[Ranma][Fanfic] Destiny's Wish, Part Eighteen

[Mike Koos]

Ranma's alarm clock gratingly brought her back into the real
world.
She sat up in bed, letting her covers fall away from her, then
made it a point to stretch and yawn. There was a set of limbering-up
exercises she was *supposed* to do after waking up, but as long as
the old man wasn't watching, why bother? Dad could be so...
obsessive about her training at times. He'd take any opportunity to
test Ranma, keep her on her toes... in Ranma's opinion, the only
*really* good thing about the tests was that they gave her a free
chance to pound on her father. He deserved all the pounding he could
get... although none of it had yet to make him see sense.
She glanced down at her side to see that P-chan had gone back to
sleep. Lucky little girl... P-chan didn't have to worry about the
concerns of the Human world, like going to school, or worry about her
relationships with anyone else.
Like - for lack of a better example - Ayumi.
Yesterday, the baka had gotten himself engaged to a girl Ranma
knew too well... Shampoo. And he didn't seem to mind, either! He
had actually *let* Shampoo kiss him and hug him, like they were
long-lost lovers or something!
Well... if hormone-boy wanted to break their would-be engagement
to chase after a girl who really *did* want him, it was fine with her!
Even if... he had declared he would kill Sanzenin Mikado if the
skater dared to lay a hand on her, his iinazuke. Had those words
just been to satisfy Ayumi's honor? Did he only view her as his
possession, to defend as any other possession someone else wanted to
take from him, as was the case with Ranma and Azusa fighting over
P-chan? If that was true, then she would show Ayumi a new kiss...
her fist, to his lips.
Ranma sighed. So much for getting lost in her thoughts - it was
time to get up and get dressed for school. She carefully scooped
P-chan up from where the little pig had been curled up, and moved her
to the pillow. "Shh," Ranma soothed. "It's okay. Go back to sleep."
With her pet asleep again, she forced herself to climb out of
bed. Apparently, her body thought this was a bad idea. She tended
to agree.
Another yawn. She took her school uniform from its
clotheshanger next to her door. Time for the usual routine... trade
pajamas for school uniform, pull on a pair of clean socks and her
house slippers, then rush through standard bathroom procedure for the
morning, grab her bookbag and head downstairs for breakfast with a
side helping of family banter for the morning.
<Family...>
Something which she wouldn't be a part of for much longer if she
went through with her separation from Ayumi. Of course, Dad and Mr.
Tendo would just force her to be Naka or Kasuga's iinazuke.
Or, failing that, maybe they'd send her away. Mr. Tendo surely
wouldn't have the heart to kick out his old freeloading friend.
She pulled her uniform jumper into place. This time, she would
control her destiny. She would not let them railroad her into any
more relationships...

Destiny's Wish
Part Eighteen: My Precious Memories
written by Mike Koos
--------------------------------

