continued from Part 5 (1/2)
**********************************************************************
Part 5#:
**********************************************************************
The door to Uc-chan's slammed open for the second time that
afternoon.
"Ranma!"
They all turned to see Shampoo run into the restaurant. Ranma
automatically braced himself for the usual rib-crushing glomp.
However, the Amazon merely skidded to a stop a few feet away and
looked him over thoroughly. She was out of breath and looked almost
frantic.
"Ranma, you okay?"
"Y-yeah, Shampoo."
"You see Mousse today?"
"Wha...? Huh?" He looked badly confused by her sudden switch in
topics.
"No, we haven't," said Akane.
Shampoo waved her hand at all the broken furniture in Ukyo's
restaurant. "Then Mousse not do this?"
"Nope," said Ranma.
The Amazon girl started to yank on her hair while muttering,
"Aiyah! Stupid, pain in butt Mousse!"
"What's wrong? What did he do?"
"Mousse gone from Neko-hanten. Shampoo hope she find him with
Ranma." She uttered a depressed sigh.
"Huh?" Now it was Akane's turn to took totally confused.
"You WANTED him to come after Ranma?" Ukyo sounded outraged.
The Amazon gave the other two girls an irritated look. "Yes.
Lesser of two evil. If Mousse not go after Ranma, only other target
is...." Her voice trailed off unhappily.
Ranma slid off his stool and quickly grabbed Shampoo by the
shoulders. "What's wrong!?"
She reached up and grabbed Ranma's hand. "Be careful! Renegade
Amazon now in Nerima!"
"A renegade Amazon!? Oh great!"
She nodded sharply. "Dan Xin is Shampoo's cousin. She is VERY
good fighter." Her lips thinned and she reluctantly added, "Better
than Shampoo. Dan Xin once great grandmother's prize student. She
suppose to be Cologne's successor. You understand?"
Ranma nodded very slowly. "Yeah. I get it."
The Amazon girl rattled off a quick description of Dan Xin. She
finished by saying, "You ask about great grandmother? Cologne not
around because she too busy chasing Dan Xin. Shampoo got no idea when
she return." Frustration was evident in her voice.
Ukyo muttered, "How the hell did Cologne's chosen successor become
a renegade?"
Shampoo stared at them grimly. "Dan Xin cause death of own mother
and more than fifteen other tribe members."
"Then why is she still alive!?" Akane asked in amazement.
Shampoo looked as if she could barely keep herself from spitting
on the floor. "No real proof. She defeat tribe's champion in
trial-by-combat so by Amazon law, Dan Xin 'innocent' of crimes.
Tribe's champion was Mousse's mother."
Ranma said, "Whoa. I'm starting to get the picture."
"So you think he's gone after Dan Xin?" Akane asked.
"I not know! No have time to talk right now. Shampoo must find
and stop Mousse."
Ukyo said in wondering tones, "Shampoo, you really sound like
you're worried about him. After the way you've been treating him, I'd
have thought.... Why do you want to stop him? I mean...."
The Amazon glared furiously at Ukyo. "Shampoo not leave mad dog
in Dan Xin's mercy, much less member of tribe!" She added in a low
mutter, "Even if only stupid duck-boy!"
Ranma said, "Then we'd better help you look for him." He looked
at Yuri. "Could you hang around with Ukyo while we're gone? Just in
case someone... something else shows up here?"
"Listen, Ranma! I do NOT need a baby-sitter...!" the chef
protested loudly.
Ranma glared at Ukyo. "You're hurt a lot worse than you're
letting on. I could prove it by poking you in the ribs, but I suspect
that would REALLY hurt."
The chef bit her lip and flushed with embarrassment.
Yuri nodded briskly. "Sure thing. Besides, I can't leave Nerima
until I finish my business with the Kunos."
Akane muttered, "Good luck with that. You'll need it."
Shampoo finally managed to get a word in edgewise. "If Mousse not
cause damage, what happen here?"
Ranma glanced at the chef. "Ukyo was just telling us what really
happened, right?"
Ukyo turned even redder. "Okay! Last night something broke in
here. I heard someone shoving the furniture around, so I ran
downstairs to stop them. The next thing I know, this creature pops
out of the shadows and slams me into the wall."
"Creature!?"
"Yes. It looked like a big cat but it walked upright like a
human."
"Aiyah!" Shampoo gave the pig-tailed young man a worried look as
he swore under his breath.
