Subject: [Ranma 1/2][Fanfic] In My Life: Lost and Found (Episode Two)
From: "Florencio B. de la Merced, Jr." <fmerced@pworld.net.ph>
Date: 11/20/1997, 1:48 PM
To: "Fanfic Mailing List" <fanfic@fanfic.com>

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In My Life

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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
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EPISODE TWO

Lost and Found

-----

Genma was almost finish with his work. The once prayer room, had been
successfully converted into a respectable training hall. The huge room had
an ideal central open space, which Genma could only imagine as the place
were he would pass on to his students what he knows about martial arts. An
array of weapon racks and other paraphernalia were carefully stacked in
all four walls. He even had a huge wooded sign made especially for that
room, and he's almost finish nailing it up one wall. This is the
culmination
of Genma's years of hard work and his dreams. He longed for the day that
he could build the Saotome Dojo of Anything Goes School of Martial Arts
and his life long wish is unfolding before his very eyes.

He got down from the ladder, stepped back to inspect his handiwork, and
stared almost teary eyed at his sign. Stepping back a bit more he was
clearly satisfied that the sign, bearing the name of his dojo, had been
nailed perfectly in the center of the front wall. "What do you think
Cologne?"

"And where is mine? I thought we had an agreement, Saotome." Cologne
walked up to Genma, who was still looking at the sign. "I do hope you
intend to keep your promise."

"The sign, Cologne. What do you think about the sign? Is it centered or
not?" Cologne shook off her disappointment of Genma's blatant ignorance.

"It's centered, Saotome." Cologne waited until Genma himself peered away
from the front wall. "And about are agreement, Saotome."

"Huh? Oh! It's all being taken cared of. The workers are placing out all
the special equipment you ordered inside the other training hall." Cologne
was relived. "By the way. What do you intend to do with all that
equipment? I realize those bo staffs and swords are standard weapons, but
why did you order chestnuts and boulders?" Cologne just laughed quickly
forgetting to answer Genma's question as she strolled out of the room.

Genma scratched his head highlighting his momentary confusion. He didn't
really need answers for he knew how so unorthodox most of Cologne's
training techniques are. He spun around and glances back at his sign and
he smirked proudly at it. 'What could possibly go wrong?' Genma thought.

Nodoka, who had been sitting quietly in one corner of the room, finally
broke her silence. "Genma, about Tendo?"

Genma's once straight and proud back bent in sheer agony at Nodoka's
words. "Yes, Nodoka. It's true. I saw it with my own eyes." Genma's eager
mood swiftly changed in a sullen notion of despair. He and his wife slowly
met in the middle of the room. "I saw his dojo here in Nerima." He
clutched his wife's hands hoping to at least comfort her from the blow of
the news he had just confirmed.

Surprisingly, Nodoka didn't feel saddened by the discovery of the Tendo
dojo. "I know, Genma."

"I really don’t get it." Genma was lost in his own apathy. "I was sure he
was living in Ryugenzawa. I even checked up on him, remember Nodoka."
Nodoka just repeated her last words. "I'm sure he built his dojo over
there. I wouldn't have picked Nerima if I knew. But, I can't figure out
why, now, his dojo is..." Genma finally realized what his wife had been
trying to tell him. Genma blinked and looked straight at his wife in
disbelief. "You know? How?"

"I met Kimiko a few days ago." It was Genma's turn to be shocked by his
wife's revelation. "Um, Genma. Is everything alright?" Slowly, Nodoka
guided her husband towards a chair. "Oh, don't tell me you have something
against Kimiko too?" Genma swung his head to the delight of his wife.

"You know, we should invite them over." Genma immediately stood up and was
sternly looking at Nodoka.

"Absolutely not!" Before Nodoka had a chance to speak again, Genma had
already stormed out of the room in a hurry.

"Oh, Genma." Nodoka looked at the signboard, which had her husband's name
on it. "Good thing I didn't tell you she already had dinner here." Nodoka
sighed and was the last one to leave the training hall.

-----

The train station was bustling with people. Early morning rush hour was
typical for crowds of passengers moving in and out of the trains,
hurriedly trying to get on the right one that will lead them out of
Nerima, or to those that had just arrived from some other godforsaken
locality. The electronic bulletin board indicated the time when specific
trains would be leaving the station, and trains coming from different
places in Japan would be stopping over. Currently the sign had 'Ryugenzawa
8:00 AM' brightly lit on it.

'So this is Nerima?' A tall spectacled man wearing fine white robes
thought to himself as he and his companion, a young man, almost as old as
him, quickly got of the train from Ryugenzawa. Both men had their long
back hair tied near their nape, but his was longer than that of his
companion, who seem to ignore him.

