Footsteps Leading Nowhere CH 3
:Chinese: {English} [Written]
Destine stepped into the kitchen and dished up some rice and ramen. Sitting down between Megumi and Mousse she looked around the table and smiled. "It feels great to have everyone here again. I just wish Shampoo could be here. I got a letter saying she wished she could visit but she had to stay in the village. Why's that Ryoga?"
Ryoga looked up with his chopsticks hanging out of his mouth. Megumi smiled and pointed. "Funny teeth."
Ryoga blushed and grabbed his chopsticks. "The reason she can't come is because she has a baby she has to deal with. It's still too young to be away from her. Her other child, a young girl who is now living with cologne in Nerima, is learning everything she can and appears to be an apt pupil. Cologne wishes Shampoo and Frost, the one in Nerima, to follow in her footsteps and become elders in their time. But as soon as her youngest, whom she has named Chaos, don't ask me why she named her that because I have absolutely no idea. But once Chaos is old enough Shampoo will come and visit." Ryoga smiled. He looked over at Megumi. "What do you mean funny teeth?"
Megumi laughed and pointed to Ryoga's chopsticks. "You had them in your mouth and they looked like teeth."
Tide smiled and sighed. "Child, be nice now."
Destine laughed. "You never cease to amaze me with your imagination Megumi. But Tide is right, you need to be nice."
Megumi looked down at the rice. "Sorry."
"You don't need to apologize Megumi, just remember next time to be nicer." Mousse smiled reassuringly in Megumi's direction.
Destine nodded and stirred her ramen. "Ryoga, want to join me in my shop after lunch? I need your opinion on a few things." She looked over at him and gave him the 'there's trouble' look.
Ryoga nodded and finished his rice. "Sure. I'll be glad to give you my opinion on what you're working on. Man, this is great food! I need to get your recipe."
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Ryoga stepped into the shop and whistled. "You've changed this place a bit. So what's the trouble?"
"Yosho and Yoshi are being released soon. They plan on getting their revenge on me and everyone I hold dear. To tell you the truth, I'm really worried about this." Destine sat down at her bench and started to twirl the glass rod that held the dog figurine. "I don't want them to hurt Megumi."
"I won't let them. If it is in my power to stop them, I will. Look, don't think about it right now. Remember, if you get upset Megumi's going to notice and get upset as well."
"I know, but what can we do?" Destine walked over to a box on the wall and opened it. She pressed some buttons on a keypad and a humming sound began to come from the box. "Well I just turned the security system back on. That way we will know if anyone comes on the property."
Ryoga smiled and patted Destine's shoulder. "We'll deal with Yosho and Yoshi when the time comes. For now, let's get back inside. I don't want to get caught in the rain without my umbrella."
"And why is that?" Destine raised her eyebrows and shut the box.
"We, as I said, we did get lost, and I fell into one of the springs." Ryoga laughed nervously. "Do you have any of that spring water left?"
"Nope." Destine picked up a glass of water that was sitting on her bench and dumped it on Ryoga. After a few seconds a black dog emerged from Ryoga's clothes. Destine smiled. "Well don't you just have the worst of luck." She picked up Ryoga's clothes and headed back to the house.
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Mousse looked up from the book he was reading as Destine stepped into the living room. Seeing Ryoga's clothes in her arms he smirked. "Either he's cursed again or he's streaking."
Destine set Ryoga's clothes down on the floor and laughed. "Cursed. Apparently when he got lost he managed to fall into the spring of the drowned dog. You going to come in here Ryoga?" Ryoga trotted into the room and sat down near the door. "Want to change back?"
":Oh great, You got hit with cold water again didn't you:?" Lipstick stepped into the room and knelt next to Ryoga.
"My fault." Destine slipped the clothes over Ryoga and walked into the kitchen to get some hot water. Walking back she tipped the kettle over Ryoga's head and waited for him to transform. "I was curious. One of my banes so to speak."
Ryoga arranged his clothes and sat down on the couch. "You could have asked."
Destine grinned and sat down next to Mousse. "But where is the fun in that?"
"Good point. I guess I can forgive you sis." Ryoga laughed and put his arm around Lipstick's shoulders. "So what's the plan for tonight? Anything special planned?"
Destine shook her head. "Nope." She stood up and walked out of the room.
Ryoga looked over at Mousse. "Why did she just leave like that?"
