Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and Full Moon o Sagashite are

not mine.

Author's Foreword: I'd like to thank everyone for their C&C and support. Keep the reviews and guesses coming!

Fumbling for the Full Moon

By ToastedPine

Chapter 2

"That's all for today, class." Hinako gathered her notebooks together and went out the door.

She cast one final glace at the pigtailed husk at his desk, maybe she shouldn't have hit him with the Happo-Five-Yen-Satsu before hearing what the delinquent had to say. She shook her head at that line of thought; the boy had ambushed her in an empty hallway then had the audacity to ask her if it was okay to "study her body." Still, she knew that Ranma hadn't shown any interest for her in a perverted manner before-- despite the rumors that spread when he tried to take away her abilities and the actions of her younger self.

"Miss Hinako..." a weak call caused her to turn around. She noted idly that he had recovered a lot faster than expected.

"Mister Saotome, I hope you have an apology for me." She rested a hand on her hip.

Ranma closed his eyes. She could hear him mumbling a mantra, but couldn't make out the words. After a few repetitions, he handed her a note then returned to the classroom without another word.

Hinako unfolded the note.

"Meet me at the fountain behind the school at lunch.

-Ranma-"

So the delinquent hadn't given up yet. Well he wasn't the only one who could learn new tricks. She smirked, if this was another one of his traps, she'd be ready.

Ranma stood by the fountain. It had been really nice fountain at one point in its life, but the large cracks in its base and broken valves now made it nothing more than a home for moss and bird dropping.

In hindsight, trying to talk to her in a dark empty hallway probably wasn't the best idea, but he didn't want to ask her out in the open. Still, she could've listened to him first at least. Akane --thinking he did something perverted again-- had been a bonfire thanks to Hinako's attack.

"I'm here Mister Saotome?" She was still in her adult form. Good, this would make talking to her a lot easier. He reigned in anything that could be seen as battle aura.

"I need your help." He paused to consider his words. "I met a girl who was sick like you were before, and I think the Happo-Five-Yen-Satsu might have a shot at curing her."

Hinako's eyes might've widened slightly but it happened so fast Ranma couldn't tell for sure. "How do I know this isn't a trick? You have a lot to gain by using my own technique against me. Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't know how to teach it."

"I have the counter points. All I have to do is look at your ki and see how they affect your aura." He frowned inwardly, it sounded simple in theory but a lot harder in practice given how limited his ki based skills were. "And it's not a trick, I give you my word as a martial artist."

Hinako's stance hadn't relaxed. He needed her help though so he decided to go all out. "It's going to take me a while to sort through your ki, ya want to make a deal?"

"I'm listening..."

Ranma steeled himself. "I'll study harder and get my grades up."

"That has nothing to do with me Mister--"

"You're a teacher ain't ya?" Ranma called her bluff. "I know you care, otherwise you wouldn't be on my case every other day."

Hinako finally nodded after several moments, "You win again. However, I'd like to know something about this girl we'll be helping. She must something special to garner The Great Ranma Saotome's attention."

Ranma deflated, 'figures she'd want the whole story' he thought. "Her name is Mitsuki..."

Hinako was in her child form by the time lunch hour neared its end, biting on the edge of a handkerchief while tears streamed down her cheeks. Ranma had told her everything he knew about Mitsuki's past and sickness. "That poor, unfortunate girl," the tiny teacher cried.

"Maybe you're not such a delinquent after all." Hinako's mood immediately lifted, she patted Ranma's back.

"Gee, thanks, I'm so glad you approve." Ranma deadpanned.

"Let's meet after school today!" she paused. "No wait, I have a teachers meeting today." Hinako pouted. "I know! Can we start tomorrow? I have something I want to show you. Oh it'll be so much fun! Great, it's decided, see you tomorrow!"

By the time Ranma had decoded what the hyperactive teacher said, the final bell had rung and she was long gone. Kami, he was starting to regret this.

School had passed quickly the next day after Hinako had told him in front of everyone in class that his grades were embarrassing, and that he had to meet her after school everyday for tutoring until his grades improved. Fortunately, Akane calmed down after she had come to a revised conclusion about why he had been drained yesterday.

"You're late Mister Saotome." Hinako said.

"Sorry, I got hungry." Ranma scratched the back of his head. "You want one." He offered her wrapped melon bread.

