Ryoga's Girlfriend Ch4

By:

DaisukiFox

Disclaimer: I DaisukiFox do not own Ranma ½.

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Akane quirked a brow when confronted by the chef, she had no idea what Ukyo could have up her sleeve. "Whatever it is...no," Akane replied, not interested in the least to hear Ukyo out.

Ukyo glared and stared at the ground below her; her breathing deep as she was still trying to catch her breath. For Ukyo it felt as though time was slowing down for her and Akane, Akane's steps looked as though they were being poured out like maple. She even had to admit that saying what she was about to say was going to make her choke.

"Akane... Ryoga is falling for Ranma," Ukyo said as her back was now facing Akane's back.

There were many occasions in which Akane would find herself at a loss but this was a step further than the rest. During all her time in Nerima, Akane found the weird and insane to be an average part of her life, a natural chaos that ascended the norm of an average Japanese school girl's life. Though this topped the charts now, it was more lacking in any sense than Shampoo being able to turn into a cat, Kuno's delusional thoughts, Happosai's obsession with panties and bras, Ukyo's over-sized spatula and reason for dressing like a man, Mousse's strange love interest in a girl like Shampoo, Dr. Tofu's odd behavior around Kasumi, Genma and Soun's love of Poke'mon and sake drinking and last but not least all the other colorful characters that haunted the streets of Nerima.

Doing an about face faster than a military soldier Akane addressed this in the best way she knew how. "Don't mess with me Ukyo, I'm not in the mood!" she shouted, stomping her foot down and turning around.

Ukyo looked over her shoulder and offered the following rebuttal. "Ranma talked about him and Ryoga making out..."

Akane felt the power to move, escape her, the overwhelming torrent of feelings crashing against others inside of Akane were too difficult for even her to describe. Akane appeared to be staring out in front of her, much like a deer caught staring at headlights. The idea of Ranma pressing his lips to those of Ryoga, it made her blood boil. "They did it to get rid of Kuno..." Akane argued, rather weakly.

"And how long did that take?" Ukyo questioned, now facing Akane.

Akane felt as though she was swallowing sand at this point. She lowered her head and contemplated the thoughts Ukyo was entering in her head. All this time she buried any possible idea of Ranma falling for someone other than her and here she hoped that she'd have some more time before figuring out any sort of strategy.

Ukyo met nothing but silence and she knew that she must have struck a sensitive topic for the Tendo girl. She promised to herself that she would never tell Akane about Ryoga's crush on the blue haired Tendo but maybe it was just the thing she needed to reach Akane, because of neither did anything about Ranma and Ryoga's budding relationship then that meant that none of Ranma's fiance would be the victor of their long held quarrel. "Akane... Ryoga... for the longest time, has wanted to date you and I would help him as long as it would include me getting a date with Ranma-honey."

Akane released a deep breath and nodded her head, "I know..."

Ukyo's eyes widened and she almost felt the need to slap the blue haired girl. "How long have you known?"

"I just found out yesterday... I was kinda' hoping to talk to Ranma about this, alone," Akane replied, tenderly rubbing the back of her arm. For the first time in a long time, Akane felt truly timid and scared for what could happen.

Ukyo felt her anger die down, it would have been too terrible if Akane had been purposely misleading Ryoga and ignoring his obvious claims of affection. Ukyo had to wonder how dense Akane was for someone who got good grades in class, so she figured it was maybe like Ranma's condition. A great fighter but terrible in terms of being a romantic. "Akane... he's only gonna' tell you what you want to hear, not what you're supposed to hear."

It was then that Akane felt her anger surface again, "Well! Maybe I wanna' hear what I want!" she shouted, tightly closing her eyes before coming to the realization that she was indeed worried and concerned about her relationship with Ranma. Though a part of her didn't want to let go of having Ryoga around as a friend, he was so caring and awkwardly fun to be around.

The idea of him vanishing altogether made knots in her heart, not the kind that she'd feel for Ranma; his were more like butterflies in her stomach. The feeling of having fallen for one another after so many trails and coming to accept their interest in one another and now this new obstacle gets in their way and Akane has to consider joining forces with Ukyo?

Ukyo took a few steps closer and brought out her arm, hoping to seal the deal.

