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http://nidoking.anifics.com/NewChoice.html


SO FAR: It's the second time that Ranma's blacked out and awoken in an
alley on the way to a lunch date with Ukyo, and each time, his behavior
afterwards has been rather unusual. He's been making much more sense and
is not nearly as quick to fight as he usually would be. This second
time, Akane also suffered the same fate, and shortly afterward, joined
Ukyo in belting Ranma for his apparent impertinence. However, Akane
seemed extremely upset at her action and fled the scene in tears.
Meanwhile, after some advice from Ryoga, Kuno has taken a break from
searching for his kidnapped sister to ask the pigtailed girl on a date.
The penalty for refusing: he will tell her mother about her well-kept
secret, a declaration which he punctuates by showing her a kettle of hot
water. Meanwhile, Gosunkugi simultaneously searches for information on
the demonic kidnapper and works on a voodoo-powered scheme to win
Akane's love once and for all. Ryoga has a similar scheme in the works,
and the Amazons seem to be working on something as well....

Ranma 1/2: A Deadly Choice
Chapter 6: Ryoga vs. Akane: A Duel to the Date

    Cologne clicked her tongue as she admonished her
great-granddaughter. "I'm very disappointed in you, Shampoo. You had a
very important part to play today, and you failed."
    Shampoo meowed shamefully.
    "Allowing Akane to interfere could have jeopardized our entire
plan," continued Cologne. "You'll never marry Son-in-law if you can't do
your part to bring that marriage about."
    Shampoo meowed apologetically.
    "Not only that, but I have my doubts that you were randomly splashed
with cold water on your way to intercept Akane," Cologne noted. "The
puddle on the back step disabused me of that notion rather early on. You
expressly violated my command to leave Son-in-law alone, didn't you?"
    Shampoo nodded sullenly.
    "Didn't you finish your training? The penultimate chapter was one of
the most important parts of the entire book! And had you read it, you
would have known the principle 'Always defer to your elders in matters
of wisdom, for their experience far outweighs your own.'"
    Shampoo meowed again, this time more insistently. She rose onto her
hind paws and batted at the kettle in Cologne's hand.
    "There's a reason I haven't turned you back yet, Shampoo," Cologne
informed her. "Your training is clearly of no use to you when you can't
speak, as I'm sure you're becoming aware. You shame the entire Amazon
nation with your disobedience and your failure. I did not give you that
training so that you could squander it for your own pettiness. And I did
not call the demon here so that you could risk letting it be
discovered!"
    Shampoo leapt up, but Cologne quickly swung the kettle aside, not
letting a drop spill onto Shampoo. The cat landed on Cologne's shoulder
and bounced off, managing to hit the kettle with her tail on the
rebound. The vessel tipped, pouring its contents onto Shampoo, who
landed on her hands and knees in human form. "Great-grandmother, is not
Shampoo fault!" she protested. "Shampoo leave hot water, but when come
back, it not there!"
    "You shouldn't have become a cat in the first place," asserted
Cologne. "You brought this failure on your own head."
    "But everything is okay, yes?" asked Shampoo. "Ranma, Akane both get
memory erased, is no problem!"
    "But now Akane, too, has benefited from the training," Cologne
reminded her. "Now she will be a more difficult adversary, particularly
since you left your own training incomplete."
    Shampoo pouted indignantly. "Is not training. Is only stupid book."
    "That 'stupid book' is the key to winning Son-in-law's heart," said
Cologne. "And we have no time to waste. If Son-in-law or the Tendo
family find out about our plan, they could well find a way to defeat it.
Our only advantage is the element of surprise, especially as we remove
the distractions from Son-in-law's life. As you become his focus, the
risk of being discovered will grow. This is the critical moment. You
must not fail again. Is that understood, Shampoo?"
    Shampoo bowed her head. "Yes, Great-grandmother."
    "Now, get up and go put some clothes on," ordered Cologne. "There
are customers to serve, and Mousse can't do the job alone."
    Shampoo turned around and walked toward the stairs, feeling the
sharp sting of Cologne's staff spanking her exposed rear once as she
went. She bit her lip and said nothing, accepting her discipline meekly
as was the Amazon way. She could not, however, ignore the affront of the
kitchen's other occupant, who was ogling her naked body somewhat eagerly
as she walked past the counter that he'd been crouching behind. "What
you staring at?" she demanded, her entire body turning red with
embarrassment. "Look other way, stupid!"
