{These characters are not property of me. I would never attempt to claim them as my own. This story may not be used without my permission, and may not be used to make money in any way, shape or form. Characters and certain situations were created by Rumiko Takahashi, so don't try any funny stuff!}
"Uncle Ranma's going to help me?" His eyes were wide with disbelief.
"He's agreed to, but that means you have to be a good student for him. You'll have to do everything he says," Daddy warned.
He nodded. Uncle Ranma could do really neat things just like Daddy. It'd be really cool if Uncle Ranma would teach him to do some of the stuff the rest of his family knew. Then he could impress everyone, and Mommy, Daddy, grandpa, and Sas'ke would all be proud of him.
"We'll be over after we're done to pick you up," Mommy said, and he nodded again.
He picked up his bag and headed for the door.
"Be careful," Mommy said before he got outside.
"I will," he said, then walked outside and shut the door.
The sun was out, the birds were chirping and he was walking happily to his aunt and uncle's house. He'd get to see grandpa too! He started walking a little faster; he wanted to get there as soon as possible. He wanted to spend as much time with Uncle Ranma and Aunt Akane as he could.
A rustle coming from some trees up ahead made him look. The leaves prevented him from seeing anything, but he had seen the same thing at home when the birds started to play. That's what Mommy had told him and she wouldn't lie to him.
As he walked beneath the branches of the tree, he picked up one of the large leaves that had fallen gently to the ground. He could give it to Aunt Kasumi when he saw her.
After that, he began running, a big smile on his face.
"So, you want to be a student too?"
He nodded, standing in the middle of the dojo, facing Uncle Ranma.
"Think you'll be as good as your dad?"
He nodded.
"Think you'll be as good as me?"
He shook his head. "No one could be as good as you, Uncle Ranma!'
Uncle Ranma smiled. "You've passed the first test. Let's get started."
"Yay!"
"Were you a good student for your uncle?" Daddy asked.
He nodded. "It was fun!"
Uncle Ranma walked up and ruffled his hair. "He was a good student. He shows a lot of promise."
"Thanks for watching him," Daddy said.
"It was no problem. He was good."
He looked up at Uncle Ranma and Daddy happily, and they looked down at him, smiling.
"Come on, it's time to go," Daddy said and took his hand.
He waved cheerily to Uncle Ranma. "Bye!"
Uncle Ranma waved back and watched him go.
He ran ahead, obviously trying to mimic the things he had seen Uncle Ranma do, and failing with amusing results.
"Don't go too far," Mommy said.
He kept going, ignoring the warning, even in the darkening twilight.
"Takuma, come back here," Daddy said, sounding kind of angry.
He stopped and looked back at his parents. He began walking back toward them when there was more some noise from the tree above him. He looked up, noticing it was the same tree the birds had been playing in earlier.
Only, what dropped out of the tree in front of him was not a bird or a leaf...
"Oh my, what do we have here?" The hand of the strange woman stroked his cheek, and suddenly he felt afraid. "Are you my bastard nephew?"
"Who..."
The strange woman turned around in response to the voice. "What a pleasant surprise." The words were like ice.
"Ko... Kodachi," Daddy said, surprised, maybe even afraid.
Kodachi? Mommy's voice came back to him then. 'She did bad things to us... Bad things...' He didn't want bad things to happen to him too! He wanted to turn and run, but his legs weren't ready to do what he wanted them to. He could only manage a step backwards, which seemed to alert the woman.
The woman turned and grinned down at him. "Don't run," the woman said with a pleasant tone of voice. "I'm going to take you with me." The smile was pleasant and grotesque all at once.
He shook his head. "I don't wanna go," he said in a very small voice.
"Takuma, run!" Mommy yelled, but his feet didn't want to.
It was like watching the clock; if he watched it long enough, his eyes just couldn't stop looking at the second hand move. Right then, he couldn't keep himself from looking at the woman... 'Who did bad things.'
"Bad things," he whispered, which seemed to unlock his legs. He turned and ran.
