[FFML] [Ranma] Nabiki-New Horizons - Chapter 31 - Goodbye Old Friend

[GL Sandborn]

Well, it's been about a year since I posted Chapter 30.  Looks like I have
another chapter ready.
This thing has been hanging around on my hard drive for so long it's been
growing moss.

It's kind of a 'side story' - a step back from the regular story line. 
One of the reasons it took so long is I had to kill off a character. 
I really hate doing that, but time passes and so do people.  I hope you
find it worth reading.

******************************************************************************* 


All previous chapters are available at my web site:

http://home.kc.rr.com/sandborn

******************************************************************************* 


'Ranma 1/2' is copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi/Shogakukan, Inc.
and Viz Communications, Inc.  Its characters are used without
permission but with all the love and respect I can offer their
creator and copyright holders.
The story and original characters are copyrighted by G.L. Sandborn
and are for the enjoyment of the readers only.

This story is not to be posted on any other Internet web site
without permission of the author.

****************************************************************************** 





                     Nabiki - New Horizons
                Chapter 31 - Goodbye Old Friend
                       By: G.L. Sandborn



     Kasumi went about her after breakfast cleanup with a strange
feeling of foreboding.  She couldn't say why, exactly, but there
was something in the air that bothered her.  At first, she tried
to dismiss it as her usual warning senses performing beyond their
normal parameters.  Still, since she couldn't detect with
certainty anything further than the perimeter walls of their
home, the feeling left her uneasy.
     It wasn't danger that she felt, but rather something
unusual.  Placing a dish in the electric dishwater Nabiki bought
her last Christmas, she paused and cocked her head slightly.
With closed eyes, she tried to focus on what it was that made her
feel so uneasy.
     The slam of their front door caused her to flinch.  She
froze in anticipation of who or what had caused the commotion.
Her shoulders slowly sagged when she recognized the familiar
feelings and sounds of blubbering coming down the hall towards
their main room.
     A body flopped heavily onto a pillow followed by something
striking their table.  She wiped her hands on a towel and
cautiously leaned into the room.
     Soun Tendo sat bolt upright at his usual place, his fists on
the table and a haunted expression on his face.
     "Father?" she ventured to ask.  His appearance chilled her
as it was reminiscent of the night her mother died.
     The sound of her voice caused his eyes to go wide, his chin
trembling under a waterfall of tears.  "I saw them," he finally
gasped.  "Three of them."
     "Them?  Three?  What ever do you mean?"  Kasumi slowly
approached the table, her slippered feet whispering on the smooth
wood floor.
     "Foxes," he said with a plaintive whine.
     Fairly certain which three foxes he was referring to, she
tried to put into context how their sighting could cause him to
behave this way.  Scrolling back through her memories, she
recalled something her mother told her about ancient Japanese
legends.  Three foxes were significant somehow, but just how, she
couldn't remember.  "What about three foxes?"
     "It is an omen," Soun replied, his voice hushed with fear.
"An EEEVIL omen.  Sighting three foxes together means certain
doom."  With a wail, the man collapsed onto the table, sobbing
uncontrollably.
     Three foxes together signaled a disaster was coming.  Yes,
she remembered now.  When she was a little girl her mother told
her about that.  It was an old peasant belief her mother had
brought with her from the country.  Surely, her father didn't
really believe in such tales.
     "Father, the Yamaguchi's down the street have an orange
female cat that was pregnant a few weeks ago.  You probably saw
her with her kittens, that's all.  I'm sure that in the right
light conditions --"
     "NO!" Soun wailed, lifting his head just enough to look her
way with anguished eyes.  "I saw them near our shed.  They stared
at me with their evil golden eyes.  I could feel them trying to
take my soul.  I'm doomed."  With his last pronouncement, Soun
Tendo collapsed fully onto the table, his tears causing a growing
pool on its surface.
     She was about to argue the point further when the front door
slammed again, followed by quickly running feet approaching down
the hall.
     "Kasumi!  Kasumi!  It's terrible," Akane called as she
stumbled into the main room almost colliding with her older
sister.
     Kasumi caught her sister's forearms to avoid the collision.
"Calm down, Akane," she said, gently but firmly.  "What's
terrible?"
     "It's the foxes," Soun moaned.  "We're doooooomed."
     "The foxes?" Akane asked, blinking between her father and
her sister.  "What about the foxes?"
     "That's not important --"
     "We're DOOOOOOOOOOMED!"  Soun's pronouncement was
accompanied by a theatrical pose that would have gotten him
thrown off every stage in Japan - including Kabuki.
     Both sisters stared at their father in disbelief.
     "What's with father?" Akane finally asked.
     "The usual," Kasumi replied with a heavy sigh.  "What's so
terrible you have to come running into the house yelling?"
     "It's Mrs. Suzuki," Akane said as if she just remembered why
she was there.  "They took her to the hospital in an ambulance!"
     "Oh my.  How bad is it?" Kasumi asked, clutching the towel
to her chest.
     "I overheard the ambulance people.  It's bad, really bad,"
Akane gasped.
     Soun sprang to his feet and staggered towards the open
engawa with his hands held high.  "Oh, poor, poor Mrs. Suzuki.
Why have the gods doomed her to such a fate?" he cried to the
sky.
     "Probably because she's ninety-six," Kasumi mumbled with a
skeptical expression.
     "Great ancestors, why must you come for such a tender
creature of gentle disposition - not to mention outstanding
strawberry cake?"
     "Okay, this is getting too weird.  Has he been hanging out
with the Kunos?" Kasumi asked Akane.
     "I don't think so," Akane said, stoking her chin in a
thoughtful manner.  "He HAS been spending a lot of time down at
Miyazaki's bar lately."
     "That explains it."  Kasumi wadded up the towel and handed
it to her sister.  Instead of putting it away, the youngest Tendo
totally misinterpreted her sister's intent.  Going into a windup
that would have done a professional pitcher proud, the towel
began to glow as she added some of her ki energy.  Before Kasumi
could stop her, Akane threw a major league beanball.
     The glowing ki-added towel struck Soun square in the back of
his head, cartwheeling his body out onto the grass.
     Kasumi started to protest her sister's actions, but quickly
gave up with a groan of resignation.  Certain the neighbors were
used to the odd happenings in her house, she dismissed the act as
just another of 'those things' that always seemed to happen.
     Pulling off her apron, she started to hand it to her sister,
but thought better of it.  The apron was much larger than the
towel.  There was no telling what Akane might have done with it.  
"I'm going down to the hospital.  You better try to call Nabiki."
     Akane's face screwed into a tortured expression.  "But
it's... uh..."  Scratching her head, she gave up.  "Sometime...
ummm, different than here," she said in protest.
     "It's only five o'clock in the afternoon there," Kasumi said
like a patient teacher.
     "Right.  Five o'clock... uh... today or tomorrow?"
     "Yesterday," Kasumi replied, retrieving her purse and
checking to see if she had bus fare.
     Akane crossed her arms, a hand covering her mouth, and
tapped her foot nervously.  "But if it's yesterday there, I can't
call Nabiki until.... uh, tomorrow?"
     With a heavy sigh, Kasumi regarded her sister with a pained
smile - the kind mothers use when their child says something
totally ridiculous.  "It will be all right.  Just call her," she
said firmly, snapping shut her purse.
     "Damn time zones," Akane muttered.
     "Take care of Father."  Kasumi started for the front door.
"And don't hit him with anything heavy," she called.
     "We're dooooooomed," came Soun's voice from the lawn.
     "Okay, maybe with the apron."

