Okay, before you people kill me for the long delay in reposting chapter
1, first let me just say "I'm sorry". I was in the midst of revising
chapter 1 when I posted chapter 2 to the FFML, and I wanted to finish
revising it before reposting it so hence, the long delay. Sorry bout
that.

A Ranmasm fanfic
Chapter 1
Disclaimer: [Insert standard disclaimer here]
Co-authored by: H-Packrat(gulrey@webquest.com)

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and Ranma1/2 characters belong to their
respective owners. 

	--Three weeks ago--

	Akuma looked at the mere boy in front of him and snorted. "Go away, I
do not do battle with children," he said turning his back on the boy.

	"Oh, is that so..." the boy said, smiling.

	Akuma stopped suddenly as he felt the battle ki of the boy behind him
begin to rise. He turned his head back with a look of shock and surprise
on his face, for the ki resembled the ki he used when he performed the
move of the Raging Demon.

	Akuma's look changed to a smile, as he got ready to face this new
fighter. Perhaps, the boy might be a worthy challenge after all.

	--Present--

	"You're Usagi's cousin??" Ami asked, incredulous. The tall, cute
stranger in front of her didn't seem related to Usagi in the slightest.

	"Yes, apparently my father was related to her mother," Ranma said
lazily, lounging in one of the single-seat sofa, taking the curious
looks that the rest of the Senshi was shooting him in stride. His duffel
bag was lying on the floor by his side, apparently untouched. He
wondered why everyone was acting so weirdly around him, although he
could understand why that strange shinto girl was acting that way. After
all, he supposed it wasn't every day that she saw a demon so he guessed
she was probably shocked by the experience.

	It was no wonder the rest of the Senshi curious after all. They
wondered who this person was, that was related to their princess.

	"So, how come we never heard of you before?" Makoto demanded, still not
sure if this person was really related to Usagi at all. After all, he
walked differently from Usagi. didn't look like her in the slightest.
For one thing, Usagi was blond and he was a brunette. Of course, all her
doubts would later be silenced when she saw him eat.

	"Hm," Ranma frowned. " Well, I don't think Usagi remembered me, after
all the last time I saw her was over 11 years ago, when she was still
very young," he said.

	"Well, I'm sure Usagi would have told us if she remebered she had such
a cute cousin," Minako said, winking mischieviously at Ranma, who seemed
to blush slightly before regaining his composure a moment later. "Where
are your parents? Didn't they come with you?" Minako asked, as she
didn't seem to see any other strangers besides Ranma.

	That brought about a silence from Ranma, as he seemed to stare off into
space for a while. "... My parents... they died a long time ago. About
eleven years ago, in fact." That seemed to bring sympathetic glances
from almost every girl in the room, especially Makoto, who knew what it
was like to lose both your parents. He shrugged as he noted their gloomy
faces. "It doesn't matter, I was only six then, so I don't really have
any memories of what they were like. I can't even remember how they
died."

	"So how did you spend these last eleven years?" Ami asked, wanting to
bring the conversation to a lighter topic.

	" Training in martial arts with -- " Ranma stopped suddenly, frowning
as he remembered Happosai, and his curse. Even now, the anger was still
raging in him, despite the fact that it had happened a few weeks ago.
Happosai had known! Had known what Jusenkyo was like, and yet he still
brought him there. And because of that, Ranma was cursed to transform
into a girl every time he got wet.	

	"With?" Usagi asked, having come out of her self induced 'coma' some
time in the last few minutes and had been interestedly listening to her
cousin's story. "Ow!" she said, grimacing as Rei elbowed her and shot
her a glare, warning her to keep silent.

	" With the most irritating old fart in the world!" Ranma spat out, as
he clenched his fingers into a fist, wishing that Happosai was there so
he could take some of his anger out on the old man.

	There was an awkward silence in the room, as the girls noticed the
intensity of his reaction. This was just when Tsukino Ikuko re-appeared,
still wearing her apron.

	"Dinner's ready," she said, inciting a reaction from Usagi, who
immediately bolted to the dinner table. Ranma however, was slower to
react as he stood up slowly. "Ranma?" Ikuko asked, motioning Ranma to
one side. "Do you have any plans?" she asked.

	"Hmm, not really. I figure I'd just drop by here then decide where to
go next," Ranma said casually, shrugging as he did so.

	"Why don't you stay with us?" Ikuko asked sincerely, catching Ranma by
surprise.

