I've wanted to do one of these stories ever since I joined this site. I just couldn't come up with a satisfying plot line to make such a story work for me. Thanks to my friend Tellemicus Sundance, I now have one that I believe I can make work. The first chapter will be using his abandoned story 'Letters of the Heart' as a basis, with his permission. Beyond that though will be a separate story than what he originally intended.

Chapter 1—First Bite

'He always run away.' A white and purple cat thought to herself, mourning silently while up in a tree. 'Why? Why always running away?'

This of course was no ordinary cat, this was Shampoo of the Joketsuzoku, being careful to not be seen within the foliage. As much as she hated her curse, if nothing else it helped hide her right now. The tree she was currently in was just outside the Tendo dojo, practically leaning against the perimeter wall. With it she could look into the house and observe the object of her affection. Normally she'd take a more direct approach, but at the moment her self esteem was a little lower than normal so she resorted to this.

'Oh Airen, all Shampoo ever want was to show you love and have it returned. Am I gross to you? What is wrong? Is it my hair? My body? My voice? My touch?' She asked herself, feeling a little more glum as she did. 'What so repulsive that you rather be with too too violent girl instead?'

The cursed teenager looked into the residence from the back, seeing mostly the dining room by the koi pond but there was a glimpse into the room with the tv via a back window. Similar windows allowed her to glance into the bedrooms of the three Tendo girls, but she had no wish to look in there. Akane, Nabiki, and Kasumi weren't the ones she wanted to see after all.

Morning started normally. Kasumi got up and made breakfast, and with today being Saturday there was no need for anyone to be in a hurry. Ranma, her dear Airen, partook in his ritualistic morning sparring session with his father, this time forced to do it shirtless. Shampoo purred while watching his muscles move so openly. And as usual the spar concluded with both Saotomes getting wet and transforming into their cursed forms conveniently around the time Kasumi announced that breakfast was ready.

Breakfast went about normally, the residents conversing with the Amazon unable to hear what was said. Ranma returned to male form and decided to relax within the house today since it was the weekend. Shampoo could see him reading some manga and watching television from the looks of it, and if she was correct he was reading a series she herself was fond of. Maybe this would give them something to talk over.

Of course things just couldn't stay peaceful for too long here. The little imp known as Happosai chose to appear and quickly drenched Ranma, turning him female so the lech could have something to grope. As she always has before, Ranma removed the small old man and chased him about six times or so around the house promising great harm once caught. Happosai eventually got the hint and left, likely for yet another of his infamous panty raids. Shampoo had been a victim of them once before Cologne got to him.

As if the ancient pervert wasn't bad enough, which he was, somehow a surprisingly violent argument broke out between Ranma and Akane once he was gone. This one sounded bad even for them, and predictably resulted in Ranma being sent into LEO via one of Akane's favorite attacks.

'Why... why Airen like her more than me?'

As always Ranma eventually returned to the dojo, in female form, but this time she took the back route, passing by the tree that Shampoo was in. Even if she looked up she wouldn't have seen Shampoo, but something else did catch her eye.

"What's that?" She asked herself, seeing something stick out of the bushes at the base of the tree. It looked like a discarded sleeve, and she pulled it out. "Wait, is this... Shampoo's blouse?"

The cat in the tree perked in panic and looked down. Below her, Ranma dug through the shrub and found her discarded clothes that she tried to hide. Apparently she hadn't been as good at it as she thought. 'Oh no, Airen will find out.'

Ranma pulled out Shampoo's shirt and pants, and blushed big time when she found the purple-haired girl's underwear. Of course she immediately dropped it and looked around, paranoid that someone had seen him touch this.

"Okay, okay, calm down Ranma, no one saw you." She said to herself. "I don't know why Shampoo's clothes are here, and I don't want to know. She'll come back and get them herself, no one will be able to use this against me for once."

Shampoo twinged a bit, hurt by how her loved one seemed virtually conditioned to expect pain as an immediate consequence of being with others. That was no way to live.

Ranma shoved all the clothes back into the bushes, better than Shampoo had done so, then went back towards the house. Life within the house carried on, and judging from the lack of shouts it was safe to assume that no one was accusing Ranma of doing something wrong.

Feeling a little grateful for not being discovered, but glum that Ranma likely was afraid of seeing her anytime soon now, Shampoo curled up like one would expect of a cat, silently bemoaning how life was for her.

'Does Airen... hate me?'

Shampoo was, for all intents and purposes, a very strong girl. Physically, mentally, emotionally, and morally. But like all people, she had her moments of weakness, which were steadily growing more common the longer she stayed here in Nerima. And while she could hide her pain far better than most others, once in a while she just needed a private moment to cry.

Unable to cry in her cat form, Shampoo decided she had been here long enough. It was a good thing that today had been one of her days off work at the Nekohanten, or else her great-grandmother would have come looking for her after the first hour. Standing up, Shampoo stretched a bit in a very feline manner then jumped down out of the tree, landing on her clothes. She had some water to let her become a cat, but it wouldn't have stayed warm long enough to turn her back. And she knew asking the Tendos for help would have only led to more conflict.

