More of this stuff. Read in good health. C&C if you've got 'em. :)


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Scoop of the Day
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic
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Disclaimer. Yup. Credits when all's said and done. Anyway...



Chapter Four: Noriko Strikes! 

	

	Elsewhere in Furinkan High, Noriko's feature editorial was 
causing quite a stir. Ranma was already a minor celebrity among the 
students of Furinkan and the "Informer's" article only served to heighten 
their fascination with the greatest teen-aged martial artist Nerima had 
ever known...

	

	"Ranchan... attacking reporters without any reason? I dunno...," 
Ukyo frowned as she crumpled up the newspaper and tossed it towards a 
nearby trash can with a casual flip of her spatula. 

	

	While a select few students still found it somewhat difficult to 
believe the charges made against Ranma in the article... 

	

	The newspaper neatly disappeared into the trash can. After a few 
quiet moments (the observant would have noticed some odd rustling sounds 
coming out of the trash can, but would have dismissed them as pure 
imagination), the trash can jumped up in surprise and horror, bounding 
over to Ukyo and somehow managing to effectively glomp her. "Oh, let me 
protect you from that bad, nasty Ranma, Ukyo-sama!" 

	"AAAAUUGH!" With a mighty heave-ho! of her spatula, Ukyo launched 
the trash receptacle high, high up in the air, far away from Furinkan and 
Ukyo (but not far enough for her tastes). 

	

	...the majority of students, particularly ones that had still 
carried a grudge against Ranma (a surprisingly large number; a yearbook 
survey revealed that seventy-eight percent of Akane's Stormtroopers still 
hadn't quite forgiven Ranma for his engagement to Akane) felt that the 
article was long in coming and that it was high time that Ranma got his 
due. In either case, talk within the halls of Furinkan was all about 
Ranma Saotome and his innocence, or lack thereof. Even the journalism 
room itself housed a lively discussion of Noriko's handiwork. 

	Suzuki made his way into the journalism room, hoping to avoid 
attention. Like the rest of the student body, he had also seen the 
feature and had read it in all of its histrionic glory. Unlike everyone 
else, though, Suzuki had no desire to talk about its contents. *Okay, 
through the door, okay, so far, so good...* 

	Too late. A member of the ad staff, a particularly garrulous one 
who liked to talk about everyone and everything, spotted Suzuki and made 
his way towards him. Suzuki tried to subtly disappear into the crowd, but 
found himself trapped between the copy machine and another ringlet of 
people in conversation. 

	"Ohayou, Sakamoto,* Suzuki said wearily, trying not to groan. 

	Sakamoto grinned. "Did you read Noriko's thing today? Pretty 
daring, huh? I never knew she had it in her!" Not one to get caught up 
with formalities, was he? Suzuki thanked his lucky stars for the third 
time that the "Informer" didn't have a gossip column. 

	"Well, I, uh..." 

	"I guess she wants to end the year with a bang. You know, step on 
some toes while we're still alive?" Sakamoto continued, sniggering at his 
own joke. 

	"Sakamoto, this hardly the time to talk about..." 

	"Hey," Sakamoto interrupted, his voice dropping down to a 
mock-conspiratorial whisper. "I remember that day you came in after 
trying to tail ol' Saotome. Geez, I ain't seen anyone so beat up since 
that first time Muno got wasted when Ranma first showed up! Say, what did 
you ever do to get him so riled up at you, anyhow?" 

	"I don't remember," Suzuki said flatly. The truth, actually. 
Suzuki still couldn't recall what had happened that afternoon, although 
he was certain that it wasn't all Ranma's fault... 

	Sakamoto's expression was incredulous. "You don't remember?" 

	"I don't remember, okay? Now, if you'll excuse me..." Suzuki made 
his way past the astonished Sakamoto and over to his desk. 

	Once seated, Suzuki rubbed his temples and sighed, not looking 
forward to the rest of the day. He had tried to convince Noriko as best 
as he could to delay printing the article until she could at least get 
Mr. Watanabe's approval, but once that fiery temper of hers was set 
off... 

	A small object hit the back of Suzuki's head, and he quickly 
turned to see Gosunkugi strewing a copious quantity of small glass 
spheres about while wearing a pair of lit candles around his head. 

	"That fool Saotome! Something terrible is going to happen soon, I 
know it!" Gosunkugi cast another handful of spheres onto the floor, which 
rolled in all directions. 