"Well, the creature was about to finish me off when Yuri showed up
and drove it off. Shampoo, meet Yuri."
The introduced woman gave Shampoo an interested look and said, "A
Chinese Amazon, here in Japan?"
"Yes. You know Amazons?"
"Well, actually, I have encountered some before...."
In the meantime, Ranma said, "Ukyo, you should have been more
careful. Why didn't you...?"
The chef turned on him and said, "Hey! This is my property and my
livelihood, Ranma! If you think I'm going to let anybody wreck this
place while I just sit by and wait for the police to come, you've got
another thing coming! Besides, how the hell was I supposed to know
that it wasn't just a normal burglar!? Like you would have done
anything different?"
"But you're just a...."
Yuri coughed loudly and said, "Um, maybe you guys should going to
look for... what's his name... Mousse first... before he runs into
this Dan Xin person."
"Oh man, that's right."
He turned to leave when Akane said, "Ranma, don't forget your
shirt." She picked up it and held the blue shirt out to him.
He eyed it uneasily. "I'm not wearing it! It's still got
Kodachi's weird perfume all over it!"
"Kodachi here too?"
Ukyo gestured at the floor. "How else do you think all those
stupid rose petals got here? Anyway, we managed to get rid of her.
Shipped her home in a taxi, but not before she apparently left Ranma a
souvenir." She gestured at his shirt.
Shampoo snatched the shirt from Akane's hand and sniffed.
"Shampoo smell nothing strange."
"That's what I told him. None of us smelled anything wrong with
it."
Ranma flung his hands into the air and yelled, "I'm not imagining
it, okay?"
"Well, if crazy girl involved, better safe than sorry," said
Shampoo as she dumped the shirt on a table.
He shrugged and headed for the door. "Besides, what's wrong with
wearing a tee-shirt, anyway?"
All four young women in the restaurant couldn't help but
appreciate the sight. Ranma's tanktop provided a charming view of his
arms and broad shoulders while offering tantalizing glimpses of his
sleekly muscled back and chest.
Yuri grinned as Shampoo sighed wistfully.
Ukyo rolled her eyes. "Gee, how clueless can you get?"
Akane muttered, "At least he's wearing SOMEthing on top. I just
hope he doesn't run into some cold water while he's dressed like
that."
"What did you say, Akane?" as Ukyo glanced in her direction.
"It's nothing."
**********************************************************************
Part 5#:
**********************************************************************
In the street outside the restaurant, Ranma said, "Shampoo, why
don't we meet up in the Neko-hanten in a hour?"
"Okay."
As she watched the Amazon leave, Akane mused, (Nabiki seems to be
right... as usual. It looks like Shampoo's really given up on Ranma.
I could get to like that.)
Ranma prepared to go north as Shampoo went in a southerly
direction. Akane made a move to head off on her own but he quickly
quashed the idea.
"No way, Akane!"
She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "We can cover
more ground if we all split up!"
He said, "I don't want you running off on your own, not with some
crazy Amazon on the loose."
"You think I can't handle myself? I've learned a lot over the
last couple of months! You should know that."
Ranma sighed. Running his hand through his hair, he said, "I know
you've been practicing hard, Akane. I know how much you've improved,
even if I haven't said so."
She blinked at the unexpected compliment.
"But you still aren't up to Shampoo's level. And you heard what
she said. This woman must be really good, especially if the old ghoul
chose Dan Xin as her successor."
He stepped a little closer to Akane. "You can complain all you
want, but I won't take a chance of you running into this killer Amazon
character by yourself. Got it?"
Akane saw the utter determination on Ranma's face. She couldn't
decide whether to feel flattered or exasperated by his concern.
Actually, she felt a little of both. In a sulky voice, she said,
"Fine, if you want to be that way about it. Come on, let's go."
-----------------------------------
After doggedly searching from the rooftops of Nerima for over
thirty minutes, Akane stopped to catch her breath. To her disgust,
Ranma didn't even look like he had broken a sweat. She muttered, "You
realize that Mousse could be just about anywhere!"
"I know. But we've got to keep looking. If this Dan Xin person
is as bad as Shampoo says...."
"It's hard to imagine someone who could upset Shampoo so badly."
"Well, there's probably a lot more to the story than she's telling
us...." Suddenly, Ranma grabbed Akane by the waist and effortlessly
hoisted her into his arms as he lashed out with his left foot.
