Wild Magic

by Usagi-Hasano

Ranma is killed by a certain evil wizard and finds out he's part of a prophesy and is to be reborn. Problem? Jusenkyou had a little bit more fun just before he was reborn. RanmaSlayersHarry Potter with megacrosses from other things.

21. Return to the Masaki Home

Wild Magic

Wild Magic

Ranma 1/2, Slayers, Harry Potter, and any other series used in this fanfic are owned by their respective creators/publishers/whatever

Thanks to CyberSkaarj and people of Fukufics for pre-reading.

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Chapter 21

From on-board the command deck of Laira, Ranma stared into the holographic view screens that depicted images of the English borough of Poole. While she could take her time and admire the scenery of the coastal town, Ranma was more interested in locating Gosaria's place of residence. The blonde had mentioned that her family lived near the Poole Park Lake, and that their home had a minor enchantment that kept the place from being noticed by most muggles. The only problem -- that Ranma now figured out -- was that Gosaria had been a little too vague on the details.

"I should have asked her to be more specific. A red roof and a large flower garden is not enough to go by." Ranma stated to herself as she moved some of the holographic screens. "Laira, I'd like you to scan the area around the lake for any trace of concealment magic, or similar magical signatures that stand out."

Laira's voice sounded from all around her. "Scanning." The holographic screens changed to show a percentage meter that depicted how far along the scanning process was. It wasn't long until the scan was complete. "Momma, I'm picking up 10 different types of magic around the lakefront area, but only one of those signals is being used to conceal a house."

"Position all view screens onto the house." Complying with the order, Laira changed the viewings in the holographic panels to depict a well-kept home with a red roof and large flower garden. Around the house was a six-foot tall brick fence. "That's most likely her house." Ranma stated with a nod. "Good job on the scan, Lai."

"Thanks, momma!" The cabbit ship echoed cheerfully. "Should I remain here in ship form while you collect Gosaria, or should I go with you?" She was currently in stealth mode, so there was no issue of being seen by anyone around the area.

"Stay here. I doubt it'll take all that long to go down and grab Gosaria." Ranma answered after a moment of thought. After-all, there was no need to change forms just for a few minutes.

Without another word, the cat-girl vanished from inside the cabbit space ship and reappeared on the ground right in front of the doorway. Turning her head to check her surroundings, Ranma caught sight of a lone gnome curiously poking its head out from inside a bush. Deciding to turn her attention back to the door in front of her, Ranma quickly lifted her fist and gave the wood a few knocks. She didn't have to wait too long before the door opened to reveal a slightly plump woman of average height with strawberry-blonde hair and clear azure eyes.

The woman's eyes immediately locked onto the young girl, but her attention was soon stolen away by the red-furred ears resting on said girl's head. After what seemed like a rather awkward silence, the woman tore her gaze from the ears and glanced downward to catch the sight of a swishing red tail. "Red cat ears and a tail." The woman mumbled softly before turning her attention directly onto her guest. "You wouldn't happen to be named Lina Malfoy, would you?"

'At least I don't have to introduce myself.' Ranma thought to herself before responding with a nod. "Yeah, I'm Lina Malfoy; here to collect Gosaria for our trip." The cat-girl halted for a moment before continuing. "That is, assuming that she DID mention that she'd be leaving on a short trip."

Gosaria's mother gave a small laugh. "Don't worry, she may forget things at times, but she still remembered to tell us." The woman placed a finger to her cheek. "I'm sorry to say, though, that my daughter is still asleep. I've already tried waking her up two times, but as you can tell…"

A frown flashed across Ranma's features, but it was replaced by a catty grin a split second later. "Mrs. Negia, would it be alright if I tried waking her up? We really do need to get going, and having her waste time like this isn't good."

"If you think you'll be able to succeed; by all means go ahead." The woman answered as she let their guest in. "You'll find her room on the second floor on the left. Her door has her name on it, so you can't miss it."

"Thanks." Ranma answered with a smile before making her way to her destination. The inside of the home had the appearance of the average wizarding family residence. There was no TV, or other advanced electronics beyond what normal wizards would have, to be seen. There were, of course, photographs and portraits with moving images adorning the walls.

After reaching the top of the stairs, it wasn't long before the redhead came to her friend's bedroom door. Like Gosaria's mother had stated, the girl's name was on the door; written on what appeared to be a name-plate shaped like a rabbit. Under Gosaria's name was a little doodle of her head giving a peace sign.

Once she finished examining the door, Ranma placed her hand onto the knob and gave it a turn. She then gave a simple push and slowly opened the door before peeking in. What she immediately saw made her left eye twitch. Gosaria's room was a complete mess. There were clothes and books scattered across the floor, and on the girl's table were more books, some turned-over plush toys, a tipped over bottle, and her wand. Near the corner of the room, Gosaria's school trunk was wide open with a few items hanging over the side.

"H-- How could somebody sleep in such a pigsty?" Ranma asked herself before immediately creating a doppelganger. Her double knew what to do and immediately started tidying up the room as the real Ranma made her way over to her sleeping friend. The cat-girl noted that the blonde -- who was wearing a light pink nightgown -- was completely tangled in her bed sheets, and in her arms was a jellyfish plushie that she was snuggling. On the side of her mouth was a thin trail of drool.

Ranma had to admit that the blonde looked downright content, however, they did have a schedule to keep. The cat-girl allowed another catty grin to spread across her face as she thought about a fun way to wake up her friend.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A loud and sudden explosion -- followed by a high-pitched female shriek -- from upstairs caused Gosaria's family to nearly jump out of their skin. Gosaria's father, Berkley, immediately jumped to his feet with a look of worry etched into his features. "What happened? What was that?!"

"I-- I think it was Gosaria's friend waking her up." His wife, Greta, answered as the sound of Gosaria's whining about how her friend should have used a gentler way of waking her was heard. "It sounds like our daughter's fine, though."

"I didn't think Nashigi would resort to such loud and obnoxious explosions." Quintinsy stated with a frown. "You'd think her laugh would be enough."

"Oh," his mother stated with a little reluctance. "It's not that Nashigi girl that's here. Her other friend, Lina, is here to get her."

Quintinsy slammed his hands down onto the table as he shot to his feet. A look of anger was sketched within his features. "Mum, how could you let HER set foot into our house? She's the one who got me tossed out of school! SHE caused a smear to appear that'll haunt me for the rest of my life!"

"If I'm not mistaken," his father began while scratching his chin, "it was YOU who lost control of yourself and became a raving nut. Just be thankful that you were in your last year, avoided some time in Azkaban, and that the Minister of Magic and that rather toady-looking woman decided to be strangely merciful and turn the favor to allow you to keep your wand."

"If you were in any of the previous years, your wand would be taken and broken into pieces." Greta added with a frown. "Not that I would blame them if they did, really. You did put pressure on, and tried to outright attack, a young girl. You also tormented your sister during the first part of her school year. Really, dear, the things you did were rather mean and cruel."

Quintinsy remained standing, but he did remove his hands from the table. "I apologized to Gosaria, remember?" He mumbled as he turned his head. "I was disappointed that she ended up in THAT house, and then THAT girl she considers a friend was just so-- so-- aggravating and annoying!"

"You didn't have to go and blow me up, Lina." Gosaria's voice announced in a whine as she and Ranma walked into view. The blonde looked slightly singed, but looked fine none-the-less. She had also changed out of her nightgown and into a pink blouse and black skirt.

Ranma shrugged as a smirk appeared on her lips. "Why not? We both know how you can sleep through almost anything."

"But it hurt, and you singed my plushie!"

"You'll be fine." Ranma answered simply. Turning her head, she caught sight of a glaring Quintinsy. "Oi," the cat-girl stated as she raised a hand and gave the teen a lazy wave. "Long time no see, Quin. How are ya doing? No hard feelings about getting tossed out of Hogwarts after going crazy I hope." The answer Ranma had received was a rather icy glare. "Oh c'mon," she began as she walked over to the boy and gave him a rough pat on the back. "So you couldn't finish your last year of Hogwarts. At least you didn't have to put up with being cooped up in a large castle any longer."

The dark-haired teen knocked Ranma's hand away. "I'm lucky that I even managed to keep my wand thanks to you. That doesn't matter too much, though. I'll have to try damn hard now to get the ministry position I want that I could have easily gotten if I had finished Hogwarts with full N.E.W.T.s!"

"Why would you want a bunch of newts? I doubt they'd make good pets." Ranma asked with a curious blink. This earned her some looks from the Negia family. "What?"

"N.E.W.T.s stands for Nastily Exhausting Wizard Tests." Quintinsy answered in annoyance. He figured that the girl should at least know THAT much. "They are tests taken during seventh year that would help those who pass to get jobs in the Ministry of Magic. Since I wasn't able to participate in taking them," He spared a glare in Ranma's direction, "I'll have to rely on my O.W.L. test scores and hope I'll get lucky and obtain the job I DO want." With one more glare at the cat-girl, the dark-haired teen pushed past her and made his way towards his room.

'He's sure gotten friendly since I last saw him.' Ranma thought sarcastically before turning towards Gosaria's parents. "Well, I think that's our cue to leave, so we'll--"

Gosaria's father decided to interrupt her. "Hold on a moment, young lady." He began with a calculating look in the cat-girl's direction. "You are a daughter to the Malfoy's, and so I want to know. What are your views on muggles, muggle-borns, and those who mingle with muggles? What do you think about them?"

Ranma blinked before answering immediately. "They're alright people, and I don't see anything wrong with them. Sure, they can't use magic, but hey, I can do some crazy crap that nobody else can really do. If magic folk want to mingle with muggles, then okay. I don't see why it matters." Her ears twitched for a moment. "Eh, why did you want to know?"

Berkley immediately shot to his feet and walked straight over to the young cat-girl. Said cat-girl tensed a little in preparation for if the man tried something. Ranma then blinked in confusion when the man grabbed her in a joyful embrace that caused the fur on her tail to stand on end. "Ha-ha, you really are a good kid! I approve of your friendship with my daughter."

"Wha?" Ranma intelligently asked as she pushed herself from the hug.

"I had fears that you might have the same thought patterns on muggles and muggle-borns that your parents and a great deal of older 'noble' families have. If that was true, then I would forbid my daughter from being friends with you. You see, she's rather-- how shall I say it-- impressionable."

"Daaaad!" Gosaria pouted. "I am not."

Ignoring his daughter's protests, Berkley continued on as he gave Ranma a pat on the head. "But your views are open-minded, and I like that! You being friends with my daughter is alright in my book!" He finished with a thumb's up and wide smile.

"Uh… thanks?" Ranma asked with a sweat-drop. She then watched as Gosaria's mother sighed and gave her husband a small slap to the back of his head. "Anyway, if you don't mind, we have to leave so we can pick up two other friends."

Greta gave her a kind smile as she pushed her husband back into his seat. "Then I guess we shouldn't keep you waiting any longer. Make sure my daughter stays safe, and I hope you can visit again, Lina." After watching the two girls leave, she turned her attention to her husband. "You really do need to stop acting like that every time Gosaria makes a friend. You end up scaring most of them when you act batty like that."

"But Greta," Her husband responded with a pout, "I don't want our little girl to get the wrong ideas in her head!" The look Greta gave him caused him to instantly shrink back. "Yes dear, I'll try to stop doing things like that." He always wondered how his wife could do things like that to him.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Gosaria was in complete awe as she glanced around the interior of the command deck of Laira. She was always curious to know what Laira's ship form actually looked like, and now that she was able to see it, she was absolutely speechless. The entire room was like one big purple oval with windows on all sides of said room showing the outside. In fact, one of the first actions the blonde did was run to a window and look out; causing her to almost become dizzy.

At first, Gosaria was curious as to why there was nothing in the room, but then she watched as a comfy chair appeared from the floor itself and allowed Ranma to sit in it. A split-second later, another chair appeared unexpectedly under the blonde, and she soon found herself sitting in a similar chair. It was at that moment when a large reddish-pink crystal appeared next to her friend's chair.

When Ranma touched the crystal, several holographic view screens popped into creation and hovered in the air. The view-screens detailed scenes that were happening around the area of Laira, and one of the screens -- showing a side of Gosaria's house -- allowed the blonde to view her brother opening his window. Gosaria wondered just how the screens worked like they did.

"That took longer than a few minutes, momma." The voice of Laira from all around the room piped up and caused Gosaria to nearly fall out of her seat. She managed to catch herself and watch as a small pale-pink crystal appeared and floated towards her. The rounded crystal's surface soon changed to show Laira's face. This, too, caused Gosaria to go into awe. "What do you think?" The cabbit crystal asked with a smile. "My ship form is completely amazing, isn't it?"

Gosaria immediately nodded her head. "So this is what your ship form looks like!" Immediately, the blonde placed a finger to her chin. "But there it looks kind of boring in here. Isn't there anything else other than this room?"

"Of course there is." Ranma answered from her seat. "There's actually a living quarters down below. There's also a small gym with various training equipment, a mini-laboratory, and other things of interest. Laira's like a portable and cozy home-away-from-home wrapped in a tiny package." The cat-girl scratched the back of her head. "It's just too bad that Laira only just managed to start flying properly last year."

"It was hard to figure out, momma." Laira pouted. "But I'm glad I'm finally able to fly now!"

"Yeah, 'cause there's no use for a lab or sleeping quarters if you're flying us into utter oblivion." Her mother shot back with a smirk that caused the image to stick out her tongue. "Anyway, we need to hurry and get Nashigi and Hermione. Sitting around and yapping won't get us anywhere. Alright, Lai, let's head to Edwinstowe to pick up Nashigi."

