Year of Evil Month 6 Confessions Pt2

by Nocturnis

This story was originally planned as a single story but as the story progressed it evolved into something even better. Ranma is taking on Shampoo, Kasumi is being lured to the dark side by the mysterious blonde demon, Nabiki is finally learning about her new demon partner, Akane is preparing to give herself to Ranma, Ukyo found Ryoga and Mousse and Satsukae plot to save Kodachi.

Ranma 1/2

Continued Confessions

Ranma watched as Shampoo slowly approached her. Despite her bravado she was worried. It's been awhile since Shampoo has tried to kill me, and she's too willing to take me on hand-to-hand. What is she up to?" Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Shampoo's battle cry.

"Haeiii!" The Amazon yelled out launching at him with a flying front kick. Ranma stepped aside planning to catch her off balance. Instead Shampoo landed on her fingers a few feet away from him and spun around in full 360 degrees sweeping him off her feet. Thinking quickly Ranma rolled her shoulder and tumbled a couple of feet from her. His former fiancé grinned at him with a bloodthirsty grin. Seeing that Shampoo was more serious and more deadly then ever Ranma charged at her throwing a hundred punches in her general direction. Shampoo was caught by surprise never expecting Ranma to come at her so aggressively. She was able to block some of the girl's blows and parry others but some did connect. The two combatants then made a clean break from each other more aware of what to expect from each other.

"Give up Shampoo I'm not going to let you kill me and I'm done with holding back on you." The red haired girl said a fierce look in her eye.

"Never Girl-Ranma die then Shampoo kill stupid demon." She answered back just as fierce looking. The two of them were locked in there battle poses prepared for a gruesome battle.

"Isn't there a way you can restore your honor without killing me." Ranma asked taking a quick glance around to make sure the playground was emptied. Luckily, Shampoo was too distracted to notice parents getting their children out of harms way.

"Shampoo can kill Akane." She said with a cold calculating grin. A fire of rage filled Ranma that she didn't know she had.

Nabiki was still in her room remembering her last conversation with her demon. Am I really ready to think of him as my demon? It was the same question that went through her head as she listened to him. Akuma cleared his throat she could tell that this was something Akuma was nervous about.

"I'm what we call in the demon underworld a cherubviate."

"A cherubviate," Nabiki asked never hearing that term before despite all her recent research into the demon business world.

"You mortals would refer to it as a deviate. In short I am a demon who falls in love."

"I still don't understand what's wrong with a demon falling in love?"

"Everything, a demon is a creature from a hell dimension who supposed to torment lost souls. It can do this because it lacks one itself. But how can something fall in love if it doesn't have a soul?" he asked her bitterly. "But over the centuries I find myself making the same mistake over and over again. I admit that I have my trysts, what demon hasn't?" he stopped to make sure she was listening if she was offended over the fact that he's slept with women before she wasn't showing it. He stopped and started walking around nervously. "But every so often I find a woman that does more then strike my libido for a loop. And once I fall in love I remain committed to that woman. And that's when the trouble starts."

"Trouble," Nabiki asked keeping a comfortable distance from the demon.

"Demons real ones are not supposed to feel anything more than the basic emotions; technically we're just animals with intellect. Real emotions cripple us they are supposed to be our greatest weakness. The last time I fell in love I was banished from my home."

"Oh." Nabiki said quietly. Faster than she thought possible the demon was right beside her.

"It's always my choice and I have never regretted my banishment, well ok maybe twice but otherwise I've toughed it out because I chose to." He said gently taking her hand. She looked into his pure black eyes and for a second she thought she saw a white spark. Both of their hearts were beating faster than either thought possible. They both leaned closer and under the candle light their lips pressed against each other in a very passionate kiss. She could still feel the moistness of his lips on hers; she could still feel his hands trembling around hers.

"Oh god I'm in trouble." She sighed lying on her bed

Ukyo was still staring at the Speedo wearing Ryoga trying her best not to look at the bulge that was growing underneath. Ryoga noticing her gaze turned his back and looked up into the open morning sky.

"I used to do this a lot when I got lost." He said his back still to here.

"Do what?" she asked walking a little closer to him.

"Look at the clouds, try to see what I could find. Sometimes I see just simple things pigs, ducks, rabbits, and coconuts."

"Coconuts?" she asked only a couple of feet from him. He turned his head around to look at her and smiled.

"Well I get hungry traveling this much." He said with a grin. She couldn't help but smile back.

"I can imagine."

"But sometimes I can see great battles in those clouds and I imagine tales of adventure and romance." He said careful not to turn around until he softened up a bit. "So are we going to fight now?" he asked not seeing reason to let Ukyo know he was P-Chan. Ukyo couldn't help but notice the loneliness in his voice. All the traveling he does with no companionship.

"No Ryoga I'm not here to fight you. I'm here to apologize." She said sympathetically.

"Apologize," the young man trying to keep up the facade of ignorance. Ukyo kept her distance not sure how to tell him that he was framed.

"I'm sorry Ryoga you were set up by Akuma. We all were."

"Akuma," That single word that came out of Ryoga's mouth was surrounded with bitter venom.

"I don't know how but Ranma thinks that you were set up." Ukyo said shuffling on her feet.

"Oh, is that what Ranma thinks?" Ryoga asked sounding even bitterer. "And of course if the great Ranma thinks it then it must be true." He turned away from her and continued looking at the sky.

"Ryoga."

"Some demon arrives in Nerima and tells all my friends that I'm a rapist and they believe him. And now that Ranma says I'm innocent then of course I now must be innocent." The anger in his voice was speaking in volumes. He quickly got up and turned around and faced Ukyo. "What about you Ukyo-chan what do you think about me?" he asked as he slowly walked towards her anger and hurt burning his eyes.

Kasumi hummed to herself as she called the restaurant to order take out for the first time in a long while she just wasn't in the mood to cook. Instead she was on her way to the beach with her new friend Lae-In. In the past week she went to a pool hall, a dance club, and window-shopping, it was the most relaxing week she ever had.

"And why should it stop now?" Lae-In had asked her. Kasumi wasn't able to honestly find any answer to her question. So she decided to order some takeout food for the both of them before they went to the beach.

"Lae-In is there anything you would like from the menu?" Kasumi asked her friend who was watching TV in the living room.

"Surprise me." Her new friend replied. Kasumi couldn't help but smile at her devil-may care attitude. She finished placing her order and hung up the phone. She went into the living room to see the small blonde with the strange puffy hair stretched out on the floor watching some drama.

"The food will be here in about an hour." Kasumi said sitting on the couch. "Do we have everything we need for the beach?" Lae-In rolled over and sat up,

"Let's see foods on the way, towel, check, sunscreen, check skimpy bathing suit, check. That's all we need really. So where is everybody?"

"Father and Mr. Saotome are playing shogi outside, and both Nabiki and Akane haven't left their rooms all morning." She said shrugging her shoulders. Her nonchalance seemed to impress Lae-In. She quickly jumped up and approached Kasumi.

"Do you want to have a little fun before the food gets here?" She asked with a little grin exposing a little fang.