	"Gosunkugi! What the heck are you doing??" Suzuki asked, not just 
a little bit irritated at Gosunkugi's irrational behavior. 

	Gosunkugi pointed to the copy of the "Informer" sitting on 
Suzuki's desk. "Noriko-san's article is going to bring disaster on us 
all! Who knows what Ranma might do when he finds out??" He reached into 
his book bag and produced another handful of glass bearings. "These 
Spheres of Blessing I brought from home should shield us from danger." He 
hurled the bearings onto the floor. "That fool Saotome!" 

	Suzuki sighed once more and decided that Gosunkugi had finally 
gone and lost his marbles. 

	

	Ranma sat alone on the rooftop of Furinkan High, taking a 
breather from his morning "exercise." 

	"Feh. Jerks! Ganging up on me like that...," Ranma muttered to 
himself. The fight had ended up much better than Ranma had expected it 
to, actually. Shortly after Kuno had returned, one of Sasuke's lines 
ended up entangling Kuno instead of Ranma, who took the opportunity to 
grab the line and hurl the pair as an improvised bolo into an incoming 
Principal Kuno, effectively pinning his arms to his sides. The 
principal's skateboard (with Principal Kuno, Tatewaki, and Sasuke on 
board) careened out of control into a set of mines, blowing the trio 
directly into the midst of the Chem Club, neatly immobilizing all parties 
involved. Ranma then leaped high into the air to dodge Miss Hinako's 
chi-absorbing blast, which continued under him and into the mass of arms 
and legs that belonged to the Chem Club, Principal Kuno, Sasuke, and 
Tatewaki Kuno. Finally, while Miss Hinako was busy draining the crowd of 
their chi, it was a simple matter for Ranma to descend from his leap and 
land on her (suddenly well-built) shoulders, giving him the perfect 
opportunity to hit Miss Hinako's five Happo-shiatsu points, effectively 
canceling out her draining abilities. Five for five. 

	Ranma leaned back, hands behind his head. *Heh. Somehow, I don't 
think I got rid of them for good. They were really worked up about that 
article in the paper.* He pulled the article out from his pocket, staring 
at the pairs of pictures depicting him as some kind of criminal. *And 
next time, I might not get so lucky. I could take any one of those jerks 
on by themselves, but not if they all gang up on me like that.* 

	Ranma stared up at the sky listlessly. While, in matters other 
than his gender, he wasn't terribly concerned with what others thought of 
him, he didn't like the idea of people thinking he was some kind of petty 
bully, either. Especially if that kind of thinking would result in more 
of the "attention" he got this morning. *Hinkao-sensei and 
Kuno-kouchou'll probably keep getting on my case, not to mention anyone 
else who wants a cheap shot at me.* He stared once more at the byline on 
the feature editorial. *Noriko Hirauchi, huh? I think it might be time 
for me to pay her a little visit.* 

	

	When lunchtime arrived, Akane Tendo found herself sitting alone, 
which she found quite unusual. Most of the time, she would eat with 
Ranma, or Kuno would come spout poetry at her until she booted him into 
the sky, but this time, neither were anywhere to be seen. Nor were Yuka 
or Sayuri. Come to think of it, none of her admirers were anywhere to be 
found, either (not that she minded _that_ too much). The whole morning, 
everyone had kept a wary distance from her, as if simply being near her 
was an invitation for disaster; something that had to do with that 
article in the "Informer," and a giant brawl in the school lot that left 
seventeen students and two faculty members completely incapacitated. 

	*Hmph. Ranma had to have been involved in that fight,* Akane 
thought. *So where is he now? What if he got hurt, or..." Akane frowned, 
not liking the way her thoughts were going. *So what do I care if that 
baka gets hurt? Besides, in hand-to-hand combat, Ranma can't lose...can 
he?* 

	Akane's attention was suddenly diverted to a pair of students 
across the yard, one rather pale and skinny and the other sporting a red 
shirt and a ponytail. *Ranma!* she thought, letting out a sigh of relief 
she didn't realize she had been holding in. She started towards the pair 
and saw the other kid point out a direction to Ranma, who promptly nodded 
and headed off towards the school building. Akane quickened her pace and 
caught up to the other one before he headed back to his bench. 

	"Er...Hikaru Gosunkugi, right?" Akane asked, seeing him closer 
up. "Do you know where Ranma went?" 

