“Oh my, God! Ranma, you idiot! Are you all right?” Nabiki
screeched as Ranma approached with the help of the homeless
man whose name he had learned was Hoshi.

“I’ve been better,” he said, grinning weakly. “Thanks,
Hoshi.”

“No problem, kid,” Hoshi replied and turned to Nabiki.
“Take care of your boyfriend. Get him to a hospital, pronto. Lord
knows I tried, but the kid is damn stubborn. Kept insisting I bring
him here. I tried, and I tried, and I tried to convince him, but the
young man just wouldn’t listen. Young people these days, just
don’t listen to their elders like they should. Hopefully he’ll listen to
you, and you’ll get him to a hospital.”

Ranma and Nabiki stared at Hoshi for a minute before
glancing at each other. “I’ll be sure to,” Nabiki said, as she took
Ranma’s arm and put it over his shoulder.

“You two kids be careful out here, it’s pretty dangerous at
night. I should know, I’m out here every night. Lots of crime
lately,” Hoshi muttered darkly. “Plus I heard some weird animal
roar a bit ago.”

“Yeah, I think I heard it too,” Ranma muttered. “Thanks
for the help Hoshi, we’ll be careful.” he added before he and
Nabiki walked off.

“Be careful, you hear!” Hoshi yelled after them.

“God, Ranma! Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
Nabiki asked angrily as she supported his weight. "We were
supposed to follow Kahji back to where he lives, and you
chasing him like that doesn't help us at all!"

“I was trying to find where Musou and Takenda are!” Ranma
shot back, and then shook his head in frustration. “Kahji caught
me off guard. He’s not human.”

“If he’s not human, what is he?” Nabiki demanded.

“He was a monster underneath his skin. Not a demon
though. He. . .said he wasn’t one. . . but was. . .”

“Was what?”

Ranma looked up at the star filled night.

Nabiki looked up as well. “An alien? Like, outer space
alien? Is that what you’re suggesting?” she asked, incredulously

“Yeah, it’d make sense, wouldn’t it? The weird guns they
used. Demons and monsters don’t typically use guns. I know this
for a fact,” Ranma reasoned. “Doesn’t that make sense?”

“An alien? Come on, Ranma. . .” Nabiki started.

“Why’s it so hard to believe? He said he wasn’t a demon!
With all the weird stuff that’s happened in my life, is it so hard to
believe? It makes perfect sense to me!” Ranma retorted angrily,
and clutched his side in pain.

“Damnit, Ranma! Are you trying to kill yourself?” Nabiki
screamed as she felt Ranma’s weight start to increase on her
shoulders. “Come on, we have to get you to a hospital. This is
over. Now that Kahji's gotten away, we have no leads.”

“No,” Ranma firmly stated, “No hospital. The cops. . . this
isn't over. I know of another place. . . I think. We're going to find
them.”

“You think? You’re going to BLEED to death, Ranma!”
Nabiki argued.

“I’ll be fine. I can handle this. It’s nothin’,” Ranma
muttered, “There’s a shrine, Masaki Shrine. We have to go there.”

“Ranma-”

“Nabiki! Just do what I’m telling you! For ONCE!”
Ranma screamed.

Nabiki sighed. “Alright, Ranma. . . which way do we go?”

“. . . uh. . .”

Disclaimer: I own neither Ranma ½ or Tenchi Muyo, their
respective owners, Rumiko Takahashi and Masaki Kajishima
do. If I owned either of them, I wouldn’t be writing this fic,
that’s for sure!

“The miserable have no other medicine
But only hope.”
Shakespeare, Measure for Measure. Act iii, sc. 1, 1.2

AN: This ignores GXP and the 3rd OAV of Tenchi Muyo

V 2.0 (May 26th, 2007)

Juraian Knight
A Ranma ½/ Tenchi Muyo Crossover
By Hawk

Chapter 3 - The Tree of Jurai

“Wonderful news!” Musou exclaimed, putting his arm
around Kahji’s shoulders. The alien had returned to their shared
apartment back in his original form. He had just finished explaining
what had occurred. “I was afraid he wouldn’t figure out we’d come
here.”

