Send C&C to: oddball22@hotmail.com Find my stories at: www.geocities.com/kaiphantom2000 DISCLAIMER: Yes, I stole these characters! So sue me! HAHAHAHAHA! Ranma 1/2: New Challenges All That We Have Known Chapter 9 Akane moved from room to room, looking for her wayward iinzuke. After several minutes, she collapsed into a chair in frustration. She shook her head. A passing couple stopped nearby and the girl called to Akane. "Hey Akane-chan!" Akane looked up to see Sayuri and Daisuke approaching. "Hello. How's the party going for you?" The couple grinned at each other and Daisuke said, "We've been finding ways to pass the time." Sayuri hit him. Akane smiled a bit. "Have you seen Ranma?" Sayuri shook her head but Daisuke said, "I thought I saw her heading upstairs." Akane frowned. "Well, were gonna go do some dancing," Sayuri told her. "We'll see you around!" Akane waved and watched them go. Suddenly it clicked in her mind. A flash of worry sped through her. She sprang to her feet and ran to find the stairs. "All right Tetsuo, you the man!" "Shut up!" Tetsuo him. Then he looked down at the form he half- carried. "Now it's time for my revenge!" Tetsuo and his two buddies reached the end of the hallway and found an empty room. Stepping inside, he threw the red head onto the bed. He grinned. It was a simple matter to pass his target a bottle of stronger alcohol. One cold glass of water later and she passed out. He licked his lips in anticipation as he slowly unhooked the wooden clasps. Yuri had seen Ranma run off the dance floor and Akane go after him. She wasn't sure, but she thought she saw a hurt look on both their faces. She had enough dancing for the time being, and decided to follow, to see if either one of them needed help. She lost Akane for a few minutes in the crowd, but then caught her heading upstairs. Yes, something was definitely not right, judging by the way Akane was hurriedly knocking people out of the way. Akane was pushing through the crowd, doing a good impersonation of a bullet train on the loose. Determinedly, she worked her way upstairs and began to check room after room, not caring who was in there. If she had bother to let it register what was going on in some of those rooms, she would have been severely embarrassed and blushing madly by now. She became more worried as she began to run out of rooms. Taking a deep breath, she opened the second-to-last door. The sight that greeted her, filled her with horror. Sensations entered his mind. He remembered feeling these sensations before, but couldn't remember what exactly they were. They felt moderately good, but strange; almost as if they were alien to him. Somehow they felt, wrong. Why? Slowly his other senses started feeding him data from the outside world. He was laying on something soft. A bed? Alarm bells began to ring as he heard voices. "Man, I knew she was stacked!" "Check it out, I think she likes me!" He opened his eyes to a blur. When his vision cleared, he realized something: he was a she. She realized something else: three guys, one of whom he recognized from earlier, were removing her shirt. "No..." she managed weakly. While she had an amazing recovery rate, she also had plenty of alcohol and was still weak. "Who's the man now, Saotome?" Then he heard the door fly open. "GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF HER!" came the voice of his fiancee. Akane stepped into the room, blue battle aura flaring. Ranma groaned in fear and embarrassment. Tetsuo grinned. "Hey, you join our party too, babe? We got room..." He motioned to one of his friends, and the man advanced on Akane. "Not a smart move, boy," came a new voice from the doorway. Yuri was leaning against the door jam. She had seen ticked off women before (she had been one often enough, thanks to Himoshi's gang), and she knew these three didn't have a prayer. The man reached out his hands to grab Akane, and she stepped inside the grab/hug and took ahold of his arms. She twisted and two distinct *pops* were heard. He screamed, but was stopped when Akane kneed his groin and headbutted him. A fierce shove sent him unconscious against the wall. Tetsuo growled and motioned his other friend. "That wasn't a nice thing to do." Together, they moved toward the angry woman that beat up their friend. Akane quickly slammed a double punch in Tetsuo's gut, driving the wind from him. She then stepped around him and engaged the man behind. Dodging his punch, she grabbed the outside arm and slammed a fist into his face. She then twisted the wrist and forced the man to his knees. Releasing the arm, she crane-kicked him into unconsciousness. She turned back to the recovering leader and stepped away from his awkward punch. Yuri inwardly winced as grabbed the outstretched arm and applied all of her brute strength in a twist. Tetsuo screamed as the arm broke. Akane then side kicked his knee joint and he collapsed when the joint bent inward, a direction which it was not supposed to go. She delivered several rapid fire punches to the man's face as he lay prone, then stamped