"Excuse me. Miss? Young man?"

Kasumi stirred. She recognized that she was in an unusual situation, but did not yet have enough lucidity to know what that situation was.

"Miss? Excuse me. You need to wake up."

'Someone's trying to rouse me? Why?'

'Oh my, the alarm didn't go off! I need to wake up Nabiki and Akane and Ranma, and prepare breakfast and get their lunches ready and see them off…'

"Young man, will you please wake up now?"

Kasumi felt Ryoga stirring.

Wait... felt?

She cracked her eyes open and saw Ryoga lying down with his head in her lap. As more clarity returned, she realized that his arms were wrapped around her waist.

"Oh good, you're waking up. Could you wake up your boyfriend as well, please?"

"He's not…" Kasumi stopped herself. That was not an important misunderstanding that needed fixing at that moment. "Ah. Yes. I'm sorry." She softly shook him. "Ryoga, you need to get up."

Kasumi gasped as she felt his arms hold her more tightly.

"Tired."

"Ryoga, you really must wake up right away. We're…" She looked around. "We're on a train?" She tried to remember what had happened. Oh yes, after the flight from rooftop to rooftop, they went to the train station to go north. She looked at the woman who had woken her. "Pardon me, what station are we currently in?"

"This is the terminus at Hachinohe. And I need you to debark this train as soon as you can. The morning commute is starting soon."

Kasumi looked out of the car's windows. It was very early: the sky a bright salmon.

She tried to mentally reconstruct what had happened. It had been nearly dark when they reached the station in Saitama. Once they were on the train north, they must have been so exhausted, they both fell asleep in their seats. And rather than Miyagi prefecture, they overshot their mark by some considerable distance.

"Miss? If you can't wake him up, perhaps we can splash some cold water on his face?"

In an instant, Ryoga's eyes shot open. "I'm awake now!"

He noticed his position: head in Kasumi's lap, hugging her middle. He sat up quickly, his arms at his side. "PARDON ME!"

"Ryoga, we need to get our packs and get off the train now."

He stood up immediately. "Of course!" He put his hand behind his neck. "I apologize for the inconvenience." He fetched the backpacks from the luggage rack above the windows. "Which way is the exit?"

Ryoga sat on a platform bench, staring down at the ground, mortified. 'What happened? How did it happen? Why did it happen?'

"Hands out."

Ryoga looked up. Kasumi was holding a can of tea towards him. "Careful, it's hot."

He gingerly took the can with his fingertips. "Thank you." He opened the can and took a sip. Quite sweet tasting. "It's good."

"Mmm." Kasumi sat next to him and opened a can of her own, then sipped. "It's been a long time since I didn't make a cup of tea in the morning myself." She sipped again.

"Sorry."

She lowered the can from her mouth. "Whatever for?"

'Getting you lost? Causing you embarrassment? Touching you? Take your pick.' "I should have gotten us off at the correct stop."

"Ryoga." She placed her hand on his knee. "Remember that I want to be lost. In fact, come to think of it-is this the first time where I've been the one to take us off the correct path?" She smiled. "I feel a little proud of that."

'She's cute when she smiles.' Ryoga shook his head slightly. 'I mean, her smile is cute because it reminds me of Akane.'

"You don't always sleep alone, do you, Ryoga?"

He suddenly became very aware of his heartbeat and his breathing. He felt slightly sick. "Whatever do you mean?"

"You have a dog don't you? I think her name is Shirokuro? I'll bet when you're at home she sleeps in bed with you. Just because of the way you were touchy."

"I didn't mean anything by it!" His voice went higher-pitched than he had intended.

"Hmm? Oh, of course not! We were both asleep. And besides, I know you're very gentlemanly."

'I'm not.' "Ah, thank you."

"So, I did a little research when I was getting our tea. There's a public bath not far from the station that's open early. I think it's a good idea if we have a bath and get into some clean clothes, because we've been wearing these for a full day now. On the same street, there's a laundromat. We can get ourselves all fresh and ready for the day. How does that sound?"

It felt nice to be clean. It was also quite nice for the baths to be so quiet. Most of the clientele must come in the evening. He filled up a bucket with cold water and debated with himself.

He hated being the pig, but on the other hand, if he went for too long without changing, he felt like he was tempting fate.

Deciding, he poured the water over his head and felt the change happen.

He shook the cold water off his now tiny body, then trotted to the bath proper.

