Jeffrey "OneShot" Wong	

Neon Genesis Evangelion/Ranma 1/2: The Angel the just won't die 3


  Ranma and the other adults were now assembled in a tiny room somewhere 
in Nerv headquarters. They were all gathered around a single desk in the 
middle of the room. Gendo was also in the room, listening carefully. 
Asuka, Shinji, and Rei were nowhere to be seen.
  Both Ranma and Ryoga looked crestfallen, Ranma looking nowhere near to 
that zestful person Misato and everyone else had gotten to know over the 
short time he had been on this world. As to Ryoga, they couldn't tell 
because he had only arrived a short while ago.
  Ranma was a bit one the depressed side now, after having heard more 
about the Second Impact and how if had killed billions of people.
  "What the hell are we gonna do?" Ryoga said in exasperation. "I don't 
wanna stay here for the rest of my life. I wanna go back home..."
  "Hold up," Ranma said, "We're not sunk yet. Ritsuko had mentioned that 
most of China was underwater. Perhaps the village is still above water,"
  "Well, there could be a chance this it might've survived, provided it 
was on high enough ground," Misato said. "Heck, we could even locate it 
via satellite if we knew what we were looking for,"
  Gendo shook his head, "We can't allow that. I can't condone the use of 
our satellites just to find a single village,"
  "But-" Misato began.
  "No!" Gendo said emphatically, making his point clear and that he 
would not be argued with.
  Ranma, who haven't really gotten to know Gendo, didn't like him 
already.
  "We need those satellite to scout for the potential arrivals of 
Angels," Gendo said in a cold voice.
  "Yeah, but wouldn't it only take an hour or so?" Ranma persisted.
  "Yes, but that one hour could prove fatal for all of mankind," Gendo 
responded, not wavering. "I would much rather have you not get being 
able to know whether or not you can go back home than to put all of 
mankind. You are not as important to us as you think,"
  "Damn, ain't that rather harsh?" Ranma sneered in obvious contempt.
  "There is more at stake than your getting home," Gendo said, his eyes 
piercing, "I have to look out for all of mankind, not just two people 
wanting to get back to their own world."
  "What kinda excuse is that?" Ranma retorted, " If I recall correctly, 
two Angels have attacked, and both of them attack this city. We will be 
here to defend it if they do attack."
  "It doesn't matter," Gendo said, "Even though you're here, I still 
won't put people in jeopardy over something trivial as to your getting 
back home,"
  "Trivial?!" Ryoga said, anger rising in his voice, "What are you 
talking about? What makes you say our getting home is trivial?" He 
emphasized the last word by hitting his hand on the table. 
Unfortunately, not knowing his strength, Ryoga accidentally broke the 
table. "Ahem, sorry about that. I didn't mean it. It's just that I was 
angry," he apologized, obviously sincere.
  Gendo didn't flinch at the fact that Ryoga had just cracked the table 
in half. He said, "Yes, your getting home is trival. There are much more 
things that matter,"
  Even though he had been though a lot and had changed over the years, 
Ranma still found himself actually getting angry. 
  "You're Shinji's father, ne?"
  "What does that have to do with it?" Gendo asked, a bit taken aback by 
the sudden question.
  "I'm glad Shinji ain't here to hear me say this. But you're a dick," 
Ranma said, "I figured I'd letcha know. Here you are, Shinji's father, 
and you treat him like trash. Although he never clearly says it, I can 
surmise by the way he talks about you. If I were Shinji, I'd punch your 
lights out. And after that, I'll start kicking you in the ribs while you 
were unconscious"
  "Is that supposed to be a threat?" Gendo said. He could almost feel 
his blood boiling. How dare he makes those kind of assumptions about him 
when he didn't even know him.
  "No, it's not a threat," Ranma retorted, "I'm just stating that you're 
a dick. You could help us out by doing one simple thing, but you refuse 
to do so. I dunno what's with you and that cold ass attitude of yours, 
but it's getting annoying. You should go see a doctor and have 'im 
remove that stick outta yer ass. Jeez, what made you become like this? 
Huh?"
  Gendo found himself clenching his jaws, the muscles of his forearms 
tightening as he made fists.
  "What happened? Did your wife get killed? Did you lose your family?" 
Ranma persisted.
  Misato and Ritsuko almost took a step back, a bit scared.
  Gendo said nothing. He continued to look at Ranma with a critical eye, 
as if looking right through him.
  "Well, if it's any of that, that's a rather stupid reason to act like 
that. Me, I've lost my whole family. Everyone. I was even there to see 
'em die. I held 'em as they died in my arms. And, still, I don't act 
like some kinda dick with a stick up his ass."
  "And what makes you think you're not?"
  Ranma sighed, "Hello? Anybody home? You treat your son like shit. At 
least I have the heart to be nice to people. You, on the other hand, I 
would never treat nice. I don't think there's anybody I ever came across 
that I disliked more than you."
  Ranma turned around and started to leave.
  "Where are you going? I'm not through with you!" Gendo said, gritting 
his teeth.
  "So? Like I'm gonna listen to anyway," Ranma said, "I don't wanna stay 
here and talk to you." He looked at Ryoga, "Hey, Ryoga, since this 
bastard over here won't help us, it looks like we're stuck trekking down 
to China to see if the damn place still exists. If you wanna stay, fine, 
but I'm gonna leave with or without you,"
  Ryoga looked at Misato and then at Ritsuko. When his eyes rested on 
Gendo, Ryoga sneered a bit, knowing that Ranma was right, and that Gendo 
was, as Ranma put it, 'a dick'. 
  "Well, I'm gonna go. It was nice knowing you," Ryoga said, more to 
Misato and Ritsuko than Gendo. Actually, it was exclusively toward the 
two lovely ladies.
  Ranma and Ryoga exited the room and out into a long corridor.
  Sitting on a bench were Asuka, Rei, and Shinji. They seemed to have 
been waiting for the new arrival to emerge from the room so they could 
ask some questions.
  Asuka was the first to notice Ranma and Ryoga. She got off her seat 
and walked over to Ryoga.
  "H-hi, I'm Asuka," she said a bit nervously. She seemed to be eyeing 
him quite fondly, totally ignoring Ranma who was standing right next to 
him.
  Ryoga smiled politely, "Hello, I'm Ryoga."
  Ranma guestured toward Rei and Shinji whom had just gotten off their 
seats and walked up to them. He said, "That's Shinji. And she's Rei. 
They're the ones who pilot those big robots you saw while in the 
helicopter ride to this place,"
  "You three look awefully young to be pilots," Ryoga commented.
  "Well, we, especially me, are gifted children that are capable of 
piloting those machines," Asuka said proudly. "So, Ryoga, tell me more 
about yourself,"
  Ranma smirked. He could clearly see that Asuka seemed to have 
developed a crush on the Eternally Lost Boy. But then again, she might 
be doing that just to get back at Ranma. He wondered if he should tell 
Asuka that Ryoga was also the same age as him. He chose against it. For 
a change, she actually didn't make some cruel comment about him or tease 
him, so he could at least do the same.
  All of a sudden, a wailing alarm echoed through the base.
  "Damn!" Asuka swore, "Not again!"
  "What is it?" Ranma asked curiously. He had never heard an alarm go 
off while he had been in Nerv.
  Shinji answered for Asuka, "That's the alarm. It signals that an Angel 
is about to land,"
  Ryoga looked at Shinji "And Angel? What's that?"
