Jeffrey "OneShot" Wong

Just Won't Die 7




     "What the hell are we going to do?!" Misato gasped, the color draining from 
her face, "Ranma has gone to the other world to cause the Third Impact! How are 
we going to stop him?"
  Luna and Lina and Emiko looked around in confusion, all three of them 
desperately trying to understand what had everyone so riled up. They were all 
gathered in the livingroom of Ranma's home. Ranma had disappeared for the other 
world just a short while ago. It didn't really matter when he had left for time 
felt like it was standing still at the moment.
  "I don't understand, what is this Third Impact Ranma is trying to cause? What 
world did he goto?" Luna asked curiously, a bit worried about what she was going 
to hear.
  Ritsuko turned toward Luna and replied, "The Third Impact occurs when an Angel 
comes in contact with either Adam or Lilith,"
  "Adam and Lilith?" Luna asked.
  "Yes, they are from the bible," she continued, "The scope of things is is that 
if Ranma comes in contact with either of them, the Third Impact would occur, and 
we don't know what that means,"
  "Well, didn't Rei also cause the Third Impact on this world?" Akane asked 
curiously, "And we are still here. Could it be that bad?"
  Ritsuko shrugged, "I don't know. However, I wouldn't think it's a good idea to 
sit back and find out,"
  "But it isn't our world that it's going to happen to," Shinji commented, "Is 
there any reason for us to get involved?"
  Misato shot Shinji a glance, "How could you say that? It may not be our world 
anymore, but how would you like it if someone from another world came here to 
cause a Third Impact and perhaps wipe out the human race in the process?"
  Shinji became silent, embarrassed.
  "What should we do?" Nene asked timidly.
  "What else? We go after him and stop him!" Misato said, "As much as I hate the 
thought of going against Ranma, what he is attempting to do is insane. Who knows 
what the outcome could be. Rei did it, and she succeeded, but perhaps it was 
because.....because she had originally be born to cause the Third Impact so 
perhaps she was able to change the outcome. We don't know what could happen if 
Ranma causes it...."
  "Um, how do you suppose we do that?" Linna asked, "I don't know if you guys 
notice, but Ranma's a tad bit more powerful than when we had first met him. 
Y'know, when we mistakened him for a boomer as he with us...."
  The room became deathly silent. Luna, Lina, and Emiko looked around curiously.
  "What do you mean?" Lina asked.
  "A long time ago, through a misunderstanding," Linna began, gesturing toward 
Sylia, Nene, and Priss, "mistakened Ranma for this thing called a 'boomer'. We 
hated boomer and would generally do anything to destroy them. Well, we fought 
against Ranma, all four of us at once against just him....and we were unable to 
defeat him. He's gotten insanely stronger since then. We weren't of much an 
obstacle against him, and it's damn sure that we're even less of an obstacle 
now,"
  Luna shook her head, "You shouldn't think that. Although he's gotten stronger 
as you say, I'm sure you've also gotten stronger too,"
  Linna gave a meek smile, "Um, well......"
  "Um, we stopped using 'hardsuits', these suits we wore when we fought against 
him, over a decade ago," Nene said, "I guess you can consider us more than 
'rusty' when it comes to using them,"
  "Um, if it's really bad if he causes this Third Impact, I guess I could always 
try and stop him," Luna gave a meek smile.  
  The girls narrowed their eyes at Luna.
  "What, are you _that_ powerful that you can stop Ranma?" Akane asked 
curiously, "Keep in mind that none of us here aside from you and Lina saw that 
contest,"
  Luna gave a non-committed shrug, "I don't know. Perhaps I might be able to 
stop him, but perhaps I might not. It is worth a try though, isn't it?"
  "And how is she going to stop him?" Asuka asked, "She's here and Ranma is on a 
different world. And Ryoga has the other nanban mirror and we don't know where 
he is,"
  "You could always open a portal up," Lina turned toward her elder sister.
  Luna's face became a bit pale.
  "What's wrong?" Lina asked.
  "If I open up a portal to the other world, there's no way I can step through," 
Luna replied, "Remember? I'll need to stay on this world to keep the portal open 
so people go through to the other side. That means you'll have to go through and 
stop him,"
  "M-me?" Lina said in surprise.
  Luna turned away from Lina and toward the group, "Waitaminute, is anyone here 
from where ever this world is that Ranma went to?"
  "Yes, a few of us," Misato spoke up, "Ritsuko, Asuka, Shinji, and I are from 
that world,"
  "Well, that's good to hear," Luna said, "I asked this because I need some kind 
of reference point to open the portal, that being your memories of that world. 
Without it, we would need to find another way of getting there,"
  "Yeah, and that would be the nanban mirror, but Ryoga has it and he isn't 
around here," Akane commented, "Sometimes, when he disappears, he disappears for 
years at a time,"
  Luna said, "Well, that isn't all that much a problem. Since I have a 
reference, I can open a portal,"
  The group cheered.
  "Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go!"

  On another world, a woman named Yui was walking down the street of Tokyo, on 
her way to a nearby mall store to do some shopping. Walking by her side was her 
husband Gendo. 
  Gendo had this detached look on his face. It was obvious that he didn't want 
to be there. He knew why he was coming along with her shopping. His wife needed 
someone to carry all those bags of clothes she was going to buy.
  He sighed. He missed being the commander of Nerv Headquarters now that there 
were no longer a threat of Angels attacking. Although Nerv Headquarters was no 
longer needed well over two years ago, he still longed to work there. He longed 
to work again. Commended for basically exposing SEELE's plans, thanks to Ranma's 
help, to the UN, Gendo as considered a hero had been well rewarded. Gendo no 
longer needed money, the government more than happy to provide him with any and 
everything, and that meant there was no reason for him to work anymore.
  "I wish I was working," he muttered as he saw the giant clothing store getting 
closer and closer.
  "What was that, honey?" he wife, Yui asked. She was a beautiful young woman 
with short brown hair. Her beauty made it a wonder why she was with a man like 
Gendo.
  Gendo gave a meek laugh, "Oh, nothing,"
  One of these days, he would put his foot down.
  "Hurry up, honey, you're walking too slow," his wife told him.
  "Yes, honey," Gendo said.
  He would put his foot down, but perhaps another day.
  As Gendo and Yui were crossing the very busy street, a bright light appeared 
high above them.
  When they quickly glanced up, the light had already disappeared.
  All that remained was Ranma has gavity took over and sent him down to the 
ground below. Luckily, he twisted skillfully in the air and landed silently on 
his feet him a short distance in front of the shocked couple. Actually, Gendo 
and Yui weren't the only ones shocked. There were hundred other onlookers that 
had just seen what had transpired.
   Ranma looked around, not all that bothered by the attention, "Now, where am 
I?"
  He looked around toward the buildings. It didn't take him long to recognize a 
building from when he was last on this world.
  "Ah, I know where I am. If that building is here, the that means Nerv is 
located that way," Ranma was talking to himself as he pointed toward the west. 
Just beyond the edge of the city was the mountain where Nerv was located.
  Just as Ranma was about to walk off in that general direction, someone called 
his name.
  "R-R-Ranma? Is t-that you?" came a surprised female voice.
  Ranma turned around and was pleasantly surprised to see a familiar face.
  "Ah, Yui," Ranma smiled warmly, "Nice to see you again,"  
  "W-what? H-how? W-when...." she began.
  "Is that really you?" Gendo asked incredulously.
  Ranma smiled and nodded, "Yep. It's really me,"
  "How? I-I thought.....we thought you were killed," Yui said.
  "Um, well, more or less," he said, "It's a really long story. I'm basically 
the third version of the Ranma you know. Let's just say that I'm going through 
lives like they're nothing. The funny thing is is that I don't remember dying 
even once, let alone twice,"
  Gendo narrowed his eyes at Ranma, "Are you really the same Ranma we know?"
  Ranma smirked, "Weren't you just listening? No, I'm not. I'm some kinda newer 
version of him. I'm still the same person meaning I remember everything, but I 
don't think we have ever physically met until today,"
  Yui smiled, "Well, whatever the case, it's nice to find out that you're alive 
and well,"
  Ranma gave her an odd look, "Just like that? I figure you would be surprised 
and speechless for longer than that,"
  Yui gave a meek smile, "I'm sorry," She walked over and gave Ranma a hug, 
"It's great to hear that you're back. I'm so relieved,"
  "Yui," Gendo called out to his wife, "You're married,"
  Yui turned toward Gendo, a smirk on her lips, "Oh hush, honey. It's only a 
hug. No need to get all jealous,"
  Gendo let out a grunt. He turned toward Ranma and offered his hand, "It's nice 
to see that you're alive and well,"
  Ranma shook hands with Gendo, "I'm glad to be alive,"
  "So, what brings you to this world?" Yui asked. 
  "Nothing much," Ranma half-lied, "I just wanted to letcha know that I'm all 
right,"
  Her eyes lit up, "Oh, you have to come around to our house to visit Rei. She 
doesn't know about you.....about your other self dying. She's been wondering 
want happened to you for quite a while,"
  "Quite a while? What, how long has it been since I...since my other self came 
around, to pick up Unit-01?"
  "About a year," Yui said.
  "Actually, it'll be exactly one year as of next week," Gendo commented.
  Ranma whistled, "Man, I guess I have been away for quite a while. To me, it 
only feels like a week had passed, despite having been stuck on that other world 
for a few months,"
  "Other world?" Yui asked curiously.
  Ranma waved a hand, "Oh, nothing. Nothing too important. Anyway, I'll be glad 
to stop by later in the day and talk to Rei, and Shinji as well. I'd like to 
know how they've been doing also,"
  Yui smiled warmly, "That's good to hear. I'm positive they're going to be very 
excited to see you,"
  "Good, I'll drop by later today,"

