Ah My Goddess Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ A Tale of Two Wallets ❯ Old Sins Remembered ( Chapter 63 )

A Tale of Two Wallets

(An Altered Destiny)

Written by Jim Robert Bader

Proofread by Shiva Barnwell

"Hello, is anyone home? It's me, your repair guy come to service your house."

Terry (Lone Wolf) Bogart glanced around at the front area of the Tendo house, which looked to his practiced eye as though it had seen some recent and considerable action. Aside from the large hole in the wall near the main gate and the visible damage to the landscape there was a line of destruction that proceeded with almost machine-like precision from where he stood to a point about a mile or so distant. It looked as if some titanic force had punched its way through walls and buildings before vanishing into the city, leading him to wonder what might have made this as nothing either artificial or in nature could account for the great consistency in all the structural damage.

Nothing, that is, save a renegade martial artist, of which Terry had more than his fair share of past acquaintance, but as far as he knew all of his old sparring partners had been accounted for, and none of his friends would have reason to even want to attack the Tendos. That the house itself was still standing, coupled with the fact that the initial damage had exploded outward rather than inward, it was logical to suppose that whatever had done this had escaped rather than come towards the household. Only that beggared the question once again of who or what could account for so much localized damage?

A hand touched his shoulders, causing Terry to gasp and belated combat reflexes to come into play as he whirled about into a fighting crouch, aware that he had momentarily allowed himself to be distracted, and thus vulnerable, with against an enemy would potentially prove fatal.

"Oh my," said Kasumi as she regarded Terry's hostile stance, "I'm so sorry, did I startle you, Bogart-san? I heard you calling out and I came to investigate. Please forgive my rudeness."

Terry blinked his eyes. Tendo Kasumi had been the one to sneak up on him without once betraying her presence? That was…a disturbing concept! Either he had been more distracted than he had imagined or his survival reflexes were getting dull. A good thing he had sensed no hostility from her presence or he might have taken more aggressive action. As it was he forced himself to relax and bow to her as befit a guest of the Tendos.

"No, please forgive me, Kasumi-san," he replied, "I didn't mean to react like that, it was careless of me, and it won't be repeated."

"You're so silly," Kasumi smiled, a smile that could make flowers bloom and birds feel inspired to spontaneously start singing. It was an eerie effect she had, one that never ceased to surprise Terri no matter how many times he stood within Kasumi's presence. That fact that she in some ways reminded him of a certain deceased lover hardly detracted from her charms by one iota, though Terry sternly reminded himself that he was no longer interested in such things and had no wish to go through such agony as his last relationship had brought him.

Still Kasumi was someone who could brighten up anyone's day just being in her presence, and she had a freshness about her that suggested that she had recently been bathing. The kimono she was wearing seemed almost to double as a bathrobe, and though outdoors he could not help noticing that she was barefoot. Terry decided not to burden her with his thoughts, of loves lost and his long isolation. Instead he returned her smile and adjusted the ball-cap that he wore constantly in his travels, his blond hair adding to his rakish charms as he assumed a casual, non-assuming pose and said, "I'm sorry I'm late showing up, but I had to request new construction materials, judging by the size of the repair job you indicated over the phone."

"How very thoughtful of you," Kasumi said brightly, "I know it's a lot to ask on such short notice, but we had something of a busy day yesterday and it left something of a mess behind. Comb-san and Atsuko-san have kindly pitched in to make what repairs they could, but I'm afraid they're not as familiar with the construction of our yard as you are."

"Oh?" Terry noted in surprise, "You have more guests than yesterday then? That is surprising. I don't suppose that they're more old friends of the family?"

"Apparently yes," Kasumi answered, "Father seems to have known a lot of people in his younger days, but Atsuko-san is one of Uncle Saotome's old friends. Oh yes, and Aunt Nodoka was staying with us last night, she's Uncle's wife come to be with her family. Isn't that nice?"

