Author's Foreword: Forgive my incredibly delayed chapter. I ended up writing too much and pushing off finishing it or making sense of the pile of words I had. As a side benefit, I've already finished most of next chapter, so it should be ready shortly after this chapter.

Thank you for sticking with me! On with the story.

My Love's Flame
A Ranma 1/2 and Sailor Moon Crossover
by Ryan Erik

Chapter Twenty One

Crime scene tape quarantined the convenience store down the block from Minako's tutor's house, but it didn't stop the intrepid white feline from entering unhindered. He casually walked under the tape past two onlookers, who despite being at a crime scene, were arguing about household chores. A large number of domestic motorcycles were parked in front of the store, but a third of them had been knocked over.

He glanced about the area and located a pair of beat cops by the entrance to the store, where the doors were propped open. Padding quietly over to them, he listened intently.

"...believe she's back. I saw her last year when she was working with one of the Tokyo city detectives."

"Really? I heard she was a total vigilante."

"Nah, after a while, she worked with police all over the city to shut down organized crime. The only times we were weirded out at all was at the weirder cases that HQ didn't talk about."

"Didn't talk about? HQ? They'd celebrate busting a twelve-year-old who stole candy."

Artemis walked past the two police officers unnoticed and entered the store, where he saw the manager, whom he recognized from his previous visits here. She was cleaning up with the help of a pair of officers and one of her employees.

"I know, right?" the beat cop who knew more agreed. "You'd think so, but I responded to one. HQ debriefed us and told us not to even mention it again. I probably shouldn't even be telling you this much."

"Whoa, really? Now you have to tell me."

"No way. I like my career, thank you very much."

"Fine."

Just say her name, Artemis willed them, hoping for confirmation that this was indeed his charge's work.

The two cops started to change the subject, prompting Artemis to action.

"Who're you two talking about?" Artemis asked with the deepest voice he could manage from behind a magazine rack by the door.

"Sailor V, of course," the first officer responded without turning.

"Yeah, you didn't see her…?" The second officer trailed off when he looked back and saw no one.

Minutes later, Artemis was running down the street. She'd changed without his authorization. The magic was really specific. When he enacted it upon her this morning, it should have shut off any ability for her to transform without him releasing the lock, or under three circumstances. Either she had been in mortal danger, or a Dark Agency soldier had threatened her. The only other possibility that he had been in mortal danger was impossible, as he'd been asleep on her bed awaiting her return.

Either situation calls for desperate measures, Artemis thought as he ran as fast as he could down the street.

The final salute at the end of kyūdō practice usually filled Kuonji Ukyo with purpose and a sense of wellbeing for the rest of the day. However, after the events earlier in the day, her awareness of Rei's detachment from the practice made it difficult to concentrate. Normally, the girl paid keen attention to her commands and followed them without fail.

This afternoon, Rei couldn't have been any further from her normal self. She made sloppy mistakes, and even broke the most basic of forms several times. Ukyo's friendship was secondary to her position as captain, so she had to discipline her best friend, even though, in doing so, she felt like a traitor.

For her part, Rei hadn't complained when she had been ordered to clean up, instead of taking part in club activities.

Ukyo waited outside the lockers, where all of the girls were changing. Kihara-sensei was lecturing the boys for complaining that they had to put all of the equipment away. As captain, Ukyo didn't have to clean up with them, but she usually did anyway. However, her mind was just as conflicted as Rei's had been earlier.

She tried to listen in to the locker room, where her nemesis, Inihara Fumi, was badgering Rei. Her voice wasn't clear enough through the door to make out the words, but the club captain could tell from the noise inside that Rei wasn't fighting back. Normally, she was spitfire, and gave as good as she got.

She said she was okay before practice, Ukyo thought, grinding her teeth as she glanced over at the boys. Koji Shigeru, her and Ranma's friend from their class, was de-stringing the bows, while the other boys swept the floors, collected arrows in the field, and put away straw targets.

"What's wrong, taicho?" Koji asked with one eye closed, the other focused on the bow in his hands.

She spared the boy a glance for a moment, and then shrugged. "I'm worried I went too far punishing Rei-chan."