Ranma leapt down the stairs, two at a time, hoping to rush past
the family room and out the front door before she would have to talk
to anybody.
She reached the family room. "No time for breakfast now,
Kasuga! I've gotta go!" Almost made it...
"Ranma, wait." Darn. "Before you leave, can you go back
upstairs and wake up Ayumi? He'll be late for school if he doesn't
get ready soon."
Ranma met Kasuga's gaze, trying to force an impatient sense to
her features - but since this was the boy whom anyone had a tough time
arguing with, the attempt didn't quite work as planned. "Why me?
Why not Naka? He's never been late to class! He can afford to lose
a day..."
"I thought that since you were up..."
Naka pushed another portion of fish into his mouth with his set
of chopsticks. "Don't mind her. She's just ticked off because
Shampoo's all lovey-dovey with Ayumi."
"That's what *you* think," Ranma narrowed her eyes. Unlike
Kasuga, she had no difficulty arguing with Naka.
Soun set his rice bowl on the table. Somewhere along the line,
he had learned to finish his meals quickly... most likely, to keep
Genma from stealing anything. "Ranma," he began. "Don't you think
that this is the ideal time for you and Ayumi to admit your true
feelings for each other?"
Ranma intensified her glare. "We already *have*."
"She's so scary sometimes," Soun retreated to a corner, sobbing,
with Kasuga in tow to try to reassure him. "So scary..."
"C'mon, Father. I'm sure that wasn't her intent."
Naka rolled his eyes; Ranma averted hers. "Sheesh, what a big
crybaby!" She left the room for the stairway.
<It's ironic how *she* has the guts to say what no one else
around here will,> thought Naka. <I ought to follow her example.>
Ranma dashed back up the stairs and rounded the corner leading
to Ayumi's room. She threw the door wide open - Ayumi never did keep
his door locked or put up a 'Please Knock' sign like the one Ranma
kept on her door. "Ayumi! How long do you plan to stay in bed?"
The boy continued to sleep. And no wonder, too... for sometime
during the night Shampoo had crawled under the covers with him... her
head rested peacefully close to his heart. "Airen..." breathed the
girl, in her sleep.
Just great. This was exactly what she wanted to avoid! Now
she'd have no choice but to get worked up over what Ayumi did or did
not do, and there was no time for that right now!
A plan suddenly came to Ranma's mind. Maybe there *was* time,
after all.

Seven minutes later, Ranma returned - now a boy, in her training
gi - to set her plan into motion. Well... it wasn't *really* a plan.
There wasn't nearly enough time for her to scheme *and* get to school
on time.
Ranma stationed himself on one side of the bed and shoved both
Ayumi and Shampoo from the bed onto the floor, blankets and all. If
*that* didn't work, maybe some high explosives and a mallet or two...
Ayumi's eyes shot open nearly as fast as Shampoo's. "What the--"
Then Shampoo saw who had jolted them awake. "Ranma!" she very
nearly swallowed her breath.
"How could you do this to me!?" the boy screamed, then ran out
of the room, pretending to cry - making sure to close the door behind
him.
Shampoo scrambled to her feet. "Wait! Ranma-husband no
understand! Shampoo explain!"
How had the male Ranma found her? More importantly, what was he
doing here, now? Shampoo had absolutely no idea how she would
explain this to the male Ranma. She had expected the boy to keep
running and never look back... not stick around to catch her chasing
after Ayumi instead. Oh, the difficulties love brought! Love, and
an almost irreversible village law...
She realized she had given the male Ranma a fair head start and
set after her original intended.
In the hallway, she passed the girl who was also named Ranma.
The 'loudmouth girl' was dressed for school and headed in a different
direction. Shampoo saw no need to concern herself with this Ranma.
Especially when neither of them particularly liked one another.
No one saw Ranma's grin as she walked once again down the stairs.

