Ranma 1/2: Presents
Shampoo 1/2

Chapter 3
The Hunters

Standard Disclaimer:
I don't own any of these characters. They belong to the Takahashi and
whomever bought the rights.

All C+C is appreciated. You can contact me at sommer@3rdm.net

Lawrence Ang had given a home to all of my fics, including Shampoo 1/2.
It's got everything I've written, including the spamfics. It's at:
http://angcobra.jumpfun.com/dbsommer.html

Also Azatlan has given Shampoo 1/2 a home at:
http://www.geocities.com/~azatlan/Special-Series/shampoo.html

Bloodblade has also put it on his webpage at:
http://www.geocities.com/tokyo/towers/5920

Slashly also has it at:
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Shrine/5747/Shampoo.html


What's gone on before: In the beginning, Ranma and Genma traveled to
Jusenkyou for the first time and started to spar, not realizing a duel was
already occurring between Shampoo and Mousse. One mid-air collision and
dunking in spring of young drowned man later, we have a male Shampoo as
well as a female Ranma. So Ranma-chan= female Shampoo-kun= male. Last
chapter had Ai Konjou and her cheerleader squad try to get a date with
Shampoo-kun. Also, Kodachi made her first appearance and fell for Mousse.
After a challenge gymnastics match, Mousse and Kodachi ended up locked in
a box and shipped around the world. Of course, there was that problem with
a mysterious bat...

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Shampoo-kun's head darted to the left. No one was there. It seemed there
was a movement out of the corner of his eye. He was a blur as his head
darted to the right. Again, no one was there either. He spotted a nearby
trash can with a lid on the top. Racing over to it, he drew back his fist
and ripped off the lid. There was only garbage inside. He turned skyward.

"Exactly what do you think they're going to do? Hang glide in and attack
you?" Ranma-chan growled at his paranoid companion.

Shampoo-kun continued scanning the skies, using the lid to shield his eyes
from the glare of the sun. "Not know. Girls is too, too tricky. They try
using nets three days ago. When that no work, they try land mines. When
that no work, they try pit trap. Maybe is time for air attack."

Akane and Ranma-chan looked towards one another and shrugged. The day at
school had been without any major disruptions, making both hope they would
get one of those too few days where nothing 'interesting' happened. Things
had tapered off since the cheerleader attack the previous week, and
nothing had been heard from about Mousse or Kodachi. There were no
detectable menaces around to bother them. Ranma-chan let loose with a sigh
of relief.

"Incoming!" Shampoo-kun shouted as he raised the lid before him, the angle
high and to the sky.

Ranma-chan looked up just in time to see a bat dive-bomb and attach itself
to her face. "Get it off me! Get it off me!" The muffled cry came as she
tried getting her fingers underneath wings that had formed a death-grip
around her head.

Akane held back, remembering the results of the last time she had tried to
help her fiancé with that particular problem. Shampoo-kun held no such
reservations as he drew back the trash can lid and aimed for the bat.

History repeated itself as the bat detached itself and narrowly avoided
the lid, while Ranma-chan's face did not as she took a solid hit to the
jaw. Shampoo-kun cringed as he drew the lid back and surveyed the damage.
Regret shot though him as he saw the glazed look the girl's injured face
held. He examined the lid, and noticed that it now bore an indentation in
the shape of Ranma-chan's face. A pretty good one too. He considered  it
worth keeping and hanging on his wall.

Ranma-chan recovered, taking note of how the now male Amazon admired his
handiwork. "Whadya hit me for?!"

"It was accident. Was trying to hit bat."

Reaching a hand into her shirt, Ranma-chan pulled out a long sheet of
paper and several colored pencils. She proceeded to scribble on the paper,
and after a few moments, held up her work before Shampoo-kun. On it were
two figures, an ultra-kawaii chibi version of Ranma-chan's face and next
to it was a picture of an evil-looking, monstrous, blood dripping from the
fangs, bat. Ranma-chan then pulled out a pointer and proceeded to explain.

"This, is me. Ranma Saotome," she used the pointer to indicate the
chibi-face. "And this is a bat." The pointer switched to the bat. "See the
difference? Ranma. Bat. Bat. Ranma. Ranma. Bat." She punctuated each of
the words by going back and forth between the pictures.

Shampoo-kun watched intently. He then leaned forward, grabbed Ranma-chan
by the ears, then pulled them out as far as he could and tried flapping
them like bat wings over the smaller girl's protests. After pulling them
up and down a couple of times, he let them go. "Shampoo understand
difference now."

Ranma-chan rubbed her ears and was about to unleash a verbal tirade
against 'dumb Amazons' when a whirring sound interrupted the attempted
reprimand. The Amazon barely got out of the way as a red bamboo umbrella
came hurtling towards him. It was open, and spinning like a flying top,
and Shampoo-kun narrowly avoided it by leaping into the air and above the
unusual missile. Much to his surprise, it spun in a long arc and returned
to its source, as though it were a huge boomerang. Akane, Shampoo-kun, and
Ranma-chan all looked to see that the person that had caught the umbrella
was indeed who they had suspected: Ryouga Hibiki.

Ryouga folded the umbrella, then pointed it at Shampoo-kun. "You really
have no honor do you, Ranma? How low can you be? I knew you were a coward
when you ran out of our fight, but now you have women doing your fighting
for you. And to think, I once thought you were worthy of being challenged
by me. I'm almost disgusted at the idea of dirtying my fists with you."

Shampoo-kun paid little attention to Ryouga's ranting. "You talk or you
fight?"

"I'm ready to fight, unless you're going to sic those two girls on me." He
pointed at Akane and Ranma-chan with the umbrella.

Akane told him she wouldn't interfere while Ranma-chan remained silent.
Seething rage filled her as she listened to the slanderous lies Ryouga had
unknowingly leveled against her. She NEVER needed women to fight for her.
Ranma Saotome needed no one to do her fighting for her. How dare Ryouga
accuse her of such things, even if he was really accusing Shampoo-kun. And
it hadn't happened that way anyhow.

Akane caught the redhead's rumble of, "No one fights my fights for me."
Akane watched in confusion as Ranma-chan ran away with neither a word nor
a backward glance. She was about to follow, but then the fight between
Shampoo-kun and Ryouga began. Akane found herself torn between following
the fleeing girl and making certain nothing bad happened to Shampoo-kun,
or Ryouga, for that matter. Since it appeared it was more likely she might
be needed at the scene of the fight, she elected to stay and hoped
Ranma-chan would be all right.

One of the objects of Akane's concern had headed to the nearest restroom
she could find. Without thinking, she rushed into the men's side --which
luckily was vacant-- and went to the sinks. The first one had an 'out of
order' sign on it, but the one next to it worked fine as she ran some hot
water and used it to revert to her true form. Once male, Ranma rushed
outside and back to the fight. Upon arriving, he was pleased to see that
neither opponent had landed a serious blow on the other.

"Stop fighting!" Ranma shouted.  Both fighters responded by breaking off
their attacks and looking at the speaker. Ranma's attention was riveted on
Ryouga as he said, "I'm the Ranma you're looking for...what's your name
again?"

"Ryouga Hibiki," he answered with a growl. As Ryouga looked the 'other'
Ranma over, he found himself admitting that the new one looked a lot more
like the boy he remembered than the guy he was currently fighting. He
pointed to Shampoo-kun. "Everyone says this guy is Ranma."