“Yes, yes, he found me, it was him, for sure,” Kahji
muttered nervously, wringing his hands together.

“He found us sooner than expected,” Takenda said.
“Where did he find you, Kahji?”

“After I left Okayama Cleaning,” Kahji replied.

“He found your wallet no doubt.” Musou grinned. “Just as
we planned.”

“Unfortunately, he might end up getting involved in our
business,” Takenda said, frowning.

“If he does, that means nothing in the long run,” Musou replied.

“Um. . . about that. . . he uh. . . might not. . .” Kahji muttered.

“Might. . . not. . . what, Kahji?” Musou asked, narrowing
his eyes.

“I sort of. . . left him there. . . dying. . .?”

Musou’s hand wrapped around Kahji’s fat neck, and
easily lifted him off the floor. “We NEED him ALIVE!” he
screamed, spittle hitting Kahji’s face. “I didn’t go. . . through all
the trouble, of setting up those Galaxy Police officers, and
KILLING his family, just to have YOU kill him before he can
serve his PURPOSE!”

“I’-I’m sorry, Musou. . . It was an accident!” Kahji
muttered, his voice weak from Musou’s hand being wrapped
around his neck. He was thrown to the ground unceremoniously,
and he coughed, attempting to breath. “You. . . you kno-know I
know about the plan, I just . . he caught me by surprise. He was-
was so fast, stronger than he should’ve been!”

Musou calmed visibly. “You’re right, Kahji,” he stated and
put his arm over his friends shoulder again. “It was an accident.”

There was a sickening crack, and snap before Kahji’s
body slumped to the floor, head twisted nearly around.

“The last accident you’ll ever make.”

“I’d say the last accident he ever made was coming back
here,” Takenda said. “What should we do about the Saotome
kid? If Kahji hurt him, it’s likely he won’t survive the damage.”

“We have to hope that he’s survives so that we can finish
our plans. If he doesn’t, we’ll have to find another. I haven’t come
this far to start all over again.”

“What should be done with Kahji?” Takenda asked,
looking down at Kahji’s body with disdain.

“I have an idea. . . and if Ranma survives, it might just help
further our plans.”

The two teens trudged on into the darkening night. Ranma
became dead weight on Nabiki’s shoulders, slowing her down.

“Ranma, stay awake,” Nabiki urged.

“I’m tired, Nabiki. I gotta sleep,” Ranma replied, as he
covered his side.

“You can’t go to sleep yet, Ranma. You may not wake up
if you do,” Nabiki explained, worry laced in her voice.

“I need to, Nabiki,” Ranma muttered, and fell forward
onto a bench, pinning Nabiki under him.

Nabiki grunted as she hit the wooden bench, a sharp shot
of pain through her back, making her wince. She tried to move
Ranma, push him aside, but he wouldn’t budge. She shook him,
and called out to him but received no response.

The world around him faded into darkness. Nabiki’s
presence slowly vanished into the black and soon he could hear
nothing. His body floated through the dark surroundings.

Then it all shattered like glass, and rays of light shot
through. The world turned brilliantly white for an instant, and
Ranma hit the ground hard uncharacteristically.

“Ranma.”

He looked up and saw Tsunami standing over him. “I. . .”

“You have to keep going, Ranma. You can’t stop now,”
Tsunami explain with urgency. “You’re still needed!”

“I’m so tired though, and I don’t know where to go! I
don’t know where the shrine is!” Ranma complained. “Just let me
sleep!”

“Let me show you how to get there.”

The world spun around him. He sat up, eyes wide, causing
Nabiki to fall off the bench.

“Damnit, Ranma! Don’t do that!” She would never admit
it, but she had been scared of him dying, leaving her alone.

“I know the way. I know how to get to the shrine.”

Ranma’s right foot dragged behind him, of no use
anymore. Nabiki slowly pulled him along as he bobbled
awkwardly on his other leg, eyes wide and blood shot.

Ranma muttered something unintelligibly.

“What, Ranma?”