** ** **

"I didn't tell her she could do that! She climbed into my bed
while I was asleep!" Ayumi made an effort to match his pace to
Ranma's run. They were already late; Ranma usually passed through
this area ten minutes earlier.
Ranma kept her eyes on the road ahead. "I told you, I'm not
listening!" She bristled. "Geez... even when you're *asleep* you're
a pervert!"
"Oh-ho, so you're not listening, huh?" Ayumi ran until he was a
slight distance ahead of her. "And just who is it that sleeps with a
*girl* pig in her arms?"
Ranma erased the distance between them. "You leave P-chan out
of this!" When Ayumi remained silent, she decided to take another
turn. "You must be really desperate, comparing me to you and
Shampoo!"
Her would-be suitor stuck out his tongue at him. "You're just
jealous because Shampoo likes me."
"She only likes you because you defeated her!"
"Does this mean YOU want to marry her?"
Ranma took a fierce swipe at him with her bookbag. "Ayumi no
baka!"
Unknown to either Ranma or Ayumi, they were being watched from a
rooftop not too far from the street on which they walked.
<Ayumi-san...> Ryomi sighed. <When will you ever learn? You still
don't understand my feelings for you. And now, this Shampoo stands
between us and eternal happiness......>
She prepared to leap down to street level from the roof, quickly
compensating for the weight of her backpack and bamboo umbrella.
<My poor heart can't take much more of this! I must see to it
that Shampoo is removed from the picture!>
Ryomi closed her eyes and leaped... directly into the path of a
small spray of water.
In a single instant her body shrank many times smaller than the
shape for which her clothes had been designed. She instinctively
fought her way out of them, not only to save time once she hit the
ground, but also because she had worn a rather large pack, and she
did not feel like getting herself flattened under it or the
accompanying umbrella. All of which were essentially useless to her
as a pig.
She frowned. What was a hassle for Ranma was torment to her.
And Ranma thought *her* curse was terrible... Ryomi hated changing
into a pig. Pretending to be Ranma's pet when she was actually
trying to remain near the one she loved made her predicament a little
more tolerable, though she would never be satisfied until Ayumi was
hers, and the dreaded Jhusenkyou curse that plagued her was no more.
That particular wish was liable to be a long time in coming.
Someone made a soothingly low clicking noise with their tongue.
Not far from her, either... Ryomi looked up to see Shampoo kneeling
over her.
Ryomi froze. Had Shampoo seen her transform? What did the
strange girl from China want?
Shampoo continued to click, and urged the little pig to come
closer in melodic Chinese.
Wondering what Shampoo's motives were, Ryomi edged closer
regardless.
Shampoo stroked the pig's forehead and smiled.

