Still rough in spots, but I just need to move on.

Passing Strangers on a Moonlit Night
(A Ranma One Half / Sailor Moon Alternate History)
By Ammadeau
Roy.Fokker@UNSpacy.org
http://members.tripod.com/~Ammadeau/fanfiction.htm

Note:  In this alt universe, Minako goes to the same school as most 
of the other senshi.  Rei still attends a different school.

Chapter 2

	The next morning, Ranma found that someone was shaking 
him awake.  "Geez pops, let me sleep for a few more minutes, 
would you?  Why do we have to train so early in the morning 
anyway?"
	The shaking suddenly stopped and Ranma settled back into 
his nice, comfortable bed.  Despite his desire for sleep, after a few 
moments the fact that something was wrong started to penetrate 
into his brain.  He wanted to ignore it, but it persisted to bother 
him.  He rolled his head on his big fluffy pillow as tried to think of 
what it was.  Wait a minute.  He didn't have a big fluffy pillow or a 
comfortable bed.  All he had was a thin bedroll that he used to 
sleep on the hard ground.
	Ranma cracked open an eye and immediately regretted it.  
The glare of sunlight was nearly blinding.  He blinked and his eye 
adjusted enough to make out a young, short-haired girl about his 
age staring at him while in what looked to be surprise mixed with 
pity.
	Things started to register to his still groggy mind.  This was 
his bed and pillow, in the room that his mother had given to him 
last night.  The girl in front of him was his twin sister from whom 
he'd been separated for nine years.  And there wouldn't be any 
morning training sessions anymore because his father was dead.  
The last thought made Ranma close his eye and try to find the 
comfort of sleep again.
	Somehow, Ami knew that Ranma was thinking of his . . . 
no, their father again.  It was strange that she could feel nothing 
over his death.  She had loved him very much in the few years that 
she had known him and still cherished those memories to this very 
day.  *I guess that to me he died when I thought you had, Ranma.  
I feel ashamed that I can't grieve over him now because I did so 
long ago.*
	Ami started shaking him again, saying, "Come on, Ranma, 
you have to get up.  You can't be late for your first day of school."
	"What's the point of me going to school?" he grumbled into 
his pillow.  "Bet they don't teach martial arts there.  Better if I 
spent that time on something useful, like training."
	"School is very important.  You need to study hard so you 
can pass the entrance exams to high school.  With all your 
traveling, you're going to need to study twice as hard as everyone 
else.  Life can't be just martial arts, Ranma."
	"Who says?"
	Ami stood back from Ranma and thought about the 
situation for a bit.  It was obvious her brother was depressed over 
their father's death.  She couldn't blame him for that, in fact, she 
would have been surprised if he wasn't, but he needed to do 
something or he'd never get over it.  School might just be the thing 
to shake him out of his funk.  He'd at least get to be out among 
other people his age.  She knew that her own boy-crazy friends 
would be interested in her handsome brother.  Usagi also had a 
knack for making depressed people feel better, even if she was 
sometimes clumsy about it.
	What she needed was a new tactic.  She suddenly 
remembered Ranma gobbling down the rice balls last night.  
"Breakfast is waiting.  You better get up before it's all gone."
	Ami had to jump back as a sudden gust of wind flew by her 
face, caused by a blur that vaguely resembled her brother.  She 
blinked in surprise.  She didn't know any human could move that 
fast . . . outside of a senshi uniform that is.  She remembered a 
certain incident when Sailor Mars had tried to stand between ice 
cream and a hungry Sailor Moon.  The results hadn't been pretty.
	On coming to the dinner table, she saw her mother babying 
Ranma incessantly, making sure he had enough to eat and that 
everything was just right.  She was even cutting up his fish for 
him!  Ami fought to ignore the sudden stab of jealousy.  Her 
mother was a busy woman and couldn't spend that much time with 
her.  Ami accepted that.  But she also enjoyed those rare moments 
when her mother did have the time to devote to her and here was 
one such moment snatched from her.  Ami shook the thought 
away.  This was her brother, whom mom hadn't seen for nine 
years, whom she thought was dead!  Of course her mother wanted 
to baby him; she never thought that she would have the chance to 
do so again.
