"Speech"

'Thought'

#Panda Sign#

X x x x x x

Drying off her hair as best she could with a simple white cotton towel, Ranma rolled her eyes at Ryoga, who was soaking some newspaper she had laid out on the floor. Her former classmate was in the form of a white and brown dog, who was doing a good job of acting the part. Ryoga had a short time earlier attacked her while she slept, attempting to get revenge for something or other, that something looking like Jusenkyo.

"Listen Ryoga, I feel bad about what happened to you, but you gotta cut out these late night attacks. I'm a guest here, I have to be careful!" She pleaded with the dog formed Ryoga, who was staring at her without understanding. Hearing footsteps in the hall, she gave off a disgusted snort, and twisted her head around to see Akane walk into the room.

"Ranma, what's that dog doing here?" The short haired girl asked.

"What about you?" She asked, ignoring Akane's question, interested in finding out why the youngest Tendo was up. "What's with the pig?" Her eyes narrowed at the small round pig in Akane's arms with a bandanna around its neck. The animal was giving her a look of pure hatred, and even started to squirm and squeal attempting to get at her. That bandanna it wore was also very familiar, but she ignored it, Akane must have found it somewhere and put it on the pig since Ryoga was right next to her.

"What are you mad about?" Akane asked, clutching the pig to her bust. "Hush now and I'll put some medicine on that bump."

Hopping to her feet, Ranma followed Akane to a cupboard, and watched the pig nuzzle itself closer to Akane's breasts, a visible blush appearing under its eyes. "What? It's blushing!"

"Don't be stupid Ranma." Akane pulled a medicine kit from the cupboard and Ranma plucked the pig from Akane's arms with a loud squeal.

"Hmm." Quickly she held up the animal to check its gender. "I knew it! It's a real dirty pig, see." Twisting the pig towards Akane she showed off its privates parts. "See, it's a male."

"So it is." Akane nodded as Ranma handed the squirming pig back to the Tendo. "So what is up with the dog?"

Ranma debated with the idea of simply telling Akane that Ryoga was currently a dog, but decided quickly against it, realizing that she would be just as angry if her own secret was simply told to every passerby. 'Don't worry Ryoga, I'll keep your secret.'

"Is that the Yamada's dog Bess?" Akane interrupted her thoughts, the dog immediately rushing over to be petted by Akane. "Sure it is! Hello Bess!" The youngest Tendo proceeded to pet the animal.

'No way.' Ranma fumed, rushing to the kitchen to retrieve the kettle she had set to warm in order to change Ryoga back. Returning, she twisted Akane away from the dog, and poured some of the hot water of its head.

"Ranma, what are you doing?" Akane asked while looking away.

"Nothing." She answered, being sprayed by a fine mist as the dog shook itself off, completely unchanged. "Wow, don't I feel like a complete idiot."

"Where are you going? To bring Bess back?"

"A hot bath." She answered Akane's question. 'How didn't I realize that was just a normal dog?' Running around in the middle of a rain storm wearing nothing but a thin tank top and boxers wasn't the best idea. It had been difficult enough to fall asleep in the first place, there was little chance she would be able to do so now. Just one more thing she'd blame Ryoga for.

"Well here." Akane shoved the piglet into her face. "Warm the piglet up too, he's all cold."

"You want me to take a bath with food?" She looked doubtfully at the strangely confused pig, who was actually staring down at the tops of her breasts.

"This kind of pig is kept as a pet, they aren't food." Akane tried to sound official.

"Since when are you an expert on pigs?" She asked, taking the animal by the back of his neck.

"Since when do you know everything about me?" Akane retorted.

"Fine Hogmaster, I'll bathe your little slice of bacon."

Giving the water in the furo a check to see if it was still hot, Ranma started to strip off her clothing, while holding the pig in place on the floor with a foot. "So if the dog's just a dog, where's the moron Ryoga. Shut up you little porker." She snapped at the pig that wouldn't stop making squealing noises.

"Quit squirming, it's not going to help." She kicked the animal into the actual bath area and shut the door before the pig could run out. "In you go!" She shouted and grabbed the animal to hold under the water. "Heh, stupid pork-- er." She trailed off when her hand was forced back out of the water. Blinking several times, she found herself staring at an equally naked Ryoga with a furious look on his face.

"So." She broke the awkward silence. "You're a." She stopped trying to choose her words to be diplomatic. "You're a pig."

"Ranma." Ryoga snarled, lunging forward with a punch. "You're dead!"

X x x x x x

Genma Saotome sat up suddenly on his futon, The brief altercation between his son and some strange boy earlier had woke up him, and he was having a difficult time getting back to sleep. Lumbering to his feet, he would go take a nice hot bath, and just relax. After he could head even out and get some fresh air.

X x x x x x

Ranma stopped Ryoga's punch easily by holding up, and letting the lost boy break a nearby bucket. After that, he had been calm enough to weave a tale of woe and hardships from his cursing at Jusenkyo because of some strange girl and a panda. Ranma listened, only a few times interrupting Ryoga to point out that such a thing wasn't really possible.

"The hideous body that curses me-- the devouring that nearly befell me-- they're all your fault Ranma!" Ryoga shouted, pointing a finger directly into her nose.

"Hey! Hold it! You said it was some girl that knocked you into the spring."

"Yes, so?" Ryoga leaned forward.

"Then why would you be mad at me?" She also leaned forward, jerking a thumb at herself. "You should be mad at that panda and that gi--." Ranma stopped her verbal tirade and took a quick glance down. Another thing occurred to her, the day after first being turned into a girl, she had been chasing Genma around, furious over him stealing her food, and at the time her father had been a panda. There was one point where she thought she hit something, but had waved it off.

'Oh shit it was me.' Still on her knees, she started to shuffle towards the water faucets. "We really should talk about this in the morning Ryoga, I mean, it's late, we're all worked up. Wouldn't it be better to talk when we've calmed down?" She suggested when the outside door opened, with Genma standing behind it.

Her panda father glanced slowly between them before holding up a sign. #P-Pardon me!# The door was then slid shut quickly.

'I end up naked with another guy one time and he'll never let me live it down.' She glowered.

"A panda?" Ryoga asked hesitantly, slowly turning to look directly at her. "That girl--" The lost boy's eyes narrowed when his mind finally put the pieces together. "It was you!"

Spinning around, she reached out and turned on the cold water full blast. Unfortunately it was set to go to the showerhead up on the wall, and didn't turn on before Ryoga had put a fist through the wall and broke the hose, stopping the water from showering down on them, instead it started to spill the water into the wall. Rolling to the side, she slid on the tile up into a crouched position. "Knock it off Ryoga, now is not the time."

