A Neo-37 Inc. Production

Shishi Hokodan

By

Ashura Ayanami

A.K.A

Jesse Lawrence-Hayden

This is yet another production brought to you by yours truly, Jisuse Saotome, A.K.A Ashura Ayanami, A.K.A. RanmaNeo-37, A.K.A. Jesse Lawrence-Hayden. Ranma ½ is not mine, nor is Neon Genesis Evangelion. However, the character, Ashura Ayanami, or at least the name anyway. is.

Part 1

"Here's Ashura!

Listening to the wind, the young man looks over his shoulder. The wind whistles through the trees as he looks back ahead, his crimson eyes glowing softly. He sighs gently, then coughs into his hand once, before cracking his knuckles. "Dakishimetai no ni.." He hums gently, a smile upon his lips. The man chuckles, his blue hair falling into his eyes, the back tied up in a ponytail. Jamming to his CD player, he smiles, pounding the pavement under his feet. The park atmosphere makes him smile as well. Dogs bark, birds chirp, a smile cracks the usually grim countenance of the young looking man. The only way anyone can tell that he's older than he looks is the gray at his temples, and nothing more. "Evil can no longer cover their eyes, if this disturbs you then walk away, you will remember the night when you were first struck by the sight of ten thousand fists in the air…" He closes his eyes as he walks towards his destination, a smile upon his lips.

He then goes back to his pondering, his crimson eyes shut in frustration.

"What the heck is this stuff?" A voice rings out, and then a thud is heard throughout the neighborhood. Zeroing in on the sound, the man sighs. He came in at a bad time, it seems. He chuckles. Licking his lips, he walks into the yard, looking about. He catches a hammer as it comes flying out of the house ahead, with the same young man he had come to see flying into the air as well. He sighs gently, then knocks on the front door

"Look in my face, slip in my soul." He hums to the words, then knocks again.

"Hey, Daddy, someone's at the door." The man blinks at the unfamiliar voice. The door opens as a girl appears behind it, with a pageboy haircut, chestnut brown hair. The man was dancing a little as the door was opened. Confronted with the dancing man, the girl just blinked, then hollered for her father, saying it was for him and Uncle Saotome.

"Well, at least I got the address right." He mutters, still listening to his headphones. He then takes them off, and waits, figuring it would be impolite to just walk in. But, after waiting about ten minutes, he scowls, then walks in anyway, wondering what would take so long. Apparently, he found out as soon as he walked in. "…"

Two old men were fighting with each other over a piece of food. The man steps in the middle of it, then scowls, snatching the piece of pork away and eating it. "Hmm. Good. Better than Auntie Akane's cooking. Hmm…" He looks about, then blinks as the two old men just stare at him, one with tears in his eyes. The fat one gets up, throwing a lunging punch at the man's head.

The young looking man brings his head forward a little, literally letting the old fool bust his knuckles open on his skull. Blood drips from the hand, oozing down the man's forehead.

"Ow! Shimatta!"

"Are we done playing?" The blue haired man asks, grinning slightly, the sadistic quality coming to his voice. Playing on his headphones was the band Disturbed, playing Land of Confusion. He wipes the blood from his forehead, then looks at them. "My name is Ashura Ayanami. I read you were looking for a boarder, and, well, I've come to fill the position."

The long haired old man looks at Ashura, then blinks, trying to come to terms with his lost piece of meat. Then he sighs, regarding it as gone. "Okay. And how exactly how will you be paying? My name is Soun, Soun Tendo, by the way."

"Well, I was thinking that we could try this…" he pulls out a diamond the size of a pea, then smirks slightly. "If that doesn't suit it, I have about 800000 yen. For now." Listening to the sounds outside, Ashura scowls, hearing the whistle as a young man begins to fall from the sky. "Apparently he didn't go very far…"

Soun blinks, then asks, "What are you talking about?" but blinks again as a loud splash is heard outside. "Oh." Checking out the door, Tendo-san shouts to the girl emerging from the pond, "Ranma, are you alright?"

Ranma, with red hair glistening from the water, scowls and answers, "Yeah, but your tomboy daughter needs to stop cooking. She's gonna kill me with what she calls supper." Another hammer knocks Ranma-chan back into the pond.

Ashura chuckles, then looks at the young girl, smirking, and says in English. "Ah papa, you are quick with that moutha yours. "

Blinking, the chestnut haired girl looks at Ashura, one eyebrow tilted. "And what exactly did you mean just there, Mr. Ayanami?" The answer is also in English.

