Hmm.. I sent this over 80 hours ago, and have seen nothing on it.  So,
I'm resending it.  Comments are welcome.  I'm curious if anyone thinks the
pace is moving too slowly.. but I like to write long and flowing it seems.
;-)

-----------

- Chapter 4 -

  Ranma bolted out the door of the Tendo residence, and ran blindly
through the streets of Nerima.  Five minutes later, she slowed down
and came to a stop, leaning against a wall.  She could not understand
how or why she wound up with such crazy people.  She was most
disappointed in her mother.  What kind of person shoved duties on to a
child with no care for that person's feelings?  Ranma sighed.  Being
upset over the current situation was doing her no good at all.  *I
have absolutely no clue about what is going on.* She paused, and
looked up.  *Maybe it was not such a good idea to run out after
all.. but she made me so upset, pushing stuff on me like that.*
  Ranma glanced around her, and suddenly became very confused.  She
didn't know where she was, and despite remembering most of the
buildings that they passed on the way to the Tendo residence, she did
not recognize anything.  Ranma believed that she ran in a straight
line from the house, but could not for the life of her see it down the
street that she was on.  Could she have really run that far in such a
short amount of time?  Her mind boggled at the idea, but she could
come up with no other explanation for what had just happened.
  Sighing, she picked a random direction, and started to walk slowly
down it, looking at the shops and such while trying to piece together
what she was told.  She was engaged to a girl called Tendo Akane, who
had fed her a very pathetic attempt at a meal as well as attacking
people when she got mad at them.  Well.. okay.  Attacking her anyway.
Or trying to attack her.  Tendo Akane never managed to hit her, but
Ranma hated the idea of getting hit in general.  Something to do with
not wanting to get injured.
  Could there be something else involved as well?  Ranma frowned.  She
realized that there was something about Akane which she probably did
not know.  After all, neither Kasumi nor her mother were surprised or
even concerned about the girl's bad attempt at cooking.  Neither were
they concerned about the girl's attack on her.  If they knew she was a
bad cook, then why didn't they try and stop her?
  Akane seemed to at least respect Nodoka, her supposed mother.
Nodoka probably was her mother.  The resemblance between the two of
them was amazing.  Ranma realized that she knew very little about her
mother.. she was so upset that she ran out before learning anything
else.  Akane had a sister, one Tendo Kasumi who was utterly and
totally clueless to the world around her.  Akane also had an over
emotional father.  Her own father, Genma, somehow turned into a panda
when he got wet.  They had also claimed that she was in fact a male
turned into a female.  Ranma found this hard to believe, as she had
taken a hot bath before with no physical changes whatsoever.  She
liked to think that she would have noticed something as obvious as
that.  Ranma wondered what kind of person she could have been, to have
to put up with such people.  No sane person could have dealt with it
for more than a day without pulling her hair out in frustration.  What
she had seen was far too weird to be considered normal.
  Ranma paused in her thoughts.  What had she been told by her mother?
That her father turned into a panda, that she was engaged to Tendo
Akane, and that she was heir to some martial arts school.  She
frowned.  What she had been told was certainly not enough to get
herself worked up over, which was precisely what happened.  Ranma
sighed.  If only her mother did not treat her the way she did when
they had left the hospital.  That had frightened her and she could not
figure out why.  The very idea of her mother not being happy with her
had scared her out of her wits.
  Ranma passed a few intersections, hoping to find something which
looked familiar.  She was not having any luck today at all, and being
lost only added to her list of problems.  She sighed, feeling sorry
for what she had said to her mother earlier.  Ranma was in a bind.
She did not want to dishonor her family in any way, but she would have
hoped that any engagements made would have at least been sensible.  No
such luck there it seemed.  How could such an engagement have been
created in the first place?  It was rather bizarre, even by how
engagements in Japan went.  Ranma did not want to dishonor her family,
but there came a point when she would have to stand up for herself.
  How could she approach her mother on the subject?  She could tell by
how the woman dressed that she was firmly rooted in beliefs which had
steadily been dissipating in Japan over the years.  Nodoka seemed to
be well behind the times.
  Ranma frowned, and decided to push the thoughts out of her head.
She simply did not know enough about what was going on to make a
decision.  Thinking about the situation as it was simply made her head
spin, and she decided that she had enough worries for one day.
  She continued to walk around Nerima, figuring that at least she
could enjoy the sights of the city even if she had absolutely now idea
where she lived or where she was.  She hadn't even gotten the address
of the Tendo's place.  Ranma blinked.  Tendo's place?  If that was not
her family's home, then why had her mother taken her there?  Why was
her father there?  Ranma would have expected that the Tendo's to
appear at her house, not the other way around.  Maybe if she asked
someone for help, they might be able to give her some directions.