"I'll have your head!" Ryoga shouted, slipping on some of the cool water that had spilled out on to the floor.

For the second time tonight, Ranma felt her control start to slip, her heart rate increased to painful levels, and this time she didn't resist. Her skin turned black as long dark fur grew to cover her form. Loud cracks echoed off the walls as her bones shifted and altered. Feet lengthened, forcing her to alter her stance as thick claws scraped against the tile. The bones in her hands grew, with thick pads developing underneath the palm, and the last part of each finger. Like on her feet, long sharp claws grew from her nails, along with changes to the bone structure, made making a fist an impossible.

Her upper body thickened, rib cage expanding forward and growing in size, her breasts shrinking back into her chest, neck lengthening as her face pushed forward and out into a short muzzle. Closer her eyes, Ranma opened them a second later, revealing to Ryoga that the iris had expanded leaving no whites.

Ryoga stared in stunned silence as her body completely shifted into its lycan form. Her mind had simplified, focusing more on urges and actions than thought and reason. Taking a single step forward, she now towered over Ryoga by more than a head, and she leaned forward to snort directly in the lost boys face. Being unable to talk, she couldn't communicate that if Ryoga continued this fight, then she would be making a meal of him. Ryoga squeaked once before dropping lifelessly to the floor unconscious.

Snorting in disgust, she looked up from Ryoga's form to see herself reflected in a mirror on the wall. Not understanding immediately that it was just a reflection, she took a moment to gauge the other Lycan as a threat before backing down when she realized that it was merely her own form. Seeing the water pouring from the hole in the wall, she lapped at the cool liquid, having become dehydrated from the change. Finished quenching her thirst, she clumsily turned the handle to shut the water off, even though it had long since changed Ryoga back into a piglet.

Struggling in vain to change back into human form, she gave up quickly, other desires and urges trumping it. Moving from the bath area into the hallway, she was able to use the hall door to get outside without being noticed. Once outside, she took in deep breaths from night air. The rain had stopped since she had found the neighbors dog outside, and she took off to enjoy herself before she would have to change back in the morning.

X x x x x x

"Why do you still have that thing here?" Ranma narrowed her eyes at Ryoga in pig form, who was being fed food by Akane. It was Sunday morning, and without class she had hoped to sleep in, but Genma had woken her up for a brief spar. He even used the excuse that she shouldn't have lost control last night. Regrettably she had been thrown into the koi pond during their spar, so she would have to take the bath Ryoga had denied her last night.

Ranma glowered at Genma, who used his curse as a way to avoid changing into his Lycan form. She had no such luxury to avoid the instinctive action, and he seemed to now take great pleasure in using it to insult her control.

"I'm going to keep him as a pet." Akane said happily, having found the unconscious Ryoga turned back into pig form when she went to investigate last night. "And his name is P-chan. P as in the English word for pig, and chan as in cute." Ryoga seemed particularly happy about the last part, making a happy snort.

"Thanks for explaining it to us Akane, I'm sure we wouldn't have gotten it otherwise." Nabiki teased and Akane gave her sister a dirty look.

"So what happened with the bathroom Ranma?" Akane changed her attention from Nabiki to her.

"Your slab of bacon decided to go berserk and I had to kick him through the wall a couple times." She answered.

"You shouldn't pick on him Ranma, he's just an animal, he doesn't know any better."

"Yea, just an animal." She grumbled, knowing that Ryoga very much knew better, her bored look turned to an angry glare when Ryoga shuffled himself to better fit between Akane's breasts. Ryoga didn't really look at her with recognition of her transformation last night, probably having blocked out the memory, or was just too stupid to figure it out. If she really felt like keeping it a secret she could even say that it was part of the cursed form.

Standing, she twisted her neck side to side until she felt a satisfying crack. "Well I'm going to go to the bathhouse." Ryoga's punch through the wall had damaged the hot water pipe as well, she'd change back with the hot water heater in the kitchen but it'd be nice to have a good long soak.

#I'll come with boy# Genma signed.

"Well hurry up then."

X x x x x x

Returned to his birth form, Ranma closed his eyes, content to just enjoy the hot bath. Genma was still painstakingly washing the last bits of hair on his head on a nearby stool. Shaking his head, he chose not to point out that he should just shave it off and get it over with, rather than being perpetually balding. The bandanna that he always wore really didn't help either. The bath area only had two other occupants, two old men who were talking to each other on the far side.

"You know you're not supposed to change like that." Genma admonished him as he slipped into the water. "We had enough trouble in China."

"What? Ryoga pissed me off." He answered his father's challenge. "Tries to start a fight three times in one day, twice during a full moon? He's lucky I didn't eat him.

"If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times, if you're going to live with humans, they can't know what we are."

"Yea I heard that from you enough, and how the big bad vampires will hunt us down. Seriously, I've never even seen a vampire outside some cheesy horror flick." Rolling his eyes he added a half beat later. "Or another Lycan for that matter."

"I'm warning you boy, don't let humans know."

"Whatever old man." He waved off his father's paranoia. Having been born a Lycan unlike his father who was bitten, Ranma didn't really understand why humans would have such a problem. Sure there was that crazy chick in China who had tried to kill him with silver. But people like the Tendo's reacted well to the Jusenkyo curse. Why not the fact that he could change into a humanoid wolf?

"Don't think I won't say I told you so if you get the attention of vampire Death Dealers."

"Don't think I believe they exist."

X x x x x x

Kettle filled with hot water in hand, Ranma hung upside down outside of Akane's room, using his toes to grip the overhang. Opening up the youngest Tendo's window, he quickly flipped in, and closed it behind him to stop any cool air from alerting Akane to his presence. He had waited till she had fallen asleep, a task that had taken over an hour, but he finally felt sure enough that she wasn't going to wake up when he entered her room.

He had been immeasurably patient with Ryoga, but having to watch that pig cuddle up against Akane all day, someone who he considered part of his pack to an extent, had worn his patience to nothing. If Ryoga was going to try and make a habit of this, then he was sorely mistaken.

Akane's clock made soft ticking noises, and Ryoga squeezed his pig body away from Akane to start growling at him. Brandishing the kettle at Ryoga, he took pleasure in seeing the pig realize what the object was. "If you don't want to be exposed you should shut up." Slowly reaching out, he grabbed the bandanna around Ryoga's neck and started to lift him away, but Akane reached out and snatched him before he could. Frowning, he grabbed Ryoga around the neck and forcibly tugged him away from the girl.

