Akane Tendo brushed back a stray strand of hair as she stood waiting in front of the Director's Office. The secretary, a tall efficient brunette with a gentle smile, motioned for her to take a seat.

Akane was slightly worried. Her recent promotion after her performance in her last few cases wasn't really surprising. Everyone commented that she would probably beat her own father's record for the youngest person to be assigned as division chief. But this sudden reassignment disturbed her. She'd only heard of the Japanese Special Investigations Bureau in rumors. Everyone she'd spoken to about it regarded being assigned to the JSIB to be a very high honor indeed. Her father wouldn't stop crying tears of joy when he heard she was being transferred to it. The last time he'd cried this much was when he was about to let her go to the US to study medicine...

According to him, the JSIB handled investigations outside the normal scope or capabilities of the Japanese Police. This was all well and good, especially when it came down to tracking down international terrorists and so forth... but it was the other rumors that were bothering her. Rumors of the JSIB performing investigations of strange and inexplicable cases. Paranormal investigations.

She didn't want to be stuck in a Bureau which got sent chasing after UFO's and ghosts and stuff. It was nonsense. A waste of time. She quirked her mouth and crossed her arms, Nothing to do but wait and see, she thought wryly to herself.

"The director will see you now, Tendo-san," said the gentle voiced secretary.

Akane smiled and bowed to the secretary as she walked to the door, "Yes. Thank you."

"Oh," said the secretary, suddenly remembering something, "Please try not to upset the director too much. He's a bit... high strung."

"Okay. If you say so..." replied Akane, a little mystified... High strung?

The director watched her enter his office. She was exquisitely beautiful... Strong, yet delicate features, framed by jet black hair cut short... Her movements smooth and fluid, yet powerful... The masculine three piece suit she wore only served to enhance her beauty in his eyes. I must have her! His thoughts roared.

He was just about ready to rush over to her and proclaim his eternal love, when he remembered that he still had those three other sexual harassment charges pending and he certainly did not need another. He sighed inwardly and tried to content himself with watching her move. She walked to the front of his desk and simply stood there, waiting for him to speak.

"Akane Tendo," he began, "I congratulate you on your recent promotion. Verily your skill in forsenics investigation already grows legendary among the ranks of the Tokyo Police."

Akane bowed and replied, "Thank you, Director Kuno."

Kuno picked up a folder and nonchalantly looked through it, not even addressing her directly, "Perhaps you wonder why you are being transferred to the JSIB, if your work is so exemplary?"

"Er..." Akane began, flustered.

"Very well then, I will inform you. You have no doubt heard about the JSIB's reputation as an investigatory body for the unusual, yes?"

"Yes," she nodded slowly.

"Once... this proud institution specialized in the examination of paranormal cases. Cases involving what the average man would consider impossible or unthinkable. Cases of UFOs, metahuman abilities, possession, spirits, ogres and so forth...

Akane began to get a sinking feeling as she nodded slowly. This was precisely what she was worried about.

"In truth, in recent years this is no longer as true as it once was." Kuno said as he turned to face Akane, "There are far too many real crimes out there for us to be wasting time on the inexplicable."

Akane felt relief, she wasn't going to have to go on ghost hunts...

"In this day and age, it ill behooves us to properly use the taxpayer's money and our own resources to the utmost in the service and protection of our fellow citizens. However, despite this attitude... the investigation of the inexplicable is still an important part of this Bureau's charter..." he paused for dramatic effect.

"I don't think I understand, Director Kuno," she asked, somewhat confused at Kuno's rhetoric, "What are my duties in this Bureau supposed to be?"

Kuno winced as he felt his chain of thought interrupted, "Very well then, I choose to be blunt in this matter. You, Special Agent Tendo have been assigned to be the partner of our one remaining paranormal events investigator."

"I'm what?" asked Akane, getting that sinking feeling again.

Kuno continued as though not having heard Akane, "Ranma Saotome is one of our best operatives... however, despite our consistent attempts to have him reassigned to other cases, he insists on taking those cases which relate in one way or another to such unbelievable notions as extra terrestrial life and evil spirits and suchlike." He laughed derisively, "Under normal circumstances we would've terminated his employment immediately. However, my superiors felt that he could continue to be of use to the Bureau if he were kept amongst our ranks rather than if he were let go."

"I think I see, Sir," replied Akane.

