Ranma Saotome, self proclaimed greatest martial artist in all of Tokyo. was not having the best of days. It had started innocently enough with the usual morning shenanigans. Genma dumped a bucket of cold water over Ranma's head turning his son into his daughter. Ranma responded to the awakening with the usual tossing of her father out the window and into the koi pond in the yard bellow. Genma turning into a Panda upon contact with the cool water was punishment enough for activating the curse.
After dealing with her father, Ranma then went to the bathroom to wash up and soak in the furo to turn herself back to her preferred gender. However, with the weather being unusually warm and humid at night and Ranma's judgement still clouded by sleep she entered the bathroom wearing nothing but her boxers. Not bothering to knock or notice the occupied sign Kasumi insisted upon purchasing recently Ranma was greeted by the sound of Akane yelling at him. It was the usual complaint to cover up that Ranma had heard several times before in his stay with the Tendo family.
Breakfast that morning was the same fight for food between father and son that always took place. Chopsticks flew towards platters and plates in a blur clicking and clacking against each other as father and son battled for each omelet, piece of fish, and pickled vegetable before them. Nabiki sat at the table rolling her eyes at the lack of manners Ranma and his father displayed while her father, Soun, quietly rustled through the morning edition. Kasumi let out her normal response of "Oh my" at the breakfast battle display. Akane, still a little angry over the incident in the bathroom, tried to block out the actions of the Saotome men by looking only at Kasumi.
With breakfast over it was soon time for school and that meant the usual morning battles. Nabiki being the first to finish her meal apologized to Kasuni for not being able to help clear the table, claiming important before school business, and dashed out the door. Akane, without taking her eyes off her oldest sister across the table, reached over and gave Ranma a hard thump on the head with her fist to let him know it was time to leave for school. By the time Ranma made it to Furinkin High he had been accidentally splashed with water by the old lady cleansing her entryway of evil spirits, stopped at Dr. Tofu’s for a cup of hot water, and dodged getting hit by two cars as he crossed the street. Akane, who continued on without him by Tofu’s office, was currently locked in battle with the Hentai Horde in the usual morning fight for dates. That was the uneventful part of Ranma's day.
To consider school, breakfast, and the morning routine at the Tendo household uneventful something on the level of Saffron and the Phoenix people or worse had to appear in Nerima. What arrived seemed normal enough to the residents of the Tokyo district on the outside. That is, if one could consider a dark suited high ranking Yakuza hit man with dark glasses normal. But as Ranma and the other members of the Tendo household would tell anyone that asked, appearances were not always what they seemed. If the average person off the street had the ability to do so they would detect a very demonic aura coming from the man.
The Yakuza get up was not a disguise. The human facade was. The demon under the human appearance was what he appeared to be, a high ranking Yakuza hit man in a very expensive imported European suit. His purpose for coming to Nerima was to meet with one Nabiki Tendo. Nabiki's hard edged business sense and under the table dealings at Furinkin High had caught the eyes of several clans in the districts surrounding Nerima. However, it was her connections to several powerful martial artists and low level magic users that had drawn the attention of the head of the demonic crime family. They wanted Nabiki and anyone connected to her to join their unique family. To get her to accept their offer they were going to give Nabiki the one thing she couldn’t refuse, wiping away every one of the Tendo family debts.
School had let out for the day and while Ranma was held after for fighting at lunchtime with Kuno yet again Nabiki was attending her Young Businessmen Club meeting. It was dark by the time Ranma's punishment and Nabiki's club activities were done with for the day. It was the perfect time for Ranma's day to go from typical to downright worst day of the week and possibly his entire life. As the two housemates walked home together in silence, the demonic Yakuza hit man emerged from a darkened alleyway and stood before them a fanged sneer across his face.
"Nabiki Tendo I presume," the Yakuza hit man stated rather than ask.
"And who wants to know?" Nabiki demanded.
"I am Jirou second lieutenant of the Akiyama family," Jirou responded as he removed his glasses and placed them upon his head, "We have been watching you and your activities and we are looking to expand our little family. We are looking to add a big sister."
As Jirou spelled out the reason for his being in Nerima, Ranma got a good look at the man's eyes. They were a deep golden yellow a color found only on animals, animated characters, and the non human creatures and beings Ranma had fought with. Ranma knew this particular Yakuza member wasn’t human. What he did not know was just what the man before them really was.
"Nabiki, I don't think this guy is completely human," Ranma said speaking for the first time since leaving Furinkan.
Nabiki took a few tentative steps backwards as Ranma dropped his school pack and prepared for a fight. What he was not ready for was the small handgun sized crossbow Jirou pulled out. At a speed that surpassed that of the world's best quick draw artists Jirou fired the crossbow sending an arrow-like dart laced with a strong sedative into Ranma's shoulder. The last thing Ranma remembered as he blacked out from the dart was Jirou speaking to Nabiki.
"Nabiki Tendo, you will take this disk home with you and you will watch it completely. Our offer to you is contained within its message. You will find it to be one you can not refuse. You have forty-eight hours to make your decision. You will come to the address provided in the recorded message. To ensure you do I'll be taking young Mr. Saotome with me as added insurance. You'll get him back when you bring us your decision," Jirou said as he picked up Ranma's now sleeping form.
Nabiki watched as Jirou walked off with Ranma slumped over his shoulder like a rag doll. As he walked away from the high school businesswoman, Nabiki faintly heard Jirou speak to Ranma's sleeping form.
"Even if she refuses the offer your friends will become a part of our little family and you'll be the one to change them," Nabiki heard.
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(Posted Sat, 06 Nov 2010 04:22)
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