“Are we there yet?” he asked louder and clearer.

“We’re almost there, Ranma, just a little bit longer,”
Nabiki replied. It was after 5 A.M. now, and the sun was doing its
daily ascent. “Is that the tree, Ranma? Is that it?”

Ranma stared blearily ahead of them at the blurred form
of a massive tree surrounded by water. He nodded his head.

“The we’re almost there,” Nabiki said while they dragged
themselves across the emerald green grass.

Fresh blood from Ranma’s wound ran down his side, onto
the grass, staining it red. He breathed heavily through his nose, and
swallowed the bile forming in his mouth.

Ranma-chan grimaced as she felt cold water rush up her
legs. They stumbled through the water and onto the grass around
the massive tree. She staggered into the trunk and leaned her body against
it.

Nabiki looked Ranma-chan over with concerned eyes. “Is
this it? This is-”

“Yes! This is it,” Ranma-chan said and coughed. “There. . .
there’s a house nearby, and a shrine. Somewhere in that
direction,” she explained and pointed in the direction of the house.
“Find it, get food for yourself.”

“But-”

“JUST GO!” Ranma-chan shouted. “I’ll be fine.” She laid
her back against the tree and watched as Nabiki hurried away,
sparing a quick glance back at her.

Ranma-chan breathed deeply. “Ok, Tsunami, I’m here,”
she said, and fell into the most peaceful sleep she’d had in days.

“The one I have chosen has arrived.”

Yosho sipped his tea calmly. “Where is he?”

“She is down at Funaho, waiting for me,” Tsunami
explained, pacing back and forth. “Her friend is also here and at
the Masaki house. I expect you to treat them kindly and take them
in when the time comes.”

“I’ll talk to Nobuyuki, but I’m sure he’ll have no problem
with more women staying with us,” Yosho replied. “When can we
expect this new guardian to join us at the house?”

“In three days I shall heal her. To remain beside Funaho for
three days, and not leave, not give up the hope that I will heal her.
That is her test. It will prove to me that she believes in me, and will
thus be more willing to protect Sasami and I.”

Yosho raised any eyebrow.

“Do not worry, I will not let her die while she waits. I shall
keep close watch over her,” Tsunami said, answering Yosho’s unasked
question.

"Let her die?" Yosho asked, surprised.

"She's gravely wounded. . . and because of this. She'll have
no choice but to accept."

Yosho pushed himself to his feet. “I shall go to the house,
then to see her, then.” As he left the room, Tsunami faded away.

Ranma-chan’s eyes snapped open as she heard someone
splashing through the water around the Funaho. She took note of
Nabiki and another girl walking toward her.

“Tsunami?” she muttered to herself as she took in the
other girls appearance. The girl looked like a mirror image of
Tsunami, only slightly younger, and there were dots on her
forehead instead of triangles.

“No, not Tsunami,” she whispered so neither Nabiki or the
other girl would hear.

“Ran-Ranko!” Nabiki exclaimed, sounding relieved to see
Ranma-chan conscious, giving the redhead an ‘I’m sorry’ look.

Ranma-chan closed her eyes and sighed.

“Ranko, this is Sasami Jurai. She lives up with the
Masaki’s.”

Ranma-chan looked up at the teenager known as Sasami.
Her eyes traveled up the blue-haired girls body and into her eyes,
taking note that they were the same color as Tsunami’s. Ranma-
chan tried not to blush. Sasami was an amazingly beautiful girl.

Sasami bowed, holding a tray of food. “Pleased to meet
you, Ranko-san,” she said and laid the tray down in front of
Ranma-chan.

Ranma-chan bowed her head. “Thanks, uh, Sasami,” she
replied, “but just call me Ranm. . . Ranko. No honorifics for me.”

“If that’s what you want, Ranko-chan.”

Ranma-chan’s face was already buried in the food.
“Wow! This is delicious!” she crowed.

Sasami blushed. “Thank you, Ranko-chan.”

“You made this?” Ranma-chan asked before shoving
some more food into her mouth.

