Here's part five for those of you who are interested. Enjoy the show!


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Scoop of the Day
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic
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Chapter Five: A Distant Blue Thunder



	The next morning, Ranma arrived at school some twenty minutes 
earlier than normal, deciding that forgoing an extra forty winks in the 
morning was preferable to tangling with the ever-growing gantlet of 
Ranma-haters that had been spawned by the recent article in the 
"Informer." Last afternoon had been particularly bothersome, with the 
entire Kendo Club chasing him around the school grounds with those 
ridiculous bokkens of theirs.

	*Jerks, jerks, jerks!* Ranma thought vehemently at the memory as 
he walked to his locker. *As if one idiot swinging a bokken around wasn't 
enough... Still, it _was_ pretty funny when it started raining.* After 
the storm had hit, Kuno immediately jumped to his "osage-no-onna's" 
defense, easily beating off the confused kendoists who still insisted on 
trying to hit Ranma with their bokkens, after which Ranma thanked him by 
kicking him into the next district. *Sheesh...what a maroon,* he thought 
as he swung the door to his locker open.

	Ranma suddenly froze upon seeing a neatly folded note inside. 
>From his brief experience in Furinkan, Ranma knew that notes in lockers 
were definitely a Bad Thing. Notes from males were almost always either 
ransom notes or letters of challenge, resulting in a lot of hassle and 
headache. On the other hand, notes from females were almost invariably 
ones that asked for dates, which equally invariably resulted in a 
pounding from Akane when she would find out (and she always did), or at 
least the silent treatment. Both were equally undesirable in Ranma's 
view. 

	*I guess I just can't get away.* Ranma stared at the note lying 
on top of his books. *Well, no use in delaying the inevitable, I guess.* 
He took the note and slowly unfolded it, reading its contents.



		Ranma Saotome

		Please meet me at Ucchan's at 3:30 after school today.

		Noriko Hirauchi



	Ranma frowned in irritation. *Doesn't that news-chick ever give 
up?* he thought. *Somehow, I don't think she's asking me for a date...not 
after the reception I got yesterday; that's for sure.* He took a quick 
glance over to the next locker at Akane, still a bit miffed from 
discovering Noriko and Ranma "together" that afternoon. *Hmph. Like it 
was my fault anyway. _She_ was the one that attacked me, yelling all 
those things at me about the paper...* Ranma frowned once more, 
remembering more of what had transpired in the journalism room. *She kept 
yelling something about how the paper was doomed...and how it was my 
fault. How could _I_ have had anything to do with it?*

	"Hey, Ranma, what's that note you've got there?" Ranma turned to 
see Hiroshi looking over his shoulder. "'Ranma Saotome, please meet me at 
Ucchan's...signed, Noriko Hirauchi...?" he read. 

	"Uh...it's really none of your business!" Ranma snapped, trying 
too late to conceal the note.

	Daisuke joined in on the fun. "Noriko Hirauchi? Hey, she's the 
one that wrote that article about you! Think she's trying to do a bit of 
_follow up_?" He grinned evilly.

	Hiroshi moved in for the kill. "Noriko...hey, I remember now; she 
was in my literature class last year!" He dug an elbow into Ranma's side. 
"Hey, she's a cute one, even with those glasses of hers...going for the 
intellectual types this time, huh?"

	Ranma was livid. "It ain't like that! She tried to kill me 
yesterday in the journalism room!"

	"You were in the journalism room with her?" Daisuke asked. "What 
were you doing there?"

	Ranma cast a nervous glance over to Akane, who had apparently 
overheard the entire conversation and was _very_ interested in how Ranma 
was about to respond.

	"Hey, I wasn't asking for a date or nothing like that, okay? She 
wrote a bunch of nasty stuff about me, remember? I wanted to ask her 
where she was coming from, writing stuff about me like that."

	"And she ended up attacking you? What happened, you tried to move 
in on her too fast? Too much man for her?"

