Heavenly Intervention
Chapter 10
Double Digits
Shampoo stood late that night outside the NekoHanten thoughtfully. She needed a place to stay
while in Japan but she had no money at the moment. The restaurant where she and her
grandmother had stayed for a short while was for sale but had yet to be sold, so for the moment it
was just locked up. She couldn't stay here though... at least not for long. If Cologne had sent
anyone to get her they would surely search there first.
Shampoo sighed and walked towards the door where a couple chains and a large padlock held it
shut. She grabbed hold of the lock and pulled snapping it off quite easily and tossing it aside as
she began to tear the chains off.
"HEY!" Came a voice from a short ways away. It was female and young, probably in her teenage
years. "What are you doing?" She called out as she walked closer to the girl. Shampoo paid her
no mind and continued her break in. The girl walked up and pulled at Shampoo's shoulder,
spinning her around to face her. Shampoo had no desire to fight with her at all and allowed the
intrusion this once. "Answer me!" The girl demanded. "Why are you breaking into this place?"
Shampoo shrugged. "Shampoo have no place to go... need place to sleep for night."
The girl who had found Shampoo committing the crime had long brown hair tied in a ponytail
with a white ribbon, was wearing a purple chef's uniform with black nylons, and was carrying a
bandolier full of small spatulas and an oversized spatula on her back. She noticed the tattered state
of Shampoo's clothes. "Are you homeless?" She asked, no longer upset at the girl.
Shampoo nodded. "Shampoo have no home."
Ukyo thought long and hard while she looked at the tattered Chinese girl before her. She was very
beautiful, if not that then drop dead gorgeous. She appeared to be a runaway of some sort but
seemed very healthy and fit. Probably a martial artist. "Y'know..." Ukyo started. "I have a spare
room at my house that you could probably stay in for a while. You could probably work at my
restaurant to pay me back."
Shampoo suddenly looked happy. "Is you joking?" She asked.
Ukyo shook her head no as she smiled. With a figure like that I'll be attracting enough business
to actually expand... Maybe I'll even be able to start a franchise. she thought. "It's no trouble
sugar. Come on we'll set up your room tonight."
Shampoo bounced up and down excitedly and followed close behind the okinomiyaki chef. Ukyo
smiled, proud of her new business venture. She knew a good thing when she saw it, and she
wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.
The next day at Furinkan high Akane smiled as she sat across from Ranma at a table during lunch
and just watched him eat his bento at his usual breakneck speed. Ranma paused after a couple of
seconds and then put his chopsticks down, looking back at her. "Uhm... Akane? Are you just
going to sit there and watch me eat?"
Akane just nodded and smiled more.
Ranma just went back to eating, giving uneasy glances back towards his wayward fiance every
once in a while. He was really glad when a distraction finally came in the form of Ukyo, his other
fiance. "UUCHAN!" Ranma said, welcoming his longtime friend. Akane frowned at Ranma's
ecstatic welcoming but let it go for the moment and turned to Ukyo with a smile as she walked
towards the pair and sat down at the same table, since she was also her long time friend too.
"What's up Uuchan?" Akane asked, now genuinely curious as to why her best friend was smiling
so radiantly.
"I hired a new waitress at the Uuchan." She stated. "She's also a really good cook and doesn't go
to school so I can get her to run the store while I'm at school. Business is great!"
"A new waitress?" Akane wondered out loud.
"Hey that's great Uuchan!" Ranma stated. "Hey Akane. You want to go check out the new girl's
cooking after school?" He asked.
"Well I'm working today after school anyway so it couldn't hurt." Akane stated.
Ukyo smiled. "I think you'll like her. She's really nice, and I think you'll get along just fine." Just
then the bell rang for lunch to end and Ukyo stood up. "Want to walk mo to class Ranma honey?"
She asked.
Akane frowned at the title she'd just given Ranma. HONEY! She thought with malice.
Ranma looked back to Akane but she switched to a smile before he could notice. "A...All right."
He then got up and started walking with Ukyo who was practically hanging off of him the entire
way.
Akane gawked as she walked through the front doors of the Uuchan and just stared at the girl
behind the counter. Ukyo walked past her and got Shampoo's attention. Shampoo who was
currently taking a drooling boy's order, dressed up in one of the purple chef's uniform that Ukyo
had so many of. "Hey Shampoo!" Ukyo called.
