Subject: [FFML][Ranma][fanfic] Jusenkyo's Curse-Chapter 2 (part 3/4)
From: Kyo Kusanagi
Date: 1/2/1998, 7:56 AM
To: fanfic@fanfic.com

<Insert yet more swearing at email program here>

If you've stuck thru this far, you're doing damn good ;)

**************
"Uhhh...What...happened...?" Ranma moaned and rubbed his forehead as he
slowly recovered consciousness. When his world stopped swirling in intricate
patterns before his eyes, he looked around and noted some points of
interest. He sat, buck naked, in a bathtub half-filled with now-room
temperature water. The bathroom window was slightly open and Ranma shivered
as the cool, night breeze blew in. He could feel the remaining tinges of raw
power coursing around the room.
<Bra, its freezing, it’s as if this damn cold water wasn’t enough…> Ranma
did a double-take, blinking a few times. <Cold…water…???> Ranma immediately
touched his chest, yep, no mistake, he was still a guy, a quick grab between
his legs confirmed that.
"It…worked!! The cure worked!!!!" Ranma yelled, punching the air in
excitement and happiness. "Finally!! I'm cured! I'm a normal guy again!!"
Ranma was positively elated, tears of unbound joy streaming down his face
unashamedly as he hugged himself once more to be 100% sure he was still a
guy. Then he slumped back into the bath, able to enjoy the feel of cold
water on his *male* body for once in what must have been a very long time.
He was about to relax until he saw the figure slumped unconscious across him.
<W…what the?!?> Ranma blinked and rubbed his eyes before looking again. Yep,
no mistake, across him was his *former* female body, unconscious in the cold
water. 
<This can’t be happening! This isn’t happening!> He tried to convince
himself as he backed away from the redheaded girl across him, giving himself
a splinter as he grabbed the underside of the nearby table.
<Ow! That hurt!> Ranma brought his hand in front of his face, no mistake,
the splinter was real enough. He looked across the bathtub again at the
redhead, who was beginning to stir.
"Uhh…" Ranma-chan rubbed the side of her head as she slowly regained
consciousness, the cool water of the bath lapping at her lower torso. She
was slumped in one corner of the bath, one arm dangling over the edge, one
leg half crossed while the other was dangling over the edge as well. As her
vision refocused, she looked around. The first thing she noticed was that
she was buck naked, the second thing was that a guy was half-seated in the
bath across him, also naked. She immediately shrieked and tried to cover
herself, drawing her knees to her chest and hugging herself tightly.
"Who…who…who are you!?" She demanded of Ranma-kun, who was suprisingly
unable to say anything. Instead his gaze was fixed on her, when he was a
girl before, oh sure he’d noticed his own killer figure, but until now he’d
never really been turned on by it, reason being it was his own body. He’d
never seen his female body as a male before, and he was getting turned of by
it.. His thoughts drifted back to when Shampoo was playing with him before
he got into the bath. He’d never realised that his thoughts on how he looked
when he was female were that damn accurate! Ranma-chan saw Ranma-kun’s
reddening face and blushed herself.
"You…you’re real…right? I mean, how can you…?" Ranma began.
"W…who are you??!" Ranma-chan tried to shrink back further. 
<How the hell!? Not only is my female body sitting a few feet across me, she
doesn't know who I am!> Ranma-kun stepped out of the bath, not bothering to
cover up his exposed manhood as he still thought it was him that was sitting
in the bath at the other end. Ranma-chan took one look at his member and
blushed further, covering her eyes.
"Eeeek!" Ranma-kun turned to see what she was carrying on about, then
realised he was naked.
"Ack!…" he yelped, quickly snatching a towel off the rack nearby and
covering himself in record time. "S…sorry, I…I forgot." He attempted a weak
laugh. He stepped back and took a good look at her, she was shivering and
practically turning blue due to the cold water and the cold night air
blowing in from the open bathroom window. 
"Eeek, get away! What are you doing!?" Ranma-chan shrieked as Ranma-kun
reached up to close the window.
"Closing the window. Look at you, you’re shivering…" Ranma-kun extended a
hand to her. Ranma-chan simply shrunk back further. "…Look, I'm not going to
hurt you, ok? You’ve got to get out of there or you’ll catch a cold."
Ranma-chan’s teeth were chattering slightly.
