Once again, Ranma participated in his classes, making sure to relate everything to either Martial Arts or one of trips with his Pop, as not to alarm anyone in the class. It annoyed him to do that, but having his classmates scared of him was worse. Still went faster with the storytelling and he got more of the students involved, so some actual learning took place, much to the enjoyment of the teacher and class.
Finally, it was lunchtime.
Ranma jumped out the classroom window, quickly sprinted over of the sight of the students, and teleported himself back to the Guidance Counseling room.
As he walked into the office, he noted that Kasumi had a dazed look to her and her lap and purse were filled with pamphlets and catalogs. Kasumi and Mori-san seemed to be just exchange community gossip.
He cleared his throat, asked if they were finished, and got a positive response from Mori-san. He escorted Kasumi out of the office, down an unused hallway, picked Kasumi up, and teleported himself and her back to the Tendo-ke.
There, he explained to his Mother about how he and Nabiki had set up an appointment for Kasumi to go to College Guidance Counseling to see about what courses she could take, but they had done so, prior to their little trip through the Multiverse, and they had not gotten back in time. But they were fortunate to reschedule, thanks to a cancellation. Ranma noted that Kasumi blushed at the mention of the cancellation and wondered a bit about it. Either way, he suggested that his Mother could help Kasumi go through the information she had gotten from Mori-san and then teleported to the roof of the school, where Nabiki waited for him.
Seeing him, she asked, "How did it go?"
"As well as can be expected," was his reply. "She's scared, nervous and hasn'a clue what she should do."
She shook her head. She commented, "You know you're going have to push her... Probably hard and for the first couple of semester, at least."
Ranma sighed and just said, "Maybe. I just don't wanna have her become dependent upon me..."
Nabiki smiled a bit sadly and remarked, "She is my sister..."
"One problem at a time, Nabs," Ranma answered. "About Juuban Ward?"
Smirking at the change of topic, she stated, "Someone or a group of some ones has set up some wards there to isolate the area, as well as diverted all the magical flows in the area into there...."
"So have a mage or mages," Ranma recapped, "Want to operate independently of the rest of Tokyo, and assumingly the World, and are draining all the magic in the area, and presumably will drain more and more as time goes on, either to boost them, or out of ignorance, to power some spell or such way out of proportion. Whoever is doing it, hasn't affected the Dragonlines, outside of the magic flow disruption and has confined themselves to Juuban."
Nabiki nodded in agreement.
"I need to check out the Kendo Club," Ranma continued, "Afterwards, we need to go to Juuban and see first-hand what's going on..."
"Kendo Club," Nabiki repeated. "Why... Oh... Kuno-baby... They all can't be that bad..."
Ranma shrugs and commented, "Well, for the most part, they support him... if by nothing else, by silence..."
It was Nabiki's turn to shrug. The rest of the Kendo Club, especially compared to Kuno, was quiet. Especially since Ranma came to Furinkan Koukou. Either way, she had no worries, her husband and Master was after all, the Legendary "Onikirimaru Battousai." Demonlords, Dementors, Mazokulords, and such, all feared him. Even without his sword, he was as Armsmaster, as well.
"While I'm testing out the Kendo Club," Ranma continued. "I need you to scout out the local devil hunters and see what's around. Standard stuff, Nabs..."
Nabiki nodded and grinned.
Seeing Nabiki's grin, he added looking at her, "And just because we're home, does not mean we need any servants, Nabiki. We're in this for the long haul."
Nabiki signed but nodded. Her Master still had not realized that no organization could truly function without a leader. Committees took too much time and were very unstable. If she knew that if she could unify everyone under her Master, the World would be such a better place. After all, it was only proper for every female to server their Lord. But her Master did not agree with such thinking, even it she thought it was logical and obvious. Still, the club members had seen it.
Afternoon classes went as quickly as the morning ones, for which Ranma was thankful.
He noted that both Ukyou and Akane, with grim faces, had been among the first to leave. He hoped they were not going to go do something foolish, like challenge Nabiki to try to get him back. Regardless of the outcome, he would be pissed that they would attempt something so childish... but, of course, this was Nerima. So it was only a matter of time. Akane, Nabiki could handle, but Ukyou, he was not sure... And together... Well, that was very doubtful they could work together like that.
