Over the next week or so, I began to have more of a social life. I would either be hanging out with Kotori or Akane and her gang, when I wasn't trying to call things from "The Twighlight Zone".

That's what I decided to call the alter-dimension that somehow had an infinite amount of space in it. It had almost gotten to the point where I didn't even have to return the object to the cupboards or wherever they came from, I could just stash them in the Twighlight Zone. Of course, calling things from the Twighlight Zone was a lot more difficult than returning it, so I set out to find a way to channel the Twighlight Zone to my needs.

I found the answer one afternoon while out with Kotori. I was helping her with the grocery shopping (a task that is always done quickest in a group) when we passed by a small second hand shop.

"Hey, what do you think?" I said, indicating to the shop. "Wanna go in? Retro stuff rules!"

Kotori shrugged. "Sure, why not?" she said and we walked into the cool shop. It smelled of old clothes and moth balls, and was dimly lit. A teenager stood at the counter, reading a fashion magazine and blowing gum bubbles. I swear it was so stereotypical it was scary.

Kotori and I flipped through the racks, not finding anything of special interest until I reached the accessories. "Oh. My. God."

"What is it?" Kotori said, walking over to where I stood.

"Dude! Check out this purse!" I said, holding up a satchel made of brown canvas. It greatly resembled my old green purse, only this one was slightly smaller. "I so have to buy this!"

"Why do you need a purse? It's not like you'd use one," Kotori said. "At least not one that looks like that."

"Do not let appearance deceive you my good fellow," I said. "Purses like this are a find, especially one as plain as this." I held up the purse high in the air. "Observe the 'blank slate' feel of it, perfect for patches and drawings. Of course, let us not overlook the versatile strap, having the ability to elongate or to shorten. The deep pockets leave much room for packs of gum and or small explosives. This, my friend, is the mother of all purses."

Kotori sighed. "Fine, it's your money."

"And it's your loss," I said.

The purse was extremely inexpensive, so I was a happy little girl. It didn't occur to me till later that evening that I could use the purse to channel the Twighlight Zone. I laughed loudly at the realization, remembering the nickname my friends had given my old purse: The Black Hole.

"Rizu, what is that?" Akane asked when I saw her the next day. I looked down at my purse and beamed.

"It's my new purse," I said cheerfully.

Akane raised her eyebrow. "Why do you need a purse?" she asked.

I shrugged. "Just to keep stuff in. It comes in handy," I said.

Yuka, a girl I had met through Akane and Sayuri, ran into the room beaming. "Did you guys hear?" she said.

"No, I haven't heard anything," I said. "What are you talking about?"

"The new guy! He's in the grade above us, and oh is he gorgeous!" she said, swooning a bit at last part.

Akane and I exchanged glances and shrugged. "I didn't see anyone this morning," I said, leaning on the desk beside Akane's. "What does he look like?"

"Oh my gosh, he is so cute! I mean, he's really tall and kinda keeps to himself from what I've heard."

"Yuka, I was new. New people keep to themselves the first day," I said flatly. "What's so great about this guy anyway, he sounds like every other guy in the entire country."

Yuka huffed. "You guys just have to see him to understand," she said. With a faraway look in her eyes, she sighed happily. "He's like the tall dark strangers you hear about, only better!"

I looked at Akane, who was giving me an identical look. We nodded, silently agreeing: Yuka was nuts.

"Rizu, you'll come with me to see him won't you?" Yuka said suddenly.

I started from my position. "M-me? Why me?"

"Because you're more merciful towards boys than Akane is," she said. "And because I can't find Sayuri."

Akane huffed and looked indignant. "I can be merciful too!" she said.

"Well then let's go!" Yuka said, grabbing my hand. Quickly, I latched onto Akane's wrist dragging her along as well.

"If I have to do this, you do too," I muttered to her as Yuka dragged us up the stairs.

"He's in class 3-A I think," she said giddily.

"Hey Akane, isn't that the same class as Nabiki?" I said.

"Yes, I think so."

"So doesn't that mean Kuno will be there?" I said.
Akane turned white and I laughed as I released her wrist. "See you at lunch hon!" I said as Yuka snapped me around the corner.

"He's in here," she said, slowing down in front of a window. I peered in with her, scanning for the 'dark, mysterious stranger'.

"I don't get it Yuka, where is he?" I asked.

