Honoka sang to herself as she skipped down the hallway at Otonokizaka. She had two armfuls of snacks and drinks and not a care in the world. It was time for the latest meeting of the club, and everything could not be more perfect. At least by looking at her.

Following well behind were Umi and Eri, staring at her retreating form. "Is this...normal?" Eri asked slowly, not quite believing it.

Umi shook her head. "Sadly, yes. Honoka's got denial down to an art form. I think it's how she gets through when she otherwise can't cope. To be honest, I'm a little surprised she didn't end up like this months ago."

Eri pinched the bridge of her nose. "At least Kotori's bloodwork is all normal. She'll be here for the big meeting. The question is whether Honoka will be."

Umi sighed. "She doesn't go completely nuts or forget stuff. I mean, not really. She just...kinda ignores everything she doesn't like for awhile." She turned away from Eri to keep heading towards the club room, only to be staring into Honoka's eyes from about five centimeters away.

"I'm not ignoring anything." Honoka said, grinning like a loon. "I've got a plan to get Ranma back!"

Watanabe You was, in short, one worried middle school girl. Her best friend, Takami Chika, had said she just wanted to hang out today rather than work on studying, but instead of retreating to her bedroom over the inn or You's apartment, they were wandering the roads alongside the extensive mikan orchards in the region. Sometimes, when she was younger, Chika would beg the farmers for the fruit, but it was out of season right now.

"Hey. You wanna talk about what happened in Tokyo yet?" You asked her friend.

Chika grinned at her. "Nah. Wasn't a big deal."

You wasn't buying it. "Chika, you won. You should be screaming and celebrating until school starts." She suddenly stepped out in front of her friend, stopping the other girl with a hand on her shoulder. "Have you even started your summer homework?"

Chika looked at her with a tilt of her head. "Well, yeah. I finished it the day after I got back."

You stared at her. "You. Finished your homework. Without even being prompted." she said as much as asked. "And you think you're fine?"

"Well, yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" Chika asked, completely baffled. "Anyway, I was gonna see if I could get some mikan."

"There won't be any for three months!" You screamed. "Now I know something's wrong." It was about at that point that she realized Chika wasn't paying attention to her. She looked up.

There was a boy with a pig-tail, digging an irrigation ditch. That wasn't actually anything special. Even the fact that they hadn't seen him before wasn't really noteworthy. They didn't visit that often, especially outside the season for migratory workers. What was special was that he was swinging the backhoe about four times a second, and every strike threw up enough dirt to extend the channel being made to the same depth of about ten centimeters.

"...wow." Chika murmured.

You looked between Chika and the boy, before she just sighed. Anything to cheer Chika up, I guess.

It was at that moment that the boy looked up at a branch. With a grumble, he leaped up to the branch, about five meters above, and casually snipped it off, completely oblivious. You's jaw hit the ground. But then she sensed something truly terrifying. She turned her head to look at her friend, the stars already appearing in her eyes. "Chika, leave the nice man alone."

Chika already wasn't listening. "Heeeeeey! Mister! How'd you do that!?"

The boy, or rather young man, looked down at the pair and sighed. He jumped out of the tree and landed right in front of them. "Hey, kids." He said, slowly looking around. "Uhh...did ya record that?" When both girls shook their heads, he wiped his forehead in seeming relief. "Yeah, what'll it take for you two to forget you saw that? I'm tryin' to keep a low profile."

"How'd you do it?!" Chika shouted, the three braids down the left side of her head dancing in time with her bouncing.

Akane was sitting in meditation. Around her were Doctor Tofu, Cologne, and Happousai. Her three tormentors. The ones who held her future in their hands. Kasumi was out shopping, to ensure that there would be no interruptions.

A wise person would have pointed out that, in Nerima, this was usually the point where, in fact, all of the interruptions would occur. But it seemed that the change in the air had even reached the dojo, for no such interruptions occurred. It was just Akane, those conducting the test, and a rebuilt Wack-a-Ranma machine.

Once she felt the air noticeably cool around her, she was ready. She stood up, and put the coin in the slot, and began the exercise. Ranma's voice shot out the insults, faster and faster, and Akane held back each time, carefully measuring her responses. Target after target evaded her, but that was acceptable now. She would get her chance.

She knew it was coming, too, the point where all the little figures would pop up with their red eyes. She took a deep breath when that happened, and stuck her hands in her pockets for three full cycles.

The three masters said nothing. The full field of red eyes passed without comment, and Akane resumed the challenge. It was only a few more hits and the game ended, with one million points. Akane smiled, then turned and bowed.

Cologne was frowning. "I say 'no.' You subverted the point of the exercise."

Tofu was pensive. It took him a long time to speak, but when he did it was as grave as Akane had ever heard him. "I must concur with the Elder. Akane, this was a test of self-control, not of how well you can exercise external controls on your behavior. You've already seen that, in the worst of circumstances, there is no one to stop you but you."

Happousai took the longest, and then nodded. "While I see their point, I disagree. At least enough to declare this test passed." Akane blinked. "Everyone has their own ways of doing things, and one of the core precepts of the School is that anything that works is acceptable." The Elder and the Doctor gave him troubled looks. "Don't misunderstand. I take responsibility for this decision, for as long as I can. If you haven't fully mastered yourself in a few years, we may revisit this. But I expect there will be no more deadly outbursts. This is your last chance."

Akane gulped.

"Very well, as long as you understand that, you are now a student of the school of Anything Goes Martial Arts."

"Okay!" Honoka shouted to bring the meeting to order. Mu's was sitting in the sweltering club room. Kotori's wrists were still in bandages, and she wasn't looking entirely present thanks to the pain medication, but she could at least focus on her friend. "It's simple. Hanayo, Nico, how are our ratings?"

"After the concert, or the rumors?" Nico asked. "Honestly, Tendo miscalculated. Someone wants a band out of the competition so badly they resorted to murder? Everyone's wondering what we're about and they've been downloading all our stuff like crazy. One more big hit and we'll be beating A-RISE."

Honoka nodded. "Maki, remember back at the meeting with the lawyer? Just because Tendo stole the songs doesn't mean we can't use them, we just have to credit, right?"

Hanayo frowned. "Even if that's true, School Idol groups that do covers tend to get slammed. Especially if it's covers of other Love Live groups."

Maki was more thoughtful. "Normally, that's true, but music is like art. There's sort of signatures to it. Hmm...how to explain...I could write an original song that sounded like Eguichi Chisato's, just to take a completely random example. It would be a whole lot more work than just doing what comes naturally. But if I really, really wanted to and had six months and listened to nothing else but her work, I could make something that you wouldn't be able to tell from a new song she wrote in a week. Key words, that you could tell apart. Anyone familiar enough with music that knew one of them was a forgery would figure out which one pretty quick unless I did a much better job than I think I can."

Umi shook her head. "How does that help?"

Nozomi smiled, and flipped a card. "I think what Maki's saying is that we can get results a whole lot faster now that the public knows something's going on." She took a deep breath, shuffling the card back into her deck. "Okay. I'll try a single-card." She flipped another one. "...The Star. That makes sense."

Eri grinned. "You think we've strayed from our core values?"

"Well, we didn't have a lot of choice," Nico pointed out. "But yeah, in hindsight we've gotten pretty far from being idols just trying to get through this nonsense. Now that we're in the spotlight, though, it's time to look back at that."

Honoka grinned. "Eri. We have three days. Can we put together a PV?"

"Impossible." Honoka deflated. "It takes us three weeks to do the choreography, program the drones, rehearse, and everything else that goes into a full-quality PV that's worthy of the top idols on the web site. Even if we were all gifted with Ranma's brain for memorizing movements and Maki's perfect pitch, used a still camera, did without costumes….I can't see any way to do the job in less than a week and that's cutting production to the bone."

Kotori sighed. "You were hoping to send a message to Ranma, weren't you?"

"...yeah." Honoka said with a sigh. "I guess some things really are impossible."

They all sat quietly for a few minutes, lost in their own thoughts. Eri with a resigned sigh. Nico looking deeply troubled, thumbing through the ratings as she often did these days. Nozomi looking to her cards longingly before putting them away without so much as a single draw. Maki starting to seem drawn again, much to Umi's notable discomfort. I just hope she doesn't get depressed again.

They passed that way for nearly twenty minutes. Finally, Nico stood up. "What's the song?" That got a chorus of shouts. "What. Is. The. Song?!" She shouted over them. "I'm club president around here! I say we do it. It'll scuttle our chances at the National round, but that has the advantage of taking us out of A-RISE's sights until the Festival. We can make back the lost ground later, but we can't get another Ranma."

Ranma was doing a quick circuit of the edge of the property when he saw some of the barbed wire fencing, strung up between long, sturdy poles, had fallen down. He leaped up to the top of a pole easily enough to grab the top strand, intending to cut it and throw it away so it could be taken care of later.