'I just come back for clothes like planned. Just faster so they no get rid of them.' She told herself, taking a moment to gather herself. When done, she silently strolled away looking like any other stray cat in town. Even so, she had to take a path that would allow her to avoid most foot traffic. Best way to avoid being bothered by people.

When she was in a gap between buildings Shampoo heard something that made her stop. It was a low unfriendly growl, like an angry animal, and it was coming from behind her. She tried to turn but before she could there was a loud bark that sounded dangerously close and footsteps that sounded like something running.

'Oh crap, stray dog!' Shampoo thought, immediately taking to running as fast as she could. Luckily she was faster than any ordinary cat, able to keep up with female Ranma for a short while, but the dog had more experience than her in running on four legs so it was still a legit threat to her.

Hoping someone would help her, Shampoo ran out to a more public area meowing as loud as she could. People were quick to notice her, but there was only one person Shampoo noticed.

"Oh my."

Seeing Kasumi was out shopping, Shampoo couldn't help but run towards her. While Kasumi couldn't fight off a dog, she could do more about it than a cat could, and if nothing else nobody else out here would allow Kasumi to be hurt. She was the safest place the Amazon could get to right then, and she headed there as fast as her paws could carry her.

When she got close she jumped up in an effort to land in Kasumi's usual shopping basket. This surprised the oldest Tendo, who didn't recognize the cursed feline and jumped back. Others who were close to her were surprised too and tried to shoo her away. The dog was briefly ignored in this and kept at Shampoo, bounding into Kasumi and knocking her over, making anyone close to her back away to avoid getting caught in the spill.

"Get off me!" Kasumi said loudly, trying to push the mongrel off her.

It responded by biting her right arm hard enough to draw blood.

Kasumi yelled and this prompted everyone to react and pull the mutt off her. One of them grappled the animal in an effort to control it. It released her but snarled and tried to bite back, squirming free enough that it actually succeeded in biting off one of the guy's fingers.

Shampoo got up and looked to Kasumi, who was seated on the pavement trying to withstand the pain of her injury. A few people were tending to the wound, trying to wash it and wrap it up with what they could find.

"Get out of here!" Someone said, grabbing Shampoo and tossing her aside, afraid the cat would only make things worse.

Shampoo landed on her feet and took the hint, running off before others could get mad at her. 'I apologize later.' She told herself.

Another person meanwhile managed to pin the dog down and applied a lot of pressure to it. After a lot of struggling the sound of bone breaking could be heard and the dog went still.

"There, it's gone." He said, wiping his forehead, before getting to Kasumi and the man missing one finger. "You okay?"

"I need a hospital! Of course I'm not okay!" The injured man yelled, going off to get himself to medical care.

Kasumi was helped up, her wound still obvious. "I need to get home. I'll be helped then."

"Get to a hospital anyway. The dog was dangerous, who knows what it had." The helper suggested. Looking back at the now dead dog, it was pretty obvious the thing was unhealthy. Patches of fur were missing and the skin didn't look a healthy color.

"Thank you everyone." Kasumi told those that helped her before gathering her things and making it home, hand clutching her arm the whole way.

The walk back to the Nekohanten took longer than she thought, but she made it back around lunch hour. Fortunately the back door to the restaurant had a cat door installed for just these occasions. She went in and now she was noticed.

"About time you returned Shampoo. I expected you back hours ago." Cologne called, wiping down the countertops while looking at her transformed great-grandchild. "Mousse is out making deliveries, but fortunately today had been rather slow and uneventful, so we could..."

Cologne trailed off when she noticed that Shampoo wasn't even looking at her. The purple and white cat just walked on with her head hung low, like a walk of shame, and got to the stairs to head up to the residential section of the cafe.

'That's not a good sign.' Cologne thought. 'What has her down?'

Thanks to work, the elderly Amazon had to put off tending to her relative. This at least gave her time to think of how to help Shampoo. As she did, one of her customers caught her attention. The customer, a college student by the looks of age and clothing, was hunched over a notebook and was furiously writing and then rewriting something in it. He didn't look too good, like he might have a weak version of the flu, and his ramen was getting cold due to him barely touching it.

"Young man," Cologne said, catching the customer's reluctant attention. "I do not refund or particularly enjoy dumping out hard-made meals. So please put your homework away and finish your ramen before it goes to waste."

The young man tried to nod, but while he did he paused for a pretty bad cough. "Sorry ma'am, I must not be as hungry as I thought. Heh, flu's hitting a little early this year isn't it?" As he spoke he kept tapping his pencil against the notebook in an annoying way.

"I wouldn't know. Is there something going around?" Cologne asked. If there was a bug in the air, it would be good to warn her deliverers about it so they wouldn't catch it or spread it around. Bad for business.

"Yeah, it's hitting campus hard, and from what I heard it's not just in Nerima. Seems like all of Japan's getting under the weather." The young man answered, picking up some ramen with his chopsticks and chewing it, though Cologne could tell he was forcing himself. "I thought I was healthy enough to still go out. Guess I called that one wrong." He tried to chuckled, but only coughed some more.

