Shampoo hung her head and sighed. "<�Y�You�re right�>" she said softly,
letting a tear fall. "<�I�I�>" she stammered, words refusing to come. Mousse
glared at her for a moment in satisfaction then stood. He began pacing the room.
"<�I�ve just about had all I can take, Xian Pu�of Khu Lon and her slave
driving ways�>" he turned and threw both hands in the air in disgust. "<�Mo
men pu xi ren me?�Ta tui wo men xiang gou!�>"
Shampoo sighed, Mousse was right. "<�But, she is our elder�If we question
her word, it means we are against the tribe�>"
"<I know, I know, we could get executed for such blasmephy and blah blah
blah�I�ve had enough of all this�this�NONSENSE!>" Shampoo flinched at the
tone which Mousse spoke the word.
"<�Mu Suu! Watch what you say!�If Khu Lon hears us�>"
"<If she hears us, then more power to her!�I doubt there is any worse she
can treat us you know!>" Mousse snapped, putting emphasis on the �you
know!�. Shampoo didn�t reply, she simply hung her head in shame. When she
was born, she�d been taught that an elder�s word was the absolute law. In
the Joketsuzoku tribe, questioning an elder�s word was to defile the entire
tribe. She had been blindly following Cologne�s directions for as long as
she could remember, always losing sight of anything beyond that limited
scope of vision. It hadn�t been so bad before, when Cologne had first
decided to return with Shampoo to Japan to help her make Ranma her bride,
their actions were, well, unorthodox to say the least but at least they were
honorable. As the years ticked by, Cologne�s patience obviously wore thin.
She began resorting to lower measures such as use of the passion spice among
others. However, this latest act which she had Shampoo commit was the icing
on the cake. For the first time since that day, Shampoo felt used, dirty.
She had given herself to a man because she wanted to, but her partner
obviously had not. If not for use of the drug which she slipped into Ranma�s
tea that night, nothing would have happened. To Shampoo, it was no more than
an elaborate puppet show, devoid of any true feelings. When Mousse had found
out, his attitude toward her had changed considerably. He no longer tried
his usual tactics of trying to glomp her and proclaim his love for her. He
appeared saddened on the first day, then angry. He had still been nice to
her, but he now kept a respectable distance. As if he was unwilling to tread
on someone else�s property. Shampoo stood after a while and walked over to
the now-cold bowl of ramen on her dresser table. She sat down and played
with a few strings of noodle with her chopsticks.
"<Mu Suu�>" Mousse, standing facing the door, turned to look at her.
"<What?>"
"<�Do you�Do you think that we have been blind?>" She asked, staring into
her bowl.
"<��Blind� isn�t exactly the word I�d use�>" he replied, walking to the open
window. "<��Stupid�, �foolish�, �idiotic� and the like are what I�d say�>"
he said, sighing. Shampoo dropped her chopsticks back onto the tray and
walked over to him. "<What are you going to do?>" she asked, sitting back
onto her bed.
"<�I don�t know�But one thing�s for sure�The next time she wants me to help
in her dishonorable schemes, she can count me out!>" Mousse stated. Shampoo
sighed and began to sniff quietly. Mousse turned to face her.
"<Mu Suu�Can�t we just go home?�>" she asked, looking up at him with shining
eyes. "<�We�ve been here in this stupid country long enough�I�m sick of
their ways, I�m sick of their culture, I'm sick of their language�I want to
go home!>" she cried. "<�I don�t want to be dishonored anymore�>" Mousse
reached out and laid a hand on her shoulder. She responded by getting up and
glomp-hugging him. Mousse blinked in surprise. He�d long lost count of the
number of times he�d dreamed of this moment, when Shampoo would willingly
hug him. Now it�s come true and it wasn�t what he�d envisioned. Not this,
not like this. But that�s not to say he didn�t enjoy the feeling though. He
hugged her back as best he could, gently stroking her hair.
<Sigh, if only this were in better circumstances�> he thought. He was glad
that he�d been able to keep his emotions under control ever since he entered
her room. It was for certain if he hadn�t, he�d have been on a one-way trip
to the Moon by now. Shampoo calmed down after a while, she never stayed
upset long, it wasn�t like her. She disengaged from him and turned away,
looking rather embarrassed. 
"<Sorry, I didn�t mean to lose it like that�>" she said.
"<It�s okay�I�>"
"<You�d better go back outside�Khu Lon will be wondering where you are by
now, right?�>" Shampoo said, it was more of a statement than a question.
Mousse sighed, it had been nice while it lasted. He made his way over to the
door resignedly. "<Mu Suu�>" she called just as he was about to leave. He
turned to face her inquisitively.
"<Hsieh hsieh�>" she said, smiling. Mousse grinned then stepped outside,
shutting the door behind him. Then he turned and practically danced outside,
feeling on top of the world.