** ** **

A bell rang to signal the beginning of the lunch period at
Fuurinkan High.
Most students greeted the period with about as much enthusiasm
as they greeted a study period. For not only did the students get a
chance to set aside their work, they had a chance to refuel with
something to eat. Some considered that to be very important.
In classroom 1-F - Ayumi and Ranma's homeroom - the attitude was
no different.
Ayumi typically ate lunch with his two best friends, Hiroshi and
Daisuke, while Ranma did likewise with her two best friends, Yuka and
Sayuri. None of the four were aware about the breakup between Ranma
and Ayumi... not that Ranma cared if the entire school knew. Ranma
had become well-known throughout the school ever since her arrival,
and her displeasure over being engaged to Tendo Ayumi against her
will was no secret... even to Kunou Tatewaki, who still desired to
make Ranma his love.
Her opinion of that desire was no secret, either. As for her
curse, only Yuka and Sayuri knew of that secret. Ayumi's friends had
yet to make the connection.
A low rumble shook the entire room. Seconds later, another
came, this time louder than the first. Then came a third and a
fourth, each louder than the one before. Fragments of plaster and
other unidentifiable bits of building material rained down from the
ceilings in the form of dust.
Yuka turned to Ranma. "You don't suppose that could be...?"
<Oh, geez, I hope not!>
But Ranma's hopes were in vain. Seconds later, Shampoo tore her
way through the rear wall of the classroom. Her face brightened on
noticing Ayumi. "Ayumi-husband!"
She had to pass Ranma's desk to get to him. "Haven't you ever
heard of using the halls or DOORS?"
Shampoo ignored her. The 'loudmouth girl' was not the person
she had come to see.
"Shampoo," Ayumi began, clearly not in the mood for a visit from
his unintended wife. "Why are you here?"
Shampoo beamed, producing a covered plate much like the type
used in gourmet meals. Her suspicions raised, Ranma got to her feet
and headed for Ayumi's desk. "I make special food for husband,"
Shampoo told a wary Ayumi.
Ranma arrived at the desk as Shampoo placed the dish on Ayumi's
desk and removed the lid.
Neither Ayumi nor Ranma were prepared for the sight of the meal
Shampoo had brought. For resting in the exact middle of an
extravagant arrangement of fruits and steamed vegetables... was an
unconscious P-chan! Shampoo had 'prepared' the little pig by simply
placing her on the platter, bandanna and all.
Ayumi's eyes widened to five times their normal size - or at
least he would assume so when thinking about it later. He very
nearly swallowed his chopsticks whole.
Had he not been staring at P-chan in shock, Ayumi might have
seen Ranma's face turn absolutely pale. "*P-CHAN*!" Ranma cried,
rushing to save her pet from a fate as a meal... much to Shampoo's
innocent surprise.
Shampoo angrily snatched the pig away from Ranma. "What you
do?" Now, the loudmouth girl presumed to destroy the special meal
she had taken such time to lovingly prepare for her intended? What
nerve!
She found a pair of chopsticks to pick P-chan up by the knot in
her bandanna and raise the pig to Ayumi's mouth. "Aaaaaannn......"
Ayumi withdrew. How else could he react to someone attempting
to feed him a pig whole, especially one he knew to be a cursed human
being? It was unthinkable! Finally, he settled for what amounted to
the right thing in these odd circumstances: taking P-chan, reviving
her, and returning her to Ranma.
Ranma took P-chan into her arms and hugged her pet tightly,
giving in to the tears she'd been holding... but only barely. A
student of the Saotome class of martial arts was never supposed to
*cry*, after all. She was so used to reigning in her tears that it
took a major emotional event to bypass that barrier. "I'm so glad
you're alive, P-chan!!" And she was. Ayumi frowned at the display;
would Ranma behave like this if she knew who P-chan truly was?
Still, he couldn't fault her too much... she thought of P-chan as a
real animal *and* her pet. A pet that had come critically close to
being eaten as part of a gourmet meal. Of *course* she would be
upset!
It was Shampoo who made the next move. She turned Ranma's face
toward her and gave Ranma a quick kiss on the cheek, regardless of
the salt-water tears drying there.
Only Ranma, Ayumi, P-chan, Yuka and Sayuri were not as surprised
as the rest of the room. The kiss had barely ended before the gossip
started. A girl, kissing another girl? Was this Shampoo some kind
of pervert, claiming to be Ayumi's wife when Ranma was the one
engaged to him, and then kissing Ranma?
