Yagami 1/2
A Ranma 0.5/King of Fighters Crossover
by Black Dragon
black_dragon74@hotmail.com
https://www.angelfire.com/anime5/fanficlair/index.html

Disclaimer:
Many have accused me of being an Akane-basher. I say to these people: "That's hardly fair, to be yelling and accusing like that. Because I've already ADMITTED to being an Akane-basher! Have you people just been asleep, or what?"
And Luke said to Obi-Wan: "I want to learn to use the Force. I want to be a Jedi, like my father before me."
Amen.

Chapter 9
Two's Company, Three's a Mess
**********************************************************************************

*Twok!* *Twok!*
Ranma parried the two strikes with his fists, deflecting the bokken to keep Kuno as far off-balance as possible.
*Thok!* Ranma kicked Kuno in the gut, and then pushed away, a retaliatory strike passing just millimeters from his nose.
Kuno gasped as he was knocked back, and tried to regain his bearings as Ranma skipped away. "Fiend! Surrender, or know true pain! Today, the great and noble Tatewak-"
Ranma's hand burst into a miasma of purple energy as he finished charging his attack. "Gouka dan."
*KA-THWOOOOOOOOOM!!!*

Across Furinkan's campus, Akane frowned as she watched the expanding dome of flame. "Looks like they're at it again. Don't those dolts ever learn?"
Nabiki shrugged, in the middle of eating her lunch. "Kuno won't stop attacking Ranma until he wins or he's permanently hospitalized, and Ranma won't stop fighting the moron off."
"Hmph. Ranma could at least take him down without burning craters into the school yard. The jerk's just showing off." Akane would have been eating her lunch as well, but had lost it on the way to school after it apparently corroded a hole through the bottom of her bag. And after all the time she spent preparing it, too!
"Isn't it wonderful though?" Min gushed, staring at the smoke that was still wafting from the blast site. "He's just so cool! Nobody can beat him!"
Akane and Nabiki stared at the smiling girl who was suddenly sitting across from them at the table.
"Uhm, we don't want to be rude, but-"
"What are you doing here?"
Min kept on smiling as she opened her bento box and broke apart her chopsticks. "Oh, I just heard some gossip around the school about you two and thought I'd introduce myself! I'm-"
"Min Bogard, sophomore, practitioner of Shiranui Ninjitsu, and Tomas' cousin," Nabiki recited.
Min blinked in surprise. "Uh... yeah. How'd you know all that?"
"Oh, just some 'gossip around the school'," Nabiki deadpanned. Then she frowned. "So what's your deal with Yagami? I heard he pulped you when you made him fight a match."
Min nodded happily. "Uh huh! He was a lot stronger than I'd hoped!" Min then leaned closer to the girls across from him. "Look, he used to live with you, right? Do you think you could get me a date with him?"
Akane and Nabiki jerked back in surprise, staring at Min.
"You want a date with that idiot?!" Akane exclaimed. "Why?"
Min blinked. "Idiot? He seems like an alright guy to me. Strong, reliable, independent-"
"Violent, egotistical, prone to pyromania..." Akane rattled off irritably.
Min shrugged. "Whatever. Nobody's perfect, right? You could do a lot worse for yourself at this school."
As if to underline her statement, Hiroshi and Daisuke chose that moment to pass by, carrying the charred husk that was Tatewaki Kuno to the nurse's office.
"True enough, I suppose," Nabiki mumbled, deep in thought. "Why do you think we could get you a date with him?"
Min tapped her chin with a forefinger thoughtfully. "Well, maybe not a date, but a meeting, at least? You know, like maybe set him up as my tutor, or martial arts instructor, or something like that?" Min winked at Nabiki, and Akane sweatdropped.
'She's serious, isn't she?' Nabiki thought. "That brings me to the next obvious question. Why should I do this for you?"
Min blinked, then reached a hand down into the purse she kept at her side, withdrawing a small pocketbook. "Well, what would be worth your trouble?"
Akane stared at Nabiki as she shifted to her business poker face. It seemed odd, but in the split second after Min had asked that, Nabiki had seemed... angry?
"No deal." Nabiki said simply, stunning both her sister and the Ninja girl.
Min blinked rapidly in surprise. "What? Uh... well, I guess I could help you out in other ways, if you want. You know, a favor for a favor? I'm a good fighter, and-"
"Sorry, I didn't make myself clear," Nabiki interrupted, "I'm not selling that particular service."
"Nabiki?" Akane asked worriedly, "is something the matter?" Was she still bitter over that falling out that she and Ranma had gone through? No, it couldn't be. Nabiki could hold a grudge as well as anyone, but not over something like that. But why else would she refuse a perfectly reasonable offer like that?
Min frowned deeply, and put her pocketbook back in her purse. "Well, I guess it can't be helped. Thank you for your time."
Min got up and patted down her skirt a bit, and then turned to face Akane before she left. "By the way, you're the girl that's competing in that rhythmic gymnastics match this week, right?"
Akane nodded. "Uh huh. We have to beat St. Hebereke to win the title this year!"
Min nodded her head slowly in thought. "You know, I've always been a decent gymnast. And it couldn't hurt to add some more practice to my schedule. Do you have anything I can sign, or is there somebody you can refer me to?"
Akane blinked, and then put a hand to the back of her head. "You know, uh, actually, I'm not on the rhythmic gymnastics team! I'm just substituting for them for the finals!"
Min blinked. "What? How does that work?"
"St. Hebereke cheats by attacking competitors outside the ring so that they can win by default. All our team members are either injured or don't stand a chance, so they got me to do it!" Akane smiled. "I'm the best... er..." her smile faded slightly, and she frowned a bit darkly, "one of the best martial artists at Furinkan." 'That stupid jerk Ranma... just wait, one day I'll show him!'
"Wow," Min exclaimed, clasping her hands behind her back, "that must be kind of rough. Martial arts like karate have surprisingly little in common with gymnastics fighting."
"Something that Akane is having drilled into her ego every night," Nabiki interjected, smirking slightly. Akane glared slightly at her in response.
Min nodded in understanding. "It's hard, I know. If you're good enough to compete in the finals though, you have nothing to worry about. Most people who start doing gymnastics martial arts are completely inept with the tools, and it can get very frustrating."
Nabiki's smirk grew as Akane twitched. "Yes, well, thank goodness you're past that, right Akane?"
"I'm getting better," she mumbled.
"Oh well! Good luck with that! Goodbye!" Min waved to the Tendo sisters as she walked toward the still-smoking field, and soon disappeared behind the corner of the cafeteria.