....

  Nodoka walked through the Tendo residence, glancing disdainfully at
Genma-Panda as he continued to play shogi with Soun.  Genma-panda
ignored his wife, preferring to concentrate on the game he was playing
with Soun.  He was having an easy time of it considering how Soun had
practically frozen over Ranma's reaction to Akane.  Genma-panda
realized
that he would never had such a good chance again to thoroughly mess
with
the board.  Genma-panda paused in his alteration of the shogi
board.. he
felt a presence behind him.  He slowly glanced over his shoulder, to
see
his wife standing there smiling at him.  Genma-panda lept high into
the
air, across the room, his eyes never leaving Nodoka.
  Nodoka smiled at her husband, and he nearly fainted in fright.
"Genma."
  Genma-panda lifted a sign up.  "Hai?"
  "Why are you still playing a game when Ranma is out in the streets
of
Nerima?"
  Genma-panda paused a long time.  He knew that a wrong answer was
more
than likely guaranteed to put an end to his life very quickly.  Slowly
he raised a sign.  <We should look for her.>
  "Hai, we should.  That means you as well.  Especially considering
how
this entire fiasco is your fault."
  "My fault?  How?"
  "Had you never insisted on going to China, my son would not believe
that he was a she right now."
  "It's not my fault that the hot water did not work!"
  "No matter.  Get moving."  Nodoka absentmindedly fingered her
katana.
  Genma-panda gulped, and bolted for the kitchen.  Seconds later, a
human Genma ran out of the kitchen and latched on to Soun.  "Come on,
old friend!  Let's look for Ranma!"
  Soun was still in too much shock to respond, so Genma hoisted Soun
up
on to his shoulders and ran out the door.

  Nodoka allowed a brief smile to pass her lips as Genma ran out of
the
house.  The man was as easily convinceable now as he was when they
were
still living together.  She frowned, and turned to Kasumi.
  "Kasumi-san?"
  "Hai, Nodoka-san?"
  "Do you know where Ranma could have gone?"
  Kasumi shook her head.  "Sorry Nodoka-san, I do not.  Not in this
case."
  "I see."
  "I think I might know," answered Akane.
  Nodoka watched Akane as she walked slowly back into the house.  She
carried herself like someone who had just lost a great battle.  "You
know?"
  Akane paused.  "Maybe."
  "Akane-chan, we do not have time for this."
  "Hai.  The last time Ranma.."  Akane flushed, and gritted her teeth.
"The last.. time.. I caused this to happen Ranma's personality became
almost an exact opposite of how he originally was."
  "An exact opposite?"
  Akane relaxed, thankful that Nodoka ignored the fact that she had
caused this to happen once before.  "Yes.  Everything that he hated
for
one reason or another, 'she' liked as a woman.  Cooking, clothing,
everything.  Even 'her' personality reflected that."
  "How did my son regain his memory?"
  "He got hit on the head again.  The entire incident was so short
that
we dismissed it as a fluke."
  "So you're saying that he may be doing the same things now?"
  "Yes."  Akane's stomach tightened at that statement, but she ignored
it.
  "So where would this Ranma go?"
  "I am not totally certain, to be truthful.  Ranma loved to go
shopping
during that incident."
  "I see."  Nodoka walked over to the door, staring out to the koi
pond.
Who would have thought that a pool of water could cause so much
trouble?
Nodoka sighed, reaching in to her pocket and pulling out a piece of
paper.  She idly turned the paper over, looking at the number written
on
it.  She crumpled it and tossed it into the trash.  Akane walked up
behind her.  "I'll go check the stores we passed by on our way here.
She may have gone there."
  Nodoka nodded.  "Very well.  I will go speak with Tofuu-sensei.
Perhaps he can help us with a cure for this."
  Akane and Nodoka walked out the door, heading out into Nerima.
Kasumi
cheerfully waved from the doorway.  "I'll have dinner waiting for you
when you get back!"

....