"Alright, momma!" Laira announced as she started moving. This caused Gosaria to grip the sides of her chair due to the sudden feeling of the ship moving.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma shivered as she dragged Nashigi away from the girl's home. She almost forgot just how crazy Nashigi's family was. "Jeez, ya just had to join your mother and laugh, didn't you?" The cat-girl complained. Ranma had MOSTLY grown accustomed to Nashigi's laugh. It was loud and annoying like a banshee, but she heard it enough to not get as worked up as she used to. However, when both Nashigi AND Felicia got to laughing, her head almost felt as if it would split open. "It didn't really help that your sister and father started on a double tirade about how justice will always be with us too."

"Oh Lina, Amy and father just hope for us to be safe on our trip. Maybe they do tend to get a little rambunctious, but it shows that they care." The older girl answered casually. "Mother was also helping me train my laugh. By laughing together, I can figure out how to get better so that my laugh will become as musical as hers!" Nashigi planted her feet and raised an arm into the air. "One day, my laugh will be known far and wide. No one will be able to resist its charm! Ooohohohohoho!"

"That's because they'll all be dead due to their eardrums spontaneously combusting." Ranma answered with a raised eyebrow. "If your laugh gets any more perfect, that's what'll happen."

"You're just jealous." Nashigi shot back as she pushed her hair back. "By the way, Lina," The dark-haired girl began as she looked around, "where IS Laira? You said she is waiting outside in ship form with Gosaria, but I don't see anything."

"That's because she's in stealth mode." Ranma supplied. "You won't be able to see her because of it, but she's right above us." She had to promptly sweat-drop when Nashigi turned her head upward to stare at the area above them. With a sigh, the cat-girl placed a hand onto Nashigi's shoulder and teleported the both of them onto Laira. "Welcome aboard Laira, Nashigi-- Err, what's going on?"

On the floor of the command deck, Gosaria was attempting to play a game of cards against a few clones of Laira formed from the floating crystal spheres. The blonde glanced over to her friends with a frown. "We started playing a card game called Go Fish, but I don't understand it at all. I'm completely losing!" In her hand were around 15 cards, while each of the Laira clones had around three.

"You really are bad at this." One of the Lairas piped up with a giggle.

"It's amazing." Nashigi interrupted as she walked around the command deck and made her way over to one of the windows to look out. The dark-haired girl started to compare the situation to one of those sci-fi shows where the people traveled freely onboard spaceships. In fact, there was a time once when she was younger -- and saw her first sci-fi flick -- where she pretended for almost a week to be a pilot of a spaceship. It was one of the perks of having a family that was knowledgeable of television and electronics.

Turning around, Nashigi placed her attention solely onto Ranma. "Lina, I want to pilot Laira. This is a moment I've been waiting for, and I shall show you the true talent of Nashigi Seisa Rosa!"

"Nuh-uh, I'm not about to let you fly us all to our death." Ranma replied back with her arms crossed in an 'x' formation. "The day I let someone whose breasts outweigh her brain do something like that is the day I give up eating!" Lowering her arms, Ranma turned around. "Besides, Laira has 95 of the control. My 'piloting' abilities are mostly issuing commands, moving holographic view screens, and a few other things."

"My breasts do NOT outweigh my brain." Nashigi stated hotly. "When will you admit that you're jealous that you're just not as well-endowed as me? Your body is just pulling behind short in the road of life. Even Gosaria is starting to grow!"

Gosaria blinked before tilting her head. "Does it really matter that much?"

"Not really." Ranma shot back. "I'd rather stay like this than put up with a pair of huge knockers getting in the way!" Her tail gave a small swish as a thought occurred to her. "Either way, I can still con extra servings of ice cream and sweets from people."

Nashigi and Gosaria glanced at each other before looking back at their friend. "What do you mean?" They both asked at the same time.

The cat-girl stared at both of them. "You mean you don't know--" She had to stop herself as a smirk grew upon her lips. "I think I'm going to have to teach you two the secret to getting extra sweets sometime. It's a rather easy practice, but it'll have to wait until later. Right now, we have to pick up our last passenger."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I can't believe that Prof. Binns never went over this information." Hermione stated softly as she read through the history textbook from last school year. "Some of this would have made great lessons for us." Over the past month, the young witch had gone and read through her books to try and brush up on her magical knowledge until she obtained her newer books later in the year.

The idea and reality of the wizarding world was still something that her parents had to get used to, but the both of them were quite proud of her. They would sometimes ask her questions that they were curious about, and Hermione was happy to give them the answers. One of the few things that they didn't agree upon was the idea of using magic as a quick fix for things such as her larger front teeth.

At the moment, Hermione was sitting on the couch in the living room with her text book in her lap. Her other books were stored up in her room so that if someone came to visit, they wouldn't see what they DIDN'T need to see. In the chair across from the sofa, her father was quietly paying attention to the local news on TV. It didn't seem like there was too much going on as of now, but he was interested in seeing the current weather conditions. Hermione's mother was in the process of making her way out of the kitchen after obtaining a glass of water.

Her mother, Caroline, glanced at her curiously as she sat down next to the girl. "What did your professor not go over, honey?"

"Well," Hermione began, "Prof. Binns did have us go over a chapter detailing the work of Merlin the wizard, but he should have had us read an earlier chapter on his life. It turns out that Merlin was actually half-demon. His mother was human, but he was sired by an incubus! I'm sure it could have raised a higher degree of discussion and learning if Prof. Binns had gone over it." Of course, Hermione wasn't really sure if she did believe in the whole 'sired by a demon' angle. Magic was one thing, but the idea of demons was just straight out of fiction. There was a possibility that they existed, but if they did, why didn't you actually hear anything about them?

"Maybe it's something that isn't really proven, and that's why your teacher didn't go over it." Her father, Thomas, commented as he scratched his chin. "Even in the wizarding world, there's bound to be things that are skeptical to believe, right?" When Hermione nodded, he continued. "Perhaps there was just a belief of sorts that he was part demon, but nobody could really prove it, even if he claimed it. Since it wasn't really proven, it wasn't gone over in class."

"Maybe," Hermione answered as she closed her book, "but it's still information that should have been gone over. Most of the other students in that class fall asleep or ignore the lesson. They may do their work, but they don't actually hear even half of what's being talked about." She honestly didn't understand why hardly anyone else placed the class as important.

The discussion came to a halt when they heard the sound of someone at the entrance. Caroline was about to get up to answer the door, but Hermione volunteered to be the one to do it. After quickly hiding her text book, the bushy-haired girl made her way over to the door and opened it enough to peek out. "How can we help you?"

Outside, Ranma raised a hand to greet the girl. "Yo."

"Lina!" Hermione answered as she fully opened the door so that her friend could come inside. "You should have sent a letter to say you were coming! Please come in, and where's Laira at?"

"Oh, she's not too far from here with Nashigi and Gosaria." The cat-girl quickly answered. When she had left the ship, the trio was playing a game of Old Maid. Well, Laira and Nashigi were playing. Gosaria was trying to figure the game out. "I came to see if you were ready to leave."

Hermione's eyes widened. "This sudden? But I'm not even ready yet! Why didn't you send a letter so that I knew we'd be leaving on the trip today?"

Scratching the base of her ponytail, Ranma gave a nervous chuckle. "Well, I kind of forgot. I didn't think it would be all that important of a detail." She continued to receive a stare from her bushy-haired friend. "Err-- is it really that much of an important detail? I mean, all you have to do is grab a few items and leave."

"Hermione, who is it at the door?" Mr. Granger asked as he made his way over to see why his daughter was taking so long. When he arrived, the first thing he noticed was the large cat-like crimson ears sitting on top of a girl that was around his daughter's age. The next things he noticed were the girl's monochromatic eyes and crimson tail swishing behind her.

"Father," Hermione began, "This is my friend, Lina. I told you and mum earlier last month that she invited me to go on a trip during the second month of the summer holiday."

"Ah yes, I remember you mentioning that." Thomas turned his attention to his daughter's friend. He remembered the girl from when he and his wife accompanied Hermione to Diagon Alley for the first time to help purchase her school supplies. At the time, the girl had seemed alright, and he could tell that his daughter was getting along nicely with her. "I think it would be best if you came in and made yourself comfortable. I doubt it would take Hermione long to get everything together to leave." He was also hoping that he and his wife could learn a little more about the cat-girl.

Complying with the request, Ranma followed Mr. Granger into the living room and noted that Mrs. Granger was tidying up some of the magazines on the coffee table. Caroline halted her actions and turned her head to cast a curious glance at their visitor. It didn't take long for her, too, to recognize the cat-girl from last year. How COULD you forget a redheaded girl with cat appendages? "Your name is Lina, am I correct?"

Ranma answered with a nod. "I came to pick up Hermione for our trip. I guess I really should have written a letter beforehand to let you all know that I was coming."

"Yes, our daughter was very anxious for last month to end so that you two could leave." Caroline answered after taking a sip of her water. "She seemed most excited in meeting the person who built some kind of mini-computer for you, was it?"

"She's talking about Washu." Ranma supplied. "The woman's a genius, and they met briefly just before boarding the train to Hogwarts. Hermione wants to talk to Washu because she thinks that there's a lot she could learn, and she's excited over the thought of Washu making her a mini-computer similar to mine."

Thomas gave a small chuckle. "That's our Hermione all right. She's always had a thing for gathering information and learning just about whatever she can. Ever since she first started primary school here, she would always read through her books and apply everything into her work."

"She never did have many friends around here." Caroline added sadly. "She was always so caught up in studies and reading books that she never got to really communicate with anybody else. When we found out that she'd be going to Hogwarts, we hoped that she would end up making a few friends." The woman gave Ranma a smile. "From her letters, it sounds like she gained a few friends, and you're actually one of the first real friends she has had." Caroline placed her hand on top of Ranma's. "And the both of us thank you for that."

A slight tinge of pink appeared on Ranma's cheeks as she turned her head. "It's nothing, really." She said as she softly scratched her cheek.

"I was wondering something." Thomas began as he glanced at the cat-girl's ears. "How did you gain your cat features." His wife gave him one of those 'that was a rude question to ask' looks. "I'm only curious, and if it's too personal, then she doesn't have to answer."

Ranma decided to go with the modified story she started using a while back. "A magic accident when I was younger caused it. I got in the way and messed up some magic. The situation FUBARed, and suddenly I was sporting the ears, tail, senses, movement, and fangs of a cat." She showed the pair of dentists her elongated canines. "It was odd at first, but I've grown comfortable with it."

The Grangers found the story to be fascinating. After learning about the wizarding world, it seemed that almost anything could be real. Before the conversation could continue, Hermione had appeared with a small suitcase in hand. "Alright, Lina, I'm ready to go when you are!"

Raising an eyebrow at the sight of the suitcase, Ranma got up and walked over to it. "Err-- what's with the suitcase?"

"Well, I had to pack a couple changes of clothing if I'm going to be away for a few days. I also couldn't leave without a couple books to read."

Ranma had to admit that it made sense in a way. Of course, out of her three traveling companions, only Hermione took the time to actually pack anything. 'Damn, maybe I should have had Gosaria and Nashigi to-- nah, there'll probably be clothes they could wear at the Masaki house.' As she ended her thoughts, Ranma watched as Hermione bid some temporary goodbyes to her parents. Not long after, the two girls finally made their way out of the house and stepped into the sunlight.

Hermione turned to Ranma. "Lina, where are Laira, Nashigi, and Gosaria? Also, what kind of transportation are we going to take?" When her friend pointed skyward, the bushy-haired girl glanced up. However, she didn't see anything except for sky. "There's nothing up there, Lina. All I see is--" Her vision blurred for about a moment, and when everything came back into focus, Hermione was almost at a loss for words. "W-- Where are we?!" The scene looked like it was from one of those cheesy sci-fi flicks.

"We're aboard Laira." Ranma answered simply. At her friends increasing confusion, the cat-girl continued. "Laira has the ability to turn into a space ship, and by space ship, I'm talking about a real one; not those stupid cheesy ones from TV and movies." After looking around, Ranma called out to Laira. "Laira, where are Gosaria and Nashigi?"

Hermione jumped when the voice of Laira answered from all around. "Gosaria and Nashigi are currently trying out things in the game room, momma." Accompanied by the answer, a holographic monitor appeared in thin air to show what the two were up to. "After you left, they wanted to explore a little. I made sure they wouldn't damage anything important, and I led them to the game room. Nashigi understood the most, and tried to help Gosaria learn."

"That's fine and all, Lai." Ranma answered as a sweat-drop began to form on her head. "But can you PLEASE tell me just when the hell you installed Dance Dance Revolution?" On the holographic screen, the images of Nashigi and Gosaria attempting, and failing utterly, to dance to a rather fast-paced song was shown. For some reason, the entire display managed to embarrass the cat-girl completely.

"Well, it seemed like a fun idea at the time." Laira pouted.

Placing her fingers to her forehead, Ranma shook her head. "Forget it. Just bring them to the command deck." Turning her gaze onto Hermione, Ranma noted that the girl seemed to be outright confused and was trying to grasp for answers.

"Lina, just what IS going on here? How can Laira transform into a space ship? How CAN something like this exist? Can't people see us? Just what ARE you?!" For the second time in her life, the bushy-haired girl felt that what she believed was completely and utterly destroyed. The first instance was the idea that magic couldn't exist, but then it was proven true. Now, after believing that there couldn't be any such thing as space ships and alien activity, she was about to be proven wrong. What next?

"I guess this might be just a little too much to take in all at once." Ranma commented as she scratched the base of her ponytail.

"You think?" Hermione asked sarcastically. It was at that moment when Gosaria and Nashigi appeared from almost out of nowhere. "This is just too unbelievable. It can't be real."

"Nah, it's real." Ranma answered. She really did owe Hermione some kind of explanation. "Hey, I'll fill you in, just not at the moment. When we meet up with Washu, you'll get your explanation."

Hermione crossed her arms. "I'll hold you to that promise."

