Hi!
Here is chapter 3 revised. I decided not to fool around with chemistry any more. Hopefully I remembered enough biology to not mess up that part.
I'm trying not to give Himeko too big a part. Just to make things clear: this story is not a self-insertation, nor is it a crossover. ^_^ I have several people asking. Anyway, for those who don't like Himeko, she steps out of the picture for several chapters starting at #7, and only has a tiny but in #6, I think. Of course, if you didn't like her, I guess you wouldn't be reading this. ^_^
***
"O-tomodachi" -- "Friends"
By Irene Ying
Chapter Three
"Saotome-san, I need to talk with you after class,"
Motsuko-sensei said. Ranma squirmed. He'd handed in the
reports yesterday after only a cursory effort. He knew
that the news wouldn't be too good. He nodded. "I'll be
there."
"Now Akane's gonna yell at me again, and just make fun of
me," Ranma thought angrily. "It's not my fault. I just
don't like science. It's so stupid, a bunch of numbers and
facts to memorize that don't mean anything in the real
world. . ." he ranted on and on in his mind, almost walking
into a wall.
The bell rang. "Chikusho," Ranma swore. Akane walked up
behind him.
"Hey, Ranma! Let's go!" She waved her books.
"I. . .uh, I'll catch up with you later! I gotta. . .talk
with a friend!"
Akane shrugged. "Then I'll see you later!" She turned
around and started chatting with a few friends. Ranma
sighed and waited for her to be out of his sight range.
Then he looked around and walked to the science teachers'
office.
"Hai, sensei?" Ranma asked, a bored tone in his voice.
Motsuko-sensei glanced at him. "I have a meeting today. I
forgot all about it. But I really have to talk with you.
Ah. . .wait in my room. Hindono-sensei will be there with
the weekly regional science club. You can stay there." He
shut the door in Ranma's face.
"Kono onore. . ." Ranma muttered under his breath. "Now
I'll be real late home, plus. . .I hafta stay in a room
full of nerds and geeks. . .oh, this'll be REAL fun." He
grumbled to himself as he went back to his biology
classroom.
Hindono-sensei was in there, writing something. "Saotome-
san? Can I help you? Your report wasn't so bad, you
know."
"Oh. . .um, no, Motsuko-sensei told me to wait here for
him." That was a surprise. Well, he'd spent two hours on
the chemistry report and thirty minutes on the biology one.
"I see. Go right ahead. The science club is going to be
here in a few minutes, though. Care to join us?" The
teacher actually sounded sincere.
Ranma wanted to retch. "Uh, no thanks."
"All right, no problem." He went back to work.
Ranma sat down in a desk, flipping through his math book
absently. There was a test tomorrow, and Ranma barely knew
the terms of that chapter.
People started coming in. Ranma recognized a few people
from his own chemistry and biology classes. There were
plenty of people from other schools. He noticed that they
were all boys. They actually didn't look all that geeky.
Sure, a few did, but more looked rather normal. They
started to put on lab aprons and goggles. Most of them
thought that Ranma was joining and were not opposed to the
idea. Ranma had to keep explaining why he was there.
"We'll be starting in a few minutes," Hindono-sensei said
as he looked at the clock.
Ranma groaned softly. What was taking that teacher so
long? More importantly, how was he going to survive?
"I'm here!" A familiar voice called from the doorway.
Ranma's head jerked up.
A petite girl in a sailor fuku was standing in the room,
holding a schoolbag. She walked over to a lab table,
opened it, and started to take something out.
"Himeko-san!" Somebody called. Ranma spun around. It
_was_ her!
"Konnichiwa, minna!" Himeko called cheerfully. "Hindono-
sensei! I saw the most interesting thing the other day in
a magazine. Here, I brought the article. It's in my. . ."
Setting down her jacket, she glanced at the lightly falling
snow outside and looked up.
She found herself looking Ranma straight in the eyes.
His eyes. How blue, how deep and dark, how unusually
beautiful. How mysterious, and just plain gorgeous. . .
