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Find my stories at: www.geocities.com/kaiphantom2000
DISCLAIMER: Yes, I stole these characters! So sue me! HAHAHAHAHA!
Ranma 1/2: New Challenges
All That We Have Known
Chapter 9
Akane moved from room to room, looking for her wayward iinzuke.
After several minutes, she collapsed into a chair in frustration. [That
baka! He just had to go and ruin this by getting drunk!] She shook her
head. [Still, I shouldn't let him ruin this for me. I'll just have to
have some fun without him.]
A passing couple stopped nearby and the girl called to Akane.
"Hey Akane-chan!"
Akane looked up to see Sayuri and Daisuke approaching. "Hello.
How's the party going for you?"
The couple grinned at each other and Daisuke said, "We've been
finding ways to pass the time." Sayuri hit him.
Akane smiled a bit. "Have you seen Ranma?"
Sayuri shook her head but Daisuke said, "I thought I saw her
heading upstairs."
Akane frowned. [That hentai! It doesn't take much for him to go
running off into the arms of another woman.]
"Well, were gonna go do some dancing," Sayuri told her. "We'll
see you around!"
Akane waved and watched them go. [Why do I put up with him? And
why does this stuff always happen when we try to do something?]
Suddenly it clicked in her mind. [Wait a minute, Daisuke said
`she' was headed upstairs. Ranma considers himself too much of a guy to
consider doing... that as a girl.] A flash of worry sped through her. [I
hope he wasn't that drunk.]
She sprang to her feet and ran to find the stairs.
"All right Tetsuo, you the man!"
"Shut up!" Tetsuo him. Then he looked down at the form he half-
carried. "Now it's time for my revenge!"
Tetsuo and his two buddies reached the end of the hallway and
found an empty room. Stepping inside, he threw the red head onto the
bed. He grinned. It was a simple matter to pass his target a bottle of
stronger alcohol. One cold glass of water later and she passed out.
[Guess `she' can't handle her liquor!]
He licked his lips in anticipation as he slowly unhooked the
wooden clasps.
Yuri had seen Ranma run off the dance floor and Akane go after
him. She wasn't sure, but she thought she saw a hurt look on both their
faces. She had enough dancing for the time being, and decided to follow,
to see if either one of them needed help.
She lost Akane for a few minutes in the crowd, but then caught
her heading upstairs. Yes, something was definitely not right, judging
by the way Akane was hurriedly knocking people out of the way.
Akane was pushing through the crowd, doing a good impersonation
of a bullet train on the loose. Determinedly, she worked her way
upstairs and began to check room after room, not caring who was in
there. If she had bother to let it register what was going on in some of
those rooms, she would have been severely embarrassed and blushing madly
by now.
She became more worried as she began to run out of rooms.
Taking a deep breath, she opened the second-to-last door. The sight that
greeted her, filled her with horror.
Sensations entered his mind. He remembered feeling these
sensations before, but couldn't remember what exactly they were. They
felt moderately good, but strange; almost as if they were alien to him.
Somehow they felt, wrong. Why?
Slowly his other senses started feeding him data from the
outside world. He was laying on something soft. A bed? Alarm bells began
to ring as he heard voices.
"Man, I knew she was stacked!"
"Check it out, I think she likes me!"
He opened his eyes to a blur. When his vision cleared, he
realized something: he was a she. She realized something else: three
guys, one of whom he recognized from earlier, were removing her shirt.
"No..." she managed weakly. While she had an amazing recovery
rate, she also had plenty of alcohol and was still weak.
"Who's the man now, Saotome?"
Then he heard the door fly open.
"GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF HER!" came the voice of his fiancee.
Akane stepped into the room, blue battle aura flaring.
Ranma groaned in fear and embarrassment. [No, not her... She
can't see me like this...]
Tetsuo grinned. "Hey, you join our party too, babe? We got
room..." He motioned to one of his friends, and the man advanced on
Akane.
"Not a smart move, boy," came a new voice from the doorway. Yuri
was leaning against the door jam. She had seen ticked off women before
(she had been one often enough, thanks to Himoshi's gang), and she knew
these three didn't have a prayer. [Hell hath no fury... or something
like that.]
The man reached out his hands to grab Akane, and she stepped
inside the grab/hug and took ahold of his arms. She twisted and two
distinct *pops* were heard. He screamed, but was stopped when Akane
kneed his groin and headbutted him. A fierce shove sent him unconscious
against the wall.
Tetsuo growled and motioned his other friend. "That wasn't a
nice thing to do." Together, they moved toward the angry woman that beat
up their friend.
Akane quickly slammed a double punch in Tetsuo's gut, driving
the wind from him. She then stepped around him and engaged the man
behind. Dodging his punch, she grabbed the outside arm and slammed a
fist into his face. She then twisted the wrist and forced the man to his
knees. Releasing the arm, she crane-kicked him into unconsciousness.
