Standard disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2, Harry Potter or any other related works. I am simply writing for fun as an exercise. I will make no money from this. The only characters I own will be those of my own creation. I hope you enjoy it.

Red Suoh and the Eldritch Library

Chapter 1

The sound of voices quietly arguing among themselves slowly brought her up from a deep sleep. With a quiet intake of breath, she was startled to full awareness by the shooting pains moving through her head and the rest of her body.

"I tell you, her injuries have to be the result of a deliberate beating, and not a mere accident." A male voice firmly stated loudly enough to make her head pound behind her eyes.

"Even so, that doesn't change the fact that no one has reported a missing red head around the age of five or maybe six. I wish we could find who did this to her as much as you do, but for now we need to treat her injuries and find her family. If not, she will have to go into an orphanage." An irate female voice replied.

Carefully taking in her surroundings the young girl noticed the pale green walls and the dropdown tile ceiling. Looking to her right she saw a wide array of medical equipment quietly keeping track of her vital signs. Glancing down she discovered that she was clothed in a green medical gown while her legs were barely covered with a thin white blanket. Carefully turning her head and looking first to her left and then to her right she saw that she was resting in a bed that had a set of adjustable bars on either side, while directly in front of her a television mounted to the wall soundlessly projected muted cartoons to a nonexistent audience.

"Oh, she's awake." Said a man wearing a white lab coat as he stepped over to the bed she found herself in. "How are you feeling young lady?"

"I feel ok, but I hurt a lot." The young red head answered.

"I'm not surprised; you arrived with multiple contusions, several broken ribs, a punctured lung, a fractured right arm and a fractured left leg."

"Oh, how did I get hurt so bad? I don't really remember anything." the confused girl answered.

"Hmm, you did have a rather severe concussion, but it shouldn't be affecting your memory. What do you remember? Do you know your name? My name is Doctor Shin" the man said with a concerned tone.

With a startled look of panic on her face, the injured girl raised her confused eyes and replied "What is my name? I… I…. I don't know!" she wailed as tears flowed down her cheeks from the corners of her eyes.

"There, there, these things sometimes happen with head injuries. Over time you may begin to remember." Doctor Shin said as he tried to console his patient.

"You don't remember anything? Do you know the name of your father or your mother? Do you know what age you are, or what city you come from?" A Japanese woman wearing spectacles and a female business suit asked in a sharply aggressive manner.

"N.. n.. no, I am sorry, I don't remember anything before waking up here. Where am I?"

"You are in a small hospital in Yuzawa. You have been here for several days after being fished out of the Uonogawa river. You have been unconscious during the course of your stay with us. You are very lucky to even be alive." Doctor Shin replied seriously.

"Where the heck is that?" she asked with a puzzled expression

"About 2 hours north of Tokyo. We are known for our hot springs and during the winter we are a popular skiing destination." Doctor shin replied with a shrug.

"How long will I be here?"

"Well normally someone in your condition would be spending several weeks in the hospital, but you are healing at a rate that is abnormally fast. At least ten times faster than most people heal. Do you happen to know why?"

"No, like I said, I don't remember anything."

"Your X-rays and a thorough medical examination indicate you have had many injuries in your short life, several of them should have killed you. Do you remember anything about that at all?" the woman interrupted in a snappish manner.

"No, I don't. However, isn't it customary to tell me your name? I realize I can't return the favor, but it would be polite to let me know who I'm talking with. Ya know?" the young girl said firmly as she frowned up at the abrupt speaking woman.

Reeling back with a startled expression she hastily replied, "You're right, my name is Akira Yamatsu. I am a government appointed social worker. My job is to help children who are abused or have been orphaned. My questions involve the possibility that someone has been deliberately hurting you for most of your life." Akira responded.

"Oh. You think I have been abused?" the young girl asked.

"Yes, I am sorry to say that I do. If you don't remember your name or where you live, I may have no other choice than to take you to Tokyo and place you in an orphanage for adoption after you are well enough to leave the hospital."