    The red-haired man instead stared even more intently.
    Shampoo raised an arm and smacked him across the face. "You know
what Shampoo mean! Look at Shampoo body -"
    "Shampoo!" snapped Cologne. "Upstairs, immediately!"
    Shampoo covered her backside with her hands as she raced up the
stairs. The man behind the counter stood up, his face pale except for
the bright red mark of Shampoo's handprint on his cheek.
    "You'd best admire her body while you can," said Cologne with a
knowing chuckle. "She'll soon belong to Ranma, body and soul."
    The man's face paled even more, rendering the handprint a mere light
pink. "Elder, yes."
    Cologne sighed. "Not that she really deserves a man like him... such
a waste of youth."
    The man shook his head slowly.
*************************************************
    Akane opened the door and stepped out onto the clinic's porch,
stretching her limbs. "Thank you, Doctor Tofu," she said excitedly. "I
feel so much better now!"
    "You might want to take it easy for a while," Dr. Tofu warned her.
"The herbs I gave you will mask the pain, and the pressure points I
applied should speed the healing process, but your muscles will still
tire quickly if you overexert yourself."
    Akane nodded. "I understand."
    "By the way, could you tell your sister that the peanut butter
cookie recipe she gave me worked very well?" Dr. Tofu requested. "The
cookies were a little burnt when I made them, but I think I know exactly
what went wrong."
    "I'll let her know," agreed Akane. "I'll see you later!"
    "Not too soon, I hope," said Dr. Tofu with a smile. "Unless you're
just stopping by for a visit. You can do that any time you want."
    "Of course," said Akane. "I'll come back soon."
    "Take care." Dr. Tofu waved goodbye and closed the door.
    Akane took a deep breath and stretched again. "Ahh, that feels
good," she said to the empty yard. She set off down the path with a
spring in her step, nearly bumping headlong into Ryoga as he turned the
corner. "Oh!"
    "A-Akane!" he stammered, clearly as surprised to see her as she was
to see him. "What a coincidence! I mean... not a coincidence, because I
was looking for you! I mean... I was looking for you! And I found you!
This is so amazing!" He turned around, fished a book out of his shirt,
and kissed the cover gratefully before shoving it back into the folds of
his clothing.
    "You were looking for me?" Akane repeated.
    "Oh, right." Ryoga turned back to her, his expression suddenly
serious. "Akane, I've been meaning to ask you something for a long time,
and never really had a way to say it. But now, I've been training, and I
finally have the means to ask you this greatest of favors."
    Akane swallowed. "A favor? To ask me? What is it?"
    He steeled his nerves. This was going to be the big moment.
"Akane... will you spar with me?"
    She blinked. "Spar with you? That's the big favor?"
    Ryoga's face fell. "You don't want to?"
    Akane shook her head. "No, that's not it at all! It's just that,
from the way you were acting, I was expecting you to ask me on a date or
something!" She laughed. "Not that you'd ever do something like that,
would you, Ryoga?"
    An alarm went off in the back of Ryoga's mind. That was one of the
forbidden questions - even though she seemed to be in a jovial mood, any
answer would most likely hurt her feelings in some way. An accord would
imply that she wasn't worthy of a date; a denial would imply that he
intended to date her after all. But there was always another way to
respond to a question. "I respect you for who you are," he said, evading
the issue with all the aplomb he'd managed to pick up from his book.
    Akane looked stunned, but continued with the original topic. "Why
don't you just spar with Ranma, like usual?"
    "Ranma wouldn't take me seriously," explained Ryoga. "He'd just hold
back because he thinks he's so much better than I am." That wasn't
entirely true - Ranma rarely hesitated to dispatch Ryoga by any means
convenient - nor was it accurate, but Ryoga couldn't very well tell her
the real reason he wanted to spar with her. This excuse, at least, was
something she'd often told P-chan frustrated her about Ranma. Giving her
something that she could identify with would be an effective way of
earning her trust, according to the book.
    Akane hummed thoughtfully. "Yeah, I suppose that's true." She
frowned. "But Dr. Tofu told me to take it easy for a while. I can't
fight until my muscles recover."
    "Recover from what?" Ryoga asked with genuine shock. He hadn't even
considered the possibility that Akane would be physically unable to spar
with him!