  Ranma walked quietly down the street, determined to at least enjoy
the area and try to forget the problems running through her mind.  She
wandered through the shopping district, looking through the
windows. The fun managed to last about an hour, before Ranma started
to become bored and lonely.  Ranma then proceeded to switch from
looking at the shops to the people walking around the shops.
  The people Ranma saw looked to be pretty much normal.  Occasionally,
a couple would walk by, and Ranma would frown.  While she did want
some kind of emotional support, her situation with her "fiancee" was
too bizzare for her to get any support there.  She almost wanted to
find her way back to the hospital to see Ami again.  Perhaps with
someone on her side, she could finally have a sensible conversation
with her mother.  She idly wondered what she did with the telephone
number that Ami had given her.  She placed it in her pocket but could
not find it anymore.  Where could the number have gone?  Ranma
shrugged, trying to think of something else that she could do.  She
doubted that she had the money for the telephone anyway.
  Ranma paused in her observations.  What was the name of the high
school Tendo Kasumi had mentioned that she attended?  Fu-ri-ka-n.
Furikan. That was it.  Maybe she could talk to some people from there
and find out some things.  She would just have to look for the fuku's
that high school students had a tendency to wear.  Hopefully, someone
would have a general clue as to where the school was.  Since Ranma
passed it on the way home, maybe she could find her bearings, or
speak to someone else who knew the area better.
  Ranma wandered around the shopping district until she spotted
several young women gathered around a table outside a sushi bar.  With
a hopeful look on her face, she started to head towards them.
  Ranma was so pleased at the possibility of finding something out
that she neglected to notice the look on the girl's faces.  Ranma
walked up to them.  "Excuse me, but I was wondering if you could help
me out?"
  Ranma was a bit confused at the cold looks she got in response.
"Since when do _you_ need help?" came the very cold reply.
  Ranma paused.  What a strange reaction.  She tried, "I am lost.. I
was wondering if you would give me directions to the Tendo residence?"
  The laughs she got in response upset her.  "Look, Saotome, this
pathetic attempt at a joke of yours has gone on long enough."
  "Joke?  Excuse me, but what joke?"
  "What joke?  _This_ joke."
  Ranma promptly had a cup of hot tea tossed into her face.  The hot
liquid burned her face and stung at her eyes, causing tears to flow.
Ranma opened her eyes, trying to look at the people in front of her,
but having little success through the tears and pain.  She was barely
able to make out the looks of surprise on everyone's face.  Wiping her
face and eyes, Ranma was unable to stop crying.  "Ano, what did I do
to deserve this?"  She promptly turned and ran down the street.

  The girls watched her run off.  "Don't you think that was a bit
harsh?"
  "For that pervert?  Not a chance."
  "Was that even him?"
  "How many other red headed girls do you know?"
  "That person certainly did not act like Saotome Ranma.  She did not
even change when you splashed her."
  "So what?  The guy is a jerk.  He provokes Tendo Akane into beating
him all the time.  We should have insulted the pervert more."

  Unfortunately, Ranma had stopped just outside of earshot after
turning the corner.  She heard every single word, and it shocked her.
What was going on here?  Tendo Akane had attacked _her_ twice without
provocation.  Who the hell was she?  What kind of relationship did she
have with this Akane?
  Sniffling to herself, she slowly started walking down the street,
wondering why things were going so badly.  She quietly walked down the
street, not caring about anything for the moment.  Turning down an
intersection, she walked down the block to the next corner, not
bothering to look at either the shops or the people.
  A loud sound finally broke her mood.  She glanced up across the
street, only to see someone smack head first into a street light.
Ranma wondered what kind of person would go smack her head into a
light pole.  She then watched as the person started to walk slowly
towards her.

....