"Good, now that that's settled, we can head to Japan!" Ranma announced as she commanded Laira to set course.

Nashigi decided to interrupt. "Err-- Lina, I think we might have a small problem."

"Jeez, what is it?"

"Well, I don't think any of us besides you can speak Japanese." Everyone glanced in her direction. "We won't be able to understand a word of what's being said!"

Ranma cursed to herself at the detail that she had forgotten about. She'd have to contact Washu and see if she had any kind of translator that would allow for Hermione and the others to understand.

"Oh!" Gosaria announced with a hop. "I know that the word for goodbye in Japanese is sayonara!" The blonde puffed her chest up in pride. "See, I know at least some Japanese. I've also heard of sushi."

"It's a start." Nashigi added as she scratched her chin. "I happen to know a little Japanese myself, actually. While I may not know what it means, I know the word dim sum."

"That's a Chinese cuisine, Boobzilla." Ranma sighed out.

Nashigi glared at the redhead. "You don't have to be so mean about it."

Ranma stuck her tongue out in response.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Ranma had decided to take a quick detour around the moon on the way to Japan, Hermione had quickly pointed out that the moon was too far away to be a 'quick detour.' The girl had promptly fallen into silence when Laira, in the span of minutes, had left the atmosphere of the Earth and entered the blackness of space itself. Less than a minute later, the girls could only watch as the ship hovered over the Moon itself. They could actually see -- in detail -- the craters that pock-marked the very surface. Hermione, in her amazement over the whole scene, had commented that she wished that she could collect a moon rock as a souvenir of the Moon visit. In response, Ranma had vanished from the command deck, only to appear a moment later with three pieces of moon rock that she promptly gave to the trio.

That action both shocked and confused the bushy-haired girl even more. To get the rocks, one would have to actually step onto the moon, and the cat-girl had quickly done that. However, she had done it without any kind of space-suit that would protect her from the vacuum of space. The only likely conclusion that Hermione could reach was that her friend -- somehow -- didn't require any oxygen, and so she didn't suffer from a lack of it. The very thought was illogical in every form of the word. All living creatures needed oxygen to survive and help pump blood through their body. Without it, a living being would die, so how could the cat-girl defy even that? Hermione NEEDED answers to these questions, and she wasn't getting them at the moment. From observation, Nashigi and Gosaria seemed to know those answers she needed. Her curiosity for the bizarre-ness of the situation needed to be quelled, but Ranma kept telling her that the answers would be given to her when they got to Japan.

Almost as if listening to Hermione's desire for answers, they were soon back on track and heading for Japan; which they arrived at in less than three minutes. Hermione, Nashigi, and Gosaria watched out the windows as they slowed up a little and passed by various cityscapes. The view of the cities quickly changed into that of a more rural environment; which gradually changed to show more and more trees and some mountains. Not long later, they started slowing down near a large and clean lake. A lone house was visible sitting near the lake-front, with a series of stairs in the background leading up to a shrine.

"Hey, we left when it was light out, so why is it now dark?" Gosaria asked as she glanced at the darkening skyline.

"We're now several hours ahead from where we were when we were in England." Hermione answered. "It was around noon there, but it's evening where we are now." She watched as Gosaria's lips went 'oh' before the blonde turned away from the window.

"This is going to mess up my sleeping pattern!" Nashigi whined as she stared at the sky.

Ignoring the dark-haired girl, Ranma placed a hand onto the center control crystal to shut down the holographic view-screens. Everyone then watched as the chairs and control crystal practically melted into the floor without a trace. "Alright, Lai, drop us to the ground and transform back into cabbit form."

"Wait, drop us? Wouldn't that hurt?" Gosaria asked in a panic. "We're so far up, and I might end up falling on my head!" Three sets of eyes locked onto her as Laira fell into an uncomfortable silence. "W-- What? Did I say something stupid?"

"Well, not THAT stupid, really." Ranma added before placing an arm around the girl's shoulder. "Gosaria, listen, when and if you meet a blonde woman named Mihoshi, please, for the sake of the entire universe, do not hang around her more than what is needed."

The severity of the warning caused Gosaria to feel nervous. "W-- Why, is she dangerous?" Off to the side, Hermione and Nashigi wanted to know the same answer.

"Absolutely! She's probably the clumsiest ditz you'll ever meet in your life."

"Lina!" Hermione shouted with a disapproving look on her face. "How could you actually say something so rude like that? None of that makes her a dangerous person."

When Ranma looked at her, she could see a haunted look in the cat-girl's eyes. "You have no idea of the horrors of Mihoshi, Hermione. She's caused a damn battery-powered plushie that sings to explode just by squeezing the hand! She friggin pilots her own space ship and frequently spaces off while doing it. She's crashed into the lake and house more times than you could count! She can pop up so suddenly around delicate machinery that it's almost like she teleports, and then she presses a button and causes the machine to explode violently. She's dangerous as all hell, and I don't want her to start influencing Gosaria! If that ends up happening, then we're all DOOMED! Completely and utterly doomed." After a short moment of silence, Ranma's features quickly changed to that of a catty smile. "Alright now, is everyone ready to go down?"

The trio of girls glanced at each other with a hint of worry. The sudden change in their friend's behavior slightly unnerved them, but they had to agree that they were looking forward to leaving the ship. So, with a round of nods, they soon found their vision blur for a split second before finding themselves standing on the ground below. Ahead of them, Ranma was standing with her arm outstretched. Not long later, Laira -- in her cabbit form -- landed onto the cat-girl's arm before leaping onto Ranma's head. The girls still had a hard time believing that such a small creature could transform into such a large object.

"Alright, we're here." Ranma stated as she glanced around. "Now I just need to get some translator devices for you three from Washu. Her sensors probably picked up on us nearing the house, so--"

"The signals picked up on you entering Japan, actually." A voice popped up from behind the cat-girl. With a loud 'eep', Ranma leapt into the air and latched onto a tree branch that was above. Glancing down, the redhead noted that it was Washu who had -- somehow -- snuck up behind her.

"Damn it, you know I hate that!" Ranma shouted with pinked cheeks as she dropped to the ground and spared a glare at the diminutive woman. She suddenly found herself trapped in an embrace as Washu playfully rubbed a cheek against hers. The very action caused the cat-girl to twitch.

"But you're just so adorable when you act like a frightened kitten clinging to something for safety!" Washu announced in a childish and playful voice. "You can be such a mean thing, though." She added as she let go of the cat-girl and gave her a faked sad expression. "The first time we see each other in months, and you go and yell at me like that."

Ranma knew that Washu was faking the tearful expression; she completely knew. However, she also knew that Washu would keep it up to hack away at her defenses until she caved. "S-- Sorry about that." Ranma stated after a moment of reluctance. "A-- Anyway, do you have--"

"Three Universal Translator Devices?" Washu asked pulling out three small objects. She promptly tossed one of each to the three girls. "The devices are very simple, and they do all the work. Once you place it in your ear, you'll be able to listen to and communicate with any language. The key to it is the built in computer interface that analyzes a spoken language and instantaneously breaks it down, translates, and sends the results straight to your brain. When you speak, the device picks up signals from your brain and sends out a frequency that masks over what you are saying. The one you are speaking with would only hear their language."

Throughout her run-down of the devices, Washu's audience had varied reactions. Ranma was ignoring the entire speech and was focused on using her pinky to clean her ear. To the cat-girl, it was old information, and she wasn't interested in hearing it again. Gosaria had a glazed look in her eyes as she spaced off and ignored what was being said. Nashigi attempted to listen, but ultimately failed to understand. All she knew was that the device allowed her to understand other languages. Hermione, however, was hanging onto every word and nodding every few seconds to show that she understood. She may not have fully comprehended HOW it was able to do what it did, but she at least understood Washu's explanation of WHAT it did.

"Now that that's out of the way," Washu began as she wrapped an arm around Ranma's shoulder and pulled her close before falling back into a playful voice. "It's so nice to finally meet my widdle Ranma-chan's friends. It's nice to know that she isn't so lonely at that castle far away from her dear Washu-chan!"

Hermione blinked at the genius and struggling cat-girl. "Ranma? Is that some kind of nickname?" She couldn't believe just how well the translator device was working. Next to her, Gosaria and Nashigi were keeping extra quiet so that they wouldn't say anything they shouldn't.

Washu tilted her head as she glanced in Hermione's direction. "You mean she hasn't told you?" At the young girl's headshake, a wide grin appeared on Washu's lips. "Oh my, Ranma-chan, keeping such secrets from friends is such a rotten thing to do. I thought you learned better over the years."

"The subject never came up, okay?" Ranma answered quickly. Knowing Washu like she did, Ranma had no doubt that the woman found the whole ordeal amusing in some way, and was looking for some way to have fun with it. Finally getting free of the diminutive woman's hold, the cat-girl turned to her "I told Hermione that I'd fill her in later on!" How much, and how modified, the story would be was another story. She really did hate when she had to explain something from her past. "Anyway, can we just go inside instead of standing outside in the dark like a bunch of crazy people?"

Washu placed a finger to her chin. "Perhaps going inside would be a smart choice. Besides," the 20,000 plus-year-old left off with a curious gaze directed towards her student. "I think we might need some proper lighting."

"Why's that, Washu-cha-- Hey! What the hell are you doing?!" Ranma demanded as her teacher for 10 years reached down and pulled the cat-girl's shirt straight up. Behind her, their guests could only look on in shock and confusion.

"Yes, I thought so." Washu stated to herself as she let go of Ranma's shirt and smiled. "Well Ranma-chan, congratulations! It looks like they might actually be growing. It certainly does seem like they are larger than the last time I saw you."

Pulling her shirt back down, Ranma glared at her teacher of about 10 years. "Didja have to go and pull my shirt up like that in front of everyone? They're going to think that you're some kind of pervert." The cat-girl pointed behind her to the trio of girls who were slightly unnerved by the actions between the two redheads. "Not that it would be far from the truth." Ranma mumbled to herself. "Anyway, Washu-chan, there are some things I wanted to talk to ya about."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sitting cross-legged on the I-beam that she usually lounged on, Ryoko took a large swig from a bottle of sake. To the ex-space pirate, things around the house felt like they were falling into a slight rut. An attack hadn't happened for several months, she was getting along unusually well with Ayeka, Washu hadn't invented some dangerous crack-pot creation as of late, nor had she attempted any experiments on anyone. Well, there was that small issue pertaining to a malfunctioning boxing glove robot attaching itself to Tennyo a couple months back. However, since Tennyo and Airi had returned to the Galaxy Police Academy after their short visit, it had become boring.

Taking another swig from the sake bottle, Ryoko lazily glanced down at the entrance. She had watched Washu exit the house several moments ago. For what, she didn't know OR care. Washu, her so called MOTHER, was on a role with trying to make her absolutely miserable. Sure, the last time the crazy woman had attempted to strap her to a machine of some kind was a few months ago, but lately, Washu had purposely begun to piss her off by tossing random, annoying comments and treating her like a baby. She was over 5,000-years-old, and so she should get the damn respect she deserved.

Her musings were cut short when the sound of the front door opening reached her ears. Sparing a glance towards the entrance, she watched as Washu re-entered the house. She perked up a little when she caught sight of the familiar form of Ranma. On top of the cat-girl's head was a happily chatting Laira. 'About time something interesting happened.' Ryoko thought with a smirk. To be perfectly honest, the cyan-haired ex-space pirate hated the fact that Ranma ended up going off to a stupid school so far away. Whenever the younger Masu was around, there was always some kind of amusement; be it either her training the kid in her Masu powers, teasing and fighting over certain things, or just all around causing mischief.

Ryoko wouldn't admit it out loud, but she considered Ranma to be a kind of younger sibling.

A few unfamiliar voices soon caught the cyan-haired woman's attention. When she looked, her eyes spotted three different girls walking in from behind Ranma and Washu. The trio actually seemed a little apprehensive in being here, and Ryoko filed that away for later. In her observation, she could tell that the blonde was a slight ditz; hopefully not as bad as Mihoshi. She couldn't really place what the dark-haired girl with overly-large breasts would be like, but if she had to guess, Ryoko would bet that she was annoying. The last of the group actually seemed to be normal, but there was a certain shine in the bushy-haired girl's eyes that reminded the ex-space pirate of Washu and -- to a lesser extent at times -- Ranma.

Curious as to the identity of the trio of girls, Ryoko vanished from her perch on the I-beam and appeared behind the group; phased into the floor with only the top half of her head visible. "Oh, Lina," the girl with the blonde hair began, "Thanks for those rocks you got us from the moon." She pulled out a small moon rock from a pocket. She was still in awe over the fact that they were so close to the humongous object.

"It was no big deal." Ranma answered with a shrug. "I just had to teleport to the surface, pick up three rocks, and teleport back onto Laira before handing them to you."

"But how?" Hermione asked. "Neither outer space nor the Moon have any oxygen. The moment you step outside, you would instantly suffer from such matters as decompression sickness, asphyxiation, ebullism, and a host of other issues." The looks she received caused the girl to blush slightly. "I read up a little about outer space a year before Hogwarts."

"The girl is brilliant!" Washu shouted as she grabbed Hermione in an embrace. "With enough time, you could become one of the great geniuses! Of course," the diminutive woman added as she let go of the girl, "Even with all the time and teaching, you'll never become as great as I. For I am Washu: Greatest scientific genius in the universe!" Washu promptly reached over and pulled Ranma to her. "But who knows, you may be able to come close and give my widdle Ranma-chan a challenge. I have, after-all, been teaching her almost every day for the past 10 years. Her attending Hogwarts is a set-back, but she seems to be doing just fine."

