This takes place after Saffron and the failed wedding attempt. Ranma and Akane are juniors while Nabiki and Kuno are seniors.

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A large plane soared over the skies as it neared its destination. Inside the air plane people began talking excitedly about what they were going to do when they reached Nerima.

A stewardess wearing the neatly pressed blue uniform of United Airlines walked up the aisle holding a map of Nermia in her arms. She stopped at a seat and handed the map to the occupant.

The occupant smiled and took the map. "Arigatou."

The stewardess nodded. "You're welcome miss."

++++++++

The sun rose silently above the Nerima district as the morning mists started to clear away. The neighborhood was calm and quiet....

"AAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"

...and the peacefulness was shattered by an angry yell.

++++++++

*WHAM!*

Nabiki rubbed her temples as she saw her little sis storm back into her room, muttering "Jerk." She went into the dining room and as she had predicted, saw a fully dressed Ranma flat on his face with several bruises on his head. She shook her head and filled a cup by the sink with cold water. After the cup was full she turned off the faucet and turned around. She promptly dumped the cup's contents on Ranma. "AHHHHHHHHH!"

Ranma shot up from where HE was lying and glared at Nabiki and then softened his gaze slightly. "That was cold ya know! Just be glad that I'm not cursed anymore or I woulda-!"

Nabiki raised her eyebrow in amusement. "And what would you have done? Hit me?" Seeing that Ranma wasn't going to response she turned around and left. Before she left she said, "Oh and Ranma-kun. Get ready NOW or you'll be late..."

Ranma frowned and rubbed the lump on his head. Grumbling he lithely walked up the stairs into the bathroom and closed the door softly. "Uncute tomboy.." With that said he took of his clothes and went into the furo. He gave a sigh of contentment as he relaxed his jumbled muscles.

+++++++++

Breakfast went smoothly without much excitement. Genma tried to attack Ranma from behind and was sent into the koi pond. Instant panda. Akane was constantly glaring daggers at Ranma who seemed oblivious to the anger directed at him. The Saotome food battle went on as usual. Nothing exciting.

After breakfast was over Nabiki went ahead to school probably getting the betting pools ready. Akane glared at him while she stood up from the table. Amused he stood up and got his bag, all the way ignoring the eyes that bore into his back. Akane growled and barked out, "LET'S GO!" She ran out the door and Ranma soon followed taking both of their lunch bentos from Kasumi. Before taking off he turned to Kasumi. "Thanks!"

+++++++++

On the way to Furinkan High, Akane and Ranma walked in silence. Akane was walking on the sidewalk like usual and Ranma was walking on the fence. Akane grumbled and muttered, "Showoff." Stealing a glance at him she became angered the he wasn't even paying attention to her even though she was clearly mad at him. Irritated from being ignored Akane yelled at Ranma and ran ahead towards the school gate. "HURRY UP OR WE'LL BE LATE!!"

Ranma shrugged and picked up the pace on the wired fence running alongside Akane with no problem. Reaching the school grounds Ranma jumped down beside Akane.

Standing inside waiting for them was the idiot Kuno. "My beauteous Akane, I shall rescue you from this vile Saotome. Come and we shall da-umph!" Extracting his fist from Kuno's face Ranma dashed inside after Akane not wanting to be late. "Whatever, Kuno-SEMPAI."

Nabiki smiled after collecting the money from the pools. She congratulated her henchmen for another successful day. The bets had been on how long it would take for Kuno to be unconscious and whether it was Ranma, Akane, or both that was going to take Kuno out. Finishing counting her money she put it away and walked to her class.

While everyone was busy getting to class, no one noticed the lone figure walking towards the building. Her face was covered in shadows, her knee length blond hair tied in a ponytail. She wore the usual Furinkan High uniform, a white blouse and cerulean blue jumper over it, and walked slowly and quietly into the school doors.

+++++++++

Akane threw her bag on her desk and sat down scowling. She continued to glare at her fiancé for a while when two figures stood by her desk. She looked up and saw two girls her age smiling at her. One had short curly brown hair with dark brown eyes and the other had long straight black hair. They were both wearing the usual Furinkan High uniform. She returned their smile brightly. "Ohayo, Yuka, Sayuri."

