Yay!! Got another chapter done! C&C always welcome. I'll be gone this 
weekend (21-23) so if you don't hear from me at once, I will respond when I 
get back.

Previous chapters at: http://ajchome.freehosting.net/

Different Paths Chapter 3
-----------------------------------------------------

I can't believe that he's really gone. My biggest cash cow in
years and he just up and left. No warning, no nothing. I've
always expected that he would be back after a couple of months. I
even had a pool going for how long it would take. No one thought
it would take more then a year. I'd like to think of it as a
going away present from him. Of course I'd never tell him that.

I'm kind of glad that he left though. That chapter of my life is
closed now. With the money he made me over the year he was here,
I can afford to go to college assuming this internship goes
through. No more schemes or scams to make money. I can finally
break away from that dark world and enter into legitimate
business.

Ah legitimate business, such a nice concept. No more worrying
every day about the next plan. No more putting my friends and
family in danger just to make some yen. No more blackmail!! There
are so many things that I really wish I didn't know about people.
It's a shame that the really "good dirt" is usually the stuff
that makes you sick to your stomach. I'm getting kind of queasy
just thinking about it now.

On a good note, looks like Akane has finally got out of her
depression. It's about time. She held such a torch for Ranma,
though I don't blame her. If I knew just what kind of person he
was on day one, I would have gladly "sacrificed myself for the
sake of family honor".

Now if only I can shed this Ice Queen routine and get myself a
boyfriend. One that isn't completely insane preferably. I've got
needs too ya know, things that I really want to "explore". If you
know what I mean.

- Excerpts from Nabiki Tendo's Diary.


An Anime Junky Confederation production:
Different Paths Chapter 3
By: Numair
"With great power comes great opportunity for harm"


In the Tendo Dojo it was the start of yet another day for Kasumi
Tendo. Awaking early, like usual, she slipped into her daily
routine. Her mind was still asleep and she woke on reflex. She
washed, dressed and prepared the bath for the rest of the family.
Then down to the kitchen to make breakfast, passing by the back
yard where Ranma was calmly meditating.

Kasumi paused mid-step, turning to face Ranma as he mind woke up
the rest of the way. When she got over the initial shock she
remembered that Ranma had returned the day before. She smiled and
called out, "Good morning Ranma! Sleep well?"

Ranma didn't reply right away. Right before Kasumi called out
again she heard, "Good morning Kasumi."

Kasumi looked around looking for who spoke. Ranma hadn't moved an
inch yet she was certain that he responded. "Before you ask, yes
I am talking to you without making a sound. It's one of the
tricks that I picked up in my travels."

Kasumi took a few moments to really look at where Ranma was. He
was perched atop a rock that sat in the middle of the Koi pond.
Her rock garden that surrounded the pond had been changed. Her
wave pattern had been changed to what looked like a collection of
lines and curves.

"Don't worry about feeding me breakfast Kasumi, I won't be able
to come to eat for a while. Need to attune myself to this place.
I'll explain everything when I'm done and able to speak
normally."

Her questions would have to wait it seems. "Alright Ranma, I'll
go make breakfast for everyone else. Good luck with your
'attuning'." She then turned and went to the kitchen.

Once she left, the air around Ranma twisted as his disguise spell
faded. He then refocused on what he was doing before Kasumi
showed up. As he did, the lines in the rock and his tattoo glowed
with a faint blue light. He would soon be done with his
attunement spell. When he was done, he would finally have easy
access to large Ki lines that covered this world.

When he was in other dimensions, he was unable to attune himself
to their Ki lines because he was an outsider and slightly out of
phase with everyone else. It severely weakened his abilities and
forced him to rely on the demonic energy of the neko-ken when he
fought.

His sealing spell may have been able to keep his demon side at
bay, but it won't last forever. He needed to find a way to purge
the demon from his body. For now, he could only slow the growth
of his demon side by using a different source of energy to fuel
his abilities.

He was glad that Kenchi wasn't a martial artist like him. His
body would produce the small amounts of Ki needed to function on
this world. Without needing to replenish large amounts of Ki when
he fights, he won't need to find alternate ways to get the extra
power like Ranma had been forced to do.

Ranma pushed those thought away as he fell back into his
meditation. He left instructions with Kenchi that he would
hopefully pass along to everyone else once he got up. His mind
cleared and he refocused his mind.

*****

Kenchi awoke slowly, like he always did. Trying to get a few
extra seconds of rest before he had to start the day. He waited
until the last possible moment before he tumbled out of bed and
started his stretching exercises. In the past, he tended to spend
a lot of time in front of a computer terminal and needed to stay
limber for when he worked in his shop. While he doubted that he
would be doing that today, old habits were hard to break.

As he stretched, he thought about his situation. Ranma had told
him that he would be doing his "magic thing" for a day or two. He
wanted Kenchi to go out and get a feel for his new home. Find out
what primitive technology level he was going to have to suffer
living with.

Kenchi sighed again in sadness. Ranma had forbidden him from
introducing any new technology to this world. He said that it
would be meddling in this world's development. Kenchi had
suffered through a long-winded speech about this world "not being
ready" and "won't appreciate" what he knew.

As he finished his stretching, Kenchi's stomach asked for some
attention and he went down to go find out about breakfast. He
passed Ranma meditating in the back yard and went into the
kitchen. There, Kasumi was messing with the stove as she tried to
make breakfast.

"Good morning Tendo-san." Kenchi said.

She turned from the stove and smiled. "Oh Kashita-san, I take it
you too are an early riser?"

"Not really, but old habits are difficult to break." He smiled.
Looking around he asked, "Can I help out with anything Tendo-san?
My stomach get impatient easily and I don't want to make it
wait."

Kasumi's hand went to her mouth to hide her laugh. "Of course you
can help," She turned back to the stove, "though I may have to
change plans. The stove is acting up again and if I can't start
it, I will be forced to make a cold breakfast for everyone."

Kenchi smiled and put on his scanning goggles. "I think I can
handle that. Give me a moment to see what's wrong and I'll have
it working in a jiffy." He pushed Kasumi aside letting his
goggles scan the appliance.

"Thank you Kashita-san, I'll go prepare the rest of the meal."
Kasumi gave him some space and wondered what he was doing.

To the outside observer, all Kenchi did for a minute was just
stare at the stove. What was really going on was that his
scanning goggles were giving him a complete view of all the parts
of the stove. He quickly spotted the problem; the switch to the
gas line had come loose.

He looked up from his analysis and asked, "Do you have any tools
around here Tendo-san? I don't have my tool kit anymore."

"Of course Kashita-san. They are under the sink in the red tool
box." She still had time before breakfast needed to be ready, so
she tried to look busy as she watched Kenchi work.

After a few minutes of tinkering with the stove, Kenchi was able
to re-attach the switch and get the burner to start. "There you
go Tendo-san. It will work for a while, but I should refurbish or
replace the damaged part."

"Thank you Kashita-san." She pushed Kenchi to sit in a nearby
chair. "Why don't you take a seat and keep me company. It has
been forever since I've had someone to talk to when making
breakfast."

"Umm... sure." Kenchi sat, falling silent, not sure what to talk
about. Now it was Kenchi's turn to watch someone work.

Kasumi waited to see if Kenchi would say something before she
decided to take the initiative. "So Kashita-san, did Ranma
actually sleep last night? He was still awake when I went to
bed."

"Uh... no." Kenchi thought for a moment before going on. "I just
remembered, he told me that he would be meditating for a few days
and to not disturb him unless absolutely necessary. Something
about attuning himself to something or another. He said not to
worry about seeing weird light or symbols, that was normal."

"Okay, could you close the shoji to the back yard so Ranma can
have some privacy. We will explain to Father and Akane when they
come down for breakfast."

*****

Akane awoke ready to face another day. She tumbled out of bed and
started her morning stretching routine. It was a habit to keep
away tight muscles that would slow her down during the day. When
Ranma left, she forsake the art in all forms. Every time she
would perform a kata or enter the dojo, she would remember him.
She really didn't need the art anyway. All the crazy princes from
far away lands seemed to have found another target to kidnap. She
stopped fighting Kuno and luckily, the morning fights didn't
start back up again. It was only recently that she had been
mentally able to practice again.

"Ranma... you idiot." Akane said to herself. She had almost
forgotten him. College was going to erase the last wisps of him
away. She would be able to completely leave that chapter of life
behind. "If only you had waited a few more months to return. Then
I wouldn't have had to deal with this."

Akane finished her stretching and left her room to go take a
bath. As she sat in the furo, she tried to relax and let the warn
waters sooth away her anger. The only good thing that came out of
Ranma leaving was that she was finally able to control her
temper. It still appeared every once in a while, but never as
badly when Ranma was around.