*******************

Jyusei glanced over to the clock on the wall. It read 3.30am, way too late
for anyone to be up. His unconquerable spirit needed no rest, but the human
body sure did, and he was feeling the effects now. He sighed and turned back
to the assembled shadow-spirits before him. 
"No doubt you all have heard the plan which Ken and myself have discussed?�"
the formless shapes before him nodded. "�The tournament commences in a
week�Until that date, I want all of you to secretly observe all the
participants and note their strengths and weaknesses�That information will
be useful when the time comes." The assembled spirits nodded again. Jyusei
took a sip from his glass. Seven empty bottles now stood tall on the bar in
the corner. "�That will be all, I do not expect to see any of you for the
rest of the week, by which time I shall expect results." His voice took on a
dangerous edge. "�I am certain all of you are familiar with my punishments
for failure!" The spirits before him gulped and nodded vigorously. He leaned
back in his large chair and dismissed them with a wave of his hand. "�Go!
You have your tasks�" the spirit forms before him scattered like papers in
the wind, vanishing into the darkness. Jyusei let his breath out in a long,
tired sigh before opening one eye. "�Except you�" he pointed at the spirit
in question as it was about to phase through the wall. Jyusei beckoned it to
return. It began to shiver nervously as it slowly made it�s way back to
Jyusei�s desk and prostrated itself before it�s master.
"I am here a-as ordered�H-how may I serve your will, master?" it asked,
bowing low. Jyusei smirked at the fear in it�s voice.
"Get up�" he commanded. The spirit nervously stood. "�Correct me if I�m
wrong but you are the one who attacked the young Saotome girl, is that
right?" the spirit gulped and nodded.
"Y-yes Lord�B-but I-I never m-meant a-any harm�I-it was t-too good an
o-o-opportunity to pass up!�I-I w-would never dare act w-without your
orders, Lord! N-never!" it said in it�s defense, talking extremely fast.
Jyusei laughed, a soft, evil-sounding laugh.
"Calm down! I�m not going to hurt you�" he said. The spirit was slightly
reassured but was careful not to get too complacent. "�Rather, I have a
special job for you�" the spirit�s glowing eyes widened. Jyusei nodded,
taking another swig from his glass. "�Listen carefully�The attack on the
Saotome girl has left her mental gateways weakened and open to another
attack�What I want you to do is enter her mind and hide yourself. Dredge up
some obscure�pleasant�" he almost choked on the word. "�memories and hide
yourself behind them. Whatever you do, never let her detect you�" Jyusei
instructed. The spirit nodded, listening intently to it�s master�s words.
Jyusei gestured at the bar and the spirit hurried over and returned moments
later with a bottle with which it carefully refilled Jyusei�s glass before
putting the bottle back. "�Once you have succeeded in masking yourself, I
want you to slowly corrupt her mind, tell her things in her sleep�Make her
believe what it is you are saying instead of what everyone else is telling
her�" the spirit looked confused. Jyusei took another sip then continued.
"�Wait a week before attempting anything, at least after her first fight in
the tournament�I want you to slowly change her way of thinking�Change it to
the point that full possession will be possible later." The spirit nodded,
now understanding what it was Jyusei wanted.
"What shall I tell her, Lord?" it asked. Jyusei shrugged.
"I want you to turn her against her brother�It seems to me that he is the
one who she fully trusts at the moment, I want to change that�Make her hate
her brother." The spirit nodded and bowed.
"It shall be done as you command, Lord." It intoned. Jyusei nodded in
approval then dismissed it with a wave.
"Remember, take no action until she has fought at least once, until then,
simply gain entrance and hide yourself well�" Jyusei repeated for emphasis.
"�Do not fail�You know the consequence of that." The spirit gulped at the
threat and nodded vigorously before turning to leave, vanishing into the
darkness of the room. Jyusei finished his drink and stood up, turning to
face the window. He drew open the blinds with a tug on the side rope,
revealing the bright lights of Neo-Tokyo far below. He peered out into the
distance at the multitude of lights and slowly smiled, his emerald green
eyes glowing faintly in the semi-darkness.