"What kind of fun?" Kasumi asked a little suspiciously, smiling a little seductively Lae-In walked up to Kasumi and whispered in her ear.

"Oh dear," Kasumi replied turning a little red.

Kasumi and Lae-In cautiously entered the Saotome men's room.

"I don't know about this Lae-In." Kasumi said as they went through the men's possessions.

"Oh relax Kasumi we aren't hurting anybody I'm just curious about how much Ranma knows about the female anatomy."

"He probably knows more than any man on the planet." Kasumi answered with a sigh.

"Oh he's a real porn hound huh? So do you know where he keeps his stash?" she asked more anxiously then Kasumi was comfortable with.

Dr Tofu was busy making his rounds to hear the red headed stranger enter his dwelling. He was checking over his patient schedule when he was suddenly face to face with the strange young man that he treated in December.

"How's it going eh?" the scratchy voice greeted. It was the first time in a while that Tofu was taken by surprise. He jumped back quickly and took up a defensive stance before recognizing him.

"Oh Akira I'm sorry you startled me." Tofu apologized all the while wondering why he didn't hear or sense Akira's presence. There's definitely something different about Ranma's cousin. He thought. The two them haven't talked since that incident in December. Which was fine by Tofu there was just something about Akira that caused Tofu to be suspicious of his motives. The fact that he did something to upset Kasumi enough to have her injure him was reason enough to cause some hostilities for the young red haired teenager in front of him. He had been a doctor long enough to recognize accidental injuries and to recognize them when he saw them and that tray on his head was no accident Kasumi crowned him for some reason. It really shocked Tofu to hear that his sweet gentle Kasumi could cause such damage to anyone but lately he had been hearing some stories about her going berserk during the Tendo's New Year's Eve party. Unfortunately he was to busy dealing with drunken accidents to attend. He dismissed it as gossip refusing to believe that Kasumi would intentionally hurt anyone. In fact no one was happier than him to hear that she has been recently spotted having fun with a new friend. His thoughts were interrupted as Akira started towards him again. "Oh I'm sorry Akira is there something I can do for you?" he asked keeping his dislike to himself after all he was still a doctor.

"Actually I'm here to talk to you doc." The young man responded casually enough. For some reason Tofu couldn't figure out this made him even more suspicious.

"Really about what," Tofu asked quietly.

"About what the hell your problem is with intimacy."

"Excuse me?" Tofu responded in surprise.

"I'm sorry was that too vague why haven't you done a physical exam on Kasumi yet?"

"Why is there something wrong with her?' Tofu asked with a little panic in his voice.

"Oh there are a couple of things wrong with her but nothing physical yet." The young doctor's expression turned from panic to confusion.

"Then why do I have to examine her?"

"You're a virgin aren't you?" the demon asked as he rolled his eyes.

Deep within his meditation chamber Kuno was once again gazing at the huge picture of the pig-tailed girl. He hadn't seen her in months and she was the only one in his heart since that wretched Saotome had bested the fair Akane Tendo in combat giving him the right to court her. Since that dreaded day that swore in the New Year he has meditated in his chamber awaiting word about his pig-tailed princess. Since it was revealed that Ryoga Habiki did not kidnap his princess he had no choice but to sit and wait for the unholy Akira Saotome to return so he could have his righteous revenge. He could still remember the fire in her eyes every time he approached her professing his love for her only to be met by rejection time after time. He suspected it had something to do with the wretched Saotome he had some sort of leverage with her she was even willing to take his name in a martial-arts gymnastic match against his twisted sister. But unfortunately he had no idea what dark secret was keeping them from being together. In fact besides the fact that she was an incredible fighter he really didn't know anything about her at all. He knew that she was suffering from something he could see it in her eyes. And when she finally accepted him as her fiance he felt like he was in heaven. The day they spent together was one of the happiest he ever had. He was so happy that he completely forgotten about Akane Tendo. Then the evil Akira Saotome arrived and robbed him of his happiness. To add to his torment he appeared in the noble Kuno household last month and challenged him to a duel. He promised to let Kuno know what happened to the pig-tailed girl if he won, but then had the nerve to want guest quarters if the samurai fell in battle.

"Then he backed out ran away like a coward." Kuno yelled out pulling his sword out and doing a couple of swishing motions. "And worse he dared to say that my beloved pig-tailed princess is really that cur Ranma Saotome." He continued his slashing patterns over and over. "He tricked me into wasting time hunting that foolish Habiki, the humiliation I had to go through retracting my reward for his head." He turned to see a training dummy wearing Akira's face laughing at him. He attacked cutting it in half in one slice, he turned and saw another one he screamed and beheaded it. More appeared laughing at him taunting him, challenging him. He charged again and again slashing one after another destroying them all.

Meanwhile in the dungeon both prisoners were silent, contemplating their escape. Satsukae shuffled a little his heart filled with sadness. He knew that his surrogate daughter had to be saved before the weapons and the creature that resides in them took over her completely. If that happened the only way to preserve her soul would be to kill her.

"Where is demon ex son in-law and Shampoo?" Cologne asked out loud while giving the customers their orders.

"Right here boss." The demon replied with a grin. "Sorry I'm late but Shampoo left her post and hasn't returned. So it's up to me to keep the place running." Not to mention my excursion to the good doctors. Cologne looked at the demon suspiciously.

"Well get a move on, I can't cook this junk." Cologne said angrily.

"Right away boss monkey," Akuma said repressing a chuckle. He went back to the kitchen and quickly went to work. Cologne watched in amazement as the demon's hand seemed to be in a hundred different places. She watched as he grabbed different ingredients and mixed them in with the batter. "If I were you I would head back to the Café Stick Monkey Shampoo hasn't returned yet and even I can't keep both businesses afloat." The demon told her. The ancient Amazon decided that at the moment keeping their business up and running was better then getting revenge on Akuma for the moment. Besides she would have plenty of time to get her revenge. Even a demon with his stamina would get tired of using all this power all the time and eventually he would collapse. And when he did that was when she would use the secret weapon she had been preparing since her meeting with Ukyo and Shampoo. It wasn't easy obtaining it but if it did the trick she wouldn't have to worry about Akuma anymore in fact nobody would. Akuma watched the old ghoul leave while he was doing seven different tasks at once. Using demon speed he cooked up all the orders and served the customers in record time. Once again his talents kept Ukyo's up in running. The place had gotten even more popular when they heard about how Ukyo's food had improved because of the new cook who just happened to be Ranma's cousin. Cologne couldn't deny that the demon had become extremely useful since Mousse left but he had committed an act that required the justice of three thousand years of ancient Chinese Amazon law. If her plan worked Akuma would be mortal and at Shampoo's mercy. If he were lucky she would just kill him. Because of what he did her granddaughter was required to kill Ranma before she could return home. She had lost a son in-law with real potential and her granddaughter hasn't been the same since. It took her almost a month to convince Shampoo that staying a cat for the rest of her life wasn't the answer after her divorce. Of course she doubted that ex son in-law would appreciate the fact that she was the one who sicked Shampoo on his female form but honor was honor, all she had to do was wait for the right moment and she would have Akuma's head on a silver platter. All it requires was a little patience; a constant barrage of work shifts for Akuma and oh yes a little present from Jusenkyo. She thought with an evil little grin.