"Gee. I never knew Nerima was this overcrowded." The young man just looked
back at his mysterious friend, who seems neither unemotional, nor
unexcited about his surroundings. "What do you think, Mousse?" Mousse just
adjusted his dark glasses, put on a white hat, and just walked past him.
That left most of their luggage for him to bear. "Hey, wait up!"

"Get a cab, Shinnosuke." As if trained to obey, Shinnosuke, while
struggling with the meager bags strapped on his shoulders, got their
transportation out of the station.

"Where to mister?"

"To the nearest hotel please." The driver promptly nodded just before the
cab sped away, a sullen Mousse riding up front, and a weary and tired
Shinnosuke slouching in the backseat.

-----

"Saotome." Ranma got up from his seat and immediately joined a group of
students that the teacher had gathered in front of the class. "Will you do
problem number four." Ranma only nodded in affirmation and he quickly
grabbed a chalk and looked interestingly at the math equation in front of
him.

"Who wants the next question? It's not really that hard." Even the
comforting words of the math teacher couldn't elicit volunteers from the
rest of the class. The teacher was about to pick the name of a poor soul
from her list of students when an innocent looking hand did rise from her
pupils. "Yes, Akane." A few whispers followed Akane as she rose from her
seat.

"Akane, are you nuts? That's a three-level derivation. Don't tell me
you..." Sayuri confirmed Yuka's suspicion as Akane walked up to the
blackboard next to Ranma. "Oh. I see."

Ranma was almost finished with his problem when he finally noticed the
shorthaired girl besides him. He caught a quick glance at the little
progress she had made with her math problem. "Take your time. It's not
that hard, really." Akane blinked as she was caught surprised at the
comment.

"Um...I..." Akane couldn't help herself look straight into Ranma's eyes.
"I...Hello." Fortunately, Akane mustered enough strength to smile even the
powerful gaze looking down on her was making her weak to the bone.

"Hello." Ranma paused to think for a moment. "Strange thing to say, don't
you think?" Ranma just smiled back at Akane and then continued to finish
problem number four.

'Stupid' Akane thought about what had just transpired between her and her
crush. "So much for first impression." Akane decided to fill her head with
the problem in front of her, quickly removing any thoughts of the young
boy at her side. Little did she realize that Ranma, the guy next to her,
had been staring at her long after Ranma had finished solving his problem.

'She's quite cute' Ranma thoughts made him smile further, he paid closer
attention to her, especially after overhearing her muttering a while ago.
'I wonder...' Ranma inspected her work on the math problem. "Good. You've
only got one variable to go."

Akane didn't realize who just talked to her. "Yeah, but I don't get this.
If I place a value here..." Akane motioned and scribbled several numbers
and letters, "this would solve for the x variable." Ranma nodded even if
Akane didn't turn around to see his approval. "But that would totally make
variable y invalid, it doesn't make sense." Ranma looked a bit closer into
the Akane's solution written on the board. That made Akane look over her
shoulder. Ranma's face was almost a kiss away from hers. Akane held her
breath almost immediately as a hand placed itself on her right shoulder.
She froze a bit while looking both left and right a few times.

"You're right, there's something wrong with the equation." Ranma tried to
look at Akane but immediately realized how close he was. "Oops. Sorry
about that." He immediately stepped back a bit, even retracting his hand
off Akane's shoulder. Akane turned to him with a quite intimidating look.
"Bad hand! You're very naughty." Ranma just slapped his hands to Akane's
amusement. Both laughed.

"Ranma, are you finished?" Ranma looked at his teacher and nodded. Just
then the school bell rang, indicating end of classes. "Alright class,
these people in front will have to explain their solutions tomorrow."
Ranma thought a bit, realizing he needed to copy his own solution before
he leaves. He then realize, just as the last group of students was about
to leave the room, the girl solving the problem next to him forgot to copy
her solution. So he felt compelled to copy what she had written on the
board.

"Gee. Women are so forgetful." Ranma finished off taking notes and headed
out the door following her sister, and company.

-----

Akane got to her favorite place ahead of her friends. Sayuri and Yuka
weren't far behind. "Are you going to tell us or what?"

"Ok, he's...." Akane placed her things down on the bench, "he's more
handsome up close." Both Sayuri and Yuka face faulted. "And he's taller
than I thought."

"Akane! We already know that. What did he say?"

Akane looked a bit puzzled. "Say?" She tried to remember. Both of her
friends sat down and waited impatiently for her reply. "Well, I said
hello." Sayuri and Yuka's eyes both lit up in anticipation. "And he said
hello too." Her friends applauded to Akane's amazement. "What? What did I
say?"

