Natasha smirked darkly, sweating slightly from her effort to ignore the pain, "Prefer it then you."
"Yeah, well." he smirked, rubbing his hand down her side until he grasped the dagger, chuckling "Yer stuck with me." before yanking the dagger out, a small spray of blood erupting from the room and staining the wall.
Her eyes widened as she bit back her scream. She couldn't allow herself to show pain, couldn't allow herself to show weakness, not now, not ever, else people just walk all over her. "You.. you.." she panted despite herself, "Bastard!" she finished through gritted teeth.
He examined the bloody little blade, twirling it a bit in his hand before taking a deep sniff, then licking some of the blood off, making a show of tasting it. "Natasha, I thought we had an understandin tha last time we had a little go."
"Fuck you!" she snapped, "What were ya expectin? Bustin up tha Slashers operations, you'd think you'd get away with it?"
"Honestly?" he shrugged, "Yea."
"Then you're a fool."
"Maybe." he allowed, reaching down and picking up a long piece of blue and black cloth, a folded bandana he realized. "I ain't here to argue that point. I'm here ta give you a choice." he twirled the cloth a bit, before wiping the rest of the blood from the blade he had yanked from the girl's leg.
"A choice?" Natasha scowled. What the hell was this guy on?
"You're going to die, Natasha." he caught her eyes as he said that, nothing in them but dead seriousness. "The choice, is when and how you'll meet that fate."
"Threaten me?" she snarled, eyes darting to her dresser, or more importantly the lone dagger hanging off the edge. If she could get a hand on that, then maybe, just maybe she'd get out of this alive. "What kind of shit you smokin?"
"I'm not gonna enter this scene with a hit out on my head." Ranma explained, "Your 'gang', it's leader, I'm not gonna give em another chance to kill me." he leveled the dagger at her, closing his eye as if aiming. "You and I are a lot alike."
"Nothin like you, pig fucker!" she spit at him again.
Ranma sighed, yet again wiping the spit off his face, before back handing her across the face. "Do that again, I'll fucking tear your ass open and shove my boot in it!"
Rage swelled within, held back by only the barest of margins. She couldn't explode, she couldn't go nuts right now! Dimly she realized what he was getting at. He was going to call a Blood Feud on the Slashers, he was going to kill each and every last one of them, which sadly included her. She couldn't be sure on that, but it seemed to be pointing that way. Gritting her teeth, she snarled, "What the fuck do you want with me?! If you gonna kill me just fucking do it!" What scared her most was the very real possibility he could do it.
Ranma smiled, "I want you to join me."
Natasha blinked, anger replaced with shock and a rather large amount of disbelief. Join him? "What the hell are you talking about? Join what?" she sniffed, distastefully, "Fiancee? No thanks, don't like wimpy pussies who can't show his bitches their place."
He raised an eyebrow at that, before breaking off into a rather loud laugh. "Oh? You!! A fiancee?!? HAHAHAHAHAHAH"
She scowled.
"Oh.. oh! That's good!" he shook his head, idly wiping away a tear that threatened to come out. Oh man, that really made his day. "Crazy skank. I'd sooner let some guy rape me then ask ya to be my fiancée."
Natasha wasn't sure if she should be insulted by that, but quickly settled on glaring hatefully.
"Heh.." he sighed, "I want you to join my little 'gang'. It's gonna be big Natasha, ain't nothin gonna stop me from makin my own path no more. Not my family, bitchy fiancee's, nothin."
"And if I tell ya to go to hell?"
Ranma smirked, "You won't."
Natasha raised an eyebrow at that, "The hell makes you so sure about that?"
"Because you don't wanna stay a common street thug, almost no better then a whore." he snorted, "I'm givin ya a chance to leave this fuckin failure of a life behind, join me and we'll go far."
Natasha gritted her teeth. If there was something she hated more then Ranma Saotome, it was being reminded of her status in the world. She doubted he knew anything about her past, about her mother, all that shit, it still struck too close to home. "I.. can't betray the family.."
"Family?" Ranma looked a little confused at that, until she pointed to the bandana he had in his hand. He shrugged, "Not askin ya too. Just tell me where yer boss is hidin, I'll take care of the rest."
"Why me?"
"Convenient." Ranma shrugged, not willing to go into explanation. "Don't get yer head up yer ass, there’s a million people out their just as good as you. Just figure some one like you would jump at the chance to make it big."
Natasha didn't really know what to think about all this. The Ranma she had met back in high school wasn't anything like this. He was arrogant, pushy, naive, but generally a good guy. That Ranma wouldn't be caught dead talking to her about something like this. What could of happened in the last year to change him so? She didn't know. What she did know was that she had to make a choice. Give up Yamada, her friend, for a chance at something more then a street level thug. She thought about the past, about all the oaths she swore as she watched her mother do the things she did. She'd rather die then live that type of life. Or stay true to the cause, give up a chance to join some one as powerful as Ranma, give up a chance to be more then what she was. Could she do that? Could she risk letting this opportunity go, risk the possibility that sooner or later one of the higher ups in the gang would force her on her back? Yamada wasn't going to be around forever, he couldn't protect her from that forever.
"Don't kill him." she said, rather subdued.
Ranma scratched his chin, thoughtfully, "Who?"
"Yamada.. my boss."
He couldn't help but grin. She had all but said yes. "No promises, but I'll try my best." he added that last part to placate the girl, "Where is he."
Taking a long, shuddering breath, she told him.
---
Let's Look Toward
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(Posted Thu, 30 Dec 2004 01:02)
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