"You have my attention... b-but... I can handle my own problems, Ukyo," Akane replied, still refusing to look at her. It was that stubborn attitude of her that drove her to seek her own answers. Not to mention she still hadn't gotten Kasumi those ingredients. "I have to go, Ukyo..." Akane said her face void of any expression as she walked past the chef/rival in love.

Ukyo stood her ground, she had been brushed off but soon Akane would dawn on the truth and then... hopefully... Akane would join forces with her. Although she had to wonder what was happening with Shampoo, since this moment was defiantly a code red on the Ranma radar.

"Akane... you better know what you're doing..." Ukyo said, concerned about the future events that have yet to unfold.

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Shampoo & Kuno

Now that the shop closed early, there really wasn't much to do for anyone at the nekohaten. And that was certainly a good thing since Kuno appeared to be covered in bandages. His kimono shirt had become undone, enabling anyone to see that his torso was wrapped in bandages, his forehead bandaged with a single patch as well as one on the side of his cheek.

Shampoo, on the other hand, was relatively alright, but she seemed to be timid now. The entire time she was sitting down with Kuno she refused to look at him. Not because she felt romantically awkward, but because she had beaten the living hell out of the bokken user and for a stupid reason at that.

The blue thunder momentarily landed his eyes on the purple haired girl, she seemed rather cute with how she was holding her teacup and staring at the little tea stem floating in the center. "My..." Kuno began, crossing his arms and looking up to the ceiling. "this establishment is rather... quaint..." Kuno said as his hands went into his sleeves and inspecting the room. It was certainly not his best ice breaker, but considering the fact that it was Kuno, it was perhaps his most sane phrase ever.

Shampoo nodded her head, "Is best we do... we get good customers," Shampoo replied, still unwilling to make eye contact. It almost seemed like Shampoo was a shy school girl.

Lowering his head, Kuno evaluated the concept of marrying Shampoo, would it be all that bad? 'This Shampoo character is odd but not as unpleasant as before... might there be something for us?' Kuno thought. She had to factor things in, rather than making a rash decision; much like he usually did. Shampoo was certainly strong now, in fact, she seemed too strong to be true. What had caused her to lose to him the first time? 'Ah! Yes! Saotome's interest in the male fool who stole the pigtailed girl from me! I must say... he does... prefer variety if Saotome and my darl-' Kuno's eyes widened before he sighed and corrected his thoughts. 'the pigtailed girl is his choice, I can only guess he has a long road ahead of him, such is the life of a great man.' Kuno then continued to ponder the idea of Shampoo and found that she was strong, in fact, stronger than Akane, with Akane he could at least occasionally get a hit on her, but never really found the need to land that blow, since Akane had been his first love interest. The difference in strength between Akane and Shampoo was rather extensive. Now the pigtailed girl was on an entirely different level and he knew that she wasn't taking him serious when they fought, and he had to admit that was one of her more attractive qualities. Even then his knowledge of her was limited, that also added mystery to her, since she even tended to vanish from time to time, making her a jewel in her own means. Now this Shampoo girl, besides the obvious poor grammar... she was a joy to be around and even rather beautiful, a beauty that he believed matched if not surpassed Akane's. Though a first true love had to have more meaning than someone he 'could' fall for, even if she did meet more than the needed qualifications. What was holding him back?

Shampoo looked up from her cup and saw that Kuno had been looking down a lot, obviously in deep thought. She probably knew the reason, since it wasn't common for them to be around each other without Ranma being involved. "Shampoo is... sorry..." she said, hoping to spark some kind of conversation up.

They had been sitting there for a good twenty minutes now, and then there was the thirty needed to treat Kuno's wounds. It was a bit surprising how resistant Kuno's body was, but it was nowhere near as resistant as Ryoga's behemoth skin, but it was certainly enough to be able to recover from being sent through a cement wall, that, more than likely would have killed an average person.

Recovering from his thoughts the blue thunder blinked before responding to the purple haired girl. " Excuse me?"

Shampoo sighed and shook her head, she really hated apologizing, since it seemed like she did that too often. What with the fact she has on many occasions had to ask her great-grandmother forgiveness on account of the fact that she could never get Ranma to marry her. "Shampoo is sorry... Shampoo no stop to ask why you was laughing..."