	Gosunkugi sighed in ecstasy. *She spoke to me! Akane Tendo 
actually spoke to me!* he thought blissfully. He quickly snapped out of 
his reverie upon noticing the impatience on Akane's lovely face. 
"Uhh...Ranma wanted to know where Noriko-san was, so I pointed the 
journalism room out to him." 

	Akane's face darkened for a moment. *Noriko?? Who's _she_??* "Oh, 
uh, thanks! See you later!" she said quickly, remembering her manners. 
She headed off in the same direction Ranma left in. *That baka better not 
be fooling around my back,* she thought a little angrily. 

	Gosunkugi stood there, watching Akane head towards the school 
building. *'See you later,' she said!* Gosunkugi thought, sighing once 
more. *I'm in love...* 

	

	Noriko sat at her desk, finishing up a quick lunch and feeling 
quite pleased with herself. The article looked pretty good in the 
"Informer," and was already creating quite a stir among the students. 
Ranma was already getting "special" treatment from the others as a 
result, and if would probably take months before things would settle 
down. *Serves you right for terrorizing the school,* Noriko thought to 
herself. 

	Suddenly, the door to the journalism room flew open and in came a 
very disgruntled-looking Ranma Saotome. Noriko immediately jumped to her 
feet in alarm. Her mind worked frantically as she put two and two 
together, with the inescapable conclusion: Ranma had come to take 
revenge, and here she was, defenseless and vulnerable. 

	"You...what do you want?" Noriko asked as icily as she could, 
trying to keep the nervousness out of her voice. Noriko silently cursed 
herself for not realizing this could happen. For the first time in a long 
while, she was genuinely scared. Images of Ranma in combat, Ranma 
ruthlessly beating off assailants, and Ranma easily wreaking havoc and 
destruction flashed through her mind. 

	"Noriko Hirauchi, right?" Ranma growled. 

	"Yes...that's right. And you're Ranma Saotome," Noriko countered. 
"Wh-what do you want?" *What if he tries to do something? There would be 
no one around to stop him,* she thought desperately. *I never thought I 
would actually hope I _wouldn't_ forget my martial arts...* 

	"I wanna know what the hell _this_...," Ranma held up a copy of 
Noriko's article and punched it for emphasis, "...what _this_ is all 
about!" 

	"You tell me!" she shot back. "You're the one who attacked my 
reporters for no reason!" Her hand groped around her desk looking for a 
penknife, a letter opener, *anything* that she could defend herself with 
if Ranma decided to become violent. Noriko's fingers closed around a 
fountain pen Suzuki had given her when she first became editor-in-chief. 
It would have to do. She began to tense herself, waiting for the precise 
moment when Ranma would attack... 

	"Attacked your reporters?! Did you ever ask _me_ what happened 
that afternoon? Lemme--" Ranma started to take a step forward, but his 
foot landed solidly on several of Gosunkugi's "marbles" and slipped out 
from under him. "Urk!" Ranma yelled as he pitched forward, straight 
towards Noriko. 

	*Attack!* Noriko's reflexes screamed, seeing Ranma fly at her in 
apparent aggression. Still surprised by the sudden move, it was all she 
could do to leap out of the way, lashing out with her pen in retaliation. 
Ranma managed to dodge the blow in mid-fall with some difficulty, but not 
without the tip of her pen tearing a gash into his shirt. 

	Ranma twisted in the air and landed lightly on his feet, 
instinctively assuming a defensive posture. "What the heck was _that_ 
for??" he asked in bewilderment. *Was that a _pen_ she used to attack me 
with?* 

	Unfortunately, Noriko had been finally pushed beyond the point of 
reason, having seen her worst suspicions about Ranma apparently being 
proven true. "So dooming the paper to extinction and injuring my 
reporters wasn't enough for you, is that it?!? You're going to try and 
kill _me_ as well! Well, just you try it!!" She lunged forward with her 
pen, letting her old martial-arts training flow back into her body. 

	Ranma easily dodged the blow, flipping to the back of the room 
and out of the range of Noriko's weapon, which lodged itself in the 
corner of a nearby desk. "I'VE doomed your paper?? What the heck do you 
mean by that??" 

