"Speaking"

'Thoughts'

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½ or Yu Yu Hakusho.

Chapter 9 School and Training

Dream Sequence

Thirteen year old Kyle walked through a village with a smile. The people would cast a nervous glance at him. He ignored them and continued his walk. Looking back slightly, he saw a girl. She had flowing black hair and black eyes. She had been following him since he had entered the village. He smirked.

"Let's see if I can loose her."

He headed to a market area. There were plenty of people there and he was sure to loose her. He weaved in and out, but the girl still kept up. This annoyed him so he used his speed and left for the outskirts of town. He found a nice tree and settled down for a nap. However he realized he was not alone.

'I can't believe she managed to keep up with me!'

He begrudgingly stood up. There was the girl, slowly walking towards him. "Why do you keep following me?"

The girl smiled. "I just wanted to talk."

"Do you realize who I am?"

"Yes, I know who you are, but I thought we could be friends."

Kyle looked at her confused. He tilted his head to one side. "Friends?"

The girl giggled. "You look cute when you're confused."

Kyle blushed. "Umm, er…."

"My names Yumi. Do you want to be friends?"

"Sure, I guess."

"Aren't you going tell me your name?"

"I thought you said you knew who I was."

"I do, but that doesn't mean I know your name."

"Fine, my name is….."

End Dream Sequence

Kyle sat up abruptly. Sweat dripped from his face. He wiped it away and looked around. He didn't recognize the room. Then the events of the pervious night came to him.

Nekohaten……his room…..Shampoo half naked……flying vase……pain……Shampoo again……..sleep

He looked around and spotted Shampoo's sleeping form. He got out of bed and headed for the bathroom. After taking his shower he headed to his room, but stopped before he opened it. He knocked first. When no one responded he decided it was safe to enter. Sure enough Shampoo was still sleeping. Looking through his duffel bag, he found his school uniform. Not that he was pleased. He hated wearing it, but complied with the rules. He then slipped on a white t-shirt. However just to annoy the teachers, he would not button up the top. The collar just annoyed him sometimes. He woke up Shampoo after he finished changing and went to get some breakfast. He was surprised to find Cologne already up. He had a small chat with her before he needed to leave. Cologne asked him if he was going to say good-bye to his wife. Kyle of course got really embarrassed because he still did not see Shampoo like that. Speaking of Shampoo, she was just heading down the stairs when she heard her great grandmother giving Kyle a hard time. Not wanting to compromise himself, Kyle said a quick good-bye and ran out the door. Once he was a good distance away, he slowed down. He took a deep breath and continued in a steady pace.

"Wait up Kyle!"

Kyle stopped walking and looked back. Ranma and Akane ran up to him.

"Hey guys. You didn't have to run to catch up you know. I could have waited."

"Yeah, but I wanted to talk as soon as possible. Besides, a little run never killed no body."

"Got a point there."

So the three continued their walk. Ranma and Akane got into an argument about something. Kyle wasn't sure since he wasn't paying too much attention. Upon entering the gates, Kyle heard the most annoying voice in the world.

"Halt vile sorcerer!"

Kyle tried to ignore the strangers babbling, but it was proving to be very difficult. While the wannabe samurai talked away, Akane told him who he was.

"That's Kuno. He's wanted to date me for a long time. He calls Ranma a sorcerer and thinks he's controlling me and wants to set me 'free'."

Kyle looked to see if Kuno was done. He wasn't. "Well, aren't you a lucky girl to have a guy like him be so devoted to you." he said sarcastically.

"She'll take whatever she can get." Ranma said. That earned him a trip into the lower atmosphere.

"You there! Why do you stand so close to the lovely Akane Tendo!"

"Umm, er, I'm just a friend."

"State your name serf."

"Kyle Ookami."

"What brings you to my school?"

Kyle scratched the back of his head. "Well, I'm kinda here because of Shampoo."

Kuno raised an eyebrow in question. "The Amazon? What business do you have with her?"

"What is this? Twenty question." Kyle grumbled under his breath. "I'm kinda her new husband……"

Everyone present began to whisper about Kyle's statement. Ranma then appeared out of nowhere.

"You know, maybe you shoulda kept that under wraps."

They were interrupted by a battle scream. "I shall vanquish you evil demon!"

Akane, Ranma, and Kyle split up. Kuno had a plan in his mind. Defeat Kyle and then defeat Ranma and take Akane out on a date. Of course a plan like that could only work in an alternate dimension where Kuno was a good fighter and Akane liked him. Kyle dodged all of Kuno's attacks. Kuno however kept at it. Finally, Kyle got tired of dodging and attacked.

"Spirit Gun!"

Kuno's bokken became toothpicks and Kuno himself lay on the ground with swirls in his eyes. Ranma eagerly walked over to Kyle.

"How'd you do that?"

"You'll learn once we begin to train." Kyle looked down at Kuno. "Is he that easy to beat?"