"He's back there, in the corner eating lunch."

I looked back to the indicated area and saw a boy a little taller than me, eating lunch. Not much of a looker, at least not like Yuka had said. "Yuka, I hate to tell you this, but he's not that special," I said.

Yuka shot me a dirty look. "What would you know? I think he's wonderful," she said, a dreamy look shifting across her face.

I blanched and straightened up. "So you wanna go talk to the guy?" I said.

Yuka blushed a deep shade of red and shook her head. "No, that's okay, I just wanted to…"

"Oh no you don't. You dragged me up here, now we're going to go talk to him," I said.

"But are we just going to charge in there and start talking to him?" she asked, a little embarrassed.

"I've got nothing to be afraid of, do you?" I said.

Yuka shook her head, keeping her eyes on the ground.

"Well then let's go," I said.

"Couldn't we just ask Nabiki to find out about him?" she said.

I looked at her like she was crazy. "Uh, no, no we can't. Don't you want to talk to him, you know, get to know him better?"

Yuka nodded shyly, and suddenly smiled. "Why don't you talk to him?" she said.

"What?! Why? I'm not the one that likes him," I said.

"Yeah, but I trust you more than I trust Nabiki," Yuka said.

"No you don't, I'm just cheaper than Nabiki," I said. At least she had the grace to nod enthusiastically.

I sighed. "Fine, I'll go talk to him," I said.

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" Yuka said. "I'll be downstairs!" she said,runningawayquickly.

"Hey, wait a…" I began but that girl was long gone. I sighed and faced the door. Damn, I was going to have to be social again.

I slid open the door and most of the eyes fell on me, including "Mystery Dude". I walked past everyone quickly, avoiding their eyes although I could feel them boring into my back. I walked up to the guy and took a chair, spinning it around to face him and sat down.

"Hi yah!" I said as cheerfully as I could. The boy's face was a mix of surprise and confusion.

"Uh, hi," he said carefully, as though not sure what to expect.

"I'm Rizu Arumigufuchi," I said, extending a hand. I always liked to shake hands better than I did bowing, it seemedmore formal.

The boy took it hesitantly. "I'm Chimofu Debuneyu," he said.

"So where are you from?" I said, hopefully starting a conversation.

"America," he said.

"No way! Me too! Where in the US?" I said.

"Min-New York," he said. I raised my eyebrow at his trip. The boy didn't know where he was from? I shrugged it off mentally and decided to move onto a new topic.

"Really? I'm from all over the place actually, moved around a lot. I just moved here afew weeksago," I said. "How areyouliking this place so far?"

"It's fine," he said.

I frowned slightly. This boy wasn't much of a talker that was for sure. I could see how Yuka thought that was charming; most of the boys here had the "foot in mouth" problem. Me, I found it annoying.

"Any favorite class?" I said.

Chimofu shook his head.

I sighed. I give up! "Well, it was nice talking to you," I said. "See you later!"

Chimofu watched me leave the classroom then went back to his lunch. Oh sure, a real charmer.

When I went back downstairs, both Akane and Yuka were waiting for me, as well as Kotori who apparently had been filled in on my mission. "So how'd it go?" Yuka asked eagerly.

I sat down at a desk and sighed. "Not so good. Dude isn't that social, but ya know," I said.

"What's his name?" Kotori asked.

"Uh… oh man, I just had it… Chim something… Chimofu I think."

"You mean you don't remember his name?" Akane asked incredulously.

"I'm not that good with names okay?" I said. "So yeah, he's from the states, New York from what he said. I couldn't get anything else out of the guy," I said.

"He's from New York?" Yuka said. "That's so cool!"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah well next time, you talk to him. I felt like a damn idiot, walking in there for only three word answers." I turned to Akane. "Your sister is going to be all over me by the end of the day," I said.

Akane shrugged. "I'm impressed you did it in the first place. I wouldn't have."

"Yeah well, I feel like an idiot all the same," I said.

Kotori patted my head. "That's okay, maybe he was just busy or something," she said. "Or maybe you came on too strong."

"Yeah Rizu, you tend to do that," Akane agreed.

"I swear, and your hair doesn't help anything either," Yuka said.

I groaned and slammed my head on the desk. "Thanks guys. No really, thank you so much."

"Just telling you like it is," Kotori said.

I banged my head on the desk. "Kotori, shut up."