on his groin with her foot as Yuri began to pull her off. "Calm down, Akane-chan," Yuri whispered. "It's over. Ranma's safe." Akane growled and fought against her a little, but soon acquiesced. Now slightly calmer, Akane reclasped Ranma's shirt. Her fiance had once again passed out, whether from the alcohol or seeing Akane's brutal attacks, neither of the two concious girls knew. Then, unknowingly following Kenji's example earlier, they made their exit through the window and headed for the dojo. Elsewhere in Nerima, Kenji had reached the back door to Ucchan's and was taking the unconscious form of Ukyo inside. He went up to her room and placed her into her bed, pulling the blankets over her. He knew she'd probably kill him if she found out, but Kenji felt compelled to give her a small kiss on her forehead before he left. The night's activities had gotten to him and decided he needed a walk in the cool night air to clear his mind. Stepping outside the back door, he let the cool night breeze blow over him and ruffle his shoulder length hair. He started walking, but had barely gone a few paces when he stopped suddenly. Sensing the attack, he leapt out of the way, rolling once he hit the ground and coming back up in a ready stance. A long staff had impacted the ground where he was standing a moment before. It stretched off into the darkness, but shrank as the rest of it came into view. Attached to the end of the staff, was a little old man, wearing somewhat tight-fitting dark robes and a bamboo hat that hid his face. The top of the staff was capped with a small gold ring. The mysterious elderly man chuckled. "Not bad. Of course, I would expect no less from the son of Sulyia." Kenji narrowed his eyes. "How do you know my mother!?" The strange individual looked up, allowing Kenji to glimpse the identity of his attacker. The face was definitely old as evidenced by the creases winding around their way over his skin, and as as the sunken eyes. The sparse white goatee only added to the overall effect. "I guess I was right, you are Soyokaze Kenji." The former-amnesiac inwardly cursed. "Who are you and what do you want with me?" The old man studied him, then grinned. "You'll find out. For now, we fight!" With that, he pointed the staff behind his back and ejected himself towards the younger ninja boy. Kenji backflipped out of the attack and reached behind his back, bringing out his hidden bo stick. He fingered the stud and the staff extended to full size, then pointed it towards the old guy, as he studyed him. Deciding to grab the initiative, he jumped into the air and came down on his opponent, slamming it into the pavement where the ancient-looking martials artist once stood. He then swung it out to block the counter attack, and for several minutes, they fought in close combat with their weapons. Thrusts, blocks, parries, and sweeps were exchanged as each looked for an opening in the other's defense. Without missing a step, Kenji's venerable opponent grinned and reached into his robes. He pulled something out and threw it to the ground. White smoke billowed forth and covered the two. Kenji cursed as he lost contact with his opponent. Instinctively, he dropped and rolled, the metal staff clipping him on the shoulder instead of on the back of his head. Kenji realized. He concentrated and gathered his ki, then let it out in a circular wind blast that was just strong enough to dissipate enough of the smoke to see his surroundings. The strange, mysterious man was gone. Kenji held his Bo out let himself go as his mother taught him. He extended his senses, looking for where his advesary had gone. Sensing movement from above, he dove and rolled to avoid the flight of shuriken which struck the ground where he was standing. Coming to his feet, he saw the old guy grinning at him from the patch of ground where Kenji was standing a moment ago. "Those wind tricks are interesting, but ultimately useless," he said, while releasing another flight of shuriken at him. Kenji concentrated, then sent another blast of wind at the incoming projectiles. However, they cut right through the turbulence without wavering. As they closed the remaining distance, Kenji thought, Yuri parted from Akane once they reached the dojo then went her way, back to the restaurant. Akane was grateful the members of the house were either asleep or gone, as she made her way upstairs and into Ranma's room. Both Genma and her father were gone, at the Saotome house no doubt. He seemed to be spending more time over there. She gently laid the red head onto her futon and gently pulled the blankets over her. Onna-Ranma stirred, then groggily opened her eyes. At first, her mind was clouded, and she couldn't remember much besides some vague bad feeling. Little by little, however, it all came back, especiall after she glimpsed Akane's worried face gazing softly down at her. She sat up suddenly, and the next thing Akane knew, Ranma was sitting in the corner, her back to her fiancee. "Go away!" she yelled. "Why?" was all Akane could ask, surprised. "Just