Standard disclaimer here.

At noon the market was fairly busy. It set Ranma's teeth on edge, really; large crowds were not something that he liked, but he needed more food for Yuuko's kitchen. Getting her to cough up the funds was an effort mostly because for such a frivolous woman she was a surprisingly harsh penny pincher.

Ranma was actually pretty good at hunting out deals himself, or herself in this case, having been splashed as she was shopping. It was a trait that Genma shared, when he cared to use it. She had already gotten about half of what she wanted, and still had money left over. The cute look was such a good way to get deals that she was almost unhappy that the curse was going away, almost.

It was on her second to last stop that Ranma spotted someone familiar. It took a moment for her to register who it was, but the face clicked after he tought about it for a bit: Kasumi Tendo, one of the girls that he might be engaged to. The quick debate on whether or not to say hello ended when she spotted Ranma as well, smiling cheerfully and waving.

Sighing softly to herself, Ranma waved back and made her way to Kasumi's side. "Morning Kasumi! You're shopping too?"

"Ranma, is it?" Kasumi asked, looking the red head up and down. "That curse is just as real as Mr Saotome's, isn't it?"

"Huh?" Ranma blinked. "Yeah, completely girl. Kinda freaky ain't it?"

"I suppose," Kasumi responded as she walked to her next stop. "I think it's a bit interesting. You get to see what its like for a woman as well as a man."

Ranma snorted in response. "It's a curse, it's a different viewpoint to be sure, but the bad far outweighs the good."

Smiling at the vendor as he prepared her order Kasumi turned back to Ranma and tilted her head. "Is there something wrong with being a girl?"

"Is there something wrong with being a guy?" Ranma countered, watching the vendor. She quickly changed the subject since she didn't want to get mad. "No school for you?"

"I take care of my family," Kasumi stated, taking her purchase and placing it in a bag. "Plus Mr. Saotome asked for a specific dish today, it would be rude to waste his money."

"Huh," Ranma shrugged. "Maybe you could teach me a few recipes, Yuuko has me doing the cooking." Ranma made a face that made her look far more cute than anything else.

Kasumi giggled at Ranma. "I would be happy to write you down a few things. What sort of person is this Miss Yuuko? That is, if you don't mind my asking."

"Creepy, Annoying," Ranma began ticking off points on her fingers. "Flighty, Frivolous," Kasumi began to frown a slightly at this point. "She drinks too much, and is lazy. Plus there's that whole air of mystery she likes to project." Ranma chuckled then, glancing at Kasumi. "She is also one of the wisest people I have met, is kind, knows how to have fun, and it's never a chore to deal with her."

"She sounds like an interesting person." Kasumi finally replied, not sure what to think.

Ranma smiled at Kasumi. "Eh, you get used to it."

A splash of purple made Ranma tense up as her eyes began to scan the crowd. Glancing around discretely she didn't spot it again, but she knew what was going on. Kasumi remained oblivious, casually changing the subject to a few recipes she could teach. Nodding absently, Ranma just set her bags down before turning to Kasumi.

"Could you watch these?" Ranma smiled at the confused Kasumi.

Her confusion only increased when Ranma seemed to disappear and the ground underneath her cracked from what looked like a large bonbori. Holding the weapon was a purple haired Chinese girl, snarling cutely, and holding another bonbori in her other hand. The surrounding people quickly began to vacate the area.

"You I kill!" She growled out in broken Japanese, glaring up to where Ranma was perched on a lamp post.

"Aww crud," Ranma smiled a bit shakily. "Heyya Shampoo!"

Shampoo just leapt up, swinging her bonbori. Letter herself drop, Ranma dodged almost effortlessly, flipping over and landing on the ground easily.

"I mean really, couldn't you have stayed back in China?" Ranma skipped backwards as Shampoo's next strike hit the ground and cracked it.

"DIE!" Shampoo responded, using what limited Japanese she knew.

"Guess not." Ranma leaned back, avoiding the next strike. The follow up strike was deceptively fast, but Ranma knew how to read Shampoo's movements now, and she couldn't do anything to surprise him.

A quick back flip and a leap later Ranma was on a rooftop, with Shampoo glaring at him from the ground. With a mighty leap she followed, and continued to attack the elusive Ranma.

