"Hey, Dr. Tofu," Ukyou called out as she and Ryouga entered the clinic. She was finally back, and with any luck it would stay that way. "Sorry I'm late." "Gromph?" Ukyou and Ryouga turned to face the giant panda sweeping the clinic lobby. "Oh, hi Mr. Saotome," Ryouga said calmly. "Are we very late?" "Gromph, grom grom," the panda held up a sign that read. "You're only ten minutes late, how is that possible?" A large drop of sweat rolled down Ryouga's forehead. "Err," Ryouga sounded embarrassed. "We took taxis." The sign flipped around and read "Oh, that explains it." "Miss Kuonji," Dr. Tofu said as he walked into the room. "This is the first time you've ever been late for an appointment. Usually you're punctual to the point of obsession." "What do you mean?" Ukyou asked. "You noticed that too?" Ryouga blurted out. *CLANG* "Have you been taking lessons from Akane?" Genma-Panda's sign asked. Ukyou narrowed her eyes. *CLANG*CLANG*CLANG* "Why'd you do that?" Ryouga asked, rubbing his head as he stood up. "I need an excuse to hit Genma?" Ukyou asked. "Does anybody?" Ryouga thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, I guess not," he finally agreed. "Traitor," the battered panda's sign read. "You know, now that I think about it," Ryouga said after seeing the sign. "Ranma kicked me towards the cliff, I think it was My. Panda here that originally forced me into that leap." "I have to go, work to do," Genma's new sign read. "Bye." The panda wasted no time in leaving the room. "I see you're using that arm despite what I said," Dr. Tofu noted as he circled Ukyou critically. "Well....it felt alright," Ukyou said tentatively. "That's okay, you're actually right on schedule." "What!!? But you said-*" "Yes, well, I knew you'd ignore that, so I added to my estimate." "You what?" "Roughly doubled all my the estimates of how long you'd be in the sling and cast." "But I've already been in the cast the entire month!!" "Yes, very surprising." "You mean I could have been out of this contraption all this time!?!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Kodachi silently marveled at the Tendo dojo. As always she wondered how they could rest so easy at night without even the most basic of booby traps. Of course they did seem to be quite nervous, except for that nice Kasumi woman that had prepared the second guest room for her. The two fathers, on the other hand, seemed to clear the room whenever Kodachi appeared. The gymnast hadn't yet figured out why they should be so jumpy around her. At the moment Kodachi was enjoying a nice quiet meal after school. She had taken a gamble and was surprised when it paid off. Apparently there were no drugs in this soup Kasumi had made. Then she heard the door open and soon there was whispering coming from the kitchen. Finally, her Ranma-Darling was home. Kodachi then narrowed her eyes and wondered where Mousse was. She had yet to thank him properly for saving her life. So it was now a matter of duty and honor to make sure that he won the heart of that blue-haired bimbo. The gymnast paused in her thinking to complain about Shampoo flirting around with all the men. Then she went back to plotting. Mousse deserved to be happy, and if saddling him with Shampoo was what it was going to take then so be it. At this point she realized that she had forgotten all about her "Ranma-Darling." The gymnast gasped and rose from the table immediately. "Kasumi, what's Kodachi doing in the dining room," Akane asked nervously. She and Ranma looked beat, having spent most of the night searching for the Ukyou look alike. Then they had to go to school. So it had roughly been thirty-six hours since either of them had really slept. Not that martial artists of their caliber lost much capability until somewhere around a week without sleep, but like anybody, they preferred to get it regularly. "Oh, Mousse brought her by last night while you were out," Kasumi explained. "Okay, but that still doesn't explain what she's doing here now," Akane pressed a little. Ranma was a little ways down the hall keeping an eye on the dining room entrance way. "Well, apparently she needed a place to stay," Kasumi told them calmly. "And you let her stay here," Ranma protested as quietly as he could. "Well I couldn't just refuse her," Kasumi explained further. "Poor dear, seemed to be in a state of shock." "Rannma-Darling," the high-pitched voice elicited a shiver from Ranma and Akane both. "I'm sooo happy to see you." She didn't seem in shock at all, in fact she seemed to be her normal clingy self. "Uhh.....Kodachi!" Ranma screeched. "What are you doing here?" Her familial problems