the populace of this fair city with reports of your heroics, but now your plan to worm your way into the hearts of Akane Tendo and the Pig-tailed girl has become flawed! Fugitive of the law, you shall face the wrath of justice at the hands of Tatewaki Kuno!"

Tatewaki struck the dummy in the stomach with a direct run, and literally shred the stuffing out of it. A moment later, he lay the bokken over his shoulder and scoffed.

"Indeed," he began. "You were no true match for Tatewaki Kuno..."

Mousse was tired. Incredibly tired, but he was almost there. He knew the general direction of the Dojo, but the exact location? He'd have been better off trying to run through a maze in pitch dark.

Suddenly, something caught his attention. It was below. A familiar voice.

Exactly how familiar, he couldn't tell but it--

"...Tatewaki Kuno..."

Mousse quacked out loud. Of course, if anyone would know where the Dojo was, he would. If only Mousse hadn't lost his glasses... But then, looking from above, it still would have been hard to find the Dojo.

Making a quick decision, Mousse dove towards the man holding the bokken.

"Here is your tea, sir," the old servant said as he came out with a cup of hot tea, and a kettle.

"Ah, Kojiro. You have my thanks. Set it upon yonder pedestal whilst I soak in my magnificence."

"Yes sir," he said, and then walked back into the mansion.

Kuno looked towards the sky with a smile-- and then a look of shock.

"Wha--?" he exclaimed as a duck struck him straight in the face. Suddenly, he dropped his bokken and tried to grab the duck.

"Begone, foul fowl!"

The duck, however, kept flying around his head, quacking and trying to peck at his hakama.

Kuno finally got a good hold of the nuisance and grabbed it, throwing it off in the direction of the pedestal, knocking the hot tea over and on to said duck.

Tatewaki Kuno could only blink in surprise at the naked man who now sat in the place of the duck.

Mousse looked up. "I need your help," he said.

"Indeed? Then if what you say is true--" Kuno said, his jaw open. "But Saotome--"

"Look," Mousse shot back, after having put on one of Kuno's spare hakamas. "Saotome is trying to STOP this guy. If you still wanna do the sorcerer routine with him, that's fine, but right now we have _GOT_ to warn the Tendo's."

Tatewaki stood up and pointed his bokken skyward. "Very well. Kojiro! Contact the Tendo home and warn them of the impending disaster! Sir Mousse and I shall depart and--"

"You wouldn't think of leaving me alone here while you have all the fun, would you, Brother-dear?" another voice called from a nearby doorway.

Tatewaki grit his teeth. "Of... course not, sister..."

"Look, let's _GO_," Mousse said, already heading out the door.

"Very well! We are off!"

"Okay, are we all here?" Goro asked, checking his and the other car.

"Yeah," Jinjiro said, hopping out of the drivers side of the second car. "When do we launch?"

"I dunno," Goro said. "I'll call."

Goro and his crew had been with the Paved Future for little more than a few months. Goro joined up for the sole purpose of being able to handle heavy weapons and explosives. He could only assume his crew joined for similar reasons.

It had been a stroke of luck after the arrests the previous week that his crew had been with Yamagami. If they hadn't, who could have guessed where they'd be? Probably some large government penitentiary.

Goro picked up his cell and pressed the redial button.

"Hello, Mr. Yamagami?"

"I'm busy, Goro. What's the status?" Yamagami asked from the other end of the line.

"We're at the Dojo," Goro replied.

Goro could almost HEAR Yamagami smile. "You know what to do, Goro," he said.

"Yes sir," Goro said, and flipped the phone shut.

He walked to the back of his car and opened the trunk. "Okay, here's the plan. We'll throw a grenade or two to get them out, and shoot them down when they leave the grounds. Understood?"

Jinjiro and the rest of his crew nodded.

He pulled a single grenade out of the trunk and pulled the pin. "When this goes off, get ready," he said. Without wasting another moment, he threw it over the outer wall of the Tendo Dojo.

Eichi flipped his phone shut and placed it in his pocket. "You hear that, Saotome? You've got minutes until all your friends and family are gone. How's that?"

"They'll get out," Ranma said, gnashing his teeth together. "They ain't gonna be sitting ducks."

"Oh, but I think they are, Saotome. You see, I'm not like Mazuhara."

"Yes you are. You're just as demented as that prick," Ranma said.

"Oh? Mazuhara had a closed mind, Saotome. Otherwise, how could I know that YOU'RE Saotome? Hmm? I've seen the change happen, on video. Mazuhara always thought you were someone else, but I knew. I just never said anything."

"Yeah, well. That don't make you any more sane."

"Sanity? Mazuhara wanted to rule Japan! The idiot thought he could take over Japan from the inside out, and probably make his way to the rest of the world."

"Yeah, so? He didn't."

"That's right," Eichi smiled. "And I knew he wouldn't. But what Mazuhara failed to notice was the power."

Ranma kept her eyes narrowed. "What are you trying to say, Yamagami?"

"Screw ruling Japan. Too much chance for failure. Now, the money and power... That plan is foolproof."

"Even the revenge?" Akane asked, her brow furrowed. "Was that a smart move?"

"Probably not," Yamagami said. "But Mazuhara was a key figure to the group. Without him... well, needless to say, you've cost a lot of money to the.... auxiliaries, as it were. Besides, how long would it have been before you saw my face in a newspaper and... well, I'll let you figure out the rest."