"Ohayo." The two girls said. They leaned forward their expressions turning to one of curiosity; they had seen what had happened in the schoolyard. "So what happened this time?" Yuka asked curious.

Thinking about what had happened this morning her scowl returned. "I worked so hard on making breakfast and the moment he saw it, he started choking. He had the nerve to refuse my delicious meal. Shampoo had barged in and like usual she demolished another wall. That jerk ate HER food and ignored mine!" She said while shooting another angry glance at her unwanted fiancé.

The two girls glanced at each other in comprehension. "Oh." They said in unison. Somehow Ranma had managed to get Akane angry. It seemed that he had a knack for pushing just the right buttons to irk Akane. They both sat down in their own respected desks when the late bell rang.

Their homeroom teacher, Mr. Suzuki, walked in followed by a girl. With her long bangs in the way they couldn't see her face. However, from what they could see she seemed to be a fairly pretty girl. Mr. Suzuki sighed inwardly as he put his hand on the worn podium waiting for his students to get settled. "Class, it seems that today we will be having a new student in this school. Her name is Meiko Tsuki and she is transferring here from Colita High in Tampa, Florida." He paused for a moment trying patiently to for the whispers around the class to stop, he was unwilling to make a bad impression for a new student that wasn't part of the usual craziness of Nerima.

Meiko stood quietly as she listened to the whispers obviously about her going around the classroom. 'She's from America!' 'I wonder if she is pretty?' 'Is she another martial artist?' 'Do you think she is after Ranma?' 'No way! Ranma couldn't have gotten engaged with someone all the way from AMERICA!' She raised her brow slightly at the last two comments.

When the whispers stopped, Mr. Suzuki started again. "I hope that you will give her a warm Nihao and show her around since she just arrived in Nerima two days ago. Ms. Tsuki, can you please tell us a little bit about yourself?"

Meiko nodded and faced the class. Her bangs fell perfectly on both sides of her face. Several of the more defiant boys whistled softly. Her eyes were, surprisingly, a cerulean blue, the exact same shade as a certain pig-tailed martial artist. With her straight blond hair, she didn't look too much like a Japanese girl; but then again Shampoo was a Chinese Amazon and had purple hair. "Hai. I was born in Japan but was raised in America. My parents had decided that I should live in my native land and learn the customs. I don't really know much martial arts but my specialty is gymnastics and figure skating. I hope to make many new friends here and have some interesting experiences here in Nerima. Thank you." The class applauded.

While Meiko was introducing herself to the class, Ranma was in deep thought. Why had that name sound so familiar? That face, Ranma frowned, I've seen that face before...

Akane looked on with interest as the new girl introduced herself. She seemed nice and probably wasn't another one of Ranma's fiancees since she had grown up in Florida. She frowned slightly, disappointed that Meiko didn't know much martial arts. Then again she didn't exactly say that she didn't know ANY martial arts, Akane thought excitedly a smile slowly spreading on her face. She could be a good sparring partner once I figure out just how good she is. Besides she did mention gymnastics and figure skating so she has to be at LEAST agile. She glanced at Ranma to see what he was thinking and fumed with anger, her smile replaced by an ugly scowl. T-that..that..PERVERT! How dare he sit there and stare at Meiko. She looked at the friendly blonde in front of the class and then back at the perverted raven boy. I can't believe him. He can't just keep his perverted thoughts to himself and now he's practically drooling over this girl like the other boys in the classroom. Argh! She growled silently.

Oblivious to the angry thoughts directed towards him, Ranma continued to stare at Meiko deep in thought.

+++++++++

Nabiki idly leafed through several pages of her notebook. They were filled with names, dates, and numbers of her 'clients.' She stifled a yawn and looked at her watch. The bell rang signaling study hall for all of the students. Nabiki stood up gracefully and gathered her things. Out of all her classes, she liked study hall best. She didn't have to listen to her teachers drone on and on about whatever they were teaching. Instead she got to do whatever she wanted and do several 'things' before her last class, Home Ed.

