*Insert standard Ranma disclaimer here*

Not a Chance, Part 1: Yoiko Harushi
by DreAshaman

	The dream began again.  It was always the same dream, but lately it was
 becoming more foreboding.  He was standing on a large field, that stretched
 out further then he could see.  Slowly images began to form around him.
 Images of all the craziness in his life.  Images of constant challenges.
 Images of problems that weren�t his fault.  Images of an angry fiancee or two
 or three.  Other images that were too numerous to count. The images were
 surrounding him.  Suffocating him.  No matter which way he ran there were more
 and more of them.  Soon the images began forming walls around him.  The once
 open field had become a prison cell with no way out.  Just as the images were
 about to completely suffocate him, Ranma Saotome woke up.
	He lay there, unmoving in his own sweat.  Contemplating.  Could his mind be
 trying to tell him something, or was the dream a manifestation of something he
 already knew but was too proud, too stubborn to admit.  Finally Ranma came to
 the same decision he did every morning. He decided to ignore it and get ready
 for school.


	"Ranma no baka!" came the familiar battle cry of Akane swinging her oversized
 mallet.
	"What did I do this time?" yelled Ranma as her grabbed his bag and made for
 the door.   After easily dodging a few more wild swings Ranma made it to the
 wall and jumped it, miraculously not landing in water.   Deciding to ignore
 training he favored the ground for once, and ran at full speed.  He soon
 succeeded in putting some distance between himself and the angry fiancee.
	"Man, I didn't even do anything this time," he muttered angrily to himself.
 "It's not like its my fault she can't cook," he added.
	"Ranma! What did you say about Akane?! Prepare to die!" Ryoga jumped up from
 the ground where he had decided to spend the night and aimed a kick at the
 spot where he thought Ranma would be.  Unfortunately for him this was right
 above the fence which he went flying over and landed in the water.  P-chan got
 in a few angry pig noises before being swept downstream.
	Ranma watched for a moment and then, remembering the angry fiancee that was
 after him, continued on.

	Ranma sighed as he saw who was next up for the preschool rush.
	"OHOHOHOHOHO, Ranma darling," Kodachi yelled.
	"Come on Kodachi, you're going to make me late for school," protested Ranma
 trying to dislodge himself from Kodachi's embrace.
	"Ranma, you know we could have a lot more fun out of school."   Each word was
 said with a slow seductiveness, especially his name.
	"I should have known that wouldn't work.  Got to think of something quick,"
 thought Ranma.  He could imagine what would happen if Akane found him with
 Kodachi.
	"Look! The pigtailed girl!" Ranma exclaimed while pointing towards a
 conveniently nearby alley.
	"Where, is the vile girl?" The words were spoken with venom, but her tone
 quickly returned to normal when she readdressed Ranma.  "Wait here my Ranma-
 sama, while I dispose of that menace."
	"Yeah, right," Ranma thought as Kodachi leaped gracefully away, twirling her
 ribbon, and cackling her insane laugh.
	"Ah man, am I going to be late," thought Ranma as he continued.  "I've still
 got another fifteen blocks.

	Ten blocks later.
	"Ranma honey"
	"Nihao Ranma"
	"What perverted spatula girl doing here!"
	"What about you, you Amazon bimbo!"
	Ranma groaned and snuck away.

	Two blocks away from school.
	"Saotome prepare to die for your crimes against Shampoo," shouted Mousse.
	Ranma lifted his foot expecting a normal attack, but was surprised with a
 bucket of water, which drenched and transformed him.
	An angry, and now female, Ranma shouted, "Okay, now you've really done it!"
 Ranma-chan blocked Mousse's weapons with the empty bucket before getting close
 enough to kick him across Nerima.
	"Great! Now I have to find some hot water at school," muttered Ranma-chan as
 she stomped the rest of the way to school.

	At the gate.
	"Pigtai..." was all Kuno got off.  Ranma was not in the mood for this.
	"The school clock said there were still ten minutes left before school
 started.  Maybe I should run full speed more often," Ranma-chan thought.