    "I don't know," replied Akane, shaking her head. "I blacked out, and
when I woke up, I was lying in an alley somewhere, and I was sore all
over."
    Ryoga could feel the plan crumbling to dust around him. He had to do
something to salvage his dignity before his unpreparedness left him a
babbling moron, as it did every other time he was around Akane. What had
his book said about improvisation? 'Improvisation is....' He couldn't
remember the rest of the line, but maybe he could make something up to
finish it.
    It hurt him to have to do it, but he'd have to strike directly at
Akane's pride. "Well, I understand," he said quietly, putting one hand
behind his head. "And here I had a new technique I wanted to try out,
but if you're not up to it, I guess I can't ask you to help me." He did
his best to look disappointed, hoping he'd estimated Akane's reaction
correctly.
    Akane blushed. "It's not that I don't want to... any other day, I'd
help you. But I can't really fight in this condition."
    "You're right," agreed Ryoga. "I wouldn't want to hurt you."
    "I'm not afraid!" countered Akane. "It's the doctor's orders!"
    "Yeah, I know," Ryoga said patronizingly. Almost there....
    "I can hold my own against you!" Akane insisted, raising her fists
indignantly.
    "Yeah, I'm sure you could, if you were at full strength," Ryoga
continued, goading her on.
    "Is that what you think?" asked Akane. "You think I can't fight you
unless I'm at full strength?"
    Ryoga shook his head. "Not at all! I'm just worried that, since
you're not in top shape, I'd have to hold back, and that wouldn't be
fair to you."
    "Then we'll just have to give you an incentive to go all out,"
suggested Akane. "How about we make a bet on the outcome?"
    Exactly what he wanted to hear. "Sounds interesting," he said,
rubbing his chin. "Okay, how about this? The loser has to treat the
winner to dinner at the restaurant of the winner's choice."
    "Sounds good to me," said Akane, taking a fighting stance. "I could
use a free meal."
    "Rather than a free meal, you're going to be eating those words,"
quipped Ryoga, dropping into his own stance.
    "Very funny," Akane returned sarcastically. "I hope you're ready!"
She swung her right leg at Ryoga's side in a pre-emptive kick.
    Ryoga batted the kick away, resisting the impulse to grab her leg
and counterattack before she could regain her balance. He was going to
win the fight whether he tried or not; the trick was to make Akane feel
that she'd put up a good effort. He casually blocked a few punches
before starting an attack of his own, punching slowly and weakly at
Akane as if he were training a younger sibling.
    Akane raised her arms to block, watching Ryoga's movements for an
opening. His movements were swift yet careful, leaving him ready to
counter anything she could do. For a moment, she found herself wondering
how Ranma could ever defeat an opponent with such impeccable defense,
but then she remembered - reluctantly - how far Ranma's skill was above
her own. Ranma had defeated Ryoga so many times that he'd made it look
easy, but now she was beginning to doubt her chances. But she had to
stick with it, until - there! An opening!
    Ryoga was pleased to see that Akane took the opening he gave her. He
pretended to stumble from the force of her kick, even though he barely
felt it. It wouldn't be long before he could end the fight without
hurting Akane's feelings... more than was necessary, anyway. She'd get
over it eventually. And of course, he'd be there to reassure her of her
self-worth while Ranma would most likely berate her ceaselessly for
taking on a fight she couldn't possibly win. Who would be the ideal man
then? He smiled inwardly as he expertly turned aside her next attack and
laid into her with another series of quick jabs, a bit faster than the
last.
    This time, Akane couldn't do much more than cross her arms over her
face and chest, backing up to avoid as much of the force as she could
while she waited for another opening. But Ryoga's blows were beginning
to make her arms ache already, and they'd only just started fighting. It
wasn't as if he was using his full strength, either; she was sure of
that. Not that she minded - if he wanted to, he could probably cripple
her with a single punch. But she should have been able to take what he
was dishing out without even feeling tired.
    It was at that moment that the full implications of Dr. Tofu's
warning became clear: her muscles weren't ready for a fight yet. At the
rate things were going, she'd be worse off than when she'd entered the
clinic, even though this was just supposed to be a friendly bout. The
sudden realization shocked her so much that she momentarily forgot where
she was and relaxed her guard, giving one of Ryoga's fists a clear path
to her chest. She dropped to the ground, barely able to breathe.