Either way, he knew he could trust Nabiki to handle herself, so he was not worried. Thus, he was calm as he walked towards the room where the Kendo Club met. In a bathroom along the way, he changed into the traditional Kendo outfit and retrieved his bokken from his subspace pocket, as he had the outfit as well.
He signed as he walked into the room and noted everyone was lazing about. He walked over to the mat and took the traditional Kendo Captain's spot. As he was not Tatewaki Kuno, doing so was a clear challenge, to both Kuno and the Club.
Changing his voice slightly, he stated, "Pathetic."
The club members looked at him as if he was crazy.
"Is this the undefeated Kendo Club of Furinkan Koukou," he continued to say. "Or just a bunch of goof-offs that ride upon the coat-tails of that baka Kuno-baby?"
"Hey, you can't say that!" someone shouted.
One could hear the smirk on his face, which was good since he was wearing the Kendo facemask, as he continued, "But I just did. And I see my point was just proven as well."
The club members got angry.
"Is there none here who could challenge me?" he asked off-handedly.
It took a bit of goading on his part, but finally, Ranma got the challenges he wished for.
The two moved to the mat. And someone stated, 'Begin.'
It was obvious that the one he faced had not learned anything of Kendo, but then he was a Freshman, like Ranma. Of course, Ranma's difficult was that he had to restrain himself only to Kendo, and even then, just to Traditional, Classical Kendo, like Tatewaki Kuno did. He put the teaching of Kamiya Kasshinryu to use.
The freshman quickly got frustrated and anger, so Ranma corrected him and said, "A true samurai must follow the Jin of Serenity. One must remain calm and collected during battle. The anger blinds oneself."
After the freshman, another challenged him, one that boasted of his non-existed skill, in typical Kuno-like fashion, to which, he added, "A true samurai must follow the Jin of Piety. There is always one better. The greatest swordsman will still fall with an arrow in his heart."
The next one did not even wait for his fellow club member to leave the mat, but just charged at him. He continued, "A true samurai must follow the Jin of Loyalty. Loyalty to one's self, as well as one's Lord and Retainers. For Loyalty is not a one-way road."
The following one, tried to use some unorthodox techniques against him, but he was easily able to counter with Traditional, Classic Kendo techniques, with his speed and skill. He told this one and the Club at large, "A true samurai must follow the Jin of Obedience. A soldier has no time on the field of battle to question his Lord's battle plan. Nor second-guess him. This Jin is abused a lot, and must be balanced with the other eight Jins."
The next one was more cautious, and he smiled as he said, "A true Samurai must follow the Jin of Wisdom, for he cannot allow others to do the thinking for him. He must learn all he can and be able to apply that knowledge to new and unique situations."
The next one was the first to bow to him, and they waited for someone to signal for them to begin. Still smiling, he added, "A true samurai must follow the Jin of Courtesy, for he is not a monster or an animal that simply takes or rushes through. Politeness and manners set him apart from the amasses and the animals."
The next one also bowed and waited for the signal to start. When he tripped, he moved away and waited for his opponent to get up and ready himself. He stated, "A true samurai must follow the Jin of Benevolence. One can easier stop a Kappa with an offer of a cucumber then fighting. As well as, one helped can become a future ally that turned the tide for you."
The eight challengers, bowed, waited for the signal to start, and showed to have a good deal of skill. He grinned and added, "A true samurai must follow the Jin of Trust/Sincerity. He must be true to himself and others. Mean what he says, and does what he says."
The ninth and last challenger, the senior-most student, he, too, bowed, waited for a signal to begin, and was almost on par with Kuno, but lacked the practice that Kuno had, since Kuno hogged all the matches. Ranma held very little back with him, yet still confined himself to only Traditional, Classical Kendo. This match was the closest he had in some time. Still he was victorious and finished his little lecture, "A true samurai follows the Jin of Justice. There can be no Peace in the Land without Justice, and Justice requires Truth, for these three are the pillars of World."
