"Where is that baka! He should be back by now!" Hmpfed Akane for the third time that hour.
"But Akane, I thought you said Ranma went on a training trip? You know he may be weeks before he returns." Chided Kasumi, mentally weary of Akane's attitude.
"So?"
Kasumi just sighed wearily.
Nabiki's ears had perked up a little, but so far no new information. Ranma's whereabouts could earn her a considerable amount of money - if she knew them that was. Unfortunately that wasn't the case.
Getting into the Kuno family mansion was turning out to be a problem too. Kuno knew something. It bothered Nabiki greatly to be on the raw end of information. Tatewaki had stopped asking about the pigtailed girl two days ago, and today announced to Akane he would be gone for a few days to rescue his pig tailed goddess, and there the trail had ended. Sure she was likely to receive reports of a boken wielding idiot sooner or later, but she would prefer now. The information she needed would most likely be in Tatewaki's room somewhere (master of tact that he was it should be easy enough to find) but getting there with Kuno's moronic bodyguard and insane sister on the prowl proved to be difficult.
"Damn it Ranma!" She murmured to herself. "Where the hell are you?"
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Ranma-chan?"
"Tohru-chan? How'd you find me?"
Honda, happy to have found Ranma replied enthusiastically, "I know this area pretty well, I used to camp here, but I still wasn't sure I'd find you!"
"Eh?!?" Demanded Ranma from the tree she'd been sleeping in. "Alone?!? " Honda not trusting herself to answer nodded affirmatively. "You shouldn't even be out here now! There's landshifts and animals and thugs and stuff! You coulda been seriously hurt!"
Honda blushed in embarrassment. "But Ranma-chan you're..."
"It's different with me! At least Yuki and Kyou had the sense to keep an eye on you." Added Ranma, absently tossing one of her shoes into a bush that rustled indignantly. Ranma rolled her eye's in exasperation. "You're so obvious Kyou!" Taking the other shoe she tossed it at another apparently unoffending tree where Yuki caught it. `Not a morning person.' Ranma thought wryly noting the dazed expression and black bags under his eyes.
"Ehhh?!?!" Gulped Honda, having not realized she was followed. Her blush had reddened further as she hesitantly mumbled. "I brought you some breakfast."
"I'm not hungry." Ranma replied resolutely. She didn't have any memory of the Neko-ken but the compromising position she'd been in when she woke up was enough to tell her it hadn't been good.
"Groooooooowl." Ranma's stomach replied resolutely. It didn't have any memory of its last meal. A large sweat drop formed on Ranma's forehead. `Betrayed again.' She thought sadly.
"Just eat the food already!" Yelled unoffending bush.
"Shut-up, Neko-baka!" Despite the reprisal Ranma leapt down from her perch as Honda spread a blanket and set out the food picnic style. Ranma nearly wept at the sight of all the homemade food, the like of which he hadn't seen since leaving the Tendo's. Sitting cross legged on the ground next to Tohru she took a deep breathe before broaching the question that had bothered her since retreating the previous night. "Okay... what'd I do? How bad was it?" The blank stares around her forced her to explain. "Last thing I remember before waking up on Kyou was the baka himself `attacking' me in cat form... so spill it already... did I hurt anyone?"
"No... not exactly..." Murmured Honda blushing again.
"Hurt?!? Hurt doesn't begin to describe what you did!" Menaced Kyou, before adding in a mocking tone, "O!-Ka!-San!"
Ranma backpedaled with large eyes, "O - o -okasan?"
"Honda looking decidedly uncomfortable added, "It's true Ranma-chan! You started acting like a cat and kidnapped Kyou-kun and carried him up a tree in your mouth!"
"My... my mouth?!?" Ranma grabbed up a cup of water and started to gargle. Spitting out she asked, "I just fell asleep right? Then you guys came, right? right?" She asked desperately.
"Actually," replied Yuki emotionlessly, still a bit dazed from getting up early, "then you decided chibi-chan needed a bath."