"Nah," Koji told her. "Hino-san was barely paying attention all day. Maybe it's that time of the month, or something."

"Fifty laps after you put away those bows," Kihara-sensei said as casually as one might order lunch in the cafeteria before Ukyo told him off.

"What?!" the boy exclaimed, but piped down when the teacher looked at him from the corner of her eye. "Yes, sensei."

Despite the day, Ukyo grinned and turned back to the lockers just as one of the girls exited. It was neither Fumi nor Rei.

"Just my rotten luck," Koji said to Ukyo. "And I thought Kihara-sensei liked me. Why'd she punish me like that?"

"You offended her with that talk about periods," she told him with a roll of her eyes. "Next time, don't put your foot in your mouth, and maybe you won't spend the next hour running. Besides, Rei-chan had something happen before practice that made her upset. This was a one-time thing. Next week, she'll wipe the floor with you again."

Koji frowned and looked down at his feet. He nodded a moment later. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that thing with Saotome-san at the gate. So it's true that Hino-san and Saotome-san are dating? I thought that was just rumor."

She definitely likes him, Ukyo thought as she shrugged. She quickly decided to change the subject rather than divulge any of her best friend's secrets. "Did you see what happened at the front gate? I caught the end part a bit, but I didn't see anything interesting."

"Yeah, I was talking to my girlfriend when Inihara-sempai started World War III with the blond girl. I couldn't believe she slapped Ranma like that."

Inihara-sempai slapped Ranma, Ukyo repeated in her mind, as if checking the fact. How the heck did that happen?

"Tell me all of it," she commanded him, moving in to help him with the bows. "Don't leave anything out."

"Well, there isn't that much to tell," Koji said, apparently unused to gossiping as he shrugged. He seemed to think it over while they finished putting away the equipment. "Saotome-san and I walked to the gate together after class. You left early for practice, and he was really quiet. When we got to the gate, he mentioned something about waiting for someone to show up. I tried to talk him into joining the club, but he didn't seem to hear anything I said, and kept staring down the street.

"So when the girl's school got out, I left to talk to my girlfriend. 'Cause of that, I missed the setup to the whole thing. I looked back when Nao-chan"-he said, referring to his girlfriend-"pointed at a crowd gathering at the gate. I turned and saw that blond girl standing in front of Ranma," he continued. "I moved in closer and saw Inihara-sempai yelling at her, calling her names and stuff. When sempai tried to slap her, Ranma stepped into the slap and stared her down. It was pretty much over after that, and he left with the girl."

Ukyo contemplated the sequence. What could have ticked-off Inihara-sempai like that? She then ruminated back on Rei's identification of the blond girl. If that was actually Aino Minako as Rei said, life here is turning into a soap opera.

"Thanks, Koji-kun," the captain told her subordinate after the moment in thought. "Sorry you have to run laps."

"Not your fault," he said with a shrug, taking the last bow. "Thanks for the help, Kuonji-taicho. Maybe next time you stick up for me, and we run laps together?" He grinned at his joke.

"Sure, I'll commit seppuku with you right after that," Ukyo said dryly, and then nodded him goodbye.

At the same time that the boys began to pull the wall shutter down to close off the archery range from the interior of the dojo, the girls emerged from the changing room to a gaggle of giggling and chatter. As Ukyo turned her head to watch the girls leave, the sunlight faded out of the room. One by one the girls left, but Rei didn't follow.

Wandering to the door, Ukyo hesitated at the entrance to the changing room. "Rei-chan?" she called in. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, I'm done, you can come in," Rei called back from inside.

Gazing back at the boys who were arranging the gear they had brought in, Ukyo entered shyly. Despite the fact that they were best friends and both girls, it still felt odd to Ukyo as she walked in on Rei. She had rarely even used a girl's restroom in the last half of her life, and the times she'd had to felt like invading foreign territory.

A few rays of sunlight filtered through the blinds of the windows by the ceiling, but no other light filled the room. Ukyo could barely make out the girl, who sat on the bench in front of an open locker. She seemed to be dressed, all but for her jacket and thigh-high socks, but it was difficult to tell in the dim light. Her long, dark hair appeared to be draped over her like a blanket, covering most of her body.

