Chapter 4: Meeting Again For The First Time

"Ranma?"

"..."

"Hey, is it alright if I come in?"

"...yeah."

"I just wanted to make sure you were settling in alright."

"It's fine."

"Okay. Do you want to talk about what happened today?"

"I…girls are s'posed ta be weak and dumb and scared all the time, right?"

"Oh? And who told you that?"

"Daddy. He said I shouldn't be weak like a girl. I'm s'posed to be a man, and be manly."

"Manly, huh? Just like him I suppose?"

"...I guess."

"I see. So, do you think the girls you were with today are weak and stupid?"

"...no."

"And what about your mother? Do you think that about her?"

"No way! Momma's so strong and brave!"

"Well, she's a girl too, you know."

"Really?"

"Yes. So, do you think maybe your father was wrong about girls?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Right, so tomorrow everyone will say they're sorry and then you can all start over. How does that sound?

"Okay. Um, if girls aren't really weak or dumb and junk, do you think…"

"Yes?"

"Nothing. Uh, can I go and see Momma right now?"

"Oh, I'm sorry Ranma. It's a bit too late to do that tonight. Don't worry, we will definitely go and visit her tomorrow."

"Okay. Um…"

"What is it?"

"Do you know when Momma is gonna wake up?"

X

Ranma's eyes shot open and she found herself staring at her bedroom ceiling. The haze slowly faded as the memories of the previous day started to come back to her. She allowed that and the anticipation of today distract her from the dream memories of the previous night she definitely didn't want to think about at the moment. Even if some of those memories from yesterday involved…

She quickly got up and went over to the mirror. Looking at her reflection, she could readily admit that she liked her female form. The two separate reminders that her male form did not exist in her current life still hung over her, though. The strange thing was, while that revelation did hit her a bit hard last night, this morning her only thought on it was that she was now stuck sitting down to pee all the time.

Speaking of which.

Ranma got her morning business done, then changed into her new school uniform. She stepped in front of the mirror once again and looked herself over. Uniforms had never really been her thing, and some were certainly better than others. She hadn't had an actual chance to evaluate this one yet. Konatsu's absolute adoration of the garment was a bit of a distraction the day before, her giddiness quite contagious. Now though, she was able to make a complete and objective judgment.

Standing straight, she twisted back and forth just slightly, feeling the skirt brush across her legs. She took a few deep breaths to prepare herself and…hesitated. Three years. Her mother said something about a transfer, but there was no way she was going to a school that didn't have Akane in it. That meant for three years she'd be wearing this outfit no matter what. And if it failed…

So many dresses tried on and and so many tested. After all this time, she still could not figure out the full reasoning. Why some would pass and others would fail. Maybe this time it was better to not find out. It was a fine enough uniform. She could simply get by without knowing, right? No. She shook her head. That was a coward's way out, and Ranma Saotome was better than that. Besides, three whole years, she'd find out sooner or later. Might as well get it done now.

Ranma took one more breath and crossed one leg over the other, then rapidly turned into a full 360 degree rotation finishing with a sudden stop facing the mirror. She looked closely, watching the edge of the skirt billow out. It was slight, the dress not giving a lot of room for that type of movement, but it was enough.

A small smile formed as she felt the light, bubbly sensation start deep in her chest and work its way up through her throat and to her lips, escaping out as the giggle she could only give when she knew absolutely no one else was around to hear it. As she laughed, the thought she was hoping for pierced through her mind like a messenger arrow.

Skirt go spinny.

Yes, her new uniform had managed to pass The Test.

Ranma hurried downstairs, only to stop at the sight of her mother, dressed in a business suit and seated at the table, finishing up her breakfast.

"Oh, Ranma," Nodoka said through a half-full mouth before swallowing. "Good, you're all ready. Please hurry up and eat. We'll need to leave soon."

Ranma's brain quickly reminded her that she should know these things and it would be best to keep her mouth shut. However, as usual, her mouth had other plans. "Mom, what's with the getup?" she blurted out before slapping a hand over her mouth.

Her mother appeared to be too preoccupied to notice that. "Yes, well I was only able to get yesterday off, and I'll most likely need to make up for it anyway. So we'll need to leave early to have your school registration done before I head to the office. Go and eat quickly and then we'll get going."