"Come on, I promise I won’t hurt you ok?…" Ranma-chan looked at Ranma-kun’s
extended hand for a long moment, then up to his smiling face. She decided
that he really was as good as his word and tentatively extended her own
hand. Ranma-kun grabbed another towel off the rack nearby and gently draped
it over her shoulders, his skin tingling as he touched her. Ranma-chan stood
still in his warm embrace for a moment, shivering, before realising what she
was doing and immediately backed away from him, clutching the towel tighter
around her. Ranma-kun however, wasn’t paying any attention to her, when she
backed off he immediately dropped to his knees beside a
still-unconscious(and naked) Shampoo.
"Shampoo…Shampoo, come on, wake up!" Ranma-kun gently shook Shampoo while
trying not to look at her breasts, he wasn’t succeeding. A growing bulge in
front of him was proof of that. Shampoo however, appeared to be responding.
"Uhhh…R…Ranma…" Shampoo’s eyes slowly opened to look up at a worried
Ranma-kun. "…You all right? What happen?…" Ranma-kun helped Shampoo sit up
and she did a double-take when she saw Ranma-chan, still clutching the towel
tightly around her, standing in the corner trying not shiver.
"Ai-ya! Oh no!…" Shampoo placed her hand over her mouth muck like Kasumi
would do.
"Shampoo, what’s going on? Why is my girl self standing over there?" Ranma
asked, Shampoo shook her head, uncertain of what to say.
"Ranma…was accident…I tell you not to go into bath, but was too late.
Shampoo sorry…" Shampoo looked to be on the verge of tears, Ranma hugged her
head to his chest, gently rocking her.
"Shampoo…it’s ok, your cure worked!" Ranma-kun’s smile faded when he saw
Shampoo’s serious expression.
"It work, but not like Shampoo think it should work…" Shampoo sighed. At
that moment, Cologne hopped into the bathroom on her staff.
"Now now, what’s all the fuss here?…" Cologne did a double-take when she saw
Ranma-kun cradling Shampoo, then looked up to see Ranma-chan shivering in
the corner. "…Good lord! Shampoo, you didn’t use the anti-curse powder did
you?" Shampoo slowly nodded, her eyes filling with tears. Ranma-kun
immediately stood up to face Cologne.
"Hey, old mummy…OW!" Ranma-kun winced as Cologne struck him with her staff.
"..what’s the…man that hurt!…deal here with her?…" Ranma-kun gestured at
Ranma-chan, who cringed slightly.
"Who’s a mummy?…" Cologne shot Ranma-kun with a piercing gaze before hopping
over to Ranma-chan, who promptly screamed and tried to back away.
"Eeeek, get away from me, you disgusting creature!…" To Ranma-kun’s surprise
however, Cologne did not hit Ranma-chan, instead, she poked her a couple of
times then shook her head, hopping back to Ranma-kun. "…I'm afraid the
powder didn’t work as planned, instead of fully cancelling the Jusenkyo
curse, it partially cancelled it, creating two separate bodies…" Cologne
pointed at Ranma-kun "…You, being the original, kept all your memories and
knowledge that you have acquired to date, along with any other physical
traits. Simply put, you…" Cologne poked Ranma-kun again, who was starting to
look annoyed. "…are cured…" Ranma-kun’s face lit up, but faded when he saw
Cologne’s serious expression. "…However, your former cursed body…" She
gestured over to Ranma-chan. "…Has nothing of that sort. You may or may not
know, that the Jusenkyo curse also partially infuses you with the spirit of
the drowned person or creature within. Simply put again, she is basically
your cursed body with the spirit of the girl that drowned in the spring so
long ago…" Ranma-kun slowly nodded, this would explain why she didn't know
who he was. 
"So lemme get this straight, technically she’s a by-product of this
so-called cure?!?" Cologne and Shampoo winced, looking over to Ranma-chan
who was looked like she was about to cry. Cologne whacked Ranma-kun over the
head again with her staff.
"...Son-in-law, I don’t think you should have said that…She may not have
memories but in all aspects she is still a human being…She does have
feelings…" Ranma-kun looked over to Ranma-chan, who was on the verge of
tears. He walked over to her and gently embraced her. Ranma-chan not
resisting this time.
"Hey, come on, don’t cry ok?…I'm sorry I said that…Come on, ssshhhh now..."
Ranma-kun gently cradled Ranma-chan in his arms, stroking her hair.
Ranma-chan looked up at Ranma-kun, who was smiling at her. She slowly nodded
and wiped her eyes, not releasing her grip on him this time though.