-----

"What are you looking for?" Ukyou noticed how her brother had been looking
left and right, up and down the long corridor they've been walking the
past minute or so. "Did you lose something?" Ranma was staring out the
window of the hallway and completely, though unintentionally ignored
Ukyou. "Ranma!"

"Huh?" Ranma however didn't give Ukyou the pleasure of knowing what was
bothering him. "Um, Catch you back at the temple. I've got to look for
someone." Before Ukyou could correct his brother, Ranma had run halfway
back down the hallway.

"It's a dojo, nitwit!" Ranma just waved back, acknowledging his mistake,
but Ukyou considered this hardly any consolation to Ranma's strange
behavior.

"Where is he going?" Ryoga looked strangely at Ukyou, but she could only
sigh in reply.

"He must be looking for that senior who has that long brown hair." Ukyou
picked up the pace as she sighted the doorway towards the outside.

"You mean that girl with the cute smile?" Ryoga should have known better
than to hand out compliments about women, especially in front of Ukyou.
"Oww!" Ukyou amused herself as she lightly pinched Ryoga's right earlobe.
"Whad'ya do that for?"

"Just checking." Ukyou's ensuing smile successfully hid the temporary
jealousy she'd just felt.

"So where are we going?" Ryoga reached for Ukyou's hand and gave it a
nimble squeeze. Ukyou saw the apologetic look on Ryoga's face and quickly
she smiled a forgiving look back at him.

"Sorry." Ryoga just smiled further, knowing how temperamental and jealous
her girlfriend can be.

"So where are we going anyway?"

"We better get some school uniforms, like what principal Kuno asked us in
his office yesterday." Ryoga winced as if remembering some hideous memory.
"Oh. Come on, it's not that bad."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Ryoga sighed dismissing what he can still
vividly remember why he was in the principal's office a day ago. "So you
and Shampoo going to use those light blue uniforms?" Ukyou nodded in
affirmation.

"Yup. It's a good thing I like the color, or I'd have a hard time getting
comfortable with it." Ukyou turned to look at Shampoo. "Right,
Sham...Huh?" She wasn't there. Shampoo was with them a moment ago, Ukyou
thought. "Where is she?" Both turned around, and sure enough Shampoo was
trailing them, followed by a flock of some of their classmates from the
just concluded class. "Oh, brother."

-----

"You mean you don’t have a last name?" A tall, spectacled young man asked
the purple headed girl he had been following since his last class had
finished.

"True. Shampoo is my one and only name," Shampoo smiled, "as far as I can
remember." The crowd of boys following her made similar ooh's and aahs all
at the same time.

"How long have you been staying in Nerima? How come we've only seen you
now?" The boy scribbled some thing on his small notebook he was holding,
and was eagerly waiting for Shampoo to answer him.

"Well..."

>From a short distance away, Ukyou and Ryoga stared in subtle amazement at
the crowd gathered around Shampoo.

"My grandmother, no wait, my great-grandmother and me are staying at
Ranma's house." The interviewer gave a quizzical stare at Shampoo. "And I
just arrived here a couple of days ago." All the rest were not really
paying much attention to her answers.

"Ranma's house? That's a strange name for a dormitory." The young man
wrote it down anyway, just before Shampoo could correct him. "Oh! You live
with this guy, Ranma. Is he your boyfriend?" Everybody caught that
question and was silent in anticipation of Shampoo's response.

"Ranma? Oh, no. He's just a student of my great-grandmother. Like me. He's
a very good friend." All the boys breathe a bit better after that.

"Student of what?" The boy flipped another page on his small notepad.

"Martial arts, of course. He's very good you know. I thought him
everything he knows." Shampoo was smirking happily, but some boys had
stopped dead in their tracks. "Well, I helped teaching him."

"So you know Martial arts." A few scribbles and then the notepad closed.
"Thanks, Shampoo. Can I call upon you if I need anymore information for
the paper." Shampoo just nodded. The group started to drift away after the
interview concluded.

"So who was that? A new friend?" Ukyou stared smartly at Shampoo, who
still was feeling intoxicated by all the attention she received a while
ago. "Shampoo?"

"Huh? Oh, that was reporter from school paper. He said he wanted to
interview the new students in school." Shampoo led the trio out the
hallway, and across the schoolyard.

"Really? And what about those other guys flocked around you?" Ukyou
sometimes couldn't stand Shampoo's popularity with the male population.

"Fans, Ukyou. They seem to follow me wherever I go." Ryoga chuckled
knowing how Shampoo's bragging is eating up Ukyou. "Just kidding."
Shampoo's smile irked Ukyou almost to the edge.

