"I... Fight... ......"

Kunou almost left off, miffed at the sudden softness Saotome had gained, and the strange change in his opponent's hair. The flesh his left hand was holding to was rather too limber to be counted as muscle, and the way his face was pressed into the cur's hair was getting unusually uncomfortable- wait, since when did Saotome have brown hair?

"...On??"

"AAAH! Let GO!!!!" Yasha howled as Kunou accidentally wrenched at something both sensitive and already hurting. First slamming into the water, then having to deal with being grappled, then the groping, and finally the manhandling- she was starting to get really upset.

"Eh??" was all Kunou managed to get out before catching an elbow in his face as Yasha spun in place in the pool, and then a double-fist over the head as she started to back away through the water.

Within moments, Kunou had bobbed back up, and got an actual look at his opponent. "DEMON!!" shouted the imbecelic kendoist, practically jumping backwards through the water. "My bokken! Where is my weapon??"

Yasha, eyes teared with pain and anger (damn, but hitting the water had hurt), took the opportunity to duck underwater and swim rapidly to the edge of the pool. As she climbed out, she glanced back to see Tatewaki heading straight for his bokken, which was slowly floating away from him. He'd have caught up to it soon...

She took the opportunity to make a break for the treeline when Kunou wasn't looking. Maybe she could get out of sight before he got his hands on that stick of his. Or on her.

Passenger

Chapter 5: It sucks to Succubus.

A Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction by S. Starblade

Dedicated to people who have used old ideas in new ways.

Warning: Okay. I borrowed things. If they're yours, you can have them back when I'm done with them. And yes, I'll be careful not to break them, get them dirty, or misuse them. Don't worry, if I borrowed it from you, it's because I liked it a lot.

Disclaimer: I, the Purple and Green Angel of the Internet, am so misfortunate as to not own most of the characters that will appear herein. Oh, what a foul thing, that such inventive humor should not belong to me! I, the rising star of the college fanfiction world, shall strive to own ALL of my loves! For I cannot decide! They are all so beauteous!

Key:

= English

" " = Japanese

[ ] = Jusenkyou Cursed Signs

{ } = Chinese

= Internal conversation between Ranma and Yasha

Ignoring the pain running all down her front, and the large bruise forming on one breast, Yasha hopped, leapt and ran through the bushes at the edges of the school grounds, trying to make her way around to the gate. She ignored the way some branches tore at the edges of the silks she was wearing, and the leaves that caught in her quills. She just wanted to get out of here.

Akane followed, warm kettle in hand, wondering how someone so unskilled at martial arts as Ranma was when he was like this, could move so quickly across very uneven ground.

Yasha came to a screeching halt as Kunou jumped into the bushes just ahead of her, turning to face her with bokken raised from the only open spot in that direction. He WOULD pick now to become competent, wouldn't he?

"Fool!" he crowed triumphantly. "You thought I would not see how you were trying to escape? I have deduced your true nature, Saotome!" Tatewaki took a moment to laugh maniacally as he revealed his intelligence. Surely, this foul one would surrender in face of the evidence of his ability to see the truth.

Stop laughing.

Yasha blinked, forgetting her panic for a moment as she wondered why, if the kendoist had figured it out, he was still pursuing her. She absently removed a rather annoying stick from where it had fallen between her ear and head.

"Now, vile succubus, you shall perish for attempting to seduce the wonderous Akane!"

Ah, there we go. That made a lot more- oh, shit. Achieving a new grip on her panic, Yasha took it and ran, out into the field. She was only a short ways out before she felt a sharp pain in her side and found herself flying sideways five feet, to land on her back. Yasha winced as she sat up, right hand immediately going to her side, just below her ribcage. Under the water already in the cloth, she didn't notice the blood- but it had started to stain the white silk a pale pink color.

Apparently, Kunou was much faster than her.

Somewhere in the bushes, Akane cursed and tried to free her school dress from the nest of brambles Yasha had dodged around. Why did she have to try to run away through such difficult terrain?

Grimacing in pain, Yasha got to her feet just in time to jump back as Kunou's overhanded swing lodged his bokken in the ground. Seeing that she couldn't get away from this one, she ran straight for the kendoist, attempting to get to him before he could retrieve his weapon.

