Chapter Two:
In the Shadow of the Badge
DISCLAIMER:
Ryouga Hibiki, Ukyou, Kuonji, and Ranma 1/2 are NOT my creations and are all copyright of Rumiko Takahashi, bless her.I claim no credit whatsoever and use them here. So, please don't sue me. I'm broke anyways. All you'd probably get is an I.O.U. hastily scrawled on a cocktail napkin with lipstick. Well, that is, if I could afford to buy a cocktail...Sigh...
It was raining. No, it was doing more than that. It was almost like someone had torn the sky open and let all the water in the universe pour down upon the earth below. Great torrential sheets slammed down on the soft, grassy earth below, mixing crystal liquid with fresh morning dew and thick mud. Along a seldom used road trudged a weary group of people, hanging their heads as if they had been forced out into this downpour. An attractive girl with a yellow and black ribbon in her hair was among these people, straining to carry a large, unwieldy red bamboo umbrella in one hand. In her other she cradled a small black piglet, who appeared rather irate about something. She smiled slightly as she looked down at this small animal, and it almost seemed to grin back at her, in so much as a piglet can grin. Unfortunately, a rogue raindrop slid off of the bamboo umbrella and splashed onto his forehead, sweeping the "grin" away quite cleanly.
Silently, Ryouga Hibiki cursed his miserable luck. He hadn’t even seen the storm coming, and before he knew it, he was bitterly reminded of why he had so often cursed the name Ranma Saotome. Now, cradled in Ukyou’s arms, the distended black piglet formerly known as P-Chan grumbled and griped over himself in his own strange language of ‘bwees’ and ‘oinks’.
Ukyou looked with lightly concealed amusement at the nonsensical ramblings of the tiny creature she held as she walked through the sheet of cold rain, clutching Ryouga’s umbrella (barely) with her free hand. She never fully appreciated how heavy it actually was, and now that she had to carry it, she really didn’t appreciate it. She heard a half-hearted chuckle beside her and turned to glance over at the brown haired, slim girl strolling beside her. She looked the piglet over with a bemused grin.
"Who’d’ve thought P-Chan and Ryouga were one in the same." Nabiki Tendo mused, more to herself than to anyone else. "In fact, I’m surprised I didn’t figure it out. A little disappointed, too. Might’ve been fun."
Ukyou scowled at her slightly, but Nabiki seemed to take little notice.
"Why’s that?" she said with a slightly cynical edge. "Planning on blackmailing him, were you?"
Nabiki smiled in her trademarked, deviously disturbing gesture of mock innocence.
"Me?" she said, as though stunned. "Ukyou, I thought you knew me better than that. Of course I wouldn’t try to blackmail Ryouga. He’s such a nice guy, I don’t think I could bring myself to it."
"Uh huh...right." Ukyou said blandly, making it clear she wasn’t buying it.
"Besides," Nabiki added under her breath, "For information like that, I doubt the two of you together could afford to buy my silence."
Ukyou scowled at the middle Tendo daughter, P-Chan following the gesture in tandem. Nabiki once again seemed to take no notice, only smiling slightly at their reaction. Shaking her head, Ukyou gave up trying to start any kind of small talk with her. The okonomiyaki chef glanced behind her to see five other men of various sizes and statures. A shorter man dressed as a ninja was trying his best to hold an umbrella for a tall, handsome man in a kendo outfit, minus the armor.
Next to him strolled a samurai in a horribly garishly colored gold, silver, and jade kimono. Alongside him was a boy dressed in a black high school uniform with short black hair. Another, similarly clad boy was strolling angrily behind Nabiki, the only one without an umbrella. He wiped damp strands of light brown hair from his eyes and mumbled something about wishing he hadn’t sold Nabiki something. Ukyou paid little attention. Hiroshi was usually going off into rants about how something was unfair to him, although he had his few shining moments of common sense and even courtesy. Very few, granted, but they were there.
"Hey, Ukyou, listen," The black haired boy, Daisuke, said angrily, "I don’t mean to sound too repetitious, but just where the hell are we going?"