"Especially when you send me about as much work to do as usual." Ranma quipped as she jumped away from Washu. Turning her attention to Hermione, Ranma scratched the base of her ponytail. The girl still wanted an answer to the question she asked a moment ago. "I don't need oxygen to survive. There's your answer. Hell, I could live my life underwater if I wanted to."

Hermione continued to stare at her friend. "But that's impossible! All living creatures require oxygen to survive. Even fish require oxygen to survive in the water. How could your body possibly be able to ignore something like that?"

"What's with all the commotion?" A male voice asked as someone walked into view. "Washu-chan, you're not testing a new invention, are you-- Oh, hey Ranma." Tenchi pleasantly greeted once he caught sight of the cat-girl. "I wasn't aware that you'd be coming. Honestly, it really hasn't seemed the same around here since you started going to that Hogwarts place."

"Yo, Tenchi." Ranma responded with a wave. "I should hope so. It just wouldn't feel great for you all to just forget about me." A look of curiosity appeared. "Hey, where's everyone else at?"

"Sasami, Ayeka, Noike, Ryo-Ohki, and Mihoshi are watching a program on TV, and Ryoko went to get some more sake. Grandfather is also up at the shrine like usual." The raven-haired man supplied before giving a small chuckle. "I was kind of drafted to be the one to see what the commotion was about. By the way, are these three friends of yours?"

After a small round of introductions, Ranma led her friends into the living room of the Masaki house. When Ryo-Ohki and Laira had caught sight of each other, the two cabbits had transformed into their humanoid forms and grabbed hands as they greeted each other. Hermione, Gosaria, and Nashigi were amazed to see another creature similar to Laira. Ranma had explained several things to the latter two, but she had never mentioned anything about another cabbit.

Something else that was noticed by everyone present was that Laira's hair and eyes had changed colors. The only ones who weren't new to the change were Ranma, Gosaria, Nashigi, and -- oddly enough -- Washu. The diminutive woman had the look of someone who expected the change to occur.

When Mihoshi had introduced herself, the trio was slightly nervous at first due to Ranma's warning. However, they couldn't feel wary for long due to the woman's rather friendly personality. In fact, to Ranma's horror, Gosaria seemed to actually get along wonderfully with Mihoshi. The two blondes began to communicate as if they were old friends who hadn't seen each other in years. Noike seemed to have her own feeling of impending disaster as well, and Ranma guessed that it was due to the green-haired woman having a little more history with the blonde.

"Um-- Ranma," Ayeka began as she cleared her throat, "I don't mean to be rude, but if you recall, you're not supposed to reveal the existence of other-worldly devices to those of this planet. However, you had already done that by exposing your friends to the existence of space ships. Also, Mihoshi," she continued as she spared the blond, "Accidentally let certain information regarding the Galaxy Police slip."

"Quit being such a priss, Ayeka." Ryoko quipped as she phased up through the floor. The very action caused Hermione to squeak and jump back. After having ghosts do things like from time to time, you'd think one would be used to it. Gosaria and Nashigi only had slight reactions to the cyan-haired woman appearing from the floor. They'd witnessed their friend do it enough so that they were used to such an action. Ranma had also mentioned a couple times that she knew of a person who had the same phasing ability as she did, and so they guessed this woman was the one she was talking about.

The purple-haired princess of Jurai leveled a glare at the ex-space pirate. "What did you just call me, you universal menace?" The two may have gotten along a lot better than they used to, but there were still times when they would get under each other's skin.

"You heard me, unless you're showing some early signs of aging." Ryoko responded as she levitated into the air and sat cross-legged. "The pipsqueak let three people in on the secret; big deal. She probably figured that they could be trusted to keep the secret. It's not like she went on TV and broadcasted it all over the damn planet."

"That's not the point, Ryoko!" Ayeka shouted as she shot to her feet. "The Earth civilization is still in the development stages. Protocols state that--"

Ryoko rolled her eyes. "Protocols, shmotocols. When the pipsqueak popped up 10-years-ago, you didn't get all uppity over her learning the truth about us."

"The situation was different, idiot! Besides, after she almost killed herself with that magic spell she foolishly used and had to have her entire body healed by Washu merging and replacing her physiology with Masu DNA, it was already too late to voice the opinion."

Hermione blinked before turning her head to stare at a yawning Ranma. The two things she could gleam the most from the argument were that the cat-girl had almost killed herself with a magic spell at the age of TWO, and that she had something called 'Masu' within her.

Oblivious to Hermione staring at her, and finding no interest in the arguing women, Ranma reached into pocket space and pulled out a currently deactivated Ein and remote headset. As the cat-girl fastened the headset into place, she earned a few curious stares from almost everyone present. Once the headset was on, Ranma gave the mini-robotic cat head a small toss into the air. "Ein, activate!"

As soon as the command was uttered, Ein halted in midair and instantly opened its eyes. "What is it you'd like for me to do, Mistress Lina?" It asked in its child-like and energetic voice. Ein promptly scanned its surroundings to get a feel for where they were. "Wow, there's a lot of people here!" With that, the mini-cat bot flew around the room to greet everyone. "Salutations, I am Ein! A mini robotic surveillance droid created by Mistress Lina!"

Sasami decided to break the silence brought on by the sudden appearance of the robot. "It's adorable." The blue-haired princess announced in awe as she reached out to touch the invention. "I'm amazed that you were able to create such an advanced robot, Ranma."

"It wasn't all that difficult." Ranma answered with a smirk. "Sure, it took months of sporadic tinkering to figure out how to incorporate a lot of the smaller components and wiring so that they'd function, and I had to make sure that everything didn't explode like numerous other times." A round of sweat-drops came into being as Ranma spoke as if the problems in the process of creating Ein were just minor inconveniences. "But once all that was out of the way, it was incredibly easy!"

Ein made its way over to its creator and landed on her head. "That's because Mistress Lina is the greatest! There isn't anything she can't do!" The mini-robot shouted as its small paws moved to the sides of its head and waved enthusiastically. Ranma, meanwhile, gained a slight tinge of pink on her cheeks as she coughed into her fist. Ein's proclamation was doing a rather good job of stroking her ego.

Washu made her way to her student and halted before the cat-girl. Stroking her chin and humming, the redheaded genius examined the invention. "I'm impressed, Ranma-chan. I honestly expected it to take you a few more years to put together your first fully working invention on your own."

"I guess I just have an excellent teacher; even if she is a tad mad." The last part was added under the cat-girl's breath. Unluckily for her, Washu had heard it and had given her a rather hard flick to the forehead. "Ow, did it have to be that hard?"

"No, but I wanted to do that." Washu replied as a smirk appeared on her lips. "Ranma-chan," the genius began as she slightly leaned forward, "Do you happen to remember what I said to you a few months back after you returned from the moon?"

The cat-girl stared blankly at the redheaded woman as she tried to remember the discussion they had at that time. It actually didn't take too long to recall the discussion, and when she did, it hit like a ton of bricks. "Now wait a minute! I thought you decided to NOT bring that subject up again too soon!" Ranma shouted in a panic as her cheeks flushed.

"Bring what subject up?" Nashigi asked in interest. Anything that could cause such a reaction in her friend-sometimes-rival was worth knowing. "Oh, what possibly could make the great Lina blush so furiously after just a mention?"

Tenchi decided to try and derail the situation. "Washu-chan, I really don't think you should bring that up right now."

Ignoring the man's attempt at trying to stop her antics, Washu pulled Ranma close and wrapped an arm around her shoulder before turning her attention to Nashigi. "Why, marriage of course! During her winter break, I asked this adorable little scamp to marry me. Instead of agreeing, however, she ended up getting so flustered about it that she fainted."

"That's impossible!" Hermione shouted. "The two of you are female, and on top of that, Lina is only 12-years-old!"

"There are quite a few planets out there that would acknowledge such a union." Washu responded with a wink. The very thought caused Hermione to blush.

"Oh!" Gosaria shouted in excitement. "When do you think you two will get married? Could I attend the ceremony when you do?"

"Ooohohohohohooo!" Nashigi laughed, which caused everyone in the room to violently shiver. "So young, and yet you already found someone. My, you really do work fast, Lina. None-the-less, I too would like to bare witness to the union."

"You two call yourselves friends?" Ranma growled as she glared at Gosaria and Nashigi. "Washu and I are NOT getting married! This is only a figment of her amusement."

Washu positioned her head near Ranma's ear. "I told you before, Ranma-chan. I'm not joking about the idea. Besides, we DO make such a perfect pair. We've known each other for 10 years, shared some secrets, know some of the others' very strength and weaknesses--"

"Wait, Lina actually has some weaknesses?" Nashigi asked with extreme interest. The fact of knowing that her friend had some kind of weakness, besides cat-nip -- which was more of an insanity provoker than a weakness, -- was enough for her. She'd never bring herself to exploit it, but knowing for teasing material would be good.

"I ain't got any weaknesses!" The cat-girl shot back quickly. She then watched as Washu slowly raised her other hand. "W-- wait a moment, Washu-chan, not in front of Hermione and the others!" Her plea was ignored as the 20,000-year-old genius placed a finger to the base of her cat-ear and began a scratching motion. "Damn it, Washu-chan…" Ranma cursed softly as her eyes slowly closed. It wasn't long before she began to audibly purr as Washu continued to scratch the base of her ear. After a moment, Ranma's entire body relaxed as the purring continued.

Washu placed her other hand to her cheek and sighed. "Oh how I have missed that soothing sound." Her emerald eyes noticed the looks of Ranma's friends. Nashigi had a rather devious look upon her features. "Don't get it in your head that you'll be able to do the same thing, though." Washu stated as her student continued to purr. "If any of you attempt to do this, she'll probably claw at your hands. To date, only six people can do it without the threat of losing their hand." As Washu had stated, only six people -- Washu, Sasami, Mihoshi, Misaki, Sakura, and Kasumi -- could perform the action without the threat of harm. "If I could, I'd do this all day."

With a hint of reluctance, Washu halted in scratching the rather content cat-girl's ear. It took a moment for Ranma to recover, but when she did, she spared and embarrassed glare in Washu's direction and crossed her arms. "I told you not to do it in front of them, Washu-chan. You know how embarrassing it is when other people find out about it?"

"Aww, but you're so CUTE when you purr like a little kitten, Ranma-chan!" Washu responded as she playfully pinched her student's cheek. "How about this," she began, "Since you achieved your first invention, I'll help you figure out the schematics of that device you've always wanted to create. The one that we discussed a long time ago that I'd help you invent after you achieved your first working creation."

Ranma's eyes almost grew into saucers as her head snapped towards the genius as her tail swished behind her. "Are you serious?" At Washu's nod, the cat-girl gave a whoop of joy as she jumped to her feet. "Washu, I could KISS you!"

"You do, and I'll hold you to an immediate marriage." Washu quipped, causing the redhead to halt in her tracks and blush furiously. "In the meantime, Ranma-chan, I believe you owe your friend some sort of explanation." She added in a whisper as she pointed to Hermione. "I noticed that she seems to be completely lost with everything going on, while your other two friends -- even though they are slightly confused about certain things -- know a lot more."

"Yeah," Ranma responded as she scratched the base of her ponytail. She finally decided that she'd tell Hermione what she told Gosaria and Nashigi on that day Ryoga appeared. "Hey, Hermione, follow me. I'll give you the explanation that you've been wanting by telling you some of the things I've told Gosaria and Nashigi."

"Which still left a lot of things out." Nashigi commented with her arms crossed. "You didn't exactly go into detail regarding your time as Ranma or much about your life here, and by telling her that you'll explain to her SOME of the info you told us, you're not really giving her a lot to go by."

"Yeah," Gosaria piped up, "You filled in a lot of questions we had about you, but it created a lot more questions that you never answered. Heck, all we knew about the people here were small details about them. You never really told us of much that happened while living here."

"That's because it wasn't -- and still isn't -- all that important." Ranma replied with a shrug. "I don't like having many people know about my past. There's no reason for it, especially if it doesn't affect them at all" In truth, having people know everything that you've been through was rather discomforting. The only reason that she had given more information to Gosaria and Nashigi was because of Ryoga. To explain how she knew him, she had to provide a little more information. Hermione, however, did not need to hear about that. "C'mon, Hermione." She stated as she motioned for the girl to follow.

Hermione nodded and followed the redhead. Part of her was glad to know that she was finally getting some answers; even if it was less than what Gosaria and Nashigi knew, but the other part felt rather nervous about it. Upon weighing both feelings, she found that her curiosity outweighed her nervousness. Besides, what she found out couldn't possibly be THAT crazy compared to what she had learned in the span of a couple hours. Could it?

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

To say that Hermione was shocked would have had to be an understatement. Of all the things that she had expected to hear from her friend, what she HAD gotten had literally blown her away. Still, the idea that she had lived a previous life as a boy did explain why the girl acted almost exactly like it most of the time. Of course, the phrase 'tomboy' could have easily made enough sense as well. The whole part about a water-based curse would have sounded even more ludicrous if Hermione hadn't spent a year at a school for magic. It still sounded a little too farfetched, but the cat-girl certainly seemed to be telling the truth.

For the most part, Ranma had refused to go into too much detail about her past life. She explained how she was born male, and was a martial artist and heir to a school called the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts. The water curse was explained in a little more detail, and Ranma gave a slight mention to having a fiancée who was rather 'uncute, tomboyish, and built like a brick.' Throughout the tale, the redhead had taken the time at various intervals to stroke her ego and mention how she was the best.

What Hermione found most interesting and shocking was that Lord Voldemort actually sought down and killed Ranma. The most powerful evil wizard of all time had actually traveled to Japan for the purpose of killing a teenaged martial artist with no real magical ability. Either Voldemort mistook Ranma for someone else, or he actually felt that the martial artist would be some kind of threat.

