Kotori was waiting for me at the foot of the stairs. "Another fun day of school, huh?" she said sarcastically.

"You bet!" I said. Kotori looked at me suspiciously.

"What are you up to?" she said slowly.

I threw my hands up in the air. "Nothing, I swear! I'm not planning anything… yet," I said with an evil expression.

"Uh-huh."

I heard a slam behind me and looked around to see Jhim walking down the stairs, his bag slung over his shoulder. "Hey Jhim! Come on down!"

Jhim looked up at me and gave me a "what are you up to" look. I rolled my eyes and motioned him down. "God, y'all are acting like I'm a felon or something!"

Jhim joined us and I made the introductions. "Jhim, Kotori. Kotori, Jhim."

Kotori bowed slightly then looked at Jhim quizzically. "Isn't your name Chimofu?" she said.

Jhim gave me a look of death then faced Kotori. "It is, but –she- insists on calling me Jim," he said, jerking his head in my direction.

Kotori laughed. "Yeah, she can do that. You haven't gone shopping with her yet."

Jhim chuckled. "And I hope never to."

"Well I'm glad to see you guys are getting along," I said sarcastically. "Now we better get going or else we'll get caught in the slaughter."

"Right, right," Kotori said as we started off, me in the lead.

"So what did she do when you were shopping?" Jhim said to Kotori behind me.

"Oh you wouldn't believe this girl! I swear, she was skipping down the street and pantsed one of the mannequins…"

That's how most of the conversation to school went, with interruptions from me to defend myself. The good thing was that Jhim was getting along with Kotori, the bad thing was most of it was making fun of me. Way to feel the love.

"Hey y'all, I hate to interrupt this little conversation, but we're here," I said as we approached the school.

We walked through the large crowd of boys, most of them eyeing Jhim suspiciously as we went along. "I better get upstairs," Jhim said. "Good to meet you Kotori."

"Good to meet you too," Kotori said.

"Uh, Rizu," Jhim said as Kotori and I walked away. "Can I talk to you about something?"

I turned to Kotori who nodded towards Jhim. "I'll see you in class," she said, walking away.

"What's up?" I said, walking up to Jhim.

"Did you call her?" he asked, keeping his voice low.

"Yep, and he's definitely here," I said.

Jhim nodded. "Good," he said. "You'll be sure to tell me what happens after school?"

I waved my hand in the air. "Relax, I got it covered."

"Right," Jhim said. "I'll see you later."

"Bye bye!" I called after him.

That's when it hit me: I was in Ranma and Akane's homeroom class. God have mercy on my soul and sanity.

"She's here!" The majority of the classroom headed to the window, peering over heads and ponytails to see the show.

I turned to Kotori who was sitting across from me doing her homework. "Hey," I said. "You wanna check it out?"

She looked at me with surprised eyes. "I thought you didn't like watching the fights," she said.

"Eh, I figure the swim team's out of commission by now," I said.

"You go, I've got to finish this paper," Kotori said, her attention going back to her paper. I shrugged and pushed my way to the front of the crowd next to Yuka and Sayuri.

"Hey Rizu, don't usually see you up here," Sayuri said.

"Just bored," I said. "Who's favored for today?"

"Uh, I think it's the baseball team," she said.

"Go Akira!" Yuka yelled from beside me. "Get that girl!"

I turned to Sayuri with a quizzical eye. "New crush," she said. I nodded and turned back to the fight.

"Wait, doesn't that mean she's cheering him on to date another girl?" I asked suddenly.

"I don't question her logic anymore," Sayuri said. I nodded, deciding to take Sayuri's advice. I scanned the crowd for Akane, although it wasn't that hard to find her. Just follow the large mass of boys and she'd be in the middle.

On the wall surrounding the school sat Ranma Saotome, watching Akane like he was watching a mystery show.

"Ranma!" I heard Nabiki call from the window above us. "Get inside this school! Now!"

"But, but," Ranma yelled back, pointing down to Akane.

"Don't worry about Akane!" Nabiki yelled.

At that time, Akane had conveniently finished her fight with the mob. As she stood among the fallen boys, she tossed her hair behind her shoulder. I watched as Kuno approached, tossing Akane a rose.

