Ruroni Ranma

Part 4

The secret of Jusenkyo.

Ranma hummed to himself cheerfully as he snapped the shirt out with a
quick flick of his wrist releasing a spray of water that seemed to
sparkle in the afternoon sun. He smiled and pinned the garment up with a
clothespin on the long line that ran from the lower portion of the roof
across the yard.

Kasumi smiled as she handed him another basket cheerfully. "Thank you
for helping Ranma, I appreciate it."

"It's no problem, I enjoy this kind of thing. It's relaxing," said the
boy cheerfully as he walked over to the other end of the line and began
to hang the contents of the basket. He turned around and smiled as Akane
turned the corner and stopped in her tracks.

"Wh-what are you doing?" screamed the girl.

"Laundry," replied the boy in confusion unsure about the source of her
sudden anger.

"Those are mine you pervert!" screamed the girl as she snatched the
basket of panties from him.

"Oro?" Ranma looked at what was in his hand and blinked. "I didn't even
realize what these were until you said something. If you'd rather hang
them yourself I'll understand."

"You pervert!" screamed the girl as she dropped the basket and raised
her fist.

"Oh, hello Akane! Ranma offered to help me with the laundry today,
wasn't that nice of him?" said Kasumi cheerfully as she walked between
them ending the stand off instantly.

"Watch yourself," muttered the girl darkly as she turned away.

"What was that about?" wondered Ranma as he grabbed a large sheet from
Kasumi's basket and pinned it up.

Kasumi walked up to him and smiled. "Don't worry about it, she's just a
little sensitive." The girl stopped and looked down slightly. "Uh,
Ranma?"

"Yes?" said the boy with a genuinely interested look on his face.

"Do you always wear your sword when you do laundry?" 

He looked down at his side and smiled at her. "I've worn it for so long
it just feels wrong not to."

"Oh, I see," replied the girl as she turned away and continued her work.


Nabiki Tendo put down a magazine and sighed. She had just read yet
another article about the war in China. The article was by an obvious
feminist who claimed that Battosai was in fact a woman who worked with
the Amazons near the end of the war despite having killed a number of
them in previous battles before the alliance between them and the Chinese
government was formed. There was a little speculation about it, but it
was mostly put off as feminist propaganda instilled to help their cause.
"Hmm, Ranma said he met Battosai once, maybe I should ask him about it?"
she frowned slightly at the idea and pushed it aside for the time being.
"I bet Kuno would have a heart attack if he found out it was true." The
mere thought of it was enough to send her into a fit of giggles. The
Kendoist would probably deny it though no matter how much proof she
forced down his throat. She tossed the magazine onto her bed and went off
in search of the boy.


Deep in the woods of Southern Japan a figure walked through the woods
scowling to himself. He was dressed in traveling clothes, a white cotton
over shirt hung loosely off his shoulders with a large pack resting on
his back. On his forehead was a blood red bandanna that held his bangs
out of his face. Rain poured around him as he walked with lightening
flashing in the sky above him. Strangely enough an umbrella sat untouched
across the top of his pack. He walked on purposefully not stopping or
slowing his stride despite the weather. Thunder rumbled above him
creating a flash of light that shined off the umbrella creating a surreal
sillouette to anyone that could see him approaching. In his hand was a
wadded up page with a message written across it in blotted kanji. 
He smiled as he looked at it again and once again found purpose to his
wanderings. "So, you've finally returned?" he thought to himself as he
strode onward. 

Moments later he found himself on a road once again. A man moved by
struggling with a large cart while holding an umbrella over his head to
defend himself from the rain. He stopped and looked at the figure
fearfully as he approached. "Please! I don't have any money!" It was an
obvious lie judging from the pouch that rested on his hip. 

The figure merely shook his head and smiled at him. "Tell me, where is
Furinkan High School?" He thrusted a map forward in the man's face
causing a relieved look that was followed by confusion.

"Isn't this Tokyo? You're on the wrong island," replied the man.

"I see, sorry to trouble you," the figure walked away calmly leaving the
confused traveler behind. "Ranma, as promised, Ryoga Hibiki will be your
strongest opponent!"

