I REALLY NEED YOU GUYS TO REVIEW, OKAY? See, I'm trying to decide whether to work on this and Eighteen Years at the same time or just finish this one up and then start concentrating on EY. So let me know what you think by reviewing... (More notes at the end of the chapter...)

A/N: Really quick, before you read. Um, this is kind of a trial run. A rough draft. I didn't get the chance to proof read it yet. I'm sick and tired of working on this chapter and reading it one more time would drive me insane at this point. I'll fix it next week maybe, but in the meantime, no need to keep everyone waiting because I'm a perfectionist. If you find ANY errors though PLEASE let me know. That'll just be one less thing for me to have to fix later on. Oh, and the only other note is that you shouldn't pay too much attention to the lyrics in this particular chapter. It switches narrative quite frequently. There is a method to it, but don't try and understand it really, it's far too complicated. I just added them because song lyrics are LVOR's trademark. Anyways, those are all my notes for now. There will be plenty more notes at the end of the chapter, so please read those as well. And now, without any further ado...

Chapter 4: Fragments

* * * *

~...These are nothing but fragments of shattered glass

Broken pieces of my hope

My hopes of things that could have been

And never will be again...~

* * * *

Day 5: Tuesday Afternoon

Sachiko remained frozen as she stared at Ryoga standing in the doorway. She was in complete shock. Shock, and dismay. Ukyo was the one to finally break the silence that had fallen.

"You... You two know each other?" she asked.

Ryoga regained his wits before Sachiko. "Well, yeah. I met Sachiko several years ago..." he said, although he was still confused. "It's been a long time though. Right Sachi?"

Sachiko still wasn't able to say anything. All she could think of was the knot folding up inside of her stomach. All she could do was deny what that knot meant. "Dammit, not now. Not today!" And then suddenly there was a gasp from Ukyo.

"Hey wait a minute! Don't tell me Ryoga's your..."

"NO!" Sachiko shouted. "No," she repeated in a calmer manner. There was nothing like a near revealing of secrets to snap a girl out of her reverie. "Ryoga's an old... friend. That's all. I met him on my travels a few years back."

Ukyo seemed to accept her response, yet she still regarded Sachiko with a bit of suspicion. "Dammit," Sachiko thought. "He's going to ruin everything!"

"Huh?" Ryoga asked. "What were you going to say Ukyo?"

"Oh never mind that, Silly," Sachiko said as she forced her brightest smile onto her face. She bounded over to him and threw her arms around him in a friendly hug, causing Ryoga to stiffen up and laugh nervously. Sachiko smiled to herself. "At least one of them is easy to distract."

"It's so good to see you!" Sachiko said as she pulled away from Ryoga. "How have you been? What are you doing here?"

"Well, I was trying to find someone and was hoping Ukyo could help me out."

"Oh that's right! Still trying to track down that enemy of yours I suppose. What was his name again?"

Ryoga growled. "Ranma Saotome."

"Oh that's right, Ranma..." she trailed off and turned around to face Ukyo, surprise and understanding evident on her face. "Oh my..." she muttered in a very Kasumi like tone, even though she had never met the oldest Tendo daughter.

Ukyo merely nodded. Sachiko didn't fail to notice the twinge of doubt in her eyes. "Be calm Girl," she told herself. "I can handle this..."

After the main dinner crowd had left, the three teenagers shut down the restaurant early and had the place cleaned up in no time. As soon as they were done, they all sat down for a meal of okonomiyaki along with a cup of tea.

"Ummm, just like I remember it," Ryoga said. "Sachiko, you always made the best tea. Isn't it the best, Ukyo?" he asked.

"Hmmm," Ukyo murmured in a noncommittal tone. She looked as if she was about to pose a question. Sachiko asked one of her own before Ukyo had the chance.

"So Ryoga, tell me all about things. Meet a nice girl yet?"

Ryoga began to cough after inhaling a bit too much tea from the suddenness of her question. "Ah, sort of..."

"Sort of?" Sachiko pouted. "Why Ryoga, I'm disappointed in you. How could you go chasing after someone else when you have me?"

Ryoga blushed furiously, and Ukyo raised her eyebrow. "Come again?" she asked.

Sachiko giggled. "Oh don't worry about it, Ukyo. It's just a little joke between the two of us. It doesn't mean anything." She smirked. "You wouldn't happen to be jealous of me and Ryoga, would you?"

Ukyo followed Ryoga's example and took a large gulp of her tea causing her to cough violently. "No way!" Sachiko giggled in delight. "Besides! I'm engaged to Ranma-honey, remember? And Ryoga here's in love with Akane."

Sachiko's fit of giggles came to an abrupt halt. "Wha-? Akane? As in Ranma's other fiancé Akane?"

Ryoga blushed even a deeper shade of red. "Ukyo!"

Ukyo grinned evilly, obviously enjoying taunting Ryoga. "And in the meantime he's got another girl he's stringing along named Akari."

"No, no, no! It's not like that..."

Ukyo and Ryoga began to converse back and forth. Meanwhile Sachiko digested the new found information. "Ryoga's in love with... Akane? Dammit. And all along I thought... Oh well, that explains some things. A lot of things..."

Meanwhile the conversation between Ukyo and Ryoga continued. "So, you two still haven't told me exactly how you met." Ukyo asked quite suddenly.

Sachiko snapped out of her thoughts and frowned. She offered Ukyo some more tea, and was relieved when she accepted it. "Um, well it was when I was traveling in China. About a year and a half ago. I needed directions. Unfortunately I picked the wrong person to ask," she laughed and Ryoga continued to blush, inventing entirely new shades of red all together. Even Ukyo began to smile a little as she took a sip of her tea. "Anyway, we traveled together for a little while. Neither one of us really knew where we were going. But it didn't really matter. It was nice to have someone to keep me company."

"Gosh, all that time together. What did you two talk about?" Ukyo asked. Sachiko began to grow apprehensive but remained perfectly calm on the outside. She tried to think of the best possible way to answer the question. However, before she could, Ryoga answered the question for her.

