Greetings,

#9 and I'm working two jobs while I do these...So further chapters 
may take some time. It may not, I may be able to get them done, I 
don't know.

#10 is a beast anyway, I may have to split it up into 2 or even 3 
stories.

Anyway, grab your favorite longnecked friend and enjoy!

Copyright Notice:
I looked around and noticed that I don't own any of these 
characters...Some are borrowed, most are stolen...All are used in 
deference to the original. Salud!

Pig Warning:
There are only so many ways one can introduce a character 
without being a complete pig. Fortunately, I don't have any of 
those compunctions...You've been warned!

***

The All-Americans
By
Joshua Trujillo

Part 9 - The More, The Merrier

Ranma looked on his calendar. The end of the first week came 
without incident, which he was grateful for. One down, about 
thirty-six to go. He sighed and shook his head. He had been glad 
when Kasumi came down that first weekend.

It felt like home.

The trip to school that Monday also went without record. He 
worried that he might be getting lazy because he was allowing 
Nabiki to drive him. Nah, she was his girlfriend for God sakes. She 
could drive him if she wanted to, couldn't she?

The front doors of the school opened up like the doors to an old 
friend's house, though you knew that somewhere in that house 
there were people waiting to maul you. Kind of puts a damper on 
visitations. The halls were filled with the usual rabble. Ranma 
rifled through his locker, getting his things prepared. He said his 
hellos to Daisuke and Hiroshi, but something caught his eye. A 
flash of purple in the crowd. Something unusual that he couldn't 
quite put his finger on. Ranma noticed that there were some new 
faces around as well. He wondered on this. The school wasn't that 
big, how could he miss this many new people?

Ranma set that thought aside for later and ambled into homeroom. 
Ms. Haruna was late again, but not by much this time.

"Now class," she began as the bell rang, "As you may or may not 
know, during the second week of school, Earnest High allows new 
students to transfer in. Well, since this is the first day of the second 
week, I'd like to introduce a new student to our homeroom."

Well, Ranma thought, That would explain the new people, 
wouldn't it?

>From the hallway came a person. A guy. He had long brown hair, 
pulled back in a ponytail. Unusually large brown eyes behind a 
small face. He would have made an extremely attractive woman, 
actually. He was wearing a blue school uniform that accentuated 
his height. A gasp arose from a couple of girls in the class. Ranma 
smiled. Apparently he had some competition in that area as well.

Wait a minute! Long hair? Androgynous? Oh my God...

"I'd like to introduce-"

"Ukyou?"

The class turned to Ranma. The guy looked at the stranger and 
smiled as recognition swept over his face.

"Ranma?"

"You two know each other?" Ms. Haruna asked.

"My God, Kuonji. How the Hell ya' been?" Ranma asked his oldest 
friend.

"Pretty good," Ukyou said as he turned to Ms. Haruna, "Yes, we 
know each other. We used to go to the same school back in 
Denver. We were friends for what-?"

"About six years," Ranma said in remembrance.

"Uh, okay, then you can have a seat next to Ranma," she said, 
pointing to the free seat.

Ukyou took his seat next to his friend as the announcements came 
on over the loudspeakers. It was great that Ranma now had a friend 
that he could rely on as well as someone he could now study with. 
Oh, what a boon to his studies! Ukyou seemed very happy as well 
that he had someone he could call a friend in this new school. And 
the day was good.

Ranma looked over to Akane and was somewhat shocked by the 
scowl with which she favored Ukyou. Why...? Could she be 
jealous of Ukyou? Why? Ranma set it aside and decided to deal 
with her later. It honked him off to no end and he was going to 
finally get it out.

Homeroom ended and Ukyou went on to his math class with a little 
direction from Ranma. Akane waited and joined Ranma as they 
went off to English class. Ranma looked back to make sure Ukyou 
had gone out of earshot.

"Okay," Ranma said, "What now?"

"What do you mean?" Akane asked, innocently.

"Knock it off Akane," Ranma said as he stopped in the hall, "I saw 
the look you gave Ukyou in there."

"Well Ranma," she said, "It's just that all these people are popping 
up out of your past and most of them want to either kill you or 
severely hurt you. How can you trust that Ukyou won't try the 
same thing later?"

"Okay, that's a fair enough thought," Ranma said as he mulled over 
her words, "But Ukyou and I were friends for over six years and it 
meant something for us. I don't know about your friends, but my 
friends are friends for a reason. Ukyou happened to help me in one 
of my darkest times. Times that I can't forget, but also wouldn't 
live differently either."

Ranma closed his eyes against the memories. The hateful 
memories that sometimes haunted his dreams. Dreams of his 
female side. Dreams of...Ranma opened his eyes again and 
unclenched his fists as he tried to relax.