"It would appear that she likes you…" Cologne smirked at Ranma-kun who
face-faulted. "…In all regards, she’s your responsibility now." Ranma-kun
blanched, the blood draining from his face.
"Hey! Now wait a moment here you old…" Ranma-kun stopped when Ranma-chan’s
sad, innocent face entered his mind. He looked toward Cologne and slowly nodded.
"You should be happy, son-in-law…that you now have a sister." Ranma-kun did
a double-take.
<Sister!?!…> He looked down at the cute redheaded girl that he was holding
in his arms, she looked up and met his gaze. Both of them stood silent for a
few minutes, not saying a word. Ranma-kun then slowly smiled and gently
pushed her hair out of her eyes.
"I guess we have to give you a name…" Ranma-kun slowly released his hold on
her. "…But I think that can wait, until you’re properly dressed and this
whole mess…" He waved his arm around, indicating the general area. "…is
cleaned up, ok?" Ranma-kun smiled at Ranma-chan again, who nodded. Shampoo
in the meantime, was watching the whole scene and finally turned to Cologne.
"Great-grandmother, is true? What you say?" Cologne nodded. Shampoo covered
her mouth.
"Ai-ya…Ranma now have twin…" Ranma-kun felt himself blush at Shampoo’s words.
"Granddaughter, how about you lend…" Cologne stopped when she realised that
Ranma-chan didn’t have a name yet. She pointed at Ranma-chan with her staff.
"…one of your dresses? I’d think you’re roughly the same size." Ranma-kun’s
eyes widened when he heard Cologne say that his female side was about the
same size as Shampoo.
<Now hey! I wasn’t so bad after all!" He thought with a silly grin on his
face. Cologne whacked him again.
"Hey you dried up old…" Before he could finish, Cologne smacked Ranma-kun
into the bath. Spluttering, he emerged soaking wet, cursing Cologne under
his breath. Shampoo giggled and left the room, leaving Ranma-kun and
Ranma-chan to clean up and dry the bathroom. Cologne turned to leave, but
paused as she remembered something. 
"Son-in-law, one more thing you must remember. She does not have your
memories, but I have a feeling that’s all she lacks. She may, for all we
know, have your knowledge of martial arts, among other things…What I think
is that she has fragments of your mind… Most probably what she could retain
from when her mind was bound to yours…" Cologne shrugged. "…Shampoo did warn
you the powder was unstable." Cologne hopped out, leaving Ranma-kun to
ponder that last fact.
<Could it be?> Ranma-kun thought as he looked over to Ranma-chan. She was
moving with the same grace and fluidity that he had possessed when he was
female. Ranma-kun sighed at yet another problem in his life. As if he needed
another.

"How do I look?" Ranma-chan paused for a moment, giving Ranma-kun a few
moments to retrieve his jaw from where it’d dropped. 
"...Uhh...you look stunning..." Ranma-kun struggled to get out. Everyone was
now in the main restaurant part of the Nekohanten, Shampoo was beside
Ranma-chan making slight adjustments to the long Chinese dress that
Ranma-chan was now wearing. Ranma-chan felt a little uncomfortable in that
dress as it was rather tight, the silky material clinging to every curve of
her body and showing off her gorgeous figure. Ranma-kun found himself
staring at Ranma-chan again, noting how her breasts jiggled with every
slight movement and how her…
<Shimata! Stop that!> Ranma-kun slapped himself. Ranma-chan blushed when she
saw Ranma-kun staring at her. Cologne whacked Ranma-kun over the head with
her staff.
"OW! Hey, you dried up old monkey! What’s that for?!" Ranma-kun rubbed the
back of his head. Cologne’s staff did it’s job however, Ranma-kun was
sufficiently distracted to be able to stop staring at Ranma-chan and put his
eyes back into his head.
<Jerk! Look at you! You’re acting like a total pervert! This is your female
side damnit! Get a grip!> Ranma-kun’s conscience was acting up again.
Shampoo stepped away from Ranma-chan, nodded and walked over to Ranma-kun.
"Ranma, what name you give girl?" Shampoo and Cologne looked over to
Ranma-kun expectantly. Ranma-kun caught their stares and shrunk back, his
mind working overtime. Ranma-kun paced the floor of the Nekohanten for a few
minutes, muttering to himself and scratching his head.