She yelped, "What are you doing...!?" Her outrage quickly faded
as she saw Happosai, his face plastered to the bottom of Ranma's shoe.
The old man mumbled, "Why did you do that?" before toppling to the
ground, momentarily stunned.
"Keep your hands off Akane, you old pervert!" The unexpected
vehemence in Ranma's voice startled Akane even more.
"But I just wanted to say hello to my little
Akane-channnnnnn....!!!" Happosai's voice faded as Ranma casually
booted the old man off into the distance.
As they watched Happosai fade to a little speck, Akane said, "Uh,
Ranma?"
"What?"
"Are you planning to hold me like this all day or are you going to
put me down?" she said in an irritable voice.
Ranma suddenly realized that that he didn't mind the idea of
holding Akane. Not at all. He enjoyed the warmth of her body in his
arms... wanted to hold her closer and bury his face in her hair....
Feeling oddly shaken by that realization, he hastily set her back on
her feet and murmured, "Oh... sorry."
Straightening her dress, Akane grumbled, "I could've handled the
old lech by myself!"
He shrugged carelessly. "I'm sure you could. But you shouldn't
have to." He turned away and easily jumped the gap to the roof next
door.
Akane blinked in surprise. (What did he mean by THAT?)
"C'mon, Akane!"
**********************************************************************
Part 5#:
**********************************************************************
After the others departed Ukyo's restaurant, Yuri started picking
up the used dishes. "So that's Ranma. He seems to be quite an
interesting character."
"You have NO idea. The stories I could tell you...." A
suspicious look instantly appeared on Ukyo's face. "Don't tell me
you're falling in love with him!"
Yuri snorted in obvious scorn. "Hardly! I barely know the guy.
Besides, I've already met the love of my life."
"Really? Does he mind your line of work? After all, dealing with
the occult is an unusual career, especially for a woman."
Yuri calmly replied, "He doesn't mind at all. He's dead."
Ukyo was shocked by her casual tone. "Oh. I'm sorry. Wha...
what happened?" The last question came out before she could stop
herself.
With a shrug, Yuri said, "Do you remember what happened to my clan
and how I said their past actions finally caught up with them?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. As for the
one who was responsible for his death... I'm working on that."
-----------------------------------
As Yuri cleaned up the kitchen, Ukyo carefully sat down on a stool
and said, "If you don't mind me asking, this 'private' stuff with the
Kunos... does it have anything to do with your family's... uh,
traditional business?"
Yuri didn't answer immediately, then she slowly said, "Yes, it
does. That and certain matters of honor." She put down the towel in
her hand. "Ukyo, seriously.... Are the Kunos as really as hopeless
as you guys are making out?"
The chef couldn't miss the somber look on Yuri's face. "I wish I
could tell you that it's all a big joke, but it's not. You saw
Kodachi for yourself. The Principal is a total nutcase. The only one
in the family who has any concept of honor is Tatewaki Kuno."
"The only son, right?"
"Yeah. The samurai wanna-be. The one who's now locked up in the
hospital's psychiatric ward for observation."
"Damn."
A few minutes later, Yuri said, "What exactly happened to Tatewaki
Kuno, anyway? Ranma mentioned something about the Neko-ken...? You
asked me about the very same thing this morning."
Ukyo stared down at her hands. "Well, basically, both Kuno and
Ryoga have really bad grudges against Ranma because he's supposedly
engaged to Akane. Yesterday, the two of them showed up at the Tendos'
home and challenged him over some stupid rumors involving Akane and
some secret wedding. The fight... well, it turned really ugly. Ranma
was forced to use this... extremely vicious fighting style called the
Neko-ken."
"It seems pretty obvious that Ranma won. But I must say he didn't
seem at all happy about the victory."
"He's not. He didn't mean to hurt them so badly, but he... well,
he wasn't quite himself during the fight."
"Oh." Yuri sighed quietly. "Got carried away in the heat of the
moment, hm?"
"You... could say that." Ukyo shifted uneasily on the stool, but
her ribs could have been bothering her.
The other woman shrugged. "It happens, you know,... especially
when your life's on the line or when you're fighting for the person
you love."
Ukyo's response was automatic. "He doesn't lov...." Her voice
trailed off.
Yuri politely ignored the aborted outburst and said, "You said
that he's supposedly engaged to Akane?"
"Well, technically he IS engaged to Akane...." Ukyo glanced up
angrily at Yuri. "But he's engaged to me too!"
