Ancestral History

A Ranma 1/2 and Rurouni Kenshin Crossover, well it will be after a

while.
Disclaimer:
Ranma 1/2 and Rurouni Kenshin aren't mine. They aren't now, and they'll
never be. Just my luck...
Timeline:
This crossover will take place after manga 38 in the Ranma universe. For
Rurouni Kenshin it's after the anime and movie.
Bear with me people, it's my first fan-fiction and am doing the best I can.
English isn't my first language, so please don't yell at me about the errors,
I know my English isn't the best out there.
Chapter 1: A friend.
By TheNightstalker
As most of these nights before the sun fell for the last month, Ranma was
on the roof thinking. It wasn't really his strong point, so most of the time
was wasted. Still it had it's merits so far. He now finally knew what he
wanted. Peace and quiet. That's all he wanted, but how. For the last
month Akane had been ignoring or yelling at him. She blamed him for
the failed wedding attempt. Even when he confronted her with proof that
Nabiki tipped everyone off, she didn't believe him. Instead she shouted
something about liars and perverts and he was send of again on Akane
Air. All the feelings he had for her were slowly dying and there wasn't a
thing he could do about it. Every time he tried to talk to her, she either
just humphed and walked away, not even looking back once or called
him a pervert for inviting Shampoo, Ukyo and Kuno to the wedding so
he wouldn't have to marry her. This had the nice concequence of making
his father and Soun push them together even more. Soun's wailing and
his father's shouting really became annoying after the second day. It was
getting harder and harder to live here. The only one who paid him a little
bit of consideration in this house was Kasumi, bless her kind hart. But
even she couldn't go against her father's wishes. That simply wasn't her
place, according to her.
Then there were the other suitors. God, how tired he was of them. Every
day for the last month, they were practically throwing themselves at his
feet. They were probably thinking, with the wedding attempt, that this
was their last chance. He has been giving them the cold shoulder for at
least a month and still they didn't get the hint.

Well, there were a few bright points. Happosai had made a apology to
him. Not for drinking the Nannichuan, he could never do without his
perky Ranma-chan, but for crashing the wedding. He may be a perverted,
evil, sick thing, but something like a wedding was sacred, even to him.
Besides, it was about the continuation of the school of Anything Goes.
As it's current Grandmaster, that was something important to him, even
though he would barely show it. He even told him, that if they ever got
married, the wedding present, would be nothing else but the right to
challenge him for the Grandmaster status. That meant a fair fight, without
the usual tricks. Who would have thought the perv could be so serious
about something.
Then there was the biggest surprise of all. Cologne had taken him apart a
few days after the wedding attempt and had given him the shock of his
life. She had canceled the Kiss of Marriage. Seems that Shampoo had
invalidated it with her behaviour at the wedding. She even apologized for
the behaviour of her grandchild. It's really no style to bring your potential
mother-in-law in mortal danger. The only reason she stayed, was that she
had to finish up their affairs here. They would probably leave in about
half a year. She needed that time to find some rare herbs, that only grew
in Japan. Mousse was ecstatic about it, well he was until Cologne put his
lights out. When he came too, they had a long talk and Mousse promised
in the end, that he wouldn't attack him again, since it was now clear that
Ranma had no interest in Shampoo. Besides, seeing a God get defeated
really could do something to a guy's selfconfidence. Mousse now knew
for sure, he could never beat Ranma.
The improved contact with the two Amazons really paid off. The new
energy manipulation technique he discovered at Jusendo had to be fine
tuned and the Amazon Matriarch provided the right help. She was
dissapointed she couldn't perform it herself, but her control over her ki
just wasn't big enough. Still, she knew how Ranma did it, so she could
train to reach the same level of control. She just couldn't stop
proclaiming how proud she was of her former soon to be son-in-law.
Even though their relationship had started rocky, he would really miss the
old bat when she left. She really was one of the best sensei's he's ever
had. Mousse had tried to learn the technique as well, but he didn't even
come close. That was probably lucky for him, Ranma didn't think
Cologne would forgive him, if he learned it sooner than she did. But the
Hidden Weapons style that Mousse taught him in return would help
greatly. For example, he could carry an extra set of clothing, for when he
got wet again. Too bad Cologne couldn't stop Shampoo's harassment,
since Shampoo was and adult in their society. She had told her to stop the
pursuit, but to no avail. The girl had become really disobedient in the last

few years here in Japan.

His mother had left for the rebuild Saotome home short after the
wedding. She hadn't returned yet. The house had to be redecorated and
the paperwork still needed to be done. Maybe he could visit her in a short
while. Summer break was coming up, so he had the time for a longer
visit. It could mean no crazies in his life for a short period of time. No
panda and Mr. Tendo, no crazy Amazon, no Uccha... Ukyo and no
Ryoga.
Speaking of Ryoga, where did he go to. He wasn't seen in Nerima for
over a month. Most of the time, the lost boy dropped in at least once a
week. He hadn't gotten a decent spar in over a month. At the exact same
moment, he detected a familiar precense behind him. The funny thing
was, the overfamiliar feeling of depression that usually accompanied him
was gone. Instead, there was a much lighter aura, but undeniably it was
Ryoga's.
"Ryoga."
"Ranma."
"What, no 'prepare to die'?" Ranma said, while turning to face the lost
boy.
"No, not today. Today, I'm going to do something, I've never done to you
before..."
"What's that." Ranma asked a bit curious.
"Apologize." Ryoga replied matter of factly.
To say that Ranma was stunned was like to say that the Pacific ocean was
a nice little pond. His jaw hit the roof and his eyes were about as big as
saucers, the flying kind.
"Don't give me that kind of look Ranma, and close your mouth. Flies are
flying in."
It took about a minute before Ranma could compose himself and look a
little bit serious. He just knew that his life was about to take another big
turn. He just wasn't sure which way it would swing. He took a look at
Ryoga's face and saw nothing but serenity and seriousness there.
Something had changed in the lost boy, and the look of it was that it was
a change for the better. Now, who could produce such a change in the

him in such short a time.

Ranma thought to himself and suddenly a small smile grew on his face.
"What for Ryoga?"
"Last month, even though I would hate to see you get married to Akane.
You just don't deserve her. It still wasn't my place to crash the wedding. I
was lost as usual and saw the cask of nannichuan. I wasn't the only one
there to crash it, but I should at least excuse myself for what I did."
Ryoga said, ending with a small sigh.

"Apology accepted Ryoga, though I knew, that you didn't do it

intentionally. So, did Akari treat you good this last month."
Ryoga took a small step back. "H-h-how did you know?"
Ranma just grinned. "Simple, you haven't been around for a month and I
can feel your depression is gone. There are only two person's who could
do that in that short amount of time. Since it couldn't have been Akane, it
left only Akari."
"I guess all the clues were there." he said with a small smile.
"How did you end up there?"
"The usual way, I sank into my depression when I found out about what I
did and found myself at her farm after some wandering. I haven't left
since a few days ago, to find you."
"You haven't left since THEN. Ryoga, how come you didn't get lost
there, no offence."
"None taken, but you do have a point... I'll think about it for a while." He
said with a frown on his face.
"So, you've given up on Akane?"
"Yeah, after this talk, I'm gonna try to go to Akari again. Working on the
farm really is great work with my kind of strength. Besides, wrestling
with those sumo-pigs is tough. My strength isn't enough to deal with
them, they've got grappling techniques that use my own strenght against
me." The irritation on his face let Ranma know that Ryoga had lost a few

times, against pigs no less. Ranma couldn't help but laugh, soon Ryoga
joined him.
"Say Ryoga, I haven't had a decent spar in over a month. Care to spend
the night and spar in the morning. I really could use the exercise. We'll go
over to the clearing in the forest, so we won't damage anything here."
"On one condition."
"Let me guess, no ki-projectiles?"
"Now how did you know that?"
"Also simple, the depression around you is gone, and the current
strongest emotion I feel coming off of you isn't usable for a focus for that
kind of attack." Ranma immediately smirked that annoying smirk of his.
"Don't you dare say what emotion that is to anyone, or you're dead meat,
you hear me!!!"
"Sheesh, didn't think you would be so embaressed about something like
what you feel for Akari. Hey, I got a great idea. Since you probably are
going to live with Akari from now on, let's end our feud. We'll spar in the
morning and afterwards, I'll show ya something. If you can master that,
we'll have to end our feud. I don't think the insurance can take that kind
of abuse."
Now Ryoga was really interested. Even though he would live on a farm,
he never intended to stop his Martial Arts. He was thinking of building a
dojo and open his family school for students. It would help with the
income. Any new technique would help him with that. Than the last few
sentences came through his thick skull.
"Is it really that strong?" he said with an unbelieving face.
"Yep, and I'll teach it to ya to end our feud. Sort of a payment for the
injustice done, ok?"
"I have to see it, to believe it. I mean, the Hiryu Shoten Ha is already
very devastating, what could be worse than that?"
"Follow me and I'll give ya a small sample." Ranma said while getting up
from his sitting position.
Soon, two figures could be seen jumping from roof to roof at amazing

speeds. The first blur was red and black, while the second was brown
with yellow. Their trip lasted about 10 minutes. Ryoga noticed that
Ranma led him to a clearing on a construction site. Ranma motioned
Ryoga to stand behind him, while he stood at the edge of the clearing.
Then he took a stance as he usually took when he got ready to fire his
Moko Takabisha. There was just a few differences, Ryoga noticed. His
usual blue aura was now pure white and instead of charching it for a few
seconds as usual, Ranma fired immediately. The result was devastating. A
crater 20 feet wide and 6 feet deep greeted him as he looked of Ranma's
shoulder. Now he knew what was so familiar about the aura. He had seen
Ranma's aura take that color during the incident at Jusendo. It was the
aura he used to defeat Saffron...
"That, Ryoga, was my new ki-blast. Instead of using my emotions as a
medium, I used purely my will. The result, as you can see, is a little bit
stronger that the usual."
Ryoga took a pose that clearly stated that he was thinking. He had
noticed over the last month, that when killing Ranma wasn't on his mind,
he could think quite quick.
"I think I get it. Because we use emotions, a lot of power is lost over the
other emotions. So instead of losing power on emotions, you don't use as
a medium, you use the full potential of your ki, right?"
Ranma gave a small pat at Ryoga's shoulder. "Right in one try."
"This is what you want to teach me. Wait, now I get it, since I can't do
the Shi Shi Hokodan anymore, you're teaching this to me as a
replacement. Right?"
"Akari did some serious mojo on you, I don't think I've ever seen you
think this fast with your head. At least you're now using it for something
else than a thing you can headbutt with."
"Gee, thanks." Ryoga replied with a huge amount of sarcasm. "Say, how
strong can you make these things?"
"At least ten times as strong I think. Maybe more if I train some more."
Ranma said. He then got into his own thinker's pose. He didn't see the
unbelieving look on Ryoga's face. If what Ranma was saying was true,
than the Perfect Shi Shi Hokodan, was nothing more than a soft pop
compared to this. But before Ryoga could continue his line of thought,
Ranma spoke up. "Maybe I should try tomorrow, to see how big I can
make them. That way I know what would happen when I fire it all out.

Anyway, let's head back home. It's getting late and I think we can both
use the rest if you're going to learn this technique tomorrow."
Still a bit dazed about the possible size of the blast, Ryoga replied
absently, "Sure what ever you say. By the way, what's the attack called?"
"Haven't got a clue yet, because that is just one thing you can do with it.
There's a lot more, because it's pure ki. I'll show you some stuff in the
morning. I will only show ya how to manipulate it. You'll have to think of
how to use it. It's different for every person, at least, that's what Cologne
told me."
"You asked HER for help?"
"Do you know someone with an equal amount of knowledge, that could
be trusted with something like this?"
Ryoga thought about it for a second or two and replied. "Point taken."
"Let's go back Ryoga, it'll get dark soon and we have to get up early if we
got to train tomorrow. Do you want to call Akari to let her know where
you are, I don't think Kasumi would mind."
"Yeah, thanks."
This time, they decided to walk back home. This way they could discuss
the things that happened to them the last month. Ryoga talked about how
he loved to wrestle with Katsuhito, because the sumo-pig could nearly
match him in brute strength these days. About the quiet lunches and
picknicks he shared with Akari in the fields around the farm. About how
he came to terms with himself and his life so far, they had talked about it
for a long time according to him. She had made him look at every
incident that happened without his prejudice. The results scared him.
How many times had he drawn the wrong conclusion about what
happened. Ranma was no saint, but he didn't nearly do all the things
Ryoga accused him off. When Ryoga nearly finished his tale, they neared
the dojo. Ranma wanted to tell Ryoga what had happened to him last
month, but he didn't want to do it near the Tendo Dojo because of Nabiki,
he was sure she had the place bugged.
"I'm telling you Ryoga, she has the place bugged. It has to be, how could
she else know about conversations , she wasn't even near. I promise I'll
tell you tomorrow, but I think you'll need to know one thing first. I don't
want you to draw the wrong conclusion here on me and go off again. Can
you just listnen to the end and don't interrupt?" He got a nod from Ryoga

as confirmation. "Thanks, Akane and I are growing apart. It happened

right after the wedding. She was completely mad because it was ruined.
She stormed up to her room and cried her eyes out. I tried to comfort her,
but she wouldn't let me in. The next day she acted as if nothing had
happened. I was just glad she wasn't unhappy anymore. Then when we
were on our way to school, Shampoo appeared as usual and glomped me
as usual. That day I couldn't do a thing about it, because I was still
hurting for the bombs they used the day before. Instead of yelling or
hitting me as usual Akane just stormed off. I told Shampoo to let me go,
but she wouldn't. I finally managed to pry her off by yelling at her I
would be late for school. At school, about the same thing happened with
Ukyo. Both times, Akane missed seeing me blowing them off and off
course when I tell her about it, she wouldn't believe me. Nabiki claimed
not to have seen the whole thing, but you know her, she knows about
everything that happens at school. By the time I could talk to Akane,
she'd come to the conclusion that I had invited Kuno, Ukyo and Shampoo
over to ruin the wedding on purpose. That way I wouldn't have to marry
her and keep my 'floozies'. I couldn't have been more hurt. I really was
ready to marry her the day before, to make her happy for the rest of her
and my life. From that day on, she would just ignore me or get mad at
me. It has started to get to me, how can I marry someone that wouldn't
even try to trust me..."
Ranma didn't even notice when he had started to cry, but Ryoga did. It
was about the time he told about the time Shampoo glomped him and
Akane ran off. Now the old Ryoga would now be shouting about making
Ranma pay, for making Akane unhappy. But this isn't the old Ryoga. This
is the new Ryoga, one without a depression or his usual rage, so his
reason wouldn't be clouded by it. He still cares deeply for Akane, but
more like a friend. He could see that it had hurt Ranma deeply when
Akane hadn't trusted him. He knew Ranma was right, from his month
spend with Akari, he knew trust was really important in a relationship.
For example, Akari trusted him to be faithfull, when he got lost again and
trusted in him that he would always return to her. From his time as PChan he knew that Akane always thought that Ranma spend his time with
his other fiancees when he didn't return home immediately. Back then, he
immediately believed her, but now... How could she have known those
things. She couldn't, so they couldn't be more than faulty assumptions.
He knew for a fact that Ranma told the truth. There where two things to
back up that statement. One, Ranma was a really rotten liar, everyone
could tell when he lied. Second, the tears. Ranma never cried unless it
got to him really deep. The first time Ryoga saw him cry was at Jusendo,
when it looked very grim for Akane, the second time just a few minutes
ago. He sighed once deeply.

"Thanks for telling me this Ranma. It means a lot to me, that you would
trust me with something so important. You don't need to tell me what
happened during the rest of the month tomorrow, I think I got the picture.
Did anything good happen to you during this month, except for the new
technique of course."
The question took a small amount of time before it got through Ranma's
small depression. Telling Ryoga made him relive his feelings of betrayal
again. But when the question finally registered, Ranma was able to break
a small smile before he replied. "Yeah, but I'll tell you about it in the
morning, I don't think you could handle it without a full nights rest."
"Let's go in, it's getting chilly, so I can use a good cup of tea, you?"
"Sounds good to me."
They jumped over the wall and walked over to the main room after
removing their shoes at the entrance. Mr. Tendo was as always in his
usual game of shogi with Genma. They could hear Kasumi humming in
the kitchen, she was probably cleaning up the dishes used at dinner.
Akane was in the dojo breaking bricks, her Kiyaaah's could be heard in
the livingroom. Nabiki was doing, whatever she does in the evening. It
was probably for the best that they did not know what she was doing.
"Let's go to Kasumi, she'll have to know you'll be staying and we have to
ask her if you could use the phone."
Ryoga nodded once and headed over to the kitchen. It seemed they were
right. They found her doing the dishes. The little tune she was humming
stopped when she noticed the additional people in the kitchen. A little bit
of surprise could be seen on her face, but it was gone as fast as it was
shown. After all, usually you don't see Ranma and Ryoga together
without them fighting about one thing or another.
"Hello Ranma-kun and Ryoga-kun. What can I do for you?"
"Hi Kasumi, I wanted to know if you wouldn't mind if Ryoga spend the
night, he came to apologize for his part in the wedding-accident and I
promised to show him a technique in the morning. Oh, and could he call
Akari to let her know he arrived safely?"
As with Ranma, Kasumi was stunned. Even though she acted oblivious,
she was far from it. She noticed the changes in Ryoga immediately. The
serene and calm expression on his face told it all. She smiled at them.
"It's no problem at all Ryoga-kun. Off course you can spend the night.

The phone is over in the hall."

"Thank you Kasumi, Ranma could you come with me. I've got to ask you
something." He said while bowing once.
"Sure."
When they were in the hall Ryoga asked with a very small volume.
"Why did you say that about me apologizing to them?"
"Hey, I'm not the only one who was at the wedding, was I."
Ryoga sighed. "I see your point. I'll do it at breakfast, that way everyone
is there, ok?"
"Fine by me." Ranma said as he shrugged his shoulders.
They spend the rest of the evening by the shogitable. Both didn't get to
play often. Ryoga because there was noone to play with, Ranma because
he couldn't stand his dad's cheating. For once in two years time, a game
of shogi was played in the Tendo Dojo, that was challenging and above
all, fair. During the game, both would chatter a bit about what had
happened to them in the last two year, finally with the ability to laugh
about it all. But to the end of the game Ryoga noticed something about
Ranma. It was something that had been nagging at his brain for the whole
evening, but couldn't put a finger on. Then it hit him. The whole evening
long Ranma hadn't been bragging or insulting as usual. He wouldn't even
gloat about some good move, like he would have done in the old days.
He decided to ask Ranma about it.
"Ranma, what has happened too you, except for what you have told me?
Your behaviour is way different then before."
"You're the first one to notice Ryoga. Not even Nabiki noticed it. For as
far as I know, it has two reasons. One, I don't use the Moko Takabisha as
often as before. For me, it had the same results as it did for you. You
became more depressed than usual, because of the constant use. I became
overconfident and it showed. Second, I grew up as well. Jusendo made
me realize, that if I didn't start taking things serious, all would go to hell,
like it did there. When I trained Cologne in what I learned, she taught me
the stuff I missed on the road. I've spend most of my evenings there after
everybody went to bed. Her teaching me was sort of a repayment for
Shampoo's behaviour and my teaching."

Ryoga got a curious expression on his face. "Then why did you teach
Mousse?"
"He taught me the Hidden Weapons Style in return. I think it'll come in
handy."
"Sounds like a good deal to me, but why hasn't anybody noticed the
changes in you. I mean, your mother must have noticed?"
"Mom has been busy rebuilding the house, so she hasn't been over much.
Nabiki is too busy searching for info about her new school and the
people there. She'll probably start her blackmailing business over there as
well. This was her last year at Furinkan. Akane, well I told you about that
already. Maybe Kasumi noticed, but she doesn't let it know if she did or
didn't. Mr. Tendo wouldn't even notice a flying saucer as it parked in his
backyard. The only thing that matters to him is that stupid pledge."
It surprised Ryoga, how much Ranma was being ignored here. He lived
here, but it looked like nobody noticed him. Like an invisible ghost
between the living. Finally he realized something. He was always
shouting about how Ranma made his life a hell. It looked that Ryoga's
life hadn't even come close. The biggest problems he had back then, were
his curse and his directional problem. Ranma was a little bit at fault for
the curse, but he had apologized for that and did his best to help him find
a cure, even if it was for his own curse as well. Ranma couldn't have
been responsible for his directional problem, so how could he blame that
on him, even if he had done it so many times in the past. Those were
nothing compared too Ranma's problems. Curse of Jusenkyo, Curse of
that hairgrowth stuff, Neko-ken, too many enemies to count, almost no
friends because of his life on the road and most of all, all the girls
claiming him as theirs as if he was some kind of prize. Nope, Ryoga's life
had been peachy compared to that. Especially these days. He had a home
to return to, where someone who loved him waited for him. Now if he
could only find his parents and ask for their blessing...
Shacking himself from his line of thought, he could give only one reply
to Ranma's situation. "That sucks..."
"You said it!"
That night, Ryoga made a new vow. Instead of making Ranma's life as
miserable as possible, he would be his friend. Ranma had always
regarded him as a friend. Maybe the time had come to return the favor.
Soon, the whole Tendo Dojo went to bed. One by one the lights in the

house went out, till all was dark. Ryoga slept on the futon, normally used
by Genma, but since he wasn't here, it was Ryoga's for the evening.
End of Chapter 1
Author's notes and thoughts (if he has any):
I know, the characters are OOC, but hey, it's my fanfic. I do hope that the
changes are explained well enough. How it's going to be a Rurouni
Kenshin fic you ask, now that's... a secret. Does anybody have name for
the new technique? I couldn't think one up at the moment so I think I'll
have a vote about it. I'll be introducing one or two more techniques in the
next chapter. So the names could be used for those as well. Let me know
people.
As a final note, I don't write to a schedule, I write when I can and when
school allows it :).
OK, tell me what you thought about it. I would really appreciate it. Thus,
send all your C&C to TheNightstalker_0@Hotmail.com
Please no flames, I've got a fragile ego :)

Ancestral History
A Ranma 1/2 and Rurouni Kenshin Crossover, that bit is coming closer
and closer.
Disclaimer:
Ranma 1/2 and Rurouni Kenshin aren't mine. They aren't now, and they'll
never be. Just my luck...
Timeline:
This crossover will take place after manga 38 in the Ranma universe. For
Rurouni Kenshin it's after the anime and movie.
Bear with me people, it's my first fan-fiction and am doing the best I can.
English isn't my first language, so please don't yell at me about the errors,
I know my English isn't the best out there.
Chapter 2: Breakfast and training.
By TheNightstalker
One of the problems in Ranma's life is his father. One of the things he

does is wake his son up early for a sparring match. Today was an
exception. Since last night was a Saturday night, Genma had spend the
evening with Mr. Tendo drinking. Both had returned, but hadn't made it
to their beds. Both were passed out in the backyard. This brought a nice
change for Ranma. He could sleep in till breakfast, at least, he tried. So
when he woke up at the time he usually did to spar with his father, he
didn't see a panda at his side. Instead he found Ryoga sleeping there. At
first he jumped a bit at Ryoga's presence, but soon last nights events
awakened as well. He got up and walked over to the window. Outside, he
saw a panda lying on top of what appeared to be left over of Mr. Tendo.
Both were snoring loudly and were covered in mud.
A small evil smile found it's way on Ranma's face. He quickly dressed
and washed himself and prepared his assault.
He walked over to what was left over of his father and gave a mighty
kick. The panda went up and landed in the koipond with a nice splash.
Within about 10 seconds a sputtering panda came up, holding up a sign.
'I'm sorry master!!!' He then opened his eyes and saw that it hadn't been
his terrible master, but his own son who had kicked him into the pond.
Quickly the sign flipped around. 'You, oh, the shame of me. My son
doesn't respect his own father.' The sign flipped over again. 'Looks like
I'll have to show you a lessen boy!'
While Ranma was wondering where the third side of the sign had come
from, Genma attacked. There was just one problem with that. From his
point of view, there were two Ranma's. He choose the left, which was a
mistake. Ranma saw his father dive to the right of him to attack someone
who wasn't there. Since this wasn't the first time Genma came home
drunk, Ranma recognized the problem and an even bigger evil smile lit
his face. After five minutes of playing 'Dunk and pound the panda' he
went inside to help Kasumi with breakfast.
Soon breakfast was ready to be served and Ranma went up to get Ryoga.
He had let the lost boy sleep in, because if anybody could have used the
rest, it would be him. The travel he usually does takes a lot of time, so he
didn't get to sleep in a bed often. Ranma found Ryoga dressing himself. It
looked like he had just woken up.
"Morning."
"Morning, where were you?"
Ranma grinned. "Look out of the window."

Ryoga went over to the window and looked out. He saw a wet panda in
the form of a pretzel, whimpering a bit about ungrateful sons. He almost
fell outside laughing, if Ranma hadn't jumped over to grab the lost boy
by his shirt before he toppled over. It didn't stop the laughing though. It
took about 5 minutes before he calmed down enough be let to the
bathroom. He had to hurry though, Ranma had went up when breakfast
was almost ready and nobody dared to keep Kasumi waiting long.
Soon everybody except of Genma had found his way to the table, even
Mr. Tendo had found his way. It had costed him a new debt to Nabiki, but
he had found his way. But then Ranma noticed something out of the
ordinary, Kasumi sat at the table instead of being in the kitchen to get
breakfast. Then he noticed the 'aroma' of breakfast. Akane had seen that
Ryoga spend the night here and decided to cook breakfast for him and
Ranma. Even though Ranma was still a pervert, he had suffered long
enough. A month being ignored should be punishment enough. So soon
she came out of the kitchen carrying a dish of... something. She placed it
on the table and scooped a big part of it onto Ranma's and Ryoga's plate.
It looked like Genma's treatment this morning would have been nothing
compared to breakfast. Lucky beast/pretzel.
"Eat up you two, I've made enough for everyone." She said it with a gaze
that said, eat it or suffer my wrath.
Ranma looked at Akane, then over to Ryoga. He saw the small nod he
gave him, then sighed once as he turned back to Akane. They had been
afraid that Akane would cook again so she could surprise Ryoga and
Ranma, so they had decided on a course of action the night before. If
successful, it would help Akane, but the chances were slim with her
innate stubbornness.
"Did you taste it yourself Akane?"
"No, off course not. Why should I?" Her temper started to rise a bit at
Ranma's comment.
This time Ryoga responded. "Every cook tastes his own cooking before
serving Akane. I do it even with my campfire meals. It's done to check
the flavor and check if the food is done cooking. Try it, you'll know why
every cook does it."
"Are you sure Ryoga?" She saw Ryoga and Ranma both nod and it was
Kasumi's voice that erased the little bit of doubt left.

