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Revision History:
06/02/07 – Changed the way Sohin referred to Yuki as per Tin's suggestion.
12/25/05 – Release date
And to the person reading this.
Dedicated to Nonny.
Merry Christmas!
For loneliness is a silver word,
An acrid wine, or a broken chord --
And loneliness is sharp and sweet,
Unleavened bread for some to eat.
Fansisco G. Tonogbanua
Hermit's Chant
Rendezvous with Fate v.3
by iCe
Chapter 14
... Everything spun out of control... out of my control. I think I finally know how you felt like in one of your depression spells... and I wish I didn't ...
Ifuku was used to traveling long distances. It was the story of her life. When she was young she had been handed from one house to the other until she had settled with the mother she had grown up with. It was there that she learned to be a servant to the Saotome household, and then was raised as a lady's servant for the Lord Ranma's future wife.
She was also afraid when it came to traveling alone as a woman. So, for protection's sake, she changed into men's clothing for long travels. She had sewn a set of clothes that she usually wore at the designated time when she met Sohin. A peasant's garb that was more suited for a man than a woman. She hid her long hair with a small straw hat, hiding her face in the shadows. In the mirror she looked exactly as a man should.
The past three weeks since she left Rose Brier had left her in the middle of the trees without a solid path while remaining deep in Kamakura's perimeter. She was avoiding all major roads because there would be checkpoints and questions, and Ifuku was in no state to answer questions. She wiped her brow uncomfortably as the heat of the sun seeped through the reed hat. It wasn't much protection and she was wearing clothes she wasn't accustomed to.
Idly, she wondered what had prompted Akane to suddenly give her the much needed vacation. She dismissed the thought almost immediately. She was barely functional the past weeks and she had been going through her work with a distracted air. The empty grave had troubled her, and constant worry plagued her. She felt that the anxiety would not leave her until they found out just why the grave was empty and what had happened to the body buried there. Still, her thoughts wandered back to the time when Akane had given her leave.
--
Ifuku watched silently as Akane stared in contemplation into the mess that littered the floor of the room. She has been increasingly frantic in her search for her brother since the inauguration she passed for the last month. Ranma seemed to be looking the other way with regard to her training, preferring not to train her and leaving Akane with too much time in her hands for letter writing. They only managed a couple of sessions in the weeks since they arrived from Happosai's donjon.
Akane was facing a low table with an inkwell and a feather pen that Ifuku had managed to scour up. Crumpling the letter then throwing it over her shoulder, Akane gathered the other pile that she had discarded. They were the only things that littered the otherwise clean room.
Sighing, Akane put the pen down. "Why can't I do this? He's my brother!" She forcibly hit the flat of her hand against the table, which resulted to all the things jumping up and down. It had been lucky that none of the ink had spilled.
"Maybe because he's not my real brother?" she muttered under her breath. She had yet to meet Tatewaki Kuno. When she asked, she was met with a stare of either compassion or mild disgust. It appeared that Tatewaki was just as popular as his sister.
Finally making up her mind, Akane wrote a curt, but polite, letter telling Kuno that she wanted to talk to him and that he was invited to Rose Brier for chanoyu if he wanted to. Not that Akane knew a thing about the formal tea ceremony, but she had decided that she was going to learn.
Had she known that the person she sought was just beyond the walls of Rose Brier, she could have been spared of the pain and the hurt that the next days was going to bring her. But that information had been limited to Nabiki, Sohin and the peasants who were at the marketplace... none of whom thought telling her as important, entertained the idea of meeting with her, or had the chance to do so.
Still, the letter had been her last hope. Akane sighed as Ifuku walked away with the letter to attach to one of the pigeons. She summoned for Ifuku again. Unless that letter brings her miracles, she was giving up for the moment. "Ifuku... would you like to leave?"
The maid looked puzzled at the proposition that had never been offered to her. She had been one of the few maids who Kodachi had never disposed and yet the suggestion coming now, when her mind was troubled, was tempting. "You're asking me to leave, Lady Akane?"
Offering a weak smile to the woman, Akane shook her head. "Ever heard of a vacation, Ifuku? You know getting out... doing the things you want... seeing the world." There was not much of the world to see in the 1600's but Akane was trying to make a point.
Ifuku looked at the letter in her hands then at Akane. "But my lady, you'd be alone." Ifuku had gone about in an almost normal pattern ever since she had been assigned to Kodachi. And that meant a week leave in Minazuki, the water month. She had never been given more, because Kodachi was not a lenient mistress. That week was already enough for her.
"You can give me one of the maids for training." Akane waved her hands. "I'm sure you've worked hard enough for a break... maybe a month or two?"
"I shall give you Sara for the job. Will that be satisfactory, my lady?" Akane recalled Sara and nodded at Ifuku's choice.
Ifuku once more started to leave when Akane gave her a small bundle wrapped in a handkerchief that Akane found among Kodachi's little trinkets. "I know it isn't much, but I would like you to have this."
Ifuku didn't open the parcel. It was rude to do so in the presence of that who had given it but the confused stare she gave her mistress was not lost on Akane. "It's for your loyal service, Ifuku. Please, remember me when you wear it."
Ifuku nodded as she thanked her before going.
--
Ifuku frowned, Akane had given her two kodachi, the very ones that Akane had been bestowed when she gained acceptance in the inauguration. She had not wanted to accept the gift when she had opened it, but she knew that refusing it would be ill-mannered. So she carried it with her to consult with Sohin about them. Luckily, she knew how to fight with it, although it would be just her luck if someone accused her of stealing it.
Although peasants were allowed to use swords, the combination of a short one for beheading and the katana were reserved for samurai status. The Kodachi wouldn't be mistaken as the samurai's twin swords but she tried to hide them both anyway. If she was questioned, she had more than the swords to be accountable for.
She looked at the sky and shading her eyes against the sun's harsh rays. From its position she noted that three sticks passed since she had left her sleeping area, a tree that had been uprooted by some means or the other. Ifuku sensed that a fight had been responsible for her shelter.
As she walked over to the edge of the small forest, she felt a sword to her back. 'Great...' Ifuku thought 'A very nice time to be robbed.' She turned around meekly, fully expecting some highway bandit and coming face to face with a Saotome samurai instead.
"What are you doing out of the path?" the samurai demanded, Ifuku recognized Omokage and frowned. It had not been that long since the incident with the pigeon and he had caught her again. She grimaced at the samurai guards, not understanding their rotation.
"I have been given a temporary leave," Ifuku informed him, a little thankful at least, that he could recognize her, even if they were not on the best terms. She brought the hat down to reveal her face and her bound hair. "Lady Akane has given it to me."
Omokage sheathed his sword when he identified her and then gave her a disapproving look. "You're acting unusually these days, Ifuku." he commented pointing towards the nearest path. "That's where the road is. Stay on it."
"Sorry, sir, I'm in a hurry," Ifuku apologized still holding her ground, a little in panic. Although she knew how to fight, she wasn't sure if she could hold her own against one of Saotome Ranma's own men. "I believe this is a shorter way."
Omokage gave her a look of disbelief. Her self-made road, in truth, would actually take her a several days more than the usual to reach her destination. He let her statement pass turning his attention elsewhere, "Why are you dressed up like that?"
She wanted to see Sohin as soon as possible, and delays like Omokage could lead her well into weeks if he chose to detain her. The main road would just bring her unwanted attention and Omokage was making things difficult.
Worrying at the direction that the questions were taking them, Ifuku used her haughtiest voice to reply, "Omokage-san, I never knew it was your business to pry into peasant's affairs, especially my own."
He was startled at the answer. It wasn't natural for peasants to answer back. Especially not to samurai that were overseers to the same household that they lived in. "Not when they're acting according to rules." He scowled at her, exasperation showing. "You're impossible, you know that?"
"No you're--" her words were cut off by Omokage's hand, silencing her effectively as it clamped over her mouth while his other hand snaked around her waist to carry her with him as he jumped towards one of the trees. He signaled for her silence before he let her go.
Ifuku managed to look at him indignantly before settling on the branch that he had chosen for their hiding place. A few seconds later, two women came through the field they just vacated. Ifuku's eyes squinted to see through the leaves.
"There's something familiar..." she whispered as she tried to inch closer.
Omokage caught a fistful of her shirt in an instant, glaring at her. "You really are not fit for reconnaissance work are you?"
She matched his scathing words, "I am a peasant, Omokage. I'm not supposed to be fit for 'reconnaissance'." She took her eyes back towards the duo but they vanished when she was talking to Omokage.
Omokage tried to look for signs of where they went, trying as much as possible not to give away their hiding place. "I do not like this."
Ifuku broke free of his grasp and jumped from the high branch that was their hiding place landing on her behind. With as much dignity as she could muster, she pulled herself up from the ground to dust herself. "I'm supposed to be on my way to Sohin. I'm already fearful that he might have moved too fast already."
She turned around proudly. When Omokage didn't come down from the tree, she didn't wait for his permission to leave. She was about to move out again when she saw the two ladies they had spotted moments ago blocking her way.
It took a second for her to register the faces in front of her. She gasped raising her hand towards her mouth. She had not seen her sister recently, but she knew the face perfectly, how could she not?
Yet the impossibility of the circumstances froze her in place -- because it was also almost a year since the death of her sister. The possibility clenched at her heart, a confirmation that her sister was well. The reason for the empty grave. A soft question managed to escape her lips, "Akane?"
'Akane' turned back at her in one swift motion, her surprise couldn't be hidden from her face as well, finally she turned towards her companion. "Ari, Don't tell me this peasant is Tendo Shori."
"How did you know?" Ari asked as she moved towards the paralyzed Ifuku.
"Because she's been my maid for the past seven years," the woman spat out in revulsion. She could not see the reason why anyone would willingly renounce themselves of their title and pick up an identity akin to that of a slave.
Something clicked in Ifuku's mind as she heard the last sentence from her opponent. She broke into a run as she shouted in warning, "Omokage!" her strangled call went out. She wasn't sure if he was going to aid her, but it would help her even the playing field. Ari was a ruthless opponent who didn't hesitate for the kill. She was also one of the few women who she needed to kill desperately. "That woman is Saotome Kodachi."
Both of the women turned to her sharply at her call, Ifuku dared not to look back at the face of the sister she had thought was months dead. Random facts were clicking into place as she ran.
Kodachi hissed at her companion, "I thought you said capturing her would be easy." She started the chase towards her former servant.
"I said locating her would be easy. Capturing her is a different story." She took out two short daggers at her side, throwing them at the girl. One had grazed Ifuku's foot the other passed her harmlessly. "Shori's brother was ten years of age when Chisei came to power. He was heir, and he knew enough of the arts to be a nuisance. In the years we tried to capture them, he taught his two sisters the art."
Kodachi growled as she readied her trademark weapon, a single black rose filled with poison. "How did she manage to hide as a peasant at the Saotomes?"
"We never knew she had hidden as a maid in Saotome territory," Ari admitted readying another blade. Ari moved with grace and precision, her agility compensating for her lack of height. "It was the last thing we expected her to do... she was a spoiled child. We know she frequented the area because we have sources saying Akane is buried near here."
Kodachi readied to throw her projectile when Ifuku stopped running and turned around abruptly to face them. "I am Tendo Shori, First Lady of Sanuki, Second Heir to the Tendo Legacy. I am the true holder of what Chisei has stolen. And if you expect to kill me without a fight... you are sadly mistaken. Prepare yourself, because I will be the last person you see today."
Kodachi gave a laugh, confirming her identity as Ifuku's patroness. Ifuku could not be mistaken, no matter how unworldly it may seem. Kodachi Saotome was in her sister's likeness. Kodachi's condescending voice was strong in the air as she stopped running, giving Ifuku a long calculating look. "You talk big for a peasant, Ifuku."
