Disclaimer: I do not, nor have I ever, owned anything concerning Ranma ½ except my manga books Vols. 1-7 and 9-11. Vol. 8 was bought by my sister and I have yet to pay her back. Yuka, Mousse, and all characters in this fic are best read (and seen) in the Ranma ½ saga by Rumiko Takahashi. Not me. Got it?
All right, I changed it to third person 'cause it's easier for this chapter. So sue me. You'll still only get my socks. And you still don't want them.
Yuka's mom called up the stairs, "Yuka, you have a visitor!"
"I'll be down in a minute, mom!" She turned to the still shaking duck. "Hmm- wonder who that can be. You stay here. I'll bring you something to eat in a bit."
She closed the door carefully, apparently oblivious to the tapping of beak-on-door sounds. The poor Jusenkyo duck was barely able to restrain himself from using the hidden weapons in his arsenal to get out of the room. Last time he had tried that, he managed to puncture a hole in her air mattress.
It wasn't until Yuka was halfway down the steps that she realized she had no idea who was at the door. She had assumed it was Sayuri. The thing was, usually her mother just sends her friends up to her room when they drop by. She didn't have any school projects due with her study group, and she wasn't really expecting anyone.
So you can imagine her surprise when she saw a Ranma-chan standing in the doorway with Akane close by.
"Hello, Akane. Ranma. Come in." Both girls took off their shoes and walked into the living room while Yuka continued. "Let me guess, hot water?"
"Actually, no."
Yuka paused at the kitchen door, turned around, and walked back to her friends. This day just kept getting weirder and weirder.
"Genma told us that he sold a duck he found on the street for some spare yen and a case of sake to your father." Akane was absolutely livid as she spat Genma's name. She quickly changed from anger to worry. "Yuka, you wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"
"Why? Is there something wrong with it?"
Ranma-chan and Akane exchanged glances.
"Well, you see," Ranma-chan began "it's sort of tough to explain. His name is Mou-"
"Mu-chan," completed Akane, elbowing her fiancée quickly in the ribs. "Mu-Mu Chan and he belongs to a Chinese Cir-"
"-tain young amazon waitress who would be absolutely heart-broken if she didn't get back her pet duck." The daggers that Akane was mentally sending Ranma-Chan's direction didn't seem to be making their mark.
Yuka watched all this going on, taking mental notes of all their behavior. 'They really do fight a lot.' But at the same time, there was something very wrong going on. She looked from Akane to Ranma-chan, and back to Akane. There was a determination in them that would not be denied. And she had nothing to fear from Akane. Akane wouldn't lie to her. Not Akane.
"I- I'll get D-Cha- er- Mu-Mu Chan." She swallowed.
She wasn't quite sure how she made it upstairs. She had only had D-Chan/Mu-Mu Chan for a week, and now he was being taken away from her. What if there was something seriously wrong with him?
'Is he important to some sort of quest they're on? No, that doesn't make sense. Ranma and Akane never lie about that sort of stuff.'
She opened the door and D-chan fell out, lump on his head from bumping into too many things. She carefully knelt in front of the white duck to pick him up.
"Well, I guess this is good-bye."
D-Chan honked forlornly. Yuka chuckled to herself, cradling the duck carefully in her arms.
"Yeah, I'll miss you. If you don't miss me, I'm sure that's cause the other person will take great care of you." She squinted at the duck in her arms. "Hmm… You know, I wonder if there's more to you than Akane and Ranma are letting on."
If a duck ever had a frightened look on his face, it appeared at that moment.
Yuka either didn't notice it, or passively disregarded it.
Which was fine by the duck's standards.
She carried the snowy bundle of feathers to Akane and Ranma-chan.
As a last-ditch effort to keep her new pet, Yuka tried to say something fairly offhand and flippant: "How is Genma going to pay for that case of sake from the transaction?"
Ranma-chan's hand shook slightly. "I'll make sure pops pays up. How much was it?"
Yuka shrugged. "I dunno. 10,000 Yen, give or take. Probably give. But you're my friends, and I guess there was no real harm done." She watched as Ranma-chan reached for the duck and got bitten. Yuka tapped Mu-Mu Chan on the beak. "Behave yourself," she chided the duck. "You're going home."
A flicker of restraint crossed her mind, and Yuka handed Akane Mu-Mu Chan.
"Are you sure you don't want hot water?" Yuka asked weakly.
"Nah, we'll be fine." Ranma-chan was still rubbing her hand.
"Thank you, and sorry about all of this."
"Hey, no problem Akane." She started to walk her friends to the door. "Just- Just make sure she takes good care of him."
She watched them walk away. 'Good bye,' she mentally called to her pet duck. 'Good bye, my D-Chan'
Even as I'm writing this end-note, I know that Ranma and Akane are sort of OOC. Yuka might be too- but I don't know unless I hear it from you!
All right. I posted another chapter. Now you can tell me what you think. Please? Pretty Please? With Okonomiyaki sauce on top? Flames are not welcome. Sorry, Charlie. If you think it was bad, tell me what I can do to change it. If you think I should add another chapter, review!