"So why Ryouga?" Ranma asked. "Why him? What did he do?"

"He was there. At the time, he was the easiest target, and I knew that getting him would get to you. Especially if you knew that I had been responsible. However, his escaping alive didn't quite fit in with the plan."

"What about the apartment?" Ukyou asked, looking toward Shuji. "Why risk your own brother in that explosion?"

Shuji laughed out loud. "I knew about that beforehand. I can't believe you'd be so stupid as to assume otherwise. Why do you think I stayed near the doorway?"

Akane growled. "Kintaro won't stand for this, you know."

"What can that fat piece of excrement do? It's bad enough he knew where I was... I suppose we'll have to kill him, eventually. But right now there is nothing he can do. We've got Triad protection now."

"Scum like you would need to be protected by scum," Ranma said.

Eichi sneered and raised his gun, training it on Ranma. "We'll see who's the better scum then, won't we, Saotome?"

Just another few strands and her hands would be free. Just another few bites. Ryouga could feel each strand snapping as his jaws chewed down on them. Sometimes it sucked to have the teeth of a plant eater, but thankfully, his teeth were a bit sharper than a normal pig's teeth. His fangs transferred over to his cursed form and... made it much easier to chew through things.

Just a little more and... THERE!

Ryouga oinked happily as Rin separated her hands and rubbed her wrists. "Thank you, Uncle Ryouga," she whispered. "There's hot water in this room."

Ryouga oinked curiously.

"They pour it on me when I'm bad," she said, ashamed. "There's a sink over there."

Ryouga growled the best he could. How COULD they? She was fifteen years old, hardly a threat to anyone... Those sick animals.

Rin struggled with the ropes binding her ankles together for a moment and stood up, picking up Ryouga and bringing him to the sink. She turned the hot water on very low, and then splashed some on Ryouga.

Ryouga felt himself grow to his normal size, but he unexpectedly knocked himself against a shelf, knocking the contents over onto the floor. Rin gasped as she heard the voice from outside grumble.

"What the hell are you doing in there, kid? You ready for more? HUH?"

The man swung the door open and stared into the room, at first with a sneer as he undid his belt. Then with a look of confusion after noticing the naked man standing next to Rin. Then with fear as he noticed the naked man's fist strike out against his head...

The last look on his face was a cross between that of a chicken and a paper mache mask. Of course, Ryouga rubbed his fist and turned back toward Rin.

"Stay behind me," he said, barely caring that he was in a state of severe undress.

Rin nodded and stepped out into the light.

The grenade hadn't exactly landed where Goro and Jinjiro's crew had hoped. Fortunately for the Tendos, Kasumi had been out getting the last of the laundry from the clothes lines. At that moment, she was holding a sheet that was still attached to the line.

The grenade landed softly on the sheet and rolled toward Kasumi.

Kasumi picked up the small object from the sheet and examined it closely.

"Oh my," she said. "Now who could have left this artichoke here?"

Looking around and finding no origin for the small plastic artichoke, obviously some sort of toy, she shrugged and tossed it over the fence, hoping nobody had seen her do it.

After all, whoever had lost the toy might want it back!

Humming happily, Kasumi turned back toward the Dojo.

"Shouldn't it have gone off by now?" Jinjiro asked.

"Yeah," Goro replied. "Must have landed somewhere soft, or it was a dud. "Here, lets try another."

"Oh, GOD! INCOMING!" Jinjiro cried.

Goro looked up just in time to see a small object fall toward him. Goro instinctively jumped away from the trunk of the car.

As soon as it had struck, it exploded, taking much of the car with it.

Considering there WERE over three dozen other grenades in the trunk of the car, it made a fairly impressive boom, and sent Goro's entire crew scrambling for cover.

Finally, after the debris had stopped falling, Goro peeked out from behind a power line.

"Dammit!" he shouted. "They're on to us! Full on assault, go!"

The explosion had been just the distraction he needed. Nodoka looked up in shock from the Shogi board and Soun made his move. Well, more than his move, actually. He moved several pieces of his to more powerful positions.

It wasn't until after the front fender of a 1993 Lincoln Towncar had fallen into the koi pond that he realized that the explosion WAS a little loud, and too close for comfort.

"Oh! Kasumi!" Nodoka cried, getting up and grabbing the bundle cloth she constantly carried with her. "Are you all right?"

Kasumi blinked in surprise. The sudden explosion had caught her completely off guard, as she walked back to the house, a small basket of clothing in her arms. Needless to say, she stumbled on to the clothing.

Soun blinked in surprise, just as the phone began to rang. Obviously something had happened, so what Soun needed to do...

Was answer the phone! Yes! Something told him whoever was calling could tell him what was happening!

He ran over and picked it up. "Hello?" he asked.

"Hello, Mr. Tendo? This is Kojiro, a servant for the Kuno family," the voice said on the other end. "I'm sorry it took a great deal of time to call you, but I had trouble locating your phone number. It appears as though your family and estate may be in danger."

Soun blinked. "Well, there was just an explosion outside of the walls."

"Ahh, yes. That was probably meant for you, then. Fortunate that it did not strike any of you."

Soun's ears perked up the moment he heard the telltale crack of gunfire.

"Oh... Would you do me a favour and call the police for us, Kojiro? I fear we may be--"

"Of course, Mr. Tendo. The Young Master, his sister and a young man named Mousse should be along shortly to assist you, as well."

