I don't own Ranma ½

-.Chapter thirteen.-

The couple finally landed. Ranma put Akane down and placed his hands on his waist while staring at her. He seemed to be planning something clever... maybe a bit too clever for his somewhat..."modest" intelligence.

The guy then snapped out of it and asked her to wait for him.

Akane sat down on the sidewalk and hugged herself. She felt a strange shiver running down her spine... but her mind was too busy already, and she didn't give that feeling any importance.

She caressed her upper arms and sighed, trying to remain calm in sights of the considerably big mess she seemed to be involved in.

On the other hand, our buddy Ranma entered the Nekohanten with an ugly look on his face and a contrasting grin. He approached Shampoo, who was already putting the ladle down to greet her Airen.

"Ni-hao Airen, lovely wife made you food. Shampoo know you might be come here!"

"Look, Shampoo, I'm not here on any funny business alright? Spit it out, what did ya do to Akane? And I want no stupid answers 'kay?

The amazon's look changed profusely, now she seemed severe and enjoying herself. She nodded.

"Yes, Shampoo know this too... Airen come here to ask of violent girl, but Shampoo give no answer. Leave violent girl alone, she no menace no more"
Ranma only looked at her. He was starting to realize how cruel, wicked and threatening Shampoo could be. He always thought she had a softer side... but he was starting to doubt now.

He stuck his hands inside his pant's pockets and counted to ten. Then he proceeded:

"I'll be straightforward and fully honest with ya Shampoo... Ya know I'd never hurt a girl. I'd never hit a girl. That's a thought that'd never even cross my mind. But I'm tellin' ya, and listen carefully: I WILL hurt you if you don't undo whatever it is that you did to Akane. Am I clear now? 'cause I'm kinda loosin' my temper here."

The girl with the violet hair didn't answer. She was determined to go through with her plans. It didn't matter to her weather Ranma agreed or not. The only thing that mattered to her was her goal. And she was getting closer to accomplishing it.

"Shampoo must marry Airen. Airen defeated Shampoo and she very willing to marry him. Shampoo not take no for answer. Shampoo will no tolerate obstacles."

Ranma thought that his threat would break Shampoo down... but now he found out that his Plan-A was of no use. If that could be called a plan!

He had to figure something out... he wouldn't hurt Shampoo anyway. He just couldn't.

He grabbed his chin, and he was getting nervous. Small sweat drops began to appear on his forehead.

He looked up to Shampoo's eyes:

"Shampoo, look... it's been hard for me, 'cause I'm... ya know... stubborn and all...
It's hard for me to think that a girl can actually love me for real. Most of them really are after the Anything-Goes School, and me being the heir... and the prestige of bein' my wife and all that..."

He coughed.

"But now I can clearly see that I have no choice but to believe that you really want to become my wife, and that you really want to be the mother of my –cough- kids and ya know... yadda yadda... –clears his throat- and I think that all that you've done during the past few years is proof enough. And I mean proof ENOUGH."

Shampoo kept eagerly nodding while smiling widely, visibly enthusiasted.

"So... I'm gonna have ta say that... I'm ready to formalize my commitment with you and that I will take you as my –cough- wife and all that comes with that and well... you know!"

Shampoo kept nodding with her hands clenched.

"So! He he he! –that was a laugh- What d'ya say? Oh but... there's one more thing. One of the rules among the men in my family, is to marry honest women. Respectful women. So... now that there's no need for you to compete with anybody else... you can give Akane back her memory, because willingly erasing a person's mind is against the honesty code and is not respectful at all. Right? Huh?" he smiled a big 'teeth-filled' smile.

The amazon stared at him with a death-serious look, and suddenly laughed really loud.

"Airen must be crazy to think that Shampoo believe that! Chinese women not stupid like Japanese ones. Shampoo know you trick! And Shampoo laugh at it! You become Shampoo husband because of amazon code. Amazon code can no be broken. So you have to be husband anyway. Violent girl mind, not an issue. She better off like this."

Now Ranma was fuming. He smashed his hand against the counter so hard that the wood cracked deeply. Shampoo instinctively jumped backwards, scared.

He didn't say a word and stormed out of the restaurant.

Akane remained sitting and staring at a spot on the floor, with her mind completely blank. She saw someone sitting next to her with the corner of her eye.
"I just don't understand what the hell I've done to deserve this"

Akane looked down not knowing what to say. Everything was quite disturbing at that moment, and what Ranma just said didn't quite improve it.

She felt incredibly sorry for the disoriented Saotome, and she felt the urge to hug and console him, but she didn't.

Instead, she made an effort and tried to look up deep inside her... trying to figure out where the love for that boy had hidden, leaving no trace... but no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't concentrate.

Ranma noticed that she was focused on something and leaned to see her face. Inmediately, she moved backwards and look him in the eye.

"WHAT? What are you doing, what do you want, you're distracting me!"

The boy felt even more disoriented now... could it be that she was trying to remember? Maybe she believed his story now... or at least she was starting to...