"Just know that, at this point, I trust him more than I do you."

"But Ranma..." Akane pleaded, "I'm just looking out for-"

"Get off it Akane!" Ranma didn't control his anger now, "You're 
NOT my mother! And I KNOW that this isn't something as noble 
as trying to protect me. First you whack me with a board, which I 
not only forgave you for, but trusted you after. Then you're jealous 
of your OWN SISTER just because she's dating ME?!"

Akane backed up at the onslaught, but the lockers behind her 
prevented her from going further. Ranma got up in her face, not 
really caring about the stares from the rest of the people in the 
hallway.

"Then you pulled that BULLSHIT with Ryouga and Kuno," 
Ranma fumed at her, "Do you know WHY I just played along and 
ignored most of it? It's because, on some level, you're my sister 
and therefore I should have SOME measure of trust in you, but this 
is SHIT AKANE!"

"Please don't yell."

"And now you're suspicious of one of my oldest friends?! WHY?! 
I'm sick of it all Akane. And so is Nabiki, even though she's too 
kind to tell you," Ranma continued.

"But you're kind enou-"

"ENOUGH! If you can't trust my judgement in people, then to 
HELL with you!" Ranma said, storming off to class.

And it hurt. It didn't hurt because what he said was hurtful, which 
it was. And it didn't hurt that it had to come out in school. It hurt 
because Akane knew he was right. She WAS jealous of Nabiki, for 
being his girlfriend. She WAS jealous of Ukyou, for being able to 
just come back after so long and still be good friends with him. 
The tears began to roll down her cheeks. Akane slumped to the 
floor. She didn't care who saw her. She felt that whatever penance 
she could pay wouldn't be enough. Yuka found her and tried to say 
soothing things to her, but Akane tuned her out. He was right. 
Akane cried more. He was right.

***

Ranma threw the ball out to Hiroshi. Ranma smiled and shook his 
head. Hiroshi liked to run more than the normal person should. 
Daisuke tried to tackle him, but couldn't catch him. Practice had 
been over for fifteen minutes and Ranma thought he'd stick around 
a little before heading home. There was something he was 
forgetting, but he couldn't remember what it was, which annoyed 
him. He hated to forget stuff. Hiroshi tossed the ball to Daisuke, 
who pulled back and let the ball fly to Ranma. Ranma watched idly 
as the ball floated over his head to the fence line behind him. He 
also saw Ukyou as he picked up the ball as it bounced to his feet. 
Ukyou turned the ball over in his hands as Ranma came up to the 
fence.

"Come on," Ranma said, "Give it a toss."

"Nah, I don't really do much of that stuff anymore."

"Aw, c'mon Ukyou," Ranma whined, "As I remember, you used to 
have a pretty good arm."

"And now I have two of them."

Ranma just blinked as Ukyou hefted the ball, checked the wind and 
tossed it. Daisuke stood dumbfounded as it sailed past him to 
Hiroshi, who was standing in the other endzone. Ranma turned 
back to his friend.

"Damn," was all he could think of, "You HAVE gotten better."

"Yep, and your memory still isn't very good."

Ranma snapped his fingers. He HAD forgotten something. He said 
that he'd get a snack with Ukyou at Marvin's before dinner. Then 
they'd be going home for dinner at Ranma's place. He'd completely 
forgotten about it. Ranma snorted.

Probably Akane's fault too, he thought.

Meeting Ukyou was one thing he'd forgotten, but he felt that there 
was something else too...

"The pizza place," Ranma nodded, "Yeah, sorry. Do you still want 
to go?"

"Sure," he replied, "Do you still have a bottomless stomach?"

Ranma smiled. Ukyou still knew him, after all this time.

***

Ukyou picked at his breadsticks. Something was bothering him, 
but...

"Ranma?"

"Yeah," he replied through a mouthful of cheesy bread.

"I heard what you said to Akane," Ukyou didn't really know how 
to approach this, "But aren't you being a little harsh?"

Ranma chewed for a minute and wiped his mouth.

"Nope. I could understand it all if we were dating, but we're not," 
he said, "And, on top of it all, she's suspicious of you. God knows 
why."

Ukyou took a bite of breadstick before talking.

"Maybe she knows?" Ukyou asked.

Ranma shook his head.

"She's not that perceptive," he said at the thought, "So I just told 
her to deal with it."

"Have you considered that she might have a crush on you?"

"Yeah, I thought of that," he answered, "But why would she? And 
what would I do about it?"

"Well, a lot of girls probably have a crush on you. You have turned 
into a cutie, ya' know," Ukyou said, "As for what you do? Why not 
dump Nabiki for Akane?"