"Of course," Soun said. "I have to go protect my family now."

Nabiki blinked.

Nabiki rubbed her eyes and blinked again.

The loud noise that had cause the entire house to shake had confused Nabiki at first, but this... was beyond shock.

Nabiki took a kendo stick from underneath her bed and poked the flaming steering wheel gingerly.

She then threw a blanket on it, putting the flames out.

"Well," she said. "That was interesting."

She walked over to her now-broken window and looked out. Around the yard, several other flaming pieces of debris were lying around. Including a...

Nabiki blinked. Was that a fender in the koi pond?

Suddenly, she looked toward the source of the explosion, and managed to catch a glimpse of the true cause of it all.

Nabiki dropped to the floor just as one of the men below fired a shot toward her. The bullet slammed into the wall behind her and Nabiki looked up in shock. As the shots continued, she crawled across the floor, opening the door to the hallway and finding her way out.

Finally, she stood up and thought.

She didn't need to think for long before her instincts took over.

"Daddy!" she cried, running down the stairs. "We're under attack!"

"Well, it appears our strange new friend is correct, Brother Dear," Kodachi said from atop a rooftop.

Tatewaki frowned. He had heard the explosion, but Kodachi could likely see it. "What do you see, Sister?"

"An explosion, all right," Kodachi said, staring into the distance. "I cannot make out much else, however."

"It was about three blocks away. We've got to hurry!" Mousse exclaimed, picking up his pace.

Tatewaki nodded, and did much the same.

"Nabiki, stay down!" Soun yelled. He had never been shot at before, but he was pretty sure that was the smartest thing to do.

Nodoka finished helping Kasumi into the Dojo and frowned. "They're after us," she said.

"I think it's what's left of the Paved Future," Nabiki said. "They're trying to get at Ranma by getting to us."

Soun nodded. "Make your way to the front yard. I don't know why they didn't just throw a grenade at us, but--"

"Grenade?" Kasumi asked. "Oh, maybe it wasn't a little artichoke, then."

Soun didn't let it phase him. "They think they can do this to my family," he said, clenching his fists.

"Let's go," Nodoka said, pulling Kasumi toward the front door.

Another explosion rang their ears as a second grenade came over the fence, and landed in the middle of the back yard. Thankfully it hadn't struck the house, but it was still loud enough to rock their eardrums.

Soun moved Nabiki and Kasumi toward the front door and cracked the front door open.

He saw... nothing.

"They're probably waiting outside the gates for us," Nodoka said. "It sounds like a tactic gangsters would use."

"Well," Soun said. "Let's not do that, then."

Jinjiro swore. Goro should have had him get into place before he started with things over the back fence. He was sure none of them had managed to escape yet, but still. It wasn't a necessary risk.

So now Jinjiro was in place, the pistol resting in his hands. If anyone came out of the front entrance, he would catch them. Easily.

And it wouldn't be long. In fact, they should come running out of there at any moment...

Jinjiro frowned.

Any time now...

Jinjiro cleared his throat. Why couldn't anyone ever just die on schedule?

"Excuse me, young man?" Jinjiro heard from somewhere nearby. Sounded like an older man, and Jinjiro didn't need the interruption.

"Get lost, Old man," Jinjiro said without looking back.

"Well, that's rude, wouldn't you say, Nodoka?" the voice said.

"Indeed, Soun," Nodoka replied.

Jinjiro paused. Those voices were coming from...

Jinjiro looked up just in time to see the old man jump on him from above, wrestle the gun from his grip, and knock him into unconsciousness.

Nodoka then dropped down.

"One down. How many others would you say?"

Soun stood up and peeked around the corner. "Four," he said, looking back. "Unless..."

"FREEZE!" Nodoka and Soun heard from behind them.

Nodoka was the first to turn around. She immediately dropped the bundle she held and put her hands up in the air.

The man had obviously doubled around from the other side, and had been meant to be the backup for the man that now lay unconscious at their feet. He now stood near the front gate to the Dojo--

--which was open.

Nodoka raised an eyebrow. She was sure that they left it closed... hadn't they?

"It's not very nice to point guns at people," the sweet, innocent voice said from the entrance. The man had about enough time to look at Kasumi in confusion when the frying pan came down on his hand, knocking the gun to the floor, and then into his face.

The man fell over, unconscious.

"Oh my," Kasumi said, stepping out from the Dojo grounds. "That was fun!"

Tatewaki peered around the corner. "Four men," he said. "Perhaps more, if they are around the other side. They must have... blown up their own car," he said.

Mousse nodded. "Do we attack?"

"I shall take them from the opposite side, brother," Kodachi, who was now on the ground with them, said.

Tatewaki nodded and them unsheathed his bokken. "Come. We shall attack now."

Mousse jumped right into the fray, distracting the lot of them while Kuno came up from the side. He struck the first man from behind, knocking him several feet away, into the brick wall.

Suddenly, the lot of them got wise. Two took off in one direction, while one pulled out a gun.

"Pursue them!" Tatewaki said. "I shall take this one!"

The man growled and pointed the gun toward Tatewaki.

A moment later, he pulled the trigger.

Nodoka had rounded the corner just as the bullet had been fired. There were five of them, with one unconscious. A young man wearing a hakama, and... the boy from the Nekohanten? They seemed to be the odd men out.

Obviously, they were there to help, because the bullet had been shot toward the man with the hakama.