"His wife?" Terry was no expert about relationships, but even he knew that women friends and a wife in the same yard made for a bad mixture when it concerned a husband. No wonder they needed the extra materials! It was a good thing that Tendo Nabiki always ordered these things in bulk or the repair bill would be horrendous!

"You say that like it's a bad thing," an unfamiliar voice called out, and around the corner appeared several grown-up women, only two of whom Terry had met before. Comb and Silk he knew from the previous few days, but the other two were strangers, not as tall as Comb but noticeably taller than Silk-san.

"Well hey," said a brown haired woman in a yellow silk kimono, "Who is your friend, Kasumi-chan? Didn't know you were seeing someone else on the sly…"

"Oh, that's silly," Kasumi chided, "Bogart-san is our family's repair man. He's here to fix the holes in the wall and ceiling that were made last night."

"Oh my," said another brown haired woman whose hair was done up in a bun, "That must make for a full time job around here. Do they give you steady employment, Mister Bogart?"

"Terry," he bowed to the ladies, letting them know by his manner of speech that his Japanese was flawless and they need not bother to address him in English, just because he had been born an American, "I keep up as best I can. There's never any shortage of work around Nerima, and it could always be worse."

"How so?" asked the Chinese woman named Silk.

"I used to make repairs in the Tomobiki area," Terry failed to suppress a slight shudder, "Now that place can be a real nightmare!"

"Bogart-san," Kasumi indicated the newcomers, "This is Hibiki Atsuko, the mother of Akane's friend, Ryoga, and this is Saotome Nodoka, the mother of my sister's iinazuke, Ranma."

"Terry Bogart," he bowed to them, belatedly recognizing the resemblance between the two women and their respective sons, and wondering if some of their rivalry carried over from the previous generation.

"You speak excellent Japanese, Bogart-san," the woman named Nodoka remarked pleasantly, "Were you originally from the United States?"

"I was born in America," Bogart replied, "But I spent most of my youth here and about. I grew up in the Hong Kong region before the takeover by the Mainland, but I've lived off and on in Japan since my brother lives here with his wife and kid. I'm really something of a wanderer, though, so I've never spent enough time in any one place to call it a home. I just go where there's work that can pay the bills while I continue my training."

"Training?" Atsuko asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Bogart-san is a martial artist, in case you couldn't tell," Comb explained, "And a very good one from what I've been able to determine."

"He once sparred with your son, Ranma," Silk informed Nodoka, "And it was a pretty fair fight at that. The two of you were almost even."

"You're too kind, Silk-san," Terry replied, "It was just light sparring in the dojo, nothing too serious, no special maneuvers or anything like that."

"A good thing too," Comb remarked shrewdly, "Or I doubt the dojo would still be standing."

"Well, it's nice to meet you all," Terry said as if just remembering the point, "But I'm on a deadline for the boss, so I might as well get to work making repairs. I assume you want me to start with that one?" He indicated the hole near the gate with a hand gesture.

"My daughter did that," Comb said, almost by way of apology, "I'm sorry that you're the one that has to be troubled to fix that…"

"Oh," Terry said, understanding at once the source of the massive destruction, having seen the purple haired girl's handiwork so often that he belatedly chided himself for not recognizing it like a signature beforehand.

"Actually most of the real damage is in back," Kasumi replied, "Comb and Silk have offered to help, and Atsuko-san says she can make your work move easier if you'll let her."

"I don't suppose it would hurt to have a little assistance," Terry replied, "It might even save you money, though I'd rather you not tell the boss about it."

"Don't worry," Comb replied, "It will be our little secret."

"Besides," Atsuko grinned in a manner that showed off her fangs, clinching in Terry's mind that she and Ryoga were definitely related, "I think you'll get a kick out of seeing what I can do when it comes to building and repairing things. I've got a few dandy tricks that should make this place look even better and stronger than ever."

