A/N: Wow!! Two chapters up within 24 hours!! Vacation is a _very_ good thing. ^__^ Thanks to those who deserve to be thanked. You know who you are. ::passes out Banna plushies::

Natsuko was running. She sped down the street, round the corner, over the back wall, and through the dojo.

"HOTAKA!!" she screamed as she threw the door opened to the family room. Hotaka had just enough time to turn around before Natsuko grabbed him by the bandana and proceed to drag him to the front door.

"Arg, Natsuko--"

"C'mon, we gotta go open the restaurant!"

"It's only ten!"

"Wait!" a young voice cried. The two stopped in their tracks to see Banna standing in the hallway. "Nats-chan, Hotachan just woke up! You can't take him away!" She ran over and latched herself onto Hotaka.

"Banna…" Hotaka whispered.

"What's going on out here?" Nodoka said as she walked out of the family room and into the hallway. She stared at Hotaka and Natsuko in confusion. "Erm, who are you?"

Natsuko and Hotaka were at a loss for words. It was Banna who responded for them.

"This is my big brother Hotachan, and Nats-chan, Auntie," the little girl informed her. She still hadn't let go of Hotaka, and neither had Natsuko, so Hotaka was in a very interesting position when Nodoka had walked in. Perfume stood behind Nodoka.

"Natsuko, you can let Hotaka go now," Perfume commented. Natsuko did as she was told, and Hotaka stood, Banna clinging to his legs for dear life. "Auntie, this is Hotaka, Banna's older brother, and Natsuko, Kazuma's twin sister."

"H-hello," Natsuko stuttered out, bowing slightly. Hotaka would have done the same, but he was dealing with his much younger sister.

"Banna, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"I came with Kazu-chan and Perf-chan to find you," she said, rubbing at her tearing eyes. "I-I missed you s-s-so much, big brother."

"Aw, Banchan…"

"And then you came flying through the roof and I finally found you! And then, then--"

"Banchan," Hotaka cooed and picked up his sister. "Don't cry, I'm here."

"But, Hotaka, we have to go!" Natsuko protested. Hotaka shot her a death glare that seemed to say 'I-didn't-but-in-on-_your_-sibling-to-sibling-moment.' Natsuko fell silent and merely shuffled behind the pair of siblings into the family room. They all sat down again, Banna in her brother's lap, and Perfume popped her question.

"Where were you guys going anyway?"

"Ucchan's," Natsuko grumbled. "We got a part-time there."

"Why?" Perfume asked, curiously. Natsuko shot her a 'I-don't-wanna-talk-about-it-now-I'll-tell-you-about-it-later' look. Perfume nodded in understanding. "Ah ha, got it."

Banna looked curiously at her older brother, not really understanding what was going on. When she saw that he looked just as confused as she did, but confused also, she decided it would be best to remain quiet. Instead, she snuggled closer to her brother, just glad to be near him again. She had missed Hotachan so much… Hotaka noticed this and ruffled his hand through her black hair, as if to say 'I-missed-you-too-kiddo.'

Silence.

"So," Nodoka said, trying to break the uneasy silence, "are you staying at the Tendo's also?"

"Yes," Natsuko replied. She took a deep breath, and then added, "I'm Akane's cousin."

All eyes fell on her, most of them confused.

"Well," Nodoka said. "Akane certainly has a lot of cousins."

"You- you could say that," Natsuko replied, laughing uneasily. "Uh, we just came today, so Akane doesn't know we've come yet." She turned to Perfume. "So you must be the Chinese exchanged student. Akane's told me so much about you! How's Japan treating you?"

Luckily, Perfume quickly picked up the hint and a bad accent.

"Oh! Japan very, very good to Perfume! Me like Ner-im-a and Akane very much!" she replied in a bad accent that could rival Shampoo's. She smiled innocently at Natsuko who smiled back, knowingly. Hotaka just stared from one girl to the other in confusion.

"That's wonderful!" Natsuko exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "Is it much different from China?"