	Ranma was just about to do something drastic to the two when 
Akane decided to intervene. "Excuse me, but Ranma and I have matters to 
discuss; do you mind??" she asked meaningfully.

	"Uh...sure thing, Akane! Sorry!" Hiroshi and Daisuke quickly 
walked away from the scene, still muttering to each other. "He's already 
got Akane, and two others besides; it just isn't right..."

	Ranma looked at Akane in surprise. "...Thanks, Akane."

	Akane still didn't look too pleased with her fiance. "You're not 
off the hook, yet, Ranma. Let me see that note."

	Ranma sighed and handed the note to Akane, knowing it would be 
useless to try and do otherwise. She silently read its contents. "So, 
Ranma...what _really_ happened in there yesterday?"

	"Before you threw me out the window?"

	She flinched slightly. "Yeah. Everything up to then."

	"Well..." Ranma quickly outlined the evens of that afternoon, 
ending with the accident that left him and Noriko on the floor, glued. 
"She kept yelling about how everything was my fault; the paper, 
everything. It was almost as bad as Mousse, or Ryoga."

	"Well, it's not like you never cause trouble or anything!" came 
Akane's reply.

	"Aw, shut up. It's not like it's always my fault, you know. 
Anyway, I...I don't want you coming with me this afternoon."

	Akane bristled. "Why not?? Because I might get in the way of you 
and Noriko??"

	"I told you, it ain't like that! It's just that...that she might 
go crazy again and try something, and I don't want you in the way. You 
might get hurt."

	"Get in the way? What, you think I don't know how to fight?"

	"Hey, I'm just trying to look out for you! It's not my fault that 
you're too slow to even hit someone standing still! It's for your own--"

	The blow came swift and sure, sending Ranma crumpled to the 
ground within the space of a second. "...good...," Ranma feebly croaked 
before darkness enveloped him. *Sexless tomboy...*

	"Slow, am I? Ranma no baka," Akane muttered darkly, stalking 
away. *I'm just trying to look out for you...,* Akane heard him say in 
her mind. A hint of a smile crept across her face, slightly coloring her 
cheeks.



	That afternoon, Noriko sat at her desk in the journalism room, 
stapling some packets for Mr. Watanabe and feeling more than a little 
depressed. She had made absolutely no progress in settling the internal 
dispute that had been waging within her since yesterday. *If I don't 
print the truth, then all I stand for as a journalist will have gone to 
pot, and an innocent will have suffered from my actions...well, maybe not 
so innocent.* She listlessly stapled a few more packets together before 
pausing again. *Still, if I do print the retraction, the "Informer" will 
almost certainly die! The other...my crew... they'll all suffer because 
of me.* <Ka-chunk, ka-chunk, ka-chunk,> went Noriko's stapler as she 
absentmindedly continued to staple papers together. *Then again, the 
paper was doomed from the start; it's only because of that article I did 
that there's even a chance that the "Informer" has a chance of 
surviving.* <Ka-chunk, ka-chunk.> *But now that the "Informer" has a 
chance; what kind of editor-in-chief would I be, letting it die right in 
front of my eyes?* <Ka-chunk.>

	Noriko sighed once more. *Well, one thing is for sure: I 
definitely have to apologize to Ranma for what I did, even if he does 
cause most of the damage at school.* <Ka-chunk, ka-chunk.> *I must have 
looked pretty stupid, attacking him with my half-baked martial arts and 
winding up glued to him...* Noriko blushed at the memory and quickly 
tried to change her train of thought. *Setting the meeting at Ucchan's 
should help set him at ease a bit; he'll have the "home court advantage" 
there. I just hope he'll come; maybe I can get some answers out of him, 
too...* <Ka-chunk.>

	"HEY!"

	Noriko nearly jumped out of her seat in fright. Still slightly 
shaken, she looked up to see Suzuki standing at her desk, looking 
slightly impatient. "I've been trying to get your attention for the last 
five minutes!"

