Hiya!

	Just whipped this out today, since I was stuck with the other 
stuff I'm working on.  Just an idea I had, figured I'd give it a shot.  
Do they even have summer camp in Japan?  I'm sure they do, they gotta.  
Then again, does it matter?  It's a fanfic!
	So, should I bother continuing with this?  Got a couple of nifty 
idea to work with... I'll mention them at the end.  Oh, and it's only a 
working title, I know it's dumb.

	-Mike
***
                     Summer Camp Ranma


     "Hey, so where've you been, man?  Havn't seen you in a couple
of weeks!  Last I heard, you'd taken off with Kuno on his yacht." 
Hiroshi smirked.  "Get lucky, Ranma?"
     Ranma flushed, half in anger, half in embarrassment.  "Hey! 
It's not like that!  It was hot, and..."
     Daisuke joined his buddy in laughing.  "We know, we know. 
Calm down, he's just kidding!"  Ranma slumped back in his seat,
chugging down the rest of his drink.  Small beads of condensation
sprayed off his glass as he slammed it down on the table.  "Still,
you _were_ away for a long time... what happened?"
     Ranma shrugged.  "It'd take too long t'explain.  This little
twerp of a prince kidnapped Akane; I won his martial arts
contest...", he seemed to blush a bit as he said that, "...
defeated him in a one-on-one, and rescued her.  It took a while for
his floating island to get us back to Japan, though."  He said it
in a total nonchalant kind of way, as if it wasn't any big deal.
     Hiroshi realised, eyes wide with surprise, that, to Ranma, it
probably wasn't.  Akane kidnapped?  Wasn't the first time.  Martial
Arts competition?  He'd won them all.  Fight with a prince?  He'd
already beaten lords, masters, spirits, and that weird guy with the
bandannas that kept showing up.  Guess those kind of things just
became passe after awhile.  Judging by the look on Daisuke's face,
he was impressed too.
     "Flo... floating island?  Prince?" stammered Daisuke.
     "Yeah."  Ranma glanced at his empty drink with a frown, then
idly wiped the sweat from his brow.  He turned his attention back
to Hiroshi.  "So what're you still doing here?  I thought you were
heading off to that camp or whatever for your spring break."
     Hiroshi nodded.  "Well, I was supposed to.  But I changed my
mind."
     "Really?  Why?"
     "Ahhh, well..." answered Hiroshi.
     Ranma waited expectantly, till Daisuke chimed in.  "Heh.  Our
shy buddy here found himself a girlfriend.  Didn't want to leave
your sweetheart behind, eh?"  He nudged him with his elbow.
     "Daisuke!" started Hiroshi, then noticed that, aside from
smiling slightly, Ranma seemed to have lost interest.  He'd always
found that weird - for a guy who always seemed to be surrounded by
girls who kept throwing themselves at him, he'd never shown all
that much interest in the opposite sex.  Maybe it was that curse. 
"But, yeah, so I decided to stay.  What about you?  What're you
gonna do with the rest of the summer?"
     Ranma shrugged.  "Don't know.  Keep training, I guess.  Try
and make a bit of money and pay Nabiki off.  I'm sure something'll
turn up."
     Hiroshi grinned.  With Ranma's luck, something _would_ turn
up.  He had a sudden idea.  "Hey, you know Ranma, I still got the
reservation for the camp I was meant to go to..."
     "Yeah?  So?"
     "Well, it's none refundable, and my parents would hate to see
the money go to waste... why don't you take it?  Get your dad or
the Tendo's to buy it off my parents at a discount.  Heck, if
Nabiki manages the deal, you can probably get it for free!"
     Ranma seemed to consider it for a second.  "Me, go to summer
camp?  Aren't I a bit old for that kinda stuff?"
     "Hey, I was going to go, remember?  It's this real cool place,
gives us city boys a chance to live out in the rough for a couple
of weeks."  Hiroshi thought about Ranma's lifestyle, and realised
that living in the bush probably was another thing that wasn't a
big deal for him.  "The time really flies, they keep the guys there
so busy.  Heck, I'd go and bring my girlfriend with me, if it
wasn't a guys-only place."
     Ranma seemed to perk up at that a bit.  "Only guys, huh?"
     "Yeah.  Aside from a few camp workers, there's no girls
around.  Kinda sucks, really."
     It looked like Ranma considered it for another moment, then he
shook his head.  "Listen, thanks," he said.  ", but I think I'll
just hang around Nerima."
     "And Akane, of course..." smirked Daisuke.
     "Hey!"
     "I know, I know, why'd you want to hang around that tomboy...
heard it before, Ranma." replied Daisuke.
     "Well it's true, or..." started Ranma, when a loud voice
bellowed out, interrupting him.
     "AT LAST I'VE FOUND YOU, RANMA!  TODAY, YOU DIE!"
     Ranma rolled his eyes.  "Listen, guys, I'll talk to you later. 
Looks like Ryoga's back in town."  He quickly rose from his chair,
weaved through the customers, and jumped over the fence of the
restaurant's terrace.  "Hey, Ryoga, long time no see!"  they heard
him say, before he disappeared from view.  The two friends watched
him go, shrugged, and finished off their drinks.
     "So what's she like?" asked Daisuke.
     "Who?"  A loud explosion rang out in the distance.
     "This new girlfriend of yours."
     Hiroshi smiled.  "She's nice."
     "Cute?"
     "Very cute."
     "As cute as Ranma?"
     "When he's wet?  C'mon... y'know anyone who is?  At least
she's always female.  And I don't _think_ she can beat me up."
     "So why havn't you introduced me yet?"  He paused and watched
a shimmered amber sphere shoot into the sky from several blocks
away.  "Nice." he commented.
     "Hey, I just met her... and she'll only be in Nerima for the
summer."
     "So what's her name?"
     Hiroshi turned away for a moment, watching a figure suddenly
rise and hurtle through the air.  He squinted through the haze and
the light.  "Looks like Ranma... guess Akane showed up."  He turned
back to his friend.  "Her name?  Oh, it's Futaba... strange, no?"

