Here's Chapter 4 of 'Jusenkyo's Curse'. I am deeply sorry for the delay as
i've had a severe case of writers block when i was rewriting the chapter.
PLEASE C&C this, it means a LOT to me. Thanks all ^_^
------------------------------
Ranma 1/2 - Jusenkyo's Curse
a fanfic by Kyo Kusanagi
------------------------------
Chapter 4: Days of Thunder, Nights of Pain
***************
Ranma awoke and winced at the stream of sunlight coming from his open
window. He rubbed his eyes sleepily and cursed himself for not shutting the
window the night before, or at least drawing the blinds. As he made to sit
up, he was suddenly aware of a weight pressing onto his chest. Looking down,
he was surprised to see Ran-ko half-draped over him. He smiled when he
thought of last night when she fell asleep on top of him. He still wasn�t
sure about why he could be so familiar with her and not have his �open
mouth, insert foot� mode kick in but he wasn�t complaining. It was nice to
be able to get close to a girl and not make a complete ass of himself.
Ran-ko stirred and mumbled something incoherent as he gently stroked her
hair. The sunlight streaming onto the silky soft strands making it seem as
if it were aflame.
"Ran-ko...wake up." Ranma whispered into her ear. Ran-ko mumbled something
else and sleepily opened her eyes to see her brother smiling down at her.
"Ohayo goshimasu, oniichan..." Ran-ko said sleepily, nuzzling her brother�s
chest.
"Oh good, you�re awake, now I can throw you off!" Ranma said with a smirk as
he lifted his sister off his chest and dumped her onto her futon, eliciting
a giggle from her.
"Hey! That wasn�t nice!" Ran-ko exclaimed in mock anger.
"Oh wasn�t it? What�re you going to do about it then, huh?" Ranma replied
with a smirk.
"This!" Ran-ko grabbed a pillow and promptly whacked Ranma over the head
with it, knocking him onto his backside..
"Oho! So that�s how you want to play it eh?" Ranma said in a mock warning
tone, standing up and grabbing a pillow. Ran-ko blinked cutely at her
brother as he advanced menacingly. The general racket of a pillow fight
follows, to be followed by both Ranma and Ran-ko flying out the window to
land in the carp pond.
"Hey old man! Whatcha do that for?!?" Ranma growled up at Panda in the
window who was holding the sign he hit them with. It read �You stepped on me
first!�.
"Naughty Panda bear..." Ran-ko muttered, rubbing the back of her head. Ranma
stifled a giggle at her statement. The way she said it was so, strange, it
was funny.
"Ah, up early I see..." Soun said as he walked out onto the porch, brushing
his teeth. "Early morning practise?"
"No, early morning step-on-panda-accident." Ran-ko said, giggling. Soun
stifled a laugh at her statement. He could just see Ranma and Ran-ko
bouncing up and down on Panda like he was some human trampoline and it
wasn�t an unfunny thought.
"Though not a bad suggestion, Mr.Tendo." Ranma mused. Since they were up
early, sparring seemed like a good idea. "...Since Pop�s probably still
sleeping his worthless hide off, whatcha say to a few rounds Ran-ko?"
Ran-ko�s uncertain expression did not go unnoticed. It wasn�t hard to figure
out what she was dwelling upon. "...It�ll be ok, we�ll just spar this time
ok? No ki-attacks." Ranma added. After a moment�s hesitation, Ran-ko allowed
her brother to drag her into the dojo.
************
"You know, you�re quite good�" Ranma said, dodging an attempted kick. <I
guess the old ghoul wasn�t wrong about her having my martial arts skills.>
Ran-ko, taking advantage of Ranma�s distracted state, feinted high with her
left hand and snaked her right elbow beneath Ranma�s guard, taking him in
the ribs. Ranma hit the ground with a thump but deftly rolled to his feet.
"Hee hee! Gotcha!" Ran-ko giggled. Ranma allowed himself to smile.
<�And maybe a little more�> he thought, rubbing his side. He�d always been
careful when sparring or fighting any girl for fear of hurting her,
especially Akane. Besides Ryoga, Ran-ko was most probably the only one that
he could say was on his level. Not counting Pantyhose Tarou, Herb and all
the others that is.