"Well, well, you have been attentive in your studies, haven't you, Miss Tendo?" Ashura assumes that the girl is one of Soun's daughters, since Genma Saotome never had any other children. He turns his head towards the fat old man, scowling. In English, he addresses the old man as Grandfather, and then as an old fucking retard who shouldn't have lived. But the old man doesn't know what he said. "So, what's your name, my dear?" Ashura smiles innocently, returning to Japanese.

"Nabiki. Nabiki Tendo. And the redhead is Ranma." Another girl comes waltzing in, shorter hair than her sister, and younger, too. Ashura smirks slightly, but doesn't say anything. "This is Akane. My little sister." And finally, a gorgeous woman comes in, with the same chestnut brown hair as Nabiki, but longer, much longer. "And this is Kasumi."

Ashura made a bow in her direction, then tries to distract himself from her charms. He smiles at her, receiving a peaceful and serene smile from Kasumi. "So, have I met the whole household?"

"Why, yes, I believe you have." Kasumi answered, smiling a bit too much. Ashura blinked, then shook his head, thinking he imagined things. "How old are you?"

This was where he had to lie. He hated doing it to such a family, but it was best to keep up appearances. "I'm 17 years of age, 18 in November." He smiles a bit too innocently, hoping they believe him. Everyone does, except Nabiki. "I'll be going to Furinkan within the week. I've already set things up there." They blink, amazed slightly that such a man can work that fast. "I won't be staying that long, however," He reassures them, smiling innocently once again. "You see, I have to go back home soon, but I'm unsure as to when."

They all blink at him, wondering what that could mean. Nabiki voices it, however, and Ashura bypasses that with a question of his own. "So… where do I sleep?"

Being led up the stairs by Kasumi, Ashura stared a bit at Kasumi's round behind, then shook his head as if to clear it. His mission had only begun. There was no time for such frivolities. But he can't stop staring. He shakes his head again as Kasumi leads him towards the bedroom where he will be sleeping.

"Um, where's the bath?" Ashura asked gently, looking at the tall beauty.

Kasumi, in her sweet innocence, smiled up at him, thinking that younger men were such a bore. Not like Dr. Tofu. But, in his own way, Tofu Ono paled in comparison to this young man with the handsome face, and the great physique. Ashura stood 6'1", looked to weigh about 200 lbs, and was extremely muscular, yet his musculature was lean, not bulky like a bodybuilder's. He had a body for martial arts. The strangest shade of blood red eyes stared into her own, causing her to lose her balance a little, and falling forward. He blinked and caught her, before she fell, and smiled. The show of dazzling teeth made her heart beat a little faster. She smiled back, which made him let her stand on her own, a blush in his cheeks. His alabaster skin flushed so easily that Kasumi wasn't sure of what she was seeing. A younger man smitten with her? She flushed as well at the idea, blinking away her nervousness.

"It's down the hall, last door on the right." Kasumi looked away, blushing hard at the thought of this handsome young man taking a bath.

"Thank you, Kasumi-san." Ashura smiled again, then headed into the room to get his clothes and change.

Heading into the shower, Ashura smiled, shaking his head gently. "Beautiful girl.." He whispers, then shook his head to clear it. "Shape up. You have to tell them sometime." he whispered to himself, shaking his head. Taking his towel out, he grabbed the soap and headed into the shower. Turning it on he gasped as the cold water blasted down on him.

Taking a look over her shoulder, Kasumi blinked at the sound of a girl in the bathroom. The gasping sounds got a little louder. Then the words, "Damn, that's cold!" in a sharp feminine voice ring out. In fact, the voice is vaguely familiar, as if she had heard it before. The sound was coming from the bathroom, of course. Taking a look inside the door, she noticed Ashura's white T-shirt and white pants, along with some white steel toed boots. Where he got the steel toed boots, she had no idea, but she bet they were very expensive, since the color was hard to find in such a shoe. Taking into account that the clothes were for a male, it still didn't account for the female voice. Unless…

"Ashura-san?" she knocked on the door to the bath.

Ashura blinked, then scowled, his body now changed. She cussed gently, then wiped her nose. She answered in her sharp feminine voice, saying that she was fine.

"Ashura-san? That's really you?"

