[Ranma][FanFic] Shampoo 1/2 Chapter 16, Part 2

[DB Sommer]

Shampoo 1/2
by DB Sommer

DBso...@nb.net

As always, any and every C+C appreciated
Azatlan has given Shampoo 1/2 a home at:
http://www.geocities.com/~azatlan/Special-Series/shampoo.html
or you can email me for previous chapters or anything else at
som...@nb.net

Standard Disclaimer:

I don't own any of these guys. They are owned by the Goddess Takahashi
and
whomever she sold the rights to.

Chapter 16
Part Two
Three Ways to Love

"Ah! Another fine day of school," Ranma-chan said, sarcasm
laced in her voice as all the members of "Team Ranma,"
including Nabiki, headed off to school. It was another hot
morning. Every day seemed hot lately.

"You is so right Ranma," Shampoo-kun agreed as he and
Ranma-chan trudged onward.

"If you two went in with the right attitude you'd have a
better time" Akane reprimanded the duo. They were always
like this before school. And during school, and after
school...

"I don't think so," Ranma-chan quickly replied.

Just as Akane was about to move in for a more animated
conversation Shampoo-kun seemed to magically appear between
the duo, heading off any further 'discussions.' The rest of
the journey took on a more normal tone as they approached
the school. Once they arrived the day went from normal
to typical. All the students had gathered outside the walls
of the school. A good distance from the walls actually,
looking at them in fear. Hiroshi and Diasuke were wearing
combat helmets and keeping low to the ground, as were most
of the other students. Kunou was the exception, standing
boldly at the front of the pack. Several explosions
emanated from behind the wall on the school grounds
themselves.

"Oh. It's gonna be one of 'those' kind of days, isn't it?"
Ranma-chan said to no one in particular.

Ukyou decided to get to the bottom of things. "What's going
on?"

Hiroshi stepped forward and answered, "Cheerleader war."

"Impossible!" Nabiki erupted in anger. "If there were going
to be any cheerleader wars I would know about it."

"What's that?" Ryouga pointed to a round object trailing
smoke that came flying over the wall.

Ranma-chan held her hand over her eyes to block out the
glare of the sun as she looked up. "Pompom with a fuse,"
she said matter of factly.

"INCOMING! EVERYONE HIT THE DECK!!!" Malia shouted to the
crowd as she desperately tried to grab Diasuke's helmet
from on top of his head.

As everyone dove for cover Nabiki reacted. "Kunou save
us!" And with that she gave him a mighty shove forward,
right into the path of the incoming projectile. He
reflexively reached out and grabbed it, shielding everyone
with his body as it exploded. Kunou did not fare well from
the blast.

"Oh Kunou baby, you saved us all. You're so heroic," Nabiki
said.

Everyone stood back up and looked forlornly at the school.
Sayuri spoke up first. "We're going to be late and you know what that
means."

Chisa finished her thought. "Haircuts for all from
Principal Kunou."

"Why hasn't Chabane put a stop to this?" Daisuke asked.

"He probably sees this as some kind of obstacle course and
is admiring it all from the school roof or something,"
Akane explained.

"I don't want my hair cut again!" Malia sobbed as Diasuke
moved to comfort her.

Sayuri turned to Shampoo-kun. "You can save us Ranma. No
one can beat you!" All the girls gathered around and began begging and
pleading with him. Even Ukyou joined in giving
him mock puppy dog eyes and singing the praises of
how powerful "Ranma" was, much to Shampoo-kun's chagrin.

The guys began gathering around Ranma-chan as well. Hiroshi
acted as spokesman for his group. "Shampoo. You can protect
us too."

"Geez!" Ranma-chan shook her head. "Don't you guys have any
pride?"

"Yes. But we aren't as great as you."

She grinned at the compliment. "Well that sure is true. I
guess I will protect all of you."

Akane just shook her head sadly. Ranma's ego was never
going to shrink with that kind of praise. She noticed
Nabiki scowling off to the side. "What's wrong?'

"I'm angry," she continued to frown. "My information
network has a hole in it. There's going to be hell to
pay." She turned to the group of students. "Does anyone
know which school laid the ambush? Tell me it wasn't
Quagmire."

"The school's still standing, isn't it?" Hiroshi answered.

"I heard someone shout, 'Seisyun Forever'," Chisa piped up.

Nabiki's mind processed the information. "Ai's sister,
Mariko, is from that school. Now it makes sense. It's a
personal attack."

Time was wasting as Ranma-chan called everyone together.
"All right everyone. Form up between me and Ranma and we'll
get this show on the road."

The students kept their heads low as the party made its way
through the blasted off gates to the school and into the
war zone. Inside the grounds was nothing but carnage.
Blasted out craters and smoky ruins lined the school yard
as cheerleaders fought back and forth with batons, pompoms
and other cheerleader fighting implements. The Seisyun
cheerleaders outnumbered Furinkan's about four to one, but
the Furinkan cheerleaders fought with much more skill,
making it an even match.

Ranma-chan made an assessment of the battle. "Looks like
Kaede's down. They won't be able to use the whirlwind
pyramid."

"You sound disappointed," Akane snapped. "Are you planning
on joining the squad?"

"Don't be stupid!" Ranma-chan said as she ducked a flying
Seisyun cheerleader. "I don't care what happens to that
pack of lunatics." A baton came flying overhead. Just as
Ranma-chan attempted to bat it down out of midair, Capt. Ai
of the Furinkan squad deflected it off course with a baton
of her own. That action allowed her to get her sister,
Mariko, one on one.

"Mariko you bitch! Bad enough you dare ambush us, but then
you have the audacity to cause havoc and terrorize the
student population. How dare you! That's my job!" Ai
shouted.

"Ai you slut! You've had this coming since you tricked your
way past us at the Martial Arts Cheerleader Combat semi-
finals last year." Mariko retorted.

"It's not my fault your school is full of nothing but a
bunch of no talent bums."

"We're a bunch of no talent bums that are going to kick
your collective asses!" Mariko snapped back.

The two began to fight in earnest. The other Furinkan
cheerleaders were having mixed results in their fights.
Kyoko was being outmaneuvered by two Seisyun cheerleaders
bearing colorguard flags when Ryouga spotted the danger to
her. He broke away from the students he was protecting and
leaped over, managing to grab Kyoko and leap out of the way
as the two attacking cheerleaders missed with their attack
and struck each other, resulting in a double knockout.

Ryouga landed safely and released Kyoko. She gazed into his
eyes, lovestruck. "Oh, you saved me."

"Yeah, well I have to get back to the others. Good luck."
With a wave he set off to help the students make their way
back to the school, leaving Kyoko looking wistfully at his
departing form.

"He wished me luck," she sighed.

Ai's battle with Mariko had finally reached a high point.
Ai postured before her sister. "Time to finish you off with
Furinkan's greatest attack."

Mariko scoffed at her. "We took out one of your people. You
can't use the whirlwind pyramid"

"It's not the whirlwind pyramid," Ai stated bluntly.

"We have counters to your cheering attacks."

"It's not our cheering attacks," Ai replied.

The frustration began to take its toll on Mariko. "Well
what is it then?!"

"You're about to find out," Ai grinned evilly, then turned
in the direction of one of her cheerleaders. "How dare you
say Ayeka has big hips!" She shouted out.

That caused Ayeka to turn. "What?!"

"Oh my god!" Ai continued. "I can't believe you say you've
seen smaller hips on a yak."

"What are you talking about?" Mariko was completely
bewildered. Ayeka was not as her battle aura sprung up so
fast it knocked out three enemy cheerleaders.

"WHAT DID SHE JUST SAY?!!!" Ayeka shouted.

"She said she thinks you could give birth to a hippo," Ai
finished.

That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Ayeka
tripled her aura and launched herself at Mariko. "DIE!!!!"

Ai knew what was coming and got out of the way. Mariko was
not so fortunate and was caught in the blast that caused
the biggest crater yet.

Megumi bounced over to Ai as everyone else stared in awe at
the massive attack just launched. "Do you think Mariko
survived?"

Ai looked eager. "I sure hope not. That would mean I get
her room." The dust settled enough to make out two
unconscious forms in the impact site. "They're both
breathing. Oh well," Ai said nonchalantly and turned to the
remaining Seisyun cheerleaders. "Your leader is down. Leave
now or suffer her fate at the hands of the Furinkan High
Cheerleader Squad's most devastating attack: The Ayeka
Bomb!"

The Seisyun cheerleaders took the wisest course of action
by grabbing their unconscious teammates and running off,
leaving the Furinkan cheerleaders on the field of victory.
Megumi looked at Kyoko as she wandered over.

Ai couldn't help noticing her teammate's lovestruck
condition. "What's wrong with you?"

Megumi answered for her. "She's in her 'my heart belongs
now and forever to (fill in the blank)' phase." Megumi went
over to pick up Ayeka and Kaede.

"Who is it?" Ai asked.

"Ryouga," she answered dreamily.

A devious smile formed on Ai's face. "If you like the guy I
say go for it."

Kyoko began blushing. "I just couldn't," her tone switched
from happy too somber. "He already has a girlfriend."

Ai just smiled at her teammate. "I have it on good
authority that he is not going out with Kuonji. They're
just friends. Besides, you are so much prettier than her."

Kyoko smiled at that. "You're right. I mean, she does dress
up like a boy after all."

"Exactly, and if you need any help just come to me. Your
concerns are my concerns." She smiled at her comrade

"You're the best captain a cheerleader could have," she
gushed as she went into the school. Megumi came over
bearing the other girls.

"What's up with that, 'your concerns are my concerns'
crap?" Megumi asked. She had grown up with Ai and knew her
self centered streak was a mile wide. The only reason she
would help someone is if there was something in it for
her.

"What can I say? I have a weakness for true love," she said
out loud, then silently thought, "I also have a weakness
for seeing meddlers like Kuonji pay for screwing up my
plans."

Nabiki was not happy. Today had been a near thing with the
cheerleader war and it would appear to the world that she
was slipping in the information department. Naturally she
could not be perfect, but that did not stop her from
portraying the illusion she was. She took in all of her
friends, (she tried to keep from thinking of them as
minions. She had true respect for them as people and tried
to treat them more as partners with her in charge.) and saw
them doing various things. Her numbers cruncher gave her
the latest figures on the "business."

The numbers cruncher gave a verbal summery as Nabiki double
checked the figures herself. "Profits are down another
thirty percent this month."

"That makes three months in a row that we've been going
downhill." One of the girls that had overheard the
statement added.