Ranma almost lost his Dr. Pepper.

"Yeah, right. That'd go over well with both of them, I'm sure."

Both were silent as they thought about the problem. Ranma idly 
glanced at the clock as two girls came in. Wait! That's it!

"Ukyou, what day is this?"

"Still Monday."

"Come on," Ranma said, narfing down the rest of the bread, "We 
gotta get back to the school."

Ukyou could tell he was in a hurry, so Ukyou would ask about it 
later.

***

Ukyou followed behind Ranma back onto the same practice field 
they had left not an hour before.

"Okay," Ukyou asked, "Why are we back here?"

"HEAD'S UP!" a voice in the distance yelled.

With almost practiced ease, Ukyou caught the ball as it sailed past. 
Ukyou looked into the field. Daisuke had lost control of another 
one. Ukyou threw it back to him. A low rumbling came up behind 
them and they turned around.

It was Ryouga. He pulled the motorcycle up onto the grass and 
parked it there. He looked from Ukyou to Ranma as he 
dismounted.

"Why are you here?" Ryouga asked, looking at Ranma funny, 
"You've got Nabiki."

"A man can look, can't he?" Ranma asked with that quirky smile of 
his.

"Would someone mind telling me why we're here?" Ukyou asked 
again.

Ranma smiled again.

"Cheerleader tryouts."

Ukyou just shook his head and chuckled softly.

"Are you a new transfer?" Ryouga asked.

"Yeah, Ukyou Kuonji."

"Ryouga Hibiki."

They shook and Ukyou was surprised at how unearthly strong this 
Ryouga person was. It was incredible. Ranma had told Ukyou of 
the incident with his ribs. Seeing how strong Hibiki was, it was 
lucky he didn't hurt Ranma further.

As they neared the far practice field, Hiroshi and Daisuke joined 
them. There were still spaces in the front of the bleachers. Close to 
the fence, close to the action, that's what Ranma always said. 
Ranma smiled again. Yes, window-shopping certainly was fun. 
The five of them watched through several routines. Ranma 
followed Daisuke and Hiroshi down to the fence, where Yuka and 
Sayuri were standing. Ukyou and Ryouga soon followed.

Sayuri spotted Ukyou as he came down the bleachers. Geez, he 
looked so delicate, yet...She didn't know. There was just some 
strength about the way he moved.

Ranma smiled and made his way to Ukyou.

"Ukyou, I'd like to introduce someone to you," Ranma said, 
drawing Sayuri near, "This is Sayuri. Sayuri, this is one of my best 
friends, Ukyou."

"Really? Great to meet you, Ukyou. Damn Ranma, you have really 
good looking friends!" Sayuri gushed.

Ranma tried to suppress a laugh as Ukyou wondered how he 
should react. He almost looked...Nervous. Sayuri wondered about 
that. Maybe he was attracted to her and she was making him 
nervous?! The sheer thought that someone this good looking might 
be...OOOOO!!!

Ranma chuckled to himself. Man, if Sayuri only knew. Of course, 
if she knew, she'd kill him for not telling her. But then, she'd have 
to stand in line. Ukyou would probably kill him first. She probably 
still would.

Ranma remembered the first time that he found out Ukyou was a 
girl...Of course, they were only five or six back then, but still. To 
find out that your best friend, the president of the club, a BOY'S 
club, was actually a girl. Well, that shook a lot of foundations. But 
they mended and Ranma helped her continue for as long as she 
wanted. But it was still fun to tease her. Ukyou shot him an evil 
look as Ranma tried to see into the throng of girls before him.

"Ranma? I think you did the right thing with Akane. I hate to admit 
it, but you were right," Yuka said to him.

Ranma looked at her. How did she-?

"Does EVERYONE know?!" He blurted.

"Well, when you do it in the middle of the hall," Daisuke added, 
"It's kind of hard NOT to notice it."

Ranma knew that no good would come of that statement.

"WHAT DID YOU DO!?!?" Ryouga bellowed, grabbing Ranma 
by his shirt.

"He just told her to get a grip and to quit being so jealous," Yuka 
said quickly.

"Oh," Ryouga put Ranma down.

His battle aura began to die down as a small commotion ran 
through the spectators in the other parts of the stands.

"What's the noise?" Sayuri asked another cheerleader.

"A late arrival for the tryout," she said, "I guess they're letting her 
tryout."

"That's not fair!" Yuka said, "Why should they treat her spec-"

The words died out as the late arrival stepped into the clearing to 
perform. Ranma would remember thinking that, in that moment, 
there was a God and at the feet of this living Madonna he would 
gladly worship. He closed his mouth, which he hadn't realized had 
dropped. But then, everyone else's had as well. Even some of the 
women in the crowd.

