Waters of Change

By: Kesshi Mashin

A Rurouni Kenshin/Ranma Nibunnoichi fusion.

For entertainment purposes only. No infringement intended. Ranma 1/2 is owned by Takahashi Rumiko. Rurouni Kenshin is owned by Nobuhiro Watsuki.

Author's Note: This isn't canon Ranma or Kenshin, you really don't need any previous knowledge of either to read this fanfiction, though it is helpful. Some ideas were also taken from Samurai X, a prequel of sorts to Rurouni Kenshin.

italics: past

* *: thoughts

Any C&C is welcome at: fxffects@hotmail.com

Reviews are appreciated. So is constructive criticism. Be sure to visit my ffn page! http://www.fanfiction.net/profile.php?userid=61420

Chapter Five: A Glint of Steel...

They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee ... saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms?

~ Bible, 'Isaiah' 14:167

China

Winter

11 years ago...

... Cologne slumped against a nearby grave marker, panting for breath as she stared at the shadowy figure at the far end of the graveyard. "Such power," Cologne whispered to herself, glancing down at the huge bloody tear running down the side of her robe. She had long since stopped the bleeding, but the open wound still hurt with every little movement.

The cloaked figured silently drew back its katana, the stainless steel shining brightly in the moonlight. "A puppet of yours no longer, Khu-Lon," it whispered softly, as it slowly began approaching the aged matriarch, weaving through the cemetery at a leisurely pace.

"It was always your choice, child." Cologne stared up at the approaching figure, her vision blurring somewhat with each breath. "I never forced you to..."

The figure scoffed at the last comment, as its blade arched forward. "Of course you didn't, old woman," it murmured sarcastically, as Cologne's lifeless form toppled to the ground, its head rolling a little ways off. "Of course you didn't..."

~~~~~ ~~~~~

"One of those days."

The stewardess stared down at the bald man lying haphazardly in the bathroom, head floating ever so gently in the toilet bowl. A few bubbles occasionally rose to the surface of the tranquil waters, reassuring said stewardess that the man was still, indeed, very much so alive. Much to her chagrin. She looked back at one of her fellow stewards, who merely shrugged and walked away, chuckling lightly. The stewardess turned her attention back towards the man, and considered her options. Her previous efforts to physically remove the man had resulted in a pulled muscle; the man was sheer deadweight. She had considered lifting the man's face out of the water... but, then again, his face WAS in a toilet.

*All those germs...*

Lacking a better course of action, she resumed nudging the still body with the toe of her shoe. "Sir? Sir? Refreshments will be served shortly..."

~~~~~ ~~~~~

Ayame stiffly sat back down into her seat, carefully eyeing the slumbering kitten in her sister's lap as she did so.

Kenshin looked up from a book she had been reading, and glanced at Ayame inquisitively. "So, did you find out where he is?"

Cat momentarily forgotten, Ayame flashed the redhead a huge grin, and nodded towards the bathrooms. "Oh, he's enjoying some refreshments..."

~~~~~ ~~~~~

"Ok, ok, this time, I'm sure of it," Shampoo muttered aloud, as she brought her sword back over her head. "KES-OOF!"

~~~~~ ~~~~~

... Kenshin wrinkled her nose a bit, and idly looked about the cabin, a puzzled look on her face. "Oro?"

~~~~~ ~~~~~

*Bridge.*

Shampoo mentally sighed, and attempted to pull herself out from the side of the bridge, but to no avail. A few thoughts came to mind, some much too vulgar to mention, but with one standing out among the rest.

*... owie.*

~~~~~ ~~~~~

"Is he dead yet?" one of the children asked, while they continued to poke and prod the fat man lying in the bathroom unconscious.

"I dunno, but I still need to go," another muttered, staring longingly at the toilet.

"Hey, cool, check this out." One of the children reached over and flushed the toilet. The children crowded around the bowl, and watched the man's head whirl about in the bowl, making loud banging noises as it bumped against the sides of said bowl. "Ooh."