Ukyou frowned openly and turned to face Daisuke, who was looking his usual cheerless self.
"For the last time, we’re going back to Nerima, to drop Kuno, Sasuke, and Nabiki off! Will you please stop asking me that!?" she half-shouted, unconsciously squeezing the black piglet to alleviate some of her anger. She quickly stopped when P-Chan managed to choke out a few grating ‘Bwees’ in protest.
"I know that!" Daisuke snarled back. "That’s not what I’m worried about! It’s this freaking storm! Maybe it’s just that I’m not a martial arts god like some of you, but I don’t really enjoy strolling through a natural disaster like this too much."
Hiroshi looked over at his friend angrily. "Hey moron, I don’t even have a freaking umbrella! You don’t hear me complaining, do you?"
"As if I ever listen to you, anyway!" Daisuke retorted. “Besides, the only reason you don’t have a damn umbrella is because you’re lovesick for Nabiki and you sold it to her!"
"I thought I told you to stop saying things like that, moron!" Hiroshi responded angrily. The ‘discussion’ quickly degenerated into a shouting match.
Ukyou groaned in frustration and glanced down at P-Chan with uncertainty. The piglet seemed to shrug, then glanced around, completely at a loss of what to do. As if on command, Ryu strolled up next to her and watched the two high school boys begin to grapple each other, shouting. Ukyou looked over at him and shook her head.
"Have any ideas?" she said halfheartedly. Ryu stood silently for a moment, emotionless, and then began to dig into his bag. After a few moments, he produced a map and began to glance over it.
"Well, Miss Ukyou, it seem to me as though we is about here." He said, pointing at a location on the map. "Tokyo should not be too far in distance away."
"Well, that’s all well and good," Nabiki said in her normal, slightly sinister voice. "But what are we going to do about this storm?"
Ryu pondered for a moment, then his eyes seemed to brighten slightly and he nodded enthusiastically, almost as if agreeing with a suggestion only he could hear.
"Small town about one miles away, to south of road." He said solemnly. "Is good place. No problems there, I hear many times. We stay there, okay?"
"Uh, sure." Ukyou said. She wasn’t sure whether or not he was asking her a question, but she answered him all the same. "Why not."
She turned her head and glanced over at the two boys struggling in the falling sheet of rain and the thick mud with disdain. She cleared her throat for a moment before speaking.
"Now, if those two jackasses over there would stop acting like children, then maybe we could get somewhere!" she said loudly. Hiroshi and Daisuke ceased struggling and glanced over at her for a moment. She stood and smirked, daring them to defy her. Hiroshi glanced up at the dark-haired boy pinning him to the ground.
"Yeah, cut it out, jackass!" he snarled. Daisuke’s almost-calm demeanor shifted quickly back into anger.
"Jackass, is it?" he shouted. "I’ll show you who’s a jackass, jackass!"
The two boys began to tumble in the mud again. Nearby, the handsome kendo star of Furinkan high watched in bemused pity.
"Ah, Sasuke, were that our lowly escorts had more pride than this." He said poetically. "Tis a shame to see such acts of foolishness coupled with such pitiful displays of martial prowess. Truly shameful. Do you not agree, loyal Sasuke?" The small ninja holding Kuno’s umbrella nodded at the tall, brown haired kendo star enthusiastically.
"Oh, absolutely, Master Kuno." He said eagerly. Kuno smiled, assured in his observations.
"Ah, Sasuke, your wisdom is surpassed only by your unwavering loyalty." He said. The two thrashing boys rolled by, temporarily falling under Kuno’s imperious gaze. They hardly seemed to notice as they thrashed by, slashing up a huge insurgence of mud, which splattered on Kuno’s blue kendo outfit. Kuno’s imperious, calm face only slightly scowled at this. He glanced down at his loyal ninja.
"Sasuke, kindly fetch me my blade." He said calmly. Sasuke nodded and rummaged through a very large pack he carried with him, producing one of Kuno’s trademark bokkens after a few moments. He held it out to Kuno, who accepted it with quiet grace and resolve. He strode slowly over to the mass of tangled feet and swinging hands that was once two high school boys and cleared his throat.
