Hiya folks!  This was the hardest chapter to write, because I was so, so
busy, not to mention I had a slight writer's block somewhere around the
first part. If you been noticing, the SM universe has been more
character-driven, while the Ranma universe is action-driven. So that's why
it took so long to write.  But it's all done, and I am so glad, I started
right into Chapter 7, which shouldn't take any time at all.

Insert the usual disclaimer: All Sailor Moon characters are the sole
creations of Naoko Takeuchi, while all Ranma 1/2 characters are the sole
creations of Rumiko Takahashi. Anything else is mine, mine, mine.

BTW, there is an instance in here that actually came from personal
experience.  And before you ask, yes, I learned my lesson. And no, I
haven't made any since.

				Be it Ever So Humble...
				The Making of a Strong Heart
				Chapter Six



This cannot be.
This is not supposed to happen.
Something's wrong...

============================================================================
========

Suddenly, her eyes flew open, and she knew that something was dreadfully,
horribly wrong.  She sprung from the bed to the floor in a fighter's
stance, her hands ready to do lethal violence.  Frowning, she cocked an
ear.  It was quiet.  Too quiet.  It wasn't supposed to be quiet.  What
happened to everyone?

Then she frowned deeper.  Wait a minute.  This wasn’t even her *room*.
What the heck...?

Then events from the day before flooded her mind.  Oh yeah.  That strange
switcheroo.  She was still at the temple--which meant that last night
wasn’t some crazy, mixed-up dream.

Akane relaxed, wondering if she should feel depressed about not waking up
in her own world.  Normally, she would always awaken to the sound of
shrieking, whether it was from her alarm clock or from Ranma landing in the
carp pool.  Small wonder she was jerked from sleep moments ago.  The house
had never been *this* peacefully quiet.

She washed up and rummaged through the dresser, coming up, to her delight,
with a training gi.  Well, might as well take advantage of the early hour.

She tiptoed out of the house and did some warm-ups, breathing in the cool
morning air.  Then she shifted to some kempo exercises, marveling at how
focused she was (it must be the temple, or the solitude).  No Ranma making
fun of her.  No Happosai pouncing on her.  Despite her circumstance, she
could feel her mood strangely lifting.

"The temple can do that, sometimes."

Akane whirled to see Rei, clad in her temple clothes, leaning on a whisk
broom and smiling at her.

"How did you...?"

"One of the benefits of being a Shinto priestess.  But I don’t need to be
psychic to see your look of awe about this place.  I take it you’re not
used to waking up to such peaeful mornings."

"No," Akane admitted with a smile of her own.  "I think around this time
I’m is usually booting Ranma into the atmosphere.  But you’re right.  This
place is so peaceful."

"Yeah, I know." Rei closed her eyes, allowing the rising sun to play gently
on her face.  "Taking care of this place can be a pain sometimes, but there
are benefits."

"Like getting the chance to see such beauty this early in the morning?"

Akane looked at the newcomer who emerged from nowhere, scratching the back
of his neck in embarrassment.  If it wasn’t for the temple clothes similar
to Rei’s and the whisk broom, she would’ve thought the young man was one of
those musicians in a grunge band, from the dirty blonde hair down to the
scruffy goatee.  Even his romantic words suggested he was more from
California than Tokyo.

Rei didn’t seem to be charmed.  All semblance of peace had vanished from
her face.

"Chad!  What did I tell you about the temple steps?"

"But I just cleaned them, Rei!  Just like you told me to!"

"Then why are there leaves still scattered across them?"

"Oh, you meant *those*!  I thought you meant the back steps!"

Rei glowered at him.  "Akane, maybe you should go in and get ready for
breakfast.  I’ll be right back."  Before Akane could ask why, she hefted
her broom and charged towards Chad, who eeped and took off in an unmanlike
manner.  "You idiot!  What steps do you think people see when they come
here?!"

"Sorry Rei!  Sorry Rei!  Don’t hit me!  Yeowwwch!!"

**I guess male bashing is the same wherever you go.**  Akane mused as she
went back into the house.  Somehow, seeing Rei lose her temper made her
less mysterious and more real to life.  Chasing guys with various blunt
objects was something Akane was more familiar with.

As she washed, she idly wondered about Chad.  Rei had mentioned him last
night.  He must be hired help...help that was obviously in love with his
employer.  Akane had not missed the adoration on his face.  The same look
would come upon Mousse whenever he looked toward his darling Shampoo.  And,
in true Shampoo fashion, Rei seemed to despise Chad.

**What is with guys falling for headstrong women who treat them like dirt,
anyway?  Don’t they know they have absolutely no chance at all?  They’re
better off if they found girls that respected them, or even knew that they
existed.  If there was a guy that felt that way about me, I would
definitely treat him better than that!**  She thought back to Chad’s look
as she soaped her washcloth.  **At least, if anyone looked at me like that,
I would notice it and not ignore him.  Hmm...I wonder...**

Unbidden, an image sprung to her mind.

"Oh, no. Not him.  He would never look at me like that."

Furiously, she attacked her reddening cheeks with the washcloth, hoping it
would scrub away a certain pig-tailed guy in the process.

============================================================================
==========

Rei’s grandfather smiled at her from behind his paper as she entered the
dining room.  "Good, you’re awake!  Have some fruit and cereal."

"Arigato gozaimasu, Mr. Hino."  Refreshed by the morning’s exercise (and
with no Ranma to hog all the food), and now clad in a borrowed shirt and
shorts, Akane fell to with relish.

"An early riser, aren’t you?"  Quipped Grandpa Hino.  "When I saw you
weren’t in your room, I thought you already left us."

"Oh, no."  Akane said around an apple.  "I always get up early to do my
exercises.  At least, I try to anyway."

"Really?  Trained in the martial arts as well?  Those moves you were doing
earlier shows you definitely have potential to be a temple girl.  How’s
about it?"

"Huh? How did you...?"

"GRANDPA!"  Rei snapped from the doorway.  For a moment, Akane thought she
was dressed as Sailor Mars again. **I thought it was supposed to be a
secret identity.** A closer look showed her dress was dark grey instead of
red. "What did I tell you about spying on people?!"

"Aww, Rei, it wasn’t my fault she left the curtains open when I happened to
be doing my own mediations."

"Nani yo?!"

"Grandpa, how could you?  Akane’s our guest!  I will not have you running
about like some hormone drenched teenager!  I already have to put up with
Chad!  You’re too old to--"

The old man’s expression changed from cunning to harried.  "Uh, Rei, I
think I hear customers.  Yes!  I better go get them some charms...or
something."  Without saying goodbye, he scampered out with a quickness that
would put Genma-san’s panda-panicked retreats to shame.

Rei shook her head and clenched her fist.  "Sometimes...sometimes...men can
be so juvenile no matter how old they are!"

"Tell me about it."  Akane murmured.  They looked at each other and began
giggling.

"I guess it’s the same wherever you go."  Rei said as she poured some rice
cereal in a bowl and began wolfing it down.

"Umm, are you going off to school?"

"I wouldn’t be dressed like this if I wasn’t.  T&A’s colors aren’t exactly
vogue this year."

"Ano...T&A?"

"My school. T&A Private Girls School.  It’s a Catholic school of sorts."

Akane blinked.  "A Shinto priestess going to a Catholic school?"  **And in
a uniform *that* short?!**

Rei winked.  "I have to get some religion with my education.  Besides,
Catholic school produces the most mentally-stable students."

Akane thought of a certain ribbon-wielding psycho and wisely kept silent.

