Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Balance of Power ❯ Journey Top Players ( Chapter 13 )

Journey

Chapter 7

Top Players

"Seiji, we can't let that happen," Akane said, remembering the destruction that was Jusendo after Ranma and Saffron's battle.

Seiji nodded sadly. "I know, but all we can really do is hope like hell that nothing sets Ranma off," Seiji said, his voice becoming oddly emotional. "I am so sorry."

Akane took a few moments to compose herself, and smiled at Seiji.

"Hey c'mon Seiji," Akane said cheerfully. "Weren't you the one that asked us not to get upset?"

Seiji looked at Akane for a few a seconds before smiling. This girl was obviously much stronger than he had originally thought. Akari too was making an effort to smile at him trying to comfort him. He chided himself for ever thinking that the girls that had won the hearts of his two warriors would be some simple minded girls.

"Touché my dear Akane, touché."

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Minoru extracted his keycard for his hotel room door. He didn't expect a hotel of this quality to actually have such high security. He shrugged it off as irrelevant and opened the door and stepped inside. Once he entered the room, Minoru noticed two things. First, the air was heavily laden with cigarette smoke; and second, the television was on. Minoru did not smoke and he had not switched the television on since acquiring the room. It was quite obvious that someone had been in the room after he had left to go meet the Chinese black market dealers.

Minoru was a deeply proud man, and he had great pride in his ability as a martial artist, but he far more pride in his marksmanship with firearms. He was not a man that would allow himself to become a victim by an attack from some petty thief.. His hands went to the small of his back and he extracted the 9mm Beretta from his waistband. He was going to give this punk bastard the surprise of his life. Minoru chambered a round; thankfully the fool had whatever television show he was watching quite loud so Minoru doubted that the noise was heard. He cautiously took a few steps and leaned against the wall, inching his head around the corner. The thief was sitting in a chair facing the television which put his back to Minoru.

After, he took a few breaths to ensure he was ready. Once finished he pushed off the wall and took two running steps around the corner. He jumped forward and tucked his shoulders, rolling once he hit the ground and twisting his body as he did so and came to a stop, facing the man sitting in the chair, the Beretta pointed right at him.

"Hello Minoru," the man in the chair smiled.

"Damn it Kimura!" Minoru yelled as he got to his feet.

"It's nice to see you too," Kimura said, getting out of the chair. He smiled graciously, "I am glad to see that you have not forgotten me."

"I thought you were some damn thief!" Minoru shouted, putting the Beretta into his waistband.

"What is wrong my friend, are you not happy to see me?" Kimura asked innocently. "I suppose I should have waited until you returned to come visit but I was a little pressed for time.

Isamu Kimura had been Minoru's designated trainer when he first joined the ranks of the Yakuza. Minoru had been a petty thief before deciding to become a "Freelance Yakuza" member. Kimura had showed him the ropes and helped him get in good with surrounding members. Before Minoru knew it, he had become a "Clan Yakuza" member. Working for the Yakuza was thrilling and exiting for young Minoru, he had shown an eagerness and ruthlessness that demanded notice. He propelled up the chain of command, getting the job done and never once backing down from an assignment. That was when Kimura had mysteriously disappeared and Toshi Maruyama appeared.

Minoru was immediately ordered to become Maruyama's aide. While Minoru had been expecting a great chance to move up into the spot of a Kyodai, he soon realized that Maruyama was a very dangerous man that showed little to no respect for the Oyabun. Maruyama would simply scoff at any protest that would be made by a senior member of the Yakuza and do whatever he pleased himself to do. Because of Minoru's relationship with him he was soon propelled right back down the ranks, becoming nothing more than a lapdog, sent out to collect debts or make sure someone had carried out their Yubitsume (the act of cutting one's fingertip off with a very sharp object and sending the fingertip to the kumicho, the person you are apologizing to, this is done when someone is apologizing for committing an act that is seen as an insult to the Oyabun, this act is still carried out today).

