Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Ranma OneHalf: First steps ❯ Book Four, Chapter 5 ( Chapter 37 )

Ranma Onehalf: First steps. Book Four.

Chapter Five.

"Just how many freaking sailor uniforms can there be?!"

Naota blinked and rubbed his eyes. He had gotten right on the net after coming home from practice at the Saotomes and had gotten onto Google. Aside from an almost endless amount of porn sites and a virus he had picked up after accidently clicking on a link Naota had gotten nowhere.

...school uniform...Lia Saotome Fan Club...

Naota blinked as he scrolled past one entry. Stopping he scrolled back up to where he had seen it and clicked on it. The page opened and he was presented with the Lia Saotome Fan Club website. It was had links to other fan-sites as well as photo galleries and columns as well.

And much to Naotas chagrin a link down at the bottom to the Naota Sano Fan Club website. Right clicking Naota book marked the site and made a note to tell Lia about it in the morning.

Glancing at the clock in the corner of the screen Naota was surprised to see it was now four fifty-five in the morning. Blinking he rubbed his eyes and shook his head.

"Holy cow it's late." he thought as he sat back in his chair. "Or early depending on your point of view."

Naota took one look at the web page before he closed it. "Oh, Lia is just gonna love this." he thought.

Turning off his computer Naota got up and began to change into his pjs. Pulling off his shirt he looked at the homework lying on his desk , undone.

"I'm gonna catch hell for not doing it, but I won't be able to do any homework if I'm dead." he thought. "Though somehow I think the excuse 'sorry, but a priestess tried slay me' wont go over too well."

Setting his alarm Naota turned off the light and flopped onto his bed.

When the alarm went off the next morning Naota resisted the urge to shoot it and go back to sleep. Silencing the alarm he pushed himself into a sitting position and blinked. Scratching his head Naota looked around the room and was surprised that he wasn't as tired as he expected to be.

"Must be because I'm a demon." he thought sleepily.

An hour and a half later he was out the door with Kenji. Walking down the stairs Naota reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a slip of paper.

"Hey Kenji, give this to Matoko so she can give it to Lia." Kenji said.

"What is it?" Kenji asked as he pocketed the slip.

"A web address." Naota answered. "Specifically, the web address of the Lia Saotome Fan Club."

"Oh brother." Kenji said with a groan. "She's gonna love that."

"Tell me about it." Naota said. "The real corker is there's a companion site dedicated to me as well."

"It must be fun being popular." Kenji commented.

"Ha ha ha ha ha.... shaddup." Naota grumbled.

"Anyways, so who do you think is behind it?" Kenji asked.

"Dunno. But I do know who to ask about the snapshot galleries." Naota said. "Lia and I are going to have pay Otada Suzuki a visit."

"Is it me, or is Suzuki a complete moron?" Kenji asked. "First Lia, then you. What will it take to get through to him."

"It's not you. He is a complete moron." Naota said. "And I figure it'd take us force -feeding him his equipment to get through to him."

Kenji and Naota both chuckled at the thought. Sipping his travel mug Kenji glanced at his friend.

"So, how goes the search for our sniper?" he asked.

"Slowly." Naota said. "I'm going to have to use a different tactic. I'm going to check the schools in Nerima and the surrounding districts."

"You think she might a local?" Kenji asked.

Naota nodded as he glanced around at their surroundings.

"Yeah. She was in her school uniform and it was a school day, so even if she took a train she couldn't have come very far." Naota said.

"Sounds likely." Kenji said. "Though what are you going to do when you catch up with her?" Kenji asked.

Naota smirked. "Why, scare her of course."

Kenji looked at his friend and saw the look on his face. Arcing an eyebrow he nodded. "Ooo-kay." he said.

Naota looked at his friend and shrugged. "What?" he asked. "It's not like I'm gonna hurt her or anything."

Kenji just shook his head as they walked along. Growling in irritation Naota pushed his bangs out of his face.

"I gotta get a hair cut." he muttered.

"You've been saying that for the past week." Kenji said.

"Yeah. I've added to my things to do list." Naota said. "Right under turn back into a human."

"Sounds like someone's a little bitter." Kenji said.

"Nah." Naota said with a shake of his head. "Just tired. I got to bed at four this morning."

"Oh."

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"Ughh..." Naota groaned.

It had been a long day for him, with the girls in school finding new and inventive ways to annoy him and Lia. Plus it had taken Kenji till the end of the end of the school day to remember the note he had been given and pass it on to Lia.

Naota considered it fortunate that their classmates had recognized the warning signs and had vacated the area before Lia went critical. Otada Suzuki and the Computer Club weren't as lucky however.

Lia and Naota had both paid them a visit. Lia had expressed her opinion of them and pumped them for information about the Fan Club while Naota had prevented them from escaping. He had found it mildly amusing that after almost a year of focusing on Lia they still met in a room with only one exit.

Which was why when Lia left their comp's were smashed and shredded wrecks and they were hanging by their shorts from the ceiling.

Then it had been four hours sparring with Lia and both of her parents. He had learned the hard way where Lia had gotten her strength when blocking a simple punch from Akane had knocked him into the yard ass over teakettle. From there on he had resorted to deflecting or dodging her strikes while simultaneously fending off Lia and Ranma, who because it was just a sparring session held off from using the Umi -Sen -Ken.

