"What's this about, Hanno?"
Hanno froze and looked around at the speaker, a large guy wearing sunglasses, a loose white t-shirt, with a bandana and two long braids of dark hair pulled over his shoulders.
"I-I thought I didn't need your help," Hanno stuttered at the fighter regally standing atop a pile of junk cars. "I thought I could handle one little chick."
"Just because she is a chick," the fighter sneered. "You took a hostage to lure her here just so you could have your way with her."
"What's the difference anyway?" Hanno demanded as the fighter jumped down from the stack of cars and snatched the crow bar out of his hand, tossing it away into the junk pile.
"You are..." the fighter said to Hanno in a cold, ominous tone, "...not a fighter."
"Get on!" Hakufu shouted to Ranma as she slid the bicycle she was riding to a halt outside the gate.
"Hold it!" Goei ordered, holding a rug beater out to block Hakufu's way.
"What now?" Hakufu demanded in exasperation.
"That's a brand new bicycle and you aren't allowed to use it without asking," Goei informed her loudly.
"Why not? You aren't even using it right now," Hakufu snapped back.
"I'll never forgive you if there's a single scratch on it!" Goei yelled, leaning into Hakufu's personal space.
"Fine! Man, you can be so annoying," Hakufu said, pushing her mother back while Ranma blinked mutely at the scene. He couldn't help but think that maybe he hadn't gotten away from crazy people after all; he had just exchanged them for a new batch of lunatics.
"The motto of this family is: Make sure to return what is borrowed! Got it?" Goei barked out like a drill instructor.
"Yeah, yeah," Hakufu replied in a much put-upon tone. "Come on, Ma-chan!"
"You go ahead," Ranma said. "I'll keep up on foot."
"Right!" Hakufu said, tearing off in a cloud of dust, causing an auto accident as she cut off a passing car. Ranma loped along right behind her, keeping up despite the fact that she was riding fast enough to make Shampoo jealous.
Kokin panted from his battle stance as the other thugs got to their feet. Before they could attack, the newcomer stepped forward, the others giving way before him in surprise.
"Taishiji?" one asked.
'Taishiji?' Kokin echoed in his head, getting a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"Sorry," the large fighter said amiably. "One of our stupid members went too far. I'll have them withdraw. My only target is Hakufu Sonsaku. That was the order given to me." He looked around at his fellows. "Now withdraw."
The others all began to back off.
"Taishiji! Why you..." Hanno growled.
"Don't worry," Taishiji reassured Kokin. "I have no intention of fighting with you."
To Taishiji's surprise, Kokin merely firmed his stance.
"I won't let you touch Hakufu," Kokin vowed.
"Don't you know who I am?" Taishiji blinked behind his sunglasses, amazed that this boy had the courage to stand up to him.
"Taishiji Shigi," Kokin replied. "I know you are one of the top five fighters in the Kanto area."
"Knowing that, how could you raise your fist against me?" Taishiji asked calmly.
"Because even if we end up killing each other, I won't let you fight Hakufu," Kokin declared.
"Don't underestimate me," Taishiji cautioned. "Why don't you try repeating that after you've tried to hit me. If you can hit me just once, I'll cancel my battle with Sonsaku."
"Taishiji!" Hanno protested. "You can't just go around making your own rules!"
"Is that a promise?" Kokin smiled.
"Of course," Taishiji said. "You have my word."
The pair faced off staring at each other, one waiting for the other to make his move and the other waiting for the perfect moment. Time ticked by seemingly unnoticed by the fighters.
"It's already been five minutes," one of the watching goons remarked.
"Yeah," agreed another. "I've never seen Taishiji take this long. It's a first."
Suddenly a female voice was heard shouting Kokin's name and Hakufu appeared, racing up on a bicycle. Taishiji glanced to the side for a moment and Kokin saw the opening he was waiting for. He charged in with a hay-maker. Taishiji casually took his right hand out of his pocket as Hakufu ramped over a pile of cars to fly over the heads of the two fighters, landing with a crash in a pile of other cars.
Ranma came to a stop atop the pile of cars Hakufu had jumped from and took in the scene. Kokin was standing with his fist outstretched toward Taishiji's head while Taishiji stood with his fist buried in Kokin's gut. The glass in Taishiji's glasses shattered and Kokin slowly slumped to the ground.
Hakufu appeared from her crash site to see Kokin lying on the ground.
"Kokin!" she shouted in concern as she rushed up to him. "Are you okay?"
Kokin groaned and coughed up blood.
"Call him an ambulance," Taishiji said, removing his broken sunglasses and dropping them to the ground.
"Kokin..." Hakufu repeated in concern as Ranma leapt down to join her in inspecting his cousin.
"Where are you going?" growled Hanno.
"I gave my word," Taishiji said. "Even though it was just my sunglasses, the young man managed to hit me. Everyone, withdraw."
"What? Are you crazy?" Hanno shouted.
"Wait right there!" Hakufu commanded Taishiji. "How dare you! How dare you do this to Kokin! I won't forgive you!"
"Don't do it," Taishiji cautioned. "This young man risked his life to protect you."
"No," Kokin whispered as Hakufu got up and assumed a battle stance. "I wasn't just trying to protect her. I was afraid it would come out again."
"Afraid what would come out?" Ranma asked in confusion.
"Her dragon," Kokin replied weakly.
"Um...Fu-chan, I really don't think you want to do this," Ranma cautioned. He could tell that the guy was a much better fighter than either of his cousins. Not much of a problem for himself of course, but clearly the guy had a sense of honor.
"We have to stop her," Kokin said, struggling to his feet. "The stronger the opponent the more likely it is to come out."
Ranma didn't know what this dragon was but it clearly scared Kokin. Maybe it was something like the Nekoken?
"Why you can still get up after my attack," Taishiji said, clearly impressed.
"Guard's down!" Hakufu announced taking her opportunity to attack.
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(Posted Thu, 03 Jul 2008 22:01)
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