Here is the latest chapter to A Feather in the Wind.  This one has not
been
submitted to the RAAC yet, so C&C really counts on this one!



 All characters and suchnot, save Feather, are copyright by
Rumiko Takahashi, Viz, and whomever else owns a piece of the
wonderful world of Ranma 1/2 They aren't mine, and I'm
borrowing them for a purely non-profit fictional work.


             A Feather in the Wind
                  Chapter 7



      Feather walked slowly up the stairs, as if a great
weight was upon her shoulders.  Halfway up the stairs she
stopped and looked back towards the dojo itself, a sad look
on her face.  She steeled herself and walked the rest of the
way towards her room.  Akane was already sleeping peacefully in
her bed, so Feather silently changed into her nightclothes and
settled into her futon to try and get some sleep.
      Sleep did not come easily for her though.  Each time she
thought she was about to fall asleep, her mind would meld the
image of Ryouga with the drunkard.  Each time she would sit
upright in her bed, her breath coming in ragged gasps.  :: They
are not the same!!::   Her mind screamed her defiance, but cold
logic seemed to seep in every time.  >Both of them started out
as good men didn't they?  Then they began to drink.  How long
untill Ryouga becomes as mean as the other?<
With a half-strangled sob, Feather resolutely buried her face in
her pillow and tried to get some sleep.

      Bright sunlight filtered through the cracks in the
shutters the next morning.  Ranma-chan half stirred, groaned,
then rolled over.  Suddenly her face felt very warm, like it was
stuck into a fur coat.  Ranma-chan sat up quickly in surprise,
and instantly regretted the motion.  Her stomach tossed and
turned, causing her face to turn an interesting shade of green
and her head suddenly felt like it had been crushed.  Ranma-chan
swallowed hard to avoid being sick, and squinted against the
light.
      "Man, my head hurts!"  Ranma-chan groaned as she looked
around the room.  She wasn't surprised to find herself in the
dojo, but she was surprised to find what looked to her to be an
oversized dog next to her.  Ranma-chan backed away, not sure of
what to think.
      "Let's see," Ranma-chan started to go over what had
happened the day before, "I found Ryouga, and he said he had
been to Jusenkyo.  Then we got roaring drunk, and staggered back
to the dojo.  I guess I passed out after Akane sprayed us with
the hose," Ranma-chan glanced over at the wolf.  "Ryouga, it has
to be," She said to herself.
      Slowly, Ranma-chan moved on her hands and knees towards
the slumbering wolf.  It did not take her very long to spot
Ryouga's bandanna tied around the thick, shaggy neck.
Awkwardly, Ranma-chan patted Ryouga-okami's shoulder.
      "Sorry man.  I know it wasn't what you were looking for,
but it's better than nothing right?"  Ryouga growled a little,
indicating that he was awake.  It was quite a struggle for
Ryouga to gain his feet--between his hangover, and not being
used to his new form it was nearly impossible.  Ranma-chan
steadied him the best he could.
      "Easy man, I'll go find Kasumi and get us some hot
water, maybe some food too," Ryouga sat back on his haunches as
Ranma-chan slowly made her way towards the house. Inside, he
found that the normal morning hustle had long since subsided.
      "Kasumi?  Are you around?"  Ranma-chan called out,
wincing against the volume of her own voice.  Kasumi walked out
of the kitchen, kettle in hand.  Apparently she was ready
for them.
      "Good morning Ranma.  How do you feel this morning?"
Kasumi sounded and looked concerned.  Ranma-chan was grateful
for Kasumi's calm and quiet demeanor.
      "My head hurts, and everything sounds like it's being
shouted in my ear.  My gut feels like I ate the worst of Akane's
cooking for a week," Kasumi nodded in sympathy.
      "I'm sure poor Ryouga is in no better shape.  Let's
change him back and see about getting you two feeling better,"
Kasumi walked briskly towards the dojo, kettle in hand.
Ranma-chan was a little upset that Kasumi hadn't changed her
back then and there, so she stumbled after Kasumi eagerly
awaiting her return to normality.  Once they were in the dojo,
Kasumi gingerly poured the hot water onto Ryouga-okami.  As
with Genma's transformation, Ryouga's had somehow taken his
clothes with him.