Nabiki leaned back against the trunk of the tree, grateful that she had taken care of everything already. She could finally just sit back and relax. She pulled out a bag of potato chips from her book bag and opened it. She stopped munching on them when she saw footsteps walk over to her. She looked up and saw an unfamiliar face. Frowning inwardly for not knowing who the girl was, she put on a fake smile.

The girl in question smiled back brightly. "Hi, I'm Meiko Tsuki. I'm the person who called you two days ago about my living arrangements." Meiko sat down next to her and brushed back her blonde hair.

The name clicked in her mind. So, Nabiki thought, this is my newest client huh? "Yes, I remember you now. I have everything under control and your room is ready for you to move in anytime."

Meiko smiled. "Thanks. I'm going to move in today and my luggage is arriving in a few days."

Nabiki let an interested look appear on her face. "How did you know that I was Nabiki Tendo? We didn't exactly meet face to face."

Meiko laughed. "Silly, I just asked the people here at school for where you were. One of the seniors pointed you out to me."

Nabiki mentally slapped her forehead. Of course, she thought. She nodded her head.

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Ranma walked away from the classroom, his mind still on the new girl. Before he could go any farther, Akane pulled him to face her angrily. "W-what?!"

Akane growled. "Don't you what me Ranma! I saw how you were looking at Meiko. You pervert! I should have known that you couldn't stop trying to hit on every girl you see!"

Ranma's expression turned from shock to angry. "What! I wasn't leering at Meiko! Don't you go accusing me of being another Kuno you tomboy! Besides, you are just jealous that I don't look at you because you are so flat-chested that no-"

Before Ranma could continue a BIG mallet slammed into his face. "UUUNNCCUUTEE TOOMMBBOOYY!!!"

Akane heaved, puffing out huge angry breaths. "JERK!" Looking in the direction that she hit Ranma she gasped. Ranma was heading straight for Meiko and Nabiki! Oh, no!!

Ranma turned his head and his eyes bulged from seeing just where (or whom) he was heading towards. "Watch out!" He tried to steer away from the two shocked girls and barely made it. The girls dodged out of his way as he flipped in midair and rebounded off the tree. Somersaulting in the air he landed lightly on his feet. He shot a worried glance at the two girls. Meiko was just staring at him while Nabiki was giving him an icy glare. He shivered slightly. I am so gonna get it now, he thought depressed.

His mood changed into irritation as he watched Akane marched up to him, her red aura blazing. "Argh, you TOMBOY! I almost crashed into Mei-chan and Nabiki!" He stopped short and so did Akane. Why did he say that? he thought confused.

Akane growled. "I KNEW IT! She's been here for less than a day and already your calling her 'Mei-chan!'" She made a move to slam him again with that damn mallet but Ranma dodged it.

Ranma paused for a moment to glare at Akane and then looked at Meiko. She seemed familiar...A memory popped up in his mind.

*Flashback*

A little blonde girl around nine years old walked around scared. She frantically called out, "Mom? Dad? Where are you? Mom?" She was lost and alone in a strange country.

Ranma walked smoothly on top of the fence and mumbled angrily about baka oyagis. He stopped short as he saw a boy walking beneath him sadly. Wait, he thought. A guy doesn't wear a dress. He's a girl!

The girl looked up and saw him. Her scared expression made him feel the urge to comfort her. He sighed glad when it brightened.

"Excuse me. Could you help me? I-i'm lost.." He nodded and jumped down from the fence next to her. She was startled for a moment but then relaxed. "Wow. How can you do that so easily?"

He shrugged. "Practice."

She nodded and stared at him for a moment before smiling brightly. "Hi, I'm Meiko." She held out her hand.

He stared awed at her smiling face and blinked shaking his head. He took her hand and smiled. "I'm Ranma, nice ta metcha."

*End Flashback*

Recognition dawned on Ranma's face and Meiko smiled. "You! I remember now. I metcha when I was like nine or something."

Nabiki looked back and forth between Ranma and Meiko and smiled mischievously. So, she thought with a calculating edge, our new transfer student knows Saotome. This will prove to be a profiting experience.

