Disclaimer: The usual. I don't own any of these characters. They don't belong to me. The story does though..so....no stealin'!! Hehehe..j/k! If the characters are a bit OOC then please forgive me!

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Chapter Three: Chaotic Malls

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Lifting the cup from the plate, she idly sipped the tea. A small content smile spread over her face as she placed her cup down. Relina watched in odd amusement at the Saotome girl. Who would have thought that someone as wild as her would be pleased at some green tea? Maybe she wasn't that bad of a girl, although she is a bit violent. Then again, she thought, Heero and the others are a tad violent too...

"Hmmm...this green tea is great! I guess even in a technologically advanced place like this still has some traditional tea!" Ranko smiled her eyes sparkling.

Relina smiled. "Yes." During the past several days Ranko had adapted to her new environment. Relina was a bit worried at how well Ranko had gotten used to Duo's place. It was like as if she had been moving from place to place so many times that it was something she had to learn... She shook her head slightly. She wondered briefly how well Ranko would adapt had she seen all of today's technological advancement, like the Gundams. (A/N: Hehe...you all know what she would do!)

Ranko dropped down on one of Duo's comfortable sofas and sighed. "As much as I like green tea, I'm still bored. You can only get distracted for a moment you know." She looked at her hands. Hmm...she thought. Maybe a little bit of training would help...

She sat up straighter. That's what she had forgotten. Martial arts. She resisted the urge to smack her head for fear of rejection from Relina for doing such a weird thing. It had been so crazy the past few days of getting used to her new home and she had just totally forgotten. (A/N: I know, I know. The real Ranma Saotome would never forget it, but this is Ranko.)

Relina thought about what Ranko said and found that it WAS true. She had been here for several days yet she never did go anywhere beyond Duo's home. Maybe...she smiled. "Ranko, would you like to go outside today? We could go watch a few movies, look around in the mall, and maybe even see a few places with great view."

Ranko raised her eyebrow when Relina mentioned the mall. She tried hard not to throw up at the thought of acting like those 'girls' at school. Shopping in the mall! No way! However, one look at Relina made her rethink her response. It might not be that bad. Besides, she thought to herself, I need to get out of here. "Okay, I guess. Do you know any big parks? I would like to train a bit too."

Relina nodded and guessed that Ranko meant practicing her martial arts. She stood up gracefully. "I'll go tell the others. They'll probably come along. Hmm.. maybe we could go and buy you some clothes." Relina left to go get the boys leaving Ranko staring at her in shock.

Clothes?! Does that mean....? She envisioned her in a store wearing a pale pink sundress and twirling around asking one of the guys how she looked.

Needless to say, Relina and the others were shocked by an anguished yell.

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He smiled as he saw the buxom redhead look around in awe. He supposed that it was something to admire considering where she had come from. Duo glanced around at buildings on Earth. It was quite a sight to behold.

The road was clean and not a single trash was seen anywhere. Windows gleamed as the sunlight reached it. Healthy trees were planted on the sidewalk as they walked leisurely along it. There were buildings everywhere of all sizes.

"Wow.." Ranko was surprised at how many things were different here. Things were never this neat! She frowned slightly though at the buildings. Quatre noticed since he was observing how the redhead would react to the new and improved environment.

He was not surprised when she looked around in wonder but he was definitely taken aback when she frowned. "What's wrong, Ranko?"

The girl in question turned to the blonde boy thinking carefully. "I was wondering that if the Earth was so much more advanced...why did the buildings look like it could collapse at one touch?"

They all stopped walking. Relina blinked while the others just stared at Ranko. Yes, even Heero was confused. Relina looked at a nearby building and commented. "I think that they look quite sturdy in fact.."

The ex-Gundam pilots nodded. Ranko shrugged. "Oh well. I guess everything looks a bit fragile to me but don't worry I won't knock it down. I'll probably only do it if I need to." With that said she just left the shell-struck teenagers as she resumed her walking.

"What?!..."

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"So what movie do you suggest?"

Relina studied the movie list and after a brief moment answered the redhead's question. "Hmm..how about 'Twin Dragons'? The actor, Andrew Chan, is very funny."

