Ranma ½

Love Note

Usual disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, any resemblance to Ranma ½ or Death Note is purely intentional, and the rest of that jazz.

For the purposes of this story, any text within single quotes like 'this' is considered a thought.

Chapter 8


For a rare time, Akane was fully capable of admitting it: she was seriously jealous! She had just learned from Dr. Tofu that Kasumi had not been seeing him lately. There was only one very disturbing conclusion that could be drawn from that given recent events: she and Ranma... well, it was unthinkable.

'You're just being paranoid, Akane,' she thought to herself as she finally arrived home and quickly looked around the bottom floor in search of her eldest sister. 'I'm sure there is a perfectly innocent and reasonable explanation. I mean, after all, Kasumi likes older men, right... right?' she continued to think, but was not convincing herself.

Her search proving futile downstairs, she headed upstairs. She could hear Nabiki's stereo playing, but found both Ranma's and Kasumi's rooms empty. Biting her lower lip, Akane considered briefly before knocking and opening Nabiki's door. "Nabiki, have you seen Kasumi?"

"She's gone out shopping or something," Nabiki replied from her bed, apparently engaged in some reading.

"Oh... Uh... Did Ranma-"

"He's with her I think."

Akane's eye twitched at this. "Kasumi and Ranma have been... going out a lot lately... haven't they?" Akane said after a moment, causing Nabiki to finally look up from her reading. After examining Akane curiously for a moment, she broke into a teasing grin. Akane frowned reflexively, but right now petty things like keeping her public image intact meant little. She was reaching her breaking point. "They really are seeing each other, aren't they?" Akane finally blurt out, nearly choking on the words.

"Calm down, sis," Nabiki replied, putting her book aside. "They couldn't exactly keep avoiding each other."

"But she's not even seeing Dr. Tofu anymore," Akane replied, grabbing a seat nearby. "Why would she stop seeing him unless she... ooooo..."

"She's not seeing Tofu? What makes you say that?"

"He said so himself. Oh he doesn't know about Ranma yet, but that's the only explanation."

"He did, did he? Hmm," Nabiki said thoughtfully, causing Akane to eye her seriously.

"Do you know something?" Akane asked, but Nabiki didn't immediately respond. "Is it something to do with Shampoo?"

"Shampoo?" Nabiki repeated in confusion.

Akane nodded. "Yes, she was over at the doctor's too. He said she was just passing the time there or something."

Nabiki nodded as she took this in. "I see... um... I don't know if Shampoo is involved. Let's just say, I wouldn't expect to see Kasumi seeing Dr. Tofu much anymore. I promised not to say anything more than that."

Akane was taken aback by this. 'Promised? Does that mean Kasumi told Nabiki something... or maybe she caught Dr. Tofu doing something? No, that couldn't be... could it?' With more questions than answers, Akane was feeling increasingly tense. "You know something, don't you? Wait... did Cupid get Shampoo again? Are she and Tofu..."

"Look, I don't know anything about that. I'm just saying the Kasumi and Tofu pretty much are done. Just leave it at that," Nabiki replied, grabbing up her book once again.

Akane couldn't take anymore. This was the last thing she wanted to hear, and a slow developing feeling of panic was starting to set in. 'How am I supposed to compete with Kasumi of all people. She can cook, clean... does all that good house wife stuff. I'm terrible at that stuff. Ranma will choose her for sure... ooooo...' Not wanting to have Nabiki see her lose the last remnants of her self control, Akane quickly left the room and took shelter in her own to ponder this latest development.

Nabiki made no attempt to chase her. Instead she got up, closed her door securely and went into deep thought. 'This is not good. I hadn't even considered this, but Kasumi suddenly not seeing Tofu sticks out. With Ranma being in love with her, I'm sure it won't take long for the others to find out about this too, and they just might start suspecting her of being Cupid... unless there was a perfectly good reason she stopped seeing Tofu... Shampoo's over there huh... hmmm... That could well work, of course I'm not supposed to be using the note, but... hmmm.'


As the elevator signaled its arrival at the eleventh floor of the hotel, Maho took in a deep breath, wondering just what to expect. 'He wants to meet with me,' she thought as the doors opened and she stepped out into an empty hallway. 'Heck, I don't even know for sure he is a he. Somehow though, I'm fairly sure he is,' she continued to think as she walked down the hall, a small package held by her right hand, scanning the door numbers for suite number 1106. It didn't take long to find it, and with another deep breath she stood in front and knocked.