aside, Ranma and Akane still thought of Kodachi as a rather dangerous lunatic. "I hope you don't mind me staying here," Kodachi leaned against the petrified Ranma and twirled his ponytail around in her fingers. "Hey!" Akane protested. The mallet appeared in her hands. "But you see, I had a little disagreement with my brother," she got that out just as the mallet crushed Ranma into the ground. "In front of my sister no less!" Akane shouted. "Excuse me, did you just say that you had a disagreement with your brother." "Why yes, though I don't see what business it is of yours," Kodachi jabbed her face at Akane. "Ummm," Akane started, sounding embarrassed. "Are you okay?" "He was a little more upset than usual, but Mousse kept things from going too far," Kodachi answered. "Why do you care?" "Well," Akane said, mildly insulted. "I didn't..." Ranma interrupted her. "Oh, we're just interested in tracking him down," he said, changing the subject almost completely. Akane glared at him. "Well, I have no idea where he is right now," Kodachi said snobbishly. "I think that little toad of his took him off somewhere." "Well, if you'll excuse us now, we're very tired," Ranma said, doing his best to nudge Akane around and away from Kodachi. "We can't find him now anyway." "Hmm, yes." Kodachi answered. "And I have my own affairs to attend to. Ta Ta!! OO-hahahahahahahahahaha!!!" Kodachi started leaping away in her normal fashion. "What was that all about!?!" Akane demanded as she malleted Ranma into the ground. "Oww!!" Ranma said. "Sheesh, I was just trying to keep the property damage to a minimum. She's still calling them 'disagreements.' I doubt she'd admit that Kuno beats her up and doubt even more that she'd like it brought up." "Like you're an expert on abuse," Akane snorted. Ranma looked at her and then walked to his room. "Yeah, the only thing I know about is fighting," Ranma replied, closing the door behind him. "What's his problem?" Akane asked before yawning and going to her own room. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Oh beauteous Shampoo," Mousse began before he was slammed into the Cat Cafe wall. "Stupid Mousse get out of way," Shampoo said. She was thinking. "Money-girl very smart, but wish she hurry up and set up crazy-girl and Mousse." "Why can't you get it through your thick head that Shampoo doesn't want you," Cologne asked Mousse. "That right, Shampoo love..." Cologne regarded her great-granddaughter as she paused in brief confusion. "...Ranma...yes...Shampoo love Ranma." "Ah ha!" Mousse declared pointing. "You hesitated! If you don't love Ranma, then who else could you love?" "Shampoo love Ranma," Shampoo insisted strongly again. "Who else?" "Ranma, eh," he smirked. "Not Airen?" "Did you manage to find the Kuno girl yesterday, Mousse?" Cologne asked half-bored, trying to change the subject. It was more than decently successful. "Crazy-girl, take your head off?" "She's not crazy," Mousse protested. He paused and considered the problem of pairing the undeserving Saotome with Kodachi. Mousse had thought that he had detected a hint of sympathy while the arrogant fool was watching Kodachi's tapes. Perhaps he could use that. Kodachi deserved to be happy and well if she wanted Saotome, oh well. There was no accounting for taste. "Who you kidding?" Shampoo asked. "You shouldn't judge someone so quickly," Mousse countermanded, not noticing that he was arguing with his "Lady Love." "Could you get started working so Shampoo can get in her training for the day?" Cologne asked irritably. "Certainly," Mousse said, in an equally annoyed tone. Shampoo just shrugged and started walking out the door. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Hey chief," Yuka called as she jogged up to join the strolling Nabiki. "You were right, we've been getting a lot of bet calls involving Copycat Ken since yesterday." "Copycat Ken," Nabiki repeated. "Just what I need right now." Sayuri joined them at a much more sedate pace than Yuka. "It seems that Tatewaki Kuno was released yesterday as well," she said. "But I suspect that you already knew that." Nabiki snorted, she hadn't, but she'd assumed it. There was no reason other reason for a duplicate Ukyou to be in that part of town. They were walking around the small park, going no particular place, and talking all the way. "So what do you want to do about Kuno?" Yuka asked. "Contact that ninja again?" "Unfortunately, he might think I'm legitimate, but I don't think he cares." Nabiki stomped her foot, she couldn't imagine a ninja hiding the kind of information that was on those tapes from his superiors. "Hey, isn't that Shampoo," Sayuri