Wufei snorted. "Does anyone care if he's funny? No we don't woman."

Relina frowned at Wufei. He may have been less hostile but sometimes it seemed that he didn't change at all.

"Oof!"

Duo whistled innocently, his hands behind his back. Everyone stared at him and then he had an indignant look on his face. "What? I didn't do it."

Wufei rubbed his arm as he glared at the irritating braid boy. "Watch yourself Maxwell."

Duo shrugged casually, ignoring the Chinese boy's threat.

Ranko, who had been glaring at Wufei, laughed. "That will teach you to be mean, Mr. 'I'm the best' Chang."

Quatre sighed. Those two never stop. Trowa patted the Arabian's boy back nodding his head in understanding.

After she stopped laughing, which was quite a while much to Wufei's irritation, she smiled brightly. "Sure, let's go watch the movie."

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"Hehehe..that was hilarious! I must admit, for a movie actor, Chan sure does fight well!" She was itching to start on some of the new moves she saw in the movie. They looked really cool! She wondered how she was going to train for that lightning blast. Hmm...

Relina shook her head, smiling broadly while Heero strained to keep a cold front.

Too bad his mask of ice was cracked by a small smile forming on his lips.

It seemed that the energetic girl was oblivious to the frowns boring into her back. Maybe she didn't notice or maybe she didn't care, but if it had been someone else then they would have been frightened to death.

And it was for a good reason too. Wufei walked out of the movie theater, his face covered with black and purple bruises, big and small. He winced as he nursed his black eye. He was busy trying to glare at both the Saotome girl and Maxwell.

Throughout the whole film, Ranko had been very energetic. She had laughed merrily and moved quite a lot too. It was also very unfortunate that Wufei had been sitting next to her because her 'slight' moving around had earned him several new black eyes. So that was why Wufei was in a VERY bad mood.

It didn't help that the idiot Maxwell was laughing his head off.

"Shut UP!"

Duo alternated between whistling happily, glancing at Wufei, and laughing like crazy. He did the last two most often.

Ranko walked a head first followed by Wufei and the every present annoying Duo. Relina and Heero leisurely went after the bruised boy and...

Quatre sweatdropped as he scratched the back of his head. He had to give apologizing looks to MANY people who were curious about the 'idiot' laughing and beaten up teen. Trowa, who was usually a very thoughtful person and very much like Quatre, was straining not to burst out laughing. The sad part was that he failed miserably.

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Wufei smirked. There, that did it.

Ranko growled at the arrogant, snotty, bigheaded....JERK! How dare he?!

"Oh, my." Relina said, thinking about what Wufei had said. "Of course! Come on Ranko. Let's go to that fashion store over there. There are a lot of nice dresses that you can wear! I almost forgot about the shopping part. Seriously, I wonder how I forgot." Holding Ranko's reluctant hand she shot a thankful look to Wufei. "Thanks for reminding me."

"No problem. It was my pleasure."

"..Grrr..."

The Gundam boys followed amused as Ranko was pulled into the shop. They walked into the store with different emotions. Four of the handsome teens were confused or indifferent while one particular Chinese boy was smiling like crazy.

Several people glanced at the weird boy snickering as he walked with his companions. They shrugged and went back to looking for something decent to buy.

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Ranko glared. "Not a WORD!"

Wufei ignored the seriously-pissed-off girl and laughed.

"BWAHAHAHAHAH!!!!"

*CRACK* Relina stared as she watched Ranko smirk evilly. The redhead cracked her knuckles, a very unfeminine action, she thought absently.

"Heheehe..."

What happened next caused Heero to rethink his job as a fighter/protector. Maybe I should go for a safer job...like teaching religion..

"Whoa.." Duo winced in sympathy for the battered Wufei. Where he had been a 'little' bit bruised, now he was a bloody pulp. It was a good thing that he had taken Ranko's warning seriously or else he would have ended up like Wufei... He had to admit though, Ranko DID look cute in that fluorescent pink sundress. (Ranko's nightmare come true.) Now if she wore a white hat then it would make any male faint from the excess cuteness.

Ranko turned on her heel ready to march back into the dressing room when her savior arrived.