  "W-will y-you go out with me?"
  Asuka looked at the young boy in contempt. It was now halfway through spending 
her lunchtime outside and already she had been asked out three times since 
lunchtime had started. She was getting sick and tired of being asked out.
  "No, I'm not interested," she said, fighting back the urge to simply kick the 
young boy in his groin to get her point across more concisely. 
  She took several deep breaths before she was about to bring her attention back 
onto the book she was reading. She had finished her lunch early to finish 
reading this interesting book she had picked up the other day. 
  She was sitting outside, her back against a tree. 
  "Whatcha reading?" Hikari asked cheerfully as she sat down next to Asuka.
  Asuka smiled slightly. Although she should be angry for being interrupted, 
Hikari was her friend and she could let that slide. Besides, if it weren't for 
Hikari piloting Unit-02 along with Toji and Kensuke back then against the 
Angels, who knows what could had happened.
  "It's called 'Dawning of Immortality'," she replied. 
  "What's it about?"
  "It's about a young man that became immortal and he goes about throughout the 
book seeking death," Asuka said, "It's a pretty good book, but what really gets 
to you is that it makes you wonder what it could really be like if you were 
immortal,"
  "I read that book," came a masculine voice.
  Asuka and Hikari were both startled. They looked up and noticed a silhouette 
of a man standing before them. They couldn't distinguish his features since the 
sun was to his back and the glare was preventing them.
  "You two remember me?" Ranma asked, still smiling.
  "I'm sorry, but I don't think we do," Hikari commented for the both of them.
  "I wouldn't be surprised, it's probably been over a year since you had last 
seen me," Ranma said, shrugging his shoulders, "Oh yeah, by the way, if I were 
you two, I wouldn't sit like that,"
  "What do you mean?" Asuka asked curiously. All she was doing was sitting 
against a tree.
  "I can see both of your panties," Ranma said.
  Asuka and Hikari both looked down and noticed that their panties were exposed. 
They shouldn't had sat down and leaned against the tree with their legs bent and 
pressed against their chests.
  Ranma grinned, "However, I must say, red panties seem to suit you, Asuka. And 
blue ones seem to suit you, Hikari,"
  Asuka and Hikari yelped as they quickly brought their legs down and pulled the 
front of their skirts down.
  "You pervert!" Asuka shouted at him.
  Ranma didn't seem all that perturbed, "There's no need for you to be 
embarrassed. I've seen you naked plenty of times,"
  "What?!?" Asuka's eyes widened, "W-w-when?! H-how!!"
  Ranma scratched his head, "Actually, I take that back. I haven't seen _you_ 
naked. I've seen another version of you naked plenty of times. It's just that 
she is identical to you so it might as well be you,"
  "What the heck are you talking about?" Asuka glared at him, quickly standing 
up, a blush on her cheeks. Hikari also got to her feet.
  He smiled, "Anyway, that's not the point, I just wanted to stop by and letcha 
know that I'm alive and well,"
  Hikari stepped slightly to the side so that the glare of the sun wasn't in her 
eyes. When she managed to get a good look or Ranma, her eyes widened.
  "Y-you're Ranma!" Hikari said in shock, "Y-you're alive?! H-how?!"
  Ranma smiled, "It's a long story,"
  Asuka took a good glance at him, "Ranma? Hm, that name sounds familiar,"
  He turned toward her and said "Just think back a bit,"
  After a moment, her eyes widened when she recognized who it was. 
  "You used to be our teacher!" Asuka said.
  "Bingo," Ranma smiled, "See, it wasn't that hard. I'm flattered that you 
bothered to remember me,"
  Asuka blushed a bit. He was flattered? That's a rather sweet thing of him to 
say.
  Ranma leaned down toward her when he noticed the blush, "Hey, why're ya 
blushing? Dontcha go developin' no crush on me or nothing. I've got enough 
problems with the girls back home, and I have no intention of developing the 
same problems here,"
  "M-me? I do not have a crush on you!" Asuka shouted loudly.
  "Good, keep it that way," he smirked, "Having one of you have a crush with me 
and constantly trying to deny it is bad enough, let alone two,"
  "I said 'I do not have a crush on you!'" Asuka shouted once again, much louder 
this time. However, there was still a blush on her cheeks.
  Ranma chuckled, "Asuka, this version of you is exactly like the other one," 
For a brief moment, he forgot that this Asuka didn't know him as well, for he 
placed an arm around her shoulder.
  "At least knowing that you're here will definitely make my stay here all the 
more interesting," he commented happily.
  "A-and what's that supposed to mean?" she asked, quickly slipping out from 
under Ranma's arm, glaring at him. If anyone else had tried to put and arm 
around her, she would had clocked him. However, Ranma was different. He was not 
some the general nervous young boys that approached her. 
  Ranma made a sad face, "Y-you don't want me to put my arm around you? My 
feeling are hurt,"
  "Um," Asuka began, almost beginning to feel ashamed of herself. When she 
noticed Ranma smirked, that he was only teasing her, she shot him a wicked 
glance, "Why you..."
  Ranma held his hands up defensively, "Relax, I was only teasing. Can't you 
take a joke? Keep in mind I used to be your teacher. Y-you should treat your 
elders with respect,"
  "Hmph," she turned her head away, "Respect my butt,"
  "Um, would you like me to leave the two of you alone?" Hikari asked, "I mean, 
you two are arguing with each other as if you're both married to one another,"
  Ranma jerked a thumb toward Asuka, "Me, married to her? I dunno about that,"
  "No way would I ever be married to someone like him!" Asuka snapped at her 
friend, "I can't believe you would say something like that!"
  Ranma acted as if his feelings were hurt again and said, "Really? Why not? I'm 
not good enough for you?"
  Asuka paused for a moment before she caught on to Ranma's game and said, "I'm 
not falling for that!"
  Hikari sighed, "Anyway, back onto the subject. I thought you were dead...."
  "Dead?" Asuka looked at her friend. She then looked at Ranma.
  Ranma said, "Okay. I'll try and explain everything in one fell swoop. The 
Ranma you knew, the one that had been physically in your classroom to teach you, 
he died a while back. I'm just another version of him,"
  "What?" Hikari said.
  "I'm sure you don't know all the fact, but neither do everyone else," he said, 
"All that you basically need to know as that although the Ranma you actually 
knew died, I retain all his memories. That's why I remember who you are, even 
though we never actually met,"
  "W-what bring you here?" she asked.
  "Well, I kinda have some unfinished business," he said.
  "What kind of unfinished business?" Hikari asked curiously.
  Ranma shrugged, "Oh, don't worry about it. You'll probably find out soon 
enough. It'll be a surprise,"
  Hikari smiled, "Cool, I like surprises,"
  Ranma smirked. He looked around the courtyard, "So, do you guys know where 
Toji and Kensuke are?"
  "Yeah, they're probably still in class," Hikari replied, pointing toward a 
window, "That's their classroom up there,"
  "How about Shinji?" 
  "Shinji?" Hikari looked at Asuka, "He's probably hanging out with them also,"
  "Cool," he said. He began walking off toward the school.
  "That's it? You're just going to leave?" Asuka snapped at him, "That's rather 
rude,"
  Ranma looked at Asuka oddly, "Huh?"
  "You didn't even say something like 'see ya' or 'bye' or something like that," 
she commented, "Just up and leaving is rather rude, wouldn't you say?"
  "I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that," Ranma said, turning back around, "You 
sound exactly like one of the girls back home that have a crush on me,"
  "What?!?" Asuka blushed, "I-I do not have a crush on y-you!!"
  "Keep it that way," he smirked, "You'll be very disappointed if you do when 
you find out what I have in store for everyone,"
  "What do you mean?" Hikari asked first.
  "Nevermind. Don't worry about it," he said with a wave of the hand.
  "What are you going to do, just walk right into school and up to into their 
class?" Hikari asked, "There are school monitors walking about. They're not 
going to let you pass because you're not a student,"
  Ranma shrugged, "So what. It doesn't bother me,"
  Hikari and Asuka watched as Ranma entered the school building. Curious as to 
how Ranma would deal with the school monitors trying to prevent him from 
entering, they both decided to follow after him. It would prove rather amusing.
  They followed a good distance away, not really caring if he knew of their 
following. He only managed to walk into the school about ten feet before he was 
stopped.
  "Excuse me, but you're not permitted on school grounds if you're not a 
student," a passing teacher said. He looked to be in his mid-thirties and had a 
bald spot.
  "I'm a student," Ranma lied with a straight face.
  "Then why are you not in your school uniform?"
  "All my uniforms were in the wash before I realized it," he said, "I didn't 
wanna miss class because I didn't have a uniform,"
  The teacher smiled, "Why, that's awefully good of you. Most of the kids 
nowadays would just skip class. They would use it as an excuse,"
  "Well not me, sir," Ranma grinned, "I like school,"
  "That's good to hear," the man said, "Very well, go on in. Just be sure to 
wear you uniform next time,"
  "Sure thing," he said, walking on in.
  Asuka and Hikari looked at each other.
  "Damn, he's good," Hikari commented, "For a moment, even I actually believed 
him,"
  "I guess so," Asuka shrugged slightly, showing no signs of surprise.
  "Do you girls need any help?" the teacher asked them.
  "Oh no, we're fine," Hikari said.
  The two girls quickly rushed past the teacher and up toward the classroom 
Ranma was headed. They only took five steps before they realized they had lost 
track of Ranma.
  "Where the heck did he disappear to?" Hikari asked her friend.
  "Probably up to the classroom," she replied. 
  Together, they rushed down the hallway. They were stopped when Ranma's head 
emerged from a corner.
  "Boo," he said, causing both girls to yelp in surprise.
  "Where the heck did you come from?" Hikari gasped.
  Ranma smirked, "Why are you girls following me?" 
  "We're on our way to class," Asuka replied with a straight face, "We're merely 
in the same classroom as the one you're headed to,"
  He said, "Whatever you say. Whatever you say,"
  He turned back around and headed down the hallway.
  "Jeez, what's with that guy?" Hikari jerked a thumb toward him, "He's being 
awefully obnoxious. I don't remember him being that obnoxious back then. What 
gives?"
  Asuka let out an annoyed breath, "Well, whatever the case, let's just hope he 
goes away after a short while. He's such a jerk,"
  "Agreed," Hikari nodded.
  Together, they headed toward their classroom, Asuka taking care to ignore the 
stares given to her by the lucky boys lingering in the hallway at the time.
  "So annoying," she muttered under her breath.
  Hikari laugh, "Get over it. You like the attention,"
  Asuka casted her friend a serious glance.
  "Um, maybe not," Hikari gave a meek smile. 
  Hikari and Asuka entered the classroom where they saw Ranma, Shinji, Toji, and 
Kensuke gathered in the back corner of the room, already engaged in 
conversation.
  When Ranma glanced up and noticed them looking in his direction, the two girls 
quickly went to their seats and sat down, feigning a lack of interest even 
though they were both very eager to hear what they were talking about.
  The three boys were still in a state of shock. They were basically asking him 
questions on how he had managed to come back to life and such. He replied with 
the same patience as with everyone else before them. All in all, they seemed to 
take everything as a given.
  "Well, I'm glad to see that you're alive and well," Toji commented first, "I 
mean, it did come as a big surprise when we heard of your death. Heck, we even 
had a wake and all. Of course, there was no body and all, but I'm sure ya 
understand what I'm getting at,"
  Ranma asked, "A wake? Really? That's rather flattering,"
  "Yeah, Misato insisted on it," Kensuke said, "I think she took the news the 
worst for some reason,"
  "Speaking of Misato," Ranma jumped at the opportunity, "What is she up to? Is 
she still around? I wouldn't be surprised if she weren't, what with Nerv no long 
existing and all. And what about Ritsuko and Naoko?" 
  Toji nodded, "Yeah, they're around. Ritsuko and Naoko started their own 
business together. After Nerv was no longer needed, Ritsuko and her mom went on 
to create a consumer version of the MAGI that was used for Nerv. Misato became 
their spokesperson,"
  Ranma whistled, "Wow, that sounds really impressive,"
  "They started their own business about five months ago," Kensuke jumped in, 
"The business really took off. What started off as a two-person company boomed 
into one that now has over fifty employees and is still growing,"
  He smiled, "I'm glad to hear they're all doing well. Now, about this company, 
where is it?"
  "They company is located right here in Tokyo," Kensuke replied happily, "Man, 
I can't wait to get school done and over with. They told me that once I get 
outta college, they'll be more than happy to hire me. Basically, I'm set,"
  Toji let out a snort, "So what? Keep in mind that you still have the rest of 
high school and college to get through before you'll be working for 'em,"
  Kensuke hung his head low, "I know,"
  Ranma looked over his shoulder where he noticed the two girls glancing in his 
direction. It was obvious they were really interested in what he and the Three 
Stooges were having.
  "If ya wanna join us, you're welcome to," Ranma said, gesturing to the empty 
seat next to them. 
 Asuka and Hikari turned toward each other. They seemed to think about it for a 
moment before deciding to come over to where Ranma sat. What Ranma found amusing 
was how Asuka and Hikari tried to feign distinterest and even pretended to show 
reluctance in joining them.
  "You're not fooling anyone," Ranma smiled warmly, regarding the two girls.
  "Whatcha talking about?" Asuka asked innocently.
  Ranma shrugged, "Okay. If you say so," 
  He turned toward the three boys, "So where in Tokyo is this company? What's 
this company's name? I wanna go visit them,"
  "The company is called NanoTech," Kensuke answered, "It's located only two 
miles directly south of the school. All you have to do is exit this school and 
make a left. The building is on your left. You can't miss it. It's one largest 
buildings in all of Tokyo. Quite a feat if you ask me considering how short a 
time it took to accumulate such wealth in order to buy a building,"
  Ranma said, "All right. I'll go visit them then,"
  "If you wait until after school lets out, perhaps we can all head their 
together," Shinji said, "We pass by that building on our way home every day,"
  He thought about it for a moment before saying, "Yeah, sure. I guess I could 
wait until then. We can keep each other company,"
  "That's cool," Toji said with a shrug.
  Ranma noticed Asuka and Hikari looking at one another. It was obvious they 
seemed interested in tagging along but found no reasonable explanation to be 
tagging along though.
  "Would you like to come along?" Ranma asked them, feeling it would be easier 
on them to accept his invitation than to ask themselves instead.
  "Well...." Asuka feigned reluctatance.
  "Hey, why bother, you live in the opposite direction of where we're headed," 
Toji said with a smirk. He didn't want them to come along. Although he didn't 
mind Hikari, he sure didn't like the thought of her friend coming along since 
they never got along.
  "It doesn't matter," Ranma said without much thought, "I'll walk 'em home if 
it gets late. Who knows what kinda people could be out late at night,"
  Hikari and Asuka turned looked at each other. For some odd reason, they found 
that comment very endearing. It was also strange that Ranma did say that because 
they believed that one hundred percent and didn't like the thought of being out 
late at night simply because they didn't want to encounter any one dangerous.
  Shinji said, "Um, so what do you plan on doing while you wait for us to get 
out of school?"
  "I think I'll goto the library," he said.
  "Library? You mean that place with all those books?" Toji asked, a bit 
shocked. He didn't figure Ranma would be the type to enjoy reading a book or 
something like that.
  "Yeah," Ranma nodded, "I wanna read up on some current events, to see what I 
missed since I was last here,"
  "Like what?" Kensuke asked.
  "Nothing in particular," Ranma shrugged, "Perhaps something like what happened 
after the Angels were finally defeated. Like what happened to the EVA units. Or 
what happened to Nerv itself. Stuff like that,"
  Kensuke gave a great big smile, "Oh, you don't hafta worry about that. I know 
all about that stuff. I kept tabs on everything after the final Angel was 
finally defeated,"
  "Oh, that's great. There's a lot of stuff I'm curious about," Ranma said.
  "Cool, I can tell ya whatever ya need to know," Kensuke said, "I'll be more 
than happy to help,"
  "Thanks,"
  A bell rang, signifying the end of lunchtime. The lingering student in the 
classroom headed toward their seats to await the arrival of their teacher.
  "Well, guys, I guess I best head out," Ranma said, "I'll wait for you guys by 
the front gate after school,"
  "All right," everyone seemed to say in unison.
  Ranma turned around to leave the classroom.
  "Um, Ranma," Shinji called out to him.
  "Yes?" he turned toward the group.
  Shinji smiled warmly, "I'm glad you're okay,"
  "Thanks,"
 
  Ranma was leaning against a tree as five familiar students emerged from the 
school together. They all seemed relieved that the schoolday was over, Kensuke 
particularly eager on the trip in stored.
  "I haven't seen Misato and the others in what feels like ages," Kensuke said 
happily, "I can't wait to stop by,"
  "Get over it," Toji said, giving his friend a light elbow in the side, "You 
just wanna see what new technology Ritsuko and Naoko are working on. You're just 
eager to catch a glimpse of what would be considered the 'next-generation' 
computer,"
  Kensuke smirked, "Yeah, so? What about you?"
  "What about me?" Toji challenged.
  "You just wanna visit so you can see Misato," Shinji smirked mischieviously.
  "And what about you?!" Toji said toward Shinji.
  Shinji blushed, "W-what about me? I just wanted to see how they were doing, 
that's all,"
  "Yeah right," Toji laughed, "Whatever you say, Shinji. Whatever ya say,"
  "Hmph," the two girls muttered.
  Ranma said, "Before we go visit 'em, let's all go out and get some food. My 
treat,"
  "All right!" the three boys shouted in glee.
  
