Chapter 21: Star Crossed Lovers

Ranma had to sit perfectly still. Moving meant failure. His nose had started getting itchy five minutes earlier, and now it was taking almost all his willpower not to scratch it. He twitched slightly, hoping against hope that would somehow dislodge the itch. Of course it did not. Was there anything else left? Maybe he could just scratch it quick and no one would notice?

"Okay Ranma, that pose is done," Tsugumi announced as the egg timer began to ring. "I must say, you are a very good model."

Ranma was so busy enjoying the sweet bliss of scratching the itch he almost missed the compliment. "Oh thanks. It's no big deal. You're always cookin' for me and my pops and such. I knew I had to offer ya some sorta birthday present. And then Hibari told me that offerin' to pose for ya might help out a bit."

"It's certainly more than 'a bit'. Usually I would have to hire a model, which slows the whole process down and costs money. Or I have to draw entirely from imagination, which has its limits," Tsugumi explained.

"Couldn't ya get one of your dad's men to help ya out?" Ranma asked, as he stood to stretch a bit.

"They don't really tend to have... shall we say 'conventionally handsome' faces?" the eldest Oozora daughter explained. "I have used Hibari a few times, but I'm not sure handsome is the word anyone would use for his face either."

"I'm right here you know," Hibari replied as she peeked above her own sketchbook, sticking her tongue out.

"Well, you ain't handsome Hibari," Ranma replied. "You're pretty... as ya can be with... well really just in general...er..."

Ranma blushed more and more with each stammered word. He'd admitted to Hibari that he loved her, but complimenting her around her family (or others who knew her secret) made him feel a bit flustered still.

"Can I see the drawings?" Ranma managed to ask, trying to push down the embarrassment by changing the subject.

Hibari and Tsugumi glanced to one another, seeming to communicate something with their glances, before turning back to Ranma and nodding.

"Check mine first, since it would be a disappointment after Tsugumi's," Hibari said.

"Now Hibari, don't be so hard on yourself. I'm almost 5 years older than you and spend far more time drawing."

"I'm not being hard on myself big sis. You're just amazing."

Ranma had in this time slid around to look through Hibari's sketches for the evening. They were way better than the doodles he managed. He was curious about the outfits she drawn him in a few times. He let out a slightly chuckle as he noticed she'd drawn herself in beside him in some of those pictures. Only to blush when he noticed one doodle where she had them kissing.

While it was a bit strange to see himself in drawing form he quite liked how cute Hibari's drawing style was.

'That style would probably suit my girl side better to be honest. Maybe the next pose I should switch?' Ranma wondered to himself. "It's really good, Hibari."

"If you want to give me private nude sessions that would be appreciated," the blonde replied with a smirk that would have made Ranma flustered without the commented.

"I-well. That would be..." Ranma rambled as his brain overheated.

"Posing nude is traditional," Tsugumi said in a tone so matter of fact she might be saying that citrus contained vitamin c. "But we won't pressure you into that if you're not comfortable. Right Hibari?"

"Yes Tsugumi," the blonde replied reluctantly. She did however give Ranma a mischievous wink that made him suspect the topic might not be finished.

Ranma walked over to Tsugumi's sketchbook, curious as to her style. The pleasant blend of realism and stylisation made her drawings looked amazing in his opinion. Flipping through he noticed she was also putting different outfits on him, and that there were one or two drawings where she played with his face just enough for it to look more like a brother he didn't have. And she'd had some fun with his hair a couple times. It almost made him miss being able to let his real hair loose.

"Wow, this really is amazin'," was the best reply Ranma managed.

"Thank you Ranma," Tsugumi replied. "Now... I'm not sure if you're open to this, but if you could do the last two poses in your cursed form I would appreciate it. It's just... well, you have a figure very unlike my usual model for girls."

"Sure, ya. I'm fine with that," Ranma said as he walked over and grabbed a cup from Tsugumi's desk to pour on his head. "Who's your usual model?"

"Hibari actually," Tsugumi replied. "He is very feminine. Also easier to work with than Tsubame. She's very critical when I try to draw her."

Ranma noticed once again that Hibari seemed to flinch a little whenever Tsugumi called her 'him'. The redhead was curious, but had to finish posing.

Ranma and Hibari were walking to school the next day with the black haired boy turned to the blonde.