"Maybe you should let her choose the rest of her clothes. Buy for her the clothes you picked and let her decide on what she wants. Don't you think that's a better idea?" His voice was slightly nervous and it was obvious who it was with the Arabian accent.

Seeing the dump on the floor that used to be Wufei she nodded. "Y-yes, maybe you're right..."

Ranko beamed her eyes sparkling with gratefulness. It was disgusting how over cute she looked, well to some people. "THANKS!" With that she happily skipped over to the jeans section. After several minutes she had a bunch of jeans and matching blouses with her. She didn't bother to try them on and dropped it into Heero and Duo's hands. Whistling merrily she seemed to 'float' back into the dressing room.

Wufei, who had woken up from his 'sleep', smirked slyly. Relina was afraid to know what was going on in his mind but found out that she didn't have to wait long to realize what he was doing.

He quickly sped from one end of the store to the other grabbing a bunch of very 'feminine' clothes. How he knew what size Ranko was, no one knew. Although it may have something to do with him seeing what Relina had gotten for Ranko.

"...."

"...."

Duo and Heero just stared at the clothes Wufei had chosen. There were numerous tank tops, spaghetti straps, long and short skirts, capris, and tight dresses.

Wufei smirked as he hid the outfits in the ones that Ranko had chosen earlier. Now, she'll have to wear it anyway because it's not polite to not wear something that someone else had bought for her, he thought inwardly.

Relina ignored the maniac look that Wufei wore and calmly paid for the clothes. There were a lot of things but money was no problem for her. Besides, she did have five healthy boys to carry all of their things.

Seconds later, Ranko came out in her regular clothes smiling. Upon seeing her new friends' expressions' her smile faded.

"Tell me, now."

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She had to admit that the girl had some spunk. She was like the complete opposite of her but there was a connection between them. Maybe it was that they were the only girls in their group or that their parents were no longer with them. No matter what their connection was, there was definitely one. The girl could bring about tremendous changes in everyone. She could bring out the bad, the good, or even the thoughtfulness of someone.

She could feel the aura of excitement and long for adventure in the girl. Being around her was bringing out the adventurous streak that she never knew she had. Relina giggled. No, if it weren't for Ranko then I would have no idea. Still..I do suppose I had already awakened it when I first met Heero. The two are so alike, yet also different.

Relina didn't care about that now though. Actually she didn't have the endurance for that. She was too busy giggling at the sight behind her to be her calm and thoughtful self.

The energetic redhead jumped up and down before turning to face behind her. "Soo.... are you guys tired yet? Do you want me, a weak little girl, to carry that? I'm sure Relina, a weak little girl, would help too."

Relina nodded her head, enjoying their little game. "Yes, I would."

The sweating, and one bruised, boys all shook their head indignantly. They couldn't admit that they were tired. They couldn't let Ranko win and get the last laugh. No way. No way were they, the powerful Gundam pilots, going to give up. Nah uh. No way!

The one that was most tired was Wufei. It was probably do to the 'little talk' Ranko had with him. She did not react well to the clothes that Wufei had bought for her. She wanted to return it but the store had said no refunds. Relina had to drag the 'wild child' away from the store as she kicked and yelled about how dumb it was to not let anybody refund.

Ranko glanced back slightly and felt sorry for the boys, well except Wufei of course. Still...it was their fault for siding with him.

[Flashback]

She sniffed disdainfully as she brushed off some invisible dust from her clothes. "I'll say, Wufei, that you are such a jerk. Making decisions for me like that."

Quatre felt sorry for the badly beaten up boy. "Ranko, he was just trying to pick some feminine clothes for you. It's not really that bad..." He trailed off as Ranko fixed a look at him. "Umm.."

Trowa put a hand protectively on Quatre's shoulder. "Hey!"

"Well.." Duo pondered for a moment. "I do suppose that Quatre and Wufei is right. You need some more feminine clothes. Slacks are nice but dresses and skirts make you look way cuter. Check out Relina. She wears a skirt or dress practically every day."

Heero, who was usually silent in friendly talks/arguments like this, nodded his head. "Duo is right. Relina does wear a skirt every day."