Akane suddenly realized that Ranma always brought out the worst
in her. For some reason, she always got mad at him. Even near the
end, when she knew that she loved him, he would still bring out
her anger. Akane pushed those thoughts away and got out of the
furo. She shouldn't stay focused on such thoughts. Ranma is no
longer a factor in her life. He promised to stay out of it if she
wanted, and she wanted him to stay very far away.

Akane went to her room to get dressed and tried to think of other
things. Even with this new "interruption", she now had a real
life to take care of that didn't revolve around martial artists
and jealous lovers. As she left her room she resolved herself to
focus on the now and not the past. She sat down to eat, ignoring
Ranma's friend, giving the random affirmative noise to act like
she was paying attention.

She soon finished breakfast and left, thinking of the past and
her future.

As Akane left, Kenchi turned to Kasumi and asked, "What's eating
her? I doubt she heard a word I said."

"I'm not sure Kashita-san. She's probably still trying to get
over Ranma's return. She'll get used to it in a few days." Kasumi
then started clearing the dishes and moving them to the kitchen
to be cleaned. When she turned to get the next load, she almost
ran into Kenchi who was carrying the rest.

Kenchi smiled and maneuvered around Kasumi. "Don't worry, I'm
used to bussing my own dishes. I used to eat in a communal space
and everyone was responsible for their own dishes." When he put
down his dishes next to the others he turned to leave. "I'm going
to be doing some research in town today. I'll be back later and
I'll pick up the parts for the stove... somewhere."

"Okay Kashita-san. Will you be back for lunch around noon?"

"Naw, I'll be back late." Kenchi glanced out the window and
spotted Ranma. "Looks like Ranma's into the main part of his
ritual."

Kasumi turned to look out the kitchen window. Ranma was now
shrouded in a blue light that hid his body from view. She could
still pick out the dark silhouette of Ranma's body, but nothing
else. Turning to ask Kenchi about it, she noticed that he had
chosen to leave. She was about to go after him, but she heard the
distinct sounds of Soun waking up. He was a bit earlier then
normal and Kasumi decided to prepare his breakfast. Questions
could wait for later.

*****


The next two days passed painfully slow for Kasumi. She was
expecting some sort of adventure to follow in the wake of Ranma.
So far, other then the initial sock, nothing has happened. Ranma
had sat in the back yard, glowing quietly. As of now, the blue
glow had seeped into the rock garden and she could now make out
the symbols drawn in the rock. Not that she could understand any
of them of course.

The good news was that Soun was moving around more. Over the last
few days, Soun had been more active then he had ever been since
Ranma left. He had regained his old vigor and worked to rebuild
his muscles. It was a little strange that father had such a
sudden change of behavior, but Kasumi was just happy that her
father wasn't so depressed now.

Kasumi could feel that something was about to happen. So she
waited outside, in her reading chair, trying to keep her
attention on her book. She found out that if she let herself
watch Ranma for long, hours would pass by without her realizing
it.

On the afternoon of the second day, Kasumi was beginning her
preparations for dinner when she felt it. It was a feeling that
she realized that had been missing from the house for years. She
didn't understand how she knew, but she knew that Ranma had
finished.

>From outside she heard Ranma call out, "Moko Takabisha!"

Kasumi smiled and went outside to congratulate Ranma and ask if
he was going to join them for dinner. When she got outside
however, Ranma was on the ground, unconscious. Kenchi was already
at his side, making sure that Ranma was still alive.

Kasumi ran to the fallen Ranma asking, "Is he all right?"

"He'll be fine Tendo-san," Kenchi replied, carefully picking
Ranma up off the ground. "He just needs rest. Before he started,
Ranma gave me some instructions in case he overexerted himself
and collapsed." Kenchi then moved to take Ranma inside.

"Overexerted himself?" Kasumi asked, walking inside with Kenchi.

"Think about it Tendo-san. He had been awake for days without
food or water, doing nothing but meditation. At his first
opportunity, without any rest, he performs an advanced martial
arts technique that drains the rest of his reserves. Ranma's
good, but he's not a god." Kenchi stopped outside the guest room
where Ranma could be put to bed.

"So are you a martial artist as well Kashita-san?" Kasumi asked
as she opened the door for Kenchi.

Kenchi gave her a weird look before answering, "No. Why do you
ask?" Kenchi put Ranma on the bed and covered him with a blanket.

"Well, you know about Ki attacks and the only other people who
know of them are martial artists." She smiled innocently, "I
don't mean to make you uneasy."

"If you must know, Ranma told me all about this before he
started." Kenchi smiled as he stood. "Let's let Ranma rest and I
can go fix your stove. I finally got the parts I need."

Kasumi followed Kenchi out of the room, thoughts on the man
asleep in his bed. Kasumi finished dinner while Kenchi worked on
the stove. Then household ate quietly, and Kasumi worked quickly
to clean the used dishes. Once done, she put Ranma's portion on a
tray and walked up to the guest room. She hoped that Ranma was
awake by now.

When she entered the room, Ranma was still sleeping soundly.
Kasumi kneeled beside him and placed the tray within easy reach
when Ranma wakes up. Kasumi knew she should go, but couldn't find
the drive to stand. Here was the person that she hoped would add
a little adventure to her life and as of yet, he's done nothing
but meditate and sleep. She was glad that he was back, but wished
that he were a little more animated. It would seem that Kasumi
would have to continue to wait for something interesting to
happen.

Ranma shifted in his sleep. When he was done, some hair had
fallen across his face. Kasumi slowly reached out to brush it
aside. When she touched his skin, Kasumi pulled away suddenly.
"What in the world?" Kasumi thought. When she touched Ranma she
felt something she could only explain as weird.

Kasumi again slowly reached out and touched Ranma's cheek, and
again felt something 'weird'. She pulled back and touched Ranma's
forehead, trying to figure out what that weird feeling was. The
longer she touched him, the colder she felt. Soon Kasumi was
shivering uncontrollably. She tried to let go but couldn't pull
her hand from Ranma's forehead; all the muscles in her body have
locked up.

Normally Kasumi was calm in most situations but right now, she
felt panicked. The chill ran to her core, and she feared she was
becoming hypothermic. Her mind pushed out wildly, trying to push
the coldness away from her. If she could breath out she would
scream for help. Something deep inside her awoke, coming to her
aid and pushing away the cold. Kasumi latched onto the warmth
that filled her body and mentally pushed the coldness out of her.

In an instant she knew that the "coldness" was wrong, something
that shouldn't be here. Something that needed to be sent away.
She closed her eyes and focused, trying to find the source of the
coldness and warm it with her newfound power.

If she kept her eyes open, she would have seen the milky white
glow that sounded her. She also would have spotted Ranma's eyes
shoot open in shock. It was really too bad that Kasumi missed
this because she probably would have stopped before Ranma's hands
streaked out and wrapped themselves around her neck.

The feeling of someone crushing her windpipe broke Kasumi's focus
and she opened her eyes. She was shocked to see that Ranma was
trying to kill her. Though for some reason she knew this wasn't
him. Ranma's normally blue eyes were now red and his irises had
cat slits. When she glanced at the arm that held her thought, she
saw blue lines pulse against the red glow that emanated from the
rest of Ranma's body.

Kasumi knew that if she didn't do something quick, she would be
dead in a few seconds. Acting on impulse, she grasped Ranma's
arms with her hand and gathered the last of her strength and the
warmth that helped her before. Once it was all gathered together,
she pushed all of the energy down her arms and into Ranma's
trying to get him to let go.

When the energy hit Ranma he did more then just let go, he was
thrown across the room, slamming into the wall. His clothes were
slightly singed and as he slid to the ground, the red glow faded
but the blue glowing lines remained. Kasumi took this opportunity
to take in much needed air.

Ranma was still smoking slightly and Kasumi was coughing when
Soun and Kenchi burst into the room. One look around and the two
me rushed to Kasumi's side. "Kasumi are you all right?" Soun
asked. "We heard a blast and came running!"

Kasumi had recovered enough to sneak out, "I'll be okay Father...
Just give me a moment."

Seeing that Kasumi was in no immediate danger, Kenchi walked over
to Ranma and rolled him onto his back. The blue glow was fading
from everywhere but his arms, they were not glowing at all.
Kenchi gently shook Ranma, trying to wake him up.

"Hey, Ranma, you still alive?" Though not directly answered,
Ranma did moan a little before fading back into unconsciousness.
Kenchi sighed and tuned back to Kasumi. "Ranma didn't try to hurt
you did he?" He asked.