"So, last night when Tsugumi was callin' you a boy and things, ya seemed to be wincing?" Ranma whispered. "You didn't used ta do that?"

Hibari gave him a slightly broken smile. "I'd grown a thick skin to the nonsense my family said. Then you showed up and should have gotten them to open their minds a bit. Plus how I've managed to get my hands on Jusenkyo powder really should have gotten them to clue in... Suzume figuring it out must have finally broken my defenses down. Now my family calling me a boy hurts again."

Ranma blushed a bit and stared at the ground. "I didn't realise it upset ya so much. I'll try my best to only call ya a girl from here on out."

"Thanks!" Hibari said, lighting up and wrapping her arms around Ranma to pull him into a tight hug. "But... if you didn't know being called a boy would bug me, I have to ask: how does it make you feel when people call you a girl?"

Ranma's response froze on his tongue. When his pops called him one it hurt, but that's because he knew it was an insult from Genma. When shopkeepers fell for his cute act and gave him a discount he felt smug. When a well meaning mother mentioned how proud his parents must be to have a cute daughter however... or when a girl from another school complimented him while he was out...

"Guilty," Ranma replied. "I guess I feel guilty. Cause I'm not really what they think. I'm like a joke... no, a mockery of a real girl."

Hibari nodded and held him tighter. She'd suspected the answer might be something like that. She liked him as a handsome boy, but the blonde was preparing herself for the possibility that might not be what she was going to get. Or at least trying to prepare herself.

To be honest it was probably making her father happy that most upset her about the idea.

"I think you should talk to Tsugumi," Ranma said as they approached Wakaba High School. "I'll back you up. I think she'll be reasonable."

"I suppose it's worth a shot," Hibari replied, her mind still a bit distant.

Ranma was packing up his school bag at the end of the day, still having to wonder why Hibari kept giving him odd looks today.

"So, Ranma," Haruki asked as he and Ken walked over, "Who won the draw?"

"Pardon?"

"For the date," Ken explained.

Ranma stared at them in confusion for a moment until he realised they were referring to the competition with Tsubasa. "Oh, that thing. Well... It was only whoever got more votes that would go on the date. And... we never got to actually count the ballots. Tsubasa kind of spilled all of... theirs after all."

Both of the guys looked rather disappointed.

"D-did you guys actually want to win a date with me?" Ranma asked, eyeing them suspiciously.

"Uh... nope. No. Tsubasa obviously. She was cute," Ken muttered before the pair wandered off.

Hibari and Ranma came home from an afterschool roof hopping training session (which Shui had joined in) to find Tsugumi on the phone near the front entrance.

"Hello? Yes this is-" she began when suddenly Ibari charged down the hallway and nearly knocked her over as he yanked the phone from her hand.

"You! You're that Umiushi brat ain't ya!? I won't have you making moves against my daughter! You creep!" Ibari half screamed into the receiver. He then spat onto the phone, before inflating a paper bag and popping it (apparently an attempt to deafen whoever was on the other end). "Call here again and I'll kill ya! Don't use it being her birthday as an excuse!"

He then threw the received back towards the base of the phone. A move which failed to hang it up as the receiver bounced off the wall and was left dangling by its cord. Frustrated the Oozora father marched back over to the phone and hung it up properly. He then turned to glare at Tsugumi.

"You're usually such a good daughter. I can't believe you're dating that slime from a horrid family. You know we've had a feud with the Umiushis since your grandfather's days!"

"Let Tsugumi follow her heart!" Tsubame yelled, rushing to defend her big sister.

"Yeah! You're being stupid daddy!" Suzume added as she charged forward too. "On her birthday too!"

Hibari knew she had to hold herself back. Her sisters might manage to convince father, but if she joined in he'd refuse for sure.

Instead she watched as his face twisted up. Suddenly her father exploded on her sisters.

"No! I won't allow it! This is a matter of family honour!" Ibari bellowed.

Genma appeared around the corner of the hallway and began nodding sagely. "Family honour is the most important form of honour."

Both stocky fathers proceed to ensure their sagely nodding was in sync.

"The Umiushi's over in Musashino have indeed been rivals of the Oozora's for years," Sabu explained to Ranma and Suzume. "I really wish Tsugumi hadn't chosen the son and heir to that family for her first proper boyfriend."

"Her first?" Ranma asked. She'd seemed much more aware of romance than that to Ranma.