Nearly a full minute passed as she waited. 'What the hell is taking him so long,' she thought nervously, shifting her weight slightly to reveal some tension. 'I wonder what he looks like?' she thought, envisioning a British man with a monocle, pipe and double brimmed hat, but quickly shook her head to dismiss the notion. 'Don't be silly, that's completely cliché,' she admonished herself just as the door handle jostled. Quickly, Maho righted herself, trying to put on the best appearance she could. Such became for naught as the door opened to reveal a young man who looked like he had just crawled out of bed, causing her to cringe.

Maho was stunned. Before her was probably the furtherest thing from her expectations. The young man was probably not even twenty. His black hair was unkempt, with an almost spiky appearance. His eyes looked sunken and tired, as if he hadn't slept in days. His clothing was no better. He wore a long sleeved simple white shirt, and a pair of simple bluejeans that looked to have been about 2 days overdue for a cleaning. Adding to the casual appearance was his complete lack of any footwear.

"Ah, Maho, come in," the young man directed, running his hand through his hair in a vain effort to organize it. Before Maho could say anything, the man walked back inside, showing little interest in his guest.

'That can't be L,' Maho thought in disbelief as she walked inside, closing the door behind her.

"Did you bring the pie?" the young man asked from out of sight in the main room of the suite.

"Uh... yeah," she replied, briefly check the package at her side which she had been instructed to buy on the way here.

"Good... good. And, please, take your off coat. We have much to talk about," the young man said.

Maho frowned. 'I guess he could be L... or maybe this is some kind of stand in?' she thought, but quickly realized that standing just inside the door would not reveal any answers. Quickly stowing her coat in the hall closet, she entered the main room to find the young man in a chair in front of a large collection of televisions and video equipment. His posture, however, gave her a moment of pause once more. Rather than simple sitting in the chair, he was almost kneeling in it, supported by his bare feet, and his back was equally folded over nearly parallel to his legs. In such a position, he almost didn't look human.

"Come in, come in, and sit down," he directed with a wave, his attention locked on the screens. Maho complied and took a seat next to the man, just in front of a common table situated between them. Finally looking away from the screens, the man gave Maho a glance. "The pie?"

"Oh... um, right here," she said as she retrieved her package and set the pie on the table.

"Ah, thank you," he said with a smile, one that seemed almost creepy to her. Quickly, he grabbed a nearby plate that had been set out and served himself a sizable piece of the dessert. Maho watched curiously as he took a fork and began eating. Even this was abnormal as he held the fork with the very tips of his fingers, almost like one might do if they were holding a delicate piece of evidence. "Ah yes, very good. Watari has been busy all day so my supplies were running low," he said as he ate, then noticing Maho's attention turned to her. "Would you like some? There is plates and forks-"

"No... I'm good," Maho answered quickly.

"Are you sure?" he asked and Maho merely nodded. Shrugging, the man turned to the screens. "As you wish. Now, to business. As you can see-"

"You're L?" Maho couldn't help but finally ask.

"Yes," he replied with a curious side glance.

"I'm sorry, you're just not what I expected. You're younger than I am. What are you? 18? 19?"

L shook his head. "I'm afraid my exact age I'll have to keep to myself, but you are quite accurate. Despite my age, I can assure you I am indeed L. However, for the time being you can call me Ryuuzaki. That is of course an alias."

"Right," Maho said, still finding it hard to swallow that this boy was the world famous detective L. 'L has to have been active for years. How could this be him?' Finally, she decided it was best to just proceed on the assumption he was indeed L despite the seeming illogical nature of it. If he was not, she was confident she could discover such during their conversion. That decided, Maho turned her attention to the televisions and examined them. "Surveillance footage? Looks like all the bus depots."

"That is correct."

"But, I already told you-"

"That the camera at the bus depot of the meeting was damaged, yes I know. These are for all the connecting bus depots."

Maho nodded, realizing just what L had planned. "You're hoping she used a bus to go to and from the depot, and to spot her doing so. Isn't that a rather long shot though? There has to be hundreds of people coming and going, and nothing says she got on or left via a depot."

"Yes, but I believe luck is favoring us," Ryuuzaki said as he used a remote to manipulate two recordings and paused them. "What do you see here?"