"I don't see why you care that much," Akane said. "It's not like you like him or anything."

"Yeah, so why does it matter so much?" Kotori said.

"Be-cause," I said. "I just went up there and made a fool of myself, and not the way I usually do either. I mean, I tried to make nice with the guy and the dude slapped me down."

Kotori nodded like she understood. Akane just shrugged and went back to her work while Yuka gushed over Chimofu.

I walked down the street slowly, enjoying the walk as much as I could. My purse hung at my side faithfully, bumping against my hip as I walked along. I smiled broadly as I remembered last night, where I had finally channeled the Twighlight Zone into my purse. Now, as I walked along, I had the satisfaction of knowing that my groceries were waiting for me in my little Twighlight Zone.

"Have you found a style yet?"

"No, not yet but I'm working on it."

I paused at the fork in the road, just so that I wasn't in plain view of the road. Where had I heard those voices before?

"Look, why did you put me here in first place?"

"Because I wanted to, and for no other reason."

I know I'd heard that feminine voice somewhere, somewhere important. The other, male voice, I barely recognized.

"But Nermia? Of all places, why here?"

"Oh please, you know you like it."

I heard the boy sigh. "Do you at least have any idea of when Ranma will show up?"

Ranma! How did the boy know about Ranma? My curiosity was killing me now, just whispering to me to look around the corner.

"Yes I do," the female voice said. "But I'm not going to tell you."

"Why not?" the male asked, slightly perturbed.

"Because that wouldn't be any fun," the woman said. "Oh my, look at the time! I really must be going!"

"No wait! You still haven't…" But the boy was cut off by a clap of thunder. Knowing that it was probably already too late, I poked my head around the corner.

A boy around my age stood in front a puff of smoke, looking downcast. I had seen that boy before though… a Furinkan uniform. Suddenly it hit me: It was Chimofu!

I waited patently outside the gates of Furinkan High, humming the theme song to Azumanga Daioh. I had been tossing and turning all night last night, trying to figure out why the hell Chimofu knew about Ranma. By morning, I still had no idea what was going on with this guy and it was driving me crazy!

By lunch though, all the pieces were starting to fit together.

"So did you guys hear about the new guy?" Sayuri had said, sitting down with us at lunch.

"Oh please don't tell me you think he's cute too," I said in a bored tone.

"No, I don't. I was talking about how he stood up to Kuno," Sayuri said. I raised an eyebrow at this and put down my chopsticks.

"To Kuno? Do tell."

"You'd be better off asking Akane what happened," Sayuri said, indicating the girl approaching us.

"Ask me what?" Akane said sitting down.

"What happened with the new guy and Kuno," Kotori said from beside me.

"Oh that? The guy didn't want to fight me and Kuno got on his case about it," Akane said. "I left before it got too weird but I don't know what happened to the guy afterwards."

"I heard Kuno beat the snot out of him and he's in the infirmary," Sayuri said.

"Oh no, that poor guy," Kotori said, a look of pity on her face.

I had said nothing so far, slowly going over the information in my head. Something about this guy reeked of foul play, but I still wasn't sure why. I had spent all class figuring it out. Finally, I just wrote down all I knew about him and starred at it while the teacher rambled on.

From States

1. In class 3-A (same as Nabiki and Kuno)

2. Knew about Ranma

3. Looking for a "style"

4. Fought with Kuno about Akane… and lost

Like I said, something reeked. I looked at all the facts and finally came to only one conclusion: The dude was an SI. Now all I had to was prove it.

This brought me to my current position. Almost everyone had left school and I waited outside, smiling at people I knew and saying good-bye. Finally, Chimofu walked out of the school, clutching his side but trying to walk tall.

"Don't worry, that'll heal up quickly," I said abruptly. The boy spun around to face me and winced because of it. "Dude, calm down. I just wanna talk," I said.

He looked over my suspiciously, eyes resting on my hair as I had come to expect. "What about?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Jeez, you're not one for conversation are you?" I said walking over to him. "You wanna go get something to eat? I'm starving."

"No thanks, I have to get home," he said curtly.

"Great, I'll go with you," I said.

He looked at me with a skeptical expression. "Are you always like this?" he asked.

"Why yes, yes I am. Now which way do you live?" I said.

Chimofu pointed in a direction. "Great! I'm going that way anyway," I said as I walked up to him. He looked at me sideways as we began to walk but didn't say a thing. I sighed and decided to start talking.