The cat-girl ended up finishing her tale by telling Hermione how she really came into possession of her cat features, and -- in response to the girl's questions from earlier -- explained about the Masu physiology and why she didn't have any problem without oxygen. Hermione couldn't get anything more info out of Ranma after that.

"Wow," Gosaria began, "That really was shorter that what we were told." Next to her, Nashigi gave a nod in agreement. Even they were given more information regarding the people in Ranma's previous life.

"Forgive me for saying this, Lina," Hermione let out slowly, "But I'm honestly having a hard time believing what you have told me. Still, it IS the most you have ever told me about yourself. Also, after flying to the moon in a space ship created by Laira transforming, I AM willing to believe it." Her entire view of the workings of the world just kept on being shredded and mutilated beyond what she had originally known. "Who else knows about this?"

"Just you, Gosaria, Nashigi, the residents of this house, and three other people." Ranma answered as she ticked each off with a finger. "Hell, not even my mother knows the real truth."

Hermione gave her a shocked look. "How could you not tell your mother the truth? Doesn't she worry about what you're up to all the time?"

Ranma averted her eyes. "I can't tell her." Her hand subconsciously reached up and pulled the locket that her mother and Laira had gotten for her out from its hiding place beneath her shirt. "I've thought about it a few times though; especially during the course of last month."

The group was silent for a moment as the trio observed the object that Ranma had brought out. "Hey, what's that?" Gosaria asked as the cat-shaped gem and pulsing fire boarder caught her attention.

"Mom and Laira got it for me last month when we were in Diagon Alley. I wanted to refuse at first, but there was just something about it I liked."

Hermione had to spare a small smile. It was nice to know that the cat-girl actually enjoyed her time with her mother during last month. The smile quickly fell into a look of seriousness, though. "I still say that you should tell your mother the truth. It'd be the best thing to do."

Heterochromatic eyes stared directly at the bushy-haired bookworm. "I already told ya that I can't, Hermione."

"But why can't you?" Hermione inquired. "It probably worries her that her own daughter keeps so many secrets from her! She deserves to be told the truth!"

For a split second, Ranma's eyes flashed red. "It's none of your damn business, so drop it." Off to the side, Gosaria and Nashigi were watching the display with interest.

"I'm not going to drop it." Hermione quipped with a shake of her head. "A child should not keep their mother in the dark and cause her to worry about her child. What are you afraid of? You think she'll suddenly consider you to be a freak and--"

The cat-girl immediately jumped to her feet and delivered a crimson-eyed glare at the other girl. "I'm not afraid of anything!"

"Well, you are certainly acting like you are scared of what could happen if you tell her."

"Will ya just drop it and quit being an annoying busy-bodying chipmunk?!"

An intense silence fell over the room at Ranma's insult. The first one to recover was Hermione. "E-- Excuse me, but did you just call me a chipmunk?" Never-mind being called annoying and busy-bodying, it was the chipmunk part that caught her attention.

Ranma merely shrugged before answering. "Well, your front teeth are rather large. They're not as large as a chipmunk's, but it's a good enough comparison." She was soon on the receiving end of a rather strong slap.

"Well excuse me for having large teeth!" Hermione shouted as she retracted her hand. When it registered what she had just done, Hermione gave a small gasp. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Lina! That comment about my teeth just made me so angry and caused me to react without thinking!"

Even though the slap didn't hurt her, Ranma still thought it felt like a thousand stings. "Just drop it, okay? Whether I tell my mother or not is none of your business. It's my problem, so stay out of it." The cat-girl answered as she turned around and started to walk off. "I'll be in Washu-chan's lab if any of you need me."

After Ranma had left, Nashigi turned her attention onto a saddened Hermione. "She is right, you know." The large-busted teen stated as she got to her feet. "How she handles her mother is no business of yours."

Gosaria got to her feet as well and started scratching her head. "Um-- I know she said she'd be in Washu's lab, but where is that at?"

"An excellent question." Nashigi responded as she beat her fist into her hand. "We'll just have to check each room until we find it. A lab has to be in one of the larger rooms."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I just don't see why it should be any of her concern." Ranma commented as she lay on her back on top of a flat table. At the moment, she was only clad in her underwear as Washu performed a physical examination. Wires were attached to various parts of the cat-girl's body, and a small scanner hovered above her to take a scan of her body to compare with previous scans to see how much she had grown. "And to accuse me of being a coward was just low."

When she had first entered the sub-dimensional lab, she was greatly unnerved when Washu had ordered her to strip to her unmentionables. However, she became relieved when the woman had mentioned that it was only for her yearly physical examination that was overdue. Of course, having Washu perform a physical examination was ALWAYS embarrassing and unnerving. The 20,000 plus-year-old Choushin had a habit of having too much fun in examining her examinee. The cold steel table was also largely uncomfortable, and Ranma wished that Washu had gone with using one of the liquid tubes instead.

Washu hummed as she typed away on a computer terminal that was displaying her student's results. "To be fair, it did sound like you were afraid to answer the question, Ranma-chan." When Ranma let a smart comment escape her lips, a small electric jolt shocked her. "Don't try and deny it, Ranma-chan. You've actually grown attached to Narcissa, and the thought of her finding out the truth and feeling disgusted fills you with fear. After finding out that you do have feelings for your mother, you don't want to risk destroying what you have already built up."

Staring upwards with a slight vacant look in her eyes, Ranma mulled over what Washu had just told her. She had to admit that it was true. Spending that month together with Narcissa had shown her that she did have a connection with the woman, and she had also formed a slight attachment. The thought of revealing the truth to Narcissa lead to a fear of the woman's upbringing and views finding her to be outright repulsive. "Damn, I really am a coward." A more powerful jolt of electricity coursed through her body; causing the fur on her tail and ears to stand up. "What the hell was that for?"

Washu gave her an innocent expression. "My hand slipped." She lied. "Besides, it's honestly understandable for one to be nervous or scared of the idea of not being accepted by one they feel attached to." With the tap of a button, the wires attached to Ranma's body detached and retracted. "However, Narcissa has accepted you even with your cat problem and the fact that you're attracted to girls. Am I right so far, Ranma-chan?" Washu received a small nod. "After that, do you honestly think that she'll find you repulsive if she learned that you were male in a PAST LIFE, or that to keep from dying, you had to have your physiology changed to that of a Masu? I doubt she'd have a problem with the fact that by being a Masu, you're far healthier and talented than you would be otherwise." Standing up, Washu made her way over to the younger redhead. "Besides, you can tell her that it was the 'big bad demon Xellos' that did it to you around the same time he 'supposedly' changed you into a cat-girl. The reason you never told her was that you were worried it'd be too much and cause her to feel disgusted with you. For an added affect, you can fake a crying and being sad. You do that, and I'm sure there'd be nothing to worry about."

As she pushed herself up into a sitting position, Ranma thought about what the diminutive woman had said. "I guess that could work." She wasn't going to worry about telling her mother the truth for a while though. "Could I have my clothes now?"

"Why Ranma-chan, are you telling me that you'd like to deprive me of possibly the one of the few free chances I'd have to see your adorable little body?" Washu asked in mock shock and hurt. "You're such a mean little thing!" At Ranma's continued glare, the scientific genius gave off a small pout as she handed the younger redhead her clothes. "Oh poo, you're no fun at all right now." That didn't, however, prevent Washu from deciding to have a little more fun. "The results from the scan of your physical body showed something rather interesting."

"Really? What's that?"

"You are, in fact, growing, Ranma-chan." Washu answered with a poke to Ranma's nose. "Three years ago, your body practically halted in any kind of growth other than muscle. On the scan that we conducted just now, it has been shown that you have grown three inches. Your body has gained a slight hint of shape to it, and your breasts have actually developed some." The cat-girl honestly had mixed feelings regarding that last bit of news. "Also, the length of your tail has increased by five inches, and your ears have become a smidge larger."

"Well, at least my body isn't stuck in a kind of perpetual limbo where I won't get taller or anything." Ranma responded as she placed her locket back around her neck.

Washu snapped her fingers as she remembered something. "Oh, Ranma-chan, follow me. I have something that I think you'll find interesting." At the rather wary look she was given, Washu sighed. "Just come on. I promise that it won't involve anything perverted."

The two redheads made their way across the dimensional lab and near a rack containing rows of jars. Washu hummed as she searched for the right container, and when she did, she pulled it off the shelf and handed it to Ranma. "Go on and take a look, Ranma-chan."

Curiosity getting the better of her, Ranma did so, and what she saw caused her to blink. "Razzlof?" She asked aloud as the tiny figure within the jar glared at her with eyes full of hate. Ranma still remembered quite clearly when the now miniaturized demon had appeared several months ago. Razzlof had kidnapped Sakura and had attempted to use her as a bargaining chip to get to her. They had fought, and -- while Ranma would admit that she put up a superb performance -- she ended up losing to the demon and had to watch as Tenchi and the others jumped in. The very event itself had left a bad taste in her mouth, but she had gained some solace in the fact Washu decided to keep the demon for testing purposes. A smirk slowly appeared on her lips. "It's been a while. I assume that you've been behaving like a good little guinea pig for Washu-chan?" Razzlof pounded a fist on the side of the container in anger. In response, Ranma gave the jar a violent shake.

Washu tapped the bottom of her chin. "He put up quite a bit of resistance at first, but then we started to make some excellent progress. Isn't that right Razzy-chan?" The mini-demon's cheeks flushed as he glared at the woman. "I also took the liberty of obtaining some information from him. He was tight-lipped at first, but after some REASONING, he started opening up to me about who sent him and why."

Ranma knew what Washu probably meant by 'reasoning with him', but decided to not think about it. What she was really interested in was to know why someone she didn't know at all was trying to kill her. "Go on."

"Razzlof didn't have too much important information regarding it, but it seems that a demon lord by the name of Dynast Grausherra is under the impression that you will become a deciding factor in certain undisclosed events a few years from now. Something that'll cause a huge blow to the numbers of the Mazouku race will happen. It seems that since you have a part in it, this Dynast and a few others feel that they should either kill you or convince you to join their side to prevent whatever is coming."

Staring blankly at the diminutive genius, Ranma internally cursed. Why did she have to attract the attention of a bunch of damn demons? "Great, I even acquired Lina Inverse's problem with demons. Thank you so much, Lina."

"Oh you'll be fine." Washu responded as she gave her student a momentary scratch behind the ear. "The reason you lost so badly last time against Razzlof was because you were operating under rage over what he did to Sakura. If your head was cleared, you probably would have done a better job."

The cat-girl stared down at the imprisoned demon. They were going to have to have a rematch someday, and when that happened, she would show him that she was the better of the two.

"Oh, I believe we were going to discuss the schematics of that invention you've always wanted to create. Am I right, Ranma-chan?" Washu asked curiously. She watched, with some humor, as Ranma roughly placed the jar containing Razzlof back onto the shelf.

"Yeah, you promised several years ago that when I created my first working invention, you'd help me figure out how to create the Genetic Form-altering Belt." Ranma answered excitedly. It was back when she was around four years of age when she had confronted Washu about creating a transformation device that would allow her to -- even if it was temporary -- return to a male form.

To her displeasure, the 20k plus-year-old scientist had refused to create such a device. Her reasons behind the refusal were simple. The first reason was that there were too many people who knew of 'Lina', and also knew that 'Lina' was female. To suddenly become a male would cause too many questions, and the possibility of the true face of the Masaki house residents being revealed was too great.

The second reason was that even though Ranma's physical body was female, she was still the same person she previously was. Several mental scans that Washu had conducted revealed that Ranma's brain patterns leaned more towards the male side than female. After several different tests, Washu had concluded that -- to Ranma's intense relief -- the cat-girl would not have problems with suddenly 'going girly' unless she decided to voluntarily act like it. Since then, the mental scans have remained the same with the male patterns being greater than the female. However, the sides did balance out SLIGHTLY.

The third and final reason for Washu refusing was that she had already created a similar device over 15,000 years ago. To create another one would be too easy and lacking any kind of challenge. It was decided, however, that when Ranma managed to create her first working invention, Washu would reveal to the cat-girl the very schematics so that she could end up figuring it out.

"Now, I won't lie to you, Ranma-chan." Washu began with an unusual air of seriousness. "You are -- in essence -- a fledgling inventor. Inventing Ein took -- as you have confessed -- months of tinkering, and an even longer amount of time to understand how the wiring and components worked. Even then, many tries backfired on you and exploded." At the cat-girl's nod, she continued. "What you want to invent could honestly take years to create. Inventions that deal with genetic alterations and transformations are very, VERY delicate. There is minimal room for error when fooling around with such things. I've seen what can happen if just one mistake is made in creating such a device." For emphasis, Washu brought out an image of a failed try at inventing a genetic device and showed it to her student.

Ranma paled completely as she stared at the result in the image. "Th-- That's," there was only one phrase that could describe such a disturbing and horrifying image. "Oh my…"

"And it took months to return this person to their original form." Washu responded as she put the image away. "Now, do you see why this kind of invention is not for amateurs?" Her student could only nod her head. "To even begin to start on such an invention, you will need to delve deep into the subject of genetic engineering and learn how certain genes react to having a component changed even a little. This is incredibly important, Ranma-chan. I can't express enough how dangerous it is without the proper learning. This is not magic we're talking about; it's science. There would be no room for goofing off, unless you want to end up like the person in the image."

"No!" Ranma shouted as she waved her hands. That image was the stuff that nightmares were made of. After calming down, the cat-girl reached back and scratched the base of her ponytail. Inventing such a thing would be WAY harder than she had originally thought. "Damn, and I barely managed to create Ein as it is."

"All inventors have to start somewhere." Washu answered as she gave Ranma a pat on the head. "I must say, though, that you're off to a good start. Your first invention was a fully working, wireless, headset controlled, and sentient mini robot." The cat-girl felt her ego and pride spike. "What I'd recommend as of right now is for you to continue working on Ein. As a budding inventor, it's always a good idea to enhance and add features to perfect your creation and increase your inventing skills. With time, your skills will improve and allow you to work on harder and more complex things. It's not like you're on a time limit or anything."