Ranma couldn't help but let out a little sigh. She had spent some time last night planning the perfect new first meeting between her and Akane, taking the best examples she could remember from the manga Ryoga would lend her for the times she was waiting for him to arrive for their duels. There goes the first plan of running late to school with a piece of toast in my mouth and 'accidentally' bumping into her. Oh well, this way I can enjoy breakfast. She smiled and sat down, ready to dig into her mother's amazing cooking of…a bowl of cereal? Along with, well, the toast was there at least. Ranma looked over to her mother in confusion. "Um…"

"I'm sorry, dear." Nodoka continued her serene expression, but Ranma couldn't help but notice a slight crack in her voice. "With getting everything ready, I did not have time to cook a proper breakfast. However, I was able to prepare both of your bentos and I will be sure to make it up for you tomorrow."

"Oh, do not worry, Mother. This breakfast is still quite lovely," Konatsu said from the other side of the table.

Ranma blinked and looked over to her sister, then back to her mother. "Oh! Yeah, absolutely. Any meal from you is the best, Ma!" She started to quickly wolf down her food.

"Thank you, girls." Nodoka's smile grew just a tiny bit wider.

For the second time in as many days, Ranma found herself sitting in an office waiting for all the paperwork stuff to get done. This time though, she decided to pay a little more attention as her mother was talking to the principal she would need to deal with for the next three years. At the very least, this lady didn't have a palm tree growing out of her head and there wasn't a single exploding coconut in sight. Still, she knew she couldn't afford to let her guard down. Especially now that the woman was apparently arguing with her mother about her older sister.

"I do not see how this is an issue," Nodoka said in a calm and assertive tone. "You have seen my daughter's registration after all."

"Yes, Miss Saotome. I have also seen 'her' medical records. The rules will need to be followed on this matter. I must think about the well-being of my students after all."

Nodoka seemed to pause for a moment in contemplation. "Yes, that is certainly true."

"Thank you, Miss Saotome. Now we-"

"And my children are now your students as well, are they not?"

"Well, yes. They are both very much welcome at our school. It's just-"

"So as your students, their well-being also needs to be put into consideration, correct?"

"Oh, of course, Miss Saotome. But-"

"Now the question is, for my daughter Konatsu, what will you do to help with her well-being?"

The principal looked to be taken aback by Nodoka's words combined with a hint of steel in her eyes under her still calm expression. She sighed and leaned back in her chair. After several moments of silence, she responded. "Okay, I suppose we could have her change in the nurse's office. That's really the best I can do."

Their mother was ready to argue back, but Konatsu spoke up first. "That will be acceptable," she said in a quiet voice.

Nodoka looked over to her daughter. "Are you sure about that, Konatsu dear?"

Konatsu looked up to her mother and gave a gentle smile. "Yes, Mother. I do not enjoy changing in front of others, so this arrangement would be for the best."

"Alright, dear. If that is what you want." Nodoka then turned back to the principal. "Yes, we accept your offer."

"Great. So if there are no more objections, we should be finished here. I'll have my secretary print up their schedules and they will be all set."

Nodoka smiled and went to hug her daughters. "I need to get to work now. I'm sure you both will have a wonderful day at school. Be sure to pay attention to your teachers, alright?" She then turned and bowed to the principal. "I thank you greatly for your generosity."

The principal smiled slightly. "Well, don't expect me to make a habit of this. If I keep making my own rules, I'll end up turning into that nutcase that runs the high school. You have no idea how grateful I am that both of his kids go to private schools."

Ranma perked up a bit at this news. "Really? Both?"

"Oh yes. That whole family seems to think having money means they can do whatever they want. Quite frankly, I hope that man's sabbatical ends up becoming a permanent vacation."

"So, Little Sister," Konatsu asked as the two left the administrative offices, "what classroom are you in?"

As Ranma looked over her schedule, a small smile formed on her lips. "Hey, I'm in class 1-F. That's cool!"

"Oh? And why is that?"

"Well, because…oh. Um…hey, what class did you get into?"

Konatsu looked down at her schedule. "I am in class 2-B." She then looked over to Ranma. "Would that also be cool?"

"Huh? Oh, yes. Very cool!"

"Oh, that's wonderful." The two then headed off towards their classes.

As they started to head up the stairs, Ranma noticed the look building on Konatsu's face. "Hey, uh, something wrong, Big Sis?"