*********************************************
"So... I guess she didn't take it too well?" Asked Shigure when Yuki and Kyou carried in Ranma-chan between them, placing the unconscious girl on the lounge. Honda hovering behind them carrying Ranma's shoe's. Yuki had promised to check the site later to find anything else that belonged to Ranma, but apart from the shoes Ranma had tossed and the clothes Ranma had left at the Sohma's the previous night, Honda could find nothing else. Honda had declared after Ranma had collapsed that she was staying since Ranma couldn't stay in such a place alone, Yuki suggest rather that Ranma stay in the main house if she wished, and since there was no opportunity for the unconscious girl to object they'd carried her back to the house.
"We didn't have a chance to ask her, she had no memory of what happened and was a little suprised."
"Ah." Shigure had had to inform Hatori for the safety of the Sohma, and the Doctor had shown a great deal of interest in not only the curse (Shigure admitted he still wasn't sure what the cursed form was, just that it had been locked with shiatsu) but also Ranma's cat transition, which Hatori had been rather suprised to hear called Neko-ken. Shigure found he liked the eccentric girl and it wouldn't be too bad to have another girl in the house for a while - especially since even if Ranma's memory were wiped they could still associate with her since she could not activate their curses.
They had placed Ranma on a spare futon in Honda's room at the girl's insistence, and this was how Ranma woke for the second time that day, with a wet towel on her forehead.
"Daijoubu Ranma-chan?"
"Hai... " Honda smiled brightly causing Ranma to blush.
"You're right Ranma, a girl shouldn't stay out in the woods alone."
"Of course I'm right!" Exclaimed Ranma, unused to compliance. She felt a chill go up her spine as Honda continued to smile.
"Which is why you can stay here from now on!"
"Huh?" Honda grasped Ranma's hands in her own, tears welling in her eyes.
"Ranma-chan. You have to stay! It's not safe for you to be alone, you could get sick or seriously hurt!" Ranma knew she had little hope of resisting those eyes, she couldn't stand to see a girl cry. "Shigure-san has said it's okay, and you can stay in my room with me and..."
"WHAT?!? NO! Absolutely not!" Honda was surprised at the outburst. "I can't stay in the same room as a girl!"
"???"
"It wouldn't be proper!" Honda's eyes welled up with tears again on instinct, getting the desired result. "...Fine. If it makes you feel better I'll sleep outside or something so you know I'm okay." Ranma grudgingly admitted, causing Honda's face to light up again. `How do girl's do that?' Ranma wondered as Honda went from abject miserable to joy at a speed that put the tenshin amaguriken to shame.
Once Honda had skipped out of the room to prepare breakfast Ranma flipped herself out the window and on the roof. Even at the Tendo's she had spent more time on the roof than in the house itself so she figured she might as well check it out. Fairly distracted by her new situation she didn't notice the roofs other occupant until she collided with him.
"Ack! What're you doing up here?" Demanded Ranma.
"Huh? This is my roof! If I wanna sit here then I will!" Exclaimed Kyou.
"... You spend much time up here? What do ya do?" No one had ever asked Kyou what he did on the roof, which was probably just as well since he didn't do much of anything.
"... Not much."
"Good! Then I claim this half." Ranma pointed out an imaginary line separating the roof in two."
"What? This is mine!"
"You just said you don't do anything so you don't need it all!" Ranma pointedly squatted on the far side of the roof and ignored the fuming Kyou. Since he couldn't think of a reasonable excuse to throw her off (at least without inciting Honda's wrath) he settled back to his normal spot.
"Argh! This isn't working!" Exclaimed Ranma jumping to her feet. "Your Ki is bothering me! I'll fight you for the whole roof!"
"Pff. I don't fight giiiiirls." Drawled Kyou.
"Then I guess I'll just have to kill ya!" Ranma mocked, cracking her knuckles loudly. Kyou perked up slightly as she released her battle aura. "And how many times do I have to tell ya I ain't a girl?"