Ranma thought over what Washu was saying and had to admit that it made sense. While she would like to return to a male form -- even if it wasn't permanent, -- she wasn't in a big enough hurry to completely muck up her very being due to a failed genetic invention. Besides, if she REALLY had an intense desire to become male for a short time, she could probably obtain some of those instant spring packets. Of course, fooling around with ANYTHING having to do with Jusenkyou was rather risky. With her luck, the packet she would end up receiving would be mislabeled in some way. "I can't argue with that, Washu-sensei." Ranma answered with a serious nod before smirking. "I already have some ideas on how to improve Ein. I think I might need your help in figuring out how to create those improvements, though."

Washu placed an arm around the younger redhead's shoulder. "No problem at all, Ranma-chan. You just tell your dear Washu-chan what you need!"

Ranma opened her mouth to speak, but a loud crash and a trio of screams caused the two redheads to investigate the source of the noise. What they found when they arrived was Nashigi yelling at Gosaria. The latter of the two was sitting on her rump with a device that had fallen into her lap. Near the duo, Hermione had a nervous look upon her face. When she saw Washu and Ranma, she proceeded to apologize.

"I apologize that we came in unannounced. We were directed to your lab and entered through the door. I proposed that we stay in one spot and wait for you to come, but Nashigi and Gosaria decided that it couldn't hurt to walk around. It was then that Gosaria failed to watch where she was going and crashed into a shelf." After catching her breath, the young witch turned to Ranma. In a subdued voice, she continued. "I'm sorry I slapped you earlier, Lina. You were right in the fact that it was none of my business whether you tell your mother or not."

Ranma waved her hand dismissively. "Eh, forget about it. It's no big deal."

Hermione smiled and figured that was Lina for 'apology accepted.' She then proceeded to get back to the task at hand. "How is it that such a large place as this can exist inside the house?" She asked as she glanced around in awe.

"It's located in a different dimensional plane all together." Washu responded as she pushed a strand of hair back. "If you'd like an estimate of its size, I'd say that my lab in its entirety is about as large as large as a few planets."

Eyes as wide as saucers, the three guests turned their attention to Ranma. "Can you create something like this as well?" Hermione asked.

"Err-- no." Ranma answered with some annoyance. "There's a lot more I have to learn before I can create a sub-dimensional room; much less an entire lab or something." She'd made some progress though. She'd managed to create a sub-dimensional construct capable of holding the equivalent of a five-drawer dresser.

Pushing herself to her feet, Gosaria picked up the device that had fallen into her lap. "Hey, what's this thing?" The device consisted of a flat surface with a small hole in the front. Attached to it was a large screen. All in all, it seemed to be a rather simple-looking object.

Washu reached out and grabbed it before the blonde possibly had another accident. "It's a new invention of mine that I created a few months ago." She said as she placed it on a table. "It's a little invention that I like to call the Lifespan Estimate Producer. All you have to do is stick your finger into the hole. It will then tally up your lifespan along with the factors that play into it." A mischievous glint appeared in the diminutive woman's eyes. "Why don't you all try it out and see the results?"

A deep silence fell over the group as they debated on whether they'd actually want to know or not. In the end, they decided to throw caution to the wind and try it out. The first to use the device was a rather enthusiastic Gosaria. When she placed her finger into the entrance, it began activation. About 10 seconds later, the results started to appear on screen accompanied by a voice. "Human with some magical manipulation and perfect health. Estimated lifespan for Gosaria Negia is 120 years." The voice ended and left a rather shocked blonde.

Nashigi was the second to have a go at the device. After about 10 seconds, it revealed that the dark-haired girl could expect an estimate of 117 years; something that caused her to pout about Gosaria's being longer. After that, it was Hermione's turn. She was rather nervous, but stuck her finger into the opening anyway. After analyzing, the display popped up to show an estimate of 121 years. Hermione then proceeded to let a breath she didn't know she was holding escape.

"Alright, it's my turn!" Ranma announced as she placed her finger into the opening and waited. Not too long after, the screen displayed the results.

"Humanoid with Masu physiology and enhancements, excellent mana and ki manipulation with perfect health and immune system, Sailor Crystal, and physical reinforcement. Estimated lifespan for Ranma Lina Inversia Malfoy…" a few eyebrows raised at the name. "Error!! Error!! Lifespan for Ranma Lina Inversia Malfoy can not be calculated. Overload of system is--" Before it could finish, the device exploded.

An uncomfortable silence fell as everyone stared at the wreckage of the destroyed machine. "Err-- Why did it explode?" Ranma asked. Her hair was slightly singed from being so close to the explosion.

"Well," Washu began as she rubbed the back of her neck, "The Lifespan Estimate Producer only counts up so far. It's a prototype, and I've been meaning to add a few tweaks for it to not have a limit, but I've been busy with other things. You seem to have hit the high end."

"Err-- What's the high end, Washu-chan?" Ranma asked with a hint of nervousness.

"Only about 100,000 years." Washu answered with a shrug. "There are many people throughout the universe who can live for hundreds of thousands of years, and so it's not that big of a deal. Your aging will slow down to an almost non-existent crawl when you reach about 18-years-old."

"Now wait a minute!" Ranma shouted. "I knew I was going to have a long life due to the Masu DNA and stuff, and even then I thought I'd only live for a few thousand. Now you're telling me I'll live 100,000 YEARS?!"

"OVER 100,000 years, actually." Washu answered. "There's no real way to tell just how long you will live. There are methods -- depending on the technology of a civilization -- that could allow one to live OVER hundreds of thousands of years. That's not even putting into account someone with a Sailor Crystal and Masu physiology."

"B-- But," Ranma began for Washu gathered the rather catatonic cat-girl into an embrace.

"Isn't it great, Ranma-chan?! We have all the time in the universe to be together!" After a moment of silence, Washu pulled back to see that the cat-girl had blacked out. "She can be such a lightweight." The genius admitted with a shake of her head.

"Wow," Gosaria commented, "When we're all old, grey, dying, and six feet under, she'll still be young, colorful, healthy, and six feet above." Her comment earned a pair of looks from Hermione and Nashigi. "What?"

"Colorful? Six feet above? Where in the world did those come from?"

The blonde gave a shrug. "It made sense to me."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A couple days later found Ranma traversing the heart of the Juuban district of Minato ward, Tokyo. The cat-girl had decided to pay Hotaru a small visit and see how the young girl was doing. After-all, she had promised to visit the child sometime, and she didn't want to take back the promise. Ranma also remembered the promise she made to a certain dragon and decided to visit Norberta sometime in the future. Perhaps she'd make time for it after her visit to the planet Mau.

The revelation of her living hundreds of thousands of years was still playing through her mind, but she couldn't dwell too much on it as she made her way through the crowded streets. She received many odd stares pertaining to her ears and tail, but by pretending that they were just accessories that she was wearing, nobody felt the need to comment. After having a few more people bump into her, Ranma finally got fed up and teleported to the top of a building.

Pulling out a gold coin, Ranma closed her eyes to concentrate. The coin -- along with the one she had given Hotaru -- was one that she had used a small trace enchantment on. At the time, she had fiddled around with the idea of an enchantment that could alert the owner in some way. After several tries, she had successfully placed the enchantment on two coins. One of them was the one that she had given to Hotaru. If the girl was ever in trouble, the coin would send a kind of pulse to the one that Ranma had. It wasn't perfect though, and the cat-girl wanted to check Hotaru's coin and enhance the enchantment some more. Of course, if it wasn't for the portrait of Lina Inverse, she probably would have never figured the enchantment out beyond the rather simple parts.

Ranma's thoughts halted when she felt a faint trace of the magic that she had used on the coin she had given to Hotaru. It would have been easier if she had actually known the girl's address, but she didn't know her parents' names, and there were probably several people with the surname of Tomoe residing within the Juuban district. So she was in the midst of doing the next best thing.

'I really do need to work on my magic senses.' Ranma grumbled as she followed the faint signal. She soon came to a stop at the area where she sensed the strongest pulse, and what she saw caused her stare in awe. The building seemed to be a combination of a house and a large laboratory. 'Awesome, she's the daughter of a scientist.' The cat-girl thought as her curiosity started to get the better of her. Walking up to the gates, Ranma noticed an intercom attached to the wall. Deciding it would be better than just leaping over the gate she pressed the button.

Luckily she didn't have to wait long before the entrance door opened to reveal Hotaru's mother, Keiko. "Yes, how can I help you?"

"I'm here to visit Hotaru. Tell her that Lina's here to see her."

A hint of recognition flashed through Keiko's eyes before she disappeared into the house. After several minutes -- in which time Ranma started hopping on one foot to alleviate an onslaught of boredom, -- a small child shot out of the house and ran up to the gate. "Lina-neechan!" Hotaru shouted before stopping at the gate. "I didn't think you were ever going to visit!"

Ranma gave a slight smirk. "Hey, I'm visiting now, aren't I? Stand back for a moment, Hotaru-chan." Once the young raven-haired girl had backed up, the cat-girl gave a simple leap and easily cleared the gate before landing on one foot. Heterochromatic eyes stared directly into awed purple eyes. "Pretty cool, isn't it, Hotaru-chan?"

"Wow," was all the seven-year-old could say before grabbing the older girl's hand and dragging her towards the house. "Come on, Lina-neechan, I want to show you around the house."

"Wait, Hotaru-chan, I can walk on my own." Her voice fell on deaf ears as the child continued to pull her along and into the house.

Keiko -- who was still at the door -- could only give off a giggle as she watched her daughter practically drag the older girl. It was still odd that the redhead had actual cat features, but she seemed to be a nice enough person. After Hotaru's brief meeting with her during the winter, Keiko noted a slight change in how her daughter acted. She was no longer overly shy and timid, and she did her best to ignore it when a bully tried to tease her. Hotaru wasn't always successful, but the brief talk she had with the older girl had a nice effect on her.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"This is my room, Lina-neechan." Hotaru stated as she guided her guest into the bedroom. Ranma noted that the room seemed rather spacious for a seven-year-old, but there were several dressers and stands that took up some of the space to make it seem not as large. As expected of a young girl's room, there were some visible plush toys, but not as many as Ranma had expected. Interestingly, counting a ceiling lamp, there were three other lamps in the room. Two of them were setting on the surface of a desk, and the other -- a floor lamp -- was sitting next to a wall. "I like lamps." Hotaru responded as if she were aware of what Ranma was thinking. "I only have a few, but I'd like to get more. They're just so beautiful."

"Imagine all the light bulbs you'd need." Ranma commented as she examined one of the lamps. "I mean, by the time you replace one bulb, another would probably go out."

"Then I'll get more bulbs." Hotaru responded with a comically serious expression. "I don't care if a bulb goes out. I'll just keep putting new ones in. That way, my lamps will last forever and ever!"

'The kid's determined, I'll give her that.' The cat-girl thought with a smile. "Hey, Hotaru-chan, where's the coin I gave you?"

The younger girl immediately pointed to the string around her neck. Reaching down into her shirt, she pulled out the gold coin that was now a make-shift necklace. "Mama had papa turn it into a necklace. Now I don't have to worry about my amulet getting lost."

Ranma blinked. "Amulet?"

Hotaru nodded her head. "You told me that it'll help if I'm in trouble. Mama said that an object that protects a person from trouble is called an amulet."

The older girl found that what the woman had said did make sense. "Hotaru-chan, let me see your amulet for a moment." Complying with the request, Hotaru removed the coin and handed it to the cat-girl. After pulling out her own, Ranma set both coins on the floor in front of her. Closing her eyes, Ranma recalled what the portrait of Lina had explained to her. She soon began a low chant as she placed her hands over the surface of the coins.

Hotaru's expression became one of awe when the cat-girl's red hair lifted slightly into the air. She then watched as a bright aura of light spring to life under Ranma's hands and obscured the coins from view. The scene only lasted for around a minute and half, and Hotaru found herself disappointed to see the effects end so soon. "What did you do, Lina-neechan?" She asked curiously.

Wiping some sweat from her brow, Ranma sat back. The process took more out of her than she thought it would. 'Note to self: Put a little more practice into advanced charms and enchantments.' She then turned her attention to Hotaru. "I improved the connection between our coins. Before, it would send a series of strong pulses to me if you were in any kind of danger. Now, if you call out for help, I'll be able to hear your voice. I'll also be able to immediately locate you through the coin, so it'd be easier to get to you." She also wanted to make it so that they could communicate normally to each other by just talking into the coin, but she honestly had no clue how to work that into the enchantment at that time. She had only asked Lina about the danger alert aspect.

"That sounds so cool." Hotaru answered as she grabbed what she called her amulet and placed it back around her neck. "You'll be like one of those guardian angels making sure I'm safe, won't you?"

"You got it, kid." Ranma stated with a chuckle as she gave the girl a pat on the head. "Leave it to your neechan. If you're ever in danger, I'll appear and kick the asses of whoever tries to harm even one strand of hair on your adorable little head."

Hotaru giggled before glomping onto the cat-girl. "Lina-neechan, I love you! I wish you really were my big sister! You can do magic and a bunch of other cool things. You're just awesome!"

A tinge of pink appeared on Ranma's cheeks. The girl was just too adorable for words. "Hey, don't forget, kid. You can heal other peoples' wounds. Maybe with enough practice, you'll be able to do even more awesome things."

"Really?"

"Yeah! Hell, even if you don't figure out anything else, you could use your healing ability to-- say-- become the best damn nurse or doctor in the world."

Hotaru's cheeks pinked a little. "You really think I could become a one of those?"