She turned back to the recovering leader and stepped away from
his awkward punch. Yuri inwardly winced as grabbed the outstretched arm
and applied all of her brute strength in a twist. Tetsuo screamed as the
arm broke.
Akane then side kicked his knee joint and he collapsed when the
joint bent inward, a direction which it was not supposed to go. She
delivered several rapid fire punches to the man's face as he lay prone,
then stamped on his groin with her foot as Yuri began to pull her off.
"Calm down, Akane-chan," Yuri whispered. "It's over. Ranma's
safe."
Akane growled and fought against her a little, but soon
acquiesced. Now slightly calmer, Akane reclasped Ranma's shirt. Her
fiance had once again passed out, whether from the alcohol or seeing
Akane's brutal attacks, neither of the two concious girls knew.
Then, unknowingly following Kenji's example earlier, they made
their exit through the window and headed for the dojo.
Elsewhere in Nerima, Kenji had reached the back door to
Ucchan's and was taking the unconscious form of Ukyo inside. He went up
to her room and placed her into her bed, pulling the blankets over her.
[Nothing more I can do. She should be okay now.] He knew she'd
probably kill him if she found out, but Kenji felt compelled to give her
a small kiss on her forehead before he left. The night's activities had
gotten to him and decided he needed a walk in the cool night air to
clear his mind.
Stepping outside the back door, he let the cool night breeze
blow over him and ruffle his shoulder length hair. He started walking,
but had barely gone a few paces when he stopped suddenly.
Sensing the attack, he leapt out of the way, rolling once he
hit the ground and coming back up in a ready stance. A long staff had
impacted the ground where he was standing a moment before. It stretched
off into the darkness, but shrank as the rest of it came into view.
Attached to the end of the staff, was a little old man, wearing
somewhat tight-fitting dark robes and a bamboo hat that hid his face.
The top of the staff was capped with a small gold ring.
The mysterious elderly man chuckled. "Not bad. Of course, I
would expect no less from the son of Sulyia."
Kenji narrowed his eyes. "How do you know my mother!?"
The strange individual looked up, allowing Kenji to glimpse the
identity of his attacker. The face was definitely old as evidenced by
the creases winding around their way over his skin, and as as the sunken
eyes. The sparse white goatee only added to the overall effect. "I guess
I was right, you are Soyokaze Kenji."
The former-amnesiac inwardly cursed. [Dang it! I shouldn't have
let him know that!] "Who are you and what do you want with me?"
The old man studied him, then grinned. "You'll find out. For
now, we fight!" With that, he pointed the staff behind his back and
ejected himself towards the younger ninja boy.
Kenji backflipped out of the attack and reached behind his
back, bringing out his hidden bo stick. He fingered the stud and the
staff extended to full size, then pointed it towards the old guy, as he
studyed him.
Deciding to grab the initiative, he jumped into the air and
came down on his opponent, slamming it into the pavement where the
ancient-looking martials artist once stood. He then swung it out to
block the counter attack, and for several minutes, they fought in close
combat with their weapons. Thrusts, blocks, parries, and sweeps were
exchanged as each looked for an opening in the other's defense.
Without missing a step, Kenji's venerable opponent grinned and
reached into his robes. He pulled something out and threw it to the
ground. White smoke billowed forth and covered the two. Kenji cursed as
he lost contact with his opponent. Instinctively, he dropped and rolled,
the metal staff clipping him on the shoulder instead of on the back of
his head.
[I can't do anything as long as this smoke persists,] Kenji
realized. He concentrated and gathered his ki, then let it out in a
circular wind blast that was just strong enough to dissipate enough of
the smoke to see his surroundings.
The strange, mysterious man was gone.
Kenji held his Bo out let himself go as his mother taught him.
He extended his senses, looking for where his advesary had gone. [Where
is he!?]
Sensing movement from above, he dove and rolled to avoid the
flight of shuriken which struck the ground where he was standing. Coming
to his feet, he saw the old guy grinning at him from the patch of ground
where Kenji was standing a moment ago.
"Those wind tricks are interesting, but ultimately useless," he
said, while releasing another flight of shuriken at him.
Kenji concentrated, then sent another blast of wind at the
incoming projectiles. However, they cut right through the turbulence
without wavering.
As they closed the remaining distance, Kenji thought, [Kuso...]
Yuri parted from Akane once they reached the dojo then went her
way, back to the restaurant. Akane was grateful the members of the house
were either asleep or gone, as she made her way upstairs and into
Ranma's room. Both Genma and her father were gone, at the Saotome house
no doubt. He seemed to be spending more time over there.
She gently laid the red head onto her futon and gently pulled
the blankets over her. Onna-Ranma stirred, then groggily opened her
eyes. At first, her mind was clouded, and she couldn't remember much
besides some vague bad feeling.