"Oh, you know. Just about our lives and stuff. Where we were trying to go, where we had been." Sachiko realized she had been holding back her breath. Fortunately Ryoga hadn't said anything that would compromise her position. She only hoped Ukyo wouldn't ask for the specifics of what Sachiko had told Ryoga about her past. After all, the story she had told Ukyo and the story she had told Ryoga had been quite different. One was based on the truth, and one had been made up almost completely of lies. Lies that Sachiko hoped she wouldn't be caught in. However, Ukyo seemed much more interested in what Ryoga had told Sachiko than what Sachiko had told Ryoga. Unfortunately, she wasn't very satisfied with that turn of conversation either.

"And so you talked about Ranma, hmm?" Ukyo asked her voice suddenly taking a malicious tone.

"Well, yeah," Ryoga said, completely oblivious to the relevance of the question.

"Huh. Well Sachiko, isn't it a small world? You hear about Ryoga's rival and just happen to come to the same town he lives in and move in with one of his fiancés." Sachiko gulped as Ukyo finally voiced her suspicions. It seemed Ukyo had a stronger will than she had originally thought. She offered her another cup of tea but Ukyo wisely declined.

"I swear Ukyo. I had no idea about that when I came here. It was a long time ago that Ryoga told me about Ranma. I didn't even think to make the connection..."

"Tell me Ryoga," Ukyo asked, cutting Sachiko off. "When you met did you happen to mention me at all?"

Sachiko's heart skipped a beat. Ryoga looked back and forth between the two. "Well, no. I knew Sachiko before I had ever met you so of course I didn't mention you." Ukyo seemed to accept that. However, Sachiko still held her breath. "At least not that time." Sachiko closed her eyes. She had no idea how to get herself out of the predicament. Ukyo's interest was rekindled.

"So you met again then, did you?"

"Yeah, about two months ago. We caught up on old times and I told her about how I met up with Ranma and had been trying to defeat him. And how the idiot had developed several fiancées..."

The sound of a chair scraping across the tiled floors could be heard echoing throughout the room as Ukyo stood and glared down at Sachiko.

"Ukyo, let me explain!"

"No, Sachiko, I don't want to hear it! I don't know who you are or what you're up to. All I know is that you're not going to trick me into believing you again. You keep lying to me. And every time you do, you come back with some kind of elaborate excuse, which I readily accept. I want to believe you, Sachiko, and I want to accept your explanations, but I just can't trust you anymore. I just don't know what's true and what's false." She turned away looking a little sad. "I want you to leave first thing in the morning." With that she left the room and headed upstairs.

Sachiko stared after the girl in a stunned silence for a moment. "It doesn't really matter," she told herself. "It'll all end tomorrow anyway." Yet she couldn't help being a little saddened. Sachiko's friendships with both Ukyo and Ryoga had been established under false pretenses. And they had been formed because Sachiko needed something from the two of them. Yet regardless, Sachiko had counted them as true friends. The only two friends she had ever had. Ever since...

"D-Did I miss something?" Ryoga's confused voice finally knocked Sachiko out of her thoughts. She turned and smiled at him as he took another sip of his tea. "At least one of them is completely clueless."

"Don't worry about it Ryoga. So now. Tell me more about this Akane? Cause if memory serves me well, you said she and Ranma hated each other. But now I'm beginning to wonder... Is that really the truth, or are you just jealous? After all, you never did mention you were in love with her... That does of course, complicate things you know?"

Ryoga gulped. Sachiko had always been a little scary when she took that manipulative tone. She sounded kind of like Nabiki. Yet Sachiko wasn't trying to get anything out of him. At least not money. And what else could she possibly want from his stories? No, it was just casual conversation. Nothing more. With those thoughts he began to relate his story to Sachiko. He answered her questions willingly, never seeing anything strange about them.

After an hour they both decided it was time to go to bed. Ryoga set up to sleep on the floor of the restaurant and Sachiko retreated to her own room for the last time. As she laid on her futon staring up at the ceiling she absently counted the minutes that ticked by.

* * * *

~...Tossed up melodies

Broken memories

Of falling for you back then

As I'm falling for someone again...~

* * * *

Day 6: Wednesday Early Morning

She drifted between dreams and consciousness. In front of her floated a glass vase, holding a single purple rose. Without warning, the vase fell, crashing to the ground and breaking into hundreds of tiny fragments of glass. As the glass broke, she flinched and at the same time opened her eyes, awakening from the image of the perfect rose, smashed and cut, yet still beautiful. Immediately she groaned and shut her eyes again, deciding she'd rather not wake up right away. Despite the dimly lit room, the thin light threatened to give her a splitting headache. Unfortunately, her brief attempt at surfacing to consciousness was noticed.

There was the sound of someone hurriedly jumping out of a chair nearby, and then a voice calling excitedly. "Akane? Akane? You're awake?"

"Oww," she moaned keeping her eyes forced shut. "Not so loud," she mumbled.

"Doctor Tofu!" The voice shouted despite Akane's pleas for quiet. "She's awake!"

Akane abandoned her attempts at regaining her beloved sleep and carefully opened her eyes just in time to see Doctor Tofu rush into the room. "Ah, good. It's about time you woke up. How you feeling?"

"Headache," was all she could manage to squeak out pitifully.

Doctor Tofu merely nodded. "Yes, that's to be expected. The effects of the drug should be something similar to a hangover," he said while checking her pulse.

"Ugh. Remind me never to drink." Her eyes drifted over to her left where Ranma stood, looking down at her with a mixture of relief and worry. His eyes were slightly bloodshot, and there were faint circles beneath them. Akane also noticed Doctor Tofu was dressed in his bedclothes. "What time is it?"

"It's almost 3:00 in the morning."

"Then," she began to push herself up but flinched and raised a hand to her forehead. "Ah!"

Doctor Tofu gently helped her lie back down. "It's okay, just rest."

