Subject: [FFML] [Ranma]O-T #3 First Draft
From: "Irene Ying" <irene@furinkanhigh.com>
Date: 8/19/2000, 10:50 AM
To: ffml@fanfic.com

Hi!



Here's chapter three.  We never did learn about the consequences of mixing chemicals wrong in chemistry, and this is what I found.  



"Always pour acids into water. If you pour water into acid, the heat of reaction will cause the water to explode into steam, sometimes violently, and the acid

     will splatter. "



I exaggerated a little when I wrote it. . .



If someone who's more experianced/knowledgable on the subject could correct me, that would help.



What am I talking about?!?!  Read on.  C&C is very much appreciated. (I'll take anything)





"O-Tomodachi"



Chapter Three





"Saotome-san, I need to talk with you after class," 

Motsuko-sensei said.  Ranma squirmed.  He'd handed in the 

reports yesterday after only a cursory effort.  He knew 

that the news wouldn't be too good.  He nodded.  "I'll be 

there."



"Now Akane's gonna yell at me again, and just make fun of 

me," Ranma thought angrily.  "It's not my fault.  I just 

don't like science.  It's so stupid, a bunch of numbers and 

facts to memorize that don't mean anything in the real 

world. . ." he ranted on and on in his mind, almost walking 

into a wall.



The bell rang.  "Chikusho," Ranma swore.  Akane walked up 

behind him.



"Hey, Ranma!  Let's go!" She waved her books.



"I. . .uh, I'll catch up with you later!  I gotta. . .talk 

with a friend!"



Akane shrugged.  "Then I'll see you later!" She turned 

around and started chatting with a few friends.  Ranma 

sighed and waited for her to be out of his sight range.  

Then he looked around and walked to the science teachers' 

office.



"Hai, sensei?" Ranma asked, a bored tone in his voice.



Motsuko-sensei glanced at him.  "I have a meeting today.  I 

forgot all about it.  But I really have to talk with you.  

Ah. . .wait in my room.  Hindono-sensei will be there with 

the weekly regional science club.  You can stay there." He 

shut the door in Ranma's face.



"Kono onore. . ." Ranma muttered under his breath.  "Now 

I'll be real late home, plus. . .I hafta stay in a room 

full of nerds and geeks. . .oh, this'll be REAL fun." He 

grumbled to himself as he went back to his biology 

classroom.



Hindono-sensei was in there, writing something.  "Saotome-

san?  Can I help you?  Your report wasn't so bad, you 

know."



"Oh. . .um, no, Motsuko-sensei told me to wait here for 

him." That was a surprise. Well, he'd spent two hours on 

the chemistry report and thirty minutes on the biology one.



"I see.  Go right ahead.  The science club is going to be 

here in a few minutes, though.  Care to join us?" The 

teacher actually sounded sincere.



Ranma wanted to retch.  "Uh, no thanks."



"All right, no problem." He went back to work.



Ranma sat down in a desk, flipping through his math book 

absently.  There was a test tomorrow, and Ranma barely knew 

the terms of that chapter.



People started coming in.  Ranma recognized a few people 

from his own chemistry and biology classes.  There were 

plenty of people from other schools.  He noticed that they 

were all boys.  They actually didn't look all that geeky.  

Sure, a few did, but more looked rather normal.  They 

started to put on lab aprons and goggles.  Most of them 

thought that Ranma was joining and were not opposed to the 

idea.  Ranma had to keep explaining why he was there.



"We'll be starting in a few minutes," Hindono-sensei said 

as he looked at the clock.



Ranma groaned softly.  What was taking that teacher so 

long?  More importantly, how was he going to survive?



"I'm here!" A familiar voice called from the doorway.  

Ranma's head jerked up.



A petite girl in a sailor fuku was standing in the room, 

holding a schoolbag.   She walked over to a lab table, 

opened it, and started to take something out.



"Himeko-san!" Somebody called.  Ranma spun around.  It 

_was_ her!



"Konnichiwa, minna!" Himeko called cheerfully.  "Hindono-

sensei!  I saw the most interesting thing the other day in 

a magazine.  Here, I brought the article.  It's in my. . ." 

Setting down her jacket, she glanced at the lightly falling 

snow outside and looked up.



