Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Ranma: Mazoku Factor ❯ Chapter 6

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Ranma: Mazoku Factor

Part 6

The Beast.

++++++++++++++++++

Ranma stood calmly in front of the school with a smile on his
face as the students filed out behind him. He was standing
directly in front of the building as students walked around him
and ignored the fact that he was just standing there.

"What's going on?" muttered Tofu as he noticed the boy
standing alone and still.

"Ranma!" called Akane as she walked out of the building
behind him and noticed the boy.

"Eh?" said the ponytailed boy as he turned to face her.

"What are you doing? You're standing in everyone's way," said
the girl with a confused looking frown on her face.

"If I move now, he might lose me," replied Ranma calmly.

"He?" said Akane as she blinked at him for a moment. "What do
you mean?"

"Stand still," he replied as he glanced off to his right.
"It's time for this to begin."

"Huh?" was the confused reply.

The next thing the girl remembered hearing was Nabiki's
alarmed voice call out to her. "Akane! Move!"

She started to turn, but Ranma put a hand on her shoulder.
"It's best if you stay."

She wasn't sure what to say or do, but an unfamiliar sound
suddenly tore across the now silent school grounds. "What's...?"

Her eyes went wide as she noticed it zooming towards them at
an alarming rate of speed. A huge disk looking object was
careening towards them and creating a high pitched whining noise
as it cut through the air. It was moving at a forty-five degree
angle along the ground; cutting into the soil as it rolled
towards them.

"No!" she gasped in horror. It was far too late to move and
she shielded herself with her arms.

Ranma simply stood calmly as the disk sailed past them and
into the crowd of students. The gouge it cut into the ground was
no more than two feet away from Ranma's feet. The students
dispersed immediately, diving out of the path of the weapon.
"It's not over just yet, remain still." Ranma turned to glance at
her and she gasped as she realized that she was unharmed.

"What? What was that?"

Any reply was cut off as the disk turned and shot by them
again. The girl gave a frightened squeal as she shielded her head
protectively again as it moved by. Her reaction was short lived
though as it tore across the ground towards the athletics field.
The fence surrounding the field was cut leaving a triangular
opening in the wire as the disk passed through it again.

Akane's eyes went wide at what she saw on the other side of
the fence.

Ryoga Hibiki was standing there calmly as the thing spun
towards him. He stared at it with a dead look in his eyes as it
moved directly towards him.

"No! Look out!" cried Akane in horror.

The boy gave a humorless chuckle. "Seems she's concerned." He
calmly raised his hand as it approached him. The crowd was
deathly silent as all eyes trained on him as he stood there
waiting for the weapon to reach him.

"Hey! That's..." stammered one of the students dumbly.

Hibiki caught the giant disk in between his thumb and fingers
as it reached him. The disk exploded into a hundred pieces, tiny
smaller disks spun in every direction away from him, creating a
swarm of smaller projectiles around him.

Ryoga simply tied the cloth that now sat in his palm around
his head as the others spun themselves into the ground and trees
around him one at a time. "Heh. Ranma Saotome, I've found you at
last."

The boy simply stood there and watched Ryoga without a hint
of worry on his features. "Well, that's an interesting trick
you've learned Hibiki."

"Enough to take care of you for good," snarled the lost boy
hatefully.

"I doubt that," replied Ranma as he finally turned his body
to face his opponent. "However, you seem quite sure of yourself,
Hibiki."

"I'm more than strong enough to do away with the likes of
you, Saotome," was the response.

"We'll see about that," said Ranma as he smirked at the boy
and started to walk forward.

"Yes we will," growled Ryoga through his teeth as he started
forward. He cracked his knuckles as he strolled forward towards
Ranma.

"You should probably step aside now," said the ponytailed boy
as he glanced down at Akane.

The girl gave a short nod as she quickly jumped out of the
way. Fear was still very clear on her face.

"What's going on here?" muttered Nabiki as she noticed the
pair facing off. Her eyes found Ryoga and she gasped, and quickly
stepped back away from the pair with her sister.

"So, you found me? Took you long enough," said Ranma with a
small snort.

"No thanks to you," growled Ryoga angrily.

"I'm not the one who cursed your family," replied Ranma with
a small shrug. "Think of it as a booster shot."

Ryoga began to drool as he growled in anger.

