"Why did you drag me all the way to this well?" a pigtailed boy grumbled. "You know I got better things to do, Akane."

He looked like he'd stepped right out of a kung fu movie. Kagome suspected that her friends would have tried to pair her off with this guy had they seen him, much as they had with Hojo. She was quite grateful they weren't here.

"I need you to help Kagome-san find Ryoga-kun!" Akane snapped. "He was with her grandfather, searching for you, when he vanished right here!"

"Uh, actually, he was just searching for the Tendo dojo, Akane-san," Kagome said. "Not your...uh, friend?" Maybe calling this guy her friend was pushing it.

I mean, they don't seem like enemies, she thought.

They ignored her, acting remarkably like toddlers: crossing their arms, sticking out their tongues, and scowling.

They resembled, more than anything else, two kids who didn't want to play together in a sand pit, even though their parents wanted them to and had brought cameras to photograph the event.

"Looks like there's nothing in here except some dirt," Ranma said, leaning into the well's mouth and peering into the gloom. "It's just an old dried up well. I told you we need to put a tracking chip in Ryoga's skull. He's probably halfway across the country by now."

"If you'd been listening to Kagome-san's explanation, you'd know that the well is magical, Ranma. It's a portal or something."

"To Jusenkyo?"

"No! Pay attention when people tell you things!"

Kagome had no idea what that meant, and tried to edge her way into the conversation. It was hard.

"Hey, you two, I've met Ryoga-san. He got lost somewhere in the..."

"What should we do now? Scream into this well and hope he yells back?"

"Actually, that's a great idea. You do that, Ranma. Scream into the well and hope he yells back."

Kagome hoped that was a joke. She wanted to butt in and explain that wasn't how the well worked, but Ranma went above and beyond.

"Oi, Ryoga!" he shouted, picking up a massive brick from...somewhere (where did he get it from?). "Yell if you can hear me!"

He threw the brick into the well. Kagome expected it to land on the ground and for none of this stupid hare-brained scheming to work. The Bone Eater's Well had rules. You couldn't just throw bricks into it and expect it to puke people out.

"OWWW!" came Inuyasha's voice. "Who threw that?"

"RYOGA? IS THAT YOU, IDIOT?" Ranma bellowed. His voice echoed and presumably became garbled on its way to Inuyasha's ears.

"HEY! WHO ARE YOU CALLIN' AN IDIOT, KAGOME? I DIDN'T EVEN DO ANYTHING TO YOU!"

Ranma threw another brick into the well with what looked like glee, and Inuyasha hollered like a hit dog.

"Stop throwing things at me! Is yelling 'osuwari' not enough for you?"

Kagome's eye twitched.

She could tell this was gonna be a long day.

One would be wrong to think Kagome was the only one having a long day.

Kikyo's eye almost twitched when an entire swarm of demons materialized out of nowhere, surrounding her and her newfound companion.

Naraku was nothing if not deeply annoying. Hopefully this lost boy could fight.

A/N: Are these chapters getting smaller and smaller? Sorry. I want these all to be bite-sized.

I heard that lots of Ranma was based off Drunken Master, that old and very funny kung fu movie...which makes lots of sense.

Hahaha! :)