    Ryoga was at her side before she could move. "Akane! I didn't think
I hit you that hard! Are you okay?"
    It took her three seconds of slow inhalation to take in a full
breath. "I got careless," she wheezed. "No mercy, right?"
    Ryoga shook his head. "You said you were weak, but I didn't think it
was this bad!" He wrapped his arm around her shoulders to help her up,
but she pushed him away.
    "I can stand up on my own," she insisted, proceeding to do just
that. Her muscles ached from the exertion, but she forced herself to
stand up straight and bit her tongue to disguise any sign of the pain
she was feeling. "I'm not going to give up," she announced.
    "But you really shouldn't be fighting in this condition," Ryoga
persisted, amazed at how quickly the tables had turned. "We can do this
another time, really."
    Akane shook her head adamantly. "A martial artist has to be ready to
fight at any time. I have to learn how to fight even when I don't feel
up to it."
    "But you can't-!"
    "Ranma would."
    "Ranma's...." Ryoga rubbed his head in discomfort. "Ranma's on a
whole different level. He's devoted his entire life to fighting. You and
I... well, you at least... have a life outside of fighting. Is reaching
Ranma's level really what you want to spend your whole life doing? Do
you always want to keep comparing yourself to him?" What wonderful
irony, he thought, advising Akane against the very course he'd chosen.
Then again, that probably made him more qualified than anyone else to
tell her how big a mistake it was.
    It sounded like perfectly good advice to Ryoga's ears, but Akane
surprised him. "Maybe I'm not as good as Ranma," she said, "but whether
I win or lose this fight, I'm going to do it the best I can!"
    Well, he couldn't argue with that. He dropped into a fighting
stance. "Then I'll make this quick," he told her, with every intention
of doing just that and preventing her from suffering any more than she
had to. He leapt forward and aimed a swift kick at her thigh, hoping to
immobilize her without actually hurting her. However, his overbearing
concern for her safety overrode his normal combat reflexes, slowing him
down enough that Akane was able to anticipate the move and slide out of
the way.
    Ryoga lost his balance, having counted on his kick hitting, and
barely managed to roll away from Akane's counterpunch and get to his
feet. He wasn't going to win this fight if he kept holding back. But
given Akane's condition....
    Akane went for a punch to Ryoga's chest, and he took the opening. He
grabbed her fist in one hand and brought his elbow down on her humerus,
just hard enough to activate the rather painful nerve located there. He
was sure that would at least give Akane pause, but as he felt a very
hard blow connect between his legs, he realized how badly he'd
underestimated his opponent. He doubled over, clenching the one part of
his anatomy that no amount of training could strengthen enough to
protect.
    Now it was Akane's turn to kneel at Ryoga's side. "Oh, I'm so sorry!
I don't know why I did that! Are you okay?"
    Ryoga winced from the effort of trying to keep a straight face.
"Yeah, no problem. Serves me right for pounding you so hard earlier."
    "No! This isn't the same!" Akane stood up. "This isn't right. We
can't fight like this."
    "Hey, I'm not hurt that bad," he assured her, pushing himself
painfully to his feet. "I'll just walk it off."
    "That's not the point," said Akane as she stood up with him. "We're
just going to hurt each other if we keep this up."
    Ryoga stomach did a flip. "You want to call this fight off?"
    Akane's mouth pursed. "Well, not like that. But we should think of a
better way to settle it."
    Ryoga winced at a twinge of pain. "Agreed."
    An idea hit Akane. "Hey, you mentioned a new technique, right?"
    "Yeah..." said Ryoga, not sure he liked where the conversation was
going.
    "Why don't we make that the contest?" she suggested. "Try out your
technique on me, and if I can find a way to beat it, then I win. If I
don't, then you win." She crossed her arms with a satisfied air of
triumph.
    Ryoga shook his head adamantly. "I don't think that's a good idea.
This technique is pretty brutal. I don't think you're up to it right
now." This wasn't turning out the way he'd planned at all. The technique
was just a goad to get the fight started; he'd never intended to
actually USE it against Akane.... Then again, nothing said that he had
to use the full potential of the technique. All he had to do was
convince Akane that she couldn't win, and it would all be over.
"Actually," he continued, "I think I can tone it down a bit for you."
