IMPORTANT!!!!!!!  If this is the first time you're reading
this fic, you must read starting from Chapter 1 completely
first!  This story will seem very ridiculous and out of
place if you don't.

This fic is a crossover with Ranma and the Tenchi
OAV/Universe series. Hopefully you readers know some basic
knowledge about both Ranma and Tenchi:) Compared to movies,
I would rate this as a "R" fanfic, because of some of the
harsh language used.

Here are a few things you must know while reading this:

-For all of you readers, PLEASE read the notes at the end of
the fic before you start flaming me for things that you
don't understand or think is bogus, my notes just might
answer all your questions. If that doesn't do it, feel free
to pound away at my mailbox.

-The Ranma aspect of the story takes place after manga 38
and the Tenchi aspect takes place after the TV show/OVA.

-At the end of manga 38 Ranma was at the end of his
sophomore year in Furinkan High School and the year is set
to 1992. Don't ask why, I chose that particular date out of
convenience. This is to set a timeframe where Akane and
Ranma met during their lives.

-Also Ranma still has his curse, but his female form has
black hair (like the manga) and is now just as tall as his
male form.


-Ranma will seem very out of character, but you have to
completely read from the first chapter to understand why.

    -SgtRanma

Please visit my website at http://www.myspace.com/sgtranma!

------------------------

Chapter 6: Check Six

April 20th, 2001.
Bokutou-sho Police Precinct - Tokyo, Japan.  1:56 AM.

    "Damn, it's really late," Ranma yawned. He looked over
at his partner, who was looking at his large handgun
thoughtfully as he fidgeted with it in his lap.

    "How you feelin' Jackson? Still shell shocked?"

    Ranma's partner looked up to him, shaking his head.

    "I'm fine, Cap'n."

    "That's good," Ranma replied. He raised an eyebrow at
him. "You want to talk about it?"

    Jackson nodded a couple of times then shook his head. He
looked embarrassed. "I feel like a real dip-shit right now,"
he sighed.

    "Why's that?"

    Jackson winced at his callous tone. "It's just
that...I've trained for years to be a soldier and a
professional operative. Yet during my time with GIGN I've
never really had to shoot anyone. Sure, we've gone on plenty
of raids and I've done lots of intense assignments, but the
fact is I've never had a chance to kill anyone in the
field."

    Ranma grunted and snorted in amusement. "I was actually
wondering about that myself, kid. You were hesitant."

    Jackson raised an eyebrow. "We're about the same age,
you know, I don't understand why you keep calling me a
fucking kid."

    Ranma scoffed, shaking his head and smiling. "Sorry,
I'll stop."

    "And yeah, I was very hesitant and nervous out there
because I've been out of the game for so long I forgot how
to handle the rush," Jackson shrugged. "I guess I was crying
out of shock, since it wasn't exactly in the middle of a
raging battlefield. I've lost the edge."

    "I'd personally say it's the same thing as a
battlefield," Ranma replied.

    "No, it fucking isn't, and you fucking know it isn't,"
Jackson scowled. "In a war you have to keep moving on and
suppress your emotions till later. What happened tonight...
we were just a couple of guys going on a hit."

    "Yeah, you're right about that," Ranma said. Then his
eyes narrowed. "But guess what? It's our job. Are you
telling me you can't do it?"

    Jackson winced. "I know it's our job. I lost it because
I wasn't prepared. I'm like some grunt out of boot camp."

       "Try not to worry about it too much. I know they
taught you that much. Like you said, you've been trained for
this all your life. Now that you're over it, you just gotta
get back on the edge. Besides, I know that you're capable of
far more than what you showed me tonight, Samamoto."

    He chuckled at that, as sickening as it was. "I'm not
just some jerk with a big mouth and an attitude. I promise
you I'll prove myself." Jackson looked at a clock on the
wall. "I'm gonna head off now."

    Ranma nodded to Jackson. "Yeah, don't worry. Just think
of the good things you've done instead of the bad. You'll be
fine. I'll call you later, for now just report to HQ and do
a little bit of research on my other assignment. It'd be
okay with me if you stuck around tomorrow."

    "We'll see."

    "Oh, and Jackson? I know how you feel man, I really do.
Whatever you do, don't go out and drink your problems away
by yourself. If you gotta numb it out, you got someone to
call to keep you company. Got that?"

    "I appreciate it." Jackson walked out of the large
infirmary.

    Jackson was lucky enough to get away with some minor
scratches and some bruises, although he was scarred
mentally. Ranma counseled him the best he could, using his
own experiences to try to comfort him.

    A tall and broad shouldered man in sunglasses walked up
to Ranma with a cup of coffee in his hand. "Please, have
some coffee. You look awfully tired. We can't thank you
enough for your help."

    "That's alright, Mr-?"

    The man stuck his hand out. "Officer Nakajima, Ken.
Traffic Division, White Hawk Motorcycle Unit."

    Ranma shook his hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm Detective
Sakamichi." Ranma decided to play it careful with his ID for
now. No telling what would happen if he was found out as an
NSA operative.

    "Well, Sakamichi-san. Officers Tsujimoto and Kobayakawa
are doing fine, they only have some bumps and cuts, all
superficial. I'm especially thankful you saved their lives.
They're... very close friends..." Nakajima said, mustering
back tears. The moment he'd heard the incident over the
telephone, Ken had rushed over in a frenzy. Hearing that
Miyuki had been caught in the middle of a shootout nearly
gave him a heart attack.

    But for some reason, hearing what this guy in front of
him did frightened him a little more.

    "That's good to hear," Ranma replied. Yeah. Next time,
before you send them out into the streets, maybe you traffic
maids should get a little better training first, Ranma
thought.

    What had happened earlier in the night had been an
avoidable mistake that culminated into a frantic street
fight. Ranma had immediately ordered a cover up of the
entire incident so that no one outside this police precinct
and the people involved would know about anything. Luckily
the entire incident happened in a business district, with
only a few people hearing the gunshots. For now, he slowly
pondered how he was going to handle the one surviving
suspect who was arrested and was currently being held in an
isolated interrogation room.

    "I have to go now, Nakajima-san. I'll give a quick
goodbye to those girls and I'll be on my way. I'll handle
things through with National Police HQ," Ranma told him.

    "Uh, yes sir. Kobayaka and Tsujimoto are in the next
hall, third room to the right," Ken said.

    "I'll be on my way then," Ranma said. He walked out of
the room and headed straight for the room Nakajima
described.  When he walked in Ranma saw the two women he'd
saved earlier, quietly chatting with each other. The two saw
Ranma and stood up to greet him.

    "Hello, Detective," Miyuki said.

    "Hi," Natsumi said, her voice quiet.

    Ranma nodded his head. "I just wanted to say goodbye
before I left. I hope you two are feeling a little better. I
suggest you go see a psychologist or a police counselor."

    The two distressed girls stared at him in wonder. Ranma
looked calm and relaxed. They had all just come out of the
massacre, and both Natsumi and Miyuki were barely able to
keep their adrenaline levels in check even with the help of
depressants.

    Natsumi, although grateful that the detective in front
of her had saved her life, was still perplexed as to who
this character was. "Who the hell are you anyway? And what
were you doing on that street in the middle of the night?
I'd like to know," she said adamantly. "Please, enlighten
us."

    "I was just on a little errand with my rookie partner,
and we just wanted to help you. Shit happens," Ranma
replied. He was genuinely surprised the girl had the gall to
ask a question like that in a rude tone to someone who had
just saved her life.

    "Who did you say you worked for Sakamichi-san?" Miyuki
asked.

    His brain quickly racked up the sloppy cover story that
he'd made up earlier. "I'm just a detective in the National
Police Department, I work under HQ, right up there with the
top," Ranma lied.

    Natsumi glanced at his holster, which held his silver
Beretta. It was rare enough to see police officers with
guns, and even then they were given outdated and clunky
revolvers. "How did you get a fancy looking gun like that?
No police officer, top brass or not, carries anything like
that. I've never even seen that in our armory before."

    "Look, I just wanted to stop by and make sure you two
gals were alright."

    "Why'd you order the media blackout? You're a bit
strange for a cop," Natsumi replied.

    "It was an isolated incident, why stir up trouble and
get the media swirling around our crime scene?"

    "It's not about that-"

    "There's no need to draw any more attention. We don't
need to panic ordinary people more than we already have.
Honestly, I was just trying to do some damage control."

    Natsumi was too tired to argue further.

    "I have to go home now, it's quite late," Ranma said
with a lame save. If he made it to his temporary apartment
near Furinkan soon, he could get at least four hours of
sleep. Kiyone was currently staying at a hotel nearby, close
enough to pick up in the morning.

    Natsumi was tired as well; she didn't feel like
continuing her questions to the detective. "Well, I'm fine.
Thank you for saving us, we are eternally in your debt," she
said sincerely.

    "I want to thank you again too," Miyuki added. "I guess
I should be more careful in the future. It wasn't like us to
fall into such a simple ambush like that."

    Ranma gave them a gesture of reassurance. "Don't worry
about it. A lot of cops make the same mistake. Just don't do
it again. I'll be going now. Sayonara."

    "Sayonara," the two girls said in unison.

    Ranma took a couple of steps and then stopped in his
tracks. He turned around and faced the Bokutou pair, his
eyebrows arched with a serious look to them. "Actually, I
have one last question."

    "What is it?" Natsumi said.

    He put his index finger to his lip and thought for a
moment. "That," he paused to shake his finger, "wasn't the
first incident with a firearm in this area, was it?"

    Miyuki and Natsumi both lifted their heads, curious as
to where this was going.

    "Anou, that's funny how you mention that because we've
confiscated a few illegally smuggled pistols that had been
either dropped or ditched in shady areas," Miyuki said.

    "Yeah, that's right," Natsumi joined her. "There weren't
any reported shootings like tonight, but in the past couple
of months or so we picked up close to a dozen guns."

    "Hmm," Ranma mumbled. This was an interesting discovery.
"Thanks, I was just curious, that's all." He turned back
around. "You two take care."

    "I hope you come back and visit us, sir," Nakajima said,
walking into the patient room.

    "Sure," Ranma said. Perhaps when this is over, I can
reveal who I really am and make some new friends in the
police business, he thought. "Maybe we'll hang around
later."

    Nakajima's radio beeped at that moment. "All units,
there's been two separate homicides, stand by for dispatch.
Firearms HAVE been involved."

    The three Bokutou station officers blinked in surprise.

    "What the heck? Did the commander just say there are two
more murder cases?" Miyuki asked.

    Hmm, it's about time someone found about that, Ranma
thought.

    "We'd better go with you, Ken-chan," Natsumi said,
getting up.

    Ranma grabbed her shoulder before she could get up. "No,
you two shouldn't go out.

    Nakajima nodded in agreement.

    Before he left Ranma took something out of his pocket
and tossed it to Miyuki. Although he wasn't looking for
another girlfriend, he thought Kobayakawa was the prettiest
girl of the two. Conceivably this would make for a nice
little memento.

    "Ara, what's this?" she asked, holding a deformed little
piece of metal in her hand. She squinted her eyes to observe
it closely, she couldn't identify what it was.

    "That's a souvenir for you. It comes from the heart," he
smirked, tapping his vest.

-------------

    Once he was sure no one was around him, Ranma carefully
ran around the large police precinct to search for the
interrogation halls. The entire place was very isolated,
there seemed to be only a few officers left in such a huge
building. Not to mention there was a high priority homicide
call that got every swinging dick's attention. This was
helpful though, he was able to snoop around without any
suspicion. His little water thermos came in handy. In the
dark stairwells he pressed the button for cold water and
shifted into female form for extra stealth.

    Ranma resumed her search after briskly adjusting her
clothes. To her surprise, she found what he was looking for
with little effort. She entered a door that said
"Interrogation" in big white Japanese characters. She was
even more surprised when she went inside to find it to be
only a single room.

    A growling voice came out of the dark corner. "Who the
hell are you?"

    The suspect was sitting down behind a metal table. His
hands were cuffed, although curiously his legs were free and
unrestrained. Ranma spotted a roll of duct tape that was
conveniently sitting on a shelf. Without warning she knocked
the lone convict with a quick jab to the throat and she
quickly taped up his mouth before he could start screaming.

    "Mmmf! Whff, mff, mmff!!"

    Ranma backhanded him across the face, hard enough for
the guy to taste the metallic tang of blood in his mouth.
"Shut up. Just breathe slowly through your nose, I know it
hurts. It's gonna hurt more if you don't do exactly as I
say."

    The gagged suspect groaned in pain, tears freely flowing
from his eyes from unbridled pain.

    "I know who you are, and I know what you do. Now, if you
don't waste my time, this will go by with very little pain.
Do you understand? Just nod your head yes or no." Ranma
wrapped the thick tape around his body and the chair to
secure him tightly, but his arms were still free.

    The man shook his head up and down to show that he
understood Ranma's instructions. He was terrified by this
sudden shock of seeing some completely random woman barging
in to bind him. Judging by her incredibly forceful
treatment, he assumed she was a cop in the building.

    "Let's see," Ranma said. She took out a small notepad
from a pocket along with a pen and placed it in front of
him. "Your name is Keitaro, right? From the Oroshi clan? I
know all about the things you do and some of the things you
did, and I know that I don't have time to waste with your
ass either. So let's make this quick. First, I need to know
who your supplier is. Just write it down, you should be able
to do that in your handcuffs."

    Keitaro grunted, he was really fucked over this time.
Whoever this girl was, she seemed to know about him. He
picked up the pen and scribbled something down.

    Ranma saw him writing, she carefully observed everything
he did. Keitaro seemed to hesitate for a quick second before
writing down what he needed.

    "Hmm." Ranma pulled the notepad and read it. "Jun,
Kushida. Is this the guy?"

    Keitaro nodded yes.

    With a smile and a nod, Ranma scribbled out the name and
without a warning kicked Keitaro hard in the shins, grabbed
his hair and smashed his face against the table.

    "Mmmf!! Mmmmmff!!!" he cried in painful agony. His nose
started to trickle with blood.

    Ranma gave him a cold stare, and slapped him across the
face again. "Don't fuck with me. I can tell you're lying.
Now let's try this again. I ain't exactly happy about you
and your buds trying to kill cops. Gimme the real name of
the guy you work under, NOW."

    He was crying now, out of both fear and pain. Tears
streamed down his face, both from the physical pain and his
injured pride. Cops didn't do things like this!

    "I'm not gonna repeat myself, hurry the hell up and
write it down."

    Keitaro looked hard into Ranma's eyes, terrified of what
this deceptively beautiful woman in front of him might do.
Could she possibly be calling a bluff? He looked over to
Ranma's right hand, which was curled up into a fist. Keitaro
winced and scribbled down a different name, this time he
gave the real one.

    Ranma smirked. His bluff worked, it was a good thing he
checked things twice. "All right, that's good. Hiroko,
Okuno. Now where can I find him?" Ranma asked.

    "Mmf mmf, mmf!" Keitaro grunted, shaking his head no.

    "You don't know?"

    He shook his head enthusiastically.

    "You don't know, huh? Well that's too bad." Ranma
wrapped her cold fingers around his throat and squeezed
tight. "If that's the best you got I'm just going to have to
kill you."

    Keitaro tried to scream through the thick duct tape but
couldn't.

    Ranma looked at her victim with cold eyes. Torturing
someone wasn't her style, but she felt drunk with power. He
seemed to shake his head furiously under her grip, begging
for another chance.

    As soon as she let him go Keitaro's hand twitched
violently as he tried to scribble a location

    Ranma took a look at the notepad, and almost croaked.
"Furinkan? Furinkan High School?" She gulped. "If you're
lying to me again I'm not gonna give you a second chance."
omething told her that this was too coincidental to be a
lie, and it was eerie. She picked up the notepad and
pocketed it, along with the pen.

    "Mmmf!" He nodded.

    Ranma took a deep breath and then ripped off the masking
tape off his mouth. He was too petrified to scream, and
shuddered as the adhesive stuck and tested the painful
elasticity of his skin. She saw some extension cords in the
room, left on the floor. It seemed the last person to use
this room had forgotten to clean up their mess.

       Keitaro looked up at Ranma, confused as to what she
was doing. She seemed to be tying up the extension cord to
something on the ceiling while standing on top of the
interrogation table. Keitaro contemplated attacking her
right now, perhaps getting a chance to escape, but he
decided against it, seeing as how it'd only end up with him
in even more pain.

    "Ah, there you go." Ranma hopped off the table and
grabbed Keitaro by the back of his shirt.

    When the young Yakuza looked up, his face turned ash
pale. "Is that a fuckin' noose!? What do you think you're
doing you crazy bitch!?" Keitaro yelled.

    Ranma pulled out her pistol and had the muzzle against
his temple. "I'm pretty sure you'd rather commit suicide
than go back to your brothers to get tortured beyond your
wildest imagination. Trust me, I'm gonna make sure that
happens when I use this information to my advantage. So I'll
give you three choices. Either you go up there by yourself
and hang yourself, I use this gun to force you up there, or
last but not least, I beat the shit out of you myself and
then shoot you. Take your pick."

    "Oh, god," Keitaro gulped in fear, tears starting to
stream down his eyes. It was true, if he did somehow get out
of here his superiors would give him a world of pain, and
then kill him for squealing important information.

    "All right, I'll go up there," he conceded.

    "Wha?" Ranma blinked. She didn't expect him to give in
that easy. He was expecting him to put up a fight. "You give
up that easy?"

    "Hell no!" Keitaro tried to jump at him and try to do
whatever he could before he went down, damn it to hell if
his life would end like this.

    Before he could even get out of his seat Ranma
maneuvered around him into a choking headlock.

    She couldn't help but smirk at the guy's last ditch
tactic. Heck, anyone would've done something like this.

    "I'm really sorry, bud," Ranma whispered to his ear as
he struggled for dear life. "This is the only merciful way I
can think of to punish you for your sins..."

    The severe pressure from her arms wasn't enough to break
his neck outright. Ranma nervously watched as he struggled
violently for air.

    "One of your friends killed a cop's wife and child," she
suddenly started talking. "You tried to kill some cops
tonight. For that, I want you to know I can't forgive."

    Ranma let go when she felt the body go limp from
fainting. She didn't want him to suffocate to death and
leave some tell tale signs for the procedural autopsy that
would follow for a suicide.

    She messily and clumsily got the extension cord around
Keitaro's neck and tightened it well and kicked out the
table from underneath. The body flinched for just a second;
it was as if he came back to consciousness just for a split
second to feel death overcome him before his neck snapped.

    Satisfied that the scene was clean of incriminating
evidence against her, Ranma walked out of the room,
undetected. She looked back at the door solemnly, mind
blank. Feeling a bit nauseous and dizzy, she quickly went
back to getting the hell out of here. Ranma slipped out the
gates of the station undetected and she walked to the
closest dark alley to pour warm water from her thermos over
her face. With the trigger cursed he adjusted his pants and
made his way out into the street. With Jackson taking the
car, he searched for the closest taxicab for a ride.

    He politely requested his destination to the driver and
then closed his eyes shut, relieved that the day was finally
through.

                        *   *   *

April 20th, 2001.
Furinkan High School, Classroom 2S - Nerima, Japan. 7:45 AM.

    "Everyone, I'd like you to meet a new student. He's from
America, although he used to live in Japan before that. His
name is Keisuke Ohata," Hinako Ninomiya chirped.

    Ranma stepped into the classroom, wearing a loose
fitting pair of tan khakis and a long sleeved t-shirt,
complimented by a pair of crisp white Nike Air Force 1's. He
was the spitting image of himself from when he was in
college, except for a few details of course. His hair was
given much change; a simple release of his ponytail gave him
long messy hair that reached his shoulders. To complete the
look, his eyes were now dark brown thanks to some special
contact lenses and he sported a thin wire framed set of
glasses. The simplistic disguise did its job and he looked
like a completely different person.

    Apparently Furinkan had adopted a "casual" Friday policy
to make things more comfortable to students these days who
demanded more freedom than when Ranma was a high school
student. He had his bulky pistol cleverly hidden inside of
his pants with a special concealed carry holster, however
that didn't mean it was comfortable. He was going to have to
pick up some better conceal carry handguns later.


    "Hello, my name is Ohata, Keisuke. I moved here on my
own from California, so that I could live a life in Japan
again. Nice to meet you all," Ranma announced to the class.

    The students gave him a mix of greetings. Most of the
boys ignored him, except for a few who were interested by
the fact that he came from America. But most of the girls
paid careful attention to him, already gossiping away about
the new boy in class.

    Ranma ignored their reactions and simply bowed. He
looked around and tried to remember all their faces, and see
if he could come up with any potential suspects. There were
some classic stereotypical delinquents in the corner,
judging from their rebellious hairstyles and the
intimidating glares they were sending his way. A couple of
students in front of him caught his attention and made him
nervous, as he could have sworn that he heard them wondering
why he looked so old for a teenager. Ranma silently gulped.

    "You can go sit over there in the back, Ohata-kun,"
Hinako told Ranma. She motioned for him to go to the same
corner he was observing. She also cued someone at the
doorway to come in. "Class, you will also have a new teacher
for your English and History sessions."

    A long legged teal haired Kiyone walked in wearing a
light yellow one-piece dress that came down to her upper
thighs. She walked in feeling very uncomfortable, and she
did her best to hide it with steely resolve. Her usual
orange bandanna gave an interestingly roguish touch to her
elegant figure.


    Damn that Mihoshi, Kiyone bitterly thought. She had
actually prepared a very conservative and professional
looking ensemble to wear, but the blonde airhead had
accidentally spilled orange juice all over it yesterday
before she left for Nerima, and as a quick compromise she
had to wear this short and racy one-piece dress from
Mihoshi's wardrobe instead. There was no alternative as
Mihoshi had subsequently spilled more juice onto the
remainder of her clothes. Mihoshi was given quite a
scolding.

       It also meant she now had the added hassle of having
to carry a firearm in her purse. She could've left it behind
and saved herself the trouble, but Kiyone liked being
prepared for anything. Mihoshi had promised to bring her
some other clothes later today or tomorrow afternoon after
Saturday school was finished. Fortunately enough, Mihoshi
would be able to pilot her own ship Yukinojo in stealth
cloaking to save her the trouble of a long car ride.

    Kiyone tried her best to smile and ignore the leers of
the males. "Hello, my name is Toshikawa, Emi. It's a
pleasure to meet all of you."

    As she anticipated, all the boys in the class
systematically ogled her. She in turn systematically
pictured a vasectomy for each of them.

    She was pretty annoyed, and borderline pissed at Ranma
too, now that she thought about it. She barely suppressed
the urge to give him a dirty glare for changing an
originally simpler plan. They had earlier discussed entering
the school as students in different classes, but Ranma in
all his wisdom had decided it might be more effective to
have Kiyone enter as a teacher to switch around in as many
senior classes as possible for a possible scoop.

    The end result, Kiyone realized, was she was in a
position in which she barely had any knowledge of what to
do, stuck in a skimpy outfit that felt about as appropriate
as wearing a bikini to work.

    "Hello, Toshikawa-sensei," the class replied in unison.

    The vibrant and young Hinako in her child form was
hanging out the window sucking the chi out of a couple of
students who were smoking next to a tree. Amazingly, Hinako
expertly managed to aim her chi-drain at only the
delinquents, not the entire yard, which had a couple of
straggling students trying to get to class and a couple of
custodians who were cleaning the courtyard.

    "Ick," Ranma quietly said to himself. He gulped a
nervous lump down his throat, it seemed Hinako had learned
how to suck chi from long ranges like a goddamn sniper.

    "Well, students," the now adult Hinako said. She stepped
back into the middle of the classroom. "I hope you all treat
Ms. Toshikawa with the same courtesy that you give to any
new teacher."

    The class didn't give an enthusiastic "Hai!" Instead
they gave a mundane reply of scoffs and other mumbled
replies.

    "Now, Ms. Toshikawa won't be a permanent replacement.
She is going to be present in the room along with me most of
the time so that she can get used to the school. I know this
isn't what normally happens when a new teacher joins our
staff, but just this one time we're going to try something
new," Hinako finished.

    Ranma leaned in his seat, trying his best not to glare
at Hinako. Still a bimbo, he thought to himself. How
careless could she be by telling the students that they're
trying something new? A disruption of procedure was one of
the taboos of undercover success.

    The morning went by without a single hitch. Both Hinako
and Kiyone ignored Ranma and let him do whatever he needed
to. He was either busy taking notes or checking out the
other students to see if they were of interest. They all
seemed normal enough, with all their miniscule and kawaii
cell phones and highlighted hair styles.

       But Ranma didn't need to look too far that the ones
with him in the corner were the interesting ones, like he
had originally suspected. They didn't look very hospitable
and they looked like scumbags. Ranma could see by the ways
their eyes fluttered and wandered at random moments and the
way they shifted in their seats, they were currently on the
influence of something. Most likely some sort of upper.

    Soon it was ten minutes before lunch break. The students
idly listened to their math teacher's lecture. He carried
around a bokken with him, used to intimidate the students.
Ranma was trying his best to look like he was paying
attention. He idly wondered where Kiyone was...

    "Keisuke, get up here and solve this equation," the
teacher called to him.

    Ranma blinked. "Me?" he lamely replied.

    "Yeah, you. You freakin' moron. Who the hell do you
think I was calling?"

    Ranma gulped. At least the teachers were still strict as
always when it came to instructing.

----------

    Kiyone grumbled slightly as she sat down next to Hinako
in the main teacher's office. There were only a couple of
teachers left in the room, they were all either teaching or
having a quick meal off campus.

    She felt worthless at the moment, as well as nervous.
She had no idea how to be a teacher, not to mention this
sexy outfit she had wasn't quite professional. However
nobody scolded her about it, since it was the sort of outfit
Hinako would wear. On a daily basis at that.

    The bandanna on her forehead looked a little out of
place, but Kiyone fidgeted with it a bit and decided to keep
it on anyway. She looked over to her helper, and couldn't
help but notice that Hinako looked a little nervous around
her and Ranma.

    "What's wrong, Ninomiya-san? You've been looking a bit
shaky ever since we came."

    "Me?" Hinako waved her hands. "No, it's nothing. It's
just that I've been feeling under the weather lately, that's
all."

    Kiyone looked around to see if anyone was listening to
their conversation. They were alone. "Is it because of all
the work you had to do to get us in?"

    "Uh, yeah. That sort of has to do with it. But I didn't
mind. Really!" Hinako said.

    It was actually quite a bit of work for Hinako, but only
because she had to go back and forth from her home to
deliver documents to the Principal. Upon Ranma's request,
multiple packages of forged (although technically they
weren't forged, they were recreated documents from the
government, so it was legal) documents that contained new
identities for Ranma, and teaching credentials and a whole
new set of identification documents for Kiyone as well.
Everything was immediately expedited, and most of it was
already waiting for Hinako at her house by the time she got
home.

    "Well, we thank you for your cooperation on this case.
We really appreciate it," Kiyone said.

    "Oh, you're welcome. It's no trouble at all, I'm just
glad to help," Hinako said, her face was now cheery.

    "Let's go back to the classroom and check up on
'Keisuke', shall we?" Kiyone recommended.

    "I think I'll head off and find something to eat, if you
don't mind."

    "Oh, ok. Sure," Kiyone said.

    The buxom brunette got out of her seat and exited the
room, leaving Kiyone by herself.

    "I might as well go too." Kiyone grabbed her bento on
the desk and headed for classroom 2S.

----------

    Once lunchtime started, Sagushi-sensei left the room
after telling his students to behave. At this time many of
the students left the room to head to the cafeteria or to
eat outside. The rest stayed inside the classroom, content
in eating with their friends on the desks.

    Ranma headed out himself, although back in his high
school days he stayed inside the classroom to eat with Akane
and Ukyou. But he didn't have a bento with him. He didn't
have enough time to do so in the morning.

    He spotted the same kids who sat around him in class
sitting on top of several large rocks that were there as a
decoration to the front yard. They had two students kneeling
under them, presumably students from a lower grade. They
were currently being bullied around and hazed.

    The leader of the pack spotted Ranma. Their eyes locked
on.

    "You two can go now, you're dismissed," the kid said,
kicking the two kneeling underclassmen. "Hey, you! New kid!
Get over here!"

    Ranma pretended to avoid them. "Me?" he said, pointing
to himself.

    "Yes, you. Get over here." He gave an evil sneer. It was
about time he got a chance to haze some fresh meat.

    This was a chance for him to get to know who these
little punks were. He walked over to them casually in his
usual graceful step. "I'm Keisuke Ohata. What's yours?"
Ranma asked him as politely as he could.

    The kid scoffed, "What's my name?" He smacked Ranma hard
upside the head.

    Ranma bit the inside of his cheek, he had to be patient.
For the sake of the assignment, he repeatedly told himself.

