Just to prove to some disbelivers out there that I'm still working on 
this...

WARNING: Not yet spell-checked.

The Flashman
(Proud member of The Church of Tsukino Usagi)
Loyal G-Fan
www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Dojo/3105/
May The Spirit Preserve You!
_____________

	Lunchtime.

	For some, it's a time of great happiness.  To recharge themselves 
after a tough morning of work and prepare for the final stretch until 
it was quiting time.

	For others, like "Ranko" and her co-workers, it was the bane of 
their existance.

	The pure number and speed at which the orders came, was taxing on 
any one.  Even Ranko's slightly faster then average speed (which she 
had to hold back on, or raise suspision) was taxed to it's limit as 
impatient customers demanded speedier, more efficient and friendlier 
service.  Of course, Ranko wasn't exactly the kindest of waitresses, 
but fast and efficient were another matter, and so, as long as she 
kept the food and (more importantly) the coffee, coming, she got 
several good tips.

	However, what bolstered her though the worst of the storm of 
humanity, was when two o'clock came around, and the majority of the 
lunch crowd had been satisfied.  A blonde girl with a familiar 
hairstyle would walk in and wait to be seated.

	"Hey," a girl with black hair with a red skunk streak, dressed in a 
waitress outfit called out, "Ranko.  Your 'friend' is here.  I gave 
her the same seat as always."

	"Thanks, Sandra," Ranko called out as she dumped the plates from her 
last table into the sink, "I'll be right there."

	"Such a shame," a boy with dark blue hair and dressed as a cook, 
comented as he placed a hand to his forehead overdramaticaly, "Two 
lovely young examples of feminitiy and they're..."

	Ranko cracked her knuckles as a warning.  The boy raised his hands 
defensivly and said, "Easy, Ranko.  It's the ninties.  I'm not 
condeming you two or anything.  'Sides, we all saw what you did to 
Joque and I'm not crazy enough to do anything if I did disagree."

	"You say that every day, Max," Ranko replied, "You just better be 
careful, or you might be saying something you'll regret to someone 
who's not so evenly tempered."

	"HA!" someone from farther back shouted sarcasticaly.

	"I HEARD that!" Ranko snapped jokingly as she pointed her finger.

	Then she removed her apron and said, "I'm going on my break now.  
See ya."

	"I'll get you two love birds your usual," Max said with a grin.

	"Shut UP, Max!"

	As Ranko aka Ranma-chan, made her way to the front of the restarant, 
she had to wonder how she didn't feel really upset or touchy anymore, 
whenever any of her co-workers teased her about "her" relationship 
with Usagi.

	Ranma-chan had tried to hide it under the guise that Usagi and her, 
were just old childhood friends who had stayed together after many 
years.  However, the fact that emploies had to stay in the restarant 
while on break, coupled with the fact that changing back to male form 
just wasn't feasable, given her state of dress and the time she had 
off for lunch, and all of that on top of Usagi's inability to (or 
refusal to) hide her emotions at all, the others had quickly pieced 
together the fact that the two of them were more than just friends.

	Ranma-chan had not taken it well, when they started teasing her 
about her "friendship" and the only thing that had stopped her from 
belting some of them, was that none of them were the fighting type 
and would have been unable to defend themselves.  However, over the 
course of time, the obvious apathy that New Yorkers were famous for, 
displayed that her co-workers had not been serious and that they were 
glad that the "weird martial artist girl" had a softer side.

	It also didn't hurt that Usagi's, "That's how I feel and I don't 
care if you know it" attitude, was begining to rub off on Ranma-chan.