With a sigh she returned to the here and now. She silently hoped she could get everyone out of this situation alive. She knew the others didn't trust her fully but it didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was saving her daughter. Everyone else and everything else came in a distant second in her mind.
Natsu made her way back to the Fukushuu compound, the fading daylight providing cover and making it much easier to sneak around. Reaching a wall she knew to be on a side where Ito's office was, she begins to scale it, headed for the broken window she'd sent Atsuko through.
The "tough girl" act when she was with Ito was just that, an act. A cover for her true purpose to use Ito's resources to gain information on "Team Ranma" as her master called them. Her mission was complete, but she'd no idea that Ito was such a cruel person, and the fact that she had inadvertently played a role in Ito's twisted vendetta against the Seikaze family was weighing heavily on her mind. She couldn't leave things the way they stood.
Her poison wasn't as lethal as she'd led Ito to believe it just slowed the body's condition down to a coma like state for a few weeks. But the unforeseen condition Ito had put the child in could very well make it fatal. She had to fix that before it was to late.
She prepared to enter through the broken window of Ito's office but ducked back when she saw the back of Ito's head as he was sitting in his chair idly tossing darts around his prisoner's head, toying with him.
"Damn!" she thought, "I need a distraction"
Atsuko and the others were nearing Ito's office when she suddenly stopped. The teenagers bumped into her back and it took a moment for them to untangle themselves. They all looked at her expectantly. "Change in tactics, we need to split up"
"What?" Akane snapped, irritated at the delay. She stepped toward the woman, her hammer appearing in her hand.
Ukyo placed a calming hand on Akane’s wrist. "Wait! I think she has a point, Akane." Ukyo spoke softly and calmingly to her rival. "If we split up Ito will have a harder time tracking us. More than one group will spilt his forces."
"Right," Atsuko said, nodding. "The first group would distract and confuse the guard patrols long enough for the second group to free the others."
After a little debating it is decided that Mousse, Shampoo, and Ryoga would be the decoy team while the others continued on.
Ranma and Suteko were working their way through the compound's ventilation ducts, Ranma following Suteko's lead. She was relying more on gut instinct than her actual knowledge of the mansion. She hoped Ito hadn't done anything more to Hanzou. Hurting her was one thing, but Ito going after an innocent kid just to get what he wanted was inexcusable.
Ranma, not having seen how his sister reacted when he had been captured, at first wasn’t sure why she was so tense. They had obviously gotten past Ito’s guards and were making it throug the halls with none the wiser. He did know that she took Ito’s plans as a personal hit to her honor. She had come to like the kid who had been captured a lot. Sh was so tense that hethought she just might overreact when they did get to where they were going. He knew he had to attempt to ease her frustrations. "Don't worry sis, I bet the others got to him before Ito did." He made sure to make his voice as confident as he could.
Her voice drifted back, much quieter. "I hope so Ranma, I hope so."
Hanzou was barely conscious, for what it was worth, after Ito returned form gloating over Ranma and Suteko. The injured boy didn't even notice Ito was in the room with him. His whole body felt numb except for the areas where he was injured.
Though it was hard to think, he reasoned that if it were not for his cursed form he would have died long ago. The way he felt, dizzy and weak, he was sure it was only delaying the final outcome. He was having difficulty breathing and his limbs felt like lead. His only hope was that Ukyo would realize he's been gone for a while and come look for him. He wouldn't blame them if they didn't though. He had to admit to himself that he had been a complete pain in the ass the past few days.
His only hope was to somehow use his family technique to get out of his bonds, he knew it wasn't a good plan but he was out of options. Focusing the little strength he had left he concentrated slowly phasing out of his bonds, then finally collapsing on the ground on his side, driving the shaft in his shoulder deeper causing him to let out a choked scream.
Ito noticed immediately and walked over. Looking down at the injured boy, he spoke thoughtfully, "Ah so you still have some life in you eh?" We'll have to fix that." He pulled back his leg, perparing to kick the child in the ribs.
