Someone had just forced their way through a solid wall. A purple-haired someone who was strong enough to accomplish that feat one-handed, while carrying Akane's sister in her other hand. And now that person was right in front of Akane, glaring around the room and demanding to know where she could find Ranma. ...It always seemed to come back to him, lately, didn't it?

Gripping P-chan tight, Akane glared right back at the red eyes of the formidable woman. "Why do you want to know?"

The woman pointed her weapon at Akane. Then she spoke, quickly, and in a language Akane couldn't understand.

"Do you know what this strange woman is saying?" said Kodachi, looking down from the ring at Akane, one arm still looped around a panicked-looking Ranko's shoulder.

Akane shook her head. "No."

"Allow me," said Nabiki with a smirk, still sitting in the woman's hand. Nabiki. She'd sounded panicked over the phone, fearful, even. But now she was back to her usual cocky self. What had changed?

Brandishing a small book that Akane could just make out the word 'Mandarin' on, Nabiki continued. "She's saying something about tribal laws, and Ranma having fought her in the past, and… that she has to kill him."

"One at least, yeah." When Akane had asked, weeks ago now, if anyone was trying to kill Ranma… that's what he'd said. So this… this was the person? This super strong, Mandarin-speaking woman? Akane glanced back at Ranko, whose panicked eyes were locked onto the intruder. She looked like a deer in headlights, and Akane realized with surprise that if Kodachi didn't currently have an arm around her, Ranko probably would have bolted already. It looked like she was pushing back a little against Kodachi, as though her legs were subconsciously trying to backstep her away from the obvious threat.

Fierce eyes turning to Nabiki, Shampoo yelled again. "Where Ranma!?"

"Like I told you," Nabiki said, smiling sweetly, "you'll have to ask her." Pointing a finger directly at Ranko, Nabiki grinned as all eyes turned toward the red-haired martial artist.

Lowering her weapon to her side, the strange woman softly set Nabiki down, the two of them sharing a strange smile and an odd look before the woman strode over to the ring. What… what was that? That look in Nabiki's eyes, currently trained on the purple-haired woman's back... What had happened between now and Nabiki's frantic phone call!?

A loud thud brought Akane out of her own head. She turned back to the ring, which the aggressive woman had apparently just leaped into. Kodachi also leapt into action, pushing Ranko behind her so that she stood as a barrier between the other two women in the ring.

"Now see here," Kodachi said, throwing her arms out to further her protective aura. "I'm not sure why you would want to hurt this… this Ranma character, but I can assure you-"

The woman's eyes narrowed into a sharp glare. Then, suddenly, that glare disappeared, replaced with a bafflingly different expression. If Akane didn't know any better, she'd describe it as… sultry!? But then, maybe she didn't know better, since now the woman's eyes were raking up and down Kodachi's form.

Rushing forward to close the distance between them, the woman pressed a finger against Kodachi's lips. "You stay out this, hm? Shampoo give reward later if so!"

Shampoo? Was that the woman's name? And… a reward? What in the hell?

Eyes wide and cheeks flushed, Kodachi pulled away slightly. "I-I… I appreciate the, ah, affection, but, I… I must defend my red-haired goddess, you understand. So surely we can-"

The sultry look disappeared from Shampoo's face just as quickly as it had appeared. What remained was mostly a blank stare, with a hint of… pity?

"Sorry, beautiful," was all Shampoo said before she shoved Kodachi to the side so hard that the poor girl launched completely out of the ring and flew through the air, not stopping until she crashed into the wall just like her bowling ball had earlier.

"NEE-SAN!" Tachi shouted, immediately running toward her sister. P-chan barked loudly in Akane's arms. Before her brain had even fully processed the situation, Akane's feet started sprinting in the same direction as Tachi. She spared one last glance at the ring, enough to see Ranko sprinting away with Shampoo in pursuit, before she turned her attention fully to Kodachi.

Now that she was looking, Kodachi had actually hit the wall very near to where that bowling ball of hers had embedded itself - near enough to slump to the floor in a light cloud of paralyzing vapor that still hadn't completely dissipated. Holding her breath, Akane stopped Tachi in her tracks and handed her the struggling P-chan, then rushed over to Kodachi, dragging her out of and away from the gas as quickly as she could.

Laying Kodachi down on the ground a safe distance from the bowling ball, Akane looked her over. "Are you alright?" she asked, looking Kodachi directly in the eyes.