She tore her gaze away with difficulty and found her
emotion turn to shock and surprise. She wasn't
hallucinating. It _was_ Ranma.
He was even cuter than she'd remembered. He has a fianc�e,
she reminded herself sternly. It's not your place to
interfere. Control yourself.
"Saotome-san, o-genki desu ka?" She asked cheerfully.
Ranma was too surprised to say much.
Then she looked down. "I. . .as long as we're both here, I
want to apologize for hitting you in the park. It was
completely out of line and very rude of me. Sumimasen."
She bowed low to him.
That was surprising. After how he'd grabbed her, and the
way she'd treated him, he was surprised that she hadn't
flattened his head on the spot. Maybe he was getting too
used to Akane. "I'm . . .I'm doing great! And. . .it was
my fault, too." Not really, but didn't hurt to apologize.
That was one thing Akane had taught him. He stood and
bowed.
She nodded. "So. . .what are you here for?"
"Well, my teacher kinda made me. . .I have to talk with
him." Ranma said airily. "You? Do all your friends come
here?"
"No. . .I don't have that many friends. And they're not
interested in science." She shrugged.
Ranma felt sympathetic. "I'm sorry."
Himeko shrugged. She walked over to a lab table and
slipped on an apron and goggles. Her hair was tied back
with a yellow ribbon. Ranma idly thought about touching
her hair. It looked soft and silky, shimmering in the late
afternoon light. The apron was bulky and heavy, and Ranma
watched her struggle to put it on. He laughed into his
hands. The stupid thing was much too large for her to
wear. Finally she gave up and put on a lab coat.
At the lab table, Himeko's badly trembling hands were
fumbling badly with the simple apron buttons. Usually, she
could get ready in thirty seconds. Why was she taking so
long? Her heart was racing, and she could feel her hands
start to turn numb and shaky.
"Deep breaths. Control yourself," she thought sternly.
Curious about the experiment, Ranma went up to her. Himeko
glanced at him, then she handed him a pair of goggles.
"Here."
"Thanks. What are you making?" He put them on.
"You'll see," she said. "So, you like science?" She asked
hopefully. If he liked science, they'd have something in
common, and they might. . .
Ranma shrugged. "I'm only here because the bio teacher
wanted to discuss something with me."
"Hmm," Himeko said. She turned back to her work and didn't
look up. She was completely silent for the next ten
minutes.
Motsuko-sensei still didn't show up. Ranma gritted his
teeth.
Himeko opened a bottle and took some liquid out. She
started pouring it into a test tube, which had flakes of
metal on the bottom. Ranma glanced at her. The metal was
obviously reacting with the liquid. He saw foam forming.
Himeko put a stopper on it, and pushed a glass tube through
the stopper. She connected the tube to some other
glassware. Quickly, Himeko set the tube onto a holder,
positioned it above a Bunsen burner, and waited.
"Hey, can I help?" Ranma asked. He was becoming very
bored. He also noticed that Himeko was working alone,
while all the boys had partners.
"Sure," she said with a smile. "You know your chemistry?"
"Uh, sure!"
Himeko smiled and decided to trust him. She slid over a
bottle of fuming red nitric acid, 95% pure. "Dilute 250 ml
of this with 100 ml of distilled water," she said.
"Arigatou."
She turned back to her work, but her hands were shaking
again.
"He's so nice," she murmured softly and quietly, even her
breath coming shaky. "It wasn't his fault there, and
still he apologized. Now he's helping me." She glanced
over at him. He had the water in a beaker, and had the
acid in another large beaker.
She smiled. His braid looked so cute, bouncing a bit as he
walked. . .she stifled a laugh. He looked a little
awkward. Well, at least he had his goggles on. Besides,
what could go wrong? It was just diluting acid. . .wait a
minute. If he wasn't into chemistry, maybe he didn't know.
. ."Hey, use a fume hood there!"
"Got it!" Ranma was already sliding the chemicals into a
black vent system. Himeko shook her head and sighed.
