The Leper: Treatment
by Nikholas "NomaD" F. Toledo
Ranma 1/2 is the property of Kitty, VIZ and the omnipotent Rumiko
Takahashi. I am a property of Switch (so you know who to sue).
I am NomaD... I am coming... I am near.
By the way, this is a self-insertion. My character had a past with
Ukyou, but not the kind you're thinking of. And, because this is my
first Ranma fic, I'm gonna do some weird stuff like use Ryouga and Ukyou
but still keep Kuno, Tendo and Tofu. But I'm not really sure.
This complete version was done with the support of DB Sommer and
the occasionals, all of whom have contributed to the formation of this
fic.
Part 15
"Battle Royale with Cheese"
"Combatants, ready yourselves: we shall begin in a few minutes."
Ranma went to his side; accompanying him was his father. He did a
few stretches to loosen up his body.
"Now listen, son - I'm sure you'll do good in the upcoming battle,
but just make sure you clinch -"
"Aw, shuddap, old man! I still don't remember everything that
happened, but I DO remember you saying somethin' 'bout disowning me! As
far as I'm concerned, all privileges that apply to the winner only apply
to me!"
"But, son!"
"Shut your crap!"
Genma grabbed Ranma's leg and wept crocodile tears. "Please, son!
Your poor, sorry father begs you!!!"
"Alright already!!! Leggo my leg, you old f-!"
Kii and Ukyou just laughed the scene off.
Ukyou was removing Kii's finger bandages. Kii just watched her
doing this. How he loved the smell of her.
Ukyou felt his eyes on her. "What?"
"Hmm? Oh, nothing... wait! There's something I wanted to ask
you."
"Okay, shoot."
"It's about... um... oh, never mind. I'll just ask it later."
"Suit yourself. Are you gonna let Ranma win?"
"No, I'm gonna pulverize him!"
Ukyou's mouth fell to the floor. Kii's eyes were burning with
determination. "W-what?!"
"I'm kidding."
Immediately, Ukyou exploded, holding an accusing finger at Kii.
"Don't do that, damn it! I almost believed you, you jerk!"
*snicker* "Can't you take a joke?" Kii smiled at her ever so
innocently.
With a smile like that, Ukyou couldn't keep herself angry.
"Don't worry, Ucchan. I'll let him win. I just promised Mr. Tendo
that I would kick him around first."
"If that were possible."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"It's just that... nobody's ever beaten Ranma. Actually, it's more
like, if ever he was beaten, he always managed to come back and to
magnify his strength and skills tenfold. He's battled a lot of martial
artists, some were already of 'master' status, while you just started a
few days ago.
"Just be careful and don't go over your head, thinking you could go
and kick his butt. Even if you lose, I'll still be proud of you."
"I know, Ucchan, I know. Well, I guess I'm all set."
"I guess you are."
"Okay, I'm ready to go."
"Okay."
"Ucchan?"
"Hmm? Oh." Ukyou found herself holding Kii's hands in her own.
She just looked at them for a while, still not wanting to let go.
But then, she eventually did.
She looked up at him, straight into those mysterious, ebony eyes.
"There. Sorry about that. Aren't you gonna remove your glasses?"
"Nah, I like them there. Besides, Ranma might try to avoid hitting
me in the face this way. My hair might get in the way, though - you got
something to...?"
Without a word, Ukyou reached under her hair and pulled.
Immediately, the ribbon became undone and Ukyou's hair cascaded with
sudden life. Kii was momentarily mesmerized but snapped out of his
reverie when Ukyou held him by the shoulders and turned him around.
She bit the ribbon and used both hands to bunch up Kii's hair. She
spun the ribbon a number of times around his hair then tucked it onto
itself. She turned him around again and smiled. "There...."
"Thanks, Ucchan."
"Break a leg."
"Huh?"
She beamed. "You know what I mean."
Everybody paused everything that they were doing as two figures
entered the dojo: one wore an expression of ignorance as to what was
currently happening, overshadowed by her sunny disposition; the other's
eyes studied things carefully, and knew all that were transpiring and
those all that were about to transpire.
"Hmm. I see we arrived just in time. Shampoo, find us a good
seat."