All told it took ten minutes for him go down under the assault. From there Ranma decided to give him some one on one training, or in other words he pummeled Naota mercilessly for the next three and a half hours nonstop.

It had left him exhausted and bone weary, but it had been an educational experience. He now knew that it was possible for someone's hair to hurt.

"And to think I have only a little over a year to go." Naota thought as he slipped his key into the lock. "Oh well. As Grandpa said, the more you sweat in training the less you bleed in combat."

Entering the apartment he waved to his father and grandfather as he slipped his sneakers off.

"Hi Naota. How was your day?" his father asked.

"Nnnhhh..." Naota groaned as he shuffled to refrigerator.

Taking out a plate of leftovers he began the long trek to his room.

"Hey Naota, I got some news for you." Kamon said.

"What?" Naota asked.

"I found the school your sniper goes to."Kamon answered. "It's in the next district. There's a file on your desk."

"Oh, thanks." Naota said as his father got up. 'I'll look at it when I'm done with dinner."

Walking over to Naota Kamon took his bag from him.

"You can look at it in the morning." he said. "I'll do your homework for you tonight. You're going to bed after you finish that, got it? Demon or no, you need your sleep."

"Yes Dad." Naota answered with a yawn.

Naota shuffled off to his room and shut the door. Sitting down at the table Kamon took out his sons homework. Opening a text book he was surprised at the name of the teacher listed there.

"Huh, Ichimonji-sensei is kicking around." Kamon said.

"That old goblin?" the elder Sano asked.

"The one and only." Kamon said.

Two hours later Kamon went to check on his son and found him still in his school uniform curled up on his bed asleep. Putting the finished homework on Naotas desk Kamon went over to his bed and put the covers over.

Naotas ear twitched and he snuggled up under the covers. Smiling he went back to into the living room.

"How is he?" Kamons father asked.

"Out like a light." Kamon answered. "He didn't even twitch when I came in."

The elder Sano nodded and they went back to watching the ball game on TV.

When morning came Naotas biological clock woke him at his usual time. Sitting up he pushed the covers off of him and looked down at himself in surprise.

"Huh, I forgot to change." he thought.

Sliding his feet out of bed Naota got up and walked over to his desk. Picking up the folder he flopped down into his chair. Opening it he began to read.

"Higashikuni high school." Naota read. "Location...."

Naota looked at the map where the location of the school was marked. It was just a short ten -minute train ride form Nerima, literally right under his nose.

Putting the folder back on the desk Naota booted up his computer and called up his web browser. Entering "Higashikuni Junior High" into the search field he soon had the school website and luckily, the faculty site as well.

As he searched the site he was surprised to see that they had a online yearbook. Book marking the page he closed his browser and called up his file sharing program. Getting up he headed to the bathroom to get cleaned up.

"I got Morpheus running." he said to his father and grandfather. Stopping he looked at the clock and back to them. "Why aren't you guys at the shop?" he asked.

His father pointed to the tv, where the time and date were displayed.

"Because it's Sunday Naota." he said.

"Huh?" Naota said as he gaped at the tv. "Arrghh..." he groaned as he realized the date.

"I told you were working too hard." Kamon said. "You want to end up like Kenjis father and try to work yourself to death?"

"Oh, shaddup." Naota growled as he stomped off the bathroom.

______________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________

Forty -five minutes later Naota was scrubbed and was feeling demonic(1) again. Going back into his room with breakfast Naota called up his browser again and went to his bookmarks.

Reaching the online yearbook he began to scroll through the pages, looking at the girls. He was half way through when he saw the face of the girl who had tried to shoot him. Clicking on the link to her bio he read it.

"Lets see here, name :Gingko Ekiguchi. Age: 14. Hobbies: Music, manga, boys." he read. Naotas face went into a scowl as he read the next line. "Favorite pastime: helping out her father with running the temple..."

Putting down his breakfast Naota jotted down her name and went to a travel service he had book marked. Running a search in the district he quickly found a list of temples and a few clicks later he had located his attackers house.

Jotting down her address Naota smirked as he closed the window and brought back the yearbook page. Saving the page Naota looked at the face of the girl staring out from the screen.

"Well, Ms Gingko Ekiguchi, you and I will soon have a little chat." Naota thought as he reached for his breakfast.

After finishing his breakfast Naota put together a packet and saved it to diskette. Popping the diskette out he walked into the living room where his father and grandfather were playing a game of shogi.

"Well, I found her." he said.

"Really? Who is she?" Kamon asked, his eyes never leaving the board.

"Gingko Ekiguchi." Naota answered as he put the diskette on the table. "She's a fourteen year old at Higashikuni High School."

That was enough to make Kamon actually look up from the board.

"You let a fourteen year old get close enough to shoot at you- ow!" he asked before Naota thwapped him with his tail.

"She ambushed me for your information." Naota said. "And she the daughter of shrine caretaker, so she was probably shadowing me using a mystic artifact or some other piece of crap rather than actually tailing me. Didn't you watch anime when you were a kid?"

"Yes." Kamon answered as he rubbed his head. "I was just ribbing you a little. Don't get your tail in a knot."

"My tail is not in a knot." Naota shot back. "Anyways, her address and all personal info I could gather is on that disk. I want a surveillance op on her before I make my move."