     It was late afternoon when Nabiki finally returned to her
home.  Tossing her keys on the kitchen counter, she noticed a
note from Jade that she had taken Sodoshi to the local park to
play with her friends.
     Smiling at the crudely written note, she reminded herself
just how lucky she had been finding such a responsible
housekeeper.
     She was about to go take a shower when the phone rang.  It
took only a moment to decide her shower could wait.
     "Hello?"  She started to unbutton her blouse.  The shower
might wait but not for long.
     "Nabiki?  It's me, Akane," came a loud voice through the
phone.
     Wincing at the volume, Nabiki shrugged out of her blouse and
shifted the phone to her other ear.  "You don't have to yell just
because you're calling from Japan.  What are you calling for,
anyway?"
     There was a short pause that almost caused Nabiki to think
the phone had gone dead.  "It's Mrs. Suzuki.  She's dying," came
Akane's softer voice.
     At first, her sister's statement didn't fully register.
Mrs. Suzuki?  Dying?  No, there had to be some mistake.  Sure,
she had been sick before, but with Dr. Tofu's help she always
recovered as good as ever.  It happened so often that Nabiki
sometimes wondered if it was just something the old woman did for
attention.  "Are you sure?" was all Nabiki could think to ask.
     "Yes, the ambulance took her to the hospital a little while
ago.  I overheard one of the ambulance guys say he didn't think
she'd even make it to the hospital."  Akane's voice became a
plaintive whine.  "You've got to come home, Nabiki."
     Dropping into a chair, Nabiki's mind whirled with
objections.  Few sounded reasonable, even to her.  "Akane, I... I
can't get there in time.  Even if I caught a flight out in the
morning, I wouldn't be there for at least ten hours."
     "That's okay," Akane replied.  "If you leave tomorrow
morning, you'll get here... uh, about two hours ago."
     Nabiki groaned to herself.  "Akane, it doesn't work that
way."
     "Damn time zones."
     "I won't get there until tomorrow, your time," Nabiki
corrected.
     "But Nabiki, you were her favorite.  You HAVE to be there."
     Gripping her forehead with one hand, Nabiki struggled with
what she could do thousands of miles away.  It would have been
easy for her to revert to her former self and dismiss the dying
woman as one who was facing her appointed time with destiny.  It
was something they all had to confront sooner or later.  
     But this wasn't just any old woman.  This was the woman who
comforted her the night her mother died, made her lunch for
school every day until Kasumi learned how, sewed and mended her
clothes, and taught her how to properly put on a kimono.  She
owed everything to Mrs. Suzuki.  The woman was as close to a
grandmother as she ever knew.
     "Please, Nabiki," Akane's anguished voice wavered.  "You
have to do something.  Don't let her die alone."
     Her sister's last plea struck Nabiki like a cold slap in the
face.  When Sodoshi Tanaka lay dying Nabiki was there to hold the
girl in her arms and comfort her as she drew her last breath.
The only grandmother she ever really had deserved at least as
much.
     "I'll... I'll think of something," Nabiki said softly before
covering her mouth with a hand and fighting the urge to cry.
     "Please hurry," Akane said.  "She really looks bad this
time.  Kasumi is with her now and I'm going down as soon as I
hang up."
     "I will," Nabiki breathed into the phone.  "I will."
     As the line went dead, Nabiki sagged into the chair.  What
could she do?  If Akane was right, there wasn't time.  There was
no way she could get from Honolulu to Tokyo before tomorrow.  By
then, it would be too late.
     Holding up the phone, her finger hovered over the keypad as
she tried to remember their booking agent's phone number.  Try as
she might, she just couldn't put the right combination of digits
together in her mind.
     The phone tumbled from her limp fingers to the floor.
Covering her face with her hands, she gritted her teeth and
reminded herself what her Baba had told her about how much alike
they were.  They were both tough and could take it, whatever came
their way.
     She choked and sniffed, her shoulders shaking.  This was her
mother dying all over again.  All the fear and anger from that
night rushed back and wrapped itself around her until she felt
like she couldn't breathe.  Throwing her head back she gasped and
drew a ragged breath.  
     "Think, Nabiki, THINK!" she growled through her teeth, as
her stubbornness surged.  There HAS to be a way to get there in
time.  She has to be there to hold her Baba's hand, to comfort
her when she most needs it.  But how?
     She jerked upright in the chair.  The spirit realm!  She had
been there before.  Even Ranma and Akane were able to get there,
with the help of the fox creatures.  Most importantly, time had
no meaning there.  She could pass though in a few seconds of real
time.  Maybe there was a chance, after all.
     "Sodoshi!" she called.  "I need you."  Her voice softened at
the admission of her own weakness.  She needed the help of the
only person she knew who had access to a realm where time could
be extended as much as she needed.
     A flash of golden light and the spirit of Sodoshi Tanaka
hovered before her, one hand on her shapely hip.  "You called,
my..."  Her ethereal voice trailed off into a soft echo as a
frown of concern crossed her face.  "Clan Sister, you've been
crying."
     Nabiki sniffed and wiped her cheeks with the backs of her
hands.  "Sodoshi, I need your help."
     "If it is mine to give, it is yours.  You know that."
     "I need you to get me home, right now.  Today.  You can
guide me through the spirit realm..."  Nabiki paused at the
ghost's pained expression.
     Sodoshi seemed to shift her weight onto one leg.  "I can't
do that."
     "Why not?" Nabiki gasped, practically leaping off the chair.
"I- I came through the spirit realm before.  I even saved the
realm for our ancestors.  All I'm asking for is one passage.  You
can even drop me off at the old shrine."  Nabiki hated begging
but she was desperate.  
     "I'm sorry, clan sister.  That's not possible."
     "But you HAVE to let me in.  Just this once.  It's very
important."  Nabiki almost sobbed the last.  Such panic was
unbecoming a clan elder, but she was desperate.
     Sodoshi slowly shook her head.  "I'm sorry, clan sister.
There is no portal to the spirit realm in Hawaii."  The spirit's
glow dimmed markedly with her admission.  "I'm to blame for not
telling you before.  I didn't think it was important.  I never
imagined that you would try to use the spirit realm as cheap way
home."
     "It's not that," Nabiki gasped as she collapsed into the
chair.  Rolling her head back, she felt the frustration of her
own inability to help someone she loved very much press down like
a great weight upon her.  "Someone needs me.  Someone who means
very much to me is dying alone and I'm not there to hold her - to
help her die."
     The setting sun outside had lost much of its power to
illuminate the room.  Sodoshi's diminished glow added to the
room's gloomy aura.  "I'm sorry," Sodoshi breathed, her voice
sounding distant and hollow.  "I didn't know."
     Nabiki sniffed and covered her face with her hands again.
If the spirit realm was inaccessible, she had no option left.
Her Baba was going to die alone.
     "Does this person mean that much to you?" Sodoshi asked, her
voice sounding a little closer that before.
     Nabiki sniffed again and spoke into her hands.  "Yes."
     Sodoshi was silent for several seconds, her glow so dim only
her outline was visible.  "There might be one thing you can do.
It's most unusual but since you are the ruling elder of the clan,
it is within your powers to..."  Sodoshi's soft voice trailed off
as if she hesitated making her suggestion.
     "Anything," Nabiki gasped like a drowning person being
offered the slimmest of chances at survival.
     Sodoshi appeared to swallow before she cast wary glances to
each side of her.  "You can make her a member of our clan."
     Nabiki sagged deeper into the chair, disappointment dashing
what had been a glimmer of hope.  "What good would that do?"
     "She would live among our ancestors.  When you pass on, you
will be able to see her again."  Sodoshi's voice rose slightly,
like she approved of the idea.
     Nabiki shook her head.  "That's no good.  She would still
die alone... unless."  She looked up at her daughter's guardian
spirit, a plan forming in her fertile mind.
     Sodoshi, however, seemed to fade even more as if she didn't
trust what her clan elder had in mind.
     "You could appear to her when everyone is gone, looking like
me," Nabiki said, sitting up straight, her energy resurging with
the suggestion.
     Sodoshi just sighed, making a sound that would have been
right at home in a haunted house.  "I'm not a demon or other
magical creature.  I cannot change my appearance."
     With resignation, Nabiki flopped back in the chair.  "Then
there is nothing I can do.  I've failed her."  Her voice sounded
like a frightened child.  She felt so helpless and alone, just
like the night her mother died.
     For several long moments, all Nabiki heard was her own
shuddered breathing and occasional sniffs as she wallowed in her
own self pity.
     "Is it your desire that this old woman see you by her side?"
Sodoshi asked.
     "If I can't be there myself, I want her to know my feelings
and feel my presence," Nabiki replied between sniffs.
     Sodoshi was quiet for a few moments more.  "Leave it to me,
clan sister.  I promise you she will not pass on alone."
     In a flash, the darkening room was left to Nabiki's soft
whimpers as she hugged herself, feeling a dull, empty ache gnaw
at her soul.