  Nodoka walked through the streets of Nerima, heading directly for
Tofuu-sensei's clinic.  She was not even certain if Tofuu knew what to
do in this situation, but she figured that he had to some idea about
the
situation.  Nodoka walked up to the clinic, and approached the door.
Nodoka stepped through the doorway, and removed her shoes.  Entering
the
waiting room, she glanced over the patients waiting to see the doctor,
and waited herself for Tofuu to arrive.
  A few minutes later, Tofuu walked into the room.  "Ah, hello
Saotome-san.  How is Ranma doing?"
  Nodoka smiled sadly.  "He has amnesia."
  "That is a very serious condition.  Please, come inside."
  "Thank you."
  Nodoka walked past the patients and into the examination room with
Tofuu.  He turned to Nodoka, pointing to a chair in one corner of the
room.  Nodoka sat down in the chair, and Tofuu seated himself in the
chair next to hers.  "Amnesia," Tofuu-sensei began, "is a very
difficult
condition to deal with, both for the person suffering from the
condition
as well as the direct family."
  "Hai, but things are more complicated than that."
  "Oh?  How so?"
  "Ranma thinks that he is a she."
  Tofuu paused.  "That is quite a problem."
  "It is.  Akane mentioned that this had happened once before.  I was
wondering if you knew how things happened the last time."
  Tofuu frowned.  "This happened before?"
  Nodoka blinked.  "According to Akane, it did."
  "I see."
  "You didn't know?"
  Tofuu shook his head.  "No, I did not."  He paused.  "It got to a
point where fights between Ranma and anyone else were so frequent that
Kasumi took up the healing of him."
  "Why did she do that?"
  "She did not want to intrude on my clinic since the fights were so
often.  I protested at first, but Ranma seemed no worse for the wear
afterwards.  This incident could easily have happened without me
knowing
about it.  How did it happen the first time?"
  "Akane apparently caused the same type of thing to happen."
  "Just because Akane has a tendency to hit people does not mean
that.."
  Nodoka interrupted Tofuu.  "She admitted it to me."
  "This is a bad thing.  How was the situation rectified?"
  "Akane hit him again."
  "Wonderful.  Increase the chances of permanent injury.  Does she
plan
on doing this again?"
  Nodoka shook her head.  "The last time Akane tried to hit Ranma,
Ranma
hit her first."
  "That is interesting."
  "Ranma left the house right after that happened.  I was wondering if
you knew what we could do about the situation."
  "What can you do?  Does she know about the curse?"
  Nodoka shook her head.  "We tried hot water.. Ranma did not change
back."
  Tofuu nodded.  "That happened here as well."
  "What?  This happened before Ranma was brought to the hospital?"
  "Yes.  In my room, Nabiki tried that, and it failed to produce a
change."
  Nodoka sighed.  "It looks like I have to talk to Nabiki."
  "I'll do some research.  I might be able to find out some
information
on this."
  "Thank you, Tofuu-sensei."
  "Don't worry about it.  I caution you though.  The best thing you
can
do is support Ranma regardless of what happens.  From what you've told
me, Ranma now is something entirely different from who he was."
  "Hai.  That is true.  I had best be going.  Thank you again,
Tofuu-sensei."
  Nodoka stood up, and Tofuu saw her to his door.  "Remember what I
said."
  Nodoka walked back to the Tendo residence.  She wanted to talk to
Nabiki about what role the girl had in dealing with Ranma when he was
with Tofuu-sensei.

....

  The Nekohanten was notoriously busy today.  There was an electronics
show in Tokyo, and the resultant influx of people into the city made
it more crowded than usual - to the point where it was bursting at the
seams.  Quite a number of Japanese businessmen were unwinding after
the event, and they had retreated to Nerima to get out of the center
of the city.  The result was a boon for businesses in the area, and
the Nekohanten itself was no exception.  It had been crowded most of
the day, with the number of customers exploding around lunch time.
  Cologne was quite happy with the sudden influx of money.  She needed
funds to stay in Japan, and the extra customers allowed her extra
flexibility than she would normally have.  This would allow her to
make up for slow days or to import something from China that her great
granddaughter might need to capture a certain male named Ranma
Saotome.
  Cologne was becoming exasperated as of late - all the failed
attempts of her and Shampoo to capture Ranma were causing her to lose
face with her fellow Amazons.  Cologne had to bring Ranma back to
China soon, or the rest of the Amazons would revoke her position for
the repeated failures to bring a single male in.  The fact that this
male was probably one of the best marital artists on the planet did
little to convince the Amazon's of Cologne's difficulty in the
situation.  They did not care about the actual details of the task,
only the results.  Cologne was not delivering in this regard,
something which was unheard of by the Amazons.  Elders never failed.
If they did, then they were not an elder to begin with.
  Unfortunately for her, Nodoka was proving to be a major problem.
Ranma's mother was simply impossible to deal with compared to everyone
else in Nerima.  Who would have thought that there was a Saotome who
actually had such a large moral backbone?  Or that she would even have
the skill to back it up?  Cologne knew from Nodoka's place in Japanese
society that she had to be fully trained in that sword she carried.
While the blade may not have mattered to either Ryouga or even Ranma,
to Shampoo it was very dangerous.  The girl simply was not smart
enough to be able to avoid provoking Nodoka.  Nodoka's short temper
easily only made the situation between her and Shampoo worse.  It was
far too easy to get on her bad side.
  Cologne paused in her musings, as she watched Shampoo carrying Ramen
around the tables in the resteraunt.  She did not want to resort to
overly drastic measures, because then Shampoo might react against her
in protecting Ranma.  She had done so in the past, and Cologne simply
decided to give up then.  Sometimes Shampoo acted with too much love
towards Ranma.  She sighed.  Perhaps if she hadn't drilled the Amazon
code so hard into Shampoo the girl might not have fallen so quickly
for Ranma.  Cologne wanted Ranma as an Amazon, but she did not want to
do it in such a way as to distance herself from her great
granddaughter, and Shampoo took the rules to heart far too seriously
for her own good.
  Cologne heard a crash in the kitchen and frowned.  Mousse could be
such an irritation at times that it could cause a less capable person
to scream in frustration.  She kept him around as a test of her
patience, considering how much of an irritant he was in the village.
Anything to make a good impression with the rest of the elders, and
managing Mousse was one of them.
  Cologne wondered how he had managed to survive in the village for as
long as he had.  Someone should have been able to beat him down at
some point in time, especially considering the highly competitive
nature of the village.  Cologne understood why Mousse was largely
unchallenged.  While he did lose to Shampoo early on, few people
fought him seriously after that.  It was the training he had in hiding
weapons and objects.  Never before in her life had Cologne seen such a
powerful technique in the hands of such a moron.  Who in the village
could have been stupid enough to teach Mousse such a skill?  The
ability was practically worthless because of his stupidity and
nearsightedness.
  She smiled to herself.  Mousse lost to Ranma and Shampoo all the
time, and he was always lamenting over it, trying to figure out what
he did wrong.  Mousse thought that something Ranma did caused him to
lose.  If the fool ever realized that _he_ was the cause of his
failures, that his losses were caused by his foolishness, then Mousse
would become extremely dangerous.  Until then, he was nothing more
than a dangerous fool, albeit a useful one.
  "<Mousse, what did you do this time?>" Cologne barked into the
kitchen.
  "<My glasses fell off, and I knocked over some dishes trying to find
them!>"
  Cologne sighed.  Mousse the dork struck again.  How many dishes had
he managed to do in this time?
  Cologne turned, and entered into the kitchen to survey the damage.
She sighed as she looked at the damage Mousse had done.  "<Mousse,
this is a new record, even for you.>"
  Mousse frowned as he saw Cologne enter into the kitchen.  That woman
was insufferable at times.  If he could only eliminate Ranma or beat
Shampoo!  Until then, he had to put up with the old woman.  "<Yes,
Cologne.>"
  "<I want you to go out and buy more bowls.>"
  "<Now?>"
  "<Yes, now.  We'll take care of the resteraunt.>"

