The Phoenix Chronicles Episode 6: Here I Go Again, On My 
Own.
Beginning Theme: Illusion.
(2004)
Mousse never bothered asking Yui for his pair of glasses, thinking they were on 
the street somewhere. If he had asked, he would’ve found that Yui kept his glasses in her 
lab coat pocket. She’d take them wherever she went. It was her reminder that she could 
lose him anytime, and was therefore more protective of him, and Shinji. 
A month later, Mousse stood at the station. His hair was shorter now, he had 
thinner glasses, and now stood at five-foot-seven-inches. He was waiting for the train 
with Ritsuko. 
They were both nervous. Mousse, who always liked Ritsuko, just didn’t know 
how to act around her, not after that day when Yui found him. He was surprised that Yui 
let them be together again after that. Yui was around them as much as she could be, and 
tried not to leave them alone if she could help it. She let him go to the train station with 
Ritsuko, though, and Mousse thanked her. He also knew that Yui trusted a lot more than 
Nokoru and the guys. 
	“So,” he told Ritsuko now, “you’re transferring to the Tokyo 2 branch of Clamp, 
huh?” 
	“College starts for me next semester, you know that.” She told him, then she 
looked at him, “You want to come with?” she asked.
	“I want to, but I can’t.” he told her hesitantly.
	“Come on, you’re such a genius, you’d qualify like that,” she told him, snapping 
her fingers to prove her point.
	“Thanks, but I have to take care of Yui-san. I can’t leave her alone with Gendou.” 
He told her gravely.
	“Yui can take care of herself.” she argued.
	“I know,” he replied.
	“She does a good job taking care of you, she should be able to take care of 
herself.” She pressed. She wanted Mousse to come with her, even if to give her company, 
and Mousse could see that.
	“I’ll ride with you to Tokyo 2.” He said.
	“Really?” She asked.
	“Yeah, but I’m coming right back. I don’t trust Gendou with Yui. I think he might 
try to hurt her.” He told her, and she could hear the worry, and tenseness in his voice. 
“Are you sure you want to come?” she asked hesitantly.
“You’re my friend. I think I owe you that much.” He told her, pulling out the 
round trip ticket he had gotten while she had gone to the bathroom.
She hugged him, and laughed at his cleverness. She held onto him for a long time, 
and her reverie was broken when she heard the siren of the approaching train. He stepped 
aboard with her, and they looked at each other, smiling.
They sat down in a cabin for two. He sat down next to her, and she put her head 
on his shoulder. He smiled at her, and leaned his head on the cushion behind him. The 
two saw the robo-waiter scoot up to them  It was like a walking mini-fridge, except a lot 
more slender. 
“What would you like?” it asked.
“Well, I’d like two lime sodas.” Mousse told it.
A soda dropped into a vending slot, and Mousse reached into it and picked it out, 
only to have the second drop onto his fingers. 
“Please, be more careful, sir. Trans Japan is not liable for any injury you may 
receive while on this unit.” The machine said from a speaker behind it.
“Thanks for your concern.” Mousse said dryly, making Ritsuko giggle.
He settled into his seat, and handed Ritsuko her soda.
“You have such a way with machines, Hikaru-kun.” She  said, trying not to laugh.
“What’s so funny?” he asked in mock anger.
“Nothing, nothing.” She told him, and moved to open her soda. It started fizzing 
up the moment she popped a crack in the lid.
“Uh, Ritsuko, I don’t think you should open that.” He warned, but he was to late 
because it spurted onto his black turtle-neck, and soaked him thoroughly. 
“I’m sorry.” She told him.
“Aw,  na luk watcha dun, woman,” he said, trying to imitate a Scottish accent, and 
failing miserably.
“That’s awful,” she told him.
“The soda, or the voice?” he asked sarcastically. 
“Both.” She told him.
“But you haven’t even tried the soda.” He argued.
“So, why don’t you let me?” she asked. 
“Here,” he told her, handing her his can.
She pushed his hand aside, and kissed him. He reached over, and the armrest dug 
into his hip. 