"Oh my Akane, I thought you knew. Everybody does that, I know I do."
Her calm voice silenced every bit of chance that Ranma and Ryoga had
of failing in their plan.
When Akane looked down to put some of the food on her own plate,
Ranma and Ryoga got a small gesture of thanks from Kasumi, Nabiki and
Mr. Tendo for the save. Akane had scooped her plate full and sat down to
sample her food. She still had problems believing that all cooks did that,
after all, she was a master cook. She took a small bite, scrunched her
face, turned checkers in color and fell over.
"Oh my... So who's for take out?" The rest of the people had expected the
'Oh my', but the addition wasn't. Still, it was only Ranma and Ryoga who
grew a huge sweatdrop. Mr. Tendo was bawling about Akane being dead
and Nabiki was busy scribbling on her notepad on how to get out of food
made by Akane.
They moved Akane over to the bathroom, figuring she would need it after
she woke up and ordered out. Breakfast was delicious and healthy.
Afterwards Ryoga stood up and thanked his host for breakfast and added
something after that.
"I would like to apologize for my actions during the wedding attempt.
There is no excuse for doing what I did." Only Nabiki and Mr. Tendo
facefaulted this time. Their jaws hit the ground with and audible
'CLUNK'. After reeling in their jaws, Mr. Tendo said that Ryoga was
forgiven. This was the first time he had heard the boy apologize, not
forgiving him now could be hazardous for his health.
Soon after that Ranma and Ryoga wanted start training, but they still had
to decide where to train this technique. Soon Ryoga was hit with
inspiration. It was so easy, it shamed him he hadn't thought of it sooner.
"What about the place where I trained for the Bakusai Tenketsu? It's
already full with craters and it's got a big clearing we could use for
sparring." He couldn't help but be a little proud of himself for the great
idea. It wasn't often Ryoga had a good idea, that really could work out.
"Great idea. We could even ask Kasumi to pack us a lunch. That way, we
could spend the whole day. What do you say?"
"Sounds good to me."
Kasumi was more than happy to oblige. They had saved her from a
stomach ache this morning. A picnic basket was the least she could do.

Container was more like it. They got enough food for a small army, but
in their case that would just be enough for lunch.
Soon they headed over to the forest. It was a small journey of a hour.
They didn't talk much during the journey, both lost in their own thoughts.
The clearing was just as they had left it. Grassland full with holes,
caused by the Bakusai Tenketsu. After putting down their packs, Ranma
started to explain what he had discovered.
"You've guessed most of it yesterday. It is simply manipulating your ki by
means of will only. I've talked about more uses for it. Well, you choose, I
can show you two more examples or I'll start teaching ya."
"Let me think." "All right, show me those other examples."
"Ok, these are the other two uses I've found for them. One of them you
already know. But it's the use that has changed." He took a ready position
and motioned for Ryoga to pay attention. He turned his head back and
concentrated. His arms wavered and blurred a bit and returned to their
original position. The look on Ryoga's face was priceless. Ranma wasn't
sure if Ryoga would know what happened, but it looked like he did.
"T-T-T-That was the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken, but you did it faster
than ever. How many times did you punch?"
"According to Cologne, my average is now at about 800. I've roughly
doubled my speed, if that is what you're asking. But before you ask me to
teach you, I can't. It's still the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken, but just faster.
Heh, I've broken Colognes record. Her's was at 700 with the normal
technique. Besides, I can already think of another adaptation for you, that
better suits your style. But we'll come to that later, I'll show you the next
one."
With that he took a position, that Ryoga thought Ranma would never
take. It was the stand of a weapon user. To be more precise of a katana
user. Then the white aura, that Ryoga had seen around Ranma the day
before sprang to life. It burned like a white flame around him. Within a
few moments the aura began to drain towards the hands. There it formed
a small white ball for a few moments, before continuing it's changing. It
took the form of a stick, then it became more pronounced and finally the
shining died down. Ranma stood there, with a completely white katana in
hands, it looked solid, but it was clear to Ryoga, it wasn't because he had
seen it form. To any other person however, it would be a solid weapon.
"How did you..."

"Form a solid object with it? Actually, that was easier than I thought. If
you want to learn this, we'll have to ask Cologne for permission."
"Why's that?"
"The solid effect is done by the Soul of Ice technique, that's why."
"We'll do that tonight, after I've learned to manipulate it with my will.
Well, at least tried to learn it, there are no guarantees I guess."
"Nope, care to see what kind of damage this thing can do?" The cocky
grin that Ranma wore most through his life returned for a moment. This
time, he had something to be proud of. He turned around, facing the
forest. He swung the sword just once. A white line could be seen to form
against the first line of trees. Then the all fell off at the point that the line
had been. They had all been sliced clean, the new top as smooth as can
be. Ranma turned back to Ryoga. Lifted Ryoga's jaw off the ground and
put it back into place.
"Saw something you liked?"
"That was... AWESOME! The only time I've seen anything like it was
with your Neko-ken. But why a weapon. You've always been against a
weapon."
"Yeah, I always figured it to be a crutch, because if someone takes it
away, you would be left defenseless. Now try to take it out of my hand, I
won't defend against it."
Ryoga walked over to Ranma and tried to grab the weapon. The first time
he tried, he grabbed right through the weapon. Banning his astonishment
for a second, he tried again. This time he took hold of the sword, but he
was blasted backwards by a small explosion, that was purely in his
direction. He got up, stopped his head from spinning and turned his head
back to Ranma. Again, Ranma had amazed him. He heard him call catch,
before Ranma threw the sword at him. But before Ryoga could catch it,
the sword disappeared into thin air.
"See why I don't have anything against this weapon. It can't be taken
from me and it won't be a crutch, because it's part of me. If someone does
take it from me, I just absorb the energy back into me, as I did just a few
moments ago."
"Why the katana?"

Ranma started to snicker. "I took it, because it scares the shit out of the
panda. And because I wanted to honor my mom. I thought it was the least
I could do."
The real training finally started. This time Ryoga surprised Ranma. By
the time they would lunch, Ryoga had the fundamentals down. He had
surpassed what Cologne had learned so far. She understood the concepts,
but couldn't perform them. But before Ranma stood a concentrating
Ryoga, surrounded by a small white, and still growing aura.
During lunch Ryoga couldn't help but comment. "You're a good teacher
Ranma. Whatever dojo gets you is lucky."
"Thanks, but I'm not that good. I just used methods that I've seen real
masters use to teach their students. Genma's excluded off course."
"Off course, but I'm serious. The techniques really work. Besides, every
teacher has to start somewhere, before developing their own unique style.
I hope you don't mind, if I use some of the methods when I've started my
own dojo. Say, tell me, what did Cologne teach you."
"In a few simple words, manners and language."
"That's it?" The confusion on Ryoga's face was obvious.
"Yep, my biggest problem was that I couldn't handle a fight in talking,
like with Nabiki for example. I asked Cologne to teach me in return for
what I taught her. It worked out great. I don't get into fights because of
my mouth anymore and can hold my own against Nabiki if necessary.
Still gotta see the irony in it, I finally learned to speak proper Japanese,
by being taught by a Chinese woman, if you can call Cologne a woman,
personally the ghoul reference suits her better."
"Yeah, bet your mom is going to love it though."
"I hope so, I did it to save my engagement. Looks like it hasn't worked
though. I'll try to talk to Akane again tonight. Hope it'll work out. Let's
get back to work, ok? I've got some good ideas for ya."
"Sure, shoot."
Ranma just grinned and motioned Ryoga to get closer.
Like he had guessed Ryoga would, Ryoga had taken to the techniques

like fish to water. He hadn't taught him yet how to fire a blast, but Ryoga
could figure that one out on himself. The other techniques, were a bit
more difficult, but fitted a lot better in Ryoga's style. It was about an hour
before dinnertime and Ryoga was about to perform them one more time.
After that, Ranma would fire the biggest blast he had. Ranma had spend
making a little bit of extra ki that afternoon, so he wouldn't drop down
out of exhaustion after firing.
"Ok Ryoga, show me what ya got."
Ryoga nodded and turned away from Ranma and shouted out his
technique before performing it. "BAKUSAI TENKETSU!" Normally, the
technique is impressive enough. What happened next, made the normal
technique look like a small dent in the ground. A massive tear about 30
feet long and 6 feet deep exploded, tearing the nearby trees to shreds.
Ranma would have been hurt by the shrapnel if he didn't stand behind
Ryoga. Even the lost boy would have gotten hurt by this, but they had
thought up the same kind of adjustments as Ranma had done with his
speed. Ryoga's endurance and strength had nearly tripled. When the
shaking stopped, Ryoga walked over to a tree about 7 feet wide and
punched just once. Again, the lost boy was pelted with shrapnel. From
the tree there was nothing left but toothpicks.
"Remember me to call you, if I ever need firewood." I was enough to
make Ryoga laugh. That really pleased Ranma. He hadn't seen the lost
boy laugh much since when they first met. He was shaken from his line
of thought by Ryoga. Everybody's favorite walking tank walked over to
Ranma and tapped his shoulder once to get his attention.
"Thanks." Ryoga's face, was a face filled with gratitude.
"What for?" A confused Ranma asked.
"For being a pal. Like you, I didn't have many friends in my life, hell, I
didn't have much of a life. This day meant a lot to me and I do think the
things you taught me will come in handy in the future."
"No prob! Hey, let's really test your endurance."
"How?"
"Let's see how you stand up against an advanced Kachu Tenshin
Amaguriken." If Ranma's thoughts were right, that was one of the few
things that could even damage Ryoga now.

"Sure, why not."

Ryoga took a stance so he wouldn't be pushed back and Ranma took his
position as well. About 800 punches later Ranma stopped disbelief filling
his face. He had almost given it his all and Ryoga had nothing more than
a small bruise. It seemed that learning that resistance technique made his
into even more of a tank than he already was. It would do him good to
learn it as well, but that's for another time he reasoned. This was Ryoga's
training hours. Ryoga was pleased, he had felt the punches and had a bit
of damage, but it was nothing he couldn't ignore.
Shaking the disbelief of his face, Ranma remembered something he had
said the night before. "Now, how about that test of mine. First, I'll need a
target." Ranma took a look around and looked for something he could use
as a target. Facing from the forest, he found what he sought. It was a
large boulder formation, about 25 feet wide and somewhere around 10 to
12 feet high. "That will do nicely, better stand back Ryoga. I don't know
how big it's going to get."
They both took a little bit more distance. Ranma took a ready position
and Ryoga took a position behind Ranma to catch him if the recoil would
be to great. A white aura blazed into existence and grew. Even when
Ryoga thought Ranma had reached his limit, it didn't stop. Finally, when
a bonfire about 12 feet wide burned around Ranma, he started to pull the
energy in to form his attack. Between his hands a ball, the size of the
basketball grew into existence, it's light throwing eerie shadows in the
terrain around them. Finally, with a mighty shove, Ranma thrust his
hands out, releasing his attack. The ball shot forward at amazing speeds,
reaching the boulder formation, before you could say boom.
An explosion the size of a small bomb followed and both the martial
artists were thrown back by the air pressure. A few seconds later, it
started to rain fine gravel, dust and bits of pieces of dirt. When they got
up and looked over to the formation they found nothing but a large pit.
The pit had a good radius of 25 to 30 feet and was deep enough for an
high diving contest if it was filled with water.
"What in the..." Ryoga started.
"...world." Ranma finished. Time went by and after a minute or so, both
finally found their voices.
"Did I do that? No way... I can't be that strong. I mean, there's nothing
left then dust."

"Guess you weren't kiddin' when you said the insurance wouldn't be able
to take it. Man, I can't wait till I've mastered that."
Both stared a bit longer at the place of destruction, it was Ranma who
finally broke the silence. "Let's go home and get something to eat. This
took a lot out of me."
Still staring at the crater Ryoga replied. "Sure." He then turned to Ranma.
"Say, I've told you what happened to me last month. You promised to tell
what had happened to you."
This startled Ranma. He had completely forgotten his promise to tell
Ryoga. Cursing himself for forgetting a promise he motioned Ryoga to
follow him home and started his story. Both didn't notice the small
shadow creep away from the site.
"Where to begin. Oh, right, you already know the beginning. I told you
about the first day in school didn't I. Well, let's start of from there. School
sucked bigtime. Kuno couldn't stop shouting about how he had stopped
our 'unholy joining'. He got out of the hospitable after a week or so, he's
still needs crutches it think. Mr. Tendo and pops started yellin' the minute
I walked in. Mom wasn't there to stop them, she'd left for the new house.
The only time I saw Akane was at dinner or at school. The only good
thing happened in the dojo later that evening. Happosai walked in and
apologzed for the wedding." Ryoga fell face first into the pavement after
the comment made him trip over his own legs. He quickly got up and
replied calmly. "SAY WHAT!!!!"
After recovering from Ryoga's outburst Ranma continued his story. "Yep,
he apologized for interrupting the wedding, not for drinking the
nannichuan. Seems the old perv has a small romantic bone in him after
all. Get this, he already had chosen a wedding present if we ever got
married. He would have given me the right to challenge his for the
Grandmaster status of our school. Guess that the joining of the schools
meant more to him then he let on. Maybe that's why he kept hanging
around, well that and my curse."
A third voice responded to that. "Guess there's a brain to you yet boy."
The owner of it appeared in front of them and promptly splashed Ranma
with cold water and attached itself to her bosom and let out a long sigh.
Ranma immediately pounded the perv into the pavement.
"What do you want old geezer." A snarl was apparent on Ranma's face.
Happosai got up and dusted himself off for a bit. "Is that anyway to greet

your master. Wait, don't answer that... I don't have the time for it, there's
more important business now. I saw your little training session boys."
Shock was evident on both the boys faces. They took a small step back
and prepared for anything that the ancient lecher could throw at them.
"Oh no, I'm not here to fight." Now puzzlement adorned their faces. "I
have to say, I'm impressed. I didn't figure that out till I was about 200
years young."
"Don't you mean old."
"I mean young, you insolent whelp! When you're my age, 200 is young
again. But the only thing I could do with it was increase my speed like
you do Ranma. But you did more than that, you thought up new
techniques with it. In other words, you have succeeded where I have
failed. It seems that the student has risen above the master, so I'm here to
challenge you boy. In one week we'll have our final match. If you win,
you'll be the new Grandmaster of our school, how's about that."
Ranma was stunned, he was beyond stunned. But above all, he was
ecstatic. After the last month, with what had happened between him and
Akane, he would have thought that a marriage would have been
impossible. With that impossible, Happosai wouldn't ever give the
challenge if his life depended on it. Looks like the old perv surprised him
yet again. It took a moment for him to respond.
His face showed a bit of respect for Happosai, instead of contempt.
"When exactly and where Happosai?"
"Saturday evening next week on the Furinkan school grounds. It's the
first place you actually won against me with the Hiryu Shoten Ha, even if
you did cheat with those pictures. So it'll be only fair to do it there again,
if you win that is." With that the old man let out a cackle, jumped up to a
roof and disappeared into the distance.
"Am I still in Nerima, I didn't get lost somewhere there did I?" A huge
sweat drop could be seen on the back of Ryoga's head.
"Sorry Ryoga, I hate to disappoint you, but you're really here."
"Damn, figment of my imagination then?"
"Nope, saw it too."

"Do you mind if I leave tomorrow, it's all getting to me. Nothing is the
same anymore. Next thing you'll say is that Cologne isn't after her
anymore for her tribe."
"Uhhh, Ryoga, she isn't after me anymore because of Shampoo's
behavior at the wedding attempt."
BONK. This was the sound of Ryoga dropping into a faint. His eyes had
rolled backwards then closed and he followed up by dropping down.
Ranma turned her head, blinked a few times, shrugged, picked Ryoga up
and went home. All in that particular order.
It was too late to eat with the Tendo's, but Kasumi had saved them both a
huge dinner, expecting them to be tired off training all day. They woke
Ryoga with a bit of WARM water and changed Ranma back to his birth
form.
"Uhhh, did somebody get the number of the car that hit me?" Ryoga
asked confused.
"Ryoga, it'll at least take a tank to even budge you, do you really think a
car could knock you out cold?" The sarcasm almost dripped of every
word out of Ranma's mouth.
Still, it was enough to shock Ryoga out of his stupor. They quickly
finished dinner and decided on a course of action for that evening. Ryoga
would go over to the Amazon's to ask for the permission for Ranma to
teach him the Soul of Ice. In the mean time Ranma would try to talk to
Akane. Akane didn't know it, but it probably would be her last chance to
win Ranma's heart again.
Soon, Ryoga was on his way over to the Cat Cafe, and after about fifteen
minutes Ranma made his way up the stairs to Akane's room. To make
sure his dad wouldn't interfere, he had insulted the old man and promptly
pounded till he could count the stars, without it even being evening yet.
Mr. Tendo began wailing about how his shogi game was ruined, so
Ranma had all the time to talk to Akane.
He deftly knocked on Akane's door and waited for her to answer. A growl
answered him. He opened the door and looked in. Akane was doing her
homework, but the broken pile of pencils beside her clearly told him,
something was bothering her. It probably had something to do with him
being gone all day, without clearing it with her. Like he needed her
permission to move outside of the house.

With that, Ranma entered the room. "Akane?" She turned around and a
scowl could be seen on her face, anger just right under it, ready to
explode.
"Where have you been all day?!!" Explode? Going nova was more like it.
"Uhm, I spend the day with Ryoga. Didn't anybody tell you that today?"
Confusion was clear on Ranma's face.
"I didn't wake up till two hours ago, the ingredients I used for breakfast
must have gone bad."
He looked at her face and saw she believed every word she told him.
"If you spend all day with Ryoga, then where is he?!" Her anger had
returned.
"He went over to the Amazons, asking for permission for me to teach him
the Soul of Ice."
"You're lying!!! You would never teach Ryoga anything and Ryoga
wouldn't be caught dead near the Amazons."
BIG SIGH. "Then what do you think I did all day long Akane. Ryoga
wasn't here all day. I wasn't here all day. Please tell me, what did I do?"
The tone he used, was really a tired one. He was really getting fed up
with Akane's superb ability to jump to conclusions that aren't even
possible to the most chaotic of people.
"You probably spend the day with Shampoo, after all, Ukyo and Kodachi
came by to get you as usual and Shampoo didn't." Akane looked proud at
her statement. Her logic couldn't be wrong, every fiance except for
Shampoo had been here, so he could only have spend the day with her.
"Is that a fact Akane? Have you seen us two together?"
"I don't need to. I know you spend most of your evenings last month
there. Nabiki told me. Shampoo's the only reason you could be there." A
smug expression found it's way onto her face.
With a sad look Ranma replied. "Are you sure about that as well Akane.
Have you seen what I did there, or did some bird whisper this into your
ear? I admit, I spend my evenings there, but don't you notice something
about me that has changed since I spend my evenings there?"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN SOMETHING CHANGED, YOU WERE A

PERVERT A MONTH AGO WHEN YOU LET THEM RUIN *MY*
WEDDING, YOU'RE STILL ONE NOW SINCE YOU ADMIT TO
BEING THERE. GET OUT OF MY ROOM!!!!" She accentuated her
point by throwing the desk lamp at Ranma.
He caught it, put it calmly on the ground. He threw a look at Akane and
shook his head as if disappointed and walked out of the room, closing the
door silently on his way out. Akane could be heard raging around her
room.
Ranma ran to his room and bolted out of the window. He landed on the
wall and looked around. He didn't really need to look all the way around
before a shout behind him directed him to his goal.
"WHERE THE HELL AM I NOW!!!" Ranma turned around and jumped
to Ryoga.
"Found the Amazons already?"
This simple question got Ryoga's attention and looked puzzled at
Ranma's voice. He found Ranma standing behind him. All he could
manage was a strangled 'Huhhh?'.
"I said, did you find the Amazons already?"
"Yeah..."
"...And?" Ranma added.
"No, she didn't allow it. Told me that me knowing the Bakusai Tenketsu
is already too much."
"I could have guessed that that would be what she would tell you. She's
really jumpy at the mentioning of somebody learning their precious
techniques."
"Say, where am I Ranma?"
Ranma facefaulted. He recovered and stuttered out his reply. "Y-y-you rr-really don't mean that do you? Yes you do, should have known. You're
at the Tendo dojo Ryoga, to be more precise, in the backyard. Let's just
go to bed. I'm still dead tired of that blast."
"You sure Kasumi wouldn't mind me spending another night?"

"If she knew that you would be spending a lot more time on the farm
from now on, she would insist on it. Now come on, let's get some rest."
Since this night, a panda already took up the second futon in the
guestroom, they rolled out an extra futon and soon went to sleep.
End of Chapter 2
Author's notes:
Another chapter, another set of stupid comments from the author. First, I
would like to thank all the people who reviewed me. I shouldn't forget
the people who even took the time to read this thing, so thanks to those
as well. HigurashiRanko, thanks for the possible attack name. I'm
seriously thinking about it, or a small deviation of it.
For now, there's only one suggestion for couples:
One point for a Ranma/Misao fic
More votes requested people.
Further more, I would like to thank C-Mach21 for hosting this fic on his
site. It can be found on http://www.geocities.com/c_mach2k1 as soon as
he updates (I hope :) ).
Reviews and C&C at TheNightstalker_0@Hotmail.com are still
appreciated. No flames please, my ego is getting stronger with the kind
reviews, but it's still fragile :P
This is TheNightstalker signing off to work hard at school again (as if...)

Ancestral History
A Ranma 1/2 and Rurouni Kenshin Crossover, that bit is coming closer
and closer.
Disclaimer:
Why hadn't I thought up these characters. If I did, my study could be paid
without problems. Well, I'll borrow them instead.
Timeline:
This crossover will take place after manga 38 in the Ranma universe. For
Rurouni Kenshin it's after the anime and movie.
Bear with me people, it's my first fan-fiction and am doing the best I can.

English isn't my first language, so please don't yell at me about the errors,
I know my English isn't the best out there.
Chapter 3: A fair fight
By TheNightstalker
The next morning Ranma came to a decision. He wouldn't tell anybody
about the challenge from Happosai. If he did he really wouldn't be able to
train. Everybody would try to interfere with his training. This train of
thought wasn't logic, it was pure experience. Every time he needed to
train for something, everybody got in his way someway. This way, the
chances of interference are a lot smaller. Ryoga knew of the challenge,
but he would just tell him he would like to keep it a secret and it would
end with that. Ranma had protected Ryoga's secret for so long, he
shouldn't be able to refuse this small request. Besides, he would probably
understand Ranma's paranoia. Ryoga was after all one of the people who
interrupted his training usually. He only needed to keep quiet during
breakfast. Afterwards, he would head back over to the farm. Too bad he
couldn't teach Ryoga the Soul of Ice, a ki-umbrella would have looked
really cool.
His thoughts didn't come much further. His father woke up, grabbed the
back of his shirt and threw him out of the window in one flowing move.
Said projectile flew with a nice arc directly into the koipond. A large
white and black bear landed beside it and whipped out a large board.
'Oh the shame, my son couldn't even defend himself against a harmless
panda.' The large grin on the panda's face contradicted the message on
the board.
The redhead came up sputtering and threw an angry look at the manturned-panda. "You're going down hard old man!" She jumped up and at
the pinnacle of her jump flared her aura bright to blind the panda.
Coming down in a perfect executed dropkick, she kicked the panda
against the side of the dojo and assumed a ready stance.
Amazingly for those who didn't know better, the panda did the same
thing. As if on a signal, both the combatants jumped at each other, to
begin their relentless assault on each other in mid air. Genma tried a feint
with his right leg, following up with a jab with its left paw. Ranma saw
through it, directed the jab to his right and punched her father right on
the kidneys with her left. While blocking with his left leg, Genma tried to
prepare for the landing, but couldn't. Ranma kicked out Genma's right
leg, effectively preventing Genma from landing. While Ranma landed in
a low crouch, ready to deal out a bit more damage, Genma landed on his

rear, because both legs where too tied up, one blocking, the other kicked
out to the side. He quickly got up and attempted a low foot sweep. She
jumped up and landed on top of her fathers head, made a quick little
spin, dizzying Genma in the process and jumped of behind him.
With her target found, Ranma turned around to face Genma again. Said
panda was still a bit disoriented by Ranma's last unorthodox attack.
Ranma took a position, known to many people as those of soccer players
right before shooting a penalty. She took off at startling speed heading to
the dazed martial artist and with a mighty kick send the panda flying off
at incredible speed.
She gave the flying object a small glance before turning around and
heading for the kitchen to get some hot water.
"Hi Kasumi, got a kettle warm yet?"
"Good morning Ranma. It's over there on the stove." She then looked at
Ranma and gave her trademark. "Oh my! You better get out of those wet
clothes, or you'll be sick in no time. Maybe you should take a quick dip
in the furo instead of using the kettle. It will help you warm up a bit."
She took Kasumi's advice, went up to her room to check on Ryoga and
get some dry clothes and quickly took a small dip in the furo. Then ran
back to his room to wake Ryoga up. He didn't have to. Ryoga had woken
up the minute Ranma stormed out of the room and was already dressing
himself. Getting Ryoga to promise not to tell anyone about the challenge
proved to be simple, he agreed with Ranma's reasoning in an instant.
Breakfast was quite uneventful with no sparring between Ranma and
Genma and Akane still ignoring Ranma for what he did yesterday, at least
what she thought Ranma did yesterday. He could see the anger hidden
underneath her ignoring face, ready to burst out at the smallest of things.
After breakfast, Ryoga thanked the Tendo's for their hospitality and
Ranma for the training the day before, eliciting a small blush from Akane
for jumping to the wrong conclusions. She didn't admit it, but she felt
guilty about how she had treated Ranma now she knew that he had been
telling the truth. Soon Ryoga was on his way back to Akari, with a small
detour through Sydney and Ranma and Akane were on their way to
school. Even though Ranma had been training with Cologne, she still
hadn't convinced him of the necessity of school. His only retort was that
he didn't like school and that the feeling was mutual, school didn't like
him as well. But today was an exception, even though nobody except
Ranma knew. He loved history and today their first period was history.
His traveling had made sure he knew about every legend and myth there

was to be told about Japan's history. Many dojo masters made it sure that
their students knew about battles from the past to learn from their
mistakes. Since Ranma had visited a lot of dojo's on his training trip, he
knew almost more of the history of Japan than the teacher did. The only
reason he scored bad on his exams was his writing. He just didn't know
how to put his knowledge on paper, that's all.
The morning went by quickly for Ranma. It wasn't until lunch that his
peace was interrupted. He was quietly sitting under a tree eating his
lunch. Akane was talking something over with the teacher so she wasn't
the disturbance. This time it was Ukyo. Ranma decided he would try a
different approach with her. All the previous ones didn't get through her
thick skull, so nothing left but being blunt.
"Hi ya Ranchan." Ukyo exclaimed happy. She had noticed the tension
between Ranma and Akane. To be more precise, Akane's tension towards
Ranma and Ranma's indifference of it.
"That's Ranma, Ukyo." The voice was cold, nothing like his usual tone of
voice. In fact the puddle near him froze over, just by being near him.
Ukyo took a small step back fear and confusion flashing over her face.
"Ranchan?"
"No Ukyo, my name is Ranma." The voice hadn't warmed up at all.
"What... What's going on? You're not serious, are you?"
"Off course I am, does it sound like I am kidding." A bird fell out of the
sky, it's form encased in a block of ice.
"Why?" It came out in such a small voice, Ranma doubted he heard it.
He answered none the less.
"Why you ask. It's obvious off course. What friend tries to kill their
friends parents, or the girl they were marrying at the moment for that
matter. What friend doesn't get the hint that was being dropped for over a
month. What friend assumes that their friend is their property." The
comments were already bad for Ukyo, it was the voice that didn't change
through the whole ordeal was what scared her the most. She had feared
this moment since she had made the biggest mistake in her life. The
mistake of interfering with the wedding.
It was then that she noticed another thing that was said. He had called her
a friend, not a girlfriend, not a fiance. A friend was all she was to him.

