Minor corrections to chapter 7- thanks to Dark Horse

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"Akane..." Ranma shook his head. His eyes held that shuttered look again. He sat up and was about to say something when the phone rang.

I ignored it. I'd been waiting to hear Ranma's take on my sordid little story for so many years that one phone call wasn't going to make me wait any longer. Ranma was staring at me. The phone continued to ring. It stopped halfway through the third ring. The receptionist must have picked it up, I thought, all my attention focused on Ranma.

"I think..." he began, and suddenly a great invisible force like a giant hand simply pushed me off the bed. I fell on my butt, the sheets wrapped around me. A loud explosion rattled my ears, and debris and bits of ceiling fell down on me. I was scrambling for the side of the bed, for my gun and my bag, before it even stopped.

"Akane! Are you all right?" Ranma shouted. I barely heard him over the dust and noise and my ringing ears. Where was he? What had happened?

A bomb! I swore to myself in shocked realization. Someone had bombed us? THAT had never happened to me before. Had the telephone triggered it? I crawled on my stomach and elbows to the outer wall of our room.

A blast of warm tropical air hit my skin, making goose pimples rise in a rush. With automatic modesty, I clutched the silk sheet to my chest while scooping up my gun in the other. The bag was also a priority, however, so I finally dropped the sheet. Modesty be damned.

Ranma had crawled up behind me and was now trying to push me behind him. I fought him only briefly. I'd peeked outside the huge gaping fifteen feet wide hole in our wall and all I could make out were a lot of gaping tourists and shopkeepers.

Leaving my hero to scan for any further danger, I crawled to the wardrobe and pulled on shorts and a t-shirt in record time. I gathered our money and papers, watching as Ranma, finally deciding it was safe enough, followed my lead and began to cover up. Shame, I thought to myself.

There was some frantic knocking on the door. The concierge was calling out in English as well as Chinese, checking to see if anyone was still alive. I snorted in amusement. How polite of him to knock. Any second though, the police would burst their way through the door like it was matchsticks, and then my bodyguard and I would have some fancy dancing around to do.

Ranma apparently was thinking along the same lines, because as soon as we pulled on sneakers, he tucked his gun away and yanked the door open, sending the concierge sprawling into the room.

"Thanks for the hospitality," Ranma said hurriedly in Chinese. "The food was great."

He stepped out and I was quick to follow. Out in the hallway, the concierge's assistant stood wringing his hands.

"We'll be leaving now," Ranma declared.

The assistant bowed-a quick, nervous dip. "Thank you. Come again. Thank you." His eyes were wide and scared.

Ranma grinned and set off down the hallway. Puzzled, I followed him, cursing at my untied shoelaces.

"Ranma! Where are we going?" I hissed, mindful of the other tourists in the hallway, some peering sleepily out of their doorways, most in bright floral nightwear. "The entrance is the OTHER way!"

"Where they'll no doubt be watching for us, Akane you baka," he replied, without bothering to look back. His eyes were scanning the doors we passed. "Here we are!"

We were at the kitchens. Oh. Delivery door. I flushed. Ranma ignored the startled cries of the chefs and led us to the swinging doorway. He carefully scanned the area and finally beckoned me over. We stepped out into the night air with our guns raised, safeties off.

We were in a smelly alley, stinking of fish and curry and other scents I did not want to identify. Footsteps clattered over the tarmac some distance away.

"Someone's coming!" Ranma whispered. "This way." He put up his gun and began to climb a rusty fire escape set into the grimy brick wall. After the third rung, the ladder gave way almost silently, sliding down the wall. Ranma landed on the balls of his feet, clutching the section of ladder without allowing it to clang on the ground or against the nearby wall. He propped it against a dumpster.

The sound of footsteps was growing louder.

"Nothing for it!" Ranma muttered and walked towards me. Before I realized what he was going to do, he had scooped me into his arms and was running towards the dumpster. I gasped as he jumped, landed on one foot on the dumpster and leapt off it again to soar five feet, fourty feet, higher and higher, and over the edge of the rooftop. He landed smoothly on both feet, though I could hear his heart beating faster.

The jump had me awash in memories, but this was not the time to indulge. Ranma set me upright and I ran to the edge to peer over the stone lip of the roof. Four men in black clothing were scurrying around vainly searching for something or someone.

"Time to make a move, Ranma," I said.

"We'll have to jump across roofs," Ranma said. "Want a lift?"

In response, I gave him a cheeky grin, turned and began to run towards the opposite end of the roof. I could see the vague outline of the other building. I arced over the space between the buildings easily, and ran for the next one, hearing Ranma behind me. Together, we crossed ten blocks before Ranma signaled a stop.

"This is enough for now," he said, panting slightly. "You've improved some."

I was grinning widely. My blood was pounding from the workout and I was high on adrenaline and confidence.

"I've been practicing, you know, Ran...." I stuttered to a stop. A shadow had risen from the shadows of the pipes that wreathed the rooftop of this particular building.

"Thank you for stopping," the figure hissed in a sibilant whisper. " I was getting bored of chasing you around the city."

"Your goons didn't keep up," Ranma said, frowning.

"True. You knew I was there," the figure said thoughtfully. Ranma shrugged.

"You know what I want." It was a ninja, I realized.

Ranma simply took up a fighting stance. The ninja shook his head.

"If that's how you want it to be..."

"Akane, look out!" Ranma yelled. A net came out of nowhere and slammed into me. Ranma had his hands busy with the ninja now, and I was struggling to reach my gun. Another ninja attacked me and tried to crawl down my blouse. I kicked him and rolled backwards, trying to free myself.

Then, Ranma was there, pulling the net off me.

"What happened?" I gasped.

"They left," Ranma said grimly. "Are you ok?"

"I...I'm fine," I murmured, wishing I could have saved him for a change. I fumbled in my bag, and then froze. I looked up with dread clawing at my belly.

"Ranma....the diamond is gone."

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Woohoo! A whole chapter done. Please review!! At least I'll know someone is still reading this!!! : D