"I'll make the request." Naotas grandfather said as he picked up the disk.

Kamon then decided to make his move, neatly putting his father in check.

"That I do believe is check and mate, Father." he said.

"What the- ack!"

"Well, you two grand masters have fun." Naota said as he turned back to his room. "I'm gonna be on the web."

It took a week but eventually Naota got a full packet of material on the girl. It consisted of some 8x10's and a write up of her activities, along with maps the route she took to school. Also included were diagrams of her house and the temple compound on which it sat, along with her school.

Putting together a plan Naota gave it to his grandfather for submission to the clan leadership, and much to his surprise he was given carte blanch.

"Well, apparently they think you have potential." Kamon said when he delivered the news to Naota. " They want to see what you can do."

"Great." Naota said. "That makes me feel so much better."

"Don't worry Naota." his father said. "You'll do fine."

"That's what I'm afraid of." Naota replied.

"Remember your plan Naota." Kamon said as he patted his son on the shoulder. "You'll be able to use this."

Naota nodded as he looked at the operation plan he had drawn up. It was set for Thursday, which was two days away. He had those two days get the team together and briefed. Rubbing his forehead he looked up at his father.

"I don't know how I'm going to do this with school." he said.

"Already taken care of." Kamon said. "You're going to be staying at home recuperating from getting your shots."

Naota blanched as he looked at his father. "Say what?" he asked.

"On orders from Animal Control." Kamon added.

Naota rubbed his forehead in exasperation. "If this wasn't Nerima I'd say that was the most cockamamie excuse I have ever heard."

Kamon chuckled as he went to leave. "Thats why we live Nerima." he said. "Excellent cover."

Naota groaned as he rolled his eyes. "So what team is it going to be?"

"Ours. If things go south I want someone I can trust behind the rifle." Kamon said.

"So I'm going to be working with Uncle Hideki?" Naota asked.

"Yep." Kamon answered.

"Well, that makes me feel better." Naota said.

__________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ _______________

Naota stood with his head down and his eyes closed, nodding in time to the heavy metal coming through his headphones. Feeling the train slow he opened his eyes and looked up. Reaching into his pocket he turned off his MP3 player and pulled the earphones out of his ears.

Stuffing the phones into the pocket of his sweatshirt Naota then took out a cell phone with a earpiece. Sticking the earpiece in place as he stepped off the train he pressed the 'walkie -talkie' function.

"Radio test." he mumbled into the mike.

"It's Talk Radio. You're on the air."

Naota rolled his eyes at his uncles quoting lines from action movies.

"I'm in position."

"Same here."

Checking his watch Naota began a fast walk to where he planned to intercept Gingko Ekiguchi. Reaching the spot with time to spare he stood in a doorway and waited.

"Target is coming down the street, on your left."

Naota glanced up and saw the girl walking down the street. Appearing to look like he was browsing some magazines he waited until she had passed by him. Putting the magazine back he fell into step behind her and waited until she reached a busy crossroads to make his move.

"Excuse me, Miss Ekiguchi?" he asked as he approached her.

'Y-yes?" she asked as she turned around to face him.

Her eyes went wide as she saw who was calling her name. She opened her mouth to say something but was stopped when Naota put the muzzle of his suppressed SOCOM in her belly, shielding it from view with his body.

"We need to talk." he said.

The girl looked down at the gun then back at Naotas face.

"You really think you can shoot me?" she asked, her voice wavering slightly.

"I have a suppressor(2) equipped pistol, and we're in a busy intersection. No one will hear a thing." he said. "And if you don't cooperate I'll give you a demonstration."

Seeing that he was serious Genki nodded.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" she asked.

"How about we do it somewhere a little more private?" Naota asked. "Like that WacDonalds over there?"

Genki nodded jerkily as Naota hid his weapon.

"Calm down. If I was gonna kill you you'd be dead already." Naota said as they walked to the fast food place.

After getting their orders they sat down at a open air table, Naotas weapon within easy reach. Reaching into his sweatshirt pocket with his free hand Naota pulled a manila envelope out and handed it to Genki.

"You wanted to know what I wanted to talk about?" Naota asked. "I want to tell you repercussions of your actions if you attack me again."

"What repercussions?" Genki asked.

"Open the envelope." Naota said. "And you'll see."

Picking up the envelope Genki opened it and pulled out a sheaf of photos. Flipping through them she saw they were of her family and friends.

"My family...?" she asked.

"Yes." Naota said. "And let me show you what could happen if try something or tell the authorities. One, go."

There was a 'thunk' and their tray rattled as the straw in Genkis drink was shot in two. Her eyes went to the size of dinner plates as she looked at Naota in fear. Eyes hard he looked at her.

"Now, I don't care what you do, but leave me and family and friends alone." he said. "Or that could be your mother or father, or your little brother, or your friends, or you. Understand?"

Numbly she nodded in reply.

"Good. Now eat up. Your fries are getting cold."

_________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ________________

Ranma looked up when the doorbell rang.

"We expecting anybody?" he asked as the doorbell rang again.

"Not that I know of." Akane said as Lia came in from the hall.

"I'll get it." Lia said as she headed to the mud room. Hearing the bell ring again she scowled. "I'm coming, I'm coming. Keep your shirt on!"

Sliding the door to the mud room open Lia walked over to the outside door and unlocked it. Opening the door she was surprised to see Naota standing on their stoop, a small package in his hands.

