A/N: I'm sorry if this format is messed, so tell me if it is alright? Well, this is the seventh chapter . . . yep. Here it is! If you want to contact me my email is tiney_panda@hotmail.com Thanks for reading!

***

Look at me, my depth perception must be off again

You got much closer than I thought you did

I'm in your reach

You held me in your hands

But could you find it in your heart?

To make this go away

And let me rest in pieces

-- "Rest in Pieces", Saliva

***

Akane walked out of her apartment cheerily. She had been out with her friends the night before and they had gone to a side splitting movie. She could still remember a couple good jokes and laughed loudly at the thought of them. People on the street didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary, but it was obvious to her. This was the first time in a long while she had been truly happy by herself.

She was out scouting for a good place, any place, to get a job and had high hopes. She didn't care if every building she tried today shot her down, things felt good. The sun was shining, birds singing, and her mind was clear.

She walked down the street, coffee cup in hand, simply staring. She stared at the birds and children, the man across the street hosing down the flowers outside his shop and smiling to himself. It made her feel good, walking in the morning and things couldn't have been better. She would meet her friends at her place later for dinner again. They had decided this was the week they would watch movies with some male celebrities and rate a couple, mix-and-match a few, and have an all around good time.

As she walked up the boulevard she noticed something shiny on the ground, dropped by the person in front of her, and bent to pick it up at the exact time she had. Their hands touched as they both lifted the money clip that had fallen out of the man's bag. It had a Kanji character on it, and Akane smiled with recognition.

"Strength, eh? I've known a few strong guys myself, but I'm sure you've never heard of them before," Akane laughed, trying to start conversation with the man in front of her. As she had started to speak, the man's ears had perked up; she took that as a good thing.

He wore a wide brimmed hat and a large back pack she imagined had been used for hiking. His tan shirt went well with his plain, black pants. There was dirt on his shoes; it looked as if he had been running through sand of some sort.

"Akane," the man half whispered, "I can't believe it's you."

She recognized the voice. Not instantly but the nervous undertones gave him away.

"Ryoga," she muttered, biting her lip. Her heartbeat faster, legs started to buckle and her teeth started to chatter. If he hated her, yelled at her right now that would be bad. Akane didn't want anything bad right now, not when she was feeling this good, "nice seeing you, I'll just be leaving."

As she continued on with her walk, wiping her eyes, he grabbed her arm. He did not take it forcefully, just tightly enough for her not to fall out of his grasp. She breathed in quickly in surprise and fright.

"Yes," she said, trying to calm herself to no avail. She stopped to breath and then wiped her eyes again, "if you're here to berate me, you can let go of my hand."

"Listen Akane, I don't know what's going on but I've been doing some investigating and I've got something to tell you, if you're willing to listen," Ryoga explained, hurrying her into a park bent. She bumped her leg on the arm of it and cringed; at which Ryoga fell to her leg, and lifted her up and sat her down on the bench.

"Go on," Akane told him, confused.

"Well, I found out this is bigger than just Nerima, and people . . . these people want to hurt you. It's gotten a lot bigger than what we thought, it's amazing what one spell gone awry could do," Ryoga mulled. Akane scrunched up her forehead quizzically. He laughed and apologized, "I must sound like I'm half here and half not, huh?"

"Yeah; I mean, Ryoga, you've changed," Akane whispered, "What spell are you talking about? Was I right? What people are against me?"

Ryoga held a hand up to her mouth to quiet her and she stopped, "I might have lead them off for a long time Akane, so don't worry, but be careful, never let your guard down. People would do anything for money, it's sick," Ryoga rambled on to himself. Akane pushed herself closer to him and worriedly pulled him right up to her.

"What are you talking about, Ryoga? Not trust anyone? I'm renting out part of my apartment soon, what do you think I'll be saying to applicants? "Sorry, but my friend says I can't trust anyone so I guess I'll lose my apartment because I can't find a roommate to trust." Should I even trust you?," Akane told him angrily. She let herself fall back against the chair and waited for an explanation.

Ryoga took a few deep breathes and then hurriedly tried to explain, "I went to places, far away, but something stayed constant in each of them. See, they knew you, at least one person in each place had it in for you, and they explained why," he took another deep breath and then started again, "they told me there was a bounty on your head, a large bounty, not many people had found out what plane you took to get to New York and not many people made the effort until the bounty grew, and grew. I've done some things to make it so they won't be on your trail, but I don't know how long it will last." Ryoga looked behind him and then turned around to stare into Akane's fearful face.

"B-b-but, what have I done? Why? Who would . . . ," she trailed off. Ryoga stared at his shoes, at the dirty asphalt, "you know, you know who set it. Well, spit it out, who?"