Little by little, however, it all came back, especiall after
she glimpsed Akane's worried face gazing softly down at her. [They were
going to... I was... And Akane saw me like that.] She sat up suddenly,
and the next thing Akane knew, Ranma was sitting in the corner, her back
to her fiancee.
"Go away!" she yelled.
"Why?" was all Akane could ask, surprised.
"Just go away!" she reiterated the command. Akane could tell
Ranma was trembling a like a small earthquake, as if fighting some great
internal struggle; and she was losing.
Akane moved over to her iinazuke and rested her hands on the
redhead's shoulders. "I'm not going to do that, Ranma. I think you need
my help and you're going to get it whether you want it or not."
Ranma attempted to struggle out of it, but couldn't. She was
fighting to hold back the tears she felt coming and didn't want Akane to
see. Crying wasn't manly, but the alcohol was saying otherwise. "B-but,
it's not that bad. I-I mean I-m a g-guy, so that stuff wouldn't affect
me. I-I'm a g-guy. I'll be okay. I'm a guy." She kept repeating that
last part over and over again until it was no more than a whisper. Then
the dam broke as she could no longer hold the tears back. "Oh kami,
Akane. They were... were gonna... to me. And they t-touched me and..."
Akane, somewhat at a loss what to do, tried to remember how
Kasumi acted when ever Akane was upset. She began to emit soothing
sounds, pulling her unresisting and badly shaking fiance into her lap,
and whispered, "You're going to be okay. I'm here for you."
"B-but, I just f-feel... so dirty. H-how can you even stand to
touch me?"
"Because I love you," she said simply.
Ranma deep blue eyes finally met Akane's own, but she couldn't
hold the gaze for more than a few seconds, before dropping her face down
into her lap.. "I j-just feel so weak and h-helpless like this. This
body is so weak. I hate it!"
"Then make it stronger," Akane replied. Ranma's face came back
up, a strange look marring her pretty features. "You've spent so much
time training your male side, maybe you should use the training trip to
work on your female side. Like it or not, it's a part of you and hating
it won't do you any good."
She considered what Akane was telling her. True, for awhile now
she had almost come to accept her female half as part of her, but she
had still never really like it. She was a man, and was desperately
trying to hold onto what masculinity she had left.
"M-maybe you're right." Ranma looking a little sheepish "Um, I
guess I owe you an apology. I..." She stopped, struggling for something
else to say.
Akane understood, though, without the need for words. She
leaned over and kissed the girl, holding her close. Ranma was surprised
for a second and pulled away.
When they separated, Ranma asked, "Akane? You just kissed
another girl. Doesn't that bother you?"
Akane smiled. "No, I kissed you, Ranma. There's a difference. I
know you're a guy. Remember what you said back at Jusenkyo when we
watched the pools flood? You said that you had begun to accept your
curse as part of you. I've accepted it as part of you also." And it was
true, too. After all this time Akane always thought of Ranma as Ranma,
no matter what body he wore.
Ranma pulled herself out of Akane's lap and kneeled, facing
away from her. "But what if I get stuck like this?"
"We'll deal with it when the time comes. I will never leave you,
nor stop loving you." Akane hugged Ranma from behind and willed her to
believe it.
[What kind of man am I?] Ranma wondered. She yawned. "I think I
wanna get some sleep now... and maybe do some thinkin'." Akane kissed
her goodnight, then got up to leave the room. Ranma lay back down on her
futon as Akane closed the door.
She whispered, "It may be hard for me to say sometimes, but...
I love you, Akane."
Akane, listening on the other side of the door, smiled, then
left for her own bed.
Ranma was soon fast asleep.
Yuri was enjoying the night air as she walked along towards
Ucchan's. She felt a little upset at leaving the party, but considered
it for the best. [I guess I've had my fill my dancing for the night.]
Approaching the restaurant, she caught the flash of smoke
behind it. Then the smoke dissipated and the sound of metal hitting
concrete could be heard.
She leapt to the roof and ran to the back just in time to see
some unknown ancient looking monk-type character fling several shuriken
at her brother. Reacting on instinct, she thrust out her hand and sent a
small wind blast to intercept them. It hit shortly after her brother's,
knocking all but two in a different direction.
Kenji held out his Bo and skillfully blocked the remaining two.
He could block thrown objects if he had something in his hands to do it,
but he couldn't handle more than one or two at a time. He assumed
another ready stance and silently thanked his sister before turning his
gaze back to his enemy.
The old martial artist laughed. "Got lucky there? If your
sister hadn't shown up, you would've been in a world of hurt."
Kenji had to acknowledge that. "Haven't you had enough? Why are
you fighting me?"
"Yeah!" Yuri added in. "How dare you attack my brother! When we
stand together, nothing can beat us. You might as well give up, because
you now face double the trouble!"
