Told you the gap would be short! Even shorter than I expected, honestly.

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It was fine. Everything was fine. This absurd plan that Ranma had utterly no faith in was going… surprisingly fine. Granted, the only things he'd done so far was introduce himself - 'herself', as far as the class was concerned - and then sit down in his usual seat. But still. Class was continuing normally, and hot water hadn't found its way to him yet, so… things were going pretty smoothly, really.

Movement, to his right. Immediately his body tensed, ready for whatever disaster was incoming. Oh… it was just the student next to him tapping the student in front of her on the shoulder. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as the two of them whispered excitedly to themselves. The eyes of the one next to him flicked his way, and he quickly pretended something fascinating out the window had caught his attention.

What was her name, anyway? He hadn't learned anyone's name yet in this place. Besides Kuno, if she even counted. ...What were those two saying about him, though? For that matter, what did anyone ever have to say about him? Given how rarely he stuck in any one place for more than a few months (at most), he'd never managed to get a good sense of what others thought of him. Aside from the couple of times that he and Pops had been caught stealing food. People always made their opinions of him very clear in that situation.

Time slipped away much quicker than he was used to. Whenever he glanced at the clock it was at least half an hour later than the time before. Normally, the school day went by agonizingly slow. Was this new fast pace good or bad? On the one hand, it would be amazing if the day was over already, without incident. On the other hand... incidents were inevitable, but less likely while still in class, so the longer class lasted, the better.

Also, what was he supposed to say during lunch, if someone talked to him? If they asked about his life? Did "Ranko" have the same life as Ranma? ...Did it matter? No one at this school had bothered approaching him to chat in his normal form, so why would they now?

Bells. Bells were chiming. Was it lunch already? Damn, he hadn't thought about what he'd do for lunch. Kasumi had probably made him something, like usual, but with Akane dragging him out of the house, he hadn't been able to-

"Ranko, hi!" said a voice to his right. "I'm Ayami, pleased to meet you!" The voice was very, very near. He turned his head, realizing with shock that the girl that sat next to him was suddenly standing only a few centimeters from his desk, staring down at him with a smile. His brain froze, attempting to comprehend the situation. She'd never said a word to him before! Why now?

"Hey, Ranko! I'm Hiroyo, pleased to meet ya!" said the girl Ayami had been whispering with earlier, also standing very near to Ranma's desk. W-what…? Why was this…?

With horror, Ranma realized that he was surrounded. Near half the class was suddenly swarming his desk, smiling and introducing themselves in a way they never had when he looked like a boy.

"Ranko, are you okay?" Ayami said worriedly.

His face. He wasn't thinking about his face. Undoubtedly, he looked just as terrified as he felt. But showing an opponent weakness meant defeat. He had to get it together.

Expression sliding into his best attempt at a casual smile, Ranma said, "Oh, yeah, sorry! Just surprised there's so many friendly people here!"

"Aw, what mean kinda classmates did you have before, to think we're so friendly?" Hiroyo said, with a brief look of concern.

A sharp intake of breath sounded somewhere behind his head. "Is that why you didn't start here at the same time as your brother? Were they mean to you at your last school?"

With a small wave of his hands and a smaller laugh, Ranma said, "Oh, no no! They just weren't all so… interested in greeting me on my first day, is all!"

Several members of the group laughed at that. Another girl that had never spoken to Ranma before leaned forward, eyes flicking briefly toward the top of his head. "I love your hair, it makes you look so cute!"

Internally, Ranma froze once again, though he managed to keep the semi-casual smile plastered to his face. Ranma had been called cute several times throughout his life, all of them (that he could remember) after the curse and while in girl mode. But most of those times, it had been some (usually creepy) guy, and it'd done nothing but make him uncomfortable. Girls were constantly saying "your panda is cute", but only once before now could he recall a girl using "cute" to describe him.

His father had been sleeping in a park in some city Ranma no longer remembered the name of, and Ranma, stomach growling, had ventured to a nearby food cart to see what the measly change he had on hand could get him. The girl running the cart, who looked to be around his age, had taken pity on his poor, hungry tummy, giving him a full meal despite him not having nearly enough money to buy it. "You remind me of someone I used to know," she'd said. "But way cuter." Then she'd winked, and Ranma had almost dropped the food that he'd already started shoveling into his mouth.

