CAN'T LET GO
(A Ranma 1/2 fic by Cass and GSL)

Comments, criticisms and MSTs are welcome. You can reach us at
chiaty@singnet.com.sg
You can view this at http://web.singnet.com.sg/~chiaty/fanfics.htm

We also would like to thank our pre-readers, Justin Baugh,
Jed Bidwell, Arthur Edwards and Maurice Phillip.

Disclaimer can be found in earlier parts.

[ ] = dream sequence
< > = character's thoughts
{ } = conversations in chinese


Part 6B
-------

(Night. Nekohanten)

	Ukyou was right. Shampoo would never forgive him for what he did, he knew 
her all too well. And yet his heart burned with the desire to do what he 
knew would be suicide.

	He slapped himself across the face, hard. Shouting to himself, he forbade 
the thoughts of seeking Shampoo's forgiveness to cross his mind. He tried to 
think of how happy he would be when everything was over. Hawaii would be 
nice, with the beaches and not to mention the many beautiful girls there. He 
could fall in love again, get married, have children...

	The thoughts died as soon as they arose. Strangely, agitation came forth. 
He was taking deep breaths now, struggling to fill his lungs with the 
essential element. Something disturbed him and he knew it was not of an 
external nature.

	Quiet, everything was so damn quiet. In the darkness, he could barely see 
beyond his hands. But he didn't need his sight to know what surrounded him. 
Loneliness. And it was suffocating him.

	<"Mu Tsu, come try this new recipe."> He remembered that in this kitchen 
his love was feeding him morsels of food. He hardly remembered the taste, 
other than it was very good.

	Touching the table surface, he remembered the days when the tabletop wasn't 
so cold, so bare. It used to be placed with dishes that they have whipped up 
for each other. A game they often played to see who cooked better. She would 
always claim to be the winner and he'd let her.

	He remembered her melodious laughter as they made small talk over dinner. 
How her voice never ceased to set his heart soaring into the heavens, he 
never knew. After the dinner, she would always make him do the dishes. He 
would protest so that she would bribe him with one of her kisses.

	He could still feel the lingering of her lips on his. How sweet it was, how 
the act was more than physical. And for the first time that evening, his 
mouth curled up to a smile.

	The clock chimed twelve times, breaking him out of his reverie. Back to the 
cold hard world, he realized that all was lost to him forever. A lone tear 
trickled down his cheeks, breaking the dams that he had built around his 
heart. He couldn't live like this anymore.

	Mousse stood up, swallowed a huge lump of air and headed towards the 
basement.

--------------------------------------------------
(Few hours later, Nekohanten)

	Cold. Her mind told her that a cold metallic object was at her hands. It 
was a dead weight to her palm and was disrupting the circulation in her 
hands. Another message invaded her brain: wet. Her clothes were dampened, 
clinging onto her body, adding to her discomfort.

	Groggily, her other senses began returning to her. The scent in the air 
made her want to puke. She rose swiftly to a sitting position, using the 
ground to support her weight. Her hands were met with a liquid substance 
much to her disgust. Pulling them away immediately, she brushed her stained 
hands on her shorts.

	Her heart was beating at an incredible speed and she didn't know why. She 
tried to recall what had happened... <There was a person down here.> Her 
instincts took over and she jumped to her feet, looking around frantically. 
Gasping loudly, she scrambled away when she found a body lying face down, 
behind her.

	The outline of his figure, the clothes he wore and the probability of a man 
coming down here have alerted her as to the identity of the body. And that 
was alarming. Inch by inch, she approached the motionless figure, clenching 
the metal object tighter, unaware that it was still in her hands. Only that 
the pain of clenching it tight was comforting her. There was more wetness on 
the ground as she neared him, sending shivers down her spine, guessing what 
the liquid was. Holding her breath she turned the body over, choking a 
scream in her throat.

	"{Mu Tsu,}" voicing his name softly, she proceeded to shake him. Both her 
hands reached his chest. She now knew for certain what the liquid was, for 
his white robe was soaked with it. She called out for him repeatedly, each 
time her cries got louder. Even when shaking the unmoving body, she never 
released the metallic object in her hand for she revelled in the pain it 
brought. The constant of pain pacified her raging heart. Dreading what she 
had to do next, she slowly brought a finger to his neck, hoping for a pulse. 
But there was none. She didn't know whether to feel happy or sad and ended 
up feeling both emotions, laughing and crying at the same time.

	The door cracked open loudly, groups of people rushed into the basement. 
She took no notice of the invaders until they shone their torchlights at 
her, blinding her.

	One of the uniformed men started to talk loudly to her, but she didn't 
understand what he was saying although he was speaking Japanese. Another man 
knocked the metallic object from her hand and it clanked loudly when it hit 
the floor. Her eyes widened at the sight of the dagger, standing 
motionlessly staring disbelieving at it. The police moved in on her, spoke 
of the rights she had and handcuffed her roughly. Still in a shocked state, 
she didn't resist. But when they try to take her away from the dead body, 
she shrieked and kicked, launching herself at the bloodied body. But being 
handcuffed, she was easily overpowered and that was the last time Shampoo 
saw Mousse.

---------------------------------------------------

	"You killed Mousse, didn't you?"

	"No! How many times you want Shampoo say? Shampoo no kill husb..," she 
stopped midway in her sentence, her mouth still open but no words came out. 
Did she still consider him as her husband? She wasn't sure, the relentless 
questions were giving her headaches already.

	<How many times have you plotted to kill him?> Her mind asked 
reproachfully. Numerous, it replied. <How many times you wished he were 
dead?> She told her mind to shut up before it conjured up an answer.

	"Then, how do you explain the dagger you were holding, bearing your 
fingerprints?"

	<How many times have you wished for a knife to kill him? Too many. Maybe 
you thought so hard about it that it materialized in your hands.> Her brain 
wasn't letting her off today. She slapped her temples repeatedly to will 
away the thoughts. "I don't know. Knife there when I woke up."

	The chanting began again, <Would you kill him if you really do have a 
knife? You would, wouldn't you?> It was as if there was another person 
living inside her, its main existence was to torture her. She wanted to 
shout at it, to strangle it if it was tangible. It came again. <The answer 
is yes because he killed your great grandmother, played with your feelings, 
tortured you, locked you up, humiliated...> The list would have gone on if 
she didn't stop it with her admission, <Yes, I would!>

	The officer was scrutinizing Shampoo. He had been in the police force for 
too many years. After hearing so many suspects giving their side of stories, 
he was experienced enough to tell, with a high accuracy rate, who was 
speaking the truth or a lie. But this girl was a mystery. The words she 
spoke were forceful but most important was the eyes. The way her pupils had 
not dilated was indicating that she was telling the truth. But why was she 
fidgeting as if she was not that innocent?

	"Don't you think this is too convenient? What? The dagger appeared from 
nowhere and whoosh there it is, on your hands."

	"Someone frame Shampoo.	I in cage then heard noises, so pretend to sleep. 
Stranger fast, touched my shiatsu point, Shampoo fall sleep." That was what 
happened unless her mind was imagining things. Even so, she had grown tired 
of repeating this over and over again. If this was a lie, the words would 
have flown out smoothly to qualify as the truth after numerable repetitions.

	"Your husband, Mousse had been abusing you. He locked you up in a cage, 
battered you. Don't tell me you didn't hate him?" Officer Muyo didn't wait 
for her answer and he roared on, "You wanted to kill him. Somehow you got a 
dagger, maybe he was carrying one and you managed to steal it. You caught 
him unawares and drove the dagger into him, knowing that it would end his 
horrible existence."