"Uh…sure," Terry replied dubiously, wondering about that wink she gave him, and why he had this disturbing sense that there was a lot more to Hibiki Atsuko than met with mere appearance.

"Kasumi-chan!" a voice called out, disturbing Terry's thought as he knew of only one person who had that distinctive manner of speaking. He turned his head by a fraction as a blur of dark hair whipped past his head and a vaulting figure landed in the space between him and Kasumi, to confront the taller girl with a bright and cheerful, "Tadaima!"

"Kodachi-chan," Kasumi said brightly, "You're back early from classes today, aren't you?"

"I asked to be excused so that I could hurry home and help you out," the Black Rose said brightly, "There was no practice today for our gymnastics squad, and I knew that there would be a lot of cleaning up to do after all of the excitement last night…"

"How thoughtful of you," Kasumi said brightly, "Everything is fine right now, but in a little bit I will need your assistance after Bogart-san helps make the repairs to our back yard…"

"Eh?" Kodachi spun around as if only belatedly realizing that Terry was even present, and the moment her violet eyes were set upon him Terry had the distinctive impression of rising hostility and resentment of his presence, if not his very existence, that caused him to take a half step backwards in his surprise and confusion.

"Ah…" he tried to think of something polite to say to the younger girl, but all he could manage was a somewhat awkward, "Nice to see you again, Kuno-san…"

"What are you doing in this place?" Kodachi asked as if he had given some incredible offense to her of which he was not personally aware. Kasumi's hand upon her shoulder caused her to glance away in surprise, but in that brief instant Terry had the odd sense that he had just been marked out for a rival.

"Bogart-san is our repair man," Kasumi chided, "You don't need to be protective about him being here, Kodachi-chan. Bogart-san is a gentleman and would never think to impose upon us ladies."

"Uh…yeah, sure," Terry replied, fervently praying to the Buddha that the girl before him wasn't about to utter one of her scary laughs, the kind that could give a guy like him waking nightmares! His one trip to the Kuno estate to effect repairs there had been more than enough for him to want to shift the next such assignment onto somebody else's shoulders. Much to his relief Kodachi merely shrugged her shoulders and turned away as if to wordlessly dismiss him.

"Very well," she said, "If the purpose for his being here is as honorable as you say, then I shall personally vouch for the bill of repairs. There is no need that you should be troubled over such trifling matters. Now, if you will excuse me I should like to change into something more appropriate for the climate."

"Oh my," Nodoka noted once the younger girl had entered the household, "She really does remind me of her mother. Hitome-san should have been so proud to see her little girl grow up into such an imperiously regal young woman."

"You say that like it's a good thing," Comb remarked with a more dubious expression.

"Yeah," Atsuko added, "With a tone like that she could even scare my mother!"

"Uh…what was that all about?" Terry glanced at the faces of the women, "Did I do anything to offend her?"

"Oh no," Kasumi replied, "Kodachi-chan just is like that sometimes. It takes a while for her to warm up to some people."

"She'll be all right," Silk smiled, giving Terry a wink as she added, "But just the same, I would stay out of her way if I were you, Bogart-san. Kodachi is Kasumi's…special friend, and it would not do well to give her any misleading impressions about you."

"Impressions?" Terry felt his confusion grow, then he heaved a sigh of resignation as he turned away and headed out for the backyard, thinking to himself that he never was very good at figuring out women.

"By the way," Nodoka asked Comb as if a thought had just occurred to her, "Where is your grandmother right now? I thought Cologne-san would have concluded her business at Furinkan school much earlier than this…"

"Oh, she'll be around…eventually," Comb grinned, "But I saw to it that she'd be in class full time as it is her first day in a formal high school environment."

"That's something I've been wanting to ask," Atsuko noted, "How the heck did you convince the Matriarch to go along with this deal. I just can't picture her meekly agreeing to wear a school uniform…"

"Oh, it was easy, really," Comb's grin intensified, "You just have to know how grandmother's mind works and how to get her to agree to some things…"

"It also doesn't hurt that you had her over a barrel," Silk noted, "As her only adult heir present, you could play up on the fact that she no longer looks her age to assume title over the Nekohanten."

