Well, here I go again... another chapter of this fanfic.  The next chapter
is due the week after next.  After that... well... I can't guarentee any
more regular releases, because, while I have completed portions of chapters
9, 10, and 11, I haven't finished any of them, and work is going slow due
to the fact I have writers block, I have way too many things to preread,
I'm transfering to college, and a bunch of other little things... but don't
worry, it's entirely possible I could finish all three chapters in the next
couple of weeks, if I can get myself to work on it.
Now, for the usual comments:  e-mail me for back chapters.  Please give me
c&c- for any of the parts, but especially for this one.  The standard
disclaimer and original authors notes are in chapter 1.  Um... next chapter
due 2 weeks from now (I already said that, didn't I?)  I guess that's it...
enjoy...

-------------------------
Chapter 7:
Editor's Notes:  This chapter went through MAJOR revisions before it was
released so as to have a more realistic explanation for the appearance of a
certain character.  This is why I was asking people on the FFIRC about
snakes in China.  In the process of making all these changes, I also
decided to break this chapter into two chapters.  Those of you who have the
chapter summary, what's missing from this chapter will become chapter 8,
what was chapter 8 is now chapter 9, what was chapter 9 is now chapter 10,
etc.  Also, please note that {...} indicates a different language (in this
case, Chinese) is being spoken.

Onna-Ranma was being nudged awake by a rough, pitted hand.  She just rolled
over to get out of her father's reach, and fell out of the hammock she was
sleeping in and onto the floor.

"Huh?  What's going on?!"  She cried with the stupidity of sleep.

The old man, who was definitely NOT Ranma's father, laughed wholeheartedly.
 "This is the seventh day I've woken you up in the morning, and this is the
seventh time you've fallen out of your hammock."

Onna-Ranma groaned as she stood up.  "I'm still not used to sleeping on a
fishing boat..."

The fisherman nodded, smiling humorously.  "Well, this is the last day
you'll have to worry about that.  We're along China's coastline right now,
and so you and your cousin will be able to leave and look for your family
soon."

"Uh, right," Onna-Ranma said slowly.  She and Akane hadn't wanted to
explain the Jusenkyo curse to the crew of the fishing trawler, and so she
had boarded the boat as Ranko, Akane's cousin.  "So, at what village are
you going to dock?"

"DOCK?"  The fisherman laughed.  "No, my dear sweet girl, we aren't going
to dock.  Remember?  You don't want to be noticed entering the country? 
You couldn't get a visa to be allowed to see your uncle, and so you're
sneaking in?  Well, I'm sorry, miss, I'm afraid that if we were to dock we
would be searched, and so you would be seen.  No, you're going to have to
swim for it..."

"Uh, swim?"  Ranma began to worry.

"That isn't a problem, is it?"

"Well... I wish you'd told us this earlier.  It would be easier to deal
with if you had."

The man laughed.  "Well, sorry, I'll know better next time.  However,
you've got plenty of time before you have to go today... I think my crew
and I will miss you.  Your cousin and you aren't just surprisingly good at
the grunt work we give you, but you're little squabbles were quite
entertaining for the crew..."

Ranma grimaced.  She and Akane had started fighting again, occasionally,
and their fights were sometimes pretty bad squabbles, too.  She was
beginning to wonder if they would EVER stop fighting.  "Yeah, well...
thanks for offering to help us when we couldn't afford to pay..."

The old man smiled.  "Oh, don't worry about it.  I'm not one to abandon a
damsel in distress."

Ranma choked back a retort to that one, and merely nodded politely before
heading up on deck.  Akane was already there, eating some sushi and ship's
bread while sunning herself.  Ranma sat down across from her and picked up
some of the same food which had apparently been set out for her.

"Um..." Ranma began.  "Did you hear that we're going to have to swim the
last leg?"

Akane stopped chewing and looked up at Ranma.  She nodded slowly, and
finished chewing.  "Yeah.  The captain told me this morning."  She picked
up another sushi roll.  "Are you ready for it?"

Ranma nodded.  "Of course.  I swam all the way to China and back several
times- I think I can handle it.  The question is... are YOU ready for it,
Akane?"

"I think so," she said between bites.  "You were an excellent swimming
instructor.  I think I can manage."  She smiled at Onna-Ranma.  "Besides,
if I get into trouble, you'll be there to help, right?"

Ranma smirked.  "Of course I will."