	Shaking her head furiously, she shouted her answer, "No!" Why wouldn't he 
believe her? Why wouldn't anyone believe her? <Maybe because if you had the 
chance you would jolly well kill him with your bare hands. Or maybe you 
already did...> Standing up abruptly, she knocked the chair onto the floor 
and gave a scream of frustration, "SHUT UP!"

	He eyed her for a moment, deciding his next move. She was still breathing 
heavily and he kept his silence. Waiting until she regained her normal 
breathing patterns, he continued, "I understand. He was a bastard for doing 
such things to you. You have my sympathy. I want to help you. If you plead 
guilty, I'll get my superiors to plead leniency for you."

	"But Shampoo no..." She felt like she was a broken record. And the desire 
to give up was very great. With her closest kin dead, what other reasons was 
there to live for? Her inner mind wasn't letting her live peacefully also. 
It kept reminding her of how she killed the na�ve young Mousse in the river 
incident, how she caused the change in him, bringing his downfall and 
indirectly his death. In whatever, however, a remote way, her mind would 
point the blame at her.

	"We found no signs of other people in that basement, no footprints, no 
fingerprints, not even a strand of hair. Everything points to you. You have 
motive, the murder weapon carries your prints. I want to believe you but I'm 
afraid you will be prosecuted." He watched the purple haired girl slump onto 
the chair. Sympathy for the girl arose within him. With a sigh, he motioned 
the female colleague beside him to escort Shampoo back to her cell.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
(Meanwhile in China)

	Seiyu wiped off the sweat on his brow with the back of his hand, letting 
the drops of perspiration fall into the parched earth.  <Watering the grass> 
he thought as he pretended to understand the native guide's gibberish, 
nodding once in a while at what the guide said.  When the conversation came 
to an end, he turned to his good friend and subordinate, Marumato Taeru, and 
asked, "What did the guide say?"

	"You should know, boss.  Afterall, you are the one standing there, nodding 
at the guy."

	"You know I don't understand Mandarin or those dialects.  So hurry up and 
tell me already."

	Taeru smirked and added, "Now you know how valuable I am.  So how about a 
raise?"  At Seiyu's exasperated look, he sobered up.  "Well, the guide said 
that we are only 30 minutes trek away from the mining hills.  The area is 
pretty dangerous.  There have been accidents recently.  Yeah, I asked him 
already.  He doesn't know much, just that a Japanese boy fell down a steep 
cliff and was seriously injured.  It could be our guy.  Oh and he said 
something about fearsome women warriors being in the general area this week. 
  And that we better avoid them or end up injured or worse."

	"Worse?"

	"Yeah, a fate worse than death - becoming their slaves," laughed Taeru.  
"Don't worry, with your looks, you won't be captured."

	"You're no pretty boy yourself." was Seiyu's caustic reply.  Heaving his 
backpack, he motioned for the guide to lead the way.  "Now, let's get a move 
on or this heat will kill us both."

--------------------------------------------------------------------

	The mining field was all that they expected - like a typical plot of land 
ravaged by the greed of man and left barren as a stark reminder.  What did 
you expect?  A lush landscape filled with flora and fauna?  Pleeeaasseeee.

	Resisting the urge to complain about the futility of this search for clues, 
the duo went about their duties.  Climb up one cliff, look around, gingerly 
climb down its slopes and look for clues.  Climb up.  Search.  Envy the 
guide who is sitting down below idly twirling his fingers.  Climb down.  
Search.

(Several hours later)

	"{It is getting late.  Why don't we go back?  You two can rest and come 
back here tomorrow,}" shouted the guide as he approached the others.

	"He said that it is getting late and we should leave now," translated 
Taeru.

	Seiyu mopped his forehead with his dirty handkerchief.  "Yeah.  Didn't 
expect to find any clues anyway.  What with the recent rains and all.  Maybe 
we will have better luck interviewing the villagers at Jing Lai Fei Si.  
Then we'll ask the staff at the nearest hospitals."

	"Hey!  Why aren't we going back the way we came?" asked Seiyu several 
minutes later.

	His subordinate translated the guide's reply, "He said something about this 
path through Black Forest will be safer.  Apparently he thinks the warrior 
women troop will use the other path - the way we came in.  The way he is 
rambling on and on about these women, you think they eat humans or 
something."

	"Let's get a move on then.  Anything to shut his chattering."

	"Aah!" exclaimed Taeru as he tripped and crashed headfirst onto the forest 
floor.  Standing up, he patted his clothes free of the dead leaves and sand 
as best he could.  "Hey!  Where's my watch?"  Spotting a glimmer of silver 
near the spot he tripped, he walked forward to investigate.

	"Whew!  It isn't broken," sighed Taeru as he picked it up.  Noticing that 
the others had actually continued moving forth, he kicked the offensive tree 
root that dared to launch a sneak attack on him and walked off.

	But something made him turn back.  A compulsion to investigate further, a 
whispering of the trees hinting at a discovery.  Never one to ignore such 
messages, he knelt down on one knee and dug with his hands, while keeping 
his fellow travellers in sight.  Digging around the almost circular bit of 
tree root protruding from the ground, adrenaline began pulsing through his 
veins, lending speed to his actions.  	"Boss!  Quick, come here!"

	Seiyu ran back and peered at his friend's findings.

	The half a metre deep hole clearly revealed a thick wooden pole or staff.  
A skeleton hand grasped the staff tightly, <in a death grip> Seiyu punned, 
keeping it upright.

	Wordlessly, he kneeled down as well and started digging.

	The guide moved closer to get a better view, then quickly backed away in 
terror.  "{No, no.  Sirs, you can't dig up graves.  Must show respect to the 
dead.  Otherwise the ghost may seek revenge.}"

	Knowing he couldn't stop them, he prayed to the ghost, "{Big brother or big 
sister, please forgive those two ignorant foreigners.  they mean no 
disrespect.  I'll burn some incense paper tonight when I get back to town.}" 
  He moved further from the grave and continued, "{I have nothing to do with 
this!  If you wish to visit someone, go visit them!}"

--------------------------------------------------------------------

	Meanwhile, several kilometres away, two young Amazon warriors were about to 
return home after a fruitless trip to a nearby town to buy some weapons.

	"{You smell that?}"  A sniff and a second sniff.  Then she hurriedly 
pinched her nose and breathed shallowly through her mouth.

	"{What smell?  I don't smell nothing.}"

	"{There.  The smell of death and decay-}"

	"{So?  Probably a dead animal.  Let's just get a move on.}" interrupted the 
girl with short fiery red hair.

	"{And men.  I smell the putrid odours of men's sweat and their essence."

	"{Then let's investigate,}" replied the other, as she unsheathed her sword 
and grinned ferally.

	"{Yeah.  Let's.}"

--------------------------------------------------------------------

	Seiyu and Taeru tensed, a moment before female battle cries rang out above 
them.  Two girls, dressed in dark, brownish clothes, wielding swords, jumped 
down from the trees and immediately moved into attack stances.

	"{Who are you?!  What are you doing here?!}" shouted one.

	The native guide held his arms up, the universal sign of surrender and 
pleaded for his life.  "{We are mere travellers heading home.  We mean no 
harm.}"

	"{Back off slowly to the side.  Now!}" barked the second girl with the 
fiery red hair that matched her temper.

	The guide did as he was told, motioning the foreigners to do the same.

