A/N: Reminder – check my profile for scheduled publication dates.

The day of the concert brought with it unexpected challenges. Unexpected, but not insurmountable.

"Ranma. Not that I'm ungrateful…"

The pig-tailed girl looked to Maki, puzzled. "Yeah?"

"HOW!?" She gestured to the stage, which was flanked by all the speakers from the school's sound system. "I was told we couldn't use them!"

"...I asked Nozomi for the key last night," the girl said. "Why, who'd you ask?"

Maki's head hit the keyboard. "Ayase."

"Damn. What's her problem, anyway?" Ranma made one last adjustment to the position of the heavy speakers. "Okay, wanna hook it up? I'm no good with all that wiring stuff."

The response was a shake of her head and a somewhat exasperated smile. "Some

'man of the house' you'll make."

Ranma turned indignant. "What's that supposed ta mean!?"

"Why, important to you?" Maki teased. "Is being a man that important?"

Ranma snorted. "What, like me better as a girl or somethin'?"

Maki blinked, completely startled by the line. Her cheeks turned red and she began to stammer. "Wh..I mean, it's not like I mind that you're a boy, but yeah."

Ranma turned pale. "Wait...I…"

Maki rolled her eyes. "Look, just stand back for the sound test, okay?"

Ranma obediently did so and the music started to play. She walked around the room to make sure she could hear it clearly, giving a thumbs up once she reached each of the spots Maki had already marked out for her. "Okay, sounds good," she said, looking around. "Why isn't anyone here yet? I'd have guessed someone would have shown up by now."

"They're probably at the club meetings." Maki explained. "This is supposed to be a day for the clubs to get interested students."

Ranma scratched her head. "Then...why ain't we starting earlier?"

"This was the only time we could get the auditorium." Maki explained. "Well, they could get the auditorium."

Ranma's eyes narrowed. "...and who decides..no, don't tell me."

"Ayase," they said together.

"This sucks," Ranma concluded.

Maki shrugged. "Still, might get some people in who don't think the club they thought they'd go for isn't for them. I wasn't planning on joining any clubs anyway."

"Me neither." Ranma admitted. "Don't see the point. The martial arts clubs are okay for what they are, but they can't get on my level. Not with the school rules."

Maki gave the girl a sly glance. "I'll bet. Anyway, why don't you go check on the others? It'll be time soon."


Ranma noted that there was only one change room set up behind the theater. Feh, all-girls school, I guess. She was about to knock, when she heard excited voices coming from the other side of the door.

"Get her arms!" That was Kotori.

A shriek that was probably Umi.

Then a groan of pain that was probably Honoka, one Ranma winced in sympathy to, but it was followed up with "I've got them! Get her pants!"

The martial artist's cheeks reddened, and she removed a hand from the door that she hadn't immediately realized she'd reached out to try to open it in the first place.

"I'm! Not! Going! Out! There!" Umi shrieked.

Ranma gulped. "What's goin' on in there?"

There was another brief sound of struggle, during which Ranma had to exercise all restraint not to open the door to try to help, and then Honoka cracked it open. "Umi's just got a case of stage fright. We're going to help her get over it."

"...eh, if you're sure." Ranma told the ginger girl. "...listen, curtain's in five."

Honoka gave a quick nod. "How's the audience?"

"...it ain't good."

Honoka's expression briefly fell. "Can we give it an extra couple of minutes?"

Ranma nodded. "If th-" She stopped herself. "I'll go make the announcement."

Honoka's expression fell further. "I see. We've only got the stage for twenty minutes, but we've only got the one song so…"

"Gotcha." Ranma nodded. "Don't worry, I can handle the cleanup in three if Maki gets her keyboard. I'll tell the girls on lighting we'll start ten minutes late."


Maki tapped out the keys, listening to her last-second rehearsal on a pair of ear-buds. Not the best equipment but they were improvising as it was. Still, it was the best she was going to get, and she was about to step backstage when she noticed some movement up in the tech booth. Curious, she left the school auditorium to go in through the back, rather than use the stage entrances.

She was less surprised than she felt she should have been to run into Eri. "Ayase," she said, coolly. "Couldn't leave it alone, just scheduling them for an empty concert hall? You had to actually mess with them?" She put her hands on her hips.

