Disclaimer: You never knew that this was Rumiko Takahashi, did you? Oh...no one thought so? Well, I guess that makes sense:P...
Chapter 3: Shampoo Denies All Charges
And on with the story! Reviews, please! BTW, will somebody please answer the questions on my userlookup??? Please? Oh, I need to know what the difference between a lemon and a lime is! And...well, I'm not sure if what I'm thinking of is a lemon(or lime, w/e), because I'm probably gonna have like, er...maybe I shouldn't say this. it'd be giving too much away. But, anyway...I also need to know if you guys want this to be a lemon/limey thingy. I might make it a lemon anyway, because it's sorta supposed to be that way. But lemme know what you think!
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Akane walked out of the house and stopped short in shock. "Ranma!" He was right where she'd malleted him, in frot of the pond, but he was missing something. She jogged over to him and knelt down. "Ranma?" she said, shaking him. "Ranma, wake up already!"

Ranma opened his eyes and saw dirt. He quickly rolled over and sat up, coming face-to-face with Akane, her hands on his shoulders. "Ahhh!" was his first response. "Oh...Akane, it's you!"
"Yes, baka," she said with a slightly annoyed tone which quickly became concerned. "Ranma...what happened to you? Are you all right?" she continued before realizing that her hands were still on his shoulders and snatching them away.
"Akane, what's wrong? Why shouldn't I be all right?" Ranma was puzzled, and started to rub the back of his head in his charectaristic gesture, before realizing that something was missing. He twisted around, and finally manage to confirm that his pigtail was gone. "Akane...what the hell is going on??" he demanded. "If this is a joke, it ain't funny!"
"This is no joke, Ranma, someone cut off your pigtail!" Akane was slightly shocked, seeing Ranma without his usual pigtail, but, she had to notice, he looked more "manly" without it. "Buefore we find out who did it, we're gonna get Kasumi to trim it for you. Come on!" She dragged him off towards the kitchen.

After Kasumi was done with his hair(she hadn't seemed as surprised as she'd been with Akane's last "cut"), Ranma decided(mainly "convinced" by Akane) to go along with his normal daily routine, but ask each of the "Fiance Horde" he met if they knew what had happened. He was half-convinced that he looked stupid, but Akane caught him looking in various mirrors several times during the day, trying to decide if he liked the style.
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The next morning, Shampoo visited the Tendo house during breakfast.
"Ni hao!" she said when walked in the door, carrying her Cat Cafe delivery box. "Shampoo make ramen for Ranma!" she cheerfully explained as she set the box before him.
"Hey, thanks, Shampoo!" Ranma began to eat. Akane silently fumed beside him. Neither noticed that the ramen was tinged slightly pink.

Unusually, Shampoo biked alongside them as they walked to school. Akane was slightly displeased, but said nothing as she didn't want to get into another fight. When they reached the school gates, Ranma and Akane stopped to talk to Shampoo before going into the school.
"Hey Shampoo," Ranma started. "I noticed that ya didn't mention my hair."
"Shampoo think Ranma get tired of hair and cut off," she replied brightly, not embarassed at the blatant lie. "Shampoo not like, though. Shampoo not want to say."
"Ah..." Ranma was surprised. He hadn't expected Shampoo to have that common courtesy even he didn't have most of the time. "Gee...thanks, Shampoo, I guess. Well, 'kane and me better be getting in or we'll be tardy. See ya!" He grabbed Akane's arm and dragged her in. While they ran to get to class before the last bell, all the girls in the yard and up on Nabiki's balcony seemed to swivel and gaze at them. As they passed, girl after girl sighed and sank to the ground, murmuring "Oh, Ranma..." and "I love you, Ranma..."and "Oh, isn't he ever so manly?" and "Oh, Akane's so lucky..." Ranma and Akane, passing as fast as they could run, never heard any of the comments.
When they reached the main door, a boy neither of them knew came up to say "Akane, you're wanted by your homeroom teacher early, and Ranma, there's a visitor waiting for you in empty classroom 7-3B down the hall. See ya later!" and the boy stepped past them into the courtyard. Akane quickly vanished into their homeroom class, and Ranma jogged down the hall to the classroom mentioned.
When Ranma reached the room, he walked inside, and thought "Boy, some classroom. More like an overlarge janitor's closet." Then he heard the door shut behind him, and whirled around. His eyes widened at who he saw.