Tonomi sighed happily as she and Shiro walked along the beach.   This
was the chance she'd been waiting for!  Her hand was in his (not because of
any unexpected sticky agents) and they were enjoying a slow walk on the
sands as the waves softly swept their way to the pair's feet.

    "I've admired you ever since the day I first saw you at Furinkan,
Smith-sensei," Tonomi said.

    Shiro stopped and looked toward his student and companion.  "Why did it
take you so long to speak out about it, Tonomi-chan?" Shiro asked as he
looked Tonomi in the eyes.

    Tonomi melted as her eyes locked with his.  "I... I didn't know if
you'd think it would be appropriate--"

    "Shh," Shiro interrupted.  "It's okay.  I know couples back in the
States with age differences larger than ours.  It might be tough at first,
with the position we're in, but when you move on to a university or wherever
you end up after you get out of Furinkan, there won't be a problem."

    Tonomi sagely asked, "Really?" Shiro simply nodded.  Tonomi jumped into
his arms, listening to the waves whoosh against the sand and the seagulls
sing- ing their songs.  She looked around for the gulls; birds were among
her favorite wild creatures, and she delighted in them.  Unfortunately,
she couldn't see any at the moment.  After scanning the area, she turned
her head back toward Shiro.  "Smith-sensei, do you hear the seagulls?"

    "What seagulls?" Shiro inquired.

    "I hear them; they're singing away, and the waves are crashing, and--"

    *smack*

    Tonomi's hand impacted against her clock's snooze button.  She stared at
the offending timepiece with sleepy eyes.  "Stupid thing.  That was the
best dream I've had in weeks!" She glared at the clock, grumbling, "Why'd
you have to go off now?" The desktop clock replied by starting the
soundtrack of loud ocean waves and seagull cries again.

    Tonomi shut off the alarm and sat up for a moment, knees brought up to
her chest.  "I wish I hadn't stayed up so late last night, but I couldn't
stop thinking about Smith-sensei..."  She sighed and continued, "I don't
feel like going to school today.  But if I don't, I might fall behind.  But
if I do, I'll fall asleep in class and be behind anyway.  But if I don't,
I don't get to see Smith-sensei..."  That made up her mind.  The
upperclassman finished her debate with herself, got up and began dressing
for another day at Furinkan.

    When she was done getting ready for school, she sat at a table and got
out a piece of paper and a pen.  She scribbled a note quickly, folded it,
placed the folded-up sheet in a small envelope, then hurried off to
school.

       	     ---            ---            ---

    Shiro Smith walked purposefully toward the gates of Furinkan High.
He caught glimpses of students chatting in the schoolyard before the day
began, and of the repair crew busily working on the athletic field to
repair the damage done by Principal Kunou's creation.  As he strode nearer
to his goal, he heard a voice scream, "PIGTAILED GIRL!  Fly into my arms!"
Shiro turned sharply on one foot to see a red-haired girl plant both feet
firmly into Tatewaki Kunou's face, springing off him as if he were a
diving board and leaving him to lie on the ground.

    "Welcome back, Ranma," Shiro muttered.  He turned back around and headed
for the building again.  He stopped as he felt a strong hand grip his
shoulder.  "I'm sorry, I don't have much time, I have to go in and
prepare--"

    "We need to talk.  Now," Yamada-sensei spoke sharply, an air of urgency
about him.

    Shiro replied, "This can't wait?"

    Yamada shook his head quickly and motioned toward the building.

       	    ---            ---            ---

   	  Ranma 1/2: Lack of Common Sensei
       	  Chapter 9: The Experiment Begins

          LoCS created by Winston Smith
          This installment by Falcon

      	    ---            ---            ---

    A young lady carrying a small card hurried up the main sidewalk into
Furinkan.  Tonomi glanced down at her watch and noticed that she still had
a few minutes.  Relieved that she was on time, she looked around the
schoolyard for someone to talk to.  She tried to find Smith-sensei, but he
wasn't around.  She sighed as she realized Shiro wasn't there, and looked
for someone else to talk to.