  "Well, Ryoga, it's basically and alien bent on destroying this world," 
Ranma said, matter-of-factly, "Shinji, Asuka, and Rei pilot the robots 
that fight 'em," 
  "What?!" Ryoga's eyes widened. "W-what kinda world is this?!"
  Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "Don't worry, it doesn't happen all that 
often. I've only seen two of 'em since I arrived,"
  "Actually, that's a lot," Shinji corrected, "Usually, Angel's don't 
come between intervals of several months. They've been coming more 
frequently for some reason,"
  Ranma was a bit shocked "Really? Wow, I never knew that. D-do you 
think our being here might have something like that?"
  "I don't know," Shinji said. He assumed not though.
  "Um, you want us to stay?" Ranma asked, "I mean, we, um, kinda had an 
argument with your.....father and we feel it's about time we leave,"
  "I think it would be better that you stay," Misato said as she walked 
by Ranma. She turned toward the children, "You guys know what to do,"
  The children nodded and then rushed off down the corridor.
  "Where're they going?" Ryoga asked, confused.
  Misato looked at Ryoga, "They're going to the EVAs, those big robots 
you see. They have to get ready to battle the Angel."
  "W-we can't let them d-do that!" Ryoga said emphatically, "T-they're 
so young! They'll get hurt!"
  Ranma looked at Ryoga and then back at Misato, "We'll stay and help, 
just in case. But after this, we're gonna leave. It's about time we try 
and find a way back home. Especially me. I've been here for quite a 
while. I miss.....my own world."
  "Well, I'm grateful you're staying," Misato said, "We could use all 
the help we can get,"
  With that said, Misato rushed down the corridor.

  Ryoga and Ranma stood on top of what remained of Tokyo 3's highest 
building. Although a good chunk of the top part of the building had been 
destroyed, it was still the highest structure in the city.
  "So what do we do?" Ryoga asked.
  "We sit here and wait for these Angel thingies to attack," Ranma 
answered, "And we, I guess, provide support for those EVA pilots."
  "Is there anything else?" Ryoga asked.
  "Not really except after you damage those Angels enough, they have 
this tendancy to explode, and, well, you don't wanna be nearby when it 
does," Ranma said, remembering what had happened to him when that first 
Angel he fought had self destructed. God, that hurt.
  A short moment of silence ensued.
  Wanting to keep some form of communications between the two of them, 
Ranma said in a somewhat eager voice, "Guess what?"
  "What?" Ryoga said, exasperated, "I don't like guessin' games,"
  "All right, I'll tell ya," Ranma said, "I developed a new technique,"
  "Oh?" that seemed to pique Ryoga's interest, "Like what kinda 
technique?"
  "I dunno,"
  "Bah, then why the hell are ya talking to me then?"
  Ranma said, "Ryoga, I don't really know what kinda technique it 
exactly is, but I do know it's very very strong,"
  "So? So is a seppukku blast," Ryoga said, unimpressed.
  "You've got a point there, but it's still very strong," Ranma said, "I 
betcha if I worked at it harder, it'll be stronger than a seppukku 
blast,"
  "You're kindding me, right?" Ryoga sounded dubious.
  "I'm not kidding," Ranma persisted.
  "Fine, what is it? Maybe I could do it also?"
  Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "Well, I guess since it's purely ki 
based, you would probably be able to do it also. Anyway, it's basically 
a very very strong punch,"
  "Bah, who cares. I have a very strong punch as it is," Ryoga said, 
wondering why he was having this conversation in the first place.
  Ranma turned his attention away from Ryoga and saw a beam of light 
shooting down from the heavens by the outskirts of the city.
  "Um, I'll talk to ya 'bout that later," Ranma said. He pointed toward 
that beam of light, "You see that light there, that's where the Angel's 
gonna land. C'mon, let's make our way toward it,"
  "Huh? How do you expect we do that?" Ryoga asked, "I mean, we're a 
good, what, three miles away."
  Ranma shook his head in disgust, "You're so lazy, Ryoga. How else do 
ya think we get there? We hop from building to building, like the good 
old days,"
  Ranma lept off the building and landed on the roof of the building 
below. From there, he continued to hop from rooftop to rooftop, slowly 
making his way toward the Angel. Ryoga shrugged his shoulders. Seeing 
that Ranma already had a head start, Ryoga made a running jump right off 
the building's roof. Due to the extreme height, Ryoga managed to land 
right by Ranma's sides as they continued to make their way through the 
city.
  
  "Man, that's one weird lookin' Angel," Ranma commented. He and Ryoga 
were about a hundred of so meters away from the Angel, which looked a 
lot like a giant turtle with ribbon like arms and a puny face "Hey, it 
looks like some kinda gerbil," he chuckled. Ryoga was no amused.
  The Angel was now within city limits.
  "Um, you think we should be this close to it?" Ryoga asked, "I mean, 
didn't you say this thing'll blow up?"
  Ranma nodded, "Yes, it will, but what else could we do?"
  "Um, we could always use a ki-blast from a distance," Ryoga said 
mockingly.
  "Yeah, and risk hitting one of these buildings?" Ranma replied, "Also, 
we can't just shoot a ki blast right at it. We might hit one of the 
robots, I mean EVAs."
  Ryoga shrugged his shoulders, "How come those kids are fighting it? 
Would it just be better for them to let us pick it off from a distance?"
  Ranma watched the battle. All three EVAs were currently trying to 
physically force the Angel out of the city. They didn't want to risk the 
Angel self destructing again and taking down many many building along 
with it, not after what had happened last time.
  "From what I see," Ranma answered, "It looks like they're trying to 
wrestle the damn thing and push it outta the city. Oh, I get it. They 
don't want it blowin' up and killing a buncha people." 
  "That sounds like a good plan," Ryoga said, "But what do we do once 
they get that alien...um...Angel outta the city?"
  "What else, we shoot it many many times with our ki-blast," he said 
with a ear to ear grin. He looked like a little kid.
  "I have a question," Rygoa asked after a few moments of watch the 
battle, "Exactly why are they fightin' in hand to hand combat? I mean, 
wouldn't it be better to just shoot it with a missle or something?"
  Ranma shook his head, "No. I saw an Angel get hit with a missle and it 
seems to bounce right off. It seems conventional weapons don't faze it. 
Misato had mentioned some kinda force field that surrounds it called an 
AT field. It's our job to get rid of that force field when we have the 
chance,"
  He looked up just in time to see the Angel use one of its ribbon-like 
appendages to swat an EVA away. Unit-01 went flying bodily into a nearby 
building, the building collapsing down under he impact. Ranma and Ryoga 
went running for cover as debris rained down on them. A large slab of 
concrete had actually hit Ranma, but Ranma didn't seem to have noticed 
it.
  "Jeez, they're gonna do more damage to the city than the Angel," Ranma 
commented as he ran away from yet another crumbling building as Unit-00 
was sent bodily into it.
  "Damn, this thing is tough!" Asuka commented, gritting her teeth. She 
was having quite a bit of trouble battling this Angel, even with the 
help of Rei and Shinji. But then again, she figured, even if they were 
helping, they wouldn't be that great of help anyway. 
  "Hey," Ranma shouted out and up toward Asuka's EVA. He didn't have a 
headset on.
  Asuka looked down at Ranma. "What the hell do you want?!" her voice 
came from an external speaker.
