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Clogged Sink Press Presents:

Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction:

                         The Great Ramen Run Around                   


By:Plunger

   All characters copyright of Rumiko Takahashi Shogakukan Inc. and Viz         
               Communications, etc., etc., blah, blah, blah... 
______________________________________________________________________________

[Tendou Dojo, Afternoon]

Ranma sat in the lounge room and held an ice pack against his face. As usual,
he had opened his mouth and put his foot in it. Akane had hammered him 
merely for trying to avoid food poisoning and he was feeling depressed. No
matter how hard he tried, he always made Akane mad. It wasn't that he planned 
it, or tried to hurt her...it just kept happening. 

He sighed and closed his eyes, wishing for a simpler life. He cautiously 
opened his eyes, making sure his wish hadn't accidently come true. The room 
looked the same...and so did Akane as she stormed in. 

"Ranma! What have you done with P-chan?" she accused. 

Ranma jumped up, "I haven't touched your pig! Did I have ham for lunch? NO! I 
had that nameless THING you shoved at me!" 

Akane turned red and growled. 

"Yipe!" said Ranma as he turned to run. 

Akane blasted him through the roof and stomped off, "Baka..." she muttered.

Ranma landed in an alley and lay there for a while, unconscious. He woke 
eventually and looked around, "Where'd she hit me to this time?" he wondered.
He got up and walked out to the street. As luck would have it, he was right 
near the Nekohanten. 

Ranma sighed, "Shampoo's bound to see me, so I may as well go see her... At 
least she doesn't hit me!" 

He walked up the door and went in.

Shampoo looked up from her place at the counter and smiled widely, "Ranma! 
You come to see Shampoo!" She jumped up and ran over to him. Ranma looked 
flustered as Shampoo threw her arms around him and hugged him fiercely. She 
eventually let go and looked at him. "Ranma... What happen to you?" she asked.

Ranma sighed, "Akane happened." he muttered. 

Shampoo smiled and said, "Akane too violent. Ranma should marry Shampoo!" 

Ranma paled, "Pass..." 

She shrugged, "Is matter of time." 

Ranma suddenly felt a great desire to be somewhere else, "I gotta go! See ya!" 

Ranma ran out before Shampoo could grab him. She sighed and contemplated 
chasing. She discarded the idea as Ranma was too fast. 

Ranma ran back to the dojo, jumping from rooftop to rooftop. He arrived soon 
after and went inside. 

In the kitchen, Kasumi was making dinner. She saw Ranma poke his head around 
the corner and said, "Ranma-kun... Have you and Akane had another fight?" 

Ranma sighed and walked in, "Yeah.... What's new?" 

Kasumi smiled, "You have to try to be less blunt. You're a bit abrasive, you 
know..."

Ranma nodded weakly, "It's not my fault. She just gets to me!" 

Kasumi smiled again, "Don't you think you do that to her?" 

Ranma nodded, "Yeah... So...?"  

Kasumi explained, "Think about how you feel and consider Akane's feelings." 

Ranma shrugged dismissively, "Okay..." 

Kasumi smiled, "Good. You two need to talk more and fight less if you're 
getting married." 

Ranma scowled, "I am not marrying Akane." he said quietly, "She is way too 
macho!" 

Kasumi nodded, having heard this before, "You're a bad liar, Ranma. Why don't 
you just admit your feelings?" 

Ranma got up and stormed out, "I don't have any!" he stated firmly.

Kasumi smiled and went back to her work. Sometimes Ranma needed a little 
prodding.

Ranma went and sulked on the porch for a while. He thought about what Kasumi 
had said, "...consider Akane's feelings..." He tried to, but he never knew 
what she was liable to do. Sighing, he got up. He decided to go and apolagize 
to Akane. There was no point in putting off the inevitable...

He walked up to Akane's room and knocked. Akane opened the door and frowned 
when she saw it was Ranma. She left it open and went back to her desk. Ranma
moved gingerly into the room and stood silently for a while. 