"They flipped the lights off on me," Rei said casually, her face pinched in a frown that Ukyo could barely make out through the dark of the room.

"I got it," Ukyo told her, walking across the room to where the light switch was hidden behind a locker. As she walked past Rei, the raven-haired girl caught her by the arm. Stopping her in mid-step, she started from the sudden contact.

"Please, don't turn it on yet," Rei pleaded, her voice unsteady as she released her friend.

"Okay?" Ukyo replied, looking at the girl's face with concern. "You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I just need a couple minutes to clean up a bit," the girl whispered, stuffing things into her bookbag.

"Alright," the captain said, trying to make out what was wrong in the darkness. "But if Inihara-sempai or anyone else did anything to you, they'll never walk right again."

"Please forget about it, Ukyo-kun," Rei asked, her tone serious. "I don't want to bring it up again. It's not important, and I'd rather just move on."

Tugging on her ponytail, Ukyo's face tightened as she tried to keep her cool. Inihara-sempai has it coming, and if it's going to be anyone delivering the punishment, it's going to be me. Standing in front of Rei, she considered possible revenge options, but disregarded it as Rei was always too good for petty revenge.

"Promise me you won't mention anything to Kihara-sensei or take revenge. Nothing happened worth mentioning, anyway."

She knew she was about to promise Rei she'd let it go, but she didn't want to. Petty revenge isn't beyond me. Biting her bottom lip, Ukyo thought about it.

"Please? For me?" her friend said, eyes glittering in the dark.

"Fine, I promise," she replied. In a slightly facetious, yet still somewhat serious fashion, she added, "But note my objection to interfering with justice."

"Objection noted," Rei said more pleasantly. Her shoulders relaxed as she leaned back against the locker from her seat on the bench. "Leave it to taicho-sama to come in and save the day."

"What kind of leader would I be if I didn't protect the cutest girl in the class?"

"Oh, Ucchan," Rei said with all the girlishness of a ten-year-old gushing over an idol.

Ukyo walked over to her locker and opened it to grab her gym bag. She started to open it up when they were interrupted.

"Hey, why're the lights off?" a voice asked from the entrance of the room.

"Dumb girls didn't have to turn off the lights," another one said. "I can never find that stupid switch in the dark."

Ukyo's attention became absorbed by the boys entering the room, when Rei startled her by jumping up, and grabbing her left arm. The girl moved quickly, pulling her towards the back lockers. She had barely enough time to grab her own bag before Rei dragged her quickly across the room, away from where the boys were entering.

"Yeah, why isn't it right by the entrance like everywhere else on earth?"

Suppressing the urge to cry out, Ukyo's eyes widened as she didn't struggle against the girl, who maneuvered her across to the end of the changing area, close to the private restroom. When they were at the back, the lights suddenly turned on, illuminating the room with startlingly bright light. However, the boys were on the other side of the central lockers.

With an open mouth, Ukyo began to ask the girl what was going on, when Rei's eyes grew more determined. With no warning, she shoved Ukyo backwards into the restroom. The sudden force with no explanation caught Ukyo off guard, and she nearly fell on her rear, dropping her bag in the process.

She backpedaled to regain her balance until the third step when her heel hit the base of the toilet, causing her to fall. Her bottom hit the toilet seat with a resounding clatter as Rei followed her in, pushing her bag in with her foot. Stepping into her lap, Rei turned suddenly, and then threw the door shut.

Adrenalin kicked a wave of nervous energy through Ukyo's body as she looked through the pitch dark of the restroom at the girl who had just virtually attacked her. She panted slightly as she recovered from the sudden lack of action her body had compensated for.

Rei stepped away and the door clicked, proof that she had just locked the door. Ukyo heard her laugh under her breath, but it wasn't in mirth. It was a sad, exhausted sort of giggle that one might give in to when tired or stressed out. She gave another sort of laughing sigh, before collapsing on the floor. Ukyo could only tell because she covered the only source of light in the room, which was the minor illumination cast from the other room underneath the door.

Even with the girl sitting on the floor against the door, her legs still touched Ukyo's as the bathroom was too tiny even for one person. When the door would open, it would bang against the knees of the person sitting on the toilet.

