After Ranma Part 2
By Mike Cervantes

Nerima Streets, afternoon

Ryouga Hibiki hobbled down the middle of Nerima holding onto a gnarled stick tightly between both hands. His stomach growled for the fifth time, which made his lips quiver, and finally his head droop between his shoulders. He had no idea where he was, and he hadn't seen anything worth eating for days. 'This is it, I have finally been defeated!' Ryouga thought to himself "So long Akane!" He declared, eliciting the shocked response of several passer-bys on the street.

Ryouga collapsed on his back on the sidewalk with his eyes closed, lying with his arms and legs splayed out in all four directions. "Ryouga?" He heard a female voice call quietly out to him "Ryouga?" The voice called again, taking on a more familiar tone. 'Akane….Even the angels above have your voice.' Ryouga thought, allowing himself to open his eyes. Once his eyes were open, he finally realized he was in the middle of a busy Nerima street with several onlookers staring down at his seemingly unconscious form. Looking upside-down from over his head, was Akane.

"Akane? When did you…?"

Akane shook her head and smirked. "I'm not and neither are you. Here." Akane bent down and pushed Ryouga up into a seated position. The wandering martial artist scratched his head and looked around him. Again his stomach growled, and, looking as though the action had paralyzed him, he sunk onto his back once again.

"So that's it, huh? You must be starving." Akane said sweetly. She put Ryouga's arm under her head and stood to hoist him onto his feet. Ryouga sagged like a rag doll in her arms, now feeling very shy in addition to hungry. His face turned red and his eyes rolled backwards into his head.

"You look worse than I thought. We've got to get you something and fast!" Akane looked around for the nearest restaurant. Her eyes lit up when she noticed a ramen shop, but darkened again when she noticed which ramen shop it was. "Well, I suppose with Ranma gone, there's no harm into going in there anymore." She dragged Ryouga towards the entrance.

Nekohanten

As soon as Akane entered, dragging Ryouga with her, the first person she saw was Cologne. "Well, hello there." She said pleasantly as she approached them, hopping on her staff. "How pleasant it is to see you."

Akane was taken aback momentarily for how well she was being treated, but, knowing Cologne, it was not like her to react rashly to anything. Akane then suddenly remembered Ryouga's condition, and exclaimed. "I need the biggest whatever you have right now! It's an emergency!" She stopped for a moment to pull up the sagging Ryouga from her shoulder.

"Oh my, he's really done a number on himself this time hasn't he?" Cologne spun around and hopped away. "Go ahead and have a seat, I have just the thing to get him on his feet again."

Sitting with one arm draped over the wooden chair, Ryouga's drooped-forward head marveled at the fact he was suddenly on a date with Akane. He knew he had to say or do something in order to make this moment memorable, but his weakened body wasn't letting him say or do anything at all.

Cologne returned just a moment later with a simple tea kettle and a cup. Setting the cup down on the table, she then hoisted herself on the table to pour the tea. She tilted Ryouga's head back with her staff and poured the concoction down his throat. Ryouga jumped up suddenly, his face red and steam pouring out of his ears. He coughed once, a black smoke ring emanating from his mouth, then doubled over, coughing and sputtering violently.

