Horrified, Ranma dropped the umbrella, the heavy weapon making a loud thud
as it impacted with the floor. "I didn't mean to do it!" he said hastily,
then saw that Shampoo was not moving. Panic shifted to concern. "Is she all
right?"

In answer, Shampoo's eyes fluttered open. Slowly, she rose up to a standing
position. Her hand traveled to the back of her head, feeling it as though to
make certain it was still there. Her eyes scanned the room, taking in all of
the occupants. "Who... who hit Shampoo?"

Everyone pointed to Ranma.

Ranma held his hands up in a warding gesture. "It was an accident. Ryouga's
the one responsible. It's his umbrella, and I was trying to hit him. He was
the one that made you get hit."

Ryouga snorted. "That's like saying if somebody's shooting at me, and I
duck, and the bullet hits someone else, it's my fault they got shot."

"He's got you there," Nabiki said to Ranma.

Akane added, "And what's worse is, now that you've defeated her as a guy,
she's honor bound to kill you no matter what you look like."

Ranma slapped his hand to his forehead. "Oh man, I hadn't even thought of
that."

All eyes turned to Shampoo, who had the look of bloody murder etched on her
face. "Everyone says this man beat Shampoo?" she spat.

>From Akane's reluctant nodding to Ryouga's gleeful two-handed pointing,
everyone but Ranma answered the question. And in a way, even Ranma responded
with a cringing look of guilt.

Seeing no other option, Ranma decided to fall back on the tried and true
method of running from Shampoo. Before he could move, Ryouga, prepared for
the response, reacted faster. He snared Ranma with an arm and managed to
lock him in a full nelson before he could flee.

"Let me go, you jerk!" Ranma shouted, struggling to get out of the hold

Finally in a position that took full advantage of his superior strength,
Ryouga held on to the squirming Ranma and said, "For once in your life,
accept your rightful punishment."

Shampoo stalked forward, her eyes seeming to burn holes clean through Ranma.
The captured youth stopped struggling when it became obvious he would be
unable to slip out of Ryouga's grasp in time. He was motionless as Shampoo
drew closer until her face was near his. His heart raced as he felt her
breath dance across his cheek. She took his head firmly in her hands,
squeezing his face until he resembled a fish with how hard she pressed. She
kissed him on his puckered lips, and said in a voice that held as much
viciousness as spitting venom. "Wo ai ni. Woda Airen."

She released Ranma's face. That snapped him out of his reverie, and he
reacted by struggling twice as hard and shouting, "Crap! Now she's vowed to
kill me again."

Nabiki said, "Ah, I hate to break this to you, Ranma, but she didn't just
swear to kill you."

Ranma stopped struggling. "She didn't?"

"Nope. It roughly translates into 'I love you, beloved husband'. I'm not
sure because I'm not that familiar with the dialect."

"You mean you understand what she's saying?" Ranma asked.

Nabiki nodded. "I had a Chinese boyfriend once. He had lots of cash and
didn't mind spending it. Of course what I didn't realize at the time was
that he had money because he was involved with the Chinese mob. Got caught
and deported. It was a shame. He was a definitely what you would call a bad
boy, and was very interesting."

Ranma said, "But I thought she gave me a Kiss of Death, like she did in
China. Except she didn't give me tongue this time around." He saw the
daggers Shampoo was shooting him with her eyes. "And seems way more pissed."

"Kiss of Death?" Nabiki turned to Shampoo. "What's this Kiss of Death
thing?"

In answer, Shampoo pulled a book from under her shirt, opened it to a
certain page, and handed it to Nabiki.

Nabiki read the pages. "Hmm, it says here that if a girl from outside the
village defeats an Amazon warrior in combat, the Amazon has to give a 'Kiss
of Death' and hunt that girl down to the ends of the Earth to avenge
themselves."

"I already know that part," Ranma said.

Nabiki held up a warning finger, "My, my, my, here's where things get even
more interesting. Apparently if the Amazon is defeated by a man, she has to
make him her husband."

Everyone but Shampoo stared at Nabiki in surprise. Even Ryouga loosened his
hold on his long time foe.

"Husband?" Ranma repeated.

"Afraid so. Congratulations, Ranma. You've got yourself a foreign bride."

Genma held up a sign. *No dowry, no deal.*

"Sounds pretty silly to me," Akane said. Kasumi nodded in agreement to the
statement.

"That's not fair," Ryouga complained. "She's supposed to kill him for
hitting her."

Ranma, who had finally processed the information, began to smile. It was an
inexorable thing that slowly crept across his face as his mind continued
pondering the situation, and enjoyed the conclusions it was reaching. To
Nabiki he said, "Tell me, is this marriage thing just ceremonial, or does it
include, you know, actually having sex?"

Nabiki looked it over. "I'd say consummating it is a requirement. The idea
here is that strong women with stronger husbands make for strong babies.
Sort of a primitive eugenics program." Nabiki looked Shampoo over. "Might be
some validity in it."

Ranma could barely contain his glee. With an effort, he forced himself to
not jump up in victory. He was finally going to get some. He composed
himself, and in as chivalrous a demeanor as he could muster, said, "Don't
worry, Shampoo. I shall be a perfect gentleman and treat you nicely as my
wife, even if our coming together is unusual. I've always had an admiration
for the Chinese, and I like a woman who's not only fit and able-bodied, but
isn't afraid to take the initiative." Satisfied he had put her at ease, he
paid close attention to gauge how she'd react to the statements...

.... and barely evaded a sword thrust aimed at his crotch.

"Ahhhh! What are you doing, you crazy chick?!" he shouted, leaping backward
and keeping his hands low to ward off any further slashes to his privates.

Shampoo held her sword up, ready to slice away again. "Is simple. If mans
can no perform husbandly duties, then Shampoo no have to be married. Stand
still, and Shampoo castrate as painless as possible."

"There is no way you can hack off my balls off and make it painless!" Ranma
barely evaded a second thrust at his crotch.

Fearing for 'Mr. Happy's continued welfare, Ranma jumped over the remains of
the table (which was then sliced in quarter sections by Shampoo's sword) and
headed for the main door of the house. The Amazon stayed close on his heels
in pursuit, shouting for him to stand still and get things over with.

"I think she's overreacting a bit to the whole marriage thing, don't you?"
Kasumi asked, surveying the destruction.

Akane nodded in agreement, kicking one of the pieces of table. "Yeah. I've
known some people that didn't want to get married, but that's taking things
too far."

Nabiki placed her hand to her chin in thought. "Something's not quite right.
There's definitely something we're missing."

Akane said, "Ranma's going to be missing something if he stops running."

"I'll go help!" Ryouga shouted.

Kasumi watched him race out of the room in the same direction Ranma had
departed. "That's so nice of Ryouga to risk himself like that to help
Ranma."

"Actually, he probably meant he's going to help Shampoo," Akane explained.

The statement surprised Kasumi. "You mean they're not getting along?"

Akane said, "If you mean not getting along in the sense they're trying to
beat each other senseless when they come into line of sight of one another,
then the answer is yes, they are not getting along."

"Oh dear, Ranma must have found out," Kasumi fretted.

"Found out what?" Akane asked.

Kasumi started to say something, then shut her mouth. "It's nothing. What do
you want for dinner?"

