Nodoka Saotome came home from the market, carrying her groceries. As Kasumi was very busy cleaning up the mess caused by the final battle between her son's fiancees, she agreed to do the shopping for her.
After reaching the street in which the Tendo Dojo was situated, a reddish blur suddenly jumped past her, startling her immensely.
"Nnrrraaaoooowww..."
Nodoka stared up at the... girl that was crouching on the wall of the neighbor's garden. "R... ranma?"
"Rrrowwlll..." the tiger-girl grumbled with a sneer. "Do I know you? You look strong."
Ranko then saw the katana which Nodoka always carried around with her. "You wanna fight?"
Nodoka sighed. "Oh Ranma, what happened to you? Did someone mess around with your Jusenkyo curse? And surely you remember your mother, right?"
Ranko tilted her head. "Mo... therrr...?"
Nodoka smiled. "Yes, your mother! Now, why don't you come down here and explain to me what happened?"
All of a sudden, the tiger-girl came jumping down from the wall and pounced on Nodoka with a fierce hug. "MOMMY!!"
Confused, Nodoka returned the hug. She certainly welcomed her son's affections, but... somehow, she got the feeling that he didn't really remember her. Oh kami, what if the Neko-ken had somehow combined with Ranma's curse...
"Um, why don't we just head back home? I'm sure Kasumi has some hot water for you."
Ranko just purred like a kitten and rubbed her cheeks against Nodoka's arm while clinging to her like an overgrown child.
"Rrrr... Mommy..."
"I seriously have to talk with those Amazons..." Nodoka murmured while leading her 'daughter' back to the dojo. "I heard they have used amnesia herbs and instant Jusenkyo water before, but this is going too far..."
----
At the Tendo Dojo...
"I'm home!" Nodoka called.
"Hello, Auntie," Kasumi replied from the kitchen. "Dinner will be ready shortly. Did you get everything?"
"Yes, it was no problem. Kasumi... can you tell me what happened to Ranma today?"
"Ranma? Oh, I believe he and Akane are sparring in the Dojo... She's still upset that he doesn't want to hit her, though..."
"In the dojo? All right, but what happened afterwards? I mean, there has to be a reason that he's looking like this. Did Shampoo-san come for a visit, maybe?"
"Shampoo? Oh no, everything was quiet today... Well, except for Akane's and Ranma's usual bickering. But that's just what fiancees do, right? By the way, what do you mean with 'looking like this', Auntie? Is something the matter?"
"You didn't know?" Nodoka asked in surprise. "I mean, just take a look at him..."
Kasumi looked out of the kitchen. "Yes? Where is he?"
"Huh?" Nodoka looked around. During her talk with Kasumi, the red-furred tiger-girl must have slipped away from her. "Ranma? Now where did he go?"
----
Inside of the dojo, the sounds of clashing fists and feet could be heard.
"C'mon, Akane," the pig-tailed boy mocked. "You call that a punch? You can do better, I'm sure. Or are you even trying?"
"Grrr..." his fiancee grumbled. "Dammit, STAND STILL! And take me seriously for once. Hit me! I'm an opponent like Ryoga, so treat me like one."
"Aw, as if you could stand a direct hit from me..."
"Ranmaaaaa... Oh, that's it! You BAKA!"
And she resorted to her usual way of beating Ranma: Pulling out good ol' Mr. Mallet. She swung it over her head...
Only to have her strike being intercepted by an orange blur.
Akane raised her tool and stared at the mallet head... or rather at it's remains: A shredded mess of splinters and wood flour.
"Mrrroowwl..." a well-known voice called out to her. "You're strong... but you better not hurt oniichan!"
Akane blanched. "O-oniichan? R-Ranma?" She looked back and forth between her still male fiance and his female, feline counterpart which was crouching on the floor and hissed at her.
Ranma, in the meantime, had seen enough. Cats were bad... His girl-curse was bad... But there was nothing worse than seeing his girl-side as a cat-girl, hissing menacingly in a feral state.
It was enough to make him freak.
"C-C-C-C-CAAAAAAAAAAATTTT!!" he yelled while running around in a panic. "CAAAAAAAAT!"