Now she had two choices. Honor be damned, being a fiance wasn't a
possibility anymore. That much was clear. No, those choices were
breaking all contact with Ranma or remain in contact, but never be more
than a friend. Both effectively broke her heart. Still not much of a choice
really. The only thing she would hate more than not being Ranma's wife,
was a life without Ranma. Friends it is, at least if he wants to.
"I-I-I... I'm sorry Ranma. I still want to be your friend, if you'll allow
me." Remorse was shown her face and through her words.
His face warmed up a bit together with his voice. "Finally, that's the
Ucchan I knew all those years back. Even if that Ucchan turned out to be
a girl, I think I can live with it. Now, no more foolishness, ok? I've had
my life full of chaos for the last few years, I think I would like to see that
changed."
She had to agree with his words, with all the girl pulling on him, he never
had a chance for rest and she was one of the causes. It seems that her
drive to get Ranma had made her lose her honor all over again. Ranma
wasn't innocent in those times as well, but he was trying to change it all.
The least she could do was go with the flow.
"You're right. Everything was starting to get out of hand. Sooner or later,
somebody was prone to be seriously hurt. Friends it is then." A small
faltering smile came to her face.
"Thank you Ucchan."
It were those simple words, especially the word Ucchan, that made the
smile on her face more pronounced. "Does that mean that I can call you
Ranchan again?" At his nod, she couldn't be more pleased. She jumped
up and hugged Ranma for all he was worth, in her book that really was a
lot. An Amazon would be envious of the glomp. She just muttered one
single sentence while hugging him. "Thank you." She silently repeated it
in his ear, she had come closer to losing him, than in the fight at Jusendo.
She hadn't been there, but she had heard the unbelievable tale. Ukyo was
just letting go when a voice rang out over the school grounds.
"I DON'T BELIEVE THIS. I TURN MY BACK FOR A SECOND AND
YOU'RE ALLREADY KISSING UP TO ONE OF YOUR
FLOOZIES!!!!"
He silently whispered something into Ukyo's ear. "Ukyo, please pretend
you're still my fiance. If you don't my pop will have the minister over
this evening, since he doesn't consider the claim from the Amazons real. I

don't want to marry yet." In a softer voice he added. "And I don't want to
marry her..." With difficulty Ukyo kept the surprise from her face and let
the hug go completely. It was only a small request he asked of her. It
would hurt her feelings a bit, but she could understand it. Nobody was
ready to get married this young, well she was as long as the groom was
Ranma. If she was the only thing that stood between him and an unhappy
marriage, she would be that obstacle to the best of her being. It was the
least she could do. She faced Akane and readied herself for the upcoming
fight. If it was verbal or physical wasn't decided yet.
With a calm she didn't know she had she began. "He wasn't kissing up to
me Akane. He finally forgave me. I hugged him, not the other way
around." Then a bit louder. "And if you dare call me a floozy again, I'll
show you what the business end of my spatula feels like, got that!"
Ranma stood by her playing dumb, not really a difficult role for him,
considering his past.
"Bitch, you lie. It's just something up that perverts alley to hug you."
Akane retorted. A light crimson battle aura manifested itself around her.
What Ryoga had said that morning had completely slipped her mind
again.
People around already scrambled for safety, or were making bets with
Nabiki on the outcome of the fight. Nabiki had missed the initial
encounter between Ranma and Ukyo because of some business she had
to attend, but Akane's shout got her attention to the fight. Most of the
people off course betted on Akane, nobody had beaten her mallet so far.
"COME AND DARE TELL THAT DIRECTLY TO MY FACE, YOU
LITTLE ." The taunt had it's desired effect. Ukyo knew that as soon as
Akane lost her temper, her skills dropped down to nearly zero.
As a blind bull Akane charged Ukyo, mallet at a ready. Ukyo calmly
unslung her spatula. As soon as Akane neared her as swish could be
heard and Ukyo could be found behind Akane calmly sheathing her
BAS . Confused Akane looked at the handle in her hand. She was sure
that something was missing. Nothing left of her, nothing right, nor before
her. She looked up. too late... The bigger half of the mallet came down
upon her face, knocking her cold.
Nabiki and Ukyo were happy, the rest of the people who had placed a bet
weren't.
Ranma looked upon it all with a weird expression on his face.

After counting her winnings Nabiki brought Akane to the infirmary.

School ended peacefully after that.
For the next few days Ranma would develop a routine. In the morning
pound his father. Ignore Akane's rantings at school and talk a bit with
Ukyo. Escape Akane wrath and Shampoo's 'affection' while going home.
Change back from the inevitable splash on his way home. Eat dinner and
withdraw himself to the dojo for training. One thing surprised him in
those days. Happosai wasn't anywhere to be seen. He was probably
training as well. That would mean he respects Ranma's skill more than he
lets on, but that's just one thing he could be doing. Knowing Happosai,
he could be at the beach as well trying to get a feel off of the girls there.
It wasn't till Friday that the pattern was broken. When he, or she in
Ranma's case some of the time, returned home his mother was waiting
there for him, drinking tea with Kasumi. He was glad she was here. He
wanted her here for the challenge, but couldn't think of a reason to call
her over, disturbing her work on the new house in the process, without it
being to suspicious. Then something occurred to him. He was going to lie
to get his mother here. That couldn't do. His mom deserved better, thus
there was only one thing to do. Take her apart and tell her about the
challenge. Maybe tell her about the current situation as well, she could
come up with a solution to it.
"Hi Kasumi, hi mom, what brings you over?" A happy smile about seeing
his mother again was plastered on his face.
"Hello dear, do I need a reason to visit my son?" She had a mock hurt
expression following in her son's mood.
"Not really, just kidding. Mom can I talk to you about something. In
private if possible."
His serious expression all of a sudden told her it was something
important. "Off course, where do you suggest."
His smile was just as quick back on his face. "I've got the just place.
Kasumi, when will dinner be ready. I missed it Sunday already, I don't
want to do that to you twice in a week."
"Oh my, what considerate of you. It will be ready around 7 Ranma."
"Thank you, shall we go mom?" He said as he turned his attention back
to his mother.

She stood up and walked out of the Tendo compound with him. She
followed him towards a small bridge, but instead of crossing over, he
walked down along side it. His mother followed quick. Beneath the
bridge, Ranma had taken a seat on top of a few stones, that had been
cleaned. Seeing Nodoka's expression he quickly explained.
"I always come here if I want to get away from it all. Nobody knows
about this place, not even Nabiki. Heh, she can't follow me over the
roofs."
"Why this secrecy my son? Is it really that important to you that what
you are about to tell me, doesn't reach the ears of others?"
"No, I don't want pops and the Tendo's to know about it till it's too late."
His tone was serious, something Nodoka wasn't used to coming from her
son. She didn't show it on her face clearly, but an eyebrow was raised.
"What has happened to you this month. It's like another person is
standing in front of me. The son I had didn't speak properly or had
manners. What has happened to him?" Her tone was light, a clear
statement, that Ranma should tell her.
So he did. He told her everything up to now. He told her about how
Akane treated him even though he treated her really good compared to
before Jusendo, no name calling or anything else she accused him of. He
told her about the new techniques. She particularly liked his ki-sword
technique. Told her about the training her received in trade for teaching
Cologne those techniques. Cologne's statement about breaking the
engagement between Shampoo and Ranma. The day he trained Ryoga,
excluding the challenge from Happosai, he wanted to save that for last.
Told her about her confrontation with Ukyo and how it resulted in having
his friend back and a bigger mistrust by Akane. The pain in his voice
with some subjects wasn't missed by Nodoka. "There's just one more
thing, everyone knows about all what I told you, well except for the
training by Cologne and the new techniques, Ryoga knows everything
though. Nabiki found out I went over to the Cat Cafe, but didn't find out
what I did there. This one thing is the most important."
"Before you tell me, what would you say if you moved back into the
house with me. It seems that all your affairs in Nerima are finished. The
summer vacation has started, so we could move your stuff back
tomorrow."
"Aren't you mad about me breaking the pledge?" To say Ranma was

shocked is just a bit of an understatement.

"No, why should I. It seems that the Tendo's have broken their part with
Akane's behavior, you have already voiced your desire to break it
because of it. Besides, I always wanted you to marry who you loved. At
the time, that was Akane. You didn't tell me but I knew, that's what
mothers are for. Now I can see that that love has died a horrible death, so
it is only natural to ask of you to come back home with me."
"Euhhh, all right, but we can't move my stuff back tomorrow, you
remember I told you I had one more thing to tell?"
"Yes, go on."
"You better sit down mom, I know you don't want your kimono to get
dirty, but I think I'll have to catch you if you don't" His seriousness
convinced Nodoka to sit down on one of the stones. "You know how
Happosai still is the Grandmaster of our school, right?" Nodoka nodded.
"He challenged me for a fight about it, if I win, I'm going to be the new
Grandmaster..."
Nodoka blinked once, rolled her eyes back and fainted. One last thought
going through her mind at the time. And blackness claimed her.
She woke up to a bit of water to her face and found her son, now
daughter's face above her own with a worried expression on it. Then she
recalled what her 'daughter' had told her. She could be the Grandmaster
of her school in 24 hours. Then something accured to her. "Why did you
change Ranma?"
"I had to get some water to wake you up. I scooped up enough to trigger
the change. I don't mind if it's for a good cause." She said it with a small
smile.
"I can see why you want to keep Genma and the Tendo's in the dark.
They wouldn't have left you alone if they knew about this. Now we're
talking Ranma, what do you think of your curse. I want you to answer
me honestly. You don't have to worry about seppuku any longer. With
what you told me about last month and this challenge, you have proved
more than adequate that you are nothing less than a man above men. Oh
wait, before you begin. I'm still going to pretend that the contract still
stands with Genma in the neighborhood. It'll keep him a little more out of
trouble and besides, scaring him is just too much fun, okay?"
Ranma matched the evil grin on her mother's face. "Okay. Now where to

begin about my curse. Well, the beginning is usually a good place, right?"
Her mother only nodded. "Well, pops raised me to believe girls are
inferior to men. Boy was he ever wrong, he himself is one heck of an
example. I know of at least 3 women that can beat him." Nodoka raised
her eyebrow. "Sure, Shampoo can beat him if she goes all out, there's
Cologne off course and the one that beats him at every turn is you off
course." She finished. Then continued after taking a deep breath. "Then
there's me, if girls are supposed to be as weak as pops said, then why was
I able to fight a dragon prince to a standstill in my current form. I even
would have finished him in this form if kettle hadn't been sucked into the
whirlwind. Then there's the fact that I could beat Ryoga even in this form
and he is one of the toughest opponents I had. I still don't like being a
girl, since I was born a guy. But I don't hate it anymore. With Jusenkyo
destroyed as it is now, the chances of me being cured are as good as zero,
so I'll probably live with it for the rest of my life. I don't mind, it could
come in handy when I start to teach. A lot of women would feel better if
a woman taught them, don't they? I hope that answers your question
mom."
It fascinated Nodoka how much Ranma had grown up in just a month.
Even though Ranma had had a month from hell, she had come out of it
with the greater winnings. Her child had become an adult and a good one
at that. "It does Ranma, and you were right. A lot of women would
appreciate it if the teacher was a woman. But you do know what that
means, right?"
"I know." sigh "The right clothing. I won't like it, but it's only a small
sacrifice for the students."
"How much you have grown." The she continued in a sad softer tone.
"And how much have I missed."
"Don't worry mom, I'll take you up upon your offer. I would love it to
move back home, I already told you that. So you won't miss anything
again, for as long as you live. At least not if I can help it. But can we
keep it a secret till after the fight, they'll be too overwhelmed then to
really complain." Nodoka couldn't help but be impressed by Ranma's
thinking. For once her child thought things through instead of rushing in
head first.
With that said Ranma rose and helped her mother up. They walked home
and enjoyed a quiet dinner, because Nodoka didn't allow Genma to steal
food from Ranma's plate. After dinner, Ranma only did a few kata's so he
wouldn't be too exhausted tomorrow. This gave him the time too talk a
little bit more with his mother and Kasumi. Nobody but Nodoka noticed

that Ranma hadn't taken the effort to change back. It told her though that
Ranma really had come to terms with her curse. She did change back that
evening. That was just before she went to bed. She didn't mind her curse,
but sleeping male just was a lot more comfortable for Ranma.
The next morning Genma tried to wake Ranma for the usual
sparringmatch, but before he could reach him a voice with a lot of
authority stopped him. "Don't you dare wake our son. He doesn't get
enough sleep as it is with his life. Let him sleep in for once." Genma had
completely forgotten that Nodoka had spend the evening in the same
room. Not daring to cross her with the contract still in effect, he went
back to his futon and decided to get a few extra zzz's as well. Nodoka
didn't go back to bed, she got up to help Kasumi with breakfast. She was
glad she had woken up in time to stop Genma. Ranma could use all the
rest with his fight in the evening.
Ranma woke up to the smell of good cooking. Realizing that his father
had left him alone this morning, he quickly dressed and washed and went
downstairs to help if he could. There wasn't a need to. Together, Nodoka
and Kasumi had about everything covered. For him, there was only one
job. Enjoy breakfast. This wasn't really a problem with Nodoka present.
He could actually chew and savor the flavor, now that he had no need to
defend his food. He thanked his mother and Kasumi for breakfast and
headed over to the dojo. Since this was what Ranma normally did on a
Saturday, nobody thought anything of it. The only one who could care
was Akane, but she wasn't home. She would spend the day with her
friends at the mall and wouldn't be home till dinner. That was all right
with Ranma. He didn't really need her as a witness, but he would enjoy it
if everyone was present. Since the challenge was after dinner, there
shouldn't be a problem with that.
Halfway into the afternoon Ranma stopped with training and took a bath
to wash of the sweat. He decided to make dinner with his mother that
evening. It would be the last dinner he would spend here. It was the least
he could do for the kindness that Kasumi had given him during his stay at
the dojo. Besides, if he did this the right way, he would annoy the hell
out of his father. So after his bath, he threw on a bathrobe and went to his
mother. Whispered something into her ear which elicited a giggle from
her, followed by a nod of approval. While Ranma went upstairs, Nodoka
relayed the plan to Kasumi, who started to giggle as well.
Ranma headed into the bathroom to retrieve a glass of cold water, then
headed over to his room. He stopped in front of the mirror in his room.
Then let the bathrobe drop to the ground and looked into the mirror. He
then emptied the glass on his head. The change was as good as

instantaneous. For once Ranma looked at herself and didn't feel disgust.
Now that Nodoka had accepted her completely and Genma would be
pissed off about, she started to use the curse to her advantage. One of the
things she planned to do was teach in this form. But for that she needed
to get used to the clothing, so what she had planned now was actually a
small trainingmanouver for her. She took out of her closet a few sets of
clothing she never used. It was the clothing Nodoka had bought for her
when she still pretended to be Ranko Tendo.
A quarter of an hour later, Ranma came down the stairs. Nodoka and
Kasumi looked up from what they were doing once and then continued.
The reaction from Genma was the one they were waiting for.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING BOY!!! DRESSING UP
AS A GIRL! I KNEW I SHOULDN'T HAVE LISTENED TO NODOKA
THIS MORNING! JUST ONCE YOU MISS PRACTICE AND SEE THE
RESULTS. IT LOOKS LIKE I'LL HAVE TO GO HARDER ON YOU!
NOW GET OUT OF THOSE CLOTHES AND GET TO THE DOJO AT
ONCE! WHAT WOULD YOUR MOTHER THINK OF HER
SHAMEFULL SON!" The shogi game with Soun had ended with Soun
and all the pieces sticking to the wall, courtesy of Genma's shouting.
"No." Ranma replied simply.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, NO?!!!"
"As I said it, no. I'm going to cook dinner together with mother, so it's
only natural to dress appropriately. Now if you don't mind, we have to
start dinner." With that Nodoka stood up and joined Ranma. Together
they walked into the kitchen leaving Genma dumbfounded behind.
Nabiki quickly rose from her seat and hurried into the kitchen. When she
heard the complete story about why Ranma was doing this, she couldn't
contain her laughter. Ranma was right, Genma would blow his top and
then be dumbfounded by Nodoka, because she said nothing about it.
After preparing dinner, Ranma went to her room again to change back.
Happosai could show up any minute now. Ranma wasn't back down for a
minute when Happosai jumped into the room. But instead of throwing
water at Ranma, he calmly took his seat at the table. Not a few moments
later Akane came home and joined them for dinner. Not once during
dinner did Happosai attempt anything. Except for Nodoka and Ranma,
the rest couldn't believe their eyes. Here was Happosai, the biggest lecher
in history and he hadn't even attempted to splash and glomp Ranma or
Akane. With everyone freaked out by Happosai's behavior, dinner was
once again a quiet affair, though some kept the corner of their eyes

trimmed on Happosai. It seemed to become a normal thing that dinner

would be quiet. In the paper there was also an article about a new
breakthrough in genetics. It seemed they had been able to cross a pig
with a bird, making pigs able to fly...
As soon as dinner was finished Happosai finally spoke about something
other than things like 'pass me that bole please'. "Ready Ranma?"
Most of the people looked at Ranma as if he had grown a second head.
"In a minute. I'll help Kasumi clear the table, that way she could join us
if she wants."
"You are right. It wouldn't be fair to her otherwise. It is a big event after
all."
"What big event master?" Both Soun and Genma said this at the same
time.
"Why, the challenge off course, didn't you know that I had challenged
Ranma. If he wins, he'll be the new Grandmaster."
THUD times two. Both Genma and Soun dropped unconscious.
"You hadn't told them?" Confusion was heard in his voice.
"Nope, wanted you to see their reaction as well. Too bad we don't have it
on tape."
"You're right, it was priceless to see."
With that said, Ranma and Kasumi quickly cleared the table. Nabiki
made a few extra yen for waking Soun and Genma. When they woke,
they didn't say anything. It could have been because Happosai disabled
their voices with pressure points, but it could have been because they
were just plain speechless. Happosai didn't want them to interrupt the
fight with their shouting. Restraining them wasn't difficult. Nodoka's
katana made that sure. Soon the house was empty and could everybody
be found on the school grounds.
Both the fighters walked out into the field and took their ready positions.
Happosai spoke one more time. "Since pressure points aren't a part of the
Anything Goes yet, we are both forbidden of using them. Do you agree?"
Ranma just nodded. "Then let's begin."
And the fight began with a flash. Both Ranma and Happosai disappeared

from view for the audience. They reappeared in midair blocking each
others strike. Both jumped back and took a position again. "Your speed
really has improved boy." With that said, Happosai ran straight for
Ranma ready to deal out some major damage. But before he could reach
the boy, said boy already had jumped up to avoid the attack. He came
down in a kick, hoping to get Happosai in the back, while his was
finishing his attack. Happosai twisted and blocked with his pipe, but was
driven back a couple of feet. Hoping to take time of the advantage,
Ranma began to build up his speed to Amaguriken level, his level to be
exact. Normally, Happosai was able to block the speed of the Kachu
Tenshin Amaguriken, but Ranma had dramatically increased his speed in
the last month, so quite a few punches struck home. But for his trouble,
he received a Happo-Fire-Burst in his stomach. Both were driven back
by the respective attack and shook off the pain.
The audience was mesmerized by the combat. Never had they seen such
an intense fight. Not even half a minute had passed and first blood was
drawn on both sides. Ranma now had a small advantage though.
Normally Ranma's advantage in reach was compensated by Happosai's
greater speed. But both their speeds were the same now outside of the
special techniques.
Again the combatants started to tear into each other. Attacks were
blocked or countered at high speeds. Counters were redirected or
countered again. A knee hit Happosai's stomach, making him lose all his
air, but before Ranma could take advantage of it Happosai already
recovered and jumped up. The kick that followed the jump connected
with the arm that Ranma raised to block, but the spin continued and the
second kick that came from the other foot hit home on Ranma's head.
This continued for a good 10 minutes. Happosai threw another bomb, but
Ranma send a small ki-blast to counter. Using the smoke coming from
the explosion, Ranma shot forward and used the distraction for a 3-hit
combo that struck home. He retreated when he saw a pipe coming
towards his knee. The pipe missed his knee, but the follow up hit his
kidney. Gritting his teeth to ignore the pain he swiftly kicked forward,
hitting Happosai straight in the head. Happosai jumped back to get his
second wind. Ranma took this time to build up a bit more ki.
The final stage of the fight arrived. Both were ready to unleash their final
assault. Both started to build up their energies. A white light lighted the
entire environment, amazing the spectators. Both held out their hands,
like holding a ball and started to gather their energy there. When the balls
reached their maximum, the blasts were released. They encountered each
other half way. The destruction that followed was something straight out
of a Dragonball Z fight. Smoke and dust obscured everybody's vision. At

least, that was what it looked like. Happosai coughed a bit and rubbed his
eyes, hoping to clear the dust. When he finally could see a bit, he felt a
razor sharp edge on his throat.
A voice came from behind him. "Do you yield." It was Ranma's voice,
but Happosai couldn't figure out what was on his throat. Ranma didn't
have a weapon on him when the fight started and the hidden weapon
style was forbidden, since this was about the Grandmaster status of the
Anything Goes school.
"I yield if the weapon you are using now has been acquired through an
Anything Goes technique."
"It does, it's from my own techniques, so it belongs to the school. You
just didn't know the technique yet."
"Then I yield."
The edge disappeared from his throat. Happosai turned around and saw
Ranma standing there, relaxed with a completely white katana in his
hand. Something was off about the weapon though.
Seeing that Happosai's attention was on his weapon, he smirked and let
the energy go, dispersing the weapon. Happosai's eyes got as wide as
humanly possible. The blade was made of pure ki-energy. Not once in his
long life had he seen such control over ki. The boy had earned his status
with style and deserved every ounce of it. That was for sure.
"Congratulations, Grandmaster Ranma."
"Thank you, I hope to do honor to our school with my teachings."
"Don't worry boy. I had seen how you taught Ryoga. I had been there
since he started to experiment that Sunday. Your teaching was good. You
will do the school proud."
Finally a few people from the audience got their brain started again.
Quickly Nodoka and Kasumi ran over to Ranma to congratulate him on
his winning. While this was going on, Happosai quietly left the scene a
proud smile adorning his face. His legacy was safe in Ranma's capable
hands.
End of Chapter 3
Well, chapter 3 is finished sooner than I thought. I had some time over

today and just started typing. When I finish this, I really need to go to
bed. I've got school in the morning, but I just couldn't help myself :).
The first revision of I don't know how many...
This fic is now also hosted at:
- Anime Insomniac: http://www.geocities.com/animeinsomniac/main.html
- X-Fire Fandom Base: http://www.geocities.com/c_mach2k1/
Signing off,
TheNightstalker

Ancestral History
A Ranma 1/2 and Rurouni Kenshin Crossover, that bit is coming closer
and closer.
Disclaimer:
I do not like Brussels sprouts, in fact I really hate them. Wait that wasn't
the topic... I do not own any of these characters. If I did, I wouldn't be a
poor student.
Timeline:
This crossover will take place after manga 38 in the Ranma universe. For
Rurouni Kenshin it's after the anime and movie.
Bear with me people, it's my first fan-fiction and am doing the best I can.
English isn't my first language, so please don't yell at me about the errors,
I know my English isn't the best out there.
Chapter 4: The task at hand
By TheNightstalker
The rest of the evening was a daze to Ranma, though he could remember
his mother beating up Genma for suggesting that he and Akane should
wed the same evening to make it a perfect night. He'd have to thank his
mother for that later on. Then he remembered. Today was the day that he
would move back home. His mother wanted to move on Saturday, but
they had delayed it for a day because of the challenge. That meant he had
to break the news to everybody today. Nodoka had said that she wanted
to do that after breakfast, then pack and head over to the new home.
Genma could stay if he wanted to. He should better stay anyway for his

health's sake anyway. Ranma didn't think that Genma could survive living
with his wife for a prolonged period of time. The sun was barely coming
up when Ranma awoke. His joints were a bit stiff, the fight had been
pretty short, but really good and brutal.

With the decision made, he quickly got ready and made his way down.
He could hear Kasumi humming to herself while she was preparing
breakfast. Stopping in the doorway to the kitchen, he knocked just once
on the doorpost. Not expecting anybody up this early in the morning,
Kasumi almost dropped the bowl she was carrying around. She caught
herself on time and turned to the door, finding Ranma lazily leaning
against the doorpost.
"Morning Kasumi, mind if I give you a hand?"
She had seen the change in Ranma, but it still startled her. Quickly
recovering she nodded and told him what she was preparing. He caught
on to what had to be done and started to help. This went along till a shout
could be heard from upstairs.
"WHERE ARE YOU BOY, IT'S TIME FOR YOUR TRAINING."
After blinking a few times a smile grew on his face, a small remark on
the side, it wasn't a nice smile. It's the smile a cat uses when he got the
canary. He excused himself to Kasumi and said he would return in a few
minutes after dealing with his father. He calmly walked up the stairs and
opened the door to the guestroom.
"There you are boy, come we are late for training."
"Sorry pops, I'm busy. I'm helping Kasumi with breakfast. Now if you
don't mind, I'll be in the kitchen for the time being."
A look of rage could be seen growing on Genma's face. "What do you
mean preparing breakfast!! That's a woman's duty!"
"Oh, is that the problem, be right back." With that said he stepped into
the bathroom, splashed himself with cold water and returned to the
guestroom. "Happy? I've let Kasumi wait long enough, see you at
breakfast." She started to turn around to go downstairs, but Genma
couldn't contain his anger, but before Genma could attack, Ranma
continued to speak when she walked away. "And if you dare to attack me
in the back, I'll make sure you're thrown out of the school. I don't want

honorless backstabbers in the school."

