This is version 2 of the teaser ... enjoy! (And some C&C please! Anyone
want to be editors for the real thing, and other stories, better speak up
now!)

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Ranma nibun no ichi - 9 - H is for Hinako                            [Teaser]

All characters portrayed in this fanfic are copyright of Rumiko Takahashi
and Shogakukan Inc, etc, etc, etc.
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[Fuurinkan High]

The morning air was crisp in Nerima. The cold, winter wind stung the faces
of the students as the trudged wearily to school, huddled up in their warm
coats. There was a certain colour to the dark clouds, a suggestion that
soon small, cold flakes of powdery snow would drift to the ground.

Meeting in small groups as they headed for the school building, the students
of Fuurinkan High started chatting softly about the rumours that they had
heard. With each word, the air puffed up into small steam from their breath.
They did not stop walking as they talked, but scurried on towards the warmth
of the school.

There was a new teacher coming. The images of a demon sprang to the minds
of the shivering students - images of a demon with flames issuing from his
mouth, burning students as they ran in terror from his wrath. Images that
caused the students to walk a little faster, their actions a little more
nervous. As they walked, they wondered what they had done to deserve such
a horrible fate.

[Kunou-kouchou's Office]

High above the freezing students, a strange looking structure sat on top of
the school building, near the clock tower. It seemed to be made of coconut
wood and thatching - a small Hawaiian style house. A ladder led up to the
front door, as the house was built high up, four coconut trees serving as
stilts.

Inside the darkened room, a man danced around, playing the ukulele. His
skin was darkly tanned, striking for this time of the year. He also wore a
large pair of sunglasses as if it was bright in the little room. The most
obvious thing about the man was what he was wearing. His outfit consisted
of a rather loud Hawaiian t-shirt, long white shorts, thongs and a lei. Even
more strange was what he had on his head - a miniature coconut tree seemed to
grow in his dark hair!

A maniacal grin stuck to his face, he started to talk in a very un-Japanese
manner.

"All right, Ninomiya-sensei! This is Ranma Saotome," Kunou-kouchou pressed
a button in the darkened room, and a projection screen lit up with the
image of Ranma, pulling a face at the camera, "The worst student in
this school. You have come here because of your skill in handling these
aggressive students. Your only duty is... To control Ranma Saotome!"

With that, the lights popped on, and the principal was pointing to a
teddy-bear.

He sighed, "That was the forty fifth rehearsal. Ninomiya-sensei is late..."

[Outside]

A pretty, young girl, obviously too young to attend the high school, walked
into the school grounds, looking a little confused and lost. This did not
detract from her prettiness, and in fact seemed to heighten her cuteness.
She was clothed in a long, dark dress, mostly obscured by a long, cream
cardigan. She carried a satchel in one hand as she gazed around the yard.
A few whispers of 'transfer student' could be heard as groups of students
stopped to look at her. Putting on a brave face, the girl walked up to two
of the students who were walking past.

"Hi, guys!"

The two boys smiled at her in a friendly manner - after all, she was rather
cute. "Yeah, what would you like?" asked one of them.

A distant, "I'm late!" was heard, but the three paid little attention to
the sound.

"Excuse me, but where is the Principal's Office...?" the girl asked, giving
the boys a smile filled with innocence, befitting her age.

With a reverberating noise, Ranma leapt off the top of the school gate and
down towards the school grounds, just as the gate began to swing shut.

"I'm safe!" he cried with relief as he landed ... landing on the girl's
head with a *thump* .....

[The Fuurinkan High Library, Night]

Hinako woke with a start, her dream shattered as a pile of books thumped
down next to her head, which had been lying on the desk.

"Wha'?" She half expected Ranma to be there after leaping off of her head,
onto the ground.

All she saw was Gosunkugi, holding half a pile of books ... the other half
had been spilled onto the table next to her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Hinako-san!" Gosunkugi quickly placed the rest of the books
down, already moving to pick up the ones he dropped, "Sorry to keep you
waiting, too ... It has been a very hectic day."

