CHAPTER THREE

"RUN WHILE YOU STILL CAN!"

"If you say so, little brother." Jun sighed. She opened the door.

"Uh… wait! Could you tell that doctor to give me some crutches?"

"You can walk without crutches, you're used to pain."

"I know I can walk without crutches! I just need them as props." Len reasoned. He watched Jun leave the room and waited for the door to close, he looked at his spirit guardian. "Bason, isn't this a clever plan?"

"Yes, Master Len. Of course it is." Bason answered.

"Yes… it is supposed to be, coming from me." Len said haughtily.

Ranma and Akane noticed Jun's disdainful look on her face.

"Is he alright?" Akane asked.

"He was very tired, but he will be fine." Jun sighed, she didn't like her brother's idea of conning people… but, they had nowhere else to go. "When we leave this clinic we'll have to continue looking for a hospitable home out there that would take us in… being short on funds and all."

"Well, as long as the kid's fine." Ranma said as he stood up from the chair. He began to walk out the door.

"Ranma!" Akane yelled with a disappointed tone in her voice.

Yoh closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. Morty's eyes lit up, "I think I know why Len's acting so whiney."

"Really, why?" Rio questioned.

Morty explained to Rio Len's plan. Trey butted in, "Uhm… I kinda feel sorry for those two…"

"Isn't that a bit too mean?" Pilika asked.

Akane dragged her fiancé back to his seat, "We could let them stay at our dojo. We have plenty of room." She whispered at him.

"We only have an extra room, dad and I sleep in the other. Besides what will your dad say about taking strangers in?"

Dr. Toffu opened a cabinet to retrieve the crutches that his patient, Len, was asking for. Just then a beautiful young woman entered the room, she had long hazel-brown hair which was neatly braided. In her hands she cradled a bento box. Rio's heart leap.

"K-K-Kasumi!" he exclaimed, his glasses fogged up. His grip on the crutches tightened, the crutches broke into two. Splinters were everywhere. "W-What brings you here?" he stammered.

Kasumi giggled, "Oh doctor, I just thought you wanted a snack so I made you some tempura." She handed Toffu the bento box. Toffu immediately opened the box and tried to shoot the tempura in his mouth with his shaking hands.

Kasumi noticed her sister sitting down quietly, "Akane! Did you hurt Ranma again?"

Ranma leant closer, "No, she trampled on a—" Akane quickly muffled him with her hand.

Akane laughed nervously, "I just brought a friend over for a check-up!"

"Oh… then, before I forget, Akane, dad and Mr. Saotome will be out, Nabiki will attend this business meeting and I'll go and watch a movie at the mall. You and Ranma will be left at home, is that alright?"

"Yes, It's fine." Akane nodded.

Kasumi walked out of the room. He fog in Dr. Toffu's glasses faded away, he noticed the broken crutches at his feet, "My, my… what happened to these?"

Morty sighed, "How oblivious…"

Yoh drifted off to sleep. Trey was bored, how long does Len need to stay in the room to prove that he is hurt? His eyes wandered about, he noticed the water dripping from the faucet. "Finally something to do." He said under his breath. He started this little game to see how soon he can freeze the droplets before they touch the bottom of the sink. Pilika noticed this game of his and scolded him.

"What if someone sees that!" she hissed.

"Alright, alright, I'll stop. Geez!" Trey froze up the faucet to stop anymore water from dripping.

Anna looked at Yoh who was sleeping peacefully. Thoughts swirled around her head. Yoh promised that when he becomes Shaman King he would take her as his bride. What happens if he didn't? Will he still marry her? She remembered the talk they had on that cold night before the second round of the tournament. He mentioned her as a friend… after the tournament, Shaman King or not, will he still see her as a 'friend'? This is ludicrous… not Shaman King? She was the one training him all this time, right? He must be the King, he should… no… he will.

Yoh opened his eyes, he noticed Anna looking at him. "Good morning!" he smiled.

"It's the afternoon." Anna corrected.

"Oh, then good afternoon." Yoh chirped.