"How on earth did he end up with two fiancees?"
"Actually, I suppose you could say that he has three."
Yuri raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
Ukyo took a deep breath. "Akane's engaged to Ranma because his
idiot father made a promise with her father before their kids were
born. When Ranma and I were about five years old, Mr. Saotome talked
my dad into an engagement between his son and me... then the scumbag
ran off with my dowry while he left me behind! And just after Ranma
arrived in Nerima, he managed to beat Shampoo in some stupid fight so
she now claims that under some weird Amazon law, Ranma's supposed to
be HER husband."
"And about Ms. Kuno?"
"Oh, there's no engagement there. She's just obsessed with him."
Yuri stared at the chef. "Excuse me. Just how long has this
multiple engagement thing been going on?"
"Close to two years."
"And nothing's been resolved? Why?" Yuri sounded amazed.
"Oh, I don't know. It's been impossible to get a straight answer
out of Ranma."
"He doesn't seem to be the indecisive type."
"He usually isn't. I guess he doesn't want to hurt people's
feelings."
Yuri muttered, "Typical male, scared of commitment. What a mess!
But I suppose you girls are glad that the matter's finally settled."
"What?" Ukyo looked startled.
"I mean, since Ranma and Akane now seem to be a couple...."
Yuri jumped as Ukyo slammed her hand against the counter. The
impact jarred the chef's ribs and made her grimace in pain. As soon
as she caught her breath, Ukyo snapped, "NO! Ranma hasn't made his
decision yet. Ranma and his father just happen to be living with the
Tendos. That's ALL."
Yuri gave the chef a bewildered look. "You WANT to marry him?"
Ukyo said, "Why do you look so surprised?"
"It's just that... well, every time I've seen you with him, you
act a bit... nervous."
Ukyo sputtered in outrage, then finally hung her head. "You don't
understand. This isn't how things normally are around here. There's
a lot more to this whole mess than what I've told you."
Yuri said quietly, "That wasn't too hard to figure out." She
shook her head ruefully. "But it's really not my business, except
that part dealing with Tatewaki Kuno."
"Yeah, but... but that's just it! Listen, I told you the fight
got ugly, right?"
"Yes."
"Well, what really happened was that Kuno and Ryoga both turned
into these absolutely HUGE tigers...."
Yuri stiffened and slowly put the pot she was cleaning down in the
sink. "Excuse me. Did you say 'tiger'? Are you telling me that they
shapeshifted into TIGERS?"
Ukyo nodded. "Uh huh. With glowing green eyes."
Yuri stared silently at the wall for a long moment, then suddenly
slammed her fist down on the counter. "Damn it!"
"Yuri!?"
The young woman took a deep breath, then said tersely, "Ukyo,
which hospital is Kuno in, right now?"
"Why do you want to know?"
"It's really important, okay?"
"He's at Nerima Central Hospital. What's going on?"
Yuri turned around and said, "Ukyo, I think that it would be best
if I found somewhere else to stay."
"Why? What's wrong?"
"Sorry. I don't think you should get involved...."
"Hey! I was there when Kuno and Ryoga did their little
transformation act. And don't forget, I nearly got killed last night,
so don't try to tell me that I'm not involved in whatever's going on!
I'm involved all right... right up to my neck!"
Yuri sighed. "I suppose you're right. Ukyo, I haven't really
been honest with you about my purpose here in Nerima."
"What do you mean?"
"It wasn't just dumb luck that I was in the right place and time
to save you from that cat creature. People in my clan have certain
'talents', you might say. I sensed something unnatural on the prowl
last night. I wasn't sure exactly what it was, so I decided to track
down the source. I ended up near your restaurant."
Ukyo was quiet, then said, "I sort of guessed that might be the
case. I've told you that a lot of weird things happen around Nerima.
But what does all this have to do with Kuno?"
Yuri grabbed a stool and sat down. "It's a complicated story.
About three centuries ago, the eldest daughter of the Funada clan
married the heir of another prestigious clan. As part of her dowry,
she took a katana with her, one of a pair of swords which had been in
the Funada clan for well over 500 years."
"You don't mean to tell me that...."
