Of Demons and Cursed Springs

(Title subject to change)

Well, maybe I should be working on my other stories, but I just recently got addicted to Ranma 1/2, reading the entire manga in the period of a few weeks and throughout the whole thing, I kept thinking about how Ranma reminded me of Yusuke. Well, one thing led another and here we are; welcome to Of Demons and Cursed Springs! Yeah, not the best title, I know. I may end up changing it later if I think of a better one.

Anyways, this will take place after the Dark Tournament Saga from Yu Yu Hakusho, but before the Chapter Black Saga. As for Ranma 1/2, it will take place after the final arc for simplicity's sake.

"So, remind me why we're waiting here again?" Yusuke Urameshi asked, tapping his foot impatiently. He was standing in the soccer field of an unfamiliar school the Nerima district of Japan and surrounded by his fellow students of Sarayashiki School.

Yusuke was immediately showered with loud shouts of "We've got to show those punks from Furinkan High who's boss!" and "To reclaim our honor!" or some variant of the exclamation. Yusuke sighed in exasperation. Yeah, he always loved a good fight and he was the toughest kid at Sarayashiki, but he had no personal stake in this feud. Apparently, when the students from Furinkan went to Sarayashiki for a soccer match, the game ended up devolving into a giant brawl without a clear winner. Of course, the students of Sarayashiki were punished by the teachers for behaving so hot-headed, and they felt the only way to regain their lost honor was through another fight against Furinkan between the toughest and second-toughest of the respective schools.

If Yusuke cared more, he might have pointed out the obscene logic error, but frankly this didn't concern him at all. After fighting off demons like Toguro at the Dark Tournament, what entertainment could he get from fighting other humans? High school students, no less. In fact, the only reason he was here at all was to prevent the overzealous Kuwabara from getting too gung-ho over the honor thing and really hurting someone. No, not like a broken bone, but really hurt. When it came to honor, Kuwabara could sometimes forget just exactly who he was up against, and after fighting demons for such a long time, things had the opportunity to end badly.

Yusuke cracked his knuckles impatiently. All he had to do was put the toughest kid from Furinkan out of commission quickly and maybe this whole thing would blow over. He smirked. Still, he hadn't fought anyone in a while now, and maybe the punk might actually be good enough to make this fun. Yusuke sighed, looked up at the gloomy, cloudy sky and laughed a bit. 'Yeah, right.'

"Hey, what's this? Urameshi actually thinkin' for once?" Kuwabara said, smirking about Yusuke's uncharacteristic brooding. While the two had been close allies in the Dark Tournament, now that it was over, they had quickly settled back into their usual rivalry and antagonism.

Bored with the conversation already, Yusuke pounded Kuwabara on the head. "Look, I was just thinking that we should make sure not to hurt these two too badly, if you know what I mean." Yusuke made a subtle 'gun' shape with his hand, wary of mentioning anything specific in front of his classmates.

Kuwabara grunted. "Yeah, I get your drift, but I think you're worryin' too much." The student smirked, rubbing his nose with his index finger. "I, unlike you, am able to keep my strength in check."

Yusuke smirked back. "Yeah, because you're that much weaker than I am."

"Why you-!" Kuwabara yelled angrily, taking a swing at, and missing, Yusuke.

Keiko looked on disapprovingly as the two skirmished. Honestly, a fight against other students? What were those two thinking? There was no way this could end well. Besides, Yusuke and Kuwabara hadn't even been at school when the soccer brawl had taken place. They had no reason to be acting so excited. "Honestly you two. Try to be careful."

Yusuke smirked confidently. "Don't you worry, Keiko. I'm more than a match for whoever thinks he's the toughest at this school! What was his name again...?"

"I think it was some punk called Tatewaki Kuno who issued the challenge." Kuwabara said, shrugging. "He sounds like a pushover to me."

By now, the students from Furinken had filtered out onto the field as well. As the two student bodies faced off, Yusuke and Kuwabara stepped forward into the center. They were met by a young man wearing a samurai gi and holding a wooden sword. "Welcome, students of Sarayashiki." He said in an overly dramatic poetic voice. "As the strongest student from Furinkan, I hereby-"

"Strongest student my butt!" A black haired pigtailed student in red shouted, punting the speaker completely off of school grounds. He smirked. "Sorry about that. That guy can never get over his ego. I am the strongest one in this school." He then gestured to what appeared to be a fairly effeminate boy holding a large metal spatula. "That there's Ukyo Kuonji, the second strongest."

Yusuke smirked back. "I see. I am Yusuke Urameshi," he then gestured at Kuwabara. "And this here is Kazuma Kuwabara." Yusuke confidently stared the pigtailed student directly in the eye. "So I take it you're Tatewaki Kuno, then?"

A vein pulsed in the boy's forehead as he tried to cover his anger with a transparent cool attitude. "Actually, no." He lunged at Yusuke. "The name's Ranma Saotome!"

Yusuke's confident smirk vanished as he barely dodged the boy's punch, which created a large crater in the ground. Instead, it returned with a much more interested attitude. "Well, would you look at that. This might actually be fun after all!" He threw a powerful jab straight at Ranma's face, but the student from Furinkan blocked it with practiced skill, and countered with a sharp right hook, hitting Yusuke square in the jaw.

"You pulled that last punch." Ranma said angrily. "Don't you hold back on this fight." He threatened.