"Yes you did." Cologne remarked before going back to the kitchen to tend to the stack of dishes that needed washing.

'Heh, while he should have stayed home, that boy reminds me of how back in my day the boys would write me love letters. I wonder when kids stopped doing that, I'm sure my daughter at least had a few suitors. I know when I was young, I got more than just battle proposals. The boys wanted to charm me before they impressed me. Heck, even a few girls tried that. Ah, the good old days, when people actually cared about romance.'

Just then an idea came to the Amazon elder. One that made her smile and chuckle softly under her breathe.

"I'm back." Mousse announced as he returned from his deliveries, using the back entrance.

"Ah good, tidy up the main room, then you can have a break before we get into the evening rush." Cologne directed.

When he left to do this task, the old woman quickly began going over her current idea, as well as how to get her great-granddaughter to participate in it.

'Hmm... maybe this once, I should keep Shampoo out of the details.' She thought. 'The closest that Shampoo came to securing her husband was back when the Reversal Jewel was influencing her. She came so close to getting what she wanted, all because for once she didn't even know there was a plan. In fact, had it not been for that confounded Mousse giving the jewel to Akane, Shampoo would have been on her honeymoon already and back home, likely expecting her first child by now.'

Cologne had to pause for a moment to avoid getting angry. 'Yes, perhaps it's best that Shampoo doesn't know what I'm doing. If things go right, those two kids will come together on their own and therefore it will mean more to them. And if things go wrong, I have little doubt that I'd lose a good deal of Shampoo's trust. It's just a chance I need to be willing to take.'

With a confident smile on her face, Cologne finished up washing the dishes and went about gathering the supplies she'd need to set her plans in motion.

It didn't take long for Shampoo to return to human form and get redressed. When she did she immediately jumped out the window of the second story room and landed on the roof of the neighboring building. Jumping from roof to roof, she soon enough made it back to the Tendo dojo, landing back where she left her clothes.

"I knew you'd come back."

She turned and saw Ranma emerge from around the corner, arms crossed and looking a little irritated. "What were you doing around here anyway? And don't say you weren't already here."

Normally the violette girl would be cheerful and try to embrace her airen regardless of his mood, but right now she looked like smiling wasn't worth it. "Nothing." was all she said in response.

Ranma blinked and arched an eyebrow, not expecting this kind of reaction from her. "No girl would just leave her clothes behind like that for nothing. What were you doing?"

Shampoo sighed and stood up, folding her clothes. "Not bothering you. Also, tell Kasumi that Shampoo sorry for today." Before he could say more, she jumped off and roof-hopped away.

Akane came around, giving Ranma an annoyed but not angry look. "What's going on back here?"

"I have no idea." Ranma replied, the confusion in his voice enough to placate her.

"Well don't stall. We got to get that medicine for Kasumi." Akane said, tugging on his arm trying to make him follow her.

Grateful that Akane hadn't seen anything, Ranma followed, though he kept his eyes peeled for anything. 'Wait, sorry for today? Is Shampoo the reason Kasumi got attacked?'

His confusion was soon replaced with anger.

"What is troubling you child?" Cologne asked when the restaurant was closed. At the moment Shampoo was watching tv, the current program nothing unusual for them to watch, but throughout the day Shampoo had barely said a word to any of them. She hadn't even reacted to Mousse's usual antics, which scared even him.

"No want talk about it." She answered.

"You didn't really think I'd take that for an answer did you?" Cologne asked. "If you don't want to talk about it, would you mind if I suggest another way?"

"What way?" Shampoo asked, sounding like she wasn't interested.

"Write down what's bothering you."

The teenager simply gave the elderly woman a confused look.

"I know it sounds pointless, but it will help. There's a reason people use diaries as a way to organize their thoughts after all. Write down what's bothering you, why it's bothering you, and what you think would best solve the problem. This way you finally get it off your chest but you get to keep your privacy at the same time. Not to mention you might figure out a few things along the way."

"It still seem pointless." Shampoo said.

"At least give it a try. If it doesn't work, you're no worse off than you are now are you?"

"Suppose so."

Cologne smiled. "Excellent. Also, make sure to write in Japanese."

"Why Great-grandmother?"

"The extra effort will force you to focus more, and ensure that you write the important stuff in the simplest way without rambling. The point of this is to get to the root of the problem, not to complain about anything and everything."

Shampoo slowly nodded. "Alright Great-grandmother." She then went upstairs to her room.

Cologne kept her smirk even after her student left. 'It begins.'

Little did she know that something indeed was beginning, and it was already too late to stop.

"We're home." Akane announced when she and Ranma came home from school the following Monday.

"Welcome back." They heard Kasumi call back, though she sounded a little tired despite it being the afternoon.

Akane went towards the kitchen, seeing Nodoka help the oldest Tendo daughter work on the dishes. Kasumi wobbled a little and leaned on the counter for support with her good arm.

"Are you under the weather Kasumi?" Akane asked.

