Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Sound Hearts ❯ Chapter 4

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Sound Hearts
A Ranma 1/2/Sailormoon S crossover fanfiction
By KaosQu

Chapter 4


Light, soft and gentle, broke through the window, illuminating
the dim room slightly and warming the two figures lying on the
carpeted ground, bundled contently in their sleeping bags.

Slowly, as time passed away, the unrelenting ray of sunlight
grew, larger and larger, filling up more and more of the room.
Unknowing and unconcerned about the act of nature taking place, the
two slumbered blissfully on, the snores of one causing not a stir
in the other.

Time passed, and then a figure did stir.

His eyes slowly opened, blinking a few times as he yawned.

"What the..." the young boy muttered groggily as he slowly
sat upright, yawning tiredly as he unconsciously considered returning
to blissful sleep.

"Waitaminute!"

With that surprised exclamation, a light of knowledge struck
the pig-tailed boy and his eyes shot wide, sleep shrugged off like a
blanket as he rolled to the side. Muscles asleep just a second ago
tensed up as his martial arts reflexes sent him jumping back onto
his feet and dropping into a defensive stance.

Arms held protectively before him, Ranma's eyes quickly scanned
the room, searching for the large figure that had been the bane of
his bed-rest every morning the past week.

Gradually, his pulse slowed down, his muscles relaxing as his
traditional attacker still did not show himself. Now, confusion
started to make itself known to the boy's mind, even as his eyes still
scanned the room.

Then, he heard the snores.

Blinking, Ranma turned his gaze towards the source of the
grating noise. Finding it, his eyes rested on the huge bundle, snug
and comfortable in a sleeping bag. Still slightly confused, the
martial artist took a wary step in the bundle's direction.

Nothing.

The snoring continued unabated and Ranma took another step,
his arms starting to droop downwards as the bundle still hadn't
jumped up and tried to strangle him or something. the pig-tailed boy wondered as he took yet another
step forward.

Still, nothing happened other than the loud snores, and
gradually, the martial artist picked up speed, his steps becoming
faster and faster as he came closer to the bundle until finally,
one foot away from the source of the snores, Ranma stopped.

Warily, he waited for another minute, his arms dropping down
further and further as nothing happened.

Staring at the large, slumbering form before him, a steady
stream of grating snores emanating from it, Ranma wondered what
the heck was wrong with his old man.

"Geez, what's up with Pops..." the martial artist wondered,
scratching his head in slight confusion. Sure, the Old Man was a bit
on the lazy side, but he still usually managed to wake up pretty
early; early enough to knock his son awake and into an immediate
sparring session; or, as was happening more recently, throw him out
the window.

"Is he really... asleep?" Ranma wondered aloud, his voice low so
as not to awaken the Old Man in case he really was asleep.

With an eerie suddenness, enchanced by the you-spoke-too-soon
timing, the snores cut off, replaced by the rustle of cloth as
Genma stirred. Silently, the cover slipped off one side, revealing an
all-too-familiar white Gi.

"Aaaaaahh!!" The startled shout from Ranma's mouth was quickly
followed by his jumping back a good dozen feet and dropping into a
defensive stance before he had even landed. A small part of his mind
screamed at him for being stupid enough to think that he was actually
lucky enough to have woken up before his Pops.

*BUUUUUURRRRRRPPPPP*

Blinking, Ranma stared in disbelief at the back of the white
gi. Then, his jaw dropped, along with his defensive stance.

The Old Man really was asleep??

His jaw snapping shut again, his muscles tensing up, Ranma
narrowed his eyes, anger at being given a... er... at having his
mind messed around like that just because the Old Man had gotten
some food last night and hadn't shared it!

Heck, he could SMELL the ramen in the air now! And now that he
thought about it, there had been a lot of garbage bags in the room...

Why that stupid old man... he had gotten food and hadn't shared
it with his own son?!

Slowly, Ranma started stalking forward, fists clenched tightly.

Sure, he had eaten great yesterday, but still, it was the
principle of the thing! First the Old Man stole food from his own son,
now the idiot wouldn't even tell him about it?!

At least before, he could only blame himself for not being a
good enough martial artist to beat his father, but now...

Of course, Genma had done this a lot of times before, but Ranma
had been through a particularly nerve-wracking day yesterday. The event
currently sticking out the most in his mind being the encounter with
Kaolinite. And now...

Reaching the figure of his father again, Ranma stared down
at the martial artist's face, content in it's blissful sleep.
Unfortunately for Genma, this stark contrast to the many bad things
that had happened to him yesterday only served to make him even more
angry.

He took this kind of crap from Kaolinite for... various reasons,
but no way was he going to let his old man get away with it!

"Hey old man, WAKE UP!!"

Fortunately for the balding martial artist, he had left the
window open the previous night.



Yawning, Ryoga Hibiki rubbed his sleepy eyes and rolled to a
side, sliding off his bed and onto his feet. Doing a few quick
stretches, he then proceeded to stumble around his room for a few
minutes until he eventually ran into his bathroom door. Muttering a
few curses under his breath, the Lost Boy rubbed his nose, more out
of annoyance than anything, and opened the wooden door. Shaking his
head and still muttering to himself, the Lost Boy stepped inside,
shutting the door behind him.

Ten minutes later, the door open again and Ryoga stepped out,
looking fresh, awake and, in general, a lot better. His mind a lot less
groggy after a nice splash of cold water, he was able to easily make it
back to his bed, which also happened to be conveniently placed directly
in front of his eyes.

Plopping down onto his bed, Ryoga lay down on his back, staring
silently at his ceiling. Normally, he would have been practicing
right about then, preparing to try to beat Ranma when he eventually
dropped by. But right then...

The Lost Boy cracked a smile, as yesterdays events played back
through his mind. It had taken Minako awhile to stop punishing herself,
but once she did...

Ryoga's smile broadened, a strange sense of contentment
sweeping through his body. Someone liked him. No, not just liked him,
REALLY liked him... No, not just someone, a GIRL really liked him! A
lot! Minako liked him...

Minutes passed by while the Lost Boy laid on his bed staring at
his ceiling, a grin still plastered on his face.

"I'd better get up..." he finally muttered, forcing himself
reluctantly off his bed and onto his feet. Laying around daydreaming
wouldn't accomplish anything and thinking about Minako only made it
more torturous to be without her. Besides, Ranma was going to be over
in an hour or so and he had to get ready to... welcome his rival in.

Dropping into a stance and sending a few practice kicks into
the air, Ryoga started chuckling to himself. Ranma wouldn't even
know what hit him...



"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!"
The surprised and shocked scream echoed through the streets of
early-morning Juuban, turning a few heads and even causing a few
startled people to spill their coffee.

"How d'ya like that, huh Pops?!" a pig-tailed white-blur shouted
as it leapt out a window, following the descending and flailing form
of the martial artist below it.

Grinning, Ranma flipped himself so that he was facing his father
and drew back his arms, preparing to shoulder-ram into the idiot when he
hit the ground. It'd hurt, he knew, but the Old Man, even if he was
getting a somewhat fat and lazy, could take it.

Though he was feeling somewhat panicked from suddenly finding
himself being thrown out a window and shooting towards the ground at
blinding speeds, Genma was, when it came down to it, a seasoned martial
artist with years of experience under his slightly large belt. And so
it was pure instinct when his brilliant blue battle aura flared up,
ready to absorb the impact of his fall.

"What the heck?" A short distant up, Ranma's grin slipped for
an instant, replaced by look or surprise and wonder as he watched
his fathers shinning form plummet down. But with
every inch he flew closer to the ground, time slipped away, and the
pig-tailed martial artist forced himself to concentrate back on the
matter at hand. He could worry about whatever tricks his old man
had up his sleeve AFTER he wasn't in danger of crash-landing on the
very, very hard concrete.

Azure aura engulfing him, Genma hit the ground with a loud
crack and an explosion of dust, the large amounts of Ki he expanded
absorbing most of the damage inflicted upon his back.

"What's the idea, waking your own father up like that?!" Genma
shouted reflexively his aura starting to die down. There was no reply
as Genma, coughing slightly and lying on his back, turned his eyes
upwards. Though a cloud of dust was surrounding his impact crater,
Genma could still easily make out the form of his son, plummeting
towards him, shoulder first.

Normally, his first reaction would have been to roll to the side
to avoid getting hit. It had been long time since Genma had last
expended such a large amount of Ki, though, and with its warmth still
enveloping him, the balding martial artist lost latched onto the sweet
familiar feel and flow of power. Even as he jumped back to his feet,
his arms were blazing backwards at incredible speeds, creating a strong
vacuum that sent the surrounding dust and debris swirling into the air,
completely obscuring either Saotome from the other's view.

As the figure of his father abruptly disappeared, swallowed up
in brown cloud of dust, Ranma almost frowned, silently wondering what
other tricks the Old Man had. Still, the young martial artist quickly
adapted, turning his focus back to the fight. Whatever the heck the
Old Man did was obviously meant to cover him while he dodged. And
knowing him, he would probably be high-tailing it over to... his
left, instinctively taking advantage of the greater strength of his
right leg.

Grinning, Ranma adjusted his course accordingly.

But flight was the furthest thing from Genma's mind at the
moment, and the balding martial artist just stood in his crater,
staring at his hands as if in shock.

Ranma plummeted down, his grin never breaking in his split-
seconds long flight.

"W-What have I done?" Genma silently asked himself, apparently
having completely forgotten about the flying threat that was his son.

Muscles tensed, breath held in, Ranma broke through the
cloud of dust.

*CRAAAAASSSSHHHHHH*

(Cue BGM: Ranma 1/2 TV Soundtrack Vol.1 "You've Gotta Be Kidding")

A crash and an explosion of debris from the apparent creation
of yet another crater filled the air, completely blinding Genma to
the world.

"What in the word?!" Genma exclaimined, head snapping up and
spinning towards the source of the loud crash. Whatever had previously
occupied his mind was apparently forgotten for the time being as his
face suddenly twisted in panic once again and his eyes shot back
above him. Reaching out with his senses, Genma sought out the familiar
presence of his son and... there, Ranma was... to the left of him?

Eyebrow raised, panic subsided, Genma turned to his left and
slowly made his way forwards. After several slow but long steps, the
dust settled down sufficiently that he could make out a... a black
pigtail?

"Ranma?" he asked experimentally, taking a step back. The dust
finally settled onto the ground, allowing him a clear view of his son.

And there he was, Ranma Saotome, lying within a rather large
crater, elbow propped on the dusty concrete, head resting on a loose
fist as he stared back at his bewildered father.

"R-Ranma?" the gi-wearing martial artist tried again, breaking
the eerie silence that had fallen on the two.

Coughing slightly, Ranma shook off some of the dust and debris
from his head. Slowly, he opened his mouth, taking in a deep breath
as his father watched him curiosity and confusion.

Staring at his father silently for a moment, Ranma then spoke,
his voice a perfect deadpan. "That hurt."

And with those words, the young martial artist collapsed into
unconsciousness, leaving behind one confused and rather chubby martial
artist.



White, feline eyes slowly opened, followed by a series of
sleepy blinks. A few confusing moments later, a white ball of fur
rose to it's feet, stretching and yawning in the way that cats do.

Another few moments and multiple shakes of his head later,
Artemis, moon cat advisor to the Sailor Senshi, finally noticed that
the bed he had been laying on was empty. Not too strange, considering
it had been empty when he had collapsed there the previous night, but
the tossed and obviously disturbed sheets told him that his charge HAD
come home.

And she had actually woken up early.

"Oh geez, maybe Luna was right?!" the white feline muttered
to himself in half-disbelief. Just what were the chances that his
Minako could have woken up early?? Either the world was at an end,
or some sort of monster had brainwashed the girl.

Grinning, Artemis chuckled to himself. End of the world... where
did he come up with these things.

the moon cat thought, his head shooting up
in alarm. Brainwashed... monster... Minako?!