None of the students nearby could make any sense of the
conversation.

"At any rate, we've got plenty of time now. School is out."

"You knew I was coming the whole time didn't you?" said Ryoga
as he calmed visibly.

This surprised Ranma slightly and he cocked his eyebrow at
the boy.

"Heh. I get it now. You're some kind of wizard aren't you?"
said Ryoga as he put his foot back and clenched his fists.

Ranma was thoroughly speechless for a moment. "I beg your
pardon?"

"It all makes sense now!" snarled Ryoga.

Nabiki slapped her forehead with her palm. There was no way
anyone could be that stupid. Almost in answer to this, a voice
rang out across the schoolyard.

"What is this? The vile demon Ranma Saotome, and the dark
creature Ryoga Hibiki again? Fools, your dark magics are not
welcome upon these hallowed grounds! Be gone!"

Ranma stared at the small slip of paper that landed on the
ground in front of him.

Ryoga blinked as he looked at the one that was stuck on his
forehead. "What the hell?"

"Kuno, I did warn you about this," said Ranma as he turned to
look at the boy that was now standing between them. He had a
Shinto warding stick in his hands and was waving it around.

"Fools, your dark magics are no match for Japanese
Tradition!!"

Ryoga snorted and tore the ward from his forehead. "Who the
hell is this jerk?!"

"That's just Tacchi. He's mostly harmless, but a bit dense,
can take a pretty good beating too."

"Good," growled Ryoga as he swatted the boy upside his head
with a casual swipe of his arm. Kuno went flying away, and
impacted on the wall of the building. A spider web of cracks
appeared when his head hit and he slumped down to the ground out
cold.

"Well, I would have been a bit gentler with him..." said
Ranma as he looked on at Kuno's fallen body.

Akane flinched to move towards the fallen boy, but Nabiki's
hand on her shoulder stopped her. "He could be..."

"He's fine, you've done worse to him in the past," said
Nabiki calmly.

The girl blinked as she realized her sister was right and
relaxed. "You're right." She also had a sizable blush on her
cheeks as she realized that most of the students were staring at
her after she had voiced that.

+++++++++++++++++++++++

Ono Tofu frowned deeply as he watched the pair face off. The
boy who had interfered was dealt with rather harshly.

A quick jog put him inside the gates and nearer to the fight.
He paused when the boy rolled over on his back and stopped his
jogging. "He's...not hurt? Lucky boy." His frown deepened as he
turned to face the pair. It had been a reckless battle so far,
even though the first punch had yet to be thrown.

Whoever Ranma Saotome's opponent was, he was very dangerous.

+++++++++++++++++

Ranma calmly waved his arm in a sweeping motion and stared at
Ryoga calmly. "Let's see, you've been off training? Did you take
my advice?"

"I'll show you!" snarled Ryoga as he suddenly became a flurry
of motion. In an instant Ranma was the target of dozens of small
razor sharp disks. They spun through the air and twisted and
turned as they moved towards him.

The boy's smile never faded and he seemed to vanish from
sight as the projectiles passed by where he had been and into the
crowd.

Students clamored over each other in order to escape. Most of
them received small cuts and possibly the loss of a bit of hair
and clothing.

Ryoga growled as he glanced around as he saw this. He put two
fingers into the air and the disks stopped cold and hovered in
the air. "Come out and fight Saotome!"

"Why would I do something like that?" said the ponytailed
boy's voice from directly behind him.

Ryoga jumped and twisted in the air, pointing his fingers at
Ranma.

The dangerous projectiles spun back towards them directly at
the ponytailed boy.

"Heh. Pathetic," snorted Ranma.

Ryoga put all ten of his fingers out and pointed them at each
other in front of his chest. They formed a sphere around him and
enclosed him almost completely.

"Very interesting Hibiki," said Ranma as he appeared in front
of the boy.

Ryoga narrowed his eyes and growled, one of the bandannas
shot forward and took a slice at Ranma.

The boy vanished and reappeared nearby, the disk corrected
itself and turned to chase him. Ranma compensated for this by
vanishing and reappearing at random at various points around
Ryoga.

"Hoping to play keep away Hibiki? Beating me at a distance is
your game? After all, if I can't hit you, I can't hurt you?
Correct?"

"Heh. You think that could satisfy me?" said Ryoga hatefully.