    "Fine by me," Akane replied sincerely. She didn't particularly want
to face the full power of Ryoga's technique anyway. She'd probably be
lucky just to survive as it was, but she'd been watching Ranma fight
long enough that she was sure she'd picked up some of his innate skill
at finding the weaknesses in opponents' techniques and exploiting them.
All it would take was one opening, and she'd be the victor!
    Ryoga pulled his belt from around his waist and snapped it, turning
it into a rigid blade. "Just don't say I didn't warn you."
    Akane took a careful step backward at the sight of the weapon that
was the cause of her short hairstyle. "That's not a new technique! I've
seen it before!"
    "I'm not done yet," Ryoga informed her. "Just giving you a few last
seconds to back out." He removed his bandana and looped it over the
belt-blade, letting it dangle from the tip of the blade.
    "Just get on with it!" said Akane. "I'm not going to back down!"
    Ryoga smiled. "I was hoping you'd say that." He held the blade
vertically and began to move it in a small circle, causing the bandana
to spin like a hula-hoop. "Watch closely," he said in a soft, droning
voice. "You won't want to miss this part."
    Akane found her eyes drawn inexorably to the rapidly moving cloth.
It made her dizzy to watch it, but she couldn't look away. Even as
Ryoga's image blurred and swam in her vision, she couldn't so much as
blink. She slowly backed away, watching as Ryoga kept the bandana
spinning faster and faster.
    Suddenly, Ryoga split in two. Two separate figures stood side by
side, twin copies of Ryoga with identical whirling bandanas. Each of
those split again, and again, until Akane was completely surrounded by
Ryogas. The hypnotic hold of the bandanas was broken, but no matter
which way she turned, there was another Ryoga with another bandana.
"W-what's going on?" she stammered, trying to back away from all
directions at once and failing.
    "This is my new technique," explained Ryoga, his voice coming from a
different direction with every word. "I learned it on my travels from an
old master who called it Splitting Cat Hairs, but he relied on speed. I
discovered a better way, using the rapid motion of my bandana to confuse
my opponent. Now I can strike from anywhere I want, and you'll never see
it coming." To demonstrate, the Ryoga in front of her stepped forward
and aimed a punch at her head. Akane raised her arms to block it, but
the attack hit the side of her head instead. It wasn't hard enough to
hurt, but the shock of the attack knocked Akane off balance anyway.
    Akane regained her balance and turned her head, watching the Ryogas
for a sign of which one was the real one. They stood up straight and
scoffed in perfect unison. Even the dust on their clothes was in exactly
the same pattern, giving no indication of which one was real. Akane
chose one and aimed a punch at it, but her fist went right through. The
copy to its right gave her a light chop to the back of the neck, and she
quickly spun to punch it, but it was another fake.
    "Having fun?" taunted Ryoga. "Well, that's only the beginning! This
is where it gets interesting!" Slowly, the Ryogas began to move,
circling around Akane. They sped up as she watched, moving faster and
faster until they were no more than a blur of color. "How do you like it
now?" he asked, his voice as dizzying as his motion. "This is the real
power of my new technique! Face the terror of the One-Thousand Pig
Tornado Attack! SENBUTA GUFUUKEN!"
    Akane raised her arms defensively in the face of the new maneuver,
but it would do her little good - Ryoga could attack from any direction
at any time, negating any attempt to block or dodge. But the real Ryoga
had to be in there somewhere, and if she could somehow find him and hit
him, the technique would be broken. The trick was to catch him by
surprise, obviously. She suddenly turned without warning and punched
into the tornado randomly, bracing herself for an impact, but as before,
she hit nothing. Her momentum threw her off balance, and she toppled
forward, but a pair of hands grabbed her shoulders and righted her. By
the time she'd recovered from the surprise, it was too late to attack
the spot where Ryoga had been.
    She felt a tap on her shoulder and angrily whirled around, sweeping
her leg through half of the tornado in a roundhouse kick. Her thighs
immediately flared in pain as they stretched beyond their weakened
capacity, but once again, she failed to connect. As her foot hit the
ground, Ryoga flicked her ear with a finger, then poked her underarm.
Akane growled as she slowly turned in a circle, hoping to catch a
glimpse of one of the attacks coming in time to counterattack. But every
poke, prod, and flick came from behind no matter which way she was
facing.
    "Do you give up yet?" asked Ryoga. "I can keep this up all day."