He had just finished gathering it up into a coil for transport when he heard someone breathing hard on the pole behind him. He turned around and there was the orange-haired girl from earlier. Forced to take a closer look, she was slim and definitely supremely fit - nearly at the peak of what was possible for her age. She was wearing a pink dungaree cutoff over a simple white shirt with blue pinstripes, and well-worn sneakers. Her wine-colored eyes shone brightly, and for reasons he would probably never understand she had done her hair up in three braids down the left side of her face. "I'm Takami Chika! Nice to meet you. Can you teach me how you're doing - "

Ranma was busy stacking up empty barrels that had been delivered earlier that day in the warehouse. They would later be used for collection and transport of the fruits as they came into season. Of course, being Ranma, he wasn't stacking them with a ladder, but simply tossing them into position.

He nearly missed when he heard the sound of clapping. He looked up to the second floor, and Chika was, indeed, there, with the blonde-haired You right behind her looking decidedly concerned. He sighed and went off to do something else.

Ranma had decided to try to escape his newfound problem by forgoing the superhuman stuff for awhile in favor of something more tedious - specifically cleaning up the tool shed. It was the sort of thing that would make everyone's lives easier, but took forever and didn't directly accomplish any of the vital tasks of running a farm, so no one ever did it. But Ranma knew he was ahead of his assigned tasks for the day, even with the interruptions, so why not? He could probably have used the Amaguriken to speed it up, but he was feeling slightly off and decided he was just going to do this normally.

When he opened the door, Chika was already in there. His eyes went up to a tiny window that a contortionist would have trouble with. "Can you - " He slammed the door in her face and ran off.

Ranma noticed another tree with branches in need of pruning. He leaped up and dove in among the leaves with his clippers to get to work on some of the middle branches. He had just barely gotten started when he suddenly had a face full of middle-schooler. Chika had somehow, without his noticing, climbed up the other side of the tree even higher than he was standing, curled her legs around a branch, and flipped down to stare him in the face. "Even I'm not that good! How do you do it?"

Ranma...was rapidly getting annoyed. Little Chika had apparently never heard the word 'no' in her life. And he still had a job to do, which unfortunately involved more ki-fueled feats. In this case, he needed to pick up the fertilizer and move it to the outer fields. Thankfully it would stay in its' bags - the boss didn't want an amateur actually applying it. So now he was carrying eight large, thirty kilogram bags of the stuff over his shoulders, being followed by a girl who was barely a teenager.

"How...how do you do all this stuff?!" Chika asked. Again. The fourteenth time she had phrased it that way specifically. There had also been several 'How are you doing that's and entirely too many 'Can you teach that to me's and three 'I need to know!'s.

You was following at a more respectful distance, looking increasingly embarrassed with every repetition, but it didn't change that this was starting to get dangerous. Ranma could work without a truck, but they were all over the place and not looking out for little kids. He also couldn't leave them in the dust, for the same reason. So he finally just started distributing the bags to the trees they were needed at at the edge of the farm.

Once the last of the dung was set down, he turned to Chika and put his hands on her shoulders. "Takami? That was your name, right?" She nodded. "Look, Takami, I see this is important to ya, but it's no good. You can't do this stuff, no matter how much you work." That had been the wrong way to say it, apparently. The color drained from her face, and her eyes started to fill with tears. Ranma swallowed. "It's...it's nothing to do with you personally, exactly."

That had been even worse. She finally broke out into tears and tried to slug Ranma in the face. "I can too do it!" Chika screamed. "You….you stupid...city boy! I can do anything you can! You just won't give me a chance!"

Ranma blinked. "Uh...where the heck did that come from?" Chika kicked him in the shin. It didn't exactly hurt but Ranma had learned when to let things go, which he did to Chika to feign a bit of a wince in that leg. "No, seriously. Takami, I'm sure that whatever you need it for is important, but it ain't worth your life."

"Yes it is!" Chika screamed. "I don't want to be stuck out here forever!"

It was at that moment that You finally made her reappearance, grabbing Chika by the wrist. "I'm so sorry she's bothering you…" she said, bowing. "Come on Chika."

It was time to set - to try to discuss recent events with Ranma like reasonable adults. Akane took a deep breath. Soul of Ice. Soul of Ice. Akane repeated it in her head as she approached the lion's den. Otonokizaka Academy. She remembered from the blog that the club didn't even have a proper practice room, instead having been exiled to the roof despite half the school being empty. Since school was technically out of session, there was no one to stop her the way Shampoo had been.

She went straight up the stairwell, switching to a pair of visitor's shoes where in the past she would have simply stomped her way up the stairs. She nearly - nearly - lost her control of the technique when she heard the strains of music. Our songs! What the hell are they doing practicing one of our songs?!

She opened the door, and they weren't even dancing, just standing around their music player singing the lines. "What the Hell is going on here?!"

Umi's expression went cold and hard. "Get lost, Tendo. You're even less welcome than you used to be."

Akane took a deep breath. Soul Of Ice, Akane. "I came to speak to Ranma. He's still my fiance. I have the right - "

Umi snarled. "Yeah, well, you've got no rights here. You're officially trespassing. Eri." Eri nodded, pulling out her cell phone. Akane's eyes narrowed. "Don't you get it?" Umi added. "After what your sister pulled, even if Ranma were still here he wouldn't talk to you again."

Akane's sudden expression of shock and incomprehension suddenly got to Honoka. "Wait, you mean you seriously don't know? That Kodachi loon attacked Kotori and you were...what? So busy with your training and singing practice you didn't even know?"

Akane took another deep breath. "Okay, so Kodachi finally tried to kill someone. That's not really a surprise. In hindsight, we really should have gotten the authorities involved a whole lot sooner. How does this automatically become Nabiki's fault?"

Honoka put a hand on Umi's shoulder to restrain her friend's obvious anger. She did the same to Eri with a gesture...then found she couldn't stay calm either. She looked to Nozomi imploringly, who finally spoke. "She confessed, Tendo. No, that's not right. She bragged that we'd never be able to prove it."

"Hmph." Akane said. "I can't believe she'd actually go that far...but I can believe she'd say she did." She let that comment hang. "Anyway, where's Ranma?"

Honoka shook her head. "He's not here. He took off the instant he recovered from saving Kotori."

Akane took another breath. "You mean you didn't even try to stop him? Some girlfriend you are!" Honoka didn't even bother trying to correct her. "I'm going to go talk to Kodachi. She's probably got him stashed somewhere."

The last of the firewood was dumped at the campsite. Somehow, despite fending off an attention-starved wolf in the shape of a thirteen-year-old girl, he had still managed to get all of his assigned work done early and then some, so he'd gotten off his shift early enough to double-check his new home for the next few months. "I'll probably need ta move on after harvest…"

A snapping twig put him on full alert, but then he realized he couldn't sense any ki users in the area and relaxed. Sure enough, it was. . . .the other girl. A part of him that had adapted his opponent evaluation skills to the contest looked her over - just beginning to grow into the frame that would make her an excellent School Idol. He also noticed some scars across her knuckles that indicated she was probably a mundane martial artist of some skill. She wore her ash blonde hair shorter, but not so short that something couldn't be done with it.

Her outfit was obviously chosen for a mix between practicality and appearance. The jean shorts were fine, and appropriate to the heat, but Ranma suspected that her light blue shirt was a little too delicate. When she spoke, it was with a gentle cough. "Mister, I'm sorry about today. Chika can be a handful, but lately…" She sighed. "Are you sure you won't change your mind? I'm worried about her."

Ranma sighed. "Kid...what's your name?"

"Watanabe….Watanabe You," the girl said.

Ranma started building the fire. "You...have you heard legends about ki?"

Surprisingly, You made an affirmative noise. "My sensei's sensei can do some of that stuff. Two years ago he came through looking for special students, but I wasn't picked. But I still got the lecture, and I guess I don't have what it takes."

Ranma snorted in amusement. "You're better off. Trust me - you wanna get to my level you gotta be willing to go all out, even if you've got the talent. I don't just mean you gotta work yourself into exhaustion, either. You'd almost certainly die. And no, Chika doesn't have the talent either."

You sat down and watched Ranma at work with a solemn expression that was obviously out-of-place on her. "Isn't there anything you could do?"

Ranma looked at her levely. "Why is this so important? Let me be perfectly clear here, Watanabe, in case I wasn't before. If I just agree to train Chika, to the level she wants, my way, she'll die." You just looked back at him levelly. "So, either you don't care about your friend's life, or that isn't what you really want. I'm guessing it's the second. I can't work with 'she wants to do what I can' so what do you actually need from me?"

You finally broke down, sniffing. "I...I don't know what to do. She went to a gymnastics tournament last week. Up in Tokyo, the big regional one."

"She lost?" Ranma guessed reasonably.

You shook her head. "She brought back a gold medal in horizontal bar, a bronze for an uneven bars routine she tried to add, and every other event she got at least eighth. It was amazing and she's been depressed ever since!"

Ranma busied himself with shredding some tinder. "Damn, that's insane."

"Well, obviously," You huffed. "But she won't tell me what happened afterwards!"

Ranma nodded, thinking. "Well, if she's that good, she should be training for the Olympic team. I mean, if I understand the way it works right."

You stared at him. "Wait, really? You think Chika's that good? I mean, she's from...here."