He ran as fast as he possibly could, but he could still hear the bad woman following him. Very closely. And the bad woman laughed, and he couldn't hear Mommy and Daddy shouting, following behind them. And then there was an arm around his waist and he was plucked from the ground like a 1000 yen bill.
Sometimes Daddy or Uncle Ranma picked him up and carried him like this, in a way that made it feel like he was flying, but now, he was so scared...
That was it. Nabiki couldn't run any more. She just couldn't bring herself to do it. Grinding to a halt, she sank to the ground and stared off into space. This was not happening, not really happening, things just were not happening like this right now.
Tatewaki screamed in muted rage. He could not chase after his sister; the whole roof hopping thing had never been his thing, and now he was paying for it. Possibly with his son's life.
Possibly, at the moment, but definitely if he didn't find them quickly. He watched their shapes as long as possible, trying to see where Kodachi might be headed. In a winding, twisted path, she was going North... to the house.
That prospect further worried him, though he wasn't sure why. The idea of Kodachi going into his home... It wasn't her home any longer; she was no longer welcome there. And he had said at one time that she was merely disturbed and didn't deserve to be locked up forever... How wrong he had been.
Tatewaki suddenly realized he was standing, staring at the sky, his thoughts began to unravel into stunned nonsense. Taking a deep breath, he looked back at Nabiki, who was still sitting on the ground. Things were worse than he could have anticipated.
Not bothering to try to break Nabiki from her shocked state, he lifted her and headed toward the house as fast as he could go.
Ah, there it was. Her house, they house they had kept her away from for so long, and now she was back and it was all hers. Rooftop to rooftop she jumped, slowly reclaiming all the grace and power she had had before they had sent her away.
She had been rather surprised at the little boy tucked under her arm. He didn't make a sound, didn't squirm, didn't fight back... The perfect little hostage, soon to be victim. Oh, she might decide to torture him a little to get back at the person that used to be her brother, but she would definitely kill the boy.
Yes, kill the boy, then the person that used to be her brother and the vile Tendo girl. Maybe the rest of the Tendos as well. It would serve them right.
Kodachi landed lightly in the yard, noting that all of Sasuke's traps had been removed. Things had really gone down hill; apparently the family wasn't concerned with the peasants looting the home any longer. When she regained her rightful place as the head of the Kuno estate, things would change. That was a promise. And people would be punished.
She opened the door as quietly as she could. She didn't want to alert Sasuke, as the little man was probably a loyal worm to the person that used to be her brother and would try to stop her. Sasuke had been useful before, but he could be replaced if necessary.
She crept into the kitchen to work on something special for the person that used to be her brother when he returned. Incapacitating him and making him watch his little bastard suffer would be such a pleasant spectacle. And when that was done, she would, wherever he was, go after her fa...
There was a person going through the refrigerator. The person stood up, obviously surprised by her presence, and stared at her.
"Who..." Kodachi started to ask.
"Kotchi?" Takashi asked, barely able to believe his eyes. Was it really his daughter standing in front of him? Could it really be her? "Kotchi, is that you?"
"Father?" she asked, equally stunned. Stunned, a little sickened by the man in front of her. This couldn't be the powerful man that built the family into such a respected house.
"Kotchi, I thought you..." Then he seemed to notice the boy under her arm. "Kotchi, why are you carrying Takuma like that?"
"Bad things," Takuma mumbled in his half-shocked state.
Kodachi looked at the boy under her arm.
Takashi did as well, then looked up at Kodachi's face. "Kotchi, what are you doing here? They said you would never be let out." His voice was hard and unforgiving.
Looking back at her father, Kodachi's eyes narrowed. "Why, Father, I am simply here for this..." Her arm came out of nowhere with a club in her hand. The wooden club connected with the side of her father's head, and he crumpled to the floor.
Kodachi looked at the club and smiled. She still had it.
Tatewaki set Nabiki down gently in some bushes in the yard. He didn't want Kodachi to use her as a pawn too. And he didn't have time to get a hold of anyone else to help him with this; he would have to do it on his own. "I'll get him back. Don't worry," he said to Nabiki quietly and kissed her cheek.