Akane looked at Ranma really seriously for a moment.  "Ranko," she began
cautiously- both because of what she was about to say and because she was
afraid some of the crew might be listening in.  "I know that I sometimes...
well... fly off the handle at you.  It doesn't mean I feel any less of you,
it's just-"

Onna-Ranma hushed her.  'How did Akane know what I've been so worried
about?' she thought.  Out loud, she said  "Don't worry about it.  I...
understand.  When you aren't feeling happy- and I can tell you haven't been
too happy being cramped up on this boat- you get frustrated and upset. 
That turns to anger, and you take it out on me.  I'd rather you take it out
on me than let it build up inside you to the point of driving you crazy."

Akane looked down.  "But I'm worried, Ranko... What if my anger blinds me
to the point that I hurt you?"

Ranma smirked.  "Then you hurt me.  You've done it before- not very often,
but you have.  But you haven't hit me very hard since that night in the
hotel room."  His face became serious.  "If it does become a problem,
though, we can do something about it."

"Like what?"

"Um... how about..."  Ranma pondered the question for a second, and then
smiled, a twinkle of humor in his eye.  "How about you train to pull out a
rubber Mallet o'Chi, instead of a wooden one?"

Akane looked at Ranma for a minute and then broke into laughter.  "I
suppose I could, at that!"

*	*	*	*	*

Onna-Ranma kept pulling the life preserver his and Akane's packs were tied
onto in against the tide as Akane, a little further in-shore, started
building a fire.  He pulled the float ashore and slid the plastic covering
off of the bags.

She walked up to the campfire and handed one of the backpacks to Akane, who
immediately pulled out a canteen of fresh water and the teapot and started
some tea.  Ranma pulled out his own teapot and filled it with salt water,
not wanting to waste fresh water to change back.  While the water was
heating, he turned to Akane.  "You know, Akane, I'm impressed.  You were
able to swim that distance with no trouble at all.  Not bad, considering
that a couple weeks ago you would have drowned in an inch of still water."

"Are you insulting my ability to swim?"

Ranma blinked.  "What?  No, that's not what I-"

"RANMA NO BAKA!"  Akane cried, slamming a mallet o'chi straight into Ranma.
 His face was planted into the dirt, but when he looked up Akane was
smiling apologetically.  "Sorry, Ranma, I wanted to test my new mallet..." 
It was only then that Ranma noticed Akane's mallet didn't look like it
normally did.

"You've ALREADY started using the rubber mallet?"  Akane nodded sheepishly.
 "And so you were on my case just to test that mallet?"  Akane nodded
again.  "Why, you-"  Onna-Ranma dashed in, and started tickling Akane
mercilessly, making her squeal until the teapot started whistling...

*	*	*	*	*

Akane sat staring at a map, trying to pinpoint exactly where they were. 
They'd been traveling across China for nearly two weeks, and weren't
entirely sure where they were.  Ranma looked around, bored, and saw a road
sign.  He squinted, and seemed to mouth out something.

"Don't bother, Akane," he began, turning to face her.  "I think I know
where we are, now."

"Oh?"  puffed a frustrated Akane.  She'd been trying to make sense of that
map for nearly an hour now.  "How do YOU know where we are, Ranma?  You
don't even have a map!"

Ranma pointed to the sign.  "We're thirty miles from the city of Taiyuan,
in the Shanxi province, if that is to be believed.  Almost half-way there."

Akane looked at Ranma curiously.  "You can't read Chinese- how do you know
that?"

He laughed.  "Actually, I CAN read- and speak- Chinese.  Ever since that
Jusendo incident, I started studying the language.  I realized how many of
our adventures took us here."

"You learned Chinese in two months?"  Ranma nodded.  Akane looked at him
curiously.  "Ranma, if you're able to figure out how to do martial arts
techniques as quickly as you do, and you're able to learn how to speak a
new language in only a couple of months, WHY do you do so poorly in
school?"

"Um... actually, I don't do TOO badly..."

Akane frowned.  "I've seen your report card, Ranma.  You're barely passing
any of your classes other than physical education."

"Oh, possibly.  But I've already been accepted to college because of my
score on the entrance exams..."  He opened his backpack and looked through
it, pulling out several papers.  "And I AM doing okay in school.  It's not
GREAT, but every grade is EXACTLY a C."  He handed the papers to Akane.

"What's this?"  She asked, looking through them.  Three of them were copies
of his tests.  All three tests had exactly three out of every four
questions answered, and not one of the answered questions was wrong. 
"Ranma?  You've been throwing your grades?  Why?"