Ayumi suddenly recalled what Naka had told everyone about the
rules of Shampoo's village once Ranma had stormed out of the room.
<"Should a fighter happen to be defeated by a female outsider, she
must purge her shame by marking the outsider with the 'Kiss of Death'
and seeing personally to the outsider's death."> Shampoo hadn't
officially fought Ranma as a girl, but Ayumi assumed these were close
enough circumstances for Shampoo's twisted sense of balance. "The
Kiss of Death," he said aloud, without knowing it.
Yuka and Sayuri both echoed the name, loud enough for Ranma to
hear. "What's that?"
Realizing that he should warn Ranma of the danger she was now
in, he spoke so that everyone could hear, repeating Naka's words.
"Is that so?" Ranma adopted a no-nonsense stance, fist raised
before her to show Shampoo she wasn't about to be intimidated.
"Well, then, come on! It'll take more than you to kill me!"
"Ranma!" her friends expressed their concern. Sure, Ranma had
defeated Shampoo in the past, but now both fighters were going to
face off in a real fight. Ranma's cockiness and overconfidence could
very well be the end of her.
For some strange reason Ranma's pet pig actually seemed to be
encouraging her to fight Shampoo.
Ayumi made a feeble attempt to separate Ranma and Shampoo by
asking them if they couldn't just settle things the rational way...
when in reality he knew there was little chance of that happening -
Ranma's single-minded attitude in fights could be compared to
Shampoo's own single-minded persistence and determination.
A fight would not be good for one or the other.
Yet Ranma didn't share his thoughts on the matter. "I don't
need your help!" she yelled, knocking Ayumi out one of the open
windows. <It's time we ended all this nonsense!>
Ayumi landed on a tree branch a few feet below the window and
let it catapult him back up to the window. "What d'you think you're
doing!? You can't fight her! You're too slow!"
Which wasn't entirely true, of course. In fact, Ranma's
reflexes were markedly faster than Ayumi's, assuming she remained in
girl form and in control over her temper. She proved the point by
sliding the window shut before Ayumi could pass through it. He
slammed into the glass instead. "How's THAT for slow?"
His face and body pressed against the wall, Ayumi slid down the
wall a floor... into the open window of the classroom directly below
his.
The students having lunch there were unprepared for the new
arrival... though there was no time to deal with that now. He had a
fight to prevent. Ayumi ignored them, making his way to the door,
out into the hallway and ran up the stairs to the floor his classroom
was on.
When he opened the door to his homeroom, Ranma and Shampoo were
gone. The windows on the opposite end of the room had been
shattered. "Where'd they go?" As if he really needed to ask...
"You just missed them!" Sayuri said, pointing to the fighters'
obvious exit. "I think they're heading for the softball field!"
<They're looking for an open place to fight. Not a good sign.>
Ayumi scanned the grounds for the two girls through the remains of
the window. <Ranma!> He moved back four steps and ran,
cannonballing through the window. <I'm coming!>
Should he say or think words like that? he wondered. If he
didn't know better, the words made it sound as though he were rushing
to save someone he truly cared for.
Well... he *did* care for Ranma, although the girl made it
difficult. His own actions weren't helping, either. Thoughts of
what might happen to Ranma in a fight with Shampoo ran through his
mind in a blur... Shampoo probably didn't come to be champion of her
village by her skills in using bonbori alone.
He heard the frantic squealing of a pig coming from a nearby
field. <That's gotta be Ryomi!> Why else would a pig be on the
Fuurinkan High grounds? He ran toward the sound.
On the other side of a tall fence, he saw her.
She lay, eyes closed, on her back - either unconscious or dead.
Ayumi hoped Ranma was not the latter. Apparently, so did P-chan, who
was squealing into Ranma's ear as loud as she could to try to wake
Ranma.
P-chan acknowledged Ayumi's presence. "Ranma!" he yelled,
dropping to his knees beside her. No sign of blood... He checked her
eyes, head, pulse... all seemed normal. No evidence that Ranma
suffered from any trauma. So what had happened? Why was she out
cold?
Another squeal. <I'll bet *she* knows...>
"Hey! C'mon... don't do this to us!"
He was about to try slapping her a few times to wake her when
she suddenly opened her eyes and sat up. "Mmmmm... huh?"
She was okay! Or well enough to pay Tofu-sensei a visit. "You
stupid... baka! Why do you do things like this? See what fighting
