####  ****  ####

Ranma-chan had not realized just how hungry she was until the
waitress set the steaming bowl in front of her.  The soup was good,
and it was hot - spreading its warmth through her and helping to
drive out the chill.  She finished the soup and the first pot of tea in
short order, and had just gotten a second pot of tea when she once
more turned her attention to less immediate but more important
matters.

Akane's last words still echoed in her mind - [I hate you!] - <Can it be
that she really means it?>  Ranma-chan wondered.  <I know we fight
all the time, but I thought... I honestly thought that she liked me just
a little...>

There had been times when she could be so kind and gentle - they
were rare, but they had happened.  <That was an Akane that I really
liked - an Akane that was beautiful when she smiled...>  Ranma-chan
smiled bitterly at the memories.

<If she hated me so much, then why did she get so upset when the
others started showing up?  If she was that unhappy about being
engaged to me, you'd have thought that she'd have been *glad* to
have Ucchan or Shampoo or someone else free her from it.  I just
don't get it.>

<Of course, I should have been nicer to her, too.  Why shouldn't she
hate me?  All I've ever done is make fun of her...  tease her about
her cooking, or her looks.  And she *is* cute...  I've botched every
chance that I've gotten to try and make things better.  Just when I
start to think that I'm making some progress, I say that one thing too
many and spoil it all.  Yep, that's me;  Saotome Ranma - the fastest
mouth in all of Japan.>

Ranma-chan buried her face in her hands and sighed in despair.  "Oh
Akane... this is never going to work, is it?"  She felt her eyes burn as
she struggled against the urge to cry.

After a moment or two, Ranma-chan looked up to see the waitress
standing by the booth with a small tray in her hands.  When she saw
that Ranma-chan had noticed her, she set the tray on the table and
slid into the seat on the other side of the booth.  The tray contained a
warm sake bottle, and two cups.  Ranma-chan gave the waitress an
inquiring look.

The waitress shrugged.  "It's on the house," she said.  "You looked so
unhappy - I thought you could use a little help."  She poured hot
sake into the two cups and passed one over to Ranma-chan.

Ranma-chan smiled weakly at her.  "Thanks..." she said.  "That's very
kind of you."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really..." began Ranma-chan.

"It'll make you feel better," the waitress said.  She raised a hand to
forestall Ranma-chan's objection.  "Hey, I won't pressure you... but
I've seen this sort of thing a lot.  Relationship trouble, right?"

Ranma-chan thought of no fewer than three witty but rude replies,
but for once, the brain was working faster than the mouth, and she
uttered none of them.  <After all, she's only trying to be nice.
Besides, what can I possibly have to lose?>  "You could say that," she
answered.

"I knew it.  By the way, my name's Akemi.  Roppongi Akemi"

"'Red Haired Beauty', eh?  Saotome Ranma desu.  Pleased to meet
you."

Akemi smiled and raised her sake cup.  "To redheads!" she said
solemnly, and drained her cup.

Ranma-chan managed a wan smile and raised her own cup in
response.  "Kampai!"  The sake burned on its way down her throat,
but its warmth spread through her with lightning speed.  Ranma-
chan looked critically at the sake bottle and resolved to be careful
with the stuff.  The decisions that she had to make had to be made
with as clear a head as possible.  She set the cup down.

Akemi took the bottle and refilled the sake cups.  "So," she asked,
almost casually.  "Was it a bad fight?"

Ranma-chan looked at Akemi a little more respectfully.  <How had
she known?  I guess it's true, bartenders really do handle this sort of
thing all the time.>  "Bad enough," she answered, staring at her own
reflection in the sake.  "Nothing unusual, though."

"I take it that you and your spouse fight a lot, then?"

Ranma-chan coloured.  "Iinazuke.  We fight all the time.  It seems
that we're at odds whenever we're together."

She had been right.  This *was* going to be a good story.  "So how on
Earth did you two get to be engaged?  It sounds like an awfully
unlikely match."

"Arranged marriage.  Our fathers are old friends, and they decided
that we should be married before we were even born."

Akemi was horrified.  "And they expect you to go along with this?
What losers!"