      "Thanks Kasumi.  You wouldn't believe how little alcohol a wolf
can handle," Ryouga said as he stood up.  Kasumi smiled,
but delicately wrinkled her nose.
      "Off to the bath with you two!  I don't want you to make
yourselves sick with your own stench," Kasumi started herding
them towards the bathroom.  Ranma-chan opened her mouth to
protest, but Kasumi wouldn't hear of it.  One stern look from
her made Ranma-chan all but run for the bathroom.
      "I'll have some food ready for you when you get out!"
Kasumi called after the retreating pair.  Kasumi watched until
they disappeared around the corner then she simply got a
mop from the corner and dried the floor with two deft strokes.
She turned towards the kitchen with a resigned look on her face.
      "Kasumi's being real bossy today isn't she?"  Ryouga
asked while he soaked in the furu with Ranma.
      "Yeah, but she has every right to.  After all, we both
staggered in late last night, ruining whatever was planned for
the evening, and to top it off we were drunk.  I'll bet Akane is
real mad.  She cooked dinner last night, and I think it went to
waste," He bowed his head.  Ryouga looked up at the ceiling.
      "I'm better off than I was, I don't turn into something
eaten in more places than not.  I still have to be careful
though, a lot of people have an irrational fear of wolves."
Ranma nodded.
      "Yeah, but now you never have to worry about becoming P-
Chan ever again."  Ranma grinned ear to ear, "You want to go out
for a pork okonomiaki at Ucchan's later?"  Ryouga looked queasy
for a second, but then he smiled hugely.
      "Sure.  Maybe pork chops after that!"  Laughing, the two
of them climbed out of the tub, their appetites sparked.  Once
they were in the changing room, they found clean clothes
neatly laid out for them.
      "She really looks out for everyone, doesn't she?"
Ryouga stated more than asked as they changed.  Ranma nodded in
response.  "Does anyone ever really show how much they
appreciate her?"  Ranma stopped dead cold at those words.  Ice
ran down his spine as he realized exactly how much
responsibility had been placed on those slender shoulders.
      "I think it's time to make sure people do Ryouga,
starting with us," Ranma said evenly.  "You're right. Kasumi
does so much for so little in return.  The only time she ain't
cleanin' is when she's too sick to get out of bed, and even then
we have to practically hold her down," Ranma's face settled into
a mask of determination, and Ryouga nodded at his friends words.
      They made their way towards the kitchen, ready to take
over whatever chores that needed to be done.  When they reached
the kitchen they stopped dead in their tracks, disbelief
plain on their faces.  Pots and pans were everywhere; spilled
food littered the floor and stained the walls.  Utensils were
scattered about, and in the middle of the storm of disarray was
Kasumi, calmly doing her best to clean up.
      "Uh, Kasumi?"  Ranma asked hesitantly.  Kasumi looked up
at them and smiled.
      "Hello Ranma, Ryouga.  Give me a minute and I'll have
something ready for you to eat," Her calm acceptance of the mess
nearly made Ranma mad, but it drove Ryouga to fury.  With a
great amount of control, Ryouga forced down the rage before he
spoke.
      "That's not why we came to the kitchen Kasumi.  We... We
want to help you clean this up," Ranma nodded firmly to
emphasize that desire.  Kasumi's hand shot up to her mouth.
      "Oh my, you can't!  You're guests, guests shouldn't have
to help out around the house!"  Kasumi's protests went unheeded
as they proceeded to pick up around the kitchen.
      "I'll clean the dishes Ryouga. Paws wouldn't do much
good there, and I stay human with hot or cold water."  Ryouga
nodded and quickly gathered the scattered dishes.  Kasumi
tried again to stop them, but Ryouga stopped her.
      "Kasumi, you have done more for us than anyone can
possibly imagine.  Let us clean up this mess while you relax for
a while," Kasumi gave a small frown, but Ryouga spoke before she
could.  "And if I catch you trying to vacuum or clean anything
else, I'll dunk you in the pond myself!"  He then turned back to
the mess and proceeded to clean the spilled food off of the floor
and walls.
      Kasumi never moved from where she stood.  On occasion
she would correct them as to where something went, but other
than that did nothing.  In short order, the kitchen was
immaculate once again.  Ranma and Ryouga looked at each other
with satisfaction.