Nabiki's smile dropped as soon as the Ninja was out of sight. "I don't like her."
Akane blinked. It wasn't that unusual for Nabiki to be so blunt; she could be disturbingly direct when she really needed to get a point across, but it was strange to see her judging someone so harshly. Out loud, anyway.
"What's wrong with her?" Akane asked, "I know she seems like kind of a ditz, and she obviously has poor taste in men, but she's friendly enough."
Nabiki snorted. "I heard about how she introduced herself to your class. Anyone who walks around with jugs like those and just shouts out that they're real is either a liar or a self-absorbed brat."
Akane shrugged and laid back down on the grass. "Maybe Ranma can tell us after she gets a date with him. I'll bet that pervert will have his hands all over her."
A long moment of silence passed, and Akane raised an eyebrow. "What? No snappy response or sarcastic logic?" she asked, cracking a smile as she turned her head to look at her sister.
As it was, she only got to look at Nabiki's backside at the older girl walked away toward the school building stiffly.
"Nabiki? Where are you going?" Akane blinked when she didn't get a response, and Nabiki kept walking.
"Was it something I said?"
__________________________________________________________________________________

"Whatta day," Ranma mumbled to himself, hands behind his head.
He was currently resting on one of the sloped edges of the crater he had created, looking up at the sky.
Ranma had never been particularly introspective or poetic, but he had always felt a sort of tranquility whenever he looked at the sky, day or night.
'How many hours did I spend during my training, just looking at the sky?' Of course, quite often, he had simply been waiting for his body to regain motor functions after being smashed like a tangerine in a juicer, and the sky had simply been preferable to the ground.
'Heh. Man, those were good times. It feels like so long since I've been through any serious training... I need to get a match with Tomas again. Real heavy stuff. The full package, with the power waves, burn knuckles, and-'
"Hello!"
"GYAH!!" Ranma rolled forward toward the center of the crater, and then flipped around to land in a ready crouch.
He deflated only slightly when he saw Min grinning at him from the edge of the crater. "Great, it's the psycho Ninja girl..." he mumbled.
Min's eyebrow twitched, but she pretended not to have heard Ranma's comment. "What are you doing out here, sitting around all alone?"
Ranma shifted out of his stance and crossed his arms over his chest. "You just answered your own question."
Min blinked.
"Now my question is, what do ya think you're doing, sneakin' up on me like that?" He asked irritably.
Min giggled and sat down on the slope of the crater, right next to where he had been before. "I just wanted to have lunch with you! Come on, sit down!"
Ranma eyed the spot he was sitting before, then took a step back. "Yeah, right. And then you put a tanto in my back, right?"
Min blinked rapidly, honestly shocked. "Wh-What? Why would I do that? Where would I even keep a tanto?" She asked seriously, gesturing to her dress. While the girl's school uniform did have a few pockets on the jacket, none of them were big enough to hold a full-size dagger.
"I dunno, you're a Ninja! And you didn't have any problem hiding those fans when you were wearing that weird getup before!"
Min blushed slightly. He had a point, but still... "Don't you think you're being just a tad bit paranoid?"
Ranma glared at her. "Just 'cause I'm paranoid doesn't mean you're not out to get me. I heard about how you started asking about me all around the school after I beat you."
Min blushed some more, then giggled lightly and patted the spot next to her again. "Oh, don't worry. I'm not an assassin, or a stalker." Then she paused, and gave Ranma a saucy half-lidded stare. "Unless that sort of thing turns you on."
'Scary lady.' Ranma thought. "Riiiiiiiiiiight... Well, if you're not going to try and lodge a knife in the back of my head in revenge, then I'll just be on my way back to class now."
Min sweatdropped as Ranma slowly started walking backward toward the school building, never taking his eyes off her. 'Well, at least I've captured his attention.' "Uh, class doesn't start for almost another half an hour."
"I can wait," Ranma muttered, quickening his pace. Then he zipped around and sprinted toward the school building, rushing through the doors so quickly that he nearly knocked into a couple of girls trying to enter the school themselves.

"Well, phooey. That was an unexpected reaction," Min muttered to herself, lying back on the slope of the crater, as Ranma had done before.
'I must have patience,' she decided, staring up at the sky thoughtfully as she decided on her course of action. 'A Ninja sometimes has to stalk her prey for weeks and remove the obstacles to him one by one.' She smirked. 'All I need to do is stick close, and get him comfortable around me. Meanwhile, I cut that Ranko girl off of him.' Her smirk grew to a grin.
'Still, I have to wonder... who told him that I was asking around for him?'
__________________________________________________________________________________

"And I even heard that she asked Nabiki to set her up in a tutoring session with you!" Hana said, hugging her books against her chest in distress. "I'm sure she's up to something! Ninja are well known for striking out unexpectedly!"
Ranma nodded to himself as he put some of his own books away in his locker. "You're probably right. Who knows how sore she is about losing that fight against me."
"Hmph! Well, she deserved everything she got for challenging you!" Hana insisted.
Ranma sweatdropped. "Well, yeah, I suppose. Thanks for the heads-up Hana, I appreciate it."
The girl practically melted at the expression of thanks, and didn't even notice as Ranma turned and walked away.

"Great, one more nutcase out to cut my throat," Ranma muttered irritably, making his way to the entrance. He really hadn't believed much of what Hana had proposed at first, as Min seemed far too blunt and passionate to try such subterfuge, but the girl was smart, and made some very good points.
But that wasn't important now. 'I've gotta find some good training around here.'
After even a short time back in Japan, living the life of the "average" teenager, Ranma was bored. Bored, and restless. Though he still practiced around his home, and Kuno helped him blow off some minor steam, Ranma had only found two good fights since coming to Nerima, and the battle against Min was so reluctant that Ranma wasn't even sure it counted.
'Kuno's just cannon fodder, Ryoga isn't much, Min was pretty good, but I'm not sure I wanna fight her again... the only solid battle I could find was with Tomas.'
Tomas Bogard. Now there was an opponent. Unyielding and flexible in combat, and a pretty friendly guy to boot.
"I wonder if I can get Tomas to train with me some more?"
"What's up?"
Ranma blinked and turned as the American fighter stepped up behind him.
"Oh, hey man. Uh... look, could you do me a favor?"
Tomas raised and eyebrow. "There a problem?"
"Well, kind of," Ranma said, scratching the back of his head, "look, I think Min might be trying to kill me. Do you think you could, you know, talk with her or something?"
Tomas stared at him. "What?"
Ranma frowned and decided to try again. The guy was an American, after all; he may still have trouble with Japanese. "Could you talk Min out of trying to kill me?" Ranma said slowly.
Tomas scratched the top of his head. "Uh... I'll try, but I was under the impression that she didn't want to kill you."
"Yeah, I know," Ranma muttered, "she doesn't make it obvious." Then his eyes narrowed. "Wait... you're not in on this too, are you?"
Tomas sweatdropped. "No. Just chill, all right? I don't think Min holds that fight against you at all."
"Really?"
"Yeah, she took it surprisingly well, actually," Tomas had to fight a snicker as he spoke. He supposed that becoming hopelessly infatuated with the man who beat the tar out of you was a point toward being a good loser.
"So, you're not going to try and beat me up?" Ranma asked cautiously. He really would have preferred to have Tomas on his side if he could. What with Nabiki betraying him and Ryoga turning into a revenge machine, Ranma didn't have much in the way of close friends.
Tomas smiled and patted Ranma on the shoulder condescendingly. "No, I'm not going to try and beat you up."
"Oh..." there was a moment of silence as Ranma decided that the other boy was sincere in his statement. "Sorry to bring it up, then. Wanna go fight?"
"Sure!"
__________________________________________________________________________________

Hana walked through the halls in high spirits, her eyes practically glowing as she stared up at the ceiling.
'Oh Ranma... what a sweet, steamy, fiery hunk of a man!'
She sighed happily, hugging her textbooks tight against her chest. Then her expression became more sullen.
'But still, what chance do I really have to take him for myself? He's like the most popular guy in school, even if he doesn't really know it. He could have any girl he wanted, even that top-heavy flasher Min or that Chinese bimbo. Hell, he could probably have both of them.'
Hana looked up as she reached the front door and pushed it open. 'Well, there is a chance. If I can just get close enough to him... but I can't do that on my own.'
She smiled slightly as she adjusted her glasses, looking up at the clock tower on the side of the school. 'Luckily, I have all the help I'll ever need.'