"Oh man..." the white feline muttered, hopping silently onto the
floor, the carpet muffling whatever almost inaudible sound he may
have made. Muscles tensing involuntarily, the white cat sneaked across
the carpet, searching nervously for some sign of Minako.

"Oh man, why'd this have to happen to me..." the cat muttered
to himself as he snuck through the room, his heart steadily increasing
it's ceaseless pounding as he glanced around the suddenly intimidating
room with it's dark furniture looming tall over him. This kind of
stuff didn't happen to him anymore! It was Luna and Usagi that got all
the attention nowadays! Cold sweat poured from the cat's skin,
drenching his fur as memories of some of the things that happened to
Usagi came back to him.

"Dammit!" Artemis cursed softly, shaking his head wildly. "Get
a grip on yourself, Artemis! If Luna saw me now..." Closing his eyes
and taking a deep breath, the white cat tried to calm his nerves. He
had dealt with this kind of stuff before, he could take it again
without falling apart.

Several deep breaths later, the white cat had managed to calm
himself down enough to actually be able to efficiently search his
surroundings.

"Alright Artemis," the cat whispered to itself, his confidence
returning along with his strange, cocky cat smirk. "Whoever's
brainwashed Minako's gonna get the biggest mother-o'-all furballs
shoved down his throat!"

"To be in love... must be the sweetest feeling..."

Artemis froze, leg muscles locking up and head spinning towards
the direction of the soft song.

And there was Minako, dressed in her school uniform and combing
her hair, softly murmuring a song to herself. And in the large mirror
before Minako, Artemis could clearly make out the glazed eyes and
content face of his charge.

"That a girl can feel... To be in love..."

Artemis almost choked. Here it was, clear proof of his poor
Minako's brainwashing. She was awake early, dressed in her school
uniform and singing to herself with THAT look. That strange happy
look usually accompanied by a song that Artemis had only seen once,
back in London when Minako had a boyfriend.

And really, just what were the chances that Minako had found
a boyfriend in one day?!

"To live a dream... with somebody you care about like no one
else..."

Artemis almost choked as the sweet voice reached his ears. Just
too damn sweet to be Minako...

"A special man..."

Maybe he should get out now... Fighting monsters wasn't exactly
his specialty after all...

"A dearest man..."

Damn song! It was starting to get on his nerves!

"Who needs to share his life with you alone..."

With that thought, the white moon cat
slowly, as quietly as he could, started sneaking towards the door,
which was, many many MANY thanks to her majesty Queen Serenity, open.

"Artemis, you silly cat, what are you doing sneaking around
like that?"

The white moon cat almost choked, fear-filled eyes shifting to
the sight of Minako, turning around and rising from her seat, almost
bouncing towards him with apparent happiness.

Just too damn much happiness!

"You'll never guess what happened to me yesterday!" the blonde
girl exclaimed as she reached her cat and bent down, scooping him
into her arms.

The cat's only reply was a small, fearful "eep".



Slowly, Ranma opened his eyes, quickly shutting them as the
sudden stream of blinding light shone into them. Rolling to his side,
and making the discovery that he was, apparently, home again by the
feel of the carpet, the martial artist pushed himself up and gently
brought a hand up to his still ringing head.

the martial artist managed to think to
himself through the muddled mess that was his mind.

Slowly, after several long moments of staring sightlessly at
the ground, Ranma opened his eyes again, this time managing to keep
them open.

"Well..." the martial artist muttered to himself, still staring
at the ground. "I got outta that pretty good; all I've got is a
head-"

Ranma's left arm chose that moment to give out, sending him
back down into the thankfully-carpeted floor.

"ache," the young martial artist finished in a deadpan.

Life just sucked sometimes.



"Hold on, let me get this straight," Artemis said, interrupting
his blonde ward's incessant talk about this... Ryoga.

Minako, for her part, actually stopped, smiling at her white
cat even as she asked, "What is it, Artemis?"

An eye twitching slightly, the white cat continued, his fear
of brainwashed blondes long since replaced with disbelief. "YOU,
have a... boyfriend?!"

Minako's smile brightened, her head bobbing up and down happily
as a dreamy glaze came over her eyes. "Yes..." she murmured dreamily.
"He's so strong and wonderful..."

Artemis stared at his ward for a few more moments as she
apparently drifted off into some kind of daydream. Well, at least she
hadn't been brainwashed.

"Ryoga..."

Eye twitching, Artemis sighed and slumped back down onto the
bed tiredly. No, not brainwashed. Not by a monster anyway...

Shifting his gaze back onto the young girl, still off in some
fantasy land, a smile on her face, the cat sighed again and shook his
head.

Well, she HAD woken up early... Maybe if she actually kept
this... Ryoga guy, the girl would benefit from this whole thing.

Another few moments passed in relative silence, only Minako's
sudden, pleasant humming filling the air.

A thought striking the white cat as he stared idly at his blond-
haired charge, Artemis smirked, almost chuckling. He wondered what
Luna would have to say about this...



Hidden in the dark shadows of the alley he had taken refuge in,
Genma leaned tiredly against the brick wall behind him, a soft sigh
escaping his lips.

"What have I done?" he muttered softly to himself, his voice
bearing a tremor of terror. "What have I done..."

He remembered now, he remembered clearly what had happened, what
he had done. It came back to him clearly, those moments after he hit the
ground, those moments before Ranma had hit the ground.

He had used one of the Forbidden Techniques.

Almost shuddering, Genma lifted his hands up to his face, staring
at them as if they had been responsible for some heinous crime. And
they were, in his mind.

He had lost control.

For just a moment, and not too much harm had come of it, but
still, he had lost the careful and elaborate web of control he placed
on himself. He had, in one instant, dug deep into his mind, shattered
past all his long cultivated restraint, and let the martial artist in
him truly take over, truly react. It wasn't anything big, nothing too
special, but he had lost control and used one of the techniques he
himself had sealed.

If he had aimed higher. Just a little higher, and Ranma could
have been seriously injured maybe even... killed, if it hit in the
right place. The boy was a good fighter, but he had not yet been
trained in the arts of Ki, had not yet been taught how to defend
against them, and the Forbidden Techniques were among the most powerful
of that type of fighting.

For a long moment, Genma stared at his hands, still held before
him. His mind was in complete silence, and all outside sounds fell on
deaf ears. Several more long moments were spent like this before
Genma finally dropped his hands and sighed.

"This isn't doing me any good," he muttered to himself.

Shaking his head, Genma tried to forget what he did, what he
had almost done for the time being. All he had learned today was
how vulnerable Ranma really was to the elite class of fighters who
could draw upon Ki. He had to start training the boy soon, he had
to prepare him, and then... then he had to test the boy.

As soon as those words entered his mind, another realization
hit Genma, and the martial artist's solemn and serious mood slipped
off, replaced by a tired and frustrated one. First off, he had to
get to work soon, and secondly... well, know he had a good idea
of why Ranma had thrown him and appeared so angry...

He had the feeling that Ranma might be a little difficult...



Reaching his destination, Ranma stopped and shifted his gaze
to the open windows a little more than a story above him. Sighing,
the martial artist bent down slightly, ready to make the usual leap
through Ryoga's window.

The usual jump...

Shaking his head, Ranma sighed. It was strange, just way too
strange, but he wasn't in the mood for a fight right then. Actually,
he wasn't in the shape for a fight...

"Stupid Old Man..." Ranma muttered, though he knew it was his
fault, and his alone that he had gotten injured. Not only had he
started the thing, but he had also been the one who made the call to
go flying into the ground at breakneck speeds...

The one thing he was able to take comfort in was that his old
man had chosen to take off rather then stay in fight. The fact that
Genma had run probably meant Ranma still had a chance of beating the
Old Man if he had chosen to stay and fight.

Well, he hadn't lost a fight to Ryoga yet, and he wasn't going to
start now! Raising his head back towards the Lost Boy's window, Ranma
clenched his fists, determination spreading through his face.

He was Ranma Saotome, and he wasn't about to lose just because
of a little fall!

"Ouch!" Unfortunately, the pig-tailed boy's inspiring thoughts
were abruptly cut off when a sudden stab of pain unclenched his left
fist, causing him to wince and swear to beat up Genma later.



Humming softly to herself, Hotaru slowly walked down the stairs.
Anybody who had known her well from 'before' as she had subconsciously
started labeling her meeting with Ranma Saotome, could have easily
noticed the differences between the young girl now, and then. Her
steps itself were still graceful, her head still bent slightly down,
eyes silently tracing the path down the stairs. But the way she took
those steps, lightly and with a small smile, was different. The light
that her eyes seemed to shine with, expectant and almost anxious, so
different from the tired and sad eyes that looked on the world
'before' was different.

Kaolinite, as usual, noticed.

"Well, good morning, Hotaru," the assistant greeted, stopping
and looking at the girl appraisingly, hands placed firmly on her hips.
"You seem rather... well."

Raising her head back up, Hotaru gave Kaolinite a neutral look.
Her content mood had been abruptly disturbed by the red-head once
again, but the woman hadn't outright tried to insult or belittle her
yet. Hotaru could sense the tiny amount of sarcasm, maybe even
amusement hidden within the red-head's cold and composed voice, but
she would remain calm. She wouldn't snap...

"Yes, thank you for saying so, Kaolinite," the dark-haired girl
said calmly, her voice mimicking the assistant's coolness.

Kaolinite, for her part, just smirked, a mixture of surprise
and amusement playing across her face at the little girl's reply.
"I have work to do, breakfast is on the table." And with those words,
Kaolinite turned away and quickly disappeared down the hallway,
presumably to help Professor Tomoe with some experiment or another.

Hotaru stared at the back of the retreating figure, slightly
surprised at Kaolinite's reaction.

A moment later, the young girl decided it didn't matter, and
that she'd best eat breakfast. Ranma had said she should eat more.

As that name entered Hotaru's mind, the young girl smiled, her
content mood returning as she walked towards the kitchen. Ranma...
She could hardly wait till school was over...



Landing lightly on his feet, Ranma immediately rolled forward,
away from the window, dropping into a defensive stance as soon as he
was back on his feet.

As he expected, a loud crash and dark curses filled the air
almost instantly. Turning around, he was greeted with the sight of
his 'good friend' Ryoga, slowly getting to his feet and rubbing his
nose, an irritated look on his face.

"Nice try Ryoga," the pig-tailed martial said simply, a smirk
quickly appearing on his face.

"You were lucky," was the Lost Boy's simple reply, followed
with a drop into a defensive stance. Eyeing his rival warily, Ryoga
absently wondered why Ranma hadn't insulted him yet, although that
smirk itself was as annoying as any verbal insult on his skills his
pig-tailed rival had ever thrown him. "You're not going to beat me
this time, Ranma."

Quickly bending down slightly, Ryoga prepared to dodge or block
any attacks the pig-tailed martial artist might send him. His rival was
at a disadvantage here; his specialty was mid-air combat and that was
extremely limited inside the confines of the Lost Boy's room. Ranma
would at least need a much more open space to pull off his more
advanced Anything Goes Techniques. But then again, Ranma had shown
proficiency in styles aside from his own.

To the Lost Boy's surprise however, Ranma merely shrugged, his
expression turning neutral as he switched stances, bringing his left
hand back defensively to his face, right hand held loosely in front
of him. Ryoga thought, mildly surprised
Ranma was apparently using a different style.


"Let's get this over with," the pig-tailed boy said sounding
almost... tired? No, it couldn't be. From what Ryoga knew, Ranma was
just as devoted to the art as he was and loved a good fight. He
probably didn't get enough sleep or something. Yeah, something...

Shoving aside his confusion, Ryoga dropped into his own stance,
hands clenched into strong fists, ready to strike. "Well then, prepare
to lose, Ranma."

"Sure, whatever," was the reply, followed with a shrug.



"YAH!" With the almost reflexive shout, Ryoga shot forward,
sending a quick punch at Ranma, his other hand held near his body
in an unusual act of defense.

As they had all expected, the blow didn't land, striking only
empty air as it's target leaned to the side, letting the blow fly past
him before he took a few quick steps back, away from the his bandana-
clad attacker.