    "I'll tell you my name, you disrespectful goody-goody.
I'm Okuno Hiroko. Remember it." He gave "Keisuke" another
smack, this time on the back of his head.

    Okuno and his goons laughed and smacked Ranma on the
head as well, just to degrade and humiliate him. It was a
sad little tradition. There were always assholes around
every school campus that were misfits and hazed the shit out
of newbies and underclassmen. This never happened when Ranma
was here, because the bullies knew they'd get a beat down
from him if they ever threatened the innocent.

    Right now, Ranma fought down the urge to break every
bone in their bodies as they constantly smacked him.

    "Yeah, take a look at this fucking fairy. His glasses
look like they cost a fortune. I bet he's a rich ass," one
of the goons said.

    Okuno smacked him again, on the back of his head. "You
got any money, punk?"

    "Um, yeah. Why?" Ranma meekly said. Another smack came
his away.

    "Don't ask questions. Just hand it over."

    Clenching his teeth, Ranma slid his hand into his back
pocket to take out some cash. He had about 30,000 yen in his
wallet, so he cleverly slipped out only one bill. Luckily it
was only a thousand yen bill.

    Okuno ruthlessly snatched the bill out of Ranma's hand,
almost tearing it. He spat at Ranma's feet, pocketing the
cash. "This all you have?" He smacked Ranma hard across the
side of his head. "With all your GQ fancy clothes and shoes
I thought you were rich! You poor?"

    "......" Ranma stood silent.

    He received another smack to the back of his head.
"Answer me, damn it. Are you poor? I guess I'll take your
silence for a 'yes'."

    The other bullies laughed and smacked Ranma's head, a
few of them pulling his ear and a few kicking him. Damn
kids. These youngsters seriously needed to learn some life
lessons.

    Ranma stood silent and took the hazing. It was all for
the discipline of being undercover, he brooded. It was all
for the sake of doing the job...

    "All right, I've had enough fun with you. Get out of my
face, Ohata," Okuno said. He waved Ranma away.

    "Hai..." Ranma said meekly. He bowed his head and walked
away quickly. As soon as he was out of their view, he
started grinning. So, that was Okuno Hiroko. A bratty little
punk, just like he expected. Ranma swept off his shirt and
his hair with his fingers, and any other place where he was
smacked.

    He'd tried hard not to look Okuno in the eyes, because
it would've been a clear sign of disrespect. Most likely
that was what caused Okuno to call Ranma over in the first
place, when their eyes locked. But he did get a quick glance
or two, and he confirmed his suspicions of Okuno's drug use.
His eyes were heavily dilated.

    This was a good start for now, he decided. He was going
to investigate everything slowly, and gather as much
information as possible. Ranma took out his cell phone real
quick to check the time. It was still only less than ten
minutess into the lunch period. He still had about half an
hour to relax. He decided to go back to the classroom.

    As he went up the steps of the school corridors,
something didn't set right in Ranma's mind.

    It was time to take a quick look at what he had so far.
So let's see, he pondered in his mind. That Okuno kid had a
connection with the Oroshi yakuza family. Even if that were
so, how would he be able to handle and transport mass
amounts of highly illegal and expensive narcotics? Even if
he did have his punk friends help him out, he'd still have
much trouble even storing it, let alone distributing it. The
mobsters he knew for sure were in no way connected to the
actual central distribution, they only received it in
moderate amounts, sold it, and reaped the profits. It has to
be something more, Ranma thought. Some large 3rd party,
perhaps. There was even a possibility of a conjunction with
the school itself. Not only that, there was the added
problem of discovering usable and readily available firearms
for the mob. Such a large and complicated drug trade was
surely new in Japan, and little details that could've been
used to detect such activity was largely ignored and unseen
by the local police as it wasn't something to be expected.
Ranma surely counted on the fact that of course Japan like
any other country had its bouts with drugs, most likely with
opium and home-made chemical drugs like meth, but nothing on
the scale of an organized and massive narcotics distribution
of cocaine, heroine, and other rare drugs.

    His thoughts were interrupted as he entered the
classroom, there he bumped into Kiyone.

    "Eh?" Ranma looked up from the floor. "Oh, hi Kiyo-- I
mean Toshikawa-sensei."

    The teal haired teacher in disguise rapped him on the
head with her lunch box. "Just call me Emi-sensei, Toshikawa
sounds too awkward," she whispered.

    Ranma gave her a wink. "Don't worry. I've got a lead on
the case, I'll talk to you about it later."

    "Why not now?" Kiyone asked. She lifted up her bento. "I
was actually looking around for you, but I didn't see you
anywhere. I know you didn't eat and you didn't bring your
own lunch, so let's share mine. I've got plenty of food,"
she kindly offered.

    "Thanks, I was starving." He walked back to the
teacher's desk with Kiyone and pulled up a chair to sit with
her. The bandanna on Kiyone's head finally caught his
attention. "By the way, lose the bandanna. It looks out of
place and unusual enough for some perp from Okayama to
recognize you."


    "This thing?" She stroked her hand hand across her
forehead and she reluctantly took it off her head. It made
sense, especially for an undercover assignment. But still,
she noticed how stern he sounded by the tone of his voice.

    The long haired Keisuke reached back to flick his hair,
missing the pigtail he had as Ranma. He rubbed the top of
his head. "Damn these kids, ever since I graduated I guess
the bully routine got real popular."

    "I used to bully other kids when I was in elementary
school," she chuckled. Kiyone took the lid off the bento and
handed Ranma an extra set of chopsticks. The two started
eating and chatting, talking about Okuno and his gangster
friends. The topic slowly strayed off however, and the two
started engaging in cop talk and sharing stories to each
other about their friends.

    The two ate and giggled amongst each other, taking
advantage of the isolated classroom. Neither had to worry
about a student or another teacher getting the wrong
impression if they were seen together, it seemed everyone,
even the faculty, had gone outside to enjoy a nice Friday
afternoon.

    School flew by the rest of the day with little fervor,
Kiyone and Hinako were dismissing the class at 3:00 and the
rest was history. The two undercover detectives parted with
Hinako after saying their goodbyes, and they were on their
way.

    The front of the school lot was completely empty,
although there were a few students per classroom that were
staying a little later to clean up and there were several
sports teams practicing in the gym or the soccer field. No
one saw 'Keisuke' walking out with the sexy new teacher.

    "So, what're your plans for the rest of the day?" Ranma
asked.

    Kiyone thought about it as they walked to a parking lot
outside the school. "I don't know. Is there anything else we
should do for today?"

    "The case? Nah. Let's forget about it for today. We have
to take this thing very carefully and patiently. I prefer
not to by hasty for undercover assignments," he replied.

    Just as he finished the sentence a splash of water from
above turned Ranma into a girl. Kiyone's eyes bugged out in
surprise and stood speechless as Ranma in her female form
was still taller than her.

    "And I was so careful and lucky all day too," the cursed
girl sighed. She pulled out the Washu-thermos and pressed
the warm button to splash some water in her face.

    "This thing comes in pretty damn handy," he said,
reverted back to his normal form.

    "Does cold water just find you outta nowhere?" Kiyone
looked around for the source, and oddly enough she couldn't
think of where that splash of water came from.

    "It's part of the curse I think," Ranma said. "It
happens all the time. I gotta get some waterproof soap for
the mornings I come here."

    "I don't think I'll ever get bored or used to watching
that," Kiyone blurted out.

    Ranma looked tired. "You'll get used to it, trust me."

    She thought about that, and agreed at the novelty.
"True, true." Kiyone nodded. "I'm a bit tired right now, and
I want to change out of this skimpy dress. Mihoshi said
she'd come over for sure today, in the afternoon. I gave her
a call on my cell."

    "You go ahead and rest then. I want to explore Nerima a
little. I haven't really scoped this place out much, not in
the past nine years, anyway," he chuckled. When he came four
years ago after college he'd been to only three places. The
Tendo home, Ucchan's, and his parents' home. After that,
back to the US he had gone.

    "Being a teacher sucks. I can't stand a job where I have
to stand around all day, even if it for the better education
of these kids. I'd rather be a patrol officer any day,"
Kiyone smirked.

    "Don't be too harsh on educators. They're doing a public
service too, you know. I bet that's why you're so
enthusiastic about being with the Galaxy Police, eh?" Ranma
quipped.

    Kiyone huffed. "I'm a career woman, and I proudly admit
that. But I'd rather be a field officer here on earth than
being a big shot at the GP. I've been with the top before,
and I was fired from it too. It's all political bullshit
once you get up there at a certain level. I guess there was
a time when I wanted to be up top, but I've learned from
experience," Her expression turned a shade darker, and she
thought for a moment. "I just can't stand that."

    Ranma was impressed; he gave her a nod of approval.
"That's quite an attitude you got there. I like that in a
woman," he said, giving her a wink.


    "Ha! Look who's talking! A guy who's been a cop for
merely four years and already he's a CAPTAIN in a federal
agency. I like that in a man," she said in a husky voice.
Ranma replied with a wolf whistle and a chuckle.

    If Mihoshi was there at that moment to catch Kiyone
flirting the way she was at the moment, she would've slapped
herself silly.

    The pair soon found themselves at a small parking lot
outside the campus. "Hey, I'll see you later, okay? Take
care," Ranma said.

    "All right. Give me a call later tonight or something,
so that we can figure out what to do tomorrow."

    "Sure, just rest for today or tour the city. I'll give
you a call later," Ranma said.

----------

    After arriving to his temporary "apartment", he was
finally glad to have his hairstyle back to the usual
pigtail. Wearing those faux glasses sucked too, and the
colored contact lenses. He felt relieved to get rid of them.

    Ranma sighed in disbelief at his new temporary
apartment. He'd asked for something small and normal, but
instead Takayama gave him a luxurious one.  Apparently this
was also a seldom used safe house for foreign intelligence
agencies that cooperated with the JNSA, as well as a safe
house/haven for JNSA agents themselves. Takayama told him it
was also used as a vacation home for himself, which
partially explained for the vast luxuries.

    But the chances of this place being in Nerima and so
close to where he used to live? He couldn't believe his
luck.

    He looked out a large window in the middle of the living
room, giving a great view of the new and improved Nerima. Of
course the window was actually tinted on the other side with
a thick metallic coating that prevented outsiders from
peering in. He gave a great big sigh and tried to remember
all the things he did in his teenage years.

    "Akane..." he idly mumbled.

    It was already four years since he'd found out that she
was in love with Ryoga. He was still a damn immature kid,
even after college. Now that he reflected on his past, he
realized how easily he'd dumped his life in Japan to start
over in the US. He broke off any relations with Akane or
anyone else in Japan (except for his parents) with a bitter
heart, firm in deciding never to return again.

    However he did return, on an impulsive decision thanks
to a letter that just happened to find him at the right
time.

    The pigtailed boy sighed again. He walked over to a
cabinet chock full of various different hard liquors and
other expensive spirits. He took out a large bottle of
Bacardi 151, one of the stronger liquors that Ranma had
grown to be wary of. It was one of those things he hadn't
seen or touched in a while. He unscrewed the cap and took a
nice long slug of the rum, the alcohol gave a harsh burning
sensation down his throat. It definitely gave the proper
buzz, quick and to the point as his stomach properly
indicated.

    Instead of relegating to such a cheap and quick one-
hitter quitter, Ranma grabbed a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue
Label that was sitting half empty on the top shelf of the
cabinet.  He could barely contain his smile as he filled up
a glass and poured the fine scotch whiskey into a chilled
glass from the bar's mini-fridge, swirling it to perfection.
The 25 year old scotch dazzled his taste buds as it drifted
through like a fresh snow drizzled breeze cooling his entire
throat.

    "Ah." That felt a lot better. He felt much more calm and
relaxed once the aftertaste disappeared, perhaps maybe too
much so. Ranma looked at the clock. For crying out loud, it
was still only 3:35 in the afternoon. He remembered the last
time he had drank this was with Kiyone, and he'd started
drinking early then too.

    He looked out the window again, pondering whether to
visit old faces again. Being bitter was getting tiring,
holding grudges made Ranma feel like less of a man, it was
something only some shit-brained chick would do. He supposed
he could go back to the Tendo home, and make up with Akane
and Ryoga. He wasn't sure how Ryoga would handle the
welcome, however. After all, he did break his arm over a
stupid quarrel. And that was on the first day he came back
from the US, too.

    Ranma got up and changed into some new clothes, a nice
pair of loose and comfortable tan khakis that weren't quite
as baggy and an open short sleeved navy blue shirt on top of
a white long sleeved shirt. He decided to wear the shoes he
wore to school, it was actually nice to go back to wearing
Vans skater shoes again. They were big, comfy, and stylish,
and were just as useful as running shoes.

    He got his Beretta and placed it back into his regular
carry holster, which was much more comfortable and safer to
use although more visible.

    After grabbing his car keys and cell phone, Ranma left
the building.

----------

    "Wow, a lot of these places are new!" Ranma said aloud
to himself. He was walking down the local business districts
of Nerima, observing all the new cafes and restaurants that
had been developed since the last time he came here. Most of
these places were all family owned and operated, with the
exception of the few franchised fast food stores such as
McDonalds and Pizza Hut. It was still just as great as ever.

    There weren't any shortage of yatais either, with plenty
of vendors covering the busy street. Ranma bought a large
plastic cup full of beer, and was enjoying it as he walked
along. That was the nice thing about Japan, here you could
freely walk around with an alcoholic beverage in your hand.

    The original Ucchan's Okonomiyaki restaurant was
actually very close to where he was at the moment, but he
didn't want to bother visiting since Ucchan was in Okayama
right now anyway.

    A sleek blue and white Suzuki motorcycle blasted past
Ranma in the middle of the open street. There were a lot of
people around, but the motorcyclist skillfully steered and
banked out of the way while still maintaining speed. Ranma
could tell it was a girl by the tight and curvy body. The
driver stopped right in front of Ucchan's Okonomiyaki, and
she mounted herself from the seat. Ranma couldn't help but
give an appreciative nod. She was a fox, and her choice of
clothing showed off the killer bod.

    Ranma almost gagged when he saw the sport bike rider
take off her helmet. It was Ukyou, wearing a pair of curve
hugging blue jeans and a tight fitting, red leather bike
jacket. Her long, silky auburn hair gently fell as it was
released from the confines of the helmet.

    "Ucchan!" Ranma yelled out at her. He felt a little
embarrassed at ogling his best friend.

    "Huh?" Ukyou turned around, and saw Ranma to her
surprise. "Ranchan?"

    Her best friend was running towards her with a big smile
on his face. "Ranchan? What're you doing here?" she asked.

    "I was just in Nerima for business. I was just walking
around, trying to feel nostalgic, ya know?"

    "Ah, I see. I'm so happy to see you! Do you want to come
in and grab a bite to eat?" Ukyou offered. She looked
around, Ranma was alone and didn't have that Kiyone girl
with him this time. "The dinner rush is gonna come soon, I
can cook it for you myself!"

    "No thanks," Ranma replied. He eyed Ucchan's sport bike
with interest. "Wow, is this your bike? I never knew you
even knew how to ride one! I thought you were going to buy a
car?" Ranma asked.

    Ukyou proudly patted her Suzuki. "This is my Suzuki
Super Sport GSX-R1000. I bought it just a few days ago,
actually. I decided instead of getting a nice car, I bought
this bike for about 850,000 yen which mostly came from the
money you gave me, and I decided to use the money I saved up
to buy a used pickup truck for the restaurants, since I
don't really transport stuff very often."

    Ranma whistled. "Yeow, this thing is impressive," Ranma
complimented.

    "Yeah, it has a 988cc engine. This motor pulls off
wheelies on command," Ukyou said, smiling. "It takes on just
about anything on the road. I need something like this to
get me to my restaurants quick and easily," she explained.

    "Who taught you how to ride motorbikes, Ucchan?" Ranma
asked, burning with curiosity. "This ain't exactly a normal
bike, I bet it's a monster to handle."

    She placed her helmet on the bike seat and brushed her
hand through her hair. "I've ridden long enough to have
pretty good control, I actually bought an old Gixxer 400cc*
a few years ago and I decided to sell it off not too long
ago. The bike has some serious power, but I'm not exactly a
weakling either. I've known how to ride them for about two
years. As for learning it first time around? Ryoga's the
culprit."
*Check notes at end.

    "Ryoga?" Ranma chuckled. This day was full of surprises.
"You two are good friends now?"

    "Yep. We're all real good friends now. Me, Akane, Ryoga,
Mousse, and even Shampoo. Ryoga is a real nice guy now that
he's with Akane," Ukyou said. She didn't notice Ranma's
right eye twitch at what she just said. "He's been riding
for about four years now. I don't know where he learned
himself, but he's really good at it, much better than me. He
just bought a new bike a couple of weeks ago, actually. It's
a Suzuki GSX 1300R Hayabusa, except it's for sport touring
and it's more of a cruiser, not quite the same as a super
sport." She patted her bike again. "Thing bike is a lot
wilder; I'm having tons of fun barely controlling this
Gixxer," she laughed.

    "Jeez. Akane actually lets him off with a motorcycle?
What does he do when he gets lost?"

    "His sense of direction is a lot better now," Ukyou
said, causing Ranma to smirk. "His talking GPS unit works
real well, and Ryoga finally learned to at least follow
voice directions," she explained. "I actually called Ryoga
yesterday and told him I got a new bike. He's going to help
me pick out some great aftermarket parts for it and help me
customize it to my tastes."

    "Ryoga is a gearhead? Wow." Times sure do change, Ranma
thought. He shivered internally, he'd been missing in action
from his old life for way too long, and now all these
changes were a bit overwhelming. He put his hand on the
throttle of the bike and twisted it a couple of times. The
small tachometer showed an engine redline of that went past
12,000 RPM. "This bike is pretty awesome. I learned how to
ride them a long time ago, but I only learned the basics
only, so I don't know too much." His face softened at the
unintentional recollection of a memory he didn't want to
recall.

    "You want me to teach you someday, Ranchan?" Ukyou
asked. "Although not on this one. It's for advanced riders."

    "Haha, I'll take it as a refresher course. Sure, I'd
love it," he replied.

    "What're you up to, this evening?" Ukyou asked. She
wondered if she could possibly snare Ranma for the evening
and have a good time, perhaps even a romantic one if she
could execute it with tact.

    Ranma scratched the back of his head. "Actually, I was
thinking of heading to the Tendo-dojo, maybe meet up with
Akane and Ryoga. I want to try to get on better terms with
them, seeing as how I caused a commotion on my first day in
Japan."

    "Oh, alright then. Good luck to you, Ranchan," Ukyou
said, a bit disappointed. She turned to enter her
restaurant.

    "Do you want to hang out and do something later in the
evening though, Ucchan?" Ranma asked. "I'm not going to stay
at Akane's all day, and I don't really have much to do
tonight. Wanna be me date for the evening?"

    Ukyou froze in her steps and turned around, overwhelmed
by what he had just said. "Uh... sure, Ranchan. I'd love to
hang out with you later," she replied with a happy smile.

    "Alright. I'll call you then. You wouldn't have a cell
phone, would ya?"

    "Actually, I do." She stepped inside the restaurant real
quick and took a restaurant business card that was on the
counter of the lobby. "Here, I'll jot it down for you,
Ranchan."

    Ranma pocketed the card and gave Ukyou his own cell
phone number, which she programmed into her phone. "I'll see
you later then, bye!"

    "Bye!" Ukyou chirped.

---------



    It wasn't long before Ranma reached the Tendo residence.
He still knew this darn neighborhood like the back of his
hand.

    He noticed that the fences he used to run on top of in
his younger days were replaced with newer, stronger fence
railings. The streets were just the same, the homes looked
the same, albeit a bit older, and the calm mood of the
spring air brought on a nostalgic sensation within Ranma. It
wasn't a big deal, really. But it brought back some fond
memories, nonetheless.

    A feeling of dread seemed to flood his mind as he walked
towards the entrance. It had been years since he came back
here. One memory after another seemed to pop up in his mind,
reminding him of the good times he had. He was about to
knock on the gate when he noticed it was actually unlocked
and slightly opened. He pushed it aside and walked in,
noting an inherent difference of the compound since the last
time he'd come here.

    Over in the corner of the yard was a small metal shack,
most likely a makeshift garage for Ryoga's bike, since there
was a tidy concrete path that led to it, spotted with drops
of motor oil.

    The pond looked the same as always, but on closer
inspection it was actually enlarged and was much wider and
deeper. Perhaps Ryoga and Akane wanted to take care of more
koi.

    The faint sound of people practicing martial arts caught
the attention of Ranma's keen hearing sense, he could detect
that a group of people were engaging in a series of
exercises in the dojo.

    That's nice, he thought. He assumed that Akane and Ryoga
had started advertising about martial arts classes, and the
people in the dojo right now were probably their students.
He idly wondered how many students the couple had enrolled
under their wing...

    "Hmm, it wouldn't hurt to hang around," he said to
himself.

    Ranma walked over to the dojo's entrance in the rear of
the Tendo compound, and he was impressed with the complete
revamp of the entire building. New doors, completely
renovated walls, a couple of new signs, newly molded steps,
and new lighting sparkled the place.

    He peeked through the sliding door, and held his breath
as he saw Akane in the front of the class, pacing back and
forth, observing her students. She had her eyes narrowed
down, and she wore her traditional yellow gi. She eyed
something in what appeared to be a completely new room built
in to connect with the dojo, and walked inside of it.

    This is a good time to go inside, Ranma thought. Perhaps
he could give her a surprise when she walked back out.

    On the other end, Akane went into the newly made study
that was used by her and Ryoga to manage the dojo. She was
busy helping Ryoga prepare the schedule calendar handouts
for next month. She didn't notice behind her back that Ranma
had slid the door open and entered.

    The class didn't stop in their exercises, which Ranma
approved of. They were well disciplined, the most they did
was give a glance at him and they returned to their katas or
stretches. He gave a general overlook of the entire class,
there couldn't be more than 15 or so people

    "Hmm. Not bad," Ranma said to himself. He noticed a girl
walking towards him, she looked like a college student. She
had a black belt, and by the way she carried herself
arrogantly and with smooth stride, he assumed that she was
probably one of the leaders here.

    "Hello, may I help you? I'm the sensei's assistant."

    Ranma was pleasantly surprised. A girl was the top dog
here?

    "What is this group doing at the moment?" Ranma asked.

    "We're about to get into some sparring exercises, before
Akane and Ryogasensei start out the lessons," she replied.

    Oh? This would be interesting to watch, he thought. "Do
you mind if I observe while I wait? I'm actually here to see
the instructors."

    "Um, I guess. But please do not distract the students,"
she told him.

    Ranma smirked at that. Young and arrogant, but most
importantly she was confident just like he used to be. By
the way her muscles were formed and how she moved around,
from first impressions she seemed to be a decent martial
artist. But he set that aside, and looked upon the other
students.

    A lot of them were in their teens and probably half of
them attended Furinkan High School. He could recognize a
couple of the teens who were in the other classes at
Furinkan. No one recognized him.

    Ranma walked up to a pair of black belt students who
were sparring enthusiastically, neither side holding back.
They threw fancy kicks and punches, as well as flipping
around back and forth. The small amount of aerial combat
that he saw was a trademark of the Musabetsu Kakuto Ryuu,
but Ranma frowned at it. All that wasted movement was wasted
energy.

    "Hey, you two."

    The two sparring students whom Ranma laid eyes on
stopped, and stared at him. "Are you talking to us?" they
both asked.

    "Yeah. I couldn't help but notice all that wasteful
maneuvering you two were inflicting upon each other. I know
it's probably part of the martial arts style you're taught
here, but in a real fight it isn't really worth all your
energy. And I know that at this point, you two are way past
learning about discipline and all that other martial arts
mayhem, so you can concentrate on fighting."

    The two nodded in interest, and listened to what Ranma
had to say. He showed them a couple of stances and
movements, jabbing his fists like a boxer with quick and
powerful strokes. He explained various different things to
them, and they were actually good listeners and followed
with him. Ranma approved of the fact that they fought each
other without holding back, giving full on punches to the
face and giving strikes to vital points on the body.
Bringing on the pain was the only way to learn.

    Unbeknownst to Ranma, Akane peeked out from the corner
of her office to see a pigtailed man who was talking to one
of her students. She was surprised to see him here, in the
middle of her class. Akane didn't utter a word, instead she
observed him as he taught something to two of her students.
She smiled as he saw him perform a couple of quick lightning
fast jabs with his fists, fascinating the two. She decided
to stay where she was to see what he would do.

    The head girl who first talked to Ranma noticed this,
and angrily stomped over to Ranma. He saw her from the
corner of his eye.

    "Excuse me, but why are you distracting my class?" She
had a frown on her face and her forehead was creased. The
glare of her almond shaped brown eyes could melt the steel
locks off a bank vault.

    Her firm hold genuinely impressed Ranma. He turned his
head. "I was just giving them a short lesson on fighting.
How you should actually concentrate on boxing and grappling
to knock down your opponent and beat the shit out of them."

    "We do only what Tendo-sensei and Hibiki-sensei say, and
they work. Please don't tell us what works and what doesn't
in our own dojo," she growled angrily. She didn't want to
get in trouble by Ryoga-sensei, who was very explicit in
instructing her to keep discipline in the room and
distractions out. That, and her deep sense of pride she
harbored for two of her role models.

    "Whoa there, no need to get all frisky. I was just
giving out a few pointers here," Ranma smiled.

    She smacked her lips with a shake of her head. "We don't
mind visitors during our training sessions, but distracting
and butting in to our ways is pushing it. How am I supposed
to know you're trying to teach another person a bunch of
bull?"

    Ranma gave her a skeptical frown. "Oh come on, do you
really think you're that good? How about a short match
against me? Right here, in the middle of the dojo." Ranma
resisted the temptation to smack her upside the head.
"You're top dog here right? How about we put the lessons of
your teachers to the test."

    Aha, a challenge to one of her students? Akane's smile
grew even bigger. Mayaka Hiramatsu was her best student and
pretty much an assistant instructor for simple stuff when
either she or Ryoga wasn't present. Now she was going to
face off against Ranma, whom probably none of them even
recognized.

    The room cleared, and the students formed a circle,
leaving Ranma and Mayaka facing each other in the middle.
Mayaka chose a basic Kempo stance, while Ranma had his fists
held up comfortably like a boxer just a little below his
cheeks.

    At this moment, Ryoga had come behind Akane and saw from
where she was to see his students circled around Mayaka and
another challenger, who was... Ranma?!



    "What the-" Ryoga growled.

    Akane held him back, and put her index finger against
his lips. "Quiet, Ryoga. Leave Ranma alone for now. I wanna
see what he does," she told him.

    Ryoga breathed a sigh and listened to her. After all, he
had promised not to do anything irrational without
consulting her first.


    The two stepped closer to each other, only an arm's
length away with one of the students standing nearby as a
referee.

    Mayaka smirked. This inexperienced moron, she thought.
His fighting stance is ridiculous. I'll mop the floor with
his ass, she thou-


    As soon as the makeshift ref yelled "fight!", Ranma
jabbed Mayaka's throat with his right fist in an incredibly
fast blur. He didn't even give her the chance to react. Her
head was knocked back, disorienting her. In a blind panic
she croaked and grabbed her throat, leaving her open to a
final blow from Ranma to her ribcage.

    The class stood silent in awe and disbelief. Their class
leader just got her ass kicked in what seemed to be a
fraction of a second, by some stranger whom they didn't even
know.


    Akane and Ryoga stared in shock at the silent mass,
their jaws hanging down. Both were unable to comprehend what
they had just seen with their own eyes. Did Ranma just
strike down a girl just now? In his male form, nonetheless?!

    The downed martial artist moaned in pain on the ground,
she had fallen down like a chopped log and her years of
martial arts conditioning and instinct had not kicked in to
help break the fall. Instead she felt like someone had
snapped her airway shut although she was still breathing and
the back of her head was in pain.

    She saw a hand in front of her, beckoning her to grab it
so that she could get back on her feet. She looked up and
saw the pigtailed man who'd just defeated her before the ref
had even finished saying the word "fight" completely.

    "You're a good kid, you've got the potential to become
great. But one thing you must learn is the ability to glean
from other people, to potentially see what you can learn
from others and have an open mind."

    Mayaka grabbed Ranma's hand and pulled herself up. She
rubbed her jaw and ran her hand down her neck, which didn't
hurt much anymore. "That was cheap!"


    "A throat shot?" Ranma raised his eyebrows. "If I recall
correctly you're a student in 'Anything Goes', are you not?
I would say it's cheap if it was mainstream Karate."

    She paused for a moment and then nodded, and gave a
resigned bow and thanked him. "I guess I wasn't as good as I
thought."


    "I guess you thought you were too good," Ranma replied.
It was a shame that Ranma didn't really test her for her
true ability, he was just focusing on taking her out as fast
as possible without injury.