	" Ano?"

	" We can't just let you wander about Japan on your own. You are my
brother's little boy after all." Ranma grimaced, he hated being called a
little boy. But still, the offer tempted him. It had been such a long
time since he had stayed under a roof.

	Finally, he did the only thing he could. "Arigato gozaimasu," he said,
bowing low, deeply grateful.

	"Oh, please don't do that. You're family after all," Ikuko said,
smiling.

	----

	The rest of the Senshi watched in shocked silence as Ranma fought with
Usagi, the speed at which their hands moved over their battle ground,
the dinner table, left a blur in its wake as their chosen weapons
flashed through the air. It was like magic, the way the food vanished
from their plates only to disappear down the two cousin's throats.

	Ami was staring especially at Ranma, surprised that the previously
quiet and unruffled stranger she had met was the same person she was
seeing now. She was having trouble believing it actually.

	"Wow," Minako said, gaping slightly in awe as Ranma gulped down half a
bowl of rice along with some vegetables and fish. Barely pausing, he
swallowed the other half down with some meat and fish. "Now, I _know_
this guy is Usagi's cousin!"

	Belatedly, it occurred to her to protect her plate, as a third of its
contents seemed to have disappeared as well.

	Rei, who had protected her plate after losing half of it to Usagi,
glared at the cousins. Not an angry sort of glare, but the glare you
used when you were annoyed. Which Rei was, a lot. "Great," she
commented, sarcasm dripping from her words. "Not only do we have a
ravenous bunny, we've also got a wild horse that eats like a horse."

	Tsukino Kenji sweat-dropped as he looked at the two teenagers eating.
Taking care of one Usagi was bad enough, but two? He wondered if he
could even afford to pay the food bills now. It looked like Ranma had
inherited his father's appetite, judging from the stories Ikuko
sometimes told him about her brother, Genma.

	----
	
	Usagi watched as Ranma quickly settled into his new room, dumping his
duffel bag onto the floor as he walked towards the bed. Gently, almost
reverently, he placed the strange wrapped bundle down on a nearby table.

	"What's in the bundle?" Usagi asked, her natural curiousity getting the
better of her.

	"This?" Ranma asked, holding it up, before unwrapping it, to reveal the
hilt and scabbard of a katana. Usagi's eyes widened when he unsheathed
the katana slightly, the gleam of polished metal reflecting the light
back at her, before just as quickly, he sheathed it again, before gently
wrapping it up again.

	Usagi couldn't believe that her cousin was actually carrying a katana
with him, a perfectly functional katana from what she had seen.
"Wh...what are you doing with that?" she managed to squeak out, when she
was sure that her voice wouldn't give out on her.

	Ranma's face took on a hint of sadness as he looked at the katana, but
it was gone so quickly that Usagi wasn't sure it had ever been there to
begin with.

	"It was my mother's," Ranma said. "It's the only thing I have to remind
me of my parents."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Usagi said apologetically, looking down at the ground
as she watched her cousin.

Ranma didn't say anything but then again he didn't need to.

	---------


	_Destruction. Death. Chaos. It was every where he looked, dead or dying
people lying scattered on the battlefield. Large craters pock-marked the
landscape, where blasts of magic and ki had struck. He wondered vaguely
where he was, as he walked among the corpses. 

	Death, so much death. Could any war truly be worth so much bloodshed?
The leaders of both armies certainly seemed to think so. He wanted to
cry as he saw the dead bodies of innocent children lying on the field of
battle, struck down from behind when they tried to run. Who could have
done such thing? *WHO!* his mind screamed.

	And suddenly he knew, as he caught his reflection in one of the pools
of rainwater. It was him._

	----

	The next morning, Makoto dropped by extra early by Usagi's house on
their way to school. It was a daily ritual for the Inner Senshi, to meet
at Usagi's house in the morning and go to school together. But the real
reason she had dropped by early was because she hoped to learn more
about Ranma.

	"Hello Makoto, you're early today," Mrs Tsukino remarked pleasantly,
smiling at Makoto, who blushed embarassedly.

	" Ohaiyo Tsukino-san, is Usagi up?" Makoto asked, although she already
knew the answer.

	Mrs Tsukino shook her head, sighing in exasperation as she did so.
Despite the fact that she loved her daughter, some times she wished that
Usagi wasn't so... so... 'Usagi' all the time.