For his part, Shampoo-kun remained silent, allowing Ranma to deal with the
situation the way he wanted. The Amazon had no desire to beat up any of
Ranma's old foes, especially since he had more than people after him
enough to make up for the loss.

"I'm Ranma Saotome, the guy you're looking for. It's easy to tell the
difference between me and the other Ranma you're fighting. I'm the really
good-looking one." Ranma missed the glare Shampoo-kun shot him as he
continued, "Now who are you and why do you want to kill me?"

Ryouga's mind was in turmoil from the conflicting information. How could
there be two Ranma Saotomes that went around with one another? Perhaps it
was some sort of trick the real Ranma was using to throw Ryouga off on his
quest for vengeance. Maybe neither one was the real Ranma and these two
were running interference. Actually, that seemed to make a whole lot of
sense. Except for the fact he kept on homing in on these two people when
he wanted to find Ranma. There was one way to be certain.

Ryouga pointed accusingly at the new Ranma Saotome. "If you're the real
Ranma, then you'll know why I'm hunting you down."

"If I don't even remember who you are, how can you expect me to remember
why you're hunting me down?" Ranma answered.

Ryouga was at a loss. He decided to try and give Ranma a hint. "It's the
bread. Remember, it was back in junior high. We used to fight over bread
at lunch."

"Nope. Can't say it's ringing any bells." That really wasn't the best
reference point. All the lunches Ranma had ever eaten sort of blurred into
one for him.

"You have to remember," Ryouga prodded further. "You'd humiliate me every
day by snatching the last piece of bread from out of hands."

There was something about the bread that jogged Ranma's memory. Now that
he thought about it, he sort of remembered something about having to pass
by some guy every day to get at the last piece of bread at the school
lunches, but they weren't really fights, at least not to Ranma. The guy
had been more like an obstacle than anything else, which sort of made it
like training. Training was something which was much easier to recall.
"Okay. I kind of remember something about having to fight for bread ever
day and someone tried to take them away from me-"

"You took them from me!" Ryouga shouted.

"Yeah, yeah," Ranma waved him off, annoyed at being interrupted. "Anyway,
I remember. So what do you want me to do, get you some bread to make up
for it?"

"This isn't about the bread, at least not anymore," Ryouga said. "It's
about you running out on the match I challenged you to for stealing my
bread."

Akane and Shampoo looked at Ranma in surprise. Akane spoke first. "You ran
out on a fight?"

 "I did not!" Ranma protested. Now he remembered what had happened. As
usual, he was being portrayed as the bad guy again when it was definitely
not his fault. "I showed up and waited three days for that jerk to come.
But he didn't show. And since I was kind of hungry, what with only having
rainwater to keep me alive for three days, I left."

"Ah ha! You admit that you are a coward!" Ryouga shouted triumphantly. "I
came on the fourth day and you weren't there. You ran out on the fight."

"It was in a back lot two houses away from you!" Ranma snarled. "It
shouldn't have taken even you that long to find it! I figured you weren't
gonna show up."

"That's no excuse," Ryouga said.

"Of course it is!" Ranma snapped back. "My life didn't revolve around
waiting for you to figure out how to go twenty feet in a straight line."
Ranma began to calm down. The whole thing was becoming ridiculously silly,
even by his standards. "Look, it's obvious we just missed each other and
neither one of us ran out on the fight, so why don't we let bygones be
bygones?"

"Never!" Ryouga shouted back. "It's not about bread anymore. It's not even
about you running out on the fight. It's gone far beyond that now. Because
of you, I've seen hell and lost my manhood. My life's been forever ruined
thanks to you. Prepare to die!"

There was no further talk as Ryouga sheathed his umbrella and charged at
Ranma. Twice he took roundhouse swings with his fists and twice Ranma
dodged the blows. Leaving himself open, Ryouga then took a fist from Ranma
to the stomach. In reaction, he just stood there and smiled at Ranma.

Ranma reevaluated his opponent. Hitting Ryouga's stomach was like punching
a rock. As difficult as that made things, it also made Ranma sort of glad.
It meant that he didn't' have to hold back.

Ryouga threw two kicks towards Ranma, again hitting nothing but the air.
Once more Ryouga left his midsection open, though this time Ranma's punch
managed to wind him a little. Changing tactics, Ryouga drew his umbrella
and attempted to connect with three quick jabs. Again, Ranma effortlessly
got out of the way. It was as Ranma dodged the third blow that Ryouga saw
something that enabled him to come up with a quick plan. All it would take
was once more jab.

"An umbrella has got to be the most stupid weapon I have ever seen," Ranma
taunted, sticking his tongue out as he evaded the fourth thrust.

"Is it?" Ryouga said back. When Ranma had simply tilted his head out of
the way of the fourth thrust, it had set him perfectly, just as Ryouga had
hoped. With a flick of the wrist, the umbrella opened up, while still
being behind Ranma. Ryouga pulled the umbrella back to him, drawing Ranma,
who found himself caught up in the opened part of the umbrella, in close.
As Ranma was involuntarily thrust forward, Ryouga applied a solid headbutt
into Ranma's forehead.

Years of training took over for Ranma as he recoiled from the blow. He
braced a hand on top of Ryoga's head, before the lost one could react,
then jumped up, connecting with both knees to Ryouga's jaw. Even Ryouga
found himself stunned by the blow and backed off. Ranma used the
opportunity to back off too and leapt into a nearby tree.

"Okay, I'll admit that an umbrella is only the second most stupid weapon
I've ever seen," Ranma shouted below.

Rather than seem concerned, Ryouga pulled off a bandanna and began
twirling it around.
Ranma watched as Ryouga loosed the bandanna, the fabric somehow becoming
razor sharp as it hit the tree branch Ranma was standing on, severing it.
The unusual nature of the attack caught Ranma flat footed as he
unexpectedly found himself dropping like a rock. He didn't have a chance
to hit the ground as Ryouga took his turn to connect with a punch and
struck Ranma's jaw. The force of the blow sent Ranma sailing over a nearby
wall and out of sight. There was no hesitation in Ryouga as he jumped over
the wall, and was quickly followed by Akane and Shampoo-kun.

Upon reaching the other side, the others realized that the wall that Ranma
had gone over bordered the zoo. Specifically, a panda pen. Ryouga paid
little attention to the surprised pandas, who were running around trying
to hide an espresso machine and tea service. Only Ranma was on his mind
and he thought he had just caught sight of someone in a red top leaping
over the far wall and into the zoo proper. Shampoo-kun and Akane followed
hot on the heels of Ryouga.

Ranma had found a flat open space on one of the pathways of the zoo and
prepared to make a stand. Instead of being confronted by Ryouga directly,
he found the umbrella open once more and hurled in his direction. Again,
he barely got out of the way of the unusual attack as it returned to
Ryouga's hand.

Ranma silently cursed at Ryouga as the bandanna-clad youth closed the
distance and swung the umbrella at Ranma again, forcing him to give
ground. If Ryouga had not had the umbrella, things would have been a whole
lot easier. It was as he considered on how to get rid of it that the idea
occurred to him.

"Shampoo! Bonbori!"

Shampoo-kun looked in confusion at Ranma. He had played around with the
bonbori early on, saying something about that if girls could use them,
then he could too. The Amazon had loaned them to him, and he quickly
adapted to their use. Ranma was nowhere near as skilled in using them as
Shampoo-kun, but he was good enough. Now he wanted one for the fight,
which made little sense to Shampoo-kun since all it would do, despite his
skill, was slow him down.