"Please, only my child form is weak to sweets, come with me." She turned abruptly and walked towards the bus stop.

"Nerima Children's Hospital." Ranma read the sign on the pastel colored building. "What are we doing here?"

Hinako ignored him and went to the reception desk where a nurse greeted her. "Hinako-san, Wakaouji-sensei dropped by and said hello." The nurse winked.

Hinako reddened, which made the nurse laugh. "You're so much fun to tease Hinako-san. The children are waiting as usual."

"Thank you Miss Kasukabe... be sure to give him my best when I'm not around."

"Will do."

Ranma frowned as he followed Hinako. She'd been ignoring him since they got here. What was here that he needed to see?

"Ah, it's Hinako-oneechan!" A little boy enthused when they entered a room full of playing children.

"Hi kids!" Hinako bended her knees and greeted them, the usual frost and authority completely absent from her manner.

Another little girl ran behind Hinako, and tugged at her skirt. Her wavy blond hair was around shoulder length, and she wore a large red bow which rested on her head. In one arm was a large brown teddy bear.

"Yes Iris?" Hinako asked sweetly.

"Umm... who's that?" The little girl pointed.

"Oh," she looked back at Ranma as if she had forgotten he was there, "this is my student Ranma. You guys remember that I'm a teacher right?" The children nodded in unison. "He was nice enough to visit us today. Say hello to Ranma!"

"Hello Ranma," the kids greeted as one.

"Ah... hi..." Ranma waved back weakly.

"Hinako-oneechan, do you have new stories for us today?" One of the boys jumped up and down.

"As a matter of fact, I do."

"Yay, Hinako-oneechan has a new story!"

Hinako giggled a bit, and grinned mischievously at Ranma. "Gather around Kids." She pulled up a small chair, which she fit her like a glove.

"I'll tell you all about Keiichi, the delinquent knight, and his battle against a ki vampire."

The children were fast asleep when Hinako finished the story. She had told rehashed version of when they first met. He had to admit, it was entertaining when he wasn't feeling the pain involved.

He watched his teacher tuck a blanket under Iris's chin, and signaled him towards the hall. "Okay, what was that all about?"

"The story? I found that if I get them excited for long enough, they rest better."

"Oh."

"You can see ki can't you?"

"Yeah, I learned how from a few of my old man's scrolls, control needs work though." He owed her enough to tell the truth.

"Look at them." She indicated the children in the room, a shadow cast upon her somber features.

"I see kids..."

Hinako glared. "Look at their ki."

"I can't, there's too little..." Ranma's eyes widened. "Those kids in there are really sick aren't they?"

Hinako leaned against the wall, looking at the floor, her eyes shining from unshed tears. "This body... may hold the secrets to saving those children." She raised her head to face him. "Can I really trust you with carrying something like this?"

"I-" Ranma wanted to give her a promise, a guarantee, anything that would assure her of a happy ending, but he couldn't, "I need time ta think."

Humming, pleasant and light, like a tiny wisp of cotton candy delicately melted throughout the evening air, flavoring the Kouyama yard with its fleeting sweetness.

"Mitsuki," an elderly woman interrupted, her voice was rough and brisk, "I told you to stop singing. Music only brings misfortune." She had shiny grey hair done in a tight bun, which accentuated her sharp features further enhanced by the pressed lines of her traditional tea-green kimono embroidered with trees. In the past, she might have been considered beautiful, but life's passage left only deep wrinkles and hard piercing eyes.

"Yes Grandmother," she answered cheerfully.

"What am I to do with you?" The old woman shook her head.

Mitsuki waited for her grandmother's footfalls to become distant before taking out a pen and stationary. She reflected upon what had happened to her, and the chance she had been given.

"Dear Eichi-kun,

How are you? I'm doing great here. I received a letter from Seed Records the other day, and guess what? Yup, I'm one step closer to my dream just like we promised to each other. When we meet up again, you better have become as close as I am to being an astronomer or I'll get mad.

I'm kidding. I could never get mad at you Eichi-kun.

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you I made a new friend. His name is Ranma Saotome and he's a martial artist. I think you'd like him. He's really strong and he can do so many amazing things!

It's getting late. I better sleep before Grandmother gets mad at me again.

Love,

-Mitsuki-"

She finished writing then sealed the letter in an envelope, pressing firmly on the edges so that the glue would stick properly. She then fished a key out of her pocket to open her desk drawer and carefully laid the letter inside before locking it back up.