"She's a late bloomer," Hibari said with a wink.

"It's more that most of the other young men have been scared away by the Oozora family business," Sabu corrected.

"I think you had a hand in scaring away more than a few of them, didn't you Sabu?" Hibari replied cheekily.

The slick yakuza enforcer blushed. "Hmph. Well, I had to see what they were made of. If they could really handle the family."

"Yep. Of course. Nothing personal," Hibari giggled. "You know... if you think about it Tsugumi and Bunta-san are just like Romeo and Juliet."

"Romeo and Juliet?" Suzume asked, turning to Ranma.

"Don't ask me," the pigtailed boy replied with a shrug.

"You don't know the tale of Romeo and Juliet? Ranma... I am so disappointed," Hibari replied mournfully. Then she lit up. "Luckily I can explain. Follow me!"

Ranma and Suzume hurried after her as Hibari marched into the house with her long legs. They quickly reached her room where she'd set up a miniature theatre. The blonde ran behind the theatre box while Ranma and Suzume sat down to watch.

"In the exotic distant land of Italy," Hibari's voice began, taking the tone of a dramatic narrator. "There lived a handsome young man named Romeo."

Up popped a puppet with black hair and a pigtail.

"As well as a beautiful girl named Juliet."

A blonde puppet appeared.

"The pair soon met and fell in love at first sight," Hibari explained. The two puppets kissed. "But alas, their snobby families had a silly old feud about something or other. It was so old and silly no one even remembered how it started. The young lovers knew they had to keep their romance secret, but found a priest to marry them in a clandestine ceremony."

"Alas! While heading to inform his friends," Hibari continued, producing a pair of puppets which looked like Shui and Ukyo, "The vile Tybalt, cousin of Juliet, started a fight and slew Mercutio!"

A pompadoured puppet with a long face that could only be Shiina appeared with a toy sword and knocked the Ukyo puppet out of the theatre box.

"Outraged Ra-er, Romeo took up Mercutio's blade and slew Tybalt in vengeance," Hibari explained, dropping Shiina's puppet on the floor unceremoniously. "But then he realised having committed murder his life was forfeit! Romeo had no choice but to flee the city."

"While she worried for her poor love Juliet's parents announced plans to wed her to another! Distraught Juliet turned to the priest who offered her a potion which could fake her death. She took the potion to escape her parent's watchful eyes, while word was to be sent to Romeo to tell him to save her. Alas! Word of Juliet's apparent demise reached Romeo before the truth did and he ran to see for himself."

Hibari brought the Ranma puppet over to her own puppet which lay on its back.

"Poor Romeo was too early and thought Juliet had truly died. And so Romeo produced a vial of poison, drinking it to be with Juliet in death."

The Ranma puppet dyed dramatically. Then suddenly the Hibari puppet sat up.

"Yet Juliet's false death ended mere moments later. Grieving she drew Romeo's dagger and pierced her own delicate breast!" Hibari announced, her voice hitting a truly dramatic crescendo.

"But the potion wasn't enough to kill Romeo. He revived due to his dormant alien biology. Distraught he knew his only comfort left was to go forth and fight crime," Genma added from the doorway.

"That's not what happened!" Hibari shouted, popping up into the frame of the puppet theatre. Insulting tails of tragic romance was not something Hibari would stand for.

"It isn't?" Genma asked defensively. "Are you trying to tell me Romeo wasn't from the planet Krypton."

"He wasn't!" Hibari harrumphed.

"Then why were they 'star crossed lovers' if neither of them crossed the stars?" Genma countered authoritatively.

Hibari was floored by his reply, Ranma and Suzume left with only a view of her feet sticking up through the puppet theatre. Well, that and her moan of frustration.

Hibari and Ranma were headed to discuss matters of gender with Tsugumi when they both heard a noise from the courtyard and froze. It sounded like whoever was out there was climbing the tree near Tsugumi's window.

As they listened Tsubame and Suzume both emerged nervously from their respective rooms. Both looked to Hibari and Ranma for protection. Ranma was more than a little annoyed considering how poorly Tsubame tended to treat the both of them.

The sound of calm talking from Tsugumi's room rose Hibari's interest too much for her to stay hidden and she cracked the door open.

"Oh! Bunta-san," she loudly whispered.

Three curious Oozora girls and one curious Saotome boy hurried into Tsugumi's room, curious to meet Tsugumi's forbidden love.