Briefly glancing at L to try and discern his thoughts, but finding him entirely unreadable, Maho turned once again to the screens and looked them over. It took nearly a minute of back and forth comparisons, but finally one figure stood out as common. "That girl."

"Yes," L said, pressing a button on the remote to let both recordings continue. "Notice how she avoids the camera. It could simply be coincidence, but it is curious," he analyzed glancing at Maho who nodded in agreement.

"I assume these times are around our meeting time."

"Yes. A hour before, and a half hour after. Sufficient time to seem natural. Unfortunately, she is aware enough to never reveal her face. From this footage alone we cannot say who she is," he said as he quickly replayed the short scene.

Maho examined the playback closely, but was forced to agree. "Whoever she is, she's definitely acting suspiciously. Still, surely this isn't the only suspect out there?"

"No. In fact I have identified no less than 54 individuals who could potentially be the person to meet with the director."

"54?!" Maho exclaimed. "How could you have possibly hunted down so many people in so little time? I just told you about the depot this afternoon."

L nodded. "I have actually been looking through various surveillance footage from in and around Nerima since the day of the attack on the police was discovered. Until you narrowed it to the depot, however, I was unable to cut the suspect pool from several thousand."

"Thousand?!" Maho repeated in shock, but quickly shook her head and reset her air of calm. "Still, what makes this girl so special?"

"What is she wearing?" L asked, causing Maho to once more look at the screen.

"Looks like a school uniform... wait doesn't that make her a bad fit for our profile?"

"Specifically it is the uniform for Furinkan High School, and yes it does make her a bad fit for our profile. But, she could be yet another puppet of Cupid's. However, what makes this special is that Furinkan High School also happens to be where the daughter of one our Police officers we have surmised may have been the initial point of attack attends school."

Maho nodded in sudden understanding. "Is that her?"

"Possibly, but from this we can't tell. I'm more interested in the Furinkan connection. You see, this is the third time now that Furinkan has appeared in reference to Cupid."

"Third?" Maho asked curiously.

Ryuuzaki nodded. "Yes. Some days before the attack on the police, I happened to be monitoring some of the Cupid related television programming when a young lady called in to one. As you are probably aware, call in shows are notoriously full of false information, particularly about Cupid, but this girl's claims stood out to me. She claimed that several individuals around her had been affected who had never been on television or in the papers. Further, she claimed the incidents occurred before the known start of the public incidents of Cupid effects. She also curiously withheld her own name, and those of the people she was mentioning. She even appeared to be suspicious of someone in particular. All of this made me very interested.

"Despite her attempt to remain anonymous, I was able to attain the phone records for the program. They traced back to one Ucchan's Okonomiyaki, owned and operated by Ukyo Kuonji, a female student of Furinkan High School, although for some odd reason she is registered at the school as a male. Despite that, I'm quite confident it was this Ukyo that called in."

Maho nodded in understanding and agreement. "That is way too much coincidence."

"Yes. Ukyo's information gave me cause to consider investigating even had we not found this most recent connection to Furinkan. Now I am certain of it. Cupid is somehow connected to Furinkan High School. In fact, that is where Watari is now. I have him setting up surveillance in and around the high school. We shall now focus all our efforts there."

Maho couldn't help but agree. 'Amazing how close he has gotten, even in the face of such a devastating set back. From world wide, to within probably but a few miles,' she thought with admiration. However, her thoughts quickly turned to more practical matters. "Wait, is that even legal?" Getting no immediate response, she turned to L who seemed to be ignoring her, feigning interest in the monitors. "It's not, is it?"

Sighing, L responded. "Technically, no. However, I have a great deal of latitude when it comes to my methods of investigation. That's actually part of the reason I've asked you here. We'll be monitoring all the rooms, so it could be considered inappropriate for me to watch certain feeds."

Maho frowned at the implication, but couldn't fault his logic. Changing topics slightly, Maho asked, "So, what's the other part?"

"You've been rather busy, but I'll ask anyway. Have you been watching recent Cupid activity reports?"

"Not really," Maho replied with a shake of her head. "I've seen a few shows on TV, but really haven't had a chance to closely analyze it."

L nodded. "I expected such. Would it surprise you to know that Cupid has ceased all activity since the attack on the police?"