"I'll say," muttered Ranma-chan.  "That's all they ever go on about.
They keep pushing us together, but it's been like mixing matter and
anti-matter."

"Damn.  So, do you care for each other at all?  Is there any feeling
between you?  Even a tiny bit?"

Ranma-chan drained her sake cup before she answered, taking the
time to choose her words with care.  "There were times...  There were
times when I thought there might be.  Every so often, we'd start to
get along and then... BANG!" she mimed an explosion, and stared into
space for a moment.  She held out the sake cup.  Akemi refilled it.
"Bang - one of us would say something... or do something... and we'd
be at each other's throats again.  Something would always happen to
spoil it."

Ranma-chan paused and sipped at her sake again.  "I...  I always
hoped that one day we might at least have been friends.  I figured
that if we could ever stop fighting long enough, we might like each
other... at least a little bit.  But it doesn't seem to have worked out
that way, and after tonight... well, I just don't believe in it anymore."

The sadness in Ranma-chan's voice, and in her eyes made Akemi
want to cry too.  "It looks to me like you cared alot.  If you hadn't,
you wouldn't be so upset now."

Ranma-chan sighed.  "It didn't do much good, did it?"

"Guys can be such insensitive jerks," said Akemi knowingly.

Ranma-chan's expression hardened, but only for a moment.  What
Akemi had said was true enough - Genma, Ryouga, Kunou, all of the
guys that were constantly chasing after Akane at school - they were
all classic examples.  <For that matter, so am I most of the time,> she
thought glumly.

Ranma-chan was not willing to take all of the blame.  "Well, girls can
be pretty insensitive too, you know?"  <Still,> she thought to herself,
<a lot of it *is* my fault...>

"You mustn't blame yourself, dear."

Ranma-chan looked sharply at Akemi before gazing down into her
sake cup.  <What is she, telepathic?>  "Why not?  It is, at least partly,
my fault.  I've really screwed this one up, and frankly, I can't figure
out any way to fix it.  Family honour and duty be damned, I'm
certainly *not* going to marry someone if it will make one or both of
us miserable."  She sighed.  "It's a pity though.  I always thought that
it would work out in the end.  I had always hoped that it might."

"You know, it sounds to me like your father is a real jackass.  He
certainly seems to be causing you loads of trouble.  No offense..."

"None taken."  Ranma-chan smiled darkly.  "You have no idea..."

Akemi raised an eyebrow.  "That sounded like a loaded remark," she
prompted.

Ranma-chan snorted.  "Pop has been screwing up my life since I was
born - him and all his stupid promises.  This isn't the only
engagement that he's arranged for me, it's just the one he wants the
most.  And, thanks to another of his promises, I'll never see my
mother again."

"She's not..."

"No, no, she's alive.  But if I go to see her, then *I'll* be dead."

Akemi looked confused.

"It's a *long* story, believe me.  You really don't want to hear it."

Akemi nodded.  "So you have more than one iinazuke?"

"At least three, right now.  And no telling how many more that Pop
hasn't yet seen fit to mention."

"Awkward."

"You have a gift for understatement."

"Why do you put up with it?  At the very least, it might help if you
got away from your father."

"Yah, I've come to pretty much the same conclusion.  I know for a
fact that my iinazuke will be a lot happier if I'm not around."
Ranma-chan shuddered at the memory of Akane's rage filled
expression.

"Are you sure about that?  It's hard for me to believe that you could
care so much about a person if they didn't care about you at all."

Ranma-chan's smile was hollow.  "I'm sure.  She made it pretty
clear."

Akemi's eyes widened.  "She?  Your father really *is* strange." she
said.

Ranma-chan turned bright red.  "It's not what you think, really."  She
started to add 'I'm a boy', but decided that it really wasn't worth the
trouble.  She was spared the need to explain as the door to the bar
opened, and another weary looking person walked in and took a seat.

"Oh, damn," said Akemi.  "It looks like I'm back on duty."  She sighed
and slid out of the booth.  She turned back to Ranma-chan.  "I hope
that you find an answer that will make you happy," she said.  "Is
there anything else that I can get you?"