Konatsu paused briefly, then looked around before pulling Ranma into a corner of the landing between stairs. "Miss Ranma," she said in a quiet voice, "what should I do once everyone hates me?"

"What? How could anyone hate you?"

Konatsu sighed and looked away. "Even if I decide to hide it, my secret will inevitably be revealed, and once that occurs, they are certain to turn on me."

Ranma tilted her head in confusion. Secret? Does Konatsu not want anyone to know about her ninja training? Why? It's so cool.

"Oh," Konatsu continued, "and when they learn of our relation, they will turn their hatred towards you as well. Perhaps it would be better if we didn't-"

"That's dumb!"

Konatsu looked back in surprise. "Sister?"

"No one's gonna hate us. We're amazing!"

"Oh, I mean, you may be amazing, but-"

"Exactly, I'm the best! And you're my big sister, so you're almost just as awesome. We're a couple of kickass ninja girls and anyone that don't like it ain't worth our time."

"Do you really mean that?"

"Of course. So let's go and show our classes just how great we are."

"Yes," Konatsu said, her voice hesitant at first before growing more confident. "Yes, we most certainly will. Thank you, Sister. I will let you know after school just how great everything went." Konatsu then rushed off up to the second floor.

Ranma smiled and headed up the stairs, looking over her schedule. As she started to head down the third floor main hallway, her smile faltered a bit when she found the section on gym class. Oh right. I'll need to use the girl's locker room. Wait, that's fine. I'm a girl, so that wouldn't be an issue. Although, I never really liked using the guy's locker room in my past life. Maybe I can ask to use the nurse's office too. That worked out alright whenever I had swim class.

She looked up from her schedule, and froze for a moment as she saw who was coming up from the opposite stairs. Akane. She quickly ducked into a side hallway and then used her ninja skills to stealthily look back. Fortunately for her, the other girl hadn't noticed her, busy in conversation with her friend. Yuka, she was 51% sure. Oddly, the other girl Akane would hang out with wasn't with them. As Ranma watched, she realized she had another opportunity for the perfect meetup.

Okay, I'll run around the corner and bump into her. All our papers will go flying and we'll be all apologetic and shy as we pick everything up. Alright, got to time this just right and…huh, Akane looks really nice in the uniform and…wait. Why is her hair short? Shouldn't she have really long hair like when we first met the last time? Maybe she hasn't started to grow it out yet? Can it even get that long in three years? I mean, how fast does hair grow? Well, outside of magical dragon whiskers anyway. I-"Oh, crap."

While Ranma was lost in thought, Akane and Yuka quickly walked past the hallway she was in. At the redhead's outburst, Akane stopped and turned around. She went back and looked for the source of the noise, but only found an empty hallway.

"Something wrong?" Yuka asked.

Akane looked down the hallway in confusion, before shaking it off. "Guess it was nothing. Let's go." The two went off to their classroom.

Once they were gone, Ranma dropped down from the ceiling where she was hiding, making sure the few students who were also here early didn't notice. Okay, I missed that one. I still got a few more though. Oh yeah! I'm the new student so I'll be introducing myself to everyone. I bet Akane will be in charge of showing me everything. She was always doing good stuff like that. I'll probably even get the empty seat right next to her. It's perfect!

She stepped out into the hallway, a huge grin on her face and a new plan all ready to go…which immediately shattered as she saw the sign above the door Akane went into. She looked down at her schedule confirming she was in class 1-F and then looked up again at the sign indicating the class the other girl was in.

1-C

"Alright, listen up class! Today we have a new student. Go ahead and introduce yourself now."

Ranma looked at the ground as she stood in front of the classroom. "Hello, my name is Ranma Saotome. Please take good care of me." She glanced up and quickly scanned the other students, trying to find any familiar faces. To her surprise, she managed to find one. Akane's other friend, Sayuri. Although the girl did look slightly different with her brown hair down instead of in its usual ponytail.

"Alright," the teacher said, "Please go and take a seat. There's an open desk in the back over there." She gestured towards the open seat which happened to be right next to the girl.

Ranma quickly sat down and glanced over to Sayuri, who had her cheek resting on her hand and was looking out the window. Wow, it must suck to not be in the same class as your friends. Wait, hold on, this works too. I make friends with the girl next to me in class and she introduces me to her friends. And one of those other friends will be Akane. That's perfect. Yeah, she was always so friendly and outgoing so she'll be a big help with that. She gave her biggest 'scamming for sweets' smile and cheerfully said, "Hi there."