Ranma smirked. "Probably not."

Ryoga grunted and clenched his fists. The bandannas shot out
in every direction, they twisted and converged in at random,
making avoiding them that much more difficult. The weapons kept
their basically spherical shape around the lost boy and buzzed
like a swarm of angry bees around him.

Ranma didn't even bother to vanish this time, he simply
cocked his head or moved his leg on occasion as a few of them
passed. "Hard to control this many isn't it?"

Ryoga chuckled. "You'd think." He spread his hands out in
front of him and Ranma simply turned his head to watch as the
bandanna weapons were suddenly all around him, hovering in a
sphere around him. "I've got you! I'll slice you to ribbons one
piece at a time!!"

Ranma merely smirked. "Try it."

Ryoga screamed and the bandannas began to switch sides within
the sphere, by going through Ranma. Unfortunately, the staff in
his hands casually deflected each one.

Holes began to appear in the trap and Ryoga growled angrily.
"Damn! I'll kill you quickly then!" He closed his fists once
again and the bandannas converged as one, intent on slicing him
to ribbons by shrinking around him.

Ryoga's jaw dropped as Ranma stood amidst a pile of limp
bandannas on the ground, his staff working quickly on the last
few that remained in the air. "Heh. An interesting trick, but the
energies you use to create the effect are easily disrupted. Just
a tap to make them off balance and they become harmless."

Ryoga was burning with rage. "Is that so?"

"Yes, I'm afraid it is. If you're quite finished, you can go
now. You've got training to see too after all."

By this point the boy was almost seeing red. "Damn you
Saotome..."

"I can handle that on my own thanks," replied the ponytailed
boy with a small wave of his hand.

"Dodge this then!" screamed Ryoga as he began to pull
bandannas off his head.

"Oh brother," muttered Ranma with a sigh.

+++++++++++++++++++

Tofu frowned as he watched the battle. He did go over and
check on Kuno, but the boy was as healthy as he could be
considering what had happened too him. He'd have little more than
an irritating red mark on his forehead.

Akane and Nabiki were taking a lot of interest in the battle,
most of the students were a healthy distance away by this point.
They were standing a ways off, but they were closer than the rest
of the students were.

He decided to go over and stand with them. The Hibiki boy was
now covered in a sphere of his own weapons. He pushed his glasses
up his nose as he strolled towards the pair. "Hello."

"Oh! Dr. Tofu! What are you doing here?!" gasped Akane in
shock.

"Ranma told me that I might be interested," said Tofu as he
glanced at Nabiki.

The girl snorted and glanced at him for a moment. It wasn't a
pleasant look. "That doesn't surprise me."

"Pardon me?" said Tofu dumbly. "I'm not in on this you know.
He seems to want something from me though."

"He knew about this the whole time," said Nabiki as she saw
Ranma fighting inside the large sphere of projectiles.

"Oh no!" gasped Akane. "That thing has him!"

Nabiki frowned as she noticed Ranma glance back at them for a
moment. He still had a grin on his face. "He doesn't look
worried."

"Interesting," said Tofu as he nodded. "Ranma doesn't seem to
be having too much trouble."

"Are you kidding? He's about to be killed!" cried Akane.

There was a collective gasp from all around them as Ranma
escaped the trap. He was almost too fast to see as he struck at
the quickly closing sphere's walls.

His opponent didn't look happy at all.

"Ryoga's lost!" said Nabiki as she turned to face them.

Tofu shook his head. "No, not yet."

+++++++++++++++++++

"Seems she knows you better than I thought," said Ranma as he
glared into Ryoga's rage filled eyes. Nabiki's comment was loud
enough that they had both overheard.

The boy merely snorted and spun his hands. One of the giant
disks shot forward towards Ranma. Literally hundreds of the
bandannas working together to create a large one.

The ponytailed boy merely sidestepped. "Really Hibiki. You
had a better chance of hitting me with the other technique.

"We'll see!" cried Ryoga angrily as he sent out two more of
the giant disks.

"How many of these things do you have on by the way?" said
Ranma as he realized the boy still had one tied around his head.

"Shut up and die!" screamed Ryoga angrily as he jumped back
and closed his arms together.

Two of the disks twisted and moved to cut through Ranma from
either side. The ponytailed boy frowned at this and vanished,
only to have the third one draw a bead on him as soon as he
appeared again.