"Naota! What're you doing here?" Lia asked, surprised. "And whats in the package?"

"I was in the neighborhood and the package, well..." Naota said as he fiddled with the package. Swallowing he bowed and held it out to Lia. "The package is for you."

"Oh." Lia said as she took the package from Naota. "What is it?"

"A very late birthday present." Naota answered.

"Why thank you." Lia said with a smile. " You want to stay for dinner? Matoko got a new recipe from Kasumi."

"Oh, ah..." Naota said, taken by surprise. He was debating yes or no when his stomach answered for him with a loud rumbling. "I guess I will." he said.

"Great!" Lia said as she stepped aside to let Naota pass.

Stepping into the mud room Naota slipped his sneakers off and stepped into his slippers. Pulling his arms into his sweat shirt he shrugged it off. As he hung it on a hook Lia saw that there was something heavy in the pocket.

"Whats in your sweatshirt?" she asked.

"Huh? Oh, that." Naota said. Reaching into his pocket he took out his SOCOM, holding it by the barrel. "One of my toys. You got a secure place I can put this?" he asked.

Lias eyes widened when she saw the gun.

"Uh, yeah. Why do have that? It's illegal to own one." she said.

Naota nodded as he looked at the gun. "Yeah, I know." he said. "But ninja aren't really concerned about legality."

"So I gathered." Lia said.

"Anyways, the reason why I have it is because I used it to scare that girl who tried to stick an arrow into me." Naota continued.

"Oh, well then its okay." Lia said. Looking up she pointed to cabinet that was at eye level with Naota. "Put it in there. It locks."

"Thanks." Naota said as he swung the cabinet open. Unscrewing the suppressor he put in and the pistol in the cabinet inside. "Sorry about bringing it over, but I didn't have a chance to swing home."

"It's okay." Lia said with a wave of her hand. "We really don't have a problem with weapons. That sword of my Grandmas isn't exactly legal to have in public either."

"Oh." Naota said as he locked the cabinet and pocketed the key.

"It's carrying weapons that we take issue with." Lia said. "If you have em, you better be prepared to accept the consequences."

Naota nodded as he thought it over and unlocked the cabinet. Pulling his knife and scabbard out he put it in the cabinet with the pistol.

"A good philosophy." he said. "That's why I try to avoid weapons as much as possible. More trouble than their worth."

Feeling considerably better Naota stepped into the house with Lia. Walking down the hall they entered the main room where Ranma and Akane were.

"Hi Naota." Ranma said. "What brings you here?"

"He was in the neighborhood." Lia said. "And he had a late birthday present for me." she added, holding up the package.

"What is it?" Akane asked.

"Open it and find out." Naota said.

"Okay." Lia said as she and Naota sat down at the table.

Running her finger along the wrapping on the package she neatly sliced it open with her chi -claws. Pulling the wrapping away she opened the lid of the box, exposing the tissue packing inside.

Pulling out the packet she reached into the box and pulled out a large, heavy, silver hairbrush.

"Oh, wow." she said.

"A hairbrush?" Ranma asked. "Your present was a hairbrush?"

"Yeah." Naota said with a nod. "I overheard Lia talking to Matoko about how hard it was to brush out her hair, so I went to talk to a clerk at the department store downtown and she showed me what kind of brush to buy."

"How nice." Akane said as she leaned over Lias shoulder to look at the brush. "It's even monogrammed."

"Thanks Naota." Lia said, giving Naota a kiss on the cheek.

Ranma smirked as Naotas cheeks went red and he looked at the table. Akane saw his reaction and smiled as she fought the urge to scratch both of them behind the ears.

As he sat there Naota felt the ball of ice that had been in his gut since that morning melt away. Looking up he saw Lia putting the packing back into the box. Standing up she hefted the hair brush as she turned to the stairs.

"I'm going to go give this a test run." she said. "I'll be right back."

Naota found himself alone with Ranma and Akane as Lia went upstairs. They sat there in silence for a few moments before Ranma spoke.

"Say, Naota, we're going on a family outing to the beach in a couple of days. You want to come?"

Naota blinked. "Ah, I'd love to, but I'm really behind in my schoolwork." he said. "With my training and taking two days sick it's really backed up."

"Ah. You want to get the best possible grades for college, eh?" Ranma asked.

Naota chuckled as he shook his head. "No, right now I'm just trying to graduate." he said.

Ranma snorted as he nodded. "I've been there. I don't think I've ever cut anything as close as my graduation."

"Akane, dinners ready." Matoko said as she stuck her head out of the kitchen. "Oh, hello Naota."

"Matoko." Naota said with a nod.

Getting up Akane tapped Naota on the shoulder. "You want to help set the table? I assume you are staying for dinner?" she asked.

'Yeah." Naota said as he got to his feet.

By the time the table was set Lia had finished brushing out her hair and came back down as the trays of food were being set onto the table. Naota forgot to breathe for a moment as Lia came in and sat down at the table.

The reason why was because Lia had taken it down from her usual pigtail and brushed it out, letting it hang in a mane over her shoulders. It was brushed until it shone, and its having been braided into a pigtail when wet had given it a slight wave.

Ranma watched Naotas reaction out of the corner of his eye as Matoko dished up his meal. A glance at Lia confirmed what he had been suspecting for a while.