It was then that the doors to his office were kicked in. Startled for a split second, Ito looked up and then quickly vanished from sight. He waited, knoewing full well who it was, and bided his time. The strike would be perfecting timed. Like all of his moves so far..
Atsuko, Akane and Ukyo entered the office. Atsuko looked about surprised. Ito was no where to be seen. She had really expected him to be in here, enjoying his prisoner. Something kept her on edge though. Like the ghost of his cologne on the air.
Ukyo let out a cry as spotted her cousin on the ground, blood pooled about him. She rushed over to him, tears flying from her face as she did so.
"This is a trap, I know it" Atsuko murmured.
Ukyo gently lifted Hanzou's head in her hands and cradled him next to her chest. She rocked him for a moment and then gently put his head down. In a swift jerking movement she pull the crossbow bolt from his body. At the spurt of blood she looked down at her hand and then his body. A choked sound came up from her chest as she broke down into a sob.
Akane moved to her side and knelt down next to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Ukyo, give him the antidote," Akane whispered softly.
Ukyo managed to regain a little of her composure and nodded. She pulled out the tiny vial and barely had it to his lips when she felt her head struck from behind. The sudden pain made her jerk and the vial spun out of her hand, sending the antidote shattering on the floor.
Ito looked down and smiled, his staff in his hand. "So it seems the dog has found new masters." Ito sneered at Atsuko, anger evident in his cold eyes.
Atsuko took one step backwards. She had never had his wrath pointed toward her before. It was almost a palitable presence in the room She swallowed and then pulled up her flagging courage. "No, Grandfather. I've just seen the wrong I've done!" Atsuko answered back.
Above them in the ventalation ducts Suteko paused in her foreward moment. Strainging, she could just hear the sound of Ito and Atsuko exchanging words. Focusing on the sound of her mother’s voice, she crawled toward the grate to her left. To her surprise, there below her she can see her mother and Ito fighting. Though the woman has some ability she can see that Atsuko is being hard pressed to defend herself against the much better Ito. Without a thought, Suteko ripped the grate from its housing and dropped down to the floor almost soundlessly, heading for her mother.
Not believing his normally calm and thoughtful sister just pulled a move like he would, Ranma cursed silently and followed her.
"Ito!" Suteko growled as she tried to get past the others and attack the one person she truly hated. At her cry everyone in the room briefly froze in place. As the young people tried to decipher what just happened, Ito took advantage of the situation. He jammed his staff in to Atsuko's unprotected stomach, sending her sailing into Akane.
Outside the room Natsu watched the interplay with interest. "Any moment now," she whispered and then she saw her chance. She let go with one hand from her grip on the wall and reached into her pouch. Carefully she pulled out several small metal orbs. With a grin she tossed them into the room. As they hit the floor they broke open and createc a blinding flash, temporarily blinding all inside the room. She then pulled herself into the room and darted across to where Hanzou lay, injected something from a small syringe into his arm, then quickly leaped back to Ito's side while everyone else was still blinded.
Ito was the first to regain his sight. He looked about and counted up the heads in the room. With the addition of his great grandchildren the odds had moved out of his favor. Never one to take more of a chance than necessary to control a situation he quickly formed a plan. Springing across the room he grabbed Ukyo from behind, placing his arm across her throat in a choke hold.
Slowly the others shoke off the dazzlement from their eyes. Suteko’s vision cleared faster than the rest and she was looking right where Hanzou should have been lying. The boy was missing! Darting her eyes about she noticed her mother was missing from the room also. She repressed a single leap of hope. Her mother could have removed the boy to safety or she could be following Ito’s orders once more. She would wait till she knew for sure. She nodded to Ranma as he too noticed the missing members.