Nabiki gave a dismissive gesture with her hand. "We still
make close to five times as much as we did before Ranma
arrived at the school." Still, if profits continued to go
down they might start to have problems. It hurt to watch a
tremendous profit margin dwindle away. What they needed was
some way to inject some more business going. Something to
stir up the population. Things had tapered off with
Shampoo-kun so much that no one bothered to attack him
anymore at school. And as interest in him dwindled so did
the money that girls spent on him. Pictures still did a
good turn, but she needed something else. Something to
excite the masses. A tournament perhaps. If there was some
way to convince Shampoo, Nabiki would have lined up a
special date with Ranma auction, but the Amazon never
seemed interested in members of the same sex. What to do,
what to do?

Her gaze went to her partners. Maybe one of them had an
idea. She looked over at two of the girls mooning over
something. Nabiki thought they may have been looking over
some of the "Ranma" pictures, but as she approached them
she saw it was something else. A calendar of men in
scantily clad outfits. The gears in Nabiki's mind began to
tumble. Yes, that might work. Oh yes. Minimal investment
for the potential of great profits. And if it didn't work
out then she could just sit back and have a good time
anyway.

In the classroom Shampoo-kun gave a sneeze. "Someone must
be talking about me." It was lunch time which meant that he
had time to kill. He gave a look around to see if Ranma-
chan might be looking in his direction. No such luck, she
was talking with Akane about a movie or something.

"Did you get the tickets to that new Jackie Chan film you
wanted to see?" Akane asked.

Ranma-chan looked downfallen. "Nah! I had to stay after
school for detention and they sold out before I got there."

Akane gave a sympathetic look to her. "Sorry to hear that."

Ranma-chan looked even more forlorn. "Yeah. I was really
looking forward to it."

Kyoko ran into the room and approached Ryouga's desk,
lunchbox in hand.

"Hello Ryouga!" She practically sang. "I've come to see
you."

"You have?" Ryouga was a bit taken aback. No one ever came
to see him.

"I just wanted to thank you for saving me today." The same
lovestruck look she had at the start of the day remained on
her face. "Would you like to share a lunch with me?"

"Actually I have a lunch already." He indicated the box he
had on his desk.

Kyoko examined it closely. "It's okonomiyaki. Do you always
have okonomiyaki?"

"Well, yes. I like okonomiyaki," he replied.

"Do you like it enough to eat it everyday? Wouldn't you
like a change?"

Ryouga considered that. "Well, I guess."

"Good!" And with that she picked up his lunch and tossed it
into a waste can. Kyoko then opened her lunch and began
feeding Ryouga with a pair of chopsticks. He chewed on the
first bite, savoring the taste. "Do you like it?" she was
practically biting her nails in anticipation.

"It's really good. You're right. It is nice to have
something other than okonomiyaki every day. I guess a
little variety is good for you. I should have tried
something other than okonomiyaki some time ago. It gets
kind of boring after a while," Ryouga stated. "There's only
so many ways you can dress it up before it becomes overused
and seems dull and plain."

Everyone in the room turned at the sound of metal being
shredded apart. Ukyou looked down, surprised that she had
somehow managed to accidentally tear her desk in half like
a piece of tissue paper. She just gave a nervous laugh and
looked down at her seat.

Akane walked back from gym when she caught the end of a
speech Kunou was giving one of his fellow Kendoists. She
could not believe it when the words "Jackie Chan" came up
in the conversation. It had to be too good to be true. She
moved closer so she could overhear.

"I do profess a weakness to the actor. Admitantly, it is
low brow humor, but it has a certain charm which I find
quite enjoyable," Kunou commented to his companion.

"It was nice of Sasuke to wait a couple days in line for
you," the other Kendoist commented.

"It is the place of servants to obey their masters. Thanks
are not necessary."

Akane walked over and let her presence be known. "Excuse me. Did I
hear you say something about that new Jackie Chan
movie?"

Kunou practically started slavering at the mouth as the
other kendoist walked off. "Can it be you are interested in
him as well?"

"Wellllll..." Akane began.

"It is! Then let us date Akane Tendo! Together we shall go
to the movie." He moved forward to embrace her.

Akane fended him off with a fist to his face. "I just want
the tickets, not a date! I'll pay you for them."

"I would not part with these for all the money in the
world," Kunou stated proudly.

Akane was beginning to become desperate. She really wanted
to get the tickets for Ranma. She had to offer something
she was willing to part with for the tickets. There was
only one thing that she could think of that Kunou might
accept in substitution.

"If you," she stopped. This was going to be harder than she
thought. "If you give me the tickets I'll," her voice
dropped to almost nothing.

"What was that?" Kunuo had not caught what was said.

"I said I'll go out on a date with you once, and only
once." Akane managed to get out.

Kunou was in shock. "You said...you said yes." Kunou began
to shout out. "Attention world. Akane Tendo and I are now
dat...UMPHPH!"

Akane placed a hand over his mouth and whispered in his
ear. "It's got to be a secret. Remember I have a family
honor thing with my engagement to Ranma." Appealing to his
sense of honor was the only thing that might keep
Kunou quiet. Possibly. Probably not but it was her only
shot.

Kunou bowed. "Of course. We must keep this secret until the
foul Saotome is dispatched. Here are the tickets." He
handed them to Akane, then set off to try to take care of
the "foul Saotome". Poor Shampoo-kun was going to have
a busy day.

"We're going on a trip to the beach?" Ranma asked after
school when everyone had returned home.

"Yes we are son," Soun informed him.

"It's going to be great. Fun in the sun. Great seafood."
Genma licked his lips in anticipation.

"I thought we had a problem in finances," Akane mentioned.

"We do, but Nabiki volunteered to pay for it all," Kasumi
said. "Everyone remember to thank her when you see her."

Akane, Ranma and Shampoo looked at one another. "What's
wrong with this picture?" Ranma asked.

"Sneaky Extortionist Girl up to something all right. She
never do anything for free." Shampoo said.

"Maybe she's just changing her ways?" Shampoo and Ranma
just scowled in Akane's direction at that suggestion.

"No. It's something more devious," Ranma said. "I can't
begin to guess what though." As he finished his statement
the subject appeared before them.

"Why are we going to the beach sis?" Akane asked.

"Can't a girl feel like treating her family every once in a
while?" She asked.

"Are we goin' to have to pay for all of this?" Ranma asked.

"Nope. Free of charge. It's too hot and I just can't stand
the idea of traveling to the beach alone. So I want to take
you all with me."

"It pretty expensive, right?" Shampoo asked.

"Don't worry about it," Nabiki said.

"I don't have a bathing suit," Ranma informed her. Shampoo
also admitted likewise.

A wide grin broke out on Nabiki's face. "It'll be my
pleasure to provide you with some. Now I have to leave."
Nabiki got up and left the room.

Ranma felt like pulling out his hair. Nabiki was definitely
up to something and not knowing what her plans were was
driving him nuts.

The Tendos were not the only ones Nabiki had invited on the
short vacation. Ranma, his father, Shampoo, Ukyou, and
Ryouga all traveled in the van Nabiki had rented to take
everyone to the shore. Ukyou and Ryouga were just
as much in the dark as to why Nabiki would invite them
along as well.

"Well, time to change you two." Nabiki told Ranma and
Shampoo as she grabbed a canteen of water.

"Why we have to change?" Shampoo asked.

"The last time I checked, the world's largest body of cold
water is located right off the shore. Since you guys can't
even walk across the street without getting hit by water I
don't think you'd make it very far without changing. Now,
unless you're feeling like being an exhibitionist today and
Ranma wants to go topless as well, I suggest you two
change.

Ranma and Shampoo hated to admit it, but Nabiki was
correct. Both of them poured a little water on themselves
and changed into cursed forms while Ryouga decided to take
his chances on changing into a bat.

The group arrived at the shore and unloaded themselves. All
save Shampoo-kun and Ranma-chan went into the changing
rooms only to emerge a little time later adorned in
swimwear. Everyone was in conservative garb for the beach
as they began to spread out and enjoy the sun. Akane and
Ryouga informed the duo the changing rooms were clear as
Nabiki handed them the packages their swimsuits were in.
The two looked at one another and decided to accept the
gifts as they headed to the changing rooms. Once they
were out of sight Nabiki ran over to a previously rented
pavilion and contacted the people within.

"They're here. Set up the stuff and get ready," Nabiki told
the men.

"How are we going to know who it is?" One of the men asked.

"Trust me, you'll know when they come out," she reassured
him as she herded the men and their equipment to the front
of the changing rooms.

Inside the women's side of the changing room Ranma-chan
opened her package and examined the strings attached to
tiny pieces of cloth inside. "And this is supposed to cover
up what, my navel?" She thought as she looked in the
package searching for something larger, like maybe a fig
leaf, to hide some of her body. The search was futile,
there was nothing else inside. Giving a sigh she changed
into her Nabiki-Wear and headed out emerging at the same
time Shampoo-kun came out from his side of the changing
rooms.

"Oh! You make interesting use of dental floss Ranma," he
said as he examined the short red head more closely.

"Ha, ha," she said dryly. "I see you weren't given much to
leave to the imagination either," Looking over Shampoo-kun
she saw he had on a pair very tight speedo trunks and the
shirt he came in with, the rest of the clothes tucked under
his arm.

Shampoo-kun wriggled around uncomfortably. "It not like
Shampoo no wear tight things before. It just I not used to
having," he thought for a moment to choose the right words, "so much
down there. It awkward."

Ranma-chan nodded her head in understanding, then started wriggling
uncomfortably herself. "Geez! How do you guys wear this stuff without
it running up your rear end? It's like some kind of tight wedgie or
something." She managed to rearrange that part of her string bikini so
it no longer caused discomfort as the duo headed outside.

"There they are! Start filming." The camera crews began taking photos,
much to the surprise of the objects of the impromptu shoot,
Shampoo-kun and Ranma-chan.

"Just what do you perverts think you're doing!" Ranma-chan shouted.
She was not used to being suddenly accosted in this manner. It felt a
little like Happosai multiplied by ten. Just as she was deciding what
to do with the pack of photographers Nabiki made her way through them
and confronted the duo.

"Come on you guys, smile for the camera," she asked.

The light suddenly came on in Ranma-chan's head. "So this is why you
wanted us along on the trip. You wanted a bunch of pictures of the two
of us in next to nothing, you sick pervert."

"Hey now," Nabiki said. "It's not like I enjoy looking at the two of
you. You're popular among our classmates so I decided to give them
what they want. A swimsuit calendar. It's not my fault you two are
irresistible. I'm just a young girl trying to make a living by giving
the people what they want."