"Of course! Like whole different world!"

"Could you say something in Chinese for me? I've always wondered what Chinese sounds like!" she said, winking at her.

"It be shall Perfume's honor greatest!" she replied, completely understanding. She had known Natsuko since they were kids, and had taught her a bit of Chinese so they could talk about things at school without others over hearing. "::Who else knows about this little scheme of yours?::"

Natsuko looked at a picture of Ranma that was hanging on the wall, and then one of Akane. Finally, she touched her chest, as it fingering an invisible necklace. Perfume nodded in understanding.

"That was wonderful, Perfume!" Nodoka declared. "What did you say?"

"Um, Perfume say 'Perfume have duck pet in home!'"

"Really? How nice!"

The three women laughed good-naturedly. Hotaka and Banna looked on, confused.

"Hotachan," Banna whispered. "What's going on?"

"I have no idea, Banchan," he whispered back to his sister, his eyes resting on Natsuko. "No idea what so ever."

***

Kazuma walked into the house, a bag with a coloring book, crayons, and 'Candy Land' inside tucked under his arm. He slipped off his shoes and listened to the laughing sounds coming from the family room.

"I'm home!" he called, and opened the family room door.

"Kazu-chan!"

"Kazu!"

"Kazuma come finally home!"

Kazuma confusedly handed the paper bag to Banna and sat down next to the only other male in the room.

"Hey guys," he said to everyone, smiling. Through his smile, he whispered at Hotaka, "What's going on?"

"No idea," Hotaka whispered back.

"Fair enough."

Banna ripped open the paper bag to find her coloring book, crayons, and board game inside. Her eyes lit up immediately. Taking the coloring book and crayons, she stood up, grabbed her brother by the hand, dragged him closer to the tabled, plopped back down in his lap, and started coloring. Nodoka laughed as she watched the little girl.

"You're just a brother's girl, aren't you?" she asked.

"Yup!" Banna replied, happily coloring the piglet on the first page black. She stopped after a moment, staring at the picture. Then she nodded to herself and grabbed a yellow crayon. She drew a bandana around the pig's neck and colored it yellow. When she was done, she picked up the black crayon again, put black dots on the bandana, and continued coloring the pig. Hotaka smiled in approval. Nodoka looked at the little girl's work.

"Good job, Banna!" Nodoka commented. "Now, what do you say to Kazuma?" she asked.

"Thank you, Kazu-chan!" she replied, not looking up from her picture. Nodoka smiled in approval.

"What a sweet little girl!" Nodoka declared.

"Kazuma, Perfume was telling us about her home in China and how she likes Nerima so far!" Natsuko told her brother.

"Aiya, foreign exchange programie good to Perfume!" Perfume added.

A light bulb finally went off in Kazuma's head, and he smiled in understanding.

"That's good to hear, Perfume," Kazuma commented. Now it was just Hotaka and Banna who were left in the dark, but Banna was coloring, so she could care less. It was only Hotaka who looked confused between everyone. Nodoka turned to Hotaka.

"So, Hotaka, do you live in Nerima too?"

"No, I, uh, live in Kyoto," he said, and turned to Kazuma and Natsuko. "With Kazuma and Natsuko. Right guys?"

"Yup!" Natsuko agreed. Kazuma just smiled and nodded.

Just smile and nod, Kazuma told himself. Whatever they say, just smile and nod.

"Are you Akane's cousin too?"

"Uh, no…" Hotaka replied, unsure.

"Then why are you here?"

The four teens in the room exchanged nervous glances. Hotaka felt backed into a corner.

"Because… Um…"

"He and Natsuko are engaged and they're having a trail marriage by living together outside of home!" Kazuma burst out.

"WHAT?!" Natsuko and Hotaka cried, jumping up (Banna magically remained sitting at the table for one reason or another). They pointed at each other. "WITH HIM/HER?!"

Kazuma fought to keep his face serious. "You guys don't have to lie about it any more, everyone was going to find out eventually." He smiled at the two. "Now you two can be honest."