When Kasumi had gotten home the family almost went ballistic with hearing she got hurt. They took her to the hospital for a check-up and a doctor had cleaned the wound before giving her a simple inoculation. However it seems since then Kasumi was only getting worse little by little each day.

"I'm okay, I can work with this. It's more annoying than anythi-" She started, having to stop to cough.

"I think you need a different kind of medicine." Ranma recommended. "Maybe you're allergic to the kind they gave you?"

"That's actually very possible," Nodoka agreed. "Can I see the wound dear?"

Kasumi slowly unwrapped the bandages, and everyone had wide eyes to see that the wound looked rather infected.

"That's really gross." Akane said, covering her mouth out of fear of nausea.

Nodoka quickly rewrapped the bandages on the oldest Tendo daughter, then reached for a purse and pulled out some yen. "Here, get her some more disinfectant."

Akane took the cash and nodded. 'I sure wish Dr. Tofu was in town. He'd know what she needs.'

Practically a year ago Tofu had to leave town, a sign on his old clinic telling everyone that he had to go away for a special project and had no guaranteed date of return. So far he still had not come back, and many of his old patients were suspecting he wasn't going to.

"Be careful out there." Kasumi warned. "I think a lot of people in town are sick too. I wonder if more dogs are out biting people like me."

"You worry about yourself for now dear." Nodoka advised.

"C'mon Ranma." Akane said, heading back out the door. He followed of course and they went to the shopping district Kasumi usually frequented.

The rest of the day went normally, with the only change being that Nodoka and Akane stepped in to do Kasumi's chores. Everyone was concerned for the housekeeper since she seemed active but lethargic, like she had plenty of energy but no desire to do anything with it. She also had a lack of an appetite, eating just the fish included with dinner and not touching the rest.

Not wanting to catch whatever was bothering her, and have a repeat of the last time he was sick in the Tendo house, Ranma chose to partake in some evening exercise, primarily a long jog around the neighborhood. But his health wasn't the only thing on his mind.

'Dammit, why is this still on my mind? Shampoo hasn't come back, nothing happened, so what if she looked a little sad when I saw her? She hasn't exactly made me happy lately. And she got Kasumi hurt. Kasumi of all people.'

He hadn't seen the violette Amazon since Sunday, yet his mind kept coming back to her. Part of it was out of paranoia, usually when something like this happened, something much worse was practically guaranteed to follow. The fact that it hadn't happened yet hadn't pacified him. He was convinced the Amazons were up to something, he just didn't know what.

And since no answer was coming to him, Ranma had to do something to keep himself busy. And since this was him, this was no ordinary jog. He had two fifty-pound weights strapped to each of his ankles and a pair swinging from his wrists like nunchaku. The added two-hundred pounds of extra weight would've normally been child's play for him to lug around. However, he was alternating running on both his feet and then switching to his hands with each lap around the neighborhood.

Ranma had long since lost track of how long he'd been doing this exercise, but he paid such minor details no heed. All that did matter was keeping in shape and being prepared for the Amazons next move.

'What if they're not planning something?' He briefly asked himself. 'What if Shampoo is simply in a funk?Naw, that couldn't be right. Shampoo wouldn't get disheartened over something. Not for too long at least…right?'

Rounding a corner, the pigtailed martial artist found himself on a familiar street. Up ahead he could faintly see a bridge in the quarter moon's weak light and the sunset's remaining hue. It was the bridge that he and Akane always crossed over on their way to school. And, if his eyes weren't fooling him, there was an all-too-familiar figure standing on the bridge's railing, clearly waiting for his arrival.

'Great, someone I didn't want to see.' He mentally groaned since he was out of breath physically, then flipped over to stand up on his feet this time. 'Might as well get this over with and see what she wants, since she'll just come to me if I don't.'

"Good evening, Son-in-Law," Cologne said as he cautiously approached. "A bit late for a jog, wouldn't you say?"

"What do you want, Old Ghoul?"

After the customary whack for his disrespect, she sat down on the railing. "Is there something distressing you, Ranma? I've seen the types of workout you and your father prefer, and I'd have thought that such a mundane exercise as this would've been far beneath you at this point."

"Just because it's mundane doesn't mean it's still not good training." He countered immediately, maybe slightly defensively. "What do you want? I'm kind of busy at the moment."

Nodding with easy acceptance, Cologne dug into the sleeves of her robe. "Yes, I can tell, and I will surely be noticed missing if I delay this much longer. Son-in-law, I have something to give you. Something of an extremely delicate nature and you are to not discuss or mention it to anyone. If you do, I promise you, Son-in-Law or not, I will hunt you down and kill you like a rabid dog."

"What is it?" Ranma asked, instantly curious and wary. "It's not one of your little tricks again, is it?"

Rather than chuckle, as she normally would've at such a blunt accusation, Cologne leveled a very fierce gaze upon the teenager. "No, it is not." She then withdrew a blank white envelop from her sleeve, holding it up for Ranma to see easier in the faint moonlight. "This is from Shampoo."