Ranma nodded. "She's a mundane who can keep up with a ki adept like me. You're damn right she's that good. Better, even."

You blinked. "But, then...what…?"

Ranma shrugged. "Okay, so yeah. She really wants someone who can help her work on her gymnastics game for next year? Or maybe some way to leverage that for a better use of her time than moping around or harassing me?" He seemed to think about that for a few minutes. "Okay. Tell her that, if she doesn't keep harassin' me tomorrow, day after I have off. Meet me by…" he thought about it. "You're from Uchiura, right? There's a small market between there and Awashima. Meet me there and I'll show her something she can work on."

"Honoka?" The ginger was startled by the soft voice from behind her. She turned around, Hanayo standing there. She was shuffling her feet, arms linked behind her, unable to meet Honoka's eyes. "Honoka, can I ask you something?"

The older girl gave Hanayo a close look. "What's the problem?"

Hanayo made a little 'meep' sound. "Uh, it's no problem, it's just...uh, the new arrangement for the song?"

Honoka shook her head. "We're scrambling as it is. We can't change the lines now."

Hanayo blushed. "I just...I want Kotori's part." When Honoka didn't say anything. "I don't know, it's just...I know we wrote that song months ago, and that….I don't know. I'm just…"

Honoka nodded slowly. "The lyrics really are perfect, aren't they? But...why those lines?

"I don't...it's...it's what I want to say to him. Her." Hanayo finally said.

Honoka gulped. "Oh...oh dear." She sighed. "Have you cleared this with Kotori?"

"Y-yes. She's fine with switching."

Honoka nodded. "You'll have to practice all night, as late as you can, and so will she. We can't slip up."

Akane walked in through the front doors of the hospital. It was a weird experience for her - she immediately felt a rush of terror and determination from the security booth, and glanced over to see the man there staring right at her and saying something into his phone. She was about to go over and ask what the problem was, when two large, uniformed police officers came through the door next to the booth.

Then she remembered that the Nishikino family owned a hospital in Akihabara and put two and two together. She ran out, and thankfully wasn't pursued. Geez, Nabiki, whatever you did to try to scare them did way too good a job. They're completely paranoid! She started walking down the streets. Now, how am I going to get past them? Windows? No, that's what Ranma would do. Back door? No, they'll be watching that. Then she remembered. Wait, I'm in Akihabara.

An hour's shopping and a very tense conversation with a cosplay shop clerk later, Akane was back at the hospital with sunglasses, a long brown wig, and a surgical mask. As disguises went it wasn't even in the top 100 for sophistication, but it got her as far as the front desk and a bored-looking receptionist doing a sudoku puzzle. "Excuse me, I'm here to see Kuno Kodachi, please."

"SECURITY! POLICE! HAAAAALP!"

Akane's jaw dropped behind the mask. "Wh-what's gotten into everybody in thi - erk!" This time the police had arrived in seconds, grabbing her by the arms. She could easily kill both men if she wanted, but it wasn't worth the inevitable price, so she let herself be taken to the front entrance before dusting herself off. "Seriously, what's going on?"

One of the officers pulled out a piece of paper. "Miss Tendo. This is your official warning. You, your relations save for your eldest sister, your associates, and any others acting on your behalf are officially unwelcome on all property owned by the Nishikino family. If you return a third time, you will be arrested for trespassing" The restraining order was placed into her hands. "Also, I am told that there is an inquiry open for your sister Nabiki. If you would be so kind as to inform her the police are looking for her, that would be appreciated."

By the end of the speech, Akane was trying to figure out why the world was spinning. "Wha-why so extreme? This is ridiculous."

The officer snorted. "I don't know what you think you're trying to accomplish here, but you're wasting your time anyway. Kuno's with the psychiatrist. She barely managed to give a half-coherent statement when she was brought in, only got out that she was claiming it was her fault, then she wakes up a total amnesiac. The psych boys are working on her now, but they don't think they'll get anything." He spat. "So get outta here and go back to Nerima. And don't forget what I said about your sister."

Honoka was breathing hard. Eri had managed to do a bang-up cut and paste job, taking familiar motions from each of their current sets and putting them together in a way that, when Eri did it, looked smooth and completely natural. Anything remotely complex was left to its' own routine, and they could know what to do simply by remembering the complete program for the upcoming concert. Pure genius. With thi - "Cut, cut…" Eri said with a sigh. "Girls, take five. Honoka, Nico, over here." The pair sighed, and accompanied Eri to look at the footage.

It was a disaster. The dance moves were as basic as they came, but even so it would take days to get them all in sync - it always did, and they just didn't have even that much time. "I'm sorry." Eri said. "This is the absolute best I can do, but it's like I told you. At our pace right now, I think we can get this down in five days if nothing else goes wrong."

Honoka closed her eyes. "And we're racing Tendo now. She's known Ranma for a year. She'll figure out where he went sooner or later, and I bet her dad will buy train tickets anywhere if it gets Ranma back. Five days is five days we don't have."

Eri looked it over again. "...we can try cutting down even further, but…"

Nico shook her head. "No. Cut everything." Both of them looked at her. "We'll do the song itself in the recording booth. Eri, did you keep our other practice footage?" Eri nodded hesitantly. "Okay. Did we do anything else before I joined? PV footage, that kind of thing?"

Honoka shook her head. "I think there was some talk about it, but...that would have been on Ranma."

Nico looked across the room. "Maki, did Ranma leave his laptop behind?"

"As a matter of fact…" Maki said, digging through her pack. "I brought it, but I don't know the password."

Honoka grinned. "I do." She opened it and quickly typed in. "I'll have to yell at him about security later." She scanned down the files. "Hey, yeah, there's some videos here with just dates on them…"

The next morning, Akane stretched and woke up. "Morning Shampoo…" she mumbled, before she remembered - with the test passed, the Amazon likely wasn't around to provide bodyguard duty.

"Is good morning, Akane," the Amazon girl mumbled sleepily.

Akane tried to hide her astonishment. "Uhm...you know, you didn't have to sleep on the floor last night."

Shampoo blinked. "Oh...I forget. Still, we need to study for school." She stood up. "I'll go make breakfast. Kasumi will be sleeping in."

"...again?" Akane asked. "She's been kind of out of it lately."

Shampoo just shrugged. "Is thanks for letting me stay here last night," she said by way of explanation. "You is finding Ranma today, yes?"

Akane sighed. "I wish. Kodachi's a dead end. Apparently she finally cracked in two, claims she can't remember anything."

Shampoo thought for a few moments. "Could be some things, but…" she took another breath, forcing herself into proper speech. "Akane, I just want to say that we didn't bring any more of the Formula 411. There are other magics to change people's memories but most of them are even more difficult. And I don't think we have any from the Amazon's stores, but you'd have to ask Great Grandmother."

"...yeah," Akane said. "Don't know why but I believe you." She sighed. "Ranma, where did you go?"

Shampoo shrugged. "Challenge is still going on, yes? Test?" Akane's jaw dropped. "Dancing girls only need to win contest. Ranma not need to be there. So Ranma somewhere he can watch."

"...that's true, but…" Akane sighed. "The Internet's everywhere." Shampoo stared at her levelly. "...wait, you mean?"

Shampoo nodded. "Ranma is close enough to get back here if he needs to."

Akane nodded, and went online to look at a map. "This'll probably take all day."

Ranma had been half hoping that Chika wouldn't show up, but he was surprised when the girl was already waiting for him at dawn. "Well, if you think I'm impressed...you got another think coming, missy!" He shouted. "Out there you don't get points just for showing up, but you know that already." Chika started at the sudden harshness of Ranma's tone. "You want me to be your Sensei, for real, show me you're worth the time. I could be eating breakfast this morning, but that ain't fair since if you made that mistake you're gonna be puking it up!"

"Huh?"

Ranma stopped, and suddenly broke out into a grin. "Was that what you were expectin'? Nah, don't think that's quite how you wanna go with this. But I wasn't lying about puking up your breakfast. That's how much work I'm expecting from you, but by the end of the week, I promise as long as you don't care about your modesty you're gonna have the shortest and most interesting trip to school in the mornings out of any of your classmates."

Chika blinked several times in rapid succession. "Wait, what? I wanted you to show me how you do all that nifty stuff like jumping up onto poles! I know it's not just tricks!"

"Actually, it is," Ranma said. "That's just side effects. Did You explain ki to you?" A nod. "Okay, so, in a very real way what I do is 'just a trick.' There's some practical applications to the Art, but it's mostly a side effect for what we're really going for. And no, even if you started practicing martial arts you couldn't develop enough extra ki in time for the next tournament to do you any good. So instead, we're going to scale it down. You won't be jumping twenty feet in the air, but in a way what I can teach you is even better."

"Huh?" Chika took a deep breath. "Okay, so what are we going for?"

"It's really simple, but my school never starts with the explanation." Ranma nodded. "You can address me as sensei, or not. We're not in a dojo, so I don't care. But we are learning, starting now. So, your first task is to get your butt into the school yard as fast as you can."