    The alternative, for good or bad, found her.

    "Hello, Tonomi," a cool female voice said from Tonomi's right.

    Tonomi wheeled around to see Nabiki Tendou, standing with one hand on
her hip.  "I see you're carrying a card of some kind; who's it for?" Nabiki
queried.

    Tonomi lowered her head and blushed slightly.  "Well... uh..."

    "The English teacher, right?"

    Tonomi lifted her eyes enough to see Nabiki and asked, "How did you--"

    "I can tell.  Now, how are you going to give it to him?"

    "I was planning on just leaving it on his desk or in his mailbox, but
I'm afraid someone might see me--"

    "How about an anonymous delivery?" Nabiki offered.

    "You'd do that for me?  Thanks, Na--"

    "Five hundred yen," Nabiki flatly stated as she held out her left hand.

    Tonomi thought this over for a moment, decided it was worth it and 
handed
over the currency and the card.  "Will you deliver it today?" she asked.

    "Smith-sensei will have this in his possession by the end of the day.
You have my word," Nabiki cooed.

    "Okay!  Thanks, Nabiki.  Maybe I'll see you later.  I have to get to
class," Tonomi said, walking away quickly.

    Nabiki counted her money, then tapped her chin with one finger.  "Hmm,"
she mused as she thought of how to go about delivering her new charge.

      	      ---            ---            ---

    Yamada slammed the door to the faculty break room shut.  Shiro looked
at him quizzically and hurriedly began, "What's so--"

    "Shut up and listen.  I know I don't have much time before we need to
be in class, and I'm really not in the mood to face Hinako today," Yamada
said.  Shiro closed his mouth and sat down to listen as Yamada continued.
"You've heard about the experiment with your new partner who will be
sharing teaching duties with you, correct?" Shiro nodded.  "She was a
former student of mine.  After having her in class for two years, I never
wanted to hear her name again, and I'm sorry for what you're going to be
dealing with."

    "What's so bad about her?" Shiro asked.

    "I'll tell you," said Yamada, and he proceeded to tell Shiro every last
thing that could go wrong when working with Mariko Kawai.

    Shiro paled.  Mercifully, before Yamada could go into more detail, the
time had come for class to begin.  Yamada bid Shiro good luck as the two
left the break room.

      	      ---            ---            ---

    A beautiful brown-haired woman clutched a folder to her chest as she
hurriedly made her way toward the school.  Her slightly longer than
shoulder- length hair fluttered in the breeze, and her deep brown eyes
showed signs of worry.  "Oh no I'm lateI'm lateI'mlate," she stuttered,
blinking back tears.

    "Yes, that you are," a childish voice proclaimed from the top of the
steps.  Hinako-chan gazed down accusingly at her target.  "I've not seen
you here before.  Who are you?" she asked, surveying the woman.  The
newcomer was well-dressed in a black blouse and skirt, slim, full-figured
and rather lovely.

    The tall woman looked up to see the yellow-clad punisher of delinquents.
She introduced herself, saying, "I'm Mariko Kawai.  I'm supposed to help
someone teach... oh dear, I forgot."  She opened her folder.  "Oh, I'm to
teach English with someone named--"

    "Smith.  Yes, he's the English teacher here.  I'll show you to his
classroom, but first, you need to be taught a lesson about what the
punishment for tardiness is here at Furinkan High."

    One minute later, the sensuous Miss Hinako motioned toward the building,
looking fully energized.  "Let's go, Miss... Kawai, was it?" Mariko nodded
her head tiredly and moved to follow Hinako into the building, stumbling
clumsily all the way.

     	       ---            ---            ---

    "Now, class, open your books to page 76," Shiro began.  "Let's start
with an oral reading activity.  Who would like to volunteer to read the
first paragraph?" Akane raised her hand.  "Akane?  Okay, please begin.  And
welcome back."