go away!" she reiterated the command. Akane could tell Ranma was trembling a like a small earthquake, as if fighting some great internal struggle; and she was losing. Akane moved over to her iinazuke and rested her hands on the redhead's shoulders. "I'm not going to do that, Ranma. I think you need my help and you're going to get it whether you want it or not." Ranma attempted to struggle out of it, but couldn't. She was fighting to hold back the tears she felt coming and didn't want Akane to see. Crying wasn't manly, but the alcohol was saying otherwise. "B-but, it's not that bad. I-I mean I-m a g-guy, so that stuff wouldn't affect me. I-I'm a g-guy. I'll be okay. I'm a guy." She kept repeating that last part over and over again until it was no more than a whisper. Then the dam broke as she could no longer hold the tears back. "Oh kami, Akane. They were... were gonna... to me. And they t-touched me and..." Akane, somewhat at a loss what to do, tried to remember how Kasumi acted when ever Akane was upset. She began to emit soothing sounds, pulling her unresisting and badly shaking fiance into her lap, and whispered, "You're going to be okay. I'm here for you." "B-but, I just f-feel... so dirty. H-how can you even stand to touch me?" "Because I love you," she said simply. Ranma deep blue eyes finally met Akane's own, but she couldn't hold the gaze for more than a few seconds, before dropping her face down into her lap.. "I j-just feel so weak and h-helpless like this. This body is so weak. I hate it!" "Then make it stronger," Akane replied. Ranma's face came back up, a strange look marring her pretty features. "You've spent so much time training your male side, maybe you should use the training trip to work on your female side. Like it or not, it's a part of you and hating it won't do you any good." She considered what Akane was telling her. True, for awhile now she had almost come to accept her female half as part of her, but she had still never really like it. She was a man, and was desperately trying to hold onto what masculinity she had left. "M-maybe you're right." Ranma looking a little sheepish "Um, I guess I owe you an apology. I..." She stopped, struggling for something else to say. Akane understood, though, without the need for words. She leaned over and kissed the girl, holding her close. Ranma was surprised for a second and pulled away. When they separated, Ranma asked, "Akane? You just kissed another girl. Doesn't that bother you?" Akane smiled. "No, I kissed you, Ranma. There's a difference. I know you're a guy. Remember what you said back at Jusenkyo when we watched the pools flood? You said that you had begun to accept your curse as part of you. I've accepted it as part of you also." And it was true, too. After all this time Akane always thought of Ranma as Ranma, no matter what body he wore. Ranma pulled herself out of Akane's lap and kneeled, facing away from her. "But what if I get stuck like this?" "We'll deal with it when the time comes. I will never leave you, nor stop loving you." Akane hugged Ranma from behind and willed her to believe it. Ranma wondered. She yawned. "I think I wanna get some sleep now... and maybe do some thinkin'." Akane kissed her goodnight, then got up to leave the room. Ranma lay back down on her futon as Akane closed the door. She whispered, "It may be hard for me to say sometimes, but... I love you, Akane." Akane, listening on the other side of the door, smiled, then left for her own bed. Ranma was soon fast asleep. Yuri was enjoying the night air as she walked along towards Ucchan's. She felt a little upset at leaving the party, but considered it for the best. Approaching the restaurant, she caught the flash of smoke behind it. Then the smoke dissipated and the sound of metal hitting concrete could be heard. She leapt to the roof and ran to the back just in time to see some unknown ancient looking monk-type character fling several shuriken at her brother. Reacting on instinct, she thrust out her hand and sent a small wind blast to intercept them. It hit shortly after her brother's, knocking all but two in a different direction. Kenji held out his Bo and skillfully blocked the remaining two. He could block thrown objects if he had something in his hands to do it, but he couldn't handle more than one or two at a time. He assumed another ready stance and silently thanked his sister before turning his gaze back to his enemy. The old martial artist laughed. "Got lucky there? If your sister hadn't shown up, you would've been in a world of hurt." Kenji had to acknowledge that. "Haven't you had enough? Why are you fighting me?" "Yeah!" Yuri added in. "How dare you attack my brother! When we stand together, nothing can beat us. You might as well give up, because you now face double the trouble!" Kenji clapped a hand to his forehead and groaned. "No, I think this party is just getting started!" the old man said as he rushed to attack Kenji again. The two men met in a series of close range attacks. While they were occupied, Yuri leapt off the roof and