That stopped Genma quite effectively. He had forgotten all about last
evening. He wasn't the sensei of his son anymore. His son was now his
master. And he didn't doubt that his son would execute her threat. Honor
meant everything to Ranma. Sighing once, he went back to his futon. No
sense in staying awake if breakfast isn't ready.
When Ranma stepped into the kitchen, Kasumi noticed that Ranma had
changed. Her curiosity got the better of her. "Why did you change
Ranma?"
"Huh? Oh pops said that making breakfast was a woman's job, so I
humored him." Not paying anymore attention to the question, she
continued what she had stopped earlier. Not daring to ask more questions
Kasumi continued her work as well.
With two experienced cooks on the job, breakfast was great. The whole
table was covered in dishes that looked to good to be true. Genma was
practically drooling, no wait, he really was drooling. The rest of the
household were a lot calmer, but even they had a hard time resisting the
food. Finally it was Nodoka who noticed that Ranma was female, but not
wet like usual after a sparring match with Genma. She voiced her
question and Ranma gave her reply.
"Pops whined about making breakfast wasn't a man's job, so I changed to
shut him up. Simple as that."
"Why did he say that anyway?"
"Oh, I wasn't in my room when he woke up, so when I came up he tried
to make me attack him by insulting me. I didn't bite into the bait, that's
all."
Nodoka almost started to giggle when she heard Ranma's explanation.
The way Ranma had reacted to Genma's taunt showed how much he had
come to terms with his curse. She could see in her son's eyes that his son
still didn't like changing into a girl, because of his upbringing, but it was
tolerated. Because of the possibility of a cure being as good a zero, zilch,
nada, he had thought up other uses for it. Therefore making the curse
bearable and useful.
After breakfast, it was Nodoka that broke the news about Ranma's moval
to her mother's house. The reactions around the table differed greatly.
The older men started yelling and crying about the school never being

joined and something about ungrateful sons. He stopped their wining by

summoning his ki-katana, make it blunt instead of sharp and hit them
about their heads. It seemed that Cologne had another influence in his
teaching as well, crude though effective. Nabiki looked shocked, she saw
all her beautiful yen just fly out the window. Kasumi just 'Oh my'ed and
went to the kitchen to refill everybody's tea. Akane... Akane jumped up
and stormed up to her room, slamming the door on her way. Neither
Ranma nor Nodoka made any sign of getting up to go after her. Ranma
had already made clear that it just wasn't worth the effort anymore.
Finally Ranma stood up and went upstairs, but instead of knocking on
Akane's door as usual, she walked over to the guestroom and grabbed the
pack she had prepared in secret the night before. Downstairs, Nodoka
was already waiting for Ranma to come down. She had a cup of warm
water at hand in case her son wanted to change back. Coming down,
Ranma noted the cup and nodded her thanks, before she emptied it on her
head, now his head. After returning the cup to the kitchen they made their
way to the gate. But before they could cross the yard a large shape
doomed up on front of them.
"Out of the way pops, I'm going home." The voice was calm, but the
hidden threat that was sent through the eyes was more than clear.
Genma gulped but stood his ground. "You are going back in there and
marry a Tendo Ranma, even if it is the last thing I do."
"Are you ordering me around pops?" A tone of humor could be heard in
the question.
"Off course, I am your father. You will do as I say and go and unite the
schools!"
"So you dare to order your master around, since this is school business."
Again a tone of humor could be found. Nodoka just watched silently, she
already saw what was coming.
"You are not my master!" Soun who had come out and heard the last few
sentences of the conversation gasped. Genma had just insulted the new
master and he didn't know yet how Ranma would reply to such a thing.
"Did you hear that mother?" Nodoka nodded. "With my witness, I have
heard Genma Saotome renounce the school of Anything Goes. He no
longer has the right to use the teachings of my school and is without a
master. The Saotome school of Anything Goes has ended, for I practice
the complete Anything Goes, taught by Happosai, extended with my own

techniques and teachings." He then turned to Soun. "You are still

licensed to teach the Tendo school of Anything Goes and I sincerely hope
you will start teaching again soon or the school will die a needless death.
The pact between the Tendo school and the Saotome school is no more,
for there is no Saotome school. Goodbye and thank you for your
hospitality." With that said, Ranma and Nodoka continued on their way
leaving Genma behind who was imitating Soun's usual crying.
The trip home was a quiet one, both lost in their own thoughts. Ranma
thinking about what Genma was going to do now that he has lost control
over his son and Nodoka about how her life with Genma had been. Both
came to the same conclusion. Their lives would be a lot better without
him.
The house looked as good as new, it was even a lot bigger than before.
While Ranma was admiring the house, Nodoka unlocked the door and
went. Ranma walked around the house once and then followed. His
mother was already in the kitchen preparing tea. She called to Ranma to
put his pack in his bedroom. His room was easy to locate. The door had a
small horse on it with the name Ranma on it. After putting the pack
inside he joined his mother in the kitchen.
When the tea was prepared, they went over to the living room. It was
there that Ranma saw something that was out of the ordinary. Under the
Saotome honor sword was another, it looked like a normal katana in a
black sheath. His mother noticed the gaze and went over to retrieve the
blade. She motioned for Ranma to sit down, so he did. She took a
position across from him, so they could sit face to face and began to talk.
"I see you noticed this sword. I found it again when the old house was
destroyed. It was stored in the attic, but I found it too important to let it
lay there any longer. Connected to this sword is a story from my side of
the family. Do you wish to hear it, it is a part of you history as well."
Ranma told her to continue, anything to learn more about his mother.
"All right, but I'll first fill our tea cups. I think I could use something to
drink during this story." After filling the tea cups and taking a small sip,
she continued once again. "My maiden's name is Kamiya Nodoka. I came
from a family that used to practice the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu. It used to be
taught here in Tokyo, but things happened in the past that made us loose
our dojo. But that isn't important. This is a story about what happened
before that time, it's about the time that the original owner of this sword
came to live with our family.
But first you'll need to know a little more about the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu
before I continue with the rest. It's a kendo style oriented on protecting

the people. One usually practices it with he boken because it is a nonkilling style. You might wonder why I carry a steel katana around then.
Simply because it is an honor blade, carrying a wooden sword around
with it would be insulting to the honor of the house that owns the blade.
Now to go back to the owner of this sword. You might have heard from
him. In that time he had disappeared for ten years, but his fighting name
was still known around the land. He was the Hitokiri Battousai." Ranma
gasped, he had heard about the legends of this warrior, that helped the
land to the Meiji era. To know that such a legendary warrior is one of
your ancestors was almost to much for him. He quickly gave his attention
back to his mother so she could finish her story. "Yes, he is a part of our
line. I never told Genma about this because of his stupid notion about
weapons and the fact that he would abuse this kind of knowledge. The
Battousai, or Himura Kenshin as he was known to my ancestor Kamiya
Kaoru practiced a sword style known as Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. It was a
lot like your Anything Goes, just with a weapon. Unpredictability and
speed were the strong points of this style. It's purpose was also to protect
the innocent like with the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu. He told Kaoru that he
had become a ronin, so without a master he became a warrior that fought
for the weak and for those suppressed. After they met, a couple of things
happened which lead to him living with Kaoru. After a series of
adventures, that for the most part have been lost in time, they finally
married. Because of the dojo, Kenshin took the family name of Kaoru, so
that the legacy could continue. He never taught the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu
to anyone else, he had never met anyone that was worthy and he wanted
his children to live by the Kamiya budo. Besides, the style was just too
dangerous according to him, even with the weakest of techniques one
could kill his opponent. When he became a ronin he had sworn he would
never kill again, so he used this sword. A sakabatou." With that she
unsheathes the sword. It reflects in the light of the sun, showing that the
cutting edge is on the backside.
It surprised Ranma that the once Hitokiri would swear not to kill again,
but he was glad about it. He had a thing against killing humans as well.
In his entire life he has killed only once, Jusendo. Fortunately the godling
he killed immediately resurrected, putting his conscious a bit at ease. He
got up and walked around the table to his mother. His mother still had the
sakabatou is her hands.
When he touched the sword a bright light blinded him. As soon as he
could see again, he noticed he wasn't in the Saotome house anymore. He
was on a plateau that had no apparent end which lay under a beautiful
blue sky. A voice spoke behind him.

"Hello Saotome Ranma."

He quickly turned around and saw two women. The first who had spoken
was a beautiful tanned woman in her twenties with long platinum hair.
The outfit she wore left nothing to his imagination. The girl next to her
was a lot younger, about 14. She wore a more conservative suit of
clothing and had long black hair. Against her back was a long hammer
strapped. Both had strange markings on their faces. "Who are you two
and where am I!"
"Please be calm Ranma, we mean no harm to you. I am Urd, goddess of
the past, this here is my little sister Skuld, goddess of the future. We have
summoned you to this place, for we need your help."
[Back at the Saotome house]
When the light didn't blind her anymore Nodoka noticed her son was
replaced by someone else. The best way to describe her was Kasumi with
a few markings on her face.
"Hello Mrs. Saotome. I am Belldandy, goddess of the present. Your son is
fine, so you don't have to worry. He is being asked to do a job for us. If
he accepts, he will be back in a couple of days, if not he will be back in
an hour or so. Do not worry, even if he accepts our task, he will never be
permanently harmed, for he is under our protection as long as it takes. I
am forbidden by Kami-sama to give you the details of the task, but rest
assure, it is important."
Nodoka was without words, in her living room stood a real life goddess.
Finally her manners caught up with her, she excused herself and rushed
into the kitchen for a cup for the goddess. Soon both of them were
enjoying a nice cup of tea and were soon chatting about this and that. It
seemed that the goddess had been living on Earth for a while now and
knew a lot of the current events in the world. Belldandy had made clear
that as long that Ranma was thinking about the assignment, Belldandy
would remain to put Nodoka at ease.
[Side dimension. Or New York, nobody knows for sure.]
"My help? Why would a goddess need me?"
"That is an easy answer, we are not allowed to directly intervene with
earth. This is an exception because of a mistake once made that needs to
be corrected. It has by accident involved your family. To be more precise,
your ancestors."

That caught all of Ranma's attention. If his family was involved, he had
to make sure they were okay. It was the goddess Skuld that then spoke
up.
"A threat of the future will threaten your past. I am forbidden to give you
all the details, since the future is still largely an unknown, but this is a
certainty that may never pass. This is what I am allowed to tell you.
Someone in your line will save the future of the entire earth. Because of
this the enemy of your line will send a group of 'people' back into the
past to wipe out your line. To be more precise, the line of your mother."
Urd spoke up again. "You know who we mean Ranma. They are the
people your mother just told you about. People from the future are
planning to kill them, so your line won't exist in the future. We chose this
moment to get you, since this is the time you learned about your line."
Something was not adding up here, why go to a time where there is a
strong fighter in the house. Surely there are times that the line isn't that
strong. He voiced his question. Urd answered him.
"It is because that is the first time that they can lock onto a time where
your family exists. They need a target to lock onto. The children of
Kaoru's and Kenshin's union are protected by a quirk in Kenshin's genes.
You have it as well. To be simple about it, it's a chaos gene. Nobody can
really predict what you are going to do. That's why your line will be able
to save the future. You must have noticed the chaos in your life."
Ranma nodded. It explained a lot for him and the chaos in his life. The
chaos was hereditary from Kenshin's line. So the first time they could
lock onto his family was Kaoru's time, before she became a mother. But
they still hadn't told him what they needed him for.
"So, what do you need me for then."
"The nature of the time machine they are going to use will not be able to
send metal through it. So they can't send modern weaponry to help them.
But that isn't the problem. The people they are going to send aren't
human anymore. The best way to describe them are half-demons. They
look human, but the speed and strength they have aren't. Because
Kenshin swore to never kill a human again, he will fail. That's were you
come in. First you can try to get Kenshin to teach you the Hiten
Mitsurugi Ryu, giving you back a part of your heritage. Second you must
make sure your line survives, by convincing Kenshin and helping him
with it. These half-demons live an accursed life. They can only obey the

orders of their commanders, so just beating them won't help, they'll just
come back again till the job is finished. We will come to you again as
soon as the job is finished and bring you back home."
Not really a choice for Ranma, go back to help his line or stay and never
exist. "I accept the task."
"Thank you Ranma, you just might have saved the future. You will find
yourself at the edge of Tokyo in the year 1879." With that Urd began to
chant in a language not often heard by humans before. Again he
disappeared into a bright light. After he was gone Urd turned to her
younger sister.
"Skuld, why didn't you tell him that he was the one who was going to
save the future?"
"Because it is the future. He will live such a long life, he doesn't need to
know what life has in store for him. I just feel bad that we have to use
him to clean up our mess."
"Yeah, I know what you mean. They made those soldiers from that frozen
demon they found. I never thought that one of our battles with demons
could lead to this."
It was then that a third voice spoke. "That's why we are also glad you
have done something about it."
"MARA! Show yourself!" Urd shouted.
"Don't yell, I'm behind you." The goddesses turned around and found the
demoness standing behind them. "You must think it is strange that we are
glad about your intervening. It's not really. Those half-demons will
destroy the entire world when they finally go berserk, belief me they
will. Hell has no need for a destroyed planet. It is much more useful and
fun the way it is now. We are evil, but we don't want the entire thing
destroyed, so we won't interfere with Saotome Ranma's mission." With
that she went up in a cloud of black smoke, leaving two stunned
goddesses behind.
[Saotome house]
"He has chosen to accept the task Mrs. Saotome. I don't know exactly
when he will be back, but it won't be long. As I already told you, you
don't have to worry. I hope we meet again. It was nice talking to you."
With that, she walked toward the mirror that hang on the wall.

"Thank you for informing me about what is happening to my son and

especially for making sure I don't have to worry about him. I do hope we
meet again." It irked her that her son was once again taken from her. But
her son had had a choice now, so if he accepted, it would have been
important. And it wouldn't be long. She had waited ten years. She could
wait a little bit longer. She hung the sword back under the Saotome blade
and went into the kitchen to clean the cups.
[Edge of Tokyo year 1879]
Again Ranma had to wait till his eyes could see again. This time he
found himself at the edge of a large city exactly like Urd had told him.
The city really looked old fashioned to him, but that was to be expected.
He took a step forward and bumped into something. Looking down he
saw his own pack standing there with a letter attached. It was addressed
to him. Opening it he found the following letter.
"Dear Ranma,
Sorry for the sudden departure, but there was no other way. Do not worry
about your mother, she has been visited and knows you will be gone for a
short while. Because this is time travel, it doesn't matter when you want
to leave, you will arrive only a few days after departure. These days are a
sort of security measure. They will make sure you can not run into
yourself.
Now to the subject on hand. You will need to find the Kamiya Dojo. It is
marginally known in the area you are near so finding it should not be a
problem.
You are a student looking to learn the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. Do not
mention anything about that is going to happen, for you could create a
paradox. If you can not convince Kenshin Himaru to take you on as a
student, tell him to meet with his old master. We will make sure that
everything will be in order when you arrive there. It is imperative for you
to learn the style, otherwise it will be lost in the future. That would be a
great loss for mankind, since it is a strong style with a sakabatou or your
own ki-katana.
While learning the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, you will be doing the other part
of the assignment. Protecting your ancestors that is. Do remember that in
this time you aren't the Grandmaster of the Anything Goes yet, so be
careful about what you tell everybody. You do not have to worry about
Happosai, he is alive in this era, but he is still in China since he didn't

want to be in the war.

Try not to make too much trouble, but make sure that this trip is
enjoyable for you.
Have fun and good luck,
Kami-sama, lord of creation and all that is.
P.S. In your pack you will find some money to buy food and or pay for
your training."
He read the letter once, then he read it again, and again, and again. This
letter could only come from a higher being simply because of the
mentioning of his technique. Almost nobody knew about it. And in this
era, nobody knew about it.
He folded the letter and put it back in the envelope, then he hid the letter
deep at the bottom of his pack under the rest of the clothing. He also
found the money that was mentioned in the letter. He then lifted his pack
and made his way into the city. Finally coming to a part of the city that
was a little bit busier than the rest, his stomach started to rumble.
Looking around he saw a place where he could eat. He found one not far
away and opened the door to enter.
"Welcome to the Akabeko, a table for one?" The voice belong to a girl
with a haircut similar to Nabiki's. She seemed to be around 14 years old
and was dressed in a nice kimono.
"Yes please."
He is guided to one of the grills and made his order. She takes the order
and tells him to call for Tsubame, that's her, if he needs anything else.
Across from him in another boot are sitting three other people. Two of
them look a bit like bums, but the third one is a bit strange. He is
completely dressed in white and has his hair like that of a... chicken? The
thought of this being Nerima in the Meiji era shoots through his mind.
He dismisses it and soon the food arrives.
Finishing his meal he motioned Tsubame over for payment. She gladly
accepts the tip he gave, but when she started to leave he asked her a
question.
"Excuse me, Tsubame was it? Could you tell me how to get to the
Kamiya Dojo from here?"

That got the attention of the guy in white across. He jerks his head
around and stares at Ranma. Then proceeds to get up and walks over.
"What is your business there?" The hidden threat in those words was
more than clear to Ranma. Seeing how this will end, Tsubame got clear
of the table. She knew that the man in white had a small temper.
"I am looking for a man called Himura Kenshin. What I seek with him is
my own business."
That got the guy in white a bit angry. "I make it my business, Kenshin's a
friend."
Seeing that this man was only trying to protect Kenshin, Ranma changed
tactics. "If he's your friend, could you show me how to get to him? I'm
searching for him to become his student."
The expression on the man in white changed in an instant. "You are not
here to challenge him?"
"Nope, should I?" Playing stupid could be so much fun.
"Euhh, no. If you are not here to challenge him, I'll take you to him." He
finished in thought.
"Great, let's go." Ranma got up, donned his pack and walked out. The
man followed him. When he came out Ranma spoke up. "Shouldn't you
pay your bill as well?" The moment he finished talking Tsubame stormed
out and addressed the man.
"Sanosuke, you still have to pay for your food." Her expression was
chiding.
"Put it on my tab, I forgot my money. I'll come by later, ok?" His face
was shining with innocence, false innocence that is. A huge sweatdrop
could be seen on Ranma's face as he looked at the man he now knew as
Sanosuke. It was clear he was lying and didn't have a penny to his name.
"You better." With that she went back inside.
"So, what's your name kid?"
Ignoring the 'kid' comment he responded. "Saotome Ranma. Ready to
lead?"

Sanosuke just nodded and started to walk. While walking he kept the
corner of his eyes fixed at Ranma. Ranma just pretended he didn't notice
and took in the sights. One of the things he noticed was the air. It was a
lot cleaner than at home, but that wasn't a big surprise. Sanosuke had
other things on his mind, he couldn't figure the kid out. He was looking
around as if this was the first time in a city. Then there were the cloths
the kid was wearing. While the kid was Japanese, that much was clear,
the cloths were Chinese. Then there was the way Ranma walked. Glided
was more like it. Even a predator didn't move so fluently. He was clearly
a fighter, but he couldn't say how good. Might be fun to find out though.
They came to the dojo much to soon to Sanosuke's dismay. He had been
studying Ranma the whole time, but still couldn't say if he was a threat or
not.
Ranma noticed the sign next to the door and smiled at Sanosuke.
"Thanks." Then knocked on the door.
It was opened by a man, not much bigger than his girl-side. One thing
that struck him was the color his hair. It was red, as red as that of his girlside. He also wore a red, almost pink, shirt and a white hakama. A sword
was on his side. Ranma guessed this to be Kenshin.
Kenshin saw a young man of about 17 stand in front of him with a red
Chinese shirt and black Kung-Fu pants. He had black hair that ended in a
pigtail and the bluest of eyes he had ever seen. He then noticed Sanosuke
stand behind him.
"Yes, may I help you?"
"Good day. My name is Saotome Ranma. I am looking for a man called
Himura Kenshin. Are you him?"
"Yes I am. What do you need me for?" Kenshin just hoped it wasn't
another challenger, but by the look of Sano it wasn't. Sanosuke was just
standing there. He didn't know what to expect, but it wasn't a fight, that
was for sure. Kenshin noticed how relaxed Sano was, so he didn't expect
a fight as well.
"I wish to be your student." He said simply.
End of Chapter 4.
Another revision ready, 5 will be up as soon as possible.

I am proud to announce that this fic is now hosted at:

- Anime Insomniac: http://www.geocities.com/animeinsomniac/main.html
- X-Fire Fandom Base: http://www.geocities.com/c_mach2k1/
Every review and C&C is still appreciated and read.
See ya,
TheNightstalker.

Ancestral History
A Ranma 1/2 and Rurouni Kenshin Crossover
Disclaimer:
All the characters used in this work are not the property of this lowly
writer that is borrowing them for the moment.
Timeline:
This crossover will take place after manga 38 in the Ranma universe. For
Rurouni Kenshin it's after the anime and movie.
Bear with me people, it's my first fan-fiction and am doing the best I can.
English isn't my first language, so please don't yell at me about the errors,
I know my English isn't the best out there. And sorry, no, I don't use
prereaders.
Chapter 5: Me, a teacher?
by TheNightstalker
"I wish to be your student." He said simply.
Kenshin didn't know what to say. After learning the succession technique
he was qualified to teach, but it had never come up before. He probably
still needed to ask his master for permission, since he had rejected a part
of the philosophy, but still... So he could come up with only one response
to the statement at hand.
"Why?" Sano was a bit surprised by this reply, he had expected a simple
'Oro?'.
"I have my reasons, bit I don't think that the front door is the place to
discuss them." A small smile was seen on Ranma's face. He already liked

his ancestor. The aura he gave off was really dual sided, one side was a
lot like Kasumi's. The other was a bit harder, that was probably the side
of himself that he used for a fight. He then turned to Sano. "Thank you
for bringing me here."
"No problem. Say Kenshin, I'll just go talk to Kaoru while you deal with
the kid here." Sano responded and walked past Kenshin towards the
house.
It was enough to bring Kenshin out of his thoughts and he dumbly
nodded at Sano. "You are right, such a conversation is not something to
do at the door. Would you please follow me Saotome-dono."
With that he started towards the house as well.
"Please, just call me Ranma. Everybody does." With that said, he
followed Kenshin. But not before closing the door behind him.
Soon both of them could be found at the table with a cup of tea, which
Kenshin had prepared for them. After a small amount of silence, it was
Kenshin who finally broke it.
"I think it would be best to continue the conversation as it was going at
the door, so please tell me why you wish to be my student." A bit of
curiosity was clearly visible on Kenshin's face. It would be nice to have a
successor, but the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu was a demanding Art if nothing
else. One must make sure that it is taught to the right people. If not the
results could and will be disastrous. Amakusa Shougo was a good
example of that. He had taken a wrong turn with the philosophy behind
the Art.
"Where to begin on that answer, I got it. All my life I have been taught in
the Art of unarmed combat. With it came the code of the Martial Artist.
One of the things of the code is to protect the weak and innocent. I have
tried to live up to that code as best as I possibly can. Now, with a few
recent developments in my life, it has come to my attention that it would
be best to learn about weapons as well. It was then that one of my
relatives told me about you and your style. Before you ask, I am sorry, I
am forbidden to give you the name of that person. But I can tell you that
she follows the same budo that you do and I do. Live to protect in short.
She told me what she knew about the style and what she knew about the
current users. She knew that the so-called Hitokiri Battousai used the
style during the war, so I set out to find this person and hope to become
his student. Now why Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu and not another. It is because
it is already a lot like my own unarmed style. Speed is one of the most
important things in the style as well as unpredictability. Those are also

the key elements of my style. And off course there is the budo of my
style and the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. Both are meant to protect the
innocent." He thought to himself as an afterthought.
"Please let me think on it for a while, it is not a light decision for me.
You are welcome to stay as long as I think about it, if Kaoru agrees that
is. It is after all her house."
"I am willing to pay for my stay here. Before you protest, listen to me
please. Because of things in my past I have grown a adversity to
freeloading, so I will try to make up for my stay. I could just pay some
kind of rent or help around the house or a combination of both, but
please let me help in something." It really had bugged Ranma that they
had to freeload of the Tendo's. But the fact remained that he had no
money in those days and when he finally had some money, it went
directly or indirectly to Nabiki. He didn't mind, because he knew that
Nabiki made sure that the bills were paid at the Tendo's. In his own way
he contributed as much as possible. He could have stopped Nabiki from
taking photo's, but the money she made of them helped with the bills.
"Let's go see Kaoru about this, she is the one to decide about who stays
here or not. I am only a guest here. She probably is in the dojo now,
teaching Yahiko."
So they made their way over to the dojo. It seemed Kenshin was right.
The sound of wood clashing against wood could be heard from the
outside. Inside they found Kaoru and Yahiko sparring. Sano was resting
against the wall. The way he was paying attention suggested he was
acting like some kind of judge. He even didn't notice Kenshin and Ranma
entering. It wasn't until they were about 10 feet away that they caught
Sano's attention.
"Hey Kenshin. What's up, did you take on the kid?" Neither of them
noticed Ranma's eye twitching at the 'kid' comment.
"I'm still thinking about it." Kenshin replied matter of factly. Both
Kenshin and Ranma took a seat next to Sano. Soon Kenshin noticed why
Sano's attention was on the fight so much. Yahiko had really improved,
Kaoru was having a hard time keeping the advantage. In the end she still
won, but it wasn't an easy victory any more.
Yahiko rubbed the bruise he was now sporting on his forehead. "Ow, that
really hurt you old hag."
"What did you call me?" Kaoru's face had taken on ridiculous

proportions with her teeth getting pointed and her eyes burning red.
Yahiko's head took on a similar shape, but not as refined yet. "You heard
me!"
A cough brought them out of their fight. They noticed the people against
the wall and noticed that Kenshin still had his fist against his mouth from
when he had coughed. Beside Kenshin was a boy they hadn't seen
before.
Seeing Ranma made both heads deflate and turn red in embarrassment.
Ranma himself didn't really react to the demonheads. Mr. Tendo's had
been a lot scarier, but he had to admit that the teeth were impressive.
When he noticed that they were staring at him, while being embarrassed
as hell he decided it would be the perfect time to present himself.
He got up and walked over with Kenshin following him closely and
introduced himself. "Hi, I'm Saotome Ranma. Pleased to meet you."
Kaoru's cheeks returned to normal and she introduced herself as well.
"Hello as well, I'm Kamiya Kaoru. Master of this dojo. This baka here
besides me is Myojin Yahiko. He is my best student at the moment."
Yahiko raised a hand as a greeting. "So what brings you to this dojo
Saotome-san?"
"Please call me Ranma, Saotome-san makes me feel too old Kamiya-san.
I came here to ask Himura-san to take me on as a student." Ranma
replied.
Kaoru didn't know what to say. Here was someone of about 18 years old
who wanted to become a student. The only thing was, he didn't want to
be her student, even though the dojo could need them. Yahiko was
speechless as well. He had wanted to be Kenshin's student as well but
Kenshin had ensured that he would become Kaoru's student. It wouldn't
be fair to him if he would take on Ranma instead of him. Still he was
trying to keep his calm. Kenshin hadn't said yet that he had taken on
Ranma, so there was still hope. That is until Kenshin spoke.
"Kaoru-dono, is it possible that Ranma could stay here as long as I think
about it. He doesn't have a place to stay here in Tokyo."
Ranma continued as soon as Kenshin stopped speaking. "I am willing to
pay for my stay Kamiya-san. And I will always try to help out where ever
I can as well if needed."

