Archive: Yes
Author: Jaksio
Name: The cursed comb
Fandom: Ranma/Inu-Yasha
Pairing: none yet
Part: 1/?
Summary: Happosai releases a demon
Warnings: disturbing imagery, a bit of blood

Disclaimer: These characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi, not me.

C&C welcome.

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The Cursed Comb
by Jaksio

Happosai was sitting in his room, smiling a very disturbing smile. Finally, all the pieces of the legendary Yura's Comb were at his hands. All he needed to do now was put them back together, and the legendary demon, Yura of the Hair, would be his to command. Of course, the scrolls which told him about the comb hadn't really said she would obey him... But of course, that went without saying, didn't it ? After all, he was the mighty master Happosai, so of course he would succeed, right ? Pushing his doubts aside Happosai pushed the pieces of the comb together, then settled back to wait for the glue to harden.

Nothing happened. Happosai waited some more, and still nothing happened. Tapping into reserves of patience he'd never known he had, he forced himself to sit back a moment longer, shaking from the effort. The terrible battle between the founding father of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts and the small wooden comb went on for another minute or so. Of course, the outcome was never in doubt.

Happosai dropped to the ground, panting heavily. He glared at the comb, which was still lying in place, seemingly completly unaffected by the battle of wills that had just taken place. With a horrible scream of rage, Happosai jumped up and kicked the offending implement of hair care towards the wall, watching in vengefull satisfaction as it flew towards its fate...

... Only to be grapped at the last possible second by a hand from the shadows. A feminine hand, definitely, thought Happosai. He followed the hand as it brought the comb to comb black, straight hair, wich was held in place by a red ribbon. A pretty face, and eyes with blood-red irises... Pale skin, black wrist bracers, a black collar around neck, a black dress which covered the absolute necessities and not much else... Two shapely legs, with black sock-like things leaving both the toes and the soles bare... A yellow ribbon tied to the waist, with a short sword hanging on the left side... Happosai stared, and some part of him realised that he was seeing the demon he had hoped to release, but the part that was in charge saw a pretty girl in releaving clothing, and reacted in a predictable way.

"Sweeto !" screamed the master pervert and launched himself at the girl. In the middle of his leap he had to change direction in order to awoid being cut by the girl's sword. This could had been a problem for a lesser man, but Happosai was a veteran of uncounted glomps and panty raids, and so he dodged the blade and continued right on target without even slowing down. The girl's scream of rage was a signal of his perverted skill, as was the fact that he managed to avoid the furious swings of the sword and still stay glued to her chest. But the moment ended all too soon, when an all too familiar fist separated him from the object of his affections, then more punches followed, and then there was darkness.

***

Ranma felt a bit unsure about what to think about their new guest. She had seemed ready to kill the old pervert upstairs. Nothing new in that; almost every female felt that way about him, especially after his unwanted glomps. But usually they bounded him with their fists, instead of trying to behead him with a very sharp looking sword. It was pretty clear that only Kasumi's intervention had saved Happosai from losing his head, and even then only barely. But this was Kasumi, so in the end the girl had agreed to let Happosai live, and accompany them to the kitchen, there she was now telling how she had been the victim of a brutal and completly unjustified assault to her home, performed by the half-demon Inu-Yasha and his partner in crime, some witch whose name she didn't catch. The two had damaged her home, destroyed her collection, stolen her jewelry and finally sealed her away, then left thinking she was dead. She wouldn't tell what the collection was about, thought, saying it was a personal matter to her. She simply said her "darlings" were lost, and Ranma assumed she was similar to Asuza, collecting cute items.

Ranma listened her explanation with only half an ear, silently observing others. Nabiki seemed the most intent on Yura's tale, probably searching for new business opportunities. Akane was half-asleep, Soun and Genma were still playing a game of go, and Kasumi seemed to be thinking about something. When the girl's tale came to an end, she spoke, offering the Yura a place to sleep for the night. At first she looked ready to object, then apparently changed her mind, and went with Kasumi. // Guess she's got no other place to stay //, thought Ranma, and went back to his futon. // But why do I feel a chill every time she's nearby ? //

***

The rest of the night went peacefully. Happosai had disappeared somewhere (showing he did have some common sense after all), so Yura slept in his room. When morning came, she wandered into the kitchen, and was greeted by Kasumi. She answered the greeting and settled down to watch Ranma and Genma practice. Nabiki arrived next and sat next to her. The two girls watched in silence until Ranma fell into the pond.

- "That boy... Is he a magician ?"

- "Cursed. His father and he fell into cursed springs, and now whenever splashed with cold water Ranma turns into a girl and Genma into a panda. Hot water returns them to normal. That'll be 3000 yen."

- "Yen ?"

- "Local money. That'll be 400 yen."

- "I don't have any."

- "Oh, I'm sure there'll be plenty of opportunities to pay me back." said Nabiki with a predatory smile.

Before Yura could answer, Kasumi announced that food was ready, and they sat down to eat. After the regular morning fight between Akane and Ranma, Yura decided that she might as well follow them to school, since she didn't really have anything better to do right then. She and Nabiki walked together, the latter explaining things and getting the former more and more hopelessly indepted.

They arrived at the school gates, and were just about to step in, when Yura suddenly turned, drew her sword and sliced a rose that was flying towards her. Where had it come from... Oh, there. A man, armed with a sword, walking towards her. Yura took prepared herself to battle, having decided earlier to keep her hair powers hidden unless she really needed them. After all, she wouldn't want to show all her tricks just yet...

"Rarely have these eyes seen such marvelous beauty that I now behold before them.", said Kuno. "And such skill with the noble sword - surely dost a creature such as thyself only go out with someone who can best thee in combat. Very well then, I, Tatewaki Kuno, Blue Thunder of Furinkan High" - at this point there was a lightning strike in the background - "shall prove manliness at the field of combat, and allow thee to go out with me." And without further words, Kuno rised his bokken and attacked.

Three seconds later Kuno staggered backwards, his bokken gone, leaking blood from a deep cut in his chest. He looked into Yura's eyes, and for once in his life made a smart decision: he ran. The schoolyard had gone deathly silent, and the shocked students just stared, as Yura rised her now bloodstained blade to her lips and licked it clean.

"What a delicious start.", she said to Nabiki, who was obviously shocked but making her best to hide it. "Shall we go to your class ?" Still stunned, Nabiki nodded, and walked to the building, Yura following her. The mercenary was seriously reconsidering her plans of including Yura in her photo business. "Who is this girl ?" asked Nabiki herself, all the while feeling a tingle in her spine, and a slight chill, knowing that Yura was watching...

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