"Indeed. But there is another reason why Saotome has been assigned to be your partner," Kuno continued, "He has a tendency to be overzealous in his belief regarding these matters and needs a mind firmly grounded in reality in order to dissuade him from his enthusiastic attempts to make the Bureau believe in his poppycock. You shall be his anchor to reality, ensuring that the Bureau will be troubled no more by the fanaticism for his belief system. You are to watch over him and to ensure that he does not totally lose his tenuous grip on reality. You are to send reports to this office to substantiate the reports he submits."

Akane frowned as the implications sank in, "I'm being assigned to babysit him? I'm getting a promotion to watch over some loony tunes who watched Close Encounters of The Third Kind one time too many?!"

Kuno's mind roared, Such ferocity! Such magnificent rage! Oh that I would make you mine, my love!! With a distinct effort of will he allowed himself to relax again, his fingers digging furrows into his armrests, "Perhaps I overstate the problem, Saotome is indeed one of our best operatives and seems perfectly sane and rational... except for his stubborn belief in these things and a certain tendency to ignore Bureau procedure. Curse him not for the weaknesses of his mind, for his life has been a hard and unpleasant one. You are not to 'babysit' him as you so quaintly put it, merely to offer corroboration for any reports which he may send to our Bureau."

Akane sighed, "Okay. I guess."

"Excellent. Saotome will be here at any moment now--" the rest of Kuno's statement was cut off by the sudden opening of the door, the latch torn away from the doorway.

A tall handsome man burst into the room. His hair was raven black and pulled back in a short braid. He wore a three piece suit under a black overcoat which billowed as he stormed into the room.

"Kuno!!" he roared. Akane was too stunned to react as the man suddenly leapt over Kuno's desk and grabbed him by the front of his shirt, lifting him off the ground. He shook Kuno roughly as he shouted, "What's this garbage I heard?! I told you already, I work alone!!"

"Put me down this instant!" Kuno squeaked, having difficulty talking, "This disgraceful behavior will be forgotten and forgiven provided you release me at this very moment!"

Akane pulled her handgun out, cradled it in both hands, her feet shoulder-width apart, and aimed the gun at the man, "Put Director Kuno down, slowly, and back away from him."

He continued to hold Kuno up as he finally turned to notice the woman with a gun trained at him. He threw Kuno roughly to the ground.

"Put your arms up," continued Akane coldly, "Move away from the director. Do it now."

"Lady, put the gun down or you're gonna get hurt," the man replied coolly.

Kuno groaned unintelligibly from the floor.

"Arms up, you." She repeated.

He merely smiled and raised his hands slowly, pausing a moment to idly kick Kuno in the ribs as he backed off.

"Stop that!" Akane said as she saw him kick Kuno. Her attention was temporarily diverted to Kuno. The brief moment of distraction was enough. The man jumped across the desk with inhuman speed, his right leg moving in a tight upward arc, which struck Akane's wrists. The gun went flying straight up into the air, seeming to spin lazily as it flew.

She took a step back out of surprise, but immediately lashed out with an elbow to the man's chest that he ably dodged. She ducked and followed through on the movement with a low sweep kick, which he jumped over. He flipped over her head suddenly, snatching the gun out of the air.

He landed behind Akane and she felt the cold metal touch the back of her neck.

Kuno had recovered sufficiently to stagger back to his feet. He leaned heavily on the desk, and roared, "Saotome, cease this childish and barbaric display and return your partner's weapon to her, before I have you arrested!"

Ranma lowered the gun and turned to Kuno, shocked, "SHE'S my partner?!"

Akane also looked at Kuno, jerking a thumb at Ranma, "This is your top investigator?!"

Kuno nodded slowly as he straightened, still wincing from the pain in his ribs.

"No way, Kuno! I refuse! It's bad enough you keep trying to interfere with my investigations! Now you're saddling me with a partner I don't need. A girl no less!"

Akane turned to him, livid, "What does my being a woman have to do with anything you sexist jerk?! I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself!"

"Oh yeah? Well I just kicked your gun out of your hand when you had a perfect opportunity to shoot me. I was being gentle too! Do you think other people are going to be so considerate!?"

Akane burned red with embarrassment at how easily he had disarmed her. For the first time in a long time she lost her temper. She punched him suddenly in the stomach. Ranma doubled over as the wind was knocked out of him.

Ranma murmured from the floor, clutching his stomach weakly, "Good right... okay, maybe you can take care of yourself..."