	"Oh, then is Ranma up?" Makoto asked again, although if his sleeping
habits were anything like Usagi's, he wouldn't be. So she was pleasantly
surprised when Mrs. Tsukino nodded.

	"He's been up since dawn. He's out in the courtyard if you want him."
There was a slight rush of air, causing Mrs. Tsukino to blink and when
she opened her eyes again, Makoto was already gone.

	Makoto was out in the courtyard before Mrs Tsukino could even finish
blinking. Noticing Ranma, she stopped running and slowed down to a
leisurely walk, as she approached him from behind. She contemplated
challenging him to a match or something, since he was interested in
martial arts like her.

	Ranma meditated, drawing his ki into him, filling him up as it flowed
through him like a river. Focus! his mind said, focus. And he did.
Slowly he began going through the motions of a complex, yet simple kata,
quickly gaining speed as he did so. Snap, kick, thrust. 

	Makoto came to a complete halt as she watched Ranma jump into action,
launching himself intro an intricate pattern of forms. She imagined that
she could hear the air thrumming with energy as he did so.

	Ranma stopped, smiling with exertion. That had felt good, exercising
his muscles like that. But now, it was time for the real test. He drew
in a deep breath, relaxing himself. Then he began.

	Makoto watched in surprise as blue aura sprang into life around Ranma,
blazing about him. Blue tendrils rose off him, writhing like sapphire
flames. There was no sound for the next few moments as Makoto held her
silence in awe and Ranma... Ranma was too caught up in what he was doing
to pay any attention at all.

	Ranma waited for the ki to fill him to his limit, till he could not
take any more. It was sweeter than any other feeling he ever had, the
feeling of the ki filling him, more intoxicating than any drug. It was
life itself, pure and unadulterated. Finally, he reached his limit.
Taking a deep breath, he prepared himself. And pushed himself beyond it.

	Drawing more ki than one could hold was potentially dangerous, no
scratch that, it was very dangerous. The most fortunate thing that could
happen was that one's heart would simply burst or give out from the
strain of holding the ki. Ranma knew all this, but to train himself in
martial arts, he had to take some risks.

	Then just as suddenly, he let it go all at once, causing the ki to rush
out from him, causing a violent gust of wind to sweep across the
courtyard. Collapsing to his knees, he panted like he had just run a
marathon, sweat dripping down from his face only to be absorbed by the
earth he stood upon.

	That was when he was aware of another's presence in the courtyard.
Turning his head, he saw Makoto standing some distance away from him,
looking at him with a mixture of awe and shock. Putting on a small
smile, he greeted her, "Hello, you are one of Usagi's friends aren't
you?" 

	"Ye-yes, my name's Makoto Kino," Makoto said. "What was that thing you
did just now?" she asked, referring to Ranma's ki aura.

	"It's called Ki."

	"Ki?" Makoto said in surprise. She had always thought that Ki was
nothing but a myth, but from the demonstration she had just seen, it
looked like ki was only all too real.

	"Ki, all living beings have it, to some degree to another. In some
ways, it can be described as the essence of life," Ranma said, lecturing
Makoto as Happosai had lectured him so many times before. "In time,
martial artists can learn to harness this ki to their benefit, to boost
their speed or strength temporarily. The most talented of martial
artists can use this ki to do even more miraculous things, shoot balls
of ki from their fingers, manipulate the elements with it... The list
goes on and on."

	Makoto gawked at Ranma, suddenly seeing him in a new light. Spar with
him? It would be a wonder if she could even touch him. "Can..." she
licked her suddenly dry lips. "Can you teach me how to use my Ki?"

	Ranma stared at her for a moment, and she got the feeling she was being
assessed from head to toe, which caused her to flush red, feeling
embarrassed. 

	Finally, Ranma shrugged and nodded his head. "Sure, why not," he said.
"But don't expect any results straight away," he warned. "Hold out your
hands."

	"Why?" Makoto asked, but nonetheless she did it anyway. Ranma grabbed
hold of both of her hands, his larger ones easily encasing hers. "W-what
are you doing!" she said, jerking her hands back, but Ranma's grip was
as strong as steel.

	"Keep quiet, and concentrate. I'm going to let my ki resonate with
yours," Ranma said, his eyes closed as he concentrated. He wasn't sure
if what he was going to do was going to work, for Makoto was the first
one he was trying it with.