Unable to see the hand in front of her face, Ukyo looked at the spot Rei occupied, and asked, "What's going on?"

Ukyo started as the lamp on the ceiling of the restroom flickered to life, making a tapping noise as it went from pitch black to suddenly bright. Her heart still beat swiftly as she looked down at the crumpled figure of the once proud and elegant miko. Her head was pressed against her hands, and her arms were folded over her knees, which she pressed into her chest.

"I'm sorry, Ukyo-kun," Rei said weakly, her face flushed and her eyes closed. She pressed her palms together in front of her face and bowed her head. "I'm an idiot."

It wasn't until Rei slowly stood up that Ukyo understood. The girl hadn't been completely honest when she had said she was dressed. While she wore her uniform, there were small cuts in the blouse that strategically left nothing to the imagination. Rei's white bra showed through the gaps in the material. Also, down the side of her skirt was a red stain that was too bright for blood. It looked as if someone had melted Rei's cherry red lipstick and poured it down the length of the fabric.

"But why?" Ukyo whispered, her eyes narrowing in anger. Her mind focused on the question, Why did they do this to her?

"I was confused," Rei explained, albeit answering a different question. "When you came in, I thought 'she's safe,' but I forgot the boys would follow you."

Outside the restroom, they heard the boys arguing loudly as per their usual behavior when no girls were present. Rei looked over her shoulder as if she'd see one staring at her from behind.

"I meant, why did they do that to you?"

"I don't know," Rei sighed, shrugging her shoulders. "You know girls."

"Obviously I don't," Ukyo replied, gesturing towards her chest. "You didn't even do anything. Why are they mad at you?"

Pulling herself together, Rei rose to her feet and futilely brushed herself off. After closing her eyes for a moment, she seemed to regain her composure. The quick glimpse of vulnerability that Ukyo got of the girl whose classmates at both the boys' and girls' private schools called a goddess disappeared just like that.

"They were upset that I didn't stand up for myself," the girl said quietly, turning to look at herself in the mirror above the freestanding sink. "I think Inihara-sempai is really just angry about being shown up by Ranma-kun earlier. You know her temper."

"Yeah, I do," Ukyo agreed.

Rei put her index finger to her mouth and pursed her lips, shushing her without making any noise. Her hand went back to her waist as she shuffled to make space to put her bag down at her feet.

Ukyo nodded at her, understanding the necessity of their not being caught together, and their sudden flight to the private restroom. As the club's captain, she reserved the right to dress in the restroom anyway, so her presence here wouldn't be odd. As long as they don't see us leave together.

"If they hear me, they will just think I'm talking to myself in here," Ukyo whispered, setting her bag aside.

The miko shrugged helplessly as she began to unbutton her blouse.

Both of the girls' breaths caught when the handle of the door suddenly jiggled. Rei looked at her with wide eyes.

"Taicho, you in there already?" a boy's voice asked.

"Yep," Ukyo said in a way that sounded forced, even to herself. She grimaced, watching Rei's eyes scan the room.

"Mind if I go real quick?" the voice called back. "I drank too much water just now."

"Ain't happening," Ukyo said, unsure what else to say. Rei tilted her head and made a face at her that simultaneously said 'Is that the best you got?' and 'Baka!'

She heard a bang at the door. "What? Why not? Come on, man. I gotta pee something fierce."

Rei looked suddenly walked up to Ukyo, bent down, and then flushed the toilet beneath her. When the girl stood again and took a half-step back, she looked Ukyo directly in the eyes and made a sound that Ukyo could never have imagined coming out of the girl's mouth. Without breaking eye contact, she grimaced and started to make a low, strained grunting noise.

Ukyo's narrowed her eyes in confusion as she tried to make sense of the action.

"Ah, sorry, taicho," Ukyo heard the boy call back. "Didn't realize you had it worse than me. I'll go use the school restroom."

A warmth spread over the girl's face as she stared at the miko, who had stepped back a moment before and leaned up against the door. She looked amused by the toothy grin on her face. Ukyo was less so.