	"It's YOUR fault that the 'Informer's' not going to receive 
funding!! It's going to die next year, and it's YOUR destruction and 
mayhem at fault!!" Noriko yelled, yanking her pen free from the desk's 
surface. She grabbed a handful of pencil stubs from the desktop and 
hurled them in Ranma's direction. Ranma stepped to one side, letting the 
projectiles imbed themselves into the wall behind him, and immediately 
dropped and rolled to the other side to avoid another blow from Noriko. 

	"It's your fault!!" Noriko yelled again, letting loose another 
volley of pencil darts. The metal of Noriko's pen flashed cruel and 
deadly in the florescent light of the journalism room, forcing Ranma to 
duck and weave to avoid each slice and cut. "Your fault!!" 

	While his body busied itself with evading Noriko's attacks, Ranma 
took the opportunity to try and decide just what to do about the enraged 
girl trying to kill him with her pen. Her technique wasn't too bad, 
actually, although there was definitely more potential present than 
actual skill. He probably could easily spend the rest of the day dodging 
her attacks, but that would mean he would have to miss dinner (and 
tonight was sukiyaki night, too). Still, her grip on that pen of hers 
seemed _rather_ tight, and it could be difficult to disarm her without 
possibly hurting her. Ranma broke his train of thought to lift his arm to 
let a pen-thrust under. 

	Noriko watched her umpteenth attack whoosh through empty air with 
frustration. *Why won't he just sit still?* she thought. *"I'll just have 
to keep him from moving so much, then.* 

	With a sharp tap to the end of her pen, Noriko caused a small jet 
of ink to shoot directly at Ranma's eyes. Ranma tried to dodge the steam 
of blinding ink, but was caught off guard by the unusual maneuver. *Geez! 
Should've been more careful,* Ranma chided himself. Quickly, he adjusted 
his stance. It wasn't as if he had never fought blind before; it was just 
like the blindfolded sparring sessions his old man put him through. He 
just had to stay alert, not letting the lack of one sense cloud the 
others... 

	Ranma felt a slight ripple in the air to one side and threw his 
hands up, catching the pencils before they could lodge themselves into 
his flesh. Noriko struck again and again with her pen, only to have each 
blow be parried by Ranma's hand while his other one worked on clearing 
his eyes. 

	*Darn it!* Noriko thought. *Time to put an end to this.* She 
picked up a pail of the extra-sticky lay wax that Suzuki liked to use on 
his final layouts ("I could stick myself to the ceiling with this tuff," 
Suzuki had once bragged to her). *Once I've glued him to the ground with 
this stuff, he'll be completely helpless,* Noriko thought as she lifted 
the pail. *And then, I can deal with him as I please,* she thought 
darkly. 

	Ranma had just succeeded in clearing the last of the ink from his 
eyes when Noriko hurled the contents of the pail all over him. *What's 
she up to now?* he thought as the fountain pen passed harmlessly to the 
side of his ribcage. With a yell, Noriko charged at Ranma with all her 
might, intending to knock him to the ground where he would stick hard and 
fast, but he instead caught her hands and gave way to her momentum, 
falling backwards. *Maybe if I put her flat on her back she'll quit 
fighting...what the...I can't complete the roll...I'm stuck!* Ranma held 
tightly onto Noriko's hands to keep her from flying forward and hurting 
herself and screwed his eyes tightly shut as he felt the *whump* of 
Noriko's body landing on top of his. 

	After a long moment, Ranma opened his eyes again and looked 
straight up into the bewildered face of Noriko. She blinked a few times 
in astonishment before her face turned red with embarrassment and anger. 

	"You pervert! Get off me!" Noriko yelled, trying her best to 
wrench herself free with little success. 

	"Get off...? You're the one on top of me!" Ranma yelled back, now 
very annoyed by the entire situation. 

	Noriko blinked again. Unfortunately, Ranma was right. "Well, 
then...at least let go of me!" 

	Ranma tried to sit up, or at least push her off. "I can't! Your 
stupid glue...I'm stuck!" 

	Noriko sighed inwardly. _Now_ what could go wrong? "Stop 
squirming; you're getting wax all over me!" she snapped. 

	

	Akane roamed the halls of Furinkan, searching for the journalism 
room. *I remember hearing once that it was in the F-wing, but I can't 
find it anywhere,* she thought, scanning the numbers above each door. 

	"You pervert! Get off me!" came a faint, female voice from the 
end of the hall. 