Akane stared confused, frustration clear on her face. Meiko nodded. "Yup. Glad you finally remembered Ranchan."

Ranma scratched the back of his head embarrassed. "Umm..well, you see.."

Meiko just sighed. "I guess I do see. You forgot me didn't you?"

Ranma stammered. "Y-yes..I mean..n-no, I m-mean...argh!" He pinched the bridge of his nose and squatted on the ground. "Why me?" Meiko's response to his question was a giggle. He smiled despite himself. He looked up at her and this time answered her question, albeit more calmly. "U-um..well, you know me. I'm very forgetful..especially with girls..." He mumbled the last part softly.

Meiko still heard him though. She smiled. "That's okay. I guess I do know you. Very forgetful with girls huh?" She giggled when Ranma blushed embarrassed at being heard.

Akane growled darkly at the two reunited friends. Why that-that pervert! Jealously clouded her hurt at Ranma for being more close to the new girl than her. I can't believe I thought that we could be friends. She's guilty too, just like Ranma! I'll get you. She smiled evilly. Somewhere back in her mind a little voice cried out in despair. It was her gentle and kind side.

Nabiki raised one of her eyebrows at Akane. So the little princess is mad again. What a jealous brat!

++++++++++

Meiko smiled at Ranma as she waved at him from across the room. He waved back and walked into the boy's locker room. She smiled softly as she pushed the wooden door in front of her. Several of the girls had finished changing and they all stared at her. Whispers began again and she looked around self-conscious. To her relief, two girls walked up to her smiling broadly.

The raven-haired girl spoke holding out her hand to Meiko. "Hi, I'm Annabelle. Would you like to be friends?"

The other girl, who was taller than Annabelle, had soft green eyes and beautiful brown hair. "Likewise. I'm Miki."

Meiko nodded happy. "I'm Meiko, which you probably know already. I would love to be your friends!" She took Annabelle's hand and shook it. The two girls nodded.

Several feet away, Sayuri cautiously stepped back from a fuming Akane. A slight red aura was surrounding Akane and she gripped the edge of her locker tightly. It strained under the stress she was putting on it, almost breaking. Akane glowered at the cheerful blonde as she chatted with her new friends.

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Mr. Santrez scowled slightly at the chaos before him. Class had not even started and they were already talking amongst themselves. Talking very loudly too. He cleared his throat softly. They continued on as if not hearing. This time he cleared his throat very loudly, his dark eyes blazing. Some of them had thought of pretending not to hear him again but the look of unmistakable pain in his eyes made them rethink that decision. Maybe the teacher couldn't really harm them physically but he had the power to get them in trouble that could result to more pain then they had ever experienced. Like getting detention and calling their irate parents. Satisfied with the immediate silence he smiled. "This quarter we are going to be doing basic gymnastics and advance for those of you who already know gymnastics. The male and female sides are going to be combining for this lesson and Miss Cordero will be assisting me in evaluating your skill level." Soft whispers began again and there was the obvious excitement from both genders on combining classes.

The petite lady beside Mr. Santrez smiled brightly as she tapped her board with her pen to get the class' attention. "Now line up in two lines, one male and the other female."

One of the students yelled out. "Competition!" Which was followed by excited yells from the class.

Mr. Santrez glanced at Ann Cordero for her thoughts on competition going on between the two classes. She just shrugged and he sighed. I guess some competition won't be bad, he thought. At least they won't get bored with this activity like last time.

Akane smirked as she heard about competition going on between the two genders. Someone has to go against Ranma and who else here actually has a chance against him but me? Maybe Ukyou but she's not in this class and no one else here has any martial arts training. Her smirked slipped when she heard what her teacher said.

Ann Cordero coughed a bit for attention. "I will be pairing you off. So no you will not be choosing who you will compete at." The girls groaned about their bad luck. Hopefully Akane will be paired off with Ranma so that the girls would at least have a chance against him. Anyone else and the girls' team will lose pathetically.

Many of the girls were despaired while others still held on to some hope. They crossed their fingers hoping that Akane would pair off with Ranma. Then their hopes shattered.