	"{That's far enough!}"  Leaving the first girl-warrior to watch her back, 
the red haired one inched towards the large hole.  Her face paled as she saw 
the contents of the grave.  "{My god!  That's the staff of an Amazon Elder.  
No one else can...  That means that this corpse is...}"

	"{Pull it out, Shu Jiao!  We need to identify the body,}" replied the 
other, not wanting to move closer.  The stench of death was much stronger 
here, causing her to continue taking shallow breaths through her mouth.

	Shu Jiao started to object but thought better of it.  Steeling herself for 
what she was about to do, she took off her cloth belt, wrapped it around her 
right hand, forming a glove, and detached the staff from the skeleton's 
grip.  Holding it up to the waning sunlight, she was barely able to read the 
engraved words, "{Property of Khu Lon}".  Below the words, deep notches 
signalled her rank.

	"{It's Elder Khu Lon, Jing Xian.  I thought she was supposed to be in 
Japan?}"

	 "{Well obviously, she isn't there anymore.  You,}" she ordered, pointing 
at Seiyu, "{Why were you digging out Elder Khu Lon's grave?  Or were you 
burying her?}"

	Seiyu looked in confusion at Taeru, then at the two Amazons.  He knew this 
whole situation was rapidly spinning out of his control and that their 
safety might depend on his answer.  But he didn't even understood what was 
asked!

	"{Speak up, stupid man!}"

	"{They're not from here.  He doesn't understand our language.  They're 
Japanese,}" the guide hurriedly explained.

	<Japanese.> the pair of girl-warriors thought angrily as they looked at 
each other.  Reaching the same conclusion, they advanced towards their prey. 
  In a matter of minutes, the fight was over, brute strength and karate 
skills were no match for Amazon speed and cunning - they had kicked the 
men's groins.

	A short while later, the native guide and Taeru carried the corpse of one 
Amazon wrapped in a cotton cloth between them.  Seiyu's hands were bound 
behind his back and his ankles were tied with a short rope, restricting his 
movements.  Jing Xian led the way to the Joketsuzoku while Shu Jiao was 
right behind, taking pleasure in prodding Seiyu forward with her sword.  The 
procession was deadly silent, there was no need for words.  Everyone knew 
what would happen once they arrived at the Amazon village...

--------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Halt!  Who are they?" shouted a woman whose sleeveless shirt and bermudas 
revealed bulging tan muscles that could give Arnold a run for his money.  
Her eyes were kind and gentle though, as if she would rather give everyone a 
bone-crushing hug than use the bonbori she was currently wielding.

	"{Inform the council that we have found these men digging Elder Kun Lon's 
grave.}"

	"{What?  But she is-}"  A chill went through her heart as her gaze 
flickered to the bundle the prisoners were carrying.  She might not have 
liked the Elder much but she was one of them regardless.  "{You may enter.}" 
  At her signal, the giant wooden gate opened, permitting entrance to the 
Amazon village.  A junior guard ran in front to signal their arrival.

	The guide looked around in wonder.  <Why, the Amazon village looks just 
like my own.  The same huts with similar designs.  The only difference is 
that the huts are not laid out haphazardly like in most unplanned villages 
and towns.  Almost a centric pattern.  And the men!  There are so few of 
them.  And they look so domestic, tending to the children, wearing aprons 
and picking up the laundry.>  His mind filled with disgust at what he saw.  
<A real man ploughs the fields, not washes the wife's underwear.>

	A man patiently braiding his little daughter's thick unruly hair before 
letting her run off to play with her friends, caught the guide's eye.  The 
latter stared at the contented look on the stranger's face for several long 
moments, before a painful shove by Shu Jiao made him continue forth.  <He 
looks so... happy, content.>  He mulled over that particular train of 
thought for awhile before dismissing it.  <He and all the men here must have 
been brainwashed.  No sense of pride and respect left.>

	Seiyu and Taeru had vastly different thoughts compared to the Chinese 
guide.  It wasn't the time to be sightseeing and gawking at strange people.  
Keeping their heads high and backs straight, their sole thought was to 
survive.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

	"{Shu Jiao, Jing Xian.  The council is ready to hear your statements now,}" 
barked a warrior guarding the entrance to the Great Hall.  She opened the 
door to let the two young warriors in, then closed it again.

	The two entered the large hall, trying to walk with a proud and confident 
gait but failing.  They had been here before, for their initiation 
ceremonies into warriorhood and for the annual meetings among the warriors 
and the Elders.  However, this time it felt different.  With no other person 
present, except for the ten grim Elders and the Amazon Queen seated behind a 
long crescent-shaped mahogany table, they felt intimidated, as if they were 
the ones who were being punished.  Which was silly, absolutely ridiculous 
but neither girl-warrior could stop the internal nervous twitches or the 
fierce pounding of her heart.

	After the initial greetings and preliminary introductions were made, the 
inquiry began.  "{We were travelling back home when Jing Xian smelt 
something.  Men and rotting flesh in the distance,}" reported Shu Jiao in a 
crisp voice, betraying none of her nervousness.  Her mother would have been 
proud.

	The elders began whispering to each other.  "{She's the one with the 
fantastic sense of smell.}"

	"{I thought that was just a rumour.}"

	"{No, it's true.  I tested her myself.}"

	The Queen, who had only sat at the throne for fifty years, waved a hand to 
silence the rest.  "{Yes, the council has heard of her special ability.  
Continue.}"  Although she did not mix around with her tribe much, like her 
predecessor and the predecessor before that, she was still kept 
well-informed of the tribe's happenings, through her daughter and her 
servants.  She had to be.  If she waited for information to be filtered to 
her through the conventional channels, opportunities would be lost and 
threats left uncovered.  Aware that Shu Jiao had begun to speak, the Queen 
dismissed her internal thoughts and concentrated on the girl instead.

	"{Yes, my Queen.  We went to investigate and found two outsider men digging 
a grave.  Another male was frightened and praying for the spirit to spare 
his life.  The grave contained the body of Elder Khu Lon.  We know this 
because of the staff the corpse was carrying.  Only an Amazon Elder could 
possess such a staff.  In addition, the name 'Khu Lon' was carved onto it.}"

	Jing Xian interrupted, "{We questioned the men and found that the two 
diggers were from Japan, the same country Khu Lon was visiting.  So, these 
men must have murdered Khu Lon and attempted to bury her there!}"  Her bold 
statement sparked off a fierce debate among the Elders.

	"{We must punish these murderers at once!}" Elder Mei Mei declared.

	"{We must not let the death of an Amazon go unpunished!}" echoed Elder Lao 
Lao.

	"{But how could these men kill one so skilled as Khu Lon and yet were 
captured by these two youngsters?}" wondered another Elder.

	"{Perhaps they were weakened by Khu Lon.}"

	"{What about Shan Pu and Mu Tsu?  Where are they now?  Had they met the 
same fate?}"

	"{Silence!  Let's leave all the debate until Elder Zhi Yu comes back with 
the autopsy report and we have questioned the outsiders!}" demanded the 
Amazon Queen.

	And so the wait began.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
(Five hours later.  Jing Xian, Shu Jiao were called back to the Great Hall 
as Elder Zhi Yu had finished her examination of the Elder Khu Lon's corpse.)

	Elder Zhi Yu stood alongside Jing Xian and Shu Jiao and gave her report.  
"{Khu Lon had a deep knife wound on her back, that would eventually cause 
her death if it was not treated in time.  The knife was not thrown, it was 
plunged in.  From the angle of the cut, I think the murderer and victim were 
face-to-face, perhaps even in an embrace.  Her throat was also slashed.  
That was what actually killed her.}"  She paused to let the others absorb 
fully the implications of her findings.  That the killer could have been 
someone Khu Lon trusted for her to be killed in such close proximity.  Or 
that the killer's skill was far superior to Khu Lon.