Ukyo looked into Ryoga eyes and saw just pain and rejection that she had no idea how to answer him.

"Well what do you think about me Ukyo-chan? He asked as he advanced on her still in his Speedo. "You're here alone with me and I've barely got any clothes on shouldn't you be ready to defend yourself?" he said slowly walking towards her a tear forming in his eye. She just stood there. He was only a couple of breaths away from her. She still stood there looking at him with nothing but compassion. He grabbed her roughly but she didn't struggle. "Well come on do something, scream, pound on me, beg me to stop or I swear I'll show you how evil I am."

"No you won't Ryoga, I should have known better and I'm sorry." She said in a calm and quiet and calm voice.

"Why huh? Because the great Ranma says so?" his eyes were starting to fog up and he was trembling so violently that Ukyo couldn't help but vibrate with him.

"No it's not because of what Ranma said." She said still calm.

"Then why? Why am I suddenly innocent?" he said his voice getting choked up.

"Because if you were truly a rapist your nose wouldn't be bleeding like a gutted pig," Hearing her words Ryoga looked down to see his nose was dripping with blood. "We were all wrong about Ryoga and we all wish to apologize to you even Ranma. We were so stupid to fall for Akuma's trick and I promise he will pay." She looked at him with grim determination. And then he did the last thing Ukyo expected he fell to his knees and began to cry.

"Why? I try to do everything right, I send her gifts, I make her smile when she's down our angry at Ranma, I never insult her god I've even eaten all of her cooking and still I go unloved. Why? And then I'm accused of rape and I lose everything and I never had much to lose in the first place." He sobbed. "I should have never followed Ranma to Nerima I should have just continued traveling until I found my way home. It was so stupid to keep up this stupid grudge." He said angrily striking the rock with his two fingers it started to crack.

"Ah Ryoga," Ukyo said noticing that the rock was falling apart. But Ryoga didn't notice or even care as the rock suddenly exploded sending both of them into the water. Ukyo emerged from the water first. Of all the stupid things to do, She mentally cursed she looked around cautiously not really thrilled with the concept of seeing Ryoga in a wet Speedo. She then heard a familiar squeal and saw a little black piglet with a tiger striped bandanna emerging from the water. Her eyes shot wide open, and she slapped herself on the forehead.

"Of course I should have realized it before." She said feeling really stupid.

Akane was in the kitchen humming a little tune as she packed a picnic lunch for herself and Ranma. The only one with her was the little stuffed rabbit that Ranma bought her for Christmas. She didn't know why he brought her that particular gift but she suspected it was because he didn't want her sharing a bed with a certain piglet. Before she learned Ryoga's secret she couldn't understand why Ranma and P-Chan couldn't stand the sight of each other. And now that she knew that Ryoga and P-Chan were the one and the same the U-C had quickly become her new bedtime companion. She shook her head before she could start thinking of all the things she had confided to Ryoga back when she thought he was P-Chan. No I'm not going to start worrying about stuff like that now. She thought to herself determined to make this the perfect night. They were going to have a nice time with no interfering fathers, sisters, other fiances, demons or any other craziness. She had found the perfect place for them to avoid any unwanted attention. The only tricky part was getting out unseen, but Ranma had come up with a slightly unusual but still brilliant suggestion. Akane double-checked to make sure she packed everything.

"Let's see, purchased picnic lunch (don't want to unintentionally poison Ranma), swimsuit, camping roll, sun screen, disguises. Everything seems to be here now as soon as Ranma gets back with the supplies we'll be ready to go." Akane blushed a little thinking about the particular supplies that Ranma was getting, but started to shake her head quickly before any hentai thoughts filled her head. She wanted this day to go perfectly or at least with a minimum amount of blood shed. She was glad that Kasumi went to the beach with her new friend and that Nabiki was too preoccupied with thoughts about Akuma to start nosing in on her. Still I wish Nabiki could find someone else to start considering a relationship with, at this point I wouldn't mind if she turned out to be a lesbian. Akuma is bad news even if he is sincere about his feelings towards Nabiki. After all what exactly does a sincere demon mean anyway. She was so heart broken after hearing that Akuma had slept with Shampoo to settle some strange vendetta he has against the Chinese Amazons and now they're back to the talking and sharing feelings phase of a relationship. And here I thought me and Ranma held the crown for strange relationships. Well I guess that's everything all that's left is to wait for Ranma to get back. She looked down at her hands to see that they were trembling. Of course there trembling I'm about to make love for the first time I'm supposed to be nervous. I've never been with a man before were Ranma's already knows what it takes to please a woman being one himself half the time.

So you don't think you can satisfy him?

"I don't know. I love him but what if I can't?" The only reply was the blank stare from a stuffed rabbit.

Soun concentrated on the shogi board doing his best to pretend his focus was solely on the game in front of him. It was hard for him to concentrate for two reasons; the first was that Akane was in the kitchen cooking that alone was enough of a reason to drive anyone to distraction. Soun loved all his daughters but he was grateful that it was Ranma that would have to sample Akane's cooking first. His eldest daughter Kasumi was as good a cook as here mother and if push came to shove Nabiki always had money for take out but Akane, well Akane was a fighter like her old man and unfortunately she took that mentality with her everywhere. At school it had done wonders for her schoolwork as she constantly studied to keep her grades close to the top in her class and she recently came up with a program that helped Ranma study which seemed to improve his grades also, a combination of martial arts and study notes for two hours a day. It also improved Akane's fighting skills as well. This brought Soun to the second reason he couldn't focus on his match. His little girl was humming a very happy little tune as of late. Ever since he and Genma returned they noticed that Ranma and Akane were spending a lot of time together in each other's company. And in that time the only battles Ranma and Akane got into were training battles. In fact all of his daughters were in high spirits; Kasumi had a new friend, which she was spending a considerable amount of time with. But Nabiki's new friend was more cause for concern. Nothing had been the same since they learned that the founder of Anything goes Martial Arts was a demon looking for a way of resolving a grudge with the Ancient Chinese Amazons. But to make things even worse the very same demon seemed to have romantic feelings for his middle daughter Nabiki. He moved his shogi piece in a maneuver that seemed to perplex his old friend but his thoughts were still on his middle daughter's relationship. As long as he knew her Nabiki never seemed interested in any boys except for how she could exploit them. When he first saw her with the Kuno boy he was happy to see that she picked a strong proud young man like Whatitatti Kuno. Then he saw the exchange of photographs of Akane for yen and that's when he realized the only romance Nabiki was interested in was the ones that transpired on her television programs. But now he noticed that even Nabiki had a lighter bounce in her step as she discussed business with her new partner. He had openly expressed his concerns with her choice of partners.

