Ranma Half Moon chapter 46, Too Many Dates for Ranma! Part 1.
Author's note: This episode happens around the same time as Sailor Moon episode 28, "Illustrations of love. Are Usagi and Mamoru Getting Closer?".
Akane opens the door. "Oh, hi Mamoru. How are you doing?"
Mamoru smiles. "I'm doing well."
"What brings you here?"
Suddenly, Ranma-ko pushes past Akane. "I'm here!"
Akane raises an eyebrow. "Oh, I see."
Akane looks over Mamoru. He is dressed in motorcycle gear and carries a helmet.
"I got the lunch!" Ranma-ko holds up a cloth wrapped around some boxed lunches.
Mamoru raises an eyebrow. "I think we better be going, she seems a little eager."
Akane scratches her head as she sees Ranma-ko put on a spare motorcycle helmet and ride off with Mamoru. What has gotten into Ranma these days?
Mamoru stops at a light. "You're not planning on dunking me this time, are you?"
Ranma-ko giggles. "I could take that as a special request."
"Don't."
"Hey, a picnic away from everyday grind? Don't worry. I'm here for the fun."
...
Mamoru parks the motorcycle in the park's parking lot.
Ranma-ko jumps off. "So, where's this picnic site?"
Mamoru points nearly straight up. "On top of that buff."
"Wow!"
Mamoru pulls some gear from the cargo area of his cycle. "We'll need this to get up there." Mamoru holds up mountain climbing gear.
Mamoru and Ranma-ko walk to the steep wall of the buff. The wall of the buff is some twenty feet high, leading to an overlook. Ranma-ko stares intently at the wall on the way.
Mamoru straps on his climbing gear. "Have you done this before?"
"Yes, but not with gear."
"Oh?"
"Sure, watch this." Ranma-ko jumps back and forth between two rocks to gain altitude, then jumps to seam in the rock. She climbs ten feet to a small ledge by hanging by her hands, then jumps to a small rock and bounces upwards to the top.
"Hope you're not going to be long!"
The side of Mamoru's mouth twitches. Ranma-ko is acting like some competitive guy friend. Not that this is bad, but I will have a hard time keeping up with Ranma-ko.
It takes Mamoru fifteen minutes, but he reaches the top.
Ranma-ko waves from under a tree. "I found a good spot!" She has laid the cloth on the ground for them to sit on.
Mamoru sits down, exhausted. "Since you're a tomboy, I was hoping to find something that would challenge you. I guess that plan fell apart."
Ranma-ko chuckles. "I have too many people in my life who try to challenge me. Just having fun is fine."
...
Mamoru parks his motorcycle in his apartment building's parking lot.
Ranma-ko jumps off. I felt uneasy on the way home. I hadn't noticed it on the way to the park, but on the way home I noticed how intimate it was to ride behind a guy on a motorcycle. However, I was able to blot it out of my mind. I was determined to have a good time.
"Do you like coffee?"
"I'm more the hot chocolate type." It was autumn and Ranma-ko is feeling a tiny bit chilled.
"There's a coffee shop across the park."
"Cool."
Mamoru and Ranma-ko walk across the park where Ranma-ko had dunked Mamoru. Ranma-ko play acts that she's going to dunk Mamoru again, just for laughs.
A sound stops both of them. A green-haired violin player is playing ahead. Both Mamoru and Ranma-ko walk up and watch her for a couple of songs, then move on.
Ranma-ko nudges Mamoru in the shoulder. "She's something, huh?"
Suddenly, Mamoru has an inspiration. "Ranma, are you and Akane engaged?"
"What? We're both girls."
"Yes, but you seem to give off an 'one of the boys' aura, and don't seem to notice other guys much."
Ranma-ko blushes. "You're so silly."
That green-haired girl was more noticeable than her appearance and violin playing warrants. There is something different about her.
...
Ranma-ko walks home from the coffee shop. Weird. I enjoyed the hot chocolate, but Mamoru thought their coffee wasn't up to their usual standards. Ranma-ko looks back and sees Mamoru staring at a poster at some art gallery.
What a funny guy. Ranma-ko walks off.
A strange woman grabs Mamoru's arm.
"What's wrong?"
The girl seems to want to ask Mamoru a question, but can't get the words out.
After a couple of minutes of this, Usagi comes out of the gallery. "Ah, ha! Two-timing Rei?"
Ouch! That hurts since I just finished two-timing Rei. Or did I? Does hanging out with that tomboy really count as two-timing? "You have it wrong, she has a hold on me."
The strange girl notices Usagi and gasps. She grabs Usagi as well. "Please, will you two model for me?"
...
Ranma-ko sprints down the street in high spirits. So what if I enjoyed some aspects of being a girl? That didn't make me less of a man.
Ranma-ko takes a detour through an alley. Suddenly a black cat jumps out and Ranma-ko runs it over.
Oh, no. It's Luna. And Luna dropped the wand that Sailor Moon has been using to heal people.
Luna looks like Ranma-ko had knocked her out.
Ranma-ko looks around and gets an inspiration. "Moon Prism Power Make Up!"
Ranma picks up the wand. "Moon Healing Escalation!"
Luna regains consciousness. "Who in the world?"
"Untransform." Ranma-ko gives the wand back to Luna. "Just wanted to see if it would work for me. Bye!"
Ranma-ko runs off.
Ranma-ko takes a shortcut past a Junior High School. She notices a girls' track meet is going on. She stops to watch from the outer fence.
She notices one of the girls who is running the four hundred meter race has exceptional form. Ranma-ko stares, fascinated. The girl is tall and has short blond-hair. Hey, maybe I'll pick up some pointers on form from watching her?
After the race is over, Ranma watches the javelin throw.
"Ranma!"
Ranma-ko is startled to see the tall blond girl running towards her and calling her name!
To Be Continued!