For a moment, Akane was going to press on, then stopped. It was obvious
Kasumi didn't want to say anything else on the matter, and trying to pry at
her simply didn't work. Worse, when Kasumi was harassed, she reacted in
completely passive aggressive ways. The offending party would find their
clothing unwashed, food portions small and poorly cooked, and sheets
unchanged. And it would remain such until whoever it was that irritated
Kasumi stopped doing it. Being pestered with questions about her personal
life was a sure way to end up the recipient of Kasumi's ire. Akane decided
to let the matter drop, although she still wondered why her sister was
taking such a sudden interest in the two guys.

There were matters of a more immediate concern. Akane hoped Ranma was doing
all right. He was pretty nimble, and with the stakes involved, she'd have
wagered he could run across a bed of nails without stepping on a single one.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Outside, Ranma found himself hard pressed by Shampoo's aggressive, and
precise, strikes. Under ordinary circumstances, he probably would have had
an easier time of evading the attacks and formulating counter-strikes, but
the fear of losing a potential body part was overriding his normal judgment
in a fight. Worse, Shampoo showed no signs of tiring or shifting targets on
his body.

Ranma finally decided to seek higher ground and jumped upward for a tree
branch, planning to use it to vault over the wall surrounding the yard and
put some distance between himself and his attacker. Just as his hands
grasped the lower branch, a spinning circle of yellow and black severed it
from the tree. With nothing to support him, Ranma fell downward and landed
on the ground. As he struck the grass he rolled, again barely evading a
thrust at his crotch.

Ranma brought his legs up and used his hands to spring up and flipped so
that he landed in a standing position. The instant he was vertical, Ryouga
attacked him with punches and kicks.

"Stand still and take your punishment like a man!" Ryouga shouted.

Ranma deflected Ryouga's assault, and was about to retaliate, when he sensed
an attack from behind. He did an airborne leap which took him over his
rearward attacker.

Shampoo's running thrust didn't come close to striking Ranma, but the blade
just barely missed Ryouga's own crotch. Only by standing on his tip-toes at
the last second did he prevent his own, longer member from becoming a bit
shorter, though the blade did slice open both his pants and underwear.

"Watch what you're doing!" Ryouga squeaked, feeling the cool metal against
his leg.

The distraction proved invaluable to Ranma as he landed behind Shampoo, then
shoved her in the back. Already off balance from overthrusting, she toppled
forward and ended up colliding with Ryouga, who also went to the ground. The
pair was lost in a tangle of limbs.

Ranma waved good-bye at the two of them, taunting, "So long, suckers!" as he
leapt up to the top of the roof and surveyed the terrain. He plotted his
course to take him off the big boulder next to the pond, then use it to go
over the top of the fence and out the back.

Just as he started to leap, a hurled bonbori struck him in mid-air. It
failed to do any real damage, but altered the course of his trajectory so
that he ended up bouncing facefirst off the rock, then landed in the koi
pond with a loud splash.

The blow stunned Ranma-chan for a moment. By the time she started to regain
her bearings, while still sitting in the pond, she heard a noise come from
overhead and looked up. Poised directly above was an Amazon silhouetted by
the sun. Her sword was high overhead, just at the apex of a swing which
could slice through stone as easily human flesh. There was no time to react.
Ranma-chan cringed and closed her eyes, preparing for the end.

Rather than a sword thrust into her body, she instead felt something splash
alongside her. A moment later, she felt a wet, but still warm body,
snuggling up to her. Ranma-chan felt someone moving up and down, mashing
something soft and pillowy against her breasts. The movement caused some
very pleasurable sensations from that area of her body.

Ranma-chan opened her eyes to see it was Shampoo that was treating her so
familiarly. "Huh?" was the most coherent statement Ranma-chan could manage.

Shampoo continued snuggling gleefully against the redhead, especially her
chest. "Oh, airen, Shampoo is too, too happy to see you."

Again, all that came to Ranma-chan was, "Huh?"

The shock going unnoticed, Shampoo continued snuggling against Ranma-chan.
"Shame on Ranma for running away from Shampoo. Shampoo should punish her,
but is willing to let bygones be bygones."

"Huh?" Ranma-chan said, still not receiving a satisfactory answer.

Shampoo stopped rubbing against Ranma-chan. She tenderly cradled the smaller
girl's face and said, "Wo ai ni," then kissed Ranma-chan passionately on the
lips.

That snapped Ranma-chan out of her reverie. This was her third 'Kiss of
Death' and she was starting to become used to it. Although this was like the
first one, only longer and better. Deciding that if she was going to
continue being the recipient of these things, she might as well enjoy them,
she embraced Shampoo and kissed back. Shampoo responded by forcing her
tongue into Ranma-chan's mouth. Unwilling to back off, the shorter girl
retaliated by doing the same thing, trying to work her tongue over more.
Shampoo upped matters by outright fondling Ranma-chan's breast through her
shirt. Again Ranma-chan met the move by doing the same.

A "What the hell are you doing?!" broke up the mood before things could
escalate further. Both Shampoo and Ranma-chan looked up at the top of the
roof, where the shout had come from.

Ryouga leveled an accusatory finger at Shampoo. "Why are you kissing him?
Cut off his, oh, you can't do that now. Well, kill him anyway! Just because
he doesn't have a body part is no reason to stop. Improvise something, damn
it!"

Shampoo spat, "No be stupid! Shampoo is no going to kill her airen!"

"But you were a second ago!" Ryouga protested.

Shampoo shook her head. "Stupid Lost Boy not only can no find his way out of
closet, but he blind too. This is Girl Type Ranma. See?" she fondled both of
Ranma's breasts, eliciting a groan from the girl.

Ryouga was completely lost. The Amazon's own book of laws said she was
supposed to kill girls that beat her. By Ranma's own admission she had
chased his girl form all the way across China and Japan. Hell, Shampoo was
going to kill Ranma as a guy as well despite the fact she was supposed to
marry him. It wasn't supposed to get any better than that. But instead of
trying to cut off either one of Ranma's heads, depending on which one was
available, she was making out with him instead.

Ryouga seethed in anger. "I don't know how you seduced that girl into not
attacking you, Ranma, but it doesn't matter! You will pay!" He launched
himself at the pair.

Shampoo reacted by hurling her remaining bonbori at him. Ryouga deflected
the blow off his arm, but let himself open to Ranma-chan's attack. She
kicked him in the gut before he could land. Despite not having as much
strength in female form, she still struck hard enough to send him flying
halfway across the lawn.

"Here's what you get for trying to help cut my nuts off!" Ranma-chan leapt
high in the air, intent on bringing the heels of both her feet into Ryouga's
gut.

Ryouga barely rolled out of the way in time, Ranma-chan's feet hitting
squarely where his body had been. While prone on the ground, Ryouga lashed
out with a leg, striking her in the back of her knees. The blow brought
Ranma-chan down so that she landed flat on her back.

Ryouga rolled back over and on top of the smaller girl. Using his superior
strength, he pinned her hands to the ground above her head, then sat up,
straddling her chest. "Ha! I have you now! Now you're going to get what you
deserve!"

"Ahhhh!" Ranma-chan screeched. "Get that thing away from my mouth, you
disgusting pervert!"