"So, Akane," continued Rei.  "what are your plans for today?  I would stick
around, but unfortunately I’ve already missed enough classes to put me in
detention for a month.  Luna and Artemis haven’t called us, so I don’t
think the computer found a way to send you back yet.  You are welcome to
stay here at Cherry Hill until school’s over, if you don’t mind my
grandfather hitting on you all the time."

"Actually, I was thinking of taking a walk to see just how different things
are here."

Rei pondered for a moment, then tore off a sheet of paper and scribbled
some directions.  "You know, if you’re going out, why don’t you stop by
Lita’s apartment and water her plants?  I know she’ll be upset if they
die--Lita loves plants as much as she loves cooking and guys--and you have
all her stuff."

"That sounds like a good idea!"  Akane smiled.  "It’s the least I can do
for, um, coming here.  Maybe I’ll even stop by her school and pick up her
assignments.  I don’t know if anyone told her teachers she’s absent."

"Oh, don’t worry.  She goes to the same school as Serena and Amy, and I
don’t think she ranks homework on the same high level as plants and guys.
But you may want to go by anyway.  Amy’s going to be stuck in classes all
day, and I don’t think Serena would remember--if she makes it to school at
all today.  And speaking of school," She slurped the rest of the milk from
her bowl and scooped up her books.  "I gotta book it.  If you need to get
in touch with one of us..."

Akane stopped her with a raised hand, then with a flourish produced
Jupiter’s communicator.  "I know, I know.  Luna told me what to do."  She
smiled.  "Luna is so helpful.  I wish she was in my world, but then again,
I don’t think Ranma would take too kindly to her.  He’s deathly afraid of
cats, and with Luna being able to talk, well, let’s just say he’ll be
speaking her language more than she’ll be speaking his if he saw her."

Rei blinked and nodded slowly. "Riiiiiiight.  Well, I’ll catch you at 4:00,
okay?"

"Have fun!"  

After Rei dashed off, Akane lingered over breakfast and pondered on what to
do next.  Normally, she and Ranma would be off at a mad dash for school
right about now.  It was almost a luxury to just sit back and relax without
fear of getting into another argument with Ranma, or Shampoo or Kodachi
bursting in trying to kill her.  And best of all, no school!  Well, at
least for her, anyway.

She decided it was time for a walk.

Rei’s grandfather and Chad were involved in a little sparring match with
the whisk brooms.  Although Rei’s grandfather was no Happosai (unless you
count the hentai in him), he wasn’t an amateur, either.  "Taking off,
Akane?"  he asked as he ducked a swing and whirled to poke Chad in the
stomach.

"Just for a little walk.  I’ll be back this afternoon."

"Well, don’t forget to think over that little offer.  No matter what my
granddaughter says, we could use pretty girls such as you."  He sidestepped
and chortled as Chad careened, flapping his arms wildly, into a bush.
"Maybe I can use you to replace this idiot so he can go back to his old
singing career.  I thought nothing could stink more than his
singing...until now!"

This produced an inarticulate yell from the young man as he leapt up and
charged towards the old man, his broom swinging wildly over his head.  As
Akane rounded the corner, there was a loud whack, followed by a chuckle.
"You missed again.  Pathetic."

At first, she wandered aimlessly, letting her feet take over while her eyes
took in the sights about her.  This world wasn’t so different from her own
world, if you didn’t count the liberal use of English words intermixed with
Japanese kanji.  Besides an odd building or two, the streets were laid out
in the same manner.  The people also looked the same, though the dialects
were definitely different from Nerima.  In fact, the people didn’t sound
Japanese at all.  One girl she passed was telling her friend about the new
drawing pencils she got in a voice she would expect from a character in
"Gone With the Wind".  And the two little boys teased a little girl about
her Sailor Moon pin in perfectly clipped New England accents, like how Amy
talked.  It made Akane wonder about her own voice, so curiously
chipmunk-high.  

**I must sound like a baby on helium.  Even Serena’s voice is deeper than
mine.**

She had stopped at a market window to gaze at a display of "Bran Muffins",
which looked curiously like mochi balls, when the voice in question tore
through the otherwise quiet street. "OooooOOOOOOooooHHHHHhhhhhh!!!  I’M
SOOO LAAAAAAAATE!!!"

A seething cloud of dust zoomed past, barely recognizable only by the
pigtails flapping behind it.  Akane cheerfully waved to it.  "Ohayo
gozaimasu, Serena!"

"Can’t talk!  Running!  Bye!"  puffed the cloud as it streaked down the
street.  A mere second later, a muffled growl made Akane look down to see
Luna, toting a lunch bag in her mouth, straining to catch up to the
speeding teenager.  "Surrrmmaaa!  Uuurrr unch!"  The duo whipped around a
corner.

Akane was still staring after them when a body slammed into her.  "Ouch!
Why don’t you watch where--oh, Akane!  What are you doing in the middle of
the sidewalk like that?"

Akane reached out her hand to help Mina to her feet.  "Sorry about that.  I
was just watching Serena go by."

"You mean she’s ahead of me for once!  No way!"  With a cry, Mina dashed
past Akane, throwing back over her shoulder.  "Don’t forget lunch, ‘kay?!"
She took off in the same direction, her long hair streaming behind her and
a small, white streak (which toted a brown bag in its mouth) tagging at her
heels.

Akane giggled, consumed with an overwhelming sense of deja vu.  The strange
sight made her think of the time Shampoo had made Ranma lunch and had
intercepted their usual madcap dash to school.  With her usual candor,
Akane had malleted the bike-grounded Ranma with the Chinese girl clinging
to him into a ditch.  What followed afterwards was almost an exact replay
of what she had just seen, down to Ranma shrieking at the top of her voice
and Neko-Shampoo mewling piteously around a bento box as she chased the
fleeing red-head.

The girls had said that Lita’s residence was in the same vicinity as
Nerima, though the neighborhood wasn’t named that.  Fifteen minutes later,
Akane found Marine Street, the street Lita lived on.  To her amazement, it
was similar to her own neighborhood, though Lita’s apartment complex stood
in what was normally the corner grocery store’s parking lot, though the
store was still there.  Next to it was the hardware shop (convenient when
she ran out of mallets).  A few doors down was the small house where the
little old lady would come out, rain or shine, to clean her sidewalk (and
splash Ranma in the process--when will he ever learn to walk on the other
side of the street for a change?).  As she walked by, the door opened and
out came a little old man with a pail of water and a dipper.  He squinted
at Akane, squinted up and down the street, shrugged, splashed his sidewalk,
and shuffled back inside.

Intrigued, Akane walked further, passing the complex, curious to see just
how changed her street was in this world.  She did a double take as she
reached the corner at a building that looked very similar to Tofu-sensei’s
clinic, which sign read "Ono’s..."  Coming closer, she saw that a tree
branch obscured the rest of the sign, which only read, "Dr. Tono’s Podiatry
Clinic".  **So Tofu-sensei does have a counterpart here, though I don’t
think  I’ll be going in just for my feet.**  Then a turn left, two more
blocks, and...

Akane stared for a long time before she made herself go forward in the
small plot of land they had made into a park.  It was more of a rest stop
really--a small slice of nature set in the middle of a city block for
people to relax and enjoy the smell of cherry blossoms.  But it was what
the trees surrounded that had stopped Akane at first.  It wasn’t as if she
was surprised.  Far from it--in fact, it made perfect sense.  She gave a
sarcastic laugh, startling the few people enjoying the park’s peace.  **I
should’ve known my home in this world would be nothing but a big carp pond.**

============================================================================
=======

"And who are you supposed to be?"  The gardener scowled as he clipped a
straying twig from an otherwise straight hedge.