Shampoo turned to Ukyo and smiled bubbly. "Aiyah! Ukyo! You is back already?"
Ukyo pulled a reluctant Akane forward and motioned towards Shampoo. "Akane, I'd like you to
meet Shampoo. Shampoo, This is Akane."
Shampoo turned away and blushed slightly. "Shampoo already meet."
Akane nodded and blushed as well. "Yeah... unfortunately."
Ukyo, sensing some hostility between the two naturally decided to inquire. "Is something wrong
Akane?" She asked.
Akane shook her head. "No I'm fine Uuchan. I'll... I'll go get changed and ready now." she said
before walking towards the back room.
Ukyo stared after her long time friend confused and looked up to Ranma who was standing beside
her. "What's wrong with Akane and Shampoo?" She asked. "How do they know each other?"
Ranma put a hand behind his head and chuckled. "It's a long story... but I think it'd be best if
Akane told you. I'm not sure if she would appreciate me telling you. She's a little sensitive."
Ukyo shrugged. "I guess that's good."
Neither Ranma nor Ukyo noticed Shampoo follow Akane with her eyes and sigh heavily.
When Akane came out of the back dressed in the purple chef's uniform ready to work Ranma was
sitting down at one of the bar stools that sat around the large grill eating an okinomiyaki. "You're
right Uuchan. She is good. Not as good as you but that's a really decent okinomiyaki." He said.
Ukyo smiled. "Yeah. I think I might have to expand by the end of the year. Business has tripled
over night with her here. Word of a new pretty waitress travels quickly in this town. I had half of
Furinkan's population the moment Akane started here."
Shampoo nodded from behind the grill beside Ukyo. "Akane very pretty. Is no mystery." the
purple haired amazon added.
Akane frowned as she picked up a tray and an order slip and started towards the tables and
booths to take orders. God damn it! She thought to herself as she pleasantly took orders from
hungry customers. I can't believe she's working, and LIVING here now! Akane dared a glance
back at Shampoo who was staring at Akane's rear and turned her gaze away with a blush when
Akane looked back. That pervert! she thought angrily as she glared at her.
Akane lasted about another half hour before she finally snapped and turned on Shampoo. "DAMN
IT SHAMPOO! WOULD YOU STOP THAT!" She yelled at her from across the room,
stamping her foot in irritation. Ranma had left a little while ago so she didn't have to worry about
him seeing her outburst.
Shampoo looked startled and looked up at her former fiance. "What Shampoo do?"
"You're staring at me! That's what!" Akane growled as she advanced on the other waitress.
Ukyo looked confused at Akane. "Akane? What's wrong?" she asked, genuinely concerned for
her friend.
"That Chinese bimbo keeps staring at my ass that's what?" Akane yelled back while pointing at
said amazon. "I can't concentrate while she's being such a pervert!"
"Your ass?" Ukyo inquired. "But she's a girl Akane." Ukyo stated.
"Is okay." Shampoo said. "I is sorry for hurting Akane's feelings." Shampoo apologized.
Akane sputtered at that. "Don't... apolo..gize to me! I..." She couldn't think of how to finish her
sentence and just growled as she turned around and started taking orders again.
Ukyo looked to Shampoo confused. The purple haired girl just smiled and got back to taking
orders from the customers at the counter and making okinomiyaki. "Well that was strange." she
muttered.
Ukyo frowned as she sat on her bed tallying up the night's total and working out the bills for the
restaurant as Shampoo used the small bathroom that connected both the bedrooms to brush her
teeth. She just couldn't keep concentrated on her work at the moment so she set her books and
papers down on the ground and lay down. She just couldn't get her mind off of Akane's outburst
earlier that night. She was so paranoid. She kept thinking that Shampoo was staring at her...
She also recalled Ranma's words when she'd asked him about the relationship between Shampoo
and Akane.
"It's a long story... but I think it'd be best if Akane told you. I'm not sure if she would
appreciate me telling you." he had said
Ukyo looked up at the open bathroom door where the buxom Chinese girl was now gargling.
"Hey Shampoo!" She called out.