***

     Ranma rubbed her head with a groan, collapsing back on her
futon.  Her pop was already asleep next to her, the musty scent of
his damp-fur filling the room.  She closed her eyes.  What a
miserable day!
     The fight with Ryoga had ended badly.  Just Ranma's luck that
Akane would show up, just after Ryoga had been splashed with water
and turned into P-Chan.  She hadn't been happy to find Ranma
beating up on her pet pig.  Then there had been that incident with
Happosai, after he'd landed in the pond.  By the time _that_ had
ended, Akane had cooked supper.  Ranma patted her stomach in
sympathy; it grumbled a wretched reply.  After he'd recovered,
Ryoga returned to finish the fight.  Another splash, another
pounding from Akane.  Trying to sneak into her room to get even
with pig-boy hadn't helped either.
     She sighed.  It looked like Akane'd be mad for days.  Ryoga'd
still be all worked up over whatever new grievance he'd thought up
against Ranma.  Happossai was pissed, too.  She needed a break, a
way to lay low for the next coupla day, a place where she could get
away from the gang.
     Her eyes snapped open.  A break?  A place away?
     Hiroshi's camp?
     Why not?
     Ranma closed her eyes again, smiling, drifting into a blissful
slumber.  Yeah, she'd go to summer camp!

***

	Right, so I guess that's the prologue.
	Anyways, got lots of places to go from here.  Trying to fit in at 
the camp.  Trying to keep his curse a secret.  Discovering there's a 
girl's camp across the lake.  Find out Akane's there.  Having Ryoga 
stumble by.  And so on... got any ideas?  Or should I just can it now?

	Later!
	(Oh, and you can C&C this thing, if you'd like.  Well, I'd like, 
but it's a really early draft...)

	-Mike Noakes

	(BTW, where can I find these bios of been hearing about?  Is 
there, like, a form sheet to fill out to make your own, or something?  
THE Gopher explained what they _were_, but not where they _are_.
	Thanks!