	Makoto said nothing, just stood there as Ranma held her hands, feeling
slightly foolish. She found herself staring at Ranma's face. It was what
she would have called cute, and there was a honesty to his face that
attracted her.

	"You're not concentrating," Ranma said under his breath, his eyes still
closed.

	Makoto flushed, realising that indeed she had not been concentrating at
all. "Gomen," she apologised, closing her eyes, although that caused her
to feel defenceless.

	Suddenly she felt it, a slight tinkling sensation rush over her and for
an instant, she felt more alive than she had for a long time. And then
just as quickly, it was over. "Wa... was that it?" she asked, surprising
herself by gasping slightly. Some how, that little exercise seemed to
have tired her slightly.

	" Yeah, that should be all for today," Ranma said, wiping off the sweat
that beaded above his eyebrows. That had been harder than he thought it
would be. He felt drained as well.

	----
	
	"Usagi! You're going to be late for school!" Ikuko yelled as she
watched her daughter rushing about, trying to get dressed and eat
breakfast at the same time. She sighed, why couldn't her daughter act
more like her she wondered. That was when she noticed that Ranma was
only just exiting the furo.

	"Ranma! You haven't gotten dressed yet??" she said, looking at him in
disbelief.

	"Dressed for what?" Ranma asked. 

	"For school! You're going to be late!"

	"But I'm a martial artist, I don't need to go to school," Ranma
protested, but stopped when he saw the look that Usagi's mother gave
him. He had seen it enough to know that there was no changing the
person's mind if they had that look on their face.

		----

	"I don't understand why I have to go to school in the first place,"
Ranma said, sulking slightly as he walked on the fence. Which was by
itself an easy fault, it was managing not to fall off said fence that
was really hard. 

	"How do you expect to get a job if you don't have a proper education!"
Rei argued.

	"I do have a proper education! I'm the best martial artist ever!" Ranma
said confidently.

	"There's more to life than martial arts you know," Rei retorted.

	"Sure, there's food and sleeping too," Ranma replied.

	The rest of the Senshi had to restrain Rei from striking the martial
artist on the head with her school bag.

	-----

	Usagi and the other Inners watched as several girls gathered around a
bewildered Ranma, bombarding him with questions about himself and his
social life. From the slightly panicked and nervous look on Ranma's
face, it seemed like his newly formed groupies were overwhelming him
with their attention.

	"Wow, Usagi, your cousin seems to be very popular," Ami remarked, as
she tried to count the number of people crowding around Ranma. But every
time she got up to ten, she would lost count as the people moved among
themselves.

	"Damn, they got to him first," Minako cursed, frowning cutely as she
stared at the bevy of females surrounding Ranma. If it wasn't for the
fact that there was practically no more space around him, she might have
considered joining them.

	Ranma looked nervously at the wall of girls in front of him, backing
away slowly. However, he soon found out that he had nowhere to retreat
as another several girls surrounded him from behind, cutting off his
route of escape. *What is wrong with these females!?* Ranma wondered, he
hadn't done anything to irritate them. Happosai hadn't stolen their
underwear and blamed him for it... So why were they ganging up on him
for? He couldn't understand it at all.

	"Say, isn't that Naru? I thought she and Umino were going steady?" Ami
said, squinting as she made out a familiar red-head among the crowd.

	" I bet she's trying to steal my Ranma!" Makoto said, preparing to go
over there and snatch Ranma away from those boy-hungry girls before they
could get their claws into him.

	"Your Ranma!?! When did he become your Ranma!" Minako yelled
incredulously, as she looked at Makoto. 

	"Uh..." Makoto had the grace to blush as she realised what she had
inadvertently blurted out. She hadn't meant to say that, but for some
reason it had just come out before she even realised she had the
thought.

	"Mako-chan, are you interested in my cousin?" Usagi asked innocently.
She took Makoto's blush as an affirmative and continued, "I could help
you get him on a date, if you'd just cook me one of your delicious
meals." Usagi's eyes glazed over as she imagined a mountain of food in
front of her.

	"Deal!" Makoto quickly agreed, nodding her head vigorously. 

	"HEY!!" Minako protested. "How about an all-you-can-eat coupon at Ice
Cream World?" she said quickly, turning to face Usagi.

	"Deal!" Usagi said, just as quickly. She never imagined that having a
cousin could be so beneficial.

	A large sweat-drop appeared on Ami's head as she looked at the other
three Inners. She opened her mouth to say something, when suddenly a
black blur whizzed past them. A black blur with blue eyes and a
pig-tail. It was shortly followed by a gaggle of girls.