    Akane smiled, stood up and began reading from her book.  "The English
language, like any other spoken language, is not simply a universal
whole; rather, it has many local variations and terms.  For example, in
the United Kingdom--"

    Akane was cut off by a loud crash.  The door flew open and Mariko fell
into the room, her folder and the papers contained within flying outward
from her outstreched arms.  Shiro quickly made his way to her side and
helped her up.  "Um, hi.  Who are you?"

    Mariko looked up sadly.  "I'm Mariko Kawai.  You're Smith-sensei?" He
nodded.  "I'm the one Kunou-sensei picked to be your teaching partner."

    "Hey, she's pretty cute.  Lucky guy to have her for a partner," Ranma
muttered, drawing nods of agreement from the other males in the
classroom.  Ranma was immediately quieted with a mallet to the head from
Akane.

    "Jerk," she mumbled.

    Shiro looked at Mariko and asked, "Would you like to observe this class
period to see how I work?  I'll let you watch and see how you can help,
and you can start to help me out when the advanced class comes in later
today.  We can discuss teaching methods over the lunch break so we can be
better prepared to work together, if you like."

    Mariko nodded cutely and began picking up her papers.  It didn't take
long before five of the male students were helping her.  Mariko, flustered,
thanked the students and favored them with a blush and a smile.  The boys
melted into the floor, only moving when Shiro asked them to return to
their seats.

    Shiro addressed the class.  "From now on, this class will have two
teachers.  Please treat Kawai-sensei with the same respect you treat me;
she has just as much authority as I do.  Now, Akane, please finish."

    Akane moved on with her reading as Mariko sat facing the class on a
chair one of the boys had provided her.  "I hope I can do this," she
thought, "I'm so clumsy, and now I have all these guys staring at me... not
to mention that they stuck me with a really sweet guy... I'm so nervous!"
Mariko continued worrying as the class went on, only coming out of her
misery when it was time for lunch.

         	   ---            ---            ---

    Sakura Takahashi washed her hands just inside the door to her lab.
"That experiment was a rousing success!" she said to herself.  "I wonder if
I'll get the same results with the next class.  I sure hope so."  Sakura was
always happy when labs went without accident or injury.  Twice today,
class had gone perfectly; once with the freshman baking in Home Ec and
once in Chem lab, and now it was time to celebrate with some lunch.

    She made her way speedily to the lunchroom, whistling a happy tune along
the way.  Everything was going right today.  Everything was coming up roses
today so far, and lunch would be great too; she'd get to talk to Shiro.
Yes, today was definitely one of the better days of this school year so
far.

    That is, until she rounded the corner into the staff lunch area and saw
Shiro sitting across the table from a beautiful young lady about his age.

    Sakura stepped away from the doorway and listened for a moment.

    "So, as you see, I'm a very hands-on teacher. I like to get the students
involved in any way I can. How do you like to teach?" Shiro inquired.

    "I... I'm not a very good teacher," Mariko confessed, head lowered.  "I
just give the students a lesson and let them do it, and I only stop if
they have a question to ask or if they get stuck."

    Shiro responded, "There's nothing really wrong with that; some teachers
work differently than others.  And some students learn differently than
others.  You just have to adapt to what the student needs and what you're
comfortable with.  When those two things overlap, you've found what will
work for that particular class.  Do you see what I mean?" His new partner
nodded.  "Now, let's work on what we can do to teach the next lesson
together."

    Mariko quickly asked, "Can we just stick with your lesson plan for the
day?  I don't want to intrude on what you've been doing."

    "All right," Shiro agreed, "but we'll still get you involved today so
the students get to know you and feel more comfortable around you."

    Sakura breathed a sigh of relief.  She stood for a second, realized she
wasn't very hungry after all and went to her Home Ec.  classroom to munch
on the sample cookies she'd baked earlier that day.  Life was good, she
decided as she sat down and kicked her feet up on one of the counters.
Class was going well and Shiro was all business with his new comrade,
making the multitalented young teacher and resident lab rat very happy.
Which of the two contributed more to her happiness was the question.