Ito smiled as he saw the others notice who was missing. He knew that his granddaughter had once more betrayed him but the others didn’t. It was time to throw a wrench in the woman’s plans. "As you can all see, I always have …how do the Americans say? An ace up my sleeve. Either way I win, by now Atsuko has killed the boy for me, which will complete my revenge on the Seikaze clan, and I can easily kill this fine young thing here if you do not obey me. Either way I get my revenge" His voice was full of truimpt.
Enough to convince Suteko that he was telling the truth. Inwardly she curses and swore that she would stop her mother from ever harming another innocent soul. No matter the cost to herself.
It was as he was gloating that Ito noticed Natsu standing by his side. Without taking his eyes off of the three teens in the room he spoke to her. "I seemed to have misjudged you Natsu. You are indeed a good tool," he praised her, like he would a fine hound. He turned his full attention back to the other teens as he noticed them preparing to rush him in his momentary distraction. He tightened his grip on Ukyo enough to make the chef gasp, clawing at his arm for air. "I'd stop if I were you, unless you want me to snap her neck," he ordered coldly. He smiled as he got the desired response.
Natsu nodded at the complement, "Thank sir, I let them think I was injured so they would think their pathetic rescue attempt would succeed."
Twisting in the massive older man’s hands, "Let me go you jackass!" Ukyo croaked.
"You heard her, let her go you coward!" Akane shouted, bringing her largest mallet from hammerspace.
"It's us you want!" Ranma and Suteko both yelled hoping to play on his desire for them.
Ito contemplated his options with a sly smile. It was very gratifying to have his grandchildren in his power once more. Quickly he decided his next action and handed Ukyo to Natsu. "If they so much as blink, kill the girl," Ito ordered.
Natsu silently nodded. "Both you and your brother come towards me and turn around," Ito demanded as he stepped in front of Natsu,. He was focused enough on the two objects of his desire that he did not notice Natsu was secretly whispering something into Ukyo's ear.
Ryoga, Shampoo, and Mousse were fighting some of Ito's guards in the basement, and holding their own. They had gotten lost following Ryouga’s led.
"This stupid," Shampoo growled as she brought her bonbori down on one of the guards heads, "We no should follow lost boy."
"Shut up! How am I supposed to know where the exit is in this stupid mansion?" Ryoga answered barely dodging an attack by a sword wielder, the blow braking a thin brass pipe. Ryoga then punched his attacker in the jaw knocking the last guard out.
"How dare you speak to my darling Shampoo like that!" Mousse shouted, not paying attention to the faint gas smell from the pipe, but Ryoga and Shampoo did.
"Keiranken!" Mousse shouted tossing the exploding eggs at Ryoga.
"No Mousse! No do that!" Shampoo shouted, but it was too late, quickly Mousse realized his mistake. He prepared to duck but felt himself being dragged by the arms toward the exit as the explosion of fire followed them down the hall, hot on their heels.
Upstairs in Ito's office the rumble of the explosion is heard, slightly knocking everyone off balance. Natsu saw her chance in the momentary distaction of Ito and released Ukyo. She then lobbed a dagger at her former employer, scoring a slash on his shoulder. Ukyo attempted to follow up with an attack from her giant spatula but by then Ito was on his guard and leapt away.
Every head in the room turns about as a servant is heard yelling, "FIRE! FIRE!"
"If you are lucky and get to the hospital, you may just live, that poison is three times more potent than what I used on the boy," Natsu said coldly as she leapt out the window.
"Damn you, you bitch!" Ito cursed, turning his gaze to Suteko, Ranma and Akane. They were all in a defensive stance, bracketting Ukyo, who was behind him.
"Give it up Ito, you're through terrorizing us!" Suteko said confidently, hoping that this nightmare was finally over.
"You aren't to confident without your knife chick are ya!" Ranma tautned.
Ito gave Ranma a withering glance and then spoke in his usual confident tones. "Boy I still win. The Seikaze boy is dead, and I have all the time in the world to get you, my toy. And I will deal with your sister at my leisure once you are mine." with that he vanished.