"What?" Maho replied in shock. "That can't be, I hear lots-"

"Of false reports, yes. I've kept a close eye on reports, and since the day of the police attack, very few incidents have the tell tale signs of Cupid activity. Those few that do I'm quite certain are mere coincidence. Of course, it is possible Cupid simply has completely changed her methods, but I think you would agree that that is exceedingly unlikely."

Maho considered this for a moment. "If she's stopped, isn't that a good thing?"

"Yes and no. I may know she has stopped, but the public does not. False claims are on the rise, and the Cupid phenomena is rising with them. With the attack on the police, naturally many of those that publicly spoke out against Cupid have been more reserved, or completely gone silent. No doubt they feel threatened now. On the other side, Cupid supporters are increasing, partly due to the decreased amount of opposition, or simply due to Cupid's new show of power. In any event, the Cupid phenomena is showing it can actually live on without Cupid. If things continue on down this course, it is quite possible that Cupid could achieve a near religious following and not have to do a thing to maintain it. People will continue on thinking that reports of spontaneous love can be attributed to her and like all good cases of mass hysteria, this will prompt even more incidents to further fuel the craze."

"That doesn't sound good," Maho said.

"Good or not is difficult to say. Religion can get quite out of hand, or be quite beneficial. Difficult to predict how this will turn out without further Cupid influence, although the odds favor it ending negatively. However, that's not really why I brought this up. With Cupid inactive, we've lost by far our most valuable tool for finding her, namely catching her in the proverbial act."

Maho couldn't help but nod in agreement. "You're right. We have no idea how she does it, so even if we were holding the means in our hands it could easily go by without our notice."

"So, without being able to circumstantially link a suspect to the acts, we are left with very few avenues of potential proof. Primary among these is to directly confront Cupid and have her admit it."

"I still don't see what that has to do with bringing me here."

L nodded and looked back at Maho. "I have been quite impressed with your skills to date, Maho, so please don't misunderstand, but I predict that to catch Cupid in this manner, I myself will have to be the one to confront her. It would be too easy to miss a crucial detail otherwise. As such, I feel certain that I will have to reveal myself publicly anyway, if only to Cupid. There seems little point in keeping my identity secure from you under such a circumstance. Besides, this arrangement is vastly more convenient.

"I have arranged for the whole floor to be available. I'll have your belongings moved here at the earliest convenience, so I would like for you to choose a room for your continued stay. You'll find the room keys in the kitchen area. I believe the rooms are all essentially identical, but feel free to use any that you prefer."

Maho nodded and began to get up. "Right," she said but paused on her way to the kitchen. "Even though she's stopped, you're still determined to catch her?"

"Oh yes," L replied without looking.

"Why?"

"Catching Cupid may just be enough to put an end to this movement. However, consider if you would what would happen should Cupid's power fall into less discriminating hands."

Maho sadly had to agree with the implication. "Then what happens to Cupid?" she asked, but once again L appeared to ignore her. "You really don't know what you're going to do when you catch her, do you?"

Several more seconds passed, but finally L responded. "You continue to impress me. You are right, I'm not quite certain how I will ultimately deal with her. However, that is a matter to deal with at a later time, when it is actually worth considering."

"Of course," Maho replied and continue on into the kitchen and picked up a set of keys at random. "Anything else you need me for?"

"Not at this moment. I'll call you should the need arise," L replied. However, as she reached the door, he called. "Naomi?"

"Yes?" Maho asked after a second.

"Do be very careful in the future. NEVER let out your real name under any circumstance, even to me. It is the only thing protecting you."

"Huh?" Maho replied then sighed in disgust at being so easily tricked into acknowledging her real name. She nearly let pride get the better of her and argue the nature of the trick, but had to admit she had not even considered. "I'll... be more careful."


Shampoo was in a rather deep mental quandary. Ever since her brief bout of love for Mousse, her whole outlook on things had changed. First of all there was the whole Cupid issue. Although she was still inclined to blame the whole thing on Mousse, reason had won out in her mind making her doubt such a conclusion. Make no mistake, she was still mad as hell at him, but she could no longer see him as the culprit, and more likely he was simply taking advantage of the situation.

Second on her mind was Ranma. Shampoo had been in love with Mousse only for a short few days, but Ranma had been nowhere to be found. Although her desired husband's feeling were often very puzzling to her, she had long assumed that he was merely being excessively shy and would at least make a token appearance to protect his claim to Shampoo, but nothing.