"Cute hair for a cute girl - it only makes sense," said a familiar voice back in the present. Yuka, one of Akane's friends, had pushed through the small crowd, and was smirking down at him. He had no idea why. "Sorry to interrupt, but the principal needs to talk to you. Got a few more details to iron out for your transfer!"

Oh! Really? Mrs. Kuno had seemed pretty sure that everything was taken care of, when they'd talked earlier. Maybe she'd missed something?

"Sorry, I should go see what that's about," he said, getting to his feet once Ayami scooted back. The crowd gave a collective "aw" as he softly pushed through them, which caused something to tug at him inside. Was he sad to disappoint them, for some reason? ...Maybe he could try to lift their spirits?

Turning back to face the lingering crowd, he beamed, hands on his hips. "Don't worry! I'll be back later. I'm sure we can talk more then!" A few of them, including Ayami, perked up at that, making his heart swell.

A moment later, he was out in the hallway following Yuka, and belatedly realizing that Sayuri was tagging along too. He really needed to get his head back in the game if regular high schoolers were continuously surprising him.

"So what'd Mrs. Kuno need?" he asked as they made their way down the hallway at a brisk pace.

Chuckling, Yuka turned to face him, continuing to walk, except backwards. She still wore that smirk. "Oh, that was a lie. Just figured you wanted to get away from the crowd!"

Coming to a quick stop, Ranma stared in awe at her for a moment, before breaking out in laughter. "What, really!? That's amazing!" Yuka looked thrilled with his reaction, and he heard Sayuri giggle behind him. "Why'd you wanna help me out like that?"

"Psh!" Yuka rolled her eyes. "Why not? You looked terrified to be there, and you're friends with Akane, so…"

"It's the least we can do," Sayuri finished.

"Speaking of Akane…" Wrapping an arm around Ranma's shoulder, Yuka pulled him into an empty classroom, Sayuri softly shutting the door behind them. Pulling away a little, Yuka put a hand on either of Ranma's shoulders. "She didn't tell us a dang thing about you! Like, at all. We didn't even know you existed! Any idea why that might be?"

She was still smirking, and he wished he could figure out why. His eyes flitted about the room, as though the answer to Yuka's question could be found somewhere within. "Oh, uh… I mean, I haven't really been there that long, and she and I haven't really, uh, talked that much…"

There was something intimidating about the way Yuka looked down at him from beneath her bangs, her smirk ever widening. "Yeah, she gave me a similar story. I mean, it was pretty different, but similar in the way that it was obvious BS."

"Yuka," said Sayuri, like a mother rebuking a misbehaving child.

Holding her hands up like she'd been caught, Yuka took a step back, that grin still on her face. "Sorry, bit strong there, I know." Ranma's eyes flicked back and forth between the two of them. He hadn't been able to nail down their dynamic yet, but it was odd, to say the least.

"You don't need to tell us anything you don't want to," Sayuri said, smiling sweetly. "We're just eager to get to know you! And Akane usually tells us things, so it's a little odd for us that she didn't mention you… and that she seems to be fudging the truth about why."

Offering a small shrug, Ranma said, "It's fine, don't worry 'bout it. Look, I dunno why she didn't talk 'bout me. She didn't tell me I was a secret to you two before she brought me here."

Nodding eagerly, Yuka said, "I figured as much. Hey, uh, unrelated, but… how friendly she been with you, anyway? You two talked much since you started living there?"

This felt like a good time for honesty. "We've talked some… especially when I first got there. She soured a little after that, though… I'm not sure she likes me that much, really."

If Yuka's smile grew anymore it'd take up her entire face. Sayuri seemed happy too, but then, that seemed to be pretty normal for her.

"She probably doesn't mind you too much," Yuka said. Her heavy gaze finally moved away from him, settling on her fingernails, which she'd suddenly decided to examine. "So, uh… what about you? How you feel about her?"

Huh. How did he feel about her? "I, uh… I'm not sure. She can be really angry and violent, but…" The ghost of a smile flitted across his face. "She can be really nice, too. Especially when we first met… she seemed so happy that I was a girl." His face went dark for a moment, as he stared at a nondescript portion of the floor tiles. Then, just as suddenly, it was gone. "She's had her moments since then too, to be honest. Helped me out a few times. She's… she's alright."

