Too Close For Comfort
Ranma Fanfic by Seras4545
A/N: Awesome! Lots of reviews, thanks everyone. Sorry 'bout the, as a reviewer so kindly pointed out, seriously fucked up cliffhanger. It just felt like a good time to end the chapter and see what kind of response I would get. I'll try to do better this time around.
Chapter 6: Enter Kuno: The True Blunder
Kuno slashed down with his bokken, missing Ranma by a few centimeters and cutting into the stone wall behind her.
Ranma landed against the trunk of a tree and pushed off as Kuno sent a vicious slash that completely severed the tree in half. Ranma saw the tree go down and knew that Kuno wasn't holding back against her, at least not much. Probably saw how well I did against the horde. There's no way Akane would be able to hold out against this guy if he was attacking her like he's attacking me now.
For some reason, Ranma was getting angry and before Kuno could attack again, she rushed in under his defense. She started throwing rapid punches into his abdomen and smiled sadistically as she heard ribs snap and break.
Kuno staggered under the barrage and held his abdomen in obvious pain. He still kept hold of his weapon though, and he resumed an offensive stance. Ranma then felt a large amount of ki well up from within him and he straightened his stance and resumed a two handed weapon style.
Ranma was surprised that he still wished to continue. Geez, this guy must be some kind of masochist. That would have brought just about anyone else down for sure.
Kuno smiled at Ranma, nearly making her retch. "You are powerful, oh pigtailed goddess. You are the first to be able to wound me so. It will take more than that to defeat me however."
So saying he leapt forward and, with ki enhanced strength and speed, began to rapidly thrust at Ranma crying out 'strike' with each.
It was all Ranma could do to not get hit at this point. She backed up toward the school and eventually she heard a cracking noise behind her. Ranma took a glance back and saw that the wall was being pulverized. Shit, the air pressure alone is destroying the wall. He is better than I had thought.
Then Ranma heard a scream. Ranma quickly snuck a kick through Kuno's defenses, sending him flying off for a moment. She turned and watched in shock as the wall came down, taking a portion of of the classroom above with it. The person screaming was Nabiki along with a girl he didn't recognize.
She quickly jumped up and grabbed Nabiki and the girl and landed gracefully to the side of the pile of rubble.
She looked at Nabiki in concern. "You okay, Nabiki?"
Nabiki flashed her a weak smile and nodded. The other girl had fainted. "Yeah, thanks Ranma. I didn't realize what kind of damage Kuno could wreak. You be careful, he's dangerous and he seems very serious about this for once."
Ranma nodded. "I will. He'll pay for this."
Ranma left Nabiki to take care of the girl and strode over to where Kuno was prying himself from the impression in the wall where he had impacted, her fury growing with every step. No one, and I mean no one gets away with harming innocents! Especially not her! Ranma's vision began to be filled with a red haze. Kuno shook himself, dislodging the fragments of plaster and stone from himself.
He saw Ranma approaching and quickly resumed his stance. Ranma could feel him gathering ki again and decided to end this right here and now.
Kuno blinked as Ranma disappeared from his sight. Then his bokken shattered into splinters and he screamed as he felt his arms being painfully dislocated. (Think Sasuke from Naruto when he was first using the cursed mark and breaking that one guys arms.)
"You will pay for what you nearly did!" Ranma yelled from behind him as she heard the bones grind against each other and then break with a resounding snap that all could hear.
"Ranma, stop! Don't kill him!" Ranma came back to herself and blinked in surprise when she noticed that she held Kuno's head in her hand and had begun twisting, ready to break his neck. She let go in shock at what she had nearly done.
Nabiki ran up to her. "Thank the kami! I tried reaching you as soon as you started breaking his arms. What the hell did you think you were doing? You could have killed him!"
Ranma blinked at the verbal barrage. She couldn't seem to think straight yet. Did she just say that I broke his arms? When did that happen? Ranma couldn't remember much of what had happened and her panic started to grow as she realized that what had happened was similar to her other 'problem'.
She looked at Kuno and saw that his face had gone completely white and he was breathing raggedly. Remembering what she was supposed to be doing she walked up to him and knelt close enough for him to hear, switching on a tape recorder as she went.
"Kuno, do you yield?"
Kuno managed to answer between gasping breaths. "Yes... I, Tate..waki Kuno... yield to you... Ranma Sao..tome. I.. shall no longer... bother either you... or the beauteous Akane... Tendo ever again."
Ranma, ignoring Kuno's pain, picked him up and hit a pressure point on kuno's neck. Kuno went instantly limp and sighed in relief as his mind was cut off from the pain and promptly fainted.
Nabiki threw an anxious look at Ranma, concerned that Ranma had just killed him. "What did you just do to him, Ranma?"
Ranma gave her an unreadable look. "I merely used a pressure point to knock out his nervous system temporarily. He wont be able to move or feel pain for awhile. He just fainted from the sudden loss of sensory input. Don't worry, I didn't kill him." She said the last in a bitter tone and jumped up on the wall, still carrying Kuno.
"Ranma, wait!" Nabiki called out but was too late. The martial artist was gone, along with Kuno.
