Hello all, this is the second chapter. I'm sorry if these are kind of rushed, I have homework to do...really...anyway Thank you all for your nice comments, it's a real ego booster ^_^ This chapter will be a little longer, I know the last one was kind of short (KIND of) well heh..heh I knew if I didn't end it then, I would never make it into a chapter story, and I was SO looking foreword to doing one.

These characters all belong to Rumiko Takahashi, and in no way to me, I only have 3 dollars and was saving it to buy another Ranma manga, so Don't sue me!!!! Just think of it this way, I add too your pay check (In a very small insignificant way but it is better the me not in anyway right...)Well anyway on with the show...um story...O_o



Separation
Chapter Two: Where have you gone?

Akane's smile shone brightly from the picture, he knew it would be her from the minute he saw it, she was the only girl Ranma knew that stuck pictures inside her shoes, he had always figured it was some sort of good luck charm for her. For once in his life, Ranma lost control, she had gone missing before but he had this feeling deep down inside that just wouldn't go away.

"AKANE!" Ranma yelled as he ran down back the way he came, searching for her, her other shoe, anything. As he ran, his chest pounded dizzily, his eyes stung, his breath came short.

"AKANE, COME ON!! WHERE ARE YOU!" he yelled not trying to hide the fear that had worked its way into his throat. He was starting to panic. Akane would have noticed that she lost her shoe,
she would have been back for it, if she had been able to go back for it. A dozen thoughts ran through his head at the same time, flooding his emotions. She was doing this to him on purpose wasn't she? Ranma ran down the nearest alley, scanning the shadows. He wasn't going to give up; he had to search everywhere.

"Akane..." Ranma whispered to himself. He kneeled in the middle of the alley, the stench almost over powering him as he reached out into the shadows. His fingers gripped the cold leather, and he slowly pulled the shoe from the darkness. He checked for a picture to make sure that it was hers, he had to, even though he already knew the truth. There she was smiling back out at him. She had to put in the one of them together didn't she, it almost hurt to see him there standing next to her smiling like an idiot. He knew she wasn't dead yet, but the pain in his chest was
getting unbearable. Ranma held the two shoes close as he turned and headed back to the dojo.




"Nabiki, I need to talk to you...alone," Ranma said, almost commanding her,
his voice was thick with hidden emotion. Nabiki could almost smile about
how Ranma was acting, almost like he cared for her little sister, but her
eyes narrowed when she noticed what Ranma was carrying.

"Alright.." She said as she followed him up to his room. Once they had
gotten inside, Ranma quickly shut the door and turned to her.

"Nabiki I found these in two separate alleys, they 're hers, don't you see
Nabiki?" Ranma said pushing the shoes at her, his impatience showing in his
voice.

"Ranma, I know this, but who did this?"

"I don't know, this was all I could find, I figured that with all your
contacts we could find something..."

"Ranma, where did you find her shoes, the South side? My contacts don't go
that far, there's nothing I need from that part of the city. I..I'll send
someone in but I don't know if they'll get anything done." Nabiki was
getting uncomfortable under Ranma's intent stare, his eyes prying into her,
trying to see if she was lying. Her face started to get hot, she knew he
didn't like her that much, but he should know better then to think she would
lie when her sister was missing.

"While I explain this to Kasumi, you should call the police, ask them what can be done, see what they say to do, this time it isn't one of your crazy friends." Nabiki said, her voice tense. Not bothering to respond Ranma raced into the hallway and flew down the stairs nearly crashing into Kasumi on the way down. Ranma yelled his apology over his shoulder as he ran towards the phone, why hadn't he thought of that? While he was shakily dialing the number he could hear Nabiki explaining the situation to Kasumi who replied with the normal 'Oh My!' and continued on with her cleaning. Ranma was beginning to get frustrated, nobody seemed to care but him! Not that he cared or anything like that...Ranma quickly told the woman who answered, who was missing, how long, and about the shoes he had found. The woman promptly responded by
telling him that a person couldn't be considered missing until they have been gone for 24 hours at least. Ranma couldn't believe this, he had found her shoes in two different alleys and they had the nerve to say she wasn't missing. He was the only one who was actually willing to do something. He slammed down the phone, and rushed out the door, he was going to find her, he needed to find her, but he was going to need help. Nabiki rushed outside.

"Ranma! Where are you going?"

"I'm going to find someone who will help me!" Ranma yelled over his shoulder as he bounded away over the rooftops towards Ucchans.

"Poor Ranma, you really are a baka aren't you?" Nabiki said softly, she
didn't think it would, but using her little sister's favorite word, caused
her, Nabiki the ice queen, to frown softly. She could have slapped herself
right then. *Get it together, she's only missing, how many times has she
been missing before?* Nabiki thought with a grim face, trying to ignore the
feeling that was rising within her, that this time it was different.