Sayuri's hands were pressed together right in front of her mouth for some reason, and Yuka was as strangely ecstatic as she'd been practically this whole time, her eyes firmly back upon him. After a moment, she spoke up again. "Hey, uh, unrelated again, but… Heh, sorry if this is awkward, you don't have to answer. I was just wondering, have you…. dated before?"

Despite himself, Ranma could feel his cheeks flushing. "N-no, I, uh… I haven't."

Nodding a little too much, Yuka said, "Right, right! That's fine, no worries! But if you were gonna date someone, are you into-"

Taking a step forward, Sayuri said, "Yuka, stop grilling the poor girl. It's lunchtime, she's probably starving. Do you want to go get some food with us, Ranko?"

Ranko! That's right… that was his name right now. He was… he was pretending to be a girl right now. He'd almost forgotten. "Yeah, that sounds great!"

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The rest of the day passed remarkably quickly, and went remarkably well. Yuka and Sayuri continued hanging around without him even having to ask, providing a bit of a buffer from the oddly large number of people that wanted to talk to him. He enjoyed talking to these new people, which was something he never would have anticipated, but it could get to be too much. It was nice to have friends there to cover for him when he got overwhelmed.

When it came time to head home, his new friends insisted on walking with him the whole way. Yet another thing he never thought he'd actually want.

The only weird thing was that Akane wasn't a part of it. She's been notably absent all day, really. She was nowhere to be found during lunch, and after school, she'd only spoken briefly to him, to let him know she was going to a café with Kodachi Kuno, of all people.

He still wasn't sure what to think of Kodachi. On the one hand, she'd really helped him out today, and she seemed to be genuinely attracted to him, at least in this form. On the other hand, she'd nearly mangled his face with a trick bokken, and it was hard to ignore something like that.

"So, do you just like wearing baggy clothes, or what?" Yuka said, hands behind her head. They were a good three-fourths of the way to Ranma's current home, and Yuka had been throwing out random questions like that nearly the entire time they'd been walking. Sayuri had tried to stop her, but Ranma insisted it was fine. The questions had made him uncomfortable at first, but over the course of the school day Ranma had discovered that Yuka and Sayuri were both remarkably easy to talk to, at least while he was using this fake identity.

"I mean, I don't hate it," he said, pursing his lips. "Can make fighting difficult sometimes, though."

"Why don't you get more fitted clothes, then?" Yuka said, more irritated than confused.

The real answer, of course, was that his clothes were fitted, but not for this body. But he'd already resolved not to tell them about the curse - it would just ruin a good thing - so that explanation was out. "They're all hand-me-downs from my brother… Pops says we don't got the money to buy me new clothes."

Yuka frowned. From what Ranma could tell, there were only three expressions Yuka ever wore - a blank stare, a frown, and, of course, her trademark smirk. That smirk didn't seem to pop up nearly as often when she talked to people other than him and Sayuri, though. "Well that's no good. Sayuri and I have got to take you shopping soon."

"Most definitely!" Sayuri said, nodding eagerly.

Almost immediately, Yuka shuffled over to Sayuri's side, looping an arm around the other girl's. The two of them started whispering quickly to each other, though neither of them made an effort to talk quietly enough that Ranma couldn't hear. He didn't understand much of it anyway, with all the clothing store name drops.

His eyes drifted to their entwined arms. This was far from the first time today that he'd seen them do that. Not to mention the hand-holding. Was that just a thing girls did with each other once they'd been friends long enough? Or… were Akane's friends literally dating each other? It seemed rude to ask, but maybe Akane knew? He'd have to ask later.

Soon enough they arrived at the entrance to the Tendo Dojo, and Yuka and Sayuri said their goodbyes. Part of him was sad to see them go, but the other part had already decided that, as soon as he was alone, he was headed straight for that café. Akane could take care of herself, and he couldn't imagine Kuno would purposefully hurt her, but still, the fact that they had gone alone together was weird, and he wanted to be sure it'd turned out alright.

He reached Akane before he reached the café. She seemed to have just left, given she was only a few paces away from the building. He could actually still see Kuno a little ways off in the other direction, talking to someone he didn't recognize.

