Mahou Gakusei Ranma

by Nobody of Note

AU/Crossover with Ranma and Negima. Ranma is thrust into the world of magic at a younger age and must adapt to some very trying circumstances.

10. The Return of Colonel Sanders

Ryoga couldn't help but be depressed. He'd had the perfect chance to prove himself to Ranma, and he'd blown it. All because of that scum Ukyo. To think that someone like him had … with Ranma … he'd … Ryoga couldn't even bring himself to think it. Then when he'd finally come to, he'd somehow wandered away from the campus before he could find Ranma again and was now camping out in the woods in the middle of who knew where.

Still, despite how terrible he felt, he did manage to drift off, only to waken a short while later to find he wasn't alone in his tent. He had to wonder if he was still dreaming when he saw who it was.

"Ranma! What are you doing in here?" he asked in a panic, as he sat up in a flash, very thankful right now that he'd slept fully clothed.

"I just had to see you," Ranma said, getting on her hands and knees and slowly crawling toward the boy. "Since the festival, I haven't been able to get you out of my mind."

Ryoga couldn't help but slide backwards, almost taking the tent down on top of the both the them as he found himself trapped by the cloth wall.

"There's no need for that," Ranma said with a slight laugh, as she slowly continued toward him, much like Ryoga imagined a lion would stalk its prey. "I just want to show you how much I missed you."

As Ranma's face moved closer to his own, Ryoga's mind practically went into a full meltdown as he became stiff as a board. A moment later, he felt her lips on his own, as she engaged in a kiss that seemed to go on for half an eternity, but it finally did end as Ranma backed up, a huge grin on her face as she called out to him again.

"Wo de airen. Wo ai nii," she declared, causing Ryoga to scratch his head in confusion.

Was that Chinese? Whatever it was, he didn't know what she was speaking it. A moment later, his confusion only grew as Ranma's form seemed to waver and change leaving a body very different from the one he'd just seen, but every bit as familiar.

"Shampoo!" he cried out in alarm. "What happened to Ranma?"

"Don't be silly, husband," Shampoo announced. "Ranma was never here. That was just an illusion."

"I'm not your husband!" Ryoga protested. "And how is your Japanese so good all of a sudden?"

"Temporary magic," Shampoo answered. "It was needed for this ploy. And you are definitely my husband now. I just gave you the kiss of marriage."

"You kissed me against my will!" Ryoga protested. "And you only managed that because you tricked me into thinking you were Ranma! Besides, since when is a kiss all you need to be married?"

"That's how it works for the Joketsuzoku," Shampoo said dismissively before smiling at him again. "Now let's go tell everyone the good news!"

Ryoga just wanted to cry. He refused to accept that they were married, but he had a feeling Shampoo was going to be even harder to deal with from now on.

---

Ranma felt strange being back in school after everything that had happened at the festival, especially with how the class, for the most part, was treating it like just another day. Well, Ranma still wasn't able to get what Chao had told her out of her mind, and had even more trouble paying attention than usual. As much as she liked to pretend otherwise, learning she'd been fated to die in the near future had shaken her a bit.

Still, Ranma wasn't going to let it trip her up. Especially since it wasn't long until summer break and the chance to finally do something. She'd find her father, confront the man who'd trapped her in this body, pound on him until he undid his part in this curse, and finally put her life back together.

With these thoughts swimming through her mind, Ranma didn't even notice class had ended until Setsuna and Konoka walked up to her.

"Hey Ranma," Konoka said cheerfully. "We were planning to do go to town to do some shopping, and we'd like you to come with us."

Before Ranma could answer, another of their classmates cut in.

"I hope you aren't about to forget that our lessons are starting back up today," Evangeline announced. "I won't accept any tardiness."

"Don't be so stingy," Konoka complained. "Ranma needs some time off occasionally."

"Um, maybe we could just go after," Setsuna suggested, trying to calm Konoka. "It should only be an hour, right? We can wait until then."

"Ah, I wouldn't want to hold you up on my account," Ranma told them, thankful that Evangeline hadn't stuck around to poke her nose in the rest of the conversation after making her threat. "I don't really have anything I want to buy anyway. You two should go enjoy yourselves."

"That won't do," Konoka argued. "The whole point of this trip was so that Secchan could buy you a phone. With her going out of her way to buy you a present, you should at least come along for her sake to pick it out."

"Buy me a phone?" Ranma asked. "I don't know why you think you need to get me something expensive like that, but I'm really fine without one."

"It's not actually a big deal or anything," Setsuna sputtered out quickly. "It can just be hard to contact you is all. And I have all that prize money from the tournament. With you never getting to finish the tournament, I only thought it fair to spend at least some of the money on you."

Well, that certainly changed things. Ranma had blown almost all her money during the festival, but if it was free, it's not like she was against grabbing a phone.

"Well, if you're paying, I'm not going to say no," Ranma answered. "But I don't really care much about the phone, so you can just pick one out for me."

"No. You have to come," Konoka insisted firmly, pulling out a piece of paper and scribbling and address on it. "We'll go on ahead, but meet us here as soon as you're done with your training."

"Ah, sure," Ranma agreed, surprised by how forceful Konoka was being over this. "I'll be there."

With that taken care of, Ranma made her way to Evangeline's place, entering her Villa to begin the day's training. She found Negi and Evangeline already waiting inside, the latter in her adult form.

"There you are," Negi said excitedly. "I was beginning to worry you'd forgotten."

"You know, if you'd wait outside it wouldn't seem nearly so long," Ranma pointed out.

"I know, but I just can't wait to get started," Negi answered.

"You should be eager to start," Evangeline cut in. "The performance the two of you gave in the tournament was embarrassing. I didn't even want to admit I had anything to do with your training."

Ranma wanted to protest but Evangeline continued before she could get a word in edgewise. "Ranma, if you took your training seriously, you should have been able to handle someone like Kaede without the need for any magical tools to help you. And Negi, you couldn't even manage to beat Setsuna."

"But she's really strong," Negi argued. "Even you lost to her."

Ranma cringed at that, knowing it was the wrong thing to say even before Evangeline's kick sent him flying back into the wall of her villa.

"That's only because my powers were sealed," Evangeline snarled. "Now it seems I'll have to stop going easy on the two of you if I want to avoid a repeat of that performance."

And Evangeline's words weren't just talk either. Sure the training had always been a bit on the rough side, but most of the time Evangeline just seemed to be enjoying toying with the two of them more than actually training them. For some reason, she seemed to be taking the teacher role a bit more seriously today. So after a night of sleep in villa, Ranma even considered actually asking Evangeline to teach her a spell for flying, but seeing the malicious look on the vampire's face when she ran into her again in the morning Ranma thought better of it. There had to be other, much safer choices to ask on a campus with as many mages as this one had.

Eventually though, the day of training was over, Ranma having to remind herself that only an hour had passed outside and she still had to meet up with Setsuna and Konoka. So she made her way to the address on the paper Konoka had given her, thankful it had somehow survived the earlier training. Ranma soon found herself standing outside a small electronics called Jiro's with a gruff looking face of a balding middle aged man stuck right up next to the name.

There she spotted the two girls she was looking for making a purchase of their own. Slipping inside the door, Ranma was just in time to see a man who was clearly Jiro himself, handing them their items, which Konoka stuffed into a small duffle bag she was carrying, but the girl didn't seem satisfied.

"What about our phone straps?" Konoka asked, pointing at a sign advertising free limited edition straps for any couples that spent over 10,000 yen.

"You're both girls," Jiro answered dismissively. "Stop wasting my time."

"The ad doesn't say anything about that," Konoka argued. "If you're not going to give us our straps, maybe we should return our purchases."

"All sales are final," he insisted. "Now move it. You're holding up the line."

Konoka frowned at that, but Setsuna managed to lead her away before she made a scene, the pair spotting Ranma as they walked toward the exit. Given the crowd inside, they stepped outside again to talk.

"I'm glad you could make it," Konoka said cheerfully, looking to already be over the earlier spat. "Now let's go find you a phone."

"Shouldn't we go somewhere else?" Ranma asked. "I don't feel like giving that guy any more business after that display."

"Oh, but I really want those straps," Konoka said. "They're limited edition, and so cute. They're very popular right now."

That would explain the crowd. Still, Ranma didn't know what she hoped to accomplish. "You heard what he said though. He's not going to give them to two girls."

"Then we'll just have to disguise Secchan as a boy and have her go back in with you," Konoka suggested.

"What?" Setsuna asked in shock. "Don't I get a say in this?"

"I can disguise myself instead if you want to do it that way," Ranma offered. "I think I'd make a pretty convincing guy."

"That won't work," Konoka argued. "He's already seen Secchan like this. If he recognizes her, he's likely to think we're up to something."

"But I don't even have a change of clothes," Setsuna argued, pointing at her copy of the school uniform they all wore. "They'll never believe I'm a guy in this."

"He he he, I've already got that covered," Konoka announced, reaching into that duffle bag she'd brought and pulling out a boy's uniform from a nearby school that she must have picked up somewhere. "I already planned for this. I was hoping we could all get a strap, but at least you two can still get yours."

Setsuna still tried to protest, but Konoka ignored the other girl, dragging her off as Ranma followed. Honestly, Setsuna never stood a chance.

---

Setsuna couldn't believe she was being forced into this. Disguising herself as a guy was bad enough, but now Konoka expected her to change in the dead-end alley? Setsuna was about to suggest that they at least find a bathroom or something for her to change in, but before she realized what was going on, she found Konoka already reaching out to begin undressing her.

"I can do it myself!" Setsuna insisted. "Just go guard the entrance with Ranma."

Great, now she had all but agreed to change out here. Well, she supposed it was best to finish as quickly as possible, so she started her changing with the greatest speed she could muster. She couldn't help but be a little flustered to see Konoka glancing back at her, even with all the times they'd bathed together. At least Ranma was properly guarding the entrance with her back to Setsuna.

Thankfully, she was soon changed into the boy's uniform and heading out of the alley. Konoka did stop her briefly to work with her hair, leaving it up but changing the style a bit.

"We're going to have to hope he doesn't recognize you," Konoka announced. "Ranma if you could do your best to keep the owner's attention on you when you're paying that would help, and Setsuna, try to avoid talking, but disguise your voice a bit if you have to."

Honestly, Setsuna didn't know why Konoka was getting so worked up over these straps, but after the way Jiro had treated Konoka, she wouldn't mind getting back at him a bit. Still, she felt awkward in the strange uniform, but she did her best to ignore that as they returned to the store. Taking a deep breath, she went inside with Ranma while Konoka hid outside.

"So, I really don't know much about phones," Ranma told her as they entered. "Any idea where we should start looking?"