"That would be against the rules, Nishikino," Eri sniffed. "I just wanted a copy from the cameras…"

Maki turned her back, looking over her shoulder at the larger girl, completely unintimidated. "And what would you need that for, hmm?"

"Nothing!" Eri snapped back, too quickly.

"Nothing." Maki repeated, obviously not buying it. "You know, Ranma's got a point. What is your problem?"

Eri snorted. "Oh, come off it Nishikino. You, of all of this lot, should get that. This is just. . . pointless. This kind of stumbling about on stage won't get the school the kind of attention we need! Even lending your talents just barely makes their singing passable."

Maki shrugged. "Well, they'll probably never make the National Theater, but they're above average for high school performers. And they put this together in about a month with no budget at all. Frankly, I'm impressed that they managed it with no experience."

"They didn't 'manage' it," Eri insisted. "Just because you'll accept a flawed performance. . . "

Maki raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with it? I wrote it to sound good for what I thought they could manage, and they outdid that."

"Still amateurs…"

Maki blinked. "Wait, what? I don't recognize you from the local music scene, and I know everybody on the road to the arts universities."

"Russian ballet," Eri responded.

Maki winced. The demands of that particular art form were well known to her. "Eri…" Her tone immediately softened. "You know they don't have to be that good, right?"

"I can't accept that anything less would save the school," Eri countered.

Maki paused...well, it had worked for Ranma. "How about a bet, then?"

The blonde stared at her. "Another bet?"

Maki smirked. "You don't have to do anything you weren't planning on doing anyway. Go ahead. Edit the video as best you can and upload it to Love Live. If you're right, the comments section will tell us everything we need to know, and I'll encourage Honoka to stop." Eri grinned – without Maki the other three were sunk no matter how many crazy martial artists they dug up. "BUT!" she interjected. "...if the overall trend of the comments is positive, you join Mu's."

"What?" Eri's jaw dropped, but Maki wasn't deterred.

"What's the problem? They're eager to learn, but Umi's no choreographer. Ranma can train our bodies to be able to do the moves, but a 'pro' like you could give us the steps. You wouldn't have to actually get on stage, just become the club's fifth member." Maki's grin only wavered a little. "Unless you're afraid you're wrong."

"Not a chance, Nishikino." Eri nodded. "Very well. I'll prove this is a waste of time."

Maki nodded. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get into position."


"So…" Honoka looked down at her feet.

Umi gave Kotori a glance, then put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Honoka, don't say it. It wasn't for nothing. There's still time, people might show up."

Kotori put an arm around her. "Besides, we had fun, didn't we?"

"...yeah, but…" Honoka took a deep breath. "Right. This is just a practice run. We're making a recording, so we can prove we can do this." She nodded to the pair. "I don't care if there's no one out there. We go out there, and if there's no one but Ranma, we still give it our all."

"...well, that would make it easier." Umi grinned weakly at her own 'joke.'

Kotori shook her head with a giggle of amusement. Honoka echoed the giggle and added "You do realize if we keep going we're going to get an audience sometime."

"L-l-let's just focus on today!" Umi shouted, opening the door and going out to the stage.


The time to the performance ticked down. First two girls with short hair, then another with her hair done up in pigtails came in. The later had a pair of binoculars and sat way in the back for some reason, but Ranma didn't complain. Though Ranma didn't recognize them, they were Hanayo, Rin, and Nico.

When Eri came in at the new five minute mark and took a seat in the very back row, arms crossed stiffly and glaring at the curtain, Ranma assumed something had happened but decided not to question it.

At four minutes, Nozomi walked in and gave the room a smile and a nod. Ranma got up to the front. "It'll just be another few minutes, folks. We decided to hold off to give people some more time to show up." She took some small satisfaction in the sour look Eri shot her. Got your number now, Ayase. It was really hard to keep the smirk off her face, but she got down and quickly joined Nozomi at her seat near the front. "Not a great turnout, but no time to drum up any more."

Nozomi gave the temporary girl a distant smile as a response. "Oh, I think this is more than fine. There's only one class to recruit from, after all."

Ranma blinked. "Good point. Three people's probably a lot."

"Five."

The reply included a soft shake of the head. "Ayase don't count. She's just here ta see us mess up. And you were gonna come anyway."

Nozomi giggled. "True. Next time you'll want to be sure to have more control over the venue."