  Mousse grumbled.  Could Cologne be up to something new with Shampoo?
He had no choice but to obey, or Cologne would turn him into a duck
and lock him up in the cage as punishment.  "<Very well.>"
  "<Get moving then!>" Cologne ordered, punctuating it with a bap of
Mousse with her stick.
  "<I'm going!>" With that statement, Mousse headed out of the
Nekohanten, grumbling about the old ghoul and what she was doing to
Shampoo.
  Mousse bolted out of the Nekohanten into the street in front of it.
He turned to start heading towards the store from which they bought
their china.. only to smack head first into a street light.
Grumbling, Mousse put on his glasses, and looked around.. and saw
Ranma Saotome standing across the street.  Mousse smiled evilly.
Perhaps today would be his lucky day after all.

  Ranma stood quietly and watched as the person walked towards her.
She paused, and corrected an earlier assessment.  The person was a he,
not a she.. he just had very long hair.  He was also wearing very
large robes which covered his hands, and was now wearing glasses.  Was
he really that stupid as to walk around without his glasses?

  Mousse walked towards Ranma, and was very tempted to attack since he
was almost close enough to swing his chains at Ranma.  The only thing
stopping Mousse for once was his eyesight.  Yes, the person looked
like a female Ranma in a dress.  Strangely enough, Saotome was neither
acknowledging him or even making any motions to defend himself.  That
had Mousse thinking.  He walked up to the woman.  "Excuse me," he
began in Japanese.
  Ranma paused.  "Yes.  How can I help you?"
  Mousse cursed silently to himself.  _This_ Ranma spoke nothing like
the person he knew.  She sounded like a normal Japanese woman.  Mousse
remembered how his teachers told him that Japanese men and women spoke
differently.  He was told not to make any foolish mistakes by speaking
like a woman.  He would appear very bad in front of people if he did
something like that.  This was definitely a woman standing in front of
him.  What was going on then?  Mousse's face lit up in recognition.
This was the damn clone of Saotome as a woman which was running around
Nerima!  Mousse could have sworn that the clone had disappeared, but
realized that he was wrong.

  Ranma watched as the man silently stood there looking at her, and it
made her very nervous.  She was very relieved when he finally spoke
up.  "I am sorry, I have mistaken you for someone else."
  Ranma smiled.  "Not a problem.  Could you please help me with..."
Ranma halted in mid sentence as the man turned around and bolted off
down the street.  She frowned.  What a rude person!  Then she realized
that he did not appear to be Japanese.  Could that have explained his
impoliteness?  Ranma shrugged it off.  It could have been for any
number of reasons besides him not being Japanese.  She kept walking
down the street.