Kenji clapped a hand to his forehead and groaned. [At least she
didn't say "In the name of the moon" or something like that.]
"No, I think this party is just getting started!" the old man
said as he rushed to attack Kenji again.
The two men met in a series of close range attacks. While they
were occupied, Yuri leapt off the roof and sent out a yo-yo to wrap
around the old man's staff, giving a strong tug once it was ensnared.
Surprisingly, he let go, then grabbed Kenji's Bo and flipped the young
ninja into some nearby trash cans.
As Yuri landed, he gave tug on an almost invisible line
attached to his staff, pulling her off balance. He closed the distance
rapidly and delivered several solid hits to various vital points,
sending her crashing into the back wall of Ucchans.
Kenji recovered and sent a powerful wind blast at his
opponent's backside. The old guy's staff extended and he pole vaulted
over it. While the air, Yuri managed to send a small flight of shuriken
at him, but he spun the staff and blocked them all. Kenji attacked as he
landed, swing his Bo low, hoping to catch him as his feet hit the
ground. He misjudged his attack and missed, but followed through with a
foot sweep and mid-high Bo swing, which was dodged and blocked,
respectively.
The young ninja trainee was really starting to get worried now.
He focused all his attention and fighting ability and laid into
his enemy with everything he had. Kicks, Bo strikes, and wind blasts
were all mingled in an attempt to get past the old man's guard. And he
seemed to be doing it! While he hadn't landed any hits, he'd managed to
counter everything the old guy threw at him, and still force his
opponent back.
While this was going on, Yuri slipped out another couple of yo-
yo's and sent them forward. Her opponent leapt to dodge the first one,
but the second wrapped itself around his body. Hitting the ground, there
was a short flash, then he seemed to collapse inward. When he didn't
move, the former-amnesiac moved over and knocked off the hat.
"He's gone!" Kenji exclaimed.
"What!?"
"All that's here is his clothes and hat. Wherever he is, he's
naked."
Yuri got up and walked over to see for herself while Kenji
tried to focus his senses to his surroundings, but could detect nothing.
Several seconds later, several smoke bombs went off, covering the entire
alley. The Soyokaze siblings felt a rush of wind and pokes at the back
of their necks. With all feeling below their necks now cut off, they
collapsed to the ground like puppets with their strings cut. The smoke
eventually cleared and the funny old monk was back in his clothes.
"Not bad for a couple of young'ins," he admitted. "A little
rough around the edges. When I'm through with you, you're going to
function like a well-oiled machine."
"Who are you!?" Kenji asked.
He smiled. "You may call me your new sensei, since that is what
I am to you. When you're good enough, I'll tell you my real name. I
know, I know. How can you trust me?" He pulled out an pendant that was
the symbol of Clan Garou, a silver stalking wolf. "I'm from your ninja
clan and was sent by Sensei Oka to complete your training. Even though
you're not an active part of the clan, you are still expected to know
certain things."
"But I've never seen you before!" Yuri protested.
"That's because I wasn't an active clan member either. I retired
several years ago when my skills began to deteriorate. I was a
liability, so I disappeared. Oka called me back. She figured I was
perfect one to train you and I was glad I could still serve my clan.
Now, I'll remove your paralysis if you promise to behave."
Kenji and Yuri looked at each other, then, figuring that they
had no choice in the matter, nodded their agreement. With couple more
pokes, their new sensei restored them.
"I'll be stopping by to train you occasionally. Sometimes you
may know when I'm coming, sometimes not. I'll leave you alone during
school though, you do need an education." Yuri had recently enrolled as
well, as a freshman.
"Not when I'm working!" The two men looked at Yuri. "What? I
want the money!"
Sensei shook his head and chuckled. "Very well, I'll try not to
disturb you when you're working, but I can't make any guarantees." He
pole-vaulted to the top of the restaurant. "I'll be leaving now, and
don't bother looking for me. A good ninja won't be found if he doesn't
want to." And then he was gone.
"Well, that was interesting," Yuri remarked. "Think we can trust
him?"
"Don't have a choice, I guess," Kenji responded. "He could've
killed us if he wanted to, at anytime. I think he was just testing us."
"Oh yeah, why are you here?" his sister asked him. "I thought
you'd be at the party with Yuka-san?"
Kenji sighed. "Why don't we head inside and I'll explain. Ukyo
got drunk and passed out, so I brought her home. The rest I'll tell you
only if you don't tell anyone, especially her."
Yuri nodded as they headed inside.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Author's notes:
Near the end of the manga, Ranma does clearly says that he is beginning
to accept his curse. It's where she's (it was raining) watching the
Jusenkyo pools flood and Akane asks her about it. She says something to
the effect of, "I guess it will always be a part of me. Somewhere along
the line I just stopped caring. [about a cure]" I just think he's grown
to used to it, and wanted to stir up some trouble for his girl-side.