	Elder Zhi Yu sighed, her tired, sad eyes revealed just how affected she was 
by the death of her 'shi jie'.  They were both under the tutelage of Elder 
Lao Lao before she decided to concentrate on the art of healing.  Still, 
their camaraderie remained.  And now, to examine her 'shi jie's' battered 
corpse, it took every ounce of her self-control to distance herself from 
what she had discovered.

	"{I've also found puncture holes, almost circular, in her bones.  It was 
caused by a long and thin object.  The randomness, depth and the sheer 
number of these holes lead me to conclude that the killer was operating 
under rage and possibly madness.

	"{From the decomposition of her body, she has been dead for several months 
now.  And there was no trace of her body being moved recently, so the 
outsiders captured are innocent.  If these two,}" she gestured at the pair 
standing next to her.  "{Weren't so...}" she tried to find an appropriate 
word, "{over-zealous, they would have realized that simple fact.}"

	The two girl-warriors blushed and kept their eyes focused on their feet.

	"{If you have finished your report, Zhi Yu, come and take your place among 
us,}" ordered the Queen.

	Elder Zhi Yu nodded, walked to her seat and sat down, noting with sadness 
the empty seat next to hers.

	"{As for you two, you have disgraced your teacher and clan by displaying 
such foolish, rash behaviour.  We will discuss your fates later.  But now, 
bring out the three outsider males and a translator.}"

--------------------------------------------------------------------

	"{Come on, the Queen wants to see you,}" ordered the guard as she opened 
the prison door.

	The three men limped out, wincing as sunlight flooded their eyes.  Thanks 
to the cramped conditions of the prison cell, their legs felt as if they 
were on fire.  The ten minute walk to the Great Hall felt like torture but 
the pain lessened with each step they took.

	The men were led into the hall and introduced to their translator, a 
matronly woman, who spoke Japanese flawlessly.

	Seiyu began telling their cover story through the translator.  "We are 
tourists and happened to be travelling through the Black Forest when my 
friend tripped over what we thought was a tree root.  But it wasn't a tree 
root.  We were curious so we started digging. It turned out to be a grave.  
That was when the two Amazons arrived and attacked us."

	He looked at Taeru to check if the translator did her job.  Taeru gave a 
slight nod.

	The Elders questioned the male guide who confirmed Seiyu's story.    Except 
that he had mentioned leading them to the mines earlier.  This caught the 
attention of one Elder who asked, "{Why were you in the mining area?}"

	"{My friend here has an interest in geology, so we stopped by the area,}" 
explained Seiyu.

	The Amazon Queen looked at the Elders and came to a conclusion.  "{My young 
warriors are inexperienced and rash, so when they found you uncovering the 
unmarked grave of one of our own, they immediately assumed that you were 
guilty.  But your names have been cleared and you are free to go.  Thank you 
for finding Khu Lon's remains.}"

	A flicker of recognition flashed in his eyes as he remembered the old mummy 
in Nerima he was told to get rid of but not kill.  Cologne of the Chinese 
Amazons aka Khu Lon.  He carefully schooled the expression on his face to 
reflect pure relief at his new-found freedom.  However, it was too late.

	"{How did you know Khu Lon?  Speak up now or we shall use force!}" boomed 
Elder Lao Lao.

	Seiyu and Taeru looked at each other.  Their duty was to their employer but 
they had an even greater duty towards their families.  Seiyu spoke, "We were 
hired by someone in Nerima to speed up the extradition process of Cologne.  
The person wanted her, Shampoo and Mousse to leave Nerima.  But before we 
could, Cologne had already left for China."

	His admission caused an uproar as the Amazons fired questions and 
accusations at him.

	"{There is an easy way to settle this once and for all,}" suggested Elder 
Zhi Yu, her soft voice catching the attention of everyone present.  She 
smiled and with her right index finger, pointed at the side of her forehead. 
  Some of the Elders got the hint and nodded their approval.  The Amazon 
Queen stood up and gestured for Elders Zhi Yu and Lao Lao to stand up as 
well.   The trio approached the two Japanese men, their posture, gait and 
expression bellied that of a pack of wolves, cunning and hungry for the 
kill.

	Taeru watched in mute horror as the trio had their fingers on his leader's 
forehead and began chanting in unison.  Seiyu's eyes rolled upwards and he 
would have collapsed if not for the support of the women.  Several long 
minutes passed before they loosened their hold on Seiyu.  Seiyu fell noisily 
onto the wooden floor but never regained consciousness.  Taeru's heart froze 
as he feared the worst.  The three 'wolves' looked disoriented for a moment 
before making eye contact with the younger Japanese.

	"What have you done to him, you bitches!"

	That was all he could speak before they latched onto him, their fingers on 
his forehead bringing heat and yet sucking away the heat from his body.  
Their chants were loud and clear and despite his best efforts, he found 
himself mentally repeating what they said.  He fell into oblivion a second 
later.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
(Much later in the day, in the Queen's personal quarters)

	The Amazon Queen moaned as her servant girl massaged her weary shoulders.  
"{I must be feeling all of my hundred and twenty years to be so worn out 
after two mind melds.  Ooh, that's the spot.  Yeah, right there.}"

	"{Nonsense, my Queen,}" replied Huiyi as she continued to work on relaxing 
the shoulders.  "{You don't look a day over forty.}"

	The Queen laughed and patted one of the maid's hands.  Somehow, the lovely 
maid's hands managed to remain smooth and soft despite her menial work.  
"{Thank you, Huiyi.  That's sweet of you to say.}"

	"{It's the truth,}" countered Huiyi as she fingered one of her Queen's 
luxuriously soft, coppery red locks.

	"{Still, doing the mind melds on the two Japanese outsiders, shouldn't have 
worn me out so.}"

	"{Perhaps, it was the shock of finding Elder Khu Lon's grave.}"

	"{Perhaps.}"

	The two women remained in relative silence, each in her own world until 
Huiyi ventured a question.  "{What are you going to do with the outsider 
males?}"

	The Queen wasn't surprised at her servant's boldness.  She was used to 
Huiyi's curiosity by now, in fact she had come to expect it.  "{We will set 
them free.}"  <Eventually> she added mentally.

	"{Although they didn't speak the whole truth about their involvement with 
Khu Lon and the others, they weren't the ones to kill her.  That much I 
could read from their minds.  But why would the person who hired them, wish 
harm onto Shampoo?  Tendo Nabiki.  What is your motive?}" pondered the 
Queen.

	"{Do you think she is the one?}"

	The Amazon Queen remained silent for a long moment before uttering the next 
statement.  "{I've sent two Elders, Lao Lao and Mei Lian, to Nerima, to 
investigate.   Lao Lao because she was Khu Lon's teacher and Mei Lian 
because she was very calm during the whole meeting.  She has no significant 
ties to Khu Lon's clan and will provide an objective view.  Now, enough of 
this talk,}" murmured the Queen as she noticed for the first time tonight, 
how the thin nightgown accentuated her maid's curves.  She stared lustily at 
the ethereal vision of beauty for several long moments, then pulled Huiyi 
down for a long kiss.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
(Two days later, once the guide, Seiyu and Taeru were released from 
Joketsuzoku, the two Japanese men rushed to the nearest town and made a 
phone call to warn Nabiki.)