"Yes, great-grandmother. Why all here, anyway? Nihao, Ranma!
Shampoo glad to come."
The two Amazons placed themselves beside Ukyou. On Ranma's side,
Genma and Akane were giving him words of encouragement.
"Pleeeaaase, Raaanmaa! Don't looose!!!"
"I said let go already!!!"
----------
When the Saotomes finally behaved themselves, Kasumi went to the
middle of the dojo and faced the combatants. She produced a piece of
paper in her hand and she began to read.
"These are the rules of engagement:
"Combat shall be held within the perimeter of the Tendo lot. This
includes the dojo, the house, the yard and... and... um... well, that's
about it, I guess."
Kasumi just smiled at her error. Soun grinned awkwardly.
She continued. "Any combat held outside the said perimeter shall
be forfeit, and any conclusion thereof will be held as null and void.
"As doctrine of the Tendo School of Anything-Goes Martial Arts
upholds, the combatants are permitted to use any means necessary to fight
their opponent, as long as it is deemed honorable.
"This match will have no time limit.
"There will be no breaks in between.
"Um... victory shall be awarded if one of the combatants is
rendered unconscious or is greatly injured, forcing his inability to
fight.
"A combatant may also declare defeat if he feels that he will be
unable to continue the fight.
"Let's see... oh, that's about it, I guess. Was that okay,
Father?"
Soun's face reddened at his daughter's charming manner but he
managed to stammer an answer. "Uh... yes, Kasumi. That was fine."
"I'm so glad. Well, good luck, everybody." With that, Kasumi left
center-stage and was replaced by a still embarrassed Soun Tendo.
"Uh, thank you, Kasumi. Combatants! To the center!"
The two combatants placed themselves about ten feet apart, both
facing Soun.
Ranma's face was a mask of determination. He wanted to win this
badly... to win her back.
Kii's face, however, was unreadable. The light just bounced of his
glasses and his bare chest. His calmness would've fooled everybody if he
wasn't sweating so much.
"Combatants! Do you understand the rules that have been read to
you?"
The two just nodded.
"Good. Now, face each other."
Both turned and their eyes immediately met, yet no emotion could be
read from them.
"Ready."
Both took their stances. Immediately, the room was filled with the
glow of battle.
Ranma emanated a fiery red aura - it was as if his body was totally
engulfed in scarlet flame.
Kiiroi's chi was barely visible. But, if one squinted, one could
make out a soft bluish white light projecting from Kii's persona.
Ranma placed his right leg back, placing all his weight on that
leg. His left hand was in front of him in a firm, open palm while his
right hand was a tight fist by his waist.
Kii placed his left foot forward, with both arms on his sides,
fists closed. He looked more like he was about to dance the 'pasa-doble'
than fight.
Soun took a deep breath.
"FIGHT!!!"
-----The Battle-----
Immediately, Ranma thrust forward on his right leg and ran straight
towards his opponent, with hands ready to strike.
(No sense waiting for him. If I wait for him to attack, his speed
might overwhelm me. Better beat him up now, while I have the chance.)
Kii remained in his place. He had but a few seconds to act.
(Steady... steady... NOW!)
At the last second, Kii struck the floor with a finger and the
wooden planking in front of him exploded in splinters.
But, as soon as Kii's hand was thrusting downwards, Ranma
anticipated this and pirouetted to change his direction and still keep
his momentum. His feet barely missed the crater of wood.
Kii looked down to protect his face from the wood shrapnel and
looked up again, only to find nobody in front of him. He wondered, then
turned his head.
That was when Ranma's pirouette cracked to a stop with a powerful
backfist to Kii's turning cheek.
Kii's head snapped around, then his whole body followed, doing a
full twist in the air, before he landed flat on his face. His glasses
got knocked off to a few feet to his side.
For a moment, the dust settled. Ranma backed off, as Kii stood up
and dusted himself.
He picked up his glasses and checked them, to see if they were
okay. His gaze shifted to Ranma.
"That one carried an exclamation point."
"There's a lot more where that came from. If you want to have any
chances of beating me, then you gotta do better than that, Kii."
Kii inspected his glasses a final time, then slid them onto his
face. "Then let's do better."