"If you bite me I'll splash you right now." He warned Ryoga, who was twisting his head in an attempt to latch on to his hand. Exiting through the window, he swung up on to the roof, and dropped the pig unceremoniously on to the tile next to the lost boy's clothing and backpack. "That's a good pig." He teased and poured the kettle on to Ryoga.

"Hmmph, I just didn't want to wake Akane." Ryoga tried to sound nonchalant as he pulled on his clothing.

"That's great, now take a hike, get lost, I don't really care."

"I don't think so." Ryoga replied back, challenging him. "I know your secret now."

"What- what secret is that?" He asked, realizing that Ryoga must remember the previous night.

"Whatever you are, I'm sure you don't want anyone to find out. I mean, I wouldn't want someone knowing I was a big monster either." Ryoga laughed at that last part, making Ranma's lip curl up in a silent snarl. "So no, I'm not going anywhere, I said I would destroy your happiness, one word out of you and I tell everyone what you really are."

"Why should they believe you at all about me?" Ranma tried to change the subject. "And you don't know Akane very well. She'll turn you into pulled pork if she ever found out about your curse."

"I'll find out what you are, then I'll tell everyone about it, I will have my revenge." Ryoga ignored his question.

"Like your pig brain could even comprehend what I am." He got up into Ryoga's face.

"Ranma." The lost boy growled.

"That's my name, now leave before I get angry-- and this time I won't stop when you pee your pants."

"I didn't pee my pants!" Ryoga protested.

"Sure you didn't." He laughed and spun to walk to the edge of the roof. Looking back at Ryoga he tapped his nose. "I got a good nose, so don't even let me smell you around here." Dropping from the roof to the grass below, Ryoga followed after him, intent on starting a fight, or continuing a verbal argument. Only problem being that he headed off across the yard, having been unable to follow him after losing his direct line of sight.

"What a moron." Ranma shook his head.

X x x x x x

"I'm really worried about P-chan." Akane continued to repeat the same line she had spoken all morning while on the way to school with Ranma. She had looked everywhere for her new pet without success.

"He's fine." Ranma replied without concern for the sweet little pig, instead he looked more concerned about the rain clouds that were on their way out.

"But how do you know?!" She pleaded, getting up into the boy's face.

"Uh-- I-- well I kicked him into a wall and he was fine right? Who's going to do worse than that?"

"You're such a jerk." She huffed, quickly walking away from Ranma.

"Aw come on Akane, it was just a pig, what do you want a pig for anyways?"

"Just shut up Ranma." She punched her unwanted fiancé in the arm when he caught up to her. If only she could prove that he had done something, she would show him then!

"Why do you want a pig for a pet anyways? A dog would be better." Ranma continued to badger her. "That's it, you should get a dog, something that's actually smart."

"Akane I would date with you!" Kuno announced, attempting to glomp on to her. Without paying much attention, she dropped him with a well placed punch to the head.

"I don't want another pet." She turned to Ranma, grinding Kuno underneath a foot. "There was nothing wrong with P-chan, and the more I hear you try and say I should get something else, or how this would be better, the more I think you had something to do with him disappearing."

"Well I didn't, I bet he wandered off and got lost all by himself. You saw how he couldn't even walk a straight line."

A deep scowl spread over her face as she debated Ranma's point. P-chan had seemed unable to follow her or get around on his own. The few times she had let him walk around, he had looked completely lost, stopping every few steps to check his position. "You'll help me look for him after school?"

"Uh-- fine, alright." Ranma finally caved in to her request.

X x x x x x

Ranma did actually try and find Ryoga after school. Not that he wanted that pig anywhere near Akane, but because it was bugging him personally. It was just impossible to track him, like a ghost he just up and vanished. Even his scent got screwy every so often. In the end he had simply stopped when he realized that he was in another ward.

On the way back he was splashed by a car when it ran through a puddle. Watching the automobile putter down the road without even noticing the effect it had, she wondered how they hadn't noticed running through such a huge pot hole. Continuing on her way, the sound of a foot being planted was all the warning she had before a sword nearly took her head off.

A second attack attempted to split her vertically. Finally she got a good look at a familiar form wearing a red sleeveless mini cheongsam, and brandishing a pair of silver edged dao swords. "Sha- Sha- Shampoo!" She stammered, taking a step back, the small amount of people in the street rapidly noticed that a fight was about to break out. "What-- what are you doing in Japan?" She asked.

"I kill!" The Chinese girl shouted, slashing at him.

"Ack!" Ranma leapt over Shampoo, avoiding her slash, before bounding off a wall, and up on to the rooftops to start fleeing.

"You not get away!" Shampoo called out from behind her, keeping pace. Glancing back, Ranma frowned, wondering how Shampoo was keeping up with her.

Not slowing when she arrived back at the Tendo's, she charged into the living room, finding Soun and Genma playing shogi on the veranda. Nabiki was in the room watching television with Kasumi knitting at the table, a kettle of hot water was being used for tea, and she quickly upended it over her head.

"Something the matter son?" Soun asked.

"I wasn't here." Trying to run back out of the room, a silver sword split the shogi board in two, and embedded itself into the floor. Both older men jumped in shock away from the board, with Shampoo landing lightly next to the sword to pull it free. The girl looked back and forth before settling her eyes on him. Gulping, he knew that Shampoo had never seen his male form before, so he should be safe from those silver swords she was carrying. Shampoo approached him, shoving one of her swords in a scabbard tied to her back.

Her lavender eyes narrowed as she studied him, bringing a hand up to pat at his chest. "You man?" She asked.

"Uh yea, I'm a guy." He laughed nervously and Shampoo came in close to sniff at him.

"You know where she is." She growled.

"Huh?"

#What did you do boy?# Genma signed to him.

"I don't know!" He answered, edging away from Shampoo who was raising the free sword up to point at him. "If you're talking about that girl who ran through here."

"I am!" Shampoo raised the sword up to nearly touch his chest.

"She left just before you threw your sword." He explained, pointing to the right. "She took off that way." Shampoo scowled before taking off out the door and in the direction he had pointed. Sighing in relief, he slid to the ground next to the table.

"Well now." Nabiki drawled. "This is interesting."

"Who was your little friend?" Kasumi asked sweetly.

"It's a long story." He answered, sweating over how he was going to explain this without telling them that he was a Lycan.

"Been experimenting in your girl form have we? Bad breakup?" Nabiki asked suggestively. Blinking several times, it took him a moment to catch what the middle sister was suggesting, before his face reddened.

"No not like that!" He shouted, looking away embarrassed.

"Nabiki you shouldn't speak like that." Kasumi admonished her sister.

"I'm back!" Akane's happy voice interrupted. "And look, I found P-chan!" She held out the pig as she appeared in the doorway, smiling brightly. "Hmm? What's going on?" She asked, finally noticing the floor.