Just as Tatewaki raised his bokken overhead with the force of having wrenched it from the ground, Yasha slammed headfirst into his stomach. And kept going. Kunou's heels dragged in the grassy soil as the girl plowed forwards, refusing to stop until she absolutely had to.

Ten feet later, she fell over forward onto him, already pounding him with her small fists. She hadn't much power, but the sheer number of swings she was making pretty much ensured that the kendoist would be bruised at the ribs for a while.

By this time, a small crowd had gathered in front of the school doors and was growing. Nabiki, at the forward edge, looked around for Akane. She had gone to get some hot water, but where was she? Shouldn't she be here already, helping Ranma? It was obvious that the small demon-girl stood very little chance against the Blue Thunder, and that was uninjured. The soft pink stain on the side of her oversized white shirt and the angry red color of her face and arms made it obvious that she wasn't in peak condition.

Kunou shoved the demon off of him, barely noticing the light pink stain that had spread onto his own dogi a little. A new grip was taken on his bokken with both hands as Tatewaki drew himself up into a low, half-crouched position.

"You shall not take me, foul demon! You wretched, whoreson beast! I shall destroy you!" he shouted, swinging sideways and just missing as she rolled backwards. Had Yasha been watching, she would have noticed him overbalance a little, unable to compensate as well as he wished. "Satan's plaything! Corrupter of souls! You shall not open your legs to consume another person so long as I live!" The words themselves were largely out of Yasha's realm of comprehension, but the tone was all too clear, and she caught enough every now and then to get a general idea.

Much like Akane, Yasha was very much capable of being stubborn and goatheaded. Like Akane, she did not take well to being insulted. Like Akane, she had very combative instincts, not well suited to verbal barbs or diplomacy. Thus, she responded a lot like Akane.

Yasha half-stood, crouched, and growling. Her tail lashed rapidly as she glared at Kunou with hard crimson eyes. This... this asshole with a wooden stick would not get away with this. Oh, she didn't expect to win, but she'd do whatever she could to make sure he didn't have it easy. Her knees bent, then flexed, as she launched herself into a short running charge at the upperclassman.

Kunou swung his bokken, and hit her in the side of the head, knocking her to the left. As Yasha started to get up, he charged right back at her swinging his weapon in an overhead blow designed for maximum force. To his surprise, she glared up at him, and caught the blow on her right forearm.

KRAKK!

Several people watching turned green at the sound, and Nabiki, no longer willing to wait for Akane, ran to get some warm water herself, lest Ranma get himself killed. Had Kunou been merely trying to pound Ranma for calling him names, she would have been fine with it, more or less. But she wasn't about to let him KILL Ranma.

Bracing her arm against the bokken which the kendoist was still pressing down on forcefully, Yasha swiveled under the weapon and lashed out with a one-footed mule-kick, catching Kunou in the gut. With a whooshing sound of escaping breath, he fell back, sitting down. Turning the rest of the way around, Yasha leapt straight for him, lashing out with both hands, despite the distinct possibility of one arm being broken. She was beyond caring, running on adrenaline now. The shallow cuts on her side and arm weren't helping any, but she still managed to club Kunou upside the head with her right arm, wrapping the other about his shoulder, and digging her fingernails painfully into his back.

With a ferocity that stunned even Ranma, watching from inside her head, she took the opportunity to bite down on Kunou's shoulder. Hard. Elongated fangs pierced skin and flesh, forcing holes in the rough cotton of the kendo dougi.

"Aarrh!" Exclaimed Kunou, in pain. He reached up with his left hand, grabbing the small girl by the throat and trying to pry her off of him. He winced as she put her knee in his groin at the same time as she continued to tighten her jaws with impressive force. Blood ran from where her fangs had punctured his hakama and skin, and he could feel his collarbone being forced to bend.

Soon, however, her grip weakened from lack of oxygen, and Kunou was able to pry her off and throw her back, leaving her coughing and him still in quite a bit of pain.

Slowly, Yasha started to get up, as Kunou stood, lopsided, bloodied shoulder turned away from Yasha.