  "Why dontcha just get the thing to follow ya?" Ranma shouted out, 
"We'll pick it off once it's outta city limits,"
  Asuka was about to shout something back but was stopped when the Angel 
struck her EVA with one of its appendages, knocking it into a nearby 
building.
  "Jeez, that thing must be strong," Ranma commented, ducking for cover 
from all the falling debris.
  "How dare you?!" Ryoga said, glowing with rage "How dare you distract 
one of those kids and actual let 'em get hit! It's all your fault!" 
  Without thinking of the consequence of his actions, Ryoga charged 
Ranma had grabbed him by his shirt collar, "You wanna find out how 
strong that thing is? Why dontcha take a closer look?!"
  Ryoga threw him over his shoudler, sending Ranma flying right into the 
Angel. Ranma screamed out in shock at what had just happened, only to 
get slapped right out of midflight and sent bodily right into a nearby 
building.
  In that short battle, four buildings had just been destroyed or 
seriously damaged.
  Ryoga looked up at the massive Angel as it slowly made its way 
straight toward him, seemingly hovering. He took a cautious step 
backward. God, that thing was big. 
  The Angel, within attacking distance, used one of its apendages at 
lashed out at him, missing him by mere inches if it weren't for the fact 
that Ryoga had lept out of the way in the nick of time. The ground was 
torn through like a hot blade slicing through butter.
  Ryoga rolled onto his feet and lunged at the Angel, punching its 
extended appendage as it slowly retracted it, pulling it back out of the 
ground. It had no effect.
  "What the?" Ryoga's eyes widened. 
  Ryoga was in a state of shock as the Angel reared one of its 
appendages to attack again.
  Luckily for Ryoga, a ki-blast slammed into his side, sending him 
flying right into building.
  Ranma, slightly bruised, stepped out through the hole his ki-blast had 
shot out of and hit into Ryoga. He had this sneer on his face, "Ryoga, 
ya idiot! You can't hurt the damn thing through conventional means like 
punching, you need to use something like this!!! Hiryu ShotenHa!!!!"
  Ranma punched toward the sky as helet loose a massive tornado blast, 
torent winds erupting from his extended. In an instant, the blast 
expanded, expanding outward, engulfing Ranma, and then going upward, 
engulfing the hovering Angel from below.
  Asuka, Rei, and Shinji, who was slowly making their EVA get back up, 
caught sight of the Angel as it was engulfed in a massive column of 
wind. 
  While the Angel was being send spiraling up into the sky, Ranma let 
loose his ki-blast, "Mouko Takabisha!!!!"
  The pilots watched in absolute shock as they saw a ball of energy 
erupt from Ranma's hands, rocketing upwards and striking the Angel from 
below. They heard Angel released a shriek of pain as it this red sphere 
surrounding it flared bright red and then shattered like color stained 
glass.
  "The AT field's been destroyed!!!!" Misato's voice entered the pilots' 
cockpits, "The AT field's down!!! Now's your chance to stop it!!!!"
  Asuka was the first to respond, making her EVA run forward toward the 
Angel, punching it with every energy Unit-02 could muster, the power 
cable attached to the EVA back nearly short circuiting from the extreme 
drain in power. 
  The impact of Unit-02's fist with what seemed like the Angel's torso 
sent the Angel flying away from the city limits, sent through the air at 
intense speeds, the Angel slamming into a mountain. It struck the 
mountain with such force that it became embedded in it.
  Asuka, not wasting a second, made Unit-02 run to the nearest armament 
building, and then quickly pulled out a high calibur assult rifle. 
Bracing the EVA's back against a building, she aimed the rifle toward 
the Angel and fired several rounds at it. The kickback of the rifle was 
so intense the the building behind Unit-02 slowly start to shudder and 
crack.
  Every single round struck its intended target, ravaging it. By the 
time the nine round sliced into the Angel's body, the Angel, knowing it 
was done for, made itself self-destruct.
  "All right!!!" Asuka shouted in cofidence as she watched a massive 
mushroom emerge by the mountains and up into the dark sky. She could 
hear several people also cheer from within her cockpit, leading her to 
realize that Misato and the others have witness the Angel's destruction.
  
  Several hours had passed since the battle. Ranma and Ryoga were once 
again gathered somewhere in Nerv Headquarters. They, along with Misato 
and Ritsuko, were back in that same room where Ryoga had accidentally 
broken that table, except this time, Gendo wasn't there.
  "I don't get it," Ranma asked, "Why do ya want us back here? We're 
gonna go on over toward China and we'll be outta your hair,"
  "That's the thing," Misato said, sounding very professional, "We don't 
want you out of our hair. We want you to stay,"
  Ranma sighed, "I'm sorry. As much as I'd like to stay and help, I want 
to go back home."
  Ritsuko said, "Can't you reconsider?"
  "Well, yeah. I mean, I could stay for as long as I want." Ranma said, 
"But it's just that I want to leave."
  "Why?"
  "I have someone back in my own world waiting for me. That's a good 
enough reason," Ranma answered her. He got up off his feet and added, 
"Look, I do want to stay, but I also wanna leave. I've been here for a 
while already. People are gonna miss be back home,"
  "Not me," Ryoga said wryly. "I wouldn't miss you,"
  Ranma ignored him and continued on, "Look, I would have stayed to 
teach the kids how to manipulate ki, but it'll be useless because 
they're needed to pilot those EVA thingies."
  "Then let us learn it," Misato said quickly.
  "Eh?" Ranma looked a bit confused, "You wanna learn it now? What 
gives?"
  "We need all the help we can get, that's why"
  Ranma nodded a bit in acknowledgement, "Well, I can't really argue 
there" He chuckled a bit, hoping to lighten the situation so it would 
seem too offensive, "Anyway, here's the dilema. I'm here. So is Ryoga. 
Both of us have friends back on our own world waiting for us. After a 
while, they're gonna get worried. Now, if there is a way to perhaps let 
them know that Ryoga and I are okay, then I wouldn't mind staying a few 
days to do some more demonstrations.....even though that last one almost 
killed me."
  "How about we help you find that thing you're looking for in China?" 
Ritsuko offered.
  Ranma shook his head, "I doubt you would come with us all the way to 
China. We plan on swimming there."
  "S-swim?!" Ritsuko and Misato said in unison, shock in both of their 
voices.
  Ranma nodded, "Yeah, both of us have swum from Japan to China when we 
were young. Not to brag, but we're in pretty good shape,"
  "Not to brag?" Misato smirked. "What's with the sudden sense of 
modesty, eh?"
  "Anway," Ranma said, "We're going to trek all the way there on foot. 
No offense, but I don't think you girls are remotely up to doing 
something like that. Besides, you hafta stay behind and help out in case 
another one of the Angels attack,"
  Ritsuko and Misato were silent.
  "It'll probably take a a month or so just to get there, but we'll get 
there eventually." Ranma said. "I don't really enjoy the thought of 
having to remain here for around a month before we can get back, but, 
the sooner we leave now, the sonner we'll get home. But then again, it 
probably would be a lot quicker and easier if that dick, Gendo would use 
a satellite to locate the village. As of right now, we'll be going to an 
area we have no idea if it's under water or not." Ranma clenched his 
hands, "It'll be so much easier to do it that way, but, since Gendo 
seems hell bent on not helping us out, we'll have to do this on our 
own."
  Misato sighed. She wished she had a plan. 
  "All right, but can you please do us one favor?" she finally said.
  "What is it?"
  "Can you please stay for just a day or so? Just a few more 
demonstrations." she pleaded. "Before you leave."
