Part 1/5: Fiancees and Felines

"They're here… at last they're here!" Shampoo did her best not to erupt into maniacal laughter at the package that had just arrived from China. After all, it wouldn't do for Mousse or even her Great Grandmother to discover what she had acquired.

It had taken several months worth of her salary (and several weeks worth of Mousse's) in order to afford it. Still, it was well worth it.

The package itself has come from JusenCO. JunsenCO is, of course, a small business ran out of China, their speciality is various products based off the cursed Springs of Jusenkyo. Shampoo had previously ordered packets of Instant Spring of Drowned Man, and special Waterproof Soap from them. Both of these products had the problem of being more temporary than she had previously hoped for. (It's not her fault, they made the fine print so tiny.) However, this large crate was different. It contained the guaranteed solution to all of her problems!

Pulling out a crowbar, Shampoo quickly pried open the crate. Digging through the pile of packing peanuts, with a grin of triumph she found the things she was looking for within. Two urns, both of them labeled. One had the Chinese character for "Maiden" on it. The other had the Chinese character for "Cat".

They were urns filled with water from the Spring of Drowned Girl and Spring of Drowned Cat, respectively.

Months ago, when Shampoo had first seen the two urns in the catalog. (Thankfully Spring of Drowned Girl water is much, much cheaper than Spring of Drowned Man water.) A plan began to form.

First, the cure to her own embarrassing curse. While it did have some advantages, a trained fighter like herself couldn't stand the gigantic weakness it presented to anybody who knew about it. And, worst of all, the fact that she was positive that the curse was perhaps the biggest thing standing in her way of winning the heart of the love of her life, Ranma Saotome.

Just thinking about Ranma made her heart flutter, Shampoo letting out a girlish sigh. He was, in her opinion, the perfect man. Strong, clever, sweet when he really needed to be. Sure, he was a bit of a jerk at times, but that just added to his appeal, making his kind moments much more memorable.

Still, one issue he had was that phobia of cats. More than once Shampoo had been interrupted in what she was so sure was going to be a sweet romantic moment with Ranma by the untimely presence of cold water. What followed was always Ranma running away, arms flailing in panic, screaming "Cat!" at the top of his (Or her, depending on if the water hit Ranma or not) lungs with Shampoo having little choice but to cling to him for dear life, which always made things worse.

Of course, that immediately brings to mind the other roadblock in her path to happiness.

Akane Tendo.

Shampoo didn't know what kind of hold that girl had over Ranma. It couldn't be love, after all, Shampoo had run the numbers. She was objectively superior to that girl in every respect. Shampoo was the better fighter, had better looks. Heck she could even cook better, and she was from a matriarchal society that didn't culturally expect women to learn to cook! She was better at her hobbies then something that Shampoo figured Akane was simply expected to know how to do. But somehow no matter what Shampoo tried, Akane was always there. She had to have some kind of blackmail or weakness of Ranma on hand. There was no other explanation.

More than once, Akane had used Shampoo's curse to her advantage. That would end shortly. With the second urn, everything would be turned around. It would be Akane stuck with the awful curse. It would finally drive Ranma away from her once and for all! She could picture it…

"Oh Shampoo…" Ranma's arms were around her waist. "Thank goodness you're cured!"

"Now nothing's stopping us from being together…" Shampoo whispered, leaning into his strong chest.

"Shampoo I…"

"RAANNNMAAA!" The demonic shriek of a harpy echoed through their ears. It was Akane, hideous as usual. She pulled out a massive mallet, one covered in spikes, that was also on fire. "HOW DARRREE YOU BE NEAR ANOTHER WOMAN!"

.Shampoo however, was unafraid. She pulled out a bottle of water, splashing it over her. In an instant the demon became a cat. A rather ugly little cat, but one none the less.

"Eeeekkk!" Ranma screeched in fear at the sudden feline. But Shampoo was ready, she casually booted Akane off into the sunset.

"Don't worry Ranma, she's gone now. She'll never bother us again." Shampoo said.

"Oh Shampoo…" Ranma said. "Shampoo… Shampoo…"

"Shampoo!" Cologne's voice interrupted Shampoo's daydream. "Get down here this instant!"