"You're so unbelievable! Someday, Shampoo. You'll see the error in your
ways!" Ukyou stepped up the pace as the three headed towards another
building. Ryoga was inevitably dragged all the way there, while Shampoo
kept asking what Ukyou meant by 'her ways' but she was completely ignored.

-----

Soun Tendo stepped out of the training hall quite disturbed and puzzled
all at the same time, biting a bit from the apple he had taken from the
kitchen while he was waiting for his pupils. "Where could my students be?"
He looked at the clock hanging at the end of the hallway, and recalled
what date it was today. "I should have had the morning students here
already. Why are..." Then he realized his mistake. "School! That's what I
forgot. I should remember to reschedule those kids on the weekends." He
quickly approached the calendar hanging by the door and noted down his
discovery. After which he looked at the rest of the dates on the calendar
and realized this is the fourth time this month he forgot to reschedule
his morning classes. "Damn, I should get Nabiki to organize this schedule.
I keep forgetting school had started already." He took another bite.

"Oh, Soun." Kimiko came out of the dinning room and was standing on the
porch looking for her husband. "Where are you?"

"What is it?" Soun had finished half of the apple and was looking forward
to grab another on his way back inside the dojo.

"I want to invite a friend over for dinner, Soun. I just thought I might
need your consent." Kimiko placed a small kiss on her husband's cheek just
to him open to her idea. And it worked too, Soun couldn't stop eating and
finishing off the rest of his fruit.

"So..who..are," half manageably spoken by Soun through his filled mouth,
"we having for dinner?" All that was left was the core.

"I just thought of inviting Nodoka tonight." Soun eyes grew wide open, and
he almost froze for a minute or so. "Soun, is everything alright?"

"Nodoka? As in Saotome?" Kimiko meagerly nodded in affirmation. "What?!
Are you out of your mind?!" Soun received an immediate slap on the face, a
reality check for him.

"How dare you?! Nodoka and I are the best of friends, Soun! Don't get us
involve with your petty quarrel with Genma!" Kimiko stared glaringly at
her fallen husband. Inside, she hoped her little and not too often display
of anger was worth it's weight in it's timing. She never was a violent
person, though she'd often had dreamed of beating Soun, and her husband's
good-for-nothing sensei, to a pulp just to get them to realize how foolish
they've acted all these years. "Well, are you going to let me invite
Nodoka for dinner?" Kimiko was tearing herself inside, seeing her husband
rubbing the pain away from his sore cheek.

"Alright. You win." Kimiko heart leapt, she at first doubted if her plan
would have worked. "But not her husband." Kimiko didn't mind Soun's
condition. She just kissed Soun, first on his redden cheek, then on the
lips. Soun calmed a bit. As soon Kimiko turned around Soun chance about
something his wife was holding behind her back. "What is that?"

Kimiko smiled, bringing out and raising a huge mallet. "This? Oh, it's
Plan B. But I guess I don't need it now." Kimiko smiled and laughed as she
saw her husband jerking back defensively. "Thank you Soun." Soun stood
silently aghast at the mallet. "Soun?"

"Huh? Um, You're welcome." In his head Soun had some reflections to
consider. 'My God! I married an amazon." Not quite a good analogy, but it
was suffice to say he knew how strong willed his wife was. 'Good thing she
doesn't carry a katana blade like her friend does.' Soun felt relaxed,
thinking how things could possibly be worse often made setbacks into
something in a bit better than what they really are. It was like viewing
things in a different light.

-----

"Where could that girl be?" Ranma looked inside the nth empty room he'd
inspected. "Geez. Well I better stop hunting her down, she probably got
home already." Ranma closed the door and spun around to finally leave the
hallway, but to his surprise someone was glaring back at him.

"You better have a pretty good explanation why you're snooping around
school. Especially when it involves The Furinkan High Flames' office." A
beautiful brown and shorthaired girl was devilishly staring down Ranma's
throat. Kind of reminded Ranma of his sister, but she was a total stranger
to him. But, she wasn't the shorthaired girl he had been looking for.

"Um, Sorry about that. I was looking for someone." Ranma fixed his collar,
trying to get a better breathing room in the process. "Well...I..." She
wasn't buying his reason though.

"Likely story." She hadn't moved so Ranma was still stuck in giving a
better alibi, though he couldn't think anything better than the truth.

"No, really. I was looking for this classmate of mine," Ranma got the
chills just looking at how she was staring at him, "who forgot something
in class, and I've been looking all over..." From some distance away,
steps and some chattering filled the hallway, "but I couldn't find..."