"Yeah…" Ashura sighed, then opened the door, letting Kasumi in. It was okay since he was a she for the moment. Long blonde hair fell into the girl's azure blue eyes, billowing down her back. "Come in and I'll tell you about it. Apparently you aren't surprised by my curse, so you must have seen something similar." She dried off, wiped her face, then grabbed a fresh white T-shirt and pants, and put them on. Smiling slightly, she told Kasumi to sit down. "Okay. It all started as I was walking along in China."

In the Bayankala rain forest, in the Quinhai province of China, there is a ground filled with cursed springs called Jusenkyo. Apparently you know all about it, since this doesn't come as a surprise. Well. There is another set of springs that all have human forms, but with different personalities. And these are restricted to anyone. Unfortunately, I was walking along, and ran into an arch enemy/friend of mine, and we ended up fighting. He knocked me into one of the pools, and then the guide came along, and murmured something in Chinese. I got him to say it in Japanese, and he said it was called Rezuniichuan, the Cursed Spring of Drowned Lesbian

"2500 year ago, young girl was engaged to marry lord. But she only like women. So she drown herself in spring. Thus, here is spring of Drowned Lesbian."

Taking a look down at my body, I scowled, then cursed to myself, sighing. "I can't believe this!"

"And that's the story, basically," she stated. "One second I'm completely male, and the next poof. I change into this."

Kasumi blinked, noticing a few things, though. The girl before her looked much like Ranma-chan did in her cursed form. Especially in the eyes… and what a gorgeous pair of eyes this young girl had. Leaning forward a little, Kasumi looks her in the eyes, and blinks softly. "Your eyes look like Ranma's," she whispered, her face slightly flushed.

Ashura backed away slightly, then stood up. "Come on," she whispered to Kasumi, smiling softly. "Let's get something to eat. Smells like someone's cooking something… or trying to… …" The blonde sniffed once, then swallowed. "Ick. Then again, maybe it's better if I tried to meet Ranma…" she muttered to herself as she grabbed the steel toed boots, and carried them till they got outside.

Meanwhile, downstairs, Akane was now in the kitchen, trying to feed Ranma her latest concoction. Sometimes she wondered if Akane didn't sit in the kitchen over a cauldron cackling as she practiced her black magic upon the ingredients. Swallowing hard, Ranma-chan then gagged, unable to even attempt to stomach it. She spit it out and said " What the fuck was that!" And yet another ride upon the Akane Express Hammer. But she didn't go sailing, at least.

"Why don't you try just showing some damn respect for once, Ranma? I slave over the stove to make you something nice and all you do is insult me!" Akane fumed, glaring at Ranma-chan.

"You can quit slavin' cause I don't want anymore of your damn slop. Every time I eat your cookin', it's like tastin' poison!" She shouted at Akane, finally fed up with it. She hopped out of the koi pond, soaking wet.

Ashura, finally fed up with the way the children were acting, scowled and shouted, "Enough! Akane, I'll teach you something later. Ranma, shut the fuck up!"

"Shut the fuck up! Why you!" Ranma-chan hopped out of the pool, intent of cleaving whoever said it. It took him a moment to realize the voice was female. It actually sounded quite like her own, in fact. Blinking, she stopped in mid-stride, only to get kicked in the chest by a well-placed roundhouse from Ashura-chan. Sucking on a piece of Werther's Original candy, Ashura-chan smirked as Ranma-chan ended up in the pond. She then bit down, crunching the candy piece into fragments, and started chewing.

"Who are you?" Akane blinked, noticing Kasumi at the young girl's side.

"I'm Ashura. Sorry bout this."

Sucking on another piece of candy, Ashura-kun scowled at the family. "Ya happy? Ya know my deep dark secret." He sighed, then crunched the candy a little, continuing to suck upon it. He looks up, then smirked, having repeated the story to Akane, Ranma, Nabiki and Kasumi rehearing it. "So, everyone wanna laugh at the idiot who fell into the Springs?" Ranma was holding back a grin.

"That sounds exactly like what me and Oyaji went through the time we went." Ranma got another well placed roundhouse to the jaw.

"That's what you get for laughing, punk." One dunk in the koi pond later…

"You little!" Ashura sidestepped the lunging punch then smirked. "You're gonna have to do better than that, Oyaji." he whispered under his breath. "Ranma, you can't take a small kick like that? I'd hate to see what happens when we spar."

"Gee, is it just me, or do we get more wandering martial artists around here than usual?" Nabiki questioned to herself, scratching her head.

