#11

Disclaimer: Now, that'd be telling, wouldn't it?  ^_^

Akane sighed to herself. Alone, the walk home was less than inviting but… reasonably safe, if nothing else.

But there was always that feeling… that nagging feeling that she wasn't as alone as she thought… or as alone as she'd have liked to be.

She whirled quickly, spinning in place to peer behind her.

Nothing. No one.

She sighed, raking a hand through her hair as her eyes swept across the dark expanses. Parked car. Newspaper stand. Light post.

No people.

Shakily, she turned forward again, still seeing nothing, and walked towards her house.

Then she heard it again. The clomp of a foot against the pavement.

She spun again, hysterically wondering if she was being stalked, but… no one there.

Sighing again, she turned, and began home again — no longer a dignified walk, but a frightened jog, quickly intensifying into an all out run.

And it sounded again, the footstep behind her.

She spared a single glance behind her before trying in vain to increase her pace, her single frantic sight of a face, and the slightest impression of a fanged smile before it disappeared into the darkness.

Panicked, she increased her run as much as she could, arriving at her apartment in time to scrabble frantically at the door with her keys. There was a heart-stopping, frenzied moment of struggling with the lock before she dashed inside and slammed the heavy door behind her, bolting it while she gasped for breath.

"Nabiki said that there would be days like this," she wheezed, remembering her manager. And there were days like this, even if Nabiki had disagreed with Akane's choice to leave her idol-singing group and her movement into acting.

She had calmed herself from the initial surge of panic, and taken a single step towards her small kitchen before she heard a sound at the door. A scratching/scraping sound.

Swallowing nervously, she peered through the peephole, seeing nothing.

Shuddering weakly in fear, she moved away, and it sounded again.

And again, there was nothing through the peephole.

Gathering a spare dumbbell in her hand, and trying not to quake with fear, she eased the door open, and peered outside, as there was a third scratch at the door.

"Oh," she said, relaxing instantly. "P-chan! Where have you been?" She eased the door open and took the piglet inside before shutting it, and slamming the deadbolt home.

It looked up at her solemnly, and gave a single unfaltering, "Bwee."

Coming never to an ML near you, it's: Perfect Bwee.

Disclaimer: Ranma is the property of Viz, Takahashi Rumiko, etc., while Perfect Blue is the property of Manga Entertainment.

Author's Notes: Blame Ginrai for this one. It was actually by request.  ^_-

Webmaster: Larry F
Last revision: January 7, 2006