See 1st chapter for disclaimer
"And so by the time you got to the Battousai his battle with the entire Oniwaban group was already over and they were heading to get that Megumi Takani woman," Saito summarized the report Ranma had told him after arriving before he took another inhale of his cigarette then tapped the waste into an ash try sitting on his desk. "You shouldn't have wasted your time with Kanryu and simply followed Himura as soon as he left, you're worthless to me if you can't gather the information I require."
Looking up from his desk and over to the corner Saito saw the man he was talking to didn't seem the lest bit disturbed by Saito's statement and annoyance in him; something that few men in the world could do. But Ranma was one of those men, or women depending on the weather and his luck at the time, another warrior from the revolution whose skills matched or perhaps even surpassed Saito's own.
"I think you expect a little too much of me," Ranma replied. "I hate to admit it but the invisibility technique of my Sen Ken is far from perfect, and with the extra sensory training that the Hiten Mitsurugi gives I'm quite reluctant to test it seeing as how if he is able to counter it my cover will be completely blown. Besides, if you want a recount of the fight I can just ask that Yahiko boy about it, I've seen enough idol worship in my day that the kid will be more than happy to tell me every single stupid detail."
"Fine then," the policeman told the boy before standing up and grabbing his hat in preparation to head home and get some rest from staying up all night. "Oh, one more thing. From now on I want you to make verbal reports to me once a week unless something important comes along."
As Saito started to walk out of the office Ranma gave him a look that said the younger fighter was completely lost. "But, wouldn't it just be easier for me to write out a report so you can read over it?"
Saito gave the boy an annoyed look then reached into his pocket and pulled out the note that had been left on Kanryu's body the same night. "Not if you're the one who wrote this. Saotome, you may have been one of the best manslayers in Kyoto but your daughter could probably outclass you when it comes to handwriting." When Ranma just closed his eyes and scratched the back of his head with an embarrassed smile Saito knew that nothing was going to come of his conversation so he started to move on before something seemed to click in the back of his mind.
Kyoto. Come to think of it, now that he knew that the manslayer that was Ranma was indeed real and not some story made up to scare little kids to behave…"Oh, by the way Saotome, there's something I've been meaning to ask you," Saito said.
"What's that?" the shorter man replied before following him out into the hallway.
"It's about that little legend concerning you near the end of the war," the continued. "You know the one, that little superstition involving ca-"
"Yes," Ranma said forcefully, quickly cutting Saito off in mid word. "Don't get an ideas, and never speak of it again!"
Chapter 10: A Kyoto Ghost Story
It was a fine day that it was as Kenshin sat in the back yard of the Kamiya dojo while his hands were busy doing the laundry. It anyone watching it might seem strange that a former manslayer, the Battousai in fact, was doing such domestic chores such as cleaning and cooking.
In truth, he enjoyed doing them, because it was helping others, and a tie to who Kenshin Himura really was. Tomoe had once told him that he could have been happy if he never picked up a sword and became a farmer instead. She was right on the last count, but Kenshin really didn't think he could just sit by and let the suffering of others happen even if he never was trained in the Hiten Mitsurugi Style.
Helping to end people's suffering was part of his nature, but it was also that same idea and nature that created the Battousai in the first place.
Shaking his head Kenshin cleared away those thoughts before they took him down that road of darker memories and went back to the simple task of washing the laundry. Taking the red shirt out of the wash and drying it out, Kenshin looked at all of the matching shirts on the clothesline and shook his head. Ranma sure had a lot of Chinese clothes.
Yahiko sat in the dojo with droopy eyes as he listened to Miss Ugly Raccoon, aka Kaoru, explain the basics of the Kamiya Kasshin Style to a currently male Ranma while doing that boring visualize and breathe routine. It didn't help any that he and the new guy had just spent two hours strait cleaning the place after being woken up early; well correction, Yahiko had been woken up early, Ranma had been up a little before sunrise for some morning jog he usually did. Kaoru said that the cleaning was part of the training but Yahiko thought that she was just looking for some free labor.
"Ok then," Kaoru said as she stood up from her previous position on the floor. "Now that you're ready Ranma I want you to do some sparring since you said you already know some martial arts." When no response came a frown creased Kaoru's face and she looked back down. "Ranma?"
