Dew upon an Oaks Leaves:  

   Morning Mists and Oak Buds 

      by

         Jaqueline Nicole Zema



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Ami, Usagi and Makoto were sitting in class one day.  The

teacher was in the hall talking to the principal about

something. <With my luck,> Usagi thought, <its probably

about me and the fact that I'm always late>.  She sighed. 

<I bet they're going to give me eternal detention or

something.> 



On the other side of the room Makoto was staring into

space thinking about the boy she saw in the park the other

day. <He was sooo dreamy, he looked just like my old

boyfriend did,> she thought as throbbing hearts appeared in

her eyes, little replicas of which started dancing around

her head.  



<I wish the teacher would get back soon,> Ami sighed,

sitting in a corner behind Usagi.  <I can't be late to cram

school, I was already late the past three days because of

Usagi.>  The last thought gained a giggle as she remembered

the event in question.



The door then opened and both the teacher and the

principal entered.  <Oh no!,> Usage's mind screamed, <I was

right they are going to do something horrible to me, and

they're going to do it in front of the whole class!!>  The

teacher cleared her throat, "Class, the principal has an

announcement."  The class transferred their attention to

the principal.



"Everyone, due to a benefactor of the schools concern

about young peoples ability to defend themselves and his

generosity, we have a new program.  From now on after

school there will be a class offered to students, free of

charge, on self-defense.  This class will be taught by

Ranma Saotome, a young martial arts master, and in addition

he will be in your class.  I hope everyone treats him with

due respect."  From behind him, he pulled a handsome boy

between 16 and 17. He had black hair done in a braided

pigtail, smoky blue eyes, and was dressed in a red shirt

and blue pants, both Chinese styles.  His mere presence had

most of the girls in the class sitting in a daze drooling.

Usagi and Ami both turned to Makoto expecting her to

comment on his resemblance to her old boyfriend.  However

much to their surprise she was just staring at him.  At

that moment, the lunch bell rang and they all went to the

schoolyard. 



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Usagi and Ami met Minako in the hall, she had heard about

the self defense classes being offered from her teacher.



"Hey guys, so who's going to take the classes with me?",

Minako asked.



"Not me," Usagi answered quickly, "more school! Yech!" She

then paused to look around and locate Makoto.



"I have to decline as well" Ami added, "I have cram school."



"So take a month off!", Minako argued, "You are already

ahead, besides it'll be good practice for the scouts.  And

I heard that the instructors not only cute but he's our age

too."  She promptly got lost in a daze thinking about her

dating him.



"Well that part is certainly true," Usagi agreed, while

thinking, <I knew there was a reason for her wanting to

take these classes other then the benefit they'd add to the

scouts.>



"You mean you've seen him?!", Minako exclaimed.



"Sure he's in our class, his names Ranma.", Usagi's reply

was rather absentminded, as she had spotted Makoto and

grabbed Minako and Ami's arms, dragging them towards her.



They dropped in beside Makoto and waited for her to return

their greeting, she was still staring into space though.

Finally Usagi went ahead and slapped her on the back

jostling her.  When she spun around and focused Usagi

smiled innocently and said, "So what did you think of the

new self-defense instructor?"



Makoto looked at them and said,"Actually he......", before

she could finish Usagi and Minako chorused, "...looks just

like my old boyfriend!" They then fell to the ground

laughing.



"Actually," she paused a moment, "He is my old boyfriend." 



Everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at her.



"Really, what happened?" Usagi was the first to reclaim

her voice.



"Didn't I ever tell you guys how I met my old boyfriend?",

queried Makoto.



"No," Ami, Minako and Usagi said quickly, avidly awaiting

the start of the tale.



"It happened about a year before I came here," Makoto

started, "The orphanage directors had decided it'd be a

good idea to get me into a wider environment. To that end,

they sent me to a junior high outside of the orphanage.  It

was an all girls school but had an all boys school right

next to it, so I didn't go insane."  Everyone was hanging

onto her words. "Occasionally we'd even have competitions

or other activities with them.  Then one day they decided

to have a coed dance, with them assigning everyone partners

so no one was left out."



"Oh, how romantic a fated match made in heaven!!!", Usagi

shouted.



"Not quite, you see, Ranma wasn't my partner.", Makoto

answered.



"Really, who was?", Usagi asked.



"A boy named Ryouga Hibiki."  After she finished, saying

this the bell rang, as everyone started getting up to go

inside Minako yelled out, "Great so it's decided, we all

take the class.  Meet you after school in the gym!", and

rushed off to class before anyone could argue.



"Hey! I never agreed!", shouted Usagi indignantly, then

she thought, <oh well, might as well just give it up.>



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After school all the girls met in the gym.



"Okay, we have about 20 minutes till the classes start, so

I suggest Makoto finishes her story."  Minako said as they

gathered.



"Okay, okay.", Makoto said as all the girls shouted, "Yeah!"



"Well as I said, I ended up with a guy named Ryouga," she

started.



"Was he cute?", Usagi asked.



"Well he had shaggy black hair and cute little fangs,"

Makoto said, everyone sweatdropped at the cute fangs but

Makoto didn't notice. "He was as tall as me and pretty much

built like Ranma, so I guess he was okay and I really

wouldn't have minded going with him except..." Here she

paused, then fell over as Usagi and Mina said, "Yeah, yeah,

then what!?!?", while moving closer to her face.



"WOULD YOU GUYS JUST LET ME FINISH THE STORY!" Makoto

screamed.



"Sorry"



"Anyway like I said, I wouldn't have minded going with him

except he never showed up.  I had no idea where he went,

still don't for that matter, all I knew was I was sitting

alone while everyone else had a date and was having fun.  I

was ready to pound someone and Ranma happened to bump me, I

turned around with a kick that would have knocked him to

kingdom come.  Only he wasn't there!  I felt a tap at my

shoulder and he was behind me!  I started laughing and he

joined in. After that we started dating, only we had to

keep it a secret, something about his dad not letting him

date, he wasn't sure why."



At that point Ranma came in and greeted the class.  He

told them that they'd start tomorrow and today he only

wanted to get an idea of what they knew.  "So how many of

you exercise regularly, fight regularly or just know how

to?"  Makoto stood pulling Usagi, Minako and Ami with her,

a few others stood as well.  "okay now how many of you do

all three?", only the scouts were standing, "Okay tomorrow

I'll start with the basics, and if you four could stay a

little longer?"  Ranma dismissed the rest of the class. 

Once everyone had left Ranma walked over to them.  "Mako-

chan, is that you?" he asked, with a frown.



"Yep, hi Ranma", She replied looking slightly nervous,

then she shook herself out of it and gave him a bear hug.

"So what are you doing here I haven't seen you since you

left."  Ranma stiffened slightly, but relaxed quickly, he

could feel only friendliness coming from her, not the

worship he felt from Shampoo, or the hostility of Akane, in

fact it was kind of like with Ukyo only without the, 'I

love you with all my heart' part.



"Oh, it's basically the old mans doing."  Ranma said

following them to the bleachers on the side of the gym.

"Who are your friends?"



"Oh,", Makoto said,"Ranma this is Usagi, Ami and Mina."

She pointed to a blue eyed blonde with meatballs and

ponytails to a blue haired girl and to another blonde who

looked just like the first only without the meatballs. 

They all nodded and said hi. "They're my best friends."



"What do you mean, it's all your dads fault?", Ami asked.



"Oh, well see this man came to the dojo where I was

staying to try and talk my dad or Mr. Tendo, the owner,

into coming to teach one of four schools, only neither of

them wanted to.  I thought that would be the end of it

except  the man mentioned money and Pops lit up like a

sign.  Next thing I know I have a back pack on and Pops is

shoving me out the door, blathering about it being a great

training experience and whispering to the guy to send all

checks to the Tendo Dojo care of Genma Saotome.  I decided

to go along with it cause of a big problem I was having

there.  I picked the school farthest away and here I am."