Ranma smirked. "I'll make a note of it."

Both girls went completely pale on hearing a sound coming from the rafters high above the stage. Nozomi, surprisingly, was the first to react. "Are you messing around up there?"

"Lights are all automated. Only reason for anyone ta be up there would be repairs, and that's a bad idea with a show about to start." The martial artist checked her phone's clock. "Two minutes ta showtime. Dammit, I really wanted ta watch."

The pair glanced back, and noticed Eri had already stood up and was striding towards the front of the auditorium. "Shit!" Ranma cursed. "Stop her, please. I'll go check it out."

A nod from the vice president, and the martial artist moved so quickly she almost seemed to vanish.

Nozomi, meanwhile, put a hand on Eri's shoulder as she was passing. The blonde hissed at her. "Nozomi, not now. Not after the other day."

"Do you trust her?"

Eri reacted as if slapped. "Her maybe, but her 'fiance' is a lunatic!"

The sudden sound of bone hitting metal alerted the pair to Nico's sudden fall from her awkward seat. She recovered quickly, running up to the pair. "Wait, what are you two talking about with Saotome?"

"It wasn't Saotome that was the problem," Eri muttered, trying to avoid alarming the two first-year girls. "It was that Tendo girl. She came in here ranting and nearly killed Kousaka…"

Nico went absolutely pale. "Oh God no...I didn't think…"

The lights began to dim.

"We have to stop the performance." Eri whispered. "We can't afford to have something happen with all the students here!"

"Something's already happening," Nozomi pointed out, taking her seat. "And if I'm right, it's going to be the last something before certain people take the hint."

Nico followed suit. "It's starting, anyway."

Reluctantly, very reluctantly, Eri followed suit as the curtain began to rise on the three most vexing girls she had dealt with all year.

"I saaay...Hey! Hey! Hey Start Dash!"


Ranma crept along the scaffolding as the lights from below moved about, casting shifting shadows that would be all too easy to hide in. She hissed out "Who's here? I swear ta god, Shampoo, if it's you I'll."

"Hush, cretin!" a rather different voice hissed back. "Even as pedestrian a performance as this demands silence." A black ponytail hanging off one side of her head, almost in defiant contrast to her intentionally aristocratic bearing. A lime-green leotard, showing off a trim and slender figure. And a voice that Ranma felt could grate steel into shavings.

This was Kuno Kodachi.

Ranma, cautiously, hopped along the rafters until she was next to the girl. "So, what brings you here? I'm in enough trouble without more comin' after me."

"I was simply interested in what my Ranma could be doing in this district. Imagine my surprise to find you instead, and in with this quaint troupe no less." She glanced sideways at the other girl. "I suspect...but no. My Ranma would not be caught dead in such a place as this, and rightly so."

Never could figure out the curse, Ranma groaned. "Well, he ain't here, he ain't gonna be around here," she pointed out. "It's a girl's school. If yer lookin' fer him, just move on, would ya?"

Kodachi smirked back at her. "My, my, is that a challenge in your tone? Very well...but you are also correct that this is not the place, or the time. I bid you adieu!"

Ranma covered her mouth and nose from long practice, but the only thing Kodachi tossed was a smoke bomb, easily dismissed as another special effect. She glanced down, but it was evident the song was nearly over.

"Dammit. Really wanted ta watch…"


It was intended to be a celebration, but with all the near-misses, no one felt too much like celebrating. Instead, Honoka dropped the bombshell, placing the folder Happousai had originally given to Ranma on the table. Umi, Kotori, and Maki read it in turn, sipping on their sodas in silence. Once Maki set it down, she glanced up at Ranma. "You said your Master wanted us to enter this?"

"Yep." Ranma rolled her eyes. "I don't get it either."

Umi frowned thoughtfully. "Ranma, do you mind going downstairs?"

"Yeah, actually, I do mind," the pig-tailed girl replied with a bit of acid in her tone.

Honoka put a hand on the pair's shoulders. "Ranma...go downstairs," she settled on. "Don't worry, I've got your back up here," She pulled out a thousand-yen note. "Actually, why don't you try a few of the games in the game center next door. I think you'll like the second and third floors."

Ranma gave her a hurt look, but Honoka put hands on her shoulders to patiently explain. "Ranma, I think there's two different things going on here. Can you trust me?"