"Lady, that really sucks ya know." The young girl said with a scowl.

"I am aware of that." Akira said with a slight frown at the girl's sudden rough speech patterns.

"Akira, you have done your job. I am going to ask you to please leave for now. I will inform you if there are any developments in her recovery, including any recovered memories." Doctor shin said.

"Ok, you are probably right. I have placed a rather large burden on her. Keep me updated, and let me know when she will be ready to leave the hospital. Take care young lady, I will see you later." Akira said as she turned and left the small hospital room.

"I will leave as well. Since you are healing so rapidly, I am going to have X-rays done on your arm and your leg to see if we can remove the casts and the bindings on your ribs. If that is the case, I will arrange for you to take a bath after removing the casts. We have had to do with lukewarm sponge baths while you were still unconscious. An orderly will be around shortly to take care of you." The doctor said.

As doctor Shin turned to leave, an extremely loud noisy squishy growl emitted from the vicinity of the red head's stomach. Clutching her good arm around the offending area, as she blushed slightly she asked in a timid voice, "Do ya think I could have something to eat? I'm real hungry."

"Of course, I will have a nurse bring you a nice meal." The doctor replied with a slight smile as he exited her room.

After a short wait, a plump woman in a nurse's outfit wheeled a cart into her room. The smells coming from the trolley made her small mouth begin to water and her stomach complained in an even louder voice.

"Hello dearie." The nurse said with a smile in a sweet voice. "Hold on just a sec and I will get you set right up before you decide to gnaw off one of my arms."

After carefully maneuvering a small wheeled table over so it extended out over her bed, the nurse reached down and pressed a couple of buttons that elevated the head of the bed and brought her up to a sitting position in front of the table. Stepping over to the trolley she picked up a tea pot and a nice porcelain cup which she carefully arranged on the table, then returned for a covered tray that she set in the center of the table and removed the cover.

The wonderful aroma of chicken teriyaki with rice on the side filled her senses. Reaching down, she picked up the chopsticks with her left hand and quickly brought the first bite to her lips. With a cry of joy, and a loud "idatikimas" her hand's started to blur as they brought the food to her lips with a speed that was almost too fast for human eyes to follow.

Barely stepping out of the way the nurse gasped as she watched the girl set the chopsticks next to her now empty plate, pour some tea and gulp it down in a split second.

"Oh, that is good!" she said as she licked her lips. "May I please have some more?"

"Uhh, of course dearie, just give me a moment." The startled nurse said.

Carefully cleaning up the used dishes she placed them on the trolley and started to wheel it out of the room just as another loud growl of hunger rumbled forth from the redhead's stomach.

"My, oh my, what a huge appetite you have." The nurse said as she left the room.

After several minutes, the nurse returned and set a second tray before the young girl and quickly stepped back as a whirlwind of chopsticks finished the food off in just a few moments.

Having finished her second tray, the red head looked up with a hopeful doe eyed expression on her face. "Would it be alright to have one more?" she asked.

"Of course dearie, I came prepared with one final tray, plus desert." The nurse said with a smile.

Moving forward she removed the empty tray, placed it on the bottom shelf of the trolley and produced one last covered tray. Setting the tray before her charge she watched with wonder and amusement as the red head demolished a third tray of food as if she were a starving wolf.

Within a few moments the third tray was empty and clean, so the nurse efficiently cleared it away and then set a small plate of sweet bean treats in front of the eager eater.

"Yay! Thank you!" the girl exclaimed before she quickly polished off the sweat confections.

After a quick demonstration of serious speed eating, the girl let out a healthy belch, patted her stomach and slowly sipped her tea.

"Thank you, I was very hungry." She said shyly.

"No problem at all, it is good to see such a healthy appetite though I have no idea where you put it all." The nurse smiled. "Now that you have eaten, an orderly will be by shortly to take you to X-ray."

"Kay."

Doing a final clean up, the nurse placed everything on the cart; set out a fresh pitcher of ice water along with a clean glass then moved the portable table within easy reach of her charge, turned and wheeled the trolley out of the room.