"You're a con artist that misleads and manipulates people into doing
her bidding," Ranma-chan shot back.

Nabiki moved closer to her, a scowl on the middle Tendo's brow. "I
didn't hear you complain when I offered to take you to the beach. For
nothing I might add. This is how I intend to pay for it."

"You could have told us."

"Would you have agreed?" Nabiki asked.

"Of course not!" Ranma-chan said. "I hate being put on display like a
piece of meat."

"I feel same way," Shampoo-kun added.

A devious look entered Nabiki's eyes. "I see. You two are ashamed of
your bodies. I didn't mean to embarrass you."

"Hey! That ain't what I meant!" Ranma-chan said, offended.

"Sham...mean Ranma not ashamed of body. I prove." And with that he
took off his shirt and began posing for the photographers. Not to be
outdone Ranma-chan began doing the same thing.

"Sometimes it's too easy." Nabiki smiled to herself.

Over by the blankets, Akane's face began twitching at the exhibition
the two were putting on. "I don't believe this. Don't those two have
any shame?"

Soun was about to agree when he noticed Kasumi staring oddly at
something. "What's wrong?" He asked her.

Kasumi nearly jumped at the sound of her father's voice. "N...nothing.
Nothing at all."

"It looked like you were staring sort of oddly at Shampoo."

A blush rose to her face. "N...no. No. I was just concerned about him.
I mean her. I wasn't staring at anything," she answered quickly while
sweating appreciably. "I need to take a cold shower. I mean a cold
dip," she quickly corrected herself. "In the nice ocean. Yes that's
it. A nice dip in a cold ocean." She got up and quickly headed into
the water.

Soun looked at Genma. "Was it just me or did Kasumi actually seem
nervous?"

"That's difficult to believe. Maybe she was just feeling a little
hot," Genma suggested.

Kasumi jumped into the water and immediately started swimming. Proper
young women simply did not take notice of THAT sort of thing.
Especially when it involved Shampoo, who was a girl and not a boy to
begin with. If only the
trunks had not been so tight...

Minami got out of the car and spotted the group of photographers
clustered around the new models and decided to investigate. She turned
to her companion, Gosunkugi. "Get the stuff out of the car and take it
down to the
beach. I'll join you in a little while."

"Not to be rude," Gosunkugi mentioned, "but what does this have to do
with being an apprentice?"

Minami put her hands on her hips in disgust. "I'm sorry. Who's the
master and who's the student here?"

He looked down at the ground in shame. "Sorry. I won't let that happen
again." He moved to obey the command.

Minami made her way to the photo shoot and examined the centers of
attention. "Hey guys I...Hello!" She noticed Shampoo-kun and the way
he filled out his trunks, especially the trunks. She gave him a
knowing grin.
"Well, well, well. You're going to make some lucky woman very happy,
if you know what I mean." She smiled sarcastically at Shampoo-kun.

"That not funny Minami," Shampoo-kun growled.

"I'll see you guys later." She waved to them and headed down to the
seaside where Gosunkugi was setting out the beach equipment.

After several hundred rolls of film the crews left, allowing
Shampoo-kun and Ranma-chan an opportunity to make their way back to
the others. Akane turned her head away from Ranma-chan as she sat down
next to her.

"What'd I do now?" Ranma-chan asked.

"I don't know what you mean," Akane harumphed and continued looking
away.

"Where Kasumi?" Shampoo-kun asked.

"She decided to go for a swim." Genma pointed to where the girl was
out in the ocean.

"That sound like good idea. Ranma want to come?" he asked.

Ranma-chan was looking further down the beach at a surfboard rental
shop. "No thanks. I got something better in mind."

Shampoo-kun shrugged and went into the ocean. Ukyou made certain it
was all right with Ryouga that she head on down into the ocean as
well, and asked Akane to take him wherever he wanted to go. Wandering
off near the
shoreline could land Ryouga anywhere in the world given his mysterious
ability to cross oceans without realizing it. Ranma-chan headed down
to the rental store, giving Akane one last look.

"I'd invite you along if it wasn't for the fact you swim like a rock,"
she shouted as she went running off to rent a surfboard.

"Why that rotten jerk!" Akane spluttered. "It's not my fault I don't
know how to swim." As Akane punched the umbrella pole in a fit of
anger the wrist with the bracelet also struck against the pole,
knocking loose one of
the pills. No one noticed it land in some of the food they had brought
to the shore.

Ranma-chan went into the seafood and surfboard rental shop, rented a
board, and rushed past an aquarium transport truck with a shark in the
tank.

She failed to notice the chunk missing out of the dorsal fin.

The zoo attendants, Shinya, Fuji, and Kamiya had sat down to grab a
bite to eat at Iizuka's Seafood and Surfboard Rental Shop. They had
been instructed to ship the shark to the new aquarium that was being
built just down the road, and figured this would be the last time they
would have a chance to eat before the trio would spend the rest of the
afternoon transferring the shark from one tank to another. The three
of them had just been served their food and began to dig in.

"Think we should have covered the shark tank?" Fuji asked.

"Nah. Da kids will get a kick out of seeing a real live shark," Kamiya
answered.

Shinya noticed Ranma-chan rent the surfboard and head out to the
shore, passing by the truck with the tank. "She sure was cute," he
said to his two partners.

"A little young if you ask me," Fuji commented.

Shinya picked at his food a bit. "I heard there's some kind of
superhero that can control fish."

"Yeah. His name's Aqua-Velva or somethin'," Kamiya replied.

"Aquaman," Fuji corrected.

"That's what I said. Or somethin'."

"I wish I had super powers like that," Shinya sighed.

Kamiya turned to him. "Why would ya want to have a stoopid super power
like da ability to control seafood? Dat's as stoopid as making plants
grow quick or controlling static electricity."

"It's the only way I can see of ruling the world," Shinya informed
him.

"Actually," Fuji began. "you would be better served doing it by
undermining existing governments and having them overthrown. Of course
you would have to do it through socio-economic means to give yourself
maximum effect. Here
is how I would go about it," and with that he went into a detailed
plan of how to achieve global domination, ignoring some kind of
commotion outside.

"You've been giving dis a lotta thought?" Kamiya suggested.

Fuji shrugged. "Not really. I kind of came up with it on the spur of
the moment."

Shinya looked heartbroken. "That sounds like a lot of work."

"Don't listen to him," Fuji said, continuing to ignore the sounds of
people panicking outside. "The way I see it, you get people to obey ya
by carrying around a big gun and threatening them with it."

Shinya smiled. "Now that I can relate to." The sound of glass breaking
was heard outside, but none of the zoo people noticed.

The trio finished lunch, paid the bill, and went outside. Shinya went
up to the truck and tank first. "Ummm, guys. When we left, this tank
had a shark in it instead of a hole, right?"

Kamiya and Fuji nodded in agreement. The trio then noticed a trail of
water going over the side of the dock the truck sat on and into the
water. All three looked out at the ocean.

"Do you think maybe we should rent a boat and go after him?" Shinya
asked.

Kamiya looked at him incredulously. "Do our names sound like Brody,
Quint, and Hooper to ya?"

The trio looked out into the ocean and shook their heads.

Kasumi had gone out a good distance from shore and began floating,
relaxing, and allowing her mind to wander to many subjects. "Things
are good. Everyone's healthy. Ranma and Akane are getting along a lot
better now. Ranma and Shampoo are getting along, again. So many
changes over the last few months." She smiled to herself. "Including
my engagement." Kasumi allowed her mind to drift back to the day of
the trio's arrival. "Shampoo was so handsome. His lips. Those eyes
that never change. The way he...no, she moved, so graceful yet with a
hint of power behind each step. Such a
disappointment to learn he turned into a girl. No! Wait. She turns
into a boy."

Kasumi forced herself out of the memory. Why was thinking about
Shampoo's gender so confusing all of a sudden? True, every now and
then she would think of Shampoo in male terms, but it was only because
Kasumi had first met Shampoo as a boy. It was only natural she would
make that mistake
occasionally, but all of a sudden it was becoming a major problem.
Perhaps it had to do with seeing him wear so little today. There were
occasions where she had seen Shampoo as a male without his shirt on.
She felt a
little blush at that. The first time it had happened she stared at his
chest for several seconds before realizing what she was doing, and how
rude and improper it was. She did notice his chest and shoulders were
certainly
well developed. Not as much as Ryouga's but a little larger than
Ranma's. Just perfect really, good development without too much mass.
His arms and legs were the same way. They were large, but not the way
a bodybuilder's were. Especially the legs. The way his muscles would
tense up when he would go for a kick when sparring. The way his
hamstrings led up to his...

Kasumi abruptly broke off that particular thought and went to his
hands. She remembered the first time he had held her hand. Shampoo-kun
had been helping her up when she had fallen down. They were strong,
yet gentle. There had been a little tremble when he first made contact
with her back
then. She could almost feel those hands now, grabbing her hips. And
that was when she suddenly realized something. Someone was grabbing
her hips. She somehow managed to shoot up almost out of the water in
surprise from the contact. Shampoo-kun broke the surface of the water
with a wide grin on his face.

"Got you! You too much daydreaming Kasumi." He was going to continue
laughing when he realized she looked more scared than startled. Even
now she was continuing to back away from him. "What wrong?"

She gave a nervous little laugh. "Nothing's wrong. Why would anything
be wrong?"

That did nothing to ease Shampoo-kun. Something was up. He tried to
get closer only to see her back away further. "Did Shampoo do
something bad? I sorry if I scare you. I not mean too." He gave her a
hurt look. There was nothing in the world that would make him want to
harm her. She was his
closest friend after Ranma, and Ranma sort of fell into a different
category now. Kasumi was at least the best female friend he had, and
if he had somehow offended her he wanted to know so he could
apologize.

Kasumi stopped moving away when she saw the hurt expression he bore.
How could she hope to explain the reason she was backing off? She
didn't even understand it herself. Something inside her head that told
her distance
would be a good thing to have, not a bad one, but seeing Shampoo-kun
look at her in such a hurt fashion caused her to override that part of
her brain. She swam a little closer.

"You just startled me. That's all." Part of her felt horrible about
lying. She hated to do it, but under the circumstances it really was
for the best, at least for right now. Kasumi did notice the fact her
heart was beginning to race now as he drew closer. Thankfully he
stopped while leaving a little bit of distance between them. It
appeared he was about to say something further when Ranma-chan passed
by, in the distance, on her surfboard. The red head waved at the duo.