"Mrow?" Ranko tilted her head. She observed how this boy - which looked so much like her that she simply had to assume he was one of her brothers (back at the zoo, she had multiple siblings that have been sold to other zoos) - was running around in a state of panic. Perhaps he was just overjoyed to see her?
She grinned. That looked like fun. "MYAOW!" she shouted and pounced on her 'brother'. "Ranko wanna play too!"
Ranma was slammed backwards on the floor, pinned under a cat-girl Ranko that looked at him with a wide grin.
Ranma shivered even more. Those shiny teeth...
----
"Now I remember!" Tomoe snapped his fingers.
Luna and Artemis, who were doing some research at the doctor's computer, turned around to look at him. "What do you mean, doctor?" Luna asked.
"When I heard my Hotaru talking about Nerima, I had another flash of Germatoid's memories. And now I know why our friends' personalities here are so distinct... they are modelled after living humans."
"Really?" Pig-Akari asked as she looked over the doctor's shoulder. "Well, it's certainly nice to know that there's a human girl out there who could be my sister..."
"But why would Germatoid model his daimons after human girls?" Artemis wondered.
"It's Nerima," Luna pointed out. "In this vicinity, many strong martial artists are living. I suppose Germatoid wanted his daimon to be naturally strong, so he copied the appearances and behavior of several Nerima residents."
"Oh moo," Kasumi the cow pondered. "If that is the case, maybe we should think of new names, so we don't get confused with our originals."
"Bah, they might be the ones our current looks are copied from, but we are independent girls," the tiny Monkey-Akane grumbled from her position on the doctor's desk. "We've been living animals, even before we changed like this."
"Yeah, but we never had as much intelligence as this," Bat-Nabiki reminded her. "Now don't get upset again, or we'll have you rampaging through the city. I think new names are a good idea. You got some suggestions, doc?"
"Actually, I have," Tomoe nodded and quickly wrote something on a piece of paper. "Here, I made a list with your animal forms and your abilities, and I added some names for you that should be fitting..."
He scratched his head. "Although I believe I should change the name I wrote for you, Shampoo..."
"Why?" the duck-girl asked. "Is not nice?"
"Well, I basically combined the names of your human counterparts with your animal name... and I believe the name 'Duck-Poo' wouldn't be quite the proper name..."
"Well, how about 'Shamchan', then?" Akari suggested.
The duck-girl thought about it and nodded. "Shampoo... no, I mean, Shamchan likes it."
"Okay, let's have a look at that list..." Nabiki muttered and snatched it out of the doctor's hands.
Nabatty, vampire bat. Powers: Flight, Supersonic Waves and an alcoholic addiction.
Shamchan, duck. Powers: Produces eggs that change the behavior of whoever eats them.
Kasumoo, cow. Powers: Uncontrollable flight powers.
Pikari, pig. Powers: Can partly transform people's body parts into those of a pig.
Muttzusa, dog. Powers: Increased sneakiness and the ability to store items in a sub-dimensional pocket space. Also, a kleptomaniac like her original.
Apane, monkey. Powers: Grows every time she gets angry. Can be deflated by poking her with a pointy object.
Ukymel, camel. Powers: Steadily absorbs water and other kinds of liquid, has the non-working power of using this water as an attack.
Leodachi, lion. Powers: Steadily absorbs air and can use it as compressed air blasts for battling. Does so in form of sneezes, as she often has a cold.
Ranko, tiger. Powers: Increased strength and agility, but the most immature and playful of the bunch.
Pikari nodded. "Yes, very becoming... But why didn't you change Ranko's name?"
"Well, I did some research, and her original's name is 'Ranma Saotome'. I figured if he is a boy with a slightly different name, she can keep hers."
"Fine!" Nabatty handed back the sheet. "Now can we leave already? We have some friends to find."
"W-w-wait a minute!" Luna shouted. "We just managed to bring all of you back here. Why would you want to leave again?"
"Luna..." Kasumoo said carefully. "Ranko and Leodachi are the two strongest of us... except maybe for Apane. And while Ranko often doesn't know her own strength, Leodachi tends to act... violently, if something doesn't work out her way. And your Senshi friends might need some additional help."
"Fine then, but not all of you," Artemis sighed. "Kasumoo, you and Pikari are no fighters, so I suppose you should stay behind. Nabatty as well..."