"I was going to get you a prepaid one so you wouldn't have to worry about a plan," Setsuna answered, leading the red-haired girl over to a selection of phones. "Any of these should work. I admit I'm not much of an expert on them myself, but hopefully we can figure something out."

Setsuna then began to look over several boxes trying to figure out which one might be a good choice for Ranma, only to see that the girl had already grabbed the box for a rather plain looking model. "If any of them will work, then this should be fine," she announced. "Now, let's go pay."

Standing in line, Setsuna started to get very nervous, sure that the owner would recognize her and call them out on their deception. How was a change of clothes and a little fiddling with her hair supposed to fool anyone? And even if he didn't recognize her, he'd certainly realize they weren't really a couple. And she really needed to calm down, otherwise she'd give this away just by how panicked she was, but she wasn't having much success at that. And now the couple in front of them was moving out of the way, leaving them next in line. What was she going to do?

Before she could think of anything, Ranma wrapped herself around Setsuna's arm and walked with him up to the counter, setting down her phone.

"Thank you so much for buying this for me, sweetie," Ranma said in a cloyingly sweet tone. "You're much too nice to me."

Even knowing it was an act, Setsuna went completely red at having Ranma act so lovey-dovey with her. She was so distracted it took her a few seconds to remember to take out the money and actually pay for the phone.

"I'll make sure to call you every day," Ranma then added as Jiro bagged up the phone and dropped in a couple of the limited edition phone straps. "Oh, thank you! Those are so cute!"

"Sure thing, miss," Jiro said with a smile. "You come back again now."

Ranma then pulled her away as Setsuna was almost in shock. That had actually worked? Even as they were heading out the door, Setsuna half expected the man to call out for them to stop, but they left the store safely and met up with Konoka outside.

"It worked," Konoka cheered happily. "Quick, let me see them."

Grabbing the bag, Konoka pulled out the two straps, each of them with a small stuffed bear dangling from the end. One was dressed up as a pirate, and the other wore a samurai outfit. The craftsmanship was great, and they were definitely cute, but Setsuna wasn't quite sure she understood why they drew in as many customers as they did.

"So, which one do you want?" Ranma asked Konoka. "I figure it's only right that you get first pick."

"Oh, no," Konoka said, passing them back to Ranma. "I would have loved to have one too, but these are yours. I couldn't just take one from you."

"Don't worry about that," Ranma assured her, pulling out another strap, this one with a bear dressed up as an astronaut. "There's one for each of us."

"Don't tell me you … stole that?" Setsuna asked, not even having noticed Ranma doing so. Although Setsuna had been more than a little distracted at the time.

"Just getting what you were owed," Ranma countered. "Like Konoka said, nothing on the sign said two girls couldn't be a couple."

Setsuna still wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do, but Konoka had already happily taken the astronaut strap. "Oh, thank you, Ranma. I'll definitely take this one."

Konoka then took the samurai bear and handed it to Setsuna. "I think this one goes best with you," she declared, "and Ranma can have the pirate."

"Works for me," Ranma agreed, and Setsuna had no reason to argue either.

"I'm so glad we all have one," Konoka then declared. "We should always keep them with us, as a reminder of how much we care about each other."

Even if that might be a bit melodramatic, Setsuna still found herself hoping the three of them could always remain friends.

---

Even though he wasn't happy about leaving things with Chao the way they were, with the immediate emergency dealt with, Negi found his mind wandering back to Colonel Sanders. Even if it was some kind of magical recording, the ability to speak to his father would mean so much to him. Still, Negi didn't have a clue where to start looking for the man, so he was surprised to see his face on the tablet that Hakase had just handed to him.

"Hey there, Negi," the man called out from the device. "Sorry I can't be here in person, but it's more difficult for me to come out at the moment. Anyway, I figured it was about time make good on my promise."

"So you'll let me speak with my father?" Negi asked excitedly.

"Not so fast," Sanders replied. "It'd be too boring just to hand you your reward. You failed in the fighting tournament, but I figured we could just switch battlefields for the next competition. This will be a competition of love."

"What you mean like the best couple competition they had at the festival?" Negi asked in confusion.

"Close," he replied, "but my competition won't be anything as simple as that. If you're still interested, show up at this location in one hour. Everything should be ready to go by then."

The tablet then changed to a map showing the location on campus that the competition would be taking place. Tension filled him as Negi was determined to actually win this one. It would be too devastating if he had this link to his father slip away a second time. Still, how on earth was he supposed to win a love competition?

---

"So why are you telling me about this stupid event?" Ranma asked the tablet that held Colonel Sanders' face. "Negi is the one this prize is for, right? Even if I wanted to join, and I don't, I wouldn't want to beat Negi or anything."

"That's why I want to make it interesting," the man answered. "I want this to be full of drama, excitement, and suspense. So I need some contestants that will spice it up a bit. As such, I'm going to make you a deal. You join the competition and win it, and I'll still give Negi his prize, on one condition."

"Oh, and what's that?" Ranma asked suspiciously. She hadn't had any good dealings with this man, and she didn't want to fall for his tricks again.

"You can't let anyone find out that I made you this offer," he answered. "As far as they're concerned, you're trying to steal the win away from Negi for your own reasons."

"You really do like to make a pest of yourself, don't you?" Ranma asked, not looking forward to how her classmates would react to that. "Still, I guess I should at least give it a shot for Negi's sake. One more chance to win and all."

"Great," he answered. "I'll see you here in 15 minutes."

Looking at the map, Ranma memorized the contest location then handed the tablet back to Hakase and set off. She'd barely gone a hundred meters before she heard Ukyo's voice in her head.

"Ranma, I've got something important to talk to you about," he said. "Can you meet up with me?"

"Can it wait?" Ranma asked. "I've got a very important competition that starts pretty soon."

"A competition?" Ukyo asked with interest. "What kind of a competition."

"Some kind of a love competition," Ranma answered. "I don't know exactly how it works, but I need to try to win the prize."

"A love competition?" Ukyo asked, sounding much less excited than before, not that Ranma blamed him. It wasn't anything fun like a fighting tournament. "I guess that means you're entering with a partner, right?"

"Oh yeah, I do need to find one, don't I?" Ranma answered, not even having given any thought to that part of the contest yet.

"I'll do it!" Ukyo suddenly all but shouted.

"You sure?" Ranma asked. "I don't want to drag you into something like this."

"I'm very sure!" Ukyo answered. "Where is it? I'll be right there!"

"Oh, let me just try something," Ranma answered, focusing her magic on the card and trying to summon Ukyo to her. There was a flash of light, and soon Ukyo stood next to her. Ranma was actually surprised the boy was in range with the festival over now that he thought about it.

"Wow. That's really something else," Ukyo said almost in a daze. "But it's awesome that you can do that!"

"Yeah, I suppose magic can have some uses," Ranma admitted. She still wasn't a huge fan of the stuff, but Evangeline may have finally succeeded in beating her reluctance to use it out of her. Ranma didn't think she'd have survived the training if she still had any real issues with using magic when she needed to. "Now, let's get going. We don't have a lot of time until it starts."

Sure enough, when the two of them arrived it looked like it was about ready to start. Ranma recognized several of her classmates, but there were plenty of others students from nearby schools here.

"All contestants please fill out one of the forms on the central table," Sanders announced from one of those projections that had been used in the martial arts tournament. "Partners do not need to fill out a form, only the main contestant. You will have until the event actually starts to decide on your partner."

Following directions, Ranma grabbed one of the forms and filled it out, noticing that the official prize was an all-expense paid trip for two to a resort in Hawaii. No wonder there were so many other people here. Even if this contest wasn't very well advertised, it wouldn't take much to draw a crowd for that. She finished filling in her information just as a Konoka and Setsuna walked up to them.

"So you're joining Ranma?" Konoka asked. "You should take Setsuna as your partner."

"But we're both girls," Setsuna protested. "I don't think they'd even allow it."

"I have no problems with that," Sanders announced, a projection of his face suddenly appearing out of nowhere. "Partner up with anyone you want. Even another contestant."

"See? It's fine," Konoka announced.

"Hey, I'm Ranchan's partner," Ukyo announced. "We already decided that."

"What? You took Ukyo without even asking Setsuna?" Konoka asked, giving her a nastier glare than Ranma had realized the girl was capable of, which still put it far down the list of those she'd been given in her life.

"It's okay," Setsuna assured the other girl. "If Ukyo is the one Ranma wanted to take, that's her choice."

Still, Setsuna didn't look at all happy about that. She and Konoka must still be mad at Ukyo about their first meeting. Sure, he didn't make the best first impression, but Ranma was going to have to do something to try to make peace between her friends at some point.

"Hey, Ukyo offered, so I agreed," Ranma told Konoka. "I didn't even know if Setsuna would be interested. She might be helping Negi out with the contest or just hanging out with you."

Konoka seemed to relax a bit at that. "Ranma, I didn't know you were so shy," she said. "But in the future, you shouldn't be afraid to ask Secchan. I'm sure she would have been happy to do this contest with you. Now come on Secchan, as long as this didn't work out, I like Ranma's idea of the two of us competing together. So let's get you signed up."

"When did Ranma suggest something like that?" Setsuna asked as Konoka dragged her off to grab a form.

Konoka could be hard to understand at times, but it didn't really surprise Ranma much that she'd want to get involved with this. Ranma didn't have much time to think about the newest contestant before Negi and Asuna walked up to him with Chamo, of course, coming along for the ride.

"Ranma, are you competing too?" Negi asked seeing the form in her hand.

"Yeah, and I intend to win this too," Ranma said firmly, remembering the deal.

"You better not," Asuna insisted. "Negi has to win this or Sanders is going to be a jerk again and refuse to tell Negi anything. So just throw the match or something."

"I'm sorry, but I have my own reasons to win this," Ranma insisted. "I'm not going to go easy on the kid."

"What?" Asuna asked angrily. "First Chao and now this? You just really don't care about anyone but yourself, do you?"

"It's alright, Asuna," Negi told her. "I'm sure Sanders promised her something too. Will he give you any information on your father if you win?"

"Don't you worry about that," Ranma told him. "I don't want you feeling sorry for me and not trying your hardest. You just worry about yourself and focus on winning."

"You two are missing the obvious solution," Chamo told them. "Just compete together and you can both win."

"Ranma's already taken," Ukyo then announced. "We're going to be partners in this thing."

"I don't want to hear it from you," Asuna snapped. "I'm still not happy with you butting in on my fight. It was an underhanded trick."

"I'm happy to fight you fairly right here if you've got a problem with me," Ukyo snapped back.

