First Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Love Hina, Ranma ½, Video Girl Ai or Sakura Diaries. This story is one of the many ideas I have in my brain. In this whole story, you will meet characters from other anime shows. However, with my limited knowledge of anime that I watch (it's about three or four other shows if you were wondering), I won't be putting a lot of characters. I will put disclaimers on them, but not in the first disclaimer of a chapter so you can be surprised about what characters show up! So sit back, relax and enjoy the show.

New Faces And Dangers At The Hinata Sou: Baggage

The sun has just set as all the residents at the Hinata Sou begin to eat another one of Shinobu's amazing dinners. She accidentally make a little too much food when Keitaro told her that a new resident shown up and would be eating with them. But with Ranma's bottomless stomach, she didn't worry that much once the last plate of food was set and everyone began to eat. Everyone was pretty much tried from their day as the dinner went on, so not much small talk except for Mutsumi's gossip about what she heard from Sachiko and Saki. As most of the resident were halfway done with their dinner, Shinobu excuses herself to go get them all dessert. She goes into the kitchen and returns ten minutes later holding a tray with what look to be like snow cones in a large glass cups. As she passes one to each other the residents, they see that it contains shaved ice, evaporated milk, corn, kamayan, crème caramel and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The residents just stare at the creation while Shinobu sits down and mixes her dessert with a long spoon.

"What wrong guys?" she ask as she gets a spoonful of her dessert and puts it in her mouth.

"Huh...Shinobu," Su begins. "What kind of snow cone is this?"

"Well, it's actually...HUH?" She gets interrupt by a loud chomping noise. They when look to see what it was, they see Ranma digging into her dessert.

"Well Shinobu, what every kind of snow cone this is, it's the best one I ever ate!" she says as the other resident turn to see their dessert and begin to eat it.

"WOW! It is great," says Keitaro.

"Yeah. I never had anything like it. It's fantastic!" says Moemi.

"Ranma-chan is right," says Kitsune. "This is the best snow cone I ever had."

"Actually you guys..." Shinobu begins as she's halfway finished with her dessert. "It's not a snow cone. It's called halo-halo. An exchange student from the Philippines taught me how to make a few Filipino desserts. She gave me her cookbook before she left and I thought I lost it until I found it this morning."

Once everyone finishes the halo-halo and cleaned ups, they all feel stuffed like Thanksgiving turkeys and head to the living room to rest their stomachs.

"Thank you for making the halo-halo. It was really marvelous," says Urara.

"Thank you, Urara. I think I'll make something called leche flan tomorrow."

"What's that?" asked Motoko.

"From what I read, it's beaten eggs baked with milk, sugar and topped off with caramel."

"Hmmm...that sounds yummy!" says Su.

There is a long silent as everyone lays either on the couch or the floor, holding their stomachs. They hear the wind blowing lightly and the broken light that Keitaro forgot to fix flicking before someone spoke.

"I wondering Urara," Naru begins. "Why did you come to live here anyway?"

"Well...I kept hearing stories about three ronins getting into Toudai and I thought that they could help me."

"Oh, so you are trying to get into Toudai too?"

"Actually, I'm trying to get into Keio."

"Keio?!" It was the first time anyone has mention a college besides Toudai to go to that most of the residents couldn't believe their ears. "Why do you want to there?"

"You see..." Urara seems nervous as everyone stares at her. "You see... I have a friend that goes there. He failed the first time he tried to get in, but passed with flying colors this time while I did very poorly on the exams. When I was about to register for some prep classes, I over heard stories about three ronins, that lived at the Hinata Sou, making it into Toudai. I know that both schools are not the same, but both are very hard to get into and I thought that one of them could tutor me. So I decided to pack up my things and hopefully live there so they could tutor me."

"Well Urara," Naru says. "If your dream is to get into Keio so you can be with your friend, then I would be glad to help."

"Really? That's great!" Urara gets up, jumps to Naru and gives her a big hug. After about a few seconds, Naru pushes her off.