Hinako blinked a little and gave a yawn. She didn't care too much about
propriety, because right now, she had the mind and body of a young girl.
She just nodded, yawning again, "It's okay, Gosunkugi-chan. I was dreaming
of the first time I came to this school! Ranma was such a horrid boy, don't
you think?"

The young man nodded placidly. He remembered how Ranma had come into his life
and ruined it, too. But he'd gotten used to it by the time Ranma and Akane
were actually ready to be married. By the final year of high school, he had
even started to get over Akane... though it was hard not to stare at his
photos all the time ... especially the very sexy ones of Akane doing her
gymnastics in the school leotard, doing those forms on the beam ...... he
felt himself start to blush, just remembering what he used to do sometimes,
late at night, while looking at those photos.

The then remembered where he was and when. He quickly composed himself and
looked at Hinako. She was chattering away over nothing in particular, not
even having noticed his small lapse of attention. He gave a soft sigh. She
was often like this... But he did prefer her in her adult form, even though
she tended to treat him a little badly... He was used to his lot in life...
At least she paid attention to him... the only woman that ever did!

Although he didn't think that Hinako had been overly impressed by the proof
that he worked magic these days, he had won some respect in the eyes of the
adult teacher. But he had also won some respect from Cologne. Maybe it was
not quite true that the only woman who paid attention to him was Hinako...
Cologne had talked to him for a little while once she had recovered enough.
She seemed to have been _very_ impressed with the magic that he had performed
to cure her.

As chibi-Hinako chattered about her day, Gosunkugi mechanically piled up all
the books, and picked them up. The two of them started wandering out of the
library, Gosunkugi managing to lock it behind him, even with his arms full.
He'd done it enough times. His mind, though, was on other matters.

The pretty young Cologne, even with the demeanour of an old woman... And on
the adult Hinako, even with the way she seemed to look down at him.

He did not know which he wanted ... or if either of them would even want
him.

The two wandered through the school grounds, the lamplight from the street
being the only thing to guide their path. Dark clouds blocked out the stars
and the moon... only small pools of light guided the two as Gosunkugi walked
chibi-Hinako home.

[Nekohanten]

Mousse brought in the little curtain from the front door, then locked the
door behind him. He gave a yawn as he headed back towards the kitchen. It
had been a rather tiring day - the place had been packed out for some
reason. Maybe it was because Ucchan's had been closed today for Ryouga and
Ukyou to take their baby for a short holiday to visit Ukyou's father. If
that was the reason, the Nekohanted would be packed for the rest of the
week, too.

Shampoo was already in the back room, watching some television with Cologne.
It was rather hard for Mousse to adjust to having the old woman back...
especially since she looked like a young woman! If only her style of speech
changed, as well as her domineering attitude, he would almost believe that
she was nothing more than a friend of Shampoo's, visiting for a while. But
she liked to order him around, when she could get away with it. And she
still acted like she was an elder... it was very disconcerting.

At least she'd managed to adjust and call him "muko-dono" rather than giving
Ranma that title - the title of husband. And she seemed quite stable, too.
It was quite a remarkable change!

"Mousse, you've closed up the shop properly, yes?" Cologne asked, looking at
him, as if he couldn't even do that. They all spoke in Chinese together,
when alone. After all, what was the point in speaking a foreign language
when there was no-one else around?

He grimaced but nodded his head, "Of course I have. If you don't believe me,
go check it yourself."

Shampoo gave a little frown, "Mousse, there is no need to speak so roughly
to hiibaa-chan." The rebuke was very small and mild, but it irked Mousse
that Cologne seemed to have regained at least some control over her great
grand-daughter, again. He'd gotten used to life without Cologne, and to a
life with Shampoo and him living in close to perfect contentment.