"Guy, guys," Ranma told them. "There's no point in fighting over this. I'm not going to team up with Negi. This is supposed to be some kind of love competition. Negi's got enough people after him that he should probably pick one of them if he actually wants to win. Besides, two teams means more chances at least one of us will win."

"Are you sure?" Negi asked. "I'd really like it if we could both win."

"Well that's just not going to happen," Evangeline announced, with Ranma taking a step back to let the vampire join the group. "Because I'm winning this thing."

"What? Why are you competing?" Negi asked.

"Because I got Al to make me a deal," she announced, leaving Ranma to wonder if Al was Colonel Sander's real name. "If I win, he'll still use his ability, but he'll let me talk to Nagi instead of Negi here."

"What? That's just cruel!" Asuna argued.

"Hey, I want to hear from Nagi just as much as the brat," Evangeline fired back. "Besides, I'm smart enough to actually get some clues as to where he is instead of wasting the whole time hugging and crying or something. So I am going to win this."

"That's more than fine with me," another new voice added as Cologne walked up with Shampoo and Ryoga in tow. Ryoga pretty much actually being in tow as Shampoo more or less dragged him along. "Still, I hope you won't mind if Shampoo and Ryoga play along for the experience."

"I'm being forced into this!" Ryoga insisted loudly as he stood next to Shampoo. "I just wanted you to know that."

"If Ryoga no want play along, maybe Shampoo talk about big event after all," Shampoo then said to Ryoga.

"You promised to stay quiet as long as I competed in this with you!" Ryoga protested.

Ranma was curious as to just what this secret event was Ryoga didn't want Shampoo to talk about, but Evangeline didn't seem at all interested as she ignored the couple to answer Cologne. "That's fine, as long as she throws the match if it comes to it. Anyway, I'm glad to see you finally dropped that hideous disguise."

"It simply wasn't needed any longer," Cologne answered.

"Hmph, you're being naïve if you think that bit of magic will be enough to end our problems," Evangeline argued. "Some people simply hate us too much for little push like that to so much as phase them."

"I don't expect it will win everyone over," Cologne replied with a shrug. "But it should make things a lot better."

"I'll believe it when I see it," Evangeline replied. "Still, I can't blame you for trying. I'd have jumped on the chance for something like that when I was younger. Now come on. It looks like they're about ready to start."

The rest of the group ran off to turn in their forms, leaving Ranma alone with Ukyo for a moment.

"I have a feeling it's going to take me a while to start to make any sense out of the people you know," Ukyo told her. "I could hardly follow any of that."

"Heh, yeah, it would probably be a handful of long stories to even begin to explain everything," Ranma agreed with a chuckle. "But that will have to wait. It looks like we're starting now."

Sanders' face then appeared on a large projection in the center of the area. "Now for the first event in this competition. All contestants will need to select a partner and enter one of the tubes littered about the area. I'll explain more once all of you are ready."

Ranma was about to ask what tubes, when nearly twenty large clear cylinders rose out of the ground. Shrugging, Ranma entered one of the tubes with Ukyo as the rest of the contestants did the same. It looked like Ayaka had won the honor of competing with Negi as she pulled him into a nearby tube. As for Evangeline, it was no surprise to see Chachamaru assisting her. That left the Ryoga/Shampoo and Setsuna/Konoka pairs as well as about a dozen other couples Ranma didn't know. Soon, all of them were inside and waiting for directions.

"Okay, now the goal is to hold up the ceiling as long as possible," Sanders announced, just as the top of the cylinder started to lower toward them. Ranma and Ukyo quickly braced themselves and began holding up the tube's ceiling. It was heavier than Ranma would have expected, but no real trouble for the pair of them to hold up.

"Hey, what does this have to do with love?" Asuna protested from the audience. "This is just a stupid strength test."

"Oh, don't worry," Sanders answered. "I've been assured the machines are carefully calibrated so that it will be just as much a strain for every couple, regardless of their relative physical strengths. The weight will also continue to increase as the event progresses. As for the love side, what better way to test it than to see how far you're willing to push yourself for your partner's sake?"

Ranma didn't know if this made much sense either, but if these were the type of contests the guy came up with, she might have a real shot at winning this. Even if your actual strength didn't mean much, your average person just wasn't as used to pushing themselves to the limit as a trained martial artist. In fact, Ranma could see a few of the couples had already dropped out. Once the ceiling dropped to a line on the wall, it stopped lowering and the couple was eliminated.

Although the weight was increasing quickly, it still wasn't that bad yet, so Ranma kept looking at how her competition was doing. The first one that caught her eye was the couple of Ayaka and Negi, because Ayaka was holding the top of the cylinder above where the much shorter Negi could help her support it.

"Come on, lower it," Negi begged. "We need to work together."

"I couldn't possibly let you strain yourself over this!" Ayaka insisted. "I'll handle this all on my own. For Negi's sake, I can keep this up forever!"

Chuckling to herself, Ranma then noticed that Ayaka wasn't the only one supporting the entire weight by themselves. Chachamaru was standing in one of the tubes doing all the work as Evangeline looked on. The girl in question smirked as Ranma looked her way.

"You might as well give up," she announced. "Being a machine, Chachamaru won't even feel the strain. And as weak as I am right now, I won't add much to the total weight if it's truly balanced on our combined strength. She'll easily be able to outlast everyone."

"That's cheating," Ranma snapped, upset that she could get away with something as cheap as that.

"I'm actually inclined to agree," Sanders announced. "And I thought something like this might happen. Which is why I had Hakase program Chachamaru here to briefly shut down in … uh … right about now."

"What?!" Evangeline cried out as her mechanical classmate went limp and was immediately pushed down. Evangeline tried to stop falling ceiling but barely even slowed it as it pressed down below the failure line, eliminating her.

"You can't just interfere like that!" Evangeline protested, crawling out of the tube as Chachamaru started up again. "I demand we do this over!"

"As I already said, this isn't a strength competition," Sanders insisted. "I'm not about to let you get away with something like that."

Ranma just smirked as she watched, glad to see Evangeline eliminated so early. With that taken care of, Ranma turned her attention to the couple she was most concerned about. Ryoga and Shampoo were both trained fighters as well, and having no trouble with the weight just yet. If anyone was going to push Ranma and Ukyo to the limit, it would be them.

"You shouldn't strain yourself so much," Ryoga told the purple-haired girl. "Pushing yourself like that doesn't really make it much easier on me. You should save your strength for when it gets really heavy and I need the help."

"Ai … Ryoga worry about Shampoo?" the girl said cheerfully. "That make Shampoo very happy!"

Shampoo then seemed to forget about the contest completely as she instead wrapped around the oni boy and tried to press her lips to his.

"Hey! Stop that!" Ryoga protested, struggling to shake himself free as the pair tumbled to the ground, the ceiling then falling unimpeded until they were eliminated. Shampoo didn't even let their loss slow her for a second as she kept her attention completely on Ryoga.

"Somebody help me!" Ryoga cried out before finally managing to force the purple-haired girl's arms away.

"Great," Ranma said enthusiastically. "Things are looking pretty good now. You think you can hold out a bit longer?"

"Don't worry. I won't let you down," Ukyo assured her.

Just then, Ayaka let out a screech as she just fell over unconscious, looking as if she was foaming at the mouth. Negi caught the girl, making sure she was okay even though that meant a loss for their team. Despite herself, Ranma was a bit impressed. After Ranma's training, Negi would actually be the stronger of the pair by a fair margin. That meant it would have felt way over twice as heavy to Ayaka as the thing did to Ranma now, and this weight was no longer a joke at all, as Ranma was really straining herself to keep the thing up.

For Ayaka to have held on as long as she did, even pushing herself until she passed out? That was no small feat. You almost had to respect just how insanely devoted to Negi she was. Still, with the last of the nobody couples dropping out right after Negi's team, that just left Setsuna and Konoka as the only competition, and based on their conversation, Ranma doubted they'd last much longer.

"Ojou-sama," Setsuna protested. "This is more than enough. Just let go! I don't want you to end up like Ayaka. We aren't even trying to win this thing."

"I … can keep going … a bit longer," Konoka insisted.

"I'm sorry then, Ojou-sama, but this is for your own good," Setsuna said, as she swept Konoka's feet out from under her and caught the girl before she hit the ground.

"Ha, we did it," Ranma cheered as she felt the weight lift as their last competitor fell. "Great work Ukyo. Just keep this up and we've got the whole contest in the bag."

"We do make a great team, don't we?" Ukyo asked with a smile then reached into his pocket to pull out a now ringing phone.

"Hello," Ukyo said into the phone. "I'm sorry. I know I was supposed to be there now, but something came up … I know but can it wait for maybe one hour? … Yes, but this is really important … Please, just a little time."

"Go on," Ranma told him, seeing the pained look on his face. "You should take care of whatever that is."

"Are you sure?" Ukyo asked. "I'll stay here, for your sake if you want me to."

"Don't worry," Ranma assured him. "I'll be fine. I'll find some way to make this work."

"Thank you," Ukyo said, already running off. "I'll make it up to you somehow. I promise."

Well, it looked like Negi might just have to win this thing on his own.

---

Negi was grateful that Ayaka seemed to be fine, but that didn't change the fact that he couldn't get her to wake up. And they'd be starting the second event soon.

"This is terrible," Negi said. "Ranma and I are both down partners now. We could end up with neither of us winning the prize we want."

And with all the couples that had dropped out after the first event, Negi had been starting to think one of them might really win it too.

"Don't worry about that," Sanders said, from a small projection appearing in front of them. His face then vanished only to appear again on the giant projection in the center. "I may have neglected to mention this, but all contestants are free to switch partners between events."

"Huh, isn't this supposed to be a couples competition?" a ganguro girl from one of the couples that had stuck with the game asked. "Doesn't switching partners kind of like … go against that?"

"This isn't a couples competition, it's a love competition," Sanders answered. "And there may be more than one person that loves a given competitor."

Negi actually felt a chill pass through him as it felt like a lot of eyes had suddenly turned to him. Well, this was a relief. They wouldn't be eliminated after all. If nothing else, Negi and Ranma could still partner up.

"Now, start thinking of who you want for the next event," Sanders continued. "The theme will be ballroom dancing."

Negi was thinking of asking Ranma if she wanted to team up for this event, but Ryoga had already approached the girl. "So … uh … Ranma … I heard you need a new … ah …"

"Move it," Evangeline said sharply, pushing the boy out of the way, and into the arms of a not very happy looking member of the Joketsuzoku. "Ranma, you're with me for this event."

"Why? What do you want to team up with me for?" Ranma asked suspiciously. "I don't even know how to dance."