Len barged out of his room, he leant on his crutches, and then hobbled over to Jun. Every step he took a pained expression appears on his face. Akane noticed this, her guilt increased.

"Oh dearest sister, we must take our leave to look for a place where they could take us in before sun down." He whispered with just enough volume so that Akane and Ranma could 'overhear'.

Akane couldn't bear anymore guilt that was weighing down on her shoulders, "You could stay over at our place we have plenty of room."

"What do you mean 'plenty of room'?" Ranma retorted.

Akane glared at Ranma then looked back at Len, "Oh, don't listen to his babblings." She stopped and looked at Len's companions, "We have enough space to fit all of you in!"

"I don't want to bother you people any further. You already have gone through the trouble of bringing me here."

Trey listened to their conversation intently, "Wow, he's good…"

"Please, please. It would be our pleasure!"

"We'll if you say so…" Len said with a sly tone he couldn't hide.

Ranma scowled, he didn't like this boy or his 'posse'. They all felt eerie. When he went near them the air turned cold. Shivers crawled up his spine like someone had walked over his grave. He wondered why Akane couldn't notice this… then again there were many things Akane couldn't notice.

It was nightfall when they reached the Tendo household. Yoh noticed the wooden sign, "You guys own a dojo?" he asked with awe.

"Well my dad owns it so… yeah." Akane answered. If she agreed to marry Ranma this dojo would be 'theirs'. She led them to the living room. Ranma tried to keep his distance from their 'creepiness'. Akane flipped open the light switch, "You stay here for awhile, while Ranma will prepare your room."

Ranma took that sentence as a queue and went to the extra room and fix up the futons.

"You guys might be hungry, I'll go fix something up in the kitchen for you." Akane said, she headed in the kitchen.

"This place has a homey feel to it." Rio commented.

Trey leant on the little table, he enjoyed the cool breeze coming from the lanai. Cory jumped on the lily pads that were gently floating on the pond. "A free place to stay in and free food! This sure is the life!"

Yoh rested his head on the palm of his hand, "I don't know… taking advantage of good folks?"

"You should be thanking me for getting this place or we'd be out in the streets, thanks to someone." Len scoffed, he tossed the crutches aside, "Those wretched things are such a pain." He looked around the room for something, "Where's my Kwan-dao!"

"It is with me, Master Len." Answered Lee Pai Long.

"Oh, good."

"Len we should apologize to these people." Jun said, now she was feeling guilty of what her brother has done.

"Apologize for what? They were the ones who ran into me."

A lush aroma filled the room, Trey sniffed, "Mmm… smells delicious." He murmured.

Ranma stepped back into the living room, still he did not want to get too close. He noticed the scent, "Hey, who's cooking?" he asked.

"Your friend." Morty answered.

"A-Akane!" Ranma cried. Nothing could be as deadly as Akane's cooking. He franticly looked at the group, "Hurry get out while you ca—"

"RANMA!" Akane yelled from the kitchen, "COULD YOU TASTE THIS FOR ME?"

Ranma panicked. Akane walked in the living room, she grabbed Ranma's red shirt, "You're not going anywhere until you taste this." She dragged Ranma back into the kitchen.

"Run! Run while you sill can!" he whispered at them as he was dragged into the kitchen/ torture chamber.

"Why should we run?" Pilika asked. "It's not like the food's poisoned."

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(A/N) Heheheh… sorry if this took a little longer. The diskette I was using was attacked by this worm virus. It deleted all my files so I had to write all of this again from scratch. TNX for being patient.

I am beginning to wonder if adding Pilika and Morty to this fanfic is such a good idea. They feel like 'super' extras to me. They don't really do much either… I only added Morty to plan the trip and that's it. I don't even know WHY I added Pilika. If you guys know what I could do with them just voice it out.

Please review! Like I said in the two chapters before this: I won't continue this fanfic unless I get one review on this new chapter. Oh yeah… tell me your fave or hate part so I would know what you guys would want or don't want in this fanfic. (the fave or hate part is optional don' worry)

Thanks for the Gosunkugi and kwandao information guys! If you're wondering… lady-water-dragon is my cousin.

With love,

Pazaway-tiger