Shampoo groaned. Just when she was about to finally be cured, her Great Grandmother had to throw some other chore at her! Setting the urns down on the table, she ran downstairs to the restaurant. She left the two urns perched on her dresser. In her haste, she left the door open.

A few minutes passed, and Mousse came in carrying a basket of laundry, it being his turn to wash everything. "Shampoo? Are you in here?" Normally he would be happy to see her, even if he couldn't actually see her because he was not wearing his glasses. However, since he was doing laundry he had a big pile of her underwear. If Shampoo caught him with her underwear, even if it was his turn, she tended to punch him until he no longer had any,

So upon hearing that nobody was in Shampoo's room, he stepped in. A big basket filled with clothing and no glasses on lead to him completely failing to see the crate in the center of her room. As such, he ran straight into it and tripped. The clothing flew out of his hands, and scattered everywhere.

"Crap!" Mousse looked up at the sound of something being knocked over and spilling out. He grabbed the knocked over urn. The character for "Cat" covered by one of Shampoo's bras, not that he would have noticed without his glasses on. The lid of the urn had been knocked off, and half the liquid had spilled out onto the floor. "Oh no…" He didn't know what Shampoo wanted with it, but he knew she'd be mad if she realized what had happened! Thinking fast, he grabbed the other urn, popping off the lid. Mousse could not smell or see any difference between the two liquids. He then poured the liquid from the Maiden Urn into the Cat Urn. He then placed the lid back on the Cat Urn, but frowned as he noticed that he had poured too much out of the Maiden Urn, now it was half full.

It was at this point that Mousse realized that Shampoo might be able to tell the urns by weight. He couldn't just balance them out… what to do? "A-hah!" Mousse pulled a bottle of water out of his robes, pouring it into the Maiden Urn. Checking to see that the two were equal weight, he set them back down "Perfect." He then set about picking up her clothing and-

"What Mousse doing with Shampoo's underwear!?" Shampoo had returned from her errand.

"W-wait Shampoo! I was just-" His explanation was interrupted by Shampoo's fist meeting his face.

"See you later Akane!"

Akane waved to her friends Yuka and Sayuri, the two of them had just finished a couple hours in the local arcade. They had spent the time playing games, gossiping about school events and, of course, boys. Once the topic of boys came up, it would always drift to the topic of her troublesome fiance, Ranma. Shaking her head at memories of the giggling whispers about how "handsome" he was and questions on what kissing him was like (Like either of them had the guts to do that!).

Still, a warm smile came to her face at the thought of him. She decided to cut through a park to get home faster. Hopefully Ranma would be home, and they could do their homework together and maybe watch some T.V.

As she walked past a bench, she heard the sound of a familiar bicycle bell, and her danger senses started going wild. Sure enough, a familiar bike with a familiar girl landed on the bench. The rider looking at Akane with a decidedly neutral expression.

"Hello Shampoo." Akane said, slowly glancing around the park. It was a wide open space, no place to be cornered or corner Shampoo with. "What's up?"

"We talk." Shampoo got off the bike, landing on the ground.

Akane shrugged, "OK then. What about?"

To Akane's complete lack of surprise Shampoo continued, "Ranma." She leaned back against her bike. "Why Akane stick with Ranma?"

Akane resisted the urge to roll her eyes, "Because Ranma is my fiance Shampoo."

"So what? Akane plan to marry Ranma?" Shampoo pointedly asked.

"Well, I mean, uhhhh…" Akane looked away, "Well, I suppose. I wouldn't… object. To marrying him. Someday."

Shampoo let out a snort, "That weak Akane. Akane say Ranma fiance? Well, Ranma Shampoo's fiance. And Shampoo will marry Ranma when Ranma ready. Akane even want to marry Ranma?"

Frustration flushed through her system, "You know why I'm engaged to Ranma! It's arranged! Our dads decided their kids would marry and Ranma's an only child and I got volunteered!"

"That not answer question." Shampoo leaned in close. "Akane say she has to marry Ranma. Akane want to marry Ranma?"

"What about you? That silly law in your village, that Ranma 'beat' you in a fight, not much of one though…" Akane snapped back. "I don't see how my situation is any different than yours then!"