A handsome man in his early twenties was what they found. His jacket and shirt looked fairly expensive and fashionable, while his hair was well kept. He gave the sudden crowd an awkward smile.

"Hello. You must be Suzume," he said to the young blue haired girl before looking to the three teens. "I... I'm not entirely sure which is which for you three."

A slightly flustered Tsugumi moved forward to point them out, "Tsubame. Hibari. Ranma."

Tsubame shot Bunta a nasty glare the whole time.

Bunta nodded. "Well, it's good to meet you four. I wish it was under better circumstances. You see, my father has managed to arrange a political marriage for me with the daughter of a CEO."

"Oh, Bunta-kun," Tsugumi said softly as she took his hand. "What can we do?"

Bunta raised her hand to his face and kissed it softly. "We should elope."

"Elope!?" Suzume squeaked. The smallest Oozora tearned and grabbed Hibari's hands. "They're going to elope! Elope! So romantic!"

"I know, I know," Hibari replied happily.

Suzume then turned to Ranma, "Can you believe it? Eloping!"

Ranma scratched the back of his neck nervously. "Yeah, I heard."

Suzume then turned to a third figure in the room. "They're eloping da-Daddy!?"

Everyone froze as they realised Ibari had slid silently into the room.

"You. Umiushi. I told you I would kill you if you phoned us ever again. Did you really think the punishment for trespassing on my family's ancestral home would be lighter!?" Ibari roared.

"Ancestral? Daddy, we all know grandpa grabbed this place during the war after the Americans bombed the local land registry," Hibari replied flatly.

"You stay out of this!" Ibari yelled, his aura flaring up to give the impression of some sort of fanged kaiju.

If he wasn't on such a back footing with everything going on Ranma would have admired the control displayed. Usually only top level martial artists like his father could manage such vibrant battle auras.

"Y-you know, I... I've got a, er, doctor's appointment in the morning," Bunta stammered as he backed towards the window. "I-it was good meeting you. Bye!"

"You had better run! Coward!" Ibari replied, returning his form to normal while drawing a rifle to fire at Bunta's retreating form.

Luckily for the young man fleeing across the courtyard Ibari was too furious to bother aiming properly. He was furthered saved by a furious Hibari producing a pistol and firing a shot squarely at her father. When the man collapsed Suzume shrieked.

"Oh no! Hibari killed daddy!" the small blue haired girl cried.

"Nah, it's just a rubber bullet," Hibari replied. "He's fine. Will probably just have a nasty goose egg."

To prove her point the mustachioed Yakuza boss rose to his feet and glared at her. "The insolence! Why was I cursed to have such a disrespectful pervert for my only son!?"

"For the millionth time, I'm not a pervert," Hibari sighed. Under her breath she muttered, "I'm not a son either."

"Hmph. Just something a pervert would say," Ibari replied before turning to Tsugumi. "I will have none of this eloping business. Do you understand?"

Tsugumi nodded and her father stormed off. After a few moments of silence Suzume spoke up.

"What does elope mean anyway?" the bluenette asked.

Hibari burst into a giggling fit while Tsugumi kneeled down to explain. "It means marrying secretly somewhere far away from family who might not approve."

Suzume nodded. "Ooohh. I knew it sounded romantic!"

Tsubame and Suzume decided to leave, the excitement was over after all and it was a school night. Hibari and Ranma lingered for a moment before Hibari shook her head. Now was not the time to bring her problems to Tsugumi.

A small damp redhead was grumbling as he opened the front door to the Oozora compound when a shadow fell over him. Turning around Ranma was greeted by the sight of a giant stoic samurai.

"Where is Oozora?" the samurai bellowed.

Ranma took a moment to process that the giant was talking to him. Thinking it over he realised this was likely a battle aura of a rival Yakuza boss.

"I ain't in the loop," Ranma replied. "Probably inside somewhere? I can go check if ya like?"

The giant Samurai snorted and marched into the home himself. The way the giant somehow fit into the house proved he was an aura rather than a true giant.

Out of curiosity Ranma followed the lumbering Samurai. It didn't take long for the 'guest' to find Ibari.

"Umiushi! You're not welcome here!" Ibari shouted as he stood up. Ranma noticed his father look relieved that Ibari had knocked over the shogi table between the two of them.