....

  Kuno Tatewaki walked down the street, happier than he had been in
years.  Having just learned from Tendo Nabiki that her sister Tendo
Akane had finally fought back and won against the evil sorcerer
Saotome, liberating herself from his evil grasp.  That could only mean
one thing: that she was ready to declare her love for him!  As a
result of the news, Kuno Tatewaki had wandered through Nerima in a
daze.  He had spend the last hour trying to find the Tendo residence,
but had failed in his bliss.  Under normal circumstances, Kuno would
have been irritated at this, but right now he was too happy to even
care.
  Kuno paused in his aimless wandering.  He needed a gift.  Yes, that
was it.  A gift for Tendo Akane.  Oh yes, also a gift for the
pigtailed one.. he must not forget her.  Perhaps some day she would
throw of the reins of the vile Saotome as well.  Since Tendo Akane had
finally managed, he realized that the pig-tailed one would do so as
well.  Then he would have both of his loves, and everything would be
perfect!  Kuno Tatewaki immediately did an about face, and started
towards the shopping district at a run.  He had not a second to waste
on this important mission!

....

  Saotome Ranma continued to walk through Nerima, still lost.  While
it was nice to see the city and all, Ranma at least wanted to make
some kind of effort to get somewhere.  She halted for a few minutes,
pondering where to go next.  The city was cramped enough that it made
finding any kind of information difficult.  People hurried from place
to place, seldom even acknowledging each other.  Ranma had even seen
to people crash into each other and continue on like nothing had
happened.  She scratched her head at that display.  She wanted to be
polite and all, but if these people could not even be polite to each
other where would that get her?  It must be something about living in
a cramped city.  Ranma continued to look around for something which
might give her a clue as to where she was.  Ranma passed by a store
which sold computer systems, and halted in her tracks.  Backing up,
she looked in the window, and saw a fancy guide map being displayed on
one of the machines.  Smiling, she walked into the store.

....

  Kuno Tatewaki continued to run through Nerima, into the shopping
district.  A few cars had dared to block his way earlier, but he
easily avoided them.  Kuno was so gleeful in his thoughts that he did
not see the person who had just gotten out of a car and was crossing
the sidewalk in front of him.  The two collided, slamming to the
ground.  Kuno stood up quickly, wavering somewhat.  His resolve won
out, and set off down the street again at a run.  The person who he
had collided into lay on the ground behind him, wondering what had
slammed into him.

....

  As Ranma walked into the store, she heard a commotion outside the
door behind her.  She thought about looking, but decided that she
would rather figure out where she was.

....

  Mousse returned to the Nekohanten a short while later, carrying his
packages.  Mousse was glad to have finally made it back to the
resteraunt.  The china he was carrying was much heavier than he
thought it would be.  Leave it to Cologne to assign him a difficult
and strenuous task.  Mousse sighed.  Such was the price he paid while
trying to win the hand of the lovely Shampoo.  Until the day when
Shampoo was finally his, he would put up with the old ghoul.
Afterwards, he would teach her a lesson about treating someone fairly.
  He noticed upon entering the front doors that the number of
customers had remained about the same as when he had left earlier in
the day.  Business _was_ good it seemed.  He carried his packages into
the kitchen, and set them down.  Cologne nodded to him as he entered.
"<It took you long enough, Mousse.>"
  Mousse sighed.  "<Why could we just have the china delivered?>"
  "<This way is cheaper.>"
  "<Cheaper yes, but difficult for me.  Do we really need the money we
could have spent in having the stuff sent here?>"
  Cologne whapped Mousse with her staff.  "<Do not concern yourself
with the money involved.  That is my task, not yours.>"
  Mousse sighed.  "<Very well.>"
  "<Do not use that tone with me!  Back into the kitchen!>"
  "Hai."  Mouse shuffled into the kitchen.  Apparently the woman did
not care how tired he was - she was going to force him to do the
cleaning anyway.
  Cologne could be rich from the business and he would never know it.
She certainly had quite a number of family heir looms, all of which
were rumored by Shampoo and the others in their village to do
something.  If only Mousse knew what the jewels did..  He paused.  It
did not matter.  Even if he knew, Cologne would never let him near
them.  He did not even know where they were kept.  Cologne had an
uncanny ability to hide things from him.  Shampoo did not care.. she
did not question the orders of her great grandmother - unless Saotome
Ranma was concerned.  Then, to Mousse's irritation, she would side
with him against her great grandmother.  Shampoo was almost never on
his side.  She usually went against him.  Why couldn't she see that he
loved her?