Find my stories at: www.geocities.com/kaiphantom2000
DISCLAIMER: Yes, I stole these characters! So sue me! HAHAHAHAHA!
Ranma 1/2: New Challenges
All That We Have Known
Chapter 9
Akane moved from room to room, looking for her wayward iinzuke.
After several minutes, she collapsed into a chair in frustration. [That
baka! He just had to go and ruin this by getting drunk!] She shook her
head. [Still, I shouldn't let him ruin this for me. I'll just have to
have some fun without him.]
A passing couple stopped nearby and the girl called to Akane.
"Hey Akane-chan!"
Akane looked up to see Sayuri and Daisuke approaching. "Hello.
How's the party going for you?"
The couple grinned at each other and Daisuke said, "We've been
finding ways to pass the time." Sayuri hit him.
Akane smiled a bit. "Have you seen Ranma?"
Sayuri shook her head but Daisuke said, "I thought I saw her
heading upstairs."
Akane frowned. [That hentai! It doesn't take much for him to go
running off into the arms of another woman.]
"Well, were gonna go do some dancing," Sayuri told her. "We'll
see you around!"
Akane waved and watched them go. [Why do I put up with him? And
why does this stuff always happen when we try to do something?]
Suddenly it clicked in her mind. [Wait a minute, Daisuke said
`she' was headed upstairs. Ranma considers himself too much of a guy to
consider doing... that as a girl.] A flash of worry sped through her. [I
hope he wasn't that drunk.]
She sprang to her feet and ran to find the stairs.
"All right Tetsuo, you the man!"
"Shut up!" Tetsuo him. Then he looked down at the form he half-
carried. "Now it's time for my revenge!"
Tetsuo and his two buddies reached the end of the hallway and
found an empty room. Stepping inside, he threw the red head onto the
bed. He grinned. It was a simple matter to pass his target a bottle of
stronger alcohol. One cold glass of water later and she passed out.
[Guess `she' can't handle her liquor!]
He licked his lips in anticipation as he slowly unhooked the
wooden clasps.
Yuri had seen Ranma run off the dance floor and Akane go after
him. She wasn't sure, but she thought she saw a hurt look on both their
faces. She had enough dancing for the time being, and decided to follow,
to see if either one of them needed help.
She lost Akane for a few minutes in the crowd, but then caught
her heading upstairs. Yes, something was definitely not right, judging
by the way Akane was hurriedly knocking people out of the way.
Akane was pushing through the crowd, doing a good impersonation
of a bullet train on the loose. Determinedly, she worked her way
upstairs and began to check room after room, not caring who was in
there. If she had bother to let it register what was going on in some of
those rooms, she would have been severely embarrassed and blushing madly
by now.
She became more worried as she began to run out of rooms.
Taking a deep breath, she opened the second-to-last door. The sight that
greeted her, filled her with horror.
Sensations entered his mind. He remembered feeling these
sensations before, but couldn't remember what exactly they were. They
felt moderately good, but strange; almost as if they were alien to him.
Somehow they felt, wrong. Why?
Slowly his other senses started feeding him data from the
outside world. He was laying on something soft. A bed? Alarm bells began
to ring as he heard voices.
"Man, I knew she was stacked!"
"Check it out, I think she likes me!"
He opened his eyes to a blur. When his vision cleared, he
realized something: he was a she. She realized something else: three
guys, one of whom he recognized from earlier, were removing her shirt.
"No..." she managed weakly. While she had an amazing recovery
rate, she also had plenty of alcohol and was still weak.
"Who's the man now, Saotome?"
Then he heard the door fly open.
"GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF HER!" came the voice of his fiancee.
Akane stepped into the room, blue battle aura flaring.
Ranma groaned in fear and embarrassment. [No, not her... She
can't see me like this...]
Tetsuo grinned. "Hey, you join our party too, babe? We got
room..." He motioned to one of his friends, and the man advanced on
Akane.
"Not a smart move, boy," came a new voice from the doorway. Yuri
was leaning against the door jam. She had seen ticked off women before
(she had been one often enough, thanks to Himoshi's gang), and she knew
these three didn't have a prayer. [Hell hath no fury... or something
like that.]
The man reached out his hands to grab Akane, and she stepped
inside the grab/hug and took ahold of his arms. She twisted and two
distinct *pops* were heard. He screamed, but was stopped when Akane
kneed his groin and headbutted him. A fierce shove sent him unconscious
against the wall.
Tetsuo growled and motioned his other friend. "That wasn't a
nice thing to do." Together, they moved toward the angry woman that beat
up their friend.
Akane quickly slammed a double punch in Tetsuo's gut, driving
the wind from him. She then stepped around him and engaged the man
behind. Dodging his punch, she grabbed the outside arm and slammed a
fist into his face. She then twisted the wrist and forced the man to his
knees. Releasing the arm, she crane-kicked him into unconsciousness.