"Ahh, I got it!..." Ranma-kun snapped his fingers "...It’s easy...Ran-ko!"
Shampoo looked over to Ranma as if to say ‘Huh?’
"Don’t you remember? When my Mom comes to visit I always played ‘Ran-ko
Tendo’" Shampoo nodded, looking over to Ranma-chan. Ranma-kun walked over to
Ranma-chan and smiled as he patted her on the head.
"Well then, I guess it’s settled then, you’re Ran-ko Saotome from now on."
Ran-ko nodded, looking up innocently at her ‘brother’.
"...Ranma oniichan..." Ranma winced inwardly at the mention of the word
‘oniichan’. Obviously he was having a hard time getting used to the fact
that he now had a sister. Not showing it however, he simply smiled at Ran-ko
and gave her a hug. Shampoo and Cologne looked on at the two, not knowing
what to make of the chain of events that led up to this.
"Great-grandmother, they look so cute together..." Shampoo giggled while
Cologne simply nodded. Ranma however, wasn’t sure what to make of all this.
It had all happened so suddenly. Who could have foreseen the chain of events
that led up to this?
<Just great…How the hell am I going to explain this to Akane?...> he thought
as he paced the floor of the Nekohanten. <Oh sure, I’m cured, that’s the
good part...> Ranma, not looking where he was going, wandered into a wall.
"Ouch!..." Ran-ko ran over to her brother to help him up, or rather, out of
the wall. Shampoo simply giggled while Cologne hopped over to Ranma and
extracted his head from the wall.
"Son-in-law, sit down, there are things which you must know..." Ranma sighed.
"Come on, this gets worse?!? Oh great, just great It’s bad enough I’ve Akane
to worry about but now..." Ranma stopped in mid-sentence when he saw
Cologne’s icy glare. He looked over at Ran-ko, who looked like she was about
to cry again. 
<Shimata! I forgot!> Ranma gently laid a hand on Ran-ko’s shoulder, he could
feel her tremble slightly as she fought to keep from crying.
"Ran-ko...I...I’m sorry...I...I wasn’t thinking about what I was saying..."
Ran-ko turned to look at Ranma, tears welling up in her eyes before standing
up and running into the back of the Nekohanten, sobbing. Leaving a
dumbstruck Ranma behind. Cologne simply sighed and whacked Ranma over the
head with her staff again.
"Son-in-law, you must be careful what you say around her. It may be hard for
you to understand the fact that she is, in essence, the girl that drowned in
the Jusenkyo spring all those years ago. Her spirit has been lost and lonely
ever since she died. All she probably wants now is just to be loved, to feel
wanted..." Ranma nodded, rubbing the back of his head,  he could imagine
what Ran-ko was going through. "...It would not do her any good for you to
show any rejection to her, After all, she has no memory of her past and you
are probably the only one she can feel safe around. After all you are the
first person she saw when she awoke. How would you feel if you were in her
position?" Ranma felt ashamed at himself after hearing Cologne’s words. He’d
never looked at it that way before and, like it or not, Cologne may be a
three hundred year-old prune from hell but she was making sense.
<You idiot! You think you’ve got problems, you’ve got nothing compared to
her!> Ranma clasped his hands to his head as his conscience attacked him in
force. Snarling at himself. Shampoo, startled, backed away slightly.
<The old bat is right...Much as I hate to admit it, she’s right...How could
I have been so dense?!?> Ranma stood up, shook his head a few times to clear
it, and wandered into the back of the Nekohanten, looking for Ran-ko.

************

<This is it…Now I shall find out if my thoughts on the matter are correct …>
Jyusei thought to himself. He was standing within a rune-etched circle
inside the Shimada ancestral shrine that was built by his grandfather.
Around him, gargoyles and incense burners decorated the room, giving it an
eerie, if not frightening appearance. An almost-overpowering smell of
incense clouded the room, causing Ken and even Jyusei, who was used to the
smell, to gag and cough slightly. Jyusei began to arrange blood-red candles
around the edge of the circle, chanting in a low voice all the while. Ken
shivered as he felt the faint stirrings of magic eddy in the charged air.
Jyusei noted Ken’s reaction and smirked, much like his grandfather used to
when he himself had felt uneasy in the presence of such raw supernatural
powers. His grandfather was the black sheep in the family, from an early age
he had dabbled in sorcery and the black arts. Everyone else had claimed that
the old man was a total wacko and should be confined to a padded cell. His
family had branded the old man a disgrace and had expelled him from the
family’s circle. Jyusei however, had taken an interest in his grandfather’s
hobby. He remembered how he used to secretly sneak out of the house while
his parents were asleep in order to visit his grandfather who was usually
here at the shrine. 