"As alright as one can be in such a situation," Kodachi said with a small laugh. Her neck strained as she tried to sit up, to no avail. "Ah, it seems my treacherous paralyzing agent has done its job."

Giving Kodachi another once-over, Akane muttered, "You don't seem to be bleeding, at least…" She didn't seem to be in any critical danger, though a trip to a doctor was still definitely a good idea. But first, there was something else Akane needed to attend to.

"Tachi," Akane said softly, putting a hand on the sniffling child's shoulder. "I think your sister is going to be alright. Can you look after her for a moment while I try to figure out what's going on?"

Apparently too upset to speak, Tachi nodded, her lip shaking as tears and snot streamed down her face. Squeezing the still struggling and growling P-chan, Tachi kneeled down next to her sister and took her hand, receiving a smile from Kodachi for the effort. "Worry not, dear sister, I will be fine! I just... cannot move my body for a little while."

Though part of her desperately wanted to stay to comfort the siblings, Akane stood back up and marched over to her own sister, glaring all the way.

No doubt noticing Akane's expression, Nabiki had the decency to look a little guilty for once in her life. "Now, Akane, I can see you're upset, but-"

"Don't!" Akane said, raising a hand up like it was a stop sign. "I don't want to hear a word from you unless I ask for it!" Nabiki's mouth clamped shut, her eyes casting about the room as though something in it might save her from this situation. "When you called earlier you said this was a life or death situation! You sounded terrified! But then you bust in here with… with her, looking all smug in her arms, and just… what in the hell is going on, Nabiki!?"

"It was a life or death situation, honest!" Nabiki said, throwing her arms out dramatically, a gesture Akane wasn't used to seeing from her. "Look, I was just minding my business in our house, a place we're supposed to be safe in, when Ranma's idiot panda father ran up to me, picked me up, and literally threw me at that woman! She'd apparently followed him to our home, and the creep decided to use me as a distraction so that he could get away!"

Genma. Akane had never liked Ranma's father very much, and every time she heard more about him it just made her dislike him all the more. Ranma could be a pain in the ass, but given who raised him, Akane was starting to realize that Ranma had turned out pretty great afterall.

With a small sigh, Akane said, "Okay, well… that's awful. I'm sorry that happened."

"Finally you spare your sister some compassion!" Nabiki said, crossing her arms. Maybe taking a hint from Akane's unimpressed expression, she continued with her story. "So, anyway... this murderous wild woman, who later said her name's Shampoo… she points one of those big round weapons at me and demands I take her to Ranma. She's yelling this at me, mind, while pointing a weapon at me! And that's when I called you! I had to find out where you were, since I knew you and Ranma had come to this fight that you refused to tell me about. Once you and I stopped talking, I said I knew where to find him, and she literally just scooped me up in her arms and launched herself into the air with those strong legs of hers."

Sighing again, this time in utter exasperation, Akane said, "That still doesn't explain why you two seemed to be on such good terms by the time you got here."

That familiar smirk returned. "Heh, well, I mean… it felt pretty nice to be held in a strong woman's arms, I gotta admit." Akane could feel her cheeks growing warm. Her sister, Nabiki, enjoyed something like that? "And, well, one thing led to another, and… let's just say Shampoo's a good kisser."

"...WHAT?"

Giving a small shrug, Nabiki said, "Look, I usually go for guys, but it's hard to resist a good-looking girl when she's offering, you know?"

Akane did know, but this was also… this was too much. "Okay, okay, stop. I… I can't right now."

"You asked."

With her deepest sigh yet, Akane turned away from her sister and dashed back over to the Kunos. P-chan seemed to have calmed down a little. He looked up at her from Tachi's arms when she approached, cocking his head to the side questioningly.

"Are you two okay?" Akane asked, kneeling down beside them and gently taking P-chan back from a reluctant Tachi. The younger girl nodded, her lip still pouting. Her eyes glanced at P-chan, and her whole face wobbled, like she was close to completely breaking down.

"We are fine, dear Akane! Please, I worry about Ranko… That woman was… very strong. And Ranko seemed terrified of her."

Akane nodded. Standing up, she walked a pace or two away and held P-chan up to her face. "I know you want to go running off after them too, Ryoga," she said quietly. "But I need you here to keep watch over the Kunos. Kodachi's really vulnerable right now, and you're a source of comfort for Tachi. Can you stay with them for now, please?"

The little dog in front of her face seemed miffed, but still nodded its head and gave a small 'ruff' of acknowledgement.