Akane humphed and snatched back her gun from Ranma, glaring at Kuno, who by now had made it to his chair, "Director Kuno. Sir. In all due respect, I don't think this is going to work. I refuse to work with this sexist pig."

Ranma stood slowly, "... and I already told you, Kuno. I don't need a partner."

Kuno said imperiously, "The matter is settled. I shall brook no further discussion. You are partners. Now leave my office." He pivoted his chair and turned his back to them. All the better to hide the expression on his face as he felt the pain in his ribs...

Akane and Ranma stared daggers at the back of Kuno's chair before they left.

As they passed the secretary's table Ranma paused momentarily as Akane stalked off.

He smiled gently at the woman and said, "Sorry about bursting through the door like that again, Kasumi."

Kasumi smiled sweetly at Ranma and asked, "Oh my, no trouble at all, Agent Saotome. Will Director Kuno be needing stitches this time?"

Ranma shook his head, "No. But I suggest you call up..." he seemed amused at a thought, "Dr. Toufuu to have a look at his ribs."

"Really? Oh my. I'll see to it right away," she said lifting the handset of her phone.

Ranma snickered as he walked off. He found Akane standing in the hallway waiting for him.

"What was that all about?" she asked rubbing her wrists absently. They still stung.

He continued to grin, "Just a little gift for Kuno. The doc loves to drop by his office."

Akane snorted, "Fine don't tell me. I can see this partnership is off to a great start."

"It's not like its my idea!" Ranma shot back, "I don't even want a partner!"

"I'm not any happier about this myself, okay?!"

"Yeah, right. You're probably another of their good little soldiers, aren't you? What do they want you to do? Keep an eye on me? Make sure I don't turn up anything that's going to become embarrassing to the government?"

"What are you babbling about?" Akane asked, "They just assigned me to work with you and to corroborate your reports."

"Hah!" he exclaimed, as though his point were made.

Akane sighed and muttered under her breath, "I really don't need this aggravation, you know."

Ranma looked a little contrite, "Okay... I'm sorry. It was just sort of a shock to find out that they'd assigned me another partner." He added quietly, Especially after what happened to the last one...

"Could've fooled me, Saotome." Akane said wryly. "Just keep your stupid sexist macho comments to yourself, and we'll get along fine."

Ranma glanced at Akane's outfit and muttered, "'Macho'? You'd probably know more about that than I do."

"What was that, Saotome?" asked Akane glaring at him.

"Nothing," Ranma lied, before he changed the subject, "It's after hours and I'm going to get a drink at Ucchan's. You want to come along?"

"I thought you didn't want me around?"

"We're going to be working together whether we want to or not, we may as well get along, okay?" Ranma said sourly, "Look, Tendo... I'll make a deal with you. I won't say I'm going to trust you or anything like that... but I'm willing to try to keep my temper in check if you do too."

"Good enough, I guess," Akane replied as they walked down the hall.

Ucchan's was a popular local bar. It was clean and it had a good solid clientele, most of whom were either cops or ex-cops. Akane had visited it before. Not too often but she was already on a first name basis with the bartender who also owned the place... although it always felt like Ukyou was hitting on her. She did like the atmosphere of the place, though. Relatively quiet, but with an occasional brawl thrown into the mix for variety. The place was hardly crowded by the time they'd arrived. The early evening customers were only starting to come in.

Akane entered alone and smiled at the bartender, an attractive if somewhat androgynous young woman in a tuxedo, who was mixing drinks behind the counter.

She smiled back, "Hey, Akane. How are you? The usual?"

"Better make it a double, Ukyou... it's been a long day."

Ukyou nodded and served her a tall glass of ginger ale within a matter of seconds, "There you go, sugar."

"How do you do that so fast?" asked Akane, like she always did.

"Long practice Akane," Ukyou replied with a wink and a grin, "I heard you got reassigned to the JSIB today," she added conversationally.

Akane nodded, "Yeah. I'm going to be a ghost hunter," she chuckled.

"Could be worse," said Ukyou leaning forward a little.

"They assigned me this really big jerk to work with," Akane continued, "He's parking the car... wait, I think that's him now."

Ranma strode in through the door, a few of the patrons turned and gave him acknowledging nods which he returned. His face held a certain wry humor as he made his way across the room. He stopped every so often to chat with people.

Ukyou blinked and pointed at Ranma, "He's your partner?"

Akane nodded bleakly, "An egotistical, paranoid, delusional, misogynistic creep if I ever met one."