The other girl flinched, but did not turn around. Ranma blinked in confusion, but decided to try again. "Hey, how's it going?"

"Miss Saotome, you can gossip on your own time. Right now, it is time for class."

"Sorry, teach." School still didn't hold much interest in her. However, her mother really wanted her to do well, so she was determined this time to actually pay attention. Unfortunately, the teacher's droning lecture wasn't helping. As she felt herself start to daze off, a note landed on her desk. Making sure the teacher was still focused with writing on the chalkboard, she carefully opened the note.

'You're better off steering clear of Nakano if you know what's best for you.'

Ranma looked at the note, and then determination grew on her face. Oh, there was no way she was going to back down now. This was a challenge, and she would succeed.

Her next opportunity came at lunchtime. While most of the class opted to go outside, her current target seemed content to just eat quietly at her desk. This was her moment to strike. She placed her chair on the other end of the girl's desk and sat down, plopping her own bento on the desk. Sayuri looked up in surprise for a moment, before turning back to her food again.

"Hey," Ranma said with a cheerful expression. "Mind if I sit here?"

"Whatever," Sayuri said in a low voice.

"Great," Ranma replied, taking that as a 'yes'. She opened her bento and took in the lovely aroma of her mother's cooking and the cute designs that were put in the food.

Sayrui was unable to ignore the heavenly scent. "Woah, that looks amazing."

Ranma couldn't help but beam a little. "Yeah, my mom is so great at this stuff." As she dug in, a thought occurred to her. Something she'd see Akane's friends do with each other all the time during lunch in her past life. She hesitated at first, before eventually resigning herself. Sacrifice for the greater good after all. "Hey, do you want to try some?"

"Oh, can I?"

"Sure." Ranma grabbed one of the smaller pieces of sausage with her chopsticks and held it out to the other girl. "Here you go."

Sayuri stared for a moment with a slight blush before leaning in and biting into the offered food. A smile grew on her face and she ate. "So delicious," she said.

"See? I told you my mom's food is the best."

Sayuri paused for a moment, before grabbing a meatball from her own bento and holding her chopsticks out. "Would you like to try mine?"

Ranma just grinned and quickly leaned forward, gobbling up the meatball. "Yummy," she declared, "your mom's cooking is almost as good as my mom's.

The red in Sayuri's face grew a little more as she took her chopsticks back and continued to eat her meal. "Actually, I made this myself."

"Wow, that's so cool."

"Thanks. Um, why are you sitting with me?"

"Huh? Oh, I mean you were sitting here by yourself, so I thought maybe we could be friends."

"Really? You mean that?"

"Yeah, for sure. And then maybe you could also introduce me to your friends. Like, I don't know, perhaps Akane."

The smile fell from Sayuri's face and she looked down at her food. "Oh. That's what you meant."

Before Ranma could ask what was wrong, another voice spoke up. "Oh, you gotta be kidding me. Barely half a day and the new girl's already asking about Prince Tendo."

Ranma turned to see a girl with dyed blond hair walking over. "Or did you actually transfer here just on the off chance you could hook up with her?" she continued.

"I…what?"

"Listen, Saotome. A free bit of advice? Forget about Tendo and all that S-Class crap and go get yourself an actual boyfriend."

Ranma wanted to yell back at the girl for the boyfriend nonsense, but she was confused by the other part of her statement. I thought Akane was in class C. How many classes are in this school anyway?

"Hey, are you even listening?"

"I…hey, I don't have to listen to you. If I want to talk to Akane, that's my business."

"Hmph. Fine then, but don't go crying back to me when you end up just like little miss Nakano. Or maybe you will be like the Prince and have a bunch of perverts hanging all over you."

Ranma just glared as the blond girl walked away before turning back. "So, what the heck was that-" She stopped as she saw the seat across from her was empty. Looking around, she spotted Sayuri quickly leaving the classroom. "Hey!" she called out, standing up and, after taking only a few moments to finish her bento, rushed off after her.