	"Oh! Sorry! I guess I was a little distracted..."

	"Yeah, I guess. You were pretty spaced out there for a moment. Do 
you know that you just stapled your sleeve to your desk?"

	Noriko tugged her arm and found that Suzuki was right. "Ack! Boy, 
I must have been really out of it..." She began to busy herself in 
freeing her arm, one staple at a time.

	"Anyway, Watanabe-sensei sent this agenda over for next meeting. 
Here, let me help you with that." Suzuki laid the paper on the desk, 
knelt next to Noriko, and helped her pluck staples. "He says that he 
might be away again this meeting."

	"Thanks. You know, Suzuki, you're a real pal." Noriko pulled 
another staple out with some effort. "What would I do without you?"

	"Well, I..." Suzuki looked up briefly from the staple he was 
tugging at and suddenly realized that his face was very close to hers. He 
caught a faint scent of lilacs as Noriko redoubled her efforts on the 
last offending office supply. Suzuki gulped nervously, trying not to 
blush as he continued to stare at her, trying to think of something 
intelligent to say. "I...I..."

	"Hmm?" Noriko turned and suddenly found herself face to face with 
her layout editor. Before her eyes could even widen in surprise, Suzuki 
let out a strangled yelp and rapidly backed away three or four steps 
while trying to stand up at the same time, nearly tripping over a 
waste-basket in the process. 

	"Good grief, Suzuki; what happened?" Noriko asked, startled by 
his abrupt reaction. "Are you all right?"

	"Y-yeah," Suzuki managed to get out, putting a hand behind his 
head. "You just, um, startled me, that's all." His attempts to appear 
nonchalant only served to deepen the redness that was beginning to take 
over his face.

	"Oh," she replied, painfully realizing how lame her response 
sounded. For some reason, Noriko felt her own cheeks beginning to grow 
hot. An awkward silence hung in the air before either of them spoke. 
"So...," Noriko tried, breaking the silence, "...um...was there anything 
else?"

	"No...I guess...that's it, then. See you tomorrow; the meeting, 
right?" Suzuki said, moving towards the door.

	"Yeah, the meeting. Well, then...see you tomorrow," Noriko said, 
the back of her mind wondering just when she had forgotten most of her 
working vocabulary.

	"See you tomorrow," Suzuki said one more time. He grinned weakly, 
and disappeared through the door, his face beginning to turn red again. 
The door clicked shut behind Suzuki's retreating form. 

	Noriko to her dismay began to blush furiously. *Good grief, 
what's wrong with me?* She looked at the clock, trying to steer her mind 
towards more comfortable ground. What was it she had to do?... Something 
about this afternoon and an appointment...

	*Yikes! I'm going to be late to my appointment with Ranma!*



	Noriko quickly walked down the main sidewalk of Furinkan, trying 
to clear her head. *I haven't been getting enough sleep lately; yeah, 
that's got to be it,* she thought, trying to explain away her irrational 
behavior and the strange feelings coursing through her. Suddenly, she 
stopped short. Standing in front of her path was a student in blue robes 
carrying a bokken, effectively barring her path.

	"Noriko Hirauchi, am I correct?" he asked, not giving the 
slightest intention of moving out of her way.

	"Yes, that's me. You...you're Upperclassman Kuno, right?"

	"Indeed. You have the honor of addressing Tatewaki Kuno, the Blue 
Thunder of Furinkan High." He made a slight bow which managed to look 
both polite and inconceivably pompous at the same time. "However, let us 
dispense with the pleasantries. I have a quarrel with you regarding the 
article you printed regarding that villainous wretch, Ranma Saotome."

	*Great, not another one,* Noriko thought. *What ever happened to 
just writing a simple letter to the editor?*

	"Your verbal assault on Ranma Saotome was a worthy one," Kuno 
continued, not really caring whether Noriko had anything to say to his 
previous statement. "However, your statements which questioned the honor 
of all martial artists at Furinkan were a direct affront to the integrity 
of myself and the fair Akane Tendo. This in itself was an unspeakable crime."