	"They're unusually persistant today aren't they?" Ami commented,
frowning as she watched Ranma trying to lose the girls.

	"Wow, he's more handsome than Tuxedo Kamen!" several girls nearby
sighed as they watched Ranma from a distance. This unfortunate remark
however, found its way to Usagi.

	"Hey! How can you say that," Usagi yelled indignantly. "He is not more
handsome than Tuxedo Kamen!!" She turned to her friends for support.
"Right? Don't you agree Tuxedo Kamen is much more handsome?"

	"..." None of her friends replied, taking care to avoid her gaze.

	Tears welled up in Usagi's eyes, not believing her friends. "Bwaaaa!!
How can you say he's more handsome than Mamo-chan!" Usagi wailed, tears
flowing from her eyes like rain water.

	"Well... it depends if you want the refined scholarly look, or the
macho bursting-at-the-seams look," Makoto said, trying to comfort their
princess.

	"And Ranma is definitely bursting at the seams," Ami said unexpectedly,
staring off into the direction that Ranma had run off to. This caused
the rest of the girls to face-fault. "What? I'm not blind!" Ami said,
noting their startled gazes upon her. However, that didn't stop her from
blushing profusely a moment later.

	----

	*Man, those girls are persistant," Ranma thought as he watched the
girls pass under him from his safe hiding-place in the tree. He couldn't
understand this at all, had he done something to them? And why had he
run from them in the first place? He frowned as he pondered that point,
he remembered feeling very nervous as he was surrounded by them, and
when he saw the looks on the face... That was the straw that broke the
camel's back. He decided to make a run for it before something happened.

	He could imagine his friend, Ryouga's laughter when he heard that the
great Saotome Ranma had run away from a bunch of girls. Untrained girls
too! It was a joke really. But if it was, he didn't feel like laughing
at all. 
	
	Waiting until he was sure all the girls were gone, he jumped down to
the ground. "Finally," he exclaimed as he began stretching his arms and
legs. Suddenly, the bell began to ring, reminding him that he still had
classes to attend. "Shimatta," he swore, realising he was going to be
late for class. Unless... he looked up, if his memory served him
correct, his class room should be three floors directly above him.

	With an inhuman leap, Ranma jumped up to the third storey, landing on
the window ledge of his class. He noticed a bespectacled old man marking
off something on a piece of paper, as he opened the window to climb into
class.

	"Saotome Ranma?" the teacher said, looking around for the new student
that was supposed to be joining the class today. Rumour had it that he
was actually a cousin of Usagi's. If that was true, the teacher thought,
this Ranma shouldn't arrive until well into the second period.

	"Here," Ranma said, as he climbed into class. The teacher took one look
at him before his eyes glazed over and he fainted.

	"What?" Ranma asked snappishly as he tried to understand the astonished
looks that the other students were giving him. "Haven't you ever seen
anyone climb into class before?"

	----
	
	"Yaaaay!" Usagi cried jubilantly, half-walking, half-skipping out of
the school grounds, a broad grin on her face. "School's over for the
day!" She was about to run off towards the nearest arcade when Ami
stopped her, grabbing hold of her shirt.

	"Not so fast, we still have to study remember?" Ami said, patiently,
just as she had the last 54 times Usagi had forgotten their study
sessions.

	"Aw, come on Ami. Can't we take a break?" Minako pleaded. Between
fighting off the daimons that appeared regularly and their frequent
study sessions, the girls didn't have much of a chance to go out for the
past few weeks.

	"Well..." Ami said, pretending to think, before smiling and nodding.
"Okay, I guess one day can't hurt."

	"Alright, let's go to the mall!" Makoto said.

	" To the mall!" Usagi said excitedly, as she prepared to dash off
again, thinking about the various food stores in the mall.

	" Wait," Minako said, just remembering something. Or more accurately,
some one. "What about Ranma?"

	"What about me?" came a curious voice from behind her, and she jumped
up in the air, nearly shrieking as she did so. She turned to see Ranma
staring at her with muted curiosity in his eyes. 

	"W...when did you appear?" Minako said, her heart still pounding from
her recent scare. She gaped at him, wondering why she hadn't even heard
him sneak up on her. Nor did she feel his presence at all, until he
chose to speak.

	Ranma shrugged nonchalantly. "Since you guys started to talk about
taking a break," he said, helpfully. 

