Greetings, folks!

Here is the *second* side story for Relatively Absent (the first
one is still being written). Both side stories are by guest authors.

This is a Ranma crossover fanfic, so it's time for the
Standard Fanfic Disclaimer.
------------------------------------------------------------
All previously existing characters taken from anime series
and used in fan fiction stories are owned solely by their
respective copyright and trademark holders. I don't own them
and I don't make any claim to them. Original characters are
owned by myself and I reserve all rights to their use.
------------------------------------------------------------

The HTML version of the story along with previous chapter(s) can be found at:

           http://www.sfcmd.com/fanfic/relabs

The web site is commercial and banner free.

Gaijin Productions presents:
=============================================================
RELATIVELY ABSENT
     A Ranma 1/2 - Sailor Moon crossover fan fiction
       by Togashi Gaijin
     This story is set at the end of the manga's Herb/Mt. Horai
       story arc for the Ranma 1/2 side.
     It is set at the end of the amine's S (third) season for
       the Sailor Moon side.
=============================================================

Side Story 2: "Illusions of Honor"
Written by Andrew Norris : edited by CheshireX

--- Nerima, Tokyo ---

Nodoka sighed.

She looked at her small collection of mail: a postcard from Genma,
several bills, and a statement from the bank, which she dreaded.
Several major repairs to the house were recently mandated by new city
ordinances. She might have skipped one or two of them, but with the
municipal inspectors assuming everyone was benefiting from the
economy's growth, they were less lenient than normal. Nodoka knew she
couldn't dissuade them, so a lot of her capital went out to meet the
new ordinances on fire and earthquake safety. Ranma would return to his
home, maintained in perfect condition for him, no matter what she had
to do. He was *her* son, and she would do *whatever* it took to make
him happy.

Nodoka flipped though the bills, and sighed. Perhaps ... no. Moth ... no,
Aiko was not right. Genma was honorable; he was even willing to
sacrifice some of his own personal honor to accomplish the goal of
training Ranma to be a truly manly man. Such dedication! Still, leaving
bills behind for her to pay out of the limited trust fund ... well,
training Ranma had to take up all his time, indeed. The Art required
such perseverance.

Nodoka finally opened the bank statement and by sheer force of will
kept from cursing in despair. The trust fund was limited - she couldn't
invest it in some of the high growth stocks in order to gain a far
higher rate of return than what the banks granted. Her capital was now
so slim that the interest on it would not even cover the normal bills
of maintaining the house. Heavens forbid any major repairs or damage
that would have to be fixed. As it stood now - assuming the cost of
maintaining the house did not go up - she had just under four years
worth of bill money. At the most optimistic.

With Genma's honorable dedication towards the goal of training Ranma,
and the costs involved in that, Nodoka couldn't be assured of covering
the costs by the end of next year, much less after that. The trust
agreements would not let her change investment schemes, even if she had
enough to make it worthwhile - which was not guaranteed, considering
the major drain of refitting of the house. Taking out a loan on the
house was a possibility, but not a good idea in the long term. There
was no assurance of having income to meet the payments on any note she
could get.

Nodoka decided to take a walk in the bright spring day before handling
the bills for this month. She needed to think about what work would be
available for one such as her, which would help pay the bills. That
would improve her ability to meet Ranma's needs. With Genma making sure
he had all the food a young boy needed, she would make sure that Genma
would not have to worry about finances while he was honing Ranma's body
and mind.

Nodoka walked into a small restaurant, and asked for a cup of tea. A
meal was out of the question, though she quickly suppressed a slight
hint of envy at the sight of all the people eating without any apparent
care toward money. Her perusal of the employment offers in the paper,
while sipping her tea, was ... disappointing. The lack of a high school
diploma ruled out all office employment, as well as several other jobs
she would have considered. That just left ... well, if it was for Ranma,
as dishonorable as it was, it would be worth it. Being a bar girl paid,
at least. And, Nodoka smiled sardonically, I do have the training to do
it.

"Nodoka-san?" A voice interrupted her musings. She looked up towards an
old friend from high school, a Hikaru Tanaka. His early good looks had
attracted her eyes back then, but his personality convinced her she
would be better off being just friends with the young man.

"Yes, Hikaru-san?" Nodoka politely indicated the seat across from her,
and he slipped into it. "I note I saw your wedding announcement in the
paper," she smiled. "Congratulations."

Hikaru shrugged slightly. "Well ... you married early, so I had to find
someone else." He smiled to take the sting out of it. She returned that
smile, and nodded, pleased by the implied compliment. He added. "I saw
yours as well. Out of curiosity, why didn't you return for the rest of
the year?"