Life was interesting with Cologne back, at any rate. However much she annoyed
him, Mousse didn't think about trying to make her leave... but thinking about
ways to stop Cologne's influence over Shampoo was another matter.

He gave a slight nod to Shampoo, hardly acknowledging what she had said. He
turned to the door, "I'm going to bed now, Shampoo. Are you coming?"

With a quick glance at Cologne, Shampoo stood up. "I should go, too. We must
get up early in the morning again. Goodnight, hiibaa-chan."

With her eyebrow arched at the two, Cologne nodded her head, "Goodnight,
child. Just remember to be up early for tomorrow. We will have a lot of
customers to keep us busy all day."

Cologne's eyes went back to the television screen, but Mousse had a feeling
that she was watching them as the left.

[A Small Town]

An old man, carrying a bag about the same size as himself, ran over the roof
tops, jumping along as he went, looking behind him for signs of pursuit. A
kerchief was tied around his head, done up just under his nose, to hide who
he was... a thief. Pretty spry for his age, the short, old man went on...
not noticing what was ahead of him.

A rather small boy, with a cute round face and strange eyes sat on a roof,
doodling with a calligraphy brush almost as big as he was. He was writing
the word 'baka' on the roof, only managing to splash a little ink on himself
as he wrote. On his cheeks were little swirls as if he'd painted them on his
face, himself.

The boy was concentrating on his work so much that he didn't see that the
short, old man with the bag was speeding over the roof-tops, straight
towards him.

With a crash, the old man ran straight into the boy. The brush flicked up,
and the bag burst open, scattering its contents into the air ...

Both the unconscious boy and the old man lay still, a rain of pastel and
white panties floating down around them, and splashes of ink falling from
the sky like gentle rain, covering them.

[Nekohanten]

Ranma, holding Miyabi's hand as she toddled in beside him, walked into the
Nekohanten. Akane followed in, carrying Masao. The baby boy in Akane's arms
was sleeping quietly, for a change. And, amazingly, Miyabi wasn't trying
to get Akane's attention away from her brother. Instead, she was trying to
tug Ranma inside - she wanted to see aunt Shampoo and uncle Mousse! (And
get the free BBQ pork buns that Shampoo always made for her.)

The room was pretty full, but Shampoo spotted the family as they walked in.

"Aiya! Ranma, your table is here!" The Amazon pointed to a free table, and
then gestured to Mousse, who quickly added another chair and table settings.

As Akane and Ranma took their seats, Miyabi ran up and hugged Mousse's legs,
then Shampoo's. She had an amazing trust in everyone, and charmed almost
everyone into loving her back. The only person she had any problem with was
her brother. She couldn't stand it when he was the one to get attention.
But right now, she was the center of "Unca Mousse'" and "Aunty Shampoo's"
attention.

Cologne, still young and pretty, was cooking in the kitchen. She knew that
there was quite a bit of distrust from the Saotome family towards her, and
she realised that she had earned it. It had been a year since she'd come
back, but it would take quite some time yet before everyone would accept
her back into the community.

The little chime on the door drew Shampoo away from Miyabi, leaving Mousse
to seat her with her family, and take their orders.

"Irasshaimase!" She smiled in welcome at Gosunkugi and chibi-Hinako as the
two entered. Yes, it really was busy with Ucchan's closed. "So sorry, but
there are no tables left. You mind sharing, no?"

Gosunkugi gave a shrug of acquiescence and Shampoo looked at Ranma. He
glanced at Akane, then shrugged back at Shampoo. Shampoo looked at Mousse.

With a half sigh, he went and set up two more places at the Saotome family's
table.

Once everyone was seated, Miyabi and Hinako happily doodling on the place
mats, Shampoo went off to serve the other customers, leaving Mousse to
deliver the food to the various tables (with only a few minor mix ups. The
potted plant was eventually put back in place, and the correct bowl of
wonton soup was given to the customer.)