The moment Kii finished his line, a startled Ranma found his face
just a couple of feet from his own. "Whoa! What the -?"
"Katsutenshinamaguriken!!!"
The speed of the punches was staggering. Kii was already using
both his hands and was still moving forward, using his momentum to pack
his punches.
Ranma blocked and dodged the initial blows, moving back from the
onslaught. But, soon enough, the speed started catching up and he felt
some blows hit his face and chest. The punches didn't hurt that much,
but if he didn't do something quick, they WOULD begin to hurt.
(Time to even the odds.) "Katsu tenshin amaguriken!!!"
Ranma's hands took the offensive. With incredible speed, his own
punches began landing while blocking Kii's strikes at the same time.
Kii's forward movement skidded to a stop as he began feeling the
pain of Ranma's hits. He doubled his efforts, adding a battle cry to
psyche himself up. His body lit up as chi began flowing through his
veins.
Ranma started getting hit once more and he was starting to feel
Kii's battle aura pushing against his own. He also doubled his efforts
and his chi reflected his exertion.
As Kii felt the hits connect again, he redoubled his efforts once
more. Ranma did the same. The two continued to push their limits just
to gain the advantage.
Soon enough, their arms began disappearing, to the amazement of the
spectators.
----------
"Aiya! They look like they have no arms no more, Great-
grandmother.."
"Hmm. Still, young Niwatori's not hitting Ranma strong enough to
damage him."
Ukyou's face was full of worry, but she knew that Ranma wouldn't do
anything to permanently hurt Kii. Still, something inside bothered her.
"You SHOULD be worried, child."
Ukyou slowly turned and met Cologne's eyes. "W-what?"
"You should be."
"Kii?"
"Maybe. Or Ranma."
"Ranma?" Ukyou returned her gaze to the battle.
----------
He was tired. His arms were tired.
For every hit that Ranma made on him, he was able to counter with
at least half a dozen. But it wasn't doing much to even bruise his
opponent's face.
He had to think of something fast.
Too bad for him, Ranma already had something in mind.
(This is taking too long, gotta end this, now.) "Enough!!!" With
blinding speed, Ranma snatched both of Kii's hands.
The exchange of punches immediately halted. Kii was momentarily
caught off-guard.
Ranma took this opportunity to drive his knee to Kii's stomach.
Kii doubled over and, as his head fell forward, Ranma kneed him
square in the chin. Kii's head snapped backwards and he crashed to the
ground.
"So, give up already?"
Kii got up and rubbed his chin. It was still there, to his
surprise. "Not just yet."
"You still have to do a lot better than that, or you're gonna get
your ass kicked."
Kii cracked his knuckles and readied a fighting stance. "Then get
ready for me."
"I already am- wha?"
Ranma never got to finish his sentence - Kii was on him in a blink
of an eye. Kii managed to land a few punches on Ranma's face.
Ranma staggered a bit, more from the surprise than from the pain,
but he was quick to recover and block Kii's strikes. Kii's momentum was
again unimaginable and Ranma decided to use this to his advantage.
Even though Kii was already moving with blinding speed, Ranma could
still anticipate his punches. He snatched Kii's wrist and twisted his
arm.
Fed by his momentum, Kii's entire body followed and he crashed hard
on the floor once more. He momentarily lost his breath.
When Kii opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a foot heading
for his gut. Without thinking, he grabbed the foot and pulled at it.
Ranma jerked forward, not expecting for Kii to recover so quickly.
When Ranma's body was close enough, Kii jabbed the space between
them.
Ranma only had a split-second to cross his arms before the air
crackled with energy and the air between them exploded in a blinding
white light.
Ranma flew through the air like a rag-doll. His body hit the
ceiling then a moment later collided with the floor, belly-first.
Kii's body streaked along the ground before it went through a wall.
----------
Akane was immediately by Ranma's side while Ukyou peered out of the
hole on the wall.
"Oh, Ranma - are you okay?"
Ranma tried to get up but he grimaced as pain shot from his chest.
"Do I look okay?!? Help me up, will you?"
He was still out of breath when he got up. The impact of the
attack still left a burning sensation on his arms.
"That was close."
"What do you mean 'close', you jerk? You flew in the air like a
paper doll!"