It took Kuno a moment to register what she meant, there was a good reason why he needed to take a moment to think since he received a little head trauma from their fight earlier. "Oh... you need not worry, I understand that I hadn't made my reason for laughing clear," Kuno replied, but she had jumped the gun and he could honestly see her remorse. "I suppose it was rather humorous that you misunderstood..." Kuno stated, hoping to ease her guilt.

Shampoo found herself baffled by Kuno's response... wasn't this the man who bought the picture of Ranma's girl form and was entirely insane since he refused to see Ranma for who he really was? Though the same could be said for her, seeing as she chooses to believe in a world where Ranma saw her as more than an annoying acquaintance that hung around trying to gain his affection.

Was she really any better off than he was? Well, maybe... but still, she lived in a different world and nit picked the bits of reality that suited her best and that was the 'condition' with everyone at Nerima.

Kuno gauged her reaction and noticed that she didn't smile when he said what he said, maybe it was because he was more used to being romantic than a conversationalist.

There was an awkward silence between the two.

"...thank you," Shampoo said, looking back down at her cup as the single tea stem floated in the middle. Shampoo knew that that was a symbol of good luck but she wasn't sure if this was related to Kuno and the eventual marriage that was supposed to come. And why was she having such a hard time just letting Mousse defeat Kuno? Well, maybe she thought it was unfair or something and she also wanted to show Kuno her strength and Mousse would only get in the way of that, so, it was also a matter of pride.

The look of shock on Kuno's face was as if he heard that Shakespeare had risen from the grave and told him that he was a perfect example of a knight he'd write about in his fables. "You're quite welcome..." Kuno replied, nodding his head with his eyes closed.

"My, my..." Cologne said, making her appearance to the scene; quite literally popping into existence with her sharp skills.

Both the bokken user and the chúi wielder both turned to stare at Cologne, shocked and most of all... flushed from the idea of being romantically involved. "I-is no happening! H-he be husband, but Shampoo no love!" she exclaimed, pointing at Kuno while closing her eyes and throwing an anime style fit.

Kuno huffed before looking away, "You needn't worry about me, I am honor bound and I as well... feel nothing towards this girl!" Kuno said, maintaining his composure, but failing with his tint of red on his cheeks.

Cologne rolled her eyes, this wouldn't be a simple process, she knew that honing the boy's skills would take a very long time... and getting them to accept their feelings for each other would take an even longer amount of time. Well, from what she could make out 'But perhaps I may have the order backward...' Cologne thought, seeing the changes in mood between the two teens. "Anyways... me and Shampoo shall begin the training schedule at your residence."

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Kuno quirked a brow, "And why is it my home that must be used for such training?"

Cologne locked eyes with him, giving him an intense look. The very depths of his soul felt as though they were being pierced by her overwhelming power. "Because, I'm curious about your home!" Cologne stated, smiling and laughing as she rubbed the back of her neck with her sleeved hand.

Kuno fell over from his chair, having been frightened and then shocked with how stupid her response was. "Kuno!" Shampoo exclaimed, going over to him and helping him up. Though what Shampoo said did help awaken him, referring to him by his actual name came as a shock.

"D-did you refer to me... by my name?" the blue thunder asked.

Shampoo' quickly released him and allowed him to fall, crossing her arms and looking away, embarrassed to have shown too much concern over the deranged Shakespeare.

Cologne placed one of her sleeved hands over her mouth and chuckled, enjoying the odd but still overall cute affection between Kuno and Shampoo. 'Perhaps this future holds more promise than I thought...'

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Ranma, Ryoga & Akane

Akane couldn't get the feeling of dread to leave her, it was almost as if she was in a dark place and Ranma wasn't able to save her. Had she really become so dependent on the pigtailed boy? Where was her strength? Apparently her source of strength was being taken by a certain 'Lost Boy' and it didn't help that those two had been nearly inseparable. They still had their differences but they weren't too far away from one another, sure they'd have brief periods in which they didn't see each other but that was much earlier. It was rare to see the two away from each other now... they even slept in the same room, since they didn't have another room to give and they didn't want Ryoga getting lost.

Akane sighed and figured she'd deal with this the moment she was allowed to talk to Ranma alone but first she had to get the spices to Kasumi and hopefully be allowed to eat something on this day. Though considering how long she took Kasumi might have just canceled breakfast and opted to make something else.