"Not bad, you're getting faster," Ranma remarked, eyeing his
opponent neutrally as he just stood there, fist still in the air.

"Fighting with you all the time has it's benefits," the Lost Boy
replied, slowly lowering his arm as he spoke. "And I thought you were
using Kung-Fu!" Ryoga's words, almost shouted, was quickly followed
with a crescent kick as he spun around.

Without so much as a grunt of surprise, Ranma took a step back,
letting the kick fly past him. In the split second that he knew it
would take Ryoga to recover from the kick and bring his arms back up,
Ranma shot back past the Lost Boy's defenses. A strong hand pushing
against his head, lightning-fast foot sweeping his own off the ground,
the Lost Boy quickly lost his balance, falling back.

Reacting instinctively, Ryoga's hands shot behind him, catching
the ground and, with a quick spring, flipped himself backwards, feet
snapping at Ranma with a strong kick in the process.

Against a slower opponent, the kick would've, in all likelihood
landed. But to no surprise to either combatants, Ranma was easily
able to dodge to the side, his anticipation of the counter-attack
already putting him ahead of most other martial artists.

As the Lost Boy completed his flip, landing lightly on his feet,
Ranma smirked, some of his humor returning against the irritation of
his injured arm. "There, happy?" He'd just pulled off a textbook
example of a Kung-Fu technique. Basic, maybe, but it was fast and
effective, which was all he needed.

Cracking his knuckles, Ryoga dropped back into his stance.
Choosing to ignore his rival's question, he instead asked his own.
"Why are you using that style anyway?"

"Why not?" was the simple reply, followed with a shrug.

A snort, followed with a roll of his eyes was the Lost Boy's
reaction. "With the way you keep bragging about Anything-Goes, I'd
think you'd use it all the time!"

Once again, the Lost Boy's words was followed by an attack.
With the speed born of years of training, he launched forward with a
sliding sidekick.

Pushing back with his left leg, Ranma let the kick fly by his
chest, hitting air. Choosing not to risk countering the attack, he
quickly ducked under the elbow sent flying towards his face and rolled
backwards.

"Well," he started, pushing himself back to his feet. "I gotta
practice the other styles too."

Turning around and facing his rival, the Lost Boy smirked.
"Maybe," he started, dropping into an offensive stance. "But why don't
we fight for real now!!"

Shaking his head with a sigh, Ranma dropped into his usual
stance as the Lost Boy, fist cocked and ready to strike, rushed at him.

"Great, just great..." he muttered. He was really going to have
to beat up the Old Man later...



"Man oh man..." a certain white cat muttered, shaking his in
disbelief.

"Bye Artemis!"

Glancing back up at the source of the cheerful shout, Artemis
once again saw Minako, waving at him, a cute smile gracing her face.
Once again, he dropped his head, staring at the concrete in disbelief.

Minako was... walking to school.

Early, Minako.



"This is..." the white cat started, trailing off as he sought
for a word to describe the situation. "Weird."

Nodding to himself in agreement at his choice of words, the
Artemis turned around, heading back home. Whoever Ryoga was, he must
be one heck of a guy...



"You're losing your touch, Ranma!" the Lost Boy yelled as he
threw another devastating punch at his pig-tailed opponent, followed
with a quick snap kick.

"Hey, just feel lucky I'm going easy on ya!" Ranma yelled,
twisting rolling to the side and away from the Ryoga.

"Don't make me laugh!" the bandana-clad martial artist shouted
back, spinning around to face his rival, who was already on his feet
and in a stance, his breathing slightly faster than normal. "You're
already tired!"

"No I'm not!" Ranma shouted angrily, though he refrained from
attacking to prove his point. He knew the idiot was right. He was
getting tired from dodging and blocking so much; Ryoga had even gotten
a few good hits in!

he grudgingly
admitted to himself. He had refrained from attacking too much so far
because his arm hurt, leaving him at a disadvantage. He had gotten some
good kicks in, but with only one arm to defend... he had to move real
damn fast to cover every opening. Against a normal, average fighter,
that wouldn't have been a problem, but Ryoga... Slow as the guy was,
Ryoga could still move a lot faster than the average fighter. He, on
the other hand, couldn't keep up that kind of speed for too long what
with his left arm in horrible pain and head splitting... At this rate,
he'd... he'd... he'd lose dammit!!

"Looks like you're going to lose this time, Saotome!" the Lost
Boy yelled, cutting off Ranma's thoughts as he shot forward with a
kick at his pig-tailed rival's knees.

Already expecting the attack, Ranma leapt into the air, careful
not to slam himself into the ceiling. He didn't have as much room to
maneuver as he'd like, but it was still enough to get over and away from
his opponent.

Twisting his body as he flew through the air to avoid the
uppercut the Lost Boy threw up, Ranma flew over Ryoga, his good arm
using his opponent's head for leverage.

Normally, he would've landed behind Ryoga and followed with a
some kind of attack, but today, he didn't have any illusions about
how long he could last on the offensive against someone with the Lost
Boy's formidable skills.

Instead, he continued shooting through the air, even as the Lost
Boy spun around with a spin kick, expecting his rival to be behind him.

"Not today, Ryoga!" the pig-tailed martial artist yelled as
he shot through the air, aiming to land on that soft-looking bed
on the other side of the room.

Pulling back his arms Ranma hit, good-shoulder-first into the
soft mattress and blankets, bouncing a few times as his weight
compressed the swings. Not taking the time to enjoy the nice, soft
and cool bed he was laying on, Ranma quickly rolled to the side, off
the bed and onto his feet. Spinning around, he was greeted with a
shout from Ryoga.

"Ranma, how dare you disturb my bed!"

"Oh give me a break Ryoga, it ain't that hard to fold a few
blankets!" Ranma shot back, unconsciously rubbing his left arm as
a few stabs of pains started shooting through it.

"Well," the Lost Boy started, a smirk appearing on his face.
"I guess it won't matter after I beat you!" Still grinning, he charged
forward, directly at Ranma.

"Ah, shit!" Ranma cursed, as the Lost Boy rushed towards him, an
almost scary-looking grin on his face. "Dammit, dammit..." he muttered,
having no illusions on how long the bed would hold Ryoga back.

Forcing his muscles to relax, he prepared to roll to the side
again. Staring straight ahead, he mentally counted down the seconds
until Ryoga would reach him. He had to roll away at the last second or
the Lost Boy could just change his course.

"Ranma, today is the day I finally defeat you!"

That was when the famed Saotome ability to come up with a plan
at the last possible moment kicked in.



Ranma barely even had time to spare for the burst of hope that
shot through him as he desperately leapt forward, pumping every bit of
speed he could manage into the goal of reaching the bed before Ryoga
did.

The fact that the bed was about a foot in front of him helped
a lot.

Ryoga, for his part wondered just what the hell Ranma was doing
pulling his blanket off his bed.

Seeing his rival leap at him, blanket in hand, the Lost Boy
tensed, deciding to use his superior strength to just plow straight
through Ranma.

That was the last thing he saw before the world went dark.



All around her, Minako could hear the whispers. Hushed and
curious, her classmates were all talking about her.

About her.

It was kind of nice to have so much attention... But not nearly
as nice as having Ryoga. Smiling to herself, her eyes closed as she
daydreamed, Minako forgot about the whispers and rumors bubbling about
the classroom, spreading further and further as more students entered
the classroom and caught sight of her.

Minako, in class. Early. Apparently a lot more cheerful than
even she usually was. But more importantly... early.

Rumors and theories abounded, each one a story unto itself, but
there was one thing all the students agreed upon: It would be very...
interesting to see the teacher's reaction.



"Get this thing off of me!"

Ignoring the slightly muffled shout, Ranma jumped over the lost
boy's now-hidden head, jerking on the large blanket that now covered
Ryoga's entire body and sending him crashing with a dull thud onto the
ground.

Knowing it would only take his opponent so long to recover from
the sudden blindness and fall, Ranma grabbed the end of the blanket
with both hands and pulled, wincing as pain shot through his left arm.

he muttered to himself
as he pulled the thrashing Lost Boy backwards.

His heart pounding, expecting Ryoga to just tear free from his
muffled prison at any second, Ranma pulled. It was only a short
distance to his destination, but it felt like an eternity away as he
struggled to pull the wildly thrashing bundle back, his left arm
stabbed and aching with pain that almost caused him to just drop the
damn thing and give up.

But finally, he made it. The stream of bright light and draft of
morning air told him that he had made it.

Letting go of the bag, he hopped a few quick steps to the side
and then dropped into a loose stance. Facing the thrashing bundle,
illuminated by a bright, white light that gave it an almost holistic
glow that only served to further tense him, Ranma waited.

A scant second or two later, the bundle managed to stumble up to
its feet, muffled shouts constantly filling the air around it. Several
violent thrashes later, and the martial artist within was free.

"Ranma, just what the-"

Ryoga never got to finish his words as he soon found himself
hit in the chest with a large, blue object with the speed of a
lightning bolt. With the object that was no-doubt Ranma still plowing
into him, Ryoga fell backwards.

Right out the window.



Staring at sky clear blue sky above, spotted with puffy white
clouds here and there, Hotaru smiled. Behind her, was the gates to
the Tomoe Home, open and inviting with it's smooth, curving bars of
polished metal gleaming in the soft light.

And before her, was... well, she was heading to school.

School.

As it always had for longer than she could remember, the very
thought of the place caused her eyes to fall sullenly back to the
ground. She hadn't enjoyed going to school much before, and she still
didn't.

Not with the classmates she had.

But she had to go. There were precious few reasons for her to go
to Mugen Academy, but the ones she had were important. And now, she
had another: Ranma.

And that alone was reason enough.

Taking a deep breath and forcing her head up slightly, Hotaru
took a step towards the direction of her school. Pausing, eyes closed,
she thought through all the reasons she wanted to go and graduate
from Mugen Academy.

And she took another step.

Faces, those of her classmates forced themselves into her minds,
fear-filled and scared. Eyes now clenched tightly shut, she forced
herself to take another step.

Boys, pushing her to the ground, angry glares directed at her.
Girls, whispering to each other in hushed tones, casting dark glances
at her every now and then.

She took another step, a single tear starting to form in one of
her eyes.

Ranma, Ryoga, smiling at her. A nice smile, a kind smile; not
one that scared her.

She took another step.

Even Minako now, smiling at her, laughing with her.

She took another step.

Ranma, face dead serious, calling her classmates idiots.

Another step.

Ryoga, shrugging in unconcern about her 'powers'.

Another step.

Minako, asking her if she was alright.

Another step.

Ranma, grinning at her. Ranma, carrying her onto a rooftop.
Ranma, struggling through an equation, asking for her help.

Another step.

Her help...

Another step.

Someone needed HER help. Her, Hotaru Tomoe's, help!

Opening her eyes, the sunlight flooding in, she was momentarily
blinded, but nonetheless, she smiled. Wiping away a tear from her
eyes, Hotaru started walking to school, her head, bent still bent down,
expression neutral. But around her, an invisible aura of contentment
filled the air.

She'd go to school, and then she'd see Ranma, maybe even Ryoga or
Minako, later. As she walked, the dark-haired girl idly wondered why
she was getting so emotional all of a sudden.



"Let go of me, Ranma!"

Smirk on his face, Ranma released his hold on Ryoga. Blanket
still fluttering confusingly between them, Ranma gave a quick kick
into the Lost Boy's stomach, giving himself the leverage he needed to
go flying back up, and Ryoga the boost he needed to hit the ground
about a half-second later.

A loud crash and an explosion of dirt signaled Ryoga's landing
just as Ranma landed lightly on the Lost Boy's roof. Smirking down upon
the cloud of dust that was just beginning to settle, Ranma waited for
Ryoga to appear, all the while slowly rubbing his left arm, which was
really starting to get sore.

It was all worth it though.

He had beaten Ryoga. No surprise there, but he had beat him with a
handicap! "Yes, I am the best..." the pig-tailed martial artist
muttered softly to himself, savoring each word as it slowly left his
mouth.