"Daddy its only business," She would say a little more cheerfully than he was comfortable with. Akuma on the other hand was a perfect gentle creature of evil when he visited the household. He never seemed to have anything but the noblest intention when it regarded business. But he thought the same thing when they first met. And look how that turned out. Soun thought as Genma trapped his last piece.

That was too easy. Genma thought as Soun excused himself from the board. He doesn't even want a rematch? Okay that's enough.

"Training room now," Genma said loud enough for Soun to hear him.

"What are you talking about Saotome?"

"You heard me Tendo training room now." He then stood up and quietly and walked out of the kitchen. Curious about his friend's change in demeanor he quickly followed his friend into the training room.

When Soun arrived Genma was already doing a kata Soun had to admit that there journey had indeed been good for them Genma was still a bit roly poly but no where near as he used to be. Forced to work for food instead of stealing it had helped Genma burn off the pounds that years of half-assed martial arts training had put upon him.

"I'm here Saotome." If Genma heard him he didn't bother acknowledging him. Instead his kata began to pick up speed. Soun walked over to his friend. A grin seemed to form on the elder Satome's face.

"Prepare yourself Tendo." He said quietly.

"Prepare myself?" Genma's arm flew out so fast that Soun barely had enough time to dodge the blow. "Saotome what are?" but before he could finish Genma was already attacking with a flying front kick. Soun quickly sidestepped the battling Saotome. Taking up a combat stance Soun looked over his opponent. "Saotome what are you doing have you taken leave of your senses?"

"I could ask you the same question you never lost that quickly to me before and never so easily excepted defeat like that either." Genma replied, "What's bothering you old friend?"

Soun looked over Genma inquisitively they had been gone for two months and in that time a lot had happened to both of them. Things that seemed to have an even more profound effect on Genma then he was willing to admit.

"We have been gone for so long a lot has changed." Soun stated throwing a punch, which Genma surprisingly blocked with little effort.

"And whose idea was it to leave in the first place?" Genma asked while blocking the punch.

"But I never thought that so much would have happened. Your son and my daughter are actually falling in love with each other, Kasumi's socializing outside of the house, and even Nabiki's falling in love." The last remark caused a powerful kick, which struck Genma with incredible force. So that's it. Genma thought rolling with the kick.

"I don't know how much more of this happy employee crap I can take." Akuma shouted in the closet beyond caring if his customers heard him. He was tired of having his unique talents and skills exploited for human service. Still at least this time the restaurant was all his. Ukyo hadn't returned Shampoo wasn't around to keep an eye on him so he had free reign of the restaurant. Not that he could he do anything to sabotage Ukyo's because of the contract he had signed. But The Cat Café that was another story there was nothing in the contract saying he wasn't allowed to practice magic at the Raman restaurant. In fact he wouldn't have been surprised if Ukyo planned it that way. In some ways she was just as sneaky as Nabiki. He touched his lips gently remembering the kiss that the two of them shared a couple of nights ago. It was incredible there weren't many things that could faze Akuma. Centuries of working his way up in the demon ranks, using his wits to win battles that his skill and power couldn't, He won victories over more powerful demons, more skilled demons even demons that would cause his skin to shudder. But he always prevailed so how could it be that a demon that can fight an Orogochi master to a stand still, Could handle the perverted attacks of the Shikima and could kick any mortal fighters ass a thousand time over goes weak at the knees by the kiss of one mortal woman (albeit a sexy, devious woman) He had to face the truth he had fallen horns over heels for Nabiki Tendo. This meant sooner our later he was going to get a visit from The Demon Underworld. But for now he had to contend with a vengeful ex mother in law, two families of martial artists, and a plethora of other warriors and the worst of all his own conscience. He still couldn't believe that he ended up in Tofu's clinic trying to help an unintentional victim of one of his pranks. The quick visit to the clinic was very informative to the demon. He still grinned when he thought of the doctor's reaction to his implication of Tofu's virginity.

"My knowledge of sexual practices is none of your business Akira." Dr Tofu said. Akuma remembered the strained attempt to hide annoyance in the good doctor's voice.

"So in other words besides what ever you read in a text book you have no idea how to pleasure a woman."

"Some of us prefer to wait for marriage." Dr Tofu said gritting his teeth.

"You know that kind of outdated thinking is one of the things wrong with this world today. I mean if you and Kasumi played doctor a couple of years ago then perhaps she wouldn't have overreacted when I tricked Ryoga into touching her breast while she was sleeping." Bam! Akuma didn't even see the punch coming. In the short time he seen Dr Tofu he believed the gentle doctor to be a Buddha but after that well placed punch he knew better. The punch was well placed if Akuma had been mortal his nose and part of his jaw line would have been broken. Tofu didn't' only know how to fight he knew how to kill if necessary.

The Dark Rose stood motionless watching as the thugs approached her. She felt nothing no fear, no concern, no anticipation, nothing just the thought that they had to suffer. There were four of them three young tough guys with traditional gang colors and a tough looking redhead wearing the newest in hooker wear. She picked them for one simple reason, it wasn't for their skill these were strictly street fighting brutes with no real discipline, nor was it a sense of justice she couldn't give a rats ass about their victims. No the only reason she chose them was simple nobody would miss them if they were gone.

"Well would you look at this," one of them said.

"Looks like an early Christmas gift." Another one said. The Black Rose just continued to look at them impassively; she knew that her night black leotard would attract the wrong element. She watched coldly as the biggest one of them approached her.

"Hey baby, how about a kiss?" She didn't answer instead she simply grabbed his hand and pushed it off her shoulder with no real effort.

"That's not the way you do it." The red head said approaching her. "You have to be more gentle let me show you." She suddenly pulled a switchblade out of her jacket. "You're going to be nice and let me show them right?" she said putting the switchblade to Kodachi's throat. The big guy came up from behind intending to grab her. Instead he suddenly found Kodachi's foot thrusted into his groin. And before the redhead could react The Dark Rose had already disarmed her with a sudden twist of her wrist. The two others rushed towards as fast as they could only to get struck by a dark vine. The both of them stopped as the blood dripped off their foreheads. A cold grin formed on her face she looked down at the tough redhead who was now trying her best not to whimper over her twisted wrist. The big guy got up and roared with anger his silhouette completely kept the sun from reaching her. He was in such rage that he didn't notice that his intended victim was no longer there and he ended up striking the redhead instead. He struck her so hard that she flew right into a garbage bin.

"Sorry Rox." The big guy said in a strangely sympathetic voice not noticing the shadow creeping up behind him. An arm formed striking the huge thug in the back of the head. Before the shock of seeing his intended target behind him could wear off The Dark Rose had her vine wrapped around his huge neck.

"Anyone else interested in continuing this discussion?" Kodachi asked. The two others looked at each other and then ran as fast as their legs could carry them. She watched them flee then returned her attention to her two captives. "Now the question is what do I do with you two?"

Shampoo watched as Ranma took up an even more extreme combat stance. She never had seen Ranma angry before, it was true that she had seen him and her panicked, frustrated, annoyed, flustered even depressed but she never saw him angry before. If the fact that Ranma was angry intimidated the Chinese Amazon she didn't show it. Instead she took up her own defensive posture.