"Watch me shoot the curl!" she yelled, then rode a wave in. After
landing, she quickly headed out once more to catch another big wave.

"Ranma do that pretty good," Shampoo-kun commented.

Kasumi just nodded her head in response. Shampoo-kun was closer now,
and for the life of her she could not tell if it was the waves,
Shampoo-kun, or herself that had closed the distance between the two
of them. She knew her
conscious mind wanted distance between the two of them, but she was
also horrified to learn that somewhere inside part of her actually
wanted to get closer to him. Shampoo-kun swam a little closer on his
own. The war within
Kasumi was so great she remained motionless, which meant he was
closing the distance. It was a great relief when he stopped because
the thirty foot shark got between them and swam on past. That relief
lasted only a moment as reality set back in.

Shampoo-kun looked in fear at the giant fish and attempted to put
himself between it and Kasumi. "Swim back to shore. I try to get his
attention," he told Kasumi.

"I...I don't want you to..." Kasumi started to say, but was cut off.

"No argue! Do it now!"

As much as she wanted to stay at Shampoo-kun's side she obeyed the
order. She started to swim towards shore, praying with all her might
that Shampoo-kun would be all right.

Shampoo-kun watched the shark swim past. He was certain it would
circle around again to at least check out its potential prey one more
time, which was when he would start splashing in the water and attract
the shark. That
would buy Kasumi all the time she needed. Shampoo-kun continued
watching the shark when its dorsal fin broke the surface. It took only
a moment for recognition to register. There was a chunk missing out of
the fin. The shark was an old acquaintance. Shampoo-kun was not given
much time to
wonder about how it ended up in the ocean when he realized the shark
wanted to renew an old acquaintance as well, only the subject was not
Shampoo-kun.

The shark made a beeline for Ranma-chan.

Ranma-chan was lying on her board, paddling, when she heard someone
shouting at her. She looked up to see Shampoo-kun waving frantically
at her. Ranma-chan did what any normal person would do in a situation
like that, she sat up and waved back. It took her a moment to realize
Shampoo-kun was shouting something at her. Even cupping her hand to
her ear
was not enough to make out the words. She turned back to start
paddling again when she saw the huge head of the shark burst out of
the water and snap its jaws shut on the head of Ranma-chan's
surfboard. Its bite fell two
inches short of taking off her right hand, but did succeed in eating
the front of the board.

Fear took over as Ranma-chan instinctively modified the Amaguriken so
she could use it to propel her board away from the giant fish. She was
still a good distance from land and her initial direction away from
the shark was
also away from shore. It would take her at least a little while before
she could make it back. What was worse was that as the shark bore down
on Ranma-chan from behind, it proved itself slightly faster. It began
chomping
at Ranma-chan, devouring in inch of the board with each snap of its
jaws. If she tried to turn she would lose enough speed that the shark
would swallow her for certain.

It was turning into a bad day.

Kunou stood at the forefront of the family's newest yacht, gazing out
at the ocean with his spyglass, captain of his own destiny, boldly
searching the horizon for any who would dare oppose him.

There was no one else on the horizon. There was, however, a couple of
people on the boat that might impugn his greatness.

Kodachi lay back on her lounge chair, catching as much sun as she
could. She was dressed in a green two piece bikini as she smiled,
catching the rays of the sun. Mousse was dressed somewhat more
conservatively in blue shorts and a shirt with long loose sleeves.

"Mousse-sama. Why don't you lie next to me and take off that shirt?
Surely you are hot and would like to relax a bit."

"I'm fine. Thanks anyway," he answered.

Kodachi shook her head. Mousse had been in a horrible depression since
the events of the Nyanniichuan. She had tried to explain to him why it
was all for the best that Shampoo refused the gift (and the marriage.
Kodachi would
have had to act quickly to make certain Shampoo would have been unable
to attend the ceremony. Most likely in a permanent fashion) but Mousse
never saw it that way. So Kodachi managed to drag him out here in the
hopes that
he would have a good time. Though he was in higher spirits now, he
still had a ways to go before she would consider him cured. Perhaps
some sort of stimulant was in order, though curiously she was
reluctant to drug him. She
knew why. That night in Hawaii. Despite what he insisted, Kodachi had
used only a very mild aphrodisiac, something to break the ice. At best
it should have produced a little bit of kissing, maybe some heavy
necking. The result was far and beyond what it should have gained. Far
and beyond. She wanted him to do that to her again, willingly. She
knew if she could get to him once she could do it again. It was only a
matter of time.

Kunou had come to the beach because Nabiki had said that both of his
love goddesses would be in attendance at the shore. So he stood at the
bow, continuing to scan the shore until his eyes alighted upon a
commotion in the water a distance away from the boat. Focusing his
spyglass on it he
discovered what the disruption was.

"My beloved Shampoo is under attack!"

"WHAT!!!" Mousse stood next to Kunou and attempted to spot her.
Unfortunately he looked in the wrong direction.

"Knave! It's out there!" he pointed Mousse in the right direction, but
the distance was too great for him to make out what was going on.

"Give me something that will kill a shark!" Kunou roared in
frustration.

"I have something. I know it!" Mousse started going through the
pockets of his shirt. He pulled out knives, daggers, and chains.

"Mousse-sama!" Kodachi began.

"Not now." He continued throwing out objects, a hubcap, a trident (the
weapon, not the gum), a harp.

"Mousse-sama."

"I said not now!" He pulled out a harpoon, but the shark was too far
away and he didn't have a gun. His continued search revealed a
computer, some Trident (the gum, not the weapon) a pair of handcuffs
and some lubricant (Kodachi snared those with her ribbon.), and a
walkie talkie.

"Mousse-sama. You don't want to do this," Kodachi warned.

Mousse turned in anger to her as he continued going through his shirt.
"Look! I know you have a problem with Shampoo. It doesn't matter. I
will save her no matter what so leave me alone."

Kodachi humphed and began spinning the handcuffs on her finger. If he
was going to ignore her it would serve him right.

Mousse pulled out a "Human Cannonball" cannon, a depth charge and
finally alighted upon the object he needed, a "smart" torpedo. Mousse
armed its automatic targeting system, then allowed Kunou to take the
object and aim
it in the direction they wanted to go.

Ranma-chan could feel the last inch of board behind her feet give way
to the shark's jaws. This was it. There was nothing left to do, and
she had almost made it to shore too. Ranma-chan admitted to herself
this was definitely not the way to go. Evidently biting a shark was
not such a hot
idea since this one decided to hunt her down and bite back. Just as
she felt its breath on the back of her neck an explosion erupted
behind her, propelling the shark through the air and forcing
Ranma-chan to shore on the remains of the surfboard. Akane was the
first to her side.

"Ranma! Are you all right?"

Ranma-chan sat there in shock for a minute and looked at the
surfboard. Finally she collected enough of herself to speak. "Man!
There goes my deposit."

Akane bashed her in the head with the remains of the board.

The shark was propelled through the air in a high arc as the torpedo
caught him from behind and detonated. Fortunately, it had lived in
Nerima so long it absorbed some of the ability to survive explosions
without lasting harm that most residents seemed to gain. Its
trajectory aimed it for its original container on the back of the
transport vehicle. It landed with a thud in the glass tank. The three
zookeepers looked at it in amazement.

Fuji was the first to recover. "Quick! Duct tape that hole and fill
the tank with water. We got us a shark to deliver."

The shark would have seconded the motion if he was still conscious.

Kunou smiled at the resulting explosion. "We did save her life my
blind comrade in arms. Well done!"

Mousse was smiling just as wide until Kodachi decided it was time to
bust his bubble. "Brother dear, what hair color does your beloved
Shampoo have?"

"It is the fieriest red, which matches the fair damsel's spirit." He
allowed himself to fantasize running his hands through her hair as the
first vestiges of realization dawned upon Mousse.

"Mousse-sama. Do you remember what color your beloved," she allowed
the last word to roll contemptuously off her tongue, "Shampoo's hair
is?"

"Oh no!" His voice took on the tiniest bit of agony.

"Yes, darling. I'm afraid you were instrumental in saving the life of
your greatest enemy, Ranma Saotome."

Mousse began wailing at the highest pitch he could muster. Kodachi's
anger at him melted as she moved to console him, gently hugging his
head between her breasts. "Poor baby. Let your little Kodi-chan take
care of you." Much
to her delight he did not move away.

"Hold knave!" Kunou commanded to Mousse. "You are in the presence of
her older brother. The scene before my eyes cannot be tolerated."

Kodachi turned her attention to Kunou. "Don't worry brother dear. Your
eyes won't have to tolerate it any longer."

"Good!"

Shampoo-kun made it to shore as quickly as he could to check on
Ranma-chan. He walked out of the ocean and towards her when he heard a
high pitched whistling. "What tha..." was all he was able to get out
as Kunou, shot out
from the 'Human Cannonball' cannon, landed on top of him.

Kunou shook his head as he recovered. "That was not the solution I was
seeking when I mentioned that such behavior should not go on before
me." He at last focused upon Ranma-chan.

"Oh my Shampoo! How I feared for your safety!" Kunou grabbed and
continued on about his worry. The speech did not last long as
Ranma-chan buried him in the sand the hard way, by stomping him into
it.

"That's for attacking Sh...I mean Ranma, and for hugging me you jerk!"
she shouted at his sprawled out form. She quickly walked over to
Ryouga and his backpack, rifled through it over the lost one's
protests, and found a coil
of rope. She then proceeded to tie Kunou to the remains of the
surfboard and threw it out into the ocean.

"That takes care of that for a while. With any luck he won't be able
to untie himself until New Zealand," she said as Kunou's body followed
the current out to sea. Ranma-chan moved to help Shampoo-kun when a
horde of girls ran over her on their way to check out Shampoo-kun's
condition as
well. Ranma-chan spat out some sand as she picked herself up. Looking
over the group she recognized them as all attending Furinkan. She was
about to ask why they were all here when she found herself surrounded
as well, this
group being composed of Furinkan boys.

"What are you all doing here?" she managed to get out.

One of them spoke up. "Nabiki sold us," he stopped and corrected
himself. "I mean told us you were here for some swimsuit shoot. We
just wanted to watch professional photographers in action."

"Yeah! Right! Try you're here to ogle me," she silently thought to
herself. The way the guys were hanging all over her told her it was
going to be an even worse day. The vacation was rapidly turning into
the usual brand of
chaos that followed her around.

Kasumi hung back from the crowd that had formed around Shampoo-kun.
She was about to go over and make certain he was all right from
Kunou's impromptu landing when the pack of women formed around him and
began to comfort him.
She felt the faintest pang of jealousy appear, but quickly suppressed
it. Distance was what she needed from Shampoo-kun. The less she had to
do with him the better, at least for a little while.