Tatewaki sidestepped the bullet as best he could, and brought his bokken up to deflect the it.

He was fast enough, but the bokken was nowhere near as strong. It deflected the bullet just enough to miss Tatewaki, but the bokken suffered for it.

"Nice try," the man with the gun said. "But you can't dodge this."

Tatewaki frowned at the wooden stump in his hands. "You have defiled the weapon of a Kuno. For this, truly you shall pay."

"Young man!" Nodoka called.

Tatewaki cast a quick glance over towards Nodoka as he dropped the stump of his bokken.

"Catch!" she exclaimed, and tossed her bundle toward him.

Kuno caught it without trouble by the hilt, and removed the surrounding cloth. The man with the gun frowned.

"You're too far," he said, and then pulled the trigger.

Kuno reacted in less time than it took for the bullet to get there. He swung the blade up towards his own torso and deflected the bullet with no trouble.

The man with the gun frowned, and pulled the trigger three more times.

Three more times, Kuno deflected the bullet, but the last bullet ricocheted from his sword, against the wall, and then struck the man in the thumb. He yelped in pain and dropped the gun.

The bullet hadn't penetrated his skin, but it had hit with enough force that... yes, his thumb was broken.

"Do you concede?" Kuno asked.

The man growled, and then smirked. He reached into his pocket with his good hand and pulled out a grenade. Without delay, he yanked the pin out from it.

"Deflect this," he said, fully knowing that the slightest sign of impact would set it off.

Tatewaki watched in mild amusement as the grenade sailed from the man's hand to cross the short distance between them. He turned the katana on it's side and began to prepare.

The man, however, had run for cover the moment he threw the grenade.

So, as the concussion grenade made contact with the katana, and nothing happened, it caused quite a bit of confusion. Especially for the man who was now stupidly looking out from the ruined shell of what used to be a car.

"A dud?" he asked, peeking out.

Tatewaki rolled the grenade along the shaft of the katana and caught it gently in his hands.

"A true master of Kendo need not use force to battle some opponents. It is equally important to be as gentle as a rose," Tatewaki said, looking at the grenade. "I believe this was yours?"

Needless to say, the man didn't stick around much longer. Tatewaki walked over to where the man was standing and picked up the small metal pin and placed it back in the chamber. He then placed the grenade in his pocket.

"Truly he is a coward that fears my wrath," Tatewaki said, brushing a strand of hair back. "To use the weapon of a coward, and follow in the footsteps of one."

Mousse smirked as he stood upon the unconscious body of the first runner. The other had already took his sprint down the street, but upon eying the laughing figure of Kodachi give chase, he figured he was better off left with her.

In fact, he almost felt sorry for the guy. Almost.

He took his foot off the mans head and rummaged through his pockets, hoping to disarm the man, if he had a gun.

He found a gun, and... more curiously, he found a cell phone.

Acting on a hunch, he flipped the cover open and pressed redial.

Yamagami reached for the cell the very moment it rang. "That would be Goro," he said. "I'll let you hear about the death of your family..."

Akane whimpered something under her breath, but kept it in check. She didn't want to give Yamagami the impression that--

"Goro?" Yamagami asked.

For a moment, there was no reply.

"Goro? What's the status?"

"Err," the voice said on the other end. "It's done..."

Yamagami smiled. "All of them? Dead?"

"Nope," Goro said.

"What do you mean, 'no'?"

"How can you think I'm Goro, Yamagami? Seriously... Do I sound anything like him?"

Yamagami blinked. "What... who is this?"

"Say hi to Akane and Ranma for me, wouldja?"

Yamagami's jaw dropped open. "How... you're..."

"What is it?" Shuji asked.

"It's the boy from the restaurant. How the hell did... What did he do, fly?"

"You'd be surprised," Ranma said, smirking. She tightened her defensive stance. "Now drop it, Yamagami."

Yamagami growled. "Minor setback," he said. "You're all still dead if you move."

"I don't buy this shit," Ukyou said, and then took a step.

The shot came so quickly that Ranma barely had time to catch the bullet. In fact, she had so little time that the bullet struck her with amazing force, and he hadn't had the time to arrange for a lesser impact. The bullet smacked into her hand and crushed some bone inside.

Ranma growled and held her bleeding hand. "Ukyou," she said. "Don't move."

"Impressive, Saotome," Yamagami said. "Now I know how you beat Mazuhara... But it seems you're very limited on what you can do with one hand."

Ranma glared toward Yamagami.

"Now, seeing as Hibiki is strangely absent, I'd assume that--"

"YOU'RE DEAD, YAMAGAMI!"

Mousse chuckled as he flipped the phone shut, and threw it down at Goro. Yamagami was losing, he knew it...

But if he was still up and moving now, and talking to Ranma... That meant Yamagami had something held over him.

Mousse frowned. There needed to be something--

The sirens. Yes, he had to warn the police. They could clean up some of the mess here, and hightail it over to the bay.

Mousse ran back toward the Tendo home, nodding at the woman atop a nearby fence that had a fully grown man wrapped in a ribbon. Interestingly enough, the man also had two grenades in either hand, with the pins hanging precariously from the ribbons.

Oh, well. No matter. The police would be there in a short while, and he had to warn them.

"My thanks, fair maid," Tatewaki said, bowing after wrapping Nodoka's katana back up and handing it to her. "I fear the coward may have given me a premature death had you not lent your blade."