Nabiki found herself walking with Ranma through the streets of Nerima
carrying a single plastic bag of groceries while the boy lugged two large
brown bags filled with food. "Did you want to ask me something? You've
been awfully quiet," said the boy with a small smirk.

Nabiki found she had actually enjoyed the trip with him. The look on the
grocers face when he saw Ranma's katana had been priceless, the boy had
gotten a good deal on almost all of the produce he had bought without
haggling at all. She blinked in surprise at his question and sighed. "Is
it that obvious?"


"Well, you don't seem like the type who would vollenteer for this sort
of thing," said Ranma cheerfully. "What is it you want to know?"

Nabiki cleared her throat and tried to think of the best way to ask her
question without looking like a fool. "I've read a few things about the
war in China since you came here. A few of them were rumors that Battosai
was a woman, I was kind of wondering if it was true. You did say you met
him once."

Ranma smiled at this and looked away. "Battosai was a man, most of the
time."

She blinked and almost dropped the bag. "What? What's that supposed to
mean?"

"It's nothing," replied the boy as he continued on his way ignoring her
looks of frustration.

A young girl brushed between them with a look of urgency on her face.
She struggled for a moment and almost fell on her face in her rush. Ranma
looked at her and frowned. "Are you all right?"

She snapped her head around and looked at him for a moment. "I'm fine,
excuse me."

Nabiki raised her eyebrow at this exchange and turned away continuing
towards the house. The girl was no better than street trash, she idly
wondered why the boy would bother with her at all. 

Ranma stopped the girl by grabbing her arm as she tried to rush away
again. "It looks to me like you're in some sort of trouble."

"I'm fine, leggo," snapped the girl as she pulled at his arm, his grip
was firm though and she did not escape.

"Oh, can I have my wallet back then?"

The child froze and slowly turned towards him with a look of fear on her
face. Thinking quickly she screamed at the top of her lungs. "Pervert!
How dare you suggest such a thing to an innocent little girl!"

Ranma frowned and glanced behind him. Most of the people had turned away
from him and the child, but a nearby police officer had taken notice of
the situation. 
Thinking quickly he pulled a bottled water from the bag and twisted off
the cap with his teeth before pouring its contents over his head. The
girl had turned away for a moment and was watching the officer with even
more fear; apparently her plan had backfired.

"Uhh," she stammered as she tried to lunge away again. Ranma merely
stood upright with her hand still firmly planted on the girl's shoulder.

"Is there a problem here?" asked the officer, he had his baton drawn
after he noticed the blade at the strange girl's side.

Ranma smiled at him. "No, well. My little sister here ran away from home
a few days ago after a fight with father, I ran into her just now."

"I see," said the man as he gave the child a small frown.

"Little girls shouldn't do things like that, the streets are dangerous
you know," said the man as he knelt down and pat the girl on the head.

The child snapped at his hand with her teeth. "Fuck off pig!"

Ranma promptly swatted her in the head in what appeared to be a very
sisterly gesture to the officer, almost motherly in fact. "Watch your
mouth!"

The girl snorted in disgust at this and stuck her tongue out at her.
"You ain't no sister of mine."

Ranma took it in stride though. "As you can see, she is a very poorly
behaved child. I'll make sure father punishes her harshly when we get
home. Thank you." She waved at the man as he turned away with a scowl on
his face leaving the girl and her weird sister behind.

The little girl blinked at Ranma and gasped. "Hey, weren't you a guy a
minute ago?"

"Maybe," replied the red head as she pulled her along after picking up
her bags and carrying them one armed now.

"Hey! Where are you taking me?" snapped the angry child.

"I told you, I'm taking you home so that you can be properly punished,"
replied the girl simply.

"Oh no! Your one of those crazy lesbians aren't you! Please don't ravage
me!" cried the girl with genuine fear.

"Well, at least let me get you cleaned up a bit. A young girl like
yourself shouldn't be wandering the streets like this," said Ranma as she
easily blocked the girl's strikes.

Ranma stopped at a ramen booth and paid for two bowls setting one down
in front of the girl. She was about ten years old with shoulder cut brown
hair and dirty looking clothes. The shop owner had been reluctant to
serve her, but a glance at the weapon at Ranma's side stopped any protest
before they even started. 

"So what's your name kid?" asked Ranma coolly as she ate. 