Yuri nodded. "Tatewaki Kuno, his sister Kodachi, and their father
all carry the Funada bloodline, just like I do. I came to Nerima to
ask the Kunos -- or beg them, if necessary -- for help. Three
centuries ago, as part of the original marriage agreement, the Kuno
clan swore a blood oath to support the Funada clan in the pursuit of
their sacred duty to hunt down and destroy supernatural evil. Even
though the Kunos and the Funadas have long since gone their separate
ways, the Kuno clan is honorbound to agree to my rightful request for
their aid. "
Yuri hopped off the stool and began to pace anxiously. "But when
I got here, I found out from you guys that the entire Kuno family is
basically nuts! You said it yourself. The only one in the present
family who might have any concept of honor... the only one who might
consider standing by his family's ancient obligations is Tatewaki
Kuno. And he's currently locked up in a mental ward!"
Yuri seated herself again before continuing her story. "The sword
in the Kunos' possession is called 'Inazuma' or 'Lightning', whichever
you prefer. Like I said, it's one of a matched pair. The other one
was called 'Ame' or 'Rain'. These two swords had special powers which
were tremendously useful in carrying out the Funada clan's duty. I
NEED those swords."
Ukyo took a deep breath. "Since you're still carrying on your
family's 'business', that means that you chasing after something big.
Am I right?"
"You've got it. I'm hunting for a very powerful demon."
"Was this demon the one responsible for the destruction of your
family?"
"Not directly responsible, but it was certainly involved in a big
way. I've been tracking the beast for nearly twelve years. After the
destruction of my clan, it apparently vanished. I think something
happened to the demon which forced it into hiding... probably into a
human host. It could be that my grandfather or someone else in the
clan managed to cast some sort of binding on the demon or wound it
severely with a final strike before dying. I don't know." Yuri
shrugged.
"A few years ago, I finally managed pick up its trail. I've been
following it ever since... and let me tell you, that's been no easy
task! The traces are so faint, I've had to backtrack constantly.
Furthermore, there seems to be no real rhyme or reason for its
travels. Not only does it meander all over Japan, the trail
constantly goes overseas. Only recently, I ended in China. While I
was there, I passed through an Amazon village called Joketsuzoku or
something like that. Those Amazons struck me as a very clannish sort,
not the type to travel far from their home. That was why I was so
surprised to find out your friend Shampoo was a Chinese Amazon."
In a strange voice, Ukyo asked, "This village... was it located
near some weird springs?"
Yuri looked astonished. "Yes. How on earth did you know?"
Ukyo wordlessly took a cup of cold water and poured it over Yuri's
head.
"Uh, what did you do that for?" said Yuri in a very polite voice.
The chef looked confused. "You didn't get cursed!"
"Oh, you mean at Jusenkyo?" Yuri chuckled. "What sort of
reckless fool would wander into such a dangerous area, especially with
all those warning signs they've got plastered all over the place?"
Ukyo muttered, "What good are those signs if you don't read
Chinese?"
With a confused look on her face, Yuri said, "But some of those
signs are in Japanese... and English... and half a dozen other
languages! And even if you can't read, any person with sense would
stay away from an area marked with all those skull-and-crossbones
signs. You'd have to be totally blind to miss those."
"You're kidding me!"
"No." Yuri frowned thoughtfully. "Although, now that you mention
it, a lot of those signs looked very new. They couldn't have been
more than a year or so old."
"...." Ukyo buried her face in her hands.
Yuri eyed the chef uncertainly. "Anyway, I followed the demon's
trail from China back to Japan. Unfortunately, I lost the trail
around Tokyo. Since I was in the area, I decided to go to Nerima and
speak to the Kunos."
"Is that why you want to talk to Kuno then? Are you hoping that
he'll be able to tell you where the sword Inazuma is?"
Yuri muttered, "It's a lot more complicated than that! I need the
sword AND I need Kuno!"
"Excuse me!?"
"The swords' powers are gender-specific. Inazuma's special powers
only works for men, Ame's powers only works for women. Get the
picture? I'm female, so Inazuma would be just another katana in my
hands."
"Oh, great! A male chauvinist sword. But why do you need Kuno?
Can't you find another guy...?"
Yuri sighed, "Inazuma and Ame are dedicated first and foremost to
the service of the Funada family."
"Oh... I guess that means you need to have be a member of the
Funada clan to use the swords, right?"
"Yes. That pretty much limits the candidates to people with
Funada blood, but in some rare instances, spouses can qualify, too.
With the destruction of the main Funada clan, I don't know of any
other men with the proper bloodline except for Tatewaki Kuno and his
father. And frankly, I'd prefer to deal with some pseudo-samurai
warrior like Tatewaki rather than a lunatic surfer bum like his
father."