    "All right, all right, that's enough!" roared Ryoga from
behind. He had Akane right behind him.

    The entire class, including Mayaka, scrambled to get
into two rows in front of Ryoga and Akane. "Hai, sensei!"
they all said in unison.

    Ranma blinked. He'd forgotten about Ryoga being here
too. He suspected that both him and Akane had been watching
the quick match. "Well, hello there, fellas."

    Akane stood silent, and Ryoga stared at him.

    "What the hell are you doing here, Saotome?" Ryoga asked
calmly.

    The entire class mumbled. Saotome? Where had they heard
that name before? It sounded very familiar...

    Ranma let out a small sigh, and looked him in the eye.
"I just happened to be in town, and I figured it'd be nice
if I stopped by and maybe talk things out with you and
Akane. You know, maybe we can hang out or something
tonight."

    Before Ryoga could retort, Akane whispered something in
his ear. "Come on Ryo-chan, he sounds pretty sincere to me.
You PROMISED me that you wouldn't do anything irrational.
You remember that. I feel really nervous too, but Ranma took
a chance by coming here to meet us. The least we can do is
talk with him."

    Ryoga had no choice but to listen to his wife. He
grumbled slightly and gestured to Mayaka to come over to
him.

    "Yes, Hibiki-sensei?" Mayaka answered.

    He tsked at her. "I'm disappointed with you, Hiramatsu.
I saw that match just now. How is it that Ranma over there
took you down in less than a second? You can't even last one
whole second?" he asked incredulously.

    All of the students, including Mayaka, gasped. "Ranma
Saotome? He's THE Ranma Saotome?" Mayaka turned around to
face Ranma in disbelief.

    The pigtailed boy scratched the back of his head, shying
away from the looks of the students.

    "Good god! No wonder he's so good!" Mayaka exclaimed.

    Ranma blinked at this. He hadn't been back to this dojo
in over four years, and he hadn't been up and around in
Nerima for over seven years. How was it possible that these
youngsters knew about him? He certainly wasn't one who
advertised himself from place to place. He was actually
pretty contained within Nerima, other than the folks at
Furinkan and the NWC knowing him.

    A bunch of eager eyes were fixed upon him as the
students barely kept themselves in control from asking Ranma
a bunch of questions.

    Ryoga took control of the class again. "He's not that
great. I was his rival during our teen years," Ryoga said.
He faced Ranma with a smirk, showing off his fangs. "I can
still take you on, Ranma."

    Ranma lifted his eyebrows. "Uh, yeah. That didn't happen
the last time we had a little scuffle," Ranma said
sarcastically.

    This caused the bandanna wearing martial artist to flush
red, more in embarrassment than anger. "Alright then. Me and
you, right here, in the middle of the dojo. No ki attacks,
no bullshit, just plain skill versus skill. Do you accept?"

    "Do chickens cluck?" Ranma replied back with a quick
remark. He got in a basic Kempo stance.

    Ryoga did the same, although his mind was still trying
to process Ranma's comeback. "Hyaaah!!!"

    Ryoga executed a powerful sidekick aimed at Ranma's
chest and missed, Ranma simply dodged it by swiveling his
body quicker than the eye could see and gave a sharp
downward kick to Ryoga's ankle, causing him to fall down in
pain.


    "Argh!" Ryoga grabbed his pained ankle for a moment on
the ground and grit his teeth. He jumped right back up in a
fighting stance.

    "Come on, Ryoga. You should know better than to leave
yourself wide open like that," Ranma tsked.

    The bandanna wearing teacher smirked. That was actually
pretty quick, Ryoga thought. He decided to go against Ranma
with some more skill.

    "I'll get you, Ranma. You'll see." Ryoga smirked. He
dashed in quick with a flurry of punches.

    The class stood amazed at both martial artists, none of
them had ever seen Hibiki-sensei fight this well. But what
seemed even more amazing was Ranma, the famed martial
artists that Tendo-sensei always used to mention and tell
stories of.

    Right now Ranma was blocking and countering every attack
Ryoga was throwing at him with calculated precision and
ferocity.

    After barely dodging a swing from Ryoga that was
powerful enough to slice a person's body in half, Ranma
decided he'd had enough of this. He threw a left hook right
into the center of Ryoga's chest and gave a three hit combo
attack to his Adam's apple, between his eyes, and a shiatsu
jab to his left thigh which paralyzed his leg muscles
temporarily. This all happened very quickly, leaving Ryoga
crumpled over like a dead leaf, his throat swollen in pain
and disabling him from making any cries of anguish. He
finally coughed a few times, waving away a worried Akane who
wanted to help him. He had to rub out his thigh to get rid
of the numbing.

    "Had enough yet?" Ranma asked.

    "Heh," Ryoga chuckled. He stood up and looked at Ranma
with a smirk. His eyes seemed to be on fire. "That was
really good, especially your impeccable control with shiatsu
attacks. I guess I can stop holding back now, and go all out
on you."

    Ranma raised his eyes in pleasant surprise. He was
holding back? That's actually quite impressive, P-chan,
Ranma thought.

    Ryoga took off his black t-shirt and stretched for a
quick second. The female students in the room swooned
slightly at their teacher, he was actually quite handsome
and a major hunk. A lot of them had held a crush on Ryoga
for awhile, and it was rare when they got to see him like
this.

    The pigtailed boy looked at his opponent, wondering what
the hell Ryoga would try on him next. By the looks of his
physical condition Ryoga had become a bit broader than
before, and his muscles much more defined. Maybe it was his
imagination, but it looked as if Ryoga had done a bit of
bodybuilding. Perhaps that was why Ryoga seemed to be slower
than he used to be. Either that or Ranma was too skilled for
him now.

    He almost laughed at the whole scene.

    "For crying out loud..." Ranma chuckled sarcastically.
"Do you really think just taking off your top is gonna make
you better or something?"


    Ryoga turned a bit red at that, feeling stupid now that
he thought about it. He could've just continued fighting him
without taking off his shirt. Why did he have to take it off
anyway? He decided he watched one too many martial arts
movies in his spare time.

    "Come on, Mr. College graduate, let's see how good you
really are," Ryoga taunted.

    "Hmph." Ranma wore a neutral mask, with no sign of an
aural presence surrounding his body. It was as if he was
trying to cover up his ki, although not completely. Only a
fine tuned martial artist like Ryoga (and not even Akane)
could detect the very light signature of it.

    He figured out his current tactic. Ryoga eyed his
opponent up and down in a one quick blink. It looked like
Ranma was going to give out strength in short bursts,
revealing it only in a movement of offense, in an effort to
test out the boundaries of his opponent. Ryoga had to be
careful, he figured if he could get through Ranma's defense
once, he'd be able to grapple him and pummel him down.


    The two looked at each other for a brief moment, and in
an instant Ryoga made his move.

    "!" Ranma's eyes widened as he saw Ryoga jumping in
front of him and sending a punch towards his gut at blinding
speed. He was fighting at a speed that was almost three
times faster than before.

    Ranma barely had time to curse himself for
underestimating his long time rival as he grunted in pain,
the force of the blow wheezing the air out of his lungs.

    Ryoga immediately followed up with a powerful head butt
and dropped to tackle his opponent. Ranma, dazed and
disoriented, was put on his back by Ryoga as he charged
forwards with his legs.

    With quick reflex Ranma's right leg kicked up and flexed
all the way to the back of Ryoga's head, striking him
painfully. Ryoga immediately rolled off of Ranma and swung a
powerful punch to the side of his head as he barreled off.

    Adrenaline-fueled primal rage took over Ranma's fighting
instinct as he felt a sharp pain blow through the side of
his head, he flipped wildly on the floor and his legs
started swinging.

    The watching students watched excitedly as the fight in
front of them blew up like gasoline poured into a campfire.
They were a little confused as to what Ranma was doing at
the moment; it looked as if he was break dancing on the
floor of the dojo, doing a wild windmill.

    A spinning leg caught Ryoga by surprise, smack dab in
the middle of his rib cage, reeling him backwards. Ranma
spun himself upright and planted his feet on the floor, only
to have a fist rammed into his jaw by Ryoga.

    The punch managed to blur Ranma's vision because of
Ryoga's fierce strength, but it didn't disorient him enough
for a counter. That punch had been Ryoga's trump card, a
knockout blow. Ranma gave him an equally strong Judo
clothesline hook and knocked him hard onto the wooden deck.

    Ranma's fist fired down and stopped just an inch before
Ryoga's nose.

    "Checkmate."

    "Damn," Ryoga muttered, clearly defeated. He pushed off
Ranma and brushed himself off.



    The pigtailed boy rubbed the side of his head where
Ryoga had struck him. There was no visible bruise though, it
was all covered by his hair. His jaw was perfectly unharmed.

    Ryoga smiled inwardly. At least he'd given Ranma a run
for his money this time, instead of being taken by surprise
like the last time they had a confrontation.

    Despite the match, the entire atmosphere felt a lot
lighter and both Ranma and Ryoga were feeling a bit less
hostile to each other. The students were clapping in
amazement at the incredibly spirited bout; it was a quick,
brutal, and honest, no holds barred, down to earth, one on
one fighting. They'd all heard the stories, the rumors, and
the myths about the original successor to the art. Their own
sensei, Ryoga Hibiki, was no match for the real heir to the
Musabetsu Kakutou Ryuu, Ranma Saotome.

    Akane was flattered with the show of skill that her own
husband and ex-fian---Ranma displayed. To her observant eye,
she could tell that Ranma had been street fighting for quite
some time, just by analyzing his simplified yet extremely
effective fighting style. There were still parts of Anything
Goes present in his form, but the windmill counter-attack he
pulled off with his legs was quite a sight to behold. At
first it seemed like flailing panic, but it was an
effectively distracting emergency maneuver. There was no
wasted energy in all of his strikes.

    "Alright now, Ranma. Why are you here?" Ryoga asked him
again. He grabbed
his shirt from the ground and put it back on.


    Ranma on the other hand was taking off his long sleeved
blue shirt, folding it and cradling it in his arm. "I
already told you. I just want to talk with you guys. Settle
some things you know, maybe we all can have a drink
together."

    "Settle things?" Akane prodded. "You mean you want to
talk out some stuff among us?"

    "Yeah," he nodded. "Maybe we can go to a bar or
something. Or a yatai."

    "Akane-chan and I don't really drink, Saotome," Ryoga
replied.

    "Don't worry," he snorted. Fucking prick. "Any place is
cool, it's fine with me wherever we go."

    The dojo students were murmuring among themselves at
their surprise guest and were too caught up in their own
fascination to realize they were standing around doing
nothing.

    "Okay, okay. That's enough," Akane said to her class.
She pointed Ryoga to the house and motioned for him to wait
for her in the living room. She called upon Mayaka to
supervise the class. "Alright students. Just for today, you
get self instruction. Make sure to listen to whatever
Hiramitsu has to tell you."

    "Hai!" the class barked in unison. The proceeded to
continue to spar against each other and do their own katas.
Some of them were already practicing to imitate Ranma's
moves.

    Akane tugged at Ranma's sleeve. "Come on in, we'll go
have a seat in the living room."

    He nodded, and followed her into the house. A wave of
uneasiness swept past him, he had to remember that it had
been about four years since he'd been back in here. The
place he used to call home now felt distant to him. Each
step of the hardwood floor felt colder, the decor less
comforting, and the atmosphere definitely less welcoming.

    To say that a part of him was a bit anxious about being
with Akane and Ryoga would've been an understatement, two
people he'd sworn to never associate with again, long ago.
He made his way into the living room, what used to be his
favorite place to lounge around, awaiting a cup of tea from
Akane.

    That left Ryoga and Ranma in the room, both were
shifting restlessly in their awkward situation.

    "How is your arm?" Ranma asked, breaking the ice. He
berated himself for his choice of words, there were a
million other questions he could've asked, why the fuck did
he choose that one?

    Ryoga responded harshly, as expected. "It's already
healed," he spat.

    A stiff drink couldn't hurt right now, Ranma thought,
gulping. "I didn't mean it that way, Ryoga. I didn't want to
hurt you that day, you know. I was there at Ucchan's that
day because I needed to talk to her about some important
matters. I was actually hoping that I would be able to
completely avoid all of you guys that day, and leave you two
to your peace. I guess I'm sorry for all this mess, so far."
There, I hope that's a good start to apologizing Ranma
thought to himself.

    Ryoga was surprised, Ranma had been trying to avoid him?
He was willing to forgive the pigtailed boy since his own
wife had requested it, but still felt wary of it. Those
files that Nabiki had shown him and Akane. Those pictures,
the videos, the files. Did the Ranma in front of him really
kill all those people and go through all those things? He
was definitely not the same old Ranma they had all once
knew, but it made Ryoga wonder. Was he still *Ranma*? Or was
he a killing maniac?

    Bah. He shouldn't worry about this right now. He'd
evaluate him at face value, not from shadowy pasts.

    Tea sure seemed to take forever to prepare, especially
when silence was the one thing that made him anxious at the
moment, Ranma thought. He nervously tapped the floor audibly
with his fingers, observing some of the new interior decor
that Akane probably arranged.

    "So, Ryoga. How long have you two started teaching in
the dojo?"

    Ryoga glanced at Ranma from the corner of his eye.
"About three years now," he replied. "Business started off
quite well. There was interest pouring in with people who
had seen us fighting and they wanted to learn how to do
martial arts like us."

    That was the typical answer he'd expected. Ranma
expected nothing less of the two. Knowing Ryoga's ambitious
nature, he knew that the two would live a happy, picture
perfect life. From the looks of it, they seemed quite happy
with each other too.

    "How's everyone else, Ryoga? Anything change much in the
past couple of years? I met Ukyou on the way here, you know.
She was riding a motorcycle and told me that you were the
one who taught her how to ride." Ranma chuckled. "Shit,
times sure do change," he said wistfully.

    Ryoga blinked. Oh yeah, he was the only one who didn't
know about his bike. Everyone else here did. "Yeah, I got
her into riding a couple of years ago. I actually started
off right after you left again for the US. It was sort of a
spontaneous thing. I was talking to a couple of drifters,
the convinced me to take one ride around the block. After
that I got hooked. I learned quick, went to a couple of
classes, and bam. That's it."

    "Oh, that's cool," Ranma replied lamely.

    "How was police life over in America?"

    Ranma looked up, his eyes wandering. "Don't have much to
say, really. It's tough out there. You see a lot of grim
stuff. Things not many people want to see."

    "Ah," Ryoga tried to chuckle nervously. "I guess it was
hard living?"

    "Hmm?" Ranma thought back for a moment. The heart
pounding arrests. The thrilling car chases. The adrenaline
pumping shootouts. "It certainly kept me tough and right on
the fucking edge."

    Ryoga raised his eyebrow at Ranma.

    "Uh..." Whoops, Ranma thought. His mind had been
blocking out certain other memories that he didn't want to
recall, as a result he forgot to keep his tongue in check.

    "Did your choice of vocabulary change as well during
your new life?" Ryoga smirked.

    He resisted the urge to reply with a glare. "Old habits
die hard," Ranma sighed.

    Another uncomfortable silence went by as the two men
couldn't seem to find anything on their minds to talk about.

    Luckily Akane came back in with some cups of hot barley
tea. She handed one to Ranma.

    "Here you go."

    "Thanks," he replied. He took a sip. It was surprisingly
good, and he nodded in appreciation. He was glad that
Akane's bad kitchen skills were only a childhood fluke. A
sudden gurgle in his stomach made his eyes narrow. Maybe
not.

    Akane sat down after she handed her own husband a cup.
"I'm really glad we're actually getting a chance to talk
again after last time," she softly said.

    Ranma shrugged, feeling a little bit embarrassed. "I
didn't want to have bad blood between us forever. We're too
old for that now."

    "That's good," Akane smiled. It was pleasant to know
that Ranma was at least reasonable enough to tackle any
problems he had instead of pining over them.

    "So, you guys want to head out? Let's go to eat
something," Ranma suggested.

    Akane gathered the cups back onto a tray and stood to
carry it back to the kitchen. "Sure, we'll do that."

    Ryoga shrugged and stood up as well. "Where should we
go?"

    "How about the Nekohanten? I feel like some Chinese
food," Akane perked from the kitchen.

    "Uh..." Ranma looked hesitant.

    "All right, honey," Ryoga replied back to his wife.
"Come on, Ranma. Let's leave.

    Ranma was starting to have second thoughts now, going to
Shampoo's and facing her and her grandmother wasn't on his
itinerary for the day. "Uh, who's gonna watch the dojo and
the students?" he nervously asked.

    Akane came back into the room. "Don't worry, dad is
here. I'm going to change real quick, wait up for me, ok?"

    "Your dad?" Ranma gulped. He'd forgotten that Soun was
still here. Even though he'd had a very brief stint with him
the first day he'd come back, Ranma wasn't quite sure how
Soun would react to seeing him again...

    From the shadows a sliding door opened and there entered
Soun, in his usual brown tunic and his usual tobacco pipe in
his mouth. Soun stopped in his tracks, looking at Ranma, who
was staring right back. Ranma couldn't help but wonder, Soun
and his own father didn't look any older than they had nine
years ago for some peculiar reason.

    "Hello, Mr. Tendo," Ranma greeted, albeit with an
awkward expression. He waved his hand at him, although the
awkward motion was like that of a robot.

    Soun Tendo stopped in his tracks, his eyes resembling
that of a deer caught in a truck's headlights. He exhaled a
puff of smoke that he didn't know he was holding.
"Um...hello, Ranma-kun."

    Ranma tried to hide a sad frown, he knew Mr. Tendo was
ashamed and full of remorse because of what had happened
between Akane and him, although it really wasn't his fault.
Ranma knew that and told that to him four years ago.
Apparently the guilt hadn't gone away like he had hoped.
"Come on Mr. Tendo, there's no need to act that way around
me."

    "You've really become a fine young man," Soun smiled. He
walked up to Ranma, pipe still stuck in his mouth between
the molars, and grabbed his broad shoulders. He gave him a
hearty pat.

    When Soun let go of his shoulders Ranma had small smile
on his face. "I just want to tell you firsthand that I'm not
angry anymore about the past. I came here to try to start
over with a clean slate, maybe revive a life in Japan that I
tried to kill off years ago. Although that tangle at
Ucchan's was sort of a huge misunderstanding."

    Soun fervently shook his head. "No, no! Don't worry
about that at all. No one is blaming you for it. I sure as
hell am not. Ryoga and Akane were the only ones who were
upset because you broke Ryoga-kun's arm, and Kasumi was a
little worried when you disabled her husband," he said. "But
don't worry about me!" he quickly corrected. "I wasn't upset
at all, I understand COMPLETELY why you got mad."

    "Umm..." Ranma didn't know what to say to that, although
he detected a hint of bullshit blowing in the breeze. "Uh,
yeah..." Something popped into his head though. "By the way,
Mr. Tendo. Do you know if Akane or Ryoga called my mom about
that incident at the restaurant?"

    "Hmm? No, the kids didn't do that. I believe it was
Shampoo's grandmother. She was seething mad when you left
and everyone stayed away from her. She was upset about you
threatening to kill her," Soun told him.

    Comprehension dawned on him. "Oh..." Ranma replied. I
guess I took it a little to far with Cologne, he thought to
himself. "That's what my mother must have been mad about,
and why she didn't tell me specifically."

    "Well, anyway. It's been good talking to you again,
Ranma. I'm going to head to the lawn and read my newspapers
with my pipe."

    "I'm gonna head off too, with Ryoga and Akane," Ranma
said.

    "That's good, that's good. I'm thankful you're all
getting along again." Soun walked out to the front lawn, and
out of Ranma's view.

    Ranma heard Akane greet her dad as she walked her way
over to him.

    "Hey Akane, do you mind if I bring someone along?" Ranma
asked her.

    "Who is it?" she asked. "Ukyou?"

    Erk. He almost forgot about her. "Well, actually I was
going to call my partner."

    "Um, sure. Why not. I'll tell Ryoga and we'll all head
out," Akane said. She turned around and hopped up the
stairs.

    He didn't know why, but looking at her just now, smiling
and running up those stairs all giddily... It burned a hole
in his heart that he'd tried to extinguish long ago.

    What the hell am I moping over her for, he cursed at
himself. She's not mine anymore and I left it that way
without trying to change it.

    He took a deep breath and sighed it out. He took out his
mobile phone and called Jackson thru a speed dial.

    The call went through. "Lo'?" a male voice answered in
English.

    "Jackson, is that you?"

    "Oh, hey Cap'n."

    "Where are you right now?" Ranma asked.

    "I'm actually at the JNSA, doing some research and a
lil' bit of paperwork. Oh, by the way, I got everything you
asked for."

    "That's great. Are you doing anything right now?"

    "Well, not really. I was thinking of going to an SDF
training ground, maybe train myself."

    "Oh come on, Jackson. That was just your first time out
in a situation like that. Don't worry too much about it, I
oughta tell you how I reacted my first time. And besides, I
want to go to that training site you are talking about too.
I'm not too familiar with all the law enforcement around
here."

    "Oy, I've gone through MANY more field deployments than
you might think," Jackson chuckled on the other end of the
line. "No problem, Cap'n. I'll be looking forward to going
to the training grounds with you."

    "Good. Now what was I gonna ask you about?" Ranma
scratched his head then snapped his finger. "Oh yeah. I was
going to go out to dinner with a couple of old friends, here
in Nerima. Do you want to join me?"

    "What?" Jackson asked, confused. "I don't know..."

    "Come on, come with us. You're my partner, and besides
you don't have anything to do."

    Jackson winced to himself, his social life wasn't really
much to talk about. "Oh, fine. I'll come with you. How do I
get there?" Jackson asked.

    "Err, that is..." Ranma stopped short. "You got me
there. I have no idea how to guide you here."

    "Hmm...let's see. Are you on your cell phone, by the
way?"

    "Yeah, I am." Ranma raised one of his eyebrows. "Why?"

    "Oh, don't worry about it then. If you go through the
menu setting and get into the security settings, you can
turn on a signal beacon. Just do that and I'll come to you."

    "Oh, ok." Ranma did as Jackson said, and sure enough the
phone's LCD screen blinked for a few seconds. "All right, I
think it's on. Just get here as soon as you can."

    "All right, Cap'n. I'll be there." The phone clicked off
signaling the end of the transmission.

    Ranma clicked the "End" button on his phone as well. He
took out the small business card Ukyou had given him
earlier. He pondered whether he should call her or not.

    "Nah. I shouldn't call her. I promised her that I'd have
an evening just between the two of us." He pocketed the card
and went to the living room, where Ryoga and Akane seemed to
be sitting at the table watching the news on the TV.

    Akane turned her head and saw Ranma. "Oh, hey Ranma. Is
Ukyou or your friend going to be joining us?" she asked.

    "My partner Jackson is going to be here soon, but Ukyou
won't be coming with us." Ranma replied.

    "Oh, ok," she said. Akane turned her head back to the TV
screen. "Wow, that's really scary. Can you believe that Ryo-
chan? Two suspected drug dealers shot to death in their
cars, and a Yakuza lawyer who was gutted in an alley. I
can't believe something like this would happen in Nerima!"
she exclaimed.

    "Un," Ryoga grunted with a grim nod.

    The news anchor in his dull black suit and striped
necktie gave his boring, unenthusiastic and unnaturally
serious news report of the incident. Ranma missed the
interesting news broadcasts that SoCal had, with all the
jokes the anchors gave to each other along with tiny little
commentaries to liven up the show.

    "Here's what we have so far, ladies and gentleman.
Bokutou Police Department traffic officers were alerted of
the shooting late last night, tenants in the nearby
apartments had complained of explosions on the street,
although there were no eye-witnesses to the brutal slayings.
So far, this is what we've acquired from police statements.
The drug dealers were shot to death while they were inside
their BMW. There were multiple bullet casings around the
vehicle, however the police have stated that there were a
couple of dozen bullet holes found in the bodies, car, and
surrounding buildings. Bokutou Station Traffic Division
commander Arizuka issued a statement this morning announcing
that the case was given to National Police detectives, and
that Bokutou detectives are also aiding in the
investigation."

    "Yeah, that's quite something isn't it?" Ranma said,
scratching his chin. "Right here in Nerima too." Assholes.
Sell coke and china in my hometown, will ya?

    The reporter continued. "The other homicide is a
mysterious one near the Bokutou district around a popular
bar and karaoke area. Well known Oroshi-family  lawyer, 43
year old Shichiro, Nanbara was found murdered in an alley.
Eyewitnesses say they found him eviscerated at the abdomen.
Shichiro was the notorious and well publicized criminal-
attorney of the Oroshi-family crime syndicate, perhaps even
suspected himself of illegal crimes in Tokyo, Osaka, and
Okayama. The police gave preliminary speculation that these
murders do not seem linked, although there are no leads as
to who the suspects are. We will report back to you about
this story when more developments are maid. This is ---"

    Ryoga turned the TV off with the remote control and
stretched his back, yawning. "You wouldn't think something
like this would ever happen in a quiet place like Nerima,"
Ryoga said.

    "Yeah," Akane joined him. "I guess it's just a fluke."

    Ranma butted in. "You'd be surprised how much crime
there is around you. Nerima has had a large increase in
criminal activity and the establishment of a drug trade."
What was surprising however was how the hit on the BMW was
actually in front of a crack lab. There was more than enough
evidence that crystal meth was being pushed in powerful
quantities at an alarmingly increasing rate, introducing
volatile and explosively addictive crack cocaine would cause
some major inner city turmoil. There were enough base
chasers in the world.

    "What are you talking about?" Ryoga said, looking at him
skeptically. "This is a nice neighborhood, we've all been
here for years. And I sure as hell know for sure that none
of my students are using that stuff."

    Ranma clicked his tongue, shaking his head. "I'm a cop,
Ryoga. I know this stuff. Hell, right before I came here I
caught two teenagers trying to sneak off some alcohol right
across from the Tendo Compound. It's not really a big deal,
but little things happen. This place isn't as concentrated
with crime as Los Angeles, let's say. But there's still some
crime around here."

    Ryoga's head started to ring inside with his words. He'd
almost forgotten that the former rival in front of him had
supposedly gone to a cesspool and back. "I guess. I'm sure
you've seen a lot of that, huh?"

    Ranma turned to look at Ryoga with a blank face. He
hesitated for a moment. "Yeah, I have. Lots of stuff. I was
a robbery homicide detective for several stations before I
was posted into a permanent section." He looked thoughtful
for a moment.

    "Um, that sounds interesting," Akane feebly said.

    "It was. There's always something new to do every single
day," Ranma replied. "It's really amazing what you can
discover and the things you can learn by studying
criminals." Ranma looked to his side and saw Ryoga eyeing
him.

    "You interested in something, Ryoga?" Ranma asked.

    Ryoga blinked in surprise and shook his head. "No, I was
just looking at your gun. I've never seen one before," he
said. "Not that I'd ever have to use one," he sneered.

    Ranma curled his lip at Ryoga's comment and reached down
for his Beretta. He removed the magazine from the handle
well and pulled back the slide while switching down the
ambidextrous firing-pin block safety that was on the rear of
the slide. The single round in the open slide chamber flew
out with great force thanks to an enlarged extractor. Ranma
pulled the slide by the serrations a couple of times to make
sure there was no round, and he visually and physically
checked the chamber with his finger as an extra (and muscle
memory induced, from thousands of repetition of pistol
manipulation) precaution. He finally firmly locked the slide
in place by engaging the slide stop on the left side.

    "Here you go," Ranma said, handing the pistol to Ryoga.
"Beretta 92FS 9mm, 15 rounds in the mag, one up the pipe,
and an internal laser sight."

    "Hmm," Ryoga hummed in interest. He took the pistol and
felt it in his hand. It didn't feel very natural, actually.
It was as light as a feather, for something that was made
out of steel and sent out controlled explosions. But then
again this was the first time Ryoga had ever held let alone
seen a real gun. Who was he to judge how good it is, anyway?

    "Don't put your finger on the trigger, keep your index
finger extended against the side, and don't ever point that
at a person, loaded or unloaded," Ranma instructed him.

    "Oh, okay," Ryoga said, a little irritated by Ranma
giving him orders.

    "Wow, that's the real thing, isn't it?" Akane said as
she stood up to join the two men. "So that thing shoots out
real bullets, just like you see in movies?"

    "Yeah," Ranma replied. "It's dangerous if you don't know
what you're doing, but it's okay for you two to just take a
look at it since I'm here."

    For the next thirty or so minutes Ranma explained to
them how the gun worked and the different techniques to
utilizing one. He field stripped it in front of them,
demonstrating how it could be taken apart with one hand with
good handling if a situation called for it. Along the way
they exchanged some pep talk as well, talking about the
different students of the dojo and some of the championship
tournaments the students took place in.