"Hey, I CAN fight," the bat-girl protested. "I just have to be careful not to get drunk again."
"Well, the problem is that you're pouncing on every alcoholic beverage you see..." Apane muttered. Nabatty just glared at her.
Soft pounding came out of the bound trashcan behind them. "Hello? Can Little Azusa... I mean, can little Muttzusa come out now? I really don't wanna play hide and seek any more..."
The mooncats, scientist and animal-girls looked at each other.
"Um, should we let her out?" Pikari asked.
"Ah, just leave her where she is..." Nabatty smirked. "She'll just cause trouble..."
----
After Ranma had locked himself away in the closet, Nodoka and the Tendo sisters sat down in the living room to talk about... well, what they wanted to talk about had red-striped fur, a pigtail and was rubbing her head affectionally against her chosen mother's leg.
The fathers couldn't be involved in this, simply because they had accidentally angered Happosai a few days ago, and he was still chasing them throughout the country.
After a few uncomfortable moments of silence (except for the continued purring of a certain tiger-girl), Nabiki broke the silence by saying what virtually everyone in the room was wondering: "So... if this isn't Ranma, who is it? A Mirror Clone? A by-product by Jusenkyo water of the drowned twin? Or simply a female twin of Ranma we didn't know about and who was genetically altered?"
"I would like to know that as well," Nodoka sighed while petting the affectionate tiger-girl's head. "Say... Ranko."
"Mmmyes?" the girl in question asked when looking up.
"Can you tell us where are you from?"
Ranko smiled. "From the zoo." And then, she continued her rubbing and purring.
"I figured as much," Akane muttered. "But that doesn't answer the question why you look just like our Ranma."
"Don't knyyyoww why I look like this. One night, I suddenly woke up and looked like this. But I liked it. Before, I've been all alone, Mommy gone, brothers and sisters gone, Ranko all alone..."
Her ears drooped and the four females in the room couldn't help but feel sorry for the cute cat-girl.
But almost immediately, Ranko perked up. "But I'm much stronger now. Got out of cage and freed my friends. They're all like me now. Then I came here to search for Mommy and big brothers and sisters. And now..." Again, she rubbed herself against Nodoka's legs. "I found you... Pprrrrrr... Mommy..."
Akane leaned over to Nodoka's ear and whispered: "If she has been a normal, young tiger before, then something must have happened to make her change like this."
"I doubt the Amazons are involved," Nabiki said. "I mean, what advantage would they take of turning a tiger into a double of Ranma's female form?"
Kasumi then realized something. "Oh my... she said she freed her friends and that they changed like her... Does that mean there are other zoo animals turned into human-like beings out there?"
Nodoka returned her attention to the tiger-girl. "Ranko, dear... Can you please tell us more about your friends? Do they have names as well?"
Ranko nodded enthusiastically. "Surrrre. Let's see, there's Akane, Kasumi, Nabiki..."
Kasumi and Nabiki gasped while Nabiki looked like she was going to choke on the tofu she was nibbling on.
"Ucchan, Shampoo, Akari, and I guess you could say Azusa and Kodachi are my friends too... meow!"
"I think I'm getting a headache..." Nabiki murmured.
"I-is the monster gone?" Ranma's voice came out of the closet.
"Nyyaaah?" Ranko's head turned around. "Where are you, big brotherr...?"
"YAH!" The closet shut tightly.
----
Meanwhile, Shampoo (the real one) was on her way to the Tendo Dojo, to bring Ranma some of her delicious ramen for lunch. Was much better than risking her Airen to be poisoned by violent kitchen-destroyer's food.
When her bike came around the corner, she stopped. Didn't she know that girl in front of her?
"Ribbon-girl?"
The furry girl turned around. "You must have mistaken me with someone else, human peasant," the lioness growled. "I own no ribbons."
Shampoo scratched her head. "You fell into spring of drowned girl-holding-kitty?"
Leodachi tried to understand what the human girl meant by that.
"I do not know what you are prattling about," she finally said. "Now, leave. I have no time to waste for the likes of... aaah... aaaaaaahh... AAAAAAAAHHH..."
