Authors Note: The characters will be out of character this first chapter. I needed to get them all together, and Kasumi is revealing the real her. There will be minor AU.
Disclaimer: I do
not own Ranma ½ or Yu Yu Hakash
Kurama looked around the city that he and his friends had moved to. There had been several reported demon outbreaks in the area, and they were informed that their abilities wouldn't stand out, so they were free to use them. He brushed the water out of his hair, and was glad that the rain had started to ease. He wondered what sort of place this Nerima was that it was considered normal for them to have the abilities that they did. He was walking across a bridge when faint sobs reached his ears. Looking around to make sure that no one could see him, he leaped off the side of the bridge, and underneath it.
His eyes widened as he saw a red-headed girl kneeling on a white mat, wearing a pure white kimono. There was a piece of paper lying nearby, and a tanto in her hand. As he watched she raised it and thrust it into her stomach. He ran over to her, glazed blue eyes looked at him without recognition. Blood was pouring form the wound in her stomach. He pulled a seed from his pocket and willed it to grow. Soon the wound was covered with moss that grew around the dagger and the wound. It would hold until he could get her help. He thought about where he could take her and decided on Genkai. Maybe the old woman could get information on why she had tried to kill herself.
He shifted to his demon form and rushed to the temple where she had stayed. He leaped up the stairs ten at a time until he was at the house. The trainer came out to meet him with an irritated look on her face, but ushered him inside when she saw the girl in his arms and the blood on them both. She pulled out medicines and bandages from a chest. She pulled away the moss and blood began to pour from the wound. She started to ask him questions as she worked.
"What happened?"
"I was investigating Nerima where we were all sent by Keonma when I heard crying from under a bridge that I was crossing. I jumped down just in time to see her stab herself."
Genkai mixed a powder with hot water and then poured the solution into the wound. Both of them froze as the redhead turned into a boy with black hair. They pushed the questions to the back of their mind until later.
"I would guess that this may be part of the reason that she stabbed herself. The question is that is she a boy or a girl."
She wiped the blood off of the boy with a cool cloth and watched as he changed back into a girl. She checked the stitches to make sure that they hadn't broken.
"We can ask her when she wakes. I will stay until then. I'll call mother and tell her that I am staying at a friend's house."
The old woman nearly nodded as she stitched the layers of flesh together. Then her trained eyes caught something. A slight glow was at the edges of the wound, and she saw that is was starting to heal. It would still take a few days, but she had never seen a human heal like this before. She decided that she and the girl would have a private talk when she recovered.
Kurama had finished the call to his human mother. He felt bad about lying to her, but she had seemed happy that he had friends to visit with. He sat in a chair next to the girl's bed and spent the night watching her. Still wondering why he felt so protective towards her. The next morning there was a loud crash from the front of the house, and he got up with an irritated look on his face. He saw that the girl was tossing and turning in her sleep.
He found Yusuke and Kuwabara fighting in the yard in front of the building. Anger once again filled him. He clinched his fist and the plants growing in the yard quickly wrapped around them both. They looked at the anger plain on his face in shock.
"We have an injured girl in the house trying to rest. She tried to kill herself last night, and if you wake her up you will sorely regret it. Do you understand?"
Both of the teens quickly nodded and he released them. He stared at his hands for a few moments and then went inside. He went back into the bedroom to find that a pair of blue eyes was watching him.
"Why?" was all she asked.
"Why what?."
"Why didn't you let me die? Everyone would be happier."
Rage filled him as he thought about the people that had made her fill this way. Then he raised an eyebrow at his own reaction. He decided to look into it later.
"What about the people that care for you, surely they would miss you?"
The redhead let out bitter laughter.
"The only one that would really care would be Kasumi, and she cares about everyone. My own mother has a suicide pact that I'm supposed to follow it I don't meet her standards."
Kurama's eyes narrowed as he listened to the girl tell him what the last year of her life had been like. He felt the urge to go out and hurt several people.
"And the changes didn't help did they?"
She looked at him with wide eyes, and then sorrow came to her face. She struggled to get out of the bed.
"Just let me rest a bit more and I'll leave."
"Child, you aren't going anywhere until we've had a chance to talk." A voice interrupted.
The blue-eyed girl looked up at the woman with a determined look on her face.
"What right do you have to hold me, I don't know you and don't want to."
Genkai looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
"I only have one question and then you can leave if you wish. Why are you healing so quickly?"
"Don't know, been able to do it as long as I remember. Now let me go."
Genkai moved out of the way and the girl stood up from the bed. She ignored the pain that she was in and began to walk towards the door.
"Where is my tanto?" she asked looking around for the dagger.
