Ch. 2

Note: I don't own Ranma 1/2 or its characters. I never did.

"You propose a what?!" Ukyo Kounji shouted, slamming the glass she had been cleaning down on the counter. On the opposite side of that counter sat her Amazonian rival, Shampoo. The blue-haired girl sat there smirking, slyly, as she swiveled around the straw in her drink.

"It very simple." Shampoo began in her usual, broken Japanese. "Shampoo propose truce! She and Ukyo team up to get rid of stupid Akane once and for all!" Ukyo rolled her eyes. Shampoo was lucky that it was a slow morning or she would have run the girl off so she could focus on customers. The lunch rush could begin at any moment, however, so the last thing Ukyo needed was a stubborn, Amazonian bimbo taking up her valuable prep time.

"Look, Shampoo, you already offered a truce the other day. Why do you think the answer would be any different now?" Ukyo responded, slinging her towel over her shoulder. Of course, both she and Shampoo had been in very different situations on the day in question. Shampoo had come to the young chef in desperation, having been all but ostracized by both Ranma and her grandmother. Ukyo, meanwhile, had been re-thinking her pursuit of her Ran-chan, entirely, after quite an unusual chat with Kasumi Tendo. Though both of their vigor in marrying Ranma had been renewed, Ukyo still didn't trust the Amazon as far as her okonomiyaki spatula could throw her.

"Because Ukyo and Shampoo back on same page, now." The Amazon retorted, as she leaned in closer on the counter. "And because Akane now getting serious…" Shampoo made eye contact with the okonomiyaki chef. Her smirk disappeared, causing Ukyo to frown in turn. Sadly, she had to give the Amazon a point on that one. For years now, both of them had viewed Akane as an obstacle on their path to Ranma...but neither truly saw the Tendo girl as any form of serious competition. They knew they would have to get her out of the way, and both had made attempts to do so in the past. But Akane had never really given any evidence that her intentions for Ranma were anything other than customary….until the other day that is. The chef thought back to the events from a few days ago:

'Back off you two...He's mine!" Akane had said with Ranma behind her. Facing the two other suitors, she pulled out her mallet.

Ukyo shook her head. For the first time, Akane had laid an actual claim to her fiancee. Sure, she and Shampoo had even been involved in crashing a wedding between the two before. But even with that, never before had Akane uttered something like that… 'He's mine….'

"It was probably just a bluff, Shampoo." Ukyo said, trying to hide her own doubt. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get ready for my customers." She began wiping down the counter with her towel. Shampoo harrumphed in response and folded her arms.

"Ukyo know Shampoo is right!" she shouted, annoyed. "If Kitchen Wrecker is not nipped in bud, Ranma could be lost forever!" The Amazon loudly took a sip of her drink before continuing. "Besides, something strange going on. Ukyo remember slave pill?" Shampoo's eyes narrowed.

"Yeah, Shampoo you told me about that. How could I forget?" She sighed. "But what's your point? You guys already dealt with all that, right?" Ukyo glanced back at the Amazon.

"That what Grandmother said, yes...But Shampoo not so sure." Shampoo returned, finishing off her drink. She leaned in close, again. "Akane and Airen came back to cafe yesterday." Ukyo stopped cleaning the counter and once more gave her attention to the blue-haired warrior. "Shampoo couldn't hear what visit was for, but Grandmother made Shampoo leave." Ukyo began to catch on to what the Amazon was insinuating.

"Wait, wait, wait…" Ukyo said, half masking her tension with a laugh. "You don't mean...You think Akane's still under the effects of the Slave pill then?" Shampoo gave the chef a cold stare, letting the question hang for a moment. Ukyo returned her stare. "Didn't you say that Cologne already gave her the cure?"

"Wouldn't be first time Great Grandmother lied," the Amazon shrugged. "Why else Shampoo not allowed to hear?"

Ukyo glanced at the ground in thought. Shampoo was probably wrong, of course; she wasn't the brightest blue bulb in the bunch...But if she was right, and Akane was still "indisposed" by the Slave Pill…

"But..." Shampoo's face took on a deviously bemused expression. "It not AKANE who under Slave Pill…" Ukyo shot her a surprised look.

"Huh?" Ukyo asked. "What the hell do you mean?"

"Akane not get cure, Ukyo." Shampoo said, maintaining her gaze. "Reversal Mirror switch Pill's effects between Akane and Airen...if Great Grandmother lied about cure…"

"...Then Ranma would be under the Pill's effects…" Ukyo finished. The girl had to catch herself with the counter. Maybe she was a bit harsh for questioning the Amazon's intelligence, afterall. This was crazy. But if Shampoo was right..."W-was he acting normal? I mean, we're jumping to conclusions here a bit, Shampoo…" A smirk returned to Shampoo's face.

"Acting normal?...Yes...HE was…"

Cologne whipped around on her cane as she heard the cafe door bell ding, signaling the arrival of Akane and Ranma.

"Good, you both made it in…Ranma!" the crone shrieked at the pair as they entered. Both were soaked from head to toe, and Ranma was staring forward, blankly in her female form. Before Akane could respond, Cologne rushed from the room in a flash. She returned with a still-steaming pot of water and doused Ranma, whose form immediately began to change. Life returned to the now-boy's expression.

"Huh...What happened?!" Ranma asked, confusion evident in his voice. Cologne furrowed her wrinkled brow. The Amazon angrily tapped her cane on the floor.

"Yes, Son-in-law. I would very much like to know that as well…" She said, sternly. "Akane, I thought I told you NOT to let him get wet!" The dark blue-haired teen sighed and folded her arms.

"Hey, I tried my best here! But have you ever tried to keep this guy from water?!" She forcefully pointed her finger at her fiancee. Her tone dripped with frustration. "He's like a magnet for the stuff!"

In all fairness, the youngest Tendo HAD indeed tried her hardest to keep Ranma from changing. They'd each left the dojo with a pot of hot water, just in case they needed it. And, as it turns out, they most certainly needed it. Between an encounter with a spontaneously activated sprinkler system, a koi pond full of splashing fish, a misfiring garden hose, and a bursting fire hydrant...they had used all their boiling provisions by the time they had even made it halfway. Despite all of those mishaps, the two had managed to make it within sight of the Cat Cafe when a passing rain shower decided to end their journey in failure.

"Well, it's no matter," Cologne said, letting out a breath. "We are just very lucky that nothing happened...this time."

"Why is it so important that I don't change forms, anyhow?" Ranma asked. "Aside from the whole, slave-pill thing that is…" Cologne's gaze narrowed.

"Akane, Son-in-law...follow me to the back room." The Amazonian elder's tone softened, but her look remained stern. "It's high time I tell you something that I should have a long time ago…" Ranma and Akane both looked at each other with confusion.

"What do you mean, old ghoul?" Ranma asked as the elder began to pogo off towards the hallway. At Ranma's question, the elder stopped dead in her tracks.

"It's time I told you about the origins of the Junsekyo…" Cologne glanced over her shoulder at her former son-in-law. "About the origins of your curse, Ranma…And the imminent danger my actions have put you in."