Disclaimer: Yes, I do, in fact, own Ranma ½. (Oh, and if you believe that, I have map of Jusenkyo to sell you.)

Last chapter appeared in the midst of a temper tantrum. The server went up, then down, then up, then down, then up, then down. I really don't know whether or not that kept people from reviewing, but I can really relate if it did.

On with the fic in third personessness!

Xian Pu glanced over at the window. Rain. 'Unfair.' She pouted and crossed her arms. 'And I had something in store for him, too.'

Muu Tsu still looked as though someone had snuffed out any light he had in his eyes. Slowly the rice was sending herbal tendrils to soothe the apprehensions he kept feeling.

The Amazon Warrioress looked back at Muu Tsu.

"That's all right, Xian Pu and Muu Tsu have fun right here, yes?" She broke into a wide, evil grin.

The furo was nice and warm, like a hug enveloping the Furinkan student.

She had a choice to make and wasn't sure which choice was the best. She turned over the options in her mind, looking at the downside to each decision. All of them had at least one or two reasons why she shouldn't ask them.

Her head tilted backwards, and she felt her reservations start drifting away. She'd make a decision in the morning.

'ringringrin' "Yuka! It's for you!"

'Not now. . . ' thought Yuka, but she had no choice. She wrapped a towel around herself and hotfooted it downstairs to the cordless phone.

"I GOT IT!" she yelled, covering the earpiece. "Hello?"

"Yuka! I never got to tell you!"

"Sayuri? Is that you?"

"Of course it's me. Who'd ya think? Copycat Ken?"

"Hey, it's Nerima. You never know." Yuka started wandering back to her room. "Now, what did you have to tell me?"

"You weren't listening the first time, so now you gotta guess."

"But Sayuri!" Yuka flopped on her mattress, phone next to her ear. She knew something was up.

"Guess. You get three." Now it was obvious that something was up.

"You found a dress for the dance."

"Yuka, we had agreed that we were going to get those together, remember?"

'Oops.' "That would be a no, then."

"Mm hm. You have two left." Yuka bit her bottom lip, trying to think of a good one.

"You were abducted by Pantyhose Tarou, saved by a wandering Jusenkyo victim who looks very bishounen when he isn't in his cursed form, but was torn from his grasp by a freak hurricane and left on a pedestal of rock that you had to climb down from, so you did and you made it back to Nerima using those two free plane vouchers your dad gave you."

"Plausible, but no. Two down, one to go."

"You asked Kuno to the dance."

"You gotta be kidding me."

"If I am, does it still count?"

"No."

"Then I'm not."

"But you were close." Yuka's brain turned upside down.

"WHAT!"

"Ow. . ."

"Sorry, Sayuri. Now, explain."

"See, I was talking with Daisuke and Hiroshi after. . ."

'Damn. I knew that they'd have dates.'

". . . So, I after I asked if either of them would be interested, Daisuke looked over at Ranma and Ukyou by the tree, then back at me. He said 'Sure', and then Hiroshi said he didn't have a date."

Yuka sat up straight. "Repeat that."

"Hiroshi doesn't have a date. At least he didn't that afternoon. I don't know whether or not Mikako got to him first."

"Mikako?"

"Yeah, dark hair, brown eyes, talks with a bit of a French accent."

"Oh. Her." 'Not to be confused with every other dark-haired, brown-eyed girl at school.'

"Well, that was just about it. Guess I'll see you in school tomorrow."

"'Kay, Sayuri. See you!"

'clik meemeeeeeeeeee-beep' Yuka hung up the phone and set it on her desk. She rewetted her quill and crossed out Daisuke's name.

"One down, three to go."

Meanwhile, next to the Eiffel Tower, Ryouga looked up at the sky and howled:

"WHERE ON EARTH AM I NOW?"

Ah-SCHU Hiroshi, in his bed, sneezed himself awake. He looked around dazedly for a second, then rolled over and went back to sleep.

Xian Pu was having a lot of fun with her new puppet.

So far she'd had Muu Tsu quack like a duck, jump through a hula hoop, write a letter of resignation to the Amazon council and then tear it up (she realized that if he wasn't a member of the Amazons, he wouldn't be of use to Kho Lon and herself in the Cat Café right now), perform a veritable indoor obstacle course, bake cookies, list all of his hidden items in alphabetical order, dance with a mop, and croon "Fly Me to the Moon" with a bucket of cold water on his head. . . All without actually turning into a duck.

"Now, Xian Pu want know what duck-boy were doing in park with girl."

Muu Tsu answered, in a monotone voice that he could not control, "I thought she was you."

Silence.

"But I learned later that I did know her."

Silence again.

"How duck-boy know her?" The truth serum had to have kicked in by now.

"I was her pet duck." The tiny corner of his mind that was not possessed by the rice was screaming like a boiling tea kettle. The rest was as placid as any koi pond.

Xian Pu showed no real emotion. 'Muu Tsu the duck-boy got himself captured. It was probably his own fault.'

The blank look on Muu Tsu's face was getting to her. This just wasn't the same cursed suitor she was used to, and it was rather unnerving. She shook her head to clear it.

"Why duck-boy not tell voice apart from Xian Pu's."

"I don't know." His mind flitted through possibilities. "I just wanted it to be you." After another moment, he added, "I think she understood Mandarin."

All right, Nabiki just informed me that she's taking bets on which of the final three Yuka picks. 1/8 odds on Ryouga, 1/4 odds on Muu Tsu, 1/2 odds on Hiroshi. Place your bets in your reviews, please! Give me suggestions, questions, comments, confusions, and maybe even a clue. I can never seem to get one.

By the way, I haven't thanked you awesome people for reviewing recently-

MilleNomina, Otaku by day/Goth by night, kenko, and butterfly: Thanks, I hope you're still like what you've been reading. showers everyone with loose yen I luv ya!

Ellis M and Joshua(TerraEpon): Major thanks for bandaging the burns and lending a hose.

Aonedehafka: I really hope I've been doing better. If not, I have a feeling you'd let me know. Wouldn't you? (Read the first chapter of White Rose, it's really well written.)

Everyone/anyone else: I really hope you're still enjoying my fic, even if you decided not to review.

Until next chapter, Ja ne!