Now she was approaching her gate door and took a deep breath before shouting, "I'm home! Sorry, I'm late!" Akane shouted hearing her voice echo as she heard sounds of what she assumed were arguing, but the voices were muffled through the walls. Her first initial thought was to see what the commotion was about but once she reached the front door porch she was able to make out the words more clearly and she knew it was one of Genma's and Soun's... Poke'mon arguments. Feeling her left eyebrow twitch from annoyance the blue haired Tendo opened the door to her home and stepped in, making sure to remove her shoes before stepping onto the wooden floor.

Gentle footsteps were heard before Kasumi walked out from a doorway, dressed as a nurse. "Oh... Akane," Kasumi said, feeling a sweat drop come from the back of her head.

Akane stood quiet, unsure of what to make of the situation, that was until her mind sparked a memory and she recalled having seen that outfit before. "Why're you dressed as that Nurse Joy woman?" Akane half-shouted.

Kasumi rubbed the back of her head and chuckled a bit nervously, "I got curious and wanted to join in on the fun..."

Akane wanted a better answer than that but something assaulted her sense of smell and she came across the aroma of food. "Wait... I thought you needed me to pick some things up...?" Akane asked, seeing as the smell of food was in the air.

Kasumi lowered her head and found herself feeling odd, "It seems that I forgot about our other spice rack and I finished making dinner... your breakfast should be a bit cold, but... I can perhaps heat it up for you, Akane," Kasumi replied.

Akane was yet again in one of her eye twitching moments and yet she wondered why she hadn't come to expect this from living in a strange district, like Nerima. "That's okay... but let's get back to the real issue here... why are you dressed like that?" Akane asked.

Kasumi smiled and nodded her head, "Nabiki got a Poke'mon related play ready for Genma, Father and Master Happosai. Ranma and Ryoga were sooo good!" Kasumi clapped her hands together, delighted with the performance of the two martial artists. "Ranma looked so cute as that Misty girl... oh and Ryoga... he was so dashing in that Ash Ketchum outfit-" the eldest sister opened her eyes and discovered that Akane was already running up the stairs. "I wonder what that was about..." Kasumi blinked, clasping her hands together and placing them on her apron; being rather adorable.

As Akane was making her way over to the stairs she knew that they must've gone upstairs. She knew that Ash Ketchum and Misty were love interests for the clueless Poke'mon tamer and seeing how addicted Genma and Soun seemed, she could only assume that the play that they had done was romantic in a sense when Akane reached the stairs she immediately headed to Ranma's room. Though before she opened the door, she heard Ryoga shouting, she so stood there and allowed the conversation to continue.

"Stop messing around with me, if you're keeping me around just so you think being my friend will keep me from being with Akane, then you've got another thing coming, because here's a news flash Saotome..." Ryoga glared.

"What are you on about?" Ranma asked, confused as to how they got onto the subject of making Ryoga stick around and the whole concept of Akane for that fact.

"I don't want Akane anymore!" Ryoga declared.

It was then that Akane opened the door to the room, having come in at the wrong moment. "Ryoga?"

The blue haired girl stared at Ranma and Ryoga before looking down and finding herself... depressed. Akane recently found out that Ryoga had much more deep rooted feelings for her and to hear that he no longer wanted her, it made her feel less than important. All those times they hung out as friends seemed almost empty, not to mention those awkward dates she thought had no meaning behind them.

Ryoga gulped before staring down at the floor, too shy to say anything at this moment. Well, the cat was out of the bag and that meant that things would only continue to get awkward from here on out. The lost boy wished that Ranma would have just left him alone and permitted him to live a life of calm and quiet seclusion.

Ranma raised her hand, "L-look Akane!"

"Shut up!" Akane shouted, tightening her fists as she clenched them to her sides. The blue haired girl rose her head and met eyes with Ryoga, displaying her own set of fangs. "You don't want me anymore, huh!?" Akane shouted, stomping over to him and sizing him up, the fragile lost boy leaned back, too scared and confused to reply.

"A-Akane wait-" Ranma said, trying to be the voice of reason.

Ranma's attempts at maintaining the peace only received the hand, telling her to keep quiet. "I've got something to say!"