"I can't risk taking Chachamaru again, and you're skilled enough that you should pick this up pretty quickly," she answered. "Just make sure you look me in the eyes and then go with what feels natural until you catch on."

"Well, good luck then," Negi told them. "Now I just need to find a partner."

"Ooh! I'll do it!" Makie announced, suddenly appearing next to him. "Rhythmic gymnastics is practically the same thing as dancing. I'm the perfect partner!"

"Sure, I'm fine that," Negi told her. "I'll do my best to keep up. So, do you have any tips for ballroom dancing?"

"Never actually done it," Makie answered without missing a beat. "But I'm sure if we just follow the music we'll do fine."

Negi did his best to hide his disappointment about that from Makie. Then again, it wasn't likely many people here had any more experience than they did. Ayaka might have been his best bet in that regard given that she came from a wealthy family. Well, Negi would just have to do his best. Soon enough, the music started, beginning some kind of waltz if he wasn't mistaken.

As he'd expected, the pairs were almost universally terrible, with those who were even attempting to dance doing little more than embarrass themselves. Unfortunately, it was only almost universally terrible. There was one couple easily standing out from the rest. Ranma and Evangeline actually looked like they knew what they were doing, especially Evangeline.

As Negi watched, he saw that Ranma seemed almost mesmerized looking at Evangeline and realized why she had been so insistent she look in her eyes. She must be directing her through some mild form of hypnotism. Negi supposed there could still be enough of the World Tree's magic for her to manage that much.

And as the dancing continued, Ranma looked to have figured out the dancing for herself, as the two of them took it to the next level. Negi was doing his best to try emulate the pair, but he and Makie just kept stepping on each other's feet while Ranma and Evangeline practically glided around the room. Even some of the other contestants had stopped to gape at the pair of girls, Konoka and Setsuna among them.

As the music came to a stop, it was all too clear that Ranma would have won this one as well. Negi felt a little depressed that he was falling so far behind, but at least he could try to be happy for Ranma's sake.

"Well, now that you've all had a chance to practice, it's time for the real event," Sanders announced. "Of course it won't be nearly as boring as this."

As he said that, the ground started to slide away a short distance from where they stood, revealing a pit beneath it. There were several shoe shaped poles making paths across the pit arranged it a pattern that made it clear just what was intended. They were supposed to dance across the pit. An older teen boy walked over toward the edge and stared at it in fear.

"Is this some kind of a joke?" he asked. "That's like a ten meter drop into a pit of spikes."

"It's no joke," he answered. "Show me your love and trust as you cross to the other side. Now, without further ado, let's begin."

When the music started playing again, Ranma and Evangeline wasted no time resuming their dance as the pair continued to glide and dance across the pit. They even made it look about as effortless as if it was a solid floor as their feet moved from pole to pole. For his part, Negi didn't know how the two of them could even hope to follow, but when Ranma and Evangeline were almost halfway across, something in Makie almost seemed to snap.

"That's it," she announced, "I'm going to get us across."

She then scooped Negi up before he even realized what she was doing and started hopping from pole to pole.

"I don't think this allowed," Negi told her as they gained on the dancing pair.

"Well, they can penalize us if they want, but this can't be any worse than just waiting on the other side like everyone else."

Negi supposed that was true. Maybe being the first one across would even make up for some of that, as it looked like they'd pass Ranma and Evangeline before then end. Only just as the vampire spun around to face them, she glared at them and Negi could almost feel a wave of killing intent. Freezing up, Makie's foot missed the platform, and the both of them fell, with Makie dropping Negi in surprise as she instinctively tried to catch herself.

Negi quickly readied a spell to take out the nasty looking spikes beneath them. He'd have to risk being seen using magic for Makie's sake at the very least. Only before he could cast it, he felt something wrap around his leg as his fall came to a halt. Looking up, he saw that Makie had caught herself by a single hand on the edge of one of the poles then caught him with her gymnastics ribbon, but that hand was already starting to slip.

"Let me go or you'll fall too!" Negi shouted. "I'll be fine dropping from here."

"I'm not going to do that," Makie replied stubbornly as she began to swing Negi. Getting enough momentum, she hurled him up and out of the pit, but slipped free herself in the process. Even as he landed on one of the poles, Negi grabbed onto the ribbon wrapped around his leg and braced himself.

"I've got you," he called out to Makie, stopping her fall this time just as Ranma and Evangeline waltzed passed and reached the other side. Making sure to brace himself, he pulled Makie up until she was able to climb onto the pole next to him.

"Wow, you really have gotten strong, haven't you?" Makie said, impressed by the feat. "But I guess we should finish this."

The pair crossed the last couple of meters without any problems, much to his relief. Looking back, Negi saw that no one else was braving the contraption. Most were simply looking on, although Konoka was at least trying to convince Setsuna to keep dancing with her until the event was over, which it looked like it now was as the music stopped.

"That's it," Sanders announced. "Anyone who hasn't crossed yet probably isn't going to. So it's time for the third event, and this one should be the most fun yet!"

---

Asakura was glad she hadn't missed this scoop, as she was having a blast with these crazy events. She only hoped this Sanders guy kept escalating things. That sentiment was evidently not shared by most of the actual competitors. She was currently spectating the competition along with Honya, Yue, Haruna, Ku Fei, and Asuna, the last of which was watching over a still insensate Ayaka. Cologne was nearby as well, although it was hard for her mind to accept that it was the same person as that old woman even after hearing what had happened.

"You never said anything about how dangerous this thing could be!" one guy complained. "You almost got that kid killed in the last event."

"Yeah," said a girl. "I'm done with this stupid contest. It's not worth it."

"I thought they were fun," Sanders declared. "Still, if it makes you feel any better, the next contest is completely non-physical. It's a simple question and answer event to determine how compatible you are with your partner."

Wow, that sounded like a big letdown to her. She was pretty sure she'd seen a game show that did the exact same thing with couples, and it was nowhere near as exciting as the earlier events.

"I don't care. I'm out!" one of the girls called out. "Yeah me too!" came a second voice.

After all was said and done, it was a much diminished group still standing for the next event.

"What happened to Ryoga and Shampoo?" Asuna asked curiously, not seeing the pair anywhere.

"They danced their way over there and around the corner," Asakura answered, not really having cared. The boy may have done a pretty impressive job of casually leading his girlfriend away from the contest while looking like he was just trying to dance, but it wasn't her concern if he wanted some private time with her. Neither of them even went to their school, so it was hardly a noteworthy scoop.

"This is great!" Asuna said excitedly as she rushed over to the competitors. Asakura and the others followed behind, leaving Ayaka drooling on the floor. She considered for a moment staying with the girl, but she didn't want to miss any of this.

"Negi!" she said excitedly. "There's only one couple left that isn't from our class. If everyone else drops out, they're the only ones you need to beat!"

"Well you can forget about that," Evangeline cut in. "I'm staying in this."

"I'm not dropping out either," Ranma quickly added.

"What! But haven't you heard?" Makie asked. "They say if Negi wins this, Colonel Sanders will tell him about his father."

"Not my problem," Evangeline announced without any sympathy. "Now can we drop this and get on to the important stuff. Negi, you're with me for this event."

Oh? That was interesting. Was even Evangeline starting to show an interest in their teacher?

"What?" Makie protested. "You can't do that! I'm his partner now!"

"Don't think I'm sad to see you go, but I'm confused too," Ranma told her. "Why would you want to switch when we rocked the last event so hard?"

"Think about that for a second before you answer," Evangeline replied. "You won the first event. If I stick with you for the rest of this contest there's no way I can beat you. Besides, I figured Negi would be a better choice for this one."

"Secchan," Konoka said, elbowing the other girl. "Now's your chance."

She was obviously trying to prod the other girl into volunteering to be Ranma's partner in the next event. That should be a fun edition. It never failed to be entertaining seeing that weird romance progress. It was second only to the mess around Negi in crowd appeal. So she'd certainly have plenty of material to write about after this. Only it wasn't Setsuna that made the first move.

"Ku Fei," Cologne called out, making the other girl jump a bit and back up warily. "Ranma here is in need of a partner. With Shampoo disappearing, I thought you might want to represent the tribe and help her out.

Represent the tribe? Was Ku Fei connected to Cologne in some way? She'd have to press the girl for details when this was over.

"It does look kind of fun, but why do you want me to join in?" Ku Fei asked suspiciously. "I already told you I'm having nothing to do with … you know what."

"I do know what, but I doubt very much you do," Cologne said. "Now just join up and have fun. That's all I'm asking of you."

"If you want to, I don't have a problem with it," Ranma told her. "Since it seems I do need a new partner again."

"Well sure then," Ku Fei answered. "It sounds fun, aru."

Well then, if groups are set, please proceed to one of the podiums. Asakura hadn't even noticed where they'd come from, but there were now four podiums standing in a line facing the audience. Negi followed Evangeline to the second one from the left without even protesting. Ranma and Ku Fei to the one to the right of them, and Setsuna and Konoka grabbed the far right podium. That left the ganguro girl and her yankee boyfriend to take the last spot on the far left.

"Now then, the podium all have two tablets," Sanders announced. "I'll ask questions and each of you will write down your answers on one of them. So let's jump right into it. First question: would you enter a polygamous relationship if the option was available to you?"

Whoa. Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as she'd thought if the questions were going to be that juicy. And surprisingly on topic for a number of the people answering. He may have done his research. Still, it's not like anyone would be honest about something like that. Still, Asakura was interested to see how they'd reply as all of them scribbled away with their styluses.

"Okay, we'll now show you the answers one couple at a time, starting with the partner and then showing you how the contestant answered," Sanders announced. "I'll treat Kitty as the partner in that pair for the sake of reading order only."

It was amusing to watch Evangeline fume at being called Kitty. It almost made Asakura wish she had the courage to do it herself.

"First off, the young man in this lovely pair," he said pointing to the yankee. "His answer was: 'In a heartbeat.'"

"What? Like … how could you say that?" his girlfriend said angrily, a notion Asakura had to agree with. How dumb was he?

"I swear I wrote no!" the guy answered. "This was just a trick!"

"You may have intended to write that," Sanders answered, "but I have a strong feeling that whether it's the lighting, nerves in front of the crowd, or something a little more, all of you will have a difficult time writing anything but the truth."

"Heh, even as I am now, you don't really think a simple trick like that will work on me, do you?" Evangeline asked cockily.

"I suppose not," he answered. "But if you resist, you may find yourself hit with another penalty. I almost hope you do. I have something way more fun in mind than the last time."

"Okay, okay, I'll play along," she grouched.

Meanwhile, Asakura was grinning ear to ear. This just got a whole lot more interesting.