      "Ok Kasumi, what happened in there?  I've never seen the
kitchen that bad, even when Akane was first trying to cook."
Ranma asked bluntly, his eyes promising pain to whoever caused
it.
      "Well, I found it like that this morning.  I thought
that one of you had tried to get a snack during the night, but
when I checked, neither of you had moved."  Kasumi tried to
sound convincing but she could not, not with two pairs of steely
eyes on her.  Kasumi sighed; she never had been very good at
lying.
      "I don't know for certain, but I think either Akane or
Feather got a little upset when they tried to make breakfast
this morning.  When I came in, both of them were staring at the
mess."  Kasumi finally confessed.  The boys looked at each other
and frowned.
      "Kasumi," Ranma said after a short time, "If you ever
need help with anything, and I do mean anything, you let me or
Ryouga know.  We'll do anything we can to help you out,"
Kasumi seemed to ignore the statement, and briskly started to
cook some food.
      "Akane and Feather are at school.  You two slept very
soundly.  Why don't you go sit down while I make you some soup,"
Kasumi remarked lightly.  Ranma and Ryouga retreated from the
kitchen and settled down at the table.
      "I missed school on my first day back didn't I?"  Ryouga
slumped his shoulders as he realized how much homework he'd have
to do to catch up.  Ranma patted him on the shoulder.
      "Cheer up man, Akane and Feather will be happy to help
you out," Ranma grinned.
      "What about you?"
      "I'll be right next to you catching up as well."  Ranma
seemed a bit embarrassed; "My grades aren't exactly the
greatest."  They chuckled at that, then groaned from the sudden
pain that lanced through their skulls.
      "Remind me never to go drinking with you again."  Ranma
groaned as he clutched at his still throbbing head.  Ryouga
grunted as he laid his head on the table.  It only took a
moment for Ryouga to fall back asleep.
      With Ryouga tuned out, Ranma turned to watch the Koi
pond, hoping that the serenity that it produced would help calm
his headache.  A gentle breeze stirred the leaves of the old
tree and caused small ripples to play across the water's
surface.  He let his mind wander, losing himself in the calm
scene before him.  ::No wonder Mr. Tendo loves to watch the
pond, it's so relaxing::  For a moment, one fleeting second,
Ranma had found peace.
      All thoughts of peace and quiet fled when Kasumi
announced that lunch was ready.  Seemingly out of nowhere, Genma
materialized and moved quickly to his spot at the table.
Soun followed at a more leisurely pace.  Genma's sudden arrival
roused Ryouga, who muttered dark imprecations at Genma.
      "Well boy, you looked like something the cat dragged in
last night!"  Genma laughed loudly to the boys' discomfort.
"What happened to you boy?"  Ranma glared at his father.
      "Look pop, I'm in no mood to talk about it.  Just leave
me alone 'k?"  Ranma growled, his headache back full force.
Genma opened his mouth to say something else, but found a
dishrag shoved into his mouth.  Everyone at the table looked at
Kasumi in shock.
      "That's quite enough Mr. Saotome!"  Kasumi's normally
gentle voice quite suddenly had steel in it.  An eerie silence
held sway before Kasumi continued.
      "Ranma-kun is not feeling well, but he and Ryouga-kun
insisted on helping with the kitchen, so they have done more
than enough to deserve a quiet meal."  Kasumi gave him a
hard look before she spoke again in her normal voice.  "Now, do
we understand each other?"  Genma nodded fervently, still too
shocked to pull the rag from his mouth.
      Lunch was eaten in silence after that.  Once everyone
was done the boys traded a glance, and proceeded to clear the
table.  Kasumi didn't protest, but merely picked up a share of
the dishes.   Genma and Soun gaped as they watched.  After the
table was cleared, the fathers decided that a good game of shoji
would take their minds off of things.
      "Maybe things will be a bit quieter back in the dojo,"
Ranma said as he washed dishes.  Ryouga nodded his agreement,
and they retreated there once the work was done.  Ryouga
retrieved his sleeping bag from his pack and opened it up
fully.  Ranma shot him a questioning look.
      "It'll be more comfortable to sit on this than just the
floor," Ryouga explained as he sat heavily.   Ranma sat next to
him and they looked out at the garden in silence.