She turned back to the recovering leader and stepped away from
his awkward punch. Yuri inwardly winced as grabbed the outstretched arm
and applied all of her brute strength in a twist. Tetsuo screamed as the
arm broke.
Akane then side kicked his knee joint and he collapsed when the
joint bent inward, a direction which it was not supposed to go. She
delivered several rapid fire punches to the man's face as he lay prone,
then stamped on his groin with her foot as Yuri began to pull her off.
"Calm down, Akane-chan," Yuri whispered. "It's over. Ranma's
safe."
Akane growled and fought against her a little, but soon
acquiesced. Now slightly calmer, Akane reclasped Ranma's shirt. Her
fiance had once again passed out, whether from the alcohol or seeing
Akane's brutal attacks, neither of the two concious girls knew.
Then, unknowingly following Kenji's example earlier, they made
their exit through the window and headed for the dojo.
Elsewhere in Nerima, Kenji had reached the back door to
Ucchan's and was taking the unconscious form of Ukyo inside. He went up
to her room and placed her into her bed, pulling the blankets over her.
[Nothing more I can do. She should be okay now.] He knew she'd
probably kill him if she found out, but Kenji felt compelled to give her
a small kiss on her forehead before he left. The night's activities had
gotten to him and decided he needed a walk in the cool night air to
clear his mind.
Stepping outside the back door, he let the cool night breeze
blow over him and ruffle his shoulder length hair. He started walking,
but had barely gone a few paces when he stopped suddenly.
Sensing the attack, he leapt out of the way, rolling once he
hit the ground and coming back up in a ready stance. A long staff had
impacted the ground where he was standing a moment before. It stretched
off into the darkness, but shrank as the rest of it came into view.
Attached to the end of the staff, was a little old man, wearing
somewhat tight-fitting dark robes and a bamboo hat that hid his face.
The top of the staff was capped with a small gold ring.
The mysterious elderly man chuckled. "Not bad. Of course, I
would expect no less from the son of Sulyia."
Kenji narrowed his eyes. "How do you know my mother!?"
The strange individual looked up, allowing Kenji to glimpse the
identity of his attacker. The face was definitely old as evidenced by
the creases winding around their way over his skin, and as as the sunken
eyes. The sparse white goatee only added to the overall effect. "I guess
I was right, you are Soyokaze Kenji."
The former-amnesiac inwardly cursed. [Dang it! I shouldn't have
let him know that!] "Who are you and what do you want with me?"
The old man studied him, then grinned. "You'll find out. For
now, we fight!" With that, he pointed the staff behind his back and
ejected himself towards the younger ninja boy.
Kenji backflipped out of the attack and reached behind his
back, bringing out his hidden bo stick. He fingered the stud and the
staff extended to full size, then pointed it towards the old guy, as he
studyed him.
Deciding to grab the initiative, he jumped into the air and
came down on his opponent, slamming it into the pavement where the
ancient-looking martials artist once stood. He then swung it out to
block the counter attack, and for several minutes, they fought in close
combat with their weapons. Thrusts, blocks, parries, and sweeps were
exchanged as each looked for an opening in the other's defense.
Without missing a step, Kenji's venerable opponent grinned and
reached into his robes. He pulled something out and threw it to the
ground. White smoke billowed forth and covered the two. Kenji cursed as
he lost contact with his opponent. Instinctively, he dropped and rolled,
the metal staff clipping him on the shoulder instead of on the back of
his head.
[I can't do anything as long as this smoke persists,] Kenji
realized. He concentrated and gathered his ki, then let it out in a
circular wind blast that was just strong enough to dissipate enough of
the smoke to see his surroundings.
The strange, mysterious man was gone.
Kenji held his Bo out let himself go as his mother taught him.
He extended his senses, looking for where his advesary had gone. [Where
is he!?]
Sensing movement from above, he dove and rolled to avoid the
flight of shuriken which struck the ground where he was standing. Coming
to his feet, he saw the old guy grinning at him from the patch of ground
where Kenji was standing a moment ago.
"Those wind tricks are interesting, but ultimately useless," he
said, while releasing another flight of shuriken at him.
Kenji concentrated, then sent another blast of wind at the
incoming projectiles. However, they cut right through the turbulence
without wavering.
As they closed the remaining distance, Kenji thought, [Kuso...]
Yuri parted from Akane once they reached the dojo then went her
way, back to the restaurant. Akane was grateful the members of the house
were either asleep or gone, as she made her way upstairs and into
Ranma's room. Both Genma and her father were gone, at the Saotome house
no doubt. He seemed to be spending more time over there.
She gently laid the red head onto her futon and gently pulled
the blankets over her. Onna-Ranma stirred, then groggily opened her
eyes. At first, her mind was clouded, and she couldn't remember much
besides some vague bad feeling.