They both stood, breathing heavily, Kunou slowly bleeding from the shoulder, and Yasha bloodied on her side, with some of Kunou's blood smeared across her face. The crimson about her mouth was a marked contrast to the pale-pink color of her blood running slowly from her right forearm, and staining the white silk on her right side.

Glaring, Kunou decided it was time for his special technique. His opponent obviously warranted such an action. Her ferocity was.... astounding, almost disturbing, even for a demon.

He ran straight at her as she braced herself, tail still lashing quickly. Even addled with pain, anger, and adrenaline, her brain told her that something in the way he was moving was very dangerous.

"Thousand strikes! YATATATATATATATATATATA!!"

Yasha found herself being hit all over. Very, very hard. Time seemed to slow down, and it took her forever to be thrown out of range of the attack and it's waves of air pressure. The sheer number of blows had held her up in the air momentarily, and several loud cracking noises had sounded out as the almost literal spray of bokken thrusts hit her.

Kunou sagged. That had been much harder with one hand. He watched the half-conscious demon fly back almost twelve feet, bouncing once, to land on her front, unmoving aside from an occasional twitch in her tail, and shallow breathing. Obviously, the foul succubus was still alive. He would have to fix that, now.

The small demon-girl lay there, now bleeding from her nose and mouth as well, hurting in places she didn't even know she had owned to hurt in. Numerous small cuts riddled her arms and legs, and her sides, and she could feel a few things shifting that should have stayed in place.

Well, Ranma.... I guess this is it.... It's been nice knowing you... Never before had Yasha felt this much pain and inability in herself, and only once had she even come close. She would have a hard time believing herself able to survive this.

No, Yasha. NO. It won't be. Not after all I've done in my life, I won't be beaten by some arrogant, stick-wielding, MORON! I won't allow it! Ranma tried to move their body, but it simply wouldn't budge.

Give it up, man.... Sometimes, Ranma, there's just nothing you can-

Yasha cut off to scream in pain as Kunou stomped on her tail with an audible CRUNCH. Idly, she noted that her lungs were actually still working, and, by the way she failed to cough up any blood, weren't even punctured by any of the broken ribs she could feel.

"Now, foul demon, vile succubus from the pits of hell, you shall urk"

This time, it was Kunou who was cut off, by a desperate Akane, who had hit him in the head with the kettle. VERY HARD. Warm water was wasted, splashed all across Kunou, as he was sent flying to the left a good fifteen feet. As the kendoist got to his feet, Nabiki clubbed him over the head with her own hot-water kettle. Kunou went back down, but kept trying to get up. Panicked, lest he start beating on poor Ranma again, Akane ran over with the mangled kettle in hand, and bashed him over the head five more times. And then another three for good measure. Nabiki, still surprised at herself for having hit Kunou with a kettle like that, merely watched.

This time, the kendoist got the hint and fell unconscious.

Akane and Nabiki ran over to Ranma-Yasha, to take her to the second place they could think of: Doctor Touhuu's clinic. (The first place they'd thought of was the hospital, but that wouldn't have worked at all. For mostly obvious reasons.)

Ono Touhuu looked down at the barely-conscious demon-girl lying on his examination table. If what Akane said was true, and it probably was, with Nabiki backing it up...

Then this very female, rather small demon was actually a highly trained male martial artist of considerably greater size. And if she WAS male, then having Akane and Nabiki around...

Besides, those two were looking slightly ill.

"Ah... Ranma? Would you like Akane and Nabiki to leave?"

Ranma-Yasha nodded weakly.

Relieved, Akane and Nabiki ran for Touhuu's bathroom, presumably to donate their breakfasts to the local sewer system. The way Ranma's leg was bent... all that blood...

Examining his patient, Touhuu set to step one: reading the patient's aura and making them feel at ease. He carefully ignored the wet noises from the restroom. Maybe with a more detailed examination of Ranma's aura, he could figure out what exactly it was that had been bugging him before about it.

"So, you've been learning martial arts from your father, have you?"

Ranma-Yasha snorted, then winced. That hadn't felt good at all.