In response to his name the other soon to be swordsman in the dojo simply fell over to the side before mumbling something incoherent and going back to his usual level of unconsciousness.
As Kaoru fell to the floor with a loud bang and Yahiko rolled around laughing at the fact that ugly had actually managed to bore the guy to sleep, Ranma let out a yelp of surprise before leaping up into the air, fully awake now, and joining the other two Kamiya Kasshin users on the ground after failing to grab onto anything in the air to keep her from falling.
"Just what the heck do you think you're doing?" Kaoru demanded.
"Huh? Wha?" Ranma stood back up rubbing his eyes then yawned before looking over to the assistant master of the style. "Oh, Miss Kaoru, are we done yet?"
Over in the corner Yahiko managed to tone down his amusement to a few snickers as Kaoru's face went to a deeper frown and a few stress lines appeared. "Ok," she mumbled through her teeth while reaching for her boken and then taking a combat stance with the wooden sword held out in front of her. "Like I said, we're going to try some sparring to see what you already know."
From his position Ranma blinked then took his sword nervously. "But, I thought I was going to be practicing with Yahiko, I-I can't fight you!"
"Oh, and why not?" Kaoru demanded.
"You're a girl."
Seeing the vein on Kaoru's head nearly ready to explode Yahiko slowly scooted over to the exit as quiet as he could. He didn't need to be as good as Kenshin to know where this was going. "And just what's the problem with that?" Kaoru shouted.
Seemingly unaware of the danger he was in Ranma put his sword under his arm to free then started to count on his fingers as he listed the reasons. "Well, it's wouldn't be fair, I mean girls are a lot weaker than guys, and I don't really like to fight them, it's an unfair advantage. Besides…"
As Ranma went on, seemingly unaware of the danger zone he was in, Yahiko thought about how they'd pay for his funeral until finally Kaoru erupted in anger.
"JERK!"
(POW)
(CRASH)
(SPLASH)
"Oro?"
Kenshin blinked a few times as he let his brain caught up with what just happened. One moment he had been washing clothes and then the sound of Miss Kaoru's voice came out from the dojo followed by Ranma flying though the wall and into Kenshin's wash bucket. Looking up he could see Kaoru with her hand still clenched in a fist standing in the dojo and giving the female redhead her almost demonic angry look.
Ranma moaned in annoyance as the Megumi woman behind her finished wrapping the bandages and gave a slight tug to make the redhead wince at the feeling of her skull being crushed.
When she was younger, Ranma had always had a problem of speaking out her mind too quickly without tempering her words, and most of the time that ended up with the ever-troublesome foot in mouth syndrome. As she got older during the revolution she had stopped talking back as much thanks to the circumstances, after all what kind of reply can you give when you're told to kill someone other than a yes or no? Especially when you were emotionally dead.
With Tomoe around she did get better at picking her words, especially around the child. However Ranma still told people what she thought of them outright without sugaring up with sweet words; being blunt did have its advantages after all.
However now that she was supposed to be posing as a young, timid martial artist –the timid part being the excuse that she would stay out of most fights as not to reveal herself to Himura- Ranma needed to get back to the way she used to be, just without the ego.
Actually it took a lot less work than she thought it should.
"OW! Hey are you trying to finish me off or something?" Ranma complained while looking over to the doctor standing above her then reaching up to the bandages only to have her hand swatted away by the woman standing over the redheaded girl.
"Quit whining," Megumi told her. "I've seen two year olds that complain less than you. Now stay still."
Down on the floor Ranma resisted the urge to turn around and stick her tongue out at the other woman, so she just crossed her legs again and arms while mumbling incoherently.
With nothing to really do while the woman was tending to her injuries Ranma shifted her eyes to look over at the wall of the dojo that had just been made. With the angle she had been knocked through it, head first by the way, the hole wasn't too big, but still, a hole was a hole. Geeze, all I did was call her an ugly raccoon the way the kid does, no reason for her to get so mad about it.