"Ranma's lesbian girlfriend showed up." Nabiki supplied an answer.

"Ahh! Nabiki!" He yelled, shocked at the girl's flippant attitude. "She's lying Akane!" He tried to explain to his unwanted fiancée. "It's this crazy girl who's out to kill me."

"Well I can see why she would want to do that." Akane said casually.

"No like really out to kill me, cut me up into little pieces, and who knows what else." He protested her dismissal of Shampoo's threat.

"Yea right Ranma, even if she was, what did you do to get her so angry at you?" Akane laughed.

"I have no clue! she's always been after me, ever since I met her in China, she's always been out to cut off my head!" He explained, literally the first time he had met Shampoo she had been screaming something in Chinese, and trying to stab him.

"So you are her!" Shampoo yelled, slashing her way through the paper wall, and advancing on him.

"Oh no!" He scrambled away on all fours to hide behind Genma.

#Leave me out of it!# Genma hit him with a sign. Before he could pick himself up off the grass he had been knocked on to, a silver sword was poised over his throat, freezing him in place.

"Tell Shampoo cure." She demanded.

"Cure for what?" He asked carefully, his skin hissing for a second when he barely touched the sword.

"You turn Shampoo into beast like you. Want cure."

"Bwa?" He blinked, confusion replacing terror, to look up from the blade to Shampoo's face, and finding that she was fighting to keep herself from crying.

"Shampoo turn into monster now, you tell me how cure." She restated.

#Boy did you bite her?# Genma asked.

"I've never bitten anyone!" He protested, always having remembered Genma's warnings that if he bit anyone they would likely die. Sure the thought of making more Lycans to hang out with was tempting, but he wasn't going to go running around biting people. Genma was bitten, and he wasn't fond of being a Lycan, so he wasn't going to force it on anyone.

"Well I'm lost." Nabiki leaned against the door frame and crossed her arms.

"Er, could you put that sword away, and uh-- tell me how I supposedly bit you?" He asked, slowly reaching up to grab the sword by the non silver portion, and pull it from his neck.

"If Shampoo tell, you tell Shampoo cure?"

"Yes?"

X x x x x x

Shampoo approached the beast in human form carefully. It was night time, but there was no moon tonight, so she felt safe. Tracking the girl was difficult, she could move so fast, and seemed to notice whenever she was close. Pausing, she noticed a panda sleeping nearby. 'Where did she get a panda?'

The animal was also sleeping, so she paid it no mind as she slowly slid a sword out of the scabbard attached to her hip. The ceremonial item had been in her great grandmother's possession since before she was born. Never would she have touched it without permission, but she had taken it for the simple fact that it was silver plated underneath other intricate precious metal work. Her great grandmother would be very unhappy that she had taken it without permission. But she hadn't had time to ask, and she'd deal with the consequences when she returned home.

Of course once she returned home with proof of her ability to best a supernatural creature, all should be forgotten. Shaking her head, she couldn't let thoughts of the notoriety she would receive cloud her mind. Right now she had a task to complete. One last thought of how the girl had also defeated her several times entered her mind, and she realized that she needed to do something before cutting off the beasts head.

Laying her sword down at her side, she reached both hands forwards in an attempt to grab the sides of the girl's head. Shampoo would give her the kiss of death before doing the deed. Before her fingers could touch skin, the beast girl rolled away from her. Undeterred, she made another attempt, and met with similar results.

Growing frustrated, she straddled the girl, and forcibly grabbed her head. 'I have you now.' Leaning in she twisted the beast girl's head to the right, inadvertently putting the flesh of her thumb up against the girl's mouth, and gave her a light kiss on the cheek.

X x x x x x

Ranma had to dodge a punch by Akane when Shampoo said that she had kissed him in his sleep. "What was that for?!" He demanded.

"How many other girls have you been kissed by?" Akane asked angrily.

"I was asleep!" He protested.

"A likely story!" Akane replied.

"I'm not the one telling it!"

"Shampoo continue story now?" The girl after his life asked.

X x x x x x

As she planted the kiss, Shampoo closed her eyes for a moment, opening them to find that the girl she had just gave the kiss of death to, was groggily opening her own. Recognition came from the blue eyes of her target, and Shampoo broke away, diving for her sword. As she moved, her hand pushed into the girl's mouth briefly, and was cut by sharpened canine teeth. Shampoo didn't notice the cut that ran along the side of her thumb, as she grabbed her sword, attempting to impale the girl before she could run away.

X x x x x x

"Hold it!" Nabiki spoke up. "Monster, beast, bite? Ranma, are you some kind of werewolf?"

"Er- yeah I am." He admitted with a shrug, earning similar looks to when the curse came out.

"And you didn't think that was something we should have known? That we have someone who's going to turn into a wolf and maybe eat us on the full moon?" Nabiki continued.

"I don't do that." He corrected.

"Saotome did you know about this?" Soun demanded of his still panda father.

#I had no idea!# Genma signed while dramatically grabbing at the sides of his panda face.

"You're the one I got it from!" Ranma shouted, hitting his father over the head. "Stupid old man. He was bitten before I was born."

"You tell Shampoo cure now!" Shampoo appeared in front of his face, looking eagerly at him.

"There's a problem with that." He scratched the back of his head. "There is no cure." Shampoo's face immediately fell.

"You say you tell Shampoo cure." Her eyes started to water.

"I can't tell you if there is none. Really it's not a bad thing." He tried to sound reassuring. "There's lots of good things about being a Lycan."

"Shampoo doesn't want to be a-- a-- Lycan!" She shouted pulling out both of her swords. "I kill!"

"Ahh! Not again!"

X x x x x x

"Saotome, would you mind explaining things?"

#I'm just a cute and cuddly panda!# Genma signed at his old friends question, not wanting to explain all the details. Akane was having none of this, deciding to splash him with hot water. "Ahem, as I was saying." He tried to look serious as he adjusted his clothing.

"It all began when we were training under the dreaded and terrible master." He started. "While rigorously training myself due to the Master's evil nature, I was forced to flee an angry mob into the woods. I was able to escape, only to be confronted by what I thought at the time was an oni. Since it's a martial artists duty to defeat such creatures, I, being the honorably and manly martial artists that I am, attacked."

"In the ensuing fight, I was bitten, and ended up being defeated. But instead of taking advantage of my weakened state, the creature was finally given enough time to breath, and he changed into a human before my eyes. Seeing my injuries, he stayed with me until I had recovered enough to head back to civilization. On the way he explained what he was, and what I was now. A bite from a Lycan is fatal for most people, the fact that I hadn't died within the hour was proof that I would become one. Since then I've kept it a secret and always had Ranma do the same."