Ranma came over with the two beakers. He picked up a
stirring rod. "Here we go," he announced. . .
. . .and he poured the water right into the acid. Himeko's
eyes got wide.
"Something wrong?" Ranma asked.
"YAMETE!"
She spun around, faced Ranma, and threw herself between him
and the table. Ranma yelled and knocked over the beaker,
causing both of them to scream in fear. Himeko jumped.
Her arms swung around Ranma, knocking an empty, dry test
tube and her schoolbag off the lab table. The tube
shattered and three books went flying. As soon as she
covered him, Ranma heard something spluttering, Himeko
winced for some reason.
Ranma opened his eyes and saw Himeko in front of him. Her
arms were spread wide. She was breathing heavily, casting
little glances backwards. The hem of her sailor blouse was
brushing his red silk shirt. He swallowed hard. Her
collar was sliding just a bit. . .
"Um. . .did I do something wrong?" Ranma asked as he
stepped back.
She hadn't noticed their close proximity at all. Himeko
had her head bowed, as she stared at the floor. "Hold on.
. .let me. . .catch my breath." She steadied herself
against a table. "Ranma, never do that again." She
grinned. "But at least you have guts."
"What did I do?" Ranma was confused.
"Water first, THEN acid," Himeko explained. "Acid and
water can react. And when you have something strong like
*that* acid, it's very dangerous. Reversing the order, and
just dumping the water in. . .that's why it reacted." She
brushed her bangs out of her eyes and glanced at the table.
The beaker was tipped over and acid was beginning to eat
through the tabletop.
"Sorry," Ranma said. He played with his hands a little.
"I'll help you clean up. . ."
Himeko had a wry look on her face. "That's all right. I
think you'd better re-read your chemistry book first."
"Gomen ne," he mumbled sheepishly.
"Daijoubu sa," she replied. "All right, then, here's a
lesson. When diluting an acid, always pour the water
first. Then you add the acid, *very* slowly, while
stirring slowly and gently." She folded her arms and
smiled. "Wakatta?"
"Hai, wakatta," Ranma said. He fidgeted a little more.
"You're. . .not mad?"
Himeko laughed. "It was entertaining, and it wasn't
intentional." She tilted her head. "If people mess up on
purpose, then I *really* get mad. But you didn't know what
was going on. Dakara. . ." She smiled.
"Oh. Well, I. . ."
"It's all right, I said," she replied. "I've got to
clean up this mess, but I should really call the teacher."
She went out of the room to find Hindono-sensei while Ranma
found the bottle of base.
Ranma glanced at the mess. At least Himeko wasn't mad. He
was surprised by her reaction. He'd expected her to blow
up at him, yell at him, blame him for the mess. . .but she
didn't.
"Weird girl," he thought. She got mad at him for one thing
and stayed calm for another. He didn't understand people.
Hindono-sensei came back, with Himeko apologizing
profusely. Ranma winced, expecting a lecture. But the
teacher ignored him. Confused, Ranma watched them clean up
the mess. It took fifteen minutes, and the counter showed
signed of damage. He sighed again, and waited for Hindono-
sensei to come over and berate him for damages.
The teacher never did. Himeko went back to her experiment,
which was still standing. Ranma saw that Hindono-sensei
was gone. He went back up to Himeko.
"Takeno-san? Um. . .did you tell him?"
She glanced at him in surprise. "No, I said that I spilled
it. It was my fault anyway, for not warning you. Sorry."
Ranma was taken aback. "But. . .I. . ."
"Stop worrying." Himeko smiled. "It's not really your
fault."
Himeko bit her lip hard. She'd taken the blame because she
didn't want him to get hurt. She didn't want him to get in
trouble. . .he'd hate her for sure. He couldn't even
understand it. . .
"Oh." Ranma was _really_ confused now. "You got really mad
in the park."
Himeko blushed. "Umm. . .well, I thought you were trying
to attack me or something. But I know you had good
intentions this time." She smiled again. "My aunt taught
me. . .'if someone has good intentions, don't put them down
for failing. But if someone had bad intentions, feel free
to hit them'." Not that I would ever hit you, she thought
silently.