     Sodoshi blinked back into the mortal realm outside an old
storage shed set back in the trees on the Tendo property.  The
stone wall behind her shielded her appearance from the street and
the trees assured privacy from all but the most determined eyes.
     "All right, you three," she growled, banging on the side of
the shed.  "Out of there.  Now!"
     At the base of the shed, three pairs of eyes peered out from
a deep hole.
     "Whadoyawant?  We're busy," came a thin voice from the hole.
     "You're gonna help me with something."  Sodoshi bent over,
her hands on her hips.
     "Go away," said the voice.  "We don't have to listen to
you."
     Jerking upright at the insult, Sodoshi's eyes began to glow.
Clouds formed and swirled about overhead.  Lightning flashed and
thunder rolled.  "My elder, the person responsible for your being
free of your imprisonment, commands your obedience."  Her voice
seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.  The
trees around her swayed at the gathering storm that threatened
only one corner of a single property in Nerima township.  The
three pairs of eyes had grown in size until they filled the hole.
     "Well, since you put it that way," the voice replied.
     The storm clouds quickly dissipated and the wind died to a
gentle breeze.  "Out!  NOW!"
     "Okay, okay, we're coming."  Slowly, three foxes crawled
from their hideout and stood nervously upright in front of the
Cold Moon Clan guardian spirit.  Their tails were fluffed out in
fear as they regarded Sodoshi with wide eyes.
     "Okay, what I want..."  Sodoshi's shoulders sagged.  "Would
you please assume your human forms.  I hate talking to wildlife."
     The three fox creatures exchanged glances before their
bodies shimmered and grew, quickly assuming their human forms.
     Sodoshi grimaced and slowly shook her head.  "What's with
you people?  Put some clothes on."  This was turning out to be
harder than she thought.
     With more exchanged glances, the three shrugged in unison.
Their bodies shimmered again before coming back into focus, this
time each was wearing little dresses that would have been right
at home on a trio of idol singers.
     Sodoshi drew a deep breath and prepared to explain her plan.
Before she could start, she noticed something odd about the
three.  "What's with the cat tails?" she asked, leaning over to
the side enough to get a good look at what was hanging out of
their short skirts.
     "Oh, that's something we came up with watching some really
cute TV show about idol singers," said the fox creature known as
Yumi.  "They also had cute little cat ears."  As she said that,
all three produced short cat-like ears that grew through their
long hair until assuming their proper proportion.
     "Yeah, and they did a little dance that was REALLY cute,"
Kumi added.  "I had no idea humans had tails and cute cat ears.
Is that normal or were those girls just special?"
     "Well, normally..."  Sodoshi's eyes went wide and she
clutched her own head with her hands.  If it were possible for
her to feel pain, she would have had a splitting headache.  She
couldn't believe what these clowns were putting her through.
"Lose the ears and tails!  Those were costumes.  I need you
normal looking, not dressed for cos-play."
     With three heavy sighs, the fox creatures shimmered through
another transformation, this time into more normal looking forms.
     "Fine," Sodoshi grumped.  "We have an important mission to
perform.  The three of you will have to be at your best to pull
this off."
     "What sort of mission?" the one known as Fumi asked.  She
was always the most curious of the three and this 'mission' thing
had her curiosity turned up to high.
     "You are going to ease the death of my clan sister's most
cherished friend and then escort her to her chosen afterlife."
Sodoshi locked all three with a serious stare.  Unfortunately, it
was lost on the creatures.
     "Cool!  We get to kill somebody," Kumi gushed as the three
seemed to huddle together like school girls.
     "Ye.. NO!" Sodoshi loudly corrected.  "You are to be at this
person's bedside when she... uh, I mean, her spirit is set free."
     The three froze.  Their heads slowly turning to regard
Sodoshi with painful grimaces.  "Oh," Yumi said.
     "Well, that doesn't sound like much fun," Kumi added.
     "And I just had this sharpened," Fumi said, pulling a nasty-
looking battle axe from behind her back.
     With a low growl of frustration, Sodoshi snatched the axe
from Fumi's hand.  "It's not THAT kind of mission.  Each of you
will play a vital part in easing the old woman's death."  She
paused to see if there was any reaction from the three.  All they
did was stare at her and blink.  "Look, one of you will pretend
to be Nabiki Tendo-Lawrence.  Another will stand by to act as a
guide angel for the old woman's departed spirit."
     "That's it?" Kumi asked with a disgusted expression.
     "That's it."
     "No murder?"
     "No."
     "No mayhem?"
     "No."
     "No fun?"
     "NO!" Sodoshi shouted loud enough to make the trees around
them shake.  "Look, it's very simple."  She pointed to Yumi.
"You will appear at the old woman's bedside looking like Nabiki."
She then pointed to Fumi.  "You will appear to her as an angel
and when the old woman dies, you will escort her spirit to the
afterlife."
     "What about me?" Kumi asked.  She didn't care much for this
'mission' but didn't want to be left out.
     "You get to stay here to keep the rest of the family from
going back to the hospital," Sodoshi said, feeling pretty certain
her plan would work.
     "How?"  Kumi, however, demonstrated serious misgivings about
the scheme.
     "Just pretend you are one of the family," Sodoshi replied,
as if it was no big deal.
     "That's going to be a little difficult, if they all show
up," Kumi said with a huff.
     Sodoshi was about to admonish Kumi for her lack of spirit
when it occurred to her that she might just have a point.  "I
guess you can be... uh..."  She paused with a frown.  Who could
Kumi pretend to be?  "Oh, how about Kasumi?"
     "Kasumi?"  Kumi seemed to like the idea of pretending to be
her favorite mortal but her expression suggested there might just
be a small problem with it.  "What if she comes home?"
     "I suppose I could find some way of keeping her away,"
Sodoshi said, stroking her chin and scowling at the ground.
     Kumi's attitude towards the plan seemed to brighten
considerably with the mention of a diversion.  "Okay, you keep
the real Kasumi busy and you've got yourself a deal."
     The others quickly agreed, not because they were really
interested in helping Nabiki - after all, she had never really
acted like she cared one way or another for them - but only
because pissing off a ghost as powerful as Sodoshi Tanaka wasn't
good for long-term plans of staying in the mortal realm.
     Sodoshi quickly issued a few final instructions before
sending Fumi and Yumi on their way.  Turning to Kumi, she smiled.
It was enough to cause the fox creature to shudder.  "Just act
like Kasumi and keep the rest of the family away from the
hospital until it's all over.  You've got the easiest job of
all."
     "You just keep the real Kasumi away," warned Kumi.  "It
would be awkward if there were suddenly two Kasumi's at home."
     With final assurances she would do whatever a ghost is
capable of, Sodoshi blinked out of sight, leaving Kumi alone
behind the shed.
     "Well, I guess I better get to work," she said, shimmering
into the form of Kasumi, right down to her ever-present apron.
"I wonder what she normally does during the day?  Oh, I know,
I'll clean something."  She took a step towards the house when a
thought occurred to her.  Dropping to her knees, she reached back
down the hole into her home and felt around.  With a smile, she
pulled out a styrofoam cup that looked like it was full of dirt.
Probing carefully with her fingers, she fished out a wad of
earthworms.  "Perfect," she said, feeling pretty lucky today.
"No point in letting perfectly good snacks go to waste."
     With cup in hand, she happily skipped towards the house.
After all, she was getting to be Kasumi for a little while.  The
thought of acting as a stand-in for her favorite mortal sounded
like fun.

     Sodoshi trailed her two fellow conspirators for a short
distance, making certain they were following the plan.  As
expected, they assumed forms of two high school girls out for an
afternoon of shopping as they made their way to the hospital.  It
would be dark soon.  She hoped the diminished light would give
the fox creatures some degree of cover from other mortals when
they snuck into the hospital.
     Confident everything was going to plan, she flashed over to
the hospital to make sure Akane and Kasumi would not be in the
way.
     It took her a few moments to determine the right ward - ward
four on the fourth floor.  Not lucky numbers, she thought.  Bed
four contained the old woman.  Sodoshi could almost taste the
aura of death that hung heavily in the air.
     She frowned when she noticed that only one Tendo sister was
in attendance.  Carefully placing a damp towel on the old woman's
brow, Akane gently caressed Mrs. Suzuki's arm as she sat back in
her chair and took the woman's wrinkled hand in hers.
     Where was Kasumi?  Sodoshi looked around and even tried
extending her senses out to detect the oldest sister's life
force.
     No good.  Nothing registered the same as Kasumi.  Yet, she
couldn't have gone far.  
     Sodoshi was about to leave in search of the missing Tendo
sister when a nurse approached the old woman's bed.  After
checking a few of the monitoring instruments, she turned to
Akane.
     "You look tired," the nurse said.  "If you want, I'll get
you a futon.  You can spread it out on the floor next to her
bed."
     Akane leaned back in her seat and sighed.  "No, thank you.
I wouldn't want to be asleep when... you know, happens."
     The nurse smiled.  "I understand.  You're a good
granddaughter."
     Akane started to say something but quickly gave up and hung
her head.  There was no point in trying to explain her
relationship with Mrs. Suzuki.  Even though she wasn't a blood
relative, the old woman was as close to a grandmother as she ever
had.  She couldn't let such a person die on her own.  That would
be too much like her mother.  
     "Where is your sister?" the nurse asked as she jotted a few
numbers on the clipboard she was carrying.
     "She had to go home and prepare dinner for Daddy," Akane
said softly.  
     "That's always the hardest part - having to care for the
living even while trying to comfort the dying."  The nurse bowed
slightly before moving on to the next bed and repeating her
instrument checking.
     Sodoshi drew a silent breath.  So that was what happened to
Kasumi.  She went home to...
     "Oh CRAP!" Sodoshi hissed.  "She can't go home.  That idiot
Kumi is there."
     Hastily, Sodoshi blinked out of the hospital and back
outside.  There was no telling how long ago Kasumi left or what
route she had taken home.  There was only one thing to do,
conduct a wide search of every possible bus and subway between
the hospital and the Tendo home.
     Completely invisible to the mortals below, Sodoshi darted
like a bolt of electricity back and forth along each possible
path Kasumi might have taken.  If she could just get a sense of
Kasumi's spiritual essence, she could home in on it and find the
woman.
     Bus after bus, subway car after subway car, Sodoshi
frantically searched for even the slimmest evidence of Kasumi's
presence.
     She had just exited one bus and was hovering over the middle
of the street when she felt something familiar.  It took her a
moment to realize it was Kasumi's life force she was feeling and
a few more moments to determine which direction it was coming
from.
     Wasting no time in following the increasing sense of Kasumi,
she finally found her on another crosstown bus.  That was half
the battle.  Now, she had to figure out how to keep her from
going home.
     After entering the bus, she paced up and down the aisle
between the seats, trying to think of how she could convince
Kasumi to not go home.  As she passed another passenger, he
coughed through the surgical mask he was wearing.
     That's it, Sodoshi thought as she floated over to just
behind Kasumi.  Bending in close, she blew softly across the
woman's shoulders.  Kasumi shivered and hugged herself.  Blowing
some more, Sodoshi was rewarded by a little sneeze from her
target.
     "Oh dear," Kasumi said softly to herself.  "I hope I'm not
catching a cold."
     Yes, a cold.  All Sodoshi had to do was convince Kasumi that
she had caught a chill at the hospital and was coming down with a
cold.
     Kasumi sneezed again, reaching into her purse for some
tissue.  "I better get home.  I have some herbs Tofu gave me to
help fight off a cold."
     "Right, you go home and...  OH CRAP!  Not home!" Sodoshi
moaned to herself.  "Go back to the hospital, stop at a pharmacy,
anything but go home."  She blew even harder over the woman's
neck and shoulders.
     Her reward was a tiny cough as Kasumi shuddered.  "I better
hurry.  It's getting worse."
     In frustration, Sodoshi took a swipe at Kasumi's head.
Naturally, her hand went right through the woman, but the effort
made her feel better.  "Great, NOW she's determined to get home,"
Sodoshi grumped.  "There's got to be a way..."
     She paused when she noticed a girl across the aisle was
talking on her cell phone.  Sodoshi eyed Kasumi's purse.  She
knew Kasumi carried a cell phone.  That knowledge sparked a plan.
     Sodoshi had never tried to manipulate an electronic device
before.  She never really had much interest in trying.  But
desperate times called for desperate actions.  After all, they
were made by mortals.  How tough could it be?
     Sodoshi reached over Kasumi's shoulder and plunged her hand
into the woman's purse.  Probing with all her senses, she
rummaged through all the stuff girls usually stored in their
purses.  "Where is it?" she grumped.  "She's got more crap in her
purse than that Chinese guy has up his sleeves."
     With an almost audible 'AH' she found what she was looking
for.  Now comes the hard part, she thought.  After several mild
shocks, she figured out how to probe through the stored phone
numbers.  It wasn't a long list - obviously Kasumi didn't call
that many people - so it took only a few tries to find one simply
marked as 'Tofu'.  Routing the number to the incoming call queue,
she activated the phone's ringer.
     Kasumi quickly fished out the phone like she knew exactly
where it was and looked at the caller ID.  With a smile, she
flipped it open.  "Hello?"  Her smile faded when there was no
answer.  "How curious," she said, closing the phone.  "Perhaps he
had a patient who needed him just as he called."
     "So call him back," Sodoshi said, even though she knew
Kasumi couldn't hear her.
     "I'll call him when I get home," Kasumi said, returning her
cell phone to her purse.  "These cell phone calls are so
expensive."
     "Aaaargh!" Sodoshi yelled to herself, her aura glowing just
below the average mortal perception level.  Why is this woman so
dense?  Leaning in closer, she yelled to Kasumi, "Go visit him,
you dope!"
     Kasumi blinked for a few moments and gently adjusted her
pony tail over her shoulder.  "You know, I think you're right,"
she said, pushing the next stop button.  "Tofu will have just
what I need to fight off a cold."  As she stood up, she paused
with a little smile.  "Thank you, Sodoshi.  That's a wonderful
idea."
     As Kasumi started up the aisle towards the bus doors,
Sodoshi's jaw literally dropped to the floor with a 'thud'.
     "H-How...?" Sodoshi stammered.
     As the bus pulled to a stop, Kasumi looked back over her
shoulder and smiled before stepping to the sidewalk.
     With the roar of its engine, the bus pulled away with twenty
mortal passengers and one befuddled ghost aboard.