	"Get off...? You're the one on top of me!" came an angry, male 
response. 

	*That sounds like Ranma!* Akane thought. A split-second later, 
her ace reddened as the meaning of the words registered in her brain. 
"Raaaannnmmmmaaaa...," she growled as she ran towards the source of the 
voices. 

	

	"Any luck?" Noriko asked. 

	Ranma grunted with the effort of trying to get up with Noriko 
still attached to his body. "No, I can't get any leverage! This is all 
your fault," Ranma muttered, looking away in an unsuccessful attempt to 
avoid her seemingly ubiquitous glare. 

	"My fault?? MY fault?? How is any of this MY fault??" Noriko 
asked, intensifying her glare by another notch. 

	"It was YOUR glue; that's how it's your fault!" 

	"Oh yeah? If you hadn't gone ahead and attacked me, none of this 
would have happened!" 

	"Attacked!? Those marbles tripped me up, that's all! Why'd you 
think I would attack _you_ of all people?" 

	"Why not? You attacked my reporters!" 

	"For the last time, I _didn't_ attack your reporters! I--" 

	"Ranma no BAKA!!" yelled a third voice. Ranma with some effort 
turned his head towards the source and immediately turned pale. 

	"A-Akane! This...this isn't what it looks like! I...I..." Ranma 
frantically tried to get up, to no avail. 

	"You PERVERT!" Akane stomped over and easily peeled Noriko away 
despite the lay wax, tossing her to one side where she stuck to the wall. 
She then picked up Ranma and hurled him though the (fortunately) open 
window into the pool below. 

	"You can have that pervert for all I care!" Akane huffed as she 
stormed from the room. 

	*Great,* Noriko thought. *What else can go wrong now?* 

	The chime sounded, signaling the end of lunch, and Noriko's crew 
began to trickle into the journalism room. 

	

	"Are you all right?" Suzuki asked as he helped Noriko to the 
ground. 

	"Yeah...I think so," Noriko said, cautiously running her hand 
through her hair. "I'll definitely have to take a shower before I get 
home, though." 

	"What the heck happened in here?" Suzuki looked around the room. 
There were pencils stuck in the walls, pen-sized holes in some of the 
desks and countertops, and lay wax all over the floor. A few of 
Gosunkugi's marbles still mingled in the wax. 

	"Oh, Ranma Saotome decided to pay a visit," she said casually, 
pulling her hand free from her hair. "Ouch!" 

	"Ranma?? Did he try to hurt you or anything?" Suzuki asked with 
an intensity that surprised Noriko a bit. 

	"Well...not exactly," Noriko said, remembering the events of the 
"fight." *Actually, not at all,* she thought. *He...he was toying with 
me, that's what it was. He could have easily hurt me if he wanted to...* 

	"Well, that's good, then," Suzuki said, relief evident in his 
voice. "And if he comes back and tries to do anything, I'll...I'll..." He 
searched for a proper strategy. "...I'll do _something_ he'll regret, 
that's for sure!" he finished rather lamely, hoping Noriko wouldn't ask 
just what that "something" would be. Frankly, he wasn't sure himself. 

	"Noriko Hirauchi!! I'd like to see you in my office 
_immediately_!" thundered the voice of Mr. Watanabe. Noriko and Suzuki 
turned to see him standing in the doorway, looking none too happy. 

	*Swell,* she thought. 

	

	Noriko stood in Mr. Watanabe's office, not just a little bit 
nervous. Mr. Watanabe allowed Noriko to shirt her weight uncomfortably 
for a few more moments before he spoke. 

	"Noriko Hirauchi," Mr. Watanabe began. "I arrived at my office at 
noon from a conference only to find _this_ on my desk." He gestured 
towards a copy of the "Informer," turned to the pages containing Noriko's 
feature article. "Just what am I supposed to make of this?" His voice was 
deadly calm, which frightened Noriko even more. 

	Noriko shifted her weight to the other foot. "Well...Suzuki and 
Gosunkugi...came back from following Ranma all bandaged up...and so I 
decided to print it in the paper." 

	"No, you didn't," Mr. Watanabe disagreed. "You saw some 
circumstantial evidence, leaped to a conclusion, and _then_ decided to 
print it in the paper." Noriko winced. "This...this _feature_ that you 
printed was nothing short of tabloid journalism. Did you check your 
sources? Did you find any eyewitness of the incident?" 