They may think I'm a boy, but that was still really embarrassing, Ukyo thought as she glared at the girl half-heartedly. She made a sour face to show her displeasure at the situation, but it only fueled Rei's mischievous grin, making it wider.

"What the heck?" Ukyo demanded in the quietest voice she could manage, but the pitch of her voice raised high enough that her heart skipped a beat. She grimaced, but no one outside seemed to be listening at this point. They heard random muffled conversations about the upcoming tournament through the door.

When she pressed the back of her hand to her cheek, it felt cool due to the flush of her skin. Rei avoided eye contact after that, and they waited in silence for a few minutes. The miko stood elegantly, carrying herself perfectly straight despite the stains and rips in her blouse that might have made anyone else cover themselves in shame.

I really respect her, the girl-disguised-as-a-boy thought as she watched Rei, whose red lips pouted slightly as she stared at herself in the mirror. Mature beyond her years, the girl had become Ukyo's first real friend since Ranma and his father ruined her childhood. Now, Ukyo considered the miko the best friend she'd ever had. Thinking about how she had almost ruined that with the disguise, and the fight with Ranma, Ukyo's eyes began to feel a bit wet.

Blinking her eyes, Ukyo turned her head and looked at the wall.

"I think we're good now," Rei said a moment later, and went to the door, where she opened it a crack. After a moment, she spoke again. "Yeah, they're gone. We can dress now."

However, despite her statement, Rei closed the door again locked it. She continued unbuttoning her blouse. Shrugging the garment off her shoulders, Ukyo's eyes widened by the girl fully removed her blouse, exposing her flawless, pale skin.

Seeing Rei emotionally vulnerable had been new to the girl, but now seeing her physically vulnerable only reminded Ukyo that she had never really seen girls this way before, having masqueraded as a boy for so long. Despite her lack of interest in girls the way a boy might have it, Rei had an ethereal beauty that caught even her breath as she stared at the girl.

Baka, I'm such a boy, she thought and covered her eyes. I feel like a pervert watching her undress.

"You should change, too," Rei said to her as she used the toes of her bare foot to grab the strap of her bag and pull it in. "You're still staying the night to help with the festival preparations, right?"

Ukyo only nodded as she looked up at Rei, who had put on her gym t-shirt.

"Good, I don't want to be alone with just Ranma tonight," Rei whispered, her eyes dropping to the floor.

"Do you think he's really cheating on you?" Ukyo asked, standing despite the complete lack of room. She tried to shift over to the side, but they were still nearly touching.

"No," Rei said calmly, staring down at a pair of bloomers in her hand. "At least I don't think so. I mean, we're still so new that I don't even know if he thinks it counts as cheating."

I'll kill him if he thinks like that, Ukyo thought intently as she began to slip out of her practice uniform. Reflexively grimacing as she picked her bag up and placed it on the closed seat toilet, she noticed that Rei paused in her dressing. The girl had both of her arms in the gym t-shirt, but she hadn't pushed her head through yet.

The girl looked at Ukyo with an inquisitive expression. "Did you just say something?"

"Nope," Ukyo said, removing her uniform and resting it over her bag for hanging up later. She listened intently for a moment, but heard nothing outside of the restroom, while Rei finished putting on her top. "I don't hear anything either."

"Oh well, must have been my imagination," the dark-haired beauty replied, dropping her skirt to the floor. "I can't believe I'm even considering walking home in bloomers. I wish it was winter and I had my gym pants here."

"You can wear my uniform pants," Ukyo offered, pulling them out of her bag.

"You want to wear girl's bloomers that bad?" Rei asked innocently, her eyebrows raising.

"What? No!" Ukyo exclaimed, her voice low, but insistent. She frowned and pulled a pair of shorts out of her bag and placed it on top. "I have my gym shorts here, too."

Rei beamed, and then leaned over the tiny space between them, resting her head on Ukyo's shoulder. "I'm joking, of course. Not that you'd look bad in bloomers."

"Everyone looks bad in bloomers," Ukyo retorted, holding her pants over to the girl. "Take 'em."

Rei did as she was told, putting her bloomers away in her bag along with her stained skirt. She bowed her head at Ukyo, who just nodded back.