Ryouga looked down and remembered that Shampoo's earlier cut had gone
through not only his pants, but his underwear too, freeing his member so
that it had been dangling through the opening. Worse, from the way he was
sitting on Ranma-chan's chest, his cock had flopped out so that it was lying
dangerously near her face.

"Ah!" Ryouga cried out, releasing his hold on her and shooting to his feet.
"I didn't mean it! I'm sorry!"

Before further apologies could be blurted out, a hard kick, courtesy of an
irate Amazon, met Ryouga squarely in-between the legs. He didn't even cry
out. He simply stood there, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. Like
an oak tree that had been cut just enough at its base, he slowly tilted
backward, then fell with a resounding thump and remained motionless.

Shampoo gave a triumphant stare at Ryouga. "That what disgusting man gets
for trying to force himself on Shampoo's airen."

Ranma-chan, who had risen to her feet, grimaced and crossed her legs in
sympathetic pain, despite not currently being equipped in a like manner. The
move might have saved her from Ryouga doing something perverted, and she
held no goodwill whatsoever for the eternally lost jerk, but that was just
plain wrong.

Within the house, Akane's voice could be heard saying, "I think I heard the
fight move on back here. Let's see what's going on."

Ranma-chan looked down at Ryouga, then realized that if he was left in his
current state, the girls would see how he was equipped. If that happened
Ranma-chan would lose any chance at scoring with them. Besides, according to
Ryouga, he didn't like women, so this would be doing him a favor. There was
no way Ryouga would get angry over that.

Bending down, Ranma-chan ripped the front of Ryouga's shirt off, and threw
it on top of the lower portion of his prone form.

The girls emerged a second later. They took in the scene, their eyes
settling on the prone boy on the ground. All three looked at Ranma-chan, who
was trying to appear innocent.

"He's not dead, is he?" Kasumi asked with a hint of concern in her voice.

"No," Ranma-chan said, though he'd probably wish he was for a long while.

"I'd better help him," Kasumi said, moving forward to examine Ryouga.

Ranma-chan was quick to react. "I think it would be better if he was seen by
a professional. I'll see to it he gets the sort of treatment he deserves."
Ranma-chan hoisted Ryouga's unconscious body over her shoulder, all the
while making certain the shirt continued to cover the space between his
legs. She turned toward the group. "All of you stay here. I'll be back as
soon as I can." Without another word, she leaped over the fence and ran off
in the direction of Dr. Tofu's.

Once she was out of sight of the Tendou house, Ranma-chan slowed down to a
much more casual walk, searching for something. She paused in front of an
alleyway, quickly spotting what she needed. She walked up to a half-filled
garbage can, stuffed Ryouga inside it, then set the lid securely on the top.
She wiped off her hands, and said satisfactorily, "There. That's the sort of
treatment you deserve, jerk."

It took even less time to return, sans her burden. However it was a
tentative Ranma-chan that returned to the house, uncertain of what awaited
her. As she opened the door and announced her return, she was all but
tackled by the Amazon that, until a half hour ago, had been intent upon
killing her.

"Oh, Ranma, Shampoo was afraid you try to run away again and would have to
keep chasing you. Shampoo so happy you back so soon. Shampoo miss you, too,
too much!" She proceeded to shower kisses upon the smaller girl.

"I, uh, guess you did," Ranma-chan managed to say during the show of
affection.

The three Tendou girls approached the scene, a certain panda curiously
absent. Akane appeared the most confused, and said to Shampoo, "Hold on a
second. I thought that book of yours said you were supposed to kill girls
that defeated you."

"Uh, yeah," Ranma-chan suddenly became uneasy, as though Akane's reminder
might trigger the Amazon's homicidal tendencies again.

Shampoo laughed. "No be silly. Ranma is Shampoo's airen. Shampoo would never
kill her."

The answer irritated Akane. Before she could complain, Nabiki interrupted.
"What about your other, 'airen.' The guy Ranma?"

Shampoo's demeanor instantly shifted to one of anger. "Shampoo take care of
disgusting man when he come again." She became adoring of the redhead in her
grip again. "Girl-type Ranma no worry. Shampoo take care of evil boy-type
Ranma." She made a slashing motion in the direction of the redhead's crotch.
"Then he no be other airen anymore and no try to sleep with us."

Ranma-chan shuddered at the implication, despite the affection she was being
showered with.

Nabiki placed her hand to her chin thoughtfully. "I think I'm starting to
get a handle on this. Let's sit down, though. I want to make sure I got it
right."

The quintet made their way to the living room, using the shattered remains
of the table to sit around, even if the piece of furniture itself was
unusable. Shampoo snuggled up to Ranma-chan, her hands settling in a very
familiar way on her airen's body. Ranma-chan not only allowed it, but placed
her hands somewhat tentatively, on Shampoo's similar areas. When there was
no protest, she relaxed and enjoyed the hold.

Nabiki took charge on the interrogation side. "Shampoo, how do you feel
about men?"

Shampoo's face changed to anger again. "Mens is disgusting. All they want to
do is try to make Shampoo sleep with them. Shampoo no like mens. Not want
anything to do with them."

"And girls?"

Shampoo's mood lightened. "It depend on girl. Some annoying and irritating,
like mens, though they no want the same thing mens want. Others like airen,
are nice, and Shampoo like them lots."

"I'm nice, all right," Ranma-chan assured her, Shampoo's declaration still
troubling him.

Nabiki nodded in confirmation. "It's as I thought."

Akane interrupted. "But Ranma said Shampoo gave him, I mean her, a Kiss of
Death when she defeated him, I mean her, back in China."

Ranma-chan started to slip out of Shampoo's grasp. "Yeah, you did. I mean,
that's what the Guide said, and your book said that what's you're supposed
to do." She left out that Shampoo had been much more affectionate in giving
his female side the Kiss than the male side. "I mean, I thought that whole
village was going to gut me on the spot."

Shampoo released her hold and looked at Ranma-chan in surprise. "Is that why
Ranma run away from Shampoo? Because Ranma think Shampoo give Kiss of
Death?"

"Of course it is!" Ranma-chan nearly shouted. "Why do you think every time
you popped up I'd scream 'Ah, she's trying to kill me again,' and run the
heck out of there?"

"Shampoo thought Ranma was just playing hard to get."

"Playing hard to get is not one of Ranma's problems," Nabiki assured her
with a smile.

Shampoo finally appeared put off at the girl sitting next to her. "Silly
Ranma. You waste too much time running away. Shampoo was beginning to think
you no liked her."

Ranma-chan shrugged helplessly. "Heh, well, you know how it is. When you
think a girl's out to kill you, you don't stick around and wait for her to
explain why she's doing it."

Nodding in satisfaction, Nabiki said, "It appears you lucked out, Saotome.
Shampoo here didn't try to whack you after your little fight in China
because she's a die-hard, rugmunching lesbian."

"Shampoo not eat carpet," she explained, more than a little confused at the
accusation.

"It's a very disrespectful term applied to girls who prefer other girls over
guys," Akane explained, more than a little irritated by her sister's
behavior.

"I'm just being blunt, not casting aspersions," Nabiki said.

Ranma-chan was still confused. "Well, I can see why the Guide was off, but
what was up with everyone else in the village wanting me dead?"