"Hey, your date finished?" he said when he was close enough, with a cocky grin.

"Yep, sure is," she replied, with a small smile and no hint of sarcasm. The tension in his body melted away as he realized that not only was she not attacking him for his joke, but she hadn't even taken it as a joke. ...So it was a date!?

"Wait, so, uh…" His hands gesticulated wildly. "What was up with this whole thing? Were you actually on a date?"

Despite her narrowing eyes, Akane maintained a light smile. "It's not really your business, is it? She and I needed to talk, so we did. We had a nice time." She waved her hand dismissively and started walking forward, past Ranma.

Even though he'd entered the conversation with the intent to get a rise out of her, he suddenly felt sick at the thought that he'd genuinely hurt her somehow. Scrambling after her, he rushed to get in front, then started walking backwards. "Hey, uh, didn't mean ta upset ya…"

Her shrug was so short that, if he hadn't been staring directly at her, there was no way he would have caught it. "You didn't. I've just got a lot on my mind." She'd been staring right past him this whole time, but then she surprised him with sudden, purposeful eye contact. "Oh, almost forgot. Kodachi asked about that stuffed panda she apparently gave you. She wanted to know if you gave it to 'Ranko.'"

Ranma's eyes quickly shifted away from hers. "Oh, uh… I tossed it in a bush by the school, around where we fought."

With a small frown, Akane said, "Hm. She said she looked around there, expecting you to do something 'so rude', but she couldn't find it."

Shrugging, eyes still off to the side, he muttered, "Dunno. Someone else musta nabbed-"

"'Scuse me!" said an unfamiliar voice. The person Ranma had seen Kuno talking to was lightly jogging toward them, waving and giving them a friendly smile.

Akane and Ranma both stopped and turned to look at him. His clothes were yellow and black, as was the bandana running through his short dark hair. He carried a backpack with a red umbrella sitting atop it. Perhaps his single most defining attribute, however, at least to Ranma, was that two of his teeth stuck out more than the rest, giving him little fangs. It was kinda silly, but also kinda cute, in a weird way. There was something strangely familiar about it, as though Ranma had seen a cartoon character or something with a similar look before.

"Sorry to bother you, but the nice woman back there," he pointed at the slowly retreating Kodachi, "told me the 'red-haired goddess over there' could help me out."

Both Ranma and Akane rolled their eyes, though they both wore small smiles, too. "What does she think I can help ya with?" Ranma said.

"Well, I've been searchin' for someone for a while. This guy called Ranma Saotome." Ranma's blood went cold. "You have any idea where I could find him?"

Crap. What was the best play here? This guy seemed friendly, but Ranma didn't remember him, and he had yet to encounter someone that was seeking him out who just wanted a friendly chat. Their intentions were usually much more violent. But Kodachi had already pointed directly to him, so it'd be weird if he tried to say he had no idea, wouldn't it? Well, he'd already been running one particular lie all day, might as well keep it up.

"Oh, um, yeah, I'm his sister, actually."

This seemed to throw the boy for a loop. He reeled back in shock, then leaned back in even closer, eyes wide. "He's got a sister? I had no idea!" He leaned back a little, as though he'd realized he was too close, and then stuck his hand out to shake. "Nice to meet you! I'm Ryoga. Maybe he's mentioned-?"

Not taking the hand, and giving no expression save a blank stare, Ranma said, "Nope, never heard of you."

Ryoga's hand fell, along with his face. He made no attempt to hide his irritation. "Ugh, well, anyway... Could you give him something for me?" Without waiting for a response, he swung his pack around and started digging through it, pulling a crumpled piece of paper out after a few seconds. He pushed it into Ranma's hands, entirely too eagerly.

"Uh… sure, I guess." Ranma said, confused and annoyed in equal measure. He glanced down at the poorly-scrawled message. Just as he'd suspected, it was a challenge letter.

Well if it was a challenge this guy wanted, Ranma would be sure to provide. He looked back up to tell Ryoga as much, but to his surprise, the boy was staring at the sky, crying, a look of utter triumph on his face.

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Oh gosh I'm so happy to finally have Ryoga in this fic. Now if I can just get to... all the others.