Little by little, however, it all came back, especiall after
she glimpsed Akane's worried face gazing softly down at her. [They were
going to... I was... And Akane saw me like that.] She sat up suddenly,
and the next thing Akane knew, Ranma was sitting in the corner, her back
to her fiancee.
"Go away!" she yelled.
"Why?" was all Akane could ask, surprised.
"Just go away!" she reiterated the command. Akane could tell
Ranma was trembling a like a small earthquake, as if fighting some great
internal struggle; and she was losing.
Akane moved over to her iinazuke and rested her hands on the
redhead's shoulders. "I'm not going to do that, Ranma. I think you need
my help and you're going to get it whether you want it or not."
Ranma attempted to struggle out of it, but couldn't. She was
fighting to hold back the tears she felt coming and didn't want Akane to
see. Crying wasn't manly, but the alcohol was saying otherwise. "B-but,
it's not that bad. I-I mean I-m a g-guy, so that stuff wouldn't affect
me. I-I'm a g-guy. I'll be okay. I'm a guy." She kept repeating that
last part over and over again until it was no more than a whisper. Then
the dam broke as she could no longer hold the tears back. "Oh kami,
Akane. They were... were gonna... to me. And they t-touched me and..."
Akane, somewhat at a loss what to do, tried to remember how
Kasumi acted when ever Akane was upset. She began to emit soothing
sounds, pulling her unresisting and badly shaking fiance into her lap,
and whispered, "You're going to be okay. I'm here for you."
"B-but, I just f-feel... so dirty. H-how can you even stand to
touch me?"
"Because I love you," she said simply.
Ranma deep blue eyes finally met Akane's own, but she couldn't
hold the gaze for more than a few seconds, before dropping her face down
into her lap.. "I j-just feel so weak and h-helpless like this. This
body is so weak. I hate it!"
"Then make it stronger," Akane replied. Ranma's face came back
up, a strange look marring her pretty features. "You've spent so much
time training your male side, maybe you should use the training trip to
work on your female side. Like it or not, it's a part of you and hating
it won't do you any good."
She considered what Akane was telling her. True, for awhile now
she had almost come to accept her female half as part of her, but she
had still never really like it. She was a man, and was desperately
trying to hold onto what masculinity she had left.
"M-maybe you're right." Ranma looking a little sheepish "Um, I
guess I owe you an apology. I..." She stopped, struggling for something
else to say.
Akane understood, though, without the need for words. She
leaned over and kissed the girl, holding her close. Ranma was surprised
for a second and pulled away.
When they separated, Ranma asked, "Akane? You just kissed
another girl. Doesn't that bother you?"
Akane smiled. "No, I kissed you, Ranma. There's a difference. I
know you're a guy. Remember what you said back at Jusenkyo when we
watched the pools flood? You said that you had begun to accept your
curse as part of you. I've accepted it as part of you also." And it was
true, too. After all this time Akane always thought of Ranma as Ranma,
no matter what body he wore.
Ranma pulled herself out of Akane's lap and kneeled, facing
away from her. "But what if I get stuck like this?"
"We'll deal with it when the time comes. I will never leave you,
nor stop loving you." Akane hugged Ranma from behind and willed her to
believe it.
[What kind of man am I?] Ranma wondered. She yawned. "I think I
wanna get some sleep now... and maybe do some thinkin'." Akane kissed
her goodnight, then got up to leave the room. Ranma lay back down on her
futon as Akane closed the door.
She whispered, "It may be hard for me to say sometimes, but...
I love you, Akane."
Akane, listening on the other side of the door, smiled, then
left for her own bed.
Ranma was soon fast asleep.
Yuri was enjoying the night air as she walked along towards
Ucchan's. She felt a little upset at leaving the party, but considered
it for the best. [I guess I've had my fill my dancing for the night.]
Approaching the restaurant, she caught the flash of smoke
behind it. Then the smoke dissipated and the sound of metal hitting
concrete could be heard.
She leapt to the roof and ran to the back just in time to see
some unknown ancient looking monk-type character fling several shuriken
at her brother. Reacting on instinct, she thrust out her hand and sent a
small wind blast to intercept them. It hit shortly after her brother's,
knocking all but two in a different direction.
Kenji held out his Bo and skillfully blocked the remaining two.
He could block thrown objects if he had something in his hands to do it,
but he couldn't handle more than one or two at a time. He assumed
another ready stance and silently thanked his sister before turning his
gaze back to his enemy.
The old martial artist laughed. "Got lucky there? If your
sister hadn't shown up, you would've been in a world of hurt."
Kenji had to acknowledge that. "Haven't you had enough? Why are
you fighting me?"
"Yeah!" Yuri added in. "How dare you attack my brother! When we
stand together, nothing can beat us. You might as well give up, because
you now face double the trouble!"
