Disclaimer: I wish I did, but I don't

Kiyomisa: This chapter's shorter than the others but I felt that it ended best where it does. ^-^ Have fun!

* * *

The group sat at camp, two fires being used to heat some water for the unfortunate cursed.

"Is that water ready yet?" Akane inquired mildly, fingering her mallet. Kagome looked up at her cousin with a look of apprehension.

"You're not going to pound him, are you?"

"Of course I'm going to pound him! He's been sleeping in my bed!"

"But he's never done anything has he?" Kagome pointed out.

Akane gritted her teeth in frustration. "That's not the point! How would you feel if you just found out that Inu-Yasha had been sneaking into your bed for the past year?"

Kagome's eyes widened and she looked at the demon in question. Inu-Yasha blinked at her, not having heard the conversation. Kagome's face turned bright red at the idea and it was turning even redder as Inu-Yasha stepped closer, a question on his lips.

"SIT!" Kagome cried out, and Inu-Yasha was thrown to the ground forcibly.

"What was that for!?" he yelled at her. Kagome didn't answer and turned her blushing attention back to the kettle, which was now whistling merrily.

Akane snorted, knowing that she had made her point. "See?"

Kagome shook her head. "But that's different. Ryoga was a pig at the time, so even if he had wanted to do something, which I doubt, he couldn't have. And besides, it's not like you weren't wearing any pajamas. "

Akane just rolled her eyes and snatched the kettle from her cousin. She stormed over to Ryoga, who had fallen asleep in Ukyo's lap. Ukyo looked up at her friend in surprise.

"It's time," Akane said through pursed lips. Ukyo's eyes narrowed, but she gently shook Ryoga awake.

"Bwee…? Bwee!!"

Akane was about to pour the hot water onto the pig, when Ranma snatched the kettle from her. "Geeze Akane! D'ya want to see him naked!?" she griped. Akane and Ukyo stared at him in shock for a moment.

"Here, we'll be back in a minute," Ranma muttered, grabbing Ryoga by the scruff of his neck.

Akane growled tensely and kicked at the ground with her foot. Her eyes fell on Ukyo, who was sitting with a slightly dazed look on her face. She waved her hand before the cook's eyes. Nothing. Not even a blink.

"Ukyo, Ukyo!"

Still nothing. "Oh my gosh, Ryoga really is naked!" she called softly.

Ukyo jerked and whipped her head around. "Nani!?" When she realized she'd been tricked, she glared at the younger girl.

"Ne, Ukyo, are you sure you're still after Ranma?" Akane asked sweetly, making the brunette blush.

"Why do you ask? Want me out of the way?" Ukyo retorted smoothly. Akane snorted, a small blush spreading across her own cheeks and she crossed her arms over herself. "Yeah right."

Ranma and Ryoga returned, Ranma with a stern look on his face, and Ryoga with a resigned expression.

Akane tapped her foot impatiently as Ryoga slowly approached her, head hanging down.

When he reached her, he forced himself to look her in the eyes. "Akane-san. Gomen ne sai. I deserve whatever punishment you have decided on."

Akane stilled at his sincere words and the gaze of his deep golden-brown eyes on hers. Then, her chin squared, she smacked him soundly. Ryoga winced, but made no sound. Akane scowled. She punched him. Still no sound. With a snarl, Akane began to beat on him furiously, knocking him to the ground with her blows. Soon she was crying, sobbing out, "Why!? Why did you do it!? You were such a good friend! I trusted you!" Her hands fell to her sides.

Ryoga opened his eyes and looked up at her, tears streaming down his own cheeks. "Akane-san. There's no excuse for what I did, and I can't forgive myself for betraying your trust. I…I only hope that…I can still be your friend. You…were the first true friend I'd ever had…"

"Ohhhh!" Akane sobbed and threw her arms around his neck. Flustered, Ryoga tentatively hugged her back.

Ranma and Ukyo watched in respectful silence until Ryoga noticed that Akane had fallen asleep in his arms. He looked up at Ranma. The other boy stepped forward with raised eyebrows. Ryoga handed the sleeping girl to him. "Here. I think she wore herself out with those punches."

Ranma nodded and carried Akane over to her sleeping pad. Ukyo laid a soft hand on Ryoga's arm, only to have him wince. "Poor Ryoga, she really pounded on you hard, didn't she?"

Ryoga smiled weakly. "Hai, but I deserved it."

Ukyo shook her head and she wet a piece of cloth in cool water so she could bathe his fresh bruises. "I don't think you did."

"You would have done the same thing in her place," Ryoga said quietly, tensing as she pressed the cloth against his cheek.

"I wouldn't!" Ukyo protested, a dismayed look upon her face. "I-I think it was sweet…" she finished in a voice so low that only Ryoga or Inu-Yasha could have heard her at any distance.

