Silent Water

by

DeepQuote

Later that evening, Ranko began to read over Dr. Saotome's file.

Saotome, RanmaAge: 25

Born: November 12, 1976 at Tokyo General hospital to Nodoka and Genma Saotome.

Graduate Furikan High School 1994

Tokyo University Ph.D. in psychiatry

MD General Practice

Initial Evaluation of Subject upon admission to NPA Maximum Security asylum

Subject's early life:

Ranma was taken from his mother at the age of 6 to be taken on a 10 year training journey by his father.

Known mental trauma:

At the age of 8, Ranma suffered an intense mental and physical trauma at the hands of his father. Ranma's father sought to teach Ranma a forbidden martial arts technique that had been banned because it eventually drove any trainees in the technique crazy. It is this past event which boiled over the course of Saotome's life, and would later cause him to descend into madness.

Approximately 8 years later, Saotome developed an unknown condition he refers to as a "Jusenkyo curse" Supposedly, this condition cause Saotome to change from an average Japanese male to a fair skinned, Redheaded woman. While, I have never personally witnessed this metamorphosis, there are numerous pieces of evidence, and sworn eye witnesses accounts to support Saotome's claim of changing gender. It is my believe that Saotome's confusion over his identity, and the addition of the past pain inflicted by his father caused Saotome to revert to an animalistic state, and act violently upon his victims. I believe this animal is an active part of Saotome's psyche and is only held at bay by Ranma's conscious mind.

I do not believe however, that Ranma can control his animalistic side indefinitely, I think that he can only hold the beast at bay for a limited amount of time. Furthermore, I believe that Saotome may even be encouraging his beast on a subconscious level. By using his inherent charm and grace, Saotome secures people to release the beast on. Saotome tracks his victims carefully selecting the time and place to release his dark beast and enacts its vile desires on innocent victims.

8/08/01 Tatewaki Kuno

To Ranko, there was something not quite right with Dr. Kuno's evaluation of Ranma. To her it seemed an overly complex way of calling Dr. Saotome a foul sorcerer who used his good looks to charm people. Why she equated the description Dr. Kuno gave with foul sorcerer, Ranko didn't know. The other papers in Dr. Saotome's file were a mess. There was a myriad number of photos, maps, misc. reports, and other pieces of police paperwork. The first item to catch Ranko's eye was a small manila envelope labeled "seventh victim ???" According to published reports, and various other sources Ranko had only heard of six victims slain by the insane doctor.

Opening the envelope, Ranko emptied its contents onto the hotel desk. Three small evidence bags fell to the desk. Also in the envelope was a single page report folded in half. The report was a standard police missing persons report. Taking up one of the bags, Ranko noticed a small broke piece of green rock, that appeared to be hand carved. The bag was labeled "Broken Jade hair ornament". The next bag contain several strands of hair, which were purple in color, and seem to have blood on the end of them. Taking a guess, Ranko thought this might be unidentified hair from one of the crime scenes. Intrigued by another piece of the mystery, Ranko looked at the final bag. It was a photograph, more accurately half of a photograph. The picture showed 1 older gentleman, three young women all standing next to a red-haired person who had been torn out of the photograph.

The gentleman, Ranko recognized instantly it was...

"Pop?" "What am I thinking, I only know this guy from Ranma's file."

Genma Saotome was the man in the photograph, next to him stood two of the Doctor's one time fiancées Ukyou Kuonji and Nabiki Tendo. The third woman, Ranko did not recognize, her hair was purple and was braided back in a simple style by 2 jade hair ornaments. The young woman's stance was confident, and very assertive. The young woman's attention however was directed at the person who had been torn out of the photograph. Picking up the hair sample, Ranko compared the hair to the color of the unknown young woman; it matched perfectly.

Who was this girl?

What did she have to do with Dr. Saotome?

And who was she staring at beside her?

This evidence piqued Ranko's curiosity as she sat staring at it silently. Looking to the bottom of the photo, she noticed a small label underneath the purple headed woman. Xian pu.

"Grrrrrr........"

Before she even realized it, Ranko had tensed up. Her muscles were fully alert, ready to face the danger. A low growl spilled from Ranko's throat as she stared at the small label.

Xian pu....

Xian.....pu.

Shan pu

Shampoo.

An involuntary shiver traveled down, Ranko's back as she managed to relax for a moment. Ranko could not remember ever meeting the young woman. But deep inside of her, Ranko despised her. The emotions bubbling forth were not what Ranko was accustomed to as Ranko decided the purple-haired mystery woman unnerved her, unnerved her bad. Ranko placed the contents all back in the bag, save for the photograph. Slowly turning the photo around, she saw a small bit of writing.

Xian pu missing believed dead. Possible 7th victim of Dr. Saotome.

Time came and went as hours flew by. Ranko enjoyed her work and she was quite good at it. she put herself in another time and another place and simply walked around. It was quite simple really, all that was needed was placing oneself into another person. That is exactly what she did. Ranko mentally became Dr. Saotome, with his good, his bad, and even his ugly. Slowly and methodically, Ranko pieced together the experience that helped shape Dr. Saotome.

Ranko shared Ranma's joy at his tournament victories. She mourned the lonely look in his eyes even when he was surrounded by people. She learned his favorite food, shared his opinions on the wonderful feel of a silk shirt. Ranko marveled at the fierce intelligence Ranma unleashed in his papers. She cried at the loss of his mother, and leapt for joy as one by one Ranma began to make his reputation as one of Japan's foremost Psychiatrists.