She found herself looking Ranma straight in the eyes.



His eyes.  How blue, how deep and dark, how unusually 

beautiful.  How mysterious, and just plain gorgeous. . .



She tore her gaze away with difficulty and found her 

emotion turn to shock and surprise.  She wasn't 

hallucinating.  It _was_ Ranma.



He was even cuter than she'd remembered.  He has a fianc�e, 

she reminded herself sternly.  It's not your place to 

interfere.  Control yourself.



"Saotome-san, o-genki desu ka?" She asked cheerfully.



Ranma was too surprised to say much.



Then she looked down.  "I. . .as long as we're both here, I 

want to apologize for hitting you in the park.  It was 

completely out of line and very rude of me.  Sumimasen."  

She bowed low to him.



That was surprising.  After how he'd grabbed her, and the 

way she'd treated him, he was surprised that she hadn't 

flattened his head on the spot.  Maybe he was getting too 

used to Akane.  "I'm . . .I'm doing great!  And. . .it was 

my fault, too." Not really, but didn't hurt to apologize.  

That was one thing Akane had taught him.  He stood and 

bowed.



She nodded.  "So. . .what are you here for?"



"Well, my teacher kinda made me. . .I have to talk with 

him." Ranma said airily.  "You?  Do all your friends come 

here?"



"No. . .I don't have that many friends.  And they're not 

interested in science." She shrugged.



Ranma felt sympathetic.  "I'm sorry."



Himeko shrugged.  She walked over to a lab table and 

slipped on an apron and goggles.  Her hair was tied back 

with a yellow ribbon.  Ranma idly thought about touching 

her hair.  It looked soft and silky, shimmering in the late 

afternoon light.  The apron was bulky and heavy, and Ranma 

watched her struggle to put it on.  He laughed into his 

hands.  The stupid thing was much too large for her to 

wear.  Finally she gave up and put on a lab coat.



At the lab table, Himeko's badly trembling hands were 

fumbling badly with the simple apron buttons.  Usually, she 

could get ready in thirty seconds.  Why was she taking so 

long?  Her heart was racing, and she could feel her hands 

start to turn numb and shaky.



"Deep breaths.  Control yourself," she thought sternly.



Curious about the experiment, Ranma went up to her.  Himeko 

glanced at him, then she handed him a pair of goggles.  

"Here."



"Thanks.  What are you making?"



"You'll see," she said.  "So, you like science?" She asked 

hopefully.  If he liked science, they'd have something in 

common, and they might. . .



Ranma shrugged.  "I'm only here because the bio teacher 

wanted to discuss something with me."



"Hmm," Himeko said.  She turned back to her work and didn't 

look up.  She was completely silent for the next ten 

minutes.



Motsuko-sensei still didn't show up.  Ranma gritted his 

teeth.



Himeko opened a bottle and took some liquid out.  She 

started pouring it into a test tube, which had flakes of 

metal on the bottom.  Ranma glanced at her.  The metal was 

obviously reacting with the liquid.  He saw foam forming. 

Himeko put a stopper on it, and pushed a glass tube through 

the stopper.  She connected the tube to some other 

glassware.  Quickly, Himeko set the tube onto a holder, 

positioned it above a Bunsen burner, and waited.



"Hey, can I help?" Ranma asked.  He was becoming very 

bored.  He also noticed that Himeko was working alone, 

while all the boys had partners.



"Sure," she said with a smile.  "You know your chemistry?"



"Uh, sure!"



Himeko smiled and decided to trust him.  She slid over a 

bottle of fuming red nitric acid, 95% pure.  "Dilute 250 ml 

of this with 100 ml of distilled water," she said.  

"Arigatou."



She turned back to her work, but her hands were shaking 

again.



"He's so nice," she murmured softly and quietly, even her 

breath coming shaky.  "It wasn't his fault there, and 

still he apologized.  Now he's helping me." She glanced 

over at him.  He had the water in a beaker, and had the 

acid in another large beaker.



She smiled.  His braid looked so cute, bouncing a bit as he 

walked. . .she stifled a laugh.  He looked a little 

awkward.  Well, at least he had his goggles on.  Besides, 

what could go wrong?  It was just diluting acid. . .wait a 

minute.  If he wasn't into chemistry, maybe he didn't know. 

