In My Life
----------

by Florencio B. de la Merced, Jr. (fmerced@pworld.net.ph)

A Fanfic inspired by the anime Ranma 1/2 created and copyrighted by Rumiko
Takahashi
---------

EPISODE ONE

A Breath of Fresh Air

It was the dawn of a new day in Nerima.  The morning sun was about to rise
from the distant urban horizon, and the local populace was also beginning to
wake up and start their daily routines for the day.

Ranma was about to join them.  Though his eyes were still shut closed, and
he was still recalling his dream from last night, he couldn't shake off the
cold feeling that had dominated his consciousness just recently.  He tried
to ignore it and made another attempt to sleep again, but his cheek was
beginning to numb, and that was almost impossible to neglect.  He tried to
stir in bed, but somehow his bed felt flat and hard.  Then suddenly,
everything made sense.  He was on the floor.  Ranma slowly pushed himself
off the cold damp floor and blindly tried to climb back into his bed, which
he thought was just an arm length away from where he was.  He was wrong.

He rose up again and this time, with eyes slightly open, tried to visually
acquire where the bed was.  Surprisingly, somebody else was occupying it.
Ranma crawled slowly towards his bed and pushed the warm sleeping body to
one side.  Unfortunately as soon as Ranma lay down on the bed, he quickly
found himself pushed off of it.  Ranma finally stood up and, convinced he
wasn't going to get back on the bed, he stretched off the morning cobwebs
out his system.  He was now fully awake.  Sunlight had started to seep into
the room, and Ranma decided to get himself ready for the start of the day.
Ranma picked up the pillow that was lying on the ground and threw it towards
his sister, who was still lying fast asleep on the single bed in the room.
"Wake up sleepyhead."

Ukyou rolled to one side, apparently trying to decide if she would finally
get off the bed, or continue to dream away.  But, when the sun's rays
finally touched her pale crimson face, she decided the former.  Ukyou lazily
got out of bed and walked towards her dresser.

"Where are my clothes?"  Ranma had gone through half the pile of shirts and
sweaters before asking his half-awake sister.

"This is my room, Ranma.  You gave your bed to Shampoo, remember." Ukyou had
already picked a nice set of blue overalls when Ranma realized his mistake.
"Damn, I forgot.  This place didn't come with furniture."  Ranma was halfway
out the door when Ukyou reminded him that their new home was once an
abandoned temple, and not a house.

-----

Ryoga was getting sleepy.  His right eye was already close while his other
eye was about halfway down.  Although the sun was just coming up the
horizon, his body was wearily and slowly setting down towards the ground.
Being forced to stay awake throughout the night was finally taking its toll
on Ryoga.  His arms were begging to shake and tremble in fatigue.  His body
went down an inch lower from his pushed up position.  "Oww!"  The jolt of
pain, perpetrated by a hundred needles sticking up from the ground just
underneath his stomach, instantly rejuvenated his strength, and forced him
to resume the position he had tolerated since last night.

"That will be enough Ryoga." Cologne was quietly sitting in one corner of
the courtyard and had been patiently overlooking Ryoga's training all
throughout the night before and up until that morning. Ryoga collapsed on
one side of the needles and didn't move for a minute or so.  Cologne figured
Ryoga was fast asleep and promptly decided she too was entitled to the same.

-----

The Tendo dojo was already a busy household by the time Akane got out of the
bath.  Nabiki was running up and down the stairs and was frantically
searching for something she had somehow misplaced the day before.  Kasumi
offered to help, but after handing over one of Nabiki's 'lost' things,
Nabiki started to look for another one.  Fortunately, their mother always
knew where Nabiki leaves her things behind.

A few minutes later, Akane, after a quick breakfast, was out of the gates
and was on her way to school.  Kasumi was waiting for her at the street
corner and the two stopped and talked about nothing, they were patiently
waiting for Nabiki to finally join them on their way to Furinkan High.

"I heard you went on a date last night, Akane."  Kasumi marveled at her
little sister's reaction.  The flush red glow emanating from Akane's cheeks
rivaled that of a spring cherry blossom, at least that was what Kasumi
thought about the embarrassment Akane was feeling right now.  "So who's the
lucky guy?"  Nabiki finally emerged from the gates and was running up to
them.  Akane felt uneasy, and quite understandably, though she also thought
that there was nothing wrong in what had happened to her and Tatewaki last
night.