The jeep screeched through the parking lot. Kaede shook her fist and
yelled back in the direction she had just driven from. "You better
learn to move faster than that if you're going to be crossing the
street old lady!"

Ayeka gripped the armrest with white knuckles as the Driver from Hell
flew into a parking space and stopped. Try as she might, she still
could not pry her fingers off the armrest. "She had a walker Keade."

"A poor excuse for making a gal drive under forty miles an hour!"
Keade shot back.

"In a parking lot?" Ayeka asked.

Kyoko appeared just as scared as Ayeka. "This trip usually takes two
hours. You made it in just over half an hour. Haven't you ever heard
of speed limits?!"

"Duh!" Kaede said as she nodded her head. "Of course I have. If you go
too fast your engine blows up. That's what red lines are for."

Megumi finally gave up the ghost as she threw up over the side of the
jeep. Only Capt. Ai, with her nerves of steel, seemed unaffected by
Kaede's driving

The Furinkan Cheerleader squad spotted Shampoo-kun and quickly took
off their shirts and shorts to reveal their bathing suits underneath.
Ai wore the most revealing suit by far, rivaled in lack of covered
area by Ranma-chan's own swimwear. The others ran down to the
Shampoo-kun leaving
only Ai and Kyoko behind.

Ai finally spotted what she was looking for. "There's Ryouga." Nabiki
had done her job well. Inside cheerleader information for the little
favor of bringing Ryouga and Kuonji to the beach. A good deal.

Kyoko started to shift her feet nervously. "Do you think he wants me
to visit him?"

"Of course he does," Ai reassured her. "He's sitting all alone,
waiting for the right girl to pick him up. Now remember, try to get
him away from that group of people he's with. The two of you are going
to want some privacy."

"Right!" Kyoko grabbed her things and ran down towards Ryouga.
"Ryouga-kun! Look who's here!"

Ai watched her teammate converse with the lost one, then convince him
to 'help' her set up her beach towel that was large enough for two. It
took only a few moments to get him to sit peacefully next to her as
the two began to talk. Ai searched around. Things would not be
complete until one
last person was present. At last she spotted Ukyou emerging from the
ocean and decided it would be more fun harassing the chef than
stunning Shampoo-kun with her figure, at least for the moment.

Ukyou dried herself off, grabbed a bottle of suntan lotion, and began
looking for Ryouga, resorting to asking Akane where he went. Akane
pointed to where he had sat down next to Kyoko. She reassured Ukyou
that the cheerleader promised to keep a close eye on Ryouga and not
let him wander
off.

Ukyou began a diatribe. "Why that rotten, worthless..."

"Hello Kunoji," Ai cheerfully greeted. "You actually look like a girl
in that swimsuit. Go figure."

Ukyou stared evilly at the captain. "So putting those two together was
your doing?"

Ai smiled at that. "Nope. She honestly likes him, and it appears he
enjoys her company as well. Are you going to try to win your boyfriend
back?"

"He's not my boyfriend," Ukyou growled.

"Then why are you jealous?"

"I'm not jealous," she said as the bottle of lotion crumpled in her
grip, shooting lotion high in the air.

"I see," Ai's smile grew even wider. "Then you have no reason to come
between them."

"Get out of here!" Ukyou shouted as she balled up her fists,
threatening violence.

Ai held up her hands in a warding gesture. "All right. All right. I'll
leave.

True to her word, Ai left as Ukyou gazed towards Ryouga with a
heartbroken look.

Ranma-chan was getting sick and tired of all the attention she was
receiving from the male population on the beach. She managed to make
eye contact with Shampoo-kun who wore the same weary expression.
Ranma-chan gave a conspiratory wink to Shampoo-kun and was rewarded
with a curt nod.
Time to set the plan in action.

"LOOK!" Ranma-chan pointed to the sky. "IT'S HALLEY'S COMET!!!"

Everyone's heads snapped up as they fell for one of the oldest tricks
in the book. When they realized there was no celestial phenomenon
everyone turned back to Ranma-chan for answers. She had already made
good her escape with Shampoo-kun.

The duo leaped off at top speed, covering enough distance to take them
out of sight of the groups of admirers, and headed down the shore. The
crowds thinned out to almost nothing as the beach became more rocky,
eventually
ending at a small craggy promontory that faded back onto shore. The
two looked at one another and landed on the top within two leaps.

Ranma-chan examined the top. Rocks were strewn everywhere, but there
were several softer spots ideal for relaxing. She went to lie down on
one of the spots when Shampoo-kun stopped her.

"I have blanket." He lay it down for Ranma-chan who graciously
accepted.

"Where'd you get it?"

"Spatula Girl give when Shampoo go past," he answered.

Akane looked at the irate Ukyou with whom she was now sharing her
beach blanket. "What happened to yours?"

"The dead Amazon that lives at your place stole it out from under me,
while I was on it!" Ukyou spat out some sand that was still in her
mouth. "Took my only other bottle of lotion too, the bimbo!"

Ranma-chan lay down on her stomach allowing the rays of the sun to
strike her back. "Peace at last. That was a busy, what, two hours we
had? Some vacation," she sighed.

"You better put on lotion," Shampoo-kun warned.

"Nah! I'm fine." She waved her companion off.

Shampoo-kun sighed to himself. One thing he agreed with Akane was that
Ranma-chan was oftentimes too stubborn to use good advice.
Ranma-chan's blasted ego convinced him she was always right.
Shampoo-kun thought for a moment how best to convince her to take the
advice. It did not take long.

"Shampoo seem to remember last time Ranma get sunburned."

Ranma-chan grumbled a little as the memory returned to her. It had
been a bright sunny day in China and she had decided to take off her
shirt (while in male form) and work out under the sun. Unfortunately,
she had lost track
of time and had ended up a deep shade of red.

"Pop sure have fun time with his lobster colored son," Shampoo-kun
continued.

Ranma-chan remembered it well and held out her hand. "Give me the
lotion."

Shampoo-kun chose to add one more comment. "Ranma squeal like little
piggy when he get hit like that."

"Just give me the lotion!" She had no doubt her father would take the
opportunity to use a bunch of open hand slaps in their next sparring
match if she turned out sunburned. Just like the last time.

Shampoo-kun gave a smile of satisfaction at her. "Lay down. I put
lotion on."

Ranma-chan did as she was asked and lay down on her stomach as she
felt Shampoo-kun squirt the lotion on her back. His hands played
softly up and down her skin as he worked the liquid over her back,
making certain to get every spot on her back and side. Ranma-chan
found herself enjoying the
touch when she felt Shampoo-kun untie her top.

"Hey! What do ya think you're doing?" She turned her head as far as
she could to look at Shampoo-kun. Was the Amazon turning into a
pervert?

He just looked at her innocently. "Do you want to explain what you
doing with tan lines on you back?"

Ranma-chan gave a nervous little laugh at that. It would be kind of
hard to explain why she had bikini lines at the public baths if she
had to use them. Given the hot water would invariably fail at the
worst possible times at the Tendo dojo, it was almost certain they
would break down if she returned with the embarrassing marks.

"Thanks for looking out for me." And with that she relaxed, allowing
Shampoo-kun to rub the lotion over the area once again. The motion of
his hands switched from a gentle rubbing to a more powerful kneading
motion as he began massaging Ranma-chan's shoulders. She felt
unrealized tension release from the expert motion of the Amazon's
hands.

"That feels good," she moaned as she felt herself slowly becoming
drowsy. Shampoo-kun's gentle hands pushed and twisted muscle, relaxing
her further as the sun beat down on her form. "Magic fingers," she
mumbled.

Shampoo-kun smiled at the girl's gentle purring as she enjoyed the
gentle massage. Ranma-chan looked radiant as she lay under the sun.
Her crimson hair seemed to flash in the sun, eliciting even more joy
in the Amazon. She
could be beautiful without trying. The only time Ranma-chan ever
actually tried to look pretty while she was female was in order to
impress someone, or try to get free food. Otherwise forget about it.
Shampoo-kun still remembered the time he had to defend Ranma-chan from
Nabiki's attempts to
get her in all sorts of dresses and other odd clothing to take
pictures. Some of them were cute, but the dominatrix gear was really
over the edge. Though when Nabiki mentioned how much Kunou would pay
for some of the photos Shampoo-kun had almost let it pass. It was
astounding what the bokken wielding idiot would pay.

"Ranma?" he asked softly. Getting no response he said her name more
loudly. Still nothing. He was about to shake her when he finally got a
reply, a loud snore. Shampoo-kun briefly contemplated waking her, but
then reconsidered. It had been a long afternoon, especially for the
red head. He
had been with Ranma-chan long enough to tell when something really
bothered her, no matter how much she tried to hide it. The shark
incident had done exactly that. It had terrified Shampoo-kun when it
passed by and it had not
gone out of its way to attack him. The red haired girl must have been
scared out of her mind, not that she would ever admit it, the pig
headed fool. But now she was relaxed at last, and woe betide anyone
that dared harass her now. They would suffer Shampoo-kun's wrath.
Anyone.

Maybe he was being overprotective, but it did not matter to him.
Ranma-chan was vulnerable now, trusting Shampoo-kun to watch over her.
A responsibility he took seriously. He relaxed a little. This was one
of the rare times that he could enjoy staring at his female companion
without risk
of being interrupted by friend or foe alike. He examined the sleeping
girl's face more closely. She really was beautiful. He allowed himself
the luxury of playing a finger along her lips. Ranma's faint pout was
lost when
he transformed from boy to girl. Not that it mattered to Shampoo-kun,
those lips were appealing in either form. There was something he had
not noticed before as the girl lay there sleeping. It took a moment to
realize what it
was. Ranma-chan's face was relaxed. He had not perceived it before,
but there was usually some tension in Ranma's face, boy- type or
girl-type. Now it was missing. A vacation was exactly what she needed.

Shampoo-kun let his eyes roam over Ranma-chan's form once more. Her
shoulders were broad for a girl, despite her short stature, her back
was smooth, those long, well-muscled legs, her...well, her butt was
cute in either form. That was he realized something was happening to
him.
Ranma-chan may have been in girl form, but it did not matter to
Shampoo-kun. For the first time in his life he was enjoying a woman's
appearance in a sexual way. That was a little unnerving. If it had
been anyone other than Ranma it would have been cause for concern, but
since he was really a boy it did not count. Any attraction could be
rationalized by the fact Shampoo-kun was just as attracted to the male
form as well.