"Come on!" Ranma urged as he evaded another blow or Ryouga's and backed
away, giving him some space from him.

That set Shampoo-kun into motion as he threw the bonbori towards Ranma.
The throw was on target as Ranma snared the weapon. He then turned towards
Ryouga and shouted, "You know, that stupid umbrella would probably be
dangerous if you weren't so lost that you couldn't even throw it
straight."

"I'll show you!" Ryouga snarled as he again opened the umbrella and hurled
it at Ranma. All Saotome could do was smile as he threw the bonbori at it
deflecting it off target and  hurtling it well away from both him and
Ryouga.

It took a moment for Ryouga to realize how he had been set up. Instead of
getting angry, he just scoffed. "You think that's going to save you? I
don't need that to finish you off." Ryouga went over to a nearby tree that
was about the size of a telephone pole. He looked at with determination,
took a deep breath, then embraced it.

Ranma was about to make a crack about Ryouga being a 'treehugger' when he
realized that the lost one was pulling up on the tree as well. "There is
no way he's strong enough to do that." Ranma was considering hitting
Ryouga, just to keep him from throwing out his back from his futile
effort, when the ground began to bulge at the base of the tree. Earth
began to fall away as the bulge grew, until a network of roots revealed
themselves as the tree was pried out of the ground. Now Ryouga wielded the
tree as though it was a huge battering ram.

"Here's where you get yours, Ranma," he gasped out as he thrust the base
of the tree towards Ranma.

So in disbelief was Ranma at Ryouga's display of strength, that he almost
allowed himself to get hit by the first thrust. After the first attack
snapped him out of his stupor, Ranma easily evaded the second blow. Ryouga
was not given a third chance as Ranma jumped onto the tree and traveled
down its length, kicking Ryouga in the jaw.

Pressing the advantage, Ranma struck Ryouga several times. The offensive
was fleeting as Ryouga recovered from the attacks and landed several blows
of his own. Ranma again decided to get some range from his opponent by
leaping backwards through the air once more and getting time to formulate
a new plan of action.

Ryouga watched in anger as Ranma tried 'running' from the fight again. In
response, he pulled several bandannas off and began spinning them around
in his hand. "Ranma, you coward! You don't get away that easily."

Ranma found the path of his leap suddenly shared with a number of hurled
bandannas. He shifted his body in mid-air, evading the attack, but finding
himself forced to crash through the skylight over the top of one of the
zoo buildings. He brought his arms in front of his face, shielding him
from the glass as he broke through it and found himself plunging downward
a surprising distance. Ranma looked down to see that he had crashed over a
huge tank of water and was descending rapidly towards it. Fortunately,
there was a steel beam which was directly over the center of the tank, no
more than four feet or so above the surface. It extended from one side of
the tank to the other. Ranma was able to land on the beam with ease.

Ranma started to look for a way out of the tank, when Ryouga came in
through the hole in the skylight that Ranma had made upon his entry. Just
as easily as Ranma had done moments before, Ryouga landed on the beam next
to him.

"Nowhere to run now, Ranma," Ryouga said as he cracked his knuckles.

Ranma smirked back. With his sense of balance, it was going to be easy to
knock Ryouga into the water. "You're asking for it, pal."

Just as the two prepared to renew their duel, the occupant of the tank
they were suspended above decided to make an appearance. Jumping up out of
the water and over the metal beam they were standing upon, Ryouga and
Ranma got an up close and personal look at the twenty-eight foot fish that
called the tank, 'home.'

"SHARK!" Ranma and Ryouga both cried out in panic.

"I suggest a temporary truce," Ryouga quickly blurted out, his eyes
tracking the movement of the shark as it cut through the water, obviously
building up speed as it circled around the tank.

"Agreed." Ranma and his father hadn't been harassed by any sharks when
they had to swim to China, but it had still been something that had been
in the back of his mind when he had made the trip. Just seeing 'Jaws'
before had not helped either.

Both of the men tensed up and prepared to leap when the shark made a sharp
turn and headed directly for the beam. This time when it jumped, it hit
the bottom of them beam, shaking it enough to cause both Ranma and Ryouga
to end up in the water.

Ranma had just enough time to grab a breath of air before hitting the
water. As he hit, the curse activated itself and it was a red-haired girl
whose head broke the water. She was looking around, trying to locate
Ryouga, when she spotted the dark shape a dorsal fin as it began circling
around its floating 'visitor'.

"GET ME OUT OF HERE!"  she shouted at the top of her lungs. The beam was
too high for her to reach, and there didn't appear to be any platforms or
doors with which she could use to escape. She was trapped.

As she finished her quick survey, she noticed that the dorsal fin had
stopped circling and now made a straight line for her. The huge jaws of
the shark opened and prepare to dine on its 'Saotome snack.' Ranma-chan
froze for a moment as the shark lunged for her.

The rows of teeth the shark showed off as it opened its mouth wide
captivated Ranma-chan's attention, so it was only with her peripheral
vision that she spotted a blur hit the shark from above. The impact was
enough to make it twist its head to the side and miss Ranma-chan, though
its body brushed against the small girl's and shoved her through the
water. It was that contact that broke Ranma-chan out of her paralysis.

She looked around to see that the object that had hit the shark was now
floating in the water next to her. "Shampoo, what are you doing here?"

"Saving Ranma from shark," Shampoo-kun said.

"Okay. Now who's going to save you from the shark?"

Shampoo-kun followed Ranma-chan's pointed finger. Already the shark shook
off the blow Shampoo-kun had landed with his bonbori and was circling
around both of the floating meals. The cursed Amazon found he didn't have
an answer and began to panic.


Fifteen feet above the water, at the top of the tank where people could
look down and observe the shark swimming, stood Akane. She felt helpless
as she tried thinking about what to do. Upon running into the building,
she and Shampoo-kun figured out where the busted skylight was and raced to
the shark tank. They arrived just in time to see Ranma fall into the water
and have his curse triggered. It only took them an additional second to
spot the shark as it began to circle Ranma-chan. Akane's first impulse was
to dive in and help rescue her fiancé, but she stopped herself just in
time as she remembered that she not only couldn't swim, but had all of the
buoyancy of a rock. So it fell to Shampoo-kun to jump in and make the
save. But it had only been a temporary respite as the shark was unaffected
by the blow and now instead of one, it was two people that needed to be
rescued. That meant it was up to Akane to save the day.

She looked around, trying to find something that could be of use --like a
spear gun to shoot the shark or a dead cow lying around to feed it-- so it
wouldn't try to dine on any of the swimmers in the tank. The only thing
she found was a length of rope that had been left coiled on top of an
large open box that had 'do not open' written on the side. Akane hoped it
was long enough, and that she had enough time, as she grabbed it and
rushed back to the side of the tank. There was no time was to tie the rope
onto anything, so she dropped one side into the tank and held onto the
other one, hoping she was strong enough to do what had to be done. The
thrown end uncoiled downward until it hit the water. It reached.

"Grab on to the rope!" Akane shouted as she braced herself against the
safety railing circling the top of the tank.

Ranma-chan and Shampoo-kun both turned at the sound of the voice and
spotted the rope. They swam as hard as they could, watching as the rope
get closer while praying all the time that the shark was still circling
and had not closed the distance to them.

As they reached the rope, Ranma-chan ordered Shampoo-kun to go up first,
promising she would be right behind. The boy did as he was told and began
scampering up the rope. Ranma-chan took a moment to look behind to see if
she could spot the shark. The dorsal fin had disappeared from the surface
of the water; that was not a good sign.