"Hi." Nabiki rested a bit, finishing off a croissant sandwich she had taken
off the breakfast table.  "This taste great, Kasumi.  What's in this,
anyway?"  Kasumi tactfully waited for Nabiki to fully ingest her breakfast
before saying 'leftovers' to her sister.  Nabiki's eyes widened in
disbelief.  "You made me eat leftovers!"  Nabiki grimaced as phantom pain
swept across her stomach, and up to her pale stricken face.

"Your leftovers, Nabiki.  Remember, you cooked them."  Kasumi looked further
down the street.  She immediately recognized the two figures walking up to
them.  "Morning, Kodachi.  I trust you had a wonderful date."  The group was
finally on their way to school.

"I should have never allowed you to set me up on those blind dates, Kasumi."
Kodachi and Kasumi were leading the group.  Nabiki and Mariko were just
behind the two, and were busy talking to each other, while Akane was all
alone trailing at the end.  "You should know I never skated in my entire
life."  Kasumi only giggled, quickly irking her friend.  "I see that you
find my personal tragedies amusing.  Well, never again."

Akane was solemnly quiet.  She looked up at the fence running up and down on
one side of the road their group always traversed on the way to school every
morning.  The stream on the other side of the fence was unimaginatively the
same and it seems unchanged for so many times Akane had forced herself to
observe it.  Somehow, for Akane, the day was starting out as she expected it
to be.  The same things would happen, nothing ever changes in Nerima.  Akane
felt depressed again, and it was noticeable since she had fallen behind her
group quite considerably.  She however picked up her pace and quickly
ignored her own feelings for now.

"Are you telling me, you didn't like your date?"

"I never said that!  Beside.  We've got a biology project to work on."
Kodachi looked behind her.  "Right, Mariko.  Mariko!"

"Huh?  What is it, Kodachi?"  Mariko was so engrossed with her conversation
with Nabiki, that she had failed to follow the conversation of her two
friends walking ahead of them.  "Are you talking about your date tonight?"
Both Nabiki and Kasumi grinned after stumbling on that piece of news.
Kodachi failed too, she couldn't hide her embarrassment.

"I see.  So Mikado did ask you out again."  Kodachi was mute to Kasumi's
implied question.

"No.  Dr. Tofu asked her."  All three startlingly stared at Mariko for any
truth in her statement.

"Just kidding!"  Mariko ran ahead, knowing both Kasumi and Kodachi would be
after her.  Nabiki and Akane also followed suit, since they too didn't want
to be late for class.

-----

Shampoo looked up into the morning sky and was delighted to see the perfect
weather blossoming that morning.  She toweled off the perspiration from her
early morning exercises.  Her day started a little over an hour ago.  The
courtyard was still in darkness then, but ever since the morning sun had
pushed high above the rooftops, she began to notice the beautiful terraces,
the huge garden that was in the center of the courtyard, and the numerous
staircases on each side of it.  Shampoo gathered her things together and
walked towards the nearest doorway.

"Better get ready for school, Shampoo."  Ukyou rounded a corner in the
hallway, while Shampoo went towards her room, which was in the other
direction.  "Oh, have you seen Ryoga this morning?"  Shampoo thought Ryoga
was still sleeping, so she gave that answer just before entering her room.

"Sleeping?  How can he still sleep when we've got classes."  Ukyou stepped
out into another courtyard and immediately noticed the sun baked body lying
motionless in the middle of it.  "Ryoga!"

-----

"Morning folks."  Tatewaki Kuno felt relieved, that he'd finally be on his
way to school, accompanying the new students to Furinkan High.  Although he
was not that inclined to mingle with people he hardly knew, a favor for his
father was usually unavoidable to give in to.  Besides, Tatewaki thought the
Saotomes were harmless, barring that one incident yesterday.  "Are we all
here?"  Ranma was already outside the dojo with Tatewaki for about a few
minutes now.  Ukyou then joined them while dragging a half-asleep Ryoga with
her.  "Huh?"