That was when he felt himself being picked up by tiny hands. "Piggy!"

'Oh no.'

The boy that grabbed him, who couldn't have been more than five, ran back through the changing area, carrying him around the counter at the front of the baths, and finally towards the women's side. "Mama! Guess what I found!"

Ryoga managed to wiggle out of the boy's grip and tore off towards the men's side before he saw anything indecent. But when his trotters touched the pavement, he realized something had gone horribly wrong.

'Not now! Not now!'

'Don't panic. Whatever I do, don't panic. As long as I don't run away, I should be able to find my way back if I pay attention to what's going on.'

"Piggy? Where'd you go?"

Ryoga thanked the god of irritating small children for helping him out this one time. He closed his eyes, followed the voice back into the front door and headed towards the men's area.

When he ran into the changing room and saw the elderly woman unzipping her dress, he turned around and ran into the actual men's area.

He galloped through the changing rooms and then leaped full speed into the hot baths.

"Piggy!" the boy ran into the bath again, just as Ryoga climbed out of the hot water. "Piggy? Hey, big brother, did you see my pet piggy?"

"Sorry, squirt." He retrieved the towel he had left by the showers and wrapped it around himself. "Can't help you."

Kasumi felt clean. She supposed she would need to get used to the feeling of going a few days without a bath if they were in the wilderness, but if there was an opportunity for a bath, she would certainly take it. And with both a bath and a supply of newly-laundered clothes, she felt as fresh as a crocus just burst from the ground.

If it weren't still the morning, she'd call home. But Akane and Nabiki would be at school, and she felt like a phone call with her father or Mr. Saotome (or indeed, a mute panda) would be best avoided. If they saw a phone booth in the afternoon she'd call. Provided it was a phone booth that accepted Japanese coins. From her previous day's experience, she knew that wouldn't necessarily always be the case.

They started off in the right direction at least: they headed southward, with the ocean on their left. The road seemed to go straight for awhile, so Kasumi thought she'd risk looking at her guidebook while she walked.

The section on Aomori prefecture went into detail about the local food specialities. 'It's a shame it's not the harvest season–apples would be a nice souvenir to bring home. Then again, fresh fruit would probably go bad by the time I get home. Hopefully'

Senbei soup was apparently a well-known dish in the region. Perhaps it might be worth it to stop and have a bowl, since they were in Aomori, after all…

She looked up from the book. The ocean had disappeared. They were surrounded by mountains, the peaks of which were still covered with snow.

Kasumi smiled. That was what this trip was for: the unexpected.

If Ryoga on the road had a catchphrase (other than "where am I now?), it would probably be "this place seems familiar." Today alone, he had already said it at least a dozen times over the last six hours.

"Familiar how?"

"There's something about the road, and the light through the trees? And the smell–I've definitely smelled this place before. I can't put my finger on it."

"That might be a blessing," Kasumi said. "Akane tells me that things you put your finger on tend to explode."

She didn't notice Ryoga's neck stiffening when she mentioned her sister's name, but the long silence that ensued did start to become uncomfortable. There was nothing for it but to wait for a distraction.

The distraction took the form of a man standing next to his ploughed field, watching the two walking towards him..

"Ryoga?"

"Y-yeah?"

"Do you think we should ask that man for directions?"

"Oh, uh, sure." Ryoga hadn't had a lot of success asking for directions, but perhaps the eight-hundred-and-thirty-first time was the charm.

Ryoga bowed slightly as they came up next to him. "Excuse me, can you give me directions to Matsushima Bay?"

He looked at them quizzically. "Matsushima? You kiddin', mister? That's…" The farmer paused and looked closer. "Wait a second-you're not Ryoga Hibiki, are you?"

"Uh… yes? Or no? I'm Ryoga Hibiki."

"Well how about that! Lotta water under the bridge since the last time you've been by. We all thought you must've finally found where you were looking for." He looked at Kasumi, next to Ryoga. "Or who you were looking for."

Ryoga furrowed his brow trying to recall. "I'm sorry, I'm having trouble remembering. You say I've been here before?"

The farmer bowed to Kasumi. "Howdy, miss. Name's Kusumoto. And this feller here," he pointed at Ryoga, "only just saved our whole village!"

Ryoga smacked his first on his palm. "Of course! This is the village where I stopped the landslide!"

"What? No!"

"The village where I fought a wild boar?"

"No!"

"The village where I put up earthworks when it was flooding?"