"What, like a love letter?" Ranma scoffed indignantly, disbelieving and annoyed in equal measures. Was the old ghoul running out of ideas at this point?

"Perhaps, perhaps not." Cologne conceded. "I have not read its contents. That privilege belongs to you."

"Not interested." Ranma stated, turning to continue his run.

"You saw her not that long ago, didn't you?" Cologne said, freezing the youth in his tracks inadvertently and confirming her suspicion that he had seen her. "You knew something was wrong, but you didn't know what. Aren't you the least bit curious?"

"No," Ranma said, though there was a heavy layer of uncertainty in his tone. Of course he was curious; no matter how much he may have fought and screamed in denial, the simple truth was that he was. "No, I'm not, not at all."

"While this is speculation, I feel confident in guessing that the clues, if not the answer, is written here in Shampoo's letter." Cologne said, holding out the letter once again as Ranma reluctantly faced her. "All that I'm asking of you, Ranma, is to read it. Perhaps you'll have a better understanding of my great-granddaughter's recent depression."

"Depression?" Ranma repeated, unsure he correctly heard the old lady's words. "Shampoo's feeling depressed about something? Is that why she-?"

Cologne cut off his questions by merely raising the envelop ever-so-slightly higher and waving it a bit, as if to say 'What's taking you so long?'.

After a moment of debating with himself over whether he should take the offered letter or not, a sudden thought entered his mind. "Does she know you're giving me this? The Shampoo I know wouldn't want such things like this to get out."

There was a very serious gaze that filled Cologne's eyes. "That is why I'm telling you to never discuss what you read within with anyone else, ever. She's been coming back to the Nekohanten in tears more often than usual lately, so I tasked her with writing her feelings down as a way of soul-cleansing. Putting into writing what she's struggling to put into words. So I am, in essence, betraying her trust by giving this to you. For if what is written inside here gets discovered and becomes known, she will know immediately who were responsible, us two. And I trust that you don't wish to have Shampoo re-invoking her Kiss of Death on you again, do you?"

Despite himself, Ranma visibly shuddered at the still-potent memories of a violette Amazon relentlessly chasing after him and his father throughout China and Nerima. Those were times he didn't want to go back to, ever.

Returning his attention to the letter that Cologne was patiently holding out to him, Ranma slowly and hesitantly reached out for it. Even without the chained iron weighing his arm down, it was a very difficult act for Ranma to lift his hand and try to take hold of the letter.

Just as his fingers closed upon the envelop, Cologne gave it a short jerk, snapping his attention back to her. "Burn this letter immediately after you finish reading it, Ranma. If nothing else, it would be an act of kindness towards a young girl whose ignorance we're taking advantage of."

With that final statement, Cologne released the letter into Ranma's care and quickly pogoed her way back to her restaurant with all due haste. 'Good, part two is done.' She thought. 'Now all I have to do is watch and wait for Son-in-law's reaction. Knowing him, he'll eventually need a guiding prod. And when the time comes, a little more than that.'

As it became night, the figure sitting crouched upon a high street lamp would've been easily missed to those still on the streets. Not that many would look up anyway.

Deciding to not return to the dojo for the moment since he wouldn't get any privacy there for sure, Ranma had leapt up the pole for a bit of security. From his position upon the pole of the street lamp and facing away from the light shining beneath him, no one could sneak up and peek over his shoulder to read what was in his hands, not even Happosai or Cologne could accomplish that feat.

Clutched in his hands were the pages of Shampoo's written efforts. If what Cologne said was true and Shampoo really hadn't written this with the knowledge that Ranma would be reading it soon, then he really couldn't believe his luck. Shampoo had written all fourteen pages of the letter in Japanese, not Chinese, so he was easily able to read it. Well, to a point. There was little illumination to be had at the moment, what with the light under him and the moon only a fraction of it's full size. He had to hold each sheet practically over the street light just to see what was actually on it.

'Might as well see what's in here.' Ranma told himself, checking out the first page.

It started out sort of like a letter to no one in particular, like she was trying to describe something to an unnamed penpal. But it soon became more like a diary entry of her early life and how she'd grown up. Like she was still trying to figure out where she was trying to start this. It also was written sort of like how she spoke, but thankfully due to being around Shampoo for the better part of a year he was able to decipher what she was actually trying to say.

She described her young childhood as mostly being ruled by obligation. She lived under expectations that in retrospect felt harshly high, all because she was the descendant of the mighty Cologne, and selected almost immediately to take her place. Why her but not anyone else in the family, she had no idea, but she guessed it was because her great-grandmother had no intention of stepping down for several more years, so by the time she did Shampoo would be the best age to replace her.

'Well that makes sense now that I see it.' Ranma thought.

As a result, the majority of Shampoo's childhood was essentially preparation for her selected role in the village. Sure she did play around, back during a time when Mousse was a legitimate playmate, though eventually he lost interest in playing with her and turned his attention to getting her to date him. She admits she might have considered him if he hadn't been so vain and shortsighted when he tried it, making a fool of himself yet acting like she should be flattered he considered her good enough for him. To an Amazon, that was insultingly chauvinistic.