  Ranma thought about it for a moment. Although he intended to leave 
tonight, he figured it wouldn't really hurt to stay another day. He 
nodded, "Well, I guess we could stay another day or so. But I'm only 
doing this because I wanna help you guys out as much as I can. But, 
don't forget, I have other things to worry about. I can't just stay here 
and play defender. I have friends to get back to,"
   Ryoga said, "Yes, same here. We both have people who'll be waitin' 
for us back home,"
  "So you're going to stay, right?" Ritsuko asked.
  "Yeah,"
  Misato and Ritsuko almost cheered in relief. Luckily, both of them 
managed to keep from doing so before they embarrassed themselves.
  Ryoga's stomach grumbled.
  Ranma turned toward him, "You haven't eaten yet, huh?"
  "Nope. And I'm starving,"
  Ranma reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of cash. Misato and 
Ritsuko's eyes widened.
  "W-where did you get so much money?" Misato asked. She wondered how 
many beer cans she could buy with that much money.
  "Well, I woke up early this morning, and I was pretty hungry," Ranma 
said, "Since I had nothing to do, I went out looking for a job. I was 
looking around for some dojos, hoping I could teach as a martial arts 
teacher. Anyway, as I was walking down the street, I guess I walked in 
front of a modeling agency and someone saw me. They walked up to me and 
offered me a job as a model right there. They took me in, gave me some, 
um, underwear to wear, and took pictures of me. After the job, they gave 
me a wad of cash. I didn't really like doing it, but hey, it's money. 
It's better getting money than, say, robbing a bank."
  "Or Genom for that matter," Ryoga added smartly.
  Ranma chuckled a bit, "Anyway, that's how I got the money. Shortly 
after the....what did they call it.....model shoot, I went over to kids' 
school where we met."
  "Y-you did an underwear ad?" Misato's eyes were a bit wide. She 
smirked and said in a rather teasingly way, "Well, after having seen you 
naked, I wouldn't be surprised,"
  Ryoga's aura flared, "What?!" He turned toward Ranma, "Ranma, how dare 
you sleep with another-"
  Ranma kicked Ryoga in the chest, sending him flying into a nearby wall 
where he became embedded in it. "Quit jumpin' to conclusions ya moron!"
  "How dare you hit me!!! I'll kill you!!!!" Ryoga charged Ranma and 
kicked him in the chest, sending Ranma, this time, flying into the wall.
  Ranma casually brushed off the debris. He looked at the stunned Misato 
and Ritsuko, "Don't worry. We do this all the time." He placed a wad of 
cash on the broken table, "I guess this should pay for the damage,"
  Misato was the first to compose herself, "Um, what are you going to do 
now?"
  Ranma's stomach grumbled and he said, "What else, I'm gonna go eat." 
He looked at Ryoga and gave him an evil grin, "Ryoga could go buy his 
own food. That's what he gets for hitting me."
  "You hit me first!!!"
  Ranma ignored Ryoga. He turned toward Misato, "Yo, Misato, ya want me 
stopping by tonight?"
  Misato blushed beet red. Her heart started racing.
  Ranma noticed this and immediately realized what she was thinking 
about. He said, "Get your mind outta the gutter. I'm not talking about 
that. I could stop by tonight and show Shinji more about ki. That is if 
you don't mind,"
  "N-no, not at all. I don't mind," Misato said quickly, a bit angry at 
herself after she realized how eager it sounded. 
  "Well, then it's settled, I'll stop by later. First, I'm gonna go out 
and get some food,"
  "Would you like me to come along?" Misato offered.
  "You can't," Ritsuko said, "We still have some extra work here left to 
do,"
  Misato pouted. She would have really liked to have gone to dinner with 
Ranma and Ryoga.
  Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "Well, perhaps another time," He turned 
toward Ryoga, "Come, let's go get something to eat. I'm starving,"
  Misato and Ritsuko stared at the two figures as they disappeared 
around the corner. 
  Misato said, "Um, aren't they supposed to hate each other?"

  Misato was in her bedroom when she heard a knock at her front door. 
Her heart skipped a beat. She knew it would be Ranma and Ryoga. 
  "Who's that?" Shinji asked. He had been trying to do some homework on 
the messy coffee table. He looked at the clock. It was close to ten now. 
He wondered who could be stopping by at a time like that.
  "Well, why dontcha go find out?" Asuka said, not even glancing up from 
her manga. She had already done her homework.
  Shinji gave Asuka a pensive glance before he got up to answer the 
door. When he opened the door, he was surprised to see Ranma.
  "R-Ranma-san, w-what are you doing here?" he asked.
  "What?! Ranma's here?! What the hell's he doing here?!" Asuka's voice 
shot out. She glanced up from her manga, her eyes resting on the man she 
despised.
  Ranma smiled at Shinji and said, "I came here to teach you some more 
about ki, if you don't mind that is. You seemed very interested in my 
demonstrations so I figured I'd drop on by and show you some more," 
  "T-that'll be g-great! I'd love that!" Shinji said, his eyes lighting 
up. "Please, come on in,"
  Ranma did as he was told. Stepping inside, he was a bit surprised to 
see the place was a bit cleaner. It still had some things strewn about, 
but not as ostentatiously. He entered the livingroom when he saw Asuka, 
who had gotten up. She was clad in casual attire consisting of short cut 
off jeans and a tank top. She had her hands on her slender hips, one of 
her hands holding the manga, as she glared at him.
  "What are you doing here?!" she asked contemptuously.
  Ranma smiled and said, "Hello, Asuka. How're you doing?"
  "Just fine until you showed up!"
  Ranma found it very hard to learn to like this annoying little girl. 
Every single time he had tried to be nice, she would say something 
insulting toward him. He turned toward Shinji, "You should tell Misato 
I'm here."
  Shinji nodded and left the room, leaving only Asuka and Ranma.
  Ranma walked over past Asuka and sat down on the couch, having to 
brush aside one of Shinji's school books, "Well, Asuka, it looks like 
it's just you and me," He said with a joking smile. 
  "Which is very unfortunate for me," she muttered back, still glaring. 
"What the hell are you doing here in the first place?"
  "I came here to teach Shinji some more about ki," Ranma replied. He 
picked up one of Shinji's books. Economics. He smirked a bit and then 
chuckled.
  "What's so funny?" Asuka asked, noticing Ranma's smirking.
  "Well, this economics book," Ranma replied patiently, "I remember 
because of something I did back in my own world, when I revealed how 
corrupted this megacorporation was, the entire world plunged into 
economic chaos."
  "Woopie do," Asuka was unimpressed.
  "Hey, you were the one who asked," Ranma retorted. He reached over and 
picked up another textbook. History. His face sullened as he wonder if 
the 'Nerima Massacre' would be in the history books back on his 
homeworld. Most likely. 
  "Heh, considering how old you are, you should be in that history 
book," Asuka commented, "Under ancient history,"
  Ranma chuckled a bit, pushing his pain somewhere where it wouldn't 
bother him. He looked up at Asuka. He was about about to say something 
until Shinji and Misato entered back into the livingroom.
  Misato glanced around and noticed Ranma was the only one here, "Um, 
where's Ryoga?"
  "R-Ryoga? Ryoga was supposed to stop by?" Asuka said, her voice a bit 
eager. A slight blush came up into her cheeks.
