You’re the bravest of hearts, you’re the strongest of souls
You’re my light in the dark, you’re the place I call home
You can say it’s all right, but I know that you’re breaking up inside
I see it in your eyes
Even you face the night afraid and alone
That’s why I’ll be there
When the storm rises up, when the shadows descend
Ev’ry beat of my heart, ev’ry day without end
Ev’ry second I live, that’s the promise I make
Baby, that’s what I’ll give, if that’s what it takes
If that’s what it takes
Celine Dion “If that’s what it takes”
“Falling into you” © 1996 Sony Music
Betrayal
-Part One-
By J. P. Goleski
Fission Park Press
J. P. Goleski
Master of J-Pop and Techno-Destructo
Fission Park Press
baladen@ix.netcom.com
Click. 6:59AM
Click. 7:00AM
Click. 7:01AM
Akane woke suddenly, reaching for the alarm clock. As she
reflexively hit the button to turn off the alarm, she realized that it
wasn’t on. Her room was silent except for the chirping of birds in
the trees outside. She looked at her clock in confusion for a
moment, then her eyes drifted across the desk. A blue folder
rested in the center of the desktop.
**My Diploma. The alarm didn't go off because I don't have
to go to school today.** She stood up and turned to the window.
It was a beautiful day already. The sun filtered through the trees
into her room, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. She stretched
slowly and changed into the shorts and tank top she always wore
running. A minute later she was on the street, humming tunelessly
as she jogged.
* * *
<Splash> “Get up boy!”
Ranma sputtered and bolted upright on her mat. Her father
stood above her holding a now empty bucket. “Wha’d’ya do that
for pop?!?”
“Ranma, graduating high school doesn’t mean you can sleep
the day away! A martial artist must constantly train and maintain
himself in peak condition. Why, when I was your age, I was up
hours before the sun every ...” Genma’s lecture was lost in the
shriek of shattered glass as Ranma launched him through the
window and into the backyard pool.
Ranma looked down at the wet shirt clinging to her chest.
“Damn, its only seven thirty in the morning and I’m already a
girl. I have a feeling this is going to be a bad day.” She stood up
and headed for the bath, stripping off her shirt as she walked. The
bath was empty, and in a few minutes Ranma emerged drying his
hair with a towel. He wandered to the kitchen and found Kasumi
at the stove making breakfast.
“Good morning, Kasumi.”
“Oh, good morning, Ranma. Did you sleep well?” Kasumi
asked as she turned off the stove and emptied the pan onto a plate.
Ranma shrugged and grabbed a sausage from the plate as
Kasumi passed. He followed her into the dining room and
dropped down next to the table to start eating. Genma grunted
and plopped down across from him. His wet fur dripped water
onto the floor and he looked upset. Ranma laughed at him and
continued eating. Soun walked in from the hall and sat down to
eat, leaving Akane as the only absentee.
Halfway through the meal Akane showed up, panting slightly
and with a light sheen of sweat on her skin. She said good morning
to everyone and sat down to eat.
After he was finished, Soun looked at Akane and Ranma sitting
next to each other and cleared his throat.
“So, you two. How does it feel to be done with high school
forever? I’ll bet you two can’t wait to get married and go off to
college together.” He smiled benignly at them.
“Father!!! We just graduated yesterday! I’m not ready to get
married yet!” Akane glared at him and left for her room.
Ranma glanced at Akane for a moment and started to say
something. Then he thought better of it and stood up. He hopped
off the porch and headed for the dojo to begin his morning workout.
Soun looked from one to the other again, and his smile widened.
**I’m not ready yet! Not ‘There’s no way I’m going to...’ or ‘I
would rather die than marry a...’.** The two probably didn’t even
realize it yet, but their resistance to the marriage was breaking apart
finally, after two excruciating years of fighting. He looked across the
table to the panda. Genma had also noticed the change.
* * *
The cab pulled up to an undistinguished white building on the
edge of downtown Tokyo. There was a brief exchange between
the passenger and the driver, and then she stepped out onto the
walk and headed for the entrance. The cab pulled up about ten
meters and stopped to wait. Time passed, and then the woman
appeared at the door of the building and walked out to the cab.
She got in and gave directions, then sat back as the car pulled
away. As the cab turned the corner at the next intersection, a
white sedan pulled out of the parking garage of the building and
followed.