Now that Kasumi had a few moments to recover, she answered, "I'm
not sure." She coughed again to clear her thought before stating,
"It didn't seem like Ranma had full control of his body. Not only
did he 'feel' wrong, his eyes were slighted like a cats."

"Do you think it was a new form of the Cat Fist?" Soun asked.
"There's no
telling what new techniques he has learned or unlocked."

Kasumi shrugged, "He wasn't acting like he normally does when
under the Cat Fist. When he started choking me, I panicked and
pushed him away."

Kenchi gave Kasumi and unbelieving look. "So when you 'pushed'
him away, it was with enough force to throw him halfway across
the room. How is that even possible? You don't seem like one to
cause small explosions when you panic."

Kasumi looked at Kenchi, not sure what he was implying. Kenchi
pointed to Ranma who was lying on the ground. "If you look at his
clothes, they are slightly singed and some parts were smoldering
when we got here. I've seen blast wounds before and this was
something very minor. What has me puzzled is how your clothes,
while a little rumpled, is without damage. How does that work?"

"Because it would be stupid if your own aura hurt you." Came
Ranma's week and raspy voice.

"So you are alive Ranma," Kenchi smirked, "and here I thought you
could behave without a chaperone." He then reached down and
helped Ranma stand.

"Oh very funny Kenchi," Ranma replied, "Kasumi just caught me
when I wasn't paying attention so my survival instincts took
over."

"Well it looks like your survival instincts could have really
hurt Kasumi." Kenchi stated, "What did she do to call such an
attack."

Ranma was silent for a moment as he collected his thoughts. He
went over to stand by Kasumi. "Looks like someone just unlocked
some hidden potential. You start training in two days, I can't
have you accidentally hurting anyone else with your new found
power."

Kasumi smiled, "I'm sorry that I had to do what I did, Ranma. I
was panicked."

Ignoring the dirty looks that Soun was giving him, Ranma replied.
"I should have been paying more attention. Now that I know what
you can do, I'll be able to avoid any more accidents. For now, I
need to eat, so if you all will excuse me." Ranma then quickly
left the room, heading for the kitchen.

As soon as Ranma was gone, Soun asked, "Are you sure you're okay
Kasumi? Ranma has never tried to hurt any of us before. Do you
think it's safe to have him in the house?"

"Of course father. Like I said, I don't think Ranma had full
control over his body, it just didn't feel right. I don't know
how or why, but I think he was trying to protect himself from
me." Both Soun and Kenchi were surprised by this revelation, but
remained quiet as Kasumi went on. "Before he attacked me, I
sensed some sore of presence within Ranma. Something that didn't
feel human. I tried to push it out of him and that is when he
attacked."

"What do you think it was, Kasumi?" Soun asked, wondering what
Ranma had brought back from his travels.

"I have no idea." Kasumi stated, though she knew who to ask to
find out.


*****

Ranma missed a lot of things from home. The food being one of
them. It didn't matter what world he went to, the food always
sucked. He guessed it had something to do with the fact that he
had to scavenge most of his food from wherever he could. Now
there were some places that he could "liberate" something fresh,
but then he would be guilty about taking from others when he
really didn't need it.

He just wished the food tray that Kasumi brought him didn't get
knocked over when she blasted him. His hands still ached and his
seal was damaged. It was a good thing that Kasumi purified the
sections that she damaged. It would give Ranma time to repair the
seal before his demonic side had a chance to corrupt those parts
of his body again.

Ranma berated himself for being so careless. Kasumi could have
easily killed him if she knew what she was doing. "Damn," Ranma
thought, "looks like I'm gonna have to show Kasumi that I'm now a
daemon. I was hoping to keep that little bit about my past
secret." Ranma started thinking up a good story to tell Kasumi
that would convince her that daemons weren't necessarily evil,
just "misunderstood".

Looking through the fridge, Ranma picked out what ingredients he
needed to make a quick snack. He quietly got to work and for
minutes, only the quiet sounds of food preparation filled the
room. After Ranma finished with one of the kitchen knives he put
it down and looked to the door.

"If you don't come in, you won't get any answers to your
questions, Kasumi." Ranma said calmly, he then went back to work.
He heard a startled gasp and watched Kasumi enter the room out of
the corner of his eye. "Before you ask, I had a feeling that you
would have some questions after out little 'incident'."

"You don't mind if I bother you with my questions now?" Kasumi
asked, quietly taking a seat on a nearby stool.

"Better me then your imagination."

"Alright then, I'll get right to the point. What happened to you
on your travels? I look at you and I see the Ranma that I
remember, but you've changed. I didn't notice at first, but you
'feel' wrong. I don't quite know how to explain it other then
that."

Ranma sighed and took a moment to organize his thoughts. "All
things change with time, Kasumi. Some more then other. What
happened to me was the only way I could survive where I was.
Without becoming what I am now, I would have never been able to
return, I would have died." Ranma took a deep breath. "In the
past, there were tales of monsters and daemons that terrorized
the countryside. Most came for the demonic realms and only stayed
until they were slain or ran out of energy. As humans became
better equipped and more organized, daemons found that coming to
this world was too risky and most decided to stay in their own
realm. Those that do decide to make the jump usually keep a low
profile in a human host."

"So why do they come if it's so dangerous?"

"Three reasons: they were summoned, the want to collect energy,
or the want to mate with a human. The last being very rare,"
Ranma added hastily, "it's usually more trouble then it's worth.
Anyway, most daemons are relatively peaceful and then generally
only fight over territory or they have a blood feud going.
Daemons themselves are not evil, but some have decided to do some
very evil things."

"So what does this have to do with what you went through Ranma?"

By this point Ranma had finished making his food and motioned to
Kasumi to move to the dining room. As they walked he continued,
"It's important because of the Neko-ken training I went through.
Turns out, it's actually a summoning ritual for a cat daemon."
Ranma then sat and took a few bites of his food. "The daemon
binds a small bit of itself to the 'trainee'. As the trainee uses
the neko-ken, that demonic energy slowly grows and starts to take
override the human part of the person. If the person spends
enough time in the neko-ken form, they turn into a cat daemon.
Not really that bad of a deal if your looking for an easy way to
become an 'unbeatable martial artist'."

"So how far has the neko-ken 'progressed' within you?"

"I'm most of the way there, but I found a loophole in the rules.
I can protect my humanity by sealing away my demonic side by
using an artifact. I'm essentially a half-breed, with all the
powers and liabilities of being both."

Kasumi gasped as the scaring on Ranma's face slowly faded through
the disguise spell. She was at loss for words as she gazed at the
archaic lines.

"My artifact was melded to my body. It took more work to create
then a normal artifact, but the advantages were well worth it."
Ranma focused and the scars slowly faded from view. "I wrap a
disguise spell around me so people don't get 'freaked out' by my
appearance."

"I can see why." Kasumi said, recovering from the shock of seeing
such a drastic change to Ranma's body. "I have to admit, this is
all a bit much to take in at once."

By now, Ranma had finished his small meal and stood to take the
used dishes back to the kitchen. "Don't worry about it Kasumi,
we'll go over all of this again during your training."

"Training?" Kasumi said, standing to follow Ranma, "Oh yes, you
did mention that upstairs. What exactly is this training going to
cover?"

Ranma smiled as he started cleaning the used dishes. "You mean
you haven't figured it out yet? Seems like your father forgot to
mention that part of your heritage. You're going to become a
daemon hunter Kasumi."

Once again, Kasumi was shocked by another one of Ranma's
revelations. "A daemon hunter? Me? I would think Akane would be
more suited to such a task."

"Yet you are the one with the gift. You must use what fate has
given you." Ranma coughed once before continuing in his best sage
like voice. "As wise man once said: You can not undo who or what
you are, though you can always make the best of it." Ranma then
put the last dish on the drying rack and walked over to Kasumi.
He put a hand on Kasumi shoulder and tried to reassure her.
"Don't worry too much about it Kasumi, you can go your entire
life and never have to face a daemon. You need to learn to
control your power. If you don't, you may hurt someone by
accident." Ranma then took his hand from Kasumi's shoulder and
left the room.

Kasumi stood there for a few minutes, thinking about what she
just had learned. She had never thought of herself as a fighter.
Her mother started her martial arts training when Kasumi started
walking. Lessons didn't last long though, her mother never truly
recovered from having Akane and slowly died. Kasumi never
practiced again until recently, and even that was only a few
times every week.

Sighing loudly, Kasumi went to continue working on her daily
chores. She would practice to control her new power and stop
there. Her place was taking care of the house until Akane or
Nabiki got married. Ranma was always the one who did the
fighting; she just stood on the sidelines and watched. That was
enough for her and that was as they say, was that.

Then why did she feel so sad?