     "Now what?" Fumi hissed at Yumi as they hid under a hospital
bed surrounded by temporary privacy curtains.  They had
successfully infiltrated the hospital as a couple of mice.
     "Well, there's not much we can do with Akane sitting next to
the old lady," Yumi hissed back.
     Fumi sighed scratched her mouse head with a hind foot.
"Let's at least get out of these mice disguises.  I think I
picked up some fleas along the way."
     The two morphed into their assigned human forms, Yumi as
Nabiki Tendo-Lawrence and Fumi in her otherworldly disguise.
     "I thought you were supposed to be an angel," Yumi-Nabiki
noted, as they crawled out from under the bed.
     Fumi looked down at her 'grim reaper' outfit before
shrugging.  "I like this better," she said with an evil grin.
     Unfortunately, the bed they had chosen to hide under wasn't
empty.  It's occupant, an elderly man, was staring at them both
with wide, round eyes.
     When the old man squeaked and pointed their way, speechless
at the sight of a supposedly normal looking Japanese woman
standing next to a creature he thought he'd never see.
     The two fox creatures slowly turned to regard him with cold
stares.
     "What's your problem?" Yumi-Nabiki snarled.
     "Yeah, you never seen demons before?" Fumi growled, only her
skull-like grin could be seen from under the thick hood covering
her head.
     "Demons?" he squealed.
     "Yeah, and if you don't behave yourself..."  Fumi whipped
out her large battle axe.
     The old man's eyes got even larger at the sight of her
impressive weapon.  His mouth worked but nothing came out.
     Yumi-Nabiki sighed.  "Fumi, you're not supposed to carry
that, if you want to be a reaper."
     "I know but I like it much better," Fumi replied with a
shrug.  "I mean, that stupid scythe is so retro."
     "Idiot!" Yumi-Nabiki growled.  "You're scaring him."
     "Isn't that what we do?"
     "If you scare him, he's liable to wet the bed."
     They both regarded the trembling man with cold, glowing
eyes.
     "I think it's too late to worry about that," Fumi said with
a smirk as the old man let out a tiny 'eeep'.
     Yumi-Nabiki slapped her forehead and groaned.
     "Now I'm wet and cold," the old man whined.
     With an exasperated growl, Yumi-Nabiki snatched up a spare
blanket and threw it over the old man's head.  Completely
covered, the lump that was the bed's occupant trembled.
     "Thank you," he said forlornly.
     "You're welcome," snapped Yumi-Nabiki before turning her
attention to the bed where Akane was keeping vigil.  "We have to
find some way of getting her out of the way."
     Fumi grinned.  "Leave that to me."
     Sliding up the long sleeves of her grim reaper robe, she
readied her battle axe and started for Akane.
     She didn't get far, Yumi-Nabiki snagged the back of her robe
and yanked her back inside the curtains.  "Not that way, you
idiot!" she hissed.  "We're not supposed to be seen by any of the
Tendos."
     Akane must have thought she heard something because she
leaned away from Mrs. Suzuki's bed and stared towards the other
end of the ward.  For several long seconds, she looked their way
before shrugging and going back to holding the old lady's hand.
     Yumi-Nabiki sighed.  This wasn't turning out to be as easy
as she thought.  "We need that stupid ghost," she hissed.
     As if by her wish, a dull flash of light announced Sodoshi
Tanaka's arrival.  "Well?  What are you two doing here?  The old
woman is over there," she snarled, pointing towards the bed
containing Mrs. Sazuki.
     "In case you haven't noticed, the youngest Tendo girl is
still with her," Fumi hissed back.
     Sodoshi squinted through the gap in the curtains before
sighing.  "Well, that isn't good.  We gotta somehow get her out
of the way."
     Fumi just grinned and whipped out her battle axe again.
     "Put that thing away before I make you eat it," Sodoshi
growled without looking.
     "Pooh, you're no fun."  Fumi returned the axe and pouted.
     "This is your plan.  You think of something," Yumi-Nabiki
hissed.
     Sodoshi paused, deep in thought.  They couldn't scare her
away.  That just wouldn't do.  "We need some way to make her
leave on her own."
     "How about we make her think she's coming down with
something," suggested Yumi-Nabiki.
     "I've already tried that on the oldest sister."  Sodoshi
frowned remembering the strange encounter on the bus.  "I doubt
Akane will abandon the old lady just because she thinks she's
coming down with a cold."
     "Well, you better think of something fast.  It'll be shift
change soon and this place will be crawling with nurses," warned
Fumi.
     Sodoshi drummed her fingers on the end of the old man's bed.
All she had to do was get Akane out of the room for ten minutes -
fifteen at the most.
     "Ah!" she gasped, her aura brightening.  "I've got it.  You
two stay put until Akane leaves.  Then get the job done as
quickly as you can."  Without waiting for the two fox creatures
to acknowledge her instructions, Sodoshi blinked out, leaving
Fumi and Yumi-Nabiki staring at each other.
     "What do you think she's up to?" Yumi-Nabiki said.
     Fumi just shrugged.  "Beats me but we better be ready just
the same."
     As the two resumed their vigil, a weak voice came from the
lump in the blanket.
     "Can I have a drink of water?"
     Yumi-Nabiki grimaced.  "Will you shut him up?"
     "Gladly," Fumi said with a smile.