Ann thought carefully about Ranma's partner. Some teachers would have automatically picked Akane as his partner or competitor but Ann was not the usual teacher. She thought about the resulting property damage if Akane was to be mad at Ranma for losing. She shivered slightly. No, she thought, the school is already in the red lane from all those property repairs. "Ranma Saotome and Meiko Tsuki."

All the students gasped except for the mentioned pair. Ranma looked uncertainly at Meiko while she just blinked. "Okay." She said. You would have thought that Ann Cordero had actually known that Ranma and Meiko knew each other with the swiftness she showed in pairing the two up.

Ranma glanced at the blonde girl across from him as he took his place in line. As if knowing what he was doing she looked back at him and smiled. He relaxed as he remembered that this wasn't Akane he was dealing with. It would just be a friendly match between the two and there would not be the resulting property damage there was when he and Akane were paired up.

Akane growled softly. She shot a dark look at her unwanted fiancé and Meiko. I am Ranma's equal! That girl has no chance against him! What are they thinking?

After the class was all paired up they started with their evaluations. Hiroshi went up against Yuka and Yuka had won due to Hiroshi slipping off the pole and falling to the ground laughing hysterically. Sayuri was up against Daisuke and Daisuke had won (he couldn't afford to lose, the other's would kill him!) Several more people went up.

Akane had won without question, leaving behind her opponent panting out of breath. Then, it was Ranma and Meiko's turn. So far everything had added up and it was a draw. How it happened, the two teachers did not know. Talk about adding pressure. Ranma was used to these competitions and people had no doubt as to who would win. The girls sighed at their misfortune. All their hard work had ended up being in vain.

Meiko's happy smile faltered for a bit as she saw the other's lack of faith in her. Ranma was a very skilled martial artist she knew but they didn't even see her in action, yet they had already judged that she was going to lose to him. She frowned slightly and it did not go unnoticed.

Two people had noticed. One was Ranma who was now very worried. Meiko did not deserve this, he thought a bit angered. She did not deserve to be judged like that. He was about to voice his thoughts when he thought about his rash decision. No, he thought firmly, there is no need to tell them. Mei-chan will surely prove to them that she is not a useless person.

Akane smirked satisfied. Everything is going just as I thought. Meiko, that hussy, is going to lose no doubt. Everyone believes that I should have been Ranma's opponent and you will regret ever taking that spot away from me. She had to stop herself from laughing out loud.

"Hmm.." Mr. Santrez and Ms. Cordero exchanged worried looks. They stood a few feet away from the bar and the students. "Well...we wanted them to have a 'little' competition..a little more interested in class then the others....so I guess we did get it...I suppose." Mr. Santrez said uncertainly. Ms. Cordero nodded. "Alright." Mr. Santrez said loudly to Ranma and Meiko. "Go to your positions. As you should know by now, the rules are anything goes. Whoever stays on the longest and can perform the hardest tricks will win. The score, 21-21. A tie. This will be the tiebreaker and the deciding point for which side has won. Ms. Cordero's or mine. On your mark...um..wrong won." Several students laughed. "Ahem. Start!" He blew his whistle loudly.

Both immediately went into action. To the students and teacher's surprise, Meiko had actually kept up with Ranma. She had not been kidding when she said that her specialty was gymnastics. It seemed that both of them had known each other for a long time because they were simply doing everything in unison. They did the same flips and turns at the same time. Their style was identical and it seemed that one of them had learned how to do gymnastics from the other or both had trained together.

Akane's mouth dropped. "What?!" She muttered hotly under her breath. "I can't BELIEVE that!" She crossed her arms over her chest and scowled. In a very ugly way if I must say.

After several more interesting minutes both teachers blew their whistles. A bit too loudly too. "OUCH!!!" The whole class said except for the two on the bar. They glared at the two adults. "THAT WAS LOUD!!" The two teachers had the decency to blush and look sheepish. "Sorry." They muttered quietly. Then it seemed that the two finally remembered who was the boss around here and straightened up. They glared back causing the students who had yelled (which meant practically everyone) to back away saying, "..Hehe..didn't mean to...accident..."

