"...shouldn't have begun that act anyways!" Genma's voice was audible clearly despite the fact that Akane and Ranma-Yasha had only just passed through the front gate. "So the boy got hurt a little! Good! Maybe this will teach him-"

"'Hurt a little'?!" Came Nabiki's equally loud retort. "Ranma's got at least two broken limbs!! How does that qualify as 'hurt a little'???"

Ranma-Yasha groaned as she limped, still supported by Akane, up to the door, letting the larger girl open it. The youngest Tendou helpfully removed her shoe for her, before switching to her own house-slippers. The shouted argument continued heedless of Akane's call of 'Tadaima'.

"HAH! Two broken limbs. Not with the way I trained him! He's probably just acting up for sympathy. If I was there, he wouldn't dare to play things up like that!"

"Play up NOTHING!!! I HEARD her screaming in pain when Touhuu was setting her bones! You DON'T scream like that as faking! What the hell is wrong with you?!?"

Yasha sighed heavily as Akane assisted her down the hall, the larger girl steaming more than a little, but she was able to hear Souun's, much calmer, voice cutting into the 'conversation'.

"Now, Nabiki-chan, calm down a little. Shouting won't help any. Saotome-kun, do you really believe your son would simply act as though he were injured that badly? Besides, I trust Touhuu-sensei implicitly with my life and those of my daughters. If he didn't think anything was unusual about Ranma being in pain, I am hardly going to believe that the child was 'just acting'."

It was at about this point, as Ranma-Yasha and Akane were approaching the kitchen doorway, that Kasumi stepped out of it into the hall. Wiping her hands off on the edges of her apron, she nodded to herself, and turned to go down the hall. On seing Yasha's state, though, she stopped dead.

"MASAKA!!!"

Passenger

Chapter 6: The Future Begins To Look Hazy

A Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction by S. Starblade

Dedicated to new writers, and writing as well as you can.

Warning: Just in case you haven't read this enough times, I borrow stuff. From all sorts of people. It's not plagiarism, I don't do it exactly the same. I hope.

Disclaimer: They AREN'T MINE, you bakas! Stop chasing me around about it! I never asked for them! You hear me? THEY'RE ALL PERVERTED JERKS! Who's a tomboy? RANMA NO BAKA!!! WHAM

Key:

=English

" " =Japanese

[ ] = Jusenkyou Cursed Signs

{ } = Chinese

= Internal conversation between Ranma and Yasha

(AN: No, Yasha's current name isn't permanent.)

Souun was first into the hall, rushing to the supposed rescue of his beloved eldest daughter, only to come to a desperate, screeching halt just before he could run into Yasha. He held firm as Nabiki crashed into him in her own bid to stop before she could run him into the injured demon-girl. A few seconds later, Genma ambled warily into the hall, taking in the scene.

Slowly, carefully, Kasumi stepped towards Yasha, who had started staring at the floor. "Masaka..." the eldest daughter breathed. "You poor girl.... That... hurts a lot, doesn't it?"

Ranma-Yasha nodded slightly, hindered by the neck brace and the odd pulling sensation she got in her neck whenever she moved her head. At least she could still turn her eyes.

"Do you want to rest?" The homemaker asked, receiving another slight nod in response.

"Ranma!" Genma exclaimed, interrupting, "How could you fail me so! How could you let this happen! To be... what DID happen, exactly?"

"Baka oyaji." Came the muttered response. Kasumi, ignoring the elder Saotome, took Yasha-Ranma's weight from her younger sister, moving to help the demon-girl to the guest room. As Akane started talking quietly with Nabiki, Souun caught Genma's arm, preventing him following Kasumi and Yasha. At his old friend's questioning look, Souun shook his head, and practically dragged Genma into the living room.

He was cracking around the edges by the time he entered the door.

Dinner was again a rather quiet affair at the Tendou-ke.

"..and I guess Mr. Saotome can't really sleep in the same room as poor Ranma for now. I know! She can sleep in my room. I'll get out the extra futon. Of course, we can't move her when she's already asleep, so Ojisan can sleep in the dojo tonight. Oh, and I can keep Ranma company during the day, because I'm home most of the time! Oh, this is wonderful! Not poor Ranma getting hurt of course. That's just awful. I'm sure that Kuno-san will be sorely punished for that. What I meant, was that it's wonderful that Uncle, Father and I are here all day to keep poor Ranma company, and care for her. And when she's recovered enough, I can start teaching her my recipies..."

Or would have been, but Kasumi had decided to make up for the lack of speech from the others by conversing enough for all of them. None of them noticed of course, being deep in thought.

