DISCLAIMER: Ranma and Co. don't belong to me. They belong to their rightful owner, the person who created them. You know. Her.

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I kicked one of Zhang's guards in the kneecap as I watched Shekuto face off against Akane. The guard howled with pain as his leg crumpled and folded up on the ground. Behind them, the blasted jewel sat on a bed of black velvet, the prize for whoever won this round of the game.

We all knew that Akane wasn't going to be any sort of match for the ninja. I could take him on, sure, even though he looked tough. But Akane was gonna lose. The guards knew it, I knew it, Shekuto knew it, and I could tell Akane knew it, if the expression of nervousness on her face was any sort of indication. She'd adopted a defensive stance, obviously trying to protect the diamond.

"Ain't no way she's gonna get it back by herself," I muttered as another guard and I traded punches. "Yo, Akane! Get your butt outta there. They've got too many people!"

Akane glanced at me out of the corner of her eyes, but Shekuto was taking up most of her attention. "I'm not leaving without the diamond, Ranma!" She kicked out at him smoothly, but he flipped and landed behind her.

Stubborn chick. Stubborn then, stubborn now. I wanted to gnash my teeth. In my entire career, I'd never had to protect anyone so willful and obstinate.

"Ain't no way she's gonna leave without it, either," I decided, quick- punching three more guards who got in my way. I wanted to help her, but I was busy just holding the rest of the hyenas off. Not to mention that the damned maid's dress I was wearing was hampering my movements.

I could see Shekuto's face now. The man had a dangerous gleam in his black eyes. He was smiling now, obviously taunting Akane.

"You have been a thorn in my side, Miss Tendo. You and your associate should learn when to quit."

"Shut up with the corny lines, Shekuto," Akane called back. She had guts, I had to say. "You're just a flunky! If it wasn't for Zhang, you'd be licking the boots of some OTHER mastermind!"

Ooh, that got him mad.

I was about to tear off the dress, when Shekuto sent a kick towards her chest that had me holding my breath, but she evaded it by pirouetting and slamming an arm into his stomach. He caught her by the leg and flipped her. I winced as Akane slammed into the floor. She immediately turned and flipped backwards, bringing her closer to me.

"I want that diamond, you jerk!" Akane yelled, then she did something that threw us all off. She reached out behind her and shoved a guard straight at Shekuto, who was waiting for her attack. The guard slammed into Shekuto, and both of them went sprawling.

"Let's go, Ranma!" she yelled.

Huh? She was giving up? Well, good! I could deal with that. Obviously we needed to regroup and create a situation where I was the one who took Shekuto on. Together we raced for the stairwell.

"After them!" We heard Shekuto order behind us.

We reached the stairwell and jumped the banisters down to the next floor and the next. The shouts got furthur and furthur away. We stopped on one of the lower floors, finally and Akane leaned against the wall, gasping for breath.

"I think we lost 'em for now," I said. "I gotta admit, I'm surprised you finally did the smart thing by running away, but you shoulda let me fight the guy."

"It doesn't matter," Akane panted, her hand splayed to the front of her lacy apron. She'd lost the maid's cap somewhere along the way. "The diamond wasn't real."

"What?" I stared at her in surprise, wondering if all the stress of the last few days was getting to her. "It was right there. What makes you think it wasn't real?"

"The real Mogul, I could feel its aura," Akane replied, her breathing calmer now. She glared at the circles I was drawing in the air at my temple with my index finger.

"Its aura?" I snorted. "When I burst out laughing, do you think you'll be offended?"

She scowled. "I'm NOT crazy, Ranma! I know what you're thinking but........look, did I or did I NOT find the diamond after Shekuto stole it from us?"

I had to admit she had. That didn't mean I wanted to believe in cursed diamonds.

"Well, where's the real one then?" I asked doubtfully, sidestepping the magic issue.

Akane frowned, a cute little V between her eyebrows. God, I wanted her. Every time I breathed in her scent, my fingers itched to grab her and kiss her senseless, tie her up, haul her onto my back and stride off into the sunset. And I still hated her. Hated her for betraying me, for not trusting me, for making the last few years seem like a bleak desert without her presence. I hated that desire for her was like a raging fire through my veins, blazing pathways of need into my brain.

"I'm not sure if Shekuto knew the diamond was fake or not," she was saying. "But I do know that Zhang must have it close by. If he does, we have to go straight to him."

I shook my head, trying to clear it enough to think. I'm a girl right now, I told myself. Get a grip. What difference does that make? - My randy psyche asked me back. I wished I had a reply to that.

"What exactly do you want to do?" I asked impatiently. Akane looked taken aback at my sharp tone, but she was willing to explain.

"We need to go to his room."

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Zhang's room had guards outside the door. Luckily for us, I went in through the window. Akane stayed behind, despite many heated protests on her part. Finally, my argument that I couldn't take care of both her and the diamond convinced her. She knew she simply wasn't as accomplished as I was with window entries.