	"You said what?!," commented Nabiki to the caller.  She felt like screaming 
at the top of her lungs but held back.

	"Two Amazon warriors are coming here to investigate the death of Cologne.  
In fact, they might already be in Japan."  Seiyu repeated. He had called her 
immediately once he was released, hoping that he wasn't too late in warning 
her.

	"Great, just great.  I asked you to go investigate Ranma's accident and you 
bring back two Amazons."  She twirled the phone cord subconsciously as she 
tried to find a way to work that to her advantage.

	"How did Cologne die?  And when?"

	"We didn't really have a chance to take a closer look but she was dead long 
enough to leave behind only a skeleton..."

	She drowned out the voice of Seiyu as two short figures crashed trough the 
door.  Both were about the same height and size as Happosai and had enough 
wrinkles to warrant being of the same age too.  Their silvery white hair 
neatly plaited and eyes that spoke of worldly wisdom, only served to confirm 
her observations.  They carried wooden staffs, although they didn't rely on 
them as pogo sticks.  Nabiki carefully placed the handset on her desk and 
wore her typical expression of boredom.  "You could have just knocked, you 
know."

	"It wouldn't have the same effect," retorted one of the figures as she 
leapt forward to reach the desk, hang up the phone and somersaulted back to 
her original position.  All done in less than one second.  This agile and 
fast move seemed impossible for a person of her age and height but Nabiki 
had seen too many impossible feats accomplished, to be surprised.

	"I'm Lao Lao of the Amazons.  And she is Mei Lian."

	On the other side of the line, Seiyu shouted, "Hello?  Ms. Tendo?!  
Nabiki!"  The line went dead.  What had happened?  He thought he heard a 
crash, a few garbled words and then silence.  Had the Amazons found her?  
What would they do to her?  Cursing under his breath, he walked towards his 
and Taeru's transport home.

	Meanwhile, Nabiki asked in an impatient tone, "Well, what do you want?  My 
time is money.  I didn't kill Cologne or hire people to do it, if that is 
what you are wondering."

	"We know that.  We have done some digging before approaching you."

	Nabiki was surprised, if they had already cleared her of all suspicion, 
then why were they here now?  Could it be because of what she had done to 
Shampoo?  Before guilt could make its presence known, Elder Lao Lao spoke 
again.

	"We want to know exactly what happened to Khu Lon, Shan Pu and Mu Tsu 
during the past few months in Nerima.  The truth."

	"And what will I get out of it?"

	"You get to live," threatened Lao Lao, her hard gaze focused on Nabiki as 
if she was a cockroach, meant to be exterminated.

	Nabiki faked a yawn.  "Sorry, but your delivery of the line sucks.  If you 
have done your homework, then you should know that I am the best person to 
obtain information from.  And that I don't work for free.  So how about we 
trade information instead?"

	Lao Lao glared at her and was about to perform a mind meld when Mei Lian 
placed a hand on her shoulder.  "It is a deal," said Mei Lian.

	Nabiki nodded, still keeping a disinterested expression.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
(The Women's Detention Facility in a district near Nerima)

	"Sit.  She will be brought here shortly.  Remember you only have five 
minutes."

	A loud buzzer rang, signalling the opening of the iron door.  Shampoo 
shuffled in, only a shadow of what she was before she had left her home 
village.  Her hair no longer shone and the vibrance she emitted simply by 
being, was no more.  She paused in mid-step when she noticed who her 
visitors were.

	"{Honoured Elders!}" exclaimed Shampoo.  Their visit was a complete 
surprise.  She hadn't informed anybody about her capture.  Nor did she ever 
intend to.  Why let her fellow Amazon warriors see her like this?  A warrior 
shacking up with the murderer of her great-grandmother, her teacher.  And 
then abused by him again and again.  She could no longer call herself an 
Amazon warrior.  Just let them believe she was still pursuing her husband, 
Ranma.  It would be better that way.

	But now here she was, sitting in front of two Elders in the Visitors' room.

	She fidgeted in her seat, pulling at her long sleeves, knowing that they 
concealed the scars, but wanting to make sure.  She lowered her face, not 
wanting them to notice the sorrow, guilt and regret that her eyes surely 
showed.  Nor did she want them to take one good look at her and detect that 
in the innermost of her heart, she still loved Mu Tsu.

	"{Shan Pu.}"

	She stiffened.

	"{With your skills, you can easily break out of here.  Why do you still 
remain?  Japanese law has no power over us,}" asked Elder Lao Lao.

	"{Where would I go?}"

	"{Home.}"  Elder Mei Lian replied.

	Shampoo laughed but there was no mirth in it.  "{I don't deserve to go home 
again.}"

	"{Why not?  You killed your abusive husband, Mu Tsu and avenged your 
honour.}"

	"{I didn't.}"  She met their gaze and continued, "{I let him into my heart 
and my body.  I even married him and signed away the power of attorney, 
without suspecting a thing!  How could I have not guessed that he was the 
one who killed Great-grandmother?!  How could I have been so foolish?!  So 
blind!}"  Her eyes glazed over as she remembered the past.

	The two visitors were surprised, to say the least, at this latest 
discovery.  In the police report filed, there was no mention of this.  Only 
that a physically abused Shampoo was found covered in Mu Tsu's blood, 
sitting on the floor and rocking herself, in the midst of laughter and 
tears.  She didn't even seem to notice the crowd of cops surrounding her.  A 
policeman had to kick the murder weapon out of her hands.  The motive cited 
was revenge for the abuses he had heaped upon her.  Despite all the 
evidence, Shampoo remained adamant in her claim of innocence.  <No wonder 
she kept quiet about Mu Tsu killing Khu Lon.  That would only make her 
innocence far more dubious> Elder Mei Lian realized.

	"{And even when I found out, I wasn't able to avenge her spirit.  I wasn't 
the one who plunged the dagger to his heart and watched his life essence 
ooze out of his body.  What kind of warrior am I?!  I even let the murdering 
bastard into my bed!}"  Shampoo's wildly hysterical voice caused the guards 
to cast warning looks at her but she failed to notice.

	Shampoo paused, lost in her memories.  The two Elders were about to speak 
when she continued, her soft calm voice masking the confusion, pain and 
sorrow warring inside.  "{And the worst thing is I caused 
great-grandmother's death.  He got someone to masquerade as me.  
Great-grandmother thought that I was hurt and rushed over to help.  Her love 
for me led to her demise.

	"{She died thinking I was the killer.  And in truth, I was.  I wasn't the 
one who struck the fatal blow, but I am responsible.  A person like me don't 
deserve to go back home.

	"{Good-bye, honoured Elders.  Thank you for coming to visit me.}"  She 
stood up and bowed.  Then she straightened and let the guard take her away.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Hello," uttered Nabiki as she picked up the phone while towelling her hair 
dry.

	Nabiki sat up straight in her chair when she recognized the caller's voice, 
her towelling forgotten. "Oh, it's you.  So have you visited Shampoo yet?"

	Elder Mei Lian stifled a sigh at the thought of Shan Pu, the most promising 
warrior of her generation turned broken spirit.  "More like the shell of 
Shan Pu.  Inside, she is..."  She struggled to find the right words in 
Japanese but couldn't.  "Inside, she is no more.  She did tell us one 
interesting thing though.  That Mu Tsu was one of the murderers of Khu Lon."

	"Impossible!" Nabiki commented loudly, "He was nowhere near the skill level 
of Cologne.  He couldn't even defeat Shampoo, for goodness sake.  Mousse 
couldn't have killed Cologne."