"Sorry Urara. But my stomach is still a little full."

"Oh. I didn't know. I'm sorry," Urara shows a blissful smile as she bows to her. "WOW! I haven't even been living here for six hours and you already know why I want to be here. I feel like a stranger not knowing any of you. You all must know each other for years."

"Actually," Kitsune begins to speak. "We only known Ranma and Moemi for a little over a month and we don't know why either of them are living here."

"That's right." Shinobu agrees. "Ranma always tells us about her past fights against someone and Moemi talks a little about her past, but neither of them did tell us why they came to the Hinata Sou."

All the residents bring to stare at the two girls as both had their heads down nervously. "Well..." Moemi speaks with a choke up voice. "If you must know, I have a bit of a love problem. I've been dating this guy for over a year now and I thought that I have strong feeling for him. His best friend helped me a lot by getting me closer to him and giving me advice about something about him. But whenever I see him hanging around another girl, I get a bit jealous. Even if I'm with my boyfriend. I didn't know if I has feelings for him or not until he save me from a couple a muggers. I couldn't decide who I really loved, so I left to figure it out on my own." She looks up and see everyone stunned.

"We didn't know," Mutsumi wipes off a tear in her eye. "If you need any help or someone to talk to, I'll be here for you."

"Me too." says Motoko. "I can help you meditate, if you really need it."

"So can I." Keitaro says as he sees Ranma tip toeing away out of the corner of his eye. "Hey Ranma! Where are you going?"

She stops dead in her tracks and she turns around to see the curious residents, waiting for an answer.

"Who me? I was just... huh..." she begins to sweat. "I...wanted to go to sleep. I feel a little tried after eating, so I'll just..." she start to walk away, but Su and Shinobu run past her and block the hallway.

"Come on Ranma! Your among friends," says Su.

"I don't want to."

"Please Ranma?" Shinobu walks closer to Ranma and stops within two feet of her. "Please Ranma? I told you a lot about me. Even why I'm here. Everyone knows why another person is here and we help each other out. Please Ranma, tell us?"

"No."

"Come on," says Urara. "I don't know you or any of them for as long as you do, but I opened up."

"NO."

"Please Ranma?" Shinobu says as she grabs Ranma's sleeve. "Please Ranma?"

"NO!" Ranma pushes Shinobu off with her arm as she falls to the ground. "Listen! I don't want to tell any of you why I'm here. OK? Did it ever occur to any of you that I like to have a private life?"

"But Ranma..." Shinobu begins as a tear rolls down her eye.

"BUT WHAT?!" Ranma lashes out. "Damn! I just told you, I don't want to talk about it! Why do you have to be so stubborn and uncute and..." She stops and drops her mouth, realizing what she just said. "Shinobu, wait. I..."

But it's to late. She started to cry and covers up her face. "Wait? For what? So you could call me some more names? Ranma, I thought you cared about me. I thought I was your friend. Ranma, I...I..." Crying more and more rapidly, she gets up and runs to her room, followed by everyone else except for Ranma and Keitaro. When she sees that the two of them are alone, he walks up to her.

"Why did you do that? Just because you saved our lives, doesn't give you the right to treat any of us like that."

"But..."

"But nothing," he yells as he points his finger at her. "I hope you feel bad for what you done to Shinobu-chan." With that, he turns around and heads towards Shinobu's room.

Ranma just stays in the spot that Keitaro left her as seconds turn into minutes, minutes turn into hours; as each of the residents go to their rooms, but not before telling off Ranma about how they feel. But nothing they tell her hurts. 'Words don't hurt me,' she thought. 'But actions does'. Her heart aches as Shinobu cries herself to sleep. Even when she falls a sleep, Ranma can still hear the crying echo in her ears.

"Shinobu-chan." Ranma whispers to herself. " I'm sorry. I didn't mean to take out my angry on you. I thought...I thought..." She drops to her knees and begins to cry. "I thought that you were Akane."