Nodoka took her sword back and smiled. "My, you are polite, aren't you? How manly."

Tatewaki laughed. "Yes, I am quite manly, fair maid."

"Yeah, too bad modesty isn't one of your strong points," Mousse said, running up.

Tatewaki either didn't hear him, or chose to ignore it, and continued to preen himself before Nodoka.

"Are you all right, Mrs. Saotome?" Mousse asked.

Nodoka nodded. "Yes, I'm quite fine. This young man here was a great help."

"Do my ears deceive me? That you, fair maid are related to the likes of Ranma Saotome?" Tatewaki asked.

Nodoka blinked. "Yes, he's my son. You know Ranma?"

"Indeed... Saotome and I have been at odds for a great period of time... His recent absence has made my heart beat with my warrior spirit, for I wish to defeat him in combat. The knave that he is--"

"Err, Kuno," Mousse began.

"--to hide from me. Truly he is a coward that fears my prowess with a sword! When I should get a chance to meet him after--"

"Hey, uhh... Kuno?" Mousse tried to interrupt.

"--his recovery, truly we should see who is deserving of the hand of Akane Tendo and the Pigtailed Girl!"

Nodoka blinked and took all of it in. "Did you call my son a coward?"

"Truly," Tatewaki said. "How such a black devil sorcerer such as himself could come forth from the loins of one so beautiful as yourself, it does not fail to amaze me. However, you do bear a resemblance to one of my true loves, the Pigtailed Girl. Are you of relation to her?"

Nodoka blinked. "Sorcerer? Pigtailed girl?" Nodoka furrowed her brow. "I think not, young man. My Ranma is far too manly to stoop to the lengths of using the black arts in order to win a battle!"

"Ahh, but he has," Tatewaki said. "And, too has he snared the emotions of the Beauteous Akane Tendo and the Tigress Pigtailed Girl!"

"This pigtailed girl," Nodoka began. "She is yea high?" She put her hand out. "Usually wears similar clothing to Ranma?"

"Indeed," he said. "That is my love."

Nodoka began to get sick to her stomach. "That is... FAR from manly, young man!"

"Pardon?"

"Your 'love' of which you speak is none other than my son!"

Tatewaki blinked. He then let his gaze land on Mousse, who was smirking.

Suddenly, he put two and two together. This time, he didn't come out with five.

"Aggh! You mean to tell me that the Pigtailed Girl suffers from the same affliction as you, Sir Mousse?"

"Err," Mousse began. "Not... quite."

"That she is... cursed to change into that... cur?!"

Instead, he came up with three.

"Come on, Shiro... Just this one favour," Kintaro asked. "I'll even lend some men."

"How come you only call me when you need a favour?" Shiro asked. "I mean, our Gumi's aren't exactly at odds with each other, but they aren't friendly, either."

"Look, how about this... I'll take care of it all, I just need your permission."

"What is this all about, anyway?"

Kintaro sighed, and then launched into a brief explanation.

"Is that so?" Shiro asked. "Then this Yamagami is part of the Paved Future?"

"Yes. And he's killed some clients of mine, I--"

"Understood. Okay, Kintaro. You've got your help. Just this once. I'll have it set up right away."

"Thanks."

"But the minute the police show up, my men are vamoosing. They'd just love the opportunity to nail them."

"YOU!" Yamagami exclaimed. "Why the hell didn't you drown?"

Ryouga jumped at the man, causing him to flinched and fire his weapon blindly. Thankfully, each bullet either completely missed Ryouga, or barely skimmed him.

The others worked quickly. As Shuji neared the edge of the deck, staring in shock at Ryouga, Ranma leapt across the deck, covering the distance in less than a second, and knocked him across the face with his foot, rendering him unconscious.

Yamagami worked quickly, sending his men to cover him, and rolled across the floor, barely missing the attack by Ryouga. He pulled out his gun once again and trained it on Ryouga.

However, before he could fire, Akane kicked it out of his hand, and struck him in the chest.

Yamagami scrambled to his feet as his men were knocked out, one by one, and the martial artists began to approach him. Maybe if he could jump off--

No... What the hell? Police boats? Were those-- no... not just police boats.

Yamagami watched in horror as a ring of privately owned yachts and police boats surrounded the exit to the small harbour. They were...

The Yakuza. Damn.

Turning back to the others, who were slowly approaching him, he resigned himself to his fate, and then reached into his pocket.

"Move and we ALL die," he said, taking a small trigger from his pocket and pressing him thumb down on it.

Suddenly, most of them stopped. Ryouga kept approaching, though.

"I wouldn't suggest coming any further, Hibiki," Yamagami said. "This trigger is connected to about half a ton of C-4 below deck. I'm sure you may have seen some on your way up." Yamagami noticed Rin peeking out from the cabin. "And she could tell you for sure."

Ryouga paused.

But Rin didn't. She left the cabin and walked out on deck.

"Rin, what are you doing?" Ryouga asked.

Rin didn't answer. She started to walk towards him.

"Rin, he'll blow us ALL up."

"I don't care anymore, Uncle," she said.

Eichi narrowed his eyes at the young girl. "Don't fool with the big boys, little girl," he said. He then spotted something out of the corner of his eye.

He dropped his arms, but didn't let up on the trigger. "Come and get me," he said.

"Rin," Ryouga said. "Please, I don't want you hurt any more."