"I sure do. With your healing ability, you'll have loads of people lining up to seek your help." Ranma wondered if she could actually help the girl learn magic sometime. She could tell that Hotaru's healing ability was magical, so perhaps the girl could do other things as well.

"It's nice to know that you have such confidence in my daughter." A voice spoke up from the doorway. Ranma glanced up to see a rather tall man with short shock-white hair. The expression on his face was soft, and he had a pair of thin glasses over his dark blue eyes.

A wide smile appeared on Hotaru's lips. "Papa, this is my friend who gave me my amulet!"

"Lina Malfoy." Ranma greeted.

"Professor Souichi Tomoe." The man responded back with a nod. As he observed the redhead, he couldn't help but stare at the girl's rather catty features. "I know this may be a little rude of me, but I can't help but wonder about your ears and tail. You see, I'm somewhat of a geneticist. What that is--"

"You work with Genetic research and engineering." Ranma interrupted. She was rather amazed that she had come across another scientist researching the subject of genetics so soon. It also caused her to remember that she'd actually need to study genetic engineering before she could even hope to work on a transformation device. That very fact caused her to internally groan. She'd rather pull a 24/7 shift practicing her martial arts and magic instead of trying to learn all that genetic crap. "As for my being a cat-girl," Ranma began as she watched the professor become incredibly attentive, "It's… a secret." With a smirk, she watched as Hotaru's father nearly face-faulted. 'I love doing that.'

Recovering from his near fall, Prof. Tomoe adjusted his glasses. "I see." It was obvious that he was incredibly disappointed about not receiving the answer he was seeking. "It wouldn't happen to be through some kind of genetic research, would it? You did seem like you knew exactly what genetic engineering was when I mentioned it."

"I told you, it's a secret."

"But I'm sure that--"

Ranma ignored the man's continued attempt and turned to Hotaru. "Say, Hotaru-chan, you wouldn't mind giving me a tour of the rest of your house, would you?"

Hotaru smiled brightly as she jumped to her feet and grabbed the redhead's hand. "Come on, Lina-neechan."

As they passed the white-haired man, Ranma turned to look at him and had stuck her tongue out. That action, and the fact that he had been completely ignored, had caused Prof. Tomoe to cross his arms and puff up his cheeks in complete annoyance. 'I need to know how she became part cat. The only explanation is genetic tampering.' The man thought as he decided to continue to try and figure it out.

True to his actions, Hotaru's father hadn't stopped in his quest to learn just how his daughter's friend had obtained her features. He had attempted to bring up the subject at various moments, and had rephrased his questions many times in the hopes that Ranma would finally tell him. After about the 20th attempt, Ranma's patience finally wore thin. She had finally told him that everything was the result of magic backfiring. Prof. Tomoe didn't believe her when she stated that it was cause of magic, and the cat-girl conducted a magic demonstration by creating a small fireball and singing a couple hairs on the side of the researcher's head. After that, the man was willing to believe and had backed off on talking to her again.

When it was time for Ranma to leave, Hotaru felt sad about her friend having to go. The cat-girl told her that she'd visit again sometime. She didn't know when exactly, but she'd return, and she'd bring the girl a lamp for her collection. That calmed Hotaru down a little, but she was still a little sad as she watched the cat-girl jump over the gate and disappeared from view.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

'If it wasn't for Hogwarts, I'd be able to visit her anytime.' Ranma thought in annoyance as she made her way down the sidewalk. She wondered again why she ever decided to go to that damn place. 'Oh yeah,' she recalled, 'I was interested in becoming an Auror.' For that, she'd have to finish going through the entire seven years and take a bunch of tests. Was the result really worth what it took to get there?

"Lina?" A voice asked from behind. Turning around, Ranma found that the source of the voice came from a woman of around 30 with long dark brown hair and black eyes. Positioned on the woman's back was a rather large spatula. "Wow, it's been quite a while since I saw ya, Lina. If it wasn't for those ears and tail, I wouldn't have thought anything about it."

"Ucc-- Ukyo?" Ranma asked with a blink. The last time she saw the okonomiyaki chef was nine years ago before she closed down her restaurant and had moved away. Ukyo was one of the people that Ranma had known in Nerima who took HIS death the hardest, and the cat-girl had never once told her that SHE was Ranma. One day it was revealed that she had just packed up and left. "Yeah, it's been nine years. Did you end up moving here in Juuban?"

Ukyo nodded at the question. "I tried to continue running my restaurant in Nerima after-- well-- Ya-Know-Who died, but there were just too many bad memories around the place. It finally got so bad that I couldn't take it, and so I closed the restaurant and left. After some traveling, I decided to stay here and re-open my restaurant."

Ranma frowned as she scratched the top of her head. It probably was a bad idea to keep her secret from the one she considered a childhood friend. Lowering her head, the cat-girl quickly caught sight of a young girl of around eight or nine with brown hair and green eyes. The unidentified child was staring at the cat-girl with a great deal of curiosity. "Hey, Ucc-- Ukyo, is this your daughter?"

"Huh? OH! No, this isn't my daughter. I'm not even married, let alone have a child." Ukyo responded with a laugh. "Her parents are away on a trip, and so I'm looking after her for them."

Ranma nodded before giving the younger girl a smile. "Yo, I'm Lina Malfoy. I've met Ukyo on occasion a few years back."

"I'm Makoto Kino." The girl greeted with her own smile. "Hey, are those ears real?" She received her answer when the cat-girl twitched her ears. "Wow, that's awesome! You must be able to hear really well."

"I don't think anyone else has as good a hearing as I do around here." Ranma answered with a smirk before glancing back at Ukyo. "How'd you come to know her, Ukyo?"

The woman thought for a moment before answering. "It was about three years ago while running my restaurant. Makoto-chan and her parents decided to eat out for dinner, and they ended up at my place. As I was cooking their okonomiyaki, Makoto-chan started talking about how she'd like to be a cook when she grows up. When I asked her why, she said so she could make people happy by eating her food. We ended up talking a little more, and after they finished, Makoto-chan and her parents left. It was just a few days later when they came back to eat because their daughter wanted to see me 'the nice lady who talked to me about how fun cooking is'." Ukyo had to stop and give off a small giggle. "I ended up getting to know their parents as well. It wasn't long before they began to ask me to watch over Makoto-chan. I've even taught her how to cook - simple foods at the moment, mind you. She seems to be quite the natural with it."

"You're also going to teach me some martial arts, right?" Makoto asked the older woman with large, pleading eyes.

Giggling at the child's antics, Ukyo nodded. "I already told ya that we'd have to discuss it with yer parents when they get back. They'll probably be okay with it, but it never hurts to ask."

"Alright." Makoto responded with a slight puffing of her cheeks. "We are going to get some ice cream though, right?"

"Well, that's where we are headed." The okonomiyaki chef answered with a nod.

Ranma's head perked up at the mention of ice cream. "Ice cream? It's okay if I come too, right?" The cat-girl combined the question a puppy-dog eyes look combined with folded ears and swishing tail. It wasn't her fault that the treat itself was practically a foible of hers.

A sweat-drop formed on Ukyo's head as the cat-girl continued to assault her with the puppy dog look x2. 'She's as effective as Ranma was with using his girl side to manipulate people.' Then again, the girl's hair was a similar shade, and the personality was almost similar to her ex-fiancé. Ukyo honestly wondered if-- nah, it was impossible. "Alright, ya can come. Just knock it off with that look, will ya?"

"Yeah!" Ranma announced as she raised an arm into the air. Her face and ears drooped a moment later. "I don't have any money, though." Well, she did have money, but most of it wasn't of Japanese currency. She probably had enough yen for ice cream, but it was better to play it safe than sorry.

Ukyo's sweat-drop increased. "I'll pay for yer ice cream as well." Did the redhead even realize what she was doing? She had an extremely powerful weapon at her disposal, and once she got older, that weapon would be 100 times more efficient.

Makoto was amazed at how good the cat-girl was at using the puppy-eyes look. 'I wish I was as good at that as her.'

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Lina-chan, I can't believe you did that." Ukyo commented in disbelief as the trio sat down at a table with the ice cream that they had ordered. Just like what the redhead had used on the older woman earlier, she had mimicked the exact same thing when the man behind the counter started putting together order. The young man had almost seemed to melt at the overly cute and adorable act that Ranma had put up by twitching her ears, swishing her tail, and staring at him with large eyes. "You actually conned an extra scoop of ice cream and a cherry off of him." For possibly the second time within half an hour, Ukyo was having flashes of a certain raven-haired boy turned girl conning some food from unsuspecting vendors. 'It has to be some crazy coincidence. Ranma died 12 years ago. Besides, Lina's only 12-years-old.' Ukyo's eyes widened as a possible connection occurred to her. She honestly didn't know the young redhead's parents, so could it be that… 'Of course not! He would never have done that.' Still, that would explain a few similarities, unless the redhead was actually Ranma reincarnated. The very idea was ludicrous, though.

"It wasn't hard." Ranma answered as she stuffed the cherry into her mouth. "I just have to activate a secret technique I like to call my Cute Charm. Depending on the situation, I act both happy and adorable, or I pretend to be sad and teary eyed." Leaning forward, Ranma pointed towards her ears and tail. "These things are also a big help. By folding my ears and having my tail drooped, the effect of being sad and depressed is increased almost ten-fold. By having my ears perked up and twitchy while having my tail swish excitedly, the cute and adorable aspect is also increased. There are other factors involved, but my ears and tail are my greatest weapon."

Makoto's spoon halted in front of her mouth. "I think it was neat, Lina-neechan, but why do you have those ears and tail? I've never seen anybody else with them."

"I was caught in an accident involving magic when I was younger." Ranma responded as she kept to the story she created. "Out of all the things that could have happened, I think I got the best outcome. Messing with magic when you don't understand a thing about it is dangerous."

The youngest of the trio was slightly skeptical over the whole magic excuse. That didn't mean that she didn't BELIEVE in magic, it's just that it sounded like an excuse that an adult would normally give a child. However, the redhead DID have something that could -- in Makoto's eyes -- only be gotten through magic. If it was true, then she finally had proof that magic was real!

Ukyo was less skeptical about the information. She had already heard the story when she first met the girl years ago. The restaurant owner was also familiar with the dangers of magic herself.

"Can YOU perform any magic, Lina-neechan?" Makoto asked as a small bit of hope welled up in her chest. She almost jumped out of her chair when the cat-girl gave a small affirmative nod. "I wanna see!"

Placing a finger to her lips, Ranma glanced around the vicinity. She then slowly raised her hand and rested it on top of the table with her palm facing upward. A small flame instantly appeared and danced within her open hand before transforming into a small arrow of fire. "Is that good enough for you, Makoto-chan?" Ranma asked as she canceled the flame.

The younger girl stared at the redhead curiously. "But why don't I see a lot of other people use magic?" She watched magicians before, but then se saw a program on TV revealing how some of the tricks were really done. "There are other people, aren't there?"

Ranma scratched the base of her neck as she attempted to determine if she should tell the girl or not. It's not like telling a nine-year-old girl could cause any kind of real problem. Ukyo was also there, but she did experience several instances with magic years ago. 'Feh, what are they going to do? Strip me of my wand?' They apparently weren't allowed to use magic outside of school, but if that's the case, then why was she able to use it without the Ministry breathing down her neck? 'Eh, why not?'

Leaning forward, the redhead began to whisper so that only her companions could hear. "It's because the people who can use magic have laws in place that prevent non-magical people from finding out that magic really exists." Makoto listened in interest while Ukyo stifled a snort.

'They must have really been off their game 12 years ago, then.' The okonomiyaki chef thought humorously.

"Shops and places that cater to magical people can be found all over, but they are invisible to people who can't use magic. That means that even if you do know, there's nothing you can really do."

"But aren't there people who find out?" Makoto asked softly

"Sure," Ranma responded as she recalled something she read. "They end up getting their memory erased, though." The cat-girl added with a frown. She could understand the need for secrecy, but outright erasing a person's memory was just stupid. The Galaxy Police also practiced that for times when a person from an underdeveloped planet learnt of the existence of things their planet shouldn't know about at the time. If they ended up finding out about Hermione, Nashigi, and Gosaria… Well-- she'd be damned if she'd let their memories get erased.

Makoto's eyes widened. "Will my mind get erased because I know, Lina-neechan?" She didn't want her mind erased! She wanted to keep the knowledge that she had just found out.

"If the Ministries find out that you know, it's a possibility." At the younger girl's worrying look, Ranma raised a hand. "Hey, don't worry about it. I won't tell anyone that you know, so you won't have to worry about the big bad memory erasers coming to tamper with your mind." A smirk appeared on her lips as she ruffled Makoto's hair. "Besides, they'll have to get through me before I even let them erase one little memory in that cute little head of yours. Believe me; I'll kick their asses before they even try to do it."

A hint of pink appeared on Makoto's cheeks. "Thanks, Lina-neechan."

"No problem." Ranma responded as she quickly finished her ice cream. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Ukyo slowly eating her own confectionary treat. After the woman just up and left Nerima, Ranma honestly doubted she'd ever meet the girl again. For a year before Ukyo had left, the cat-girl debated on whether she should let her child-hood friend -- as well as other people she knew -- in on that she was really Ranma. The problem was that after having her physiology changed to carry Masu DNA, there was a chance that too many people around Nerima would learn of the secret that the Masakis kept. So with that, Katsuhito had managed to get her to agree that she wouldn't reveal herself to anyone from her previous life. That agreement, however, didn't apply to Akane, Kasumi, Nodoka, or Ryoga since she had already revealed herself to them. The man could be quite persuasive when he wanted to be.

Hell, if it wasn't for 'persuasive' agreement, she probably would have revealed herself to Ukyo. Instead, whenever she had visited Nerima, she had to sit back, act like an almost normal two-year-old, and watch her old friend get more and more depressed with being in Nerima. It honestly pissed her off!