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Morning comes as most of the residents wake up from the cruel night. The air seems heavy as each of the waken residents slowly climbs out of bed, gets dress and goes to the dining room. They all happen to meet in the hall, with the exception of Shinobu and Ranma.

"So Keitaro, what are you going to do about Ranma?" asked most of the residents at the same time.

"I don't know yet."

"What do you mean 'I don't know yet'?" Motoko yells. "Ranma should...huh?" She stops dead in her tracks as the rest of them do once the enter the dining room. They see a large bowl of miso soup, steamed rice, stacks of pancakes, two loafs of baked bread, pork cutlets and a carafe of green tea and orange juice.

"What the?" Naru says in disbelieve. "I thought Shinobu would be too depressed to even cook after..." she stops as someone runs past her. The person's momentum stops at the end of the table as the person turns around. Everyone gasps as they see that it was Shinobu.

"Oh my!" she says as tears start to fill her eyes. "I'm sorry I didn't have breakfast ready. I woke up late because I forgot to set my alarm clock and..."

"What? you mean you didn't make that?" Keitaro says, pointing to the food on the table. She turns to the table and stares at the objects on it.

"I didn't make this." Everyone gathers around the table, just staring at the hot food.

"Well, if Shinobu didn't make this and all of us got here together, who made it?" Kitsune ask as the kitchen door open. They all look towards the door and see Ranma holding a carafe of milk. She freezes as everyone looks at her.

"What are you all looking at? If you don't eat your food, it'll get cold."

Silent arose from the shock that Ranma made the food. They all know that she can finish every spec of food off her plate before any of them can take their first bite. But none of them ever recalled her setting foot in the kitchen or helping out in there. Finally, Keitaro takes a step forward as he begins to speak. "Ranma, you mean to say you made all this food?"

She nods and walks to the middle of the table and sets the milk down. "Well, are any of you going to eat or what? I only got two hours of sleep before I woke up and started cooking. I never cooked before, so I don't know if any of this food is good." She started to walk out, passing everyone, but Naru grabbed her by the shoulder and spins her around, looking face to face, eye to eye as she gives off a nasty look towards Ranma.

"I get it. You made this food so everyone could forgive you for what happen between you and Shinobu. Well I..." Ranma puts up a hand towards her face, letting her know to shut up as she gives her a serious look.

"I cooked this meal so Shinobu wouldn't have too. I wanted to do something nice for her before I leave." With that, she puts her hand down, turns around and starts walking towards the door. Everyone had mixed emotions once Ranma past them. Some relieved that she would be out of their lives. Others, still angry for what she did the night before. But one person didn't understand Ranma's chose as she walked past her. She couldn't figure out why she would be doing this after the good times they spend together and times talking to each other. She knew, out of everyone at the Hinata Sou, that Ranma never meant to hurt anyone she cared deeply about for any reason. She must have bottled up everything up from her past and just blew up when ask why she was staying with them repeatedly. Just as Ranma was about to leave the dining room, she ran up to her and tightly grabbed her arm. Ranma turned her head to see that Shinobu had stopped her.

"What are you doing, Shinobu-chan?" she asked.

"Why?" Shinobu starts crying on Ranma's sleeve. "Why are you leaving? I don't want you to go!"

Everyone is surprise by Shinobu's actions. Even Ranma as she puts both hands on her shoulders. Both of them carefully look at one another as everyone waits for Ranma's reply.

"Shinobu," she begins. "I'm leaving because I don't deserve to be anyone's friend here. Even yours. You gave me friendship and love and what did I do to you? I yelled at you, call you names and knocked you down, hurting you dearly. Everyone here hates me for what I did last night. I can tell in there eyes. And I don't want tension between anyone here or to hurt anyone here. I think it's best that I leave."

Filled with tears in her eyes, Shinobu begins to speak. "Your wrong! I don't hate you and we are friends!"

"What are you saying Shinobu?"

"I'm saying that I don't want you to leave!" Shinobu wraps her arms around Ranma as she cries perfusely on her Chinese shirt.

