Saji grumbled to himself as he nodded to an officer walking past him, and picked up the newspaper. He was stationed as the guard at the entrance to the Special Ops wing of the police station, and he found it doubtful that there was a more boring and mundane job in all of the Special Ops. Actually, he found it difficult to believe there was a more mundane job in the entire Police Department. He knew the face of just about everybody who worked in Special Ops, so it was simply a matter of waving through any of the officers who wanted to enter. He couldn't remember anybody ever trying to sneak into the place. Who would be dumb enough to sneak into a place full of armed cops, anyway? he thought angrily as he concentrated on the article he had been reading. "Morning, Saji." The guard looked up to see a short redheaded woman approaching her, and he lowered the paper. He smiled, and unlike usual, it was genuine. "Morning, Ranma. Hey, did you see?" he pointed to the article he was reading. "You made the paper." She looked over. "Cool. Page 2, even. Let's see... 'Police Chase Ends In Shootout and Accident; Traffic Snarled for Hours.' Her eyes moved up and down as she skimmed the article. "Looks like it's the same type of crap they normally put out. I bet tomorrow there'll be a whole series of editorials about the police endangering civilian lives." Her face twisted into a grimace. "I knew what I was doing, damn it." "Don't worry about it." He folded the paper. "Being a cop is a thankless job sometimes, but-" he grinned, "take comfort in knowing that it's their money that pays your salary." She chuckled. "Yeah, there's always that." "By the way, Kusaka wanted you to report to his office as soon as you got in. I'd guess it's for reasons related to the article- maybe you should pretend to be late." She shook her head. "Actually, the suspect I captured apparently spilled the beans and a new investigation is being opened. He called me last night to tell me he wanted me to take charge of it." "Well, good luck either way. You know, you're the only cop I know who can make the morning newspaper with negative publicity and still get authorized to lead an investigation the next day." Ranma shrugged. "Just lucky, I guess. Well, I'd better go talk to Kusaka. Later." She's quite a babe, Saji couldn't help but think as she walked away. He reread the news article and chuckled at the mental image of a petite young woman doing a flip over two cars. Yeah, she's a babe, he thought- a disturbingly macho babe. He imagined what would happen if some guy propositioned her, and winced in pain at the mental images his mind conjured up. He shook his head and went back to reading the paper. ------------------------------------------------ Ranma couldn't help but notice that the very paper Saji had pointed out to her was sitting on the corner of her boss' desk. Much to her relief, though, after he acknowledged her presence he didn't pick up the paper, but instead picked up a manila folder and handed it to her. 'Classified' was stamped on it in big red print, and above that was written, 'Questioning Results- Kozuke Nagumo.' "Excellent." She opened it and began flipping through it, and Kusaka addressed her again. "Have a seat." He gestured to the chair placed against the wall facing his desk. Ranma walked over, pulled it up to the desk, and sat down, all the while skimming the contents of the folder. Kusaka leaned forward and continued talking. "Before I give you your assignment, I'll give you a brief summary of what's in that folder. Nagumo, it turns out, ranks pretty low in this particular Yakuza family. He doesn't know much. His bosses tried to keep him in the dark, but apparently he overheard a conversation he wasn't supposed to. It appears that an outside party contracted the Yakuza to do the hit on Mikawa, and it's probably a legitimate corporation. This would make sense based on what we already know." He picked up a couple of other papers from his desk and handed them to Ranma, who took them and skimmed them as Kusaka continued talking. "That's the background on Kaei Mikawa. He was apparently a brilliant computer scientist, and rose quickly through the ranks at his company- Onishi Technologies." Ranma frowned as she noticed something on the sheet. "Says here that Onishi is a military contractor. That's odd for a Japanese company." Kusaka shrugged. "Well, somebody has to do it. Who do you think provides you with the firearm you're wearing?" Her hand unconsciously moved toward the holster she carried at her side. "I thought the guns were American-made." Kusaka leaned back in his chair. "Well, somebody's got to import them. That's what Onishi does. It has special permits to import weapons and ammunition, and also does weapons research of its own. Onishi was very tight-lipped about the research; they apparently don't want any secrets leaking out. It didn't seem like important information at the time, so we let it be. However, we may have to question them again." "Still," Ranma looked up from the papers, "being in an industry that's so rare for Japan would lend credence to the idea of the hit being arranged by another corporation." Kusaka nodded. "Yes, it would. There are two goals to this investigation. One, find and bust the Yakuza ring that Nagumo was affiliated with. Two, find the person or