"Do not underestimate her," the woman beside Kodachi whispered urgently. "The last time we fought she had killed my companion. Her sister had died because she had gotten in the way of a suicide hit that Shori had executed. Her moves may not be as refined as any samurai but she can fight."
A gleam of interest passed through Kodachi's eye. "So she killed her own sister?" Kodachi laughed. "What guilt must have wreaked upon your soul, Ifuku."
"Don't call me that, Kodachi." Ifuku drew the two identical swords that she had been hiding. It was another reason why she wanted to stay off the main roads. "I demand respect from those who will try to kill me."
"You make me laugh, Ifuku." Kodachi fingered her newly shortened hair, as she sneered at her opponent. "You were the one who chose to be a peasant. I'm just obliging your wishes. Can we fight now? Formalities bore me."
"Two to one is hardly a fair fight, Kodachi," Ifuku informed her as she crossed her swords above her head in a stance that was new to Kodachi. "Then again, you hardly ever play fair."
Ifuku started to charge Kodachi and her companion when Omokage suddenly appeared beside her, matching her own pace. "You forgot me."
"What took you so long?" Ifuku demanded at his sudden voice all the while thrusting her swords towards Kodachi's neck, finding out quickly that Kodachi's neck wasn't where it was supposed to be. She jumped back as Kodachi landed. "I would appreciate it if you would give me a signal or something so that I know you're on my side here," Ifuku told Omokage in controlled tones, keeping her eyes on Kodachi.
"And I would appreciate it if you told me things in advance." Omokage had his sword out parrying the daggers Ari was throwing at his way. Ari was dealing with him through long range combat, keeping the distance while circling him.
"What was I supposed to tell you?" Ifuku shouted as she whirled her two swords around to fend Kodachi's projectiles. "It's not like I knew they were coming after me."
Ari snorted as she flipped three consecutive daggers in the air. "It seems like you'd rather kill each other than fight us."
Omokage drew his sword closer to his body evading the projectiles neatly trying to bring his opponent closer. "Just clearing out misunderstandings." When he was closer he took a swipe at her wrist giving her a grin. "Don't worry I'm all yours now."
As soon as they were gone, Cologne turned to Nabiki. Tapping her chin in thought she asked, "Where is Ranma?" Nabiki winced at the directness of the summons. Cologne usually had time to be playful but today she did not want to waste time on pleasantries. "I have something important to talk about."
Nabiki nodded as she turned to go, only to see Ranma coming out of the hallway with his trademark stance. He noticed the matriarch immediately and Nabiki's pointed glance before he managed to ask, "Yes?"
Cologne motioned for the two of them to come as she walked towards the dojo. Nabiki frowned, Cologne never isolated them on the dojo unless she was really serious or she wanted to train them. Nabiki was more inclined to believe the former rather than the latter.
When they were inside the four walls, Cologne secured the entire area, wanting to know if there were any other samurai training at the time before she settled down to look at the two of them. "Do you have in your employ a peasant named Murasaki?" She preferred to address them in Chinese since the matter was delicate.
The twins looked at each other for confirmation then both shook their heads. They turned towards Cologne, wondering what she was up to. The frown had not left her face as she continued, "I could describe her... but I doubt you'd recognize her."
"Why do you ask, matriarch?" Nabiki asked in the language that Cologne addressed her in, curiosity not leaving her voice. Cologne must think highly of the girl to bring both of their attention to it. If there was trouble, Cologne rarely asked for help unless she couldn't take care of it herself, or propriety demanded that she speak of it first. "Has one of our servants been rude to you?"
Cologne took out a small object from her robes flicking it towards the twins. It was Ranma who caught it. He unwrapped the cloth and stared at the object inside for a moment, before Cologne broke his thoughts with her words, "Recognize it, student?"
Ranma looked up throwing the object to Nabiki. "How could I not? It's Kodachi's marital comb." Nabiki nodded in a moment as she examined the hair ornament. She had one in her dresser to wear for formal occasions. Her own marital comb was left in the Ikaasei house, and the ones she had in this house were for beauty's sake.
Nabiki fingered the comb for a moment then looked at Cologne, wondering how to phrase her next words without seeming impolite. In the end, she settled for a direct path, "Why do you have this?"
"Ifuku or Akane did not tell you what happened when you two were out checking the fires." She looked at the two of them and waited for the confirmation before she continued, "Some days after you left Akane found her mirror broken by a single black rose, it was followed by Kodachi's laugh and I had immediately gone to the room to check."
Both of them gave her confused looks. It was Nabiki who spoke up,
"You speak as if she is two different people."
"Don't interrupt me." When she had seen that they would let her continue without questions she continued, "There was nothing wrong, but when I went to Ifuku's room, a peasant girl claiming to be 'Murasaki' was pressed against the shoji listening to us."
"Murasaki?" Nabiki snorted at the name. "Couldn't she have been more obvious?"
"Yes..." Cologne nodded her fingers thoughtfully rubbing her cane. "It showed that she had some minor education, enough to make me suspicious. But what made me wonder was that comb was on her hair."
Nabiki handed Ranma the comb back for further examination. It would fetch a good price in the market if sold, but there were more expensive things in the house that the girl could have taken. "Why would she steal this?"
The comb's only use was to prove that she was the wife of Ranma Saotome. No one but a fool to try it since Kodachi's reputation was well known. The comb would be of no use. Cologne looked at them. "That's what I would like to know. I don't know if she stole anything of importance, but when I called for a routine check, no one seemed to miss anything. I sent Shampoo to follow her."
The two waited expectantly to hear what Shampoo learned from her expedition, but Cologne shook her head. "I haven't heard from Shampoo since then and I'm worried. She was supposed to contact me daily."
Nabiki nodded, already thinking of possibilities. "We'll look into it, matriarch."
"But how did she know where the comb was hidden?" Ranma asked quietly as he stared at the trinket. "Kodachi has not worn it since I gave it to her. I always tried to find it and place it on her hair before so she took the trouble to hide it from me. I never found it after that. It's been several years since I've seen this."
"The girl knew where to find the comb," Cologne mused. The only thing that gave 'Murasaki' away had been the broken shards of glass. There seemed nothing out of place except for the comb on her hair, and the girl carried nothing on her way out.
"That worries me," Nabiki whispered as she too stared on the comb in Ranma's hands.
"I was hoping you had more answers than questions." Cologne sighed as she looked at the twins. It had been more than a month since she had heard from Shampoo, and she cursed herself for not acting sooner. For getting distracted with her great-granddaughter, Hanae, for getting distracted with Sei.
In the month past, the girl she only knew as 'Murasaki' could be anywhere. The trail has run cold. But she could try, she was not an Amazon Elder for nothing... and she was an excellent tracker.
Kodachi's comb.
Her direction.
Her skill.
It was not much to go on. But if she wants to make another attempt at the comb... she had to hide close to the city. Kamakura offered quite a few sanctuaries for people like her.
One was the temples, and that would give her the almost impossible task of weeding through all sixty-five of them. Or the peasant houses, another almost impossible task.
Cologne gave a sigh, too much to do with so little time.
She had depended on Shampoo to be safe, because she was an Amazon. She had thought her heir would be all right, away from the Saotomes that were making her nervous. Doing something that came naturally to her.
Shampoo was only human.
'If I were to hide a kidnapped Amazon, where would I place her?'
There were far too many answers.
Nabiki left the dojo with the two others deep in thought when she spotted Sara going down with a tray of food. She raised her eyebrows. "Kodachi has taken to eating upstairs, Sara?"
The maid was startled at the sudden inquiry but looked at her and
nodded. Ranma frowned and asked, "When did she return?"
The maid looked even more startled. "She never left, my lord."
Nabiki looked at Ranma then at the maid. "What do you mean, 'She's never left.' I haven't seen her in weeks." They all assumed that she went to Nerima. It was the usual arrangement for Kodachi and both Ranma and Nabiki had been happy she was gone.
Kodachi complicated matters. It was best if she stayed far away from Rose Brier as possible. The maid looked fearful and steadied her visibly shaking hands before replying, "She is in her room, my lady. She didn't want to get out of bed."
Nabiki dismissed the girl as she jumped up the tree that slanted near their house until she reached Kodachi's window. She nimbly entered while taking her shoes off, Ranma and Cologne close behind her.
The room was closed off letting darkness envelope it, even in the middle of the afternoon and the room's air had started to turn stale. Nabiki solved the problem by opening the windows to let fresh air and sunlight filter in.. Cologne opened the doors, even the ones leading to Ifuku's room. "Ugh, I can't believe you stayed here for more than three weeks."
Ranma immediately knelt beside Akane while his companions tended to the room. "Hey," he whispered trying to soothe her awake while shaking her. It took them a while before she opened her eyes. "It's the middle of the afternoon. Aren't you going to get up?"
"Oh..." Akane grumbled opening her eyes for a moment then turned her head away from the sunlight. "I think I'm going to pass this one up."
Ranma started to rouse her again when Cologne tapped his shoulder. "I'll do this, son-in-law. I'd tell you to draw a bath, but I don't think the furo would be appropriate."
Cologne knelt beside Akane and pressed some pressure points then she turned towards Nabiki. "Daughter, you carry her towards the bay."
Ranma stared at the matriarch, not really understanding her intent. "The bay?"
"She needs to wake up and I'm not about to make people draw water when there's a large body out there that I can exploit." She gave Ranma a toothy grin as they went outside though the window.
In seconds, Akane was in the salty water with a female Ranma and a male Nabiki looking at her. "She'll live," Cologne pronounced as she looked at Akane who was spluttering at the salt water.
"Why did you go lock yourself up in your room anyway?" Ranma-chan muttered, not intending for Akane to hear.
However, she did hear the words and she grasped on him for support until she could stand up. She coughed a fistful of water before hitting him with a mallet. "I wanted to go home, you jerk. I hate you. I hate this stupid place. I can't believe you don't want me to find my baby."
Cologne watched as the girl weakly but proudly left the three of them to go back to Rose Brier. She turned to her two wet students. "She deems watching, you two. She's depressed enough to want death."
"Kodachi wanting to die?" He shook his head uncomprehending. Kodachi's whole life revolved around other people wanting to die. She wants everything else to die it was the entire reason she wanted to live.
Nabiki followed Akane's departure with her eyes. "No, there's something about her..."
"Your wife said something that merits a second look, Ranma." Cologne watched Akane as a wave toppled her over. Turning towards her students, Cologne addressed Nabiki next, "You assist that girl, and make sure she lives. She may have some answers that you're looking for."
While Nabiki-kun had sprinted to get Akane out of the sea, Cologne held Ranma-chan back. She gave the older woman a questioning look but she pogoed leisurely towards the house using her cane as stilts to elevate her from the salt waters. "Ranma, opportunities like these only come but once. If life continues for her like this, she may very well die."
The proposition seemed unbelievable to Ranma but Cologne never joked about life and death. She ran his hand through her red hair and muttered, "That woman is going to be the death of me someday." Ranma-chan flicked her wet pigtail as they began their ascent towards the house.
Nabiki-kun had taken the shorter way by the trees and was already instructing some of the servants to bathe Akane and change her clothes.
"With the way things are going, she's going to die first," Cologne mused as she tapped her staff on the sand, spraying the water that had clung to it. "You have a strange blessing son-in-law. You make people fall in love with you. Yet it's a curse in its own right, because in the process, you break their hearts." Ranma-chan looked uncomfortable under the scrutinizing gaze so Cologne gave her a toothy grin to break the uneasiness. "You put too much thought in my words. Take care of her. I don't think you'd want her to die."
There was a pause before Ranma-chan tried to answer, and Cologne watched as her expression changed from uncomfortable, to confused, to irritated and then uncomfortable again. Cologne stopped her flustering by saying, "I see you're still indecisive. It is good that you have not brought that bad habit to your fighting."