He frowned.  "Well, I've always been trying to make myself look more
'manly,' partly because of mom and partly because of my curse."  Akane grit
her teeth, but she wanted to hear his explanation more than she wanted to
pound him right now.  "Well, I was afraid that mom would think high grades
were too... unmanly."

Akane, though angry at his inference, merely nodded.  She could understand
someone throwing their grades a little if they were worried that getting
high grades would get him killed.  She looked through the papers in her
hands.  One was an entrance exam and another an acceptance letter to
college.  She read the name of the college on the letterhead and blinked.

"Ranma," she began.  "Um... did you know that you've been accepted to the
same college I have?"

He nodded.  "Well, yeah... in fact, I brought those papers because I was
planning to ask you if you wanted to, um, share one of the coed dorms."

"Well, yeah, sure I will."  Akane smiled, but that smile soon became a
frown.  "Wait a minute, you didn't know how I felt about you when this
started.  You had no reason to think I would agree... but you had been
treating me nicer than usual..."  She looked at him angrily.  "YOU WERE
BUTTERING ME UP!"  Ranma backed away, and nodded sheepishly.  "You...
you... RANMA NO BAKA!"  Her Rubber Mallet o'Chi came out and smashed him
into the ground.  She stood up and stomped into her tent.  Ranma sat back
up and sighed.

*	*	*	*	*

Ranma and Akane were slowly making their way south of Taiyuan, not wanting
to explain their illegal entrance into the country to the communist
authorities in that city.  Ranma kept looking back at Akane, who merely
humphed when she saw this and started moving faster.

"Akane, wait, this is ridiculous," Ranma shouted as Akane was practically
jogging away from him.  "It's time to make camp, anyway, so slow down." 
Akane stopped and started unpacking her tent, but still refused to look at
him.  Ranma sighed- she was still upset about that 'buttering up' thing. 
He pulled out his cooking gear and handed it to Akane.  "You cook tonight."

Akane looked up at him in surprise.  "What?  Why?"  So far, Ranma had been
the only one to cook on the trip, supposedly because he didn't want anyone
else to use his mess kit.

Ranma shrugged sadly.  "Well, you obviously don't think you've punished me
enough with your mallet, so I thought I'd make a peace offering."

Akane's expression went from surprise to disdain.  "It's not nice messing
with someone's feelings like you had.  If you think a simple malleting and
letting me cook for you is enough to get you off the hook, then you are
VERY mistaken."

Ranma frowned.  "How was I messing with your feelings?  I was just on
trying to keep from sticking my foot in my mouth..."

"You told me you LOVED me.  If that isn't-"

Ranma cut her off.  "Wait a minute- you think I was making that up?  You
think I was still 'buttering you up' when I said that?  I know you jump to
conclusions quickly, but GODS!  Akane, you know me... would I REALLY say
something like that in order to get you to do something?"  Akane blinked,
and then slowly shook her head no.  "Besides, think about it.  Why would I
want to be your roommate in the first place?  Akane, the only thing I was
doing to try to influence you was thinking before I spoke more often.  I
haven't even thought about it since that hotel room... thing... except
maybe once or twice that I should reconsider asking you, and that was
before you told me how YOU felt."

"Well..." Akane squirmed uncomfortable.  "Maybe I over-reacted.  But I'm
still cooking tonight!"

Ranma smiled.  'Thank god she's finally over it...'  He turned to her. 
"Sure, go ahead," he said, uncertain if that was really an intelligent
thing to do.  "But how about I give you another training session BEFORE we
eat?"

"Oh..."  Akane gasped, realizing how badly she'd been neglecting her
training since they'd been in China.  "Yes, of course...  What are we going
to work on today?"

Ranma frowned.  "Well... we've both been unable to do much work since the
week before we left Japan, but that's okay.  It just means we can't work on
permanent solutions for your speed problem and one-on-one problem until
we've practiced for a few days and get re-adjusted to the training.  In the
meantime, let's work on some quick-fixes.  Then, tomorrow, we'll do some
exercises to get us back into shape, and we'll keep those up until I think
you're ready for the permanent fixes."

Akane nodded.  "Whatever you say..."  Then she smirked.  "'Sensei...'"

