Thanks to all who've read and reviewed this fic. And thanks to everyone who's read it without reviewing. As some of you may have noticed I've altered the name of the fic as it was kind of bland. Hopefully you all like it.

I'm sticking to the manga for both Ranma and Negima. The girls of 3-A are in middle school, and I think they're roughly in what we would consider as 8th grade, thus putting them around 13-14, maybe 15 (Sayo and Evangeline are obviously older) while Ranma is 16-17. As such there's no reason for me to put him in 3-A. I'm not ruling out shipping Ranma, just not sure who to pair him up with. I'll figure it out as I write the next few chapters so you'll just have to see who he might have a relationship with.


The refreshing salty breeze combined with the hot summer sun always made the beach a great summer destination – for most people at least. While Ranma couldn't complain that his few trips to the beach had been uneventful or forgettable, that didn't equate to being enjoyable summer vacations. Memories like the fight with Cologne over the Phoenix pill, Akane and the giant jelly fish, trying to hook Cologne and Happosai up, and the many other misadventures were definitely not events that were easily forgotten.

This time he hoped it would be different. Though the girls from 3-A had nothing on the Nerima Wrecking crew, there were more of them, which could easily make up the difference. Besides, this was the first time that he would be able to enjoy the beach as a guy. Hopefully he could at least, given the layer of waterproof soap, and waterproof sun block he wouldn't be able to change.

"Don't worry," Negi said as though reading his older companion's mind, "Evangeline gave you that illusion ring just in case you changed. No one except a skilled mage would be able to see through the illusion."

"Who's worrying?" Ranma replied. Despite weeks (or months, depending on how you looked at it) of training in the vampire's enchanted castle the others hadn't gotten to know Ranma other then as a sparring partner and the guy that occasionally turned into a girl, as such Negi and company weren't able to pick up on his bluffs (except when playing cards).

"Finally, no more training!" the exuberant redhead cried out as she lead the crowd of girls to the beach. "I can start to enjoy my summer vacation!"

"But think of all the time we could spend training," Nodoka replied as she stepped out into the sun.

"No more training!" the energetic paper girl replied as she turned to face the others. "We're here to enjoy ourselves – especially you!"

Grabbing Negi by the shoulder she stared down at the young teacher. "I promise you that you'll have so much fun today you won't even think of training. Have fun to your heart's content. You're gonna have fun until you drop dead!"

While Ranma wasn't looking to exhaust himself having fun and playing at the beach, he did agree that it was a good time to take a break from training. With all the training they had endured in the time warped castle everyone had made drastic improvements. They were definitely stronger and more experienced now then they had been at the beginning of the summer.

Breaking away from the girls he grabbed his surfboard and prepped it. While it had been a while since he had a good chance to use it, he knew that he didn't need to refresh his skills that much. To him it was basically a test of his ability to balance himself. But for the heir to the Anything Goes School of martial arts, balance was a key aspect of everything that he did.

Taking a step into the cold ocean water, he instinctively waited for the change. Though he felt the cold of the water, he didn't feel the usual wetness that he had expected. Wading into deeper and deeper water, he submerged himself to make sure that he had completely covered himself with both waterproof products. Surfacing he hopped on the board. Checking to see where the others he headed out to catch some waves.

After a morning of surfing Ranma figured that it was time for him to head back in for more sun block. Paddling back in, he watched as the twins dropkicked Negi off of the pier. Chuckling he headed toward his bag. Grabbing the lotion from his bag he rubbed it on his chest, arms, and legs. As flexible and dexterous as he was, even Ranma needed a hand when putting on the sun block.

"Need a hand?"

Turning around the cursed boy looked up at the other Saotome. Eying the library girl wearily Ranma nodded. It's only sun block, right? And she isn't part of the fiancé brigade, and none of the girls in the brigade were around, so it's alright, right? Tossing her the bottle he turned his back to her.

That's cold, he though as he felt her hands against his flesh, of course, it's the lotion. I can't believe that her hands are so gentle, and after all the training she's gone through too.