  Ranma noticed the color rising in her cheeks and smirked. The then 
turned toward Misato and shrugged his shoulders and said, "He got lost,"
  "Lost?"
  "Yep," Ranma said, matter-of-factly, "He has a bad sense of direction. 
He said he wanted to goto the bathroom to wash his face, and, well, I 
never saw him again."
  "Why didn't you wait for him?" Misato asked.
  Ranma said, "Half an hour. After that, I paid for the meal and left. 
Don't worry about him, he could definitely take care of himself. It's 
just that he has this horrible sense of direction."
  "It can't be that bad?" Misato asked.
  Ranma nodded, "Oh yeah, it's bad. Once, he had this map, and he was 
supposed to go east, and he went west,"
  "What's wrong with that?" Misato said, "I mean, sometimes I forget 
which direction to go when asked to go east or west,"
  "That's true," Ranma said, smirking, "But there's one thing I didn't 
mention. The sun was setting right behind him,"
  Misato was silent. That was definitely a bad sense of direction.
  "Don't worry, we'll bump into him sooner or later," Ranma said with a 
casual smile, "He's bound to be around there area,"
  "I'll go look for him," Asuka said quickly.
  Ranma smiled at her. He was about to say something embarrassing but 
chose against it. He knew she had a crush on him. He found it rather 
cute.
  Ranma turned toward her, "It's kinda hard finding him, y'know. It's 
better to just sit here and let him find you,"
  "I don't need your help!" she spat.
  Ranma gave Asuka a hard look. 
  "Fine, go ahead. Have a ball looking for him," Ranma said. He turned 
toward Shinji and said, "Where would ya like to go learn? It's good if 
we stay in an open area. We don't wanna accidentally blow up a building 
or something," He chuckled a bit, jokingly.
  "Um, does Ryoga know where you're going to be?" Misato asked.
  "Yeah, I gave him your card so he has your address," Ranma answered, 
"So, if you're lucky, he might actually show up sometime this century. 
He has the tendancy of showing up at odd times."
  "All right, I guess I'll stay here and wait for him, in case he shows 
up," Misato offered.
  "No!" Asuka shouted. She quickly calmed herself down a bit and said in 
a soft voice, "Um, you can go with Ranma and Shinji. I'll stay behind 
and wait for him...i-in case he shows up,"
  Ranma smiled. God, he could just rip her apart right here and 
embarrass the hell out of her. Does she have any idea of just how easily 
she was showing her crush toward Ryoga? He could crush her by simply 
telling her that Ryoga and he were the same age.
  Ranma shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well, Misato, y'wanna come 
along?"
  Misato thought about it for a moment and then said, "Nah, you go on 
ahead. I'll stay here and wait, just in case. Just make sure you get 
Shinji home a bit early. I mean, he does have school, afterall,"
  Ranma smiled and said in an innocent child-like voice 
  "All right, I'll have Shinji home in time for bed," 
  
  Ranma and Shinji both entered Misato's apartment at around midnight. 
Shinji was slumped over Shinji's shoulder, dead asleep.
  Misato, when she saw Shinji like that, rushed up to the two of them, a 
worried look on his face.
  Ranma wanting to tease her, pretended he was on the verge of tears.
  "W-what happened?!" she asked "What happened to Shinji?!"
  Ranma looked at the ground, not daring to look in her worried eyes, 
"S-Shinji....Shinji got hurt."
  "W-what? H-how did he get hurt?"
  Ranma looked up and smiled, "Nah, he's fine. I was jus' joking around. 
He's just pooped and fell asleep. I offered to carry him home. That's 
all."
  Misato sighed in relief, "T-thank goodness." She then realized 
something. This entire joke had been at her expense. She glared at 
Ranma, who was now looking at her with a grin on his face, "That wasn't 
funny, y'know!"
  "Did Ryoga show up?" Ranma said, changing the subject.
  "Um, no, he didn,'t" 
  "Asuka must be upset," Ranma said to himself.
  "What?"
  "Um, nevermind," he said quickly. He walked passed Misato, "Where's 
Shinji's room?"
  "Around the corner,"
  Ranma walked passed the livingroom and noticed Asuka was still in 
there, reading something. She must be still eagerly waiting for Ryoga. 
He shrugged his shoulder and walked over to Shinji's bedroom door, 
opened it, and entered his room, emerging from it without Shinji a short 
moment later.
  Misato walked up to Ranma and said, "Um, would you like some coffee?"
  Ranma shook his head, "No thank you,"
  "How did Shinji do?"
  "He did pretty well," Ranma answered, "He's coming along fine. Like 
everyone else, it'll take a long long time for him to perfect it, but 
given the time, he'll get better and better. Afterall, practice makes 
perfect."
  "I wasn't expecting to see him so, pooped out," she commented, "I 
mean, I figure Shinji would be filled with energy, pun intended, and 
life at the thought of learning something like that,"
  Ranma smiled warmly at the joke. He then said, "Well, you could only 
learn take so much before you get tired. Me, I used to get tired doing 
this stuff. Afterall, using one's ki is also using one's own energy,"
  "I guess you have a point," she agreed.
  Ranma yawned.
  "You're tired," she said. It was a statement, not a question.
  He nodded, "Yeah. I'm as pooped as Shinji." He sighed, "Man, and I've 
gotta find a hotel room tonight,"
  "Um, er, you're welcome to stay here for the night if you'd like," 
Misato offered, her voice very nervous. She wondered if her knees were 
physically shaking right now.
  Ranma thought about it for a moment. That didn't seem to be all that 
bad an idea. "Um, but where would I be sleeping?"
  I could think of one place. "Um, you could sleep on the couch," Misato 
said, glad that Ranma can't read minds.
  After a short moment, Ranma agreed, "Okay, I guess that could work." 
He rubbed his neck. "Misato, may I use your shower?"
  "Huh?"
  "May I use your shower?" Ranma repeated, "I really wanna take a 
shower. After that incident a short while ago where that Angel swatted 
me into a building, my muscles feel like they're in knots. I just wanna 
relax and relieve some stress,"
  There are better ways of relieving stress, a licentious thought 
entered Misato's mind. She almost cursed at herself for thinking of 
something like that. But then again, she was female, Ranma was 
male....and a very handsome one to boot.
  "Um, er, sure, go right ahead." Misato said, "T-the shower is just 
down the hall. There are extra towels on the towel rack." She walked 
over to the linen closet and produced a spare bathrobe, "Here, you can 
use this bathrobe,"
  "Thank you, I really appreciate it," Ranma said warmly, which made 
Misato acutely aware of his eyes looking into hers.
  He walked down the hallway and entered the bathroom.
  When Ranma disappeared into the bathroom, Misato realized something.
  "Pen-pen's still in there,"
  Ranma closed the bathroom door behind him. His eyes immediately 
widened as he caught sight of Misato's unmentionables strewn about. Her 
panties were on the shower rack, her bras on the sink, her stockings on 
the floor.
  Ranma shrugged his shoulder, "Where she puts her stuff is her 
business," He casually picked up, and he couldn't help but comment on 
the fabric of Misato's panties "Ooh, silk. If I were some hentai I would 
probably be really turned on right now," He picked up Misato's 
unmentionables and placed them in a neat pile on the sink. After that, 
he removed his clothes, casually throwing them in the corner of the 
room, and walked over to the bathtub. It was odd that Ranma hadn't 
noticed before, but the bathroom was currently being occupied.