	*No self-esteem problem here.* "Well...I certainly didn't mean 
any offense against you or Akane in particular. I'm sorry if the article 
came out that way," Noriko said as politely as she could, hoping to 
dispel whatever ire Kuno may have harbored against her. *Boy, am I ever 
sorry,* she added mentally.

	"Fear not, young Hirauchi. I have already forgiven the incident, 
knowing that no one of sound mind could ever question my honor."

	*This guy is unbelievable!* "Oh? Then what did you want to talk 
to me about?" Noriko asked, trying her best not to smile in amusement.

	"I wish to have a word with you regarding this...this travesty of 
justice!" Kuno whipped out a copy of Noriko's article and stabbed at the 
pictures of onna-Ranma on the top of the page. "How dare you implicate 
the pig-tailed girl in the vile misdeeds of Ranma Saotome?? Her 
innocence, her purity...you make her out to be no better than the 
miscreant who controls her!"

	*How stupid can someone be?* Noriko thought to herself. 
"Ah...er...Upperclassman Kuno," Noriko began as tactfully as possible. 
"What in the world are you talking about?"

	"Your ignorance offends me," Kuno said, causing Noriko to start 
to fume. "It is tragedy enough that Saotome holds her captive, but then 
you dare to heap insult upon her honor by calling her a lowly criminal! I 
will not tolerate such injustice. You will answer for your misdeeds." 
Kuno flung the paper to the ground in contempt.

	*Pretty darn stupid, I guess.* "Kuno-sempai, um...how long have 
you been going to Furinkan? This 'pig-tailed girl' you keep talking 
about...don't you know about Ranma's curse?"

	"Curse? Yes, it would indeed fitting for Ranma to have to bear 
the burden of an onerous curse. What manner of curse do you speak of?"

	*Do I have to spell it out??* "You know!" Noriko said, losing her 
patience with the junior kendoist. "Ranma's body isn't normal. Water 
sometimes gives him a girl's body, one with a pig-tail. You know?"

	Kuno was aghast. "Wh-what you're saying, then, is..."

	"Yes!" Noriko was firm. *As a journalist, I have to tell him the 
truth and make him see reason for a change.* "Ranma Saotome and your 
'pig-tailed girl' are the same person. Do you get it now?" *Boy, what an 
idiot!*

	Kuno just stood there for a long time, trembling from Noriko's 
revelation. His mouth moved slightly, trying to form words. Noriko 
briefly considered turning around and taking a different path to 
Ucchan's, leaving him standing there. "G.....g.....g.....LIES!!" Kuno 
finally screamed, blindly swinging his bokken in a wide arc which neatly 
cleaved a nearby tree in two.

Noriko gave a small shriek at the unexpected outburst and hopped clear of 
the swath Kuno's bokken carved in the air, dropping into a defensive 
stance upon landing. 

	"So, you are capable of defending yourself," Kuno observed 
coldly, seeing the speed with which Noriko had reacted to his outburst. 
"Very well, a duel for honor it will be! You will fight for your own, and 
I will fight for both mine...and the pig-tailed girl," Kuno said evenly 
with a dangerous glint in his eyes. 

	"Wh-what?" Noriko objected, suddenly realizing that this 
encounter had abruptly taken a turn for the dangerous. "You're craz--"

	"Silence! Your own words have condemned you. Prepare yourself!" 
Kuno rushed in, bokken at the ready. 

	Noriko barely managed to pull out her fountain pen in time to 
block Kuno's strike. *Looks like there's no talking my way out of this 
one,* she thought fearfully. *One of these days, I'm going to _have_ to 
get myself a can of Mace.*



	"Hiya, Ranchan!" Ukyo waved from behind the counter of Ucchan's.