"I know, what more if I wasn't able to block it?"
Akane was silenced by Ranma's comment.
Both their heads turned towards the hole in the wall.
----------
"Oh, god, Kii?!? Are you still alive?"
"Apparently... unfortunately."
Ukyou got out of the hole and cleared the splinters off of Kii's
body. Ukyou inspected him: he seemed alright.
"Can you still fight?"
Kii checked himself. His back was stinging like hell from the
impact but, otherwise, he was okay.
"Sure, why not."
"You don't have to do this, you know."
Kii turned to Ukyou. Her eyes were just short of pleading.
She was really worried, he realized.
He held her cheek. "Just a little more, Ucchan. Then I promise
we'll go home."
Ukyou just smiled half-heartedly. She followed Kii in through the
hole.
----------
"Well, that was more like it. I actually got hurt that time. Now
I know this is gonna be all worth it."
"Don't be so smug, Ranma, or I might just take your fianc�e away
from you."
Ranma and Akane both jumped in surprise. Ranma knew that he was
joking but he wasn't laughing.
"Hey, that's not funny, man."
"Good. Now you should take me seriously."
Ukyou gave a meaningful stare at Kii. "You're gonna get yourself
killed, you know."
Kii just smiled. "I know."
The fight resumed with renewed intensity.
Ranma immediately went in for the kill. He charged at Kii but his
target moved too quickly. He was only able to land a few punches but he
made sure that they would hurt.
Ranma had time to notice that Kii wasn't paying much attention to
Ranma's attacks. Kii then surprised him by jabbing with all five fingers
at the air beside him.
He braced himself for the explosion, but nothing came.
Kii was just smiling at him, mocking him somewhat.
"Hey, what did you do?!?"
"Moi?"
Ranma touched his body in various places. He seemed fine.
"Alright, that's it - no more Mr. Nice Guy!" Ranma charged once
more.
Kii just stood on his path, motionless.
Ranma pulled his fist back, ready to strike.
Kii brought his hands up in front of him.
Ranma cautioned himself, then renewed the charge.
At the last moment, Kii blocked Ranma's punches and started moving
away from his attacker. Ranma just followed Kii while striking him.
It then occurred to him that Kii was blocking with only one hand.
The other hand was short of stabbing the air beside them. But his
punches were connecting, so he continued nonetheless.
From Kii's face, Ranma could see that he wasn't even concentrating
on blocking - his mind was somewhere else.
(What's this supposed to be? Some kind of insult?!?)
Ranma decided to strike him down - taking the opportunity, he
slapped Kii's blocking hand out of the way and struck Kii on the chest a
number of times.
Kii's body flew in the air then crashed and rolled on the floor.
His glasses, however, were still intact.
When he stood up, Ranma found something disconcerting - Kiiroi was
smiling.
"What?"
"Oh, nothing."
His expression was very clear, he was hiding something. "You're
lying."
"Am I? Then charge at me and find out."
Ranma couldn't figure it out. And he wouldn't know if Kii were
lying just by standing there.
(Only one way to find out.) Ranma charged with all his speed.
Kii just stood in his path without moving a muscle and still with
an annoying smile on his face.
Ranma screamed a battle cry and brought his fist down on Kii.
His hand came within a few inches of Kii's face when the world in
front of him exploded in blinding brilliance.
Ranma found himself sailing in the air away from Kii. His chest
was burning with pain and he found it hard to breathe.
(W-what? What the hell happened? Did he strike me? I didn't even
see what happened!)
But before Ranma could answer his own question, his left lower back
was pounded by a powerful force. He found himself spinning, still not
touching the ground.
He was starting to get dazed when his left shoulder struck an
unseen barrier that exploded upon contact. His body's immediate reaction
was to change its direction of spin. He felt his spine being twisted in
the air as his legs spun one way and his upper body tried to spin the
other way.
Finally, the ground met up with him like a long-lost friend, and
crushed him in its embrace.
His blood was rushed to his head and the tips of his toes and
fingers. Each breath was of great effort and his disorientation muddled
his mind greatly.
The first thing he thought of clearly was Kii. When his vertigo
started to subside, he achingly turned his head towards Kii.
To his shock, Kii was standing in the same spot.