Thinking of which, there was one thing Shampoo-kun had forgotten to
do. He had been so concerned with Ranma-chan's upper body he had
overlooked taking care of the rest of her. If she was still awake she
might have protested,
but since the red head was at rest there was no cause for alarm. After
all, Shampoo-kun would never take advantage of her in that way. He
squirted some lotion in his hands and began rubbing it in when he felt
a discomfort in his trunks. He was going to have to have a talk with
Nabiki about them. They left nothing to the imagination and really
were too tight, as was being proven by the increasing discomfort he
felt now.

Ranma-chan awakened after about an hour of rest. She smiled at
Shampoo-kun who was still sitting next to her.

"You look much better Ranma." Shampoo-kun had spent the whole time
watching her sleep. Not a single moment felt wasted.

"Yeah. Feel a whole lot better too." She held onto her top and sat up.
"I'm going to have to do my front too, doing my back won't do much
good if I don't do the other side."

Shampoo-kun nodded his head in agreement.

Ranma-chan shook her head. Shampoo-kun was not getting the message.
"I'd like some privacy."

His eyebrows shot up. "You never modest around me before."

"Well," Ranma-chan squirmed a little. "After being leered at all day,
I'd be kind of uncomfortable, even if it is only you."

Shampoo-kun gave an inaudible sigh and moved off a little way. "I
stick around and keep watch. Make sure no one disturb. That all
right?"

"Yeah. I appreciate it. Just don't look." As she lotioned up and lay
back she was a little surprised. Maybe it was because she was in a
public place, but it was unusual that she would feel so uncomfortable
with only Shampoo-kun around. After all, he really was a girl and
Ranma-chan was not really a girl, so her state of dress shouldn't
matter that much.

After another hour, the duo made their way back to the main beach just
in time to see a volleyball game break out between two groups. The
Furinkan Cheerleaders, minus Kyoko who was still captivated by Ryouga,
and their opponents: Akane, Ukyou, and Minami.

"Looks like Akane needs help if that's all the support she's got."
Ranma-chan said and rushed over to help out.

"I going to grab something to eat." Shampoo-kun made his way over to
where the remaining Tendos and Genma were sitting and sat down next to
Kasumi. "Anything left to eat?"

Kasumi smiled. She was over whatever had affected her earlier in the
day. "Yes. I saved some for both of us."

"You not have to wait for me." Shampoo-kun was flattered that Kasumi
would wait just for him.

"I wasn't hungry then," she said as she opened some containers that
she had saved some food in. It was a struggle to keep Genma from
eating everything until the others had a chance to dine. She gave
Shampoo-kun a plate then helped herself to some of he food. With the
first bite she took she felt something large slide down her throat,
causing her to gag slightly.

Shampoo-kun looked on in concern. "Is you all right?"

Kasumi turned to answer him. When her eyes landed upon him all of the
logic portions of her mind shut down momentarily. A new flood of
emotions welled up within her.

"Ohmyohmyohmy! I never quite realized just how perfect he is," she
silently thought to herself. One other thought overrode all the others
within her: she had to get Shampoo-kun alone.

"Let's go for a walk." And without waiting for a response she grabbed
Shampoo-kun by the arm and pulled him to his feet. When he got to a
vertical base he was dragged down the shore in the direction he had
just come from.

"But I no had chance to eat," he protested as she continued pulling
him away from everyone else and down the shoreline.

"Hmm! That was unusual," Genma said as he began to scarf down the
recently departed's plates.

Akane and Ranma-chan looked one another over.

"Where were you all this time?" Akane asked with more than a little
bit of accusation in her voice.

"I was getting a tan. In private."

"Where was Shampoo then?" she asked, the accusatory tone in her voice
increasing.

"Umm," Ranma-chan began hesitantly. "Well she was there too. Aside
from her it was private."

"I can image," she leveled an icy glare at Ranma-chan.

Ranma-chan did not get a chance to retort as a high scream erupted
from Kyoko.

"What's wrong?!" Ukyou shouted over her way.

"Something happened to Ryouga," she began to cry. "He was putting
suntan lotion on me when his nose started bleeding and he passed out."

Ukyou waved her off. "That always happens. Don't worry about it." she
said. Then thought. " I hope the jerk bleeds to death."

The volley ball game was finally about to start. Just before the first
serve another player volunteered to join Akane's squad. Gosunkugi ran
over and shouted about joining.

Minami gave a wolf whistle as he approached. "Hey gals! Look at those
skinny white legs."

"Come on Minami, you're being too hard on the guy." Akane began
addressing Gosunkugi. "You're welcome to join our team."

The game began. It was not long before the cheerleaders pulled ahead,
due to the fact all of them were superior athletes while Minami and
Gosunkugi fell victim to their better play. Ukyou and Ai played the
whole game as a
personal vendetta against one another, each trying to spike the ball
in the other's face.

A high return came Akane's way. Ranma-chan, having no confidence in
her abilities, moved over to hit the ball herself. The resulting
collision knocked loose a second pill on the bracelet, sending it high
in the air.

"Why can't you watch where you're going you clumsy tomboy?!"
Ranma-chan barked.

"That was your fault you pervert!" Akane snapped back.

Ai raised her head to the skies as she laughed hard. "You two klutzes
make it so easy to...AGK!" she choked out as the pill went down her
throat.

Ukyou began pointing and laughing. "Nice job Ai. Looks like the rumors
about you swallowing are true."

Ai choked down the pill and was going to yell something back when she
stopped as a lovestruck look entered her eyes. She rushed over to
Ukyou and embraced her.

"Ukyou my love! I'm sorry I was so mean to you," Ai shouted as she
grabbed the chef in a tight embrace. "Please forgive me!"

Everyone else looked on in total bewilderment as Ukyou stood
motionless in shock. The shock quickly passed as she began to struggle
in Ai's grasp. "Let go of me you sick bitch!"

Ai continued her deathgrip as everyone continued to look on in shock.
Ranma-chan broke the silence. "Who would have believed it?"

Megumi shook her head. "This doesn't make any sense. Ai hates Ukyou's
guts."

Minami's mind was working on overdrive as she started putting things
together. "Akane. Let me see that bracelet."

Akane handed her the bracelet. Minami examined it and began asking
questions. "Where did you get this?"

"I found it on the ground after our fight with Happosai," she replied

Minami read the runes scribed on the side as Ukyou desperately
attempted to remove Ai from her person. One of the volleyball poles
slammed itself into the cheerleader's head, causing her to release her
grip.

"Let go of my darling Ukyou, you mean, ugly cheerleader!" Tsubasa-pole
shouted.

Ai turned to confront her attacker. "How dare you call my Ukyou your
darling! DIE!" and with that she grabbed Tsubasa-pole, pounded on him
hard, then threw him far off into the ocean. As she was finished a
large spatula
slammed into Ai's head, knocking her out.

"You disgusting tramp! Never touch me again!" Ukyou shouted at Ai's
crumpled form.

Minami finished reading the runes. "It may not be her fault Ukyou.
These pills are supposed cause love in whoever swallows them. Although
it says they are only supposed to work on members of the opposite
sex."

"Ai isn't too picky about what sex she goes out with." Ayeka informed
everyone. "Or as she likes to say, 'I don't have a problem finding
dates on Friday nights'."

Ukyou looked at Ai's crumpled form in horror. "How long does it last?"
she asked.

Minami read the runes once again. "There are three kinds. One lasts a
moment, another a day, and the last a lifetime."

"Which one did she swallow?" Ukyou was desperate to know. She was
certain it must have been the lifetime. It would be just her luck.

"Can't tell," Minami said as she scratched her head. "One of them was
already missing." She pulled the last pill off the bracelet. "Only one
way of finding out," and she threw it in her mouth.

"Are you crazy?!" Ranma-chan shouted as Minami turned to the sound of
her voice as a lustful gaze entered the ghost sweeper's eyes.

"Oh Shampoo! You are so pretty." She began to approach Ranma-chan,
causing great fear within the young martial artist.

"Wait Minami! I thought you only liked guys," Ranma-chan said as she
warded off Minami.

"But I know your secret, so it doesn't make any difference to me," she
replied.

That was all it took for Ranma-chan's nerves to snap. She tried to
leap away but was snagged out of mid-air by a magical force and
returned to Minami's grasp. The ghost sweeper made an attempt to kiss
Ranma-chan. Just
as she was about to land a big kiss on her lips the ghost sweeper
broke out laughing.

Ranma-chan pulled out of her grasp and pointed an accusatory finger at
her. "What's so funny?"

"You should have seen the look on your face. You're so gullible," she
managed to choke out.

"But I thought you ate the pill," Akane said as she walked over to
Ranma-chan.

"Oh right! Like I'm that stupid. It's still in my mouth. See?" she
opened her mouth to show the pill still on it.

Akane shook her head. "That's the sort of thing I'd expect you to
pull," she said to Ranma-chan.

"That was funny Minami," Gosunkugi said as he slapped her in the back,
with the predictable result of causing her to swallow the pill for
real this time.

Minami spun in fury upon Gosunkugi. The anger only lasted a moment as
her hate became love. "You are so handsome Hikaru."

Gosunkugi chucked at that. "That's pretty convincing. You should
become an actress."

Minami decided to convince him further by embracing him and giving him
a deep passionate kiss. A huge smile creased his face as he passed out
and hit the ground. The lovestruck look left Minami's eyes as soon as
his head made contact with the ground

"What's going on?" she asked.

"You kissed Gosunkugi ya' dumb ghost sweeper," Ranma-chan stated
flatly. She was not pleased with Minami's behavior and was saddened it
was not the lifetime pill she had swallowed.

Minami examined Gosunkugi's form. His eyes were still open and the
smile remained on his face. "It looks like he died happy. Nice to see
I haven't lost my touch." She primped her hair a bit.

"His chest is still moving," Akane informed her.

"Well, at least he'll never leave my side now." Minami shrugged.
"It'll be nice having my own personal servant. Not that he wasn't
before."

"What about her?" Ukyou pointed to Ai's form.

"She's either going to love you for a day or an eternity. There's also
one other problem. There is still one other pill out there. It's far
too dangerous to leave lying around. We'd better find it before it
falls into
the wrong hands.

Everyone began sifting through the sands for the pill.

Kasumi had snuggled herself under Shampoo-kun's arm, much to the
Amazon's frustration. All day Kasumi had been acting strangely, and
now was the absolute worst. He had no idea of what to do with her. The
two had traveled out of sight of any other people and were near the
barren area Shampoo-kun and Ranma-chan had been to earlier. He hoped
she would reveal the cause of her odd behavior soon.