For some reason, Shampoo's sense of danger warned her that she was in an unsafe position. But she could not detect any danger... Ribbon-girl was busy sneezing, was she?
"AAAAAH-CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"
"GYAAAAAAH!" Shampoo yelled as the powerful air blast that came forth from the lion-girls muzzle blew her and her bike away. "Is too, too stormy here!"
Leodachi sniffed as she watched the strange girl soar away in the distance. Damn, she had to do something against this cold.
"Does anyone around here have a tissue?" she muttered.
----
It had started to snow. Nabatty was flying through the snowflakes while searching through the buildings of the neighborhood with her radar powers and yelling: "Yoohoo! Ranko! Come out, come out, wherever you are..."
The people of Nerima, upon seeing her, would stare for a few minutes, then shake their head and continue on with their daily work. It's Nerima. They have seen stranger things...
Apane (now a little taller than your average teddy-bear) was swinging from lamppost to lamppost. "Dammit..." she muttered. "Where can that baka-girl be?"
Ukymel and Shamchan, being the 'ground troops', were joining forces with the Senshi, looking in all side streets and asking pedestrians if they had seen anything particularly weird.
The residents shook their head. Nope, the didn't... at least not weirder than usual, or weirder than a group of fuku-clad superhero girls running around with half-animal-girls...
Shamchan, who was walking with Usagi and Rei, lost her patience. "Dammit, how longer is this taking? Shamchan wanna go home and sleep... her webbed feet are cold from snow."
"Now there, calm down," Rei tried to compose her. "We don't want the pavement to be littered with giant duck eggs, do we?"
Usagi giggled. "You should try eating one of her eggs, Rei-chan... maybe acting like a duck will help you with your temper."
Instantly, Rei glared fiercely at her leader. "AND JUST WHAT'S WRONG WITH MY TEMPER?"
"There, see?" Usagi sighed. "There you go again. Well, at least I managed to get rid of your little pig-tail... Or else your 'flames of anger' would have turned your butt into a rump steak..."
Rei fumed.
Suddenly, Shamchan's head turned around sharply.
"What's up?" Rei asked alarmed.
"Not sure..." the duck-girl replied. "I sense someone coming... And somehow, Shamchan is getting feeling of resentment..."
"I get that often when working with Usagi." Rei smirked.
"Rei, you're meeeaaaan."
Suddenly, with fluttering feathers, Shamchan leapt away. "Wait here."
"Hey! Come back here! Oh great, what's better than a hyperactive duck-girl?"
----
Mousse was on a delivery for the Nekohanten, wearing his glasses for once. He was troubled.
This morning, he had tried to ask his beautiful Shampoo for a date. After Cologne told him she was flattered, she suggested asking her great-granddaughter instead.
And after he compared her to a wrinkled monkey, he got a bop on the head.
Well, after putting on his glasses and asking Shampoo instead, the lavender-haired Amazon told him something like 'that's gonna be the day I'll manage to get rid of my curse and get a curse of girl-holding-duck instead'...
Of course there was no spring like that, but who was Mousse to know that? After asking her if he should get her a sample of that spring water, she booted him out of the window.
"Quack?"
Mousse stopped. That sounded... familiar.
He looked up and dropped his delivery boxes in surprise. "Oh, Shampoo... you made your promise come true and changed your Jusenkyo curse into one that would make us an even closer couple."
"Who are you?" the duck-girl asked him. "Shamchan know you?"
The nearly blind boy didn't listen. He spread his arms and ran towards his love. "Shampoo, I love you... URK!"
He was heading towards the right goal for once, but that didn't stop the real Shampoo from suddenly appearing out of nowhere, soaring through the air and hitting the Chinese boy in his stomach, which knocked him over.
"Ow... Shampoo's head hurts..." the Amazon grumbled while standing up. "Furry ribbon-girl really needs to take some medicine against that cold..."
Then, she took a closer look at the duck-girl standing close by.
"Who you?" they asked at the same time.
"I'm Shamchan," the duck-girl replied in the same time as her double said: "I'm Shampoo."
Shamchan grinned. "Oh, you are my original. Shamchan is pleased to meet you, but have to find Ranko now."