"That's right," Comb nodded, "And since we entered the country legally-which she did not-it wasn't hard for me to convince the right people that I should be the one to handle grandmother's affairs while she's-how should I put this?-indisposed for the duration? It's not exactly like she can go to the landlords and assert that she is the same woman who originally signed the deeds to the property and arranged for all those bogus permits."

"So, if she wants to remain here and get anything done, she has to make a compromise with you," Silk noted, "And since the alternative of returning home is no longer available for her…"

"I get it," Atsuko leered, "You screwed her into playing student! That's mean! I never knew you could be so sneaky."

"You say that like it's a good thing," Nodoka chided, but even she had to smile as the conjured up the mental image that they all were sharing of the ancient Matriarch being forced to pass herself off as a high school student…

Cologne was not having a good day by any stretch of the imagination. The indignity of being forced to sit inside of a classroom with children the same age as her great granddaughter was galling, while the uniform itself-being a dress-showed up much too much of her legs for her liking. Worse still were the rows of drooling idiots who were eyeing her like apprenticed Happosais, being the "New Girl" in class and thus considered "fresh meat" for these hyenas. Coupled to that was Shampoo's insistence on sitting as far away from her as politeness dictated while her nominal son-in-law kept glancing her way as if to confirm for himself that she was not attempting any mischief.

The only ones who seemed to be treating her with any degree or civility or respect were Akane, Ryoga and Ukyo-kun, who agreed to sit near her as though to lend her some small measure of protection. As if she needed protection! Still it was a considerate gesture, and for that Cologne was marginally grateful. She only hoped that classes would end very soon because she did not like at all the way the teacher kept on eyeing her, with hand often playing with coin as though seeking any excuse to drain her.

How interminable this was, hearing a boring, pointless lecture upon subjects that she was well versed in, such as art, mathematics, literature and grammar. The history curriculum proved flawed in several areas, but Cologne wisely chose not to point this out as there was no profit to be gained in challenging the teacher. It was the teacher herself who made the experience the most galling, because she was presently in the form of a young child, having lost her adult status somewhere during first period (though several times she had renewed it since them).

It was really odd how different she acted in each of her two forms, the adult Hinako being suave, sensual, sophisticated and vampish. The child Hinako-by stunning contrast-was anything BUT suave and sophisticated, manifesting a quite immature and energetic bravado that suited her physical development but was not at all in keeping with one's expectations of appropriate conduct for a teacher. She veered off the subject frequently, often got into anecdotal reflections that seemed odd for her seeming age, then would ask some pointless question of a random student to test their knowledge of the subject and give them a "big-eyed" congratulatory stare if they said anything that might earn her strong approval.

Cologne silently reflected that this was a logical side-effect of the terrifying power manifested in Hinako's "coin trick" Satsu, an art forbidden to Amazons for nearly three thousand years for precisely this very reason. The technique gave one the ability absorb battle auras, but at the cost of deterring one's physical growth and potential. Hinako looked roughly a third of her actual age because of the alterations made to her unique constitution by a combination of pressure points and exercises that gave her absorption abilities worthy of a minor demon. Chronologically she was an adult, but when in normal mode her physiology lacked the development of her adult form. Hinako would eventually grow to be the woman she appeared when absorbing battle auras full time, but not for many, many years, which meant that most of the time she had to cope with a child's raging biochemistry, which included a metabolism that burned sugar like nitro.

How odd to think that she and this child could share a similar problem about aging. It was one of the ironies that almost made Cologne feel pity for the other girl, though not enough to lower her guard around her. Hinako had a taste of what the Matriarch's fierce battle aura was like and no doubt wanted more to sustain her, something Cologne had no intention of giving, so she treated the young girl with the regard that a certain fellow named Hook once bestowed upon a crocodile in a place called Neverland. It was an appropriate analogy, and the thought of this gave Cologne a grim sense of amusement.

