Donny Cheng Disclaimer: All characters portrayed in this story are owned by their respective creators and companies. I don't own any of them. Please don't sue me. This story takes place after volume 38 of the Ranma manga. It draws ideas from the anime of both series. This is a sequel to Sailor Moon R1/2, A Goddess's Kiss, Ranma Muyo in Love!, and Restless Spirit. This is part five in my crossover series, Life and Times. C & C welcomed. Flames not. A Ranma and Nuku Nuku crossover Kitty Love By Donny Cheng "Class, I would like you to meet a new classmate. He will be staying with us for a couple of weeks as part of an inter-school exchange program." Kyusaku pointed towards the boy standing in front of the room. The boy, Ranma, was dressed in a red Chinese silk shirt and black pants. Kyusaku grimaced as he looked at the Ranma's choice of clothing. Ranma had quite a reputation among the city's various schools. From grade school to high school, every school that he attended, there had been massive property damage. However, each school also benefited the youth's extraordinary physical prowess. Almost all the principals allowed the dress code to bend for this single person if it would mean that the school would gain medals in any competitive event. "Hi, I'm Saotome Ranma." Ranma looked bored as he greeted the rest of the class. When he had first heard of the exchange program, he had jumped at the chance to move away from Nerima for awhile. The girls back home were getting out of hand lately and he needed some time away from them. "Hello, Ranma." Atsuko, or Nuku Nuku as she preferred to call herself, immediately rose up at gave an exuberant hello. She liked to make new friends. Ranma stood still as looked over a cute girl that just stood up. A feeling of uneasiness overwhelmed him. Everything about the girl gave him a sense of dread. If he didn't know any better, he would say that he was afraid of the girl. But that couldn't be, he's Saotome Ranma of the Saotome School of Anything-Goes. He didn't fear anyone, especially not some overly cute defenseless girl. Ranma then proceeded to his desk, giving the girl wide berth, of course. Nuku Nuku blinked. That was different. Every boy she had every greeted always greeted back warmly. What it something she said? The rest of the girls in the class gasped in shock as they saw Ranma cringe at Atsuko's greeting and then go to his desk without giving her a second glance. He was the only boy in the whole school who didn't give into Atsuko's charms. The girls looked back and forth from Ranma to Atsuko, wondering what was wrong. They then turned and looked at each other. "MINE!" Kyusaku rubbed his head. He could feel a headache coming. * * * * * Ranma forced himself to calm down as the girl, Nuku Nuku, approached him at the end of class. What was wrong with him? There was something about her that made Ranma use all of his control not to scream. "H-hi, Nuku Nuku! What a surprise seeing you here." "Nuku Nuku is in the same class as Ranma." "Oh yeah. I guess I forgot. Hehehe!" Ranma laughed nervously as he started to inch away from her. "Nuku Nuku can show Ranma around school if he like." Nuku Nuku noticed that Ranma seemed to be avoiding her. Maybe if she were a bit more helpful he would like to be friends. "There are lots of friends Nuku Nuku can show Ranma. Does Ranma need help to catch up with homework?" "That's okay, really. I'm sure I can get a hang out everything by tomorrow. I don't do homework anyway." "..." Nuku Nuku did not quite know what to say to that. Maybe Ranma just didn't want to be friends with her. The concept was nearly totally foreign to her. "Oh, look at the time, school's over. I'll see you later." Ranma immediately raced to the window and jumped out. They were on the fourth floor of the school. Nuku Nuku stared at Ranma with a look of confusion. He didn't seem to like her at all. She, however, liked him very much. She didn't know why that was as she just met him today. There was something odd about Ranma. He had a very unique scent about him. It was the scent of a man and a woman. Ranma must be around women a lot. Also, there was some undeniable characteristic about Ranma that drew her to him. He reminded her of a cat. * * * * * This was ridiculous, Ranma told himself as he walked back towards the school. How could he have run away from a girl that was totally harmless? He would be the laughing stock of Nerima if anyone ever found out about that. He stopped in front of the school gate to gather up his courage. He could see Nuku Nuku had not left the premises yet, as there were a horde of boys surrounding her pleading for dates. All he had to do was just stand in front of her and a have a short pleasant conversation to prove he wasn't scared of her. Preferably a very short conversation. Ranma turned his head to see a bunch of schoolgirls gossiping. He could hear Nuku Nuku's name being thrown around. "That girl is such a slut." "Yeah! Look at all the boys she's got tied around her finger." "What do you expect? Look at the body of hers." "I bet they're not even real." Ranma's face contorted with anger. How could they spread such rumors about Nuku Nuku? Though he had only met the girl just today, he could tell that she was not of