"This could grow irritating," said Ranma as he vanished
again, only to have the same thing happen. One of the disks moved
up behind him and Ranma turned to glare at it for a moment. It
came within ten feet and exploded into the smaller bandannas.
They all surged towards him as he dodged through them, in a split
second they converged back together into the disk and spun away,
almost catching him as they reformed.

"This grows irritating," said Ranma as he landed and faced
Ryoga again.

"Come on Saotome!" snarled Ryoga.

"Very well, I shall show you the simplest way to defeat this
technique," said Ranma coldly as he stood calmly as all three of
the disks converged on him.

The instant they were together they all exploded around him.

Ryoga roared triumphantly. "There's no way you got out of
that one without a scratch or two Saotome!"

"I beg to differ," said Ranma as he appeared behind Ryoga and
jabbed him with the bottom of his staff in the back.

Ryoga cried out angrily in pain and fell forward.

"The technique is useful, but it leaves you open to attack
once you stop using it to protect yourself. I only need to get a
single blow in to break your concentration."

The disks fell to the ground lamely as their power source was
cut off.

"An interesting artifact. Family heirloom?" said Ranma as he
poked at the bandanna on the back of the boy's head with the butt
of his staff.

"Damn you," growled the lost boy as he staggered to his feet
while holding his stomach.

"Surprisingly powerful magic that is, but ultimately, it only
has a single use, and it is difficult to use. I am correct aren't
I?"

"Shut up," growled Ryoga hatefully.

"Tell me, did you train yourself to become that powerful, or
did your new friend help out a bit?"

Ryoga clenched his teeth angrily. "What? What are you talking
about?"

"Come on Hibiki. No one becomes this strong, this fast on his
own. Someone is helping you, and I'll bet I know who it is."

Ryoga snarled. "So, you know about that do you?"

Ranma's face fell into a deep frown.

"Heh. You haven't even seen that power yet. I didn't really
think I'd need it."

The ponytailed boy simply stared at his opponent. His face
was completely unreadable.

"Come on Ranma. Let's see you deal with this!" Ryoga howled
with laughter and raised his hands into the air.

Ranma glanced down at the glowing circle that appeared on the
ground between them. "I see." Lines began to form, some small and
curved, others large and straight, a star surrounded by strange
words and languages appeared inside the glowing circle.

"Hahahahahhaaa! Take this Saotome! Beast! I summon thee!"

A huge mass of gray hulking fur began to rise from the ground
between them.

Ranma stepped back, his face as calm as ever.

"What will you do now Saotome?" snarled Ryoga as the fifteen-
foot hulking monstrosity loomed over them.

It was a gorilla like creature, with massive sharp claws and
fangs, its fur was gray, and its muscles were gigantic, giving it
a sort of statue like appearance.

It roared angrily and the students that remained behind were
either dashing for cover, or frozen in absolute terror.

Ranma merely looked up at it. "Well, hello."

The creature snorted disdainfully at the insect before it and
growled. Drool fell from its jaws as it bared its teeth.

The boy merely jumped into the air and over the clawed
strike, but was caught in midair by the other arm.

"Ranma!" cried Akane in shock.

"Get down! Are you out of your mind!?" cried Nabiki as she
pulled the girl back under the bushes that she and Tofu were
still hiding in.

"This is definitely not what I expected," said Tofu
nervously.

"No shit! Ranma's in big trouble now. That thing we saw him
kill wasn't near that big!" whispered Nabiki.

"Thing? Killed?" said Tofu in confusion.

"We watched Ranma kill an Oni last night," said Akane as she
turned towards the man.

"Oh my," said Tofu as he pushed his glasses up his nose and
frowned. "Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure," said Nabiki as she jerked her thumb towards
the gorilla creature as it lumbered off in the direction Ranma
had been thrown.

"I see," said Tofu with a nervous smile.

+++++++++++++++++

Ranma chuckled as he landed in the trees after flipping over a
few branches after he was thrown into the woods. He was unharmed
from the blow and jumped down a few feet to a thicker branch.
"Well, isn't this interesting Hibiki."

"What's the matter Ranma!" called Ryoga's voice from outside
the clearing. "Too much for you to handle?"

"Heh. Hibiki, you just might be as interesting as I'd hoped."