“Ritsuko,” he said from the side of his mouth, “I’m not to comfortable, here.” 
“You’re right. Let’s go to someplace more private,” she said breathlessly, and 
quickly added, “Uh, to get you cleaned up, I mean.”
“And the soda?” Mousse asked suddenly.
“Forget the soda.” She said impatiently, pulling him out of the seat.
The two made their way to the bathroom, and Mousse blanched at the thought of 
Ritsuko going in with him.
“You can’t go in with me.” He told her nervously.
“Hikaru-kun, why do you think I’m here?”
He shrugged. Then, she hugged him tightly.
“Because I need to get cleaned up too.” She said breathlessly.
“Oh.” He managed before she pulled him into the bathroom. On the outside, the 
sign near the knob read, “occupied.”  
	They arrived in Tokyo 2 an hour later, and Mousse helped Ritsuko with her bags, 
which both weighed a ton.
	“Why do you have to carry so much?” he complained.
	“A woman has to be prepared for any situation.” She told him sternly.
	“Okay, so what does that have to do with me getting your luggage?” he asked.
	“Well, that’s why I’d need you, or any other guy…you know, so I won’t have to 
carry it myself.” She replied, and he could tell she was trying hard not to laugh.
	“That makes me feel so needed.” He said dryly.
	Then she held him close, and kissed him. “You are needed.” She whispered.
	“But-”
	She put her hand to his lips, as she had seen Yui done from time to time, and 
shook her head slowly, and whispered, “No more words.” She could see him smile 
behind her lips. It was an understanding smile.
	“I’ll get these sir.” A baggage carrier interrupted.
	“Well, I’d better go.” Mousse told Ritsuko.
	“Hikaru, that round-trip ticket is for a week. Couldn’t you stay at my dorm for a 
week?” she asked.
	“But, Yui-san is-” and he stopped himself when he saw the hurt look on Ritsuko’s 
face.
	“Okay, I’ll stay.” He allowed, and she kissed him again. This time, he hugged her 
back.
	He went with her to her dorm’s front door, and were met by the caretaker, who 
shoved Mousse away, yelling about how Ritsuko dared to bring a boy to the girls’ dorms, 
and she should be ashamed of herself. Ritsuko asked her to take care of the bags, and 
pulled Mousse along.
	“Hey, ouch, that hurts.” He told her, when he looked to her again, he saw the 
water hose in his face, and groaned.
	“Why’d you do that?” Mousse groaned in her female form. She hadn’t had to 
worry about the curse since she, Yui, and Ritsuko stopped going to the beach.
	“It’s the only way they’ll let you in.” Ritsuko told him.
	“Well-“
	“It’s better than sneaking in through the window.”
	Mousse groaned again, and followed Ritsuko back to the dorms. “I should have 
stayed home.”
	“Then, you wouldn’t be having this much fun.” Ritsuko laughed, pulling him 
along.
----------
Gendou knew that Seele was funding Yui, and that they were funding Mousse’s 
studies, as well. He didn’t know, however, why they would spend so much on that brat. It 
made him even angrier that he found a broken pair of the brat’s glasses in Yui’s drawer. 
-----------
She had asked him to get something in her drawer, and then told him to forget it, 
“I’ll get it, actually. Don’t worry about it.”
“I’ll get it, Yui. Some socks, right?” he dug into her drawer, and felt something 
scratch against his hand. He twisted his hand to grab at it, and pulled out Mousse’s 
broken glasses.
Yui reached out to grab them from him, but he held it away from her, “I won’t 
give them back unless you tell me why you have them.”
“I was thinking of getting them fixed, actually.”
“It doesn’t look like it. At any rate, these are useless to him, and you certainly 
don’t need them.” he finished, holding his hand out over the wastebasket in their room.
“Hand them over, Gendou. They mean something to me.”
“What, Yui? You need to be reminded that we’re burdened with a stupid, 
worthless, arrogant brat?” he bit out, and softened when he saw her eyes fill with sadness, 
and anger.
