The rain poured down over the neighborhood. The night sky covered and hidden by the storm clouds. "Hehehehehe." A girl laughed, standing in front of a building. "At last..."

What was the building? Why, it was the Tendo Dojo.

Lightning illuminated the scene for a brief moment, and the fanged grin of Kibako Hibiki could be seen.

"I found you, Ranma!"

½ Ranma

Episode 6: Puppy Love.

Kibako shut the window, returning her umbrella to her backpack. "Hehehehe." Before her, she could see Ranma sleeping. Her blanket had been thrown off at some point, and the girl only slept in a tank top and shorts. "...how unfeminine." She walked over to her sleeping target, snoring loudly. "Now then, let's get this over with." She loomed over the sleeping girl, drawing back her fists. "Die, Ranma! You had it long coming." It came down.

THUMP.

"...huh?" Kibako looked at where her fist had struck. It was the futon. In the time between her raising her fist and punching, Ranma had managed to roll over to the side, avoiding her attack. "Heh. No matter, a stroke of dumb luck." She pulled back, aimed her strike, and punched again!

THUMP

"OK what the hell." Again Ranma had managed to, while still snoring, roll over just in time. "Luck can't last forever!"

THUMP!

"This is getting silly."

THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP

"Arrrrggggggg! How!?" By now the futon was well abused, having been punched many times. Yet Ranma had avoided every blow. Kibako began using both arms, throwing punch after punch. Yet despite all reason, Ranma was lazily repositioning herself to come out unscathed. "That does it!" She jumped into the air, aiming herself above Ranma, "Dieeeee!" She thrust herself down in a massive, devastating bodyslam.

THUD.

"Nnnaaahhhh..." Ranma had sat up, avoiding the bodyslam entirely. Yawning, the girl stretched, scratching her side. "...thirsty." She mumbled, standing up to get a drink. She walked out of her room, failing to notice Kibako face down on the floor.

"...I hate my life." Kibako peeled herself from the floor. "OK, new plan. Ambush her when she walks back in. Jumping up, she clinged to the wall above the doorframe. "Hehehehe, no sleep dodging this time, Ranma!" Lightning struck again.

A few minutes passed, and Ranma returned, a glass of water in her hands. Kibako leaped! "Prepare to-"

"Ranma?"

"Eh?" Ranma walked out of the room, somehow not hearing the sound of Kibako faceplanting onto the floor again. "Kasmui?"

"I heard some noises. So I was a little worried a burgler might have broken in."

Kibako pulled herself from the ground once more.

"Is that what the shinai's for? Heh."

"Oh yes. Yuushi insisted I learn something to protect myself, taught me a little swordplay. Heehee."

"Well, sorry, I haven't heard anything."

Kibako threw a glare at the hated girl just outside the door.

"I see. Maybe I just had a dream... Oh. Ranma?"

"Yes?"

Kibako stood up, considering for a moment to just shove her umbrella into the back of Ranma's head.

"I've noticed you and Yuushi have been getting along a lot better these past few days." A giggle.

"Ah. Uh. We-we-well... it's just that we've worked out an agreement. We're not getting married or anything."

"Of course." Another giggle. "Good night Ranma."

"Night Kasumi."

In an instant Kibako dashed into Ranma's closet, hiding from her targets sight. Ranma yawned, returning to her futon. She pulled her blanket over her, got confortable,and was within a few minutes asleep once more. Kibako peeked out of the closet, checked to see if Ranma was truly asleep. Once confirmed, she jumped out of the closet and ran over to Ranma. "Now then..." She knew what she needed to do, she carefully positioned herself over Ranma, straddling herself on top of the redhead. "No dodging this time! Prepare to die!" Suddenly, Ranma grabbed her collar! "Ah! Woken up have you!" She looked down... at Ranma's still closed eyes. "What... the..."

"Not this time Pops!" Ranma, still clearly asleep, shouted as she picked up Kibako bodily. "Go... away!" She threw Kibako out the still closed window. She flew straight through it, barely managing to pull out her umbrella in time to avoid being drenched.

"...huh?" The sound of the window breaking finally woke Ranma up. "What's going on? Hey... who broke then window?"

"Damn it Ranma!" Kibako's voice wafted in.

"Eh?" Ranma walked over to the broken window, peering outside. "Kibako?"

"No. It's the Queen of England." Kibako said, "Of course it's me!"