Suddenly, Ranma-chan stopped walking up the hill and stared at Cologne. "You're the one who's been indecisive. I thought you couldn't tolerate Kodachi." She was too annoyed and too aggravated to understand what Cologne was willing to impart.
Amused at her behavior, and knowing that it was the famous Saotome's foot in the mouth talking, she continued walking. "Son-in-law... you're not very sharp are you? Not when it concerns women. Your gift is wasted on you." She shook her head. "Do you believe in fate, son-in-law?"
He paused wondering what to answer. "Fate or destiny?"
"Is one so different from the other?" Cologne asked as she swatted away some of the taller grasses then opened the door that led to the kitchen. With her cane, she fished out the kettle and poured its contents on Ranma. He growled at the temperature being hotter than necessary, but she ignored his grumbling as she asked, "Well, do you?"
Ranma wrung his pigtail dry then took off his shirt flicking it in the air to wring out the excess droplets of water. "If there is one then she plays a sick game."
"It seems you believe it to some extent." Cologne took the kettle again and replaced it in the brazier. "Sometimes fate makes a mistake. Even such a being can't always be perfect."
Ranma pulled his shirt over his head again. "What? Like she made a mistake in dropping us at Jusenkyo?"
Ranma still resented the curse a bit. Cologne had hoped he would overgrow it. "Jusenkyo was not a mistake, child." Cologne sat down in one of the zabuton that lay on the head of the table then turned towards the door just as Nabiki-kun entered the room.
Nabiki immediately headed for the kettle only to find out it was empty. "Don't mind me here." He turned to glare at Ranma as he filled up the kettle with more water, while he said in an accusing tone. "Someone used up all the hot water."
"Don't blame it on me. She poured the water." Ranma thumbed Cologne and sat down unceremoniously. "I still can't believe you're saying Jusenkyo wasn't a mistake."
"If it was," Cologne said slowly gauging their reactions, smoothly sitting down at a comfortable spot. "It would have been rectified. Dame Fortune does not like knots in her threads."
"It's not a perfect fabric anyway," Nabiki-kun reasoned out as he took his place opposite of Ranma. "So why bother?"
"Why bother?" Cologne gave another grin as she lay down her staff on the table, the twins sensed she was going into her story-telling mode again and gave identical sighs. "What would have happened to the two of you when you were caught by the Wako if you did not have your curse? They would still be hunting for your blood. What about the fight against Clans? You would not have your girl side as a spy and your similar appearances as an alibi. You would have been executed."
"Perfection doesn't always seem perfect to you, children. We Amazons believe in many things. It is a must to survive. One of them is fate. We are a superstitious people."
"How does 'Dame Fortune' fix her mistakes?" Nabiki asked curious, she was cutting the story short, but she wasn't about to listen to a lengthy story with only one point in it: to leave them thinking about when Cologne would ever give them straight answers. "That must be the point of your questions."
"Astute as always, daughter, yet impatient," Cologne delivered the reprimand and compliment in an even tone. "Very well, she creates a way for two worlds to convene, so that her wrong would be fixed by another mortal. A meeting of destinies."
Even when Nabiki cuts the chase, Cologne manages to talk in circles. "This is what Amazon legend tells you?" Ranma asked skeptically.
"It is what we believe in." Cologne nodded at the shoji. "Your wife is a stubborn one isn't she? She's supposed to be resting."
Ranma sighed as he called Akane in and Nabiki-kun gave a knowing glance. "How long has she been there?"
"Not long enough, Nabiki," Akane muttered as she took hold of the table to steady herself. She did not hear anything of importance.
Cologne took in the sight of the woman, she was thin, and deathly pale but there was a glint of determination in her eyes. "As I said, it looks like this one will live." She procured two pouches of medicine from her robes and gave them to Ranma, who opened them to look at the small spherical black pills that filled it. "Make sure she takes three pills at least once a day. Dilute it in water or food."
Ranma nodded then turned to assist Akane to sit. Akane gave him a weak glare. "Even in my suffering you don't leave me alone."
Cologne's eyes never left the two of them. "How long has she known of Jusenkyo?" the question was addressed to Nabiki, since Ranma was pre-occupied with his wife.
Nabiki-kun shrugged, not really understanding where the questioning was leading to this time. He answered in Chinese, since it seemed like Cologne didn't want Akane to know what they were talking about, "A month? But she's barely seen it. We're more careful now... we've changed only a couple of times."
This said, Cologne brooded over what she was going to do next for a minute before turning to Ranma. "I must go, I fear for Shampoo and I only stopped by to tell you."
Ranma nodded as he helped seat his wife on one of the pillows around the table. "Goodbye, matriarch... and thank you for the help."
Cologne nodded and Nabiki-kun rose to accompany her. Before she left she gripped Nabiki-kun's hand and told both of them in a loud voice. "There is another saying child one that I believe you should remember: Take note of he who recognizes you amidst your twin."
Nabiki-kun nodded at the words then bowed. When he raised her head, the matriarch was gone. The only sign of her departure was the open shoji. When he went back to the kitchen he immediately went over the kettle to see to his water.
Akane gave a weak cough then clutched on to anything she could hold for stability, and that happened to be Ranma's shirt. "What did she want to talk about?"
"Foreordination," Nabiki-kun quipped testing the water against his finger, "and her great-granddaughter. She's as mysterious as always."
When Nabiki-kun deemed the water ready, he poured it on his head with a little smirk then turned to Ranma, who looked like he was seeing nothing of what he was staring at. Nabiki cleared her throat. "Well?"
Ranma stared at Akane for another second before turning to Nabiki. "I still don't understand why she told this to us in the first place." Ranma shifted Akane on his arms, then deciding that something needed to be done about Akane's mood announced, "We're going out, and I'm dragging you to a walk around town."
Akane gave him a grimace, not liking the sudden change of subject. "You were talking about me, weren't you?" Akane pushed him away as she tried to stand up on her own but she failed and found herself being held by the waist again. "I hate you."
"I'm sure I share the sentiment," Ranma drawled as he half-carried half-dragged her towards the streets of Rose Brier. "But now, we are taking time for you to know the people of the dear lovely town of Kamakura."
Nabiki gave Akane a sympathetic smile. "You're not getting away if he gets one of his moods. He's a strong one." Nabiki gave both of them a small wave. "Have fun you two, don't be out so late."
"I thought you wanted me to rest?" But that comment seemed to fall on deaf ears. Akane gave a small shriek as Ranma sped up his pace from a slow walk to almost a trot. "Arghh... Have you no sympathy? Nabiki! Ranma! I want to go home!"
Nabiki shook her head as she started to stand up, when she heard Ranma's yell. "You've been cooped up in that house long enough."
Nabiki shook her head again. She hadn't heard Ranma shout like that since... since the Fiancée wars. Seems like Kodachi was making Ranma feel like a child again.
Nabiki hummed as she continued to do her work.
"You dragged me all the way to the middle of the streets... to buy fish?" Akane asked, enraged. A few of the peasants in the market were already staring. It was late in the afternoon, so most of the good buys were already gone, but Ranma seemed at home with a small basket on his left hand and Akane on his right.
Ranma nodded. "Now what would you like for dinner?" then Ranma began ticking off names of fish as they walked by the fishermen's stall. Akane got the sudden urge to curl up and die again.
"I want this one..." Ranma pointed at the fishmonger and began haggling for the price. If Akane didn't know he had the money to spend, she would have thought that he was dirt poor. It was the first time she'd seen a man haggle over the price of a fish. And Ryoga usually left the shopping to her.
Watching them made Akane smile a bit, and then she remembered that having a stroll in the market isn't exactly one of her favorite pastimes. She was about to tug Ranma's arm in impatience when the lady smiled at her. "Ahh, it's a pleasure you've come to visit, my lady."
Akane didn't know how to react to the people, being who she was supposed to be and who she really was. Adding the fact that she hadn't been paying attention towards the conversation, she could only give a half smile in response. "It's a pleasure meeting you too."
The lady nodded as she began to salt the fish and wrap it in a thin piece of paper. She smiled gaily as she did her task. "You haven't been around lately, my lord. Lady Nabiki seems to be troubled as well. She had given two more coins than she should have." She handed the fish to Ranma with an expectant stare.
"Then you're lucky, you know how she is with money." Ranma smiled as he accepted his purchase then placed it in the basket. "She's a thrifty one, my sister."
"And you're not, Lord Ranma?" the woman asked in a jesting manner that told Akane that the banter had gone on before. She shook her head as she wiped her fingers with the damp cloth she had near the table. "You're just as bad as she is. The both of you are almost misers. Your servants give us higher income than you do."
"Aha!" Ranma exclaimed as he took some coins from a strung up holder, and even though he had put that much of a fight for the price, he hadn't even counted the coins he handed over. "I'm just here to cut down the cost that fish has been adding."
Akane didn't know what Ranma did when he left the house so late at night, but this probably was one of them. The people liked him, and he was proud of them. She remembered about the talk she had with Ranko about their childhood concluding that his haggling must have been a side-effect of his past. Then she shook her head as she remembered that Ranma and Ranko was the same person.
The girl smirked as she handed back three coins to Ranma. "You're getting worse than your sister, my lord." It was also widely known that samurai were not allowed to know the value of coins. Pride was dominant among samurai and they hated to be associated with the merchant, they considered it improper. However, it had been a useful to know the worth of money in the road and so Genma had taught them. As Akane has already found out, the Saotomes were different.
He looked offended, waving his basket in the air while miraculously keeping its contents inside. "What? Are you saying that I can't count? Shame." He took Akane's hand and bowed. "I'll see you sometime."
The woman nodded as she kept the extra coins and Akane managed to tug his sleeve when they left. He stopped to look at her with a questioning look. Akane gave him a sigh. "You gave her that money on purpose didn't you?"
He stopped to think about what to say and shrugged as he led her to another part of the market. "Not really, I'm not really supposed to count all of those coins or the other samurai would be appalled. Nabiki's bartering skills cut on their income but Nabiki enjoys it so most of the servants compensate. It's her little game. I sometimes do it."
They walked along the streets, buying vegetables of all things, and most of the servants went about their tasks. Akane concluded that Ranma and Nabiki regularly haggled on the streets for the people to feel at ease that their daimyo was doing something as common as shopping.
Akane hated to admit it, but she liked walking around the streets of Kamakura with Ranma. He took her around the city introducing her to people that Akane thought he would never get the chance to know.
He proved his knowledge of the city went beyond its defenses, beyond its economics, he knew how the people lived. He asked how they were doing, if one flower girl's mother was feeling better, or if one vendor's husband was back from the trip to this and that. Trivial things.
In return, he was given an extra bag of salt, a warm smile, and questions about both his mother and Nabiki. It was obvious that the people were fiercely loyal to their liege and they loved him dearly.
The main street, Wakamiya Oji, was a charming place, bustling with activity, even in the afternoon. The street had many quaint shops with right along with the small restaurants and food vendors, and Ranma expertly guided her around, pointing out things he expected her to like.
They even stopped at one of the shops she was particularly fascinated with, and Ranma let her look at the items sold in it. He never left her side, and at her fascination at the little trinkets, Ranma gave her a small explanation, "This is the specialty of our city. Kamakura-bori. It's an art that requires chiseling the wood and painting it. They put lacquer to finish." Most of the designs were red painted on black... they adored the figures of dragons the most.
Akane gushed over the small items. She took to a pin in the design of the lotus blossom the most. All Kodachi's things were bought from outside the city, as Ifuku told her, and it was the first time Akane had seen Kamakura's craftsmanship. She bought nothing, and although Ranma offered to buy the pin, she had declined.
"You're an uncommon lot, you and your sister," Akane observed as she clutched his arm for support, already feeling weak from walking around the city. "Not at all like what the history books tell me."
"History? There is no history in the muddy fields of Sagami or the little spats of liege lords." Ranma smiled as he turned in another bend to look over another shop. "There's no history when we try to hide behind it. Books are dangerous things."
