Continued from Part 17

  --------------------------------------------------------------

                         RANKO 1/2

                          Part 18

                   "He Shampoo's husband"



Nobody moves in the living room of the Tendou home.  Shampoo is
holding Ranma in an embrace and is kissing him with abandon.
Nabiki and Akane look on, their fingers spread in the shock
gesture.  Finally Akane lunges forward and pushes the two apart.

Akane:  Stop that!!

Ranma:  [beet red]  Sh..Shampoo!  Y..you can't...

Shampoo:  Why violent girl do that?

Akane:  You can't kiss him!  Don't you know that Ranma is really
        MMFBLTM...

Ranma:  [hand clapped over Akane's mouth, whispering]  Shhhh!
        Don't tell her!

Shampoo:  Shampoo can kiss Ranma any time!  He Shampoo's husband.

Akane:  Husband?!

Nabiki:  [calmly]  Say, Shampoo, could you lend me that book
         you're carrying there.

She points at a book that protrudes from a flap in Shampoo's
clothing.  Shampoo lets her have it.  Nabiki holds the book up and
begins to read aloud.

Nabiki:  "The Laws of the Amazons.  In the event that an amazon is
         defeated by an outsider, if said outsider is a woman, she
         must give her the kiss of death and kill her - if the
         outsider is a man, she must make him her husband for the
         better of the tribe."

Akane:  You mean she wants to marry him?  [thinks]  And if she
        knew that Ranko is female...

Shampoo:  [nodnodnods]  Ranma Shampoo's husband.  [tries to kiss
          Ranma again]

Akane:  That's ludicrous.  Since when do you read Chinese, Nabiki?

Nabiki:  [grins]  I don't.  I'm psychic.  I can understand the
         meaning of the writing through my mental powers.

Kasumi comes into the room.

Kasumi:  Nabiki, when you're done with the book about amazon
         customs that you borrowed from me, would you put it back
         on the shelf?

Nabiki grins and hands Shampoo's Chinese book back.

Nabiki:  I already put it back, oneechan.  I found what I was
         looking for.

Kasumi:  Oh, we have a guest?  [bows to Shampoo]  Can I offer you
         something?

Akane:  I don't think she will be staying.

Shampoo:  [bows to Kasumi]  Shampoo thank friendly girl.  She go
          now.  Shampoo visit husband when violent girl Akane not
          there.

She turns around on her heel and walks out, creating another hole.


On the following day in school, Ranma and Akane are jumpy and
nervous.  Everywhere they believe to recognize Shampoo, but it
always turns out to be a mistake, sometimes quite embarrassingly.

When they are finally home, they relax.

Ranma:  I'll go take a bath.  See ya.

Akane:  OK, Ranma.  We'll do the homework after that.

She walks out into the garden to relax in the shade of the tree.
She sighs as she sits down and leans back against the rough bark.
Her gaze wanders up to the green roof above her - it takes her a
minute to realize that the roof gazes back.

<WHOOMPH!>

Akane barely manages to jump away, as Shampoo drops out of the
tree, her bonbori smashing into the ground where Akane just sat.

Akane:  Shampoo!

Shampoo does not answer, but goes into attack position.  Akane
does the same.  Without prelude, the fight begins.

Akane jumps over a jab at her legs and tries a head-kick, but she
is forced to break it off, because shampoo brings up the other
bonbori in defense.  This scene repeats several times.  The two
fighters eye each other thoughtfully.

Akane:  [thinks]  This isn't going anywhere.  The bonbori are
        slow, so I can evade them, but they are too heavy for me
        to risk trying to break through her defense.

Shampoo:  [thinks (in Chinese, BTW)]  This isn't going anywhere.
          She is fast enough to avoid the bonbori, but not strong
          enough to block them for an attack.

For a few seconds, neither of them moves.  Suddenly Shampoo acts.
She drops the bonbori and hurls herself at Akane with lightning
speed.  Akane is caught by surprise, and Shampoo rips through her
defense like a acetylene torch through butter.  A few well-placed
punches knock the wind out of Akane and send her sprawling on the
ground.  Immediately Shampoo recovers one of her bonbori and
brings it down on Akane with both hands.

<THAP!>

Mere centimeters before the crushing metal sphere impacts on
Akane's chest, a hand reaches out and stops it dead.  It is Ranko.

Shampoo:  [sweats]  You interrupt Shampoo.  Die!

She kicks at Ranko, but Ranko ducks through under it and sweeps
out her other leg.  With the weight of the bonbori in her
outstretched hand, Shampoo is unable to regain her balance and
lands heavily on her back.  Ranko help up Akane, who is just
recovering, and props her up against the tree again.

Ranko:  Are you all right, Akane?

Akane:  [breathing heavily]  I'll be.

Shampoo is getting up again and Ranko turns to face her.  But
instead of attacking, Shampoo leans forward and places a kiss on
Ranko's cheek.  Ranko looks confused and so does Akane.  Shampoo

Akane:  [thinks]  Does she know... that Ranma is really Ranko?

Kasumi:  Oh, so this is how you do the Kiss of Death?

Kasumi is standing in the door of the house, apparently attracted
by the noise of the fight.

Akane:  The Kiss of Death?!

Shampoo's smile gets broader, as she picks up her bonbori.  Ranko
turns and runs with Shampoo hot on her trail.  Akane looks after
them while the two screaming figures disappear over the roofs in
the distance.

Akane:  So now Ranko has Shampoo after *both* of her forms.

Kasumi:  Oh my, I hope She'll be back in time for dinner.

-- End of Part 18.

  --------------------------------------------------------------

Continued in part 19:  "My name's Ranma"


Sebastian
--
       <http://enterprise.mathematik.uni-essen.de/~bastian/>
                         Comics reviewed
--
Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you recognize a
mistake when you make it again.
        - F P Jones
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