When he finished, all the club members bowed to him in respect, they accepted him as a club member, as well as Master, and so he begin teaching the basics of Kamiya Kasshinryu to the club. He explained that a samurai needed those nine Jins as their foundation, to which to build their Art and lives upon. Just as a sword required a handle, so did Life require the Jins to be followed.
Where under Kuno, the Kendo club had just been a place to hang out and do nothing but listen to Kuno. Now, it was a place to learn about the Way of the Samurai, and applying that to the modern world. Just because something was old, did not make it sacred, or something new, a sign of progress. A balance between History and Tradition was need.
Before they were just blind followers, now, the Kendo club saw the true nobility of the Way of the Samurai and the Sword. Not the dramatics of Kuno, but a living, breathing example.
It was only after the club meeting ended, that Ranma removed his facemask and allowed the others to see his identity. Several of the club members were taken back, for they had considered him to be no better then Kuno. He had explained that during his training trip, a lot of his shortcomings and such had been showed to him, and he had used the opportunity to improve himself. He had been a child before, but now, he was growing up.
Many of the club simply nodded their heads, went to the showers, and had some heavy thinking to do, about the club, their lives, and Kuno.
After all the club members left, Ranma sighed being a bit tired, gathered some free-floating mana in the area, and used it to cleanse himself and changed back to his regular clothing. With that, he went in search of his wife.
Nabiki sighed. She was not surprised that Kuno-baby had been waiting in ambush for her, instead of attending the Kendo Club meeting. He rarely did, and when he did, it only to boast of his skill and proclaim his greatness. She also noted that Ukyou and Akane were heading towards her, with a glint in their eyes. From their auras, she could tell they were there to challenge her Master, as if he was some prize to be won, or a toy to be used and then discarded.
She was easily able to deal with Kuno-baby with a low-power magical attack. Unlike physical attacks, immunity to magical attacks could not be built up with repeative use. One had to develop actively seek out ways to counter or negate them. Nor was simple wooden bokken any protection against her magic. Since it was after school-hours, the Nurse's Office was closed. So she just left Kuno-baby as he was. Which just served him right, for some of the names he had called her. Several of whom, he had spent hours looking up in various dictionaries to expand his vocabulary. It was sad, Kuno-baby could have been a Weaponmaster easily, or even a Blademaster, if only he was not lost in his delusions and self-proclaimed grandeur.
The easy at which she took care of Kuno-baby slowed her sister and Ukyou down a bit and made them uncertain, which she used to make her escape.
She knew she had the Right and their Mother on her side against Akane... but against Ukyou, that was a confrontation she wanted to push off for as long as she could.
When Ukyou had first shown up, she had tried to do some research on her, but there was not much public information available to be found on the Kuonji, especially someone underage and on a very tight budget. But that was no longer a concern. One of the first things she did after realizing that only a month had passed was to go out and hire a private investigator to look into the Kuonji, especially any Saotome-Kuonji agreements or engagements. She, of course, knew Genma's version of events, which Ukyou, herself, had not disagree with, but the more knowledge they had, the better off they were. One saving grace was the fact that it was Nodoka who was Head of the Clan, and not Genma, who married in, as represented by holding the Saotome Family Honor Blade. Which had been passed to her Master last night, making him the new Head, although, filing with the Imperial Family Records had to be done before it was official. Still, regardless of what the actual issues might turn out to be, Ukyou still felt she was owned a lot of compensation; for all that she went through.
She had a task her Master had given her, and she was going to completely it. So she had no guilt or remorse about avoiding them, even knowing that it was only a matter of time until she had to.
Once past the school, she took to roof-hopping. She worked her way to a way as high as she could go, looked around, and casted an invisibility spell on herself. She whispered, 'ray wing,' and floated into the sky. Once she got to an elevation that she could see all of Nerima and some of the other Wards of Tokyo, she casted, 'Detect Magic', and used her magical senses to look for any supernatural activity. The Juuban Ward, which was on the other side of Tokyo, dominated her magical senses, but she was able to tune it out. A few shrines and temples stood out, but nothing to truly suggest any devil hunting activity. She set up a magical detection web, to alert her and Ranma to any supernatural activity that would be linked to devil hunting or the like.