	So it was with an only slightly strained smile that Ami took 
her place at the table.  She needn't have worried.  Nodoka included 
her in her over-mothering without missing a beat.  It wasn't long 
before she had managed to embarrass both brother and sister by 
treating them like little children.
	"Now, Ranma," Nodoka instructed her son once his 
impressive appetite had finally been sated.  "I know that it's going 
to be difficult for you, jumping into school when the year is half-
over already, so just try and do your best.  Your sister Ami should 
be able to help you with any problems you have.  She gets the 
highest marks in every class.  I'm so proud of her!"
	"Mother!" Ami said, embarrassed by her mother's gushing.
	Ranma smiled to see his mother's onslaught of affection 
directed at someone else.  He was incredibly happy to have his 
mother back again, yet he still wished that she wasn't so . . . 
extreme with showing how much she cared.  After living nine 
years on the road with his pop, Ranma wasn't at all used to open 
displays of affection.  It was embarrassing and made him feel 
uncomfortable.  And then it made him feel guilty for feeling that 
way about it.
	"I think we better leave for school now," Ami said, mostly 
to her mom to distract her from her heaping of praises.  She didn't 
know what she could have been thinking when she had actually 
been jealous of Ranma earlier.  Her mother's over-affection was 
something that could only be handled in small doses.
	Ranma nodded, Nodoka handed the both of them their 
bentos, and they were off.

	Ami liked getting to school early.  It gave her a chance to 
be involved in school activities, do some reading, and on the rare 
occasion that she needed to, finish her homework.  So they had 
finalized Ranma's enrollment with time to spare.  Ami decided that 
Ranma should wait in the school yard after they had finished.  She 
had a few things to do that would certainly bore him and besides, 
she hoped he would make a few friends and get out of his shell.
	Ranma wandered around the yard, head down, shoulders 
slumped, waiting for Ami to return.  He did not want to be there, 
he didn't want to be anywhere at the moment.  He wasn't watching 
where he was going, so he didn't even notice when he knocked a 
student over into the dirt.  Ranma walked on without even a sign 
that he had even seen the boy.
	"Hey!" Sai shouted at the guy in the red shirt that had just 
knocked him down.  He didn't know who the kid was, but he had 
just made a big mistake.  Sai was the leader of the toughest gang in 
Juuban middle school and no one messed with him and just walked 
away.  He and his five friends would teach the new kid a lesson 
over his rude behavior.
	Makoto was just arriving at school, a little later than usual, 
with Minako at her side, who was actually going to be on time 
today.  She was almost as bad at being on time as Usagi and 
Artemis was finding increasingly more difficult to wake her up in 
the morning.  They had both had just entered the school yard when 
the fight between Ranma and the six toughs began.
	Ami turned the corner and was shocked to immobility to 
see her brother taking on all the toughest guys at school at once.  
She had assumed that after such a long training journey that her 
brother would be an impressive fighter, but six kids versus one 
hardly seemed like fair odds to her.
	Ranma hadn't looked back when the guy called out to him, 
he hadn't even heard, yet he expertly dodged out of the way of the 
guy's punch.  The pig-tailed boy was snapped back to reality to 
find himself surrounded by six tough-looking kids.
	"Wow, I've never seen anyone fight that way before," 
Minako remarked as she watched the pig-tailed boy flow out of the 
way of attacks, moving with the same fluid grace when he struck 
back.  So graceful, it was more like watching a ballet dancer than a 
fighter.
	"I don't think he's as tough as some of the enemies we've 
faced, but for a human, he's impressive," Makoto said as she licked 
her lips, impressed despite her superior tone.
	"Who's that fighting?" Rei asked.
	Makoto and Minako nearly jumped out of their skin at the 
sudden appearance of their friend and fellow senshi.  "What are 
you doing here?" they both asked simultaneously.
	Rei looked a little embarrassed and said, "Well, I wanted to 
return these notes that I borrowed from Ami before school started."
	Makoto and Minako nodded, but didn't look at all 
convinced.
	"You know, he kind of reminds me of . . .," Makoto trailed 
off when she realized what she was about to say.
	"Your old sempai?" Rei quipped.
	Makoto blushed in embarrassment.  "Well, he does!"