	"Ranma, if you're free, how about going to the mall with us?" Makoto
asked eagerly, not really minding the prospect of spending more time
with Ranma.

	Ranma frowned. "What's a moll?" he asked, wondering if it was something
that he could eat. He blinked as all the other girls face-faulted,
wondering if he had something wrong. 

	"Well..." Ami said slowly, not really sure about how to approach this
topic. Most of them took malls for granted, they never imagined that
they'd have to explain to some one what a mall was. "A mall is a big
building with many shops in it," she explained to Ranma, looking into
his eyes to see if he understood.

	Apparently he did, as he eyes flashed with understanding. "Ah," he
simply said. 

	"So would you like to come with us?" Minako asked.

	Ranma shrugged. Why not, after all, he didn't have anything else to do.

	----

	Ranma was in hell.

	Or at least it sure seemed like it. *Shoot me now,* Ranma thought
morbidly as he watched the girls through heavy-lidded eyes. He had been
with the girls as they had gone window-shopping through the mall for
three long hours, in which they did nearly nothing but look at products.
He couldn't understand how anyone could thing this was fun at all! But
it was clear the girls did, judging by their laughter and smiles. 

	However for Ranma Saotome, those had been the most boring hours of his
life. But then again, not many things excited Ranma anyway.
	
	"Oh, look at the dress!" Minako said, slightly excitedly as she saw
what was, to her, the most beautiful dress ever created. She fantasised
about how Ranma would react once he saw her in it. 

	Ranma right now was fantasising about what it would be like if he
hadn't said yes and offered to accompany his cousin and the others to
the mall.

	Ami watched as the rest of the Inners zone out, each respectively
thinking of their love interests. She sweat-dropped, not really sure how
to react to it. Although she had to admit, that was a pretty nice dress.
That was when the daimon surfaced.

	The daimon had appeared suddenly, seemingly popping up from nowhere,
catching everybody by surprise. The Senshi had quickly snapped out of
their trance, and were about to escape to a suitably deserted location
to change. It would be no problem escaping with the rest of the other
people already fleeing.

	Then the daimon had opened her mouth, and everybody seemed to freeze as
the first notes of a haunting melody came out of her mouth. Ami watched
in despair as more and more people began fainting, dropping like flies
to the floor. She tried to move her arms, but they wouldn't obey her and
she dropped to her knees, fighting against the darkness that threatened
to overwhelm her. 

	The daimon smirked. Soon, all the humans would be unconscious, then she
could go among them at her leisure to retrieve their heart crystals. Her
plan was simply too perfect, or so she thought. Of course she forgot to
factor in one black-haired pig-tailed martial artist into the equation.

	"Mouko Takabisha!"

	That was about all the warning the daimon had before the ki-blast
slammed into it. 

	Makoto turned her head back to look at Ranma in surprise, wondering why
the heck he hadn't been affected by the daimon at all.

	"I'd suggest getting out of here as soon as possible," Ranma said as he
walked up to them, all the while staring at the daimon.

	"B..but how??!? Why weren't you affected?" Rei asked, mouth open wide
in disbelief.

	"That fool demon tried to immobilise me by trying to lock up my ki, but
unfortunately, I'm a martial artist and I can easily control the
ki-flows in my own body," Ranma explained. He turned to look at them.
"You girls had better get out of here, it's going to be dangerous."

	Makoto opened her mouth to protest when suddenly, she felt some one
pull at her. She turned to see Ami looking at her.

	"We can't do anything unless we transform," Ami whispered, looking
Makoto in the eyes to convey her point. Makoto relented, taking one last
look at Ranma facing the daimon before following the rest of the Senshi
to a secluded corner to change.

	The daimon was furious, everything had been going fine until that
pig-tailed _boy_ had decided to show up. Everything! She stood up,
intending to pay the boy for what he had done. She smiled maliciously at
the thought of taking his heart crystal from him and shattering it. 

	"How dare you lay your hands upon me! I shall call the vengeance of
heaven upon you!" the daimon said, before laughing uproariously in a
suitable maniacal fashion.
	
	Ranma sweat-dropped, and wondered just why the daimon seemed so
familiar. Suddenly he felt several strong aura's appear behind him. He
turned to see... what had to be the most stupidest get-up he had ever
seen in his life. Or so he thought as he regarded the several girls in
sailor fukus, extremely short sailor fukus for that matter. He stared at
them incredulously, hardly able to believe that anyone would wear such
clothing.