"Ranma! What are you doing here?" Both Ranma and the girl that had
cornered her looked at the two girls approaching.

"You!" Ranma couldn't believe his luck, as one of the two running up to
him was his classmate he'd been trying to explain to the girl trapping
him. She stepped back away, giving Ranma the room he desperately needed.
Ranma smiled, as if he'd been saved.

"Akane, you know this guy?" Ranma was grateful that at least he finally
had her name.

"Nabiki, he's my classmate. And he's a new student in Furinkan High."
Akane slowed and stepped up to Ranma, who was unusually silent while
staring at Akane. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I..." Ranma caught a glimpse of the other girl trailing behind
Akane. "You!" Akane blinked, then looked behind her as her eldest sister
finally caught up to them.

"What's going on?" Kasumi halted just as everyone was staring at her. "Um,
Is there something wrong? Why are you all staring at me?" Kasumi looked at
the boy standing in front of the school paper's office. "Oh, it's you. How
are you doing?"

Ranma hesitated to reply while Akane looked back at Ranma. Nabiki just
sighed. "Move over, Ranma. I've got to get my things." Ranma obliges.

"Ranma?"

"Um, Akane, right?" Akane just nodded, but she was having the hardest time
controlling her emotions right now. "I...was looking all over school for
you." Akane heart soared, her suspicion about Ranma and her sister was
being discredited by Ranma's own words. "You left math class in such a
rush, you forgot to copy your solution you've written on the board." Akane
smiled as she received the small piece of folded paper from him.

"Thanks, Ranma."

"Nothing to it." Ranma saw Akane lower her head and a bit looking away. He
did that to her, he thought. He looked at the taller girl, who he really
admired. Kasumi just smiled her stunning smile back at him, but it didn't
feel that warming to him this time.

"Ok, let's go." Nabiki pulled out some keys and effectively locked the
door. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Ranma." Nabiki was leading the way
for all four.

"Nice to finally meet you Ranma." Kasumi knew when she was needed or not,
so she walked up and paced alongside Nabiki. Akane and Ranma were trailing
behind.

"Hey, Akane." Akane slowly looked up to him. "Since we're going to present
those math problems tomorrow, why don't we..." Akane eyes lit up, "you
know, prepare for it at the same time. Maybe I can help you with that hard
problem, and you could help me with mine." Ranma saw Akane's was warming
up to his idea.

"I'd be happy to." Nabiki was eavesdropping, not withstanding Kasumi's
request not to get involve. Ranma looked decent enough, even for a guy
with a ponytail, Nabiki thought.

"So, where do we..." Ranma fumbled with his words, not really knowing how
to ask someone he only knew by face until a few minutes ago, "you know,
work?"

Nabiki was itching to but in. "You should ask 'Your place or mine',
Ranma." Kasumi just grabbed Nabiki and quickly dragged her farther ahead.
"Hey, I was just trying to help." Kasumi knew it, but felt it was better
for them to leave. "Anyway, bye you guys!" Both Ranma and Akane felt
embarrassed at Nabiki's little outburst. "The night is young!" Kasumi was
herself getting embarrassed at Nabiki as they disappeared out through the
gates of Furinkan High.

"Sorry about that, my sister can get a bit too emotional sometimes." Ranma
just grinned and chuckled, which Akane heartily joined in.

"So, your place or mine?" Ranma intended that question only to liven up
the mood and to actually know where Akane wanted to work tonight, but the
long silence, with both of them only staring deeply into each other's eyes
made it look like it was a start of something big, something wonderful.
"Akane?" Ranma finally mustered enough sense to ask again.

"Huh? Oh, why don't we work in my place? It's pretty quiet," Akane also
was more comfortable in her own home, "except if Nabiki tries to annoy
us." Akane felt happy that Ranma laughed at her silly jokes.

Both agreed and before parting, at the corner of the street, she gave
directions towards the Tendo dojo. Ranma waved goodbye, not really moving
away from that street corner until Akane's figure disappeared down the
street.

Ranma was already on his way down his own street when re realized
something. "Damn, I forgot to ask what time?" He ran back but the street
was deserted. "Oh, well. I guess after dinner would be fine." He shrugged
his head as return down the path towards his home. Just then he heard
running footsteps.

"Ranma! I forgot to ask you..." Akane was surprised to see the grin on
Ranma's face, "when we'll meet." Akane slowed her pace as soon as she saw
him run up to her. "I thought it..."

"After dinner?" Akane had thought otherwise, but somehow Ranma's confident
gaze at her made her indecisive at something. Ranma just patted Akane on
the shoulder before running off again. "See you later!"