      Hours passed as the boys drifted in and out of sleep,
but it did not seem like it had been a long time before they
heard the girls returning from school.  Ranma and Ryouga stood
and went to meet up with them.  As they approached the dining
room they could hear a lively conversation, but when they
entered dead silence was there to greet them.
      Akane looked nervous about something and Feather's face
was blank.  Ryouga swallowed nervously and put his hand behind
his head.
      "Um, hi.  About last night..." he started, but let his
words trail off as Feather turned and fled upstairs.  Ryouga
glanced around. "Did I say something wrong?"  He asked.  Akane
glanced up the stairs before she spoke.
      "She's been acting really weird today.  This morning she
went crazy in the kitchen when I mentioned what happened last
night, and she's been tense all day."  She spoke softly so
that Feather would not hear her.  Ranma shrugged.
      "Ok, maybe she's just as dangerous in the kitchen as you
are!"  Ranma smirked at his own wit, and Akane scowled at him.
      "Watch it Ranma!"  Akane spoke with rising anger, "I'm
still pretty upset that you missed out on dinner last night,"
      "Heck, couldn't have been that special," Ranma
commented, "I mean it woulda been what?  Your second meal that
wasn't poisonous?"  Akane's scowl grew, but she managed to
restrain herself.
      "I think maybe you two did something that upset her last
night.  It's bad enough that the principal terrorized her, then
the fact that everybody at school knows about her wings now,
and finally you two coming home drunk last night!  Heck I'm
pretty stressed out by all of that!"
      "Um, so what's the big deal?  So what if we came home
drunk once?  It's not like we're trying to hurt her or
anything," Ranma said as he crossed his arms.  Something in
Akane's mind almost audibly snapped.
      "What's the big deal?!?!  I'll tell you what the big
deal is!  You're an insensitive jerk and a complete idiot!  She
looks up to you and Ryouga like you were idols, and you
destroyed her perception of you two.  Mine as well.  I never
thought either of you would go and get drunk just for the sake
of getting drunk!"  While Ranma stammered, trying to come up
with a reply, Akane turned on Ryouga so suddenly he backed up a
step.
      "And you!  Do you have any idea how much Feather worried
about you when you wandered off?  She searched for you for three
days!  It took all I had just to get her to go to school!"
Akane stomped forward as she made each point.  Not being used to
being on the receiving end of Akane's temper, Ryouga backed up
nervously until his back was against the wall.
      "I didn't mean to wander off..." Ryouga said meekly.
His words did not seem to calm Akane down at all.
      "I know you don't mean to wander off Ryouga, but that
does not excuse what you did!"  Akane turned and climbed the
stairs, leaving a pair of very confused young men.
      "Hey Ranma, you think she's upset?"
      "Upset is not the word," Ranma muttered as he motioned
for Ryouga to follow him.  "Look Ryouga, sometimes the best
thing to do when something like this happens is to back off
for a bit.  Akane seems to calm down faster if I'm not around,"
Ryouga looked dubious, but followed him anyway.
      "You sure about that Ranma?  The problem is here, so we
should stay here," Ryouga crossed his arms to emphasize his
point.  Ranma gave him a hard look.
      "Let me say that again.  You wanna be here while the
girls are still really mad, and just might decide to take it out
on us?"  Ryouga remembered suddenly about that time Akane had
hit him; right after the accident that cut her hair.  He
shivered involuntarily at the memory.
      "Ok you have a point, but where will we eat dinner?  I
don't have that much money on me, and I know how you eat!"
Ranma grinned.
      "Way ahead of you man!  We'll just head over to Ucchan's
and get some of that pork okonomiaki we were talking about
earlier," Ryouga nodded and grabbed his pack out of habit,
and followed Ranma through town.
      Ucchan's was empty when they arrived, save Ukyou.  She
was cheerfully wiping the counter when they came in.  She looked
up and smiled.
      "Hello Ran-chan!  Hi there Ryouga, what brings both of
you here?  Akane cooking again tonight?"  She heated up the
grill while the boys grabbed a pair of stools at the counter.
      "Naw, at least I don't think so.  Feather was real
worked up about something, giving Ryouga a real cold shoulder."