"Oh, that your lives must amount to so little." He said darkly. Hiroshi and Daisuke stopped struggling and glanced up at him, both wearing confused faces.
"Huh?" Daisuke said simply, but aptly. Kuno chuckled.
"Simple minded one, do you not see the folly of your action?" Kuno said, gesturing to his muddied gi with a sweep of his bokken. Daisuke glanced at Hiroshi, who shrugged.
"Uh...yeah..." Hiroshi said slowly. "Whatever you say, Kuno..."
"You will address me as Upperclassman Tatewaki Kuno, knave!" he shouted, thrusting the bokken toward the brown haired boy’s face. The smooth wood stopped inches from his nose. Hiroshi swallowed hard.
"Uh, sorry, Kuno...er, Upperclassman Kuno..." he said softly. Kuno smirked and chuckled to himself. The smooth, glossy bokken rose and rested comfortably on his shoulder.
"A mere apology shall not suffice." He said. He raised the bokken into the air and his eyes shimmered with uncharacteristic anger. "I shall teach the both of you a lesson in humility!"
That was all the cue the two of them needed. In the span of less than a second, the two boys untangled themselves and scurried into the night. Kuno followed close behind, swinging his bokken wildly. Sasuke was right beside him, holding up the umbrella and desperately trying to keep his master dry. Ukyou groaned and looked at Ryu.
"Where did you say this town was again?" she said. Nearby, Nabiki chuckled. This trip was turning out to be amusing. That was something, at least.
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Dark clouds still hung heavy in the sky as Ryouga, Ukyou, and their traveling circus of oddities stepped onto a cold cobblestone street. Ryouga, now human (thanks to a quick let up in the rainfall and an even quicker pot of heated water), glanced around uneasily. The streets were all but barren, filled with little else save the drifting chilled winds and occasional scraps of paper. He turned to look over at Ryu, who seemed unmoved by the entire eerie sight. Overhead, the darkness of night was beginning to fall, and a small, silvery sliver of moonlight was emerging to add a further level of surreality to the scene before them.
"Uh, Ryu," he said slowly. "I thought you said there was a town here."
Ryu nodded in agreement. "Indeed. Is town, is not?" he said sternly. Ryouga looked over at Ukyou, who seemed to share his confusion.
"But there's no one here..." she said slowly. Ryu nodded after a few moments.
"True. Is most...disturbing, okay?" he said emotionlessly. Just then, there was a clattering in the alleyway. Ryouga and Ukyou only spared a moment to glance at each other before they ran over to investigate. Ryu remained behind, as well as the others. Hiroshi waved as the two ran down the alley.
"Yeah, you just go check that." He said. "We’ll, uh, wait here. You know...in case someone comes by here. Or something. Yeah, that’s it." His cowardly excuse was all but lost on the chef and the lost boy.
As they sped down the alley, a man with glasses and a business suit was scrambling to stand up. He glanced over his shoulder and became even more frantic, beginning to babble incoherently. As the two approached, he curled into a fetal position, waving his arms wildly in the air and shivering in abstract terror. Ryouga looked the man over, furrowing his brow in a vain attempt to comprehend the situation. Ukyou, right behind him, studied the man for a moment, then turned angrily to Ryouga.
"Geez, Ryouga, what the hell did you do to him?" she said angrily. Ryouga cringed back defensively.
"Hey, I didn't do anything!" he spat back. "He was like that when I got here, I swear!"
"Oh really?" she said, more loudly. "Then how do you explain him whimpering and shivering on the ground like a child, crying and pleading like a pathetic-"
"Um, excuse me." the man said. The two teens disengaged their argument. The man in the suit was sitting on the ground, looking calm and collected. He was watching them intently. "I couldn't help watching you two argue. You must be a couple, right?"
The two glanced at each other and blushed in tandem, Ryouga's a bit more flushed than Ukyou's. But not much.
"Er...um...something like...that..." Ryouga said nervously. Ukyou scowled and cleared her throat loudly.
