A/N: This is an alternative scene that takes place during the episode with Shinnosuke, based mainly on the manga (VIZ v24; I'm using a different translation, though, so some phrases may differ). Possible spoiler, but only when you have a really, really short attention span that you couldn't finish reading the original story in one sitting.

Setting: Ranma wanted to set things straight with Akane. Shinnosuke thought he was bothering her. They had a little fight. Akane saw that Shinnosuke was having an attack and slapped Ranma. Ranma left and wallowed about it.

Angst-Riser: What if Ranma never caught Grandfather and was never led to the whole mess? What if he did go back home and leave again on a training journey?

1

Goodbye, Akane. We won't see each other again.

It was something he said, but not something he meant. His face was resigned, but he kept turning around, hoping to see her come running towards him. He thought he heard her voice crying out his name, but it was only a figment of his imagination. She was nowhere to be seen. There was a crashing sound, someone was screaming, but it wasn't Akane calling for him.

That's right, she has that Shinnosuke dude now.

Each step was heavier than its predecessor. He couldn't understand how she could choose someone else. She never did tell him a reason, but the slap spoke loud enough. He didn't need to hear her reason anymore; her decision was what mattered.

The temptation to go back to where she was and beat the crap out of Shinnosuke and finally drag her home with him hovered, and he had to force himself to run to keep the thoughts out.

Still. They had been through many things together—too many things. Memory after memory returned to Ranma's head. He didn't know when he started to fall for her. Wasn't she the violent uncute tomboy he hated after their first meeting? When—and how—did she become someone he cared about so much?

"Damn it!" he couldn't stop himself from shouting. He increased his pace. He needed to go back to the Tendos' soon. "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" He punched everything that stood on his way. A couple trees fell.

2

Akane looked up for a moment, wondering what the noise was all about. Then she sopped the towel in her hands and placed it on Shinnnosuke's head. He was still unconscious, his head resting on her lap.

Her mind kept replaying the last thing Ranma had said to her. I get it. Sorry I bothered you.

The last thing she saw was his back. I . . . I get it.

She hated to see that dejected look. She wished she could have run after him back then, but Shinnosuke was having an attack and she had to take care of him. Shinnosuke, who saved her life when they were younger, and whose life, because of that, was in danger. And Ranma didn't know any of this. "Idiot, you don't understand anything, just as usual."

A tear trickled down and fell on P-chan's head. P-chan wasn't sure why she was crying, but he didn't want her to and tried to comfort her.

Ranma, I'm not going to see you again.

Just then, Grandfather came running in full speed toward her direction. Akane was surprised especially because of the multiple serpent heads that followed him.

"Run!" he shouted to her. "Run or you'll be eaten!"

She hurriedly grabbed Shinnosuke, carried him on her back, and started running. Fortunately, a rock crevice was nearby, and they all jumped into it. One head almost got through, but some rocks fell and blocked it.

As Akane was panting hard and trying to recover from the fright, she heard Grandfather sobbing. "I'm of no use," he moaned. As he lay there, ostensibly dying, he explained that the monster that was chasing after them was the Yamatano serpent. He also told Akane about its connection with the Water of Life and the moss that could save Shinnosuke's life.

By now, he seemed to have recover and looked as healthy as ever.

"Is there a way to defeat the serpent?" Akane asked after she was sure he was not going to die after all.

Grandfather tilted his head to the right and to the left. "There is, but there isn't," he said finally.
"Huh?"

"There was a secret treasure for banishing serpents handed from ancient days called Horn Whistle. It was made from the horn of the serpent's worst enemy: a one-horned mongoose, which was, according to the Great Japanese Rare Beasts Compendium, a rare beast said to be extinct for several hundred years. But," Grandfather added with a fresh roll of tears, "when Shinnosuke was small, he lost it the day I gave it to him."

Right away Akane knew what he was talking about and showed him the charm that Shinnosuke had given him.

"I heard everything," Shinnosuke suddenly popped up between the two, who both jumped back in terror. But now that they knew a way to save his life, they had nothing to hide anymore.

It was already dark by the time they found a way out of the crevice, so they waited until the next morning to lure and defeat the Yamatano serpent. There were originally only seven heads, but on its tail was the eighth largest head, on which the moss of life was found.

Akane was happy for Shinnosuke, but she told him and Grandfather that she couldn't stay long and had to hurry back home.

"I have a fiancé," she told them.

-tbc-

A/N: If the last part seems rushed, that's because it is. Aside from a few changes here and there, it's pretty similar the original manga story. Besides, I'm more interested in the RanmaxAkane element, so who cares about the details in Shinnosuke's life, right?