"Megumi needs something. Destine is able to sense when Megumi is in need of something. It still surprises me. One night we were fast asleep when she bolted from the bed and ran to Megumi's room. I groggily followed after her to see what she was doing. When I got inside I saw Megumi curled in a tight ball crying. She had a fever of over 103º. How Destine does it, I don't know." Mousse shrugged and shook his head.
":She has a link with Megumi:." Lipstick leaned forward and looked at Mousse. ":According to Amazon history a mother and daughter form an unbreakable link when the child is born. On rare occasions, a bond is formed between a mother and her son. The bond between Destine and Megumi is extra strong because Megumi cannot cry out if something is wrong:."
Destine stepped back into the room and tapped Mousse on the shoulder. "Mousse, I think you need to come and see this. I can't figure out how she's done it."
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Mousse and Destine stepped into Megumi's room. Megumi was hanging upside-down a few inches above the ground. She was tangled in her chains and ropes from head to foot. Mousse sighed and untangled her. "How did you manage to do this Megumi?"
"I thought I would try practicing moves like you do."
"Megumi, those moves are not to be tried by beginners. You could have gotten seriously hurt." Destine walked up to her daughter and placed her hands on Megumi's shoulders. "Do you understand?"
Megumi nodded and sat down on her bed. "I won't do it again. I promise."
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With a slight start Destine opened her eyes and slipped on her glasses. Listening carefully she could hear a quiet thumping sound. Destine rolled over in bed and tapped Mousse on the nose. ":You awake:?"
Mousse yawned. ":I am now. What's wrong:?"
":Listen:."
Mousse sat up and cocked his head slightly. ":What is that:?"
Destine climbed out of bed and slipped on a pair of slippers. ":I'm going to find out:." Grabbing her bokken (a wedding present from Akane) she headed for the door. Stepping into the hallway she let her eyes adjust to the light and followed the sound. 'What the heck could it be?'
Mousse put on his glasses and followed after Destine. ':Burglars:?' He looked up and down the hall. ':I have heard this sound before, but where:?' He looked out onto the lawn and saw a bunch of blurry figures moving about. Taking off his glasses Mousse quickly cleaned them and placed them back on. Looking out the window again the figures had disappeared. ':Guess it was just my imagination:.'
Destine turned around the corner of the hallway and froze. A loud ringing sound began to fill her ears. 'Megumi's in trouble!' She readied her bokken and ran to Megumi's room. Opening the door she stepped inside to find the room in shambles. The window was broken and the bed torn apart. Suddenly a dark shape came flying at her. She swung her bokken and hit the object shattering it to pieces. She heard a noise behind her and turned around just in time to see a dark figure hit her in the head with a baseball bat. Destine sank to her knees and shut her eyes tightly to try and stay conscious. "MOUSSE!" The figure jumped out the window and disappeared.
Mousse burst into the room and turned on the light. With a gasp he ran over to Destine. "Des-chan! What happened?"
"I don't know. Whoever it was that was in here had a good arm though." She sat up and rubbed the bump on her head.
Mousse looked around and sighed. "Megumi's gone. We need to call the police." He helped Destine up and walked out of the room. As he stepped into the kitchen he saw Ryoga standing by the door which was pried off its hinges. "Ryoga?"
Turning around Ryoga looked at Mousse with tears in his eyes. "Lipstick was kidnapped. She came out here to get a drink and disappeared. Tide's gone as well. All I found in Tide's room was this." He handed an envelope to Mousse.
Mousse led Destine over to a stool and had her sit down. "Get her an ice pack." Opening the envelope he adjusted his glasses and began to read. "If you have found this note then we have succeeded in our plans. If you wish to see your loved ones again, board the next plane to America. The tickets are in the envelope. If you try calling the police then we will kill them. See you soon. Yosho." Mousse pulled three tickets from the envelope and looked them over. "The plane leaves in two hours. What do you think we should do?"
Destine looked up with fire burning in her eyes. "We go after them." She stood up and walked out of the kitchen leaving Ryoga standing by the refrigerator holding an ice pack. She stepped back in and took the pack. "Thanks." Turning around she headed for her room.
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Mousse walked into the bedroom to see Destine packing her backpack. "You're really serious about this aren't you?" He sat down on the bed and shook his head. "And what are you going to do when you reach them?"