"Euh, uhm, that is..." "Okay. We will work something out later on Ran..."
That's when Yahiko interrupted and pointed at Ranma with his boken.
"I CHALLENGE YOU!!!"
"Excuse me? Why?"
He tried to calm down a bit so he could respond a bit more normally, buy
he didn't see Kenshin, Kaoru and Sano stare at him. They had never seen
Yahiko respond like that before. "If you can beat me than you are worthy
enough to be his student." His face showed a bit of hurt that he had
hidden all this time so he quickly turned his head away. "I wasn't, so I
need to make sure that you are."
Kenshin stepped forward and laid a hand on Yahiko's shoulder. "You
don't need to do this Yahiko. I didn't know that it had hurt you that much.
I am sorry, but I don't think you would want to carry the burden that my
budo entails. I'm not even sure that Ranma here could, but he does
understand it a lot better than you did at that time because his current
budo is a lot like it from what I understand."
That got Yahiko's attention. He had been so preoccupied that he didn't
notice Ranma's build. Now he did pay attention he could see that Ranma
had experience in fighting, he just couldn't see how much. Still, he had
issued the challenge and he wouldn't forgive himself if he retracted it
now. "I still wish to continue with the challenge if you both don't mind. I
have already issued it and it would be dishonorable to retract it now."
Ranma didn't know what to think. He hadn't known that the boy named
Yahiko had been turned down by Kenshin. He was still obligated to meet
any challenge by his budo of the Anything Goes, so if Yahiko let the
challenge stand he would have to meet it. Finally he found a way to
approach this. "I am honored to know that you regard Himura-san that
high. So I am also honored to accept your challenge. You may set the
conditions for the fight since you issued the challenge."
"I may? Uhm, yes off course. Non-lethal combat till one of us gives up or
goes unconscious, okay? Kenshin would you be the judge?"
The three others were following the final exchange with great interest, it
was just like when Yahiko came to Tsubame's rescue. Then he wanted to
finish it because it was a matter of honor. This was the same thing, he
had issued a challenge and they could see that Yahiko wouldn't be steered
from his path. The only way to make sure that nothing serious was to
come of it would be that Kenshin would be the judge. That way serious

wounds could be prevented. Kenshin and Sano had an ulterior motive to

let the match continue. It would give them an estimate of what Ranma
was already capable of. Kaoru just hoped that Yahiko would be all right.
She had a bit more experience in guessing the capabilities of an
adversary. She had noticed how gracefully Ranma had gotten up from his
position next to Kenshin and the unconscious grace he used while
walking. It seemed that Yahiko had bitten off a bit more than he could
chew. She noticed that Kenshin gave here a sign, that said that she had
the final word in this. She nodded her approval.
"I would be honored Yahiko."
With that Kaoru and Sano moved to the side. Kenshin took a position in
the middle of the dojo while Yahiko and Ranma stood to either side of
him in their ready positions. He stepped back and gave the sign to start
the match. "FIGHT!"
As soon as the sign was given Yahiko rushed at Ranma with his boken
raised high for a high blow. When Yahiko came close and started his
swing Ranma dodged to the side and took a bit more distance. He didn't
want to hurt the boy and he knew for sure that Yahiko couldn't take his
punches yet. If he would pull his punches it could insult the boy, so he
decided on a different approach. Pressure points. He didn't know that
many, but he knew the few that induced unconsciousness or made the
muscles lock or release. Cologne had used them often enough on him and
he had read a few scrolls that doctor Tofu had owned.
Yahiko came in again. This time he tried a slash from the side. He had
noticed that Ranma hadn't been paying attention for a moment and hoped
to take advantage of it. The opening was there when the attack began, but
he met no resistance. It seemed like the attack had gone straight through
Ranma. He then felt a sting in his neck and darkness claimed him.
Sano was stupefied. The speed Ranma had used was incredible. It almost
seemed like he had teleported from in front of Yahiko to his backside.
Ranma then proceeded to press his finger into Yahiko's neck which
followed by Yahiko dropping to the ground unconscious.
Kenshin was impressed. He wasn't a stranger to speed so he could follow
Ranma's movements. He had seen Ranma jump up and make a flip over
Yahiko's head and then followed up with a pressure point that induced
unconsciousness. The problem was he didn't know for sure if this was the
full extend of Ranma's speed. Well, it wasn't really a problem but he was
curious.

Kaoru had the same reaction as Sano. For her Ranma had teleported as
well. She knew that the final attack was a pressure point. She knew of
them so she could make people lose their weapon by pressing a point on
their wrist. This one was a new one to her though.
"The challenge is won by Saotome Ranma." Kenshin said. With that said
Kaoru rushed to Yahiko. She was glad that Ranma had finished the fight
in this way. This way the fight was won honorable with the least damage
to Yahiko. She crouched down and lifted Yahiko a bit. This movement
made the boy awaken slowly.
"Uuughh, did I win?"
He heard his opponent reply. "I'm sorry, you lost. The dizziness will
disappear in a few moments."
"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!!!"
Everybody but Yahiko jumped at the shout since he was still being held
by Kaoru. This had a not so nice side effect. When Kaoru jumped she
dropped him and his head hit the ground rather hard. A large THUNK
sounded through the dojo.
After everybody calmed down a bit, well Sano had to calm down, they
tended to Yahiko's head and made themselves comfortable at the table in
the house. Except for Yahiko and Sano that is. Yahiko decided to go to
bed to let his head rest a bit and Sano had a meeting (drinking
appointment at a bar) with Katsu. With a cup of tea they decided to finish
the conversation that Yahiko had interrupted with his challenge.
"You said you were willing to pay for your stay Ranma?" Kaoru asked.
"Yes, it is the least I could do for a place to stay. I don't know anyone
around here so it is this or camping out for me. I wouldn't mind camping
out since I've done it for more than ten years on my training trip but I've
come to appreciate a roof over my head in the last two years of my life."
Kenshin decided to keep quiet in this part. It was after all Kaoru's house.
He would speak up again as soon as it was necessary. Kaoru thought for
a bit and came to an amount that would be enough for food and lodging.
She mentioned the amount and Ranma was more than happy to oblige.
He went over to his pack and pulled out enough for the first month. It
was then that Kenshin decided to join the conversation.
"Since we are having a nice cup of tea, why don't you tell a bit about

yourself Ranma. It would be nice to know you a bit better."

After handing the money to Kaoru he thought for a bit. He really didn't
know where to begin. He still had to be careful with his story. If he
mentioned the wrong thing they could notice that something was wrong.
If he could keep dates and places out of his story he would be able to tell
his story without lying to much. Lying was something that he almost
couldn't live with, it had bugged him greatly when he had to lie to his
mother. The first thing he decided to tell was his curse. It wasn't like he
could keep it a secret for long. He had not been splashed this whole
morning so that was a miracle on his own but he was sure that his luck
would run out sooner or later. Probably sooner knowing his luck.
"Well the first 5 years of my life were normal. After that it all changed.
When I was about 5 my father took me on a journey to make me the best
Martial Artist possible even if it killed me. That's right, even if it killed
me, not him. I survived the next 10 years but I don't want to tell you of
the horrors I saw on that trip. Let's just say that no parent like that has a
right to live. It was after those ten years that my life really became one
hellhole. My pops came upon the bright idea to visit a trainings ground in
China called Jusenkyo. Now a trainings ground isn't a bad idea, it's just
that this one happens to be cursed." He stopped to look at their reactions.
They were pretty much the same as always. Eyes filled with disbelief. So
he continued. "The trainings ground exists out of a series of pools with
bamboo sticks on them. Those are used for balance practice before the
curses began. In every pool something has drowned. When you fall into
one of the pools you take on the form of what drowned there." He stuck
his finger into his tea and was relieved it had cooled down enough for a
demonstration. "I knocked my father in the pool of drowned panda, so
when he came up he had the body of a panda. Seeing him in this form
made me drop my guard and he got the drop on me and knocked me into
another pool." With that he dumped his cold tea on his head and waited
till the change was complete. "The spring of drowned girl." She finished
in her soprano voice.
Kenshin and Kaoru couldn't believe their eyes. They had always thought
magic to be a myth, but here right before their eyes was living proof that
magic existed. There was no way that Ranma could have faked this, the
change was to smooth and fast for that. Ranma continued talking before
they could respond.
"It is a water based curse. Cold water changes me into this form, hot
water changes me back. And no, it doesn't affect my mind so my mind
stays male all the time." He took some hot water from the pot used for
the tea and changed back. The transformation was just as interesting for

his hosts as the last time. They watched wide eyed as he regained his
height and lost his chest. "I thought it would be best if I showed you right
from the start."
Kaoru and Kenshin just nodded, they still hadn't regained their voices.
"Want to know about the next two years? They're even weirder." His
voice dropped to a whisper and he turned his head away for a bit. "And a
lot more pain fuller for me." The whisper was soft, very soft but Kenshin
heard it. The pain he heard in the voice was great.
Kenshin came to a decision, but after seeing the curse he still had a bit of
trouble of finding his voice. "P-p-please continue Ranma-dono. I'm very
interested in how you achieved your current level in the Arts." Kenshin
was curious what had caused Ranma so much pain. The really strange
thing was that he hadn't noticed it before. It looked like Ranma was used
to hiding that pain from everybody. That isn't good for a person, so he
hoped that Ranma could come to terms with it if he told them about it.
Ranma thought about it, should he really tell them everything that had
happened to him. Well, why not. They hadn't called him names yet
because of his curse or they hadn't jumped to conclusions because of it,
so they could hear the rest if they could keep this open mind. Especially
Kenshin, if the man is going to be his teacher he deserved to know more
about his students life. The only one he had talked about this was his
mother and after looking in Kaoru's eyes he could see where she got her
sensitive nature from. He decided that both of them deserved the full
story.
Ranma began his story and only after a few minutes Kenshin was glad
that Yahiko wasn't here, neither were Ayame-chan and Suzume-chan. He
didn't think that this kind of life is something they should know about.
His life hadn't been exemplary but his master had at least acted like a
father figure in his life. It seemed that the father of Ranma hadn't.
Ranma told them the story of his life, the tragedy that it is in all its glory.
How old friends turned out to be enemies or fiances. How he hadn't
known his mother his whole life and when she finally came into his life,
he had to hide from her because of his fathers stupidity. How he helped
his friends only to find them stabbing him in the back when he turned
around. A father that only thought with his stomach. Amazons that tried
to force him into a life that he hated. How the actions of his father came
to haunt him in that whole time period. The breaking of a vow not to kill
to save the girl he gave his heart to, only to have it returned shattered,
bruised, broken and burned afterwards.

That only left the last month to tell about. But he decided to first look at
the reactions that Kaoru and Kenshin gave him. During his story they had
interrupted very little and only to ask a few more details. Both of them
almost couldn't believe the youth that sat in front of them, but there was
no sign that he had lied to them. Even when they asked for details he
could give them without hesitation. Kaoru had to fight down the urge to
throw up a few times when she heard how the boy had suffered, Kenshin
was thinking about how maiming a certain panda wasn't killing...
He had seen the faces his hosts wore before. Kaoru's face was almost the
same when he had told his mother everything he had endured. Kenshin's
face also mirrored his mother's, this time on the moment she realized
what the cause was for most of his problems and wanted to resolve it for
him in an old fashioned way. "There is only one month left to tell about
before I began on my trip. For me that month was the turn about in my
life. In it I finally resolved the pro..."
"Ken-nii!" Two voices shouted through the living room. After the voices
followed two little girls about the age of 4 and 6. They rushed besides
either side of Ranma into Kenshin who had opened his arms the moment
he heard them coming in.
"Oro? Ayame-chan, Suzume-chan, how was your day with Genzaisensei." Kenshin warmly replied. The face of anger he had a few
moments ago had vanished the minute he had noticed the girls. They had
never seen him angry and he wanted to keep it that way.
"It was fun Ken-nii!" Both replied bubbly and happy.
That moment Genzai-sensei strolled into the living room. "Hello
everyone, the little ones couldn't wait to see you anymore. And who are
you young man." That was when both girls also noticed Ranma. In their
enthusiasm they had missed him completely.
Ranma stood up and extended his hand to the doctor. "Hello doctor, my
name is Saotome Ranma."
"Hello yourself young man, my name is Genzai-sensei. I'm the local
doctor around here, well one of the two that is." The doctor replied.
"Ranma-dono is interested in becoming my student doctor."
"I see, then I guess we interrupted something important when we came,
didn't we."

Ranma replied to that. "It doesn't really matter doc. I was almost finished
and can finish anytime we want." He went through his knees so he could
look the two girls who were still in Kenshin's arms directly into the eyes.
"And who are you two lovely ladies." He said with a smile.
"My name is Ayame."
"And I'm Suzuma."
"Aren't you two pretty." Both girls gained a lovely shade of red and
turned a bit on the ball of their feet. "My name is Ranma."
"Wanna play Ranma-niisan?"
Genzai-sensei spoke up on that. "Maybe later girls, I think we should
take a walk first, Kenshin-san had to talk to Ranma-san first. Now come,
maybe Megumi has some sweets for you two..." A huge sweatdrop was
growing on Genzai-sensei's head. The spot where the girls were,
Kenshin's arms to be exact, was now empty and Kenshin was putting out
his friction burns. Genzai-sensei's face traced the dust trail and he found
both girls already waiting at the door.
"Excuse me lady and gentleman." With that the doctor joined the two
girls and left to see Megumi so Kenshin, Kaoru and Ranma could finish
their business.
The moment both of them were gone a little bit of the anger returned on
Kenshin's face. He could hide it for the girls, but it was still there. It
seemed that he couldn't hide it from the good doctor though. Kaoru's face
became a bit dark again as well.
"Do you wish for me to continue?"
"Yes Ranma-dono. You told us that you resolved most of your problems
in the last month. I would like to know how you did that." Kaoru
motioned for him to continue as well.
"Well after the wedding attempt the matriarch of the Amazons I told you
about contacted me. She..." It took another 30 minutes to tell them of the
last month. He told them that his mother broke the engagement with the
Tendo's, that Ukyo withdrew her own and that Shampoo's was
invalidated by her great-grandmother. He decided to leave the challenge
of Happosai out since it wasn't true in this time yet. He also told them
that after that month he felt it was time for another training trip since he

had spent enough time in that dojo for unarmed combat for now and he
still wanted to improve his skills with a weapon.
He hadn't really told them how he had defeated Saffron and he hadn't told
them about his new techniques that he had developed with Cologne, so
Kenshin still didn't really know what Ranma was capable of. Kenshin
could guess though, ten years of training followed up by two years of
intense combat could only improve ones skill. Kenshin wasn't really a
man for sparring matches, but he was looking forward to a sparring
match with Ranma. The young man in front of him had suffered a lot in
that short amount of time and the only outlet he had was his Art so it was
certain that that Art meant a lot to him, together with the responsibility
that came with it.
"That's my story. Some of it good. A lot of it bad... It is getting late,
Kamiya-san, could you show me where I could sleep. This took a lot out
of me."
"Off course and please call me Kaoru, ok?" Ranma nodded and followed
Kaoru to the room that Yahiko used. They got out a spare futon and not a
few moments after Kaoru left the room Ranma fell asleep.
Kaoru found Kenshin in the room they had left him in deep in thought. It
seemed that Ranma's story had hit him just as hard as it had hit her.
Nobody's life deserved to be that... that chaotic.
"So what do you think about Ranma, Kenshin?"
Kenshin frowned a bit. "He has had a harder life than I have so far and
has come out of it mostly victorious. I could tell he really cares about
protecting others. He hasn't lied once during his whole story. If he did,
he's the best actor I know and I don't think he is capable of that. That
curse of his is even more strange. I didn't know that magic like that really
existed. I can't deny it now with the proof I saw today. It seems that only
in the last month of his life there he really got to live again. You?"
"I like him. He's a bit rough around the edges, but that isn't really strange
with the life he had. I don't think he lied either. It must have been awful
for him to be locked in that other form. I couldn't imagine it for myself,
but you could see he really suffered during that. All in all, I think I'm
going to like having him around and it would be great for him to live
peacefully for a change. Have you decided already? About him being
your student I mean."
Finally Kenshin smiled again. It was the first genuine smile since Ranma

had started his life story. "I'm still not entirely sure but I'm really thinking
about it. Ranma already lives by a budo that is a lot like that of the Hiten
Mitsurugi Ryu and since Shishou doesn't want to take one a student
anymore it would be up to me to make sure that the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu
doesn't die out. I just still need to see more of him before I make my
decision."
"Are you actually allowed to teach Kenshin?" Kaoru asked.
"I'm not really sure. I have mastered the succession technique, but I have
refused a part of the budo because of my past. I will need to ask Shishou
for sure. So I will have to leave for Kyoto in a while. This is something
that needs to be done in person. That way Shishou can meet Ranma as
well." Kaoru immediately felt a feeling of loss. Kenshin had to leave. But
before it became too much for her Kenshin rescued her once again.
"Would you like to come as well Kaoru-dono. It has been a while since
we have seen Aoshi, Misao and the rest of the Oniwa Banshu. It would
be nice to visit them, since we will be in the neighborhood."
Kaoru felt elated, Kenshin had asked her come with them. That probably
meant that Sano and Yahiko would come as well, but he had asked her
and that was what counted for her. "I would like that Kenshin. It would
be best to visit your master first, that way we could surprise Misao and
the rest. I would love to see Okina's face when you tell him you have a
student."
"Off course Kaoru-dono, for you anything." The blush on Kaoru's face
only became more pronounced. Kenshin, being the ignoramus he is about
women, failed to notice this and got up to go to the kitchen to prepare
dinner for them. When he had left Kaoru sighed once more deeply.
Muttered a soft 'sweet idiot' and went to bed as well, the blush still on
her face.
End of chapter 5
Allright, here's the complete rewrite of chapter 5. I allready mentioned
how dissatisfied I was with it when I read it again so it's almost
completely different from the one that was post before.
I know that the previous version went on a bit longer after this
conversation, but I liked the size the chapter had reached and decided to
chop it off right here. Besides, it was a good place to do so.
I don't know how fast the next chapter is going to be up. School is going
to be really busy for a while, so I don't think I can write at my usual

speed. Still, I'm sure it won't be that long.

Still taking C&C at TheNightstalker_0@Hotmail.com and every review
at www.Fanfiction.net and appreciating every part of it
This fic is now also hosted at:
- Anime Insomniac: http://www.geocities.com/animeinsomniac/main.html
- X-Fire Fandom Base: http://www.geocities.com/c_mach2k1/
See ya,
TheNightstalker

Ancestral History
A Ranma 1/2 and Rurouni Kenshin Crossover
Disclaimer:
All the characters used in this work are not the property of this lowly
writer that is borrowing them for the moment.
Timeline:
This crossover will take place after manga 38 in the Ranma universe. For
Rurouni Kenshin it's after the anime and movie.
Bear with me people, it's my first fan-fiction and am doing the best I can.
English isn't my first language, so please don't yell at me about the errors,
I know my English isn't the best out there. And sorry, no, I don't use
prereaders.
Chapter 6: Travels and troubles.
by TheNightstalker
Kenshin always was an early riser. He usually trained in the morning
before everybody else was awake so he had a bit of quiet while he
trained. This time someone beat him to the dojo. Ranma's internal clock
had awoken him before Kenshin's. Because of the morning practices with
his father it really had become difficult to sleep in. Since he already was
awake he had decided to go train a bit. So when Kenshin came to the
dojo he found Ranma inside in the middle of a kata. It was one of the
lighter ones of the aerial kata's. Kenshin stopped at the door and tried to
hide himself as much as possible. He didn't want Ranma to know that he
was there, so that he could observe for a bit without Ranma holding

himself back.
Ranma was in bliss. When he worked on his kata's the way as he did
know he lost track of everything around him. He loved to do them cause
it allowed him to think clearly. The roof was one thing, but this was his
element. The Art. Slowly he build up his speed and increased the
intensity of the kata. He was only training for about ten minutes now so
he was still busy warming up. Deciding that he was warm enough he
finished his kata and began one of intermediate level.
Kenshin noticed the expression on Ranma's face. He had guessed right
the day before. The Art meant everything to this boy. He also saw that the
speed of the boys movement began to increase. Ranma still wasn't at the
speed he had used against Yahiko but it started to come close. Then the
pace increased dramatically. New heights were reached during jumps and
strikes came faster than most eyes could follow. Also the rhythm had
changed, so it was probably a different kata.
Slowly a white aura started to gather around Ranma. He wanted to know
if he could use his ki to do the Amaguriken technique on his whole body
instead of just the arms. It was best to build this up slowly since the rest
of his body wasn't used to the speed his arms could reach. Slowly his
speed began to increase above his normal level. It wasn't much yet, but
every bit was a bit more than before.
Kenshin immediately noticed the aura and gasped. This boy was using
his ki consciously at an age of 18 years old. That was supposed to be
impossible, well not completely, but the level of which Ranma uses it
should be impossible for someone so young. Kenshin could use it at that
age to increase his speed a bit but not the extremes that is being showed
in front of him.
Ranma heard someone gasp at the door and concentrated to see who it
was by reading that person's aura. He was surprised to find a hidden
aura. It would probably be good enough to keep it hidden from most
people, but Ranma had learned the Umi-sen-ken. That technique took
hiding ones aura to extremes and Cologne liked to hide her presence
from his as well, so he had become more sensitive to aura's than others.
When he finally broke through the 'cloak' he saw that it was Kenshin.
Ranma withdrew his aura into himself, then launched himself to the wall
opposite of Kenshin, rebounded, made a few nice flips and twirls and
landed precisely in front of Kenshin with a huge smile on his face.
"Good morning Himura-san. You can close your mouth now." The smile
became even wider when he saw Kenshin try to compose himself. He

succeeded quite nicely, except for the healthy blush still present on his
face.
"..." Kenshin just didn't know what to say.
"Do you normally use the dojo in the morning. I'll just go wash up then.
Don't want to hog the dojo all to myself. I'll train a bit more in the
afternoon."
"..."
"Helloooo, somebody home?" Ranma all but shouted in front of Kenshin,
while waving his hand in front of Kenshin's eyes.
Kenshin finally snapped out of his near comatose state. He took a step
back, pointed a finger at Ranma and spoke. "T-t-that was...
IMPOSSIBLE! Not even Shishou has such mastery over his own
energy!"
Ranma couldn't understand the reaction Kenshin gave. If he had done
something like this in Nerima it would had only raised eyebrows since
training with an aura was normal there. Then the last remark registered in
Ranma's brain. Even Kenshin's Shishou was at the same level of
manipulation. He had hoped that some people here would be one the
same level. That would enable him to learn something new about
manipulating his ki. Seems like he would have to do all the thinking
about new moves himself. That wasn't necessary a bad thing, he could
use the practice.
"Are you sure that your Shishou couldn't do what I just did? I mean, I
wasn't doing anything really special."
"Not. Anything. Really. Special..." Kenshin slowly repeated. He took in a
calming breath and composed himself. He thought a little over what he
had seen. This young boy here is the best in ki-manipulation that he had
ever seen. It showed that Ranma already wielded enormous power, but
wasn't corrupted by it. His respect for the boy rose to a new height.
Kenshin had seen that when Ranma started to use his aura actively his
speed increased. Soujiro had already shown him the possibilities with
speed using his Shukuchi. "Ranma, it seems that you have techniques
that I would like to learn as well. I know that you have asked to be my
student, but I've decided to let that decision be made by Shishou. I do not
have the authority to make that decision. So I would like to propose a
deal. If Shishou allows it then I would be glad to teach you and if you
would like to, I would like to learn from you in return."