In the end, it really wasn't that hard. I was in the room with little trouble, watching Zhang as he lay fat and naked in bed with two Chinese girls next to him. I made a face. Some parts of my job were just the pits. All three were deeply asleep. I prowled through the room, searching for the diamond. I could hear Zhang's guards murmuring outside.

Wonder of wonders, I found the diamond on Zhang himself. It lay on a thin chain against his chest. I sneered at his sleeping face, neatly severed it and made my escape with little fanfare.

"You found it!" Akane exclaimed as soon as she saw me.

"How can you tell?" I asked, curious. The diamond was in my pocket.

"I can feel it."

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We were back at the airport, which was bustling despite that fact that it was 3 a.m. Calls for passengers and announcements for boarding, departures and arrivals added to the cacophony of the sleepy crowds of people claiming and sending off luggage or greeting relatives and friends.

"I'm not losing it again," Akane muttered as we made our way to the Air India terminal. "Now we just have to find Sir Blaine and the mission is done!"

Both of us had changed out of our maids' uniforms into casual clothes and I'd made use of some hot water to return to my male self. We came to a stop when we saw the pair waiting for us at the check-in line.

The Yzma and Kronk* of China.

"Those two are getting annoying," I said grimly. We couldn't avoid them. They'd seen us and they were obviously waiting for us. They were dressed quite differently now. Shampoo wore a charcoal gray business suit and her hair was braided back into a long, purple tail. Apparently she had had time to wash out the black dye. She was holding a slim briefcase. Beside her, Mousse wore a black suit with a chinese collar, his hair still clubbed back into the ponytail. He was smiling at Akane in a way that made me daydream about my fist buried in his face. Shampoo was staring at me.

"Akane, Ranma, how nice to see you both so soon!" Mousse exclaimed in an all too cheery voice. Deck the bastard, my inner devil whispered. Akane, that blond chick, was smiling.

"Hello, Mousse, Shampoo," she said in Chinese. "I bet you're not half as surprised to see us as we are to see you." Well, she wasn't a complete idiot, at least.

"We've decided it's time to round up the Indian element of Zhang's associates," Mousse said suavely. Man, did the guy think he was a Chinese James Bond or something? I remembered what Sean Connery did to any girl that wandered into his path. Ain't no way he's touching Akane, old Nerima buddy or not, I swore mentally.

"The man you mentioned earlier at the hotel, Kesari Dal. We've finally received evidence that he's the one who handles the goods Zhang sends to India." Shampoo's voice was cool as she spoke. I kept catching her looking at me. She was making me really uncomfortable.

"Where exactly are you two headed?" I asked. India was a big country, and I could hope.

"We're going to Chennai," Shampoo said, moving up as the line for checking in grew shorter. I cursed silently. That's where we were going. Hiro had said Blaine was right outside that city. I didn't want to travel with this pair. Both of them disturbed me in their own way, for completely different reasons.

I watched as Shampoo turned away to hand the stewardess their passports. On the one hand, I was glad we had gotten the diamond. On the other hand, we still had to find Blaine. And on the third hand, Mousse was watching Akane like she was dessert tofu. Not to mention Zhang would be on our tail as soon as he discovered that we hadn't fallen for his little switch-the- diamond trick. I was running out of hands.

"You're going to Chennai, too?" Mousse exclaimed. "How wonderful. We'll be travelling together." Akane had apparently disclosed our destination. I scotched my hasty plan of lying to them and then sitting as far from them on the plane as possible. Why did Akane have to be so truthful all the time? She was way too trusting for our line of work.

It was our turn to get tickets and Mousse and Shampoo moved away as I handed the stewardess the required papers. She was cute in a freshly polished kind of way, with apple cheeks and a pert smile.

"Mr. Saotome and Miss Tendo?" she reaffirmed our names, her smile dimming slightly when she saw Akane. She turned back to me and switch the smile on to full.

"Where will you be travelling to, sir?" Her voice was perky and lilted as she spoke.

"Two tickets for Chennai, please...." I glanced at her lapel. "......Lila. That's a very pretty name, Lila."

"Thank you, Mr. Saotome," She blushed and smiled widely. "Business or pleasure?"

I leaned in closer on the counter top, giving her the full Saotome effect. "What do you think?"

She giggled and typed in information, her lashes fluttering. I felt a cold breeze behind me and turned to see Akane and what I swore was a blue aura coming off her in waves. She looked mad as hell. I grinned to myself. Yeah, I'd made her mad on purpose, because stoking her temper was one way of getting even with the stubborn bitch.

I turned back and continued to flirt with Lila as she found us seats and handed me our boarding passes. By this time, Akane had stalked off and when I left the line I found her chattering away to Mousse. A little away from them, Shampoo looked lost in thought.

Akane turned as she saw me approach and hooked her arm around Mousse's elbow. "Boarding is in an hour, so Mousse and I are going to get a coffee," she tossed saucily over her shoulder at me as they walked off. Shampoo gave me a slightly helpless look, and my gentlemanly instincts came rushing to the fore. Yeah, I really have some.