	"Well, I tried, but..." 

	"Really?" Mr. Watanabe asked, impassive. "Did you find anything? 
And did you interview the alleged perpetrator, Ranma Saotome himself to 
find his side of the story?" Mr. Watanabe looked dead into Noriko's eyes. 

	Noriko knew that she couldn't say anything but the truth. 
"I...iye. No, I didn't. There were no witnesses of the event, and Suzuki 
and Gosunkugi couldn't remember a thing. I...I thought for sure that 
Ranma had done it." 

	"Unfortunately, you _thought_, but printed it as fact. You let 
your prejudices cloud your thinking and you went ahead and printed 
something damaging I imagine you knew could very well not be true. 
_That_," Mr. Watanabe paused for effect, "was not good journalism. Do I 
make myself clear?" 

	"Un...I mean, hai, sensei." 

	Mr. Watanabe exhaled in exasperation. "When I appointed you 
editor-in-chief, I had to keep reassuring myself that I wasn't making a 
mistake by giving you the position over Suzuki. Up until now, you had 
been proving yourself in your work. I let your work defend my decision, 
and you had always been efficient, professional, and talented." He paused 
for a moment, letting the words have their full effect. "Don't make me 
reconsider everything I've said and believed about you in the past year 
with this one mistake." 

	Noriko looked at the floor, feeling a strange mixture of pride 
and shame. "Hai, sensei." 

	"I want you to search out the _facts_ about what happened that 
afternoon and print what you find. I expect this to be done within this 
week so that it can go in the next edition of the 'Informer.' A written 
retraction, of course, will also have to be printed. In fact, I'd like to 
see a draft of your retraction by the next after-school meeting." 

	"But what if it turns out I'm right?" Noriko protested. 

	"An apology would still be in order for your rashness. 
Correctness is not an excuse for speculation." Mr. Watanabe let his 
expression soften slightly. "Noriko," he said, less harshly. "I know the 
news of the 'Informer's' funds has kept you preoccupied for the last 
couple of weeks. Still, that doesn't mean you should throw away your last 
year. Remember, professionalism is paramount to everything else." 

	"Hai, sensei." 

	"You're free to go now. But I expect you to get to work on this 
immediately." 

	

	Noriko slowly walked back to the journalism room and went inside. 
*Watanabe-sensei was probably right about my rashness,* she thought 
glumly. *I did sort of go off half-cocked with that feature of mine. 
Still, how am I supposed to go about looking for what really happened?* 

	"Hey, Chief! You've got a note from Principal Kuno! I left it on 
your desk!" called out Suzuki as he put the nine of diamonds on top of 
the ten of clubs. 

	"All right, thanks!" Noriko walked to her desk, and after a 
moment of searching through the clutter, she located the office slip. 

	"Please report to my office at your earliest convenience," read 
the note, with Principal Kuno's signature on the bottom. 

	*Great, what _now_?* 

	

	Noriko opened the door to the main office at the front of the 
school and walked in. Everything was just as she remembered it from when 
she had first registered at Furinkan: a front desk with receptionist at 
the front, counselors' offices to the left, academic services to the 
right, and the principal's office...where? Noriko opened the door to what 
she thought was the principal's office and instead found a storage closet 
for office supplies. 

	"May I help you?" asked the receptionist, noticing the rather 
confused look on Noriko's face. 

	"Um...I'm looking for Kuno-kouchou's office?" Noriko asked 
hesitatingly, holding up the office slip she had received. 

	The receptionist shuddered a moment, a reaction not lost on 
Noriko. "Oh..._him_. Just go out those doors there, and follow the 
hallway. You can't miss it," she said, pointing towards a set of double 
doors Noriko didn't remember being there before. Nodding her thanks, 
Noriko opened the doors and began to make her way down the long, dimly 
lit hallway. 

	*Was this ever here before?* she thought to herself as she walked 
and walked and walked. Was she actually descending? Finally, she reached 
another set of heavy doors. After knocking and waiting for a response 
that never came, she shrugged and opened the door. 

	She was not prepared for the scene that awaited her. The room (if 
you could call it that) behind the doors was absolutely huge, nearly the 
size of half of Furinkan itself. Large, leafy palm trees stretched up, 
towering over the sandy ground from which lush tropical foliage grew. 
Noriko could have sworn that she heard ocean surf in the distance. What 
in the world...? 