"So they say..." Akane trailed a little, after all history did not seem like history when you lived it, then she stopped walking. Ranma almost stepped on her feet at the abruptness of her halt. "Look, it's obvious that you're trying hard to please me. It's not working, and I know you hate me... and the feeling's mutual. So why don't we go on our own way? Tell me how to get to Nerima."
He shook his head as walked towards the nearest stall, bringing her along with him. This time, it was filled with items for a young lady, fans, some pottery, all of them beautifully and painstakingly made. Ranma didn't turn to look at her, but his answer was clear, his resolve, complete. "No. Nerima is too far and the road too dangerous for a woman to go marching out there alone."
"Are you insinuating that I can't handle myself?" Akane accused as she stared at his face, while he was trying to avoid looking at her. "I'm a martial artist too, you know."
"One who's pretty sick at the moment because she hasn't been eating properly," Ranma shot back as he bent over to look at the things that were sold in the shop.
Seeing that he wasn't going to tell her what she wanted, Akane turned to the vendor and smiled. The vendor immediately gave her a bow, she tried to recall if the other merchants they had talked to had given Ranma a similar bow, but could not remember. "Do you know the way to Nerima?"
The girl smiled warmly. "Sure, my father and I usually go there every winter, to bring some of the goods." Ranma gave her one warning look and her attitude changed drastically. "But... I can't quite remember it without my father leading. It was snowing then, no landmarks at all."
Akane pinched Ranma's arm, which was still linked to hers. She smiled at his wince and told him in an accusing voice. "You did that on purpose!"
"What?!" He gave her an innocent look then turned back to the vendor. "Do you know what Lady Akane is talking about?"
The girl blushed prettily then shook her head as Ranma paid for his selection. Akane did not know what he bought although she noted he didn't even haggle this time. He hadn't even asked the price. She glared at him. "You play dirty."
He put the small package in the pocket of his Chinese pants, shook his head then headed for the path towards the house. He took a look at his basket and said, "I think we're done shopping for dinner, and here I hoped you'd get to know the colorful people in my city."
When they arrived home, Akane's first task had been to walk up to one of the samurai guarding the gates, put her hands on her hips and demanded her wishes in the most intimidating voice she knew of, "Tell me where Nerima is."
A moment later Ranma was by her side, pulling her towards the house. "Lady Kodachi is a bit confused. She wants to go to Nerima! At this time of the year! Don't you think it's a silly idea?"
The samurai gave Ranma a disoriented look then turned to Akane to address her questions, "Well, my lady, Nerima has a good atmosphere it has a lively town and--"
Ranma cut off what seemed like a long list of good things about his hometown. Deciding that the samurai needed a little bit of urging for things to go his way he said, "But not for a sick young thing like your Lady, don't you think? You just might get her lost."
"But I'm sure the weather would work won--" Another samurai elbowed him and as he coughed at the rather hard hit, the interfering samurai continued, "My lady, sorry for my friend's rambling here. He's seen Nerima once and he thinks it's Utopia."
When the other samurai started to speak again, the one who had interrupted stepped on his foot forcefully. "I'm sure that he's too dazed to remember the location of Nerima in his state."
Akane stared at the somewhat comical display in front of her. "I'm sure..." She turned to glare at Ranma again, who by this time was pulling her towards the house. "You're turning everyone against me."
Another innocent look and a few steps later, they could hear the samurai arguing in the background, "Are you dense or what? Lord Ranma obviously didn't want Lady Kodachi to know of Nerima."
"Well he should have been more obvious!" the samurai answered belligerently. Akane gave Ranma a meaningful look when they heard that, which Ranma promptly ignored.
"What could be more obvious than him jumping up and down behind Lady Kodachi waving his hands no?" the other samurai asked in disgust. "I know you're dim-witted, but this is way below that. Are you sure you passed that training trip?"
A vein popped at the side of Ranma's head and Akane noted it with mild interest. "You proclaim to the world you hate me, yet you don't want to let me go. You contradict yourself."
"Maybe you think too much," Ranma suggested. Sasuke was at the front door before he could land a foot in it. Just as always, he was the reliable doormat. Ranma nodded to him as he handed the purchases, and sensing that Akane was going to go into another round of questioning glared at him. "You don't know where Nerima is."
"Uh... Lord Ranma?" the ninja asked uncertainly then turned to Akane. Ranma wished he could bang his head a couple of more times on the wall. Sasuke was the most liable person in the whole house to tell what he had been trying to hide. He was loyal to Kodachi first before the Saotomes.
"Ranma is keeping me from going to Nerima." Akane managed a good mannered pout, a few well-placed blinks in the eye and a sniffle. Ranma groaned at the act. "I really want to go... and this big bully isn't letting me. But you'll accompany me, right?"
Before any affirmation came out of the ninja's lips Ranma took him by the collar and dragged him towards the kitchen. "Nope, he's not going with you either."
Akane threw up her hands in defeat and then shouted, "Fine!" She dragged herself up the stairs, but stopped as Nabiki blocked her way. "I don't suppose you know where Nerima is?"
Nabiki gave her an amused glance, tapped her chin, tilted her head sideways then gave her a smile. "Well, my dear, to go to Nerima you swim this bay towards Enoshima." Nabiki pointed graphically at one of the larger windows. "Then you take a boat with one of the fishermen to Nerima. Just tell them who you are and you'll get it for free."
Giving her a sideways look, Akane eyed the path Nabiki pointed. "You sure?"
"Of course I am!" Nabiki answered knowingly patting Akane on the shoulder, making her look like a young child. Akane wondered how much of the act was exaggerated. "Now go to your room, and freshen up a bit before dinner." As an afterthought, Nabiki added, "Do you know where my ungrateful brother is?"
"Back at the kitchen strangling Sasuke to death," Akane answered bitterly turning to do as Nabiki had suggested.
Nabiki raised an eyebrow then shrugged. Her brother was not stupid to kill someone inside the house, would not kill someone on their paycheck that wasn't a spy and would certainly leave no witnesses if the first two were broken. She skipped merrily into the kitchen then raised her eyebrow at Ranma tying Sasuke to the beams of the house. "Should I go tell Kodachi that you are strangling Sasuke?"
He didn't comment as he tied another rope around Sasuke's already bonded hands and sat down, exhausted, on the zabuton. "Don't start."
"What?" Nabiki couldn't help but be amused at her brother's bedraggled state. The way Sasuke was struggling did not help either. She tilted her head as she tried to find the right words, "I assume you're keeping Kodachi from Nerima?"
He gave her a pondering glance then nodded. "How did you --"
"Know? She just asked me." Nabiki flipped her hair then turned to Sasuke to order, "Sasuke, don't let your mistress go to Nerima."
Nabiki turned her head and clapped three times, a couple of maids arrived. "We don't really want Kodachi to go to Nerima, so I'm depending on all of you to keep her here. I want all seki in the vicinity to know of it, especially all of the boatmen. Plus, keep a watch on dear old Sasuke for me. He might be up to something."
After that was said, she waved her hands and the handful that appeared scurried to do what she had told. "It's more efficient than gift wrapping our little ninja... who's about to escape as soon as he gets his knife to get at that... tight spot between his arms." Nabiki flashed Sasuke a smile just as he dropped the knife that he had been holding.
"I'll set him free," Ranma groused, standing up again.
"Let him do it, he requires a little exercise." Nabiki smiled as she stretched the muscles of her arms. "So Kodachi wants to go to Nerima... Hmmm... This will provide me with some entertainment."
"Did you manage to kill Kodachi?" Ifuku asked when she sensed Omokage coming up from behind her.
"No." He managed to catch her against his arms as she swayed again. Deciding that the trees would be a batter place to be than the field below, he swung up one of the branches while lifting her up. "You're making a path you know."
"I wouldn't be making a path if I didn't have you to worry about," Ifuku retorted as she tore another one of her sleeves to stop bleeding from another part of her body. One thing was for certain, she needed practice in fighting.
"You didn't need to wait for me," Omokage told her carrying her to accommodate his tree-hopping then changing the angle of their movement ninety degrees away from the path Ifuku had been traveling. It would buy them some time, but not much. "I'm safe in Saotome territory."
"That's what you think," Ifuku muttered as she wiped her brow. She was already sweating coldly and she didn't know which wound the poison had seeped through. "Besides, I needed you."
Omokage stopped at a large tree and jumped up a few more branches before he rested her down a thick branch to take a look at her, leaning her against the main trunk for support. He straddled the branch then unsheathed his sword and began to cut through the peasant's garb she was wearing. "You're sure that's Lady Kodachi?"
"There's no mistaking that laugh, Omokage," Ifuku grumbled not protesting as he stripped away more of her clothing. His probing hands moved through all of the gashes she had sustained in the fight while trying to find the entry point of Kodachi's potion. "There's no mistaking the fighting style."
That was something he could understand. Kodachi's fighting style was extremely unique in composition. He also knew that he couldn't question the impossibility of the situation. Nothing in the Saotome household was normal. Everything had to be taken as they were presented. "You're not Ifuku."
"Did you kill the other woman?" Ifuku rasped out, ignoring the accusation in his voice. Her question was answered with a curt yes and Ifuku smiled a little. Kodachi would not know her target without a guide. "Why are there no other samurai this part of the land?" Ifuku said, wincing as he pressed a tender spot. He still hadn't found the poison's entrance. "You're supposed to be guarding these parts."
"This is in between Rose Brier and the border. Most of the men are on the border itself. We're supposed to be keeping people out. Not keeping the people in. We monitor some of the areas in between for suspicious movement like yours." He motioned towards the lands. "Usually no one guards this because the security at the border is enough."
"Some security." Ifuku winced as one of his fingers stabbed a bruise. She glared at what had been a deliberate jab. "I don't think that Tendo samurai came from within Saotome grounds."
The border security was a tender spot amongst the samurai guarding it. Especially since they still haven't solved the problems there and have recently been handed a burning Yokohama and Nerima central. "You were just lucky I was there."
"You weren't supposed to be there," Ifuku said forcefully, shoving his hands off of her. "You were following me."
He didn't give any indication otherwise. He took his sword again and opened a small wound in her chest. "I have to suck the poison out Ifuku."
Ifuku just glared at him. "You're enjoying this aren't you?"
"Would you rather I leave it?" he asked as he tore the endings of his shirt to make a large enough bandage for her chest. "I could always walk up and go. Tell the Saotomes why exactly you were so eager to have your husband tell them about the Tendos. You were hiding behind us all along."
"I was forced to hide. I don't think you're going to get any of the poison out anyway... this long, it could have gotten to my heart." Ifuku closed her eyes. It wasn't her preferred way to die. She had dreamed she was going to retake her land. She was never going to do that now.
"Drink this." Omokage gave her a flask and she poured it down her throat. Her face contorted to a mask of pain and she began to vomit. "How's that supposed to help when you're vomiting it all over the tree?"
"It doesn't help that it's repulsive," Ifuku spat out while taking a sniff of it then made a face. "Why do you carry this anyway? You expect to be poisoned?"
"Lady Nabiki always gives us antidote when Kodachi is around. It should keep you alive until we get you to the Saotomes," Omokage explained as he watched her force down another gulp without vomiting. "Lady Nabiki knows how to cure most of Kodachi's potions."
"No!" Ifuku disagreed immediately, thrusting the flask back to him. She tensed up as she tried to sit down. "I'm not going until I warn Sohin about that woman."
He pushed her down the branch again, and since Ifuku wasn't well enough to fight him his will won over. Her sitting position against the branches didn't prevent her from glaring at him though. Taking the flask from her hands he secured it against his belt then looked at her again. "You're Shori Tendo. I can't believe the three banes of Sanuki have been hiding in our lands."