	"You know who he reminds me of?" Minako asked with a 
big smile.
	"Who?"  Makoto and Rei both asked.
	"My future boyfriend."
	Makoto was indignant.  "Hey!  I saw him first!"
	"Did not!"
	Watching the two argue, Rei wondered if she should just 
find Ami and then head right on to her school.  After turning to 
watch the handsome boy beating up the toughs again, she decided 
that she could stay a little longer.
	Ami had expected Ranma to be a good fighter, he had been 
training ever since he could walk, but she had never expected for 
him to be this good.  She saw him do things that she wouldn't even 
try as Sailor Mercury.  Makoto may have been able to imitate him 
when transformed to Sailor Jupiter, but even then it was doubtful.  
There was almost something unnatural with the way his body bent 
out of the way of attacks, like he knew the way his opponents 
would move before they did.  She also wondered if some of those 
moves could be adapted for senshi.
	Ranma slowly brought his hands down as he surveyed the 
six punks now lying on the ground.  Those that were still conscious 
were in serious pain and wouldn't be getting up soon, though none 
of them had suffered permanent injury.  It had been close a few 
times there, but in the end he had retained control of himself.  He 
knew that against untrained people like this, he could really could 
maim or even kill if he didn't hold back.  Still, he had hoped they 
would have been better than that.  He needed someone to train 
against if he was going to keep his edge.
	"Hey, it's Ami-chan," Minako pointed out their friend out 
of a crowd who had also been watching the fight.
	"She seems kind of stunned," Rei noted.  "Do you think . . 
.?"
	Makoto finished her thought.  "That she could be interested 
in the new guy?  It's possible.  Maybe she knows something about 
him."
	"Yeah, let's go ask her!"  Minako suddenly enthused, 
running to greet Ami.
	Makoto and Rei ran after her, not wanting to be left out.
	Ami was shaken out of her daze when she noticed Minako,  
Makoto, and Rei run up to her.  She had a hard time believing that 
her brother had won, but was shocked that he had done so without 
getting hit once himself.  The toughs he had faced lacked any real 
training or fighting experience, but with six against one, they 
should have been able to tag Ranma at least once.
	Minako waved her hand in front of Ami's face after their 
calls had elicited no response.  "Hello, Ami-chan, anyone in 
there?"
	This seemed to snap Ami out of whatever daze she was in.  
"What?  Oh Minako, is there something you wanted?"
	"Yeah, what do you--"
	Makoto cut her off, pushing her out of the way, and asked, 
"Do you know anything about that guy who just won the fight over 
there?"
	Rei and Minako were instantly at the tallest senshi's side, 
also eager for the info.
	"Well," Ami started to explain, feeling uncomfortable 
under their close scrutiny.  "He's my brother."
	"What?!"  Minako, Makoto, and Rei all said 
simultaneously.
	"How did this--?"
	"Since when have you--?"
	"Why didn't you--?"
	Ami cut off their questions by explaining.  "I never 
mentioned Ranma before because I thought that he had died a long 
time ago.  He's been traveling with my father studying martial arts 
for nearly ten years.  Recently, our father died in a training 
accident in China, so he came home.  He just arrived last night."
	"So is he your younger or older brother?"  Makoto asked.
	"Actually, we're twins."
	All three of her friends too a long look at the boy and then 
turned to her with skeptical expressions.
	"I know we don't look that much alike.  We're fraternal 
twins, which means that two separate egg cells were fertilized at 
the same time."
	Her friends all looked a little green.  Minako told Ami, 
"You didn't need to go into that much detail."
	"Sorry," Ami replied, embarrassed.
	Just then the bell rang, signaling it was time for everyone to 
go to class.
	"Rei, shouldn't you--?" Ami started and then realized that 
there was no sign of the fire senshi.
	The others all looked around with confusion.  "How does 
she do that?" Makoto wondered out loud.
	Usagi ran up to her friends.  After a few gasps of air, she 
asked them, "Hey, did I miss anything?"
	Ami, Minako, and Makoto all sweat-dropped.

	"Class," the teacher said as she stood next to a unfamiliar 
boy.  "Today we have a new student.  His name is Ramna . . . 
Saotome?"  She blinked as she studied his record closely.  "I 
thought you were Ami's long-lost brother?"