  "So, what has happened since the Angels had been defeated?" Ranma asked 
Kensuke. He and the others were gathered around a table of a nearby restaurant, 
awaiting their meals to come. The restaurant was rather extravagant and everyone 
seemed to notice yet no one seemed all that relucatant to order some expensive 
dinner when Ranm had told them he more than enough money to cover whatever the 
bill was.
  Kensuke took a sip of his coke and said, "Well, not all that much happened. 
Nerv Headquarters was no longer needed and is no longer in use. It basically 
became a tourist attraction. People from all over the world come here and tour 
through the base. Everything in there remained intact like during the 'Angel 
Wars',"
  "Angel Wars?" Ranma asked curiously.
  "That's the official name of our battle against the Angels," Kensuke answered, 
continuinmg to drink, "Everything in Nerv is intact except for the EVA units,"
  "What happened to them?"
  Kensuke took another sip of his drink, "Well, the EVA units were removed from 
Nerv and put in a museum. They've been decommissioned and are now on display at 
the museum located right here in Tokyo,"
  "Really? Damn, I oughta go check 'em out. It's been quite a while since I've 
seen an EVA before,"
  "Well, if you really want, you can always stop by the museum after visiting 
Misato and the others because the museum is only a short distance away from 
their building,"
  "Y'know what, that doesn't sound all that bad an idea, I might just do that," 
Ranma said, "Okay, it's cool to hear that Nerv nor the EVAs had been dismantled 
now that they're no longer in use..."
  "Of course they wouldn't be disposed of," Hikari said, "For all we know, there 
could be another Angel attack and we would need them again,"
  Ranma was silent, his lips a thin line. 
  "Anyway, the EVAs can be found at the museum," Kensuke said, "From what I 
hear, visiting the museum will become a national school trip thing. I heard that 
starting next year, at some point in time, every middle schooler will visit that 
museum as part of a school trip. I guess Japan wants all the children to know 
just how important a role those EVAs played in this world's survival,"
  Ranma smirked, "That's good to hear,"
  "Our text books had been changed to include the 'Angel Wars'," Shiji said, "It 
mentions of even Kensuke and Toji and Hikari's role in piloting the EVAs. They 
also mention of Misato and Ritsuko and my dad and everyone,"
  "I guess you're national heroes, huh?" Ranma grinned at the children.
  Hikari shook her head, "Actually, not really. We were all pretty famous for 
month or so, but then things died down. It's kinda like a phase this country 
went through. Nowadays, no one really know who we are unless we pointed it out 
to them,"
  Ranma smirked, "How about me? Am I mentioned? Dontcha think I played a big 
part?"
  The children looked at one another, not really knowing how to react to the 
question nor what to say.
  "Um, about that," Kensuke said after a good minute of silence, "It seems there 
is absolutely no mention of you nor your role in the textbooks,"
  Ranma shrugged, "Oh well. I was just curious, that's all,"
  "Aren't you angry?" Hikari asked, "I mean, if I were you, I'd be angry. You 
played the biggest role of them all,"
  He shook his head, "Not really. However, it will be a bit sad that no one 
besides myself will ever know of what I've been through. I've basically seen 
more stuff over the course of my life than anyone could imagine,"
  "Actually, it's no totally untrue," Kensuke said, realizing his mistake, 
"There is mention of you in a book,"
  "Oh?"
  "From what I hear, there's supposed to be this 'conspiracy' book floating 
around that seems to mention of no one but you," Kensuke said, "The book 
mentions very concisely of how you had somehow appeared in our world from Unit-
01. As to how the person knew this, no one knows because only a select few know 
about it,"
  "Perhaps it was someone that worked at Nerv," Ranma suggested.
  "That's what everyone and Misato thought, but it seems the author used his or 
her penname in publishing the book," Kensuke said, "I don't know all the 
details. I suggest you talk to Misato about it because she really investigated 
into how that book came about. She came up with nothing,"
  "You've read the book?" Ranma asked the young man.
  Kensuke shook his head, "Not yet. It only surfaced a short while ago and I 
haven't had the chance to get my hands on it. Misato told me about the book when 
I last saw her,"
  "So, what else has she told you?" he asked curiously.
  Everyone else had their full attention on Kensuke. Everything he was telling 
was new to them. They were all pretty shocked that Kensuke knew of stuff such as 
this.
  "Well, she told me the book seems to be very accurate," he said, "She mentions 
of how the book talks about how you had actually been on this world around 
fourteen years before you showed up via Unit-01 and had played an unknown role 
that seemed to have much much more significance than anyone on this world 
believes,"
  "Hm, I wonder who wrote it," Ranma scratched his head.
  "No one knows. From what she told me, Misato had basically been trying to pull 
her hair out trying to find out," Kensuke said.
  Ranma smirked, "Hey, perhaps Misato had actually written that book. But she is 
concealing that fact by pretending to be the one looking for the author. Since 
she is the author, no one will suspect a thing and would have believed she was 
truly looking for the real culprit when it was her all along,"
  Everyone was dead silent.
  Ranma gave a laughed, "Hey, I was only joking around. No need to take it all 
serious,"
  "Hey, what you're saying makes sense," Kensuke commented, "She was there for 
all the incidents mentioned in the book. Jeez, why didn't I ever notice that. 
It's gotta be her!"
  Ranma gave a meek smile, "Hey, I was only joking around,"  

  Ritsuko stared at the computer screen. She was tired and she wanted to go 
home. She had been in front of this computer since nine in the morning and it 
was now close to five. She hadn't even eaten yet. She had been stuck in front of 
this blasted computer reading through thousands and thousands of lines of code 
looking for that one line that was causing the operating system to crash on her 
everytime she tried opening a certain application.
  Her office wasn't all that extravagant considering she was co-president of the 
single most important company in the world, her mother the other co-president. 
It resemble a bit of a cubicle except there was a comfortable looking sofa in 
the corner and three chairs in front of her desk.
  Ritsuko was startled when the intercom next to her computer came on.
  "Ritsuko-sama, there's a few people here to see you," the receptionist said.
  Ritsuko sighed. She was a busy person. She had things to do. She didn't have 
time to see anyone, "Tell them to come back tomorrow,"
  "Hey, what gives? You don't like us anymore or somethin'?" Toji's voice 
emerged from intercom.
  "Excuse me, sir, but you're not allowed to do that," she heard the 
receptionist's voice over the intercom.
  "C'mon, it's me, Toji," she heard his voice again.
  Ritsuko looked at the intercom. A second later she started laughing. That was 
typical of Toji. She said into the intercom, "All right, send them up. They know 
the way,"
  Ritsuko leaned back in her chair. She couldn't help but smile at the thought 
of seeing the gang again. She remembered the receptionist saying that there was 
a group of people there to see her. That meant that it was most likely Toji, 
Kensuke, and Hikari. 
  She glanced at the computer screen again and decided it was about time for a 
break. She hadn't seen the kids in a while and was looking forward to seeing how 
they were. She was also pretty eager to see Kensuke again. That young boy had a 
genuine interest in what she did and she found it very flattering. She liked the 
way he admired her. It made her feel very important.
  There was a knock at the door.
  "Come in," she said.
  The door opened. Because she had been expecting to see either Toji or Kensuke 
or Hikari, she was totally caught off-guard when she realized it wasn't them. 
  Ritsuko's eyes became wide when she recognized the man standing in the doorway 
was none other than Ranma. She rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing 
things.
  "Yes, it's me," Ranma said in that voice of his that Ritsuko found extremely 
sexy.
  "I-is it r-really you?" Ritsuko didn't dare to blink, scared that if she 
closed her eyes, he would no longer be there when she opened them.
  He nodded, "Yeah, it's me. I'm back,"
  He entered the office, the children in tow. Ritsuko didn't even notice them 
until Toji said something.
  "Hey," Toji said with a wave of his hand, "Long time no see,"
  "Toji, Kensuke, Hikari, how nice of you to come visit," Ritsuko said warmly 
when she recognized them. She then noticed two other children in the group that 
she didn't recognize.
  "That's Shinji and Asuka," Ranma jerked a thumb toward them, as if reading her 
mind, "They're friends of mine,"
  Asuka blushed. S-she was Ranma's friend? Why would he consider her his friend 
when she didn't consider him a friend one bit. She barely even considered him an 
aquaintance.
  Ritsuko got up off her seat and approached Ranma, "I-I can't believe my eyes. 
I-it's really you,"
  Ranma walked forward to meet Ritsuko halfway. He extended his arms outward 
where he gave her a warm embrace. She buried her head into his chest, enjoying 
the warm sensation of being so close to him. 
  When he released his hold of her, he gave her a curious look.
  "What?" she asked.
  "Um, aren't you going to kiss me?" Ranma asked. Since she and the other 
Ritsuko were exactly alike, he was sure they would also act the exact same way.
  She blushed, "Well, if you don't mind," 
  She had contemplated indulge herself and kiss him. Since it seemed he was 
expecting a kiss, she didn't feel she wanted to disappoint him. 
  Asuka cleared her throat loudly. 
  Ritsuko cast the young girl a glance before she turned her attention back 
toward Ranma.
  "Oh, I better not," Ritsuko said a bit sullenly, "There're children here,"
  "Yeah, do that on your own time," Toji said. He took a glance at the computer 
and asked,  "So, whatcha workin' on?" 
  The lines of codes look like another language to him. 
  "I'm just trying to debug some code," Ritsuko answered patiently, knowing full 
well that Toji wasn't at all interested in what he was seeing, "Basically, 
there's a line of code located there that is causing the operating system to 
crash every time I try to open a particular application,"
  She took a smirk at Kensuke, "Kensuke, why don't you take a crack at it? I've 
been looking at code all day and my energy reserves are pretty much spent,"
  Kensuke's eyes widened, "Really? You'll lettme do that? Thanks!"
  Ritsuko smiled warmly. She liked how enthusiastic Kensuke became whenever the 
subject of computer was mentioned. She even liked how he seemed actually 
interested in reading code.
  He took a glance at the computer. He started reading the code. However, he 
gave no indication that he knew what he was looking for let alone understand 
what each individual lines of code.
  "There's a syntax error here," he said, pointing at the screen, taking care 
not to actually touch it but have his finger just hover an inche from the screen 
itself. God forbid he actually touched the computer screen and leave behind a 
fingerprint. 
  Ritsuko walked over to the computer and glanced over the boys shoulder.
  "Well I'll be. You're right," she said, a bit embarrassed at having missed it. 
However, having an error like that pointed out didn't mean all that much, 
"However, that error is only superficial. It's not what is causing the operating 
system to lock up,"
  "Oh," Kensuke said, a bit disappointed. He had hoped it would fix everything.
  "So, what have you been up to?" Ranma asked.
  Ritsuko smiled. She held her hands out and gestured toward her office, "Well, 
as you can see here, this is my office,"
  "I can see," he said, "Kensuke told me about how you went on to create some 
consumer based MAGI computer. That's pretty cool,"
  Ritsuko waved a hand, "Forget about me, what about you? How is it possible 
that you're here?"
  "Well, it's a long story," he began, "I figure it'd be best that I tell 
everyone at once rather than to 'em individually,"
  "Oh, I assume you mean Misato and my mother, right?" Ritsuko asked.
  Ranma nodded, "Yeah, Kensuke told me about how the three of you work together. 
I figure I can assemble all three of you and tell ya at once,"
  "Have you seen Misato or my mother yet?"
  "No, I saw you first," he replied.
  Ritsuko felt a slight blush come to her cheeks. It was rather flattering that 
he came to see her first. She figured if he knew about Misato also working 
there, he would had visited her first since they knew each other a bit better, 
Misato and him knowing each other a bit more since she had been the one that had 
to go after Ranma when he had left Nerv Headquarters in a huff after shortly 
appearing there.
  At that moment, Ritsuko's stomach grumbled.
  "I'm sorry, I guess it's because I haven't eaten all day," Ritsuko said a bit 
embarrassedly. She dared to ask, "If you haven't eaten yet, would you like to go 
grab a bite to eat? Of course, we'll go with Misato and my mother, too,"
  Ranma said, "Sure, I'm starving,"
  "But we just came from eat-" Asuka began.
  "However, we actually came frome eating but I have no problem eating again," 
he continued, "I hafta take the girls home beforehand though,"
  "Hmph, don't act like you're doing us any favors," Asuka muttered in disdain.
  Ranma gave the girl an odd look, "What's with you? Do you want me to walk you 
girls home or not? Cuz when I said I would, you didn't seem to eagerly decline. 
What gives now?"
  "Forget about it," Asuka said angrily.
  Ranma scratched his head, "Jeez, now what did I do? Are you pissed at me 
because I'm gonna go grab a bite to eat with Ritsuko and the others? I said I 
would walk you home and I'm not going back on my word so what gives?" 
  "Nothing," Asuka said. She walked over to the couch and sat down. Her posture 
gave her an indication of annoyance and impatience. It clearly looked like she 
didn't want to be there now.
  Ranma turned toward Hikari, "Now what did I do?"
  "Forget it," she said, "It's clear that you really have no clue so it's 
useless to explain it,"
  He sighed as he shook his head. 
  He decided it was best to just ignore the situation and turned toward Ritsuko 
as he said, "Anyway, how much more work do you have left? If you're willing to 
wait, I can come back after walking the girls home,"
  "Well, I guess so," she began. 
  Her stomach grumbled again.
  She gave a meek smile, "Hm, I guess it can't wait. I haven't eaten all day, 
afterall,"
  Ranma thought about it for a moment, "Hm, that's no problem, you can come 
along as I take the girls home. Afterwards, we can head out and eat. Basically 
kill two birds with one stone,"
  "Look, we don't need you walking us home," Asuka snapped at him.
  "I dunno about you, but I don't wanna walk home alone," Hikari argued, 
"Because he's walking us home is one of the main reasons why I'm willing to stay 
out late," 
  Asuka opened her mouth to protest but said nothing. She let out a snort as she 
crossed her arms over her chest and said, "Fine, whatever,"
  "Asuka, are you pissed at me because you are jealous that I'm gonna go grab a  
bite to eat with Ritsuko here?" Ranma asked bluntly.
  "No!!" she quickly replied.
  Ranma looked thoroughly confused, "Then why're you angry at me all of a 
sudden?" After a moment of deep consideration, he said, "Aw screw it,"
  He walked over to where Asuka sat and leaned in close to her. He looked deeply 
into her eyes. Asuka, a bit uncomfortable by how closely Ranma's face was coming 
to hers, ended up leaning farther back into the couch and stammering, "W-what a-
are you doing?"
  Ranma said, "The eyes are the windows to a person's soul. I'm jus' reading 
your mind. I dunno what the heck is up with ya so I'm gonna read your mind 
instead. I hate playing games,"
  Asuka blushed beet red as she quickly cut off Ranma's eye contact with her. 
However, it was too late. Ranma already knew his answer.
  "C'mon, jus' lettme see," he lied, "I didn't get a chance to read your 
thoughts yet,"
  "G-good, you've got n-no right reading a person's mind without their concent," 
Asuka said, glad he didn't get the chance to read her thoughts, to know of her 
inner secrets.
  Ranma shrugged, "I just figured it'd be easier that way,"
  "Look, you shouldn't do something like that," Hikari interjected, "It's not 
right. It's an invasion of privacy,"
  "All right, I won't do it then, sheesh," Ranma said, "No need to make a big 
deal outta it,"
  "Okay then," Hikari said.
  Ranma turned toward Asuka, "Look, whatever I did, I didn't mean to do it,"
  "Fine," Asuka said. Somehow, she felt a bit better.
  "Well, now that you're here, we should go get a hold of Misato and my mother," 
Ritsuko said suddenly, "I'm sure they'll be glad to see you,"
  "Sure,"