Kenji clapped a hand to his forehead and groaned. [At least she
didn't say "In the name of the moon" or something like that.]
"No, I think this party is just getting started!" the old man
said as he rushed to attack Kenji again.
The two men met in a series of close range attacks. While they
were occupied, Yuri leapt off the roof and sent out a yo-yo to wrap
around the old man's staff, giving a strong tug once it was ensnared.
Surprisingly, he let go, then grabbed Kenji's Bo and flipped the young
ninja into some nearby trash cans.
As Yuri landed, he gave tug on an almost invisible line
attached to his staff, pulling her off balance. He closed the distance
rapidly and delivered several solid hits to various vital points,
sending her crashing into the back wall of Ucchans.
Kenji recovered and sent a powerful wind blast at his
opponent's backside. The old guy's staff extended and he pole vaulted
over it. While the air, Yuri managed to send a small flight of shuriken
at him, but he spun the staff and blocked them all. Kenji attacked as he
landed, swing his Bo low, hoping to catch him as his feet hit the
ground. He misjudged his attack and missed, but followed through with a
foot sweep and mid-high Bo swing, which was dodged and blocked,
respectively.
The young ninja trainee was really starting to get worried now.
He focused all his attention and fighting ability and laid into
his enemy with everything he had. Kicks, Bo strikes, and wind blasts
were all mingled in an attempt to get past the old man's guard. And he
seemed to be doing it! While he hadn't landed any hits, he'd managed to
counter everything the old guy threw at him, and still force his
opponent back.
While this was going on, Yuri slipped out another couple of yo-
yo's and sent them forward. Her opponent leapt to dodge the first one,
but the second wrapped itself around his body. Hitting the ground, there
was a short flash, then he seemed to collapse inward. When he didn't
move, the former-amnesiac moved over and knocked off the hat.
"He's gone!" Kenji exclaimed.
"What!?"
"All that's here is his clothes and hat. Wherever he is, he's
naked."
Yuri got up and walked over to see for herself while Kenji
tried to focus his senses to his surroundings, but could detect nothing.
Several seconds later, several smoke bombs went off, covering the entire
alley. The Soyokaze siblings felt a rush of wind and pokes at the back
of their necks. With all feeling below their necks now cut off, they
collapsed to the ground like puppets with their strings cut. The smoke
eventually cleared and the funny old monk was back in his clothes.
"Not bad for a couple of young'ins," he admitted. "A little
rough around the edges. When I'm through with you, you're going to
function like a well-oiled machine."
"Who are you!?" Kenji asked.
He smiled. "You may call me your new sensei, since that is what
I am to you. When you're good enough, I'll tell you my real name. I
know, I know. How can you trust me?" He pulled out an pendant that was
the symbol of Clan Garou, a silver stalking wolf. "I'm from your ninja
clan and was sent by Sensei Oka to complete your training. Even though
you're not an active part of the clan, you are still expected to know
certain things."
"But I've never seen you before!" Yuri protested.
"That's because I wasn't an active clan member either. I retired
several years ago when my skills began to deteriorate. I was a
liability, so I disappeared. Oka called me back. She figured I was
perfect one to train you and I was glad I could still serve my clan.
Now, I'll remove your paralysis if you promise to behave."
Kenji and Yuri looked at each other, then, figuring that they
had no choice in the matter, nodded their agreement. With couple more
pokes, their new sensei restored them.
"I'll be stopping by to train you occasionally. Sometimes you
may know when I'm coming, sometimes not. I'll leave you alone during
school though, you do need an education." Yuri had recently enrolled as
well, as a freshman.
"Not when I'm working!" The two men looked at Yuri. "What? I
want the money!"
Sensei shook his head and chuckled. "Very well, I'll try not to
disturb you when you're working, but I can't make any guarantees." He
pole-vaulted to the top of the restaurant. "I'll be leaving now, and
don't bother looking for me. A good ninja won't be found if he doesn't
want to." And then he was gone.
"Well, that was interesting," Yuri remarked. "Think we can trust
him?"
"Don't have a choice, I guess," Kenji responded. "He could've
killed us if he wanted to, at anytime. I think he was just testing us."
"Oh yeah, why are you here?" his sister asked him. "I thought
you'd be at the party with Yuka-san?"
Kenji sighed. "Why don't we head inside and I'll explain. Ukyo
got drunk and passed out, so I brought her home. The rest I'll tell you
only if you don't tell anyone, especially her."
Yuri nodded as they headed inside.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Author's notes:
Near the end of the manga, Ranma does clearly says that he is beginning
to accept his curse. It's where she's (it was raining) watching the
Jusenkyo pools flood and Akane asks her about it. She says something to
the effect of, "I guess it will always be a part of me. Somewhere along
the line I just stopped caring. [about a cure]" I just think he's grown
to used to it, and wanted to stir up some trouble for his girl-side.