"Oyaji teach.... only Ranma..." She whispered out. "Not me... Say demon should.... not learn from him... wouldn't teach..."

Ah. There it was. There was an extra layer...

"Oh, that's right. Your father thinks a demon has taken over your cursed form, or something along those lines." Touhuu spoke distractedly, his attention still on Ranma's chi aura. Layers, yes... one like he would expect from a highly trained male martial artist, the other was....

She laughed softly at this, then winced, barely restraining the impulse to curl up into a ball.

Why haven't... you started yet?... According to.... Akane, you... can work wonders... Yasha instinctively defaulted to English as she spoke- she couldn't concentrate enough to be even vaguely coherent in Japanese.

She was interrupted as Touhuu exclaimed in surprise.

Ahah! Well, whoever you are, because you definitely aren't Ranma, I'm not familiar with your... demon, I'd suppose... physiology.

Yasha blinked. You... can tell?

Of course. Stated Touhuu, nodding his head sagely. You have two auras, and one of them has been suppresed to your head. Given what the others have told me, this "Ranma" is in control when it's his body, and you're in control when it's your body. Am I right?

Well, Ranma, looks like the secret is out, at least as far as the good doctor's concerned... May as well admit it, yes?

I suppose so. Just, get him not to tell anyone else.

Yes, doctor.. you're right. I don't suppose... you could... not tell anyone.... about this? I... I mean, it's.... not like I mean... Ranma any harm... Heck, I'm not sure.... how I got here... Okay?

Well, I suppose so, though you're going to have to tell somebody. You can't keep this sort of thing a secret forever.

Yasha sighed slightly, suppressing yet another wince. I guess. I could.... use someone to... talk to, too... Y'know, get a... load off, and... all that. Couldja... get to it already? Even if... I'm not gonna die.... it sure feels like it...

Okay. Be warned, this may hurt. And I won't lie to you, if it does, it will hurt a LOT. I've got to find out what's broken.

Akane and Nabiki, having returned to the waiting room in the clinic, winced at the screams of a demon-girl in pain. Occasionally they would cast slightly horrified, sympathetic glances at each other. Something seemed just... surreally disturbing about what was going on right now.

Pink blood? Isn't that interesting. Here, let's just put some antiseptic on that gash in your side...

After a particularly loud one (YES that rib hurt, and NO it did NOT feel good when he pushed on it like that from that side there), Akane made up her mind and turned to Nabiki, who was starting to turn a bit green at the gills again.

"Ah, Nabiki? Maybe you should head home, tell our family and Mr. Saotome what happened... Maybe get them prepared for this. Just... don't have them come here, alright?"

Eager to get away from the blood-curdling screams, Nabiki nodded quickly, grabbed her bag, and walked at a decorous pace out of the clinic. Wouldn't do to look panicked.

Akane remained in the seat, trying to read a magazine, and failing miserably as she often winced hard enough to turn pages. Before long the hapless media was reduced to a crumpled wad of paper, rather reflective of the girl's current state of mind.

"ITAIIIII!"

"And THAT's broken, TOO?? My, that's quite a workover you got. It's a wonder your face isn't damaged. Hmm. THAT doesn't look quite right... let's see..."

The next few words out of Yasha's mouth were of the type generally considered unprintable.

Akane stood up as the door opened, the screams having ceased a good ten minutes previously. Of course, the silence hadn't been any better for her nerves, but at least she wasn't wincing anymore.

Out stepped Ranma-Yasha, on a crutch, with her left leg and right arm in casts, and a neck brace. There was an obvious bulge of bandaging about her midsection and ribs, and a splint on a section of her tail. The whole thing couldn't be splinted, it had a tendency to try to lash and wind up smacking against everything. She kept her jaw mostly closed, on account of it having a fracture all to itself (joy.). Most of the rest of her was bandaged, and Touhuu was helping her along.

Akane stepped over to Ranma-Yasha quickly, taking Touhuu's place. This made things considerably easier for the smaller girl, as Akane, while still much taller than her, was more of a size to her than the rather tall doctor.