Finally Akane turned and said, "What do you want? If it's a social call, I'm 
not interested." That said, she turned back to her desk and ignored him. 

Ranma fumed but kept his anger down, "Akane..." 

She turned back, "What?!" she asked tautly. 

He sighed, "I'm sorry about before... I guess I didn't think..." Akane gaped 
at him, "R-ranma..." she stammered, amazed. He put his hand on her arm, "It's 
just that your cooking gives me the willies!" 

Akane frowned, "Ranma. Will you do something for me?" 

Ranma nodded, "Sure... What is it?" 

"Don't talk about my cooking. It just causes fights." 

Ranma agreed, "Will you do something for me?" he asked. 

Akane smiled, "Sure..." 

"Don't try to feed me your cooking and I won't insult it." he said cheerfully. 

Akane fumed, but managed to resisted the urge to pound Ranma into hamburger, 
"Deal." she replied curtly. 

Ranma got up and went to the door, "See you at dinner." 

Akane nodded and went back to her work. 

Ranma opened the door and found Soun, Genma, Kasumi and Nabiki listening. 

Ranma frowned, "Can you guys hear okay?!" he shouted. He then booted them down 
the hall and stormed away. "Can't get no privicy." he muttered angrilly. 

[Tendou Dojo, Evening]

The entire family was sitting at the table eating dinner. Several members of 
the family, Genma and Soun in particular, appeared to have been in a fight.

At one point Soun said, "Since you two are getting along so well, why not get 
married?" 

Akane and Ranma choked and Ranma said, "I must have hit you too hard, Tendou-
ojisan!" Sarcasm was plain in his voice. 

Akane frowned, "Please, Otousan! Don't say that!" 

Soun smiled innocently. 

Kasumi joined in, "Why hasn't Ranma given Akane an engagment ring?" she asked 
quietly. 

Everyone stopped and look at Ranma. 

"What?!" he asked, seeing them staring at him. 

"Why haven't you got her a ring?" Nabiki reiterated. 

Ranma jumped up, "Cause I don't want to be engaged to her!" he said 
defensively. 

Akane jumped up and glared at him, "Good! I don't want to marry you either!" 
she shouted. 

Ranma sighed and sat down, "Whatever..." he muttered. 

Akane stared at him, <Is that it?> she wondered. 

Kasumi sat up suddenly and said, "Since Akane is going to the first of us to 
be married, she should have mother's rings. Ranma could give one of them to 
her..." 

Ranma shook his head, "I wouldn't give her an onion ring... let alone an 
engagment ring!" 

Akane fumed, but was interested, "I thought Mother's rings were lost." 

Kasumi smiled, "You don't think I'd let something as special as that get lost, 
do you?" 

Akane shrugged and Kasumi added, "I put them in a safe place so that father 
wouldn't loose them." 

Soun looked scandelised, "Daughter! How can you say that?!" 

Kasumi smiled and said, "It makes sense since I'm the one who looks after the 
house." 

Nabiki piped up and said, "How much are the rings worth?" 

She was given dark looks all round. 

"Okay! Okay! I'm not serious!" she added.  

After dinner, Kasumi and Akane went to find the rings. They were going through
the upstairs cuboard when Kasumi found an old carved wooden jewelery box. 
"This is it, I think." she said. 

Akane came over to her and stared at the box. She remembered her mother 
opening the box and seeing all of her jewelery. Akane's favourite had always 
been the wedding ring. It had been in the family for nearly a hundred years 
and was of great value. Kasumi opened the box and looked in. She fished around 
for a moment and then said, "Let's go downstairs where we can see better." 
Akane nodded and followed her sister. 

They walked into the dining room and sat down. Kasumi opened the box and, just
like Akane remembered, it was filled with all sorts of beautiful pieces. 
Kasumi picked various pieces out of box and looked at them. Finally she found 
what she was looking for, "Here. These are Mothers rings." Akane looked at the
rings Kasumi held in her hand. There were four rings. Each was a band of gold,
the first of which had three diamonds and saphire. The second was plain gold. 
The third had a diamond surrounded by small saphires and the fourth was 
another ring of simple gold. Akane looked at the rings, "Thy're beautiful..."
she whispered. Kasumi smiled and said, "You'll get them when you marry Ranma."