"Ra..Ranma." Akane knew he was too far away to hear her now. "I was
hoping..." A comforting hand then placed itself on Akane's shoulder again.

"Is he coming for dinner?" Kasumi was saddened to see Akane stay silent to
her question and just sort of walking away, not really showing nor feeling
some kind of excitement. "Oh, my." Kasumi looked down the street and just
saw Ranma's figure running and sort of happily jumping up and down the
street. "Strange, I thought she'd be excited and all?" Kasumi dismissed
her suspicions, for the moment at least. She walked up to Akane and both
joined up to a visibly anticipating Nabiki further up the street.

-----

Bored stiff, Shinnosuke crumpled some of his own stationary notes and
began throwing and aiming them at a waste basket several feet away from
him. "So what do you plan on doing tonight?" He looked over as Mousse, who
was somehow sitting silently as if meditating on one of the beds in the
room. "Geez. Talk about stoned silent." Mousse didn't stir further making
Shinnosuke a bit more frustrated. "Well, I'm going to look for her."
Shinnosuke rose from his seat but he never got near the door.

"Why don't you just pick up the phone and it'll save you a lot of time
running around in Nerima." Mousse stayed in the same position.

"I'd do that if I knew her phone number!" Shinnosuke reached for the
doorknob but a pillow hit him at the nape. "What the?"

"Ask directory assistance, Shinnosuke!" Shinnosuke grabbed the pillow and
hurled it back at Mousse, who somehow manages to avoid it. "Sometimes, if
only you use your head more than that mouth of yours."

"Yeah, yeah." Shinnosuke picked the phone up, and immediately the operator
answered. "Directory Assistance."

Mousse opened his eyes and stared glaringly at Shinnosuke. "Please."

Shinnosuke frowned. "Directory Assistance, please." After a few clicks and
rings, he heard different voice. "Can you tell me what is the number of
Tendo Kasumi?" Mousse glared a bit more. "Please." After a few seconds
Shinnosuke only got a disappointing answer. He looked at Mousse, "What's
Kasumi's father's name?" Mousse just said 'Soun' which Shinnosuke
immediately picked up on. "How about Tendo Soun?" A few moments later he
was calling the number given to her by the operator.

"I always wonder why my grandfather pays a lot of money for your
'so-called' services. If it was up to me, I'd dump you in Antartica!"
Shinnosuke muttered at Mousse who was paying no attention to him. "Damn,
Chinese." The phone kept giving a busy signal.

-----

"Hi Mom, what do you think?" Ukyou posed in front of Nodoka, swayed around
in place, helping to highlight her new uniform she's trying to fit on. "I
know it's not my shade of blue, but I guess I can tolerate it."

Nodoka replaced the telephone handset back in place just as Ukyou entered
the room from one of the hallways. She looked and carefully examined the
dress in question. "It looks fine on you, Ukyou. You have nothing to worry
about." That put a smile on her daughter.

"What about me?" Shampoo walked in from behind Ukyou. She too had a
similar looking uniform, expect hers was a size bigger than what would
have normally fitted her. "Don’t you think this is too big for me, Mrs..
Saotome?" Nodoka had to agree.

"Quit complaining about the sizes, Shampoo. How do you think are we able
to use the same uniforms if we didn't buy the same sizes?" Ukyou was
obliviously dealing the better hand and influence on Shampoo. Nodoka just
giggled, knowing that sometimes even the most cost-effective plans of her
daughter would backfire once in a while. Shampoo just turned around and
was about to walk back into the hallway.

"Well, why don't you exercise more Ukyou. So you can lose those excess
poundage and probably," Ukyou blinked before realizing what Shampoo was
saying, "we can have same dress sizes." Shampoo looked back at the Ukyou
who was getting a bit angry. "But Shampoo is still sexier, right?" Ukyou
yelled out her frustrations, berating how Shampoo was hitting below the
belt this time.

"Shampoo! I'll get you for that!" The two ran rounds around the house,
running through the numerous hallways, throwing insults and curses at each
other. Nodoka though wasn't worried, for she knew when her children were
playing around. She had other things in mind.

"See, Ukyou. If you just lose some fat, then maybe you can catch up to
Shampoo!" Ukyou winced at the abuse she's receiving as she rounded a
corner.

"I'll...I'll..." Ukyou spotted Ranma coming through the front gate causing
her to instantly slow down her pursuit, "Ranma? Where have you been?"
Shampoo too doubled back to where she had left Ukyou.