Shampoo gave a disgusted noise. "They get angry because Shampoo say Ranma
married to her instead of giving Kiss of Death. Actually, they probably more
angry at Shampoo than Ranma for breaking tradition. But Shampoo no care."
She grasped Ranma-chan by the face and stared deeply into her eyes. "Shampoo
knew by the way Ranma look at her that Ranma like girls too. There was no
way Shampoo would kill someone who like girls, and who have too, too perfect
chest." She fondled Ranma-chan's breasts in appreciation.

"Yeah, I do have a top class rack, don't I?" Ranma-chan said without a hint
of modesty.

Kasumi appeared a bit off kilter by all that was happening. "I'll go make
some tea," she said, and headed to the kitchen.

Nabiki was openly amused by the whole issue. "It's a good thing it was a
girl that defeated her instead of a guy, wasn't it, Ranma?"

Ranma-chan picked up on the hint. "Oh, yes. It is a REALLY good thing I'm
REALLY a girl." Judging by the way her ear was being nibbled on, Ranma-chan
decided there was at least one tolerable benefit of the curse.

"Would you two knock that off?" Akane said, the open show of affection
starting to get to her.

Shampoo shot her a sly look. "No get jealous because Akane's small breasts
not as nice as Ranma's."

"I have a perfectly fine chest!" Akane shot back.

"Yeah, Akane's chest is nice," Ranma-chan agreed.

"But not as nice as Shampoo's. Shampoo prove it." The Amazon placed
Ranma-chan's hand directly on top of her breast.

Unable to resist the invitation, Ranma-chan did as she was offered. She
savored every inch of the soft, pliable flesh that was sheathed in soft
silk, taking a moment to fondle the hardened nipple underneath. Ranma-chan
decided there was no better sensation his sense of touch could give her.
"These are just fabulous." She resisted the urge to lay her head down
between Shampoo's ample bosom and rub her head up and down between them.

Now properly irate at the challenge, and losing it, Akane walked over to
Ranma-chan and place the redhead's free hand on her own breast. "Feel this,
Ranma. Tell Shampoo that firm and supple is better than big and soft."

Ranma-chan's hair nearly stood on end. She had gone from nearly being
castrated to having two girls force her into groping their chests. It was
better than a dream, especially since Kunou's presence was making those bad
experiences rather than good ones.

"Well?" Akane insisted.

Realizing both girls were expecting her to make a judgment, and that it was
unlikely she could stall for more time by insisting on a more intensive
study, Ranma-chan considered the matter. The answer was actually pretty
easy. Amazingly, her survival instincts agreed with the assessment. "You
both have great chests. It's not so much one is better than the other, it's
just that they're different."

The diplomatic, if sincere, answer, was not what either girl wanted to hear.
Instead Shampoo moved forward and began fondling Akane's chest for herself.
"Shampoo not know what Ranma talking about. There hardly anything there. It
feel like even bra is padded."

Akane snarled. "Oh yeah?" And grabbed Shampoo's chest. "Ha! These have all
the firmness of a sack of jello. And what's this? Why it's sag. And so much
of it, too. A couple of years and they'll be knocking on the old knees."

"Shampoo is no saggy!"

Ranma-chan continued fondling Shampoo's chest. "Nope. Not a hint of sag."
She shifted her grip on Akane's chest again. "Definitely not padded. It's
all real."

"I have some tea..." Kasumi trailed off at the sight before her. While she
was liberated, and not repulsed in the slightest about girls being
interested in girls, it was an entirely different matter to leave a room
where two people were cuddling, and then come back to find a trio of girls,
including one's youngest sister, enthusiastically groping each other's
chest.

The surprise was enough that her hold on the tray slipped. The contents of
it slid across the metal of the tray and over the side, tipping out and down
to the floor. Only there was one obstacle between the liquid and the target
gravity had provided.

"Ah! That's hot!" The now decidedly male Ranma shouted.

Shampoo's grip shifted from Akane's chest to solely on Ranma's. "What, what
going on?" she asked as she reexamined her 'airen,' and did not like what
she saw.

Ranma watched as confusion began changing to anger, and guessed what would
follow next. He decided to explain things the only way that came to mind. As
though he was reading lines from a script, he said, "Oh my goodness. I have
been doused with cursed tea, which changed me into a boy. But I bet if I get
some cold water, it will reverse things and change me back into my true,
very female, form." Ranma smiled hopefully.

"Cursed tea? Cold water?" Shampoo continued staring at Ranma. Within seconds
her eyes took on a knowing light. She drew some of the tea that was dripping
from Ranma's wet locks. She played with it between her hand, and murmured.
"It warm. It make Ranma turn into boy. Just like Jusenkyou water do. Except
warm water no cause curse. Warm water make person lose curse."

"Oh, heard about Jusenkyou, did you?" Ranma rose to his feet. Much to his
chagrin, Shampoo did so as well. However, instead of backing off like he
was, she remained crouched down, as though ready to spring on him.

"Ranma lie to Shampoo," she said.

"You jumped to conclusions," Ranma corrected.

"Ranma is really a boy," Shampoo continued.

"But I turn into a girl, so it's not like I'm all bad, right?" Ranma said
hopefully.

"Ranma know how Shampoo feel, but trick her anyway."

Ranma held up his hands defensively. "I really think the whole basis of me
lying to keep you from killing me should really count for something."

The words fell on deaf ears. Tears formed in Shampoo's eyes. "Ranma play
with Shampoo's heart. Not many girls are like Shampoo in small village. And
few that like girls, not like Shampoo, or she not like them. Ranma make her
think she finally find someone who like her and she can settle down and have
relationship, like she always wanted."

Hearing such pain in the girl's voice, even if said girl wanted him dead,
made Ranma feel bad. His shoulders slumped slightly. "I didn't mean to hurt
your feelings. You're making me feel really guilty here."

"Shampoo make you feel dead!" she spat, drawing her sword and thrusting it
not at Ranma's crotch this time, but rather his heart.

He barely dodged to the left in time, the blade only slicing through air.
Another thrust, made lighting quick by sorrow and rage, danced for his head.
He turned it to the left, losing a handful of stray hairs. The shorn locks
floated toward the floor.

Ranma backed up with the next several thrusts, only having time to evade the
blurring blade as it sang through the air and tried to impale his vital
organs. He had established a rhythm, and was about to make a run for the
outside, when he felt something soft press up behind him and heard a, "Oh."

Instinctively, even as one part of his mind had formulated a stratagem of
retreat for more space, another part identified the cry as coming from
Kasumi. Years of training honed his mind to react without thinking.
Familiarity with the layout of the room let him know one of the outside
walls was less than a half meter behind him, and Kasumi was between he and
the wall. Obviously, when the fight had broken out, she had opted to retreat
in the same path he had. His focus had been solely on evading the blade,
making him unaware of her retreat. He could tell the next thrust was another
straight one aimed for his chest. Disarming was impossible at this angle,
not with the skill Shampoo was using. He could move left and avoid the
thrust, but Kasumi would still be in the path of the weapon. He could try to
catch it in his hands, but intense lessons with his father showed he lacked
the skills to realistically do that, especially with the speed of the blade.
And if the sword went through him and out the back it could still stab
Kasumi. By now he was familiar enough with the oldest Tendou girl to know
she lacked the reflexes to flee before being impaled.