Ranko growled and, surprisingly, Relina frowned unhappily.

"What did you say?" The two girls said ominously in unison.

"Uhh..."

[End Flashback]

But..she thought. I guess making them carry all the clothes we bought and walking around the six-floor mall was enough torture. Besides, they never did use the escalator. I still couldn't believe how easy it was to 'coax' them into proving their strength by using the stairs.

She looked at Relina and saw that she thought the same thing that she did. Just as she was about to tell them to drop the act and rest, all Hell broke loose.

Or as Ranko thought, the Kami had finally answered her prayers and gave her some excitement.

(End Chapter...kiddin')

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Suddenly all at once alarms screeched loudly. People started panicking as mask clad thieves rushed out of many stores.

Gun shots were heard and the thieves laughed cruelly as they rushed to the bottom floor of the mall to get out.

Bags dropped to the floor as the ex-Gundam pilots got into a defensive position around the two girls. Frowns and cold looks were on their faces as they saw that not only were the thieves stealing, but they were also shooting at people.

One of the thieves stopped and pointed towards their direction. He whispered something to his female companion who suddenly smirked. Cupping her hands she hollered to her fellow thieves, "QUEEN RELINA AT TWELVE O' CLOCK!!!"

Relina gasped as she saw that the thieves had stopped noticing the other people in the building. They were all focusing on her.

There was a loud uproar as the thieves raced to capture the ex-queen. Jackpot.

The boys went into action as they saw that the thieves had targeted Relina as their victim.

"Watch over them!" Heero yelled to Wufei. Wufei was the martial artist of the group and had more experience in fighting hand combat then they were.

Wufei had an indignant look but did as Heero said. He didn't want the two helpless girls to get hurt...especially not Ranko...

Quatre hated fighting and he was a very peaceful person, but he couldn't let those people get to Relina. He was the weakest of them all though because he did not have too many experiences with fighting without his Gundam. He winced as fist impacted in his gut. I definitely need more experience...

Trowa saw that Quatre was weakening and felt the results of walking up and down the six-floor building catching up to him. He kicked two of the thieves into unconsciousness as he leaped towards his friend. He had great acrobatic skills due to his job at the circus.

Quatre threw a thankful look at Trowa as the two fought the thieves together.

Heero and Duo were doing much better than Quatre and Trowa was. They moved like the wind, leaving unconscious bodies in their path. Usually Duo would have a cocky grin on his face but right now his face was set in the same expression Heero had. Dead serious...and dead tired....

The four tired boys were trying their hardest to hold out against the huge number of thieves but many managed to get past them. Soon, Wufei had to abandon his defensive position and fight the thieves.

It did not take long for Wufei to get tired either.

Relina blinked. She had thought that with no one to protect them that they were going to be hurt, but she was wrong. Way off, more like it.

Ranko was busy chatting excitedly with Relina, who did not reply back due to her shock. She seemed oblivious to the danger around her.

It was shocking how she was casually knocking people out. She wasn't even trying. Ranko was laughing and unconsciously hitting the thieves. Her fists and feet never harmed a single innocent person.

Ranko was having fun. It was cool that she had someone to fight since she was itching for some action. She glanced at how the 'mighty' boys were doing and rolled her eyes.

The thieves were overpowering the ex-Gundam pilots and they were hard pressed to keep their position. Quatre faltered for a minute but that was all the time the cruel thieves needed. The thieves all attacked Quatre seeing that he was weakening. Quatre threw up his arms to protect his face when the blows stopped.

"What the..?"

Ranko sighed as she threw the unconscious thieves in a pile. "This was...pathetic."

Looking up she gave in to her fate. "Why me?"

She pouted cutely as she picked up the thieves easily. Soon, she had all the battered thieves in a huge pile and their weapons in another pile.

Her companions just stared dumbstruck. The girl had oh-so-casually disposed of the thieves, saved the boys' butt, and dismantled the thieves' weapons.

"Oh well." Ranko said, her face brightening.

"So....where are we going next?"

Relina held her bruised face. This was the first time they had experienced a facefault and she did not like it one bit.

"Owww..." The teens groaned in unison.

Ranko just blinked innocently.

"What?"