The daylight's fading slowly

But time with you is standing still

I'm waiting for you only

The slightest touch and I'll feel weak

I cannot lie

From you I cannot hide

And I'm losing the will to try

Go on, go on, come on leave me breathless

Tempt me; tease me until I can't deny this loving feeling

Make me long for your kiss

- "Breathless", The Corrs

----

After careful deliberation, I will never, ever, ever drink again.

Jin and I had a nice little talk; he calmed me down and had a drink with me. One turned into many and soon he had passed out on my bed.

Ranma's entrance was really not expected. I didn't even know it was him until it was too late. What the hell, I started talking to an assailant about my love life?

Oh my god, I called Hiroshi a pie.

I was so drunk.

When I woke this morning, blessed with only mediocre hangovers, I had been the only one in my house. Wow, Jin must have left pretty early.

Well, I had to get up soon; I was starting my new job today. My new job that, technically speaking, was my old job, but this one was dangerous and cool. Anything that Nabiki is hush-hush about is dangerous and cool, though.

I got up out of bed, stretched my shoulders as wide as I could, and smiled goofily. I did that a lot lately.

I did the wake up, morning thing and was just about to eat breakfast when I went for my paper. It was already on the table, though.

No big deal, Jin could have brought it in for me. The thing was, I really doubted Jin wrote the tiny post-it note that was attached to the paper that read "THE NEIGHBORHOOD JUST ISN'T WHAT IT USED TO BE. SEE YOU AT WORK BUT YOU WON'T SEE ME" in red with a tiny smiley face.

What the hell. No, what the shit?

I stood there for a second, ran to the door to inspect, and banged on it appropriately. It was locked, as best as it could be, and there was no forced entry. I checked my window but it was locked from the inside.

This was not a good development in my case. This was not my case, this was a police matter. Then why, in my head, did phoning the police not come to mind right away?

My phone was in my hand in seconds and I dialled Ranma's number as fast as I could, still staring at the locked door.

"Yo." A voice said on the second ring.

"It's Akane; I need you over here now." I said, a little too desperate for my liking.

"Miss me already, Babe?" He asked.

Something inside me popped and a wonderful feeling evaporated inside me. It went to my toes and my cheeks turned pink.

"Not really, smug bastards aren't really that appealing to me."

He paused for a second. "It must be bad karma to lie that much."

I shrugged into the phone. "Not really, it's a white lie. You'd break my heart if I said anything else."

"Touché." He said.

I felt the need to speak after he let the pause become pregnant.

"It's just there's this thing. I might need some help." I articulated.

"What? Still getting called on by your number one fan?" He asked.

He always had this way of getting right to the heart of everything.

"He's a stalker! It's the same kinda thing except this one's in my house . . . my locked house." I said, biting my lip.

"Hmm, good lead."

"This is not a good lead. This is a. . . a bad sandwich!" I stammered, too angry to compute.

I could sense him smiling on the other end of the line. "Babe."

And he was gone.

I sat around for a few minutes. This was pathetic. I would always phone someone else to help me. What could he do anyway? I was going out to find some leads, to sniff out some clues.

I owed it to my old friend.

---

I was in a simple plaid skirt and white button up shirt. It wasn't the most "lively" outfit, but Creepy Marv let me wear it because he thought it made me look like a school girl. My work was wrong. Hey, it wasn't my job anymore though, so it really didn't matter.

Still, I liked this outfit.

I hopped in my car and scooted off.

I decided to stop off at the mini donut shop on Ruku street because I am a slave to them. Inside the donut haven, at least three people stopped talking when I walked in. This was never a good sign in Nerima.

First, Mrs. Makio came up to me, hobbling a bit, but persisting with curiosity. "Akane Tendo."

I sighed. Dear god, what was it now.

"Yes Mrs. Makio?" I said, watching the other crowd around me a bit.

Her eyes got big and glassy. "Is it true that poor Saotome boy's wife cheated on him with the vicar?"

I stalled at this, with a half smile pasted on my face. Wife? Vicar?

"Where'd you hear this, Mrs. Makio?" I asked, still confused.

"From the diner where he slapped her! Remember my niece Natsuki?"