"I can see your point. Now... now wait a minute. Why don't you
forget about Inazuma and just use Ame? That sword's supposed to work
for females, right?"
"Yes, but there are two problems. First, if I'm to have any
realistic chance of destroying the demon, I need BOTH swords. Second,
the sword Ame has been lost for the last century or more."
Ukyo winced. "That sounds like a pretty hopeless mess."
"Not exactly. You see, the swords are a pair. If I have one
sword, there are ways to use it to locate the other."
"Another reason you need to talk to Kuno, right?" The extremely
neutral expression on Yuri's face suddenly made everything click.
Ukyo's eyes widened and she blurted, "You don't want to talk to him!
You want to bust him out of the hospital!"
Yuri nodded reluctantly. "Yeah."
"But he's crazy... and dangerous! You could be risking people's
lives if you...."
"Listen, Ukyo! If I don't get his help, that demon is going to
keep running loose and a lot of people could end up hurt. Or dead!
Besides, I've got other reasons for wanting to move Kuno to a safer
location."
"Which are...?"
Yuri looked away, then turned back to Ukyo. "First of all, I need
to know whether Tatewaki Kuno has become one of the demon's minions.
"Minions!?"
"Yes. Since he carries the Funada bloodline, that means that he
may have inherited some of the 'talents' I mentioned earlier.
Unfortunately, those sorts of abilities, if left untrained, can leave
a person dangerously vulnerable to outside influences. And then you
mentioned that Kuno and the other guy changed into tigers,.... One of
the demon's specialties is transformation... metamorphosis and
shapeshifting, that sort of thing. Its minions or servants often take
the form of predatory cats. Tigers are a particular favorite because
of their power."
The color drained from Ukyo's face. "Why is that?"
"Oh, didn't I tell you? The creature I'm chasing is a cat-demon."
"A cat-... cat-demon....?" the chef whispered in a sick voice.
Yuri nodded grimly. "That's right." Noticing that the chef
looked like she was about to faint, the demon-hunter leaned forward
and said, "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine. Really." However, it wasn't hard to guess that Ukyo
was clearly lying.
Yuri continued, "Anyway, I already had a suspicion that the demon
was in the Tokyo area, especially after that run-in with that beast
who attacked you. But even then, I wasn't absolutely certain."
"Can't you tell.... I mean, the thing that attacked me certainly
wasn't natural!"
"It's not that simple, Ukyo. There's actually quite a number of
supernatural cat or feline entities. I wasn't sure whether the
particular demon I was hunting was the one responsible for attacking
you last night. A direct assault is not its style, you see. But
after you told me about Kuno and this guy Ryoga,...."
"Uh, Yuri?"
"Yes?"
"Can you tell if someone's possessed by this demon? What type of
signs can you see?"
Yuri leaned back against the wall. "To answer your question,
there are ways of finding out,... certain rituals I could do.
However, those methods take concentration and time. It isn't
something you can do in the middle of a fight or during a casual
conversation."
She cleared her throat and assumed a more scholarly demeanor.
"Sometimes, there aren't any signs. Unfortunately, people don't go
around with helpful signs saying "Hello, I'm possessed.' And when
you're dealing with particularly powerful or cunning entities,
well.... A favorite trick is to hide deep inside its host, listening
to everything that's going on, but leaving little or no sign of its
existence. The host can be totally unaware of the demon's presence."
"That's... that's hideous!"
Yuri gave her a cool stare. "That's why demons are EVIL. And
that's why they have to be destroyed."
"How do you know that I'm not possessed?"
Yuri give Ukyo a cool grin. "I took the liberty of checking you
out last night."
The chef looked uneasy. "You did?"
"Yes. Don't worry. All I was doing was making a detailed reading
of your 'aura'."
"Oh."
Yuri added thoughtfully, "I've been damn lucky so far. I'm pretty
sure that my quarry is unaware of my pursuit. The longer I can keep
that a secret, the better it is for me. If the demon finds out I'm
chasing it, it might decide to start hunting ME."
Ukyo grimaced. "That would be bad, right?"
"Oh, definitely. Besides, I've got another reason for wanting to
get Tatewaki Kuno out of the hospital. At the moment, Kuno's an
hopeless easy target if the demon decides to clear up some loose ends,
."
Ukyo blurted, "Then... then Ryoga's in the same danger! We can't
leave him...."