Ranma couldn't help laughing. "I. . .I see," he said.
Himeko turned back to her setup on the table, her heart
beating fast.
"Himeko, stop it," she thought to herself. "No. . .this
attraction to him has got to stop. . ." She bit her lips
again. She couldn't help herself. Despite everything, she
still wanted to just stand there and talk with him. Her
heart wouldn't stop racing in his presence.
"What's the point of this experiment?" Ranma asked. Idly,
he looked to see whether his teacher was back yet.
Negative.
"To create this stuff," Himeko said. She showed him a dish
of small white crystals. "And I've just finished."
"Congrats," he told her. "Now what?"
"Now I show it to sensei, and I'm done."
Himeko walked off silently, saying no more. She was trying
to fight her emotions. She wanted to talk to him. She
wanted to be near him, to speak to him, and she couldn't
figure out why.
"Himeko, you don't have time for boys," she thought firmly.
"Plus, he's engaged, he's going to be married. You have
other things to do. Forget him."
It wasn't working. Thanks to her confused thoughts, Himeko
was the last to finish, and then the teacher had them start
to clean up the lab.
As she washed her glassware, she was hopeful that Ranma was
going out of the room. She breathed a sigh of relief.
Maybe she could stop thinking about him now. He wasn't
into science, so she shouldn't run into him that often.
"Christmas presents!" Hindono-sensei called out. The
students rushed to his desk, where he had a pile of plastic
bags holding gifts. Delighted, Himeko ran up to choose
one. She came back with two bags of candy. They were in
plastic Christmas packages, with pictures of holly and
Santa Claus. Himeko wavered a little, wrung her hands,
made up her mind, then gave one to Ranma.
What am I doing, she wondered to herself. She looked up to
see Ranma smiling at her. That smile. . .started to melt
her insides.
"Kawaii, ne?" Himeko said, cradling the package. Going
back to the lab table, she pulled the magazine off the
floor absently. She tucked two fallen books and the candy
into her schoolbag. Noticing that Ranma was starting to
open it, she quickly stopped him. "No eating in the lab,"
she said worriedly. "Eat in the hallways."
Ranma laughed. "Oh, well." Quickly, he popped several
chocolates into his mouth and hid the bag in his pants
pocket before anyone else saw. "See? All done," he said
with his mouth full of chocolate.
Himeko sighed but smiled. "You like chocolate?"
"Yeah," Ranma said. "Why, do you?"
"Um, yeah," Himeko said. "I. . .I want to sit down."
"No problem," Ranma replied. They went up to the front and
sat in the chairs. Ranma looked at her expectantly.
Himeko shrugged and blushed.
"So, what have you been doing the past weeks?" Ranma asked,
breaking the awkward silence. "Doing more experiments like
this?"
"No, I. . .don't have a very exciting life," she said. "I
go to juku, I watched some TV, read a few manga. . .I went
to a movie with Rie-chan. That's it. What about you?" She
asked eagerly, looking at him.
Ranma felt a bit uncomfortable. "Um. . .I've been
practicing a lot, and that's about it. I got a new kick
combination down pat, and that's good, I guess."
"Omedetou gozaimasu!" Himeko clapped her hands. "That's
great! I'm so happy for you! What's it like?"
Ranma considered. "Well, I start like so," he took up a
pose, "and then I strike at one side, kick back for the
other, and," he demonstrated it for Himeko, who knew little
about kempo. She kept her eyes glued to his form and how
he gracefully spun around, keeping himself in perfect
control and balance. He finished in a stance, and she
clapped again. The other students were beginning to stare,
but the two ignored them
"That was awesome," she said nervously. "Um, I mean, it
was really great to watch you do those moves. . .I've never
seen anything so good," she added.
"Thanks, but I could do better," Ranma said loftily. He
laughed. "Well, I learned a lot of tricks. This is just
one of the newer ones."