"So what does this all mean?" Akane asked.

"It'd be best if you kept it quiet." He said with a shrug before taking a page from one of his son's complaints about keeping it a secret. "Think of it like another Jusenkyo curse, just a change of body."

"If it's no big deal, why 'keep it a secret'?" Nabiki asked.

"Er, there are people who would-- how do I say-- not be happy that we even exist."

"Monster hunters?" Soun wondered.

"Something like that." He admitted. "But they're vampires."

"Oh come on now." Akane rolled her eyes. "First werewolves and now vampires?"

"Now Akane, there are many crazy things that appear from time to time." Soun backed him up.

"It would just be best if you kept this to yourselves. Now Tendo, how about we get this board fixed?"

"I'll get the glue!" Soun replied excitedly, taking advantage of having something to do.

X x x x x x

"That jerk." Akane pulled off her blouse, grumbling to herself and P-chan as she got into her pajamas. "All this time, and I'm supposed to be his fiancée, and he can't even tell me something like that?" Reaching behind her back, she unhooked her bra. "He didn't even tell me about the curse until he saw me naked."

Slipping her flannel pajama top on, she grabbed P-chan to play with his ear. "Seriously, they already have magical curses, what's a little more?" Sighing, she sat down on her bed. "Jerk." A light tapping on her window made her get up to open the curtains. Ranma was hanging from the rafter.

"What do you want?" She asked angrily, sliding the window open. P-chan grunted with a similar anger.

"Lemme explain." He glanced back over his shoulder. "Can I come in before Shampoo finds me again?"

"Make it quick." She stepped out of the way, letting him flip into the room, before she slid the window shut, and put the blinds back in place. "Tell me why you didn't trust me enough to tell me about the-- whatever."

"I would have, but Pop always told me about the vampires and how they'd hunt me down if anyone found out." Ranma sat down on the floor. "I don't like hiding it."

"And now vampires exist too?" She asked, even though she had already heard about it earlier.

"I've never met any. I've never even met another Lycan besides Pop. Let alone bite someone accidentally like Shampoo."

"Way to screw over someone's life-- I think." She rolled her eyes.

"This is why I didn't tell you." Ranma shook his head before focusing on P-chan. "What's that pig doing here?"

"I found him when you were out having fun with your Chinese girlfriend." She clutched the animal tighter to her chest. "Don't think I'll let you eat him."

"The thought has crossed my mind."

"Out!" She commanded, pointing towards the door.

"Do you want me to explain or not?"

"Get on with it then."

"I'm not some movie monster, I don't lose control of myself, I just become sort of a humanoid wolf."

"So what? I'm just supposed to act like it was normal whenever the full moon appears and you turn all furry?" She asked, finding herself imagining Ranma with fur, a tail, pointy ears, and herself dressed up as little red riding hood.

"No, I choose when I want to change. Well when I was little I'd just always change at the full moon. But I change at will now."

"And Uncle Saotome?"

"He's not as good as me, he can only change during the full moon. Ever since he got his curse he hides as a panda."

"So why didn't you tell me if it wasn't a problem?"

"Cause there are people like Ryoga who would attack me for no reason, or Shampoo. She was hunting me after she saw me change back one night."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence. I feel great knowing that you view me the same as some crazy girl."

"UGH! Why do you have to be so uncute?! What more do I have to explain for you to get it?"

"Oh I think you explained enough, you're a werewolf, you don't trust me, and you're hiding from vampires. Did I miss anything?"

"What's your problem?" Ranma asked angrily. "You act like I should have told you the moment we met. I told you, me and Pop are the only Lycans I've ever met, and I don't go around announcing it."

Setting P-chan down on her bed, she calmly opening up her window, purposely ignoring Ranma's attempt to make further excuses. "Like I care!" She shouted, kicking Ranma out the window.

X x x x x x

"Sheesh, she acts like she gets hunted like an animal." Ranma crossed his arms while laying on his back out in the yard. "Or even like I bit her." Thinking about Shampoo, while it was her fault, he still felt bad about infecting her. Changing someone's species against their will was bad. Rising to his feet, he heard a soft clack as Shampoo bounced off the tile on the top of the wall around the property.

"Oh come on Shampoo." He watched he approach with a single blade held in her hand. "Give it a rest already!"

"Die!" She screamed, stabbing at him with the blade.

"Enough!" Kicking the girl's hands, she released the blade to go spinning off into the air, Shampoo paused in her attack to watch the blade land point first in the grass. "I'm sorry that you got turned into a Lycan, but you gotta quit trying to kill me!" He shouted at the stunned girl.

"Never!" Shampoo screamed after regaining her wits, diving at him with her hands outstretched. Avoiding her lunge, Ranma's eyes widened when Shampoo fell to her knees, her fingers now tipped by large claws digging into the ground as her ribcage started to expand, quickly causing the material of her dress to split along the seams down the side.

"Hey wait a second." He warned. "Don't change now."

Shampoo seemed to realize that she was shifting to her Lycan form, and dove for her sword. With a bestial growl she plunged the blade into her thigh. Immediately she cried out in agony as the silver cut through and burned her flesh. Falling on to her back she thrashed her other three limbs wildly before arching her back, and rolling to the side.

"Ahh! What are you doing?!" Ranma was instantly at the girl's side to pull the sword free from her leg. The silver edge smoked and hissed, and he threw the blade away into the koi pond. Quickly tearing off a piece of cloth from the bottom of his shirt, he wrapped up the freely bleeding wound, knowing that with the silver no longer touching, it would heal within a half hour.

"Why would you do that?" He asked, cinching up the makeshift bandage, and taking a look at the crazy girl's face.

"Shampoo want you die, Shampoo can then die self." She said while looking away from him with tears streaming down her face.

"I can kind of understand you wanting to kill me and all." He admitted. "But you're immortal now, why would you want to die when you don' have to?"

"I-- Immortal?" Shampoo asked, not understanding the word.

"You'll live forever. If you don't kill yourself with silver that is." He tried to give a disarming laugh, feeling really out of place about trying to explain being a Lycan to someone. His tone did little to help Shampoo's outlook, and the girl started to cry harder.

"Please stop crying!" He pleaded, panicking over the sobs Shampoo was emitting. "Really it's not a bad thing. How about we go hunting? That always makes me feel better and it's such a nice night. Don't you feel like you're caged here, like you want to just go out and run?" Night had already come to Nerima, and the full moon look large in the sky as it began its assent. It was nights like this that made living in an area populated by humans hard.