[This is Happosai's doing,] she thought to herself with a trace of real annoyance to her once-fellow elder, [Bad enough to trap me with this appearance of youth, but to do what he did to a mere child…I will have to have words with him when this day of drudgery is over…]

She resisted the impulse to glance over her shoulder at where Happosai was sitting, two desks behind and to the right, where he could see a majority of women in the classroom. The cursed pervert had conned his way into her homeroom by pretending to be a 'Foreign Exchange Student from China,' professing a concern for Cologne's welfare by referring to himself as her 'cousin,' as if he had anything else on his mind than his usual mischief. True he had been unusually subdued in class and spent much of his time studying his handiwork as Hinako gave one boring lecture right after another, often getting her facts wrong or confusing the particulars of a given subject, such as of historical or cultural relevance. Cologne had despaired of even once raising her hand to correct her nominal "teacher," knowing that to do so was to risk another brush with the coin-toss…

[I should be teaching these youngsters, not her,] Cologne decided privately, [I'm much better qualified, even if I lack the proper credentials…]

At long (agonizing) last the period ended and the students were allowed to break for lunch, at which point Cologne sought the solitude of a high clock tower in order to regather her thoughts and try to make sense of her new situation. Being trapped into a situation clearly not of her choosing, she was forced to take stock of her somewhat limited options and try to seek a solution for the potential threat that Hinako represented. She was just starting to work on the case of Ramen noodles that she had brought for her lunch when a voice assaulted her ears, one pleasantly toned but nonetheless grating.

"Old woman."

Cologne did not bother to turn around and acknowledge the speaker's presence. There was only one being in all of Japan who would have the nerve to address her in such a disrespectful manner, so with tired resignation she responded, "What do you want, Happy?"

"Well, it's not to apologize if that's what you're expecting," the young-seeming man responded, "You ask me you should have come clean about your real age a long time ago, specially since you're such a cutey that it's an absolute crime to disguise your looks with a crone's body."

"Not half the crime it is to use a young man's face to hide the heart of an old pervert," Cologne snappishly responded, "Or to use a child to further your own perverse pleasures…"

"That's a dirty lie!" Happosai all but exploded, surprising Cologne with the vehemence of his protest, "I never intended to use Hinako-chan that way! My intentions were entirely honorable! When I found her in that hospital ward twenty years ago she was in frail health and on the verge of dying prematurely! I taught her the technique and made those alterations to her metabolism so that she would be able to gain strength and grow to adulthood…"

"How?" Cologne did turn around this time and glare at him, "By leaching off the life energies of others? You turned her into a psychic vampire, one all too eager to use the technique on anyone who gives her the slightest provocation!"

Much to her surprise Happosai flinched at this (surprising because Cologne had long believed him to be bereft of a conscience). In more defensive tones than he might ordinarily have used he responded, "That's not true, she only drains battle auras. The technique is very specific on the nature of the energy that she can absorb…though it is true that she seems to have improvised the trick in order to drain from people who aren't manifesting battle auras…"

"She's obviously a specialist who has refined your teaching beyond your original conception," Cologne noted with almost clinical detachment, "She has but one unique talent that she has turned into the central hub of a more complex system, something I could almost admire were she not so eager to use the technique, or with so little discretion."

"You're just sore because you can't get near enough to her to use the counter," Happosai noted, "Same problem I have, only in my case…well…I just don't know if I could do that to Hinako-chan…"

"Say what?" Cologne asked skeptically, "Are you saying you wouldn't use the counter as an excuse to cop a quick feel over her adult form?"

"Hinako is like a daughter to me," Happosai glared back, "No matter what you think of me, Old Woman, "I do have standards. Of course the problem may be academic if we could convince someone else to do the dirty deed in our place."