"What kind of problems?", asked Makoto.



"Oh, just some things."  Ranma replied evasively, while

thinking <yeah some things.  Like three fiancees, one who

repeatedly tries to kill me, one who's my best friend and

one who worships me 'cause I can beat her.  Then there's

Moose, Ryoga, Kuno and Kodachi, all who want me dead,

although, Kuno and Kodachi also want to marry me.> He

slowly went through all his current problems, mainly

people, one by one. <Then there's Happosai and Cologne;

Nabiki, who convinced Kasumi that I suddenly want to be

trained as a bride, and refuses to tell Kasumi the truth

until I come up with enough money for her.>  He hung his

head in defeat.



"I don't believe your father sold you for a few

paychecks." Usagi said.



"Better then him selling me for a bowl of rice and a

fish." Ranma muttered.  Everyone facefaulted, "WHAT!?!?!?"	



Ranma noticed their reactions and got a sweatdrop, and

said, "Oh, nothing, nothing at all, never mind."  Usagi,

Makoto, Ami and Minako stared at him for a minute then

Usagi said, "Okay, nice to meet you, me, Ami and Minako

need to do something so we'll just leave you two to catch

up."



"We do?" Minako asked, then yelped as Usagi stepped on her

foot.



"Yes, we do, remember we were talking about it before

school." Usagi glared at her, silently trying to tell her

to shut up and just leave.



Minako's eyes widened as she got the point, "Oh, yeah,

that, right, silly me I forgot all about it!" and she

giggled ditzily, quickly over doing it.  Usagi shook her

head and for the second time that day grabbed her friends

and dragged them away.



Ranma stared after them with a confused frown, "I wonder

what that was about."



Makoto laughed nervously, she'd quickly realized exactly

what had been going through Usagi's mind but wasn't about

to let Ranma know. "Oh she probably just needed some advice

on clothes to wear to her date tonight." She flitted her

eyes around the gym, trying not to look at Ranma so he

wouldn't notice she was lying.  "So how are things now,

really?  Is your father still.......umm" she trailed off,

not wanting to insult him.



"Oh Pops is the same as ever, after you left we went on a

training trip to China.", his eyes flashed darkly.



"What'd you do there?" 



"Oh, nothing much" Ranma said trying to sound casual, "me

and Pop went to the villages and different training

grounds, then headed back here to the Tendo Dojo."



Makoto eyed him, <you're hiding something, Ranma,> she

thought.



Ranma noticed the curious glint in her eyes and to

distract her asked, "so what's been happening in your life

since you left."



Makoto paused a minute to think about how much to tell

him. "Oh, after I left I bounced to a couple of schools,

only everyone knew my reputation and I ended up getting

kicked out of them for fighting.  I ended up here about 3

years ago, got an apartment, met Usagi, who quickly became

my best friend and she introduced me to Ami and Rei. Along

the way we met Minako, Mamoru and Motoki." she said,

listing all the good friends in her life, "You met Ami,

Minako and Usagi today, the rest go to different schools."



"Who are Mamoru and Motoki?" Ranma asked, surprising

himself with the question.



"Oh, Mamoru is Usagi's boyfriend/fiancé, everyone knows

but her father who doesn't like them dating because Usagi

is four years younger then him.  Motoki is a friend who

works at the arcade, our hangout. He just married Rieka, it

was a beautiful wedding."  Makoto explained before stopping

to think, <why did I supply all that extra information, did

I think he was jealous?>



"Oh" Ranma flushed, <god, I must have sounded so jealous

why did I ask that?> 



They had started walking a little bit ago and had now

reached the street that Makoto lived off, which suited her

purposes completely since she was suddenly feeling very

nervous around Ranma. 



"Um....Ranma, I have........to um..go....there's something

I need to do," Makoto said, backing away quickly.



"Um.....yeah. I---have stuff to do too." Ranma said as he

also started backing away, when a sudden thought struck

him. "Hey Makoto, why do you and those other girls fight

regularly?" 



Makoto's eyes widened and she looked shocked, "Oh

um....just for...um fun!" and with that her face flamed and

she jetted off down the sidewalk.  Ranma frowned.  <That

was odd, I wonder if she's hiding something?>  Then he

shook his head.  <Now what would make me think that just

'cause she ran away,> he thought as he started walking down

the street.



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Once Makoto got to her apartment, she found Usagi and

Minako arguing and waiting for her.



"I still don't understand why we had to leave!", Minako

said, "It looked like it was just getting interesting!"



"They need to be alone so their spark can reignite!" Usagi

exclaimed, "Don't you want to see them get together again?"



"Yes, but that's just it, I want to _see_ it happen!"

Minako shot back, "and did you really have to stomp on my

foot so hard, back there?"  She glared at Usagi.



"With how dense you were acting, yes!  Anyone could have

seen what I meant, even Ami did!"  Usagi, glared back at

her. "And we all know how dense Ami is about these sort of

things!"



At that Makoto, who had been hiding trying to get an angry

face mustered up, burst out laughing.  Usagi and Minako

spun around at the noise, flushing red at the sight of

Makoto.



"Oh, um...hi, how did things go with Ranma?" Usagi asked,

smiling brightly once she got over looking guilty.



"Just fine, we talked about what we had been doing since

we had last seen each other." Makoto said, "but Usagi, its

over between us, please don't start trying to set us up."

She thought back to some of the things Usagi had stooped to

trying to get Rei and Yuuichiro together.



"But..but..you two were....." Usagi started to say before

Makoto cut her off.



"No Usagi, promise me you'll give this up!" she demanded.



"But it'd be a real shame...." 



Makoto interrupted her again before she could finish. 

"Promise me Usagi!"  She glared at her.



"Oh all right, all right I promise."  Usagi crossed her

fingers behind her back and said to herself silently, <I

promise not to rest until you two are together again. 

Fates perfect couple, well second most perfect couple,> 

Visions of Mamoro dancing through her head.



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The next day during Ranma's class she and Minako teamed up

to send Makoto flying towards Ranma.  Ranma caught her and

fell down in the process when Usagi pushed Ami into him as

he leaned forward.  He landed on top of her and they stayed

their staring at each other blushing for a minute before

Ranma scrambled up and grabbed Makoto's hand to help her up

too. She stammered out a thank you and they stood there

holding hands until the girls in the class started sighing

saying, "awwwwwwwwwwwww!"



Wednesday before anyone had a chance to approach Ranma,

Usagi reached him and pulled him over to a door which she

opened and then shoved him inside, locking it as soon as

she had it closed, on the other side, Minako was doing the

same to Makoto.  Inside they had set up candles and a

picnic lunch Ami had made.  Her being the only one of the

three that could cook other then Makoto.  After shouting

and pounding on the door they gave up and looked for some

lights, finding out that they didn't work.  In the end they

gave up and had a romantic lunch together.



Thursday, she slipped a drug that would knock someone out

into Makoto's drink.  Once it took effect she insisted

Ranma carry her to the nurses office.  While Ami distracted

the nurse with some long medical questions, Usagi used the

disguise pen to turn into one.  Once Ranma got there she

pretended to have run out of supplies and told him to wait

with Makoto until she got back. By the time the real nurse

was done with Ami an hour had passed. The drug had worn off

quickly, just as Umino had said it would, and Ranma and

Makoto had been left with 45 minutes to talk before they

found out what had happened.  



Friday, Usagi invited Ranma to eat lunch with them.  Both

he and Mokoto felt like they were getting off easy after

all that had happened, so they agreed and Ranma got to know

Usagi, Minako and Ami.