"D-Damn you... Ranma!"

The familiar curse, the familiar voice cut through Ranma's
thoughts, and he concentrated on actually seeing the dirt-covered boy,
as opposed to just staring blankly at him.

And as he saw Ryoga, stumbling around below him, stricken with
hacks and coughs, he couldn't help but shake his head and smile.

"Looks like I win again Ryoga!" he shouted out cheerfully. Ryoga
usually took being beaten pretty badly, even for a prideful martial
artist. But the winner, well, the winner was usually pretty happy and
gracious about it.

"That wasn't half-bad Ryoga, you're getting better!"

"S-Shut up Ranma!" was the reply, followed with a series of
violent coughs. "The fight isn't over yet!"

"Ah quit it Ryoga, you know I won!" Ranma shouted down, not at
all perturbed by the fact that he and Ryoga could have been bothering
some neighbor or something with their yelling. After all, he and his
father fought every morning and someone had yet to complain; so why
would it be any different here?

"You were lucky you had that cowardly blanket helping you!"

"That was your blanket, you idiot!" Ranma shouted back down,
snickering and shaking his head.

"You were still just lucky!"

"That was pure skill and you know it!" the pig-tailed martial
artist retorted defensively, leaning back comfortably on the slanted
roof, still rubbing his left arm.

"You only won because of that blanket!"

He had a feeling this was going to take awhile.

"It was your blanket!"

Propping his head back on the tiles, Ranma stared up at the sky.
It wasn't the most comfortable of places to rest, but it wasn't the
worse either.

"It was still a cowardly attack!"

Arguing with Ryoga was always interesting, if sometimes very
frustrating. Funny though, the guy didn't seem as in to it as the
other times. It was almost as if he was even enjoying it somewhat...

"You're one to talk, Mister let's attack Ranma while his arm's
practically broken!"

Weird.

"Broken? Don't make me laugh! It didn't look too broken all those
times you hit me!"

"Hey, the only time I even attacked you was with sweeps and
that one kick at the end!"

Staring up at the sky, a beautiful shade of blue dotted with
clouds, white and puffy, Ranma smiled, a wistful sigh escaping his
lips even as Ryoga shouted something at him yet again.

"Well you should've fought me like a man!"

"Like I said, my arm's injured," Ranma replied, this time not
shouting, his eyes fixed on the sky above him. So blue, so beautiful...

"Well," the Lost Boy started, trailing off for a moment with a
curious look in his eyes as he watched Ranma staring off into the sky,
apparently not paying too much attention to him. "Well you should've
told me that."

"Yeah..." Ranma muttered absently, Ryoga barely even hearing the
pig-tailed martial artist from so far down.

Staring into the cast blue sky, extending in all directions,
Ranma felt a sense of longing pass through him. The same kind he had
felt when he had first watched his father leaping high into the air
with the kicks, punches and techniques that was the trademark of the
Saotome School. The kind of longing that was only satisfied when he was
practicing the most advanced forms and techniques of Saotome Anything
Goes Martial Arts; or flying through the air in actual combat. That was
enough to satisfy and content him, but...

The Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts would never
reach it's full potential until people could fly. And it didn't look
like humans were going to spontaneously grow wings anytime during his
lifetime.

"Ranma, are you alright?"

"Wha?!" The voice, coming from his side, managed to surprise
Ranma, sending him shooting up and scrambling backwards a few feet
before he dropped into a defensive stance.

"Look's like you're getting soft, Ranma. If I'd wanted to, I
could've killed you right there."

Staring at the figure in front of him for a few minutes, muscles
tense and left arm still aching slightly with pain, Ranma's muddled
brain eventually figured out it was Ryoga standing before him.

"Ryoga?" he asked, blinking a few times.

"Who were you expecting? Hotaru?" the Lost Boy replied with a
roll of his eyes, his voice appropriately sarcastic.

"Uh... no," the pig-tailed martial artist replied, blinking a
few times, slightly confused.

An eyebrow raised in slight... curiosity, the Lost Boy stared
at Ranma. "What's wrong with you today, Ranma?"

"Huh? Whaddya mean what's wrong with me?" the pig-tailed martial
artist returned defensively. "I'm fine!"

The Lost Boy just stared at his rival silently, as if
contemplating something. After a few tense moments in which Ranma
spent his time staring back at the Lost Boy in annoyance, Ryoga finally
spoke. "Is this because your arm's injured?"

"Arm?" Ranma said, blinking a few times.

"The one you said was injured..." Ryoga replied slowly, trailing
off.

"Oh yeah, that," Ranma said, glancing at his left arm, the slight
pain returning to him now that he was actually paying more attention
to things. "I'll be alright," he continued, dropping his stance and
rubbing his arms a few times.

Ryoga just stared at Ranma curiously for a few moments longer,
once again contemplating something, apparently. "If you say so..." He
had his doubts that the arm was what had been on Ranma's mind, but it
really didn't matter, he supposed.

"You know, you almost sound like you're worried about me, Ryoga,"
Ranma suddenly suggested, an amused smirk appearing across his face.

"W-What?!" the Lost Boy almost shouted. "Why would I be worried
about you?!"

Ranma, for his part just chuckled, shaking his head. "Never mind,
we should probably be headin' for school now." And with that, the
martial artist jumped into the air, making a few graceful flips and
spins for no apparent reason, and ending with a perfect landing on the
fence that ran across the Lost Boy's yard.

"C'mon Ryoga, stop hanging around up there and let's get goin'
already!" With that, Ranma broke off into a light jog down the fence,
refraining from breaking into an all out sprint so that Ryoga would
actually be able to follow him.

"Ranma, you're not going anywhere until you answer my question!"

Chuckling lightly to himself, Ranma instead turned his head
around, sticking his tongue out, knowing it would annoy the Lost Boy.
"Gotta catch me first!"

"Get back here Ranma!"

Turning back around so he wouldn't accidentally run off the
fence or something, Ranma chuckled again, shaking his head slightly.
Hanging around with Ryoga was always interesting, that's for sure.



"Alright class, we may as well let's get started. And let's
all hope Minako gets here a little earlier than usual."

There was an almost eerie silence from the class as those words
left the teacher's mouths. Indeed, one could even hear the wind rustling
outside, banging a few branches ominously on the closed windows.

"Hmm? What is it now?" the teacher wondered aloud, raising her
eyes from the clipboard in her hands to look at her class. The silence,
although nice, she supposed, was really strange... Her students were
never this quiet; there was always at least one student whispering
during anything short of test times, and even then...

She was greeted with the faces of her students, all staring
intently at her, some even smirking, all of them silent.

Getting suddenly self-conscious from all the intent stares at
he the teacher, glanced down. She almost sighed in relief as she
found nothing wrong with her state of dress, or anything else for
that matter. Her hair was fine too, she knew, and...

Shaking her head and refocusing her thoughts, the teacher
looked back up at her students. She was dwelling on unimportant and
trivial matters. It wasn't important whether she was 'in fashion'.
or not.

Still. She couldn't work with her students acting like that. It
was just too... unnerving. Who had ever heard of a perfect and polite
class after all?

"Alright class, just what is going on now?" she asked, her
voice authoritative, yet, at the same time, not managing to challenge
or intimidate them. It was a skill she had refined over years of
teaching, and it was always helpful to add a bit of psychology to her
methods.

Her only response was the wind and leaves rustling outside.

"Ms. Tokugawa?" a voice rang out after a few awkward moments of
silence.

Mentally sighing in relief that someone was going to answer her,
she shifted her head slightly to regard the student who had spoken.
"Yes..." mouth hanging open, a look of surprise on her face, the
teacher trailed off. "Ms. Aino?! W-when did you come in?"

"Oh... about a half-hour ago, I think," the girl replied after
a quick glance at the clock.

Ms. Tokugawa just stared at Minako for a few moments, the blonde
student staring back, a little confused, whatever question she had
apparently having died before she was able to voice it.

"You were..." the teacher paused, her mouth open, the word on
the tip of her tongue, yet feeling just so... wrong!

After several more silent seconds of the teacher standing in
front of class, mouth open as she choked on foreign words, she finally
managed to stutter out, barely even a whisper, "E-early?"

The almost squeaked-out word, in the total, almost eerie silence
of the room was easily carried to even students far in the back of
the classroom with crystal-clear clarity.

Minako merely nodded her head, smiling. "I think you marked me
absent."

Yet another silence ensued, the students admirably restraining
themselves from bursting out in laughter at all the looks that had
passed across their teacher's face. Minako, for her part, was just
content sitting there, smiling pleasantly. If Ms. Tokugawa didn't want
to teach, she hardly minded. All she wanted was for school to end so
she could be with Ryoga again.

But then again, she still had to report to the others about that
dust cloud thing...

Smile slowly dropping as she realized that she HAD to report in
something so potentially important, Minako gave a sullen sigh. The
life a Senshi was just so hard...

The sudden burst of laughter from all around her snapped Minako
out of her thoughts and glancing around in confusion. "What happened?"
she asked out loud to no one in particular.

Glancing around, Minako saw several students, snickering loudly,
fingers pointed at the front of the class.

Turning her head back to the front, Minako raised an eyebrow
in confusion. She didn't see anything. There was just the chalkboard,
the desk, and... waitaminute... Blinking a few times, Minako glanced
around the room, searching for someone.

Craning her neck up and pushing herself to her feet, Minako
once more gave the room a quick scan, both to find the cause of the
laughter, and where her teacher was. More likely than not, the two
were likely related somehow...

There.

In front of the class, bundled up on the ground, was a immobile
lump of dark colors. And after a few more moments of staring at the
figure, the laughter around her starting to die down, Minako blinked,
slightly disbelieving.

"M-Ms. Tokugawa?"



Face neutral, Hotaru slowly made her way through the room,
ignoring the dark and fearful glances some of the students cast at
her. It... it didn't matter what they thought. She had other people
out there who liked her, there was no point in crying about what
she saw no way to change. She could just ignore them, like they
usually did her...

Sitting lightly down on her seat, Hotaru mentally sighed,
forcing her attention on the chalkboard. And as she waited for her
teacher to come, she thought back to Ranma and the others. One
thought lead to another, memories rolling across her mind, and Hotaru
smiled slightly as she thought of all the nice days she had since
meeting Ranma, just a short time ago.

Her thoughts, however, where interrupted by the high-pitched
shriek of a bell, signaling the start of school. Her small smile
slipping off her face Hotaru turned her attention back onto the
chalkboard. As the teacher entered the room, the dark-haired girl
idly wondered what Ranma was doing.



"C'mon Ryoga! Hurry up will ya, or do I hafta carry you?!"

Speeding across a chain-link fence at speeds that most would deem
impossible to achieve while maintaining a balance for any significant
amount of time, was Ranma Saotome, followed closely by Ryoga Hibiki.

"Shut up Ranma, I'm right behind you!"

The two were currently in a hurry to get to school on time.
If they were right, and the old man with the watch said they were,
they only had about a minute until the school bell rang.

"Can't be too sure with your sense of direction!"

It was all a matter of time now, something neither Ranma nor
Ryoga had ever been trained to fight. They could run at incredible
speeds, and race against each and every last second, but time itself
was unstoppable to the two.

"Shut up!"

Their bodies were painstakingly honed to perfection under the
harshest of environments; their minds sharpened to think fast and
act faster. They could fight against the ravishes of fatigue and
hunger, and perhaps even win for awhile.

"Man, I better not be late! I ain't ever been late to school
in my life!"

But resisting the stream of time was beyond their power.

"You probably haven't even been to school that much!"

To fight an unbeatable enemy; one with no face, no substance.
An enemy they could not even touch, much less resist.

"... Shut up! If it weren't for you trying to kill me all morning,
we wouldn't have to be running like this"

To these prideful martial artists, trained to fight with their
fists and their feet, to find a way to beat any opponent no matter the
odds...

"Stop being such a girl! And you're the one who took forever to
come- Is that the gate?!"