"...yeah. I trust you." Ranma said. "Okay, I've got my phone on."

A minute later, the red-headed girl had vanished and Honoka turned back to the group. "Okay, first, the easy bit. All in favor of working towards Love Live?" Every hand was raised. "Now...does anyone object to including Ranma?"

Umi nodded. "Look, Honoka, Ranma is fine, but there's a lot that comes with him."

"The real question of how much of that is Ranma?" Kotori interjected, much to the surprise of everyone. "Mama brought up a good point. He didn't learn how to do. . . what he does to win fighting tournaments. If he stops going to that school, and gets somewhere else to live…"

Honoka looked thoughtful. "He's already staying with Toujou, but that's only a temporary arrangement…"

Maki bit her lip nervously, but Umi beat her to the punch. "Honoka, we're in high school. This is really getting to be more than we can handle. Finding someone a place to live? How are you planning on supporting him?"

Maki tried to speak again, but Honoka slammed her hands on the table. "I'm not abandoning her, Umi!"

"I wasn't suggesting that!" Umi shouted back. "But in case you don't remember, you nearly died!"

"Kind of hard to forget!" Honoka's voice raised as well.

The pair nearly stormed off, when Maki put a hand on each of their shoulders. "Maybe...maybe I can help." Both of them looked at her, their heads whipping around fast enough that Honoka's did so with a loud cracking noise. "I...I have a big house…" she explained lamely. "There's enough room."

Honoka nodded. "That would work, if your parents will go for it."

"...she might have to pay rent or something," Maki said. "Maybe do chores, but . . . well, I think she can handle that."

Kotori sighed. "Everyone, I think that's the best we're going to get for tonight. Maki has to talk it over with her parents. If Ranma doesn't have a long term place to live, Mama won't let him into the school."

"Right." Umi said, looking at Honoka. "If Ranma joins the club officially, I won't have any problems. Otherwise…"

Honoka nodded, realizing it was the best she was going to get. "One week, then?"

"...sure." Umi agreed. "Don't make me regret this."


Honoka got to the game center only to find Ranma in an argument with the attendant. "What the heck's going on here?!"

The attendant gestured to a simple punching-strength game. Which was currently emitting sparks. Visible sparks. Honoka looked at Ranma for an explanation. "I didn't think I hit it that hard," she said.

Honoka sighed, turned to the attendant, and bowed. "I'm very sorry about my friend. I'm afraid she was raised outside of the country we know." When Ranma didn't bow as well, the martial artist got a kick to the shin. Ranma took the hint and bowed.

"...I don't care," The attendant finally said. "Just go."

Once outside, Ranma looked at Honoka. "Well?"

The ginger couldn't quite meet Ranma's eyes. "It didn't go as well as I'd hoped. Umi's scared of you. I think she wants some assurance that there isn't going to be a repeat of the Akane incident. I mostly convinced her to wait, but she won't give her blessings until we know what happens at the meeting with your parents."

Ranma groaned. "Mom's not gonna like this. Not a bit. I was hopin' I wouldn't have to tell her about the idol thing."

She'd been afraid of this. "I don't think that's going to be optional, from what you've told me."

Honoka shrugged. "How bad can it possibly be? What's the worst she can do? She can't even kick you out of the family without your father's backing her up, and he isn't going to risk that."

"There's. . . somethin' I didn't tell ya." Ranma fidgeted nervously. "Before we left on the training journey, she made my pops swear to bring me home a 'Man among Men,'" The redhead gestured to her body. "It got kinda dicey for awhile, but she's mostly accepted the curse, I think. But she gets kinda twitchy around girly stuff."

"How bad could it be?"

"...the terms are if she says he failed we both gotta commit seppuku," Ranma explained, somewhat bitterly.

Honoka reacted almost as if physically struck, needing to grab a nearby wall to steady herself. "That's…that's…"

Ranma sighed. "It is what it is."

The other girl steadied herself and stood up. "So? That can't be legal! Fight it!"

"You're askin' a lot, Honoka." Ranma reiterated. "I mean, Pops ain't great, but . . . " Her fists tightened. "Dammit. Stupid curse. Stupid. . . "

Honoka shook her head. "Don't say that, please? Without your curse we wouldn't have been able to do this. . . "

Ranma blinked, surprised. Then chuckled. "Yeah, I guess." She glanced over her shoulder. "It's a half day tomorrow. How about after practice we head somewhere?"