         	   ---            ---            ---

    Shiro and Mariko walked alongside each other back to their now joint
classroom.  "Would you like to start off today, or would you rather just
continue watching for today?" Shiro asked.

    Mariko nervously fluttered her hands about as she responded, "I'd rather
watch if you didn't mind, Smith-sensei."

    Shiro blinked.  "We're on the same level; you can call me Shiro if you
like."

    "Okay.  What will we be doing this period?" Mariko asked as the pair of
young teachers entered the room.

    Shiro sat at his desk and opened his briefcase.  "Hmm, for the
upperclassmen today, we have a writing activity that I'm going to ask
them to work in groups of four on.  We'll assign them to groups, give them
the assignment, let them work and we'll answer any questions they have
along the way.  Please feel free to help out anyone who asks if I'm busy
with someone else."

    Mariko nodded.  "I think I'm ready."

    The class filed in and took their seats.  Shiro filled them in on the
assignment, then introduced Mariko, again instructing the class to treat
her as they would himself.

    Tonomi joined her assigned group, making sure to take a seat in which
she could keep an eye on Shiro and Mariko.  "I wonder if Nabiki made that
delivery," Tonomi thought to herself.  "I sure hope so.  Now Smith-sensei's
got a beautiful girl to work beside every day; I have to get him before
she or anyone else does."

    After about ten minutes, things seemed to be going well.  Shiro told
Mariko, "Watch the class for a moment and answer any questions; I'm going
to get a little work done at my desk."

    Mariko nodded a nervous affirmative.  "I'll try, Smith-sensei.  Can I
call you over if I need help?"

    "Sure, but I'm certain you can handle it.  You've been very capable so
far and I expect things to run smoothly."

    One of the students in the front row snickered and muttered under his
breath, "The only thing that runs smoothly around here is the flow of
patients to the nurse's office."

    Shiro turned to the offending student.  "What did you say?  I couldn't
hear you very well."

    Taken aback, the boy replied, "I, uh, said that the only way things can
run smoothly around here is if the flow of papers goes quickly through
the office."

    Shiro boggled, not really sure what that had to do with anything.  He
shrugged and turned to his desk as Mariko walked up and down the aisles
in the room, waiting for someone to ask a question.  Shiro looked around
on his desk for a good place to start his work.

    Before he could get anywhere, he heard Mariko talking to one of the
students; he thought he recognized the voice.  Sure enough, when he looked
up, Mariko and Tonomi were talking, and it seemed that Tonomi wasn't
getting the answer she wanted.  Shiro stood and walked over to the pair.

    "Is something wrong, Tonomi?" Shiro asked.

    Before Tonomi could say anything, Mariko blurted, "I'm sorry!  She had a
question, but I don't know how to answer it... I'm sorry to bother you
about it, Smith-sensei," she said, lowering her head in shame.

    "Don't worry, it's okay," Shiro said reassuringly.  "Not everyone knows
the answer to everything.  Now, Tonomi, what was your question?" he
inquired, turning to face the raven-tressed young student.

    As Tonomi restated her question for Shiro, Mariko turned around to 
survey
the rest of the classroom for raised hands.  She saw none, and decided to
walk up and down the rows of the room.  Unfortunately, she didn't get more
than two steps away from Shiro and Tonomi before she tripped and fell to
her knees.

    Shiro quickly stepped over to Mariko and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Are you all right?" he asked softly.

    "No... no, I'm not all right," Mariko bawled.  "I'm clumsy, I'm stupid,
I'm ugly--"

    Shiro hushed her.  "It's okay.  Everyone's clumsy sometimes or has
accidents.  I certainly know *that* well enough.  You're not stupid, or you
wouldn't be here," Shiro said while thinking, "Though after what I've
been through, I think that might be debatable."

    "In any case," he continued aloud, "you are not ugly by any means.  In
fact, you're actually quite attractive."