Shampoo took Akane's counter in stride, "So what? So Akane have some obligation to marry Ranma like Shampoo. We no can both marry Ranma, so eventually choice will have to be made. But, here difference. Shampoo want to marry Ranma. Akane say weak words like 'have to' and 'won't object'? That silly. If Akane no want to marry Ranma, wouldn't think of marrying him without parents arranging it, then why not just go away? Let other woman who obligated, who actually want to marry Ranma, do it."

Akane found her mouth dry suddenly. "Wh-why are you bringing this up now?"

"Why not resolve things now?" Shampoo answered lazily, "We both been stuck in limbo, why wait for Ranma to man up?" Her gaze snapped back to Akane's eyes, "Now, Akane, you want to marry Ranma or no?"

Akane somehow found something to swallow, she carefully looked around. No parents, no Ranma even. Nobody they knew, though with her luck Kuno would erupt out of the bushes declaring that she wanted to marry him. (Actually she almost hoped he would to give a distraction.) Yet, nothing. Nobody was paying the two teenage girls a second glance. Would this really settle things? Akane doubted it, still… she finally took a deep breath. After all, even though a single punch had yet to be thrown, she realized that this was a fight. A fight that Akane was tired of being on the defensive for.

"Well, what makes you think Ranma wants to marry you?"

Akane felt some satisfaction at annoyance crossing Shampoo's face. "What?"

"Let me repeat myself Shampoo. What makes you think Ranma wants to marry you?" Akane said, "I mean, you yourself admit that he can't marry both of us, so he'll eventually have to choose. So, what makes you so sure he's going to marry you?"

Shampoo clenched her fist, "It obvious? Shampoo better then Akane. Better fighter, better cook...better looks even."

Akane smashed that weak counter with a laugh. "Really? You think Ranma's that shallow? He's not going to compare us with some kind of checklist to decide who's better." She smiled, "No. I think that, when Ranma's ready…" when I'm ready… "... it will be who he likes. Who he wants to spend his life with."

"What make you think Ranma-"

"When was the last time you saw Ranma?" Akane asked.

Shampoo was taken back by that particular blow, "Ah.. uh… th-"

"Three days ago, right?" Akane said, "When the two of us went to the Cat Cafe, had lunch. It was nice, I admit."

"So what?"

"I saw Ranma this morning, just a few hours ago. I see him every day." Memories flashed through her head, "I spend a lot of time with Ranma you know. We study together, we watch TV, we practice martial arts together. We eat together all the time. Not just family meals." Akane suddenly blinked in realization. "I… I spend more time with him than anybody else, really." She hadn't realized until speaking it, but she spent more time with Ranma then even her "best friends." "If, if you're having a bad day, does he try and cheer you up with some dumb teasing? Does he make stupid jokes around you? Does he just, I dunno, spend time with you talking about absolutely nothing important?" Akane was spilling her heart out now, to Shampoo of all people, not even getting any satisfaction of seeing her eyes widen and her cheeks pale.

"Shampoo... " Shampoo muttered, "Shampoo no… Shampoo no get to spend time with Ranma like that! Not fair!"

"Don't say stuff like that, Shampoo. If Ranma really wanted to spend time with you he'd just go and do it. Not like I can force him to do anything. But he doesn't. He spends time with me." Akane took a deep breath, gathering the will to say this final thing. "So… yes…. I…. want… to marry Ranma." She looked around briefly, expecting her dad to leap up out of nowhere and Genma to pull off the Shampoo mask. When that didn't happen, she continued. "And you know what? I can't say for certain, not like he's proposed or anything… but I think that he wants to marry me."

She looked over at Shampoo. Who was frowning. "Well? Got anything to say Shampoo?"

Shampoo just sighed, "Fine. Akane make point. Not going to give up Ranma?"

"Fine! Yes! If you want the short version! Nothing's going to be settled until Ranma mans up, right? You said so."

"Right." Shampoo said, calmly. "Akane think Ranma like Akane better. Maybe that true, now. After all, Akane have many advantages over Shampoo. Like Akane have no curse." She reached into her bike's basket, pulling out an urn. "But… that be fixed soon."