Still in the same position. Still with the same smile.
As if he never moved.
----------
"Ranma! Oh no, he's hurt pretty bad!"
Akane felt tears rising up but she fought them down. Now would be
the wrong time to cry.
"Did you see that, Saotome? Your son was flung around like a rag-
doll."
"I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, Tendo.
Why, Kiiroi was moving so fast that I didn't even catch a glimpse of what
he did!"
"You fools. That was because he DIDN'T move!"
The two astonished men turned their heads towards the prune-on-a-
stick. "What?!?"
Ukyou covered her mouth to hide her surprise. (H-how did Kii do
that?!? I hope he meant it when he said that he would make himself lose,
because by the way he's performing right now, it's as if he wanted to
win.)
----------
Ranma eventually got up but, when he did, his world spun around
him. His back ached like hell - he could still feel the twist. His
vertigo was clearly obvious - his eyes were out of focus and he wasn't
facing his opponent.
"Okay, how'dyoudodat?!? I didn't... I didn't... um, even see
you...!"
Kii walked to his right so that Ranma would be facing him. "You're
the great Ranma Saotome - you figure it out."
Kii was mocking him, he was sure of it. That cleared his head.
Kii still had that smile and it was starting to annoy him.
(Did he really move so fast that nobody saw it, not even me?) He
had to figure it out... soon.
"Fine! But when I do figure it out, I'm gonna beat you up good!"
Kii stifled a laugh. "Big talk for a man just twisted in the air
like a piece of wet laundry."
Ranma burst in anger, chi ablaze. He was fighting hard to suppress
it. He was not about to be gooned into attacking without thinking.
His battle aura eventually died down. "Hmph. You're not gonna get
me that easily." Ranma matched gazes with Kii.
Ranma paced around him, looking for a weakness. When he was
halfway around Kii, he felt something amiss.
He stopped pacing.
"You better watch yourself."
"What?"
"I know you can sense it, Ranma."
(So, he knows.) Ranma could sense it. (But what the hell is IT?)
He stepped once forward then his hairs stood up in alarm. He
looked at his leg. He could barely see it, but it was too late.
What was a white dot of concentrated energy became an exploding
ball of power. Ranma was immediately knocked off his feet.
Ranma immediately stood up, his face red with anger and
embarrassment.
"You're starting to get on my nerves, Kii!"
"Then you better do something about it, quick."
He was right, of course. Ranma should do something, but first...
(What was that white dot?)
Ranma stood still for a moment. He closed his eyes and
concentrated. He tried to slow his heartbeat and listened to the deadly
silence.
He could hear something in the very air. The air surrounding him
was crackling like electricity. It was a faint but similar sound to the
crackling immediately before the explosion of the "bakusai tenketsu".
He slowly opened his eyes.
(There!)
He could see them. They were minuscule but they were there: small
spheres of concentrated energy just waiting to be released.
His face began to whiten in horror as he was hit by the sudden
realization... they were everywhere, he was completely surrounded.
They floated in the air like will-o'-the-wisps, waiting.
"Oh, shit." He looked around and saw that the entire dojo was
covered with small, white dots.
His immediate reaction was to check with Akane. He sighed in
relief; Kii was honorable enough not to involve the spectators.
Kii watched Ranma with great curiosity. (Did he figure it out
already?) There was only one way to find out.
"Standing there and not doing anything ain't gonna help you,
Ranma." Kii stabbed the air in front of him, then stood back.
Ranma puzzled over what Kii was trying to do. He squinted his eyes
and immediately saw it. It was a chain of energy spheres... heading
straight towards him.
*KABLAM!* Kii's delayed blast ignited the dangerous trail.
A trail of explosions instantly followed and headed straight for
Ranma.
Ranma stared at the oncoming blast like a deer caught in the
headlights. He snapped out of it and looked behind him. He squinted his
eyes and he could barely make out the spaces between the spheres.
He began to flee.
The blast was catching up with him and he found it hard to get away
while squinting at the same time.
Kii watched in amusement and in amazement. Ranma deftly dodged the
oncoming spheres. There was no doubt about it...
"He can see them."
The space between Ranma and the snaking energy blast was closing
in. He could feel the energy of the blast scorch his back.