Akane’s mouth dropped.  Rei didn’t say anything about security at Lita’s
place.  "Um, I’m here to water Lita’s plants."  She blurted and mentally
kicked herself.

The gardener scowl deepened as he straightened and came over to her, his
eyes never leaving her as he clapped the dirt from his hands.  Akane
swallowed but did her best to glare back.  Her confidence wavered a little
when he stared down at her.  "I can take care of that just as easily."  He
roughly growled.  "If Lita wanted her plants watered, she would’ve told me
herself."

"I know, but,"  Aghast, Akane realized that she was actually simpering, and
immediately hardened her voice.  How dare he try to intimidate her!
"Something came up suddenly and she had to leave.  She asked me personally
to make sure that things were okay at her place."

"Is that so?  And just who are you?  One of those wacky friends of hers?"

"Friends?  It just so happens I’m her cousin."  Akane snapped before
realizing what she said.

The gardener’s bushy eyebrows shot up.  "Cousin?  I thought that girl had
no family."

"Well, she didn’t think so either until now.  That’s why she left.  She
went to visit my dad."  **That’s as close to the truth I’m gonna get.**

"Your dad, huh?  So if she’s so bent on seeing her 'family', how come you
ain’t there to share in the family reunion?"

Akane’s patience was wearing very thin and before she could stop herself,
she snapped,  "Look, I’m not going to rob her blind.  I’m just going to
water her plants and that’s all.  You got a problem with that, take it up
with her when she comes back, okay?  It’s called a friendly gesture and I
don’t have to tell you anything!"

The gardener’s lips pursed as if he’d eaten a bad prune.  For a moment, she
thought he would physically toss her out of the complex until, with a sharp
laugh, he bent back to his work.  "All right, all right. No need to
convince me anymore. With a temper like that, you two definitely must be
related."

Akane blinked.  What was that supposed to mean?  She glared at him a second
more, just for good measure, then stomped off to the entrance.  "And don’t
you go on making a mess!"  she heard him yell at her turned back.  "Bad
enough I have to put up with those crazy friends of hers.  No messes!"

Lita’s apartment was on the eighth floor, if one could call it an
apartment.  To Akane’s eyes, it was more of a condo, with large windows
opened to the east.  The furnishings was tasteful and modern.  A
kitchenette lined the south wall, while the west wall held a bookcase, an
entertainment system, and a half-shut door that Akane assumed led to the
bedroom.  Plants of all sizes and hues lined the windows.  The entire place
was immaculately clean and orderly, except for the sofa, which held a light
green sweater tossed its cushions, and a bookbag, books and papers (with
red marks) spilling from it to land on the sofa and floor.  It look like
someone had just returned to school and suddenly had to leave in an awful
hurry.

Akane hesitated.  It seemed so...eerie, being in someone else apartment,
knowing that that person had vanished off the face of this earth and you
had come along to take her place.  It wasn’t right to go about snooping in
her things.  For a second, she nearly turned to leave.

**But if she’s with Ranma, who’s to say she hasn’t done the same thing with
my stuff?**

That would be true.  If Rei’s vision was true, Lita would have stayed at
the dojo--she may have even slept in Akane’s room, though she wondered if
her father would allow such a thing.  After all, her father had a tendency
to overact, and if he knew that Akane had disappeared and this stranger had
shown up to take her place, he would probably go ballistic with grief.
Unless Ranma came up with one of his half-notched, cockamamie schemes...

She bent down and gathered the bookbag’s contents, setting them back
inside. Whoever this Lita was, she wasn't very good with tests.  **As if
I'm any better.**  On top of the bag she set the clothes she appeared in
yesterday, including the pair of earrings she discovered on her ears as she
was washing up last night. **I guess she does like plants. She even wears
rose earrings.**   Akane thought wryly as she searched for the watercan.

After the plants were watered, Akane realized that her desire to leave had
faded, and she wandered about the apartment, trying to determine who this
mysterious girl was.  There weren’t any photos lying about, so she still
didn’t know what she looked like other than she was tall.  One thing she
was sure of:  If Lita wasn’t good with tests, she was definitely good at
housecleaning.  There wasn’t a speck of dust anywhere.  She and Kasumi
would get along well.  In the kitchen, she gasped at the almost overstocked
refrigerator.  Serena had mentioned that Lita loved to cook.  Idly, as she
reached for a rice ball, she wondered how Ranma would react to that.  **He
hates my cooking enough as it is.  Would Lita show her gratitude by cooking
everyone dinner?**  Biting into it, Akane had to admit it was very
delicious, on the same par as Kasumi’s.  With a sinking feeling, she
realized if Ranma ever found out, if he haven’t done so already, she could
forget ever making anything for him again.  **I bet if--no, *when* I
return, I would never hear the end of it.  Well, see if I make him anything
ever again anyway!**  

Depressed, she wandered over to the bookcase.  It was filled more with
knickknacks than books, and the few books that were on it dealt with
physical fitness and the martial arts. **She knows martial arts, too?  I
wonder how good she is.** The sinking feeling grew bigger as Ranma’s voice
popped arrogantly in her head. "A martial artist, and a cook, too?!  You’re
so unlike Akane."  He would probably tell her all his horror stories of
winding up in bed from eating Akane’s occasional dinners.  He’ll make
himself into a martyr, and Lita would have sympathy and they would laugh at
Akane’s incompetence...

Angrily, she dashed that thought out of her head.  **Foolish girl**, she
chided herself.  **Getting all worked up over someone I haven’t even seen,
much less met.  It’s not her fault she got zapped to my world.  And why
should I care what Ranma thinks anyway?  The pervert already has Ukyo,
Kodachi, and Shampoo begging to be his.  Why should I care if he wants to
bring Lita into his personal harem?  I’m not jealous!**

She scooped up Lita’s stuff, intending to set them just inside Lita’s
bedroom, but as she pushed the door wider, she blinked at the sight before
her.  Lita’s neatness extended to her bedroom, but her walls was nearly
covered completely with posters of men: Jackie Chan, the band Rabbit, U2,
etc.  What was odd was that on every poster was a handwritten comment,
scrawled with little hearts next to each man:  "Got his eyes!" "His hands
are so like Freddy’s!" Freddy’s hair was darker, but it’s his style!"
"Smile flashes just like Freddy!"

What really caught Akane’s eyes, however, was the framed photos on her
dresser and the loose photos stuck in the frame of her mirror.  Akane
picked up one--a beautifully-framed picture of five girls in swimming
suits, four of which Akane immediately recognized.  The photo had caught
them in the middle of a hilarious moment:  Rei, Amy, and Mina were grinning
at a laughing Serena, who was perched ridiculously upon the back of a
brunette who stooped just slightly, putting her face just below the level
of the others.  Though Serena’s legs poked out absurdly, the girl appeared
to be carrying her with ease and was smiling confidently at the camera.

A glance over the rest of the pictures showed the same girl in many of the
pictures, though Serena and the rest figured prominently in them as well.
There was a picture of the girls clustered together in regular school
uniforms; She clearly was the tallest, as she stood behind the girls
looking slightly uncomfortable.  A few pictures were torn--these had her
with her arm around something that had been ripped out the picture.  The
largest framed picture showed her around ten or eleven years old, standing
with her arms around a distinguished gentleman and a beautiful woman with
emerald eyes, beaming slightly up at her--she was already a few inches
taller than both of them.  She looked at the camera with a hint of
defiance, as if daring someone to try to release her hold on them.  