For the next couple of minutes he couldn't help but compare her to the girls he knew. While he had spent a good amount of time with training with Mana, Kaede, Ku Fei, Asuna, and Setsuna he barely spent any time talking with any of the girls. The extent of their interactions outside of sparring with each other had been focused on strategy and techniques. Beyond that he had barely even associated with the other members of the club.

"There, all done," she stated, breaking the silence and bringing him back from his thoughts. "Um, could you?"

"Huh?"

Turning around he watched as she turned and offered her back to him. "You're sure you want some?"

"Everyone uses it at the beach so that it doesn't wash off. Yours just happens to be a slightly stronger formula."

Giving into her indisputable logic with a sigh, he reluctantly squeezed some lotion onto his hand. Closing the bottle with his other hand before setting it down, he rubbed his hands together. Cautiously he began to rub her shoulders and back, making sure to avoid the strings on her bikini.

"So, why aren't you joining in on the fun?" Ranma froze for a moment, not sure what to make of her question. "I mean Yue and Nodoka aren't the athletic type, and well, I'm not either; that's why we're not playing capture the flag, but you, you're like Asuna - you can't sit still for even a second. Do you not like us? Or is it just that you don't want to do anything with us girls? I can understand that because of all the issues you have with all your fiancés."

"Uh," he stammered, trying to think of what to say, "It's nothing like that. I just don't know much about any of you."

"So this would be a great time for you to do that, right?" she countered quickly.

"I don't know," he replied automatically. Feeling his hands drying up he pulled away from her and sat up straighter. "I guess."

Turning around to face him, she grabbed the bottle and applied some to her legs. Catching the glint in her eye Ranma wasn't sure what to make of it. Though it hinted at something mischievous, it lacked the gleam that Nibiki's eyes had whenever she had some scheme cooked up.

Finished with the lotion, Haruna stood up and grabbed his hands. Dragging him into the fray, she led him over towards the others. Slowly things started to add up.


It had all started with the doodling, for manga-ka like her it always started with the doodling. At first it was minor, but then they began to take a life of its own, then again, her artifact tended to do that to any of her drawings. Tiny pigtailed martial artists began fighting demonic flying yeti with octopus arms, kicking around ducks and piglets. It even got so bad that in a training session with Ku Fei, she had drawn a near copy of Ranma and his cursed form and sent them to battle Ku Fei. For the Chinese martial artist it was her first and possibly only victory against Ranma; though it signaled something else entirely to the Yue and Nodoka. It was slightly unnerving to have the shy and unassuming pair of best friends trying to convince her, the more outgoing of the trio, to, well, be more outgoing.

Just because he was slightly handsome (compared to the few guys she'd seen at the boy's academy that is) and was almost always around didn't make him a good choice for a boyfriend. Not to mention his issues with his 'fiancée brigade' and all the chaos surrounding them that probably left him emotionally and psychologically scarred.

Still, he was cute, not to mention reliable. Even Negi, Kotaro and Eva relied on him. While he wasn't as skilled at teaching as Ku Fei and Eva, Ranma had taken the two younger boys under his wing and taught them a few things. Even though he had agreed to protect Negi and the entire club, the cursed martial artist had done more than that. Sure, he had not made an effort to get to know the girls, but he had made an effort to protect the two younger boys from the girls' antics. It was almost brotherly, and in a way, very sweet of him.

The few times she'd seen him change into his cursed form she really didn't think anything of it. And of course she'd seen him soaked in sweat, so she had a rough idea of what he might look like with his shirt off, but seeing him shirtless at the beach – that was something completely different. She had expected him to have a lean build, probably even with well toned and muscles. Still, expecting something and actually seeing it in person had proved to be something completely different. Maybe, just maybe, it was just a schoolgirl's crush, but she could live with that.


The salty smell of the ocean always excited Akira. Though she spent a majority of her time in the water anyways, it was always nice to get out of the heavily chlorine water of the swimming pool and into pure, natural water. Besides, coming to the beach offered her a chance of seeing that cute guy that she's seen hanging out with Negi-sensei.