"I'm tired of this Shampoo, I'm tired of all these vendettas and if you do a thing to hurt Akane I will kill you." Ranma said sounding as intimidating as she could as a girl.

"Then you die instead." Shampoo said in broken Japanese. She charged at Ranma quickly drawing out three very thin very sharp throwing darts at him. Moving quickly Ranma dodged the darts. She quickly glanced back and was relieved to see that the playground was empty. But the moment of concern was all Shampoo needed and she followed up on her charge with a spinning backhand. Ranma grunted taking the full blow. She quickly did a back flip, which turned into a cartwheel kick knocking Shampoo back.

"Hey! What happened to unarmed combat? Ranma asked sounding more annoyed than threatened.

"This fight to death no rules apply." Shampoo answered with a condescending sneer. "Either Girl Ranma die or Shampoo die but Shampoo not leaving Nerima until one of us is dead." She then charged at him again letting out a fierce Amazon battle cry.

"If that's the way you want it then." Ranma said preparing to charge back at her. The two combatants charged at each other both firmly deciding not to hold anything back. Shampoo launched a flying front kick aimed at Ranma's jaw. The young redhead blocked and let loose an elbow to the middle of her opponents back. Surprised by the fierceness of the blow Shampoo was forced into a tumble. She rolled into a crouching position just in time to catch Ranma's foot before it struck her face. Before Ranma could react the Amazon struck her tendon as hard as she could with her other hand. A sickening snapping noise filled the empty playground Shampoo grinned as she pushed his foot away. Ranma gritted her teeth refusing to give Shampoo the satisfaction of hearing her scream. But the damage had still been done a sharp pain filled Ranma's leg when she put her foot on the ground. Sensing a weakness Shampoo pressed her attack coming at him with a flurry of punches and kicks that Ranma was hard pressed to block. Her blows were coming so fast that it was taking all Ranma's discipline not to collapse from the pain of her injury. Finally a punch clocked her right under her chin knocking her to the ground. As she fell the box that she had concealed in her pocket fell out. Ranma was surprised to see that Shampoo had stopped attacking and was staring at the box on the ground. The Amazon suddenly screamed with more rage then Ranma ever heard come from her before.

"I don't believe it not, a single skin mag in his room" Lae-In commented slightly frustrated.

"I tried to tell you Ranma's only interested in fondling Akane all over the house." Kasumi also sounding annoyed. "And Mr. Saotome is only interested in sponging off of us for as long as father puts up with it." If Kasumi noticed the change in her behavior she didn't acknowledge it.

"But you said Ranma had more experience with woman than any man you know?" Lae-In replied.

"No, I said he has more knowledge of the female anatomy than any man."

"So he must be very experienced." The blonde said with a sly little grin.

"Oh please Ranma is such a virgin." Kasumi said sounding like a bitchy valley girl.

"Well it could still be fun to make him squirm a little."

"I've seen him squirm, it's not that impressive. If it's not from Akane's jealous rages then it's from Shampoo glomming on him." As Kasumi said this, the blonde girl's eyes opened so wide they nearly hit the ceiling.

"Shampoo,"

"Ranma's other fiance." Kasumi said with a sigh.

"Other fiance, how many does he have?"

"Honestly we have no idea how many daughters Ranma's pimp, oops excuse me father promised him to for a free meal." The last remark actually caught Kasumi by surprise as soon as she said it. She then started thinking back to all the new things that she never tried before she met Lae-In. Night clubs, pool halls and today going to the beach in very provocative swim wear. But why not I'm 23 years old for god's sake, how long am I supposed to act as a den mother for all these immature ingrates for anyway? She looked back at her friend who was in so many ways the exact opposite of her. She was free thinking, impulsive aggressive and ok yes just a little bit perverted. But this past week has been the best week she's had in her life. After all how many times have Akane and Nabiki gone out not even thinking to ask if big sister would like to join them? Or did father even consider if Kasumi wanted to finish high school. So why should feel bad about actually developing my own personality? Her musings were interrupted by the sound of the doorbell.

"Must be the food I'll get it." Lae-In said bouncing away like a happy school girl. Kasumi just smiled shaking her head and then began covering up the evidence of them ever being in the room in the first place.

Time froze for Ranma as she dove for the box condoms while trying to avoid Shampoo's attacks. She had never seen her so angry before in any of their encounters. She was just barely able to avoid her throwing darts while grabbing the most important box of her life. Shampoo growled and attacked him with a charging elbow. To her surprise Ranma grabbed her elbow and twisted it as hard as she could. The Amazon pulled away before Ranma could do any permanent damage to her. Ranma on the other hand found her mobility limited by her leg injury. Damn it! Ranma cursed mentally. She's not kidding and there's no way I can fight her like this. I need a diversion.

"Hey Akuma," Ranma shouted as loud as she could. Hearing her ex-husbands name Shampoo turned only to see an empty playground. Quickly she returned her focus to girl Ranma only to find her no longer there. The Amazon cursed herself in Chinese for falling for such a simple trick.

"Man is she pissed off." Ranma said out loud hobbling as fast as she could on her lame leg. It wasn't easy but she reached the city despite her injury. This won't save me for long I've got to find some hot water and heal quickly. She thought to herself desperately. She self-consciously checked her pocket to find the box condoms still safely tucked away. She still couldn't believe Shampoos anger at seeing the box. But I guess it kind of makes sense she only recently got over her obsession with me only to be used by Akuma and with Mousse nowhere in sight she's got no other vent then me. Of course I still think she's a little screwed up. Ranma realized that sympathy for his other fiances just ended up getting her in more trouble. With him and Akane getting even more serious than ever before he had to be a man and stand up to all the threats to their relationship. He already dealt with Kuno, he hadn't seen Ukyo since she went hunting for Ryoga, and Kodachi has seemed to disappear off the face of the earth. And when Akuma had tricked Shampoo and later slept with Mousse she foolishly thought that Shampoo was out of her hair too. Except I forgot why she originally came here to kill me in the first place, And if anything she's persistent. She finally spotted what he was looking for, a bath house just a block away from her. The scream of an enraged Amazon Warrior caused Ranma to hobble as fast as she could towards his salvation.

"Girl Ranma Kill," Shampoo screamed leaping from rooftop to rooftop, a silhouette above her warned Ranma to move out of the way just in time to dodge a lethal bonbori attack. His roll ended up putting his back to the wall. Shampoo smiled slyly seeing that Ranma didn't have any place to go. Seeing the same thing Shampoo did the red haired girl did the only thing she could think of. No choice anymore Shampoo won't stop until one of us is dead. And I have too much to live for now. She put up the best defense posture possible and prepared for the final battle.