  "So lettme get this straight, Adam is no longer at Nerv?"
  Ritsuko nodded, "No, Adam was actually buried where he was from originally,"
  Ranma winced as he said, "And that would be Antarctica?"
  "Correct,"
  Ranma sighed. He and the others were on their way toward the Development 
Department two floors below Ritsuko's office where Naoko and Misato were said to 
be at the moment. It was something to do with the intranet going down and the 
employees being unable to send messages to each other within the company. Ranma 
had took the short walk to ask Ritsuko a series of questions, taking care not to 
ask specific ones that would arouse suspicion.
  "That's cool," Ranma acted disinterested, "Gee, I wonder where though,"
  "Although I don't know the exact location, I'm sure Misato knows," she 
answered, "She was actually in charge of returning Adam back. From what she had 
told me, she basically put Adam back where he first appeared,"
  Ranma smirked, "Really?" 
  He knew exactly where it was. Although it hadn't been him physically that was 
there, he remember how to get there. He recalled his adventure to this world, 
when he and Asuka had come here to prevent the Second Impact, which they had 
succeeded in preventing.....but at the cost of his former self's life.
  Ranma casted a glance in Asuka's direction and smiled warmly. He recalled 
those memories as if he had actually experienced them. 
  "What?" Asuka noticed Ranma looking at her.
  "What, does she have some kinda booger hanging out?" Toji smirked.
  "Nothing," he smiled, "I'm just recalling an old memory. Ritsuko mentioned 
Antarctica, I remember having gone there with Asuka,"
  "I never went there with you!" Asuka stated.
  Ranma let out a laugh, "I know. Heck, neither was I. I was merely referring to 
my previous life. I just happen to retain his memories. Anyway, my former self 
had gone to Antarctica with your other self,"
  "Really?" Asuka showed signs of interest.
  "Yeah, it was pretty exciting adventure," he replied, "I remember you, I mean 
your other self, getting stuck sharing a single sleeping bag because you had 
forgotten to spike the tent in correctly and the winds blew your tent away," 
  "I never did that!"
  Ranma sighed, "I know. I'm basically referring to 'you' as in your other self. 
That's all,"
  "Oh," she said.
  "That sounds like quite an adventure," Ritsuko smirked.
  Ranma smiled, "I guess you could say so. You won't believe what Asuka is 
capable of. I remember falling overboard once into the freezing cold water and 
basically developing hypothermia and exhausting myself getting back on the boat. 
Well, the next thing I remember was waking up totally stark naked with Asuka 
sleeping every bit as naked right next to me,"
  "Well, if it's hypothermia, then it was the right choice," Ritsuko said 
logically, "Direct body contact is a great way to warm up a person suffering 
from hypothermia,"
  "True, but for all I know, she could have taken advantage of me while I was in 
my weakened and unconscious state," Ranma smirked, jerking a thumb toward Asuka.
  "I did no such thing....and I know my other self would do no such thing 
either!!" Asuka shouted, blushing horribly.
  Ranma grinned, "If you say so,"
  "Hmph!"
  "C'mon, let's go see Misato and Naoko," Ranma changed the subject, "Gee, I 
wonder how they're gonna react,"
  "I'm sure they'll be very glad to see you," Ritsuko smiled wryly, "Well, we're 
here,"
  They were gathered in front of two large doors that was the entrance to the 
Development Department.  
  Ritsuko opened the doors and entered, everyone following closely behind. The 
entire section was empty save for Misato and Naoko, everyone else having gone 
home at the end of the workday.
  Neither Naoko nor Misato had seen the group enter the room until Ritsuko 
cleared ther throat.
  "We have some visitors," Ritsuko said.
  Naoko, whom had her back toward the group while she looked at the inside of 
the server, turned around.
  Misato had been in one other corner of the room trying to fix her own fair 
share of problems. She was no where near as efficient with fixing computers as 
Naoko but she could contribute a bit. She too turned her attention toward 
Ritsuko.
  "Oh, hi guys," Misato said, getting up and approaching the group. 
  She managed to take about two steps before she stopped in mid-step when she 
recognized Ranma, "R-Ranma?"
  "R-Ranma? Is that really you?" Naoko asked, also recognizing him.
  He nodded, "Yep, I'm back,"
  Misato and Naoko both ran forward and glomped onto Ranma from each side.
  "Holy shit, it's really you!" Misato said. She kissed him passionately, her 
tongue invading his mouth. 
  Ranma's arms flailed as his eyes widened as he realized what had just 
happened. He ended up falling backwards, both females falling down and on top of 
him. Naoko seemed to be in pure heaven as she buried her head snugly up against 
his chest.
  "I can't breath," Ranma tried to say, considering Misato's mouth was blocking 
his air passage. 
  Luckily, he managed to free himself after a minute.
  "Jeez," Ranma said breathing heavily, "I thought I was gonna die there,"
  "I want you to fuck me now!" Misato said, proceeding to remove her shirt to 
expose her breasts. She then proceeded to remove her bra.
  "W-w-what t-the hell are y-you doing?!" Ranma stammered.
  "I'm not gonna lose this opportunity to have your child," she said.
  "T-t-t-there's c-children here!" he said.
  Misato smirked, "I don't care. They could watch if they want,"
  "Get off of him," Ritsuko told Misato, "He's not some slab of meat,"
  "Dude, this is better than watching a porno!" Toji said happily, his eyes 
intent of Misato's breasts. He couldn't wait until she took off her bra.
  Misato let out an annoyed breath as she got to her feet, putting on her shirt, 
"You're no fun, Ritsuko," She casted Ranma an alluring gaze, "You and I will 
have business to attend to later. For instance, like the actual act of 
conceiving our baby together,"
  Ranma emphatically shook his head, "No, I don't think so! You're outta yer 
mind,"
  "C'mon, it'd be cool," she winked, "If the baby is a boy, we can name him 
after you. We can name him 'Ranma',"
  Ranma stopped shaking his head, seemingly interested now as he said, "Really? 
Hm, now that you put it that way...."
  "Ranma!!!" The other females in the room shouted at him.
  He held his hands up, "All right. Forget I mentioned it,"
  "You're joking, right?" Ritsuko asked Misato.
  "I haven't been more serious in my life," she said with a straight face.
  Ranma took a moment to compose himself. Misato had somehow caught him off-
guard with that stunt and that comment.
  "Um, as flattering an offer as it is, I'll take a rain check," he said, "I'm 
not interested in raising a family yet. There's still so much more I wanna do 
before setting down once and for all,"
  "Like what?! Die a third time?!" Misato said rather wryly, "Well, I ain't 
gonna let that happen,"
  "Man, what's come over ya? Why're ya acting all like this?" he asked, "Why're 
being so aggressive all of a sudden? You were never like this,"
  Misato didn't care that there were others around. She wanted to tell him 
simply out of fear that something horrible could happen a minute later and kill 
everyone on the planent.
  "Ranma, I fell in love with you the very day I met you," she said, "No, I'm 
not talking about when you appeared from Unit-01. I'm talking about when I was a 
little girl and you showed up pretending to be a man named 'Adam' who was 
seeking help for your supposed 'Niece Lilith',"
  Ranma whistled, "Wow, you remember that? That was like, a really really long 
time ago,"
  She nodded, "Yeah....all I'm saying is I no longer want anymore missed 
opportunities to tell you,"
  Ranma was silent for several moments before he gave a meeks smile, "Um, well, 
I guess you told me then,"
  There was an awkward silence.
  Misato gave a nervous laugh, "Well, I guess you're right. I'm glad I got that 
off my chest,"
  Everyone fell to the floor.
  Kensuke was the first to get up, "I have a question, Misato-san,"
  "Sure, what is it?" she asked, turning her attention toward him. She casted 
Ranma one last glance, silently telling him that she still had some unfinished 
business with him remaining. That was what worried him.
  "You wouldn't have happened to have found out who wrote that book you 
mentioned?" he asked.
  "What book? Oh, you mean that book that mentions about Ranma?" she asked. She 
turned toward Ranma, "There's a book that seems to have been published that 
mentions of you and your role on this world,"
  Ranma nodded, "Yeah, I know. Kensuke told me about it,"
  "Well, I never found out who wrote that book," she said, "I haven't a single 
idea who it could have been,"
  "Could it perhaps because your wrote it?" Kensuke smirked.
  "Huh?" Misato looked at the young boy like he had grown a second head.
  "I kinda makes sense," Kensuke said, "You were there at all those events 
mentioned. And what better way to make people not suspect it was you than to go 
on pretending to be searching for someone else,"
  Misato burst out laughing, "You think I wrote that book? That's a riot,"
  Kensuke scratched his head, "Hey, it did seem to make sense," 
  Ranma leaned forward and looked into Misato's eyes. After a moment, he turned 
to face the group.
  "Nope, she didn't," he said truthfully. He was sure she hadn't written the 
book and reading her thoughts just confirmed it.
  "Ranma!" Hikari narrowed her eyes at him.
  "What?"
  "You just said you weren't going to probe anyone's mind, at least without 
consent," she said, her hands on her hips.
  Ranma gave a meek laugh, "Oops, I kinda forgot,"


<new stuff 1/19>

  "Forgot what?" Misato asked curiously.
  "Ranma promised he wasn't going to probe a person's mind," Hikari said, 
casting him a cold glance.
  Misato didn't act all that surprised, "Ranma being able to read a person's 
mind? I knew that. I have no problem with him reading my mind,"
  She smirked as she leaned in close to him, "C'mon, Ranma, what am I thinking 
of?"
  Ranma laughed, "Ha, I'm not gonna do it. It's probably something sexually 
deviant,"
  "Gee, you think?" she asked sarcastically.
  Ranma sighed as he shook his head, "Look, enough with the sexual innuendos 
here,"

