Disclaimers: I don't own Ranma. It's just a fic. C'mon, I'm a poor girl from a poor 3rd world country! Please don't sue me!

"Shampoo, hey, um… Just tell me what you want, I'll give it to you," Ranma said more awkwardly than timidly when he smiled at the purple haired Amazon.

"Anything? Even go on date with Shampoo?" the girl almost squealed in delight as she gazed lovingly at the black-haired man.

He felt his sweat trickling down his back. He knew it was never easy to negotiate with Amazons but …

"Why hurry change airen mind? You no want go date with Shampoo?" She looked away, pretending to be pained by his reaction. "If you no go date, I no give you cure for curse!"

Decisions…decisions. What the heck was he thinking. A date. A simple date with Shampoo and all his troubles will be over. One single date can rid him of his girl half forever! But… this is Shampoo we are talking about here so…

"Shampoo…uh…. Yeah! Sure, I'll go on a da…."

"Shampoo! My darling Shampoo! You must not go on a date with that ruffian Saotome! I will not allow such a thing!" Mousse blindly yet successfully got the bottle which supposedly contained the said cure for Ranma's curse.

Ranma's eyes lit up quickly as he jumped to grab the bottle away from Mousse. Shampoo was just a few seconds behind him when all of a sudden, a cracking noise was heard and …

"What did you do that for!" Ranma-chan screamed as she saw the pieces of the bottle scattered about on the floor. It took him a while to realize what just happened and tasted the water that just got splashed on him. "This is… this is salt water?"

"Water with salt and pepper actually. It's to be used as a curing agent for some vegetables old ghoul had purchased recently…" Mousse said all-knowingly, relieved to see that it was only Ranma who got splashed with the cold water.

"Shampoo! You have tricked me all along haven't you?" Ranma said, partly angry, partly embarrassed by what happened. "It's a curing agent, not a cure for my curse!"

"I no know what you talking about airen. Stupid duck boy made mistake, is no Shampoo's fault! Airen! You promise Shampoo!" the girl pleaded as she reached out for Ranma's blouse.

"No way Shampoo! I …I just remembered I have a test tomorrow…gotta go study with Akane…I'm outta here!" she marched towards the door right after murmuring a "thanks a lot man" to Mousse.

"Saotome! You must not turn your back away from my Shampoo like that! Come back here and…" His speech was suddenly cut off when a flying chair hit him at the back of his head.

"Sh…Sha…Shampoo!" he gasped as he doubled over in the floor.

"IS YOUR FAULT STUPID DUCK BOY!" Shampoo angrily got a table and carried it over her head in her rage. The metallic stands hit Mousse over and over again and he was too weak to avoid it or even voice out a protest. "Shampoo so close to date with Airen and what you do? You go RUIN EVERYTHING. Useless duck boy. I wish you never born!" She grabbed him by the collar and slapped him repeatedly. Mousse would've covered himself from her attacks if he had not seen her tears.

"Shampoo…forgive me I…"

"Forgive! Shampoo no FORGIVE! NEVER!"she quickly flung the door to the restaurant open and kicked the semi-conscious man as far as she could.

Ranma, who was quite near Ucchan's by then, saw Mousse's body fly across the horizon. He whistled and imagined how much damage had been caused this time – which was just so bad because Dr. Tofu was out on a convention and won't be back in a couple of months. Maybe he should go and …

"Hey Ranma-honey!"

…Great, just what he needed. Another diversion. "Hurry up inside sugar, rain's about to fall soon."

Surely enough not only rain but also thunder and lightning came by. Ranma figured it would take him a while before he can go home because of this rain.

"I wonder how that guy is doing…" he thought to himself. But whatever concern he had for Mousse quickly disappeared at the smell of Ukyo's famous Okonomiyaki.

Meanwhile, on a road not so far away, a truck carrying some poultry almost ran over an unconscious duck, lying flat on the ground.

"Hey, what should we do about this thing?" the driver asked his partner.

"It looks dead. But maybe we can still sell it…or eat it for dinner. Throw it in the containers! It's freezing cold in there anyway; it probably won't infect the other poultry with whatever it died of."

The man quickly followed and the sound Mousse's limp body made as it hit the iced floor wasn't even heard due to the noise made by the pouring rain.