. .



Ranma came over with the two beakers.  He picked up a 

stirring rod.  "Here we go," he announced. . .



. . .and he poured the water right into the acid.  Himeko's 

eyes got wide.



"Something wrong?" Ranma asked.



She spun around, faced Ranma, and threw herself between him 

and the table.  "GET BACK!" She yelled.  Her arms swung 

around, knocking a dry test tube and her schoolbag off the 

lab table.  The tube shattered and three books went flying.  

As soon as she covered him, Ranma heard something 

spluttering, then there was a "boom" and the sound of 

shattering glass.  Steam was rising from a pool of hot liquid among a lot of broken glass.



Ranma opened his eyes and saw Himeko in front of him. Her 

arms were spread wide.  She was breathing heavily, casting 

little glances backwards.  The hem of her sailor blouse was 

brushing his red silk shirt.  He swallowed hard.  Her 

collar was sliding just a bit. . .



"Um. . .did I do something wrong?" Ranma asked as he 

stepped back.



She hadn't noticed their close proximity at all.  Himeko 

had her head bowed, as she stared at the floor.  "Hold on. 

. .let me. . .catch my breath." She steadied herself 

against a table.  "Ranma, never do that again." She 

grinned.  "But at least you have guts."



"What did I do?" Ranma was confused.



"Water first, THEN acid," Himeko explained.  "Acid and 

water can react.  And when you have something strong like 

*that* acid, it's very dangerous.  Reversing the order, and 

just dumping the water in. . .that's why it blew up." She 

brushed her bangs out of her eyes and glanced at the table.  

The beaker was shattered and acid was beginning to eat 

through the tabletop.  "Oh, great.  I'll be brushing glass 

shards out of my hair for a week." She pulled her dark hair 

over her left shoulder.  Ranma could see little sparkles of 

glass in the glossy locks.  She tried to get one out and 

pricked her hand.



"Sorry," Ranma said.  He played with his hands a little.  

"I'll help you clean up. . ."



Himeko had a wry look on her face.  "That's all right.  I 

think you'd better re-read your chemistry book first."



"Gomen ne," he mumbled sheepishly.



"Daijoubu sa," she replied.  "All right, then, here's a 

lesson.  When diluting an acid, always pour the water 

first.  Then you add the acid, *very* slowly, while 

stirring slowly and gently." She folded her arms and 

smiled.  "Wakatta?"



"Hai, wakatta," Ranma said.  He fidgeted a little more.  

"You're. . .not mad?"



Himeko laughed.  "It was entertaining, and it wasn't 

intentional." She tilted her head.  "If people mess up on 

purpose, then I *really* get mad.  But you didn't know what 

was going on.  Dakara. . ." She smiled.



"Oh.  Well, I. . ."



"It's all right, I said.  If you want to help, get me that 

sodium hydroxide off the shelf," she replied.  "I've got to 

clean up this mess, but I should really call the teacher." 

She went out of the room to find Hindono-sensei while Ranma 

found the bottle of base.



Ranma glanced at the mess.  At least Himeko wasn't mad.  He 

was surprised by her reaction.  He'd expected her to blow 

up at him, yell at him, blame him for the mess. . .but she 

didn't.



"Weird girl," he thought.  She got mad at him for one thing 

and stayed calm for another.  He didn't understand people.



Hindono-sensei came back, with Himeko apologizing 

profusely.  Ranma winced, expecting a lecture.  But the 

teacher ignored him.  Confused, Ranma watched them clean up 

the mess.  It took fifteen minutes, and the counter showed 

signed of damage.  He sighed again, and waited for Hindono-

sensei to come over and berate him for damages.



The teacher never did.  Himeko went back to her experiment, 

which was still standing.  Ranma saw that Hindono-sensei 

was gone.  He went back up to Himeko.



"Takeno-san?  Um. . .did you tell him?"



She glanced at him in surprise.  "No, I said that I spilled 

it.  It was my fault anyway, for not warning you.  Sorry."



Ranma was taken aback.  "But. . .I. . ."