At his class that day, a youma attacked and they ended up

getting out early, so Usagi invited them all to the arcade,

where Ranma got to know Motoki as well. 



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"Hi, I've heard a lot about you." a blonde haired boy came

over to Ranma after Usagi left and whispered something in

his ear. "I'm Motoki."



"Ranma Saotome."  Ranma said bowing slightly.



"So I heard that Usagi is trying to set you and Makoto

up?" Motoki looked at him questioningly.



"Yeah, she's really umm...." Ranma tried to think of a

good adjective, considering this was one of her friends and

he didn't think annoying, little, hyperactive baby would go

over well.



"Don't worry," Motoki laughed, "I know how she can be

sometimes, trust me, I've known her since we were kids. 

She's never tried to set Makoto up though, you must be

really special."



"Oh me and Makoto used to go out when we were younger, I

think she's trying to rekindle the flame or something."

Ranma said thinking of all the stunts Usagi had pulled the

past week to try to get them together.  His cheeks flushed

slightly as he remembered lying on top of Makoto, and

carrying her to the nurses office, he still didn't

understand how she had pulled that one off.  He'd felt

something then that he hadn't felt for any of his

fiancée's, despite the numerous times they had glomped onto

him or he was forced to rescue them.  



Motoki smiled at the flush.  <Usagi's right, he does like

Makoto, now to find out how much.>  Motoki went about

talking to Ranma, getting him to relax and by the time they

left, he had revealed quite a bit about how he was feeling

about Makoto, however inadvertant it might have been.  



As Usagi, Makoto, and Ranma were preparing to walk home

together, Usagi said she had to talk to Motoki about

something, and ran back into the arcade, leaving Ranma and

Makoto together.



"How does she always manage to get us alone together?"

Ranma asked sitting on a bench nearby.



"It's definitely a talent." Makoto agreed smiling shyly,

she had been mad at Usagi at first but she had gotten over

that and was now merely amused by this.  She peered at

Ranma, they had gotten to be good friends in the past week,

something Makoto was ecstatic about. Ranma turned and

smiled at her, amused by the dry tone in her voice an

Makoto's stomach dipped nervously, she had noticed it doing

that more and more often as she spent time around him. 

They sat in silence, neither knowing what to say.  <God

what beautiful eyes.> Ranma caught himself staring at them

and starting to lean forward slightly.  He quickly shot

upwards, a blush rapidly forming on his cheeks. 



"Umm..... I really should be going, I have to call the

Tendo dojo and I don't want to do that too late."  He

backed up slightly, "see you next Monday."  He turned and

walked down the street. <I almost kissed her!> he thought,

<I can't though, I already have three fiancees, and it

wouldn't be fair to her.  I wonder what it would have been

like?> He reached a corner and went to turn down it,

pausing to glance back really quick, surprised to see

Makoto staring at him with a small blush on her cheeks. 

She saw him looking and quickly got up and went into the

arcade.



She met Usagi right inside the door.	



"Hey, Makoto, want to sleep over my house tonight, we

could bake cookies."  Usagi smiled and made puppy dog eyes.



"After what you did this week!?" Makoto asked, "Why would

I want to even talk to you, let alone bake you cookies."



"Oh you're not really mad, are you?" Usagi asked her,

looking slightly worried.



"No, but I should be." Makoto said giggling, Usagi smiled

and started giggling too. "Okay, I'd like to stay over,

besides cooking always helps me think, if I'm making you

cookies that'll give me plenty of time to think."



Usagi stuck her tongue out at Makoto, "oh and just what do

you need to think about?" she teased.  Makoto glared,

grabbed her arm and pulled her down the street.



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"I don't know what's wrong with me."  Makoto confided

later that night, after all the cookies were baked and they

were sitting in Usagi's room.  "I feel so confused, I don't

know, I thought I was over him years ago."  Makoto leaned

back on the bed and took a bite of a cookie.  "When I had

to leave the orphanage and him I felt such a huge loss, but

I was over that.  And later when I wrote him from the first

school I felt so sad and angry when he didn't respond, but

then his letter explaining he had left came and I

understood and forgot about him."  Makoto looked up with a

scowl on her face as Usagi burst out laughing, "what's so

funny?"



"You are," she giggled, "you are so totally in love."



"What do you mean?" Makoto asked, her eyes narrowed.



"This is exactly how I felt when I first met Mamo-chan."

Usagi giggled.



"I thought you hated him, when you first met." Makoto said.



"Well yeah, I hated him calling me names and teasing me

about school, but at the same time my heart was thundering

whenever he smiled at me or looked in my eyes after I'd run

into him.  I was so confused all the time, did I like him,

or did I hate him, what did he feel. Trust me it was

exactly what you're acting like."  Usagi smiled remembering

those first weeks, and being so confused.



"Do I really still like him?" Makoto asked her eyes spread

wide, "After all these years?"



"Oh you do!" Usagi collapsed into giggles again.



"Really.........no, maybe I care about him a little but,

but that's just leftovers." Makoto said, trying to convince

herself and Usagi.



Usagi rolled her eyes, "Whatever", she clicked out the

light," I have to get up early, Mamo-chan is talking me to

the amusement park tomorrow."



"Night."  <Do I like him,> she wondered before sliding

into sleep.



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"We really have to do something, they're perfect for each

other." Usagi said to Mamoru the next day at the amusement

park.



"If they're so perfect for each other why do we have to

get them together?" Mamoru asked aiming the water gun at

the target.



"Pay attention!" Usagi said swatting his shoulder.

"They're both too head strong to admit it."



"Usagi, let them work it out by themselves.  Life isn't a

movie, two people don't just instantly get together after a

long separation." Mamoru frowned slightly, thinking about

their relationship and realizing that wasn't the best

argument to use. "Just let it..." He trailed off as Usagi

squealed.



"That's it, its perfect, come on Mamo-chan!" Usagi grabbed

his hand as his bell went off.



"Do you want a prize?" asked the attendant as Usagi

started pulling him away.  After picking a cat that looked

like Luna, she pulled him away.



"Where are we going?"  he asked plaintively, "I don't like

that look in your eye."



"We're going to your apartment, I have a couple of calls

to make."  Mamoru sighed <I guess trying to stop her is

useless, it never worked before,> and let her pull him

along.



Once back at his apartment Usagi picked up the phone book

and found the number of where Ranma was staying.



"How do you know that?"  Mamoru asked.



"Oh I have my ways" Usagi said mysteriously, silently

thinking, <thank god for Umino.> After she had dialed his

number and he had picked up she said, "hi, Ranma, listen

this is Usagi, Makoto's friend." At his sound of sound of

recognition Usagi rushed on, "I have a favor to ask of you,

me, my boyfriend, Makoto and another friend I had set her

up with were going to go to the movies tonight, but he had

to cancel because of an emergency, so I was wondering since

you and her are friends and all... maybe you could take his

place?" As she listened to his answer she smiled and said,

"Mmmhmm, yeah, okay the movie starts at five and the

theater is on Hakawa street, thanks, see you later." Usagi

hung up and dialed Makoto's number. "Hi, Mako-chan, this is

Usagi.  Ranma is waiting for you at the theater on Hakawa

Street for the five o'clock movie.  Bye" and she hung up

before Makoto could start yelling at her.  She turned

around and flashed Mamoru a victory sign; he had a huge

sweatdrop.



"Come on lets go rent a movie to watch tonight."  She said

to Mamoru, dragging him out of the apartment.



"But I thought we were going to the movies!?"  Mamoru

questioned.



"Don't be silly, they need to be alone." Usagi smiled

blithely and giggled.  Mamoru rubbed the bridge of his

nose, wincing slightly. <Where's an Aspirin when you need

it?> he wondered.