	"I am.  I decided to keep my father's family name." 
	There was something in the boy's voice that stopped the 
teacher from inquiring any further, but also made her wonder if she 
should arrange a visit with the school counselor.  "Would you 
please tell the class something about yourself?"
	Ranma looked over the class with a sullen expression that 
only lightened when his eyes settled on his sister.  He shrugged and 
said, "Been training in martial arts all over the place so I haven't 
been to school much before.  Just came back from China.  Ami's 
my sister.  Um . . . can't think of anything else to say."
	Minako's hand immediately shot up.
	"Yes, Minako?" the teacher asked.
	"Can I ask the new student a question?" she said with her 
most innocent expression.  Ami was immediately worried.
	"All right," the teacher replied, though she doubted this was 
a good idea.  She hadn't known the new student long, but she had 
already proven herself to be something of a trouble maker.
	Minako nodded to the teacher and then turned to her new 
victim . . . er, fellow student.  "So Saotome-kun . . . do you have a 
girlfriend?"
	Several girls in class, including Makoto, glared at the 
senshi of love.  Ami groaned and rubbed her forehead.  She should 
have known that something like this would happen.  Usagi, who 
had been catching a few extra z's, studied the new boy with 
interest.  *He's cute,* she concluded.  *But not as cute as Mamo-
chan!*
	Ranma only looked confused by the question.  "Um . . . 
no," he answered honestly.
	"Want one?" Minako asked immediately.
	Ranma watched in even more confusion as several of the 
other female students suddenly jumped Minako in order to shut her 
up.
	The teacher was a bit stunned as well.  "Ah Ranma, why 
don't you take the empty seat near your sister?"
	Ranma nodded and went to the indicated seat, thankful it 
was some distance from Minako and the other students who were 
still brawling.
	"You'll have to forgive Minako," Ami told her brother after 
he sat down.  "She's a bit . . . impulsive."
	Ranma nodded absently and looked out the window.  Ami 
sighed when she realized that her brother wasn't paying attention to 
her at all.  The fight earlier, combined with the way he was acting 
now, all seemed to indicate that it would be a long time before he'd 
get over his anger and depression.
	The teacher was used to strange occurrences and 
troublesome students in her class, especially since Minako had 
transferred in.  However, now even her increased patience was 
being strained.  The new student Ranma was staring out the 
window and ignoring her lessons.  That was all right with her, 
considering his recent loss, but more upsetting was the commotion 
his presence was causing with the other students.  Most of the girls 
in class were staring at him with hearts in their eyes.  Most of the 
boys were glaring at him with daggers.  Even Ami wasn't 
displaying her usual level of attentiveness, no doubt worried about 
her brother.  She was very relieved when the period ended, but she 
would make sure to pass a few warnings off to the next teacher.
	Ranma continued to stare out the window, not noticing 
when the teachers changed.  He also ignored the small pile of notes 
that had accumulated on his desk.
	His sister Ami wished that she could just ignore her own 
pile of notes, which she had struggled to answer while still paying 
attention to the teacher and Ranma.  Most were from girls who 
wanted her to convince Ranma to take them out on dates.  Ami 
developed a standard reply for all these, that there has been a recent 
tragedy in the family and it would be best to leave him alone for 
the time being.  She knew that would make most girls back off, but 
she'd have to watch for the few bolder ones who would want to 
'comfort' her brother.  Hopefully, she'd be able to handle them.
	Then there were the notes from her friends.  Usagi was 
wondering why Ami had never talked about her cute brother 
before.  Ami wrote back what she had basically told the other 
senshi earlier.  Makoto wanted to know what his favorite food was.  
Ami answered that he seemed to eat anything and had a very big 
appetite.  Minako wanted to know if there was anything she could 
do to make Ranma feel better.  Ami replied that while she 
appreciated the offer, she thought it would make Ranma more 
uncomfortable.  Ami could feel the impending disaster.  She knew 
that her friends were a little boy crazy, but this was ridiculous.  
There was a feeling of dread when the lunch bell finally rang.
	Seeing most females in class already inching towards 
Ranma, who looked as if he hadn't even heard the lunch bell, Ami 
shook her brother's shoulder and said, "Ranma, it's lunch time.  