corporation that arranged the hit and bust them." Ranma returned to flipping through the folder. "I don't suppose Nagumo was kind enough to provide us with the names and addresses of the Yakuza he worked with." "Unfortunately not. Nagumo could only provide last names and physical descriptions, and in a city the size of Tokyo if all you have is a last name and a vague description..." "The suspects number in the hundreds," Ranma finished. "Even if you restrict your search to known criminals only." "Correct." Kusaka sighed. Ranma frowned. "So in other words, we know there's more to this case- but we don't have any concrete leads." "Not quite." Kusaka leaned forward and rested his elbows on his desk. "What we do have to go on is the address that Nagumo was headed for. Apparently, it's a Sushi Bar that he was going to meet his contacts at." Ranma flipped through the folder and found the address. "Gunichi's Giant House O' Sushi." True, the name was a little odd, but other than that, what of it? "Under ordinary circumstances that would probably mean nothing. However, Nagumo apparently met the same contacts there multiple times over a span of a few weeks leading up to the hit on Mikawa." "Not very smart of them." "Maybe they serve good sushi." Kusaka shrugged. "Or maybe the restaurant itself is linked to the Yakuza. You'll be working with Hiroshi Juzo again, and the first thing I want you to do is pay a visit to the place. It's up to you how you do it, but you should really go incognito at first. Don't go in with guns blazing... not at first, anyway. If it comes to a point where force is necessary, call for backup and check with me first." "Yes, sir." She got up to go. "Oh, and Saotome?" "Sir?" He held up the newspaper. "Try to keep the publicity to a minimum." "Yes, sir." ------------------------------------------------ "There it is. Gunichi's." Ranma pointed down the street. Hiroshi pulled over and parked the car on the curb. The first thing he had done, upon learning that he would be partnered with Ranma Saotome again, was insist to her that he would be the one doing the driving this time. As they walked across the street, he fingered the gun hidden in his coat pocket as he studied the run-down looking building in front of them. "It doesn't exactly have the look of a five-star eatery, does it?" "Or even a three-star eatery, for that matter." Ranma began walking toward the building. "Luckily we're not here to eat." "Luckily. Right." Hiroshi pulled his coat tighter around him as he caught up to Ranma and they entered the restaurant. A bell attached to the door jingled, announcing their arrival. There was a bar along the left wall, but Ranma gestured toward one of the booths lining the opposite side. They moved over to one of the booths near the back and sat down. He sat facing the back of the store, and Ranma sat facing the front. She looked over her shoulder and studied the restaurant. "Good. There's only one hallway in the back." She reached into her pocket and handed Hiroshi a tiny wireless receiver and a small transmitter disguised as a pin. He quickly pinned the pin to his collar and placed the receiver in his right ear so it was facing the wall and would not be seen. Ranma then did the same with another transmitter and receiver. She leaned forward and talked to him in a whisper. "Once we order, I'll go back there under the pretense of looking for the restrooms. If anything suspicious happens or if anyone notices me, tell me." "What are you looking for?" he asked quietly. "First, anything that tells me this restaurant has links to the Yakuza. Second, anything that might lead us to those Yakuza. Third, anything indicating who the Yakuza are working with." Hiroshi nodded. "Good luck." ------------------------------------------------ As soon as their waiter had disappeared into the back of the restaurant with their order, Ranma looked over her shoulder to make sure no one was watching her too closely, and then slipped out of the booth and into the back hallway. There were two doors on the left and three on the right. She quickly tried the first door on the left. Finding it locked, she pulled a special tool out of her pocket, jimmied the lock and found herself staring into a janitor's closet. She closed the door just as the waiter walked out of the closest door on the right. He looked at her as she put on her best help-me-I'm-lost face. "Can you tell me where the restrooms are?" "Sure." He pointed. "Second door on the right." "Thanks." Ranma smiled at him, trying to look as innocent as possible, and walked over to the door he had indicated. She opened the door and looked back down the hallway, but the waiter had disappeared back into the main area of the restaurant. Assuming the other two doors on the right were the men's restroom and the kitchen that the waiter had come out of, the only door remaining was the second door on the left. She walked over quickly only to find it locked. As she jimmied the lock she looked out of the hallway to make sure no one was watching and made eye contact with Hiroshi just as she opened the door and shut it behind her. ------------------------------------------------ Hiroshi sighed in relief as the door shut behind Ranma. The door had only been shut for a second, though, when the waiter entered the hallway again. He started to walk