"I was right. There is more than friendship between them." Ranma thought. "Not much, just a flicker, but still there."

He watched the two of them converse for a few minutes while he munched on his rice.

"I had better play it carefully, and let them make their own decisions." he thought as he glanced at his wife, who was chatting it up with Christian and Mamimi. "Otherwise I could do terrible damage."

"I'm home." Naota called out as he stepped inside his apartment.

'Good." Kamon said as he looked up from the table. "Get packed. You just developed a slight reaction to your shots."

"Why?" Naota asked.

"We just got orders. We leave in two days for the beach." Kamon answered. "The school has need of your senses."

"Crap." Naota said as he put his fist into his palm. "What will I need?"

"Vest, so on so forth." Kamon said. "You're just going to be a scout for this. Hanako and I will be doing the dirty work."

"This is a hit, isn't it?" Naota asked.

"Yeah." Kamon said. "I'm sorry. I did my best."

"I know." Naota said as he headed to his room.

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The setting sun made the buildings glow as it set. Naota sat on the bed of the motel room they had set up in and glassed the houses crowding the slopes of the hills above the shore. By passing the girls suntanning on the roofs and balconies Naota settled his spotting scope on particular hose.

Dialing up the magnification Naota began to glass the building.

"Thats our target?" he asked.

"Yes." Hanako answered.

"It's a freaking fortress." Naota commented.

"That's why you're here." Hanako responded.

"Yeah." Naota growled.

Hanako rolled her eyes and looked at Naota in annoyance.

"Oh, would you knock it off?" she asked. "You wont be getting your pretty little hands dirty killing anyone."

Naota said nothing to in response to Hanakos jibe, instead he held his hand out palm up and curled his fingers in. Flexing his fingers he unsheathed his centimeter long claws.

Hanako got the hint and shut up. She had been given a quick primer by Kamon and knew exactly what Naota was, along with a description of his moods. She left him alone for the rest of the evening until it was time.

The night was lit by streetlights and a almost full moon as the three ninjas set out. From a tactical point of view it was absurdly stupid time to be doing an operation, the lights and moon making all approaches well -lit and easily patrolled.

Coupled with that was the fact there were partygoers crawling all over the place from a local festival, making getting spotted extremely likely. The trio had their reasons for choosing their time and place to do their operation.

It dealt with their target: He was a high -level member of a prominent kereitsu (3) who had decided to out source the Hagakure clans business to the Yakuza(4). His guards and security system were the best money could buy, and they would naturally be expecting an attack during the new moon.

With the festival and the full moon their attention would be diverted elsewhere and they wouldn't be suspecting an attack. Which was Naota was stuffed into an air -conditioning duct watching the guards in the security center when they changed shifts.

From his position Naota used a small camera and a PDA to watch the keyboard and monitor of the guard manning the closed circuit video log in. Once he had the passwords he crawled off to a nexus and jacked into a data line. It took him ten minutes to crack the security system from the inside and let his team mates in.

He was watching the feed s when he saw a figure in a nightgown approaching the door to the master bedroom.

"Oh shit!" he thought as he keyed his sub -vocal mike. "Problem."

"What is it?" his fathers voice asked in his ear.

"He brought his kid." Naota said as he watched the feed. "She's looking through the keyhole- shit! She spotted you!"

"Stop her!" Kamon said over the radio. "We've got out hands busy here!"

"On it." Naota said as he pocketed the PDA.

Dropping out of an air duct he ran to the hallway that connected the one outside the master bedroom, barely managing to intercept the girl before she could get to her room, and the cell phone on the night stand.

She skidded to a stop when Naota stepped out in front of her. Before Naota could grab her she doubled back around the corner and ran smack into Hanako. The woman spun the girl into a restraining hold and jabbed a syringe into her neck, right into the main artery.

Naota stopped and watched as the nerve agent in the syringe shut down the girls nervous system. He stood there numb as Hanako picked the girls body up and carried her away.

A sudden tug on his tail jerked him back to reality and he found his father standing next to him.

"Lets go. We're done here." Kamon said simply.

Naota was on auto pilot as he followed his father out of the mansion and into the night. Changing into their tourist clothes at they cached their gear for later pick up and stepped out into the nighttime crowds.

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Ranma hummed to himself as he walked back to the hotel the Saotomes were staying at. As he walked along the seawall the idle flicking of a tail caught his attention.

"What the- Naota?" he thought. Stopping he double checked, and sure enough it was his daughters friend and fiance sitting on the seawall. "Whats he doing here? I thought he had home work- waitaminute."

Looking at a newspaper stand Ranma saw the headlines, which blared the death of a business tycoon and his daughter. Looking back Ranma saw that Naotas ears were drooping and his tail hung slack against the seawall, which showed there was something wrong.

"Oh kami." he thought.

Setting his jaw Ranma hurried off to the hotel.

Naota sat on the seawall, the sounds of beach goers and tourists unnoticed in the background. He looked down at his hands and tried to block the image of the girls face from his mind.

He jumped when a hand landed on his shoulder. Turning around he was surprised to see Lia standing behind him in a blue one piece swimsuit.

"Naota." Lia said, her voice full of concern.

"Lia." he answered.

Hopping up onto the seawall Lia sat down next to him. They were silent for several minutes as the world swirled around them. Clearing her throat Lia looked at Naota as she spoke.