Shampoo spit out the mouthwash that she had in her mouth and looked over to her boss/friend
while she wiped her arm on her borrowed pajamas. "What you want from Shampoo?" She asked
in her usual broken accent.
"What's going on between you and Akane?" She asked. "She seemed so angry at you."
Shampoo sighed and walked into Ukyo's room. She then sat down on the bed beside her and took
a moment to reflect.
"Well?" Ukyo pressed as she sat up.
Shampoo breathed in deep and nodded. "Shampoo and Akane used to be lovers." She stated
simply.
WHACK!
Ukyo fell off the bed at that statement. "...WHAT?" She yelled in surprise at the revelation as
she lifted herself back up to the bed. "So you're..." she said pointing at Shampoo
Shampoo nodded. "Shampoo not like girls... just Akane."
Ukyo looked surprised but then smirked. "So what happened between you two?"
Shampoo shrugged. "Shampoo not too sure. Shampoo leave for China because forbidden to see
Akane. Come back and Akane seem to no like Shampoo that way no more." She sighed and hung
her head. "Shampoo not know what to do. Shampoo in love with Akane."
Ukyo tentatively pat the girl on the shoulder to comfort her. She wasn't a stranger to same sex
relationships. She'd known several girls who were into that in her old school. She managed to be
friends with them just fine though. She actually fit in with them more than normal girls because
she was such a tomboy. So the real Akane that we're trying to get back is actually a lesbian.
she thought. Wait a minute! She's engaged to Ranma too. This is starting to get confusing.
"Does Ukyo know why Akane acting so funny:" The amazon teenager asked.
Ukyo smiled and chuckled. "Well I got in a fight with her because she's engaged to the same boy
I am..."
"Ranma?"
"Yeah. Well we got in a fight and I kind of hit her on the head really hard... she's been acting
differently ever since then and we've been trying to hit her on the head again to get her back to
normal." Ukyo said.
"But Akane too too good martial artist for everyone." Shampoo finished for the girl.
"Exactly."
Shampoo took hold of Ukyo's hand just then and stood up pulling the okinomiyaki chef up to her
feet. "Shampoo help Ukyo." She stated as she began to drag her out the door. "Shampoo know
just what to do."
"Hey where are we going?" She called after her as she was dragged along to an unknown
destination by the purple haired amazon.
Ranma was walking along a long white road, at the end he could see Akane, standing there. He
smiled to her and she began to walk away. "AKANE!" He called. He tried to run after her but
the faster he went the farther away she seemed to get from his grasp. Suddenly he could feel
himself bearing down on her. He grabbed her shoulder and spun her around only to find that it
was the male Akane from when she was cursed by Jusenkyo.
"I don't love you." She said. She then turned into the female Akane and turned around towards
Ukyo and Shampoo, grasping both of them in a sensuous embrace.
"You're my fiance." Ranma said reaching out to touch her again.
"I still don't love you." Akane said as she placed a passionate kiss on Shampoo, then immediately
after on Ukyo.
Ranma reached out and grabbed Ukyo's shoulders. "Ukyo! You're my fiancé too! You can't kiss
Akane! Ukyo shrugged Ranma off and went back to Akane who caressed her cheek with her
hand.
"You only care about Akane because she knows what it's like to be cursed... Do you know what
it's like to be in love?" She asked.
"I love..." Ranma started.
"That's what I thought." Came another voice from behind Ranma on the bright white road that
was now engulfing the entire town in white. Ranma spun around only to see Nabiki holding hands
with her older sister Kasumi.
"What are you two doing here?" He asked the two of them.
"Poor Ranma." Kasumi started with a smile. "You're so lost. Worse than Ryoga." She said as she
and Nabiki passed by him.
"I'm never lost. Ryoga's an idiot. He couldn't find his way out of a paper..."
"Stupid Ranma!" Shampoo started as the two newcomers joined their circle, caressing and kissing
each other.
"Always with the insults. Can't you ever admit you have feelings?" Nabiki continued as Akane
nibbled on her earlobe and Ukyo kissed her on the neck on the opposite side.
"Boys don't cry." Ranma started.
"Sure they do Ranchan." Ukyo stated as Kasumi grasped her buttocks with one hand and ran her
fingers through her hair with the other. "Yours and Akane's Dad cry lots."