  When he pushed aside the curtain, he saw a penguin lying in the middle 
of the tub. In any situation, Ranma would have probably freaked out and 
went running from the room. But over the years, he had been through 
quite a bit, and he didn't get spooked as easily anymore.
  Meanwhile, Misato was laughing inwardly, waiting to see Ranma come 
running from the bathroom. She knew Pen-Pen was in there. It had 
happened to Shinji when he first arrived, and she was pretty sure it 
would also happen to Ranma. 
  The bathroom door opened and out strolled Ranma, a towel clad around 
his waist. He was holding Pen-Pen in one hand, Misato's unmentionables 
in another. 
  Misato's mouth nearly dropped to the ground as Ranma, without saying a 
word, casusally walked up to her and handed her her things, placing Pen-
Pen on her lap. 
  "I assume these are yours," Ranma said with a smirk, only to turn back 
and go back into the bathroom.
  For several long moments, even after the sound of the shower had 
begun, Misato stared at the door Ranma had disappeared through. She had 
been expecting to see Ranma come running stark naked out of the 
bathroom, but instead, he looked rather amused as he handed her her 
things, not at all peterbed at seeing a penguin in the bathroom.
  Asuka emerged from the livingroom. 
  She sighed, "I guess Ryoga isn't going to show up," She walked over to 
the fridge and got herself a soda pop and then glanced over at Misato 
for a short moment, "What's wrong?"
  It took several moments before Misato composed herself, "Oh nothing. 
It's just that I was expecting to play a joke on Ranma but I guess the 
joke backfired,"
  Asuka shook her head, "What kinda joke? You mean sending Ranma into 
the bathroom while that damn penguin was in there? Lettme guess you 
probably wanted to see Ranma naked or something. I think that's gross. 
He's an old geezer..."
  Ranma emerged from his bathroom. He was in his bathrobe, which was 
partially opened at the front. He was drying his hair when he said, 
"Hey, who're you calling an old geezer?"
  "Guess,"
  Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "You love Shinji,"
  "What?!"
  Now it was Ranma's turn to do the teasing, "You heard what I said. You 
love Shinji. I betcha you loved him ever since you first laid eyes on 
him,"
  Asuka's face twictched slightly, "No, I don't! I hate him! He's such a 
wimp!"
  "You don't like him?"
  "Of course not!! I hate him!" Asuka said vehemently, her fists 
clenching.
  "Oh, are you one of those girls that like other girls?" Ranma was 
smirking. He was wondering if Asuka could see it. Probably not since she 
was in a furious state of mind at the moment. All she was probably 
seeing was red.
  "No!!!"
  Ranma turned toward Misato, "Hey, Misato, does Asuka slip into your 
bed late at night?"
  "What?!?!?!" Misato shouted, stunned that Ranma would asked something 
like that. She had been silently giggling to herself as Ranma teased 
Asuka, but hadn't expected the teasing to move onto her.
  Ranma was clearly enjoying this. After many years of constant torture 
via dialogue from Nabiki when he had been young, Ranma had finally 
learned to do battle not only with his fist but with speech. 
  "W-what, are you jealous?" Asuka said, trying her best to man an 
offence. She had to fight back somehow.
  Ranma nodded, a fake glint in his eyes "Of course I'm jealous. I'm 
jealous of Misato. Dontcha know that I'm in love with you, Asuka? And 
Misato has you all to herself, it tears me apart!" Ranma made an 
exaggerated motion as if his heart was breaking, "I could feel my heart 
shattering into a million pieces everytime I see you two together,"
  "All right, Ranma! That's enough teasing!" Misato said, doing her best 
to be commanding. She didn't like being teased, even if it had been 
indirectly. She didn't mind Ranma teasing Asuka, but drew the line when 
Ranma brought her into it.
  Asuka gave Ranma an look that would probably haunt a man to his death, 
"I hate you,"
  "So?"
  Asuka gritted her teeth. She wanted to hit this guy that her blood 
boiled. "You're an asshole,"
  "So?"
  Asuka, in a fit of frustration and loathing toward Ranma, brought her 
hand up and tried to slap him, only to have Ranma skillfully catch it 
with his own hand. When she tried to slap him with her other hand, he 
caught that one also.
  "Man, I hope when I finally decide to have children, they're not as 
nasty as you, Asuka," he commented. It was like pouring gasoline on a 
fire. Asuka was already buring with rage and Ranma continued to provoke 
her.
  "Who in their right mind would ever wanna marry some obnoxious jerk 
like you?!" Asuka retorted.
  Ranma smiled.
  Misato said, "All right, Ranma. That's enough with the teasing. She 
won't hit you," she looked toward Asuka, "Now will she?"
  Asuka gritted her teeth.
  "I despise you!" she said, her eyes almost glowing with hatred.
  Ranma let go of Asuka's hands. He tightened his bathrobe belt, making 
sure to close the partially opened front, and said, "So?"
  With that said, Ranma turned around and went to the livingroom.
  "What he hell are you doing?!" Asuka asked.
  "I'm gonna goto sleep," Ranma responded, sitting down on the couch. 
The front of his robe opened, revealing his muscular chest. A quick 
blush came to Asuka's cheeks as she noticed it. 
  Ranma laid on his side down on the couch, his back toward her.
  Asuka turned toward Misato, who was watching this with a bit of 
amusment in her eyes, "Misato, how on Earth can you let him stay here of 
all places?!"
  Misato shook her shoulders, a smile on her lips. 
  "This is my place, I do as I please,"
  
  Misato looked down at Ranma. He was still asleep on the couch.
  It was around nine in the morning, the two kids having gone off to 
school.
  "Ranma," she said softly, almost seductively.
  Ranma stirred a bit. He opened his eyes and sat upright, his elbows on 
his knees, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. The front part of his 
bathrobe was wide open, exposing a good portion of his tightly defined 
abs and chest. 
  Misato was almost holding her breath, daring not to stare. Her heart 
was racing and she found her blood beginning to boil. She should had 
never had let Ranma sleep here. She had had little or no sleep, the 
thought of Ranma sleeping in the livingroom just outside her bedroom had 
left her twisting and turning in her own bed.
  "Hey, Misato," Ranma said sleepily, "W-what time is it?"
  "It's nine, I have to leave for work now," she said.
  Ranma got up and said, "All right. I'll get going." He looked around, 
"W-where's my clothes?"
  "They're in the washing machine," Misato said, "Shinji was doing the 
wash today and he accidentally took your clothes. You're gonna hafta 
wait a while before they're dry,"
  Ranma sighed. "So what am I gonna do?"
  "Um, you can stay here and wait for it to finish," she said "Y-you 
could let yourself out when you're done. Just make sure you lock the 
door,"
  Ranma smirked, "You seem to trust me,"
  "Why shouldn't I?"
  
  Asuka entered Misato's apartment. God, sometimes she wished she didn't 
have school. 
  Ranma was in the kitchen, busy cooking a meal. She had seen Ranma 
sleeping on the couch when she had woken up early for school. She was 
hoping he was gone when she got home.
  "So, what are you burning?" Asuka asked wryly. She never knew Ranma 
knew how to cook.
  Ranma ignored her.
  "It smells like crap," Asuka commented. She dropped her books off on 
the couch and entered the kitchen, peering around Ranma at the skillet. 
He was cooking some eggs and bacon and sausages.
  "Why the hell are you making food like that?" Asuka asked, "Why are 
you cooking breakfast food in the middle of the day?"