"Boys don't think bloomers are ugly," Rei offered, looking at her. "You're the only one that does, I think."

"They just like looking at girls' butts," Ukyo stated, watching Rei slip into her pants. She then turned away from Rei and slipped out of her training uniform. "And I'm not a boy. I'm all girl, even if I dress like this."

"I know." Rei's eyes and long lashes regarded Ukyo evenly. "Still, boys make up half the population. So not everyone thinks they're ugly."

"Everyone who matters think they're ugly, and boys can go kiss my butt." Ukyo turned her head and made a face at the girl who only argued semantics to get on her nerves. She slipped out of her training pants quickly, and realized that this was the first time she'd undressed in front of someone since she was a little girl.

Rei's lips curled into an impish grin, foretelling future teasing that would come her way. Ukyo turned away and pulled her gym shorts out from her bag, and then slipped both of her legs into them.

"They'd like to do that, if they knew how cute it was," Rei said with a devious tone.

As her heart skipped a beat, Ukyo accidentally dropped her shorts, which fell on top of her feet. She briefly saw herself in the mirror as if making eye contact with herself, and then looked at Rei with a shocked expression on her face. She felt her hand shake slightly as she looked at Rei.

"Ucchan?" Rei whispered, her face suddenly covered in concern. With eyelashes fluttering, she held a hand out as she apologized. "I'm sorry, did I embarrass you? I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."

The thick, awful feeling of inadequacy oozed from her chest as Ukyo suddenly leaned back against the restroom wall. Rei might as well have been a teen calendar model, and was on the verge of becoming a beautiful woman. Ukyo's boyish body had served the purposes of her disguise, but missing a piece of her life never felt more evident than it did in the moment that Rei reminded her that she was actually a girl.

It didn't matter that Ukyo knew she was a girl, and had had to hide her gender a million different ways every year of her life since she chose to become a boy. All this time she had sworn off her womanhood to get revenge, but that felt to be a useless exercise now. The thought that she had sacrificed all that she had for a useless endeavor made her feel like she was dying inside.

Ukyo looked up at Rei for a moment. She could never be mad at the girl who made her feel more like a person than she had felt in a long time. Despite that, even a joke about being cute was like hot irons to her fragile ego. Others considered her the top of her class and respected her as a boy, but she wasn't anyone as a girl. The thought that any them would find her attractive felt laughable to her.

Even though she knew Rei was joking, and that her friend cared for her greatly, the remark had also made her realize that she would never appeal to boys the way that Rei did as naturally as breathing. This realization felt like a brick in her stomach, but she gathered what was left of her wits and knelt down as if to curtsey, and then lifted her gym shorts up to her hips.

Is this jealousy? she wondered, her mind distancing itself from the stress reaction her body was inflicting upon her. Why do I feel like this?

"Hey, are you okay?" Rei asked, moving up to her friend. "I really didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I was just poking fun. I won't do it again if you don't want me to."

"No, that's not it at all," Ukyo quickly replied. "I'm just not used to being teased as a girl. I sometimes forget that I'm just pretending to be a boy."

"You're a better girl than anyone at my school, and a better boy than anyone at yours," Rei told her, placing her hands on both of Ukyo's bare shoulders. Her hands were warm. The sudden contact felt good to her, as she hadn't really been touched by anyone in such an intimate way before, and her face flushed in response.

"Stop," Ukyo said quietly, turning her head bashfully.

"No, I mean it," Rei said, pulling her into a hug, where Ukyo could hide her rosy cheeks. "When I thought you were a boy, I really thought you were awesome. You are so graceful and considerate." She pulled back and beamed a smile at her. "Now that I know you're a girl, it's like getting the best of both worlds. You're just the best person around."

It was absolutely impossible to look the miko in the face after such a declaration. She didn't know how to respond. "Thanks." Her voice was weak, and her eyes watering, but she felt better than she had in a while as the warmth spread around her body and gave her goosebumps.

"I'm not kidding, you know," Rei backed off and finished folding her clothes and putting everything away in her bag. "I really like Ranma, but if it ever came between you and him, I would choose you."