The sun had barely risen when Ranma jumped up on the tallest building in Furinkan High. His body was raring to go but there was no action to be had.

"Stupid P-chan's never around when I need him."

Watching Miss Hinako spend time with the kids, talking to them, handing them food, and tucking them in— he could no longer deny that she was more than just a ki sucking pain.

"Arrrghhh!" He mussed up his hair. "Thinkin' ain't gonna solve nothin'." He pulled a scroll out of his backpack. "I gotta master this ki vision first and worry about the idea not workin' after."

Classes went on as usual, and school's final bell rang, signaling temporary freedom from scholastic prison.

"Hang in there Ranma, I feel your pain." Hiroshi patted his shoulder.

"Hey, at least you have a major hottie giving you extra sessions," Dasiuke added.

Ranma glared at Daisuke. "And what about that," he pointed at a tiny Hinako nibbling on an apple like a chipmunk, "is a 'hottie' to you?"

"Ehehe, you know what I mean."

"Yeah yeah," Ranma absently waved, "go already."

When the classroom was completely empty, the young Hinako took a fishbowl from her bottom left drawer, set it on the desk.

"Happo-Five-Yen-Satsu!" ki from the bowl fed into the teacher's body, changing her into an adult.

"Topical fighting fish, I almost forgot about those."

"They do come in handy. I don't go around draining ki indiscriminately despite what you may believe."

Ranma laughed, not wanting to remind her of the collateral damage she caused during their battles.

"So, do you have an answer for me? Can I trust you?"

Ranma took a moment to compose himself. "I can't say that I'll find out how to duplicate the technique for sure, but you have my promise that I won't take advantage of what I learn."

Hinako nodded. "All right, let's begin. What do I have to do?"

"Nothing really, sit or something so I can study your pathways. I might need you to change back and forth once in a while."

Hinako grinned, "It appears that I'll be free to teach you then."

"Aww man..."

"I wasn't lying to the class when I said your grades were pitiful. Let's not forget, you studying harder is also part of our deal."

And so the routine went on for nearly two weeks, Ranma would spend two to three hours after school investigating Hinako's ki while being tutored. He would then sort through his observations and refine his ki vision on his free time. His skill at divining the pathways of the human body improved dramatically, and he made more headway each day. Unfortunately, much to Hinako's chagrin, her tutoring seemed to go in one ear and out the other.

"Ranma, are you listening to me? Your grades haven't improved much since we began these sessions-- you got questions 3, 7, 8, 12, and 15 in your quiz wrong today. Don't make me blast you again."

"All right already, I'll try harder." He sifted through the pathways once more. 'Why is her ki traveling so fast... shit!'

"Could you turn back into a girl?" He heard the elder teacher sigh before she followed his instruction.

"Mister Saoooootomeeeee, how long do I have to keep sitting here? I'm getting tired," young Hinako whined. She turned to face her student, only to find an emotionless mask firmly in place.

"How long have you been letting this go on?"

Even in her more naive form, she could tell the seriousness of the situation. She walked back up to her table and drained battle aura from the fighting fish.

"You found out."

"We have to hit your pressure points now! The sooner you get a normal metabolism, the better."

"No." Ranma was shell-shocked as Mitsuki's image superimposed itself on Hinako. Were girls always this suicidal?

"Look, you don't know what's happen--"

"I'm aging faster in this older form than normal. I just never knew the cause."

Ranma frowned. "It's worse than that! Normally, when a martial artist uses his battle aura their bodies are already conditioned by years of training to handle the load. In your case, the calisthenics you were taught made sure you had the bare minimum to survive augmenting your ki, but it's nowhere near enough. The technique is stretching your reserve's barriers to the breaking point."

"I see..."

"'I see?' That it? You. Could. Die." Ranma poked Hinako's forehead on each of the last three words to punctuate his point.

Hinako slapped the offending finger away. "This coming from a delinquent who gets into life threatening battles every other day?"

"That's different." The pigtailed martial artist petulantly folded his arms.

"How is it different? Me keeping myself the way I am seems way less dangerous than dodging blows that can crush concrete on a daily basis," Hinako looked away, he eyes coloring with doubt and self-loathing, "and... if I let you get rid of my technique, I'd be useless as a teacher."