    Mariko's eyes turned into stars as she looked up at Shiro.  "R-really?"
Shiro nodded.  Mariko stood up quickly and threw her arms around Shiro's
neck, giving him a quick hug.  "Thank you!  No one's ever complimented me
like that before!" she exclaimed.

    Shiro blushed and said, "Um, Kawai-sensei?  We have a class to finish.
Can you please get off?"

    Mariko looked around, embarrassed.  "Oh.  Sorry about that.  Sometimes
I get a little carried away.  What can I do to help now, Smith-sensei?"

    Shiro and Mariko moved to the front of the room to discuss the rest of
the school day, ignoring the students for a moment.  That was probably a
good thing, considering the visible green aura of pure jealousy that
blazed around Tonomi.  "I can't let her have Shiro," Tonomi told herself
mentally.  "I have to make tonight work or I might lose my chance with
him..."

          	  ---            ---            ---

    Sakura cleaned up the mess left by the second Chem lab of the day.  "So
much for a perfect day," she muttered to herself as she swept up the
broken glass from the explosion one of her students had caused.  She
carefully moved the broom around the air vent to the room below to keep
glass from falling through.  As she did, she heard voices from the room
down below and paused to listen.

    "In fact, you're actually quite attractive," Sakura heard a familiar
voice say.

    "Shiro?" she whispered as she looked through the vent.  The next thing
she knew, Mariko had her arms around his neck.  Sakura seethed.  "I can't
just let her move in on him like that," she told herself.  "She can't
possibly know him well enough to like him yet.  She's just going to move in
on him and get him to buy her meals and gifts and things.  She can't take
advantage of him like that.  I need to protect Shiro from her selfish
advances... but how?" Sakura thought for a while, debating with herself,
finally reaching the inevitable conclusion:

    "This sucks."

          	  ---            ---            ---

    "That's the end of the day.  See you tomorrow," Shiro promised the
students.  His wards filed out of the door quickly, eager to go to their
respective destinations.  Mariko hung around for a moment, organizing the
papers she'd brought with her.

    "Smith-sensei--"

    "We're no longer in a school day.  Please just call me Shiro."

    "Shiro, I'm sorry about all the trouble I caused you today."

    Shiro shook his head.  "It's all right.  I've been here for only a few
weeks and I've already had a wall broken through by a Chinese amazon,
I've had a ceiling fall on my head and I've been put through a
pseudo-Hawaiian death trap by a crazed ukelele-toting control freak.  The
'trouble' you caused me today is nothing compared to that."

    Mariko hurriedly said, "I'll try to be better tomorrow, I really will.
What do you want me to do for tomorrow's classes?"

    Shiro handed Mariko a copy of his lesson plan for the next day.  "Look
over this, and be prepared to help out with three class periods and teach
one.  If we're going to be co-teaching these classes, I want to get you
into the routine as soon as possible," Shiro calmly stated.

    "Okay!  I'll prepare well and I won't screw up so much tomorrow, okay,
Shiro?  I'll see you soon!  Sorry again about how clumsy I was today," she
said as she sped out the door.

    Shiro sweatdropped.  Somehow, he thought it just wasn't going to be as
simple as her putting her word on not messing things up.  "No matter," he
muttered, "she'll get used to things eventually.  I hope."  Shiro fingered
through the papers on his desk, trying to organize it before he left for
the English Club meeting.  A small envelope fell from between two of the
stacks of assignments.  Shiro opened the envelope and scanned the note
inside.  It read:

    "Dear Shiro, I want to get to know you better.  I've watched you from
afar long enough, and I want to see if we have a chance together.  Meet me
in the park behind Furinkan tonight by the flowers at 7:30 so we can talk
for a while.  Love, your secret admirer."

    Shiro sweatdropped as he wondered just who had left the note for him.
"Could have been almost anyone," he said.  Flashes of muggers, thieves and
other Bad Stuff went through his head as he thought through every
possibility.  Shiro sighed.  "Well, I guess I have nothing better to do
after the English Club meeting, and I know I can take care of myself.
Whoever you are, I'll be there," Shiro affirmed.