"Come on Ryoga!"  Ukyou dumped the almost lifeless Ryoga in Ranma's arms.
"Will you do something about him."

"Yo, Ryoga.  Wake up."  Ryoga mumbled a few mangled words.  "Hmm.  When was
the last time you slept?"  Ranma finally straightened Ryoga's stance.

"Huh?  Three days ago."  Ryoga leaned and almost fell forward, but he
instinctively brought himself back up.  "Are we there yet?"

Tatewaki observed from a distance, all he could think was how unusual things
were starting for the day for him.  As far as he could tell, Ryoga was
either drunk or really suffering from lack of sleep.  But 'three days',
Tatewaki thought in disbelief.  Fortunately he wasn't inclined to pry into
the lives of other people, especially strangers.  He usually kept his
opinion to himself, or until someone pries it out of him.

"Tatewaki? What a pleasant surprise."

"I'm up!" Ryoga miraculously jolted towards Ukyou, and this time it was
Ukyou who was dragged off her feet.  Ranma just smiled while Tatewaki was
pushed to one side as Ryoga and Ukyou walked past him.

"Eh, what was that all about?"  Ranma helped Tatewaki up.

"Don't mind them.  He's just being protective."  Tatewaki dusted himself
off.

"Why?"  Tatewaki stared for a moment at Ryoga and Ukyou, who were at odds
somewhat a few paces away.  "You mean, he thinks I'm hitting on your
sister?"

Ranma tapped Tatewaki's shoulder, as if trying to calm his new friend.
"Actually, he's protecting you."  That further stirred Tatewaki's curiosity,
and Ranma could only chuckle in reply.

"Nihao!  Shampoo ready."  Both Ranma and Tatewaki gaped in awe at the almost
revealing clothing Shampoo had decided to put on for school.  There wasn't
really anything wrong in the pair of clothes Shampoo had chosen.  It was
evident though that it was at least two sizes down from what her body was
fully capable of.  "Uh, something wrong?"  Ranma snapped out of the trance
and quickly led Shampoo back into the dojo with some very good advice for
her.  "Ok.  This is old anyway."

Tatewaki immediately looked at some uninteresting direction when Shampoo
waved backed to him, asking for a few more minutes so that she can change
her clothes.  It didn't really matter for Tatewaki, since now, somehow,
things were finally looking up for him.

-----

Nodoka was surprised to wake up that morning alone in bed.  She suspected
something was deeply bothering her husband but Genma went directly to sleep
last night rather than talk to her about his problem.  After cooking some
breakfast for Genma, she immediate searched for him.  She found Genma
sitting alone in the middle of the main training hall.  She meekly called
out to him, but her voice easily diffused into the vast space between them.
She approached him this time.   "Genma dear.  Breakfast is ready."

-----

When Akane entered the classroom, true to her expectation, only a handful
noticed her.  Sayuri waved a greeting, but she was too far away to hear the
verbal notion that came with it.  Yuka, Akane's seatmate, holler for her but
the room wasn't an ideal place for any type of communication at the moment.
The teacher was late and most of the students were picking on one
unfortunate soul.

"Leave me alone!"  Gosunkugi tried to hide his head beneath the pile of
notebooks and bags on top of his desk.  Several boys were pushing his desk,
and shoving the chair beneath him.

"Poor Hikaru!  Oh, I'm sorry.  I meant...The Great Hikaru Gosunkugi, Master
Illusionist."  The gathered crowd erupted in mischievous laughter.  "He can
pull a rabbit out of his hat, he can cut a hundred yen bill into two and put
it back again, he can..." Akane walked towards her seat, but she kept a
close and serious stare at the commotion in the middle of the room.  "And
for a finale.  He changes a perfectly white handkerchief, and turns it into
two love birds."  The ruckus further intensified.  Akane calmly placed her
bag on her desk, but she hesitated to sit down.  "Bravo, Master of
Illusion."   The clapping hands almost competed with the giggles and
laughter for more of the class' attention.  "But no magic in the world could
prevent him from failing Phys..."  Akane had heard enough.  She screamed at
the punks crowding over her friend.  But somehow what was heard loudly
around the room was not her plea for her classmates to leave Hikaru alone.