Ranma-chan managed a quick grin.  Just a pot of hot water, if it's not
too much trouble."

"I think I can manage that...  I'll be right back."

"Oh, Akemi?"  The red headed waitress paused. "Thanks.  You were
right; I do feel a little better."

Akemi smiled.  "No charge," she said.

####  ****  ####

Once Akemi had brought the kettle of hot water, Ranma-chan took it
and made a bee-line for the restrooms.  There was only the one,
meant to be used by patrons of either gender.

<Well, that's convenient,> thought Ranma-chan.  She locked herself in
the restroom and took off her still damp clothes.  After wringing
them out, she put them under the electric hand drier, and then
poured the hot water over herself.

Ranma dried himself off with paper towels and then put his clothes
back on.  They weren't perfect, but they were good enough.  Ranma
left the restroom, and dropped the kettle off by his table.  He paid
his tab, and waving once more to Akemi, walked out into the night to
begin the long trek back to the dojo.  At last, he had an answer, and
the beginnings of a plan.

Akemi and the bartender both stared after Ranma in confusion.
"Akemi..." the bartender said, "You're so drunk now you've got *ME*
seeing things."  Akemi favoured him with a nasty look.

####  ****  ####

The dojo was dark and quiet when Ranma returned.  That suited him
just fine - he was in no mood to talk to anyone, nor did he feel like
answering any questions about his activities.  If his plans were going
to work, his timing would have to be precise.

Ranma entered the room that he shared with his father as quietly as
possible.  There was a panda lying on the futon, buzzing like a saw.
Ranma sighed in relief.  When his father was snoring like that it
would take a nuclear blast to waken him.  Still, one couldn't be too
cautious.

As quietly as he was able, Ranma took his pack from the closet, and
began to fill it with his things.  His camping gear was already in the
pack, so that left him with just clothing and personal effects.  For
once, he was glad that he had never had a chance to amass too much
in the way of possessions.  Most of the things he did have were small,
and light.

Aside from a few small items, most of his personal possessions were
in the form of photographs.  Carefully, he removed these from their
frames, and placed them in between the pages of his favourite
manga.  He didn't need the extra weight the frames would add, and
the book would protect the pictures well enough until he once more
had a place to display them.

He hesitated for a long moment over a small number of pictures of
Akane.  He thought about leaving them behind, but decided against
it.  While they might be a source of pain for him in the times to come,
he could not simply erase what he had felt for Akane.  Besides, there
had been good times, and he wanted to remember them.  If only he
could forget what had come later... what had brought it all to this.  He
sighed and packed the photos with the others.

Once his pack was secured, Ranma took it downstairs to the kitchen,
where he planned on raiding the pantry.  He packed some rice, dried
meat and beans, spices, noodles, and trail mix into plastic bags and
stowed them in his pack.  Upon reflection, he put his manga and
matches into plastic bags as well.  After all, it wouldn't do to have
them get wet, and water seemed to have a way of finding him.

He had just closed up his pack and leaned it near the door when
Kasumi came down the stairs to start her preparations for the
morning.  She was a bit surprised to find Ranma of all people already
up and about.

"Well, good morning, Ranma!" she said brightly - then she noticed his
pack.  "Oh, that's right!  Today is the day you start that class trip,
isn't it?"

For a moment Ranma was in a panic.  Class trip?  What class trip?
Then it came back to him... the trip to Hiroshima!  That was a lucky
break.  If fortune smiled, that would mask his departure for almost a
week!

"Yep, it sure is!" he said.  "And today, there is *no way* that I'm
gonna be late."

Kasumi smiled.  "You must really be looking forward to this trip,
Ranma.  I hope you have fun."

"It's a trip that I've needed to take," said Ranma honestly.  "Should
have gone a long time ago.  Anyway, I'm off.  Gotta get a good seat!"
He hesitated a moment, and turned back to the girl that might have
been his sister in law.  "Kasumi..." he began.

"Yes, Ranma?  What is it?" she asked.

He gave her a quick hug.  "Thank you... for everything.  You've been
very kind."  With that he grabbed his pack and bolted out the door,
running in the general direction of Furinkan High.