Later, Akane came running into the school, ready for her morning fight to be confronted by the scene of carnage Ranma had left behind.
Confused, she went to class when the bell rung and noticed that she hadn't seen either Ranma or Nabiki this morning.
Doctor Tofu's Office
Doctor Tofu had just sent his last patient on her way home and gone back inside when he heard a commotion. He went back outside and found a redhead girl carrying an apparently very injured young man. The girl looked like she was on the verge of collapse. (Hey, Kuno is probably heavy and Ranma has not had all the benefits of the series yet. Also, the clinic is on the way but about halfway between school and the dojo. Besides, it is very difficult to hold a limp body, as it's balance shifts constantly.)
Tofu immediately ran up and took the burden of Kuno off of Ranma, asking how such a thing had come about.
Ranma smiled at Tofu, instantly liking him. "Well... I kinda got carried away in a fight he and I had. So I brought him here based on your reputation, doc."
Tofu seemed quite surprised. "You did this? That must have been quite a fight. Well umm..."
"Oh, sorry. The name's Ranma Saotome. Just call me Ranma. The idiot I beat up is named Kuno."
Ranma, huh? That sounds like something you would name a son, not a daughter. Tofu took a closer look at Ranma's Ki and was surprised to find that she had an equal mix of both male and female ki, though the female ki seemed to be domineering the male for now. Interesting, got to ask her about that after I fix up Kuno.
Tofu placed his patient on the bed and began looking at him and his aura. After awhile he started getting frustrated.
"That's strange. The ki isn't flowing properly and all his injuries seem to be internal. I can't figure them out like this and I don't want to probe them, I may do more damage than harm."
Ranma had figured that the pressure point would screw up the ki flow and therefore the good doctor's analysis. "Sorry doc, that's my fault as well. I used a pressure point to cut him off from the pain. If you want, I can tell you what injuries he has. I think we should sedate him however and give him some pain killers and I can reverse the pressure point, so that you can examine the injuries yourself."
Tofu nodded at this sound advice, but decided to hear how good Ranma's analysis of Kuno's injuries was. Very few knew of the particular pressure point that Ranma had used, and most were always doctors.
"I'll do that. But first, tell me what you know. It will speed the process a bit."
As Ranma listed off the injuries she had inflicted, Tofu went and prepared the painkillers and sedatives.
Tofu was increasingly impressed by Ranma's skill as she rattled off the injuries. Five broken ribs, one shattered, two broken collarbones, both shoulders dislocated, a bruised liver, three fractured vertebrae, and a few surface bruises.
Tofu administered the sedatives and painkillers and then had Ranma reverse the pressure point. Tofu then looked into Kuno's aura and found only a few things that Ranma had missed, non as serious as the others, however. He also found a sickness, one that attacked his mind. It seemed to be caused by a mixture of toxins that had been breathed in.
"I'm impressed, Ranma. You had diagnosed his injuries almost as well as I could. This should only take a little while."
Ranma went out into the waiting room and sat down while the doctor did his work. She thought over the fight and how close she had come to killing Kuno. She had never come so close to killing anyone, not even when she had been in the neko ken.
She felt guilt, pain, and sorrow. She suddenly felt someone nearby and turned and saw Nabiki through eyes that were beginning to blur with tears, looking at her with concern. That look was the last push the dam needed to break and she began to cry in earnest.
Nabiki was surprised when Ranma broke down, she hadn't expected that of the strong and confident martial artist. She hesitated a second, then pulled Ranma into a hug. Ranma continued to cry into her shoulder and Nabiki held her, trying to calm her down and soothe her.
Eventually Ranma stopped though she continued to hold onto Nabiki for a few minutes. When she finally let go she saw the wet spot on Nabiki's clothes and immediately began to apologize.
Nabiki held up her hand, forestalling her apology. "It's alright Ranma, it'll dry in time."
Ranma heard a cough and turned to see Tofu standing in the doorway.
"Sorry to interrupt, but I just wanted to say that Kuno will be fine after a few months of rehab. He won't be fit to go to school during that time however. Also, I would like to ask you something Ranma."
Ranma wiped her eyes dry and smiled at the doctor. "What is it doc?"
Tofu was glad to hear her in control, it sometimes scared him when a girl let loose like that. Too often he had no idea what to do.
"Well, do you have a job yet?" Seeing Ranma shake her head, he continued. "Well then, how would you like to work here after school? I could use the help and it would put some of my female patients at ease."
Ranma looked questioningly at Nabiki. "Well, he is a doctor Ranma, you'll have to tell him sometime. Better now, than when it is embarrassing."
Tofu was confused by this. What is it that Ranma is hiding? Does it have something to do with her strange ki?
Ranma sighed. "Well doc, it's kinda hard to explain. Basically I am cursed." Tofu blinked at that, he knew that some types of magic existed, but what could she possibly be cursed with?
"Umm... It would be easier to explain if I could just show you. Could you get me some hot water?"
Tofu nodded and went off to heat up some water. He soon came back with a cup full of hot water and handed it to Ranma, who proceeded to dump it on herself.