"It was a bear! A huge one! Killin' our livestock and terrorizing the village. Land sakes, how many villages have you rescued, anyway?"

"Um… haha." Ryoga laughed nervously with his hand behind his head. "I don't really keep count of that kind of thing."

"Well then, I'm guessin' you did make it to F'rinkan High School, after all?"

"Oh, yes I did." Ryoga bowed. "Thank you for your directions. They were very helpful, presumably."

The farmer spoke to Kasumi again. "Then if I had to guess… you must be Ranma Saotome, am I right? Funny-I was expectin' you to be a boy."

"What? Her? Saotome? Of course she isn't!"

"Kasumi Tendo, sir." She bowed deeply. "A pleasure to meet you."

"Oh, sorry, didn't mean to embarrass y'all. Weren't you able to find Ranma?"

"No, no, I did find him."

"Huh." He frowned slightly. "Well, at least you were able to move on."

"Move on? What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm assuming that Ranma must have turned you down, otherwise, you'd be out wandering with him."

"Turned me down, how?"

"You know, when he turned you down after you confessed your love to him."

"Confess my… what…" Ryoga's voice grew higher-pitched by the second. "Wait, what the hell are you talking about?"

"You were so eager to find this Ranma Saotome character, we all figured he must have been the boy you were in love with."

"I… I'm not in love with Ranma!"

"Oh, so it was just a crush, then?"

"Yes. I mean, no! I was never in love with him!"

The man's face grew horrified. "Oh no, I'm sorry!" He leaned forward and whispered hastily to Ryoga. "I didn't mean to out you. I'm sorry, I had assumed she already knew."

"Already knew what?" Ryoga whispered back.

Kusumoto pressed a finger to the side of his nose. "Message received."

He spoke loud enough that Kasumi could hear. "I'm sure pleased to see that you're doin' so well for yourself now. You completed your quest and you're dating quite the beautiful girlfriend!"

Ryoga was starting to wonder if it would have been better to have gotten lost as P-chan when he had the chance. "That's wrong. I'm not dating her."

"Youre not? So Miss Kasumi isn't your girlfriend?"

Kasumi nodded. "That's true, I'm not."

"What she said," Ryoga said wearily.

"Well then," he had a thoughtful look in his yes, "that's going to cause a bit of a sensation back in the village. The two of you will spend the night with us, right? You comin' by is the best excuse for throwin' a party that we've had for some time."

"I… suppose?"

"That would be wonderful!" Kasumi clapped her hands together.

"Then let's head on over right now."

"But, don't you have work to do here?" Ryoga pointed towards the fields.

He waved his hand dismissively. "I can spare a few hours of labor to show you the way. The others would probably skin me if I let you wander away before everyone had a chance to see ya. And anyway, I can get started on gettin' a feast ready." Kusumoto picked a hoe off the ground and rested it on his shoulder. "So just be sure to follow me, okay?"

As they walked along a forested path, Kusumoto made subtle motions to Ryoga to get him to lean closely. "Listen–we're good folks generally, but sometimes things do get a bit boisterous at parties."

"All right?"

"I"m just sayin', I know how strong y'are, so you should be able to take care of yourself. Now, when folks find out that there's nothing between you and Miss Kasumi… How can I say this: we've got some single guys in the village who might think of this as an opportunity. Ya get my drift? They oughta be gentlemen, but just in case they aren't, nobody'll blame you if you knock a couple heads together, you get me?"

'I'll have to keep a close eye on Kasumi, then.' "I get you."

"It should be fine, and you can ask me for help if you need it."

Akane was surprised to find her room occupied. "Nabiki? Why are you on my bed?"

Her older sister shrugged. "It's the comfiest place in the room?"

"That's not what I was asking. Why are you in my bedroom?"

Nabiki grinned. "I just wanted to have a little sister-to-sister conversation."

"About what?"

"About what Kasumi is really getting up to on her trip."

Akane looked away nervously. "Probably nothing. You know Kasumi."

Nabiki shook her head. "I thought I knew her." She pulled the envelope of photos from underneath the magazine she had been reading. "But maybe she's got a whole world we don't even know about." She smiled. "I'd love to hear your input on the subject."

Author's note:

Japanese baths: I don't know how common it is for children to go between the sides in a public bath, but the one time I went to one, there was a small child who went back and forth from the men's to the women's.

"Big brother": It's not uncommon for children in Japan to refer to complete strangers in familial terms.