+++++++++++++++++++

Ryoga chuckled as his monster uprooted trees and tossed them
aside easily in its search for its target. He stood just outside
the woods and casually paced back and forth, keeping an eye out
for his opponent's possible escape.

He frowned slightly as he remembered that he might not
necessarily see him running either. "Ranma? Are you still there?
Or is this too much for you?"

"Hibiki, maybe it's time I showed you my little pet."

Ryoga froze, as did his monster. The voice hadn't come from a
particular direction, but sounded as if it was coming from all
around him. "What the? That coward!" Then what had been said hit
him. "Pet?"

The giant monster froze and slowly turned its head towards
the remaining trees to its right. A low growl started in its
throat and it stopped what it was doing.

"Hey! Keep looking!" snapped Ryoga angrily.

The thing glanced down at him for a moment, but didn't spare
that much attention as its master realized exactly what it was
looking at.

"Oh shit," said Ryoga.

Two glowing red eyes could be seen inside the shadows of the
trees. A loud growling noise could be heard from within.

Ryoga took a step back at what he saw emerge from the woods.

It was massive, easily ten feet tall and twenty feet long. It
had long white fur and a wolf-like muzzle. It's paws were more
like claws, with fingers for grabbing things, two large horns
rose into the air behind its ears and a fish like dorsal ran down
the length of its back to its long furry tail. It's teeth were
easily twice the size than those of his own beast's. There were
also things that could be seen protruding out of the light gray
fur patches on its back and sides, but he couldn't quite make out
what they were under the thick coat. He could see some places on
its body twitching with movement.

It was a gigantic predator, much more powerful than the one
he had from the look of it.

"What the hell is that?" he muttered to himself.

"What? This beastly thing?" said Ranma's voice. The lost boy
still couldn't see him.

"Come out and fight me like a man!"

"What? You mean like your original plan?"

Ryoga realized he was in some serious trouble.

The best jumped forward onto the creature he had summoned,
and it wasn't much of a battle. The gorilla thing lashed out once
with its claws, but they were easily caught, and its throat was
ripped wide-open seconds later.

The larger beast tore into the carcass, ripping large chunks
of flesh out and tossing them aside as it dismembered its victim
completely.

Ryoga was as pale as a ghost at the sight of what remained of
his monster. "No! This can't be!"

"Kill," said Ranma's voice simply.

The wolf like creature simply bounded forward and caught
Ryoga in its jaws easily. The lost boy was tossed into the air
screaming before he was snapped into the massive jaws again.

Students cowered even deeper into their hiding places, none
of them daring to try and run away. Each praying that he or she
was smart enough to do so once things started getting messy. Only
around a fifth of the school remained behind, now trapped by
their own terror.

The sickening sound of bones cracking filled the silent
grounds as the creature chewed Ryoga up and gulped him down
loudly.

Finally, the noise stopped and everything went silent.

"It's over?" whispered Akane as she looked up at Tofu and her
sister. She was curled in a little ball with wide eyes staring
anywhere but at the thing that had arrived to destroy her world.

"No. It's just...standing there," said Tofu as he watched
through a small hole in the bushes. "Staring straight at us."

Nabiki shivered and turned to look at him. "Should we run?"

"We'd never make it," said Tofu.

"I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die!" muttered Akane over
and over as she became even more nervous.

A loud gurgling noise stopped any conversation in the group.

"Oh god no," said Nabiki with a sick look growing on her
face.

The creature simply raised up its tail to an upright
position, set its hind feet, and promptly took a large dump in
the middle of the school grounds.

The ground was splattered violently as the monster did its
business. It turned around to glance at the pile for a moment and
jumped into the cover of a large clearing of trees.

Ranma jumped down out of the same clearing a split second
later. "Heh. Let's see how long it takes you to recover from that
Hibiki."

The giant pile bubbled a bit in response to that, but quickly
settled to a giant steaming pile of stench.

He turned away and started to walk towards the gates. "It's
over now. You can all come out. I sent my friend home, and
Hibiki's is in no condition to eat any of you."

Slowly, wary students began to emerge from their various
points of cover. There were only about twenty of them left, not
counting Tofu and the two Tendo girls.

"What the hell was that?" said Nabiki as she stared at him
with wide eyes.

"Just an old friend of mine. Nothing to worry about."