	"Halt, we are the Pretty Soldiers Sailor Senshi! Music is for the
enjoyment of everyone, for subverting their use, I shall punish you in
the name of the moon!" Sailor Moon said, reciting one of her customary
speeches.

	Ranma tried desperately to hold in his laughter, but finally gave up.
It was like trying to hold back a raging river with one hand. It started
with a small chuckling, pretending he was coughing into his hand but
then he looked at the Senshi again and he broke out into loud guffaws
that could be heard through out the mall. He laughed so hard that his
sides hurt. "Sorry bout that," he said, still chuckling. He turned his
head back to look at the Senshi again, and broke out into laughter
again.

	"That was the dumbest thing I ever heard," he said finally, after some
time. Dumbest, true, but also the funniest thing he had ever heard.

	"That was NOT DUMB!" Sailor Moon said indignantly, as she glared at
Ranma. Cousin or no cousin, he was going out of line by insulting her
speeches. 

	"Was too," Ranma retorted.

	"Was not!"
	
	"Was too."

	"Was not!"

	The Senshi sweat-dropped as they watched their princess argue with her
cousin. A pity they had forgotten about the daimon, for the daimon
certainly hadn't forgotten about them.

	"Hey! Quit ignoring me!" the daimon yelled. She immediately regretted
those words as several pair of eyes turned to look back at her.
*Oopsie,* she thought.

	Ranma turned to look back at the daimon, reminding himself that there
were more important things to take care of instead of arguing about
speeches. 
	
	The daimon looked from the Sailor Senshi to the strange boy who had
managed to injure her, and decided that discretion was the better part
of valour. With that decision firmly in mind, she started to run.

	"MOON SPIRAL HEART ATTACK!"

	However, she wasn't fast enough as the attack hit her in mid-run.

	Ranma stopped in mid-lunge as he watched a gigantic pink heart fly past
him and vaporise the daimon. He blinked, made sure that the daimon was
still vaporised and then pinched himself to confirm that indeed, he
wasn't dreaming. "That was...weird," he said finally.

	He turned back to the Senshi, frowning as he did so. "Didn't I tell you
girls to go and hide or something, Usagi?" 

	The Senshi's eyes shot open in surprise, as they looked at him.

	"How did yo--" whatever Moon had been about to say was cut short as
Mars clamped a hand over her mouth.

	"I think you must have mistaken us for some other attractive girls that
you know," Mars said.

	"Yeah," Venus said, nodding her head vigorously. 

	"I don't think so, Rei," Ranma said skeptically.

	"...How did you know it was us?" Mars said, defeated. 

	"Who else would have such a hairstyle in Juuban?" he said pointing to
Usagi's 'meatballs'.

	"You can't tell anyone Ranma, it's a secret."

	"Sure," Ranma said, shrugging.

	The other Senshi blinked. That had been easy.

	"I mean if I wore such stupid dresses, and made such stupid speeches, I
wouldn't want anyone to know who I was either," Ranma continued, not
noticing the evil looks the girls were giving him.

	"RANMA NO BAKA!"

	----
	A figure watched from the sidelines and smiled. He had been here since
before the daimon had appeared and had watched events unfold as they
had. Not that anyone would have noticed him unless he permitted it, even
now Ranma and the girls couldn't see him. And he was pleased.

	He sighed softly, it had been a long time since he had started this
game, and it would be longer still before it was ended. He hoped the
children were ready, they would need to be for what was coming. 

	He took one last look at the Senshi, and especially Ranma before he
seemd to vanish into thin air.

	----

	It wasn't often that Setsuna, the Sailor Senshi of Pluto and the
guardian of the Gates of Time, was puzzled and confused. Of course, it
was hard to confuse her in the first place since she usually knew what
was going to happen before it did.

	That had stopped however when a certain teenage martial artist had
arrived in Juuban. A certain teenager called Ranma Saotome, a boy who
seemed to radiate chaos with his every movement. Despite her best
efforts to twist the timeline back to it's original shape, the timeline
seemed to refuse to listen to her anymore. Worse, she was no longer
certain of what was going to happen.

	And so it was because of that boy that she was confused, unsure of what
to do about him. Should she simply get rid of him? But that might be
risky since she had no idea if he was important to the present timeline,
and if she did, she might upset the timeline even further than the boy
had.

	And so she wondered.