With only one course left, Ranma half turned and shoved Kasumi out of the
way, leaving himself open for a perfect strike at his torso. He saw a blur
as the blade moved toward his chest, and a calm settled over him as he
realized this was the end.

The blade suddenly became visible, stopping just as it pressed against him,
slicing through a loose piece of shirt as though it hadn't been there. The
metal was so close that it almost broke the skin, it was just barely
caressing him.

The blade drew back, and Shampoo tried stabbing forward again. A part of
Ranma's mind informed him he could dodge the strike, Kasumi was out of the
way, but another part told him the safest thing to do was remain motionless.

Ranma was as unmoving as stone when the blade came towards his unprotected
neck. Again it stopped just as it pressed against the flesh.

Tears streaming down her face, trickling off her chin and to the
floorboards, Shampoo brought the sword back again. She had it raised up high
and back, more like an axe than a sword, and in a pose that was more
appropriate for chopping down trees instead of men. Instead of going through
the formality of an actual swing, she let the sword fall from limp fingers
and clatter on the floor.

Shampoo gave Ranma one more sorrowful look, one that was worse than all the
previous misery combined, and said so softly it was almost inaudible, "Bie
Lao."

She then ran past the stunned Ranma, purple locks flowing behind her, and
escaped through the open back door. She raced halfway across the yard, then
leapt, landing on top of the wall surrounding the yard. One more jump, and
she sank below the sight of those standing in the house.

All eyes watched in pity at where the Amazon had last stood.

Nabiki and Akane moved forward until they flanked Ranma.

"'Bie lao' means something along the lines of 'Good bye forever'," Nabiki
informed him.

"Maybe you should go after her?" Akane suggested.

Ranma shook his head. "We come from different cultures. Different worlds. I
made her think I was something I'm not, and could never be, not even for
her. It could never work out between us. Far better we pass like ships in
the night, never destined for the same port. No, this is the way it must be;
a quick, final severing of the ties that bind us together, rather than a
protracted relationship that could only end in pain. And so, I let her go,
now and forever." Ranma sighed with a pained resolve

Akane looked at Ranma, very impressed. "That was pretty deep."

"That was downright philosophical," Nabiki whistled.

"That was from 'Two Crossed Hearts at Sea'," Kasumi said.

"I read it yesterday when you loaned it to me," Ranma admitted. "It seemed
appropriate, given the circumstances." He sighed wistfully and stared at
where Shampoo had gone, as though she would reappear if he stared long
enough.

"You know, maybe her chest wasn't that bad," Akane admitted reluctantly.

"I have to find her!" Ranma cried out. He was a blur, hurling over the wall
in one mighty leap and shouting out, "Wait up, Shampoo! Maybe we can work
something out! My turning into a girl should count for something!"

Akane listened until the cries drifted off into nothingness, which took a
while, given how loudly Ranma was shouting. She gave a satisfied nod. "I
thought that would push him in the right direction."

Nabiki laughed, impressed at Akane's manipulation. "Why, little sister,
you're becoming more like me every day."

The compliment had the opposite of its intended effect. "I did it for
Ranma's sake. He would have been mooning over her for months... well, maybe
a couple of weeks." She conceded. "Anyway, if he didn't explain things to
her and at least tried to make some kind of peace, it would have bothered
him."

"Just so long as he finds her," Nabiki pointed out. "Hey, Kasumi, how about
another round of tea. Akane, I think there's an extra table stashed with the
stored weapons for the dojo. We can make Ranma clean up the rest of the mess
when he gets back, since it's his fault for picking fights with strangers in
the first place."

The girls nodded in agreement, and went inside to wait for Ranma's return.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Darkness had fallen by the time a despondent Ranma trudged his way back to
the Tendou home. His, shoulders sagged low, and his tired gait cried out
that he had clearly failed in his goal, and that he was too exhausted to
continue.

He didn't even bother knocking. He simply opened the door and announced to
whomever was still around, "I'm back."

Akane's voice drifted to him. "We're in the living room."

Slowly, Ranma removed his shoes and left them on the mat next to the door.
He plodded along towards the living room, head hung low. "I couldn't find
her. I did everything I could. I ran around for hours. I searched in a
twenty kilometer radius. I asked every person I came across, which had to be
over a thousand, if they'd seen an Amazon running around or knocking down
walls. But nobody saw anything." He entered the living room, dejectedly
watching the floor. "She must be halfway back to China by now."

"Nihao!"

Ranma did a facefault directly into the floor. He picked himself up, defeat
replaced by anger. "What the heck are you doing here?!" he shouted at the
Amazon seated at the living room table with the Tendou girls, both fathers,
one human, one cursed, finally making their presence known as well.

"She came back about five minutes after you left," Nabiki explained.

The Amazon nodded her head in agreement. "Shampoo decide maybe she act too
hasty in running away. It better to come back and try to work things out."

Ranma's anger drifted away, replaced by an abject tiredness. "You mean I did
all that searching for nothing?"

The Amazon shook her head. "No. Shampoo very impressed Ranma try to find her
so hard."

Sensing he had scored some points, Ranma hurried to Shampoo's side, hoping
for the opportunity to fondle her again. "It's nice to see you, too." He
leaned over to cozy up to her, just like they had before.

She dumped a glass of cold water on him, then hugged the surprised, and wet,
girl. "Shampoo is very moved Ranma go to such great lengths to find her."

"Well, now that Ranma's back, what are your plans?" Nabiki asked Shampoo.

Shampoo shrugged. "Like Shampoo said, she need to stick around and see if
she can work around curse problem. So Shampoo going to live here until she
know for certain."

Kasumi tensed up. "You mean I have to cook and clean up for someone else?
But I already do that for five other people."

"Shampoo can help cook and clean," she assured Kasumi.

"Oh, that's all right then." Kasumi visibly relaxed.

Nabiki asked, "What about a little rent money? It's not cheap feeding
freeloaders." She stared pointedly in Ranma and Genma's direction.

"Shampoo can get part time work somewhere," she explained.

"I'm cool with it then."

Akane didn't seem enthusiastic about her sisters giving their permission for
the Amazon to room with them. Warningly, she said to Shampoo, "Are you sure
it's a good idea to stick around? I mean, won't your people or your family
miss you or something?"

"No!" Shampoo answered quickly. She then tittered nervously. "What Shampoo
mean is, Shampoo no have anything important to do. And Shampoo very happy to
get vacation away from home. Am in no hurry to go back."

Akane's annoyance seemed to increase, but she didn't protest further.

Soun finally spoke up. "Um, shouldn't I get some say in this matter?"

"Why?" Shampoo asked.

Soun found his daughters all seemed to be asking the same thing with their
eyes. Lacking anything remotely like a compelling argument, or at least one
that would be compelling to his progeny, Soun's shoulders slumped in defeat.
"Nevermind."

Nabiki said, "So the only question remaining is, where is she going to
sleep?"

"With airen, of course." Shampoo snuggled closer with Ranma-chan.

Genma held up a sign. *No way. I need my beauty sleep.*

"There aren't enough days in the year, for that," Ranma-chan said. "Why
don't you sleep with Mr. Tendou?" he asked his father.