	Looking into the distance, Noriko noticed a sandy path between 
the trees and plants. *I heard about the principal's office being heavily 
decorated before, but...* After a short, cautious walk, she noticed a 
desk at the end of the trail, where a large, ridiculously tanned man sat. 
He looked up, noticing Noriko's presence. 

	"ALOHA, Noriko! Come on IN!" Principal Kuno practically shouted 
from behind his desk. He had completely recovered from the draining Miss 
Hinako had dealt him in the morning, and was feeling quite exuberant at 
the moment (even for him). Noriko slowly came closer and had a seat on 
the beach chair in front of Principal Kuno's desk. 

	"I...I got your note asking me to see you," Noriko said, not 
quite sure what she was doing in his office. 

	"Ah, yes, my note! I'm GLAD you found it!" Principal Kuno said 
boisterously, leaning his head in close. Noriko tried her best to resist 
the temptation to squirm. 

	Principal Kuno withdrew his head. "I read your article in the 
'Informer' this morning," the principal said, a little more quietly 
(which wasn't all that quiet, either). 

	"Yes...um...I'm sorry; it didn't quite turn out the way I wanted 
it to," Noriko began. "Watanabe-sensei told me that--" 

	"NONSENSE!" Principal Kuno interrupted. "I LOVE IT!" he shouted 
with glee. "IT's about TIME that someone showed the world what a 
delinquent Ranma Saotome is!" 

	"Well, I..." 

	"Yes, yes indeed! It was a work of art! Say," Principal Kuno 
whispered mock-conspiratorially. "I heard that the 'Informer' is having a 
little bit of trouble financially." He threw his head back and laughed. 

	"Yes, that's true," Noriko admitted. *No thanks to you,* Noriko 
thought angrily. 

	Principal Kuno stopped laughing abruptly, startling Noriko even 
more than the laugh itself had. "You know, I think I can do something to 
help with the financial situation of the 'Informer.' I mean, with this 
kind of EXCELLENT work, it would simply be a SHAME for it to die because 
of something as petty as a lack of funds," he said, looking Noriko 
straight in the eyes. 

	Noriko was nonplused. "You...you mean to say that--" 

	"OF COURSE!" Principal Kuno shouted, causing Noriko to jerk back 
in her seat in alarm. "I don't see how the 'Informer' could have slipped 
by the budget without getting funds. Maybe I was suffering from a round 
of sunstroke," Principal Kuno said, nodding towards the giant lamp high 
up illuminating the entire room. He laughed at his own joke. Somehow, 
Noriko didn't find it very amusing. 

	Noriko decided to go the diplomatic route. "Well, that's very 
generous of you to say so--" 

	"With this kind of work, I really don't think that there should 
be a reason the 'Informer' would lose funding," he interrupted again, as 
if he hadn't heard (or cared) what Noriko had said. He dropped his voice 
to a whisper once more. "Now, you do understand that you won't breathe a 
word of this to any of your crew or, say, Mr. Watanabe. This can be _our_ 
little secret, yes?" he said, a disturbing gleam in his eye. 

	Noriko gulped. 

	

	Noriko sat in the journalism room at her desk, feeling worse than 
ever. *Watanabe-sensei told me to go look for the truth, and print a 
retraction. Kuno-kouchou tells me that he'll let the "Informer" live 
because of my article.* Noriko looked up at the ceiling, trying to sort 
her thoughts. *He was right, though...I never should have printed 
anything like that without checking everything out first. But if I do the 
retraction...Kuno-kouchou would never fund the paper then. The 
"Informer"...gone for good. And all because of me.* 

	Noriko turned her glance to the mess on her desk and cradled her 
head in her hands. *What if I just pretended? No one would know I never 
really looked... I couldn't print anything without hard facts, could I? 
And the "Informer" can live...* Noriko shook her head at that thought. 
*No, I've messed things up as it is. My fault...wish I knew what to do. A 
search will kill the "Informer"; ignoring it would be wrong... Can't let 
the "Informer" die; can't do the wrong thing...* Noriko put her chin on 
her desk, letting her thoughts wash over her in a jumble. 

	A mug of steaming cocoa was placed in front of Noriko. She looked 
up and saw her layout editor standing in front of her desk. "S-Suzuki! 
You're still here?" 