"Okay, Akane, here's how it goes: Normally, for such extensive injuries, I would recommend she get a hospital stay of about a month- maybe more. But, for pretty apparent reasons, that's not possible. Among other things, the government would probably try to take Ya- uh, Ranma here away for "research". So, Ranma's going to have to take it easy for a month at least, I would think. That means no martial arts, no dancing, no running, no leaving the house. I'm not even sure Ranma should be walking, but she has assured me that nothing seems to shift when she does so. Furthermore, you must avoid triggering the curse by any means necessary. There's no telling what will happen if you do. It may even kill Ranma, by causing a broken rib to spear something vital. So NO WARM FLUIDS are to be allowed ANYWHERE NEAR Ranma."

Akane nodded emphatically as Yasha looked a bit glum. Ranma might be okay with being stuck in the back of their head for a month, but it still felt wrong to do that to him. Of course, she hadn't much choice about it at this point, but still.

"Here are some painkillers that ought to work alright on her, although I'm not entirely sure. Regardless, just to be safe, and I told Ranma this too, she gets at most one every four hours. No more than that. After a month, Ranma is to return here, with someone along to help get here, and I'll open the casts and examine her again. The bandages should be replaced every day, preferably every 16 hours or so, but every day should be alright. I need someone to stay near her at all times, because she won't be able to get up if she falls down without risking hurting herself further. Understood?" Asked the doctor, handing Akane a large medical box of bandages after putting a medically-labeled bottle in it.

"Yes, doctor." Chorused Akane and Ranma-Yasha, unintentionally in unison.

"Okay, go on home, and hopefully I won't need to see you again for a month."

It was about this point that something caught Akane's attention, that had been vying for it almost since the beginning of Touhuu's speech.

"Anou... you said.... She?" Akane looked more carefully at the small girl she was helping to support. Yes, Ranma's overall build and facial shape was much lighter like this, but....

Touhuu blinked. "Yes. Ranma here is a girl like this. Believe me- I did have to do some fairly extensive work. How could you not notice?"

Akane gave Yasha a hard look, under which the smaller girl looked down, somewhat ashamed.

Yasha limped down the street, leaning on a crutch and an Akane for support. Due to size differences, the crutch was a lot more helpful than the Akane. She idly wondered if she could get Akane exchanged for a more useful object. And a less talkative one.

"I'm very sorry," apologized Akane, "But I warned you about Kunou. Plus, it wasn't very smart jumping into the swimming pool like that.."

"So I not see it. Was accident." Yasha grumbled. Even if she couldn't really use a crutch on the right with her arm broken, she really didn't need the commentary.

"Oh, come on. Like you could have survived a three-story drop onto concrete?"

"As male, I could, yes."

Akane neglected to comment.

Okay, it's been pointed out that a few things I do are different from how they are in canon. Tough. This isn't canon. Second, Yes, I know some of my name spellings are straight Romaji, while others are the accepted canon translations. I just went with whatever I felt looked best. Third off, in the manga, Akane DOES say "I hate men" just before charging into the Hormone Herd outside Furinkan. I know, I know, she only hates immature males, and that's why most people put "I hate BOYS". But when you're pissed off, you tend to lose track of small discrepancies like that. I'm sorry it offended you so much that I do these things. If they detract that much from reading this, then go ahead and stop reading it. It won't hurt me any, and besides, how will I know?

Anyways, please send more criticism of the constructive kind instead. Just saying I did something wrong in your opinion or that what I wrote is boring or just the same as something else is NOT CONSTRUCTIVE. Feel free to make suggestions, although I will warn you that I probably won't use very many of them. I have my view of the Ranmaverse based on my readings and such, and everyone else has theirs. I can change my mind and probably will if someone comes up with something good, but I know what I think so far. Everyone is welcome to their own interperetation.

I hadn't expected to be plowing my way through this quite so quickly, but inspiration will strike when inspiration strikes, ne?

Jaa, matta ashita!

Further Authors' Notes, 4/24/04

So, the rewriting continues. I hope you all out there like the changes I've made, because I've made them, and they're staying that way, like it or not.

Biiiiiiidah.

Seriously, though, enjoy this work, I know I've enjoyed providing it.

Be well, and fight on!

- Selene Starblade