Destine closed her backpack and walked over to the closet. Slipping out of her nightgown, she pulled on a pair of loose black slacks and a sky blue short-sleeved shirt. She then pulled on a vest that reached down to the middle of her shins. Reaching into one of the boxes she pulled out a pair of black socks and put them on. "I'm going to get them back. If Yosho harms Megumi, I will kill him." She turned around and Mousse could see that she was crying. "Why did they do this? How could they have gotten past the security system? How could they have gotten past Detective Koto? He said he was going to watch over the house." She sat down on the bed and buried her face in Mousse's chest. "I will get them if it's the last thing I do."
Mousse put his arms around her and sighed. "Des-chan, think it through. Neither of us speaks a word of English and we don't know where exactly where we're headed. The ticket says that we make a stop in Hawai'i and then we go on to San Francisco. It's also a private jet. This could be a trap."
Destine looked up and sobbed. "Don't you think I know that?" She lay down on the bed and curled into a ball. "I read that San Francisco has an area called China Town. We can get directions there. The only problem is getting our weapons across."
Ryoga stepped into the room and sat down in a chair. "I'm going with you guys. My stuff is packed and by the door. I repaired the kitchen and the other rooms. I can also speak a bit of English."
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TWO HOURS LATER
Destine stood in the terminal of the plane and looked back at Mousse and Ryoga. Ryoga had put on a pair of jeans and a short-sleeved shirt. Mousse had on a pair of slacks and a business shirt, his hair was tied back in a pony tail and over his shoulder he carried a business jacket. "Ready?" Mousse and Ryoga nodded. "Then I guess we're off." Destine stepped on board the plane and took a seat near the wings. 'Oh man. I had forgotten how much I hate flying.' She buckled in and sighed. 'I'm coming Megumi.'
The plane took off and Destine quickly shut her window. As soon as the cabin pressure was equalized she leaned her seat back and closed her eyes.
The plane landed in Hawai'i and stopped to refuel. A voice came over the loudspeaker announcing that it was now 6:00 am. Destine opened her eyes and looked about. 'But we left at...oh, right, time change.' She adjusted her watch and stood up. Walking over to Mousse she smiled slightly and curled up next to him.
The plane took off within the hour and Destine willed herself to relax. 'I can overcome this fear, for Megumi's sake I will!'
Destine awoke to see Ryoga looking down at her. "Awake yet?" He helped her up and smiled. "You hate flying don't you?"
"How'd you guess?" Destine adjusted her vest and looked around. "Are we in America?"
"You betcha. We got here about five minutes ago. By the way it's 1:00 PM." Ryoga smiled and walked to the hatch. "Ready?"
"Where's Mousse?"
"He went ahead of us to get directions. He will meet us in the waiting area."
"Oh. Well let's go then." She picked up her shoulder bag and headed for the exit. "It's over here bro." She grabbed Ryoga by the collar and dragged him behind her. "You worry me sometimes."
Destine sat down in one of the chairs and looked out the window. She could see many different planes arriving and taking off on the runways. With a sigh she leaned back and closed her eyes. "We're never going to find her. This place is bigger than Hong Kong."
Mousse smiled and placed his hands on Destine's shoulders. "Ready to go?"
With a slight cry Destine whirled around and grabbed Mousse's arms and pinned them to the chair. "And just who do...sorry." Destine blushed and looked down. "Thought you were an attacker."
Mousse rubbed his arms and smiled. "At least your reflexes are top notch. Come on, I got instructions for a place to go for tonight. I also changed our money into dollars. I'm afraid we don't have that much to spend. We can only afford one night at the hotel and then we have to find some way to get more money."
"But we had 10,000 yen!" Ryoga looked up with wide eyes.
"The exchange rate is about 106 yen to every dollar. We only have 94 dollars and some change. By the way, we need to pick up our luggage at baggage claim A."
TWENTY MINUTES LATER
"Now let me get this straight. You can't READ English?" Destine rubbed her eyes, yawned, and looked over at Ryoga. "Sorry I'm a bit tired."
"I never had to read it before, just speak it." Ryoga looked at Destine apologetically.
"Well we're at the right place. There's Destine's backpack, I'd recognize it anywhere." Mousse smiled and pointed to a medium sized hiking backpack with a bird shaped emblem painted on the outer pocket.
"Let's get our stuff and find a taxi." Destine was about to get her bag when she noticed a tall young man with brown hair and fair skin looking at her. He was holding a large sigh with the name Hibiki painted on it in Hiragana. Destine raised an eyebrow. "Mousse, could you grab my bag as well?" She walked over to the young man and smiled. "Who are you waiting for?"