####  ****  ####

Kasumi watched Ranma as he trotted off towards the school.  <Now I
wonder what he meant by that?>  She thought to herself.
Somewhere in her subconscious an alarm bell rang, but it was too
faint for her to hear.

####  ****  ####

Even though he had just had breakfast, Saotome Genma was hungry.
Lunch would not be for hours yet, and there was no snack food in the
house.  That left him with two options - waiting for lunch or going
out to get something.  The problem with the first option was that self
control had never been one of his strong points, never mind self
denial.  The problem with the second option was that he had no
money.  While there was no shortcut around the first hurdle, the
second was easier - he would just borrow a little money from
Ranma's piggy bank.  He'd have it back to him before the boy was
even aware that he'd borrowed it.

Genma made his way quietly into the room that he and Ranma
shared at the dojo.  After satisfying himself that Ranma was not
there, he went to the cupboard where Ranma kept his meager
savings.  However, when he opened the door, Ranma's piggy bank
was nowhere to be found.

"Cheeky boy," Genma muttered to himself.  "He's gone and moved it.
Well, it has to be here somewhere."  Genma began to search through
the storage areas in their room, but he did not get far.  When he
opened the closet where Ranma kept his clothes, it too, was empty.

"Now *that's* odd,"  Genma muttered.  He opened the other closet and
was disturbed to find that Ranma's frame pack and bedroll were also
gone.  For once in his life Genma jumped to the correct conclusion...
that Ranma had run off.  Of course, Genma assumed that Ranma was
headed for China and Jyusenkyou, but no one can be right all the
time.

####  ****  ####

Akane was riffling through things in her closet when there was a
knock at the door.  "Come in," she called, her head still buried in the
depths of her wardrobe.

The door opened and Genma entered the room.  "Akane-kun, have
you seen Ranma?"

"Not this morning, no..." came the reply from the closet.  "Why do you
ask?"

Genma hesitated before answering, but he pressed on.  "Well, his
pack and his clothes are gone and..."

"Good,"  said Akane as she backed out of the closet.  "When he wasn't
at breakfast, I was afraid he was going to be late again."  She was
dragging her own pack out of the closet toward the bed where she
had clothes and other items already sorted and laid out.

"Late?" Genma asked.  "You mean you know what's going on?"

"Of course I know, Uncle Saotome," said Akane as she started
transferring material from her bed to her pack.  "Our class is going on
a field trip to Hiroshima.  We'll be gone about a week."

"Ahh so." said a very much relieved Genma.  "Ranma never said
anything about it...  I just found his pack missing and..."  He decided
it would not be politic to go any further into exactly what he had
been afraid of.  Besides, it obviously wasn't necessary.

As Akane finished packing and filling Genma in on the details of the
trip, Kasumi walked by and looked in.  "Ahh!"  She said.  "I see you're
about ready for your trip.  Have a good time!"

"Hai, Onee-chan,"  Akane replied.  "Would you please tell Ranma that
I'll be ready in just a few minutes?"

"I would, but Ranma left over an hour ago," said Kasumi.  "He seemed
to be very concerned about not being late..."

"He WHAT?!  That jerk!  You'd think he could have at least waited for
me!"  Akane said angrily.  She shoved the last few items into her
pack, sealed it, slung it onto her shoulders and stomped out of her
room toward the stairs.

Genma watched her go.  He did not envy his son when his iinazuke
caught up with him.

####  ****  ####

Ranma sat in a kissaten, nursing a cup of cocoa.  He watched from the
window of the little coffee shop as Akane stalked by on her way
from the dojo to the school.  He could tell that she was angry.  Well,
at least *he* wouldn't be making her angry anymore.

As Akane vanished into the distance, Ranma's vision started to blur.
He reached up to wipe at his eyes and was surprised to find his hand
came away damp.  "Dammit," he said to himself.  "Guys do *not* cry!"
He looked one last time in the direction Akane had gone.  "Good bye,
Akane," he said.  "I wish we could have been friends at least."