"And who would you have in mind?" Cologne's eyes narrowed, then she answered her own question, "Shampoo or Ranma?"

"Who else besides Ranma do we know who would be fast enough and have sufficient skill to apply the correct pressure-points in the second or two that it would take to get within reach of Hinako-chan?" Happosai replied, "He's not yet as great a walking reserve of energy as the two of us are, so the drain will have less effect on him so long as he moves quickly. Shampoo is another possible candidate should Ranma be unable to overcome his own reluctance on attacking a woman, and she won't lack for motivation should she feel compelled to avenge her husband's losses in vitality…"

"True," Cologne conceded, trying to find the flaw in the reasoning of her fellow Elder and finding very little of real substance, "Then the question should be with one of us approaches him with the knowledge of the counter?"

"Leave that up to me," Happosai's eyes gleamed, "All Ranma has to do is feel the threat being leveled towards him or a loved one and he will be more than sufficiently motivated to overcome his reluctance. He will all but beg me to reveal the counter."

"Very true," Cologne nodded, "I might have difficulty convincing Shampoo of the same thing, but her wife is a different matter. I believe Tendo Nabiki is sufficiently intelligent to feel concerned about a possible threat to her loved ones, and she, in turn, will confide in Shampoo, which will serve as sufficient backup should Son-in-law prove inadequate to the challenge."

"Then we have a plan to put into motion," Happosai nodded, "I'll wait for just the right opportunity and give this to the boy," he held up a scroll in one hand, "And once Hinako-chan has been subdued she ought to be in a more agreeable state of mind to talk to her old master. It seems twenty years had dimmed her memory of me, and she needs a gentle reminder…"

"Really?" Cologne remarked, withholding her suspicions on just where Happosai had obtained the scroll in question, "I would have thought you were unforgettable myself, much though I've tried to blot the memory out of my head. I doubt even the Xi Fang Giao would ever prove sufficient."

"Cologne-chan," Happosai beamed, "What a sweet thing to say. Maybe when this whole thing is over we could get together again, try to work things out for old time's sake…"

"Don't push it," Cologne turned away, "It's because of you that I have to go around in my true shape and be the object of scorn and ridicule by my granddaughter and great granddaughter…"

"Don't try to put the blame on me for your domestic problems, Old Woman," Happosai snorted, "You made your own bed in your own house, so it's up to you to clean up after your own messes."

"As you're doing with Hinako?" Cologne inquired.

"Once I calm her down and I can convince her to undertake a new healing therapy that will cure her of having to spend most of her time in a child's body," Happosai responded, "She can finally achieve adult status full time, for which I am sure she will be quite grateful to her old master."

"At which point you'll cop a feel as payment," Cologne noted.

"So glad we understand each other," Happosai chuckled as he turned away, "Too bad you have to be such an evil old crone in your heart. It really would be nice to pick things up again where we left off three hundred years ago, now that we're finally both in the right bodies to enjoy a good romance, but of course an old biddy like you would never understand the needs of young people."

"Why you…!" Cologne was halfway to her feet when she discovered that Happosai had already taken a powder. She clenched her fists and hissed in anger, "One of these days he'll go too far with me, and then…I'll show him just what an 'evil old witch' I can be!"

Unbeknownst to her or Happosai, a certain old woman leaning on her staff heaved a sigh from where she was perched over a window sill, just under the building awning, "Those two truly do deserve one another…"

That being stated, she vaulted from her perch, intent on seeking out her true objective, Tendo Nabiki…

Genma glanced to the right and the left before easing himself out of the concealment of an ally, having double-checked the address to make certain of his location, then glanced at the scroll in his hand, assured that he was at the required place that the challenge specified, and even early by a full hour, which he hoped would provide him with a much-needed tactical advantage.