her got you?"
Ranma stared blankly at him, into his eyes... and blinked. "Do
I know you?"
The question caught Ayumi off-guard. "Eh?"
She scooped P-chan into her arms and stood, walking off in a new
direction. <Why was I lying on the ground? Did something happen to
me?> Ranma tried to recall what she had been doing before ending up
in this field, unconscious... Had there been a fight? No - if there
had, she would have sensed it in the way her body felt or otherwise.
Checking her memories drew nothing but a blank. <I can't
remember... what happened! Why?> The harder she attempted to
remember, the less things made sense to her. Her memory - at least
part of it - was gone. What had happened to her? Did she have
amnesia? If so, how had she come to suffer from it? This wasn't one
of those weird situations where she would just suddenly faint in the
middle of a field and not remember anything, was it? She placed a
hand to her temple. <No pain... but my head *does* feel kinda weird.>
"Hey! Ranma!" Someone was urgently calling her name. Ranma
looked back to see a boy she did not recognize following her at a
quick pace.
"Who are you, and what's your problem?" she asked him.
"Now cut that out!"
Ranma studied him. "Am I supposed to know who you are, or are
you going to tell me?"
Ayumi abruptly recognized that she meant what she said. The
intent in Ranma's eyes, the way she carried herself, the tone of her
voice... everything indicated she didn't know who he was. <It looks
like she's got amnesia... but she's got no injuries! Nothing I can
see!>
"Ah, over there! See?" Yuka's voice. And the sounds of
others. Ranma's friends had brought the rest of the spectators.
"Minna," Ranma acknowledged them as they approached.
Sayuri looked at Ranma curiously. "Weren't you supposed to be
in a fight?"
"How are you?" asked Yuka.
"Fine, I guess. Why?"
"We were worried that Shampoo... well, she might've done
something to you!"
Ranma appeared not to know what Yuka was talking about.
"'Shampoo?' Shampoo who?" What kind of name was 'Shampoo' for a
person, anyhow?
"You know who Shampoo is - the girl you lost to?"
Ranma turned on the strange boy who had made the comment. "Will
you go away, whoever you are? I haven't lost a fight yet!"
Ayumi scowled. "Why, you--"
Ranma pointed a finger at him. "Is he a transfer student or
something?"
"What are you talking about, Ranma?" Yuka was understandably
nervous; first Ranma seemed not to know Shampoo and now Ayumi.
"...You... really don't know who he is?"
Ranma stared at him for a long time. "Him? No."
"You're kidding. Right? That's Ayumi. Your iinazuke."
Her eyes widened. "My... iinazuke? No way! If I'd been
engaged to anyone, I'd be the first to remember it!"
"But... it's true! You really are engaged to him!" another
girl exclaimed. Whether or not she was one of Ranma's friends, Ayumi
wasn't sure.
Sayuri prodded her further. "Don't you remember Ayumi-kun?"
The words came slowly to Ranma's lips. "Ayumi... kun?"
<What?> she thought. <Hmm... I think I remember hearing that
name somewhere... but......... I can't remember where...>
Ranma collapsed to her knees, holding her temples.
"Ranma!" Sayuri inhaled, while P-chan worriedly pawed at
Ranma's knees. She could see the pained look on her rival's face...
"What's the matter?"
The cursed girl wavered, made an attempt to strengthen herself.
"It's... nothing. My head just hurts a little. I'll... go see the
doctor after class."
"Good idea." Ayumi's sarcastic nature had returned. "I've
always said you needed a head examination."
"Look - the only reason I haven't punched you into next week yet
is because I don't know who you are. But hey, if you wanna risk your
life by insulting me, fine."
Ayumi knew she would follow through on that threat. <She really
doesn't remember me! Anything about me! Or Shampoo... and it looks
like trying to remember hurts her...> He caught sight of P-chan
sitting on the ground near Ranma's feet and decided to pick the
little pig up, much to Ranma's surprise.
"Hey!" demanded Ranma. "What do you think you're doing with my
P-chan?"
"Don't worry. We're only gonna have a little chat." He started
to walk off.
"Let her GO!" Ranma aimed a kick for Ayumi's chest, but he
dodged it. He leapt onto the roof of a nearby bicycle shelter and
was gone.
Ranma, too, leapt onto the roof. "Wait...!" <He's gone. Darn
it! If I was at 100 percent, I wouldn't've let him get away that
easily! But... he *is* more skilled than he looks...> She glanced
back at her friends on the ground. "Who *was* that guy?"
Yuka was the first to narrow her eyes in disbelief. "That was
Ayumi! Weren't you listening to us?"