Ranma stopped talking to herself for a minute and blinked. Actually, when she really thought about it seemed like everyone she had ever known well with the exception of her daughter reacted that way to her insults, no matter what they were. For a brief second Ranma wondered if she was just some kind of short tempered girl/fiancée/rival magnet, or if there was just something about her that naturally put her on people's bad side. With my luck it's probably both, she thought with a little irritation.
Hearing the door on the far side of the dojo slide open and a familiar ki step in the room Ranma looked up to see Sanosuke walk in before looking around with a confused expression as he looked over the place then back to Ranma and Megumi in the center. "Hey, either of you two seen Kenshin or the Missie around anywhere?"
"They had to go into town to buy some materials to fix the dojo," Megumi told him.
After looking at the clock on the other side of the wall Ranma turned her eyes back towards Sano. "Oh that's right you usually come around here to bum food off Kaoru and the others about now don't you?" Although how anyone could actually want to eat the woman's cooking was beyond him, it wasn't as bad as Akane's, THANK GOD, but it was still pretty bad.
"You're one to talk you know," Sano replied.
"Hey I'm paying for my room and board unlike you freeloader," Ranma shouted before getting up on her feet and glaring at the taller fighter.
Only to be pulled down to the floor a second later by Megumi, who then made the bandages much tighter than Ranma knew they should be with her medical knowledge. "Sit down and be still would you," she demanded. In reply the redhead groaned in annoyance, she should have gone with Kenshin and the others.
As he walked down the street, growing ever closer to the dojo Yahiko sighed in exhaustion. Across his back he was carrying what felt like a ton of lumber to the dojo repairs. Next to him Kenshin had the nails and some other tools that would be needed to fix the wall. As usual Kaoru was carrying anything, she was just there for making sure the guys were doing all the work as usual, training she called it.
Well, maybe he was being a little too harsh on the ugly woman. While they were in town the trio had run into Dr. Gensai and his two young granddaughters on his way to meet them. There was a patient a his clinic that had come in while Megumi was at the dojo treating Ranma and he needed to stay with the guy all night, so he didn't have anyone to watch Ayame and Suzume. Taking care of those two when they were in a hyperactive mood was a chore in itself, and sometimes just as tiring.
With a sigh Yahiko tried not to think of how miserable the mocking hours would be with the ugly barking orders, the transsexual complaining about the orders, Kenshin trying to smooth things over and getting creamed for it, and the ensuing chaos eventually catching up to Yahiko himself doing kami only knows what to him.
The swordsman was so busy thinking that he didn't notice they had arrived at the dojo until Kaoru spoke. "Oh Miss Megumi, is Ranma ok?" she asked.
"Yes the girl," she snickered a little. "Seems just fine. One would almost think that head injuries happened to her often," the doctor added as an afterthought. "Oh, I also found another worker to help you out, he's waiting for you in the dojo."
"I really hate that fox woman," Sanosuke said with a frown on his face as he held up another board to be nailed in by Ranma and Yahiko while trying to stay away from the redhead as much as possible. Even after seeing the change a few times and a day he was still a little on edge by Ranma's shape shifting.
It was almost nightfall as Kenshin sat outside the dojo with the others, working on patching up the hole in the wall. The wall would need something more lasting in the long run but after seeing the storm clouds overhead they had opted for a quick fix before any rain blew in.
So, Sanosuke held up the boards while Yahiko and Ranma nailed the boards to the wall. Kenshin got off easy by just being supply manager and handing out the nails to the Kasshin students and boards to Sano. Miss Kaoru was absent at the moment, probably in the bath, since she had provided the capital for the supplies she thought that the men should provide the labor, that she did.
However there was still one last order of business that needed attending to.
"Uncle Kenny Uncle Kenny can't we play now," Ayame asked.
"Yeah come on Uncle Kenny let's play," the other girl said.
The former manslayer put on his best smile to try and apse the children standing in off to his side with their ball in hand. "Maybe in a minute when we're done here," he told him.
"But it'll be dark soon," Ayame replied while pointing to the setting sun.
"Yeah it'll be dark soon," Suzume agreed.