Friends indeed.  That possibility, Ranma now realized, had died the
instant Akane had discovered that he was a boy.  She had been so
angry after walking in on him in the bath - as if it were somehow his
fault.  What had she wanted?  How could he have told her?  He'd
been stuck from the moment she had said she was glad he was a girl.

Ranma hadn't known what to think, or how to handle it all.  He had
thought that maybe he had found a friend again - it had been years
since he'd had a real friend - and it had blown up in his face.  Just
because he was a boy.  It was so unfair!

Worse, she had taken to blaming him for everything.  As if he had
*chosen* to be cursed - to be engaged to someone against their will -
to have every fruitcake in Japan after him for one reason or another.
Did she really think that he *liked* it?  Did she really think so little
of him?

Nothing that he could do would bridge the gap, either.  Most of the
time he was not sure that he *wanted* to bridge the gap.  It was
easier to keep her at arms length - where she couldn't hurt him any
more.  It had seemed rational at the time, but it had been a mistake.
She *had* hurt him; and he had hurt her.  Both had lost, and neither
had been willing to back down.

If she had only trusted him... believed in him... even once, things
might have been different.  But no, she always assumed the worst.
Timing was everything, and Akane's was the worst.  If there was a
bad moment for her to see him, that was when she walked in.  And if
a girl was involved it got really ugly.

Why would she think he was chasing girls?  Didn't she think that he
had enough girl problems without looking for more?  As if he would
even *consider* chasing a girl like Kodachi.  Ranma shuddered.  And
Shampoo, with her... affectionate and uninhibited nature... had just
made things go from bad to worse.

At least Ranma had an idea for dealing with Shampoo.  It was not his
first choice, nor was he particularly proud of it, but it was simple,
and it ought to be effective.  Ranma dug in his pack for paper and a
pen and started writing...

Half an hour later, Ranma left the kissaten and headed away from
the school.  He had a few hours to kill before he could make his next
move, and it would not do if he were seen before then.

####  ****  ####

Akane stalked through the gates at Furinkan High with a full head of
steam.  Her irritation with Ranma had grown with every passing
moment.  They *always* walked to school together.  Why on Earth
hadn't he waited for her?  She had always waited for him, after all.

Akane still couldn't get over the fact that Ranma had been ready to
go before she was.  He had never made any effort to get to school
early before.  Could he really have been that excited about this trip?
Surely not.  Akane looked around at the groups of students that were
gathering in preparation for their departure.  She could not see any
sign of Ranma.

Finally, Akane spotted Hinako-sensei over to one side with a large
clip board in her hands.  She was marking off names as students
checked in.  She would know where Ranma could be found.

Ninomiya Hinako looked up as Akane approached.  After scanning
her list, she put a check mark by the name of Tendou, Akane.

"Ohayou, Tendou-san," she said cheerfully.  "Are you ready to go?"

"Ohayou, sensei," Akane replied.  "Hai!  Tell me, have you seen
Ranma?"

"Saotome-kun?" Hinako asked.  She checked her list.  "He hasn't
checked in yet, no.  He's not going to be late again, is he?"

"He shouldn't be...  He left the dojo over an hour before I did!  I can't
imagine where he could be."

Hinako was surprised.  "Hontou?"  She looked around the clumps of
students gathered in the school yard.  She could see no sign of Ranma
either.  "Perhaps he is already at the station - several other students
have gone ahead.  He may be with them."

####  ****  ####

When the procession from Furinkan reached the train station, there
was still no sign of Ranma.  A number of students were already at
the station, waiting for the rest of them to show up.  None of them
had seen any sign of Ranma.

Akane was vacillating between anger and worry.  Where had the big
jerk gone?  He had left early so he would be sure to be on time, and
yet there was no trace of him.  Akane was beginning to worry that
something had happened to him, but she could not imagine a threat
that could so thoroughly remove any trace of his passage.  There had
been no signs of any battles that she had seen on her way to school.
No, more likely, he had stopped somewhere for a snack and had lost
track of time.  It would be just like him.

Hinako sensei was also mildly irritated with Saotome-kun.  He was
not, she thought, setting a good example for the rest of the students.
In fact, he was again behaving suspiciously like a delinquent.  She
walked over to where Akane was standing.