“He’s not a burden. You don’t take care of him. You don’t watch over him. You 
don’t have to deal with him. He’s MY ward, and I don’t think I’ve asked you for 
anything on his behalf.”
“You asked me to get along with it, Yui. What do you call that?”
“What did you just call him?”
“You heard me. You shouldn’t waste your time trying to accommodate it. It’s not 
worth your time…Yui, I think you’re losing sight of the fact that he’ll be old enough to 
leave soon. At least, then, we can start our lives, without having to worry about it. Such a 
thing doesn’t deserve your attention.”
“He’s not a thing.”
“What else do you want me to call it, Yui?”
She snatched the glasses away from Gendou, and went to open the drawer on her 
nightstand. She placed the mangled glasses gently into the drawer, and closed it. Then, 
she moved to lock it. She lay down, and didn’t speak to him for the rest of the night. As 
he lay next to her, he began to hate Mousse even more. He felt the strong urge to go into 
the boy’s room and strangle him right then, but he restrained himself.
----------
Late at night, Gendou looked at the files that SEELE kept within the Halls of 
Knowledge, which were located near Terminal Dogma. He looked through it to see what 
SEELE’s true purpose was.  
They said they were trying to bring man to heaven’s door, whatever that meant. 
He saw the files regarding a certain “Masaki, Hikaru.” 
	He looked through the file, and it confirmed that Mousse had lived while his 
parents were believed to be dead. He read further, and what surprised him was a letter in 
the writing of Gendou’s now dead associate, Dr. Katsuragi.
	It said,
	For SEELE Council Eyes Only,
		Members of the council, I have found a host for Gabriel. After extensive 
research, I have confirmed that a young high school girl, named Achika Masaki, will 
survive the birth of the being we have code named Gabriel.
	I have collected a sample of her blood. It has maintained the same molecular state 
after exposure to extreme cold, extreme heat, lack of oxygen. The blood has maintained a 
liquid state after being exposed to temperatures up to 100 Degrees below zero, and has 
shown the same resilience after being exposed to boiling temperatures as well. 
	I, therefore, propose that we immunize her with the DNA we have kept in stasis 
thus far.
Dr. Katsuragi
	Gendou took that file and he saw the picture attached to another file. He looked at 
it, and it had been stamped with the gold insignia of the Clamp Academy Detectives, and 
inside he saw another picture of Mousse, a file on a report his mother had filled out, and 
it had been signed, Achika Masaki. Gendou crossed referenced both files, and perceived 
that SEELE had been planning to use the boy. 
	“It appears as if the stupid brat isn’t as useless as I first thought.” He muttered, 
putting the files under his arm, and leaving the Halls of Knowledge.
------------------
	While Gendou planned his use for Mousse, Yui was in the park with Professor 
Ranma Saotome. . She was with Shinji that day, Mousse was in school.  
“Nothing’s changed. Even these days, I still miss the fall. With the power SEELE 
has, they could end it all. It would be quite easy for them to cause the Third Impact.” 
Ranma complained.
“Seele exists to prevent that.” Yui replied warily.
“To Seele, it doesn’t matter what we think, one way or the other.” He bit out.
“It would be foolish and dangerous to unseal that gate into this world. Yet, my 
husband and Seele are racing to claim that false Grail. What madness.” Yui told him.
“I gave all the materials for such to your husband. Well, it’s out of our hands now. 
I’ll never make the same mistake. I even got a warning from them, telling me they could 
kill me easily.”
“They can kill you, or you can kill one of them. I say, even a lone survivor can 
destroy and entire race.” Yui said.
“I appreciate your concern.” Ranma said dryly..
“Before I was found by SEELE, I was drifting. When I joined them, I found my 
purpose. I did this for Shinji’s and Hikaru’s sake.”
“I don’t like it, Yui, not one bit. These SEELE bastards are dangerous. I don’t 
think you understand that.” He said, looking at the lake.
“I do.” She told him, kneeling the by the stroller.
“I suppose I should take comfort in that,” he replied, looking at her over his 
shoulder. She was wearing shorts, so he looked at her legs. He stared at them for a long 
time, and then turned back to look at the lake.