Why don't we get our bentos and eat outside, okay?"
	Ranma nodded absently and stood up.  School had been 
dull so far, combined with all the things on his mind, he just 
couldn't pay attention to any of it.  It would be good to eat 
something, though he'd much rather be training.  He could feel his 
edge slipping away.  How could he live up to his father's dream of 
being the greatest martial artist of all time when he was stuck 
sitting in a classroom all day?  *Maybe I can eat real quick and get 
in some training during lunch time.*
	Ranma was snapped out of his thoughts when he noticed 
that the exit was blocked by a wall of girls, with a really tall girl in 
front and two others, like blonde book ends, to either side of her.  
One was the girl that had asked him that odd question and the other 
had this really strange hairstyle like twin buns, though it did 
resemble something he had seen in China once.
	Seeing this human wall move closer and closer, Ranma 
panicked.  He grabbed his sister by the waist and jumped out the 
window.  In his haste, he had forgotten that he was on the third 
floor.
	Ami screamed in terror as she suddenly found herself 
plummeting three stories.  Even after all her experiences as Sailor 
Mercury, there wasn't anything as scary as seeing the ground 
rushing up at her at a speed that she knew would cause broken 
bones.  So it was with some surprise that her brother, who held her 
in his arms, kicked off the first story, did a flip in the air, and 
landed easily in the school yard.
	Still too startled to notice her brother's smile, Ami scolded 
him, "Don't ever do that again!"  Then recovering, added, "Though 
that was very impressive."
	Ranma, still smiling, said, "Yeah, I'm surprised that I was 
able to pull it off.  Never tried anything like it before."
	"What?!"
	Ranma set his sister down and rubbed the back of his head 
in embarrassment.  "I kind of forgot that we were on the third 
floor."
	Ami sighed.  "I guess there's nothing to do about it now.  
Though you really should look before you leap, Ranma."
	He laughed a bit nervously.  "Well, I'll try from now on."  
Looking around, he added,  "We're outside now at least.  Let's eat!  
I want to try to get some training in afterwards."
	"Ranma, our bentos are still in our lockers inside the 
building, remember?"
	"Oh yeah." Ranma asked her nervously, "Could you go and 
get them?"
	Ami guessed why Ranma was so reluctant to go back 
inside.  "Ranma, you took on six toughs without any problem and 
you're afraid to go back inside because of a few girls?"
	"I'm not afraid of anything!" Ranma shouted immediately.  
The smile was gone from his lips now and there was a defiant glare 
in his eyes, as if he was daring the world to prove him wrong.  Ami 
wondered what Ranma was so afraid of that made him 
automatically put up such a front.
	"It's okay, Ranma.  I'll go inside and get our bentos.  You 
just wait here and I'll be right back."
	"Yeah, thanks sis."
	Ami grinned at being called 'sis.'  "After all, what are big 
sisters for?"
	"Hey, I'm the older one.  You're my little sister!"
	Ami laughed as she started to make her way to back inside.  
"Whatever you say, little brother."

	Ranma had been waiting for only a few minutes, when he 
saw the mob of girls rush outside.  There was a chance that they 
weren't after him, but that wasn't a chance that he was willing to 
take.  For some reason he couldn't define, it made him incredibly 
nervous when girls paid him that much attention, except for his 
mother and sister.  Ranma jumped up into a tree and hid amongst 
the foliage.
	He watched as the girls searched around for him, some 
covertly and some overtly.  One girl even stopped under the tree in 
which he was hiding.  "Where could he be?" he could faintly hear 
the girl say to herself.  "I only wanted to share my lunch with him."
	Ranma couldn't stop his stomach from growling when he 
thought of all the goodies that the his lunch contained.  He hadn't 
realized just how hungry he was until that moment.  He hoped in 
vain that the girl hadn't heard it, but she must have had sharp ears 
for her head snapped up to look in the tree.
	"Who's there?" she called out.  "Is that you, Luna?  
Artemis?"
	Ranma sunk deeper into the tree's foliage, absently noting 
that this was the tall girl with the pony-tail that had blocked him 
earlier.  She was easy to recognize since she wore a different 
school uniform that the other girls.  Ranma wondered about that a 
little as he hoped she would give up her search.