Shampoo didn't answer but she did stop crying to look away from him. "Shampoo hurt, she no can." She said hesitantly, and Ranma could see her eyes flickering up to the moon. As a new Lycan, the celestial body no doubt had a far greater pull on her than it did him. He figured it must be torture for her to keep the animal within bottled up, especially if she was willing to use silver to force herself to be a human.

"Well see, that's another benefit, you'll be all healed up in just a little bit." He explained, Lycan healing was nothing to scoff at. He had broken bones heal faster than paper cuts on mortals. "Come on." Picking Shampoo up, she winced in pain from her leg, expecting it to hurt more than it did. The wound however was already healing, and had stopped bleeding. "There's this nice forest a couple kilometers west of here.

"Put Shampoo down!" She commanded, giving a few weak struggles as he started leaping across roof tops. Quickly her complaints stopped, and she grabbed on to him. Ranma wondered why she was worried about being dropped, he knew that Shampoo could easily deal with a fall from the height he was at back when she was human. He had seen her do it. So he didn't know why she was suddenly being so compliant. Shrugging off the detail, he concentrated on hurrying to the place he knew before she changed.

X x x x x x

"Akane could you go get Uncle Saotome and Ranma?" Kasumi had asked her from the table. Breakfast was already being served, and neither of the house guests had come down from their room.

"Why me?" She asked, noting that both Nabiki and her father were there for the task, and had been long before her.

"Why?" Kasumi asked, taken back that she would disagree.

"She and Ranma are having another fight." Nabiki answered and Kasumi nodded her head in agreement.

"I am not." She grumbled, glaring at her elder sisters, and leaving the room. The task of waking up the Saotome's always seemed to fall to her, but she really wasn't interested in seeing Ranma this morning. Sliding open the door open with a little too much force, she flicked on the light. "Ranma, time to get up. It's a school day remember?"

The sight that greeted her was not a welcome one. Genma was in panda form snoring loudly on his futon. Ranma on the other hand was sprawled out on his back, the only thing keeping his modesty was the blanket pulled up to his waist. Also under the blanket was Shampoo who was equally nude, her bare skin pressed up against Ranma as they cuddled together. Both looked filthy, covered in dirt, their hair matted and out of any braids she had seen last night.

'That- that- that- that.' Akane couldn't even form an opinion of the scene in front of her. Proof positive of Ranma's perversion was staring her in the face. HER fiance, naked with another woman, looking like they had spent a wild night out in the woods. 'No wait, I have no proof that they are naked. Shampoo could just be like Ranma and have no feminine modesty.' She reasoned.

Her concession only lasted a few seconds. Ranma yawned and stretched in his sleep, which caused Shampoo to pull a leg up along Ranma's body, moving the blanket off of them. 'Yup definitely nude.' She blushed at their complete lack of modesty, as well as the implications of what the two being naked together meant before shutting the door quickly.

Too angry to think straight, she simply returned to the table in order to have breakfast. Ranma could spend all the time he wanted to with that girl for all she cared.

"Akane, weren't you going to wake up Ranma?" Her father asked. Akane slowly turned her head to glare hatefully down at the Tendo patriarch, a barely audible growl coming from her.

"So what if I was?" She asked, her voice filled with venom.

"Oh don't growl at me like that!" Her father wailed, turning away from her glare to weep into his hands.

"It's alright daddy." Kasumi tried to console the distraught man.

"Am I the only sane one in this house?" Akane lamented, taking a seat to start eating at a brisk pace.

X x x x x x

After pulling away from Shampoo's nude form, Ranma had donned a pair of boxers and a tank top, to sit off to the side. His father had woken and left the room, indicating that he was searching for hot water. When he had woken, he had pulled the blanket up to cover her body, ashamed of himself for falling asleep in such a position with a beautiful girl he hardly knew. Akane was his fiancee, he was engaged, no matter how stupid the reason. And Akane was cute when she let her guard down, she could be nice, and he had fun being around her.

But Akane was a mortal, a human, and that limited what he could do with her. He could never do what he did last night with her, she could never be fully part of his life. The risk was simply too great to try and turn her into a Lycan, and he would never force her or try. Shampoo though, was a Lycan now, that by itself attracted him to her, that both of her forms were so beautiful gave him even more reason to feel like he should pursue her. He could relax around her, let the animal that dwelled within him out, and enjoy that side of her as well.

As strong as Shampoo was, like Akane, there was a sweet and tender side to her as well. Ranma could remember the feel of the girl in his arms as he hurried to get to a more private location, the way she had after a short time had curled up against him, and how she had no longer looked at him with scorn and hatred. 'I never really noticed how cute she was. What with her trying to cut my head off and all.'

Sighing, he put his face in his hands. 'I'm so confused.'

Hearing the soft rustle of fabric, he looked up to see Shampoo sitting up, clutching the thick blanket over her chest. Yawning, she rubbed at her eyes with the back of a wrist.

"Morning." He greeted, hoping that she would remain in a good mood, and not becoming both homicidal and suicidal at the same time.

"Shampoo need bath." The girl looked down at herself, and tried to run a hand through her long matted hair. "Comb too."

"Well the bath is downstairs on the far side of the house." He informed the Chinese girl, who pulled the blanket away from her body enough to check her state of undress. "You don't have clothes hidden somewhere do you?" He asked.

X x x x x x

Kasumi hummed to herself as she cleaned off the table. Breakfast had been served, and her sisters had left for school, having graduated the previous year, she had inherited most of the daily routine around the home. Her father and left the home with Genma to run some errands, and to just get out of the home, leaving her alone with Ranma who was still asleep upstairs.

Her own thoughts on their future family members being non-human were subdued. It wasn't really her place to judge them for it. On top of that her father seemed serious about continuing the engagement, so she should trust his judgment until proven wrong.

The wood floor outside creaked, and she turned to find a figure walking by, turning her head to look in the room. At first Kasumi thought it was Ranma in female form, due to Ranma being the only other person in the home, and the large black Chinese shirt acting as a mini dress. No, this was Shampoo, the recently turned Lycan girl, who looked positively filthy. Her hair was a complete mess, a large smudge of dirt marred her cheek, and Kasumi could even see dirt underneath all of her nails.

"Oh, hello Shampoo." She greeted, trying to be polite. "Did you-- spend the night?"

"No." Shampoo answered slowly. "Where bath?"

"At the end of the hall." She informed. "Please be sure to wash up before you get into the water." She called as the girl padded away, fretting that Shampoo, being a foreigner, might simply get into the hot water in her filthy state. "Ooh." She wringed her hands nervously, not wanting to add cleaning out the furo to her list of things to do today. It was just cleaning up after breakfast and then she could get some knitting done.