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Makoto rushed around her apartment, brushing her hair,

pulling out outfits, and trying to get ready in time. <I

don't believe Usagi did this to me, I could kill her...I

get to watch a movie with Ranma...oh what am I thinking! > 

she sank onto her bed to catch her breath and gather her

thoughts. <Calm down, you're not accomplishing anything

rushing around like a chicken with its head cut off. >  She

took a deep, soothing breath. <Okay mirror, keys, purse,

and money check; ok let's go. > and she started out the

door.



Ranma paced in front of the Movie Theater running his hand

through his bangs then checking them in the window to make

sure they hadn't been messed up. <What am I so worked up

about? What is going on with me, its just Makoto. > He

sighed remembering the first time they met.



*He bumped into something as he moved back to avoid being

stepped on by his partners feet, he turned to apologize and

saw a foot speeding towards him, he quickly jumped off it

and behind the person.  He looked up to see his partner

storm off. <Oh well, she was boring anyway.> he thought

<all she did was say how cute I was and pat her hair.>  He

then turned his attention to the person who had tried to

kick him. <Wow, she's cute!> he thought, her hair had still

been in a ponytail and she had had on a light green dress

with metallic darker green strands woven in to make it

sparkle, it had a loose top and a tight skirt with a slit

up one side.  She looked angry then all of a sudden she

started to laugh and Ranma for a reason he couldn't figure

out laughed as well. Without a word they had started to

dance and had stayed together the whole night.  He sighed

as he remembered walking her home, never very comfortable

with most girls being around this one felt natural.  They

had held hands the entire way, as they stood in front of

the orphanage Ranma had slowly leaned in while staring at

her eyes.  All of a sudden, she had been propelled forward

by some guys pushing her and their lips had met.  They had

both broke apart quickly, blushing and Makoto had run in,

Ranma had smiled all night. *



Ranma smiled slightly thinking about it now.  He

remembered his and Akane's first, okay second kiss; the

first had been while he was a cat.  It had been nice as had

kissing Shampoo, although that was really just on a

physical level, kissing Makoto though had always been like

finding a piece of himself over and over again.  He

abruptly shook his head <stop this Ranma > he told himself

<it's in the past. Besides, she probably has a boyfriend. 

Although...she didn't mention any and Usagi wouldn't be

setting her up if she already had a boyfriend, would she? >

Ranma shook his head again as he resumed his pacing, then

stopped abruptly as he heard Makoto call out his name.



"Ranma, hi!" she tried to smile but it felt shaky. "Let's

go in!"



"What about Usagi?" he asked trying to think straight, her

perfume was intoxicating.



"What?" Makoto asked, then she realized Usagi must have

said she was coming too. " Oh don't worry about them," she

said quickly, "she's always a little late, they'll find us."



<I don't believe we're at the movies.> Makoto thought,

trying to keep her mind on the movie, she remembered their

first real date. ** She'd never been more nervous in her

life, she had sat trying to follow the movie plot and not

succeeding, all she knew was that it was an action movie. 

His arm had wrapped around her halfway through and was warm

and comforting for someone who had been alone as long as

Makoto had.  He had kissed her around the end of the movie,

Makoto had felt so lightheaded and happy she hadn't been

sure she could walk home. After that day for some reason,

Makoto had always felt like she could tell him anything,

and she did.  She told him about her parents, the

orphanage, and how lonely she had been and he had held her

and comforted her. **



Makoto sighed then leaned back in the seat, comfortable

for some reason.  Ranma glanced over at her <wow she's even

cuter then she was before.>  He shyly eased his arm around

her and when she snuggled against him, smiled and actually

figured out what was happening on screen.  At the end of

the movie a monster attacked, spraying gouts of water from

the end of its tentacles. Ranma gulped as he felt a drop of

it on his hands <oh no! I get that on me and she finds out

about my secret, then she'll never like me.>



<Uh oh, if I don't get out of here and transform we're

done for, but I can't let Ranma see I'm a scout.>



"Hurry out the door!" Ranma shouted in her ear. <Don't

have any where else to go,> she thought, <might as well.> 

Once outside she hid behind some trees and shouted her

transformation phrase. "Jupiter Crystal Power Make-up!" 

Once transformed she ran into the theater, Ranma had done

the same, once certain that Makoto was out of the building

and safe.  He looked up from his crouched position on the

floor just in time for a spring of cold water in the face.



Sailor Jupiter ran over to the girl crouching behind the

chairs, "Are you okay?" she asked the petite redhead.  



The girl nodded and whispered, "Who are you?"



"Sailor Jupiter, pretty suited fighter for justice!" <I

don't know how Usagi manages those corny speeches,> she

thought, <I'd be totally embarrassed.>  Then she said, "get

out, it's dangerous here." "All he's doing is shooting

water."  Ranma-chan answered.



"Die, impudent boy!" the monster shouted and shot out

electrocuted water at the two.



"YAHHH!!!!!!" they both shouted, leaping out of the way.



"Jupiter Oak Leaves Evolution!" the attack hit the

monster, forcing him backwards.



"Moko Takabisha" Ranma shouted as he attacked, damaging

the monster even more.



"Jeez, its not working where's Sailor Moon when you need

her?" Jupiter said.



"Honeymoon Therapy Shock Kiss!" a beam of light hit the

monster, causing it to turn to dust.  Ranma-chan turned to

see a girl with blonde meatballs in a blue, red, and pink

sailor fuku, much like Jupiter's green one, except she had

wings and pink sleeves.



"About time you got here!" Jupiter shouted, she looked

annoyed with the girl, who put her hand behind her head and

laughed nervously.



"Well, it all worked out in the end didn't it?" she asked.



"Yeah, no thanks to you" Jupiter said.



"Well at least I did something instead of just sitting

around" the girl defended herself.  Ranma-chan got the idea

that they weren't talking about the monster.  He saw a man

in a tuxedo whisper to the girl and they both left.



"Interfering, lying..." Jupiter was muttering.



"Um...excuse me." Ranma-chan broke in, "who was that and

why did that thing attack?"



"Oh, um that was Sailor Moon, leader of the Sailor Scouts,

and the monster was a monster, we don't know why it

attacked." With that she leapt out a window and

detransformed behind some bushes.  Then she looked for

Ranma, when she found him he seemed slightly damp but she

ignored that.  He walked her home and kissed her cheek when

they got there, both were much more comfortable with each

other now. < Guess I do have to thank Usagi. > Makoto

thought, before drifting off to sleep.



><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><





"So how's it going with Ranma," Rei asked Makoto at a

scout meeting three weeks later.  The only one not to have

met him yet she was immensely curious.



"Yeah, it's been three weeks, how close are you two to

marriage?" Mina teased.



"Stop it you guys."  Makoto ordered, "We are doing just

fine, especially since a certain meatball head stopped

interfering." She glared at Usagi.



"Why whatever do you mean?" Usagi asked blinking

innocently, then she ruined it by giggling and adding," I

never stopped I just took a vacation."  All the scouts

started laughing.  When they finished, Makoto said

hesitantly.



"Everything's great, he's a terrific boyfriend it's

just...." she trailed off then resumed, "I think he's

hiding something from me."



"Really, like what?" Ami asked, after a month of no cram

school, she was feeling undernourished in terms of

challenges.



"Well for one thing he won't tell me anything about his

training trip to China or anything about where he was

staying before coming here." 



"Really, but you said he'd been there for a little over a

year. That is odd."  Ami agreed.



"Hey, maybe he had a girlfriend back there and they had a

huge fight before he left but aren't exactly broken up and

he doesn't want you to know until they are." Mina suggested.



"I suppose that could be it," Makoto agreed slowly, "but

that still doesn't explain why he won't tell me anything

about his training trip." The girls were all quiet while

thinking. 