Akane was thinking of what she would do to Kuno for this. Maybe if she took his bokken and rammed it THERE, and then tied his sleeves like so.... It wasn't that she thought Ranma was anything but another perverted boy (who happened to have a really weird curse), it's just that Kuno really needed a lesson this time. That's all. Nothing else. Really.

Nabiki was thinking of what she would do to Kuno for this. Maybe he would think twice if he were several hundred thousand yen less rich... Now, how to get the money off of him.... Maybe anti-demon charms? No, too ironic. Hmmm...

Souun wasn't thinking of what he would to do Kuno for this. Nor was he noticing that Nabiki's little winged yen bills were roosting on his shoulder. He was, however, crying faster than he ate (#71: My Son In Law Got the Tar Beaten Out of Him and is Stuck as a Girl for Now, and simultaneously # 4: My Eldest Daughter Cooks So Well).

Genma was trying to think. To his credit, he was accomplishing a reasonable facsimile of thinking about something other than food, sleep, and training Ranma. It wasn't quite right, though. It went something like this:

Ranma wouldn't lose that badly to a high school kendo hobbyist. And there were no serious martial artists in the school at the moment. So, that meant that something really was up with Ranma's cursed form. Aha! That was the key! There must have been a demon in the spring! That would explain Ranma's cursed form's odd appearance. So, that was a demon inhabiting his son's body, and... and trying to get him to teach it martial arts! Yes, yes, he could see now. So all he would have to do is only train it in martial arts he knew he could easily defeat, and then when it thought it had everything and made its bid, he could stop it and be the hero! Yes, that was the ticket. So he COULD teach the demon- he'd just have to be careful what he taught it. And be sure to use weaker training methods than with Ranma... yes, he could do this....

Shaitan grinned evilly. No, more evilly. No, that's demented. I mean EVILLY. As in, normally he only grins kind of evilly, now he was grinning so evilly that the top of his head had almost split off. Watching Genma was going to be fun. If he couldn't stop the hail down here, he could at least get a vacation.

Then a particularly sharp one landed on his foot, and he proceeded to jump around a bit, cursing.

Yahweh sat on Yggdrasil, monitering things through a few flatscreens. This Doublet thing was fun. Especially since, via Yggdrasil, you could watch your Doublet counterpart...

Yasha woke up, sat up reflexively, and almost screamed.

That HURT. It wasn't the sharp pain she'd felt when Touhuu had been bandaging her up, nor the dull soreness from just after Kunou had played pinata with her. It was more of an 'And now your spine is full of daggers, and every motion makes them swim around in your flesh, isn't that wonderful!'

In the back of her mind, Ranma, protected by his unconsciousness, roused enough to protest the fact that it was morning and painful this damned early, and went back to sleep.

Yawning thinly, in an attempt not to aggravate her jaw and neck injuries, Yasha looked at the clock on the wall. Yep. 5:00 AM. Couldn't get away from that damned internal alarm clock even by travelling halfway around the globe, what had made her think getting pulped would turn it off?

Oh, well. Nothing for it but to get up. Now... with these casts like this, she would have to...

Twisting about in a way that would have surprised anyone but an experienced contortionist, and that left her gasping in pain, Yasha managed to get herself standing with the crutch under her left arm. She noted idly, as she tried to catch her breath, that she really shouldn't do that again ever. Carefully, she straightened out her newly-amputated pajamas (the ones with the little demon-repelling ofuda decoration pictures) and step-thumped her way to the... stairs? Oh, yeah. Late last night, Kasumi had enlisted her father to move Yasha upstairs to share a room with here. The demon-girl blink blinked. She hadn't even noticed what the room looked like. Sighing ( VERY SLOWLY), she vowed to pay more attention next time.

Ten minutes later, she reached the bottom of the stairwell just as Kasumi started down the stairs herself, headed for the bath.

"Wait, Ranma- I'll give you a hand." She directed, in a tone that clearly implied that this was just a polite command. "You shouldn't be up and about on your own, without your neck brace on. Really- you might injure yourself more if you're not careful." She chastized, finishing as she reached the foot of the stairs.

"Am sorry, Kasumi-san... Is just, I awake, and I not want wait with no do. I was take bath now... Will wait for you, yes?" Yasha would have looked down but for the need to avoid moving her neck unneccesarily.

To her utmost surprise, Kasumi looked her in the eyes without appearing at all disturbed, smiled and said kindly, "You'll do no such thing. I will help you bathe. You certainly can't clean all of yourself with those casts on, can you? You won't be able to reach everything."