"Show me another, please," Himeko implored. She was
nervous at the moment, her hands were shaking, her heart
was pounding. She had no idea what to say to him, but she
wanted to talk with him. She decided she'd go along with
any subject he liked. So long as he stayed with her, it
would be all right.
"Nah, I'll probably break something," Ranma decided.
Himeko laughed. "Oh, I'm sure you wouldn't."
"I don't know about that," Ranma said with a shrug.
"Anyway, there's a lot more to the Anything-Goes School
than just combinations. There's a whole philosophy behind
our moves and actions."
"I see," Himeko replied. "I'm guessing, then, that
'anything' can 'go' in that style, am I correct?"
Ranma smiled. "You got it! We don't cheat, but we adapt
our style to suit the situation. Therefore, we can fight
against a master of any style, because we are fluid and we
can change."
Himeko nodded. "That's really interesting. And you've
been training for a long time, I take it?" From his
performance, she was pretty sure.
"Since I could stand," Ranma said with a slightly sad
smile. "It's all I've ever known. Sometimes I wish I
could have a more normal life, but I think it's worth it."
Himeko nodded. "That's. . .what I believe too." She was
blushing. "Please, don't think that I'm too forward," she
said frantically. "But I agreed with you. . .I couldn't
help myself. I hope you don't mind."
Ranma laughed. "Why should I? It's the exact same way
that I feel."
Himeko grinned. "That's good!" She thought for a moment,
searching for another topic of conversation. "What else do
you like to do?"
"Hmm. . .I like to read manga, and movies are nice once in
a while, but. . .no, just that."
"Well, how about. . ."
***
Ranma looked outside. "What time is it? I'd better get
going." Motsuko-sensei had never shown up. Ranma didn't
care anymore. It had been worth it to have a good
conversation.
It was seven-thirty. They'd been talking for two and a
half hours. Ranma was surprised. Himeko was unused to
talking with boys, and it showed. She'd tried hard to talk
about whatever Ranma wanted to, and had succeeded more or
less.
"Hey, it's going to be break soon," Ranma suddenly said.
"Any plans?" He couldn't believe he was asking. . ."I can't
wait to sleep in all day, and just do nothing. I think my
dad's friend has all this stuff planned for us."
"I'm not doing anything special," she said, looking away.
"By the way, I saw. . .Tendo-san a while ago."
Ranma nearly swallowed his chocolate whole. "Oh, yeah.
What did she say?"
"Not much. Just asked what school I went to, whatever.
Umm. . .she said you were a really good martial artist."
"Oh." Ranma looked down and smiled. So, Akane _did_ have
some appreciation for his skills. "What high school *do*
you go to?"
"I go to. . .oh, darn it, I have to leave. Nice talking to
you." She waved and started walking out the door. She
couldn't even walk steadily, as her heart was racing and
adrenaline was streaming throughout her body. She didn't
want to speak any more. She wasn't sure she would say what
she meant to say, as though she'd lost all control.
"Ja, Himeko-san."
Himeko stood were she was. Did he just call her Himeko-
san?
She turned around. "Nani?"
"Friends?" He asked. Himeko had really been fun to talk
to, he decided. She was a sweet girl, just a bit emotional
and stubborn. He smiled.
"Hai, Ranma-san," she said. "Ja ne."
End of Chapter Three
Chapter Four
"Hime-chan, are you all right?"
Auntie Kimie looked at Himeko. "You've hardly said a thing
since you came home, and you haven't eaten much. Are you
sick?"
"Huh? Uh, no." Himeko pushed around the food on her plate.
Usually she liked to eat shabu-shabu, but she wasn't hungry
at all.
"How was school?" Kimie asked. "Did everything go well?
How about science club? You always have fun there." She
smiled.
"Sure. It went. . .nice." Himeko felt her heart racing
again. At this rate, she was going to have a heart attack
by the age of thirty. "I had a great time. Hindono-sensei
gave us Christmas presents." She brandished her bag of
candy.