<The foolish old man had no idea what he was really getting into…> Jyusei
smirked to himself as he remembered how his grandfather had tried to ‘speak
to the dead’ and was possessed by the very spirit that he tried to command,
which ultimately killed him. <This shrine…if used correctly, holds the key
to powers so great the world would be shaken…> Jyusei finished arranging the
candles and lit them one by one with a pure blue flame that came from his
fingertips. After doing so, he felt a wave of dizziness sweep over him
momentarily and he staggered, trying to maintain his balance. Despite the
warnings of his chauffeur to at least wait until he’d recovered. Jyusei had
decided to carry on regardless. Ken, standing by the door, rushed to
Jyusei’s aid but was waved back.
"No…get back…I'm fine" Jyusei gasped through clenched teeth, Ken nodded
uncertainly and slowly walked back to his guard post at the door. After a
few moments Jyusei regained his composure and, taking a stance, began to
meditate, blocking out all that was of the physical world. After a few
minutes, his facial muscles relaxed and he sank to his knees, slipping into
a deep trance. With the last vestiges of his control over his physical body,
he willed it into the lotus position. The minutes ticked by. Ken, standing
guard at the door, looked closely at his employer’s face for any signs of
something going wrong, but saw none, Jyusei’s face was a mask of
tranquillity. His physical body, although peaceful, was inwardly wracked
with torment as his spirit, now-bonded to another, more devious one, was
wrestled away from its human form. Jyusei’s state of mind and preparations
beforehand had been faultless however, and his spirit flew free and entered
the spiritual dimensions. His first sensation was a rush of
light-sound-color-silence. Then again: light-sound-color-silence. His spirit
flew onwards, guided by the essence of the demon within it toward an unknown
destination. Suddenly, darkness, pure, final and forever, enveloped him.
Jyusei felt like he was choking, the darkness, so deep he could drown in it.
However, the demon within took over and he was in control again. As he
watched, black, shadowy forms swirled out of the darkness, eyes burning with
the fires of hell, and stopped before him as he spoke in a voice that was
not his own.
"Ahh, it has been so long…my servants!" Jyusei’s voice rang out, resonant of
a power that was all-consuming, a power that was not his own.
"Master…We have waited so long for your return! What is your command?" To
Jyusei it was as if the darkness itself spoke to him. The shadowy forms
surrounding him had a faint, white outline, like an outline drawn on a
blackboard with a dark grey chalk.
"I want you to enter the mortal plane, and seek out the one who’s trace now
remains lingering in the ether…" The shapes flitted about him playfully for
a moment. "…Surely you felt the release like I have…"
"Yes…Master, it was strong…too strong to contain…" Jyusei nodded, his eyes
glowing unnaturally red in the darkness.
"The mortal who possessed the power also possessed the essence…The release
was, as I thought, the result of a separation of the power…How this happened
I do not know…" The shapes appeared to do a double-take. "…Yet, this is
unimportant, what is important is the fact that the mortal who now possesses
the essence, is without power, the separation passing it to another…His mind
would now be open…" The shadowy forms around Jyusei appeared to nod, they
knew what he was getting at. "I want you to seek out this mortal…This chance
to regain my essence is too great to pass up." The shadows danced around
Jyusei a moment longer, they seemed uncertain.
"Master…What about the other?"
"It is of little importance…Without the essence to bind it, the power is
useless…As you are without my guidance…" The figures appeared to bow. "…Now
go…carry out my orders…I shall meet you upon the mortal plane when your work
is done." The shadowy forms flitted around Jyusei for a moment longer before
vanishing as suddenly as they came. Jyusei allowed himself a small smile of
satisfaction.
<So good to see nothing has changed after all these years…This may be easier
than I thought!> Back in the shrine, Ken noticed a faint smile on his
employer’s face. 

************
"Ran-ko! Ran-ko, where are you?!" Ranma called out as he wandered the back
of the Nekohanten searching for Ran-ko, with little success. 
<Where could she be?> Ranma wondered as he absent-mindedly rounded a corner
and walked right into a potted cactus.
"EEEEYOW!!!!" Ranma yelled and hopped about, trying to extract the spines
that dug painfully into his flesh.