"Thanks, Ryoga," Akane said with a smile. "You're a good guy."

Handing the human-turned-pup back to Tachi, Akane let the Kunos know that she was going after Ranko. Then she turned to Nabiki. "You and I have got to talk later."

Not waiting for a response, Akane sped off, hoping the trail wasn't too cold.

It definitely wasn't. Carnage in the form of crumbling walls, dented parked cars and damaged roofs left a clear trail to follow, and before long Akane was able to make out panicked screaming and angry Mandarin-laced yelling.

There they were, just a few rooftops ahead! And Shampoo was facing away from Akane… Moving as quickly and quietly as she could, Akane managed to sprint and leap her way to the rooftop that the other two fighters were now toward the opposite end of without making her presence known.

Now, what to attack with? Akane was a bit more sure with her fists… but she'd have to get much closer with those than she would if she used her legs. Running up as quietly as she was able, Akane launched a leg into the air, aiming for Shampoo's back. The purple-haired woman just started to turn her head when Akane's higher-than-expected kick collided with the back of Shampoo's skull, knocking her face-first into the roof. Both Akane and Ranko stared, wide-eyed, as a smile creeped across Akane's face. She'd done it!

But the swell of pride didn't last long. Akane felt something slam into her feet, knocking her backward onto the roof. Shampoo pulled her outstretched leg back and rose to her full height, a trickle of blood dribbling from her nose and pure rage in her eyes. Pointing that giant heavy ball at Akane's face, Shampoo jabbed it forward so quickly that Akane could only stare like a deer in headlights as death rushed to meet her.

Fortunately, someone else moved quickly enough to prevent Akane's head from getting smushed. Ranko sweeped Akane into her arms, rolling the both of them out of harm's way.

As the two of them started to sit up, Ranko said, "Akane, you've got-." Shampoo's foot slamming into Ranko's stomach cut off the rest of the sentence, sending the red-head tumbling backward. Eyes back on Akane, Shampoo swiped at her with that odd weapon again. It slammed into Akane's side and launched her into the air, flying off the rooftop they'd been on and over an adjacent one.

...How did Ranma recover from being thrown airborne? He usually, like… rolled or something? Akane wasn't sure how and the next rooftop was coming in awfully fast… But again a pair of small, rough hands grabbed her, pulling her to the right, as Ranko came to the rescue for a second time.

"You shouldn't have come, you idiot!" she yelled, as their trajectory landed them safely on another rooftop. "Shampoo is way too-"

"I was worried about you, you jerk!" Akane shouted, shuffling herself awkwardly out of Ranko's arms. "She knocked Kodachi aside like she was nothing, and I know you're strong, but you were obviously terrified, and I just-"

"Terrified?" Ranko shouted, crossing her arms. "That's not- I wouldn't… Well that's exactly why you shouldn't have-!"

A loud crashing sound interrupted the fight. "Shampoo interrupt quarrel of lovers?" the woman said mockingly. Wiping the blood from under her nose, Shampoo looked between Ranko and Akane, glaring at the latter but putting on that sultry look from before for Ranko. "No need fight, pretty girl. You tell Shampoo where Ranma, Shampoo make you very happy. Better lover than this girl."

Akane felt as though she'd been slapped directly in the face. How… how dare she! Looking at Ranko, hoping for some sort of rebuttal, instead Akane found the red-head's face now matched her hair, her eyes wide as dinner plates. Stupid, idiotic pervert! Ugh! Turning back to Shampoo, Akane said, "We are not lovers, but also, how dare you just assume-"

Rage flicked back into Shampoo's eyes like a lightswitch being flipped. She pointed her weapon at Akane. "Violent non-warrior girl keep mouth closed. Only reason you not dead is warrior girl here save you. Shampoo no care how good lover are you."

Had Akane ever wanted to hit someone in the face as badly as she did now? ...Not that she could recall. But before she could do something she'd regret, Ranko moved in front of her, arms out in a pacifying manner.

"Shampoo, look, you're right! Why keep fighting?" Taking a few steps closer to Shampoo, Ranko pushed the other girl's weapon down to point at the ground, smiling. "I'll, uh… I'll tell you what you wanna know, okay?"

Grabbing the front of Ranko's top, Shampoo lifted her into the air with ease, eyes narrowed. "You no lie at Shampoo?"

With a short, nervous laugh, Ranko said, "N-no! I'll tell ya! Just promise you'll leave Akane over there alone, 'kay?"