    Ryoga stood up while they idly chatted about how Dr.
Tofu was, and how upset Kasumi had been when Ranma knocked
him out last time they met. Ranma was quick to apologize and
was genuinely sorry about it.

    "I'm going to take a bath and get ready, just give me
like ten minutes," Ryoga said aloud as he walked upstairs.

    Akane and Ranma were left alone, and for a few seconds
they averted their eyes uncomfortably. It seemed the second
they were left on their own the moderately comfortable old
friendship they had been reliving together was stripped
away. Akane shifted in her seat, and thought of something to
say.

    "S-so, what kind of friends did you have in America,"
she asked, clearing her throat at the same time.

    "Hmm?" Ranma stared at her for a few seconds, making her
very uncomfortable. But a smile slowly crept onto his face
as he realized he hadn't though much about the people he
left behind since he came to Japan.

    "I made a lot of wonderful friends, a lot of them were
cops like me. Some of 'em are a little crazy, and I told my
co-workers at the last minute so they wouldn't pine over me
and take me out on some crazy night out that would've gotten
me into trouble." He sighed and gave a quick chuckle to
himself.

    "You have any best friends?"

    "My co-workers and boss were some of my closest friends.
All of them have stuck their neck out for me time and time
again and we regarded ourselves like true comrades. In the
manliest way you can imagine too I guess," he laughed.
"Especially if you know me."

    Akane chuckled, and her uneasiness melted away as it had
regretfully been all too long since Ranma had any sort of
meaningful conversation with her.

    "There is one guy though, his name is John. Same name as
one of my co-workers, but this guy was Korean. I went to
school with him, you know. One year older than me."

    "Ah, I remember you telling me about him." Akane nodded,
remembering him as a guy who Ranma described as a party
animal in all of his emails and phone calls.

    "Oh yeah. I did, didn't I? He was my roommate through
most of college, and one of the first friends I made."

    "John Lee, wasn't it?"

    Ranma whistled. "Wow, you actually remember all that
huh?" Ranma said with a sarcastic tone, causing Akane to
shift again uncomfortably. "But then again, he has the most
generic Asian-American name you could come up with, so it's
not too hard. Yeah, he was also the one I talked to when I
went back and he helped me set up for a job in the force. He
was the only guy I really talked to and had a farewell with
before I came back to Japan."

    "Ara, sou..." Akane mumbled. She wondered if she should
press on with his past, even though she already knew some
devastatingly important details.

    "So, did you meet anyone special there? No
relationships?" Her tone sounded innocent enough.

    "I had one serious relationship," Ranma was quick to
respond. His steel-blue eyes dimmed slightly, however.

    Akane was pleasantly surprised by his candid reaction,
although she didn't show it. She'd asked the question just
to test his emotional state. "Oh, really? Who was she?"

    "It didn't work out like I'd hoped, just like the rest
of my life," he said tartly, shrugging.

    His cynical and cold reply took her aback, and she
reached for his arm. "Ranma, I didn't mean..."

    Ranma rejected her sympathy. "Quit it Akane, you don't
need to apologize to me like that."

    Akane frowned. "It's been seven years since we've had a
normal conversation with each other in person, Ranma. You
don't need to be so cold."

    "I'm not trying to be a jerk, Akane," Ranma replied, the
irritation in his voice growing. "You're right, that's seven
years. Seven years of an uncertain history that dwells upon
both of us. You ever stop to think of it like that?"

    "Yes, it's been long." Akane folded her hands on top of
her lap. "But I was hoping you'd gotten over it by now.
Things have changed. But I still have some affection for
you. You know it, and I know it."

    Akane reached over and went behind Ranma's back to wrap
her arms around his neck, her head resting against his.
Ranma went tense, but he was having trouble getting the
words out of his mouth, his emotions struggling with past
jealousy and the bitter aftertaste of being betrayed.

    "Don't do this, Akane. Please, get off of me."

    "I know I'm married now. But we're still friends, aren't
we? We had our share of good times."

    "Please. Don't do this to me." He sounded like he was
pleading.

    "Don't shun me away like that," she replied, still
enveloping her pigtailed ex.

    Ranma shut his eyes tightly and breathed in and out,
controlling his temper. "You cheated on me, Akane," he said
quietly.

    He didn't hear a response, and Akane was on his back
completely still. "In those three years, I didn't go out
sleeping with random women and lead secret romances behind
your back. And when I come home no one tells me a damn thing
and I find out that you're in love with someone else, Akane.
How could you...how DARE you say something like that, saying
that I should've gotten over it?"

    "Ranma..." Akane struggled for the right words to say.
The old Ranma was not a confrontational man when expressing
his emotions, this definitely caught her off guard.

    "I'm not back to ruin your life or scramble things up
just to spite you guys out of your new lives. You guys look
like you have a good life and things are going well. I'm not
gonna fuck that up."

    Akane's impatience started to creep up on her. "Alright,
I get it Ranma. I understand what you're saying, but it
doesn't mean you have to shove me away like I'm some common
hussy." She hugged him tighter. "You're so different now,
it's hard to tell anymore who I'm talking to."

    "Alright?" Ranma's body was even more tense. "It's NOT
alright, Akane. And I don't think you understand what I'm
saying. It's not like it used to be, Akane. Goddamnit, don't
you see that?" He brushed off Akane's arms and stood up.

    "It's never going to be the same again, Akane. You have
the gall to say I'm so different? Of course I'm different, I
spent the last four years of my life starting fresh and
getting my life back on track!" Ranma's lips quivered, and
he was close to choking back tears.


    Similar sentiments were passing through Akane's mind as
well. She had little to be sad for, and it seemed Ranma was
brimming.

    "So different that you can't even return some friendly
affection to me?" Akane said, reaching to grab his hand.

    "Don't fucking touch me!"

    "Wha-" She didn't even have the reaction time to be
shocked.

    "You're Ryoga's wife! Any relation I have with you now
is strictly platonic, nothing else. I don't like you fucking
hugging me or touching my arm or anything else. I've gotten
way over it and I ain't dealing with it!"

    She tried to say something back, but her lips were
frozen and her legs numb to do anything but just sit there,
catatonic.

    Ranma continued to glare at her, his teeth visibly
grinding, and he averted his gaze straight to the floor. His
cheeks were crimson with shame. The spirits he drank earlier
certainly didn't help. Four years of pent up jealousy and
wrath proved to be too much.

    Thankfully Ryoga came down the stairs oblivious to what
had just happened. He had a towel draped around his head
from a fresh shower. Before they knew it, they heard a knock
at the door.

    "Who is it?" Ryoga called out. He walked to the genkan,
making sure to watch exactly where he was going, since his
home was one of the few places he had painstakingly managed
to learn not to get lost in.

    "Um, is Ranma Saotome here? He told me to meet him at a
friend's house."

    "Come on in, Ranma is in the living room." He wasn't too
good at greetings, so he just kept it simple and with as
little awkwardness as possible.

    Jackson followed Ryoga to the living room, where he saw
Ranma and a very pretty short haired girl next to him.
Although Ranma looked like he was blushing and the girl
liked ashen.

    "Here he is. C'mere Jackson. You sure got here pretty
fast." Ranma gestured him over to Akane and Ryoga. He acted
like the past few minutes had never happened. "This is Ryoga
and Akane Hibiki, although Akane here goes by her maiden
name, Tendo, for her martial arts school." He gestured to
Jackson for Akane and Ryoga. "You two, this is Jackson
Samamoto. He's my partner; I met him just yesterday."

    "Hi," they all greeted each other.

    Ryoga yawned again as he stretched his arms, his
motorcycle keys dangling from his hand. "So we're going to
the Nekohanten right?"

    Ranma's neck tingled slightly. "Um, Shampoo and Cologne
are still there, aren't they?" he asked. Well of course they
were, he'd seen both of them the first day he'd come to
Japan, not to mention Mr. Tendo had mentioned them as well.

    "Yeah, they are," Ryoga replied. He came back from a
closet with his helmet.

    Erk, Ranma thought to himself. He was going to have to
faces the old crone and Shampoo sooner or later. He'd barely
made up with Ryoga, started static with Akane. He might as
well go against the Amazons as well. Feeling almost
hopeless, he mentally sighed. He figured he was going to
drink himself to a stupor tonight, first chance he got.

    "All right, let's go," Ranma said. He elbow tapped
Jackson. "You drove my car here, right?"

    "Yeah, I picked it up this morning."

     The four headed out, Ryoga went to the shed and
unlocked a large padlock that bolted the large door shut
almost airtight. It was dimly lit inside, even with the
daylight, but Ranma could see that there were a couple of
bikes inside. A loud whirring sound filled the air as a V-
twin engine was revved and started, Ryoga rolled out on a
black Aprilia Tuono naked bike. Akane hopped on the rear
seat, clasping Ryoga from behind. She already had on her own
helmet, which was similar to Ryoga's, except with a
different color scheme. If Ranma had known better, he
would've asked how Ryoga was able to afford an overpriced
Italian motorcycle.

    "We'll meet you two there!" Akane yelled at them as
Ryoga revved the fuel injected bike.

    "You remember how to get there, right?" Ryoga said as he
fastened and secured his helmet.

    "Yeah, I do. See you there," Ranma replied.

    The couple rode out the gate and sped down the street,
leaving Ranma alone with Jackson.

    The two walked outside to the Mitsubishi, with Ranma
closing up the front gates. Jackson lifted up the wagon
hatch and opened up a large duffel bag.

    "You asked for a better conceal carry handgun, right? I
got something that's practical here..." Jackson pulled out a
sharp and handsome dark blued finished pistol. "This is a
customized full framed 1911 in .357 Sig, 10 in the mag, plus
one for the chute."

    "A 9mm* 1911?" Ranma took the pistol. "Not bad, it fits
perfectly in my hand and it's not too heavy, not too light."
He looked at the fine pistol in appreciation. He released
the single stack clip and observed it, seating it back in
place.
*.357 Sig actually is technically a "9mm" round...

    "That's a really good pistol. I had a friend who had an
old Colt Commander in standard .45 imported to France, he
used it as his own carry pistol and did a couple of
modifications for easier concealment. Thanks to our in house
gunsmith lab, I got the pistol worked on just this morning
for some final touches. The stock pipe was swapped out for a
match grade barrel with a threaded muzzle to attach a
suppressor. I believe the one on your Beretta should work on
this one."

    "Yeah, it does fit," Ranma said, screwing on the black
suppressor can. "Man, that was a mouthful. What other bells
and whistles does this one gun have?"

    Jackson chuckled. "It's a really special one off that
just happened to be sitting in the vault. The original
manufacturer of this gun is a gunsmith in Arizona who
handcrafted it and fit everything together using a forged
Caspian slide and receiver as a base. There's a lot of other
work done to it to make the action smoother and more
reliable, it's melted down on all the edges so that it's
easier to carry concealed. There isn't a single sharp edge
on the pistol, if you check."

    "You're right," Ranma said, amazed.

    "One thing you have to remember is that it's a single
action pistol, so carry it cocked and locked. It's a lot
flatter for carry while retaining a full size barrel. I got
four extra mags to go along with the one already inside the
pistol.

       Ranma racked the slide to make sure it was empty and
returned it to battery, the hammer cocked back and ready.
The quality of this pistol was outstanding. The slide moved
and reciprocated as smooth as an ice cube gliding on a hot
blacktop and was mated to the frame to close tolerances to
eliminate any loose slop or failed locking. This gun
functioned with a thumb operated safety on the top of the
grip for instant and intuitive operation. It was a gun
carried with the hammer cocked back at all times with a live
round in the chamber and the thumb safety engaged until the
pistol was drawn for use.


       "Good job, Jackson." Ranma nodded. He clicked off the
safety and squeezed off the trigger on the dry chamber. The
precise mechanism clicked with the clean clack of metal-on-
metal and broke at a crisp four pound pull that felt like a
fine glass rod breaking. "Perfect. This is just what I need.
Let's get going, I'll pick out the rest of the stuff inside
the car. You're driving."

    "All right, Cap'n," Jackson replied, getting into the
driver's seat.

------------

    "Incredible," Ranma nodded his head appreciatively.
"This is the latest vest on the market today?"

    "Yeah," Jackson said. "I just found out about it myself.
Comfy, isn't it?"

    "Sure is," Ranma said. He tapped his chest, it didn't
have the usual, thick and hard feeling from the usual
ballistic vests he wore. This one was as thin as a regular
t-shirt, and just as comfortable too.

    "It's also ventilated, that's awesome. It's really
comfortable."

    "It has the same protection as our regular level 2
vests," Jackson said. "I got one on too."

    Ranma was currently checking out yet another pistol that
Jackson had gotten him, a backup weapon, actually. A small
5-shot Smith and Wesson model 340PD J-frame with a tiny
snubbed barrel, just like the one he used to have in LA.
This one was a newer and updated model though, chambered in
a more powerful .357 Magnum and made out of a metal called
scandium to significantly decrease the weight. The higher
powered round of the .357 was definitely not a plinker for a
snubbie, but since it was an emergency backup weapon
shooting comfort and recoil wasn't a factor. He placed it
back snugly into his back pocket. "All of these have been
broken in, right?"

    "That's what I heard. All newly issued firearms have
been cycled 500 times and inspected," Jackson said.

    Ranma nodded to that. He wouldn't have minded shooting
his 1911, but breaking in the snubbie would've been a pain
in the ass. He took out his Beretta from its holster, which
was sitting on his lap and removed from his belt. It was a
good gun, really. But with Washu's tinkering and the
original bulkiness of it, it just wasn't right for him
anymore. He needed absolute concealment around here, where
guns are a rarity, even for police. The recoilless,
practically weightless, and unlimited ammo pistol was just a
little too weird for him. But he had to admit, the
bottomless clips made it a formidable weapon in any
circumstance. It'd serve as a good backup gun for later, he
thought to himself. Maybe he'd take it back to Washu to add
back some of the recoil and weight. The 1911 proved to be a
considerable improvement despite being a full sized pistol
much to his approval when he holstered it inside his pants.
The bobtail on the rear of the handle allowed the gun to
disappear almost completely under even a light t-shirt.

    "Take another right," Ranma instructed Jackson. He took
out the Beretta's silencer from another pocket and screwed
it onto the threads of the Beretta. After unscrewing it he
tried it out on his new piece, and to his satisfaction it
bolted on perfectly. He placed his featherweight Beretta
inside the glove box for now and holstered his 1911 and
pocketed the can. Fiddling with mechanical things brought a
smile to his face.

    "Yo, Jackson. Let me see your piece," Ranma asked.

    "Sure, go right ahead." Jackson drew his Walther PPK/S
from a holster that was snugly clipped inside of the
waistband of his pants.

    "This thing is pretty tidy," Ranma said, observing it.
He noticed that Jackson had taken the time to take it back
to the armory to get some custom work of his own done, the
front sight was replaced by a glowing fiber optic low-mount
blade with a set of tactical Novaks on the rear, the hammer
was now spur-less and bobbed to get rid of the sharp excess,
and the trigger reach was shortened and tuned for accurate
and quicker acquisition. "Nice and small, very concealable.
Only thing I don't like is the caliber. A .380 is a bit too
weak for me."

    "That was my personally carry side arm in the French
Army. It's actually a redesigned model from the classic PPK.
It's an excellent handgun," Jackson replied.

    "I'm sure it is, but still," Ranma trailed off, frowning
slightly. "It's only a .380." He couldn't help but think of
it as a little girl's gun.

    "If I put two bullets into your heart and one in the
head, you wouldn't know the difference. Neither will the
enemy."

    It was hard to disagree with that statement, if you had
the skill to pull it off that is. He should have known
better himself than to question the ability of a weapon's
caliber. Shot placement was the key. "You must be a good
shot. Let's head to a range tomorrow or the day after. That
Bokutou Police Station had a shooting gallery downstairs,"
Ranma said.

    "I don't know about going back there, but yeah we'll be
betting some money on it too. Is this the place?" Jackson
asked, stopping the car. Akane and Ryoga were at the
entrance, they'd arrived there about 10 minutes before.

    "Yeah, let's go," Ranma replied.

    The four walked in the restaurant, it was a Friday
evening and business seemed to be bustling. The place wasn't
completely packed, since it wasn't the peak dinner rush
quite yet, but it looked like Shampoo and Mousse seemed to
have their hands full.

    Shampoo came up to them to greet them and stopped as she
looked at Ranma, her eyes opened wide.

    "Uh, hello Ranma." Shampoo was at a loss for words.

    "Hey, Shampoo," he replied back in the same manner.

    "Come, have a seat all of you. I'll be with you in a
moment," Shampoo quickly said, scurrying off hastily.

    The group sat down at a large roundtable that was close
to the kitchen. Each person grabbed a menu that had been
placed on the table and searched for an entree to eat.

    Ranma looked around. The Nekohanten sure had changed
just like Ucchan's restaurant had but without the expansion.
It seemed the Amazons decided to go a little more upscale,
the interior decor was more luxurious and the menus
themselves were greatly expanded with a bigger variety of
dishes to choose from. Another welcome addition was a small
bar in the corner of the restaurant.

    He also noticed that there were several more workers
here as well, all of them women. They were aesthetically
pleasing to look at and had vibrant colorful hair. He
assumed they were most likely Amazons that Cologne had
brought over from China.

    After a few minutes Shampoo joined the table and sat
next to Akane in the roundtable. A different waitress from
the kitchen came to the table to take everyone's orders.

    "Shrimp fried rice."

    "The House Specialty Ramen, please."

    "Sweet and sour soup."

    "A plate of Gyoza and a bottle of Tsingtao*, please."

    Akane, Ryoga, and Shampoo looked at Ranma when he gave
his order.
*Tsingtao is a Chinese beer.

    "Hmm? What's the matter?" Ranma asked, looking around.

    "It's not that, I just didn't know you were a drinker,"
Ryoga said.

    "Yeah, I thought you said you weren't going to poison
your body with it when you were a teenager," Akane joined.

    Ranma shrugged. "I guess I got used to it in college."

    Jackson looked at the fully stocked shelves of liquor
and the taps over at the bar. "I'll have a Heineken Draft
with my fried rice, please."

    The waitress took down the order and nodded, she gave a
quick friendly smile and scurried over to the kitchen.

    "You've got a few new workers here, don't you?" Ranma
asked.

    "Yep, sure are. My grandmother allowed a couple of the
most gifted Amazons in the village to come study abroad.
They all go to the same community college as me and Mousse,"
Shampoo said. "We give them free room and board in return
for part time work in the restaurant.

    "Really?" Ranma blinked. "I was wondering why you were
speaking a lot better in Japanese." He frowned. "But you
were speaking the same way you used to a couple of weeks ago
at Ucchan's place, what gives?"

    "Oh, that?" Shampoo chuckled, embarrassed. "When I panic
I sometimes get mixed up and speak funny."

    "Even though that was something you trained for, the
discipline of staying calm and in control during a time of
crisis," a voice from behind said.

    He didn't need to turn to look, Ranma knew who that
voice belonged to.

    "Well, well, Ranma. Did you stop by to reminisce with
your past?" Cologne said, scorn written all over her face.

    Oh boy. The last thing he needed was to have the old
crone breathing down his neck, looking for vengeance.

    Ranma turned his chair to face the Amazon elder. "Look,
I didn't come here looking for trouble, me and my partner
here just came to have a nice meal. Whatever it is you're
brooding about, let's drop it."

    "Let's drop it?" Cologne hopped onto Ranma's lap and
pointed a bony finger at Ranma's face. "Do you think I'm
going to take a death threat from you lightly?"

    Whoops. Ranma forgot about that. "Heheh," he tried to
chuckle it off. "I was just feeling a little bit cranky that
day, that's all. I didn't mean any harm."

    Ryoga's face turned red. "Feeling a little bit cranky?
And you broke my arm over that? Mean no harm my ass!"

    "Uh..." Ranma chuckled again, nervously. "That's was
just a little mix up, that's all. Come on Cologne, I haven't
been up and around Nerima in nearly seven years, just give
me a break, ok? I'm sorry about lashing out at you back
then."

    "Hmm." Cologne jumped off and looked at him. She was
sort of taken aback, actually. Ranma wasn't the type who'd
apologize that easily. But, it wouldn't look respectful of
her to antagonize someone who'd apologized to her so openly.
"I'll be keeping a close eye on you. And from now on, I
suggest you watch your mouth."

    "Ha. Whatever you say." He turned back to the table just
in time to be served his food.

    "It's interesting to see that some parts of you still
haven't changed," Cologne commented as she walked back into
the kitchen.

    Ranma drank his beer straight from the bottle. "Yeah,
and I back it up too."

    "Ranma, why did you come by?"

    "Huh?" Ranma looked over to Shampoo. "Why do you ask?"

    "You disappear without a trace for four years, your
parents refused to tell us where you were, telling us only
that you went to America, and now you're here almost like
you dropped from the sky." Shampoo brushed a hand through
her hair and arched her eyebrows at Ranma. "You know how
much I've thought about you while you were gone?"

    "Don't tell me you're still going to chase me around?"

    Shampoo glared at him and then smacked him upside the
head. "I'm not a teenager anymore."

    Ranma rubbed his head in surprise. "Well, that's good to
hear. I came back because... I could."

    "What's that supposed to mean?" Akane asked.

    "Like I said to you guys before, this job was offered,
and I took it. It was a chance to be in Japan again, and...
I don't know. I just want to try living here again for a
change." Ranma took another drink.

    "Are you working on anything in particular right now?"
Ryoga asked.

    Jackson slipped him a look from the corner of his eye
and subtly shook his head no to Ranma. No one else noticed.

    "No, nothing really. We're just roaming free and helping
out local police with some of their more difficult
problems," Ranma said.

    The rest of the meal went by peacefully, with most of
the talking done by Ranma. They spent their time leisurely,
no one felt rushed and even Ranma and Akane managed to
forget their anxiety with each other for a while. He shared
details of his college life and snippets of his career as an
officer. Any tension between Ranma and Akane was well
concealed, as both knew it wasn't to anyone's advantage to
add Ryoga into the fire. A phone called from Akane's cell
phone cut the evening short.

    "Sorry, but Ryoga and I have to leave early. We have a
special advanced class that we teach once a week in the
evening," Akane apologized.

    "What do you guys teach?" Jackson asked, curious.

    "We teach advanced ki manipulation and offensive attack.
I also teach them practical street fighting skills too,"
Ryoga said. "Only a few students are allowed."

    Ranma got up from his seat. "You two go on ahead then,
I'll pick up the tab."

    "Aya, don't worry about it. It's on the house," Shampoo
chirped.


    "You sure about that? I'll pay, it's not a problem."
Ranma reached for his wallet.

    Shampoo waved her hands. "No, I insist."

    Akane grabbed her helmet and coat. "We'll meet some
other time. Come over more often now, OK??" Her acting
skills were up to par with the phony warmth.

    "Yeah, I'll see what I can do," he replied, not missing
a beat.

    Ryoga had a blank expression on his face and just patted
his hair. "I'll be seeing you again, Saotome." His voice
wasn't hostile but didn't sound too welcoming either. The
corner of his lip twitched lightly in distaste.

    Ranma watched the two walk out, and soon heard the sound
of a motorcycle starting up again with that unmistakable
growl of a V-twin engine.

    "Shampoo, me and Jackson will be going now. I'll see you
again, ok? Bye."

    Shampoo was helping the waitress clean up the dishes on
the roundtable; she wiped off her hands with a clean rag and
hurried over to Ranma and Jackson before they left.

    "Thanks for the delicious meal, Miss. We really
appreciate it," Jackson said.

    "Just make sure to come back and eat here again, our
food is the best," she chirped happily.

    "Yeah, thanks for the meal. I really enjoyed eating here
after all that time away, and the food tastes better than
ever," Ranma said.

    "You have seven years of uneaten meals that you have to
catch up on, so make sure to visit more often," Shampoo
replied with a smile.

    "Before I go, could you do me a favor?"

    Shampoo blinked. "What is it?"

    "Make sure to tell your great grandmother that I'm not
here to start a commotion with her, and that I'd greatly
appreciate it if she'd not go after me in a fit... I have
some important things to do while I'm here. Like you said,
we're not teenagers," Ranma said.

    Shampoo looked confused. "Ok, I'll make sure she gets
that. Sayonara."

    "Un."

    Jackson and Ranma left the restaurant with their
goodbyes and got into their car. This time it was the
pigtailed boy's turn to drive. He cranked over the motor and
revved it loudly, putting the stick into first. He failed to
mention to his partner that the few beers he had in the
restaurant wasn't the only alcohol he'd consumed all day.

    "So, how do you know Ms. Shampoo?"

    Ranma turned his head. "Shampoo? She used to be an old
acquaintance. Her nutty great grandmother actually wanted to
have us married."

    Jackson blinked. "Wow, no shit? She's pretty damn fine."

    "You like her? Try challenging her into a fight, you
might get the chance to have her," Ranma replied, laughing.
"They have this law saying that any male outsider who beats
an Amazon gets to marry the female they defeat."

    Jackson laughed. "No way, are_you_serious?" he said,
amazed.

    "I fell under that trap, and I refused to marry her and
caused quite a few complications with her and her
grandmother." Ranma bit his lower lip. "It looks like
Shampoo has gotten over it. I'm not too sure about the old
crone. But if she DOES get in my way, I'm just going to snap
her in half."

    "That's real nice of you. But thanks for the offer, by
the way, but I'm not going to jump in head first like that
in hookin' up with a chick," Jackson said, shaking his head.


    "You got a good head on those shoulders."

    "So, you were very close to those other two, right?
Akane and Ryoga?"

    Ranma nodded. "Yeah, very close. I used to live there,
when I was a teenager."

    "Oh?" Jackson nodded his head a couple of times. He
tilted his head to the side, looking at Ranma. "Are you and
Ryoga good friends?"

    Pause. "......" He cleared his throat. "To tell you the
truth, we don't have the greatest history together."

    "I see." He nodded again. "That Ryoga guy is sort of a
prick, isn't he?"

    Ranma glanced at him. He turned his head swiftly to
acknowledge Jackson.

    "I was getting some bad vibes from him. You know, that
unwelcome feeling you can't really pinpoint but you know its
there?"

    "Hai, hai, hai. You've got me, partner. Ryoga is one
huge walking asshole. We might've been trying to act
friendly, but I still haven't forgiven him fully for what
he's done to me." Ranma chuckled. "You're not too far off
yourself, you're sort of a prick too."

    "Give me a break, I got caught up in glorifying myself
as the top dog until you came along," Jackson scoffed, a
grin forming.

    The two agents continued to drive around, Ranma was
planning to head back to his temporary apartment, but as he
turned a right on one of the streets he saw Ukyou's
restaurant. He'd almost forgotten that he was going to give
Ucchan a call for the night.

    Ranma bumped Jackson with his left elbow. "Hey, did you
have enough to drink, or do you want to get plastered some
more?" Ranma asked, grinning.

    "Hmm, I don't know. I'd definitely wouldn't mind having
some more to drink, but I have to go back to the MaxFor
office and take care of the shootout we had yesterday. The
police are asking quite a few questions and they're getting
into a frenzy over it."

    "Yeah, I'm not surprised. Last time some of the people
in that area have handled a gun fight the Yakuza were still
brandishing relic firearms from the second world war."

    "You're lucky the National Police Agency has its puppets
with the NSA controlling the strings."

    "Specialists like us need someone to pull some strings
to make our job work."

    Jackson huffed. "By the way, thanks a lot for murdering
the only surviving suspect from the shootout. I know that
was you who hung that guy, it wasn't a suicide. Bokutou
police are going nuts over it. They haven't had so much
activity in one night in years."

    "Yeah, no shit. I bet that station's NEVER been that
lively. I interrogated him and forced out what was needed.
Supposed he was still alive," Ranma suggested. "When he gets
out he would've been whacked by his own employers for
spilling out important business information. Trust me on
this one man, I know something about how they work. I gave
him a merciful death."

    "And how do you know that would've been the outcome? You
don't suppose he would've been allowed to live? No offense
man, but you're a fucking asshole," Jackson irritably
replied. It seemed illogical that Ranma could've come up
with that conclusion. Jackson took this job knowing there
would be shady aspects to this and as part of his oath
during employment he also agreed to keep his mouth shut and
comply. However he still felt the need to question what his
morals compelled him to act upon.

    Ranma parked the car to the side of the road and turned
to give Jackson his full attention. "When you deal with
anyone this serious, you don't leave anything to chance, my
friend. Who knows if they're merciful or ruthless, that's
not up to us to choose. It is what it is," Ranma said
calmly. His eyes narrowed. "I'm not taking any chances with
my life, or yours for that matter. The Yakuza, their process
of thinking is different. The way they do things are based
off of solid principles. Family syndicates like these
believe in honor, loyalty, and the code of silence. Breaking
this code is like breaking the harmony of your family. And
to them, that is the same as bestowing death upon yourself."