the type his classmates were describing. She was a nice and friendly person. She couldn't help it if the male half of the student body threw themselves at her. He heard enough as he worked his way up through the throng of boys towards Nuku Nuku. He grabbed her by the wrist a dragged her and her bike away from the school. "Come on, let's get out of here." He stopped in front of the group of girls. As much as he hated their gossiping, Ranma couldn't bring himself confront them. He couldn't even stand up against the ones he had at home. Instead, he just scowled in the direction of the girls and continued dragging Nuku Nuku along with him. The group of girls looked in shock as the one boy they thought was theirs just left with Atsuko. "NO! She's stolen another one." They all cried in unison. The group of boys glared daggers into the back of Ranma. "Who does that boy think he is?" "Grabbing Nuku Nuku like that and leaving." "It's not like we can do anything about it. Did you see the stuff he did during gym." "Hey, all's fair in love and war. I'm sure the all of us combined can take out Saotome anytime of the week." "After all, fists and feet don't have eyes. I'm sure nobody would say anything if soccer tomorrow got a little rough" "Hahaha!" The boys had evil grins on their faces as they laughed out maniacally. Kyusaku witnessed all of this as he walked to his car. His headache just got worse. * * * * * Ranma grumbled to himself as he tried to get as far away from school as possible. He never did like it when someone was picked upon by so many. It was a weird sight to see. He was holding up a bike in one arm and dragging a girl with him with his other. However, in this part of the city, dueling mechs causing chaos were the norm. Nobody even batted an eye. "Ranma doesn't hate Nuku Nuku now?" Nuku Nuku asked cheerfully as she looked at where Ranma held her hand. She had seen Papa-san hold Mama-san's hand whenever he thought that no one was looking. Papa-san told her that it was a form of affection. "Erk!" Ranma let go and nearly jumped out of his skin. All this time he had nearly forgotten about his fear of her. He berated himself and quickly regained his composure. He realized that his treatment of Nuku Nuku during school could have been seen as someone that did not like her. "Sorry about how I acted in school. I never hated you. It's just that you reminded me of someone that I didn't like very much." It wouldn't do to tell a person they resembled the animal he feared. "That's okay. Ranma reminds Nuku Nuku of animal that she likes. Ranma looks like a cat." "Erk! I do not!" Ranma was starting to freak out again. "Ranma doesn't like cats?" Nuku Nuku could feel sadness well up within her. It was an emotion that she rarely felt. She didn't like it at all. "It's not like I hate them. I've just had a few bad experiences with them." Ranma shuddered as he remembered them. "Well anyway, I have to get back to the hotel. It's getting late. I'll see you tomorrow Nuku Nuku." Ranma looked around him. "I think I've lost my way. Do you know how to get back to the school? I can find my way from there." Nuku Nuku brightened as she heard Ranma. Maybe Ranma would feel better about cats if had some better experiences with cats. She decided to give him directions to go back to school with a few short cuts through the alleyways that housed a lot of her feline friends. Ranma nodded as he noted the directions in his memory. Did they go through so many alleyways while they were walking? He looked worriedly as Nuku Nuku got ready to leave. He had taken a lot of her time. He hoped she would not get into too much trouble for getting home so late. Nuku Nuku waved to Ranma as she got on her bike and left. She left the cars in her dust as she passed them all by. Ranma's jaw dropped at the sight. * * * * * Now let's see I take a turn in to this alleyway. Ranma felt uneasy as he walked. It sure was dark in here. Ranma could feel something move against his leg. There was another body moving against his other leg. Another soon followed. "Arrgh!" * * * * * Nuku Nuku slowed down as her sensors picked up something following her. It was probably Eimi-chan or Arisa wanting to play with her again. Her body was tackled off of the bike as somebody suddenly jumped at her from the side. * * * * * "Papa-san!" Kyusaku lifted his head from the medicine cabinet to look at his daughter. Her clothes were dirty and torn in many places. Also, she was sporting a big grin. "How much property damage did you cause this time?" It was then that he noticed the new boy Ranma on all fours by Nuku Nuku's feet. Nuku Nuku picked Ranma up into her arms. Ranma licked her on the cheek. "Can I keep him Papa-san?" Kyusaku looked at the two tablets in his hand. Two were definitely not going to be enough. This was going to be two very long weeks. * * * * * Kyusaku rubbed his temples as he watched Nuku Nuku and her brother, Ryunosuke play with Ranma-neko. His tests showed that Ranma was indeed human. But they did not explain to him how the boy's brain waves matched those of a cat. They also did not tell him a normal human could use a whole tree as a scratching post and whittle it down to nothing in a few moments. He hoped that Ranma would wake up from