It was when Toshi recruited Seiji Inafune that Minoru saw his chance to make it back on the clan's good side. While Toshi was unstable and unpredictable, Seiji carried out missions to the exact and left no margin of error. Minoru did not learn until later that Toshi had actually used some kind of mind technique on Seiji to do the things he was doing but as far as Minoru was concerned Toshi could keep this up until the old man croaked. He slowly worked his way back into the clan's favor and began his own steps to ensure that he would stay on their good side. Minoru knew that Seiji was plotting to eliminate Toshi, and he only made small reports to Toshi on the matter. And now that Toshi was dead, the only thing to do next was to eliminate Seiji, Ishii, and those stupid martial artists and their families. Thus securing his place within the Yakuza as a trusted member.

Setting the members against Seiji was a piece of cake, one of the most damnable things a member of the Yakuza can do is kill a Kyodai of his own gang, which Seiji had done without hesitation. Even when he was doing this he was pretending to be helping Seiji gain back the support of the Yakuza, he could not wait to see the look on the stupid bastard's face when he gets picked up by the Yakuza.

What made Minoru wary of Kimura's sudden reappearance was that he noticed that Isamu was missing the tip of his index finger on his right hand. He did not know what Kimura had did but, before he disappeared, Kimura had commanded more respect and power than Minoru could only hope for. The man had been the only member of the Yakuza, other than the Oyabun, that could travel around the country without alerting anyone of his presence. For him to have offended the Oyabun in such a way that even he had to remove his fingertip, the act must have been truly terrible.

"What are you doing here?" Minoru asked.

"I shall tell you, once you have fixed me a drink," Kimura said. He followed Minoru into a separate room that contained a small mini bar. "I would like to ask you just why you are trying to acquire the approval of all the brothers within Japan and China including the four head distributors."

Minoru did not lift his head when he replied. "With Maruyama out of the picture, Tokyo is free reign right now. There is going to be a major movement within the organization and I feel that having Seiji Inafune out of the picture will help get things moving faster."

"As well as increasing your own position and putting yourself in prime position to be moved in and become the major distributor within Tokyo," Kimura said his voice cold. "I hope you understand just how much unrest you are creating among the older members. Seiji Inafune was able to create one of the leading markets within a month of being brought in. And from what I hear, his two new bodyguards were the ones that killed Maruyama, a man that has been hunted by nearly every government in the world and managed to elude them and continue running his black market. The man was a god within our world my friend, and those two men killed him after only following him for a week."

Minoru scowled. "Listen Kimura, I have asked damned little from this organization and done twice what any man has been capable of. I don't think that my asking for the elimination of Seiji Inafune and his subordinate, and his bodyguards and their families will rise too much of a commotion."

When Kimura spoke, his voice was deadly serious. "I do not think you have a complete grasp on what is happening. There is movement inside the organization. Something big is going to happen my friend, bigger than Seiji Inafune, and bigger than the Yakuza." Kimura paused to allow what he said sink in. "With Maruyama's death, Inafune's descent from the organization, and your request has pushed the higher-ups too fast and spread the forces out too thin. My meeting with you has not been a coincidence. Hiroshi Goto has assigned me with the task of seeing if all your intentions are going to be directed towards the good of the organization."

Minoru nearly gasped at that bit of news. Goto was the man that was rumored to become the next Oyabun for the greater Japan area. For him to show such a great deal of interest, than what Kimura was saying held greater importance than he thought.

"I shall take great hindrance in your words my friend, now if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting with another distributor," Minoru said as he downed the rest of his drink.

"Be that as it may Minoru, I am going to be accompanying you on you visit to Koga."

Minoru showed no physical reaction to Minoru's statement, but inside he was nearly overcome with fear. Just what the hell had he gotten himself into?

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Once everyone had gotten themselves settled into their rooms, Group B decided to have a late lunch. As they walked towards the dining area, Kuno pulled Nabiki aside.

"It occurred to me Nabiki Tendo that you never did tell me what exactly happened that made the beautiful Akane and the cretin Saotome go to China. I believe I have already paid you so I desire to have the information right now," Kuno said.