"Yup. If you're looking for a challenge, Kuno ain't your guy."

"Come on you two. We need to find Kyle's class."

The two boys nodded and followed Akane into the school. Kyle was pleased to know he was in the same class as Ranma and Akane. He was surprised to see Ukyo there as well. Their teacher was interesting. She was a child for one and then there was her attack. He witnessed her suck Ranma's chi and then transform into and adult. He was glad when lunch time arrived. Lunch time was pleasant until Kuno tried his luck against Ranma. Kuno was made short work of and Ranma went back to eating lunch. Ranma did warn him about Nabiki and her blackmailing. Kyle made a note of that. There were certain things he really didn't want Nabiki to find out. Kyle also told Ranma to go to the Nekohaten after it closed. He would be giving them their first lesson. Ranma was so excited. He could hardly wait to begin his training. After school, Kyle walked by himself to the Nekohaten. Suddenly he felt a presence. He got into a defensive stance and looked around.

"I know your there. Come out and face me!"

The cloaked figure appeared in front of him.

"What do you want?"

"I think you know why I'm here."

"No I don't. Why don't you enlighten me?"

The stranger smiled under the cloak. A flash of recognition went through Kyle's mind. Wait a minute, that's a she not a he! But why couldn't I pick up a scent until just now? I can't believe it took me this long to notice that something was wrong! She could cloak her sent, but how?

"You're a girl aren't you?"

"Very good, but do you know who I am?"

Kyle growled. "Stop playing games with me! Just tell me what you want!"

All of a sudden she shot something at him. Kyle rolled out of the way. He looked towards the direction the object had gone. An arrow was stuck on a wooden fence behind him. When he turned around she was gone. He walked over to the arrow and pulled it out. With the arrow in hand, he made his way to the Nekohaten.

So I'm fighting a girl. It's obvious she knows me, but from my past? That's impossible. Grrrr! I have to find out who she is. More importantly, I have to find our what she wants.

Once again he was sweeping the front of the café and once again some girls would stop to talk him. This time, however Shampoo didn't make a scene. Kyle went inside after he was done. Shadow saw him and followed his master up the stairs. Kyle sat down and did his homework. After a few hours someone came into the room.

"Great grandmother say Fang-boy help clean up."

"Do you call me Fang-boy because you don't like me or is it just to annoy me?"

"It not Fang-boy's business. Come help."

Kyle frowned as he followed Amazon down the stairs. Soon after they were done cleaning up, Ranma, Ryoga and Akane showed up.

"What's she doing here?" Kyle asked casually. Apparently this was taken as an offensive question by Akane.

"Do you have a problem with me being here?" She said angrily.

Kyle waved his hands in front of him in defense. "No, no, I was just wondering why you came."

Ranma just waved it off. "Don't worry about it. She just thinks that I'm here to flirt with Shampoo. She never believes anything I tell her."

Just then Shampoo walked into the room. Her eyes lit up at the sight of Ranma. She promptly ran to him and glomped onto him. Ranma struggled to get out of her grasp. He looked over at Akane who was fuming with jealousy.

"Nihao Ranma!"

"Ranma you jerk! How dare you flirt with Shampoo!" Akane pulled out mallet-sama. She was about to smash Ranma into the ground when Kyle cleared his throat.

"As much as you want to smash Ranma into the ground, I'm going to ask you not to. He has training to do and I want him in good condition."

Akane begrudgingly complied. The others nodded and followed him out back. Mousse was already there with Cologne. Ranma and Ryoga noticed that there was four square boards with a nail sticking thought it.

"What are those for?" Ryoga asked.

Kyle smiled evilly at his new students. "You'll find out soon enough."

The Nerimans looked at him nervously. "Let's get started." He said with the same expression.

After teaching them how to summon their spirit energy, Kyle made them get on the boards and use their spirit energy to keep their fingers from being impaled by the nail. (Like when Yusuke was training with Genkai.)

45 minutes later……..

"Are you crazy? How long are we going to be like this!" Ranma asked.

Kyle was being trained by Cologne to do the Hiryu Shoten Ha. He ignored Ranma's comment and continued to do his training. That of course made Ranma mad.

"Hey! Will ya listen when I'm talking to you!"

Kyle gave him an annoyed look. Cologne let him stop to go talk to his students. "You will do that," he said pointing to the nail and board. "Until you have developed your spirit energy to the point where you can use it more than once a day."

"But is this really necessary!" Ryoga complained.

Kyle crossed his hands over his chest. "Necessary? You want to know if this is necessary."

Ryoga nodded his head nervously. Kyle kneeled down to Ryoga. "No, but Genkai made me do this and I thought it would work for you guys too."

His answer caused the Nerimans to loose their balance and fall off. Akane quickly ran to Ranma's side. She looked at Kyle angrily. "Look what you did!" she pointed to Ranma's bleeding hand. He had landed on the nail.