It must have been harrowing indeed to see time, in all it's
glory, crashing against them.

"What the heck?! Those bastards closed it on us!!"

But then again, like most people...

"We can break it down!"

"No you idiot, just jump over it, sheesh!"

They generally didn't think of things like that too much.


Nearby, perched on a roof, a tall woman, long green-hair flowing
down her back, her face a mask of neutrality, watched. Her short black
skirt blowing gently in the wind, the woman stared at the forms of the
two boys as one shoved the other into a window, and then proceeded to
leap into the air and into another window, disappearing from her sight.

A gloved hand wrapped lightly around the shaft of a giant, ornate
staff resembling a key, the woman stared at the school for several
more long moments, her face betraying nothing of whatever might have
been going through her mind.

"Interesting," she finally said, to no one in particular as
no one was there to hear her. "I wonder if our paths will cross?"

And with that, she turned around and leapt into the air and
off the roof, disappearing into the dark alley below.



"Ms. Aino... would you... please pay attention to the class?
You can continue... whatever you're doing on your own time."

Head snapping up, Minako gave a weak smile and quickly shoved
the piece of paper she had been doodling under her math book.
"Sorry Ms. Tokugawa," she said simply.

Giving her a long look, Ms. Tokugawa slowly turned back around
and continued to work on the equation on the chalkboard.

Sighing, Minako forced herself to pay attention to what her
teacher was doing. Class was just sooo boring, sometimes... well,
most of the time... But she might as well listen, she had to at
least try to get a passing grade...

"As I was saying, you have to isolate the variables..."

Sighing again as she tried to follow what Ms. Tokugawa was
saying, Minako decided that she would have to have yet another study
session with Ami soon.

the blond
girl thought glumly. If she did, she wouldn't need to study so much,
and she could have had more free time to spend Ryoga...

Minako mentally grumbled with a frown to herself.

"Ms. Aino! Coming to school on time does not mean you can start
daydreaming in my class!"

Nearly jumping out of her seat in surprise as her thoughts were
abruptly interrupted Minako gave a quick, very apologetic smile.
"I-I'm sorry Ms. Tokugawa, I promise I'll pay attention!"

"I would appreciate that..."

Minako nodded enthusiastically back, hoping she wouldn't be sent
into the hall or something. Ms. Tokugawa seemed to be paying a lot
more attention to her behavior than usual for some reason...

Once her teacher had turned back to the chalkboard, Minako gave
a resigned sigh and concentrated on the lesson, no matter how little
it made sense to her.



A simple kick for leverage and Ryoga was sent flying to the side
as Ranma propelled himself towards the prize of the now-routine duel.
Smirk on his lips, he reached out for the elusive treasure tumbling
over and over through the air, plastic wrapping glinting brightly.

"Mine again Ry-"

Abruptly, he lost sight of the bread, the all-so-precious bread
meant to soothe his stomach. A now-familiar rough yank on a leg
snapping him back down and into the cruel clutches of gravity.



"Le'go of me you idiot!" Ranma shouted out reflexively. Of
course, he didn't wait for an answer to his reply before he made his
move. Knowing it would very unlikely for him to be able to break free
of someone with the Lost Boy's strength, Ranma twisted to a side
with a quick kick to Ryoga's face.

If anything, the grip only tightened.

"You're not getting it this time Ranma!"

"Yes I am, let go!!"

Three quick twists of his hip and three perfect kicks into
Ryoga's face later, both martial artists crashed into the ground with
dull thud, the floor somehow managing not to get damaged

As soon as the hit, both martial artists were jumping to their
feet, Ryoga with a rough shove, Ranma with a graceful sweep of his
legs and snap into the air.

"Not bad, you actually stopped me for once," Ranma said, rubbing
his left arm with a bit of annoyance, though he wore his trademark
cocky smirk on his face. It may have only been a few hours since their
morning fight, but that alone had been enough time for his arm to get
a lot better. Not perfect, not even close, but better.

"I'm not just going to stop you, I'm going to eat," was the
Lost Boy's grim reply as he dropped into a stance, eyeing his
rival carefully.

"Not that bread, you're not," Ranma replied, dropping into his
own stance, the slight pain in his arm fading away as he concentrated
on his opponent.

Some people would have laughed upon hearing the determined words
of the two martial artists facing off over a piece of bread. The
dead and expectant silence that fell across the cafeteria marked the
the two's fellow students as of another group. A group that knew when
a fight was imminent and quickly backed off. A group that was eagerly
anticipating a great show.

A mighty shout ringing through the air, Ryoga rushed forward with
a punch full of all his awe-inspiring strength. Not even blinking,
Ranma reacted with a graceful duck under and behind the Lost Boy with
all his blinding speed.

One of the few thoughts that entered the minds of the engrossed
students included an idle wish that their school served popcorn for
lunch.



Sighing dejectedly, Genma slowly pushed the large, foul smelling
cart down the halls. To think that he, Genma Saotome, master of the
Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts, was reduced to so lowly
a level.

He was a janitor.

A janitor! If he had wanted to slave all day cleaning up
things, he would have stayed with the Master!!

Shaking his head and sighing again, Genma pulled out a mop,
deftly wiping a few muddy footprints off the floor. Kids these days...
leaving such messes for their elders to clean up.

Kids...

Sighing to himself, Genma forced himself to admit that it wasn't
the job that was bothering him. No, he didn't half-mind, which was a
travesty unto itself, but still...

What was really bothering him was Ranma. Training Ranma, to be
exact. He had to begin soon, or all was lost! Well... not exactly, but
he sure WANTED to begin soon... Silently, in the back of his head,
the memory of the earlier incident, of his lost of control made itself
known to Genma. Face hardening, he was reminded of just how vulnerable
Ranma could be, and how much he needed the training. But with the way
the boy was now, he would probably start attacking at the first sign
of a white gi.

It wasn't that he couldn't beat Ranma, especially with that arm
he had, but he couldn't train Ranma PROPERLY if he was resistant.
The arm would heal quickly, probably by the next day, but tempers
could take awhile longer to cool. And there was no way he would
reduce himself to using the techniques he had developed to calm the
Master on Ranma. A part of him actually found that worse then breaking
his seal on the Forbidden Techniques.

Then again, Ranma would probably forget all about that little
incident by then! After all, what was a little thing like noodles to
their father-son relationship? Why, he had clothed, fed, and sheltered
the boy all his life!

Smiling in relief to himself, Genma shoved the mop back into his
cart, all other problems and frustrating thoughts into the back of his
mind, and continued down the hall. Just awhile longer, and the training
would begin!



"H-Ha... beat ya again... Ryoga..." Ranma panted out from his
position on the cafeteria floor.

"N-No you didn't..." was the tired reply from the Lost Boy,
who was bordering on unconsciousness. "And stop... kicking me..."

"Make me..." the pig-tailed martial artist muttered back,
continuing with his slow kicks to Ryoga's head. The speed, or lack of,
combined with the... pretty pathetic amount of strength applied to it
led to, of course, the kicks doing pretty much nothing else than
annoying it's bandanna-clad target. "And... that bread's mine..."

"No it's not!" At the mention of the prize of the fight, a surge
of strength rushed through the Lost Boy, giving him just enough
strength to roll over onto his stomach and latch a hand onto one of his
pig-tailed rival's feet.

Ranma, who had no intention of getting up anyway, merely
compensated for the change in the Lost Boy's position and continued
kicking. "Le'go of my foot."

"Stop kicking me."

"Le'go of my foot"

"Stop kicking me."

"Le'go of my foot"

"Stop kicking me."

After about 10 more minutes of this, the end of the lunch period
quickly approaching, one particularly brave and hungry student, ran in,
grabbed the piece of bread still laying on the ground, and ran off.

Ranma and Ryoga merely continued their 'conversation'.



"There's something strange about Minako?" a certain black cat
asked, a little exasperated at the vagueness of the statement.

"Yeah, it's really weird," a certain white cat replied, lying
down comfortably on the soft bed he was on.

"Just what exactly is 'weird' about her?" Luna asked, a little
impatient for Artemis to hurry up and say whatever was bothering him,
or Minako, to be exact. "Her not coming to the study yesterday wasn't
exactly strange, and I'm just glad she's alright."

"Yup, that was Minako alright," Artemis agreed, smirking fondly
to himself as he thought about it. "Just soooo Minako..."

"Artemis..." Luna said slowly. "Back to the subject?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah!" Smirk slipping off his face, Artemis focused
back on Luna. "Well, it was really weird. First she woke up early,
then she went to school early..."

Regarding the white cat curiously for a moment Luna spoke,
"Isn't that a GOOD thing?"

"Well, yeah, I guess..." the white cat said, trailing off.
"But... c'mon, this is Minako we're talking about! How would you feel
if Usagi suddenly woke up early and went to school on time?!"

"Well," Luna started, trailing off thoughtfully. "It'd be rather
nice, actually."

Sighing to himself Artemis resigned himself to the fact that
Luna just wouldn't understand. Well, he supposed he could get used
to Minako waking up early... Heck, maybe today was just a fluke!

"So, is that all Artemis?"

"Well, yeah, I guess so..." the white cat muttered, sighing to
himself.

"I wonder if she'll come to the study today early, too?"

Shaking his head, Artemis stared at the blanket he was lying
on. Patterned all over the blue blanket were bright yellow crescent
moons, bringing a smile to Artemis's face.

"The girls really need to start studying what with those exams
coming up."

Waving his tail idly, Artemis continued to stare at the blanket,
barely paying attention to Luna's words. "Yup, totally agree with you,
Luna..."

"Especially Usagi, she has to get a good education if she wants
to be a good queen in the future."

"Yeah, queens need education..." He wondered why Minako didn't
get a blanket like that, at least for him. Maybe he should ask her
about it later. Heck, maybe that boyfriend of hers could get it for
her. Didn't guys get presents and stuff for girls?

"Her grades have been improving a bit, but she could do so much
better!"

Ignoring Luna's comment, Artemis smirked at the thought of a
love-sick boy doing his bidding.

"Perhaps we should see if Mamoru could come over and encourage
her to do better?"

"Yeah, sure..." the white cat replied absently, his smirk
dropping. It would take time to get used to Minako if she started
acting like she did this morning all the time... It was just so...
weird!

"I wonder if any of the other Senshi have boyfriends now? I
haven't been paying attention to their conversations lately.

"Yeah, sure. Minako's got one."

Maybe it was just the initial 'I finally got someone' love-struck
phase or something? He really hoped it was... He liked the old Minako
and her carefree, almost ditzy nature... This new one was so...
different! He hoped her getting a boyfriend wouldn't affect the great
times they had together too much...

"What did you say?"

"Minako's got a boyfriend..."

"WHAT??!!"



"Mr. Saotome, any suggestions?"

"Huh? What?" Ranma muttered, head shooting up, thoughts snapping
back to class as he glanced around.

"Would you like to show the class how to solve this problem?"

Solve a problem? Him? Taking a guess, Ranma glanced at the
chalkboard and, sure enough, there was a bright white equation
written up there.

"Um... no?" he tried hopefully. Not only did he not just want
to do the problem period, but he was also really, really tired right
about then.

"No?"

"Well, my arm kinda hurts right now..."

"Both of them?"

"Well, yeah."

"Do the problem, Mr. Saotome."

Sighing, Ranma got to his feet, wincing slightly as he put a
little too much weight on his feet. Slowly, feeling the eyes of the
class on him, he made his way up towards the board.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of dragging himself
painfully forward, he reached the chalkboard.

"Go ahead, Mr. Saotome, we're all waiting."

"Uh..." trailing off, Ranma stared at the chalkboard, looming
menacingly over him in all it's dark glory, seeming to stretch on into
infinity. "yeah." he finished lamely.

Sighing to himself yet again, Ranma slowly picked up a piece of
chalk, all the while staring sullenly at the equation written across
the board in front of him.