Akane took a deep breath and blushed, her eyes turning red as they were threatening to leak with tears, "I'm Ranma's fiance! You're not gonna' take my place and I know what you've been doing with Ranma!" she declared.

"Akane!" Ranma shouted, "You're not being replaced!"

Akane in the heat of the moment shot her head over to Ranma and then back to Ryoga, "That's right! Because Ranma's only doing this because he pities you! So don't try and take Ranma from me... you... you..."

At this point, the lost boy's depression aura was radiating to the point where even Akane could feel it. And that's what she wanted, she wanted to push him away, make him feel so bad about trying to take the one she cared about. Her anger was going to blow like an over inflated tire with how much pressure she had to build up and to her that was worth casting aside her good memories of having Ryoga around as a friend, as long as she got her way... even if she was only shouting because she was angry and probably didn't mean all of what she said.

At this point Ryoga was nothing but a living, breathing embodiment of sorrow. His breathing was even coming in a bit roughly as he stood there.

Ranma was even stunned at the lengths Akane went to, not to mention the fact that she had just revealed her true feelings to the martial artist. "I-I don't..." Ranma paused but then remembered that Ryoga was still present in the room and turned back to him.

She noticed that he dropped his head, the front part of his hair casting a shadow over his eyes. Though upon closer inspection Ranma could see that Ryoga's eyes were streaming tears, so much so that they were falling from the sides of his cheeks like small slow moving rivers.

Akane was now panting and lowered her head, calming her breathing down and realizing now that what she just finished saying, she had to admit it was rather harsh. "W-wait... Ryoga... I didn't mean to..." she said, reaching her hand out. 'W-why didn't I just try and talk to them about this! And now I've gone and... and... ugh!' Akane thought, mentally berating herself for having done such a terrible thing. The blue haired girl knew that Ryoga was the most sensitive of all the males in Nerima.

Ryoga didn't respond, he only continued to cry silently as Akane tried to reach out to him, but her hand was swatted away as Ryoga turned around and walked over to the window of the room before opening it and staring out at the sky.

Ranma turned to Akane and noticed that she was now holding her hand close to her chest, she knew that she deserved the treatment Ryoga gave her. "Akane, all I wanted was a friend..." Ranma stated, then turning back to Ryoga.

"Wait, don't leave Ryo-" Ranma tried to shout.

"Just leave me alone, Saotome!" Ryoga exclaimed, looking over his shoulder and meeting Ranma's eyes with a death glare. "It's all your fault that my life's become a living hell!" he shouted before jumping down the window.

"R-Ryoga..." Akane whispered, once again trying to reach her once dear friend.

It was then that Ranma was feeling enraged, after how hard she had worked in order for him to drop his barriers, how hard she wanted to have someone she could actually relate to and constantly challenge her abilities on a day to day basis rather than a month to month basis. It was about time she gave Akane a piece of her mind, "Whaddya' have to go and do that, huh!" Ranma shouted, turning to the blue haired girl.

Akane remained silent, feeling her bottom lip quiver as she stared at the floor below her.

"I'm gonna' find him!" Ranma shouted, quickly going over to her closet and grabbing her set of clothing and shoes, jumping out from the same window as Ryoga had done.

The blue haired girl sighed, even she knew she deserved that. "I'm so sorry... Ryoga."

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Genma, Soun & Happosai

Sound stomped out his foot and glared at the opposing panda and elder master. "It's clear that Misty does not like the fact that Brock continues to hit on other women, that is why she grabs his ear and demands that he relaxes! It's as plain as day!"

Happosai, while sitting on Genma's panda shoulder was glaring down at his student. "Boy, you're messed up in the head! It's obvious that she's just doing that to keep him from making a fool outta' himself!"

Genma simply nodded his panda head and emitted a panda sound.

"I insist that that is the truth!" Soun shot back. "All evidence leads to Misty in fact not liking Ash as much! It's much more like a sibling's concern!" Sound continued.

"Brock would like anything with a decent pair!" Happosai exclaimed, "Didn't ya' see when Ash was staring at Misty when she wore that one kimono? Even an old man like me can tell they're meant for each other!"

Soun gritted his teeth and stomped his foot on the ground once more, shaking the room a bit.