*****

Two days seem to fly by for Kasumi and soon she found herself
sitting with Ranma in the dojo. She was wearing a white training
gi that Ranma had seemed to magically produce.

"Okay, Kasumi, the first thing we will do is practice meditation
and aura identification." They were facing each other, legs
crossed in a common meditation stance. "When working with your
type of power's, your willpower will determine how well you
control your power. Clearing your mind of distractions through
meditation will allow you to focus on using your power."

"So what is 'my power' Ranma?"

"I'm guessing you have the standard demon hunters abilities;
detection, defensive shields, healing, purification, and usually
some form of divine attack. Once we get you accustomed to using
your powers, we'll see what your limitations are. For now, let's
start meditating."

For the next hour, Kasumi learned breathing techniques and
practiced clearing her mind of thought. It was difficult to think
of nothing, every few moments another idea would enter into her
mind.

"That's enough for now, we'll move onto our next lesson. Now,
instead of trying to clear your mind of all distractions, I want
you to clear away your internal thoughts and look outwards. Keep
your eyes closed but try to 'feel around' your surroundings. Tell
me what you notice."

Kasumi nodded and closed her eyes again. She tried to do what
Ranma instructed. She first cleared he mind of what she could.
Her heartbeat and breathing slowed, and she tried to listen to
things around her. The first thing she heard was Ranma's
breathing. She could hear him drum his fingers lightly on his
thigh. "I can hear you making noise Ranma, and that you're
drumming your fingers."

"Good Kasumi, now focus on the direction of the sound and try to
'feel' where I am. Try to reach out with your mind."

The instruction was easier said then done. Kasumi tried to do as
Ranma asked, but all she could do was listen to his breath. How
does one feel without using ones' hands? After a while Kasumi
sighed and said, "I don't think I'm doing this right. I'm not
feeling anything new."

"Okay, we'll try this a different way. I want you to think of a
glowing orb. Once you have that, try to 'fill in' you body as
it's surrounding. Think of it as the center of your body. Keep
that image within your mind's eye."

Kasumi was able to conjure an image of a glowing orb within her
body easily enough. It surprised her how easy it was after being
unable to do anything else Ranma asked. "Okay, I got it, Ranma."

"Good, now try thinking of reaching into the orb and pulling a
string of energy out of it. Wrap the string around the orb, try
to form a shell of this energy."
Kasumi just nodded as she tried to do what Ranma asked. It was
difficult, but she was able to do it.

"Once you have the shell formed, push it outwards, away from the
orb. Push it out of your body and try to extend it outwards, tell
me if you feel anything."

Expanding the shell was easier then making it for Kasumi. After a
few minutes, she was able to push it out of her body. Once the
shell was a few feet from her, she felt something cold run
against the shell. It was very similar to what she felt when
Ranma was unconscious. "I feel something cold."

"Good, what color is it?"

"Gray... Well, more like black and white swirls. It seems
familiar."

"That would be me. I'll explain once we finish this exercise.
Keep pushing your shell out and lets see if you can find anything
else."


Kasumi kept looking outwards until she felt something else.
"There's something... green... outside. It's very faint, I think
it's the grass and the tree in the back yard." Feeling around
more, she found other colors. "Two small brown things, the koi I
think. Whoa, father is blue. He's in the living room reading the
paper. How do I know that?"

"There's your first power. You can use your personal energy to
look around. You can use it to find almost anything, living or
non-living. You should note that living things are much easier to
find since they emit their own energy signal."

"So you're gray because of the neko-ken influence?"

"Yep. My humanity is being overshadowed by my seal and the demon
it is keeping in check. Most demons will show up as black or a
darkened color. What you're reading is their aura projection,
though many can change or mask their aura if they think someone
is looking. The nice thing is that while hiding their aura,
demons can't use many of their powers without drawing attention
to themselves."

While Ranma talked, his aura slowly faded from view. Soon, the
only way she could tell that Ranma was still in front of her was
that he continued to lecture.

"When an experienced demon wants to hide from view, there is
virtually no way to detect them. At those times, you have to use
your wits to detect the daemon. Something that is much harder to
do. Open your eyes, Kasumi."

When Kasumi opened her eyes, Ranma was not sitting in front of
her. On his cushion, a small jewel sat. "Ranma? Where did you
go?" Kasumi looked around, knowing that Ranma could be completely
silent when he wanted to. Her eyes returned to the jewel and were
surprised to see it glowing. Before she could reach out to it, an
image of Ranma appeared above the jewel.

"Use your senses, Kasumi, and try to find me. I'm in the dojo
somewhere. Good luck." The image then vanished and the gem
stopped glowing.

"Okay," Kasumi thought, "let's see if I can do this." She closed
her eyes once more and tried again to reach out and find Ranma.
She ignored the grass, the bugs, and other living things. She
focused on trying to find the swirling mass that makes up Ranma.
She scoured the dojo with her power, trying to find him. He just
wasn't in the room. There was no trace of him anywhere.

Just as she was about to give up, she had the sudden feeling that
she should duck. Following her instincts, she ducked, just as a
small rock flew through the space her head just occupied. "Where
did that come from?" she thought. She opened her eyes and saw the
gem sitting in front of her.

She reached out and grasped the gem, just as she sensed that she
needed to move. Kasumi rolled away from the pillows and stood up.
Another rock had just struck the floor where she was laying.

Kasumi again cleared her mind and tried to find where the rocks
where coming from. She figured that Ranma was trying to give her
a hint on where he was. She waited for another rock to be thrown.

She didn't have to wait long as she felt a rock fly towards her.
Stepping out of the way, Kasumi threw the gem at where she
thought Ranma might be.

Kasumi watched as the rock flew cross the room and seemed to hit
an invisible barrier a few feet from the wall. The gem fell to
the floor as Ranma faded into sight.

"Good work, Kasumi." Ranma said, smiling. "Let's discuss this
little exercise." He walked back to sit on his cushion and
directed Kasumi to do the same. He waited for her to sit down
before beginning his lecture. "As you probably noticed, when I
was actively trying to hide, I was almost undetectable. Almost
anyone, daemons and human alike can learn to do that. The trick
is that you completely stop interacting with the world around
you." Ranma raised his hand towards Kasumi. "Take my arm for
example, it is currently interacting with the light in the room,
the air flowing around it, and the skin is releasing dead skin
cells into the air. When I use my ki to stop my arm from
interacting with the world around it..." Ranma's arm slowed
disappeared.

"It disappears from sight." Kasumi finished. On impulse, Kasumi
grasped again onto her power and tried to find his arm with her
power. When it reached where Ranma's arm was, she noticed that a
white cloud surrounded it but she could still feel it. "I can
still feel your arm there... What did you do differently when you
completely disappeared?"

Ranma smiled as the white cloud disappeared from Kasumi's sight.
"To truly disappear, one must be able to not only stop
interacting with the world around them, but keep their KI from
interacting with others KI as well. Someone must have absolute
control to hide this way as well." Ranma's arm then suddenly
faded into view again as he lowered it.

"Your senses can be placed in two categories: Active and passive.
Eyesight, hearing, taste, smell, touch, and your danger sense are
all passive senses. They record information from the world around
you and pass it to your brain. Your KI and magic scanning are
both active senses you send out a bit of KI to see what it
interacts with." Ranma then stood. "I think that is enough for
today, think about what you learned and we will talk more
tomorrow." He then reached out to give Kasumi a hand up.

When Kasumi reached out and grasped Ranma's hand, time seemed to
slow down. Seconds seemed to stretch on as Kasumi wondered what
was going on. She couldn't seem to look away from Ranma as he
pulled her to her feet. Moving as slow, she could see his hair
slowly flow from his movements. She felt something in her chest
as her body temperature seemed to shoot up a couple of degrees.

She could only wonder what was going on for a couple of moments
before the world speed back up and she found herself standing,
hands lingering on Ranma's. When she realized what was going on,
she pulled her hands from Ranma and turned, hoping he didn't see
her blush. "Thank you for the lesson Ranma." She then quickly
strode away. "I need continue my chores." She tried her best not
to seem hasty when she open and closed the door out of the dojo.

"What in the world was that?" Kasumi asked herself as she crossed
the yard to enter the house. She never thought of Ranma as
anything other then a close family friend. He was possibly a
little brother, but never anything more. So what was that feeling
that she had in the dojo?

Ranma watched as Kasumi sped away. "What was the deal with that?"
Kasumi's sudden change of mood worried him; she couldn't afford
becoming uncomfortable around him. It would throw off her
meditation techniques and could greatly impact her progression.