"Perfume have guessed never!" Perfume cried, fighting against the urge to burst into laughter.

Natsuko and Hotaka stared at each other. Finally Natsuko sighed, and nodded. She turned away, then turned back to Hotaka, a forced smile on her face. She immediately wrapped him in a hug.

"Oh, Hotachan! I didn't know how much longer I could keep away from you!"

Hotaka, stunned, started to stutter. Natsuko put her finger on his lips and, underneath her false smile, she gave him a stern look.

"No, don't speak. I know how much you love me," she said.

Yeah, I love you, and hell froze over, Hotaka thought.

I am gonna puke, Natsuko thought at the same time.

The two sat back down, Natsuko snuggling against Hotaka and Hotaka putting his arm around her. In reality, he wanted to throw her out a window, and she would have loved to kick him and make a nice, new skylight in the ceiling, but they remained sitting with forced smiles.

"My, is my son and his fiancée Akane like this?"

"Of course!" Kazuma declared.

"All time!" Perfume added. "Right, girl little?" she asked Banna.

"Right," Banna said automatically. Dooms day could come and go while Banna was coloring, and the little girl wouldn't have noticed any of it.

Nodoka smiled, oblivious to any of this.

What a nice group of youngsters… she thought.

***

Natsuko and Hotaka walked down the street as far apart as they could on the side walk.

"I swear, if I have to do that again, I'm going to puke."

"You think _I_ liked it any more than you did?"

"Tell me about it."

"No kidding."

They continued in silence until they reached Ucchan's. Hotaka reached out and turned the doorknob. It was locked. Sighing, he began digging in his pockets until he found what he was looking for. A single key on a spatula key chain. He was just about to stick it in the doorknob's lock, when Natsuko put a hand on his hand, stopping him. He sighed, and shoved the key back into his pocket. Neither of them said a thing.

Silence.

"Jeez, aren't you two quiet," a third voice said. Both of them turned to face Ukyo, but neither of them said anything. They got out of her way so she could unlock the door. Still, they said nothing.

"What? Is there something on my face?" she asked as the three of them entered.

Silence.

"Kami, what happened to _you_ two."

"We're engaged," Natsuko grumbled, not looking at Hotaka, and instead occupying herself with putting on her apron. Hotaka did the same; not stealing any glances at her either. Ukyo's eyes went wide.

"How did that happen?" she asked.

"Believe me, it's a long story," Natsuko replied. "So, boss," she said, making a distant effort to be more cheerful, "what's first?"

"You can set the tables, two place mats and sets of silverware each," Ukyo told her, shifting into business mode. "Hotaka, do you know how to make okonomiyaki?"

"Yes," he replied, still unemotionally and distant.

"Well, go the kitchen and start mixing up the batter. The ingredients should be back there also."

Hotaka nodded. Both set off to their tasks silently. Ukyo sighed.

So much for cheery employees.

If only she knew what had happened a few minutes before. If only she knew how her two new employees had sacrificed their dignity, honor, and pride in less than a second, and in front of the audience none the less.

Natsuko and Hotaka, for bearly half a second, had experienced their first kiss.

A/N: BWHAHAHA!! I AM EVIL!! *ahem* I'm okay.

Natsuko: ::gargling::

Hotaka: ::trying to scrub his lips off::

Um… Anyway… What do you guys think about this chapter? You have no idea how much I hate to have Perfume talk like that. For anyone who cares, that's why I keep avoiding writing for Shampoo. Oh well, if it's what works, that's all I care about. ALSO we see the soft side of Hotaka that only his three-year-old sister can bring out of him.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this, but this story takes place in the beginning of the Nerima's crew's junior year of high school. Why I didn't say this at the beginning of the story, I don't know…

Anyway, please review.

Hotaka: DON'T MAKE US KISS AGAIN!!

Natsuko: STOP THE MADNESS!!

Um… O…k… o_O Ja ne, I think…