Ukyou frowned at her, "That's not really fair, Akane. You just met him today, right?"

Tendo took a big drink from her ginger ale, and winced, "Yeah... it's just that he rubs me the wrong way, that's all," she thought for a few seconds then added, almost accusingly, "You know him."

Ukyou nodded, "Yeah. Long time now. He can really be a very nice guy if you got to know him, Akane. He's very sweet."

Akane shot her an incredulous look, before looking over her shoulder at him again as he stalked forward, "Are we talking about the same guy here?"

"Really," Ukyou flashed her a wicked smile, "Besides... give him time he might find the right way to rub you."

Akane blushed just as a large waste basket filled with paper waddled up to the bar, and said in a clear girl's voice, "Ucchan, may I have an Amemosa?"

Ukyou merely looked at the can and sighed, "Not again."

"A... a trash can?" Akane asked her, "One of your regulars is a trash can?"

The papers stirred for a few moments, before a head popped out. It looked like a cute girl, probably no older than eighteen. She shook the papers out of her long brown hair and smiled sweetly at Akane, "Nice, huh?"

Akane asked, "What are you doing in there?"

Ukyou gave another exasperated sigh and interrupted the girl before she could reply, "Tsubasa, how many times have I told you not to show up here looking like that?"

"Um... twenty three?" said the girl after a few moment's thought, "But Ucchan... how am I going to be able to practice if I don't do it here?"

"No buts, Tsubasa... change out of that silly disguise!"

"Should I change into a mailbox?"

"Why don't you try something normal for a change?"

"Oh, alright." The girl sighed. She smiled cutely at Akane before ducking her head back in, "See you around!"

"Who..? Wha..?" asked Akane, still confused.

The trashcan proceeded to waddle in the general direction of the men's comfort room... Akane thought to herself that whoever that girl was, she probably couldn't see all that well in that disguise.

"Oh, it's alright, Akane. That's Tsubasa Kurenai. JSIB's best undercover agent. Mostly harmless but very annoying."

"So I see," Akane smiled.

Ukyou shook her head, "Comes in here every so often dressed as something... last time, Tsubasa was disguised as a couch... scared off some newly weds when they tried to sit on him..."

Akane chuckled at the image.

Ranma finally reached the bar and took the empty seat next to her. He gave her the barest of nods before he leaned across the bar and gave Ukyou a peck on the cheek, which she warmly accepted. He was smiling as he said, "Hello, Ucchan."

"Hello, Ranchan," replied Ukyou happily, "Iced tea, right?"

He merely nodded.

Akane looked at him, and echoed, "Ran-chan?"

"If you must know, Tendo... Ukyou and I have been friends since we were kids. It's an old childhood nickname. You don't have to include it in your report to your superiors."

Akane looked puzzled and angry, "I beg your pardon?"

"Nothing," said Ranma as he accepted the small glass from Ukyou.

Ukyou could tell that they weren't getting along too well... not surprising considering how strong willed they both were. She looked at the two thoughtfully for a few moments and said, "You know I think I've heard of a Saotome and a Tendo working together before..."

"Hmm?" asked Ranma, looking up from his drink.

"If I remember correctly," said Ukyou, "My dad... you know when he still owned this place..? Used to talk about a pair of good cops named Saotome and Tendo who used to be from the Nerima District Police Department. Didn't both of your fathers use to work out of that precinct?"

"Yeah, Pop used to be a cop there before he retired," Ranma admitted.

Akane thought for a moment then asked Ranma, "Your father was Genma Saotome?"

Ranma nodded and made the connection in names that had been bothering him since they'd met, "Hey, your dad must've been Soun Tendo then. They were partners or something weren't they?"

"Before they retired," conceded Akane.

Ukyou left them chatting amiably. She wandered off to serve a patron at the other end of the bar, congratulating herself. At least with something in common to talk about, they were less likely to tear up the bar fighting... now if only her luck held and Hibiki didn't show up tonight, she'd be happy.

It was about an hour later and Ranma and Akane had actually managed to avoid killing one another... they talked at length about their fathers and traded stories of cases they'd worked on... Ranma was considerably more reluctant to talk about his work than Akane was, so he limited himself to amusing stories about the bar and its regulars.

Akane winced slightly, still feeling a slight pain in her wrists from earlier.

"Those still hurt?" Ranma asked.

Akane nodded smiling wryly, "No thanks to you, Saotome."