Chika blinked. "Wait, what?" But Ranma had already taken off, at a pace she could match. Reading the room, she started sprinting after him until she had caught up. "Okay, so, basic conditioning? But I can do that on my own, why do I need you?" Ranma smirked, then calmly turned left and ran down an alleyway. At the far end was a dumpster and a wall. She stopped. "But I can't do tha - "

Ranma kicked off of the wall, running across the top of the closed dumpster before doing a perfect side vault over the wall. Chika swallowed. "Oh, and this is a race!" Ranma's voice called back.

"WHAT?!" Chika ran down the alleyway, but there was no obvious way over the wall aside from the one Ranma took, and that….well, she couldn't do that. She wasn't superhuman. Instead she ran around, only to see Ranma well down the road leading up the hill from the school. Hah. He'll be late if he takes that road, he has to go all the way around. She took off, the right way, and stuck her tongue out at him when he was looking at her, passing by a tree with a long branch hanging out over the gap between the road and the school's roof. Amazingly, he turned, and jumped out to grab the branch, and did an incredibly smooth swing and release to land on the roof, before disappearing towards the door.

Chika put on speed, trying to reach the front gate before Ranma did, but she ended up putting her hand on it only to see him already standing there, calmly, not even out of breath. "You...you cheated."

"Did I?" Ranma said. "I only told you to get to the school as fast as you could. I didn't do anything you can't, I was even very careful to match your running speed." Chika made an indignant noise. "Now, what happened?"

"I...I…" Chika was still panting. "You...I…"

"Take your time."

Chika slowly realized that Ranma was right. She'd always thought about trying that jump, but one slip and she'd drop about 30 meters to the ground. Technically she could make it any time she wanted, it was just so dangerous the heart attacks she'd give the teachers wouldn't be worth it. And as for the wall...it was so simple, but when he'd told her it was a race she'd thought she had to run. "So...wait…"

"Best part of Anything Goes Martial Arts, Chika…" Ranma grinned as he spoke "Is that the only thing you need to do to pass the first lesson is tell me what the lesson is."

"You want to teach me how to get around more easily?" Chika asked.

Ranma seemed to think. "You could see it that way, but think deeper." He passed over a bottle of water, which Chika took and drank down gratefully. "Okay, so, me and my old man used to do a thing where we'd steal food every day from a food cart. I'm not proud of it, especially now, but at the time if I didn't take it I didn't eat, so...well, anyway, because of the foundation of that, along with some specific training later, I can manipulate objects in a fire without getting burnt. So, if you take that and apply it to what we just did…"

"...it's not about the speed, it's…." And then she grinned. The whole of Uchiura, Awashima, even Numazu suddenly revealed themselves to her in a new light. "Everything can be gymnastics practice!"

I can't believe we're doing this. Eri had decided, against her better judgment, to break the school rules, open up the computer lab, and set up sleeping bags. From there, they had turned Project Find Ranma (It really needs a better name, Eri thought) into an impromptu working sleepover.

The problem was the scope. Ranma hadn't bothered with any kind of consistent naming scheme, and the files were only sorted by day. They had also been largely taken from his own phone camera, although they also mixed in rehearsal video from the drones and even stolen security footage from Kandamiyoujin.

So she had everyone going through their share of the vids, looking for the material they needed. It looked like a straightforward process until she came on one video in particular. It was a strange one, of the school theater dressing room. She nearly cried out, but then she realized that, even if Ranma had been sneaking in there, the angle of the shot had been very carefully picked so only the makeup table could be seen, and nobody was changing near it. She didn't have the volume up, since the music would be playing over whatever they picked anyway, but she could tell anyway it was a good-natured argument between Honoka and Umi, as evidenced by the later's shouting and waving of arms. "Nico, can you come here a second?"

It only took a glance for Nico to come to her decision. "Okay everyone. If you see anything that's not dance practice, send it over to me and Honoka. I don't think we can use this one because of the location, but if Ranma could get that shot, he can get just about anything. With any luck, I can piece something together by the afternoon, and publish by sundown."

It didn't take long for the clips to start rolling in. Ranma, it seemed, could be everywhere if the situation was deemed important enough. Honoka conceded, after some debate, to use of a pic of her sneaking a sweet bread. Eri working on student council paperwork while Nozomi kept her entertained with a card reading. Everyone had double-checked the date stamp and realized it came before Eri had joined, but no one wanted to ask too many questions. Rin mussing up Hanayo's hair, the later grinning affectionately up at her friend got a chorus of 'awws' and was an instant hit. Kotori fitting Maki for her dress. Umi, 'alone' in the archery yard practicing. Nico herself lecturing the group about the history of idols one day after practice, pointing to various DVDs and LDs on the shelves.

After almost an hour of this, Nico yelped. "Oh...oh wow."

"What?" Honoka was sitting over, and leaned around to get a better look at Nico's screen. "...oh…" She gasped in. "It's...it's beautiful." She shook her head. "Throw it out. That's too much."

"Huh?" Nico looked at her. "Don't you like it?"

Honoka nodded. "I love it, but...it's just…"

"Maki, get over here." Nico said. The redhead stepped back from her review of Nozomi and Eri crashing into each other, possibly not entirely accidentally on Nozomi's part, to take a look.

The video in question was of Maki. Alone in the school's music room, seated at the piano. She had the sheet music in front of her, but she was obviously playing freely, letting her hands do what they would. Her eyes were closed, a serene smile on her face as a spring breeze flowed through the open windows, brushing her hair around.

"What's wrong with it?"

Nico and Honoka looked at each other. "Okay, I see what you mean." Nico finally said to Honoka. "It's...it's worse than putting her out there naked."

"Hey!" Maki stomped her foot. "I'm right here, you know."

Honoka nodded. "I know. And...I...look again, please." Maki did, really taking the time to study it. She could almost hear the notes, despite the lack of audio. The slight frustration underneath the calm beauty, waiting to explode out. The way she moved, graceful and stylish and completely open. It was so...different...from how she usually was. It was...it was a glimpse at the 'real' Nishikino Maki, one she normally didn't let anyone, not even Ranma or Honoka, see.

Maki closed her eyes, turned away from it, completely red in the face. For almost thirty seconds, she said nothing, then, finally, "Put it in. Please."

"Huh?" "Eh?"

Maki looked at the older girls. "Before I change my mind. I...I want Ranma back more than I want this kept out of the public. I'd rather actually pose nude than let her go without seeing this first."

Nico tilted her head. "You know, we could do an artistic shoot…" Everyone stared at her. "Well, we're pulling out all the stops here anyway. If you want to do it, now's the time."

There was a brief moment of consideration before everyone got back to work without answering.

"Hey, this is fun!" Chika was running along a road barrier, leaping between the posts smoothly. Ranma was just ahead of her, with the road to one side, normally too narrow to pass without taking the bus but now an option, and the open ocean just to the left with only a thin streamer of glass-covered beach to land on if you wanted to stay mostly dry. Ranma had recommended to opt for the water, and Chika didn't argue. "Now I don't need as much money to go visit Kanan!"

"Who?" Ranma asked.

Chika beamed. "She's a third year. She lives out at the dive shop on the island."

Ranma smirked. "Wanna go see her now? And did you bring your swimsuit?"

Chika's eyes widened. "Ranma, that's not safe! There's boats everywhere and it's against the rules!"

Ranma chuckled. "Of course it is. But figuring out if you can is good practice." They reached the end of the road markers and found themselves at the pier leading out to the island. With a quick bit of scrabbling on Chika's part and no effort on Ranma's, they were on the roof of a maintenance building looking out. The island and its' resort were about a quarter of a kilometer away, creating a narrow channel between it and the mainland. Boats gently floated around, mostly sailing vessels. "Okay, so, you see the boats going that way. Those are the main ferries, and you don't want to cross in front of them, that's obvious." He gestured. "Currents are going to push through there at about 10 knots. How fast can you swim?"

"I can swim the pool at school in about 45 seconds one way," Chika replied.

"Okay, so it'll take you about six minutes if you swim straight there…"

"Which I can't because of the ferries," Chika reminded him.

Ranma gave her a gentle nudge. "So take all that and tell me what you do about it."

Chika blinked. "Wait, if the water's pushing me I don't need to swim straight at the island, right?"

"Exactly, and if there's a dive shop there's a place waiting for you to climb out safely." Ranma said.

Chika grinned. "There's a fishing pier at the far end of the road. If we start out from there I can make it around the marina in twenty minutes or so."

"Good job!" Ranma said. "Shows the right way of thinking." He leaped down and ran across the parking lot, Chika not far behind. Then he jumped over the wall, not noticing that the tide had come in until the water splashed up over her shins. "...oops."

Chika caught up, and her eyes went wide with wonder. For a moment, Ranma thought she was in serious trouble again, which was proven mostly correct when Chika was next to her, staring up into her eyes. "Oh, oh wow! Is this that ki thing again? Or can you teach me to do it? I wanna turn into a guy. Or does it just turn you into a cute woman, that would work too. I'm so jealous!"

Ranma blinked. "...you're one of a kind, kid. But no, it's a Chinese curse. And it kinda sucks because you can't actually control it. Cold water for girl, hot for boy."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Chika asked.

Ranma shrugged. "I...actually sorta forgot."