"As for the lovely lady, her answer was: 'No,'" Sanders than announced quickly before moving on to Evangeline and Negi. "Kitty also answered in the negative. As for Negi's reply it went: 'If it was necessary to find a solution where everyone was happy.'"

That was already quite the scoop and the first question wasn't even over.

"Oh, their answers didn't match," Makie said with disappointment. "That means they don't get any points, right?"

"I think we've got something a lot more interesting than points going on right here, isn't that right, Yue, Honya?" Haruna asked of her fellow library club members. "This could be the answer to all your problems, right?"

Yue had turned almost red as a beat at the teasing while Honya looked like she might join Ayaka in the land of the unconscious. Asakura kind of wanted to question them herself, but Sanders wasn't waiting for them to finish before continuing.

"As for Ku Fei here, she wrote: 'What is a polikamas relationship?'"

"Ouch, that's a tough one for someone still struggling with the finer details of the language," Yue declared quickly. It was obvious she was doing her best to change the subject, but Asakura was willing to let it slide for now.

"At least this means Negi won't fall behind them," Makie enthused.

"And for her answer, contestant Ranma wrote down: 'No clue. Don't know what that means,'" Sanders then announced startling Asakura. Ku Fei was one thing, but she would have expected a native to know that.

"Hah, they're just a pair of idiots after all," Haruna said with a laugh.

"Yeah, I can't believe they don't even know what that word means," Asuna added with a forced laugh.

"You're not fooling anyone, baka red," Asakura told her, as the girl had the decency to look properly ashamed at being called out on her ignorance.

"And moving on to our final couple," Sanders then announced before Asuna could protest further. Let's take a look at Konoka's answer.

"I think we all know what this is going to be by now," Haruna said with a smirk, a sentiment Asakura agreed with even if it would be nice to get the confirmation.

"Her answer was: 'with the right people,'" Sanders informed them, as Konoka smiled, apparently not even embarrassed by having that revealed, but the interesting part came next.

"As for contestant Setsuna, she wrote: 'It seems wrong, but I can't make up my mind.'"

"What?!" Setsuna shrieked in shock. "I couldn't actually have written that, could I? This has to be some kind of prank, right?"

"He he he," Konoka just laughed. "There's nothing to be embarrassed about."

"But, but, it's just so improper," Setsuna insisted. "I couldn't possibly even consider it."

Well, well, well. Asakura really liked the spell this guy was using. It looked as if it would force out the truth even if you were still lying to yourself. She only wondered if she could find some way to suggest some questions of her own.

"I assure you: That is what you wrote," Sanders declared. "And we'll now be moving on to the second question. You are in a formal relationship with your partner when one day you receive an unsigned letter in your shoebox asking you to meet somewhere private. Do you go to that meeting? Back to our first couple, let's see what the boyfriend wrote."

Well, this wasn't anywhere near as fun as the last question. Asakura almost felt like complaining, but someone beat her to punch even if she had something else in mind that she didn't like.

"Hey, how come you say everyone else's name, but not ours?" the girl asked.

"Because I can't be bothered to care," Sanders answered unapologetically. "Now once again, the boyfriend here said that he would."

"What?" the girl asked angrily. "You'd really go looking for someone else when you're dating me."

"What's wrong with showing up?" he snapped back. "It's not like anything would come of it."

"Well, I'll stop you before you say anything more," he told the girl before she could let out another retort, "because you also wrote down that would."

"After yelling at me like that, you wrote the same thing?" he said looking smug now. "I think you owe me an apology."

"Huh? I didn't mean to write that," she said in confusion.

"I already warned you about that," Sanders said. "Now back to the contestants our audience actually care about. Kitty wrote: 'Yes, to forcefully convince them to take their affection elsewhere.' As for contestant Negi, his answer was: 'Yes. They showed a lot of courage writing that letter, and I should at least answer it.'"

"They both said yes," Makie noted. "That means they get points this round, right?"

"Beats me," Asuna said. "I'm kind of lost on how this thing is working."

"Now, back to Ku Fei," Sanders continued. "She wrote: I wouldn't turn down a challenge just because I was in a relationship."

"Ah, she messed up again," Asakura said in amusement. "Do they not do that confession in the shoebox thing in China?"

"It's a love letter, not a challenge letter," Makie loudly called out to Ku Fei so she'd realize what was going on.

"Love letter?" Ayaka said, finally stirring and sitting up. "Is it from Negi?"

"As for Ranma, she wrote: 'Saotome Ranma doesn't turn down a challenge.'"

The group sat there stunned for a second.

"Hey, don't look at me," Asuna said as she actually got a couple of looks. "I really did know what this one was about."

"Are they actually really compatible?" Honya then asked thoughtfully.

"They may share a number of traits, but that doesn't necessarily mean they'd be a good match," Yue answered. "There are many philosophies as to what makes for a successful foundation to a relationship. Take for example the work of …"

"I'm sure there are," Cologne cut in, "but sometimes it really is as simple as having something in common."

"Either way, there hasn't been as much as a rumor of anything between them, so it's dead-end line of inquiry as far as I'm concerned," Asakura told them.

"And for our final pair Konoka wrote: 'I'd be too curious not to.' Setsuna on the other hand wrote: 'I'd probably be too nervous to show up.' Now, let me think of a better question this time, because that one was a little too dull."

Asakura had already thought as much, but she didn't expect him to say it out loud. And was he really just making this up as he went along?

"Question three: Do you love your partner in this event?"

"Now that's more like it," Asakura said approvingly.

"Negi has to answer no, right?" Ayaka said nervously, now fully with it again. "He couldn't possibly love Evangeline, could he?"

"No way," Makie agreed.

Actually, that did bring up a good point. The question itself was top notch, but the partners picked for this event made it far duller. Unless there was a curveball, the only real interesting answer would be for one half of the final couple.

"For the boyfriend, he wrote: 'Not really. I'm just dating her because she's hot.'"

"That's it! We're through!" the ganguro girl declared stomping away from the stage continuing to scream as she ran off. "Even if that was a joke, I won't be embarrassed like that."

"Come back," the yankee called after her. "You know that isn't true!"

"Well, looks like we've lost another contestant," Sanders noted. "I guess we'll just move on to Kitty. She wrote: 'No. I only love Nagi.' Well then, follow-up question for Kitty only. Does Negi ever remind you enough of his father to make your heart skip a beat?"

Asakura thought Evangeline might explode at that, but Negi quickly jumped in before that could happen. "Shouldn't you move on to my answer?" Negi asked. "It isn't really fair to single her out like that."

"Fine. Spoil my fun," Sanders answered with a sigh. "Negi's answer was: 'I greatly respect her training and am thankful for everything that she's done for me, but I don't know if that can really be considered love.' Really, no need to write an essay there, a simple: 'no Springfield could ever fall for someone like her,' would have been plenty."

"That's it!" Evangeline shouted out. "I've had just about enough of you!"

"Calm down," Negi said worriedly. "Remember the contest! You don't want to get disqualified, do you?"

His words seemed to get through to her as the girl quieted, although she was still visibly fuming.

"Now then, Ku Fei kept it much more succinct and wrote: 'No.'"

"Ranma is great and all, but I really don't like girls," Ku Fei clarified for everyone.

"Hah, well said," Cologne said with a chuckle. Asakura still couldn't figure out why Cologne had even pushed the girl into doing this. Her instincts told her something was going on here, but she couldn't make sense of the woman's actions.

"Ranma's answer was just as to the point," Sanders continued as she also wrote, 'No.'"

The pair's answers got a few jeers from the audience. "Isn't this supposed to be a love contest," one boy called out. "Yeah, I told you they weren't a real couple," the boy next to him chimed in.

"Moving on," Sanders cut in to quiet them. "Konoka answered: 'Secchan is my first real friend, and I love her dearly.' Contestant Setsuna responded with: 'I care very deeply for Konoka-ojou-sama.'"

"Pity that being unable to lie doesn't seem to stop them from giving evasive answers," Haruna said with a sigh.

Asakura had to agree. Answers like that took a lot of the fun out of that. She was certain Setsuna would insist both of their answers were written in a non-romantic sense. He really needed to step up his game with his questions.

"For our next question, what is your most embarrassing memory?" Sanders asked.

This got an immediate startled outcry as Ranma, Evangeline, and Setsuna were all talking over each other to the point you couldn't understand any of them. Although you didn't need to understand to know they were very much against this question. And that only made Asakura all the happier, as they must be hiding something really juicy. This may be the perfect question.

"Kidding, kidding," Sanders then said much to the contestants' relief.

Asakura, however, couldn't stay silent after being teased like that. "Don't chicken out!" she shouted. "Think of the audience! The public has a right to know the answers!"

A number of people in the crowd called out their own support for the question.

"Shut up all of you!" Ranma shouted out.

"Yeah! He already said he's not doing it! Don't make me teach you all the meaning of the word fear!" Evangeline added angrily.

The sheer force behind each of their words quelled the crowd pretty well. Asakura didn't want to give up, but saw that most of her classmates were giving her strong disapproving looks now.

"You shouldn't try to put Negi through that," Ayaka said forcefully. "Although I wouldn't mind knowing Negi's secret myself so I could comfort him. Still, it shouldn't be made public. Ah, but he would need comforting all the more if it was."

"I'm sorry to all of you for getting your hopes up," Sanders said, "but I meant what I said about it being a joke. Besides, I already know Kitty's most embarrassing memory. It all started when she thought Nagi was in the bath and …"

"Aaaaah!" Evangeline shrieked out in a panic. "Say even one more word on the subject and I swear I will make it my life's goal to put you through the worst torture you could possibly imagine!"

"Don't worry; I'm done," Sanders told her. "I already got the reaction I wanted. Besides, it might even be better to leave the rest to their imaginations."

Asakura's imagination was already trying to piece together what had happened too.

"I think the real next question will be on the same lines of the previous one," he said. "I was much too lenient on the wording. So let's make sure we get it right this time. In a romantic sense, what person do you love more than any other?"

This time it was her classmates rather than the contestants that exploded.

"We'll find out who Negi likes?" Makie asked excitedly.

"Ah, I don't know if my heart can take this," Ayaka then added.

"B-but, this is wrong," Honya then said. "Negi shouldn't be forced to tell us like this."

"Yeah, this is like an invasion of privacy or something," Asuna agreed.

"Oh, no," Asakura cut in. "There's no way I'm letting him back out of this one after stealing the last question away from us."

"Get writing," Sanders then told the contestants. "I'm definitely serious about this one."

At his words, they all grabbed their styluses and began writing, some more reluctantly than others. Certain replies like Evangeline's and Konoka's would be obvious, but Negi wasn't the only one Asakura was interested in seeing, even if his answer was the biggest story. Ranma, Setsuna, and Ku Fei would all be headline news any other day.