     Kumi-Kasumi idly wiped the kitchen counter and worked on the
angelic expression she had seen so often on the real Kasumi's
face.  She liked playing Kasumi.  It was so peaceful - so serene.
     A groan from outside drew her attention.  She hadn't seen
anyone at home before she arrived.  Who could possibly be making
such a mournful sound?
     A hand appeared over the engawa, hovered a moment, and
slapped down on the wooden surface.  Kumi-Kasumi scowled with
visions of what she would do should it be some demon or
something.
     To her surprise, instead of a netherworldly creature, the
torso of Soun Tendo appeared.  The man was obviously crawling
back into the house.
     "Daughter, give your old father a hand," he said with an
exaggerated pose of helplessness.
     Shrugging, Kumi-Kasumi set her towel aside and started to
clap.
     The mortal sighed as he interrupted his crawl back into the
house.  "I meant, help me get back inside."
     "Oh, okay," Kumi-Kasumi said with an innocent expression.
She really didn't understand why this mortal needed help.  They
always seemed perfectly capable of entering the house on their
own.
     Taking hold of Soun's arm, Kumi-Kasumi easily hoisted him to
his feet.  "Better?" she asked, using the innocent expression she
so admired about the real Kasumi.
     "Um... yes, I think so," Soun replied, his eldest daughter
holding his arm a bit higher than the other.  "Perhaps, if you
just helped me to the table, daughter."
     But when he tried to walk, Kumi-Kasumi held him in place
with what appeared to be complete ease.  "I don't think that
would be a good idea," she said, her hand tightening on his arm.
     "Daughter," he gasped.  "Your grip is quite... impressive."
     "Oh, you really think so?" Kumi-Kasumi replied innocently
with a vacant expression.
     "How did you--?"
     "Vitamins," she snapped.  "Lots and lots of vitamins."
     Soun stared at his daughter with an anxious frown.  He had
no idea Tofu was able to dispense such powerful supplements.  "I
can't feel my hand," he said with another gasp.
     "Oh, I'm sorry," she replied, releasing him and assuming a
typical innocent pose.  "Why don't you go lay down?"
     Soun begin to sweat.  "I'd rather not."
     Kumi-Kasumi's eyes began to glow red.  "Then what DO you
want to do?"
     "Perhaps a drink.  Just one," he hastily added.
     As her eyes slowly returned to normal, she smiled and tilted
her head.  "A Coke?"
     "Something... stronger, I believe."  Soun rubbed his arm and
eyed his daughter with apprehension.
     "We don't have anything else," she replied in a flat,
threatening voice.  This mortal might be her favorite person's
father, but he was also quite annoying.
     "Maybe, I should go...,"  He paused as if afraid to finish,
"...go down to see if Mr. Miyazaki has something - something
stronger."
     Kumi-Kasumi smiled warmly.  "Of course.  You go see this...
Mr. Miyazaki.  Stay as long as you like."
     Soun stared at his smiling daughter, trying as hard as he
could to determine if this was some sort of trick.
     "Go on.  Have fun," she said happily.  
     Soun blinked at his eldest daughter for only a moment before
practically running out the door, a haunted expression on his
face.
     Kumi-Kasumi tilted her head with a typical Kasumi smile in
place.  "He must really like that Mr. Miyazaki," she mused aloud.
"I wonder why?"  With a final shrug - she really didn't
understand mortals and could see no reason to try - she brushed
off her apron and happily worked her way back to the kitchen.
With the entire family - including their annoying dog - out of
the house, she had time for a little snack.
     Probing the styrofoam cup with her fingers, she smiled.
"Fat ones," she said happily.  "They're the most juicy.
     She had just filled her mouth with three fat wiggly worms
when she heard the front door again.  She frowned towards the
offending sound.  Why was that annoying mortal back so soon?
     "Hello, Kasumi," came a strange female voice from the front
hall.
     Kumi-Kasumi made a face as she tried to stuff one of the
worms back into her mouth.  Who the heck is that?
     "Kasumi?  Are you home?" came the voice, a little closer
than before.  Whomever it was, she was coming towards the
kitchen.  Kumi-Kasumi quickly swallowed, wiped her face and
assumed the real Kasumi's innocent expression.
     Nodoka Saotome entered the room with a concerned expression
that instantly changed when she caught sight of Kasumi.  "Oh,
there you are.  Why didn't you answer when I called from the
door?"
     Kumi-Kasumi blinked long enough for her to think of an
excuse.  "Ummm, I was... cleaning.  Yeah, that's it, I was
cleaning too loud to hear you."  She couldn't help but add to
herself 'whomever you are'.
     Seemingly oblivious to her daughter-in-law's strange answer,
Mrs. Saotome smiled.  "I just wanted to stop by and see how
you're doing."
     "Doing?"
     Nodoka frowned slightly.  "With your pregnancy."
     Kumi-Kasumi gulped.  She'd forgotten her favorite mortal was
heavy with kits - or whatever mortal humans called their young.
The look she was getting from Mrs. Saotome was incredulous enough
to almost make her laugh.  "I'm... I'm fine," she finally said
with a soft Kasumi-like voice.
     Mrs. Saotome eyed Kumi-Kasumi with a strange expression.
The supernatural being gulped and tried to figure out what she
had done wrong.  Had she betrayed herself?
     "Strange," Nodoka said slowly, "I could have sworn you were
showing more."
     Showing?  Showing what?  Kumi-Kasumi turned away and tried
to recall what the real Kasumi had looked like the last time she
had seen her.  Remembering Kasumi had appeared to have eaten a
large meal, Kumi tried to figure out how to change her body so as
to best resemble the mortal.  Before doing that, she needed a
diversion.  She couldn't very well morph into the form she last
remembered right in front of this strange woman - whomever she
was.  "Mr. Te...  Uh, I mean, Father went to see Mr. Miyazaki,"
she said softly.
     That caused the right reaction.  Slapping her hand on the
serving counter, Nodoka turned towards the open engawa.  "That
man!  I swear, he's always sneaking off to that bar."
     Kumi-Kasumi barely heard Nodoka's response.  She was busy
trying to get her stomach to puff out, just slightly.
     Satisfied, she turned towards Nodoka with a blank smile.
"I'm sure he won't be late," she said.
     "Well, I don't see why you put up with it," Nodoka said with
a frown.  Turning back to Kumi-Kasumi she started to smile.  It
faded as she took in her daughter-in-law's new appearance.
"Weren't you just...."  She gestured towards Kumi-Kasumi's
stomach.  "I mean, you looked..."  
     "It must have been the light," Kumi-Kasumi replied.  "I'm
always being told that."  She congratulated herself on such a
clever response.
     Nodoka just eyed her daughter-in-law.
     Kumi-Kasumi snatched a rag from the sink and quickly started
wiping everything in reach.
     "Kasumi, are you sure you're okay?"
     Kumi-Kasumi began to sweat.  "Of course.  I'm always okay.
I clean and clean and clean some more.  Everything needs to be
clean, you know.  Clean dishes, clean counters, clean walls,
clean floors, clean, clean, clean.
     "I even do the washing.  Wash, wash, wash.  Then I haul it
all outside and hang it on those white stringy things... uh,
rope?  No..., oh, line.  That's it, I hang it all on the line to
dry in the warm sun.  I never bother the foxes that... I mean,
there are no foxes living under the shed.  What ever gave you
that idea?  Honestly, if everyone believed what they'd been told
about foxes living under sheds, they'd believe in demons and
nobody really believes foxes living under sheds are demons,
right?"
     Nodoka stared incredulously.  Kumi-Kasumi really began to
sweat, gulping loudly.  The silence between them seemed to last
forever.
     "I'm calling Tofu," Nodoka said flatly, turning towards the
phone in the front hall.
     "Yes, you call... uh, whomever you said.  I'll stay here and
clean something."  Kumi-Kasumi plastered her best Kasumi smile on
her face and watched the strange woman leave.
     Once alone again, Kumi-Kasumi looked around wildly.  "I've
got to get out of here," she mumbled.  "That crazy woman's on to
me."
     Grabbing her cup of worms, she dashed for the open engawa,
only to come face-to-muzzle with 'that dog'.
     "Crap!" she snarled, just before further thoughts were
covered by the sound of the dog furiously barking.
     Spinning around, the cup of worms dropping on the engawa,
she dashed for the front door.  That was no good.  That crazy
lady was there.  Doubling back, she jumped over the dog and tore
down the hallway towards the bath.  The yapping dog and the crazy
lady's calls for the animal to be quiet chasing her deeper into
the house.
     Reaching the end of the hallway, the fox creature turned
sharply into the bath.  The dog was right behind, snarling and
barking.  Grabbing the door frame with one hand, Kumi-Kasumi
swung herself up onto the washing machine.  The dog, its claws
digging furiously at the slick tile floor, slid past and on into
the bath.  Jumping down off the washer, Kumi-Kasumi darted back
into the hall, slamming shut the door behind her.
     "Piece of cake," she said to herself.
     "Kasumi?  Are you okay?" came Nodoka's voice from the front
hallway.
     Thankful that her kind could change their respiratory rates
in an instant, Kumi-Kasumi switched on her best 'Kasumi smile' as
Nodoka rounded the turn in the hallway, that annoying dog's
constant yapping echoing in the empty bath.
     "What is all the commotion?" Nodoka asked with a concerned
frown.
     "Uh... dog.  Dirty dog.  In the bathroom," Kumi-Kasumi said
nervously.  This irritating woman was fast becoming more of an
nuisance than that idiot father.
     Nodoka sighed heavily.  "I told Akane not to allow that
animal in the house."  She shook her head.  "First it was that
pig and now this dog.  I swear, that girl.  No wonder you were in
such a hurry to put it somewhere it wouldn't track mud all over
your floor."
     Kumi-Kasumi chuckled self-consciously.  She couldn't believe
how easy this was turning out.  Now all she had to do is get rid
of this irritating mortal.
     "I think it would be best just to leave the animal in there
until Akane gets home," Nodoka said with a satisfied expression.
"Make her clean it up.  Maybe then she'll see the wisdom in
keeping it outside."
     "Umm... sure," Kumi-Kasumi replied nervously crossing her
arms without altering her 'Kasumi smile'.
     "I tried calling the clinic, but all I got was the answering
service," Nodoka said as she started back down the hall towards
the kitchen.  "I suppose it is late.  He's probably on his way
home."
     "Hope not," Kumi-Kasumi mumbled, stopping herself with the
realization that the crazy lady probably heard.
     "What was that?" Nodoka asked as she suddenly halted and
looked back over her shoulder.
     "I mean.... uh, his paperwork," Kumi-Kasumi blurt out,
almost in a panic.  "He's... uh, he's always neglecting to finish
his paperwork.  He's probably still doing all that... you know,
paperwork stuff.  He never answers the phone when he's doing his
paperwork."
     Nodoka stopped in front of the kitchen and eyed Kumi-Kasumi
with a strange expression.  "Is everything all right between you
two?"
     "Of course.  Why would you ask such a thing?"  Kumi-Kasumi
blinked and tried her best to look shocked.
     Nodoka eyed her some more before slowly nodding.  "I suppose
you're right," she said with a tiny smile.  "I'm just a little
sensitive about things like that, considering MY husband."
     The way she emphasized that last part caused Kumi-Kasumi to
fight a blank stare.  What was that woman talking about?
     "Why don't you call your husband on his cell phone," Nodoka
asked as if it was a great idea.
     Thinking quickly, Kumi-Kasumi fished about in her mind for
an reason why not.  "Can't.  Uh... his battery is dead."
     "Really?"  Nodoka shot the girl her most incredulous look.
"How do you know that?"
     "Ummm.... I tried calling him earlier and when he didn't
answer, I tried the office phone," Kumi-Kasumi said quickly as
she tried to think of the rest of her reason.  "He... uh, said
that the battery was dead and he left the charger here at home."
Not a bad excuse, if she had to say so herself.
     "Oh, I see," Nodoka said slowly before turning and walking
into the main room.  "Well, I guess I'll just wait here until he
comes home."
     Kumi-Kasumi grimaced.  That was no good.  She wanted the
mortal gone.  Too bad Fumi took the battle axe with her.  "He
probably won't be coming straight home," she said.  "He has to...
to go to the hospital to see... uh, you know, that lady."
     Nodoka's eyes went wide as her fingers flew to cover her
mouth.  "Oh, that's right!  I forgot about poor Mrs. Suzuki.
Well, that explains everything."
     "It does?" Kumi-Kasumi said with a quizzical expression.
     "Of course.  That's the reason you seem so distracted
tonight.  You must be worried about her."
     "If you say so," Kumi-Kasumi mumbled.  The only thing she
was really worried about was the possibility that this annoying
mortal was never going to leave.  Plan or no plan, that left her
with only one option - she had to get out of there herself.
"I... uh, I really need to get to..."  She blinked, desperately
trying to think of what to say.  The solution struck her like a
rock.  "I need to get to the hospital and see... uh, that lady
person."
     Nodoka's eye twitched.  This visit was obviously getting to
be too much for her.  "I see.  You're going to meet Tofu at the
hospital.  Well, I suppose I should be on my way, as well.  Are
you certain you're okay?"
     "Oh, yes, I'm just fine," Kumi-Kasumi said quickly.  "All I
have to do is get to the hospital before... uh, before it's too
late."
     "I understand completely."  Nodoka seemed to relax.  "I'll
just walk you to the bus stop."
     Kumi-Kasumi wanted to say that it wasn't necessary, but
stopped herself.  That crazy lady would probably get suspicious
again.
     "I'll help you close up the house and then we'll go."
Nodoka walked to the engawa and paused looking down with a
curious expression.  "Kasumi, why is there worms on your engawa?"
     Kumi-Kasumi suppressed a tiny 'Eeep', which was quickly
replace with, "Uh...., they're... uh, fathers!"
     "Why on earth would Soun leave a dirty mess of worms on the
engawa?"  Nodoka eyed the wriggling mass with disgust.
     "Bait," Kumi-Kasumi said.  "Fishing."
     Nodoka seemed to sigh heavily.  "How you put up with all
this nonsense is beyond me."
     "I'll clean it up later."  Kumi-Kasumi made a girlish
gesture.  "Maybe they'll craw off on their own," she said,
fighting to keep her dismay at losing her favorite snacks.
     Nodoka looked back at her daughter-in-law for a moment
before turning to the shoji with another sigh.  She tugged the
shoji to close it when it slid only a few centimeters before
jamming solid.
     Kumi-Kasumi hung her head.  Her favorite snacks were gone,
that stupid dog was still yapping back in the bath, and now that
irritating woman can't even close a simple sliding wall.  This
wasn't turning out to be as much fun as she was led to believe.
Moreover, she couldn't fathom how the real Kasumi put up with all
this nonsense day in and day out.
     "Kasumi dear, could you help me with this?  It appears to be
stuck.  I've told Soun over and over he needs to make sure the
tracks are clean so the shoji slides smoothly," Nodoka said as
she threw her entire weight against the stuck panel.
     Kumi-Kasumi groaned to herself.  Walking over to where
Nodoka was struggling with the wall, she placed a hand on the
wall's frame.  With a flick of her wrist, it slammed shut.
     Nodoka blinked, first at the shoji and then at Kumi-Kasumi.
"How...?" she began.
     "Vitamins," Kumi-Kasumi said flatly.  "Lots and lots of
vitamins."
     "Those must be some vitamins," Nodoka muttered.  "I better
speak to Tofu about their effect on you."
     Without responding, Kumi-Kasumi returned to the kitchen and
quickly produced a replica of the purse she once saw the real
Kasumi carry.  Turning to the still shocked Mrs. Saotome, she
painfully smiled.  "Shall we go?"  


