Not Chapter Two

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"Hahaha..." Nabiki's laughter was just as she remembered it, calculated and chillingly cruel, so as to put others off guard. That she was hearing it as she passed through the manse's courtyard, and that she'd been so sure that there were no logical reasons for her to come looking here, only made it all the worse.

Ranma schooled her face into a carefully practiced expression of confusion as she turned around towards the gate, only to be replaced by honest surprise.

"It took a while, and cost a lot... yes, I'll admit, you gave me the slip for a little while, even. But at last, I've finally tracked you down, and I can collect that delicious bounty. Are you ready to stop running, Ranma Saotome?"

Nabiki's hand flung outwards in imperious demand... pointing directly at a less-than-impressed Hong Meilin, the mansion gatekeeper. Ranma clenched her teeth together hard enough to shatter stone, only just barely managing to keep back the howl of laughter that would have betrayed her identity.

"Who are you?" Meilin asked dubiously, eying Nabiki and her gathered troupe of toughs.

"Ha! Trying to play dumb, Ranma? I'm insulted that you think me so stupid! You barely bothered to disguise yourself at all... did you really think that just a new outfit and hairstyle would be enough to throw me off the scent?"

"Hmph. It's true." Ryoga declared. "After having so many of your cursed disguises used against me, I've learned to see through them, to the honorless cur sealed within. There's no fooling my eyes, Saotome!"

"It's not that I don't sympathize with your plight, Ranma..." Mousse said, drawing a pair of chinese blades out of his sleeves. "... but with you permamently out of the way, Shampoo will be mine! Accept your fate!"

"I'm just in this for the money. Sucks to be you." Taro declared.

"OHOHOHOHO! I shall banish the redheaded harridan!"

At this point, Ranma was the one feeling vaguely insulted, at such clear and overwhelming low expectations. Meilin seemed to feel similarly, as with a gigantic blast of multicolored light, the fighters were all catapulted violently away in multiple directions.

"A... ahehe..." Nabiki chuckled weakly, now much less certain of her position, as Meilin was cracking her knuckles. "You've... gotten stronger, Ranma."

"Um, excuse me..." Ranma butted in, partially out of a desire to see how well her disguise would stand up to scrutiny, and partially out of the habit of trying to keep noncombatants from getting hurt. "I'm fairly sure you must be mistaken, miss. I don't think it's possible that Sempai is this 'Ranma' woman you're looking for..."

"No, I'm sure it's her. The odds are against there being another well endowed, redheaded martial artist in this area." Nabiki denied, sparing the real Ranma no more than a cursory glance. Success!

"Are, are you really sure about that?" Ranma wondered aloud. "It's just... Meilin-sempai has been the gatekeeper of the Scarlet mansion for as long as I can remember, so..."

"Are you calling me old...?" Meilin asked, dangerously.

"Ah! No, sempai, I didn't mean it like that... I was just trying to explain to the visitor that she was mistaken. The only time the two of you could have met would be the last time you had a vacation, which was... um..."

"Six months, two weeks, and three days ago. And I didn't actually go anywhere... I just spent the whole time in bed."

"Yes! You see, miss visi... tor?"

Nabiki had walked up and was staring intently at Meilin's face, frowning.

"Your eyes are... green. Tch. Bad lead again, that idiot will pay through the nose for this mistake. No idea how long it will take to gather those morons back together again..."

Nabiki left, grumbling softly to herself, and Ranma huffed softly.

"That was so rude of her. She didn't even pretend to be sorry for her mistaken accusation!"

"As long as she's gone, and I can get back to my nap, I don't care." Meilin decided. "Also... isn't there something that you should be doing, right about now?"

"Hm? Oh! That's right! I'm supposed to be fetching the Little Sister's tea! Sorry, sempai, but I have to go!"

Meilin chuckled under her breath as she leaned back into the wall by the gate, allowing her eyes to drift closed once more as Ranma dashed off to fulfil her assigned duties.

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A.N. ahaha... this is just a potential scene, not anything near a full chapter. Just a little thought about what the inevitable tracking-down attempt would be like, or something. Might not happen exactly like this, if/when I do write that far.