"Why do you want it?"
"I have to finish what I've started."
"I can't let you have it then child. I won't help you kill yourself."
The girl turned to her, fury plain on her face.
"Do you know what it's like to be considered a freak for something out of your control? To be blamed for something that wasn't your fault every time it happened? I can't take it anymore; I just want the pain to go away. Maybe if I'm gone everyone can be happy."
Kurama watched as Genkai showed a side of herself that he had rarely seen before. She pulled the girl into a hug and began to talk to her. He was shocked by what she was saying.
"It's not your fault. You can be what ever you want to be while you're here. None of us will judge you. Stay as long as you want, you don't have to ever leave if you don't want to."
The girl began to sob into the woman's shoulder. She seemed to be fighting it for several minutes until she gave in.
Genkai looked up at Kurama where he was standing watching.
"Get the others and tell them that I want a meting. Don't take any excuses, just get them here."
He nodded and left. As he did so he heard Genkai again.
""Tell me about your life please."
Yusuke and Kuwabara were still outside so he told them that Genkai wanted to talk to tem, and that she would be out as soon as everyone was there. He quickly went and got the others. Within an hour and a half everyone was there. Hiei, Yukina, Keiko, Botan, and Pu were all waiting with the other two for Genkai to come out.
The woman walked out of the house a few minutes later, rage plain on her face. Kurama wondered is she was feeling the same way about the strange girl as he was. Her energy flowed around her like a storm and seemed to lash out when ever something got near her.
"Sit." She ordered in a quiet voice.
Even Hiei followed the order.
"I'm going to tell you a story and you will listen well. After that I will introduce you to someone. You will treat them with the respect that they have earned for what they have gone through. Very few people would have been sane after it."
She took a deep breath, struggling to control herself.
"There once was a child that was taken away form his mother at a young age. His father decided that he was to be the best fighter in the world. He was abused under the cover of training, beaten and starved but never gave up. When he was five his father tired him up and covered him in fish, then threw him into a pit of starving cats. His mind snapped, but he managed to recover. Things like this happened all through out the trip. He was denied any chance at having a true friend, keep distant by his father on purpose. The abuse continued until they found the Pools of Sorrow."
She stopped at the indrawn breathes of Botan, Kurama, and Hiei.
"Ah, so you've heard of them. He fell into a pool that made he doubts everything that he had ever known. His father blamed him for what had happened even though it had been his idea. Over the next several years he was chased by the fiancées that his father had set up. Never daring showing anyone affection for either having that person attacked or being branded a pervert. The girl that he cared about hit him several times for being a pervert when the other girls grabbed him He was forced to kill for that same girl, but then she rejected him for the problem that her sister had caused. Finally he decided that he couldn't take it anymore and tried to end his life in the form that had caused him so much pain."
Kurama stared at her with wide eyes, and she nodded.
"Let me introduce you to Ranma, treat her gently."
She motioned to someone inside the house and a figure came out. It was a girl in a blue kimono that was too big for her. Her red hair was pulled back into a pony-tail, and anguish was plain in her face.
"I'll leave if you want me too. I understand if you don't want a freak like me around."
The males of the group clenched their fists, and thought about what they would do to Ranma's father when they found him. Even Hiei looked faintly disgusted, although there was the question of at who. Botan got up and without a word pulled the girl into a hug. Several of the girls mirrored her action and tears leaked form Ranma's eyes. She looked like she didn't know how to react. They began to tell her that it wasn't her fault, hoping that if they did it enough she would start to believe it.
The males in the group nodded to each other and left, all sharing the same idea.
They all gathered at the base of the steps leading up to Genkai's. Yusuke lit a cigarette and took a deep pull.
"So what's the plan?"
"First we find Ranma's father, and then we make him pay. I'd also like to get hold of the girls that made her life a hell."
"Agreed."
Everyone turned to look at Hiei, shock plan on their faces.
"I am doing this for one reason and don't you forget it. I want to hurt the human."
He had uncovered his Jagen eye. With a motion for them to follow him, he jumped off into the city. He used it to track where Ranma had been that day. It took an hour before they reached a Dojo. There were signs of hasty repairs. The sign by the gate mentioned that challengers would go to the side entrance. Hiei walked over and pressed the buzzer.
A few moments later a girl with medium length hair and wearing a house dress opened it.
"Yes, how may I help you?"
"I have some information that deals with Ranma Satome. Can I speak with his father please?" Kurama requested, deciding that he would be the one to speak.
"Please tell me that he's okay." the girl responded.
"We need to speak to his father first. There are a few things that we want to discuss with him."
