Ranma looked down at the young girl in his arms, seemingly unchanged since the last time he saw her all those years ago. How was it possible? Not that he questioned what he was seeing. After all that he'd been through, with Amazons, Chinese curses, strange martial artists, seeing a girl unchanged after thirteen years wasn't that much of a shock. Though the way her eyes were glistening while gazing upon him was making him nervous. She almost had the same look in her eyes that his various fiancées seemed to have whenever they looked at him. When he tried to put her down, she wrapped her short arms around his neck, latching herself to him and snuggling into his chest, a constant low giggle rising from her tiny frame.
Hinako was ecstatic. After wandering and studying hard and alone for all those years, she had finally found the one friend she'd ever really had. Life since that day when Ranma had been hauled away had been long and hard but she had struggled through things until she reached the point where she was now, a licensed teacher in the School Correctional Program. Until this moment, she had never really understood why she wanted to be in the school system but upon seeing Ranma, it all made sense. She had been looking for him. With her constitution being weak the way it was, she couldn't become a martial artist like he was, but she could learn some way to meet him. After meeting the man who had taught her the chi draining technique, she had found a way around her weakness and been allowed out of the hospital. She'd followed rumors of his attendance at various schools, always missing him, always just a few weeks behind him leaving to the next training grounds. Now though, she was safe in his arms once again. She giggled at the way that Ranma was squirming. He was still the same energetic, shy young man that she remembered, though he was a lot bigger now. Another giggle escaped her as she rubbed her adolescent cheek against the smooth silk of Ranma's Chinese shirt, reveling in the feel of those hard muscles just out of sight. Sometimes being trapped in a younger body could be so frustrating.
All of these thoughts rushed through the two people clinging to each other in just a flash of a moment but that was long enough for almost the entire class to rush to the window and witness the shrinkage of the formerly voluptuous teacher and Ranma's rescue of said teacher. It didn't take long for the assembled students to rush outside and find out what was going on. The sound of an entire classroom exiting the school couldn't help but gather the attention of the other students and many pressed themselves to the windows, unsurprised to see Ranma once again the focus of attention. Nabiki went out to the balcony to get a better view on the situation that Saotome had put himself in. Not that she was really concerned about the boy. It was just that any time that something affected Ranma it would affect her family, one way or another.
A certain tomboy was certainly not happy with the situation. Glowing faintly red, her fingers twitched slightly as thoughts ran through her mind of what types of depravity Ranma was committing to the poor defenseless teacher. No doubt he was trying to work his perverted ways on the unsuspecting teacher. And then to see the woman turn into a little girl. No doubt it was Ranma's fault, stealing the teacher's respectable age. How dare he force his Lolita fantasies on a teacher!
Hinako burrowed her face in Ranma's shoulders, constantly giggling in joy, her tiny shoulders shaking slightly, sending her waist length hair flashing over her body. Holding tightly to her old friend, she tried to mold her body to his, fighting off the full body blush that threatened to rise to the surface. It just wouldn't do to have her students know how she felt about the pig-tailed boy. Not that there was any choice in the matter, with the way she was clinging to him. Although even she was surprised at the way she was responding. Maybe this was why she had pushed away all the men who had been trying to get to know her while she was in college. It would make sense. Was she secretly in love with the pigtailed boy of her dreams?
A loud cry of "Pervert" rang through the air when Hinako suddenly felt the wind rush by her as Ranma ducked, bending at the waist nearly parallel to the ground. Her arms slipped from around his neck in surprise and would have fallen from her perch in his lap had his own arms not tightened protectively around her. When she turned her gaze up she saw Ranma glaring at a girl who seemed to be glowing red, a massive wooden mallet held in her white knuckle grip.
"What did you do that for, tomboy? You could have hurt Hina-chan!" Ranma immediately blushed as he realized the intimate pay he had just addressed a teacher, but his stubborn gaze remained locked with the youngest Tendo. Unfortunately for him, that blush didn't go unnoticed by either Tendo sister. While Nabiki merely filed the information away for later review, Akane used it to fuel her already blood filled craze as she stalked forward to finish off her reluctant fiancé.
Hinako squirmed out of Ranma's protective embrace, turning to face the short haired girl trying to kill her friend. Lifting her hand in front of her, she put on her best authoritative gaze. "And just what do you think you're doing, you delinquent! Fighting is expressly forbidden amongst students." Fingering the small coin in her tiny hands, the diminutive teacher tried to stare down the suddenly confused girl.
Akane tried to make sense of what was going on in front of her. Wasn't Ranma just trying to take advantage of the little girl? Why would she protect him like that? Akane's poor understanding of how the world worked was being challenged and she could react in the only way that she was comfortable. With anger. Her scowl intensified as she glared past the teacher at Ranma. "It's all that pervert's fault. I just know he was trying to do something perverted to you." She tried to start forward again to deliver her righteous punishment upon the man only to find that the teacher had interposed herself between them.
Ranma looked on at the situation in complete confusion. No one had ever questioned what Akane tried to do before. Instead, everyone seemed to let the self appointed princess get away with anything that she wanted. While instinctively he understood that he shouldn't just allow himself to be beaten by Akane whenever she felt the need, he didn't want to hurt their friendship. He didn't have many friends and if taking the hits meant he could keep one of those few, then so be it.