*Screeeech!* Students turned their heads in surprise as a motorcycle ripped through the main avenue in front of the school, weaving skillfully between cars at clearly unsafe speeds.
*Ta-Toom!* The motorcycle hit the edge of the curb in front of Furinkan's gate, and the students that had never seen this particular figure before gaped as the man on the relatively large machine jumped it high into the air, swinging it parallel to the fence before slamming the ground on the other side hard, bringing himself to a stop.

Some students stared in surprise and awe. Others rolled their eyes and moved on.
Hana, for her part, raised an eyebrow and walked up to the lean, obviously male figure stepping off the motorcycle.
"You're late."
The man was almost six feet in height, tall for a Japanese man, and seemed unusually thin. A solid black helmet and visor obscured his face, and he had a black scarf wrapped around his neck and hanging off his right shoulder.
"I got held up doing some work at St. Hebereke."
Hana rolled her eyes. "Yeah, okay, fine. No big deal." She frowned. "Still don't have a spare helmet for me, do you?"
"............." The man said nothing, and smoothly lifted the helmet off his head, revealing a sharp, angular face with a decidedly neutral expression; as if everything the man looked at was an obstacle being gauged for danger. With the helmet removed, it was also possible for Hiroshi to make out that the man's "black scarf" was actually his hair, bundled and wrapped once around his neck and over his shoulder.

"Who the heck is that guy?" Hiroshi wondered aloud. Bringing a motorcycle past the school gates was expressly forbidden, and though one hardly had much to fear from the present faculty of Furinkan, there could be very painful consequences if one happened to hurt or bother the students; Hiroshi imagined that people like Kuno, Ranma, and any one of the other powerful fighters around the school would not appreciate being almost mowed down.
Daisuke shrugged slightly as he thought over the few times he had seen the man before.
"I think I heard someone say once that his name is 'Raven'. He picks up Keitoro sometimes after school. I don't really know anything else about him."
"Do you think he's her boyfriend?" Hiroshi asked, keeping his eyes trained on the tall, intimidating figure.
Daisuke snorted. "Doubt it. She's not going all googly-eyed and stuff. 'Sides, she's got the hots for Yagami."
"True..."

Hana sighed as she accepted the helmet. "You should really get another one, you know."
"There's no need," Raven said, "You're the only reason I bring this one." He got back onto his bike.
"Well, you should wear one yourself at all times!" Hana insisted, "Do you know how easy it is to get killed in a motorcycle accident?"
"I don't get in accidents," he responded evenly.
Hana groaned slightly as she slipped the helmet on, and then jumped onto the back of the motorcycle, sliding her books into a compartment on the back and wrapping her arms around Raven's waist. "Hey, does Hashiru have any plans for the St. Hebereke match?"
"I don't believe he does yet," Raven replied as he turned his bike toward the school gates. "He was under the impression that Hebereke was poised to win by default again this year."
*VrrRRM!!* Raven gunned the engine, and peeled out into the streets, sending students who hadn't already given the man a nice berth jumping to the side.
"I assume you know otherwise?!" Hana shouted, trying to talk over the motorcycle's engine.
"I do!" Raven shouted back, dipping the bike to the side to pull in front of a pickup truck. Hana gulped and hugged onto him a little tighter. "But I still doubt that your school's apparent resilience will be of any interest to Lord Hashiru! He may simply attend the match for the view!"
Hana sweatdropped. It was true; Hashiru was quite the womanizer, and what man didn't like to watch two toned, athletic girls in leotards jump around in a ring throwing things at each other?
'Hmmmm... maybe I can suggest something a little more intense?' Hana smiled and leaned into Raven as he started to pick up even more speed. 'Rhythmic gymnastics is all well and good, but some people would prefer a match that's not so... restricted. It's perfect!'
__________________________________________________________________________________

"Power wave!"
"Yami barai!"
*Thrak!* The two waves of energy detonated on the ground as they cut into each other, and Ranma and Tomas took a moment to catch their breath before the closed the distance between them, each launching waves of punches at the other.
*Pow!* *Thwack!* *Wham!*
Ranma bent over backward as Tomas launched a haymaker at his chin, and then turned the unorthodox dodge into a vicious kick as he backflipped with his legs fully extended.
"Go Ranma! Beat him up!" Yurumi cheered her brother on from the edge of the field, earning almost as many strange looks from passing spectators as did the two teenage brawlers.
Tomas tucked into a ball and rolled backward, quickly getting some space before getting to his feet. "Nice kid."
Ranma grinned. "That's my sis." Then he raised a fist above his head, and it burst into flame. "You wanna take a breather, or maybe I should go a little easier on you?"
Tomas smirked. "Just keep trash talkin', pyro. I'm not through yet."
"Come on Ranma! You can do it!"
Ranma nodded slightly, inviting Tomas to attack. Tomas took a moment to adjust his cap, and then surged forward with a hammer fist, followed by a right hook.
'It's amazing...' Tomas thought, as both attacks were calmly deflected. 'He really is just about unbeatable. His defense is incredible.' Tomas launched a snap kick, which connected with Ranma's shoulder far too easily to have been anything but intended. This was proven as Ranma shoved the other boy forward to knock him off-balance, and then grabbed Tomas by the jacket, before attempting a shoulder throw.
'Even when I get a hit in, he just uses it as a moment to attack. Half the time I'm not sure he's letting me hit him.' Tomas didn't let himself be caught completely unaware, and managed to push himself off Ranma's back in mid-throw and flip to his feet.
"Gouka dan!"
Tomas dodged desperately as the firebomb streaked toward him, but still got caught in the edge of the detonation as the projectile exploded anyway, despite it not hitting anything.
He rolled as he hit the ground, and the few flames that had scarred him were put out quickly.
'That thing didn't touch me; he made it so it would explode at a set distance away from him! Yagami, you're a piece of work...'
"Burn knuckle!" Ranma juked to the side as Tomas streaked past, and the pigtailed fighter immediately closed with his foe, hitting him with two light kicks and a hammer punch that was barely dodged.
Tomas jabbed back, but Ranma twisted to the side and spun into a powerful roundhouse, slamming Tomas hard in the ribs and sending him rolling away.
'It's weird,' Ranma thought, 'he's doing a little better than before as far as his regular technique, but I haven't seen him pull out any real heavy stuff.'
"Crack shoot!" Tomas whipped through the air with his somersault kick, and pegged Ranma hard on the shoulder before kicking the pigtailed boy just as hard in the stomach.
Ranma took the hit with barely a grunt and then brought both his hands together in front of him as he dashed forward toward Tomas. "Kaen kito!" The flames burst into a large sphere, and Tomas was blasted backward from the reaction.
Tomas would have sighed, were he able to spare the breath, as he once again found himself rolling across the grass. 'Well, there's a new move. I'm not gonna last much longer if I don't do something fast.'
Tomas moved into a handstand, then pushed off the ground and into the air, twisting his body around so that he landed in a crouch.
"Come on Ranma! He's almost down!"
Ranma sweatdropped. "You’re getting a little too much into this, don't you think Yurumi?"
"Aw, let her have her fun," Tomas said, smirking. Then his stance shifted slightly. 'I'm only going to get one shot at this... I have to time it just right, so that he doesn't have time to dodge. I've never been able to control this technique easily, even when I manage to pull it out right.'
Ranma waited as Tomas shifted his body so that Ranma was looking at the boy's profile. 'What's that clown trying to pull now?'
Tomas's form shook slightly, and his aura manifested visibly, quickly growing to superhuman levels as the young Bogard was swathed in red light.
'Now!'
'He's going for it!'
Tomas took off like a bullet, moving at the fastest speed he was capable of outside of his burn knuckle technique. He knew that it would cause most fighters to clear the way, but Ranma... Ranma didn't like to be predictable, and slightly favored doing things the hard way.
'Go for the block, go for the block, go for the block...' Tomas chanted inside his head as he approached at high speed, blurred afterimages beginning to stretch out behind him.
Ranma moved one arm to block and the other to attack. Likely for one of his fire punches, Tomas decided. It didn't matter.
"AURORA FANG!!"
"The hell-URGHK!!"