Shampoo-kun was more than halfway up the rope before he paused a moment to
look at his companion. Ranma-chan's word had been good as she trailed
right behind Shampoo-kun on the rope. He was about to look upward and
estimate the distance he had left to climb when the water beneath them
fell away and the huge maw of the shark erupted from the water. It had
gone underwater and built up speed as so that it could propel itself
upward and reach its fleeing prey. Now it was Shampoo-kun's turn for awe
to mix with fear as she saw two rows of sharp teeth head up towards her
and Ranma-chan, intent on getting one last shot at grabbing a quick meal.

He stopped climbing and threw his body as far to the right as he could,
hoping his male form had enough mass to shift the rope far enough to the
side to prevent the shark from reaching either one of them in its leap.
The rope's shift seemed to take forever as they began to move to the left,
even as the shark's body closed the distance between them. Shampoo-kun's
muscles strained to somehow twist the rope even farther to the right as
the shark came to the height that Ranma-chan was at and brushed against
the bottom of her feet with the side of its jaw. That was all the contact
it got as it and passed by up and beyond the duo. Shampoo-kun was
paralyzed with fear as the huge jaws passed within a foot of his own
position of the rope, going slightly above her head before beginning its
downward plunge.

As the shark passed Ranma-chan, and hit the apex of its arc, anger at the
creature's actions flooded her being. How dare it try to eat Ranma
Saotome. In retaliation, she leaned outward and lashed out with her own
teeth, sinking them into the creature's dorsal fin and ripping out a small
chunk of it as the shark began to fall back towards the water.

Ranma-chan spit out the piece as the shark hit the water. "Yuck! I hate
sushi."

"Quit horsing around and get up here! I can't hold this thing forever!"
Akane shouted from her position at the railing. Neither one of them was
particularly light, and her arms were beginning to feel the strain of
supporting both of their weight.

The duo hurried up the chain before the shark got a second chance. As they
made it above the railing, all three collapsed in exhaustion.

"Are you guys okay?" Akane gasped out

Two voices gasped out 'yes' as they continued to come down from their
physical high. It was as Ranma-chan continued to lay on her back that she
suddenly cried out, "Ryouga!" She shot to her feet and looked over the
side of the railing towards the water far below.

The other two joined him at the side, eyes also scanning the surface of
the water. "We didn't seem him. You were the only one in there," Akane
said

"Is true," Shampoo-kun said in agreement. "Ryouga no in water when Ranma
was."

"He was there," Ranma-chan insisted. Her eyes scanned the length of the
tank, but there was no sign of him, not even a bandanna. "Shark must of
eaten him whole before it went after me. Poor guy. And it was all over
some dumb bread."

All three gave a prayer for the dead. Not knowing what else to do, they
turned and left the aquarium. As they departed, none of them spotted the
black shape that detached itself from its hiding place on Ranma-chan's
back. The creature shook off some water, and took off into the air and
through the hole that was in the skylight.


"...and we no see strange boy anymore. Ryouga must have get eaten by
shark," Shampoo said as she finished relating the events of a few days ago
to Kasumi.

Kasumi sighed at the poor boy's fate, though she couldn't understand how a
shark that was under thirty feet long could swallow someone whole. She was
glad the others had come out of it unscathed.

It seemed there was something new almost everyday as time went on.
Certainly things had not been that interesting when Kasumi had gone to
school. It seemed there was a variety of new people making their presence
known in and around Nerima, and most of them seemed attracted to either
Ranma or Shampoo, or both.

That was why it seemed to be such a nice idea to ask Shampoo if she wanted
to go shopping with her. It would give the Amazon time to relax and do
something normal, outside of the schoolwork she complained so bitterly
about. Shampoo had jumped at the opportunity immediately and the two of
them had set out for the market. Currently they were outside, looking over
some of the streetside vendors' wares. Sometimes they offered very good
deals on food, clothing, or even bamboo shoots for Mr. Saotome.

Asking Shampoo along had proved to be a good idea. In spite of the
differences in culture and lifestyle, the two did have some things in
common. Among them was the ability to cook. Shampoo did seem to know a
great deal, especially for one that counted herself a warrior. Kasumi did
prove more knowledgeable, and was surprised at how close Shampoo paid
attention to some of the dishes she mentioned and asked for some
clarification on how to prepare them.

And then there were Shampoo's insights on what she thought of Japan.
Kasumi found herself intrigued by the way Shampoo saw things through her
eyes. So much of it involved awe, at least in the early parts of her
arrival in Japan. Shampoo had never been far from her village. She was
aware of cities and what they looked like --there were more than enough
books with pictures that described the world outside of Joketsuzoku-- but
reading about them was nothing when compared to experiencing them
firsthand. Most of the awe from those early days had disappeared as
Shampoo became more used to the world now surrounding her, but there was
still a little bit of wonder when she talked about the city.

Shampoo had also seemed quite happy to share her observations with Kasumi.
She hadn't really talked about them with any of the others. Ranma wasn't
really that interested, Nabiki couldn't have cared less, and Akane didn't
seem to have much time. But when it came to Kasumi, she had the time, so
when Shampoo talked, she listened.

They had only been shopping a little while when Shampoo excused herself,
telling Kasumi that she wished to look for some clothes at one of the
nearby stores. After waving good-bye, Kasumi took a moment to look at the
sky. She had heard on the news that there was over an eighty percent
chance for rain today, but somehow she had forgotten to being an umbrella
with her on the trip to the market. The sky had been overcast when they
had set out, and at first Kasumi believed she and Shampoo would have been
rained on, but now it was beginning to clear up, and it appeared there was
going to be no chance of rain today. Kasumi was unaware of how her brow
creased ever so slightly at that. The crease disappeared as she returned
to looking at the prices of vegetables.


Shampoo's fingers played over the fine shirt on the rack. It was Chinese
in style, which met with her approval. She might not have been in her
homeland any longer, but she could still dress like it. Besides, Japanese
fashions generally were not to her taste. Some dresses and blouses were
all right, but given a choice she would stick with what she knew best.

Going out shopping with Kasumi had been a good idea. Aside from Ranma,
there really wasn't anyone she spent time with, and as nice as Ranma
usually was, there were times when she simply didn't feel like being in
his presence. That meant being alone, but that could get boring very
quickly as well. Akane was all right, but she tended to have other
interests which took up her time. As to Nabiki, Shampoo would rather have
been alone than have to risk hanging around with the girl and becoming
involved in one of her schemes.

Kasumi was a different matter. There seemed to be few people the eldest of
the Tendou daughters spent time with, and outside of keeping house, she
did not seem to do much else. There were times when she visited some
doctor and occasionally came back with books, but beyond that there seemed
to be little in the way of outside interests. True, the two had little in
common, but Kasumi had always treated her nicely, very nicely in fact, and
Shampoo felt inclined to reciprocate.

The idea of a woman keeping house instead of fighting was hardly an alien
concept to Shampoo. In many ways, Kasumi sort of reminded Shampoo of some
of the non-warriors that were in the village. Many of the village women
were not all that different in manners from her, though many of them
tended to be more forceful in personality. They were many that not
involved with the training warriors had undergone. Farming, crafting,
keeping house like many of the village men were what some women did, just
like Kasumi. Oh, some of the non-fighters might aspire to take a warrior's
vows and gain respect that way, but for the most part there were many
families with very few warriors in their ranks and they would remain that
way for generations. Shampoo easily pictured Kasumi in a similar role.