Ashura just stared at her then sighed. "Yeah, that's kinda my stories. I've left some info out cause I don't wancha knowin' what hell I've gone through, but that's it in a nutshell. I'm a wandering martial artist who just happens to be rich." Nabiki's ears perked up at that. "Money means basically nothing to me, but there's something that means even less to me than money."

"And what would that be, Ashura?" Kasumi asked politely, though intently, smiling at him serenely.

"Time."

Sniffing, he sighed gently at the food placed before him. "Um… Akane, I'm not eating this."

Akane stared at him like he had a third head. "But everyone at least tries it before they condemn it."

"HA! So you admit it! You didn't follow the recipe, you just made it up as you went along!" He shuddered at the thought of such reckless cooking. Ashura shook his head no and just sat there, looking indignant. "No way am I going to try something you made if you just throw it together. And even if you tried following a recipe, you'd still end up adding what you shouldn't." He shook his head again. "No. Not tasting it. Try Ranma again. If he'll come near you when you're in the kitchen." Ashura accidentally takes a bite, then chokes and belches smoke. "Looks like I was right.." he coughs out before passing out.

Akane bashes him in the head, her pent up rage having grown as she stared at the audacious young man. Then she storms out of the house, not wanting the young man in her sight.

Kasumi looks down at him, then mutters something about first aid, but Ashura can't hear it too well, his head caved in and his consciousness in dire peril. He then finally blacks out into sweet bliss.

Ranma was in the training hall, practicing his kata when Ashura walked in, said hello, and noticed Ranma in deep concentration. His moves were fluid and complex, requiring a tantamount of energy to complete. At least for Ranma. Ashura saw no harm, and started following the form to the letter, almost boredly keeping up with the young man. Ranma began to glow as his battle aura became visible, because of his deep concentration. But Ashura's did not. And yet they continued through their kata, one aura free one not. Ranma and Ashura both threw out mongoose hand strikes, followed by complex foot work that included 540 roundhouses and extremely complex scissor kicks. Then they began to meld into each other, strikes and kicks, aerial moves and groundwork. And they matched evenly, Ranma's aura growing all the while. Ashura's aura began to show as the moves became more complex. But he smirked, amazed that a mere human could compete at this level. But then, Ashura knew some things. 'Oyaji, you're better than I thought you'd be at this age.' he thought to himself, a smirk upon his lips. Spinkick, double punch, kachu tenshin amaguriken, kachu tenshin amagurikyaku, settle.

Ranma breathed hard as he looked at the floor, his ki disappearing in less than 2 minutes. He finally notices Ashura to his right, in the same exact posture as he's in and blinks, wondering how long the man had been standing there.

"So, you wanna spar, Ranma-chan?" Ashura grinned, staring at the black-haired boy.

"Chan? I'll show you someone who deserves that title!"

And the battle was joined.

The combatants sized each other up, then went in for the kill. They basically traded hits, busting each other in the face with right uppercuts before backing off. Ashura grinned slightly, while Ranma wiped a little blood from his lip.

"Ouch." He smirked, then jumped up, only to be copied. Midair combat was a Saotome specialty. Which is why it came as a surprise as Ranma was dropped like Mjolner.

Ashura grinned, then landed next to him, waiting for him to get up. That could not have taken him out. Ranma was still wondering how the hell he had been kicked out of the air when he jumped up again, only to be copied. This time, they exchanged three blows, a punch, followed by two elbow strikes, copying each other blow for blow. None of them connected, blocked by each blow, as they landed on opposite sides of the dojo. Ranma blinked, then scowled. Guess it was time to up it. He grinned slightly, then jumped back into the fray. He threw the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken, expecting it to work, but was doubly surprised when that move was blocked as precisely as the other attacks, with another Amaguriken. He opened his eyes wide, then landed, looking at his hands. His knuckles were busted wide open. He let the blood drip to the floor before turning to face his opponent.

"Never expected that, now didja, huh, boy?" He crunched on his Werther's Original hard candy a little, sucking it. He smirked at the young man, then looked down at his own knuckles, wincing. "Nice Amaguriken you got there, Ranma." he looked the blood over his knuckles, and smirked. "I dunno if this is yours or mine. I know some of it's mine, but… ouch."

"Where the hell'd ya learn that?" Ranma sputtered slightly, then stoically hid his pain.

"Probably from the same place you did. The Joketsuzoku taught me it." He chuckles softly, then shakes his head. If Ranma found out where he really learned it, he'd freak out. Ranma was extremely high strung from what Ashura had seen so far. Sucking upon his candy again, he grinned. "Let's go." Then seemed to disappear. Ranma did the same. Flashes of their movement seemed to appear above the dojo. They continued to trade hits, Ranma getting hurt far worse than Ashura. It continued until Kasumi entered, holding two towels.