Yurumi gasped from her position on the sidewalk as Tomas sliced into Ranma's block with a fearsome uppercut, forming a red energy wave like a hooked fang that knocked Ranma backward and off-balance.
Then Tomas's other fist lit up like an ambulance light, and he finished the technique.
*TH-KRAAACK!!!* Tomas's right fist formed a red energy lance like a spear that smashed directly into Ranma's solar plexus, denying the pigtailed boy any chance to recover from the first stage of the heavy combo. Dirt blasted from the punch's path like water in the wake of a speedboat, and Yurumi almost fell backward as the pressure shock wave reached her a good fifteen meters away.
"RANMA!!!"

Tomas winced as he heard Yurumi scream her brother's name. He wished she didn't have to see that. This was supposed to be a friendly match, no ill intentions or grudges, but people that weren't street fighters of the same ilk rarely understood that.
Well, okay, fine, maybe that had been a little rough for a friendly match, but he doubted that Ranma had held back any hard-hitters for his sake.
It was about then that the buzzing in his ears began to die down and the pain in his right arm made itself known. The aurora fang was a technique that essentially used all his energy for a two-hit super combo that could pierce any standing defense. The problem was that the output was so vast and uncontrollable that the shock of hitting the target (though not 1/100 as bad as the shock of the target) totally disoriented him, and hurt his arm something fierce.
"Heh... let's see ya get up from that." Tomas grinned as he saw Ranma twitch, and then try to do exactly as he had suggested.
The weird thing was, he was succeeding.

Ranma's entire body trembled and threatened to buckle at any moment as he forced himself to his feet. His mind was awhirl in a mix of pain and adrenaline. His body felt like it had played chicken with a bullet train and lost. His vision was blurry, and he was sure that as soon as he gained the strength, he would start spewing up blood.
'That was AWESOME!!' He thought, his excitement piercing the fog of agony.
"Ranma! Are you all right?! Speak to me!" Yurumi begged, trying to help support Ranma's not-inconsiderable weight.
Ranma doubled over as soon as he stood up, and Yurumi had to hold her own stomach as he threw up a mix of vile-looking sludge onto the grass in front of him.
"Ranma! Be careful! Here, we can get you to a hospital, and-"
"Nothin' doin'." Ranma spat, moving off of Yurumi and standing off to the side to face Tomas. "I'm not gonna lose!"
Tomas shook his head. "Look dude, I already hit you harder than I should have. It's all right, you can-"
"I'm not down, the fight's not over!" Ranma shouted, and then quickly shut his mouth as a shudder nearly tossed his stomach up his throat.
Tomas sighed. "Damn, but you're persistent. All right, then I'll finish-"
*Thwack!*
Whether it was the exhaustion from using his new technique or simply his intent focus on Ranma, Tomas didn't realize he was being attacked until the round head of the bonbori had already collided with his head.
"Wh-What in the-" *Wham!* A second strike hit him in the stomach, and he was left completely open to the following roundhouse, which threw him up in the air.
"You leave Ranma ALONE!!" Shampoo punctuated the last word by rushing in and slamming Tomas down in mid-air with her weapon, and the hapless street fighter was left dazed and hurt on the ground as the Amazon girl turned her attention on Ranma.
"Ranma! Is you okay?"
Ranma blinked. "Shampoo? Where did you come from?"
Before he knew what happening, Shampoo was picking him up off the ground and holding him in her arms. "Hey! What're you doin'?!"
Shampoo ignored Ranma and turned to Yurumi. "You know where doctor is?"
Yurumi nodded. "Yeah, Dr. Tofu's office is a short run that way!"
"What's the deal?! This was my fight! Put me down!"
Shampoo nodded. "I go run ahead, okay? You meet there as quick as can!"
Without waiting for Yurumi to concur, Shampoo took off at top speed, Ranma still complaining in her arms.
Just a moment after that, Yurumi ran in the same direction, trying to keep out of the path of dust that Shampoo kicked up in her wake.

Tomas groaned and lifted his head. "Hello? Anybody there? Ranma? Yurumi? Could someone give me a hand?"
After receiving no answer, he dropped his head back onto the grass. "Dammit. This sucks. At least the aurora fang works, though."
He grinned. "Even more powerful than the trial runs, too! This time Yagami's going to have to keep up with ME! Heh."
Tomas started to get up, but his stomach lurched as a result and he immediately fell back down.
"Man, can that Chinese girl hit! ......... I wonder who she is, exactly. I've seen her before, but I've never caught her name."
"Who's name?"
Tomas blinked, then twisted his head around from his position on his back. "Hi Min."
"Hello," Min said, frowning. "Burns and large impact wounds. You were fighting Ranma again, weren't you?"
Tomas grinned. "Yup. You should have seen him when we done though." He stopped grinning and rethought that. "Actually, it's best that you didn't. You'd probably be mad at me."
Min snorted. "Uh huh. Right. So did you manage to muss up his hair, or what?"
Tomas looked indignant. "I'll have you know I whooped his ass! Ranma was barely able to stand!"
Min's eyes widened, as if a sudden revelation had overcome her. "Of course! Why couldn't I see it! That explains why you're lying on your back, broken and beaten, in the middle of a grassy field perfectly!"
Tomas's left eye twitched. "I beat him! I did! It's just that the Chinese girl-"
"Yeah, okay, whatever," Min interrupted, yanking him to his feet. "If you don't want to admit it, fine. Though I thought you were a better loser than this."
"I beat him! I swear!"
"Can you walk, or do you need to lean on me?"
"AAARGH!!"
__________________________________________________________________________________

"We're here," Raven said simply, slowing down his bike to normal driving speeds as he approached the school gates.
Hana twitched, and finally forced her arms from where they had become locked around Raven's torso. "I think we just made a new landspeed record..."
Raven didn't answer, and slowed further as he approached the gates. Unlike Furinkan's, these were electronically controlled crosshatch gates, and a motor began to grind as soon as Raven approached.
Next to the gates was a bronze plate that said [Akumaru Private School].
As Raven rolled his motorcycle into the front yard of the school, a bell rung, signaling the end of the school day.
Students immediately began to pour out of the several buildings around the campus and swarm toward the front gates. At least, until they saw who was coming from the gates.
It was a well-known rule that motorcycles were most definitely not allowed on school grounds, with the exception of the parking lots. It was also well known that for certain people, this rule did not apply.
Hana smirked slightly as the teenagers parted in front of the bike, giving Raven a wide berth. She had seen it before many times, but it never failed to amuse her.
Raven slowed his bike as he reached the concrete steps at the front of the administration building, and carefully held the machine upright with his leg as Hana dismounted.
"Lord Hashiru is in the student council hall, I believe."
Hana nodded and entered the administration building, Raven following swiftly.
The few faculty members that were wandering the halls of the building rather than closing up their classrooms all cast occasional respectful glances at the two teenagers before scurrying along, not wanting to be involved in whatever was brewing.