	She listened as Mei Lian put forth her arguments.  Finally, Nabiki 
conceded, saying, "I believe you.  Mousse did kill Cologne then.  Gave her a 
forged letter from the Amazons that asked her to return.  Then he ambushed 
her somewhere along the way."  She spotted the slightly ajar bedroom door 
and hurriedly closed it before continuing softly, "Got someone to masquerade 
as a wounded Shampoo and then...  But who is this mystery helper?  Is she 
the one who killed him?  But why?  Shampoo was locked up in a cage, nobody 
suspected a thing.  Why rock the boat?"

	"That's what I was hoping you could tell me.  Who else stands to gain from 
Khu Lon's death, Shampoo's torture and capture?  Did he have any friends or 
lovers?" asked Elder Mei Lian.

	"Besides Shampoo, he doesn't like anybody else.  He only wants to be with 
her.  And after Ranma left, he got his wish.  Ranma.  That's it!  Ranma's 
fiancees!  There are four of them.  Shampoo, Akane, Ukyou and Kodachi.  With 
Shampoo out of the way, there is one less rival.  All have the motive to 
want  Shampoo out of the way.  Akane was injured around the time of 
Cologne's death and never left Japan.  Kuno Kodachi is abroad.  I'll have to 
run a check on her whereabouts again, just to make sure.  Kuonji Ukyou.  
Well, she did eventually get Ranma, but he is paralyzed.  I think she is the 
most likely suspect."

	The two exchanged ideas for awhile longer before Nabiki posed a question 
that had been nagging at her, "Is it possible Shampoo did kill Mousse but 
couldn't remember?  Temporary insanity, or something like that?"

	"That has occurred to me but it will be difficult to prove."

	"Yeah." Nabiki realized that she had nothing further to contribute to the 
discussion. After confirming that Mei Lian was out of ideas as well, they 
broke off the connection.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

	What a revelation! Mousse actually killed Cologne. This, she must tell 
Ranma. Akane rushed out of the house, not bothering to look where she was 
going. And as all sensible people knew, that was not the right thing to do, 
for you might bump into somebody of something.

	"Erk!" An obstacle was suddenly in her way as she stepped out of the main 
door. She was about to apologize when she saw who it was. "Ryouga." She was 
a bit speechless, not a way to greet your boyfriend but she didn't expect 
him to turn up now.

	"Where are you rushing to, Akane?" Ryouga asked, amused at the expression 
Akane had on her face, a mixture of shock and embarrassment. He was still 
holding her close, then blushed as he saw other people looking at them. He 
reluctantly inched away.

	"Uh..." Her gut feeling told her that it was not wise to tell Ryouga that 
she was meeting Ranma. Ryouga didn't have much self-confidence, she didn't 
want to cause unnecessary tension between them. Besides she was just 
visiting Ranma, not betraying him, a white lie would do more good than harm. 
"I'm meeting Sayuri for a study session."

	His face fell. And she felt guilty. "Did you have something planned?"

	He scratched behind his head characteristically, a little tongue-tied, "I 
got us some movie tickets." He brandished the tickets at her. "But studying 
is more important, you go along."

	Mentally she imagined a mallet hitting repeatedly on her, scolding 'Akane 
no baka'. She should go out with Ryouga, logic told her that she shouldn't 
neglect her boyfriend. She could see Ranma any time, in fact everyday after 
school. Yet... "We can still go out. Give me a couple of hours, I meet you 
at the mall 7 p.m."

	He flashed a brilliant smile and she felt her spirits lift. She gave him a 
quick peck in the cheeks, about to leave when she turned to face him again. 
"Remember to get someone to bring you there or get a cab or something, don't 
make me wait too long." She teased casually before finally leaving him on 
the sidewalk.

	With an idiotic grin in place, Ryouga too adjourned on his journey towards 
the mall. He knew he should listen to Akane but he was trying to get around 
the place and he couldn't always rely on other people's help.

	Grabbing the closest person nearby, he asked although not in the most 
polite way, "Where is the Nerima Mall?" The poor boy scared out of hell, 
pointed weakly at a direction. Ryouga observed where he was pointing, turned 
towards that direction in a robotic manner and asked again, "this way?" The 
boy nodded profusely and he let him go. "Thanks!" He shouted before he moved 
along.

	Ryouga had a new strategy for finding his way about. For every 20 steps he 
made, he would find the nearest person for the direction of the destination. 
This would prevent him from straying too far off but this plan had a major 
weakness. It depended on the existence of people being near him and now, 
there wasn't a soul in sight... until he sensed a movement to his right.

	There was a person he could ask. He ran after him and tapped him at the 
back when he reached him. "Sorry, but can you..." Ryouga was pleasantly 
surprised to see Akane over the man's shoulder. He was about to call out to 
her when she walked into a shop, Ucchans. The realization hit him like a 
rock.

	The passerby noticing Ryouga was rooted in the spot, ignored him and went 
on his way.

	His stiff external appearance didn't give a clue to the chaos that his 
heart and mind were experiencing. He stood motionless, his mind swirling, 
<Why is Akane going to Ucchans?> And only one word ringed in his brain - 
Ranma.

	Akane had lied to him.

------------------------------------------------------------

	Ranma was staring intently at the door, it should open any minute now. 
Nope, no movement. Another minute passed and again the door remained closed. 
He glanced at the clock on the wall, then back to the door. Akane should be 
here by now, she promised. And she had always been punctual. Momentarily, he 
was worried for her safety. Had Ukyou acted on her threat?

	He prayed for her, hoping for the best. Yet, every minute of waiting was 
like eternity in hell. <What if Akane...> He couldn't continue the thought. 
It was unthinkable, it would be worse than death itself.

	Akane's daily visits had become a solace in his otherwise non-existent 
life. He knew the danger involved but he couldn't stop himself from 
brightening up when she came or ignoring her when she cried. She was his 
only link to the living world. And he could only pray that danger would not 
befall her.

	The doorknob turned. It was almost the most beautiful sound he heard, 
second to Akane's voice. Her head popped in, wearing a huge smile. It was 
definitely infectious as he was beginning to hurt from his wide grin.

	"Sorry for being late. I was coming here when something caught my eye. So I 
stopped for a while. Guess what?" Akane smiled mischievously.

	Ranma could only stare at her, eyes wide but not bothering to answer her. 
His pride should be hurt but not when she was wearing that smile on her 
face. He facefaulted when Akane disappeared behind a chair. Then laughed 
soundlessly as a hand popped out above the chair, wearing a boyish hand 
puppet.

	"Hi, my name is Ranma. Nice to meet you." Akane faked a low tone, 
coordinating the movements of the puppet, bowing and all. "I'm the most 
egoistic, arrogant, hentai boy in town. And meet my uncute friend, 
Akane-chan."

	Now, Akane's voice went several pitches higher. "Ranma no baka!" Her left 
hand shot up also, covered by a cute female puppet. It punched the male doll 
and jumped on top of it.

	Seeing that Ranma was still laughing, she continued, "See what that jerk 
make me do. I'm not usually that violent. I'm a sweet, sweet girl, who's 
great at cooking, martial arts and possess all the best traits of man and 
woman combined." Akane tried to deliver the speech seriously but couldn't 
resist laughing at her own childish ways.

	Tears glistened in his eyes, a result of laughing too much, she guessed. 
Taking out the puppets, she wiped away the moisture from his eyes and they 
shared a smile that warmed both their hearts.