"What're you doing out there?" She shouted.

"You threw me out a goddamned window!"

"I did?" Ranma paused, "I don't remember doing that."

"You were asleep!"

"Oh..." Ranma sighed, "Sorry, Kibako. Must have been a reflex"

Kibako's eye twitched. "Reflex? Reflex! Defenestration is not a goddamned reflex!" She stomped her foot in frustration. "I followed you all the way to China and got this hell and what-"

"Wait. You went to China!" Ranma shouted, her eyes widening. Her vanishing in the pool, her holding that umbrella up... "You got cursed too!?" Ranma closed her eyes... and sighed. "Kibako…" She jumped out the window.

"Glad to see you decided to follow rather than hide!" Kibako shouted, "Now, let's finish what we-" She threw her hand out in an aggressive gesture. The hand she threw out was the one holding her umbrella, this caused the wind to blow it away. "…start…started…" The rain began to fall on her uncovered head. "Nooooooooo!" She jumped away.

"Wait, Kibako!" Ranma chased after her.

Knock Knock

"Coming…" Yuushi got out of his bed, "Who is it.. it's Two A.M…" He opened the door to his room, Kasumi was standing in front of it, a shinai in her hands. "…Kasumi?"

"I think someone broke in!" Kasumi pushed the Shinai into Yuushi's hands, "I heard loud noises and somebody broke the window to Ranma's room!"

"What?!" Yuushi pulled the Shinai close to him, "Did you wake up Dad?"

"…Father… might not react well." Kasumi, having handed her weapon to Yuushi, armed herself with a new one. Namely, picking a dumbbell lying near the door in Yuushi's room. "Let's go."

"Right." Yuushi nodded.

"Kibako!" Ranma shouted, "Hey! Where are you?" He ran down the street. "Damn it...!" He skidded to a stop. "Where is she?" He sighed, "Come on... did you... did you end up like me...?"

Lighting flashed, and Ranma spotted something in the corner of his eye. It was Kibako's umbrella... and something was under it!

"Ki-Kibako...?" Ranma lifted up the umbrella. "No way... you turned into this?"

CLANG! THUNK!

"Someone's in the kitchen!" Kasumi said.

"Right." Yuushi clenched his shinai tighter. "Stay behind me Kasumi."

The two rushed to the kitchen, Kasumi's pans had been knocked down and scattered all over the ground.

"Who's there!?" Yuushi shouted, he looked around the dark room.

"Ruuufff!" A sound! Something jumped at Yuushi!

"Woah!" Yuushi swung the shinai at the blur.

"Roff!" The blur dodged the swing.

"It's..." Kasumi looked at the thing that had been bouncing around the kitchen. "...a dog?"

"Grrrruff!" The dog backed away from Yuushi, barking sharply.

"...Awww, there there..." Yuushi said, "That's a good dog..." He petted the small dog on the head. It was definitely a mutt of some kind. Covered with black fur, around its neck was a bandanna that looked familiar, though Yuushi couldn't place it. "Poor thing. That's a good boy, I bet you're hungry, huh?"

At that the dog's ears perked up. "Ruff!"

"Yup!" Yuushi picked up the dog, opening the fridge door and pulling out a piece of chicken. "There we go. Good dog!" He held up the meat to it, and the dog devoured it within a second.

"Well isn't it a cute little thing." Kasumi said.

"Good dog." Yuushi said.

Poor Kibako... how could she? Ranma couldn't believe it.

"Bwee?"

"Don't worry Kibako." Ranma said to the little black piglet in his arms. "I won't tell anybody about what happened to you." He needed to get some hot water, he slipped into the kitchen and to his surprise saw Kasumi and Yuushi.

"Ranma?" Kasumi said, "What are you doing up?"

"Uhh, I saw Kibako outside and went to talk to her." He said, clutching the piglet close, "I'll just get some hot water boiling…"

"Grrr…" The dog who Yuushi had been petting suddenly started growling once it noticed.

"Hey, quiet down." Yuushi said to the dog. The dog looked up at him, "Good boy!" He kissed the dog on the top of the head.

"Roohh…" The dog seemed stunned at this.

"Hey, what's with the mutt?" Ranma said, using one hand with a fair bit of difficulty to fill a kettle with water for heating.

"We found him inside." Yuushi said, "Isn't he adorable!" He picked up the dog and held it up to Ranma.