    "I wasn't saying that what you did was unnecessary, but
you could've chosen an alternative," Jackson replied, still
frustrated over the matter at hand.

    Ranma scoffed, and narrowed his eyes at Jackson, shaking
his head. "Of course there's an alternative, there's always
an alternative. I got my fucking demons too, Jackson. I grit
my teeth as I forced my hand on that poor bastard, but I did
what I did because I knew doing this righteously will only
cause problems later that I'd rather not even fathom dealing
with. Some choices aren't as nice as others, but in the end,
you have to remember to watch your own back too. Check your
own fucking six."

    Jackson thought about that for a second. "That piece of
shit probably would've come back to find us sooner or
later," he realized.

    "You're damn right about that too. And I've had it
happen to me before," Ranma sighed. "I'm not going to
patronize you and delve into my fucking sob stories. Give
em' a lifeline, they try to take yours later." He even had
the scars to prove it.

    "I still think you're a freakin' spook."

    "At least I don't freeze up with my dick in my hands,"
he shot back.

    "That was a one time thing, I swear to fuckin' god
that'll never happen again. That I promise you."

    Both men stared each other square in the eye. Neither
faltered. The silence was ear piercing.

       "Good to hear that." Ranma turned off the motor and
got out of the car. "I'm going to meet an old friend of mine
and hang out for the night. Could you do another errand for
me?"

    Jackson got out of his own seat and got into the driver
side. "What is it?"

    "I need another car, something inconspicuous but fast."
He thought for a moment. "An automatic transmission too."

    "What?" You already have that big American truck! What
do you need another one for?"

    "You can't use it for undercover use! Just try to pull a
few strings for me and see if it's possible."

    "I'm betting it's not going to happen. But I'll try
anyway," Jackson replied as he closed the door. "Oh yeah,
don't forget this." Jackson tossed him the Beretta that was
in the glove box.

    Ranma tossed it back. "Careful with that, you asshole.
People might see. Drop it off at my safehouse. Put the
safety on and drop it in the mailbox, it'll be safe."

    "See you later. By the way, make sure you turn your
cellphone's radio mode on to silent alert, the Commander
wants us on immediate response around the clock." He snicked
the shift lever into first and drove back onto the street.

    "Last chance man, you don't want to have a drink with
me? I got some more hot friends you might like."

    "I would if I could but duty calls, Captain." His face
did light up though at the mention of women.

    Ranma tsked in disappoint. "I guess you gotta do what
you gotta do. And stop calling me 'Captain', Jackson.
Ranma's fine."

    With a quick nod, Jackson waved and took off. As the
turbocharged wagon sped away Ranma's nose was greeted with
the smell of the rich burnt gasoline from the exhaust pipes.
He started walking towards Ucchan's Okonomiyaki and slowly
the engine fumes drifted away and were replaced by the
delicious scents of oden, takoyaki, yakitori and other
various foods coming from the street vendors.



    By late evening the streets had begun to fill up with
salary men who'd just come off the subway from work and were
now on their way walking back home. Also flocking their way
towards the business district were plenty of teenagers and
young adults in the 18-25 year age group looking for some
fun as well, it was a Friday night after all. The yatais on
the street were also serving alcohol to those who wanted it,
and many did, unable to resist a quick drink. Much to his
amusement Ranma noticed that a couple of night clubs had
opened farther down the street, the neon sights were plenty
bright and clear to see even in the setting sun. Beyond the
cart vendors and the fast food places he noticed from
before, it looked like Nerima had formed itself a trendy
promenade.

    Ranma passed through all of them and walked into
Ucchan's Okonomiyaki, which was filled to the brim with
customers. There were even some patio tables and chairs
outside that were occupied with patrons.

    "Ucchan!" he yelled out for his friend. "You around?"

    "Back of the line buddy," some guy said, standing next
to a petite young woman who was probably his girlfriend.
"There are other people here who came before you who haven't
even been written down for a seat yet by the host. Yelling
out for the owner's name isn't going to help you."

    "Hey Ukyou, where are you?" Ranma walked around to see
if Ucchan was handling the grill.


    To his surprise, Ukyou wasn't cooking. There was another
chef, several of them actually, surrounded inside the
grilling zone. Ukyou was talking to various patrons in the
restaurant going from various table to table.

    "Ranchan!" She spotted him immediately. "Hold on just a
moment, okay? I'll be right with you."

    Ranma nodded his head. He looked back and saw the guy
who had chided him earlier, who looked embarrassed to even
show his face.

    "Hey there, buddy." Ukyou came up with her hands behind
her back and got up to Ranma's face and gave him a huge
smile. "What can I do for you, sir?" she playfully asked.

    "I'd like to have a certain lovely brunette accompany
for the evening on a date that had been promised earlier."

    Ukyou beamed. "That can certainly be arranged, just let
me take the order to chef!" She went to the host who was
busy moving around leading people to their tables and came
back. "Ok, looks like my employees have everything covered
for the dinner rush, there shouldn't be too much of a mess
when I come back later or tomorrow. Are we going anywhere in
particular?"

    Tomorrow? "Probably just somewhere around here," he
mused. "Hey Ucchan, do you drink at all?"

    "I can hold my liquor," she replied and nodded. "Let me
go change real quick and I'll be back, okay?"

    "Look for me outside, I'll be waiting."

    The light outside gradually getting dimmed as Ranma
walked out of the restaurant. He watched the crowds bustling
inside the restaurant and the passing pedestrians. Random
puffs of cigarette smoke that lingered his way tingled all
the way down to his lungs, and he suddenly felt the
overwhelming urge to light one himself. Random cravings like
this were as irritating as an itchy bug bite. He saw the
dark night creeping along slowly, welcoming all those who
would be around to enjoy it.

    Nighttime felt very soothing. Things were a little
quieter without rush hour traffic bogging up all around, but
instead ambient noise was filled with the chatter of people
walking along the streets. The atmosphere was cooler, much
more relaxed. It didn't take too long for to Ukyou come out
from a different door on the side of the restaurant, one
that was connected to the living quarters.  She was wearing
white tennis shoes and some board shorts that came down just
above her knees and a skin tight spaghetti strap  top that
showed quite a bit of amply packed cleavage and toned abs.
Her white bra straps could be seen inline with the spaghetti
straps. She still had the same old red ribbon that she wore
on the right side of her head.

    "Whoa, I've never seen you dressed like that before."
She looked very... American. And attractive.

    Ukyou smirked. "The surfer girl look is a trendy style.
And besides, I have a few more hobbies that I still haven't
told you about. I actually go surfing and boogie boarding
when I have the free time. I'll tell you more about it,
let's start walking."

    He felt like a frog had jumped into his throat. "You're
into surfing?" Ranma exclaimed. Ukyou was full of surprises
today. "I didn't even know they had surfing spots in Japan.
How do you even get to the beach from here?"

    "Oh, come on," she pouted cutely. "It's been four years
since we've last stayed in touch, Ranchan. I have a
surprising amount of spare time on my hands since I've
decided against a mad spree of expanding my restaurants."
She counted off her fingers. "I've had a few boyfriends, my
restaurants don't occupy all of my time anymore, I choose to
work only when I WANT to work, plenty of time to travel.
And... ah, yes. No fiancee fiascos with Shampoo, Kodachi, or
Akane." She winked at the last one.

    Boyfriends? I guess she did move on with her life, he
thought. "But surfing? How did you get into surfing?" he
asked, perplexed.

    Ukyou laughed out loud, recalling some fun memories.
"Oh, where do I begin? Let me tell you about this place by
the beach called Hinata-sou, a couple of years ago I was
riding on my old motorcycle traveling......"

                        *   *   *

April 20th, 2001.
Bokutou-sho Police Precinct - Tokyo, Japan.  8:28 PM.

    "You girls look exhausted, you must be going through
hell."

    Miyuki looked up, her eyes starting to show a little red
and the rest of her features definitely looking fatigued.
"It's no problem Tokuno-san, it's nothing Natsumi and I
haven't handled."

    Tokuno looked up from his desk and frowned. "You two
went through what most cops never even get the chance to
experience in a lifetime. I'm amazed you're holding up this
well, even with what happened less than a day ago."

    "It's been a horrible day," Natsumi sighed, standing
next to Miyuki.

    "Yes it has," Tokuno agreed. "And it doesn't look like
its going to get any better."

    "What does that mean, Tokuno-san?" Miyuki frowned.

    "This added work load with the triple homicide was a hot
topic today for both me, the section chief, and Inspector
Arizuka. I suggested that instead of letting HQ detectives
come take over, I would head the investigation instead."

    "What the hell?" Natsumi looked skeptical. "Well, what
about those two detectives yesterday?"

    Tokuno looked up. "You mean the men who rescued you?"

    "Yes," Miyuki said softly. She took out an object from
her pocket and rolled it around her fingers.

    "What is that?"

    She held it with her thumb and index finger. "It's a
deformed bullet. Detective Sakamichi plucked it from his
armor vest and gave it to me. Told me it was a souvenir."

    "About that Sakamichi character-"

    Natsumi interrupted him. "He was a strange fellow. don't
you think so, Miyuki?"

    "They looked really young to be detectives," Miyuki
replied. Not that young detectives were impossible to find
throughout the National Police chain, but they were seldom
enough to identify easily by name alone. "The one with the
pigtail, Sakamichi, moved like a bolt of lightning. I've
never seen anyone move so fast."

    Tokuno cleared his throat a couple of times to get their
attention again. "Well, about that Sakamichi... The chief
and I were talking about him with Arizuka and he told me
he'd never heard of him. Or his partner."

    An awkward silence took over in the room.

    "Tokuno-san, what do you mean?" Natsumi spoke out.

    He shook his head. "No, it's just I'm saying none of us
have ever heard of them. Even when I'm carrying a firearm I
usually just have an old revolver loaded with blanks for the
first two rounds. From what you guys told the chief and I
they were carrying something that no investigator has even
access to. And I know you're good with details, Kobayakawa.
But it's not like they're imposters either, the media
blackout that ensued was ordered by them and followed as
instructed. And that supposed 'suicide' of our only prisoner
from last night's incident is suspicious too. All the
detectives were ordered strictly not to pursue it even
though there is the notion of a struggle involved. One of
his hands was crushed. And this order came straight from the
top brass too. But don't get me wrong, they're not bad guys.
They're definitely on our side."

    Miyuki frowned. Now that she thought of it, she had not
verified their identification adequately. All she saw was a
flash of a badge and a car that definitely looked the part
of an undercover police vehicle. Part of it was sloppiness
on her part; Natsumi at least questioned them whilst she had
not done much at all.

    "You'd have to be pretty high up the ladder to pull off
something of that scale. There is one other possibility
though," Tokuno muttered, a finger on his lips. "They could
be from another government agency."

    "Ara?" Natsumi blinked. "You mean like from another
country or like those spy movies?"

    Tokuno chuckled. "No, no. It could be from the NSA,
something like that."

    Miyuki perked up. "NSA?" She'd read up and seen on the
news just like many other Japanese citizens about the newly
formed organization in the Japanese government. A few years
ago it had been heavily criticized as a costly project.
However it still appealed to people in that Japan would
finally have a real intelligence infrastructure that was
capable of independent operation, not a diplomatic one in
which the US monopolized.

    "No, it's nothing. Just reminded me of a rumor that I
overheard from the higher ups a couple of weeks ago. It's
not something I should really talk about," he told them.
"I've got something else for you two though."

    "Hai," the two responded. Miyuki reluctantly shot down
the temptation to ask the investigator about the rumor he
had heard. Perhaps she could find out for herself later.

    "Since this precinct's detectives are going to be fully
immersed in this homicide case, we're definitely overloaded
with things to do. I was thinking about appointing you two
to take over the car theft case. We barely started on that
case ourselves, so you'll have the freedom to do what you
feel is needed without our supervision."

    "You want the traffic division to take over a case from
the Robbery-Homicide Bureau?" Natsumi beamed, clearly
excited.

    "It's a special case, this is one of the most
sensational cases in years, let alone being a triple
homicide. We have to devote all our efforts into this one
thing."

    "We'll be glad to take it," Miyuki told him. "The
traffic division will do its best."

    "I just feel bad for working you two girls," he sighed.
"But there's no one better around."

    "We'd be honored to help," Natsumi told him with a weary
yet wide smile.

    "Good, I'll tell the chief immediately and have
jurisdiction handed over to you. Make sure to pick a couple
of other officers to help you as well."

    "Hai!" both chirped.


                        *   *   *


April 20th, 2001.
Masaki Residence - Okayama, Japan.  8:32 PM.

    "Thanks for letting us use your hot tub, we really
appreciate it," Kiyone said, toweling her hair.

    "No problem," Tenchi replied. "How did you guys get back
from Tokyo so fast?"

    "Mihoshi came by with Yukinojo, there was a couple of
things that I forgot down here and I sure as hell wasn't
going to drive the whole way," the teal haired beauty
replied.

    From above the rafters of the living room, Ryoko
gracefully phased into view and floated down to the couch.
She threw something at Kiyone. "Here, have one."

    She caught the beer can right above her head and popped
the tab. "Thanks, Ryoko."

    "No problem at all, detective." Ryoko took a sip of her
own beer in her hand. "Where's Mihoshi, by the way?"

    Kiyone sighed. "She's still in the bath playing with
Sasami and Ryo-ohki. I'm not going to be here for long, I
have to be back in Tokyo by tomorrow morning."

    Tenchi fell back on his couch and sighed in relaxed
contention. "Must be a nice change for you, Kiyone?"

    She nodded. "I'm glad I'm moving around again and doing
something that requires more than a pulse."

    "I sort of want to go to college there," Tenchi said,
smiling sheepishly. "I'd like to see what a urban lifestyle
would be like."

    "I like Okayama better. Tokyo's just bigger and with
more glitter," Kiyone shook her head. "Too many damn people
around in a big damn hurry."

    The newly installed air conditioning system that Washu
had made generated on with a gentle whir and immediately
circulated cool air in the living room. Funny, Kiyone
thought. There were no vents anywhere?

    Ayeka came out of the kitchen carrying a tray of
yakitori and soda cans. "It's been way too humid these days,
help yourself to some refreshments."

    "Thanks, Ayeka." Kiyone shook her can of beer, but she
grabbed a stick of the chicken and focused back on Tenchi.
"Besides, Tenchi. Tokyo University is extremely difficult
from what I heard, even without the capped entrance
allowance."

    The unoccupied couch perpendicular to the one Kiyone and
Tenchi were sitting suddenly warped out of shape and a black
portal opened up revealing vibrant red hair with a shape
that resembled a crab. "Aha, but with a little help from me
and his brains will be more than enough to qualify for such
a university," Washu chirped. She hopped out and grabbed a
soda from Ayeka's tray.

    "I don't want to worry about it right now, I'll rest for
a year and check my options then."

    Washu shrugged. "Take your time." She looked over to
Kiyone. "So, how's that new friend of yours doing?"

    Kiyone blinked. She looked around for a moment and
cursed to herself. It seemed like the entire household had
been waiting to ask her about Ranma.

    "What do you mean how he's doing? He's a busy guy," she
quickly said.

    "Is that so?" Washu grinned, laughing mischievously. "I
bet you work a lot together, ne?"

    Everyone had expected her to blush, but she seemed to be
frowning instead.

    "Oy, what's the matter?" Ryoko asked from above.

    "Well, we do work a lot, and we're working undercover as
partners..." Everyone nodded, listening intently. "But
there's something peculiar about him. I can't put my finger
on it exactly, but his whole personality just seems...grim."

    "That hardly describes the way he seemed when he visited
us," Ayeka said.

    "Yeah, Ranma looked real happy to me," Ryoko voice
lofted from above. She gracefully floated down and sat next
to the teal haired GP officer. "And handsome too." She
winked. "VERY handsome."

    "Are you guys going out yet?" Sasami asked, sparkles
glimmering in her eyes.



---------

    "Achooo!"

    "Something tickle your nose?" Ukyou asked.

    "No," Ranma sniffled. He continued walking. "Must be the
spring air."

---------

    "No, no! Nothing like that yet. He's just a friend and
like a co-worker right now." Kiyone tried to hide a blush.
"All I'm saying is he has a different side to him." She
thought for a moment and looked down at her chapped knuckles
and callus fingers, from years of hands on law enforcement.
Her right knuckles had quickly healed from their recent use
for interrogation. "He's a tough cop, no doubt about that."
She suspected he was more than tough, he seemed to hide a
brutal and sadistic side as well.

    "Kiyone's master plan is to get laid."

    All eyes focused on the source of the voice, who was
still patting her damp hair with a towel. "Mihoshi!" they
all yelled at her at the same time.

    "I'm gonna strangle you-you!!" Kiyone leapt after her,
with a sour look on her face.

    "I'm just kidding!" Mihoshi winked as well,
mischievously.

    Tenchi could only watch as chaos consumed the household.
It was going to be a long night cleaning everything up.

    "The more things change..." he sighed.

    The teal haired girl finally gave up chasing Mihoshi,
who tripped a few seconds later anyway and landed right on
her face.

    "I'll get you back later Mihoshi," she sighed. "Ryoko,
do you have any more beer?"

    Ryoko phased to her spot on the rafters and teleported
back down, a cold can of Asahi in her hand. "There you go,
detective."


    "Thanks." She sat back down on the couch and relaxed,
her legs crossed. "Mihoshi, let's head back at 9:30, I want
to stop by my apartment real quick and pick up some clothes,
then we'll head back to Tokyo."

    "Aw-white," Mihoshi said nasally, her face and nose
still in pain from falling.

                        *   *   *

April 20th, 2001.
Club Internacionale United - Nerima, Japan.  9:55 PM.

    "All right everyone, get your groove on! Here's Dr. Dre
comin' right at 'ya with your DJ, Lyrics Born!"

    The DJ up in the mini tower was busting out with his
fluent English getting the crowd on the dance floor riled
up, most of them didn't even understand what it meant but to
them it didn't matter. The DJ crossfaded out of the previous
song and spliced in a rap song called "Bitch Please" by Dr.
Dre. The rhythmic and ground thumping bass immediately had
everyone on the floor dancing to it enthusiastically, with
patrons bumping and grinding to the beat.

    "I had to see it to believe it," Ranma said, shaking his
head in amazement.

    Ranma and Ukyou sat at the bar, and a very fancy one at
that. It was built away from the dance floor and tables. The
place was actually perfectly occupied; no overcrowding and
no gaping empty spots to make the party look lonely. The
decor was definitely a step above, as was the entire club in
general. The light setup was high tech, and there were trick
strobes and laser illuminations. This definitely seemed like
one of the places to hang around in town.

    "Who would've thought there'd actually be a popular
nightclub like this around here?" Ranma gulped his second
Heineken. "I mean, I saw a few on the way here. But I didn't
think they'd be on and poppin'."

    Ukyou chuckled lightly with a smile. "Developers have
been coming in to these quiet parts for the past few years
and things have really picked up. Its helped out my
restaurant tremendously beyond my wildest dreams." She
sipped her cocktail, a fancily prepared Mojito courtesy of
Ranma after having a beer with him when they got there. She
munched on some grapes from an assorted fruit platter that
they'd ordered.

    "It's actually kind of cool how all this new stuff is
all around since the last time I came here. I've gotten used
to a rapidly changing environment, you know?" Ranma sipped
his beer bottle dry and motioned for the bartender. "Can I
get a beer on tap?"

    "What kind sir?" the bartender politely asked.

    Ranma shrugged. "Surprise me."

    The bartender smiled and nodded as he quickly walked to
the tap fountain, which had a huge variety that would
impress any beer lover. If anything else, the bar was
definitely five-stars all the way.

    "So you do anything interesting so far since you've
gotten here?" Ukyou leered over to catch Ranma's gaze.

    "There's been quite a few things stirring around this
city since I've arrived. I've been working with Kiyone on
this as it all started in Okayama since when you first met
her."

    "Really? What's going on?"

    "I can't really tell you anything too specific," Ranma
sighed. He looked over and saw the bartender come back with
a mug of fresh beer from the tap.

    "Hope you enjoy it, it's European, sir," the bartender
quickly said and scuttled away to other patrons.

    "You sound like you're trying to save the world and
keeping things under wraps?" Ukyo looked at him quizzically.

    That got a few amusing chuckles out of him. "No, nothing
like that." He took a sip of his beer, which was golden and
looked cloudy and unfiltered. "Mmm, nice choice.
Hefeweizen." He gave it a few refreshing gulps.

    "Does any of this involve Nerima?"

    "Actually, it does." Ranma shook his head in disgust.
"I've been following a few leads. This started all from a
murdered wife of a police detective in Okayama. She was
killed to silence and defuse a small drug bust that I'd made
a few weeks ago."

    Ukyou gasped, visibly upset. "Oh my god, that's so
terrible!"

    "Ain't it a sick fucking world? Anyway what I'm thinking
is someone's covering their tracks, and we got another
murder the next morning. The victim was someone who was
specifically from around here."

    "What happened?" Ukyou was rapt with morbid fascination.

    "I can't really tell you more than that, Ucchan." She
pouted dissapointedly. "It's nothing pleasant, and that's
why I'm around to clean things up."

    "Always the hero, right?"

    Ranma polished off his beer quick and signaled for
another. "Don't you know it?"

    Both shared a laugh, a friendly reminder of their close
and steadfast bond over the years.

    "I can tell you this though," Ranma said as he brought
another fresh mug of wheat beer to his lips. "This whole
fiasco revolves around drugs. It's like some fresh dam
that's been broken in Tokyo."

    "Oh, wow," Ukyou said, sounding surprised. She took down
her Mojito in a single gulp, watching Ranma and deciding to
pace a little closer with him. She didn't show it, but she
felt a great deal more uncomfortable. What Ranma had missed
in the development of Nerima... It didn't go unnoticed to
her.

    Ukyou's former fiancee looked amused as a big smile
cracked wide. "Want another?"

    "Sure, why not." She rested her arm on the bar and put
her hand on her face, smiling lazily. "I'm not feeling
choosy, so you surprise me now," she said playfully.

    "Oh, is that right?" Ranma whistled aloud. "Yo,
bartender! Gimme an Adios Motherfucker! And a Screwdriver,
extra stiff!"

    "Comin' right up!"

    "Now THAT is a funny name for a drink! What is it?"

    A devilish smile formed on his lips. "I'm glad for the
little things in life, places like this that have high class
bars that serve everything. You've heard of a Long Island
Ice Tea right?"

    "Haaaaaaai." Her smile turned a little skeptical this
time.

    "Hehe, this is kind of like it, just tastes different.
Same potency."

    "Oh, now you're just testing me!" Ukyou bellowed
triumphantly. "Let me tell you something Mr. Saotome, I'm no
featherweight!"

    The bartender slid a tall glass to their section and it
seemed to glow blue as it glided. The cocktail looked
curiously appetizing and radiated fun in a glass. Another
cocktail followed, looking a lot like a glass of orange
juice.

    "Domo!" Ranma tipped the waiters and bartenders
generously, as it got him prompt service and faster response
than the other regular schmoes who didn't.

    "Kanpai!" Ukyou lifted her glass, with Ranma matching it
with his vodka OJ.

    "Umaai! I like it!"

    "Pretty good, ne?" Ranma was double fisting his drinks
and downed his beer and sipped his cocktail. He nodded to
the bartender for another beer refill with a smile.

    "Now that I think about it," Ukyou pondered cutely with
a finger to her lips. "When did you become a drinker? Let
along such a lively one!"

    Ranma continued sipping his drink and looked at her
coyly. Her cheeks were just slightly tinted with pink, but
his trained drunkard eyes knew she was well within the safe
realm of sober. And the passing strobe lights from the dance
floor occasionally flickered on her skin, which he noticed
now that it was slightly tanned. She definitely must have
been hitting the beach. His ex-cute fiancee was REALLY cute
tonight.

    "I never really told anyone back home while I was going
to college and all, but I partied pretty hard." He stuck out
his tongue in guilty pleasure.

    "Get outta town! You?" She slapped his shoulder. "You
graduated with a double major in three years! Where'd you
find the time to study?"

    "Now there's a story that I'll make quick," he said
sheepishly. "I had a lot of good friends determined to see I
follow in their steps and they helped me breeze through my
classes a lot easier than I'd expected."

    Ukyou took a long gulp of her drink, the well mixed
sweetness of the concoction hid the fact that it was a four-
shot hard liquor cocktail.

    "You little weasel, you cheated didn't you?" She gave a
hearty laugh as Ranma nodded slightly embarrassed, albeit
with a big grin on his face.

    "I'm no quitter or asshole in life, but I'm not so high
strung where I can't take a liberty here or there to have
fun," Ranma said, finishing his Screwdriver. His mood was
already way better from earlier in the evening, and he felt
like he was uninhibitedly enjoying himself for the first
time in ages. Which for the most part, was true.

    "I bet all the girls chased you like you were the local
heartthrob, huh?" She winked and nudged his ribs with her
elbows.

    "Hey, hey. In America I wasn't the playboy I'd managed
to achieve here on the home court, alright?" Ukyou barely
stifled another laugh as she threw a grape at Ranma's face.
"Over there you either have to flash some cash and show
you're loaded. Or you could be the cage fightin' bad-ass
that gets all the groupies."

    "Well, I guess you're two strikes out of three for that
one. So do I get to hear a third excuse?"

    Ranma nearly choked on his beer, yet another fresh mug.
"I was the latter, now. You got to give me some credit!"

    "Oh ho?"

    "Heh, well I'm kidding about the badass part. But real
early on when I was just barely getting to know some people
I was at this party. There was this group of Korean guys,
trying to act all hard and badass and just ruining things
for everyone. A guy I'd just met that night simply told them
to keep it down so that the neighbors wouldn't call the
cops, and those assholes tried to attack him."

    Ukyou nodded. "Well go on, what happened?"

    "Anyway, the guy I was talking to certainly wasn't a
pushover himself. I mean I was surprised, he was a pretty
well built guy around my height and build but just super
nice and didn't give any aura of aggression. But he sure
knew how to throw down. But anyway when he defended himself
against one person the rest of these jokers upped the ante
and pull out knives at a goddamn party. I stepped in to stop
things, I wasn't really in the mood to get into a fight. But
they persisted, and I got pissed because they wouldn't stop
making fun of my old red silk shirt I used to wear and my
ponytail, so I just beat their asses right there. Took away
their knives, threw 'em on the ground, I didn't hurt them or
nothing."

    "Is that why you're dressing all GQ now?" Ukyou teased.

    Ranma made a mock frown. "Some friend you are, is there
something wrong with the way I'm dressed? I usually dress a
lot nicer than this, but I was feelin casual."

    "Not at all..." Ukyou scooted her stool closer to him
and curled her finger on his sleeved shirt. "You're actually
dashingly handsome right now."

    Ranma was still as Ukyou was close enough for him to
smell the sweet liquor off her breath. He leaned back at the
close contact. "Whoa, there. Getting' a little too frisky,
ey?"

    Ukyou blew a breath upwards and her bangs jostled. "Oh,
puhleeeease. Get over yourself."

    Ranma derisively wiped off his shoulder and grew a cocky
smile. "When you're in a place where you don't know a single
damn person, you try to fit in. Well, that night sparked a
big wave of interest in the weird guy with the Chinese
shirts who barely knew English. The guy I helped out took an
immediate interest in me, and we became good friends. Best
friends, in fact."

    "I thought _I_ was your best friend, Ranchan?"

    "Sou, sou," he chided, tapping her nose with his
fingers. "Of course you are, my widdle Ucchan." She
playfully punched him in the arm because of the baby voice.
"He's my best GUY friend, how's that?"

    "I could've counted for that too once-upon-a-time-ago,"
she said with a hint of mischief.

    "You're one-hundred percent woman, Ucchan. And I'd
prefer you keep it that way." This got him an appreciative
nod. "Besides, John was a really good guy. Helped me improve
my English to near bilingual status way quicker than I'd
ever thought possible and he was a real man too, in his own
way. He partied hard non-stop like there was no tomorrow,
and even though _I_ had stayed a faithful man," he said with
a shade of bitter zeal, "I helped him get laid a whole lot
too, haha."

    Ukyou gave him a funny look, shaking her head with a
funny look on her face. "Boys, boys, boys."

    Ranma shrugged. "Hey, it wasn't me. A lot of people saw
me with him get into fights since half of the Asian
population in LA thinks they're gangsters, and I guess girls
just love the bad-boy image. Of course John did all the
swooping, I stayed as the wingman."

    Ukyou gulped the last of her Adios MF, and was starting
to feel a buzz. Definitely a lot looser. "Well bravo, sounds
like you had a good time then?"

    "College was definitely a blast. It was the first time
in my life I was on my own you know?"

    "Thanks for writing me and staying in touch with your
ol' buddy, yah Ranchan?"