I laughed at Kuno, having never really seen this fight before. "I know you'd like to think you don't stank," I sang under my breath. "But lean a little bit closer, see that roses really smell like po-ooo-ooo(1)."

Sayuri looked at me like with a cocked eyebrow. "What are you singing?" she asked. I laughed loudly, clapping my hands.

"It's nothing, really," I said between giggles. "Let's watch the show," I said, directing her attention back to the scene below us.

Kuno was pointing his sword accusingly at Ranma, and his brash words could be easily heard from where we were. "Who are you boor?! But it is the custom to give one's own name first! Fine then! Mine I shall give!"

I was about to double over in laughter.

"My name is blah blah blah blah Captain of the blah blah blah Undefeated blah blah of the high school blah world. But my peers call me… The BLUE THUNDER of Furinkan High!"

I heard the girls around me consulting each other. "Blue Thunder?" "Since when?" "I thought it was the Red Tiger." I wiped a tear from my eye as I continued to watch the fight.

Ranma said something I couldn't hear, but it got a reaction from Kuno. "What?! Under the same roof as Akane?!"

"What do you think he meant by that?" Sayuri said to me. I shrugged, muttering a "I don't question."

Ranma tossed his bag to Akane and took a fighting stance when I felt something drop on my head, a crumb as I soon discovered. I looked up to see Jhim and some boy watching the scene, and the boy was eating chips.

"Hey!" I yelled. "Watch where you're dropping that stuff!"

The boy looked down and blushed. "Sorry," he yelled. "Didn't mean to."

Suddenly there was a clap of thunder over our heads. Several girls shrieked and a bag of chips fell on my head. "What the?" The greasy chips fell out of my hair although a few crumbs were caught in my French braid. "HEY!" I yelled, facing the window above me. But the boy was gone, although I could see Jhim laughing at me.

"JHIM! I'm gonna kill you!"

The boy who was eating the chips stuck his head out and smiled shyly. "I'm sorry about that," he yelled. "Are you hurt?"

Oh sure, I could get hurt by a bag of chips. "No, I'm fine," I yelled. I could feel the rain drops begin to fall on my head so I ducked inside. Kotori was stifling the giggles that threatened to erupt.

"Oh shut it," I muttered. I undid my hair and shook it out, hopefully getting rid of the crumbs. "Oh man, its sour cream and onion. Now my hair is gonna smell like mango and onions."

"Oh my god Rizu!" Yuka said as she ran up to us. "You so totally missed it!"

"What are you talking about?" I said as I ran my fingers through my hair.

"The new guy, he almost beat Kuno!" she said excitedly. She looked like an excited little school girl. Oh wait, she was.

"So?" I said. "Akane beats him everyday."

"So?!" Yuka exclaimed. "If he can beat Kuno, than he can beat Akane and that means she might have to date him!"

"But he almost beat him." I said. Turning to Kotori I asked, "Hey, is my hair nasty?"

"Nah, you should keep it down for once," she said.

"I don't think you guys are grasping the direness of the situation," Yuka said. "If Akane dates this guy, that means all the other girls finally have a chance with the guys."

I nodded. "S'good point. But like I said, he almost beat him."

"But it's still a pretty big deal," Sayuri said, walking up to us.

"What happened to the guy anyway?" Kotori asked. "Was he limping away from the battle field?"

Sayuri shook her head. "No, as soon as it started raining, a panda showed up and took him away."

"A panda?" Kotori asked sarcastically. "You can't be serious."

Sayuri shrugged. "I'm just telling it like it is."

Kotori rolled her eyes and looked towards the clock. "I better go," she said. "I'll see you at lunch?"

"Yep," I replied cheerfully.

Yuka looked around the classroom. "Where's Akane?" she asked. "She's not usually late."

Sayuri looked around too with a worried expression on her face. "No kidding. I didn't see her after the fight either."

"Aww," Yuka said. "I wanted to ask her about that guy."

I smirked. "Hon, I have a feeling he's already taken."

"Hmm," the teacher said, adjusting his glasses as he looked at Ranma's transfer papers. "Well, it does seem to be true that you were in China until recently."

Ranma Saotome stood at the front of the class room, hands behind his back with a more or less blank look on his face. I have to say though, dude was hot. I don't mean he was cute either, Ranma was a certified hottie. I blushed heavily at the thought, remembering that this was a cartoon character that also had three fiancées. I never did the anime fangirl thing well.