Running into the hallway, Ranma found no sign of the girl. She quickly rushed down, only to stop suddenly at a certain classroom. The blond girl's words came back and she remembered what happened with Akane the first time she met her. The horde of boys literally fighting for her attention. Pausing for just a moment, she peeked in the window to Akane's classroom. Glancing around, she saw her sitting at her desk eating lunch and chatting. To the redhead's relief, there were no perverted boys surrounding her. Just a bunch of girls, sitting and listening to her talk. She just watched the group until Akane suddenly looked over to her direction. Ranma quickly ducked down and again used her ninja training to hide as one of the girls peeked out of the classroom door.

"There's no one out here," she said as she went back inside. Ranma let out a breath and carefully made her way back to her own class.

After lunch was the period that Ranma both anticipated and dreaded the most. Gym class. She hesitated at the locker room door briefly. Come on, stop being an idiot. There's no problem with you going in there. You're fully a girl now. She decided to ignore the odd feeling she had at that thought and focus on what was important right now. No one's going to yell at you or look at you weird. Just go in and get it over with. With a determined expression, she walked into the locker room.

Only to freeze as several girls turned towards her. "Um, this is the right place, isn't it?"

"What's wrong, Saotome?" the blond girl from earlier asked. "Have you never seen a locker room before? Or could it be something else that's bothering you?"

"No, no. It's just, um, I've never seen one so…fancy?"

The girl blinked and looked around before just rolling her eyes. "Whatever."

Ranma quickly found an out of the way corner to set up her things. As she started to change, Sayuri walked up next to her. "Oh, hey," Ranma said, but she received no response. She was confused for a moment until she saw that Sayuri's locker happened to be next to the one she chose. She continued to change in silence, making sure not to look in the other girl's direction. Once she was finished putting on her gym uniform, she decided to try again. "Hey, listen. I-"

"Look Saotome," Sayuri quickly interrupted, "I can't help you alright? We're not…" She looked away as she trailed off. "It's just not happening. I'm sorry that I wasted your time."

"No, I'm the one that's sorry. I shouldn't have done that. It was wrong of me."

Sayuri looked over. "You mean that?"

Ranma gave a smile. "Yes, absolutely."

"Thank you."

"Sure. So, what exactly-"

"Alright, ladies! Hurry up!" the gym teacher called out from the door.

"Right, we should go," Sayuri said, quickly finishing tying her shoes and heading out.

"Oh, yeah," Ranma said, rushing off as well. Dang. I didn't get a chance to ask what I did wrong.

Gym class for the girls ended up being volleyball, which started with everyone pairing up to practice passing to each other. Ranma ended up pairing with Sayuri as no one else seemed to want to be the girl's partner. Admittedly, Ranma had never played volleyball before (wonder how I missed that martial arts challenge she casually thought), but she was familiar enough with the rules from the few times she saw Akane play in her past life. Plus, with a little bit of Sayuri's help, she was quick to pick up the different methods of hitting the ball.

"Wow, you're pretty good at this," Sayuri commented. "Are you sure you've never played before?"

"Yeah, but I'm pretty good at learning this kinda stuff. Hey, how 'bout you?"

"Oh, I've been playing since second grade. I didn't get on this year's team, though, so I guess I'm not all that-"

She was interrupted as a speeding volleyball struck her in the side. Ranma frowned and turned towards where the ball came from, finding the blond girl with a slightly smug expression on her face.

"Yeah, sorry. Looks like one of my spikes went a little off course there."

Ranma let out a small snort. "Yeah, right. Hey teach, you got something to say 'bout that?"

She looked over, only to find the gym teacher in the corner reading a magazine. "Huh?" The man looked up for a moment before going back to reading. "Yes, good job everyone. Keep it up!"

The blond girl grinned. "Well, you heard him. Guess I should keep this up." She faced directly towards Sayuri and threw a ball in the air getting ready for a jumping overhand serve, when another volleyball proceeded to smack her directly in the face, causing her to fall backwards to the ground. Getting up, she growled and turned towards Ranma, who was casually scratching the side of her face with a nonchalant expression.

"Sorry there. My pass went a little off course. I am new to this after all."

The girl marched over right up to Ranma. "Oh, you think you're hot stuff, huh Saotome?"

"I know I'm hot stuff, uh, you."

"Hmph. For your information, my name is Reina Watanabe, and I happen to be the vice captain of the volleyball team."

"Ouch, you guys must suck pretty bad."

"Why you…okay fine. If you're so confident, let's get our little scrimmage game started. My team versus yours. I'll even let you pick your team members first."