"Oho! So that�s how you want to play it eh?" Ranma cracked his knuckles
tauntingly. "�Two can play that game!" Ranma exclaimed with a grin on his
face a mile wide before dashing to the attack. Ran-ko quickly snapped out of
her �cute� pose which she had put on during Ranma�s speech and quickly fell
back into stance as Ranma attacked with a lightning-fast kicks and punches.
Ran-ko backed up several steps before taking advantage of the split-second
opening that always followed a reverse spin kick and dashed in, under her
brother�s guard and grabbing him by the waist. Ranma, taken off guard, fell
back but used the backward momentum to his advantage and, placing his right
foot into Ran-ko�s stomach, threw her over his head with a back sacrifice
throw. Ran-ko flipped nimbly in mid-air and landed only to find herself
hard-pressed to block as Ranma attacked once more. He was extremely
impressed with his sister�s battle sense as well as her fighting skills.
Granted they were not as strong as his own but that would improve in time,
as will her control. Secretly, Ranma was glad that she didn�t want to use
ki-techniques in their sparring as he�d found out yesterday to his surprise,
or more accurately, shock, that her power level surpassed even his own. The
only reason he was able to win the Mouko-Takabisha �blast-duel� yesterday
was that Ran-ko�s control over her ki was shaky at best and she expended too
much energy. If her control was as good as his own, he would have easily lost.
"KYAAAAAA!" Ran-ko�s cry snapped him out of his reverie and he recovered in
time to barely deflect a well-aimed kick toward his solar plexus. Taking
advantage of her forward momentum, Ranma vaulted over her extended leg and
landed nimbly behind her. He quickly reached his right arm over her right
shoulder, grabbing her left wrist and pulling it across her chest as he
snaked his left hand under her left arm, locking it at the elbow and placed
the palm on the lower-left section of her throat. Ran-ko gasped as he pulled
back, wrenching the modified sleeper-hold tight.
"You give up?" Ranma asked, smirking. Ran-ko shot her brother a grin.
"Never!" Ran-ko shifted her weight to her front foot and attempted to throw
Ranma over her shoulder but quickly decided against it as the motion would
wrench the hold tighter.
"Come on, say �uncle�" Ranma taunted playfully, not applying much pressure
as he was unwilling to take the chance of hurting her. His grip on the hold
was tight enough to make sure that she couldn�t escape but not so tight that
she would pass out. Ran-ko struggled ineffectively against her brother�s
grip for a few moments more. She was getting extremely frustrated, the
modified sleeper-hold he was using was extremely effective in making sure
there was no escape, not without a high-impact blow. Problem was that she
was in no position to attempt anything. Struggling only made him hold on
tighter. Ran-ko gasped in frustration and unwittingly powered up for a brief
moment. <Mmm�Nani?!? This energy�> Ranma only had a split-second to think
and, knowing that if he didn't release the hold, he was in for one hell of a
bad day. He quickly relinquished his grip and crouched back in a defensive
cover, hastily powering up and throwing a blue ki-barrier around him, hoping
to �kakikesu� the coming attack as Ran-ko screamed, clenching both fists by
her side. Red spiritual flames erupted around her feet, forming a circle and
exploded upwards. Ranma shuddered as he was thrown back by the force of the
energy discharge but his hastily-prepared defences absorbed most of the
potential damage. Ran-ko recovered after a moment and gasped when she
realised what she�d done.
"Ack! Oniichan! You okay?!?�I'm sorry, I didn�t mean to do that�It just�"
Ran-ko said quickly, stumbling over a few words. Ranma shook his head to
clear his vision and waited for the pandas to stop dancing before his eyes
before looking up at his sister.
"Woah! Remind me that if I�m sparring you next time to borrow Shampoo�s
armor!" Ran-ko giggled as she got a visual of her brother in a girl�s suit
of armor.
"Err, oniichan, you sure about that?" Ran-ko smirked, covering her mouth as
she tried not to laugh. It took a moment for Ranma to comprehend what she
was saying and he kicked himself mentally when he finally got it.
<Damn! I forgot!> Ranma banged his head against the wall. It was hard to get
used to the fact that he wasn�t cursed any more after ten years. "�What was
that move anyway?" asked Ranma. He was curious now, a release of ki like
that usually could not be done without powering up to maximum at least to
generate the amount of energy needed. But Ran-ko had taken less than three
seconds at best to achieve the same result.