"Ah, don't look, Ojou-sama," Setsuna complained, shielding her tablet from the prying eyes of her partner.

"But we'll find out soon enough anyway, Secchan," Konoka complained. "Can't I have just a little peek first?"

But Setsuna refused to show her. Finishing her task and flipping the tablet so it couldn't be read. Soon everyone was done and a hush formed over her classmates as everyone waited to see what the answers would be. And the waiting continued as Sanders said nothing. It was Ayaka who lost her patience first as they waited.

"So tell us the answers already!" she protested.

"Oh, is that what you were waiting for?" Sanders said. "Sorry, this question was just for my own reference. It's too private to make public."

Asakura wasn't the only one upset now, as Sanders was booed by a large segment of the crowd.

"Oh, don't get so upset," Sanders said. "I've got one last question that I'll let you all have. I'll try to make it a good one too. So here it is: If your partner was dying, and the only way to save them was by sacrificing your own life, would you do it?"

Asakura sighed at that. That was fairly disappointing for a last question. Why couldn't he have just stuck with the most embarrassing memory one? Well, there were worse questions to ask. If this really did force you to tell the truth, there could still be a surprise or two here.

"Okay. Time's up," Sanders announced. "For her answer, Kitty wrote: 'No.'"

That one was obvious, but Negi actually looked hurt by the answer. He really did seem to have trouble realizing just whom it was he was dealing with.

"Contestant Negi, however, answered: 'Yes.'"

"I can't exactly say I'm surprised to hear you're that dumb, but it's good to know if the need ever arises," Evangeline replied with a smirk.

"Moving on to our next pair," Sanders continued. "Ku Fei wrote: 'I would risk my life, but I don't think I could go so far as to sacrifice it outright."

"I'm sorry," Ku Fei apologized looking ashamed of her own answer.

"As for contestant Ranma, she wrote: 'Yes.'"

"What?" Ku Fei asked in shock. "We don't even really know each other that well. And what about what it would do to your friends and family?"

"Meh, I just don't think I could sit there and watch you die if I could do something about it," Ranma answered.

"Wow, I didn't think Ranma would have had it in her," Asuna said. "She always struck me as too way too selfish for something like that."

Asakura was more than a little surprised herself. To think that one of the coldest and most distant members of their class had secretly been as noble as that? Maybe this question wasn't as dull as she'd thought. Granted, she hardly even listened as it was confirmed that both Setsuna and Konoka would, in fact, sacrifice themselves for the other. It would have been a bigger shock than Ranma's answer if either of them had said no.

"Okay, that's it for this," Sanders informed them. "Our final event will be the simplest one yet, but perhaps the truest test of love. So our remaining contestants should think carefully when selecting a partner."

Final event already, huh? Their group was again making their way to those competing during the break between events.

"You really didn't even look yourself at what you were writing?" she overheard Konoka ask Setsuna as the group walked up.

"I swear, I'm as much in the dark as you are," Setsuna insisted.

It looked like there was a bigger discussion brewing, however, as Evangeline marched up to Ranma. "I need you to drop out of the event now," she ordered. "Best I can tell, you've got a strong lead, and I don't know if I'll even be able to catch you in the finals."

"Oh no," Sanders said, a smaller projection popping up next to them. "I won't have you bullying anyone out of the event. So let's just say you're eliminated now. Even if you get everyone to drop out, you still won't win."

"You can't do that!" Evangeline protested. "We were just talking!"

"I very well can," he answered. "Considering you cheated on the last question, and I warned you there would be penalty if you did. Were you worried your answer might not be what you expected?"

"So you really would have sacrificed yourself for me?" Negi asked hopefully, his face really showing how much of a child he still was.

"Don't get the wrong idea, brat," she said quickly. "I just didn't trust that thing to actually have me write the truth. He's been using this whole event to mess with me, and I suspected he might make me write what he wanted me to write."

Despite her words, Negi still was practically beaming about the news.

"You are eliminated though," Sanders told her. "So we're down to just three contestants."

"Actually, I'll be dropping out as well," Setsuna informed him. "I don't need the prize anyway."

"And even if I'm out, I still want you to drop as well, Ranma," Evangeline told him. "At least if Negi wins, Al will still use his power."

"Well, I'm not giving up," Ranma insisted stubbornly. "I've come this far. I'm going to see if I can win it."

"You're still saying stuff like that?" Asuna snapped at her. "If you drop out now, Negi wins by default, and you know how important this is to him. If you still won't do it, then I take back every nice I thought about you with your answer to that last question. You really would just care about yourself."

"Asuna is right!" Ayaka added in. "Just let Negi win this."

"Yeah," Makie agreed. "As mean as you are to Negi during your training, you could at least give him this much!"

"I said I'm not giving up, and I'm not giving up," Ranma still insisted, unmoved by her classmates.

"Fine then," Asuna said. "Ku Fei, just refuse to be her partner."

"Huh?" the Chinese girl asked in confusion.

"If no one partners with Ranma, then she'll have to give up," Asuna said.

"Come on guys. Don't do this," Negi said frantically trying to make peace. "I'm sure this is really important to Ranma too, and she should get a fair chance."

"Yeah, that's why Secchan will be Ranma's partner," Konoka declared, giving the girl a shove toward Ranma.

"What? Me?" Setsuna asked in surprise.

"You dropped out of the contest, so you're free, right?" Konoka said. "I've already had you for three events, so it's only fair Ranma gets at least the one."

"Then it's settled," Sanders said. "Setsuna will be Ranma's partner for the finals. Now who will go with Negi? I'll need you to decide quickly."

If the man's goal had been to get them to stop trying to convince Ranma to give up, he could hardly have picked a better tactic. Instantly, Ranma was all but forgotten.

"I want to go again!" Makie called out.

"Hold on just a minute," Ayaka argued. "I was Negi's original partner. It's only right that I should continue now that I've recovered."

"But you made him lose the first round," Makie argued.

"I think Nodoka should go," Yue then suggested. "She hasn't had a turn yet, and if this really is a simple test of love like he says, there's hardly a better candidate."

"Actually, I think Yue would be the better choice," Honya called out, turning it right back on the girl that had just volunteered her. "You like Negi too, and you'd probably do better at whatever contest this is anyway."

"I'm trying to help you here!" Yue quickly countered as she blushed. "Just go along with it!"

"Neither of them want to, so pick me!" Makie then said, not wanting to give up.

"No! I'm going," Ayaka still insisted.

"All of you just shut-up already!" Asuna cried out. "I'll do it if it will end this stupid bickering. None of these idiotic contests have had anything to do with love anyway, so we may at least have someone that isn't going to get distracted fawning over Negi and focuses on winning!"

"Very well then," Sanders said. "Asuna will be Negi's partner for the final event. With both teams decided, let's get started. The event is … you know, actually you're not disqualified, Kitty. Why don't you pick a partner and join us?"

"Realized you can't make a fool out of me if I'm not participating, huh?" Evangeline said with a growl. "Well I'm not falling for it. I'm sure no matter what happened you wouldn't let me win anyway. You'll have to bother someone else this time."

"You're sharper than usual," Sanders told her looking depressed before switching back to the big projection.

"And now for the grand finale!" he declared. "The final event is the simplest of the night. It will be decided by a kiss between the contestants. Make sure to show your love for each other to everyone!"

"What!" came twin cries from Setsuna and Asuna.

"With Negi?" Asuna asked.

"In front of everyone?" Setsuna then said, as Konoka looked on with a smirk.

"No fair!" Makie complained again. "I'm going with Negi after all!"

"Yes!" Asuna quickly said. "I'll switch out! Someone else can have my spot!"

"Too late," Sanders told her. "Pairings for this event can no longer be changed."

This would make for a nice finish. Asakura already had her camera out ready to start taking photos.

"No! I won't allow it!" came a vaguely familiar voice as a robed boy leaped into the center and standing protectively in front of Ranma. "You stay away from Shampoo, Ryoga! I'll never let you kiss her!"

"Uh, I'm not Shampoo," Ranma told him. "And that's not Ryoga."

Suddenly a rock flew out of nowhere and slammed into the side of the boy's head.

"Put your glasses on," Cologne yelled out. "You're shaming more that your own fool self when you pull this!"

Doing as he was told, Mousse looked around. "Oh, hey Ranma," he said. "Have you seen Shampoo? I heard she was competing in this contest."

"She already disappeared somewhere with Ryoga," Ranma told him.

"What? That fiend!" Mousse shouted out, running off as quickly as he'd appeared. "You can't hide from me, Ryoga!"

"With that interruption over, our contestants can now begin," Sanders said.

"What? I'm not ready yet," Asuna said in a panic. "Can't we get another distraction or something first?"

Asuna should have been careful about what she'd asked, as another group of their classmates chose that moment to arrive. There was Kaede with the Narutaki Twins. Walking along with them were Akira, Ako, and Yuna. It looks like her audience had gotten even larger now.

"See, I told you there was a big event going on here," Fuka called out excitedly. "Looks like we made it before it was over."

"That's not what I meant!" Asuna complained, but spotting someone else, Asakura realized it was only going to get worse for the girl.

"So this is what you're up to now, Al?" Takahata called out as their former teacher made his way through the crowd.

"How many times do I have to remind people to call me Colonel Sanders?" he asked in mock exasperation, but Asuna looked completely frozen now.

"It's alright, Asuna," Negi said just barely loud enough for Asakura to make out. "You don't have to do this. I don't think I'm going to beat Ranma anyway."

"Gah! You're just a brat. Why am I even making such a big deal about this anyway?" Asuna asked, almost sounding a bit deranged now. "Let's just get this over with before I change my mind."

Asuna then leaned over and pressed her lips against Negi's.

"Come on, we're not going to let them beat us," Ranma then announced, moving to do the same to Setsuna.

"But …" was all Setsuna got out before she found her mouth otherwise occupied.

Both kisses dragged on with Asakura circling them snapping as many photos as she could. She wasn't sure which face was the best. You had the panicked look on Negi's face, the almost pure shock on Setsuna's, and the determination on Ranma and Asuna's, the latter's mixed with a very heavy dose of embarrassment.

Seeing Ranma and Asuna continue to glance over and check on the other couple, it was becoming clear the two of them were trying to turn this into a contest for the longest kiss. Asakura had to chuckle at that, wondering which one would last longer. It was the kiss with Negi that broke first, as the boy managed to struggle his way free.

Ranma held hers a few moments longer, probably to make up for the late start before breaking free from Setsuna, holding up the limp girl so she wouldn't fall over and smirking confidently at the other pair.