Four blocks later, the cab ran a red light and rushed down two
more blocks before turning right onto a major street. Four cars
back, the sedan driver cursed and slammed his fists onto the
steering wheel, bending it noticeably. When he finally caught up
with the cab again, it had two new passengers and the woman he
was supposed to follow had disappeared. Minutes later, the car
returned to the white building and pulled into the garage.
* * *
Wham!
Crack!
Bash!
The dojo shook as Ranma and Genma, back in human form,
fought. Ranma was inhumanly fast and graceful. Genma, big and
strong, made up for his lack of speed and skill with his intimate
knowledge of Ranma’s style and habits. The two almost always
fought to a draw, and both always walked away tired and sweating
profusely. This time was no exception. The match ended with
Ranma sailing through the open doors onto the ground, closely
followed by a large panda who immediately swatted Ranma into
the fish pond in the yard.
The two called a truce and went inside to change back. As
they walked into the living room, Kasumi came up and offered
them some iced tea. They accepted and waited while she left to
heat up some water. After they had changed back to their natural
forms, Ranma wandered off down the street as Genma and Soun
started on their first game of shogi for the day.
* * *
Akane walked down the street swinging a bag full of groceries.
A few paces behind, Ranma walked along the top of the fence
following her. He had run into her accidentally just after she left
the market. They didn’t speak because they both knew that they’d
just end up arguing again if they did. So they walked along in
companionable silence until they approached their home.
As they neared the gate to the Tendo home, another figure
rounded the opposite corner and came directly at them. She had
short brown hair and dark Wayfarers, and had a small gym bag
slung over one shoulder. She smiled as she neared them, and
Akane tossed the bag to Ranma and ran to embrace her.
“Nabiki! I’m so glad you’re here. Father will be so surprised.
He said you had finals all this week and wouldn’t be back until
Sunday.” Akane hugged Nabiki tightly, letting go when her sister
started gasping for breath.
“I finished my last exam yesterday and hopped a train here this
morning. By the way sis, congratulations. Daddy said you were
valedictorian. That’s quite an honor.” Nabiki steered Akane
toward the gate and they started walking. Ranma came up beside
them. Nabiki looked him up and down. “Ranma-chan, you look
good. Akane isn’t still beating you up, is she?” Akane mock-
punched her in the ribs.
“Aw, Akane’s all bark. She can’t even touch me. Too slow.”
Ranma jumped back to avoid a quick jab. “And too predictable.”
“Baka!” Akane turned away from him and stomped into the
house.
Nabiki watched her storm off and shook her head. “Just like
old times. It’s good to be back.” Ranma was also watching
Akane’s retreating form, so he didn’t notice the tone of Nabiki’s
voice, or see her sad expression.
Soun came running down the hall as Nabiki and Ranma entered
the house. Tears streamed freely down his face as he crushed
Nabiki in a fierce embrace, mumbling something about his little
girl coming home. Nabiki allowed this for a few seconds, then
gently pushed him away. “Come on, daddy! I was only gone for
a few months. Don’t overreact.” Kasumi came up, followed by
Genma.
“Hello Nabiki, welcome home. Let me put that in your bedroom
for you.” Kasumi smiled sweetly at her younger sister and reached
to take the gym bag. Nabiki jerked the bag away quickly.
“Um, hi Kasumi. I don’t need any help, thank you. I still
remember where my room is.” Kasumi gave her a confused look
and lowered her hand. No one else seemed to notice.
The group moved down the hall toward the living area. They
sat down around the table and Kasumi went to the kitchen with the
groceries Ranma had brought in. While Kasumi prepared lunch, the
others attacked Nabiki with dozens of questions about her time in
college.
Akane came down the stairs a little later and told Nabiki her room
was ready. She sat down next to Ranma and listened to her sister
talk about college life. She would be going to the same university
next fall.
Nabiki regaled them with the tales of her adventures until well
after lunch, then excused herself and went to her room. Everyone
else eventually drifted off. Genma and Soun returned to their fifth
game of shogi for the day.
That afternoon, Happosai and Ryoga showed up. Happy came
bounding over the fence with a large sack on his back and a bottle
of sake in one hand. Ranma found Ryoga wandering the street
outside the dojo and let the other follow him home. Kasumi smiled
at each and prepared more food for dinner.
Nabiki stayed in her room until Kasumi called for dinner, then
joined the others at the table. Ryoga greeted her and asked how she
had been. Nabiki responded distractedly, and didn’t look up at him.