     Nabiki Tendo-Lawrence sat alone on her darkened sun porch.
A rapidly cooling cup of coffee slowly rotated back and forth
between her fingers as she stared blankly into the night.  It had
been hours since Sodoshi Tanaka had assured her everything would
be taken care of, but was still filled with doubts and regret.
     Jeffrey seemed to understand her situation and made sure
that their daughter was kept occupied.  He volunteered to take
her to gymnastics practice and even planned on taking her and a
few friends to Circus Pizza afterwards.  That gave Nabiki time to
be alone with her thoughts.
     With a sigh, she shook her head.  It was all in her best
friend's hands now.  There was nothing more she could do.  Her
bags were packed and she had her airline reservation confirmed
for the next morning so she would at least be able to attend the
funeral.  It wasn't exactly what she hoped for, but would have to
do.
     It was getting late and she just about to take her shower
when the room lit up like a flash bulb going off.
     When her eyes adjusted to the darkness again, she found
herself facing her daughter's guardian spirit.  Still floating a
few feet off the floor, Sodoshi Tanaka knelt on one knee, with
her head bowed and her opposite fist on what would have been
floor level for her.
     "Is... Is it over?" Nabiki managed to ask in a tiny voice,
almost too afraid of the answer.
     "No, clan sister," Sodoshi replied in her usual ethereal
voice that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at the same
time.  "The plan is in place but it requires the assistance of a
mortal."
     "A mortal?"  Nabiki blinked for a few moments, like she
wasn't sure just what to make of the reference.  "You mean me?"
     Sodoshi's head tilted to the side as her eyes rose to meet
Nabiki's.  An embarrassed smile graced her beautiful face.
"Could you make a phone call for me?"