"Stop worrying." Himeko smiled.  "Besides, I've made worse 

mistakes.  Hmm. . .I touched strong acid once.  That hurt a 

lot.  I've broken equipment, set things on fire, made a 

beaker explode, spilled chemicals. . ." she shrugged.  "So, 

why should I blame you?"



Himeko bit her lip hard.  She'd taken the blame because she 

didn't want him to get hurt.  She didn't want him to get in 

trouble. . .he'd hate her for sure.  He couldn't even 

understand it. . .



"Oh." Ranma was _really_ confused now.  "You got really mad 

in the park."



Himeko blushed.  "Umm. . .well, I thought you were trying 

to attack me or something.  But I know you had good 

intentions this time." She smiled again.  "My aunt taught 

me. . .'if someone has good intentions, don't put them down 

for failing.  But if someone had bad intentions, feel free 

to hit them'." Not that I would ever hit you, she thought 

silently.



Ranma couldn't help laughing.  "I. . .I see," he said.  

Himeko turned back to her setup on the table, her heart 

beating fast.



"Himeko, stop it," she thought to herself.  "No. . .this 

attraction to him has got to stop. . ." She bit her lips 

again.  She couldn't help herself.  Despite everything, she 

still wanted to just stand there and talk with him.  Her 

heart wouldn't stop racing in his presence.



"What's the point of this experiment?" Ranma asked.  Idly, 

he looked to see whether his teacher was back yet.  

Negative.



"To create this stuff," Himeko said.  She showed him a dish 

of small white crystals.  "And I've just finished."



"Congrats," he told her.  "Now what?"



"Now I show it to sensei, and I'm done."



Himeko walked off silently, saying no more.  She was trying 

to fight her emotions.  She wanted to talk to him.  She 

wanted to be near him, to speak to him, and she couldn't 

figure out why.



"Himeko, you don't have time for boys," she thought firmly.  

"Plus, he's engaged, he's going to be married.  You have 

other things to do.  Forget him."



It wasn't working.  Thanks to her confused thoughts, Himeko 

was the last to finish, and then the teacher had them start 

to clean up the lab.



As she washed her glassware, she was hopeful that Ranma was 

going out of the room.  She breathed a sigh of relief.  

Maybe she could stop thinking about him now.  He wasn't 

into science, so she shouldn't run into him that often.



"Christmas presents!" Hindono-sensei called out.  The 

students rushed to his desk, where he had a pile of plastic 

bags holding gifts.  Delighted, Himeko ran up to choose 

one.  She came back with two bags of candy.  They were in 

plastic Christmas packages, with pictures of holly and 

Santa Claus.  Himeko wavered a little, wrung her hands, 

made up her mind, then gave one to Ranma.



What am I doing, she wondered to herself.  She looked up to 

see Ranma smiling at her.  That smile. . .started to melt 

her insides.



"Kawaii, ne?" Himeko said, cradling the package.  Going 

back to the lab table, she pulled the magazine off the 

floor absently.  She tucked two fallen books and the candy 

into her schoolbag.  Noticing that Ranma was starting to 

open it, she quickly stopped him.  "No eating in the lab," 

she said worriedly.  "You could, but just be sure they're 

not watching.  Or, eat in the hallways."



Ranma laughed.  "Oh, well." Quickly, he popped several 

chocolates into his mouth and hid the bag in his pants 

pocket before anyone else saw.  "See?  All done," he said 

with his mouth full of chocolate.



Himeko smiled.  "You like chocolate?"



"Yeah," Ranma said.  "Why, do you?"



"Um, yeah," Himeko said.  "I. . .I want to sit down."



"No problem," Ranma replied.  They went up to the front and 

sat in the chairs.  Ranma looked at her expectantly.  

Himeko shrugged and blushed.



"So, what have you been doing the past weeks?" Ranma asked, 

breaking the awkward silence.  "Doing more experiments like 

this?"



"No, I. . .don't have a very exciting life," she said.  "I 

go to juku, I watched some TV, read a few manga. . .I went 

to a movie with Rie-chan.  That's it.  What about you?" She 

asked eagerly, looking at him.



Ranma felt a bit uncomfortable.  "Um. . .I've been 

practicing a lot, and that's about it.  I got a new kick 

combination down pat, and that's good, I guess."