He wiped something from his eye and then looked up at her again, "You'd better go, they won't track you here but they may have tracked me," He started to get up and waited for Akane to join him but she stayed put.

"I'm not moving until you tell me, who set the bounty?" Her eyes welled up; she was ready for anything, Ukyo maybe, Shampoo perhaps.

"Akane, you don't want to know."

"Yes I do Ryoga, now tell me."

"Please, don't make me," he started to step back.

"I won't ever talk to you again if you don't tell me," she replied, her face serious.

"Akane, the person that set the bounty, that was," he trailed off.

"Yes," she said with intrigue.

". . . wasn't just one person, it was . . . your dad, and Kasumi, and Nabiki."

"And Ranma? Why don't you just throw him in there too for good measure!" Akane jumped up and fell back down when pain shot through her leg. She winced in pain and Ryoga was immediately at her side.

"I'm not lying to you; it's true; it's why I didn't want to tell you. I'm sorry."

"I have to go," Akane mumbled as she got up and quickly hobbled away, forgetting the pain in her foot. She had to leave, it wasn't good to stay, and things would start to sink in, make sense. She had to forget, it wasn't worth caring about.

Ryoga watched her leave the park and sat back down with his head in his hands. He stayed like that for a good twenty minutes. In the past years he had learned so much, become so different, and yet, she still made him nervous the way she used to. He mulled like this and laid his head in his hands again and again, looking up every so often for a sign of her return. All of a sudden, a friendly voice awoke him from his dreamless state.

"Hey, you okay?"

Ryoga lifted his head to see a girl, a pretty girl with beautiful golden hair. He nodded and smiled.

"Yep, uh, thanks for asking. Why did you ask?" Ryoga asked suspiciously.

She smiled widely, getting closer and sitting close to him, "I wanted to see your face, I had to say something."

Ryoga didn't understand, "Why would you need to see my face?"

She smiled darkly, looked to see no one was around, and then plunged something very sharp into Ryoga's chest. He felt it go in and felt incapacitated. He knew it hit him in just the right place. He thought it would have taken them longer to find him, thought they wouldn't have cared what he had done back where he had been, but sadly, he had been wrong.

"So, what do you plan to do now?" Ryoga asked, gurgling, tasting blood.

She smirked, "I'm gonna go get ready."

"Why?" He asked, breathing heavily and slowly, he felt tired, very tired.

"I'm moving in with a real nice roommate. She's not from around here, but don't worry, we'll be the best of friends," the girl said, mock concerned.

***

Three weeks later

"You want some grape juice, Akane?"

Akane groaned and rubbed her head. She got up and yawned, reaching out her arms as far as they could go. She flung her feet over the bed and flipped her slippers over so they were right side up. She always wore them before bed, kicked them off and flipped them over in the morning; it was like a routine for her now.

"Uh, no thanks, I'm not really in the mood for juice," Akane mumbled tiredly. She dragged herself into the bathroom and started to brush her teeth. As she did she reached into the shower and turned the faucet for hot water on. It came out freezing cold and she shrieked in surprise. After she stopped she burst out laughing and spit out the rest of her toothpaste.

"Are you sure Akane? I made it myself," Indie persisted.

"No thanks, Indie," she called over her shoulder, "I guess no shower for Akane today, great," she mumbled to herself.

She opened the door, threw on a robe, and walked into the kitchen where Indie had been making breakfast.

"Indie, did you use all the hot water," Akane asked, "because there's none left for me."

"Oh yeah, sorry about that," Indie giggled and then went back to her breakfast, a piece of toast with what looked like mustard on it.

"It's all good," Akane told her, sighing.

"Now you've got to try my juice, as a sorry gift from me!" She smiled earnestly and Akane sighed again.

"All right, but are you sure it's good?" Akane asked as she took the glass. Indie watched the glass as Akane held it to her lips.

"Oh yes, it's to die for," she said innocently.

Akane nodded drowsily and pressed her lips to the glass as she tilted it back.

Suddenly, Ranma burst into the room, "Akane!"

"What?" She asked, surprised at the outburst. As this happened she dropped the glass and it shattered, pieces flying everywhere.

"Where were you yesterday? I was waiting here the whole day, you idiot! I thought something happened to you," he yelled furiously. Akane forgot about the glass and didn't notice the fly that flew in, took a drink from the pile and immediately dropped onto its back, lifeless.

"Excuse me? What, am I just supposed to sign in and out, forget about my life and hand it over to you? Just because you're back Ranma, it doesn't mean I'm just gonna jump into your arms! You're such a jerk!"

"What? This is what I get for trying to help!?!"

"Help? What have you ever done to help me?"

A/N: Do you get it at the end? Was this confusing? Review or I might forget to write the next chapter! Next chapter hopefully up soon!