"You okay?" she asked.

"No." Naota answered.

More minutes passed by in silence before either of them spoke again.

"Did you-" Lia began before Naota cut her off.

"No." he answered. "But I saw some of it."

Lia swallowed as she looked at Naota.

"Oh." she said in a small voice.

Not knowing what else to do Lia put her hand on Naotas. He said nothing, but just kept staring at the ground in front of him. Letting go she turned to get off the sea wall but stopped when Naota spoke.

"Stay, please." he said.

"Okay." Lia said.

As she went back to her original position Naota put his hand in hers and held on. They sat there for several more minutes before Lia spoke again.

"You want to go someplace private and talk about it?" she asked.

Naota nodded. "Yeah. I'd like that." he said.

Getting down off the wall Lia led Naota off to the Saotomes hotel room.

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Lia saw Naota stir out of the corner of his eye as she sipped her juice.

"Welcome back to the living." Lia said.

"Nnnh... what happened?" Naota asked as he sat up.

"You fell asleep." Lia answered. "You sat down, and when I went to get you some juice you were out cold by the time I got back."

"Oh." Naota said. "How long was I out?"

"Eight hours." Lia said. "You feel like talking now?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, thats right." Naota said as he shook his head. Rubbing his eye he looked at Lia.

"Now, before I begin, tell no one, okay?"

Lia nodded as Naota continued.

"As I said before, I had no hand in what happened." Naota said. "But I did witness part of it."

"What did you...see, exactly?" Lia asked.

Naota swallowed and was silent for several moments as the scene replayed in his mind.

"I -I -I - shit." he said. Pausing for breath he tried a different tack. "We were in there only for the guy. We didn't know his daughter was in the house with him."

Lia nodded as Naota rested his hands on the table.

"She surprised us. I tried to grab her and knock her out, but she got away from me. One of my teammates caught up with her." he said. His hands began to shake as he came to the next part in his dialog. "My teammate- my teammate killed her."

"Oh."

"And I watched her die." Naota whispered. "If I had gotten to her sooner, she'd still be alive."

Lia was silent for a few moments as what Naota had said sank in.

"Naota..." she started, but he continued.

"We screwed up." Naota said. "She wasn't in the plan. If a person isn't in the plan we don't touch them. We should have just knocked her out."

Lia was silent for a moment before she responded.

"Did you do everything you could?" she asked.

"It happened so fast..." Naota said. "But there was nothing I could have done. She ran around the corner right into my teammate."

"And it was your teammate who took the girls life, right?" Lia asked as Naota nodded in reply.

"True." he said.

"I'm no religious expert Naota, but I do know right from wrong, and I'd say it's your teammate who should be feeling guilty, not you." Lia said.

Naota nodded.

"I know Lia." he said. "Though whats got me upset isn't me seeing her die."

"So what's got you upset?" Lia asked.

"My teammates eyes." Naota said. "They were dead, soulless. Like what happened didn't matter. Thats what's got me upset. I'm afraid I'm gonna be that one day."

"Somehow I doubt thats going to happen Naota." Lia said. "You are too good a person to do that."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence Lia." Naota said.

"It wasn't a vote of confidence." Lia said.

"Then what was it?" Naota asked.

"A statement of fact." Lia answered. Reaching over she put her hand on his "I'm a good judge of character, and I know what kind of person you are."

When Lia put her hand on Naotas shoulder and spoke those words a part of him that had been troubled calmed.

"Its not absolution, but yet, somehow I feel better." Naota thought. Reaching up he put his hand on Lias. "I don't what it means, but this feels right for some reason."

"You feeling better now?" Lia asked.

"Yeah." Naota answered. "Thanks."

Lia smiled at him. "You're welcome." she said. "So what do you want to do now?" she asked.

"What we're doing now." Naota said. "If it's okay with you."

"It's okay with me." Lia said with a slight shrug of her shoulders. "Being on a crowded beach never appealed to me anyways."

______________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________

When Ranma the rest of the Saotome clan (and one Hibiki) returned to their motel room they there was a note on the table addressed to Ranma. Picking it up she opened it and read it.

Dad,

I'm cheering up Naota. Don't wait up.

Lia. ^_^

Ranmas mouth quirked into a smile as she read the note. Akane noticed this and gave her a puzzled look.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"This." Ranma said as handed the note to Akane. "Read it."

Open the note Akane read it and chuckled. "I thought you said you wouldn't interfere." he said.

"I'm not." Ranma said. "I saw how worked up he was and figured he'd probably relate better to someone his age."

"Really." Akane said.

"Really." Ranma said. "I've been in his shoes before."

"If you say so.' Akane said as he headed to the bathroom to change.

The moon hung over the beach, making the sand glow. Naota and Lia were there, away from the crowds which were at the festival. They were enjoying the privacy of the deserted beach and relative quite.

They were walking barefoot in the sand while they sipped pop (Naota) and juice (Lia).

"So what is it you wanted to show me?" Naota asked.

"Something that'll help you deal with your emotions." Lia said.

"But I have excellent emotional control." Naota said as Lia put her juice and sandals down in the sand.

"I know you do." Lia said. "You're on of the most controlled people I know. You don't let your emotions control you, but they still affect you."

"How?" Naota asked, intrigued.