Shampoo had rarely spent time with those sorts of women, since they lacked
the prestige the warrior's carried, but her great grandmother had made
certain Shampoo understood that though they were not warriors, they were
still worthy of respect, for they did the jobs that needed to be done.
Jobs the warriors would have been doing otherwise. That was a lesson
Shampoo did learn, and thus never derided anyone because of their job.
Better they do some undesirable task than she herself having to do it.

And now Shampoo found herself in the company of a homemaker, and enjoying
it. They had exchanged cooking tips, of which Kasumi was far more
knowledgeable than Shampoo, among other things. Shampoo found Kasumi
actually seemed interested when the Amazon mentioned what she thought of
Japan. It had turned into an unexpectedly pleasant day.

""

If there was ever a moment in Shampoo's life when she felt true terror, it
had been upon hearing that voice come from behind her. She began to turn
around. A small part of her mind cried out to remain where she was, for if
she did not turn around, then what was there would not harm her. But she
ignored such flighty thoughts and turned to see it was as she feared. The
old woman was perched on her staff, as was so often the case when she
wanted to talk to someone eye-to-eye. It was small surprise that even in
the months since Shampoo had left her home, that her great grandmother,
Cologne, would not have changed.

She stared at the old woman, wishing the event of the past few months had
been nothing but a dream and she would wake up now, save and sound in bed
and everything having been a dream, but they were not and she did not. Her
paralysis lasted only another moment before her survival instincts caught
up and forced her to take the only option she could come up with.

Shampoo turned and ran.


Cologne looked on in surprise. It was true that Shampoo had disappeared
from Joketsuzoku without a word and it had taken over two months to track
her wayward great granddaughter down, but never had Cologne thought
Shampoo would look so terrified of her own great grandmother and flee as
she had just done. The elder waited a few moments to see if Shampoo would
stop and turn, but when she kept running at top speed and threatened to
get lost among the crowd, Cologne took the only option available to her
and began hopping along on her stick in an effort to catch up to her
fleeing offspring.


Kasumi heard a commotion come from her right and was surprised to see
Shampoo rushing towards her very quickly. She was about to greet the
Amazon when Shampoo, not slowing down for an instant, grabbed Kasumi by
the arm and dragged her along.

Kasumi found it difficult to keep up with Shampoo, and was more pulled
along than anything else. As they raced up the street, she saw Shampoo
pause long enough to grab a glass of water from off the table of an open
air café and dart down an alleyway with Kasumi in tow. After running only
a little distance down the alley, Shampoo at last stopped.

Kasumi at last had a chance to catch her breath and was about to ask what
was going on, when Shampoo threw the water over her head. Kasumi's heart
skipped a beat as she was suddenly confronted by the much taller, and
handsome, cursed form that was so close to her. Even as her mind tried to
sort out exactly what was going on, while finding out she didn't seem to
mind being dragged into an alleyway anymore, Shampoo-kun wrapped his arms
around Kasumi and drew her close. The action scrambled what little chance
she had of trying to say something coherent, and when Shampoo-kun tilted
Kasumi's head up, then lowered his head so his lips met hers, the last
cognizant thoughts left her mind.


Cologne rounded the corner and looked towards the alleyway. For the
briefest of moments she had lost complete sight of Shampoo, and was
worried that she had lost the trail. But as she her eyes scanned the
street, she thought she caught a glimpse of purple rush into an alleyway.
Cologne hopped off at top speed, confident she could catch Shampoo, even
if she was running as fast as she could. With any luck the alley might
even be a dead end, which would trap Shampoo and then the explanations as
to her great granddaughter's bizarre behavior would be forthcoming. That
she would go all the way to Japan without explanation was inexplicable.
That she would also flee in terror from her own great-grandmother defied
anything Cologne could come up with. There were occasions when Cologne
liked figuring out a mystery; this was not one of them.

Cologne hoped into the alleyway and spotted the two people nearby. With a
hop she closed the distance to the couple. After a second hop she gave
pause. The clothing on one of the figures was correct, but that was all.
The figure that bore the same style of clothing Shampoo had been wearing
was a good bit taller than Cologne's great granddaughter. And had the
wrong shade of coloring to the hair. And was male. Also was the fact was
that he was busy making out with the young woman in his embrace, and
judging by the way the young woman's hands were playing up and down the
man's back, was doing a good job of it.

Cologne allowed the lovers their privacy and hopped back out on the
street. It was just her luck to lose track of Shampoo in the crowd. And
now that she had wasted her time by following the young couple and had
most likely lost Shampoo altogether. Still, if her young charge was still
in Nerima, it would only be a matter of time before Cologne caught up to
her. There would be no more escapes for Shampoo.


Kasumi's face was still pointed upward, even after Shampoo-kun broke off
the kiss and looked towards the mouth of the alley. It had been just as
the books had said. She felt light-headed, was unable to think clearly,
was barely able to stand upright, and couldn't seem to maintain any
coherent thoughts. She had a concussion.

Kasumi shook her head clear of that thought. The medical books she
borrowed from Dr. Tofu had indeed said that those were the symptoms to
look for when diagnosing a concussion. It was true that the kiss had left
her with all of those symptoms, but from the few romance novels she had
read when she was younger, those were also the characteristics of enjoying
being kissed by someone that really knew how to do it. It was odd how so
many of the attributes of each were the same.

She focused her thoughts on Shampoo-kun, and as her head cleared, the full
effects of what had just transpired fully hit her. Kasumi had just been
kissed by a girl. Well, a girl that looked, and felt, and was essentially
a man when it happened, but was really a girl. Although it didn't feel
like a girl's kiss, but more like a man's kiss. At least that was what
Kasumi thought, even though she had never really been kissed by a man. But
Kasumi was certain that if she had been kissed by a girl she would never
have kissed back, even if technically she had been kissed by a girl and
had kissed back, although that was more of an automatic reaction rather
than any planned kind of thought.

She tried regaining her composure. Her thoughts were still horribly
erratic, but she managed to get out, "Ah, Shampoo. Why did you just kiss
me?"

Shampoo-kun turned to her, fear wide in her eyes. "Great Grandmother
here." And Shampoo-kun began to explain what that meant for him.

After Shampoo-kun was finished with his tale, all Kasumi could say was,
"Oh my."


It was almost an hour later before Shampoo-kun and Kasumi made their way
back to the Tendou house. Kasumi had gotten over the full implications of
what was in store for Shampoo-kun, and some of the things that were going
to have to be done to protect him from discovery. That meant informing the
rest of the household of what was going on.

Even as Kasumi tried making plans for what to do next, her mind also raced
with coming to terms with the kiss. Shampoo-kun had assured her it was
done solely to camouflage him from Cologne, and not in any actual interest
he might have in Kasumi, which should have reassured her but instead
evoked a feeling of disappointment. That bewildered Kasumi, since she knew
that she definitely did not want girls to kiss her. People would get the
wrong idea about her. It was all terribly confusing.

She gave up on that line of thinking and instead helped Shampoo-kun round
up everyone in the Tendou house. In very little time everyone had taken a
place around the dining room table and the discussion began.

Shampoo-kun found himself feeling guilty as he tried to figure out how to
begin. It was true he should have mentioned something about the
circumstances surrounding him before now, but there just never seemed to
be a good time. That, and he was uncertain of how the others would react
to his revelations. Still, there was no longer any choice in the matter.
He gave off a deep sigh, and began the story.