While heavily disappointing in itself, that had lead Shampoo to a third thought. After calming down some, the hypocrisy of her anger towards Mousse for potentially doing something she had attempted on a few occasions herself had not escaped her. Being on the receiving end of such a thing had served well to make her reevaluate her actions. She had always viewed such things as fair game, and perfectly harmless. Now her opinion had taken a sharp turn, and that had lead to a disturbing thought.

That thought was the real reason she was at Dr. Tofu's. With her Great grandmother out of town, Shampoo found herself without guidance yet desperately wanting some. However, there was no one to turn to in Japan. Everyone else she knew was a rival, or someone she would never ask advice of. The doctor was perhaps the one exception to that. Although they had only a minimal acquaintance, he at least had shown her some respect and had not positioned himself directly against her. He also seemed fairly knowledgeable, thus making him the only suitable candidate to talk to.

Unfortunately, starting such a conversion was proving more difficult for Shampoo than she had anticipated. Having had so little contact with the doctor, Shampoo wanted first to feel out his current position in the greater scheme of things before asking him for his advice. Proposing to work for him seemed the best means to do so and thus far was working well. However, as the days passed, Shampoo found herself falling into an all too common trap for those worried about receiving bad news, she was avoiding the very thing she had come to seek.

Such a situation might have continued had not Akane come that day. She had not caught what had been said between the doctor and her chief rival for Ranma, but merely seeing her had reaffirmed Shampoo's goal. The only problem now was that as soon as he returned, the doctor seemed to become suddenly preoccupied with his own thoughts. It was quite easy to jump to conclusions from this, but Shampoo chose to control such thoughts and concentrate on how to finally approach the doctor. With the work day largely done, and clinic now empty save for her and the doctor, Shampoo decided that it was finally time.

"Doctor?" Shampoo asked as she entered the examination room, finding Tofu giving far too much attention to his tea.

"Hmh?" Tofu said idly as he looked up at the Amazon. "Oh, Shampoo, you're still here? You can head on home. I'll do any final clean up."

Shampoo half considered it, but after only a second hesitation, she shook her head. "No... Shampoo want speak with you."

Finally the doctor appeared to be shaken out of his stupor and sat up straight. "Speak... uh, sure. What is it you want to talk about?" he asked, directing her to a nearby chair.

As bidden, Shampoo sat down, considered her words, and then asked, "Does Ranma hate me?"

"Huh?!" Tofu blurt out at the unexpected question. "Um... of course not. Whatever gave you that idea?"

Unconvinced at the reflexive denial, Shampoo turned away for a second. "Is Cupid. Shampoo very mad for what she think Mousse do. Shampoo think Ranma may be same way to Shampoo."

"Oh, I see," Tofu replied, and held his chin in thought, which only worried Shampoo more. However, after only a few seconds of thought, Tofu shook his head and smiled at her. "Ranma's not one to hold a grudge. In fact, I haven't heard him say much of anything on that topic. I'm sure if he was truly upset with you on the matter, at least as much as to hate you, he would have mentioned something."

Shampoo looked at the doctor's smiling face and felt reassured. "You is sure?"

"Quite sure," Tofu reconfirmed with a nod.

With a sigh of relief, Shampoo stood up. "Thank you. Was wanting honest answer. So few here Shampoo know."

"Glad to be of some help," Tofu replied, but as Shampoo turned to leave, Tofu thought to himself, 'Of course, that doesn't mean he isn't angry about it. But, I really shouldn't get involved. After all, Ranma is engaged to Akane... who Cupid apparently messed up... and now Ranma is in love with... with... Kasumi...' "Wait!" Tofu suddenly blurt out, stopping Shampoo at the doorway. As she looked back him curiously, Tofu found his mind fumbling. 'Why did I do that?' he asked himself, but the answer was not yet one that he could accept. After a moment of puzzlement from Shampoo, Tofu sheepishly smiled. "Ah, it's nothing," he assured her.

Still at the doorway, Shampoo hesitated, unsure what to make of the doctor's sudden and very brief outburst. Before she had much time to consider this, the chime of the door rang, signaling that someone had entered. Shampoo turned just in time to greet a familiar face. "Great grandmother!"

"Shampoo," Cologne returned the greeting and entered the room. "Doctor Tofu. I hope my great granddaughter hasn't been a bother."

"Not at all," Tofu replied, standing to greet Cologne. "I hear from Shampoo that you were back in China. Did your trip go well?"