Akane settled back into the bed and closed her eyes again. "What happened? I remember getting the rose and that strange note, but then…"

"Well, it seems the rose was laced with a drug known as Zise de Yigen ci, or Purple Thorns. It comes from a poisonous herb found only in China."

"But I'm okay right? Did you give me some kind of antidote?"

Doctor Tofu shifted nervously. "Yes, you're going to be perfectly fine, but no, I didn't give you an antidote. In order to reverse the effects of this particular drug you need the original herb and unfortunately it is very hard to find. Plus you need to know the way to prepare the herb, which I don't. Luckily you were only given a small amount of the drug. With a little rest, you should be able to do away with the effects of the drug."

"What would have happened if I had been exposed to more?"
Doctor Tofu hesitated. "It's difficult to say. The reason the herb is so rarely used is because even the slightest variation in quantity and preparation can mean the difference between life and death. For instance, the amount you were exposed to was merely enough to knock you out for about 12 hours. Even the slightest amount more would've put you into a long lasting comma, maybe even induced death."

"Then whoever gave me that rose was really trying to kill me?"

"I don't think so. If that had been the intent, this person would've used a different drug. One that was easier to obtain and had more definite results. Fortunately I don't think whoever gave you the rose meant to kill you. You were given the exact amount needed to simply put you out for a little while. This person knew how to handle the herb."

Akane shivered. "B-But why would someone just give me a small amount then?"

Doctor Tofu glanced at Ranma. "It seems it was merely a warning."

"A warning for what?"

Doctor Tofu didn't answer. "Never mind that now. Right now you need to rest. You should be feeling much better when you wake up. We'll talk more then. Your family said they'd come back in the morning as well to check on you. They were here earlier, but I sent them home telling them you were going to be just fine." He turned to Ranma. "Ranma, you should probably go home, get some rest as well."

"No, I want to stay here."

Doctor Tofu hesitated for a moment but after seeing the look in Ranma's eyes merely nodded and left the room. When he left Ranma sat back in his chair.

"Ranma?"

"What is it Akane?" Ranma asked pushing his chair closer to her so he could hear her voice better.

She gently clasped his hand for comfort. "I'm sorry about yelling at you before."

"Hey, don't worry about something like that now. Besides, if anything I should be apologizing to you. You were right. I really am clueless when it comes to girls. I never handle things right," he said in a whimsical matter.

"What's wrong?" Akane asked. Somehow she sensed that he wasn't simply talking about Ukyo.

"Nothing," he responded a little too quickly. "Anyway, you need to get some rest now, okay?"

"A-alright," Akane yawned realizing just how tired she was after all. "Goodnight Ranma. Thanks for taking care of me," she said as she closed her eyes.

"Goodnight, Akane," Ranma responded, but she was already asleep. He sighed and looked down at her hand still clasped in his own. "I can't bear to have you thanking me, Akane. Especially when this is all my fault." Ranma sat back in his chair and watched over Akane as she slept, a troubled frown never leaving his face.

* * * *

~...In between dreams I sit and wonder

Did you ever love me like you love her?

Can you ever love me again?

Am I still in your heart at all?...~

* * * *

The lone figure soundlessly made her way down the stairs, pausing ever so briefly to look at the sleeping form camped out on the floor for the night. Her eyes narrowed to slits and managed to flash in the night, black upon golden. The poor lost boy had chosen the wrong time to return, and unfortunately that could only mean one thing. He would get caught up in the crossfire.

"I hadn't intended for you to die," she hissed, her voice drowning, being suppressed by the darkness around her. "But now that you're here..." Ryoga slept on, ignorant to the potential threat standing over him.

Sachiko slowly pulled the herbs from her pocket, a malicious grin spreading across her face. "And no one will even understand why. 'He just went in his sleep,' they'll say. 'What a pity, he was so young.' Or at least that's what they would say. If there was anyone to care for you at all."

She began to crumble the herbs within her fist. After all, the pure substance was always the strongest. Sachiko took a step forward as she slowly began to close the gap between her and her prey. Five steps... Four... Three... Two... She paused. A look upon her face showed her to be cold, uncaring, and emotionless. There was nothing to hold her back. She closed the last step between them and slowly knelt above the boy. With a practiced calm, she stared upon his sleeping face and raised her palm before it, slowly uncurling her fingers. "Such a pity," she said. "You know, all along, it should have been you. Not her. But alas, what's done is done. And now, now you must pay. Although you shall never know why." And then, with that same, malicious grin, she lowered her lips to her hand and blew gently at the herbs, watching in satisfaction as he inhaled deeply.

* * * *

Sachiko woke with a shout. "No!" She sat up, breathing heavily. "It's not me! That girl! She isn't me!" Yet in the back of her head she knew it didn't matter. Whether or not it was her own hand or someone else's, she was the one that had sealed his fate. At first Sachiko didn't realize she had simply been dreaming, until she checked her pocket and sighed with relief. "Still there..." Reality slowly began to sink in. She had fallen asleep. A frown crossed her face. She wasn't supposed to fall asleep. Yet she was relieved to find it had been nothing more than a dream. She hadn't killed him. At least not yet. "I can't do it," she said placing her head in her hand and biting back tears. "I just can't do it," she murmured to herself.

It wasn't a new revelation. She had known from the very beginning it was a task she would never be able to complete. She couldn't kill anyone at all, not even Ryoga. No, especially not Ryoga. It had never been her intention to kill anyone. She was simply supposed to lay the groundwork, leaving the actual killing for... another. Yet now she realized, to actually allow that person to carry out the plan left blood on her hands as well. She might as well have been the executioner in her dream for all she had done and would do.

"Dammit Ryoga, why did you have to show up now of all times? It was going to be hard enough to carry out my mission, but now I have to deal with you as well!" She sighed. "Ah, Ryoga." She hated him for the curse he had put upon her life. Yet at the same time...

"Maybe I could put it off. Wait until Ryoga's left. That way..." she sighed. "No, it's too late. It has to be today. If I don't take care of Ryoga I won't be able to deal with Ukyo. But I can't have his blood on my hands." She paused and her thoughts switched to the kind girl that had let her into her home. That had trusted her. That had called her a friend.