"Haven't seen you in ages, Gosunkugi. What've you been up to?" Ranma managed
to ask between mouthfuls of noodles, "Still doing that magic?"

He gave a half shrug, "Yes, and still working at the school library."

"Ah, so that's why you hang out with Hinako all the time."

The little girl looked up at Ranma sharply, "I'm still 'Hinako-sensei' to
you, Ranma!"

"Hinako-sensei," he amended, and Akane gave him an aproving nod.

Gosunkugi was thankful for the exchange between the two. It wasn't really
something he was comfortable in talking about... especially not to Ranma.

He went quietly back to eating his food, drifting into obscurity. He just
sat and watched as he ate, feeling more comfortable with the others all
ignoring him. It was a strange talent that he'd been given by birth - it
was lonely, but it was comfortable, too. Through school, he'd always been
ignored. He'd wondered why for so long... it was only since he'd started
training himself in magic that he'd learned that this, too, could be
controlled. And right now was a good time to use it... He settled back,
watching Hinako talking and eating and laughing with the others.

After a time, Gosunkugi started to frown. There was a strange sound coming
from outside. He looked around, noting that no-one else had noticed it yet.
Whatever it was, it was getting louder.

"What's that sound?" he asked quietly, the effect on the others lost on
him as he looked around again.

Ranma and Akane both started slightly, and a look passed between them - how
could they not have remembered that he was there? Then they, too, heard the
rumbling sound.

And sounds of yelling.

As it became louder and clearer, both Ranma and Akane realised what it was.

A group of angry women, chasing after a pervert. It was a peculiar sound
that wasn't easily forgotten. Especially to Ranma, who'd been trampled under
the crowds of women on numerous occasions.

Before the realisation had fully struck them, the doors of the Nekohanten
burst open, and two small, dark blurs sped into the room, and zoomed into
the nearest wall, where they stopped with a *squish*.

Ranma, Gosunkugi and Hinako stood up to see, along with the rest of the
customers in the Nekohanten.

The two figures were quite small, both dressed in dark clothing. And both
had a kerchief over their heads, tied under their nose in the traditional
manner of a thief. But there was no disguising who they were.

Happousai and Rakkyousai. Brothers in perversion!

As soon as they were down, the two jumped back up again, Happi holding a
giant bag. Out of the opening, a few silken panties could be seen, nestled
deeply in the giant bag.

"Oi, jiji, what you doing here?!" Ranma asked, glaring at the old man, and
ignoring his friend - the old man with the giant caligraphy set. True, they
were equally annoying, but that was HAPPOUSAI back! How much did he remember
of what happened? Ranma had to find out.

The little old man looked up at Ranma, and snatched the bag to him, "You're
not getting my silky darlings!"

There was no hint of regognition in his eyes as he stared up at Ranma.

The other old man stood near Happi, "If you want it, you'll have to get by
both of us, Ranma! And this time turning into a girl won't help you - we
know  THAT trick already!" He branished his brush like a weapon.

Happousai blinked and tugged at Rakkyousai's sleeve, "That's Ranma?"

The other old man nodded slowly, pulling out a piece of paper with some
paint on it ... kind of like a butterfly shape, but more rounded. The
two gazed at it as if it was a holy object.

"Ranma's breast marks..."

Ranma snorted, "Get real, old man. You think that I'd do THAT for you two?!
You're just disgusting perverts the both of you. That's a tanuki statue's
breast print!"

Rather than deflating, it seemed to anger Happousai.

"How dare you! We've been worshiping that print since I can remember! For
taking away an old man's only happiness, I'll teach you a lesson!" He made
a sudden, adgile leap for Ranma, the bag above his head to smack it down
onto the younger man...

"Happou-go-juu-en-satsu!" came a voice from behind Ranma, and a beam of
light slashed passed Ranma towards the old man... and struck Rakkyousai
dead on.