Ranma gave a little smirk. "Alright, sounds fun. I'll go with her," she said, pointing to Sayuri.

"Really, me?" the brunette asked.

"Well, sure. Why wouldn't I?"

Reina let out an arrogant sniff. "Yes, of course you would go with a reject like Nakano. Well, who else?"

"Nah, that's it."

"Oh? You do realize that indoor volleyball has 6 on each side."

"Yeah, that's all I need though. Me and her taking on your whole team." I'd even do it by myself if it wasn't for that 'can't hit the ball twice in a row' rule. "Heck, I'll even let you serve the whole time." She turned to her teammate. "Um, we do get points even if they're serving, right?"

Sayuri blinked a couple of times. "Um, actually-"

"No, that's fine," Reina said. "That seems like a fair enough trade."

"Great," Ranma said. "So how many points are we going up to?"

"Considering the time we have, I suppose eleven should be enough."

"Perfect. I'll give you ten in advance, and we don't even have to do the 'win by two' thing. Alright, let's go." Ranma then grabbed Sayuri's hand and went with her to the court.

"Um, Saotome, what are you doing? They're going to humiliate us."

"Don't worry, I got this. Here." She then directed the girl to the front left area of the court by the net. "Just stand here and get ready to set it up high right in the middle up front here." She then walked to the center of their side and casually stood, waiting for the other team to get ready.

Not surprisingly, Reina decided to be the server. Since there was no switching, she would be able to serve for the whole game. Not that she expected to need more than one anyway. "You still have time to back out of this you know," she called out.

"Nah, let's have some fun," Ranma said, leaning back slightly with her hands folded behind her head.

"Very well. This will be a short lesson indeed." She then performed a picture perfect jumping serve causing the ball to rocket just over the net directly to the far corner.

However, before it could hit the ground, Ranma leaped over right in front of the ball's path and bumped it high up directly over to where Sayuri was. The girl looked shocked for a moment, before recovering and setting the ball up right where she was told to. Ranma then sprinted up to the net and did a high vertical leap before spiking the ball, which sped like a lightning bolt right down to the middle of the other team's court where it hit the ground directly between two players.

Ranma landed and confidently declared, "That's one. You wanna keep going, or is that enough for ya?"

Everyone else, including the gym teacher, just looked in shock at the spot where the ball landed. Reina managed to recover first. "Oh don't think we're through yet, Saotome. You really believe you can get lucky like that ten more times?"

Ranma casually walked back to her position in the middle. "Luck's got nothing to do with it. You'll see."

And indeed, the scene repeated itself seven more times. No matter what area Reina tried to serve, Ranma managed to be right there to pass it over to Sayuri to set it up, and no matter where Reina's team tried to position themselves to defend, Ranma alway managed to find the perfect opening to spike the ball.

"And that's eight. I can do this all day if you still wanna keep going."

Reina growled before a thoughtful expression appeared on her face. "Yes, I suppose you could." She then gave a smirk. "But what about her?" This time, she performed a standing overhand serve instead of a jumping one. The ball rocketed forward and slammed into the net, right in front of Sayuri, which caused the girl to flinch back slightly in surprise.

Ranma frowned at the action, but then developed a smirk of her own. "That's still nine for us, you know."

"Oh, I am aware," Reina casually responded as she performed an identical serve with the exact same results.

Ranma was confused by this, until she saw Sayuri starting to look nervous again. "Hey," she called out to her teammate, "don't let that jerk get to you. She's gotta hit the next one over to me this time. We'll just do what we did before and we got this!"

"Ah," Reina said, "are you certain of that?" She then performed her last serve. Once again, it looked to be heading directly for the net and Ranma relaxed as she looked on. However, to her shock, the ball managed to bounce off the very top of the net and just barely went over to the other side, right where Sayuri was. The brunette was surprised by this as well and tried to get her hands up to hit the ball, but only just barely managed to knock it sideways out of bounds.

Ranma ran quickly trying to get to the ball, but it did not look like she'd be able to reach it. No. Determination grew on her face. No way I'm letting it end like this. She concentrated with all her might, and with a small pop ended up right by where the volleyball was about to hit the ground.

Unfortunately, while she was still able to hit the ball when it was out of bounds, there was no way she could get a proper angle to send it back over the net to her opponent's side of the court. Therefore, there was only one thing she could do. Diving down, she managed to just get underneath the ball, sending it high in the air and back to where Sayuri was. Unfortunately, the girl, along with everyone else, were at the moment stunned by what they just saw.