"Have a nice day and please come again." Akuma said to his customers as they left the establishment after complimenting the great okynomiyaki that they had eaten. In fact business had never been better for Ukyo's since the demon took over the kitchen duties. And since the stick monkey hadn't returned yet he had time to put his new plan into effect. He was happier than usual for a couple of reasons. One was he was getting a chance to get revenge on The Chinese Amazons which he has hated for centuries. "They wouldn't think they were so hot if they knew the truth about their 5000 years of Ancient Chinese Amazon history." He said perfectly mocking Cologne's voice. At which point he smiled as he patted his pocket and its unknown contents. The other reason sprung to mind as he smiled. It was very amusing seeing how deadly Dr Tofu could really be if the right buttons were pushed. Their confrontation was brief but that was only because Akuma wasn't really trying to hurt the good doctor just talk to him. It was very rare that a human could actually lay a hand on him in combat but he always seemed to fall for an anger motivated right cross. The kind of blow that happened before both combatants realized it was coming. The last time he felt a punch like that was from some weird green haired chick. But that was a while ago but here in Nerima it was like being in a candy store everyone seemed to have a big red button on his or her heart, which they didn't hide very well. It was his kind of town all right. But his memory returned to why he went to Tofu in the first place. The door chime rang interrupting his reverie. He sighed and went to see to his new customer only to be greeted by his new mortal conscience.

"Of all the okynomyaki joints, in all the world, you had to walk into mine."

"Hello to you to Akira." Nabiki answered back. He watched as she sat a table.

"So what will you have?" he asked her doing his best to act natural as he could.

"You know what I like." She said batting her eyes at him. The demon smiled and went back to the kitchen. Man, am I in trouble! The demon thought as he quickly made her favorite dish. The memory of the kiss was still in his mind. They both were lip locked for a good five minutes before she pulled back.

"Thank you." She said very quietly.

"For what?" he asked a little confused.

"For being honest with me I know it's against your nature." She said quietly as she got up and started walking towards the door.

"Where are you going?" the demon asked almost lunging for her.

"I have to think about this partnership of ours." She said looking at the door. "I think it might be worth continuing but I need to sleep on it." The demon just stood there stunned as she walked out the door. He shook himself back to the present and went back to her table hoping to serve her more then lunch.

Of all the stupid things to do, P-Chan thought to himself as Ukyo dried him off. She still seemed a little upset about what happened after the rock exploded. As usual the exposure to cold water turned him into the little black piglet that passed itself off as Akane's pet. He quickly rose from the water only to see a stunned Ukyo staring at him. She then slapped herself on the head.

"Of course why didn't I realize it before?" the piglet just stared at her unsure of what to do next. In truth there wasn't much he could do in this form. The girl swam up to him and picked him up by the bandanna. "Oh you have a lot of explaining to do mister!" she said. As she held him up to her face he couldn't help but notice that her clothes were plastered to her skin. The sight of her breasts pressed against her wet clothes caused the part of his body that lets people know he was a male to stand at direct attention. Both of them looked at each other's bodies then into each other's eyes and then back at each other's bodies again. The last Ryoga could recall was his body flying through the air before colliding with a tree. Now he found himself being dried off by the woman that he unintentionally insulted just a few minutes ago. He wasn't sure what he was going to do now that Ukyo knew his secret. And part of him really was actually relieved that she knew. Despite what Ranma thought being Akane's pet wasn't a real thrill, first of all always hearing her whine about Ranma wasn't really flattering to his ego, second hearing her murmur his name in her sleep didn't really endear the lost pig to be her bedtime buddy and then of course there was her bad habit of fighting in her sleep. Almost every morning he woke up with a new bruise or scratch. But like a hopeless fool he still persisted hoping one day she would finally get tired of Ranma and start dating him. But that was before Akuma framed him for rape that was before he fondled Kasumi thinking she was Akane. The most damning thing about the experience was that despite the fact that all his friends turned on him, despite the reward on his head that only recently got removed the worst thing turned out to be he still did fondle Kasumi. That he still did see Akane get undressed and did share a bed with her. What if she didn't attack me in her sleep every night? Would I accidentally fondle her too? Despite all the misunderstandings with Ranma he always respected Akane's body. But just recently he experienced arousal for someone besides Akane.

"There all dry." Ukyo said removing the towel from P-Chan's body. "Now's let's go to town and get us both some new clothes so we can have a little chat human to human." She quickly scooped him up and proceeded to the nearest town. "In the mean time can you keep that thing down please?" she asked the pig sternly. All P-Chan could do in response was blush at Ukyo's request.

The two fathers had fought for fifteen minutes and neither of them had landed a decisive victory. Genma's gut was still sore from Soun's kick but at least he got to what was bothering his old friend. It was strange of him to think it but the time the two of them spent together working for their food and just practicing hard what they both already knew indeed had changed his perspective. Ever since Soun had banished Happosai from his house the two of them searched for a new master to teach them. Of course being the students of Happosai did not endear them to any sensei's and only after actually offering to work for their food and lessons did some of them actually allow them to practice in their respective dojos. It was strange actually fighting a teacher with a deep sense of honor. In truth he sometimes thought Soun as a sucker for having such a set of ethics especially considering who there master was. And somehow his own son had inherited some of those same traits, which Genma shamefully had to admit to himself that he didn't learn from him.

"I have been a terrible father and husband, Tendo." He said quietly. Soun looked at Genma lowering his defenses just enough for Genma to strike. The Tendo father was barely able to deflect the blow caught by surprise by Genma's statement.

"Tendo what are you saying?" Genma backed away from his old friend.

"Exactly what you heard," He said quietly. "It's funny I originally accompanied you on your journey afraid Happosai would come back and want revenge. But these past couple of months has brought back memories of my original training journey with Ranma." He's a strong honorable boy with a capability for learning any martial art no matter how bizarre in a matter of days. Where as I only taught him the basics the master taught us,"

"Take the stuff and run with just enough actual fighting training to defend the master should the need arise." Soun said with a bitter struggle.

"It's funny I never really realized it until I saw how you were so concerned about your daughters especially Nabiki and her new boyfriend, that in all our time away I never really thought how my son was doing." Genma said with actual shame in his voice. "Even when I was here I never really worried about him, even when training I was more concerned about keeping my promise to Nodoka." Soun watched in amazement as his old friend leaned against the wall and sighed. "You're a much better father then I am Tendo. Raising three young daughters by yourself after your Shikari died. They are all beautiful young women, and I can see a piece of you and a piece of her in each one. But when I look at Ranma I don't see his mother or me in him. When I look at him I see the son you never had. He's a lot more like you than like me." He walked away from the wall and looked at Soun. "I'm leaving old friend I'm going back to Nodoka to tell her I have kept my promise jusenkyo or no jusenkyo my boy has become a man among men.