Shampoo's eyes darted toward Akane and then away again. She sighed. "Fine, Shampoo no crush stupid girl's head." Lowering Ranko to the ground momentarily, Shampoo scooped her back up, cradling her much as she had Nabiki. Then she began to walk away, not sparing Akane another glance.

What, that was it? Akane clenched her fists. So, what, she was just supposed to go home now? Ranko would take care of the rest? Furious, she stomped her foot, shaking the tiles that had come loose when Shampoo had slammed into them. Akane was not going to let it end like this. Whatever Ranko's stupid plan was, it wouldn't work for long… not without getting her killed, at least. But if a kick to the back of the head hadn't knocked Shampoo out, how could…?

She glanced down at the loose tiles. They looked pretty heavy. Bending down to pick one up, she nodded - very heavy. And thick. Shampoo's feet had easily broken a few of them… but they'd had the force of her whole body behind them. If one of these tiles slammed against Shampoo's head, though…

Well, it was worth a shot. Or, at least, Akane managed to convince herself that it was. She pushed aside the other likely possibility, which was that she just really wanted to hit Shampoo in the face.

Standing back up, Akane rushed toward the other two, who were nearly at the edge of the roof. Before she was close enough to swing, though, Shampoo started turning her way. But Akane refused to back down. "Don't make Shampoo kill y-" was all the purple-haired girl managed to get out. Her eyes hadn't even moved to look at Akane before a roof tile smashed into the side of her face with all the force that Akane could muster. The tile shattered like glass, Ranko leapt away like a rabbit, and Shampoo dropped like a rock.

Shampoo's weapon rolled out of her hand. Her body lay still. Akane could just barely make out the small rise and fall of Shampoo's chest, so she hadn't accidentally killed the girl. Akane'd been mad, but she had no desire to ever hurt someone that bad.

"No no no no no no no no…" Ranko said, pacing back and forth. "Akane, we gotta go, we gotta go now."

"What? Why? She's out cold."

"She ain't gonna stay that way and we can not be here when she wakes up!"

Grabbing at the heavier-than-expected weapon that had started sliding toward the roof's edge, Akane said, "Well she doesn't have this anymore, and if we tie her up-"

"That's not the reason!" Ranko practically screeched, looking nearly as panicked as she had when Shampoo had first arrived. "And are you holding some rope that I'm not aware of?"

"Gàn... wǒ de tóu…" Shampoo said, clutching at her head and slowly sitting up. Ranko tried to turn and flee, but Akane grabbed her arm and refused to let go. Eyes flitting around as she assessed her situation, Shampoo sighed. "Which one hit Shampoo?"

"Me!" said both Akane and Ranko at the same time.

Frowning, Akane said, "Ranko, what the hell!?"

"It was me, Shampoo, she's just tryin' ta cover for me." Ranko said, voice shaking, but strong.

Sitting up to her knees, Shampoo smiled and said, "What name, pretty girl?"

The confusion that appeared on Ranko's face made it clear she'd been expecting a different reaction. "U-um… it's… it's Chie."

And now Akane looked confused.

"Chie, accord to Nǚjié zú tradition, warrior woman who defeat Nǚjié zú warrior become wèihūnqī. Chie and Shampoo engaged now."

"Wha-"

"WHAT!?" Akane shouted.

Before either shocked woman could say anymore, Shampoo leaped to her feet, pulled Rank - er, apparently now Chie - close, and slammed their lips together passionately. While Akane still had a hold on Ranko's arm. She could see tongue.

Face suddenly boiling hot, Akane yanked Chie away and glared daggers at Shampoo. "What the hell is going on!? You're engaged now!?" Shaking Chie like a rag doll, she said, "She wasn't even the one that knocked you out! I did that!"

"Violent girl stop lie!" Shampoo said, yanking on Chie's other arm. "You no warrior! You mean, violent girl who no good fighting! You never beat Shampoo! Stop lie just cause you jealous."

Somehow her face grew even hotter. "I AM NOT-" She stopped, gripping Shampoo's weapon tight and gritting her teeth harder. "This is stupid!" she shouted, chucking the weapon as far as she could throw it. Shampoo gasped, immediately letting go of Chie. She dove after her far-flung weapon and out of sight.

"We're leaving. NOW." Akane said, still gripping Chie's arm like a vice. Without waiting for confirmation, she ran in the opposite direction than she'd thrown Shampoo's weapon, getting back to ground level as quickly as she could.