asked. Nabiki looked up the trail towards a clearing where the amazon was running katas. Nabiki paused in walking, and watched for a moment. Nabiki had seen numerous fights and refereed more than a few matches herself. She decided in watching Shampoo train that it was a great travesty that she had never been able to see many of Shampoo's best matches. "Her form is...very good," Nabiki noted. She watched the smooth dance-like movements almost rapt by the near perfection. Nabiki wished momentarily that she could fight that well, and of course there was that body. Nabiki sighed desolately. "Chief?" Yuka asked tentatively. "Anything wrong?" "Don't you ever wish you could have that?" Nabiki asked. "Have what?" Sayuri started, then an uncomfortable thought struck her. "Shampoo?" "What gave you that idea?" Nabiki snapped. "The skill and the beauty, you know?" "Right, of course, what was I thinking?" "Hey, let's go to the diner and pool the info on Sasuke, Ken, and Kuno." "What about the Kodachi/Mousse project?" the questioner was Yuka. "Or the various betting pools?" "And the watches on Cologne and Happosai?" Nabiki sighed, she was too strung out, information was taking too long to get to her. She was the mistress of Nerima, but usually activity in the area was limited to one or two plots centering on Ranma. She had to admit that her network wasn't prepared for dealing with so many projects at once. The yakuza had almost slipped an operation past her last week. They had already set up their equipment by the time Nabiki could arrange for the police to receive an anonymous tip. Nabiki forced herself to turn away from the spectacle of Shampoo and start walking out of the park. "Well we can't let anybody know we're stretched out," Nabiki noted first. "The watches on Cologne and Happosai stay, I want to know their plans before they do. Leave the normal staff on the betting pools. Everybody else keep an eye out for Kuno and friends." "And Kodachi and Mousse?" "Let's take care of Kuno first," Nabiki said. "The other won't matter so much if Kuno kills his sister." Nabiki didn't yet know that the would-be samurai had already tried. "Hey, money-girl!" they all stopped when they heard Shampoo's voice calling out. The amazon leaped down to them. "Shampoo want talk to you." "Sure," Nabiki answered without hesitation. Sayuri and Yuka sighed in frustration. "There's a good place." "That theatre," Shampoo noted flatly. "Yeah, so?" "I pick movie this time." Nabiki thought about for a moment. "Make it good." "Aiya," Shampoo said happily and then she started toward the theatre, Nabiki following soon after. "What is with those two?" Yuka asked. "Must be a lot of money involved somewhere." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *CLANG* Ryouga was smacked into the ground. He noticed that the hit wasn't as hard this time, he decided it might have something to do with the fact that Ukyou had hit him with a one handed smash. Her other hand was occupied in holding her the foot of her formerly broken leg off the ground. She was hopping around and grimacing in a combination of pain and anger. "What was that for?" Ryouga demanded. "Watch where you're walking will you," Ukyou told him. "My leg still hurts a little you know." "Oh, sorry," Ryouga said sheepishly as he stood up and scratched his head. "Do you need help?" Ukyou rolled her eyes and then laughed in pleased surprise. "Hey, its a new Jackie Chan movie!!" "A what?" Ryouga asked. "A Jackie Chan movie," Ukyou repeated, as if that explained everything. "Don't you know who Jackie Chan is?" "Of course," Ryouga said. "He's one of the best martial artists around, they made a movie about him?" Ukyou rolled her eyes and then half limped, dragging Ryouga along. "Come on, let's go see it," Ukyou demanded. "We've missed the day for opening Ucchan's anyway." "I guess so, I don't much like documentaries though." "Would you prefer Titanic?" "Jackie Chan it is!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Miss Kuno," Cologne addressed Kodachi as she entered the Cat Cafe. "It is a pleasure to see you again." "Really?" Kodachi asked with a hint of disbelief. She sat down at a table and waited for service. "Kodachi?" Mousse asked with a little surprise. "Oh, there you are," Kodachi declared, she was wondering how he recognized her. "And where is Shampoo?" "She's out training somewhere," Mousse said non-commitally. "Well if that's all the enthusiasm your going to show," Kodachi started in mock annoyance. "I see no reason for you to have my help." "And how was Saotome this morning?" "Ranma didn't get in until after school," Kodachi answered. "Hey and the Tendo girl were tired and went to bed soon after that." "That's not a good sign," Mousse said. Kodachi scowled at him. "Hey, blind boy!" they heard Cologne yell. "Take her order and get to the other customers!" "Alright, you old ghoul," Mousse grumbled, he turned back to Kodachi. "So what do you want?" "Hmm, I'll have the chicken-beef special," Kodachi said. "And one of those American sodas, Dr. Pepper. Always wanted to try those." "Okay," Mousse wrote it down. "Be right back." "I shall be here." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Jackie Chan is an...actor?" Ryouga said again for perhaps the tenth time. "Shh," Ukyou ordered. "Yeah, just like Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris." "Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris made movies!?!!" Ryouga shouted bolting to a standing position. He was answered with a chorus of shushes and Ukyou jerking him back down. "Quiet, people are trying to enjoy the movie." Ryouga continued to watch somewhat confused. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry, as far as he was concerned this was fairly close to blaspheme. It was a hilarious movie however. A little further down in the theatre, Shampoo and Nabiki were among those shushing Ryouga. "Really, I can't believe some people," Nabiki complained. "That sound familiar," Shampoo said. Nabiki agreed, but she was trying to relax right now. On the screen Jackie and two of the female sidekicks were running every which way trying to escape a bunch of hit men of some sort. There were a couple of really funny scenes after they hit the car chase, and Shampoo and Nabiki started laughing trying to keep it quiet. Shampoo leaned over and tapped on Nabiki's shoulder. "Maybe Ranma take romance lessons from Jackie Chan movies," she suggested. Both girls burst out in hysterical laughter, leaning on each other for support. They stood out from the rest of the audience only a little, laughter being fairly prevalent in scattered patches through the theatre. "Um, Shampoo," Nabiki started as they both calmed down. "Nabiki?" Shampoo asked catching her breath. "Where's your hand?" They both asked at nearly the same time. Well, Shampoo's came out more like "Where hand," but you get the picture. They both looked down to where Shampoo was apparently copping a feel on Nabiki's breast, and Nabiki seemed to have a handful of Shampoo's thigh. They turned beet red and virtually slammed back into their seats, paying exaggerated attention to the movie. Ukyou noticed a couple, she couldn't tell anymore than that, apparently making out a few rows down. At least they had been until something embarrassed them, Ukyou thought it was a good idea. She looked over towards Ryouga and saw that he was still sulky, but at least he was starting to relax a little. The lost boy didn't notice at first when Ukyou raised the arm between her seat and his. He noticed however when Ukyou leaned back and snuggled against his chest. "Hey, we're in public," he protested quietly, more out of habit than any real complaint. This was proved by the fact that he shifted his position to allow her easy access up to his lap. "Be quiet and no one will notice," she whispered. Circling her arms backward around his head and shoulders. His arms circled her waist and he leaned his head on her shoulder. They both just quietly watched the movie and enjoyed each other's presence. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Akane couldn't sleep, merely turned about restlessly. Something was bothering her. It wasn't long before she was up and dressed. Maybe a quick jog would give her some time to think things through and decide what exactly was bothering her. She thought back over the day and couldn't place her unease on anything. Not even the Kuno situation, though she had heard from some of Nabiki's crew that the samurai was indeed out of jail again. No it had been a mostly average, for Nerima, day right up until she and Ranma went off to bed after getting home from school. She had passed the park and was rounding the still empty Ucchan's when she remembered that last conversation. She didn't understand why Ranma was being so cautious around Kodachi's feelings while not seeming to care at all about a, marginally, more sane Shampoo. Then she thought about another sentence of his from the day before. She had almost forgotten it. "Kuno must read the same books as my old man," he had said. She stopped and thought about the various times Genma had sold Ranma for meals and the repeated cat fist training sessions. Then she felt a deep sense of guilt and shame about her own behavior earlier that day. She turned back around and started back to the dojo. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Excuse me," Kasumi was looking at an odd little delivery man. "I have a package here for a" he checked the label. "Akane Tendo." "Oh, wait here a moment, I'll go and get her," Kasumi disappeared back into the dojo. Surprisingly she couldn't find her sister, she tentatively knocked on the guest room that held Ranma and Genma's bed rolls. She half-hoped that she would find Akane in there, and half-dreaded it. "Excuse me, Ranma?" "What is it?" a bleary voiced Ranma asked. Kasumi was one of the few people that could wake him up easily. There was something instinctive in the human being that dreaded hurting Kasumi's feelings. "There is a package here for Akane, but I can't find her anywhere." The door opened, revealing Ranma still in his day clothes blinking away the sleep. "And you thought she'd be in here?" he was mildly insulted. "Never mind, I'll get it." He shuffled to the door and regarded the delivery man. "Akane's not here at the moment," he said. "I'll sign for it." "Sure," the delivery man handed over the clipboard and Ranma signed it. The delivery man then handed the large package over to Ranma and waved nonchalantly as he left. Ranma looked over the package and immediately noticed something odd. "To Akane Tendo from Ranma Saotome?" he read aloud in confusion. "What the?" Curiosity overwhelming him, he opened the box. A green mist rose up and enveloped his face. His eyes crossed and he fell backwards, unconscious. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The lights came back on suddenly, at least so it seemed to the two couples in the theatre. Ryouga and Ukyou had given over to "pillow talk" soon after the credits had started rolling. Truth be told they had probably lost track of the movie a good thirty minutes earlier. Shampoo and Ukyou had calmed down tremendously after that first...incident, and began chatting over "business" while waiting for the theatre to clear. Though they tried, the conversation didn't remain professional for much longer than a minute. At which point it degenerated into basic gossip and small talk. It was doubtful whether either of them noticed the shift in mood. Then came the lights, the sudden and blinding lights that revealed a nearly empty theatre. All four of them blinked and squinted their eyes to clear the glare. None of them quite saw the theatre employee enter and leave quickly. "Sorry!" they all heard just before the door shut behind him. Then Ukyou looked down at the other couple in the room as Shampoo looked up. "You!!" both said at the same time. "Knew that voice sound familiar," Shampoo declared. "Lost-boy ruin movie, shouldn't go to theatre." "Hey!" Ryouga protested. "I only yelled that one time." Ukyou ignored the exchange and pointed, somewhat pale, at the pair. "You two were the couple making out?" she asked in shock. Both Shampoo and Nabiki turned as red as Ukyou was pale, and the chef was competing with Kodachi's normal color. Ryouga just looked confused. "We were not making out," Nabiki protested. "We were laughing at a joke." "Yeah, Shampoo not mean put hand there." Nabiki winced. Ryouga finally understood what was going on. "You're dating Shampoo, Nabiki?" Ryouga asked, calmly, apparently rhetorically, because he went right ahead talking. "Hmm, that's surprising." "You're awfully calm about this," Ukyou noted. "Get it through thick head," Shampoo shouted. "We not dating." "Oh don't worry about it," Ryouga assured them. "We won't tell anybody. Will we Ukyou?" "What?!?" "We're not dating, we were discussing...uh...business," Nabiki said, wishing she really had been talking about business and not where to go to eat from here. "Like I said," Ryouga seemed to be ignoring them. "We didn't see anything." He virtually had to drag the half-shocked Ukyou out of the theatre with him. "Great," Nabiki moaned quietly. "Now they think we're dating." "Crazy lost-boy not matter," Shampoo said. "We not dating, so no problem, where we eat again?" "Yeah, probably best not to press the matter," Nabiki agreed. "Otherwise it might just get worse. Um I don't think we had decided where to eat." Then she realized something. "Damn it! When did they get in town?" "You not know?" "I'm going to have to fix this problem," she stomped her foot and scowled. "Damn it, I knew when Cologne first started heading this way." "She travel with lost-boy, how you keep track of him?" Nabiki blinked and then shrugged. "Good point." Outside in the lobby, Ukyou and Ryouga were heading out into daylight. "What's wrong with you?" Ryouga asked her. "There were two girls making out in there," Ukyou whispered. "Girls we know." "So?" "That doesn't bother you?" "No." "It took me two days of effort to get you to calm down enough just to hug me?" "Yeah, but whatever they're doing doesn't involve me." "Sometimes I just don't understand you, let's just go say hi to Ranma and Akane and then go home." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ranma awoke in the hallway and found himself looking down at the package. There was something wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Of course there was the fact that a package supposedly from him to Akane had contained some kind of gas, but there was something more. Ranma was still trying to figure it out when he heard the voice behind him. "What are you DOING opening MY mail?!?!" It was Akane, but she wasn't home, Kasumi had looked for her. "Well it was addressed from me," Ranma said. "And I don't remember sending you anything by post! Besides when I opened it, something knocked me out." "That was me you pervert!!" That made sense to Ranma, almost, it was too easy. Akane attacked with her mallet and Ranma barely dodged. "She's gotten faster," Ranma thought to himself as the mallet came in again, this time it took out part of the wall. "Damn! She's really mad this time, I better get the mallet away from her." The next time the mallet came down he lanced out a foot to snap the head away from the handle. Akane's swing continued unhindered, and there was no sudden stop to end her forward momentum. Akane cried out once as she flew forward and into the corner of one of the walls, then she fell to the ground in silence. Something in the back of Ranma's head was flashing warning signs, Akane was much better than that. Unfortunately for Ranma he was too preoccupied to listen to his deeper misgivings any more. "Akane?" Ranma asked cautiously. He looked at her lying there in an odd jumbled like a dropped doll. "Akane, are you okay?" He reached over and turned her around so that she looked face up. Then he felt his soul crack. Akane stared up with sightless eyes, a deep gash in her forehead where she had struck the corner of the wall. Ranma looked up and saw that the wall was smeared with blood, how could he have missed it before. "Akane!! NOOOOO!!!!!!!" ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "Ranma?" Kasumi said half shocked as she rounded a corner, seeing Ranma lying back against the wall. The package lay opened in front of him. "What are you doing opening Akane's mail?" Ranma didn't respond, she saw him breathing easily and assumed that he had just passed out from fatigue. "Really, imagine the nerve." Kasumi took the package, and closed it up without checking the contents, placing it on the table in the hall. She then addressed the problem of Ranma's unconscious form. At this point Akane came back in the door and managed to trip over him. "Hey, Ranma?" Akane said confused. "What are you doing asleep in the hallway?" "Oh, Akane," Kasumi declared then. "There's a package for you there." Akane disentangled herself from the unconscious form of her fiancee. It wasn't unusual for Ranma to sleep through almost everything, but he usually didn't fall asleep until he reached his bed roll. She took the package and looked at it. "To Akane Tendo from Ranma Saotome?" Akane repeated. "Oh, I wonder what this is?" She opened it and all she found inside was an envelope addressed to Ranma. "That's odd," Kasumi noted. "Why would Ranma mail you a letter addressed to him?" "I don't think this is from Ranma," Akane said, she looked down at the sleeping form, worried. "Ranma - By now your dear Akane has opened your 'gift' I won't bore you with the name of the drug, I'll just tell you what it does. Even now Akane is trapped in a series of unending nightmares, facing all her greatest fears. She will stay this way until you apply the antidote, which is in my position. If you want Akane to wake up, sane, then you must fight me one last time for the antidote. The soccer field, I want your defeat to be public and humiliating. - Copycat Ken." Akane dropped the letter, her face pale. She launched herself at Ranma and began vigorously shaking him, trying to wake him up. "Ranma? Ranma?!? RANMA wake-up!! BAKA!!!! WAKE-UP!!! BAKA!!! HENTAI!!!! WAKE-UP!!!....Ranma....wake...up.....please" she gave up, leaned over his almost motionless form and sobbing. Kasumi blinked at the display and picked up the letter, wondering what it said. "Oh dear," it was all she said, as usual. Akane stood up then, her face enraged, and ran on out the door. "Akane wait." "He's dead!!" Kasumi heard her yelling in the distance. "I'm going to kill him!!" This time she actually meant the words. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "It seems that Shampoo is not going to be back anytime soon," Kodachi noted. "Are you going to eat the rest of that?" Mousse asked, pointing at the barely touched ramen bowl. "Oh, that is far too much for me all on my own." "Do you eat like this all the time?" "Of course not," Kodachi said, only a little hesitantly. They all felt the approach of a supreme concentration of battle chi approaching. "Is that barbarian back already?" "You mean Ryouga, I suppose," Cologne noted. All three regarded the street where they expected the fighter to pass. They saw the glow first. "Whoah, he's very mad," Mousse noted. Then Akane nearly flew by. The three warriors dropped to the floor. "I wonder what Saotome did this time?" Both the women understood differently. "You should rather ask what happened to Ranma," Cologne suggested. "It seems that I have to leave," Kodachi said fully proper. "Perhaps Miss Tendo could use some help." Mousse felt a twinge of jealousy almost, though he knew helping Akane might help Kodachi win Ranma. "I'll go with you," Mousse said. "As angry as she is, she won't need much help, but you never can tell." Kodachi seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, but it may have been his imagination. "Good," Cologne agreed. "Go, I shall be fine here." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "Isn't this where we first met?" Ryouga asked. "Yeah, which is past the dojo," she glanced suspiciously at Ryouga. "How did we get here?" Ryouga shrugged. "That was only two years ago right?" "Yeah, that's right, actually it's good we're here. It fits. I want to talk about something." "Go ahead," Ryouga noticed that there was a teasing tone to her voice. It was the same tone she got when coming up with a new plan. There was, something behind it though, a hint of worry to the voice though. "Maybe when we finally get to Ucchan's we can start moving your stuff into the main bedroom?" She watched him closely, gauging his reactions. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" Ryouga gulped. Snuggling and living in the same house was one thing, but he didn't want to take advantage of this new relationship with Ukyou. She might not actually want him, this might just be one of those nurse/patient things he had heard of. "Could you fit my bed in there?" "Why would we need two beds?" Ukyou resisted the urge to smack him. "I mean we've been sleeping together pretty much the entire month." To herself she added a slightly frustrated after thought. "And sleeping has been about all we were doing." "But we were camping," he protested. "We're not even engaged." Ukyou sighed, Ryouga was far to chivalrous sometimes. She stopped and looked up at him, Ryouga's tread ceased as well and he turned to face her, nervously. All the teasing was gone from her face. She looked like someone about to fall off a cliff in hopes that she would survive. That was something that Ryouga had a lot of experience with. "Ryouga," Ukyou said softly, looking up into his face. "I want you more than I ever did Ranma. I don't want to be under the same roof with you and not be able to feel you next to me. What about you?" she paused a moment. "Ukyou, I-" Ryouga started, feeling his heart rise in his chest. Ukyou forestalled his response with gentle touch to his lips. "Let me get this all out okay? Can you tell me outright, without the shy and chivalrous crap? Do you love me? Or am I just the next best thing to Akane?" She paused, swallowed hard and asked one last question. "Do you want to be mine?" "I already am," Ryouga answered without hesitation, silently reprimanding himself for doubting their newly found feelings. Ukyou breathed a sigh of relief. She reached up as he leaned down and they met in the middle for their first real kiss. After what felt like an eternity, they were brought back to the world in general by two bright flashes of light and the sound of polaroid photos being dispensed. "Good," Yuka said. "We can collect on that pool then." "What?" Ryouga said dropping the hand from his eyes. Ukyou glared at the pair and considered whether or not to flourbomb the both of them. "You guys haven't seen Nabiki around have you?" Sayuri asked as Yuka was waiting for the film to develope. "Last we saw her she was off doing something with Shampoo." "We just saw them at theatre," Ryouga said irritably. "Why?" "We just need to tell her something." Yuka said. "Thanks." They started to leave and found themselves blocked in either direction by a weapon. An umbrella on one side and