The performance of the two couples got a round of cheers from the audience. Konoka was one of the loudest, making for one of the few happy faces among her classmates.

"I can't believe she stole that kiss right in front of me!" Ayaka raged. "That should have been me up there!"

"Well, that concludes our contest!" Sanders voice reverberated through the area. "Now, it's time to announce our winner!"

"Do you think Negi won?" Makie then asked.

"Based on the results, I think it's pretty clear Ranma had the better performance," Haruna answered. "Tough luck for the kid, but he'll have to try again next time."

"Now, after calculating the points, I have to declare the winner to be: Negi Springfield!"

This got a number of cheers from the crowd, but Ranma didn't look happy at all.

"What?" she protested. "I clearly won at least half these contests outright. How on earth did I lose?"

"I'm sorry Ranma," Negi told her as he walked up to the red-haired girl. "I'll try to convince him to give you whatever he promised you if you won too. I really thought you had won the contest too."

"Oh, don't worry about that kid," Ranma said. "I only joined because he asked me to. Said as long as I didn't tell you what I was doing, you would still get the prize even if I won."

"What?" Asuna said, now showing her own displeasure. "You mean all this time it didn't even matter whether it was you or Negi that won?"

"That's right," Sanders answered for her. "The result would have been the same either way."

"Then why did you stay in when it was down to just the two of you?" Asuna asked angrily. "If you'd just dropped out, I wouldn't have had to go through with this!"

"Because I don't like giving up any more than I like losing," Ranma answered. "Which is why I'm still waiting for an explanation as to how anyone in their right mind thought I lost."

"Ranma, Ranma," Sanders answered. "This is a love competition. What does winning pointless events like this have to do with love? I graded it based on how the teams competed, not what the results were. You did okay on a couple of the events, but you're obviously friends at best with Ku Fei, and you and Evangeline don't even like each other. Just look at what Negi did."

Asakura hadn't considered that angle. This guy was more devious than she gave him credit for.

"Event 1: Negi's partner cared so much for him that she refused to even let him share the burden, insisting on taking it all for herself."

"See, I didn't blow it for him!" Ayaka called out happily. "It's thanks to my love that Negi won!"

"Event 2: Negi's partner risked her own life to save Negi."

"Well I couldn't just let him fall," Makie said cheerfully.

"Event 3: Kitty got herself disqualified just to hide her true feeling toward Negi."

"I told you it was nothing like that!" Evangeline screamed out.

"Event 4: Asuna here completely and totally humiliated herself. In front of not just her friends and classmates, but even the man she has feelings for. All to give Negi a chance to win. I mean wow that had to be about the most devastating emotional experience ever."

"Did you have to go into such detail!" Asuna wailed looking like she wanting to bury her head in the ground.

"Face it, if Setsuna hadn't dropped out, she'd have beaten you too," Sanders exclaimed.

"Fine, but it's dumb to have a contest without explaining the rules," Ranma groused.

"Now then, Negi," Sanders said. "I suppose it's time for your prize."

---

Negi had made the journey beneath the World Tree to where Albireo Imma, or Colonel Sanders as he liked to be called, was holed up. Negi brought had quite the following too. It had been hard enough to lose the students that didn't know about magic yet, and the rest of them had all followed along. Still, that didn't detract at all from the ten minutes he'd spent with his father thanks to Al's pactio. It may have been a version of his father from before Negi was born with no clues as to where he was now, and it may have somehow turned to a sparring match that didn't leave much room for conversation.

Even so, those were ten of the best minutes of Negi's life, and he only wished they could have gone on longer. Negi did feel a little guilty when the form dissolved back into Al. He'd monopolized most of the time with his father, even though he knew Evangeline had been just as eager to see him. And this had to be even worse for Ranma who had to watch it all while she still had nothing on her own father, but Negi had to press on anyway.

"Colonel Sanders," Negi called out to the man using his preferred name. "Is my father in the Magic World right now?"

"Well, I was going to suggest you go there to look for clues," he answered, "but I'm curious as to how you already got that idea."

"Chao let something slip about needing to go there to find our fathers," Negi answered. "I think she may have thought I already knew something. Thanks for that confirmation though. I'll be heading off then."

"Hold it!" Asuna protested. "You're just going to march off right away? You're a teacher you know. And we have finals coming up!"

"Do you even know where you're going?" Evangeline added. "Besides, it's not like they'd just let you march into a place like that."

"The dean has already been making plans for me to go over summer break," Ranma told him. "You could probably tag along with me."

Negi didn't like the thought of waiting now that he had a real clue, but they were right. He had responsibilities, and running off might not even get him where he needed to go.

"Okay. I'll wait for summer break," Negi said. "And then I'm going to find my father."

---

Ranma shouldn't let the contest bother her. Who really cared about a love contest anyway? She hadn't even wanted to join it in the first place. Negi had won his reward and that had been the whole point to begin with. Still, losing never sat right with her. But now she was back to her room and could just forget about the whole thing. Only her door was open and she could hear noises inside. Well, if she had an intruder, this could be just the thing she needed. Cracking her knuckles Ranma marched into the room, but found it wasn't the sort of intruder she'd been expecting.

"Ucchan?" Ranma asked, seeing the boy … well … currently girl, setting a box down on a desk. "What are you doing here?"

"This is what I had to run off for," Ukyo told her. "I was enrolling in your school. And it worked out even better than I expected, as it looks like your roommate had to move out suddenly. So I'll be both your classmate and roommate."

"You know it's an all girls school, right?" Ranma asked her friend.

"Yeah, that's going to take some getting used to," Ukyo admitted. "But I take being your partner seriously, and this is a sacrifice I'm willing to make in order to be around to protect you. Now tell me, how did the contest go?"

"Well, I didn't win," Ranma admitted. "But Negi did, and we just needed one of the two of us to win the thing, so it all worked out in the end."

"I'm glad I didn't ruin in then," Ukyo said in relief. "Now, since you're here, do you want to help me carry my stuff in?"

It was still hard to believe Ukyo was moving in. Ranma hadn't even gotten used to Chao being gone since she'd gotten turned into an ermine as punishment for her actions, a ruling that Takahata had informed them of. So she hadn't put any thought into a getting a new roommate, much less Ukyo being the one to replace Chao. Still, better a friend than someone she didn't know.

"Sure. I'll help out," Ranma told her.

---

When the meeting with Colonel Sanders had finished, Setsuna had joined Konoka, Negi, and Asuna back in their room.

"I'll talk to my grandfather right away," Konoka told Negi. "I'm sure he'll have no problem getting you on the same trip as Ranma. Now we just need to plan out who else is coming, and what we'll do when we all get to the Magic World."

"Well, I'm definitely going," Asuna said. "We should be careful who we tell about this though, or most of the class will insist on coming along."

"Oh, we should have Ranma join us for this discussion, since she'll be going too," Konoka then suggested. "Secchan, why don't you call her?"

"Good advice," Chamo chimed in. "The more the merrier. And if you two can do some more smooching, I can get a magic circle ready this time for a pactio."

Setsuna froze momentarily in the process of pulling out her phone blushing at Chamo's reminder of the day's events. Their second kiss had been even more public than the first one, and it was going to be very hard to live down. All that and she didn't even remember it very well, having gone into a daze almost the moment their lips had touched. The only explanation was that she had gone into a panic attack from doing something shameful like that in public, because she didn't usually space out like that.

Still, it was a good idea to call Ranma over, so Setsuna would just have to swallow her lingering embarrassment. It was nice that she could just call Ranma now that she needed to anyway.

"Oh, Ranma has a phone now?" Asuna asked as Setsuna dialed the number.

"Yeah, Secchan bought it for her," Konoka answered just as Ranma picked up.

"Oh, hey Setsuna," Ranma said as she picked up. "Glad to know this thing works."

"Uh … hey Ranma," Setsuna said. "Um, we're over in Negi's room now and were hoping you could join us to discuss plans for the summer."

"Can it wait for a bit?" Ranma asked. "I'm helping Ucchan move in right now."

"Move in where?" Setsuna queried, getting a little flash of annoyance at Ukyo. Was the boy was trying to spend every waking minute around Ranma?

"My place," Ranma answered. "Ukyo is my new roommate now that Chao is gone."

"What?" Setsuna said letting the phone slip from her hands and bounce on the desk. Just what was Ukyo trying to pull? You couldn't have a boy move into a girls' dormitory. Well, Negi may have, but Ukyo was too old for that. Konoka's grandfather would never have approved it. He must be lying to Ranma to take advantage of her trusting nature. Who knew what he had planned for the night?

"Stay where you are. I'll be right there," Setsuna almost yelled into the phone as she picked it back up and hung up.

"What's going on?" Asuna asked as Setsuna quickly marched out the door. But Setsuna didn't answer as she rushed the short distance over to Ranma's room, hearing her three companions following behind her. As she approached, she was surprised to see Ku Fei standing outside Ranma's door.

"Oh, uh Setsuna," Ku Fei said on spotting her. "Don't mind me. I was just here to deliver a letter for Cologne."

Setsuna was curious about the letter, but she had more important things to do right now, so she ignored Ku Fei for the moment and knocked loudly on the door. Ranma opened it a moment later, and Setsuna stormed right past her and over to where she saw Ukyo.

"What is going on here?" She demanded of the boy. "Just what have you told Ranma? There's no way they'd let a guy like you stay here."

"Um, I'm in a girl in case you haven't noticed," Ukyo told her. Looking at the boy now, Ukyo did see the outline of breasts.

"Like I'm going to fall for a costume," Setsuna then said, convinced Ukyo was up to no good. Setsuna then reached out to the show just how fake those breasts were. Only after a quick grab, she jerked her hand back as if burned. Those had certainly felt real.

"Satisfied?" Ukyo said in annoyance, then batted away Konoka's hand as the girl looked intent to test for herself.

Getting a good look at Ukyo, Setsuna was surprised to see the breasts weren't the only change to the figure she'd been sure was male. The face was softer, the body didn't seem quite as tall, and even the voice she'd just heard was a little higher in pitch.

"So, are you Ukyo's sister or something?" Setsuna then asked, trying to make sense of this.

"No, this is actually Ukyo," Ranma answered.

"I'm going to have to explain, Ranchan," Ukyo then said, closing the door then grabbing a water bottle that was sitting nearby and dumping part of the contents over her head. The body seemed to morph as Ukyo grew a little taller and now looked just like Setsuna remembered. "Any of you ever heard of Jusenkyo?"

"The cursed springs?" Ku Fei asked. Setsuna hadn't realized until then that she'd followed them in as well. "I thought they were just a fairy tale."