"Boys don't cry." He protested.
"But you're not a boy." Akane said, grabbing one of Ranma-chan's breasts softly. "You're a girl."
Ranma got an irritated look on her face. "Could you please stop that?" She protested, trying to
not enjoy the sensuous feelings.
"Join us." Ukyo commanded.
"It's wrong." Ranma protested as he was drawn in nearer to the group of groping females.
"It feels right. Don't you agree Ranma?" Nabiki asked.
"Yes."
"Join us."
"Join us."
"Join us."
"You is waking up now."
SMASH!
"OOW!" Ranma cried before being muffled by a slender hand. In front of him was Ukyo and
Shampoo.
Shampoo had an empty bucket, kettle, and a mallet. "Ranma one hard person to make awake."
Shampoo said, wiping some sweat off her brow and dislodging the large wooden mallet from the
floor.
"What's going on here?" Ranma asked, the memory of what happened in the dream fading.
"Shampoo's got a solution to Akane's memory problem." Ukyo stated.
Ranma looked happy and threw his futon off of himself. "Alright! Let's get to it!" He said
standing up.
Shampoo frowned as she stood in front of him. "Ranma you is rude to be pointing at Shampoo."
She stated.
Ukyo not quite understanding what the amazon was referring to looked back at her. "He's not
pointing at you." She said.
Shampoo just pointed at the boy who also seemed to be oblivious as to what was going on. Ukyo
followed the direction of Shampoo's finger to a view of Ranma's something that rhymes with
direction. "OH!... Oh my!" Ukyo gasped as she got a good view of Ranma's little soldier.
"Huh?" Ranma stated looking down to where Shampoo was pointing. "AAAH!" He quickly
dropped to the ground, sitting with his back to the two women and blushing beet red as he
desperately tried to hide it.
"You is getting dressed then follow Shampoo and Ukyo. We be waiting outside." Shampoo
stated, before jumping out the window to the yard below.
Ukyo smiled and covered her blushing cheeks with her hands. "See you guys later Ranma
honey." Ukyo stated before jumping down after her coworker/friend.
Ranma frowned as he sat in his room with nothing on but a muscle shirt. "What the hell happened
to my pants while I was sleeping?" he muttered as he spotted them over in the corner.
Down in the kitchen as Nabiki was up for a late night snack she sneezed. "Huh. Must be catching
a cold." She muttered as she popped open the bag of chips from the cupboard.
Ranma frowned as he sat on the roof of the Tendo dojo looking at Shampoo and trying his best to
not noticed the blushing Ukyo. "So what is it Shampoo? How can we get Akane back to normal?"
He asked.
Shampoo smiled. "Is simple. Shampoo know techniques that Great grandmother teach her while
forced stay in China away from Airen."
"Techniques?" Ukyo asked curiously. "What techniques?"
Ranma just looked on curiously as Shampoo began to explain. "Is two techniques we is needing.
Tenshin Amaguriken, and Xi Fang Hang Gou."
"Huh?" Ranma offered. "What does the Tenchi whatever do?"
"Tenshin Amaguriken." Shampoo corrects the Jusenkyo cursed boy. "Is technique used to
increase speed of attacks. Akane faster than us all. So we is needing to all be fast. This allow us to
use other technique fast enough to use proper."
"The Xi Fang Hang Gou." Ukyo stated.
Shampoo nodded. "Xi Fang Hang Gou uses special Shampoo formula full of herbs that stimulate
memory... can be taken away or given back depending on what Shampoo used. One we be
wanting use is number 249. Shampoo order enough bottle for all three but will take a while for
delivery. Until then we is to be practicing technique with normal Shampoo."
"So we learn the amaguriken to make us fast enough to catch Akane off guard..." Started Ukyo.
"And we bring back the old Akane with this special shampoo." Ranma finished in a monotone
voice.
Ukyo looked over at Ranma curiously. "You don't seem to happy about that Ranma." She stated.
Ranma shook himself out of his thoughts and smiled at his friend. "No it's just... she seems
happier as she is that's all." He stated.
Shampoo shook her head. "Is fake happiness. Is not real Akane. Shampoo know real Akane too
well to know."