     When Sodoshi popped back in hospital, behind the privacy
curtains where the fox creatures were hiding, she noticed that
something was different.
     Fumi quickly tried to hide a softball-sized glowing ball
behind her back.  Both fox creatures displayed nervous grins.
     "What is that?" Sodoshi demanded.
     "What is what?" Fumi asked innocently.
     "That glowing..."  Sodoshi's jaw dropped open.  Slowly, she
turned to the bed.  An old man's body was in it, laying limp and
still.  "What did you do to him?" she growled.
     "Nothin'," Fumi whined.
     "Did you take his soul?" Sodoshi asked in a low, threatening
voice.
     "Well..., sorta.  You see, he was bothering me."  Fumi
shifted nervously like she wanted to make a run for it.  She had
to know where Sodoshi Tanaka was involved, there was no place to
run.
     "So you took his soul?"  Sodoshi's astonished expression
matched her question.
     "He wouldn't shut up," Fumi whined in protest.
     "Put it back!"
     "But --"
     "NOW!"  Sodoshi began to glow.
     "Oh, all right!"  Fumi stomped over to the hospital bed and
yanked open the dead man's jaw.
     With a look of disgust, she shoved the glowing ball down his
throat.  She didn't stop there.  Pushing further she was soon up
to her elbow.
     "What's taking you so long?" Sodoshi demanded impatiently.
     Fumi continued to rummage around, pushing the ball ever
deeper inside the man's body.  "I know how to take 'em out.  I've
never had to put one back."  She grimaced as her arm slid deeper.
"Geez, these humans are all squishy inside."
     Sodoshi groaned, closed her eyes and shook her head in
disbelief.  What ever possessed her to think these guys would be
any help?
     "Boy, he's really a mess in here," Fumi said, her arm so
deep inside the old man's body, her shoulder nudged his nose.
"If I can just move things around a bit, - Ah!  Got it."
     With a loud slurp, her arm popped out of the old man's
mouth.  Fumi grimaced as she shook her arm and tried to squeegee
off the slime left behind.
     "Are you done?" Sodoshi demanded.  Her face had developed a
nervous twitch watching Fumi's antics.
     Fumi continued to wipe her arm, this time with the old man's
bed covers.  "Yeah.  I guess so."  She wandered over to stand
next to Yumi-Nabiki.
     "How was it?" her friend asked.
     "Gross," came Fumi's reply.  "He was all stopped up with
something.  I had to move stuff around, clean out a few spots,
and reroute a few places, but I got it back where it belonged - I
think."
     With a loud gasp the old man's body went rigid, arching his
back off the bed for only a moment before collapsing.  Several
seconds passed as he lay there, gasping as if he had run a
marathon.
     The fox creatures exchanged glances.  "Um, are you okay?"
Yumi-Nabiki asked.
     The old man drew a deep breath.  "I feel...  I feel...  I
FEEL GREAT!" he crowed, stretching his arms up high.
     "Good for you," Fumi dead panned.
     The old man lifted up his covers to peek at what else was
now working right.  "Well, well, well, looks like everything is
back to normal."  He leered at the women.  "Haven't had a stiffie
like this it over twenty years."
     "I think I liked him better dead," Yumi-Nabiki said with a
sour expression.
     The old man wasn't finished.  "Hey, sweetie, you wanna try
out the new equipment?" he asked Yumi-Nabiki.
     "You've GOT to be kidding," she replied.  "Besides, didn't
you wet the bed earlier?"
     "Oh, that's all right."  The old man winked her way.  "We
can clean off in the shower together."
     "I'd rather deep throat a Yomi creature."
     Sodoshi had finally had enough.  "IF YOU DON'T SHUT UP,
I'LL... I'll feed you to the nurses!" she yelled.
     The old man blinked a few times and slowly pulled his covers
up until only his eyes were still visible.  "Okay," he replied in
a tiny voice.  "Maybe later."
     "NO!" the three shouted back loud enough to cause him to
duck back under the covers.
     "Sheesh," Fumi fumed.  "I haven't had this much trouble
since the Feudal era.  "Remember that monk we seduced?" she asked
Yumi-Nabiki.  "You know, the one that always hung out with that
white-haired demon boy."
     "Oh, yeah," her friend replied.  "Not bad for a guy with
vows of chastity.  Too bad he had a thing for that demon hunter
girl."
     "Knock it off, you two," Sodoshi ordered, peeking out
through the closed privacy curtains.  "The nurse is coming."
     The three supernatural beings watched as a nurse bent over
to say something to Akane, still seated next to the old lady's
bed.  Slowly, Akane nodded and got up to follow the nurse back
out of the ward.
     "Okay, now's your chance," Sodoshi loud whispered as Akane
and the nurse left.  "Get over there and get the job done.
You've got ten minutes."
     "How do you know that?" Fumi asked.
     "Because the real Nabiki agreed to keep her sister on the
phone that long.  Now, GET GOING!"
     The two fox creatures scurried from cover and over to the
old lady's bed.  Yumi-Nabiki assumed her position on the chair
vacated by Akane and gently took Mrs. Suzuki's limp hand.
     "Hurry up," Fumi hissed from the other side of the curtains.
     With an irritated sigh, Yumi-Nabiki reached over and softly
tapped the old lady's forehead with a finger.
     For a few moments, nothing appeared to happen.  Just as she
was about to try something else, Mrs. Suzuki's eyes fluttered and
slowly opened.
     When her eyes caught on Yumi-Nabiki, the old woman smiled.
"I knew you'd come," she croaked with a tired voice that sounded
like it hadn't been used in some time.  "I knew you wouldn't
forget your BaBa."
     Yumi-Nabiki forced a painful smile, her brow knitted in
concern.  "Yes," she whispered.
     "I can die now, knowing you are here," Mrs. Suzuki said in a
voice that sounded weaker than before.
     "You've got seven minutes," Fumi said from behind the
curtain.
     "What?"  Mrs. Suzuki blinked and turned her head towards the
curtain.
     "It's nothing," Yumi-Nabiki said.  "Just the wind."
     "Six and a half minutes."
     Mrs. Suzuki blinked again.  "Is that a goddess I hear?"
     "Uh... why not?"  Yumi-Nabiki shot Fumi an irritated frown.
"I think Belldandy is on a tight schedule tonight."
     "Oh, I see."  The old lady drew a deep, ragged breath.  "I
know that you will take care of everything, Nabiki.  You were the
closest I ever had to a granddaughter."
     Yumi-Nabiki hesitated.  What was that woman talking about?
Take care of what?  "Uh... Kasumi and Akane will help see that
everything is... ummm..., done properly."
     "Yes, you and your sisters have made my last years on this
earth most pleasant."  Mrs. Suzuki shuddered and appeared to be
having difficulty breathing.
     "Shhhh," Yumi-Nabiki said softly.  "Don't talk.  Just close
your eyes and think of the beautiful place you wish to be.  And
do it quick, we're running out of time."
     Placing her hand flat on the old woman's chest.  She could
feel the woman's lungs struggling to take in another breath and
her heart beating erratically.
     "Five minutes," Fumi hissed.
     "All right," Yumi-Nabiki snapped.  "What, are you getting
paid by the minute?"
     "Hey, you get to go home after this," Fumi growled.  "I have
to escort her spirit to the afterlife."
     "You're not going to do that goofy river crossing bit, are
you?"  Yumi-Nabiki wrinkled her nose at the thought of the
traditional Buddhist judgement ritual.  She didn't like the
demons that were in charge of that activity.  They were so full
of themselves.
     "Naw, that only happens when the spirit hangs around until
the body is burned."  Fumi poked her head around the curtain.
"We got to her first, so we gotta do the transport."  She frowned
at the still-living Mrs. Suzuki.  "Four minutes."
     With a sigh, Yumi-Nabiki's hand on the woman's chest began
to glow.  Brighter and brighter it got until the woman's entire
body was illuminated.
     "What are you doing?" Fumi gasped.  "We're not supposed to
kill her.  By the way, three and a half minutes."
     "Have to," Yumi-Nabiki said with a frown.  "We're out of
time."
     "You get to have all the fun," Fumi grumped.
     Mrs. Suzuki drew one final breath.  With a crooked smile
that resembled the one the real Nabiki often wore, she slowly
exhaled and lay still.  
     The monitor next to her changed from its slow rhythmic
beeping to a single mournful tone.
     "She's all yours," Yumi-Nabiki said, disengaging her hand
from the old woman's lifeless grip.
     "How are you getting out of here?" Fumi asked as she stepped
next to the bed.
     "Simple," Yumi said as her body shimmered and changed into a
common housefly.
     "Cute," Fumi replied.  "I'll meet you back at the ranch and
don't drink all the Coke this time."
     With an irritated buzz, Yumi circled the bed once and headed
for the window.
     Fumi sighed and slowly transformed into a fairly accurate
likeness of Belldandy.  Satisfied with her appearance, she waved
her hand over the lifeless body.  "Okay, let's snap it up.  We
gotta get out of here."
     The body glowed briefly, its luminescence forming into a
glowing ball.  It hovered for a few brief moments over the body,
as if undecided about leaving, before shooting straight up
through the ceiling.
     "Hey, wait for me," Fumi yelled as she flew out the window.
She could hear the doors opening behind her and nurses hurrying
into the room to check on the late Mrs. Suzuki.
     Chasing Mrs. Suzuki's spirit, Fumi noticed she was falling
behind.  "It's got to be all these clothes," she concluded.
Transforming into someone a little sleeker, she soon caught up
with the glowing spirit ball.  "Now, this is more like it."  She
took her eyes off the ball long enough to admire her slinky new
outfit.  "I make a pretty good Urd, if I do say so myself.  I
always liked her better anyway."
     The two wove their way around the buildings of Tokyo and
were soon beyond the metropolitan area, heading deeper into the
countryside.
     "Will you pick a spot already!" Fumi-Urd yelled.  "I'm
getting tired.
     As if in answer to her admonishment, the ball slowed, darted
left and then right before dropping lower towards the ground.
     Fumi-Urd followed until they slowed over an old graveyard.
Looking around, she hovered just above the ground, her hands on
her hips.  "Oh, come on.  You can do better than this," she said
in a voice that even sounded like the Anime character.
     As if it understood her impatience, the ball suddenly turned
and headed for a nearby old shrine.  Like an obedient puppy, it
slowly lowered itself to the ground and waited.
     "Finally," Fumi-Urd said.  "So, this is the gate you've
chosen to enter the spirit realm."  She scowled at the
dilapidated shrine.  "Not much to look at."
     Mrs. Suzuki's spirit ball hovered inches above the ground,
as if it was undecided about entering.
     "Okay, let's get on with it.  I've got other things to do,
you know."  Fumi-Urd planted her fists on her shapely hips and
bent over to frown at the ball of light.
     Without warning, it darted towards the shrine's fourth step.
Fumi-Urd barely had time to snag it with an outstretched hand.
Instead of slowing it down, the unprepared supernatural Anime
character was snatched off her feet.
     She was just starting to resist when the ball, still in her
grasp, passed through the solid stone stair.  Her own
supernatural body was yanked hard against the unrelenting solid
object.
     "Not so fast.  I'm not--"  Her protests were cut off by the
ball slamming her body against the stairway.  "I need to--"
Again the ball pulled her against the stairs.  "Will you wait a
minute?"
     Surprisingly, the spirit ball complied and stopped its
forward rush.  With one arm stuck through the solid stone step,
Fumi-Urd scowled and briskly adjusted her thin dress.
     "This will only take a moment," she said, closing her eyes
and concentrating on the molecular frequency of the stone.  It
took several seconds to synchronize her spiritual form to the
barrier, but just as the spiritual ball was beginning to act
impatient again, she felt herself meld with the obstruction.
Like she was being pulled through soft butter, she slid slowly
forward until the ball again lurched, snapping her form through
with a loud 'pop'.
     Passing into the spirit realm was always a stomach-churning
experience for her kind.  This time was no exception.  Flashing
lights, blobs of protoplasm, and an occasional sub-demon whizzed
past Fumi-Urd in a dizzying display that reminded her of an old
Star Trek show.
     It was quickly becoming too much for her, supernatural being
or not.  Her stomach churned almost to the point of discharging
her last meal.  When would this stupid passage ever end?
     She was just about to give in and risk soiling her Urd
costume when everything went black.  The globe slowed and
appeared to stop.
     With a burp, her hand quickly covering her mouth in case it
turned into something more explosive, Fumi-Urd blinked her
watering eyes and gulped the fresh air that suddenly surrounded
her.  Wherever she was, it was better than that awful transition
zone.
     Abruptly a new scene popped into focus as she was suddenly
released from the ball.  Hanging in the air for only a moment -
long enough to notice she was still ten feet or so above what
appeared to be solid ground, she dropped, her arms flailing, to
crash in a field of knee-height grass.
     "Ow," she mumbled, trying to move.  This had to be their
destination.  It certainly felt real enough to her.  Painfully
so.
     What happened to the glowing spirit ball was momentarily
forgotten as she struggled to roll over.  Flopping onto her back,
she stared at the sky.  It was deep blue with fluffy white
clouds.  If nothing else, it looked like a pleasant day in
wherever they were.
     Groaning, Fumi-Urd sat up, long strands of grass and weeds
sticking out of every crevice.  If she wasn't a supernatural
being, that last drop probably would have killed her.
     "The better be your desired destination," she grumbled,
staggering to her feet.  "I'm not taking you any further."
Wiggling at the discomfort caused by all the grass down her
dress, she almost missed noticing that the glowing ball had
disappeared.  In its place was a young woman, not more than
seventeen or eighteen, staring at a clump of trees about a
hundred yards away.
     "Fine, ignore me," Fumi-Urd grumped.  "It's not like I did
anything for you."  Reaching inside her dress, she pulled out
some stray grass.  "I'm covered with this crap."  Pulling the
front of her dress away from her body, she almost stuffed her
face down the opening and frowned at her breasts.  "What ARE
those things for, anyway."
     "I know this place," the young woman said.  "It's...
It's..."
     "Where you always dreamed of being after you died.  That's
how it's SUPPOSED to work," Fumi-Urd grumbled, shaking her dress
to dislodge grass that stubbornly refused to release its grip on
her body.  The constant itching was driving her crazy.
     The young woman began to point towards the trees when she
hesitated.  Slowly bringing both hands up in front of her face,
she turned them over and back, her mouth open and her eyes wide.
She quickly touched her face, her fingers gently caressing the
smooth skin on her cheeks.  "I'm young again," she gasped.
     "Yeah, that's the deal," Fumi-Urd replied with a grumpy
voice.  She was fishing around inside her dress with a hand
trying to remove the last of the itchy grass.  "You get the form
you wish for when you die."
     "That means...."  The young woman looked around her like she
was seeing familiar scenes from long ago.  "I'm home!"
     "Yeah, yeah, yeah, home.  Whoopee," Fumi-Urd mumbled, her
long silver hair, still sporting blades of long grass, covered
her face.  "Can I go now?"
     "Tomoko!" came a man's voice from the hill ahead.
     "Oh, NOW what?" Fumi-Urd grumped.
     Mrs. Suzuki gasped aloud.  "It's... my husband."
     "Good for you," Fumi-Urd mumbled, plucking a few more blades
of long, itchy grass from her sleeve.
     Oblivious to the indifferent supernatural being, the man
dropped the bundle of wood he had been carrying and rushed
headlong towards the young Mrs. Suzuki.  Fumi-Urd just continued
to pluck grass and bugs from her person.  That stupid ghost
didn't tell her about this part.
     The two lovers came together only yards from Fumi-Urd,
melding into a kiss that seemed to span the years life they had
been apart.
     "I've missed you so much," Mrs. Suzuki gasped as she held
her husband tight to her young body.
     "I've been waiting for you all these years," the young man
replied as he stroked her hair.  "You remember the home we had
here when we were first married?  It's been waiting for you, as
well.  Everything is exactly as you remember it."
     "If you two are through with me, I've got to get back before
that idiot Kumi eats all my worms."  Without waiting for either
of the young lovers to respond, Fumi-Urd transformed into a
dragonfly.  Hovering a moment, taking in her surroundings through
her annoying bug eyes, she settled on a direction and buzzed off.
     Moments later, she buzzed back and transformed again into
her Urd disguise.  "Excuse me," she asked sheepishly.  "Do either
of you know the way out?"