"No," she said as she got to her feet. "I can't let either of them die."

* * * *

~...Goodbye to you,

Goodbye to me,

Goodbye to you,

That once was a part of me...~

* * * *

Sachiko ran soundlessly through the deserted streets. She had no direction. It didn't matter where she went. All she knew was she needed to get as far away from Ryoga and Ukyo as possible. That was the only way to ensure that they remained safe. Tears began to fall from her golden black eyes. She realized now that she was not the smiling, happy girl she pretended to be. Yet at the same time she was not the person with the cold, emotionless eyes that could kill without the slightest hesitation. Even though she played both parts, she was neither of those people. She was simply Sachiko. An ordinary girl who wanted to have friends, the approval of her father, and the love of one man. Unfortunately Sachiko could never be that girl. Still, she held desperately to every shred of her identity she could grasp in hopes that she would not forever become the smiling puppet, or even worse, the emotionless killer. Sachiko shivered. "It doesn't matter who I become. It only matters who I don't become." With that realization she became more determined than ever to get away from the only two people she had ever been willing to call friends.

Unfortunately Sachiko was never given the chance to run away. As she rounded a corner she crashed into a tall man and fell to the ground. She looked up into two harsh eyes. The last two eyes she wanted to see.

The eyes were suddenly accompanied by an amused grin. "Taking a late night jog are we?"

Sachiko gulped. "No... I... I just..."

The man sighed and bent down to the ground where Sachiko still sat. "Sachiko, do not be afraid. This is how it must be."

Sachiko shook her head. "No! Please, I can't do this. I just can't. Ryoga's so trusting and innocent. And Ukyo was so nice to me. They're my friends! Why do we have to hurt them? This has nothing to do with them."

"It's the only way to truly make him feel pain. Pain as you've felt."

"But that doesn't justify this! I can't do it. I won't do it," she said defiantly.

The old man sighed and shook his head. "Such a foolish child," he said. "Very well, if you refuse, I'll simply find someone else..."

"No! You can't! I won't let you! I can't be that person anymore. It scares me too much, and what happens if I can't come back this time? Besides, they're my friends, I can't let anything happen to them..."

The man glared down at her with a harsh frown. "After all I've done for you, you dare to go against me, your own father?"

"I-I'm sorry. It's just that..."

"Enough!" He yelled as he struck her hard across the cheek. With a cry of pain she fell back and landed against the wall letting out a small gasp before sinking into unconsciousness.

* * * *

Wednesday Morning

Akane woke later that morning to the familiar sound of crying in the next room. At first she began to grow frantic that something might have happened until she recognized the voice of her older sister, Kasumi, gently trying to calm down her father. Akane opened her eyes and began to sit up, starting to feel like her old self again. She stretched and stopped short as she noticed Ranma bent over in his chair with his head rested on her bed. Akane smiled to herself as she noticed he had never let go of her hand while she had slept. As she heard the sound of her family coming towards her room, she squeezed his hand and gently nudged him to wake up. "Ranma, wake up. It's morning."

He jumped and woke up immediately growing tense. "Wh-Was I sleeping?"

Akane giggled slightly. "Well yeah, Silly."

Ranma frowned and was about to say something but then the door opened and the Tendos rushed in with Doctor Tofu and Ranma's father the panda.

"Akane!!!" Soun wailed as he rushed to Akane's bedside.

"Father, you promised..." Kasumi began to protest.

"It's okay Sis, but really Daddy, I'm fine! Just a little queasy, but I'm feeling much better now."

"If you think that's bad you should've seen him last night. He almost flooded the place," Nabiki said. Sarcasm had always been her way of hiding her true feelings. The truth was that she had been just as terrified as the rest of them when she had first seen her younger sister lying lifeless in that bed. Yet as she looked over at Ranma she realized that her fear had been nothing in comparison to his. Nabiki's terror had passed as soon as she was told that Akane would be fine, but Ranma's terror was still clearly evident on his face. Nabiki felt her stomach sink. "He's worried this might happen again. Akane may still be in danger."

While the rest of the group all gathered around Akane making over her condition, Nabiki casually made her way over to Ranma's side. "We need to talk," she said in a low voice.

He looked up nervously, and then his eyes darted back to Akane. "But what about Akane?"

"I'm sure she'll be fine for a few minutes."

He watched Akane talking to Kasumi for a moment and then nodded hesitantly. "Alright." He and Nabiki quietly made their way out the door.

"Akane's not the real target is she? It's you, isn't it?"

Ranma faltered for just a moment but Nabiki immediately noticed it. "H-How should I know!?"

"Ranma, be straight with me. If anything were ever to happen to her I would make sure you'd live to regret it."

"You wouldn't have to bother, okay! If anything were to happen to her then I... I... just couldn't live with myself."

Nabiki sighed. "So are you going to tell me what's going on here or not?"

Ranma hesitated. "I-I don't know for sure. I knew someone a long time ago that used to know about this herb..."

"Then it must be that person."

"No, it couldn't be."

"Are you absolutely sure?"

He nodded his head, "Yes. I'm sure, there's just no way that person could ever do something like this. No way." Nabiki was less confident. There was something not right about the way Ranma responded so quickly and so certainly. As if he was still trying to convince himself. As if by saying those words it would make them true. "Besides," Ranma continued. "There's this boy. He's been showing up lately. I fought him a few days ago and he... made a move to threaten Akane."

Nabiki raised her eyebrow. "Who is he?"

"I don't know. He said he used to be called Yuri but that now he had no name. Whatever that means. But I'd never seen him before. Although..."

"Although what?"
"Well, it's strange. I know I've never met him before. I would've remembered this guy for sure. But somehow, it feels like a part of me does know him. As if we had met in another life or something." He shook his head. "I don't know. I've never been one to believe in that kind of stuff. But now..."