  Although they never acknowledged it, Asuka and Hikari were very glad to have 
Ranma walking them home. It seemed everyone had stayed at the building longer 
than they had expected and it was now dark out. For some reason, they felt very 
safe, like nothing bad could possibly happen to them. And even if something did 
happen, Ranma would be there. The others had gone their separate way, the boys 
not needing an escort and Misato and the others having gone out to eat some 
dinner. 
  "So, how is life?" he asked from out of the blue, hoping to keep the walk back 
to Asuka and Hikari's place less awkward.
  "What do you mean?" Hikari asked.
  Ranma smiled, "I dunno. Like do you two have boyfriends?"
  Asuka snorted, "Ha, like I would ever want to a boyfriend from this school,"
  "No," Hikari said, "No boyfriend,"
  "Really, neither of you two have boyfriends? Wow, I'm surprised," he said, "I 
figure you two would have no problem finding boyfriends,"
  Hikari narrowed her eyes, "Why do you seem so interested in whether or not we 
have boyfriends?"
  Ranma grinned as he placed his arms over both girls shoulders, "Oh, nothing. 
I'm just glad that you two don't have boyfriends. It just means you're both 
available for someone like myself,"
  "Ha ha, real funny," Hikari muttered, slipping back out from under Ranma's 
arm. She did have a bit of a blush on her cheeks.
  Ranma turned toward Asuka, "Oh, it seems Hikari isn't interested in me,"
  "Hmph," Asuka said, also slipping out from under his arm. She, too, was 
blushing. 
  "If you really want to know, we choose not to have boyfriends," Hikari said 
for the both of them.
  Ranma smirked, "Oh, I get it. You don't need boyfriend because you have each 
other, huh? You two are more than just friends?"
  He gave them nudges with his elbow.
  "No!!!" both girls shouted toward him.
  Ranma chuckled, "I'm just joking with you,"
  He placed his arms back around the girls, messing up the girls' hair in the 
process. He swayed a bit as he walked, causing the girls to sway with him.
  "W-what do you think you're doing?" Asuka muttered. She didn't get out from 
under Ranma's arm. She didn't know why though. No boy had even dared to even 
touch her let alone put an arm around her like Ranma had. 
  "C'mon, I know you like the attention," Ranma smiled warmly.
  Asuka blushed, "I-I d-do not,"
  "Hikari here is only tolerating me having an arm around her because she likes 
Toji but knows that he isn't here and she isn't worried about him getting 
jealous," Ranma said with a grin.
  "H-how d-did you know?!?" Hikari shouted, slipping out from under Ranma's arm, 
her face completely red.
  Ranma laughed, "Ha ha ha, I knew it. I was only guessing but it seems your 
reaction proves it true,"
  Hikari, still blushing, said, "Y-y-you're wrong!!!"
  Ranma's visage became rather calm and soft as he said, "Don't worry, Hikari, I 
won't tell anyone. You can trust me,"
  "Hmph," Hikari snorted.
  Ranma paused. He stopped to look at this bathhouse. He took his arm off Asuka 
to scratch the back of his head.
  "What?" Asuka asked him.
  "Hm, I haven't been to a bathhouse in the longest time," he said.
  "You're gonna hit the bathhouse?" Hikari asked.
  Ranma shrugged, "Yeah, why not? I'll stop by here before I leave,"
  "Leave?" Asuka asked, "You're leaving?"
  Ranma smiled, "C'mon, you really think I was just going to stay here? I was 
only visiting. I've only come here to say hi to everyone and tell them that I'm 
all right before I leave,"
  "Leave for where?" Hikari asked.
  Ranma shook his head, "No need for you to know. Let's just say it's a place 
that doesn't have bathhouses like these. Ooh, I didn't notice it but it's 
actually one of those mixed bathhouses,"
  "It's a mixed bathhouse?" the girls asked at once.
  Ranma smirked, "Y'know, let's just say if we were to attend this bathhouse 
together, that means I'll be able to see you totally naked,"
  The two girls blushed a deep shade of red.
  "Y-yeah, but that m-means you'll be naked, too," Asuka managed to retort.
  Ranma didn't seem all that bothered, "Yeah, so?"
  He waved a hand, "Forget about it. Come on, let's get you two home,"
  "Are you trying to get rid of us?" Hikari said, her hands on her hips.
  Ranma gave them an odd look, "Huh? Man, what's with you females in general?"
  "And what's that supposed to mean?" Asuka asked curiously, wondering if she 
should be offended.
  He said, "I dunno. You females are weird. You're so temperamental . You could 
totally hate my guts and actually want me dead yet actually get jealous when you 
see me talking to some other female or something like that. What gives? Like 
now, we all know that you both can't wait til I'm outta your life yet when I 
mention it, you act all sad and stuff. Make up your mind,"
  "We are not like that!" Asuka said for the both of them.
  "Oh yeah?" Ranma smirked.
  He shot his hands out toward the girls' direction before bringing it back to 
his said, a bit grin on his face. 
  "What did you just do?" Asuka asked.
  He held his hands forward toward the girls to reveal a pair of blue in one 
hand and a pair of red panties in the other. 
  "Where did you get those?" Hikari asked. 
  "They're yours," he said.
  "What?!?!?!" both girls' eyes widened.
  What happened next Ranma found rather amusing. Since they didn't believe him, 
they pulled the front of this shool skirts up to make sure that they were 
wearing their panties. However, it only took a fraction of a second for them to 
realized that they not only had no panties on, but they were actually giving 
Ranma a perfect view of their private area.
  Ranma grinned, "Well, now I know what both of your natural hair color are,"
  "You asshole!!!" the girls shouted at him, totally humiliated, quickly puling 
their skirts back down to hide their nakedness.
  Still holding onto their panties, he said, "Now, from the way the situation 
looks, it seems like you're really pissed at me and want to rip my head off when 
in actuality, you're flattered that it looks like I'm interested enough in you 
two to steal your panties,"
  "What?!? And give those back!!!" Hikari shouted, grabbing her and Asuka's 
panties back. She handed Asuka back her own panties. They quickly looked around 
to make sure no one was looking. When they realized that no one was around, they 
quickly put them on, making sure that they didn't bend over more than was 
necessary and give Ranma another peep show.
  "This is what's so weird about you girls," Ranma said, "It's obvious you 
consider me some kinda pervert-"
  "You're more than a pervert!!!" Asuka shouted at him.
  "However, you girls are also secretly flattered from the attention I gave you 
to steal your panties," he continued.
  "W-we are not!!!" they both shouted.
  "Ooh, he's such a pervert for stealing our panties," Ranma continued, 
pretending to be a female and saying in a female voice, "However, I'm kinda 
flattered that of all the possible panties out there for him to steal, he stole 
mine,"
  "What?!?!?!?" they shouted, "We a-are nothing like that!!!!"
  Ranma laughed, "Yeah, right, whatever ya say,"
  "We are not!!!" they said emphatically.
  "Okay, perhaps I was wrong, maybe not all female are like that," he said, 
"However, let's just say that you both wear the sexiest panties I've ever seen,"
  "R-really?" both girls asked, blushing, their anger replaced by embarrassment.
  Ranma pointed toward them, a big smirk on his lips, "Y'see! Now you're 
flattered! I betcha for a second you forgot that I saw supposed to be angry with 
you!"
  Both girls looked at one another before turning toward him and saying, "We are 
not flattered!"
  "All right," Ranma said with a shrug, "Go ahead and slap me then if it'll make 
you feel better,"
  They didn't so much as hesitate for a fraction of a second as they both 
slapped him hard on both cheeks. 
  They both stormed away, hoping Ranma burn in hell.
  Ranma said, "Are you sure you two wanna walk home alone? It's pretty late 
out,"
  Both girls stopped dead in their tracks, not really knowing what to do. They 
were infuriated with Ranma yet they didn't like the thought of walking home 
without an escort.
  Ranma quickly caught up with them. Knowing that they were in a state of 
emotional conflict between hating Ranma and wanting him there walking beside 
them, he made it easy for them.
  "Forget it," he said, "I'm not letting you walk home by yourself,"
  "We don't want you escorting us home!" Hikari basically lied through her 
teeth, "We'd rather walk home alone than be escorted by you!" 
  "Well I ain't lettin' ya," he said, still smirking.
  "Hmph!" Hikari turned her head in disgust.
  Ranma shrugged, "All right, if you really don't want me walking you home, then 
have fun heading home by yourself. Besides, I can go to the bathhouse now 
instead of later,"
  He began walking off. 
  Asuka turned toward Hikari.
  "I-I don't want to walk home unescorted," Asuka said in a silent tone.
  "Um," was all she managed to say in reply.
  They both glanced toward Ranma as he walked down the street. 
  As if a huge weight had been lifted off their shoulders, they then noticed 
Ranma turning around and walking back toward them.
  "I can't letcha walk home alone," he said, figuring he had already had enough 
fun with them, "It's not right that I not escort you two like I had promised 
earlier,"
  "Hmph, don't act like you're doing us any favors," Hikari reverted back into 
defensive mode.
  Ranma continued to enjoy the scene playing out but said, "I don't care. You're 
not walking home alone,"
  As the two girls continued walked, Ranma walked on ahead and turned around to 
face them, making it so that he was just a few steps in front of them but 
currently walking backwards.
  "What you did back there....I think you should burn in hell," Asuka said with 
contempt. Although she showed signs of hatred toward him, deep down inside, she 
was grateful that he insisted that he escort them. She didn't want to walk 
around and knew that she was too prideful to ask for him to do so. This made it 
easier for both her and Hikari, to merely accept his offer to walk with them 
rather than actually ask.  
  "Look, what I did back there," he said, "It was all to prove a point,"
  "And what point was that?" Asuka muttered, her eyes narrowed toward him.
  "On how you females are so temperamental. You may say and act out one thing 
when deep down inside, you're thinking the exact opposite," Ranma answered, 
"It's weird,"
  Ranma, walking backward, had been unaware that he had stepped into the middle 
of a busy street.
  "R-Ranma," Asuka called out to him.
  Ranma had a split second to react. He turned his head just in time to see the 
speeding car. Although he had lightning quick reflexes, he didn't have enough 
time to get out of the way. Since he knew he didn't have enough time, he had 
simply braced himself for the impact. He crossed his arms in front of his chest 
just as the car struck him.
  He was sent flying bodily through the air where he crashed into a telephone 
pole, the pole breaking and falling forward from the force of the impact as 
Ranma continued flying through it and through the window of a store.
  The car skidded to a halt a good distance away, dozens of other cars behind it 
also skidding to a halt.
  "R-Ranma!!" the two girls shouted, rushing across the now congested street and 
into the store via the broken window.
  "Ranma, a-are you okay?!" Hikari said, this nauseous feeling in the pit of her 
stomach.
  Ranma was in the process of getting up to his feet. He looked more embarrassed 
than hurt.
  "Man, I should've seen that car coming," he muttered, dusting himself, "What's 
wrong with me? I must be losing my edge or something,"
  "A-are you all right?" Asuka asked, the first time coming to mind. She was 
absolutely shocked that Ranma was able to get up from being struck like that. 
  Ranma nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine,"
  He carefully exited the store, the patrons watching with a shocked look on 
their face, and out onto the side walk. He peered down the street where he saw 
the driver of the car heading in the direction of the store, this pale look on 
his face. 
  "Don't worry, I'm fine," he told the driver. He regarded the car and winced. 
The car was wrecked. The entire front of the car was damaged beyond recognition 
and steam from the broken radiator was billowing out. 
  Ranma turned toward the girls, "C'mon, let's get outta here before the police 
show up,"
  They all ran off down the street.  
  "Are you sure you're all right?" Hikari asked after the three of them had ran 
two blocks away from the scene of the accident before they finally slowed down.
  Ranma smiled, "If I didn't know better, I'd think you were truly concerned 
about me,"
  "Um, of course I should be concerned," Hikari said, "You were just hit by a 
car,"
  Ranma waved a dismissive hand, "Don't worry about it. I'm fine. I can get hit 
by a tank shell without getting hurt all that much. A car is child's play,"
  The girls just looked at each other, not knowing whether Ranma was joking or 
not. They eventually took it at face value and believed him. He seemed to 
constantly regard him, this baffled look on their faces.
  "C'mon, I can understand Asuka being confused but not you, Hikari," Ranma 
said, pausing so the girls to catch their breath, "I'm still the same Ranma you 
knew from back then. Well, I may be different but I'm different. I dunno if that 
makes sense or not,"
  Hikari, finally catching her breath, said, "Still, it's pretty remarkable that 
you walked away from there without a scratch,"
  Ranma shrugged, "I've been through worse,"
  "Don't be so modest," Asuka smirked at him. She found it rather exciting. 
Sure, she had been terrified at the thought of seeing a dead Ranma went she 
dared to enter the store via the broken window, but when she saw him getting up 
under his own power, her heart lept into ther throat from relief.
  Ranma said, "Let's just forget it ever happened. We'll all be better off,"
  "Perhaps, but what about the guy and his car? And the store owner?" Hikari 
asked curiously.
  "I'm sure they can take care of things," he said with a smile.
  The three of them proceeded down the street once again.
  Ranma gave the girls a big grin, "Hee hee, I'm kinda flattered that you were 
so worried about me back there. And here I thought you wanted me to burn in 
hell,"
  The girls looked at each other.
  "Foget about it. C'mon, let's get going,"

  Ranma whistled as he looked up at the extravagant looking building, "Wow, both 
of you live in this apartment complex? Looks really classy,"
  Hikari nodded, "Yeah, Asuka lives on the floor above me. That's how we know 
each other,"
  "That's cool," he commented, "It must be nice living so close to one another. 
You can goto school as well as come home together,"
  "That's how it always is," Asuka said.
  Ranma noticed Hikari looking at a car parked in front of the building.
  "Something wrong?" he asked.
  "If I recall correctly, that's Misato's car," she said.
  "Really? You think she's here?" Ranma asked, "If she is, I wonder why,"
  Hikari relucatantly headed into her apartment complex and went into the 
elevator to ride it up to Hikari's floor. Hikari was silent in the elevator 
because she had this funny suspicion that she would see Misato waiting outside 
her door. 
  She was right. As they emerged from the elevator and onto Hikari's floor, they 
caught sight of Misato leaning against Hikari's apartment door. 
  "You're right, it seems she is here," Ranma said with a smile.
  "Yeah," Hikari muttered.
  "I wonder what she's doing here. Don't she have anything better to do?" Asuka 
said, her voice rather cold.
  Ranma approached Misato, "Hey, Misato, what brings you here?"
  "Hey guys," she greeted everyone, "I figured perhaps you might be hungry and 
was interested in going out and grabbing a bit to eat. Since I heard you mention 
that you were dropping the girls off, I figured I would wait here,"
  Ranma smiled, "Sure, I don't see a problem in that. I'm starving," 
  "But you just ate, right before we visited Misato and the others," Asuka 
quickly pointed out.
  He turned toward the pretty red-haired girl and said, "Well, yeah, but that 
was a couple of hours ago. I'm hungry again,"
  "Hmph,"
  Ranma placed a hand on Asuka's head and messed up her hair, still smiling, 
"What's the matter? Ya don't want me going out eating with Misato or something?"
  Asuka blushed, "W-what makes you think that? O-of course not!"
  Misato smirked. She wondered if Ranma noticed.
  "Okay," he said. He turned toward Misato, "All right, we'll go out and eat 
together. Just lettme say goodbye to Hikari,"
  "Okay," she nodded. She walked off down the hallway, Asuka relucatantly 
following behind.
  "Well, Hikari, this is where I say goodbye," Ranma said warmly.
  "Um, yeah," she said softly.
  "You sound sad," he said, "Is something the matter?"
  Hikari felt a bit embarrassed to say but she didn't feel all that embarrassed 
to confide in Ranma. There was this quality to Ranma that made her feel very 
comfortable around him, like she could say anything to him.
  "I guess I feel sad that you're leaving," she said.
  Ranma smiled warmly, "I'm flattered to hear that. However, you hafta keep in 
mind that I had never intended to stay here,"
  "Not even longer?"
  He shook his head, "No. I was just stopping by here to say hi to everyone 
before going on my way. You know I don't belong here,"
  "So you're going to go back home? T-to your own world?"
  Ranma nodded, "Yeah, I'll go back to my own world soon enough after I get some 
business done on this world. However, I'm still leaving regardless,"  
  Hikari gave a sad look, "Oh,"
  Ranma leaned forward and gave her a kiss on her cheek, "You take care, all 
right?"
  "Yeah," Hikari said, blushing slightly.
  "Bye," he said, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder and giving it a gentle 
squeeze. She reached up and placed one of her hands on top of his and gave it a 
squeeze too. 
  When Ranma said his farewell, he headed down the corridor where he met up with 
Misato and Asuka where they seemed to be in the middle of a conversation.
  "Perhaps a nice restaurant or something," Misato was answering Asuka, "I don't 
know for sure,"
  "Whatcha talking about?" he asked.
  "Oh nothing," Misato smiled at him.
  "Come on, let's getcha home," Ranma turned toward Asuka.
  Asuka walked into the elevator and punched the number for her floor, Ranma and 
Misato entering. There was this awkward silence in the elevator as they rode it. 
When the door opened, Misato waited behind while Ranma walked with Asuka down 
the corridor to her apartment door.
  "So you're leaving?" she asked.
  He nodded, "Yeah,"
  "You're not coming back?"
  He nodded his head, "Most likely not,"
  "I have one question," she said, a bit nervous.
  "Shoot,"
  "Um, just how well do we get along? You and my other self?" she asked. She had 
been meaning to ask this ever since he had mentioned it.
  Ranma smiled warmly, "We get along pretty well. Although your other self seems 
to hate my guts, I know deep down inside is quite the opposite. I just think 
she'll never admit it,"
  "Y-you mean she likes you, too?" Asuka asked.
  Ranma smirked, "Too?"
  "Um, I-I mean..."
  He placed a hand on her shoulder, "Yeah, she likes me. And I like her, too. If 
it'll make you feel better, I actually care very much for her,"
  "R-really?"
  "Actually, if you really wanna know, I had actually died once for her. And 
that if it weren't for her, this world would have been a whole lot different 
than what it is now," he said, giving her a kiss on the cheek, "However, that's 
the extent of what I'll say,"
  "Oh,"
  "You take care now, y'hear?" he smiled.
  "I kinda feel bad that we don't know each other that well," she said. She 
didn't know what on Earth had compelled her to say it but she figured since she 
was never going to see him again, it was best to say her final words instead of 
regret not having said so.
  "Don't worry," he said, "I'm no one worth remembering. Goodbye,"
  He turned around and left. 
  Asuka watched as he disappeared into the elevator with Misato.
  "I doubt it," she said softly before heading into her apartment.