Ranma snarled, leaping for the spot Ito last stood, Suteko a step behind. The both pulled up as the house shook once more. "C'mon, this house is on fire, we hafta go!" Akane shouted over the repeated explostions.
"NO! Not without Hanzou!" Ukyo shouted, as she ran toward the door.
"He's gone Ukyo!" Ranma said gently as he tapped her sleep spot. Catching her in his arms he slung her over his shoulder and jumped out the window, the two other girls following suit.
Later at Ucchans…
Ukyo sat at one of the booths sobbing. Ranma stood to the side, uneasy, looking from his best friend’s tear streaked face to his fiance’s slightly annoyed one. Suteko had an arm around Ukyo’s shoulder, tryingto comfort her and after a moment Akane joined her on the other side, gently patted Ukyo’s back..
"I can't believe we trusted her," Akane said quietly over Ukyo’s bowed head.
Suteko looked across the quivering shoulders at Akane with an almost unreadable expression on her face. Akane shivered momentarily at the lack of emotion in the green eyes. "I ha almost forgiven my mother. But now I can’t. I will make her pay for her part in this," Suteko said grimly.
Akane turned her eyes away from Suteko’s as the older girl dropped back to comfort Ukyo with soft words. She turned her eyes to Ranma with concern clear in her brown eyes. Ranma nodded. He understood both her question and what his sister meant to do.
A short while later, after Ukyo had finally ran out of tears for a while the phone rang. The others looked to Ukyo who let is ring for a few long moments before she had the strength to pick it up. "H-hello?" She choked out of her sore throat.
After a few minutes she dropped the phone and sprints toward the door. Stunned for a moment the others stare after her. The first to recover Ranma jumps in front of her, stopping her headlong progress out of the restuarant. "What’s up?" Ranma asked.
"That was a nurse at a hospital, they say they found my cousin,…said some strange woman dropped him off…" Ukyo said breathlessly, pushing Ranma out of the way and running off into the night.
Akane and Ranma looked at each other and jumped out after her, catching up in a few moment. Suteko was a few steps behind them, her mind working furiously. A thought came to her, making her heart leap a little but she pushed it down, shaking her head. "No, it couldn't be…"
At the hospital the teenagers waiting for a doctor to see them. Ukyo paced about the room like a trapped animal and Akane stood beside Ranma, with an anxious look on her face. Suteko stood by a window, looking out of it, her expression closed. Ranma could see the mixed emotions racing over his best friend’s face, he wanted desperately to say something to comfort her but couldn't find the words.
A tall thin man with glasses and a lab coat entered the room, a clipboard in his hands. He looked about, blinking a bit. "Ms. Kuonji?" he started, not sure which of the young women he needed to speak to.
"Hai?" Ukyo answered, hope in her eyes.
"Well," the doctor looked down at his clipboard. "Your cousin, is in critical condition right now, we've managed to close the wounds, and whatever toxin is in him is slowly being counteracted. He is lucky to be alive. But at the moment he is in a coma, and has a fifty- fifty chance of waking up." He turned over the sheets on the clipboard. "Strangest thing is a few weeks ago an elderly man with the same poisoning was checked in, we expect him to recover though."
Suteko waited for Ukyo to ask the doctor questions. When the girl did she quietly broke into the silence. "Sir, the woman who brought him in. What did she look like?" The doctor proceeded to give her an exact description of her mother. Suteko’s face grew more still as the doctor continued. "Where is she now?"
"Oh…she is being examined. She had a few minor injuries, lacerations but nothing major," the doctor answered.
Suteko moved away from the window. "Can you tell me where she is now?"
"I'm sorry it is against hospital policy," the doctor answered coolly. That was until she grabbed him by the collar.
"Tell me!" she demanded in a low and angry voice..
Surprised and a bit frightened the doctor quickly complied, He watched as Suteko leaft the room. Ranma started to follow her, quickly tossing an apology to the doctor for his sister when Akane stopped him.
"No, Ranma, this is something she probably wants to do alone," she said shaking her head as Ranma tried to pull away.