I remembered Natsuki very well. She had gone to college with me before we both quit and went for tea while everyone else wrote their exams. I had lost touch with her since, but I think we would both agree that those teas weren't worth the careers we had now.

I nodded.

"Well, she served him, told him she thought he was here for you, but he shied her away from that. Then, some gorgeous woman in a tight outfit came in, all boisterous and smooth, and sat across from him. My Natsuki said his whole demeanour changed when she got into the room. Next thing she knew she heard him slap her and yell something about a vicar and cheating!"

I had no clue what Ranma was up to, but I did know he said he wasn't here for me, so I didn't give a damn about him.

I shrugged. "I don't know . . . we don't really talk since he left me on prom night."

She nodded. "Oh I thought down of him after that, but now, this poor boy . . . the vicar!"

I rolled my eyes, and eyed the donuts only a few feet away.

"I need donuts." I told her point blank.

She didn't seem to hear and now all the girls around her started up too.

"I wonder why she cheated!" One whispered.

"It couldn't be the view, or the sex for that matter." The next one said.

"How do you know, Relena?" The first rasped, nudging her lightly.

I noticed, as my head just naturally swivelled faster than a speeding bullet to her direction, she blushed.

Relena, the stupid skankbag, scoffed and threw back her hair. "Oh, well a girl can't kiss and tell, can she?"

"Yes, yes she really can." I found myself telling her in a small yell.

He slept with this bimbo? How could he? He hadn't even been back long and he definitely hadn't before he went on his ten year hiatus.

Why was it called "sleeping together". You are in a bed, and together, but if you are sleeping then you're doing it quite wrong.

Relena, with her long, bleached red hair, turned to me and smirked. "Akane Tendo, I think I definitely know a lot more about this subject than you. That is, unless I wanted to know how to run men up trees."

She sneered; no stupid, skinny bitch was gonna sneer at Akane Tendo.

I moved right next to her face, my hands firmly placed on each hip, and gritted my teeth. Okay, I just had to look menacing.

"Listen hussy, I'm a bail bonds enforcement agent now, so you'd better watch what you say."

She stared at me blankly.

I sighed. "A fuckin' bounty hunter, okay? So yeah, I have a gun! And pretty soon I'm gonna know how to use it! So, yeah, watch out!"

Her eyes got wide and she flinched a couple times.

I shook myself off, with my nose held high, and ordered my doughnuts.

Maybe this new job would turn out better than I thought.

---

I still couldn't shake the thought of Ranma getting down and dirty with that skankazoid Relena. I had never really known her, but my old pal Su had a brother that went out with her and she cheated on him ten times before he dumped her, all in the same week! After that, Su spread a rumour she had STDs, but Relena convinced everyone Su was just covering up the fact she was pregnant, making no sense at all. It turned out she was though, and so people took the skankbag's side for no reason.

As I walked into work Creepy Marv came out of the shadows and stared me down. The lights were off and only sunlight came through the windows.

"Marv, why aren't you turning on the lights?" I asked, confused and a little defensive.

"Akane, you're a great girl." Marv said. I couldn't see his eyes, but he seemed sincere. "How come you put up with an old fool like me?"

Okay, either Creepy Marv had an epiphany or someone visited him and shook the evil jerkness right out of him.

I sighed. "Is he still here?"

Marv shook his head robotically. "He's crazy Akane, batshit, you really shouldn't be seeing him!"

I raised an eyebrow and pointed a finger right at the creep. "First of all, when the hell did you become some sort of creepy father figure? Secondly, most people in this town are crazy anyway. Third, I am not seeing Ranma Saotome!"

Okay, so I yelled that last part a little too high.

"Well that's a relief." A voice behind me said.

I froze a bit, and then relaxed when I recognized him. "Hiroshi, I didn't even hear you come in. Don't scare me like that, I almost lost my skin!"

He smirked and sauntered up in vintaged-by-owner Levis and a tight olive green t-shirt. He had his gun on his hip, and I was pretty sure another in his car.

He came up beside me, staring at Marv the entire time, with his cop face on, and rested a hand on the small of my back. I didn't mind because Marv was freaking me out, and I was only human.