She concentrated on finishing her meal and then sat back to watch
the others. She seemed to be studying each face carefully, and
started when Akane spoke to her.
“Is something wrong, Nabiki? You look sad.” At Akane’s words,
everyone else looked toward Nabiki.
“I’m fine. I guess I just didn’t realize how homesick I was until
I got back. Don’t worry, sis. In a day or two I’ll be back to my
normal, charming self. How’s Kuno, by the way?” Nabiki leaned
forward and smiled. “He’s not still chasing you and Ranma, is he?”
Akane wasn’t fazed “No. He gave up on us after he graduated.
He moved out of his father’s house and left on some kind of journey.
He said something about embracing his destiny. We haven’t seen him
since.”
“Thankfully.” Ranma added. “He was a real jerk.”
“He wasn’t that bad. Besides, he was an excellent source of
income.” Nabiki grinned evilly at the memories.
They bantered lightly for a few minutes until Ranma inevitably
insulted Ryoga. Ryoga grabbed at Ranma, who leapt to his feet and
ran into the yard by the pond. Ryoga followed and they started
fighting as the sun neared the horizon.
“Some things never change.” Nabiki said as she watched them.
“Well, I’m exhausted. I think its time to go to bed. Goodnight daddy.
Goodnight, Mister Saotome.”
Nabiki went upstairs and disappeared into her room.
* * *
Sometime in the middle of the night a loud noise woke everyone
up. As lights went on around the block, a car screeched to a halt in
the middle of the road. It backed up to the previous intersection and
turned wildly. Then, with tires squealing, it raced down the street and
off into the night.
Some curses were heard, and then the lights started going out again.
Silence settled back onto Nerima…
* * *
Dawn came early to Nerima in the summer. A bright, cheerful
sun bounded up out of the west and bathed the streets with an orange
glow that quickly dissolved into hot white light. Trees whispered
playfully to each other in the light breeze, and birds sang praise for
the glory of creation. The people of Nerima were also high-spirited,
rising early and leaving their stuffy homes to enjoy the sights and
sounds of the summer morning. Joggers took longer routes than
usual, and several couples could be seen walking the peaceful streets
headed for the park. It was already a beautiful day.
Akane was just returning from her morning jog. As she neared
the gate to her home, she noticed the long black tire streaks left by
the car the night before. Whoever it was had stopped just short of
the side wall of the Tendo dojo, backed up to the street fronting the
dojo, and raced off past the front gate. The twin lines of burnt
rubber were over ten meters long.
She opened the gate and ran into the house. Kasumi was in the
kitchen, as usual. No one else appeared to be up yet. She went to
the bath and rinsed the sweat off quickly, then went to her room.
Dressing in the morning had become a lot more complicated
suddenly. School uniforms were, of course, no longer required.
She finally settled on a light blue summer dress, with matching
socks. As she finished dressing and brushing her hair, Kasumi
called everyone to breakfast.
Soun was already at the table reading the paper. Kasumi was
next to him, waiting for the others to join them.
“Good morning, Akane. You got up early this morning. I saw
you come in while I was making breakfast.” Kasumi smiled.
“I’m still used to getting up early for school, I guess. Did you
hear that car last night?”
Soun spoke up, “Yes. They were very rude, making all that
racket in the middle of the night.”
Kasumi shrugged and poured Akane some tea.
Several minutes later there was some shouting upstairs, followed
by a loud thud. Genma came down the stairs dragging a stunned
Ranma. He put Ranma down next to the table and sat down to eat.
Ranma recovered and rubbed his head as he ate. The two argued
through the entire meal, preventing the others from carrying on any
meaningful conversation.
Kasumi looked toward the stairs and frowned. “I wonder what’s
taking Nabiki so long. She should be awake by now.”
Akane stood up. “I’ll go wake her up.” She left for Nabiki’s room.
The wooden duck with NABIKI carved into it still hung from
the door. Akane knocked on the door, and called for Nabiki. After
a few moments with no response, she reached to open the door. It
wouldn’t move.
She called Nabiki’s name louder and knocked again. No response.
With a large push, the chair propped up behind the door gave way
and Akane burst into the room. The bed was unmade, as if Nabiki
had just climbed out of it. The closet door was open and some of the
clothes that Nabiki had left when she went to college were missing.
The window was hanging wide open, and the curtain waved about
slightly in the morning wind.
Nabiki wasn’t there.