sent out a yo-yo to wrap around the old man's staff, giving a strong tug once it was ensnared. Surprisingly, he let go, then grabbed Kenji's Bo and flipped the young ninja into some nearby trash cans. As Yuri landed, he gave tug on an almost invisible line attached to his staff, pulling her off balance. He closed the distance rapidly and delivered several solid hits to various vital points, sending her crashing into the back wall of Ucchans. Kenji recovered and sent a powerful wind blast at his opponent's backside. The old guy's staff extended and he pole vaulted over it. While the air, Yuri managed to send a small flight of shuriken at him, but he spun the staff and blocked them all. Kenji attacked as he landed, swing his Bo low, hoping to catch him as his feet hit the ground. He misjudged his attack and missed, but followed through with a foot sweep and mid-high Bo swing, which was dodged and blocked, respectively. The young ninja trainee was really starting to get worried now. He focused all his attention and fighting ability and laid into his enemy with everything he had. Kicks, Bo strikes, and wind blasts were all mingled in an attempt to get past the old man's guard. And he seemed to be doing it! While he hadn't landed any hits, he'd managed to counter everything the old guy threw at him, and still force his opponent back. While this was going on, Yuri slipped out another couple of yo- yo's and sent them forward. Her opponent leapt to dodge the first one, but the second wrapped itself around his body. Hitting the ground, there was a short flash, then he seemed to collapse inward. When he didn't move, the former-amnesiac moved over and knocked off the hat. "He's gone!" Kenji exclaimed. "What!?" "All that's here is his clothes and hat. Wherever he is, he's naked." Yuri got up and walked over to see for herself while Kenji tried to focus his senses to his surroundings, but could detect nothing. Several seconds later, several smoke bombs went off, covering the entire alley. The Soyokaze siblings felt a rush of wind and pokes at the back of their necks. With all feeling below their necks now cut off, they collapsed to the ground like puppets with their strings cut. The smoke eventually cleared and the funny old monk was back in his clothes. "Not bad for a couple of young'ins," he admitted. "A little rough around the edges. When I'm through with you, you're going to function like a well-oiled machine." "Who are you!?" Kenji asked. He smiled. "You may call me your new sensei, since that is what I am to you. When you're good enough, I'll tell you my real name. I know, I know. How can you trust me?" He pulled out an pendant that was the symbol of Clan Garou, a silver stalking wolf. "I'm from your ninja clan and was sent by Sensei Oka to complete your training. Even though you're not an active part of the clan, you are still expected to know certain things." "But I've never seen you before!" Yuri protested. "That's because I wasn't an active clan member either. I retired several years ago when my skills began to deteriorate. I was a liability, so I disappeared. Oka called me back. She figured I was perfect one to train you and I was glad I could still serve my clan. Now, I'll remove your paralysis if you promise to behave." Kenji and Yuri looked at each other, then, figuring that they had no choice in the matter, nodded their agreement. With couple more pokes, their new sensei restored them. "I'll be stopping by to train you occasionally. Sometimes you may know when I'm coming, sometimes not. I'll leave you alone during school though, you do need an education." Yuri had recently enrolled as well, as a freshman. "Not when I'm working!" The two men looked at Yuri. "What? I want the money!" Sensei shook his head and chuckled. "Very well, I'll try not to disturb you when you're working, but I can't make any guarantees." He pole-vaulted to the top of the restaurant. "I'll be leaving now, and don't bother looking for me. A good ninja won't be found if he doesn't want to." And then he was gone. "Well, that was interesting," Yuri remarked. "Think we can trust him?" "Don't have a choice, I guess," Kenji responded. "He could've killed us if he wanted to, at anytime. I think he was just testing us." "Oh yeah, why are you here?" his sister asked him. "I thought you'd be at the party with Yuka-san?" Kenji sighed. "Why don't we head inside and I'll explain. Ukyo got drunk and passed out, so I brought her home. The rest I'll tell you only if you don't tell anyone, especially her." Yuri nodded as they headed inside. --------------------------------------------------------------- Author's notes: Near the end of the manga, Ranma does clearly says that he is beginning to accept his curse. It's where she's (it was raining) watching the Jusenkyo pools flood and Akane asks her about it. She says something to the effect of, "I guess it will always be a part of me. Somewhere along the line I just stopped caring. [about a cure]" I just think he's grown to used to it, and wanted to stir up some trouble for his girl-side.