"Sorry. Here, I think I can help with those..." he held out his hands to Akane, "Gimme your wrists."

"Okay," she replied dubiously, placing her wrists in Ranma's hands, "But this better not be some stupid tactic to grab a cheap feel..."

Ranma ignored her last statement. He lay his thumbs against the insides of her wrists as though taking her pulse, his brow furrowed in concentration. He seemed to count something off for a few seconds then pressed down on her wrists with his thumbs. Hard. Then he turned her hands over, shifting his grip and allowing her palms to rest gently on his fingertips and his thumbs on the back of her hands, rubbing them in slow circles.

"Hey! Ow! That hurts!" she yelped.

He seemed concerned, "It still hurts?"

Akane blinked in surprise as she rotated her wrists slightly in his grip, "Hey... the pain's gone."

Ranma smiled, "Little something I learned in China."

Ukyou smiled at them as she passed by on her way to the other end of the bar, "Ranchan, you're getting faster... only one day and already you're holding hands with her..."

Truth to tell, it did look a great deal as if they were holding hands. Add to that Ranma's thoughtful expression and Akane's intent one, it would've been rather difficult to think that they were anything but interested in each other.

Ranma and Akane immediately let go of one another's hands.

"It's not like that, Ucchan..!" sputtered Ranma, his cool facade gone.

"We weren't holding hands, you know!" replied Akane heatedly.

Ukyou merely gave a knowing smirk and waggled a finger at the two.

As soon as Ukyou had gone, Akane went back to feeling her wrists. She murmured in amazement, "That's amazing... how did you do that?"

"I touched some pressure points to improve your Chi flow," replied Ranma easily, taking another shot of his third scotch.

"You what?" asked Akane, confused.

"Haven't you ever heard of acupressure?" asked Ranma.

"I have, but it's all nonsense," replied Akane.

Ranma looked puzzled, "Let me get this straight, Tendo... you're a doctor right? And you aren't even peripherally familiar with work done in proving the validity of acupressure?"

Akane shook her head, "It doesn't make sense. Most of those research studies weren't conducted in laboratory conditions."

Ranma asked snidely, "Is this your American medical training talking?"

"Just because my medical background doesn't take into account quaint and antiquated medical practices best set aside in favor of modern techniques, is no reason to raise your voice at me!" roared Akane at him.

Ranma took one of her wrists before she could object and asked pointedly, "If it's so 'antiquated' and 'quaint', what do you think made the pain leave, huh?"

"That's what I was asking you!" snatching her wrist back.

"I told you, I touched the correct accupressure points to relieve the stress on your wrist."

"Yeah, right," she replied sarcastically, "If you don't want to tell me it's your business!"

"Hey! Ranchan! Phone call!" rang out Ukyou's voice from the other end of the bar, interrupting further discussion.

Ranma grumbled as he got to his feet, "We ain't through talkin', Tendo."

Akane snorted and downed her ginger ale fiercely, muttering to herself, "What a loser..."

The girl next to Akane said suddenly, "Ah, don't worry about it. Saotome is always like that."

Akane whirled on the person and realized it was Tsubasa, who had changed into a very pretty and demure pale blue dress. She was getting her fair share of admiring looks from men all over the bar, "Oh, it's you. Tsubasa, right?"

Tsubasa nodded, "'Spooky' Saotome doesn't really like sharing what he knows with other people. I'm surprised he did his pressure point thing for you. He doesn't like showing it off. Are you his girlfriend?" Tsubasa added cutely.

Akane looked mildly irritated, "I'm his partner, Akane Tendo," she asked, "Spooky?"

"It's what everyone at the Bureau calls him, because he is. He's really into this ghosts and demons and UFO things... then there's the fact that he's a lot stronger and faster than a normal perosn has any right to be... Word of advice Tendo... be very careful of Saotome. He's not right in the head, if you know what I mean."

Akane smirked, "I know that much."

Tsubasa nodded happily, "Good. By the way, I love your suit..."

Ukyou frowned again at Tsubasa as she passed, "Tsubasa! I thought I told you to wear something normal!"

Tsubasa gave Ukyou a hurt look and pulled lightly on the material she wore, "Why? Is there something wrong with this color? Is the style out of date already? Don't you like it?"

Ukyou sighed, "I like the color Tsubasa... but that is still not normal!"

Akane watched the conversation, mildly confused, "But Ukyou, the dress looks really nice on her..."