*Forget it. He snores.*

"I do not!" Soun insisted.

"It's probably not a good idea for you to sleep with Ranma just yet," Nabiki
said. Aside from Genma's protests, she had Shampoo pegged as a screamer, and
Nabiki wanted her own beauty sleep.

"Then where Shampoo sleep?"

Nabiki considered that. "Akane's room would be for the best."

"Why mine?!" Akane protested with unusual vehemence.

Shampoo mirrored the sentiment. "Yes, why Shampoo have to stay with her?"

Nabiki stood up and moved next to Kasumi. She draped one hand over Kasumi's
shoulder, much to the older girl's confusion. Nabiki then made a sweeping
gesture with her other hand and asked Shampoo, "Do you think Kasumi here is
attractive?"

Shampoo looked Kasumi over with an appealing leer. "Kasumi pretty hot. Has
really nice breasts, too."

Kasumi blushed and shifted uncomfortably.

Nabiki moved away and posed for Shampoo. "And myself?"

The gaze was an admiring one, though not as leering as it had been with
Kasumi. "Aside from butt being on big side, Red Panty Girl is pretty good."

Nabiki kept her anger in check. "And Akane?" She motioned with the same
sweeping gesture as she had with Kasumi.

Shampoo immediately shook her head. "Breasts is too small. Shampoo like girl
that shaped like girl, not like brick."

"Hey!" Akane protested.

"And that is exactly why you should be sleeping with Akane. I mean in the
same room with Akane," Nabiki clarified. "We wouldn't want you to be tempted
into being unfaithful with your airen by sleeping with a girl you find
attractive, now would we?"

Reluctantly, Shampoo nodded. "Is good point."

"I didn't agree to it!" Akane pointed out.

Nabiki said, "But Akane, she isn't attracted to you at all. Kasumi and I
would be uncomfortable sleeping with a girl that was sexually aroused by us,
but you don't mind it. You hang out with that lesbian friend of yours all
the time and I know you've had her over for sleepovers."

"They are not alike, and I would appreciate you not comparing them with one
another," Akane insisted. She then said, "All right. Since it would make you
and Kasumi uncomfortable, I'll let her sleep with me. But on the floor. My
bed isn't really big enough for two."

"Shampoo have no interest in sleeping in bed with Akane either. Shampoo
slept on worse than floor."

"We have a futon you can sleep on," Kasumi told her, and left to retrieve it
so she could set it up in Akane's room.

Nabiki walked over to Ranma-chan and pinched her cheek. "This is what I like
about you, Ranma. You make things interesting."

"Yeah, interesting," Ranma-chan said, more than a touch on the exhausted
side from how quickly situations had changed from one extreme to the next
throughout the day. It was trying, even by her somewhat manic standards.

With the situation more or less settled, and the hour getting late, everyone
headed off for bed.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma sat in his chair in class, waiting for the bell to ring and announce
class had begun. Curiously, the room was filled with nothing but girls. Not
just the ones from his class, but from every grade of the school, at least
the hot ones. Even Kasumi was there, dressed in the same style of schoolgirl
outfit. Ranma had to admit, the look didn't really suit her: she was too
mature, and belonged in something that accentuated her maturity, like the
black stockings and garter he had seen her wear during his first day at the
Tendou house. But it definitely worked for the other girls, including
Shampoo, who was also present for some peculiar reason.

All the girls rose from their chairs and surrounded Ranma. They all looked
at hmi expectedly.

"What is it?" he asked.

Akane was the first to speak. "Ranma, we need your opinion on something."

Every single girl nodded their head in agreement.

Ranma said, "Sure, I'll be more than happy to help you out."

Akane clapped her hands in delight. "We need you to judge who has the best
chest in the school." She grabbed his hand and placed it on her breast.
"Tell me, does my chest feel good?"

"It sure does," Ranma said.

"Keep feeling," Akane insisted.

Ranma did, delighting in the feel of her firm chest.

"Do Shampoo next," she said, grabbing his free hand and forcing it on her
own breast.

"Then mine," Nabiki said.

"And mine as well," Kasumi insisted.

All the girls began shouting out enthusiastically about how they wanted to
be next..

Ranma laughed in lascivious glee. "Don't worry, girls. There'll be more than
enough time for me to do an intensive study."

And then a splash of cold water made everything go away. The now female
Ranma sat up, spluttering and spitting water out. She was about to shout in
rage at having her dream interrupted when a hand clamped itself across her
mouth, muffling her incoherent cries.

"Shhh, no make so much noise or you wake up fat panda."

Ranma-chan blinked. She recognized the voice, but it took a second for her
eyes to adjust to the darkness. Once they focused, she immediately blinked
and rubbed them again, certain she wasn't seeing what she thought she was
seeing.

No, Shampoo was still there, half-sitting, half-laying on top of Ranma-chan,
completely naked. Her first impulse was to jump the incredibly hot girl then
and there, but she held back. It couldn't be this easy. It defied
explanation.

"I must be dreaming," Ranma-chan said.

Shampoo slapped the girl hard across the face.

Ranma-chan's eyes bulged. "What'd you doHURMPH," she found a hand clamped
over her mouth again. Once Ranma-chan indicated she would not be shouting,
Shampoo released her hold. "Why did you slap me?" she said, not really
whispering.

"Did it hurt?" Shampoo asked.

"Of course it did," Ranma-chan said.

"Then obviously it not a dream."

"Oh... yeah." The redhead rubbed her cheek. It did prove a point, but there
had to have been a less painful way of illustrating it.

Convinced this was reality, Ranma-chan's now wide-open eyes took in every
inch of the Amazon's luscious form. From her well-toned body, to her rounded
bottom, to her generous bosom, every curve was perfection that no artist
could hope to duplicate. That she was allowing Ranma-chan to see it, no,
encouraging her to, only enhanced the Amazon's beauty in her eyes.

Keeping her voice low, the Amazon said, "Shampoo can no take it anymore. She
want her airen's hot little body." She moved forward and began kissing
Ranma-chan passionately on the lips. After a moment of the intense
osculation, the redhead had no choice but to kiss back.

This wasn't like the other kisses Shampoo had given her, mostly off-guard
and far too brief. This time they had more than enough time to drink in one
another's flavor as their tongues intertwined and played with one another.
It was much better than anything Ranma-chan had experienced before, which
consisted only of brief kisses here and there with the occasional girl,
events never going beyond first base, and barely that. This was different,
French kissing to the extreme, even if there were no French involved. And it
was way better than the normal stuff.

While Ranma-chan was enjoying the contact, Shampoo's hands were busy at
work. They threw off the soaked blanket that had been covering the sleeping
girl, tossing it far to the side. Quickly, her hands moved under
Ranma-chan's white tee-shirt, moving it upward until it was above her
breasts. She then released her hold on the material, letting it remain
rolled up between the neck and top of the chest, and proceeded to fondle the
redhead's now bared breasts, encompassing them as best as she could with her
grip. She didn't cover much, her hands were not that large, nor Ranma-chan
that small, but she still took great pleasure in it.

The fondling made Ranma-chan even hotter, and she returned the favor by
grasping at Shampoo's own impressive bounty. A hint of fascination at
actually handling a woman helped Ranma-chan focus past her rising passions.
She played with the nipples, rolling them between her fingertips and amazed
at how hard and pointy they became with so little attention.