Ranma couldn't think of it longer as he felt a familiar presence
at the edge of his senses. He smiled as he recognized who it was.
He was worried that he would have to scour the world to find this
one. It's always nice when what you are looking fro falls into
your lap.

Quietly slipping out of the dojo, Ranma went to go track down his
old friend. Sure that friend tried to kill him on multiple
occasions, but at least he had always been honest with Ranma.
Which was good since his friend was a horrible liar.

A few minutes of roof hopping later and Ranma came to a small
park. He noiselessly leaped off the roof and started creeping
through the small bushes and around the young trees. The last few
years of stumbling into bad situations has ingrained the habit of
not announcing his presence.

He soon came into sight of his friend, he was sitting on a park
bench staring off into space. He must be lamenting about some
great injustice and blaming it all on him. The air around him
crackled with his depression aura.

"Well it's nice to know that some things never change." Ranma
thought to himself. Not sensing anyone else around, he creped up
to the bench. When he was standing right behind it, he grabbed
the man's shoulders and screamed out "Ryouga old buddy! Long time
no see!"

That broke Ryouga's trance and he jumped up and out of Ranma's
grip. He spun and faced Ranma, looking surprised and confused at
first, but then his eyes narrowed as he recognize whom it was.
"You..." He growled. "You... coward! Prepare to Die!" As the
words left his lips, he leaped at Ranma.

Expecting such a response, Ranma was ready for an attack and
moved his body around the strike so it and Ryouga passed
harmlessly by. He then ducked under the follow-up back kick and
rolled away as the attack turned into a roundhouse combo.

When Ranma regained his feet, he immediately began blocking
Ryouga's flurry of punches. Ranma was impressed by the speed and
power of Ryouga's attack. He must have improved while Ranma was
gone. Ranma smiled as he went on the offensive. He hadn't had a
good fight since he got back and maybe Ryouga could still serve
as his punching bag.

Ryouga blocked Ranma's initial attack, but it was only a matter
of time before Ranma found an opening slipped around Ryouga's
guard. The punch lifted Ryoga off his feet and pushed him back a
few feet.

Ryouga smiled, "Your punches still feel like a baby's kick
Ranma." Ryouga taunted as he came to a stop. "I've gotten
stronger while you were gone. You'll have to hit me a lot harder
to even have a hope of beating me."

Ranma sighed loudly, "If that's what you want Ryouga." Ranma
leaped into the air screaming. "Just remember that you asked for
it!"

"Bring it on, Ranma!" Ryouga called, shifting into an alternate
fighting stance. He was going to enjoy this.

Twenty minutes, and five city blocks of destruction later, Ryouga
was seriously reconsidering his earlier statement. While he had
been able to land a few good blows, it was him who took the
beating. There were multiple Ryouga sized craters where Ranma had
thrown, kicked, or punched him into.

The ferocity of Ranma's attack surprised him. In all the time
that he had fought Ranma, he never saw such savage moves. It was
as if he was fighting a completely different person. Gone were
the refined attacks of an artist, and in it's place, the attacks
of a wild beast. Ryouga had not been beaten, he had been mauled.

Currently, Ranma seemed to be favoring his left side, but Ryouga
hurt all over. He knew that if he kept going he was going to
seriously injure himself. Unless he started using his more
dangerous techniques, Ranma was going to beat him again. It never
ended, Ranma would always be stronger, and he would always win.

"Don't even try it Ryouga." Ranma called. "I didn't come here to
try and kill you. There is no need for you to use that particular
attack."

The words resonated within Ryouga and he relaxed his stance. "So
why are you here Ranma? Come to make my life a living hell again?
I thought I saw the last of you when you ran away again."

Ranma flinched and forced his anger away. "I came to help you out
Ryouga. I found something in my travels that could help with your
abysmal sense of direction."

"Hey!"

"Oh please" Ranma chastised, "if I was making fun of you, I would
have said something a little more harsh. So don't get all mad at
me for stating the obvious. Besides, I was going to suggest we
leave before someone tries to make us pay for damages."

"So why are you here Ranma?" Ryouga asked.

"To make things right." Ranma said as he walked towards Ryouga
non-threateningly. "Come on, let's go find a place to sit and
chat."

"Fine, but don't think I have forgiven you!"

The pair didn't get more then 2 steps before the ground erupted
in a stream of water, soaking both of them. All the damage done
by the fighting had weakened the water main, so when they both
stood in the same area, it was just enough force to break the
line.

The pair rocketed away; Ranma reached out and grabbed Ryouga's
transforming body and his now too big clothing. Twisting in the
air, Ranma landed on his feet with all of Ryouga's stuff.

He looked down at the black piglet who had a very confused look
on its face. "What?" Ranma asked. Ryouga pointed a hoof at
Ranma's chest. "Oh that! I found a way to control my cures."
Ranma paused when Ryouga made some squealing noises. "No I will
not teach you. It was a once in multiple lifetime trick. Besides,
you are supposed to find your own way to cope with it."

After tucking Ryouga's things into his backpack, Ranma shouldered
the pack and placed Ryouga on his shoulder. "If you bite me, I'll
leave you at the nearest restaurant." He warned. "I'll take you
back to the Tendo's and we'll talk about what I've missed."

Ryoga only grunted and relaxed. He really couldn't do much until
he got some hot water.

*****

Akane sat at the dining table working on homework. She would
normally do such work in her room, but she was working on a big
project and needed to spread out. The entire table was covered
with books and papers. Ranma had been training with Kasumi so she
didn't have to worry about interruptions.

She was surprised that Ranma had left her alone. They hadn't said
more then a few passing words since she told him to leave her
alone. This suited her because she didn't want to deal with him
right now. She had this large project to work on.

When she heard someone walk into the room she looked up and saw
Kasumi walking towards the kitchen. She had changed out of her
training clothes and seemed distracted by something. "Hey sis."
Akane called out, "Anything wrong?"

Kasumi stopped and looked to her younger sister, "No Akane, just
thinking about practice. I was going to start dinner, how long
until you are done for today?"

"I'll work for another hour, then clean off the table. You want
any help setting the table?"

"That would be wonderful sister. Just come into the kitchen when
you are done." Kasumi then turned and walked into the kitchen. A
few moments later, Akane heard Kasumi start working.

Akane listened for a few minutes before going back to her work.
She worked uninterrupted for the next hour and she had just
finished when she heard someone come into the house. She walked
to go see who it was.

She spotted Ranma taking his shoes off and a familiar pig sitting
on his shoulder. A plan formed her head to see how far Ranma's
promise to leave her alone would go. She cleared her thought and
said in her sweetest voice, "P-Chan! Where did get off to? Come
to momma so I can make sure you are okay." She walked forward and
plucked the piglet off of Ranma's shoulder and hugged it to her
chest.

She cuddled the pig as she watched Ranma's reaction, he seemed to
be trying to ignore her but he stayed where he stood. "I hope you
weren't beating up on him Ranma. You know that I don't like it
when you do that."

Ranma raised an eyebrow and said, "No, Akane, I have not been
fighting your precious P-chan. He did seem kind of dirty when I
picked him up. You should go give him a nice *hot* bath to clean
him off."

Akane waited a second to see if P-chan would start squirming at
the mention of hot water. When he didn't, Akane squeezed him a
little closer to get him to squirm. "That sounds like a great
idea Ranma, I'll go do that now. Will you go help Kasumi set the
table? Dinner will be done shortly."

"Okay Akane, I'll go do that." Ranma took one last look and went
to go help Kasumi. Leaving Ryouga's backpack by his shoes.

When Ranma was out of the room, she relaxed her hold on P-chan
and started walking to the bath. When she was inside she grabbed
a towel and walked to the shower. Placing the piglet on the stool
she grabbed the showerhead and turned on the hot water. She
sprayed the piglet with the water until the water warmed up to
trigger his change back to human form. She then shut off the
water and passed the pig turned human a towel.

"So Ryouga," she started, "haven't seen you in a while. How are
things at the farm?"

"Everything is fine there, but why are you asking Akane? And why
the show for Ranma? You've known about my curse for quite some
time now."

"I just wanted to see if Ranma would still try to protect me from
you. Like he did before." Akane sighed before continuing. "I
don't want him in my life anymore. He doesn't need to protect me
and I don't want him too."

"I see." Ryouga said quietly. "If you get my clothes from my bag,
I can go if you want."

"Oh, you don't need to do that." Akane said, turning, "Unlike
some people, I like it when you come by. Stay for dinner and tell
me how your family is. I'm always interested to know how you are
doing. You're still my friend."

"You know I could never say no to you, Akane." Ryouga said,
smiling, "I think I'll take a much needed bath. If you can bring
my clothes up here, I can stay for dinner."