Kasumi sighed contentedly. Never in her entire life had she felt this
wonderful. This satisfied. It was as though her eyes had been opened
for the first time to what she truly wanted in life. She was with the
man she loved, beyond any doubt. For her, that was all that was
needed. Almost all.
What they required now was some privacy. Real privacy so they could do
what young couples that loved each other do next. Her eyes found the
very thing she was looking for.

"Look there. A sea cave. Let's go in!" She once again dragged
Shampoo-kun along into the cave. It was a large grotto that admitted
the ocean's waves to crash near the entrance. The roar of the ocean
was almost deafening as
the two crawled over some rocks and made their way back into the cave,
out of the outer world's sight.

Shampoo-kun removed himself from Kasumi's grasp and turned directly
across from her for a confrontation. "What going on Kasumi? Why you
drag me out here?"

Kasumi blushed. She had never been this aggressive in anything before.
"We needed some privacy."

Shampoo-kun nodded his head. He had figured as much. Now the question
remained of why they needed privacy. It must have been pretty serious
if Kasumi wanted him out here. He watched her intently as she moved
towards him. There was an almost alien look in Kasumi's eyes. If he
did not know
any better he would have sworn it was a predatory gleam.

She stood directly in front of him and looked deep into his eyes,
bringing her hand up to gently cradle his face. She leaned forward
even as Shampoo-kun's eyes widened in surprise as he felt her gentle
breath on his face. It took her a moment to remember the words she had
learned when
trying to understand her new housemate's language. At last the
expression came to her.

"Wo ai ni."

Consciousness left Shampoo-kun at that moment.

Consciousness returned. Shampoo-kun focused his eyes on Kasumi crying
over him. He sat up and placed a hand on her shoulder to ease her.
What a horrible dream he had. In it, he and Kasumi were in a cave at
the beach and she had said...

Then his eyes focused on his whereabouts. It was no dream. He was
still in the cave at the beach and Kasumi was still there. The tears
in her eyes were drying up as she seemed to regain some control.

"I was so worried about you," she sobbed. "You just collapsed and I
was afraid you had died or something. I don't know what I'd do without
you."

She began sniffling again as she was going to cry once more.
Shampoo-kun reflexively embraced her to comfort her when he froze up.
That was not the right move to make, as was readily apparent when she
returned the embrace
and did not let go. He gently forced apart her fingers and moved away
from her. Explanations were needed.

"Why you say what you say Kasumi? Is just a joke, yes?" He prayed to
every god imaginable it was a joke. A poor, horribly stupid joke.

"No. I would never joke about something like that. I love you."

Shampoo-kun stopped her before she could say more. "But I really a
girl. You know that."

Kasumi nodded her head. "Of course. It doesn't matter. When true love
is involved anything is possible."

As she moved forward Shampoo-kun darted back. The hurt expression she
gave cut him to the core. "What's wrong? Don't you think I'm pretty?"
she asked, hope mixed with fear in her eyes.

Shampoo-kun looked at that face. He knew what he should say, but could
not bring himself to do it. "You is very pretty," he answered softly.

"Don't you like me?"

Shampoo-kun nodded his head. He knew he should be shaking it no, but
again he could not bring himself to do that either. "Yes. I like you."

"Well I love you," she said. "You are the man I've been waiting for my
entire life. It wasn't easy. I saved myself for the one man who would
win my heart. The one person with whom I knew I could happily spend my
entire life with. I was afraid I might never find him, but now I have.
I now know beyond a shadow of a doubt you are, now and forever, the
only one for me. I want us to..."

"NO!!!" Shampoo-kun did not want this. He did not want her to like him
this way. He could hear the hammering of his heart in his ears it was
pumping so powerfully. Perfume trying to run him through was less
nerve wracking that
what was occurring now. He considered running away when Kasumi moved
forward in an attempt to get closer to him. As she did that her ankle
caught between two rocks and she began to fall over. Shampoo-kun
darted forward in an effort to keep her falling. He managed to
maneuver himself
under her, but was unable to brace himself for the force of the
impact. He fell backward onto the ground with Kasumi on top of him.

"Are you all right?" she asked concern etched on her face. Shampoo-kun
nodded in response. "Thank goodness," Kasumi said, then moved her face
closer to his.

Shampoo-kun felt real panic rise from within. He should push her off
and run away, but part of him refused to go as he felt his own resolve
weaken. Kasumi really was beautiful. Was it so wrong to have someone
like her love
him? He cared about her deeply, why should he not return the
affection? Ranma never showed him emotions like that. He cared, but
did not ever tell Shampoo-kun that he loved him, and that was what the
Amazon wanted to hear.
Now there was a girl before him, the most caring person he had ever
met, that had just pledged her undying love for him. The words of
caring felt so good. He had wanted to hear such words his entire life,
and now they had
been spoken to him. What sort of person was he to hear those words and
complain about them?

Kasumi moved her lips closer to his. Earlier in the day he had
admitted he was attracted to Ranma as a girl, so that meant he could
be attracted to another woman. Kasumi's body felt so good. Her flesh
on his flesh. Her breasts pushing against the thin fabric of her suit,
and that fabric
pressed against him. The soft feel of her breath that tickled across
the tiny hairs underneath his chin. It would be so easy to lose
himself in those eyes of hers. Those deep brown eyes that seemed to
care about everything in the world. He had so wanted to invite the
caress of lips that
loved him.

He felt her lips brush against his as she kissed him full in the lips.
For the briefest of moments he responded. His lips pressed back as he
embraced her. It would be so easy to let go, to release his
inhibitions and give way
to that feeling which his body craved, but he would not do it. He had
to resist. He stopped kissing back moments before Kasumi broke off the
kiss herself. For one that was inexperienced she did it so very well.

Now there was only one chance left. His resistance would not last
under another assault like that and he was frightened at what would
happen if he could not leave now. He put all his effort into speaking,
his voice coming
out softly with what strength remained. "Kasumi. If you love me, let
me go. I not ready for this. Please!" he softly gasped. Pleading with
her was all he had left. If she did not move, he was not going to be
able to either,
though part of him unquestionably wanted her to stay. To repeat the
action she had just done over and over again. To lose a part of
himself to her. It would be so easy just to do what would come
naturally.

She looked at him with the gentlest of gazes, understanding in her
eyes. "Of course. I'm sorry. We can take it slower." She raised
herself up and tried to stand, but the ankle she twisted caused too
much pain. She sat down next to Shampoo-kun.

Concern for Kasumi came naturally as Shampoo-kun examined her foot.
After a few experimental movements he gave his verdict. A sprain.
Since there was no way she could even stand on her foot, let alone
walk the two miles back
to the others, Shampoo-kun did the only thing he could do. He picked
her up and carried her. She rested her head against his chest as they
made their way back, bliss written across her face.

As the couple walked back to the others, Shampoo-kun had a chance to
calm down. Once both the initial shock and heat generated by the
moment had passed he began to think more clearly, though the attention
Kasumi gave him as she alternated between playing her fingers along
his chest and nibbling on his ear did not help. He managed to tolerate
the attention while concentrating on what his feelings on the matter
were. He did not want a woman's affections, even Kasumi's. His tastes
did not run that way and never had. Still, and he hated it admit it,
the idea was not as appalling as it once was. A shudder of discomfort
ran through him as he realized that this might be what was meant by
accepting a curse, but that did not seem
accurate either. He still wanted a cure more than anything in the
world. Almost more than anything else.

There was also one other very important reason he could not accept
Kasumi's declaration of love. He wanted Ranma. Ranma was the one that
excited him. He was the one Shampoo dreamed about, and it was always
when Ranma was male
and Shampoo was female. Always. Still, something had to be done about
Kasumi. He could never bring himself to hurt her. Shampoo-kun owed too
much and there was genuine affection for her, just not the way she
wanted.

All other thoughts had to be put aside as the pair made their way back
to the others. Already Shampoo-kun could see there was a large amount
of activity on the beach. He knew something had to be done about
Kasumi, and soon, but this was neither the time nor place. They had
almost made it to
the others when he realized Kasumi was still nibbling on his ear, not
an unpleasant feeling, but the action would be difficult to explain.

"You have to stop doing that," Shampoo-kun explained.

"Why?"

What Shampoo-kun wanted to say was because he did not love her, but
still could not bring himself to articulate it. Instead what came out
was, "Because we should leave it as a surprise."

"But I want to tell everyone. Father would be so excited!" she
exclaimed.

That caused Shampoo-kun to involuntarily flinch. Soun Tendo was a
strange man. There probably was a chance he would be ecstatic that he
married off another daughter, especially to a martial artist that was
well versed in the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts. A sudden
vision of Soun bawling his eyes out at Shampoo-kun and Kasumi's
wedding came to him. That vision was quickly blotted out by the
realization that the more likely reaction would be for Soun to go
demon form and strike Shampoo-kun dead on the spot.
Definitely the worse of the two scenarios. Luckily for him Kasumi
ceased her actions.

Akane and Ranma-chan looked up from their search as they spotted
Shampoo-kun and Kasumi return.

"What's wrong?" Akane asked as she took note of her sister in
Shampoo-kun's arms.

Shampoo-kun answered for fear of what Kasumi might blurt out. "Kasumi
sprain her ankle. I help her back." He quickly tried to change the
subject. "Why is everyone looking through sand?"

"We're trying to find a magic pill that fell off of Akane's bracelet."
Ranma-chan continued on, explaining the situation. A huge grin
appeared on Shampoo-kun's face.

"Where Minami?" Shampoo-kun asked. Ranma-chan pointed in the direction
of the ghost sweeper. Shampoo-kun rushed over with Kasumi still in his
grip and confronted Minami. "We need to talk private. I know where the
last pill
is."

Minami went into her bag and pulled out a statue. The trio made their
way to a pavilion and Minami placed the statue in the middle. "We're
now invisible and silent to the outside world. We can look and hear
outside the barrier, but no one can look in."

Shampoo-kun released Kasumi who immediately went to holding his hand.
Minami understood in an instant. "So, Kasumi ate the last one and fell
in love with you. This isn't good. I want to try something." The ghost
sweeper picked up a glass of water and heated, splashing the contents
on Shampoo-kun who changed. "Now, how do you feel about him?" she
asked
Kasumi.

Kasumi looked confusedly at Shampoo as the Amazon covered her now
revealed breasts. "I know he's still Shampoo, but things feel
different."

Minami clapped her hands. "That was easier than I expected. As long as
you don't turn into a guy she won't be attracted to you."