Blinking in surprise, Ukyo couldn't respond for a second. She held her hands at her waist looking between Rei and the blank wall. When she finally realized that she felt exactly the same way, she told her as much. "I would, too."

"Good!" Rei said, the smile coming back to her lips. "Now put your shirt on. Your bandages are starting to unwrap themselves."

Ukyo panicked for a moment, checking her coverings, but realized Rei was just teasing her again. She looked up and grinned back. "So much for not teasing me."

"Hey, you sounded as if you liked it," Rei said, taking both of their training uniforms and slinging them over her shoulder.

"You never did this before, you know," Ukyo told her friend as she dressed in the remainder of her school uniform.

"Before what?" Rei asked, waiting with her hand on the door.

"Before Ranma showed up," the Ukyo replied, picking up her bag after zipping it shut.

"Really? Was I always a stick in the mud?" Rei opened the door slowly and looked out. "We're clear."

"No, but you were way more proper. Even when we were alone." Ukyo followed Rei out the door. She hung her uniform in her locker. "I'm glad for it, though. You've really opened up a lot since then."

"Well, you were a boy to me back then," Rei said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"True."

"A boy I liked…"

"What?!"

"Kidding!"

"Are you sure?

"Maybe!"

They left the school behind after locking up the dojo. On Ukyo's bike, they made good time, and would easily reach the steps of the temple at least an hour before dark. The sky was a mess of scattered clouds illuminated orange by the fading sun. Rei had offered to sit up front, but Ukyo offered her the seat and only used the barest edge.

"How's everything back home?" Rei asked suddenly, breaking a silence that had permeated between them for a few minutes since they had begun the ride.

"You know, the usual. Dad lost his job again, so I have to do some extra hours next week after practice." She stiffened as she talked, not terribly overjoyed that Rei would bring this up while she was pedaling the bike.

She felt Rei's hands slide down from her shoulders to around her waist, and felt Rei press into her. Is that another hug? Ukyo felt really embarrassed as she rode down the street. Anyone who saw them would think they were together.

"I'm sorry, Ucchan," Rei whispered, her voice barely audible over the rush of wind around them. "I want to help you any way I can. Promise you'll let me help you if I'm able?"

Rather than make a promise she knew she wouldn't keep, Ukyo kept quiet, but still felt oddly comforted by the gesture. After confessing her feelings in the restroom, Ukyo knew Rei cared more about her than her own father ever had. She knew that Rei would do whatever it took to help her out, even if it messed up her own life.

I can't let her get involved with my problems, she thought resolutely. I have to take care of this on my own.

"It's not like you can help me pay the rent," Ukyo said to dissuade further discussion on the subject. She then slowed her bike to avoid pedestrians crossing the street. "And it's not like my dad and I can stay with you at the temple."

Ukyo felt Rei pull back suddenly, causing the bike to wobble slightly. As she corrected the imbalance by speeding up, she wondered what the girl thought about her father. The man was hardly loveable. The one time that Rei had met him, he'd sneered at her and made fun of Ukyo for not being a real boy, nearly blowing her cover at the time.

She hadn't brought anyone around since.

"While that's true, it doesn't mean you can't stay at the temple," Rei said clearly in Ukyo's ear. The girl still held on to her tightly around her waist.

The idea sounded too bizarre to even consider, but Ukyo couldn't shake it off as easily as she had before.

If I left him behind, I could save for my restaurant, the girl realized as she pulled up to the corner, where she turned right down the street towards the temple.

She tried to push the notion out of her mind, but it didn't fully go away, so she changed the conversation. "Hey, so you think Ranchan's back by now?"

It was Rei's turn to stiffen, and she pulled back, her hands pulling back to Ukyo's ribs, tickling them. Ukyo squeaked in surprise, and had to grip the steering wheel tight to avoid jerking and crashing them into a wall.

"Sorry," Rei said, and then paused to answer her question.

"Ranma better be home," she muttered, her voice agitated now. "I mean, it's not like we declared we're together or anything. But still, if he spent all day with…" Her voice trailed off.

"With a celebrity?" Ukyo offered.

"Yeah, what the heck is Aino Minako-san doing with him anyway? It's really weird."

"Are you jealous of him, or of her?" Ukyo asked.