The two ran in silence. After about five minutes of that, Chie said, "Akane… Akane. We're… we're not going the right way."

Sharply turning toward Chie, Akane shouted, "How do you know where I'm going!?"

"I-I… um… figured you wanted to go back to the Kunos… check up on them…"

As though it were a popped balloon, Akane's anger left her all at once. Visibly deflated, she sighed. "...Yeah. You're right."

"You're also, um.. Holding my arm really tight."

Releasing Chie's arm at once, Akane crossed her own arms and sighed again, deeper this time. "Sorry… Lead the way?"

With a quick nod, Chie started walking, and Akane silently followed. With no Shampoo in sight, the two of them wordlessly decided to keep it to a quick walk, rather than a run.

Minutes passed without further conversation. Finally, after what felt like an hour but couldn't possibly have been that long, Akane said, "So. Changing the name of your, uh… other identity?"

Silence. Chie kept looking straight ahead. "...Yeah. Ranko was kinda, a uh… spur of the moment thing from years ago that I just kinda kept… Been thinkin' a changin' it for a bit now."

"Hm." They walked in silence for another minute or two. Then Akane sped up so that she was walking next to Chie, instead of behind her. Glancing over at her, voice soft, she said "It's a very cute name. ...Good choice."

A small smile appeared on Chie's face. The two of them walked in silence the rest of the way.

When Akane and Chie got back to the building that they'd left the Kunos and Nabiki at, they found only the latter still there. Nabiki explained that she'd called some paramedics, who had taken both Kunos and P-Chan away. The paramedics hadn't wanted to take the dog, but no one could convince Tachi to let go of it, and eventually they relented. Nabiki had taken it upon herself to stay behind, assuming at least Akane would come back eventually, wanting to know where everyone had gone.

Akane curtly thanked her sister for the information, said she'd meet her at home, and then dragged Chie right back out of the building.

"Wait, aren't we both going home?" Nabiki called after her. But Akane paid the words no mind, instead walking Chie a block or two away, where she then slumped against the side of a building with a deep, long sigh.

After a few moments of silence, Chie spoke. "You… don't wanna go home yet?"

Akane shook her head. "No. She'll be there. And I especially don't want to walk home with her. There's… a lot she and I need to talk about, and I'm just… not ready yet."

Chie knelt down next to her, rocking back and forth on her feet. "...You wanna… go get some ice cream or something?"

Some time later, the two girls sat at a booth in a small ice cream parlor, Chie busy shoveling a massive stack of ice cream into her mouth, Akane lethargically picking at her much smaller mound of ice cream with a plastic spoon.

Shifting her eyes from the ice cream to Chie's messy face, Akane said, "Rank, sorry… Chie. What, um… Why is Shampoo trying to kill you? Or a version of you, I guess. The one she's not apparently engaged to."

Cheeks full of food and eyes wide, Chie took a minute to swallow her food before answering. "Well, uh… There was this whole, ah, misunderstandin', more or less? Me an' Pops were travelin' through Shamp's village, an' there was this big table with all this delicious lookin' food. An', well, look, I tried to find someone to, like, ask if we could have some'a it, but Pops wasn't waitin', and I hadn't eaten all day, so I might've taken a bite or two."

"What, it was her birthday feast, or something?"

Chie shook her head. "Nah, nothin' like that. There was some kinda tournament goin' on, that Shampoo was fightin' in. She won, too! And, well…" She sighed. "Apparently we were already halfway through her victory feast."

"Of course."

Gesturing lazily with her spoon, Chie said, "So Shampoo was real mad, but I figured, hey, tournament goin' on, what if I fight her for it? Then if I won, no problem, right?"

"And so you lost?"

Slapping an open hand against the table, Chie said, "What!? 'A course not! I'm Ran, well… I mean right now I'm Chie Saotome. But I'm a Saotome, that's what's important! So I beat her, a'course!"

Well now Akane was confused. "Is she just… a petty loser?"

"No... Or, well, maybe? I dunno. How our guide explained it as we ran away from tha village is that outsiders like me an' Pops aren't actually supposed ta participate in the tournament? Or, well, seems like beatin' one'a the villagers was the big sore spot. Prob'ly would'a been fine if I'd lost. But that wasn't an option, so…" Akane rolled her eyes, but didn't interrupt. "So then Shampoo kissed me, kinda like earlier, but with those 'kill' eyes'a hers instead'a the luvvy-dubby ones. And, accordin' to the guide, she vowed to follow me to tha ends of tha earth if she had to, in order ta kill me."