"Tendou-san...  Are you sure that Saotome-kun started out so early
this morning?"

Akane bristled.  "Hai, sensei.  Onee-chan was very specific on that
point.  I don't know where he could have gotten to..."

"I suppose it's possible that he took the earlier train..." said Hinako
thoughtfully.  "If he left when you say he did, he could have gotten
here in plenty of time to make it."

Akane did not look convinced so Hinako took pity on her.  "Don't
worry, Tendou-san.  He'll turn up.  After all," she added darkly, "He
knows what I'll do to him if he doesn't."

####  ****  ####

When lunch time came, Ranma headed for the Nekohanten.  As he
approached the Chinese restaurant, it was doing a brisk business - it
was a popular lunch spot for its excellent food and reasonable prices.
Before he had too much time to reflect on the nature of its success,
Shampoo had spotted him and bounded over with one of her more
enthusiastic greetings.  For a moment, Ranma felt his resolve waver...
Shampoo was beautiful, and there was no doubting the sincerity of
her affection.  She was also his best chance for a cure.  However...
Ranma summoned the will power to gently disengage himself from
her embrace.

"Ranma!"  she bubbled.  "You come in and Shampoo make special
ramen for you, yes?"

Ranma nodded, and followed her into the restaurant.  She led him to
a table in the corner that was set somewhat apart from most of the
others.  He set his pack down against the wall next to the table and
sat down.  Shampoo bounced off to get the food, leaving Ranma with
a moment at least, to catch his breath and plan his strategy.

Shampoo returned in short order with two huge, steaming bowls of
ramen.  She set one on the table in front of Ranma, and sat down
with the other across from him.  She looked pointedly at the pack he
had set in the corner.  "Ranma going somewhere?" she asked.

Ranma looked guilty for a moment, but recovered with admirable
speed.  When his mouth was no longer full of ramen, he answered
her.  "Yah, I thought I might take a little training trip... things have
been kind of quiet around here lately, and I can't afford to let myself
get out of shape."

Shampoo nodded knowingly.  "Ranma have fight with Akane again,
no?"  She was beautiful, but she was not stupid.

Ranma turned red and fidgeted with his food a bit.  After a moment,
he decided that there would be no harm in telling Shampoo the truth
- at least a part of it.  Besides that, he never had possessed any real
talent for prevarication.  "Ranma have fight with Akane," he agreed.
"Ranma tired of fighting with Akane."  Somehow, borrowing
Shampoo's habit of referring to himself in the third person had made
that admission a little easier.

Shampoo smiled to herself.  She had been waiting for this for a long,
long time.  With Akane out of the picture, Ranma would at last be
hers.  "Shampoo go get packed.  Be right back!"

Ranma grabbed her wrist before she could get up.  "No, Shampoo.
Not yet.  There are still a few things that I have to do.  A few Mousse,
er, loose ends that need to be tied up."

Shampoo looked at him inquiringly.

Ranma reached into one of the pockets on his pack and withdrew an
envelope.  It was addressed to Mousse.  He handed it to Shampoo.  "I
need you to deliver this for me," he told her.

Shampoo made a show of examining the packet.  "What you send to
Mousse?" she asked.

"It's a letter of challenge,"  Ranma said.  "The fight between us has to
be settled, once and for all."

Shampoo looked at Ranma in surprise.  "You serious?  You fight
Mousse for Shampoo?  Aiyaah!  Shampoo so happy!"

Ranma felt a sharp stab of guilt.  In a few days, Shampoo would not
be quite so pleased.  He tried hard to push that out of his mind.  This
was the way it had to be.  It was the only way that it could work.
But there was no rule that said he had to like it.

Ranma stood up and picked up his pack.  He turned back to Shampoo,
who was still gloating a bit over her perceived good fortune.  He
sighed.  "Shampoo..."  She looked up at him.  "Don't be too hard on
him, okay?  He has feelings too."  Shampoo looked a bit confused, but
nodded agreement.

With phase two of his plan set into motion, Saotome Ranma walked
out of the Nekohanten and into the snow-covered afternoon.

####  ****  ####