Yuri shook her head firmly. "I understand your concern, but we're
going to have enough trouble dealing with Kuno by himself. And this
may sound rather callous to you, but Tatewaki Kuno is a blood relation
to me and therefore has a claim to my protection. On the other hand,
this Ryoga character is a complete stranger."
Before Ukyo could object further, Yuri added, "That's not to say
that I won't help him if I can, but I have to prioritize.
The chef bit her lip and said, "I want to come with you."
"What?"
"When you go to... get Kuno. I want to come along."
"Listen, Ukyo. I'd prefer to not get you any further involved.
For one thing, some of the things I'll have to do are probably quite
illegal. Second, we're talking about a demon here! Get mixed up with
a creature like that and you could easily end up dead. Or worse."
Ukyo said angrily. "I've told you before! I think it's way too
late for me to stay uninvolved. It's pretty clear that I've already
been targeted and I've got the wounds to prove it!"
"But...."
"Listen! With my injuries, you'll have a perfect excuse to move
around the hospital."
"Hmmm. That's true, but.... Didn't Ranma or Akane mention a Dr.
Tofu? Do you think that there's any chance we could convince him...."
"But we would have to explain exactly what's going on. I'd...
rather not get anyone else involved either."
"Well, at least we should definitely tell Ranma...."
"NO!"
Yuri blinked in surprise at Ukyo's vehement refusal.
"No," the chef repeated in a softer voice.
(Oh no, we can't! If I'm right.... If Ranma....)
Yuri said carefully, "Ukyo, he's already been attacked once. He
needs to know just what he's up against."
"But.... I...."
Yuri slowly rose to her feet. "Ukyo, is there something you need
to tell me? Why don't you want me to tell Ranma about this demon?"
Running her hands through her hair, Ukyo whispered, "You said you
followed this demon's trail all over China and Japan. How old is the
trail?"
"The trail? When I started searching, its trail was about twelve
years old. That's about the time my clan was destroyed. I've been
steadily gaining up with it ever since. By the time I ended up in
China just over a month ago, the trail was a little less than two
years old. Why?"
Ukyo buried her face in her hands.
In a cool voice, Yuri said, "You know who it is... or you have a
strong suspicion who it might be. Don't you?"
"NO! I mean, not for certain."
"Who, Ukyo? Who are you trying to protect? Don't you realize
that you're not doing anyone any good by hiding this information?"
"I can't...."
"Damn it, Ukyo!"
Instead of answering Yuri's question, the chef countered with one
of her own. "If someone's possessed, they can be cured... right?"
"That... kind of... depends."
"Depends on WHAT?"
"There's a lot of different factors... length of possession, power
of the possessing entity, how much corruption's taken place,...
there's no way of knowing until you actually try to get rid of it.
Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't."
"Oh."
"Why are you asking?"
"I... just wanted to know."
Yuri stared thoughtfully at Ukyo, then she slammed both hands down
on the counter and blurted, "You think Ranma's the demon's host!"
Ukyo refused to answer.
"But that doesn't make any sense!"
"Why not?" It was Ukyo's turn to look astonished.
"Because you told me that Ranma was the person who got attacked by
Kuno and Ryoga. Why would the demon want its minions to injure its
own host? It doesn't make any sense unless...." Yuri abruptly sat
down.
"Unless WHAT!?" shouted Ukyo.
"Unless something went terribly wrong with the possession...."
--------------------------------------
(end of Part 5)
**********************************************************************
Author's Notes:
In Part 6 of Tiger Claw...
....a confrontation with Dan Xin....
....Cologne reappears....
....Tarou pays a visit....
^_-
-----------------------------------------
CREDITS:
Additional inspiration from:
"The Whisper" by Queensryche
WEREWOLF: THE APOCALYPSE (and associated materials) by White Wolf
Publishing, Inc.;
TIGER CLAWS, copyrighted 1991 by Tiger Claws Production, Ltd.;
THE HIGHROAD TRILOGY series by Alis A. Rasmussen;
USHIO & TORA, copyrighted 1992 & 1993 by Kazuhiro
Fujita/Shogakukan;
REJAR by Dara Joy.
Additional fanfic mentions: ^_^
"Hearts of Ice" by Krista Perry and "Nekophobia" by David Eddy for
starting my obsessive interest in the neko-stuff.
Many thanks to my pre-readers, for their suggestions, critiques, and
support. ^_^
--------------------------------------------
madamhydra@aol.com /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/:E
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