Soon they reached the door to the student faculty lounge, and Hana pushed forward and shoved the double-doors open, as if to charge in angrily.
*Wham!* Each of the doors slammed against the attached wall, and at once a dozen eyes all darted toward Hana with cautious hostility.
Then she smiled, and the glares immediately melted as the room's occupants saw who it was.
"Hi everyone! How are we all doing?" There were several sweatdrops around the room as she entered without a care, though all the hostility had vanished.
Raven entered the room far more cautiously than Hana did. Not that the room contained anyone that he didn't consider a friend, but it had become what he decided was a worthwhile habit over the years. Sitting all around the lavish and extravagantly over-decorated lounge was a collection of muscled men and the occasional woman that ranged from stereotypical dirty street punks to people dressed in expensive suits and dresses. Almost all were armed in some manner, and from the snacks and sodas arrayed across the main meeting table (a polished hardwood piece that had most definitely NOT been intended for such casual use), were having one of their typical after-school party sessions.
Typically, this particular gang met in the finer lounges around the campus, such as that of the student council. Their activities usually consisted of light martial arts exercise, video games, and even studying, but every once in a while a real meeting needed to be held.
"Hello sister. You've arrived later than expected. Has the Ninja finally conceived the notion of the 'speed limit'?"
Hana grinned as she turned to face the man next to the entrance. He was tall for a Japanese man, with shoulder-length brown hair, and an appearance that implied that he had either been brought up in a high-class English household, or had watched far too many episodes of Frasier. He even now wore an expensive long coat, complete with the puffy lace in the collar, a polished black cane, and even a monocle over his left eye.
"Hi Joshin. Raven was a little late picking me up at Furinkan today, that's all. How are your classes?"
Joshin sighed, one hand in his pocket. "As well as can be expected, I'm afraid. The philistine bores that have the audacity to call themselves my instructors continue to waste away my life with their infantile drivel."
"Well, at least they haven't hurt your ego yet," Raven said with a perfectly straight face.

As Joshin stuttered up a retort, Hana moved past the two toward the back of the student council meeting room.
Very few people at Furinkan knew about her involvement with Akumaru Private School, and even fewer knew the extent of it. Even Nabiki Tendo, the expensive wellspring of secret and private information, had completely overlooked her.
Akumaru was remarkable for two reasons: It had a reputation for civil order and discipline, which was ironic, as the only other peculiarity was that a street gang essentially ran the entire school.
Hana rolled her eyes as she approached a man in a large padded chair cuddling with a busty college girl whom Hana immediately dubbed "this week's blonde". The man was very muscular, with a large, broad-shouldered frame and hardened washboard stomach that was easily noticeable under the tight black T-shirt he wore. He had long , unruly blond hair that hid his eyes, and a sharp, attractive face that probably would have given Hana a few steamy daydreams if the man hadn't been her cousin.
"Hey squirt, what's up?" Hashiru Yamazaki grinned at the mousy brunette as she approached while giving him her usual "you womanizing slimeball" look.
"Hello Hashiru. So who's this? It hasn't even been two days since I last saw you." Hana raised an eyebrow at the man, ignoring the sudden challenging look that the blonde was giving her.
Hashiru pushed himself up slightly, moving his current lover into a position that wasn't quite as visibly arousing. "This is Kikia Jiyahama. Kikia, meet Hana Keitoro."
Kikia frowned at the girl. "Nice to meet you. And how do you know Hashiru?"
Hashiru had to keep from snickering. "Don't worry about it babe. She's just... well, she's like my secretary."
Kikia blinked. "But I thought I was your secretary."
"Uh..." Hashiru scratched his chin in thought. "My platonic secretary, I guess."
Hana rolled her eyes and fished a folded-up piece of paper out of her pocket. "Really, I like to think of myself as Hashiru's assistant. And you don't have to worry about me and him; even if he wasn't my cousin, I'd never let this gigolo touch me."
Hashiru twitched. "Well gee, aren't we fickle all of a sudden. You still hounding that new kid?"
Hana blushed and glared hard at the gang leader. "I'm not 'hounding' anyone! I'm just trying to build an actual relationship rather than just pushing for sex! But then, you wouldn't know the first thing about that, now would you?"
Kikia blinked in surprise to hear someone speaking out against Hashiru so openly and harshly, and then gaped as Hashiru simply glared back, apparently powerless to put down the girl's attitude.
She was just about to suggest something harsh when she felt something tap her shoulder. Turning around, the girl saw that Joshin and Raven were standing behind her.
"I do hope you'll excuse our rudeness, but the issues we are about to discuss now are of a proprietary matter, and we will need Hashiru to be able to devote his full attention to the issues at hand."
Kikia blinked as Joshin nodded to her, but didn't move.
Raven cleared his throat. "He just told you to leave."
"Oh! Uh... okay..." Kikia uncertainly walked from the room, still casting uneasy glances at Hana.