Slowly, still trying to make
sense of the equation before him, Ranma lifted the piece of chalk to
the board, gently placing the point beneath the equation. His mind racing, trying desperately
to recall all those nights spent studying with his friend, Ranma
started writing.

Heads raised all across the room as the students bored expressions
turned to ones of surprise and shock. Being interested in history was
one thing, but actually being interested enough to learn and do the
math? The guy spent most of his class time sleeping!

The teacher, too, was apparently surprised as he walked up
behind Ranma, peering curiously over his shoulder as he worked.

Muttering a few soft curses under his breath,
Ranma stared at the board for a few long seconds, trying to figure
out what to do next. Throughout all of this, Mr. Kumagai was behind
him, his eyes scanning across the numbers Ranma had scrawled across
the board, a growing look of shock growing across his face.

Muttering a few more curses
under his breath and narrowing his eyes a little, Ranma tightened his
grip on the piece of chalk. If Hotaru were just with him, he could
solve that stupid problem easy. Muttering softly to himself, Ranma continued to
slowly work across the equation, picking up speed with each step that
he came closer to isolating that damned variable.

Almost smirking to himself,
Ranma started jotting down numbers and symbols at a pace that showed
him to be an expert, and with the confidence to match.

The seconds ticked by, the class all staring at Ranma's back in
keen fascination, a few even trying to look around the boy's shoulders
to see what he had written. Through it all, Mr. Kumagai was staring
over Ranma's shoulders, a mixture of shock and surprise on his face.

And finally, almost a minute later, without any sort of warning
or fanfare, Ranma was done. Returning the piece of chalk, now nothing
more than a white stub, to it's proper place, Ranma turned around,
taking a step back to allow his teacher to have a clear look. Smirking
proudly to himself, Ranma waited, a little eager to hear what the
teacher would say.

"Ranma..." Mr. Kumagai began, trailing off as his eyes darted
across the messy numbers scrawled on the board.

"Yeah?" Ranma asked, his pain nearly lost in the pride he felt
at actually being able to put Hotaru's teachings to good use.

"This is..." the teacher paused, scanning the equation again,
as if to make sure he was seeing things right.

"It's...?" Ranma started, trailing off and waiting for Mr. Kumagai
to finish his sentence.

"This is completely wrong!"



Somewhere, miles away, a certain young girl with short black
hair, raised her head, glancing around for no particular reason. And
then, again for no particular reason she could think of, she had a
sudden urge to work a little harder at tutoring a certain pig-tailed
friend of hers.



The bell had rung, signaling the end of school, and the students
were all trying their best to get off the school grounds as fast as
humanly possible. Well, those that didn't have to stay after school
for some reason or another, that is.

"Mr. Saotome... I don't know how you're going about learning
the concepts you are expected to know, but I have to say that I'm
having doubts as to it's effectiveness."

Ranma, for his part, stared blankly at his teacher for a few
moments, his mind preoccupied deciphering the large amount of words
that had just been thrown at him.

"Ranma..." the teacher started, as his student hadn't immediately
tried to protest or anything.

"Huh? Wha?" Ranma snapped, head shooting back up from it's
position in the 'deep-thinking mode'.

Mr. Kumagai sighed, shaking his head a little in disapproval at
Ranma's apparent lack of attention. "I don't think you're really
benefiting much from studying by yourself."

Ranma blinked, staring at his teacher oddly for a few seconds.
"I'm not studying by myself."

Mr. Kumagai raised an eyebrow, a little surprised at Ranma's
reply. "Really?" he asked slowly, regarding Ranma carefully.

"Yeah, I've got a tutor..." Ranma said slowly, a little
uncomfortable under his teacher's careful scrutiny.

"Indeed?" Mr. Kumagai's expression abruptly changed, his face
taken over completely by surprise.

"Yeah..." was the simple reply.

Several long, awkward moments passed by in which the two
people, teacher and student, stared at each other, one in surprise
and thoughtfulness, the other in plain confusion and nervousness.

"So, um, can I go now?" Ranma tried hopefully as the seconds
ticked by, the pain all over his body starting to register again.

Mr. Kumagai's expression abruptly changed yet again, his face
taking on a familiar serious and calculating look as he regarded
Ranma.

"Yes," he finally said, after several more long moments.

Ranma actually sighed out in relief as he spun around and
headed for the exit, almost breaking out into a sprint.

"One more thing, Mr. Saotome!"

Freezing in place, Ranma slowly turned around, a little nervous
as to what his teacher would say. He just wanted to get out of school
already, not have some teacher-student conference!

"I suggest you listen to your tutor and study a little harder."

Once again, Ranma sighed in relief. "Yeah, sure thing!" And
with that, he just broke out into a full sprint out of the room and
away from his teacher, just in case he might have something else to
say.



Down the streets of Juuban came two silent figures, each one
seeming a little worse for the wear. Both clad in blue uniforms,
marking them as students, the duo was a odd site, though most didn't
pay them too much attention. Actually, the only really odd thing was
the fact that one of the students was walking on a fence and apparently
managed to get through school with his pig-tail intact. But nonetheless,
though eyes may follow the young man curiously, not one soul would
actually stop and stare at him.

Either way, Ranma Saotome really didn't care; he was, for the
most part, consciously registering only the pain all over his body,
and the young, bandana-wearing martial artist off to his right. Having
Ryoga get lost wasn't exactly high on his list of things to do.

And so the two walked on in relative peace and quiet, each one
mostly keeping to himself.

"So..." Ranma started, trailing off as he tried to think of
something to say. He didn't really know why he wanted to actually
say something to the Lost Boy right about then, but the silence was
really starting to get to him. It was okay with Hotaru sometimes, but
he was used to Ryoga getting angry and trying to 'kill' him at right
about that time.

"So..." the Lost Boy replied, also trailing off. He didn't really
have anything to say to Ranma either, but he was a little relieved that
the silence had come to an end.

"We going to Hotaru's right?"

"Yeah..."

"Minako's gonna meet us there, huh?" Ranma asked, somehow
managing not to smirk or somehow tease the Lost Boy.

"Yeah..." This time, instead of a tired and bored response,
there was a content hint to the word, a smile easily giving away
the martial artist's mood shift at the mention of the name.

"Heh."

And with that word, another moment of silence fell upon the two,
Ryoga not demanding, for once, what Ranma meant with his 'heh'.

Yawning a little, Ranma rolled his neck and decided that maybe
he shouldn't press his luck and continue the conversation. The guy
seemed to get angry easily, and fighting Ryoga with an injured arm was
hard enough, fighting the idiot with his whole body in pain was just
plain stupid. Sure, the Lost Boy was probably also similarly out of it,
but with the guys stupidly high endurance, you could never tell...

"That's cool."

Well, he just had to end the conversation himself with SOMETHING,
and he supposed that was good enough. It wasn't anything embarrassing
or stupid-sounding and, much more importantly, it probably wouldn't
piss Ryoga off.



"Man am I glad I finally got here," Ranma muttered out as he
walked tiredly into Hotaru's room, the dimly lit place soothing and
relaxing to him. Trudging over to his friend's bed, he unceremoniously
plopped down onto it, a content and tired sigh escaping his lips as he
closed eyes and tried to relax himself.

Ryoga, leaning onto a wall, regarded the pig-tailed martial
artist with a snort and roll of his eyes. "Real familiar with the
place, aren't you, Saotome?"

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" Ranma asked absently, not
really caring or paying attention to Ryoga's words. He was just
enjoying the feeling of the soft bed on his sore and tired back.

Sitting softly down her chair, Hotaru smiled softly at the two,
though neither were looking at her. "It's alright Ryoga, I don't mind."

Glancing at Hotaru, Ryoga flashed a quick smirk. "I thought you
would say that."

"Did you?" Hotaru muttered, more to herself than anyone as she
turned her head slightly and looked at Ranma, smiling as she watched
him lying there, eyes closed with a content expression on his face.
"Really you two, make yourselves at home."

Eyes opening and rolling back in a half-successful attempt to
look at Hotaru, Ranma smirked. "Hey, I don't wanna sleep on the ground
when there's this nice bed here and all."

Giggling, her voice as soothing to Ranma's spirit as the bed was
to his back, Hotaru shook her head with just a hint of exasperation.
"Just make yourself comfortable."

"Alright, no studying tonight then!"

"Ranma!" Hotaru exclaimed, her voice bearing just a tiny hint
of amusement. "Don't be so silly, of course we're going to study!"
For the most part though, she just felt that urge, again, to try a
little harder at tutoring her friend.

"Alright, alright, I was just joking around..." Ranma muttered,
pretending to be annoyed, though there was still a smirk on his face
as he stared up at the ceiling and closed his eyes again. He didn't
actually want to skip study, that little embarrassment after lunch was
enough to convince him to work a little harder, but it was fun to
mess around like that with Hotaru. It always satisfying to bring a
smile to her lips. The old Hotaru, the friendless and scared one he
had known for just a short time was still fresh on his memory, and he
felt it his duty as her friend to make sure she didn't become like
that again.

And besides, she looked really nice with a smile on.



Meanwhile, somewhere not too far away, a young, blonde girl by
the name of Minako Aino was shooting down the streets in the general
direction of Hotaru's home.



"And so both of us are, obviously, in a lot of pain."

"Ooohh... that's terrible! I told you two not to fight so much!"

Ranma, still lying on Hotaru's bed, shrugged. "Don't worry about
it, I've taken a lot worse." Today was a bad day, true. He was in
pain, true, but he had worse days. He could think of at least 5 right
off the top of his head, all involving his old man...

"Yeah, don't worry about us Hotaru, it's all good training
anyway." Ryoga, ever the gentleman, was still leaning on the wall,
his eyes occasionally taking a few seconds to glare in annoyance at
Ranma.

"But..." Hotaru tried helplessly, glancing between her two
friends in concern. Finally, after several more silent moments, she
sighed. Fighting was something they almost lived for, and all she
could do was try to understand them. "Just try not to get too hurt
okay?"

Simultaneous shrugs from both Ranma and Ryoga was her reply.
"No guarantees." Ranma said simply.

Sighing, Hotaru shook her head in exasperation. "Just... just
don't get hit by trucks or anything like that anymore."
to lose my only friends...>

Wincing at the memory of that incident, Ranma nodded, glancing
at Ryoga, curious as to what his reaction would be.

"O-Of course..." the Lost Boy stuttered out, looking a little
nervous as he recalled that certain accident.

Looking up at her bandana-clad friend, Hotaru couldn't help
but giggle as she saw the nervous and embarrassed look on his face.

"Huh? What's so funny?" Ranma asked in annoyance, sitting up
and turning around to look at Hotaru. "Getting hit by a truck kinda
hurts y'know?"

Stifling her giggles, Hotaru smiled apologetically at Ranma.
"I'm sorry Ranma..."

The words immediately rung a warning bell in Ranma's head,
memories of Hotaru thinking he was angry at her flashing through his
head. "H-Hey! I'm not mad at you or nothing okay?"

Her words cut-off, Hotaru looked up at Ranma, her face an
expression of surprise. "I-I know..."

Sighing in relief, Ranma turned around and plopped back down
onto the bed.

Ryoga, meanwhile, just shook his head in dismay. Ranma was such
an idiot...

A long minute of silence past, nobody saying anything, all more
or less enjoying the silence, as anything they said always seemed to
get a rise out of someone... and not in a good way.

Not that Ranma or Ryoga couldn't handle it, of course, they just
preferred to rest without having to put up with another stupid argument
between themselves.

"I-I have an idea!"

The melodic voice pierced the silence with the effectiveness of
thunder, and Ranma rolled his eyes back, looking at Hotaru with a smile
again on his face. It was nice to hear her voice... He enjoyed her
being silent only when he could actually look at her. "Then it's gotta
be good."

Blushing slightly at the compliment, Hotaru shot Ranma an
embarrassed look. "Stop joking around Ranma..."

Rolling his eyes at Ranma's 'flirting', Ryoga shifted his weight,
slightly, relieving some of the pain on his right leg. "Just let her
say her idea, Ranma."