	She almost looked like she was getting ready to climb up 
after him, when his sister Ami ran up to the girl, carrying two 
bentos.  This time Ranma was able to stop his stomach from 
grumbling, though he couldn't stop his mouth from watering.  He 
was starving and his lunch was right there, but the tall girl blocked 
his path.
	"Makoto, have you seen my brother around?  I only left 
him hear a few minutes ago so I could get our lunches."
	Makoto shook her head.  "Nope, and I've been looking for 
him.  I thought that he'd like to try some of my lunch."
	They both glanced up as a low growl came from above 
them.  "What was that?" Ami asked.
	"Don't know.  I think a cat got stuck --"
	Both were stunned when Ranma fell out the tree right 
before them, looking up in fright.  Ami  put a hand on his shoulder.  
"Ranma, are you all right?"
	That seemed to snap Ranma out of whatever state he was 
in.  "Yeah, it was just the thought of being in a tree with a 
c�ca..c�cat.  I don't like them."
	"No kidding," Makoto commented.  "But if it wasn't a cat 
up there, what was that sound?"
	Ranma's stomach took this as its cue and growled again.  
Ranma looked embarrassed.
	Both girls giggled.  "I guess you really are hungry, Ranma," 
Ami told her brother.  "Why don't we just have our lunch right now 
under this tree, okay?"
	There was a not-so-subtle glance from Ranma over to 
Makoto who looked away from him and whistled innocently.
	Ami smiled.  "Ranma, I'd like you to meet a good friend of 
mine, Makoto.  She only wants to have lunch with us.  I'm sure that 
she won't be any trouble."
	Ranma didn't see how he could tell his sister who she could 
and couldn't have lunch with, even if the girl made him nervous.  
"Um . . . hi."
	Makoto was a little surprised by the look that Ami gave 
her, that seemed to mean that she had better behave or else.  She 
bowed and said, "It's nice to meet you, Saotome-san."
	As soon as she saw the expression of pain flicker across 
Ranma's face, she knew that she had said something wrong.  "Oh, 
I'm sorry!  I forgot, I didn't mean your father. . ."
	"It's all right," Ranma replied as he took his bento from his 
sister and opened it up.
	Not knowing what she could say that wouldn't just make 
things worse, Ami sat down and started on her own bento.  Makoto 
felt that she had to say something more, but when nothing occurred 
to her, she decided to follow Ami's example.
	Their silent meal was suddenly interrupted by the 
appearance of Minako, with a very exhausted-looking Usagi in 
tow.  The reason that she had been chasing around her fellow 
senshi was made obvious by the fact that Minako was holding onto 
Usagi's bento.
	"Hey, can we eat with you guys?" Minako asked as she sat 
down and started on her bento without waiting for an answer.  Ami 
nodded absently.  Makoto was too busy covertly glancing at 
Ranma to notice.  Ranma was wholly focused on demolishing the 
meal before him.
	Usagi, finally caught up, had to catch her breath as well 
before angrily snatching her bento back from Minako, sat herself 
down, and began inhaling her meal.
	Makoto blinked as she glanced from Ranma, to Usagi, and 
back to Ranma.  They were eating at exactly the same rate.  It was 
as if their movements were synchronized somehow.  She wasn't the 
only one to notice this.  Minako was looking around with 
something akin to wonder.
	Makoto and Minako looked at each other, an understanding 
passing between them.  "Too weird," Makoto said. Minako nodded 
in reply.
	At the rate they were going, it was no surprise that both 
Ranma and Usagi had finished their lunches in record time.  Usagi 
was already looking over to Makoto, wondering how she could 
convince her friend to part with some of her food.  Ranma was 
glancing over at his sister's bento, pondering if Ami really was 
going to finish the entire meal in front of her.
	"Still hungry, eh Ranma?" Minako said in a sultry voice as 
she slowly moved closer to him.  Ranma and the others were too 
stunned by her spectacle to do anything but watch.  "I've got 
something that you can . . . gnaw on."
	Ranma gulped now that Minako was only inches away 
from him.  "Um, yeah?"
	"My . . . rice and pickles!" She announced in a cheery tone 
as she held out her bento to Ranma.  The other senshi all face-
faulted.