"Are you kidding!? He ate that guy!" screamed Akane as she
pointed at the pile.

"He'll get better," replied Ranma with a shrug. "At any rate,
we should go."

Nabiki nodded and frowned deeply as she started after the
boy.

"Ranma," said Tofu with a serious looking nod.

"I'm glad you decided to show up," replied the boy.

"Why? I saw what happened, you don't need my help," said Tofu
calmly.

"Ryoga Hibiki grows more powerful every time I see him. He's
getting help, and that means that he'll be even more dangerous
the next time he shows up. I'd like another set of eyes and ears
on the lookout so to speak."

Tofu frowned at this.

"Think of yourself as an advisor of sorts. There may be a
problem or two I need a small hand on from time to time. As you
can see, he's a lot more dangerous than I had predicted."

"I see," said the Doctor finally.

"What? What the? I..." stammered Akane. She had no idea what
to say or do at the moment.

Nabiki narrowed her eyes at Ranma and kept silent. The boy
was much more dangerous than she had imagined. Something on this
level was not something she was sure she could handle. That
scared here a lot.

"Don't let it show," she muttered under her breath as she
looked up at Ranma and Tofu. They appeared to be having a sort of
staring contest, but neither looked even slightly annoyed.
Finally, she worked up the nerve to speak to them. "Daddy is
going to be upset if we don't show up soon. We should have been
home by now."

"I suppose you're right. Although, I doubt if he'll worry
much, after all, I'm here," replied Ranma.

Nabiki snorted at this. "Come on Akane, we're going home."

The younger girl looked a little confused, but decided to
follow her sister.

Ranma merely watched them go for a minute. "Then again, that
could be what's worrying you."

++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ranma sat at the Tendo home a short time later with a cup of
tea in his hands. He seemed quite relaxed, but tensed up a bit as
Kasumi approached him from behind. "Er, hello."

"Did something happen at school today? Nabiki and Akane seem
a little upset."

The boy shuddered and turned to look at her with his usual
grin. "I guess you could say that, neither one of them was
involved though."

"Oh dear. I guess it was just too much excitement." She wrung
her hands nervously and turned away.

Ranma nodded to himself as he faced the yard again.

++++++++++++++++

Tatewaki Kuno stood up and rubbed at his head for a moment.
It was another of those damnable marks. He could tell already.
His doctor insisted that it wasn't some kind of rash, but he had
them so often. He wasn't really sure where they came from.

He paused and glanced around. He was still on the school
grounds, but both Ryoga, Ranma, and everyone else had left.

"I...I am victorious! The foul creatures' dark magic was no
match for the power of the Kuno Family Spirit Wards! Alas, once
again, the Mighty Blue Thunder of Furinkan High arises the
victor! Akane Tendo will no doubt with to express her gratitude
for my brave deeds upon the morn! I shall await your sweet
embrace my love!"

With that he dashed towards his home, so that he could go to
sleep and the morning would come sooner.

++++++++++++++++

Akane looked at her hands as she sat at the table about an
hour after she'd gotten home. She'd just come from her room and
done a bit of thinking. "Magic? Is it real? What exactly did I
see today?"

Ranma was sitting on the porch ignoring everything around him
as usual. There were certain times of the day when he was easy to
find. It was sort of a ritual for him to relax during the early
evening now. He sipped at his tea and glanced back, seeming to
just realize that she was looking at her.

"Something wrong Tendo?"

Akane frowned and stood up to move up beside him. "How do you
do that?"

"Huh?" was the immediate reply.

"Those things, like how you vanish, and that monster."

Ranma stared at her for a moment and said nothing. He seemed
to be looking at her a little harder than normal, but it still
seemed like a passing glance.

"What?" she muttered as she flushed a little.

"It's not that difficult to learn a few little tricks," he
replied with a small shrug. "However, at the moment, it's beyond
you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" snapped the girl angrily.

"Someday, magic will be in the hands of all humanity. That
time is still a ways off, as it is now, only those with
extraordinary talent can call upon the power needed."

"So, only certain people can do it?" said Akane as her anger
abated a bit.

"For the time being, yes. That doesn't mean you can't learn,
just that it will be a bit more difficult than I'd be able to
cope with."

"Huh?" muttered the girl.

"You're not observant enough," he replied with a small
chuckle.

"What's that supposed to mean?" said the girl irritably.