"You've heard of that story?" Ifuku asked mildly amused. She had not been called that since she was five. There were stories that said they were vengeful at being sent away on a training trip. That they had run away because of it and to live they marked the soil unusable, that they had stolen the people's koku. That they had ordered these cruelties upon the people. It had ruined their names badly.
"It's a silly tale designed to water you out of your hiding place, no doubt." Omokage began administering to her wounds by trying to wipe the dried blood away and binding the large abrasions. "It was a failure."
"We were children, it almost worked. We never wanted to hurt those that we ruled, and they thought that we were the cause of their suffering. It was bad. The people were bled off their money, and the samurai took all in our name. It's no wonder they stick to Chisei." She shivered lightly. To people, it doesn't matter what hand fed them, as long as someone does. No matter how hard that hand was on them, as long as it stayed there. "They look up to her as their savior."
"We were very young. We barely lived crossing the islands." Ifuku sighed then tried to sit down again, remembering Sohin. "Please... don't take me to the Saotomes. Not until I speak to Sohin. He'll be an easy target. She's the exact replica of Akane Tendo."
"Why would Sohin be deceived? He had --"
"He and I were Akane's guardians," she explained hastily. Omokage did not get a chance to ask further questions since Ifuku vomited towards the grass below and promptly passed out.
Ranma stared at the shoreline and cursed as he found Akane rowing in what he could discern was a makeshift raft in the middle of Sagami bay. He was mildly thankful that Sagami didn't have strong waves when it wasn't raining because of Enoshima. Enoshima trapped the waves back and forth from the main island to itself creating almost still waters.
"Your wife sure can row fast," Nabiki commented after she whistled appreciatively at Akane with paddles on a kayak with measured strokes across the water. "Good thing the tide is lower during sunset or she'd probably have deep waters in store for her."
Nabiki and Ranma were not raised near the ocean, but it wasn't difficult to find time to be familiar with it being in an island where any body of water was always just a training trip away.
"I'll retrieve her," he said as he started pulling off his slippers and tossed them towards Nabiki removing his red shirt leaving the white sleeveless undershirt instead. "Get some warm water ready and tell the samurai to move back towards the house."
He had barked the orders because of Jusenkyo, and the samurai would retreat further into the woods for privacy but would not leave them alone. Not since both their daimyo and his wife could need their help. Important people were never left alone.
He didn't check to see if Nabiki had followed orders as he waded into the water and then dived in. He soon realized that the last remaining warmth had left with the sun, and it would soon be dark. He had to bring Akane back soon.
Ranma-chan resurfaced a few meters away from the shore and took several long strokes before she reached Akane. She pulled herself up and out of the water in one fluid motion and landed on top of the raft managing to rock it slightly and bring Akane's attention to her.
Akane sent her a disgruntled look then frowned. "Don't rock the boat."
"Hello to you too," Ranma-chan muttered as she squeezed water out of her pigtail. "Sun's down. It's going to be pitch black here in a while. Couldn't you have waited until tomorrow to do this?"
"I tried to make this thing for three days. I wasn't going to wait for tomorrow to get to Nerima," Akane answered as she put the makeshift paddle down. It has been four days since Nabiki gave Akane the false story about needing a raft to go to Nerima. Akane didn't waste much time when thinking of ways to get what she wanted.
Ranma looked at the bamboo and driftwood she had tied around each other conceded to the fact that even if it didn't look like it would sell in any of the stalls it really did float. She looked back at the shore where Nabiki had already set his orders in motion by sending samurai back towards the forest and had laid his slippers and shirt down well above the shoreline.
"During evenings, the waves move out towards sea rather than towards land," Ranma-chan explained as he looked at the deep cyan water. From experience, he knew the water reached over his head upright, even in male form, but there were no sudden drops since they were between islands, and the sand just leveled off. "It's going to be difficult to swim against the tide."
"Good for us then," Akane muttered as she assessed Ranma's appearance, and decided that she wouldn't try to bring her back against her will. "You wouldn't drag me towards shore."
"You idiot," Ranma insulted her as she gauged the length they'd have to swim to go back. It was already quite the distance. The shore was getting farther as the waves carried them away. "We're going to be stuck in the middle of Enoshima and Sagami for an entire night if we're lucky. Enoshima's waves isn't going towards land either. And if we're extremely unlucky we might get washed out to sea."
She made a small sound that meant the situation was finally sinking in before Ranma-chan sighed. "How strong a swimmer are you?" She shivered lightly as the cold winter breeze caught her. The water was rapidly cooling off and the sun had already disappeared. She cursed again at the entire thought that Akane decided to go rafting on such an inopportune time.
Akane shifted uncomfortably at the question. But Ranma took the oar from her. "Never mind, I have enough strength to paddle us back to shore."
As Akane was about to hand over the paddle before snatching it back again. "Wait a minute. Did you just call me an idiot?"
"Well what would you have me call you then?" Ranma asked indignantly as he wiped the salt water from his eyes. "I can't very well call you brilliant for this little escapade."
"Why you little --" She lunged for the oars, meaning to take them away.
"Akane you idiot!" Ranma screamed as his arms instinctively went around Akane's body in a tight embrace meant to protect her as the raft tilted precariously. "Don't --"
Akane elbowed the petite girl to free herself, managing to do exactly that before the two of them were forsaken by her raft and dropped into the bay.
It took Ranma-chan a few moments to break the surface again, swiping her fingers against her eyes to keep the salt from stinging before she could scan the surrounding waters.
Already dark, she could barely see her hand in front of her but she could hear Akane's wild thrashing over the water. "God, don't tell me you can't swim!" Ranma cursed as he took his bearings and swam towards Akane, half grateful that the girl was fighting enough against the water for her to be heard above the waves.
When Ranma drew close, Akane's immediate response was to grab on to him, pulling Ranma down with her when she went under. Ranma managed to break on the surface. "Akane don't --!"
As they went under again, Ranma hit Akane's hands, disengaging them from its grip as the drowning girl broke the surface for another gulp of air.
Clawing for the surface, Ranma stayed an arm's length away from Akane gulping deep breaths of air while murmuring in what she hoped was a soothing voice, "Akane, don't grab me again! We'll both drown!"
That increased Akane's thrashing more, and Akane now actively tried to lunge towards Ranma who evaded smoothly in increments towards the upturned raft. "Akane, I'm going to try to bring you to whatever you call that thing of yours, but you'll have to promise me not to fight me."
Ranma didn't know if Akane understood the words or not, but although she was still desperate to live with adrenaline boosting her energy, the cold water will get to them sooner.
They could try swimming against the current, but Ranma didn't know how long he'd last with Akane moving towards the shore, so he opted for the floating raft.
Diving under the cool waters, which didn't even have the small divisions of cold and lukewarm it had earlier in the afternoon, Ranma-chan resurfaced behind Akane and took hold of her arms again to prevent the girl from thrashing. "Please, Akane. Cooperate with me."
Finally, Akane stopped moving, if not understanding the words then the pleading tone Ranma-chan had implored in. Swimming on her side to keep Akane's head fully out of the water, Ranma was able to grasp the raft and helped Akane on to it.
For the second time that evening, Ranma-chan pulled herself out of the water. As soon as she did she lay down on the raft panting, having exhausted most of her energy and losing a lot of her body heat in the dip that they had just received.
Akane was coughing from all of the cold water she had just inhaled, but she was sitting over Ranma.
"Hey, hey," Ranma said weakly as the start of what seemed to be a fit of tears broke out from Akane. "We'll get to shore in the morning, maybe even as soon as I get my strength back. It's always possible that Nabiki will get suspicious of all the time we spent out here in the open and come and fetch us. We'll survive."
"I just wanted to get to Nerima so badly," Akane explained in a frenzied whisper. She touched her undershirt lightly playing with it. She did not voice the fact that she was more worried about him than the fact that they were stranded in the bay.
Ranma reached up to touch her face, rubbing the teardrop away. "Am I really that terrible to live with that you'd risk your life to get away from me?"
A shiver both from the cold and a tinge of longing escaped her, so she wasn't able to answer Ranma's question. Noticing, Ranma pulled her down. "Strip."
"What?" Akane asked a little indignant over the sudden order and a little bit shy over the circumstances that were presented to her.
Ranma closed his eyes against the exhaustion and murmured, "The clothes need to be dried and we need to share some body heat before we freeze to death."
Although Ranma's endurance was exceptional, swimming against the current to get to Akane, the cold water, Akane almost drowning him and dragging Akane back to her device took its toll on him.
He could probably manage a few more strokes, but he didn't trust himself to go towards the right path in the dark and didn't want to waste energy moving towards the wrong direction. So economy over blind bullheadedness won over and he let some of his fatigue show.
"Oh," Akane murmured, she battled with herself for a bit but the need to survive won over modesty as she took off the gi and laid them out towards the other side of the raft. Ranma was just thankful she wore a gi for this escapade instead of a kimono.
If she wore the traditional garment, she probably would have drowned by the time he reached her. That or be faced with the dilemma of ripping it out of her body before trying to haul her over the raft while she was fighting him because she was drowning..
She proceeded to do the same for Ranma as well before Ranma stilled her hands with his own. "Never mind my clothes. I'll get wet again if I swim us to shore." He pulled Akane down so that they were both beside each other on the narrow bamboo planks and whispered, "Let me get some sleep for a while. Hey, if you see a fisherman's boat, don't forget to wave."
"Are you joking?" Akane asked half incredulously. "You're conveniently forgetting the fact that I'm naked."
Ranma smiled on Akane's shoulder as he pressed the woman closer. "Well that'll sure catch their attention."
"You --"
Ranma silenced her by placing a finger across his lips. "Akane," He said with strained patience that he didn't have, with strength that he already expended. "I'm too tired to argue with you and I'm too weak to rescue the two of us. Fishermen gather their goods at night when the waves are moving towards the sea and go back to shore in the morning when the tides reverse. They're bound to be the first people to see us here."
"But, they're bound to notice that I don't have a stitch of clothing on!" Akane protested. "What are you going to do then?"
"Probably the same thing I'm going to do right now to cover you. You have got to be the most talkative woman this side of Japan," Ranma complained as he pulled Akane's head closer for a kiss, just to silence her before he claimed sleep.
All of those were the least of their worries because Kodachi stalked them in the night just as she stalked them in the day. Omokage was starting to wonder if the woman slept at all.
"We could have been in Rose Brier in five days." Omokage muttered as he carried Ifuku on the trail. "You would have been cured and we could warn Sohin later."
Ifuku's breathing came in rasps now... the temporary antidote the samurai carried only went so far, especially since the poison hadn't been sucked out of her. She gave him a weak glare. "You don't know him. You wouldn't know what loyalty to him would be."
"Don't lecture me about loyalty," Omokage told her as he jumped towards a tree, propping her up against the trunk. He looked around for signs that they were being followed, but found none. They managed a few moments of respite from Kodachi. "I am talking to you about idiocy."
"And don't you patronize me," Ifuku spat as she tried to get up, by now, she was experiencing high fever. Omokage marveled at her ability to fight him, when she was obviously sick. "The temple is nearer than Rose Brier. Kodachi would have followed us. Who would the Saotomes believe the snit of a peasant who lied to them or the ghost of Akane Tendo who they were looking for?"
"I don't know," indecision laced his voice as he watered down a piece of cloth and placed it against her forehead. "But we would have a fighting chance."
"I'm sick, Omokage-san." Ifuku gave a cough and a shiver. She was close to breaking. "What I don't understand is why you follow my orders when you could have taken me back."
"Sheer foolishness," Omokage muttered as he retied her hair in a ponytail that had been detangled during their flight. He fed her berries that he had found on the small woods and watched as she ate them halfheartedly. "We should reach the shrine by noon."
His words fell on deaf ears. Ifuku was already deep in the delirium her fever induced. She called for names that he couldn't understand and mumbled words he couldn't hear. Sohin sighed as he ripped another part of his sleeve noticing that he was losing bits of his clothes day by day.