Then Usagi said, "Oh well, we can think about this later,

we need to discuss scout business now." All the girls

sweatdropped while looking at her in amazement.



"I'm so glad to see you are finally taking scout business

seriously Usagi, I can't tell you how proud I am."  Luna

exclaimed.



"Yes, we have to get serious, otherwise I'm going to be

late for my date with Mamo-chan." Usagi said nodding her

head gravely.



"Knew you were to childish to be responsible."  Rei

teased, sticking her tongue out at Usagi, who promptly

responded in kind. Luna looked at Usagi's face and muttered

sarcastically, "All hail our ever refined Queen."



Everyone burst out laughing at that, well all except Usagi

who picked Luna up and threw her at the wall.



"Oh well, I guess there's not much point in staying until

we know more about the enemy" Luna said, once she

recovered." Let's just break for the day."



"Yeah, okay see everyone later." Usagi said skipping out.



"So---do you and Ranma have plans?" Mina asked slyly.



"No, we don't spend twenty four hours a day together you

know!" Makoto said.



"No only twenty-three." Rei muttered under her breath.

Hearing her muttering Makoto turned and glared at her.



"Hey, what'd I say!" Rei protested.



"I have no idea, but if it came from you I have a feeling

I need to get angry." Mina and Ami both snickered then

tuned serious.



"I wonder what he's hiding from you."  Ami wondered.



"Oh, I got it!"  Mina exclaimed. "How about if we go to

Nerima and check out the dojo?"



"I don't know about that," Makoto said, "I'd feel real

funny about going behind his back."



"Desperate measures call for desperate situations," Mina

said, then frowned," or something like that.



"I guess."  Makoto said, still sounding very uncertain.



"Was there anything else strange about Ranma that you

noticed?" Ami asked as they left the temple, they were

meeting back there in two hours to leave.



"No...except" Makoto frowned thoughtfully, "the other day

I suggested going to a water park and he practically bit my

head off."



"So he doesn't like water, why is that strange?" Mina asked.



"Well before at junior high we used to go to them all the

time." she explained.



Mina shrugged, "oh well, see you later."



><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><





Later after calling Usagi and being joined by her over

Mamoru's protests of "leave it be" they left for Nerima.



"So, Usagi, what'd you tell your parents?" asked Makoto.



"That I'm staying with you." Usagi told her, "I figured

it'd be the easiest considering you don't have any parents."





"Yeah, that's what I told my grandfather too."  Rei added,

Makoto looked at her, "So nice of you to consult me. I

suppose you did the same Mina?" she joked, when she looked

up though, she groaned, "oh jeez."  Mina was blushing.



><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><





They sat on the subway looking through a telephone book on

Nerima, Japan. "What was the name of the dojo, he was

staying at?" asked Ami.



"The Tendo dojo." Makoto told her then ventured

hesitantly, "guys I'm still not really comfortable with

this."



"Don't worry about it," Mina said blithely, "Once you

learn all of Ranma's deep, dark secrets you'll feel much

better."



Makoto groaned and slid down in her seat.



"Nerima, Japan." The conductor called.



"Lets go!"  Usagi jumped up and hopped out the door.

"Whahhhhhhhhhhh!"  The scouts jumped up as they heard that

scream. When they got to the door, they saw Usagi with her

foot stuck between the track and the platform.  Makoto

pulled her out and helped her limp to a bench, the rest of

the girls, except Ami surrounded her asking if she was all

right.



"Yeah," Usagi said wincing, "I'm okay, it just hurts a

little." Ami appeared beside them with a bag of ice.



"I asked the ticket person and she said there's a good

doctor about a block away."  She told them, "with the way

Usagi's ankle is swelling, I think we should take her."



><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><





"Well, there's good news" the doctor said.  He had

answered the bell promptly about thirty minutes ago and had

introduced himself as Dr. Tofu.  "It would appear some of

the ligaments are having pressure put on them, I should be

able to take care of this in a second." He gripped Usagi's

foot and started twisting slightly when the door opened and

a girl with long brown hair walked in.



"Good afternoon, Dr. Tofu." she said, with a gentle smile.



"Ka-ka-sumi," Dr. Tofu stuttered," What an amazing

coincidence to meet you here of all places." His glasses

fogged up and he got a goofy smile on his face.  The girl

stepped further forward and the scouts watched Dr. Tofu get

even more dazed, then jerked their heads to Usagi as she

burst out in an eardrum breaking wail.  They looked at her

foot to see it twisted almost all the way around.  Dr.

Tofu's glasses cleared up at the sound of her screaming and

he looked down horrified to see what he had done.  He moved

to correct it and Usagi backed up against the wall yelling,

"GET AWAY!!! YOU'RE A YOUMA AREN'T YOU!"



Makoto supported Usagi as she walked down the street.

Makoto sighed, "It's sweet that the doctor likes that girl

so much but it is way to dangerous for her to be in that

office." 



"No kidding!" Usagi agreed wincing, as she looked at her

ankle, still red and painful but the swelling down.



"Let's just find a place to stay," Ami asked, "Usagi,

really shouldn't be on that ankle tonight anyway.  We'll

find the dojo tomorrow, with the scouts healing powers her

ankle should be fine by then."  The rest quickly agreed.



><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><





"Tendo dojo, this is it!" Mina said to Makoto, "Ready to

face your boyfriends darkest secrets?"  Makoto groaned and

they all walked up to the door.  They gasped when they saw

who opened the door.  "Ka-ka-sumi!" they stuttered.



"Why hello, how nice to see you again, how's your ankle?"

she asked.



Usagi smiled weakly, "oh, just fine, good as new in fact."

From behind Kasumi they heard the sound of crashing, then

they saw two girls entering the hallway.



"Ranma, my husband, where you hide him?!?"  A small

Chinese girl with purple hair demanded, while wielding a

bonbori at a girl with blackish-blue hair cut short.



"I don't know what you're talking about, I didn't do

anything to him, and HE'S NOT YOUR FIANCE!" she shouted.



"I'm so glad you're taking credit and protecting your

fiancé Akane, you make me so proud."  This came from a

wailing, angular man with long black hair, tears streaming

out of his eyes. Behind him was a panda holding a sign that

said, "My son Ranma is indeed lucky to have such a loyal

fiancée!"



"Dad, Mr. Saotome, we are not engaged you guys decided we

were!"



"You got that right Akane, Ranchan's my fiancée, and I

want to know where he is, I know you know!" and a brown

haired girl promptly threw a bunch of spatulas at the girl.



"STOP IT!  Neither of you are his fiancée's, if you were

he would have told you where he is.  You don't know, and

that's that!" The black haired girl spun around to march

out.



"Gee, Makoto by that reasoning, you'd be Ranma's fiancée."

Usagi whispered, shutting up as Akane noticed them standing

there. "Umm...hi" Usagi said to her.



><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><





"Jeez, Ranma's engaged to three people" muttered Rei,

after having escaped the dojo.



"I wonder if they bought Makoto's story, about wanting to

visit Ranma, after being gone for a long time?" Mina said.



"I don't see why not, I mean Mr. Saotome recognized her,

after all that added weight."



"Wow three fiancees," Usagi said dazed, "no wonder Ranma

came to Jubaan, I'd try and escape too."  Makoto glared at

them.



"So don't you feel better for knowing this?" Mina asked

Makoto with a smile.



Makoto glowered at her, "Ignorance was bliss."  They

continued walking down the street.



"I knew following them would get us answers." Ukyo said.



"Hai, for once you right." Shampoo agreed. "Now I can find

Ranma."



"Hold up sugar, I'm the one who's going to find my

Ranchan." Ukyo protested.