She was devastating. Her hair was a lavender that rivaled the 
softest flowers in any field. Her eyes, almost a red in color. Pure 
creamy skin matched only by a cat-like smile that gave Ranma 
shivers, oddly enough.  Her every motion was music to his eyes. 
To watch the muscles glide so effortlessly back and forth was a 
sheer joy, especially when she turned around. Ranma never so 
much wanted to be any part of a woman's outfit more than on that 
day.

Damn, what a good day to be male! He thought.

He wiped the drool from his face and composed himself. 
Baseball...Must think of baseball. He looked around at his friends. 
Ukyou was even staring, though with more of an appraising eye 
than say, Ryouga, who was just drooling over his kneecaps.

She began her sequence and Ranma further had to compose 
himself as she performed several kicks that...Wait a minute! Those 
were martial arts moves that she used.

"What the-?"

Ranma smiled. Apparently Ryouga noticed as well. The crowd had 
long since silenced and all that could be heard was the soft beat of 
techno-oriental-jpop. As her routine came to an end, she flipped 
sideways and landed in Chinese splits. The thud that echoed from 
the ground made everyone in the audience grimace in sympathy 
pain. The Goddess, however, simply smiled. From her position in 
the splits, she rolled forward into a handstand and using her 
momentum, brought her legs on over and stood up.

She raised her arms to signify that she was finished and a roar 
erupted from the crowd. Much more of the applause was coming 
from the males, while there seemed to be a slight hiss coming from 
the females. The Goddess smiled in thanks and waved to the 
crowd. A trained monkey on a long pole came out of the crowd 
and threw her a towel.

Trained monkey?!

Before Ranma could get a better look, the monkey disappeared 
back into the crowd. Ranma looked over to Ryouga, who simply 
shrugged. The Goddess looked around the crowd as she was 
coming off and made her way to where Ranma and the others were 
standing. She walked past, winking at the group and waving a 
greeting.

"Hi boys," her sultry Southern tones whispered on the breeze.

Hiroshi just fainted. Daisuke looked like he needed a cold shower. 
Ryouga was looking thoughtful and scratching his chin. Ranma 
DID need a cold shower, but that would wait. Ukyou, on the other 
hand, needed to sit down because she was laughing too hard. They 
all watched the Goddess move back into the crowd and a long sigh 
escaped from them. Ukyou got up again.

"Ukyou, what's so funny?" Sayuri asked, the acid still edged on her 
voice.

"These..." Ukyou said, throwing a thumb at the others, "Guys and 
their hormones."

"But, you're a guy too, aren't you?"

"Well," Ukyou blushed, "I...I guess I'm just better able to control 
them, that's all."

Sayuri favored Ukyou with a delicate smile.

"I really appreciate that in a guy," she hinted.

She winked and waved goodbye as she walked off with Yuka.

Ukyou took the hint and turned slightly green, which was ignored 
by almost everyone. Daisuke and Hiroshi were busily comparing 
notes on how they could get the new cheerleader in the sack. 
Ranma sat down next to Ryouga and were discussing something 
else.

"Was that it?" Ukyou asked.

"Yup," Ranma said, "It's about time we got back to my place, so 
we can have dinner and you can meet Mom. Ryouga, you want to 
come back with us? Maybe get something to eat?"

Ryouga looked like he was about to retort, but just looked away 
instead.

"I-No," he said, "Thanks anyway."

"Come on Ryouga," Ranma continued, "Akane's been asking for 
you."

She hadn't, but she wouldn't mind seeing him either, Ranma 
thought.

Ryouga's face lit with hope at the news.

"She HAS?" he asked incredulously.

Ryouga milled it over for about half a second.

"Okay. Ya' know Ranma," Ryouga said, "I still think you're a prick 
that I need to thoroughly whip, but I think I can be friends...for 
Akane's sake."

"You can't beat me," Ranma replied, "Neither can Kuno. But being 
friends is okay."

"Can I still get a shot at the title?"

"Sure," Ranma said with a nod, "We'll just make sure that Akane 
doesn't find out."

Ryouga nodded and they shook hands. Each tried to get the other 
to submit with the handshake. It took a while. Neither won.

"Uh-guys?" Ukyou finally asked, "Can we get something to eat 
now?"

***

Joshua "Gargoyle" Trujillo
"Stone Cold Protector of the Righteous"
"Owner of The Anime Bar and Grille - The Best Ribs in the Multiverse"

Come on down!
Visit The Anime Bar and Grille!
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/1509
We Bake Our Stories Fresh Daily!