"Huh?" Rei muttered in confusion. "I'm not jealous of either of them."

"It must be jealous of her," Ukyo said with a grin. "You get to tell her fortune tonight, but she got to spend all day with your boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend," Rei said quickly, but then recanted. "Well, I mean, it's not that we're not… you know. It's just, we never said we were boyfriend and girlfriend. I have no idea what he thinks on the matter."

"You shouldn't worry too much," Ukyo said after a moment. "You said he saved her from the fire before. Maybe she was just saying thank you today and ended up causing a mess because she's a new idol."

"Maybe," Rei said with a sigh as they arrived at the stairs to her home. "But couldn't she have done it in a way that didn't cause both of our schools to find out?"

"You can always club him over the head again for being a baka," Ukyo said, her lips curving into a grin.

"Wait, Ranma told you about that?" Rei said, surprised.

"Destined to meet under moonlight," Ukyo said as if reciting a poem, turning the tables on the girl, who had enjoyed teasing her without retribution for too long. "The boy seeks shelter; the girl only seeks to fight."

"Ha-ha," the miko said, unable to take her own medicine. "Very funny."

They arrived at the stairs to the temple moments later, where Ukyo would be spending the night. She hadn't done it before, as it hadn't been appropriate for a boy to stay at a girl's house. However, now that Rei knew she was a girl, everything had changed for the better.

Rei hopped off the back of the bike, easily clearing the rear wheel. She then grabbed their bags out of the basket in the front of the bike, and then walked up the first few steps.

"You should consider it," Ukyo told her, lifting her bike up to carry it up the stairs. "You're the only one who can get close enough to Ranma to knock some sense into him."

"If he can't hear you, he's an easy target," Rei told her nonchalantly. "It's not like I have some kind of ninja skills."

Shaking her head, Ukyo followed the girl up the long flight of stairs to the top of the hill. Sure, except he has amazing hearing, and he didn't hear her at all.

When they got to the top, Rei stopped.

"Grandfather?" she asked. "What are you doing out at the gate?"

Ukyo reached the last step and adjusted her bike, only to see Rei's grandfather, chewing a reed at the gate of the temple. The diminutive old man smiled at the two of them as they approached.

"Granddaughter," he said warmly, opening his arms for a hug.

Rei approached him cautiously, and hugged him with a suspicious look on her face. "What's gotten into you?"

Ukyo walked up to the pair and set her bike down on its wheels. She wiped sweat off her brow with the back of her left hand.

"Oh, nothing," the old man said after he pulled back. "Can't I just be happy to see my precious granddaughter?"

"You're never this happy to see me," the miko told the old priest. "What's going on?"

"Oh, it's just nice to have girls at the temple again," the man said with a cheery grin. "Hello, Ukyo-kun. It's good to have you with us again. Have you reconsidered my offer of a part-time job? Even though you're a boy, you'd make a great miko. No one would ever know."

Before Ukyo could respond emphatically in the negative, Rei took a challenging step forward. "What do you mean by girls? And where's Ranma?"

"He's in the garden with his new protegée," the old man said with a wide smile. "It's so nice having young voices in the temple again."

Rei didn't seem to hear a thing as she charged directly past the old man.

Did Ranma bring Aino-san back to the temple with him? Ukyo wondered, slightly in awe, but mostly in horror. She watched in alarm as Rei stomped with determination through the shop booths towards the shrine. Rei's gonna kill him!

Ukyo took off after her, catching up a moment later. She walked beside the girl who barely noticed her, not sure what her role would be in this matter.

If he did bring her back here, he kind of deserves a butt-kicking, she reasoned, taking a few steps back as they rounded past the shrine through to the garden.

Rei walked into the garden beyond the shrine first, and stopped mid-step so suddenly that Ukyo nearly walked directly into her back. When she stepped around the girl to see what caused such a reaction, her jaw dropped at the sight in view.

In the next chapter, we'll have the resolution of whatever the heck was going on in the garden. Also, the mysterious celebrity makes another appearance, and Ranma meets his ultimate enemy. All of these things may in fact be related, or not! Stay tuned next time.

Release will be one week after this chapter's release date.