"What are ya talking about? You're a great teacher even without the Five-Yen-Satsu!" Ranma said with false enthusiasm.

"Ranma," Hinako let herself shoulders go limp. "If you didn't have the looming threat of being blasted during class, could you honestly say that you would stay up and listen to my lectures?"

"Thought so." His silence was enough confirmation. "I'm an enforcer, keeping delinquents in line by force because I'm not good enough to guide them to the right path through any other means." She moved to leave, pausing at the doorframe. "I'm tired. I hope you don't mind me cutting our session short."

Ranma regarded the empty doorframe, gritting his teeth. He said it before and he'll say it again, "Girls ain't nothin' but trouble."

Tanaka-san fiddled with the edge of her apron, her brown pouffy hair bobbing as she fidgeted. "Madam, I'm worried about Mitsuki."Fuzuki Kouyama, Mitsuki's grandmother, rested her book against the table, and turned her attention to the caretaker.

"She's been staring out into space for weeks now, looking really sad," 'and she's stopped singing,' she did not add.

"I'm sure she's just worried about some trivial thing girls her age worry about." Fuzuki returned to her book, "...purchase some tiayaki for her when you have the time."

"Yes Madam!" The middle aged caretaker bowed low, and hurried through her duties with a spring in her step.

Mitsuki sat sideways on the polished wooden walkway on the other side of the screen to her room, an untouched plate of red bean paste filled pastry that

Tanaka-san had gotten for her, rested on the floor nearby. "Eiichi-kun," she said to the image of a blond boy her imagination conjured on the moon's silvery surface. "Do you think Ranma forgot about me..." she looked down sadly, "or could it be that, like you, he..."

"Yo!" She heard a muffled greeting, and turned to find Ranma stuffing taiyaki into his mouth.

Mitsuki eventually managed to slow the beating of her heart from the corner she had retreated to. "Mooouuuuu, Ranma-kun you jerk!"

"Hey, this stuff's great, how come you haven't had any yet?" Ranma asked, the spongy fish shaped pastry wiggled in his mouth as he spoke, but the sight of a determined, teary-eyed Mitsuki walking towards him made him involuntarily swallow the taiyaki whole.

"Don't disappear for so long." She buried herself on his shoulder, her tears soaking into his shirt. Ranma flopped about, not quite sure how to react. 'Heck was going on?' he asked himself. 'We've only met once and she's already this bad, it ain't normal' But as he looked down at her, a small part of him screamed that he couldn't deal with her the way he did any other girl.

"C'mon Mitsuki, don't cry." He begged. His hand was positioned to pat her back yet he never followed through with the act. "I had ta make sure what I had would help before showin' up."

The black haired girl pulled herself back, sniffling once. "R-really?"

Ranma's grined. "Yup! There's a pretty good chance it might work too, a powerful martial arts technique, which gave even me a run for my money."

"Wow," Mitsuki said, "you mean there's someone good enough to almost beat you?"

"Hey! Ain't no one good enough to beat me." His chest puffed. "She gave me some trouble is all."

"Um, will I be able to learn it Ranma-kun? I'm not a martial artist, and my body might not be able to handle the training..."

"Heh, no sweat, it's practically made for people with weak constitutions."

Mitsuki's vision started clouding. "Thank you Ranma... you worked so hard for my sake even though you don't know me very well."

"It's no problem, really, just don't start cryin' again." He noticed the moisture in her eyes building up. "So, ya want ta learn it?"

Mitsuki smiled as she dried her tears. "Hai."

"Okay." Ranma cleared his throat and got down to business, "this is risky so I'll only teach you the technique if you agree to my conditions--"

"I agree," Mitsuki adopted a sing song tone.

"Listen to me first before agreeing, brat." Ranma attempted his own version of Soun's Demon Head attack. All he managed was an evil looking purple aura, which almost did the trick... almost.

"Kyaaaa! Ranma-san is sooo scary."

Preview:

The secretary looked sympathetically at their retreating backs. Damn those were unlucky Shinigami.

Author's Rambling:

Ugh, this chapter took too long for my tastes. Then again, I'll be busy for the next two weeks so...

Some or all of you probably noticed my weird handling of titles and honorifics. It's a byproduct of my introduction to Ranma being the Viz OAVs. Tell me if it's too irritating and I'll make changes.