The dog seemed to glare at him.

"Uh, it's a she."

"Oh." Yuushi said, "She's adorable then."

"Oh? Kasumi noticed what Ranma was holding, "What are you doing with P-chan?"

"...P-chan?"

"Yes. He's a pet of Hikari, a girl who lives a few houses down the road." Kasumi said.

"A pet?" Ranma frowned, "I, uh, ran into him outside." After a moment's thought, he picked up the kettle, found it warm enough, and poured a little on the piglet.

"Bwee!" P-chan squealed, but stayed a pig.

"Guess I was mistaken…" Ranma whispered to himself.

"Hey Ranma." Yuushi said.

"Hmm?"

"How about you take a bath instead of just using the kettle?" Yuushi pushed the dog towards him, she barked.

"...you want me to wash the dog, don't you."

"Well she is a bit dirty and cold…" Yuushi said, "Please?"

The dog didn't seem to agree with this suggestion, as she started growling.

"Hey now!" Yuushi turned the dog around to look into her eyes. "Listen, you be a good girl and I'll give you a reward later, OK?"

"Roohhh…" The dog quieted down, allowing a passing around of animals, Ranma gave Kasumi P-chan and then Yuushi handed him the dog.

"There we go." Ranma said, "Let's go take a nice hot bath…"

The dog's eyes widened at the word "hot" and began struggling and barking in Ranma's arms.

WHAP! "Calm down you dumb mutt!"

The door to the bath opened, and Ranma managed to get in. Just as he shut the door behind him, the dog escaped from his grip.

"Dumb dog!" Ranma snapped, "I'm just trying to clean you!"

"Ruff roh roh!" The dog said in reply.

Ranma sighed, pulling of his tank top and needed bigger clothing, but then they'd be bigger when he was normal. "What a pain…" He grabbed the dog by the bandana she had on. "OK, you ready for a scrubbing?" The dog shook her head rapidly. "Hah. It's like you understand me.' Scooping her up he jumped into the furo.

And suddenly she was in the bath with someone much bigger than a dog.

"I told you no." Kibako said.

"Hmm… Spot? Yuki? Freddy?" Yuushi muttered.

"What are you doing?" Kasumi asked, putting away the kettle and shinai.

"Oh… uh… thinking up names?" Yuushi said.

Kasumi folded her arms, "Yuushi, you're thinking of keeping her?"

"Well, I mean… err… she clearly has an owner, so I was thinking of watching over her… and… uh…"

Kasumi sighed, "Fine. I guess you can take care of her until we find her owner."

His face split into a wide grin, "Thanks Kasumi!"

He's like a kid. Kasumi thought. "By the way, 'Freddy' is a boy's name."

The Tendo bathroom had turned rather tense. Ranma was staring at Kibako, while Kibako glared back.

"So… you, uh, did go to Jusenkyo." Ranma said, breaking the silence.

"Glad to see you figured it out." Kibako said.

"Why were you there anyways?" Ranma asked.

"To find you of course!" Kibako screamed, "You have any idea what I went through? I had to travel vast deserts, frozen tundras, outrun lions and elephants, all to find you!"

Ranma didn't remember any deserts, tundras, or lions between Japan and Jusenkyo, but decided not to press the point. "Wait, how did you know I was going there? I didn't."

"Your dad left a brochure at your place. I found it instead of you." Kibako explained.

"And, you, uh, missed the part about it being horribly cursed?"

"My.. my Chinese isn't that good." Kibako muttered, "I got the name and the map. down. But that's not the point!" She stood up, splashing water around, "The point is this, I got there… and was cursed! I was knocked into the Spring of Drowned Dog by a panda! It was horrible!"

"A panda…?" Ranma frowned, before her eyes widened, "Oh uh, I see. That's horrible!"

"It's all your fault!" Kibako said.

"Wait a minute, isn' it, uh, the panda's fault?"

"If you hadn't ran off I wouldn't have been in China in the first place!"

"But I didn't-" Ranma stopped when she heard the door start to open, she saw it, the flash of black and white fur! SLAM! "Damn it old man! Respect a girl's privacy!" She shouted, having quickly jumped out of the bath and forcing the door closed before Kibako could get a glimpse at the panda behind it. A folded piece of paper slipped under the door.

Ranma picked it up and read it. "Ranma! What are you doing in the bathroom so late!"

"I could say the same to you!" She said through the door.