"What?" Shampoo asked. "Ranma?" She scowled. Was this... one of her rivals, in disguise? She didn't know what the Shampoo-Mousse costume was all about, but she wouldn't let spatula girl or violent girl or whoever this was let lay her hands on her Airen.
"You not leaving that fast," Shampoo growled while pulling out her bonboris.
"GWAH!" Shamchan quacked as she dodged a swipe of the weapons. "Don't scare me like this, or else... uh-oh, here it comes... q-q-q-quaaaaaaack!"
And while she was crouching down on the floor, Shampoo ran towards her to strike...
...and was hit right in the face with an egg that splattered all over her face.
Shampoo couldn't help but gulp a bit of the slimy substance down her throat...
"DEEP SUBMERGE!" Sailor Neptune shouted, as her water-based attack came flying and hit both Shampoo and Mousse, throwing them away from the duck-girl.
"Shamchan, are you all right?" she asked. "I couldn't see much, only that someone was going to attack you from behind... where are they?"
Shamchan looked around. "Don't know. Must have run away. Oh well, have to continue searching for Ranko anyway..."
In one corner of the street, a lavender-furred cat and a duck with glasses were crouching on the floor, in-between several delivery boxes and were flapping around their wings or front legs, respectively.
"Quack quack!" Mousse exclaimed nervously.
"Quack quack!" Neko-Shampoo replied while angrily glaring back at him.
----
"Sh-she won't b-b-bite me, will she?" Ranma asked with shaking knees while he slowly approached the red-striped cat-girl that was lying on the sofa and played with a ball of yarn Kasumi had given her.
"Not at all, Ranma," his mother assured him. "You just have to give Ranko a chance... Think about how happy she will be when she sees her 'brother'."
"R-r-right..." Ranma continued his approach towards Ranko, all the way mentally chanting: 'She won't bite me, she won't bite me, she's not a real cat...'
Ranko blinked as she saw the approaching form of her 'oniichan' Ranma. "Nyaow?"
Ranma, upon hearing that dreaded sound, almost turned around on his heel and ran away in the opposite direction. Only the cute smile on Ranko's face enabled him to hang on.
He smiled nervously and raised his hand. "H-hello there, R-ranko..."
Ranko beamed at him with a wide smile. "Rrrrowwlrrr! Hello, oniichan!"
'Those teeth, those teeth...' Ranma thought to himself, but somehow, upon hearing the word 'oniichan', his heart seemed to jump towards the pig-tailed tiger-girl.
Standing next to the sofa, he casually folded his hands behind his back and tried to make the impression that everything was fine.
"S-so, um... had any fish today?" Baka, he scolded himself. That was probably the most stupid thing to say.
But to his relief, Ranko began purring. "Nyaaah! Do you like them as much as I do, big brother? They're sooo tasty!" And she began licking her muzzle.
Ranma couldn't help but imagine that she wasn't imagining the fish in-between her teeth, but himself. Well, at least this was a good excuse to get away for a while. "Um... I guess I could go and fetch some, you wanna?"
"Ooooh pleaaase!"
Again with the kitty-cat eyes. But damn, they were effective.
The pig-tailed martial artist turned around... and faced Kasumi, who was handing him a tin of tuna fish. "Here you go, Ranma-kun. I got the impression Ranko-chan would love to eat some fish, so I prepared a little bit for her."
"Right... Thanks, Kasumi..."
The eldest Tendo sister smiled. "You're welcome!"
And after Ranma turned around and handed the tuna to his new 'sister', Ranko could not contain herself: She pounced upon the tuna and gobbled it all down, using just her hands and mouth.
Ranma relaxed visibly after realizing that she wasn't after him, but after the tuna.
"You know, I believe this is a good example of reversed psychology, Auntie," Akane whispered.
"I don't quite know if you can call it that, Akane-chan..." Nodoka whispered back. "But it seems to work."
After having finished her meal, Ranko licked her paws and afterwards, stared adoringly at her new brother.
Ranma gritted his teeth, expecting another of those 'glomps' he had developed a slight dislike for...
But instead, he found Ranko slinking over to him, rubbing his legs with her head, and purring.
Ranma's heart melted even more. How could he be afraid of a creature... no, girl... that looked sooo adorable like Ranko?