"What on earth did you do!" Akane shouted, jumping up from the table as she looked worriedly at Ryouga's display. Cologne shook her head. "It's just a very potent ginseng tea, one of my mother's old recipes." Akane thought Ryouga looked more poisoned then helped, until Ryouga calmed down, rose up and shakily held up the glass. "One more." Akane sighed and sat back down.

~~~

"So, he really has left on his own then," Cologne said matter-of-factly, joining Ryouga in sipping tea. Akane had none. "This is most unfortunate. All this time Shampoo has believed that you two had eloped to avoid another wedding disaster. She has been keeping herself in her room in mourning."

"Hmm." was Akane's simple reply. Though the purple-haired Amazon had caused her nothing but trouble, she felt bad that anyone would become so wrecked over Ranma's decision to leave. "He has been gone for three weeks now, and he hasn't tried to contact us in any way. We're pretty sure he's left for good now."

"Wait…" Ryouga said, slowly regaining his focus. "Ranma has left?"

Akane simply nodded. She felt this was getting harder and harder to talk about the more she said anything about it.

"I saw him, about a week ago." Ryouga realized. "He was camping out north of Kyoto. I think."

"You did!" Akane was shocked, and nearly stood up again. Why was she so surprised? "What…How is he doing? Is he…Is he all-right?"

Ryouga was silent for a moment, looking between Akane and Cologne. Cologne narrowed her eyes at him, silently contemplating what she'd do with any information about Ranma's whereabouts. Akane's expression was much worse, overflowing with worries and regrets.

Ryouga clenched his brow angrily and closed his eyes. "He…We had a fight. I lost. I had tried to find him the next day, but he'd gone on. I started wandering again after that."

Akane smiled, lowering her head. "Pretty typical, I guess…"

Ryouga grinned. His lie had worked, and Akane was still feeling fine. He knew if he had told her what he had really seen, she would have gone to pieces right there. Why was the old ghoul still staring at him though?

Their conversation was interrupted by a loud crash outside of the restaurant. Cologne was shook with concern and she dashed to the front door, followed afterwards by Ryouga and Akane. Akane gasped when she saw what was going on: Shampoo, with her bon-bori drawn, was in the process of violently attacking Ukyou in the middle of the blackened street side. They were both surrounded by cars, frozen because of the road block the two female martial artists created with their fight, and the car that was turned sideways by an attack and was now laying upside down with an immense bon bori indentation on its fender.

"Tell me where you hide Ranma!" Shampoo angrily declared while in a mid-air leap, her weapon thrust forward towards Ukyou in a menacing manner.

"I told you, I don't know where Ran-chan is! Nobody does!" Ukyou slid back as the bon bori struck the center of her spatula. She received many more of the same kind of strikes from Shampoo, barely able to hold off the amazon's emotionally charged attacks.

"Shampoo! She is telling the truth, leave her be!" Cologne demanded. Shampo didn't listen. She brought a bon bori through Ukyou's spatula, bending it in half and knocking Ukyou square in the stomach. Ukyou tumbled back into a seated position, knocking her head against the fallen car and slipping into unconsciousness. Shampoo dropped one of her twin weapons and brought the other over her head with both hands, like a hammer, prepared to strike the unconscious ukyou dead.

When the bon bori sailed down over Ukyou's head, Shampoo felt it blocked once again. This time it was by Ryouga's umbrella. "You're not going to hurt an innocent just beause you miss Ranma!" Ryouga shouted, a bit of intimidation in his eyes. Shampoo's angered expression went unchanged, even though she knew he was stronger. Her head twisted instantly to the sidelines where Akane was standing. "Akane, you tell me where you hide Ranma!" Before Akane knew it she held both her hands in frot of her, blocking the Bon Bori headed towards her chest. "Ranma is gone!" Akane said angrily. Shampoo shrieked. "You lie! You want to take Airen away from me!" Shampoo thrust her weapon to the side, knocking Akane onto the floor. Again she raised her bon bori, attempting to bring it on Akane's head just as she would have with Ukyou.

Again, her bon bori was stopped. This time it was because of Mousse, who blocked it with a raised hand. Shampoo struggled to bring it down anyway, but Mousse was too strong. "Get out of way, stupid Mousse! I will punish her for taking Ranma away!"

"Shampoo, this is senseless! I won't let you dishonor yourself by fighting this way!"

"It no is Mousse's business! Let go!" Shampoo swung her other weapon trying to swipe Mousse in the kidneys to free herself. Mousse simply raised a hand across her cheek. The slap echoed so loudly against the air the birds in the vicinity flew off the telephone poles.

Shampoo was stunned. She dropped both her bon bori at her side. Her face was so angry that tears began to fall from her cheeks. She wanted to kill him, but despite her anger, she could only make her body quiver. She was paralyzed. While she stood, she looked at all of the damage her rampage caused. She saw Ukyou still lying unconscious by the car she wrecked with Ryouga at her side, attempting to wake her up by fanning her with a hinese-style paper fan. She saw Akane, sitting up by holding herself up by her arms. Then she saw Mousse and Cologne, both sporting twin looks of concern and horror over what she did.