    "Oooooh... My bad Ucchan. I don't really have an excuse
for that, I was still crazy over Akane then and talked to
her mostly. My parents called once in a while to check up on
me and all. But yah, I've been too much of a hermit for way
too long."

    Ukyou sighed heavily. "Don't be so down, Ranchan." She
pat his shoulder because he had a wistful smile. "I'm older,
you're older. We both grew up. Let bygones be bygones right?
You're here now and, I'm grateful."

    "I'm glad you see it that way." His pensive expression
melted away. "You finish your drink huh? You like?"

    A happy and borderline intoxicated Ukyou nodded
vigorously in gratitude. Ranma had yet another fresh beer
with him. She noticed he drank beer like it was water, that
was his seventh since he'd gotten here if she wasn't
mistaken.

    Ranma was basking in a content warm blanket of fuzzy
serenity. Knowing he could find someone to drink with like
this, especially Ukyou of all people, made his night so far
just that much better. He was borderline drunk himself, he'd
been buzzed for a while and it didn't help he'd been
drinking since early in the afternoon.

    "Hey, let's get another drink, take something fun with
me!"

    "Hmm?" Ukyou's bright red cheeks turned back to her
childhood friend after looking at the dance floor idly. "I'm
starting to get a little tipsy here, I don't think I could
drink another one of those Adios'."

    Ranma waved his hands. "Oh, nothing that strong, but I
know a good one if they have it. Of course if you're not up
for it..." Ranma trailed off.

    "Like I can't handle what you've always dished out," she
shot back, feeling brave. "C'mon, Ranchan. Let's see what
you got."

    "Yo, bartender!" Ranma gave Ukyou a mischievous grin.

    "Hai!" A different person behind the bar came up right
away.

    Ranma rubbed his palms thinking for a moment. "You don't
happen to make Irish Car Bombs, do you?"

    The young bartender thought for a second, he was new but
was well trained to quite a wide variety of mixed drinks
around the world, as this bar and club was famous for.
"Yeah, we do sir! We actually have Guinness bottles though,
not on tap. What kind of whiskey would you like in it?"

    "Ah, that's great." Ranma thought about it for a second,
as Ukyou looked on curious as to what this interesting
sounding concoction would be. "Hey Ucchan, do you get sick
easily when you drink?"

    Ukyou confidently shook her head. "I pass out like
anyone else if I drink way too much, but I don't hurl or get
sick anymore like when I was a teenager."

    "We'll have two. You guys have Irish whiskey right?"
Their server nodded. "Just put in a shot of Jameson and
Baileys. And I want it FULL sized."

    "Right away, sir." The young bartender went to the
middle of the bar and started assembling the drinks.

    "What the heck is an Irish Car Bomb?" Ukyou looked
slightly worried, as it sounded pretty intimidating.

    "Ha, you'll see. It's a boilermaker."

    "Boilermaker?"

    "Think sake-bombs." Ranma gave a toothy grin.

    "Ick," she stuck her tongue out looking skeptical.

    When the bartender came back several people looked in
interest at the large mugs filled with a completely black
liquid accompanied by multilayered shot glasses.

    "Here you go, enjoy it quick!"

    Ukyou looked at the black beer and the cream and dark
caramel colored shots. She was equally fascinated along with
others who had never really seen this before.

    "One of my co-workers is Irish, and he absolutely loved
Guinness and loved these. It became one of my favorites."

    "What's in it?"

    Ranma picked up his large mug that was filled about
three-quarters of the way with the stout beer and the shot.
Ukyou did the same. "This is a beer called Guinness, it's
not carbonated like other beers and it's almost flat. But
very rich and tasty. This right here," he said while shaking
the shot glass with his fingers, "is a mix of Irish whiskey
and Baileys Irish cream. You drop this real good into the
beer and chug it as fast as you can. You're in for a treat!"

    Ukyou looked excited to try, fueled in part by
enthusiasm under the influence.

    "Bottoms up, Ucchan. Kanpai!"

       Ranma tapped his mug with Ukyou's and he raised his
shot glass half a foot above his glass, prompting her to do
the same. They dropped it at the same time, the glass
plopping straight down to the bottom of the glass with a
clank, immediately causing the mix to curdle.

       Both mouthed their glasses firmly and poured down the
alcohol eagerly down their throats. Ukyou tasted the
surprisingly wonderful mix of the dark toasty wheat in the
stout with the barley like refined sting of the whiskey
blended beautifully with the ultra rich and smooth candy
like taste of the Irish cream.

    A little quicker on the art of downing beer, Ranma
finished his first with Ukyou finishing as soon as the mug
left his lips. They triumphantly slammed their glasses down
with a big satisfied puff of air.

    The blood slowly rushed to Ukyou's head, and she felt
free and clear. "Wow, that was great!"

    The constant mix of different drinks throughout the day
finally caught up with Ranma with that last power drink, and
his head was feeling light and floaty. He let out a content
drunken sigh as he stretched his arms, and his nose
curiously twitched as he smelled cigarette smoke from some
of the people sitting next to him.

    "I told you," Ranma proclaimed.

    "It did its job, I'll tell you that. I'm pretty wasted,"
Ukyou laughed, zealously happy. Her eyes kept wandering
towards the dance floor.

    "You know what? So am I. I've been drinking since three
in the afternoon!" Ranma quickly bit his tongue, he let that
out without thinking.

    "Since three?" With Ukyou's drunken state, she quickly
waved it off as trivial. Instead, she got up and grabbed
Ranma's arm. "Hey Ranchan, let's go dance!"

    This caught Ranma by surprise. "Dance? Out there?"

    "Of course out there, silly!" She pointed for emphasis.
"What, do you want to dance on top of the bar?"

    Ranma did a double take on that last comment and looked
hesitant. "I dunno, it's been a while and all and you know
and..."

    Ukyou continued to smile and kept tugging on his arm.
"What is Mr. Ranma Saotome AFRAID of? Can't dance with your
old friend?"

    "Uhh... it's been a while and all and you know and..."

    Ukyou laughed this time, she was stubbornly drunk and
the dance floor had been teasing her since her second drink
or so. Plus she was really smashed and felt completely
unrestrained, and with Ranma here...

    "C'mon, you act like you have a girlfriend or
something." This elicited a positive response from Ranma for
Ukyou, as he looked confused. She made a triumphant cheer
mentally. "Are you going out with Kiyone or something?"

    "......" Ranma looked at her, his expression neutral and
his body relaxed as he leaned his back on the bar. Now that
he thought about it, he wasn't going out with her or
anything. He had plenty of interest in her as she managed to
capture his attention like no one had in a long time. He'd
been hesitant about women in general for over a year now,
and here he was. Drunk, happy, reasonably sociable, and with
an old friend he trusted who happened to be a girl. Old
friend, but 'yes', he mentally noted. She was still a girl.

    It couldn't hurt to just kick back and have fun like he
once remembered.

    "Alright, let's go dance," Ranma simply said.

    Ukyou's face lit up and her cherry red cheeks glowed.
"Well what are we waiting for?" She dragged him out and he
nearly tripped trying to keep up as both of them entered
into the pit of the dance floor. The lights were properly
dim for a nightclub, with only a split second strobe here
and there tuned to the beat of the music.

    The loudspeakers boomed across the floor reverberating
with a tight solid thump as the DJ transitioned into a new
song, one that Ranma recognized immediately as a club
favorite in America. He started moving his legs and bounced
his torso to the beat.

    Ukyou gasped as her eyes were fixed on Ranma moving so
fluidly to the beat of this catchy hip hop tune, and joined
him in symmetry as his dance partner. A tingle in the back
of Ranma's head got him completely into the mood and
atmosphere as he started grooving to the song (which he knew
very well, as an acquired fan of hip hop) sinuously.

    He surprised Ukyou by grabbing her towards him and
sliding down and putting his left leg in between hers with
both his knees bent, she immediately adjusted and the two
were grinding to the beat like poetry in motion.

       This wasn't her first time at a night club, but of
all people Ranma was the most unique and exciting person
she'd ever danced with, his raw energy and constantly
changing footwork looked like an art form. Ranma was
completely absorbed in the music and with her, as his eyes
simply followed her every step and every swing of her arms.

    Every now and then their eyes would meet and they would
just smile, breathing heavily in their intoxication. Ukyou
draped her arms over Ranma's neck, her sweaty arms gliding
smoothly across his skin as they fixed their gaze into each
others eyes.

    The two went on for a while, going through more than
several sets of songs as the club actually got more and more
crowded. Soon it was just a sea of raw energy dominated by
men and women in heat and the strong aroma of alcohol
wafting across the room.

    Ranma and Ukyou walked back to their section of the bar,
which the bartenders had smartly reserved for their
generously tipping patrons. The duo laughed over nothing in
particular, still pumped up from the dance floor. Ukyou's
head was swimming as she was having the time of her life.
Ranma was feeling similar sentiments, he couldn't remember
the last time he had so much fun.

    "You, mister," Ukyou said in a sizzling voice, with her
finger poking Ranma's chest, "are a phenomenal dancer."

    Ranma made a mock bow. "I aim to please, wherever I go."

    Ukyou laughed as she ran her hand through her hair,
wiping off a bit of sweat from her brow. "I think you set
that floor on fire, Ranchan! It's been a while, huh? You
been partying like this in America too?"

    Ranma suppressed bad memories and thankfully remembered
the good. "I had one serious girlfriend while I was a cop,
and she just loved dancing and going clubbing."

    "Well wasn't she a lucky one?" Ukyou didn't notice Ranma
wincing. "And now I get to experience getting you out there
for myself!"

    "I like to have fun just like anyone else, alright? So I
learned a trick or two since you've last seen me."

    "So desu, ne?" Ukyou pulled out her cell phone to check
the time and her eyes widened. "Wow, it's already almost
midnight."

    "Only?"

    "I dunno where the time went!"

    "Hey, how about we hit up another place? Or a few?"

    "Oh, some food?"

    "And some sake?"

    Ukyou felt more than eager to go along, even if it meant
more drinking. "You lead, I follow!"

    Ranma nodded, and waved for a server behind the bar.
"Excuse me, can I get my tab?"

    Someone responded right away. "Certainly sir. Your bill
comes out to 22,900 yen."

    "Oh, wow! That's expensive! Let me pay for it," Ukyou's
eyes bugged out, realizing how much they'd both drank.
Getting in alone had been a luxuriously hefty 5,500 yen
cover charge for each of them since this was such a posh
venue, and Ranma had paid that too.

    Ranma shrugged as if she'd said something silly.
"Please, please. I'm taking you out tonight. This is nothing
at all, we're at a nice bar." He pulled out his wallet and
gave 25,000 yen to the server. "Keep the change."

    "Hai! Thank you very much!" he replied crisply.

       *    *   *

April 20th, 2001.
47th floor, JNSA Headquarters - Tokyo, Japan.  11:58 PM.

    "This is a real interesting case you've gotten yourself
into, Jackson. We get ourselves a new operative and in less
than a month he's already gotten through the depths of the
city. I knew he was something special."

    "Commander, I think if you praise the man anymore people
would start to think you'd want to suck him off."

    The senior commanding officer of one of the most elite
services in the Japanese government scoffed at the younger
head working on the computer and smacked the backside of his
head.

    "I'm just kidding sir," Jackson continued, conversing in
English. "But you're right, he really is something."

    Takayama perused over a couple of fresh intel reports
that he had received from various sources from the
intelligence bureau. He looked over some various statistics
sheets of illegal narcotics.

    "I think you and Ranma's hunch have some bearings on
this, Jackson." Takayama flipped to a few incidents of major
spikes and known distributions of drugs in various parts of
Honshu. "Drug sales have systematically gone up in some sort
of pattern, but they're being moved in incredible amounts of
bulk and cheaper prices. It's like they're raising funds or
something. The seizes are huge, arrests of smaller dealers
are low, and there must be hundreds of millions of yen being
traded off at a time. Maybe more. That must pay for a lot of
dirty pockets."

    Jackson Samamoto frowned. "That's a possibility, but I'm
not putting all my eggs in one basket yet. I did make some
progress though with the revolver we recovered from last
night." He yawned and wiped a tear away from his eyes. He
had his responsibilities to tend to, but couldn't help but
wonder if he would've had some fun if he'd just gone out
with his partner.

    "Yeah, I was briefed real quick about it upstairs before
I came down to see you."

    Jackson nodded. "Yeah, one of the Company* guys I'm cool
with, from way back, did a little bit of homework for me.
And what a surprise, he comes back to me the same day. Says
there's been stockpiles of old weapons being shipped and
disappearing when they come near the Sea of Japan, blames a
storm that's passing through or some other reasonable
excuse. He told me no one gives a shit because lost cargo is
so common in international waters and everything is still
reported so there's no reason for suspicion. It's common for
ships to lose tens of millions worth in cargo in sea
accidents. The Southeast Asian seas are prime smuggling
routes too. They still have sea pirates working as couriers
to switch over contraband cargo from legitimate transports."
*Company - Commonly used nickname for the CIA.

    "And the revolver?"

    "There was a partial serial number that remained when we
disassembled the damn thing. Numbers partially match a list
of Chinese stockpiled weapons that date back to the 60's.
I've contacted our agents near the coasts to work with the
Maritime Safety Agency."

    Takayama nodded. "Make sure to tell Ranma about this
when you see him."

    "Yes, sir. I probably wont see him till tomorrow
afternoon, with the undercover stint he's pulling off at
some high school in the Nerima ward. Isn't that a weird
coincidence he's led back to where he came from?"

    "Yeah, a weird twist of fate I'll say," Takayama agreed.

    "You could've told me he was a bit of a nutcase, sir,"
Jackson idly commented. "I'm not complaining he's
incompetent or anything, but if you saw him in action
yesterday you would've sworn he's a sociopath in denial."

    "That nutcase is the kind of guy who'll go above and
beyond to save your ass one day if you ever need it,"
Takayama chided. "Besides, I studied his history very well
before I considered employing him. He's the perfect foot
soldier for us."

    "Do or die right?" Jackson shook his head at his boss's
subtle smile. "What perfect fucking circumstances for you to
reel him in."

    "I had to take advantage of his turbulent mental state
and talked it over with his boss at the time. I need a
ruthless wildcard like him to keep things in check. I saw
you growing up in fucking France, Jackson. You know what
kind of shit hole Paris is. I don't want Japan to escalate
to that, we might already be too late."

    "Hai, hai," Jackson replied breaking out of his English.
"Does he know your past at all, Commander?" He gave him a
questionable look.

    "I'll tell him if I have to or if he somehow finds out.
It won't happen, you and I are the only ones in the Public
Security sector with clearance to the Intelligence Bureau."

    "You know, if I didn't know any better I'd think Ranma
could moonlight as an assassin. Shit, he has no qualms about
pulling the trigger."

    For some reason right at that moment Jackson looked over
his shoulder to see Takayama make an expression that got him
worried.

    "You aren't too far off, kid. I gave him a task, and he
completed it without hesitation. Now that's a useful
character right there. In fact that should be you, a
counter-terrorist specialist from a country's top elite."

    Some of the color drained from Jackson's face. "Don't
tell me you anticipated this and wanted him as a department
cleaner."

    "Don't go jumping to conclusions you little shit. I'll
admit, when the shit hits the fan he's going to be a
surgical tool for us. But he has guts, and he has balls.
Sometimes that's all you really need to lead. That's why I
made him my number two man."

    As much arrogance as Jackson possessed he didn't feel
stabbing pangs of jealousy knowing he wasn't given a higher
position in the hierarchy, concerning his cutthroat
disposition. The elder Akira Takayama was a man his family
was personal friends with and he'd also known since he was a
kid. No matter how harsh or trite his words may be, Jackson
knew it was honest and respected it fully.

    At the very least, Ranma saved his life in the heat of
battle like a true warrior or soldier would. A code of honor
and conduct like that was something Jackson could
irrevocably respect.

    The young specialist scoffed and leaned back in his
chair. "You know, Ranma made me remember something."

    Takayama raised an eye brow. "Oh? What's that?"

    "Since you've given me this job I've gone lax on a lot
of training. I mean, it's still there. But my gut-instincts
aren't as sharp anymore."

    "I figured that might happen to you," Takayama said. He
clicked his tongue. "I didn't think you'd go sour or
anything and you didn't, so that didn't turn out to be a
disaster. But it won't hurt to hone yourself."

    Jackson eyed his boss, a formidable man that he had
personally known for some many years and knew some of his
more clandestine details. "I contacted some operators to
cross train with. They said they'd be glad to help."

    "Who are you talking about, Jackson?" The senior agent
knew there were quite a few scattered special ops guys
scattered across Japan either retired or working
clandestine.

    "It's our liaison undercover NOCs*. One's stationed in
Chofu at Jindai High School and the other one works for
Toshiba. I'm friends with one of them."
*Non-Official Cover.

    Takayama nodded curiously. "I think I might know who
you're talking about, at least the one who's in the high
school. Ex-mercenary and Russian spec-ops, right? Real
young?"


    "Yeah, he's a sci-fi experiment come to life. Trained as
a child in the tricks of the trade. I figured you would know
of him. He told me he's a regional counter-terrorism
failsafe seed. Planted into the infrastructure, break only
in case of emergency type of deal."

    "What agency does he work for?" Takayama knew the rules
of the intelligence business, but mysteries still bugged him
like it would to any other person.

    "I couldn't say, Commander. Could be the Company. Could
be MI-6."

    "British services? Well, you definitely know him more
than I do. He's just a personnel sheet for me."

    "I remember him telling me he had lots of British
comrades, including superiors. With his background, who
knows what else he does. But it's most likely he's Spetsnaz
trained, his childhood is a mystery. His best friend that I
go way back with is a German-Jew from Israel, GSG-9 trained
and known well in MOSSAD. Sneaky little bastard used to
compete with me in sniping competitions whenever he had the
time to freelance."

    Takayama whistled out loud, impressed. "He's that good,
huh? As far as I know you're the best."

    "There are some tough sons of bitches out there,"
Jackson simply replied. "Barely know much about him, we're
on spook terms."

    "Who's the other one?"

    "An American born ex-lieutenant trained by MOSSAD, she's
CIA all the way. I met her through Sagara.  I don't know her
real name, she's employed as Hanako Dosukoi. Once heard him
call her Excel, though. I don't know what she's truly
capable of, but her NOC is a communications technician at
Toshiba. I have no idea what she does. She's more cloak and
dagger than he is."

    It didn't surprise Takayama that there were spies
disguised in regular roles all over Japan, as it occurred
just about everywhere. The newly formed JNSA was new and
essentially a helpful extension of the American CIA. Such
expanded resources allowed recruitment of more Japanese
operatives willing to help their country.

    A beep emanated from Takayama's coat pocket, followed by
a ring. He pulled out his cell phone and answered via
encrypted satellite mode.

    Jackson waited for his superior to finish his call as it
seemed like an important notification considering how late
it was.

    Takayama ended his transmission and put away his phone.
"That was Umino, from Hokkaido. He just told me there was a
major raid in a firearm related incident in Sapporo less
than an hour ago."

    Although he had met his fellow MaxFor agents only a few
times and some only once, he still remembered all of them.
"No kidding? What happened up there?"

    "He said he was observing a raid on a suspicious
warehouse dock that the local prosecutor's office had
ordered searched. On a hunch Umino advised police officials
to use Hokkaido's SAT* to storm the place. Despite laughing
in his face for recommending overkill on manpower, they
followed his words and they were met with resistance."
*Special Assault Team, or Tokushu Butai.

    "Is this Yakuza related as well?" Jackson had much to
learn still with criminal methodology and modus operandi of
outlaws in general since this wasn't his specialty.

    "I'm guessing it is. He told me the search was warranted
for suspicion of transporting stolen goods. Well they found
nothing anyway, except a suitcase of pistol and rifle
ammunition after their suspects shot at them. Apparently
they heavily underestimated them, and five of the tactical
officers were injured. Two are critical."

    Jackson sighed. "No KIAs?"

    "Only the assailants, the SAT guys will live. Blame the
police brass' fucking policy on training these guys to
hesitate using force. Umino took over the case immediately
and shut out local authorities. I just approved his mandate,
he thinks this should be strictly MaxFor. I agreed."
Takayama nodded sternly.  "The city office was thrashed too.
Someone set an IED* on the side of the building as possible
retaliation. Umino already covered it up as an explosion in
the gas lines. This sudden influx of firepower can't be a
coincidence."
*Improvised explosive device. Homemade bombs, basically.

    "I agree. He has no help out there though. He's our only
agent on that island."

    "He's an independent worker, I can trust him. Meanwhile,
I want you to find out any possible ways to pump in guns, no
matter how obscure it is. We need to get to the source right
away."

    "There are some people working on that for me, I'll have
a better idea by tomorrow. I'm gonna call Umino and tell him
to find me serials for the guns that were used in the
shootout."

    Takayama nodded. "Contact the Maritime Safety Agency and
tell them to start covert surveillance on any possible
pirates and couriers coming in through the sea through the
north. I'm betting someone's willing to take the risk to go
through that way to smuggle shit in."

    "A smuggler coming in through that cold, frosty fuck of
a sea? Sounds thin, sir."

    "There are some pros out there that'll do it for the
right price."

    "I'll get right on it," Jackson replied.

    "Before you go, there's one more thing."

    "Yes, sir?"

    "Remember Major Kurosawa? The guy who went off a few
months to go to cross train in Korea?"

    Jackson blinked. "Oh yeah, he was supposed to work here
in East Honshu with me?"

    "He's back and is reporting in tomorrow. He's very eager
to meet you two."

    Jackson looked skeptical. "He's working with us?"

    "Don't worry, three's company but he can work on his
own. He'll offer any support you two need."

    "What'll he be doing then?"

    "NOC* liason."
*NOC - Non-Official Cover. In this context, it's purposely
ambiguous.

    "Oh." That was enough explanation and a subtle hint to
stop asking more than what he was told.

                        *   *   *

April 20th, 2001.
Nerima Riverbank - Nerima, Japan.  11:54 PM.

    "Mmm, try this one."

    "Not bad, but I like this barbecue weiner better."

    Ranma stuck his tongue out, refusing the glazed hot dog
on a stick. "I hate sweet things when I'm drunk. Makes me
sick."

    The night turned chilly as the two rested on the grassy
incline near a familiar bridge. What used to be a place for
solitary soul searching was now a common gathering place for
people to drink by the serene riverbank. It was a sign of
the times as Nerima had changed into a busier town.

    "When was the last time we were here together, Ranchan?"

    "This old place?" Ranma sat up and looked around while
sipping on a bottle of Bud Light he overpaid for at the
local Family Mart. He laid back down and faced Ukyou, face
flushed red from alcohol. "Wow, when you put it that way.
It's been maybe what, seven years?"

    "Seven years?" she asked, amazed at the number herself.

    "We're only 25 years old, you know that? But I feel like
I've lived another life altogether. I'll be honest, Ucchan.
I don't even remember what it felt like to sit here and be
back home anymore. I mean I remember it of course, but it
doesn't feel the same."

    "I have no idea what you're talking about, Ranchan," she
slurred. She burst out laughing and punched him in the arm.
"Oh, I'm just kidding. This place in general isn't even the
same anymore. Nerima's not the same place it was when we
were teenagers."

    "Yeah, I'm sitting here at one of my old hangouts
drinking beer," he said with a smile. He sloppily dribbled
some around his mouth as he took another swig.

    "You dork, you've made a mess." Ukyou moved her body
right next to Ranma's and dabbed his chin and lips with her
hand. She rested her head on his chest lazily.

    Ranma wrapped his arms around his friend. He felt her
warm breath through his shirt and could smell the light
scent of liquor as her ample chest heaved lightly on his
stomach.

    "What do you think life would've been like if we had
just gotten together, Ranchan?"

    He was wasted and his vision was playing tricks on him,
but his brain was well conditioned to plunk out of risky
business even when drunk. He almost startled Ukyou when his
chest puffed from laughing. "C'mon now Ucchan. We're both
tanked and you're talking dangerous."

    Her face turned bright. "I didn't mean it like that, you
asshole." She propped her chin up on her elbow and looked
him in the eye. "I'm asking because I wonder if it would
have even worked out."

    That caught him by surprise, and he felt bad for what he
had just said to his friend. "Oh? Don't think I would've
been up for the task?"

    "I've been in two relationships. Both were serious. One
I almost thought I would keep forever."

    "How was it?"

    "I'll be completely honest. With my last boyfriend I was
so happy that I was glad that I didn't end up with you. We
always talked about living together and taking care of each
other when we're old and wrinkly and all of that sweet
bullshit."

    "What did he do for a living?"

    "He was some hotshot investment banker. Really smart in
the head. Nabiki actually knows him, that's how I met him."

    "Nabiki?" he asked warily.

    "He wasn't a bloodsucker," she replied much to her own
relief and Ranma's. "It's just when we finally started
living together, it didn't work out. Just a lot of things to
deal with."

    "Oh, I know what you mean. When I first moved in with
Ichino it was like living in a war zone for a few weeks. It
only worked out because we had the same job."

    "She was a cop?" Ukyou asked, surprised.

    Ranma mentally slapped himself. "Yeah. Like I said
before it, uh, didn't work out."

    Ukyou nodded in surprise and continued. "I guess I was
too independent for him, and he was too clingy for me. After
a few months it just crumbled apart, and the damage was
done."

    Ranma looked straight into the sky and tried hard to
shut out his memories. As always, the alcohol helped.

    "Achoo!" Ukyou sneezed. She got up and dusted herself
off from the cool grass.

    "Let's start walking back, it's getting cold."

    "Carry me! Piggyback!" she squealed like a child.

    Ranma smiled and motioned for her to get on his back.
She practically leapt on much to the amusement of other
inebriated bystanders around them and Ranma did a balancing
act to keep himself from falling as he finally started
walking straight.

    "I'm not too heavy for you, am I?" she asked as she
playfully tugged on his earlobe.

    World class martial artist or not, he had trouble
walking straight in his stupor. He squeezed his friend's
firm and shapely thighs with his hands as he chuckled.

    "Hey, where do you think you're touching mister!"

    "You're not heavy, but I'm surprised you're still in
such good shape. You still training, Ucchan?"

    "Just about every day," she hiccupped. "Just an hour or
so, some more whenever there's time. It beats going to a
gym. I start dressing a little feminine after high school
and next thing you know guys are chasing me for the bod,
don't you know it?"

    "Yeah, I can feel those rippling manly muscles," he
joked.

    Ukyou playfully put a choke hold around his neck, much
to her amusement as Ranma flailed around in comic fashion.

    "Watch what you say there buddy. I still got a few moves
left."

    Ranma sputtered as she released and he started walking
again. "Ok, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He bounced her a few
times on his back. "Did you always have breasts this big,
Ucchan?"

    Ukyou lifted an eyebrow. "Must've been all those years
of wrapping 'em up when I was around you," she said, hefting
her package. She pressed against his back for emphasis, her
self modesty and judgment altered. "God, I miss getting'
laid," she slurred.

    If he had been sober Ranma would've probably jumped
through a concrete wall head first, but since he was
determining which sidewalk tile was real and which was the
illusion as he was walking forward, his judgment fell short
too. "Ha ha! Oh man I never would've thought you'd be
talking to me about something like that. But that's right,
you did have boyfriends before."

    "Oh big deal!" she said, poking her index finger on his
right temple. "I'm twenty five fucking years old, you don't
think I was still a virgin, do ya?"

    "Yeah, yeah. We're all grown up, I remember."

       "The only person I can think of out of our friends
who might still have her cherry is Shampoo."

       "No shit?"

    Ukyou sighed wistfully. She had trouble thinking
straight or even coherently. "I remember even after we broke
up we still had sex for months after. It wasn't a clean
break up. He'd call me when he was drunk or lonely, and I'd
do the same. Then, we finally just moved on."

    Ranma listened with an open ear. Even though this
conversation was getting dangerous, he still had to hear out
his friend.

    "Jesus. I think it's been a year and a half now since
then. Been single ever since," she mumbled.

    "Been just over a year for me," Ranma thought out loud.

    "Oh?" She rustled his hair, interested. "Just over a
year for you, eh?"

    Ranma's face paled, wondering if he had just said his
thoughts out loud. "I didn't say a thing," he said lamely.

    "And how's that other friend of yours doing? The one I
met at my restaurant?"

    "Who?" He was racking his alcohol addled brain.

    "I'm talking about the teal haired dame of yours. The
cop." She knocked his head to check if it was hollow.

    "Kiyone," Ranma replied. "What about her?"

    "What do you mean what about her? Are you guys an item
or what?"

    "She's a nice girl," he replied simply. It was about as
piss poor an excuse he could give.

    That was about as piss poor an answer she had ever
heard. Always just a "nice" girl, they say. Ukyou let out an
exasperated sigh. "Are you two interested in each other? Are
you dating? Are you fucking?"