After several boring moments with nothing more to do than stare at the muted TV, the girl heard footsteps approach with a loud, quick step. As she looked towards the door she saw a wheel chair push its way into her room followed by a skinny Japanese man in his late twenties. Moving the chair to a position by her bed, the man carefully set the brakes, and then turned towards her.

"Good day. I'm here to take you out and get some x-rays done. My name's Toshiro." The orderly said with a friendly smile.

"Pleased to meet ya Toshiro, sorry I don't have a name to give ya back." The girl said.

"Well, I can't go around just calling you girl, or 'hey you.' Do you mind if I call you 'Red' for now?"

"For now, that is a good a name as any other. That would be all right. Hi, I'm Red. Pleased ta meet ya." Red replied with a mischievous grin.

"Ok Red, I am going to pick you up and put you in this chair and then we will go down the hall and up one floor to X-ray. After that, I will bring you back here." Toshiro said with a smile.

Setting word to deed, Toshiro put one arm under her legs and one arm behind her back, then carefully lifted her up and gently placed her in the wheel chair. Reaching down he released the brakes on the chair, then swiftly wheeled her down a wide, white tiled hall to a stainless steel elevator located at a dead end.

After a brief wait he wheeled her into the elevator, took them up one floor, then steered her out into a hallway that was for all intents and purposes identical to the one below. Moving down the hall they turned to the right at a tee intersection, until they reached a door labeled X-ray where he backed them through the door into a dim room with a table set in the center of it.

After re-setting the brakes on the chair, Toshiro gently moved her to the table where he carefully laid her down. Stepping over to a cabinet, he took some large flat plastic items and placed them under her leg, arm and her ribs.

"Ok Red, I am going to step into the next room and start up the equipment. I need you to lie very still while I take your picture." Toshiro said with a grin.

"Kay." Red replied.

After a few moments a large robotic type arm came alive with a low hum and proceeded to move above her with smooth slow motions. After tracing several paths above her, the arm returned to its location against the wall.

"All right, let me take these down the hall to the lab, and I will be right back to take you to your room." Toshiro said as removed the films from beneath the red headed girl.

After a couple of minutes Toshiro returned, set her back in the chair and then wheeled her back to her room where she fell into a deep sleep.

When she yawned and woke up from her impromptu nap, the light through the windows showed that it must be fast approaching dinner time, and her stomach agreed with a loud rumble of protest. As she listened to her surroundings, she heard the sound of a cart with a squeaky wheel as the smell of food wafted into her room and made her stomach ache with hunger.

"Hello Dearie. Are you still as hungry as you were at lunch?" the kind nurse asked as she stuck her head in the room.

"Ya bet your boots I am." She replied.

"Well, let's get you back into a sitting position and I will give you several trays of food. I have never seen such an appetite." The nurse said as she shook her head while a smile played across her lips.

Moving into the room, the nurse brought her up to a sitting position, set her table and started to lay out several trays of food when she was interrupted by the entrance of Doctor Shin.

"Surely you don't expect such a tiny girl to put away that much food, do you?" He asked.

"Yes I do, of course if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes; I probably wouldn't believe it either." She replied.

"If you say so, I think I will have to observe this phenomenon with my own eyes though."

With chopsticks in hand, the girl proceeded to demolish four trays of food within the space of five minutes as her chopsticks became a blur almost invisible to the naked eye. Carefully setting her bamboo chopsticks down on the table, she looked up with large, hopeful, blue eyes as she asked "Is there any desert?"

"Yes Dearie, I have a nice large bowl of it for you" she said as she placed an ice cream sundae down before her young charge.

"OH BOY! Ice Cream!" the red head loudly cried as she dove in with gusto and quickly polished off the sweet, sticky confection.

Doctor Shin looked on with surprise as he witnessed the massive appetite exhibited by the diminutive girl before him. Of course the bottomless pit she called a stomach wasn't the first surprise he had received from his patient and he was afraid that she wasn't through puzzling him yet.