	Returning to her normal voice, she asked, "Do you like it?" The question 
was redundant for she already knew his answer. But it was still nice to see 
him nodding happily.

	Turning serious suddenly as she remembered something, "Oh, I almost forgot. 
When I was passing by Nabiki's room, I heard her talking on the phone. 
Actually, she was speaking softly then suddenly raised her voice, catching 
my attention. So I strained my ears to hear her." She stopped to take in the 
stern expression on his face, wondering how she looked like right now. 
"Cologne is dead and Mousse killed her." As expected, his face showed shock 
and incredibility. "Yeah, I don't believe it also but Nabiki is seldom 
wrong. I don't know where she got her information from though.  She closed 
the door after that and I couldn't hear her conversation anymore.

	"But hey, Mousse is already dead by Shampoo's hands, so it is pretty 
useless to be discussing this now." Noticing his shocked expression, she 
quickly inquired, "You didn't know about Shampoo? It was pretty sensational 
news for awhile. She had been abused repeatedly by him and one night, she 
stabbed him to death."

	"I thought Mousse was devoted to Shampoo.  I never knew he could ever cause 
her harm, not intentionally."  She shuddered, then spoke, "He fooled us all. 
  Sometimes, you don't really know a person's character until it is too 
late."

	Ranma nodded.  That was exactly what he was thinking and he could cite 
another example of a person hiding behind a mask.  Ukyou.

	Wanting to dispel the gloomy feeling that had filled the room, she put on 
the puppets again and flashed a make-your-knees-go-weak smile. "Want to 
continue on the story?" He was still thinking about Shampoo and Mousse, but 
not for long, she promised. "One day, they were walking down a street and 
there was this pretty lady that walked past them. Ranma had the audacity to 
gawk at her and of course our heroine reacted. Kaboom! She wrestled the 
world's greatest hentai to the ground, rearranging his limbs, smacking him 
left, right, centre..."

	As the story progressed, both became engrossed in it, forgetting about the 
rest of the world. It was only the two of them and their puppet 
counterparts, not even the soft footsteps moving away from the door could 
distract them.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Sorry Ryouga, I'm late." The man in question only acknowledged Akane with 
a nod. Akane was puzzled and ran to catch up with his fast strides. "What's 
wrong?" she asked as she pulled him to a stop.

	When he saw the concerned look on her face, he was tempted to question her 
on her visit to Ucchans. He knew he shouldn't doubt her and thought of all 
the possible innocent reasons she has for visiting Ranma. Yet the idea that 
Akane was with Ranma an hour ago just riled him.

	He opened his mouth, but no words came out. How was he going to broach the 
subject? Was he going to ask Akane if he had lost to an invalid? If she 
denied, would it mean that he had won?

	Akane began to giggle, stunning him. "You looked like Ranma when you do 
that. Opening your mouth and not talking." Internally he fumed over the 
reference to Ranma. <Why was she thinking of him when we are on a date?!>

	"Ryouga? Are you alright?"

	He nodded, although appearances indicate otherwise. He looked at her, 
searching for signs that she might have forsaken him. Yet she looked so 
happy at seeing him, so concerned about him. "Let's watch the movie."

	She nodded happily, and they started on their date.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

	During dinner, Akane had found Ryouga to be exceptionally quiet. There 
seemed to be a lot of things in his mind but he refused to divulge any. She 
had tried several times to lighten the heavy mood between them. But all her 
attempts failed because he refused to participate in them.

	As she kept meeting resistance, she eventually gave up, ignoring the 
silence between them. She was a few steps ahead of him, walking towards the 
Tendo dojo. As they neared her home, she turned back to see if Ryouga was 
still following her.

	Ryouga saw Akane's glance at him and stopped abruptly, drawing her to a 
stop also. They maintained eye contact for moments, before he moved nearer 
to her but never breaking the line of sight.

	As he stood before her, he held her hands gingerly. A warmth filled his 
heart when he felt her tightened the grip they had. Bringing their clasped 
hands near to his heart, he brushed her hair back, feeling the softness of 
it and breathing in her scent that he loved so much. "Akane, will you marry 
me?"

	Shocked, she recovered her tongue moments later. "I...," Inwardly, she 
resisted the idea. Why, her mind inquired? He had almost said it so 
romantically, the atmosphere was nice, cool and dark. "It's too soon."

	He changed totally, from the sweet look he was giving her to fires raging 
in his eyes. "Don't you love me? If you do, then it doesn't matter if we 
marry now or later." He was grabbing her almost too painfully.

	"Ryouga, you are hurting me. Let go." Akane tried breaking his grasp on her 
arms. It was when her words sank into his mind did he break away. She rubbed 
her sore spots and spied Ryouga out of the corner of her eyes.

	His back was facing her. "Ryouga," she cried out, totally aware that she 
shouldn't brush away the uneasiness he had. "What's wrong?"

	"Do you still love Ranma?"

	His voice was soft, so soft that she thought she heard wrongly. "What did 
you say, Ryouga?"

	He turned abruptly, even in the dim light she could see his bloodshot eyes 
accusing her. "I saw you going to Ucchans today, you lied to me. Why?"

	"I..." Thrown offguard, Akane stuttered.

	"You went to look for Ranma, even when I had asked you out for a date. What 
does that say?!"

	It was now or never. She knew this was her only chance to fix things right. 
"Ryouga, it was just a simple visit that I promised Ranma. I didn't tell you 
because you would have gotten upset like you are now."

	Ryouga was claimed by the green eye monster called jealousy. Logic had fled 
him, only anger, depression and feelings of injustice remained. "Do you 
still love him?!"

	"No," she answered instantly.

	"You're lying."

	"Why don't you believe what I've said?"

	"Because physically you may not have betrayed me, but emotionally you have 
already crossed the borders."

	She was speechless for a second, "You're crazy".

	"Am I? Then why won't you marry me? This will be the ultimate testament of 
your love for me."

	"So, that's why you proposed. Not because you love me but because you want 
to claim me, to feed your insecurity." She couldn't believe that the person 
standing in front of her was the Ryouga she knew and loved.

	"Still the question remains, why won't you marry me? Because you haven't 
gotten over your ex-fiance like you want me to believe."

	"Ridiculous, if you don't learn to trust me, how can we be together?" She 
couldn't bear to look at him in the eye now. The distrust and the accusing 
stare were all getting on her nerves.

	"Now you want to break off with me."

	"I didn't say that."

	"But that's what you meant."

	"This is getting nowhere," the frustration evident in her voice. She was 
about to leave but found her hand grasped firmly from behind. She gave a 
tight pull, breaking free from Ryouga and ran ahead, leaving him alone in 
the shadows.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

	After being cooped up in the house for a couple of days, feeling worse by 
the day, she decided she had enough of it. A problem couldn't be solved by 
itself. Now, where was that pig-headed Ryouga?

	She barely stepped out of the room when she found the person in question 
outside her door. He looked apologetic enough which was good. His appearance 
was unkempt, his clothes were filthy and probably the cause of the awful 
stench that was filling her nostrils.

	"What do you want?" She asked coldly, turning her back on him. Her anger at 
him had dissipated the next day after their fight. What was left was 
question, 'what had gone wrong?' And a regret that they just had their first 
fight. One which she wasn't going to back down until he said he was sorry.

	"Akane," She could hear him taking a deep breath before continuing, "I'm 
very sorry for what has happened. I know I was acting like a jerk, but..."

	She turned to look at him now, feeling a bit of her resolve slipping.