  Ranma turned toward Asuka and said, "Cause I like it. It's not like 
I'm cooking for you so what do you care?"
  Asuka's eyes creased. "Where'd you learn to cook like that? At the 
rate you're going, you're going to burn this entire complex down,"
  Ranma turned off the fire and brought the skillet with him to the 
table. He then proceeded to eat right out of the skillet, nearly 
devoruing the entire meal in a few bites.
  "You have no manners," Asuka commented, noticing how barbaric Ranma 
was in his eating rituals.
  "What are you, my mother? Jeez," Ranma said as he continued to eat. 
After a short while, he picked up a sausage, "You want one?"
  "Not on your life," came the quick reply. "It looks disgusting,"
  Her stomach grumbled. Asuka swore to herself. Sure, she was hungry, 
but she didn't want Ranma to know.
  Ranma smirked, "Judging from that rumbling, you're either hungry or 
the Third Kanto Earthquake is in process,"
  "Third Kanto Earthquake?"
  "Nothing," Ranma continued to munch down on his food, "It has to do 
with the world I come from. Anyway, do you want it or not?"
  Asuka looked down her nose at Ranma, "I would never eat something like 
that,"
  Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "All right. Whatever you say," He ate 
the sausage and went about eating the rest of the delicious looking 
food. The food made Asuka's mouth water. She was starving. Her eyes 
seemed to rest on the food a bit more than it was supposed to.
  "Don't even think about it," Ranma said, "I ain't giving you any. I 
already offered. If you wanna be stubborn, go right ahead. Sooner or 
later, you'll realize acting all high and mighty will get you nowhere,"
  "And what is that supposed to mean?!" Asuka spat.
  Ranma, finished with his meal, walked over to the kitchen sink where 
he proceeded to clean the skillet. "You know damn well what I mean," 
Ranma said, "I don't know what's with that stuck up attitude of yours. 
It's like it's that time of the month for you except it's every day."
  "What?!?! H-how dare you say something like that!!!"
  Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "Fine. Don't believe me if you don't 
wanna. I don't really care. I'm just trying to point that out for ya 
before you make a fool of yourself."
  "And what makes you think I'll make a fool of myself?! Huh?!"
  Ranma sighed, "Jeez, I can't believe I'm having this conversation with 
a little girl."
  "I'm not a little girl!!!"
  "Yeah, whatever you say, Asuka," Ranma gave a wry reply, "Get over it. 
You're....well....a bitch. And sooner or-"
  "How dare you say something like that about me!!!!"
  Ranma continued to look at Asuka with a casual eye, "If you're not a 
bitch, then what are you? Some kinda saint? Well, you're not."
  Asuka clenched her fist. God, she hated this man. "Why dontcha just go 
back to where you came from?! I wish you would just leave!! Everyone 
will be better off!!"
  Ranma remained unperterbed, "Hell yeah, I'm gonna leave. I plan on 
leaving as soon as possible."
  "The sooner the better!!"
  "Dontcha have some homework to do? Go do some little girl things, like 
shop or play with dolls or whatever the hell girls your age do 
nowadays," Ranma said, more annoyed than anything else. He headed for 
the balconey. He needed some fresh air. 
  Asuka followed him outside, "I don't even know why you're here! You 
don't even belong here! If you're so hell bent on getting back home, 
then how come you're here, in Misato's apartment, instead of trying to 
find a way back? Huh?"
  Ranma gritted his teeth, "Man, you're annoying. Go away. Jeez,"
  "No. I'm not going away," Asuka persisted. "This is my place also. I 
also live here, too. I could go where ever I please,"
  At that moment, Shinji chose that particular moment to enter the 
apartment.
  Ranma went back into the apartment to greet Shinji, "Hey, Shinji, 
what's up?"
  "Um, nothing much," Shinji said meekly, taking his shoes off and 
putting his books on the couch, "What's going on?" He noticed that Asuka 
looked more annoyed than ever.
  "It's none of your business, Shinji!" Asuka shouted.
  Ranma sighed, "Hey, Shinji, take care."
  "Huh? Where are you going?"
  Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "Spending time alone with Asuka makes me 
realize just how much I hate this world. I'm leaving."
  "Yeah, you leave, like the coward you are!"
  Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "I'm the biggest coward in the world. I 
would run away from any sign of trouble. I can't deal with life, so I 
run away. I got beat up a lot when I was young so I run away. I would 
give bullies my lunch money when I was young, just so they won't beat me 
up. All right. I admit it. I'm a coward. Does that make you happy?"
  "You're only trying to humor me,"
  "First off, I could care less about how you view me," Ranma said, "It 
seems to bother _you_ more that your comments don't seem to bother me. 
I've been through a lot over the years that I'm not going to get 
bothered by something so trivial as that. Yet, here you are, constantly 
trying to beat it into me. You call me an asshole? Fine. I'm an asshole. 
So? Why do you go on constantly telling me? Do you think it went in one 
ear and out the other? I heard you....I just don't really care."
  That seemed to actually shut Asuka up for a change.
  "Go ahead, tell me I'm stupid," Ranma said. "Tell me it's because I 
lack a brain and that's why things go in one ear and out the other. 
Look, I have nothing against you. I see no reason for you to have 
something against me either. But, if you wanna act like a......brat 
towards me, fine. Go ahead, but I'm not gonna stand idly by while you 
make yourself seem so much better than me by defacing me. I'm gonna show 
you how it feels to be put in your place."
  Asuka clenched her teeth.
  Ranma took that moment to let it sink in. After a short while, he 
said, "Look, if you wanna go on playing little miss princess, fine. Go 
right ahead. Just leave me outta it. I'll leave you alone if you leave 
me alone. Also, keep in mind, you were the one who walked up to me and 
started insulting me. I tried to be nice. I even offered you some food, 
but you kept insulting me and my cooking,"
  "I didn't wanna eat your slop!"
  "There you go again," Ranma said with a sigh. "Well, whatever, I'm 
going out. I've been cooped up in here for long enough,"
  "Where are you going?" Shinji asked.
  "Dunno," came the reply, "If I'm lucky, it'll be back home. But since 
it's very doubtful, I'll go out for a little walk. It's a nice day out,"
  Without saying another word, Ranma left the apartment.
   Shinji looked at Asuka. She looked furious. Her fists were clenched 
as she gazed at the door Ranma had just left. He almost smiled, grateful 
that someone had finally put Asuka in her place. It was about time she 
realized she wasn't as high and mighty as she believed, and he was glad 
it was Ranma who did it.
  But, when Asuka noticed Shinji looking at her, she gave him a nasty 
look, and said,
  "What the hell are you looking at?!"
  
  Rei caught sight of Ranma, as he her.
  "Oh, hi Rei, how's everything going?" he said in a casual manner. It 
was as if the incident he had just left had never happened. Nothing 
seemed to really bother him.
  Rei didn't answer.
  Ranma regarded Rei for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders and 
turned around, "You want me to leave you alone?"
  "It doesn't matter if you stay or not," came the reply.
  "All right, if you don't really wanna talk to me, I'll leave then" 
Ranma turned around and left.
  Rei stopped dead in her tracks for a short moment, watching as Ranma 
rounded a corner. Had she sounded like that? Like she didn't want to 
talk to him? She didn't actually mean it. 
  After a short moment, Rei continued on toward her tiny apartment.
  As she was about to enter through the front gates and into the 
complex, she heard someone call her name.
  "Rei?"