Akane rolled her eyes, "It almost makes marrying Ranma sound worthwhile!" 
Kasumi smiled and said, "Why don't you admit what you really feel, Akane? 
You're not fooling anyone!" Akane paled, "My feelings?" she repeated 
incredulously. Kasumi smiled, "You know you like Ranma and he likes you. 
You're both just too proud to admit it. You won't admit it because you claim 
you don't like boys, and Ranma won't because he thinks a martial arts master 
shouldn't like girls." 

Akane looked down. She hated it when Kasumi was on the money, and at the 
moment, she was on a pile that would have made Nabiki drool! Kasumi was about 
to speak when Ranma walked in.

"What's that?" he asked densely. Akane gave him a discusted look and said, 
"It's mothers rings, of course!" Ranma nodded, "They're pretty fancy!" he 
noted. Akane nodded, "They were Mothers pride and joy..." she said sadly. It 
had all made her suddenly feel very alone. 

Suddenly there was a crash and Shampoo burst through the wall. "Nihao, Ranma!"

Ranma acked and tried to run away. Shampoo grabbed him and squeezed him, much
to Akane's annoyance. Ranma saw this and said, "Er... Hi Shampoo..." Shampoo
let go and said, "Here! This for Ranma. For visit today!" She handed Ranma a 
Nekohanten box and he opened it. Inside was a deluxe ramen. Ranma looked at it 
and then looked at Akane. She glowered at him as he faced her. He looked 
between her and the box a few times. Finally he said, "That's really nice 
Shampoo, but I just had dinner." Shampoo looked crestfallen Akane smiled and
got up, "It looks like your latest love-ramen isn't going to get eaten!" she
crowed. 

Shampoo turned and swiped at Akane with the box. Akane ducked and kicked 
Shampoo in the knee. Shampoo grimaced but countered, punching Akane in the 
stomach. Ranma stood out of the way, wondering what to do. Shampoo belted 
Akane with the box, but Akane countered by scratching Shampoo with the 
diamond. Shampoo eventually threw the box at Akane, forcing her to dive to 
the side. No one saw the rings fly out of Akane's hand and into the bowl of 
ramen. Akane grabbed a glass of water and threw it on Shampoo, causing her to 
change forms. Ranma froze up as he saw Shampoo-neko. Akane smiled and said, 
"Time to put the cat out!" She then booted Shampoo, box and all, out the door 
and over the fence. As luck would have it, someone poured some old warm, 
dishwashing water out a window, right onto Shampoo. Shampoo turned back and 
quickly dressed. She got up and looked angrilly towards the Tendou house, 
"Shampoo get you, Akane. Just you wait!" She picked up her box and stomped off 
to the Nekohanten.

Back in the house, Akane rounded furiously on Ranma, "What were you doing?!"
she railed. He smiled weakly, "What could I do? She turned into a cat and I 
froze up!" Akane rolled her eyes, "You and your stupid fear!" Ranma looked 
defensive, "It not my fault! It was Oyaji! Still... You didn't need me... That 
move with the rings was clever!" Akane suddenly looked around, a frantic 
expression on her face, "The rings! I don't have them! I must have lost them 
in the fight!" Ranma, Akane and Kasumi, who had returned, searched the room
for the rings, but to no avail. "This is terrible! I've lost Mothers rings!"
Akane said, starting to cry. Ranma watched this and felt suddenly sorry for 
Akane. He sat down next to her and put his hand on her arm. She looked up and
he said, "Don't worry, Akane. I'll find the rings." Akane suddenly smiled and
hugged him, "Thank you, Ranma!" Ranma looked shocked, "Sure. No problem..." he
muttered.