"What do you mean, 'something like that'?" she said darkly. Ryouga swallowed. Hard. "You love me, right!?" she growled.
"Right!" Ryouga said quickly. "Of course! I just...er...um..." he stammered. He felt sweat trickle down his forehead as his words faded into incoherent ramblings under her stare.
"Just what?" she said sternly. Ryouga looked around, desperately thinking of something to say. His eyes caught sight of the man, who was starting to walk away.
"Hey, buddy, where do you think you're going?" he said suddenly. The man turned and smiled at them, nodding.
"I must be on my way. Good day." he said nonchalantly. Ukyou, who had not been sidetracked by Ryouga's quick subject change, nevertheless spoke up.
"Hey, what the heck was up with you earlier?" she said. "Acting like a craven coward like that!"
The man began to sweat nervously and yanked at his collar. "Er, um, I thought you were...someone else..." he said.
"Who?" Ryouga said, interested. "Who'd make you act like...like...such a baby?"
"Hey!" the man said angrily. "What do you mean, baby!?"
"It's true." Ukyou said snidely. "You should have seen yourself. I mean, come on, are you a man or not?"
"Er, um, I'm a guy." he said, somewhat lowly, as if he finally realized how pathetic he had been just moments ago.
"Then act like one!" she said. Ryouga watched her with a slight sense of deja-vu. He'd heard this somewhere before...
"Well, I'm gonna get along before HE shows up. You two should run along as well." the man said hurriedly.
"He who?" Ryouga shouted, tired of being ignored. The man was already running down the alley at top speed. He stopped and glanced over his shoulder for a moment before continuing on.
"You two kids just make sure you aren’t out after dark. He’ll get you if you are..." he called out. Ryouga glanced over at Ukyou, obviously confused.
"What the heck was that about?" Ryouga said, puzzled. Ukyou shrugged.
"Who knows. The guy was obviously some kind of wacko." she said, then reached out to take his hand. He felt her smaller, smooth hand slipping into his worn, warm one.
"C'mon, sugar. Don't worry about it." she said, smiling. He returned her smile shyly, blushing. Ukyou smiled wider inwardly.
Well, at least his nose didn't bleed this time, she reminded herself as she clung onto his arm, leading him back to the others. At least we're making some progress...
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Tatewaki Kuno’s icy, imperious eyes swept the barren, moonlit streets before him. It was a most displacing sight, to be sure. Actually, he thought it quite a rude gesture. Surely a greater welcome was deserving of one of his stature. But the people of this town showed him not the least bit of gratitude for gracing them with his presence. He scowled visibly at this, and reverted his gaze to the person of Nabiki Tendo, who stood close by him.
"Nabiki Tendo," he said, carrying a slightly disturbed tone, "I am confused."
Nabiki smirked at this statement of something so obvious. "Well, well, imagine that." She said smartly. "And what are you so confused about, Kuno-baby?"
Kuno glared slightly at her, making it known for the thousandth time he didn’t appreciate that name. Nabiki caught it, like she always did. And, as she always did, she ignored it in favor of the promotion of "fun".
"This hamlet, as simple as it may be, is lacking...something." he said slowly. "Pray tell, where might the people who reside within be? Certainly they should be here to bathe in the presence of one such as I, but yet I see no one."
Nabiki rolled her eyes. "Well, I’m sure they’re all pretty upset that they missed the chance to be in your presence, Kuno-baby."
"Indeed." Kuno replied, assured in his assessment. "I should think so."
Nabiki turned to see Ryouga and Ukyou strolling out of the alley rather casually, although Ryouga looked somewhat confused. Well, more confused than normal, at any rate.
"Well?" Hiroshi half-said, half demanded. "What did you find?"
"I don’t think I want to know." Daisuke said, eyeing the way Ukyou was lovingly clinging to Ryouga’s arm. "But whatever it is, I bet Hiroshi wishes he could find it. Hey, buddy, maybe you and Nabiki can go do some...exploring...down there, huh?"
Nabiki seemed to almost laugh at this, which only served to infuriate the brown haired high school student even further. He turned and swung at his "friend", who deftly scampered aside.