"Okay, so what do we know about this guy?" Nabiki said dismissing Ranma's lapse into mysticism.

"Not much. We didn't fight for very long. However, he did seem to recognize the Hiro Shouten Ha. Akane and I were going to go and talk to Cologne after school yesterday, but then..."

Nabiki nodded. "Okay then, let's go see Cologne. Right now she may be our only lead."

"But what about Akane?"

"I'm going too," Akane said from the door, which she was leaning against slightly.

"Akane," Ranma said in concern. "What are you doing!? You need to rest!"

"I'm fine Ranma! Besides, you promised that you weren't going to go without me, remember?"

"Well yeah, but that was then, and now..."

"No buts!" She let go of the door and took a few shaky steps towards them. "I'm coming with you," she said with determination.

Nabiki sighed and looked over at Doctor Tofu, who despite the slightly glazed over glasses from the close proximity to Kasumi seemed confident enough. "Akane," he said. "It would be better for you to stay here and rest, but I know how stubborn you are. As long as you promise to take it easy, you should be okay. It may be a little early for you to be up and about but you would've needed the exercise eventually anyway. Just be careful, alright?"

"Alright, I promise."

"I still don't want you going." Ranma said firmly. "We have no idea what might happen. It could be dangerous."

Akane glared at him. "So what are you going to do then? Leave me here? What if that's exactly what this person wants? The way I see it, we can either go now, or we could waste a lot of time by waiting here until you think I'm well enough to go with you. Who knows what will happen by the time I'm feeling better!" She put her hands on her hips and leveled Ranma with a determined stare. It seemed as if her strength had returned to her along with her sudden outburst.

Ranma paused for only a moment as he tried to think of some kind of good counter. "Agh! You are just so un-cute you know that? Fine! Have it your way then. Let's go." He turned around and grumpily made his way outside of the clinic.

Akane blinked, her enjoyment of winning the argument only slightly hindered by Ranma's reaction.

"Don't let it bother you so much," Doctor Tofu said to her.

"What do you mean?" Akane asked spinning around to face him.

"That's just his way of dealing with things. Deep down, he's terrified. He was very worried about you, Akane."

Akane blushed and looked down. "I-I know."

"So don't let it bother you that much, okay? Just try to understand how you'd feel if you were in his position. If something happened to him and you thought there was nothing you could do to help him..."

Akane shuddered at the thought and nodded. "Alright, I understand."

Just then Ranma came back in the door. "Come on already! If you don't hurry up I'm leaving without you!"

"I'm coming!" She smiled at the doctor. "Thank you Doctor Tofu. Alright, come on Nabiki, let's go."

"That's okay. I think I'll leave it to you guys. I'm going to run some checks on a few other things. I'll meet up with you two later on."

"You sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Oh come on you guys!" Ranma growled. "Look, I'll make it easy. I'm leaving now. If anyone wants to come with me you'd better hurry up and do so." He turned and walked out the door again.

Akane sighed. "I guess I'd better get going then."

"Hey Sis?" Akane stopped and looked back at Nabiki. "Be careful okay?"

"I will," Akane said as she made her way out the door.

Nabiki sighed as she watched her sister leave the room, hoping that the nagging feeling in her stomach was nothing more than nerves. She quenched the thought and made her way back into the other room where her father was so busy crying that he hadn't even noticed the departure of his daughters.

Meanwhile, Kasumi, who had been watching the whole exchange from the doorway came into the room and placed a hand on Dr. Tofu's shoulder. "That was a very nice thing for you to do."

Doctor Tofu jumped at the sound of her soft voice, and the touch of her hand. "K-Kasumi! Wh-What..."

"Akane's always respected your opinion a great deal. I'm sure your words were a great encouragement to her. I just wanted to say thank you. For everything you've done for her."

"Oh, really it's no bother... She's a sweet girl, and I uh..." He blushed and continued to stutter, while laughing nervously.

Kasumi squeezed his shoulder slightly, turning to make her way back to the other room. "Oh," she stopped and smiled back at him. "By the way, I had a wonderful time yesterday morning." With that said, she disappeared into the other room, leaving a very red Doctor Tofu standing alone.

* * * *

~...Was your love for me just a passing season?

You came into my life and left with my heart

You were just passing through

Leaving me with nothing...~

* * * *

"I still don't like you coming," Ranma grumbled. "You should be back at Doctor Tofu's resting.

"Honestly Ranma, it's just the Nekohanten. It's not like we're facing some fire breathing dragons or anything. Just an over zealous fiancé, her great grandmother and a half blind, eccentric hidden weapons expert."

Ranma sighed. "Not to mention 2000 years of Amazon tradition," he mumbled after a moment.

Akane smiled as she noticed Ranma slowly returning to his less serious mood. "I thought it was just 1500 years."

"Eh, it skips around a lot."

She laughed. "I wonder how long it's really been."

"Who knows? I doubt the old goat even knows herself."

Their laughter was cut short by the familiar sound of a death proclamation.

"Ranma Saotome! Prepare to die!" The announcement was actually made by two different people from opposite sides of the alley.

"Wow, surround sound!" Ranma said as he looked to his left to see Kuno charging full speed with his bonken. He then turned to his right to see Mousse charging full speed as well, various weapons and paraphernalia already shooting in his direction. He then turned to Akane who was looking nervous at the way Ranma was simply standing there. "So now, in your opinion, what's my best course of action?"

Akane looked left then right in a panic as the two boys grew dangerously close. Then she smiled. "Up?"

Ranma grinned. "Very good!" With that said, he scooped Akane up into his arms and jumped straight into the air, landing gracefully on the fence behind them, safely out of range as the two boys met in a head on collision.

Akane tried her best to stifle a laugh as she and Ranma safely landed back on the ground. She was only partially successful until an object caught her eye. Among the debris of weapons and tangled martial artists, a small piece of paper drifted lazily towards the ground. Akane snatched the piece of paper out of the air to examine it.