  Cologne watched Mousse enter the kitchen.  That boy could be such a
problem sometimes.  As of recent, he was causing more and more
trouble.  She would have to make sure he stayed in line.  Cologne's
eyes shifted, turning her attention to the tables and customers.
Shampoo ran around the tables, delivering Ramen and other things,
quickly and efficiently.  Cologne frowned.  Ranma was the only bad
spot on her great grand daughter's entire life.  Unfortunately, the
Amazons had a tendency to only look at failures and to ignore the
successes.  Cologne waived her hand, motioning to Shampoo.  Shampoo
smiled, and came over to the counter.
  "Yes, great grandmother?"
  "<Are you planing on visiting Son-in-law tonight?>"
  "<Yes, great grandmother.>"
  "<We're very busy tonight.  I need you to stay home.>"
  Shampoo's expression turned sad.  "<I want to go visit arien!>"
  Cologne shook her head.  "<Not tonight.  I'll need your help
preparing for tomorrow.>"
  "<Can't Mousse do it?>"
  "<He can, but we won't make anywhere near the same amount of
money.>"
  Shampoo nodded.  "<Very well, great grandmother.  I will stay
here.>"
  "<Thank you.>"
  Mousse overheard the conversation from the kitchen.  Perhaps tonight
he would be able to convince Shampoo to dump Ranma once and for all.

....

  The sun slowly moved itself through the sky, the time being early
afternoon.  A lone figure could be seen walking through the streets.
Tendo Akane has been searching for Ranma since the girl fled the Tendo
household a little over an hour ago.  Akane knew that school had just
ended, and was worried that Ranma might run into someone else.  She
couldn't think of what would happen if Ranma ran into Kuno Kodachi.
Kodachi might kill her fiancee.  She certainly came close enough to
doing it in the past.  So Akane found herself looking through Nerima
for Ranma.
  Why did the baka have to run out of the house?  That was a very
stupid thing to do.  Didn't he know how dangerous it was outside?
Akane paused, blushing.  Ranma did _not_ know what he could run into
in Nerima.  Akane hadn't told him.  Ranma had not been told much of
anything..  she and Nodoka purposely held information back from Ranma,
wanting to wait until they got home.
  She was hoping to after Ranma accepted the situation, but he
refused.  How was it possible for Ranma not to change back into a
male?  What could had caused that to happen?  Akane had absolutely no
clue as to why it had happened.  It certainly shocked the family quite
well.  Another surprise was Ranma striking her.  Ranma had quite a
punch when he was trying to hurt someone.  The memory of Ranma hitting
her was still fresh in Akane's mind, and she could not forget it, no
matter how hard she tried.
  Akane walked up to an intersection nearing the shopping district.
Ranma had wanted to stop here.  Could she have come back to this area?
Akane remembered what she had told Nodoka about the last time Ranma
had been injured.. that Ranma acted as an almost polar opposite of who
he originally was.  Somehow though, Akane knew even as she told Nodoka
that this Ranma was neither the original "Ranma-chan" or even "Ranko".
She did not want to lie to Nodoka, but she had to say something to the
woman.
  Akane frowned.  This Ranma was something different.  Akane had
watched Ranma on the train.  She _knew_ that something was going on.
She knew it from the moment they first saw her.  Akane chuckled.  The
old Ranma would have had no clue, until well after something had
happened.  Akane suddenly sobered up, a tear coming to her eye.  Now
Ranma was unpredictable.. no one knew how she would react to
anything.  Akane felt her stomach.  The sting of Ranma's punch was
still there.  Akane knew that she would have a bruise for a while.
She got off lucky, though.  Ranma could have driven her fist through
her had she really tried.
  It was a long shot, but finding Ranma in Nerima could be next to
impossible.  Akane briefly thought about asking someone else to help,
but she couldn't..  Ranma's condition was her fault.  Whoever she
could ask would more than likely attack _her_ for causing Ranma's
injury.
  The only person who she would want to ask was Ryouga, but he was
impossible to find most of the time.  Ukyou would not react well to
the news at all.. never mind the fact that she could probably do a
better job with Ranma than Akane herself could ever do.  Akane
realized that she could not handle the jealousy and pain she would
feel in dealing with Ukyou.  Forget about asking Shampoo.. if the
Amazon found out what happened, she would be dead.  Shampoo would have
no compunctions about killing her for hurting Ranma.  Shampoo might
even turn on Ranma, now that he was a she.  Kodachi was worse.. she
would more than likely make sure that Akane survived whatever it was
she would do.
  Akane could not bring herself to remember hitting Ranma.  It was a
blur in her mind, and when she tried to remember it, she found herself
starting to cry.  For now, she decided that it was best that she did
not try and remember the incident.
  Akane also knew that Nodoka and Genma were searching through Nerima,
but she doubted that they were having any more luck than she was.  She
wanted to ask Nabiki for help, but Nabiki had not returned home since
leaving in the morning.  Nabiki's various connections to students
would have come in handy.
  Akane continued along, lost in her thoughts.  She passed through an
intersection in which cranes were removing parts of cars.  There had
been an accident, but with Akane's mood she did not notice the few
cars which had been perfectly cut.  Akane walked into the shopping
district, looking for Ranma.