Ranma grinned.  Akane had definitely forgiven him now.  "Okay, the reason
these are quick-fixes is that once someone sees you use them, they won't be
very effective any more.  They are very close range fighting skills- you
have to get closer than an arm's length away for them to be effective. 
However, I think they'll help you out for a few fights, and they're simple
to learn for someone with our background."

Akane pursed her lips.  "So what's the point of them?"

Ranma shrugged.  "Well, they are effective at close range, though I rarely
use them myself because I have much more useful techniques for that sort of
situation."

Akane frowned.  "Well then, why-"  She broke herself off.  She wanted to
ask why he wasn't teaching her those more useful techniques, but she
realized she'd start going in circles.  He'd already answered that. 
"Okay... so... what's the quick fix for my one-on-one fighting?  I figure
that would be a more important quick-fix area."

Ranma nodded.  "Sure thing, though I'm not certain I would agree entirely
with you there."  He took a deep breath and began.  "Akane, if the Tendo
line of the Anything Goes Martial Arts school is the 'Indiscriminate
Grappling' style, then why have I never seen you grapple anyone?  Did you
father never teach you that part of the family arts?"

Akane blushed slightly.  "Well, yes, he did.  I've just been embarrassed to
use it... I mean, a practicing something called 'indiscriminate grappling?'
 Why do you think Happosai watches female mud-wrestling so much?"

Ranma sighed.  "Well, then, I really don't have much that I need to teach
you.  I just need to say- GRAPPLE MORE!  Hentai's might get off on it, but
look at how powerful you are!  Grappling, in one-on-one battles, will
seriously slow down a fight- which is to your advantage at the moment,
since you're so much slower than most of the people you have to fight on a
regular basis, AND will allow someone with a superior strength-to-weight
ratio to win most of the time- another plus for you, since most of your
weight is from muscles, unlike Kodachi, Shampoo, or Uk- er, my sister. 
Also, the Indiscriminate Grappling style is the best grappling style out
there- better than either Brazilian Jujitsu or Gracie Jujitsu, both famed
as being the best sports martial arts out there."  Ranma spat out the
'sports.'

"Well, um..." Akane said, "I guess I'll try to remember that next time. 
Still, I find it a very uncomfortable thing to think about."

Ranma smirked.  "Ah, you don't need to worry about what people think. 
They'll jump to their own conclusions anyway.  I mean, suppose we're on a
date and it rains?  Everyone will draw their own conclusion from what they
see.  Some people will think we're sisters, others will think... well..."

Akane looked up at him, a smirk on her face as well.  "Well, who knows?" 
Parodying Ranma's voice, she continued "For you, I just might be willing to
ACT as a... well..."

Ranma gulped.  He didn't like where this line of conversation was going. 
"UM, anyway," he broke in.  "Let's move on to your speed training..."

Akane smiled.  "Sure thing, 'Sensei.'"

BRIEF EDITOR'S NOTES:  I originally included the Quick-Fix Speed Training
scene here, but I cut it out because as I continued the story I noticed it
became irrelevant.  Rather than trying to justify it's usage, I just cut it
out... Does anyone think that I really need it?

*	*	*	*	*

As Ranma and Akane continued on their journey, they were actually able to
speed their movement.  In order to help increase Akane's speed, the two of
them were running for the first six hours of each hike, then hiked at their
usual speed the rest of the time until about an hour before dark, when they
set up camp and started training.

In fact, the new schedule they had settled on had cut what they thought
would be a one month hike to a one week hike.  They were less than a days
hike away from Xiquan when they settled down for their daily training
session, and Ranma turned to Akane, with a smile on his face.  "Well,
Akane, I think you're finally ready for me to start your speed training, so
lets start today."  

Akane's face brightened.  The training had been getting a bit monotonous,
but now that Ranma was willing to start teaching her some new things again,
she knew it was worth it.  "Good!  Where are the chestnuts?"

Ranma smirked.  "Well, for one thing, I don't have any chestnuts.  And, for
another, you aren't ready for that yet.  No, I'm going to be gradually
building your skills to the point that you can attempt that- much the same
way the old ghoul built up mine."  He opened his backpack and pulled out a
half dozen wooden bowls, and started filling them with some dirt off the
ground.  "We don't have any water, so we can't do that.  However, this is
what I want you to do.  I'll toss these bowls full of dirt and sand in your
direction.  You're going to have to catch all of them without spilling a
single grain."

Akane frowned.  "How does that improve my speed?"