The girl looked away considering escape for a moment, but the offer of
food was a little too much for her to resist. "Yuriko," she said
sullenly.

"What's a young girl like you doing out here picking pockets for?"
prodded Ranma while looking mostly uninterested.

"I've got to. I want to be strong, but a girls got to eat ya know,"
replied the child rudely.

"I see," said the red head calmly. "What about your parents?"

"If it's any of your business I ain't got one of those," retorted the
girl angrily.

Ranma blinked at this as a small wistful smile appeared on her face. "I
can understand that."

"Yea right," grumbled the girl as she finished up her food. "Well, see
ya."

Ranma grabbed her again and held fast despite the fact the child had bit
her on the hand. The ponytailed martial artist ordered a cup of hot water
just before they left the booth. Once again the girl failed to escape and
protested loudly.

"Tendo Dojo?" said the girl in confusion as she read the sign in front of
her.

"That's right, you said you wanted to be stronger didn't you?" replied
Ranma as she poured the hot water over her head and walked through the
door.

The girl had become strangely silent at this and simply glared at the
family who stared at her as she was pushed into the home. She looked up
at the boy who was pushing her and screamed right before she passed out.

"Oro?" said Ranma as she poked at her with her foot lightly. "Out cold."

"Ranma, who the hell is this?" said Nabiki as she eyed the girl
cautiously.

"Her name is Yuriko, she's a new student," replied the boy with a smile.

"Is that so?" said Soun as he sipped his tea lazily.

Ranma looked towards Akane and smiled. "I hate to ask this, but could you
get her cleaned up a little? She's a real mess right now."

The girl blinked and stood up taking the child under her arms and towards
the bathroom. She would have protested, but the situation was just a
little too weird for her to argue at the moment.


In the bathroom Yuriko woke up to find someone pulling her hair out as
they scrubbed shampoo roughly into her scalp. "Wah! What are you doing?"

"Getting you cleaned up, who are you? What are you doing here? How do you
know Ranma?"

"Boy you ask a lot of stuff," replied the girl smugly.

"Well?" said Akane as kindly as she could.

"I ain't gotta tell you nuthin old lady," snapped the girl. Akane growled
for a moment before dumping a bucket of cold water over her head.

"Hey! That's cold you old hag!"


Ranma looked up for a moment as a small cry of pain emerged from the
bathroom. He set his tea down and noticed Soun was hiding inside his
newspaper ignoring the events around him.

"Since when did you take up picking up street trash?" said Nabiki coolly.

"I like her, she reminds me of myself at that age," replied the boy with
a shrug. "I think she needs someone."

Nabiki blinked at the girl's comment and sighed. Ranma acting anything
like the child scared her slightly. "So you're really gonna go through
with this then?"

"I don't see why not, I think it would be good for the dojo to have a
student or two. Besides, she and Akane get along so well..."

Various violent sounds emerged from the bathroom followed by screams of
pain from both girls. A moment later Akane emerged with Yuriko in tow.
Both of them looked tired and Yuriko was wet, while Akane just looked
flustered and angry. She stopped long enough to stare at Ranma
distastefully.
"You realize that I hate you."

"Oro?" replied the boy obliviously.

Yuriko merely sat at the table angrily, Ranma smiled as she made no move
to get away despite the fact that no one was watching her. 

Nabiki sighed and rested her head in her palm. "Well, at least this will
be interesting."

TBC...


Yes, Yuriko is my answer to Yahiko. I didn't want to just port all the
characters directly from Kenshin and feel that Akane would probably kill
[or at least seriously hurt] a little boy much faster than Kaoru would. I
didn't give her much of a back-story yet, that will probably be in the
next part. I can have a little fun with a girl character like Yahiko and
play with his character a little bit.
It's obvious who Ryoga's going to play, but I don't want him losing Ryoga
completely. Unlike Ranma/Kenshin, Ryoga/Sanousuke will probably mesh well
together.
As promised, someone knows about Ranma's secret. I know you didn't expect
that. Wait until you see what I've got planned for Tofu later on. Heh. 

C&C to Carrotglace@juno.com

URL: Http://www.geocities.com/misatira/ or
Http://www.geocities.com/tokyo/fountain/3203