The motion was so quick that Ryouga didn't even realize it until it was too late. Shuji had stirred from unconsciousness and ran toward Rin, tackling her and knocking the two of them over the edge.

Ryouga yelled out loud and jumped after the two of them, and paid no attention to the protests of Ranma and Ukyou.

"You IDIOT!" Ranma exclaimed. "Your curse!"

"I've got him!" Ukyou exclaimed, then jumped over the edge, spatula in hand.

"Well," Yamagami said and smiled. "Looks like it's just you two and me now."

The girl was so small in comparison to Shuji. She was like a rag doll against his size.

While Shuji wasn't an overly large man, he was still considerably sized. And the young girl stood no chance against him as he held her head underwater as she struggled.

There was a large splash next to him and Shuji looked over, not letting up on his task.

It was a pig. A small, black pig. Shuji sneered as he realized who it was.

"What do you expect to do, Hibiki?" Shuji laughed. "I'll drown you as easily as this one!"

Ryouga's response was simple. He lunged.

Shuji screamed out in shock and pain as the small piglet clamped down on his earlobe, and he let go of the girl as he tried to pry the piglet off. He barely noticed the third splash as his struggle took both himself and the piglet underwater.

Ukyou reached the surface as quickly as she could. Shuji was struggling with the small pig that she had realized was Ryouga earlier in the night, but Rin was free, and struggling by herself to tread water.

Why was it that nobody could swim?

Ukyou easily made her way over to the young girl and swum with her back to the hull of the yacht. A moment later, Ukyou took her spatula and embedded it in the side of the hull, and then looked at Rin.

"Can you hear me, Rin?" she asked. "Are you all right?"

Rin nodded in between coughs. "I'm fine," she said.

"I want to you hold on to this and DON'T let go," she said. "Understand?"

Rin nodded and held on to the shaft of the spatula. "Uncle... Uncle Ryouga!" she exclaimed.

"I'll get him," she said, and then dove underwater.

Yamagami swiftly made his way around Ranma and Akane, putting his back toward the ring of boats.

"It's over, Yamagami," Ranma said. "Give it up."

Yamagami smirked. "Someone is going to die here tonight, Saotome. It's not going to be me, I assure you of that."

"Look around you!" Ranma exclaimed. "Rin's overboard! You think Shuji can really get away from both Ryouga AND Ukyou?"

"Hibiki is a pig. Kuonji had a minimal chance with that weapon of hers."

Ranma shook his head. If only Yamagami knew. Turning toward Akane, he whispered. "Can you make a break for it?" he asked.

Akane blushed. "I can't swim," she said.

Damn. Ranma sighed and looked toward Yamagami. If only Akane hadn't come along... he could have made it off the boat and underwater before her had a chance to set off the explosive... but with Akane there...

"Try it, Saotome," Yamagami smirked. "I'd be interested to see if you and the misses could make it before I scorch your hides."

Suddenly, the bunch of them were interrupted by a light from the row of yachts.

"Throw down your weapon, Yamagami!" the voice exclaimed. "This is the police!"

Ranma waved his hands, trying to signal something, but either it didn't work, or they ignored it.

Nothing. It was pitch black.

Ukyou swum around underwater, trying desperately to see something. Anything. But it was too dark. She knew Ryouga and Shuji had to be somewhere around here, but--

There. A flash of light from the surface. She could see, albeit very little.

But it was enough. A little glimmer of clothing swaying in the water and the small air bubbles reaching up to the surface.

Ukyou swam down to the source and grabbed a hold of the clothing, pulling it into the light. She gasped, sending a large air bubble to the surface.

Ryouga had somehow attached himself to Shuji's face, and had proceeded to suffocate him, covering his nose, mouth and eyes.

Without being able to see, Shuji couldn't tell where he was underwater.

Shuji clawed frantically at Ryouga's tough hide, creating bloody gashes all around his back. Ukyou didn't know what to do, but she had to do something. Ryouga could drown if he didn't get air soon.

Ukyou pulled on Shuji's jacket, pulling him toward the surface. It was still a good several meters upward, but if she didn't get them there in time, then--

Shuji suddenly went limp. Without the added push he was making by kicking his legs, she found herself sinking back down with him. No, she couldn't let this happen. Shuji was unconscious from air loss, but Ryouga...

Ryouga wasn't attached to Shuji's face anymore. Ukyou looked around, trying to use the light to her advantage.

There, about five feet below. She could get to him, but...

Screw it. Letting go of Shuji, she swan down and grabbed a hold of the small pig, and then swam to the surface.

Once breaking the surface, she waited for her eyes to adjust. They stung from the exposure to the air, but still manage to clear her view. She looked at Ryouga, who rested in her hand, and shook him.

"Ryouga," she exclaimed. "Come on, big guy... Wake up!"

Ryouga didn't reply. He was one unconscious pig.

Damn. She needed to get him help... quick!

She looked around. There was a police boat nearly thirty feet away from her. Now... if she could just grab Rin and--

Rin. Where was she? She was no longer on her spatula! She looked around frantically. Her hands were full enough with Ryouga, but--

There! She had made it to the police boat and was being pulled aboard. Ukyou swam over and began to yell frantically.

"Now, ain't this a sight?" Lieutenant Iwazaki chuckled as he watched all the 'privately owned' yachts line up adjacent to the police boat. He knew very well who they actually were, but it hardly mattered. He had nothing on them this time around...