Then there was the picture of her standing alone, on a beach, in a modest
green one-piece swimsuit, apparently taken the same day as the one in which
she was carrying Serena.  Akane pulled the picture from the mirror frame to
stare closely at it.  The girl was obviously fooling around, as she winking
at the camera as she cocked her arms in a he-man pose.  But there was no
denying that she was in great physical shape; in fact, she had a great
shape overall.  Almost like an Amazon, a tall Amazon. Akane could even say
she was...pretty.  Very, very pretty.

**So that’s Lita.  She’s...she’s so unlike me...**

She blinked, and in her mind’s eye she saw Ranma and Lita sitting
cross-legged in the park, laughing uproariously.  "So then," Ranma was
saying.  "She whips out a mallet and starts pounding me with it...just
because I wouldn’t eat her cooking!  She is such a violent tomboy!"

"How mean!" cried Lita in a cutsey voice (which sounded mysteriously like
Ukyo's for some reason).  "How about if I make you lunch from now on?"  She
whipped out a lunchbox and chopsticks.  "You know, you look so much like my
old boyfriend, it’s scary!"

Ranma opened his mouth to accept Lita’s offering. "Well, you look
absolutely nothing like my fiancee.  You’re so much cuter..."

"RANMA NO BAKA!!!"

Akane jumped at the sound of her own voice.  She looked down to see that
she was crumpling Lita’s photo in her clenched hands.  Hastily, she began
smoothing it.  **I’m not jealous.  I’m not jealous.  Just because she’s a
better cook than me and she’s better looking than me doesn’t mean--I’m not
jealous. I’m not jealous. I’m not jealous. I’m not, I’m not, I’m not...**

A loud buzzing in the living room yanked her out of her thoughts.  She
dashed out the bedroom in a panic:  Did she turn the stove on by mistake?
Fire alarm?  No, it was coming from a small box set in the wall next to the
front door.  She blinked at it until she realized that it was one of those
door paging systems.  But who would know she would be here?  For a
disorientating second, she thought the gardener was coming to yell at her
for violating Lita’s room...

Hesitantly, she pushed the button on the box that said 'Talk'.  "He-hello?"

"Akane!"  A bright, bubbly voice chirped.  "It’s me, Mina!  Can I come up?
You have to buzz me in.  The button’s on the right."

"Oh!  Sure!"  Akane pressed it and dashed to Lita’s room to put the
swimsuit picture, now noticeably wrinkled, back in its place.

A minute later, Mina bounced in.  "Hey girlfriend!  What’s up?"

"How did you know I was here?  I thought you were on your way to school."

"I was, but they closed the gates on me, so it looks like I get an off
day."  She set her bookbag down on the couch.  "I figured since you were
walking about, you would come here eventually, so I decided to come and
wait for you.   But I see you’ve already made it pass Fidget."

"Who?"

"The landlord.  His real name is Mr. Ferguson, but we call him Fidget since
he tends to snap at anyone who steps on his precious property, including
his own tenets.  I’m amazed he let you in by yourself."

Akane smiled winsomely.  "Oh, I had to convince him a little, but he let me
in."

Mina’s answering smile suddenly dropped and she peered closer at her.
"What’s wrong?  Are you okay?"

"Huh?  I-I’m fine."

"Yeah, right, and I’m the Queen of Scotland.  Your eyes are all red.  I
recognize a tear-splotched face when I see it."

Akane self-consciously rubbed her face.  She couldn’t let Mina know that
she was getting upset because...no, it was foolish.  It sounded foolish
even to herself.  But Mina was looking at her with such concern.  She
couldn’t tell her...

"I--uh, was just thinking about home.  Being here made me realize how much
I miss everyone back home.  I guess it kinda got to me after a while."  Not
exactly a lie; in a sense, she was missing her own room, her own family and
friends.

Mina nodded commiserably, though she still had a not-so-sure look on her.
"Yeah, it must be so tough, being away from your family."  Her face
brightened.  "But at least you don’t have to be alone!  We’re gonna have so
much fun getting to know each other.  Just think of all the stuff we can
do!  Right, Artemis?"

To Akane’s surprise, Mina’s bookbag wiggled and a furry white head popped
out of the opening.  "Well, it’s about time!  Do you know how stuffy it is
in there?"

Mina giggled as she bent to extricate the cat.  "Yeah, but let’s not forget
the last time I had to smuggle you in here.  I didn’t have my bag and there
was no other place to put you.  That’s the last time you get to see the
inside of my blouse!"

Artemis pouted in a way only a cat can.  "As if there’s anything to
see...yeowwch!!"  He began to fan his rapidly-reddening nose.

"You had to smuggle him in?"

Mina shrugged.  "No pets.  Mr. Fidget runs a tight ship here."  She
roughened her voice and screwed up her face.  "'If I see any one of those
mangy fleabags roaming around my flowerbeds, I’ll bag ‘em and sell their
guts to one of those violin makers!'"

The wounded look Artemis gave her made Akane giggle.  She reached out to
scoop the cat into her arms, scratching beneath his chin.  "Oh, I’m sure he
won’t ever catch you."

"Be careful, Akane.  You’re gonna spoil him."

Artemis meowed throatily.   "Are you kidding?  This is the best I’ve ever
been treated!"

"That’s because she doesn’t know how much of a pervert you are.  Yet."

Artemis only meowed again and stuck his pointed tongue out at her, causing
Akane to giggle again.  Already she was feeling better.  "So now what do we
do?  Artemis, did you and Luna find out anything yet?"

"Well, the computer came up with a few ideas, but I want to wait until all
the Scouts are together before we try anything."

"Hmm.  So that still gives us a few hours to kill."  She turned to Mina.
"You can show me around, I suppose."

"Actually, I have a better idea."  Mina’s eyes twinkled mischievously.
"You mentioned yesterday you’re a martial artist.  I was wondering just how
good are you?"

Akane smiled at the blond girl.  "Oh, I can handle my own."

"Care to see if that statement is true?"

"How?"

Mina went into Lita’s room to emerge a second later with a couple of gis.
"Hmm...I would have to say you’re Amy’s size, so you can wear hers.  How’s
about a little sparring match?"

"What?  In here?  There’s not much room."

"Oh, no.  There’s an all-purpose room at the end of the hall that’s used
for parties and stuff. We practice there most of the time. I would go
outside but I don’t feel like enduring Fidget’s looks.  He doesn’t really
approve of girls fighting. We won’t doing anything strenuous, like jump
kicks or something.  I just want to see how good you are.  Plus, it’s good
practice.  Luna’s always saying 'It’s better to be prepared than being
stuck out in the rain.'"

Artemis winced.  "I doubt Luna would say anything like that."

"Well, it’s still good advice, so nyah, nyah!"  She turned to Akane, her
grin widening.  "So, how’s about it?  A little friendly match?"

Akane matched her grin.  "You know, it’s been a while since I sparred with
a *real* girl..."

============================================================================
========

An hour later, Akane was chiding herself for making such a choice.

The room was nice and large, with a few tables and chairs. All the
furniture had been pushed to one side.  All the windows were opened  Mina
crouched near the front door, trying to gauge her next move.  The 'friendly
match' had quickly escalated to a fighting bout, and as Akane wiped the
sweat out of her eyes, she began to consider if she could do a jumpkick
indoors.  Mina had definitely shown it could be done.