Gift of Love

Chapter 1

Kasumi carefully checked her shopping list again to see what she may have missed. She crossed out "carrots", "lettuce", and "beans." Then she crossed out "detergent," "candles" and "matches". She sighed gratefully when she realized she had one last item left, "chicken".

It rained all night and everyone voiced out their suggestion on what tonight's dinner should be. Everyone unanimously voted to have chicken soup for tonight and Kasumi had no other choice but to comply. She never really had any protests about it anyway. She enjoyed keeping the household peaceful and every member of it satisfied.

She reached the poultry section in no time and realized that the chicken's prices have increased. She almost winced when she saw how expensive it became. It had been difficult to stick to her budget these days. She had been asking more help from Nabiki but she did not want to trouble her younger sibling any further by asking for more allowance for grocery shopping. She sighed sadly as she guessed that buying a new ribbon for herself would have to wait.

"Hello there miss, what can I do for you?"

"Hello, I would like two kilos of chicken, chopped please. I'll be making soup tonight." She said with a warm smile as the vendor got two huge pieces and proceeded to cutting them nicely.

"Yes, soup is good these days. The weather's been more temperamental lately, don't you think?"

"Yes, I believe rains are too early for this time of the year." She replied as the vendor nodded in agreement. She waited patiently for her order when something that moved caught her eye. It made a weak sound and wriggled its wounded body away from the heap of broken chicken cartilage and other filth.

"Oh…" She gasped slightly, surprised at what she saw.

"Sorry miss, that shouldn't have been there. The deliverymen saw that thing lying on the ground last night and thought it could still be of some use. It's a tough looking duck see? Though it looks half dead, it didn't die while it was locked inside the freezer for hours.

Kasumi stared at the pitiful creature as it flapped its left wing slightly. It had a difficult time doing so because it seemed like one wing was broken. She noticed it also had small pieces of broken glass near its beak. Something at the back of her head told her that she knew this… duck…somehow.

"Excuse me sir, but are you selling that duck?" she asked tentatively. She didn't know if she still had enough to pay for it, but she still had that money she intended to use to buy herself new shoes…

"Oh miss, don't tell me you still want to eat that thing? It probably has some sort of disease."

"Oh no. I think I want to … well… keep it and…"

The vendor looked at her oddly for a while, and then smiled. "You're a gentle philanthropist I see. I'll give him to you then, since it has no use to me now anyway. Just buy poultry from my store from now on alright?"

Kasumi smiled and thanked him profusely. She got her order, placed it on her basket and carried the limp duck through a small box with her free hand. It was heavier than she expected but ignored it. She had to go home quickly and patch the poor thing up.

She got home to see that no one was there. Ranma, Akane, and Nabiki were still at school and her father and uncle Saotome were probably off doing something. She then decided to go straight to the kitchen. It was only then when she realized that it was quarter to two and she had not eaten lunch yet. Her stomach growled slightly and she just got a glass of milk to soothe her hunger. More things needed her attention than grabbing something for herself to eat. That's right. It was always her duties first, before her self.

She boiled some water while she carefully set aside her groceries. After which, she carried the small duck to her room and laid it down her folded blankets. She carefully lifted its right wing, silently praying that she won't hurt its fragile body too much because of it, and saw that it had more cuts and bald spots where its feathers should have been. There was also some blood on the side of its head and near its torso. She was about to flip it over when she suddenly heard the kettle whistling, indicating that the water had boiled and was ready to be used. She stood up and ran quickly to the kitchen. She poured some water in the wash basin and added some faucet water to make it lukewarm. The least thing the duck needed was to be blanched!

She hastily went back to her room to attend to her patient. She knew she had to hurry before the duck …

"aah…" she couldn't stop her voice from coming out of her throat as she felt herself hitting the floor with a soft "thud". Her slippers were caught near the hinges of her door as its sole finally broke off from the straps.

"Oh my." She gasped softly. They were her favorite slippers. She had worn them for more than five years. Maybe they still had a spare in the attic…but… she doubted it. Maybe she should just borrow the pair Nabiki discarded the other day…it was still repairable somehow…or maybe…

Her train of thought was cut off when she heard a weak yet urgent groan from her bed. It sounded like it came from someone…a man in pain…

Or rather, a man with long black hair lying completely naked in the middle of her bed.

"Oh… my…"

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