However, this being Shampoo, and me being fond of my skin, I was quick to stomp on those instincts.

Somehow, I still ended up with her arm in mine as we walked behind Akane and Mousse. All the time we were heading towards the food court Akane spent in animated discussion with Mousse. I was glaring at them when Shampoo placed her other hand on my arm.

"You deserve so much better."

"Huh?" Puzzled, I looked down at her and she stared up at me through large, lovely eyes shadowed with maturity. Her face had lost its baby fat and it was now heart-shaped, fulfilling the promise of her youthful beauty. She wasn't quite so annoying when she wasn't bashing me with her bicycle, I decided.

"Akane broke your heart once, Ranma," she said in that incredibly direct way of hers. "Are you here to let her do it again?"

I winced. Were my emotions on naked display here? Back in Nerima, I had felt like I was on the Harry Truman show, where everyone knew every single detail of Harry/Ranma's love life. I didn't have to deal with that any longer.

"Shampoo, this isn't what you think," I said. "Akane and I are working together on a purely professional basis."

"Oh, really." She gave me a who-are-you-kidding look. Still, my conscience was clear. We really HAD met up by accident. And Shampoo knew I couldn't lie with a straight face. She searched my face carefully and then sighed. She looked away.

Luckily for my patience, the plane to Chennai arrived early and we were able to board fairly quickly. If I'd had to sit and watch Akane smile and swing her long, slim leg from her bar stool and flirt with Mousse for another minute, I wouldn't have been responsible for the consequences. The guy was really starting to eat at my nerves.

We landed in Chennai a few hours later. After the clean carpets, the innumerable check-in and immigration counters at Shanghai, Chennai airport seemed incredibly cramped and crowded, the floors a uniform marble grey, the crush of international humanity overwhelming. After an interminable wait for Shampoo's luggage, we stepped out into the hot sunshine of the airport's exit.

Shampoo and Mousse decided to share a cab with us, so we got directions to the railway station where Akane and I would board a train to Egmore, where Blaine was ostensibly to be found. I sure hoped the bugger was there. Even my fit body was getting tired from all the jet lag.

Luckily for us, everyone we met spoke excellent English, and soon we were at the Egmore train station where the express train would take us to Egmore town.

"What in the world is an express train?" asked Shampoo. We still hadn't disclosed the object of our trip to India, and Shampoo and Mousse, being the good special agents that they were, were doing their best to find out.

"It travels non-stop once you are on board," said the man who was selling us tickets. "Between Chennai and Egmore there are two smaller towns. The Express will not stop anywhere until you reach Egmore. Then it will travel non-stop across the state line into Kerala."

Finally, it looked like we were going to ditch our Chinese friends. Even Akane was looking antsy, now that we were almost in sight of our goal. Her replies to Mousse's queries and comments were short and terse, and she was looking at me again.

"There they are! Arrest them!" A police officer in khaki uniform pointed straight at us. No, not at us. Three men standing next to us, wearing thick wool sweaters, shawls and cotton pajamas. The men spoke quickly in the native language and released their shawls to reveal sub automatic guns strapped to their shoulders.

"Damn!" I muttered, trying to become invisible. Why did we always seem to put our feet right into it? As people on the platform began to notice the men, screams and shrieks of fear filled the air. One of the men barked out some sort of command in, what was it- I jogged my geographic memory- oh yeah, tamil, and most of the people on the platform seemed to understand. They began to go to their knees, and then fell flat on the cement ground, pulling their hands over their heads.

I was thinking of doing the same when one of the policemen behind the officer shot one of the three men. He fell with a cry and pandemonium ensued. People began to scream in earnest, running pell-mell through the platform.

The Express let out a whoosh and began to move. Damn, I didn't want to miss the train because of local histrionics! I looked around and saw Akane, being held up by Mousse.

"Let's go, Akane!" I yelled in Chinese.

She propelled herself forward and I caught her arm. Together, we raced for the open train entrance, straining as the train gained speed. In the melee, I lost my grasp on Akane's arm momentarily and reaching out, quickly found it again. With Herculean effort, I heaved and pulled her and myself on board. We sat on our hands and knees on the train floor, gasping as the train pulled out of the station. Behind us, I could still hear the shouts of the people on the platform. I hoped they sorted it out. I wasn't too worried about Mousse and Shampoo. They knew how to take care of themselves.

"Whew! You just keep getting me into some kind of trouble or the other, don't you?" I slowly eased my breathing back to normal.

"You think so?"

My horrified gaze shot up to find Shampoo beside me on the train floor, giving me a quizzical look.

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A/N- Haha, yes, poor Akane has been left behind! Oh, no, what now?

Something to note- I have changed around some flight routes for the purposes of this story. And, I have nothing against blondes. It just sounded like something Ranma would say. :) * Yzma and Kronk are the evil villainess and her loyal sidekick from Disney's The Emperor's New Groove.

In the next chapter- Akane is left behind with Mousse. How will she get to Egmore? And can she really trust Mousse to keep his hands to himself?