"Hey! I don't go around telling you how to act!" Hashiru complained, leaning back in his chair.
Hana almost laughed out loud. "That'd be like a fish giving flying lessons to a bird. The only advice you could offer me is how to fight, and I'm not interested in that."
"That's not the only advice," he protested quietly, "I could also pick out clothes for you that'll get guys to ask you for dates rather than homework answers."
"Oh, don't even go there!" Hana shouted irritably.
Hana massaged her forehead as she tried to recall exactly what it was that she was planning to tell her "boss". Hashiru always had a way of getting under her skin, but in the same vein, she did the exact same thing to him. Everybody that really knew them knew that it was mostly an exercise of habit; she adored her cousin, even if his father was the most vile excuse for a human on the face of the planet, and he adored her even more, despite whatever he had to say about her constant nagging.
"Alright Hashi, you want to know the latest from the rumor mill or what?"
Hashiru straightened and became a little more serious as the playfully irritated atmosphere evaporated. "All right, shoot."
"You know about St. Hebereke's undefeated status as far as the martial arts rhythmic gymnastics tournaments, right?"
Hashiru nodded. "Who doesn't? Hard to lose when nobody can fight you." Akumaru would have provided a difficult challenge in that arena (given that Hashiru actually had the resources to protect the school's athletes), but maintained a college-level team that didn't enter the same tournaments as the high schools.
"Right. Well, this time it looks like they messed up; Furinkan has a substitute coming in, and she hasn't been taken out yet. While there's still time before the tournament, it looks like Furinkan might actually make it to the ring this time."
Hashiru nodded. "Okay. Good for you. Joshin, could you get me a seat for that match?"
"Of course, Lord Hashiru," Joshin said, bowing far deeper than was necessary, as usual.
*Ahem* Hana cleared her throat, then handed Hashiru a file. "There's something else I've got for you. Remember how I said that new guy looked like a good fighter? Everything I've seen so far indicates he's even better than I had hoped. Ranma Yagami would be a definite asset to us."
Hashiru smirked as he took the papers. "So this is your boy toy, eh? He's a looker, all right."
Hana twitched and blushed. "Well... yes... you can say that. Anyway, I have an idea. Ranma has pretty much come out on top as the best fighter at Furinkan High, easily topping Akane and Kuno, the old favorites-"
Hashiru snorted. Kuno was nothing but a joke to him, and worse, an arrogant, stupid joke with a superiority complex. Akane, by all descriptions, was likewise a pretty pitiful fighter, and also had this sort of feminazi deal going on that Hashiru found a major turn-off.
"-and coming out victorious over Tomas and Min Bogard, two recent addition's to the Furinkan campus."
Hashiru smiled at that. "Ah, yes. The Bogards. They have quite a reputation, don't they?"
Hana held her silence, waiting for Hashiru to ask her to continue. The reason was because the only affiliation Hashiru had with the Bogards was that his father used to fight them in the old King of Fighters tournaments. And anything that involved Hashiru's father demanded excessive tact and caution.
Ryuji Yamazaki was a terrible, corrupt man who had left his fiancee before Hashiru himself had been born, taking a good portion of his fiancee's father's money and property with him. Hashiru himself demanded that everyone call him by his first name rather than his family name, and said he actually only kept the surname Yamazaki as a mark of shame for who his father was and what the man had done. Hana didn't pretend to understand it, but she pitied him for it.
Finally, Hashiru looked up at her. "So, what do you have in mind for our boy Yagami?"
Hana smiled. "I suggest we try and one-up the St. Hebereke tournament this week."
The others looked at her.
"Rhythmic gymnastics is all well and good, but some people prefer some action that's a little bit more... raw, you know?"
Hashiru grinned suddenly. "I see where you're coming from. Pair up the rhythmic tourney with a small martial arts lineup."
Hana nodded. "Right. That way you can check out Yagami for yourself, and convince him to work for you or whatever."
Hashiru nodded. "Flashy... conceited... violent... entertaining... sounds like fun!" He turned to Joshin. "How do you suppose we go about that?"
Joshin scratched his chin for a moment, and then nodded to himself, adjusting his monocle as he responded. "Well, obviously we have two choices; either to attempt to subjugate or manipulate St. Hebereke into allowing a cross-school challenge on their campus right after one of their most important events..."
Hana frowned. He sure didn't make it sound simple.
"... Or, we could just ascertain the challenge ahead of time with Yagami, move everyone in while the gymnastics match is taking place, and then hijack the stage once it's over."
Hashiru clapped his hands and then pointed at Joshin. "I like that. We'll do the second one."
Raven sweatdropped. "Lord Hashiru, would it not be simpler to hold a separate match here, or perhaps at Furinkan?"
Hashiru shook his head, his long blond hair falling all about his shoulders. "Lacks flair, old buddy. 'Sides, the best way to get on someone's good side is to feed their ego a little bit. Winning a match on the soccer field of another school is nothing when you can beat somebody up in front of a big audience. Especially one composed of an all-girl school's student body." He grinned.
"I see..." Raven mumbled. "Well then, that brings me to my other question. Will it be me and Joshin that Yagami will be 'beating up'?"
Hashiru smiled and patted the other man on the shoulder. "Hey, don't worry; I'm sure you'll do fine. He can't be that tough, right?"
Everyone else sweatdropped.
"Anyway," Hashiru continued, "I want you to cover the substitute's house, Raven. If we're gonna pull this off, I don't want Hebereke's team messing around with 'our' players."
Raven bowed. "Of course, Lord Hashiru."
Hashiru gave the part-time Ninja, part-time college student a grateful nod, then walked up to the window, his left hand in his pocket. Most people that met him quickly picked up that he had his left hand in his pocket a lot, and dismissed it as an obsessive-compulsive thing, or a nervous habit. Most people never learned otherwise.
His shoulder twitched, and Hashiru brought his left hand up out of his pocket, smirking as it glowed with a light blue aura. "My hand itches. I'm gettin' a good feeling about this Yagami kid."
Hana smiled. "I don't think he'll disappoint you there. He seems just about unstoppable."
Hashiru's smirk turned into a grin. "People say the same about me. Let the games begin."
__________________________________________________________________________________

"Ouch!" Ranma flinched as Shampoo pressed another bandage against his chest, and glared at the busty Amazon making such a fuss over him. "Would you knock it off? I didn't ask for no help, you know! I could have beaten Tomas!"
Shampoo, Yurumi, and Dr. Tofu all ignored him, just as they had been doing since Shampoo had dragged him into the observation room.
"Is he going to be okay?" Yurumi asked worriedly. She hadn't seen many of Ranma's fights before, but then, the only time she had seen Ranma that badly hurt was when she herself had lost control of her powers and blasted him. How could that American boy be so mean?
"Ranma be just fine," Shampoo asserted, feeling up Ranma's ribs to search for any serious fractures, and enjoying every minute of it even as she worried over him. "Ranma very strong. Take any hit and get back up!"
"Which is exactly the type of attitude that leaves him in this condition," Dr. Tofu sighed, shaking his head. Since Shampoo enthusiastically volunteered to tend Ranma's wounds, and was apparently very adept at it, the good doctor had settled for analyzing Ranma's wounds and taking note of any longer-term damage that the boy may have sustained.
"Hey, don't feel you've gotta gimme a lecture on how to win my fights, doc!" Ranma growled. "If this is a big bother to ya, then just lemme outta here!"
Ranma bristled as Dr. Tofu simply pretended he hadn't said anything, turning to Yurumi.
"So where did you say Bogard hit?"
"Well, the first hit cut across his arms, 'cause he was blocking. Like this," Yurumi made a vague uppercut motion with her arm, and Dr. Tofu nodded.
"Right. The lacerations and burns on his wrists are minor. With a constitution like Ranma's, I doubt they're even worth treating. What came after that?"
"Then Tomas punched forward, and it created this really big explosion that hit Ranma in the stomach!"
"The aurora fang," Ranma supplied irritably, "it was actually pretty cool. Ow! Be more careful, wouldja Shampoo?!"
Tofu nodded. "I see... Ranma, I'll leave the character of this Bogard kid for you to judge, but if you were anywhere close to the level of a 'normal' fighter, that attack would have easily killed you."
Much to the good doctor's distress, Ranma smiled in response. "Well, yeah. Like you said, that's just the level we're at. I don't hold nothing back, and he don't either."
Doctor Tofu sighed. "Right. Fine. I'm not going to try and tell you to tone down your fights; I've heard of what you're capable of and I'm smarter than that. But here you've suffered what would be generally considered serious internal injuries. Four of your ribs have minor fractures, and the best way that I could describe the inside of your abdomen right now would be 'a bloody mess'."
Ranma cracked a disturbing smile. "And all from a single technique, huh?" He grinned and chuckled. "Heh heh... Tomas, you are the man! I gotta think up an attack like that!"
Everyone else in the room sweatdropped.
"Ranma... don't you think that you should stop fighting that guy? You could get hurt!" Yurumi said cautiously. She knew Ranma didn't want to think of the match as a loss, but that was obviously what it was. A loss with some nasty injuries left over, too.
Ranma just rolled his eyes. "Sis, I know you don't really understand it, but that's sort of the point. Tomas didn't mean any harm... well, I mean, he did, but not 'cause he has anything against me or nothin', but just for fun." Judging from Yurumi's utterly perplexed expression, he didn't do a brilliant job of explaining it.
Dr. Tofu tapped Ranma on the shoulder to get the boy's attention. "Be that as it may, I'm prescribing you something to try and keep your intestines in one piece while your abdomen heals. Your ribs will also need some time to recover. I recommend that you avoid strenuous physical activity for at least two weeks."
The doctor almost groaned audibly as Ranma gave him his best "get a clue, you nimrod" stare.
"Two weeks? Feh. If I give Bogard two weeks to push the advantage he already has on me, he'll be beating me down forever. I can't afford it, doc."
"But didn't he only beat you because he used a technique you had never seen before?" Yurumi asked, recalling the fight.
"That's beside the point," Ranma said, sliding off the examination table to his feet. "I've got to get training immediately."
"Ranma, please," Doctor Tofu pleaded miserably, "at least wait a week before you get in another fight of that magnitude. Your entire torso has been severely weakened by the shock of the impact. Just give it a weak to strengthen up a little bit." In truth, Tofu had surmised that it would only take a week to heal fully, but had guessed that Ranma would try and push it and had thus padded his estimate.
"Hmph. A week." Ranma scratched at his bandages. "Well, I guess that's not too bad. But after that, I'm not promising nothin'! I've gotta get it together before I lose my edge!"
Shampoo smiled and squeezed Ranma's shoulders gently from behind. "Ranma not worry. Ranma do very well, and get better soon!"
"Yeah! Thanks for the help, Shampoo. You wanna go get something to eat? My treat."
"Aiyah! Is okay, Shampoo will make Ranma too, too delicious meal!"