The girl was good.  The girl was really good.  Underneath her bubbly
personality, which Akane discovered to be almost exactly like Serena’s, was
a seasoned, professional fighter.  Not as good as Ranma was in his girl
form, but she could definitely give Shampoo or Ukyo a good fight. She was
certainly whipping Akane’s tail.

Mina suddenly broke away from the door, shooting a fist towards Akane’s
midsection.  Swiftly, she blocked it, twisted and brought her foot up,
trying to catch the girl’s other hand falling towards her.  Instead, Mina
caught it and yanked, sending Akane to the floor with a woosh.

"You left yourself too vulnerable there."  Artemis scolded from one of the
chairs, his head resting on his paws and his eyes half-closed.  "Don’t be
so eager to retaliate.  Remember, some enemies can use your own body as an
effective weapon."  Akane had thought he had fallen asleep earlier and was
surprised when he started making comments as the two girls fought.  Now,
she simply nodded and leapt to her feet.

"Wait.  Hold up."  Mina gasped.  Akane noticed she was holding her side.
"I think it’s time for a breather, don’t you think?"

"You’ve only been fighting for a short while and already you’re tired?
Mina, you’re becoming as bad as Serena!  Next thing you’ll know, you’ll be
pigging out at all hours of the night."

Mina stuck her tongue out at the white cat.  "Easy for you to say.  I don’t
see you training with the rest of us.  How you and Luna can order us about
and still take cat-naps is beyond me."

Artemis leaned his head forward.  His toothy grin made Akane think of the
Cheshire cat in that Disney movie.  "Jealous?"

"Hmph."  Before she could say anything truly nasty, however, Akane jumped
in.  "No, it’s okay.  I could take a rest too."

Mina’s glower towards Artemis quickly changed to a happy smile.  "Great!
You know, you’re really good at this.  You must get a lot of practice at
home."

"Well, when you fight off hordes of guys, you have to be good."  Akane said
absently.  "They stopped attacking me once Ranma showed up, but every once
in a while..."  She hesitated as she noticed Mina staring at her.

"Hordes of guys.  Chasing you.  Right.  Where did you say you come from
again?"

Akane cracked her knuckles.  "Hey, I think I’m all rested up.  Wanna have
another go at it?"

"Whoa, I believe you.  I believe you!"  Mina looked down at herself.  "Ick.
 I’m all sweaty.  I’m gonna take a quick shower, ‘kay?"  She bounced out of
the room.

Artemis shook his head and grumbled.  "That girl!  Ever since that battle
with Beryl she’s been acting goofier and goofier.  I sometimes wonder if
she’s doing it on purpose, or if it’s because Serena has some strange
influence on her.  It certainly would explain much."

Akane glanced at him as she began stretching.  "Well, she certainly doesn’t
act goofy when she fights.  She’s really, really good."

"Of course she’s good.  Out of all the Scouts, she’s the one who’s been
fighting the longest.  I’m sure you’ve noticed all the Sailor V hoopla
around here.  Before Mina joined with the others, she was fighting as
Sailor V."

"Really? So Sailor V is real?"

"Oh, yes."  Artemis raised himself up, seeing that he wasn’t going to get
any catnaps soon.  "When I found Mina, she was already active in sports.
It was just a simple matter of reawakening her body’s skill.  She took to
it as say, a fish to water, so to speak."  He licked his muzzle at the
words.  "Of course, I still think she has much to improve on.  Just because
Serena was revealed as the Princess doesn’t mean Mina automatically
absolves her responsibilities.  Like it or not, she still is the leader of
the Scouts."

"Serena’s a princess?"  Akane was taken aback.  "When did that happen?"

Artemis frowned.  "No one told you?  Well, if you’re going to be with us
for a while, perhaps it’s best that I’ve told you.  After all, you already
know their identities."

As Artemis recounted the history of the Silver Millennium and the search
for the Scouts in this age, Akane’s exercises slowed until she simply stood
there, mesmerized by the tale.  It sounded too fantastical to be true; in
fact, Akane wouldn’t have believed it if it wasn’t for the fact that it was
being told to her by a talking cat.  Still, it was hard to believe that
that whining, food-scarfing, clumsy girl she knew as Serena was a powerful
Princess from the moon.

"Yeah, it is hard to believe, isn’t it?"  Mina said from the doorway, clad
in a shirt and shorts and toweling her hair dry.  Akane had been too
engrossed in Artemis’s tale to notice her.  "I myself thought we made a
mistake before we even knew she was the Princess by the way she acted as
Sailor Moon.  That’s why Artemis and I didn’t reveal ourselves until the
last possible moment.  We needed to be absolutely sure we weren’t making a
mistake with her.  Of course, there are times I wonder if we had..." 

Artemis snorted.  "You should talk.  Who was the one who decided to trash
the plan and burst in out of the blue to nab Zoisite?  Face it, Mina, the
real reason you did that was because you thought Tuxedo Mask was cute."

"That floozy stabbed him with an ice shard!  I was only helping!"  But a
red flush crept into her cheeks.  "Besides, he’s Serena’s man, even if he
can’t remember it now."

Akane frowned.  "Tuxedo Mask.  That's the Darien guy, right? But why
doesn’t he remember her?"

"It happened during the battle with Queen Beryl.  Actually, we all lost our
memories, but afterwards, this mess started with those two mysterious
aliens you saw when you first came here and all of us, except Darien, got
our memories back.  I guess the world needed the Sailor Scouts again."

Akane turned to Artemis.  "But you never told me what happened with Queen
Beryl.  How did Sailor Moon beat her?"

"The Scouts went up to the North Pole to fight her."  Artemis’s voice went
curiously flat.  "After everyone fell, Serena turned into the Princess and
used the power of the Silver Crystal to destroy her."  He glanced uneasily
at Mina.

"Fell? You mean, everyone got captured, right?"

Mina looked away with a strange expression before replying softly, "She had
to do it all alone, without our help.  You know, despite all her faults,
she truly has a strong heart." Mina said softly.  "Despite all that
happened.  If it was me...I don’t know if I would have been able to handle
it.  One thing I do know, though.  If anyone tries to harm her, they’ll
have to go through us, first.  Then, they’ll have to go through *me*."

The uncharacteristic grim look in her eyes frightened Akane a little.
**She really means it!  She would really defend Serena without even
thinking about it.  Why?**

Unbidden, another memory arose in her mind, this time when Mikado Sanzenin
challenged her and Ranma to a duel over P-chan.  He had mentioned something
about kissing Akane (as if she would allow herself to be kissed by that
jerk).  Ranma had leapt to his feet and, in front of the entire assembly,
he had shouted, "You dare touch my fiancee and you will die!"

And he wore the same determination as the girl before her.

Mina visibly shook herself and said.  "It’s getting close to noon.  We
should get ready for our picnic."  Her face brightened.  "Hey, I got a
great idea!  Why don’t we take our lunch over to Crossroads High?  It just
a few blocks from here.  We can make Serena *so* jealous!"

"That’s a great idea!  I was planning on heading over there anyway.  And I
got some *great* ideas for lunch!  I’ll go get cleaned up!"  Giggling,
Akane took off, eager to get into the kitchen without anyone stopping her.

"Interesting girl." Mina commented as she scooped up Artemis using her
towel.  "She’s a pretty good fighter, but I have the feeling that there’s
more potential in her.  It’s as if she had reached some plateau and decided
to stay there instead of continuing on to the top."

"Perhaps she really is a better fighter in her own world."

"Maybe.  I don’t know.  I hope Lita’s okay in her world.  Oh, well."  She
turned towards the door.

"STOP RIGHT THERE, YOUNG LADY!!!"