He was running out of time, and he was running out of space.
He could see that Kii was clever enough to place the trail of
spheres in a way that Ranma couldn't get to a place where the energy's
been spent already.
He realized that he had no choice.
"GET OUT OF THE WAY!!!"
----------
Akane realized what was happening and immediately grabbed her
sister's hand.
"C'mon, Kasumi!!!"
The two ran for the exit, immediately followed by a couple of
cowering men.
"Uh-oh...."
The blast was coming closer but the three of them were too far from
the door. It was too lat-
"Ukyou! Hurry up! You no want get self killed or not?"
Ukyou turned around to see Cologne touching the wooden wall with
the tip of her fingers.
The wall exploded outwards and the three immediately jumped out of
the hole.
----------
When the last of the splinters fell to the floor, heads began
peering inside the devastated dojo. They could all see the blackened
trail on the tatami.
One by one, they warily entered.
Akane came in with Ranma's arm over her shoulders.
"Ranma, can you still...?"
"Yeah... sure... why not."
"But, Ranma, I don't want to see you -"
"What?!? And let you get engaged to that jerk?!?"
Akane's chest felt heavy. She looked up at his face. It was
covered with dirt and sweat. He looked very tired but very determined.
"Oh, Ranma. I -"
"He wouldn't last a day with your cooking, not to mention your
endless nagging. As far as I know, I'd be doing him a fav-"
----------
"-OOOOOOOOOR!!!"
Kii watched Ranma fly through the air and crash on the ground.
"That must hurt."
Ranma righted himself and brushed off the dust on his clothes.
"Actually, I'm getting used to it." Ranma looked at his opponent.
Kii was smiling, but this time, Ranma was smiling back.
Ranma looked around. There were still some spheres that hadn't
exploded but most of the center area was clear of them.
"Shall we continue?"
Kii just nodded.
"Cute trick you did back there."
"Kuuki no bakusai tenketsu."
"The breaking point of air..."
"... modified with a contact delay."
"Like I said, cute. But, now, do you know what time it is?"
Kii didn't quite understand the question. "Huh? Er, no. What?"
"It's payback time!"
Ranma started pacing around Kii in a wide circle. Kii just
followed him with his eyes.
Without warning, Ranma sprinted into a run.
In alarm, Kii jumped into a fighting stance. As Ranma circled him,
Ranma started getting closer.
Ranma wasn't circling him - he was spiraling.
----------
Akane realized once more what was happening and immediately grabbed
his sister's hand.
"Let's go, Kasumi!!!"
The two ran for the exit, immediately followed by a couple of
cowering men.
"Uh-oh... not again."
Ukyou and the Amazons quickly jumped out of their hole.
Heads began peering in, trying not to miss the spectacle.
----------
"What do you think you're trying to do, Ranma?"
"What do you think I'm doing!"
"The 'Hiryu Shoten Ha'. But it won't work if I don't release hot
chi, you know."
Ranma just stayed silent. He was getting closer and closer.
(What the hell is he up to? It's not going to work! There's no
hot chi! And why is his spiral so large?)
Then it dawned on him. He watched Ranma pass one of his spheres.
"Oh, no...."
Ranma's speed was enough to drag the sphere into the vacuum that
Ranma was creating behind him. As he got closer, more spheres got sucked
into his wake.
Ranma had all the chi he wanted, Kii was nice enough to provide.
Ranma was getting dangerously close to the center, which was where
Kii was.
He was trapped. Everywhere he looked, orbs of waiting energy
spiraled around him.
For the first time, he was getting scared.
(I have to get away from the center.... I'll have to take the
chance.)
Kii faced one direction, crossed his arms over his eyes, and
charged the wall of energy. He jumped into the wall and curled himself
into a ball.
He was pummeled left and right by exploding air. He felt his skin
burn all around.
And then, just like that, he was through.
He crashed to the ground headfirst. His head began to spin and the
pain was unbearable. But one thing was clear - he needed to get away...
"HIIIRYUUU SHOOOOTEEEEN HAAAAA!!!!!"
... too late. All Kii was able to do was mutter...
"... oh, shit -"
---------------
end of Part 15
---------------
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