"Ranma? Are those flowers for me?" Ukyou saw the opportunity and struck.
Shampoo gawked as Ukyou pulled her down and placed a headlock on her.
"Ack! Ukyou!" Ukyou laughingly kneaded her left knuckles on Shampoo's
head, much to Shampoo's protest. Ranma stared for a moment before walking
past and avoiding them. He really didn’t like getting into fights
especially those involving her sister and Shampoo's.

"Take it back Shampoo!" Shampoo managed to break free but her hair was
obviously ruined. Ukyou too straighten herself out, and was already
looking to where her brother had disappeared off.

"Look what you've done! Now I'm going to have to fix my hair again."
Shampoo took off the laces off her hair and allowed her purple locks to
fall straight down. She was about to leave Ukyou and get to her room when
she noticed Ukyou's strange behavior. "What are you looking for, Ukyou?"

"Did you notice those flowers Ranma brought in?" Shampoo reflected before
admitting that she did noticed a bunch of daisies a while ago. Ukyou
sighed, correcting Shampoo's observational error. "They were tulips,
Shampoo." Both walked back through the hallway again.

"How do you know?"

"Ryoga always buys me tulips for my birthday, Shampoo." Shampoo sighed but
soon ignored her own sadness. "Anyway, why does Ranma have them?"

"Maybe he met someone?" Shampoo got a worrisome stare from Ukyou. "What?"

"Someone, eh?" Shampoo and Ukyou just exchanged smiles before running off
towards Ranma's room. Along the way Shampoo managed to meagerly fix her
hair, tying it all up into a long ponytail.

-----

"Ranma, are you available tonight?" Nodoka was hoping her son would say
yes, a matter of some importance to both her family, and for the future.
"I've got dinner plans with an old friend and..." The door to Ranma's room
cracked open.

"Sorry, Mom. I have to present in class tomorrow, and I'm going to help
another classmate of mine." Ranma didn't figure that her mother would feel
so disappointed. "Um, I'm sorry. Ok, if it's that important..." Nodoka
stopped him midway through changing his mind.

"Nevermind, Ranma. I'm sure your schoolwork comes first. I'm sure we could
arrange another meeting...Um, I meant maybe..." Nodoka tried to calm
herself, she almost slipped that time. Ranma looked somewhat suspicious,
but Nodoka tried to hide her nervousness by just smiling back, quite
embarrassing since there isn't any reason to be happy about it anyway.
Just then, to Nodoka's relief, Ukyou and Shampoo walked up to the two of
them, in front of Ranma's room.

"Hi Mom," Ukyou then turned to Ranma, "big brother." Ukyou was wistfully
grinning while Shampoo was still preoccupied with her hair, and admiring
her new look. "I saw those..." Unfortunately, Ukyou never got the chance
to further interrogate Ranma.

"Ukyou! Shampoo! What wonderful timing!" Ukyou blinked a bit, not really
knowing what her mother was up to. Shampoo stopped fiddling with her hair
for a second to look at Nodoka.

"Um, what is it Mom?"

"Is there something you need from Shampoo?"

"Funny that you should ask that?"

-----

"Yes, Daisuke. You have to interview all of them." Nabiki calmly spoke
through the phone. "How the hell should I know? Ask that Chinese girl."
Nabiki wrote something down. "Ranma? Really? Well," Nabiki thought for a
moment, "don't bother about him. I'll get someone else to get the
interview." Nabiki's brainstorming was making her deliriously cheerful.
"Ok. I want that draft on my table ASAP, got it!" Nabiki winced as she
jerked the phone from her ear. "Gee. He didn't have to slam the phone on
me." Never mind, Nabiki told herself. She had to talk to her sister first.

On her way to Akane's room, she spotted Kasumi working in the kitchen.
Curious as a cat, she just had to peep into what was cooking. To her
surprise, Kasumi was cooking a lot of things. "Oh, hello Nabiki. Did you
want something?" Kasumi chopped some onions and turned on the stove.

Nabiki, never that revealing herself, just walked over towards the fridge
and grabbed some apple juice. "Nah, I was thirsty. What are you cooking
anyway?" She looked over the tabletop. "Ah, seafood. My favorite." Too bad
Kasumi told her it was for the guest coming for dinner. "Guest? Who?"
Nabiki thought it might be Ranma, but Kasumi already told her the sad
incident that afternoon.

"Mother is having her best friend for dinner." Nabiki blinked. "And I
think she's coming over with her son, or at least that is what I thought
mother wanted to tell me." Kasumi smiled it off, though Nabiki was fairly
certain the implications the news her sister had just imparted to her.
"Son? Whoah, call me old fashion, but do you think mother is doing
something behind our backs, Kasumi?" Her eldest sister looked strangely at
Nabiki and just asked what she meant by that. "You know, arranged
marriages." Kasumi almost lost hold of the kitchen knife.