[Meanwhile, At The Nekohanten]

Shampoo opened the box and pulled out the ramen. "Is big waste of love magic."
she said as she was about to pour it out. Suddenly she saw a glint of light 
reflected in the bowl, "What this?" she wondered aloud. She reached into the 
bowl and pulled the rings out, "Where these come from?" she said to no-one in 
particular. She then touched the scratch on her face and realised, "Rings 
belong to Akane. Must be much valuable. Akane be very worried." Shampoo smiled,
"This great chance to get back at Akane!" she put the rings on the counter and
poured the ramen away, and then went to find her grandmother. 

As she walked out, she failed to see Mousse come in. He had overheard her and 
knew about her plan. He picked up the rings and looked at them. "Hmmm... 24 
carat. White gold... Very valuable." He put the rings down, "I'd better keep 
an eye on this-" He didn't get to finish as Shampoo poured a bucket of water 
on him, "You no interfere, pesky Mousse!" Muumuu-chan quacked helplessly as he 
was throw into a cage. Shampoo glared at him, and then said in Chinese, "You 
better not tell Ranma or Akane about this! Or I'll make Peking Duck!" Mousse 
fell silent at this dire threat. Shampoo picked up the rings and walked out, 
leaving Mousse to try and get out of the cage.

[Tendou Dojo, Morning]

After a thorough search of the house the previous night, Ranma was forced to 
figure that the rings had somehow gotten out of the house. That being the case,
there was only one person who could have them. "Shampoo must have somehow 
gotten them in the fight." Ranma mused. Akane nodded, "I knew she was a slut, 
but I didn't know she was a theif!" Ranma sighed, "I don't think she had 
time to steal them. Why would she anyway?" Akane shrugged, "To get at me?"

Ranma thought this was possible, but discarded it as being too indirect for 
Shampoo. Shampoo was a blunt instrument blessed with all the subtlety of an 
atom bomb. Ranma shook it out of his mind and said, "Never mind. We've gotta 
get to school." Akane nodded and picked up her bag. Ranma did likewise and 
they went out the door. As they walked, Akane  was very quiet and Ranma tried 
to cheer her up. "Hey! Don't worry! Sherlock Saotome is on the case! I'll find 
the rings!" Akane smiled and said, "I know... but it doesn't make me feel any 
less guilty. Those rings are our family's most important heirloon... and I 
lost them..." Ranma looked troubled, but didn't say anything.

[Furinkan High, Midday]

Ranma, Akane and Ukyou were sitting in the lunch room. "I heard about your 
mom's rings... I hope you find them." said Ukyou. "Thanks, Ukyou. I'm sure 
Ranma Poirot will find them!" Akane replied, smiling at Ranma. Ranma had been 
sitting there the whole lunch time, trying to figure out how to find out if 
Shampoo had the rings. If she did, she might only give them back under some 
rediculous condition. He sighed, he didn't really fancy having to beat her up 
to get them. Ranma got up and headed for his afternoon class, Akane following. 
Ukyou stayed in the cafeteria to finish her lunch. 

Just as Ukyou got up to leave and join Ranma and Akane, Mousse walked in. 
"Ukyou Kuonji! Are you here?!" he called. Everyone in the room looked at 
Mousse for a second and then turned to Ukyou. She blushed, knowing what they 
were thinking, and said, "I'm over here!" Mousse turned and walked towards 
her, falling over a chair on the way. By the time he reached her, he looked 
like he had been fighting Ranma. "I have a message for you to give to Ranma." 
he said to the vending machine next to Ukyou. Ukyou didn't bother to correct 
him, "What message? Why don't you tell him yourself?" Mousse shook his head, 
"I can't. Shampoo has forbidden me to talk to him about this matter. She did 
not however, forbid me from telling you." Ukyou nodded, "Okay. So what's the 
message?" 

Mousse turned to face her, "Tell him that Shampoo has Akane's mother's rings 
and that she plans to hide them for revenge on Akane." Ukyou's eyes widened, 
"Why is she doing that?" she asked. Mousse shrugged, "Akane embarresed her in 
front of Ranma" Ukyou smiled, then said, "Why are you helping?" He stammered 
for a moment and then said, "Because if Ranma can get the rings back, he'll be 
in Akane's good books and he won't be after Shampoo." Ukyou smiled and 
promised to pass the message on. Mousse nodded and fell out the window. Ukyou 
gave a wry chuckle as she walked to class.