	"Hey, Ucchan. How's it going?" Ranma asked, taking a seat at the 
counter. And "Ukyo Special was quickly flipped onto a plate in front of 
him, and Ranma eagerly took a large bite.

	"Oh, pretty good, although business has been a bit slow. So, what 
brings you here? Just felt like seeing your favorite person again?" Ukyo 
lightly teased, getting a second "Ukyo Special" ready on the grill.

	Ranma flinched slightly at the jibe. "No...actually, I'm supposed 
to meet someone here at three-thirty." He looked at the clock. "I guess 
I'm a couple of minutes late. Funny, I don't see her around, though."

	*Meet somebody? "Her?"* Ukyo's smile faded ever-so-slightly, but 
only for a moment. "Oh? Who are you meeting today?" she asked, keeping 
her voice casual. *Hmph. You're mine, Ranchan, you just don't realize it 
yet. One of these days...*

	Ranma suddenly realized how his last remark must have sounded to 
his other fiancee. "Ulp! It's not like a date or nothing, Ucchan. Noriko 
Hirauchi, the chick from the 'Informer.' Actually, she asked me to meet 
her. Probably to apologize for her article and everything. Have you seen 
her around?"

	Ukyo relaxed a bit. "No, I haven't. Are you sure she said today?"

	"Positive. Maybe she got held up on the way, or something."

	

	Kuno swung his bokken again and again with blinding speed. It was 
all Noriko could do to dodge and parry each thrust as she desperately 
tried to come up with an escape plan. 

	*He's fast, very fast. It's been too long since I've practiced; 
I'm all rusty!* How long had it been since she had last set foot in a 
dojo? A year? Two? Kuno pressed in, forcing her to retreat backwards. 

	*Watanabe-sensei always bugged me about trying to continue my 
training at Furinkan, telling me that it might come in handy again. I 
never thought it would come to this, though!* Noriko thought frantically, 
blocking another swipe from Kuno with her pen. *I've got to get out of 
here! And besides, I've got an appointment I'm already late for!* 
Stepping back, she tapped sharply on the end of her pen, hoping to blind 
Kuno with ink and escape while he was distracted. 

	Nothing happened. *Ack! Must have used the last of the ink 
yesterday afternoon on Ranma!* she thought. Looking up, Noriko saw Kuno 
already midway through another swing. She was wide open.

	"You're mine!" Kuno shouted. The bokken struck Noriko full force. 



	"So, Ranchan, what happened on the way here? You looked a bit out 
of breath when you first came in."

	"Oh, Hinako-sensei and Kuno-kouchou decided to have at me again. 
I had to take care of them before I could leave. Sure was a pain, 
though." Ranma looked at the clock again. "Hmmm. Still not here. " Ranma 
took a bite out of his third "Ukyo Special." "Heh. Maybe she got stuck in 
traffic." Although something nagged at him, almost as if something wasn't 
right. It was the same kind of feeling he got whenever one of his friends 
was in danger...

	"Well, Ranchan..." Ukyo slid over to where Ranma was sitting and 
brought her head very close to his. "I guess I could try and make time go 
by quicker for you." She batted her eyes cutely.

	Ranma gulped. 



	The blow hurt like nothing else. Noriko clutched her side, 
desperately blinking back the tears of pain that threatened to cloud her 
vision. *Jerk! Hitting a girl!...* She tried move away, but found the 
effort too painful. Somehow, Noriko remained on her feet, nearly doubled 
over in agony. Her breath came out in uneven, ragged gasps. 

	"So, young Hirauchi, do you yield?" Kuno pointed his bokken at 
Noriko. 