Ayame stepped into the bathroom, and peered over the kids' shoulders. She smiled at the sight of Genma's head being flushed; her smile widened considerably when she noticed the plunger beside the toilet. "Hey, wanna see something REALLY cool?"

~~~~~ ~~~~~

China

Autumn

11 years ago...

"... Hitokiri Battousai," Herb whispered hoarsely, the words rolling off his forked tongue lazily. He glanced over at his two fallen comrades, their still twitching bodies pooling blood on the marble floor. He frowned in disgust as Mint's severed head landed with a sickening plop onto the ground besides its body, its eyes still wide in shock. "Very good show," he ground out, eyes flaring a dark red as he drew his sword.

Kenshin wearily brought his sword to the ready, the blood-soaked steel flashing ominously in the dim chambers. "Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu Forbidden Technique," he murmured in a low voice, red flames slowly flickering alive about his body.

Herb's own aura flared alive about him, bathing the room in an eery reddish black light as it expanded out into the antechamber. "I will have your head, Himura," Herb hissed, baring his sharp fangs at the chanting assassin.

"The last one, Tomoe," Kenshin whispered, eyes glowing a piercing yellow, as he sheathed his bloody katana. The red flames slowly began expanding outwards from Kenshin's still form, forcing Herb back a few steps from the intense heat.

Sweat began to bead on Herb's forehead, as he watched the flames quickly expand outwards from the red-haired assassin. "What the hell...?" Herb muttered under his breath, as he watched the assassin shift his stance slightly, hand hovering above the sword's hilt as the red flames began to blur Kenshin's form.

"Forgive me, Tomoe," Kenshin whispered, gripping the sword hilt tightly in one hand, the flames rapidly beginning to condense about his tense form. "Shounetsujigoku," he mouthed silently, quickly drawing his sword, watching as the Musk emperor drew back his own sword, Herb's eyes flaring blood red...

~~~~~ ~~~~~

"... Miss? Miss?"

Kenshin quickly stirred awake, as an impatient stewardess began to poke her arm with a rather sharp pen. "Yes?" she asked politely, casually eyeing the pen mark on her hakama sleeve. *Aw, not the red one...*

The stewardess sighed in relief, and pointed over towards the bathroom. "Are they yours?"

"Oro?" Kenshin turned around in her seat, and spotted her unconscious father, head immersed in toilet water; Ayame was busily plunging away at said father's head, while a handful of kids continued flushing the toilet. "Oro..." She turned back towards the stewardess, a lone sweatdrop winding its way down the side of her face. "Would you take them if I said no?" she chuckled, a slight blush beginning to spread across her face...

~~~~~ ~~~~~

Genma sat back down in his seat, a none too pleased look on his face. His bandanna was still dripping wet from his time in the bathroom, but Genma chose not to remove the piece of cloth. He gave his younger daughter a venomous look, and resisted the urge to knock some sense into the currently cowering girl... well, at least for the duration of the train ride. "When we get home, young one, I swear..." he began, before pausing, an evil smile working its way onto his face. "I'll have your mother deal with you when we get home, girl." That comment seemed to cause Ayame to further shrink into her seat.

"We have arrived at Nerima station. Will all passengers bound for Nerima please disembark at this time," one of the stewardesses announced over the train P.A., as the train slowly ground to a halt. "And, thank you for riding Tokyo R & R.

~~~~~ ~~~~~

... So you never explained why we needed to go to Nerima so suddenly. Kenshin gave her father a curious glance, and tugged lightly on a sleeve, intent on receiving a plausible answer. I didn't even have a chance to greet mother yet.

Ayame piped up first, a smile gracing her face for the first time since Kenshin's arrival. We're here to visit Tendo-sama! she chirped cheerfully, adding an extra spring to her step at the name. She's the best fighter I've ever seen before! I bet she's even better than... Ayame made a show of looking about for someone to compare her idol to, before her eyes locked on her older sister.' I bet she's even better than YOU.

I wouldn't doubt it, Kenshin replied casually with a smirk, causing her sister to frown; that was apparently not the response Ayame was looking for. After a few longer moments of silence, she again directed her original question towards her father, causing the old man to sweat quite a bit. Kenshin frowned, and idly reached down to fiddle with her sword pommel. *What are you up to, old man...*

Oh, you know, my boy, just had some business to attend to... Genma allowed his explanation to trail off, apparently nervous about continuing. He continued to sweat bullets, fearfully eyeing the katana at his son's side. Though Kenshin had reassured him that it was just a sakabatou, Genma's fears were not quelled in the least; memories of Nodoka's bokken rampages filled his mind, and he shivered in remembrance. *While not exactly deadly, Doka-chan's bokken is still a force to be reckoned with,* Genma thought with a frown, carefully eyeing his son walking before him; he had to be ready, in case she decided to bludgeon him to death with her harmless' sword for his transgressions.

Whatever, father... Kenshin sighed in annoyance, and vowed to figure out her shifty father's plans, and soon. *If he tries to sell me again...* Images of bludgeoning her father over the head with her sakabatou filled the redhead's mind, and she quietly cackled in glee.

The trio continued on their trek through the relatively empty city streets in silence, as the first street lamps began flickering on...

~~~~~ ~~~~~

Shampoo leapt atop the nearest rooftop, and stared down at her quarry, eyes blazing with hate at the sight of the small slip of a woman. Doubt briefly made itself known to the Amazon, as she continued her observation of the redhead; this frail woman couldn't possibly be the great Hitokiri Battousai... Her feelings of doubt continued to pester her, until the redhead turned her head to the side to address the old man Shampoo assumed was her father. she growled under her breath, quickly spotting the former assassin's trademark cross-scars on one cheek. Readying her weapons, the purple haired warrior lept off the rooftop, dropping down towards the unsuspecting trio...