Ryoga said nothing and didn't look at her, but Ukyo thought that the cloth she was using on his face was getting warm rather quickly.

* * *

Shampoo was worried about Mousse. He'd been very quiet of late, and she often spotted him just staring into the distance. It took two or three hails before he responded to anyone.

"Boo!" a small voice cried out as a big bug eyed thing popped in front of her face suddenly.

"Aiyaa! Shippo!" the amazon replied intelligently.

The kitsune laughed and returned to his normal form.

"Don't do that to Shampoo! Shampoo might hit you!" Shampoo told him worriedly. The kitsune shrugged.

"You can't hit any harder than Inu-Yasha. So what's wrong with you?"

Shampoo blinked, then frowned. "Nothing wrong with Shampoo. Shippo not know what you talking about."

"Aww c'mon. You've been all frowny-faced all day." The kitsune pressed, sitting on her knee and giving her a comically stern look. Shampoo couldn't help but laugh and Shippo grinned. "So what's wrong?"

The amazon sighed. "Shampoo…worried about Mousse," she admitted hesitantly.

"Why?"

"Because, Mousse been quiet. Too quiet. Shampoo no like."

"Why don't you ask him what's wrong with him?" Shippo inquired blankly. Honestly, adults were so stupid sometimes.

Shampoo shook her head. "Shampoo can't. Shampoo can't care about Mousse," she said firmly, her face frowning determinedly.

Shippo blinked. "Nani? Why not?"

"Shampoo engaged to Ranma and Inu-Yasha. By amazon law, Shampoo must marry one. Shampoo not allowed to marry one who no beat her in combat."

Shippo tilted his head to the side. "So if Mousse beat you in combat, you'd be allowed to care about him?"

Shampoo blinked and thought about it. "Aiya…suppose Shippo could say so…" she admitted with a small frown.

"Then just get him to fight you, and lose," Shippo said plainly with a shrug.

Shampoo glared at him. "Shampoo never lose on purpose! Is dishonorable!"

"But Mousse'll never fight you for real, he doesn't want to hurt you," Shippo protested.

Shampoo merely nodded.

The young kitsune sighed in frustration. Grownups! "Fine. It's really not my problem, and you can't say I didn't try to help," he said, and with a flick of his tail he vanished in a small cloud of leaves.

Shampoo thought about it for a bit longer before shaking her head and heading over to the cook fire to help Kagome with dinner, smiling happily.

Kagome had been wary of Shampoo at first, but the amazon had been good to her word and hadn't tried to glomp onto Inu-Yasha again.

Kagome filled up a bowl and gave it to Shampoo. "Here Shampoo, take this to Mousse."

Shampoo was about to protest and say she'd rather take it to Ranma, when she saw Akane bringing him the food already. By all rights, she should go over there in a bound and get there before Akane, but she was too tired to deal with it tonight. Instead she merely nodded and headed over to Mousse.

"Mu Tsu, dinner's ready," she told him softly, holding the plate out. Mousse blinked behind his large glasses and took it from her with a look of slight surprise.

"Thank you, Xian Phu," he replied quietly, and began eating almost automatically.

Shampoo frowned. "Mu Tsu, what's wrong?" she demanded finally.

The hidden weapons expert blinked again and looked up at her. "What are you talking about?"

Shampoo sighed and ran her hand through a lock of her hair in frustration. "Normally if I had brought you dinner instead of Ranma, you'd get stars in your eyes and grab onto the nearest inanimate object calling it Xian Phu. Now you're just sitting here."

"I've been thinking."

"About what?"

"I-I'm going to stop courting you," Mousse confessed, setting the food down.

"What? Why?" Shampoo blurted in confusion. It wasn't like Mousse to give up.

Mousse smiled bitterly. "I thought you'd be happy Xian Phu. Now you can go after Ranma without me getting in your way."

"Idiot! Don't presume to think what I'd do! Why now all of a sudden?"

Mousse bit his lip thoughtfully and didn't answer at first. "I talked with Ukyo, after the wedding. She said…she cared for Ranma so much, that if it made him happy to marry Akane, then she wanted him to marry her. It's been gnawing at me, and I realized, that if I really did love you, I'd have to let you go."

Shampoo was touched. But she couldn't let Mousse know that. She blinked back the tears that were threatening to fall and she stood up and away from him. "Well. That's good. Now I can go after Ranma full power," she said curtly and strode away.

She pretended not to notice how Mousse slumped over, or hear his soft crying. It was best this way.

* * *

Naraku laughed to himself as he scryed upon the group. "Kohaku."

"Yes, Naraku-sama?"

"I want you to go and get something for me. In the group, will sometimes be a small duck with strange eyes. Bring this to me."