Nodoka winced. "Well, Genma preferred for me to maintain the house in
an honorable fashion, of course."

He nodded. "Of course. Where is he, if I might be so bold?"

"He took our son Ranma off on a training trip to make him a man among
men, and teach him to be a master in the Art." Nodoka beamed in pride
at the thought of her son being a master.

Hikaru's eyes narrowed slightly, just short of the point where Nodoka
would have caught it, even with her distraction thinking about her son.
"Might I ask why you're looking at the employment section?"

Nodoka turned her head slightly and looked at a neutral space. "The
costs of living in Tokyo have risen, of course, and being a traveling
sensei in this day and age, of purely material growth, does not make
for a large salary. So I was thinking, why not? He's training Ranma on
the trip, why don't I take a part time position, just to have something
to do? It will pass the time, of course."

Nodoka's face was a study to those who knew her well. Hikaru avoided
staring. He was one of the few people at their old school who could
read Nodoka when she was lying. Either she had fallen out of practice,
or he had gotten much better, because he had spotted the lies outright.
Nodoka was hurting for money, and her worthless husband wouldn't find a
real job to make the ends meet. His employers wouldn't be pleased.

"There are plenty of jobs, indeed." Hikaru's voice was pleasant, not
hinting on what was behind his eyes. "Lots of them, for those who just
wish a part time employment to pass the time." Nodoka's nod was weak
for her. He made a note to do some checking up on her when he got back
to the office. Hikaru spread his arms open and said, "I just got a
promotion at work. Would you mind if we had lunch together to
celebrate? There is also much to catch up on in our lives since
school." He smiled, hoping Nodoka's pride wouldn't trip her. He had the
sense she hadn't eaten for a while.

Nodoka blinked and shook her head. "No, no, I'm the hostess here, and I
haven't made any effort to find you. Allow me." She tried to hide a
wince on what this would do to her finances, but she had to do it for
Ranma. She had to appear proper and prosperous in this time of plenty,
so Ranma's honor would be upheld.

Hikaru caught the wince and decided to shortcut it. "No, I insist. I
got a promotion, and I should have looked you up - indeed, the absence
of your friendship was mine to fix."

Nodoka opened her mouth to speak, but Hikaru overran her. "And as I
remember, you fed me too many times in high school for me to not return
a favor now that I have succeeded past my wildest dreams."

She shook her head and smiled. "Well, if you insist ..." Nodoka breathed
a mental sigh of relief, knowing by her actions she upheld Ranma's
honor, yet managed to get out of a situation that would have hurt her
finances more.

She and Hikaru chatted during the meal, which he ordered for both of
them. Nodoka had tried to protest at the amount and extravagance of it,
but Hikaru waved off her protests, reminding her of all the times he
had taken her bento at school when he was unable to return the favor.
"Now it's my turn," he said.

During the meal Nodoka had let a few things slip. Hikaru - reading
between the lines - knew just about all of her situation without her
realizing it. But after a time, she stood and mentioned she had to
return home. Hikaru escorted her to the door, and bowed her home. He
paid the bill, leaving a slight tip for the waiter who had followed his
exact orders so that she wouldn't know just how much he had spent.
Hikaru walked out into the sunlight, and to his car. He sat down and
dialed his work.

He heard the hissing of the crypto unit synchronize with the other end,
which was the only difference between his phone and others on the
market, though most wouldn't tell the difference.

"Synchronization attained. Who is on this line?" responded from the
headset.

"Lieutenant Tanaka, authorization code Two Eight November Charlie One
Three Delta. Please patch me though to Captain Shoda."

"Wait one." The headset hissed some more, and the voice spoke in a
second. "Line is secure, go ahead."

"Tanaka, you better have a good reason for this. I was about to go to
lunch," the irritated voice spoke.

"Shoda-dono, do you know of a Nodoka Saotome, nee Nodoka Yamada?"

"I do. I also know that Aiko Yamada cut her out. What's this about?"

"Well, sir, could you task a complete background check on her and her
family? I ... have some suspicions about her and I would like them
confirmed."

Hikaru was walking a fine line here. While the Yamadas were gaining in
importance with the disappearance of the other clans, this was too
close to a personal request. With the need to not offend Aiko, any
digging around her estranged daughter could be met with ... problems.

"Return to the office tomorrow; we'll talk then." The voice sounded
different, now.

"Yes sir." Hikaru had worked for his superior in the JNID for over a
year now, but hadn't quite gotten a read on the man. But ... he hoped he
could help his first flame out. Even though she had decided he would
just be a friend, he did owe her. By her mere presence, the JNID had
noted him and steered him into a field where he'd enjoy his talents and
work to the fullest.