'So that's why she won't give Mousse a chance. He's like her version of Kuno.' Ranma thought, having occasionally hoped that Shampoo would lose interest in him and go for Mousse instead. With this though, that seemed very unlikely. And in this context, he honestly couldn't blame her for not wanting it.

Despite a less-than-fun childhood, Shampoo had thought it was going to be worth it. She poured her heart into her training for as long as she could remember, and after so much struggle finally became the village champion. With this, she could finally be something other than Cologne's great-granddaughter. She could show everyone that she was a formidable fighter and a leader in her own right. Not just a younger version of Cologne that so many other girls in Joketsuzoku thought she was. She would finally be respected for her own talents, not just her bloodline.

Until a redheaded stranger came to town, knocked her on her ass, and made her look like a child.

'I didn't think I hurt her pride that much.' Ranma thought, remembering that event. Though what he remembered best was the part where Shampoo gave him the Kiss of Death.

Shampoo's pseudo-diary explained, in a surprising amount of detail, just how extensive that one defeat had dishonored her in the eyes of her tribe and in her own eyes. Just how incredibly angry she had been, not necessarily at Ranma, but more at herself for apparently allowing herself to stagnate. She had thought she had gotten strong, but she had been beaten so easily. Where did she go wrong? To redeem herself, she had taken to hunting the redhead with a passion that would've made many in her tribe proud.

Along the way she had done something she never expected to do. She found the love of her life. Granted, she hadn't fallen in love with him on sight or even when he had defeated her so easily. However, it was that act of beating her with only one hit that had gotten her attention. That was when she stopped hating herself for losing to the redhead. Maybe she hadn't stagnated, maybe there were people outside the village who were just as devoted to their training as she was. If so, this man was like a kindred spirit, someone who valued the art as much as her and wanted to do something with it. The concern he showed when she was down also showed that he had a good heart under his loud, gruff exterior. That was why she had no objection to giving him the Kiss of Marriage.

But, for some reason that she just couldn't understand, he seemed to be helplessly loyal to the violent girl he lived with. A girl who hit and yelled at him for the smallest of things. Why was he so committed to a girl who was not only inferior to his level of martial arts, but was clearly jealous of him for being so superior and had a ludicrously short temper? It would be one thing if Ranma was trying to make Akane feel bad, physically or emotionally, but from what Shampoo saw, the pigtailed martial artist practically jumped through hoops to make the youngest Tendo happy.

'That's harsh.' Ranma thought. 'She doesn't see everything, she can't judge Akane just on this.'

As time went on, Shampoo tried to settle down in Nerima, find out more about Ranma and in the process Akane too. Ranma was just as dedicated to the art as she had suspected, always striving to improve, never letting an obstacle keep him down for long. There had been times he disappointed her, but his will to get better and help others as he did so gave her an insight into who he really was. A man who cared about others and valued what was right more than what was easy.

'I... have to admit I'm flattered. Man I wish Akane would say something like that about me.' He thought, smiling a bit.

However, Shampoo was far less impressed by what she saw in Akane. To her, it was disgraceful that someone who was going to inherit a dojo, a place that existed solely for the benefit of improving in martial arts, was so abysmal. Sure she wasn't unskilled, but no one else in Nerima had a dojo yet they still had reached incredible levels and accomplished great feats. What was Akane's excuse for being so lackluster by comparison?

Yet somehow, Akane had gotten what Shampoo couldn't. An intense amount of loyalty from him, to the point where he didn't even want to consider his other fiancees an option. He was convinced he was honor-bound to marry the Tendo girl, and he had his father and Akane's father breathing down his neck if he showed so much of a sliver of awareness that Akane wasn't the only female on the planet. This meant the only chance Shampoo had to get his attention was by surprise, sex appeal, and the occasional trick. It was a complete struggle for her just to get him to look at her, while the girl who had his attention acted like he repulsed her. Until she actually risked losing him that is.

As he continued reading, Ranma couldn't help but wince. If this was to be believed, then her depression was because he was hurting her with his neglect of her feelings. While many would call him callous and insensitive, which he admitted to a point he was, Ranma never actually tried to break someone's heart and one of the lessons his father had beaten into him was to never hurt a girl, no matter what. And apparently he had been doing that, without even knowing it.

'So Shampoo's depressed... because I'm ignoring her?' He asked himself. 'No, that can't be it. Shampoo's like me, more bubbly but still she can take a little heartache and not let it get her down.'

Despite that, he couldn't convince himself that there was no problem and he had nothing to do about it. The simple truth was, Shampoo was hurting and it was entirely his fault. Regardless of his feelings for the girl, he needed to make it up to her. He would never be able to live with himself if he knew he was making someone miserable. It was one thing when the other person was the cause of their own problem, but it was different when he was the cause.

But how could he fix this? If he tried anything, she'd see it as him finally starting to take an interest in her. And with him trying to get things to work with Akane in the wake of the failed wedding, that was the last thing he wanted to do. Ranma was, again, finding himself stuck between a rock and a hard place.