	"I saw you in here as I was getting ready to leave. You look like 
you need this more than I do," he said almost sheepishly. 

	Noriko took the mug in her hands and took a small sip, savoring 
the flavor. It was a double-batch, with those little marshmallows and a 
dash of cinnamon...just the way she liked it. "Mmmmm...thanks. I needed 
that," she said gratefully, eagerly taking another sip. 

	Suzuki grinned a bit foolishly, putting a hand behind his head. 
"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. We finally found that roll of film from last 
week, and got it developed. Gosunkugi wants you to have it. The pictures 
are a week old, but maybe you'll find something you can print in our last 
issue or something." 

	*Last issue.* The words echoed in Noriko's head. She took the 
envelope of photos from Suzuki. "Thanks. Have you looked at these yet?" 

	"No, not yet. Actually, Gosunkugi said he wanted you to see them 
first. Well, whatever," Suzuki shrugged. "I...guess I'll see you 
tomorrow, then," Suzuki said, heading towards the door. 

	"Suzuki...wait." He stopped halfway to the door. "About a week 
ago...those things I said to you...," Noriko began, not quite sure how to 
go about what she was trying to say. 

	A moment of uncomfortable silence. "Aw...forget it, Chief," 
Suzuki finally said, smiling shyly as he opened the door. "I know you 
didn't mean it. You were stressed out, you know?" 

	Noriko smiled shyly in response. "Stressed out...yeah, I guess 
you could say that." She looked down at her desk for a moment, forming 
the words in her mind first. "But I _am_...sorry...Suzuki?" She looked up 
from her desk again, only to hear the door click softly shut behind 
Suzuki's retreating form. 

	She stared blankly at the door a few moments. *I guess I might as 
well take a look at those photos,* she thought, mentally shaking herself. 
She opened the envelope and pulled out the photos inside. 

	*Okay, here's some photos from the flower arranging show. Boy, 
that was a while ago! How old is this roll, anyway?* She idly flipped 
through a few of the photos, laughing to herself at a particularly 
horrendous flower arrangement done by a short-haired girl. 
*Akane...Ranma's really engaged to her, huh? Sure doesn't seem like 
it...* 

	She flipped a photo and saw a picture of Ranma engaged in combat 
with a bandanna-clad boy with an umbrella. *What the...when was this 
taken?* Noriko looked at the bottom corner of the photo and saw the date 
printed there by Gosunkugi's rather fancy camera. She frowned and looked 
at the calendar hanging on the wall next to her. *Why...that's the day I 
sent Suzuki and Gosunkugi to follow Ranma! Maybe I can get some answers 
as to what happened...* 

	Quickly, she flipped to the next photo to see more combat shots 
of Ranma and Ryoga. *Suzuki and Gosunkugi aren't anywhere to be seen in 
these photos, so they must be behind the camera. So, how did they end up 
the way they were the next day?* 

	The next photo had Ranma pinning Ryoga to the ground. *What's 
that thing the other guy's doing with his arm? And he's shouting 
something, from the look on his face.* 

	Next photo. Ryoga had jabbed his finger into the concrete. 
*Around his finger...there. A point blast?* The next few photos were 
taken in rapid succession, judging from the time printed on the photos. 
The blast around Ryoga's finger was getting larger and larger, throwing 
shrapnel and broken pieces of concrete all around. Ryoga and Ranma were 
airborne in the next photos, and the last photo was completely obscured 
by concrete and dust. 

	*Wait, if this was the viewpoint of the camera, and Suzuki and 
Gosunkugi were behind the camera the whole time...* the photos slipped 
from Noriko's suddenly nerveless fingers as the pieces clicked into 
place. *Ranma was telling the truth the whole time,* she thought numbly. 
*The truth...and I...I...* 

	The day's events began to tumble through her mind uncontrollably. 
The fight she had with Ranma, the lecture Mr. Watanabe had given her, 
Principal Kuno's "offer..." *It really _is_ all my fault,* she thought, 
guilt and helplessness threatening to overwhelm her. *None of 
this...would have happened if it were anyone else...* 

	A single tear rolled down her cheek, breaking through the 
carefully built wall she had been desperately maintaining the whole 
afternoon. *No, I won't cry... It's not professional...* She lay her head 
on the desk. *All my fault...* 




	end part four 


    Heh. Well, part five to come tomorrow! Thanks for reading!


---
Raphael See