On the way she was suddenly hit with an idea. If she helped Ranma find the 
rings, he would be very grateful. She smiled and decided to hold onto the 
message for a while. Information was a powerful weapon. She walked into class 
and sat down. "What kept you?" asked Ranma. She smiled slyly, "Oh... 
Nothing..." 

[The Nekohanten, At The Same Time]

Shampoo was taking advantage of Mousse's abscence and was moving on with her 
plan. <Ranma is going to figure out that I have the rings soon...> she thought,
<That means I need to get rid of them.> Just as she was wondering where to put
them, Ryouga walked in. "Hello!" he called, "Can anyone tell me the way to the 
Tendou Doujou?" Shampoo came out of the kitchen, "Nihao, Ryouga." "Oh. Hi 
Shampoo. Can you tell me how to get to Akane's house?" Shampoo had an idea, 
<Mousse never get rings from Ryouga!> She smiled at him and said, "For 
certain. Shampoo have request first." Ryouga frowned, "What is it?" he asked. 
She sidled up to him and said, "You look after package for me?" Ryouga 
shrugged, "I suppose so." She nodded and handed him a small box, "Guard well. 
Is valuable." Ryouga nodded, "I shall guard it with my life! Now... can you 
tell me the way..." Shampoo nodded and gave him his directions, which he 
promptly confused and got lost again. Shampoo smiled as he left. Not only 
could Mousse not beat Ryouga, he wouldn't be able to find him either!

[Furinkan High, Afternoon]

Ranma, Akane and Ukyou walked out of Furinkan High and headed for the dojo. 
They did another search of the house and found nothing. That being the case,
Ranma went off to the Nekohanten to ask Shampoo. 

[The Nekohanten, A Little Later]

Ranma walked in and looked around, "Are you here, Shampoo?!" he called. 
Shampoo came bouncing out of the kitchen, "Aiya! Ranma! You come to see 
Shampoo!" Ranma smiled, "Sort of... You know those rings Akane had last 
night..." 

Shampoo frowned, "Ones Akane use to cut Shampoo!" Ranma nodded, "Err... Yeah.
Have you seen them at all?" Shampoo frowned, "You think Shampoo steal?!" she
asked angrilly. Ranma shook his head, "No, no. I just thought you might have 
seen them." Shampoo was clearly not convinced, "How cat carry rings?!" she 
asked poutily. Ranma sighed, "Ok! Ok! Forget it! I'll find 'em." he said and 
wandered out. He stood in the street for a few moment, looking thoughtful, 
then ran off. Shampoo smiled as he went, "Ranma too easy to bluff!" she said 
with some satisfaction.

[Tendou Dojo, A While Later]

Ranma walked in and found Akane waiting, "Have any luck?" she asked excitedly.
He shook his head. "You've been searching for several hours. Maybe you can't 
find them..." she whispered. Ranma looked hard at her, "I promised you I'd 
find them... and I will." Akane smiled and gave his hand a squeeze. "I know 
you will." she said.

Nabiki walked up to Ranma and said, "I hear you haven't been able to find the 
rings... For 3000 yen, I can tell you where they are!" Ranma agonised for a 
moment and then handed her the money. Nabiki smiled and said, "Shampoo." Ranma
frowned, "She doesn't have them... I checked." Nabiki shrugged, "Well... she
did. My information is reliable." Ranma sighed and walked out feeling very 
poor and none the wiser.

Just outsode the doujou, Ranma encountered Ryouga. "What are you doing here, 
pig-boy?" he asked cuttingly. Ryouga bared his teeth, "I'm here to defeat you!
I'm the better man than you! And now I'll prove it! Shampoo even gave me her 
package to look after... She obviously doesn't trust you!" Ranma glowered at 
Ryouga and said, "If you want a beating, why not just say so?" Ranma jumped 
Ryouga and bashed him. As he walked away, Ranma said, "Speaking of packages... 
You couldn't fight you way out of a wet paper bag! See ya! I'm going to 
Shampoo's!" Ryouga lay on the porch for a while and then slowly got to his 
feet and headed for the Nekohanten.