"Oh, my! Really?"

-----

"Why don't you try again?" Mousse said as he came out of the bath.
Shinnosuke just changed channels on his remote with the television
responding instantaneously.

"I've been trying for the past hour now." He lowered the volume, then
raised it a bit. Even changed the brightness before finally turning the
television off. "I'm going to sleep." This time, Mousse had no objections.

-----

"What is this place?" Ryoga had sense something strange was wrong with the
room he'd just entered. The walls were pitch dark, not a single window was
uncovered, there was a certain stench in the room, a heavy aroma of some
kind of incense burning, and it was spooky. Ryoga wasn't really scared of
the place, but it was the thought that Cologne was somewhere in the
darkness that made him quite uneasy. "Where the hell are you old ghoul?"
Then a quick bap on the head revealed to Ryoga where she was. "Oww!"

"You're so ill-mannered, Hibiki-san. I wonder what Ukyou sees in you."
Ryoga felt his head as he stood up and faced Cologne. "Don't you like it?"

Ryoga looked around, but it was still an eerie place. "Are you kidding
me?" Colonge looked disappointed. "What is this place anyway?"

"Ranma would surely appreciate this, and so would Ukyou." Ryoga still
couldn't understand what Cologne was nagging about. "This, Ryoga. This is
a perfect replica of the training cave back in China. Ryoga blinked then
turned around to again look at the place. Just then a cold breeze blew in
their direction. "Well, not quite perfect. Genma still has to get the
airconditioners I ordered. So I guess these electric fans will have to
do." Ryoga faced back at Cologne.

"You mean we're going to train here, in this dump?" Cologne just laughed
out loud, not really a comfortable feeling for Ryoga.

-----

Ranma picked out a blue chinese-style shirt from his now organized
cabinet. He already took a bath and was rummaging through some of his
schoolbooks. "I'll need this, this, and," Ranma paused to think about the
book he's holding, "naah." He had already wrapped up the half dozen
flowers and he's almost ready to go. "Bye, wish me luck." Ranma waved at
the white dove perched on top of his desk, eating happily the food he'd
brought in earlier. The dove only replied with a 'coo'.

-----

"I better ask Ukyou?" Nabiki hurried towards the phone, with a worried
Kasumi following closely behind. Just as they reached the phone, it rang.

"Hello?" Nabiki frowned upon hearing the voice on the other end of the
line. "I'm sorry you've reached a wrong number." It was Nabiki's turn to
slam the handset down.

"Who was that?" Kasumi just got some weird excuse from Nabiki, which, she
didn't really put any attention to it since something else was bothering
her. Nabiki was about to dial when she realized something.

"Damn, she still doesn't have a phone yet." Nabiki thought for a moment,
but before anything constructive came out, the phone rang. "Hello?" Nabiki
grimaced as another wrong number caller again confronted her. "Oh, hello
Daisuke." Nabiki dismissed Kasumi, and with a heavy heart her older sister
obliges. Making sure Kasumi wasn't even an earshot away she spoke to the
one holding at the end of the line. "Shinnosuke, what the hell are you
doing? How did you get this number?"

-----

Akane inspected her room again, confident and satisfied that everything
was in order and her room was as pretty as a picture. Then she heard some
crackling sounds from one corner. It came from the birdcage hanging just
besides her desk. "Oh, B-chan. I forgot to feed you." Hurriedly she fed
her pet some birdseed that she had brought a day or two ago. "I'm sorry,
but I was preoccupied with...things." The bird paid little attention, but
Akane didn't care. "I wonder what's he like?" The dove just 'cooed' back.
"Yeah, he's cute. I know." Akane added some more food for her pet dove.
She smiled upon seeing how happy B-chan is right now. It was sort of a
reflection of what she was feeling too.

-----

END of Episode

-----

Preview of Next Episode

Ranma finally meets Akane's family, especially her father. Genma starts
teaching his brand of martial arts while Ryoga too learns something new
from Cologne. Nabiki tries to make the best of the situation with both her
family, and at school. Shinnosuke learns where Kasumi goes to school and
in the process Shampoo is reunited with an old friend.

-----

Please C & C, they are deeply appreciated.

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
Scott Parker
Ronald Chan
Dianne Langley
Blades
Corey Lewis
Jod
Shiro08th@webtv.net
Asri Jaffar
Bryan Cupp
INSANITY57@aol.com
All the other cool guys/gal on #fanfic IRC, ^_^
and
Rumiko Takahashi, of course