           	 ---            ---            ---

    Yamada-sensei exited his classroom shortly after the final period ended.
"I wonder how badly 'Kawai-sensei' screwed up Shiro's class today," he
thought as he ambled toward the exit.  Just as he rounded the final
corner, he spotted Shiro leaving the English room.  "Smith-sensei!" Yamada
called.    Shiro turned abruptly to face his mentor.

    Shiro inclined his head downward as Yamada approached.  "Good afternoon,
Yamada-sensei."

    "Afternoon, Shiro," Yamada grunted.  "Listen, I didn't come here for
informal banter or casual conversation.  How badly did Mariko screw up
your class today?"

    "It wasn't too bad; she missed one class entirely, observed another, 
then
assisted in the last two.  There were a few questions she couldn't answer
and she stumbled around a lot, but all in all the day went well," Shiro
told him.

    "Listen, Shiro; it seemed that way when I taught her, that it wasn't
going to be too bad.  I was wrong.  Her clumsiness and simple-mindedness
got in the way constantly.  I'll do what I can to help you deal with her,
but I don't know what I can other than to tell you the greatest piece of
advice I've ever been given in this kind of situation, by an American
friend of mine."

    Shiro eagerly said, "What is it?"

    Yamada shook his head.  "Say your prayers."

    Shiro sweatdropped.

            ---            ---            ---

    Sakura walked slowly along the park's trail.  She needed to relax after
the complete disasters in the second half of the day.  Goggle prints from
lab work still vaguely showing on her face, she continued onward, looking
around for no one and nothing in particular.

    As she walked, she took the time to examine the local flora for any new
blooms since last she checked.  Natural ingredients in chemical mixtures
were always good, she thought.  She knelt to sniff one flower in
particular, a deep red flower mere centimeters off the ground.  Before she
could breathe its scent, however, she was startled by footsteps.  Sakura,
not being particularly intimidating or skilled in martial arts, hid
behind the nearest bush and looked around to see who was there.

    It was Tonomi.  The upperclass girl nervously strode to the nearest 
bench
and sat, fidgeting.  Sakura watched breathlessly, silently wondering what
was going on.

    Tonomi seemed to be waiting for someone, and it didn't take a rocket
scientist (though there was one in the immediate area) to figure out who.
Sakura stayed hidden, knees bent and hands firmly planted down to keep
from making noise.  Unfortunately, as Sakura tried to wiggle into a more
comfortable position, she snapped a very large dead twig.  Tonomi's head
shot up, the girl instantly alert for signs of trouble; after all, she
was a girl and she was alone in the open after dark.  Sakura rustled
around a bit more before finding a good position, but by that time,
Tonomi couldn't stand the scary noises anymore, screamed, and ran away.

    Sakura heard the shrill scream and got up, wondering what was wrong.
Figuring that Tonomi had seen something she hadn't, she turned to run the
other way.  Not three steps later she ran into a very solid object and
stepped back.  "Sakura!" Shiro exclaimed.

    "Shiro?  Shiro!  Whew, I thought something dangerous was going on.  What
are you doing here?"

    "I could ask the same of you."

    "Well... uh... there's this special flower here in this park that I need
for an experiment, and it can only be picked at 7:43 on a Wednesday
evening," Sakura lied rather poorly.

    "So why did you call me here?"

    "Huh?"

    "I got a message saying I should be here at 7:30--"

    "Oh, that," Sakura waved her hand in midair, passing it off.  "I had to
get you here so I could follow the procedure for picking this flower.  The
book says that four hands at one time are needed to take the flower so
the special chemicals inside don't lose their potency."

    Shiro looked around.  "So, where is this special flower?"