[Ukyou's Okonomiyaki Ya, A Little Later]

Ranma decided to stop in at Ukyou's on the way to the Nekohanten. He walked in
and found Ukyou sweeping the floor. "Hi Ran-chan!" she said. Ranma smiled and
said, "Have you seen a parcel from Shampoo around?" Ukyou shook her head, "No.
Why?" Ranma sighed, "Nabiki thinks that their Mom's rings are in it and 
Shampoo is hiding it" Ukyou frowned, "Why would she do that?" Ranma shrugged,
"Why does Shampoo do anything?" Ukyou indicated that she hadn't seen them and
Ranma left. Afterwards, Ukyou felt a pan of guilt at lying to him. But she 
resolved it by deciding that it was for him that she was doing it.

[The Nekohanten, At The Same Time]

Ryouga walked into the Nekohanten and found Shampoo. "I'm going on a training 
trip. So I thought I'd give your package back." Shampoo paled as he handed it  
to her. "Ranma said that he was coming to see you... about some rings..."  
Shampoo went even paler. Ryouga failed to notice as he bid her goodbye and 
walked out.

Shampoo realised she was in trouble. She had to get the rings out of the 
restraunt before Ranma arrived. She pulled out a bowl of ramen and put the 
rings in it. "Mousse!" she shouted. Mousse appeared, "You called, my love?" he 
said. She scowled and said, "Shut up and take to Ukyou!" Mousse nodded and 
picked up the box. He ran out just as Ranma came in. "Geez! Where's the fire?"
said Ranma as Mousse nearly bowled him over. "Shampoo! Have you got 
Akane's mom's rings?" Shampoo put on her best innocennt smile, "Shampoo no 
have rings. Shampoo tell that already." she said. Ranma frowned, "I don't 
believe you." He looked around and finally had to admit that he couldn't find 
them and appolagised to Shampoo.

Shampoo smiled evilly. "Ahhhhh... What am I gonna do? I promised I'd find 
them! Akane's going to kill me!" Ranma groaned. Shampoo shrugged, "Leave Akane 
and marry Shampoo!" Ranma gave her a cold look, "That doesn't help!" he said. 
He sighed and got up. As he was about to walk out, Shampoo said, "Maybe Ryouga
see them?" 

"A package! Ryouga said he had a package!" Ranma exclaimed. Shampoo nodded 
vigorously, "Ryouga must have package!" Ranma suddenly realised something, 
"He said it was from you!" Shampoo smiled weakly and poured water on herself. 
Ranma freaked and ran out of the restraunt.

[Ukyou's Okonomiyaki Ya, A Little Later]

Mousse walked in and said, "Ukyou. I have your order here!" Ukyou walked out 
of kitchen, "What order?" she asked. He showed her and she frowned, "Hmmm. 
Okay!" She took the order and Mousse left. Taking it into the kitchen, Ukyou 
strained the ramen and found a small bag, "I knew it..." she groaned. She 
stared at the bag for a while, feeling guilty, <I gotta get this out of here!> 
she thought. Just at that moment, Tatewaki Kunou came by. Ukyou ran out and 
called him, "Kunou-sempai! Could you come here?!" Kunou turned and walked up 
to her, "What can I do for you, Kuonji?" he asked hollowly. Ukyou smiled and 
said, "Could you look after this for me? It's very valuable and needs to be 
taken to Shampoo. Can I trust you with it?" Kunou looked at the bag and 
nodded, "Indeed. It is my duty as a samurai to look after the property of 
others. I shall ensure that it gets to Shampoo." Ukyou smiled and thanked 
him. Kunou walked away, tucking the bag in his robe.