The smaller girl grinned ruefully, taking her arm off the crutch for a moment. "Wanting to bet?" She asked, folding her left arm behind her, elbow at her spine, and waving to Kasumi over her right shoulder with her left hand, palm away from her own back. "Besides," She continued, regaining her grip on the crutch with little difficulty, "Am really boy. Are you sure is okay? I think... ah... father of Kasumi... would be very upset to find out. Is nice for you offer, anyway..."

"Oh, just come on. I really don't mind. Besides, it's not like you haven't seen a girl naked before." Something occured to Kasumi. "You HAVE bathed as a girl before, right?"

Ranma-Yasha nodded. Of course she had. After all, heated rivers and lakes weren't exactly common, and most hot springs had entrance fees. Not that that had ever stopped Genma, but she ( and Ranma ) tended to have slightly better social morals than him. On his best day. And their worst.

"Well, then, it's not a problem. Besides, noone's getting a bath if we stand here talking all morning. Here, I'll help you there."

Aquiescing, although not entirely reluctant, Yasha submitted to Kasumi's aid, both in heading to the bathroom, and getting undressed.

Feeling very naked, Yasha looked around. This was her first time in a genuine traditional Japanese bathroom. Back before she'd joined Ranma, she'd heard all sorts of wonderful things about what a good soak in a furo could do for you, and as, at the time, she'd been too large to actually be mostly underwater in an American bathtub, had been looking forward to the experience. Since she couldn't soak in hot water, however, she would have to skip on that one for a while.

Yasha really wasn't looking forward to this morning's bath. With her condition and the casts, she'd have to take a cold sponge-bath. While she was perfectly capable of ignoring cold, cold and wet had always been an altogether different situation for her. And since coming to live with Ranma, in her smaller body, she'd found her physical tolerance for extreme temperatures rather reduced. It irked her to no end.

She turned to face Kasumi as the older girl entered. Kasumi walked up to stand about three feet from Yasha, and looked the smaller girl up and down.

No, Kasumi wasn't interested in Ranma-Yasha's body like THAT. Get your minds out of the gutter.

She was merely taking the opportunity to catalogue the differences between the petite demon's body and a human one. The quills and tail were the most noticable. Yasha, meanwhile, was finding the whole thing rather intimidating. She'd never had anything even remotely like Kasumi's figure, and had rarely seen anything to compare. Maybe it was something in the diet around here? Could have had to do with it being an 'anime' world. Or something....

Kasumi waited for Ranma-Yasha to take a seat.

And waited.

And waited.

The smaller girl was just standing there, looking a bit cold, temperature-wise. She was occasionally looking at the stools or at Kasumi's bucket of bath supplies. She also seemed to be avoiding looking at Kasumi anywhere but her face.

Kasumi sweatdropped. "You... don't know how to use a furo to clean yourself properly, do you..."

Yasha scratched the top of her head, careful not to spear her fingers on her quills. "Ahhhh... I not want look dumb, use wrong thing wrong time or wrong way...." She was gradually getting more nervous. She was sure she was making some sort of a gaffe here, but having never been in a furo bathroom before, she was much more sure that she'd make at least one bigger mistake if she just sort of tried to fake it.

Kasumi took pity on the poor girl, pulling up a couple of stools and gently seating her on one.

Yasha, meanwhile, was trying to figure out if it was good or bad that Ranma was still asleep. On one hand, he could tell her what to do if he was awake. On the other, he would probably be totally freaked out. The first time they had bathed female, he'd almost totally lost it. With Kasumi here, bathing too... She decided not to risk it.

The disparity in size between the two girls became even more apparent when Kasumi and Yasha sat on the stools. Kasumi's knees were level with her belly button, while Yasha's good leg made an almost right angle at the knee.

Hoping fervently that Ranma wouldn't wake up, Yasha took the soapy, damp cloth Kasumi handed her. When Kasumi started cleaning herself, Yasha carefully mimicked her every move, except those that would have involved not wearing a cast. She had to stretch wayyyyyyy out to wash her toes, too- which resulted in a bit of a wince as her ribs shifted a little in the wrong way.

Akane headed down to the bathroom, as usual, at about 5:30, to get a light rinse in before her morning jog. Oh, good, Kasumi was already in there. They could scrub each others' backs. That was always nice, because then she and Kasumi could discuss the goings-on in Nerima of late. It was one of the few places where Kasumi said much, other than "Ara" and "Dinner's ready!"

Unfortunately, Kasumi had gotten Yasha undressed first, so her nightgown was sitting on top of Yasha's pajamas, concealing them.