"I wait for Destine Hibiki and family. You look like girl described. You Destine Hibiki?"
"I am she. Who sent you?" Destine put her hand in her pocket and fingered a small switch knife. 'If he tries anything...'
"I sent by Jay. He say you be arriving and need place to stay. I here to take you to hotel and show you around if you want." The young man smiled and bowed.
":Really:." Destine gave a half smile letting one of her fangs show. "How much is this going to cost me?"
"Is free of charge."
Mousse stepped up next to Destine and set the backpacks down. "Who is this guy?"
"He says he was sent here by Jay to take us to a hotel. :Think we should trust him:?" Destine leaned over and whispered in Mousse's ear. ":He says it's free of charge and besides, if her tries anything:..."
":Let's take him up on it. He doesn't look like the type to try anything stupid. Also I think he knows that you will knife him if he tries to hurt any of us:." Mousse smiled and looked over at the man whose eyes were fixed on Destine's pocket.
":Better than trying to negotiate with someone who doesn't speak Japanese:." Destine smiled and bowed to the man. "We would be delighted."
"Good, you follow yes?"
"Where are we going?" Ryoga looked over at Destine and picked up his bag.
"To the hotel." Grabbing her bag Destine slipped it on and adjusted the straps so she could get it off quickly if need be.
TEN MINUTES LATER
"We here. Let me take bags for you. I show you to your room." The man took Mousse's bag and was about to pick up Destine and Ryoga's bags when Ryoga growled at him.
"Touch my bag and die." Ryoga glared at the man and undid one of his bandanas.
"I only want help." Then man stepped back and shuddered. Picking up Destine's bag he turned and began walking down the hallway.
Walking slowly Destine rubbed her temples. 'This man claims to have been sent by Jay. How the heck would he know?’ She looked up. "Excuse me sir? What's your name?"
"Is no important. Follow me please." He led them down the hallway to two separate rooms. "You have rooms so you can sleep comfy. They connected inside. Here keys." He handed Destine a pair of card keys and bowed. "I go now. If need ride, number on table inside." Turning to leave he stopped for a second before walking off.
Destine tapped his shoulder. "Wait a second sir. You never told us your name."
"Yeah, care to tell us?" Ryoga jumped in front of the man and grabbed him by the collar.
"I tell you my name is of no importance to you!" The driver struggled violently trying to break Ryoga's grasp.
"When did you learn such good Japanese all of the sudden?" Destine looked at the man. "And what's with the makeup?"
"I no know what you talking about."
"You're wearing makeup, and a wig too from the looks of it." Destine grabbed the man by the hair and pulled off the wig. "ZAHSU?!"
"Yeah, sorry for the disguise. I didn't think you would find out. Why didn't you call the police?" Zashu wiped off his makeup and stared at Destine. "Excuse me for a second." He sat down on the ground and rolled up his pant legs. Carefully unfastening the straps he removed a pair of short stilts. "Those things were killing my legs."
"Here's the reason we didn't call the police." Destine pulled the note Yosho had sent from her pocket and handed it to Zashu. "Read it."
Scanning it over Zashu sighed. "You still should have called us. I can't believe how some women can get over this. Why didn't you guys...."
Zashu's words were cut short as Destine's fist connected with his stomach. Drawing back Destine glared. "I wouldn't risk my daughter's life for anything! No one asked for your help so go away!" She began hitting seemingly random spots on Zahsu's body. "GO AWAY!"
Mousse rushed up and grabbed Destine's arms. Pinning her against the wall he leaned close to her. ":Des-chan, calm down. This guy is an idiot, he doesn't deserve those attacks. Especially those pressure points, he's going to be sore for a month. Please, for his sake as well as yours, calm down:."
Destine sighed and relaxed in Mousse's grasp. ":I'm sorry. I just can't stand it when people treat me like that. He didn't even seem to care about Megumi:."
Mousse kissed Destine on the forehead and let her go. ":Just ignore him:."
Zashu looked up and gasped. "What did you do?!"
"Here." Destine walked over and hit Zashu on three pressure points. "The pain should go away in a couple minutes."
":Des-chan:," Mousse turned Destine around and tapped her on the forehead. ":Get some sleep:." As Destine crumpled to the ground he picked her up and held her tightly. ":We all should get some sleep. Ryoga, you can have the door on the left:."