  "So, where would you like to go eat?" Ranma asked as he and Misato emerged 
from the building and approached Misato's car.
  Misato suggested a nice restaurant nearby. Oddly enough, it was the exact same 
restaurant Ranma and the children had eaten earlier. He didn't seem to mind and 
said, "Sure, I don't see a problem,"
  Ranma got into the car with Misato as she drove off toward the restaurant.
  "So, what do you plan on doing afterwards?" she asked.
  "What, you mean after eating?" he said, "Well, originally, I had planned to 
check out that bathhouse located about halfway from your workplace and the 
girls' home. I guess I'll eat first and then go there right afterwards," 
  "You mean that mixed bathhouse?"
  He nodded, "Yep,"
  "Can I join you?" she asked with a smile, dirty thoughts passing through her 
mind, "I haven't been to one of those in a while and I'm basically aching all 
over. I've had a rough day of work and figure a nice bath would help ease my 
tension away,"
  "It's a public bathhouse," he shrugged, "You're free to do as you please. 
However, I got this sneaking suspicion that you're only interested in seeing me 
naked,"
  "Well, I guess you can consider it one of the benefits of going to the same 
bathhouse as you," she grinned mischievously.
  He let out an annoyed breath, "How come I've got the feeling I should be 
worried about a comment like that...."
  "So, what do you plan on doing after the bathhouse?" she asked.
  "I dunno, we can perhaps go back to your place," he smirked, "Since you 
mentioned wanting to have a baby with me, I figure I'll take ya up on your 
offer,"
  Misato suddenly swerved off the road, narrowly missing several pedestrians. 
When she managed to get the car back under control and back on the road, she 
turned her gaze toward him, her eyes open.
  "Jeez, man, you're one crazy driver," he commented, holding his chest as if he 
had almost had an heartattack to emphasize his words.
  "Are you serious?" she asked.
  "Yeah, you drive like a nut," he nodded.
  "No, not my driving! I'm talking about..." she started. When she realized 
Ranma was smirking and had obviously been joking, her eyes narrowed.
  "Damn you," she snapped at him, "I was really serious about having a baby,"
  Ranma's joking visage turned serious as he realized he had upset Misato, "Oh, 
I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way,"
  "When are you ever going to stop joking around?" she asked, "There're are time 
when it's inappropriate and now is one of 'em,"
  "I said I'm sorry," he said defensively, "I guess I got carried away,"
  Misato smiled a bit. She sighed and then said, "When I mentioned about my 
wanting a baby, I was dead serious,"
  "I know, I hear ya,"
  "And, well......" she tried to say.
  "You consider me the best candidate to be your baby's father, huh?" Ranma 
finished it for her. 
  Misato nodded. She was really surprised at how serious Ranma could be when he 
really needed to be. One second he could be teasing and joking around like some 
obnoxious schoolkid and the next, an mature and well-mannered adult.
  Ranma scratched his head, "I dunno what to say. I'm flattered by the offer, 
but I'm not interested in settling down, at least not anytime soon,"
  Misato sighed, "How come I'm not surprised?" She cleared her throat, "In all 
seriousness, I'm very eager to have a baby regardless, preferably yours,"
  "Can we just drop it? It's kinda making me uncomfortable," he said sincerely. 
  "Just hear me out," she said.
  "All right, fine,"
  "Anyway, we're both not getting any younger," she said, "Well, at least I'm 
not. I'm at the age where I want to settle down. Y'know, become a mother and 
raise a child,"
  "I know, but like I said before, I'm not interested in settling down yet," he 
replied, hoping she would get the picture.
  "If you're worried about the actual act of conceiving a child and feel 
uncomfortable with it, then you don't have to, but I would still like to have 
your child," she said.
  "Oh, you mean through artificial insemenation?" he asked. 
  She nodded, blushing a bit as she added, "As much as it would disappoint me in 
not being able to enjoy actually conceiving a child with you, I'm willing to 
take that approach,"
  "But why me?"
  Misato laughed, "Y'know what's weird? You may perhaps be one of the most 
arrogant men I have ever met, yet you are also, by far, the most modest."
  "I don't follow ya,"
  She narrowed her eyes at him, wondering if Ranma was just pulling her leg and 
just wanting to hear her say it. However, when she realized that he was truly 
confused, her heart skipped a beat as she felt herself falling for him even 
more.
  "Well, if you really wanna know, you have exceptional genetics," she said, 
feeling a bit weird explaining this, "If the baby has even a fraction of your 
genetics, it'll grow up stronger, faster, more intelligent, and overall more 
powerful than any human being alive. I want to have a baby like that. At a 
purely primative and instinctual point of view, that is what every mother would 
want their child to be,"
  Ranma consintued to scratch his head, "Yeah, well, as flattering as it may, 
it's not all genetics. I didn't become the way I am because of it. I became the 
way I am because of my training and hard work and constantly studying martial 
arts,"
  Misato laughed, "Actually, that's where you're wrong. Remember how you're 
basically derived from that blood found in Antarctica? Well, the blood belongs 
to you, or at least your former self. Investigation of the blood indicated a 
person who had exceptional genetics. That means the person you are today is 
based on the genetics found in that blood. Genetics play a big role in who you 
are. Basically, even if my child were receive a fraction of your genetics, those 
genetics are still far and beyond better than any other person I can think of,"
  Ranma let out a breath as he tried to absorb this, "Man, that's a lot to think 
about,"
  "I know, but that's how it is," she said hopefully, "And above that, in all 
honestly, considering your track record, I'm very scared that you'll die once 
again. That's why I want to seize the opportunity,"
  "So lettme get this straight, you wanna have my baby," he said, taking 
everything into deep consideration.
  She nodded.
  "You believe that even if a fraction of my genetics is passed on to the child, 
it's more than anyone you can think of," he asked.
  She continued to nod.
  "And you're willing to do this through artificial insemenation?" he asked.
  "If it must come down to it," she said.
  Ranma said, "Jeez, artifical insemenation? Why the heck would I want that? 
Wouldn't it be more fun if we simply did it the old fashion way?"
  Misato suddenly found her nose bleeding as a very vivid image of Ranma and her 
having intercourse passed through her thoughts. Sure, she had had erotic dreams 
of him plenty of time, but perhaps it was the thought that he seemed actually 
interested was what did it.
  Ranma narrowed his eyes, "Hmph, you hentai,"
  "Wait, it's not whatcha think," she quickly said, grabbing a tissue from the 
tiny holding tray by her cardoor, "It's just that...."
  "You were picturing us doing it," he finished for her.
  "Well, yeah...." she said before blushing beet-red and saying, "No, I 
mean....you're making things very awkward for me here,"
  Ranma chuckled.
  Misato took several deep breaths to calm herself. After a minute, she said, 
"Look, let's talk about this over dinner,"
  "Fine,"

  Ranma and Misato were seated in the restaurant. The restaurant was very busy 
and they had to wait close to forty minutes before a table opened up for them. 
Shortly after they were seated, a young waitress approached them where they 
placed their order and patiently awaited their meal to come.
  Ranma smirked, "So, you really think women consider me the perfect candidate 
for their babies?"
  Misato gave Ranma an odd look, "What, you want me to spell it out for you?"
  He smiled warmly, "Nah, no need. It's just news to me,"
  He had always figured girls seemed to like him because he was handsome. 
However, as he talked more and more with Misato, she started pointing out that 
that was only one of his traits that seemed to attract women. She mentioned of 
how women like herself are also attracted subconsciously to him simply because 
he seemed to be an excellent potention father. 
  "However, I still don't believe girls like me because I'm a nice person," he 
commented, "I always believe I'm an asshole. I tend to take everything as a joke 
and am constantly acting childish and teasing everyone. In a way, I always 
figured I was childish and immature,"
  "Um...." she said after a moment, "Yes and no. No offense, but you really do 
act childish and immature at times. However, I know that that's not always the 
case. I know you can be serious when you have to be. And I know that you 
actually have a kind nature. Frankly, I like the way you are just fine,"
  Ranma sighed, "Well, whatever the case, it's all news to me. I always figured 
it was just my looks. That's kinda why I always act like an asshole, so girls 
would view me as one and not want anything to do with me. I never knew it was on 
a purely subconscious and instinctual level,"
  "Now, about having a child," she changed the subject. She couldn't really 
understand how or why she wasn't all that nervous talking to Ranma. She had no 
problems expressing her feelings toward him. Perhaps it was because he always 
made her feel comfortable, like she could say anything in front of him and not 
worry about him judging her. That way yet another quality about him she loved, 
that he never judged people.
  Ranma leaned back in his chair, his arms crossed in front of his chest, "Yeah, 
about the child...."
  She smiled, taking a sip of her dring as she asked, "H-how would you want to 
go about doing this?"
  Ranma shrugged, "What else but the old fashioned way? We have intercourse,"
  Misato nearly spit out her drink due to shock.
  "You're serious?" she had to ask.
  Ranma nodded, "Not unless ya wanna do it through artificial-"
  "The old fashioned way is fine," she quickly said, blushing terribly.
  "Okay, then intercourse it is,"
  "Um, I'm actually really surprised," she had to say, "I figured it would be 
much hard, y'know....get you into bed,"
  "All you had to do was ask," he said.
  Misato fell off her seat. She quickly got back up, her eyes wide with shock, 
"T-that's it?"
  He nodded, "Yeah. Since you put it that way, on how you really wanted a baby 
and find me the perfect candidate, how can I say no? You seem really eager to 
have a baby so I'll be glad to help,"
  Misato sat down in her chair. She felt extremely odd. She remembered how much 
she had wanted Ranma back then, before he had left for his homeworld, and not 
knowing of an appropriate way of approaching him. After hearing what he said, 
she felt totally dumbstruck. All she could had done was merely asked nicely!! 
Was that all there was to it?!
  Ranma realized something, "Oh shit,"
  "W-what?" she asked, looking up toward him.
  "Chickens," he said.
  "Huh?" she looked at him like he had grown a second head.
  "This world has chickens," he said.
  "And your point?" she didn't really understand the significance of that 
comment.
  "Lettme test something out," he said, "I'm gonna kiss ya,"
  He got up off his seat and leaned forward toward Misato in an attempt to kiss 
her passionately on her lips. Misato's eyes widened when she realized Ranma was 
about to kiss her for the very first time. She had never been kissed by Ranma 
before. She had kissed him, but he had never kissed her before. 
  She closed her eyes as she eagerly awaited his lips.
  At that moment, a chicken flew into the restaurant via the kitchen door and 
ended up striking Ranma in the side of his head. 
  He casually grabbed the chicken and handed it back to the chef that had ran 
out of the kitchen after it. 
  "I'm very very sorry. I didn't mean for it to happen," the chef apologized 
profusely before quickly headed back into the kitchen, chicken firmly in hand.
  "Man, that was rather weird," Misato commented.
  "Yeah," Ranma said, sitting back down in his seat and already proceeding to 
get comfortable.
  "W-weren't you just going to k-kiss me? Before that little distraction?" she 
stammered. Her breathing was a bit heavy.
  Ranma shook his head, "Why? There's was damn chicken in the middle of the 
restaurant,"
  "What does that have to do with it?" Misato couldn't understand, "This 
restaurant is known to have live chickens in back and are killed for your meals 
to assure absolute freshness. One of them must've gotten out as one of the chefs 
were trying to get one from its cage,"
  "Right, whatever you say," Ranma said. He looked up toward the sky, "That's 
really screwed up, y'know. You're one messed up God,"
  "What are you talking about?" she asked curiously, wondering if Ranma was 
perhaps losing his mind.
  Ranma waved a dismissive hand as he took, "Nothing. It's just that I have this 
theory that there's some kinda higher being that constantly intervenes and 
actually prevents me from actually doing anything such as kissing someone or 
even express my feelings. It's really weird,"
  "That's bull," she said, "It's merely coincidence,"
  Ranma chuckled, "I wish it were. I wish it were,"
  "Fine, try it again," Misato said hopefully, closing her eyes, "Kiss me 
again,"
  He shook his head, "I'm telling ya. It's not gonna work,"
  "Please," she said, her eyes still closed.
  "All right," he said with a sigh.
  He got back up out of his seat and leaned forward to kiss Misato again. Just 
mere centimeters from his lips pressing against hers, the kitchen door flew 
open, the exact same chicken flying across the room and accidentally hitting 
into the side of Ranma's head.
  Ranma grabbed the chicken again and handed it to the chef.
  "I'm very very sorry. It had managed to escape from my hands," the chef 
apologized profusely again.  
  "Don't worry," Ranma said, getting back into his seat. He turned toward Misato 
who had this shocked look on her face and said, "Y'see? Didn't I tell you?"
  "God," Misato commented, "The chances of something like that must be, like, 
one in a trillion,"
  "More like one in one for me. Right now, I'm batting a thousand," Ranma 
muttered, his arms crossed in front of his chest.
  "I refuse to believe something as ridiculous as that," she commented.
  Ranma sighed as he shook his head, "You still don't believe me? What's it 
gonna take to make you believe me?"
  "I dunno," she replied earnestly, "It's just purely coincidence. That's all,"
  "Fine, this should prove my theory without a shadow of a doubt," he said.
  He stood up and tapped on the glass of his drink.
  "Can I have everyone's attention please?" he said in a loud voice.
  Everyone stopped their chatting and turned their attention onto Ranma as he 
basically stood in the middle of the restaurant. Even the waiters and waitresses 
stopped what they were doing to look at him.
  "You see this woman here? Her name is Misato Katsuragi," he said in a loud 
voice, loud enough that everyone in the restaurant could hear, "I just wanted to 
say that I am in lov-"
  Ranma speech was cut short when several dozen chickens came flaying out from 
the kitchen, all of them seemingly hitting into Ranma before scurrying in a 
random direction.
  "Damnit, didn't I tell you to always remember to close the cage?" a chef 
yelled at another as a dozen chefs ran out of the kitchen and after the 
chickens.
  Ranma turned toward Misato and smirked and said,
  "Y'see? Pretty messed up, huh?"