	"I was so scared of losing you." He tried to convey all the feelings he was 
unable to speak, with his eyes. Taking a brave step towards the still Akane, 
he brushed her hand slightly. Feeling no resistance, he dug deep within his 
soul for the courage he needed. Grabbing her hands gently, he confessed his 
innermost thoughts, "I was so afraid these past few days. Wandering around, 
without you, I felt so stupid for throwing away what I had for moments of 
insecurity."

	Her heart melted at those sincere words.

	"I love you, Akane. I know I'm pig-headed, no sense of direction, always 
insecure, easily depressed..."

	Akane put a finger to his lips, stopping his babbling. "I love you too, 
Ryouga." Leaning against his strong body, her unhappiness became a thing of 
the past. Similarly, she could feel the tension slip away from his rigid 
body as they basked in their togetherness.

	For a long time, nobody spoke nor moved until...

	"Ryouga?"

	"Hmm?"

	"I think you need a bath."

--------------------------------------------------------------------
(Early Monday morning.  Okinawa Park, 60 kilometres away from Nerima)

	A teenage girl ran frantically down the path lined with cobblestones, 
looking alternatively at her watch and at her surroundings.  "Romeo!  Where 
are you?  Come out boy!"

	Another look at her watch and the girl cursed loudly.  "Damn it, Romeo.  If 
you don't come out right this instant, I'm going to be late for school.  See 
if I'll ever take you out for walks here anymore.  Romeo!"

	Several short yelps answered her call but no puppy came running forth.  
Sighing, she started walking in the direction of the barks, entering one of 
the more secluded areas of the park, meant for passionate lovers.  A low 
overhanging branch snagged her long hair and she cursed again, trying to 
remove the offensive branch without pulling out her hair.  <My hair is 
already half white, I am _not_ going to become bald as well!>

	"A cat, that's what we should have gotten.  A nice, fat, lazy cat that 
doesn't wake up at the crack of dawn, barking like there is an intruder.  Or 
goldfish, that's a low maintenance pet.  But nooo, little brother wants a 
puppy and he gets a little puppy."  Unable to see what she was doing, the 
branch maintained a good firm grip on her hair.  She was losing patience 
fast.

	"And guess who is saddled with the task of looking after it," she loudly 
complained, punctuating the end of the sentence with a forceful tug at the 
branch.  It was out!  Success however, came at a price.  The girl realized 
that fact of life as she examined the strands of black hair that were pulled 
out as well.  <My black hair!> she screamed mentally.  But she tossed the 
branch aside and walked briskly ahead.  There would be time to mourn her 
loss later.

	Finally, she caught sight of the puppy digging furiously with its short 
front paws.  It disappeared into the rather large hole.  "Romeo!" yelled the 
irate girl.  "Come here this instant!  Come here, come here." she cajoled, 
bending forward slightly and patting her knees.  Romeo's head popped up from 
the hole, its big eyes peered at her for a moment.  Then the pup disappeared 
for a second time into the hole.

	Just as she was about to walk towards it, Romeo reappeared, slowly backing 
out of the hole, dragging something with its teeth.  But she couldn't 
identify the object, just that it was larger than the pup.

	The wind changed direction, blowing a foul stench from the puppy's 
direction to where the teenager was.  "Eww, you stink!  When we named you 
'Romeo', we didn't mean for you to romance the trash can."  She pinched her 
nose and breathed shallowly through her mouth.  That didn't help at all.  
Now instead of just inhaling the putrid odour of decay, she could taste it.  
Absorbed with the task of fanning away the odour, she didn't look at the 
advancing pup until it had deposited the long object near her feet and 
barked.  She turned and stared.

	A large forearm lay on the grass, with numerous red ants crawling all over 
it while other ants moved away rapidly from the decaying flesh, alarmed by 
the sudden stop in movement.  She watched in morbid fascination as one such 
red ant crawled in a wavy line, at times moving away from the forearm, at 
times near it.  Thinking that danger had past, it marched determinably onto 
the forearm, climbing up from where the elbow should have been but was now a 
bloody swirling mess of nature's tiny scavengers.  Not stopping to chat with 
its breakfast mates, it continued to march slowly, travelling toward the 
wrist, it seemed.  It crawled past an area, untouched by decay, where clumps 
of fur could still be seen.  Past several long gashes, that had maggot 
infestations.  Several maggots shifted, revealing the whiteness of the bone. 
  She watched as the ant stopped at the wrist and partook of the feast.  The 
fingers, reduced to mere bony stumps by greedy maggots, picked clean by 
ants, seemed to beckon her to come closer.  In her mind's eye, the bony 
fingers grabbed hold of her ankle and refused to let go.  Maggots and ants 
crawled from the decaying arm up to her leg and covered her entire body, 
slowly but surely eating her alive.

	She screamed.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

	"This afternoon, the decomposed body of a panda was discovered at Okinawa 
Park.  As no pandas were reported missing from the local zoos, authorities 
suspect that the panda was smuggled in from China.  In an American farm, a 
four-legged chicken was discovered..."  Nabiki tuned out the rest of the 
news.

	<Could it be?  I really hope not.  But I have to check it out.>

	"Hello, Seiyu-san?  I have another task for you..."

--------------------------------------------------------------------
(2 am, in the Nerima Animal Hospital's Morgue)

	Two furtive figures dressed in black pushed open the huge door and slipped 
in.  Armed with flashlights, they quickly surveyed the room.  "Seiyu-san, 
shouldn't one of us be watching the door in case someone comes by?" 
whispered the smaller figure.

	"It is two in the morning, only a few hospital staff are around.  There 
won't be anyone coming in, even if there is, we'll hear them coming."  He 
smiled at Nabiki, though it couldn't be seen in the darkness of the room.

	Glancing at a slip of paper, he took note of the number written on it, then 
shone his beam at the steel cabinets or 'meat lockers' as his kid called 
them.  "That's the one!"  Nabiki shone both flashlights on it as Seiyu 
slowly pulled the drawer out.  A whoosh was heard as cold air rushed out.  A 
plain piece of plastic covered the corpse but even then, it was obvious that 
the corpse had been cut into several pieces.  According to the coroner's 
report which Seiyu had somehow gotten a hold of, the dead panda had been 
mutilated and then placed within a plastic bag (which was in turn buried in 
the park).  That was the reason why it was not fully decomposed, months 
after its death.

	"Open it," ordered Nabiki.

	Seiyu swiftly complied, lifting the sheet and revealing the upper half of 
the panda's dead body.  She quickly averted her eyes from the macabre sight, 
concentrating on the right forearm instead.  The sight of the arm alone was 
gory enough, thank you.

	Transferring both flashlights onto her left hand, she brought out a flask 
with her right, twisted open the cap and poured its contents onto the 
panda's arm.  The intruders watched as the arm shrank in size and the fur 
retreated back into the skin.  Seiyu stared for several long moments at the 
obviously human arm, rotting in some places, untouched at others.  <What the 
hell?>  His desire to obtain answers from his employer halted when he 
noticed how pale her face was.  She turned away from the corpse, a little 
too quickly it seemed, as she fought the urge to vomit.

	Luckily for her and the floor, Seiyu led her slowly to a nearby steel table 
and placed a bowl in front of her.  Unable to control her gag instinct, 
Nabiki vomited out the undigested bits of her dinner.  Seiyu didn't even 
flinch as the smell invaded his nose.  Instead, he patted her back and 
waited for the vomiting to pass.  "What the hell have you gotten yourself 
into, Nabiki?" he asked quietly.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

End of Part 6 B


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