Yurumi sweatdropped as Shampoo pushed Ranma out of the examination room.
Then she turned toward Doctor Tofu. "Do you really think he'll stay out of fights for a week?"
Tofu snorted and pushed up his glasses. "Please. I'm an MD. Do I LOOK like an idiot?"
"Hm," Yurumi scratched her head in embarrassment as she looked out the door. "Do you really think it's okay though? To let him fight like this? I mean, Ranma's real strong, and has Daddy's flame powers, but I worry about him sometimes."
Doctor Tofu stared down at the little girl for a moment, then slowly turned toward his bookcase. "Tell me, Yurumi, how much do you know about your father's... flame powers?"
"Eh?" Yurumi was caught off-guard by the question, and scratched her head. "I... well... I don't really know much about them at all. I mean, I can use them, and Ranma can use them, and so can Daddy, but other people can't. Like Mom."
Tofu nodded as he scanned his books. "Of course. Yurumi, the first time I met Ranma I saw him use his powers to deactivate his curse. When I heard the name 'Yagami', I was sure I had heard the name before. I searched through some of my texts, and came upon this."
The doctor pulled out a short, fat book in the center of a line of older, more cryptic tomes, and Yurumi noted that it had a manila folder serving a bookmark. Tofu took the folder out of book, laying it open on the examination table to keep the marked page. Then he opened the folder, revealing several photographs and newspaper clippings.
Yurumi blinked. "It's Daddy! Hey, who's that guy he's fighting?"
Dr. Tofu sighed. The largest picture had a black-and-white newspaper photo of two figures striking each other, awash in light and dark flames. While Yurumi immediately recognized the man in the moon-emblem jacket as her father, she had no idea who the other man was. He was a little shorter than Iori, with darker hair, and wore a jacket with a sun on the back, along with two arm bracers with the same emblem.
"When I was still training as a martial artist and essentially deciding whether to devote the rest of my life to fighting or healing, I met up with Kyo Kusanagi at a small street-fighting bout. He was really what pushed me to concentrate my energy on medicine, namely because he beat me badly enough to kill my inflated ego so that I could make a rational decision. I don't recall exactly what it was about him, or me, but the two of us maintained an unusually resilient friendship after that."
"Over the years, Kyo called upon me several times to help me keep him in top form when he got a little in over his head during his battles. Then one day, I got a call from one of my colleagues asking me to attend to him. When I'd arrived, I found Kyo beaten nearly to the point of permanent injury, but with enough work, Kyo recovered completely. You see, Kyo had, for the first time, faced your father."
Yurumi gasped in surprise. "D-Daddy almost killed him?"
Doctor Tofu decided it was best if he didn't reveal that Iori's intention had been to kill Kyo. After all, he was toeing the line as far as intervention in someone's private life as it was, and besides, from all accounts Iori was a changed man now.
"Actually, your father lost the battle, but just barely. In any case, I had a few more such calls, but more importantly, one day I got a call from Kyo asking me to do some research for him. It was after a man named Rugal Bernstein was defeated for the second time he hosted the King of Fighters tournament, and apparently some questions had arisen that Kyo wanted some answers to. I set off immediately to search for them."
"Wait," Yurumi interrupted, eager to get to the meat of the story, "answers to what?"
"Mostly to the Yagamis' power," Tofu admitted, adjusting his glasses. "Eventually, after obtaining several of Bernstein's personal files and trying to dodge his son as he swept in to take control of his father's criminal empire, I found this book, that detailed the root of the Yagami clan's power, as well as the events surrounding the clan's feud with the Kusanagi clan. How much do you know about the legend of the Orochi?"
Yurumi blinked at being suddenly asked a question. "Well, everyone knows the story about the Orochi and the Kushinada princesses!"
Doctor Tofu gave a somewhat morbid smirk. "Of course. Well, predictably, the real story isn't nearly as romantic as the common fable. The short of it is that several clans of warriors banded together to defeat Orochi, a god of chaos and destruction, and managed to seal him away. These clans included the Kusanagi clan, and the clan that is known today as Yagami."
"'Known today'?"
"Right," Tofu confirmed, "your family has a very extensive and elaborate history, but its roots, which unfortunately outdate any of the information I could find, are based in a different clan. You see, though all the warrior clans fought bravely and lost many good men to defeat Orochi, the Kusanagi clan, in their vanity, took most of the credit and rewards for themselves. The Yagami clan was formed when the jealous warriors of one of the forgotten clans used the sealed Orochi to strengthen their powers, while making sure to preserve the actual seal itself. In effect, it made the Yagami clan very powerful, but tainted their spirits, turning their warriors' flames a dark violet and shaving decades off their lifespan."
Looking up at his guest, Tofu could see that Yurumi was frightened at what he was saying, but also intrigued. He had to hurry and get to the point.
"By the time I reached Kyo with everything I'd learned, I'd found that he had already learned everything that I had, and more. Moreover, he had actually faced Orochi, beaten him, and strengthened the seal. This event had not only apparently softened-slightly, at least-the bloody feud between Kyo and Iori, but also cured the last remaining members of the Yagami clan of the affliction that cut their lives short." He glanced at Yurumi. "At least, last I heard, your father was in good health. Is he?"
Yurumi blinked rapidly, startled out of trying to digest everything that was being told. "Uh? Oh! Yes, yes he is!"
Tofu smiled gently. "Good. I suspect he'll live to a ripe old age, then."
Yurumi nodded cautiously. The girl wasn't freaking out, but was still quite perturbed. "Uhm... okay... so... why are you telling me all this?"
Tofu sighed and then picked up the folder of newspaper clippings, flipping through the photographs in front of him. "After I met Ranma, I soon remembered about all this, and looked back in my records to see if there was anything concerning his... abilities that I should know about. After looking back through the data I had collected, I thought that I was worrying over nothing. At least, until I saw this."
Doctor Tofu flipped a newspaper article around in his hand so that Yurumi could see the picture on the front.
She blinked in surprise, then stared. Then she squinted, and tilted her head to one side.
"I don't get it. Is that 'The Human Torch' from that dumb American comic book?"
Doctor Tofu sweatdropped. "No. That would be an artist's best guess at a rampaging Yagami clansman."
Yurumi's eyes widened. "A... A rampaging Ya-Yagami..."
Tofu gently took the girl by the shoulders, and held her at arms' length as he looked into her eyes. "Yurumi, I'm not going to pretend I understand what you or your brother or anyone in your family is going through, and I'm not going to try and interfere personally. But it's entirely possible that Ranma is grappling with a power greater than any of us realize, and he may not be able to do it alone."
Yurumi gulped. "You... You're not talking about Tomas, are you?"
Tofu raised an eyebrow. "What Bogard did was impressive, that's all. I'd seek him out to reprimand him for his actions, except that I understand Ranma's friendly rivalry with the boy, and in light of certain things, this new technique of his isn't so dangerous as you might think."
Yurumi grimaced at that. Not dangerous? That attack could have ripped apart a pickup truck!
"I suspect that Ranma's capable of more damage than that. Much more. All I'm saying is that Ranma might need help, even if he'll never admit it. Maybe not from you or me, but-"
"I understand!" Yurumi said suddenly, startling the doctor out of his monologue.
Tofu blinked as he looked at the determination in Yurumi's eyes.
"Mister Tofu, I... I know exactly what you're talking about!"
"You... You do?" Tofu asked, perplexed. At best, he had expected the girl to agree to everything he said just so that she could leave.
"Yes! I... Up until now, I've had trouble controlling my own powers, and I never knew what it was that was causing it! Now I understand everything!"
"You understand... everything?" Tofu inquired. Even he didn't really understand what was happening, and he had been under the impression that he was the one informing Yurumi.
Yurumi nodded happily. "Hm! But now I have to help Ranma! He can be so strong all the time, but you're right! He doesn't know what's happening to him! He needs my help!"
"We-Well, I don't really know if you can-"
He stopped talking as the redheaded girl darted forward for a quick hug of gratitude. "Thank you so much, Mister Tofu!"
"Urm... you're welcome... and it's Doctor Tofu, actually." He looked down at the little girl strangely as she separated from him, unsure as to whether he should have revealed as much as he did.
"Okay! Goodbye Mister Tofu! Thank you for helping Ranma!" Yurumi dashed out the clinic as fast as she could, running home. She had some very important questions for her father.