"So I saw you yesterday," I began. I didn't notice any change in his demeanor, which was just a well."How'd you find out about Ranma anyway?"

Now that got his attention. He stopped dead in his tracks and stared at me. "You know about Ranma?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah sure, who hasn't read it?" I said, continuing to walk. If I played my cards right, I might be able to get a story out of this guy.

"What do you mean 'read it'?" he said, walking quickly to catch up with me.

"You know what I mean, otherwise you wouldn't be here," I said. "Well, maybe if you watched it," I said, pausing to ponder that point.

"Who are you?" he asked his voice low.

"I told you, my name's Rizu," I said cheerfully.

"Your real name stupid," he said. I raised an eyebrow at his sudden curtness.

"Well that was nice. If you really want to know its Liz," I said.

"Are you an SI?" Chimofu asked.

I nodded woefully. "Unfortunately, yes. It's because of that stupid SIC that I have this hair, ya know?"

"SIC?" he asked, looking truly perplexed.

"SIC? The place that places all the SI's and stuff?" I said, hoping to jog his memory.

"I was brought here by a witch, not any company," he said.

"So you are an SI!" I said happily. Chimofu's face was a mix of embarrassment and self-loathing. "I knew it! As soon as I heard you fought Kuno, I knew it!"

"Shh! Would you shut up?" he whispered harshly. "God you're loud."

I shrugged. "Whatever man, it's just how I am," I said.

Chimofu groaned and slapped his head. "Oh man, what sort of chaos have you unleashed?"

I raised my eyebrow at this. "Excuse me? What do you mean chaos?"

"I mean," he said, sounding slightly annoyed. "With a mouth like yours, how much do the characters know already?"

Oh no he didn't! "Aww hell no man! All I've done since I've gotten here is make a couple of friends. Which seems to be a lot more than you've done Mr. Silent Man," I said, crossing my arms to make my point.

Chimofu frowned. "Well excuse me for being dumped in Nermia! It's not exactly the most male friendly place in the world!"

I opened my mouth to reply but that comment caught me. He was right, now that I thought about it. Considering that the only main character at the moment was a man hater…

I sighed. "Touché. But don't you think that now that you refused to fight her, she might go easier on you?"

The boy shook his head. "I'm not really sure. I'm just waiting for Ranma to show up."

"Well, couldn't you, like, enroll in the dojo? I mean, it'd put you right into all the action and it's worked for several other SI's."

Chimofu sighed. "I don't really know what to do about that," he said. "Look, Liz? I'm tired and my head hurts. Can we talk about this later?"

I waved my hand dismissively. "Sure, sure, I'll see you later then," I said, walking off towards my apartment. Imagine my surprise when I noticed Chimofu following me. "Hey, didn't you say we'd talk later?" I said.

"I'm just walking home," he said defensively.

"Well, where do you live?" I asked.

"Its right there, don't worry about it," he said.

I looked up ahead. "Dude, that's where I live," I said, indicating to the apartment building.

Chimofu looked at me with a look of disbelief. "You're kidding right?" he said.

"Nope, fraid not. Guess we're neighbors!" I said. "Hey, you wanna stop by my place? I have Kasumi leftovers."

"Would you listen if I said no?" he said sarcastically.

I put my hands on my hips, deciding that enough was enough. "Look mister, all I have done since I met you is try to be nice, but you are making this really hard for me to do. Now, because we're both SI's, I seriously suggest that we make nice and work together. This place can get pretty weird and it'd be better if there were two people on cleanup duty," I said, feeling my temper rise with every word. "Got it, Chim-o-fu?!"

Chimofu, eyes wide, nodded quickly.

"And another thing," I said. The boy looked thoroughly freaked by now. "Could you –please- tell me your real name? Chimofu sounds weird."

Chimofu was the first person I'd seen to face fault, and I can tell you, it was entertaining. "Ow," he muttered as he stood up. "That hurt ya know."

"Dude, you face faulted, not me," I said. "How bout this?" I extended my hand. "I'm Rizu Arumigufuchi, but you can call me Liz," I said.

Chimofu looked at my hand hesitantly before taking it in a firm handshake. "I'm Chimofu Debuneyu," he said. "But you can call me Jim."

I smiled broadly. "Nice to meet you Jhim."