"Sir," one of the officers said, saluting him. "We've got a... complication."

"Eh?"

"We've just pulled two young women aboard, and they're saying the yacht is loaded with C-4."

"WHAT?!"

"Hey, we've got to get him help!" Both of the girls yelled, pointing frantically at the pig that laid limply on the deck of the ship.

Iwazaki rubbed his forehead and took a sip of his coffee. "Good Lord," he muttered to himself, and then walked over to the girls.

"Hey, you've gotta help him! He's dying!" The older one exclaimed.

Iwazaki looked down at the animal. "It's a pig. Pigs die."

"No, you don't understand!"

"Listen, forget about the pig. What's this about C-4?"

"He'll DIE!" the girl exclaimed, grabbing the coffee from Iwazaki's hand and throwing it to the ground, right on top of the pig.

Iwazaki growled. "Listen, you stupid idiot! We've got a REAL situation to worry about. Not some stupid PIG!"

"Err, sir?" the officer began.

"WHAT?" Iwazaki exclaimed, and then looked toward where the pig used to... be... "What the hell?"

"I TOLD you!"

"Dammit, get the medics out here!"

"Yamagami," Ranma growled, taking a defensive stance. "Give it UP, I said!"

"You want to fight me, Saotome? Would you like your ass original, or extra crispy?"

Ranma sighed. "You know how I killed Mazuhara, Yamagami?"

"There are rumours," he replied, checking out the immediate area.

"The trick is, I didn't kill him. He killed himself."

Yamagami scoffed. "Mazuhara was crazy, but not suicidal."

"I didn't say I didn't help." He dropped the stance. "No more death, Yamagami."

"Oh, please. You think I'm stupid, Saotome?"

"Pump him!" the medic called. "Get me the syringe!"

Ukyou watched in abstract horror as the medics worked on the... unconscious, yes, that was it.. he was merely unconscious.

"Still no pulse," the second medic said.

"Demerol, NOW," the first exclaimed.

The second medic injected the syringe in through his neck, and continued to perform CPR.

"Is Uncle Ryouga gonna be okay?" Rin asked, pulling on Ukyou's wet sleeve.

Ukyou sighed and drew the young girl closer to him.

"Still no pulse," the medic said. "He's gone."

"Damn," the first said. "All right... prepare a spot at the mor--"

"NO!" Ukyou exclaimed, and then threw off her towel. "He's NOT dead!"

"Miss," the first medic began, but was thrown nearly eight feet away by Ukyou before he could continue.

Ukyou knelt at the Ryouga's side and smacked his face.

"Come ON, Ryouga! You're going to give up after all this?" she asked, then pounded her fist down on his chest. "You worked so fucking hard to get to this point, and that's it? You're just going to die? Is that FAIR, huh? Fair to Ranma? Fair to Rin? Fair to Akari? Fair to... fair to ME, dammit?" She continued to pound on his chest.

"Miss," the second medic said, making sure he was far enough away not to get knocked off of his feet. "He's... I'm afraid he's gone, miss."

"NO!" she shot back. "He's NOT gone!" She continued to pound. "Dammit, Ryouga! You're the strongest person I know! Are you going to be this WEAK when it comes down to it?! Huh? Come on, you Jackass! You AREN'T dying on me today!"

"Miss, his pulse has--" the medic began, and then stared down at the boy.

Ryouga convulsed as Ukyou pounded on his chest a final time, vomiting water.

"Turn him over!" the medic exclaimed. "Quick!"

Ukyou turned him to his side as he vomited the water and opened his eyes, weakly. He started to talk, but then vomited more water.

"Ryouga? Are you okay, Hon?" Ukyou asked.

"Rin?" Ryouga croaked.

"She's all right," Ukyou replied, motioning for the girl to come over.

Ryouga placed his hands on the ground and hefted himself to a sitting position.

"Sir, it's better if you lay down, I've got to--" the medic began, but then saw the look on Ryouga's face.

"Shuji?" he asked.

"He's... he's gone, Ryouga," Ukyou said.

Ryouga stood up and stared off the edge of the boat, not caring about his nakedness. "Yamagami?"

Ukyou wrapped him in a towel and pointed toward Yamagami's boat.

Ryouga growled.

Ryouga stared off into the distance. Not eighty feet away he stood, holding Ranma and Akane at bay... with his back turned to Ryouga.

Ryouga smirked. A fatal mistake.

He drew his hands before him and began to focus on a single thought. A single emotion.

And emotion that... would not come to him. What?

He turned back to Ukyou and the medic, and frowned. He opened his mouth to ask, but then realized it.

The empty syringe lying on the ground near where he was lying. They had given him something.

He couldn't throw a Shishi Hokodan if his life depended on it... And as it was, Ranma and Akane's lives did.

He turned back toward Yamagami's boat and frowned. He was sure there had to be some other way--

That was it. He was SURE of himself.

He could do it. He WOULD do it.

He drew his hands before him and began to focus his energy. Confidence. If there was anything Ryouga had at that time, it was confidence in his abilities.

"I can do it," he said, and then opened his eyes.

"MOKO TAKABISHA!" he exclaimed, and then let it loose.

Ranma glared at Yamagami. There were a number of things he could do, but... what would work? If he and Akane were to jump for it, there was a chance they be seriously injured. If he were to cover Akane, the shrapnel from the explosion might pass right through him and hit her.