"Heh. Your punch actually hurt." Yusuke said, wiping blood from his mouth, but still smirking. Who knew a student could actually be a challenge? This is getting good! "Fine then. Let's see how you handle THIS!" Yusuke threw another punch at Ranma, who attempted to block it. Changing tactics in the blink of an eye Yusuke dropped into a crouch and used his leg to sweep Ranma's feet out from under him. Ranma, however, caught himself with his arm, and, still doing a one-handed handstand, kicked at Yusuke's face. The Spirit Detective evaded the kick just in time by dropping onto his back.

Ranma took immediate advantage of the situation, jumping to his feet and punching directly down at Yusuke's head. Yusuke quickly rolled out of the way, swinging his leg around and kicked Ranma square in the stomach.

The power of the kick, as well as the angle, sent the Furinkan student rocketing into the air. Yusuke jumped after him, intending to strike before he could recover. Ranma was ready for him, grabbing Yusuke by the arm, and, spinning a few times, launched him down.

Yusuke impacted on the top of Furinkan High, damaging the roof with the force of his impact. Ranma landed relatively gracefully on the roof, prepared to continue the fight.

The students immediately took off towards the distant school in an attempt to reach the roof in time to watch the rest. Kuwabara and Ukyo, however, had already begun fighting and paid no attention to the disappearing crowd.

"Take THIS!" Ukyo shouted, throwing three small metal spatulas at Kuwabara. Kuwabara dodged the first two, but the third nicked his arm, cutting his sleeve in the process.

"Geez, you sure like spatulas, don't ya, punk?" Kuwabara taunted, rushing forwards and attempting to punch Ukyo.

Ukyo, countered by swinging the much-larger spatula, uppercutting Kuwabara in the jaw with the flat of it. Kuwabara flew back, and landed on his back but quickly jumped back to his feet.

'Damn! I can't even get near this guy as long as he keeps using that thing'. Kuwabara thought, rubbing his chin. He looked down at his hand. It would be so easy just to channel his spirit energy... 'Darn it! It wouldn't be fair to use it on an ordinary student!' "Hey, punk! This is a man-to-man fight! Stop using that lousy excuse for a weapon!"

This got Ukyo angry. " 'Lousy excuse for a weapon?' 'Man-to-man fight?' You don't know who you're talking to!" Ukyo jumped forward, swinging the large spatula wildly. Kuwabara barely jumped out of the way in time. "I'm Ukyo Kuonji! The greatest okonomiyaki chef in Nerima! My fighting style is based on these spatulas! Are you really so weak that you want a handicap?"

" 'Weak?' " Kuwabara repeated, clenching his fists. "Fine. But if I don't get a handicap, you don't either!" Energy cackled around his hand, forming into a spiritual blade. "Rrrraaah! Spirit Sword!"

"Wha-" Ukyo gasped as Kuwabara sprinted forward. Ukyo swung at Kuwabara with the large spatula out of reflex, but the student from Sarayashiki sliced it clean in half with his energy sword. Ukyo stumbled backwards in surprise, but Kuwabara grabbed onto the student's school uniform and pulled. The jacket ripped open, but the force of the pull still changed Ukyo's trajectory. As the chef fell back towards the other student, Kuwabara delivered a single powerful punch to Ukyo's face. The force sent Ukyo flying backwards, landing on the ground, unconscious.

"Suck on that, punk." Kuwabara taunted, cracking his knuckles. However, he paled when he caught sight of what was under Ukyo's now-torn jacket.

Yusuke struggled to his feet to face down his opponent on the top of the school. "Heh." He smirked. "You're tougher than I ever thought another student could be. In fact, you may actually be almost as strong as me."

"Almost?" Ranma asked, also smirking. "In case you didn't notice, I'm the one whose been throwing you around."

Yusuke nodded. "Yeah, that's true." He turned perpendicular to Ranma with his right arm outstretched and pointing his index finger at the boy. "That's why I don't have to worry about accidentally killing you with this." He said as he began focusing his spirit energy into his finger. Yusuke was slightly surprised when he felt a wet droplet hit his hand. Still, he didn't worry, as Yusuke realized that the clouds overhead must have finally started to release rain.

"Bring it on." Ranma said, shifting his stance to prepare for the blast. However, after a second he too noticed the droplets which were quickly turning into actual rain. He completely dropped his guard, looking wildly around. "Rain? Not now of all times!"

"You shouldn't let yourself get so distracted! Spirit Gun!" Yusuke shouted, releasing a powerful blast of spirit energy and blasting Ranma clear off the roof.

Yusuke wasn't about to wait for Ranma to get a sneak attack in, so after he saw his foe impact the ground, creating a small crater, he jumped after him. The Spirit Detective landed in front of the crater with a smirk. "Sorry, Ranma. But I guess you're just not quite good enou-" Yusuke's words caught in his throat and his smirk vanished as he realized Ranma was nowhere to be found. Instead he saw, likely caused by Ranma's impact, an unconscious girl.

Well, unlike Ranma 1/2, I haven't actually read/watched YYH in a few years now, so I hope I was able to get the characterization fairly accurate... (probably not the smartest idea to do the whole chapter from more-or-less their perspective instead of the Ranma cast, but whatever). Also, I hope no one is sore about who is or isn't stronger in these fights. After all, the characters spent much of the battles holding back and/or distracted, so it really wasn't a fair fight to begin with.

On an interesting note, I originally thought Kuno's first name was Victor for some odd reason... (Ten points to anyone who can guess why!)

Finally, I am I big fan of reader input, so feel free to make suggestions for events in later chapters. I've got the general plot thought up, but I really like to see what the readers want, and I try to include what I can. Well, this author's not is getting long, so I'll end with "Review please!"