Shampoo's whole body spasmed once or twice. Everyone around her lowered themselves slightly, prepared to take her down if she was going to attack again. He raised an arm against her eyes and wailed as she ran back into the Nekohanten, up the stairs, and into her room.

Nekohanten, late evening

Mousse and Ukyou joined Cologne and Ryouga around the table, all sipping tea. Akane still had none. Ukyou's head was bandaged as a result of her fall. Ryouga, filled with concern, continued to badger Ukyou about her health.

"Are you sure you don't need another aspirin or something?"

"Quit being so nice to me, jackass, it gives me the creeps." Ukyou sipped her tea.

Ryouga huffed, and turned sideways, crossing his arms. "Yeah? Well maybe I don't really care how you feel!" He puffed out his cheeks, but only after a moment he asked. "Can I get you some more ice?"

After a long silence, Cologne had decided to speak, addressing Mousse.

"Mousse, there is something I need to tell you."

Mousse felt a cold chill. He knew this was finally it. Despite all of their hospitality, he'd hurt Shampoo, and he'd be surely banished from the Nekohanten and forced to never pursue Shampoo again.

"Relax Mousse," Cologne paused to take a sip of her tea. "Despite your love for her, you stood up against her to prevent her from committing a senseless act of violence. I never thought I'd ever see you stand up to her in that way."

"I'm, I'm sorry, honorable matriarch…I accept whatever punishment-" Mousse was silenced by a shot to the head by Cologne's staff.

"This is not what I am saying!" Cologne cleared her throat. "You defeated her in battle today. You have proven yourself strong. It is your right to marry her, if you choose."

Mousse removed his hand from where the staff hit him. "R-really? But, what about Saotome?"

Cologne lowered her head and closed her eyes. "Now that he is gone, there is no point in continuing the engagement."

For a moment, Mousse was overjoyed. He had Cologne's consent; he could marry Shampoo if he wanted! But then, he dropped his hands to his side, and his head dropped. "No. After what I did, she would never forgive me." Mousse slowly slid away from the table and stood, moving upstairs.

"Where are you going?" Akane asked. She hadn't realized it by now, but she cared for Mousse quite a bit. At first, she thought it was only pity because his heart always got stomped on by Shampoo, but now she could see he had a good heart. In some ways, he was as kind as Ryouga, and he always did things in an honorable way, unlike Ranma.

Mousse heaved a sigh. "I'm going back to the village tomorrow. Perhaps Saotome had the right idea: it is foolish to stay in one place and hope to have your dreams fulfilled. All I ever wanted was for Shampoo to love me, but now that can't be." He slowly made his way upstairs.

"I think it is time we closed." Cologne announced, and climbed onto her staff, hopping towards the kitchen. Akane, Ryouga and Ukyou moved out to the front.

"Ukyou, can I ask you a favor?" Akane said idly.

"Sure, sugar, what can I do?" Ukyou replied.

"I want you to give Ryouga a place to stay."

Both Ryouga and Ukyou had the same look of revulsion on their faces, looking at one another with shock and contempt.

"Please," Akane persisted. "It's important to me that Ryouga doesn't wander off again."

"It can't be helped, Akane. Even if I watched him all day long, he'd still find some way to get lost."

"Why do you want me to stay?" Ryouga asked, putting a halt to their polite, but persistent argument.

Akane lowered her head. She couldn't stop the tears, which began to fall lightly from her eyes. She thought, with all the crying she'd been doing lately, she'd possibly inherited her father's weak heart. "Because…If you wander off, Ryouga, you'll probably find Ranma again. I….I don't want him to see anything that will remind him of us. He needs to find whatever it is that he's looking for out there. We can't interfere."

Ryouga and Ukyou were silent, Absently Ukyou nodded. "Fine, I promise we'll do everything we can."

'Anything for you, Akane.' Ryouga added in thought.

Nekohanten, night.

The door to Mousse's room crept slightly open, bringing in light from the hallway. Mousse, who had been sitting up in bed, reading a book on acupuncture, looked up to see Shampoo standing is his doorway. "Shampoo?"

"Is true what great-grandmother say? That Mousse is going back to China?"

"Um…" Mousse's head tilted away form her to the book. He tried to avert his eyes from her. He failed to. "Yes, it's true."

Mousse felt a great weight on him. Shampoo collapsed over him, laying over him in a tight hug. "Shampoo no want you to go. Shampoo already lose Ranma, don't want to lose Mousse too."

"Shampoo…" he didn't know it, but one of his hands went to lightly stroke her hair. "You really loved him, didn't you?"

Shampoo nodded her head.

Things were silent for a moment. Then Mousse spoke. "Did she tell you the other thing she said tonight?"

"That now she want Mousse marry Shampoo?"

Mousse nodded.

"Shampoo needs to think about that." Shampoo replied. "Mousse can at least stay until Shampoo make up her mind?"

Mousse thought about it for a moment. Then he smiled. "Yes, I will do that."

END OF PART 2