Standing and looking at the house, everything was quiet. Kodachi could have been anywhere inside, and he didn't have enough time to check every nook and cranny of the house. There was only one way he could do this, and Kodachi knew it: the direct way.
Walking slowly across the yard, trying to get his heart under control, Tatewaki tried not to think of what Kodachi could do to Takuma. The only thing he could allow himself to consider was what he would do to Kodachi when he finally got his hands on her. The possibilities weren't pretty.
Takuma was trussed up like pig ready to be barbecued and her father was well out of the way. Takuma. What a sickening name. It smacked of weakness and softness and everything that had gone wrong with the Kuno line while she had been gone.
At least the boy was quiet. That was one thing going her way. Tatewaki, having no imagination, would invariably come in the front door and search for her. That was anything playing into her hand. She was in control of the situation, she would make things happen the way she wanted them to.
In fact, she could hear the door opening. Things were about to start happening. Moving the boy to a better spot, she waited in the darkness for the person that used to be her brother to find them. Then the fun would begin.
The light was on in the kitchen. Kodachi wouldn't be that obvious, but it could still be a trap. Tatewaki suddenly felt sick, having to sneak around his own house like he was the intruder.
And how had Kodachi escaped? There was no way they ever would have let her out, not with her track record. It just wasn't possible. He was hoping it wasn't possible. He could imagine the hefty lawsuit that was going to hit that hospital after everything was back to normal. There was one movie Nabiki always liked because of one line in it. While the dub of Sean Connery had been bad, the meaning came through loud and clear. 'They send one of yours to the hospital, you send of theirs to the morgue!'
Tatewaki shook his head. He was doing it again. This was a very bad time to lose himself in fond memories of the past. Regaining his composure, he went to the kitchen as silently as possible and peered in. Seeing nothing, he entered slowly, wary for any number of traps that could have been left for him.
The only thing he saw though was a spot on the floor. No bigger than a five yen coin, he kneeled down and examined the spot. Spot. Of blood. Someone's blood was on the floor, and Tatewaki had to stop himself from completely breaking down into gibbering fits at the possibility that it was Takuma's.
Losing all sense of safety and caution, Tatewaki stood and turned. "Kodachi, I'll kill you!" he yelled.
Kodachi smiled a little when she heard him yell. The mouse was ready to play. She just hoped he knew how to play rough.
Tatewaki stomped through the house, systematically checking every door, every room. He would find Kodachi and he would hurt her very badly. No one would dispute that she was insane, and he was doing it to protect the life of his son, and his own. No one would defend Kodachi.
Definitely, no one would defend her. No one would be able to defense her when he got a hold of her. She would suffer, suffer the same way he had for what she had done to him.
The next door he nearly ripped off it's track when he opened it. Seeing nothing inside, he marched to the next door. No stone would be left unturned, even if it meant he'd be there searching for the next five years.
Door after door with nothing behind them except empty rooms. The anger was beginning to die down, replaced slowly by panic. Tatewaki had to constantly drown out the voice that tried to tell him Takuma was dead already and his search was for nothing. But, if Takuma was... then his search wouldn't be for nothing; it would be to finally get justice.
No, Kodachi was no longer his sister. He had never liked to talk about her because she had been his sister and there was something in him that made him feel like he had to defend her name. But no longer. That time when he felt like they were related by more than blood was past.
He was not her brother, Takuma was not her nephew, none of the Tendos were her in-laws; he would simply not allow it. As far as he was concerned, his sister was gone... or never existed in the first place.
He was getting closer. Kodachi was poised, ready for the door to open, ready to take action. In one hand she had the same club she had used on her father, and in the other was a white towel, carefully folded and held away from her far enough so she couldn't smell it.
And once he was taken care of, she would go and find his 'wife' and finish what was started over six years ago. And then they would be a happy family... in hell.
"Oh look, they left his bag here," Akane said, finding the bag by the door.
"Here, I'll go drop it off," Ranma answered taking the bag from her. "I'll be back in a few minutes." He jogged out the door and was gone.
Akane watched him go. He would probably be hungry when he got back. She would surprise him by starting... to help Kasumi with dinner. Akane closed the door and headed to the kitchen where she could hear Kasumi humming.