Tofu watched in shock as Ranma grew overall, but shrunk in some areas, most specifically in the chest. Ranma was now a guy.
" Hmm.. Interesting. So, you're cursed to turn into a guy when hit with hot water?"
Ranma was surprised by this, then began laughing wholeheartedly. Nabiki soon joined him while Tofu looked on in confusion.
When he finished laughing, he shook his head at the doctor. "No doc, I don't turn into a guy. I am a guy, I am cursed to turn into a girl when I'm hit with cold water."
Now it made more sense to Tofu. "Well, my offer still stands. You have a lot of potential. I could teach you as you work here. What do you say?"
Ranma thought on it for a bit, then nodded. "Yeah, I think I'll like that alot. Thanks doc."
Tofu smiled. "No problem Ranma. It'll be my pleasure to teach you. By the way, were do you live, in case I need your help when you're not here?"
"Oh, I live with the Tendos. I believe you know them?"
Tofu knew them alright, he began thinking of a girl with long brown hair with an angelic smile and his glasses began fogging up. He shook himself out of his momentary daze and nodded.
"Yes, I know them. Nabiki, right?" Nabiki nodded. "You take care of Ranma now, you hear? Don't let something like this happen again if you can help it alright?"
Nabiki nodded and led Ranma out of the clinic.
Once they got outside Ranma surprised her by picking her up and launching off of the ground. Nabiki watched in fascination as the landscape flashed by beneath her. She suddenly felt afraid of how high they were going. She wrapped her arms tighter around Ranma and buried her face in his chest. She liked how warm he was and tried to get even closer to him.
"Umm... Nabiki, could you let up a bit?" Nabiki looked up at his face and noticed it was turning a bit blue and nearly let go entirely as she loosened her hold on him.
Ranma sighed in relief as he could breath again and smiled down at Nabiki, showing that she had done no real harm.
Soon they were at the Tendo dojo and Ranma touched ground again. He let Nabiki down gently and winced. He tried to hide it quickly but Nabiki had seen it.
"Hey Ranma! You're hurt aren't you?" Ranma shrugged, not wanting her to know how bad it was.
"It's just a scratch, nothin' serious."
Nabiki was skeptical. "Really? Then it doesn't hurt?" She said as she prodded his side that had a rip in the shirt. This produced another wince from Ranma. "Uh huh. Just as I thought. Come on, let me go get the first aid kit." Ranma followed her into the house. She went and got the first aid kit from the kitchen and surprisingly Kasumi wasn't in the house. She figured that she must be out shopping and led Ranma up to their room.
Nabiki ordered Ranma to take off his shirt and when he gave her a worried glance, she sighed and got some water and turned him back into a girl.
"There, is that better?" Ranma still looked uncomfortable, but did as she was told and took her shirt off.
Nabiki did her best to ignore Ranma's large breasts and examined her. Even as a girl she was very well muscled and it rippled with every move she made. Nabiki found that she was turned on by that as well and tried to ignore it too. She found a large gash in Ranma's side that was slowly bleeding.
How could a bokken cut her like this? It's too fine of a cut. Then she remembered when Ranma had saved her and Miaka from the collapsing classroom, and how a lot of glass was falling from the broken windows.
She probed the wound a bit, ignoring Ranma's protests, and found a shard of glass embedded in it.
"Alright, Ranma. This is gonna hurt." Ranma braced herself as Nabiki grabbed a pair of tweezers and extracted the glass. Ranma let out a cry of pain as the glass caught and cut some more tissue and Nabiki hurriedly pulled it out. As the shard left the wound Ranma let out a sigh of relief.
She looked Ranma over for other injuries and found a dark bruise on her neck. When she pointed it out to Ranma, she looked confused for a second. "He never even touched me once. I'm impressed, I underestimated him greatly."
Suddenly Ranma hugged Nabiki and Nabiki had a hard time ignoring the sensations this caused her. When she finally let go she was smiling.
"Thanks for caring Nabs, you have no idea how much that means to me."
A strange look passed over Ranma's face then she leaned forward and kissed Nabiki deeply, passionately. Then she broke away and smiled at the slightly shocked Nabiki.
"I think I need a nap, you don't mind do you?" Nabiki shook her head, still speechless from the kiss.
Ranma curled up on her futon and, between the stress of the day and her feelings for Nabiki, promptly fell asleep.
Nabiki snapped out of her fugue after a few minutes and looked down at Ranma's peaceful face. She took some time to sort out her feelings and found that she deeply loved the redhead. She stared lovingly at her and then undressed and put on her nightgown and crawled underneath the blankets alongside Ranma and curled up against her, cupping her smaller form within her own.
As she drifted off to sleep she had one thought on her mind. I could get used to this...
Then she fell asleep, comfortable with her bed companion...
A/N: Hope you liked it! Sorry 'bout the slightly shorter chapter, but I kinda want to keep the chapters within the time span of the episodes. For those of you who hate Kuno, I hope you got a kick out of Ranma beating the shit out of him for nearly hurting Nabiki. If you haven't noticed, I'm trying to make the martial artists a little more mortal in the beginning at least. Anyway, the next chapter should be done within a week or so of this one.
Seras out. Till next time!