Honoka thought about it for a moment. It was obvious Ranma was trying to deflect the conversation away from the difficult topic, but she decided she'd had enough for the day. "I'll spend Sunday with the others, then."


Maki squirmed as her mother stared at her. "I know it's kind of a lot to ask…"

"Maki!" Her mother, the dignified doctor and occasional socialite, squealed. "No! Not at all! I'm absolutely delighted you wanted to do a sleepover!"

Maki gulped. This was just getting worse. "Erm...it might be longer than a night. Probably."

She saw her mother's expression change, going a little darker, but still quite excited. "Well, all right, but just for a weekend."

Yeah, knew it wouldn't be that easy, "No, mom...it would be...a bit longer term."

Her mother's enthusiasm bled away, and she took a seat. "Maki, is your friend...in trouble?"

"Her name's Ranma, and...well, yes. But not legally. It's just her family might be. . . we're afraid it might be abuse." Maki explained, slowly and no longer able to meet her mother's eyes.

"I see…" There was a long silence while the older woman clearly thought. "What evidence do you have, and why has no one gone to the police?"

"Well, it's complicated…" Maki began, but was immediately cut off.

"It usually is. Evidence, Maki." That was the scientist talking, Maki knew.

She glanced at the clock. "Do you have to get to work? This might take awhile." Her head shook. "No, really."

Mrs. Nishikino thought about it, then gave her a nod. "I can see this is important to you, so I'll make time." A cell phone was quickly brought out and a call made, giving her daughter a soft smile. "One of the advantages of being the boss, and the owner's wife. Now, please."

Maki took a deep breath. "First, you have to understand that we know Ranma didn't have a normal childhood. She was raised on the road as some kind of wandering martial artist." A nod to go on. "She barely has any social skills, but she's been trained to be the best at that one thing.

"On top of that, she's been engaged by her father. A lot. I don't think Ranma even knows how many girls she's been engaged to anymore…" Maki said, almost immediately realizing her slip and wincing after she made it.

Her mother caught it as well, raising an eyebrow. "Girls?"

Maki gulped. "Ranma's father raised her as a boy."

"...would this be because 'she' is a boy?"

Maki swallowed. "Ah...that's also complicated. Suffice to say she's enough of a girl that the Principal wants to invite her to Otonokizaka, for the moment?"

"Ahh...yes, well, these are always interesting issues." The doctor said with an emphasis on 'interesting' suggesting Chinese curses that don't involve water, before turning back into the mother. "I suppose, whatever the truth, Ranma wouldn't be sharing a room with you so it's largely irrelevant," she settled on with a shrug. "Now, all this seems like a good reason to go to the police."

"Well, Ranma's staying with one of her fiances, and her father's on the city council. We think he's blocking any investigation." Maki explained. "It's all guesswork. Plus the principal of her school…" Maki had to restrain a giggle. "Well, Ranma says he has a palm tree growing out of his head. I'm not sure any of us believe her, but there's rumors about Furinkan so bad he's probably a bit crazy anyway."

"And lastly….what does Ranma think of this?"

Maki winced. "We haven't asked. Honoka thinks it's better to present her with everything all set up."

"...and I agree. I'll have to discuss it with your father, and I think we'll have her do some chores around the house. Nothing too strenuous, just enough to make it clear she's to be on her best behavior." Mrs. Nishikino gave her daughter a bright smile. "And please, by all means, bring this Honoka home as well some time."


A few days later, Ranma found his rather peaceful practice routine being interrupted by a water balloon, which he interrupted with his fist. She turned to the thrower, prepared to make explanations, when she saw Nabiki standing there with a smirk. And a small envelope with kanji it took her a moment to recognize. 'Student Transfer Request.' "Yeah, Nabs? I ain't in the mood ta play games."

"Really, Saotome?" She smirked, her eyes glinting with more than just the usual lust for cash. "Because you sure could have fooled me. What the hell are you doing to my sister?"

"What do you care?" Ranma put her hands on her hips in a surprisingly feminine gesture, one Nabiki took note of. "You've never hesitated to throw your sister to the wolves before.