Mina rolled her eyes and looked down.  "What, Artemis?"

"And where do you think you’re going?"

"I’m going to help Akane with the food."

If a cat could pale, Artemis would’ve done so.  Instead, he did the next
near-human thing to express his dismay: waving his paws rapidly.  "Oh, no.
No.  No. I forbid it.  You can’t."

"Why not?"

Artemis breathed a heavy sigh.  "Mina, must I remind you of that Sunday in
October?"

Mina stiffened, her face slowly growing red.  "There was nothing wrong with
the food.  I served a great course."

"Yeah, and nearly shot the kitchen to the moon while you 'cooked'.  They
still haven’t figured how to get that gunk off the ceiling yet."

"It’s not gunk, it’s teriyaki sauce!  And it wasn’t my fault the pot shot
into the air like that.  I’ve been telling Mom for months she needs a new
stove."

"And a new microwave, and a new electric knife, and a new refrigerator..."

"ALL RIGHT, ALREADY!!!"

"Hey, no shouting in here!"  The gardener from downstairs popped his head
into the room.  His eyes squinted at Mina.  "You’re disturbing the tenants.
 And who are you talking to anyway?"  He squinted even more at the
towel-wrapped bundle in her arms.

"Uh, it’s my sister’s niece.  We, um, shout lullabies to her to make her
sleep.  Well, gotta go change her diaper!"  Mina shot past the bewildered
gardener, who shook his head unhappily.  

"Darn kids, messing up the place.  I should’ve made this an old folks
home."  Then, belatedly, he frowned.  He could’ve sworn that she was
talking to a man in here, but the place was obviously empty. "Kids these
days...always coming and going..."

Mina dashed into Lita’s apartment and locked it good before dumping Artemis
on the sofa.  From the bedroom, the hiss of water on ceramic could be
heard.  "That was close."

"I’ll say."  Artemis crept out from beneath the towel and gave his charge a
stern look.  "Now Mina, I know you mean well, but you’ll have to be
careful!  We don’t want Lita to return back to see her kitchen destroyed.
Why don’t you let Akane cook and just help her instead."

Mina pouted.  "You’re no fun, Artemis.  You're beginning to sound like
Luna.  All right.  I promise not to cook."  Her face gentled a little as
the water stopped and Akane began singing aloud something she must’ve
forgotten the words to. Yappapa, yappapa, something.  "She sure sounds
happy, doesn’t she?  Maybe cooking will help get her mind off of her
predicament.  I know it works for Lita..."

Artemis stretched out and tapped Mina’s arm.  "Don’t worry, Mina.  Lita can
take care of herself.  From what Akane says, she’s in good hands.  We’ll
get her back.  Don’t worry about it."

"Yeah, I guess you’re right,"  Mina sighed.  "It’s a shame though that
Akane’s gotta go back to her world too. I’m beginning to like her.  At
least we won’t have to worry about food while she’s here.  Anyone that
happy must be a great cook!"

For reasons not yet unknown to Artemis, a strange chill went up his spine.

============================================================================
=========

"That’s funny.  This dough is supposed to rise but all it’s doing is just
sitting there."

"Maybe you should add more yeast."

"Yeah.  Think I’ll add some baking soda too."

"Akane, that’s talcum powder."

"Hey, how did that end up here?"

"I haven’t the faintest clue.  I’ll put it up for you, though."

"Thanks.  Can you check on the cookies while you’re at it?"

"Hmm.  They’re not brown yet."

"Darn.  They’ve been in there at least an hour.  Maybe there’s not enough
heat."

"You’re probably right.  I’ll set it to broil.  If that doesn’t brown it,
nothing will."

"Cool.  Are you sure you don’t want to make something, Mina?"

"Oh, no, you look like you know what you’re doing.  I’ll only get in the way."

"No, you’re not.  You’re such a help!  I’m glad you’re here.  Back at home,
Ranma makes fun of the way I cook."

"What a meanie! I can’t believe you’re engaged to such a dork.  Ugh, this
spoon is stuck in the rice."

"I think it’s quick-setting rice, though I never seen rice that color
before.  It wasn’t that way when I started frying it."

"Maybe it’s the special sort that changes colors as you cook it.  Wow, this
spoon is really stuck."

"Hmm...maybe it had something to do with the cornstarch.  I know!  Pour
some water in it and stick in the microwave on high.  That will unstick it
for sure."

"Akane, you are a genius!  I would’ve never thought of that."

"Doggone it, those cookies still aren’t brown.  Maybe we should stick them
in the microwave too."

"Uh, your dough is rising.  I mean, it’s really rising.  I never knew dough
could stretch itself like that.  Uhh, it’s heading towards you, Akane."

"Not again.  Hand me that knife, Mina.  No, the butcher knife.  Hurry.
It’s wrapping around my waist..."

"Here you go.  What’s that beeping sound?"

"I think it’s the microwave.  The rice is done, I think."

"How can you tell?  I can’t see a thing in there.  It’s all one huge blob
spilling over the pot.  Well, that and all that weird electricity bouncing
off the walls.  I wonder if that’s a metal pot? I can’t remember if you’re
not supposed to put metal pots in a microwave or wooden pots."

"Uh, oh.  That’s not good.  At least I got the dough under control again.
Open the microwave and I’ll stick it in with the rice."

"Okay.  I still don’t like the way it’s beeping though...wait a minute. The
door’s stuck."

"Here.  Use the butcher knife to pry it open."

"Okay.  Now, if I just stick this here..."

============================================================================
==========

Amy stretched out beneath a cherry tree--her favorite lunching spot--and
took out a book on quantum physics to do some light reading.   It would be
a while before Serena could join her, so she took advantage of the peace
and quiet to lean against the tree, reveling in the warm sunshine and soft
breeze tugging her light-blue hair across her face.  A breeze tinged with
the scent of cherry blossoms and...and something strangely foul.

Her eyes flew open just as Akane and Mina walked up.  "Hi, Amy.  Can we
have lunch with you?"  Akane asked.  She held up a large paper bag.

"Of course."  Amy closed her book and wrinkled her nose slightly.  Where
was that smell coming from?  As the two girls sat down, her frown deepened.
"Mina, what did you do to your hair?"

Mina grinned a tad too widely.  "Oh, I’m fine!  You like it?!"  She fluffed
her hair, which had frizzed into a golden halo about her head.  "It’s a new
look, all right!"  She gave a strange, high-pitched giggle.

Akane leaned over to say softly.  "We had a slight accident while making
lunch earlier. She keeps saying she’s fine, though."  She began digging
into the paper bag.  "Would you like some cookies?  We made plenty!"

"Yes, have some!  We made them just for yooooou!"  Mina chirped happily.

"Uh," Amy hesitated as Akane pulled out a blackened lump with bits of
glossy things poking out of it.  "May I ask what kind is it?"

"White chocolate macadamia nut cookies.  It’s my own recipe!"

Amy grunted as Akane handed it over. It was too heavy to hold with one
hand, so she placed it in her lap, where it sat--an odd, misshapen lump
of....something.  "Um, thank you, but um, I’m allergic to nuts."

Mina blinked rapidly and said, "Really?  I thought you were allergic to fish."

"That too."  Amy threw her a frantic look as Akane continued to rummage in
the bag, setting out objects that bore little resemblance to anything
edible.  The lump on her lap grew heavier.  "Mina, where’s Artemis?"

"Artemis?  I don’t know.  Last time I saw him, he was underneath Lita’s
bed.  Something must’ve spooked him; his tail was three times the size of
his body!"