* * *
A small police car was parked next to the gate to the Tendo
residence. Inside, two officers were taking statements from the
Tendo and Saotome families. Soun was hysterical, barely coherent.
Kasumi was crying as she tried to explain what she knew of the
situation. The others were subdued and talked quietly as the police
asked them questions.
“When was the last time you saw her?”
“Do you know where she was going when she left?”
“Did she say or do anything unusual before she left?”
“Do you know of any trouble she might have been in?”
The questions continued for a while, then the police closed their
notebooks and left. Kasumi fled to the kitchen to console herself
with her art. Soun sat on the porch and cried. Ranma and Genma
went to the dojo to practice, for lack of anything better to do.
Akane yelled out several minutes later and came running into
the house. Everyone else rushed to her to find out what had
happened. Akane was holding Nabiki's small bag and was shaking.
“Where’d you find that?” Ranma asked.
“In the yard next to the wall, behind the tree.” Akane upended
the bag and let the contents fall to the table. They all stared in shock.
Several large wads of money tumbled out. Several hundred
thousand yen, at least. On top of the pile of money dropped a
small handgun and two clips of ammunition. A passport and
wallet followed.
No one moved for several seconds. The phone rang. Genma
recovered and answered it.
“Tendo residence... Genma Saotome... Yes... I see... No, we
were not aware of that... I will tell him... Good-bye.” He carefully
set the phone down and turned back to the others.
“That was the police. They said Nabiki hasn’t attended any of
her classes for five weeks, and nobody on the campus has seen her
at all since she dropped out.”
* * *
The next day the police called back and informed them that the
gun’s serial number had been filed off. There was no way to tell
where the weapon had come from. Nabiki’s fingerprints were the
only ones on the gun. All of the passport paperwork, and the IDs
in the wallet, were very high quality fakes. Everything, including
the money, was being kept at the police station as evidence. Nabiki
would have a lot of explaining to do when she came back. _If_ she
came back.
* * *
Genma, Akane, Ranma, Ryoga, Happosai, Ukyo, Shampoo
and Mouse left the Tendo dojo early the next morning. Genma
and Happosai headed south. Ryoga and Ukyo went west. Shampoo
and Mouse searched east. Ranma and Akane started north. Kasumi
stayed at home with her father, trying to assure him that everything
was going to be all right.
Ranma ran lightly along the top of a fence, easily keeping up
with Akane on the road next to him. He looked at her worriedly
as he ran. She had not taken Nabiki’s disappearance well. She
hadn’t slept in two days and had paced the halls of the Tendo
home each night in restless desperation. She didn’t even
acknowledge Ranma’s presence when he tried to talk to her,
she just kept running down the streets randomly hoping to find
some clue to her sister’s whereabouts.
They searched in vain for several hours. Ranma forced her to
stop at an okonomiyaki stand to eat. Akane bolted down the food
silently and sprang to her feet to continue on. Ranma sighed and
followed. As the hours passed they became depressed and slowed
to a walk, randomly wandering the city as the sun drifted toward
the horizon.
As the sun touched the mountains in the west, Akane suddenly
stopped, almost tripping Ranma who was now following her on the
ground. Ranma looked ahead to see a taxi stopping at a corner.
Four passengers got out and quickly headed into a restaurant. A
woman with short, dark hair waved the taxi down as it was about
to leave and ran up to it. She climbed in and leaned forward to talk
to the driver.
“Nabiki!” Akane sprinted toward the cab with renewed energy.
The woman did not turn around or acknowledge Akane. The taxi
driver turned around and pulled the car into traffic.
Akane and Ranma followed the taxi on foot for three blocks
before catching up to it. Akane ran up to the cab as it sat at a
stoplight. She started to open the door, but froze as she looked in
the window. The driver yelled at her to get away and shook his
fist at her. The light turned green and the taxi sprinted away.
Ranma reached Akane and pulled her out of traffic as dozens of
horns started sounding around her.
She looked at him with tears building in her eyes. “It wasn’t her.
Where could she be? Why did she run away?!?” She started shaking,
the three days without sleep and the constant worry had caught up
with her.
Ranma led her to a small park nearby and they sat on a bench.
She cried against his shoulder for a while, then grew quiet. After a
few minutes she pushed away from him and stood up. She looked
around, then started off at random. Ranma got up and followed her
silently.
He looked around and didn’t recognize anything. He had never
been in this part of Tokyo before, and guessed that they were
somewhere on the north end of the city. He decided it was time
to go home and started steering Akane back toward the south. It
started raining lightly as they turned south to head home.