"You...forgot you turn into a girl?" Chika asked incredulously.

Ranma shook her head. "No, I forgot it's important."

Chika needed a second on that one. "...no, you're right. It's not. C'mon, may as well introduce you to Kanan." She took a few steps herself then blushed. "Uhm….I don't actually have my swimsuit."

Soun looked over Akane's maps and itinerary. "You wish to go to Numazu on a trip, and so suddenly?" He looked grave. "I'm certain you do not know what you are asking."

"What?" Akane looked shocked. "I'm sure Ranma's there."

Soun nodded. "Yes. This is good work, and I believe you are right. But Akane, you obviously don't grasp the implications of recent events."

"Huh?"

Soun looked at her gravely. "You are aware our sole sources of income are some investments and the quarterly payment from my work on the Town Council, yes?" Akane nodded. "And are you aware that the police have been making inquiries about Nabiki?"

"What?! I mean, yeah, I knew they were asking - "

Soun slammed his hand down on the table. "Akane! Did you know anything about this?" When Akane didn't answer, Soun nodded. "If you did, I expect you to tell me. It will be difficult, but I have convinced the local police to lose the paperwork for your sister's arrest."

"Arrest!? Nabiki?!" Akane felt her heart stop for a moment. "On what charges?"

"Conspiracy to commit murder, blackmail, and all the various charges associated with her illegal gambling rings." Soun said. "They've known about her for some time, but my position with the city convinced them that...well, that there were more important cases to pursue." Akane felt herself going pale. "Unfortunately, I have no real influence in Chiyoda, and they are now requesting Nabiki be charged."

"No...no this can't be happening!" Akane recoiled. How can it all be falling apart like this?

Soun smiled grimly. "You do not need to worry about Nabiki. I have made arrangements . . . but the chairman has concluded that, while Nabiki certainly did nothing wrong he cannot continue to employ a member of her family while this scandal is ongoing. I'll be paid through the end of the month, and a position may open by the end of the year if all of this dies down."

"...I see. I'm sorry, Daddy." Akane said.

Soun nodded. "I see you understand. An inn, or even a business hotel, is simply beyond our current means. I can't even give you a budget for the shinkansen. You would have to take the local trains, and to return well after midnight every evening of your search. And all of Izu? There are less than three weeks until school begins again, and with this cloud over our family I can't allow you to miss any."

"I'll sleep in temples." Akane declared. "I'll pack for the road. If Ranma could handle it for ten years, I can manage for three weeks. If it takes that long. I've got a pretty good idea of where he went this time."

Soun hesitated. The very thought of his daughter, out there in the wilderness, was enough to make him anxious...but Ranma was now the only one who could fix this. If he withdrew his initial testimony, the Chiyoda prefectural police would have no choice but to drop their complaint. Surely, as soon as he saw how badly this affects his fiance he'd be willing to...bend the truth a little. "Very well."

Up in her room, Nabiki let out a long stream of profanity under her breath as she finished listening in on the conversation. Figures Daddy wouldn't even have the guts to tell me the cops want my ass. She went over to the loose floorboard next to her dresser, the one she was sure no one knew about where she kept her back savings. Without even gambling on the various minor challenges that went on in Nerima without Ranma, she had no extra income source to finance DoCo. The singles they'd sold online were doing well enough for that, but not well enough to skim off excessively. And now Akane was going off to the hinterlands instead of working on the next one. Dammit! Even when I win I somehow lose!

You could not believe her eyes. She had decided, after finishing her own summer homework, to go out and check on how Chika's lessons with her new 'Sensei' were coming along. There were some rumors about strange things happening that day, but what she did not expect was to see Chika practically skipping along the roofs of Uchiura, lightly jumping from house to house like it wasn't ten meters off the ground and one misstep would land her in the hospital. Even more surprisingly, when she spotted You she waved. "Going down!" She shouted out to Ranma, whose place on the rooftops was far less of a surprise.

You was about to ask what she meant, but Chika leaped from the roof. You screamed in terror, sure that her best friend was about to plunge to her death.

Instead, Chika just shot out one hand to grab an electric pole and spun around it, kicking the side of the building to slow the rest of her momentum down and rolling as she hit the ground. Up close, You could see she was covered in dust and grime, her hands had several fresh cuts, and her hair was starting to mat, but she was beaming. "Hey, You, what's up?"

Ranma landed on the ground beside her. "Come to see how things are going? Chika's a natural at this.

"Wh-wha-what? What's going on? I - "

Chika laughed. "I need more practice time, and there's practice everywhere! It's awesome!"

You boggled at her. "But..but..what about school?"

"Shorts under the uniform."

You shook her head. "Uh...okay, but...yeah, okay." She smiled at Ranma. "I guess this works. I mean, if she breaks her neck I'll come after you, but I guess she was gonna find this out sooner or later." Chika gave her a quizzical look. "It's called 'Parkour,' I think. Maybe freerunning? It's a weird gaijin thing that I didn't tell you about because I knew you'd try it and get hurt, but I guess Ranma knows how to be safe about it."

Ranma shrugged. "Well, no, it ain't really safe but Chika wouldn'ta been happy with anything safe. Right now we're goin' around finding all the spots that are too dangerous without building up to it. After we do that, she doesn't really need me to help her out anymore, but I'll go ahead and spot some formal practices if she really wants to cut loose."

You just shook her head. "Well, thanks Mister, for helping out even though you didn't need to."

Chika got a mischevious grin. "Mister, you said...hehe."

Ranma hung his head. "Okay, okay, get it over with." Chika upended their water bottle over Ranma's head.

You fainted.

"This is a whole lot easier without having to worry about audio syncing," Nico noted. It was a couple of hours to sunset. "Call up Tsubasa?"

Honoka nodded. "She said she wished she could help, but the only thing she can risk doing is telling Anju and Erena and letting them make the call. We're on our own on this one, probably."

"Okay." Nico said. "Anyone have any last-minute additions they want to make? Once it's out we can't take it back." No one said anything, so Nico pushed the button, the mouse's click seeming far louder than it should. "By tomorrow we're going to lose half our fans, but hopefully it still spreads. If Ranma's paying attention to Love Live at all, he'll see it at some point."

You found herself waking up in Chika's room, groaning and cracking one eye open to see that, yes, Ranma was still red-headed and busty. "...good night." About a minute later, at least by her internal chronometer, she cracked an eye open again. Still redhead. Still curvy. Deciding it wasn't going to change, she sat up. "What happened?"

"Chinese curse, don't worry about it." Chika said. "Anyway, Ranma was just saying he was out here because of a School Idol thing."

Ranma sighed. "It's complicated, but yeah. Things got….well, ridiculous, and I decided to take some of the heat off my group by coming out here. Probably gotta move on in a few days, though. Wasn't planning on getting attached."

"Aww." Chika threw a towel at her laundry basket. "But we were just getting to be friends."

Ranma smirked. "Yeah, well, last I checked my friends end up getting attacked by psychos. Not sure how much more of that I can take."

You rubbed her head. "So it's all true, then. Everything they say about you super martial artists?"

Ranma was actually caught off guard. "Honestly, no. Most of us aren't that bad, it's just my old man decided I needed to be up against the worst of the worst of the crazy and it never goddamn stops."

Chika nodded. "Well, if you like and the farm doesn't need you more, we can probably find some heavy lifting tasks for you for a few days here. You could stay in a room in the back on a futon, anyway." She pulled open her laptop. "Don't mind me, just want to check on your group."

Ranma shrugged. "Thanks." He left which part of that he was thanking her for unclear for a moment, then sighed. "I guess I got paid well enough. The other guys are kinda mad about it, so yeah, I guess I can help out around here instead."

"Great." Chika grinned. "I'll go ask my mom."

They had been prepared for no result. That would make sense - a group already being dragged down by minor scandal making a plea to the social networks being ignored. Nico had honestly expected that, deep down. She hadn't said it out loud to anyone, letting them trust her judgement, because she knew that any victory in Love Live without Ranma….well, it wouldn't have sit right with her.

That had been a scary thought.

The idea of an email coming in revealing exactly where Ranma had gotten off to had seemed like the next most likely outcome. Thus, when their phones pinged with the group's shared address, everyone was shocked when Hanayo was fastest to open her desktop up, only to shriek and drop it. "Ohnononononono! They've got him!"

Nico blinked, and opened up her own copy with a few more steps. It read 'I have Miss Saotome. If you want her alive, send one billion yen in the cryptocurrency of your choice to XXXXXX .' It took Nico's brain a second to catch up to the fact that that couldn't possibly be a real email address. There was also a badly photoshopped image of a woman, tied to a chair, combined with Ranma's face. "Kayochi, calm down. It's a prank."

There was another ping. Eri got it this time, and sighed at a similarly edited photo of "Ranma" in a bikini on a beach resort. Not that that was impossible, just highly improbable. The thing that made it impossible was the way the woman in the original photograph was being attended to by two gentlemen who, to put it lightly, were in very good shape and little else.

Honoka looked up from her own phone with a grin, even as more notification sounds played. "On the bright side, if we're getting emails it means people are watching the video!"