"I don�t know�I just�just got frustrated at not being able to escape your
grip and it just happened�" Ran-ko said, an ashamed look on her face. She
was ashamed of the fact that if Ranma hadn�t been expecting a counter, he
could have been seriously injured as that energy discharge was almost half
the power level of Ryoga�s Perfect ShiShiHoKodan. "�You ok? I�m sorry�I
shouldn�t have tried to�" Ran-ko said softly, tears forming in her eyes.
Ranma smiled up at her and wiped a tear away with the back of a finger.
"Hey�I�m ok, don�t worry�It�s no big deal." Ranma said, standing up after a
moment.
"R�Really?" Ran-ko asked, leaning her head against his chest. "�you�re not
mad at me are you?"
Ranma hugged her close for a moment then ruffled her hair playfully.
"Nah�How can I get mad at you?" he grinned down at her, very proud of her
fighting abilities. <If anything, you�ve got a thing or two to teach me,
little sister.> Ranma thought before turning to leave. "Come on, let�s get
cleaned up, you start school today."
Ran-ko�s eyes widened "School?!?" Ranma shot her an evil grin.
"Yep! You didn�t think that I was going to let you stay home and let me
suffer alone now were you?"
Ran-ko pouted and put on her best �annoyed cute little sister� look. "No fair!"
"Life never is, come on, let�s go!" Ranma said with a laugh as he ran out of
the dojo and headed upstairs to the bathroom. Ran-ko followed after a
moment, walking slowly with her hands behind her back and muttering
something about a madhouse.
*************
Akane leaned against the wall next to the dojo�s entrance. She wasn�t very
surprised when Ranma didn�t notice her as he was running upstairs, it wasn�t
as if he had eyes in the back of his head or something. She�d been woken by
the sounds of fighting and had come down to investigate. She was treated to
a full tactical and aerial display of Ranma and Ran-ko�s mid-air combat
skills and had watched on, envy building inside her. Why couldn�t Ranma spar
with her like that instead of just dodging all the time? How was she going
to get better if he didn�t help? She knew that just by watching them that in
a real fight, there was no way she could even hope to touch Ranma or Ran-ko,
much less beat them. She�d trained for years to get at the level she is at
now and in comes Ran-ko out of nowhere and she�s already Ranma�s equal. It
just wasn�t fair! Why was everyone who came into her life better than her at
anything? It sure didn�t help when she saw him hugging Ran-ko either. She
was a heartbeat away from walking in and slapping him before something
clicked in her mind. Last night�s events came flooding back and a smile
crept onto her face.
<Sigh�Ranma�> Akane thought. <�What am I going to do?> He was on the verge
of admitting his love to her last night, and he probably would have if not
for Ran-ko�s timely intervention. Wasn�t that enough though?
It wasn�t enough, it just didn�t seem right. He was acting too�too reserved
around her. Ever since the day he came back from the Nekohanten, he�d been
unwilling to talk about his time there, always changing the subject whenever
she tried to steer him toward talking about it. He was definitely hiding
something.
"Yo Akane�AKANE?!?" Ranma hollered at her, snapping her out of her reverie.
Akane promptly whapped Ranma upside the head.
"You didn�t need to yell! I�m not deaf you know!" Akane snapped.
"Sheesh, coulda fooled me! I was calling you for the past 5 minutes!" Ranma
muttered, sitting down in his place at the table. Ran-ko came downstairs
after a moment, dressed in a Furinkan High uniform, and sat beside Ranma.
Akane�s eyes widened in surprise when she saw Ran-ko�s attire.
"Um, Ranma, where did she get that uniform?" she asked. She clearly doesn't
remember Ran-ko going out shopping for clothes before.
"Oh, Nabiki loaned her one�" Ranma muttered, his mouth full but still
emphasising the �loan� part. Akane saw out of the corner of her eye that
Nabiki was smirking about something. "�Yours were a little too tight around
the chest and�" Ranma stopped when he saw Akane standing over him, holding a
mallet and glowing with a faint blue aura.
"WHAT WAS THAT?!?"
"Oh crap!" Ranma muttered, diving out of the way as Akane�s mallet cracks
the floorboards where Ranma was sitting a moment ago. Ranma quickly
swallowed his rice and deftly flipped the bowl onto the table before running
out the door, pausing to stick his tongue out at Akane and call Ran-ko.