	"Thanks," Ranma told her as he carefully took the bento 
from her, like he expected it to turn out to be a bomb or something.
	"My pleasure, Ranma-chan," she said with a wink.
	"Chan?!" Makoto and Usagi shouted simultaneously.  Ami 
rubbed her forehead again as she felt her earlier headache returning 
in full force.
	"Yes," she explained in a teacher-like tone while waving 
her finger in the air.  "Ranma is Ami's brother and since Ami-chan 
is almost like a sister to me, it's almost like Ranma's my brother 
too.  Isn't that right, Ranma-chan?"
	Minako and the other senshi glanced over to Ranma to see 
that he hadn't heard any of her explanation since he was face-deep 
in the remains of her bento.
	A few moments later, Ranma set the empty bento down 
beside his own, not even a single grain of rice remaining.  That was 
when he noticed that everyone there was staring at him.  "What?  Is 
there some food on my face?"

	"Your friends are kind of strange," Ranma remarked to his 
sister as they were leaving the school for the day.  The rest of the 
day had been mostly uneventful, except during gym where most of 
the girls either cheered Ranma on or fought over him.  Makoto and 
Minako had been the most vocal in both instances.
	"Well, they're not always like that," Ami told her brother, 
though that wasn't entirely true.  Still, Ami was glad that Makoto 
had to stay in school for cooking club and Minako had volleyball 
practice.  They had both looked like they want to skip out on them, 
but Ami convinced them otherwise.  Usagi had fled the moment 
the school bell had rung.  She had mentioned something about a 
date with Mamoru.
	Roughly a dozen boys blocked the exit to the school.  Ami 
recognized some of them from the group that Ranma had beaten up 
before school.  Strangely enough, they made any hostile move 
towards them.
	"Been waiting for you, Ranma," one of them spoke.
	"How do you know my name?" Ranma asked.
	The kid shrugged.  He was taller and somewhat bulkier 
than Ranma.  He was still wearing his school uniform, but the 
jacket was undone and there was a red bandanna wrapped around 
his spiky black hair.  Ranma noticed that most of the other boys 
also wore red bandannas, either on their heads or arms.  "Taeko's in 
your class," he said, indicating one of the boys with a thumb.
	"What's your name then?"
	The boy smiled, his over-long canines resembling fangs.  
"The name's Sai.  Rest of the boys here are part of my gang, the 
Stone-Blood."
	Ranma eyed them all a bit warily.  None of them were at 
his level, but their numbers would make a significant difference.  
Ranma wasn't particularly used to fighting multiple opponents.  He 
still didn't have too much trouble, as long as the numbers were low.  
"So you're looking for a rematch?"
	Sai laughed and after a moment the other boys started 
laughing as well.  Ranma only looked at them in confusion.
	"What's going on here?" Ranma asked them.
	Sai cut off the laughter with a sharp hand gesture and 
explained, "Before you came, I was the best fighter at school.  
There wasn't any kid here that I couldn't beat.  The only person I 
knew who was better was my cousin, he could wipe the floor with 
me, but I think you're even better than him.  Heck, the six of us 
couldn't even touch you."
	"So what do you want?"
	"We want to make you our new leader so you can teach us 
how to fight like you do."
	"So you can get better at bullying kids and stealing their 
lunches?"
	Sai looked outraged.  "Hey, we don't do any of that!  We 
keep things peaceful by making sure no one doesn't cause any 
trouble.  We don't mess with innocent kids."
	"What about the punch you threw at me then?"
	Sai's look of outrage changed to that of embarrassment.  
"You caught me at a bad time, okay?"
	Ranma looked them over.  The last thing he wanted to be 
was the leader of a gang.  He was sure his mom wouldn't like the 
idea at least, and he didn't like being responsible for others like 
that.  Still, training them would help his own training and while not 
good fighters now, most of them did have potential, especially Sai.  
"I'll think about your offer, okay?" he finally said.
	Sai nodded.  "All I can ask for."  With another sharp 
gesture, the boys stopped blocking the gate, letting Ranma and 
Ami pass through unbothered.

	Only after they had walked a few blocks with no sign of 
pursuit, did Ami finally breathe a sigh of relief.  Her brother had 
certainly become popular quickly, a little too popular for her tastes.  