Still a little bit nervous, he stretched out his hand to scratch her behind the ears. This seemed to have the desired effect, as Ranko's purring increased in volume.
He smiled. "Glad you liked it... lil' sis."
Nodoka and the Tendo girls all went 'awwww' at the sweet scene before their eyes.
Well, Nabiki didn't, but you could kinda tell that she was moved.
----
"Akane Tendo or the pig-tailed girl... Akane Tendo or the pig-tailed girl..."
Whoever knew Tatewaki Kuno normally also knew about this strange mantra he was regularly chanting whenever he was confronted with a difficult decision. Particularly, when he was going to say or offer something to one of his two 'loves'.
They also knew that he should better be left alone in such a state of mind.
Kuno's hands were trembling. "Oh, I simply cannot decide! I MUST INVITE THEM BOTH FOR A DATE! Sasuke! The bouquets!"
Unfortunately for Sasuke, little ninja retainer of the house Kuno, he had not such a freedom of choice... As his young masters servant, he had to endure all of his moods.
"Here they are, Master Kuno," Sasuke said and carried two massive bouquets of orchids alongside his master, as they were approaching the Tendo Dojo.
"I still do not know where the domicile of the pig-tailed girl is located..." the delusional kendoist muttered to himself. "Still, she seems to visit the home of the Tendos quite often. Hopefully, I can meet my two beauties at once..."
Before he reached the main entrance of the premises, he heard some strange noises coming from the other side of the wall that surrounded the Tendo's home.
Were that villain Saotome and his gluttonish father sparring again?
"You know, you're pretty fast, Ranko... I've never had this much fun when fighting Pops."
"Nrrrooowwlll... You're prretty good, too, big brotherrr..."
Kuno blinked. That had been... the voice of his pig-tailed goddess... and that of Saotome.
"I knew it!" he proclaimed. "All the time, I heard rumors that Saotome and my lovely pig-tailed girl were supposed to be the same person. But I see it now: Those were nothing but lies!"
He looked towards the wall, then down at the pavement and finally towards his small servant.
"Sasuke, I need a lift."
Sasuke sighed. "Of course, Master Kuno..."
While the ninja crouched down on the ground, Kuno climbed on his servant's back and looked over the wall.
In the backyard of the Tendo home, he could see that fiend Saotome and the pig-tailed girl, jumping and dashing around the premises, while exchanging blows and kicks.
But wait a minute... why was the pig-tailed girl so... furry?
"SAOTOME!" the offspring of the house Kuno shouted. "You vile sorcerer! I knew it all the time! What spell did you put on my lovely, pig-tailed beauty?"
Ranma and Ranko interrupted their sparring and looked over to where Kuno was climbing over the wall. ("Sasuke, stop wiggling around! - "I'm sorry, master Kuno...")
Ranko looked at her new brother's face. "Who is that boy? A frriend of yours, big brother?"
"More like a pest..." Ranma grumbled. "Yo, Kuno! Whaddya want now?"
Kuno came stumbling down the wall, landed on his head, but instantly jumped back to his feet. "Saotome! You fiend! How dare you transform my red-haired beauty into such a lowly beast? True, she is as fierce as a tigress... just like the beauteous Akane Tendo... but such mockery of her loveliness cannot be allowed. Remove your spell from her this instant, you cur!"
Ranma looked at Kuno, then at Ranko and back at Kuno. "Um... I think you might have misunderstood something here, Kuno..."
Kuno pointed his bokken at Ranma. "I understand pretty well: Finally, you show your true face. But your back arts won't save you this time, Saotome! Now the justice of heaven will descend upon you!"
He raised his weapon and charged at Ranma. "HAVE AT THEEEE..."
Ranma prepared himself to fend off Kuno's standard opening as usual... but before he got the chance, a reddish blur jumped in front of him and lunged at the bokken with feral swipes.
SLICE! SLICE!
Kuno could only stare as his weapon fell apart in countless pieces... reduced to splinters by the claws of the tiger-girl that stood in front of him.
"Grrrrr... you wanna hurt oniichan, you have to deal with me."
"Oh my pig-tailed goddess... has the vile sorcerer corrupted your mind? fear not, for my love will free you of his brainwashing."
And he attempted to glomp the tiger-girl with all his might.