    "Whoa there!" Ranma nearly yelped. Thin ice. "We're not
going out, and we're not sleeping with each other, alright?"

    "What, did I make you blush, Ranchan?" She twirled her
finger around his cheeks.

    "Just scarin' me a little bit that's all, Ucchan." His
voice sounded shaky.

    "I thought Ranma Saotome wasn't afraid of anything?"

    "Oh sure I am, Ucchan." Ranma scoffed. "I'm still afraid
of cats, remember?"

    "Everyone knows that, Ranchan!" she said exasperatedly.
"Tell me something new."

    "Oh let's see," he said with a hum. He bounced Ukyou on
his back as she giggled. She held on tighter with her warm
face pressing against his cheeks.

    "I'm afraid of bad whiskey," he started, counting off
his fingers while Ukyou chuckled. "I'm afraid of stupid
criminals, afraid of yelling bosses-"

    "Haha, why stupid criminals?"

    Ranma smiled. "Because they can embarrass even the most
serious of people."

    "I see, I see. Go on."

    The two playfully rattled off trivial fears until
finally Ranma reached the back entrance to Ukyou's living
quarters, which was remodeled to the second floor.

    "Here's my key, just head up the stairs," Ukyou purred.

    He opened the door with a bit of blurry difficulty and
slowly made his way up the stairs, continuing from earlier.

    "I'm also afraid of female drivers, by the way," he
said, barely containing his laughter.

    "Well I'm in the driver's seat controlling you, so you
better watch it mister!" she said sloppily, rustling his
hair and wiggling around to sway him.

    "Hey, hey! Stop that!" Ranma wiped his eyes as he
entered through the door at the top to her makeshift
apartment. He felt drunk enough by now to be woozy enough to
trip and fall. He wasn't exactly an on and off social
drinker and his body had plenty of tolerance training. It
had been a while since he had gotten THIS drunk with another
person.

    "Aww, poor widdle Ranchan losing his balance?"

    "Pfft," Ranma scoffed, although he was trying to find
his balance as he made his way into her bedroom. "You know
what else I was afraid of? Drunken frat boys and drunken
friends who got out of hand. Now that's, some
embarrassment."

    "Everybody plays the fool," she said, sliding off his
back and onto her plushy futon with her blanket sprawled.
The lights were off and the moonlit window cast the room in
a soft din.

    "Sometimes," he smiled.

    Ukyou hummed softly to an oldies melody from the radio,
stretching back in a sultry manner.

    Ranma hummed back recognizing the tune, one of Marvin
Gaye's classic songs of Motown. He sat on the ground
stretching his legs as well, comfortably propping himself
with only his arm.

    A sparkle from her eye got his drunk attention, as she
was still softly humming along the melody. "Drunk girls were
another thing I was afraid of too."

    "Drunk like this?" Her arm curled around his.

    With their warm breaths close, Ranma did nothing as she
inched closer and met his lips with hers, in a soft moist
kiss.

    Ranma softly let her continue, his body yielding gently
into hers. His carnal instincts took over with inebriated
impulse. He slowly kissed back, leaning back and letting her
bend on top of him. He coursed a hand through her sweat
matted hair and inhaled her rum infused pheromones. Another
hand snaked down her back, gliding over the slick bumps of
her tailbone and her lovely hips.

                        *   *   *

April 21st, 2001.
Chiba SAT and Joint US Naval Special Warfare Training Course
- Southern Chiba Prefecture, Japan.  10:46 AM.

    "They're pretty good at what they do, I've seen them
train here a few times. Other units from Japan and joint
training groups from the US Navy, Marine Corps, and Army get
to practice their shit here too."

    Ranma whistled appreciatively. "They spared no expenses
here, eh? It's a shame we couldn't go back to that police
station in Bokutou. They're probably going ape shit with all
the new activity going around them."

    "Yeah, because you decided to hang someone at the end of
a fucking extension cord."

       Ranma ignored the quip. "When do your buddies get
here Jackson?"

    "They'll be here any minute now, Ranma. How'd you ditch
school by the way? I thought you started as an undercover
just yesterday?"

    Ranma shrugged his shoulders. "I was hung over, and I
feigned being sick to the school nurse. I ditched my fellow
undercover there, but she'll do fine."

    "Hey, whatever works." Jackson looked at his partner
quizzically, wondering about his professional conduct.

    "I don't remember seeing this place on the list of US or
Japanese police facilities, what gives?"

    "This is a highly classified area. Not even the National
Police brass know, let alone allowed here. It's strictly SAT
personnel and a select few US Military. It has to do with
OPSEC*."
*OPSEC - Operational Security.

    "Really? Who else trains here?"

    "Other than the ones I told you? You can let your
imagination run wild, Cap'n. But Chiba SAT and the other
regional SAT units around the country cycle in through here
mostly."

    "And the US?" Ranma looked genuinely interested.

    Jackson looked stern. "Spec Warfare, CT training. All
the spooky stuff." He shrugged his shoulders.

    "You ain't telling me exactly what I'm asking you jerk
off, but I understand the secrecy," Ranma conceded.

    Jackson nodded appreciatively. "Alright, alright. This
place is a potential staging area for any possible US
counter-terrorism operation that may take place within the
immediate radius. Navy DEVGRU* and Army Delta** both have
priority over SATs if there are any American civilians
involved in a terrorist incident in Japanese territory. I'm
sure that's something you could've figured out on your own.
SEAL Team Five cycles in some platoons for specialized
training, and USMC Force Reconnaissance from Okinawa comes
up here to train in cycles too. I remember reading in your
file that you received Spec War training."
*Short for: Navy Special Warfare DEVelopment GRoUp. Also
known as SEAL Team Six.
** Delta - 1st SFOD-D - Special Forces Operational
Detachment Delta. Also known as Delta Force.

    "I went through a portion of BUD/S* in Coronado."
*BUD/S - Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL. More at the end
of chapter.

    "How'd they let you join SEAL training?" Jackson asked
curiously. It was an extremely rare anomaly, as BUD/S did
allow foreign exchange recruits to cross train but never
civilian police as far as he knew.

    Ranma blew out a slow breath, remembering a long chain
of events from years ago. "Well, I was introduced to a
couple of Navy SEAL instructors who happen to know some of
the guys inside LAPD SWAT. I talked a lot of shit, and I
mean a LOT of shit, on how I could breeze through their
selection process and be a SEAL easily myself."

    "The Trident* is world renowned, nothing is that easy,"
Jackson said, shaking his head.
*The trademark Navy SEAL badge.

    "Well, it wasn't death, but yeah it wasn't easy either.
I didn't go through all six damn months of BUD/S and all the
other stuff they have to qualify for. And I wasn't in the
Navy either, so I wasn't even close to getting the Trident."
Ranma decided to leave out mentioning that it was easier
going through anguish when you'd conditioned yourself for it
from past experience. He didn't feel like telling his
partner his life story of training in the wilderness.

    "So what did they let you do?"

    "I smoked everyone with all the repetitive physical
fitness and drilling during BUD/S qualification, so the
instructors decided to see how well I'd be running my mouth
during their first phase, which includes hell week. Somehow
the gods favored me and I was allowed a break from my job to
partake in this 'essential training', as they justified it.
I tell you, it was definitely interesting."

    "Yeah, I'll fucking bet."

    "I was a girl the whole time since I was constantly
soaking wet."

    "Oh? How was that?"

    "That's what made it interesting," Ranma sighed with a
hint of disgust.

    "Life always throws a catch."

    "Well, after I passed through that I earned some of
their respect. They taught me some of the tricks of their
trade in their own spare time. I gratefully accepted. It was
around that time a South Korean CT unit was also in the area
on a joint training exercise. The Koreans did whatever the
hell they wanted. They saw me, they were amused a Jap could
speak passable Korean. But what they really loved was how I
could put up a good fight with these."

    Ranma lifted up his fists to emphasize to Jackson his
martial arts ability. Jackson nodded, amazed at Ranma's luck
in circumstance.

    "I fought one of their weaker guys in hand to hand
combat. No fancy tricks, just straight technique. I'll be
honest, I was surprised when they took me down with what I
thought was the cheapest, brutal-fucking-fighting style I'd
ever seen."

    "Yeah, I've heard of it. Israelis have their own system
like that too. But I heard the Korean Special Forces have
their own unique style."

    "It's well calculated, highly technical, highly
opportunistic. If my father or any normal martial artist saw
it in its intended action they would say it's just plain
dishonorable and cheap. But hey, all's fair in war right?"

    "I agree, for the most part," Jackson replied.

    "But anyway, that's the gist of it. I was given CQB
training by my own department on privileged request, I was
shown and taught how to hone it by those other guys and I
practiced on my own. That's all it was, Jackson. Practice,
practice, practice."

    "Getting into GIGN was no picnic either. During the
selection process, only eight of us made it through and
there were over a hundred applicants."

    "Something to brag about, huh?" Ranma chirped. He did a
little bit of homework into Jackson's service history.
Needless to say, Ranma had been quick to judge. His partner
was one tough warthog.

    Jackson grinned. "Oh, not quite. It wasn't after I was
well seasoned into the unit I felt like I was hot shit."

    "To your credit, you probably were."

    "Yeah, but not anymore," Jackson replied wistfully.
"That's why I'm here."

    Ranma nodded. "Is that your buddies right there?"

    Jackson looked behind his shoulder and saw two figures
walking through the large, isolated compound with their
large bags in tow. The entrance to the place was far off and
no private vehicles were allowed inside due to tight
security. Both were dropped off by a sedan driven by a
security officer.

    "Over here!" Jackson yelled.

    Both came over in stride. A young man with long ruffled
hair dropped his duffel bag to stick out his hand and shake
Jackson's.

    "Good seeing you again, Sergeant. I was surprised you
wanted to get together for a training exercise. It's been a
while."

    "Good to see you too, Sergeant. Sousuke, let me
introduce you to my partner, Captain Ranma Saotome."

    "Nice to meet you, you can just call me Ranma."

    "I'm Sagara Sousuke. Pleasure to meet you, sir."

    Ranma took a look at the guy in front of him and noticed
he couldn't be more than a teenager. He was dressed in
woodland fatigues and his young face had eyes that possessed
the steely glint of a weathered combat veteran.

    "I'm Hanako Dosukoi, Captain Saotome."

    The other one was a pretty natural blonde, about 5' 5"
with a chirpy energetic voice. At first Ranma thought she
was Caucasian, but realized she was mixed Asian. She looked
far too attractive to be someone who would be handling
lethal equipment. Her bright hazelnut eyes spoke of
innocence untold, it seemed.

    "Pleasure to meet you, Miss Dosukoi," Ranma said,
reaching out to shake her hand.

    She looked so average, just a normal girl. But her
finger tips and palm were coarse.

    "Please, just call me Hanako," she said, shaking her
head.

    Ranma caught her very subtly eyeing him up and down. It
was the look of a professional assessing a subject. His fine
tuned senses caught it ever so delicately.

    "So you're the new top honcho over at MaxFor, huh?
Interesting."

    Ranma blinked. This girl knew about him?

---------------------

    Several hours of constant drilling left Ranma satisfied
with his new sidearm along with some refresher training of
other small arms. The facility they were training at was
more than meets the eye, after much exploration of the
entire place Ranma realized just how fully equipped the
place was for special warfare training.

    The compound housed several elaborate shooting houses,
with incredibly automated moving targets throughout. There
was even an underground shooting house and a section of an
airplane fuselage and cockpit for counter-terrorism
training. But most impressive of all was a dynamic sniping
range.

    It was dynamic because the whole thing was computerized
for all sorts of sniping scenarios that allowed close to
maximum distance with targets that were able to move at
random. It was here Ranma learned firsthand, that Jackson
was a first rate rifleman.

    First rate would have been an understatement. Hanako had
whispered in his ear (and ever so sultry, as Ranma almost
mistook her for a bit of a sex kitten) that Jackson might
possibly be the best sharpshooter in the world. He
demonstrated by showing several consistent maximum range
shots with a custom made bolt action Mauser that he had
owned since his days in his old French counter terrorism
unit. Using his flat shooting .338 Lapua rounds, he scored
an amazing five consecutive hits at a 1000 meter target
circle that was less than three inches in diameter. He
scored a single cold barrel shot at the same distance into a
single square inch target.

       Ranma saw that as the equivalent of pinpoint striking
a person's eyeball a kilometer away.

    But the real kicker came when Ranma offered Jackson the
use of his "custom" H&K MSG-90. Despite Jackson's
skepticism, he reluctantly just accepted the fact that
somehow it was possible for this rifle to be recoilless and
flatter shooting than his bolt action Mauser. The results
spoke for themselves, as Jackson managed to impress even
Sousuke and Hanako when he flawlessly picked off moving
targets at intervals of 200, 400, and then finally 600
meters away. For all the goddamn secrets that were being
flung at him, Ranma had one-upped his new acquaintances by
snatching away his rifle after they were finished when they
asked to borrow it for some further examining. He at least
had a secret of his own to annoy them with.

    The three boys had their fun playing commando and
rigorously going over their shooting proficiency through the
different courses that they laid out. It was a good
exercise, as Ranma earned the respect of his fellow peers by
holding his own and garnering a respect for his own partner
as a trained operator that he himself had a lot to learn
from. It was another simple truth revealed, in the end Ranma
was just a special homicide detective and Jackson was a
world class SpecWar operator.

    The only surprise though was that Ranma saw that Hanako
hadn't shot a single round or participated in a single
exercise they did except for talking to Sousuke and
occasionally instructing Jackson while he was resting from
shooting. The most attention she gave his way was a tilt of
the head or an appreciative nod. He was almost right, as she
definitely didn't look like the type to be holding a rifle
or a pistol. But he couldn't shake off the feeling that she
was obviously more than she let on as she must have been
here by some merit. She was incredibly mysterious, even more
so as he hung out with her till the end of their time on the
training grounds. Her profession was a mystery even to
Jackson. It wasn't till they parted ways that Ranma even
began to wonder how old she was, as his recollection seemed
to point that she was at the very least the same age but
likely older than himself.

    Sousuke was a combat reconnaissance soldier through and
through. That much he could tell. He learned he was barely
18 years old and his job was also highly clandestine as
well. What little he learned of this young soldier was his
professional conduct didn't let up even when Ranma tried to
fraternize with him. The particularly nasty cross scar he
sported on his left cheek said something about his rigid
personality and his shaggy hair made him look like a Class-A
dirt bag of the Special Forces variety. This young
specialist impressed him even further when he revealed he
was proficient in no less than five different languages
(Japanese, Mandarin, Russian, English, and Farsi), but it
was even more impressive when Sousuke admitted that pretty
little Hanako held an indistinguishable native tongue to
even more.

    At the end of the day, it was hard to swallow the truth.
When it came down to finesse and training, these three
probably left him in the dust.

    Ranma wondered once more what other juicy details
hovered around his job that he didn't quite have a grasp on
seeing as how his own boss had hinted that their group was
tied to an intelligence bureau. It wasn't in his immediate
interest to scourge for more. It was his job to do what he
was told and poke where he could poke.

    "I gotta hand it to you Jackson," Ranma said nodding his
head in disbelief as he was in the passenger seat of their
station wagon. "You're fucking good. You are FUCK-ING good."

    "Thanks, I wish I had stayed as sharp the other night."

    "How did you ever get recruited to this job? Your talent
is a bit wasted here, no?"

    "I was selected by Commander Takayama directly. Like
you, I was brought in because I'm Japanese. I accepted
because our unit is the first of its kind in modern Japan.
Who the hell gets to do what we get to do?"

    Ranma nodded. "I came here because I missed Japan. I
didn't have too much left in America."

    "I can think of all sorts of people who would shit
bricks knowing a guy like you even existed. The curse alone
opens a world of opportunities."

    "I can't even believe how I turned out the way I did
myself, Jackson," he replied. "So I'm guessing the reason
you never killed or shot anybody was because you were a
sniper?"

    Jackson nodded reluctantly. "I was always the recon guy,
going in as a scout and planning out the details for the
group. Oh, I went on a few raids here and there. But you
know from experience not every hostage situation or
terrorist incident ends in a firefight."

    "I've been more unlucky there than lucky, but I know
what you mean."

    "I've seen some fire fights through the end of the scope
but I've never had to pull the trigger. I never felt like I
was missing out though. I did some hairy shit too. Going in
on your own and infiltrating the enemy without getting
caught was my specialty."

    This piqued Ranma's interest. "So you can break in and
enter and spy on people and all that cloak and dagger shit?"

    Jackson laughed. "I was trained by the best, and I was
one of the best. I could set up recon on a subject under
just about any circumstance for you."

    "You know what Jackson? This could be the start of a
beautiful relationship."

                        *   *   *

April 21st, 2001.
Tous Les Jour Cafe - Tokyo, Japan.  4:26 PM.

    The excuse she was told sounded so irresponsible it was
actually amusing. Here was Ranma wearing a perfectly pressed
dress shirt and slacks but smelled foul of gunpowder to her
sharp nose. Why was she working while he had all the fun
again?



    "At least today was a Saturday," Kiyone murmured as she
sipped her espresso. She surreptitiously eyed Ranma with a
glare that could melt an iceberg.

       He sat in his seat, smiling like he had done nothing
wrong.

       "Those kids aren't so bad when their teacher isn't
dressed like a skank," Kiyone said, with a hint of disdain.

    "I'm sorry, I really am. I had some business to attend
to earlier. I'm sorry I had to leave you alone like that."

    "Hung over but you go on a shooting tour, huh? And what
exactly were you hung over from anyway? I've seen you drink
before. Must have been bad if it was something you couldn't
handle the next morning."

    Ranma mentally winced as he glanced into Kiyone's eyes
and thought about the night before. "Drinking got a little
out of control last night. I'm sorry."

    She noticed he didn't mention that he wouldn't do it
again. "Can't be a cop when you're a drunkard, right?"

    "Right," he replied back, a little stung as he caught
the underhanded sermon.

    "That's some real horseshit," she said, clucking her
tongue. "Quite frankly I'm disappointed. I thought you were
a pro. You act like a pro. Yet what you did this morning
doesn't exactly reflect that you are in fact supposed to be
a fucking pro!"



    If there was something he could pull on her, he would've
used it. But she
had him cornered. "All I can say is I'm sorry. I'll say it
over and over. I'm sorry."

    "I've been a cop for eight years, Ranma. Whether we're
from the same planet or not, I know what's right and what's
wrong. You usually leave your partners hanging like that?"

    "No!" he shot back, nearly shouting. "The drinking was
reckless of me. Like I said, all I can do is apologize.
Other than that, what I had to do this morning was
important. There was a lot of stuff I had to be briefed
about."

    "I wasn't accusing you of being a bad partner. That
wasn't my intention."

    Ranma nodded. "I know. I fucked up."

    "Who were you with last night, drinking that late?"

    "Just an old friend."

    Kiyone glanced at her fingernails, and then took a sip
of her coffee. "Yeah, I forgot you're from Nerima."

    "It's been years, yes."

    "She have a good time with you?"

    "I stopped by my old home and saw the dojo running. Man,
was that a sight to see."

    Kiyone nodded. Her casual slip to find out if Ranma had
been hanging out with a girl worked. The nonchalance of
Ranma ignoring it was enough to fuel her suspicion.

    "You hear about the SAT raid up in Hokkaido? Some high
ranking inspector was shut down after he started making all
kinds of noise about a secret raid that went wrong and got a
couple of guys hurt real bad. I heard about it from
Mihoshi."

    "Yeah, I heard about it too just this morning. Didn't
know it was leaked, though. How did Mihoshi hear about it?"

    "Mihoshi's a dumbass but she isn't left in the dark
about much. Leave it to her talkative nature to know about a
lot of dirty laundry in the police."

    "She's nowhere near as dumb as she seems, I can kinda
sense it."

    "You said you didn't know it leaked. Is it something
your agency is affiliated with?"

    Ranma looked at her for a moment and then looked at the
ground. He justified to himself that he owed her a little
bit of extended trust for screwing up and being covered for
it.

    "Alright, I can't play twenty questions with you, and I
can't tell you every little thing. So what I tell you, you
keep to yourself, and that's all. Got it?"

    Kiyone nodded.

    "The raid up north went bad because a small outfit of
Yakuza were there for a suspected arms pickup that was not
related to what we're working on down here. The MaxFor agent
responsible for Hokkaido suggested that every precaution be
taken and they deployed an SAT unit. If they had used
regular police officers, it would've been slaughter."

    "Yeah, I can imagine. Those guys are good too."

    "They were reassured that it would've been a cakewalk
and got careless. That's why our guy sacked the dumb shit
inspector in charge and took over. A couple of things aren't
adding up, and we think it's part of something bigger. We
have some guys working on figuring out a traceable pattern
to this because we feel there is one already under our
noses."

    "Weapons stockpiling?"

    "Yeah. And more than that. We're investigating all
possible smuggling routes, and trying to see if there are
dots to be connected."

    "Japan has quite a few individual weapons charges all
over. It could be a crapshoot."

    "I don't have to do all the statistical research. We
have people for that. And besides, common sense tells you
that it takes a hell of lot more than shoddy old smuggled
handguns to take on an SAT unit. There's more than a few
concerns with all of this."

    Kiyone sipped her espresso again, and then sighed.
"Let's stop talking about work. I'm sick of it."

    "You're right," Ranma replied. He picked up his green
tea and sipped on it slowly. "Let's enjoy this Saturday."

    "I like Sundays. Sunday is one day I can really forget
about everything else and enjoy myself. I'm used to working
on Saturdays, so this wasn't too bad a stretch." Kiyone
grabbed a French pastry from a dish in front of her and took
a bite. The buttery delicacy looked as delicious as it was
gorgeously presented.

    Ranma perked his head up, and propped his chin on top of
his hands. "You feel like doing anything tomorrow? Maybe
lunch or dinner?"

    "Nah, I think I'll just go back home with Mihoshi and
relax," she curtly replied.

    "Come on, we'll go somewhere nice. Just you and me. How
about it?"

    Kiyone looked at her nails uninterestedly. "I'm not a
cheap and easy date," she quipped with a smile.

    "I'll take you to an expensive place that's difficult to
get in, maybe that'll work?"

    Kiyone chuckled. "Alright, alright." She still pouted a
bit inside. "But not tomorrow. Maybe sometime later this
week."

    Ranma sighed. Maybe this was karma.



                        *   *   *

April 21st, 2001.
Office of the Director Finances and Assets - 38th floor War
Dept, Japanese Defense Agency - Tokyo, Japan.  5:02 PM.

    A gumball sized aspirin wouldn't save her from the
headache this conversation was giving her, Nabiki thought as
she clutched her head.

    "I told you impatient bastards before. Don't go around
flashing guns in public until the transactions are DONE,"
she hissed.

    The other end of the secure phone line was equally
irate. "Tendo-san, anything short of us killing off all of
our men is not going to stop them from behaving. We've done
what we can to discipline them, it's under control."

    "Yeah, you've done a real swell job," she sarcastically
quipped. "I'm sure the media coverage of your murdered
lieutenants was just a hiccup right? So next time when I see
an entire group of your gangsters getting international
exposure on C-N-Fucking-N for exclusive coverage of a
weapons stockpile, I should just sit here smiling right?"

    "I don't have to take this tone of voice with you,
Tendo. Snags happen in this line of business." His voice
shook with barely contained contempt. "It should be us
wondering if you've done your fucking job, not ours. One of
our pros checked the Juuban massacre. He said it was similar
to a military operation."

    Nabiki didn't miss a beat. "Like I didn't worry about
that myself? I have dangerous stakes running on this too,
you know. Don't treat me like I'm some flunky with ready-to-
chop pinkies left to spare. I've poked around as much as I
could without anyone getting suspicious. No one knows who
did what. Our best guess is you have a rival clan out for
you."

    "Do you have any idea how many tens of millions of yen
we've lost just this past week on seizures? And it happens
out of nowhere too. Several of the men who work for me are
dead. Are you telling me you had nothing to do with this?"

    The accusations only aggravated her migraine. Nabiki
knew she was going to have a difficult time on the phone
when she realized she would be talking to this blowhard.
"Have you been snorting too much of your own product? Yes,
that's exactly what I am telling you. I had absolutely
nothing to do with your blown drugs."

    "We have millions riding on this-"

    "We have millions riding on this and that is why I am
switching up the next shipment into clustered packages so
that we can protect our assets." Nabiki mentally screamed.
How was this guy such a moron?

    The voice on the other end sounded genuinely impressed
and confused. "How? On such short notice?"

    "Hokkaido's no good since the police and our Maritime
Forces will probably be on alert. Most of the package is
still going to be sent through a major port for pickup. But
you'll also receive several hundred rifles, pistols, and
other small arms by alternate channels. In good faith, I'll
take a pay cut by spending my own dough to freight it to
your people in places that have worked before. Uraga Harbor
will still be the big one. It's shipping out as we speak."

    The voice sighed. "I appreciate that, Nabiki. The boss
will definitely appreciate your resourcefulness."

    "Don't tell me not to fuck up. YOU assholes have to
watch your own. I've already sent an encoded letter to you
for the times of the smaller packages by location. It also
has the tracking data for the freighter ship as well as the
cargo manifesto. Your men should know the rest. The smaller
ones are going to be sent early, in the next few days in
fact. Any more publicity before I get my money is something
I'm not going to risk full price for. I expect the same
courtesy from you as well."

    "IF what you speak of comes through early, I give you my
word you will be paid the rest of your dues."

    "You try your best and I do my best, Itoh-san. Just try
not to give them out to every itchy trigger finger in your
clan."



                        *   *   *

April 23rd, 2001.
46th floor, JNSA Headquarters - Tokyo, Japan.  7:02 PM.

    Ranma rubbed the back of his head as Jackson and
Takayama continued to talk to him. Those damn bullies at
Furinkan had a field day with him, "punishing" him for
ditching school on the second day he was there.

    "Something bothering you there, Ranma?" Jackson asked,
who had noticed him brooding.

    "Oh, nothing," Ranma lied. "Well, actually it's this
fucking undercover. Damn kids at the school think I'm a geek
and they bullied the shit out of me. And there's not a thing
I can do about it."

    Takayama clucked his tongue. "Your idea, your
assignment. You and your lady cop friend haven't gotten shit
out of it, so it's your investment."

    Jackson chuckled as Ranma blew a frustrated breath.

    "Yes, sir," Ranma replied. Kiyone had it much easier, he
realized. She managed to finagle her way out of teaching the
morning periods, and got to nap in the teacher's lounge
while he had to masquerade all day as a student.

    "Ok, so while the other MaxFor agents have been unlucky
with our other shipping ports, it's your guys' turn tomorrow
night. Our intel should turn up a hit sooner or later."
Takayama continued. "Although few, these ports are all
relatively ignored and the times we're observing them is
when the Maritime JDSF are patrolling elsewhere. They must
be utilizing one of these gaps, somewhere. It's the only way
to get in a huge shipment of goods illegally, short of a
mass conspiracy."



    "Are we going to enlist the support of local authorities
for assistance?" Ranma asked. Jackson nodded to the
question, curious as well.

    "No," Takayama answered. "We're going to keep these ops
K-I-S-S. No leaks, and no complications in case you guys
have to take a bunch of people out in a firefight, just in
case. You can risk it if you want, but look at the
complications we have to deal with because of that Bokutou
police shooting. You handled it the best you could've,
Saotome. I'm not saying you fucked up. But fact of the
matter is it does complicate things."

    "Yeah, I know." Ranma could relate to what his boss was
getting at.

    "Only thing that sucks is Nagoya is so far away,"
Jackson said.

    Takayama got up from his seat. "It's a shame that Ranma
has to come back for his undercover work in the morning,
otherwise you guys can just stay in Nagoya for the night or
for a few days. Have some fun."

    "That's fine," Ranma said, waving his arms. "Is there a
cafeteria in this building? I'm starving."

    Jackson nodded. "Sure, there's one on the fourth floor,
I think. I'll join you."

    "Me too," Takayama said. "I haven't had dinner yet."

    Ranma led the way to the elevator. He pressed the button
and waited with Jackson and Takayama. His mind kept
wandering between Kiyone and his little drunken mishap from
a few nights ago.

    "Is it wrong to sleep with one of your friends when
you're drunk?" Ranma asked out aloud.

    Jackson slowly turned his head at Ranma with wide eyes.
"I know you turn into a girl and all, but I ain't gonna
sleep with you even in your girl form since I know you're a
guy."

    Ranma rolled his eyes. "Man, FUCK YOU."

    Takayama barely kept himself from bursting out laughing.
"Hey, as long as you're not married or hitched to another
woman, I don't see why not. At my age you don't even get
chances like that anymore."

    "I think this girl I've been interested in knows I did
something funny, even though I'm not going out with her or
anything."