"A note?" Kibako was peeking over her shoulder.

"Ah, eer, my dad lost his voice for the moment. So he's communicating with notes." Ranma said quickly.

"I hope he gets better then." Kibako said, having filled a wash bucket with water, "Anyways, as much as I want to deal with you Ranma, I have an appointment."

"A what?" Ranma asked, but Kibako just dumped the cold water over her and again in dog form walked over to the door, looking at Ranma. "Uhh….?"

"Woof." Kibako said, raising her paw to point at the door.

"Okay…" Ranma opened the door a crack, and Kibako sprinted out. "What was that about? Why on earth did she go back?"

Once Ranma washed herself off and got dried and dressed up again, she wandered into the kitchen, to her surprise Kasumi was making something.

"Oh, hi Ranma." She said, "I couldn't fall back asleep, so I chose to go for a midnight snack, you want some once I'm done?"

"Sure!" Ranma said, "Hey… Kasmui, where's the dog?"

"She's called Misty now." Kasumi said, "Yuushi's going to be looking after her for the time being. The two went to bed already."

"Wait. He is?" Ranma said, "But that dog is… she's… ahh…" She couldn't say it was Kibako! There was no way she'd want such a horrible secret revealed about her.

And now a boy and a girl were going to spend the night in the same room together!

"Kibako and Yuushi… Kibako and Yuushi…" Ranma muttered those words to herself.

It… it did not make her happy.

"Did you say something Ranma?" Kasumi asked.

"Oh! Err… nothing. I think I'll have to skip on the snack." She made an exaggerated yawn, "Forgot how tired I was, night Kasumi."

"Good night then Ranma." Kasmui said as Ranma ran out of the kitchen. For a moment she continued cooking. "So, that young lady turns into a dog like Ranma and Mr. Saotome." She said to herself with a shrug, "Oh well, I'm sure they'll deal with it."

The rain had stopped, so it was time for the first phase of Ranma's plan. In one hand, she held a kettle, in the other a set of clothing that she was pretty sure would fit Kibako. The next phase would be slipping into Yuushi's room. Easy enough, there was a big open window. The next step would be to get Kibako back into human form. Once she realized how scandalous this all was she'd agree and they'd leave. And hopefully this entire thing would blow over and there wouldn't be a girl sleeping in Yuushi's bed-

There wouldn't be any more trouble.

She climbed over the roof, slowly opening Yuushi's bedroom. As much as it shamed her, Genma had taught her some good stealth techniques. She entered the room without making a sound. Or, at least, no sound that could be heard by human ears.

At the end of Yuushi's bed, Kibako's dog ears perked up. Then, she began to growl.

"Shhh! Kibako!" Ranma whispered, "I'm here to get you out of here!" She held up the kettle. This for some reason did not cause the growling to stop. In fact, it seemed to get louder! "Listen! You can't be in here!" Kibako stood up now. "A boy and a girl can't sleep in the same room bef-"

Chomp.

"Owww!" Ranma shouted, "You bit me! Why the hell did you bite me you crazy mutt!" Kibako could not answer, partly because she was a dog, and partly because she was still latched to Ranma's foot. "Let go let go!" She hopped around on one foot, swinging her foot around. "Stop it!" After a wild kick, she finally managed to get Kibako off her… just in time to trip over the bed. Flailing around, she landed right on top of Yuushi.

His eyes shot open. She knew this because her face was mere inches from his.

Yuushi's room had a clock in it. It was the only thing Ranma could hear.

"There's a perfectly logical explanation for all-"

"Out." Yuushi said.

"Now listen a min-"

"Out."

"Damn it Yuushi I can-"

"Out!" He shouted, and Ranma bolted.

"Son?" Soun asked, "Is something wrong?"

"I'm fine dad." Yuushi said.

"Well it's just you've been acting odd this morning." Soun said, "I can't quite put my finger on it though…"

"He hasn't been looking even in Ranma's general direction today Dad." Nabiki said.

"It isn't your business Nabiki." Yuushi said, finishing off his breakfast rice, completely ignoring Ranma sitting across the table from him.

"Damn it Yuushi." Ranma grumbled, glaring at the dog sitting next to him, "This is all your fault." She snapped at Kibako, who barked smugly.

"Don't be mean to Misty." Yuushi said, somehow managing to still put on an air of ignoring her even as he spoke directly to her.

"Damn it!"