"Quick, go for it," Ranma called out. "Let's win this!"

Sayuri snapped out of her stupor and saw the ball heading down right to her. She leaped up, not quite being able to clear the net, but she still managed to tap the ball over to the other side, where it silently hit the ground before any member of Reina's team could react.

"Yes!" Ranma cried out in victory while running up to Sayuri. "We did it!"

The other girl blushed slightly before a slight smile appeared on her face. "Yeah, we totally did, Saotome."

"Hey now, call me Ranma."

"I…okay, Ranma. You…you can call me Sayuri if you'd like."

"Oh terrific," Reina growled out, "now there's two of them. And one in my own class no less." She then stormed out of the gym.

Ranma looked back confused. "Do you know what she was talking about?" she asked Sayuri.

"Um, don't worry about it. Hey, are you…"

"Yeah, what is it, Sayuri?"

A blush once again formed on the brunette's face and she looked away slightly. "Um, nothing. Nevermind. Let's go."

"Yeah, sure." The two then left the gym, not hearing the teacher call out to them that gym class wasn't done yet.

The rest of the day went quite well for Ranma. Sayuri was being much more friendly to her and they both just completely ignored the angry glares Reina was sending their way. As the final bell went off, Ranma got her things and headed out, Sayuri following right beside her.

As they approached the school gates, Sayuri asked "So, where do you live? Maybe we can walk part of the way together."

"Oh, that's-" Suddenly, Ranma remembered the goal she set out for at the start of the day. "I'm sorry. I completely forgot I still got some registration stuff I need to take care of before I go."

"Oh. Well, I can wait a little bit for you to be done."

"No, no, that's okay. I don't know how long this will take. We can do the walking home thing tomorrow for sure though."

"Okay. I'll, uh, see you tomorrow then." Sayuri smiled and headed out.

Ranma waited for her to disappear in the distance, before darting behind a tree. She stealthily watched the other students leaving, looking for Akane to show up. Okay, I have one last chance at this.

Finally she saw Akane leaving the building alone with Yuka. She prepared herself for the perfect moment for an accidental collision to cause the perfect friendly meeting when Akane suddenly stopped near the tree she was hiding behind.

"Something wrong?" Yuka asked.

"Oh, I just realized I forgot to do something."

"Oh, I can wait for you if you want."

"No, that's fine. I'll see you tomorrow, babe." Akane smiled and squeezed Yuka's hand.

Yuka smiled and squeezed back before letting go. "Alright, see you tomorrow, hon."

Akane waited for Yuka to leave, before she turned towards Ranma's direction with an angry glare. "Okay, you jerk. I know you've been watching me today. Come on out and face me!"

Ranma froze in her hiding spot. Crap, she thinks I'm a stalker. What now? That's not in any of Ryoga's manga. Okay, there was that one he gave to me by accident, but that thing was weird.

"Well?" Akane continued, "you have anything to say?"

"Um, I-" Before Ranma could mangle some sort of excuse, she was tackled out of her hiding spot by an older sister shaped missile.

"Oh, Sister!" Konatsu exclaimed, still holding tightly onto Ranma on the ground. "You were right. Today was absolutely wonderful! I met so many nice people, especially my new best friend who really loved my stories about the two of us."

"Indeed." A new voice said. Ranma looked over and saw Nabiki strolling up. This version of the now younger middle Tendo sister was sporting longer hair pulled back into low twin tails. What the heck? Does everyone have to have different hairstyles?

"You know, Saotome," Nabiki continued in her usual sardonic tone, "I should be mad at you for not telling us you were here. However, since you somehow managed to bring back this cutie with you, I'm willing to let it slide."

Before Ranma could fully process that statement, Akane spoke up again.

"Ranma?" she asked in a quiet voice. "Is that really you?"

Ranma quickly disentangled herself from her sister and stood up. "Um, yeah, Akane. It's me."

Before she could say anything else, Akane leaped forward and enveloped the redhead in a hug. "Oh Ranma, you're back. Nabiki! She's back! Ranma's back!"

"Yeah, I can see that, Sis," Nabiki said with a grin on her face. "Oh, Mom and Kasumi are going to flip when they find out about this."