It took Akane less than a second to process that sentence, what it meant with the character on the urn. By the time a second had passed she was already on a full sprint, dashing out of the park.

Where the hell did Shampoo get Junsenkyo water? Akane thought to herself before deciding it didn't matter. Her dash was halted by Shampoo landing in front of her, on the bike, grinning. The urn in one hand. "Crap!" With the bike there was no way Akane could outrun Shampoo.

"Last chance, Akane! Give up Ranma and Shampoo no curse!"

"Like hell!" Akane answered, throwing out a concrete shattering punch. Shampoo, of course, jumped over it, and Akane. Shampoo spun through the air to land behind Akane, but had to raise up the arm not holding the urn to block a kick Akane launched behind her.

Akane crouched low to the ground, spinning around to an uppercut. The punch was aimed at the urn, so Shampoo had to twist her hand out of the way. This left her open to a second punch aimed at her chest. Which she had to block with a leg. Shampoo winced, having taken to hard blows that hurt even when blocked. She was pushed back, the two martial artists pausing to assess the fight.

Shampoo was, by most measures, the better fighter. She was faster, stronger, and had completed more advanced training. However, this skill gap was not completely insurmountable. Shampoo had one major handicap, the urn. All Akane had to do to win the fight was destroy it or even just knock it out of Shampoo's hands long enough to get to a crowded street where her bike no longer afforded her a speed advantage. Shampoo, on the other hand, had to beat down Akane hard enough to get her to hold still long enough to apply the cursed water.

The moment of assessment passed, ending with Akane rocketing forward. To Shampoo's surprise, she didn't immediately aim for the urn. Stuck using one arm, she parried and dodged several strikes. She jumped over a leg sweep, before throwing out a series of strikes using primarily her legs.

Akane didn't let how much blocking (and she did have to block most of them) those kicks hurt. Instead she powered through the pain. She pulled back, a little.

Shampoo grinned as she saw the opening Akane's little retreat left, she threw out another kick straight at her temple! Her grin quickly faded when she saw that it was a feint. Akane reached out, and grabbed Shampoo's extended leg.

"Yaaaahhhhhhh!" Akane shouted, spinning Shampoo around, the Nǚjiézú warrior only managing to hold onto her urn through improbable skill. "Gooooooddd-bye!" Akane added, letting Shampoo go. She sailed through the air, landing straight into a pond in the center of the park.

Taking a few deep breaths and wiping the sweat off her forehead, Akane shouted to the cat that she knew would be crawling out of the pond. "Next time try something that didn't come out of Mousse's playbook!" Before Akane could start to leave, her instincts warned her to drop down immediately. Following them, she barely avoided Shampoo's high kick from out of the pond. "What?"

"Stupid Akane. Think Shampoo only get Spring of Drowned Cat water?" The wet and very human Shampoo taunted. "Shampoo get water from Spring of Drowned Girl. Never be cat again."

Akane gritted her teeth. "Whatever!" She clenched both her firsts, "You not being a cat won't make Ranma like you any more!"

"How about Shampoo test that then?" She said, "See if Ranma likes Akane less when cat!"

"Go… ahead and try!" Akane charged forward again. Another series of punches and kicks. Akane reached into her training to pull out every tricks she knew. Punches at the urn, kicks not aimed at the urn, punches made to deliberately miss the urn to make Shampoo move where she wanted to. Shampoo was soon on the defensive, stuck blocking and dodging mostly. Only the occasional strike could be thrown out. Feeling refreshed by the growing confidence, Akane pressed forward. Throwing out faster and harder strikes, the two almost dancing around the park.

Around the park… in a… in a circle?

Wait. Akane thought to herself, We're moving in a circle… no… the circle's getting… smaller. Akane's eyes widened in the sudden realization of the trap she was falling into. Crap crap! She tried to jump away, pulling away from Shampoo. But it was too late, Shampoo threw out her fist, a punch that wasn't even aimed at Akane.

It didn't have to be, the tornado that erupted around them was more than enough. Having been in the middle of the Hiyru Shoten Ha once before, Akane knew full well its power. However, this time she was the focus of the attack, and it hurt a lot worse than what she could have imagined. It was made worse by the knowledge that she was basically hitting herself. Even through the pain, Akane berated herself for not taking this into account. After all, who had taught Ranma the Hiyru Shoten Ha? Cologne, Shampoo's Great Grandmother.