Tofu sipped his tea slow fully and carefully not because he was afraid he would burn himself but because he was afraid that he would break the cup in a hundred pieces. He couldn't recall the last time he was so angry. He started reciting a calming mantra in his head. He had a room full of patients that were depending on him and he couldn't let his anger cause him to hurt them accidentally. The young doctor didn't know what bothered him more the fact that Akira Saotome could provoke such rage from him by being so callous about hurting people that were important to him, the fact that after the first punch Tofu couldn't lay a hand on him, or the fact that he a doctor who swore to do no harm was intentionally trying to beat Ranma's cousin to a bloody pulp. Of course if the young man would have just stopped taunting him for a second…

"Well it looks like you can be a man after all." Akira said standing up and dusting himself off. "Now if you could only show Kasumi this level of intensity I'm sure she would be creaming her shorts in no time." Hearing this remark Tofu launched himself at Akira. The young stranger simply took two steps to the side to avoid his charge. The doctor turned to see Akira standing there with an amused look on his face. He was silent but deadly as all his attacks were aimed at specific points of Akira's body. But to his surprise Akira deflected them all with barely any effort. "You know they say that anger is a sign of sexual frustration." The doctor attacked again and again his punches and kicks designed to severely hurt his mysterious opponent but just as before they were deflected with very little effort on Ranma's cousin's part. "But all joking aside doc if you really want to score with the little lady you're going to have to get rid of your little goofy dance whenever you're in the same room as her." He ducked inches away from Tofu's fist. "This shy little country boy thing might seem charming now but I don't think that Kasumi will appreciate it during your honeymoon."

"You will pay for what you've done." Tofu said sounding very unlike the charming doctor Akira had first met. Before Tofu could react Akira had spun him around and had him in a full nelson. With so much adrenalin pumping Tofu tried to escape only to find that his provoker had arms like steel.

"And how do you plan on protecting her from guys like me when you go all spazoid whenever you see her?" His grip loosened and Tofu took the opportunity to break free. But when he turned around he found that Akira was no longer around.

Tofu put down his tea cup and took a deep breath and realized that no the thing that disturbed him the most is that Akira was right. Despite the crudeness of his words it didn't change the fact that around Kasumi he was useless and that something had to change.

Soun looked at Genma in complete shock as Genma left the room. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. Tendo's going back to Japan to face Nadoka. After all the years that he's hid from her, hid her son from her he's going back to see her. Soun had no idea how to react to the news. In truth he had never seen his old friend seem so remorseful, so contemplative. It was true that he wasn't the best of father's as was proven every time he took food from his son's bowl. Or the numerous times he's thrown his son in the meditation pool and chastised him for being a girl, and he didn't want to dwell on the cat fist. And he owed money to so many people.

But then who was he to criticize? Sure it was only twice that he had engaged one of his daughters to pay off a debt. But now that he heard the words coming out of Soun's mouth he realized how wrong of him it was. They were his daughters and a father is supposed to protect his children not use them as collateral. He knew that his beloved Shikari would have never behaved in such a disgraceful manner. Of course she would have been smart enough not to get in debt in the first place. He still remembered how she used to blush every time he dared her to shoulder throw him, the look on her face when Kasumi was born. Back then the dojo was barely started but she had confidence in her husband to support his new family. Unfortunately their dojo never really attracted that much business. The few students they actually had weren't really committed to the martial art, as they were the concept that it might make them more attractive to the girls in school. Ironically enough the only martial artists' girls are interested are the ones that are devoted to there training and have no time for romance. The teacher thought to himself. But even as they slowly began to lose their students somehow they were able to expand their family with another daughter. While Kasumi was learning all her mother's social graces Nabiki quickly showed signs of being the clever daughter. Also the most manipulative, were as Kasumi was a quiet and polite child, Nabiki was out spoken and demanding. But strangely enough there was really no real sibling rivalry between the two of them. Then they had a third child another daughter but cruel fate struck his beloved Shikari with a fever that took her from her daughters and husband while Akane was still an infant. Soun had done his best to be strong for his daughters. Shikari had been wise enough to insure herself so despite their dwindling business he was still able to keep them in school. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to send Kasumi to university after she graduated high school. So instead she dropped out and stayed home and took over his wife's job as care giver to the Tendo family.

Soun let a sigh escape his mouth.

"I miss you Shikari."

What's taking him so long? Akane thought to herself while she waited in her bedroom. How long does it take a guy to buy a pack of rubbers anyway? A strange feeling of anticipation overtook her as she waited. She jumped on her bed where her new loyal companion U-Chan was waiting.

"Oh U-Chan am I really ready for this?" she asked picking up the stuffed rabbit.

Why are you asking me? I'm just a stuffed rabbit.

"He should have been back by now and I want to do this, I think I'm ready."

You think you're ready it isn't like he hasn't pleasured you before.

"But that was different he was a girl and I was under the influence of Akuma's potion."

Are you afraid of being intimate with a man?

"I don't know."

But surely you've thought about doing this before right?

The question caused her to hesitate they had known each other for two years and it was only a couple of months they actually started to couple. But those months were very special to Akane.

"It's funny when you think about it, I spent years accusing Ranma of being a pervert every time he got duped by Happosai or Shampoo glommed onto him I just over reacted and never gave him the time to actually explain what really happened. I claimed I was not interested in him, yet I always got irrational whenever he turned his attention to any of his other fiances."

And despite this you propositioned him first, both times.

"And now I'm ready to give my virginity to him. I have to admit that I sometimes had dreams about him. I mean he is handsome, and he has a very impressive bo too." She said with a grin that would make Nabiki proud.

So if you love him and if thinking about him makes you so horny why are having second thoughts?

"This isn't something that a proper young lady just jumps into." Akane responded defensively. "Making love is something special between two people. It's the start of a whole new level in a relationship."

I thought it was to prove to yourself that you're not a lesbian.

"Oh what do you know, you're just a stuffed rabbit." She said tossing back down on the pillow. The rabbit didn't respond to her last remark. Akane sighed as she got off the bed and started pacing again.

The Kuno training hall was filled with the remains of training dummies. Kuno didn't just practice on them he ripped them to shreds.

"Saotome, you will pay! Kuno screamed out as he lashed out at the last training dummy. His first blow took the dummy's head clean off and sent flying into the air. While the head was still in flight Kuno turned and crouched, taking out the dummy's kneecaps. But before it could hit the ground Kuno had already sliced it in half. With a quick motion he raised his blade in the air and impaled the head of the dummy. The samurai stopped and caught his breath. He looked around to see that his training hall was now a mannequin slaughterhouse. "Curse that fiend, Curse him! I swear vengeance will be mine." Kuno never thought he would be capable of feeling such hate for anyone. Even for Ranma the most he felt was contempt, after all he graciously allowed him to court his twisted sister. "Of course, why didn't I see it before? So he thinks he can fool me does he? He will soon learn that Hwatitati Kuno is no fool." The samurai sheathed his blade and with a cunning grin he left the training hall.

Down in the dungeon the two recent prisoners could hear the ranting lord of the house.

"Tenacious isn't he?" Mousse asked still shackled to the wall.

"You have no idea." Satsukai replied sitting next to the young man in shackles.

"So where do you think the Dark Rose is right now?" Mousse asked quietly with a hint of sadness.

"I shudder to think."

"You're being quieter than usual, I mean you're not really a chatterbox but yesterday you were still into small talk.

"I'm thinking." was all Satsukae said. A clinking sound came from above the little manservant's head. "I was wondering when you were going to do that."

"You knew I could pick locks?"