[Nerima Street, At the Same Time]

Ranma had recovered from the cat attack and was pondering his next move. 
Shampoo had to have gotten rid of the rings. The question was how she got rid 
of it so quickly. He then remembered Mousse dashing out of the restraunt as he 
entered. He punched his palm, "That's gotta be it!" he exclaimed. He ran 
towards Ucchan's when he bumped into Mousse. "Give me that box, Mousse!"
he shouted. Mousse turned and said, "I will do no such thing. This box is 
Shampoo's. Not your's." Ranma sighed, "Let me reprase that... Give me the box
or I'll kick your head in!" Mousse snorted and threw a volley of blades as at 
Ranma, who ducked and flying kicked him. Mousse staggered back and Ranma 
uppercutted him. Mousse fell back and swiped at Ranma with his blades. Ranma
ducked and tripped Mousse. He then punched him in the jaw and elbowed him in 
the mouth. Mousse finally collapsed and Ranma searched him to no avail. "Damn!
What did he do with it?" Ranma wondered. 
                                               
He woke Mousse, "Oi! Wake up!" Mousse awoke, somewhat groggy and Ranma said, 
"Where's the bag, duck?" Mousse mumbled that he couldn't tell. Ranma, not 
liking this answer, hit Mousse a few time to jog his momory. "Well?" he said. 
Mousse finally admitted he'd been at Ukyou's. Ranma nodded and dumped Mousse 
in the gutter...a wet gutter...and headed for Ucchan's.

[The Nekohanten, At The Same Time]

Shampoo, having changed back, decided to go get the rings before Ranma got to 
them. She ran out of the restraunt and headed for Ukyou's, bypassing Ranma 
bashing Mousse on the way. <Good!> she thought, <Mousse occupying Ranma!> She 
arrived at Ukyou's just after Kunou walked away. "Ukyou! Where is bag?" she 
shouted. Ukyou came out and said, "I gave it to Kunou to give to you." Shampoo
face faulted, "What you do that for?!" Ukyou shrugged, "I had to get rid of it 
or I would have given it back." Shampoo sighed and walked out to find Kunou.

Kunou was some distance away. He had found Ryouga still wandering around and
had given him the package since he had to go to practice. Ryouga was left 
holding the package and wondering where he was. He sighed and walked off...

[Tendou Dojo, At The Same Time]

Akane was sitting at the house, flopping between feeling guilty and being 
angry. <What is Ranma doing? It can't be that hard to find Shampoo!> she 
thought grumpily. She sighed, it was her fault though... and Ranma was trying 
really hard to help. She sat back and sulked, taking the middle road between
dispair and anger.

[Ukyou's Okonomiyaki Ya, A Little Later]

Ranma ran into Ukyou's and said, "Ukyou. Have you seen the ramen Mousse 
brought here?" Ukyou nodded, "There was a bag in it with the rings in it. I 
gave it to Kunou-sempai to give to Shampoo to return to Akane." she said 
evenly. Ranma gaped, "Kunou's got it?" he asked. She nodded and he ran out. 

[The Kendo Club, At The Same Time]

Shampoo burst in and shouted, "Where Kunou?!" Kunou turned, <Another women! 
Smitten by my rugged good looks, no doubt!> he thought. "I am Tatewaki Kunou!"
he said, "What does a woman of such beauty want from a humble saumrai?" She 
looked at him and said, "Give rings!" He stared. "I Shampoo! You give me 
rings!" Kunou finally understood, "I gave them to that Ryouga fellow to give 
to you. He has them now, I expect. Now about the matter of our date. Shall I-" 
Shampoo growled and punched Kunou out before he could finish, and stormed out.