into the kitchen, paused, and then went to the janitor's closet and twisted the handle, opening the door. The waiter looked back down the hallway. Then he reached into the closet, locked the door, closed it, and went into the kitchen. The significance of that wasn't lost on Hiroshi. Ranma had forgotten to lock the door, and the waiter knew she was snooping around- their cover was blown. He fidgeted nervously. ------------------------------------------------ Ranma looked around, and found herself in a smaller hallway with two doors- one on the end and one at the right. Opening the one on the right, she found herself looking out at a back alleyway. Just as she closed that door, her earpiece buzzed. "You'd better hurry it up in there. I think you may have company in a couple of minutes." "Roger that," she replied. The door on the end was locked, and forcing it open she found herself in a small room. It was lit by one dirty lamp hanging from the ceiling. To her left was a desk with a plush-looking chair behind it, and there was a couch and two other chairs in the room. This was undoubtedly the manager's office, but there was a chance that something far more sinister than managing a restaurant happened here. She went over to the chair and sat down and began opening the drawers, leafing through them and looking for anything that might give them some clue as to where to go from here. ------------------------------------------------ Hiroshi glanced at his watched for the fifth time in two minutes. Hurry up, Ranma, he thought quietly. The jingle of the door startled him, and he casually looked over his shoulder and cursed under his breath. Four rather large, muscular-looking men wearing business suits were walking into the restaurant, and they did not look friendly, nor even, for that matter, like businessmen. His suspicions were confirmed when they walked to the back, where the waiter greeted them and they talked quietly for a few seconds. Two of them walked into the back hallway. "Ranma," Hiroshi whispered harshly, "there are two guys headed back toward your location. Get out of there now." "All right, I'm almost done. Get out of there and start the car. I'll meet you outside." "Got it." Hiroshi turned to get up, but then sat back down quickly, cursing under his breath. The other two men were walking back toward the door, positioning themselves between him and his only route of escape. ------------------------------------------------ Ranma heard the hallway door open, and the sound of footsteps. She reached down to open the last drawer in the desk- and it was locked. Jackpot, she thought. She reached down to jimmy it open, but just then she heard the doorknob turn. She quickly scooted under the desk and cursed herself silently for not locking the doors behind her. She realized that she had placed herself in a particularly bad position, hunched under the desk with her movement restricted. The sound of a gun cocking told her she needed to act, and act quickly. She drew her own gun, and prepared to cock it. The footsteps got closer to the desk, and taking a quick breath she tensed her muscles and prepared to leap into action. ------------------------------------------------ Hiroshi fidgeted as he spared a glance at the two goons blocking his way out of the restaurant. To his dismay, they saw him look over and began moving slowly toward his table. He had to act fast, and act now. With only a moment's hesitation, he jumped up and sprinted toward the back of the restaurant, with the two men running after him. Just as he reached the back of the restaurant, the waiter came out of the kitchen again. He was carrying a tray of food, and moved to block Hiroshi's path, but was startled by two gunshots that suddenly rang out from nearby. Taking advantage of the waiter's surprise, he moved past him, into the hallway, and remembering Ranma's mistake, locked the door behind him. Pulling a pin from his pocket, he quickly managed to jam the lock. As he moved down the hallway, the doorknob rattled and there was a pounding on the door. He had bought a few seconds of time, at least. Only now that he was safe in the hallway did Hiroshi wonder if Ranma was all right. Had it been Ranma or the other men who had fired the shots? He saw that the door on the far end of the hallway was open slightly, but not enough for him to see anything. Taking out his gun and cocking it, he broke into a run and burst through the door. He had barely stepped into the room when he was tripped and landed hard on the ground, sending his gun flying. He rolled over and found himself staring directly into the barrel of a gun. "Sorry about that." Ranma holstered her gun and reached her hand down, helping Hiroshi to his feet. "I thought I told you to meet me at the car." "Let's just say I ran into some difficulties." He dusted himself off, and looked around. Two men lay on the ground, one with a bullet hole clean through his chest and the other with a bullet hole.. well.. not so clean through his head. Hiroshi winced as the splattered carnage, and turned back to his partner. "We're not out of the clear yet. There's till two men in the restaurant after our heads." The pounding on the hallway door resumed, and Hiroshi retrieved his gun and looked back down the hall. "It'll only be a minute until they break down the