Akane smiled and turned to leave, "I'll come get you when dinner
is ready. So when you finish, don't go wandering off. You'd be
halfway to Osaka before I realized you were gone." She teased.

Ryouga just chuckled and watched Akane leave before turning the
hot water back on and started to clean himself. He really could
use a soak after today's fight with Ranma.

*****

Kasumi was working in the kitchen, letting her mind wander like
it usually does. She had long ago gotten to the point that she
could prepare a meal on impulse alone. She started to think about
her practice with Ranma. He had gotten so much more powerful
since he left. While she hasn't seen it, she has felt it.

When Ranma first arrived, she felt an unfocused boy with great
potential. Now he was a terrifying mass of power. A few times,
when he had passed her by, a shiver went through her body. It
felt like she was the proverbial mouse that the lion just
overlooked. That at any moment he would turn and attack her. It
really spooked her and she didn't think he realized he was doing
it.

What was more peculiar was the strange attraction she felt to
him. It had only happened that one time, but she was fearful that
it would happen again. She couldn't explain what it was, just
that when they touched, Ranma seemed to pull at her soul.

This new awareness that she has gained was difficult to wrap her
mind around, but there was some part of her that wanted to learn
this. There was this desire to feel that power again. When she
blasted Ranma, she had felt a rush of... something wonderful. It
was as if she was wrapped in a warm blanket that pushed away
everything that could hurt her. She had rarely felt that safe.

Something nagged at Kasumi's mind. Something was happening.

She stopped cooking and cleared her mind. It took a few moments
before she was again focused on her well of power. She reached in
and created a bubble just as she did before and pushed it out.
Within a few moments, her energy bumped into a mass of black. It
was floating in the bathroom, in a corner that joined with the
roof. There were two other people in there, Akane and Ryouga. She
didn't know how she knew but she did.

Focusing on the Black cloud she noticed a thin line tracing to
the dining room. There, it faded into nothingness. Kasumi let go
of her bubble and went to investigate the living room. Something
strange was happening there.

When she reached the door, she carefully peaked around the
corner. All she saw was Ranma standing perfectly still, his back
to her. She wasn't quite sure what he was doing, but that wasn't
what was strange. She was confused as to why she felt the need to
sneak around.

Quietly chastising herself she was being silly, Kasumi walked
into the room. When she got close to Ranma, he didn't turn to
face her.

"Just keeping an eye on Ryouga, Kasumi. I didn't realize that
Akane already knew about his curse. It's good to know that he got
up the nerve to tell her." He sighed and closed his eyes,
bringing a hand up to rub his temples. "It's funny really, I've
been on the lookout for danger so long that I find it hard to
break that habit. I'm always expecting some random person to try
at kill me at every turn."

Kasumi reached out and put a sympathetic hand on his shoulder.
"Was it really that bad Ranma?"

"At first it was, but now..." Kasumi didn't hear the rest because
she suddenly became very aware of Ranma's hand on hers. That same
attraction from before called away all of her senses. Time again
seemed to slow down as she watched Ranma pull her hand off his
shoulder.

Then as soon as Ranma let go, time seemed to speed up again. "...
it's all okay now." Ranma continued, oblivious that Kasumi had
not been listening. When she didn't immediately answer he waved a
hand in front of her face. "Earth to Kasumi, you still with us?"

Twitching slightly, Kasumi regain her focus. "Oh! I seemed to
have zoned out there. I'm sorry Ranma, but I sensed something
while in the kitchen. I didn't mean to spy on you."

"That's actually really good, you should be practicing what I
teach you at all hours of the day. The more you do it, the better
you will get. Remember, if you find training methods in your
daily life, your daily life becomes training." Ranma turned to
leave the room, "I have something that I need to work on before
dinner. I'll be out in the dojo. You'll probably sense something
weird out there for a while."

"I'll try to keep that in mind Ranma." Kasumi replied.

As Ranma left the room, he called out, "Tell Ryouga that I'd like
to see him when he's done with his bath." He then walked through
the door and walked towards the dojo.

As he left Kasumi thought back over what just happened. This was
the second time that she had felt that attraction to Ranma. She
had never felt this before Ranma left, but now, after his
travels, she feels it all the time. "I wonder if I'm falling in
love with him," She thought, but dismissed those thoughts as
silly. Ranma was like a little brother at best; it wouldn't be
proper to have feelings for him.

Banishing those thoughts from her mind, Kasumi returned to the
kitchen. She still had dinner to finish, and it wouldn't get done
with her standing here in the living room. She'd think about this
stuff later.

*****

Ryouga was lost again, it seems like he always was lost in some
way or another. This time, he wasn't lost physically but
mentally. Had Ranma found a way to cure his curse? He was
positive that the water hit both of them, then why did he stay a
man?

Ryouga grumbled quietly. "It's not fair!" he thought, "Not only
does he get the better curse, but he finds a way to cure it
before me!" Ryouga had long since gotten over the fact that he
was doomed to forever be a piglet part of the time. He really
didn't have much choice in the matter. It was either accept the
curse or go crazy with rage about everything.

It was Akari that helped him finally cope with his curse. She
didn't think the curse was bad and accepted it as a part of who
Ryouga was. She was the one who gave him the courage to tell
Akane that he was P-chan. Akane actually smiled when he told her
and then said that she already knew. That she just used him to
make Ranma jealous and try to force him to admit his feelings.

That seems like his lot in life. To be used by everyone for their
own goals with Ranma. To tell the truth, he was happy that Ranma
left. He was free of those people that Ranma always attracted. He
could leave Nerima and only come back when he stumbled into the
area again.

Ryouga realized that he wasn't in the bathroom anymore. He was
standing outside the dojo, with nothing but a towel on. "Damn
it!" He cursed, "I shouldn't have let him mind wander, and no
I've moved from where Akane told me to stay."

He turned to try and make his way back to the house when he
noticed the quiet chanting coming from within the dojo. He opened
the door slightly and looked in. What he saw was something right
out of a cheesy anime. Ranma was sitting outside of a glowing
circle that was drawn on the dojo ground. It was lined with
complex shaped and lines. The glow spiked upwards to where a
crystal was slowing spinning in mid air.

Creeping into the dojo, Ryouga tried to ascertain what Ranma was
doing. He didn't get more then a few feet in before Ranma ended
his chanting and a pillar of light shot out of the center of the
circle. When it stuck he crystal, the crystal began to glow a
brilliant blue as the circle faded. In only a few seconds, the
circle had disappeared and the crystal fell to the ground. Before
it could reach it, Ranma snatched the jewel from the air. Ranma
took a few moments to inspect the jewel before he noticed Ryouga.

"Ryouga," he acknowledged, "I made this for you." He tossed the
jewel across the Dojo towards Ryouga who easily caught it.

"What is this?" Ryouga asked, inspecting the jewel. It had a blue
tint to it and was about the size of a walnut. "Trying to bribe
me into forgiving you?"

Ranma smiled, "More or less. I want to apologize for being such a
jerk to you. This will help you out with your sense of direction.
Give it too Akari and you will always be able to find her. All
you have to do is think of nothing but of the gem, or the person
holding it, and you will always know the way to go."

Ryouga looked at the gem with suspicion. If this rock did what it
was supposed to, he would be home more. On the other hand, it was
clearly magical and in the past, magic brought nothing but
trouble. "I shouldn't accept this Ranma, you have been gone too
long. I don't know if I can trust you anymore. Even if I did, I
don't feel comfortable trusting a magical item, nothing good has
ever come from it before." He then tossed the gem back to Ranma.
"Give me one good reasons I should accept it."

"If that's how you feel about it," Ranma replied, catching the
gem easily. "You can stick around here. I know you won't be going
far without my help." Ranma pocketed the gem as a circle of light
sprang to existence below him. "Later Ryouga." Ranma said as the
light winked out of existence, taking Ranma with it.

Ryouga watched, amazed at what he just saw. Ranma had defiantly
learned some new skills while he was gone. With such a casual
display of power, Ryouga realized that he might not want to fight
Ranma again. Ranma might just blast him instead of fighting fair.

His thoughts were interrupted by a hand being placed on his
shoulder. "Ryouga, I thought I told you not to leave the changing
room." An annoyed voice came from behind him.

"Oh! Akane," Ryouga said, turning in surprise. "I didn't mean to
wander off." He said, expecting an angry face. Instead, she was
smiling, as if amused by something.

"Don't worry about it Ryouga, at least you didn't go very far.
I'd be pissed if you were halfway back to Hokkaido by now." She
tossed him a set of his clothes. "Now change so we can help
Kasumi set the table."

Ryouga waited to see if Akane would leave but she stood there
expectantly. "Uhh... Akane? Can I get a little bit of privacy?"
Ryouga asked embarrassed.