Ranma grimaced a little, thinking of the mess Feather had made
in the kitchen.  "She didn't even say hi to him when she got
back from school."
      "Speaking of school, why weren't you there Ran-chan?
Akane wouldn't say exactly why you didn't show."  Ukyou started
pouring some batter out onto the grill. "Two deluxes right?"
      "Two pork okonomiaki please," Ranma elbowed Ryouga a
little, "Ryouga and I didn't go to school cause we were... not
feeling that well this morning."  Ukyou leveled a steady gaze
at them.
      "Define not feeling well."  Ranma glanced nervously
around, as if he didn't really want to say.  Ryouga wasn't as
nervous though.
      "We were hungover.  After Ranma found me last night, I
made him take me to a bar to get dr....OW!"  Before he could
finish talking, Ukyou had whipped her huge spatula off of her
back and hit Ryouga on the top his head, very hard.  Blows from
a sledgehammer were kinder than this.  Ryouga only looked mildly
annoyed though.
      "You jackass!" Ukyou screamed, "Do you have any idea
what Feather's been through?"  Ryouga shook his head mutely,
wondering why Ukyou seemed to be crying and screaming mad at
once.  Tears streamed from her eyes as she repeatedly pounded on
Ryouga.  Ranma edged away carefully, not wanting to get hit for
his involvement.  Ukyou was so mad, she was starting to shake.
      The repeated blows stunned Ryouga and the stool he was
sitting on finally broke.  As he tumbled backwards, Ukyou knelt
behind the counter and wept into her hands.  Ranma vaulted over
the counter to see if Ukyou was all right.
      "Ucchan!  What's wrong with you?"  He exclaimed and
tried to comfort her.  Unfortunately, Ukyou was quite beyond the
reach of reason and she threw Ranma across the restaurant.
Ranma landed hard on a table, splintering it.  He lay there for
a second stunned, until he smelled smoke.  As he jumped up, he
saw that Ryouga was already trying to put out a fire on the
grill.  Ryouga grabbed one of Ukyou's spatulas and flipped a
chunk of charcoaled batter into the sink.  Ranma dashed over to
the sink and ran water over the still smoldering chunk.  When
Ranma looked back, he saw that Ryouga was ignoring the heat of
the grill and the grease fire that was blazing across it's
surface, and was scraping all of the grease and burnt batter
into a pan.
      Ranma snatched up a tablecloth and smothered the fire.
Luckily the tablecloth didn't catch, and that too was thrown
into the sink.  Ranma then knelt next to Ukyou again.
      "Hey Ucchan, I don't know what's gotten into you, but
you need to calm down a bit.  You almost let your restaurant
burn," Ranma remained tense for whatever reaction would come
next from her.  Ukyou continued to cry for a while, and the guys
were starting to get real nervous before she finally stopped.
      "Hey Ukyou, what happened anyway?  It must have been
pretty bad for you to react like that," Ryouga said standing
just out of her reach.  Ukyou slowly stood up and looked over
towards the still slightly smoking grill.
      "Give me a sec to clean this up, and then I'll explain."
      A short while later, Ukyou had finished cleaning up the
grill and was starting to cook some okonomiaki for them.  "Ok
you two, I'll tell you what's going on," Ukyou said evenly,
still apparently not very happy with them.
      "That guy that used to keep her, he was a mean drunk.
He used to beat her after drinking a lot.  She has _scars_ from
that, not just emotional ones.  She has a long scar on her
left shoulder and maybe others that she didn't show me."  Ukyou
paused to tend to the food for a second. "He used to spend most
of their money on booze, and he still hit her if anything didn't
go his way.  That's why she's been acting different around you,
she's remembering slowly what happened to her in the past and
it's tearing her up."  She served them the okonomiaki at that
point.  Ranma let out a low whistle.
      "So that's it.  I didn't know what you were talking
about yesterday, and I didn't think to ask you about it."  Ranma
said between bites.  Ryouga hesitantly ate his; his revulsion to
pork was fading slowly.  Ukyou seemed to calm down a little
more, and just started to enjoy having her Ran-chan there.
      "So why did you guys feel the need to get drunk?  It
must've been something awful that happened," Ukyou asked when
they had finished eating.  Ryouga swallowed nervously
before he spoke.
