The characters from Ranma 1/2 belong to Rumiko Takahashi.  The characters from Love Hina belong to Ken Akamatsu.

Never a Day--Prologue

Ranma surveyed his surroundings.  It didn't really matter though.  He hadn't been traveling that long and already every place he visited seemed the same.  I wonder if this is how Ryoga feels, he thought wryly. 

"Where on earth am I now?" he said, chuckling softly.  He walked a little further until he came upon a sign at the base of a large flight of steps. 

Hinata House?  The thudding of footsteps and a whoosh as somebody whizzed by him interrupted his musings.  Ranma barely had time to process someone calling out "Naru!" when a body came flying off the steps right at him. 

It really does pay to be a martial artist once in a while, he thought as he caught the human cannonball and braced himself as they tumbled backwards. 

Ranma quickly sprang to his feet.  "Are you all right, miss?" he asked the dark-haired girl before him as he helped her up.

"Yes sir," the girl replied with a bow.  "Thank you for catching me."

"Aw…it was nothing, really," he replied.  Another girl who was panting quite heavily soon joined them.

"Shinobu, are you okay?" the newcomer asked, concern evident in her voice.  "You scared me to death!"

"I'm fine, Naru," Shinobu answered, still a little out of breath herself.  "This nice gentleman caught me."

The older girl turned to Ranma with a smile.  "Thanks for saving my friend.  I'm Narusegawa Naru and this is Maehara Shinobu," she said, gesturing towards the younger girl.

Ranma smiled back.  "I'm Saotome Ranma.  It's nice to meet the both of you."

Naru frowned.  Why did that name sound so familiar?  She peeked down at her watch.  Oops, no time to think about it now.  She was already running late.  "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Saotome.  If you'll excuse me, I have to go now.  I'm late."

 "Please hold on a second, Naru.  You're meeting sempai and Akane, right?"  When Naru nodded, Shinobu continued, "I have something here for Akane.  Something she's been waiting for…" she broke off suddenly, patting her pockets.  "Oh no!" she wailed "I must have dropped it when I fell!"

Ranma had gone very still when he heard the name Akane.  No way.  It can't be.  Akane is a pretty popular name after all…isn't it? 

"Wait, here it is!" Shinobu exclaimed happily, as she handed an envelope to Naru.  "Please tell Akane that I hope it has the news she's been waiting for!"

Ranma tried to glance at the name on the envelope as subtly as possible.  The handwriting…had he seen it before? 

Naru grabbed the letter and took off.  "Bye, Shinobu!  It was nice to meet you, Mr. Saotome!" she called over her shoulder. 

Ranma was a ball of confusion.  It can't be…it can't be, he chanted over and over in his head.  But I need to know if it is…just in case.  In a blink of an eye, he took off after Naru, hurriedly trying to be inconspicuous.

His behavior did not go unnoticed.  "What was THAT all about?" Shinobu wondered to herself as the young man dashed off.