"You opened fire on my son and heir! That is a direct provocation. I have come for personal vengeance," Umiushi roared.

Suddenly the form of Ibari shifted to that of the monster he'd been the night before. "Come try me then! Your son deserved it, trying to seduce my daughter!"

"Seduce your daughter? She's the one trying to confuse my son! I refuse to let her near him."

As the two would-be kaiju battled it out in the living room the rest of the Oozora family gathered to watch the commotion. Suzume clung to the back of Ranma's shirt, but made sure to watch despite being afraid. (Ranma found himself admiring the girl's constant efforts to push herself into bravery.) Hibari on the other hand chose to cheer the fight on. Tutting her blonde sister Tsugumi ran forward, intent on making peace.

"Please! Don't fight. Can't we talk about this like human beings?" the eldest Oozora daughter cried out.

Both men turned and were confronted with her innocent pleading face. Ibari shrank back to normal proportions. Umiushi seemed a bit reluctant, but gave in as well. As the illusion of his aura dissipated all were presented with the surprising cuteness of his natural face. His eyes sparkled and the slight stubble he had looked more like cute whiskers. The button nose didn't help either. Ranma and Hibari were both stifling giggles when Ibari burst into laughter.

"Daddy, don't be rude," Tsugumi said, however her reprimand fell apart when she began to giggle as well.

Umiushi's aura flared up partially, enough to cancel out his natural cuteness. "I wish to be taken seriously!"

"I'm sorry," Tsugumi replied, bowing nervously. "But please, why are you so against Bunta-kun and I being in love?"

"It's nothing personal," Umiushi said. "I would be thrilled if you weren't an Oozora. You're a model young woman. Kind and beautiful. And got some good hips and a nice butt on ya!"

Tsugumi squeaked as Umiushi grabbed her rear. The combined elbows of Ibari and Ranma collided with his head and slammed him to the ground for that.

"How dare you touch my daughter!" Ibari roared.

"I don't got time for perverts either," a redheaded Ranma added sharply.

Umiushi stood back up, rubbing his head. "I'm sorry. Just got carried away. It is indeed a shame such a perfect young woman was born of Oozora slime."

"The real shame is her being seduced by Umiushi garbage. If your son dares to try any eloping nonsense I will hunt him down. And kill him," Ibari hissed.

"I won't let any Oozora's get near him." Umiushi countered, before storming off.

Ranma and Hibari stood quietly with Tsugumi, serving as bodyguards due to how late her rendezvous in the park with Bunta was. Really they should have been in bed due to it being a school night, but Hibari demanded they fight in the name of love. Ranma had to admit he didn't much like someone else have their marriage decided for them after his multiple fiancée chaos so wasn't hard to convince.

"Sorry I'm late. I had a feeling like I was being followed," Bunta said as he emerged from the darkness. "I'm quite certain I lost them though, don't worry."

"Oh, Bunta-kun," Tsugumi cried as she ran over to hug him. "It's all so terrible. Daddy says he'll kill you if were were to ever marry. He seemed serious too."

"Heheh, really?" Bunta replied nervously.

"You're still willing to act on your love though, right?" Tsugumi asked hopefully.

"I... Yeah. Definitely." Bunta stammered. "But we obviously have to plan this out carefully. That might take a while."

"I've got a plan already," Hibari announced happily. "Thanks to Ranma we've got access to an old woman with all sorts of magic. We just need to grab a potion from her. Then we have you two write fake suicide notes and pretend to be dead while we hide you for a while as small animals that the potions will turn you into. Hopefully everyone will come to their senses quickly when they think you're both dead."

Bunta blinked in shock. "M-magic potions? Animals?"

"Yeah. It works just like Ranma's curse, but only one time," Hibari announced. To illustrate the point she dumped a water bottle on Ranma's head.

Bunta almost fell over in shock at the transformation.

"It is strange, but I think it's our best option," Tsugumi said as she helped Bunta to his feet. "Will you try it?"

"Uh... yeah. Sure," Bunta replied.

Hibari slid into the Neko Hanten just as it was closing up. Shampoo was apparently thrilled to see her from the tackle she received. Squirming out of Shampoo's iron grip she tried to ignore the odd noises emerge from the other girl when her hands made contact with Shampoo's chest as she wriggled free. Shampoo was left very disappointed as Hibari finished extracting herself.

"Where is Ranma? Odd for Hibari to come alone," Shampoo asked.