"It improves your reaction time, increases your hand-eye co-ordination,
improves your reflexes... things like that.  Ready?"  Akane fell into a
fighting stance and nodded.  Ranma smiled at the confident look she wore-
he knew that she wouldn't have that for long.  "Okay, let's go."  Suddenly,
six bowls filled with dirt went flying Akane's way.

Akane's arms flashed out.  Using her left arm as a table, she was able to
catch three of the bowls with her right hand, but three of the others went
flying over her head and dumped their contents onto the ground.

Akane sighed.  "Well, I guess I shouldn't have expected to catch them all
on the first try..."  She handed the three bowls she had caught back to
Ranma and walked over to pick up the other three.

"Well, actually, you didn't do too badly.  I started out- HEY, AKANE, LOOK
OUT!"  Ranma dashed forwards, dropping the bowls Akane had already handed
him and diving into the ground, right where Akane's hands were.

"Ranma?"  Akane cried, shocked.  "What's wrong?  Why'd you do that?"  Ranma
stood up slowly and dizzily.  Attached to his hand was a seemingly venomous
snake, still biting down hard.  Ranma used two fingers on his other hand to
pry the snake's jaws open, snapping the lower jaw off as he did so.  Akane
gasped.  "Ranma, are you all right?"

Ranma shook his head.  "No... I need a snake bite kit.  Badly."  He picked
up the dead snake and stuck it in his backpack.  "I think we gotta start
moving, and keep moving.  I don't think I'll last if we stay here...  I
need to get to a doctor, soon."  He started taking down his tent, and
Akane, now REALLY worried- it wasn't often that Ranma admitted that he was
in trouble- started packing up her own gear.  She hadn't put up her tent,
though.

When they had finished packing, they started hiking again towards Xiquan,
moving as quickly as Ranma could.  As they moved, Ranma started slowing
down more and more, and Akane got increasingly worried.  Finally, not able
to stand it any more, she picked him up and started running towards the
village.

"Hey!  Put me down!  This is embarrassing!"  Ranma protested weakly.

"Maybe so, Ranma."  Akane kept running, cradling Ranma in her arms.  "But
right now, it doesn't matter.  You need to save your strength if we want to
find Mr. Desaix- I don't know Chinese, so you're going to have to be able
to talk when we get to the village, and right now it doesn't look like
you'll make it there conscious unless I do this."  She squeezed him a
little tighter, but was careful not to give him one of her crushing hugs. 
"You'll need to be conscious enough to ask for a doctor when we get there,
too- I don't plan to lose you now..."

*	*	*	*	*

Akane tossed her and Ranma's backpacks into the bushes at the edge of the
village and was about to rush in when Ranma's voice croaked "Wait..." 
Akane looked at him.  "Set me down for a moment.  I want to get some things
from my bag."  Akane didn't like the idea, but she did as he asked.  He
looked through the bags and pulled out some clothes, the dead snake, and a
book.  "Here, change into these," he said, handing her the clothes.  Then
he pointed to the book.  "This is a Chinese phrase book.  If I can't speak
when we get there, you might need this."  Akane looked at him oddly.

"The phrase book I understand, but the clothes?"

"They're some of my Chinese clothes.  It'll be easier for us to move around
in that village with them."

"Uh... okay..."  Akane looked around for cover, but didn't find enough to
change in.  However, she didn't see anyone around her but Ranma, and so she
shrugged, and started disrobing right in front of him.  Ranma, even in his
weakened condition, was aware of what she was doing enough to be extremely
embarrassed, and turned around so as to allow her some privacy.  A few
seconds later- so shortly after he had turned around that Ranma idly
wondered if her carrying him around was effective speed training- he felt
her trying to pick him up again.

"No... I'm going to need to be standing in order to talk to them.  I'm
still strong enough to walk."  Even so, he still leaned on her shoulder as
they walked into the town.

He asked for directions to the nearest doctor's from the first person who
he saw, and soon the two of them were heading into a small clinic.

"{COMING!  Just a moment!}" came a very familiar voice from the back of the
clinic.

Even though she didn't recognize the words in the slightest, Akane was the
one to respond.  "Dr. Tofu?  Is that YOU?"

They heard a crash on the other end of the doorway and seconds later Dr.
Tofu burst into the waiting room.  "Ranma?  Akane?  What are you doing
here?"  Then he saw Ranma nearly passed out on Akane's shoulder, and his
expression became VERY serious.  "Ranma, what's wrong?"