The place did not look like much from the outside, just an ordinary office building in which a law firm might be found in any good-sized city. It had the usual number of entrances and back exits for a building that looked like it had been built at least three architectural styles ago, maybe no more than a decade or two on the face of it. That meant it should be easy to break into and snoop around should he have to come back there later.

He eased his way out of the alley and took a moment to adjust his glasses before squaring his shoulders and moving forward. Time to see what these people wanted from him, seeing as how he had already scoped out the available exits should things prove to get nasty.

Walking in through the front door was hardly his style, but the challenge scroll had been quite specific about the consequences of Genma's failing to appear on time, both to him and to the Tendos. Genma was no great paragon of virtue, nor did he make much pretense to being brave, though he talked more about honor than he usually demonstrated, but there were just some risks that he was not prepared to face, such a legal action that might jeopardize any chance of having a dry roof over his head (to say nothing of what Nodoka might do to him afterwards), so he did the conventional thing and presented himself at the receptionist desk, announcing both himself and that he was early.

"Ah yes," the pretty secretary noted in her appointment book, "You are expected, Saotome-san. You may go on in ahead of your appointed time. My employers have expressed an interest in meeting with you just as soon as your arrival."

That did not bode well with Genma's mood, and he began to reconsider the point of confronting these lawyer fellows directly, when his preference would have been to wait until it was dark so that he could break into their offices and steal whatever incriminating material they might have, assuming they left it laying out in a place where he could find it. Nonetheless he proceeded on down a corridor and up a flight of stairs, to be met at the top of them by what appeared to be the very same fellow who had confronted him before. The well-dressed young man indicated that he should follow him, and by turns Genma arrived at last in the well-furnished office of the firm's senior legal partner.

"Saotome-san," the man rose from his desk and bowed, giving his name as "Yu Omi," then indicated the man who had been sitting next to him, who rose from his own chair with much greater effort, giving Genma only the barest of formal acknowledgements. The man needed no introduction, but the fellow behind the mahogany desk gave his name anyway as Kuonji Akira.

Genma realized too late what a mistake he had made walking in through the door, but like any cornered animal that knew it had been trapped he remained perfectly motionless, just barely returning the nod as he was confronted by a man whom he had not seem in ten years, yet whose eyes were like onyx stones boring down on the nominal head of the Saotome home, seeming to beg the question if Genma would look better dipped in boiling oil or kerosene. It was easy to predict that this would not be a friendly reunion.

"Saotome-san," Yu Omi began, "We have asked you here to bring to closure a matter that has lain uncomfortably with our client regarding a certain agreement you made regarding the matrimonial arrangements of your son to his only daughter. I trust we do not need to rehash the sordid details regarding the particulars of this case, but our client wishes to know if you are prepared to make restitution or else honor your agreement, in which case we will be serving to arbitrate agreeable terms for a satisfactory resolution."

"Excuse me," Genma said as cautiously as a man feeling for an exit, "But I'm not certain if I remember the agreement that you refer to. It has been so long, and I remember some words spoken after the consumption of a fair amount of sake, but surely nothing so definite as to be called an agreement."

"Then you deny that you bargained with me on your honor?" Kuonji's voice was hard enough to slice bread with, and his eyes were looking more flinty than usual.

"I deny nothing," Genma replied, "But show me proof of this agreement and maybe I'll be willing to talk details…"

Before Genma even had the chance to conclude his statement Kuonji calmly produced a small cardboard box, such as might be used to make deliveries, and opened it to reveal its contents, which he held up at an angle so that Genma could more properly see it.

Genma blanched, for there written on a dried out okonomiyaki were kanji letters that spelled out the words, "I, Saotome Genma, pledge my son, Ranma, to marry Kuonji Ukyo," and below this was a singular palm-print shaped roughly like Genma's right hand, pressed and preserved in okonomiyaki sauce for posterity's sake.