He smelled of the cologne that I swear he bought from someplace like Albania so no one else had the same scent. He noticed my nose follow the scent around him and smirked.

"Sniffing for clues, Sweets?" He inquired, pulling me a bit closer, with his arm now fully around my waist.

I shrugged and tried to play coy. "I want a gun."

Okay, Akane Tendo; if that is playing coy; you will never have a husband!

What the hell did I say that for?

He raised a brow and I laughed, "I'll sorta explain it later."

We turned to Marv, who was standing there with a stone face on.

Hiroshi looked to me, and then back to Marv. "I need to take Ms. Tendo in for questioning. I'm sure that won't be a problem?"

Marv shook his head, arms folded over his chest, a eerie smile creeping up. "No, not at all."

I mumbled "bye" and me and Hiroshi were gone.

---

He stretched his arms wide and rested on the hood of my car.

"You can't keep outta trouble, can you?" He smirked.

I stuck out my tongue. "You're dirtying up my car."

He smirked. "Well, there are other ways of keeping me busy."

I had a little hot flash, but quickly got over it.

"Hiroshi, I'm just gonna come out and say it." I told him innocently.

He fell silent, awaiting my explanation.

I squirmed. "Well, I'm a sort of, well to say that I was- no, well, I'm a bounty hunter now."

He stared into my eyes for a second - and then peeled into laughter.

He wiped his eyes with his sleeve and tried to calm himself down. "You're joking, right? I almost believed you for a second."

My jaw literally dropped. "Wait, what? Excuse me? I can be a bounty hunter. In fact, I think I'm gonna do a couple cases tonight. Y'know, reel in some bad guys."

I put my hands on my hips and furrowed my brow until my eyeballs hurt.

What the hell did he think I was gonna say? Did he expect me to plea him to throw me down on the hood of my car and have his way?

Unfortunately to me, and at the sake of my hormones, that tactic didn't see too absurd.

He put his fingers through his hair, figuring if he should believe what I had said, and huffed. "You're not serious are you, Sweets? You can barely tackle your hair, let alone a 200 pound guy."

My face began to burn. "I can do whatever the hell I want!"

He got off my hood. "Where is this place even located?"

Oh shit, I forgot to ask Nabiki before. I could just phone her and ask, but that would take time.

It was time for the Akane-lie-o-matic Version 1.0 to come into play.

"Oh, we're very independent." I rolled my eyes. "you know what I mean, eh?"

A smile started to peek up over his disapproving face. "You don't know where it is, do you?"

He pulled me close, wrapping his fingers around my sides and felt up and down a bit. I stared up at him and he smiled resigned.

"Why can't I obsess over someone more normal?"

I shrugged. "I'm hotter?"

He shrugged back, gave me a quick grin, and pulled me even tighter to him.

I pushed my face right next to his. "Or maybe you're just fucked up, like that."

"Yeah," he muttered, "let's go with that one."

Then he kissed me deeper than I would've expected, hands exploring and I felt it in my feet.

I broke away for air. "What the hell are you doing?"

He stepped back a bit. "Honestly, I'm really not sure anymore."

I rolled my eyes. "Stop looking like you're thinking, you only have two things on your mind all day long: sex, and food."

He took a few more steps back, and just before a corner, said "Don't forget about catching bad guys."

Then he disappeared. He helped me get away from Creepy Marv, and then just left. What is wrong with that man?

'Yeah," I yelled after him, "I bet you only do it for the chicks!"

He obviously couldn't hear, but I felt my immense smart comments would seep through in waves of awesome.

I decided it was time to get a gun. At least, a weapon of some sort. My friend Marjorie told me she had this obsessive guy following her home from work every now and then and once she got sick of him tailing her she went into a hardware store and bought some mace. Turns out the guy was a cop and Marjorie had been doing some illegal things on the side, but the general idea was nice. I just needed to find a hardware store.

I hopped into my baby and let 'er rip. I got to the nearest hardware store, 5th and Okino and just past a doughnut shop, and waltzed in. That would be my next destination.

It was big. Not IKEA big, but large enough to house a senator or two.

Everything was painted orange to make the place livelier, but I thought it just made it look like a pumpkin threw up everywhere.