"C�mon Ran-ko, let�s go!" Ran-ko quickly finished up and jumps out after her
brother, followed by Akane brandishing her mallet.
"Ranma! Get back here!" Akane yelled as she ran out after Ranma and Ran-ko.
"Don�t they ever get tired of that?" Nabiki muttered, quietly finishing her
breakfast.
************
Ranma ran along the fence being pursued by Akane. Ran-ko follows her brother
atop the fence, giggling and matching him stride for stride until she
noticed that Akane could (and did) see up her skirt. She took to running on
the pavement after that.
"Come on Akane, keep it up, we might just miss Kuno this time too!" Ranma
said teasingly at an out-of-breath Akane.
"Raaaaanmaaaaaaa!" Akane growled, her battle-aura glowing. "�When I catch
you I�m going to�GET BACK HERE!"
"Yikes!" Ranma yelped and barely dodged the mallet that would have knocked
him into Lower Earth Orbit. <Thank god we�re almost at school�> he thought,
obviously he hadn�t anticipated what was to follow next as he was mobbed by
boys all asking questions about Ran-ko.
"Man! Some guys get all the luck!" a guy muttered.
"Ranma you Casanova! What do you need TWO fiancees for?!?" another
exclaimed, bonking Ranma on the head with his book bag.
"Hey! HEY! Now wait up just a moment here!" Ranma yelled. Everyone froze in
place except for Akane who caught up with Ranma and whacked him into the
stratosphere.
"Ranma you jerk!" Akane gasped, tired-out. Every boy saw this as a chance to
defeat Akane while she was disadvantaged.
"Hey! Akane�s exhausted! Beat her and you get to go out with her!" a guy
yelled. Every male hormone-case responded by rushing toward Akane,
hollering. Obviously the word �honor� wasn�t in 90% of the male student body
with too many hormones substituted with chromosomes.
"Akane! I will prove my love for you!"
"Akane! Say you�ll go out with me!"
"Let me take you away from all this, Akane!"
"Oh shit! Not now! Anything but this�" Akane mutters in despair as she drops
back into a defensive stance and begins to fight but she realises that in
her current state of near-exhaustion, there was no way she could defeat all
these boys. She fights valiantly but after a while, one gets through her
guard and knocks her down with a bokken.
"Akane! I have defeated you! You are mine!" the boy exclaimed, punching the
air in triumph. Akane weakly tries to hold them off.
"R�Ran�Ranma�." Akane gasped before collapsing.
"STOP!!" the voice of Tatewaki Kuno rang out across the courtyard. Akane
never thought that one in her life she would be grateful for Kuno�s
intervention. The crowd of boys parted as Kuno stormed forward, bokken held
at the ready. "Akane Tendo! What vile sorcery ails thee?�Is it the doing of
that demon Saotome?" Akane slapped her forehead and sighed, there really was
NO cure for stupidity.
"No�It�s�them�" Akane gasped, waving her hand at the gathered crowd of boys
as she tried to regain her breath. Kuno blinked then turned to glare at the
assembled crowd of boys who promptly began dissipating after making
reference to Kuno�s �might� and �majesty�.
"Akane, are you ok?" Ran-ko asked, running up to her. Akane weakly nodded
and allowed Ran-ko to assist her to her feet.
"Th�Thanks�" Akane breathed. "�Those low-down, good-for-nothing scum, they�d
even attack a weakened person!" Ran-ko grinned weakly and nodded as Akane
continued to rant.
"Well�You�re okay, and�"
"PIG-TAILED GIRL!"
"Yeeeeeek!" Ran-ko shrieked when she saw Kuno dashing for her. Akane
muttered an �Uh-oh� as Ran-ko dodged and weaved, avoiding Kuno�s attempted
embraces. Though Ran-ko was fast, she wasn�t used to Kuno�s tenacity when it
came to hugging his pig-tailed goddess and eventually he caught her.
"Eeeeeek! Let me go, you freak!" Ran-ko squealed, squirming ineffectively
against Kuno�s death grip.
"Never! Never shall I relinquish thee to that vile sorcerer Saotome again!�"
Kuno expounded, not noticing the pandas holding signs with question marks
appearing above Ran-ko�s head. "�Come my love! Let me take you away from�"
*WHACK!*
Kuno�s speech was interrupted by a flying-kick to the face. His grip on
Ran-ko slackened as he flew into a nearby tree. Ranma landed deftly from the
kick and quickly ran up to his sister.