“Yeah, she did, Ranko,” Nabiki said cooly. “When I told
her about your situation, she whipped this up in a matter of
minutes. Or so it seemed.”

Sasami nodded, blushing at the praise. “I made it specially
to help you feel better.”

Ranma-chan sighed in content. “Wow, that was great,”
she said as she rubbed her stomach, but then winced when she
stretched out her wounded side. She breathed deep, and looked
at Sasami. “Is it true about this tree? That it can heal any wound?”

Sasami nodded. “If your intentions are pure hearted, and
you pray, the tree will cure any wound or sickness. But sometimes it
takes days, or even weeks. . .” she explained.

“Then that’s how long I’ll stay,” Ranma stated, before she
asked, “Can you. . . take care of Nabiki while I’m here?”

“Um. . . who’s Nabiki?” Sasami asked, looking at Nabiki.

Nabiki smacked her forehead. “She’s Ranko’s sister. She
died a couple years ago. CLEARLY, Ranko must be really woozy
from her wound.”

Ranma-chan looked at Nabiki utterly confused.

“You remember me, right, Ranko?” Nabiki said, looking
right into Ranma-chan’s eyes. “Asuka.”

Ranma-chan shook her head, clearing it. “Uh, yeah,
yeah, sorry, heh I’m def a little outta it,” she lied, grinning weakly
up at Sasami. “But. . . can you take care of her? Asuka that is.”

“Ranko-” Nabiki started.

“Of course we can take her in. We have plenty of room at
the house. It’d be no problem at all,” Sasami said, cutting off
Nabiki’s protest.

“But-”

“No buts, Na-Asuka They’re offering you a place to
stay,” Ranma-chan replied.

“But you shouldn’t be out here alone! What if your wound
reopens? What then?” Nabiki argued.

“It won’t, Asuka. I’m not going to strain it by sitting here,”
Ranma explained.

“And we can come down here and check on her at any
time. We’ll bring her food too,” Sasami added. “She’ll be fine, I’m
sure of it. Funaho will take care of her.”

Ranma-chan’s eyes lit up when Sasami referred to the tree
as Funaho.

Nabiki looked doubtful.

“GO! For the love of God, Asuka!” Ranma-chan
exclaimed, exasperated.

“Alright, RANKO!” Nabiki bit out. “If that’s the way you
want it, but don’t expect me to come down here every day to
check on you, you stubborn ass!” With that, she turned and
stormed away.

“I’ll take care of her, Ranko-chan,” Sasami said, as she
picked up the empty tray and walked away.

Yosho crept quietly toward Funaho, making no noise to
give away his presence. He stood on the bank of the creek,
watching the sleeping girl. As he took in how beautiful she was,
Yosho realized he would have no problem convincing Nobuyuki
to let her stay with them. The Asuka girl was quite a looker too, and
had already been welcomed by Nobuyuki, but this girl would be a
snap.

“What’re you lookin’ at, old man?” Ranma-chan asked,
her eyes still closed.

Yosho hid his surprise at being discovered. “How’d you
know I was here, let alone that I’m an ‘old man’?” he asked,
examining her face as best he could to see if she were peeking.

“Only someone with a lot of skill coulda snuck up on me
the way you just did, and that could only mean one of two things:
You’re an old man with lots of skill. . . or you’re me.” Ranma-chan
grinned. “And there’s only one of me, so you gotta be an old
man,” she explained while keeping her eyes closed.

“I’m impressed. How old are you?”

Ranma-chan opened her eyes and sighed. “16.”

“You are a beautiful girl.”

Ranma-chan made a disgruntled face. “Whaddaya want,
jiji?”

“I just wanted to see the young girl that has come to pray
for Tsunami.”

Ranma-chan’s eyes widened.

Yosho turned and started to walk away before continuing.
“Don’t give up hope. She’ll come.”

Ranma-chan leaned heavily against Funaho’s trunk, her
belief in Tsunami all the stronger.

Sasami returned later that day with another tray of food.
This time Ranma-chan ate slower, her side preventing her from
scarfing it all down. She still enjoyed it just as much.