She floated down towards one of the shrines, when she felt the spell-web activate, alerting her to demon activity off to her right. Unconsciously, she had magically changed her clothing to that which she considered her 'sorceress' uniform. The uniform consisted of black high-heels, a very short, black skirt with red trimmings which showed off her long, toned legs, a sheathed long-dagger could be seen on her right hip, a form-fitting, red Chinese Silk short-sleeve shirt, her black silk-ribbon choker with a small, blue-grey gem center-piece that matched the eye color of her Master was clearly on display. Her staff was in her right hand, and a cloak over her shoulders completed her outfit.
She found two girls fighting against a group of demons. They were outnumbered, yet, holding their own. Without hesitation, she casted several 'Elmekia Lanceos' at the demon, which disintegrated the demons, but if a human was hit with it, she could just use an 'Ennervate' charm to awaken them quickly.
She had caught several of the demons by surprise, and the rest put up magical shields, so she landed. With her staff as her weapon, she started to cast more powerful spells at point-blank range, as well as using it to block the demons' assaults and erect shields to protect herself and the two girls.
The two girls, one was a bit younger then she was before her and her Master's trip through the Multiverse, and the other was a bit younger then the first girl. One used a sword and the other used a spear, both were up, close, and personal with the demons, doing what they could to stop them.
It took around fifteen to twenty minutes to deal with the demons. All three were tired, although, Nabiki was fairing the best, even though she had used the most energy in dealing with the demons, but then she had been doing such stuff for over a decade now. The other two girls look like they had only been doing it for a year, two at the most.
Nabiki pulled two vials of quick-energize potions, passed them to the girls and said, "Hi, I'm Nabiki Saotome. Here, this will help you recover quicker. Also help heal any minor wounds as well."
The older of the two girls eyed the potions with cautious, while the younger one, who had not fair as well, took the potion and downed it before the older girl could stop her by calling her name, "Azusa!"
The one she called 'Azusa' looked curiously at her companion. Her companion was going to say something, but stopped as she noted that the various scratches healed themselves and Azusa stood a little straighter and looked refreshed. Seeing that, the older girl followed suit.
Nabiki smiled at Azusa and asked, "Need anything else?"
"A quick way home?" Azusa asked hesitantly.
Nabiki looked to the older girl, held out her staff to Azusa, and answered, "Sure... Just visualize where you wish to go and touch the orb on my staff."
Puzzled, but willing to humor Nabiki, the older girl nodded towards Azusa, who closed her eyes in concentration and then reached out and touched the orb on Nabiki's staff. When Azusa opened her eyes, they were in a backyard of a house. A woman, in her later years, came quickly into the backyard from the house, prepared to fight.
"Yokho-chan," the elder woman called out, "what happened?"
The older girl, Yokho, looked a bit embarrassed, and gestured towards Nabiki.
The elder woman saw Nabiki, blinked as she took in her outfit, and looked closely at her face. After a pause, she asked, "You're Izumi's daughter, aren't you?"
It was Nabiki's turn to blink in surprise. She answered, "Yes, I am. I'm Nabiki Saotome nee Tendo." In curiosity, she asked, "Did you work with my mother?"
"A Shikima or two have crossed my path in my younger days," was the elder woman's reply with a smile.
The other girls, Yokho and Azusa, seem to shudder at the thought of a Shikima, sex-demon. Nabiki could not blame them. One had to be sexually dominant and self-discipled to be a Shikima Hunter like her Mother. Without Ranma, she would be very vulnerable to a Shikima's games. Which is why none of her sisters were allowed to take up their Mother's occupation or were told about it.
Azusa blinked as she heard Nabiki's married name and maiden name. She wondered out-loud, "Saotome? Tendo? Are you related to THE Ranma Saotome of the Saotome Musabetsu Kakuto Ryuu?"