a spatula on the other. "The pictures," Ryouga noted. "Perhaps you could give them to us?" Ukyou added. "You don't hit girls," Sayuri said confidently. Ryouga and Ukyou smiled, "It's...in your dossier." "What about me?" Ukyou asked. Nabiki's lieutenant's gulped. "Here," Yuka handed them over glumly. "Thanks," Ukyou accepted both photos gladly. "By the way, I wouldn't have hit you either. Hey, these are pretty good." "What?" Sayuri shouted. "It's the whole don't bully the weak thing." Ryouga explained, as he was looking at one of the photos. "You look great in this one." "You bluffed us?" "Yep," Ukyou said. "Oh, but you're so cute squinting at the flash in this one." "Well let's go on to the dojo, what do you say Ucchan?" "An excellent idea, Ryochan," Ukyou agreed and then they were both walking on, leaving an annoyed Sayuri and Yuka behind. "Well?" Yuka asked as soon as the martial artists were gone. Sayuri smiled and put her hand into a pocket. She stopped smiling. "I don't have the other camera," she retrieved a slip of paper and read it. "'Neither of you is Nabiki - R&U.'" "Damn it," Sayuri said. "Let's just go find Nabiki." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "RANMA!!!" Ranma looked up at the demon-head of Soun Tendo. "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS!?!!" "Where's Dr. Tofu?" demanded Ranma. "She can't be dead! She can't be!" "I have always told you all that he is an evil that must be destroyed." It was Kuno. "Oh Ranma," Kasumi's face was pale, and the usually undauntable woman looked as if she was going to faint. "Don't just stand there!" Ranma yelled. "Call Dr. Tofu!" "There's no need to call me, murderer, I'm right here." "Monster how can you claim to have loved Akane!" "Ryouga? But you're in America!" "Too think that I once loved you!" He saw Ukyou getting ready to wield her spatula. "But it was an accident!" Ranma fled out the door away from the growing mass of his enemies and friends. "Airen finally get rid of violent girl!" For a moment the fear and confusion were replaced by an overwhelming rage. He turned to face Shampoo and found a half-cat, half-amazon. "Aiya, Shampoo so happy." "No! No!! NO!!!" Ranma backpedaled and ran in full flight away from the creature. "I appreciate the impulse, boy, iff it wasn't for that sword of your mother's" he stopped and saw a panda speaking with his father's human voice. "But perhaps you should have waited until after the marriage. Like father, like son, eh Ranma?" "I didn't mean to kill her, it was an accident!" Ranma was shocked to hear himself speaking with a girl's voice. He looked down and saw that he was indeed in female form. "Oh come on," and Ranma-Chan turned to face Ranma-Kun. "You know you hated her. I'll bet you were even jealous of her. I'll bet you were even jealous of her. All those men chasing after her and only one or two after your female form." "This is a dream," Ranma realized suddenly. "Something from that gas." Ranma smiled. "I can handle this." And then suddenly Ranma jolted awake. He was lying in a hospital bed, and he felt weak and tired. He heard a yawn and looked to see what he thought was Ukyou. "Ucchan?" The name came out strained and weak. Even as he said it he knew that he was wrong. Ukyou didn't have fangs. "Mom!" the almost-Ukyou yelled, startled. "I don't believe it," he heard a woman say. The voice was a little familiar. "He's really awake." "Hello Ranma," said a man's voice. "How are you feeling?" Then Ranma turned his head and saw two people he immediately recognized as Ukyou and Ryouga. They were older than he had last seen them, both in their late thirties or early forties. Then he caught a look at himself in a mirror. He was old, and his muscles were withered from long disuse. "This is still the nightmare," he said desperately. Ryouga and Ukyou looked at each other in concern. "I told you he wouldn't take it well," Ryouga said. "No, Ranma," Ukyou said gently. "This is real, Dr. Tofu finally found the antidote." "What happened." "It was one of Kodachi's tricks," Ryouga told him. "It was supposed to hit Akane." "Akane! What happened to Akane?" "Is he talking about the Akane I'm named after?" The girl asked. "Yes, he is," Ranma had a sinking feeling that the news not good. "She faced off against Kodachi," Ryouga said. "Of course no Kuno would fight fair." "Kodachi killed Akane," Ukyou said through a choked voice. "NO!!!" Ranma shouted, Akane died because he wasn't there to protect her. It couldn't be. "This is still the dream!!!" Suddenly he was young again. Ranma woke up slowly, as he usually did...
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