"Ok.  Break it up!"  A total stranger had somehow barreled his way through
the unruly crowd of students.  Akane only saw the sea of her classmates
parting in the middle until a path towards Hikaru's desk was visibly
noticeable.  "What's this?"  Ranma stopped short in his hurried advance as
the sight of the student sitting in the middle of the room, with his head
buried underneath a pile of books, caught him off guard.

"What's the medical emergency, Ranma?"  Ukyou was just behind her brother
when both of them decided to intercede in what looked to them as students
almost in a riot.  Ranma slowly kneeled down in front of the rattled and
severely humiliated classmate.  "What happened to him?"

Both Yuka and Sayuri were up on their feet.   Akane tried to get a better
view on what was going on.  She only had one question on her head.

"Who the hell are you?"  A brown-haired boy snorted from behind Ukyou.  That
remarked quickly made Ukyou's head snap back up.  "What the...?" Ukyou
quickly turned around in place and menacingly faced the jerk foolish enough
to speak out to her in such manner.  By the time Ukyou was breathing down on
the poor lad's neck, Ryoga haphazardly made his entrance.

Ryoga was hoping to get some shut eye during class, and he was already
looking for a spare desk and chair when he dropped into the room. "Perfect."
He did spot a desk in the back, but Ukyou was again threatened, or was it
the other way around. No matter, Ryoga thought.  He found himself again in a
similar situation and the second one that morning to his dismay.

Ranma helped lift several books off Gosunkugi's hiding head, unaware or
unmindful of the new commotion happening just behind him.  "Hey.  Are you
all right?  Do you need to see the doctor, or something?"  Gosunkugi finally
showed his grateful face to the new student kneeling down in front of him.
That quickly made Hikaru curious, yet thankful anyway.

"You talk like I wasn't even human!  I feel very insulted by that!"  Ukyou
was all over the student.  She had somehow pinned both of the boy's arms and
legs and had her victim slumped back on a desk.  All that was holding her
back was the desperate hold on her by Ryoga from behind.

"Calm down Ukyou.  He didn't mean it, whatever it was."  Ryoga finally
managed to squeeze in between Ukyou and the boy she was massively
intimidating.

As soon as Ukyou had let go of her hold, Ryoga inserted himself as a barrier
and peacekeeper.  The boy, though he was only startled a bit, realized he
could already move.  In retaliation, he quickly pushed off Ryoga, sending
him towards Ukyou.  "Ugh, get off of me.  You a pervert or something?"

"Who are you calling pervert?  Ryoga is not a pervert!"  Fists were flying
everywhere.  Well, not exactly.  Ukyou was bracing for the fight, while some
other troublemakers had joined up with the brown-haired student and were
threatening on the other side.   Ryoga was unfortunately caught in between.

Ranma finally figured nothing was physically wrong with Hikaru Gosunkugi,
though he did suspect mental instability due to the rather embarrassing
display of profuse apperception of gratitude Gosunkugi kept on doing, even
after Ranma already told him to calm down.

"How can I ever thank you?"  Gosunkugi was down on his hands and knees this
time.  Ranma felt really awkward, not fully understanding why someone would
throw himself or herself, without hesitation, at his feet.

At the sidelines of all of the action was the trio of friends.  Akane
finally got a good look at the new student in her class.  Actually, Yuka
reminded her that the boy, with black hair and sporting a ponytail was only
a third of the new students that decided to appear in class.  Akane
dismissed her friend's comment.   The new guy that had helped Gosunkugi was
far more interesting to her, than those other two students.  Akane had
already labeled the later two as 'war freaks' but she knew her habit of
judging a stranger was far less than ideal.  The boy in front of her was
different though, the word she had for him was, something, or someone
special.  If not, quite important, Akane thought.

"AIYA!"  The loud screeching shout stunned everyone in the room.  The source
of it was undeniable, and everyone was more or less forced to stare at the
doorway.  "See.  I told you Shampoo can get everyone's attention."