Shampoo broke off her kissing. "Yes, airen, it been too long since someone
touch Shampoo that way."

Ranma-chan couldn't think of what to say, but since the move met with
obvious approval, she continued doing it.

Shampoo eventually removed Ranma-chan's hands from her. She then grabbed the
shirt, and forced it the rest of the way over the girl's head, removing it
from her body. She used the interruption to roll over so she was on top of
the smaller girl. Shampoo looked hungrily down at Ranma-chan's chest again,
and lowered her head down until her mouth was encompassing one of the
nipples. She then proceeded to greedily suckle, like a newborn calf with its
mother.

Ranma-chan moaned at the sensation. She knew her nipples were more sensitive
as a girl, enough so that she rarely played with them since the heightened
sensitivity was so weird, but now she was starting to understand what she
had been missing as Shampoo relentlessly assaulted her tiny nubs, going back
and forth between them and making Ranma-chan start to feel a familiar, yet
different, sensation coming from her loins.

The feeling from her nether regions was further intensified as Shampoo's
hand found its way into the waistband of Ranma-chan's boxers and, without
hesitation, proceeded to dance along her pussy lips. Now the redhead found
it impossible not to squirm. Despite having a girl's body, she had no desire
to experiment with how different it felt, especially down there. Having an
'outlet' instead of the 'plug' that was supposed to be there was disturbing,
so much so that she had been unwilling to examine it too closely. But now
she was finding out firsthand just what it was capable of as Shampoo's hands
caressed her lower lips, releasing some of her juices and loosening her up.
It got to the point where it allowed Shampoo's fingers to actually plunge
inside the crevice in her loins. A whole new wave of sensations washed over
Ranma-chan, sensations she didn't want to end any time soon.

Shampoo rose up form her oral attention on the breasts. She announced,
"Shampoo can no take it anymore."

Ranma-chan remained motionless, still adjusting to the similar but different
feelings coming from her body. Rather than a more exterior sense of pleasure
that centered mostly on a cock, her entire pelvic region seemed to be alight
with a burning of lust. It was still every bit as enjoyable as a man, just
different.

Shampoo took advantage of Ranma-chan's immobile state by pulling her boxers
down until they were free of her short, but powerful legs. She then turned
around on her hands and knees, so that her face was above Ranma-chan's wild
tangle of red bush, while her own pussy was poised directly on top of her
lover's head.

"Give it to Shampoo," she said.

Ranma-chan stared wide eyed at the sight above her face, and the reality of
the situation came to her. At last, she was exactly in a position she had
fantasized for nearly half her life, or at least once the hormones from
becoming a teenager sank in. She was naked and flat on her back with a girl
straddling her face. Had someone told her at the beginning of the day she
would be in such a situation in exactly those terms, she would have assumed
the girl in question would have been fully clothed and only sitting on her
head because she had fallen from a great height and that was where she
happened to land. Afterwards, the girl would have slapped Ranma-chan for
being a pervert, despite the fact the martial artist had probably saved her
from great physical harm.

But no, the situation was exactly what was implied. Shampoo was there
willingly, and just as naked as her, wanting Ranma-chan to unleash a
physical pleasure she wanted to give. She stared up lovingly at those pussy
lips, with that delightful triangle of purple hair running above them, just
waiting for the redhead's gentle ministrations to unleash her pleasure.
Ranma-chan sighed, savoring the situation, fearful something would happen
and it would disappear, leaving her with a memory of what almost was.

"Well?"

Ranma-chan heard the question poised from the girl above her. She was more
aware of the note of expectation in the voice, due to her inability to see
Shampoo's face. Resolve firmed, Ranma-chan was about to do what Shampoo had
asked, then suddenly realized there was one, tiny problem.

She had no idea of what to do next.

Well, technically that was untrue. She had an idea, but only in the vaguest
of terms. She had never actually done anything like it before, and at this
point, she didn't want to take the chance of screwing up and having Shampoo
get disappointed and walk out. Oh, why hadn't she played with her
cursed-form's pussy and gotten some experience? Given how wonderful
Shampoo's maniuplations had been so far, Ranma-chan realized she had been
stupid in denying herself pleasure from her cursed body. It was a mistake
that might doom this ideal situation.

Then a way out came to Ranma-chan "Uh, why don't you start?"

Shampoo laughed, a surprisingly girlish giggle for one as powerful as she
was. "So airen want to get off first. All right." Shampoo followed up by
lowering her face and delving right into the folds of Ranma-chan's pussy.

The girl underneath arched her back and nearly threw off Shampoo. And she
had thought the fingers were something else. That tongue was far more
dexterous. Almost prehensile, from the way it was savagely lashing itself
into her loins. Ranma-chan was too overcome by waves of pleasure that had
been alien to her existence, for the sensations as a girl were very
different from those as a male, though no less pleasurable. All she could do
was try to hold still and make Shampoo's 'ride' easier, and savor the ectasy
that was making her gasp in delight.

Again and again that tongue seemed to hit just the right spot (which was
practically everywhere) to heighten the fires in Ranma-chan's loins and
increasing her stimulation. Shampoo tightened her grip on her lover's lower
legs, holding the wiggling limbs in place so she could tongue all over and
in precisely the areas she wanted, not allowing Ranma-chan to move.
Eventually Shampoo settled on one spot that seemed even more sensative to
the redhead, and focused most of her attention there.

No experimentation meant having little in the way of stamina when it came to
experiencing female sexual arousal, and Ranma-chan had no idea of what her
breaking point was. So she was caught by surprised when, in mere minutes,
Shampoo's lapping tongue on the redhead's clitoris finally sent her over the
edge and she came. Despite wanting to remain quiet, Ranma-chan wailed in
ecstasy as the orgasm overcame her senses. The writhing was intense enough
to force Shampoo to relinquish her tight grip on Ranma-chan's legs and allow
the redhead's fluids to leak out to the floor, rather than into the Amazon's
waiting mouth.

After what seemed an eternity, the orgasm subsided. A part of Ranma-chan's
mind curiously noted that instead of feeling that touch of exhaustion and
relief that came after ejaculating as a man, she instead felt more aware and
alive. She wouldn't have minded talking a little, as well as being held. The
difference was... peculiar.

The pussy above her wiggled slightly. "Now airen take care of Shampoo."

Ranma-chan smiled. Time enough for talk and cuddling later. Not only was she
still very much aroused, but now had an idea of what to do. It wasn't all
that different from martial arts. She was a genius when it came to learning
a move from someone after watching them do it. Obviously sex wasn't like
martial arts, not exactly, but she could apply the same method and have a
better idea of what to do, especially after being on the receiving end of
such a thorough oral examination. Despite the Amazon's complaints about
finding a lover, it was obvious this was hardly her first time with a girl,
and she knew damn well what she was doing. With such an educated teacher,
how could Ranma-chan not do at least a decent job?

Ranma-chan placed a hand to Shampoo's lower lips, which had already
moistened in arousal from her oral attentions, and raised her head up so she
could stick her tongue inside. Rather than going for it all at once, she
went slowly, taking her time and trying to remember exactly where Shampoo
had gone first with her tongue, and copying it as best as she could.