....

  Nodoka approached the Tendo residence, and knocked on the door.
Kasumi answered the door, and Nodoka stepped inside, removing her
shoes.  "Good afternoon, Kasumi-san.  Is Nabiki around?"
  "Good afternoon, Nodoka-san.  Nabiki is in her room."
  "Thank you.  I want to have a word with her."
  "How did the meeting with Tofuu-sensei go?"
  "He said he would see if there was any way that he could help us
out."
  "Very well then.  I'll be in the kitchen."

  Nodoka walked up the stairs, stopping in front of Nabiki's room.
She knocked on the door, and waited patiently.  Five minutes later,
she knocked again.  There was no answer from the door.  Nodoka looked
down at the floor.  There was a light coming from under the door, so
Nabiki could still be in her room.  Why was she not answering the
door?  Nodoka walked up to the door and turned the knob.
  The door swung open, revealing Nabiki at her desk, the light turned
on.  Nodoka made a noise, but Nabiki continued to ignore her.  She
walked up to Nabiki, noticing that the girl was wearing headphones.
Nodoka sighed, and tapped Nabiki on the shoulder.  She removed her
headphones, looking up at Nodoka.  "Hello, Nodoka-san."
  "Good afternoon, Nabiki-chan.  Are you busy?"
  Nabiki shrugged.  "I have homework to do.  A few minutes won't cause
too much of a problem.  What do you want to know?"
  "I was curious if you knew what happened with Ranma earlier."
  "Is that all?  I pulled her out of the koi pond, and I accompanied
Tofuu-sensei back to his clinic with her.  Shortly after, Ranma was
taken to the hospital."
  "What about Ranma not changing back to a male?"
  Nabiki smiled.  "That information is worth quite a bit to me.  I'd
like to be a little careful in how I give it out."
  "Have you no care for Ranma or your sister?"
  Nabiki shrugged, turning to face the window.  "After our mother
died, Akane found it easiest to express her feelings through anger.
Since she was always feeling something about Ranma, she was always
angry at him.  Akane had hit Ranma multiple times in the past,
regardless of whether or not it was his fault.  She was also very
jealous of him.  I am not surprised that this happened.. I had just
hoped that my sister would have realized that anger was not the way to
express her feelings.  Now it may be too late."
  "You don't care, then?"
  Nabiki turned back to Nodoka.  "Whether or not I care is not the
issue.  What is the issue is that Akane's violent tendencies finally
came back to haunt her."  Nabiki laughed.  "You're not much better in
that regard, you realize."
  "What are you insinuating?"
  "I heard that Ranma ran off.  I got that bit of news from Kasumi."
  "So what?"
  "Why do you think she ran away?  Let me tell you, it was not because
of Akane."
  "Are you saying it was me?"
  Nabiki smiled.  "Well, I'm not the one threatening to kill my son
over a simple indiscretion.  Do you realize how worried he was that
you would kill him because of his curse?  He would not have hid for so
long had Genma not convinced him.. and he would not have believed
Genma had there not been any truth to the issue."
  "What does that have to do with this?"
  "What do you think?  Ranma is afraid of you now.  Her subconscious
will drive her away from you, and she won't be able to understand why.
All because of a promise you had him make."
  "Ranma made a promise.  To go back on that would be dishonorable."
  "He was five at the time.  How could you expect someone so young to
even be able to understand something like that?"
  "What is your point?"
  "My point is that things are not as simple as you think they are."
  "Do you know anything else about what happened?"
  Nabiki shrugged.  "Only what Kasumi told me."
  "Then this has gotten me nowhere."
  "Perhaps."
  "Thank you, Nabiki-chan."
  "No problem."
  Nodoka left Nabiki's room, leaving her alone.  "You know," she said
to no one in particular, "I almost feel sorry for Ranma."