The teacher was standing next to Shampoo at the doorway, and was extremely
pissed off by the ravage behavior of his class.  No sooner had Mr. Fujiwara
took his first step into the room, the students jolted in a panic, while
they tried to get to their respective desks and chairs.  Before he could
speak out his first word, all that was left standing were Ukyou, Ryoga,
Hiroshi, and Shampoo, but she doesn't count.

Ranma was surprised as he somehow found himself forced to take an empty
seat.  He looked behind, hoping to see who could have pushed an extra chair
from underneath him.  All he saw was a cute shorthaired girl who he had not
noticed, until now.  "Thanks."  Akane hesitated, and she probably hates
herself now, since Ranma quickly turned to face forward just when she had
gathered the will to return the same sweet grin back to the new student in
front of her.

"You three, come with me."  Mr. Fujiwara was already back in the hallway,
about to escort two new students & Hiroshi, when he stepped back into the
room.  "You too, Mr. Gosunkugi.  Now!"

Somehow, Shampoo was left in-charge of the class.  "Nihao.  I hope everybody
keeps quiet.   You do not want to make Shampoo angry.  Right, Ranma?"  Akane
was pleased, as the boy with the long ponytail in front of her nodded in
reply to the question.  Now, only one word was on her mind.

-----

Nodoka was sitting besides her husband, who still hasn't responded to her
announcement of breakfast.  They both stayed silent for a good portion of
the hour, looking at a massive tapestry hanging at one end of the rather
huge training hall.  Nodoka reviewed her observations about the scenery
painted on the tapestry.  It was a huge country scene, with both mountains
and plain fields crafted in it.  A huge waterfall dominates one side of the
picture, the falling water draining out into the farmlands, helping and
supporting the small bustling community in the lowlands.  Genma took a bite
at a sandwich he had already with him, even before Nodoka came into the
room.

"My old master once said that life is like a flowing river."  Genma took
another bite, while his wife curiously looked at him.  "It comes from on
high, flows down to the depths of the earth," Genma had eaten half of his
snack already, "and along the way, would either help complete strangers,
help build towns, be remembered long after the river had already dried up."
Genma finished of his sandwich.  "Or just eventually remain untouched and
flow out to the open sea."

Nodoka looked back at the tapestry.  The mountain stream did branched out,
and she only noticed this now, one flowed toward the town, the other out to
sea.  She smiled to her husband.  "Did Happousai actually say that?"  Genma
face lit up.

"Are you kidding?"  Genma for a moment thought of laughing out loud, but the
look on his wife was that of concern.  He sighed.  "No Nodoka.  But I hope
he did."  Both fell into each other's arms.

-----

"Get out of here!"  All three, Ukyou, Ryoga and Hiroshi stumbled out the
room in a quick frenzy.  Principal Kuno quickly shut the door forcefully
after he successfully expunged the three delinquents out of his office.
"Kids."

"Well, that's one way of getting out of trouble."  Both Ryoga and Hiroshi
didn't share Ukyou's cheerful sentiments.  "What?"

"You're unbelievable, you know that?"  Hiroshi was visibly irritated at
Ukyou and he didn't hesitate telling her that.  Ukyou just stared curiously
back, with her left eyebrow rising up.  "What's with all this 'excuse'
bullshi..." Ryoga stepped in and covered Hiroshi's mouth, which was the
initial reason that got them in trouble in the first place.

"Do you always talk that way?  You have no respect for women!"  Ryoga again
found himself in a delicate position, and in front of the principal's office
at that.  "At least I sweet talked our way out of there."  Ukyou's hand
pointed to the door all three of them came out of a minute ago.

Hiroshi finally calmed down.  "Yeah, whatever."

The three finally trotted back towards their classroom.  Ukyou looked back
and forth at the two accompanying her who were keeping their silence.

"Ok.  I'm sorry.  I should have never said something like that in front of
the principal."  Hiroshi and Ryoga both came to a standstill.  "I know I
shouldn't have lied.  But you've got to admit it was a pretty smart move."
Hiroshi and Ryoga stared at each other.

"We were not fighting over you, Ukyou."  Hiroshi muttered, holding back any
hint of anger.

"Oh, Ucchan.  When will you learn?"  Ryoga walked ahead, Ukyou and Hiroshi
had no choice but to follow.