"You hide a ton of weapons in your sleeve, which means you're a master of hidden weapons, so a hair pin or a lock pick wouldn't require much." He said with a shrug. Mousse looked at his cellmate in surprise. When he first started dating Kodachi the little manservant was a shy bumbling fool, but Mousse could now see that Satsukae took his responsibility of raising the Kuno siblings very seriously. And despite the bumbling appearance Satsukae was still a ninja. And now that his children were in danger he was turning into a quite formidable one.

"Shampoo must have found first ex son in law." Cologne muttered looking at the clock. Her grand daughter wasn't known to not help out her grandmother unless something important came up. There were only a couple of customers though so it wasn't like she needed any help or anything. So she took the time to check on her little package. She had ordered it special from Jusenkyo. She looked at the bottle of water it was one of the most dangerous curses ever. But if it does the trick Akuma will become mortal. Unlike the rest of the Jusenkyo ponds this one wasn't actually cursed as it was blessed. Many years ago a priest had cast a powerful spell on the pool. It was specifically made to cure children from demonic possession. The exact secret of the pool was a mystery even from her. But for year's children would be brought to the spring so they can have there soul cleansed of any corrupting demonic influences. There was no transformation brought on by this particular pool. At least nothing humans could notice. But this might be capable of separating Akuma's link to his demonic powers. The only thing that kept the old Amazon from dousing the demon with the water was the fact that it was never used on a fully-grown demon before. But a plan had begun to form in her mind. She sincerely doubted that Akuma would allow her to splash him with the bottle, and she didn't think the demon would accept any kind of refreshment from her. Besides his damned senses would probably alert him to any attempt to poison him. It wasn't until she saw him moving so fast that she came up with the idea of using his employment as a means of distracting him. Then she could slowly poison him with it a little at a time. The other problem was making sure that Mousse and Shampoo were nowhere near the elixir at any time. There was no report on what this water would do to a jusenkyo curse. She didn't want Shampoo or Mousse hurt or worse. Yes' she was still angry at the young man for abandoning Shampoo but the truth was if he had moved on before any of this happened she couldn't have blamed him and she couldn't blame him now. Mousse had moved on found a woman that was interested in him. Unlike Shampoo, Mousse really didn't have any commitment to Shampoo besides his childhood crush. It really didn't matter anymore since the kiss of death was retracted from Kodachi, Truth be told it should have never been given in the first place since Kodachi never did defeat Shampoo in combat, same with Akane which was the reason why Shampoo wasn't hunting her everyday. Besides I haven't seen Mousse in months she thought to herself before locking up the bottle in her secret cupboard. The small ding a ling of the door chime followed by the sound of gasping customers prompted her to return to the front. When she arrived she was not prepared for the sight that was waiting for her. Standing at the front counter was a battered and limping female Ranma with an even more battered and beaten Shampoo in her arms.

Nabiki kept a cold demeanor as she waited for Akuma to get back. But unlike all the other time's she put on her business only face this time she actually had to concentrate to do it. The night she walked out after the first time they kissed she was able to make a block before she had to lean on the wall. The kiss itself was electrifying and Nabiki was sure that Akuma was affected by it too. But she was right to leave she had to think about what Akuma had told her. He's risking banishment from his home to be with me. Nabiki thought back to all the risks that Ranma took for Akane to save her and protect her, all the time she was able to exploit Ranma by threatening to show Akane innocent yet compromising photos to Akane. Despite what Akane thought Ranma was and has always been loyal to her. And now for the first time Nabiki was starting to crave that loyalty in a man. Despite what a lot of people thought about her Nabiki was a hopeless romantic she just didn't suffer an idiot that's all and unfortunately Forenkin high was full of them gullible woman hungry idiots. But now there is someone willing to pay a very high and possibly painful price to be with her. He was everything she could want in a man cute, smart, funny, a skilled martial artist who could protect her and her business ventures, he had a keen sense for business and Nabiki had to admit the bad boy streak in him was also kind of a turn on. As she continued walking home she continued thinking plus how many guys would be willing to sign themselves over to a girl. He's binded to me he knew that he was risking banishment and other possible punishments and he still binded himself to me. She continued walking home still not sure what to make of the entire situation. The only thing she knew for sure was that she felt something she never felt before a kind of rock hard feeling at the bottom on her stomach, well at the same time a strange type of hyperactive energy as well.She was confused, she, the great calculating Nabiki Tendo confused over her feelings for a centuries old demon. The fact that she had feelings for him was enough to concern her. But after the kiss and the confession she started to realize that what she was feeling was love. Her Nabiki Tendo was in love with The Demon Founder of Anything Goes Martial Arts who was posing as Akira Saotome cousin to Ranma Saotome.

And now here I am ready to ask about the concept of a relationship with him. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sight of Akira Saotome coming out with a piping hot plate of okynomiyaki. He gently put the plate in front of her and took a seat across the table from her.

"Anything else I can get you?" he asked her trying his best to seem business like. Nabiki looked across from the table at the hopeful young demon.

"I think I love you," she said quietly to him.

Ryoga looked at himself in the mirror and saw a stranger looking back at him. Oh the hair and the face was still the same but the wardrobe was completely different. Instead of his baggy green training pants and worn yellow training shirt he was wearing a faded pair of blue jeans and a purple t-shirt with a picture of a band that Ryoga never heard of. Too top it off was a dark blue shirt.

"Well come out already Ryoga let's see how you look." He heard Ukyo call out from the other side of the change room door. Ryoga sighed and opened the door; he stepped out to get Ukyo's final approval since she was paying for the clothes until he could get to a bank.

"Wow! Looking really good Ryoga if only you would lose the bandanna,"

"Oh ok." Ryoga stammered removing his bandanna.

"How did you do that? I spent fifteen minutes trying to remove all those bandannas from your head.

"Trade secret," Ryoga said with a shy little grin. Ukyo couldn't take her eyes off Ryoga. He looks really good if only he would keep it instead of wearing the same old training clothes. Ukyo took a look at herself. "Like I should talk, come to think of it does anybody in Nerima change their clothing style?

"Thanks Ukyo I owe you one." Ryoga said shyly.

"Well you can pay me back when we get back to Nerima." Ukyo said. Ryoga didn't answer just nodded his head and followed Ukyo to the cashier's desk. The cashier blinked at the young people in front of her she remembered the young lady who wouldn't she brought in a very realistic looking stuffed pig doll and a bucket of hot water. And now she was walking out with a handsome looking young man. She decided it best to keep her mouth shut and just let the customer pay her.

"Ukyo can we stop off at the bank, I need to make a withdrawal." Ryoga asked. The statement caught Ukyo by surprise, she never saw Ryoga spend any money before and she never imagined he would actually have a bank account.

"So you've been P-Chan all this time. Well it certainly explains how Akuma set you up." At the sound of the demons name Ryoga's shoulders tightened.

"I should have told her a long time ago." The Eternal Lost Boy whispered.

"What did you say Ryoga?"

"I said I should have told her a long time ago. None of the other jusenkyo gang kept their curses a secret why should I be any different?" They walked a little more "Ukyo how much was your dowry?" Ryoga asked as they entered the bank.

To Be Concluded