    Akane was seconds away from retorting 'So can I,' when she realized
that Ryoga was just toying with her. Every "attack" he used was a mere
tease, to prove to her that he could touch her without actually hurting
her. He wasn't even taking her seriously! "Quit playing and fight me for
real!" she shouted.
    The tornado slowed down just a bit at that. "What are you talking
about?" asked Ryoga.
    He had the nerve to deny it? Akane swung a fist in the direction the
voice had come from and managed to clip Ryoga's ear as he quickly
dodged. He wasn't invincible after all!
    "I really don't want to hurt you," said Ryoga.
    "I'm not some porcelain doll that will break if you touch me,"
replied Akane, returning to full attention. "You challenged me to a real
fight!" Her thighs gave a twinge of pain, as if to remind her that it
wasn't a good time to invite a beating, but she ignored it. She wanted
to win by herself, not let Ryoga hand her an easy victory!
    But Ryoga resumed his harmless teasing in short order. "If you want
to fight, then try to stop me!"
    Akane growled in rage and let loose a flurry of punches, none of
which hit their mark. She wanted to scream, but that would only be
admitting defeat. She had to calm down and figure out a way to win! If
Ranma were here, he'd have laid Ryoga out long ago.... Why was she
thinking of Ranma? This was her fight, not his! 'Of course it is,' she
thought ironically. 'If this was his fight, it would be over by now.' It
hurt a bit to compare herself to Ranma, but an odd thought occurred to
her. Rather than letting it depress her, she could use it to her
advantage. As difficult as it was to think with Ryoga constantly poking
her, she set out to answer the burning question: What would Ranma do?
    Well, that was an easy one. He'd probably lose his temper and attack
with his full strength. She'd already done that, and it hadn't helped.
So, step two. Come up with some kind of new technique, possibly
involving one of his trademark ki blasts that Akane could never hope to
control. That wasn't going to work. So what was left? Ranma's last
desperate tactic... using that deformed lump of a brain and figuring out
the weakness of his opponent's technique. Akane gritted her teeth and
considered the facts. It had all started when Ryoga started spinning his
bandana, so obviously, if she could stop it, it would break the spell.
But she'd have to catch Ryoga to do that - no good. However... it all
seemed to be no more than an optical illusion. Would it still affect her
if she closed her eyes? It would be difficult to fight blind, but it
wouldn't be any worse than the current situation.
    Suddenly, the Ryoga right in front of her bent over double as
something large landed on its head. The copies all vanished, leaving
only the real Ryoga, who promptly fainted, bringing Ranma down to
Akane's eye level. "Yo," she said, stepping casually off Ryoga's head.
"Is this jerk bothering you?"
    Akane shook off the shock and glared at her. "You're the jerk, you
jerk! Why are you butting in on our fight?"
    Ranma shrugged. "Well, EXCUSE me. So I was concerned for you because
you were fighting someone way more powerful than you, and it looked to
me like you were getting your butt kicked. You don't have to thank me or
nothing."
    Akane could barely contain her rage. "That was an honest challenge,
and you ruined it! Not to mention, I was just about to beat him!"
    "No kidding?" Ranma scratched her head. "He was dancing circles
around you, and you were just standing there and letting him pound you."
    "It was a challenge!" repeated Akane. "Once I figured out how to
beat his technique, I was going to let him have it, and then I would
have won!"
    "No offense, Akane, but there's no way you could beat Ryoga."
    "I don't need your help!" snapped Akane.
    Ranma snorted and turned her head as a recent memory resurfaced.
"Besides, I can't imagine why you'd be fighting so soon after last
night."
    Well, that had come out of left field. "What about last night?"
asked Akane.
    "Don't play innocent with me!" scoffed Ranma. "I saw what you and
Ryoga were doing."
    Akane was confounded. What could she possibly mean? The only thing
she and Ryoga had done last night was get Mousse to watch over Ranma....
Ohhhhh... Ranma was angry because she'd tried to protect her without
asking, and now she'd done the same right back. Akane sighed. "You're
right," she agreed. "I have no right to get angry at you."
    That stunned Ranma, but she recovered quickly. "Well... exactly!"
she declared, crossing her arms in triumph. "You SHOULD be ashamed of
yourself!"
    "Hey, that's going too far!" protested Akane. "I was trying to help
you!"
    "How exactly was making out with Ryoga supposed to help me?"