"Hey, I'm really sorry.  Hiroshi, please forgive me."  Hiroshi was caught
off guard by Ukyou's arm pull on his right shoulder and limb.  "Lets be
friends.  I'll make it up to you."  Hiroshi, though embarrassed that girl
was holding him, and was so close to his side, didn't utter a response.
"I'll even go out with you."  Hiroshi eyes widened and he was momentarily
dumfounded.

Ryoga heard enough.  "That's enough Ukyou."  Hiroshi felt sorry for once
that Ukyou had let go of a hold on him.

"Wait, I was asking Hiroshi something."  Ryoga pulled Ukyou farther away
from Hiroshi.

"Don't make things worse than they already are, Ucchan."  Ryoga looked back
at Hiroshi, and was expecting a look of satisfaction on the face of Ukyou's
latest victim.  To his surprise, Hiroshi looked more disappointed than
thankful.

"I guess you're right, Ryoga."  Ukyou leaned on Ryoga throughout their short
trip back to their classroom.

-----

"Ranma?  What kind of a name is that?"  Yuka and Sayuri were walking besides
Akane and it seems the topic of their discussion was about the new students
in their class that morning.

"I think it's kind of cute.  What do you think, Akane?"  Akane was oblivious
to Sayuri's question.  Although she was holding up her notebook from class
and she even looked like she was very serious in reading he notes, something
else was occupying her mind.  "Gee.  What a nerd."

Akane and her friends found their spot under the tree in the middle of the
schoolyard unoccupied.  So naturally they decided to spend their free time
frolicking under the shade of their favorite tree.   "Oh, by the way.  I'm
sorry if this bit of news you'll be hearing from me, Akane.  But I heard
there's a new rumor running around in school about you."  Akane was again
not paying attention, she just flipped a page from the back of her notebook.

"What, another one?  Aren't those rumors ever going to stop."  Yuka thought
her little outburst would finally jolt some attention from her friend.
Akane disappointed her friends again.  Both Yuka and Sayuri looked strangely
at the absent-minded Akane.  Finally, when Sayuri tried to see what Akane
was intently reading since coming from class, Akane paid attention to both
of them, quickly closing her notebook and tucking it away.

"I'm sorry.  I guess I needed to review something.  What did you say
anyway?"  Yuka gave up, exclaiming a tactful 'never mind' to Akane.

-----

"So the rumors are true!"  Nabiki has Tatewaki trapped in one corner of
their classroom.  Her teacher had already dismissed the class a few minutes
ago, but the two of them apparently stayed behind.

Tatewaki had hoped to keep Nabiki aggression held back with his tight grip
on Nabiki's shoulders.  Unfortunately for him, Nabiki is stronger than she
looks.  His arms, which was at first were straight and true, had sagged
under the weight and pressure of Nabiki's glaring stare.

"Listen.  It's not what you think, Nabiki."  Tatewaki saw Nabiki biting her
lips, but she continued her advance into him.  "I hurried back to the dojo,
immediately after I finished the errand yesterday."  Nabiki was silent but
her stare didn't waiver.   "I knocked on the gates for a long time."  Nabiki
turned her head a bit, but her stare turned into a look of suspicion.  "It
even rained last night."

"Are you going to get to the point?  What has all this got to do with you
dating my younger sister?"  Nabiki backed off a bit to Tatewaki's relief.

"Your father saw me, and..." Nabiki mood immediately changed.

"You couldn't tell my father the reason was you overslept, that's why you
missed yesterday's morning training."  Tatewaki could only nod even though
it was an embarrassing reason to miss his Kempo class.  Nabiki could see
through him too easily.  "And you told my father you were asking Akane on a
date?"  Tatewaki hesitated to answer that one.  "What?  Don't tell me..."
Tatewaki lowered his head.

Nabiki walked a bit around the room.  "I already said sorry to her."  Nabiki
closed her eyes and thought for a while.  She only opened them again when
she felt Tatewaki's hands on her arms again.  "I'm sorry too."