Nabiki considered the merits of making a jab about Ranma's body language, but decided against it. If she'd toss Akane to the old pervert, there was no telling what the aquatransexual would do to someone she didn't like. Nabiki was under no illusions Ranma held any real affection for her. Probably not for some 'good natured' teasing, but with what she was planning additional needling would not be helpful.

Just before Ranma lost patience, Nabiki held up the envelope. "Care to explain?"

Ranma raised an eyebrow. "What? Plannin' to go to St. Hebereke's? Maybe take some classes in crazy like Kodachi?"

"You mean you didn't know about this?" Nabiki chuckled. "Funny, it's about you. Otonoki's principal seems set to accept the school's first aquatransexual student."

"...huh?"

"You, Saotome!" Nabiki snapped. "Geez, you really didn't know about this?"

Ranma put her head in her hands. "No. Wasn't planning on it."

"Think maybe you'd better talk to Honoka." Nabiki smirked. "Well, toodles."


Lunchtime in the Student Council room. Eri on her phone, scowling at it. Since the day of the concert, it had been getting to be a familiar sight to Nozomi, and one she didn't particularly enjoy. "It's not going to change, you know."

"How?" Eri asked. "How can people like that. . . that. . . ?"

Nozomi shook her head. "I think you know, Eri. You just don't want to admit it to yourself."

"They're sloppy!" Eri shouted back. "I can see dozens of mistakes in the first thirty seconds between the three of them, and it's so simple!"

"Really?" Nozomi's reply was as serene as always, but with a hint of iron to it. She reached into her bag to pull out the camera. "One more bet, then? You've got the music, right? Do it right here, and we'll see how you do."

"Fine!" The blonde's response was practically a snarl, but she set the phone to start the song on a delay while Nozomi pointed the camera at her. When the music started, every movement she made was fluid, serene, a perfect transition while she kept her expression calm. For nearly five minutes she performed the steps, mimicking Kousaka Honoka nearly perfectly, even, in her estimation, improving on the whole affair. When it was done she added a bow. "There. How's that?"

"Take a look for yourself." Nozomi set the camera's screen down next to Eri's phone, and played them side-by side. Eri watched...swallowing.

There was something wrong.

Her trained eyes insisted every one of her moves was perfect, every twist and step completely in time. She even winced at one point when Honoka fell out of sync, just for a moment. No layman would have spotted it, but to her it stood out as clear as a diamond in a spotlight.

But no matter what the little ballet instructor in the back of her head insisted, she could only truly watch the recording of the other girls.

When it was done, she snatched up her phone. "Th...that doesn't prove anything!"

"So stubborn," Nozomi smiled sadly. "You're going to go do it, then?"

"After the Student Council meeting after school," Eri confirmed. "Yazawa's protest is already filed, of course. It won't change anything."

"Oh, I think it might…" Nozomi's mysterious side emerged, much to Eri's annoyance. So she took out her lunch and proceeded to ignore it.


Nabiki sat in the cafe at the train station, furiously tapping away at her tablet. By no stretch had she gotten to where she was by being careful. Regular after-school treats and movies, family vacations, even the latest in electronics, it all cost money and she was determined not to be left behind. It was bad enough Daddy insisted she attend Furinkan. Without an image carefully crafted to give the appearance of rising above the common rabble, she wouldn't be getting past high school.

For Kasumi, that was fine. She didn't seem to have any ambitions beyond taking care of the home. And Akane's dreams of an 'acting' career were completely naive. It would be a stretch for the Otonoki girls, and that was actually a decent general school. Really, foisting Ranma off on her had been the best thing she could have done for her sister's future life, even if she'd never be thanked for it.

She accepted that.

What couldn't be tolerated was Ranma's new behavior. Okay, sure, the idiot had cut into the budget. That could be accepted as a short-term investment. It would pay off in taking care of Akane later, so what was not being able to go to the nicer onsen for a couple of years, maybe one less overnight trip to the beach? She could still sell the photos of him for everything she needed and most of what she wanted, along with the betting pools.

But now the jock seemed to be running off with the . . . goods. Without that, Daddy would have to pay for Akane to actually go to school. Wasted money.

And no one ran out on a debt owed to Tendo Nabiki. Even indirectly.