this cat state and tell him what the hell was going on. * * * * * "Good night, Nuku Nuku." Ryunosuke called out to his sister. He shook his head in wonder. He still could not believe how Nuku Nuku's friend could imitate a cat so well. "Good night!" Nuku Nuku then turned at looked at Ranma who was at her feet. Where was Ranma-kun going to sleep? He father told her specifically it was a human custom that boys and girls not sleep with each other. Ranma-neko looked curiously back at Nuku Nuku. He nudged her with his nose and purred against her legs. He wanted to be petted again. Nuku Nuku could watch over him while he slept in her room. She didn't need to sleep, so technically they wouldn't be sleeping together. She picked Ranma up and brought him to her room. She sat on her bed and carefully held him waiting for him to fall asleep. Ranma-neko purred contently on the lap of Nuku Nuku. He brought his nose up and nuzzled against her cheeks before finally falling asleep. Nuku Nuku held her cheek in shock. She had often heard the girls at school gossip about first kisses. She had wondered what was so special about that. Papa-san told her that you kiss the person you love so it's very special. When she tried to kiss Papa-san, he told her that there were different kinds of love. Her love for Papa-san, Mama-san, Ryunosuke, the boys at school, fish, and chasing rats were all different. She hadn't understood what Papa-san had meant then, but now she was beginning to see the light. Her 'love' for the boys at school did not feel the same at all the as her love for the boy sleeping on her lap. * * * * * Ranma opened his eyes. It was morning already? The last thing he remembered was the hoard of cats closing in on him. It was then that he noticed he was sleeping in a rather awkward position. Also, he sleeping on something rather nice and round. Fearing the worst, he looked at what he was sleeping on. His head came up face to face with Nuku Nuku. Definitely bad. "What the heck!?" Nuku Nuku could not explain the sadness she felt as the boy scrambled to get off of her. "Ranma is now awake? Nuku Nuku find you yesterday acting like a cat." Ranma smacked his head. The nekoken. That explained everything. The NEKOKEN!? He looked worriedly at Nuku Nuku. He'd been told by the others that he often attacks those he does not like including his father. "I didn't hurt anyone yesterday, did I?" "No, Ranma was a very good cat. Ranma play with Nuku Nuku all day yesterday." Ranma blinked. That was unexpected, to say the least. * * * * * Nuku Nuku, for the first time in her life, felt utter hopelessness. She ran to her room at shut the door. She just couldn't face Ranma. Ranma stared at Nuku Nuku's retreating form. "Why did she get so emotional about my story?" Kyusaku and Ryunosuke looked sadly at each other. Ranma had explained to them of his behavior yesterday. Kyusaku could not understand how any father could do that to his own son. "Ranma, I think I should tell you something about Nuku Nuku." He proceeded to tell Ranma of what exactly Nuku Nuku was. * * * * * Since Nuku Nuku wouldn't open the door, Ranma opened it himself. It was unlocked. He walked into the room to find Nuku Nuku sitting her bed staring at the floor. There was a moment of silence. Nuku Nuku was the first to speak. "Nuku Nuku know why Ranma doesn't want to be friends now." Ranma looked at Nuku Nuku with determination. "You're wrong. I do want to be friends with you. You're a very nice person." "But Ranma is afraid of cats and Nuku Nuku is a cat." "A true martial artist is supposed to overcome his fears. I won't let something like that stop me from making friends with someone that's done nothing but help me since I got here. You didn't need to take me home with you and take care of me. Besides, you told me that my cat form was friendly towards you. My family back home tells me that I like you more than I fear you." Hope was beginning to form within Nuku Nuku. "Ranma is telling the truth?" "I see you as more human than some jerks I've had to deal with during my life." Ranma answered back truthfully. Nuku Nuku squealed with joy as she glomped onto Ranma. She quickly let him go as she felt him freeze up. Oops. She wondered what on earth possessed her to do that. Ranma sighed with relief as Nuku Nuku let go. However, the fear he felt this time excited him. It was kind of like the rush he felt whenever he fought someone as strong or stronger than him. It was going to be an interesting next few days. * * * * * Later that day... The soccer field looked like a war zone with so many bodies lying prone on the ground. "So how long is Saotome staying?" One of the boys lying on the ground asked out. "Eight more school days, eight more gym classes." "S**t!" "You can say that again." Groans could be heard throughout the field. * * * * * Way in the future... Nuku Nuku's inner sensors placed the object of her goal to be about five kilometers to the north. This was definitely better that hunting for mice. She smiled as she thought of what she would do with Ranma when she found him. Life had certainly become more fun when Washu helped upgrade her systems. She had much fun in proving to Ranma just how 'fully functional' she now was. * * * * * The End. (maybe)