Ayumi cornered P-chan in a corner of one of the Fuurinkan
equipment storage rooms and prepared to pour a kettle of hot water
over the hapless animal. "I'm not going to look, Ryomi," he told
her, covering his eyes with one hand while pouring the water over her
with the other. "I just want to talk."
Once restored to Human form Ryomi hid behind a bin of
volleyballs and peeked over the top of the bin at Ayumi. It took a
second for him to notice her head amidst all the equipment.
He drew a breath before beginning the interrogation. "You were
there, right? So talk. What happened between Shampoo and Ranma?"
Ryomi smirked. "Why should I tell you?" The boy she loved
believed she wanted Ranma out of the picture, which wasn't too far
removed from the truth - but unlike Ayumi's belief, she had no *real*
desire to kill Ranma. Were they both boys, maybe she *would* want to
kill Ranma; she couldn't know for sure.
Ayumi was about to think of a suitable comeback to use when the
sound of the male half of a class enduring a P.E. jog through part of
the school grounds filtered into the room. "Because if you don't,"
he tried to look sincere, "I'm gonna invite *all* those guys out
there to come in here and take a look at you like that."
"You wouldn't!"
He set the empty kettle aside, making a beeline for the door and
opened it. "You think so?" Ayumi cupped his hands to his mouth.
"Hey! Over here! You guys wanna see something interesting?"
Ryomi's face flushed. "Okay, okay! I'll talk!" Had she been
thinking clearly, she would have realized that the crowd probably
would not have gaped at her but believed Ayumi was trying to take
advantage of her. The thought, however, never crossed her mind.
Unfortunately, she had very little to tell him. She had tried
to stay close to Ranma... though she had strayed within Shampoo's
field of movement and been stunned when one of Shampoo's feet
accidentally struck her.
"That's all you saw?" She nodded.
"Oh, some help YOU'VE been!" Ayumi left the room then, not
bothering to make sure she was okay or went safely on her way. It
mattered little; Ryomi remained in the room after Ayumi left.
She leaned against the bin of volleyballs, ignoring the coldness
of the metal, and let out an extended sigh. <It's all my fault.
It's my fault Ranma doesn't remember. Without her, I'll have to take
on Shampoo alone!>