X x x x x x

It took Shampoo a considerable amount of time to untangle and clean her long hair. When she had changed last night, the first time since being bitten, it had shortened, and then lengthened when she had changed back. As she gently brushed out her long locks, it occurred to her that she had been dreading what she had freely done last night.

After being accidentally bitten, she had attempted to kill herself with her silver blade when her body first started to change. The action had stopped the metamorphosis, in exchange for the agony of silver burning her flesh. Last night the change had been painful, less so than the silver, and Ranma had explained that it should now only be uncomfortable from now on. The pain of the transformation seemed a small price to pay for the euphoric feeling that form had awakened.

Pausing in her grooming, she picked a small piece of bone from between her teeth, and carelessly threw it to the side. No doubt that had come from the deer she and Ranma had devoured. An act that should have sickened her, but she had done so with the same exuberance as the other Lycan.

"Hey Shampoo." Ranma's voice carried through the door outside. "I took some clothes from Nabiki that should fit." It took her a few seconds to translate what the cause of her curse had said, and she didn't answer. "Well, whenever you come out they're on the dryer." Listening to his footsteps retreat from the outer room, she slowly set the comb down, and hugged herself.

'How can I ever return home now?' She sniffled, remembering her own pursuit of Ranma simply for what he was. Other warriors would do the same, perhaps even her own Great Grandmother, who may seek to expunge the shame of her failure permanently.

X x x x x x

"Why am I even bothering with school?" Ranma slipped into class during a break, receiving some brief whispers from two friends that Akane was on the rampage. His response was to wonder what was new, and sit down. When lunch finally rolled around he went to find out what she was so upset about, only to face a brick wall.

"I don't want to talk to you." Akane informed him simply while eating, without even looking at him.

"If it was about last night, I forgive you, I mean-- I guess if I found out that you were vampire, I'd act goofy too."

"You forgive me?" She asked angrily before calming herself. "Whatever Ranma, it's not like it matters."

"Well that's good, it's not exactly something I can change." Eating some food himself, he stopped at Akane's stare. "What?"

"You're a dog." She slapped him on his left cheek, the harsh crack instantly stopped the other conversations. Blinking several times, he watched her storm from the stunned room.

"Was it something I said?" He asked, glancing around at the other students for support. Finding none, he chased after Akane, tracking her to her shoe locker at the entrance. "What's your problem now?" He demanded.

"My problem? My problem?" She didn't look at him, continuing to put on her shoes. "Me, I'm perfectly fine." Akane gave him a brief look like he was the stupidest person ever. "And do you know why I'm fine? Cause we're through, as far as I'm concerned this thing that we had, this stupid engagement is over." Shoving roughly past him, Ranma didn't follow.

X x x x x x

Shampoo had borrowed some scissors from the nice domestic girl, and was trying to shape her hair into something presentable. The transformation hadn't restored her hair to its previous state perfectly, and she may have to choose a shorter, simpler hair style. Done with cutting, she twisted her head side to side, checking to make sure that it was even in the mirror.

Taking a pair of small ribbons she had also borrowed, she tied a lock of hair in front of each ear. The clothes Ranma had found for her were a pair of tight jean shorts to mid thigh, and a scoop neck black t shirt. The lacy panties were a decent fit, the bra had been too small in the band so she had discarded it.

Returning the brush and scissors to the nice girl, Shampoo came face to face with another of the women residing in the home. If she remembered right, the girl's name was Akane, and she had a bit of a temper. The death glare she received from the short haired girl was almost enough to make her apprehensive. Instead, all it did was make her more defiant even though she was in the girl's home.

By what right did this pampered city girl have to look at her with such disdain? Was she angry that Shampoo had spent a night in the forest with Ranma? It seemed that the two had something between them, though she hadn't been able to pick up what. Even if they were in a relationship, Akane was in no position to dictate terms to her. She was the superior, physically she could have broken the girl in two even before being bitten. Shampoo was also easily better looking, a fact that seemed obvious when the other girl's eyes lingered on certain parts of her anatomy jealously. Since the girl was willing to almost challenge her, she obviously wasn't very smart either.

"You something say?" She asked in broken Japanese, challenging the girl with her tone.

"If you want him, you got him." The girl said back with a sad edge to her voice, pushing past her roughly.

'Want him?' She thought, taking a moment to realize that Akane had meant Ranma. As revolting as the thought was initially to her. She had been beaten by him several times, and last night she had willingly submitted to his directions. Would it really be so bad to submit again to the law? He was strong, handsome, and caring. Even as a beast he hadn't changed, surely if he had dark impulses, he would have taken advantage of it then.

Of course, then there was the law to worry about. Any repercussions she may have, could be forgiven if she secured a strong husband, and they could be made equally worse if she ignored the law.

X x x x x x

After school was out, Ranma didn't return to the Tendo home, accepting the offer from his friends Hiroshi and Daisuke to go out and get something to eat. This turned out to be a ploy by the two humans in order to badger him about his relationship with Akane. Something that was currently hanging over his head like a dark cloud.

Akane couldn't be angry about him being a Lycan. Well she was, but that simply couldn't be the reason for her recent outburst. She was too angry, too sure in her belief that he had done something horribly wrong. 'Wait, she didn't see me and Shampoo this morning did she?' He knew how bad that would have looked for someone like Akane who's jumps in logic could be pure insanity.

"Dude, what's up between you and Akane this time?"

"If you guys are fighting, does that mean Akane's free? Think you'll stop being engaged?"

"Never wanted to be in the first place." He absently responded to one of his friends badgering, too concerned over Akane's latest snit to focus much on what they were saying. Though mention of the engagement cut into his concentration enough to be heard.

"Ya know, whatever happened to you during that fight with that Ryoga guy?" Hiroshi asked.

"Oh yea, and who was that girl? She looked a lot like you." Daisuke added.

"Twin like."

"Her?" He remembered how a crowd had found him in female form fighting Ryoga.

"Yes her!" Daisuke had fake tears streaming from his eyes. "Why do you always keep the cute girls to yourself?!"

"Hey wait a sec." He shifted in his seat. "What makes you think I have cute girls after me?" He asked.

"You're engaged to Akane, what more proof do you need?" Hiroshi asked.

"Akane? Cute? Are you sure you're talking about the same Akane? She's just about the most uncute girl I've ever met." Ranma answered before a soft body dropped into his lap. On high alert in an instant that someone could sneak up on him, he relaxed slightly when he noticed that it was Shampoo who had taken a seat on his legs. "Shampoo, what are you doing?"

