Chapter 10: Gone missing

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"How much longer?"

"I don't know."

"Where are we?"

"You have the map; don't ask me."

"I'm hungry."

"WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP ALREADY????!!!"

Ataru stopped in his tracks and stared wide-eyed at Botan, who was fuming after her outburst of long suppressed annoyance.

"I was just asking-"

"Well don't!"

Kagome sighed. For the past 3 hours the two had done nothing but argue, and she'd given up on trying to stop them.

Feeling a sharp pain building in the back of her head, she decided to speak up.

"Do we have any pain killer? The two of you are giving me a headache."

Botan looked like she would start yelling again for a moment, but slowly relaxed, and took a minute to focus her thoughts.

"I'm sorry Kagome. Maybe we should stop and rest. Ataru, can I see the map please?"

Ataru grumbled and handed her the map.

"We're miles away from any kind of civilization, so I suggest we set up camp here. We might be able to cover some distance on my oar tomorrow, but we can't risk being spotted, so we'll have to travel through cities and villages on foot."

Kagome and Ataru nodded in agreement.

Ranma sat up groggily as he returned to consciousness. He was sitting on the floor, surrounded by a mass of staring girls. He felt a blush rising on his cheeks, and quickly scrambled to find his voice.

"H-hey...! What are you staring at?!"

The girls acted as though they hadn't heard him, and started to whisper among themselves.

"He was passed out?"

"Drunk, probably"

"He's a cutie though"

Ranma's head began to spin as comments buzzed around him and he wracked his brain for something to say.

"Akane?"

There was no answer, only the bustle of a sea of giggling girls.

"Akane!"

Ranma stood up and started to weave his was through the crowd of girls.

"AKANE!"

A few heads turned at the shout, but none of them was Akane's.

Ranma spotted a large tree not too far from where he was standing.

'Perfect!' he thought as he jumped onto one of the lower branches, scanning the mass of people below him.

Ataru blinked and sat up, wondering what was the cause of his sudden return to consciousness. Looking around, he saw Botan sprawled out on the soft grass, snoring lightly. But...where was Kagome?

It was still dark so Ataru had to squint to find the bag of supplies. After a few minutes, he managed to get a hold of one of the flashlights. Turning it on, he scoured the campsite, trying to find any sign of Kagome's whereabouts.

There was nothing. He frowned, looking around once more. He was sure she'd gone to sleep right next to Botan...

Wait a minute....

He shined the flashlight near Botan.

Yes... He was sure of it.

There was blood on the ground.

Ranma rejoiced when he saw Akane's face look up at the tree after shouting her name several times. He waved frantically and jumped out of the tree to the spot right beside her.

"Hi Akane!"

Akane sighed in exasperation.

"Ranma! Why did you have to make such a scene to find me?! Can't you handle anything by yourself? Did you ever consider that maybe I want to spend some time AWAY from you?!"

Ranma stared at her, unsure of what to say. He could feel his eyes stinging with tears. He'd felt so confused and alone without her and now she was saying she didn't want to be near him...

"You're such an uncute tomboy! I'm going home!"

He ran away from her, not caring how many people he practically bowled over in his haste to leave.

He also didn't realize that he wasn't going in the right direction.