Akane looked at Dr. Tofu with a hint of fear in her eyes.  "He was bitten
by a snake last night, and..."  Dr. Tofu nodded

"What kind of snake was it?"  He asked.  Ranma weakly raised his head and
handed the doctor the snake he had pulled out of his bag.  Dr. Tofu's eyes
widened.  "Oh, dear, that's bad.  How long ago was he bitten?"

"Um..."  Akane did the math.  "Sixteen hours."

"Oh, dear me," Dr. Tofu said again.  "He should have been dead eight to
twelve hours ago.  Hurry, bring him into my office..."

*	*	*	*	*

"Well, Ranma," Dr. Tofu said, "I've administered the serum, but you need to
rest before doing anything else- at least for twenty four hours- to get
your body back to normal."

"Nonsense," Ranma said, getting off of the hospital bed a little woozy.  "I
feel fine now."

"Ranma!"  Akane protested, pushing him back down on the bed.  "You almost
died, and even YOU don't recover that fast.  Go to sleep, like the doctor
told you to, or else!"

Ranma slipped out of her grasp and stuck his tongue out at her.  "Or else
wha-"  He collapsed forward, but was caught before he fell by Akane.  She
looked up at Dr. Tofu, who helped her pick him up and set him down on the
bed.

"Did you do that?"  Akane asked him.

"Of course," Dr. Tofu nodded.  "I needed to get him to sleep.  Thankfully,
you were enough of a distraction that I was able to hit a paralysis point
in the back of his neck.  He's awake right now, by the way, he just can't
move, but I figure he'll go to sleep in time- and he won't be cured of his
paralysis until he does."  He looked at Akane oddly.  "Anyway, what are you
two doing here?"

Akane looked back at him.  "We could ask you the same question- leaving
without telling anyone and then showing up here.  We've all been wondering
what happened to you!"

Dr. Tofu blinked.  "What?  You didn't get my letters?"

"Letters?" Akane wondered.  "I don't remember anyone saying anything about
letters..."

Dr. Tofu shook his head in confusion.  "Strange... I've been sending Kasumi
a letter every week, and she's been sending some back herself...  ah,
well."  He smiled at Akane.  "I guess you're going to want the full story,
then.  Well, the last time I saw you was Kasumi's birthday party, as I
recall.  I kind of blacked out much of that night after Kasumi gave me that
light peck on the cheek..."  His glasses started fogging up, but then he
shook his head and returned to telling the story. "Anyway, when I came to,
I was on board this cruise ship heading to China, with Betty by my side..."
 He pointed to the skeleton hanging on his wall.  "I figured since I was
here, I'd take a year's sabbatical and study some herbalism with some of
the local tribes.  And so, here I am.  Now, like I was saying, what are YOU
here for?"

Akane summed up the story of her first encounter with Natsume and Kurumi,
and then told how they had come back looking for help.  "...and then we
found that the last known whereabout of their father was here."

Dr. Tofu frowned and went over to his file cabinet.  He opened a drawer and
started searching through files.  "You say his name was Kenji Desaix? 
Hmm...  Ah, here's his file.  He hasn't shown up in ages, and I don't have
his address, but I'm pretty sure you could find it easily enough just by
heading over to the Xiquan Village Council public records..."

Akane pursed her lips.  "We could... if we weren't here illegally... we
didn't have time to arrange for passports or things, though, so..."

"Hmm... Well, actually, Ranma could be considered a de facto citizen of
China, since Shampoo is claiming him as her future husband..."  Akane
growled at that, but Dr. Tofu didn't seem to notice.  "But you... I suppose
I could give you a disguise..."

Akane blinked.  "What kind of disguise?"

Dr. Tofu smirked.  He opened another drawer and pulled out a box.  "Instant
Jusenkyo curses... one use per packet...  I bought a box of each curse in
Joketsuzoku.  This one is... spring of drowned gerbil.  I could hide you as
a lab rat..."

"And why are we talking about disguises, anyway?  We weren't caught on our
way in?"

"Well, Akane, the Chinese government doesn't trust me, despite my
credentials as a doctor, so they send a government official to inspect my
clinic here about once a week.  Now, let's see if we can think of anything
to do about this Kenji Desaix guy..."


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Sir Desaix, member # 116 of the Knights of the True Fiancee
               (Arrrgh!  They Mispelled my Name!)
                             desaix@sysnet.net
    http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/7872
                           fanfics available at 
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/7872/fanfics.htm