Kasumi shook her head. "Oh no. I still love Shampoo. He's the only one
I could ever love."

Minami looked disappointed. "Okay. We'll have to try something else.
Maybe wait a day and the problem will take care of itself."

"And if it the lifetime pill?" Shampoo asked.

"Ukyou will be a very happy gal," Minami said. "How do you feel about
same sex marriages, or almost the same in your case?"

Shampoo shook her head in response.

Minami suddenly became very serious. "I'm at a loss then. I'm not sure
what can be done."

"Can you break the spell?" Shampoo asked.

Minami held up the empty bracelet. "This is old magic. Powerful stuff.
I'm not sure it can be broken. Certainly not by me."

"I don't want it broken," Kasumi interrupted, "I love Shampoo, and if
I can't have him," her voice became very soft, "then I won't have
anyone."

"You're more right about that than you think." Minami explained. "I'm
certain you can't fall for anyone else while under the effects of the
pill. I'm afraid you might be looking at a lifetime of loneliness.
Sorry."

"You mean I'll be alone?" Tears began to form in Kasumi's eyes.
"Forever?"

Kasumi felt a hand touch her face. Shampoo's hand. "You not be alone.
I won't let you."

Minami looked at the purple haired Amazon carefully. "You do realize
what your saying, don't you? If it's the lifetime pill?"

Shampoo looked down to the ground and nodded her head. "I promise."

Kasumi gave a soft squeal of delight and embraced her. Shampoo did not
return the hold, but continued to look at the ground.

Minami decided to try to lighten the mood. "Look. This might all be
for nothing. It could be she'll only have this for a day, and even if
it isn't, there might be a way to break it. There's a magic convention
in Bolivia in
a few days. I was planning to go with my father anyway, so I'll show
the bracelet around. One of the folks there has got to know of a way
to break the enchantment. Heck, they'll take it as a challenge. I'm
sure the effect
can at least be watered down."

"And if it can't?" Shampoo asked.

Minami shrugged. "Then it can't and you'll have to get on with your
life, but I wager it can." She gave a knowing wink to the two. "You
guys can stay here for as long as you want. I'll explain to your
family that you want to
hang with me and I'll drive you back home. That way you won't have to
explain why she's looking at you that way." There was no way the
lovestruck expression Kasumi gazed at Shampoo could be mistaken for
anything else. "I'll leave the statue here. Come out whenever you feel
like it."

Things went as Minami anticipated. When the Tendo's and company wanted
to go home they accepted the explanations, while Ai had to be
physically restrained by the entire cheerleader team to keep from
following Ukyou. After everyone else had left Shampoo changed back
into male form at Kasumi's behest and the two spent time around the
beach, Kasumi appearing like the happiest woman on Earth while
Shampoo-kun tried to keep his spirits high. He apparently convinced
her to take it easy in return for just being held, a price she was
more than happy to accept. Minami noticed there were even times when
the sadness left his face, but only for the briefest of moments. They
remained at the beach as long as they could, then headed to the dojo.
Minami saw them to the door, helping Shampoo-kun
convince Kasumi it would be best to maintain a low profile until they
knew the duration of the pill.

Minami gave a sad look as the two of them went inside. "What is love,
and what myriad of forms does it take? Perhaps it only shows the way
to what our souls truly seeks. Happiness can often be found in the one
place we
dare not look. Who is to say the magic is from the pill or if it is
from within?" She turned and looked at Gosunkugi still in the car.
"Blech. Definitely the magic's from the pill. No way I would kiss him
willingly." She returned to the car and berated Gosunkugi for being
himself.

Shampoo-kun lay on his futon. It was three A.M. and still sleep did
not come. He had known it would not, but there was little else he
could do. He was too afraid of what the future held.

Kasumi stared at her clock. Three A.M. it flashed back. No sleep in
all that time. There was only one solution. She got out of bed and
went downstairs.

Shampoo-kun heard the footsteps come down the hall as the night walker
stopped at the door. There was only one person it could be. The last
person he wanted to see tonight. The one person he knew would come. He
ignored the first gentle rapping's at the door, then got up and
answered it. He could not leave her outside.

Kasumi looked at him with painful longing as he opened the door. She
embraced him as though she were drowning and he was all that could
save her. Maybe he was the only thing that could.

"What you doing here Kasumi?" he asked. "It late."

"I need to sleep with you." Her voice was louder than it should have
been.

"I can no do that sort of thing," he began but Kasumi cut him off.

"No silly. I meant I need to lay down next to you or I won't get any
sleep." She smiled at him. "Please."

"But what if your father come?" Or Ranma, or Akane, or Mousse, or any
other human being.

"I'm always the first one up. I'll be out of here before anyone else
is awake," she explained.

With a reluctant nod he ushered her in. She made a beeline for the
futon and moved the covers, waiting for him to lay down first. There
had been a feeling deep within his gut something like this would
happen. It was why he had chosen to remain in male form this night. He
lay down and made himself comfortable as Kasumi lay down next to him,
her back to his own prone form. He heard a sigh of contentment emanate
from her. He might as well get used to this, after all, if it was the
lifetime pill this was going to be
repeated many times.

After a few moments Kasumi began to speak. "Shampoo. What I said
earlier about sleeping with you, if you want to..."

Shampoo-kun cut her off as he stroked her face. "No. You are very," he
searched for the right word, "desirable, but it too soon. There be
time for that later. You just rest now. You need sleep." He allowed
his arm to rest over her hip as she gave a sigh of relief and quickly
dozed off.
Shampoo-kun took a moment to examine the girl's features even as he
had done so with Ranma-chan earlier in the day. Kasumi was beautiful
as well, though in a different way from Ranma-chan. He tried sorting
out the mixture of feelings going through him. There were certainly
worse fates he could think of than spending a lifetime with someone
you cared for. Worse fates indeed.

Kasumi woke up slowly several hours later. She relaxed as she enjoyed
the feeling of peace within her, as though some part of her had been
laid to rest. She removed Shampoo-kun's hand from around her hip and
sat up.

Shampoo-kun's hand from around her hip.

Shampoo-kun's hand.

Shampoo-kun.

Kasumi went to a vertical base faster than the eye could follow and
almost flew across the room as far away from the futon as she could.

Shampoo-kun had been awake the entire time and witnessed the reaction.
Kasumi had retreated to a corner and for the life of her looked like a
wild animal. "What wrong?" Shampoo-kun asked.

Kasumi looked scared as she replied. "What am I doing here?' She
continued gazing at him in shock. She had been in another man's bed.
Had she...no. She was still wearing her nightclothes and felt the
same. If she had done anything she would have known about it.

Shampoo-kun slowly got up as a smile slowly began to appear. "Do you
love me?" he asked.

Kasumi began to sweat. "L...l...love? Well that's such a st...strong
word. Love? I'm not sure." Shampoo-kun leaped so high he slammed the
top of his head into the ceiling. Kasumi's fear was replaced by
concern. "Are you all
right?"

Shampoo-kun had a huge grin on his face as a large lump formed atop
his head. "Shampoo feel great! I is so happy! You is cured!" He gave
another shout of joy and destroyed a wall to exit the room.

Kasumi stared in disbelief as she looked down the hall to see him
laughing while doing handsprings to Ranma's bedroom. He destroyed
another wall to enter the sleeping chamber. Ranma had just enough time
to sit up before he
was picked up by Shampoo-kun. The intruder began dancing around in
circles with Ranma in his arms.

"What are you doing?!" Ranma shouted. "Have you lost your mind?! Put
me down!"

Shampoo-kun dropped Ranma on his head and destroyed a section of wall
that led outside, merrily dancing the entire time.

Kasumi watched the boy's departing form. When she had awakened there
had been a feeling of contentment from within, but now there was an
overwhelming sense of loss as she watched Shampoo-kun depart. The
feeling of depression grew as the day wore on, as though the part of
her life that had been filled was now missing once again.

Ukyou and Ryouga returned to Uk-Chan's with the supplies they needed.
Ryouga was the first to notice the sound from upstairs. He ran up
there at top speed as Ukyou grabbed her spatula and followed as
quickly as she could. Once at the top she was greeted by Ryouga
throwing open the door to
her bedroom, then recoiling as twin gouts of blood blew out of his
nose as he collapsed. Ukyou ran to the open door and dropped into a
defensive stance, ready to take on whatever could disable Ryouga so
quickly. The spatula fell from her fingers as she saw the thing in the
room that had caused Ryouga to pass out. At least the intruder was
considerate enough to throw on the rubber sheets.

Ai lay on her back upon the bed, wearing nothing but a smile and a
pint of honey spread all over her chest. She gave the okonomiyaki chef
a wink and seductively licked her lips. Ukyou stared at her.

"Ai! That better not be my honey you're using!"

Epilogue

Hayate stood at the bottom of the stairway of the plane as the
passengers were about to disembark. He looked over the itinerary he
made up for the people. He had been hired as a tour guide for several
Chinese tourists on their visit to Japan. They had such bizarre names
though.

The first passenger shot down the steps and was almost a blur. He ran
around the area briefly and finally came to a stop next to Hayate. The
young man was dressed in wolf pelts. The second passenger that
disembarked was a huge youth dressed in tiger skins. He actually had
to turn sideways to get out of the doorway of the plane because his
chest was so huge. The third figure was fully shrouded in a cloak with
the hood pulled up, masking its features from everyone. Judging by the
way the figure moved, Hayate
figured it must be the leader.

Hayate bowed before the figure. "Welcome to Japan Mr. Herb."

Hayate's blood froze as the figure whipped its face towards him. The
figure had red eyes that seemed to glow from within the hood. "My name
is Prince Herb, but you may address me as Emperor."

Hayate tried to regain his composure. "Y...y...yes sir. I mean
Emperor." He managed to calm down. "I have an itinerary I drew up with
recommendations of where to go."

Herb held up a hand. "I know the places I wish to go. There is one of
supreme importance though. We will go to it last. Do you know where,"
Herb pulled out a piece of paper and unfolded it. "The Black Roses's
Floral Shoppe is?"

Hayate told him he could find out where it was and bowed. The sooner
he could take these people the places they wanted to go the sooner
they would leave, and the happier he would be.

End note: Principal Kunou and Gompachi Chabane have joined the school
staff. Their story will be released in an OAV fanfic style format at a
later time. That chapter itself doesn't really add to the overall plot
and is intended as a humorous tale.

Special Thanks to:
Harold Ancell
Ryan Anderson
Dr. Wade Tritscler
Kevin R Wible