The she dove into his dark side. Ranma's infamous battles with the pervert who had splashed her. The shame of his father's petty criminal record. Next was the hardest part. Autopsy photos, and crime scene photos. The thrill of the hunt, and anger of betrayal coursing through your body, using all these things Ranko tried to tap into Ranma's dark side. She failed.

It was like night a day. A honorable martial artist and a cold blooded killer. It dumbfounded her, how could one person be both? Ranma Saotome was a doctor, a friend, a loved one ,and a teacher. The killer well it was just plain evil. pure unadulterated evil. It was methodical, conniving and smart.

Startled Ranko realized her mistake, and who had put it there. Ryu Takahara.

"That low-down dirty bastard, he wants me to follow his lead.

Thinking Ranma could be a cold blooded methodical killer is stupid. There is something about him, something darker, and something he can't control." Gritting her teeth, Ranko began once more to try and understand the dark side of Dr. Ranma Saotome.

Changing her approach, Ranko simply placed herself as a killer. The feel of the night air on her body, and the sound of her own breath was all Ranko allowed herself to think of. No more thinking, just reacting; Ranko wanted to simply react to her environment. There it is. The smell of prey, slow, and weak. The sound of its footsteps walking slowly through the house. The sweet smell of alcohol lingering behind. A small secret smile just before She attacks. The warm wet feeling of blood between your fingers, and the coppery smell floating in the air as the prey dies. When the prey dies, she is free..............

Slowly backing down from the mental image, Ranko opens her eyes.

"Oh my god!" she exclaims.

No longer sitting at the hotel desk, Ranko is on the hotel floor on all fours. In front of her is the hotel wall with three foot long scratch marks.....

Elsewhere.....

"Old man."

Silence.

"Old man!"

"What do you want, Ranma m'boy?"

"You know you did something very bad today, old man."

"So what. Ranko-chan was just begging to have old Happy show her a good time!"

"I'm afraid not, old man. She would have pounded you flat, if you had not been in that cell. And just because she didn't say anything about it, doesn't mean I'm not going to. That was very rude, and you will be punished for it."

"Ranma m'boy. You must be crazier than they think I am. You are locked up tighter than I am. There is no way you can hurt me."

Ranma could almost hear the satisfied smirk on Happosai's face as he quit talking. The old letch had been a pain in Ranma's side ever since he first showed up at the dojo. But since that day, Ranma had yet to wish the old pervert dead. Yes, the old man was a pest, but nothing worth being killed for. Tonight however was different. Tonight Ranma wanted the old leach to pay for hurting Ranko. Gritting his teeth, Ranma could feel the beast stirring. His throat was dry, his muscles were taunt, and a slight bead of sweat had broken out from the exertion of keeping control. Then it happened. Ranma smiled, his muscles relaxed, and he licked his lips. The sound was unusual, but if you ever heard it you would have no problem identifying it. The sound got louder and louder, and louder still. Until the whole cell block was filled with the sound of Ranma growling.

This growl was from no kitten, and no house cat ever made such a sound. This was the sound of a hunter. This was the sound of a predator, an angry predator. After a moment of the animalistic cry of fury, Happosai swallowed nervously and wondered. "Have I gone too far this time?"

Silent Water

by Deepquote

Part 4 teaser

Back at the Hotel...

Sipping a glass of sake, Ranko had managed to calm herself down.

She sat staring at the "Claw" mark she had caused. The case was forgotten this was more important. Ranko's past had always been a mystery to everyone who knew her, and the real secret was it was a mystery to Ranko herself. It had been a little over four years since, she woken up in Tokyo general with no name, and no past. She worked hard since that day to build a future for herself. However, deep inside there was always that curiosity.

Who was she really?

What happened to her?

Where did she learn the Art the practiced every day?

After 4 years, Ranko had built herself a new life, a new job, and a new future. The only problem was, she never knew what the old life was, what the old dreams were, and what the old job was. The past was always there like a ghost haunting her from the moment she woke up, till she went to bed. There were times when she managed to escape it for a time, but it always came back. The "claw" mark wasn't the first time her past interrupted her present. Something else always seem to pop up now and then. The first had been the reoccurring dream. A dream about a strange place with pools of water that had bamboo poles sticking out of them.

Steadily sipping her drink, Ranko continued to ponder the strange mark. Her thoughts slowed as she began to consider the past, consider the beginning.

The Beginning...

4 Years ago...

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

The green line bounced relentlessly across the screen, the heart is monitor strong and healthy. It's rhythmic beat seem to coincide with steady breath of the tiny woman in the hospital bed. To the naked eye, nothing seemed wrong with the young woman in the bed. Her medical chart stated her diagnosis as unknown, and her name as Jane doe. The young woman in the bed was more than a medical mystery, she was a complete and total mystery.

The next day...

ring

ring

"hello, Tendo here."

"Good morning, Ms. Tendo."

"oh, Good morning, Sir."

"Is there some reason you saw fit not to report in?"

"um, no sir.. I..."

"Yes, well now that is out of the way. How did it go with Dr. Saotome?"

"Sir, I think it went quite well. I actually got him to take the survey..."

"how did you do that?"

"Well sir there was an incident with one of the other prisoners, and Well Dr. Saotome was afraid I was offended. So he decided to help me out. He said he would "give me Cane's head on a plate." "

"Cane? How in the hell would he know about that?"

"I don't know sir, but he knew about from the beginning."

To be continued...