Umi nodded. "Uhm, okay, here's one we actually need to take seriously," she said. "Looks like someone claiming to have seen him in Kochi. Not impossible if he snuck on the right plane."

Eri sighed. "Okay, dance practice over. Back to the computer room."

Ranma groaned. Of course 'helping out' at the inn would require her to be a girl, in a nice kimono. At least it only took her one trip to retrieve all the bedding for washing. Even worse, it was apparently Chika's day off so she was busy using the 'net to listen to Love Live. Not that Ranma didn't like the music - she'd have taken off months ago if it hadn't grown on her - but it was a bit of a painful reminder. Still, nothing for it but to remind her the guests were coming back soon. When they would be. Which wasn't for a few hours.

"Hello?! I need a room for the night." Oh no. "I can do some chores to pay for it if there's spare rooms." Ranma cursed. I'd better get down there - if she tries to cook it'd be on me for letting Chika's customers get poisoned. She very carefully made her way down the stairs, pulling the kimono tighter to cover her regular outfit underneath.

"...Ranma?" Akane half-asked, half-said. Then, suddenly, before Ranma knew it, Akane was hugging her. "Oh Ranma! I was so scared I wouldn't find you!"

Ranma did her best to restrain her immediate, decidedly unhelpful response. "Akane, I left because I didn't want ta bring any more trouble. What can I tell ya to get you to go home, right now?"

"What?" Akane gasped in shock. This was not the reaction she had expected. "But. . . but I passed the training and everything!"

Ranma groaned, feeling a familiar frustration rise up. "Akane, Kotori got kidnapped. No, don't even try it," she said, sensing the anger even before it could get to Akane's face. "Kotori's a friend, okay? You know, one of those? You have at least two of them?"

"But...but…" This wasn't how this conversation went. "Ranma, tell me right here, right now, do you love me?"

She had expected Ranma to waver, to babble, and hesitate like he always did. Instead, Ranma, the girl, just gave a defeated sigh. "I don't know anymore."

"Because you're in love with Honoka now." Akane said, in a bitter tone that indicated it wasn't a question. "Don't even try that sister nonsense with me."

Ranma didn't. It wouldn't do any good now anyway. "It ain't even about that anymore, it's...dammit, Akane, everyone's getting hurt by all this bullshit and I'm sick of it. And now it's spilling over onto people without special talents who genuinely wanted to help."

"Well, maybe if you hadn't brought them into it." Akane muttered angrily. "You had a fiance. Two. You shouldn't be making friends with random girls."

"Ra-Ra-RANMA!" A third voice shouted. "You better see this! Meet me in the living room!"

Akane glared at him. Ranma sighed. "She's thirteen. I just showed her some light terrain hopping tricks because she was getting in the way at work, all right?"

"...I guess...Even you wouldn't be that depraved." Ranma winced at the remark but said nothing, just leading the way to the living room.

Akane felt her stomach clench at the tinny sound of the phone the girl named Chika was playing. No, no, that's the song they were practicing, what could be so important that a stranger would think Ranma needed to hear it right away?!

Chika fiddled with the phone to reset it, then did some more fiddling with the TV until Honoka, wearing her school uniform, appeared on the TV. "Akane, this is Chika. Chika, this is. . . this is Akane," Ranma explained, giving Akane a glare that actually chilled her enough to prevent being called out on not mentioning the fiance part.

I don't think I like this new Ranma.

Chika nodded. "Yeah, so...uhm, this just hit the trending list. You are Saotome Ranma, right?" Ranma blinked, but realized she had never actually introduced herself by her full name, so gave a quick affirming noise as a reply. "Yeah, someone really wanted you to see this. It's getting, like, all the upvotes." She tapped on the phone.

Honoka began speaking. "Hello, everyone. I...we…" She stopped with a little choke. "I'm sorry, this isn't easy. It's not really your usual PV either. You see, after everyone supported us for the past few months, we've been so happy to be bringing you the best music we could. That we're even in the running for the Love Live competition is a miracle.

"But you see…" She said with a slight sniffle. "Now we need your help. You see, behind everyone, there was a friend of ours you didn't see. She doesn't like to perform, but she's been behind the camera every step of the way. She helped our practices, scouted members, arranged for our concerts, got us the favors that let us use our equipment. Almost all of it might have been impossible without her. But...it's more than that…" Honoka nearly broke down crying, and she stepped back.

Eri moved forward. "I'm sorry about her," the blonde explained. "This has hit all of us pretty hard. If you live in Tokyo, you probably heard about the 'accident' that Kotori had. Due to circumstances surrounding that incident, our . . . our Producer decided she needed to leave us unexpectedly."

The camera turned on Maki, who jumped, but grumbled a bit. "That was stupid, childish, and immature." Someone, probably Nozomi, reached out to flick her ear. "Hey, it's the truth."

The camera slowly panned to show the party who had done it was, indeed, Nozomi. "Well, true or not…" She coughed. "Anyway, bluntness aside, she's right. We're strongest when we're together. This doesn't solve anything."

Umi was next, gently holding up Kotori. "Everyone who sees this message, and doesn't just skip straight to the song...please." She made a gesture, and a picture of Ranma's girl form appeared next to her head. "If you have seen this person in the last few days, show them this video."

Kotori smiled. "Ranma….I just want you to know. I do not blame you for what happened. You know who I blame."

Honoka was in the shot again. "To everyone else who hears this message and helps us...Thank you. From the bottom of my heart. To Ranma...please, hear us one more time. Hear me….and come home. This...is Yuujo no Change. Legal copyrights are at the end of the video, but we don't own this one."

Akane lurched forward suddenly, her finger hitting the blue light in front of the TV. "Turn it off! Turn It Off!"

"Akane!?" Ranma shouted as Chika fumbled for the pause. "What the Hell's gotten into you?"

"I don't want to hear them sing MY SONG!" Akane shrieked. Then she immediately realized that she'd said the wrong thing. Ranma started to breathe heavily, obviously using every bit of her self-control to not immediately attack her.

Chika quietly stood up and stood between Akane and Ranma, looking at the other with half-lidded eyes. "Please, not in my house."

Ranma took another deep breath. "Right. Thanks Chika."

"Any time, Sensei." Chika grinned in a somewhat impudent manner.

Ranma noted the emphasis on the word with a smile and ruffled her hair, before looking at Akane. "That is not, nor was it ever, your song. I'm sure Nabiki never told you where it actually came from, and she maybe even pulled some trick so you don't realize, but you and I both know you can't compose to save your life. Kasumi been making new songs for you? Wait, don't answer that, there's no answer where you look good. Then accept that you've got no idea where that music came from and it's not 'yours'.

"In the name of the Kami, Buddha, and everyone else who's been having a laugh at my expense for the past twelve years...Akane, this has always been your problem," Ranma said, her control slipping. Akane glared at Ranma, and looked like she was about to wind up to really pound her fiance when Chika moved to intercept again. "Thanks, but I wouldn't do that," she said more gently, almost as an aside, before turning back to Akane. "Let me tell you something. Maki. I'm sure you think of her as the redhead. I'm living in her house, separate rooms. How many hours a day do you think she spends on music practice, not including rehearsal?"

Akane frowned. She was sure this was related back to her martial arts practice somehow. "Uh...two, maybe three?"

"Three if she's feeling lazy or stressed, which is maybe once a week." Ranma ignored the slump in his analysis, figuring that just because she wasn't writing didn't mean she wasn't trying. Heck, maybe that had been part of the problem, since she'd managed most of an album's worth in a couple of days once she'd recovered. "Most days it's five or so, and I understand before Mu's she went in for eight every single day. That's more than I practice martial arts, and that's not even counting cram school. She lives on six hours a day sleep and skips meals to compose if someone doesn't remind her to eat right. SHE has the right to say a song she's performing is 'hers'. You ain't earned that, you don't put in the time."

Akane swallowed. "But by that logic, this song's not theirs either. They obviously put it together in the past day."

Ranma shook his head. "Watch and learn. Or don't. I don't give a damn right now."

Akane felt her heart drop. Chika looked at Ranma quizzically, then started the video again.

Honoka stepped back forward, gently wiping off her tears when the upbeat music started. When she opened her mouth, though, she was fully into it, singing the intro as a solo. "So don't feel down. Hey! Are you listening?" Everyone else joined in for the last line. "Our friendship won't change, It'll be fine!"

Akane swallowed, and instantly understood what Ranma had been getting at. She had worked at the song, thought she could sing it pretty well, and it had sold well as part of the new DoCo's first album. But in just a day of rehearsal, Honoka had completely mastered the song and had even found a way to use it to convey...something. Something she couldn't possibly have been feeling when the song had been written, before Ranma ran away.

"Ranma…" Akane's voice cracked. "You know I've missed you too, these months you've been away…"

Ranma didn't even acknowledge her when Maki and Hanayo stepped forward. "I understand there are things you love," Maki's voice didn't quite hitch, but the changed lyric seemed outright painful to her, an acknowledgement that there was a distance between them that would be hard to breach.