Hinako's power drain sucked up energy, changing her into her adult form,
streaching her dress over her now voluptuous and sexy form.

"Delinquents don't stand a chance," Hinako said, her voice deep, husky and
very sexy.

She looked down at the two as she swept back her long, dark hair with a
hand... and stopped. There was something wrong. Rakkyousai wasn't on the
floor, devoid of all of his fighting ki. He was shaken, but it looked as
if he'd blocked the blast with his brush and the paper he was holding. It
just wasn't right... she'd drawn energy!

Before she could think further, Ranma had bound into the fray and was
on Happi and Lucky before they could even think about defending themselves.
Ranma had gotten _good_ since either of them last remembered him.

He shook them, holding each by the scruff of their necks, and looked over
at the kitchen window. "What do you want me to do with these two perverts?"

Cologne, Shampoo and Mousse had been watching the show.

"Hrmph. Throw out trash," Shampoo managed, and turned her nose up at the
two dirty old men, then went back into the kitchen.

As the two landed out onto the road, the herd of enraged, pantie-less women
reached the Nekohanten.

Inside, everone went back to eating to the sound of two perverts, getting
what they justly deserve.

[Later]

Finally, the group managed to finish their meal, and sat back talking.
Hinako, still in adult form, had been rather quiet... almost seeming to be
in a pensive mood.

"What's wrong, sensei?" Akane asked eventually, looking as a slight frown
creased Hinako's forehead. Akane didn't think that she'd ever seen her
old high-school teacher in a mood like this.

Hinako's eyes focused for a moment on Akane, then drifted back to the table
top. It took a moment before she answered. When she spoke, her voice was a
shade more husky than normal, "I'm not sure, Akane..."

She leaned back in her chair slightly, and her eyes slid up to look over
Ranma and then Gosunkugi. There seemed to be a slight sheen of sweat on
her face. And, now that Akane looked more closely, she seemed to be a little
flushed, too.

Ranma, looking at Hinako, too, frowned, "Well... sensei. Maybe you should
go get some sleep, it might be a fever or something." He looked over at
Akane, then at his children. If it was a fever, he didn't want Masao or
Miyabi to catch it! "I think it's time that Miyabi was put to bed, so..."

Concerned, Akane said, "Hai, you should sleep sensei. Ne, Hikaru, would
you please make sure that sensei gets home and to bed..?" She was a little
worried about her children, herself. Although they'd already had colds and
fevers, she still didn't want to go through it again. Maybe it was too
late, but she had to get them home and to bed, anyway.

Gosunkugi nodded and moved to let the Saotome family leave. They said their
farewells, and left money for Shampoo.

Hinako, meanwhile, was looking even a little more unwell.

"Hinako-san, I think we should go now..."

Taking a hundred yen note from his wallet, Gosunkugi placed it with the
rest of the money on the table. He stood up, and leaned over to help the
ill teacher up.

As he did so, Cologne slid up behind them, ready to collect the money and
wipe down the table. She frowned as she looked at Hinako's condition, and
stopped the young man with a light touch on his shoulder.

"May I be of some assistance?" She motioned towards Hinako.

Without waiting for him to reply, Cologne sat down opposite the teacher.

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Well, it's a teaser. ^_^

Haven't put anything out in ages, so this is just to show you that I'm
still alive! I even have the plot worked out!

All I need to do now is find the time to write the rest of it ........

But C&C on it, so far, would be helpful! (Ie. spelling, grammar, etc etc etc)

Thanks to Azatlan and Chris Jones for their C&C for the story so far!

Ja, mata!

Kunoichi@AnimeMUCK
Kunoichi@AnimeMUSH
Lum@RanmaMUCK
Akane@KawaiiMUCK
Ukyou@Furtoonia
Kodachi@FictionMUCK
Caroline@RealLife

http://www.ecr.mu.oz.au/~caseawr

Kun-chan...
--
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