    Making out? Akane hadn't heard that expression before, but it
obviously had to do with going outside. It probably meant leaving in the
middle of the night without telling anyone. "For your information, we
went and got Mousse to watch you in case something happened during the
night!"
    "And that's supposed to be an excuse?" Ranma shot back, clearly
irate over something Akane couldn't fathom. "You're supposed to be my
fiancee, as you always make such a big deal of pointing out."
    "Well, if a little thing like THAT bothers you, then maybe we SHOULD
break up!" Akane shouted back without thinking. "You made your point,
okay? I can handle Ryoga on my own, and you can handle Kuno and Shampoo
on your own. So just leave us alone and go do whatever you want to do!"
    Ranma shrugged. "Fine. Don't know why I even bothered." She let her
shoulders slump and trudged off down the street, stepping on Ryoga's
back without noticing as she went.
    Akane's heart sank at the sight, but her rage quickly buoyed it up.
"That jerk. Who does he think he is?" She bent down and shook Ryoga
gently. "Hey, Ryoga, are you okay?"
    Ryoga awoke with a start and sat up. "What happened? How did you -?"
    "Be careful," advised Akane. "You might be hurt."
    Ryoga shook his head. "No, I'm fine," he told her. "But I don't
understand how you beat the Senbuta Gufuuken."
    "Well," Akane began carefully, "I was just thinking about closing my
eyes when -"
    "Of course!" Ryoga interrupted, clenching his fists. "I can't fool
your eyes if you close them! That's the weakness of the technique!"
    "Well, I didn't ACTUALLY get to -"
    "Akane, you're wonderful!" shouted Ryoga, ignoring her interjection.
"To think what would have happened if I'd used the technique on Ranma
with such an obvious flaw!" He looked up at Akane with joy in his eyes.
"Akane, for showing me my fatal weakness, taking you to dinner is a tiny
price!"
    "But, I didn't really -"
    "Please, no more!" said Ryoga, holding his hand in front of her
face. "I'm a man of my word, Akane, and I'll take you to dinner tonight
at the restaurant of your choice. That's a promise!"
    Akane sighed and shrugged. "All right, whatever you say. I HAVE been
wanting to try that new French place that opened up near the high
school, but I could never afford it...."
    "Very well!" agreed Ryoga, leaping to his feet and pointing a finger
to the sky. "Then tonight, we eat at the French restaurant near the
river!"
    "It's nowhere near the river!" Akane corrected him with much
exasperation. "Just meet me at my house at seven tonight. Think you can
manage that?"
    Ryoga clenched a fist and smiled, baring his fangs. "Akane, for
dinner with you, I would walk a thousand miles!"
    "I really hope it doesn't take you that long," replied Akane. "I'd
like to have tonight's dinner sometime before the end of the week."
    "Trust me," he assured her. "I WILL be there in time." With that, he
turned and strode confidently away with a spring in his step.
    Akane shook her head sadly. "Guess I'd better get ready. I'll
probably have to borrow one of Kasumi's dresses if we're going to eat at
someplace so formal." She departed in the opposite direction,
incidentally passing right by the tree where Ranma had hid in order to
hear the tail end of the invitation.
    "Taking her to dinner, eh, pig boy?" Ranma asked under her breath as
she hopped down to the ground. "Well, let's just see how successful your
little date turns out." She turned her back on the clinic and set off
for a new destination. She had a date with some hot water - and then a
date with Tatewaki Kuno.
*************************************************
    Ranma steeled his nerves and rang Gosunkugi's doorbell. This was
where Kuno's trail had led him - although, admittedly, it hadn't been
much of a trail. He'd inquired at the Kuno mansion, and between attempts
to remove his pigtail, the Principal had revealed Kuno's location.
Still, he had to congratulate himself on his detective work.
    He wasn't halfway through patting himself on the back, however, when
the door flew open and Gosunkugi darted out. "Save me!" he cried as he
hid behind Ranma. "He's a maniac!"
    Ranma casually reached up and grabbed Kuno's bokken as it swung
down. "Yo, Kuno. What's the deal?"
    "Tell him I don't know where his sister is before he kills us both!"
pleaded Gosunkugi.
    "Lies!" shouted Kuno. "You told me you would reveal her location to
me upon my return!"
    "I said I'd tell you everything I learned about the demon that
kidnapped her! I don't know where she is! You'll have to figure that out
for yourself!"