First, all the girls wanted to date him.  Then all the boys seemed to 
want to beat him up.  Now a gang wanted him to be their leader!  It 
seemed to Ami that her relatively quiet school days would be a 
thing of the past now that Ranma was here.  Not that Ami would 
have it any other way.
	Ami had thought too soon as a girl suddenly appeared 
before them.  Rei eyed Ranma while saying to her, "I forgot to 
return the notes I borrowed from you yesterday before school, so 
here they are."
	Ami accepted the notebook from Rei and made to move on, 
when Rei spoke again.  "Aren't you going to introduce me to your 
brother, Ami?"
	With some chagrin, Ami told her brother, "Ranma, this is 
another one of my friends, Rei Hino."
	Rei bowed respectfully.  "Pleased to meet you, Ranma-
kun."
	With some nervousness, Ranma bowed in return, saying, 
"Nice to meet you too. Um, how did you do that?"
	Rei blinked in surprise.  "Do what?"
	"Appear suddenly before us like that.  I didn't sense your 
presence at all."  Ranma was quite impressed.  With all that had 
happened at school, he had made himself as sensitive as possible.  
He didn't think that there was anyone who could sneak up on him 
when he was like that.
	Rei blushed a little.  "It is a secret technique of a Shinto 
Shine priestess."
	"Did you think you can teach me how to do that?" Ranma 
asked eagerly.  He would learn anything, no matter how difficult, 
to live up to his father's wish of being the greatest martial artist in 
the world.
	"Well, I don't know," Rei hesitated.  It was something she 
really shouldn't be teaching to anyone but the priest or priestess 
that would succeed her.  Besides, she wasn't sure if she would  be 
able to teach it in the first place.  The actual technique was easy, 
but the spiritual training it took just to be able to do it was hard.  
"It's really something that only should be taught to another Shinto 
priest or priestess . . . but if you came to the shrine and got my 
grandfather's permission, I guess I could teach you."
	"All right.  Ami, can we go to the shrine tomorrow after 
school?"
	Ami shook her head.  "I've got my juku tomorrow, Ranma."
	"Oh, that's right --"
	"I could take you!" Rei interrupted.
	"Huh?" Ranma said as he turned to her again.
	Rei was blushing and speaking more hesitantly now.  "I 
mean, I could meet you after school and take you there.  It wouldn't 
be any trouble for me."
	"All right, if it isn't any trouble."
	"Right, see you then!"  With that, Rei practically ran all the 
way to the shrine, leaving two very bewildered teenagers behind.

	Ranma was a little surprised when they got home that the 
house was empty.  "Where's mom?"
	"Ranma, mother is a very busy doctor at Juuban General.  
Normally, she rushes out of here in the morning and doesn't get 
home until late.  Yesterday was one of her rare days off."
	"Oh."
	Ami couldn't help notice the note of disappointment in her 
brother's voice.  "I guess it would be nice to have a mom who's 
here to greet us when we get home, but we wouldn't be able to 
afford this apartment then.  Besides, mom loves her work."
	Ranma grinned suddenly.  "Guess it's better this way.  I 
didn't think she was ever going to let me out of her sight this 
morning."
	Ami laughed a little at that.  "She probably wouldn't have if 
I hadn't distracted her.  I think mom feels guilty about how busy 
her work keeps her and so tries to compensate by being overly 
attentive when she can.  It does make her a little overbearing at 
times."  Ami decided to change the subject.  "We should probably 
get started on our homework now.  I'll help you through it since I 
noticed you weren't paying that much attention in class."
	"Can't we do that sometime later?  I mean, I wanted to get 
some training in while it's still light out."
	"Ranma, the sun won't set for hours now.  Besides, where 
outside are you planning to train?"
	"I don't know," Ranma admitted.
	"Look, I'll make some snacks for us to have while we do 
our homework.  After we finish, we can go over to the athletic 
complex and set you up with a membership.  That way you can 
train all you want no matter how dark it is outside."
	"Snacks?" Ranma asked eagerly.
	Ami giggled.  It seemed that Ranma was much like Usagi 
in the respect that their stomachs always came first, though she had 
a hard time imagining Usagi as a martial artist.

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