"I'll lead you to him." She said, turning so they wouldn't see the anger on her face.
She led them to a room where two men were playing shogi. One was thin and had a mustache. The other was obese and balding, both where cheating outrageously using childish tactics.
"Uncle Genma, there are some people here to speak with you about Ranma."
"Oh what has my dishonorable son done now?" the man asked in fake tears.
"I can across Ranma attempting to kill herself yesterday. She nearly succeeded. After hearing her story we have decided that you need a lesson." Kurama told him, idly twirling a rose in his fingertips.
With a snap of his fingers it turned into a thorn covered whip. Hiei had drawn his sword from the sheath. He the reversed it so the spine of the blade was facing downwards.
"It was all lies. The boy just doesn't have what it takes to be a martial artist." Genma protested.
This caused Kasumi and even Soun to look at him in shock.
"We disagree."
With the last statement Kuwabara lifted the man up and tossed him into the courtyard. He and the others quickly followed under their own power. Just as they were about to start attacking him they felt power explode behind them. They turned to see the girl that had greeted them with a red aura surrounding her. She flexed her hand and a war hammer appeared in it, lightning crackling over the head. There was a look of rage on her face so powerful that even Hiei had to fight to not take a step back. She turned to Genma with a look of utter disgust on her face.
"I have stood by time after time as he has suffered. I will do it no more. Genma Satome, prepare to die."
In an area with snowy mountains Ryoga suddenly felt the urge to call his lawyers. He of course blamed this on Ranma.
She slammed the hammer into the ground and a mass of rock and dirt shot towards Genma. It formed into a towering wave.
'Seismic Crusher."
When the dust cleared the obese martial artist's body lay bruised and broken on the ground, half buried under the rock and soil. The girl returned to the way she had been at the door, smoothing her dress out. But her next words told them that she was far from calm.
"Gentleman if you would continue. Please don't get any blood in the house."
Over the next several hours Genma learned that there were far worst things then death. When they were done with him it would take months for him to be able just to walk again. They were careful not to do anything too life threatening, after all this was supposed to be a lesson. Kasumi decided to join them and packed a bag that would last a few days. In an act of utter viciousness she left a note asking Akane to cook for the next several days.
Botan was still comforting the neo-girl. Kurama was the first to speak.
"We had a visit with Ranma's father. This is Kasumi; she is one of the sisters that live at the Tendo's. She wanted to check on Ranma to make sure that she was ok."
"So what do we do now?" asked Yusuke.
"I want to take a look at Ranma in both forms. If she's good enough I'm willing to train her."
Anything that she was going to say next was blocked by Kasumi's bitter laughter.
"If Ranma's good enough? She was forced to kill a god to protect my sister, and she treated her worse then ever. All she wanted was my sister's love, and she was tossed away."
Keiko was the first to ask a question that had been on her mind.
"Why do we still call Ranma she when we know she was born a boy?"
"Ranma realized that there wasn't going to be any cure, so she came to me for help. She wanted to get to know what it was like to be a girl where she could handle the change better. She nearly had a nervous breakdown at some parts of it, but she refused to give up. Now she acts like a boy when she's a boy and a girl when she's a girl. You are responding to that."
Kasumi then turned to the males in the group with a stern look on her face.
"No matter what form she's in, she only likes girls. Don't hit on her or you will regret it, she'll make sure of that."
Botan lifted the sleeping redhead and carried her inside. She staggered under surprising weight of the petit girl. When she got back, tears were leaking from her eyes.
Kasumi started to speak again.
"Let me tell you some things about Ranma's life. I'll go over what I know of the last couple of years and then you can judge."
Every turned to listen to her, their curiosity getting the better of them.
"Ranma came to our home in female form, and was offered friendship by my youngest sister. She took that offer when she found out that he was a boy, and blamed him even when she was the one to walk in on him. At one time she was locked in her female form, and that was the first time she tired to kill herself. Then Ranma went after my sister who was kidnapped by Saffron's general. He was forced to kill him to save her. The final straw was the failed marriage. My other sister sold the location and it was crashed. Everyone blamed Ranma for the failure and he disappeared a few days ago. I was the only one that showed any real concern for him. He is my little brother, and no one will hurt him again."
She glared at the people around her, making her point plain. She spent the next several minutes calming down. Genkai and the others made plans to meet the next day. Kasumi was shown a place to sleep and the ones that stayed went to bed.
Author's Note: Ranma stayed in female form for three reasons. One they didn't have any clothes that fit her male form. The second one is that she doesn't mind being female anymore. The last reason is the wound in her stomach; it's not a good idea to change shape while you have stitches. Constructive criticism taking my explanations in account is welcome.