	*Jerk! Yield, heck! Well, if this clown wants a fight, he's 
getting one!" Noriko forced her eyes open and managed to slowly 
straighten up, ignoring the throbbing pain at her side. "I tried 
to...reason with you, Kuno," Noriko spat, dropping the honorific "sempai" 
from his name. "But you're just too..._stupid_ to understand, aren't you? 
I'll never...yield to an *insufferable* idiot like you!" She tightened 
her grip on her pen. *Focus. Just like Watanabe-sensei said.*

	Kuno regarded Noriko with grudging admiration. "Your fortitude is 
most admirable, if not misguided, for no mortal has fairly defeated the 
Blue Thunder in single combat! However, I will be generous and grant your 
wish to continue this match to its completion."

	Noriko drew herself up to her full height (which still wasn't all 
that imposing) and held her pen out in front of her. The pain showed no 
sign of leaving, but it helped keep her focused on her target. "You are a 
pompous, egotistical *fool* and a pimple on the face of honor!" Noriko 
flew at Kuno, pen extended. Kuno parried the blow and countered with a 
riposte that Noriko blocked. The two glared at each other over the points 
of their respective weapons, and the match was on.

	

	*Geez. Four-fifteen already and no sign of her. Akane's going to 
be ticked when I get home.* Ranma angrily began the first few steps of a 
kata in the corner of the restaurant, cursing himself for agreeing to 
meet her. *For all I know, this whole thing was a trick and she set up 
that ambush from Miss Hinako and Principal Kuno. If she doesn't show up 
in another fifteen minutes, I'm outta here!* Elbow strike. Backfist. 
Step, grab, snap kick. Practicing his martial arts helped prevent Ukyo 
from continuing her persistent advances, even though it caused a few of 
the customers to stare. *She's probably sitting at that desk of hers, 
laughing her butt off at the trick she played on me.* Ranma growled 
angrily to himself, causing curiosity seekers to quickly refocus their 
attention on their meals. 



	Noriko's breathing was beginning to become ragged. The exertion 
was more than she was used to, and the wound to her side didn't help 
matters any. Kuno, on the other hand, looked a little winded, but was no 
worse from the latest rounds of attacks and counter-attacks other than a 
few rips here and there in his robes. Noriko had managed to score a few 
blows, but they were mostly glancing ones that did little to jar the Blue 
Thunder. *Gaah! <huff, huff> I've got to <huff> finish this! Can't <huff> 
keep this up much longer! If I could only <huff> get inside...where he 
can't swing that stick of his...*

	*She...she is better than I had expected,* Kuno thought to 
himself. *However, she, too, will fall to the might of my sword!* "HA!" 
he shouted, thrusting forward. Noriko managed to step out of the way of 
the point of the blade, but only just barely. Suddenly, she felt a 
stinging sensation on her arm.

	*A bruise!? From that? He didn't even touch me!* Noriko twisted 
to avoid another attack, only to be knocked back by an invisible force. 
*Air columns,* she thought, dread beginning to fill her. *He's using the 
speed of his attacks...that's crazy!* "Uuufff!" she cried, another 
pressure-blow hitting her, this time near her wound. Ignoring the tears 
of pain that slid down her cheeks, Noriko desperately tried to anticipate 
Kuno's attacks, to dodge the invisible blasts of air before they were 
formed, but Kuno was too fast, too persistent... A final slice of Kuno's 
bokken through the air, and Noriko found herself nearly hurled backwards 
ten feet until she was stopped by something solid. The wall surrounding 
the school grounds. *Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide...is this it?*

	Kuno pointed his bokken towards Noriko across the space that 
separated them. "Do you yield?" Noriko could do nothing but nod her 
assent. "Then do you take back your lies regarding the pig-tailed girl 
and Ranma Saotome?"

	Something in Noriko snapped. "Dang, it, Kuno, how stupid can you 
be?? That 'pig-tailed girl' and Ranma Saotome are the same person, I tell 
you! It's the _truth_, darn it!"

	Kuno's visage darkened. "You lie! And now, the game ends," he 
cried, lifting his bokken into the air. A look of intense concentration 
clouded his eyes for a split second before he abruptly exploded into a 
flurry of thrusts, his arms and bokken blurring with inhuman speed. 
"Strike strike strike strike strike strike!!" he cried as he began to 
advance.