"How nice!" Kimie smiled. "That's good. I have a class to
teach this evening. . .some sort of emergency, the other
teachers told me. So, I'll get home kind of late. Can you
take care of things?"
"I don't see why not," Himeko said with a shrug. "There's
no juku tonight."
"Good. Itte kimasu!" Kimie stood from the table and picked
up several papers. She turned around and went downstairs.
"And eat that food!"
"Ja ne, O-baa-san," Himeko called. She heard the front
door closing. Rubbing her tired eyes, she wondered if the
acid fumes had done any damage. Thank goodness for
eyewear. Glancing at the food, she sighed and tried to eat
some of it. It tasted good, but Himeko didn't notice.
As soon as she'd eaten enough so that Kimie wouldn't
complain, Himeko went upstairs to her room. She took off
her sailor fuku, got out a nightgown, and went to take a
shower.
She turned on the water, adjusted it, and stepped in.
Drawing the curtain shut, she sat as warm, soothing water
poured over her. Closing her eyes, she tried to relax.
Usually a shower or a bath could do wonders for stress.
This time, it wasn't working too well. Himeko's hands were
still trembling, and her heart was still going too fast.
Himeko spend ten minutes shampooing and conditioning her
hair, and then she rinsed off and went out of the room, as
a cold night breeze blew. Shivering slightly, she put on
the dress. Her hair fell, brushing almost to her waist.
She found a hairbrush and considered brushing her hair, but
decided against it. After brushing her teeth and locking
the doors--Kimie had a duplicate key--Himeko went to bed.
Her room was simple and somewhat western. She had a twin-
sized bed with blue sheets. Her curtains were made of
white lace. The walls had a collection of anime and manga
posters, and one wall had awards and trophies from her
academic achievements. She had several filled bookshelves,
a white desk, and a closet. The floor was covered with a
soft cream-colored rug.
She hung up her uniform by her closet, and got into bed
with her schoolwork. She'd finished some of it before
dinner, but there was a lot left. Himeko liked to do her
homework in bed, since it was nice and comfortable. She
turned on the light and got to work.
"The integral is. . ."
Himeko threw the book down on her bed. She usually liked
math, and she was good at it. Something was wrong with
her. She looked at the page again.
"The depth of x is. . ."
She stared at the page. Depth? What? She blinked.
"Right. That's how I do it." She started writing the
problem down and solving it. This was no sweat. It was a
review chapter, and on something that she'd mastered
years ago. She frowned. The answer didn't look right.
Reaching for her calculator, she discovered a careless
error.
"I can't think tonight," Himeko groaned. "I'm going to be
up till all hours doing this stuff." She took out her
chemistry book instead. She glanced into her bag and
pulled it out. Then she peered in again. Something was
missing.
"Oh, darn it, I left. . .I left that book at Furinkan," she
thought with a sigh. "Ah, well, it wasn't a textbook or
anything. Just a manga. . .I can live without it." She
tried to focus on the chemistry.
"Na. . .sodium. I. . .indium? No. . .iridium. Himeko,
you idiot. What's wrong with you?" she slapped her own
forehead.
Ranma.
"No! Stop thinking about him!" Himeko commanded out loud.
It wasn't working. She thought of whether she'd see him
again. After all, he didn't go to science club, and Azuba
wasn't in the vicinity. Himeko swallowed. Even if they
met again, he probably wasn't going to appreciate the fact
that she'd dreamed about him, a *lot*, over the past week.
Besides, who else was there to think about? One aunt, two
friends, no one else. She wanted to call someone, but Rie
and Amaiko were both out of town.
And there was nobody else in her life. Himeko rolled her
eyes and sighed. Why, oh why, couldn't she ever make
friends? Why did her whole school treat her like a statue?
Looking at the clock, she sighed. Only seven-thirty.
***
"Here you go, Ranma," Nabiki said. She passed the bowl of
teriyaki over to him.
"Thanks," he said. He picked up a piece of the meat and
looked at it closely.