Ranma thought over it for a while. He would love to teach his greatgrandfather, but he wasn't sure what that would do to the time stream. It
would be dangerous if he intervened to much. He decided that he would
think about it later when he was alone.
"I am glad you are willing to teach me Himura-san, but I will have to
think about teaching you. There are some thing that I have to consider
first before I could teach someone. As soon as I have an answer I will let
you know. How does that sound."
"Deal."
"I won't keep you from your training any longer Himura-san. If you need
me, I'll be in the kitchen preparing breakfast."
"You don't need to do that."
"I know, but I like to be busy. For how many people do I have to
prepare?"
"I think eight Ranma, are you really sure that you would like to prepare
breakfast. You're a guest after all."
"It's all right. I never got to do it at the last dojo I stayed, so it really isn't
a problem."
With that Ranma gave a wave with his hand to Kenshin and disappeared
into the house. Kenshin followed him with his eyes and only entered the
dojo when Ranma had already disappeared into the house. Soon the
sounds of slicing air could be heard coming out of the dojo. It didn't last
long though, Ranma had puzzled Kenshin so he had stopped to think a
bit. The boy was powerful but also very easy-going. Honor had betrayed
him at every turn in his life with his father, but still he hang to honor as if
it was the most natural thing in the world. Kenshin looked forward to the
voyage towards Kyoto. It would give him a little bit more time to study
the enigma called Ranma.
[Kitchen]
It didn't take long before Ranma could start to prepare breakfast, the
biggest problem he had was finding the materials. Soon he was in his
rhythm and danced around the kitchen while preparing the dishes. While
working he, as Kenshin did, thought about the other. He liked what he
had seen of his great-grandfather. The man was a quiet person, but with a

fire that only came to life in battle. He himself was much like that, well
he was the last month. He only recently found the peace he sought for so
long. His mind slowly drifted to the question Kenshin had asked. Would
he be able to teach Kenshin. The teaching wasn't actually the problem, it
were the aftereffects that bothered him. He didn't know much about timemechanics, but he understood enough that if he did something wrong
here it would have repercussions in his time. That was really clear, or
else he wouldn't have to be here to protect his family.
That's when he heard something inside the pot of boiling water he had
put up for the rice. He lifted the lid and got the scare of his life. The head
of a young girl came out of it. He stumbled backwards and fell right on
his ass.
Skuld quickly came out of the pot and giggled at Ranma's antics. She
waved her hand once so that nobody else in the house would be able to
hear the conversation that would follow. Ranma on his part finally
recognized the girl. It was the young goddess of the future he had met in
that white limbo or something. He saw her wave her hand once and at
once the whole kitchen was encased in a transparent bluish bubble.
"We heard that you had a little problem Ranma." Skuld began.
Ranma got up from the floor and looked puzzled at the young goddess.
He really didn't have a clue what she could mean.
Skuld saw the expression and miffed a bit. Here she had come all the
way from the future to help him with his current problem and he didn't
even know what she was talking about. It seemed that some of his
cluelessness still existed. Probably just a part of his charm she surmised.
She started to blush a bit when she noticed that Ranma was still staring at
her with that expression. "About you teaching Kenshin, you dummy!!!!"
Ranma's face immediately took on an expression of comprehension and
he slapped himself about the head. He quickly turned back his attention
toward Skuld and waited patiently for her to begin.
Skuld's blush had disappeared by now, but she started to get a bit selfconscious again when she noticed that Ranma was waiting for her to
begin. "Uhm, according to Kami-sama you are allowed to teach Kenshin
and some other people everything that you wish to teach them. Kamisama will make sure that the time stream won't be affected after you left."
"Who are those other people?" Ranma spoke up.

"You will know when the time is right. That's all I'm allowed to tell you."
Skuld turned around and started towards the pot that she had appeared
from.
Before she could reach it she heard Ranma ask one more question. "How
did you do that with the pot?"
Skuld turned back and answered. "It's my way of travel, water I mean.
Every god or goddess has their own way of travel. Urd, the other goddess
you met, uses televisions for example. I got to go now, bye." With that
she jumped up and disappeared into the pot. Ranma walked over to look
in the pot and found only boiling water. He looked up again and noticed
that the bubble had disappeared as well.
He quickly set back to work again with a smile on his face. He was
allowed to teach, one of the things that he enjoyed to do. The trip was
getting better and better, even though the reason for being here was not a
good one.
Later in the afternoon everybody could be found around the table. Sano
had joined them and Kenshin had just asked him to join him in a trip
towards Kyoto.
"Let me get this straight. You're going to Kyoto to ask your Shishou for
permission to teach the boy," Ranma again silently fumed at being called
a boy, "and want me to come with you?" Kenshin nodded. "Sure. Who's
going beside you, the boy and me?"
This time Ranma did interrupt. "Sanosuke-san, I would really appreciate
it if you would stop calling me a kid." The voice was calm, but there was
an edge to it that Sano didn't miss. "I have a name, please use it."
Kenshin and Kaoru had heard his story but even they didn't know why
Ranma got agitated by being called boy. They didn't know that this was
what Genma used to call him every time when he started to shout about
honor and the rest of his lies. In his own eyes Ranma was more of a man
than Genma had ever been so being called boy by Genma had been
wrecking his nerves for a long time. Before Jusendo he ignored it, but
since he had gained a life of his own he had started to resent the word
highly. Sano, after having seen what Ranma could do the day before,
decided wisely to follow Ranma's suggestion. Maybe he should
apologize as well, those eyes were really starting to send shivers down
his spine. He carefully nodded his consent, but before he could apologize
Ranma beat him to the punch.

"I'm sorry Sanosuke-san. It's just that being called boy instead of my
name brings back bad memories."
Kaoru was the one who made the connection. "Your father used to call
you that, didn't he?"
"He did." Ranma grimly replied.
Kenshin decided to change the subject before the atmosphere got even
gloomier. "Well Sano, the people going are Kaoru-dono, Yahiko, you,
Ranma and me. After we've seen Shishou we wish to visit the Oniwa
Banshu as well. I'm curious how Misao, Aoshi, Okina and the rest are
doing."
Sano agreed to go with them since he had missed being on the road and
silently glad because that way he had a change that they would forget his
bill at the Akabeko. They spend the rest of the day preparing for the
journey. Since it was the beginning of the summer they had decided to
walk the journey. The trip to Kyoto was a great way through nature. Even
though they had a bit of trouble on the way back last time, they had
enjoyed the sightseeing. Ayame-chan and Suzume-chan were more than
happy to stay with Genzai-sensei and Megumi.
The following morning the group could be found waving goodbye to the
rest while they were walking away from the Kamiya-dojo. Well, except
Yahiko that is. Yahiko was too busy staring at the backpack Ranma was
carrying. The pack was so huge that Ranma should have fallen
backwards the moment he had put it on. Instead he just lifted it onehanded and threw it around his shoulder as if it weighed nothing. It
wasn't difficult for Yahiko to come to the conclusion that Ranma was as
strong as he was fast, still the conclusion was scary since he had been
brave enough to challenge him. He was glad that Ranma had finished the
fight in the manner that he had used. One punch probably would have
been strong enough to injure him for a long, long time.
[A forest outside of Tokyo on the other side of the city]
The forest had a clearing. It was usually used for picknicks and the like
by people from Tokyo during the summer. So it is not a strange sight that
children were playing around and grown-ups were talking on the side of
the clearing. This all changed today. For today they arrived...
In the center of the clearing a sort of light show began. The children
playing around it called to their parents and laughed because of the pretty

patterns. The parents, seeing the light coming from nowhere, ran over
and picked the children up to keep them clear from the unknown
phenomenon. But they didn't leave the clearing, mesmerized by the sight.
Slowly the patterns broke from one another and formed eleven distinct
colored swirls. Two black, two red, two blue, two brown, two white and
one yellow. Suddenly the area around the swirls began to waver as if hot
air was being released in front of the swirls. The people around slowly
approached the phenomenon, drawn to it by the unknown of it.
A bright white flash followed, blinding the spectators for a moment.
When they regained their vision they saw people standing on the place
where the light had been previously. They counted eight men and three
women. The man in a red pair of pants and a white gi top nodded to the
two women in white and pointed one of his fingers upwards.
The woman with completely white hair smiled evilly for a moment,
whispered something into the ear of the other woman and stepped back.
Both looked upwards and soared into the sky, making the people around
them gasp. When they looked back down on the people around them, it
showed that their eyes were glowing completely white and now both the
women were wearing that smile.
Both the women reared back their hands and all hell broke lose. They
both thrusted their hands forward at the same time but both in a different
direction. On the side of the woman with completely white hair a tornado
came into existence sucking up most of the people on one side of the new
group. The people in it were exposed to wind speeds of 300 mph/h,
ripping them limb form limb, causing blood to be thrown everywhere.
The woman on the other side released a huge high pressure wave towards
the rest of the people, causing them to be thrown backwards with most of
their chest caved in.
The people that weren't hit in the initial assault panicked and ran towards
the forest, most of them leaving their children behind. Those that ran
didn't come far. The woman that had released the tornado turned to them
and swung their her hands toward them causing almost invisible ripples
in the air to rush towards them. The people that got hit by it were thrown
towards the edge of the clearing in two pieces, neatly cut in half.
The people that didn't run didn't get off though. The other woman looked
upon them, raised her hands high and let them drop. The moment she did
this, the people that had been too scared to move felt an invisible force
pushing down on them, crushing them between the ground and the force.

One minute after the first attack silence rung over the battlefield. The
massacre had left the once green field colored completely red. One of the
men, the one in a green and brown military uniform, licked his lips when
he saw all this.
The two women slowly descended from their heightened positions and
landed next to the man that had given them the begin sign in the
beginning. When the woman with completely white hair looked at the
man, she got a nod of appreciation.
The man looked around at the crew that he had brought with him. On the
left he found the clan of fire representatives. The clan leader called Okibi
Wanryoku was already looking at the woman in the blue dress. Okibi
Wanryoku was a tall man with orange hair and red eyes. He was dressed
in black pants and a white shirt, covered by a red jacket that didn't
manage to conceal the man's enormous physique. The clan's finest soldier
stood beside his leader in a red uniform, waiting for orders. What also
distinguish the soldier from the rest of the men was a single orange streak
in his hair.
The man followed Okibi's gaze and looked upon the woman in the blue
dress. The dress was of the Chinese kind that allowed fighting. She was
the leader of the clan of ice and was called Hyousetsu Hakujou. She had
blue hair and white eyes. Her gaze was directed back at the man and a
very small smile could be seen growing when she noticed the man staring
back. She was supported by a man in a blue military uniform. Beside the
uniform, this man had a blue streak in his hair to distinguish him form
the rest.
When the man started to turn his gaze to the next group he could see in
the corner of his eyes that Okibi was already walking over to Hyousetsu.
Nothing new there he thought to himself.
The next group that found his inspection were the two ninjas of the
group. They were of the clan of shadows. The best assassins they had.
The clan leader called Kurai Chisoku was already staring back at him
with his black eyes. Both the men wore standard ninja clothing as one
would expect from people of the night. Kurai nodded that the journey
had been survived, so the man turned towards the last to men of the
group.
Both of the last men were looking at the carnage with a smile on their
faces, not noticing that they were being stared at by another of their
group. The clan of earth was always known for its sadistic tendencies, so
the man wasn't surprised that they were enjoying the sights. The left,

wearing the green military uniform was the strongest soldier that the clan
had. On the right was the leader himself, Maguma Fungeki. He wore a
green and brown military uniform and had his hands on his side. Both
were build like a rock. As hard as the element they represent.
On the man's right stood the two women in the white robes that had
caused the massacre around them. Being from the wind clan didn't give
them great physical strength, but the projection techniques were nothing
to sneeze at though. The woman with the completely white hair was the
leader of the two, that much was clear from the nod in the beginning. She
was called Ichijin Kiritsukeru and was proud of it.
The man spoke for the first time since they had arrived. "Ichijin?"
Getting her attention he continued. "Nice work, Maguma surely
approves."
The woman looks over her shoulder towards the leader of the clan of
earth and smiles. She didn't particularly like the man, but he had taste,
that was for sure. "Thank you. Kuro, what now? I know you are the
leader, but do you wish for me to plan ahead?"

The man, also

known as Kuro
Seishou replied.
"You were always
known for

your brilliant strategies, so I don't

have a problem sitting back on this one. It's been a while since I had a
vacation."
The woman nodded and walked over towards Kurai. Talking with him for
a bit, she received a nod and walked over to Okibi with the soldier, or

ninja if you like, following her. She found Okibi kissing Hyousetsu rather
passionately. She put her hand to her mouth and coughed once. The
desired results were achieved as the kiss was ended and Okibi scowled at
her for breaking him and Hyousetsu apart. She ignored the scowl and
began to talk to him as well. He received a nod here as well and Okibi
called his soldier over and gave him final instructions. Ichijin walked
away for a bit and was followed by the soldier of fire and ninja of
shadow. After receiving their instructions, the soldier and the ninja
disappeared into the forest, into the direction that Tokyo could be found.
The hunt had begun...
End of chapter 6
I'm sorry for the long delay people. School has been keeping me busy for
a long time. Projects are due and papers need to be made, so my writing
speed has dropped a little. Even the size is a bit smaller than usual, but I
hope to have a bigger chapter out next time.
Still, I promise to keep on writing if that's what you people want, so let
me know in the reviews or the mail: TheNightstalker_0@Hotmail.com
As you could read, the threat has arrived and a powerful one it is. Let's
just hope that the good guys aren't in over their head. I've got most of the
next chapters lined out, but I still appreciate ideas and suggestions.
Find the fic at:
- Anime Insomniac: http://www.geocities.com/animeinsomniac/main.html
- X-Fire Fandom Base: http://www.geocities.com/c_mach2k1/
See ya,
TheNightstalker

Ancestral History
A Ranma 1/2 and Rurouni Kenshin Crossover
Disclaimer:
Why would I want to disclaim anything. Sees an army of lawyers
approach. Gulp, Ranma 1/2 and Rurouni Kenshin characters are not
mine, I swear.

Timeline:
This crossover will take place after manga 38 in the Ranma universe. For
Rurouni Kenshin it's after the anime and movie.
Bare with me people, it's my first fan-fiction and am doing the best I can.
English isn't my first language, so please don't yell at me about the errors,
I know my English isn't the best out there. And sorry, no, I don't use
prereaders.
Chapter 7: First contact
by TheNightstalker
A red shape could be seen running through the forest. Though it had been
running for an hour now, it still showed no signs of serious exertion.
Beside it, one could see a black blur. That is, if one concentrated. The
black blur disappeared into the shadows most of the time, to emerge from
a shadow a distance ahead. If one had survived the massacre from not an
hour ago, one could recognize them as two of the men that had appeared
out of nowhere.
When they reached the beginning of the great city of Tokyo, both slowed
down, but still the black man stayed invisible most of the time. The red
soldier marched proudly into the city, attracting a lot of the attention. It
isn't often that people see such fine clothing on a man without any
guards. Since the red soldier took so much of the attention, most people
missed the black man jumping over the roofs of the houses.
The red soldier seemed to know exactly where he wanted to go. The
ninja didn't question him. The fire clan have always been trackers, where
the shadow clan were the assassins. It didn't take them long to find the
dojo since the records in the future clearly stated where it could be
found. From this point on the soldier's real job began.
As soon as he stood in front of the main door, the ninja joined him. He
too knew the way until here. Both jumped the gate in one amazing leap.
Again the ninja disappeared into the shadows to search the buildings
around the house. The soldier just walked toward the house, smashed the
door in and walked in. As soon as he had checked the house he walked
out again. The ninja was already waiting for him.
The soldier lifted an eyebrow at the ninja. He shook his head in response.
Their prey was gone...
[Some miles outside of Tokyo]

Kaoru felt a shiver run down her spine. She quickly looked at Kenshin.
Kenshin didn't seem the least bit worried, so she decided to attribute it to
the wind or something like that. After gazing a bit longer at Kenshin her
smile came back to her. Kenshin was chatting a bit with Sano and Yahiko
about the adventures they had had on the way back from Kyoto. She
didn't see Ranma though. She looked around a bit and found him walking
about 60 foot in front of them. It seemed that he was preoccupied by
something. Deciding that he could probably use some company as well,
she increased her pace.
Ranma was worried. He had felt a great outlet of energy behind them a
few hours ago. It felt so out of place and sudden, that he almost didn't
question what it was. His opponent or opponents had arrived. Most likely
multiple opponents. By the sudden increase in power, he was certain that
they were strong. Some of them surely stronger than him, or else he
couldn't feel them all the way over here. He just had to hope that they
couldn't feel him. Unconsciously he started to pull his ki in almost to the
level of umi-sen-ken, just to make sure that they couldn't feel him. That's
when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
Kenshin noticed that Ranma's aura started to get smaller, as if he started
to hide it. Just after he had felt something strange in the air. Judging by
how Ranma acted, he had felt it as well and was taking precautions. He
kept up his banter with Sano and Yahiko so they wouldn't worry. If only
he could talk to Ranma. It was then that he saw that Kaoru had passed
them to talk to Ranma and was just putting her hand on Ranma's
shoulder.
The moment Kaoru touched Ranma's shoulder, he jumped up about 30
foot, made a flip in the air and landed behind her in a ready position. He
saw who touched her, blinked a couple of times and sighed while he
relaxed. "Please don't do that anymore. You scared the heck out of me."
"I'm sorry, I didn't know you were so tensed."
Ranma scratched his neck a bit. "I guess, I was a bit preoccupied. It's all
right."
It was then that the rest of the gang caught up. "Everything all right
Ranma-dono?" Kenshin asked.
"Fine, just startled." With that the journey continued.
[Tokyo]

Right after getting the news from the shadow warrior, the soldier started
to search for a trail. It wouldn't take long. He was an experienced tracker
and was able to find a distinct mosquito in a swamp full of them. The
ninja patiently waited. They had played this 'game' a lot of times before,
back in the future. Always they had made a great team. The soldiers brute
strength and his stealth nicely complemented each other, the trails of
undiscovered and unsolved assassinations that they had left behind were
proof of that.
The ninja got a sign from their partner that he had found the trail. The
soldier had found the trail easily. It was fresh and not hidden. From the
scent he guessed the group to be four men and one woman. The woman
was their target, but that didn't mean they couldn't play with the rest.
They were great warriors from the future. What could possibly stop them
in this time.
It wasn't long before both of them speeded past the city limits. The trail
was getting stronger, their target wasn't moving as fast as they were.
Good, that meant they could report back the same day with good news.
[Our infamous little group]
Again Ranma was on edge. He felt that something was wrong. As if
nature itself was being violated by something. He recognized the feeling.
It was the same one he always had when something unnatural was
around, or at least close. The problem was that he couldn't tell how far it
was. His sensitivity had grown so much the last few months, that he
didn't know what his limit was. It could be a hundred feet, it could be a
mile. If he only knew for certain how far it was. One thing was sure
though, it was approaching and fast. He decided that Kenshin should
know, so that they could prepare. They should probably stop. They
couldn't outrun whatever was coming, so it was better to stand and be
ready for it. His eyes sought Kenshin.
Something was wrong, but he just couldn't put his finger on it. Kenshin's
danger sense was good, but he was feeling something that he had never
encountered before. Since Ranma had felt something before at the same
time as him, Kenshin looked at him and found Ranma staring right back
at him. Kenshin gave a small nod. He now knew that Ranma felt it as
well. Then Ranma jerked his head to the side of the road. Kenshin
understood. They weren't fast enough.
"Kaoru-dono, it is approaching mid-day. What do you say of eating
lunch."

Kaoru found Kenshin pleasantly smiling at her. "Sure." She looked

around and found a clearing not too far from the road. Sano and Yahiko
followed her when she made her way to the clearing to spread the
blanket they had brought along.
Ranma immediately walked over to Kenshin.
"You felt it as well." It wasn't a question.
Kenshin nodded, his eyes serious again. "Do you know what is following
us."
Ranma gave him a grave look. "I've felt something like this only a few
times. Look closely, you'll find nature itself repulsed. That only happens
with things like demons or something else unnatural."
Kenshin unconsciously took a step back. He wasn't sure what he doubted
more. The fact that these creatures exist, or the fact that Ranma had
encountered them before. "How did you deal with them?"
Ranma's eyes became hard. "There is only one way to deal with
demons."
Kenshin didn't know what to do. The answer that Ranma gave made
perfectly clear what he meant. Kill them. But than he would break his
vow to never kill again.
Ranma saw the hesitation in Kenshin's eyes. He knew why, but he had to
ask, to keep appearances. "That won't be a problem, will it? I don't like to
kill as well, especially humans. But these aren't humans Kenshin.
Demons live for the suffering of others. Preferably others weaker than
them."
Kenshin had learnt to deal with his Hitokiri side, that wasn't really the
problem anymore. It was the task itself and the vow he had made. Was he
willing to break the vow and suffer the consequences that could follow.
He looked at Ranma. Remembering Ranma's words, he looked at Kaoru.
Yes, he was willing, he was willing to do everything to save her. He had
kept his vow for so long, but was he really breaking it now. As Ranma
said, what was following them, or at least heading their way, wasn't
human. Now that he concentrated on nature, he felt that Ranma was
right. Nature itself showed that what was following them was not natural.
Its harmony with nature wasn't there. He looked back to Ranma. His eyes
became hard again, but not golden as they had done all that time back.
"For Kaoru." he muttered under his breath. It was soft, but Ranma caught

it. He hid his smile though, how many times had he uttered the same
words before, but then with another name.
They quickly headed over to the rest of the gang hiding their discoveries.
They didn't want to worry the rest and they really wanted to make sure
that Kaoru and Yahiko stayed out of this one. This was probably way out
of their league. Kenshin didn't really worry about Sanosuke. Sano had
become a lot stronger in the last year and would probably feel the threat
as well when they were closer. He would prepare himself in his own way.
The Futae No Kiwami made him a dangerous opponent. Maybe it had
become time to advice Sano to master the Futae No Kiwami with his
other fist as well. Only being capable to use it with his right hand is a
serious restriction.
Ranma and Kenshin appeared to eat and talk with enthusiasm, but both
of them had their thoughts on certain other things. After fifteen minutes
or so, Sano started to become nervous. Apparently he started to feel it as
well. Sano looked at Kenshin and received a nod that said that something
was approaching indeed.
It was then that they heard something approaching. It appeared to be
coming at them in a straight line, breaking through bushes and thick
branches as if they weren't even there. Now that Yahiko and Kaoru could
hear something they looked at Kenshin. They heard Ranma first though.
"HIT THE DIRT!!!!"
The moment everybody ducked a orange/red projectile speeded over
them and bursted into a tree, setting it ablaze. Not a few seconds later a
large man in a uniform stormed into the clearing, making a straight line
for Kaoru. He didn't get that far. Ranma, expecting them to head straight
for Kaoru, had positioned himself between Kaoru and the soldier. He
jumped up and kicked the man right in the face, sending him back into a
tree. The tree broke because of the force applied to it.
Ranma then ran after the soldier, shouting something back to Kenshin.
"Protect the others."
Kenshin and Sano did just that, by taking up a position on either side of
Kaoru and Yahiko, both ready to expect anything.
The soldier was confused. He wasn't really hurt by the hit, but the
strength and speed behind the kick was something he wasn't expecting in
this time. The martial artists of the future could probably do it, but that
was because they had trained for years to achieve that level. The boy in
front of him couldn't be more than eighteen years old. Further more, he

was an unknown. They had investigated the time line and nobody fitting
his description was mentioned. It was then that he saw the boy running
straight at him. The soldier smirked. He wouldn't waste his special
techniques on such a kid. He wanted to a little fun. If only he had known
what would happen next.
Ranma felt the aura of the man in front of him scream demon. So he
knew he had only one course. Kill him. He saw the man take up a stance.
Seems like the man wanted normal combat. He was more than happy to
oblige. He waited for the soldier to make the first move, it wasn't a long
wait.
The soldier stormed at Ranma, hoping to crush him with his superior
strength. But before he could encircle Ranma with his arms, Ranma
grabbed one of the wrists, made an about turn and threw the soldier over
the rest of the gang, right into another tree. He ran after him, jumped over
the rest and landed another kick before the soldier could stand up, then
backed away for a bit.
The soldier seemed down for a few seconds, but in that time Ranma
noticed something. The soldier wasn't alone. The other one was really
well hidden, but he could do that as well. Seems like these guys like to
cheat. So Ranma decided to make things more even.
"Himura-san, take this guy. I'll take the other." With that he disappeared
from view.
Kenshin was stunned for a second, because Ranma just vanished, but he
understood the threat the demon against the tree still represented. He
stalked forward, increasing his speed. When Kenshin was almost upon
him, the soldier stood again and was already in a ready stance. As soon
as Kenshin was in range the soldier turned into a living inferno. His body
appeared to be on fire. But instead of falling down, he progressed on
Kenshin. Kenshin recognizing the threat and backed away for a bit and
let loose with one of the simpler techniques of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu.
"DO-RYU-SEN!" With that Kenshin swung his sakabatou, causing the
ground before him to explode towards the burning soldier. It didn't hurt
the soldier because most of the rubble burned away before contact, but it
provided Kenshin with enough distraction to act again.
In a flash he was beside is opponent and shouted out his technique again
as he attacked. "RYU-KAN-SEN!" He twisted his body and swung his
sakabatou under the kin of the soldier, sending him into the air. While
Kenshin took another ready stance again, the soldier crashed down, but

was up again in a few second looking only slightly winded. What was
visible through the flames, that is.
Kenshin was just about to attack again when something else happened.
From the tree line a black form flew towards the soldier and impacted. It
immediately stood up and ran around yelling in pain. Being on fire does
that to a person or demon in this case. Ranma came from the tree line as
well and took a position beside Kenshin.
The soldier and ninja got up again. The soldier had turned of his living
flames and the ninja had patted out the fire. He looked more black than
usual though. Then the soldier threw out his hand towards the two,
releasing a huge ball of fire.
Was all Ranma thought. He punched forward as well and yelled out his
attack. "HIRYU SHOTEN HA!" A huge tunnel of wind came from
Ranma's fist. It engulfed the fireball and became even stronger. It then
reached the soldier and blew him backwards, against yet another tree.
When the winds died down it was clear that the soldier wouldn't get up
again. A huge hole in his chest would prevent that. The technique Ranma
had used on Saffron had worked just as well on the soldier.
The ninja screamed of outrage. On of his best comrades had just been
killed in front of his eyes. He turned back to Ranma and changed. His
eyes became pure black, the teeth became a sharp and his hands became
claws, capable of ripping a man in two. He then rushed forward at a
speed that had both men off guard. Kenshin was the lucky one, the ninja
had targeted Ranma. Before Ranma had a chance of dodging, the ninja
had ripped a gash in his abdomen. Ranma jumped back and kicked at the
arm. The ninja caught him and threw him over his head. Kenshin wanted
to interfere, but his own shadow suddenly slipped around him, cutting of
his air supply.
Kaoru and Yahiko were scared as hell. First one of the men that attacked
them became a living torch, but now the other one was suffocating
Kenshin and they didn't know how to help. Sano didn't know what to do.
He was about to attack the ninja, but then the ninja changed into a half
monster or something. That just couldn't be real. If the situation wasn't so
grave, others would have laughed about his expression.
Ranma felt like hell. The ninja had scored just one hit, but it was a good
one. Now said opponent was dealing with Kenshin without even
touching him. Well two could play at that game. Time to let loose the
mayhem. He had already used it once and it had worked, why not again.
Again Ranma disappeared from view. The ninja became confused and

looked around. The blackness around Kenshin didn't diminish though.