"I thought I told you to shut up about that kind of stuff!" he shouted as he chased Daisuke in a circle around the imperious Kuno and the smirking Tendo. Daisuke answered with only a callused smile.
"You probably did, but you know I never listen to you anyway." He said smartly, glancing over his shoulder. Unfortunately, as clever as he was, Daisuke failed to the dark form standing in front of him and smacked hard into something with the consistency of a brick wall. He crumpled into a heap and rubbed his head ruefully. Hiroshi, seeing this figure skidded to a stop.
"In a little hurry, are we boys?" the dark figure said in a slightly sinister tone. Hiroshi swallowed hard and yipped in a high voice as he slowly backed off. The dark figure stepped forward and something small and metallic gleamed in the now-moonlit sky. It was small. It was sliver.
It was a badge.
The man who wore it looked like he was born wearing it. He was stout, broad-shouldered, and stood nearly six feet tall, with a square jaw and chiseled, hard features. His cold, steel eyes surveyed the pack of teenagers in front of him with disdain. A police officer’s hat concealed most of his short, black hair. He smirked and glared down at Daisuke, who immediately began to sweat uncontrollably.
"Well?" the officer said sternly. "I said you boys looked like you were in a bit of a hurry, weren’t you?"
Daisuke swallowed hard and glanced about nervously. He chuckled slightly and rubbed the back of his head, offering his most "innocent" smile.
"Well, um...er, I....um...we...." he stammered, completely unnerved by the imposing figure in front of him. Behind him, he failed to notice the satisfied smirks dotting the faces of Ukyou, Ryouga, Hiroshi, and Nabiki.
"Aren’t you going to ANSWER ME!?!?!?" the officer shouted suddenly, causing Daisuke to wince backwards in terror. Still, he was silent. His voice (for once) had simply failed him. The officer shook his head and chuckled sinisterly.
"You’re just like all the other people around here." He said to no one in particular, closing his eyes as if he were contemplating some great act. "No respect for the law at all. Well, not until I taught them respect, that is."
Ryouga frowned and glanced over at Ukyou. Her eyes matched his own in slight confusion and alarm.
"Something’s wrong." He whispered. Ukyou nodded, tossing her vibrant brown hair as she did so.
"I’ll say." She whispered back. "This guy’s a psycho, too. What, is everyone in this town crazy?" Ryouga responded with a shrug.
"Hey!" the officer shouted, startling both of them. "Shut up! No talking when an officer of the law is speaking!"
"What!?" Ryouga said angrily. It wasn’t so much the law in itself, but the fact that he was shouting at Ukyou that was beginning to set the bandannaed boy off. "Hey, who the hell do you think you are, pal?"
The officer straightened his tie and chuckled sinisterly. "I..." he began melodramatically, "...am Lieutenant Kotensu Hinako." His expression changed little when he saw the faces of most of the group become somewhat greener.
"H-H-H-H-Hinako?" Hiroshi said with more than slight alarm in his voice. "Not like the Miss Hinako that teaches at Furinkan High School in Nerima?" His mind desperately hoped not. He’d barely survived Miss Hinako’s class himself, and if this guy were....no, there was no way, his mind affirmed. Impossible. No chance in he-
"Ah, I see you’ve already met my sister then..." Kotensu said sinisterly. "I hope she’s not as lenient as she used to be with...troublemakers like you kids."
"Troublemakers?" Ukyou said angrily. She was hardly going to sit here and be insulted by this...man, even if he was a police officer. "What do you mean troublemakers? What have we done?"
Kotensu chuckled under his breath. "Interrupting an officer of the law, Not showing proper respect for authority...shall I continue?"
"What?" Ukyou said angrily. "Those aren’t crimes!"
"They should be!" Kotensu retorted, just as loudly. Infuriated, Ryouga jumped in front of the woman he loved, gritting his teeth angrily.
"Hey, look pal, you shout at her again, and I’ll..." he said angrily. Kotensu pointed an accusatory finger at him and yelled "Ah Hah!" as if he had suddenly uncovered a great truth. Ryouga raised an eyebrow at him, looking him over quizzically.