  Rei turned her attention toward the voice. Her eyes rested on a young 
looking man wearing a yellow and black bandanna.
  "Hibiki-san," she said, "What are you doing here?"
  Ryoga smiled weakly and said, "Um, well, I'm kinda lost."
  "Where were you headed?"
  Ryoga reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of card. It was 
the one Misato had given Ranma a while back. Rei took the card and read 
it. She then looked up at Ryoga and said, "Isn't that Misato-san's 
apartment?"
  Ryoga nodded, "Yeah, it is. But it doesn't really help all that much 
cause, well, I kinda have a lousy sense of direction. I've been looking 
for that places since last night,"
  "All night?"
  "Yeah, I went all night," Ryoga answered, "I haven't slept yet. When I 
find the place, I'll ask Misato if I could sleep for an hour or so cause 
I'm dead tired," He yawned, which seemed to emphasize just how tired he 
was. There were dark rings under his eyes already.
  "Misato-san's apartment is not too far from here," Rei said. She 
pointed down the street and said, "Just go down that street three blocks 
and make a left. Go down that street one block and you'll be on Misato-
san's block. Her apartment complex is the one on the corner, right past 
the arcade center"
  Ryoga tried the best to remember it. He felt a bit embarrassed but he 
knew he would not make it there if his life depended on it.
  "Um, can you do me a favor and walk me there?" Ryoga gave a weak 
smile.
  Rei looked up at Ryoga. If I bring Ryoga to Misato-san's, I will see 
Shinji again, she thought to herself.
  She nodded and said, "All right. I'll bring you,"
  Ryoga looked up at the building they were standing in front of, "Is 
this your building?"
  "Hai,"
  He noticed it was bit run down. "It kinda looks abandonned," He 
commented. He wished he had taken those words back. It might have 
offended her. He had no right making comments like that. 
  "That's because it is abandonned," Rei answered stoically, her voice 
giving not hint that she had been offended by Ryoga's comment.
  "I-it's abandonned?" he asked, surprise in his voice, "T-then why are 
you staying in there?"
  "Because I am,"
  Ryoga scratched the back of his head and said, "Isn't it dangerous? I 
mean, what happens if you slip and fall or something? Who will be there 
to hear to call for help?"
  Rei was silent.
  "Do you live with anybody?"
  Rei shook her head, "No. I live by myself,"
  Ryoga's eyes widened. He couldn't believe such a young girl would be 
living alone. He figured she would be living with someone, like her 
parents. "Um, how old are you? Aren't you a bit young to be living 
alone?"
  Rei was silent for a moment. 
  "I'm.....forteen." Rei finally answered, "It seems like I'm not too 
young to be living alone because I'm already living alone,"
  "Um, shouldn't you be living with your parents or something?"
  "I..........have no parents" she said, not really looking up at him. 
Her gaze was straight ahead, toward the downtrodden building.
  "Oh, I-I'm sorry to hear that. I-I shouldn't have asked something like 
that," Ryoga said, sad, "I guess it's none of my business. I was just 
worried, that's all,"
  Rei was silent for several moments before she spoke, "I appreciate you 
being worried about me,"
  Ryoga gave a weak smile and said, "Um, do you want, um, wanna drop 
your books off first before we head on over to Misato's?"
  Rei looked down at the books she was carrying, "It doesn't matter. It 
doesn't bother me if I have to carry them or not"
  Ryoga frowned a bit. He wondered why this young girl seemed to be void 
of emotions "All right," Ryog asaid, "Let's go drop these books off. 
They seem heavy, here, lettme hold them for you," He extended his hand.
  Rei looked at her books and then at Ryoga's extended hand. After a 
moment she handed him her books.
  "All right, lead the way," he said with a smile.
  Ryoga followed Rei back to her lonely apartment.
  
  Ranma bumped into Misato as she was on her way home from Nerv. He had 
been crossing the street, and she had to slam on her brakes since she 
didn't see him until the very last second.
  Misato was staring, wide eyed, at Ranma as he had his hand on her 
car's front hood, holding the front down so that the back wheels were 
lifted off the ground. After a short moment, Ranma loosened the pressure 
he was putting on the front of the car, allowing the back wheels to 
touch the ground again. He looked at Misato with a casual eye.
  "You looked like you were in a hurry," he commented.
  "Um, I have a tendancy of driving fast," she said, a bit nervous. It 
scared her that Ranma wasn't at all bothered by the fact that he had 
almost gotten hit...and by her car. "A-are you all right?"
  Ranma nodded, "I'm fine,"
  "I didn't hit you, did I?" she asked, getting out of her car.
  Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "Nope. It doesn't matter that much 
anyway. I mean, even if you did hit me, your car would end up in worser 
condition than I would," He sat down on the front hood and Misto reached 
his side.
  Misato was silent for several moments. For some reason, she didn't 
doubt it. "Um, where were you headed?"
  "Dunno. Anywhere I guess. I just wanted some fresh air." He took a 
deep breath, "And this place happened to be not one of 'em. I think I'll 
head on over to the countryside."
  "Why?"
  "No real reason, I didn't wanna stay in the same place as Asuka," 
Ranma answered. "She was getting on my nerves."
  Misato nodded in accordance. Oh, how it was so true.
  "She's okay. It's just that it seems she has the biggest chip on her 
shoulders," he said, "But, I guess I shouldn't say something like that 
about her because she isn't here to defend herself. Well, I guess it was 
nice talking to you."
  "Um, did you eat yet?"
  Ranma nodded, "Yeah, I cooked myself some food."
  "Would you like to go out and get some more food? I know a good 
restaurant nearby."
  He thought about it for a moment before answering, "Well, not really."
  "Um, you do know I'm asking you out to dinner, right?" Misato seemed a 
bit annoyed. Didn't Ranma have a clue?
  Ranma sighed, "Yeah, I do."
  "Why did you go and sigh like that?"
  He said, "Well, this is so....typical. Sometimes, I wish I was still 
cursed. That way, I could avoid being asked out and such. But then 
again, I'll hafta worry about all the guys bothering me, but that's 
aside from the point. Anyway, as much as I like company, I don't like 
company that think of me as some, potential boyfriend, or husband, or 
whatever. I've been through enough of that when I was young,"
  Why that arrogant bastard!!!
  "Um, what makes you think I was asking you to dinner, thinking of you 
as some potential boyfriend? That's a rather arrogant and conceited 
assumption on your part. Perhaps I was just trying to be nice. Who do 
you think you are, god's gift to women?" Misato retorted, her anger 
rising. She, never in her life, had met someone as.....arrogant as 
Ranma.
  Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "All right. Fine. I retract that then. 
But, I'm still not hungry. So, there's no need in going to dinner 
together,"
  "Well, even if you are hungry, I'm not gonna take you anyway, not 
after seeing how arrogant you are"
  Ranma stood up and tilted his head toward Misato, a smirk on his lips, 
"Aw, that's too bad. Actually, I was getting hungry. And, then again, 
you're a very beautiful woman and I wouldn't mind spending some time 
with you, but, I guess I'm outta luck,"
  Misato found her heart racing. God, he was gorgeous! Why the hell did 
he have to be right?!
  "Well, I guess you're outta luck," she said before she sped off toward 
home.
  God, he could be so arrogant sometimes!


-OneShot
Jeffrey Keith Wong
Author of Ranma's girls, 
The least one can do, and
the 'just won't die' series.
http://www.li.net/~jeffwong/index.htm
Site usually updated daily