"That's right," Ukyo nodded as she put a charm on the bottle of water. "Long story short, I'm cursed so that cold water turns me into a guy and warm water makes a girl again."

Pouring the now heated contents of the bottle over his head, Ukyo demonstrated the transformation in the other direction.

"So just because you can transform into a girl now you think it's alright to move in with Ranma?" Setsuna asked accusingly. She didn't care what magic Ukyo used. It didn't make her one bit more accepting of this.

"Um, actually, I think Ukyo really is a girl," Ku Fei then cut in. "Cold water should activate the curse."

Huh? Setsuna hadn't even considered Ukyo might actually be a girl. "But you said Ukyo was a guy," she pointed out.

"I thought she was," Ranma said with a shrug. "We were like five at the time. I didn't realize."

"Still, Ukyo can turn into a guy," Konoka noted, with Setsuna nodding her assent. She just really didn't like this situation, and was glad that someone else could see that. "Maybe Secchan should move in too to keep an eye on things."

"Huh?" Setsuna said dumbly. How had she jumped right to that conclusion? Moving in with Ranma and Ukyo? Besides, this was a two person room.

"If Ranma trusts Ukyo, then I'm sure everything will be fine," Negi said. "Besides, I don't think anyone can take care of herself better than Ranma."

"I don't know," Asuna said. "I'm kind of with Setsuna and Konoka on this one. Maybe I'm just not used to magic yet, but something about this seems wrong. Even if Ranma's okay with it, I don't like the idea of someone half guy sharing the dorms with us. Is he … she … whatever going to just waltz into the public baths?"

"Well, it's already decided," Ukyo said, clearly upset by all this scrutiny. "I'm Ranma's roommate. I'm moving in here with her whether you like it or not."

Setsuna bristled at the attitude, but before she could say anything else, Ranma stepped in. "If you've got a problem with Ukyo, maybe I should just move out too," Ranma told them.

Ranma wouldn't actually do that, would she? Setsuna hadn't realized Ranma was already so close her that she would leave too if they forced Ukyo out.

"There's no need for that!" Negi said quickly. "I'm sure we can work everything out peacefully."

"Yeah," Asuna agreed. "And you promised to help Negi. You shouldn't run off now just because you're upset we don't like the idea of Ukyo in here."

"That's not even what I meant," Ranma fired back.

"Then what did you mean?" Konoka asked her.

"Um … actually that was what I meant … ha ha ha … just a slip of the tongue there is all," Ranma quickly said in such a forced laugh it was clear she was trying to hide something now.

"Oh no!" Chamo insisted. "You can't get us all curious like that and then leave us hanging. Spill it. What did you mean?"

Ranma actually looked like she was ready to bolt. Setsuna didn't think she'd ever seen her friend looking so scared. As curious as she was herself over what this was about, she couldn't put her through this.

"It's alright, Ranma," Setsuna said. "You don't have to tell us anything you don't want to."

Ranma calmed down a bit at this and smiled at her. "Thanks," she said, "but it probably is about time I stopped hiding this. Ku Fei, could you … nah … I suppose you can stay too. One more person knowing isn't going to make a difference. You see, Ukyo isn't the only one with a Jusenkyo curse. I've kind of got the same thing in reverse, only I've been stuck in my cursed form for more than four years now."

"You're actually a guy?" Chamo asked in disbelief, being the first to find his voice.

Setsuna hadn't even really wrapped her mind around the concept yet. Ranma a guy? She couldn't even picture it in her mind. Was she really serious? Looking at her, Setsuna could only think she was, and that made her go cold. No wonder Ranma reacted so poorly to their attacks on Ukyo. Every fear and accusation that put forth would have applied to her as well. Without meaning to, Setsuna could have just put a huge crack in their friendship, and she only hoped she could repair it before it shattered completely.

"Yeah," Ranma said morosely. "It may not have been my idea to come here, but I've still been pretending like I was a girl all this time without letting any of you know the truth. I promise I never tried to take advantage of my curse or anything like that, but I am sorry for lying to you all this time."

Ranma then bowed deeply to all of them, a real strange sight from the usually brash and confident martial artist. Asuna then calmly walked up and smacked her over the top of the head.

"What are you, stupid or something?" she asked. "You're telling me you've been a girl full-time since you were around Negi's age?"

"Hey!" Ukyo protested looking angry at the surprise attack, and Setsuna almost stepped in as well, but hesitated, seeing that Asuna didn't actually look angry.

"Yeah," Ranma said, looking up at the girl that had just assaulted her.

"Then you haven't been a guy since you were too young to even look at girls like that," Asuna told her. "I don't see what there even is to apologize for. I thought you were just hiding the cat thing, but the reason you never bathe or change around anyone is probably because you're so worried about peeping or something, isn't it? Well even knowing the truth, I wouldn't mind if you joined us at this point. Stop worrying about it so much."

"Oh, so you're fine with Ranma, but you won't let an actual girl in the bath?" Ukyo complained.

"Well, we know Ranma, and we trust her," Setsuna said, hoping to show that nothing she said about Ukyo was meant toward Ranma. "We know she wouldn't try anything."

"Yeah, plus she doesn't switch back and forth," Asuna said. "No telling what you'd go and do after you finished getting a good look."

"Please, stop already!" Negi said, stepping between them as Ukyo had been reaching for that giant spatula of hers. "Ranma just showed a lot of courage telling us that. I don't think we should spoil the moment by fighting."

"I don't know, I could use a good fight right now," Ranma quipped half under her breath, before turning to Setsuna. "Actually, my curse was more than just the girl thing. I'm really a human male. I'm sorry for letting you think otherwise about that too. I know that was a big part of why you wanted to be friends with me in the first place."

Looking in Ranma's eyes, Setsuna realized that the other girl wasn't mad at her at all. She was actually worried that Setsuna would reject her. Well, Setsuna wasn't about to let that stand.

"That doesn't matter at all!" Setsuna assured her confidently. "It may have got things started, but we already are friends. Male, female, human or not, none of that matters anymore."

"That's right," Konoka agreed cheerfully. "We care about you because of who you are."

Seeing the smile on Ranma's face blew away all of Setsuna's own fears as she knew she'd said the right thing.

"Thanks," Ranma said. "I just hope you still feel that way when I do find a way to break this curse."

"Of course we will," Setsuna assured her.

"That's right," Negi agreed. "It doesn't matter at all."

"Aah!" Ku Fei cried out in shock, startling them. Setsuna had all but forgotten about the girl again. "I should have known! That's what she was up to!"

"What is it?" Ranma asked her, looking to have been caught just as off guard.

"Nothing!" Ku Fei insisted. "Not a thing. Nope! I wouldn't agree to it anyway! And … and … you were probably an ugly guy anyway! I'm leaving!"

Then she ran out the door before any of them could stop her.

"What was that all about?" Ranma asked.

"I don't know," Asuna said. "Maybe she's just upset about not having another female martial artist as her rival or something."

Setsuna was at a loss herself. She would have thought there'd be more to it than that, but it was hard to tell with Ku Fei, so she supposed it was as good a theory as any. On the topic, had the girl ever even delivered that letter she'd been talking about?

"Well Ranma, if that's taken care of, want to head back down for my next load of stuff?" Ukyo asked. "I'll be right behind you."

"Sure," Ranma said, looking almost eager for a chance to get away. "Back to work."

Setsuna wanted to follow as Ranma darted off, but Ukyo blocked the exit, clearly having something she wanted to say.

"You should probably keep this from Ranma, but there's one last thing you should know," she told them. "The curse thing didn't go down quite as Ranma believes it did. I heard from my father that Ranma really was born a girl. Her father wanted a son so badly that he planned to lock her in a Jusenkyo curse to fix that then use magic to mess with her memories so she thought she was a guy."

"You can't be serious!" Asuna protested. "I know some parents really want a son, but what kind of father would go that far?"

"Well, as you know, it didn't go quite as expected," Ukyo continued. "They ran into the guy that captured her father. Probably some mage police taking him in for child abuse or something if you ask me. Anyway, I guess he got the memory spell and locking spell off, but in the fight, Ranma ended up going in the wrong spring. Instead of a son, he gets a cat-girl daughter. So now she thinks she's only a girl because of the curse."

"That's terrible," Negi said, tears streaming from his eyes. "I don't even want to think of what it will do to Ranma when she finds out the truth."

"Anyway, I need to finish moving in," she told them. "Just thought you deserved to know that much."

That may have been one too many twists for Setsuna. Her mind was still reeling from all of it.

"Do you think Ukyo was telling the truth?" Konoka asked after the girl was gone.

"Yes!" Chamo insisted. "Ranma is definitely a girl! I refuse to believe otherwise!"

"Why would she even lie about something like that?" Asuna asked. "Besides, she sounded like she was telling the truth to me."

"I don't know," Konoka said. "I just felt like we should believe in Ranma or something."

"I do believe in Ranma," Setsuna answered. "But if her memories have been altered, she'd actually believe what she told us. So that doesn't help one way or the other. Either way, I think it's best we support Ranma in this."

"That's right!" Negi agreed enthusiastically. "I can see what I can find out about Jusenkyo. If Ranma is really cursed, there must be some way to cure it! And if it doesn't do anything, then we can just be there for Ranma when she learns the truth."

Cure her? Now there was something Setsuna really needed to think on. Whether or not she was currently cursed, it sounded like Ranma wanted to be male. And even though Setsuna meant what she said about it not ruining their friendship, it would obviously change things. Ranma wouldn't be able to go to the same school anymore for one, which was a big mark against. Although it would probably get Ryoga to leave Ranma alone, which was almost as big a mark in its favor.

She wouldn't have to have worried about their kissing being wrong either, so that was good. Wait? What was she thinking? That almost made it sound like she planned on more kissing. Well, maybe once more to form a pactio, but …

"Are you alright Secchan?" Konoka asked her suddenly, startling Setsuna as she realized just how worked up she was getting herself.

"Fine," she assured the girl, doing her best to get back under control. She should probably wait until she was alone to put too much more thought into this, if it was going to affect her that much. She just wondered how Ranma actually managed to deal with this. It must be even worse having to live with it. Well, she'd be there for Ranma whatever happened, and she was sure Konoka and the others would be too.

---

Author's Notes:

You didn't think I would actually forget about Al, did you? Anyway, this chapter made for a nice break after that long arc, but I should start building up for the next arc soon enough.

Also, I expect many readers know as much or more than I do on the subject, but for those confused, ganguro girls and yankees are both subcultures in Japan with distinctive fashion senses. A quick google search will explain it better than I could and give you an idea what they look like.

I normally don't like throwing in too much random Japanese stuff, but this was just a way for me to create an image for readers without wasting time describing unimportant throwaway characters.