"Dinner will be ready in thirty minutes if you two want to freshen up." Kasumi smiled.

Ashura smiled, wiping the sweat from his brow. "Thank you Kasumi-san. Come on Ranma. Let's go get you looked at." He had multiple cuts and bruises, none really serious, except for his knuckles. They weren't that serious either, just needing some ice for the swelling. Taking a look at him, he chuckled. "Oh, come on, no crying about the pain. Men don't whine."

Ranma glared at Ashura for a bit before consenting and following him into the bath. Little did the trio know that Nabiki was getting in some good shots of them from her vantage point in the trees. At least she didn't think so until Ashura looked directly at her and stuck out his tongue.

Ashura sighed at the sight of Ranma and Genma fighting over their food. While they weren't looking, he sneaked away more food than either won fighting it out. When they stared at him as he stuffed his face, he just smiled sheepishly and looked away, still sneaking more food away. Because Ranma wasn't expecting having to fight on two fronts, he was drastically out numbered, and the foodstuff was almost all but gone from his and Genma's plates. Ashura was just that much better.. Chuckling he swallowed his food and looked the two over.

"God, you'd think that you were starving, you fat freak." Ashura glared daggers at Genma, then shrugged his shoulders. "So, Ranma, how're you and Akane getting along?"

Ranma was just as depressed about losing so much of his food. Listening to the man talk, he glared at Ashura, almost pouting. "We're not." He muttered, staring at the food on other people's plates. He wouldn't dare touch Nabiki's, for she was apt to charge him for it. Nor Kasumi since she was gracious enough to make the food, and Ranma actually liked her. And Soun was out since he was putting a roof over Ranma's broke head. He wouldn't go near Akane's for fear of a malleting. And trying to get Happosai's was a task in futility. And Ashura was damn fast which was a fact he had proven just now. Sighing, he finishes his plate, only to have Kasumi come over with more food for him and Ashura. Genma got none of it.

As they gobbled down what was left of the food, Ashura smirked, then pulled out a cigarette from his pocket. "I've gone all day without one," he explained to the shocked looks on the girls' and Ranma's faces. As he looked around the table he chuckled. "Ah, but to be in your shoes." He whispered to himself then walked outside. As he lit up, Kasumi came out to join him. He smiled at her, the first one to know about his curse.

Listening to the wind, Ashura sighed, then looked at the girl. He could read her like an open book. Of course he was much better than Nabiki at reading people, but as to why he wouldn't tell them. At least, not yet. And, no one could tell, but this girl was troubled for some reason. "Yes?" He asked, looking her over once more. He couldn't get it out of his head that she was beautiful.

"I saw the sparring session. Most impressive." Checking to see that no one was about, she rested her head against his shoulder gently, staring at the sky.

"Thanks. I try."

"Just one thing. How'd you learn the Anything Goes stance? Ranma might not have noticed it because he was too busy fending off what you were throwing at him, but I wasn't."

Ashura blinked then smirked. "So you do train, huh?" He chuckled softly, his crimson eyes seeming to glow in the small amount of light outside. He smirked again when he felt her lean against him. "Heh. I dunno if I should tell you. Who knows what could happen?" He chuckles then looks at the sky, puffing on his cig. He ponders telling her, but decides against it at the time, smirking. "Let's just say it's a long story and stick to that, hmm, Kasumi-chan?"

She blinked at the suffix added to her name. "Chan? I'll have you know..."

He smirked. "I'm far older than I look. I have connections to get two forms of ID that actually work in this age." He chuckles, then yawns softly, looking out at the sky. "Besides. I never finished high school, so I guess this is a new experience." Taking his cue he headed back in, having finished his cigarette. The family had to be wondering how he got that pack since in Japan it was illegal to smoke or drink before the age of 20.

Heading in, Ashura smirked. 'Hmph. Let 'em suffer for a little while. Maybe I can get off to a better start tomorrow.'

Ash's Corner:

:

Well, this is the first chapter of yet ANOTHER fucking fanfic by me. . Yes, I know, I'm doing too many at once. I have even more on my computer. . So, you had better pray that I get some time to myself soon. .

7/19/06 – Put finishing touches on Shishi Hokodan. Well, it's a working title, at least. Might change it, though. Dunno yet. Ja.