Finally, Akane hit the grass face first. "Going… to be feeling this tomorrow…" Akane groaned, trying to pull herself up. However, Shampoo's foot slamming into her back stopped that.

"Too too bad Akane. Just not good enough." Shampoo said, holding the urn much like an executioner would hold their axe. "Never good enough for Ranma."

"I told you… not a checklist." Akane grunted out through the pain.

Shampoo let out a snort, "No matter. Ranma not like you much anymore no?" She tilted the urn over, "Run scared from Akane from now on."

Akane closed her eyes, not wanting to see the transformation take effect. She felt the icy water spill over her body and heart. Please Ranma… don't… don't hate me because of this.

A moment passed, and Akane opened her eyes. "...huh?" Akane had expected being a cat to feel… different. Nothing seemed to have grown. Though, things did look a little different. The colors seemed a bit less bright. She moved one of her sore arms… and realized it was still an arm.

"What this!?" Shampoo shrieked, her foot leaving Akane's back.

Akane pulled herself off the ground. Grinning through the pain. "Hah! Looks like wherever you got that water from was a scam!"

"Shampoo… Shampoo pay too too much for that!" She shouted, "Stupid Akane why not get cursed right!" She threw out a punch at Akane. However, compared to the lightning fast blows from a few minutes ago, this was so slow Akane didn't even have to think to side step it. She threw out a kick that hit Shampoo in the gut, knocking her back into the pond.

Akane then could not help but feel a bit of smug satisfaction as a moment passed, and instead of a human girl crawling out of the pond, a familiar cat did. Shampoo looked down at herself, eyes wide in shock, and immediately began yowling and hissing at the world. She quickly bent down, picking up Shampoo by the scruff of her neck, holding out out so that the claws couldn't slash at her. "Well, this was a waste of your time and money, I'd say." Shampoo just hissed in reply. "Go home Shampoo." She dropped the cat, watching Shampoo dash away.

"OK… now I need to… get…. home…" Akane froze, her eyes having dropped down to the pond, where she could see her reflection. "What the hell!?"

The first thing she noticed that was different was her eyes. Rather than the brown eyes she was used to, her eyes were a deep green. Plus, their pupils had become vertical slits, like a cats. The next thing she noticed was the ears. She did not have normal human ears any longer. Instead there were two pointed cat ears on the top of her head. Even though they were pressed down flat against her head, she could still see them. She could feel them. The final, and worst, thing she noticed was that her dress was being pushed up from behind… by a tail. The tail was jutting out of from behind, sticking up her dress. The fur (the tail had fur! She had fur!) was the same color as the hair on her head, and was puffing out wildly. Finally she stumbled back away from the reflection, screaming. "What did she do to me!"

This was worse than becoming a cat! She had become some half cat… thing! "Hot water…" Akane muttered, "Where's hot water!" She looked around the park, no hot water anywhere. "Home… need to get home…" She said. Hopefully with nobody seeing her. She tried to push down the tail to keep her underwear from being exposed… but the thing seemed to have a mind of its own, jutting up no matter how hard she tried to force it down. "Agggg whatever!" She ran to the edge of the park, crossing the street and ignoring the stares of what observers gawking at what, to them, seemed to be a roughed up cosplayer. She jumped up to a nearby building, kicking off the side twice to land on the roof.

Akane began running in the direction of her house, jumping from building to building.. I can't let Ranma see me like this. Was her primary thought.

Akane didn't bother to announce she was home. She slipped past Kasumi into the kitchen.

There was always a kettle of water on the stove since the Saotome's had arrived. Akane quietly picked up up and shook it. It was full. Looking around again, she poured around a third of the kettle over her. To her great relief, the change reversed. She put the kettle back and tried to look casual when Kasumi wandered in.

"Akane?" It took all of a second for concern to pop up on her face, "Are you alright?"

Akane let out a shaky smile, "I'm fine, really… I just got into a fight, I'm fine. I've had worse." She glanced back at the kettle, "I think… it was a draw." She shook her head, "I'm going to take a bath. Though, uh, where's Ranma? A-and everyone else."