All while poor Kasumi had to watch from the sidelines and place her hand on her cheek, they were being so childish. Though she knew what this would lead to, a fight and then have it settled with them drinking sake and laughing it off, then coming to some sort of agreement.

"I'm prepared to defend my belief!" Soun shouted, taking a defensive stance.

Happosai grunted and shot his hand out forward, "Get'em, boy!" Happosai demanded of Genma. "I choose you, Pikachu!"

Genma raised his arms up and then brought then down, much like a Pikachu would do when releasing a thunderbolt. It was then that Genma tried to mimic the sound of a Pikachu in his Panda form and oddly enough it came out pretty well. Though Soun and Happosai were much too absorbed in the current fight to comment on that.

They've been so distracted with their argument that they hadn't even noticed the ruckus upstairs, and thus their shipper battle began.

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Ranma & Ryoga

Ranma even while running after Ryoga managed to change into her regular wear. In normal circumstances, Ranma would have easily caught up with Ryoga, but he seemed to be doing twists and turns which would confuse Ranma or otherwise lose him when he runs past something or vanishes from behind the corner. It didn't help Ryoga that he would sometimes wind up running around in circles, making it so Ranma could get back on his tail.

Now the two were running down an alleyway, Ranma trying to grab him with her hand. "Ryoga! Just stop!" Ranma shouted.

Ryoga refused to even make eye contact with her, she was the bane of his existence. Everything he knew and how he was handling has life were shattered, which made him wonder if he was the same as Kuno. They had driven themselves into an insane state of mind because they refused to accept reality and would take excuses over the real deal.

"Ryoga! Just let me help!" Ranma proclaimed, hoping to reach him.

Ryoga gritted his teeth as his tears continued to cascade down his face, "I'm tired of you helping me!" Ryoga shouted, turning around and firing a powerful shishihoukudan.

Ranma's eyes widened before she instinctively jumped out of harms way and over to the lost boy, since he had taken the time to fire his ki blast, Ranma was given a window of opportunity.

The red head jumped forth and tackled the lost boy down onto the ground, straddling him before she reached down and grabbed him by the collar. "Bout' time I gotcha!" Ranma exclaimed, glaring at the fang-toothed boy.

Ryoga avoided her eyes and looked away from her, still lost in his own depressed world. The way his eyes watered as he laid there, tired, sad, scared and lonely.

Ranma sighed and lowered her head a bit, "Look... Ryoga... Akane feels bad about what she said, she was just kinda' angry, I saw how bad she felt..."

Ryoga continued to stare off into space, only vaguely listening to her. "Whatever... all I want is to die alone and let everyone go on with their lives."

Ranma sighed before she began, "Ya' don't get it, do you...?" Ranma asked, "I care about you and so does Akane, you've been around so long and we've been through so many things together as rivals, that you leaving forever would be too much to cope with and if you tried to leave pal... I'd follow ya' till you'd decide to stay, since you and I can understand each other, more than anyone else here could!"

Ryoga took a second to absorb all the information Ranma was feeding him and his exhausted mind and tired body reacted to the moment by sitting up and wrapping his arms around the redhead; although the way he grabbed her was more suggestive than Ranma would have liked, since one of his hands traveled to the small of her back, sending chills down her spine as she arched her head back a bit. She would have fought him on that, had she been given enough time to react to the sensations... but then the lost boy had leaned his chest up against hers, too intimately before pulling away.

Ranma took a deep breath, trying to calm down from the feelings Ryoga was giving her. She took a deep breath with her eyes closed before opening them.

Sapphire eyes met emerald as Ryoga reached one of his hands over to her and placed it on her cheek. The two had been so into the moment that neither really said anything as they seemed transfixed to one another. It was then that both gained their senses and looked away from one another.

Ranma knew it was now even harder to deny her possible feelings for Ryoga... and it scared her of what she had to do about this or if she should do anything about it at all. 'There's something wrong with me...'

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Kuno Manor

Walking down the streets towards Kuno manner was the ever insane sister of the blue thunder, Kodachi. She snickered and placed the back of her hand over her mouth, laughing in her usual stuck up manner. "My, my... I wonder what has happened in my absence, but I do hope my dear Ranma has missed me as I have him..." she swooned at the thought of meeting her beloved Ranma Saotome.

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DaisukiFox~