"Sure, go ahead, Hotaru." Ranma encouraged, smile slipping off
his face as he took on a serious expression.

Composing herself, Hotaru stood up and walked over to the bed,
sitting softly down and looking at Ranma. "Well, I can heal you."

As soon as the words left her mouth, utter silence filled the
room. Ranma and Ryoga didn't even BREATHE.



Minako, breathing heavily, pressed the doorbell of the Tomoe
Home three quick times. Maybe running at full speed all the way from
school to Hotaru's house wasn't such a great idea... But she wanted
to see Ryoga, and walking would take so long!

"Well... *gasp* *gasp* let's just hope... *pant* that redhead...
*gasp* *pant* doesn't answer the door..."

And then, as if on cue, the door swung open, revealing Kaolinite
in all her cold glory.

The combination of her being very winded and tired added with
the sudden surge of fear and surprise at the appearance of Kaolinite...
well, Minako would later swear she nearly had a heart-attack.



"No way!!"

Ranma was the first to break the almost frightening silence that
had fallen on the trio. Jumping to his feet as he shouted, his words
were, as usual, blunt and straight to the point.

"No way!" he repeated, this time just a little bit softer. "We'll
be fine, we don't want you to go into a coma or something, okay?!"

His breath coming quickly, he stared at Hotaru, a determined
look filled with worry and concern on his face. It was true, Hotaru
could give them relief from the pain, but... she could pass out again;
and even though she had always gotten better again before, there was no
way he was going to take that risk, especially after yesterday!

"I-I'm Sorry..." Hotaru muttered, taken aback by Ranma's sudden
outburst. "I just... I just wanted to help..."

Closing his eyes, Ranma winced a little at the Hotaru's stuttered
words, so different in so many ways from the giggles that he had so
short a time before. Mentally slapping himself for his lack of control,
no matter how many good intentions it contained.

"N-no... I'm sorry for shoutin' like that," the pigtailed boy
started, "I just don't want you to go into a seizure or nuthin'..." His
words finished, Ranma coughed nervously and tried to look anywhere but
at Hotaru.

Ryoga just stood there, relaxing as it seemed Hotaru wouldn't be
healing anyone. Crossing his arms, Ryoga focused on the couple before
him, silently, and with a fair amount of boredom, observing the two
teens who did anything but look at each other.

The minutes ticked by with no end to the silence in sight, and
Ryoga wondered if he ought to give Ranma a good bashing to make him do
something. Glancing at Hotaru though, he quickly decided against it.


Finally, a few seconds later, any amusement the Lost Boy may have
gotten from Ranma's nervous and anxious face faded away, and he decided
that maybe he should say something.

"Guys, it's me! Hey, what's with all the gloominess in here?"

That wasn't his voice, but it certainly caught Ryoga's attention.



"Guys, Minako's late again."

Three female gazes simultaneously turned away from the various
books they were reading, homing onto the source of the voice: a blond
teenager by the name of Usagi.

"You think she skipped again?" Usagi continued speculatively, her
eyes turning towards the ceiling in thought.

"Geez meatball head, where'd you come up with THAT idea?"

All thoughts about here friend Minako vanishing, Usagi turned her
attention to the source of biting sarcasm. "For your information Rei, I
came up with that myself!" Usagi almost shouted indignantly.

Rei merely rolled her eyes.

"Seriously though guys," blue-haired Ami cut in before anybody
else could say anything. "It is odd that Minako hasn't come yet,
something might have happened to her!"

"Oh don't worry so much Ami," Makoto said with a dismissive wave
of her hand and a smile on her face. "Minako's the most experienced
Senshi out of all of us; she can't catch a boyfriend, but she can take
care of herself!"

"Yeah Ami, she's Sailor V too, remember!" Usagi added, cheerfully
grabbing a nearby Sailor V manga and waving it around. "I remember
something just like this happened in-"

"Usagi!! I told you not to mess around with my things!"

Usagi eeped, her other two friends quickly scooting away from the
table they were gathered around, as the long-haired Senshi of fire
leapt at and tried to either strangle or wrest away the manga from her
blond antagonist, probably both.



"Hello Minako!"

"Hi!"

Ranma and Hotaru leapt at the chance to get out of the awkward
situation like rabid dogs, quickly attempting to forget the earlier
incident.

Flashing the two a quick smile, Minako then glanced around,
looking for Ryoga. Finding him leaning against a wall, looking a little
nervous, she quickly dashed over and hugged him. "Ryoga! Did you miss
me?"

"Ah- erm..." the Lost Boy started, quickly overwhelmed by Minako's
cheerful closeness.

"Hmmm?" Minako tried, pulling herself away from Ryoga and eyeing
him expectantly.

"Yeah." the Lost Boy finished lamely, the smile he managed to
scrounge up the same.

"Oooohhh... That's so sweet of you..." Minako murmured, a dreamy
look in her eyes as she gave the Lost Boy another hug. "I missed you too
Ryoga..."

"Ah... hah..." was all the bandana-clad martial artist managed to
get out of his mouth, his arms slowly and hesitantly inching their way
around Minako, weakly returning the hug.

Minako either didn't notice, or didn't care, extracting herself
from Ryoga's arms several long seconds later and turning around to face
Ranma and Hotaru, both of whom were staring intently at her.

"So what's with you two?"



The four young girls gathered at Rei's, or perhaps more
accurately, Rei's grandfather's temple were all quietly gathered once
more around the wooden table used they used for study. All were quietly
reading(educational books or otherwise) in relative peace, tempers
having quickly and easily cooled down, an aura of calmness once again
blanketing the young girls.

It wasn't all that unusual when Luna came in, and such an
occurrence, by itself, would not have called for much attention from the
girls. What was a little odd, however, was that she came in, dragging
Artemis along with her, literally. Dazed, tired, miserable, and
generally looking beat, the white cat was being dragged across the
ground, a fair portion of his skin clutched between Luna's teeth.

Not knowing what to make of the situation, the four Senshi present
just watched, following the pair with curious, blinking eyes.

After dragging Artemis in for another few feet, Luna then released
her hold and opened her jaw, letting the white cat's head drop onto the
ground with a dull thud, not even a single grunt or moan coming from his
mouth.

Turning around, Luna calmly, if seemingly a bit tired, walked
further into the room and past the girls with not even a simple 'hi'.
Reaching one of the girl's conveniently-placed book bags, she spent the
next few seconds snuggling up against it. Then, she turned her gaze to
Artemis.

"Honestly Artemis, you are so lazy."

At those words, as if on cue, Artemis sprung to his feet, glaring
at Luna. "Well it wasn't MY bright idea to run all over town looking for
Minako!"

"She's your responsibility, Artemis, don't you think you should be
a little more worried about her?"

Rolling his eyes at Luna's calm response, Artemis merely turned
around and walked away, mumbling something about slave drivers.

Luna merely shook her head disapprovingly and turned her focus
back to resting up for awhile. It had been a rather stressful day for
her, running all around town trying to find Minako. They might have
found her too, if he had come a little earlier, as in more than 5
minutes before school ended for Minako...

Sighing, Luna closed her eyes. Maybe it was okay; maybe Minako
hadn't been brainwashed by her new... 'boyfriend'. Maybe there wasn't
some new enemy for the Senshi to face, maybe it was all alright. Maybe
Minako was really was acting differently just because of... emotions.

Clinging onto that hope, but knowing that she would have to
investigate the matter further nonetheless, Luna banished all other
thoughts and attempted to take a little cat-nap.

"Luna, you were looking for Minako?!"

Of course, Usagi had other ideas.



"So what do you guys want to do?"

Glancing around, a smile beaming on her face, Minako waited
patiently for an answer from her new friends. She had just gotten a
boyfriend and couldn't wait to go out on a date again! Ryoga was, of
course, quiet, seemingly content with just letting Minako cling onto
his arms.

Ranma and Hotaru, on the other hand, just met her with blank
looks.

"Uh... well..." Ranma started, trailing off as he tried to think
of what to say. After what happened a mere 5 minutes or so ago with
Hotaru, he was a little nervous about saying the wrong thing and getting
Hotaru... unhappy. She had never gotten angry at him before... and that
made him feel all the worse for shouting like that...

"We were going to study," Hotaru finished after several more
seconds of Ranma's silence.

Shutting his mouth, Ranma quickly nodded in agreement, all the
while restraining himself from glancing at Hotaru. He didn't want to
look at her, didn't want to find out if his yelling had hurt her...

"Yeah," he instead mumbled.

"Oh." Minako said, blinking a few times as she took in that
information, a little deflated over the turn of events. She had expected
them to do something, go out, eat, have fun, even play a bit of cards
like yesterday, anything but... study!! Sighing a little, she
unconsciously gripped Ryoga a little tighter, leaning a little on him.
If she wanted to study, she would've gone over to Rei's temple...

"Um, yeah," Ranma helpfully added again, fidgeting slightly, his
eyes gazing over the ground for the most part.

"Well," Minako started, a little thoughtful. "I don't mind if I
study with Ryoga, I guess."

"Uh, yeah!" Ranma once again added.

A smile growing across her face, Hotaru nodded. "That's wonderful!
I'm sure we'll all have a great time."

Ranma relaxed slightly, Hotaru's cheerful tone lightening his mood
and relieving some of his nervousness.

"Yeah," he said simply.

"Let's go get your books, Ranma," Hotaru suggested, gently taking
one of the pig-tailed martial artist's arms and pulling him with her
towards her table.

Mentally sighing in relief, Ranma allowed his friend to drag him
to her desk, relishing in the great feeling that comes with having
everything work out. A small, egotistical, subconscious part of him knew
that he was probably perfectly capable of carrying all the books in the
whole house, much more just his own. That Hotaru would come with him...
well, she wasn't angry or anything with him, and that made everything
okay.

And he wouldn't have to apologize or anything like that either!
Not that he couldn't, but stuff like that was just so... well...
embarrassing, and... well, maybe it was just a little bit hard.

"It's nice to have Minako and Ryoga study with us, isn't it
Ranma?"

The familiar, voice, soft and gentle, snapped Ranma out of his
thoughts and back to reality, where he found several books gripped in
one hand, and his eyes on Hotaru's face, a small and gentle smile
adorning it, a single History book, belonging to him, held tightly
against her chest.

"Yeah, sure is," Ranma replied softly, a small smile of his own on
his face. Not the cocky smirk he flashed at the drop of a hat, but a
soft, kind one filled with a gentle light-heartedness. One he rarely
showed anyone other than Hotaru... "Sure is..."



"What do you know about Minako?!"

"Usagi... *choke* let go of... *gag* me!!"

"C'mon Luna, what do you know about Minako?? Does she have a new
best friend?! Is she holding out on a special sale? A new boyfriend?
WHAT??"

Luna, currently being shaken, by the neck, by a very...
enthusiastic blond named Usagi, merely made more gagging noises.

"Usagi, maybe you should put Luna down..." Ami quickly suggested,
trying very hard to do things gently as a small sweat drop ran down the
side of her head.

"Um, yeah Usagi, why don't you put Luna down?" Makoto added in
nervously, quick to support Ami. "I'm sure Luna can talk much better
without you choking her..."

"Put her down before you kill her meatball head!!" Rei, as it
usually came to matters involving her beloved meatball-headed leader,
was a little less tactful.

Still, it got the desired effect.

Suddenly looking embarrassed as she realized what she was doing,
Usagi quickly unclenched her hands, letting Luna drop onto the ground
with a dull thud.

That too, was a bad thing.

"I'm so sorry Luna, are you okay?!"

Helpless little cat twitches and gagging noises were her only
response.



Illuminated only by a collection of lamps scattered about like
immobile fireflies, were four figures gathered together in a rough
circle on the ground of a dark room that may very well have been
infinitely large, for all that could be seen of its walls. Most were
seated cross-legged, a book on their laps that they studied with varying
degrees of interest.

One of them, however, a young girl with her long blonde hair
miraculously held together by one red bow, was lying on her stomach,
legs idly rocking in the air as she stared at a math book on the ground,
her head propped in the air by her hands.