  Ranma looked at the bathhouse, "Man, I can't wait to get in,"
  After the meal, Ranma and Misato headed over to the bathhouse.  The meal had 
gone on without incident, Ranma no longer trying to prove his theory correct 
anymore, no matter how much Misato refused to believe. Before they went to the 
bathhouse though, Misato had dropped Ranma off at a clothing store to buy new 
attire while she went home to fetch a clean pair of clothes. She picked him back 
up about ten minutes later, and together, they went toward their destination.
  "Yeah, I've never been to this one before," she commented, "It looks rather 
extravagant,"
  Ranma and Misato entered. Once inside, they paid for their admittance and 
entered their respective changing room. They didn't really understand the 
significance of separate changing rooms when it was a single bath for both sexes 
but didn't bother to think much about it.
  Insider her changing room, Misato took of her clothes and had this 
mischievious smile on her lips. There were three things she was pretty excited 
about. The first was the thought of seeing Ranma in all his naked glory. The 
second was seeing if seeing her naked aroused him. And last but not least, 
seeing how many males she could get to notice her. 
  She knew she was very attractive and liked the attention.
  Once done undressing, she grabbed her towel and wrapped it around her body and 
then headed out into the bathing area. Once outside, she was a bit surprised to 
see just how much of a mixed bathhouse it was. She saw lines of faucets lining 
the walls on both walls as well as down the two isles in front of her. The part 
that surprised her was that there were women and men washing themselves side by 
side along the isles and wall.
  "This is what I call a mixed bathhouse, huh?" Ranma approached her and 
whispered into her ear.
  Misato was momentarily startled by his sudden appearance but managed to 
compose herself. Luckily for her, she had her towel covering over her breasts 
and private area. 
  She didn't dare to steal a glance at Ranma because she knew he was stark 
naked. His towel was resting comfortably over his shoulders and neck. She 
blushed as she realized that Ranma was naked and standing only a few feet next 
to her.
  "I'll wash your back if you wash mine," he said, gesturing toward two open 
faucets next to each other. 
  "Um, sure," she stammered. She and Ranma walked over to the open faucets, 
Misato sitting down, her back toward him. She felt very awkward as she seemingly 
felt Ranma's gaze on her back and her backside as she sat on this tiny stool.
  She gasped as she felt a warm cloth touch her back.
  "You're awefully tense," she heard him say, "However, I guess it's 
understandable. This is a mixed bath, afterall,"
  Misato took several deep breaths to calm herself down, only to become more 
tense when she felt Ranma's hands apply pressure around her shoulders.
  "I'm gonna give you a massage first," he said softly, "You're tense as hell. 
You should relax more,"
  Almost instantly, Misato's feelings seemed to drain away as Ranma's fingers 
did its magic. He gently kneaded her tense shoulders and rubbed the back of her 
neck. Within no time, Misato was so relaxed she found herself dozing off.
  She snapped back awake when she soon realized Ranma was attempting to wash her 
back again. She just sat still as Ranma eventually finished washing her back.
  "All right, now its your turn," Ranma said, turning his back toward her.
  Misato swallowed the lump in her throat and turned toward him. She smirked 
when she glance at Ranma's tight rear end as he sat on that tiny stool. When she 
regarded his back, she was amazed at how impressive it was.
  Ranma's back was very muscular and seemed to convey this air of hidden power. 
His muscles were well-toned and had the look of definitions developed through 
hard work rather than weight lifting, giving him that down-to-earth musculature.
  She took her time washing his back. She had this blush on her cheeks the whole 
time when she noticed several envious stares some nearby females were giving 
her. She knew it was because those girls were jealous of her and it actually 
made her happy.
  When Misato was finished washing his back and washing off the soap, Ranma 
proceeded to fash himself, Misato also doing the same. However, rather than 
having both their backs toward one another, they were both facing the faucet 
such that they were side by side.
  "I haven't been to one of these mixed bathhouses in a while," Ranma commented, 
smiling toward her.
  "Really?" Misato asked, keeping her eyes straight ahead. She didn't want to 
steal a glance toward Ranma. She didn't want him to see how eager she was to see 
him naked. It was weird. She had really wanted to see Ranma naked as she got 
undressed in the changing room, but now felt too nervous to carry out her plan.
  "Man, you're really tense," Ranma commented, "I understand why you're tense. 
It's because we're both naked and all, but what's there to be so nervous about?"
  "Um," she began.
  "If you're worried about how you look," he said, "Don't worry. You look fine. 
Frankly, you've got a really nice body,"
  Misato smiled. For some reason, that felt very comforting. It made her feel 
much less nervous all of a sudden. 
  "T-thank you," she said, turning her attention toward Ranma only so that she 
was making eye contact with him.
  "All right, I'm finished," Ranma said, getting up right in front of her, "I'm 
gonna go take a dip. I'll meetcha in the bath,"
  Misato blushed as she managed to steal a glance of Ranma as he walked past. He 
had the nice tight backside and made her want to reach out and give it a good 
squeeze, just to make sure that it was as tight as it looked. 
  Ranma stood in front of the hotbath, his hands on his hips. The bath looked 
more than adequate. It was very large and had a natural look to it. Instead of 
being a giant hot bath, it resembled more of a hotspring with several rocks 
lining the edges as well as a small island in the middle.
  "Looking nice there," Ranma heard someone say, "You must work out,"
  Ranma turned toward the right where he saw a female in her mid twenties giving 
him a rather seductive look.
  Ranma looked down at himself and at the muscles of his arms and his washboard 
stomach, "Me? Workout? Not really,"
  Misato glared daggers at the girl as she watched her talk to Ranma. Knowing 
that the woman was hitting on Ranma, Misato felt like it was her duty to quickly 
finish washing up and break the conversation up. Didn't Ranma know that she was 
only interested in Ranma because of his body?
  "You don't work out? That's amazing," the woman said, "Regardless, you must be 
in excellent shape. And it shows,"
  "Thanks," he smiled warmly.
  "Ranma, let's go," Misato said, approaching the two of them. She glanced down 
at the woman and casted her a glance that seemed to silently say 'Stay the hell 
away from him' before turning toward Ranma, "I'm ready,"
  "All right," he said, a bit curious as to how Misato seemed to have suddenly 
overcome her shyness. He looked over Misato's bare shoulder and at the woman, 
"Well, it was nice talking to ya,"
  Without saying another word, he turned around and entered the hot bath, making 
his way toward the tiny island in the middle so that he could lean against one 
of its rock. Misato followed suit, leaning against a rock right next to his.
  "Ah, this is so relaxing," he sighed, closing his eyes, "This feels so good,"
  "Yeah," she said, regarding Ranma.
  She was very surprised at how comfortable Ranma seemed to be in her presense 
despite being completely naked. She believe that it was most likely because 
Ranma had nothing to be embarrassed about. He had a terrific body, a body that 
males envied and females tend to have erotic dreams about. Misato wasn't all 
that uncomfortable being naked in front of a man also yet Ranma was causing her 
to feel otherwise. 
  He yawned as he placed his hands behind his head, closing his eyes as if deep 
in thought and said, "Man, I'm gonna miss this,"
  "Miss what?" she looked at him.
  "Miss these hotbaths, considering where I'm going," he replied, eyes still 
closed.  
  "When I goto Antarctica," he said sleepily. He felt so relaxed he felt like he 
could fall right asleep up against that rock. Of course, he knew that would be 
dangerous because if he stay in the hot water too long, he would suffer from 
heat stroke.
  "Huh? Why would ya wanna go there?" she asked.
  "To find Adam," he continued to say, totally unaware that he was supposed to 
be keeping his visit here a secret. The hot water was giving him this light-
headed sensation.
  Misato was no longer relaxed, "Adam, w-why the hell are you looking to find 
him?"
  Ranma, realizing his blunder, quickly snapped wide awake and said, "Oh, 
nothing, you weren's supposed to hear that," 
  "No shit," she said, "However, I heard it regardless. Now why are you looking 
for Adam?"
  He became defensive, making Misato becomg even more suspicious, "Look, forget 
about it. It was nothing,"
  Misato said nothing else. She didn't know what Ranma was up to, but she was 
going to talk to Ritsuko about it. Perhaps she might be able to determine what 
Ranma was hiding.
  "All right," she liked, "I'll forget you mentioned it,"

  On a totally different world, a world unlike the one Ranma was on, Lina and 
the rest of the crew appeared. In the middle of the cloudy night, on a high 
cliff overlooking Tokyo-3, a glowing portal appeared and out emerged the Knight 
Sabers, Lina, Misato, Ritsuko, Asuka, Shinji, and Emiko. Basically everyone was 
there save for Luna, whom had stayed behind to open the portal to allow everyone 
through, and Akane, whom had stayed behind in case Ryoga showed back up home for 
some unknown reason.
  When the portal closed, Misato turned toward Lina.
  "All right, now it's your turn," she said.
  Lina nodded. She reached into an inner pocket of her vest and fished out a 
small scroll. She carefully read it through before she followed its 
instructions. She placed a hand on Sylia whom was closest to her and casted her 
spell.
  Immediately, a portal opened up right before her.
  A second later, Luna could be seen emerging from the portal right before it 
closed up again.
  Although the spell had only lasted a short while, Lina was already out of 
breath, the spell sapping away quite a bit of energy.
  "You okay?" Luna asked, "You want me to heal you?"
  "I'm fine, just a bit winded," Lina said. She really did want to be healed but 
didn't want the other girls to see that she needed help and had promptly chosen 
to to receive any. 
  "Well, it seems the plan worked," Misato smiled.
  Luna's theory had proved correct. Her ability to cast open portals to other 
worlds was a spectacular feat. However, there were basically two flaws. The 
first was that she needed some form of reference to open the portal to that 
world, the reference being a person from that world, and the second flaw being 
her needing to stay behind to keep the portal open so that others may go 
through.
  However, despite that, Luna had believed it was possible that Lina open a 
portal from the other world to allow her through from the other side. It was a 
long shot, but it seemed to have worked. Luna had never known that something 
like this would have worked because she had been the only one capable of doing 
such a spell. Luckily, Lina was a fast learner and had managed to learn to cast 
it fairly consistently within a week.
  "I still don't understand why you wanted me to cast it," Lina said to her 
sister after finally catching her breath, "You should have let me cast the spell 
from the other world and have you and the others come through so that, in case 
your theory didn't work, you wouldn't have been stuck on the other world since 
you would be much more useful than myself,"
  "You can say that again," Emiko commented.
  "What didja say?!" Lina sneered at the young ninja.
  "I did that because even if I couldn't come through," Luna said with a warm 
smile, "I'm sure you're capable of carrying the task out just fine without me,"
  Lina turned toward her sister, a bit embarrassed, "Um, thanks for the vote of 
confidence,"
  "Man, it feels so weird being in these again," Nene commented, looking down at 
her hardsuits, "I feel all stiff and all,"
  "Well, we haven't used these in quite a while so we're all pretty rusty," 
Sylia commented, "However, we're a bit more comfortable now since we had that 
whole week to get used to it while Lina mastered that spell,"
  "All right, what should we do?" Nene asked, turning toward Luna.
  Everyone turned their attention toward her. It seemed she had somehow been 
unanimously designated team leader of this outing. No one could really 
understand why but there was a quality to Luna that made her seem an even better 
leader than Sylia or Misato combined.
  Luna looked down the cliff and toward the giant crater that used to be a city. 
It seems as if a few years had passed since Misato, Ritsuko, Shinji, and Asuka 
had last been there. The city of Tokyo-3 no longer existed but there was a small 
town near the outer edge of the crater. Unfortunately, it was at the farthest 
edge of the crater away from the cliff they were perched.
  "Okay, it's pretty late and it looks like it's going to rain soon," Luna said, 
"There's a town all the way on the other side of that crater. We'll go there and 
look for some shelter. We can ask some questions there and see what we will need 
to do in the morning,"
  "Man, it's so far away," Asuka commented, dreading the long walk in store for 
her and everyone else.
  "Don't worry about it," Luna said, "We'll just fly. Since Sylia and the 
others' hardsuit have flight capabilities, we can can all partner up with 
someone and fly there. Sylia can take Misato. Priss can take Ritsuko. Nene can 
carry Shinji. Linna can carry Asuka. I'll carry Emiko. Lina, you can go on ahead 
and look around for a tavern or inn where we can stay for when we arrive,"
  "That sounds like a good idea," everyone seemed to agree.

  Shinji sighed as he looked at the bed of his hotel room. He had his own room 
while the other females all shared, two to a room. He figured he shouldn't be 
surprised since he was the only male in the group. 
  Figuring he wouldn't really be able to sleep, he headed downstairs where he 
could take a dip in the hot bath that the inn had, one of its attractions.
  As he was walking down, he accidentally bumped into Emiko as she was on her 
way out. She blushed a bit as she realized that the robe she was wearing seemed 
to show off a bit more cleavage than she would have wanted and quickly closed 
the neckline to conceal herself better.
  "I'm sorry," he said, blushing a bit, "I should have looked at where I was 
going," He had caught sight of Emiko's cleavage before she noticed.
  "You're going to take a dip?" she asked, figuring it was best to fill the 
awkward silence.
  He nodded, "Yeah, I couldn't sleep. Figured I should take a dip and that the 
hot water might relax me,"
  "Yeah, it's really relaxing," Emiko commented.
  When it was obvious that there was going to be another awkward silence, Emiko 
figured it was best that she say, "Well, goodnight," And then she quickly headed 
down the corridor where she disappeared around a corner.
  Shinji smiled a bit, blushing a bit. He didn't know why, but he kind of liked 
Emiko, more than any of the other girls his age. She was very beautiful, perhaps 
even more beautiful than Asuka. However, there was quality to Emiko that Shinji 
found very attractive. 
  Emiko seemed to be rather quiet a reserved, much more so than Asuka. He liked 
that. Although she was an excellent martial artist she didn't act like some girl 
capable of killing a man with her bare hands even though she is easily capable 
of it. What he probably liked best about her was that she seemed to really like 
acting more like a girl rather than some deadly ninja she was supposed to be.
  He sighed. Too bad Emiko was in love with Ranma. Shinji could definitely 
picture being more than just being an aquaintance to Emiko. 
  He entered the changing room to get undressed. It only took a fraction of a 
second before he realized he had accidentally entered the wrong changing room.
  Shinji's nose started bleeding when he caught sight of Lina in all her naked 
glory. The young sorceress had just entered the changing room from the hot bath 
and was still 
  "You pervert!!!" Lina shouted, extending her hand forward to send a fireball 
right into Shinji and incinerate him.
  "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" he said, quickly running out of the changing room. 
  When Lina realized that Shinji was long gone and that shooting a fireball 
would had only caused damage to the inn, she had stopped her chanting. She was a 
bit surprised at how fast Shinji had been able to escape.
  After a moment, she figured it was best that she hadn't shot that fireball. 
Unlike Ranma, a fireball, even a tiny one, could have seriously hurt him. She 
was sure it was an accident.
  She looked down toward her breasts, wondering what Ranma would had said if it 
had been him that had accidentally ended up walking in on her.
  She would had shouted and called him a pervert, he would have said something 
like 'What, it's not like I haven't seen you naked before'. And then he would 
have probably had proceeded to take of his clothes in front of her, prompting 
her to blush profusely and ask what the heck he was doing, where he would then 
say, 'Well, I saw you naked so I guess I'll hafta let you see me naked'
  Lina felt disgusted with herself when she caught her image in the mirror by 
the corner and noticed this blush on her cheeks. She swore to herself as she 
wondered what the hell had come over her. In any situation, she would have 
chased Shinji down and shot him with something along the lines of a Dragon Slave 
for seeing her naked, yet for some reason she didn't. Instead, she had started 
thinking about Ranma and of the times he seemed to have 'accidentally' seen her 
naked.
  She was getting soft. It was all Ranma's fault. She was usually a decisive and 
quick thinking sorceress that everyone fear and would go out of their way to 
avoid, but now, she was acting like some love-sick schoolgirl with no brains.
  "Hmph, it's all Ranma's fault!! He's making me feel all love-sick and crap!!" 
she said.
  She blushed a dark shade of red when she realized something.
  "What the hell am I saying?!?!?"