"Well, to go over the basics there are two types of chi: emotion based chi, which is generated by a particular emotion, and balanced chi, which is pure and unaligned and the most useful." Lia began. "A person is always generating chi, generally in very small amounts so it really doesn't affect them. But if they feel a really strong emotion, or a lot of them, it leaves a residue of that chi."

Naota nodded, letting Lia continue.

"That residue can affect you, usually in subtle ways. Some good, some bad, depending on the chi." Lia continued. "In your case it's bad. All those negative feelings are poisoning your chi."

"Oh." Naota said. "So you're going to show me how to counter that."

Lia nodded. "Yes, but first for it to work you have to purge the bad chi." she said.

"So how do I do that?" Naota asked.

Lias mouth quirked into a smile as she looked at Naota.

"I'd thought you'd never ask." she said.

Lia walked a few steps away from Naota, until she was about three meters(5) away. As she walked Naota found himself momentarily distracted by the way her swimsuit -clad rear moved as she walked.

"Wow." was the only thing that Naota could think.

Shaking his head he put his mind back on track as Lia turned to face him.

"Okay, to purge the chi you need to know what untainted chi feels like." she began. "So I'm going to show you."

"Okay." Naota said with a nod.

Lia closed her eyes and put her hands together. Exhaling slowly she let her body relax and opened up her chi flows. For a moment there was silence then the sand began to ripple in a meter wide circle.

Opening her eyes Lia pulled her hands apart and curved her fingers inwards. Looking at the space between her hands Lia began to refocus her chi. Naotas eyes went wide as the tips of Lias fingers began to glow white.

Bringing her fingers together in the space between her hands Lia let the tips of her fingers touch for a moment before she pulled them apart slightly. In the space between her fingers there was a small glowing ball of chi.

Pulling her fingers further apart the ball grew in size until it was the size of a baseball. Cupping her hands Lia looked up at Naota as she began to walk forwards towards him. Stopping in front of him she held out her hands.

"Here." Lia said, her voice even and warm. "This is untainted chi is like."

Naota stared at the ball of chi floating above Lias hands. Hesitantly, he reached out to touch it, halting his fingers just above the ball.

"It's okay. You can touch it, it wont bite." Lia said.

Naota nodded slightly as he lowered his hand the final centimeter. When his fingers touched he was surprised at how it felt. There was a pleasant tingle running up his fingers and it, it pulsed with life.

It wasn't warm or cold, in fact Naota couldn't feel any discernable temperature. He watched as it swirled around his fingers, fascinated by how it played over his skin.

"It's incredible..." he said finally.

Lia nodded as Naota held his fingers in the chi for a few more moments before he withdrew them. Holding up his hand he looked at his hand as he flexed his fingers.

"You know what I'm talking about?" Lia asked as Naota nodded. Putting her fingers back into the ball Lia reabsorbed the chi back into her flows. "Now you do it."

"Okay." Naota said. "But how will I know what to take out?"

"You'll know." Lia answered.

Taking Naotas hand Lia led him to where she had been standing and then stepped back to give him room to work. Steepling his fingers Naota took the breathing techniques he had been taught and focused on them.

Feeling his chi flows open up Naota immediately felt what Lia was talking about. He felt the taint in his chi clear as day. With careful deliberation Naota began to extract the taint and refocus it to his hands.

As he purged it from his chi flows Naota felt dizziness and his concentration flickered for an instant before he felt Lia put her hand on his back, just below where his neck met his shoulders.

There was an immediate flow of chi into his system and his concentration was restored.

With the boost to his system Naota was able to remove the chi and focus it into his hands. Feeling them go cold he opened his eyes and was surprised to find a black sphere floating between his palms.

It was accented with dark blue accents as it swirled and rippled.

"So thats the taint." he said.

"Thats right." Lia said. "How are you going to get rid of it?"

Naota thought for a moment before he looked out over the horizon.

"Like this." he said.

Stepping away from Lia Naota wound up in a pitch and threw the ball out into the ocean. It flew out in a long arc before finally falling to the ocean. It skipped three times before it lost cohesion and blew apart with a pop and a flash of phosphorescence.

"Nice." Lia said.

"Thanks." Naota said.

Turning around Lia began to walk back to her juice and sandals but only made it a few steps before she jumped and fell over.

'Shit!" she yelped as she grabbed at her leg.

"What happened?" Naota asked.

"I stepped on something!" Lia said as she looked at the sole of her foot. "A piece of glass."

"Let me see." Naota said as he stepped over to Lia.

Bending down he took Lias foot and looked at it. There embedded in the sole of her foot was a two centimeter piece of glass. Unsheathing the claws on his thumb and forefinger Naota prepared to extract the glass shard form her foot.

"This may hurt a bit." Naota cautioned.

Lia gave him a dead pan look as Naota reached to her foot.

"I get menstrual cramps once a month. I think I can take a little pain- ow!" she said before Naota plucked the shard from her foot.

Holding up the shard Naota scowled at it.

"Where'd you step on this?" Naota asked.

"Over there." Lia said as she pointed.

Reaching over Naota ran his hands through the sand in the area and pulled out four more pieces of glass. Putting them in the palm of his hand Naota nodded as he stuck them into his shirt pocket.

"There. Now no one else will step on them and get them in their foot." he said. Turning back to Lia he stepped over to her. "Want a ride?" he asked.