"Shampoo great grandmother track Shampoo down and now she in Japan."

Everyone just stared at her.

"So?" Nabiki finally asked.

Shampoo-kun elaborated. "If Shampoo Great Grandmother find Shampoo then
she make her go back to China."

That caught Nabiki's interest as she shot to her feet. "You can't do that!
Just tell her no!"

Ranma shrugged, trying to figure out why his time was being wasted like
this. "Yeah. It ain't like she can force you to go."

"You not know Great Grandmother." Shampoo-kun shook his head.

Ranma scoffed. "What's she going to do? Run over your feet with her
wheelchair until you give in?"

Shampoo-kun looked at Ranma in confusion. "Great Grandmother no use
wheelchair. Great grandmother is leader of peoples and very great fighter.
No one is as good as her. Not even Ranma."

Ranma looked at her in disbelief. Where did Shampoo-kun get off telling
him some geriatric old coot was a better fighter than he was? It was an
insult. "Yeah, right. You're crazy. Old people ain't a threat."

As the last word left his mouth, he found himself confronted by Genma and
Soun who were on their knees before him in obvious fright. Genma spoke
first. "That's not true, boy. Old people can make you do terrible things."

"Like steal food," Soun added.

"Or skip out on bills," Genma pointed out.

"Or steal women's underwear."

"Or distract authorities so they can get away with crimes."

"Or chain you to a tree and starve you as a form of training."

"What are you guys talking about?" Akane asked as Genma and Soun reached a
near-hysterical level of behavior.

Akane's voice seemed to shock the two father's back to the real world.
They comforted each other with the fact that they would never have to
undergo such training ever again.

"We only mean that hypothetically, of course," Soun explained.

"Anyway boy, don't underestimate old people," Genma concluded.

"Yeah, right," Ranma snorted in disgust. No old person would be able to
take him in a fight.

Shampoo-kun cleared his throat so that he could regain everyone's
attention. "Ranma no understand. Not supposed to refuse, Great
Grandmother. She leader of village and everyone has to follow her."

Ranma looked at her in confusion. "You never mentioned that to us."

Shampoo-kun began to feel the first vestiges of guilt begin to affect him.
He had hoped Ranma would not have cared about that. The Amazon looked
towards Kasumi for reassurance. The eldest Tendou daughter gave
Shampoo-kun a sympathetic look and nodded her head, indicating he should
continue. "Shampoo not tell many things. Shampoo sorry, so she tell now.
Shampoo tell Ranma and Pop about how she mighty warrior in village and can
no go back because boy."

Ranma began to relax a bit. This was information he knew. "Yeah. I kind of
figured it's got something to do with how you guys are all girls and now
you're a man, so that could kind of be embarrassing or something."

Shampoo-kun found himself shifting nervously. "There more to it than that.
Is against law for Amazon to become man. Even if not warrior, can still no
turn into man and get Nanniichuan curse. Is one of Amazon's most sacred
laws. No one break it in over three hundred years."

"It was just an accident. No one can blame you for that," Akane said.

Shampoo-kun found himself shuddering as the full consequences of what he
had done came to the forefront again. ""That no make difference. Is no
excuse for becoming mans."

"And what happens to someone if they get hit with a Nanniichuan curse?"
Soun asked.

The Amazon composed himself as best as he could. "One of two things.
Either banishment or death."

The others looked on in shock. Kasumi placed her hand over Shampoo-kun's
in an effort to comfort him.

"If it was an accident, they'd banish you, right?" Akane asked, not
feeling very confident about the answer.

"If Shampoo had gone to home right away, maybe. Maybe not. Probably not.
But since Shampoo run, is no chance of that now. If they find Shampoo has
boy-type curse, is death for sure."

"If your great grandmother is the leader, can't she protect you?" Nabiki
asked.

"No," Shampoo-kun shook his head. "Even if she could make them banish
Shampoo instead of kill, it would no work. Great grandmother being leader
is worse that way. One cursed with Nanniichuan is expected to kill self to
make up for grave crime that was done. If warrior banished instead of kill
self, then dishonor fall on family. Great grandmother would not want
family to suffer for Shampoo mistake, and Shampoo not want family to
suffer either," she added.

Nabiki considered everything that she had heard. "Well, I think the
answer's simple. She doesn't know you're a guy, right? So just remain one
until she leaves."

"That not work," Shampoo-kun said. "Great Grandmother not leave now she
know Shampoo here. She stay until find, and eventually she figure out what
going on. Great grandmother is very smart. She figure out eventually."

"Well, we won't let her take you," Akane slammed a fist on the table. She
turned to Ranma. "Isn't that right?"

Ranma looked up at her, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. "Yeah, I
won't let her get Shampoo," he said distractedly.

After that, the meeting broke up and everyone but Kasumi and Shampoo-kun
went their separate ways. Kasumi remained behind to continue to reassure
the Amazon that everything would be all right.

Shampoo-kun eventually left Kasumi's side, feeling a little better after
receiving such heartfelt sympathy. However, his mind eventually turned to
the other he would have to confront. Someone that might not have
understood why he had did what he had done. After getting some hot water,
it took Shampoo only minutes to locate Ranma. Apparently, after he had
left the meeting he went to the dojo and had begun working out. He was
sweating appreciatively and moving through his katas quickly, but it was
obvious to Shampoo that there was an intensity in the patterns that wasn't
usually there. It could have meant many things, but there was one in
particular that Shampoo feared was the cause.

Before the Amazon could say anything, Ranma spoke. "Why didn't you tell
me?" Even as he asked the question, he continued uninterrupted through the
katas.

"W...Why not Shampoo tell you what?" Even Shampoo realized she didn't
sound the least bit convincing.

If Ranma noticed, he gave no indication of it. "About your grandmother,
and the real reason why you left the village."

It was just as she had feared. Part of Shampoo wanted to say it didn't
matter and try to play off the whole situation as insignificant, but she
knew it wouldn't work. She began her explanation as best as she could,
fearing it would make no difference anyway. "Shampoo knew could no stay in
village when fall into spring. Had to go away. Far away. When meet Ranma,
she know you from far away lands. You offer to help Shampoo, so Shampoo
accept offer and go with you. If Ranma find out travel with Shampoo might
bring trouble, Shampoo think you not want her go with you. Then Shampoo
all alone. Is no one else that can help. Shampoo not know what to do if
that happen."

Ranma continued with his katas, moving even more quickly through them, as
he said, "Fine. Why didn't you tell me after you got to know me?"

"Shampoo not know how to tell since she no tell before. Maybe think it
seem like Shampoo use Ranma only to get to Japan and Shampoo not do that.
Shampoo like being around Ranma. Shampoo not want to have to leave, so not
say anything."

Ranma's voice became louder as he continued his kata. "You should have
trusted me. Pop I could understand, I don't trust him half the time, but
me? Have I ever done anything to make you think I would ditch you because
of a little trouble?"

"No," Shampoo answered, fear trickling into her voice as she felt Ranma
getting progressively angrier by the moment. There was nothing Shampoo
felt she could come up with that would satisfy Ranma's anger. Nothing.

Ranma hid nothing as he moved with even more speed through the katas and
sounded even angrier than before. "So, even after you knew you could trust
me, and I wouldn't run out on you, you still didn't feel the need to tell
me?"

Shampoo's voice began to crack. "Shampoo explain to Ranma, not know how to
tell to make you understand."