"Omedetou gozaimasu!" Himeko clapped her hands.  "That's 

great!  I'm so happy for you!  What's it like?"



Ranma considered.  "Well, I start like so," he took up a 

pose, "and then I strike at one side, kick back for the 

other, and," he demonstrated it for Himeko, who knew little 

about kempo.  She kept her eyes glued to his form and how 

he gracefully spun around, keeping himself in perfect 

control and balance.  He finished in a stance, and she 

clapped again.  The other students were beginning to stare, 

but the two ignored them



"That was awesome," she said nervously.  "Um, I mean, it 

was really great to watch you do those moves. . .I've never 

seen anything so good," she added.



"Thanks, but I could do better," Ranma said loftily.  He 

laughed.  "Well, I learned a lot of tricks.  This is just 

one of the newer ones."



"Show me another, please," Himeko implored.  She was 

nervous at the moment, her hands were shaking, her heart 

was pounding.  She had no idea what to say to him, but she 

wanted to talk with him.  She decided she'd go along with 

any subject he liked.  So long as he stayed with her, it 

would be all right.



"Nah, I'll probably break something," Ranma decided.  

Himeko laughed.  "Oh, I'm sure you wouldn't."



"I don't know about that," Ranma said with a shrug.  

"Anyway, there's a lot more to the Anything-Goes School 

than just combinations.  There's a whole philosophy behind 

our moves and actions."



"I see," Himeko replied.  "I'm guessing, then, that 

'anything' can 'go' in that style, am I correct?"



Ranma smiled.  "You got it!  We don't cheat, but we adapt 

our style to suit the situation.  Therefore, we can fight 

against a master of any style, because we are fluid and we 

can change."



Himeko nodded.  "That's really interesting.  And you've 

been training for a long time, I take it?" From his 

performance, she was pretty sure.



"Since I could stand," Ranma said with a slightly sad 

smile.  "It's all I've ever known.  Sometimes I wish I 

could have a more normal life, but I think it's worth it."



Himeko nodded.  "That's. . .what I believe too." She was 

blushing.  "Please, don't think that I'm too forward," she 

said frantically.  "But I agreed with you. . .I couldn't 

help myself.  I hope you don't mind."



Ranma laughed.  "Why should I?  It's the exact same way 

that I feel."



Himeko grinned.  "That's good!" She thought for a moment, 

searching for another topic of conversation.  "What else do 

you like to do?"



"Hmm. . .I like to read manga, and movies are nice once in 

a while, but. . .no, just that."



"Well, how about. . ."



***



Ranma looked outside.  "What time is it?  I'd better get 

going."  Motsuko-sensei had never shown up.  Ranma didn't 

care anymore.  It had been worth it to have a good 

conversation.



It was seven-thirty.  They'd been talking for two and a 

half hours.  Ranma was surprised.  Himeko was unused to 

talking with boys, and it showed.  She'd tried hard to talk 

about whatever Ranma wanted to, and had succeeded more or 

less.



"By the way, I saw Akane-san last week," Himeko said 

thoughtfully.  "She's a very nice girl."



Ranma nearly swallowed his chocolate whole.  "Oh, yeah.  

What did she say?"



"Not much.  Just asked what school I went to, whatever.  

Umm. . .she said you were a really good martial artist."



"Oh." Ranma looked down and smiled.  So, Akane _did_ have 

some appreciation for his skills.  "What high school *do* 

you go to?"



"I go to. . .oh, darn it, I have to leave.  Nice talking to 

you." She waved and started walking out the door.  She 

couldn't even walk steadily, as her heart was racing and 

adrenaline was streaming throughout her body.  She didn't 

want to speak any more.  She wasn't sure she would say what 

she meant to say, as though she'd lost all control.



"Ja, Himeko-san."



Himeko stood were she was.  Did he just call her Himeko-

san?



She turned around.  "Nani?"



"Friends?" He asked.  Himeko had really been fun to talk 

to, he decided.  She was a sweet girl, just a bit emotional 

and stubborn.  He smiled.



"Hai, Ranma-san," she said.  "Ja ne."











End of Chapter Three







**************************************



Thanks for reading.





---Irene



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