He paused and then sighed and nodded. "You’re probably right, Akane. I just hope she doesn’t go overboard."
"Me too," Akane added quietly.
Suteko walked down the hall toward the room the doctor told her held her mother. She was of two minds on how to deal with the woman. She wanted to give her the benifit of the doubt. Wanted to believe that she had indeed seen the error of her ways but she wasn’t sure she could. She wasn’t sure she could forgive the woman for all the betrayal, all the hurt she had endured.
She slowed as she came across from the room that held her mother, her eyes clouded. A part of her, the lonely child, wanted to run into that room and hug her mother tightly. To be held and told she was loved and that everything was going to be okay but she knew that the woman she was now couldn’t accept that from Atsuko. Her mother had forced her on a quest for her own personal vengence, betrayed her ideals for that vengence. She had rejected her child when she had become something other than she believed she should be. Rejected the curse that Suteko now carried.
She leaned against the wall and slid down it slowly till she was crouched on the floor, her hands clasped together to stop their shaking. She didn’t know what to do. She closed her eyes and silently asked her dead uncle for guidence.
Atsuko let the nurse apply the bandages and ointment to her injuries silently. She was deep in thought. For the first time in years she felt free. She had thrown off the false sense of honor that her grandfather had given her to fill the hole in her heart. She understood now that his way of thinking was not honor but cruelty.
She sighed as her mind brought up her daughter and the look on her face when she had last saw her. The girl had jumped to her assistance, without thinking. The girl, the one she had thought so little of, showed much more honor than her fool of a mother.
During the little she had seen before fleeing with the injured boy she had noticed how well her daughter and her half brother fought together. In such a short period of time they had bonded tightly. Tightly enough that they didn’t have to think, they knew that the other would back them up.
"I wonder if she will let me back into her life?"
"Possibly….Mother."
Atsuko’s head came up quickly, startled. "Sut…Suteko?"
Standing by the door, one hand holding it open, Suteko looked at her mother, her eyes hooded. "Yes, I’m here. I’m not sure why though."
Atsuko took a quick breath. That comment had hurt but she understood. Gathering her courage, Atsuko started to speak, to apologize when she was interrupted by her daughter’s harsh voice. "Not now…first you have to tell me what your plans are." Suteko let go of the door and stepped into the room, keeping quite a bit of distance between herself and her mother. "Was this all a ploy of Ito’s to get Ranma?"
Sighing and closing her eyes Atsuko nodded. "Grandfather will have what he wants. He is known to be stubborn about getting what he wants and he wants your brother….and you for that matter."
Suteko nodded once. "That I can believe. But what about you? What do you want now? More revenge for a silly man’s mistake 18 years ago?"
Looking up at Suteko, her mother shook her head. "I am sorry that I even started down that path now."
Suteko stood, debating for a long moment. Finally she nodded and held out a hand. "All right. I’ll give you a chance."
Atsuko cried out with delight and rushed to take her daughter in her arms. She was surprised when she was sidestepped. She looked down at Suteko’s still extended hand. She slowly reached out to take it. After a single shake of the hand Suteko let go and stepped back to the door.
"I said I would give you a chance, Mother. That doesn’t mean that things will go back to how they were." She looked away, speaking softly. "I have changed since you last wanted me around, Mother." She turned and looked back at her mother with eyes older in soul than Atsuko thought a 17 year old girl should have.
She dropped her eyes. "I am sorry, child."
"I know, Mother." Suteko’s soft voice offered if not forgiveness, at least understanding.
Ranma finally found he couldn’t wait any longer. He was just about ready to get up and go after his sister when Suteko came back down the hall, her mother a few feet behind her. His eyes went from the older woman to his sister’s face. There was something there and he walked over to her, reaching out a hand and placing it on her shoulder. "You okay sis?" He asked softly. He sighed in relief as she nodded.
to be continued
If you want to contact the writers of this story you can reach David here and Lisa here.