"Damn." Akane swore from behind a tree, "I knew those two

were up to something." <I'm sorry Ranma.  You ask one thing

of me, don't let those two find you, and I can't even do

that.>



><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><





Back in Jubaan, the scouts split up, Usagi going to

Mamoru's, Mina and Ami went home, Rei went to a club that

Chad had miraculously gotten a gig at, and Makoto went to

Ranma's, to confront him.



"Mako-chan, hi." Ranma said, smiling as he answered the

door, "I thought you were going to be gone till Sunday

night."



"I got finished early." She said, frowning, as she stepped

inside.



"So is anything wrong, Makoto?  You seem upset." Ranma was

becoming uneasy under her stare. "Are you mad at me?"



"Oh, why should I be mad at you, Ranma?" Makoto asked. "Oh

I dunno girls are always getting upset over something."

Ranma said carelessly, then gulped as he saw how angry she

was getting.



"Oh and I suppose you know a lot about this?" Makoto

practically screamed, "now don't you!  I mean you must have

gotten plenty of experience after all!  WHAT WITH THREE

FIANCEES!?!?!?!"



"What!?!" Ranma  exclaimed," How'd you find out about that?"



"You're not even going to deny it?!?" Makoto said her eyes

getting wider, "You really are a jerk!"   With that she

spun around and ran off. Ranma stared after her, before

sliding down his door, <oh man this is bad.>



><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><





Makoto sat crying on Usagi's bed, "He didn't even deny or

defend himself.  How can I be in love with such a jerk?"

she asked. Usagi's normally happy, friendly eyes glittered

with an angry violent tint that only Beryl or the dark moon

family would recognize. <Makoto is one of my best friends,

I won't let anyone get away with hurting her.>



><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><





The next Monday Usagi was up early and confronted Ranma on

his way to school.  When Ranma saw her he ran up to her.



"Usagi, man you got to help me, Makoto will never talk

tome again if you don't! "he said.



"Oh and why would you want to talk to her?", she asked,"

So you can break her heart again?"  her face was a cold

mask.



"No, I'd never intentionally do that!" Ranma said, Usagi

laughed in his face. "Please, trust me, its all a big

mistake, that's all."  He argued.  Usagi looked in his

eyes, "If you hurt her again, I will personally hunt you

down, and that's only after the rest of her friends get

through with you."



"Thanks." Ranma said.



><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><





"Usagi, I don't want to go talk to your teacher, I just

want to go home and cook."  Usagi winced, after a Sunday

full of stuffing herself with all the food Makoto had

cooked to distract herself even she couldn't eat anymore.



"We'll go to your apartment right after, I promise." Usagi

said, pushing Makoto into a room annd locking the door

after her



"Usagi what's going on, come on, open the door" she

shouted while pounding it.



"She promised not to open it until I was done explaining."

Makoto spun around at Ranma's voice.



"You!  Haven't you done enough?", she screamed at him,

"just leave me alone."  Ranma winced.



"Please, just listen." He begged, "I can explain."



"You can explain why you deliberately led me on, why you

let me fall in love with you, when you already had THREE

fiancees!?!?" Makoto demanded, "I don't think anything you

could say could explain that."



"Please, listen to me, I need to explain to you!" 



"Fine, give me your excuse and then let me out." Makoto

said coldly.



"Okay," Ranma took a deep breath, "first off, I don't have

any fiancees." He started.



Makoto laughed disbelievingly, "Oh and I suppose the girls

I saw at the Tendo dojo were my imagination?" she asked.



Ranma, who had heard the story from Usagi, winced. "No,

its just.....", this was going to take some explaining. 

"I'll start with Akane," Makoto recognized the black haired

girls name. "When me and pops got back from China, he took

me to the Tendo dojo, where his best friend Soun lived,

unfortunately I didn't know till then that he and Mr. Tendo

had agreed to an arranged marriage between our families. I

was given a choice of any of his daughters.  Akane's

sisters decided it would be her.  We aren't in love or

anything though, we're just friends until we can convince

our fathers we shouldn't get married." Ranma's eyes pleaded

with Makoto to believe him.



"Okay that explains one of them, what about the other

two?" she asked skeptically.



"Okay, the next was Shampoo, the Chinese girl." he

clarified at Makoto's confused frown. "She came from China

to Nerima and she and her great-grandmother own a

restaurant, she attacked Akane one day so I stepped in and

stopped her, only her Amazon village has a weird law about

if a guy beats you, you have to get married, so now she

won't leave me alone.  I've tried telling her nothings

going to happen between us but she won't listen."  Makoto

found this easy to believe when she thought back to the

Chinese girl.



"What about the spatula one?" Makoto asked.



"Ukyo was a friend from when I was a kid," he explained.

"I always thought she was a boy.  I had to leave her when I

was seven. Only last year did I find out she was a girl,

not only that but my old man engaged me to her in exchange

for her families okinomiyaki cart." Ranma watched Makoto

anxiously to see if she forgave him. "I was going to tell

you about them eventually."  Makoto watched Ranma, seeing

how concerned he was she ran and hugged him.



"I'm sorry, I should have trusted you, instead of going

behind your back." They shared a long emotion filled kiss,

both scared at how close they had come to losing so much.



The kiss was quickly terminated however by the wall with

the door exploding.  Shampoo stood there holding her

bonbori behind her was Ukyo and behind those two and the

rubble in the air was Usagi.



"Sorry guys, I tried to keep them out!"  she then ran and

hid, muttering, "kami-sama those two scare me."



"And well they should, they're both obsessed maniacs." a

voice answered.



"AH!!!!  Who are you, why are you here, don't hurt me!"

Usagi screamed, before opening her eyes and uncurling from

the fetal position she'd gone into. "Oh, Akane, hello, what

are you doing here?" she asked.



"Well if you listen to my father, I'm being a loyal,

loving fiancée," she said, then she grinned, "but actually

I'm here to see how Ranma handles this, it should be good

for a few laughs."



"Don't you even care that those girls want to murder your

fiancé!?"  Usagi shouted after righting herself from a face

fault.



"Oh Ranma doesn't have anything to worry about, they want

to kill your friend not him." Akane said, trying to be

reassuring.



"NANI!?!?!"  Usagi screamed.



"Oh don't worry, Ranma won't let that happen, trust me if

he cares about someone he protects them." Akane said,

"trust me, I have experience in this kind of thing."



"Don't you find this at all strange?" Usagi asked.



"After living with someone who has Mr. Saotome for a

father, I don't really find much weird." Usagi sweatdropped.



While this was going on, Ranma and Makoto were busy with

Shampoo and Ukyo.



"Girl, let go of Ranma, Ranma my husband!"  Shampoo

demanded.



"I don't know who you are but you have two seconds to get

away from my Ranma honey!" Ukyo threatened.



"What do you mean, your Ranma honey?" Makoto asked,

however instead of an answer she go spatulas and one of

Shampoos bonbori flying at her.



"AHHHHH!!!!!" Makoto tripped out of the way. "Just what do

you think you guys are doing." she screamed.



"Girl is bothering Ranma, girl must be destroyed." Shampoo

said.



"Just who exactly is bothering who here?" demanded Makoto.



"What are you guys doing here." demanded Ranma. At the

sound of his voice, Shampoo, who until that point hadn't

actually focused on him, did and she threw herself at him.

"Hiya, Ranma! You happy to see Shampoo?" 



"NO!" shouted Ranma, not even trying to be nice, " I came

here without you knowing so I didn't have to see you!"

"What Ranma talking bout?" demanded Shampoo, still glomped

onto his arm, "Ranma came here to avoid violent tomboy, not

Shampoo!" Ukyo, who had been trying to nail Makoto onto the

wall with her spatulas, swung around to look at them, "Hey,

what do you think you're doing to my Ran-chan!" she

demanded, leaping at them and wielding her giant spatula at

Shampoos head. "Let go of him!!!" 