“But I can’t. I know what they want. They are trying to bring mankind to 
heaven’s door by their own means.” He heard Shinji cooing, and he turned to look at Yui 
over his shoulder. He saw Shinji reach for her breasts, and he envied Shinji. She saw him 
from the corner of her eye, and picked Shinji up out of the stroller. She held him, and 
Ranma turned back to look at the lake.
She stood up, and said, “Professor Saotome, that is precisely why we’re in 
Gehirn; to prevent their godly act. They are extremely dangerous, and at this point, we 
can’t really challenge them. We have to wait until we become vital to them. Then, we can 
hinder them.” She told him.
“They were planning to use your ward to initiate that. Did you know that?” he 
asked.
“Yes, I did.”
“If he were still their key to heaven, would you end his life now?”
“Of course not. I would let him fulfill his destiny.”
“Is it wise to put mankind’s fate into the hands of a boy as lost as he is?” Ranma 
asked her, testing her for reaction.
“Yes. He’s not a bad child.” She told him.
“No, he’s not. My wife and I saw that when he first came to you, and even though 
she’s gone now, we both knew he had a good heart.”
“Not just that. He shows more promise than the Eva. He truly is a good child, and 
he’ll grow to be a kind man. His heart will shine bright, and though he’ll feel alone, he’ll 
still lead everyone on.”
“Your true messiah?” Ranma asked, looking at Yui’s face, seeing the love she had 
in her eyes as Shinji touched her face.
Yui had taken Mousse to Gehirn. She showed him around, and let him take a look 
at the Evangelion Unit A, One, and Zero, all of which were still highly experimental.            
     	He looked at the colossal bio-mechanical Unit One, a single horn jutting out from 
the forehead, like a single horned devil, and it was the yellow eyes that made him feel as 
if he should even have been there, as if Yui-san shouldn’t have been there, either.
	“You’re going to get into that thing?” Mousse asked.
	“Hikaru,” Yui told him, “ Do you know why I brought you here?”
	Mousse shook his head. 
	“Well, I brought both you and Shinji so you can witness the dawn of a new age, 
the Age of The Evangelion.  And you will see me spearhead this new age.”
	She got into a skin-tight body-suit. Mousse had to admit that he rather liked 
seeing her in that suit. If you ever asked him if he had a crush on Yui, he wouldn’t deny 
it, but he would very red by the time he would actually answer. She saw the funny look 
on his face, looked to see if anyone was around, and then she kissed him, full on the 
mouth. “Wish me good luck.” She whispered. He nodded quickly, and that made her 
laugh lightly. Then she went through a door that went to the lab. 
Shortly after, everyone else entered the room where he and Shinji were. They 
spent five hours preparing for the Evangelion activation. Professor Saotome, Dr.. Akagi,  
Ritsuko’s mother, and Gendou, as well as dozens of other staff, walked around the lab. 
“What are these children doing here?”  Saotome asked nervously. 
“Dr. Ikari has brought them here.” Dr. Akagi replied.
“Ikari, this is not a daycare center. This is an important event.”  He snapped. 
“I’m sorry, Professor. I’m the one who brought them.”
“But Yui, today is your experiment.” 
“That’s why I brought them, I wanted to show them how bright the future would 
be.”
 --------------------
	A letter from Dr. Naoko Akagi to her daughter,
	“Those word proved to be Yui’s last. A freak accident wiped her from this 
existence, just as I had hoped it would. What a disgusting woman I am. Ritsuko, after that 
day, your friend, Hikaru ran away, blaming the entire incident on the commander. Also, 
commander Ikari, himself, changed completely.” 
Those were the last words he heard from Yui Ikari. According to some of the 
operatives in the test room, her experiment had gone wrong. As she was absorbed by the 
Evangelion Unit 1. 
-----------------
At the funeral, a week later, Mousse lay the lilies against the waist-high, silver 
monument that bore her name. He did cry, not caring if Gendou was watching him. He 
wore a black suit, which Yui had bought him, and wished that he were in his own grave. 