The mysterious guy had only shown up recently, suggesting that he wasn't from one of the all boys' academies, or nearby schools. With all the schools out for the summer it wouldn't surprise her if he was just visiting. Rumor had it that he was one of Kotaro's old training buddies as several of the girls had heard them referring to their sparring matches. Even Kazumi had no relevant information on him. While the fighters of the class had admitted that they had sparred against the elusive Ranma, they really didn't know anything about what the older boy.

Arriving at the beach she had been initially disappointed as he was nowhere in sight. It wasn't until she actually got into the water that she saw him on his surf board. Though he wasn't the flashiest or most spectacular surfer, he never fell off his board. It was as though he were casually strolling along the currents rather than fighting to maintain control as the waves tossed and tumbled.

Satisfied with the knowledge that he was nearby, she let herself be lead off by Yuna and Makie as they chased after Negi-sensei. Frolicking with her classmates she occasionally glanced out to the ocean to watch as the handsome stranger rode the waves.

As noon approached and the girls started organizing a game of capture the flag, she glanced out to sea again, hoping to catch sight of her crush again.

"You're on my team Akira," Yuna shouted as she tossed a ball at the swimmer.

Not seeing him, she turned her attention back to her companions. Suddenly her heart skipped a beat. Ranma was there, on the beach, with Haruna, casually putting lotion on her back. Time seemed to freeze as she watched the manga-ka stand up and grab Ranma's hand before leading him over to the group.

"Hey, don't forget me," Haruna cried out getting the attention of the game's captains.

"Ranma's on my team!" Kotaro shouted quickly. "No way we're gonna lose with you on the team!"

"Course not," Ranma replied as he high-fived his team captain.

"That's not fair!" the library trio shouted in protest. "Ranma and Asuna on the same team, that's not fair!"

After a few more minutes of trading players to even out the teams and the stakes Ranma found himself teamed up with Ayaka, Ako, Akira, Makie, Haruna and the Narutaki twins against Negi, Kotaro, Asuna, Setsuna, Mana, Ku Fei, Yue, and Nodoka. Though the game had started out evenly matched and lasted a while it was an uphill battle against the majority of the White Wings. Even without their magic they proved very formidable. Still, it had been an enjoyable game.

Though his team had lost Ranma had enjoyed the game. So this is a normal trip to the beach, he thought to himself. Taking a break from the breakneck pace that Asuna had set for the morning the group had broken down into several smaller groups as some left to get something to eat, others to clean up, and a few to take a more leisure stroll or swim. Wading in the shallow surf the three boys enjoyed their moment of respite.

"This is so nice and relaxing," the dog demon stated as he fell back into the surf and sand. "This is what a summer vacation should be - sun, fun, and good times."

"Enjoy the peace while it lasts," Ranma advised. "Ayaka and the others are staying at the same hotel."

"Hehe that sounds like fun" Negi chuckled.

The peaceful and serine scene was quickly interrupted as a young girl launched herself at the unsuspecting Negi. Pulling the kid out of harm's way, Ranma shielded the runts from the aftermath of the missed attack as a wave of ocean water splashed them.

"You guys alright?"

Negi and Kotaro blushed, trying to avert their eyes. It took a moment for Ranma to realize just what had happened – his waterproofing had worn off or he had missed a large enough spot that had left him open to being splashed by the cold ocean water. Though the illusion ring would cover for him, against anyone who could see through illusions, like Negi and Kotaro, the ring was nearly useless.

"I can't believe …" their assailant started before realizing just what it was that she saw. Clearly she, like her intended victim, had some magical ability and could see through the minor glamour that the ring provided.

"Anya?" Negi squeaked out as he recognized his attacker.

"I think she's in shock," Kotaro stated as he looked past Ranma's half-naked form to the stunned girl. Waving his hand before her frozen gaze he glanced at Negi.

As the two younger boys pulled the unconscious girl from the ocean Ranma grabbed a bottle of hot water (thankfully he had brought one, though it had been enchanted to stay hot) and poured it over his head. With the number of magically sensitive people he knew, it would just be embarrassing to reveal him the way he was to them. Just in case anything else happened, he put a shirt on.