"What IDIOT would leave a damn cactus here where some other idiot could walk
into it!?!..." Ranma did a double-take, just realising that he’d just walked
into it. "Bah, shimata!" Ranma cursed, losing yet another battle with
himself. He stopped however, when he heard sounds coming from a room a
little further along the corridor. Stepping past the cactus, he walked down
to the second door and listened, the unmistakable sound of crying was coming
from behind it. Ranma tentatively knocked at the door.
"Ran-ko...Ran-ko, can I come in?" Ranma waited but got no answer. Gently he
pushed to door open and walked into the room, shutting the door behind him.
Ran-ko was lying face down on the bed, her face buried in a pillow as she
cried into it. Ranma felt more ashamed as he looked at her.
<Look at her! Just look at her. That’s all your fault you insensitive jerk!>
His conscience screamed at him again. <Like it or not, she’s your sister
now...You have a responsibility, don’t try to back out of it! After all,
it’s your damn fault for using the stupid anti-curse powder after Shampoo
told you it was unstable!> Ranma winced at this mental rebuke he was
getting. The thing that hurt him the most was that it was his fault. Ranma
stepped up to Ran-ko and gently laid a hand on her shoulder. He could feel
the sobs racking her body with each breath and he winced slightly, his
insides knotting up. This the kind of thing Ranma dreaded the most. The only
reason that he let those other girls follow him, apart from feeding his ego,
was that he couldn’t bear to hurt them. Hell, he even felt sorry for Kodachi
sometimes. 
"Ran-ko…" Ranma began, at a loss for words. "…I…I'm sorry for what I said
back there…I…I wasn’t thinking…" Ranma sat on the side of the bed and gently
patted Ran-ko’s shoulder. "…you must understand though that I have my own
problems…" Ranma stopped as Ran-ko slowly turned over and sat up. Ranma
looked at her teary-red face and began to feel bad all over again. After a
moment’s hesitation, he held both hands out to her, smiling. Ran-ko
hesitated a moment, as if doubting him, then threw herself into his arms,
mashing her chest against his, sobbing anew. Ranma dearly hoped his cute
sister didn’t notice the bulge that was growing in his pants. 
"Ran-ko…sshhhhh, come on, don’t cry…don’t cry…I’m here for you…I promise…"
Ranma gently rocked her back and forth in his arms, trying to calm her down. 
<Here I go again! Making yet another promise!> Ranma inwardly kicked
himself, knowing from experience that his ‘promises’ usually involve a lot
of crap flying around. Of course his father didn’t help any, if anything his
father was the first to blame! Ranma gently stroked the back of Ran-ko’s
head, playing with a few strands of hair. He’d never noticed how silky
smooth his female counterpart’s hair was up until now, and he liked it. 
<Strange how you never notice certain things about yourself until it’s on
someone else.> Ranma thought as Ran-ko’s whimpering gradually died down. She
eventually looked up at him, her face stained with tears. Ranma gently
kissed them away.
"…O…oniichan…" Ran-ko managed to get out. Ranma smiled warmly at her, gently
brushing her hair out of her eyes. From the way he was holding her, he could
see down the front of her top, noting that she wasn’t wearing a bra. Ranma
gulped and tried not to look.
<Shimata! Quit thinking like that you damn pervert!> He cursed himself
inwardly. <What would Akane think?> Ranma sighed as Akane’s face entered his
mind. <…Akane…I hope you’re all right…> Ranma snapped out of his reverie as
he heard a commotion outside.
"Oniichan, what’s going on?" Ran-ko asked.
"That’s what I want to know, come on, lets find out ok?" Ranma helped Ran-ko
to her feet.
"Oh, go clean up a little ok?…" Ranma gently brushed a few tears away from
Ran-ko’s face "…Wouldn’t want anyone to see you looking like that." Ran-ko
forced a smile and nodded at her brother before walking into the bathroom.
<I hope I’m up to this…> Ranma sighed as he looked at the closed bathroom
door before walking out to investigate the cause of the commotion.

***********

      K  u  s  a  n  a  g  i       K y o
      --|---|--    --|---|--     ----+----
       +-----+     /-, +-+-       +-----+
       |-----|      |  |-|-       |     |      
       +-----+     -|- |-|-       +-----+
      ----|----    / \ +-+-       /  J  \
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  "Kusanagi Flames, Yagami Tears, Orochi Blood"