     Nabiki stepped out of the shower and was just reaching for a
towel, when a bright light flashed briefly, announcing the
arrival of Sodoshi Tanaka.
     As her eyes adjusted, Nabiki stood a bit surprised at her
friend's sudden appearance, not to mention the awkward location.
     Sodoshi kneeled on one knee inches above the floor, he head
bowed.  "It is done, clan sister," she said, her voice echoing
strangely in the small room.
     Still dripping wet, her hand frozen inches from a plush bath
towel, Nabiki stood naked with one foot on the bath mat and the
other still in the shower.
     When Sodoshi dared to look up at her clan elder, her eyes
went wide.  "Ooops," she said before blushing, causing the room
to glow pink.
     Shaken from her surprise, Nabiki quickly snatched the towel
and covered herself.  "Then she's...?" she ventured to ask,
wiping her wet hair from in front of her eyes.
     "Yes, clan sister," Sodoshi replied, still blushing.
     "Is... is she where she wishes to be?  Is she happy?"
     Sodoshi considered for a moment before looking at her clan
elder with a single raised eyebrow.  "Happy?  That I cannot say.
However, she *is* where she wished to be."
     Tucking the towel securely around her body, Nabiki nodded.
"When she died, did she know my presence?"
     "Your stand-in was there holding her hand when she died,"
Sodoshi admitted.  "I believe she was aware of your presence."
     Like a great weight had been lifted, Nabiki drew a deep
breath and slowly exhaled.  It wasn't exactly the way she wanted
for her Baba, but if the woman thought Nabiki was there, then she
probably died in peace.
     "Thank you," Nabiki said, her voice barely a whisper.  
     "Is there anything else I can do, clan sister?" Sodoshi
asked, still kneeling just above the bathroom floor.
     "I won't ask who you got to be my double."  Nabiki hugged
herself and looked at her reflection in the mirror.  She looked
older than just a few days ago.  "But I can probably guess."
     Sodoshi started to say something, before catching herself
and bowing lower in an effort to avoid meeting her elder's gaze.
"I better return to my duties."
     Still looking at her reflection, Nabiki nodded.  "Yes, that
would be best," she replied with the sudden realization that she
sounded just like Kasumi.  Maybe that wasn't such a bad thing -
sometimes.
     Just as Sodoshi was about to blink out of normal space,
Nabiki said softly, "Be sure to thank the fox creatures for me.
I'm sure they didn't help willingly."
     Stunned, Sodoshi froze in mid-dissolve.  "How did you...?"
     With a sly smile, Nabiki regarded the flummoxed spirit with
a wry smile.  "Who else could have pulled this off?  I know you
couldn't do it alone.  You said so yourself."
     With a ghostly sigh that echoed through the bath like a
haunted house, Sodoshi chuckled silently.  "I see our elder is
truly a wise jonin.  I have renewed hope for the clan," she said
with a respectful bow.
     As she faded from view, Sodoshi offered one last thought.
"By the way, I understand now why Jeffrey always wears a smile on
his face."
     "Sodoshi!" Nabiki gasped, pulling the towel tighter around
her body.  Only Sodoshi's light laughter, fading into the
distance, answered her indignant response.  With a sigh, she
mumbled to herself, "What am I going to do with her."
     She began to dry her hair, thinking about how she would
reward the three creatures that always seemed to be helping her
family when there came a light knock at the bathroom door.
Switching off her hair dryer, she open the door to find her
daughter standing there regarding her with large brown eyes.
     "Yes?" she asked.
     "Mom, Spirit Sodoshi was in my room again," she said, more
like she was noting a common occurrence than something
remarkable.
     "She was probably checking up on you," Nabiki replied,
dropping to one knee in front of her daughter.
     "Yeah, I guess so."  Little Sodoshi hugged her stuffed cat
and fidgeted as if something was on her mind.
     "Is there something wrong?"
     Sodoshi glanced around the bath, like she was looking for
something.  "Mom, what's an 'impressive rack?'  She said you had
one.  Can I see it?"


     Shortly after midnight, three shadowy figures crouched
outside the Lawrence, Inc. office door.
     "Come on!" one loud whispered as if afraid to raise his
voice.  "I thought you knew how to pick a lock."
     "Patience," the other replied as he carefully probed the
door lock with a pick.  "These things take time."
     "Which we don't have a lot of," the first one hissed.
"Brother Hitachi was good enough to hack in to the Lawrence
Company security system and put it off line, but we don't know
how long that will last."
     "Yeah, they arrest even monks in America for doing something
like this," Brother Suzuki grumbled as he looked anxiously back
down the darkened hall.
     "Brother, they arrest monks just about *anywhere* for doing
this," Brother Honda corrected.
     With a satisfied grin, he twisted the pick slightly and
turned the door knob.  With a soft 'click', the door swung open.



To be continued.....