Ranma-Yasha blinked as Kasumi motioned for her to turn around.

"You want I turn around?" She asked, puzzled.

"Of course. How else would I wash your back for you?"

Yasha was even more glad Ranma was still "asleep". She turned around. "Just touch only as much as need for cleaning."

Nodding, Kasumi started by taking hold of the bow on the demon-girl's "ponytail" of quills.

Yasha almost jumped. "Wait, be caref-"

SPROINGG

Kasumi's eyes widened as most of Yasha's quills took to standing straight out from her head, making her look like she was wearing a caffeinated porcupine for a wig. Kasumi had narrowly avoided having her nose scratched by the quills.

Enough quills were still down to give the appearance of long hair, though, and Kasumi carefully lifted them out of the way. Then she began washing the smaller girl's back. Something seemed oddly familiar about this, and it took Kasumi a moment to place it. The demon-girl's body shape was just like Nabiki's and Akane's had each been shortly before they'd stopped taking baths together so often. Right before they started hitting the major changes of puberty. As she scrubbed, she reflected that the younger girl could use it- even if she was eleven or twelve, as her body might suggest, to be that short surely meant something was off. She could use a growth spurt.

Undressed, Akane stepped up to the door into the furo area. She took with her only a towel, not expecting to wash until after her jog. She wasn't using it to cover any "important bits". After all, it was just Kasumi.

Kasumi continued to wash Ranma-Yasha's back until she reached the base of the demon-girl's tail, when she was interrupted by the involuntary arching of the smaller girl's back. Apparently, that spot was rather sensitive.

Right then, Akane opened the furo door.

To see Yasha sitting bolt upright, back arched, and Kasumi (apparently) grabbing the smaller girl's butt.

Three things ran through Akane's mind:

Kasumi is grabbing another (badly injured) girl by the butt, and the other girl looks like she likes it. A lot.

Ranma is in the furo area with Kasumi, and both are naked.

She couldn't pummel Ranma because he was:

a) a girl, and so entitled to be in the furo with other girls

b)injured, and so unable to defend herself, and

c)a guest who might become family.

Kasumi looked wide-eyed at Akane, realizing why her sister had frozen up, and immediately retracted her hand, blushing furiously.

Yasha half-relaxed, then bent 90 degrees left and then right at her waist, causing her spine to emit cement-mixer sounds. And then winced in pain.

Then she noticed Akane, and froze.

Hold tableaux for 5... 4... 3... 2... 1...

"Ranmaaaa nooooo..." Wait. Ranma was a girl right now, she couldn't be molesting Kasumi. As a matter of fact, it had looked more like Kasumi was molesting her.

But, Kasumi wasn't a hentai. That just wasn't possible. You might as well try to convince someone in Nerima that a pile of rocks made a good breakfast. Someone HUMAN in Nerima, anyways.

But Ranma wasn't being a hentai either. She was looking Akane in the face, apparently very scared.

Akane absently noted that Ranma-Yasha seemed to have been purring.

Then her mind took the last option.

There were three people here: Her, Ranma, and Kasumi.

Something hentai was being done by someone.

It wasn't Ranma, and it wasn't Kasumi....

Ranma-Yasha and Kasumi looked on in shock as Akane shouted, "AKANE NO HENTAI!!!" And malleted herself in the head. Hard.

The two others continued to look on in shock as Akane, mallet embedded in her own head, gave a 'V' sign with her left hand, and slumped to the floor unconscious. For the next few minutes, a nearby cicada could be heard chirring.

I know, I know. It looks like I've basically pulled Ranma out of this for about a month or so. Emphasis on looks like. C'mon, this is a manga/anime, and the main character, too, that we're talking about here. It won't take that long.

I'll bet now different people are complaining that we don't get to see how Ranma will deal with Yasha having her menarche. Let's not get ahead of ourselves, shall we?

And what, exactly, is going to happen with Genma and Yasha?

And will Yasha ever get a real name?

That depends on what I come up with, and when. Please review, but constructive only. If it sucks, say WHY. And suggestions are welcome. Oh, and whoever-it-was that wanted to use my alternative nickname for Kuno, go right ahead. If I wanted to keep it to myself, I wouldn'ta wrote it where everyone else could read it.

Till next time, Jaa, mata!

Secondary Notes, June 28, 2004, 5:46 PM:::

It took me a while to figure out exactly what I wanted to do different with this chapter. From hereon out, things will start being very noticably different from the original version of this 'fic. Hopefully, they will be a marked improvement, but, hey- no promises.

Hopefully, I'll be able to keep a respectable pace on this throughout the summer. Be well, all.