~~~~~ ~~~~~

... The faint rustle of clothing was all the warning Kenshin received; it was all she needed. Shoving her father and Ayame aside, Kenshin quickly crouched low into a defensive stance, and drew her sword, bringing the blade up to deflect a sword strike meant to cleave her head in two. She grunted somewhat in exertion, as the full weight of her attacker pressed down onto her sakabatou, and she dropped onto her back, using her attacker's momentum to toss the unwanted burden off to one side. Her eyes widened in horror, however, when she saw that she had tossed the attacker onto her younger sister. *... shit.*

Shampoo blinked in surprise when she went airborne again, and landed with a muffled oomph' onto a nearby girl. Scrambling to her feet, the Amazon lifted the body that broke her fall up as well, shifting her grip on her nodachi so that the business edge rested lightly against the young girl's pale white neck. She looked up to see her target hesitate at the sight of the hostage, and she tightened her hold on the small girl. Back off, Shampoo growled in warning, shuffling back with her hostage in tow.

*That voice... that face...* Kenshin's eyes lit up in recognition. she stammered out, struggling to discern more of the girl's features in the dim lighting. *There's no doubt about it,* Kenshin thought numbly, berating herself slightly for not recognizing the purple hair sooner. Shampoo? Shampoo, what are you doing? She took a step towards her one-time acquaintance, unsure what to make of the situation at hand.

*As if she didn't know,* Shampoo mentally scoffed, irritated that Kenshin would feign ignorance. I've come for revenge, Battousai, she replied coldly, pressing the nodachi harder against Ayame's neck, drawing a thin line of blood.

Kenshin's mouth firmed into a frown as she noticed the thin trickle of blood running along the nodachi's edge, and she took a step towards the pair. I don't know what you're talking about, Shampoo, but it doesn't involve the girl. Kenshin's frown hardened when Shampoo held her ground, pressing the blade even harder against Ayame's neck. Let her go.

The Amazon narrowed her eyes at the former assassin's play at duplicity, and pressed the blade harder against the girl's neck, eliciting a soft whimper from her hostage. She gave the old man trying to sneak up behind her a meaningful look, and pulled the nodachi slowly across the girl's neck, drawing even more blood and whimpers. That seemed to stop the old man in his tracks. Shampoo returned her gaze to Kenshin, her gaze seemingly daring the redhead to try anything.

The silence was almost palpable, as the two warriors continued to stare each other down. Tendrils of crackling energy began coursing about the two opponent's bodies in preparation for the duel to come, the light from each respective aura illuminating the dark night with a brilliant bluish hue. Kenshin narrowed his violet eyes slightly, and leveled her drawn sakabatou at the purple haired Amazon. Her gaze flickered towards Shampoo's hostage briefly, and her grip tightened on the wooden haft as the world began to take on a golden sheen. Let her go, Shampoo, Kenshin ground out in Mandarin for the Amazon's benefit, teeth gnashing together with barely restrained rage.

Shampoo smirked at the genuine concern she could hear in her target's voice, and shifted her grip on her nodachi. *Soft hearted fool.* Ayame gave out a slight yelp, as her captor suddenly tossed her aside into the arms of her nearby father, sending the two tumbling towards the ground. Shampoo paused for only the briefest of moments, watching, waiting in anticipation as the diminutive redhead's gaze flickered over towards her sister for only a second. Seeing her chance, the Chinese Amazon hurtled towards her target at nearly impossible speeds, death in her eyes as she brought her nodachi back for the final, devastating blow. *Great-grandmother, I have avenged you...*

Ayame screamed out, as Kenshin noticed, too late, a glint of steel from out of the corner of her eyes...

~~~~~ ~~~~~

End Chapter Five

Author's Note: Ah, the dry-spell is over, and another chapter is finally finished. I tried to make it longer, and it is, but not by much. I'm not really that good a writer (isn't it obvious?) but I think I've gotten better over the years. My fight scenes are a bit lacking, however; there wasn't much in this chapter, simply because I wanted to build up the suspense an all. Plus, I'm tryin to write a halfway decent fight scene, yanno? Hmm, maybe I should get a pre-reader soon...

Anywho, I'll try to get the next chapter out... bah, before my birthday. That's in a few months. If you've read my profile, yanno I'm not gonna be posting anything online for a few months while I sort out my life and the mess its become. I got some personal things I need to figure out before I bury myself in writing again. Maybe I'll see you guys again in a month, maybe later. But I will be back. In the meantime, please check out my other works; I can guarantee that they don't... suck. I think....

~ Kesshi Mashin