    "She acting jealous or hard to get?" Jackson asked.

    "Something like that, yeah," Ranma murmured.

    Takayama looked at him, as if he were expecting
something. "So, did you fuck your friend or something, or
what?"

    "Wha-?" Ranma was taken aback.

    "You going to tell us or not? Quit brooding like a
little sissy."

    This time Jackson was grinning, and he was trying hard
not to laugh.

    Ranma rolled his eyes again and sighed. "Well, yeah.
Sorta. I slept with my best friend. She had a thing for me a
long time ago, and I hadn't been laid in a long time. We
both got drunk."

    Jackson shook his head. "I don't see the problem. Was
she ugly or something? Is that why you asked is it wrong to
sleep with your friend?"

    "No! It's not like that. She's actually real good
looking," Ranma sharply said.

    "You're young, you should enjoy it while you can,"
Takayama said, shrugging his shoulders. "You think this
other girl found out about it?"

    "Well, no. Not really. I don't know." Ranma shrugged,
confused. "She hasn't said anything outright. There's
something definitely up with her."

    Jackson frowned, and looked at Ranma from the corner of
his eye. "You know, I never would've guessed you're a guy
with girl problems. Don't seem like the type."

    Ranma blinked.

                        *   *   *


April 24th, 2001.
Nagoya Port, Docking Station #02XX - Nagoya, Japan.  11:00
PM.

    "There's another sentry pass by that third freighter,
350 meters."

    "Got him," Ranma said as he looked through his
binoculars. He tried to readjust his earpiece with his
pinky, but it was lodged in there beyond reach.

    "I don't like these sub-vocal earpieces," Ranma said.
The mic was built into the earpiece. "What if it permanently
damages my eardrum?"

    Jackson rolled his eyes from his position above Ranma,
on the dock tower's steel roof. "Those have been around for
a while, and the ones in your ears are cutting edge pieces
of technology. They're meant to be extracted with a tool
later, that's why it's in there for cover. No one can see
it, and no one can hear it but you."

    "Alright, alright. I'm still trying to get used to all
this crazy spy shit," Ranma replied, looking around at all
their equipment. It wasn't a whole lot, but there were
several complicated antenna arrays and boxy modules
connected to a small laptop on the ground. Jackson explained
to him that it was surveillance equipment to detect any
electronic signals in the area so that they could listen in
and observe, as well as counter-surveillance to see if they
were the ones being tracked. Another interesting little toy
was a laser-mic, that Jackson had next to him on the roof.
It allowed long distance eavesdropping by detecting
vibrations of objects from people talking.

       They were in a completely dark and deserted area of
the ship yard, a section of the port that was being prepared
for renovation. They couldn't afford to have anyone be able
to see where they were. Even a laptop, with the small amount
of light that it emitted from its screen, had to placed on
the ground so that it couldn't be seen through any of the
glass windows.

    "So by my count, that gives us 17 people in the area,
and four confirmed to be armed. We got lucky real quick,
Ranma. This has to be a drop."

    Ranma heard through his earpiece the sound of his MSG90
being chambered and checked by Jackson. They had earlier
agreed that Jackson would be better suited to provide him
cover and security, while Ranma infiltrated under the
shadows. Jackson couldn't pass up another chance to use
Ranma's mysteriously modified rifle, and was more amazed
with the attached suppressor. "How far along is that goddamn
ship through the water? Is it close yet?"

    "Hmph," Jackson scoffed. "They're not taking any
chances. They're crawling up to the port with their lights
all off. No wonder the port authorities never caught them."

    Ranma nodded. A smallish 70 foot cargo boat quietly
slipstreamed through the calm black water surrounded by a
massive complex of cargo freight containers that were empty
and abandoned along the port. There were no huge spotlights,
and only a single kerosene lamp to illuminate the cargo drop
off area where their targets were lingering. The crescent
moon illuminated everything below just enough for a set of
keen eyes to make out shapes on the corroded concrete
harbor. The clouds in the sky though were slowly moving, and
it looked like near-total darkness would fall upon them all
real soon.

    "Remember, Captain. Although it's unlikely, I need you
to find out if any of these assholes have infrared goggles.
If I try to laser-mic 'em they'll see me and our cover's
blown. Be careful of that fucking boat too. I can't tell too
well from here even with NVG, but I think that's a PT boat.
Looks American made."

    "Are those easy to find or something?" Ranma asked. He
adjusted his own night vision module to his G36K rifle as an
attachment to the sights. He didn't want to use goggles, as
he had no training with them whatsoever.

    "You can find salvaged PT boats in the Southeastern
seas. Most of them are remnants of the Vietnam War. But
they're like 30-40 years old at least."

    This got him worried. Although he had highly doubted
that all 17 people on the dock were armed and dangerous, the
port was cluttered enough to get some cover while Jackson
could cover Ranma with some sniper fire. But if the boat was
to get in on the fight...

    "Jackson, what kind of firepower do those old PT boats
have? I'm sure they've outfitted them, right?"

    "They're torpedo boats, but those are no good here. But
it probably has some rotating turrets, .50 cal or bigger.
Not much cover against those. Whoever's the courier, they're
fucking pros. It takes some balls to sneak in a 70 foot war
boat like that into the country."

    Ranma grimaced. He liked the idea of a challenge, but
knew when to be reasonable. "I have a question for you,
Jackson. And it's your call. Do we go on or abort? This was
a lot more than I anticipated."

    Jackson stayed quiet on the other end of the mic. Ranma
could hear him breathing heavily through his earpiece.

    "Here's what I think. We've already scoured the entire
area and know that the Maritime JSDF aren't anywhere near
here. That's probably why they anticipated choosing this
port. We get ourselves into a firefight, then that gives
plenty of time for every party to duke it out or escape."

    "Go on."

    "I never underestimate my opponents, and I'm willing to
bet if that ship was good enough to sneak in, they're good
enough to bail the hell out of here in a pinch if they need.
Provided that we don't directly pick a fight with them."

    "You don't think they'll help their clients fight?"

    "I'm not saying they won't give us some trouble, but
they'll be running away while doing it."

    Ranma nodded. "That poses another problem."

    "Which is?"

    "I don't want that boat to get away. We don't want to
provoke it either, and I don't think we have the means to
detain it either. So what do we do about that?"

    "Let me think." Jackson looked out again into the
darkness to check where the boat was. It was still
floundering slowly in the harbor. "We have enough time. Let
me come down."

    Jackson engaged the safety of his rifle and let it rest
on its bipod. He slowly slipped backwards out of his cover
blanket making sure that the matte black tarp covered the
optical lens of the rifle scope. He climbed down an exposed
roof hatch and dropped down to where Ranma was standing in
the tower. Both faced each other in their black tactical
apparels.

    "So what were you planning on doing?" Ranma asked.

    "Gonna contact Commander Takayama." Jackson took off his
balaclava and brushed his hand through his hair. He dropped
to the laptop on the ground and got out his phone.

    Ranma watched as Jackson fiddled with the laptop and
talked on the phone at the same time.

    Jackson put away his phone and clicked something on the
laptop, transmitting something. "I've got permission from
the boss to arrange satellite photo tracking. I sent the
coordinates and all of our recon data. It's costly, but it
looks like our only way. We'll intercept that boat later
outside of Japan."

    "We can do that? Who's going to help us out of Japan?
Isn't that international jurisdiction?"

    "Takayama has some clout when it comes to that sort of
thing. Smuggling foreign weapons into country seems like an
international matter, no?"

    "So I learn," Ranma said, unsure. He understood why they
couldn't just chase the damn thing, as they would've
cancelled the entire delivery much earlier if they suspected
there were any maritime forces nearby. "Can't we just place
a GPS tracker or something instead of doing something so
complicated?"

    "They probably have their own counter-surveillance
equipment onboard for that sort of thing. We would only be
able to track them for a few hours at best before they find
it and toss it. And not to mention we don't even have a
tracker to plant, and planting it without tossing it onboard
like a bunch of amateurs is a whole 'nother deal. We need a
SCUBA recon for that."

    "Well, if they have all that can't they listen in to our
earpieces and know we're surveying the electronic signals in
the air ourselves?"

    "We're on short burst encrypted radios that crackle like
random spurts of static. That's why I had to come down and
send our data manually, because we don't have a live uplink
that can be traced to our location. All this stuff I brought
with us is the latest in military technology. CIA shit. If
they can lock on to this, we have bigger problems. Like
facing another nation's intelligence operation."

    "I get it, I get it. I just didn't know we could access
something like that on a whim. The eye in the sky, right?"

    "Damn right." Jackson went back up the ceiling hatch to
climb back up to his sniping post.

    "Let's do this," Ranma said, cocking his rifle and
securing his pistol. His rifle had the suppressor securely
locked on as well as his new 1911. The tactical holster
hanging low on his hip was designed to allow the pistol
suppressor to stick out on his thigh. Double checking his
equipment, he felt ready and walked out to the tower's
skywalk and jumped down about four stories.

    Jackson had curiously crawled over to the edge of the
flat roof's platform to see why the hell his partner had
went out the sidewalk, and gasped as he saw him jump down in
suicide. He was even more flabbergasted when he saw Ranma
landing gracefully, crouched on his feet and without making
any noise.

    "Did you just jump down 15 fucking meters on the
ground?" Jackson hissed.

    "Damn right," Ranma whispered, grinning. "Alright, I'm
heading out. Watch my back."

    "Roger." Jackson propped his cheek on the rifle stock
and piggy backed the scope crosshairs on Ranma's shoulders,
following him around. His left eye stayed open, observing
the rest of the peripheral area. Earlier, upon his
insistence, Jackson convinced Ranma to allow him to change
the rifle scope to a variable power Schmidt and Bender, so
that Jackson could adjust for short range and long range
target acquisition. His left fingers finely adjusted the
zoom of the lens as he tracked Ranma circling around the
port. He was behind a large container with a lone Yakuza
sentry standing near the dock gates. He was guarding the
front door for everyone.

    "Alright, you're about twenty meters out. Check six."

    Ranma gave a thumbs up above his shoulder, which Jackson
saw. He went the other way around to see if there was
another way in, and short of being exposed through a chain
link fence, there were none. He quietly made his way to the
end of his container and peered around the corner, where he
saw a Yakuza guarding the dock gate entrance. Ranma's eyes
bulged when he saw what the gangster was holding, an M16
with a 30 round magazine. When they observed him earlier he
had been holding a handgun, but apparently there was a rifle
that he had tucked away against the fence that they had
missed.

    "Jackson, do you see that?" Ranma whispered as quietly
as he could. "The guy's packing an M16. Where the hell do
you think they got that?"

    "Beats the shit out of me. Want me to take him out?"

    Ranma peered around the corner again. The guy was far
enough that he would be able to make a ruckus even if Ranma
tried to subdue him quietly, and he also didn't want to take
a chance against an AR rifle. He would take the shot
himself, but a sniper was much safer. "What about his
background? Can you make the shot without ricocheting the
bullet?"

    Jackson looked to see if anything could potentially
cause a ricochet echo. "There's a concrete wall behind him,
the round will lodge there. But he's gonna drop and his
rifle is going to clatter on the ground, he's going to be
making noise regardless."

    "He has a shoulder strap on. It won't clatter. How far
away is the rest of them?"

    "The patrol sentry is walking away right now, and the
last one is at the front waiting for the ship. Wait a few
moments for him to circle back towards the ship port. The
rest of them are at least 70 meters away from you. They
shouldn't hear a thing."

    "Smoke him." Ranma peered around the corner, his rifle
at low ready. He stood there silently and unnoticed, nearly
holding his breath for what seemed like an eternity. He
heard a very faint whistle in the air and saw the guard's
face imploding from his nose. The back of his head bloomed
open with an explosive confetti of brain matter. His body
dropped like a puppet with its strings cut, legs crumpled
under the weight of his body.

    Ranma ran over to the corpse, and immediately kicked it
over to grab a hold of the legs. He heard Jackson breathing
heavily through his earpiece. "Shush, shush. Calm down,
Jackson. Breathe easy, you did a great job. Remember this is
what you trained for your whole life."

    Ranma heard his earpiece go silent and sighed. He
dragged the dead body in front of him to a storm drain, and
moved as quickly as possibly so that the blood from the
corpse wouldn't spread a huge mess. Ranma tried not to look
at this nameless thug's face, as it was shredded inwards and
the grotesque sinew and bone hanging with his flesh
glistened in the low light. The poor bastard's eyelids were
partially stuck open, his eyes also mulched by the violent,
high velocity impact of a steel jacketed 7.62mm round flying
into his medulla oblongata at 2,800 feet per second. No
movie in the world could accurately depict the absolutely
gory outcome of a human being subjected to a rifle head
shot. Ranma dragged the body so the perforated void of his
skull could hemorrhage into an ocean drain on the dipped
concrete ground. He looked at the trail of sticky, dark red
blood dragged from his origin of doom.

    "This one didn't have any IR goggles. I'm willing to bet
the others don't either."

    Jackson cleared his throat. "I just checked out the ship
too. They have no imaging equipment whatsoever on board
either. They're docked in the port. I'm going to fire up the
laser-mic."

    "I'm going to get closer. Thanks for watching my back,
Jackson."

    "I've got your six covered anytime, Ranma." Jackson felt
proud that he could put his skills to use for good, even
though it meant the horror of taking another's life.

    Ranma sneaked around the edges of the fence and used the
freight containers as cover. Visibility was difficult with
all the shadows, but it was no different from training in
the forests when he was younger. He found a suitable spot on
the edge of the last container closest to the water. He was
close enough to see everyone involved, but wasn't within
earshot of any of them.

    Jackson's voice crackled in his earpiece. "There's three
subjects from the boat. An older black guy, a young Asian in
a white shirt and tie, and an Asian woman in shorts. Black
male is armed with a shotgun, possibly automatic. Asian male
is holding a pistol. Female is brandishing two pistols.
They're loading off some crates with a crane."

    "I see one of em," Ranma whispered in a dead hush. He
propped up his rifle to look through the night vision scope,
and he could make out two figures standing on the boat. The
woman however was on the dock, keeping an eye out on the
people around her. She looked quite young, no older than her
mid twenties. The advanced fourth generation night vision
scope gave incredible clarity to detail. He could see she
was wearing a black tank-top that revealed a tribal tattoo
design on her right shoulder sleeved down to her arm, and
her denim shorts were high enough to be considered swimwear.
Her eyes looked dead serious as she watched the goods from
the boat transfer to her clients.

    "If I didn't know any better, I'd say she's acting like
she's the muscle," Jackson said. He whistled appreciatively,
as he focused the crosshair on her. She had some gall to be
confidently holding a pistol in each hand when she was
probably surrounded by guys with machine guns.

    Ranma nodded and smiled, his crosshair focused on her
head. He watched as some of the men on the dock opened up
the crates to inspect the goods.

    "I think I've deducted who are the dockworkers and who
are the bad guys," Jackson chirped in again. "One of the
crates is filled to the brim with bags of something. I'm
guessing drugs. The other one..."

    Ranma quietly crawled back completely out of view and
tried to see if he could get another angle to see what was
happening. He didn't have much choice, and decided to rely
on Jackson.

    "Well, bingo. Looks like the other one is filled with
guns. And look, they're bringing out more."

    Peering from around the corner of the container again,
Ranma saw that there were still another three crates to be
unloaded from the ship.

    "This doesn't look good, Captain. I'm seeing AK-47s, FN
FALs, RPGs, HK G3s, and a shit load of assorted small arms.
These look like old stockpiled weapons."

    "Any American or western military makes?" Ranma
whispered.

    "Shit. The other crates have some assorted MAC 10s, AR
variants, and I'll be damned even some M60s and recoilless
rifles. There's too much to tell. It looks like they're
talking amongst themselves. I can't hear right now, we'll
hear from the laser-mic later."

    "Where's that patrol sentry, is he coming near me?"

    "Good thing you remembered. You're gonna see him in
about one minute."

    Ranma rested his rifle against the container behind the
one he was hiding and leaned his body against it. He went
into an elusive trance like his Umisen-ken, and hid his
complete presence. He could hear the guard walking by, and
knew exactly where he'd be coming from. He and Jackson had
observed that the guard had been instructed to walk in the
same circle over and over, and hadn't bothered to check with
the gate once. This time was no exception, as no one had
noticed the gate sentry was dead.

    The moment he saw the guard's neck visible as he took a
step forward Ranma's left hand struck forward and he jammed
his thumb onto a point in his neck as he grabbed his throat.
Ranma had applied a quick and jarring pressure point to
silently knock him unconscious, and laid him on the ground
quietly to spare him.

    Jackson watched the sentry from his scope get taken out
in the blink of an eye as he had trained his crosshairs on
him. His observation left eye noticed that one of the men on
the dock was scurrying to the darkened corridor between the
containers. Specifically the one Ranma was hiding in. He
quickly pivoted to point his rifle and warn Ranma with his
comm.

    "Ranma, there's someone--!"

-----------------

    Kobayashi quietly excused himself to his brothers as the
call of nature beckoned. They had been hanging around this
dock for a while, and they had been given detailed
instructions on checking the place out and securing it so
that no one would know they were here.

    They'd done this a few times now here at the exact same
port, so Kobayashi figured it would just be another night of
picking up the goods and it would be payday. At least
tonight was a bit more interesting compared to the previous
pickups he had to accompany. The girl who had come off the
ship was scary, but boy was she a looker. Even in the dark
he could see that.

    The guy in the business attire on board had thrown them
a two way radio and had been translating things for the
transaction between the ship's crew and their Aniki. All
Kobayashi knew was that this particular smuggling ship had
delivered the biggest of the shipments to their family as of
late, and that they didn't have to squabble about payments
because the Oroshi clan trusted their success and paid in
full in advance. He grabbed onto his pistol that he stuffed
down his belt as he briskly walked to the back of one of the
containers, unzipping his fly at the same time. The only
thing he was worried about tonight was that a hired gun for
the family was supposed to be with them tonight to oversee
the drop but was nowhere to be seen. He just shook his head
and figured it wasn't his concern.

    Kobayashi went far enough to see into the shadows and
saw in the dark a man being laid on the ground by another,
and a rifle resting against the container.

    "Th--!"

---------------

    Ranma nearly dropped the guard's limp body when he heard
Jackson's voice screeching through his earpiece.
Simultaneously he looked up and saw a terrified face,
holding a pistol that was lodged in his belt with one hand
and the other on his mid-zipped fly.

    "Ranma, there's someone coming from the other end!"

    "There's an intruder! Guys-"

    In one quick draw Ranma pulled out his pistol from his
tactical holster, disengaging the safety with his right
thumb as he squared his sights on the yelling man's throat.
He popped two suppressed shots in succession, one through
his vocal cords that silenced his alarm and another between
his eyes, placed conveniently by the recoil of the first
shot.

    Jackson instinctively got off two rounds onto
Kobayashi's torso as he was already dropping from being shot
by Ranma, and then focused on the pandemonium that was
breaking out on the dock. Things switched to FUBAR real
quick.

    Ranma grabbed his rifle and retreated towards the rear
containers away from the harbor and the ship, knowing full
well that he was about to get caught up in a shit storm. He
heard a woman in English screaming, "We're gettin' the fuck
outta hear!"

    As Ranma made his retreat, Jackson focused his rifle on
a couple of men who were already scrambling to search for
his partner. One of the things they had dearly hoped against
seemed to be true, most of the men on the ground were armed.
This was bad.

    Jackson picked off two men running towards the
containers, shooting in double taps and taking advantage of
the rifle's recoilless ability.

    The ship's crew knew immediately that a sniper had taken
down two men in front of them and they activated a massive
array of floodlights that were installed on the boat.
Without a hitch, he aimed for the source of the lights and
tried to take them out.

    Ranma set his rifle to full-auto and positioned himself
around the corner of the furthest container. He heard the
girl from the ship yell again, "Aim for the tower! That's
the only place they can be!"

    The massive diesel whir of the PT boat fired up and
belched on, signaling their intent to escape whatever
trouble their clients might have attracted. They unloaded
all their cargo and fulfilled their mission. Now all they
had to do was cover their own asses as they escape.

    Jackson managed to take out three of the floodlights
when he saw the unmistakable flash of machine gun fire
burping out of the boat's twin defensive turrets. He quickly
rolled off the roof and landed on his back on the metal
catwalk of the tower, barely escaping the buzz of several
.50 cal Browning Machine Guns. The boat only made a quick
burst of fire and was already on its way out of the port,
splitting the waterway with its size as it hastily made its
getaway. Even without the machine gun fire Jackson had to
get away, his sniping spot was blown.

    Ranma hosed a Yakuza gangster who had been running with
a pistol in his hand, and took out another who was firing
wildly at him. Neither were a match for a barrage of
automatic fire from his G36.

    A ricocheted shot sparked from a container in front of
him was a signal for him to drop to the ground, as several
more rapid fire shots followed his way as he rolled out of
the way for his life. He swiveled on the ground and got
cover against the closest container, and he saw that the
shots were coming from aboard the PT boat as it was getting
away. Ranma aimed his rifle and switched to semi-auto, his
eyes focused through the G36's built in proprietary optics.
The shots came from the girl, and he could see she was
reloading her pistols as quick as she could, standing openly
on the boat deck. Ranma fired several shots at her although
the boat was moving, and got a round above her right breast,
close to the shoulder joint. She dropped and Ranma was
greeted with a returning barrage of .50 cal fire from the
boat, which pierced through the containers and any concrete
blockage with brutal ease.

    Ranma sprinted away for his life and into the open where
everyone else could see him. He tried to shoot what he could
as he ran for the containers on the other side for cover,
but hit nothing. Most of the men were busy loading up the
crates onto trucks, but there were three more men who had
some heavy firepower firing his way. Ranma screamed as a
rifle round hit his back but was stopped by an armor plate
and vest, but it was painful nonetheless as he dove for
cover.

    "Jackson where the hell are you! I need covering fire!"

    "That motherfucking boat was firing on me and I had to
displace! I'm coming for you!"

    Ranma gasped as he tried to scratch off the searing pain
on his back where the round had hit. He had been shot
several times before, but for some reason he was panicking
this time. He reached the edge of the container and had his
rifle drawn at the direction he came, making sure no one was
running after him. He saw one truck smashing its way out
through the chain link fence, its pickup bed filled with
drugs and weapons. He was walking backwards when he felt a
cold barrel on the back of his bare neck. He heard the
unmistakable sound of a hammer being cocked. Ranma had
carelessly forgotten to check around the corner he was
approaching.

    The owner of the pistol on his neck spoke. "Say
goodnight-"

    Ranma crumpled on the ground when he heard a gunshot
loud enough to make him go blind and deaf. He screamed as he
fell, thinking he was dead. When he opened his eyes he saw
white dots that focused out as quickly as they had appeared.
He frantically touched the back of his head, sure he had
been shot, and looked at his clean hands in wonder. His eyes
were shaky and he saw a black boot in front of him as he lay
on the ground.

    He looked up and saw an older man with an M4 carbine in
military fatigues complete with tiger striped camouflage
painted on his face. His hand was stretched out and offered
to Ranma.

    "Captain Ranma Saotome? Major Chris Hideo Kurosawa,
United States Marine Corps. At your service."

[End Chapter 6]

Disclaimer: This is fanfiction, I don't plan to make a
profit out of someone else's work, just don't sue me. All
respective trademarks, copyrights, whatever-rights, theirs
and not mine.

Author's Ramble: I started this chapter over three years and
two months ago. Can't believe it took that long to finish.
Can't believe what an asshole I am for taking that long to
finish. Wow. Well, hope you guys enjoyed.

Author's Notes: Okay, where do I start. There's actually a
MOUNTAIN of things in this chapter.

Okay, so over the years I received quite a bit of mail with
people saying that Jackson was too much of a pussy to belong
to an elite counter-terrorist group. From the way I
portrayed him in chapter 5, I must now say I agree. I tried
to redeem him heavily in this chapter, as he is definitely a
very important part of this story.

The characters of You're Under Arrest are also going to be a
moderately important part of advancing the plot here, and
are not here just for my own amusement. I'm especially glad
now that I decided a long time ago to integrally include
them in the story, especially seeing how fucking crappy the
new YUA! Full Throttle series is going.

Ranma getting harassed while posing as a student and the way
he gets bullied is actually a reference to a Korean movie I
saw a long time ago, the English title is "My Boss, My
Hero." The Korean title is "Doo Sa Boo Ilchae". Some of you
might recognize it. I'm not trying to copy it step by step
or anything. Just liked the bullying scenes.

And I'm sure you've also noticed that there are quite a few
references to other crossovers from other series as well.
Don't worry, I just wanted to make a reference to Love Hina
and have no intention of further mentioning them, I only
added it in for fun as a background to Ukyou's matured older
character. I'm sure you also notice above what other series
that ship crew is from, yeah? They'll be mentioned again in
the next chapter.

Also the mention of Sousuke, of FMP! Fame, and Ms. Dosukoi.
If you haven't figured out who she is by now, and I dropped
a super obvious hint in there, oh well. Too bad for you.
I'll just say this, they too play an important (not huge or
integral though) role later in the fic. But I'm not going to
whore them out and make this into a complicated multi-
universe crossover fic.

And speaking of Ukyou, how did you guys like my portrayal of
her as a sexier, surfing, and motorcycle riding goddess of
goodness? She's always been one of my favorite characters
and if I were to write a non-crossover Ranma fic to pair him
up with, it'd be Ukyou hands down. Again, I added some fun
bits and pieces of her to make her different but still keep
her the same old Ukyou, in a way. I had lots of fun trying
to figure out how she'd turn out nine years older.

Same with Ryoga, I thought it'd be interesting and fun to
make him a motorcyclist... it kinda fits his adventurous
personality, no?

The entire training sequence scene at the "secret" training
grounds is kind of a big fun joke and of course is 100%
completely fictional. I just set it up to give some
background to Ranma and Jackson's abilities in tactical
combat. Some of the units Ranma and Jackson throw around
though, are real. The SATs are the Japanese police's version
of the SWAT team. They're highly trained, and I don't mean
to disrespect anybody with the way I portrayed them
fictionally. It was for dramatic purposes.

Navy DevGru is basically SEAL Team 6, the all elusive and
secret counter-terrorist specific SEAL Team. Delta Force, or
SFOD-D, is pretty self explanatory. They're the Army's
flagship counter-terrorist unit. SEAL Team 6 handles the
maritime contingency, Delta covers the dry land. Of course,
they can cover it all if they had to. SEAL Team 5 is also
mentioned, and they are the Asian/Pacific deployed SEAL
Team, so it would make sense to have them deploy in Japan
too. Not sure if they do, so again I'll say it right here
its not completely accurate. BUD/S is mentioned for the
second time in this fic, in reference to Ranma's supposed
SEAL training in Coronado, California. Here, he reveals his
special circumstances in which he was given such training.
Let me first say first and foremost, it is not my intention
to disrespect ANYONE from the armed forces, and that this is
only a fic and things are purposefully dramatized. There is
no way in hell that an outsider from the US Navy (other than
a few, VERY few select foreign exchange SpecOps soldiers)
are allowed to be in BUD/S. BUD/S is the Basic Underwater
Demolition/SEAL training course given by the US Navy Special
Warfare Command. There are two BUD/S training sites,
Coronado, California down where San Diego is, and in
Norfolk, Virginia. I know I'm doing a real disservice in
downplaying the difficulty and honor of BUD/S even for the
sake of Ranma in a dramatization of a fanfic, so again I
apologize for that.

Forgive me if I made the whole nightclub drinking scene with
Ukyou too banal. It was actually fun for me and possibly the
most challenging part of this entire chapter to write out
and execute.


And it seems the plot thickens with Nabiki, doesn't it?
Makes me wonder how I'd like to stage her outcome, whether
for good or bad.

Hoho, and oh yes. Finally the mention of yet ANOTHER new
character, who is also going to be very important. And I
guarantee you guys will like him. I've always liked the
Marine Corps, and wanted to somehow give them a mention of a
sort in my fic. Major Kurosawa is that answer. I'll just
drop this one little hint. Force Recon. Ever watch the movie
Shooter or The Rock?

So until next time, whenever long that may be, look forward
to chapter 7 of Officer Saotome, which will be titled "Sins
of the Sister". You can guess where that's leading to,
right? I know it's a long wait and all, and I want to thank
any of you who have stuck through since when I first started
writing and continue to read my work. Also want to thank
anyone in general who takes the time to read my work. I
really appreciate it. It's hard to believe it's been seven
years since I started this hobby.

    PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE SEND ME FEEDBACK!!! I write way
faster when people give me feedback! My e-mail is
SgtRanma@yahoo.com .

    Visit my website at http://www.myspace.com/sgtranma for
any updates, my old website at anifics.com isn't around
anymore, so I thought since half the damn world uses
Myspace, I'd learn to use it too.

Finished December 31, 2007.