"You okay, Ran-ko?" He asked, quickly examining her face for any sign of
�abuse�.
"Yeah, I�m ok oniichan�" Ran-ko replied, obviously shaken up but aside from
that, no damage. Ranma nodded then turned to face Kuno.
"Ok Kuno, now you get it!" Ranma snarled at him.
Kuno dusted himself off then turned to face Ranma and blinked when he saw
Ran-ko standing behind him. "SO! You have come to prevent my righteous
intervention between the pig-tailed girl and your foul sorcery!�"
"Can it, Kuno! No one does that to my sister and gets away with it!" Ranma
shot back, venom dripping from his tongue.
Kuno blinked. "Sister�" He turned to look at Ran-ko, then back to Ranma.
"�You lie! Release her from your vile magic!"
Meanwhile, Akane was recovering from her earlier attack nearby and what she
was seeing promptly enraged her. She�d been ganged up upon, knocked half
into unconsciousness, almost �taken� by another student and Ranma hadn�t
even spared her a glance. Yet when Ran-ko gets a hug by Kuno, he�s ready to
kill him! The more she thought about it, the angrier she got.
"RAAAAAANMAAAAAA!" Ranma winced at the sound of Akane�s voice.
"Uh oh�"
"�You�You�JERK!" Akane yelled, whacking Ranma into a nearby wall.
Ranma prised himself from the wall, annoyed. "What didja do that for?!?"
"Nice to know you CARE!" Akane yelled. "�In case you ask, I�m FINE thank
you! I�ve only been through Hell�s front door and out the back twice!" she
added as she stormed into the school, not looking back.
"Oh man, now I�ve done it�" Ranma muttered, scratching his head. Kuno
meanwhile, was getting even more angry at being ignored.
"First the virtuous pig-tailed girl then the pure Akane Tendo! For your
crimes, I, Kuno Tatewaki, 17 years old, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan
High�Shall�"
*WHACK*
Kuno�s speech was rudely interrupted by another kick from Ranma that sent
him into Lower Earth Orbit.
"Jeez! What a nuisance!�" Ranma muttered before looking up at the clock.
"�ACK! C�mon Ran-ko! We�re going to be late!" Ranma grabbed his sister�s
hand and dashed into the school.
*************
Ranma burst through the classroom window just in time to hear his name
called out as the teacher took roll call for the day. "Ranma Saotome?"
"H�Here!" Ranma gasped, pausing to catch a breather. Behind him, an
equally-out-of-breath Ran-ko leaned against the wall and drew breath in
deep, shuddering gasps.
<O�Oh�Oh-kay, so it wasn�t a good idea to try scaling the walls while
fighting off Kuno at the same time�> thought Ranma, slumping into his seat
as the teacher concluded roll call and stood.
"Class, I�d like to introduce a new student today�" he made a sweeping
gesture at Ran-ko. "�I�d like you all to meet Ran-ko Saotome�" a loud buzz
reverberated around the classroom.
"�Saotome?!?"
"Ranma has a sister?!?"
"Hey! Isn�t she the one who beat Kodachi in that skating match?�"
"Now that ya mention it�Kinda does look like her�"
Ran-ko, standing out in front of the class, blushed and fidgeted uneasily at
the comments flying about the room. Hiroshi and Daisuke scooted over Ranma�s
desk. "Hey, what�s the deal here?" Hiroshi asked, whapping Ranma upside the
head. "�You never told us you had a sister!"
"Yeah! And you said you didn�t know her either the last time we asked!"
Daisuke added. Ranma, ignoring them both, turned to look over at Akane who
was being barraged by questions from the girls. She caught his gaze and
turned away.
<Man, she�s really steamed at me!> thought Ranma, sighing.
"Alright everyone, SILENCE!" bellowed the teacher. The buzz died down
approximately 30 minutes later. "�Ran-ko, you can sit over there�" the
teacher indicated a vacant seat next to Akane. "�Akane, would you mind
showing her around?"
Akane nodded after a moment�s hesitation, noticing Ranma looking at her out
of the corner of her eye. <Hmmph! That insensitive jerk! Nice to find out he
cares!> she thought as Ran-ko made her way over to the desk opposite her and
sat down.