"Ya okay, Lina-chan?" Ukyo asked as she watched the young redhead's mood progressively darken.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine Ucc-- Ukyo-san! I'm just annoyed because I couldn't remember a few elements from the periodic table! Ha-ha…" Scratching her cheek for a moment, the redhead had to sweat-drop. 'I think I just sounded like a geek with that lame excuse.'

'That was kind of geeky.' Ukyo thought with her own sweat-drop. "So, did you finally figure them out?"

Thinking fast, the cat-girl nodded. "Yeah, they're a few I always forget: Darmstradtium, Roentgenium, Unubium, and Ununoctium. They tend to slip my mind at times!" She promptly placed a hand to the side of her head. 'Crap, I really do sound like a geek these days. What did I ever do to you, Washu-chan?'

Makoto could only stare. "Darmstu-- Daruma-- Dama-- What the heck are those?" She asked with a rather weird look on her face. Ukyo, likewise, had a rather blank look on her features.

"Wow, you really know your elements." Ranma turned around to catch sight of the speaker. When she did, her eye began to twitch violently. The stranger was a boy of around 13 or so with tinted glasses that shined almost maniacally in the light. The thing that really disturbed the redhead the most was that as soon as she looked at him, the boy's cheeks seemed to turn red. "I'm honestly amazed to come across someone who could remember the names of those elements and pronounce them perfectly. You apparently take your learning seriously, and I applaud you for that." The boy kept adjusting his glasses and allowing the light to shine off of them.

"Uh-- Thanks." Ranma responded as her fist began to clench.

"By the way," Glasses began with an almost fanatic sound to his voice. "Are those ears and tail truly real? Do you ever have the desire to chase mice or play with yarn? Do you take special care of your appendages?" The boy kept on jumping around Ranma and asking questions. "You don't mind if I study you, do you? Is the fur on your ears and tail soft? Huh, huh?" He proceeded to reach out and grab onto Ranma's tail.

Almost immediately, a painful jolt flew up Ranma's spine and caused her hair and ear fur to stand on end. Without any warning, the cat-girl spun around and delivered a powerful uppercut to the boy's chin and sent him flying into the wall. "You want some more of that? Well come on and try grabbing my tail again, buddy. You'll find yourself in the hospital for the rest of your life!" Glancing down, Ranma noticed the boy's glasses. Using her foot, she tossed the spectacles into the air and snatched them with her hand before crushing them. "And get some new glasses that don't make you look like a damn Gendo Ikari rip-off!"

Not receiving any kind of answer but a low groan of pain, Ranma spun around and made her way out the door of the ice cream shop. After sharing a quick glance, Ukyo and Makoto decided to chase after the young cat-girl. "Lina-neechan, wait!" Makoto shouted as she caught up with Ranma. After catching her breath, the young brunette gave a wide smile. "That punch was awesome! You really sent that jerk flying."

Nearly face-faulting over something she hadn't expected the girl to say, Ranma gave Makoto a smile and a chuckle. "Thanks, kid."

"Do you also know any martial arts?"

"Sure do," Ranma answered. "I'm not all that bad, if I do say so myself."

'Why are there so many coincidences?!' Ukyo internally shouted in annoyance. 'Ranchan died 12 years ago, and Lina is 12-years-old. Lina has red hair just like Ranchan's cursed form, and Lina even has some blue in her eyes that was the same color as his. They act somewhat the same, and they both like martial arts.' There had to be a connection. Her first thought was that maybe -- since she didn't know the girl's parents -- Lina could be Ranma's illegitimate child. However, if that were to happen, everyone would end up knowing, and the news would spread like crazy. It was like the young cat-girl was there to torment her. With a large degree of sadness, Ukyo gave off a sigh. "Ranchan…"

"Yeah?" Ranma asked without thinking. She then halted completely in her tracks with her eyes wide in shock. Turning her head slightly, heterochromatic eyes caught a look of shock and disbelief flashing through the older woman's features. 'Gotta think quickly.' Ranma thought to herself. "Y-- Yeah, I do kind of like yarn balls, Makoto-chan. There's just something about them." Internally, she was smirking. 'Nice save, Ranma.'

Ukyo's eyes narrowed at the attempted save. She didn't believe it for a second. The cat-girl had responded absent-mindedly to her use of 'Ranchan'. The girl also had a shocked look on her face before beginning a rather nervous sentence to make it seem as if that's what she was going to say. 'It could just be an even bigger coincidence.' Ukyo thought as she puffed up her cheeks in annoyance. 'Lina' would probably be on her guard after that, so how could she… that's it! With a smile, the 30-year-old turned her attention to Makoto.

"Makoto-chan, have I ever told you the story that just a few days before he died, Ranma and I had the most romantic time of our lives? On that night, he gave me the most romantic kiss."

"Wow, that's so romantic, Ukyo-bachan." Makoto responded with sparkly eyes.

"Did not!" Ranma refuted before gaining a 'deer caught in the headlights' look.

A faux-curious look appeared on Ukyo's face. "Oh? How would you know such a thing, Lina-chan? You weren't even around at that time."

The cat-girl began to sweat. The jig was up, but there had to be something she could do. 'That's it! That's the only course of action.' Putting on a shocked look, Ranma pointed behind her two companions. "Look, a pig dressed as a clown handing out pamphlets!" The very thought of anyone falling for that was ludicrous.

"Where?" Ukyo and Makoto asked as they turned around.

"…" Ranma was absolutely speechless that they had fallen for it. She decided to not look a gift horse in the mouth and proceeded to teleport away; via a revision of the classic Saotome Anything Goes Final Attack.

"Uh-- Lina-chan, there was nothing…" The older of the two brunettes stared at the vacant spot that originally contained a certain redheaded cat-girl. 'That proves it! Lina's Ranma! That little brat's been pretending all this time.'

"Ukyo-bachan," Makoto began with a hint of sadness, "Why did Lina-neechan have to leave like that?"

"She probably had somewhere she had to be, and she didn't want to bother with saying goodbye and possibly seeing you sad. I'm sure you'll see each other again." Ukyo reassured while patting the young girl on the head. 'I can't believe that little-- When we see each other again, we're going to have a little talk.' The okonomiyaki chef thought darkly.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Reappearing near the lake next to the Masaki home, Ranma let a relieved sigh escape from her lips. However, the problem still remained that Ukyo probably knew for certain that she was Ranma due to those two little slips. "I can't believe I did that!" The cat-girl stated with a groan.

"Did what?" A voice asked from behind.

Ranma spun around to come face to face with Katsuhito. 'How can everyone sneak up on me like they do?' She thought for a moment before responded. "Err-- nothing at all, old man."

"Really?" Katsuhito inquired as he slowly stroked his chin. "It seems that something is indeed troubling you. It wouldn't be that you're having second thoughts about telling your friends the secret, would it?" The light managed to catch his glasses.

Ranma proceeded to cross her arms. "We already went over this. I trust them to keep everything a secret and not tell anyone else about it. Gosaria might be ditsy and somewhat absent-minded, and Nashigi may be loud, but they can keep a secret. Hermione's also wanted to meet Washu-chan, and Washu-chan's taken an interest in Hermione's thirst for knowledge."

The Shinto priest nodded slightly at the redhead's response. Exceptions could possibly be made for their three guests. It was a matter that would have to be taken to the Jurai Royal family and Galaxy Police later on, but considering how certain individuals -- Seto being one of them -- had an interest in the young cat-girl, it was safe to assume that things would turn out alright. "If that's not what you were worried about, then what IS the problem?"

"Nothing!" Ranma received a rather convincing 'Tell me now' look. Now normally, she wouldn't cave over something like that. However, Katsuhito wasn't exactly a frail old man, and he knew many unpleasant ways to get his information. Plus, Ranma really didn't want to be forced into doing chores around the shrine for a long time to come. "Alright," The cat-girl began as she scratched the base of her ponytail. "I may have… accidentally revealed myself to someone I knew from my previous life."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I ran into her after I went to visit Hotaru-chan. She and a kid she was watching were going to get some ice cream, and I tagged along. Long-story-short, I was feeling bad about not telling her a long time ago and having her become increasingly sad. When she said sadly said 'Ranchan', I responded. I tried covering up, but then she tricked me. After that, I distracted them before quickly teleporting back here!" The young redhead explained at a fast clip before averting her eyes.

Katsuhito stared at Ranma for a few moments before responding. "So you ended up revealing yourself to a person from your past when you knew you weren't supposed to?"

"Err-- Yeah."

"Do you know what must be done now?"

Ranma's ears twitched. "Ignore it and hope the problem goes away?"

"No, you must…" Ranma's body tensed as she listened. "Explain the truth to her."

The cat-girl fell forward and onto her face. "Wait-- What?" She asked as she pushed herself back to her feet. "What about all that secrecy crap?"

"You already revealed yourself to her, so I'd say that she already knows the secret. The most you can do now is to admit the truth the next time you see her."

Ranma didn't like it, but she couldn't fault the man's logic. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"By the way, Ranma," Katsuhito began, "Over the next three years, whenever you are able to visit, you're going to have to perform some chores around the shrine for me." Upon Ranma's incredulous look, he continued. "Oh, you didn't think I'd you off without at least SOME punishment, did you? You did break the word you gave me years ago."

"Oh c'mon, it was an accident!" The cat-girl shouted at the retreating back of the Shinto priest. Upon not receiving an answer, she grumbled and made her way into the Masaki house. One of the first things she noticed was that Mihoshi and Gosaria were planted on the sofa right in front of the TV. Curiously, Ranma made her way over and glanced at what they were watching. She noted that it was the lame comedy show with the black and white humanoid guy on it. 'I'll never understand why people find this so funny.'

"For the last time," one of the characters in the skit said, "Give me a break!"

Mihoshi began to laugh after the phrase was stated. Meanwhile, Gosaria scratched her head and had a rather perplexed look on her face. "I don't get it," the younger blonde stated. "How is that even funny? Nothing even happened."

"H-- He said 'give me a break'!" Mihoshi responded through her laughing. "It's such a classic!"

Gosaria tilted her head and continued to look perplexed. "But HOW is it funny? I don't see how saying 'give me a break' is funny." She knew funny, and this kind of thing was not funny. Even the people in the audience were laughing at it. Was it some kind of strange alien thing?

A smirk appeared on Ranma's lips. Perhaps there was some hope for the young blonde after-all. "Gosaria, don't worry about it. If I haven't found these guys to be funny within the last 10 years, there's nothing wrong you not finding them funny either."

"That's good." Gosaria answered with a nod. "I thought I was weird for not finding it funny. I'm glad to know that it's not me."

As Ranma opened her mouth to respond, a blur raced towards her and jumped behind her. The cat-girl easily identified the person behind her as Nashigi. "Lina, I hate to be a bother, but could you please help keep the psychotic and crazy woman away from me? I WOULD use my magic, but then I'd end up getting in trouble for under-aged magic. So, pretty please, help your dear friend out of her dilemma!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ranma asked with a raised eyebrow. "Who the hell is chasing after you?"

As if to answer her question, Ryoko phased up through the floor. "I haven't had this much fun in a long time!" The ex-space pirate announced before laughing. "She runs away like a scared little mouse!"

Nashigi responded by puffing up her chest and putting her hands on her hips. "You wouldn't be saying that if I could use my magic!"

"Uh-- What's going on here?" Ranma asked.

The dark-haired girl extended her arm and pointed directly at the cyan-haired Masu. "This woman, along with her purple-haired friend, tried to outright attack me. When I got away, she began chasing and stalking me all over the house! I didn't do anything to provoke either of them!"

"Don't try and play innocent, kid." Ryoko responded with a roll of her eyes. "You kept on using that wail of yours. Even after you were threatened, you STILL used it. We were merely trying to get you to shut that trap of yours. Of course, I find chasing you to be quite fun."

"Be grateful that BOTH Nashigi and her mom aren't here, Ryoko." Ranma responded. "It would be the exact same thing… in stereo." She watched as the ex-space pirate's eye began to twitch violently.

A pout appeared on Nashigi's lips. "You can be so mean, Lina!"

"Yeah, yeah," the cat-girl responded with a wave of her hand. "Anyway, where's Hermione at?"

"Last time I saw, your little friend was talking to Washu." Ryoko answered with a hint of non-interest. "She mentioned that your friend has the makings of an excellent student, but regretfully, Washu wouldn't be able or willing to take on another full-time student."

A slight frown appeared on Ranma's lips. "Hermione must have been bummed out by that information." For some reason, the admission that Washu was unwilling to take on another student cause an odd feeling of contentedness to bubble up. 'It's not like Washu-chan would want to go all the way back to the basics anyway.'

"She's going to make Hermione her own laptop, though." Nashigi piped up.

Ranma nodded at that information. When Hermione had first set eyes onto the cat-girl's laptop, she had wished that she could have one of her own. Now that she was getting her own, Hermione was probably over-flowing with glee.

Ryoko honestly didn't care who got a laptop or not. "Hey, pipsqueak," she began as she placed a hand on top of the cat-girl's head, "Think you can spare some time later on? It's been a while since we've battled it out, and I want to see if being cooped up in that school all year has made you as soft as jelly."

Ranma's lips curled into a wide smirk. She really did miss the occasional fight she used to always have with the older Masu. Those fights allowed her to hone her Masu abilities. "Just name the time and place where you want me to kick your ancient ass."

"7:00pm, and meet me above the lake, kitty." The cyan-haired woman answered as she extended a fist.

"I'll be waiting, old mummy." Ranma responded as she touched Ryoko's fist with her own.

xxA.Nxx

Wow, this chapter turned out to be my longest one yet. At about 23.5k words, it's the most of any chapter of any one of my stories. xx