Nabiki blinked. She heard the stressed 'the' in Azusa's statement. She knew that her Master was something of a legend in the Furinkan Koukou area, but she, and He for that matter, had not thought it went beyond that. Still, she had to answer, "By marriage... Ranma Saotome is my husband."
It was Yokho's turn to blink. And she asked, with a touch of awe in her voice, "You mean that Ranma Saotome actually exists? Not some Nerima Urban Legend?"
Seeing that things were getting derailed, Nabiki asked the elder woman, "Is there somewhere were we can discuss all this?"
The elder woman nodded and motioned the three inside. The inside of the house were similar to the layout of the Tendo-ke, Nabiki absently noted. They went to the dining room, and the elder woman started to go off to get some tea and snacks when Nabiki stopped her.
Puzzled the elder woman looked towards Nabiki for an explanation, which was, "I'm a sorceress... It's a simple matter..." And with that, she waved her hand. A pot of hot water, the makings of tea, and sugar cakes appeared. She took one of the cups, and made some traditional tea for each of them, starting with the grandmother, then Yokho, then Azusa, and finally, herself.
After a spot of tea and sugar cakes, Nabiki decided to tell her story. She began by telling them that, growing up, she had no clue what her mother did, only that she was something of a martial artists, like her father, and that her mother had passed away ten years ago. She was honest, and told them how her family had fallen apart without her mother. She mentioned that Kasumi had taken the lion's share of the housework and parenting of herself and Akane. She recapped the coming of Ranma into her family's lives, and the chaos that had followed him. Not that they had not had their share prior to the Saotomes arrival. She clarified any of the stories they had heard about Ranma. The stories were, obviously, from Akane's perspective, as well as, having been exaggerate in their retelling. She told how the engagement was transferred to her, twice, and how the second time, she took it more seriously, especially, after her discovery that it was what her mother had originally wished. She even mentioned that their month-long training trip together was actually a ten-year or more journey through the Multiverse. During which she had learned to become a sorceress and Ranma had made a reputation for himself as the "Onikirimaru Battousai," using his family's sword style.
She was a bit surprised to see that the elder woman, who introduced herself as Madoka Mano, the One-Hundred Seventh Generation Devil Hunter of their Clan and her granddaughter, Yokho Mano, was the One-Hundred Eighth Generation Devil Hunter, was familiar with the name given to her Master. Madoka also seem to be aware of the origin of the name, dating back to her Master's great-grandfather, the Hitokiri Battousai.
She brought the conversation back to the reason for her seeking devil hunters and the like out with, "During our journeys, we noted that many devil hunters and the like operated, for the most part, independently of each other, without any support or coordination, among them. Which led, when something major happened, to several problems... as well as the lost of techniques and coverage of the area."
The three devil hunters had no problems with what she was saying, so she continued with a smile, "My husband, the Onikirimaru Battousai, is a Master of the Art... and is a feared Slayer among the Darkness. He is also an excellent Healer... I'm a good sorceress... We had a dojo to train others in. We're experienced and have several Healing techniques and potions on hand to deal with things that a normal, everyday Hospital or Doctor cannot... Plus, by organizing, we can ensure that all areas are covered, that we can provide support, and that we assist if there is need."
The three devil hunters nodded in agreement.
A lull soon developed, during which the four enjoyed their tea and sugar cakes.
Azusa, off-handedly, said, "I wonder where all those devils came from?"
Nabiki sighed and said, "The barriers between realms have been weakened... making it a lot easier for demons and the like to come here... What's the cause of it? We're not sure... But we think it might be related to the magical draining that's occurring in Juuban Ward."
They discussed what little they knew of the Juuban Ward, and the three devil hunters agreed to tell the other devil hunters they knew of Ranma and Nabiki's plans to organize everyone and of what little they knew of Juuban Ward.
With that, Nabiki gave her farewells, and headed to see some of the local shrines that she had sensed.
Using the Manos as a reference, as well as a bit of magical demonstration, she was able to get the various local Shrines and Temples to agree to the organization and support.
Of course, being the good slave that she was, she could not help praising her Master, and hinting that he would be best to lead this new organization.
Smiling, Nabiki heads towards Juuban Ward to met up with her Master there.
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