"Oh no," Akane started, "I'm not letting you out of my sight. I
just know that if I turn my back on you, you'll just wander off
again." Akane crossed her arms and frowned. "Besides, I've seen
you naked plenty of times." she teased. "Now get to it."

*****

In the Tendo Family attic, light exploded into existence as Ranma
stepped from it. Teleportation spells were always so flashy that
Ranma rarely used it. In this case it was easier then walking by
Akane, who was eavesdropping outside the dojo door.

Ranma shook his head and sat down to meditate. It seemed like he
did little else these days. At least here in the attic, it would
take a while for someone to bother him. He looked around the
room, trying to see what had changed since he left.

It still had the mark of being Happosai's room. It looked like it
hadn't been used in a while though. A few panties still laid
strewn about the room. Ranma opened up his senses, wondering if
there was anything useful stashed here. He learned form
experience that living in a house with unknown magical items was
never a good idea. This goes doubly so for anything that Happosai
owned.

After a few moments of looking, he felt a very faint energy
coming from deep within a pile of boxes. Curious as to what it
was, Ranma started digging through the pile. He passed old photos
and family records. This looked untouched and he doubted that
even Happosai had looked through this pile. The source was so
weak that he had a hard time pinpointing it.

He finally uncovered what he was looking for; a simple wooden
chest that was without embellishments. It seemed to be large
enough to hold a small sword or a large dagger. As he looked it
over he knew that it was more then it seemed. Behind the simple
wood was a cloaking spell. From what he could tell, it was
designed to hide it from view, which it did quite well.

Ranma reached to pickup the box when he felt a sudden surge of
power. All he could think before his world went black was "Oh
crap."

*****

Down in the kitchen, Kasumi also felt the sudden surge of power.
She glanced up a half moment before a loud explosion followed by
a crash came from upstairs. She ran through the house and into
the attic, she knew that Ranma was the only person up there. He
could be hurt.

When she reached the attic, she wasn't prepared for what she saw.
A cat beast lay crumpled against the far wall. It looked like it
was dazed but not unconscious. She watched in horror as it rose
to wobbly feet. Most of its fur was singed and there were large
gashes all along its body. She watched, almost in awe, as the
wounds closed and the hair re-grew.

Kasumi soon realized that she was alone with a daemon, without
anyone or anything to protect herself. Where was Ranma? Did the
daemon kill him?

The daemon took a few unsteady steps forward. It seemed unfocused
in its goal, but Kasumi thought that it hadn't recovered fully
yet. As the seconds dragged on, the daemon recovered and Kasumi
was rooted in her spot. She tried to tell herself to run, but
something wouldn't let her. She had the feeling that she needed
to face this daemon and defeat it.

As she thought that, the daemon's eyes focused and then started
to glow red. It looked around the room and spotted, Kasumi. It
snarled wickedly and leaped at her. Remembering the little
martial arts that her mother taught her, Kasumi threw herself out
of the way. It was in no way graceful, but she was able to land
without hurting herself.

The daemon continued on his path, through the door and into the
rest of the house. Kasumi jumped back to her feet to chase after
it, but stopped when she felt something behind her. It felt very
familiar and brought back memories of someone that died long ago.

"Mother." Kasumi thought, wistfully as she turned around. Before
her a simple wooden box glowed a milky white. As she gazed at it,
she could feel her fear and anxiety leaving her. As she walked
forward, she felt a sense of absolute safety. Nothing could hurt
her where she was, the only other time she felt like this was
when she was in her mother's embrace.

She reached into the glow, without hesitation, and pulled out two
items. One was a metal sword handle; the other was a piece of
armor. The handle looked as if someone took a thin metal wire and
wove it upon itself. The armor was pure white shoulder pads and
leather straps that looked like they would wrap around her torso.

As if directed by some other force, Kasumi raised the armor and
put it on her shoulders. The armor piece fit her perfectly, and
she knew just the right way to secure it to herself. With her
armor on, Kasumi stood and walked to the middle of the room, her
conscious mind becoming aware of just what was going on.

Some daemon was in the house and she knew somehow that it was her
duty to kill it. Before she could even take a step, Ryouga came
crashing through the ceiling and flew in a strait line towards
Kasumi. Even with the ceiling to slow him down, he was still a
human cannonball and was moving with an excess of force.

Kasumi's mind was unprepared for such a sudden attack and she did
what any other normal person would do. She threw up her hands and
protected her face. She squeezed her eyes shut, expecting to be
painfully landed on by Ryouga. When the impact never occurred she
peaked her eyes open to she why she wasn't in a massive amount of
pain.

A wall of light had sprung up between herself and Ryouga,
preventing a very painful collision. Her cloths also felt
different. She looked herself over and saw that she was now
wearing more armor. The shoulder pads had extended to cover the
rest of her chest and stomach. Her arms and legs now had armor
running up and down them. She reached up and felt a helmet and
clear visor on her head. She was now truly ready to face that
daemon.

As the wall of energy dissipated, dropping Ryouga to the floor,
Kasumi leaped through the hole made by Ryouga and onto the roof.
She looked down to the yard and spotted the daemon. It was
fighting Akane. Kasumi watched as the daemon slip past Akane's
guard and grab her by the neck with one hand. He squeezed and
lifted her into the air, Akane had to grab onto its arm to keep
from having her neck broken.

Not even thinking Kasumi leaped from the roof and flew towards
the daemon. As she flew a blade of light exploded from the hilt
that she held. She swung above her head and prepared to bring it
down on the daemon's head.

The daemon only inspected Akane for a moment before tossing her
aside and raising its other hand. A blade of black energy sprang
into existence, positioned to block Kasumi's incoming blow.

As their swords met with a crash and soon they were locked in
combat. Kasumi didn't have time to think, she relied completely
on her instincts. She had never touched a sword before in her
life and now she had to kill a daemon that bested both Ryouga and
Akane. Her odds didn't look good.

Kasumi blocked and counterattacked the daemon's blows. The few
times that she missed, her armor prevented her from getting
skewered on the daemon's blade. While it was painful, the armor
absorbed the strike and allowed her to continue fighting.

After a few minutes of intense fighting, the daemon attacked with
a strong overhand swing that Kasumi was barely able to get her
sword up to block. Instead of bringing its sword around to strike
somewhere else, the demon pushed down onto their locked blades
and soon Kasumi found herself in a contest of strength.

Kasumi pushed herself to her limit, putting all of her reserves
into stopping this strike. She knew that if she lost this
contest, the daemons sword would break through her armor and cut
her to pieces. As she put more and more energy into blocking the
armor around her arms and legs faded. She reached out with her
spare hand and grasped the daemon's sword arm.

When she did, time slowed down to a crawl. Again was the strange
feeling of attraction that she had felt twice before. This time
however, it was overwhelming. She needed to do something to this
daemon, but she didn't know what.

The warm feeling from inside herself awoke and spread through her
body. It was the same power that protected her from Ranma a few
days ago. The feeling was weak and she didn't have enough energy
to make one large push with it. Instead, she let it trickle into
the daemon, slowly pushing back the daemon's presence.

As Kasumi's energy pushed outward, the daemon's eyes changed. The
blood red glow faded, and the red black irises turned a stormy
blue. Not only did the presence diminish, but the daemon's sword
attack also lessened. Where the eyes were once vacant and
dilated, they focused and awareness returned to them.

The daemon looked surprised, like it didn't realize where it was,
and then sad. In a quick movement, it pulled itself free from
Kasumi's weakened arms and fled. Leaping over the wall and into
the city.

When the daemon was out of sight, Kasumi slumped to her knees as
her energy blade and armor fading from existence. As she sat
there, catching her breath, Ryouga and Akane rushed up to her.

"Kasumi are you okay?" Akane asked.

Kasumi only had the energy to nod weakly. She didn't resist as
Ryouga lifted her up and carried her to the house. Akane
followed, a worried look, over her face.

"What are we going to do about the daemon?" Akane asked as Ryouga
put Kasumi down on a pillow in the living room. "It's loose in
the city and may hurt someone."

Kasumi shook her head as she lay down. "It'll be fine." Kasumi
said weakly, "Let me rest and we'll go after it to..." She didn't
finish before all of her energy ran out and she went to sleep.

"Well that's just great." Akane explained, "We got a daemon on
the loose and the only person who could stand up to it is out for
the count."

Ryouga placed a hand on Akane's shoulder. "We need to find
Ranma."

"No!" Akane pushed away Ryouga's hand. "We don't need that need
that jerk here. We've done fine without him for the last few
years. We can do without him now." She crossed her arms and
stepped away from Ryouga.