Meanwhile Ranma interrogated the two fallen martial artists. "Come on you guys, this is ridiculous. What could I have possibly done since yesterday to deserve an early morning ambush?"

"You tried to kill my beloved Shampoo!" Mousse shouted.

"Saotome, you cur. How dare you make an attempt on my sister's life and then feign ignorance!" Kuno chorused at the same time.

Ranma stared at the two. "What in the world are you..." He was cut off by a gasp from Akane's direction.

"Ranma! Look at this," she said as she handed the note to Ranma. "It's almost exactly like the note I received, only it reads..."

He quickly snatched the card from her hands and began to read the card aloud.

"A cruel and simple gift this may be,

For this rose withers in comparison to you

For surely even the most splendid of roses

To you cannot even begin to compare."

Akane looked over his shoulder. "And the katakana," she squinted making out the words within the text. "For surely you cannot..." she blinked and looked at Ranma, confused. "Cannot what?"

"What difference does it make? The real question is where did it come from?"

"Once more feigning ignorance, I see," Kuno said. He had finally managed to break free from the tangled mess he had been wrapped up in, and was now waving his bonken in Ranma's face. Actually it was a toy rubber sword that he had picked up by mistake from the cluttered pile of weapons, but of course Kuno had still failed to notice this, and for all intensive purposes believed the object he held was his trusted Kendo sword. "Saotome, for the crimes you've committed against my sister, and for your inability to confess to your sins, I shall now punish you."

Ranma began to dodge Kuno's attacks lazily. "Give it a rest Kuno! I don't even know what happened to Kodachi. Besides, I was with Akane all day yesterday."

"That's right Kuno," Akane said.

"Never fear, my dear Akane Tendo. You shan't have to lie for him any longer. Surely I will smite him this time, and then you will be free to..."

Ranma sighed and planted his foot in Kuno's face, causing the boy to fall over, unconscious. "Guess we're not going to get any information out of him." He then turned and faced Mousse. "What about you Mousse? Care to tell me what's going on here?"

Mousse had just regained his composure and was about to resume his attack on Ranma when Cologne popped up out of nowhere and whapped him over the head with her staff.

"Stupid Mousse! Didn't I tell you to stay and watch after Shampoo while I went to find the future son in law? Honestly Mousse, if you can't even follow some simple instructions..."

"Watch after Shampoo?" Akane asked suddenly, cutting off Cologne's lecture. "Why? Did something happen to her?"

The ancient Amazon looked up at Akane and sighed. For the first time ever, Akane could almost see the woman's age showing in her face. She looked tired, for once, and her worry was evident on her face. "Yes, unfortunately. Someone poisoned her last night with this Chinese drug. She'll be fine, I'm sure. However, she still hasn't regained consciousness yet. But that isn't what worries me. I'm more concerned with who might have poisoned her. After all, few people know of this drug..."

"Zise de Yigen ci," Ranma interrupted.

Cologne looked at him in surprise. "Yes, but how did you..."

"Akane was poisoned with the same drug yesterday afternoon. She received a rose with a note attached to it."

Cologne nodded. "Just as Shampoo did."

"And something tells me the same thing happened to Kodachi as well," Akane added.

"What gives you that idea, Akane?" Ranma asked.

"Well think about it Ranma. Kuno doesn't usually hunt you down in order to ambush you early in the morning for no reason. He usually just waits until you arrive at school. And besides, I think he was carrying this note," she said while waving the small piece of paper around.

"Oh dear," Cologne muttered. "This is proving more serious than I would have originally thought."

"Cologne, by any chance do you have the note Shampoo received with you?" Akane asked.

"Ah come on Akane. Quit wasting your time with those stupid notes. They're just a bunch of nonsense."

"Oh really? Then why'd someone bother to write them in the first place? There must be some kind of clue in them. And if we can just figure out what those clues are then maybe we can get to the bottom of this whole thing."

"I must say that I am inclined to agree with you, Akane Tendo," said Cologne. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a card that was almost identical to the other two cards Akane held in her hand. "Maybe if we can find all of these notes and put them together we can figure something out."

Akane took the card from Cologne and slowly read it over.

"As I stare into the night I think of you,

For the stars shine like the light in you eyes,

The light which will save me, from the darkness,

For if your love were a star, it would be the brightest of them all."

There was complete silence as Akane and Cologne tried to figure out what the words might mean. Therefore, it was rather annoying when Ranma finally broke the silence. "WHO IN THE WORLD WRITES THIS CRAP!?"

"Ranma!"

"But I mean come on? Your eyes are like stars? Bleh. How pathetic can you get? It sounds like something Kuno would write!"

"Be that as it may, it's all we have to go on. So unless you have some better idea I suggest you..."

"Hmmm... Akane, did the other two notes have parts written in katakana?"

"Yes, actually. I was wondering about that myself."

"How strange. May I see them?"

"Yes, of course. Here you go."

Cologne quickly took the notes and spread them out on the ground. Meanwhile Ranma continued to complain. "We don't have time for this. We should be searching for that Yuri guy or something."

"Yuri..." Cologne growled under her breath.

"You know him?"

"Know him? No, I do not. However, there was once a man named Yuri that caused great turmoil within our clan. Though we have fought many foes over the ages, not one has been as destructive as him, since he destroyed us not from the outside, but from the inside. He created great discord amongst us and now his very name has become a bit of a curse amongst us."

"Well, maybe he's the same guy that's been doing all of this."

Cologne chuckled lightly. "I highly doubt that, son-in-law."

"Why's that?"

"Because, this Yuri died many years ago at the hand of one of our fearless leaders."

"Oh..." Ranma said, dropping his head in disappointment. He had been so hopeful that Cologne would have been able to give him some information to go off of.

Just then Akane gasped. "Ranma, Cologne, look at this!" The two huddled around Akane as she rearranged the letters and put them into a specific order. "Now look, if you read just the katakana in a specific order, starting with the one I received it says 'Protect the one that matters the most, for surely you cannot save them all...' Hmm. But then what does that mean?"