And at last Ranma halted, stopping in mid-motion in one of the katas. It
was in the middle of a high ax kick that Ranma stopped, his foot remaining
high in the air, unwavering. His voice was smooth and lacking any anger
whatsoever as he said, "You told Kasumi."

Shampoo looked at him, stunned. "What you mean?"

Ranma remained as motionless as a statue. "I watched Kasumi the whole time
you were telling us about your grandmother. She wasn't surprised in the
least. She already knew all about it. You already told her."

Shampoo had no idea of what to say. How could she tell him that she had to
tell Kasumi because she kissed the girl, and couldn't have left it at
that? "Telling Kasumi was no for same reason Shampoo not tell you."

Ranma at last dropped his leg down. He turned to look at Shampoo-kun,
anger evident on his features. "So what you're saying is, you trusted
somebody that you've known for only several weeks, more than someone
you've known for several months."

Shampoo felt like crying. It was turning out worse than she imagined. She
had guessed that Ranma might have been angry with her for not telling the
truth sooner, but this was completely unexpected. He was positively
enraged. And with the pain that had already been plaguing Shampoo since
her great grandmother's return, the pain from the knowledge that someone
she loved would probably send her to his death, she began to break down.
Tears formed in her eyes as she stammered out. "Shampoo not know... don't
know how..." And she ran off, exiting by shattering one of the dojo walls
in her haste as her sobs trailed behind her.

Ranma felt his anger disappear almost as quickly as Shampoo had run off.
Guilt began replacing the anger as he immediately felt sorry for his
behavior. He tried forcing the guilt away since it was just plain wrong.
He had every right to be angry for Shampoo lying to him like that. As mad
as he was at being kept in the dark, he didn't think he would have been so
angry if Kasumi had not obviously known about it beforehand. How could
Shampoo show more trust in Kasumi than him? Even he was surprised by how
much that detail had bothered him.

The debate about remaining angry with Shampoo, or letting it go and maybe
hunting her down, was interrupted when Akane came in through the hole in
the wall. She took a good look at it, and began putting two and two
together. "What did you do to Shampoo?"

Ranma heard the accusation in her voice, as though he were the bad guy. "I
didn't do nothin'."

"Then why was she running from you and crying?"

The stress of the whole situation began to tell on Ranma as he said, "Look
it's between Shampoo and me! All right?"

"No it is not all right!" Akane snapped back. "She's under a great deal of
pressure and your doing whatever it is you're doing to her isn't helping
things. Whatever you're arguing about can wait until later."

"I just found out about it! I couldn't let it pass."

"That is so typical of you," Akane snorted.  "If you have a problem then
you have to solve it, no matter who gets trampled on in the process. Your
father's right. You do only think about yourself." She turned to leave. "I
am going to help Shampoo, because, unlike you, I do care about other
people." And without a backward glance she walked out.

Ranma stood there, looking at the hole in the wall. Akane was wrong. He
wasn't the bad guy here, Shampoo was. But even so, he began to consider
the words Akane had said.


Akane ran through the neighborhood, looking for Shampoo. Following the
trail was actually easy as Shampoo had apparently been so overcome with
emotion that she left a trail of broken walls behind her, making 'doors'
in anything that was in her path. Eventually the trail ended at the top of
a small office building with a water tower on the top. What was even more
surprising was that Shampoo was in her normal form, sitting out in the
open for the whole world to see. As Shampoo turned to see the newcomer,
Akane got a good look at her face. Shampoo's eyes were red-rimmed,
obviously from crying. Whatever Ranma had done had upset Shampoo even
worse that Akane had imagined.

Akane's heart went out to her as she talked in soothing tones. "It's
dangerous for you to be out like this until we take care of this
grandmother business. Why don't we get you some water so you can change?"

"It not matter Great Grandmother find or not. Shampoo no care anymore,"
Shampoo stared off in the distance.

"And why is that?" Akane asked.

"Ranma hate Shampoo."

So that was what it was about. Akane was surprised at how strong a
reaction Shampoo was having to whatever words had been exchanged between
her and Ranma. "Look, Ranma has all the sensitivity of a rock. Don't pay
any attention to what he says. Whatever it is that's got him angry at you
is no big deal."

Shampoo shook her head. "Ranma right to be angry. Shampoo know do bad
thing but not fix it. So should be punished."

"And do you honestly believe that your grandmother finding you is the
solution to the problem?"

Hesitation creeped into Shampoo's voice. "Shampoo not know what to think.
Never been in situation like this. Not know how deal with it."

Victory was at hand. Akane saw that she had gotten through to Shampoo. All
that was left was to get her out of the public eye so they could discuss
things in private. "Look, we'll go inside, change you, and talk about it.
O.K."

Shampoo nodded her head in agreement, feeling better at the brief talk
Akane gave. Just as she got up, she saw the figure that now stood a little
distance behind Akane. The gasp Shampoo gave out attracted Akane's
attention. She turned around to see what it was Shampoo was staring at.
Much to Akane's surprise, it was a gnome on top of a stick.

Cologne cleared her throat. "Please stay. I have a few questions to ask."
The tone was polite, but held an undertone of command to it.

Akane looked at the old woman closely. She didn't appear harmful, but
there was something about her that made Akane cautious anyway. Still, the
conversation was civil, at least for the moment. "So you're her
grandmother?"

"Yes. And you are?"

"I'm Akane Tendou."

Cologne gave a brief bow from atop her staff. "I am pleased to meet you.
Now if you'll excuse us, I have a few things to discuss with my great
granddaughter."

Akane made certain Cologne would have to go through her to get to Shampoo.
"I'm sorry but she really doesn't want to talk to you right now. Why don't
you go back to China and wait for her to work things out? I'm sure she'll
come back when she's ready." Akane didn't have any real hope for her
proposal, but she felt she had to try. She did tense up, expecting things
to change at any second.

There was little in the way of an outward change involving Cologne, but
both Akane and Shampoo could feel the irritation creep into the elder's
voice. "Shampoo is coming with me. She has many things that she still has
to do. Starting with telling me why she came to Japan." She turned to
Shampoo and began speaking in Chinese. ""

Shampoo found the courage to answer. ""

Cologne's patience was at an end. She had tried being polite. She had
tried being understanding, yet her own flesh and blood was defying her
with little hesitation. Something was going on, and Cologne was damned if
she wasn't going to get to the bottom of it immediately. "< Shampoo, You
will do what I say. Come here!>

Akane grew frustrated at being unable to follow the conversation. "I don't
know what you two are talking about, but Shampoo is staying here. Got it!"

Cologne turned to Akane, a hint of menace in her eyes. "This is none of
your business, Akane Tendou. If you seek to interfere with Amazon matters,
you will be dealt with in Amazon fashion."

"Just try it!" Akane got into a defensive stance. She didn't know how
powerful Cologne was, but it didn't matter. She wasn't going to take
Shampoo anywhere without a fight.

"Stay away from them!"

All three sets of eyes turned to the newcomer. Akane and Shampoo both
said, "Ranma."

"Looks like I got here just in time." Ranma had reluctantly admitted to
himself that Akane had a point. No matter how angry he was at Shampoo, he
could have waited to deal with it. Besides, it was going outside as a girl
that had placed her in danger, and he had been a little bit responsible
for getting her angry enough to do that. Although it was also Shampoo's
fault for not thinking more clearly than that. Now it appeared Shampoo's
great grandmother had indeed found her wayward charge. And if Shampoo had
not been exaggerating, Ranma knew it would fall to him to save the day.