"Our client preserved this letter as proof of your agreement," Yu Omi resumed, "It is a solemn pledge of honor between gentlemen, but it seems that you were less than truly honorable in your dealings, for while the agreement included our client's yatai stand as dowry for the hand of his daughter, you clearly preferred the yatai over honoring your commitment. You abandoned his daughter along the side of the road without thought that you were dishonoring her. These are grave and serious charges, Saotome-san, and if brought to the attention of the police it would go very bad for you. I trust you will not force us to go public with our client's grievances as he is willing to be generous in his terms of settlement. If you do not agree to his terms, however, then my client is prepared to pursue redress through other means, such as to put pressure on your friend, Tendo Soun, to convince him to concede his own claims in the matter…or else."

"Or else…what?" Genma asked nervously.

"Saotome-san," Yu Omi's eyes gleamed from behind his glasses, "Your friend is not a financially secure individual, having no stable source of income other than the dojo that he is intending to use for dowry in his claims upon your son. Should you both be difficult in not cooperating in this matter, then our client will bring to bear all the resources at his disposal and he will break both of your families like rotten bamboo. You have no idea of the list of potential avenues for reprisal that are legally open to us. Your friend will be rendered destitute and his daughters will be denied a bright and promising future…"

Genma suddenly lunged forward before anyone could stop him, using speed and surprise to snatch the cardboard container from where it lay upon the desk and in one quick motion stuffed the dehydrated okonomiyaki in his mouth. He gagged instinctively as he tried to force it down his throat, realizing that it would have been far more appetizing to have attempted to eat the cardboard, but he made a manly attempt of it anyway, regretting only that he lacked anything with which to wash it down. He almost succeeded in the attempt when something hard and flat came down upon his head, causing him to gag and spit out the whole mouthful.

"I told you he'd make a try for it, brother," a woman's voice confidently sounded above the ringing in Genma's ears, "This fool always was so predictably gullible."

"Indeed, Oneesan," Kuonji Akira remarked, unruffled as he brushed bits of dried okonomiyaki off his shirt, "It was all too predictable, as if I'd show him the real pledge instead of the copy I made for just such a purpose."

Genma coughed loose the obstruction in his throat and whirled about, knowing with a certain horror whose voice it was that he had recognized over his choking. Sure enough the woman's face confronted him with a confident smile, and then she hefted a baker's peel in both hands and brought it down once more upon his head, flattening him like a swatted mosquito. Genma did not immediately lose consciousness but managed to get partly up before a third blow penetrated even his thick skull with the information that remaining conscious was not a good option. Satisfied that he had finally gotten the point the woman slung her huge spatula over her back and looked down smugly at her handiwork.

"Now that he had coming," Akira noted before nodding to his older sister, "Good work, Yumi-chan. Now that we have the father the son should be more cooperative I should think."

"Don't mention it, brother," smiled the broad-faced older woman in the okonomiyaki chef's outfit, "I've been waiting twenty years to do that to the baka, and on behalf of my little niece I'll do the same thing to his boy, if only to drive some sense into another generation of Saotome."

"And we got everything on tape," Akira smiled, "All the proof we would need of Saotome-san's duplicity. The police should be satisfied if we must involve them in this business. At the very least the tape is further incentive for Tendo Soun to be made to see reason."

"Soun," Yumi's expression darkened, though she remained smiling all the same, "There's another bit of unfinished business I personally want to handle. I'm so glad that you thought to contact me, brother dear. This will almost feel like a high school reunion…"

"More than that, I suspect, if what I hear is true regarding the comings and goings surrounding the Tendo dojo," Akira mused, turning to regard the man behind the desk, "Have your people ready to receive more such guests."

"Yes, Kuonji-sama," Yu Omi bowed as if to a feudal lord, "The arrangements have already been made. It should make for quite a party."

"I was counting on that," Akira smiled, little aware that a pair of eyes watched everything from afar, or that a woman's laughter could be heard far in the distance…

Continued

Comments/Criticisms/Contract Okonomiyaki: Shadowmane@msn.com