"Nabiki sighed and looked down the hall where the others were sitting. "I might as well tell everyone what has been going on these last few weeks. So your going to have to wait at least till lunch is served Kuno-baby."

"Alright then, I shall make haste and speed the cooks to have a lunch prepared so that I may of the true happenings between Ranma and Akane."

Lunch was eaten in haste and Nabiki began to tell the others everything that had transpired in the past month, including what happened at Jusendo. Everyone paid close attention to Nabiki, never interrupting her once during the story. Not even Kuno spoke up, which surprised Nabiki to say the least. As she began to wrap it up, Nabiki noticed that Kuno had stopped looking at her. Nabiki took this as Kuno's attempt to keep all references of normal society out of his mind.

"Oh wow," Ukyo said, "did Akane really come that close to dying?"

Ukyo had never learned the true happenings at Jusendo, just a few details, but all she had really thought was, everyone went to China and came back without cures.

"Yeah, Mousse and Ryoga filled me in on what happened, if Ranma had been even one minute longer, Akane would have likely never woken up."

Ukyo looked close to tears and excused herself, Konatsu followed close behind her as she dashed down the halls.

Nabiki looked over at Kuno and saw that he appeared to be contemplating something.

"What are you thinking about Kuno-baby?" Nabiki asked when the silence grew annoying.

"Are you quite certain that it was Ranma who saved Akane's life?" Kuno asked seriously. The idea that Ranma would do anything honorable was lost to him.

"Yes Kuno," Nabiki answered. "And I don't want to hear any crap about how Ranma only did this so he could continue his evil ways. Ranma fought and killed a demigod Kuno, and only so he could save Akane."

Kuno looked thoughtful for a second, and then a frown crossed his features. He rose to his feet and bowed to Nabiki.

"If you'll excuse me Nabiki Tendo, I believe I have some errands to attend to."

Nabiki smiled. "Whatever you say Kuno-baby."

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"Exactly what are we getting here Cologne?" Happosai asked as Cologne opened her closet door.

"I've got a pill in here that just might be able to help Dr. Tofu with his infatuation with Kasumi Tendo. Hopefully this will allow him to be able to allow the doctor a chance to actually stay sane while near her," Cologne said.

Happosai whistled, "Wow, that's got to be one strong pill. How does it work?"

Cologne answered him without stopping her search through the closet. "Once swallowed, the pill dissolves before reaching the stomach and enters the blood stream. Upon contact with the red blood cells, a kind of anti-stimulant is developed and carried to the brain where the anti-stimulant attaches itself to the part of the brain that receives the hormonal messages."

Cologne stepped out of the closet, holding a very large, very orange pill that had a shape resembling a bean.

"So it's kind of like a sleeping pill for your hormones, right?" Happosai said.

"In effect, yes your right," Cologne responded.

Happosai looked at the pill and began to chuckle. "How the hell is he supposed to swallow that thing?" The pills size resembled that of a tennis ball.

Cologne gazed at the pill and frowned.

"I admit it is quite large but this is our only option at this point." A mischievous grin spread across her face. "At least it isn't a suppository."

Happosai had a good laugh at that.

"I had forgotten how funny you can be when you let down your serious facade," Happosai chuckled.

"And it seems I forgot that you can actually be normal when your not leaching over young girls," Cologne said with a chuckle of her own.

The two martial arts masters looked at each other for a moment. They quickly looked away.

"So what are we going to do after somehow getting Tofu to swallow this pill?" Happosai asked, changing the subject.

"Were going over to the Kuno estate to hopefully make sure that everyone is getting along," Cologne told him. Having Kuno in anyone's group was asking for trouble. At least Nabiki was capable of handling the idiot.

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Author's Notes: This is the second chapter released by Mrs. Clark. It was written entirely by her, as she had lost the notes that I left her, and I must say that it is quite well done. She said that this was her favorite chapter because it saw the appearance of her favorite of my own creations, Isamu Kimura. You'll be seeing more of him as the story progresses.

I hope everyone has been enjoying the story so far and I hope that everyone has been reviewing.