** ** **

True to her word, Ranma headed straight for Dr. Tofu's clinic
after school, unaware that Ayumi had shadowed her from a distance.
The good doctor had come to be the closest thing Ranma had to a
mother figure of late; all of the men she lived in the same house
with amounted to one heck of a strange influence. What made matters
worse was that Ranma was fully aware just how much she had come to
behave like her father - his nature of not bothering to think before
reacting, single-minded pride, his shameless freeloading, his
assumption that he was right and knew the best thing to do no matter
what...
She wasn't about to let herself develop into that sort of
person. Did the special arts of the Saotome class of martial arts
require her to become an ignorant, domineering jerk to keep them
alive?
Of course not. Cowardice, maybe, though that wasn't her,
either. Assuming she ever did get married and have a family, she
wouldn't want her children to follow in their grandfather's
footsteps. But then, the old man would probably say she wasn't
raising her children right and insist she turn them over to him to be
'properly trained.'
<No! I won't let him do that. Ever!> She hesitated. She
hadn't even agreed to get married, much less to ever have children...
and now she was planning the future of her family? It would serve
Genma right if she never married.
The doctor turned away from Ranma. "There's nothing visibly
wrong with her," she echoed Ayumi's earlier diagnosis. Ranma had
felt uneasy about having a complete stranger in the room during her
examination until Dr. Tofu assured her the boy was a temporary
assistant. The girl had finally relaxed, then.
Orisa knew from experience she had to be careful not to mention
Ayumi's name in Ranma's presence, else whatever was affecting Ranma's
memory would kick in to make her completely forget him again and
she'd have to start the process all over from the beginning. "So
tell me, Ranma, did you feel any different when you came to?"
Ranma searched through her memories once more. "No... not
really. But... now that you mention it, my head did feel a little
weird. Why do you ask?"
"Maybe......"
Ayumi caught the doctor's pensive look. "Do you know what's
wrong with her, Tofu-sensei?"
"These symptoms closely resemble the effects of an old Shiatsu
technique I once researched... oh, I can't remember the name of it
off the top of my head, but I know the technique and its results."
Ranma blinked, wondering what Dr. Tofu meant by her words.
Ayumi, too, was curious - but as he prepared to ask the doctor to
reveal more about the technique, a familiar giant panda burst through
the door leading to the clinic's waiting room.
[That's exactly what happened!]
"Dad...?" What was the old man doing here? Ranma wondered.
Genma usually didn't work during the evening, so he had no real
reason to be here as far as she could tell. But if he had seen what
happened to her, when she couldn't remember anything going wrong in
the first place...
"Mr. Saotome..." Ayumi studied the expression on the panda's
face. He was slowly getting better at reading the panda's emotions,
oddly enough. "You mean you saw what happened? In the fight?"
[All of it, with my own two eyes!] Genma set the sign aside and
began scribbling on another one. [Just thinking about it--]
Ayumi pushed a kettle of hot water into his reach. "Why don't
you try *speaking* instead of writing?"
Moments later Genma had returned to his proper form. "Just
thinking about what happened amazes me. The girl knew what she was
doing... while Ranma was distracted, worrying about her unnecessary
pet, she positioned herself behind Ranma and struck the final blow!"
Genma had never liked the idea of his daughter keeping a strange
little pig that had wandered in off the streets as a pet.
"UNNECESSARY!?" Ranma spat.
He ignored her. "Her hands moved faster than I could see. And
when she was done shampooing Ranma's hair, she rinsed Ranma's head
with warm water - I can tell, because Ranma didn't change - and
blow-dried her hair! And the amazing part is, she did it in less
than a single minute!"
"Amazing!" the doctor had to admit.
"What are you talking about?" Ranma stood. "Who's 'Shampoo?'"
Everyone seemed to be ignoring her. "So what's so special about
it? It sounds like a makeover!" said Ayumi.
"It is, in a sense. It's a shampoo, rinse and blow-dry using a
special shampoo along with the manipulation of pressure points to
wash away the subject's memory!"
Ayumi turned to look at Ranma. "No wonder you don't remember me
or Shampoo!"
She blinked. "Do I know you?"
Genma shook his head. "Ranma, you have scarred our family's
honor. Losing a fight because of foolish concern for a silly little
animal..."
Five seconds later, Genma was replaced by a rather
ridiculous-looking wet panda with a bucket wedged over its head.
"I've NEVER lost a fight, old man! And you shut up about my
P-chan!" his irate daughter yelled.
Ayumi sighed. "Can't we restore her memory, somehow?"
"Without the exact type of shampoo that was used on her, I doubt
it," Tofu said, making it seem as though her pet skeleton was doing
the talking.
And there was only one person who would know exactly which
shampoo to use. "Right! C'mon, Ranma!" Ayumi gathered his resolve
- and Ranma, grabbing her by the wrist.
"Hey!" she protested, as Ayumi shifted to carrying her under
his arm so that he could move faster. Shampoo could be *anywhere*,
and he didn't want having to drag Ranma around town behind him to
slow him down.
She struggled against his hold on her. Ordinarily, Ranma would
easily be able to break free of the hold, but Ayumi held her so
haphazardly that she was afraid any attempt to escape would send her
tumbling to the pavement. She didn't relish the idea of ending up
with several dozen choice bruises and scrapes, if it could be avoided.
"Shampoo, come on out! We need to talk!"
At that precise instant, however, Shampoo was entering the place
Ayumi least expected her to be.
Dr. Tofu's clinic.
"Tadaima," Shampoo announced her presence, not quite pronouncing
the word correctly. "I return."
Dr. Tofu noticed his assistant's surprise. "Mr. Saotome," she
gestured toward Shampoo, "this is Shampoo. I'm letting her stay here
and work as a temporary apprentice nurse."
"Niihao!" the young girl greeted the panda brightly.
Genma withdrew, nervously. [F-fancy meeting you here!]
Shampoo was surprised. Pandas were obviously more common in
Japan than she had thought...

<...to be continued...>

------------
Credits:

Written by: Mike Koos
Prereaders: Richard Beaubien, Tom Williams, David Wills

With apologies to Rumiko Takahashi...

All parts of this series are available at the RAAC archives at
ftp://ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/archive/anime-fan-works
or from my WWW pages at
http://www.mother.com/~makoto/stories.htm
Comments and questions welcome.

*****************************
* Mike ('Kino Makoto') Koos * "I can do nothing to stop you.
*---------------------------* Your background music is too
* email: mak...@mother.com * strong for me."
***************************** - Whose Line is it Anyway?
www: http://www.mother.com/~makoto/stories.htm