Then a yell was heard right behind the ninja.
"HAKUDA TOSHIN SHO!" The 'white snake spitting true palm' hit
home on the ninja's back causing him to cry out in pain. Ranma wasn't
finished though. Kenshin didn't have long before he was completely out
of air, so he had to act fast. He pulled his hands back beside him and
concentrated. Not a second later Ranma yelled again and unleashed hell
on the ninja.
The ninja was struck by the ki-blast from point blank range and was
thrown against yet another tree. By now the size of the clearing had
doubled. Ranma relaxed a bit and looked over to the ninja. He looked
like hell. His clothes were ripped everywhere and blood was gushing
from multiple wounds. He also had changed back to his human
appearance. Then he spoke. "Heh, beaten... By a boy no less." He
coughed up a little blood. "But I'll have the last laugh." With that he sunk
into the shadow of the tree he had landed against, laughing like a mad
man.
As soon as he had disappeared completely, the shadow around Kenshin
returned to his feet, releasing the chokehold. Kaoru immediately ran over
to check on Kenshin. Ranma just fell to his knees, feeling a bit woozy.
He looked down and realized why. Quickly taking of his shirt and ripping
it, he used it as a makeshift bandage for his wound. Finished with
bandaging, he decided that a nap would be nice and fell unconscious
because of blood loss.
[A red-colored picnic site]
Kurai Chisoku let out a startled cry when he noticed his ninja returning
through shadow teleport. It was a technique that drained a lot of energy,
so it wasn't used for simple matters. He quickly alerted Kuro to the
matter.
Not ten seconds later the ninja appeared out of a shadow. He was
immediately surrounded by the clan leaders and Kuro. They all let out a
gasp when they saw how the ninja returned. The man was as good as
dead, the only thing left was closing his eyes to make the appearance
complete.
"Report!" Kuro said.
"So strong... Other dead..." He pointed his arm towards the heading that
the group could be found. "That way." With that death finally claimed

him.
It seemed that the two encountered someone or some people that are
stronger than they had thought they could encounter here. Maybe it was
just a fluke, but Kuro couldn't take the chance of that being true. Maybe
other tactics were in order. Kuro thought for a minute and than made his
decision known.
"Kurai, head in that direction to see what we're up against. Do not make
contact. I want you just to observe. When you think you know enough or
when I call you mentally, report back to me. We will remain in Tokyo for
the time being." The other parts of the plan were slowly forming as well,
but some investigation in Tokyo was in order to complete them.
The shadow leader nodded and ran off.
Kuro spoke again. "Come, let us prepare and have a little fun in the city."
The smile on his face spoke of fun that most people wouldn't enjoy.
With that said, he walked of towards Tokyo, the rest of the group
following him.
[The forest clearing]
While Kaoru tended to Kenshin, Sano and Yahiko rushed to Ranma.
They had seen how Ranma had bandaged himself after shooting of some
beam, then fell unconscious. Sano quickly checked if the bandage would
hold the bleeding. Satisfied that the bandage would do, he picked up
Ranma and brought him towards the blanket, so that he could rest on it.
By then Kenshin had recovered and with a little help from Kaoru, he
joined Sano and Yahiko by the blanket. Kenshin hadn't seen the attack
itself, but had felt the power rush through his entire body when it was
used. It seemed that Ranma was more capable than he had anticipated.
Still, he was the one that had saved them all. If Ranma hadn't noticed the
ninja, it would have attacked Kenshin in the back and all would have
been lost.
A low groan escaped from Ranma, signifying his return to consciousness.
The others immediately huddled around him. Ranma opened his eyes and
looked around. He found Kenshin alive and breathing so he had made it
on time. He let out a sigh of relief.
"Are you all right Ranma?" Kaoru asked with concern in her voice.

"I'm fine." He tried to get up and felt pain shoot through his entire body.
"At least I will be after a little bit of rest. I still feel a little bit weak from
the blood loss. If we rest here for an hour or so, I'll good enough to travel
again." Because it was replied without any boasting or anything, the rest
just accepted it as another curiosity of Ranma that an hour would be
enough. After his display in the fight, more precisely the whirlwind and
light show, they were more than willing to believe a couple of strange
things about Ranma.
Finally Sano's curiosity won out. "Yo Ranma, what was that last thing
you did. With all the light and all." The rest was just as curious, it was
just that Sano had beaten them to the punch.
Ranma checked his ki-supply for a second, to make sure he had enough.
Satisfied he began a simplified explanation. "Who of you have heard of
ki?" Seeing everyone beside Kenshin shake their head he sighed. He took
another deep breath and explained a bit about ki. "Everyone has a lifeforce right?" Seeing everyone nod he continued. "Ki is that life-force.
After training one can use it for multiple things. Kenshin for starters uses
it to make his jumps higher. What I did was use it directly as a weapon."
He held out his hand, palm up. When he had their attention on his hand,
he concentrated. A ball of white light grew into existence above his hand.
"This is a ball of ki. What I used on the ninja was a lot stronger but used
in the same way. I collected my ki and threw it at the ninja." The rest
didn't respond, they just stared at the pretty light. Deciding that the show
was over he let the ki ball disperse.
"Wow, can I learn something like that?" Yahiko was excited, that much
was clear.
"Euhh, maybe. I already promised to teach Himura-san and this will be
the first time I'll be teaching. I'll see after I've begun his training, all
right?"
"Sure." Yahiko was a little disappointed, but he could understand
Ranma's reasoning. Sano was disappointed as well, he was just about to
ask the same thing.
Since they had decided to rest a bit, Ranma decided to ask Sano about
something that he had noticed with his ki senses. "Sanosuke?" Seeing
that he had the man's attention, he continued. "Why is the ki-flow in your
right arm so much stronger than in your left arm?"
Sano looked confused for a second, then he remembered what Ranma
had told about ki and it's diverse uses. It looked like the Futae No

Kiwami used ki as well. "That probably because of the Futae No

Kiwami. It's a technique I've only mastered with my right arm. I'll show
ya." He walked over to a tree and hit it with the Futae No Kiwami,
making and explosion of toothpicks.
Ranma was impressed. It made the Bakusai Tenketsu look small and
worked on everything, but something was off about it. He replayed the
technique again in his mind and found what he had missed the first time.
"You hit the tree two times, not?"
"Yep, first time knocks away the natural defense, the second hit carries
all the real strength, shattering everything it hits."
"It's a good technique Sanosuke. I'm impressed, but I hope you'll take my
advice about one thing." Sano gave Ranma his full attention. "Learn it
with your other arm as well, being able to use it with only one arm is
pathetic." This was followed by a massive face-fault from Sano. Still,
Ranma was right Sano reasoned.
After an hour of small talk, they packed their stuff and continued on his
journey. As Ranma had said an hour ago, most of his pain had already
faded, so they again made good time on their journey. Kyoto could soon
be seen if they kept up this pace.
End of chapter 7
Looks like 1-0 for the good guys. They were lucky this time though. The
demons had underestimated them and paid the price. The rest won't be
that stupid. Looks like Sano will get his butt kicked some time in the fic
(author rubs his hands together and laughs evil).
I hope you guys like the chapter. Personally I like the rhythm I have with
writing now. A chapter once every two weeks will do nicely I think.
I would like to thank everyone for the reviews and support mail that I've
received. As long as those things keep comings as they do now, I'll be
more than happy to continue. I'd probably still continue without both, but
it helps the imagination and the speed in which the chapters appear.
So let me know what you think of the fic in the reviews at FanFiction.net
and in my mailbox:
TheNightstalker_0@Hotmail.com
Find the fic at:
- Anime Insomniac: http://www.geocities.com/animeinsomniac/main.html

- X-Fire Fandom Base: http://www.geocities.com/c_mach2k1/

See ya,
TheNightstalker

Ancestral History
A Ranma 1/2 and Rurouni Kenshin Crossover
Disclaimer:
Why would I want to own the characters used. I can use them fine this
way, can't I?
Timeline:
This crossover will take place after manga 38 in the Ranma universe. For
Rurouni Kenshin it's after the anime and movie.
Bare with me people, it's my first fan-fiction and am doing the best I can.
English isn't my first language, so please don't yell at me about the errors,
I know my English isn't the best out there. And sorry, no, I don't use
prereaders.
Chapter 8: The end of a journey.
by TheNightstalker
Kaoru was dreaming. It was a nice dream. Something about a dojo
packed with students who followed her every move. At the side a short
man with long red hair stood watching approvingly. He had been her
husband for a few years now and together they enjoyed life to the fullest.
Soon a young man of about 16 years, dressed in a yellow shirt and white
hakuma, white short black hair entered the dojo. He was the best student
the dojo had and had just finished teaching the younger classes. That was
when an explosion was heard behind the young man. Everyone turned to
the sound, but that was when Kaoru noticed something. Everyone started
to fade. Another explosion was heard, but that sound didn't seem to fade.
A final explosion finally woke her up completely.
The room that she woke up in was unfamiliar. Slowly she remembered
where she was. They had lodged in an inn that lay on the route from
Tokyo to Kyoto. That didn't explain the explosions though. She quickly
dressed and made her way outside. She expected a lot. An army, cannons,
even complete war ships. That wasn't what she found though. She found

Yahiko and Kenshin sitting on a bench looking over at Ranma and Sano
who stood in a clearing full with rubble.
Ranma was talking with Sano and gesturing a lot, but she couldn't make
out what he was talking about from this distance. She quickly made her
way over to Kenshin to hear what was going on.
"Good morning Kaoru-dono." Kenshin greeted.
"Morning Kenshin. What's going on over there and what were those
explosions?"
"Ranma wanted to learn Sano's technique and in return Ranma would
help Sano with mastering the Futae No Kiwami completely. Ranma said
that he had never encountered such a technique before. Right now Sano
is working on how to do it with his left hand. Ranma is helping him with
it."
Meanwhile Sano had a bit of a conscience problem. He had promised
Anji that he would only teach the technique to people that opposed the
current state of the government. He had told this to Ranma, but Ranma
had waved it off saying he didn't care about politics, only about
protecting people. It had reminded Sano a bit about Kenshin. Well,
except the part about politics, but that had more to do with Kenshin's
history as a Hitokiri then personal interest.
Then he thought about the techniques he had seen Ranma use the day
before. That ki thing was strong and could hit from a distance. If he
refused Ranma now, it could be that Ranma would hold it against him
and decide not to teach him the techniques. It was possible, but Ranma
didn't seem like that kind of guy. It seemed that Ranma just loved the
martial arts and loved learning martial arts.
Sano made his decision. Ranma wouldn't abuse the knowledge of the
Futae No Kiwami. Instead he would use it like Kenshin uses his strongest
techniques. And if Ranma would teach him, he could use the techniques
for his own purposes. He took a deep breath again and concentrated on
his left arm again. He understood what Ranma told him about
concentrating, but it was just so hard to do. He had managed to learn it
with his right arm because it was a life or death situation, literally, but
there was no kind of motivation this time.
Ranma was having the time of his life. He was learning a new technique
and was teaching someone at the same time. Sanosuke had told him that
the technique was restricted to people who thought about the government

in a certain fashion, but he had laughed it off. Restricting a technique

because of such a reason was ridiculous. Sano didn't know it, but Ranma
could probably perform the technique by now. He had Sano do it about
three times this morning so he could see how the ki was applied and how
he could advice Sano on how to concentrate for his other arm. It had the
nice side effect of showing him on how to do it himself. It hadn't
occurred to Sano that Ranma would learn it at the same time. Until Sano
had said that he would actually teach Ranma how do it, he wouldn't use
it, it was the least he could do to respect Sano's decisions.
Soon after Kaoru had joined them, Kenshin, Yahiko and Kaoru went
inside again to have some breakfast. Normally Ranma would race after
them, but Sano was so frustrated about not managing to do it with his left
arm, that they decided to skip breakfast for training. They wouldn't leave
till the afternoon because of the training, so they could eat a big lunch
before they left.

Kuro was enjoying himself. In the future everybody recognized him, so

they immediately sprang to attention when he approached. He loved
being a leader, but to walk anonymously was something he missed. Sure
they got a bit of attention because of how they looked, but it wasn't really
that weird on they busy streets.
He felt his stomach rumble, maybe it was time for a bite to eat. If he
remembered the file correctly, there was supposed to be a nice place near
their target area. And if the file was right, it was also a place that their
target frequented. Nothing like a bit of information gathering while
grabbing a bite to eat. Now where was the Akabeko again...

The lunch had been exactly what Ranma and Sano needed. The morning
had taxed their energy reserves, so they desperately needed something to
fill their stomach. There had been improvement this morning though.
Sano finally had the concentration down, now to apply it to his left arm.
They traveled till about dinnertime. There were no distractions that day,
so they had made good travel time. There wasn't an inn for a couple of
miles, but a farmer family that lived beside the road was more than
happy to lodge them for an evening.
Like the morning, Sano and Ranma spend the evening training. About
eleven they finally had a breakthrough. The rock that Sano hit exploded

into dust. It seemed that Ranma was a gifted teacher besides a gifted
student. The people that already had gone to bed were awakened by the
loud yell of accomplishment that Sano couldn't help but let go. They
muttered something about stupid city people and turned around to catch
some sleep. Ranma smiled and walked over to give him a pat on the
shoulder.
It was the clapping of hands that startled them both. Kenshin came out of
a shadow and walked over to them. Ranma didn't know what to think,
had he really been so absorbed into the training that he hadn't noticed
Kenshin approaching?
"Well done Sano. I knew that you could do it." Sano beamed with pride.
"Are you going to teach Ranma now that he has helped you?"
With the stupid smile still on his face Sano responded. "Yeah, it's the
least I can do."
Ranma acted like he was startled. It was time to tease Sano for a bit.
"You mean it, you really are going to teach me how to do the Futae No
Kiwami."
"Yep, I'll show you how to do it."
Ranma bended over and took another stone in his hand. "You mean like
this?" He brought down his other fist and made the rock explode just as
Sanosuke had done a few moments ago.
Kenshin hid his amusement. He had guessed that Ranma had already
mastered it. Someone with so much control over his ki should have no
problem to master something like this. The look on Sano's face was
priceless though. Both Ranma and Kenshin had no idea that a jaw could
drop that far down. If Sano would start walking now, he really would be
eating dirt.
"H-h-how???" Sano wasn't capable of saying more.
A big smile lit on Ranma's face as well. "You showed it to me for about
five to six times now, do you really think that wouldn't be enough to pick
it up?"
Sano felt a bit ashamed. Anji had showed it to him about five or six times
as well. Still it had taken him a week to master. And that was only for his
right arm. He was quite sure that Ranma could do it with both arms.
Ranma's learning curve had to be a straight line upwards, there was

almost no doubt about that. Still, there was one thing that Ranma didn't
know yet about the technique. It could be performed with more than just
the hands. He had seen Anji use his feet and elbows. If he could master
that as well... A plan was slowly forming in Sano's head.
They retired to bed shortly after that. The morning promised to be an
early one since they wanted to make good time to Kyoto. The trip was
enjoyable, but the gang really wanted to see the people of the Oniwa
Banshu again.
The travel was a fast one indeed. Because of the cheerful nature of the
voyage, they found themselves only a day's worth of travel from Kyoto
in no time at all. They had picked up some supplies in a town that had
traveled through, so they could sleep the final night outdoors. The
summer temperature was great, even at night. It would be a great ending
to a good journey.
The attack from the first day had already recessed to back of the minds of
most of the travelers. Only Ranma still thought about it. He knew what
was going on and knew that they would encounter them again. If a
certain shadow that had been tailing them for some time now could read
his mind, he would have certainly agreed.
Ranma cooked the meal they had brought along on a small campfire. His
experience from the training trip had prepared him greatly for cooking in
the wilderness. With great ease he prepared a stew that had the rest
licking their lips in anticipation. He couldn't help but think back to the
time that he had to hide from his mother as Ranko and they were together
cooking in the kitchen. That brought up another point. He knew he still
had the curse, but it seemed like he wasn't a water magnet in this time. It
could have to do with being in a forest in the summer, but it could also be
because the springs hadn't cursed him yet in this time, so the connection
to them was a lot weaker. Either way he enjoyed the fact that he wasn't
wet all the time.
After a good meal the two tents were set up. They hadn't agreed on
sleeping arrangements yet, but it would work out. There was one small
problem though, both tents could hold three persons, but four was simply
impossible. They had been thinking about it for a while now before
Kaoru finally took the initiative. It wouldn't be her first choice of tent
mate, but it would have to do till some time the future. It wasn't proper
yet if she went with her first choice.
She took a cup of the cooled of tea and walked over to Ranma. Ranma
didn't notice what was going on behind him because of the discussion he

was having with Sano and Yahiko about what proper sleeping
arrangements were. As soon as the water hit him, he felt the all to
familiar tingle go over him. Sano and Yahiko stopped in mid-sentence to
watch Ranma transform. They hadn't been there when Ranma had told
about his life, so they had no idea about his curse.
"There, problem solved." Kaoru stated.
"WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED!!!" Yahiko was about to yell as
well, but Sano beat him to the punch. Kenshin knew about the curse, but
didn't respond either. He was too busy thinking about the implication of
Ranma changing and Kaoru's statement.
A thud could be heard in the background, but it was ignored. The shadow
ninja was glad they decided to ignore him. He had fallen out of the tree
when he had seen what had happened. If what he saw was true, the
implications would be really, really bad. He knew of only one person that
changed like that and that person wasn't supposed to exist in this
timeframe. Now he knew why his ninja and the fire soldier were defeated
so easily. The boy that just changed had been a bane in their conquest as
long as he could remember. He needed to get this information to his
leader as soon as possible. There was just one problem, he was out of
teleportation range. He could do up to a day's travel in one teleport, but
more would be too draining. He had no choice but getting back the oldfashioned way and teleport when he was close enough. Soon nothing that
even gave a clue of someone sitting under the tree remained when the
ninja retreated.
Ranma looked puzzled at Sano and Yahiko. She had seen these kind of
expressions before. People usually wore them when they first witnessed
her curse. But that couldn't be right, she had showed it to them before,
didn't she? Then it came back to her. Sano and Yahiko weren't there when
she had told her life story. She deeply sighed, motioned Sano and Yahiko
to sit down again and went into her explanation about Jusenkyo for about
the millionth time.
Yahiko took it the best of the two. Sano always was a bit superstitious,
but after changing back and forth a couple of times he finally calmed
down. It finally ended it Sano wanting to keep his distance for a bit, so
Ranma definitely had to sleep in the other tent now. Ranma wasn't glad
with it though. She was still a man on the inside, so it wasn't proper for
her to sleep in the same tent as Kaoru. She looked over to Kenshin for
help, but saw that he wasn't going to help. That actually made sense to
Ranma. She already knew how Kenshin felt about Kaoru, so she had
guessed that Kenshin felt it improper if he shared the tent with Kaoru in

this stage of their relationship. This way was the best solution for now.
That didn't mean she liked it though.
Night came and soon everybody was sound asleep. Except Ranma that is.
She knew it was her great-great something grandmother, but Kaoru was
still a woman. She twisted and turned trying to keep her distance from
Kaoru's sleeping form. Finally after a few hours she decided she could
care less, sleep was really getting to her, and fell into a deep sleep.
Meanwhile the shadow ninja never stopped running. His job was clear
and he intended to finish it to the fullest. Their enemy was indeed
stronger protected than they had thought. That was allright with him, he
always liked a challenge. Besides, he was sure that Kuro had a plan, or
else Ichijin would have one. Now to keep running for a couple days more
and he would be able to teleport back to the city. From there it would
only be a job of finding Kuro.
The morning came quick for most of the gang. Sano was already up and
was taking a stroll through the woods before breakfast. Ranma had
changed back with some of the water for the tea he had shared with
Kenshin and was already into his fifth kata. Kenshin was happily
preparing breakfast. The ten years after Kyoto had helped him with his
campfire cooking.
Sano had finished his plan that night. During this little walk, he would
perform the Futae No Kiwami a couple more times to make sure he could
perform it with his left arm whenever he needs to. And when they had
arrived in Kyoto, he would go out for a couple days, saying he needed to
check a few things. He was sure that with all of Ranma's advice, he was
able to master the rest for himself. This way, he would have an ace up his
sleeve. Besides, it would be great show one up on Ranma.
Breakfast was shared and soon they were on the road again. They had
made better time than they had thought. When the day approached noon,
smoke could be seen between the trees, indicating civilization. There was
something more that indicated that civilization was near. They were
about an hour out of town, so if they would need help for something, it
would really take a while. Some men had decided that this would really
be a great place to set an ambush and rob unsuspecting travelers. They
were still hidden in the bushes on the sides of the road. It seemed, that
they planned to surround the gang, cutting of both exits. Normally these
kind of tactics would work against travelers. Normal travelers that is...
Sano and Ranma already had noticed the people hidden in the bushes, so
Kenshin only had to stop Kaoru and Yahiko from walking into the trap. A

plan wasn't really needed with these kind of idiots, so they did what was
easiest. Ranma and Sano walked on, letting the trap spring on them,
while Kenshin stayed behind to protect the "women and children". Not
really needed for this woman and child, but it helped Kenshin ease his
conscience.
The trio that stayed behind quickly moved back a little, so that they
wouldn't attract any of the attention. The two groups came out of hiding
the moment Sano and Ranma were between them. It seemed that the
bushes had prevented them from seeing the rest, since they seemed to
ignore Kenshin, Kaoru and Yahiko.
One of the robbers spoke up while he pointed a sword at Ranma and
Sano. "Give us all your valuables or else..." Sano and Ranma looked at
each other and gave each other an expression that said something like
'you've got to be kidding me'. They then looked back at the one that had
spoken and crossed their arms as if to say 'make me'. The leader lost his
temper over the behavior of his victims and screamed out. "ATTACK!!!"
The ten men rushed to their intended victims.
"You take the front? I'll take the back."
"Sure." Was all the reply that Ranma gave.
It was a five to one attack. The robbers should have brought more men.
After a highly violent fight, which ended with most of the robbers
hanging in or through one tree or another, Kenshin walked up to them
with a huge sweat drop on his head. Kaoru and Yahiko didn't join him,
but the sweat drops were big enough to be seen from such a distance.
"Was that much violence really needed?" Was all Kenshin asked.
Ranma looked a bit puzzled at Kenshin. "Much???" Sano's expression
wasn't any better. None of them was dead, so what was the problem?
Kenshin just sighed. "Never mind... Kaoru-dono? What do you think?
Should we go on straight to Shishou or should we stop at the Oniwa
Banshu? From here on it is easier to reach Shishou first, since he lives
outside of the city."
Kaoru thought about it for a bit. They were here on school related
business, so except for Kenshin and Ranma, they needn't visit Hiko-san.
It would probably be better if they didn't all drop in on Hiko-san, so she
decided on another course of action. "Kenshin, why don't you go with
Ranma to Hiko-san. Afterwards you could join us at the Aoiya. I think

Okina would be glad to see you again after all this time."
Kenshin agreed. The teaching of Ranma was probably something that
Shishou would like to discuss in private, so the rest won't be tempted to
eavesdrop if they were at the Aoiya. Besides, Sano and Yahiko were
more than enough to protect Kaoru for the last hour of the journey.
Ranma wasn't really glad with the split up. This way he couldn't keep his
eye on Kaoru. But he couldn't say anything against it. If the threat wasn't
there, he would have taken the same decision. But he was the only one
who knew of the threat, it was too early for the rest to know about it.
Kenshin and Ranma made their way around town till they reached the
path that led to the shed where the current Grandmaster of the Hiten
Mitsurugi Ryu lives. They traveled in silence mostly, both lost in thought.
Ranma was wondering what kind of person Kenshin's master was and
Kenshin was just hoping that his master wouldn't embarrass him like he
usually does. Still the walk was a nice one, except for that nice summer
shower they received, that left both of them wet and Ranma female. After
that Kenshin wasn't thinking about his master. He was too busy keeping
his mind of how that wet silk shirt clinged to Ranma's chest.
When they approached the shed, they could see a man with a huge white
cape working at a furnace. He didn't seem to notice the two that were
coming closer, that is, till he spoke to them without even turning around.
"What brings my baka Deshi to these parts of the woods. And who is the
person with you?"
Kenshin didn't really know what to say. Hiko had called him student
again. The last time he was here, Hiko had dismissed him as a student.
Had he forgotten about it, or was it simply another of Hiko's idiocies?
Time could only tell. Coming back out of thought he quickly stumbled
out an answer. "Uhm, Shishou? I need your advice about something."
Hiko finally stood up. Ranma noted that the man was huge and muscled,
but still lean enough to move. The grace that he used to get up was more
than enough evidence of that. Hiko turned around and was about to say
something when he just stopped and blinked. He had known that Kenshin
wasn't alone, but this he hadn't expected. Next to Kenshin stood a girl
that clearly was under 20 years old, that wasn't what made him stop
though. The similarities were simply frightening. Both had red hair, clear
blue eyes and both were short of build. If he hadn't known about
Kenshin's origins, he would have sworn that they were twins, except for
the gender that is.