"But Akane," Ryouga pleaded, "He's the only one who can deal with
this. Kasumi was barley able to survive that fight. She was going
to loose if that the daemon didn't gave up and leave."

"How do you expect us to find him? He disappeared from the dojo
and could be anywhere. That worthless jerk, he's never around
when you need him."

"I think I can find him, Akane."

"How do you expect to do that?"

"Let me worry about that, you look after Kasumi. If that daemon
returns, take Kasumi and run. If I'm wrong and I can't find
Ranma, Kasumi is going to be our best bet to beat it." He took a
few steps forward and hugged Akane. "Be safe, I'll be back as
soon as I get Ranma." With that he sprinted out of the house and
ran into the city.

*****

While Kasumi slept, she dreamed. There were not your normal
rainbow and unicorn dreams, it was more vivid, more real. She
could feel the cool air blow past her face, the pressure or the
horse beneath her, and the comforting glow coming from her sword.
For some reason, Kasumi knew that this wasn't her. She could feel
everything, but could not make herself move. Someone else was
taking care of that.

Kasumi soon realized that she was not alone. A thunderous roar
told her that she was not the only horse-bound person here. She
looked back and saw a line of solders, all with glowing weapons
and armor. When she looked she had a feeling of pride and
companionship. These people would follow her to the ends of the
earth and back.

Kasumi didn't know where she was being taken, but her host was
preparing herself for battle. She could feel the fear, the
anxiety, and the excitement. This was to be her last battle as
leader. Live or die, her daughter would take her place. She was
at peace with that, and knew she would be remembered.

Within a few moments, they came out of the trees and saw their
battlefield. Before them, masses of solders were locked in
combat, one black, on golden. Her host slowed her horse to a trot
and made some hand motions. She did not look back, only waited a
few seconds before launching into a gallop.

Behind her, Kasumi herd a trumpet call and the thunder of hooves
in full gallop. Kasumi knew that she was riding into the thick of
the battle. She watched in awe as the men in front of them parted
at the last second before being trampled by the horses. The hole
in the line extended right up to the mass of black solders. She
felt her horse leap into the air as the last man dived to the
side. She sailed over the first few lines of enemies before she
landed on top of a group of them. As soon as she was on the
ground, her sword seemed to blur around the horse. Enemies to all
side were cut down as she pushed forward.

Her goal was the enemy officer on the horse that was nearby. She
watched as her own horsemen cut away much of the opposing
warriors between her and the officer. It only took her host a
second of focus before a shield blazed into existence on her
offhand. She wheeled her horse around and charged into the few
remaining solders between her and the officer.

Knowing what was good for them, the foot solders moved out of the
way instead of being trampled or cut to ribbons. Soon she was
crossing swords with an experienced fighter. She could feel the
demonic presence emanating from this fighter. Probably summoned
to fight for this battle.

Guiding the horse with her knees, the woman attacked fiercely,
not giving her opponent a moment's respite. She avoided or
deflected the daemon's counterattacks and stayed well away from
taking a hit. The daemon seemed to know that it was outclassed
and that knowledge only made it fight harder.

The woman took no time to take advantage of a small opening in
the daemon defenses. She slipped her sword inside of its guard
and lopped its hand off. Without even a pause in he attack, she
stuck several more times. The daemon was barely able to howl in
pain with the loss of its' hand before it was killed. The woman
maneuvered away from the fountain of blood that was her pervious
opponent.

She paused for a moment to catch her breath and inspect the
battle. Her cavalry had broken the lines and the black army was
fighting a retreating battle. While she fought the officer, the
enemy solders around her had either fled or been killed. While
she watched, she noted a black shape move into the forest. It was
actively trying to hide from her warriors and it was doing a good
job at it. She could barley see it and one of her specialties was
seeing through illusions.

She spurred her horse and began to chase after the black shape.
The only person in this fight that could have such a strong
illusion ability was the enemy commander. She didn't know much
other then it was a powerful daemon that had wiped out two other
forces of fighters. She didn't want to let this one escape, it
would only build another army and this would start all over
again. This daemon would die today, if it was the last thing she
would ever do.

Riding into the forest, she cast out her energy like a net,
trying to spot where the daemon went. It didn't take long for her
to feel a disturbance a few hundred feet away. The turned her
horse and chased after the disturbance.

While she rode, she prepared herself for another battle. This
would be much harder and more dangerous then other fights. She
could feel power in this one. It was something that put her on
edge, feeling both excitement and despair in fighting this beast.

Without a single sound or warning, the ground below her horse
exploded. Killing her mount instantly and throwing her from the
saddle. Tucking into a ball, she rolled in the air and landed on
her feet. She barely had time to raise her sword when a black
energy blade impacted against her shield. Pushing all thoughts
from her mind, the girl focused on staying alive. The daemon had
the initiative and was pushing its advantage.

Fortunately the woman was a better ground fighter then a horse
one. She ducked and weaved around the daemons blows, trying
desperately to go on the offensive. The daemon just didn't let
up; she needed to find an advantage over this beast.

Ducking under a high slash, the woman's sword shot out and sunk
into the daemons side. As quickly as it struck, she pulled her
sword back and leaped away. Focusing her energy into a ball she
launched one of the 3 forbidden techniques. When she landed, her
shield shifted and a second energy blade appeared on her arm in
the shape of a punching dagger.

She was already sprinting towards the daemon when her energy ball
struck some sort of energy field around the daemon and exploded.
Even before the dust completely cleared, the woman was attacking
furiously with both weapons. Now it was the daemon's turn to
fight for its life, barely avoiding her sword strikes.

When she spotted an opening, she took it, sliding her weapons
around in a complex pattern that ended up with her pushing blade
impaling itself on in the daemons chest. Her victory was short
lived as the daemons spare hard snaked out struck her in the
stomach. The blow shattered her armor and went through her belly,
ripping apart her internal organs.

The daemon smiled darkly. It knew that it had scored a fatal
strike. Already, she could feel her energy draining away. Knowing
that this daemon was not finished, she called upon the second
forbidden technique. Pulling every drop of energy she had left
together, she forced it into the daemon's body trough her
punching dagger and the hand in her stomach. The daemon struggled
in pain for only a few moments before exploding in a shower of
blood and gore.

As the woman flew through the air, her life leaving her, she knew
that this fight was won. Her warriors would clean up any
remaining daemon and the land would be safe from another evil.
Her only regret was that she wouldn't be here to see it.

She died in the air, Kasumi never felt the body impact the
ground, but she knew it did. Somehow she knew that this was one
of her ancestors. It was a vision from the past that once
completed, it began to wake her from her slumber.

She wondered why she was given such a vision. It didn't tell her
anything, but she knew that it was important somehow. She would
need to ask Ranma what he could make of it. Wait a minute...
Ranma?

Akane was surprised when Kasumi suddenly leaped to her feet,
looking completely replenished. Kasumi didn't say anything as she
ran out of the house and into the city. Akane only took a moment
to recover from her shock before running after Kasumi.

"Kasumi! Wait up!" She screamed after her.

Kasumi didn't hear Akane's yell, she was too busy extending her
aura to try and find Ranma. She now knew why the dream was so
important, the daemon in the dream and the daemon she just fought
had the same fighting style. She also sensed that the daemon she
fought was Ranma. She didn't know how she knew this, but every
since was telling her that it was Ranma.

What was strange was that Ranma's normally gray aura was
completely black during the fight. She didn't realize who was
inside until she touched him and felt Ranma reaching out to her.
He was in trouble and didn't have control of his body; Kasumi
figured that the daemon side of him had taken over like it had a
few days ago. She needed to find a way to seal it back within
him.

If she failed, then Ranma would die, by her blade. That she
vowed.

*****
End of chapter 3

Author's notes:
Wow, this took a long while to write. A new job, a girlfriend,
and lots of games got in the way of me finishing this. I've been
spending my hour commute to and from work, typing away on this.
Mass transit is great huh?

This is technically a draft as it stands. I would like to get
some input on what you people think of it. Any story structure or
plot comments would be greatly appreciated. I want to make sure
that the story was something interesting and makes you want to
keep reading. I read over this a second time before submitting it
and it feels kinda rushed at the end, but I am hoping that it
adds to the tension.

If anyone would like to give some suggestions on how to write a
fight scene, I really need it. I am hoping that I hitting a good
balance between detail and word count. I don't want to get bogged
down explaining every move and strike. So please help out if you
can.

So what is planned for next chapter?
I hope to finally get Shampoo into the mix and show what happened
to her. I've written a few bits of that story line already and I
have a good idea where I want to go with it. I really hope you
guys like it.

Revision history:
1st Draft: July 20th, 2006

-------------

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