"You owe me Ranma..." Nabiki said, mentally making a note of this as she
drew out a small black book, and proceeded to the telephone. She had a long
list of people who owed her favors, but she would need a special group for
this assignment. People who wouldn't say no, they simply couldn't.


"Ucchan!" Ranma yelled pounding on the door, it was just occurred to him how late it really was, he felt a little guilty waking her up. All the lights were off, but as he peered inside he could see Ukyo sweeping, and dusting around the restaurant. He was glad he didn't wake her up, but she needed to open the door. He still couldn't understand why he was freaking out like he was. She had been kidnapped before, but he just felt that if he didn't hurry, he wasn't going to be getting her back. He pounded on the door again trying to get Ukyo's attention. She glanced up, and a scared look passed over her face, Ranma being too worried, didn't notice this abnormality. "Ranchan, what are you doing here?" She didn't sound as happy to see him as she normally did. He brushed it off, and tried to calm himself down. "Have you seen Akane? She didn't show up for the party, and now she hasn't come home yet. None of her friends have seen her either!" He was starting to get worked up again, he tried to calm himself down, but he couldn't settle down, he needed to be searching for her. "No..I'm sorry Ranma." Ukyo said, her face paling a bit. Ranma's face fell, and his shoulders slumped until he noticed Ukyo swaying a bit. "What's wrong? You look a bit faint" Ranma said placing a hand on her shoulder. "What? I'm just a bit tired that's all." Ranma didn't want to pressure her into helping him; she was his best friend, and she didn't really look up to searching around town tonight. He'd have to find someone else to help him.
"Look, you get some rest okay, I'm going to go look around some more, but
you'll keep your eye out for her right?"
"mm.." Ukyo mumbled as the world started spinning and slowly the darkness
came.


"Alright people!" Nabiki yelled at the group of around 20 misfits, all in their pajama's standing around the Tendo dojo. "I have a job for you guys to do, it's not going to start right now, but I wasn't going to waste anymore money on phone bills so I decided to collect you here. My sister
Akane has gone missing." A few gasps came from the crowd, a few gathered here were her friends, and a few were her admirers, well to say the least anyway. Tomorrow morning at exactly 9, each and every one of you is going to take a different part of the city. That will cover the most ground. Ranma and I will take the South, where Ranma found these" She emphisised her point by holding up Akane's shoes, causing more gasps to sound from the crowd. Here are maps of your streets to cover. You must leave no alley unwanderd through, no seedy comic book stores left unbrowsed. Once you do this, covering your entire area, you must report back here.

So much as any signs of Akane you must quickly scout the rest of your area, for any more evidence of her, and then report back to Kasumi here, she will be in contact with me. Once you do this, your debts to me are...paid." Nabiki grimaced, clenching her teeth together. *Akane when you get home, you owe me big!* With that Nabiki handed out the maps assigned to each person, walked inside and slammed the door. Leaving a very confused group of people on the front lawn. They looked around at each other, shrugged and headed back to their houses, each one carefully remembering to set their alarm clocks for 8, they all had been wanting to get out of this debt for a very long time.

Ranma wiped a wet cloth across her forehead, he was trying to be gentle, but Konatsu had slipped out of the restaurant earlier, and no body seemed to be answering at Dr. Tofu's. He was anxious to leave so he could look for Akane, but he couldn't just leave Ukyo here, like this. As he sat there, Ranma's lips began moving to a distant tune, a song he could almost remember. During his trip, his father and him had come to a small village, where a healer had been. She had offered them a night in her house; in return she only asked that Ranma remember one song. They had thought it was an odd request at the time, and it still was, but Ranma had remembered it. The silent room became filled with Ranma's voice, it was soft at first, but as the words started to come to him more naturally, his voice rose. It wasn't the nicest song, he didn't have the best voice, but it still seemed captivate whoever chose to listen. Ukyo's eyes fluttered open suddenly, her eyes darted around the room finally resting on Ranma.




Nabiki had sent her most skilled contact out into the city, to find what he could find, to see everything, and report it all back. He came the closest of anyone Nabiki had ever met, to understanding her. He had managed to crack some of the ice that made up Nabiki Tendo, a feat none dared to do. Nabiki felt good having him on the field, and for once, since Ranma had flown out the door, she relaxed. But as soon as she had laid back, she heard his footsteps pounding outside. She sat up just as Ranma crashed through the door, his face flushed, his eyes wide.
"Akane...."

{Heh heh heh, I do love being evil...The ending may seem a little confusing but as soon as the next chapter comes out you'll understand it more! ^_^ Thanks to my pre read (it feels really good to say that!) Nm3 for all the help she's given me on this chapter!!! Any extra c&c will be welcome at tatiana_20@msn.com, thanks for reading it!! In the next chapter there will be more on Akane's situation (I think at any rate) and some on what happened to Ukyo!! So look foreword to it!