Cologne pondered her response. "Yes, and no. I was investigating this Cupid."

"You learn something, great grandmother?" Shampoo asked eagerly, betraying some her anger towards the person in question.

"A few things, only a little of it useful," Cologne responded. "We can talk about-"

"Forgive me," Tofu interjected, pulling both women's attention to him. "But... would you be willing to perhaps share what you have learned?"

Cologne looked Tofu over intensely. "Realize, I cannot exclude you as a suspect. You could very well be Cupid."

Tofu was taken aback by the point, but quickly collected himself. "True, you have no evidence to the contrary. However, I give you my word that I am not," Tofu replied, but noticed Cologne seemed unconvinced. "And... I have my own reasons for finding Cupid."

"Oh, something has happened to Kasumi then?" Cologne asked, shocking Tofu at her insight. "Interesting."

"What happen to Kasumi?" Shampoo asked, quickly looking between the two in confusion, but the only response she got was Tofu's nervousness.

Ignoring Shampoo question for the moment, Cologne nodded to Tofu. "Very well. The likelihood of you being Cupid is low anyway, and I do believe to find this Cupid will take some collaboration. Of course, that will mean that I expect to be told anything you know on the topic as well."

"Of course," Tofu replied, trying his best to avoid Shampoo's eyes. "Um... why don't I get you some tea. I'm sure it's been a long journey. Then, we can discuss everything."

Cologne nodded her approval. "Very well, but just some water for me, thank you," Cologne amended, prompting Tofu to retreat to another room while Cologne and Shampoo waited.

Once outside the room, Tofu sighed in relief. 'Can't dodge it forever. Shampoo's going to find out that Ranma is in love with Kasumi now, and then what?' Tofu thought, but came to no easy answers. After another minute or so of delay, Tofu returned to the room with a fresh set of cups and tea pot along with Cologne's requested glass of cold water. After handing them out, he took a seat.

Cologne took a few sips of her drink before starting. "As I said, I haven't learned much. I did find out that we Amazons may have had an encounter with another Cupid in our early history. Details are few, but the events described are remarkably similar, although not nearly so wide spread, although that is most likely due to the conveniences of your modern world."

"I see," Tofu said with a nod. "What happened? Did they even discover who Cupid was?"

"Yes," Cologne answered. "Although precisely what became of him is hazy. Tales are a bit contradictory in that respect. You see, he used his power on many Amazons. As you might expect, once discovered there was a great deal of... bad blood shall we say."

"They killed him?!" Tofu asked in shock, but Cologne only shrugged.

"Certainly a strong possibility, but details of his fate are few, and mixed. Some tales speak of continued activity after his discovery which would hint that he lived. Others speak of his end. It is difficult to resolve such a contradiction."

Tofu nodded once more. 'Whoever this Cupid is, he is playing with fire involving Shampoo. Although, this Cupid seems to put little thought into any repercussions. Has he no shame? Involving Kasumi and Shampoo! The nerve! Why, someone as young, and so full of life as Shampoo deserves so much better...'

As Tofu's thoughts continued, Cologne was watching him, and quickly noticed the sudden fog forming on his glasses. Following his gaze quickly she found Shampoo was the recipient, although the young Amazon had yet to realize. 'Oh no!' Cologne thought before rushing into action.


Across town at the Tendo home, about 42 seconds earlier, Nabiki finished her writing and quickly moved to put the Love Note back in place before Kasumi got back. 'It's for the best. This will explain why Kasumi isn't seeing Tofu anymore, and everyone will just assume it's been going on for a while since Shampoo has been at Tofu's this past while. It's perfect.' she thought with a smile. 'Of course, Kasumi will probably be a bit upset, but can't be helped. Besides, her chances with Tofu have been zero since she starting using the note anyway. She'll just have to live with it.'


End Chapter 8

Long delayed, but finally done. Why so late? Two reasons. One, I ran into a future plotting issue which had to be resolved this chapter, which obviously required that I actually make my mind up... which I'm terrible at. I like keeping my options open. Two, this is about where my firm plotting came to an abrupt end. Oh, I have ideas past here, but they are much more fragmented and uncertain (hence problem one because I had to decide which fragments to go with).

As I noted in chapter one, all input is welcome here. My ideas on this story are pretty sketchy right now meaning most my time is actually spent figuring out what to write rather than actually writing it, which is not the usual hold up for me.