"Look, Granny," Ranma warned as he approached Cologne. "Shampoo doesn't
wanna go with you and that's final. So why don't you just hop along back
to China before we have to send you there."

Shampoo watched in horror as, instead of attacking, Ranma placed his hand
on Cologne's shoulder. Cologne's eyes narrowed ever so slightly as she
placed her own hand on top of Ranma's and with a flick of her wrist,
hurled him fifteen feet away, causing him to land on his back.

His pride damaged far more than his body, Ranma returned to his feet and
rushed to the attack, now more than aware of his opponent's martial arts
abilities. "You're a tricky old thing, aren't you? Well you won't fool me
a second time."

Cologne casually dodged his first two attempted blows, slightly impressed
by both the skill and speed with which he delivered them. For his troubles
he received a swat between the eyes from Cologne's staff. The blow was
sufficient to cause Ranma to back off for a moment.

"You have potential, Ranma, was it?. You're pretty good," Cologne informed
him.

Ranma was unable to tell if she was being serious or if she was mocking
him. In either case, he prepared to attack her again. "You ain't seen
nuthin' yet."

Ranma attacked using all of his abilities, but his frustration rose as the
old woman seemed to evade or block all of his attacks with ridiculous
ease. Slowly, she began to retaliate, each one of her carefully chosen
blows landing on their mark. Even as she fought Ranma, she kept one eye on
the other two girls nearby. She saw Akane, and much to Cologne's surprise,
Shampoo, wince every time Cologne landed a blow on the boy. After hitting
Ranma several more times to be sure, she temporarily broke off the attack
by hurling Ranma away from her once more.

Cologne turned to Shampoo. "I think I understand now. Shampoo, did this
boy defeat you in combat and make you come to Japan as his wife? You
should have told me. I would have had a long talk with him about the
merits of Joketsuzoku. He is a good one, an excellent fighter.
Good-looking as well. There would have been no shame in losing to him."

Shampoo felt her cheeks become warmer at the mere suggestion that she and
Ranma were married. "Shampoo not fight Ranma. He not husband."

Cologne let out a sigh. She had been so certain that was what had
happened. "Then why did you come to Japan? There are many important things
for you to do back home. You don't have time for vacations." She smacked
the attacking Ranma to the side.

"Shampoo can no tell."

Ranma's temper had hit the breaking point. The old woman was carrying on a
conversation with someone and treating him like he was an annoying flea.
"Quit talking like I'm not here and fight, you old ghoul!"

Cologne took his advice and casually tossed him through one of the
chimneys on the roof. Seeing the blow had sufficiently stunned Ranma
enough to keep him out of the way for a while, she turned back to Shampoo.
Much to Cologne's surprise, Akane now stood between her and her goal.

"It's my turn now." And with that as her battle cry, Akane attacked.

The ancient Amazon deflected her attacks even more casually than she had
Ranma's. Nonetheless, she found herself impressed once again. "Not bad,
girl. I didn't know Japanese women could fight as well as you. Ever
consider becoming an Amazon? We are always willing to embrace those that
can fight."

"No thanks. I'm happy at home," Akane said as she tried to get through
Cologne's defenses. Although she did find herself flattered by the offer.
Most people didn't seem to take her martial arts skills seriously anymore.
At least not since Ranma and Shampoo had hit town.

"That's too bad," Cologne said as she allowed Akane to overextend on a
punch and maneuvered behind her. A quick touch to a pressure point on the
back of Akane's neck caused her to collapse in a heap. With the last
defender out of the way, Cologne turned to Shampoo.

"Did you hurt her?" Shampoo asked.

"It was nothing more than a pressure point attack," Cologne explained.
""

Shampoo looked the scene of carnage over. Even if she could bring herself
to fight her great grandmother, she wouldn't have stood a chance. Before
today, Shampoo would have insisted that if her great grandmother had found
her, she would have fought with everything she had to keep from being
forced to go back to home and her death. But now, she found her spirit
faltering, especially with what had gone on with Ranma earlier in the day.
It was time to show her great grandmother the truth and see what would
come about.

"" Shampoo walked under the nearby water tower
that was on the roof. With a quick jump, she brought her fist upward and
shattered the bottom of the quarter-filled tank. The water was torrential
as it poured from out of the bottom of the tower and drenched Shampoo,
temporarily obscuring her from view. As the last of the water fell from
the tower, Cologne got an unrestricted view of her 'great granddaughter.'

Cologne stood there, mouth agape. There was nothing that could have
prepared her for the horror her eyes beheld. Now Shampoo's previous
behavior made perfect sense. A Nanniichuan curse. How could it have
happened? No Amazon had received the curse since before Cologne was born,
and now it had happened to her very own great granddaughter. A sinking
feeling in Cologne's stomach made its presence known. The feeling was so
great, it was as though the elder had found out Shampoo had died. In
truth, it might have been better if such a thing had occurred. Now, with a
Nanniichaun curse and the dishonor that would follow, Shampoo might have
been given a fate even worse than a simple death.

Cologne's mind was still reeling from the starling revelation when a blow
struck her fully in the back of the head. For the first time in one
hundred years, she had completely dropped her guard, and it was at that
moment that the recovered Ranma chose to strike as hard as he could. One
solid blow was all it took to crumple Cologne over and cause her to fall
to the ground, unconscious.

Ranma looked over the prone body, barely convinced that he had won so
easily. He had been certain the old ghoul was going to dodge the blow.
That he had connected so effortlessly came as a shock to him. Then his ego
kicked in and reassured him that he would've won anyway, so a lucky break
just made the inevitable arrive more quickly.

Shampoo-kun rushed over to examine his great grandmother. That she had
discovered the truth meant nothing; he still cared for her. "Sorry, Great
Grandmother," he said too quiet for the others to hear.

The pressure point move wore off of Akane as she regained her feet and
joined the others. "What do we do now?"

Ranma placed his hand to his chin in thought. After a few moments, it came
to him. "I got an idea."


Cologne awakened from the dreams of plying the Indian Ocean as a
privateer, just as she had in her youth. She was surprised, since she had
not had that dream in well over a hundred years. It was as she opened her
eyes that she discovered that the smell of brine was not exclusive to her
dreams. Sitting up, she found herself on the open seas on a large raft
with several crates of food on it. There was, however, no sign of either
sail or motor with which to propel the craft. Once she found her staff had
been also placed on the raft, it didn't matter. She immediately placed in
the water and, using a modified kachuu tenshin amagurikan, spun it like a
propeller. In moments she was speeding along on the ocean almost as
quickly as if she did have an engine.

Returning to civilization, and then Japan, would take a while, but it was
just as well. She needed time to not only let the newfound information
concerning Shampoo's curse settle in, but exactly what she was going to do
about it. Whatever course she would take, she knew it would not be an easy
one. And it would not bode well for Shampoo, no matter what.


Epilogue


The diminutive figure pulled itself out of the cave and into the cloud
covered day. After being trapped in the blasted thing for a decade, a
lighting bolt had finally shattered the huge boulder that had been
blocking the opening. It took the small man several minutes to reorient
himself, now that he was aware of his freedom again. It was as he was
still reorienting that he recalled the nature of how his imprisonment came
about. Those two ungrateful students of his were going to pay for being so
inept and not using enough explosives. If a person intended to eliminate
his enemies, he had to do the job right. That was what he had taught them
for so many years, and now they had disappointed him one more time.

Happosai sighed. A master's work was never done.

    Source: geocities.com/tokyo/towers/5920