Shampoo let go of Ranma and attacked Ukyo shouting, "You

have gotten in Shampoos way for to many time!, Shampoo get

rid of you once and for all!"  Makoto stood staring until

Ranma grabbed her and pulled her out of the room and down

the hall, grabbing Akane and Usagi along the way.  The four

of them ran to the park and hid behind some bushes. Ranma

turned to Akane, "I thought I asked you to keep them from

finding me?"



Usagi tugged on his arm, "Don't blame her, she told me

they followed us into the street and listened to us.  I was

the one who said you were in Jubaan, it's my fault."



Ranma sighed, "Man, and I was enjoying the quiet so much.

Oh well," he turned to Akane, "so how's it going with P-

chan?" he asked.



"Why do you always call him that!?" Akane shouted, trying

without much luck to kick his head, "his name is Ryoga,

he's not my pet pig!!" Akane was getting madder and madder

as he dodged her kicks, "you jerk, you pervert!!" she

shouted finally landing a kick and launching him in the

air.  Makoto and Usagi righted themselves from face faults.



"What'd you do that for?!?", yelled Makoto. Akane,

oblivious to them till that moment turned, "Oh its just"

she gestured, "he makes me so mad!!"   Noticing that Makoto

still looked ready to deck her Usagi grabbed her arm.

"okay, umm we'll be going, if Ranma comes back tell him we

left."  Usagi started dragging Makoto in the direction that

Ranma had flew in, coincidentally towards the lake. As they

exited the park they noticed a short red-headed girl Makoto

recognized. "Hey you, you're the girl from last week!" the

girl turned and noticed them and ran in the opposite

direction, disappearing behind some bushes.  By the time

Makoto ran over there she was already gone.



"Did you know her?" asked Usagi.



"Kinda," Makoto said," she's been at a couple of the youma

fights, she helped me hold them off, till you got there to

destroy them." Then she glanced at her watch. "Oh my god

speaking of fights, Rei is going to kill us we were

supposed to be at the temple twenty minutes ago!" 



"AHHH!!!!!" Usagi screamed grabbing Makoto's arm and

started sprinting down the street.



><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><





"Okay these attacks have been happening for the past

month," Rei said, "we have to find out who's behind them."



"So what do we know about the youmas?" Ami asked. "Next to

nothing," Luna said, "its frustrating, they don't even seem

to want to gather energy or do anything other then make a

mess."



"Okay so when did the first attack happen?" Usagi asked.



"Umm.... I think the first attack was when I was on my

first date with Ranma about four weeks ago." Makoto replied.





"Wait I want to type this up on my computer so we can

compare them." Ami started typing," Okay so what was that

monster attack like?" Ami asked.



"Well, when it first came," Makoto paused to think, "It

shot cold water out of its hands, later once the theater

was clear of everyone but me and the red-headed girl it

started shooting electrified water."



"Wait was that the same red-head from the park?" Usagi

asked. "Yeah," Makoto answered.



"What redhead?" asked Rei.



"She's a small red-head in Chinese clothes, she helped

battle the youma until Usagi came."



"Was she at any other battles?" asked Luna.



"Well actually, now that I think about it I saw her at

most of the early fights." Makoto said with a thoughtful

look.



"Hmmm...maybe she's a general." Ami suggested.



"If she was, why would she fight them?" Makoto asked,

"plus she didn't know what they were, she asked me."



"Its possible that that was an act to gain your trust so

she could later approach you and be accepted into the

group." Luna said, causing Usagi to frown in confusion.



"I don't think so," Makoto said, chewing on her lip, "at

each fight, she ran off without trying to talk to me, and

she hasn't been at any recently."



"Strange, oh well, lets work on the second attack, maybe

that'll provide more information.  When did it happen?" Ami

asked, focusing the groups' attention back on the original

problem.



"That one happened a few days after, Usagi had tried to

set us up again telling us to meet her in the park, because

of something important." Then she paused, "Well that's how

she got me there, she sent Ranma a challenge, which is the

only reason he came." Ami cleared her throat.  "Right okay,

anyway this youma's attack was wind, it blew it towards us

and it picked both of us up and deposited us into the lake.

When I surfaced the red-head girl was already there

battling it, we held it off till Mars joined us and burned

it." Ami turned to Usagi, "Where were you?"



"I was out at a family dinner with my parents, I couldn't

have left without making my parents suspicious.", she

explained, Ami nodding, she'd had that happen to herself a

few times.  



"What I want to know is what happened to Ranma while you

and this pigtailed girl were fighting the youma." Usagi

finished.



"I asked him the next day and he told me that he looked

around the park for me, but when he didn't find me he

figured I'd run away. Then he left for home to call and

make sure I was okay." Makoto said. "Lets see, the next

week me and Ranma were on a date to the aquarium. Usagi had

convinced the biology teacher that observing, and

identifying, different kinds of fish would be a great extra

credit assignment, then she mentioned that since we were

both going we should go together." Again Makoto got lost in

complaining about Usagi's matchmaking schemes; Ami quickly

brought her back on track.  "The monster shot stones at us,

and one of them broke a fish tank behind us. We were

covered in seaweed and fish, I snuck away, transformed and

came back and started fighting him.  After a couple of

minutes, the girl showed up too and we got the monster

cornered right as Usagi showed up and finished it off."

Makoto wrinkled her nose, "Both me and Ranma had to go home

right after that because of the fish smell, it took me

forever to get it out of my hair."



"Does anyone else notice that these attacks always seem to

happen around Ranma? Usagi asked, at their confused looks

she elaborated, with hand gestures, "Well there was the

forth attack that happened in his class after school, that

monster made it storm inside." Usagi added for Ami's

benefit since she was still typing the different attacks on

her computer.



"Hey, I remember that, come to think of it," Ami said

snapping her fingers, "I actually saw Makoto's red-head

there, only she didn't do anything."



"And then me, Mamo-chan, Makoto, Ranma, Motoki and Reika

were on triple date to that concert that Michiru was

playing at. That monster shot out knives, they were so

sharp they sliced through the cold water pipes, it was

freezing!" Usagi paused to shiver just remembering.



"I still don't believe that Michiru and Haruka met Ranma

when I haven't even gotten to yet." Rei broke in to

complain.  



"Then there was the sixth attack at the amusement park,

during another double date, by the water gun game. That

monster made all those kids turn the water on us, only

eventually the water turned into acid. Luckily we didn't

get shot, we were able to hide behind some tables until it

ran out, we managed to not even get wet that time." Usagi

finished.



"Hmm..." Ami typed away furiously," was there any other

attacks around Ranma?"



"No after that, they were just in random places around the

city." Makoto replied, "That was when the girl stopped

showing up." Usagi frowned at those words, as a thought

struck her.



"No other connecting features at all?" Ami asked.



"Well actually, I don't know if anyone else noticed it,

but the youmas usually seem to try and tear our clothes,

in..." Rei paused, flushing, "some really revealing places."



"That's true!" Mina exclaimed, "last time it tore off my

bow and top and shot cold water at me.  I didn't mention it

cause I thought it was probably just a random attack."



"Do you think they're ecchi?" Makoto asked.



"I don't know but I suggest we all try and stay out of

reach when fighting it." Ami replied.  Everyone nodded

silent as they considered this.



"Hey! I got it!" Usagi suddenly shouted, making the other

girls jump in surprise.  



Rei turned to her, "What do you mean?" she asked.



"Think about it, six times the youmas attacked around

Ranma, and five times out of those six the red-head girl

shows up. What if she's like the starlights?  You know

transforms into a girl to fight." The others stared at her

amazed.  "What I didn't think it was that bad of an idea!"