Ranma cursed quietly as she looked toward the sky. **Why did
it have to rain now?** She picked up her pace to make up for
shorter legs.
They were walking down the sidewalk in front of a parking
garage when a white sedan pulled in front of them. The driver
looked at them casually as he punched a code into the security
box. The gate swung up and he winked at them before pulling
into the garage and disappearing up a ramp. They continued
down the sidewalk and didn’t notice when the car came back
out a few moments later.
They turned a corner between two tall buildings and ended
up in front of a brick wall that stretched all the way across the
street. Akane looked around, finally noticing where they were.
She turned to Ranma and hit her on the head.
“Ranma! You’re an idiot! What are we doing in a dead end
alley in the middle of the night!”
“Don’t worry, Akane. Nobody’s around, and I can take care
of anybody that comes along.” Ranma looked around at the high
walls on three sides without worry. There wasn’t much that she
feared, and muggers weren’t on the list.
Akane turned around with a ‘humph’ and started walking back
toward the main street. “You’re as bad as Ryoga sometimes!”
Ranma didn’t respond to this, didn’t say a word. She turned
around in time to see Ranma falling to the ground with a hand to
her neck. She fell slowly, without making a sound, and lay
perfectly still on the pavement.
“Ranma!” Akane ran back to her and fell to her knees beside
her. She turned her over, and checked for a pulse. It was faint,
but present. A small dart stuck out of the side of her neck. Akane
looked up to the walls just as something stung her in the neck. She
reached up past a sudden numbing sensation to the dart protruding
from her own neck. She tried to turn around to see who had shot
her, but couldn’t move.
A fire escape ladder rattled to the ground halfway down the alley.
A dark figure climbed down, a bag slung over one shoulder. He
walked into the alley as he spoke into a radio. He stopped in front
of the two prone forms in the shadows and stared at them as the
white sedan pulled into the alley behind him. The headlights
illuminated the two bodies as the car came to a stop.
Ranma was lying on her back where Akane had turned her over.
Akane had fallen across her. She almost looked like she was holding
Ranma, or protecting her.
“How cute.” The first man turned to the second, who had gotten
out of the car.
“We’ll put them in the trunk. Lets hurry.”
The man from the fire escape nodded and went to the trunk to
open it. Within a minute the two were stuffed into a trunk that
wasn’t really meant for two grown adults to inhabit, and the lid was
forced shut. The two men got in the car and backed out of the alley.
The white sedan quickly lost itself in the rush of traffic as it
headed away.
* * *
Three small police cars were parked next to the gate to the
Tendo residence. Inside, several police officers roamed the
property, looking for clues. They had already torn apart Nabiki’s,
Akane’s, and Ranma’s rooms. In the dojo, an inspector was
asking Soun and Genma questions over and over. The two fathers
were very upset at the time, and weren’t paying much attention to
the police.
“Mr. Tendo, your daughter Nabiki is in a lot of trouble. She
has been associating with known criminals. Yakuza, Mr. Tendo.
If she’s fallen out with them, the safest place for her is in our custody.
I insist that you tell me where they went. If the yakuza finds them
first, the next time you see either of your daughters they will be in
caskets!” The inspector was nearly shouting by the time he finished
talking.
Soun Tendo put his head in his hands and cried. He couldn’t
believe this was all happening. Just a few days ago, everything had
been fine. Everyone was happy, business was good. Overnight, his
family had been plunged into a horrible nightmare that he couldn’t
wake up from. It was too much.
Genma was in slightly better condition. He would save his tears
for later, when noone could see them. He stared at the door to the
dojo, wondering where his son was, and if he’d come back.
The inspector looked from one to the other, then threw up his
hands in exasperation. He turned away and was approached by a
lieutenant.
“Did you question Kasumi Tendo?”
“Yes, sir. She didn’t know what had happened. She had spent
the night at the doctor’s place. She was very upset. Dr. Tofu asked
me to leave.”
“All right. Pack everything up here. I’ll call the station and give
them a report.” The inspector left for his car as the police officer
went to collect his comrades. Within a few minutes, Genma and
Soun were the only ones left in the house.
End Part One
Direct C&C to Jim Goleski at (baladen@ix.netcom.com) Especially
if you ever want to see any more of this story. Muster the Bastard
Taskmasters From Hell, set cattleprods to ‘encourage’!!