"That's awful," Akane said, matter-of-factly. "I'm sorry you've had to deal with that."

Having a hard time meeting Akane's eyes, Chie scooped a modest amount of ice cream into her spoon. "Uh… thanks. Not your fault, 'a course. But it's not like Pops ever 'pologized. He took tha first bite, after all."

Genma. "What's wrong with him, anyway? What kind of idiot leads himself and his kid not only into a cursed training ground, but into a village of dangerous people like Shampoo? What kind of irresponsible moron actually uses a cursed training ground, and then just eats a bunch of food off a table that he didn't set without asking permission?"

Chie swallowed some more ice cream. Her eyes looked… lost. "I… I dunno. That's just my Pops. He's always been like that."

Realizing she'd taken a step too far, Akane shoved her anger back down. "S-sorry. You can't change who your parents are... We don't have to talk about it if you don't want."

"Thanks, 'Kane." Chie said, immediately looking ten times happier as she shoved a huge scoop of ice cream into her mouth.

After another scoop or three, Akane pressed forward with one more of the many questions swirling around inside her head. "So, Shampoo… She wants to kill half of you, but she wants to marry the other half. And she doesn't seem to know that they're both you? What're you going to do?"

"Uh… I dunno, I was just kinda hopin' she wouldn't find me again."

"Chie, she's literally been to the house you're staying in."

Pouting, Chie said, "Right… Maybe we should move."

Trying not to grow irritated and only partially succeeding, Akane said, "Well, Chie, I don't think that's going to be a very effective long-term strategy."

Chie stared at her spoon, softly twirling it in her fingers. "Maybe… it wouldn't be that bad to marry her?"

Reaching across the table, Akane pulled the remaining ice cream away from Chie, then grabbed her spoon for good measure. "You're already engaged, Saotome. And what about Kodachi, huh?"

Grimacing first when her food was taken and again after Akane's words, Chie's eyes bored holes into the table. "I don't… I don't know! It's a lot, an' I'm a 'play it by ear' kinda guy!"

"You're a girl right now!"

"Ugh!" Chie finally looked her in the eyes. "Yeah, that's a whole thing weighin' on my mind too, thanks 'Kane!"

"Don't get sarcastic with me! A bunch of these things directly involve me, too! Shampoo's been to my house! Kodachi's still in love with both of us! And you and I are ENGAGED to each other! Are you actually even interested in that!?"

Throwing her hands up, volume rising to meet Akane's, Chie said, "I DON'T KNOW! I don't like bein' forced into this kinda thing! When Pops told me, I was furious! But, I mean, if I've gotta be engaged to one'a the three 'a you, you're better than your sisters-"

"Oh, great, so glad you consider me the least terrible option!"

"That's not what I-! Look, I don't know, okay!? What about you? Are you interested in this dumb engagement thing!?"

"MAYBE!"

Silence.

The two girls slowly lowered back into the seats that they'd both partially stood up from. They stared at each other, each of them still breathing a little heavy from all the yelling they'd been doing.

"...Maybe?" Chie said, softly.

"Maybe," Akane said, even softer.

Chie's eyes turned to the table again. A moment later, so did Akane's. She scooted Chie's ice cream back over to her, pressing the spoon into a half-melted bit of chocolate. Slowly, Chie grabbed hold of the spoon and brought a bit of ice cream to her mouth.

Once she'd swallowed, Chie's eyes looked up at Akane again. "I, um… might be-"

"We can talk about it later," Akane said, eyes flicking up and then down once more. Her face felt hot, and her glance told her Chie's probably felt the same way.

Nodding a little too quickly, Chie said, "Sure. Yeah."

A few minutes later, Chie's ice cream was gone, and the two girls were finally on their way home. Akane eventually managed to get some small talk going, but both she and Chie stayed far away from the topics that they'd broached back in the parlor.

Today hadn't gone quite like Akane had wanted or expected. She was battered and a little bruised, physically but maybe also a little mentally. And yet… she felt… lighter. So maybe the day wasn't a complete bust. As long as Kodachi was fine and Shampoo didn't show up again, maybe it was even… actually pretty okay.

Akane glanced over at Chie again, who was saying something about a martial arts kata she particularly enjoyed. Chie's face was still a little flushed, even though it'd been a bit since they'd left the parlor. It was pretty cute. Akane turned away again, a small smile crossing her face. Yeah, today was pretty okay afterall.