"Oh no..." Ranma stuttered, panic beginning to creep into his voice.

"What? Did you figure out who wrote it?"

"No, but think about it. First you, then Kodachi, and Shampoo... That only leaves one person. Ukyo."

"Oh no!"

"Cologne, you'd better take Mousse and hurry back to watch over Shampoo." Cologne immediately complied as she realized the seriousness of their situation. Ranma had hardly finished his sentence before rushing over to Kuno. Since the boy was still unconscious, Ranma kicked him in the side to wake him up. "Kuno, listen to me for once. If you value the life of your sister I suggest you get home right now and watch out for her."

"Nay, but the threat wouldst be..."

"Kuno it wasn't me!" Ranma shouted, his patience running thin. "So you can fool yourself into blaming me as much as you want, but that doesn't change the fact that I didn't do it, and therefore the person that did is still out there. So if you don't want your sister to get killed I suggest you go home right now." The urgency in Ranma's voice must have broken through Kuno's delusions, because for once, Kuno actually listened to Ranma and made his way to his feet.

"If I find out this was yet another of your tricks, Saotome..."

"Just go!"

Kuno nodded once and then turned to hurry back in the direction he had come.

"Now Akane..."

"Forget it Ranma, I'm coming with you!" Akane shouted before he could finish.

"You're damn right you're coming with me. How the hell am I supposed to protect you if you're not with me?"

Akane stared at him for a moment, stunned by his reaction. "R-Ranma..."

"Come on Akane, we don't have time for this. Ukyo may be in trouble. Now come on, let's go!"

"Right!" she said, determinedly as they both took off as fast as they could down the street.

* * * *

~...Leaving me with nothing,

I have nothing

But fragments of these hopes and dreams

And the wish for something that will never be...~

* * * *

Ryoga was awoken by a slight scuffling noise somewhere nearby. As he groaned and forced his eyelids open slowly, he found them to be unusually heavy, and the very task of opening his eyes was surprisingly difficult. Nonetheless, he forced them open, and carefully looked around the dark room. Not being able to see he strained his ears for the slightest sound of a movement.

"You're awake," said a sharp voice.

"Who's there? Who are you?" Ryoga made an attempt to move, but quickly found that the same heaviness that had afflicted his eyelids was encompassing his whole body. "Wh-What's going on? Why can't I move?"

"Just a touch of paralysis drug," said the same voice, and now Ryoga could just make out a shadow that gestured towards a small incense burner no more than a few feet away. Ryoga looked from the shadow to the incense burner, and then with as much strength and speed that he could muster, he propped himself up on his elbow and knocked over the burner.

"Hmm. Quite impressive," said the voice again. "You shouldn't have been able to move at all. I always knew you had great strength and potential. We would have made quite a team if things had gone according to plan. Although it's too late for that now." The owner of that voice stepped forward, stopping directly in a patch of light, filtering in from a nearby window.

"You!" Ryoga said, immediately recognizing the stoic boy with the golden black eyes. He strained once again to move, and this time managed to force himself into a sitting position against the wall.

"Hmm, interesting. I suppose you are not experiencing the full effects of the drug."

Ryoga growled. "You coward! Have you no honor at all? It's one thing to go and fight a person constantly without giving him a reason why, but to go and poison them so that they can't even defend themselves…"

The boy sighed. "Relax. I'm not going to try to kill you or anything."

"Then why did you poison me?"

"Believe me, it wasn't my idea. Poisons and the like aren't really my style. Too messy. I'd much rather just fight the old fashioned way. But at least this way you'll stay out of my way."

"Why? What are you planning to do?"

"What, you think I'll actually tell you? Don't misunderstand me, Hibiki. I'm not one of those prideful villains that can't restrain from revealing the ingenuity of their plans. I will tell you this though. If for some reason that drug wears off and you attack me, I get to kill you."

"So why not just kill me now if I'm in your way?"

"If you must know I promised a certain person that I wouldn't fight you unless it was to defend myself."

Ryoga scoffed. "Oh? So I'm guessing you're taking orders from some woman then? How pathetic."

"I do hope you are not trying to taunt me. Because I must inform you your attempts will be useless. True, I am following the wishes of a woman, but it is through no will of my own that I do so."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Your curse, Ryoga," the boy began in a seemingly unrelated manner. "You turn into a piglet."

"How did you know that?"

The boy dismissed the question with a wave of his hand before continuing. "You are naturally human. You walk on two legs. Yet the minute you first transformed you knew exactly how to walk on your four legs. Do you not find that strange?"

"What are you babbling about?"

"Just as I thought. You've never even thought about it, have you? It figures," he said in a disapproving tone. "Well then, I suppose I must enlighten you. You see," he said in a tone very much like one that a teacher would adopt when talking to six year old. "When something falls into a spring of Jusenkyo, it does not only take on the body of the creature that drowned there, but the mind and spirit as well."

Ryoga for his part did not enjoy being patronized. "Oh come on, you don't honestly expect me to believe that, do you?"

"How else do you explain your ability to move like a pig in that body?"

"Fine, I admit it. I don't know! So maybe you are right. But answer me this. If I've really taken on the mind and soul of some pig that drowned, how come I am still myself when in cursed form?"

The boy sighed. "That's slightly more complicated to explain. But in short your mind is more powerful than that of a pig and your will is stronger. Therefore, that second mind within you can only come through enough to give you an understanding of instinctual memories, which is how you know how to walk and move."

"Well, you see, when in your original body your mindset is stronger, but the second mindset is still present and can still control your body, but only if it is stronger than you. Not a problem for those with an animal's mind and a human's mind, the human mindset will most undoubtedly win out. But for those with two human mindsets the battle for control of the mind is less certain."

"So what about Ranma then? He never has to fight for control of his mind."

A frown darkened Yuri's face and he spoke in a voice that was so cold it sent chills down Ryoga's back. "Because Rayne refuses to fight for control."

"Huh? What does that mean? And what does rain have to do with anything?"

"Not rain, you fool, Rayne!"