[The Kendo Club, A Little Later] 

Ranma burst in to find Kunou on the floor, "Hey! Kunou! It's no wonder you 
never beat me. Is that how you train?!" Kunou staggered to his feet, "What do 
you want, Saotome? Have you come to mock me?" Ranma shook his head, "Nah... I
wouldn't come all this way just to do that! I just want the bag of rings." 
Kunou frowned, "You want the rings belonging to the Chinese girl, Shampoo? You 
are a base theif, Saotome! Die!" Kunou swung his bokuto, but Ranma ducked it 
and punched him, "Stop it, Kunou! I don't have time for this! Do you have them 
or not?" Kunou reeled for a moment and then said, "I gave them to Ryouga." 
Ranma acked, "YOU WHAT?!" He screamed and punched Kunou into the wall and 
stalked out, "I don't belive this! I just do not belive this!" he muttered 
sourly.

[Nerima Street, At The Same Time]

Ryouga was walking along when Shampoo landed on him. "Nihao, Ryouga! You 
have bag for Shampoo?" she asked. He staggered to his feet and handed her the 
bag, "Yes. Could you tell me how to get out of Nerima?" She nodded and pointed
in a random direction, "Go thataway!" Ryouga nodded and ran off.

Shampoo was walking back to the Nekohanten when Ranma came by. "Shampoo, have 
you seen Ryouga?" he asked. She nodded, "He go thataway!" she said. Ranma 
nodded and ran in the direction which Shampoo had pointed, the opposite of 
that which Ryouga had gone.

In another street, Mousse regained consciousness. <I wonder where the rings
have gone. I'd better find them.> he thought, slowly getting up...

It just so happened that Ryouga had gotton lost again and stumbled across 
Ranma, "How do I get to-" he was cut off as Ranma grabbed him, "Give me the 
rings." Ranma said quietly. "What?!" said Ryouga. "The rings Shampoo gave 
you!" Ranma added. "Oh! I gave them back to Shampoo. Why?" Ryouge replied. 
Ranma ran off, "They're not her's... They're Akane's!" Ryouga paled, they 
were Akane-san's rings and he had kept them from her. Ryouga did an about 
face, determined to find them for her. Unfortunatly he failed to notice an 
open manhole behind him and fell in with a splash.

[The Nekohanten, A Little Later] 

Shampoo arrived just as it was getting dark and entered. She wandered around 
and made sure no one was there and then put the rings in an order of ramen for 
Ranma, in the hope he might forgive her. Mousse and Kunou arrived a little 
after. Ryouga, having gone by way of the Tendou Doujou arrived with Akane, 
Nabiki, Genma and Soun. Ukyou having pieced things together, arrived after 
them and Ranma arrived a few minutes after that. Everyone was glaring at 
Shampoo, who was smiling weakly, she had suddenly realised how much trouble 
she was in. She looked pleadingly at Ranma, who scowled at her, and then 
grabbed the ramen box and ran. The others all bolted after her. 

The chasers were soon spread out all over town and rather confused. Shampoo
looked back, she had lost all chasers but Ranma. She cursed her luck and 
accelerated. In her heart she knew this was fruitless, Ranma was the man who 
had beaten her, her husband-to-be and she couldn't beat him. She sighed and 
stopped. Ranma ran up and grabbed the box and pulled the bag of rings out. 
Shampoo looked pleadingly at Ranma and said, "I sorry, Ranma. I just want get 
back at Akane." Ranma glared at her, "Not by stealing and hiding a family 
heirloom, you don't!" he replied.

All of the others evetually caught up. Akane ran up to Ranma, "Did you get 
them?!" she asked urgently. He nodded. She hugged him tightly, "Arigato, 
Ranma!" He waited until she finished and then pulled the rings out of the bag. 
He picked the one with less gems on it and took Akane's hand and slipped the 
ring on her finger, "Here, Akane. This is for you..." he said quietly. 

She stared at him for long moments, "Ranma... Does this... mean..." she 
faltered. Ranma smiled and took her hand, "It means something... Let's put it 
that way..." She smiled back and they walked away, leaving Shampoo to stew 
and Soun and Genma to dance a jig.

"You know..." said Ranma, as the walked, "After all that... it'll be nice to  
get home." Akane nodded and smiled, "Hai, my fiancee..." He looked at her 
smiling face and smirked, "Yeah.." he muttered, "Whatever..."

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                                   - Fin -
Plunger@yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au