door." "Then you search the bodies and I'll finish at the desk." Ranma was already kneeling back by the desk, jimmying a lock on one of the drawers. "We have to find something to make this little trip worthwhile. She yanked the drawer open and began leafing quickly through its contents. Hiroshi turned the first body over, and frisking it, found nothing. He turned to the second body, wincing. He turned it over, ignoring the large hole in the man's temple from which fluids he didn't care to identify were still dripping. "Jackpot!" Ranma waved three unmarked floppy disks in the air. "This looks like our best bet for finding something." She pocketed them. Hiroshi finished searching the second body, and shook his head. "Nothing over here." "Let's go, then." They ran out of the room, Hiroshi leading, just as the door swung open and the two men burst in with their guns drawn. Hiroshi drew his own gun and fired two bullets, both of which missed but which sent the men ducking for cover anyway. "Come on!" Ranma opened the door to the left of them, and they ran into a back alleyway just as gunshots rang out from down the hallway. Ranma reached into her pocket just as Hiroshi shut the door behind him, pulled a small square of what appeared to be ordinary plastic from her pocket, and slapped it on the door, where it stuck. A red light began blinking in the middle of the plastic. Hiroshi recognized it immediately. It was some of the latest technology, and also some of the deadliest- at least for its small size. It wasn't publicized that the Special Ops police were allowed to carry it- and for a good reason. "Oh, shit, you can't be serious!" Hiroshi yelled to her as they ran down the alleyway. "Damn right I'm serious," muttered Ranma through clenched teeth as they sprinted toward the street. Hiroshi heard the door leading to the restaurant open, and heard Ranma counting under her breath. "Four... five..." Both of them leapt behind a dumpster just in time, as the back of the restaurant erupted in a large orange fireball. They winced as the shock wave reached them, carrying with it large chunks of brick and mortar. Luckily, the dumpster shielded them from most of it, but as they sat there catching their breath a layer of white dust settled down around them, the silence only interrupted by an occasional pebble hitting the ground. Slowly, they got up and looked back at the restaurant. Where there had been a door, there was now a gaping ten-foot hole. There was no sign of the actual door, or the men who had been behind it. Ranma coughed, and brushed some of the dust off her clothes. Hiroshi just stared. "I'd like to see what the papers are going to say about this." Ranma turned and began walking away. "If we hurry, they won't even figure out who it was." She felt inside her pocket and pulled out the floppy disks. "These had better have some decent information on them." Hiroshi finally managed to look away from the wreckage, and followed her toward the end of the alleyway. "Yeah. If I find out I nearly got killed just so we could have a copy of their menu, I'll be really pissed." ------------------------------------------------ Ranma frowned as she studied her computer monitor. Hiroshi, standing behind her and watching over her shoulder, didn't look any happier. "Looks like a list of vendors and suppliers," she frowned as she studied the file. "Well, we know where they got their sushi from. Maybe we could sell this to competing sushi bars." Ranma pressed the button on the floppy drive angrily, ejecting the disk. She threw it over her shoulder, not caring where it landed. "That's about the only use for it. It looks like this operation was probably a bust." "Well, there's one more disk." Hiroshi handed the final disk to Ranma, who put it in the drive. "Where will we go from here if this was pointless?" "I don't know," Ranma muttered as she waited for the computer to read the disk. "I guess we'll have to go back to the restaurant, and see if anything's left." Hiroshi frowned at the idea, but before he could respond the computer beeped and the contents of the disk were listed on the screen. "Let's see...these file names make no sense whatsoever." Ranma frowned as she studied the screen. "mijx874... hgnt651..." "Maybe that's to throw people off. Open one and see." Ranma moved the mouse, and opening one of the documents looked over it quickly as it opened. Her frown slowly disappeared, to be replaced with a smile. "I think we hit the jackpot." Hiroshi's smile was just as wide as Ranma's. "It's gotta be what we're looking for. Why else would a sushi bar have a disk with this sort of information on it?" The list was a chart of various types of weaponry, describing ammunition, damage, and typical cost. All the weapons were easily portable and handheld, but they ranged from simple guns to grenades to rocket launchers. Ranma drummed her fingers on her desk as she considered the information. "This information is too detailed for just anybody to compile. Whoever put this together had more sources than just the Internet." "It would fit in with what we know already. Onishi Technologies was a military contractor, and these are military weapons. But what was their source of information for this? Surely not Onishi." "No," Ranma frowned. "One of their competitors." She got a sinking feeling in her