Hanayo's continuation was considerably less strained, almost...curious. "I understand that it's something wonderful so…"

Then they sang together. "I hope no matter what you definitely won't let it go!" Ranma felt a slight punch in the gut.

"They don't!" Akane whispered harshly. "They can't possibly understand you…"

Chika was watching the proceedings with awe. While Ranma was largely ignoring Akane in favor of listening to the message, to her it seemed like Akane was somehow managing to have an active argument with the recording. An argument she seemed destined to lose if Eri's 'responding' line was any indication. "You know because you've lost things before." Nico and Nozomi joined in for the rest of the section, with Nozomi putting a hand on her girlfriend's shoulder to squeeze it as they both sang "I understand it's precious but, Another chance will come down to you in time."

Akane shook her head. "Ranma, there are no more chances! You have to honor your family obligations." That got little more than a snort of irritation.

That, at least, was sufficient to break the weird spell that the moment had seemed to weave as Kotori added her voice. "Sadness resembles a cold, How about you rest?" Ranma seemed to sigh.

"'Take care of yourself' Soon you'll feel better" Umi added, a pure invitation to put the issues behind them. Akane stared, as if the idea that anyone could just...forget about what had happened to Ranma, even for a time, was absurd. But she couldn't do anything but repeat what she had said, and that wouldn't work. So she had no choice but to sit and let those girls all raise their voices together in one final call.

"So don't feel down/

Hey…Are you listening?/

Our friendship won't change, Come here/

Always being earnest is something we share/

I think we'll be together forever/

Yeah! It'll be all right!"

No one said anything as the last notes faded, but then Honoka, seemingly spontaneously, added in a line from a different song, with no accompaniment at all. "'Please remember me,' I murmured/ As the stars shined brightly through the night." She smiled, looking directly at the audience. "Please, Ranma, come home."

No one said anything as the credits rolled. As promised, the copyright was given properly, but even Chika realized something was up. "...that song was written for your friends, wasn't it?" she asked.

"NO!" Akane screamed. "THAT WAS MINE! MINE!" Ranma gathered her ki and prepared for a fight, but calmed when he felt the air cool. Whatever else, the Soul of Ice seemed to be working well enough to keep Akane from having a total meltdown again. "I'm sorry...but Ranma...please, just listen to me."

Ranma sighed. "That's a two way street. Tell me, why are you gonna start listening ta me now?"

"Please, whatever, I promise…" Akane whimpered, somehow knowing it wouldn't do any good. If I'd been just a few hours faster, maybe… "Please...just...come to the dojo when you're done here before you go back." She ran out of the inn without waiting for the answer.

Ranma sighed. "Bedclothes are in the wash, anyway," she said, pulling off her kimono to Chika's yelp and slightly interested stare before she realized Ranma was still clothed. "Mind if I take a break? I wanna see how this vid's doing."

"Yeah, sure." Chika said, passing the phone over. "Will you still be staying the night?"

Ranma chuckled. "'Never turn down a free meal' is the first rule of living as a traveling martial artist. Sure, it ain't exactly free but…"

While Ranma viewed the video, Chika snuck out to the inn's computer. It only took her two tries to remember the password, and then she checked on the Love Live page to get the email she was looking for. Then she sent off a quick message. Ranma's staying at our family's inn. I think he's planning to head back tomorrow, but I'm not sure.

Two seconds later, she got a one-word reply. Proof? She blinked, but then another reply came in from the same account. Sorry about Nico. She's been anxious all day and we've had a lot of false positives. But we really do need either a picture or some proof.

Chika thought about it, then realized Ranma still had her phone casting to the TV. But another second got her the appropriate answer. His full name is Saotome Ranma. He changes from a boy to a girl with hot and cold water, and he's really nice and sweet when he wants to be. He's also a crazy teacher, but really good. And he's got a fiance named Akane, no idea on the last name.

There was a much longer pause, as apparently there was some debate going on. Finally, another reply came in. It's possible you could have gotten that online, it read. We're almost convinced, but there's a couple of holdouts. Tell us something you would have to have met Ranma recently to know.

Chika frowned. He didn't seem to think the curse was a big deal, when he thought about it.

That got an almost immediate reply. Please reserve one room for tonight. Maki already sent you the money. We'll be out on the Shinkansen.

Honoka stood out in front of the inn - the only one in the small village that Ranma had somehow found. It was a traditional building, with wooden beams and paper walls all around, designed not so much to survive a typhoon as to be rebuilt in a few hours. But the electric lights in the lanterns broke any illusion of it being lost in time, and thus, it was simply the one spot of luxury in the otherwise sleepy town. The height of summer would normally keep even a place like this packed, so Honoka was glad they had a connection with the owning family or it would be a very long walk back to Numazu.

Of course, there might be a small issue. "So, this is where he got off to, huh?" Tsubasa said sardonically. "You know, I was picturing something like...mist-covered mountain temples maybe. Something out of a movie."

Maki shook her head. "Nah. Turns out for most of those you need advance notice."

Honoka hung her head. "No offense, guys, but why did I agree to let you come along again?"

"You needed someone with money to convince the innkeeps if their crazy daughter didn't." Maki said.

Tsubasa smirked. "And I'm not letting my girlfriend spend a night in an inn with her other girlfriend without turning it into a foursome."

Honoka made a face. "She's like my brother, you know."

"More for me!" Tsubasa grinned lecherously.

Honoka poked Tsubasa in a gentle rebuke. "We're not here for that anyway, and you know it." That said, she walked up to the door and took her shoes off. "Excuse us. We have a reservation...at least, I hope we do."

A head with three ponytails hanging off one side popped up from behind the desk. "Oh, you're Hono...ka?" Chika shook her head out as if trying to clear it and slid behind the desk. "Uhm, yeah, let me go get Ranma. He can show you up. You'll have to hurry to get changed for dinner."

"Uh, we didn't bri - " Honoka started to say, only for Chika to call back something about yukata in the room. "...did you see what kind of shape she's in? I'm amazed she's alive."

Maki tilted her head. "Didn't seem too bad to me."

Tsubasa agreed with Honoka. "She's pretty banged up. Nothing serious but do you think Ranma was teaching her fighting?"

Honoka shook her head. "No, that's an actual rule. He can't teach real martial arts. But that just leave - "

Chika suddenly popped her head down from the roof overhanging the door behind them. "Ranma's in the bath!"

Everyone jumped in shock, Honoka actually pushing the other two girls behind her as she turned and standing protectively in front of them, meeting the other girl's eyes where she was hanging. "Uhh...can you not do that? We expect it from Ranma, but…"

"Oh, okay." Chika flipped down, casually holding her skirt up as she did so and somehow still managing to land on her feet. "Anyway, like I said, Ranma's getting changed so I'll show you up then go get him."

Ranma grumbled and pulled on her yukata. "Serve tea, she says...sure, I can do it but…" Then she opened the door and the 'excuse me' died on her lips. "Honoka!?" After that, she was suddenly being hugged and there were crying girls everywhere and Ranma felt her brain shutting down.

"Don't ever do that again!" Honoka screamed suddenly, the shift in mood putting Ranma even more off balance. "Ranma, we work together to solve problems! Don't try to do everything by yourself!"

Ranma swallowed. "Okay, okay, okay…." She sighed, but gently pushed back. "Honoka, I...look, it made sense at the time, and Akane did find me. I'm just surprised the whole damn circus wasn't on her heels."

"...so your plan was...what?" Maki asked. "Lure them all out here and then…?"

Tsubasa nodded. "More to the point, if you were wrong, the only person left protecting Honoka would be Umi. I understand she's good compared to anyone normal but what could she do against your fiances on a real tear? Ranma, we need you close."

Ranma held up a hand. "These are all good points, but Chika - that's the kid - is kinda listening in. Can we not right now?"

"Aww." Chika said, flipping down from the roof into the room, narrowly missing the table. "Okay, so, you're Ranma's girlfriend."

Honoka laughed. "No, but since you just met me I guess I can forgive you for assuming."

Chika took this well, looking up at Honoka with suddenly shining eyes despite her still-dirty face. "Will you be my girlfriend then?" Honoka's jaw dropped at the suddenness of this request. "You're really pretty."

"Uhh…" Honoka swallowed, and looked between the other two bemused girls. "Uhm…" She started again. "Well, er...you see, Tsubasa and Maki are already my girlfriends - "

Chika beamed. "So I get three famous girlfriends! Works for me!"

Tsubasa couldn't take it any more, bursting out laughing. Maki started to snicker as well, and even Ranma couldn't restrain a snerk of her own. Honoka looked at the martial artist, betrayed, but Ranma chuckled. "Sorry, I know I shouldn't laugh but it's a lot funnier when people aren't gonna get hurt if you pick wrong…"

Honoka sighed and sank to her knees to put herself on Chika's eye level. "Takami...no, Chika...I'm flattered, but I don't think it would work to just jump into things." Chika nodded, looking disappointed, and Honoka just couldn't let it go. "How about you give me your contact info. We can chat, and maybe in a few years when you're a bit older…"

"Okay!"