  Emiko yawned as she gazed out her window. She had woken up well before dawn. 
Nene, whom had volunteered to partner up with her in the room for the night, was 
still sound asleep.
  She smirked when she noticed someone doing some kata out by the field located 
behind the inn. It didn't take her long to realized that it was Shinji doing so. 
She stood there for several minutes watching him, a bit impressed with his form. 
She was surprised at how much he had improved.
  She smirked again, wondering how well Shinji would have fair against her if 
she and him sparred. Although no where at her level, she had to admit that he 
was rather skilled and would most likely be a formidable opponent in a couple of 
years if he kept up with his training. That was a good thing.
  Emiko was so skilled in martial arts that no one was a challenge for her and 
she would like to have a worthy opponent for once. She felt her skill was going 
to waste if she had no one formidable to fight against.
  Ranma didn't count. It seems his level of skill was so far above hers, that 
there was no way she was ever going to even reach a fraction of his skill level. 
She had learned to live with it, with the fact that she would only be second 
best, that the gap between them was so wide she would never be able to catch up. 
  Since she would never reach Ranma's skill, the only thing she could settle for 
was someone eventually reaching her skill. Shinji seemed like a likely candidate 
in the near future.
  Emiko got dressed and headed outside. She practiced her kata every morning, 
just like Shinji. However, she tended to practice in a different location, aside 
from the dojo and backyard where Shinji usually practiced. She liked practicing 
on the rooftops. It allowed her to enjoy the sunrise also, too.
  This time, she would make an exception. She would practice with him.
  "Morning," she said. Her eyes widened in surprise when she realized she was 
saying good morning in the first place. She couldn't understand how she had 
changed so much over such a short time. She usually never talked, let alone 
initial conversation, so what gives?
  Shinji, a bit sweaty, turning around and was surprised to see Emiko.
  "G'morning," he said, blushing a bit. He picked up a towel that was lying 
nearby and wiped the sweat off.
  "Um, how long have you been training out here?" she asked curiously.
  "I've been out here for around an hour so far," he said, taking his time to 
catch his breath.
  Emiko perked an eyebrow. She was impressed that Shinji had been up that early 
to practice. He tended to finish his practice at around the same time as her, 
yet since he seemed to be practicing an hour before, that meant he practiced 
more than she did. He must be very dedicated to martial arts.
  "You seem to be coming along fairly well," she commented.
  "Thanks," he said, "One of these days, if I keep this up, I'm pretty sure I'll 
actually beat Ranma,"
  "B-beat him? Really?" she gave him a stunned look. Shinji seemed to be a whole 
lot more confident than she had believed originally, to believe he could 
actually beat Ranma.
  He nodded, "Yeah, that's my dream. I still have a long way to go. I know he's 
only playing around with me, but from time to time, I was actually able to hit 
him,"
  It was her turn to be even more stunned, "You're able to hit him?"
  Shinji nodded, "Only a few times,"
  "Hm, you must be a lot better than I thought," she commented. 
  "I'm okay," he said rather modestly. He wanted to say that he is actually an 
excellent martial artist, that when it comes to unarmed combat, he is more than 
capable of taking care of himself but he didn't want to come of as conceited and 
arrogant.
  Emiko smiled a bit. Shinji seemed to be very modest. She found that a rather 
endearing quality to him. 
  "What am I thinking?" she said to herself, blushing.
  "Huh?" he looked at her curiously.
  She gave a meek smile and quickly said, "Oh, it was nothing. N-nevermind,"
  There was a moment of awkward silence, which seemed to allow Shinji the time 
to think of what to say.
  "I'm gonna keep practicing, perhaps you can give me some pointers," he said. 
He knew Emiko was more skilled than him and was hoping she might be able to 
point out some flaws. Plus, he figured it would be a good ice breaker.
  Emiko thought about it for a moment, "I don't see a problem. Okay, I'll do 
it,"
  "Thanks," he said.
  Emiko walked a short distance away from Shinji to allow him some space to 
maneuver. She then proceeded to watch him do a kata she had seen all too often. 
It was the exact kata she remembered seeing Ranma going through when she had 
sometimes happened to have seen him practicing. Ranma seemed to practice 
infrequently.
  When Shinji was finished with his kata, he turned toward the young girl to ask 
for her comments. 
  "Um, actually, from what I saw, the kata was flawless," she said, surprised 
that he had actually done such a complicated kata and series of movements 
without a single mistake.
  Shinji blushed a bit, "T-thanks," 
  He figured he had made several mistakes. But since Emiko's trained eye picked 
up none, that must had meant he had done it perfectly. This was a first.

<new stuff 1/20>


  "The only you might want to work on is the speed," she commented, "You should 
be going through the motions much faster,"
  He nodded, "Yeah, I just figured it was best that I do it slowly so that I can 
get the form down correctly before concentrating on doing it faster and faster 
and eventually moving at full speed,"
  "That good," she acknowledged, "That's what you should be doing,"
  "Thanks,"
  "Say, would you like to spar?" she decided to ask. She hadn't sparred against 
anyone in a while. Perhaps Shinji was a lot better than she had originally 
expected. It would probably do her some good.
  Shinji blushed a bit, "R-really? You want to spar?"
  She nodded.
  "I-I don't see a problem in that," he said somewhat nervously. He was used to 
sparring against a girl since he always sparred against Asuka, but she had been 
the only female he had ever sparred against.
  He regarded Emiko for a short moment. She was clad in her usually attire which 
consisted of her ninja outfit, minus the mask Ranma had removed a while back. 
Her clothes were fairly loose, which would allow for high modility.
  Emiko regarded Shinji. Shinji was clad in his street clothes which consisted 
of a short sleeved shirt and some loose-fitting jeans. 
  The two individuals got into their battle stances.
  When Emiko noticed Shinji swallow the lump in her throat, "There's no need to 
be nervous. We're only practicing. No need to go all-out,"
  "A-all right," he said nervously, starting to regret accepting the challenge. 
Sparring against Emiko felt different from sparring against Asuka. Against 
Asuka, Shinji was never nervous because was aware of Asuka's skill level. With 
Emiko, it was unknown.
  Emiko dashed forward to attack, wanting to put Shinji in the defensives. 
Besides, she was more comfortable being offensive. 
  She performed a series of kicks toward Shinji's chest, all of them narrowly 
missing him, Shinji doing his best to dodge.
  "J-jeez," Shinji muttered to himself, breathing heavily. He couldn't believe 
Emiko could move so fast. He was also very surprised with himself for having 
dodged the attacks.
  Emiko smiled a bit. Shinji was indeed better than she had anticipated. She 
quickly banished her smile when she realized that she, a ninja, shouldn't be 
smiling in the first place.
  Shinji decided to take a crack at being on the offensive for a change. He 
dashed forward and executed several half-assed punches, all of them easily 
dodged, the last one countered and him receiving three hard punches to the chest 
for doing so.
  "I suggest you attack harder," Emiko said, knowing full well that Shinji was 
going easy on her because she was a girl.
  "I'm s-sorry. I'll try," Shinji said softly, rubbing his chest.
  Emiko smirked a bit. She wondered how the battle would be if she sparred 
against Ranma. She knew Ranma would go easy on her now that he knew she was a 
girl. She knew Ranma seemed to go easy on the opposite sex. She shuddered as she 
wondered what could had happened to her when she had first attacked him. Ranma 
hadn't known of her gender and had actually attacked full force. If she had been 
struck by a single attack, she could have been killed.
  But now that Ranma knew she was a female, she had an idea how he would fight 
her.
  "C'mon, fight me!" Emiko would probably find herself taunting Ranma.
  "Nope, you're a girl," Ranma would most likely respond, "You'll only get 
hurt,"
  "C'mon!!!" she would shout.
  Ranma would probably shrug and then say, "All right. I'll teach ya a lessone 
then,"
  He would then most likely dash toward her, dodging several of her attacks to 
to ward him off and then do something unconventional like tackle her to the 
ground. As she would struggle to free herself and get out from under Ranma's 
weight, he would have most likely wrapped his legs around the back of her knees 
while pinning her arms down against to the ground by her wrist. He would 
basically knock her to the ground and get on top of her in the traditional 
mounted position.
  "Hee hee, whatcha gonna do?" he would taunt her.
  "Unhand me!!" she would probably shout, trying to free herself and realizing 
that there was no way she would be able to overpower her.
  "Hee hee, from this position, I can do whatever I like," he would continue to 
tease her. He would then probably lean forward and bring his lips close to hers 
and say, "Y'know what kinda possibilities there are,"
  He would probably blow on her ear which would send shivers through her body. 
As to whether or not she would like that, she had no idea.
  "Oh god, what am I thinking?" Emiko said to herself, blushing a horrible shade 
of red.
  She had managed to snap out of her reverie just in time to see the incoming
 Shinji and deflect his attempt to grab her lapel for an attempted takedown and 
counter attack with a punch to his chest followed up with a heel kick to his 
face, sending him spinning to the ground.
  He hit the floor hard. Landing a short distance away. He groaned in pain as he 
rubbed this side of his face where Emiko had kicked him.
  Emiko, realizing what she had done, that she shouldn't had kicked him so hard, 
quickly rushed forward by where he lay hurt.
  "Are you okay? I guess I hit you a bit harder than I should have," she asked, 
feeling a bit ashamed of herself. It was her fault for being distracted like 
that and then responding with such force.
  Shinji sat upright and winced as he nodded, "Yeah, I'm okay,"
  Emiko let out a breath in relief. She was glad he was okay. She could had 
seriously hurt him or perhaps hospitalize him. Or even worse, killed him. 
Luckily, he seemed to be a lot more tougher than he gentle look let on.
  Shinji looked up at Emiko to acknowldge that she had won that little sparring 
session. However, he didn't even get a change to make eye contact with her 
because his gaze caught sight of Emiko's breasts as they were exposed.
  It seemed when Shinji had grabbed the lapel of her outfit to throw her, he had 
never released his grip when she had kicked him and sent him flying away and to 
the ground. It seemed the front portion of her outfit got ripped, exposing her 
breast.
  "Um," Shinji blushed.
  Emiko noticed Shinji blushing and didn't know why. When she looked down and 
noticed some fabric still in Shinji's hands, she suddenly realized that they 
looked a lot like a part of her outfit. When she looked down at her chest and 
noticed it totally exposed, she quickly darted her arms forward to cover them.
  "Pervert!!" she shouted, blushing red. She felt incredibly so mortified and 
infuriated at the same time.
  Shinji quickly scooted backward as quick as he can, "I-I'm sorry! I-it was an 
accident! I swear!"
  "Yeah, I bet!" she narrowed her eyes, not believing him one bit.
  Shinji, knowing he was doomed, that he was going to received the beating of 
his life, figured he might as well go for broke. Since Ranma usually ended up in 
situations like this, he had a tendancy of going down fighting, even though he 
was still going down regardless.
  "T-they're really nice," Shinji said, figuring that was something Ranma would 
say, "I-it's w-worth it to see them,"
  Emiko stopped in mid stride when she heard the comment. She didn't know why, 
but hearing Shinji compliment her made her feel kind of nice and not all that 
angry with him. Afterall, she was a girl and hearing stuff like that was nice. 
Heck, it even made her feel more feminine and more like a woman for a change, 
not like that of being a ninja like she was used to.
  Oh man, that really does work, Shinji though to himself, totally shocked. He 
had always admired how if Ranma knew he had messed up and angered a female, he 
would basically throw in a several extra containers of gasoline on the fire, 
just so that he could go down in blazing glory. Shinji figured he might as well 
do the same but it seemed to have turned out differently and had a posititve 
effect.
  "I don't care, you're still dead!" Emiko said after a moment, her anger 
finally getting the better of her. As nice as hearing a compliment was, he had 
still seen her breasts and no woman would ever let a man see their breasts 
without their consent and live.
  Shinji received his beating as best as he could.

  "Jeez, what the hell happened to you?" Asuka commented as she regarded Shinji, 
"You look even more ugly than you usually do,"
  Everyone was gathered around a table inside the restaurant located by the 
lobby of the inn they had stay overnight. It was still early morning and 
everyone had decided to discuss their plans over breakfast. They were all 
awaiting their orders to arrive. Sylia, Nene, Linna, and Priss were no longer in 
their hardsuits, having left them in their hotel rooms.
  "Ha ha, really funny," Shinji said sullenly.
  Luna smirked, "All right, who did you see naked or at least partially naked?"
  "W-what? How'd you know?" Shinji looked surprised.
  She smiled and laughed a bit, "Well, it seems Ranma's approach does work," 
  "What approach?" Nene asked.
  "He likes to guess at what could had possibly happened and judging on the 
person's reaction, it proves that his guess was correct," she replied, still 
smiling, "It seems his way of getting answers seem quite effective,"
  Shinji blushed as he looked down at the table. He couldn't believe he had 
reacted that way. Ranma always did that to him to get answers out of him that 
Shinji didn't want revealed and he had learned to counter it, to remain totally 
unemotional and keep his reply cryptic.
  Asuka smirked, "Well, it's obviously can't be Lina since she doesn't have much 
to look at in the first place,"
  "What?!?!?!" Lina bolted upright, her chair falling to the floor.
  "Now now, calm down," Luna said, "Keep in mind that Ranma isn't here to be the 
mediator like he did back then. And I that I have no intention of being on the 
receiving end of two people's anger since Ranma seems to always ease the 
situation by getting them angry at him instead of remaining angry at each 
other,"
  "I'll have you know that I did no such thing!" Lina sneered at Asuka, 
wondering if a nice fireball in that girl's face would shut her up. 
  "I didn't do it," Priss shrugged.
  "Neither did I," Nene said.
  "Nor I," Ritsuko said.
  "Neither did I," Misato said with a smirk, "However, I'm sure there's plenty 
of times he's seen me naked so there's no reason for him to peep on me anymore. 
Actually, I'd feel flattered,"
  "What?!?!?" everyone seemed to say at once.
  Misato held her hands up defensively, "I'm only joking. I'm only joking,"
  "For some reason, I have trouble believing you," Ritsuko took a sip of her 
drink, "Knowing you, you're the type of person that would write out a will that 
would give Ranma your panties or something like that when you die,"
  Misato laughed, "Perhaps. But that's for me to know and Ranma to find out,"
  "Um, I'm gotta go to the bathroom," Shinji said meekly, getting up and 
leaving.
  Luna gave a meek smile as she put up a front. She was pretty surprised at the 
ranges of personalities Ranma seemed to have come in contact during his 
adventures. From what she could gather from the short time she knew everyone, 
Misato seemed to be really sex-starved for Ranma and didn't seem to be lacking 
in inhabitions. Despite that, Misato could be serious when she needed to be. 
Nene seemed rather shy and almost passive but is also a real genius with 
technology, something Luna wasn't all that familiar with. Priss seemed to be 
rather quiet but didn't seem to take crap from anyone and looked to be able to 
take care of herself easily and not be the one to anger. Sylia seemed the most 
reserved of everyone there and seemed to analyse and take thing into 
consideration before acting things out. She seemed least likely to act 
irrational. Ritsuko seemed to be the smartest of them, able to solve puzzles 
with only bits and pieces of information. Linna seemed to be the most normal of 
them all, tending to keep by the sidelines and contribute whenever she felt like 
it. Asuka seemed to actually be very much like Lina in a way such that they have 
rather loud personalities and seemed to always like attention. And last but not 
least, Shinji. He seemed to be the opposite, always quiet and shy and trying not 
to get in anyone's way. Since he wanted to avoid confrontation, that was why he 
had chosen to goto the bathroom. He noticed that he was basically sitting in the 
middle of a minefield, that he shouldn't be the only guy sitting at a table full 
of arguing females.
  Luna glanced around the table as everyone seemed to be arguing with one 
another. However, the persons that seemed to take no part in the talking were 
Shinji and Emiko. Noticing Emiko blushing as she seemd to pay particular 
attention to the wood of the table in front of her, Luna knew exactly who had 
beaten Shinji up like that.
  She smiled and even laughed a bit. 
  "Hey, Luna, I have a question," Misato asked.
  "What is it?" she turned toward her.
  "You and Ranma haven't fucked, right?" she said.
  Luna was stunned into speechlessness. Some people could be so vulgar.
  "We're a couple. I'm pregnant with his baby," Misato added, rubbing her flat 
stomach.
  "In your dreams!" Linna said, "He don't need someone like you. And the only 
way you can get pregnant is if that vibrator