"Nabiki would be better suited to learning things like this.
She pays attention, and looks for things most people don't. You
could learn, but I wouldn't know where to even begin teaching
you."

"So, you're going to train Nabiki and not me then?" said
Akane with a little bit of irritation in her voice.

"Of course not. I'm far too busy right now to take on a
student. Besides, who says I want one?"

"But, the schools...the agreement!" said Akane as she stared
forward with wide eyes.

"Let me worry about that, I think things will work out better
for you in the end. Besides, I've got this thing about teaching
uncute flat chested tomboys how to throw fireballs."

"What?" said Akane as she cracked her knuckles.

"Oh dear," said Ranma as he seemed to realize he had upset
her. "Well, I've got places to be..."

"No you don't! Get back here you bastard!" screamed Akane
angrily as she dove for him.

He was gone when she landed. "That jerk! Wait until I get my
hands on him!"

Ranma smiled as he stood on the wall that surrounded the
building, just out of her line of sight. "Well, perhaps I should
let her cool off a bit..." He turned and jumped down into the
street.

++++++++++++++++++

Tofu frowned as he stopped sweeping the front of his clinic
for a moment and turned his head. "I wasn't expecting to see you
tonight."

Ranma walked out of the shadows. "Well, something came up at
the Tendo place. I figured it would be a good time to take a walk
and this was the first place I thought of."

Tofu nodded and stepped aside, motioning for him to go
inside. "Well you've got good timing. I'm just closing up for the
night."

Ranma smiled as he walked inside.

The pair took off their shoes and moved to the table in the
back room. Each had a cup of tea set before them and they settled
in to talk.

"What do you want?" asked Tofu calmly.

"To the point then?" said Ranma with a slight chuckle. "I
don't need help with anything at the moment if that's what you
mean."

"A relief," said Tofu with a serious nod. He actually meant
it, and that surprised him slightly.

Ranma looked at him and nodded. "Yes. I thought we could
discuss your little problem."

Tofu quickly set his cup down. "I'm listening."

"Well, you're allergic to Kasumi's aura. It's too pure for
you to handle. Your body goes into a sort of spiritual epileptic
fit."

The man frowned at this and turned his head away. "I've
thought about it, and it seems to be the only explanation."

"Of course," said Ranma modestly. "However, the fact that we
know what the problem is, presents several courses of action we
could take immediately."

Tofu nodded seriously. "And?"

"Well, wards are unreliable, who knows how long it would take
for us to find a suitable way to cancel the effect. A way that
will most likely involve something that must be kept up
regularly, a pill or whatnot. Then, there is the simple answer."

"Simple?" said Tofu cautiously.

"We'll ignore that one, because I'm sure you won't care for
it much," said Ranma almost casually.

"What is it?" said the man curiously.

"Oh really. It's a bad idea, you'll get upset."

"I'm listening, and I won't get upset."

"Promise?" said Ranma as his grin widened somewhat.

"Yes. Tell me."

"The simple solution to your problem is child's play. Corrupt
Kasumi."

"What?" said Tofu as he went pale.

"Nothing serious, just a guilty pleasure or two. Something
she won't feel too bad about doing, but still knows is wrong.
Start her smoking cigarettes, or some drinking, maybe some
gambling, possibly some weed... any of these would work well,
just something a tiny bit evil. Of course, we aren't sure about
just how far we'll have to go before you can finally act normally
around her."

Tofu was dumbstruck. "I..." He hung his head and shook it
slowly. "I couldn't do that."

"Well, lets not rule that option out. There may be another
way. It's just a matter of finding it, but as a last resort..."

"What you're telling me is, that unless I can find another
way. My only choice is to give her up forever."

"If that's how you want to put it, yes." Ranma shrugged his
shoulders. It was a long shot anyway. At least, this early in the
game it was. He glanced up at Tofu and smirked.

The man's face was covered in conflict.

"Heh. Excellent," thought Ranma to himself as he watched the
man mull over his problem. Just how much did Tofu love Kasumi?
How far was he willing to go? Soon, it would be time to test
those waters out. The man could become very useful indeed.

"I'll be going now. Think about your options, and let me know
when you decide."

Before, it was his career or Kasumi. Now, he had another way
out, but was he willing to do it? That was a question that only
time could reveal.

+++++++++++++++

TBC...