Doctor Tofu stared at the door to the reception office, and scratched his head. "Hmmm... perhaps I should have told Ranma instead..."
__________________________________________________________________________________

Nodoka turned away from her book and blinked as her husband finally entered the room, looking rather sleepy and annoyed.
"Well, you're up late, aren't you?" She said, raising an eyebrow.
Iori stifled a yawn and shrugged. "Ranma started grilling me on using his flames for some reason, and I had to grill him to find out why he looked like he had been hit by a semi. Looks like that Bogard kid's got a step up on his father."
Iori took off his jacket, and then started undoing his undershirt. "I would've gone upstairs then, but Yurumi came down from her room and started asking me about the history of Yagami clan. I still don't know why."
Iori folded up his shirt and placed it on the floor next to the nightstand. "So, when did you tell Yurumi about the Orochi and the Yagami clan, anyway?"
"I didn't," Nodoka answered honestly, placing a marker in her book and sitting up to face her husband.
Iori stopped in removing his pants, and turned his head toward Nodoka. His face hadn't changed much, but Nodoka could read it as a frown. "So who told her about it? She even mentioned Kusanagi when she was asking me about my power."
Nodoka shrugged. "Perhaps Ranma told her. I really think it's best that she knows, anyway. I would have told her myself, except that I don't know the story nearly as well as you do."
Iori grunted and finished removing his pants before falling heavily into bed. "I don't mind that she knows. I just wish that she could have found a better time to bring it up."
Iori sighed and turned toward the edge of the bed. "Good night."
Then he moved to turn off the lamp on the nightstand, only to have his hand intercepted by Nodoka's.
"Oh come now, dear. You don't think I waited this long for you to come to bed just to hear you snore, do you?" She smiled in that subtly seductive way, and Iori suddenly knew that whatever chances he still had for a good night's sleep had just gone out the window.
Nodoka was just starting to cuddle up to her husband, when the sudden roar of a motorcycle engine pierced the walls of the house, causing her to wince at the noise.
Clicking her tongue, she glanced at the window as a bright headlight sped down the street, momentarily bathing the room in light even through the blinds. "Hmph. What is wrong with parents today, letting their children ride around on those horrid machines at this hour? The racket is inexcusable! Right dear?"
"Zzzzzzz..."
Nodoka blinked, then turned and realized that Iori was already fast asleep, even with the nightstand light on, plus the noise outside. "Iori? Are you asleep already? Come on now, wake up!"
"Zzzzz-*snork*-zzzzzzzzzzzz..."
"...... Damn."
__________________________________________________________________________________

Raven slowed his motorcycle considerably as he approached the street on which the Tendo Dojo was located, bringing the engine noise down to a soft, vibrant purr.
To be honest, a souped-up motorcycle was hardly fitting transportation for a Ninja, especially one as skilled and experienced as Raven, but at the same time, he much preferred high-speed automotive transportation to jumping across rooftops, and his current mission didn't demand a low profile at all. So he was free to throw stealth to the wind and let everyone in the neighborhood know he was present, and he had all but put that freedom to deliberate use.
Turning off the engine completely as he approached the dojo, Raven propped his bike up on the curb, and then silently leapt up onto the wall that surrounded the property, landing in a crouch as his long black hair whipped around in the air behind him.
'Simple enough household. There are at least two dozen ambush points I can use to wait for attackers, and I can even rest in that nook next to the chimney without being sighted.' Raven had perfected a very useful meditation state that allowed him to sleep while still maintaining a proximity sense that would alert him of any approaching figures less skilled in the arts of stealth than he was.
'With what I've learned about these gymnastics girls, they should be simple to neutralize. Even their leader, Kodachi, would have no chance of getting past me, at least without causing enough noise to alert the whole household, thus sacrificing the element of surprise. My success is assured.' Underneath the Ninja mask stretched over his mouth and nose, Raven smiled slightly.
"AAAAAIIIIIIIEEEEEEE!!" *Wham!* *Bam!* "Leave me alone!" *Crash!* "Take this, you inelegant gorilla!" *Pow!* *Thwack!*
Raven's tiny smile died very painfully. 'Unless, of course... the attackers got here before I did...'

*Slam!* "OW!! My leg! You little &$%(#!!"

Raven began to massage his forehead.

"Hohohohohoho! You poor dear! You can't possibly compete in the rhythmic gymnastics tournament like that! Why don't you just stay home and tend to your wounds? It's not like a clumsy fool like you would have won, anyway!"

'By the void, Lord Hashiru's going to throw me in the lake...'

"Why you little-OW!! Ooh... it hurts!"

'Why, oh WHY did I have to stop for donuts and coffee on the way here?'

"Don't try and move, my poor dear! You'll only aggravate your injuries! And then you won't get to compete next year, either! Hohohohohohohohohohohoho!!"

Raven watched sullenly from his perch as Kodachi jumped from Akane Tendo's bedroom, leapt up onto a tree in the Tendos' backyard, and then took to the rooftops, twirling her ribbon and throwing black rose petals into the air the whole time.
His eye twitched.
"This must be how those retainer Ninjas for wealthy Japanese families feel. Except they don't get paid nearly as much as I do."
Heaving a great sigh at seeing such a simple and easy mission so fully botched, the elite Ninja jumped back down to his bike.

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End Chapter 9

Kaen kito (ky-en keet-oh)- Flame prayer