	"Psst, Ranma," whispered Nabiki, who was holding a kettle of hot water.  �She
 must get here early every day just so she can charge me,� thought Ranma as he
 slipped her a 1000 yen.  A few seconds later Ranma was back to normal.
	�Same time tomorrow morning Ranma,� Nabiki quipped.
	�Not if I can help it,� he replied.
	�Ranma, we both know you can�t, so stop pretending.�  She smirked at his
 angry expression before walking away.

	Hiroshi and Daisuke approached Ranma.  "Man you are so lucky.  I wish I had
 four beautiful girls chasing me around," they said while playfully punching
 him in the arm.
	"Ah, yeah..." Ranma trailed off and walked away. They knew better than to
 follow.

	A few seconds later Happosai came running.  After splashing Ranma with water
 he began waving a fancy, pink lace bra in her face.  Before he could ask her
 to try it on however, Ranma-chan had already punted him out of sight.
	"Great, this is all I need," Ranma-chan thought.  "How can Hiroshi and
 Daisuke wish they were me?  I've had it with this insanity.  Not to mention
 I�m broke."  This last thought was added as he purchased another kettle of
 water from Nabiki.

	After almost ten whole seconds of quiet, Akane stormed through the gate.
 Ranma yelped and ducked inside the school.  He ran around three corridors
 before colliding with someone.  Hard.  Ranma picked himself up, quickly
 apologized to whomever he had just run into, and ran off towards his homeroom,
 Miss Hinako, and safety.  Had he stayed a little longer, he would have noticed
 the person he had just floored was staring after him.  He would have also
 noticed that it was a girl, an attractive girl, with light brown shoulder
 length hair, and deep blue eyes.


	Yoiko Harushi was getting frustrated.  It seemed like she�d been through
 every hall in the school twice now and she still couldn�t find room 1-F.
 �Well it is my first day at Furinkan High,� she thought.  �Still, I shouldn�t
 be having this much trouble finding a single room.�  She continued on, looking
 up at the room numbers.  �2-E, 2-D, 2-C, 2-B, 2-A,� she counted off the rooms
 and continued straight at the intersection.  �What?!  6-A?!  Who thought up
 these crazy numbers?!�  These last few remarks were outloud, but went unheard
 because of the complete lack of people in the hall.  �Everyone�s probably
 still outside,� she thought.  �After all, I used to wait outside until the
 last possible minute with my friends at my old...  Ack!  Don�t even think
 about the old school.  The last thing I need is to get upset about leaving,
 again.  Okay, I�m just going to set out in a random direction and hope I find
 room 1-F or someone who can direct me to it.�  Having made up her mind she
 continued on.  �Okay I�m back at the �2�s. Now if I take a left turn and then
 go...� her voice trailed off as she realized she was beginning to understand
 the bizarre numbering system.  Her excitement caused her to quicken her pace.
	Unfortunately walking fast and looking up are not a good combination, so when
 an unseen person collided with her it was at least partially her fault.  She
 picked herself up and stared after the strange boy with the Chinese clothes
 and black pigtail, who had just collided with her, apologized, and run-off.
 �Well at least he�s cute. This school can�t be that bad if the first person I
 meet is a cute guy.  Now if I could just make some friends and maybe get a
 boyfriend this place won�t be so terrible.�  She happily walked off to find
 her homeroom, realizing that, for the first time since the move, she was
 thinking optimistically again.


	�She stormed into school with the mallet this morning?!�
	�She shouldn�t put up with him.�
	�What he shouldn�t have to put up with her!�
	�Class settle down, NOW!� came the high-pitched voice of Miss Hinako in her
 girl form as she pulled out a coin.  The silence that followed was deafening.
	�Good.  Now that you�re all calm I have a new student to introduce to you.
 Yoiko Harushi just moved to Nerima and will be staying with us for the
 remainder of the year.  Now that that is out of the way I�ll begin today�s
 math lesson, but before that everyone pass forward your homework.  Yes Yoiko?�
	�I�m curious, I�ve never seen anyone so young teach before...�  Her voice
 trailed off as Miss Hinako began to get furious.  She fingered her coin for a
 moment.  The air was thick with anticipation, the students anxious to see what
 the fate of their newest comrade would be.
	Yoiko was very confused.  She thought she had asked a simple question and now
 Miss Hinako was furious.  She noticed Miss Hinako was fingering the five yen
 coin again but didn�t understand the significance.  She did however realize
 that the entire class feared the coin.
	�Yoiko, go, stand, in the hall, NOW!�  Had Miss Hinako been in her adult form
 her voice probably would have frightened Yoiko to death.  Normally in her
 youthful form Miss Hinako could only get off looking like a cross child.
 However, Miss Hinako�s appearance was a soft spot and so she was able to make
 an extremely angry voice and Yoiko, not expecting such a sharp and angry reply
 from the child, was quick to obey.
	After Yoiko left Miss Hinako calmed down and counted the number of homework
 papers.  One was missing.  �Ranma go join her before I decide to drain you.�

	�Stupid new school, stupid new teacher,� Yoiko thought to herself, sniffling
 to hold back tears.  �All I did was ask a question.  Why�d she have to get so
 upset?  I hate this place!�
	�You okay?� came a voice from next to her.  Yoiko was startled.  She�d been
 so upset from the teacher�s sudden outburst that she wasn�t paying any
 attention to her surroundings.
	Yoiko�s brain started yelling at her to compose herself.  She didn�t want to
 get a reputation as a crybaby on her first day at this school.  With one final
 sniffle she satisfied herself that she wouldn�t start crying and turned to
 face the voice.  It was the pigtailed boy from earlier.  �I hope he didn�t see
 me crying,� she thought.  �Wait a second what do I care if he saw me crying.
 It�s not like I�ve got a crush on him or something.�
	�Hey, you okay?� the boy�s voice came again.  Realizing that she hadn�t
 replied yet, she gave a quick nod, still not trusting her voice.
	�Look, don�t worry about Miss Hinako.  She�s not really a mean person.  Just
 don�t mention her appearance around her.  She has some sort of weird disease
 that prevents her from aging normally.  Just ignore it and stay on her good
 side.�
	�Its so nice that he�s concerned about me.  Oh no, I am developing a crush on
 him,� Yoiko thought to herself.  �Actually this isn�t so bad.  I wonder if I
 can get him to ask me out.�  Turning to face him, she flashed him a smile and
 began to weave her magic.
	�Thanks,� she said to Ranma still smiling.  �You must know a lot about this
 school.  Do you think you could show me around the place until I get used to
 it?�  The boy looked worried so she decided to ask him if anything was wrong.
	�No, nothings wrong,� he said a little too quickly.  �Sure I�ll show you
 around the place.  (Akane better not get made at me for being nice to this new
 girl.)  My name�s Ranma, Ranma Saotome.  I�ve only been here for about a year
 but I know the school pretty well.�
	�What an odd name,� Yoiko thought to herself.  Outloud she said, �I�ve
 noticed that everyone�s afraid of the teacher�s coin.  Why?�
	�Actually its not the coin they�re afraid of, it�s Miss Hinako herself.  A
 perverted martial arts master by the name of Happosai took pity on her,
 remember the disease I told you about earlier?�  Yoiko nodded.  �Well Happosai
 decides to teach her a powerful martial arts technique that allows her to
 drain a person�s energy through any circular object.  When she does that she
 becomes older until the extra chi wears off.�
	�Well that does explain a few things and it�s too weird of a tale for you to
 have just made up.�
	�Miss Hinako�s nothing compared to some of the other stuff that goes on
 around here.�
	�Really?!  You must live a pretty interesting life then.�
	�It isn�t so much interesting as it is chaotic.�
	�I�d like to hear more about it sometime.  You must have some great stories
 to tell.�
	�Well, yeah, a lot of stuff goes on around here.�  There�s a pause.  �Miss
 Hinako�s probably going to be calling us back in soon.  Its been nice talking
 to someone who�s normal for a change.�
	�Can I met you at lunch today?  If this school is as crazy as you say it is
 I�m going to need some survival tips.�
	�I guess so.  I�ll met you after class, okay.�
	�Sure.�
	�You two can come back in here now,� came Miss Hinako�s voice from inside the
 classroom.
	They entered the room and Ranma looked over at Akane, just then realizing
 what he�d managed to get himself into.

Next Time:  He Turns into a What!?

If you bothered to read this far please e-mail me (DreAshaman@aol.com) and
 tell me what you think. I could really use some C&C.  Also if you'd like to
 help me out by prereading for me please send me an e-mail.

DreAshaman