POW!
Ranko's fist slammed right into the kendoist's chest, and the force propelled him backwards, until he heavily slammed into the wall.
"That... didn't hurt..." Kuno groaned weakly, before collapsing to the ground.
Ranma shook his head. "Kuno... whenever will you learn?"
----
"My imbecile brother..." Kodachi Kuno cussed while jumping from rooftop to rooftop, trailing her trademark ribbon behind her. "Where did he take the bouquets of love I've prepared for my Ranma-darling? If he is not careful, the capsules with the sleeping gas will break open, and then it's wasted."
She stopped for a while on someone's balcony. "But, even if he did, it shall not hinder me from conquering my Ranma-sama this time."
She clasped her hands and gushed in what she thought to be a romantic manner. "Wait for me, my Ranma... your Black Rose is coming!"
And then she started laughing (and every Nerimian with common sense fled and covered his ears): "OH-HO-HO-HO-HO-HOOOOOO..."
"Hey, you!"
Kodachi stopped in mid-laugh and looked around. "What?"
"Down here!" the voice shouted. "You human upstart! How dare you impersonate my lovely voice like that? I and only I am the only one that is allowed to laugh in a regal manner like that. Stop it right now, you hag!"
Kodachi looked down... and saw something that looked like a furred version of herself, complete with muzzle and tail.
But that was something she only noticed secondarily. "Hag? HAG? What did you call me, you... you... you furred fiend! You bestial impersonator! This laugh is what marks me as a member of nobility. Hear my name and tremble in fear, beast! I am Kodachi Kuno, the Black Rose! Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho..."
Leodachi grinned. "That's the best you can do? My laugh is much, much better than that. Truly, what is your lowly nobility against me, the QUEEN of the zoo? OH-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho..."
Kodachi snarled. She would show that fiend...
She took a deep breath and continued: "Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho!"
"Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho!"
"OH-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HOOO!"
"OH-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HOOO!"
"OOOH-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HOOOOO!!"
"OOOH-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HOOOOO!!"
All around the two crazed, pony-tailed girls, the people of Nerima winced and squirmed in pain while having to endure the horrible laugh... It sounded even more horrible in stereo.
----
Ukymel ran along the streets of Nerima. "Michan, how could you leave me like this...? I NEED you! I need some water! Water! Water! NOW!"
In her panic, she couldn't think of anything better than just running into the next store to ask the proprietor for a glass of water.
And that store just happened to be 'Ucchan's'.
The camel-girl slammed the door open upon entering, making every single customer in the restaurant jump in surprise.
Ignoring the scared looks the customers were giving her, Ukymel stormed up to the counter where a young and cute waitress was taking care of business while her/his mistress was in the back of the restaurant, fetching something from the storage rooms.
Ukymel slammed some coins Michiru had given her down on the counter. "WATER! NOW! QUICK! LOTS OF IT!"
Konatsu gasped as he stared at the furred figure that looked so much like his mistress. "U-ukyo-sama?"
Ukymel growled as good as a camel could and grabbed Konatsu by the collar. "Didn't you hear me? I NEED WATER! YOU WANNA SEE ME DIE OF THIRST?"
"R-right away, Ukyo-sama..." the kunoichi muttered and grabbed an empty glass, filled it with water and put it in front of the thirsty camel-girl, who downed it with a mighty gulp.
She slammed the empty glass down on the counter. "MORE!"
Konatsu used his ninja speed and skills to quickly fill eight more glasses with water and offered them to Ukymel, all of it happening within several seconds.
Ukymel drank and drank and drank... until she had enough (for now).
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH..." She put down the last glass. "That was great... Sugar, you're a real live-saver, you know that?"
And before the confused kunoichi could react, she grabbed his collar again, pulled him close... and gave him a fierce kiss, right on the mouth.
The customers applauded upon witnessing that scene, and an elderly woman who was a regular customer of the restaurant, wiped a tear out of her eye's corner. "Aaah, finally Kuonji-san brought herself to show her affections towards Konatsu-chan... That is so sweet!"
Then she frowned. Although Kuonji-san's costume looked kinda weird... Oh well, perhaps it was just some strange fetish of hers. Who knew about the strange habits of teenagers?