    Sakura sweatdropped and looked around quickly.  "Um... over there!" She
pointed to a small purple flower about fifteen feet away.  The pair walked
over to the flower and knelt on opposite sides.  Sakura placed her hands
by the side closest to her and the side to her right; Shiro did the same
on his side.  Sakura continued, "Now Shiro, when I say 'Go,' place your
hands on the flower and pull gently."  She glanced at her watch.  It read
7:40.

    "We have a couple minutes.  Anything you want to talk about, Shiro?"

    Shiro stared intently at the flower.  "This looks an awful lot like a
common violet, Sakura," he commented.

    Sakura nervously thought of something to say.  "See those black spots on
the petal?  That makes it special."

    "They look an awful lot like little bugs."

    Sakura sweatdropped again, then looked at her watch.  "Just trust me,
Shiro.  Now, it's 7:42 so get ready."

    Shiro nodded, prepared.

    "Ready... set... go!"

    Shiro and Sakura both moved their hands in toward the flower.  Shiro
clenched his right hand gently.  Sakura clenched her left hand gently.  The
two, instead of grasping the flower, ended up hand in hand again.

    Both blushed.  Sakura, flustered, let go and drew back quickly.  Shiro
lowered his head, flushing and looking around nervously.  Both sat and
looked at anywhere but each other for a minute.  Shiro broke the silence,
saying, "Did I screw up the procedure?"

    Sakura shook her head and looked Shiro directly in the eye.  "Shiro, I
just wanted to tell you--"

    Sakura was interrupted by a loud crash from the brush to her right.  A
yellow-clad boy carrying a backpack and an umbrella came up to the pair.
"Excuse me, can you tell me the way to the Tendou Dojo?  I seem to have
lost my way."

    Sakura gave Ryouga the best directions she knew, with help from Shiro's
limited knowledge of the area.  Ryouga thanked them politely and plowed
through the brush the same way he'd come.

    Shiro turned to Sakura.  "Now, you were saying something, Sakura?"

    Sakura drew back slightly and stood up.  "Oh, it was nothing.  I just
remembered I left the oven on in the lab.  Nice to be with you, Shiro!
Gotta go, see ya later, bye!" She turned and started to speed away.

    Shiro called out, "Hey, wait!" He picked the flower and held it out.
"You forgot something."

    Sakura stopped, turned and saw Shiro holding the violet out to her.  She
blushed furiously, took the flower, and softly said, "Thank you."

    "I'll see you tomorrow, Sakura.  Want to eat lunch together?"

    "I'd love to, if Kunou-sensei doesn't switch our schedules around."

    Shiro smiled.  "Talk to you then."  He turned and left to go back to his
residence.

    Sakura watched him go, standing frozen with the flower she'd received.
"No one's ever given me a flower before..."  She smiled.  Tonight had gone
better than she ever could have imagined.

          	  ---            ---            ---

    Tonomi sighed.  She was at home in her room, sitting alone and kicking
herself for running away.  "I shouldn't have run.  I let Smith-sensei down
by not being there for him like I said I would."  She sighed again.  "I

can't let him down or keep anything from him anymore.  I have to tell him
how I feel."

    Tonomi sat and began to work her nerve up for the confession she would
make the following day.

        	    ---            ---            ---

    End part 9.

    Author's notes: First solo part.   Wai.   This was fun.

    Thanks to Ardweden, Mechalink, Jesse Ellman, Mer, Sonny Taing, Zack
Weinberg and Chamelaeon for prereading.  Wouldn't have been nearly as good
without them.

    Mariko is intended to be Mihoshi-like; why wasn't she so bad?  So she
can get worse as it goes on... and worse... and worse.

    Sorry, couldn't think of a funny mistranslation for the class ^_^;;

    Oh, and yes, I intended to leave Ranma and the rest in the background.
Keep them there.  We have a nice story going without introducing all the
Ranma cast as major players.

    Any questions, comments or whatnot, e-mail me.  I'll be around.

Aaron "Falcon" Bolner
falcon815@hotmail.com
aaron.p.bolner@rose-hulman.edu