Mr. Santrez cleared his throat and tried to regain his composure. "That was .... an interesting performance." He glanced at Ranma and Meiko knowingly and they smiled back. "It was a tie. Both teams had won." There were groans of protest but was quickly silenced by a withering look from the physical education instructor. "Class dismissed."

Several of the students still moaned about how there should have been a winner and not a tie. They shuffled back into their respective locker rooms to change. Meiko smiled at Ranma who seemed a bit disappointed-okay a lot. "I think that it was a swell ending. There really isn't any better gender so the tie would stop any controversy from forming. I mean, don't you think that one of us winning would result in one side of the population to be taunting the other?"

Ranma nodded although a bit reluctantly. He bit back his automatic response on how males were much better than females when he remembered just who he was with. One disapproving look from Meiko could rival Kasumi's. It was scary how two gentle girls could have a stronger effect on him then the strongest attacks (like for example Akane's mallet...) He sighed and waved his hand at her. "Oh, well... meet you outside okay?"

Meiko beamed. "Okay! We're eating together right?" He nodded and she turned around walking lightly to change. He couldn't help but stare at the retreating girl. "Kawaii..." He mumbled. She sure has grown up. No! He thought guiltily as he turned away. I can't believe what I just thought. Heart heavy he walked into his locker room.

A thin boy laughed giddily to himself. "I've got you Saotome! Surely Akane-san will be mine with you after the new girl. Surely." Dark rings were under his eyes as Hikaru Gosunkugi(?) looked at the tape recorder in his hand. "All I have to do is spread a few rumors about him and Meiko Tsuki and wham! No more fiancees!" Talking more like Nabiki then himself he practically skipped out of his hiding place behind the bleachers out the door. "Yes! Yes!"

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Whispers circulated the room as the pair sat down by a large tree. Meiko leaned back against the rough trunk not minding the wood pricking at her back. She sighed content. She took out her bento from her book bag and started to eat. She ate neatly and slowly, savoring the taste of Japanese food as she scanned the yard around her. She had a sinking feeling that the fingers pointed towards her direction, heads glancing towards her, and not so soft whispers were about her. She sighed, this time not so content. She was used to whispers about her and she should have known that this place wasn't any different. Trying to get her mind off the whispers she noticed that something was off. Oh, yes, she thought. Ranchan. She turned to the person sitting next to her casually leaning against the same trunk. "Ranchan, where's your lunch?"

He looked at her and shrugged. "Well, Akane has it. I gave her bento to her but for some reason she was really mad and took both of them. Didn't even notice that she had taken my bento too. Uncute tomboy." Inwardly he thought, Yeah right! Like I don't know why she's so furious.

Meiko frowned. "Ranchan... Why are you insulting Akane?"

"Uh..." Uh, oh. He grimaced. I should have known, he thought not so unpleasant. Mei-chan was always so kind so of course she wouldn't like an insult like that. "She...she deserves it. Besides, she IS an uncute tomboy. Always hitting people with that stupid mallet of hers and getting jealous at everything and anything I d-" He froze as he sensed a high energy level. A very angry one too. He was about to go back to his old habits of trying to apologize when he remembered that he was not the same naive boy from before. He put on a smug look and turned to look at the angry 'tomboy.' "So..Akane. Do you think that my comment is right?"

"ARGHHH!! RANMA YOU JERK!!" Akane, red in the face from anger, roared as whirled around and stomped away.

Ranma stared at the seriously pissed off girl. After blinking he shrugged. "Oh well." Crossing his leg he leaned against his right arm and stared at Meiko.

Meiko sighed as she saw the Tendo girl storm off. "Ranchan since Akane left with your bento again, why don't you share with me?" She held up her bento box in offering.

Ranma shook his head smiling. "Nah, if you do share with me then I'll probably eat it all in a second." Such a sweet girl...

"Okay," Meiko said as she resumed her eating. It seemed that she was going to be able to finish her lunch at last.... Or not.

"Ranchan." A female voice called out, it was not Meiko's. "Who is this girl?"

"Airen." Another female voice said with a Chinese accent. "Who girl?"

End Chapter One.

AN: Right, I never realized that Meiko would turn out this way. Mary Sue? Maybe... Oh well.