"Like I have a choice?" Lia asked.

_________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ________________

"I can't believe how far we walked." Lia said. "How far do you think we got?"

"Five, six kilometers easy(6)." Naota said.

"Thought so." Lia said before she yawned.

"Tired?" Naota asked.

"Yeah. That chi work really tires me out. I don't normally project chi, so it can be a real drain on my system." Lia answered. Laying her head down on Naotas shoulder she sighed contentedly. "I like this." she said.

"I bet you do." Naota said. "I'm carrying you piggyback."

"Yeah, and you're a big, strong, neko -yokai (7)." Lia said as she felt Naotas chest through his shirt. "And with adorable ears." she added, flicking one gently with her finger.

"You and my ears." Naota said, the corner of his mouth lifting into a smile.

"What can I say? I like em." Lia said. "Speaking of them, can I?"

"Yeah." Naota said. "Go ahead."

"Thanks." Lia said.

Reaching up she tweaked Naotas ears. On an impulse she started scratching behind his ears. Naota stiffened for a moment and then relaxed as he started to purr.

"Oooh... that feels good." he rumbled. "Keep doing that."

"Okay." Lia said.

Turning her head Lia inhaled and got a nose full of Naotas scent.

"Mmmmm... you smell good." she purred.

"Thank you." Naota said.

Normally Naota would have said something, but he had a lot of things on his mind and was distracted. Chief among them was the sensation of Lias scratching behind his ears, followed by the feel of how soft the skin on her bare legs felt on his palms, and finally and most importantly, two large and soft some things pressing into his upper back. Which was why Lia was able to do what she did next.

Leaning over slightly Lia nuzzled the back of Naotas neck briefly. He was about to say something when she bit him.

Due to Lias inexperience and the fact she forgot she had canines and predators teeth instead of leaving a slight hickey Lia punctured his skin. As soon as the coppery taste of his blood hit her tongue Lia reared back.

Lia opened her mouth to apologize but Naotas feral growl cut her off. With incredible agility and control he flipped her off his back and put her gently on the sand.

"Naota..." Lia said as she found her arms pinned by Naota.

His head was silhouetted by the moon as he leaned over her. Lias eyes went wide as he began to lean in towards her.

"If you wanted to all you had to do is ask..." Lia said as she felt his hot breath on her neck.

Instead of answering her Naota took the loose skin at the nape of her neck between his teeth and bit down. She jerked when his teeth punctured her skin but otherwise remained still. She didn't feel threatened in the least; while Naotas hands had her arms securely pinned at her sides he was very gentle, going to extreme lengths to avoid hurting her.

His mouth remained at her neck for a moment before he withdrew and sat back, releasing her. Lia sat up as Naota sat next to her, breathing slowly and deeply. When his breathing returned to normal Lia cleared her throat and spoke.

"Naota?" she asked.

Naota blinked twice before he shook his head and looked at her.

"Yeah?" he answered.

"You okay?" Lia asked.

"Uh huh." Naota said with a nod. "How about you?"

"I'm fine." Lia said. Reaching a hand up to her neck she continued. "Other than an embarrassing wound, I'm fine. What happened?"

Naota shook his head. "I don't know Lia."" he said. "One moment I'm fine, then you bit me and something told me to bite you back."

"Oh." Lia said. "No wonder you said we should wait. With out of control hormones....oy."

Naota nodded in enthusiastic agreement. "Uh huh. I'm just glad it wasn't 'that time'." he said. "I'm too young to be a father."

"And I'm too young to be a mother." Lia agreed. Extending her hand she offered it to Naota. "How about we file this under 'lessons learned' and revisit this after graduation?"

"Agreed." Naota said as he shook her hand. Releasing her hand he flopped back onto the sand. "Though for the immediate future, how about we take a breather and enjoy the beautiful moon?"

"Good idea." Lia said as she too flopped backwards.

It didn't take long before Lia was fast asleep. When Naota was sure she was out cold he picked her up in his arms and quickly made his way back to her hotel room. The lights were on when he arrived and Ranma answered to his knock.

"Naota." he said.

"Sensei." Naota replied.

Seeing Lia Ranma held out his arms and Naota transferred Lia to her fathers arms. Lias only reaction was to mew in her sleep and snuggle up to the familiar warmth of Ranma.

"Out cold..." Ranma murmured under his breath.

"She wore herself out." Naota said.

"I bet." Ranma said. "How are you feeling?"

"Better, thanks to her." Naota said, nodding at Lia.

Ranma smiled as he looked at the sleeping face of his daughter. "That's my girl." he said. Looking back up he saw Naota had disappeared. "See you back at the dojo." he said before shutting the door.

__________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ _______________

(1) Its not feeling human, but close enough.

(2) On a side note, let me give you an explanation of technical terms. There is no such thing as a firearms silencer. That big, fat, cylinder you screw onto the muzzle of your weapon suppresses the noise of the shot, thus making it harder to hear, not silencing it. Not that Naota wants to give a working demonstration to anyone.

(3) A conglomerate of companies in Japan, with interests in various industries, sort of like how General Electric makes everything from light bulbs to jet engines.

(4) the Japanese Mafia, of course..

(5)about ten feet, give or take a few inches.

(6) Thats about three miles

(7) cat demon