"But Akane, I thought you said Ranma went on a training trip? You know he may be weeks before he returns." Chided Kasumi, mentally weary of Akane's attitude.
"So?"
Kasumi just sighed wearily.
Nabiki's ears had perked up a little, but so far no new information. Ranma's whereabouts could earn her a considerable amount of money - if she knew them that was. Unfortunately that wasn't the case.
Getting into the Kuno family mansion was turning out to be a problem too. Kuno knew something. It bothered Nabiki greatly to be on the raw end of information. Tatewaki had stopped asking about the pigtailed girl two days ago, and today announced to Akane he would be gone for a few days to rescue his pig tailed goddess, and there the trail had ended. Sure she was likely to receive reports of a boken wielding idiot sooner or later, but she would prefer now. The information she needed would most likely be in Tatewaki's room somewhere (master of tact that he was it should be easy enough to find) but getting there with Kuno's moronic bodyguard and insane sister on the prowl proved to be difficult.
"Damn it Ranma!" She murmured to herself. "Where the hell are you?"
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Ranma-chan?"
"Tohru-chan? How'd you find me?"
Honda, happy to have found Ranma replied enthusiastically, "I know this area pretty well, I used to camp here, but I still wasn't sure I'd find you!"
"Eh?!?" Demanded Ranma from the tree she'd been sleeping in. "Alone?!? " Honda not trusting herself to answer nodded affirmatively. "You shouldn't even be out here now! There's landshifts and animals and thugs and stuff! You coulda been seriously hurt!"
Honda blushed in embarrassment. "But Ranma-chan you're..."
"It's different with me! At least Yuki and Kyou had the sense to keep an eye on you." Added Ranma, absently tossing one of her shoes into a bush that rustled indignantly. Ranma rolled her eye's in exasperation. "You're so obvious Kyou!" Taking the other shoe she tossed it at another apparently unoffending tree where Yuki caught it. `Not a morning person.' Ranma thought wryly noting the dazed expression and black bags under his eyes.
"Ehhh?!?!" Gulped Honda, having not realized she was followed. Her blush had reddened further as she hesitantly mumbled. "I brought you some breakfast."
"I'm not hungry." Ranma replied resolutely. She didn't have any memory of the Neko-ken but the compromising position she'd been in when she woke up was enough to tell her it hadn't been good.
"Groooooooowl." Ranma's stomach replied resolutely. It didn't have any memory of its last meal. A large sweat drop formed on Ranma's forehead. `Betrayed again.' She thought sadly.
"Just eat the food already!" Yelled unoffending bush.
"Shut-up, Neko-baka!" Despite the reprisal Ranma leapt down from her perch as Honda spread a blanket and set out the food picnic style. Ranma nearly wept at the sight of all the homemade food, the like of which he hadn't seen since leaving the Tendo's. Sitting cross legged on the ground next to Tohru she took a deep breathe before broaching the question that had bothered her since retreating the previous night. "Okay... what'd I do? How bad was it?" The blank stares around her forced her to explain. "Last thing I remember before waking up on Kyou was the baka himself `attacking' me in cat form... so spill it already... did I hurt anyone?"
"No... not exactly..." Murmured Honda blushing again.
"Hurt?!? Hurt doesn't begin to describe what you did!" Menaced Kyou, before adding in a mocking tone, "O!-Ka!-San!"
Ranma backpedaled with large eyes, "O - o -okasan?"
"Honda looking decidedly uncomfortable added, "It's true Ranma-chan! You started acting like a cat and kidnapped Kyou-kun and carried him up a tree in your mouth!"
"My... my mouth?!?" Ranma grabbed up a cup of water and started to gargle. Spitting out she asked, "I just fell asleep right? Then you guys came, right? right?" She asked desperately.
"Actually," replied Yuki emotionlessly, still a bit dazed from getting up early, "then you decided chibi-chan needed a bath."