"Can you honestly forgive for what I did? I understand if you don't since I don't forgive myself."

"Maybe. First, can you answer the question from last night?" Shinobu doesn't see a thing as she digs into Ranma's chest and continues to cry more and more. She also doesn't hear a thing from anyone. No fade whispers or noise of any kind. Ranma slowly lifts her head and wipes away the tears in her eyes before speaking.

"Like Moemi, I too have a relationship problem. But unlike hers, the one that I'm in a relationship with doesn't care about me. You see, we started out hating each other for a long time and we always called each other names. When I called you those things, I thought I was fight that person again. Not you. I'm sorry." Ranma gives a warm-hearted hug to Shinobu. "Anyway, after much time together, we started caring for each other. I got the impression that this person really liked me as we hung out more and more. After giving it much thought and seeing all the good points in this person, I finally realize that I liked this person and wanted to confuse. But when we met again, I saw this person hugging, kissing, even confusing their love to someone else!" She begins to cry and wipes the tears. "Sorry. I don't know what came over me. Anyway, I couldn't deal with it, so I left without a word and within a week, I met you and Keitaro."

Shinobu released her grip on her and took two steps back while looking down at the floor. Everyone stared at her as they wait patiently for an answer. When she finally was ready to answer, she lifted her head up, looking only at Ranma.

"I can't believe I'm going to say this," she brings her head down again. "Go."

With that, Ranma exhales from the news. She turns towards the door and out the dining room. Shinobu notices the surprised look on everyone's faces. She can hear a few of the residents mumbling that Ranma is 'a caring person' or 'not heartless at all' under their breath as their heads are down in sadness. With a smile, she lifted up her head again, takes a deep breath and screams.

"RANMA! GO AND I SWEAR I WILL KICK YOUR ASS!" Everyone gasps at what she just said as Ranma pops her head out the door.

"What the?" she says with a stunned and confused look. "What are you trying to say?"

"First, I can't believe I said 'ass' in front of everyone! I'm a bad girl," she giggles as she sticks her tongue out. "Second, I forgive you." With a smile, she runs up to her and gives her a big hug.

"Thank you, Shinobu. You don't know how much this means to me," Ranma has tears in her eyes as she returns Shinobu's hug.

After the hugging is done, the two of them look at the other residents as they smile at Ranma. She apologies to each of the residents for being such a jerk.

"Don't worry about it Ranma," Keitaro says. "Just make sure it doesn't happened again."

"Will do!"

"Good! Now that Ranma is staying with us again, lets have breakfast! We don't want this food getting cold after she spend so much time making it," Shinobu says as she takes a seat.

Everyone follows her example and sits too. "Ranma, I'm glad you finally opened up to us," says Mutsumi as she pours some green tea into her glass. "But I was wondering something. Do you love 'this person'? I notice that you didn't use that word once while you were explaining why you came here."

Ranma shallows her last piece of pancakes before answering. "Love her? I don't know. I know I like her. I think love is..." she noticed that everyone frozen in place as she stopped explaining herself. She saw some of them drop their chopsticks and not even picked them up. A few froze while holding a plate of food, not moving an inch towards them. Even Su has a piece of the pork cutlet near her open mouth, just waiting to be eaten. "What wrong guys?"

"Ranma," Moemi says, finally breaking the silent. "You said 'her'. Are you..."

"HER? I said her?!"

"Yes you did." Kitsune confirms. "You said, and I quote, 'Love her? I don't know. I know I like her.' You said 'her'. Twice!" She sticks out two fingers in the air. Nervously, Ranma blushes, gets up from her chair and starts to head towards the door.

"I'm sorry. I need to unpack my thing again. I didn't think I would still be staying here. I'll see everyone later. Bye!" She waves as she's out the door. Motoko gets up and starts to chase after her.

"Motoko!" Keitaro yells. "Don't go after Ranma. If she wants to tell us anything more, she will. Now please, sit down." She nods and goes down to her seat to finish up her breakfast.

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