Standing in all her preteen glory, Hinako continued to defy the reigning princess of Furinkan High School. Coin clenched tightly in her tiny hands, she slowly folded her arms across her less than impressive chest. "I'll have you know that Ranma saved me from falling from that window. He is a hero and for that you would choose to punish him?" Her frown deepened as she glared at Akane. "It what manner can you possibly find justification in your actions?"
The youngest Tendo could only look on in sputtering confusion. Why should she have to justify her actions? Wasn't she always right? "But he's a pervert!" Her voice, while whining, still had this angry growling undercurrent that caused many of those nearby to back away, as if fearful that her anger might suddenly be turned towards them. With nowhere to be channeled, her anger and frustration continued to grow.
"And what evidence do you have of Ranma's perversion? From what I can see, he is a young man intent on keeping those around him safe from harm." Even though Hinako had only been with him again for a few minutes, she knew he hadn't changed from the caring little boy that had become her friend all those years ago.
Faced with such stern disapproval from one of her teachers, Akane nearly quivered with fury, barely able to keep from lashing out at the seemingly younger girl. Angrily fingering her mallet, she nonetheless backed away, for the moment unwilling to strike a teacher. No matter how far gone she might be in her righteous rage, she wasn't so far gone as to realize what would happen to her should she actually strike a member of the faculty. Glaring over Hinako's shoulder at Ranma, Akane sent a mental promise of pain and suffering when they got home and away from his little protector. For now, she turned in a huff and stomped back into the school.
Many of the students standing in the courtyard looked on in awe at the little girl who got the unstoppable force to relent and give up. What power did the new teacher bring to bear that would let her perform such an amazing feat? Up on the balcony, Nabiki was busy filing away the information for use later. Anyone who could stand up to Akane was someone to be wary of. And even more so, anyone who would stand up for Ranma was someone to be carefully watched. Ranma attracted more than his fair share of followers and to think that teachers were even falling sway to his charms was adding another dimension to the already layered lives of the Tendo's and Saotome's.
More teachers arrived from the confines of the school, scattering the crowd and ushering them back towards their classrooms. Ranma stayed where he was, still somewhat confused by the entire scene. While he wasn't one to deny the gifts of providence when they shine upon him, he was still massively confused about what just happened. That little Hinako had grown up, that he understood. Time passes and people grow up. What confused him though was that she was coming to his defense. It was a change from the norm that left him baffled and unable to operate as normal.
Young Ms. Hinako turned back to her oldest and youngest friend and couldn't help but giggle at his confused expression. The mixture of innocence and desire to understand was just too cute for words. Trying to stifle her giggles was proving to be futile effort but she made it nonetheless, if anything just to preserve her standing as a teacher. She still had to prove to the other faculty that she had a place here in Furinkan High School. Still, it had been many years since she had seen her first real friend, over a decade, and she needed to catch up with him.
"Ranma"
The aforementioned boy looked up from his inner contemplation to see that young girl in front of him watching him with a mixture of emotions that he couldn't really identify. Not that it was any surprise. He'd never really been good at reading people, except in combat. "Yes Hinako-chan?"
Struggling with the blush that blossomed on her face from the nickname, she did her best to control her breathing. Damned older body and those damned hormones that wouldn't go away even when she changed to the younger form. Clearing her throat, she mock glared at the pigtailed boy. "Why were you sleeping when I arrived to teach class? That's not a very good way to learn." Her frown did nothing to dilute the cuteness factor of an eight year old in a yellow dress far too big for her with raven hair cascading almost to her ankles.
Ranma toed at the ground, reaching to up rub the base of his neck in embarrassment. How do you tell a teacher that you'd been taught that school wasn't something you should pay attention to, that it was something the government forced onto you. At least that is what his father told him. Of course, Ranma knew that he was terrible at lying and had no way to coming up with a different answer. So he did something incredible. He told the truth.
For a moment Hinako was silent, completely unbelieving of what she'd been told. She knew it was the truth though, as no one could make something like that up. And besides, she could just feel that Ranma was telling her the truth. Though they had only known each other for a short time, she felt that she had really gotten to know him. She was finally able to get control of her anger at Ranma's father. "Ranma, I want you to listen very closely. Speaking as both your teacher and your friend, you need to pay more attention in school. What your father told you was wrong on more levels than I want to explain right now. If you don't learn while you're in school, you'll have missed a valuable opportunity to become a better person. Think of school as just another type of martial arts. There is a reason they are called Martial Arts Schools, because they are all about learning and the value of learning.
"If you applied the same attitude you have about martial arts schools to this one, you have the potential to become more than you could ever imagine. There are worlds out there beyond martial arts and if you look and learn hard enough, you can even see the way that they tie into your martial arts."
By the time she had finished speaking, Ranma was left wide-eyed. Everything he had been taught about school had been completely thrown out, leaving him with so many questions and no answers. Before he had a chance to voice any of those questions, Hinako continued. "Ranma, I'm your teacher and I'm your friend. I know you believe that and I want to see you become the best that you can be. In everything. That's why I didn't let that girl attack you. I don't know who she is, or what she wanted with you, but I do think we need to have a little talk, just the two of us. Now is not the time for that. I want you to come to my office after school and we'll talk."