"‘Ah ha’ what?" he said slowly. Kotensu chuckled.
"I have you now, boy. There’s so many charges against you, I’m gonna send you to prison for a long time. Threatening an officer of the law, Reckless endangerment, endangering the welfare of a minor, Verbal abuse, Attempted murder-" Kotensu began to spout off triumphantly.
"Now hold on a min-" Ryouga began, but was cut off as Kotensu continued to read on, as if a switch had suddenly been thrown.
"-Blackmail, extortion, false advertising-" he spouted endlessly. Ryouga frowned. He had no idea what the officer was talking about. He stopped paying attention and glanced over at the one person he knew would understand this.
"Psst. Nabiki." He said lowly. She glanced over at him, half amused by what was going on.
"What?" she said, with half-interest. Ryouga fiddled with his fingers nervously. It was, as Ukyou liked to point out, one of his cuter features.
"What is he talking about?" Ryouga whispered. Nabiki sighed and shook her head.
"It sounds," she began nonchalantly, "as if he intends to charge you with every crime in the law book."
"What?" Ukyou cut in. "He can't do that! Ryouga didn’t break any laws!"
Nabiki shrugged. "I know that, but I’m not the one you have to convince."
Ryouga scowled and turned his attention back towards Kotensu, who was still counting charges off on his right hand, touching each finger as a new one was named.
"...Larceny, petty theft, attempted bribery, grand theft auto, failure to obey a traffic signal..."
"Hey!" Ryouga shouted, causing the officer to cease prattling. Instead, he glowered at the bandannaed boy with slanted eyes.
"I thought I already told you it was illegal to interrupt me when I’m talking!" Kotensu said angrily.
"I don’t care!" Ryouga said. "I didn’t do any of that stuff you listed! You’re not taking me to any jail!"
"I would advise you to come along quietly, boy. While you’re in my town, you do as I say." Kotensu said evilly, the moonlight glinting off of his silver badge. "Here I am your undesputed lord and master."
"Hey!" Hiroshi said angrily, turning to the garishly clad samurai beside him. "Ryu, I thought you said this town was safe!"
Ryu shrugged. "Used to be. No have no police before. Maybe a bad idea to hire them, okay?"
"That’s right..." Kotensu chuckled sinisterly. "Before I came, there were no laws...no police...but now, I have given these people hope for the future. That is why they love me so!"
Nearby, a man threw open a window from a second floor building. "Go to hell, officer jerkwad!" he shouted. Ukyou chuckled.
"Oh yeah." She said snidely. "I can almost feel the civic pride oozing out onto the streets." Kotensu chuckled sinisterly and pointed an angry fist at the man.
"Don’t make me come up there and protect you from yourself!" he shouted. Startled, the man hastily ducked back inside, slamming the window behind him. Kotensu turned back to the group.
"Now, there is a curfew in this town. I’m afraid I’m going to have to arrest you all. For your own protection. If you resist, I’ll have to subdue you." He said, smiling arrogantly. Of course, after the ordeal with the Master of Spring, Ryouga was getting rather sick of arrogant people obsessed with the law.
"Look." He said, gritting his teeth. "We’re...sorry...about breaking your stupid curfew. But you are NOT taking Ukyou to jail..."
"Well," Kotensu smirked. "If you’re so insistant that I not throw your little girlfriend in jail with you, then I could always just chain her up outside. Would that be better for you?"
Ukyou, who had put her hands reassuringly on Ryouga’s shoulders, felt his muscles tense. She knew what that meant. Kotensu touched on the one subject that made him more angry than anything else. Her. While she loved him for the way he wanted to defend her, it wasn’t be best idea to do what he was about to do. But, before she could react, it happened. It was almost at lightning speed. She opened her mouth to call out, but was far too late.
Ryouga sprung at Lt. Hinako with a savage fury. Hinako was unresponsive, only smirking slightly as the bandannaed boy soared towards him like an oncoming train. Overhead, a cloud covered the moon, and thunder crackled.
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End of Chapter Two...