There were advantages to having the principal's daughter in your school club. For one thing, paperwork for club activities tended to get mysteriously backdated as required - which seemed to get more true over a summer vacation, when the school was scheduled to close in the future, and there was serious work that should really fall to grown-ups to be done.

So when they got it resolved in time for those going to retrieve Ranma to get out to a remote inn on the Izu peninsula in time for dinner, the School Idol Research Club had the run of the school and nothing to do. "Hey, Nozomi," Umi finally said. "Can you set up the game you gave Maki? I could use some stress relief."

Eri raised one eyebrow.

Umi shrugged. "Well, it's better than tearing the school's training dummies apart. Father had to order in a whole bunch of special ones at home. Iron filings for sand." Rin and Kotori winced.

Nozomi shook her head. "Maybe for one person, but we'd need six copies for us all to play, and it's kind of a one person thing."

Umi sighed, but Eri just nodded. "I've got this one. Computer lab's still open."

The problem came twenty minutes later at an error screen. "I'm sorry," Nozomi said. "I'm not really any good at this stuff on my own. I had to look up a lot of English web sites to get it working, and I don't know what's wrong here. I think these school machines aren't good enough."

Nico groaned, grabbing her right wrist with her left hand and physically forcing herself to put her phone on the table and push it away from herself. "Does anyone want to watch a movie?"

"Do we have anything except your idol stuff?" Rin asked with a yawn.

Nico momentarily seemed to want to object, but then just grumbled. "I guess I'm not in the mood for that either."

"Wow, never thought I'd see the day Nico would pass up half a chance to make us watch from her collection," Umi said.

All eyes turned to Eri. "Sorry, I don't have a key to the Cinema club's room, and anyway that's theirs." She shook her head. "And NicoNico's blocked. I'm surprised Nozomi's game downloaded. If we want to watch movies, we need to go out."

Umi stood up. "I'll go. I can get up to Akiba and back in five minutes, just need to agree on what to watch." Then she looked around at the various expressions. "Guys, what are we doing?"

Hanayo shook her head. "We just ruined our chances of getting into the first Love Live. I mean, we had to do it, but…"

Eri slowly took out her phone. "Okay. I'm going to look. It can't possibly be worse than what we're imagining, or the cops would already be outside. I'm just going to turn on my phone…" She thumbed the screen. "Open it up…" Pushing a few buttons on the smooth glass display. "Load the web site…."

Nozomi groaned. "Erichi, your eyes were closed the whole time."

"...heheheh…"

Rin sighed. "Fine, I'll look." She pulled out her phone, and before anyone could stop her, had it opened up. "NYAA!"

"...what the heck?" Honoka stared at the cast phone display.

Maki shook her head. "Dear kami...how…"

Tsubasa's jaw was on the floor. Ranma chuckled and gently pushed her mouth shut before laughing. "Nico thought this stunt would kill us? We're number one in the country right now."

Tsubasa shook her head. "Well, right now, yes. And I'm not just bragging about taking the lead back. You've got the spotlight, but if you don't capitalize on it you're gonna drop like a stone. Nico bought you a shot, despite all this. But you'd better bring your all to that end-of-summer concert you have advertised or it'll all be for nothing after all." She smirked. "But at least I get to say 'I told you so' to Erena and Anju, so this was a good day."

Honoka grinned. "There's just one problem….Chika!" This was answered with a loud thump from outside the door. "Seriously! There's no need to eavesdrop."

The middle schooler sheepishly poked her head in, before dragging a cart around. "Uhh...Mom said I couldn't eat with you."

Honoka chuckled. "Okay, okay, I'll go down there and tell her it's all right."

Chika beamed and scampered off. Ranma shook his head. "You know, you really shouldn't encourage her that much. She might try to sneak on the train with us at this rate. Actually, she might succeed. For a norm she's impressive."

"And whose fault is that?" Maki asked, poking Ranma's chest with her finger. "And you, Honoka…"

Honoka looked sheepish. "I know, I know, but seriously, she can't have the kind of pocket money for a casual Shinkansen ride you do. She's stuck out here. I feel kinda sorry for her."

Everyone looked a little down at that. Ranma shrugged. "Well, I did what I could. If she wants the big city life from her gymnastics, she gets to earn it from here. But I guess we can invite her and You up for the concert."

"Yeah," Honoka agreed. "Maki, do you mind?"

Maki thought about it. "She helped bring Ranma back to us. Yeah, I can swing that."

After an evening of conversation and helping keep Chika contained ("Seriously, you can't hop between guest balco - okay, you can but you really shouldn't! Practice on your side of the inn!"), there was one last surprise waiting. A knock announced the arrival of You, and another girl. She was a bit taller than the middle schoolers, with her hair back in a ponytail and light purple eyes. She was also wearing an expression of concern. "I heard Chika got it into her head she's some kind of superhero! What's going on?!"

You sighed. "Sorry. This is Matsura Kanan. She's our friend."

Ranma chuckled. "Nah. It's fine. We already had this conversation with Chika's mom."

There was a familiar mischievous light dancing in Tsubasa's eyes. "Trust me, Chika's far from the first girl who's had her life made more interesting by Ranma here."

Kanan immediately focused her attention on Ranma. "So you're to blame for this. I swear, if Chika gets hurt…"

"Chika, do you know what you can't do? I mean actually can't first, then shouldn't." Ranma asked.

Chika immediately straightened up respectfully, in a parody of an overly-strict dojo's newest recruit. "I can jump about one meter in the air, and hold my body weight for about two minutes at one time. We tested my safe fall to three meters, and only minor stuff I can run off for another meter I think. I can also keep going for about twenty minutes at a time before I need to rest, depending on what I'm doing." She stopped, considering the other 'rules'. "I'm not supposed to run anywhere it would inconvenience or disturb other people, try any jump where failure would exceed my safe falling distance, or do anything around spiked fences." Another pause. "Oh, and you promised to personally kick my butt if you find out I used what you taught me today to hurt anyone." She finally took a deep breath. "Sensei."

Kanan and You blinked in surprise. Kanan blinked again, because that was a completely unexpected response. "...o-kay," she finally said. "I guess that's...wait, no, you're still hopping along rooftops all over town and into backyards! Chika, you've always been kinda crazy but this is seriously…"

You put her hand on Kanan's shoulder when Chika slumped. "I...I know it's weird, but you know how she's been...I...this is the first time I've seen her happy since that gymnastics tournament."

Honoka smiled. "Well, I can't say I get it, bu...wait, gymnastics tournament? You mean like, a school thing? Was St. Hebereke competing?" Chika nodded. "And...you were trying out for the national team or something?"

"It's complicated, but yeah," Chika said. "More like they were giving out invites to the top competitors. Hebereke students got a lot." The older girls all looked grim. "What's wrong?"

"I thought there was something funny going on." Ranma said, growling. "I've had some trouble with a high school girl from there. I'm guessin' Kodachi bribed the judges so she'd look better herself."

Honoka sighed. "It seems like something she'd do. Or maybe the school with everything else she gets up to. Even if they're not good enough to get accepted, just having that many applicants…"

"I'll kill her." Chika declared. You and Kanan, surprisingly, didn't look like they were going to argue.

Honoka shook her head. "It doesn't matter now. She...got injured. I don't think it'll be a problem again."

Ranma grinned. "See. At least next year you get a fair shot, yeah? Keep working and I'm sure you'll get in."

After the train ride in the morning, they stepped back out onto the Shinkansen platform at Tokyo Station. Everyone considered, then Ranma made a pass through the whole platform for Chika. When they failed to find her, they descended to the lobby area and out through the gate, to find the others waiting with their umbrellas in hand.

Ranma braced for a chewing out, but instead he was surrounded by girls hugging him tightly enough to cut off his air supply. "Okay, okay…" he said, chuckling to try to defuse the situation. "I won't do it again, you got your message through loud and clear." Then he paused. "I won't do it again unless I'm actually being chased down by a dragon or an oni or something. Like, right at the moment I'm running off, not a hypothetical one."

"Good," Eri said with a stern expression. "We've got a concert in less than a week."

"Right." Ranma nodded. "Okay, I've been working you girls pretty hard for awhile. Right now I think we're where we need to be conditioning wise, so we're cutting back to just rehearsals...also so everyone can get through their summer homework." A chorus of groans. "Hey, I don't like it any more than you do, but if Kotori's mom pulls us out all that was for nothin', so…"

Tsubasa grinned. "Okay, that's my cue to head home. Night kids!"

Everyone waited until she was gone. "So, we were going to do it on the roof, right?" Ranma frowned at the umbrellas. "What's the weather forecast say?"

Nico sighed. "Rain all week, but the auditorium's being cleaned."

"Oh." Ranma shrugged. "I'll make it work, somehow."

On the roof of a certain club of questionable repute in Roppongi, a certain cell phone lay where it had been for over a month, being recharged by the solar cell batteries it was connected to, taking advantage of larger solar panels both to get an ideal angle and to keep the phone itself sheltered from the frequent rains of Tokyo. But this time, as the clouds moved in, a stray gust of wind blew hard enough to knock the old phone off its' perch. The cable connecting the two devices snapped, as it was designed to do under stress, and the phone lay exposed and losing its' charge.