"Oh, Tatewaki.  You know how fragile Akane is."  Nabiki returned the hug to
the only other warm body in the room.  "She's father's favorite, and she's
very..." Tatewaki placed a finger on Nabiki's lips.

"I know.  I still remember the last time she lost something she loved."
Nabiki stared out the windows and immediately recognize the shorthaired girl
sitting underneath a tree in the middle of the school grounds.  Kuno joined
her by the window.  "Did she really bury her pet pig on Mt. Fuji?"  Nabiki
smiled, but a tear fell from her watery eyes.  "She's an incredible girl,
you know."

"I know."  Nabiki grabbed her things while Tatewaki opened the door for her.

"Just like her sister."  Nabiki grinned, an opportunity just opened for her.

"So when are you going to take me to the arcade?"  Tatewaki winced as he
immediately realized what Nabiki was truly implying.

"How about tonight?  I have two tickets to the wrestling match."  Nabiki
buried her books deep into Tatewaki's breadbasket.  "Oww!  Ok, I'm sorry.  I
meant I'm going to have tickets for that new American movie in town."
Nabiki looked strangely at her companion.  "Um, Daisuke still owes me a
favor, and maybe I can get some tickets from him."

"I see." Nabiki had just thought of a great idea.  "How big is this favor?"
Tatewaki blinked, not really understanding Nabiki's intentions.

"Why?"  Nabiki just smiled back in reply.  "You're not thinking of..."
Nabiki knew Tatewaki could read her mind.

"It's the least we can do.  She must be so depressed right now, with all
those rumors, and now this new one circulating in school."  Tatewaki
conceded.

-----

"So Ranma, where did you come from?"  Gosunkugi had spotted a nice table in
one inconspicuous corner of the cafeteria and already motioned to Ranma to
come join him.

"Well, I've been around Japan a lot.  Also, I've stayed in China for a while
." Ranma motioned to his sister to take the empty seats.

"So that explains your clothes."  Gosunkugi was happy for a change.  He
usually eats alone, but today he found himself in the company of some pretty
interesting new friends.

Ukyou and Ryoga finally settled down and the group started on their lunch.
"Ewhew...I can make better okonmiyaki than this."  Ukyou was in a despicable
mood again.  But she soon calmed down after Gosunkugi told her she was
holding a slice of pizza, rather than an okonomiyaki.  "So this is an
American snack, eh?"

"I thought you were on a diet?"  Ukyou knew exactly what her brother meant
by that question.  Ranma chuckled for a while, but stopped when he noticed
the students sitting in one of the tables in the center of the hall.

"If you're not going to eat that pizza, Ukyou.  I'll be glad to dispose that
for you."  Ukyou didn't second question her decision to give in to
Gosunkugi's volunteerism. "Thanks."

"You're welcome, Hikaru."  Ukyou was about to start on her other dessert
when she noticed Ranma seemed to have lost his appetite.  She looked at the
same table of girls her brother was paying attention to.  "See anything you
like, Ranma?"  Ukyou giggled upon seeing the startled reaction from her
admiring brother.  "The food, I mean."  Ukyou grinned seeing how Ranma
realized that she was on to him.

"I think I'll get some dessert.  Anybody wants anything from the counter?"
No one requested anything so that left Ranma wanting something for seconds.

-----

"So I told him that I have a test tomorrow.  Which I really don't."  All
ears were on Kodachi.  "But he still insisted.  So I told him I'll think
about his offer."  Kasumi and Mariko already heard the story, but they
didn't want to ruin the moment for their friend.  "So there I was.  In the
middle of the skating rink, thinking.  And Mikado just circled around me a
few times."  The looks on the rest of he girls sitting at the table clearly
delighted Kodachi.  "So I finally said, Ok." Shrills and giggles filled the
cafeteria, making everyone look at the commotion occurring at the table in
the middle of the room.  "Hush, everyone's looking."

Kasumi noticed her small brownie dessert was missing from her plate.  "Huh?"
Mariko tried to hide her guilty face but Kasumi knew all too well who was
the culprit.  "Mariko!  I made that for me.  Not for you."  Mariko couldn't
help feel her head and think of a very good reason to give to Kasumi.