**************

Akane mumbled and awoke after feeling the empty space next to her for a few
moments. Ranma wasn�t with her. She snapped to full alertness after a few
moments. Where was Ranma? <He didn�t run off and�> her mind panicked. No,
thankfully, his travel pack was still where he�d left it, beside her own.
Akane yawned and exited the tent. It was still very early in the morning as
the sun wasn�t even up yet and she felt very tired, having not slept for
most of the night. She had convinced Ranma that it was okay for them to
sleep together in the tent as she hadn�t brought her own. Ranma was
insistent on sleeping outside before that. She remembered how uneasy Ranma
had been at first, then he�d relaxed after a while and let her roll on top
of him. That was the best part, Akane smiled as she remembered, falling
asleep on top of him had been SO nice.
Ranma turned at the sound behind him. "What�re you doing up so early,
Akane-chan?" she smiled inwardly at his use of �chan�. She yawned and stretched.
"I couldn�t sleep�" she replied, leaving out the part that read, �without
you�. Ranma knew she was lying, it wasn�t that hard to miss either. She
looked like she could fall asleep on her feet.
"I think you can�" he said, smiling at her. "�You look like you�re about to
drop on the spot�Go back and get some sleep, I�ll wake you when it�s
morning." He said, walking over to her and hugging her briefly. Akane
nodded, she didn�t need much persuasion. Ranma smirked at the snoring noises
that came from the tent shortly after. He turned away from the tent and
walked over to the fire which had all but died out by now. He re-lit it and
threw fresh branches onto the heap, watching them ignite. Ranma sat down to
think.
<Soon�I will find out the truth�> he thought, staring into the now-cracking
fire. <�Today, I have a little promise to keep to Akane.> One week, the
tournament would begin in a week. He had less than a week to train Akane and
make sure that she would survive the tournament. Somehow, he knew that
Cologne, Shampoo and Mousse would be entering the tournament and that would
be the ideal place to face them. Then his mind switched gears. <But, how can
I hope to win�now?> he pondered. He�d never felt more helpless in his life.
He no longer burned with the confidence that was a trademark of the Ranma of
old. This Ranma was downcast, depressed much like Ryoga was. Depression
indeed is a powerful emotion, but it was too self destructive. Ranma no
longer had the confidence to fight at his old level, he had to find another
way. He turned to look at the tent and smiled at the thought of Akane,
sleeping fitfully inside. Why she came after him, he didn�t know, but he was
thankful to the powers that made her do so. <Akane�that old hag will pay�Pay
for what she�s done to you�to me�This, I swear!>. He stood and  proceeded to
pigtail his loose hair, completing the task with speed and efficiency. He
then picked up Akane�s dagger from where he had put it earlier, inside the
fire. The heated blade glowed red-hot as he blew gently on it. He then
sighed and, with one swift motion, cut off his pigtail at the base, slightly
scratching his skin at the same time. He held it in front of him and
smirked. Principal Kuno would have loved to see this. Next, he took the bowl
which he had eaten out of earlier on near the fire and dropped his pigtail
into it. A strange sensation ran through him as he felt the back of his
head. It was certainly different, no longer having a pigtail. In a way, he
was sorry to see it go. He then picked up the red-hot dagger and slowly made
a cut into his finger, wincing as the blood dripped into the bowl. He
staunched the flow of blood when the bowl was half-full. Standing, he
pointed at the bowl and a lancing blue-grey beam of energy shot from his
finger into the bowl, igniting the contents. He nodded in grim satisfaction
as the contents burned, a solemn marking of the death of Ranma Saotome. 
"Cologne�" he hissed, spitting as if the word was poison. "�Your passage
across the Sanzen no Ka will not be an easy one, I swear upon my blood!�You
will pay with your life and your soul!" he snarled as the fire in the bowl
flickered and died out, leaving nothing but ash. He picked up the bowl and
with a swing of his arm, scattered the ashes to the winds. Only then did he
feel satisfied.