Usagi protested.



"Actually that makes a lot of sense, Usagi." Luna said,

only to be interrupted by Rei.



"Yeah, the only reason we looked so amazed is because it

came from you." Usagi stuck her tongue out at Rei, who was

laughing. "And," Luna said, raising her voice over their

tongue war, "if the monsters followed him, like Galaxia

followed the starlight's it would explain why the first

attacks centered around him."



"Okay do we know anything else?" Artimis asked, since none

of the other scouts except Ami seemed to be paying any

attention.



"Only that about a third of the attacks use water in some

way." Ami said.



"Okay I guess, that's it, there'll be another scout

meeting next Saturday, be here at noon." Rei said.  The

scouts saluted and stood up to walk out of the temple.



"So do you and Ranma have any plans?" Usagi asked Makoto.



"Not so far, considering we just got back together two

hours ago." Makoto pointed out.



"Good, then you two can join me and Mamo-chan tomorrow!"

Usagi said, "we have to go to a charity dinner for the

hospital, he works at. It'll be really boring if you don't

come, and Mamoru has two extra seats!" Usagi made a puppy

dog face while she begged, and Makoto felt herself giving

in.



"Okay," she agreed reluctantly, "When is it."



"Thursday, bye!" and Usagi ran off, leaving Makoto to

finish the walk to her house alone, muttering about no good

friends taking advantage of her sweet nature.



><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><





"God you weren't kidding about this being boring." Makoto

whispered to Usagi three nights later, "I'm about to fall

asleep, and Ranma looks like he already did."  Just then, a

youma attacked, causing both to cheer about the speeches

finally ending.  The monster was busy shooting little

knives at people, everyone ran for the doors.  As soon as

they got outside, Makoto, Mamoru and Usagi, snuck away to

transform and call the others for help.  Once back in the

building, the monster started shooting at Jupiter and

Sailor Moon, completely ignoring Tuxedo Kaman.  Their

clothes were just starting to shred when they got pinned to

the back wall by knives in their shoulder pads, boots,

gloves and hair.  Tuxedo Kaman was just starting to attack

the monster more fiercely, when he saw a blur and a thin

voice yell, "Pretty Ladies!"



Another blur crashed into it, yelling, "So it is you, you

old lech!"  Both the blurs jumped through a hole in the

ceiling. 



At that moment Sailor Venus, Sailor Mars, and Sailor

Mercury arrived.  Sailor Mercury trapped the monster in ice

and Mars and Venus combined their attacks to destroy it. 

Then Mars and Kamen helped Jupiter and Sailor Moon down. 

They all detransformed and Rei, Mina and Ami headed home,

while Mamoru, Usagi and Makoto headed out to find Ranma. 

They spotted him panting under a tree, and ran over to him.



"Ranma, hey, what happened you look really tired." Makoto

said. "Umm..." Ranma said trying to think of an excuse,"

Shampoo and Ukyo showed up," this was technically true only

Happosai had quickly chased them off before they could

glomp onto him. "I was running away trying to hide from

them." Makoto started glowering when he said their names.

"Oh well, I think the dinners pretty much ruined," Mamoru

said, "Lets head home."  He and Usagi walked to his car and

drove off after making sure neither Ranma or Makoto wanted

a ride.  Makoto and Ranma started walking towards their

apartments.



"Ranma why don't you just tell those two to leave you

alone? There's got to be a way to get them to listen."

Makoto asked.



Ranma sighed, "It's not that easy, first off I hate

hurting either of them, they can be nice people.  Plus Ukyo

was my best friend; I didn't want to lose that.  I never

told you what happened between me and Akane did I?" He

asked. 



Makoto shook her head, "I thought you guys were always

just friends."



"Well, when I first met Akane, there were a lot of mix-

ups, so we got off to a really bad start, I eventually

thought we got past that, we started to really like other

to.  We later realized we were actually projecting feelings

we didn't have to try and please our families, however at

the time we didn't have a clue that that's what it was.  We

got really close and went through a lot, I eventually

realized that I didn't love her though when our dads tried

to get us to marry.  To do this they gave Akane, who

usually would have been as against it as I was a drug to

make her really love me.  Well now I had our dads and Akane

wanting to get married.  I ended up blowing up at them; I

said some horrible things to Akane to make sure she

wouldn't want to marry me.  She was hurt, even after the

drug wore off.  We're best friends again, now, but for a

while she wouldn't even look at me. She eventually, with

the help of Ryoga, her boyfriend, forgave me, but I don't

ever want to do that or go through that again with anyone

else. Plus if I did that to Ukyo she wouldn't have anyone

to fall back on like Akane did, not that she couldn't get

someone eventually."



"What about Shampoo?" Makoto asked, touched and slightly

jealous of Akane.



"I've gotten her to accept it occasionally, but every time

I do she attacks Akane and I jump in to save her.  This

ends up with me beating her again so the idea gets stuck in

her head, once more," he explained.



"Can't Akane beat her?" asked Makoto, "she seemed to be a

good fighter when we went to her house."



"If she trained she might have a chance, however there's a

flip side to the marriage law.  If a girl beats an Amazon,

you have to give them the kiss of death and set out to kill

them with no rest until you do.  I know Akane couldn't live

through that" Ranma explained, Makoto shook her head.



"Messed up, completely totally messed up." She muttered.

They reached her apartment so Ranma leaned down and kissed

her, after a minute he drew back and said, "See you

tomorrow." Makoto smiled dreamily and went inside, sliding

down as soon as the door closed and sighing.



><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><



The next Saturdays scout meeting had ended quickly after

discussing the last attack, and the scouts were now sitting

on the temples porch.  "Its so hot out!" complained Usagi.



"Stop whining," Rei said, sticking her tongue out," we all

know how hot it is, complaining won't help."



"There's got to be something we can do to cool off."

Makoto commented.



"What, going to the pool won't help, it's so crowded its

probably hotter then the air." Mina said, defeated she fell

back onto the porch floor.



Everyone sat thinking, trying to come up with an idea.

Suddenly Ami said, "I have an idea," everyone turned to

her, except Mina who complained it was too hot to even move.



"What?" asked Usagi.



"Well..." Ami seemed distant, "we could have a water

balloon fight.  If that's not too childish." The last was

added in a nervous rush.



"Hey, neat, I haven't done that in years!" Usagi shouted

hopping up form her seat.



"There's a reason we call you the genius of the group!"

Mina exclaimed standing up excitedly. "This'll be so much

fun."



"I have a couple of packages of balloons left over from

our last birthday party." Rei added, everyone quickly

rushed to fell up the balloons.



Once done they split into teams, Rei and Mina against

Makoto, Usagi and Ami.  They were soon throwing and trying,

though not very hard, to dodge the balloons.  Usagi and

Makoto were hiding behind some bushes, waiting for Mina and

Rei, to come so they could ambush them.



"Hey, look there's Ranma." Usagi said pointing to the far

end of the street.  Makoto started to wave her hand and

yell to get his attention; Usagi stopped her as an idea

came to her.



"Wait, let's hide and throw some balloons at him when he

gets here." She said, they both moved to the other side of

the bushes, grabbing Mina, Ami and Rei and explaining. 

Once they all knew the plan they stocked up a pile of

missiles and hid.



"So when are you going to ask him about transforming?" Ami

asked Makoto.



"I don't know, I have to approach it delicately, it could

be embarrassing for him." She said.



"Yeah, the starlight's seemed really shy about it." Usagi

added, then she stood up and threw a balloon at Ranma who

had crossed in front of them, more balloons quickly

followed hers, each hitting him with a splash.



"Well, there's one way to delicately approach the

problem." Rei said, staring at the newly transformed Ranma.