Judging by the way the body above her started to shift, Ranma-chan was using
the technique correctly. As much as she had planned on doing things slowly,
Shampoo's reaction, as well as the taste of her loins, was exciting the
redhead too much, and she lashed out with her tongue faster and faster.

Shampoo's low moans increased, and she began talking in Chinese. Ranma-chan
tried remembering which spot to work on next. She closed her eyes, recalled
where her own pussy had experienced the fastest rising, and tried finding
the same spot on Shampoo.

At first she had success, mirroring what Shampoo had done. However
Ranma-chan was quick to discover that the Amazon didn't react exactly the
same way. She had lashed Ranma-chan all over, but not all that deeply, which
had been more than enough to get the redhead's engine roaring. But Shampoo
wasn't reacting quite as strongly. Worried that she was doing something
wrong. Ranma-chan decided to add a twist of her own, and drove her tongue as
far in as she could go. That produced in immediate response, as Shampoo
nearly bucked off her lover's mouth.

Relaxing a bit, now that the initial trepidation of messing up her oral
attentions, Ranma-chan's hands shifted so that they dug into Shampoo's
ample, but firm backside, bringing it down and further impaling her pussy
with that tongue. That sent Shampoo over the edge, as she said, "Deeper
airen, deeper."

Ranma-chan tried reaching as far as she could with her tongue, right up
until it felt like she was in danger of dislocating her jaw, but she refused
to give in to the discomfort, and instead kept at it, using her tongue like
a miniature piston, plunging into Shampoo's pussy and relishing the way the
folds of flesh seemed to close on it.

And then Shampoo bucked hard, giving a yelp, and Ranma-chan felt a wet
substance come splashing forth from the opening she had been ravaging.
Instinctively she clamped down on Shampoo's pussy with her mouth and drank
deeply of her lover's offered bounty. Everyone, including Ranma-chan
herself, would admit she had a big mouth, and she proved it by catching most
of what Shampoo had to offer. She was surprised by how wonderful it tasted,
and decided she could get used to the flavor.

Eventually Shampoo sagged, collapsing on top of Ranma-chan. "That was too,
too, good  airen. A bit sloppy, but more than make up for it with how long
you tongue is."

A muffled sound came from beneath the Amazon.

"Oops." Shampoo rolled off  the redhead's face before she suffocated.

Able to breathe once again, Ranma-chan sighed contentedly, despite the fact
it was Shampoo who had just came. "That was beautiful. I didn't think it
would be so... good."

Shampoo turned around so she could cradle Ranma-chan's face. "And that only
first time. Give Shampoo a minute, and she show you what she can really do
once she get warmed up."

Ranma-chan saw a sign pop up over Shampoo's shoulder. *I don't think so!"

A giant paw suddenly grabbed Shampoo by the back of the neck. She was lifted
off Ranma effortlessly, and dangled in the air for only a moment before
Genma carried her off. His large, meaty paw encompassed the entire base of
Shampoo's neck from behind, while keeping any true pressure from being
exerted on it. He then took her outside the room, and deposited her
unceremoniously on her bare bottom in the hall. He then slid the door shut
behind her, leaving her to blink in confusion.

Ranma-chan jumped up to her feet and pointed at the panda accusingly.
"What'd ya do that for, rotten old man?!"

The panda shot him an angry glare. *I heard enough of you two getting it on
next to me. You want to continue, take it outside.*

"Fine, I will." Chin upraised in defiance, Ranma-chan walked out into the
hall, slamming the door behind her.

Outside, Shampoo was sitting in the same position she had been deposited.
She said to Ranma-chan, "Stupid panda sure is moody."

"Yeah, he just can't stand the idea of me being a bigger stud than he is, as
a girl, no less." Ranma-chan suddenly realized she felt sticky and sweaty,
not the best of feelings. "Maybe we should go to the furo and clean off."

Shampoo sidled up to Ranma-chan. "Is good idea. Shampoo be more than happy
to wash airen's hot little body off."

"Oh yeah," Ranma-chan said.

The two kissed as they walked toward the furo, hands starting out around the
waist, but eventually traveling downward to rest on each other's backsides.
Feeling increasingly at ease, Ranma-chan sighed contentedly. It was about
time something went her way. At last, she had a hot girlfriend who wanted
all the sex she could handle, and Ranma-chan was going to see to it she got
exactly what she wanted. A more perfect situation she couldn't imagine.

The pair entered the bath. Now in better lighting, Ranma-chan again took a
moment to admire Shampoo's incredibly hot, naked form. There was no bad
point about her. From her good looks, knockout body, and eagerness to jump
into bed to the point that she was the aggressor, just perfect. She was
everything a teenager could want. Ranma-chan knew her mother had been
correct about women admiring guys like him. It had just taken a while to
find one that understood what Ranma Saotome was really all about.

The examination of Shampoo's body, from her long, flowing hair to those
still flush pussy lips, aroused Ranma-chan once more. Maybe they should go
at it again, before washing off, otherwise they would have to clean
themselves a second time. It was the most efficient thing to do.

It was also time to try something a little different. Ranma-chan went to the
faucet and ran some water into a cleaning bucket, smiling at Shampoo the
entire time. The Amazon understood what the smile meant, and returned it
with twice the lasciviousness.

Oh yes, Ranma-chan thought as she dumped the bucket of hot water over her
head, they were definitely kindred spirits.

Ranma wiped the water away from his eyes, and took in Shampoo's beautiful
form again, feeling himself instantly start to get hard. It was interesting
how some things carried over from cursed form to his natural body. He smiled
at Shampoo, but noticed there was something decidedly different about her.
Her smile disappeared, only to be replaced by confusion, then repulsion.

"What Ranma think she doing?" she asked.

Ranma looked at himself. "I just thought we could try it the other way."

Shampoo recoiled. "No be stupid. Shampoo not going to do it with stupid
mens."

"Aw, come on. I did it as a girl once. Now let me do it as a guy." He
unleashed his best smile again. "I bet I can make it worth your while."

Rather than mollifying her, Shampoo's anger increased. "No way! Shampoo
never do it with disgusting mans!" She turned and stomped off for the exit.

Realizing there wasn't the slightest chance Shampoo was going to back down,
Ranma said, "Wait! Let me get some cold water and I'll change back."

Shampoo hesitated, then shook her head. Bitterly, she said, "Is too late.
Ranma ruin mood. Shampoo going to bed." She spun on her heel and exited
through the door, slamming it behind her so it rattled in its frame.

Ranma didn't try to pursue. Not even his lust was foolish enough to trick
himself into thinking he could bring her back tonight. Instead he stood
there, wanting to cry at how quickly his fates had changed. Perfect to shit
in less than a minute.

"Why can't it ever be the easy way?" he cried.

Xxxxxxxx

[End notes]

Not as happy with this as the previous chapters, but it accomplished what I
needed in introducing elements of the underlying plot, meeting Shampoo and
showing her changes, as well as getting some more interaction between the
characters, and Ranma actually getting some, even if it wasn't quite in the
way he had expected (not that he's exactly complaining about it, mind you
^_^). Next chapter we find out what happens when we discover that 'Mars
Needs Women.'

Special thanks to
















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