His ego wouldn't let him get embarrassed as that though, so he threw out
a comment. "You're asking my permission to marry her, right?" Both his
visitors face faulted with a huge bang. Was all that Hiko could think,
while he grinned from ear to ear.
Kenshin and Ranma got up again. "Uh, no Shishou. Ranma has asked me
to teach him the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu." And again Hiko was speechless,
this time he didn't even have a recovery. Kenshin was here to see him
about it, so that meant he was seriously thinking about teaching this girl
the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. The shock had been so great that Hiko hadn't
noticed that Kenshin had referred to Ranma as a him.
Ranma felt a bit left out. She didn't really know how to get into the
conversation, but seeing how this was going to hurt someone by simply
all the face faults, she knew that sitting down was a smart move. "Maybe
we should discuss this inside. It's a lot more comfortable." Both men
agreed.
Tea was prepared and served before they continued their 'meeting'.
Remembering how some people thought about women in these days,
Ranma dumped half her tea on her head, activating the change. Hiko was
sitting, so he couldn't fall down, but getting bug eyed wasn't prevented.
But his years of experience showed when he regained himself in a few
moments and simply asked. "Jusenkyo?" Ranma just nodded. "So
Kenshin, tell me why you are seriously considering to teach him the
Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu and why you are here?"
"I'm not really sure if I'm allowed to teach Shishou. That was one part of
the problem, second was that I wanted you to know about it before I
started, if I am allowed that is."
"Because you mastered the succession technique, you are allowed to
teach Deshi. But I hadn't really expected you to teach. But if you do and
you succeed, it will prove how good a teacher I was to you." Both
Ranma and Kenshin grew sweat drops at that last comment.
Kenshin continued. "I also wanted you to meet Ranma. The
responsibilities of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu are great and I wanted a
second opinion before I saddle him with that kind of weight on his
shoulders."
Hiko took a pose that clearly indicated that he was thinking about it. It
took about a minute before he spoke again. During that minute he was
staring intently at Ranma, who stared back just a hard, never flinching.
"Leave us Deshi. Ranma and I will talk. We will join you tomorrow at

the Aoiya."
"How did you know..." Kenshin didn't get to finish.
"You forgot who you asked me to protect the last time you were here."
Hiko interrupted. "Besides, I like to visit the ladies of the Aoiya these
days." The grin had returned full force.
Kenshin looked at Ranma. Ranma nodded that it was allright, so Kenshin
got up and picked up his sword. Then he walked out mumbling
something about masters should not be such perverts or something like
that.
When they were alone Hiko turned to Ranma. "Now tell me young man,
why you wish to learn the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu while you probably
already are on the grandmaster level of another school? Don't try to hide
things from me. I WILL know about it. Your aura WILL tell me about it."
Always liking a challenge, Ranma suppressed his aura with the Umi-SenKen. "Or maybe it won't and wipe that grin off your face." Still, Hiko
couldn't help but already be impressed. If Ranma had used that to sneak
up on him, he wouldn't have known till it was too late.
Ranma relaxed and let the Umi-Sen-Ken go. "Don't worry, I'll tell."
Ranma gave Hiko the same story he had given Kenshin. That story wasn't
a lie and was one of the reasons he wanted to be Kenshin's student.
"It still doesn't really tell why you already are at such a high level and
what the reason is that you wish to learn a sword style."
"Too explain my level is easy. I had to fight off crazies most of my life.
They include an idiot father, three hundred year old perverted masters
and Amazons, dragon princes and a Phoenix. Don't ask me more. I'm
already glad that I have left behind that part of my life." Hiko's respect
rose again for this youngster. Ranma's aura showed that he wasn't lying
when he summed up his opponents and he knew that an age of three
hundred was feasible. The Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu gave a master long life as
well, because of the mastering of one own's ki, so it would be possible
for other schools to discover the same thing. He himself was already
forty-two but really didn't show for it. That's when Ranma decided to
spring another surprise on him. "And the reason I wish to learn about
weapons is this." With that Ranma's aura flared and streamed to his hand.
The white light pulsed one more time around his hand before settling into
the familiar shape of a white katana.
Hiko was awed. Before him sat a boy not over twenty and already he had

completely mastered his ki. Ranma really had to be a gifted to be able to

do such a thing at his age. He himself could almost do the same thing.
His mastery of ki was almost as good, but there was still one thing
missing to produce the same effect. Still, to see ki take on a solid shape.
"May I touch it?" Ranma gave his consent and Hiko reached over. He
touched the blade and let a bit of the energy flow through him. It felt
cold, like it was frozen into the shape of a katana. But there was
something familiar about the flow of the energy. His eyes widened. He
sat back down and looked Ranma straight into the eye. "Tell me, how are
you related to Kenshin? Your ki shows trace elements of Kenshin's. It
also explains why your female forms looks so much like Kenshin."
Ranma could only think one thing.
End of chapter 8
Sorry to everyone who was waiting for this chapter to come out. I've had
a few exams and projects due at school that added to my usual workload.
Further more I've finally managed to lay my hands on most of the
Rurouni Kenshin manga. I couldn't help myself, so I read all the manga
before I began on this chapter.
Still, it gave me some ideas for the future. It seems that the demons have
recognized Ranma from their time. Is our pigtailed hero in trouble now? I
would say that trouble will be a big understatement.
Join me next time for Ranma's reaction to Hiko Seiju latest statement.
And what's that, problems at the Aoiya? Damn, I'm beginning to sound
like a bad soap opera. Thanks to everyone who gave me a review or a
mail. It really helps the imagination going :).
Let me know what you think of the fic in the reviews at FanFiction.net
and in my mailbox:
TheNightstalker_0@Hotmail.com
Find the fic at:
- Anime Insomniac: http://www.geocities.com/animeinsomniac/main.html
- X-Fire Fandom Base: http://www.geocities.com/c_mach2k1/
See ya,
TheNightstalker

Ancestral History
A Ranma 1/2 and Rurouni Kenshin Crossover
Disclaimer:
Why would I want to own the characters used. I can use them fine this
way, can't I?
Timeline:
This crossover will take place after manga 38 in the Ranma universe. For
Rurouni Kenshin it's after the anime and movie.
Bare with me people, it's my first fan-fiction and am doing the best I can.
English isn't my first language, so please don't yell at me about the errors,
I know my English isn't the best out there. And sorry, no, I don't use
prereaders.
Chapter 9: What do you mean he's holding back?
by TheNightstalker
How should he react? Hiko had him nailed with that last statement. It
was true, but how to work around it, or should he tell the truth? But
would Hiko believe the truth and just decide that Ranma was lying? Then
there was the possibility that he would reject Ranma as a student because
of the truth.
Ranma was intriguing, that much was certain. He had spend the years of
the war out of the country. Already one Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu master had
mingled into the war, two would have been too much. The journey had
been... strange. It had seemed that China really was a pinnacle of magic.
Especially one special valley. He had encountered Jusenkyo and gladly
heeded the warnings. The Amazons had been a great stay once you get
past those stupid laws. Beating the matriarch had helped a great deal in
that. Still, he was thankful that Cologne didn't hold a grudge against him
for his victory. Now this young lad sat in front of him with a mastery that
even the Amazons hadn't achieved yet. And the boy was related to his
student in a way that shouldn't be possible. He knew for a fact that
Kenshin didn't have any living relative, he had checked for that. But that
wasn't what bothered him about the ki signature. The signature showed
him as a descendant of Kenshin, but he was too old to be Kenshin's son.
How? Could this boy be from the future in some way? Long
conversations from years past with Cologne came back to him. She had
told him that magic still existed in these times, so why shouldn't it be
possible for this boy to be from the future. He was still only guessing
now, but he was getting somewhere.

Ranma finally came to a conclusion in his thoughts, he would tell the

truth.
Hiko couldn't wait any longer, he would ask Ranma himself.
"Are you from/I am from..." Both began at the same time and the both
finished at the same time. "... the future?!" Silence came again as both
stared at each other wide eyed. One because the other had guessed right,
the other because his guess had been right.
Ranma was the first to speak again. "Guess you want to know the rest as
well?"
Hiko responded. "First tell me when you came from. And yes, I would
like to know the rest as well."
A sigh escaped Ranma's lips. He hated telling long stories, particularly
about himself. "I'm from about a hundred years into the future and yes,
I'm a descendant of Kenshin. He doesn't know though. Your the first who
knows the whole truth, or at least will know the whole truth." Ranma just
hoped he wouldn't ruin the timeline with telling Hiko. That's when a
voice entered his mind. He hadn't heard this voice before, but he knew
immediately who it was. The presence just radiated his name, Kamisama.
^^It is all right Ranma, tell him everything. He was meant to know. That's
what I meant with everything being arranged when you got here. He had
to know, but he won't interfere. That's enough to save the timeline.^^
As fast as the presence had entered, it also left him. When the presence
was gone, he felt a lot better about everything. As if all was right with the
world. He shook his head to start his mind again and focused on what he
was about to tell to Hiko Seijuurou, grandmaster of the Hiten Mitsurugi
Ryu.

Kenshin found most of the people he expected to find at the Aoiya

gathered into one room. The only people missing were Kaoru and Misao.
Too say that the mood was gloomy would be an understatement.
Everyone was hanging around the table as if someone had just died,
except for Aoshi. He was simply staring out of the window, hiding his
face by standing half into a shadow. Even Sano and Yahiko seemed to be
infected with this sad expression.

Seeing Kaoru missing, Kenshin quickly asked what had happened and
where Kaoru was. Okina slowly got up and mentioned Kenshin to follow
him. Still not understanding what was going on, Kenshin followed him
into the study.
There Okina took a seat and started talking. "It is good to see you
Himura-dono. I am sorry for the bad reception. Something has happened
a few days ago that has ruined the mood for a good time to come. As you
know, okashira has been meditating for a long time now. He had gathered
his answers a few days ago. Misao was glad that okashira had come out
of his hole and started to live again. There was one problem though, he
still didn't respond to Misao's advances. Yesterday she had confronted
him with it." Kenshin knew that the important part of the story would be
next. "She asked him how he felt about her. His response was not what
Misao had hoped for..." Kenshin was all ears by now. "He thought of her
as his little sister. Misao broke down crying and hasn't left her room
since. Kaoru is in there trying to help her."
Kenshin let out a breath he had been holding unconsciously. When he
had first missed Kaoru, he expected the worst. Even though he was
relieved for Kaoru's situation, he was also concerned for Misao's. He
knew that the girl simply adored Aoshi. Thinking back to the room next
door, he realized why Aoshi was hiding his face in the shadow. Aoshi had
known that he had hurt the girls feelings, but he had no choice. Misao
had been entitled to the truth, how damaging it would be. If Aoshi had
held the truth from her, it would have hurt her more in the end. Still, it
threw a shadow over their visit.
"Himura-dono, what are you thinking?" Misao's adoptive parent had
noticed that Kenshin was lost in thought.
Startled, Kenshin looked up at Kishiwazaki Kenji, the man also known as
Okina. "Probably the same thing as you did Okina-dono. That even
though it had hurt her, she needed to hear it." He sighed deeply. "Still, it
probably hurt her a greatly. What did Aoshi say?"
"He mumbled something like 'it had to be done'. He then took his
position by the window and almost hasn't moved since. He only left to
eat or wash up. I think that it has hurt him more than he wants to
acknowledge. But because he is our leader, he doesn't want us to see him
hurting."
Kenshin was at a loss. Relationships aren't his strong point. He was
barely able to express himself with Kaoru. This wasn't something that he

could help with. Sadly he looked at Okina. "I wish there was something I
could do..." He turned his head away. "But there isn't, is there Okinadono?" The other man shook his had negatively. Kenshin continued. "We
were here because something has happened that lightened our moods
back in Tokyo. It is sad that something like this should darken our visit."
Okina looked up. He had thought the visit to be a casual one. He hadn't
expected anything else. "Tell me Himura-dono, what brings you to Kyoto
then. Anything to brighten our day here."
A smile came to Kenshin's face when he thought about the young man
that had entered their lives. The smile still showed the concern he felt for
Misao, but it was still a smile. "Another person has come into our lives."
Kenshin decided to be a little bit cryptic. "He searches to be a student, I
am thinking about being a teacher."
Okina's face became blank for a moment, then slowly a light started to
form in the man's eyes. When the light was fully on, the eyes widened.
"Are you serious?!!"
He gave a nod as an answer. "I'm just waiting for the final confirmation
from shishou."

Hiko's head was hurting. Magic was one thing, demon's were another.
Then there were supposed to be goddesses as employers. His world just
kept on getting stranger and stranger. Hearing that someone in Kenshin's
line was going to save the planet was actually something mild for his
mind. Kenshin had saved the country a couple of times now, the planet
wasn't that big a step after that. The really strange part was that Ranma
was talking about these kind of things as if they happened to him daily.
The pot of tea had been drained a couple of times during their 'little' talk.
Kenshin and Ranma had arrived at noon, but dinnertime was approaching
already. Still, Hiko couldn't resist to ask one final question before
beginning dinner preparations.
"Tell me Ranma, why are you accepting these things so easy? I mean the
goddesses, demons and all other things."
"You want the long or short answer?" Ranma really hoped for the short
answer, his stomach was complaining and that was something that
Ranma couldn't live with for a long time.

"Short please."
After sending a short prayer of thanks to whatever goddess was listening
Ranma began to talk. "My life has been full with the strange and weird
almost from day one. It isn't that I'm not surprised when something like
this happens, I just don't allow myself to get fazed by it anymore.
Keeping a clear head about it, makes it a lot easier to deal with."
Hiko couldn't deny that logic. Now he only had to decide if he was going
to allow Kenshin to teach Ranma. The Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu wasn't a
style that went from father to son, but from teacher to student, with the
student being chosen by the teacher. That meant in a way that he couldn't
deny Kenshin's choice. Then again, Kenshin had given him the choice,
because Kenshin had felt that he wasn't the right man to make the final
decision or some other stupid reason his student could come up with.
"Let me get this straight Ranma. The Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu doesn't exist
anymore in your time because Kenshin never passed it on?"
"That's what they've told me."
This made the decision easy actually. Ranma had made a good
impression on him and he couldn't afford to see the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu
die out. To make sure that the Ryu still existed in the future he would
give Kenshin permission to start Ranma's teaching. But before Kenshin
started, he wanted to see how strong Ranma already was without the
Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. Now he only had to convince Ranma to a sparring
match somewhere tomorrow.
He nodded to himself and addressed Ranma once more. "Then to
preserve the Ryu, Kenshin will be allowed to teach you." Ranma was
stunned, it had been quite easy to convince Hiko. "But before he begins
your training, I would like to spar with you once, so I'll know how strong
you are without the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. Just out of curiosity, I assure
you. How about tomorrow morning, before we join my baka Deshi at the
Aoiya."
"Uhm, sure... It's been a while since I had a decent spar." Within
moments both wore the same cocky grin. The one that said something
like 'You're going to lose big time.' It was the same one Ranma used to
use to enrage Ryoga and Hiko used to show his superiority to Kenshin.
That's when both their stomachs decided to let their protests be known.
The grins turned into embarrassed looks and both stormed towards the
little part of the cabin that served as a kitchen. It didn't take them long to
enjoy a nice and warm dinner.

The rest of the evening was spent by telling the other stories from their
past. Hiko told about the travels he had done during the time of the war
and Ranma told about some of the outrageous stuff that usually happened
around him. The evening wasn't long for them, because both of them
wanted to get up early and enjoy a good spar. A spare futon was rolled
out and a quiet night of sleep was the result.

Kenshin and Okina talked for an hour more. The men hadn't seen each
other in a while and they had a lot of catching up to do. When they
finally came back into the living room, they found only one person left.
Aoshi, still standing in his dark corner, did nothing to acknowledge their
arrival. One glance from Kenshin to Okina was enough to let the old man
know that Kenshin wanted to talk to Aoshi in private.
As soon as Okina left Kenshin opened the conversation. "Why?"
It took a minute before Aoshi finally faced Kenshin and responded. "Tell
me Battousai. Is it possible to fall in love with a girl you have raised as
family since she was little?" Before Kenshin could respond Aoshi
continued. "In some cases yes, but how could I... could I..." Aoshi wasn't
a man that talked about emotions. Kenshin realized that he was witness
to something rare. Aoshi composed himself a bit more before he
continued. "How could I fall in love with a girl I've loved since she was
little, loved her like the little sister that I helped raise." With that said, the
okashira of the Oniwa Banshu stepped back in the dark protection of the
shadows. Aoshi was fast, but not fast enough to hide the tear that rolled
down his cheek.
"I understand." The only other sound that greeted Aoshi were the doors
sliding as Kenshin left the room.
Okina was waiting patiently outside the room. He knew that Aoshi would
open up a bit more to Kenshin. For him, Aoshi had to be the leader, but
for Kenshin he didn't have to. That didn't necessarily mean that Aoshi
would open up, but Kenshin just stood a better chance.
The doors slid open and out stepped Kenshin. He saw Ocean's
questioning expression and shook his head negatively. Aoshi wanted to
hide his pain from the rest, Kenshin had no right to reveal it. Maybe it
would be best to turn in for the moment. Everything always looks better
in the light of day.

Both of them were sizing the other up, but were having trouble with it.
Hiko just didn't know what to do with Ranma's non-stance and Ranma
didn't know what Hiko could be capable of. He hadn't fought many
weapon users. Kino didn't count since he wasn't even a decent warming
up. Since they couldn't read their opponent they took the most logical
course of action. Let the other take the initiative. Normally this would
work, but not here. Both were considered grandmasters at their Art, both
were waiting patiently for the other to begin.
That's when Ranma made a move, it wasn't something what Hiko
expected though. Ranma yawned. Thinking it to be an opening, Hiko
rushed at Ranma, hoping to catch him off guard. His sword swept
through the air and met no resistance. His attack went straight through
Ranma who then disappeared. He was swept off his feet before he even
had the time to say 'after image'.
The sweep was perfect, the response to it as well. Hiko planted his free
hand on the ground and flipped backwards before he landed. In his flip,
he managed to hit Ranma on the shoulder with one of his feet. It was a
glancing hit, but a hit none the less. Hiko flipped away and Ranma got
up.
They faced each other again and started circling each other. This time
Ranma took the initiative. He ran towards Hiko and jumped into a flying
kick which was moderately charged with ki. As the kick neared, Hiko
responded. "RYU-SHO-SEN!" He ducked grabbed the other end of his
sword and prepared to jump while leading with the sharp side of the
blade.
Seeing that he was about to lose his leg if he didn't respond on time,
Ranma acted on instinct. He threw his legs upward, causing him to roll
backwards in the air. He knew it to be just in time, because he felt the
rush of air as Hiko jumped up. Ranma landed and immediately jumped as
well, following Hiko into the air.
The speed with which Ranma reacted showed Hiko that the young man
was fast, really fast. The match was getting more interesting by the
minute. He was almost at the pinnacle of the jump now and was
preparing to return back to earth when he heard Ranma jumping after
him. So Ranma wanted to have a battle of heights with a Hiten Mitsurugi
Ryu master, that could be arranged. He turned his body in mid-air so that
he was facing Ranma as he was coming down. The next attack was a
favorite of his student, that didn't mean that he was a slouch at it though.

"RYU-TSUI-SEN!" He positioned his blade and was ready to slice into

the collarbone of Ranma, with a little help of gravity off course. He was
only a few feet from his target when said target did the impossible.
Ranma twisted in midair around his blade and even managed to tag him
hard on the head with a well placed kick. It was enough to make Hiko
loose his balance. While Ranma landed lightly, Hiko almost crashed.
Only the years of experience saved him by rolling into his fall as instinct.
Hiko got back up and eyed Ranma with new respect. He had to agree that
Ranma had the right to wear the same grin he did. "That's it Ranma, the
kid gloves are off." With that he removed the mantle he always wore. He
took the mantle with his right arm and threw it a few yards from him. It
landed with a loud thunk.
Ranma heard the sound the mantle made and looked at Hiko with a rather
strange expression. "Weighted?"
Hiko nodded. "It also restricts muscle movements making my attacks
slower and weaker. Get ready to get your ass kicked." Ranma just
grinned in response. "Get ready, I'll take you down with my coolest
move."
"Bring it on!" With that, Ranma took a defensive position.
Hiko brought his sword into a ready position and stormed towards
Ranma, then he shouted out his favorite attack. One that was most suited
for his physique. "KUZU-RYU-SEN!" Ranma's eyes widened when he
saw the attack coming. That wasn't one attack, that were nine attacks in
one! He quickly stepped a bit to the left and hoped that his arm bracers
would be able to handle the stress. By stepping to the left six of the nine
attacks would miss and he would only have to block three of them. He
rushed forward as well and initiated an altered Kachuu Tenshin
Amaguriken. Instead of attacking, he used all the speed he could muster
to deflect the remaining attacks.
Hiko had used the flat of the blade, he was afraid he would kill Ranma if
he had used the sharp side. The moment he stopped he turned around to
see what was left of Ranma. Not many are able to stop the Kuzu-RyuSen. What he saw shocked him, it seemed that Ranma was one of the
people capable of blocking. The practitioner of the Anything Goes was
already coming at him at almost full speed with only a nick in his shirt on
the height of the center attack. What happened next took Hiko
completely by surprise.
Ranma was glad. He had been able to stop the attacks, but only at a

millimeters distance. He knew that he would be using his sewing skills

after the match to repair his shirt. But the fight was more important now.
He hoped that he could catch Hiko off guard after his attack and had even
planned a little surprise. He ran towards Hiko at a pace just under his
max, hoping to fool his opponent. When he was about five yards from
Hiko, he launched a small ki-ball at the ground before Hiko, making the
dust and dirt rise which completely covered his approach. Then he went
to full speed and jumped, hoping that Hiko would have the timing and
vector of his approach wrong this way.
The ruse succeeded. Hiko sprang forward to get out of the dust cloud but
encountered nothing. He heard a movement behind his back and already
knew he had been fooled. The searing pain in his back was testimony to
that.
Ranma kicked Hiko in the back after his landing and immediately
followed up by following Hiko, grabbing the man by his shoulders and
flip him backwards, instantly changing Hiko's direction. Not expecting to
be thrown after the attack, Hiko yet again crashed into the ground. It
wasn't a hard crash, but he was down again. The boy's speed was good, it
was almost on par with the highest speed of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu.
Almost, but not completely. He quickly got up and took the position that
the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu was best known for, the Battou-Jutsu. Deciding
to keep the Ougi for later he went with one of the other Battou-Jutsu
techniques.
Again both of them rushed at each other. Ranma had noticed the altered
position but paid no heed to it. He wasn't knowledgeable enough in the
way of the sword to recognize the stance for what it was. But he knew
speed when he saw it. Hiko was coming at him at max speed and it was
greater than his own. Ranma saw the attack coming and blocked it
deflected it with his bracer. Then he saw something that shook him a bit.
He had blocked the sheath, where was the sword? Reacting completely
on instinct he jumped up and spring boarded of Hiko's chest, but not
before he received a gash on his abdomen, right next to the one he had
received in his previous fight.
He landed from his jump and immediately started concentrating. Hiko
was coming closer so he didn't have much time. He moved his hands to
his side and let his ki gather there. Hiko saw the gathering of energy and
had only one thought as he came into attacking range. With that he let
himself drop to the ground. It wasn't a moment to soon. The ball of ki
shot over him at speeds he wouldn't have been able to dodge. He could
feel the heat of the energy as it passed him. Seeing that he was close to
Ranma and under his opponents guard, he took advantage of the moment

and swept Ranma of his feet. Neither of them paid heed to the explosion
in the background.
Ranma felt his feet leave the ground because of a sweep from his
opponent and threw himself backwards. He planted his hand in the
ground and flipped himself up again towards Hiko. He landed in front of
Hiko and formed his own katana which he swung towards his opponents
neck. Hiko, who had just managed to get into a kneeling position saw
Ranma land in front of him and swung as well. Both the attacks stopped
at a millimeters distance of their target. Hiko felt the energy of the blade
just beside his throat. Ranma saw the light reflect of a blade beside his
throat as well.
Ranma spoke first. "Draw?"
"It seems so. But next time I won't go that easy on you." With that he got
back up and put his sword back into its scabbard.
Ranma let his ki-katana dissipate. "Don't count on it old man. I didn't use
all my special techniques."
Hiko's eyes narrowed at the 'old man' comment, but he responded none
the less. "Neither did I, neither did I."
It was then that both took a good look at themselves. Hiko was amazed at
the damage done. His clothes were ripped in a few places and dirt
covered almost everything. Ranma was amazed as well. The near misses
were more near than he had thought. He had a few scratches, had ripped
his clothing and certainly felt the gash on his abdomen. It would heal in a
couple of hours, but he would feel the damn wound till then.
Hiko went over to retrieve his mantle. Besides of being a bit muddy,
because of lying on the ground, it was fine. He put it back on and joined
Ranma at the water supply to wash up a bit.
When they had cleaned up a bit, Hiko spoke again. "Time to go. Let's go
see how my baka Deshi is doing."
Ranma couldn't help but ask. "Why are you calling him that?"
Hiko smirked. "Because it annoys the hell out of him, do I need another
reason?" Ranma just grew a small sweatdrop on the back of his head as
response.
After they retrieved Ranma's gear from the cabin they made their way

towards Kyoto. Most of the morning had already past when they finally
arrived at their destination. When Ranma entered the inn he saw a
woman standing behind the desk, that is until Hiko entered. With a shout
of 'Hiko-sama' she ran from behind the desk towards the grandmaster of
the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu.
"Hiko-sama what are you doing here?" Her body language showed that
she wasn't all that interested in why he was here, it showed that she was
interested in Hiko himself. She was just about throwing herself to him.
Hiko took it all good naturally and smiled at the female member of the
Oniwa Banshu. "I heard that Kenshin could be found here, did I hear
correctly?"
The smile almost made her faint, but she managed to stutter out an
answer. "Y-y-yes, h-he's in the private section of the inn."
That was when most of the rest of the occupants stormed into the
receiving hall of the inn. Most of them had heard the shouting and came
to find out what was going on. Ranma saw his friends and raised a hand
in greeting.
Seeing Kenshin made Hiko go all serious. He locked eyes with Kenshin
and spoke. "Deshi, we need to talk." Kenshin saw the expression and
nodded. While the Oniwa Banshu made acquaintance with Ranma,
Kenshin led Hiko to Okina's study.
Once there Hiko took the initiative. "That's one hell of a young man that
you brought me." Kenshin was startled. Hiko praised someone, the man's
ego normally wouldn't allow it. What had happened during the time he
wasn't there. Seeing Kenshin's expression, Hiko smirked. He knew that
he had surprised Kenshin with that statement. The curiosity that burned
in Kenshin's eyes made perfectly clear that he wanted to know. Hiko
didn't let him wait any longer. "Ranma fought me to a draw in a match
this morning." Kenshin fell backwards, unconscious.
Hiko sighed and reached over to hit Kenshin over the head. It had the
desired results of waking Kenshin up. "Oohh, I must be dreaming, I think
I heard you say that Ranma fought you to a draw."
"He did."
Now Kenshin was awake again. It seemed that Hiko wasn't kidding. "Did
he even defeat the Ama-Kakeru-Ryu-No-Hirameki?"

Hiko shook his head. "No, I didn't use it. But I don't know if it would
have worked. He defeated my Kuzu-Ryu-Sen." Kenshin's head snapped
up and locked eyes with Hiko. Hiko's Kuzu-Ryu-Sen was almost
impossible to defend against. "And I don't think that I've seen what he's
completely capable off. He said he was holding back special techniques."
Kenshin thought back to the battle he had shared with Ranma and went
over the techniques used there. "These are the things I've seen him do.
I've seen him create a whirlwind out of nowhere, he became invisible and
destroyed something with his ki-attack."
Hiko became a bit thoughtful. "A whirlwind you say? It seems that I have
to ask him if he knows any Amazons. And invisibility? No, he didn't use
that either. He used a ki-attack, but kept it very small. It wouldn't surprise
me if he could make it bigger." Hiko figured that it was time to drop the
bomb on Kenshin. "You've got one hell of a Deshi, Deshi."
End of chapter 9
Woohoo, another one out. How's that for a match by the way. Well,
teaching time is beginning and things are getting hot at the Aoiya. Would
anyone like to see a match between Aoshi and Ranma. Both of them
limited to hand to hand that is. Let me know, ok?
My exams are over, so I hope that my writing speed will increase.
Believe me, three weeks of exams aren't fun.
As always, let me know what you think of the fic in the reviews at
FanFiction.net and in my mailbox:
TheNightstalker_0@Hotmail.com
Find the fic at:
- Anime Insomniac: http://www.geocities.com/animeinsomniac/main.html
- X-Fire Fandom Base: http://www.geocities.com/c_mach2k1/
See ya,
TheNightstalker