What could he do?

Friday came, and something was bothering Ranma.

That much was obvious, even to Nodoka and the two fathers. Ranma wasn't putting as much focus during his morning training with his father as he usually did. He was still fighting back and dodging, but he seemed to be mostly going through the motions rather than giving it his all. Genma, ever opportunistic, was all too eager to capitalize on his son's distraction. He'd either dodge his son's incoming attack or deliver a strong counterattack of his own, often smacking Ranma straight into the dirt.

From what Nodoka could see through the kitchen window, Genma wasn't missing a beat and Ranma was suffering for it. If she didn't know any better, she'd think her son wasn't that strong or manly. It sure looked that way when her husband dropped like a lead weight from above her son to throw him off then kicked him into the koi pond.

"Aw, is my son getting distracted?" Genma yelled mockingly at the quickly resurfacing redhead. Despite his indignation at his son's apparent lack of focus, Genma couldn't stop himself from laughing heartily at his son's expense. At least until a small wave splashed over him, followed by a 'light' boulder that had formerly been resting on the edge of the pond.

"Now who's distracted, old man?" Ranma growled dangerously at the soaked panda before her.

'Show respect to your betters, boy!' Genma's sign declared while he growled and charged forward, attempted to whack his now-daughter upside the head with said sign.

Easily dancing out of the panda's reach, Ranma bounced forward and kicked out, striking the panda in its chin. "When I finally meet them, maybe I will!" Genma had no immediate reply to that retort as he was sent careening through the air and crashed down by the wall surrounding the property. Straightening herself up out her stance, Ranma muttered quietly to herself. "I'm not distracted, just hungry. Yes, I'm just hungry."

"Breakfast is ready, everyone!" Nodoka called out as she moved into the dining room with a large tray of food. Upon hearing the meal call, both Genma and Ranma abandoned their duel to rush forward and quickly take the offered kettle of hot water. Toweling themselves dry real quick, they joined the rest of the Tendo family at the table and eagerly awaited the food that was to come. It seemed that whatever had been distracting Ranma earlier was now partially forgotten at the sight of the approaching meal.

"Where's Kasumi?" Ranma asked, not seeing the oldest Tendo daughter at the table with them.

"She's getting worse." Nodoka answered, having gone back into the kitchen for some soup. "She can't even get out of bed right now."

"Think she might have the flu?" Nabiki asked. "A few in school are coming down with the flu. It wouldn't be that surprising for her to have caught it in the market before she got bitten. For a while I thought Kuno had the bug, but he instead got one of his sister's poisons on his food by mistake and couldn't move for a day after that."

"As long as he's not there I'm good with it." Akane muttered.

"Son, are you coming down with something?" Nodoka asked.

"I feel fine. Why?"

"I got the feeling you weren't at your best in your spar. If you were sick that would explain it. I'd hate to think you weren't taking your training seriously."

"I'm fine." Ranma repeated, this time a little defensive. He really didn't want to bring up the fact he was thinking about the problem with Shampoo. If he did, he'd be kissing the sky in a matter of seconds.

"What about you No-chan?" Genma asked his wife. "You've been tending to Kasumi the most, have you been making sure you don't catch what she has?"

Nodoka nodded. "Yes, I feel fine."

School went normally despite to a number of sick students and teachers. Ranma was relieved that Ukyo wasn't under the weather. With all her customers she was considerably at risk. When it ended, Akane went off with Sayuri to pay a visit to Yuka who was sick at home, leaving Ranma a chance to do something on his own. He decided to casually walk along some fences for extra balance training but he had no destination in mind.

'Alright, what are my options? I suppose I could always spy on them. With the Umisenken, that'd be a piece of cake… if only I could use it, stupid panda.' He rued for a bit.

Sighing heavily, Ranma came to a momentary stop on the fence and looked off in the direction that he knew the Nekohanten was in. As far as he could tell, Shampoo's letter had been as genuine and sincere as her desire to marry him. If there was ever one thing he could always count on Shampoo for, it was being extremely driven to get whatever she wanted. Unfortunately, more often than not, this usually pertained to getting Ranma to marry her. With that being the case, Ranma could easily read between the lines to see Shampoo's written confessions were completely truthful, with a typical Shampoo-flair that mirrored her personality as distinctively as her fighting style. So he could tell that she had genuinely written that letter from the heart. It hadn't been faked by Cologne. But was Cologne telling him the truth when she said that Shampoo hadn't known of the letter's future destination into her Airen's hands?

A familiar jingling bell and an even more familiar cry of "Nihao, Ranma!" tore the pigtailed martial artist from his thoughts. Spinning around, Ranma saw the Chinese Amazon on her bike with a delivery box strapped to the back, parked below him on the street. She looked up at him and tried to smile, though her eyes were uncertain.

"Hi Shampoo." He said with a wave, not sure what to do when she greeted him without a glomp. "What are you doing here? Delivering ramen again?"

"Yes." She answered plainly. "Airen no happy to see Shampoo?"