stomach as her mind put the pieces of the puzzle together. "If this was a corporate hit, then we can assume the corporation that arranged the hit was a direct competitor with Onishi, which means they'd be marketing the same goods." Hiroshi nodded. "Goods like these. Which means that if they got this from the company that set up the hit..." "The company must have been planning to compensate the Yakuza with weapons, rather than money. Holy shit." Her eyes scanned down the statistics of some of the weaponry displayed. "Do you realize what could happen if some of this got into Yakuza hands?" Hiroshi looked over her shoulder and studied the data sheet. "Damn... if there was a gang war..." "Or if some cops tried to bust them..." Images of major carnage and an all-out street war flashed through her mind. "This is bad. Really bad." Her fingers moved around the keyboard and soon the document was printing. "I'm gonna take this to Kusaka and finish analyzing the rest of the data. We might be able to dig up a lead in some of the files we skimmed through earlier. You do some digging on Onishi's competitors, and see what you can find." "Right." As Hiroshi walked away, Ranma rested her elbows on the desk and massaged her temples. She groaned, and looked back up at the computer screen. "Now comes the fun part..." She had never enjoyed desk work. Given the choice between sitting at a desk going through data, or being caught in a firefight with a gang of Yakuza, she'd take the Yakuza any day. ------------------------------------------------ Hiroshi spun in his desk chair to face Ranma as she walked up. "Anything else?" Ranma sat down on the edge of his desk. "Nothing, unless some of their suppliers have Yakuza links as well. There was an employee directory that looked promising, too." "Hmmm..." He drummed his fingers on his desk. "That might be worth checking out." "Probably." Ranma paused. "It won't be us doing that, though." "Oh?" "No. I talked to Kusaka, and he's willing to give us whatever manpower and support we need." She grinned. "This case is priority one for all of Special Ops. I've already assigned teams to check out the leads I got." "Excellent." He raised an eyebrow. "And now I suppose you're hoping that I've come up with some magnificent lead that's going to break this case wide open." "Well... the thought had crossed my mind," she admitted. "Was I being too optimistic?" Hiroshi turned back toward his computer and frowned. "Yes and no. There are three other companies besides Onishi that are licensed to import and manufacture military weaponry by the Japanese government. Only one of them is based in Tokyo. The other two are in Kyoto and Yokohama. The biggest one," he turned his computer screen so both of them could see, "is Misato Industries, based in Tokyo. It and Onishi get most of the larger contracts." He punched a series of keys, pulling up another screen. "The other two are smaller companies that mainly deal with their local governments. Offhand," he pulled up the first screen again, "I would say Misato is our best bet. There's nothing concrete, though." Ranma nodded. "Good work. Print out what you've got on Misato... including the names of any people you've got who are high up in the company. Then we can run 'em through the database to see what their histories are." She rubbed her hands together. "If nothing comes up, we'll have to call the Kyoto and Yokohama branches... or maybe even National. Either way, if it's not Misato we're after, then this investigation is out of our hands." Hiroshi nodded. Sure, they were all cops, but it would still hurt to have to turn over an investigation they had worked as hard as this one to somebody else. Even if they were on the same team. "The dossier on Misato is printing now." He had a feeling in his gut that Misato was who they were after anyway, so he wasn't too worried. Ranma walked over to the printer and picked up the pages it had spit out, leafing through them. The company was fairly large, even by international standards. They had existed for almost as long as the Japanese Self-Defense Forces, forming soon after World War II to work within the framework of the new government and constitution. They had been set up with government help, but were now a fully private company, and apparently turning a handsome profit. Ranma flipped the pages, scanning the information with practiced ease for anything relevant. She reached the information on the company's movers and shakers. Shunji Akasami, President since 1993. 58 years of age. Masashi Itasawa, Chairman. She scanned quickly, down a rather lengthy list of Vice-Presidents. Suddenly, her eyes did a double take. Near the top of list, listed as "Vice-President in Charge of Sales and Negotiation," was an old, familiar face. Nabiki Tendo. Ranma's knees were threatening to collapse under her, so she moved quickly to a nearby chair and sat down heavily. Well, she thought sardonically, it's certainly good to see she's been successful. For several minutes, Ranma stared at the face on the paper. Nabiki hardly looked like she had changed at all. Finally, having recovered her sense of equilibrium, she got up and walked away, shaking her head. What she had found was shocking, sure, but why, she thought, does this not surprise me in the least? ------------------------------------------------ "Excuse me?!?" Her superior officer looked at her incredulously. Ranma stayed still, looking straight ahead and not allowing any emotion to cross her face. "I said I wish to be dropped from this case, sir." "Let me get this straight." Kusaka leaned forward, elbows resting on his desk, and glared at her. Yesterday you almost got yourself killed for the sake of keeping this case open. Now you want off it?" "Sir, complications have arisen that I was not aware of yesterday. I do not feel it would be in anybody's best interests for me to continue working on the case." "Tell me.." Kusaka leaned back in his chair, watching her. "What is the nature of these complications?" "I know one of the people involved in the case, sir. I fear this will compromise my judgement and my ability to perform well." "All right." A worried expression crossed his face. "That certainly does have the potential to disrupt the case, I'll grant. What is the nature of this personal relationship?" "Ex-fiancée's sister, sir." Kusaka's expression was bemused. "I find in difficult to imagine you having a fiancée, Saotome. You don't strike me as the romantic type. How long ago was this?" Ranma's expression was carefully stoic. "Twelve years, sir." "Twelve years?" he frowned. "How old were you then? Seventeen or so?" She nodded. "Yes, sir." "That's pretty young, isn't it? How serious were you two?" Her neutral expression faltered for just a second. "It's a long story, sir." "I can imagine." Kusaka drummed his fingers on his desk, frowning. "Twelve years should be plenty of time to get over a relationship, shouldn't it, Saotome?" "As I said, sir, it's a long story." "I'll buy that..." Kusaka paused, considering the situation, and then looked at her again. "Do you feel that this connection would impair your judgement in any way? Or is it just a matter of personal discomfort?" Ranma hesitated, then frowned slightly. She really didn't think that it would impair her judgement... but she wanted to stay as far away from her past as possible. It certainly wasn't something she wanted to discuss with her boss. "Mostly it's a matter of personal discomfort, sir. I'd rather not bring up the past, if it's all the same to you." "I see." He looked up at the ceiling, tapping his fingers together, and then fixed her with a glare. "Well, since you seem to be unwilling to share your story, let me share one with you. Once, there was a cop. She was a damn good cop, too, when she wasn't being a reckless idiot. Anyway, it just so happened that she was working on an extremely important case. But, then.." his eyebrows arched in mock surprise, "she came to her superior officer asking to be dropped from the case! Apparently, someone involved in it was connected to someone else who she had known over a decade ago!" Ranma fought to keep her temper control. "Sir, I really feel that sarcasm isn't..." "No, no, let me finish. The ending is important." He leaned back again, clearly amused by her reaction. "Her superior officer thought, hmmm... if this case isn't taken care of, then there could very well be an all-out war in the streets of Tokyo in a matter of weeks. He decided that she would have to put aside her personal difficulties..." he stared at Ranma evenly, "because, quite frankly, he needed to have her working this case. "Look, Saotome. If you truly feel that your ability to work will be severely hampered by this personal connection, then fine. I'll drop you from the case." He shrugged. "But... I would like you to stay on it if you feel it's possible. And I want you to understand that I wouldn't ask you to stay on the case if I didn't think you could. But I have full faith in your abilities to put aside your personal problems for the sake of the investigation. "You're one of the best, Saotome, and while we may... disagree... over some of your methods, I know I can trust you to get things done. And this is something that desperately needs to get done." Kusaka's judgement took her by surprise, and her rising temper vanished along with the dozens of different arguments she had mustered as to why she was right and he was wrong. Truth be told, she did want to stay on the case.. she had nearly gotten killed during it, and it would be nice to see it through to the end. But.. damn Nabiki Tendo! "So?" Kusaka eyed her steadily. "Will you stay on the case? Or should I try to find a replacement?" Ranma was in turmoil. She didn't want to disappoint her boss... but she wasn't she could deal with Nabiki Tendo.. but she did want to stay with the case for other reasons... Aw, screw it, she thought to herself. "I'll stay on the case, sir." Kusaka nodded. "Good. If at any time you feel differently, come back and talk to me. But otherwise, I'd be much happier if you put your personal feelings aside and saw this case through." "Yes, sir." Ranma nodded. "Good. Is there anything else?" "We've got the dossiers on Onishi's competitors. It looks like the best bet is a company called Misato Industries. We're going to run a list of names of people high up in the company through the database and see what we come up with." "Good. Let me know if you find anything." "Yes, sir." She turned and walked out of the office. As soon as she was back in the hallway, she let out a sigh of exasperation, and hoped that she hadn't just made a terrible mistake.