“So um. . . what do you like to do, Ranko-chan?” Sasami
asked shyly.

Swallowing the bite in her mouth, Ranma-chan grimaced from
a sudden pain in her side. “Martial arts,” she replied and started
to eat again.

“Oh, um. . . anything else?”

“Err. . . I guess cooking, I’m pretty good at that,” Ranma-
chan said before adding, “but I don’t do it a lot cause it’s girly!”

“But you’re a girl, Ranko-chan,” Sasami pointed out and
frowned. She liked cooking, and didn’t think it was very girly.

“Err. . . yeah, but I was raised as a boy by my pop,”
Ranma-chan explained. It wasn’t a lie; not really anyway.

“Why did your father do that?” Sasami asked, an appalled
look on her face.

“Cause he wanted to train me to be the best martial artist,
and taught me that women are weak and need protecting,” Ranma-
chan explained.

“That’s horrible! Not all women are weak! I know plenty of
strong women,” Sasami exclaimed, thinking of Ryoko, Ayeka,
Kiyone, and Washu. They were all strong in their own ways.

“Don’t have to prove that to me,” Ranma-chan said,
flexing an arm. She was actually thinking of Shampoo, Ukyou,
Akane and Cologne. ‘Shrivelled old bat’, she added as an after
thought and smiled before her mind focused on Akane. Her mood
darkened and the temperature of her body dropped.

Sasami felt the shift in temperature and look up at the
cloudy sky. Streaks of sun light speared through around Funaho.
Perhaps winter was starting early even though it was only late
August. She looked at Ranma-chan, noticing the other girl had
retreated into herself.

Picking up the empty tray, Sasami felt that it had chilled to
a cold. Frowning at the strange occurrence, she turned and left
Ranma-chan to her thoughts. Had she stayed a moment longer, she
would have seen a lone tear escape from Ranma-chan’s eye, slide
down her cheek, and freeze to a stop.

“Ranma, wake up.”

A hand landed on her shoulder and as she shook, she groaned
and blinked open her eyes slowly. A blurry Nabiki was kneeling in
front of her.

“Nabiki?” Ranma-chan asked tiredly. “Wha’s goin’ on?”

“Just giving you some food Sasami made for you,” Nabiki
explained. “And to ask you to come up to the house.”

Ranma-chan shook her head and sat up, a blanket falling
off of her shoulders which she hadn’t realized had been on her.
Her stomach growled and she reached for some of the food.

“You fell asleep after eating lunch yesterday,” Nabiki
explained.

Ranma-chan grunted around the food in her mouth.

“You made big news this morning too.”

“Nnn?” Ranma-chan replied.

“They found Kahji dead.”

Ranma-chan swallowed. “What? Well. . . but, I didn’t kill
him. . . who would have? They’ll do that body cutting thing and
find out he’s not human, right?”

“An autopsy? Yeah, they would do one of those typically.
. . but they only found Kahji’s skin. With your blood all over his
clothes.”

Nabiki tossed a newspaper onto Ranma-chan’s lap. The
short redhead looked down and saw a picture of his male side
staring back at her, a grin donning his face, smack dab in the
center of the front page. She read the title of the main article:

“Murderer On The Run?”

Ranma-chan looked up at Nabiki.

“It’s all about you. Your past, Nerima. . . my family.
You’re the main suspect in that now.”

Ranma-chan flipped through the newspaper, scanning over
the articles about him.

“Of course,” Ranma-chan said, not taking her eyes off of
the newspaper. “Smart move by Musou. He’s basically let the
cops know I’m here and got them on my trail. Gives them more
reason to believe I’m the murderer.”

“Well, apparently Dr. Tofu asked to do the autopsies on
them. He came out and changed his statement, saying that they’d
been killed by a gun of some sort, to try and possibly get the cops
off your back,” Nabiki explained, taking a seat beside Ranma-chan.

"Did that work? He told the cops it was done by a knife
before?"

“Exactly. . . that’s what’s being said right now. No one’s
seen a gun that can do what that. . . gun did. They're going to have
other doctors look at the wounds.”