--------------------

Nodoka sighed. Ten days had passed - and her situation had gone from
bad to worse. She had found out that there were termites in the roof,
and while she could have the house sprayed for them, they had caused
enough damage to finish off the money. Thankfully, no new bills had
arrived in the mail recently, so she wasn't out of time yet. But ... she
was looking for work - and had found out a sad fact. The only places
she could find that would be willing to hire her were simply the B-girl
bars ... and that was quite ... dishonorable. She didn't understand it. She
thought she could get a waitress or hostess position - but without a
high school diploma, potential employers weren't giving her the time of
day. In this time of plenty, with jobs going begging, Nodoka couldn't
find honorable or even not totally distasteful work.

She sighed. She would do it, but she would need to figure out some way
of changing her appearance. She would not dishonor Ranma in such a way.
Several of the places she saw hiring were outright brothels run by the
Yakuza ... so she would have to be careful on where she applied, of
course. She sighed and sipped her tea. The only nice thing about this
last week was the fact she had fully regained her figure from before
the pregnancies. Dieting - even forced - did wonders, so she was an
ideal mother figure for Ranma once again.

She would not dishonor her son by appearing in one of those places. At
least, not appearing as Nodoka Saotome - her mother's training of her
was complete. She was decent at disguising herself after all. On top of
that, very few people remembered the girls in those types of places. No
one would recognize her outside of it. Her son's honor would be kept,
and she would have the funds needed for her son's training and the
upkeep of his house.

There was a knock on the door. Nodoka rose and went to open it. Her
concerns would wait until she met the visitor, after all.

Nodoka opened the door, and a courier was at the door, with an
envelope. "Saotome-san?"

"Yes?"

"Here you go, ma'am. Thank you." The courier left before she could
offer him refreshment.

She blinked at the envelope, with a simple seal. She had seen similar
seals in her mother's hands. When they arrived, Seiko or a maid would
depart for several days - only to return as if nothing had happened.
Even her own mother had left on the occasion of some of these letters.
She walked back to the table and opened it.

"Saotome-dono. It has come to our attention that a Russian national has
begun to corrupt the honor of several citizens of the Republic of
Japan. His name is Ivan Stephanovich. It would be most helpful to us
and you if he was to no longer enjoy the land of Nippon, or indeed any
land. As always, it is most distasteful to disrupt the harmony of the
city with any untoward behavior."

The letter was unsigned, and with it, several pictures: his address,
and his usual haunts. Nodoka stood up and looked at the window. She
doubted that the request was not official. The letterhead and the other
documents were all from the Directorate. She had seen those forms and
letterhead before, before she left her mother's side. Now she knew
exactly why her mother received them. Her mother was a kunoichi,
indeed, and practiced it on the behalf of the government. She always
knew that Aiko had done questionable things ... dishonorable even, in
service. Now it was her turn. She knew that the letter implied that she
would be paid for this gaijin's death.

Nodoka sighed. It was dishonorable. She knew that. The implications of
the letter stressed that this was to be a quiet removal. Which meant
that, instead of using her sword to remove the man, she would have to
get close to him - perhaps begin a seduction and then arrange a
poisoning or an apparent mugging gone bad somewhere. Dishonorable,
indeed. She questioned her mother's insistence in learning chemistry
and focusing on poisons. Why would an honorable family like hers learn
about poisons?

Nodoka blew out a breath. She needed the money. That wasn't a question.
Ranma's house and honor had to be maintained. Otherwise all of Genma's
work towards making him a man among men would fail, for without a home
and a family honor intact he couldn't begin his adult life in the state
he deserved to. Wasn't she considering using her mother's art to
disguise herself as a bar hostess, so Ranma would have a home to return
to and that his needs would be met on the road? How different was this
from that?

Vastly. After all, the honor of the samurai's path was what had
attracted her to Genma. The Saotome name was noted for its skill in
battle as an honorable clan, creating some noted samurai. Her mother's
ways disgusted her. She had been attracted to Genma for the honor of
his family and his ways. This request on the government's part would be
a betrayal of that honor.

Nodoka turned to burn the letter, but stopped - looking at the outfit
she had laid aside to be mended for her ... interviews. Along with the
hair dye and the other items. Well, she had to mend that outfit
anyways. She scooped up the outfit and sat, with a needle in hand and
began to sew, forgetting the letter and the various pieces of paper on
the table, covered by the clothing she laid down.

--------------------

Nodoka returned after a third day of distasteful interviews. While this
was more honorable than what her mother did, it wasn't what a lady did,
so she was glad of the hair dye. Ugh. Men. She hadn't found a position
that wouldn't require her to totally debase herself ... and the last two
bars were to gaijin in the embassy district. She shook her head at the
new mail. She took them to her table, and sat down, feeling a bit faint
from her long day. Nodoka had skipped breakfast, and didn't take a
bento with her. Her dinner would be a bit of rice and some pickles - no
fish today.