As the other three around her continued staring at their
respective books, her neutral expression dropped, replaced by a frown as
she squinted and her rather under-lighted book. Cocking her head to
the side, she stared at the book some more, as if that could somehow
help her decipher whatever baffling information lay within the tome
before her. Frowning perhaps even deeper, she cocked her head to the
other side, staring at it for another few moments.

This continued on for several more minutes, the young girl cocking
her head in several various positions, all the while staring at her
book. Finally though, she gave up, a frustrated sigh escaping her lips
as she plopped her head unceremoniously onto the floor. After a few
seconds of laying there, however, her eyes started wandering, slowly to
her left. Her head turned with it and, soon enough, her gaze rested on a
figure. A young male with a yellow bandanna wrapped around his forehead.
A smile slipping on her face, she pushed herself back up and onto her
knees. One hand gently nudging the boy's to get his attention, she let
the other push book towards him.

"Ryoga," Minako started, almost pouting as she pointed at her open
Math book. "I don't understand this problem, can you help me?"

"Huh? What Minako?" Ryoga asked, turning slightly to decide to
regard her, a little nervous, as always.

"Can you help me with that problem?" Minako repeated, a finger
pointing at a problem on her book.

Giving a weak smile, Ryoga nodded and leaned a little closer to
the book, trying to make out the numbers in the dim lighting. Minako,
seeing how her boyfriend was having trouble reading the book,
thoughtfully took the book and lifted it up. "Here you go!" she said
cheerfully.

"T-Thanks..." Ryoga stuttered out, a little embarrassed.

"That's alright," Minako said, bringing the book a little closer
to the Lost Boy, which, incidentally, had the side-effect of inching her
closer to him. "I'm just glad you're helping me."

Still smiling, Ryoga turned his attention back to the book, and
to the problem Minako had been pointing at. His eyes tracing the
numbers and symbols, Ryoga tried to ignore Minako's closeness and figure
out the answer.

"S-So," he started, trying to both buy time and help Minako at the
same time, as each passing second made him seem stupider and stupider in
his own eyes. "W-What are you having problems with?"

Frowning a little, Minako shrugged. "I don't know... I just don't
know how to solve it."

Sweating, Ryoga nodded, and continued staring at the problem, his
mind struggling to remember all the math lectures he had ever been
given. Still smiling
nervously, Ryoga continued to go over the problem in his head time and
time again, all the while mentally cursing himself and even Ranma,
occasionally, for his failure to make it to class more often.

"Um..." Ryoga's smile slipped as he trailed off, sweat starting to
pour down his head.

"Ryoga, are you feeling alright? You're getting all sweaty..."
came Minako's voice, suddenly filled with concern.

Glancing back up at Minako, Ryoga managed a quick smile. "I-I'm
fine!"

"Oh, okay..." Minako said slowly, trailing off a little as she
looked at Ryoga, still a little doubtful and worried.

Minako's intent gaze only served to unnerve Ryoga further; he
could feel those eyes on him, those two, blue eyes studying him, as if
waiting for him to make a mistake. Once he slipped, if even just a
little, if he failed her... that look which had used to gaze so warmly
on him... Ryoga mentally shuddered at the thought of losing the only
girl who ever showed an interest in him, who ever liked him... like
that.

And Ranma... the pig-tailed boy wasn't watching him now, but Ryoga
knew he would be there, laughing at him, laughing at him once he failed
to do the problem. Once he admitted a weakness... Damn Ranma, just
sitting there, breezing through that book like he breezed through so
many of their fights.

Ryoga thought desperately to himself,
the mocking problem before him forgotten for a moment. Stronger... but
even that wasn't enough, Ranma still won their fights. That and Minako
was the only thing he had over the pig-tailed boy, and he'd lose the
second one if he didn't figure out that stupid problem!!

"Ryoga, are you sure you alright?" came Minako's voice again, full
of worry. "You're all sweaty..."

By now, the other two's attention had been caught, and Ryoga could
feel them, feel their eyes boring into him.

"I-I..." Ryoga manage to stutter, not knowing even himself what he
was doing.

"Silly Ryoga," Minako said, giggling a little. "Why didn't you
just tell me you were hot?" Turning away for a second, the blond girl
reached into her nearby book bag and pulled out a brilliant white
handkerchief trimmed with some kind of color he couldn't quite make out
in the dim light. "Here," Minako said softly, leaning slightly up and
gently swiping the handkerchief across the Lost Boy's sweaty brow a few
times.

After a few seconds of this, Minako withdrew her hand, eyeing the
damp handkerchief with a glint of amusement in her eyes. "Wow, you're
really sweaty Ry-"

Minako, stopped, her words dying in her throat as Ryoga clasped
her hands in his own, staring seriously into her eyes. "Minako, I'm
sorry..."

"W-What?" the blond girl choked out. I-It couldn't be... she
wasn't going to lose another boyfriend was she? S-She did everything she
could, she was nice, sweet, it couldn't be!

"I don't know how to do the problem!!"

On the sidelines, Ranma rolled his eyes.



"I can't believe you did that, Usagi," Rei said again with a shake
of her head. "Of all the hair-brained things to do..."

Usagi, merely sat there at her place by the table, looking
embarrassed as she gently cradled an unconscious Luna in her arms. "I-I
said I was sorry Rei."

Rei merely shook her head in a mixture of weariness and disbelief.

"C'mon Rei, I said I was sorry," Usagi almost whined.

"It's not me you should be apologizing to," Rei replied, turning
her gaze back down to the book she was studying. "I'm just glad Artemis
wasn't here; no telling what you would've done to him..."

Makoto and Ami remained silent, trying their best to ignore the
whole thing, at least until Luna woke up. Getting in between Rei and
Usagi wasn't very high on their list of fun things to do.



"Don't worry about it Ryoga." Minako said cheerfully, slapping
the Lost Boy enthusiastically on his shoulder. "We can work on the
problem together!"

Ryoga stared at Minako, a mixture of surprise and desperate hope
on his face. "R-Really?"

"Of course," Minako answered, bobbing her head up and down. "Two
brains are smarter than one!"

"R-Right!" Ryoga stuttered out, a nervous smile once again making
it's way on his face. "That's absolutely right!" he ended, laughing
nervously with Minako while scratching the back of his head.

Across from the two, Ranma raised a hand, as if about to say
something. As soon as his mouth opened, though, he shut it again,
shaking his head and giving a tired sigh. Just what were the chances
that Ryoga would get angry no matter what he pointed out or suggested...

Hotaru, after watching for another 20 seconds, far more time than
Ranma spared for the duo, decided that the two seemed to be having a lot
of fun and could figure out whatever problem they were working on by
themselves. Besides, her... student might need her help later. Smiling
a little, more at everything in general, than any specific thing, Hotaru
returned her attention to her book.

Ranma continued reading his history book.



Hands in his pocket, Ranma silently walked across the high Juuban
fence tops, not a single sound disturbing the stillness, as he
subconsciously tried to hide his presence. Subconsciously indeed, for
any fool with two eyes could easily make out the pigtailed figure
standing sharp against the dark background by the light of the moon.

He himself wasn't really paying attention to much, as he already
knew the winding fences that lead to his home by heart. His eyes, as
they was opt to wander to when he walked the fences alone, were on the
sky. With no other earthly beauty to steal his gaze, the eyes of Ranma
Saotome rested upon the sky alone. A deep and thoughtful expression on
his face, Ranma's eyes traversed the dark, endless ocean, tracing lines
from whatever stars where visible to the next to form any constellations
he could.

Sky.

The word itself represented all that the Saotome School of Martial
Arts strived to be. Complete freedom, freedom to kick and punch, spin
and grab however and whenever he pleased. In the air, he was in complete
control of a fight against any opponent but his father. On the ground,
he was a great fighter, he knew; but in those few short moments he was in
the air, against all opponents he had ever fought save his father, Ranma
was nothing short of magnificent.

For those few short moments.

Sighing, Ranma let his gaze drop for a moment, back to the ground.
He couldn't fly, not really. He could grow stronger and stronger,
jumping higher and higher, but eventually... gravity would hit and he'd
be going back down.

Flight.

That word, so easy to speak, yet so hard to achieve for long. That
one, elusive ability that held back the Saotome School from true
greatness. Slowly turning his gaze back up to the sky, a little
wistfully, Ranma shook his head a little. The closest thing he could get
to flying was in an airplane, and that... that couldn't kick, punch, or
grab...

Still walking, though he was barely even aware of that, Ranma let
those rather depressing thoughts roll around in his head for awhile.
After about a minute of it though, not being the type to stay too
depressed for too long, Ranma had enough. Vigorously shaking his head,
as if he could throw the brutal truth of reality aside, tried to think
of more pleasant things.

After a few seconds, the pig-tailed martial artist turned his
attention back to the sky, or more accurately, the bright, yellow moon,
a smile on his face, a girl on his mind.


To be continued...



Well, there you have it, after so many months of... well,
nothing. For those of you who mailed me wondering what was wrong,
thanks. For those of you who didn't, well, essentially, I kept getting
distracted by other things and so did not write.

Unfortunately, even with my prereaders, I couldn't find a suitable
song for Minako to sing besides from the initial Robotech "To be in
Love" one. Sorry to say, but that song actually fits the situation best.

And of course, thanks to my prereaders for their efforts. Without
whom, Sound Hearts would be filled with typos and unrealism. Particular
thanks to Rafael for his thoroughness and Battlekrome for slaving my
ass off because of one little detail... ^_^

I'm pretty sure some of them didn't actually didn't actually
finish prereading, but I have so many prereaders, I lost track of
who sent what and who didn't. Anyway, here they are.

Rafael Soria diyos@mediaone.net
Trevor Hoffert battlekrome@hotmail.com
http://members.xoom.com/Battlekrome/ (several interesting fics in
progress; ignore any mention of KaosQu in relation to MSTKings you may
stumble across in there...)

Pauli Savola psavola@zdnetonebox.com
http://www.geocities.com/psavola/index.htm (he's got colorized Ranma pages!)

Chester Knureck cknurek@tampabay.rr.com
Chris Thompson thomchr1@charlie.cns.iit.edu
Vid Wizzard Vidwizard@globalnetisp.net
http://ryogahibiki.tripod.com/ (not much on his page, actually,
but he's got a couple chapters up of an interesting fic, and a teaser
I'm really looking forward to seeing formally written. Oh, and his is
the only site that does anything remotely related to informing on the
progress of Sound Hearts chapters)

Jeff Baker mindwipe777@home.com
Shen Yang azharael@hotmail.com
Sonny Taing sonny_taing@hotmail.com (Y'know... I don't know
if he has a site or not... He's working on several interesting fics
though...)

Will Hammond capt.tailor@tendodojo.com

Of course, check out the two places closest to a homepage that
Sound Hearts has:

http://home.earthlink.net/~tannim/index.html
Great site, lots of fic. Updates a little too far apart for my
tastes, but it's consistent, and that's great.

http://www.fortunecity.com/marina/thunder/181/
Has been updating less and less lately, but still a great place.
Check out the Church of Crossover Couples and vote for a couple. C'mon,
Ranma/Hotaru only needs a few more votes to beat Rei! After that, just
six more to get into the winner's circle!

And thanks to various other people for their help while Chapter
4 was still underway. You know who you are.

Finally, I once again put in a shameless plug for the Ranma fanfic
forum. If you ever find yourself staring at your monitor with nothing to
do, drop by and check the place out, the place always needs more people.
If you're not a preareder, it's also the quickest way to get the latest
chapter of Sound Hearts as I post them there myself.

http://www.delphi.com/ranma_fanfics/start/

Well, that's about it; thanks for reading this far. I did
originally have work to do, but I finished that up in one long, terrible
6 hour sitting while waiting for my preareders to finish up. So unless
I get lazy again, I should have plenty of time to write. Let's hope
chapter 5 gets here a lot sooner...


KaosQu
kaosqu@hotmail.com