******************

The coming of the dawn marked an end to the night of pain, only to be soon
replaced by a day of thunder. The sun rose slowly, grandly, casting a golden
hue over everything it�s light touched. The city slowly began to wake,
people leaving their houses in the morning for their places of work. Outside
Ucchan�s Okonomiyaki, the breakfast crowd was already gathering, waiting for
Ukyou to open. Outside the Nekohanten, a sign reading �Closed due to
unforeseen circumstances� was hung. People who passed wondered at what the
�unforeseen circumstances� would be. The area around the Tendo Dojo was
peaceful, no sounds of fighting, no yelling, just quiet�.For now anyway.
Kasumi yawned and headed toward the bathroom. <Ho hum, another day�> she
mused tiredly. Somehow, she did not look forward to waking this morning.
Already signs of the previous night�s events could be noted as she walked
down the corridor. A Panda and a girl sleeping in the room with one empty
futon, a mess in the garden, Akane�s door open and an empty bed inside�.

Kasumi blinked and caught herself after a few minutes. That last part made
no sense.

"Akane�" she called, poking her head in the door. No answer. She entered and
looked around. No one. It was clear that Akane wasn�t there, so where could
she be? Kasumi wandered outside toward the dojo, hugging her bathrobe about
her in the chill morning air. No one, the dojo was deserted, as it had been
for the past few days.
Soun smiled at his eldest daughter as he walked toward the living room. "Ah,
ohayo goshimasu, Kasumi�" he said cheerfully as she returned from the back
yard.. "�Beautiful morning isn't it?" Kasumi smiled innocently and nodded.
"Ohayo goshimasu, otousan�Yes it is beautiful�By the way, have you seen Akane?"
 Soun shook his head. "Isn�t she in her room?" Kasumi shook her head.
"No, I'm afraid not�Her bed hasn�t been slept in all night�"
The roof of the house rose a good two meters off it�s foundation.
"NAAAANIIIIII?!?!"
Pretty soon, everyone was wakened by the commotion of Soun running around
the house bawling and yelling the name �Akane�. 
"Heyyy, what�s all the noise? Can't you let me get some sleep?" Nabiki
complained, yawning as she trudged into the living room and plopped herself
onto the couch. "�What�s Daddy so riled up about?" she muttered, gesturing
to Soun who was running back and forth crying.
"Oh, good morning Nabiki�" Kasumi smiled at her sister. "�It seems Akane is
missing." Nabiki yawned, a disinterested expression on her face. "Yeah, I
know�Oops!" she clapped a hand to her mouth. <Damn!>
Kasumi blinked at Nabiki. "You know where Akane is?" Soun dashed into the
room and pounced on Nabiki.
"Nabiki! Where is Akane hmm? Where is my baby girl?" he cried. Nabiki winced
and pushed him away gently but firmly.
"Let�s get one thing straight Daddy�Akane is NOT a baby�" she said, annoyed.
"�And I can�t tell you�Akane made me promise." Nabiki thought she could
almost hear Ranma mouth a reply to that along the lines of �Since when did
promises keep you from anything anyway?� She closed her eyes, remembering
Akane�s words from last night. No, this is one promise she would keep. 
Soon, everyone was gathered around the living room with the exception of
Soun who was still running around bawling. Kasumi served breakfast but no
one seemed to be in the mood for eating, except Genma who cared for nothing
but food. He was promptly whacked by Nodoka for lack of manners. The general
topic of conversation was finding out where Akane had gone. Unfortunately
this meant trying to squeeze the information out of Nabiki.
"Look!�I told you I promised Akane not to tell anyone and I won't okay?!?"
she snapped at everyone, annoyed. "�So stop trying to get on my nerves�No
wait, make that stop getting on my nerves already!" everyone flinched at her
words except Nodoka.
"Nabiki-chan�We respect the promise you made to Akane and why you would want
to keep it�"
"Well, you guys sure aren�t good at showing that!" Nabiki interrupted.
Kasumi gaped at her, aghast.