"But that doesn't change the fact that you and Akane Tendo were late," the teacher said. "Go stand in the hall!"

Akane angrily stood up and followed Ranma out into the hall. I sighed and leaned back in my chair. As we opened our biology books (fun fun), I sighed. Waiting for Kuno was going to be a bitch.

Time stretched on slowly and my eyes dropped. I hate biology more than life itself (ironic huh?) and my mind was threatening to shut down. I heard slightly raised voices outside the classroom and strained my ears to listen, but only caught the occasional insult. If Kuno didn't come soon…

"Yah!!"

Thank God.

"Never, Ranma Saotome!" The whole class was thoroughly interested now, all heads turned toward the hallway.

"I shall never accept your engagement to Akane!"

Desks erupted as everyone scrambled towards the window. "What?! Engagement?" one of the boys yelled indignantly.

"How could you Akane!" Sayuri exclaimed.

"And you said you hated men!" Yuka added.

I sighed as Akane and Ranma made the usual defensive comments. Quickest way to see the Not!Fight was to head towards the door, so I made my way towards the exit.

"Stand your ground!" Kuno yelled.

"This is no place to fight!" Ranma yelled back as he began to run. "Follow me!"

Perfect timing, as the crowd of students stormed out the door, I was already out and following Akane.

"This is great!" someone said.

"Yeah, and the winner gets to date Akane!" Yuka said.

I laughed as Akane blanched. "What do you think Akane?" I said. She shot me a death look as we followed the boys.

"Hey!" the gym teacher yelled. "Don't run in the hall!"

"Yes sir!" Akane yelled as we continued to stampede down the hall.

"Let's get outside!" Ranma yelled. "Follow me!" He jumped out the window and Kuno followed. If it were me, I would have paused considerably if my opponent jumped out the window, but hey! This was Kuno.

"Hey, this is the third floor," the gym teacher yelled angrily at Ranma and Kuno.

I just about died laughing when Ranma saw the pool beneath him.

"Buffoon!" Akane yelled.

SPLOSH

"Look, Kuno's coming up!"

I could see Akane searching the water for Ranma. Slowly, Kuno's body began to move towards the edge of the pool and Akane looked slightly relieved. That is until Kuno started thrashing around.

"GYAHHH!" I winced at Ranma's exclamation. That didn't sound like fun. Akane look horrified.

The cry of "Pervert!" rang from the pool as Ranma grasped Kuno's head and slammed him on the pool deck.

I swallowed my laughter and tapped Akane on the shoulder. "There's hot water and towels in the janitor's closet," I said to her. "He might wanna warm up after that fun little swim."

"Right," Akane said as she snuck away.

I sighed. Oh man, Jhim was going to kill me for that.

"You said what?!"

Hey, whadda ya know? I was right.

"I just told her that the towels and hot water were in the janitor's closet," I said as I leaned back. "I didn't say 'Hey, your sex changing fiancée could use some hot water so his curse can be triggered,' now did I?"

"You might as well!" Jhim yelled. We were inside my apartment, my text books strewn across the table. Jhim had come over a little after school had let out to find out what happened ("But you already know." "So what? You did it too.") and to steal some more Kasumi leftovers.

"Dude, calm down okay? God, you'd think I'd told them the entire plot," I said.

"Wouldn't put it past you," Jhim muttered.

"I heard that, moron!" I yelled, sitting up again. "Look, they're gonna find out we know eventually."

"Yeah, but not on the first day!"

"Oh shut up, don't you have practice today?

Jhim sat back on his hands and sighed. "Yeah, I do."

"Well then I'll come with you," I said.

Jhim shot me a dirty look. "How do I know you won't tell?" he threatened.

I threw my hands up in the air, exasperated. "God, would you let it go? I'm not that stupid, even I know when to shut up!" I pointed a finger accusingly at Jhim. "Do not think that just because I'm a fifteen year old girl means that you have anything over me. I'm just as intelligent as you are, and a hell of a lot more polite."

"Well then act like it!"

"You know what your problem is?" I said loudly. "You are way too uptight about this. We are stuck in the Seinfeld episode from hell and news flash! I don't think anything we say or do is going to affect this place."