"What's the difference?"

"Oh never mind. I've wasted too much time trying to explain this to you in the first place. Just know this. Ranma's situation is unique, and the spirit he shares is of a kinder, more resigning nature. His other half has no wish for control. However, for others it is not so easy. For some... for some like me the battle for control is ongoing. Ever lasting."

"Y-You mean you have a curse as well?"

Yuri chuckled. "Don't be silly." His eyes flashed suddenly. "I am the curse." A dark smile crossed his face. "Sachiko's the cursed."

"S-Sachiko? You're Sachiko?"

"Yes and no. Like I said before, whoever has the strongest will gains control. So in truth, I am myself, Yuri. Yet it's strange really. How I can have all my memories from my past life. But yet all of hers are there as well."

"No, I don't believe you. Sachiko's strong. There's no way she would ever give up control of her mind and let you go around killing her friends."

"You really are dense aren't you? And so trusting. What do you really know about her anyway? All you know is what she's told you. And unfortunately she's been lying to you since day one. However, you should be comforted. She really did consider you a friend. That's why I'm unable to harm you. Although I wish nothing more than to punish you for the havoc you've caused in our lives. I really don't understand her sudden compassion for you. She used to blame you for this whole predicament."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Think back Ryoga. When you and Sachiko traveled together for the first time, when exactly did you split up?"

"I don't know. Somewhere in China. We just kind of got separated. I think it was right around…"

"Don't you remember, Ryoga? The day you arrived at Jusenkyo? I remember it well. I was waiting at a place between this world and the next. I was waiting for the one that was to fall into my spring and give me another chance to live out my revenge. That one was supposed to be you Ryoga. But unfortunately you are so directionally challenged that your movements are near impossible to predict. Fate had foreordained a 95% chance of you falling into my spring. But of course you had to go the less likely route and fall a few feet to the right, into the spring of drowned pig."

Yuri sighed before continuing his story. "For a moment there I thought that my chance was lost, and I was greatly angered, but then another came along. You still don't remember, do you Ryoga? How that morning you had awoken and found Sachiko gone. How you had looked for her for quite some time. And then you reached the place where you overlooked the springs… She was looking for you as well. Originally her plan had been to leave without saying goodbye. You had served your purpose, and it was time for her to move on. Yet she felt guilty for leaving without so much as an explanation. So she went back, and found you in just enough time to watch you fall to the springs below. She immediately rushed down the side of the cliff to find you, and make sure you were okay. But by the time she got there you had already disappeared. As she ventured dangerously close to the springs I saw my chance and seized it. Through my powers I managed to raise a mist around her, obscuring her vision, yet her footing was careful, and she never faltered as she continued to call out your name. But then she heard your scream, coming from the guide's cottage, and as she spun around in shock she slipped and fell into the cold embrace of my spring. Fortunately she wasn't prone to resist my influence, or else she would have been difficult to control."

"You're sick, you know that? What gives you the right to take control of another human being? Especially someone as caring and kind as Sachiko. How dare you use her to carry out your own twisted revenge!"

"My revenge?" He chuckled. "Boy, you misunderstand. My revenge comes later. This isn't my revenge that I'm carrying out right now. It's Sachiko's. I'm doing all of this… For her."

"I don't believe you. There's no way that Sachiko would want to hurt someone."

Yuri smirked. "Remember that quest of hers she was always referring to? The one she would never explain to you in detail? Well, that quest of hers was a quest of revenge. You know, revenge, it's such a beautiful thing. It can make even the purest heart turn cold and malicious. It is not her purity that made her easy to control, it was her heart that was already shrouded in darkness, and that drive of hers to make the one that caused her so much pain suffer as she had." He grinned down at the horrified look on Ryoga's face. "Shall I tell you then? About Sachiko and her beloved fiancé… Ranma Saotome?"

* * * *

End of Chapter 4

IF YOU WANT MORE YOU MUST REVIEW!!!!

I plan on finishing this story of course, but I'm working on this and Eighteen Years at the same time. However, I've been considering putting off EY so I can just finish up this story. Let me know what you want me to do by REVIEWING! Oh, and you might want to check out my webpage as well (see my profile). After all, this was posted there for several days before I got around to putting it up here. I post there a lot quicker since it is my webpage...

A/N: Okay, so yeah, it was an obvious plot all along: Some girl that knows Ranma ends up falling into the spring of drowned man... However, my whole intention was to throw in a bunch of twists in order to throw you off track. But now all is revealed, and I'm very relieved to have the main plot out in the open. But don't think just because the main twist has been uncovered that this story will be boring from here on out. No way, this is just the beginning.

The next chapter is going to be a flashback. Yes I know, flashbacks are annoying. I'm not too thrilled about this either, but it has to be done. It's basically Ranma and Sachiko's story. Oh, and if you're a Ranma and Akane fan, please don't stop reading my story because of this development. After all, I am a Ranma and Akane fan as well, but I don't necessarily subscribe to the belief that prior to meeting each other, Ranma and Akane never had any relationships with other people. Just forgive me for this please and continue to read my story.

My original intention was to end this chapter quite differently. Unfortunately some stuff that was supposed to occur in this chapter will now be bumped to chapter six. This is partially due to my frustration with this chapter and how much time it was taking. It would probably take me an extra month if I had to finish it the way I had in mind. Plus, the plotline I had before had some holes. It really works a lot better this way I think. The only real problem is that this conclusion isn't quite as dramatic as the original conclusion would have been. I've rewritten the final dialogue between Yuri and Ryoga more times than I care to count. In truth that last section is all I've been working on for the past three months. It was so tricky. After all, it is the point where three chapters worth of development fall into place. I had to get the characters to explain things without having them break character. This is not a simple task. Anyway, please let me know about any comments you have. Considering all the work I've put into this chapter I'd really hate for it to go unacknowledged. And I'll try to get chapter 5 out as fast as possible. It shouldn't be AS hard to write. At least I hope not...

Coming Soon: Chapter 5: Whispers of a Memory