After twenty minutes of finding absolutely nothing I clicked my heels in a last effort, closed my eyes tight, and started muttering, "there's no place like mace." If it worked for Dorothy, it could work for me.

"Um, excuse me Miss?" A voice outside of my head quivered.

I felt a soft tap on my shoulder and blinked open my eyes. "Toto?"

The man smiled. "How'd you know?"

I stared down at his name tag, "Toto" in blue inside a white circle on the orange jumpsuit he wore.

Interesting coincidence.

"I peeked." I lied. Damn, I was getting good at that.

He grinned even wider, losing a bit of the ever present shakiness of his hands.

"Sorry," he muttered, "I'm sorta new."

"I just got a new job too." I told him.

Well, I sort of did, right? Any way, it made the poor kid feel better and that was all that mattered.

"Cool, whatcha lookin' for?" He asked, warming up to me a bit. I hoped he didn't think things were going to get too warm.

"Mace. Pepper spray, you know? Anything like that. Oh do you guys sell handcuffs?" I asked all at once.

I stopped for a second and back tracked. Man, I must've sounded deranged.

Toto laughed nervously, starting to shake a bit again. "Did the guys put you up to this? I swear I know all the departments better than them, they don't have to test me, I promise."

I turned to the poor guy. "Toto, would they really send someone like me?

He shrugged. "What are the cuffs for, you a stripper or something?"

My face turned red. "No! No, I am not a stripper, damn it!"

"Oh well," he said, "you could always change careers. What's your new job."

He had stuffed his hands in his pockets and I didn't mind some human contact.

"I'm a bounty hunter. See, my friend was killed a couple years ago, and now some guys are after me because they think I'm working for my sister. Wait, maybe they think I am my sister. Frightening thought. Anyway, my ten year high school reunion is coming up and my ex-fiancé is here now, hotter and more dangerous than before, and I think he's killed people. Anyway, he's here and sort of helping me out. He's got this great friend that I hung out with. Then there's another ex of mine that's kinda of on the side of law now I suppose and he doesn't seem to believe I can even do this, and I ran him up a tree and he still has the same amount of crazy hormones he always did. Plus, my work is trying to kill me for minimum wage."

I wiped my forehead and let out a sigh. It felt good to share.

Toto just stood there, wide eyed and confused. "Wait, are you Akane Tendo?"

I tensed. "Why? Do you know me, know one of them, or want to kill me?"

He laughed again, hanging his head back. "No, I've just heard of you and, realistically, it didn't sound like you could be anyone else."

I nodded, too dumbfounded to speak.

"Couldn't be anyone else?" I finally asked.

"Nope," he smiled, "that explains everything. Now come on, let's go get you some bear mace!"

A/N: So, I'm going to start carving out characters and plot and such more fluidly. Oh, and get ready for a chapter with Jin's point of view. I don't know if I'll do it next chapter or the one after. Anyway, sorry for the long wait, but school is the devil. Luckily, not as many people DQ it up during the winter so I'll have more time to write.

kachan: Well, sharing make the world go round, right?

Shinigami: I doubt Kei's the type to explain things in a civilized manor, eh?

Achava: Excellent, kick ass was definitely what I was going for.

Lady Mokodane: Muahaha, you love Ranma's competition, my job is complete!

Jace3: Vicar, a reference to something in their past? Why would you ever think that. . .

Motokonobaka: Yeah, I was eating a crepe as I wrote and I just love them so much it crept into my writing. I'm pretty freakin' cool.

Innortal: Oh, I'll leave some things for later on.

Ikerana: Yeah, it was hard not to flat out say first chapter it wasn't them, but it's nice to add a little wonder to it. Plus, you never know with Ranma.

Lisiegirl: Yup, it's based on the series and a little on Grosse Pointe Blank. It's a different story, but I like certain elements from both and they are the inspirations for this story.

WhiteTigress666: Yes, the poor Vicar doesn't know what he's in for at Sunday service, eh?

JohnnyG: Thanks so much! I hope you keep on reading!

Please read and review, it brings me eternal youth so I don't have to suck the youth out of others. So by doing so, you're saving lives (and it's fun too).