"Eh, You should have made more of it.  You know that I'm a big fan of your
brownies, Kasumi."  Somehow that line didn't work for her.

"But I did make more of it.  I already gave everyone a piece.  In fact I
gave you two."  Kasumi sighed realizing there was little reward in pursuing
for justice on behalf of her dessert.  "No brownies for you tomorrow,
Mariko."  Mariko almost burst out into tears, forcing Kasumi to just cut
down her share to one.

Kasumi had no choice but to head towards the food counter.  She was about to
pick a nice pineapple turnover cake when she heard a crashing noise from
behind her.  When she turned around and there was a young man, sporting a
ponytail, grimacing in pain and was in all fours on the floor.  "Oh, my.
Are you alright?"

"Yeah, who placed that pillar in front of me?  That's a pretty dumb to place
a pillar, don't you think? Um."  Ranma was mumbling so he stopped himself
from further embarrassing himself.

"That pillar had been there since..." Kasumi thought for a moment before
considering continuing answering a strange question.  "Are you sure you're
alright?"  Ranma nodded.  Kasumi smiled before turning around again.  Ranma
fought off the urge to ask the beautiful girl her name, and decided to just
walk back to his table.  "I'll have that pineapple cake please."  Kasumi
looked back at the student with the strange clothing and a ponytail and
stared for a while as the boy found his way back to a table.

"Here you go Kasumi."  Kasumi received the dessert and promptly paid for it.
By the time she got back to her circle of friends the boy and his friends
were gone.

"Another freshman admirer, Kasumi?"  Everyone at the table knew how popular
Kasumi was, especially to the male population of Furinkan High.  "I wished I
had your charm, or I wouldn't be stuck with Daisuke."  Everyone at the table
immediately turned their attention to Mariko.

Girls always seem to know when something new comes up, and Mariko
unfortunately somehow gave hint to a new rumor.  "What?  What did I say?"
Kasumi looked at the door of the cafeteria and noticed the student she met a
while ago was getting some pretty rough time with his companions.  "Did I
say that?  How can I say that about my Daisuke?"

-----

"How was the first day?" Nodoka was expecting some spirited tales from her
children.  Unfortunately all four fell unequivocally silent as they slumped
into the newly arrived furniture of the dojo.  "That bad?"

"No mom.  We're just tired, that's all."  Ranma kissed his mother goodnight.

"Yes, Mrs. Saotome.  Algebra is no Martial Arts."  Shampoo retired as well.
She did made the mistake of going into Ranma's room, but that was easily
fixed.

"Can I sleep now?"  Cologne gave her blessing, which Ryoga happily accepted
as he ran towards on hallway.  Only it was the wrong one, so he returned to
the main hall abashed by his blunder, and slowly walked into the right
hallway and towards his room.

"Night Mom.   I've got to get some beauty rest."  Ukyou was almost out of
the hall when she looked back at her parents and Cologne.  "Have they
installed the phones yet?"  The three adults all gave a resounding 'No' to
Ukyou.  "Yikes."

------

"Akane, are there any new students in school?"  Akane was surprised to hear
her sister ask such a question while she was reviewing her notebook.

"Yes, Kasumi.  They're in my class.  Why?"  Kasumi just said 'nothing' and
Akane didn't add anything to that statement or thought anything about it.
Instead she continued working on her notebook.  She opened the back cover
and stared for a moment at her drawings.  "Ranma.  That's a cute name."  She
wrote something down.   She had written the name of the subject of one of
her rough portraits.  The young boy she almost met that morning.  "A cute
name, for a cute guy."

-----

End of Episode

-----

Preview of Next Week's Episode

Academic life doesn't turn out to be such a walk in the park for Ranma
Shampoo and Ukyou tries to deal with their uniforms while
Ryoga pokes around in school in places he shouldn't

-----

Special Thanks to...

Krista Perry
Jeff Shelton
Mark Premo
Dave Eddy
Terrence Marks
Harold Ancell
Emily Siazon
Ronald Chan
Anand Rao
White Wolf
Shiva
The Rams
The Eternal Lost Lurker
Christopher Szeto
Theodore Sommer
Those guys on #fanfic IRC, ^_^
Rumiko Takahashi, of course