"Ok, open your textbooks to page 24 and do the first twenty questions." The
teacher ordered, earning a collective groan from the class. After a few
minutes, the complaining and whining had died down and everyone settled in
to work.
<Man, this is boring�> Ranma thought, chewing the end of his pencil. <�Who
said math could be easy anyway?!> He turned to look at Ran-ko who actually
seemed to have no trouble with the problems in the book. A few minutes later
she dropped her pen onto the desk.
"I�m done!" she said brightly. A collective �Oooooh� issued from the class
as all eyes focused on her. Ranma just sat there, a shocked look on his face.
<How in the�?!?> thought Ranma <�here I am stuck on the 3rd problem and
she�s done?!?�Sheesh! seems I got ripped off when we got split!>
"Very good, Ran-ko. You may relax until the end of class." The teacher said
in a bored tone. Ranma peered jealously over to his sister who caught his
look and giggled back at him.
"Grrr, no fair! Why does she get the brains?" muttered Ranma. "�It�s a plot
I tell you, Kami-sama, why are you doing this to�Hmm?" Ranma snapped out of
his reverie as a glint in the window caught his eye. He leapt out of the way
a split-second before something smashed through the window and embedded
itself into the desk where his head was a moment ago.
"Who�s there?!?" Ranma yelled, scrambling to his feet and taking a defensive
stance. Everyone in the classroom turned to look at the window and as one
they gasped. Standing on the extended flagpole that dangled just below the
window was a figure dressed in a casual business suit. He stood
approximately 6 foot plus and exuded an aura of power so tangible Ranma
thought that it was snaking around him, trying to choke him. His face was
mostly hidden by the long bangs that hung down, covering his eyes and the
dark glasses that he wore. Seeing that Ranma had dodged his attack, the left
side of his face curled up in a half-sneer.
"Impressive�Most impressive�" it said mockingly. "�You must be Ranma
Saotome, are you not?"
Ranma glared at him. "Who wants to know?!?" he snarled back. The figure
simply dipped his head slightly and smiled, a thin cruel smile.
"If you will defeat me�I will tell you." it said in the same mocking tone.
"You asked for it jerk!" Ranma yelled, dashing toward the window as everyone
else except Ran-ko and Akane made their way to the far wall, away from the
impending battle. The figure levelled his gaze at Ranma and snickered once
before phasing out of existance. Ranma stopped short, eyes wide in shock.
"�What the?!?"
"Oniichan!!!" Ranma turned at the sound of Ran-ko�s voice to see the figure
was standing behind him, the same evil grin splitting his features.
"You must be more alert, Ranma�" it said evenly, almost in an instructing
manner.
"Shut up you! Take this!�KYAAAAAAA!" Ranma yelled, dashing to the attack.
The figure simply dodged Ranma�s attacks with almost breathtaking ease.
Ranma blinked in surprise. <What the?!? None of my punches are getting through!>
The figure shook his head, almost sadly. "�Tsk tsk, you are far too brash!
You have too much wasted motion�" as if to illustrate his point, the figure
jumped onto a nearby desk and, taking a casual back-stance, raised his right
hand in the air in a half-fist. "�Gouka Bakuhatsu-Ha!"
A huge geyser of bluish-black flame erupted beneath Ranma�s feet, knocking
him into the air and burning him badly in the bargain. Ranma screamed, the
pain was almost unearthly. Intense white-hot pain burned through his entire
body, as if a hundred demons were clawing at his body and psyche.
"Ranma!!" Akane yelled as she and Ran-ko ran to help Ranma as he crashed
through a like of desks, smashing them. "�Why you!�Take this!" Akane
screamed as she ran at the figure, foot extended in an attempt to jump-kick
him in the face.
"Oh please�Give me a break!" the figure sighed as he knocked Akane aside
with an almost perfunctory backhand.
"Akane!�" Ran-ko yelled, running to help Akane up. "�You ok?" Akane
responded in the affirmative by nodding. Ran-ko turned and shot the figure a
withering glare. "Why you�How DARE you hit my brother!!�How DARE you hit
Akane-oneechan!" Ran-ko spread her feet and took a slight horse-stance and
crossed both arms above her head. With a yell, she brought both arms to her
sides as a ring of burning spiritual flames erupted around Ran-ko. Everyone
watching gasped simultaneously. The figure appeared to raise an eyebrow.