The losses would be catastrophic. She might not have money to get into a good university now. No, Ranma would have to be brought back into line. Her first effort would probably be enough, but Nabiki knew the value of a contingency plan. Besides, Ranma hadn't suffered enough for putting her sister through this.

It was just as she was ready to consider how when she noticed a flier right next to her ankle. Picking it up, she read it over. "Love Live Music Festival." The words were a murmur. She knew about Love Live, of course. The social networking site could have been useful if DoCo could have gotten Furinkan's backing, but at the time there hadn't been anything about this. Curious, she checked it over. She stopped reading, though, as soon as she got to the prize. "One hundred million yen?!" she checked it again - the winning group would split that, plus a guaranteed recording contract for one album.

And better still, that Honoka girl would go for it too. Kasumi's music wasn't technically published, so all she needed was some sucke...er, singers. And she knew just where to find those.

As she left the cafe, she never noticed the last few lines of fine print. "Internal copy – not for publication."


Honoka felt a sense of doom around her new friend as she got up to the roof. "..h-hey Ranma. We were just going down to the computer lab to check out the results on the video...did you want.." Ranma's expression stayed hard. "What's wrong?"

"Mind explainin' why I got a transfer to this school waitin'?" she asked coldly. "A girl's school?"

Honoka gulped. "Uhm...I wanted it to be a surprise…"

"Oh, boy, it was a surprise all right!" Ranma snapped. "Had ta find out from Nabs, of all people!"

"Hey! That's not fair!" Honoka shouted back. "You don't have to take it, and we weren't going to tell you until everything was set up if you wanted to, that's all!"

Ranma sighed. "Honoka, look, I know you were tryin' ta help, but my mom's got that thing about bein' a man. I really don't think she'd go for it."

"...that's why I did it." Honoka admitted, much to Ranma's surprise. "Not that specifically, but don't you deserve a say too? There was a lot of luck involved in setting this up."

"What, you want me ta just turn my back on my parents, on . . . on everything?" Ranma asked, on a slow boil.

Honoka gulped. "Well...yes." She nearly took a step back from the sudden chill in the air. "Ranma, wait. I want you to, yes. But that's all. If you say 'no, I'm not doing it'...that's it. It all goes away, and you go back to the Tendos, back to your old school, and it never comes up again, I promise."

"No pressure, right?" The question was sarcastic.

Honoka gulped. "Well...no, I can't promise that. I only managed this once, so there's no going back."

"...how long have I got?"

Honoka blinked. Maybe this would come off after all. "Mrs. Minami wants to have it settled by the end of next week. So you can decide after talking to your mom."

Ranma blinked. "Wait, so you were gonna tell me…"

"Before you went." Honoka confirmed. "I didn't want you thinking you didn't have a choice. I'm your friend, Ranma. No matter what, I'll stand by you."

"...th..thanks, Honoka." Ranma said, her voice suddenly hesitant. "Yeah...uh...sorry."

This was answered with a smile. "Any time. Let's get down to the computer room."


Kotori glanced up and down the list. "Hey, where are we?"

"Why not just do a search?" Maki asked, twirling at her hair while she leaned against the desk disinterestedly.

Umi answered her, peering over Kotori's shoulder. "Well, it's kind of hard when your group's name is a Greek character." She frowned. "No way, we can't have been banned."

Maki rolled her eyes. "Oh, honestly. Just do a search for the song."

"Erm...I never uploaded it," Kotori admitted. "It's taking me a few days to figure out this editing software, and Honoka's new laptop isn't up to it, so. . . "

Maki gave her a smile. "Trust me, it's there."

A few letters typed, and then Kotori was staring in astonishment. "We...we're number two hundred and three!" There were literally thousands of school groups represented on the site. "HOW?!"

The scream was punctuated by the door suddenly opening and Ranma barreling into the room, rolling up into a ready position and looking around. "Where are they!?"

Maki giggled. "Calm down...and take a look." Ranma, curious and not a little cautious, came up behind Kotori to peer over her other shoulder. ". . . huh."

The blonde suddenly found her head being pushed down as Honoka looked over it. "Oh, wow! How did we get so high?!"

Kotori whimpered, pushing back. "Honoka! That hurt!"

"Sorry…"

Umi coughed. "It looks like one of the bloggers ran a mini-feature on us. They labeled us an 'up and coming' idol group!"

