"Baksai Tenketsu Wave" was created for Ryouga by the author of The More Things Change and The Pursuit of Happiness I'm just borrowing it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Are you certain this plan will work?" Kodachi asked irritably. "It has been tried before." "Yes but we're not delivering the food," Mousse pointed out. "We'll just drop the drug into whatever they are drinking or eating at the moment." "This is so childishly simple," Kodachi hmphed. "I don't see how it can possibly work." "Do you have a better idea?" "Not at the moment," Kodachi admitted. "But when this plan of your fails I'll be sure to remind you of this." "I'm so thrilled." As they leaped away two couples stepped out from behind a wall. "They're going to feed Shampoo a love potion?" Hiroshi and Daisuke stared at each other a moment and started off toward the Cat Café. "Where do you think you two are going!" Sayuki shouted. "Oh let them go, we'll just call ahead from those pay phones over there," Yuka pointed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Hello, you've reached the Tendo dojo," Kasumi answered the phone. "Kodachi?" "OHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!" "I think I hear her coming, love potion? Okay I'll tell him, thank you." She put the phone down, and saw Akane passing. "Oh Akane, Yuka says that Kodachi is going to try to slip some sort of love potion in Ranma's food." "A what?!?" "Yes it makes them fall in love with the first person they see for a few hours I think." Akane blanched and ran into the dining room. "Ranma!! Don't eat anything!" She yelled as she entered into the dining room, just in time to see him taking a big bite with Kodachi watching eagerly. Thinking fast Akane wrapped a handkerchief over his eyes. "Akane? What?" "Yuka just called, she slipped something into your food." Ranma slumped. "Not another love potion." "You, Akane Tendo," Kodachi had produced her ribbon and was getting ready to fight. "How dare you impugn my honor and cast such aspersions on my name? I, Kodachi Kuno the Black Rose of St. Hebereke Girl's School am above such dishonorable tricks." "Okay, that convinced me," Ranma muttered leaning his blindfolded head in his hand. "How dare you, you are a guest in this house!" Soun declared, despite the fact her brother hadn't turned up she still hadn't gone back to her family's estate. "I PAY RENT!!" Akane looked at her father. "She's not serious is she?" Ranma asked. Soun and Genma looked embarrassed. "Excuse me," Genma noted. "But she is still trying to drug you're beloved Ranma with a love potion." "Give it a rest and stop pushing, Pop." "Well, Akane Tendo, shall we settle this slander here and now?" Akane orbit kicked the gymnast through the roof. "CHEEAAPPP SHOTTT!!!!!" "Now what's this about charging her rent?" "Well, Akane, you know we need the money." "We're sheltering her that pig of a brother of hers, and you CHARGE her for it?" Soun burst into a shame filled wail as Genma shrugged. "Now, I understand where Nabiki gets it," Ranma muttered. Everybody shifted nervously knowing that Nabiki was still gone to wherever she had left two weeks ago. "Sometimes I wonder who the adults are here," Akane muttered. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "You're late, boy," Cologne commented as Mousse walked into the Cat Café. "Maybe if you actually paid me, I'd be here on time." The phone ringed. "Don't push your luck boy, Cat Café. Love Potion? I see, would you hold please," Cologne turned to see where Shampoo was eating her lunch, of course Mousse was right where she'd see him first. Moments later Mousse was through the roof and there was a bag over Shampoo's head. "Hey!" "Why put bag over head?" Shampoo started to take it off when her great-grandmother thumped her on the head. "Oww!" "Mousse slipped some love potion in your food, so leave the bag on for now." "He what? Grrr…stupid Mousse." Cologne picked up the phone again. "I assume the Kuno girl is attempting something similar at the Tendo dojo? I thought as much. Thank you." She hung up the phone and picked it back up and dialed. "Kasumi Tendo? I assume Kodachi has already been and gone? Good, I'm bringing Shampoo over, I think we should pool our resources for when those two come back." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ukyou heard the phone ring again and rolled her eyes. "Almost found it!" Ukyou flipped her soon to be Okonomiyaki and restrained herself from glaring at the amused costumers. Then phone ringed for maybe the tenth time. "I'm getting closer!" Ryouga's voice came from the storage area somewhere. The phone rang. "Kamisama! You started five feet from it!" The phone rang and cut off. "Found it!" "Finally," Ukyou grumbled, rapid cooking another okonomiyaki. "Akane wants to know if we can come over to the dojo," Ryouga called. "Why?" Ukyou asked, suspiciously. She remained a little jealous of Akane Tendo. "Guard duty, Kodachi and Mousse slipped some sort of drug into Ranma and Shampoo's food." "A love potion I guess," she mumbled to herself, then called back. "I guess we can pop by after we close Ucchan's." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ken woke up as soon as he felt something cold and sharp pressed against his throat. He rolled his eyes up to look into the face of a rather anger looking woman leaning over him. She looked somewhat familiar, but the sun behind her drowned out the details of her face. "Where do I know you from?" he asked, not in the least worried. "Where did you learn about that drug?" she demanded. "Drug? You mean the Breath of Nightmares?" The girl pressed her blade down a little harder. "It’s a family secret, so what are you doing with it?" Her head moved and obscured the sun, revealing more of her face. "The girl from the airplane," he laughed. "Following me all the way to Jusenkyo?" "You've caused my family a lot of trouble, I'd follow you over the world if I had to." She had actually heard him mention Jusenkyo, cut ahead and had been waiting for the last two days, but he didn't need to know that. "Your family?" he asked, then noticed some of the make-up giving her the tan was dried and flaking off. Her hair was longer as well, and only partially blonde in places. His eyes narrowed, "You. A little out of your depths, aren't you? You're deadly as a plotter, Nabiki, not so good at fighting." "I have things fairly well in hand at the moment." Ken laughed and rolled over, letting the knife stab past his neck and into the ground. Nabiki didn't have time to do more than start to react. Then she was under Ken. "Do you? Looks fairly bad for you right now." The knife came out of the ground and laid against her face. "Now what were you planning to do with this?" Nabiki spit in his face. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Why Shampoo chained to chair?" the blue-haired girl demanded angrily. "Look at this, you've got me agreeing with Shampoo!" Ranma shouted from the next room. "Until whatever drug the Kuno girl put in your ramen wears off," Cologne answered simply, then lifting her bowl up to drink some of the broth held in it. "Or until the son-in-law agrees to my plan." "Is good idea!" Shampoo agreed vehemently. "NOT A CHANCE!" Akane and Ranma shouted simultaneously. "What harm would it do for Shampoo to be drugged into loving each other when they already do." "I think you're wrong on two fronts there," Ukyou mumbled, she was sitting quite a bit out of Shampoo's possible line of sight. "The plan has merits," Soun agreed. "Even if the old girl has the wrong pair in mind. What do you say Genma?" "Yes perhaps Akane and Ranma should cement their true love with this drug." Ranma almost retorted, fortunately Akane beat him to the punch, shouting from the room with the girls. "How can you call it true love if it comes out of a chemical!" "What she said!" Ranma agreed. "Shampoo kill crazy-girl and stupid-Mousse!" She hopped up and down in the chair she was chained too as she declared this. "I'll help you there!" "Maybe tomorrow," Ukyou told her, jabbing at her bowl of ramen and wishing it was an okonomiyaki. She narrowed her eyes, "Why haven't I heard Ryouga in there recently?" "I believe he left to get a soda," Soun called back. "Though that was quite a while ago." "HE WHAT!?!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Where did they move that blasted kitchen?" Ryouga scratched his head and turned about to get a fix on his location. At least that's what he called it. "A WILD BOAR!! A WILD BOAR IS COMING!!" "What?" Ryouga looked behind him in time to see a terror stricken pig stop about ten feet away from him and then start running in panic the other way. "Oh no…Ukyou's going to kill me." "Hey, that kid is back. Are you still looking for Furinkan High?" At about that point Ryouga's newest piece of travelling gear started ringing at his side, he hesitantly grabbed the phone and held it to his ear. "Hello?" he asked nervously. "RYOUGA-NO-BAKA!!" the townspeople around Ryouga jumped a step back as Ukyou's enraged voice coming over the mobile phone. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "And who do we target first," Mousse asked Kodachi. "Perhaps we should start with Shampoo," Kodachi suggested. "Why her, you finally have Ranma where you want him." "It's Ranma," he looked at her. "How many times has he fallen for this trick." "It is not wise too delay, Saotome and Akane have been getting much closer since the Copycat Ken incident." "My Ranma-Darling would never fall such a…a…common…girl." "Saotome is much more common and banal than she is." "Hmph, the way your lovely Shampoo keeps moping about and sniping at that usurer, one would almost think that's her direction of interest." "How dare you even suggest that!" "Have I, perhaps struck to close to home?" Mousse's eyebrows arched angrily behind his glasses. "Oh and your cross-dressing love is the epitome of manliness?" "Cross-dressing?! Why, I never!" "Don't you know a Jusenkyo curse when you see one?" "What the devil are you talking about?" "Let's just trigger the love potions and argue about this later." "Yes, we'll take them both at once." "So Shampoo and Ranma have been given love potions, huh?" Both martial artists looked down to see Happosai. "Looks like its time to give Ranma a little bath?" He rubbed his palms together and smiled perversely, then he leapt off towards the dojo. "Ladies here I come!" "Happosai?" "Is that old pervert man voice?" "Hmm this just got a little bit more complicated didn't it?" "What’s the old freak doing there!!" "What is the master ever doing anywhere?" "Ahh!! What did he do that for?" "North, Ryouga, North!" "Isn't us arguing how the rest of them learned about this plan?" Kodachi asked, genuinely curious. "Stop the freak, get Shampoo and Ranma to fall in love with us, then argue." Mousse leaped off the roof and towards what was about to be total chaos. "Don't worry Shampoo, I'll save you from that wretched troll." Kodachi shrugged and followed. "Ranma-Darling, it is Kodachi your love! OHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!" "Old freak get off Shampoo!" "Akane dear, I'm so happy to see you!" "Die, old man!" "Aaackk!" "Take the third fork Ryouga, the third fork!" "Don't worry Shampoo I'm here to save you, aren't you supposed to be in that chair blindfolded?" "Let go of me, boy, I'm….not that way!" "KAMISAMA! I swear the only place you don't get lost is our bed!" The chaos stopped, everybody looked towards the oblivious Ukyou, even those that still couldn't see. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ryouga blinked and pulled the phone away from him for a moment and looked at it. "Ukyou, where are you?" "The Tendo dojo with….every…one….else. Excuse me, I'll call right back." She hung up on him, for once he actually preferred his current position to hers. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ukyou turned beat red and turned to face everybody else. "Heh…heh….I didn't just say that out loud, did I?" "Out with it girl," Happosai chuckled. "We want all the sordid details." Happosai was hit with multiple orbit kicks and was for the moment no longer a problem. Kodachi gestured to Mousse while the others were distracted. "Always knew spatula girl tramp," Shampoo declared unaware of the pair sneaking up around her. "I'm not a tramp!" "Is not married, is tramp!" "You're one to talk you…" "Hey what do you think you're doing!" Akane rammed Mousse out of the way as Kodachi was removing the blind fold from Shampoo's eyes and Mousse was working on the chains. "Finally, Shampoo no wear stupid…Shampoo never notice how beautiful Akane is." For the second time all sound battle ceased. She leaped from the chair, glomped Akane. "Wo ai ni." "Shampoo what do you think you're…mmph?!!?" Akane was silenced by Shampoo's kiss. Suddenly Akane understood exactly how Ranma felt when Sanzenin had kissed him. "Good thing the master isn't still here," Genma commented. "What's that psycho doing to Akane!!!" Ranma-Chan shouted angrily. "Sh-Shampoo?" Mousse fainted. "Hey you…unhand my daughter!" Soun launched an attack and forced Shampoo back. "You is obstacle and obstacles is for killing!" Shampoo declared as she launched forward at Soun. Ukyou noticed Kodachi trying to sneak off towards where Ranma was and stopped her with a slice of the spatula. Akane just stared blankly in shock, hair standing on end in places, and pupils shrunk to pin pricks. "Kodachi, this is your mess," Ukyou was glad the attention was off her suddenly. "Perhaps you can help fix it." "Me, how could I help you?" "Sleep powders? Perhaps?" Genma suggested. "I see, that might be a good idea." She handed Ukyou two packages. The chef stared at the gymnast doubtfully. "Mousse suggested I cut down." "I wonder why I didn't think of that before?" Cologne asked herself as Ukyou blew some powder into Shampoo's face. "But Shampoo no want to sleep, Shampoo want to…zzzz." "Hmm it must have been just a general love potion," Cologne noted calmly, outwardly only a little concerned. "Uhh….Sure!! That's it!" Ukyou agreed after a moment. "What's happenin…zzz" Ranma-chan started before Genma tossed sleep powder into his face as well. "This was certainly unexpected." Kodachi noted blandly. Akane blinked and then screamed, exiting the room long enough to retrieve a bokken from the main dojo. "SHE'S GOING TO PAY!!" "Whoah, Akane," Akane stared at Ukyou for a moment. "It was a love potion, his fault." The okonomiyaki chef pointed at the reawakening Mousse. "You're right," Akane agreed apologetically, before suddenly filling up on rage again and beating on Mousse until he fainted again. "That'll teach him." "Owww…" came the blind martial artists semi-conscious groan from beneath her. Fortunately for Mousse Akane had deliberately held back from causing real damage, just lots of pain. "I told him this wouldn't work from the beginning," she sniffed. Akane glared at her. "And what makes you think you're getting off this?" Akane snapped. "You were after Ranma after all." "He loves me already, what do I need drugs for?" Akane rolled her eyes as she walked out of the room, almost stalking. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ A few hours later Shampoo woke up with a slight headache. She stretched, yawn and scratched her head. She looked around and realized that she wasn't at home. "Why Shampoo at Ranma's home?" she asked herself. "That was strange dream." "What dream was that grand-daughter?" "Pervert-girl kiss Shampoo," and she looked confused, not very troubled, but thoroughly confused. "Strange dream." "It wasn't a dream," Cologne told her. Shampoo blinked. "I go kill Akane," she was surprised when Cologne stopped her. "She didn't kiss you, you kissed her. Mousse's love potion was off target." "I go kill Mousse, then." She turned to look at the unconscious form of the master of hidden weapons. "Wait until he wakes up from Akane's beating, and get ready for…" "SHAMPOO DID WHAT?!?" "….Ranma's reaction." "I can't believe you let me miss that!" Happosai's voice wailed. There was the sound of several thuds and a strangled cry of pain. "WHAT GAVE YOU THE BRIGHT IDEA TO TELL HIM ABOUT IT!" this was followed by the sound a panda in pain. Shampoo sweatdropped. "Shampoo go back home now," she said quietly. "Hmmm, this could be interesting," Cologne said to herself. "Yes, that might be a good idea." After Shampoo left Cologne nudged Mousse. "Huh, what?" "If I were you boy," she said. "I'd be leaving right now." "THIS IS ALL MOUSSE'S FAULT!" Mousse sweat dropped. "Why are you helping me?" he asked before leaving. "I'd rather not see Shampoo or the son-in-law charged with murder." He sweat dropped and was about to leave. "You want to hurt him, you'll have to go through me!" Mousse stopped, turned around again and slumped. Then he rushed to the other room. Cologne arced an eyebrow. "Stop, stop I'm here." Akane glared at him, Ranma looked about ready to tear him to pieces. Genma-panda was unconscious over to the side holding a sign that read, "Oww.." "Are you crazy," Kodachi asked him, ribbon in hand. "Shouldn't you be running?" "And let you shoulder all the blame, that would really impress Shampoo wouldn't it?" "Shampoo, Shampoo! Always Shampoo! What anybody can see in that blue-haired bimbo I'll never understand." "Oh, and you think that womanizing, muscle-bound Saotome is such a great catch?" Akane and Ranma blinked and looked at each other. "Aren't we supposed to be getting mad at them?" Akane asked. "And to think I ever worried about an insolent fool like you!" Worry about me!" Mousse paused and his voice calmed down. "When did you worry about me?" Kodachi winced and blushed feverishly. "Oh…don't pay any attention to that, I was just excited." "Hey, over here!" Ranma shouted. "You didn't think I could beat Copycat Ken!" Mousse realized suddenly. "He did beat you once before," Kodachi noted, a little smugly. "I had him running last time!" It had actually been more like a draw, but try telling Mousse that. "Can they even hear us?" "Well no one was there to witness it were they?" "Even Akane beat Ken!" "Hey! What do you mean by that?" As the argument continued, Ranma and Akane had ceased putting in their own complaints and sat down watching the two exchange insults awhile Soun and Genma-panda played Shogi and Kasumi prepared dinner. "We don't sound like that do we?" Akane asked. "Noble brat!" "I don't think anything could get this boring." Ranma muttered. "Blind idiot!" Kasumi and the two fathers glanced at Ranma and Akane quickly and then returned to watching the argument. "What?" Ranma and Akane asked them. "Baka!" "Crazy!" "Fine, if you feel that way, I do not see why I should stand here and take that!" "Fine, I'm going home! See you tomorrow!" "I'll catch you at work then!" They both hmphed, turned back to back and stampeded off, completely unaware of the implications of their last angry outbursts. "Weren't we going to do something when they finished?" Akane asked. "Its been an hour of listening to them shout at each other," Ranma answered. "I almost forgot my name twice." They stood up and stretched while Soun and Genma-panda played shogi. "Oh, where did Cologne get to." "She went back to the Cat Café," Genma-panda's sign read. "Oh that's right," Akane declared wearily. "I wanted to talk to Shampoo." "I think I'll go along with that." They both narrowed their eyes. "Dinner's ready," Kasumi called. "Tomorrow," Akane suggested. "Should be interesting." "Yeah, I wonder what Shampoo will do to Mousse." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "What do you mean the sun isn't setting yet?" Ukyou asked with mock annoyance. She had lost the initial annoyance Ryouga's getting lost produced, and a lot had been burned off by her embarassment earlier. Now all that was left was attempting to get Ryouga home in under a week. Then she could tease him about it later and of course teasing led to….she blushed and got back to the problem at hand. "You didn't get lost in a building or anything did you?" "Yeah, there was this one really small one with a loud air conditioner," a sea's distance away Ukyou smacked her head. "What is it with him and airplanes," she asked herself. "Okay, well it should be still past noon where you are, I hope, so just walk away from the sun." "Uh, hold on a moment, Ukyou," Ryouga set the phone to the side and cracked his knuckles. "Baksai Tenketsu Wave!!" The cliff face in front of him vanished in series of explosions. As the last explosion was fading off he heard what sounded like people. "Ryouga have you ever heard of going around the geography rather than through it?" "Ukyou I think someone was on that cliff face!" "Oh shit! Go! Go!" Ryouga was already hanging up and running through the newly created pass. He came out on the edge of a vast field of familiar pools with bamboo pools. The water of the nearest pool was stained red, blood red and the pool was half-sheared, half snapped at the top. "Hello?" He turned to look back at the pile of rubble and saw someone half-covered in boulders. He rushed over and from there it didn't take long to uncover the only shallowly buried person. "Nabiki?" She was beaten and cut, and not dressed in her usual attire at all. She was in fact dressed much more like that ninja freak of Kuno's did, some sort of ninja night suit that had been cut into ribbons in the fall. He avoided looking too closely at the remains of her body, fainting from embarrassment wouldn't be a good thing right now. Ryouga didn't pause to wonder what she was doing here. He checked her pulse and removed a bandana from his head. With the same hand he grabbed his canteen and pulled the cap off with his teeth. Damping the bandana he started to clean her wounds. "Good pulse," he mumbled. Nabiki groaned, apparently coming to, as he wiped her face. He started upon seeing the cut clearly. "That was a knife." Nabiki's eyes fluttered open, but the focused motion showed she was still largely unaware of what was going on around her. He noticed that her right arm was twisted awkwardly, obviously broken, and it was something that could have happened in the rock fall but wasn't likely. Reasonably certain that she wasn't going to die on him anytime soon, Ryouga scanned the area for the form of whoever else had to have been up there. His eyes latched onto the bloody spring and nodded grimly. Whoever it was had impaled themselves on that pool in falling off the cliff. They had then fallen into the spring. He looked down as Nabiki blinked away the last of her confusion. The girl suddenly fixxed him with such a vicious glare that he flinched. "GET AWAY FROM FREAK!" She punched upward and caught the surprised Ryouga across the jaw. She tried to stand up and then fell down again, her legs battered in the fall. "Nabiki, I'm Ryouga," the lost boy declared she fixxed him with that glare again. "Why don't you just kill me?" Ryouga winced again, Nabiki was vindictive and bitter about a lot of things, but he couldn't remember doing anything that warranted this kind of behavior. "Nabiki, whoever you were fighting they fell into that pool over there," Ryouga pointed. "Now maybe its time to get you to the nearest hospital." Nabiki frowned. "You don't expect me to fall for this, do you Ken?" "Copycat Ken," he thought, that explains why she doesn't believe I'm me. "Nabiki if I were Ken why would I need to trick you right now?" He looked back at the pool and saw a body coming to the surface, and walked over towards it, planning to pull the body out. Nabiki's punch drunk mind worked rapidly over the facts and came at last to the correct conclusion. "It's Jusenkyo! Don't go in the water!" Ryouga halted and watched as the blood red pool swallowed Copycat Ken's, he could recognize it now, body again, then the water smoothed to a preternatural calm. The water suddenly looked like it was just waiting for someone to come to it. He turned back to face Nabiki who spoke with her usual manner, as if everything she said was obvious and it was a pain to have to explain it. If it weren't for the visible injuries, and an occasional gasp or pant, he could have sworn that she was fine. "The Amazon village is not far," she said. The girl noticed the mobile phone in its belt pouch. It was one of those new satellite things that could be reached almost anywhere. It was most certainly Ukyou's idea. "Medical care