"Impressive�But power, little girl, is not control�" he taunted. "�Show me
what you can do�" Ran-ko leapt toward the figure, fist drawn back to strike.
"�Take this! KYAAAAAAA!" The figure hesitated a moment then brought up an
arm. Ran-ko�s fist connected with his forearm with a convincing thud. <I
have you!> she thought. To her surprise though, she found herself lifted
bodily into the air and the next instant, a sharp pain shot through her as
she was thrown to the floor, hard.
<Uhhh�what the hell?!?> she thought as she painfully stood up. "�Let�s try
that again!" she snarled.
"TEISHII!" Ran-ko turned to see Ranma stand up, a faint ring of blue flame
surrounding him. He walked slowly over and stood beside Ran-ko, fists
clenched at his side. "�Ok jackass�Your first mistake was underestimating
me�" Ranma said, his voice low and dangerous. "�Your second mistake was
hitting my sister�" Ranma paused and took a deep breath. "�Your third and
last mistake was hitting Akane!!!" Ran-ko and Akane gulped at the venom in
his voice. <Shit! He really means it!>
"Huuuuuu�" Ranma growled, a low guttural sound coming from his throat as he
hunched over slightly, fists clenched at his side. "�HAAAAAAAAAAA!" the
growl broke into a scream as Ranma straightened up, blue flame flaring up
around him. The figure flinched and shielded his eyes slightly, everyone
else ducked for cover.
"S�Sugoi!�Such power!" he muttered. "�It appears that I have made a mistake
here�"
"Ikuzo�" Ranma called out, his voice low as he crossed both arms over his
chest before holding both palms slightly apart in front of his chest. A blue
ball of energy formed between his palms and slowly grew. "�Mou�ko�Ta�ka�"
<Oh shit!> the figure thought as he hastily prepared a defense.
"�Bi�SHAAAAAAAAA!!" Ranma yelled and thrust both arms forward. A huge blast
of energy flew from his palms toward the figure who crossed both arms in
front of his face, hoping to �hajiku� the attack. The beam struck and loud
humming noises could be heard as the figure was slowly pushed back, his back
foot slid off the edge of the desk he was standing on, causing to stumble
slightly.
Ranma saw this and pushed harder. "�Oriyaaaa�SHI-NE!" he yelled. With one
almighty surge, the blast cut through the figure�s guard and struck. He
screamed horribly as he was thrown out the window by the force of the
explosion. Ranma stood frozen in stance for a moment before collapsing.
Akane ran up to help him.
"Ranma�Ranma!" Akane shook him, hoping he was all right. "�Idiot! Show off!
You didn�t have to go that far!"
"Akane�" Ranma mumbled. "�You all right?"
"Worry about yourself stupid!" Akane shot back. However deep inside, she
smiled at his concern. <�He does care after all�>
"Oniichan!" Ran-ko ran up beside her brother.
"I�m ok guys. You can let me up now�" Ranma said, grinning sheepishly as he
slowly got to his feet, leaning on Akane and Ran-ko for support.
Suddenly, a flash of light appeared outside the window and a voice could be
heard. A cold, evil, mocking voice. "It seems I have underestimated the
boy�No matter, my task is done here anyhow�" A soft laughter could be heard.
"Come out you jerk! I�ll kick your ass again!" Ranma shouted.
"�Ah ah ah, don�t be so impatient�" it taunted "�We will meet again�The next
time we meet, we shall see who is the stronger�Saotome Ranma, until
then�Mata-ne�" Evil laughter echoed throughout the room as the voice faded.
"Damn, that jerk! The next time we meet�What�d he mean by that?" Ranma
pondered, thinking.
"Oniichan, look at this�" Ran-ko exclaimed, holding up the object that was
embedded into Ranma�s desk. It was a white envelope.
Ranma tore open the letter and read it. A few minutes later he looked up and
dropped the letter back onto his desk and clenched his fists, staring out
the broken window. Akane picked up the letter and looked at it.
"The Tenkai-Ichi Bodukai�" Akane mumbled out loud.
**************
K u s a n a g i K y o
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"Kusanagi Flames, Yagami Tears, Orochi Blood"