"Nabiki! How could you talk to Nodoka-obasan like that?!?" she chided.
"�Honto ni gomen, obasan�" Kasumi said respectfully to Nodoka who smiled
back. "�Nabiki didn�t mean any disrespect."
"It�s all right, Kasumi-chan�We�re all tired and Nabiki�s anger is
understandable�"
"You�re right about that!" Nabiki snapped, interrupting once more.
Nodoka leveled her gaze at Nabiki. "�Nabiki-chan, though we understand and
respect your promise to Akane�There are times when promises can be broken�"
she said evenly. "�In keeping this promise to Akane, you are needlessly
making your family worry." Nabiki looked up from her half-empty rice bowl at
Nodoka who smiled warmly at her. "�Please tell us�It�s only for the better."
Nabiki stared down at her empty bowl for a moment. "�She�s��She�s went off
to find Ranma�" Soun hit the roof.
"NANI?!?" he jumped over to Nabiki and shook her. "You�re not lying are
you?�You�re not lying to Daddy now are you?!?"
"DA-AD!�" Nabiki muttered, a little annoyed. "�No I�m not�You wanted it
straight�" She got up and made to leave the table. "�You got it! Now leave
me alone!" She stormed upstairs and moments later, the slamming of a door
could be heard.
"Oh my! I think I better go talk to Nabiki." Kasumi said after a moment.
"That may not be advisable at the moment, Kasumi-chan�" Nodoka said. "�She
is rather upset we made her break a promise�"
"It�s not like she hasn�t done it before though�" Soun interrupted, then
gulped when everyone shot him a glare. "�Umm�"
"Soun-kun! That wasn�t a very nice thing to say about your own daughter!"
Nodoka chided.
"But�but�" Soun stammered, trying to get everyone�s attention off him for
the moment.
"Be that as it may�" Genma began. "�We must assume that Akane could be in
possible danger."
"Danger?�But ojiisama�Isn�t she with Ranma?" Kasumi asked. Genma stared down
at the tabletop, not wanting to meet her gaze.
"�She is but�" 
"But you can�t even trust your own son to take care of her, is that it?"
Nabiki snapped, walking back downstairs. Nodoka raised an eyebrow.
"Nabiki-chan�" Nodoka began.
"What? It�s true isn�t it?" she snapped back.
"Nabiki�Ranma isn�t my son�Not anymore�" Genma muttered to the tabletop.
Nabiki practically hit the roof.
"So that�s IT?!? You�re just going to FORGET?! After all�Oh no, wait�" she
paused for breath. She sat down with a murderous gleam in her eye. "�I can�t
say �After all you�ve done for him� ne? Considering what you�ve done for him
all your life, I�d bet he�s GLAD to be away from his worthless excuse of a
father!" Nabiki snapped at Genma who looked at her in shock.
"Nabiki! How can you say that to Saotome-kun?!?" Soun said, aghast. "�You
apologise right this moment!"
"NO!" Nabiki yelled back, causing Soun to jump. "�Daddy, I�m NOT going to
apologise for speaking my mind! I have a right to say what I want you
know!�" Soun looked like he was about to break into a wail, then made as if
to slap Nabiki who just kept prodding.
"What? What�re you going to do? Hit me?!?�Like you did Akane?!?�" she
snapped. "Fine! Go ahead! Do it!�See if I�ll stay as well!�" Nabiki snapped.
Soun did the only thing he could at the time, bawl. Nabiki turned away,
disgusted. "�Akane was right�I�ve done a lot of dishonorable things in my
life�But THIS�" she jabbed a finger at Genma. "�At least I know I�m not
scraping the bottom of the gene pool!" With that, she turned and walked back
upstairs, her door slamming after a moment.
"Oh why?!? Why is this happening to me?!?" Soun wailed. Nodoka looked at him
pityingly, then made to leave.
"Ran-ko-chan�Lets go�Ran-ko?" Nodoka looked around for her daughter but she
was nowhere to be seen.

*****************

      K  u  s  a  n  a  g  i       K y o
      --|---|--    --|---|--     ----+----
       +-----+     /-, +-+-       +-----+
       |-----|      |  |-|-       |     |      
       +-----+     -|- |-|-       +-----+
      ----|----    / \ +-+-       /  J  \
 -----------------------------------------------
  "Kusanagi Flames, Yagami Tears, Orochi Blood"