"Doesn't eating ice cream that fast give you a massive case of brain freeze?" The nurse asked with concern in her voice.

"Nope, couldn't tell you why though."

"How are you feeling otherwise?" Doctor Shin asked the girl.

"Much better, I don't hurt that bad anymore." She replied.

"I'm not surprised. I have never seen anyone heal as fast as you have. After looking at your X-rays, I am going to take your casts off, and then you can get a bath before retiring for the night." Doctor Shin said with a smile.

"Sounds good ta me, doc." The red head replied.

Stepping forward, the doctor used a battery operated vibra saw to start cutting through the casts on the young girl's leg and arm with a loud buzz. "That tickles." She giggled lightly over the noise of the saw.

After removing the casts and setting the remains of the fiberglass supports aside, the doctor had her press against his right hand with her leg and her arm. The strength the girl showed was tremendous. He had met full grown construction workers who couldn't put forth the amount of force found in her young limbs.

"Very good job young lady. Your arm and your leg are in fine shape." He smiled. "Let's see to those ribs."

Pulling out a set of medical shears, he cut through the bindings on her ribs and gently removed them.

"Take several deep breaths, slowly in and then slowly out."

"Kay." She said then complied with his request.

"Does it hurt anywhere when you breathe like that?"

"Nope, I feel fine."

Pulling a small flashlight out of his pocket he shone it into her eyes and carefully observed the dilation of her pupils. "Mmmm. Good, and this one looks good as well. You appear to have recovered from the nasty concussion you had when you came in."

Moving over to the computer terminal in the room he quietly typed for a few minutes.

"Well, everything looks really good. I will have the nurses start a nice hot shower for you and allow you to get properly cleaned up rather than have another luke warm sponge bath. Tomorrow we will take you down to physical therapy and have them run you through some exercises to re-strengthen your body." The doctor said.

"Oh good, it will be nice ta get up out of this bed. It will also be nice ta have a hot shower."

"Very well, I will see you tomorrow. A nurse should be in shortly to help you to the shower." He replied as he turned on one heel and smoothly exited from her room.

While she waited, the young girl spent some time stretching and exercising her arm and her leg in an attempt to work the stiffness and the pain out of the injured limbs. Soon, a dark haired nurse with gleaming caramel colored eyes came in with a smile. "Hello sweetie, shall we get you a nice shower?"

"You bet!" the girl said as she sat up.

Stepping forward with a graceful gliding step the nurse dropped the rail on one side of the bed. As soon as the barrier was out of her way, the small girl swung her legs over the side of the bed and pushed off to land lightly on her feet.

"Woah there tiger, you need to take it easy. You just got out of a cast." The nurse lightly scolded.

"Sorry, I'm just excited." The girl replied with down cast eyes. The nurse led her through a second door into a white tile bathroom. In one corner was a rather tall toilet, and on one wall was a porcelain sink with a small mirror above it. In the other corner was a shower curtain with a towel rod set into the wall next to it.

"Hold still sweetie and I will un-tie this robe for you."

Stepping behind the small girl, the nurse knelt down on one knee and quickly undid the string ties that kept the ugly hospital gown closed. After undoing the last one, she stood up and moved to the shower where she started adjusting the water valves as she sought a mixture that gave a nice hot shower, but not too hot.

"I will be outside the door if you need any help sweetie. Just give me a brief call when you get out and I will help get you dried off." The nurse said.

Feeling the needs of a full bladder, the small girl dropped her gown on the floor and then seated herself on the porcelain fixture to take care of her necessary ablutions. After flushing the toilet, she stepped over to the shower, moved the curtain aside and stepped straight into hell.

As she moved underneath the hot water she felt her body change; her sense of balance shifted, she grew a set of male appendages, and her musculature and bone structure reconfigured itself. Reaching back she pulled her pigtail around and discovered to her horror that it had changed from a beautiful red to a glossy black. With a shocked cry she let out a yell of horror and fell into darkness as the terror of the situation overwhelmed her.