	It was as if a great, unseen hand had suddenly decided to crush 
Noriko against the wall. She gritted her teeth in a valiant attempt to 
remain conscious as the incredible air pressure continued to build with 
Kuno's advance. *Can't...take...any more...,* she thought, holding her 
arms over her face and body with the hopes of shielding herself from the 
buffeting winds. The section of wall began to crack from the strain as 
Kuno came closer, his wall of bokken strikes quickly approaching...only a 
second remained before Kuno reached her...

	In a flash of insight, Noriko whirled and struck the wall as hard 
as she could with her pen. The section of wall, already unstable from the 
numerous cracks in it, instantly began to collapse from the sudden shock. 
Noriko threw her arms over her head as the chunks of concrete, brick, and 
mortar cascaded on top of her, enveloping her in a great cloud of debris 
and dust. A final crash, and all was still.

	Kuno immediately froze at the bizarre spectacle, still a meter in 
front of the collapsing wall. The cloud of dust slowly settled, and Kuno 
could see the school wall in front of him, a large section of it 
completely demolished in a pile of rubble and shattered stones. Noriko 
was nowhere to be seen. Alarmed, he rushed to the remains of the wall to 
see what had become of his adversary. "Young Hirauchi!" he cried, 
searching the rubble for any signs of the diminutive editor-in-chief. 
"Young Hirauchi!" And then, he saw it. A glint of metal in the afternoon 
sunlight...Kuno made his way over to a pile. Noriko's glasses, half 
buried in the rock...

	Kuno picked up the pair of glasses and held them to his heart. 
"Oh, cruel heavens!" he exclaimed, the tears beginning to stream down his 
cheeks. "To think that such a young flower of life would be crushed in 
this way!"

	"YAAAAAAH!" Noriko flew straight at Kuno's back from behind one 
of the still-standing sections of wall. Kuno tried to turn towards the 
source of the yell, but was slowed by the cobwebs of surprise, sluggishly 
bringing his bokken to bear... Her pen struck hard, and Kuno stumbled 
backwards, slightly dazed by the force of the attack. 

	Noriko saw her chance. She rushed in before the brief window of 
opportunity she had just created could slam irrevocably shut once more. 
*I'm in! But if this doesn't work...* Kuno found himself befuddled by his 
opponent crowding his arms and tried to move back, but Noriko would have 
none of it. She lashed out with her pen again and again, letting the 
adrenaline and hot anger in her system fuel each attack.

	Kuno readied his weapon and tried to strike back and defend, but 
his strikes lacked their full force at such close range. He blocked one 
attack only to be hit by another, and another; she was too close, his 
bokken too cumbersome... 

	"JerkjerkjerkjerkjerkjerkJERK!!!" Noriko shouted, using the last 
gram of strength she had in one final thrust. Her pen slipped past Kuno's 
bokken, hitting him once more, square in the chest. He froze for a moment 
before slumping silently to the ground, his eyes dull. 

	Spent, Noriko immediately fell to her hands and knees, pain 
shooting to every part of her body. Ugly black splotches obscured her 
vision and threatened to take over her consciousness. *No...can't black 
out,* she thought as she painfully crawled to Kuno's prone form, noting 
with grim relief that he was only stunned. Noriko retrieved her glasses, 
and slowly, agonizingly managed to stand. She began to slowly limp 
towards Ucchan's. *I hope he's still there...*

	Noriko never noticed Kuno stir and utter the words that never 
failed to send chills of terror down the spines of female students 
everywhere in Furinkan. "Noriko Hirauchi...," he croaked, trying to move. 
*...I would......date......with you...."



end part five



    Heh. I've never really been too sure about this part, actually. But 
since it's here...

    Part six will probably be delayed a day or so while I do some last 
minute polishing before I send it along. Thanks for watching! :)

---
Raphael See