Ranma grinned. "Aww, I knew ya could do it. Keep it up and we'll enter Love Live in the first round!"

"And save the school." Honoka prompted.

The pig-tailed girl coughed. "Yeah, that too."

All five girls were suddenly silenced when a different blonde came in through the door. Eri's face seemed darkened, and she glared at Maki for a moment before looking at the ground, seemingly defeated. And in her hands, a formal 'Letter of Application,' as the words on the outside stated.

She took a deep breath, and presented it to Honoka. "Please accept my application."

Honoka's jaw dropped, startled, and she looked around. "Wha? Why this so suddenly?"

"A bet's a bet." Eri admitted. Her eyes went to Maki again. Honoka almost missed the gesture, but smiled sadly and shook her head.

"Eri...I can't take that."

Maki's jaw dropped. "What?!"

Honoka gave a meaningful glance to Ranma. "I started this just to save the school, but now. . . I love this. I love dancing, and singing." Eri stared at her, jaw dropping to the floor. "Even if no one ever comes, I want to keep going. And I think that came out in our concert." The blonde girl now being addressed looked as if she had been punched in the gut. "It was fun, but it was more than that. If you're just here because of an obligation. . . I think that will come out too." She finally looked directly at Eri, and was shocked to see the other girl's mouth opening and closing, obviously not knowing what to say.

So she just gave her another encouraging smile. "Ayase Eri, I'm afraid I have to reject your application at the present time."

"...no." Eri's voice went soft. "No, not from you too. I won't take hearing that from the likes of you!"

"Wh..what?"

It seemed that, when Eri snapped, she did so with an almost-audible twang noise. "All the time! I was never good enough! Always something just barely off! And now you come in and everybody loves that flailing around you have the nerve to call dancing!" She stepped up into Honoka's personal space, backing her up against the desk.

Suddenly she felt herself being yanked forcibly back by the smaller of the two red-heads. "Hands offa her Ayase!" Ranma snarled, fist almost pulled back.

"ENOUGH!" Honoka's voice cut through the growing argument. Ranma, reluctantly, let the now-terrified Eri go, taking a step back. "Ranma! I appreciate it, but I was never in any danger!" When Ranma backed away, sufficiently cowed, she turned to Eri. "I don't know what this is about, but you don't have to yell at me! What do you really want, Eri?!"

"I...I want…" She fell to her knees. "I want to know...why?" A few tears fell onto her knees. "What is it about you that's getting this kind of reaction?"

Honoka knelt down next to her, giving the third-year a hug. "Is that all?" Eri leaned into her, still crying. "I don't know...but if that's really the truth...then please, join Mu's."

"Wh..what?" Blue eyes widened in surprise at the sudden reversal. "Bu..but, I was just going to give you dance lessons!"

"You can do that too," Honoka said, softly. "But I think Ranma will agree as a fellow artist." The redhead looked startled as their eyes met. "What do you do when you want to know someone?"

"I fight them," Ranma said, completely seriously. "I think Honoka's the only girl I'd say I know without that. . . "

"Right." Honoka grinned, before turning back to Eri. "Dance with me?"

Eri nodded, slowly. "Soon. Count on it." She brushed the remaining tears out of her eyes. "I'm so...so sorry."

"Don't be." Honoka helped her up. "Everyone makes mistakes." She glanced around at the room. "Hey, wait, where's Kotori?" In fact, during Eri's outpouring the other blonde had somehow mysteriously disappeared. Honoka shook her head. "I...think maybe this has been a bit much today anyway, and the new songs aren't quite finished yet. Eri, we usually work out at the shrine in the morning. Care to join?"

"Yeah, sure," Eri said with a nod, glancing up at the door as Nozomi entered. "Y..you were right, Nozomi."

"I usually am," the usually serene girl grinned, holding up her own application letter. "I was going to wait awhile, but it looks like there's no need."

Umi grinned. "Six members...President, I think we're ready for that club application now."

Eri gulped. "Uhm...can that wait? There's another complication, and I can't do anything about this one immediately."

Umi was about to plow forward, but Ranma put a hand on her shoulder and shook her head. "It'll be fine."

Umi gave it a moment's thought before nodding. "Let's give the whole thing a few days. There's one more major complication to take care of. . . "