He looked at her undecidedly. When she had made another whimpering sound, he gagged her efficiently. Something that he had not wanted to do, but was necessary for them to keep hidden from unwanted company especially this close to the border.
Perhaps it was foolishness that made him comply with her wishes, but in the first days, she was thoroughly annoyed and a pain to bring back to Rose Brier. She was still able to hold off a fight then, and fighting her was not an option, especially when Kodachi was so close. The following night, she pleaded for his cooperation, she knew she would never reach her destination without his help.
They could have been in her temple in a shorter time if she had been well and if he gave her less frequent rests. At least the monks there would know some cures... he hoped. Seeing that she was not about to break through the hazy cloud the fever has put upon her, Omokage took her in his arms again. His arms ached. He'd been carrying her for two days. It was a surprise she lasted so long against Kodachi's poison. Most women died instantly after the cold chills.
Omokage frowned as he tried to jump from tree to tree again. In an area patrolled too closely by samurai, leaving tracks in the grass was not an option. Tree-hopping wore him out. He was not trained for aerial maneuvers. It gave him trouble when he was alone, more so now when he had someone with him. It was the reason why he stuck to the ground until now.
Still, they didn't need to reach Kamakura's borders. Ifuku had confided that her destination was Tokeiji Temple... and although it was close to the city boundary... it was still inside the city. She said that around this time, Sohin would be there, guarding a boy and his foster mother. Just as when he was in Gokurakuji.
The boy?
Who was he?
A son?
A brother?
With the lies Ifuku had spun, he did not know what to expect.
Tokeiji Temple... he wondered what Sohin and Ifuku could want in such a... unique... haven. Tokeiji was known throughout Japan as one thing, a refuge. It was home to wives who were abused and offered one thing that, at least to Omokage's knowledge, no other temple did.
Tokeiji Temple offered divorce.
"Look at the shore." She said pointing towards one side of the dark night. Ranma craned his neck to find that the shoreline was already dotted with torchlight, a beacon, welcoming them home.
'What took you long Nabiki?" He thought as he scanned the area or any boats. 'Probably my orders to stay away.' Even with the help of the torches there were no search parties out to look for them.
As Ranma-chan stood Akane caught her hand. "You're freezing."
"I barely noticed." Ranma said as he stilled Akane's frantic hands against his own. "Come on, let's get rescued. I want a hot bath and a warm futon."
Akane nodded as Ranma dived towards the murky water, resurfacing near the raft and steering it towards home. "Akane, don't do anything like this again. I can't rescue you every day."
"Have you ever thought that I don't want to be rescued?" Akane asked indignantly, her voice somewhat muffled by her gi as she pulled it on.
"Sometimes I wish you'd just be thankful," Ranma said ruefully as she started paddling towards the torch-lit beach.
The short trip towards the shore was seemingly endless and was spent in silence. When Ranma touched the bottom of the lake, Akane jumped off to run towards the house.
Ranma-chan dropped by the kettle leaning against one of the torches and upended it against herself, invoking the change immediately. As soon as he snagged his slippers, he chased after Akane. "Promise me you won't do anything like this again."
There was a long pause before she nodded, then she tried to break away again, but Ranma's grip was firm. "Let me go," Akane demanded pulling her arm from his.
"As you wish, my lady." Ranma dropped his hands from hers and watched as she clambered towards the steps of Rose Brier and disappeared inside the house.
She fingered a wound that had been inflicted to her by the Tendo woman. There were also several bruises along her jaw, but it didn't matter. The whole purpose of this was to find the Tendos and get Chisei's men. She needed all the men she could get since her previous benefactor didn't know her change of face.
There had been a setback in Chisei's plan. No one in her ranks knew what the elder heir, Tendo Eruchii looked like. They were lucky in Akane and Shori because of the resemblance to their mothers, but Eruchii seemingly disappeared.
It was the reason why Shori had been their first target. It was the reason why Shori wasn't dead yet.
The temple gates loomed ahead of them, and Kodachi gave a small smile at the irony of their sanctuary. They had chosen to unite at a place that broke ties. Kodachi idly wondered if Shori was going to meet her brother here.
It didn't matter to her, she just needed to get Shori away from the samurai she had called Omokage, and the temple was the best place to do it. They arrived inside with little fuss, and the monks were all around them. Ifuku looked terribly sick.
In an instant, they were inside, women -- divorced women – wearing robes of white took Ifuku one way, and the monks took Omokage the other way. 'Perfect.' Kodachi thought, she took note of her disheveled appearance, but decided that it was going to get their sympathy.
She sauntered towards the entrance, as if her tattered clothes were robes fit for the empress. "Boys," she called out holding a vial of clear liquid in front of them. She hated working with monks. They simply had no exploitable libido. "I think I have something that you would want."
She scowled at their non-response. Straight to the point then, "There was a girl sick with poison... I can cure her. Where is she?"
The monks eyed her wearily and a woman stepped out of the temple. "She's with her husband. I'll take you to her."
That was a surprise. She did not know her maid had a husband. Then again, she didn't know her maid was samurai either. She put on a docile manner as she fell a step behind the woman, removing her shoes for their benefit she used her most pleasing tone of voice, "Lead the way."
Sohin ran to Ifuku's side the instant that he knew she had been brought in. The little boy that accompanied him looked at them, staring. He gave the boy a small smile. "Yuki-dono, would you mind if you talk to the monks for a while? Look for your foster mother, the monks will explain everything to her." The boy nodded, he was obedient, and quiet. Sohin wondered how long he was going to be able to protect him.
He didn't want anything to happen to the boy and had instructed the monks what they should do incase something should happen to him. He hoped things would never come to that.
The monks left as well, sensing that he needed time alone with Ifuku. The moment they had been left alone, Sohin raised his hand to her face his calm exterior broken. She was sweating, and she looked like she was suffering. The monks had bathed her, changed her clothes, looked at her sickness but could do no more for her. "Why did you come to me, Ifuku?"
At his voice, she broke out of her daze, she stared at him uncomprehending for a moment then as if realizing who she was talking to clutch his collar and brought him close to whisper, "... she's possessed..."
Whatever she said before or after made no sense to him. The fact remained that she was safer at the Saotomes than she was out in the open looking for Sohin. She shouldn't have gone out. Now someone has attacked her. They were in danger... even in sanctuary.
"Don't worry about it," Sohin tried to soothe her in mild tones as he squeezed her hands in comfort, wishing that he could end the torment she felt, but could do nothing but watch as she lay in front of him in slow agony.
There was no hope for her.
She shook her head violently at his words. "No, no, no..."
"Stay with me," Sohin pleaded holding her hands tightly. "Stay with me."
"Sister, I have just what you need." Sohin took a deep breath at the sound of the voice then turned around to stare at a face he had not expected to see. She pulled her hand up to her face and touched it. "Do you like it?"
"Akane?" he asked, unsure if he was dreaming.
She was standing inches in front of him. He had not heard the door open or close in his concern for Ifuku.
The voice.
The empty grave.
Chisei had not dug her out after all. She was alive. Yet Sohin felt uneasy at her presence. There was a sense of wrongness at the way she moved. She was dressed in clothes that were tattered. She had fought recently and Sohin concluded that Ifuku had been there. Whether she had fought beside or against the new comer, he didn't know.
There was a long bleeding cut on her shoulder and bruises that were already turning purple marred her face. Her hair was sticky with sweat, blood and the dirt of travel. She looked no worse, and yet no better the last time he had seen her. She tugged on her bluish-black her, her trademark, for no one else he knew had the same hue as she had. "You look ... well."
"For someone who's been left to die, you mean?" She gave a bitter laugh, touching the wound at her shoulder that had been freshly made. She wiped it off its blood and licked her thumb. Sohin repressed a shudder, she seemed to enjoy it.
"I have the antidote for her." She pulled the vial out of what was left of her clothes, brandishing it with lavishness. He suddenly realized that she was the one who inflicted the poison on Ifuku. "I shall administer it to her if she becomes my prisoner."
"We didn't mean to leave you. We thought you were dead. Shori didn't mean to strike you..." Sohin whispered as he stood up, trying to make her see of a battle long past. "No... It was raining, the visibility was poor. Chisei's guards had managed to find us."
She gave a laugh. "A pitiful excuse. The monks tell me she's with her husband." She gave him an appraising eye then shrugged. "How does it feel, peasant, to be married to an heir of a samurai?"
Sohin frowned at her words instantly knowing that she was not Akane Tendo. Still unwilling to believe that someone could look so much like his charge and not be her he spoke once more to confirm her identity, "Shori didn't mean to strike you with her kodachi, Akane... please believe me." He gripped Ifuku's hands tighter.
There was a small sadistic smile on her face as her hand splayed on her stomach. "I'm sure she didn't." She shook the antidote in front of him. "Well, I lose my patience. I want Shori in my hands, and I want our brother too. You give them to me and I'll spare her."
So that was the reason she was here, a trade off. Sohin's eyes narrowed as he eyed the woman critically, knowing that she was not the person whom Ifuku had managed to strike some months ago. "What makes you think I know where her brother is?"
"Why indeed? Maybe because she headed straight for you when she found out I was alive and hunting the Tendo heirs?" She shook the bottle again for emphasis. When he lunged for it she snatched it quickly, putting it back in her tattered robes. "No, no, that would never do. Are you going to give her to me or not? You test my patience. You live solely because you know who her brother is."
"No," Sohin denied as he jumped back, taking Ifuku in his arms, recalling the frantic words she whispered earlier and realizing what she had been trying to say. "You're not Akane. Who are you and what do you want with the Tendos?"
She gave another laugh and shook her head. "It doesn't matter. I don't need to be Akane Tendo when I hold the cure to your pathetic wife. Are you willing to sacrifice the life of your wife for the life of your mere brother-in-law?"
He wavered. He looked at Ifuku and laid her back to the bed again. He brushed the strands of hair away from her face reverently, a motion borne of years of intimacy. Sohin didn't look at his adversary his entire attention on Ifuku but slowly said, "Give her the antidote and I'll tell you where her brother is."
"Tell me, and I'll give it to her." The woman who looked like Akane drove a heavy bargain. She pulled her hand out again, offering her hand to him in welcome, in allegiance. "I give you my word that I will cure her as soon as I get them both under my care."
"And then what? Have them killed?" Sohin pushed for time, yet knew that no one would dare defy her. Not when she held the cure for Ifuku's malady. The only cure.
"I just give them to Chisei." Apparently, the woman did not care for what happened to them.
Sohin's head snapped towards the door as it opened slowly and Omokage stepped in. He was garbed in clothing the monks supplied for him earlier and looked at Kodachi, at Sohin and then at Ifuku. "I know where Ifuku's brother is."
Sohin opened his mouth in disbelief and then shut it. "You fool. Don't trade --"
"Don't move, both of you, or I will break her antidote." Sohin and Omokage didn't want to find out if she was bluffing. "How come you know where he is?" the woman asked, a bit curious at his sudden appearance, remembering that he had fought with Ifuku at the fields. "You ran towards him." She punctuated her point by inclining her head towards Sohin. "It means you don't know where her brother is either."
"He's her husband, why shouldn't she go to him? We went to him because he's in the closest structure of healing." He gave her a smile.
A skeptical look passed over the woman, wondering if he would give her what she wanted just because of Ifuku. "You're sure where he is?"
"Of course I am." He looked at Sohin who, by now, was looking at him intensely, wondering what he was about to reveal. It was obvious that Kodachi was growing impatient so Omokage gave her his best smile and the information she was seeking, "After all, I am Ifuku's brother."
"My companion didn't point at you." She was on her guard, testing him, wondering if he was lying. "How could you be her brother?"
"How could I not be?" he answered smoothly. "I was with her. I protected her. I killed your companion before she could pinpoint me. Are you even sure if she saw me?"