They then attacked the swordsman with of the few techniques that was almost impossible for him to counter. It wasn't a very rare technique, known by most children under the age of ten: The 'puppy dog eyes of domination' called this because with the correct combination of sadness, pleading, cuteness, and maybe even a few teary eyes, any person with a sufficient amount of pity in their hearts would crumble and succumb to the will of the user.
Quickly Kenshin tried to think of a counter, anything to apse the children as quickly as possible. "Say, why not go find Miss Kaoru?" he suggested. "I'm sure that she would be more than willing to play with you. I still need to help the others finish up here that I do."
A moment later Kenshin's defense was quickly rendered useless as the owner of the dojo stepped out from around the corner. By the looks of it Kenshin was correct about her taking a bath, she still had her hair undone from the ribbon she usually wore and it was also slightly damp. "Well I'd love to help but I just got out of the bath," the girl said confirming what Kenshin already knew. That also cut the chances of her getting to help out with the repairs of course, even the menial job like Kenshin's.
So, with that defense gone the two girls turned their attention back to the former manslayer and looked as if they were preparing to resume their attack. "Hey I know," Kaoru suddenly exclaimed cutting them off. "How about I tell you girls a story. Besides, you don't want to be caught out here when it starts raining do you? And your grandfather might be a little upset with me if you end up catching a cold."
"But we're already heard all your stories Auntie Kaoru," Ayame said.
"Yeah their boring," Suzume chimed in. Kaoru's eyebrow twitched at the comment while Yahiko snickered and Ranma looked at the woman out of the corner of her eye and seemed to be studying the woman's reaction while trying not to let other people see her doing it for some reason.
"Ok well," the Kamiya Kasshin instructor said after a brief pause while visibly restraining an entirely different action.
"At least she's got more restraint than the tomboy," the redhead girl mumbled to herself; catching Kenshin's attention. He was about to ask what that meant when Miss Kaoru spoke up again. "Hey I know, Kenshin!"
"Oro?" the redheaded guy replied while turning his head towards the speaker. "Yes Miss Kaoru?"
"Hey you've been around a lot of places right?" she asked.
"Well, yes," the man replied. It was true, after the war he'd been pretty much everywhere in Japan at least twice during his travels; with the exception of Kyoto of course, he had no intention of ever wandering back there, not after what happened.
"Great!" Kaoru exclaimed. "That means you've probably learned a few good stories from all across Japan. Why don't you keep all of use girls entertained with something you picked up…you do know of some…right?"
Kenshin just blinked in response, how in the heck did he get into something like this? Well, Kenshin did suppose he knew of a few stories, but most of them revolved around Kyoto, and were the kind of stuff that the Imperialists told while half drunk and not something for little kids to hear; some of the things that his master told him weren't much better.
"Well?" Kaoru demanded as her patience visibly started to grow thin.
"Actually I do know one," Kenshin replied while looking up at the clouds overhead thoughtfully. It wasn't really meant to be told to kids, but Kenshin supposed he could clean it up a little and add in some things here and there to make it a little better. "I heard it during my time in Kyoto that I did."
"Hey tell us Uncle Kenny," Ayame said.
"Yes tell us, tell us," the younger girl chanted.
"Well, let us finish up here," Kenshin said, "And then after we go inside I'll tell you about…" he stopped for a short dramatic pause. "The Phantom of Kyoto."
(Crunch)
"Ow!"
Everyone looked away from Kenshin and over to the other resident redhead as she waved her thumb back and forth before grabbing and massaging it. It was pretty obvious that Ranma had hit her thumb with the hammer. "Hey, you ok kid?" Sanosuke asked.
Outside the rain could be heard while the group that lived at the Kamiya dojo plus two small girls sat in a semi circle around the former manslayer while he calmly sipped some tea. Sanosuke had left shortly afterwards and Ranma was once again male thanks to some hot water.
"Now then, where shall I begin?" Kenshin said as he started his story.
Preview of Next Chapter: For the first time in his life, Yahiko gets that weird feeling contributed to the opposite sex. To protect his new crush he has to get into a battle for her, and must fight all alone. However with the new boarder living at the Kamiya Dojo, things hardly ever go as planned.
Ending AN: Oh, if your wondering about Ranma's story itself, I plan it add it in later as another sidestory