"Shampoo find." She was wearing the clothing he had borrowed without permission from Nabiki, with her hair returned to the way it had been yesterday. Without hesitation she wrapped her arms around his neck, smiling at him with a strange mixture of happiness and resentment.

"Yea okay, so?" He gulped, catching the jealous stares from across the table.

"Ranma-- you I love." She proclaimed, leaning forward to kiss him deeply on the lips. Ranma's eyebrows rose to meet his hairline, and his face developed a bright blush. Across the table, the jealous looks had changed to all out shock.

"Hey Daisuke, let's leave these two lovebirds alone." Hiroshi stood up from his chair.

"Yes, let's go see if Akane's home, so I can console her."

"What?! No way, I'm going to help Akane get over Ranma!"

"Hey wait!" Ranma called after his two so called friends as they quickly left. "Shampoo, what's this about?" He demanded, pushing Shampoo away from him.

"I find this before come here." A small crudely booklet was produced and put into his hands.

"Joketsusoku Law" He read the cover before noticing that Shampoo was still intruding upon his personal space. "Could you at least sit in the other chair?"

Shampoo nodded and quickly shifted over to the chair next to him. Flipping open the book, he was unsure on how this would explain her sudden declaration of love. "This is in Chinese." He pointed out to the other Lycan, who flipped it to a page that was in Japanese.

'Hmm, Joketsusoku Law, In the event that a woman warrior is defeated by an outsider if her opponent is a woman, she must give her the Kiss of Death and kill her.' Ranma now had an answer to why Shampoo had tried to kiss him in his sleep. "However, if her opponent is a man, she must make him her husband.'

"Oh crap."

X x x x x x

Nabiki watched with amusement as Ranma and their seemingly new houseguest tried to get along. Not as quick to jump to illogical conclusions as her younger sister, she could at least appreciate the situation for what it was. Here were money making opportunities. Not many, but the possibility was there. The threat of people who were literally called 'Death Dealers' arriving at their home to kill the three Lycans, and maybe anyone else involved was a huge drawback, if they actually existed that is.

Till such time that the Death Dealers were proven to be just a myth, she would operate under the assumption that they were real. After all, werewolves and magical curses were now proven to be real, other myths being real would not be out of the realm of possibility. Genma also didn't seem the type to use such heavy handed threats, adding to the odds of vampires existing.

Sipping on a soft drink, she found Ranma's attempts to dissuade Shampoo to be rather humorous. Shampoo was very affectionate, rubbing up against Ranma at every opportunity. Ranma wouldn't always push her away right away, hesitating or enjoying the action until he realized what Shampoo was doing, at which point he would move away from the Chinese girl. The two had circled the living room three times now, and it was too bad that her tomboy sister wasn't here to get in on the festivities.

Ranma was clearly flustered by this display, his face often turning a nice shade of red. Nabiki wasn't stupid, her sister had a love at first sight thing going with Ranma. Up until the other day, they may have complained, they may have whined, but they spent a good deal of time around each other. But the arrival of Shampoo had thrown that out of whack in an instant. Shampoo was like Ranma, by Ranma's own admission he had never met another of his kind. So it wasn't hard for Nabiki to see the rusty gears in the Saotome boy's head grinding to work on viewing Shampoo as more than a friend, or possibly the reverse.

Honestly she wasn't sure how she felt about that. For one, she didn't really care about Ranma all that much. Sure he was nice eye candy, but he didn't have any money, or seemed to care about it past basic necessities. But her little sister did like him for some unexpected reason. Her father also really wanted this engagement to go through. So she would just have to remain neutral, and make her fun with everyone as usual.

X x x x x x

"Here you go, your own futon." Ranma announced, presenting the bedding to Shampoo, who refused to leave him be. Her face scrunched up into a pout, obviously disliking the idea. Not that Ranma really cared what Shampoo thought of it, it was bed time, and he was tired of her antics.

"Why no sleep with groom?"

"Because I'm not your groom." He pointed out.

"Is law." She restated her earlier justification.

"That law is archaic Shampoo, marry the guys, kill the girls, it's just silly."

"Law is law."

"Yea, well Ranma's law says sleep on your own bed." He pointed to the new futon for emphasis. Reluctantly, Shampoo sat down, and looked at it disapprovingly. "Good night." He told the Chinese girl and climbed under his own blanket. Rubbing at his eyes, he was looking forwards to a good sleep, which wasn't what Shampoo wanted to give him because she lifted up his blanket, and laid down next to him.

"Give it a rest Shampoo." He pleaded, wondering what it would take to convince her to give him any kind of space.

"Shampoo alone now, just want be with groom." She said sadly.

"Whatever." He sighed, not putting it together right away that the rest of Shampoo's village might be as homicidal as Shampoo had been. "Oh-- I'm sorry again for biting you." He told her lamely, having no clue on how he could make her feel better. It was her fault anyways. The purple haired girl didn't respond, but cuddled up next to him. Since she wasn't attempting anything more than that, he didn't kick her out.

X x x x x x

The next morning, Shampoo followed her groom on his way to school. Ranma was trying to explain how they shouldn't be wed, but Shampoo had seen him notice her, and didn't believe a word of it. Even though she knew that he was interested in her, something about how he smelled told her he was attracted to her, for some reason he continued to be concerned for the angry girl, Akane. Said girl having stayed at someone elses home the previous night.

Pausing, her future husband seemed to notice her, so she lowered herself on the roof of the home she was crossing. He didn't stop long, before taking off at a light jog towards his destination. Laying down on her stomach at the crest of the roof, she placed her head in both hands, watching him leap up onto a fence and continue running.

'Maybe if I just don't tell Great Grandmother, everything will be fine?' She wondered. As smart as her elder was, even she couldn't know everything. Keep any lunar activities under wraps, and maybe if she grew confident she could drop a few hints Cologne's way, see about breaking it to her family gently. It could work out.

"Ah, young love." An elderly female voice said from above her in Chinese, causing Shampoo's eyes to widen in horror. "Why I remember back when I met my husband, it was a cold winters day, and I was just a young woman, barely older than yourself. Of course in my time I was considered old to still be looking for a husband."

"Great Grandmother!" Shampoo recoiled from her family member, who was perched on long white gnarled staff, equally long white hair blowing briefly in front of her face. "How- how- how did find me?"

"Far too easily, it seems you've forgotten much of your training, and common sense. So, tell me what it was that convinced you that running away from home and stealing our priceless family heirloom was so urgent." The wizened old woman leaned forward, her large eyes boring down into her.

X x x x x x

Author Notes:

None, zip, zero, nada, don't feel like explaining or talking about anything.