Out of the corner of Amy’s eye, she saw the paper bag leap out of Akane’s
hand and begin scooting away.  Nonchalantly, Akane whammed a fist on it,
snatched it back, and shook it vehemently.  When it didn’t move again, she
resumed unpacking it.

Amy realized she wasn’t very hungry after all.

Mina looked around, her movements less jerky than before.  "Hey, where’s
Serena?  Shouldn’t she be here by now?"

Grateful for the distraction, Amy replied, "She was late for school, so
she’s in detention for half an hour."

Akane paused.  "Would she be in the same class as Lita?"

"I would guess so.  Ms. Patricia Haruna teaches the regular homeroom, and I
know they have the same teacher.  Why do you ask?"

"It’s just that Rei mentioned that I should pick up Lita’s assignments
while she’s gone.  Maybe I’ll ask Serena when she comes..."  The bag now
empty of its contents, Akane handed Amy and Mina containers and chopsticks.
 "Well, it’s all unpacked!  Enjoy!"

Amy stared at the congealing mixture of browns and whites and reds, with
bits of green sticking out of it.  "And this is...?"

"Soy rice!"  Akane exclaimed with an extremely cute smile.  "It’s one of my
specialties!"

Amy glanced at Mina, who was stirring the mixture with an odd expression
and muttering  to herself, "I told him to let me do all the cooking, but
did he let me? NooOOOooo..."  She was pondering the best excuse to use when
out of the blue Serena plopped into their midst.

"Aww, man. I can’t believe Ms. H kept me in that classroom all that time
just to do some stupid quiz!  And there’s only twenty minutes left for
lunch!  I’m sooo hungry..."  Her eyes latched onto the bowl Amy was
holding.  "Ohhh, Amy...is that food?  I didn’t have anything to eat all
day...I think I forgot my lunch...I thought Luna had it but I hadn’t seen
her..."

Gingerly, Amy held it out.  "Actually, I ate before all of you came, so..."
She jumped as the bowl was snatched out of her hand.

"Ah! Serena!  Hey, slow down.  I made plenty for everyone!"  Akane beamed
as Serena’s hands became a blur.  "You must be really hungry...no one at
home eats my food like that.  How is it?"

Serena merely grunted and started on another bowl.

"Oh, this is so great! Wait ‘till I tell Ranma about this! We’ll see who
laughs about my cooking now! I’m so happy!"

Mina and Amy stared hard at Serena, not believing their eyes. Mina even
looked down at her own food, sitting untouched in her hands, then shook her
head.  "Akane, you were talking earlier about seeing Serena’s teacher about
Lita?"

"Huh?" Akane turned from the joyous sight of Serena devouring her cooking.
"Oh yeah! I wanted to talk to her about getting Lita’s assignments."

Serena glanced up, specks of food spattered on her cheeks.  "You mean Ms.
H?  Usually she goes to the teacher’s lounge around this time.  You might
find her there.  It’s on the second floor on this side of the building.
She’s easy to spot--she’s got wavy red hair and she’s wearing a brown
suit."  How she could talk and shovel that...stuff in her mouth
simultaneously was beyond Amy, even though she had done so several times in
the past.

Akane rose to her feet.  "In that case, I better go catch her before your
lunch is over.  Enjoy the lunch, okay?  And if I’m not back, I’ll meet you
guys here after school!"  She tossed a wave over her shoulder and took off,
just as Serena set the bowl on the ground and let out a satisfied ‘ahhh’.

"That hit the spot!" She exclaimed, patting her belly.  Amy gave her a
dubious look.

"Err...how was it, Serena?" Mina asked.

"It was okay, I guess.  To tell the truth, I was so hungry, I ate too fast
to taste it."  Serena smiled at her, then suddenly blinked and pointed at
her.  "Hey, what happened to your hair?"

Mina smiled bleakly as she ran a hand through the frizzy mess.  "I had a
little accident. You like it?"

"Erk!" Serena said.

Amy sighed, hefting the cookie from her lap.  "Really, Serena, I know you
mean well in making Akane feel more at home while she’s here, but do you
have to act like an uncivilized pig around her?  It’s a miracle you didn’t
choke the way you were eating so fast!"

"Erk!" Serena said again.

Mina frowned.  "Uh, are you okay, Serena?"  Her eyes widened as she
realized Serena was still pointing at her.  "My hair’s not that bad, is it?!"

"Grckkk...!"

Amy edged forward and tugged Mina to her side.  Serena remained rooted
where she was, her finger held motionless in the air.  A strange green
color began to flood her face, and her left eye occasionally twitched.

Amy sighed. "Oh dear. It looks like Akane’s cooking finally caught up with
her."

==============================================================

"Excuse me?  Ms. Haruna?"

The pretty teacher entering the teacher’s lounge turned at her name and
said pleasantly, "Yes?  Can I help you?"  She blinked a little bit.
"You’re not in standard uniform.  Are you a student here?"

"Not really.  I’m here to talk to you about Lita Kino."

"Oh dear, not her again.  Please don’t tell me she got into another fight?
I noticed she wasn’t in class today."

Akane blinked.  **Another fight?**  "Uh, no. Some urgent family business
came up and she had to leave for a while.  I’m here to collect her
assignments while she’s away."

"Ah, I see." Ms. Haruna looked Akane over.  "And I assume you are a friend
of hers?"

Well, she used it once.  Might as well continue it.  "Actually, I’m her
cousin."

"Cousin!  I thought the girl had no nearby relatives.  It’s good to know
her family is finally taking an interest in her education.  Lita’s not
exactly a model student.  The only classes she seems truly interested in is
gym and home economics, though the two definitely do not belong together.
The rest of her time is spent daydreaming about guys.  And I never seen a
girl get into so many fights!  With guys, of all people!  I certainly hope
spending some time with her family will tame her a bit.  How long will she
be gone?"

**Fights?  I didn’t know she was that tomboyish... almost like...**  Akane
started as the teacher repeated her question.  "Oh, sorry.  I think she’ll
be out for a few days."  **At least, I hope so.**

"Hmm.  A few days.  I know there’s an algebra test next Wednesday..."  As
Ms. Haruna stood there pondering, another woman poked her head out of the
teacher’s lounge.  "Telephone for you."  A sly smile crossed her face.  "I
think it’s Roger."

"Roger!"  squealed Ms. Haruna gaily, looking almost like a schoolgirl.
"I’ll be right there!"  She turned back to Akane.  "Tell you what.  The
homeroom is just two doors down.  Why don’t you go there and wait until I
come back?  This phone will just take a few moments, and I’ll give you
Lita’s assignments when I get back."  Without waiting for Akane to answer,
she skipped into the teacher’s lounge, hearts seeming to float about her.

Akane shrugged and went to the classroom the teacher indicated.  It was
empty except for a young girl with long russet hair standing by the window
with her back to Akane.  She was speaking aloud, though she made no
indication that she knew Akane had entered.  "Stupid teacher, can’t tell
the difference between good poetry and gobbledy-gook.  I bet if I did say
it in stupid English, she still wouldn’t get it.  Our poetry is too deep to
be translated by any language on this stupid earth.  Well, they’ll pay.
Soon, they’ll all pay, once I...”  She began grumbling in some strange,
sing-song syllables.

Akane sweated and decided to speak before the girl began doing something
really weird.  "Um, hello.  I take it you’re here waiting for Ms. Haruna,
too?"

The girl whirled at the sound of her voice.  Her features were delicate, to
the almost-pointed ears to the almond-shaped eyes.  She frowned hard at
Akane before saying in a brash, nasal voice.  "I didn’t introduce myself
when you came in.  Don’t assume you have to on my account.  In fact, don’t
assume, period."  She went back to staring out the window.

Most normal people would exclaim, "How rude!" and walk away in a huff.
Less-normal people would allow the comment to go right over their heads and
continue chatting until the rude person says something even ruder and walks
away in a huff.  Martial artists--particularly confident, arrogant
ones--would say nothing and simply crack their knuckles, causing the rude
person to apologize and walk away quickly.  However, if the martial artist
so happens to have a short temper...

"What was that?  What did you say?"

"Look, do I have to draw a picture for you? Get lost!"

"You gotta lot of nerve speaking like that!"

"You gotta lot of nerve looking like that!"

"Wha--!!  How dare you!  How dare you!  Take that back or I’ll pound that
stupid look off your face!"

The girl was getting very angry now.  "Look, I don’t have the time or
energy to..."  Abruptly, she paused, then a slow smile spread across her
face.  Akane vaguely noticed that she had small pointed canines, like
P-chan.  However, on him they made him look adorably cute.  On her, they
looked predatory.  "So, you think you can take me on?" 

Akane shifted into a fighter’s stance and grinned.  "Feh.  I break bricks
softer than your head."  Mentally, she congratulated herself for coming up
with such a cool line.  Being around Ranma and his big mouth certainly had
its benefits every once in a while.

And it had the effect she wanted, too.  Flames were literally erupting in
the girl’s eyes as she raised her hands like claws.  "That’s it!  Your
energy’s MINE!!!"

**Energy?** Akane wondered.  **What does she mean by that?**

She never had a chance to find out, because at that moment the building was
rocked by a piercing scream.  "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU’RE CANCELING OUR
DAAAAATE!!!!"

The door suddenly opened and students rushed in, their faces pale.

"Did you hear..."

"Yep. I know..."

"Oh, man, this is so bad..."

"I wonder what we’ll get now..."

Akane picked herself off the floor.  **What was heck...?**

A red-hair girl and a boy with unruly hair and the thickest glasses she’d
ever seen went over to pick up the other girl, who laid against the
chalkboard, dazzled.  "Ann?  Ann, are you okay?"  The girl asked. "Do you
need to see the nurse?"

Akane snorted.  "In another few minutes, she would’ve have to. That will
teach her to be rude to me."

The girl blinked.  "Who, Ann?  Oh, don’t mind her. She’s always like that.
I think she and her brother came over from France."  

Actually, the last sentence was more like "Ah think she ahnd her bruddah
came ovah fram Frahnss"  Akane considered asking her if she was from New
Jersey, but instead said, "France? Well, I guess that explains it."

The boy adjusted his glasses and peered hard at her.  "Who are you?" he
said in a voice that automatically classified him as a geek.  "I can
recognize every single person who came into this building this morning, but
you obviously aren’t a student here."

The girl glared at him before replying kindly.  "Don’t mind him. He’s
always like that.  I’m Molly Baker, and this is Melvin."

"Tendo Ak--I mean, Akane Tendo.  I’m Lita Kino’s cousin."

"Aha! So that’s why Ann’s laid out like that.  It must run in the family!"
Melvin exclaimed.  Molly was spared from elbowing him when Ann came to,
rose to her feet and roughly pushed him out of her way. Giving Akane a
glance filled with malice, she stomped to her desk, taking pains to stomp
on Melvin’s foot on the way.

Molly didn’t notice as she was still chastising him.  "Melvin! That was so
rude!  You’re beginning to sound like Serena, for Gawd’s sake."  She
frowned, then glanced at the rapidly filling room. "Hey, where is Serena
anyway? She should be here by now, after..."

"Serena?"  Melvin stopped hopping on one foot.  "I saw her heading towards
the nurse’s office a few minutes ago.  She was holding her stomach and
groaning and turning all sorts of weird colors.  I think she ate something
toxic."  He pushed up his glasses again and started speaking in a lecturing
voice.  "It could be a conspiracy! I read on the Internet that there’s a
cult going around drugging young women’s food..."

"Get real, Melvin!  Who would want to poison Serena?" She turned her back
on him.  "I’m sorry, Akane. He can be so nerdy sometimes...hey, are you
alright? Your face is turning so red!  Maybe you should go see the nurse too."

Before Akane could explain, the classroom door banged open and in stormed
an enraged Ms. Haruna, her face contorted and her hair nearly crackling in
fury.  Students, including Melvin and Molly, scattered swiftly to their
seats, leaving Akane to stand awkwardly in front of the room.  Ms. Haruna
stomped to her desk, slammed her papers and books on it, and barked out,
"Take out your English books and turn to page 257! We will be working on
exercises seven through fourteen instead of just exercise seven today.  And
I’m moving the algebra test up to two hours from now instead of next week!
WITH NO CALCULATORS!!"

As the class groaned, Akane timidly approached the desk.  "Ano...Ms.
Haruna? It’s me, Akane Tendo, remember?"  She cringed back as the teacher
whipped her head around.

"What do you WANT?!?!"

"Um, you were going to give me Lita’s assignments?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Oh, I was, was I?" Akane almost expected her to start
cackling evilly.  "Fine.  You’ll get her assignments all right.  Go take
her seat and turn to page 257..."

Akane blinked.  "Nani yo?!  But I’m just..."

"I SAID, SIT DOWN!!!" roared the teacher, doing a most impressive
large-head effect.  Akane gasped and scrambled towards the nearest open
seat--which happened to be next to that weird Ann girl at the back of the
room.  As she sat, someone pushed a book into her hands.  "Chotto...wait a
second. I don’t belong here!  I can’t..."

"SILENCE!! How are you going to explain Lita’s assignments to her if you
don’t know them yourself!  One more protest out of you and I’ll have you
holding buckets in the hallway!"  She glared at Akane a few moments more
before casting her evil eye on someone else.  "Molly! Start reading
exercise seven aloud.  AND NO STUMBLING OVER WORDS!!!"

Akane slumped in her chair as Molly leapt to her feet and began reading in
her faux-pas New Jersey accent.  She glanced over to see Ann snickering
with an evil grin, clearly enjoying her distress.  She tightened her
fingers on the book.  **Ooo, if I had my mallet, I’d whack that smirk right
off her face!**

Someone else decided to do it for her.  "Ann!  You want something to laugh
at? Fine! Hallway! NOW!!!"

Ann’s mouth dropped.  With a baleful look, she stuck out her tongue and
sashayed smoothly out the door.  At least, she would have if she hadn’t
kicked Akane’s seat on the way.

It could have been a simple misstep.  Anyone could have mistaken it for
that and laughed it off...except for someone with a very short temper...

"WHAT'S WITH YOU ALREADY, YOU STUPID BAKA?!"  Akane surged to her feet.
Then, she winced.

"Akane Tendo!  Hallway!  NOW!!!"

Miserably, Akane trudged to the door.  If he could see her, Ranma would be
on the floor howling with laughter.  To think she was being punished at a
school she didn’t attend, in a world she didn’t even belong to!  It just
made no sense!  Oh well, at least some things never change wherever you
are.  **No, things don’t change.  They just get worse and worse.**


============================================================================
/===\     LaShawn M. Taylor (shonnie@zeus.anet-chi.com) soon to have a web
|^ ^|\    page later this month. Watch for it, will ya?
 \v/\|    
    |\    Oh, Ladybird, I have heard you have to run to tend your children.
    \|    No flood can drown nor fire blacken purest longing for Ladybird...
							-XTC
============================================================================