*********************************************
"So... I guess she didn't take it too well?" Asked Shigure when Yuki and Kyou carried in Ranma-chan between them, placing the unconscious girl on the lounge. Honda hovering behind them carrying Ranma's shoe's. Yuki had promised to check the site later to find anything else that belonged to Ranma, but apart from the shoes Ranma had tossed and the clothes Ranma had left at the Sohma's the previous night, Honda could find nothing else. Honda had declared after Ranma had collapsed that she was staying since Ranma couldn't stay in such a place alone, Yuki suggest rather that Ranma stay in the main house if she wished, and since there was no opportunity for the unconscious girl to object they'd carried her back to the house.
"We didn't have a chance to ask her, she had no memory of what happened and was a little suprised."
"Ah." Shigure had had to inform Hatori for the safety of the Sohma, and the Doctor had shown a great deal of interest in not only the curse (Shigure admitted he still wasn't sure what the cursed form was, just that it had been locked with shiatsu) but also Ranma's cat transition, which Hatori had been rather suprised to hear called Neko-ken. Shigure found he liked the eccentric girl and it wouldn't be too bad to have another girl in the house for a while - especially since even if Ranma's memory were wiped they could still associate with her since she could not activate their curses.
They had placed Ranma on a spare futon in Honda's room at the girl's insistence, and this was how Ranma woke for the second time that day, with a wet towel on her forehead.
"Daijoubu Ranma-chan?"
"Hai... " Honda smiled brightly causing Ranma to blush.
"You're right Ranma, a girl shouldn't stay out in the woods alone."
"Of course I'm right!" Exclaimed Ranma, unused to compliance. She felt a chill go up her spine as Honda continued to smile.
"Which is why you can stay here from now on!"
"Huh?" Honda grasped Ranma's hands in her own, tears welling in her eyes.
"Ranma-chan. You have to stay! It's not safe for you to be alone, you could get sick or seriously hurt!" Ranma knew she had little hope of resisting those eyes, she couldn't stand to see a girl cry. "Shigure-san has said it's okay, and you can stay in my room with me and..."
"WHAT?!? NO! Absolutely not!" Honda was surprised at the outburst. "I can't stay in the same room as a girl!"
"???"
"It wouldn't be proper!" Honda's eyes welled up with tears again on instinct, getting the desired result. "...Fine. If it makes you feel better I'll sleep outside or something so you know I'm okay." Ranma grudgingly admitted, causing Honda's face to light up again. `How do girl's do that?' Ranma wondered as Honda went from abject miserable to joy at a speed that put the tenshin amaguriken to shame.
Once Honda had skipped out of the room to prepare breakfast Ranma flipped herself out the window and on the roof. Even at the Tendo's she had spent more time on the roof than in the house itself so she figured she might as well check it out. Fairly distracted by her new situation she didn't notice the roofs other occupant until she collided with him.
"Ack! What're you doing up here?" Demanded Ranma.
"Huh? This is my roof! If I wanna sit here then I will!" Exclaimed Kyou.
"... You spend much time up here? What do ya do?" No one had ever asked Kyou what he did on the roof, which was probably just as well since he didn't do much of anything.
"... Not much."
"Good! Then I claim this half." Ranma pointed out an imaginary line separating the roof in two."
"What? This is mine!"
"You just said you don't do anything so you don't need it all!" Ranma pointedly squatted on the far side of the roof and ignored the fuming Kyou. Since he couldn't think of a reasonable excuse to throw her off (at least without inciting Honda's wrath) he settled back to his normal spot.
"Argh! This isn't working!" Exclaimed Ranma jumping to her feet. "Your Ki is bothering me! I'll fight you for the whole roof!"
"Pff. I don't fight giiiiirls." Drawled Kyou.
"Then I guess I'll just have to kill ya!" Ranma mocked, cracking her knuckles loudly. Kyou perked up slightly as she released her battle aura. "And how many times do I have to tell ya I ain't a girl?"