      "I kinda messed up getting Ranma a cure, and ended up
with a curse myself,"
      "Poor thing!  Tell me what happened," Ukyou leaned over
the counter, interested in what Ryouga was about to say.
      "Well, I stumbled into Jusenkyo about a week ago, but I
couldn't find the guide anywhere.  So I decided to try and find
the nannichuan without his help," he thought for a second about
how he should edit his story, and then continued.
      "I basically looked around for human footprints coming
out of a spring.  I did find one but when I took off my pack to
get a bottle out, I fell into the spring behind me.  The
transformation was... painful.  The pain drove me insane, and
apparently I ran without stopping for quite some time.  When I
came out of it, I was in the cargo hold of a plane thankfully
human.  Luckily, the plane landed in Tokyo and Ranma found me
shortly after that," Ryouga paused to sip some water.
      "I was really depressed when I saw Ranma, 'cause I had
to tell him that I had a cure in hand and lost it.  After that I
had him take me to a bar and we both got roaring drunk," Ryouga
hung his head, depressed again by his bad luck.  Ukyou reached
across the bar to pat him on the shoulder.
      "There there hon, can't be all that bad.  What do you
turn into, by the way?"  Ukyou sounded very curious.  Ryouga
looked up and grinned, baring his fangs a little.
      "A wolf.  I turn into a fairly large wolf," Ryouga said
with no emotion in his voice.
      "Could be worse sugar,"
      "That's true I guess.  I don't turn into something small
and helpless like some people, and I don't have to worry about
Kuno chasing me down whenever it rains," He shot a glance at
Ranma, "I guess you could say it coulda been worse.  It does
make catching my dinner that much easier, and I can track my way
back to wherever I camped by smell,"
      Ranma chuckled a little at Ryouga's deadpan description
his new curse.  Ukyou giggled as well, but she really didn't
know the true reason behind Ryouga's statements.
      Evening turned into night, and the boys slowly made
their way back to the dojo.  Neither of them spoke, they did not
have to.  They knew that pair of angry young women were there,
and who on earth knew what would set them off next.
      It was fully dark when they passed the gates to the
dojo.  Ranma guided Ryouga into the dojo, and with a silent
salute left for his room.  Ryouga was deep in thought as he
prepared his sleeping bag.  Despite knowing what made Feather
angry at him, he was unable to come up with a suitable way to
get her to forgive him.  Cursing his stupidity, Ryouga stared at
the ceiling while sleep and the answer to his problem eluded him.
      Morning did not bring any answers to the lost boy.  The
cries of the Saotomes sparring roused him from his slumber.
Habit urged him to pack his rucksack and sling it over his
shoulder.  As he finished waking up, he noticed female battle
cries coming from the yard.  His curiosity piqued, Ryouga
followed the voices into the yard.
      He stopped dead in his tracks at the sight before him.
Akane and Feather were sparing on the lawn while Genma and Ranma
fought over the pond.  Feather was being hard pressed by a
vicious pattern of punches and kicks from Akane.  More than once
Ryouga noted when and where Akane penetrated her defenses.  He
smiled to himself in pride when Feather caught Akane's arm and
used her momentum in a hip throw.  Feather didn't let up there
as she took her turn on the attack.  Akane smoothly blocked or
dodged the strikes though.
      Ryouga gasped when Feather whipped her hair around to
tag Akane on her side.  A whip-like crack could be heard from
the blow. Akane winced, but did not falter when she took
advantage of the opening the move left.
      The girls broke smoothly when Kasumi called out that
breakfast was ready.  Ryouga snapped out of his half trance to
dash for the table.  He barely noticed when Ranma and Genma
fell into the pond.
      The usual breakfast argument started up between Ranma-
chan and Akane, but Ryouga didn't notice.  He was too deep in
his thoughts.  About the only thing he noticed was the fact
that Feather was making a point to ignore him.  He decided to
say something to her.  He spoke to Feather during a lull in
Ranma-chan and Akane's argument.
      "I guess it's about time for you to go back to Cologne
again.  She did want to keep track of how much you're
improving," Ranma-chan nearly choked.
      "The old ghoul wants to see her progress?  Why?"
      Ryouga shook his head.  "I don't really know myself, but
she said something along the lines about how well a one time
student of hers could teach.  Maybe it's about how a student
represents the teacher or something like that."