Kyle stood up and looked at Akane with a serious expression. "If they can't handle my training then they should just give up. I'm only doing this because Koenma made them my partners. No one said this was going to be easy. They have a lot of catching up to do compared to my other partners. Right now they are very vulnerable to demon attacks and like it or not, they are going to fight and kill those demons."

He looked at his student. "I won't make you guys continue if this is too hard for you. I'll just call Koenma and tell him that you guys can't handle……"

"NO WAY!" Ranma said. He stood up. "I ain't giving up so easily. I've been through a lot worse than this."

"Yeah," said Ryoga. "I'm no weakling."

"I'll show you just how tough I am." Mousse joined in.

"Shampoo is warrior. Shampoo not quite." she stood up as well and looked determined.

Kyle smiled. "Good. Bandage up your wounds and get back on the boards."

"But Ranma!"

"Stay out of this Akane. This don't have anything to do with you."

Akane was fuming. Ryoga, Shampoo, and Mousse stepped away from Ranma. Akane pulled out her trusty mallet-sama. Ranma looked horrified at her. "Now Akane just calm down will ya!"

"Ranma you BAKA!" mallet-sama came down towards Ranma. Ranma put his hands over his head in an effort to protect himself. However, mallet-sama never made contact with his head. He looked up to see Kyle preventing mallet-sama from causing him any brain damage. Akane glared at him.

"What do you think your doing!"

Kyle answered her calmly. "Protecting my student." he then shattered mallet-sama into toothpicks. Akane looked shocked. "Leave."

Akane's anger was now at the breaking point. She lunged at Kyle. Kyle disappeared before Akane could touch him.

"Wha…?" was all Akane could say before Kyle appeared behind her and hit the side of her neck. She collapsed to the ground. Ranma and Ryoga were furious. Ranma ran to Akane and picked her up.

"What did you do to her?"

"You better have a good answer!" Ryoga yelled.

Kyle remained calm despite his current situation. "Calm down. I just knocked her out. She'll be back to her normal violent self when she wakes up. Ranma, do you always let her treat you that way?"

Ranma anger began to disappear. "Well, uhh….."

"Ranma. You can't let her do that anymore. Not only is it bad for you, but it's also bad for her. If she thinks that she can just go around hitting people because she's angry, she can get in serous trouble for that. Start fighting back."

"But she's a girl! I can't hit her!"

"This isn't about her being a girl Ranma! I'm not asking you to hit her. All I want you to do is defend yourself. Everyone has a right to do that including you. Being a girl doesn't mean that gives her the right to act the way she does. Does being a girl entitle her to hit you all the time?"

"……..No."

"But he deserves it! He's always cheating on her and being a jerk!" Ryoga threw in.

"I'm not excusing him for his actions."

"You could have fooled me."

"Ryoga, the way we were brought up is a factor in creating the people we are today." Kyle looked at his watch. "It's already getting late. We're not going to get much done now. We'll continue this tomorrow."

Ranma and Ryoga began to walk away. "Oh and Ranma," Ranma stopped and looked back at him. "Think about what I said. It may make a difference in your relationship."

Ranma faltered a little at the mention of relationship. However, he nodded and left. Mousse walked back into the Nekohaten to clean up. Cologne looked at Kyle. "We'll continue training when you don't go to school. It will be easier to train that way."

Kyle nodded his head and Cologne also went inside leaving Shampoo and Kyle alone. Kyle looked at her hand. It was clenched in a fist. "Your bleeding aren't you?"

"How you know?"

Kyle chuckled. "I have my ways." he walked towards her. "Let me see your hand." Shampoo eyed him warily.

"Oh come on. I don't bite."

Still eyeing him, she held out her hand. Kyle took her hand and turned it over. Her palm was a little bloody, but it wasn't that bad of an injury.

"I hope I can do this right. Botan tried to teach me how to heal one time, but I haven't done it in a while."

Shampoo saw a blue light form in the palm of his hand. He placed the light over her wound. Shampoo felt a warm sensation go through her whole body. It felt like she was on a cloud as the pain disappeared. She wanted to feel like that forever. Then the feeling began to fade and the light in Kyle's hand disappeared.

"Hey it worked." he said with a smile. Shampoo looked down. He was still holding her hand. Kyle felt his cheeks become hot. He let go and looked away. "Umm, we better get back inside."

Shampoo also felt her cheeks become hot. She nodded and walked towards the Nekohaten. Kyle watched her walk inside. He stood there and then looked towards the sky. "This is stupid. It's only been a couple of days."

Shampoo leaned on the door of her room. She put her hands on her check and thought of a certain someone.

"Stupid Fang-boy. Make Shampoo feel like this. I teach him lesson."

Outside, our favorite Fan-boy sneezed. 'That can't be good.' He thought as he walked inside.