"How can you be so small minded?" Jhim shot back. "This isn't a book anymore Liz, this is real with real people. Everything you do has an effect on someone."

"Would you at least trust that I know what I'm doing?"

"No, not with a stunt like that today."

"It wasn't a stunt, damn it!"

"You know what?" Jhim said, standing up. "I have to go."

I growled. "Whatever. I'll see you later."

"Bye," he said coldly. With a slam of the door, he left and I never felt more pissed. Perfect time for target practice.

My aim improved considerably that night. However, my mood didn't want to follow.

Jhim was right on some level, we were dealing with real people now. I considered Akane a friend now, and I definitely wouldn't have a book character for a friend if I were in the real world. All of my friends could feel emotions and say things that were on their mind. Sayuri and Yuka, two background characters in the story, suddenly had personalities.

But I still believed that Jhim was taking things way too seriously. I mean, it was Nerima! You couldn't get much more anti-serious.

I spent much of the night listening to a Beatles CD and writing in my notebook. When I had too much to think about I wrote it all down in the form of list, rants, and unintelligible paragraphs. Whichever one I felt like.

Around eight, a knock was heard against my door. I get up and looked out the peep hole to see Jhim. I opened the door and stood in the doorway. "Hi."

"Uh, hey," Jhim said. "I got burgers," he said, holding out the Wac Donald's bags. I smiled slightly, and then blushed when my stomach grumbled. I guess I had been too angry to notice I was starving.

"Come on in man," I said, stepping out of the way to let him in.

We sat down at the table and he distributed the burger and fries. "You can pick off the stuff you don't like," he said.

I nodded. Well this was awkward. "You want something to drink?" I asked.

"Nah." I nodded and took a fry. "I wanted to apologize," he said suddenly. "I haven't been the nicest guy lately."

No kidding, ya think? "S'okay," I said. "I could be less 'in your face'."

"Yeah well, I kinda think we should work together," Jhim said. "Better than we have been anyway." I nodded in agreement. "We're both SI's and knowing this place, we really are going to need to stick together."

"Exactly." Wasn't that what I said in the first place? Oh well, don't question if it works for ya.

"But you need to be more careful," Jhim said. "If they found out what we were, who knows what would happen."

I sighed. "Yeah, about that," I said, scratching my head. "I've never been a good one for apologies," I muttered shyly. "But you're right and I'll do better next time, I promise."

Jhim smiled and picked up a fry. "That's all I'm asking."

We ate our meal in relative silence until I started to laugh.

"What is it?" Jhim asked.

"If we could get Ranma and Akane to sit down like this and make nice," I said through giggles. "Our lives could be so much easier!"

Jhim chuckled and before we knew it, we were clutching our sides in pointless laughter.

"So Akane," Yuka said quietly. "What's up with that Ranma guy?" It was the next day, around lunch time. Yuka, Sayuri, Akane and I were all sitting together in a group of desks, Ranma sitting not too far away from our group. I was eating a happy peanut butter and jelly sandwich while everyone else had a happy lunch box of home made food. I still like mine best.

"There's nothing up with 'that Ranma guy'," Akane said bitterly. "He's just the son of my dad's friend."

"But are you really engaged to him?" Sayuri asked.

Ranma, who was probably listening, snorted.

I could see Akane getting angrier by the moment. Maybe it was the snapped chopsticks in her hand, but I got the feeling it was time for a change in subject. "Hey y'all, leave her alone about it," I said cheerfully. "How do you guys think you did on your test?"

Sayuri shrugged. "I think I did alright," she said. "I studied really hard last night."

"Yeah, I studied," I said. "I just don't remember any of it." Well, I had looked at the books; I just didn't really read any of it. Too angry and the pages just looked like potential ammo to me.

"Yeah, same here," Akane said ruefully. "If someone hadn't been crashing around outside, I might've studied more."

"Hey, we were sparing!" Ranma yelled from his seat.

"How do you think you did Pigtail?" I asked hastily, trying to avoid a brawl.

Ranma looked at me blankly before shrugging. "I don't know, I just got here."

"Did you study?" Yuka asked.

"No, he was busy waking up half the neighborhood," Akane said.

"Would you back off?"

I sighed. If this was how it was going to be every day…

(1)Song: Roses by Outkast