Nodoka opened the mail, and read though it. Bill after bill - some of
which disturbed her a bit. Genma was apparently allowing his honor to
go by the wayside in the pursuit of making Ranma a man among men. Here
she was complaining about debasing herself, or being caught in a
dishonorable job, while Genma was placing name to some of these? Who am
I to deny my son and husband anything? It was the wife's duty to
provide the home and food for the husband. Many samurai women had done
things that now were viewed as utterly honorable, yet at the time were
great acts of sacrifice. She thought of the tale of the samurai's wife
who had cut off all her hair and sold it to a wigmaker, getting a cheap
wig for herself, so her husband could feed his warriors.

Nodoka stood up, knocking over a pile of papers, in her weakened state.
The papers that the government had sent, caught her eye. She had found
the concept of dealing with those gaijin in the bars utterly
distasteful - after all, they were gaijin, and not even American, at
that. She stopped. The only reason she was even considering working at
once of those bars was because they paid the most in the shortest
period of time.

And she wouldn't be recognized. Even someone who saw through her
disguise would not believe it was really her. Nodoka noted her disguise
was better than she thought - when she dyed her hair, it looked real,
which she didn't expect with the cheap dye she could afford - and her
face had appeared slightly different. She had even been complemented on
her blue eyes, with one girl at a bar asking where she got the
contacts. She didn't quite understand that. Her eyes were maroon, not
blue.

So how much more dishonorable would it be to simply do as the
government asked, and ... remove ... this gaijin? After all, he was only a
Russian ... such a brutish man, she thought as she recalled a few of them
today pawing one of the other girls at the bar where she had
interviewed.

Her mind returned to all the arguments she had had with herself over
the last few days. How did this differ from being a bar girl? She was
willing to sell herself, as much as it disgusted her, to earn the money
her son needed; how much different would it be to remove a gaijin?
After all, they raped, they stole, they tried to take the people's
wealth away from them. It's not like she was being asked to
dishonorably slay a Nihonese, or even an American, after all. Those
people had honor. This Russian ... did not. He was, in fact, according to
the papers, leading others into dishonor.

One of his fellows at the embassy had actually raped a thirteen year
old girl, she had read in the paper, and could only be asked to leave
the nation, instead of paying the cost for dishonoring that young lady,
and her family. The girl must have taken her own life in shame; after
all, who'd want a tainted bride? Such actions shouldn't go unpunished,
should they?

Nodoka's sighed. This was just as dishonorable as being a bar girl ...
but it would help to avenge others, and make her son's home a safer
place to be. One where honor ruled. She picked up the papers, as she
left to have her meal. Someone had to do the dishonorable things, so
others could live in honor, she guessed. And how dishonorable was
killing a man in the way she would have to, if he lacked honor anyways?

She read the papers carefully, as she had a bit more food than she had
originally planned. She would have to keep her strength up, of course.
The last page gave details on how to contact the crew that would clean
up after her, if she needed it. Nodoka nodded - she knew the way now.
Who'd believe that she actually killed a man, when it would be a man
simply talking to a cute young michi, and having a heart attack at the
time of the action? Or so the clean up crew would do, remembering some
reports in the paper of several interesting deaths. She even knew
several poisons that would work well. She read the notes over again,
and nodded. The information here was clear. She would be well rewarded
for correcting this spot of dishonor. As she stood up, thinking of what
clothing she would need to wear, a faint thought occurred to her -
where was the honor in this? It was wrong. He should be challenged, and
dealt with fairly. And as quickly as that thought arose, a response
came to her - it would expose the families of the ones that he
corrupted to dishonor, of course. The wa of the nation demanded that
she do this, so that others wouldn't be dishonored.

--------------------

Nodoka looked at herself in the mirror. Who would believe that she was
Nodoka Saotome now? Her blue eyes staring out of the mirror alone gave
lie to that. She smiled. No one would recognize her, and with the fact
that she called for a cab and was wearing her hair up and changed to a
style that she normally never would wear - her neighbors wouldn't know
either. Her hair was covered by a hat - so they wouldn't see - and she
wore a long coat to cover up her outfit. She was prepared. For Ranma,
she was prepared.
She heard the cab honk, and left though the door, locking it. Ranma's
needs and honor would be protected.

====================
[end side story]

============================================================
Mark Shurtleff
   email: gaijin@sfcmd.com
   irc alias: Gaijin -or- togashi_gaijin
   fanfiction homepage: http://www.sfcmd.com/fanfic
============================================================ 


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