“And they'll find it all looks like knife wounds. At least
Dr. Tofu tried,” Ranma-chan muttered.

“Unfortunately, because your blood and finger prints were
found on Kahji’s clothes-”

“I’m ‘suspected to be hiding out in Okayama’,” Ranma-
chan finished, reading the very line in the newspaper. “Well that’s
just great. The cops are gonna be looking for us around here
now.”

“For you mainly, they all think I’m dead and that you
dumped my body somewhere,” Nabiki put in.

“What about my curse? I don’t see anything in here about
my curse?”

“That’s cause there’s no mention of it. I’m sure someone
blabbed about it, but I don’t think the cops are likely to believe in
a curse. They didn't exactly believe in laser guns, so I can't see
them starting to believe in curses."

“I’m not the only person that has a curse though."

“Well, we caught a break for the time being cause Musou
and the cops don’t know that you turn into a cute little female,”
Nabiki pinched Ranma-chan’s cheek, “named Ranko.”

Ranma-chan smacked away Nabiki’s hand. “It’s not a
joke, Nabiki! This isn’t good!”

“I know! I know, but as long as you’re a girl known as
Ranko, you’ll be fine,” Nabiki explained.

“I don’t want to have to hide for the rest of my life!”
Ranma-chan screamed then covered her injured side, grimacing.
She breathed sharply. “You know I hate my curse! I’ll go insane if
I have to stay this way for a long time!”

“I know, Ranma, but for right now you have no choice.
For now, your name is Ranko Sakada, and mine is Asuka
Fujenko,” Nabiki explained. “We’ve been friends for four years,
you’re a martial artist,” Ranma-chan grinned, “that got beat in a
fight.”

Ranma-chan frowned, sighed and folded the newspaper
on her lap.

“Yes, things just went from bad to worse,” Nabiki
summed up.

“What’s worse is that we don’t even know if Kahji is
actually dead. Remember how I told you that he shed his skin,
right?”

“You just said he was a monster underneath his skin, not
that he shed it.”

“Well he did. Skin tore right off his body.” Ranma-chan
sighed. “He could still be alive.” She tossed the newspaper back
to Nabiki. “What time is it?”

“Just after nine in the morning,” Nabiki replied.

Ranma-chan grabbed the blanket and looked at Nabiki.

“Sasami brought it down after you fell asleep.” Nabiki
said. “She’s a nice girl.”

The red-head nodded and finished off her breakfast.

“So will you come up to the house now?” Nabiki asked.

“I’m not leaving," Ranma-chan stated.

“But this is pointless! You’re wasting your time! While
you’re sitting here, Musou and Kahji could be getting away!”
Nabiki argued.

“You forgot Takenda,” Ranma-chan pointed out.

“What does it matter? This is stupid! My family’s dead and
you’re sitting in front of a tree!" Nabiki screamed, frustrated by
Ranma-chan's apparently laziness.

Nabiki and Ranma-chan stared at one another for what
seemed like hours. “I’m sorry,” she said.

“Don’t be. Just forget about it. No point dwelling on
something that can’t be changed,” Nabiki replied blankly, avoiding
Ranma-chan’s eyes.

“I couldn’t save them,” Ranma-chan croaked.

“Don’t. . .” Nabiki started, eyes narrowing.

Ranma-chan looked up at her, her blue eyes shimmering
with wetness. “I screwed up, I failed. It’s my fault they’re dead.”

“Don’t!” Nabiki shouted, stomping her foot. “Don’t you
DARE blame this on yourself! What happened, happened! Nothing
can change that! You did EVERYTHING you could, God damnit!”
And with that, Nabiki turned and stormed away.

Ranma-chan hung her head. “I’m sorry. . . Akane. . .”

Next Time: Chapter 4 - A Double Sided Deal
Things become even bleaker for Ranma when what he wants from
Tsunami isn’t what he gets.

This chapter. . . is done. . . next chapter. . . is also done. . . will
post it some time soon. After I take the time to read it over. Review
or email
I’ll typically respond. Hope you enjoyed!

V 2.0 (May 26th, 2007)