"That's just it, Akane-chan. Tsubasa's a him. Not a her."

Akane stared at Tsubasa in shock, "You're kidding... "

Tsubasa's voice suddenly shifted an octave lower, "Aw geez, Ucchan, I happen to like this dress, it sets off my hair perfectly."

He tried to drive home the point by giving his long reddish blonde hair a slight flip.

Ukyou gave a long suffering sigh, "Fine, fine... just try not to scare anymore of my waitresses by hitting on them."

"I'll try not to," Tsubasa replied in his deep voice...

Akane kept staring, "That's... that's... that's amazing. What a disguise."

"Thanks," Tsubasa smiled at Akane as his voice shifted back to something more feminine.

Ranma walked to the semi-private booth where the bar phone was. He picked up the receiver, but all he heard on the other end of the line was a dial tone. A pair of hands suddenly wrapped themselves around his shoulders from behind and he felt a breath touch the back of his neck...

The surprise nearly made Ranma lose control... he felt his features soften and his body begin to shrink slightly. With an intense effort of will he managed to keep his tight rein over his all too changeable form... He quietly berated himself for allowing her to sneak up on him again. He didn't even have to turn to know who it was, because only one person could surprise him like that and she always wore the same perfume...

"You know... I keep telling you how much I hate it when you sneak up on me like that.." He murmured without turning around.

She stood on tip toes and pressed herself against his back as she whispered playfully into his ear, "Why else do you think I keep doing it, Agent Saotome?"

He turned slightly in her direction and replied, "You're taking an awful risk coming here and you know that. We can't be seen together."

"They won't see me. Don't worry," she replied coolly. She smirked and tugged on his braid playfully, "You seem to be getting along really well with your new partner, eh Ranma..? I used to think you were so shy, but holding hands on the first date? You don't even do that with me and we've known each other for sooo long..."

Ranma broke out of her embrace entirely and spun to face her, his face burning, "Hey, it's not like that at all! Hell, it's not even a date!" She always did this to him, he silently thought... every single time...

Raiden chuckled. That was obviously not her real name, but every time she met with Ranma she wore a gold pin in the shape of a lightning bolt. Today was no exception. She was well dressed, in a woman's business suit and the pin was attached to her collar. She was a very attractive woman... but even with the playful twinkle in her brown eyes, there was a certain underlying coldness to her...

She chuckled, "I'm kidding Saotome. I know you better than that."

"I don't even like that macho little..." Ranma continued muttering.

"Sure didn't look that way to me, Saotome."

Ranma merely rolled his eyes and faced Raiden squarely, "Let's hear it. You never contact me unless it's important, so spill it."

The woman ran her hand through her short brown hair and gave him a level stare and a playful grin, "Oh come now, Saotome... is it too hard for you to believe I just want to see you?"

"Frankly, yes." Ranma replied. Much as he hated to admit it, there were times when he wished that were true, but he knew perfectly well that she only did that to put him off his guard. The problem was it worked...

Raiden's eyes suddenly turned cold and her voice became very businesslike and precise, "Jusenkyo."

"What?!" Ranma stared at her in surprise. The word sounded very familiar for some reason and the memories that the word stirred up chilled him to his bones, "I don't understand..."

Raiden favored him with a tiny, calculated smile, "You will."

"Don't give me that!" Ranma sputtered, "You could've given me that word over the phone! Why are you really here?"

She playfully ruffled his hair again, "Is it really so hard to believe that I just wanted to see you?"

Ranma sighed, "Are you going to get into this again?"

Raiden smiled, "No need to be so sensitive about it, Ranma..." she pulled him down and kissed him suddenly on the lips, "Consider that as payment for services rendered, Saotome. I'll be in touch."

Raiden walked smoothly out of the booth, ignoring Ranma's half incoherent protests behind her. She turned just before leaving and said softly, "Ranma... who do you trust?"

"I trust you, " he replied without hesitation, "Most of the time," he added after some thought.

"More fool you then, Saotome," she replied in her cold voice, "Trust Akane Tendo. Listen to her. And above all take good care of her or so help me I will make your life a living hell."

Ranma was about to say something in reply, but it was too late. She'd disappeared into the crowd. She always managed to confuse him, he thought, even when she really wanted to help... He sighed finally, a small unexpected smile on his face. The memory of the kiss still lingering on his lips as he stepped out of the booth... Better get some research done, he mused as he walked back to the bar.

To be continued...

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