"We need a little bit of help. I'm a better diplomat. So I came alone," Hibari replied.

"Hoho, you need some help do you?" Cologne asked, bounding forward on her staff.

"Yes. Now, I know you don't like me and you know I don't like you, but I'm certain we can arrange something," Hibari replied.

"You're quite wrong my dear child," Cologne informed her. "I do like you. Both you and Ranma are excellent marriage options for my great grandchild. If I disliked either of you... I would be taking alternative methods to deal with Shampoo's marriage issue."

Hibari froze up a moment. Her negotiation strategy had just been ruined. She was going to have to improvise.

"I will admit now, I miscalculated on my opening move. In my experience males are generally easily broken in... but neither you nor Ranma exactly fit the male mold. I'm quite glad I ensured there was a back up plan," Cologne explained.

Hibari was busy following along and barely noticed as Shampoo took her hand and began to lean on her shoulder. Hibari was about to dislodge herself again, but there was a genuineness to Shampoo's smile that gave her pause. How in the world had Shampoo fallen in love with her?

"Shampoo is reasonably happy with the course of events as well. So, as an effort to atone for my initial error, I will help you with whatever you need," Cologne said.

"Well then, do you have any animal type instant Jusenkyo powder?"

"Hoho, I do indeed. A few types."

Hibari watched the rain coming down nervously. Tsugumi was hopefully with Bunta by now. They would fake their deaths and return to the compound in animal forms. It was dramatic, but then again, so were both of their fathers.

When the door to her room slammed open Hibari was shocked to see a soaked and crying Tsugumi.

"H-he never showed up," Tsugumi stammered between the sobs.

Hibari ran over to hug her sister when the divider to Ranma's room slid open. She noticed Ranma seemed just as outraged as she felt. Ranma rushed forward as well, placing a hand reassuringly on Tsugumi's shoulder.

"We'll find out where he's hiding," Ranma said, anger clear in his voice.

"He isn't hiding," Sabu stated as he appeared silently at the door. "He went through with the political wedding his father planned. I can give you the address."

Hibari's eyes filled with fire. "Good. I have a plan."

Bunta was a bit overwhelmed by the wedding party. To think they'd gathered on so little notice. And the bride was much prettier than he'd feared. Tsugumi may have been a nice girl, but this was just so much easier.

Rather than worrying about his life he just had to remember the names of different relatives as they congratulated him.

"Thank you uncle Haru. You're too kind uncle Touma. Thank you aunt Yui. It's great to see you Hibari."

Bunta froze. Hibari!? And who was the angry redhead beside her in a matching dress...Ranma!?

"We're a little late, but we've got two gifts for ya," Ranma announced, before punching Bunta square in the nose.

Shocked gasps evolved into shrieks of panic when Hibari produced an uzi and pointed it at the hunched over groom. "Here's number two."

Instead of the spray of lead that he expected to end his life there was a splash of water. Bunta was frozen in shock as the world shifted and grew. Falling into his clothes he was scarcely aware of the panic around him. When the strange tingling finally stopped Bunta found himself letting out a confused quack.

"I can't believe they really make water guns that realistic," Ranma said with a laugh as the pair rushed home across rooftops.

"Sometimes you really have to hand it to the Americans. They've got wonderfully terrible ideas from time to time," Hibari replied, giggling as she held her skirt down.

The pair came to a stop as they safely crossed back into Oozora turf.

"I wonder how long it'll take them to reverse the transformation. We never did tell him how that works," Ranma said, still laughing with the adrenaline rush.

Hibari just gave a light shrug before properly taking in the sight of her fiancé lit softly by the streetlights below. She couldn't help but blush at the way the redhead's panting caused that generous chest to move. Or how Ranma's sweat seemed to make him shimmer. There was no point in denying it... Hibari liked both Ranma's forms.

"You look really cute in a dress, you know that?" Hibari said softly.

Ranma blushed, trying to stammer a defense. Eventually a coherent sentence escaped his lips: "I'm a guy."

Hibari leaned in to whisper in his ear. "Only if you want to be."

Ranma almost leapt out of his skin. "We need ta get to bed! It's a school night! An I never shoulda worn this thing anyway. Could run faster in a suit!"

Ranma was bounding off towards the Oozora compound before Hibari could get a reply in. She was left to pout for a moment before chasing after him.