first," Ryouga insisted. He walked over to her and bent over to pick her up. "What are you doing? Let go of me!" Nabiki shouted angrily, ineffectually and painfully resisting with her good arm and as much motion as her bruised legs would allow. "You'll get us lost!" "You're not going to walk there like this," he answered. "Now just keep still before you kill us both. Point and I'll go that way, okay?" "Put me down, now! I can walk well enough." She declared. Ryouga hesitated a moment and set her down. She glared at him and walked a couple of steps, faltering only once. When Ryouga moved forward to keep her from falling she glared at him. "Stay there, I can walk there fine." "At least use the walking stick with my gear," he pointed to the pile on her left. "You're going to kill yourself." He saw the knife slash down the right side of her face start to bleed, as if someone had drawn a red tear line from the corner of her eye. He tossed a bandana over to her. "And try to keep that against your face." Nabiki took both offered items and limped slowly, painfully and stubbornly through the rubble. Shampoo was looking forward to tomorrow when Mousse showed up for work the next day. Cologne had told her to make sure that he could still work, but she also gave her blessing to make work as hellish as she wanted. As long as business didn't suffer. Shampoo yawned as she finished cleaning up from the day's business. It was odd, but the memory of kissing Akane did not disturb her as much as she would have thought. It was still somewhat fuzzy in her memory, perhaps that was due to that crazy-girl's sleep powder. Shampoo finished wiping down the table and sat down, staring off into space for a moment. She yawned as she went over the events in her head again, the memories must have been warped by the day's fatigue, because it seemed more like a dream. This time Shampoo wasn't the only participant in the kiss, and the girl didn't exactly seem to be Akane this time. This girl was taller, had a slimmer build, brown hair and not black. In fact this girl bore a strong resemblance to…. "Nabiki?" Shampoo muttered softly. The girl pulled away and smiled that sly grin of the money-girl's. "Wake up, girl," Cologne snapped passing through the lobby. Shampoo's head popped up from the table. "Shampoo awake!!" "You're almost finished, try to hold out a long enough to walk to your bed." "Yes great-grandmother," she answered cheerfully. Then the young amazon wiped off the last table and walked off to bed yawning. "Why I think about that stupid greedy money-girl?" she asked herself. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ukyou leaped at the phone when it rang. She had been pacing back and forth anxiously since Ryouga had last hung up to go see if he had buried some poor tourist alive. "Hello?Ryougaisthatyou?Aretheystillalive?" "Hi Ukyou," Ryouga answered sheepishly. "Ryouga, where are you? Did you kill any one? What's going on?" "We'ree in Shampoo's home town, I think. I found Nabiki." Ukyou hadn't expected that, she blinked. "And Copycat Ken. Ken's dead." "Copycat Ken? She took on Ken! Nabiki can't fight! How is she?" "She's in pretty bad shape, physically" Ryouga said. Ukyou paused, Ryouga had specified her physical condition. "How does she sound?" "Fine...now," "Now?" "Well, before we got here she was...," he took a moment to find the proper word. "...irrational." Ukyou didn't answer for nearly a full second. "Is she awake?" "Yeah, do you want to talk to her?" She answered an affirmative and waited for the phone to be passed over. "Ukyou? How's the restaurant?" She sounded tired, but otherwise it was the same dry somewhat bored voice she always used. "Nabiki, is Ryouga there?" "No, your boyfriend is outside where he is trying to avoid getting into any fights." "What happened with Ken?" There was a long pause. "An error in judgement," Nabiki answered flatly. The moneylender was thinking "I should have just killed him while he slept." "What did he do?" "What do you think he did? He would have killed me if it weren't for that walking earthquake of yours." Nabiki was aware of blanks in the story, but she didn't consider them too deeply. It had been one large mistake, better to leave the blanks alone. "Are you going to be okay?" "I'll be fine, but one thing, Ukyou." "What is it?" "About me and Shampoo," There was a muffled sound of disgust from the other end and Nabiki frowned. "Leave her alone, she loves Ranma...not me." "I'll lay off the cat, if she lays off me," Ukyou agreed, she decided not to tell Nabiki about today's events. Nabiki had already had a bad enough day. "Fair enough," Nabiki agreed. "Should I tell everybody you're coming back?" The moneylender fiddled with one of with a canteen she had pulled from her bag. "Sure, I have everything I need here. Break it to them easy."
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