Sohin didn't know if he should thank Omokage or kill him.
Kodachi started to laugh.
From the fight patterns littering the area, there were no more than five combatants. From the apparent moves used, it was possible that one of them was from their own ranks. One of them has the distinct pattern of Kodachi's style and two unknown. One of the unknown people was dead on their doorstep.
"Sift through all the people find out who's been missing at the time it happened. Everyone," Ranma ordered as he looked over the dead body. "It could be a spy."
"Hmmm... already did that. Although the time of the battle could not be determined, the woman's death would clarify some matters." Nabiki trained most of the samurai to learn the fighting patterns of a foe from the battle ground. She found use in it, especially if the attackers were unknown. "The border troubles are clearing up..."
"I sense closure."
"I sense commencement." Nabiki shook her head in disagreement. "Enemies mobilizing have never been good, especially not one so abrupt."
"Maybe they tire."
"Maybe they need reinforcements." Nabiki snorted, she glanced up at their samurai escort and waved them to give them a little privacy. All of them bowed and took respective posts around the Saotomes, far enough not to hear their conversation yet close enough to be of help when the need arose. Nabiki tilted her head in thought, something that has become a habit as of late, and then shook it.
Reaching for the map she brought along, she knelt opposite of Ranma to lay down the well-drawn map of the entire Sagami. Nabiki picked up small stones from around her and littered them on the border. She placed two on Rose Brier, one on the mountains and a couple around the towns.
Ranma looked at the stones that represented friend as well as foe. "If they move, then we don't need to put so much guard on the borders."
"Maybe that's what they want us to think," Nabiki said thoughtfully. She placed five stones on the site where she suspected the battle to have gone and used a short broken reed to represent the dead woman. "The border mysteriously cleared up when these showed up."
"Are they connected?"
"I wouldn't know." Nabiki rubbed her thumb against the leaf thoughtfully looking at the dead woman just meters from where they were. She was killed with three identical blows to her chest, horizontal slash marks from her side which were as wide as she was. "The first blow appeared right below the collarbone, the next across the breasts and then just below them. The precision is exquisite."
"A sword?" Ranma murmured. The wounds were not jagged telling them of the quality and the care of the blade.
"A sword acting as three..." Nabiki muttered trying to bring forth something from memory and discarding it when she couldn't call it forth. "Her hands had identical marks. Her opponent failed the first time, she raised her hands to block. Got her on the second."
"Why would someone do the exact same attack right after it failed?" Ranma shook his head. "It doesn't make any sense."
"That's because you do everything uniquely whereas we mortals rely only on redundant and scanty tricks in our arsenal." Nabiki gave him an appraising look. "I don't suppose the attack reminds you of anything?"
"Some," Ranma muttered. There was no law in trying to create a new move so this could be something that he has not seen yet. "But if it was precise... then it was done simultaneously or maybe one after the other. If it was done like that, he could have slashed her from the side... It sounds like the guy was testing his sword. First blow was tai-tai. Next was chiwari. Finished it off with suritsuke. The blows are horizontal but from the way she's bruising on the left side, I'd say the opponent is right handed. Powerful."
Although Nabiki could do all sixteen moves, three of them at once meant that they were dealing with a moderately skilled samurai. But the way he had not cut through made it clear that he was not testing his sword, and was just aiming for severe cuts, and the choice of cuts were ironic. Tai-tai, 'very big', chiwari 'splitting the breast', suritsuke, 'rubbing in'.
"That's it." Ranma snapped his fingers. "It's 'Walking Across the Twelve Arced Bridge'."
Nabiki nodded, berating herself for not recognizing the move sooner. The Bridge referred to the human rib cage which consisted of twenty-four ribs. Twelve on each side. "If I'm not mistaken you perfected that move."
"I took if from Bloody Rose or something." Ranma gave her a smile. There was no mistaking the name. Now one else could have come up with something that singly screamed roses. "That was Kodachi's move."
"I thought it was Tatewaki's." Nabiki shrugged, not really knowing what they have accomplished through divining the move. Still, something was better than nothing. "That means he's faster than most. Could be faster than me. Controlled, very controlled... and accurate."
"Match up those and we can probably get a who." Ranma ran a hand through his hair. "From there we could get why, and from there, the connection to the border."
"That dead woman looks like a samurai. Yet she seems far from home, the southern lands." Nabiki didn't like unanswered questions but the answers to her questions lay to more questions that could not be answered. "But why would she go all the way from there to here."
"An alliance? Looking for something? Killing someone?" Ranma shook his head. "Too many possibilities. The best shot we have is to look for our guy and ask the right questions."
A dead woman in the middle of Sagami should be investigated soon and dealt with accordingly. Especially one whose death was unknown and whose enemies are unseen. Had it been an assassination attempt on someone important or had she been a ninja attacking, it would not have raised the twin's attention so much.
"What about the one who fought like Kodachi?" Ranma asked.
Nabiki frowned. "No leads there. Kodachi was stuck in the main house all three weeks... and this death is fresh... maybe a day or two. Besides, in her condition, she wouldn't have been able to fight one of ours."
"No..." Ranma looked at Nabiki, a thoughtful expression coming onto his face. "We've seen her fight recently... Kodachi's fighting style isn't exactly her fighting style anymore. She's adapted Anything Goes, remember? And there are no traces of her style in it anywhere."
"A copy cat?" Nabiki snorted, they found roses, black ones, littering the entire diameter of the fighting area. Most of them were soaked through with her poison, and Kodachi's roses and potions are one hell of a task to imitate. Not to mention the difficulty of finding and breeding black roses. "Highly doubtful. Maybe Kodachi taught her style to someone before she had amnesia."
"Kodachi learned by herself. She was so possessive of the style that she would never have taught anyone else." Ranma remembered the roses outside the main house and wondered what reaction Kodachi would get if he ordered them cut. "Is there something exclusive to the black rose that I don't know about?"
"It has a toxin..." Nabiki turned to pick up one of the petals that were soaked with poison. Both of them ignored Kodachi's dabble in potions because Cologne taught them well enough to counter it.
That and the fact that the more they thwarted Kodachi, the harder it was to pinpoint what she was doing. "It's really harmless by itself, but she mixes it with a certain liquid. It becomes fatal. You'd be dead in an hour if you didn't know what to do."
"Maybe Kodachi's just pretending to not know her style..." Ranma murmured in thought but found that doubtful. There are some things that you cannot unlearn and fighting was one of them. Fighting was ingrained to the bone, to the mind, so that you could come up with a counter attack in an instant. To consciously alter the basis of what you've begun takes a while. Kodachi hasn't had that while. It could also mean death if faced with a skilled opponent and their samurai certainly showed skill.
"Maybe she was just trying to mislead us." Nabiki frowned, it was highly unlikely. You can't reprogram your body for fighting in one style and the next week change the basics completely. It just wasn't done.
"Mislead us? Then choose Anything Goes?" Ranma shook his head. "That's not a very good choice and we should still have seen traces of her old style left in her. When I fought her, it was completely new. It was like fighting a different person."
Nabiki shook her head. She had no more answers to give.
"I thought I said we should finish this quietly," Ranma muttered, "In a few weeks Happosai is going to fry us for this one."
"You said quickly. There was nothing said about being quiet," Nabiki answered as she arranged the map rolling it thinly so it wouldn't get crumpled. "I'll find out who that Saotome samurai is."
"Hopefully that will end the border problems," Ranma said as he helped her arrange the mess that they had created.
"Hopefully," Nabiki echoed as she stared at the broken reed that had represented the dead woman.
"I ran up to Ryu during the inauguration, Nabiki." Nabiki grimaced at the name while she stood up taking one final look at the mess, but Ranma was watching her carefully. "He offered me to convince you to marry him again."
On occasions that called for it she acted like Ranma's wife, or husband depending on the temperature of the water. They always let each other go their way if deemed necessary. Her grimace twisted to full blown distaste. "My answer is still no." It had been a long time since someone had asked Ranma to get their hands on her. Years ago, it had been common occurrence. Ryu should have known better than to ask when she just talked to him.
Ranma took the papers that Nabiki was holding and bound them together. "He seems to think I'm keeping you here, Nabiki. Am I?" When he brought her back from her husband, he never forbade her to go out. Happosai ordered that she remain within the confines of Sagami but Sagami was a large place. She had rights to the land just as he did. She could rebuild her life.
"No." It was obvious the subject was distressing her. Although she liked to work out Ranma's fiancées, she did not want to talk about hers. "I don't want to leave, Ranma. My son is here. Hanae is here... I have so much work to do..."
Ranma frowned keeping the map and then resting his hand lightly on her shoulder. "That's exactly what I'm talking about, Nabiki. I'm beginning to understand why Ryu talks the way he does about you. You don't have to 'work' here. You can take your son, get married and have a decent life. You don't have to take care of me."
Nabiki withdrew from him. "I don't need you to tell me what to do, Ranma!" she snapped, regretting it instantly. It was the first fight they had since they were children, and she wanted to end it as fast as she could. "I like it here. I like teaching Hanae and Sei. I like taking care of Rose Brier. I like straightening the mess of this town."
"I know you feel like you're indebted to me because of Happosai -- but..."
Nabiki whirled around to face him. "You don't get it do you? I don't want to have my own life. I've had five years of it and I'm sick of it. I don't like having a husband. I don't like having some other liege lord who I have to bow and scrape to. I don't like hiding my curse at every waking moment. I'm content here in the middle of Saotome territory."
One of the things that Ranma dreaded were verbal spats and though their little fights were less than witty, Nabiki always manages to win. "Look, I'm just trying to look out for you."
"I know... and that's what I'm doing too." Nabiki threw up her hands. "Look what getting us separated brought us. I have a husband who'll believe anything and you have a wife who'll destroy everything. Husbands are trouble. Now lay off on trying to marry me."
"Husbands are trouble," Ranma mimicked in the exact tone Nabiki used, Nabiki gave him a halfhearted swipe which he had evaded neatly. "This coming from a person who seems so interested in Ifuku's."
Nabiki's smile immediately turned to a frown giving Ranma a warning glare. "Lay off, Ranma. I won't have you matchmaking me to every man that walks into our doorway." It was a surprise that the topic was the sole thing that managed to drive her to hysterics. This was the closest Ranma had seen Nabiki to hysterical anyway.
She felt weightless, and she knew she was going to impact with the ground at any second when strong arms circled her before she fell. She opened her eyes with difficulty and managed to give him a weak smile. "We made it to the temple?"
"Sad isn't it? The temple couldn't protect you and your brother." Ifuku shuddered at the voice. It was an uncanny experience to listen to the voice of your dead sister with another woman's intonation.
She tried to push Sohin away but he held her tightly. "Don't move, Ifuku. You're very weak right now." He was right, she hardly saw beyond shapes, and even that was blurred. Finally, she fell back into Sohin's arms.
There was a flutter of things being thrown at them by someone from the door. All she could make out were the browns and the light filtering through. "Use these for your beddings. I wouldn't want the precious Tendo heirs to die." She gave another one of her annoying laughs. Speaking to the guard in a low voice that still carried in the enclosed area she ordered, "Don't give them anything hot. Especially water."
With those words, she pulled the door shut with a loud bang.
Ifuku pulled herself up with much protest and shielded her eyes. Kodachi had at least given them a small lantern to pass the night. She propped herself up on the wall with Sohin helping her up. "Hot water?"
At her question a small purple cat, from the back of the room moved forward, jumping away from all the other cats in the area.
"Seems like our captor has a fondness for cats," Sohin quipped as he took one of the rags that Kodachi threw into the room and swabbed it with water. As Kodachi promised, she gave Ifuku the treatment she needed. They wondered how long she would continue to do so.
"No. She doesn't."
Ifuku turned around to see who the voice belonged to and groaned when she realized who it was. She found Omokage standing by the doorway leaning on it, with a small frown on his face. She had hoped that at least, Omokage had not been taken along with them. "Unfortunately Sohin, Omokage is right," her words were controlled and soft.
Omokage answered the question that had been left in the air. "Lord Ranma and Lady Nabiki are deathly afraid of cats."
Ifuku nodded in affirmation pushing away the wet towel Sohin was placing on her head. "She also said not to get hot water on the kitten for a reason." She crooked her finger at the purple cat, which then jumped towards her. Ifuku's hand stroked its back.
Sohin looked at the animal and cocked his head to the side. "For it not to get mad?" he asked uncertainly.
Ifuku smiled, the two men noticed that the cat didn't purr to her administrations unlike normal kittens do. "Little cat, do you know of Jusenkyo?" The cat meowed in confirmation, while the two men marveled at its intelligence.
"Our problem of getting out is almost solved," Ifuku whispered confidently stroking the cat's hair affectionately. "Now, my lady, I wonder who you might be?" The cat shrank at her touch and Ifuku nodded. "Omokage, keep her away from Kodachi's sight."
"Kodachi?" Sohin asked, wonderingly. Ifuku patted his hand weakly.
"Kodachi, the mistress of the Saotome household, has gotten herself a new face..." Ifuku murmured as she took hold of Sohin's gaze. "We're in dire trouble."
Kuno had been looking out of the window in a thoughtful manner when she was brought in. He nodded at the maid to go and Nabiki's own maid, who she had brought to show her authority as Lady of Sagami, Nabiki dismissed. There were no other samurai inside the room with him.
"What gives me the pleasure of Lady Nabiki finally coming to notice my existence in her gracious city?" he asked and Nabiki couldn't identify if the tone she heard was resentment or sarcasm. She had forgotten his presence because of the recent turn of events, and he has been in Kamakura for more than a month.
Nabiki sat complacently at the zabuton, arranging her kimono around herself. She wore it instead of the usual Chinese get-up with the same reason in mind when she decided to bring her maid: she wanted to show him her authority. "You wound me. I'd come because of concern for your sister."
There was a pause as he thought about the words, then shook his head. "You said she was fine. Her injuries with the horse were minor. I do not find any need to see her."
"You're her brother," Nabiki quipped, placing her hands complacently on her lap. At that moment, Nabiki looked more of a doll that wished to please more than anything else. It amused Kuno that she would go to so much trouble for a woman that she didn't even like. "Don't you care?"
"Of course I do," Kuno answered he gave her a wary look that told her he didn't trust her. "We've grown apart, my sister and I. Not everyone in Japan shares the same sentiment you and your brother hold for each other." There was another moment of weighted silence while Kuno looked at her sideways. "You are not doing this because you fear she might die and you will shortly follow, are you?"
Nabiki slammed the palm of her hand against the tatami. "I do not fear my death, Kuno. I fear that if she does she will take my brother along with her." She shook her head, not looking at him. "I'm not a fool. If she dies naturally I don't need to be killed by a Kuno sword. Read her contract from time to time."
"You depend too much on your brother, Lady Saotome." Kuno shook his head with obvious dislike for Ranma. "I sense you'd do anything for him."
"Maybe I would," Nabiki answered guardedly. "Now... are you going to see your sister or not?"
He thought about her demand. "What are you willing to give, Lady Nabiki, in exchange for fulfillment of your request?"
Nabiki regarded him for a while, knowing that she should have expected his demands. She bled Kuno dry in their younger days. She has always found it pleasurable to manipulate him. He would take pleasure in paying her back. She bowed her head. "What do you want?"
He stood up then sat across her, leaving his two swords by the window, cupping her face so that she would look at him eye to eye. "Let us talk, Nabiki."
Nabiki pulled her face away from his solid fingers. "Do not insult me again by touching my face, Kuno." He dropped his outstretched hand, resigned at her anger, and then raised his eyebrow. When Nabiki was sure he wasn't going to do it again she continued, "We're already talking Lord Kuno."
Shaking his head Kuno stood up and took his two swords. Nabiki watched him closely. He did not turn to look at her again, but spoke, "I heard that your fiancé has left town."
Nabiki kept her emotions in check when she answered, "He'll be back to marry me." Nabiki had not known what possessed her to say the words since there was very little chance for a reunion with Sohin.
"You are sure of this?" Kuno asked almost sounding worried for her sake.
Nabiki just continued to stare at her hands, she accepted the fact that she was going to dance at Kuno's wedding night, but he would not wangle a confession out of her prematurely. Her pride kept her from saying that much. "Yes."
"And you are sure of this because he loves you?" Kuno asked quietly.
"I don't see what business it is of yours." Nabiki's eyes were defiant when she answered. She may have come in the Dragon's Chamber's for Akane's sake, but she would not allow to be questioned in the manner that he was doing. "I don't see you married. You're a month overdue."
"My beloved has been struck with indecision," Kuno answered after a while. Nabiki suppressed a small smile at the irony of Kuno marrying someone who was afflicted with his own weakness. "I am not sure if she loves me."
Nabiki shifted uncomfortably, not knowing why Kuno was telling her of his betrothal problems. She was sure that he would not have told her if he had not heard of Sohin's departure. "Well, do you love her, Lord Kuno?"
"I do," he said the words without thought.
Nabiki wanted to believe the response as the truth but knew that he believed in his own truths and made them up to suit his needs. She probed lightly at his determination, "Much more than your pigtailed goddess?"
There was a pause, but while Nabiki knew he was going to disappoint her, he answered her in an earnest voice, "The pigtailed goddess is a dream. Someone unattainable. I admire her, but I do not love her. In the waking moments, I chase her just to get father to believe me. My father is already looking at a prospective wife... and given me the ultimatum to find someone to marry." There was a pause, another sigh. "The pigtailed goddess was a scapegoat. An escape from reality. I want my..."
He used Ranma-chan much like the way she used Sohin, at least he was straightforward about it. "We are too much alike, Kuno-san," Nabiki whispered, too low for him to hear, but she had let it out anyway. "Don't give up on this other girl. Besides I'm sure the pigtailed girl would be happy to see you devote your attentions to someone else."
"I imagine she loves another." Kuno shook his head, still referring to his mystery woman. Nabiki wondered idly what Ranma would think of that when Kuno turned to look at her. "Would I break such love?"
"In the end, it's up to her to chose if you should break it," Nabiki answered standing up, not wanting to intrude on his time anymore. "I'm sorry to disturb you in your... ponderings, Lord Kuno."
She began to bow when he turned around to address her, "No. It is all right. I shall see my sister."
Nabiki didn't think that her efforts would yield success, but concealed her surprise. "I will arrange for a meeting where no watching eyes can pry."
He smiled at her, it was a sad one. "Yes, I would like that, Nabiki."
Escorting Kuno across the town towards Rose Brier was not an unusual occurrence in Kamakura. When they were younger, it fell on Nabiki's shoulders to entertain visiting samurai. When Ranma had married Kodachi, his trips didn't frequent, but they were not unheard of. After all, he knew that his pigtailed goddess was in this particular Saotome stronghold.
Knowing that she shouldn't let a visit like that pass without her or Ranma listening in on the conversation, she had already resolved on a plan of action earlier on.
As soon as they entered Rose Brier, she bowed to Kuno and handed him over to a samurai who already had instructions to bring Kuno up Akane's room. After Kuno was safely away and his samurai cleanly dispatched in front of the doors of his sister's room, Nabiki managed to find Ranma. She ushered him into Ifuku's room, which was conveniently alongside Akane's own. They evaded the samurai standing watch by using one of the other corridors.
One thing that made Nabiki absolutely adore the shoji that separated the rooms was the perfect acoustics. With little effort and stealth on both their parts, they could hear exactly what was being talked about in the adjacent chamber without being spotted.
However, Ranma wouldn't outright agree to spy on his own wife's family conversation. Coercing him to do so required a glib lie, "I rearranged the rooms last night." In times of need, rooms were shuffled easily by moving around the shoji. It was easily done and ritually arranged if the liege was a suspicious lot fearing his own death at every turn.
She hadn't executed any such order, but Ranma wouldn't outright doubt her word on it. "And I forgot where I placed that godammned map you were carrying around. Help me look for it here will you? Just don't make a sound. I wouldn't want to disturb Akane in the next room, she has a visitor. Think of it as a training exercise."
"Geesh, you think of training ideas cookier than pops!" Ranma muttered as he got down on his hands and knees opening the small alcoves where Nabiki could have misplaced the small paper.
"Right..." Nabiki deadpanned, raising her eyebrow at his choice of words. Sometimes his vocabulary slipped back to the times before they were daimyo but she had to wonder where he picked up the words like -- cookier. Their parents would have an apoplexy. "Like you weren't the one who enlisted children to stone us to death, while we were running on a river, with rabid dogs chasing us just so that we could be faster."
"We were younger," Ranma protested, as if that meant anything to her. "We're supposed to be wiser now."
"Ahem." Nabiki cleared her throat. "Point one, that incident with the children was last month. Point two, you never learn. "
Ranma held up his hand when he heard the familiar lilt of the voice in the other room. "You didn't lose the map did you?" he accused, lowering his voice another notch as Nabiki inched closer to the shoji to press her ear on it shamelessly.
She shot him her most innocent smile, she didn't even pretend to look for the paper as she said in a low voice, "I just wanted your opinion about your wife's visitor. Is that so bad?"
-
When her maid announced a visitor, Akane took a deep calming breath, trying to imagine how she was going to act. She stood up from writing her letters to take a good look at him when he entered her room. He was tall, stately, and didn't look so bad on the eyes. He carried a katana on his shoulder, boastful of his high standing as a samurai. Even his blue hakama seemed tailored for the trip alone.
"Come in." Akane smiled as she led her first guest towards one of the small zabutons in her room that she hardly used. "I hope you like my room."
He looked surprised to see it and took a second look around the room noting the difference from when he last visited her. "I never knew you liked pastels, Kodachi." He nodded, seemingly approving of her choice.
Akane was a little self conscious on how she should act as hostess of the house. She had never been one, for Kasumi obliged all visitors with her warm smile and pleasing manner. Now, she was forced in the role with the feudal time's rigid formality. "Oh, they're all very cheerful. I like yellow. It soothes my eyes. Please call me, Akane."
At that, he gave an uncertain look. Reluctant, and somewhat curious at her choice he repeated the name, "Akane?" He heard the name pass through his lips and frowned in disapproval. "Why choose a name for yourself when you know it was Nabiki's child?"
"It's my name." Then remembering that he was a guest, she withdrew her tongue quickly. She didn't want to fail on the first 'diplomatic' task Nabiki gave her, and not so soon after all her other attempts at trying to be a wife. "No one has forbidden me against it."
He gave a suffering sigh. "No one will." He put the sword down against
his side and took a good look at her. "I'm your brother and yet you confuse me. You take no other's standards but your own."
"Brother?" Akane repeated, Nabiki had not warned her. But then, she should have expected that she wouldn't have been warned. She looked at his features, trying to etch it to her mind and noticed their resemblance. "I've sent you letters."
"Oh?" He looked genuinely surprised. At least she knew that he wasn't actively avoiding her even if Tatewaki and Kodachi did not have the best relationship in the world. Although they were siblings, they regarded each other aloofly and when forced to showed tolerance towards each other because of rigid rules. "I traveled. I was in Yokohama, I have been in Kamakura for a while."
"Oh..." Akane's voice dropped then remembered something he said. Curiosity won over. Knowing that she would never find out on her own, she asked, "Do you know how Nabiki's child died?"
Kuno gave her another uncertain look. "They say you have amnesia?"
Akane frowned, not knowing who would believe her if her own brother doubted her own words. She nodded in answer, and he paused for a moment wondering how he would tell her. "Very well... I shall tell you."
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