"No, I mean yes." He answered, stumbling with his words a bit due to old habits. "But while you're here... actually, how about you meet me back at the Nekohanten when you're done with your delivery?"

Shampoo blinked, then smiled sincerely and nodded. "Yes, Shampoo do that. Thank you Airen."

"Don't mention it." He replied.

"See you soon Airen." Shampoo said happily, then went back to riding her bike, now with more gusto.

With her gone, Ranma exhaled deeply. 'Might as well take the direct approach. Trying to fish for information just doesn't sound like it would work for me. I'm no Nabiki after all, thank Kami-sama.'

"Kasumi?" Nabiki knocked on her sister's bedroom door when she got home from school. "You awake?"

"Nabi... ki...?"

"That doesn't sound good." Nabiki said softly as she opened the door. There on her bed was a pale and sweating Kasumi, cold compress on her forehead and a spilled water glass on her floor. Judging by the stain, it had been spilled a while ago and was already drying. "You sound like it hurts to speak."

"It's... a bit rough... I'm having... a hard time... focusing my eyes... too... light... hurts..."

Nabiki picked up the empty glass. "Want a refill?"

"Something... that will help... me stay asleep... if you don't mind... and maybe... talk to me... for a bit... to help me... do that." Kasumi wheezed.

"Alright, I'll get you some sleep-aids. If we're not out."

Kasumi smiled. "Thanks..." She then coughed some more, covering her mouth with her blanket, and when she was done, she leaned back and closed her eyes, looking more pained than asleep.

Nabiki's eyes widened in horror when she saw bits of blood on the blanket.

"Wow Yuka, you look terrible." Akane said to her friend, her and Sayuri seated around the girl's bed.

"Yeah, I can tell." The schoolgirl answered, gingerly eyeing what Akane hoped wasn't a bucket for vomit. The room did have a bit of a putrid smell to it, like rotting meat, but Akane didn't want to be rude and point it out.

"How long have you had this?" Akane asked, remembering seeing Yuka in class not that long ago.

"About three days. Why?"

"My sister's down, but she got bitten a week ago and we think she's dealing with this flu and an infection at the same time. Why are you getting sicker faster than her?"

"I hear sometimes that happens." Sayuri pointed out. "For some people things like the flu just hit them faster and harder."

"Did anyone catch the license plate of the flu that hit me?" Yuka joked, making the other two chuckle. Yuka tried to as well, but after a bit she had to grab the bucket and of course puke into it. And as grossed out as they were, Akane and Sayuri couldn't avoid catching a glimpse.

"Wait, was that...?" Sayuri asked, then came over and peered into the bucket, gasping quickly. "Dear lord, it is. It's... blood."

"Blood?" Akane asked, then looked in, seeing a small pool of red. Horrified, she looked at Yuka. "You need to get to a doctor Yuka!"

"I can barely stand up." Yuka protested, wiping her mouth.

Akane got to her feet. "You're vomiting blood. This is no ordinary flu. I'll carry you if I have to."

"No, you can't." Yuka insisted. "Three days ago, this guy in a store next to me coughed up some blood before I knew it and he got some of it on me. If you carry me, I'll get blood on you too and we'll both have it."

"Change your clothes, wash your hands and face, and wear a mask. I should be fine then, and if you even think you have to puke, let me know so I can put you down." Akane declared, that look in her eyes saying she wouldn't take no for an answer there.

"You really do need this Yuka." Sayuri added.

Yuka sighed and drooped her head. "Alright, thanks guys. You're the best."

Back with Kasumi, she was sipping some water to help swallow some sedative pills while Nabiki sat by her bed.

"Kasumi, I think we really should get you to the hospital. This is not normal. If I didn't know better, I'd swear you had rabies." Nabiki stated.

Rabies was virtually nonexistent in Japan these days, hence why they hadn't considering it an option before. It was about as likely to get rabies in Japan as one could get polio in America.

"I'm fine... just need a few... more days..."

Nabiki shook her head. "Didn't Mom say the same thing?"

Kasumi just wheezed wordlessly at the mentioning of their dead mother. "You know... we can't afford it..."

"I'd rather deal with the bill than you getting worse." The mercenary confessed. "You're the heart of this family Kasumi. I can't imagine what would happen to us if anything serious happened to you."

Kasumi smiled and laid her head on her pillow. "I think... pills are... kicking... in..." Her voice was fainter and her breathing was slower, but her eyes fluttered closed and for the first time she actually looked peaceful to her sister.

"Get well soon Kasumi." Nabiki whispered, briefly staying there a bit longer. She couldn't hear Kasumi breathing, but at least she wasn't coughing.

Satisfied, the mercenary got up as quietly as she could and walked out. When she reached the doorknob, she heard a loud, strained gasp from her sister. Sounding like she was surfacing from a long time underwater while having a dry throat.

"You okay Kasum...?" She started, but silenced herself and gasped in shock when she saw her sister. Kasumi was still on her bed under her covers, but she was reaching out with one hand, looking right at Nabiki with faded eyes and blood dripping out of her open mouth.