    "Hey, let's all calm down," said Ranma, pushing Kuno away. "Kuno,
why don't we listen to what he has to say first. Then you can decide
whether you want to kill him or not."
    Kuno reluctantly withdrew his bokken. "Very well. I agree to this
truce, for the moment."
    Gosunkugi sighed his relief and stepped around Ranma to lead the way
back into the house. "Come on in, then. I didn't find out much, but it
may shed some light on what happened."
    Ranma followed him, picking his way through the hallway filled with
broken furniture and torn objets d'art. "Man, Kuno, you really tore this
place up, didn't you?"
    "You may address me as Upperclassman," Kuno reminded him flatly.
    Gosunkugi pushed aside the fragments of the door that led into his
untouched study and crossed the room to the desk. "This book has a
pretty good description that seems to match what you told me about
earlier. Take a look." He handed the book to Kuno, who disdainfully
passed it on to Ranma without looking at it.
    Ranma turned the book over and stared at it. "I think someone
spilled ink over the picture."
    "That IS the picture," Gosunkugi corrected him. "Read the
description on the facing page."
    "'Mogui,'" Ranma read aloud. "'This demon occasionally appears as a
black cloud, but most mogui can take one other form that best suits
their purpose. Mogui do not occur naturally, and must be summoned by a
human for a specific purpose. Once summoned, a mogui will dedicate its
entire existence to fulfilling its purpose, not resting until its master
is satisfied.'"
    "It sounds exactly like what you described, doesn't it?" asked
Gosunkugi. "Both Upperclassman Kuno's story and what you heard from that
old man fit the profile in the book."
    "Great! Nice job," said Ranma. "So, where did it take Kodachi?"
    "I have no idea," Gosunkugi admitted.
    Ranma dropped the book angrily. "Then what good does this thing do
us?"
    "Well, according to the book, someone must have summoned the demon,"
explained Gosunkugi. "If you can figure out who summoned it, you'll find
Kodachi."
    "Then tell me, before I strike you down!" shouted Kuno.
    "I told you, I don't know! It could be anyone who knows about your
family fortune and wants ransom money, or maybe just someone who doesn't
like Kodachi!"
    Kuno scratched his chin. "It would be quite a large list, then...."
    "And I take it not many people know about the money," Ranma murmured
under his breath.
    "This was a waste of time," said Kuno. "Come, Saotome. Let us go.
This buffoon is not even worth the trouble to smite."
    Stunned by Kuno's unusually civil tone, Ranma meekly allowed himself
to be dragged out of the room.
    "Hey, let me know if you find out anything else!" Gosunkugi called
after them. "If you get more information, I might be able to help you
narrow down the options!"
    "Yeah, right!" Ranma called back. "Thanks for nothing," he added
quietly.
    It wasn't until they reached the street that Kuno let his
exasperation show. "All that, and it came to naught! What faith had we
in that cretin, anyway?"
    "He was our best shot," Ranma pointed out. "And he did tell us what
it was, at least. We just have to figure out who sent the demon."
    "So it would seem," agreed Kuno.
    "So...." Ranma shuffled his feet uncomfortably, steeling the nerves
to broach the subject he'd come for now that he had a break in which to
do it. "About our date tonight...."
    "Date?" repeated Kuno. "Ah, yes. You speak of the pigtailed girl."
    "Well, DUH." Ranma shook his head and silently wondered just how
much of a moron Kuno was. "Of course I'd be the girl. But what I wanted
to ask was, what do you think of that French restaurant near the high
school?"
    "French cuisine?" Kuno scratched his chin with his bokken as he
considered the suggestion. "Yes, I think it will be the perfect venue
for our soiree. Je pense que c'est bien."
    "Uh, whatever. I've gotta go home and change."
    "Yes, yes, do that," Kuno said dismissively. "Meanwhile, be sure to
watch for clues. We must find the vile fiend who kidnapped my sister and
make him pay for his crime!"
    "Sure thing," agreed Ranma, glad that, for once, he wasn't the
object of Kuno's burning desire for vengeance. Of course, he WAS the
object of Kuno's other burning desire, and their date would probably
only get the poor fool's hopes up. Still, it would be worth putting up
with his amorous advances for one night just to see the look on Akane's
face when he horned in on HER date....

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

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