Hold Me Close

 is the 110th chapter of the manga it is also the second and final chapter of the Kairaishi Mushroom Arc.

Akane finally figures out that Shampoo is the one that caused Ranma to hug anyone that sneezes. Shampoo arrives and starts causing some trouble of her own, but making Akane hug all men other than Ranma when she hears a gong.

Continuing from the Previous Chapter
Chaos has ensued through the Tendo Dojo as Akane attempts to halt what she believes to be Ranma taking advantage of the situation, and her. Ranma desperately tries to explain to Akane that Shampoo but him under some sort of spell, but Akane refuses to believe such a weak excuse. Just then Akane sneezes and accidentally lets go of the arrow she was holding back on her bow that was aimed at Ranma.

However, when Akane looks she sees that Ranma has disappeared. But Akane soon finds where Ranma went, as he's now hugging her waist. Ranma sarcastically comments on how lucky his day must be to hug Akane, the most un-cute thing in the world. As Akane throws Ranma through a window, Shampoo (who was passing by in her cat form) sneezes. Because of the Kairaishi Mushroom Ranma hugs Shampoo, and runs with her to the bathroom. Ranma quickly jumps into a hot bath so that Shampoo will turn into her human form again. Ranma demands Shampoo remove this spell from him, but the overjoyed Shampoo declares she doesn't want to.

At that moment, Akane catches up with the pair and hits Ranma with a mallet and tells him that she believes him now, but demands he gets away from the nude Shampoo. While Ranma comments of how much effort he had to go through to convince Akane, Shampoo attempts to make herself sneeze so Ranma will hug her. However, the Pepper Shampoo planned to use ends up Akane's nose instead and she desperately holds the sneeze. Eventually Akane lets out a series of sneezes, but Ranma has disappeared.

Things Get Worse
By this point, Ranma has packed a backpack and is running through the streets of Furinkan so that he can find somewhere quiet to spend the night. Meanwhile, Kuno is rushing towards the Tendo Dojo in order to punish Ranma for the mockery he caused him earlier. As he runs, Kuno lets out a loud sneeze and when he arrives at the Dojo, demands to see Ranma. Shampoo (now dressed) then looks at Ranma who's hugging Kuno's chest and excitedly notes how she knew Ranma would return.

Shampoo decides that now's the time the get rid of Akane and swiftly feeds her another Kairaishi Mushroom laced dumpling. She then bangs a gong and instructs Akane to give a passionate hug to all men, except Ranma and sure enough Akane begins crushing Kuno's waist with her hug. After explaining to Akane what she just ate, Shampoo bangs the gong again, causing Akane to move towards Kuno for another hug (which Kuno is more than ready to accept). Luckily, Ranma steps in and sends Kuno flying, he then turns to Akane and asks her is she now realises how dangerous this spell is.

Akane is left in shock at how she was unable to control herself and attempts to apologise to Ranma. However, when Akane begins her apology, Shampoo sneezes and Ranma hugs her, much to Akane's annoyance. Angered, Ranma shouts at Akane about she still doesn't get it. Akane tries to reply by explaining that that's why she was apologising, but nearly sneezes again, prompting Ranma to pinch her nose so that she can't finish the sneeze. However, this just infuriates Akane more, so she punches Ranma into the gong. Ranma attempts to comment on how he manages to live with a homely psychopath, but is left in silence when he sees that Akane is ended up hugging Ryoga, who just arrived with a gift.

Overjoyed at being hugged by Akane, a tear comes to Ryoga's eye as he thinks himself about how he'll never forget this day. Akane attempts to explain, but Ryoga is now choking with emotion, prompting Ranma to kick Ryoga through the roof (as he does this, Ryoga declares that he can now die happy). Ranma and Akane then begin arguing with each other, ultimately resulting in Akane slamming the gong over Ranma's head, which luckily ends up causing it to break in half.

Shampoo's Final Effort
With the gong gone, Akane notes how she has nothing to fear now, but Shampoo decides that she'll just give Akane a new command and moves in to feed her another Mushroom Dumpling. Fortunately, Kuno reappears with a new gong and bangs it so that Akane will hug him, causing Shampoo to fall face-first onto the floor. After Ranma sends Kuno flying yet again, he takes Shampoo's Dumpling and when she demands for it back he flicks it into her open mouth.

Ranma continues by instructing Shampoo to go home peacefully, he then snaps his fingers and Shampoo does as instructed. With everyone gone, Ranma tells Akane that now's there chance and the pair board up the house so that nobody else can come in. Once the pair finish boarding up the house they remember that they'll be alone all night. This prompts Ranma to remind Akane that she'd better not sneeze. Akane states she has no intention of doing so, but as she says this her nose becomes irritated and she lets out a sneeze.

However, Ranma doesn't find himself forced to hug Akane, so decides that the spell of the Mushrooms must've just run out. The pair then happily agree that this means everything will be okay for the both of them. Later that night, however, as the pair are watching television, Akane is still holding tightly to the weapons she got to protect herself earlier, with no intention of letting them go while they're alone together.

Cast in Order of Appearance

 * Akane Tendo
 * Ranma Saotome (male)
 * Shampoo (cat)
 * Shampoo (human)
 * Tatewaki Kuno
 * Ryoga Hibiki (human)

Trivia

 * The title page for this chapter seems to be based on the fairytale of.
 * Ranma's appearance also bears a similarity to Ataru Moroboshi's wolf form in the Urusei Yatsura chapter, I Howl at The Moon.
 * Akane's outfit at the beginning of this chapter bears a resemblance to that of Kikyō's from InuYasha.