      "That makes a little sense.  After all, she did teach
you the bakusai tenketsu, maybe she thinks you're her student
full time now," Ryouga shuddered.
      "I hope not.  I'm not too fond of her training
techniques," Feather didn't reply, but she did seem to be
looking forward to seeing Cologne after school.  The rest of
breakfast passed peacefully, and after Ranma had changed back
they ran off for school.
      When they could see the clock tower, they realized that
they were early for a change.  Slowing to a walk, they
approached the school.  Just inside the gates Kuno was waiting
for them.
      "Greetings on this fair morn' to the beauticious Tendo
Akane, and the angelic Saotome Feather!  How I yearn for you
both!  Come, leap into my arms!" He cried out as they
approached.
      "Give it a rest Kuno," Akane sighed as she continued
towards the school.  Kuno might have continued, if he was given
the chance, but he was being held back by Ranma and Ryouga.
      "Release me curs or feel the wrath of the Blue
Thunder!"  He yelled.
      "Chill out Kuno.  Today is not a good day for this,"
Ryouga said with a trace of irritation in his voice.
Surprisingly, Kuno ceased trying to chase the girls the rest of
the way into the school.
      "'Tis the wandering warrior Ryouga.  Why is this day not
a good one to court my loves?  Neither rain nor snow shall stay
me from seeking the hands of those I love.  Truly, such
a task is too stern for me to delay,"
      "Look you moron, we're finally early and I'm not going
to let you make us all late again!"  Ranma snapped.
      "Very well Saotome.  I shall proceed to my own class
then.  Perhaps after school," Kuno walked away.
      Despite his parting words, Kuno did not show up again
after school.  The small group made their way towards the
Nekohanten; the girls were talking excitedly about something
that had caught their interest and the guys were generally
ignored.  The cold shoulder was almost more than Ryouga could
stand.
      They weren't expecting to see the Nekohanten closed
down.  It didn't quite look deserted, but business was obviously
not being held.
      "That's odd.  This place usually has a crowd."  Ranma
noted as they approached.  "Come to think of it, I don't recall
seeing Shampoo for the last week or so," Akane frowned a
little.  She had noticed, and secretly celebrated the amazon's
absence.  Feather walked up and knocked on the door.  Several
minutes passed before they heard the lock turn and the door
slowly slid open.
      "So sorry, Nekohanten closed for... Ranma!  So happy to
see you," She did not seem overly enthusiastic though.  She
appeared to be disheveled, and obviously had not gotten very
much sleep.
      "What's wrong Shampoo?  You're a mess!"  Ranma said with
a note of concern in his voice.  Akane frowned again, but said
nothing.  Shampoo passed a weary hand across her eyes, brushing
some stray locks of hair away.
      "Come inside, Shampoo tell you what happening then,"
She stood aside from the door to let them pass then she closed
and locked the door.  Ranma and the others sat at one of the
dusty tables.
      "What's going on?  As many times as I've wandered here
the door's been open,"  Ryouga said.  Shampoo sat with them
wearily.
      "Mousse get very sick from fight with beast.  The wounds
get infected and he get high fever.  Great Grandmother doing
what she can to keep fever down, but it not look good.
Shampoo been busy helping,"  Feather hugged Shampoo in an
attempt to comfort her.
      "I thought you didn't like Mousse Shampoo."  Akane spoke
quietly.
      "If Mousse dies from those wounds, Shampoo will be honor
bound to follow him into the grave.  Such are the laws of our
tribe."  Everyone turned to look as Cologne revealed herself
at the end of the hall.  She hopped to join them at the table.
      "The gashes in his chest are oozing Shampoo.  Go and
drain them again,"  She dismissed her great granddaughter with a
wave of her withered hand.  Once Shampoo had gone upstairs,
Cologne turned her gaze to the youths gathered at the table.
      "What brings you all here?"
      "We were bringing Feather by to show you her progress,
but now I think that we want to do what we can to help," Ranma
placed his hands on the table.
      "That is kind of you.  Perhaps you could help us care
for him."
      Feather nodded her agreement and started up the stairs
after Shampoo to try and lend a hand.



----------------------------End Chapter 7----------------------


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