"It shall be done, Naraku-sama."

* * *

"There's a shard nearby…" Kagome murmured as the group set camp.

"Is it moving?" Inu-Yasha asked.

Kagome shook her head. "No. It's over there, but it's not doing anything." She pointed to the northwest.

Sango, Ukyo and Ryoga stood up. "We'll go investigate it."

"I think not," a dangerous female voice drawled.

"Kagura! Show yourself!" Miroku called out, bringing his staff forward.

With a laugh, the wind youkai appeared before them in her swirl of cloud. "How have you been? I see you've added to your rabble," she taunted from behind her fan.

"You bitch! Come back for another taste of the Tetsusaiga!?" Inu-Yasha snarled, drawing said blade.

She laughed. "It won't be me you'll be fighting today, too bad. Jousuiko, come out."

"You called, Onee-chan?" a cheerful voice asked as a waterspout grew from the ground. As it swirled back into the ground, it revealed a young looking girl with light blue hair and purple eyes, wearing a maneuverably short purple kimono.

"How 'bout cooling these jackasses down?"

"Hai, Onee-chan!" Jousuiko replied happily and gestured at the group. A large spray of water shot forth from her hand and into the middle of the group, creating havoc.

"Mrow!"

"AHHHHHHHHH! CATCATCATCAT!"

"BWEE!"

"Ryoga! Ranma!"

"The shard's coming closer!"

"You bitches! Cutting Wind!"

With twin screams of dismay, the youkai were blown back, only saved from being shredded by Kagura's windshield.

"Enough Jousuiko! Our task is done! Retreat!" Kagura sneered, and whisked the two of them away in her swirl of cloud.

"Come back you bitch!" Inu-Yasha yelled angrily.

Sango was busy hiding Shampoo from Ranma's sight so that Akane could calm him down and Ukyo was checking Ryoga carefully for injuries. Miroku was observing their ruined campsite and Kagome was frowning. "The shard's gone," she informed the group.

"Nani!? Whaddya mean it's gone!?" Inu-Yasha demanded.

Kagome spun on him angrily. "I mean it disappeared right after those youkai! It's not here anymore!"

"That's not the only thing gone, has anyone seen Mousse?" Miroku inquired blandly.

Ranma and Akane blinked, then began looking frantically for the now duck. Everyone else joined in as well, Shippo even occasionally turning himself into a duck to get a better idea of where the martial artist would have gone, but to no avail. He was gone.

* * *

Mousse woke up in a dimly lit room, wearing a simple kimono made of soft, black, white and grey cotton.

"He awakes," a low voice chuckled.

Mousse sat up and reached for his hidden weapons, but found none. Considering the fact that he could hide them on his clotheless person, it was an accomplishment of whoever had removed them.

"Who are you?" he demanded furiously of the shadowed figure in the corner.

"I am one who can give you your greatest dream," the voice said as warmly as a wet blanket on top of a fire.

Mousse snorted. "Yeah, I've heard that before. Who are you really?"

"I, Naraku, am one who wishes to help you win the hand of the fair Xian Phu."

"How do you know about Xian Phu!?" Mousse was about ready to attack Naraku, weapons or no weapons.

"I know a great many things. Are you not curious about how I can help you?"

Mousse snorted again. "I wouldn't take help from an ugly baboon like you even if you weren't my enemy."

For the first time, a slight hint of annoyance crept into Naraku's voice. "I see I shall have to do this the hard way." Where two eyes should have been, twin emerald glows appeared and bored into Mousse's own molasses eyes.

As much as the young man tried to fight it, a green haze descended over his mind and he lost control of his body.

Naraku approached him, holding something that shimmered in his fingers. "This shard will give you the strength to defeat Ranma, thus making Xian Phu yours. Once she's yours, you have no need to remain here, and you can return to your own world triumphantly," he said oily as he pressed the shard to the vertex of Mousse's collarbone.

Mousse was filled with the sudden desire to do nothing more than obliterate Ranma. With a snarl, he shoved Naraku away from him. "Don't touch me, Vermin! Just tell me where I can find Saotome!"

"Kagura, take our friend back to his companions and return his weapons to him."

Kagura stepped forward and bowed, a barely repressed look of disgust on her face.

"Yeah sure, Naraku-sama." With a wave of her fan, she and Mousse melted away from the room. Naraku laughed lowly to himself and fingered the large Shikon chunk he wore around his neck.

* * *

Kiyomsia: Oh poor Mousse!! Oh well. Boy I sure hate Naraku, stupid evil bishonen. I should summon Ilpallazzo on him! I can use the powers of Zoelmagustar!! * blinks * On second thought…I think I'll just let the gang get him…^-^'

A/N: Jousuiko's name means "child of clean water"...I think....^-^'