Ranma, not content to stay and dodge, began to run. Several rooftops cracked and broke from Shampoo's wild swings as Ranma dodged.

Wincing as one strike broke something that looked expensive, Ranma chanced a glance back at Shampoo. She didn't look winded at all from the run, which was to be expected really. Out of all the people he and his father had gotten mad at them, this one had been among the most persistent. Her ability to find them had bordered on magic, and her ruthlessness had made it dangerous to sleep sometimes.

Despite that, Ranma and Genma had never really had the heart to put her down. For one thing they had no idea exactly what her village would do to get revenge. The other thing was a bit simpler. For all the posturing she did, both Ranma and Genma were out of her league. Not by much, but by enough that it made them both take her attempts a lot less seriously than they probably should have.

Those points were moot now. Ranma had Yuuko to protect, and he couldn't afford distractions like Shampoo around. So he was going to pound her flat, and if that lesson didn't stick, well..

The next roof over was flat, and Ranma's jump landed on it perfectly. Shampoo's strike hit the spot where Ranma was, and missed again as the girl sidestepped almost absently.

"No more running then," Ranma sighed out, looking at Shampoo and placing her hands behind her back in a deceptively open stance.

Shampoo, sensing the change in mood sneered at the red head before charging forward. Casually twisting around the first swing, Ranma sent a light punch towards Shampoo's midsection. Shampoo had anticipated that though and was already bringing her other weapon forward to intercept.

Ranma back stepped quickly, smirking cheekily as he sidestepped another strike, which hit the roof again. Shampoo, enraged began swinging faster, her bonbori blurring out of sight. No matter how fast she moved, or no matter how unpredictable sshe made herself, Ranma was just slightly out of reach, her smirk if anything going wider.

It was after Shampoo's last strike slammed into the roof where the red head had last stood that she realized Ranma's plan, far too late to do anything about it.

The roof groaned from her last strike and began to crumble and collapse into itself, taking her with it. Shampoo impacted the floor below her with a loud crash. It didn't really hurt considering her durability, but still it rankled that she had gotten tricked so easily. Ranma's next attack though, that one hurt.

Having leapt into the air as soon as the roof had begun to cave, Ranma had managed to aim herself perfectly. Both feet came crashing down into Shampoo, driving her through several floors and into the basement. Her bonbori were both lost, and her ribs felt bruised.

Still, she got up, but Ranma wasn't smiling anymore, and playtime was over for the deceptively powerful martial artist. The next few strikes were blurs to Shampoo as she was knocked off her feet and kicked into the wall, making it crack as the house's foundation shook.

Ranma sighed as she looked at Shampoo. She was beaten now, but Ranma had to make a point. Behind her the light leaked in, through the dust and falling water. Ranma ignored the damage though, going forward and lifting Shampoo out of the wall by her throat. The purple haired girl grasped weakly at her hand, but she ignored it.

"Now what can I do to convince you to leave?" Ranma murmured quietly, lifting Shampoo higher. The girl's struggles went a little more frantic at the look in Ranma's eyes.

Finally Ranma just sighed, dropping Shampoo. This was distasteful even with the girl trying to kill her. Shaking her head and ignoring the weakly gasping Shampoo behind her, Ranma began to walk away. Let the girl try to kill her, it was not as if she would succeed. Ranma ignored the warm splash of water as he jumped up and out of the building. He had groceries to get.

Behind him Shampoo began to laugh, and it wasn't a nice laugh. She got to her feet slowly, placing her hand under the warm water. Then, with a shuddering sob, she used it to wipe away the tears. Her life had flashed before her eyes at the look in the other girl's eyes.

The defeat was bitter, and far more damning than the one when they had first met. There the Japanese girl had just humiliated her in front of all her fellow villagers. Here that girl had proved that Shampoo was far from ready to fulfill her original intentions.

"Grandmother was right," Shampoo said to herself in the Chinese that her people practiced. "I am a foolish little girl."

Slumping to the ground Shampoo looked through the hole that she had made. Now she had to somehow convince the girl, that was really a boy, that they were to be wed. And remembering that look in Ranma's eyes made Shampoo shudder. Her husband to be was formidable, and she honestly was not sure whether to be happy or utterly terrified.