Ranma frowned at this and muttered to himself. "Yeah I'll bet you know her well yah pervert."
Shampoo then stood up and nodded to Ukyo. "We should be going now." She stated. "Ranma
meet Shampoo and Ukyo after work tomorrow and Shampoo begin training. Is okay?"
Ranma nodded tentatively. "Uh... yeah. Sure." Shampoo nodded as she stood up and bounded
away for the Uuchan.
Ukyo looked over to Ranma and smiled with a blush. "I'll see ya tomorrow Ranchan." She stated.
Ranma remembering his embarrassing moment earlier on turned his head and blushed. "Uh yeah
I'll see you later Ukyo." He stated.
Ukyo smiled mischievously. "You know..." She started. "If you're good... I'll even the score for
you sometime." She said.
Ranma just looked at her confused. "Huh?"
Ukyo winked at Ranma through the bright red blush on her cheeks and leapt away for the Uuchan
after her colleague.
Ranma sighed as he sat staring after her on the roof. "I just don't understand women." He
muttered. Before heading back to his own room.
A few days later. Akane frowned as she watched Ranma during dinner. "Ranma?" She inquired
staring at his bandaged and burned hands.
Ranma didn't look up at her from his bowl of rice which he was currently shoving down his face.
"Hnn?" He mumbled with his mouth full.
Kimiko smacked Ranma on the back of the head. "Ranma it's not nice to speak with your mouth
full."
Ranma grumbled and set down his bowl as he rubbed the back of his head. "What ya want
Akane?" He asked.
Akane pointed to his hands. "Your hands... they've been burned and bandaged the last couple of
days. Same with Ukyo's... what are you guys doing after work?"
Ranma was about to answer but then remembered the alibi that Ukyo and Shampoo had decided
on to ward off Akane's nosiness. Flashback Ukyo sitting at the fire getting ready to try out
her luck with the catchu tenshin Amaguri ken. "Ranchan we can't let Akane know what we're
doing here or why we're doing it. So if she asks about it just tell her we're trying out new recipes
to use at my booth at the upcoming festival." end flash back
"We're trying new recipes out for the festival. I promised Uuchan I'd help out." Ranma stated,
dodging his fiancé's question successfully.
Tetsuo smiled from his place at the table. "YAY! FESTIVAL!" He added in. He grumbled to
himself though as everyone around seemed to ignore him.
Akane nodded and accepted Ranma's answer. She then lowered her head a little downtrodden at
the news. "So then I guess you'll be working at the festival then?" she asked.
Ranma looked oblivious to her suddenly sad expression. "Well yeah."
Akane sighed "Oh well... that's fine."
Genma and Soun, sensing an obstacle to the ultimate coming together of Ranma and Akane
immediately jumped to their feet in defense. "RANMA!" Genma yelled at the boy, grabbing the
front of his shirt. "As Akane's fiancé it is your duty to accompany her to the festival!"
Soun nodded in agreement. "That's right! Do it for the school boy!"
Ranma balked under their gazes. "But I promised I'd help Uuchan." he muttered weakly.
Kimiko frowned at her husband. "Dear. He did make a promise, and promises are to be kept."
Soun froze at his wife's logic. "Well uh that is. He should be able to take a day off to take his
fiancé on a date. " He reasoned. "After all it is a three day festival."
Kimiko frowned at this. She was losing ground on the short argument. Ranma had told her
everything earlier and she was trying to support him as best she could. She wanted her real
daughter back and didn't want the boy getting attached to her and vice versa. These new
techniques that he and Ukyo were learning were the last hope of getting her baby back. Maybe
once she's back she could convince her husband to switch the engagement to one of their other
daughters. Kimiko nodded. "Very well Ranma, take one day off from Ukyo to accompany Akane
to the festival. It wouldn't hurt would it?"
Ranma shook his head nervously. "I...I guess not."
Akane smiled and hugged Ranma. "YAYY! We're gonna have SO much fun!"
Ranma chuckled as he tried to somehow squirm out of his fiancé's embrace. "heh. Y...yeah."
Next
time. Night of the Festival: Fishing for memory!
Author's Notes: Yeah I made minor changes in this chapter. But I've got some cool stuff
planned for the next couple of chapters now after reading it all through.
Morden Night: