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