Kasumi just smiled, "Well, Ranma's seeing some movies with his friends. He won't back back until late. Father and Mr. Saotome are out on Town Council business, I suspect they'll be gone late too. Nabiki's up in her room. So it's just the three of us for the evening."

Akane did her best not to look relieved. Ranma and the parents not being around would get her more time to figure out how to keep this hidden.

Stepping into the bathroom, Akane pulled off her dirty clothing and tossed them into the basket. She looked in the mirror, checking her body for any major injuries. Other than a few… well, a lot of bruises she didn't seem that hurt. Still, she hadn't had a serious fight like this in some time. She sighed. "Maybe I need to up my training…" She picked up the bucket by the tub, filled with cold water. "Might as well…"She dumped the bucket over her head.

Akane had always been curious about the change, and how it felt to Ranma. However, she had never found it right to ask. Now she had her answer. It didn't feel like anything. One moment Akane was her normal self, the cold water was applied, and she was different. "Well…. that explains how they don't even seem to notice the change at time…" She looked in the mirror at her own now changed self.

Her new cat ears were no longer flat against her head, sticking out and twitching slightly. She lifted up one finger and poked it. It was warm and obviously part of her. The tail wasn't puffed out any more either, it was sticking mostly straight, with a bit of a downward curve on the tip. Again, she reached out and touched it. Still, other then the ears, tail, and eyes, she didn't look that different. "Hopefully this means I can hide it…" after all, her change was so much more minor than the other people she knew. It wasn't like she turned into a boy, or a duck, or a panda… or whatever Pantyhose Taro is. Settling down into the hot bath, Akane began making plans to make sure that nobody, especially not Ranma, would ever see this curse.

"...and then Mikoto said…"

Akane came down to the living room to find Nabiki engaging in some gossip with Kasumi. Her older sister grinning and nodding enthusiastically to the story whatever had happened at school.

"Well hey sis." Nabiki waved, "Kasumi says you got into a fight."

Akane rolled her eyes, "It was Shampoo being Shampoo. She roughed me up a bit, I kicked her in a pond, she went home." She glared at her sisters, "Do not bring it up to Ranma or Dad."

Kasumi nodded and Nabiki held out her hand. Akane sighed, pulling out five hundred yen (Family Discount) and put it in the middle sister's palm.

"You sure Ranma's worth it?" Nabiki asked dryly once the money was pocketed. "I mean I can't remember the last time I got into a brawl over a boyfriend. You seem to do it once a month."

"Ranma's my fiance, not my boyfriend." Akane replied back.

"And that makes it better how?"

"Now Nabiki, if Akane's fine with the situation then let her be." Kasumi said, though Akane could hear the question in that sentence.

"I am fine, really. As crazy as I think Shampoo is, I'm pretty sure she realizes that trying to seriously hurt me would just set Ranma off." She shrugged, before grinning at her sisters, "Don't worry, some day Ranma will man up and they'll be told off."

"Sure you won't be the one told off?" Nabiki asked.

Akane shrugged, "Hey, if he has such bad taste, no skin off my back!" She laughed with her sisters. She could never talk this freely about the engagement with any of the men of the household around. If her father or Genma had been here, just implying she was fine with the situation would lead to no end of trouble. If Ranma was here… well, he'd probably say something dumb like he always does when things like relationships and human emotions comes up.

Nabiki picked up a glass of water, "That's a philosophical view right there Akane." Then the doorbell rang. Kasumi stood up to go answer it, and bumped the knocked Nabiki, who had been leaning up against the table, off balance. This, because of course it did, caused the cup to get knocked loose in Nabiki's hand. The ice water flew out of the cup, right into Akane's face.

Well, that secret sure lasted long. Akane thought as whoever was ringing the doorbell was forgotten. Nabiki and Kasumi were staring at her. Akane laughed nervously, "Well, uh, Shampoo might have done a bit more then start a fight with me today."

So unlike my other fics, this one is fully outlined with a defined number of chapters! It's also pretty much entirely an excuse for me to write Catgirl Akane fanservice. So don't take things too seriously.