Either way, the only way he could do this involved the yacht exploding.

He felt a light pull on his senses as he focused on Yamagami, who stood smiling at the two.

"What's the matter, Saotome? Out of ideas?"

Ranma ignored him, but instead focused on what was directly behind Yamagami. His eyes went wide, as did Akane's.

Apparently, Yamagami noticed it as well. The glowing red light that illuminated the area behind him was somewhat unmistakable. He turned to see, and saw a large glowing ball of red energy, racing directly toward Yamagami.

"Oh, SHIT!" Ranma exclaimed. "Umm... Run!"

Ranma and Akane dove for the surface of the water and splashed down, immediately swimming down and away from the boat. Yamagami, however remained.

The ki blast struck him square in the stomach, not killing him directly, but sending his insides on a trip to the outside world. Blood flew out of several cavities in Yamagami's body as he and the ki blast flew into the cabin of the yacht.

Moments later, it exploded in a haze of flame and shrapnel. The police and Yakuza involved scrambled for cover as pieces of metal and burning metal fell down atop of them, while Ranma and Akane were safely tucked away underwater, although the blast did give them a bit of a shock.

And then, only moments later, the flames subsided as the boat started to sink under the water.

Yamagami was dead.

Epilogue
"Will you be okay?" Ryouga asked.

Rin smiled at the man. She had been through hell. Perhaps more hell than Ryouga himself had seen, but now she was out of it. She knew he felt responsible for most of it, but if it had not been for him... well, even Rin shuddered to think where she'd be.

But through all of it, she loved Ryouga. Perhaps not a girlfriend-boyfriend type of love, like she wanted, but a deep, respectful love nonetheless.

"I'll be fine, Uncle Ryouga" she said, embracing him in a hug. "Thank you."

She turned back and looked down at the two grave markers that had been made in honour of her parents and let a tear fall from her eyes. Ryouga placed a strong hand on her shoulder, and soon she felt another hand grip her other shoulder.

"It will be all right, child," Kintaro said, smiling down at her.

Rin looked up at the man with a raised eyebrow.

"I always take care of my clients," he said, smiling.

Ryouga smiled over at the aging Oyabun. "Thanks," he said.

"No thanks are needed, Hibiki. Come now, you'd best get on your way, and Rin here should get settled into her new home," he said.

Ryouga nodded and held Rin's hand. "Remember, I'll be here whenever you need me. Just let Ranma know and he'll be able to find me."

Rin nodded and kissed Ryouga on the cheek, causing him to blush. "Thank you, Ryouga."

Ryouga bowed toward Kintaro, and said his good-byes. A moment later, he was walking away from the two.

"Where will I live?" Rin asked the Oyabun, not tearing her gaze away from Ryouga's retreating form.

The Oyabun smiled. "I've arranged for an apartment for you to live in all your own, as well as the money needed to support it," he said. "You'll be well taken care of."

"Why can't I stay with you?" she asked.

Kintaro shook his head. "I take care of my clients, young Rin. To stay in my home would be a folly I'm not willing to pay for. But anything you need-- and I do mean that-- do not hesitate to ask, and I will supply it for you."

Rin closed her eyes. "Thank you."

"It is the least I can do."

"You think they'll be all right?" Akane asked, watching the Oyabun and young Rin talk in the graveyard.

Ranma nodded. "They'll be fine," he said, and then turned away. "Ryouga did good."

Akane nodded, and then looked at her fiance with a mischievous look. "So, Ranma," she began.

Ranma looked over to Akane. "Hm?"

"Where do you think P-Chan was during all this?"

Ranma immediately facefaulted.

Ukyou walked in to her restaurant and breathed in the air. "Sorry I took so long, Konatsu," she said, looking at the sleeping ninja. She paused.

"Konatsu?" she asked, poking him. "Hey, wake up! It's only noon!"

Konatsu stirred awake and looked up. "Oh, Miss Ukyou!" he exclaimed. "I watched the restaurant for you!"

"Why were you asleep?"

"I'm sorry, Miss Ukyou," Konatsu said. "I wasn't sure what time to close, so I kept it open all night."

"For THREE days?!"

Mousse smiled as he signed off the restaurant's deed to its new owner. "I hope you enjoy the place," he said. "I've had a great time here."

"That I would imagine, Sir Mousse," Tatewaki said. "This place will serve as a wonderful Kendo Training Hall! And with the adventures that you and I have been in, I welcome you back at any time!"

"Err... I don't think I'll be back that often."

"Brother?" Kodachi asked. "This place has wonderful kitchen facilities! It would make a wonderful restaurant! The Black Rose Gardens, yes! I can see it now!"

"Nay, woman. This is to be a Kendo Training Hall."

"Surely you jest, Brother. The Black Rose Gardens is a far better use for the place!"

"I'll... err... just let you two decide, okay?" Mousse said, slipping out of the restaurant. Hours later, he was sure he could still hear them arguing, from an altitude of ten thousand feet about Tokyo.

Ryouga searched through his pack. Everything was as it was before he had left it behind at Rin's restaurant, except it was now a few days old.

The Surume. The Kikurage. The Dango.

He'd tried the message before, although it was in vain. The recipient hadn't understood.

But now the recipient was someone else. Someone he was sure he could love, and someone he was sure loved him in return.

He looked up to the sky before him, and set off. Hopefully, he would be able to find Akari before the sell-by date passed... This time.