"What's wrong with you?" Akane inquired. "It's perfectly
good teriyaki. Eat it. I didn't make it, if that makes
you feel any better." She smirked.
Ranma ate it.
"Did you know that skeletal muscles are made of two types
of fibers? They're called 'actin' and 'myecin'. When
muscles contract, they do because the fibers slide over
each other. That's how you move your bones. The muscles
are attached at two points, the 'point of insertion' and
the 'point of origin'."
There was silence.
"You. . .what?" Genma asked his son. "Where did you pick
up this kind of stuff?"
"That was back in chapter two," Akane thought. Before she
had a chance to say anything, Ranma spoke up again.
"The process of transcription from DNA to proteins goes
like this: DNA to mRNA to tRNA to anticodons to proteins."
"That's this week's topic," Akane thought. Aloud, she
asked, "Ranma, what did you do, read the whole bio book?"
Ranma stared at his bowl. "Um. . .it got real interesting,
especially when it started describing the reticular
activation--"
"Whoa. That's enough," Akane said. "I'm impressed."
Ranma stayed silent. "I still have to read the chemistry
book. . ."
Akane rolled her eyes. "What's gotten into you? Finally
realized that school is important, haven't you?"
"Ah, yeah, that's right."
"Good! You want to study together?" Akane asked with a
smile. Ranma would have jumped a foot were it not for his
kneeling position. "Um, yeah! Sure! Sounds great!" He
fiddled with his chopsticks. Akane didn't notice, for she
was busy eating again.
"I'm done," Ranma said. He pushed back his bowl and jumped
up from his cushion. Akane was still eating. "What's
gotten into him?" She muttered. Sighing, she decided to
finish eating before investigating what was going on.
Ranma went to his room and pulled out his chemistry text.
After Himeko's crack about re-reading his book, he'd taken
her seriously. After all, she had seemed very interested
in science. He figured that it couldn't hurt to see just
what fascinated her so much. He'd spent the walk home
reading his biology book, and barely made it in tome for
dinner.
The stuff was actually. . .well, interesting. At first, it
was really boring. But then it started talking about how
cells were like a human being, with organelles. Then he
started getting into it. The current chapter was genetics,
which Ranma had some trouble with, but it wasn't so bad
either. He had read through the entire textbook during his
walk home.
He couldn't believe it. He hated school, and he hated
science. Why the heck was he reading a dumb old book about
biology?
"Because Himeko likes it," something whispered in his head.
He'd called her Himeko-san for some reason. She was nice,
after all, and he wanted to make friends with her. Kami-
sama knew he had few friends already. She'd looked so
surprised and pleased all at once.
They had carried on a conversation successfully. They had
talked. Both of them had said things. They had agreed.
They had not fought.
Life was full of surprises.
Akane went upstairs to find Ranma staring at his chemistry
text. She tapped him on the shoulder. She laughed. "You
don't have to push yourself so much in one day, you know.
But you're sure a fast reader." She admitted. "How'd you
get through so much of the bio book?"
"I dunno," he said evasively. "Anyhow, what didja want to
study?"
"This." Akane pulled out her math book. "We've got a test
tomorrow."
"Oh, no." Ranma groaned inwardly.
"Oh, yes. This stuff is hard. We need to study."
"Spare me." Ranma pulled out his book. "What chapter
again?"
Akane flipped it open to the right page. "All right,
Ranma, let's see if you can pass the test tomorrow."
"Not a chance," he joked. "I hate this stuff, or have you
forgotten?"
"You could at least try!"
"What if I don't wanna?"
Akane glared at him. "Are we going to study, or are we
going to argue?"
Ranma held his tongue. "All right, o-benkyou-shite!"
"Yoshi," Akane said. "Here's problem one. . ."
Ranma rubbed his head. "What does that mean?" He pointed
to a term.
"That was the first lesson," Akane groaned.
"I know," Ranma said.
"Forget about passing. . ."
End of Chapter Four
***
Thanks for your patience in reading through this. If you have *any* C&C, please email them. ^_^
Arigato!
---Irene
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