It didn’t matter to him if no one came to visit. Dying, and knowing that Yui was still alive 
and well, would’ve been enough for him. 
He went into his room to get his bags packed to leave. He went to the door. 
“Hikaru, where are you going?”
“Away from here, away from you.”
“Hikaru, you may find this hard to believe, but I really did love Yui, more than 
you probably did.”
“Love? What the Hell would someone like you know about Love? I should have 
kept her away from you, that would’ve shown I love her.  She said you would take care 
of her, and you failed.”
“Hikaru, I understand how you may feel, right now. I’m not used to being liked. 
Actually, I’m quite familiar with hatred. ”                    
“I don’t care. Leave me alone.”
“Hikaru, you must not run away. You will encounter many things in this life that 
are unpleasant. But you must do your best to face them, even if it means injuring 
yourself, but running away is the very worst thing you can do.”
Mousse stood there for a moment, contemplating it.
That was until Gendou grabbed his wrist. Mousse hit him to make him let go, and 
after punching him twice in the jaw, just as this man had done years before, Mousse left. 
All the older man could do was let him go, making his resolution, to make the boy suffer, 
grow stronger.  
Gendou had called for Gehirn Intelligence to maintain surveillance on Mousse, 
and follow him.  
-------------
The grieving commander sat in his darkened office, and Ranma was standing in 
front of him, maybe even concerned.
“Where have you been all week? I understand your grief, but you must understand 
that you no longer belong to yourself.” Ranma reminded him.
“I know. Saotome, as of today, we will begin a new project. I’ve already made the 
arrangements with Chairman Keel.” Gendou said bitterly.
“You mean it’s approved?” Ranma asked, internally cursing Ikari.
“Yes. The path to becoming one with God, the Human Instrumentality Project.”
---------------
(2005)
	Mousse sat in his chemistry class, not noticing that others were looking at him. He 
was still brooding over Yui. He asked himself constantly why it wasn’t him instead. At 
least Yui could make a difference, and she made so many others glad to be around her, 
even Gendou. Although, to Mousse, it seemed like Gendou just wanted to have her, as if 
she were some sort of possession. 
	“Ten’ou-kun?” he heard a girl’s voice say.
	“Yes?” 
	“I was wondering if you’d want to go with me to the festival this weekend.”
	He looked up, and saw a girl with shoulder-length, light brown hair. It was 
combed back, save for the two bangs that fell to cover her forehead.  She was surely 
shorter than he was. Her skin was a light pink, and her eyes were gray. He wondered why 
she was standing there, while everyone should have been sitting down. So, he looked past 
her, and saw the clock. That was when he noticed it was noon.. 
“I’m sort of booked this weekend, actually.” 
“Doing what?” 
“Studying.” 
“You always study, Hikaru-kun.”
He was about to ask her if Ritsuko had sent her. He wondered if there was some 
crusade to make him feel better. He dismissed the thought, and looked back to the girl.
“Well, I do a lot of that. You are?”
“Moeko Neruse, and you’re Hikaru Masaki.” 
“How do you know my name?” 
“I’ve known you’re name since seventh grade, silly. So, would you like to go to 
the festival with me?” 
“Well, I can’t. I really can’t. I would if I could, but I’m not really up to going to 
the festival. Someone I knew just died a year ago.”
“Oh, I’m sorry…Were you close?” she asked, looking down.
He looked at her, and decided not to say anything. He was angry at Gendou, not 
her. So he just put his hand on her shoulder, and shook his head.
“It’s all right…I probably should get out more. Would you like to come to the 
library with me?”
“Instead of the festival?”
“If you want, we could go to a movie afterward. Is that alright?”
“That’s even better…Can I invite a friend of mine?”
“Sure.” he shrugged.
“Cool. When can we come by your dorm?”
“Well, I’ll go wait outside your building, and we’ll go from there.”
{What am I thinking?} he wondered, almost angrily. He supposed he still felt the 
shock of losing Yui, and that was natural. However, he felt somehow responsible for 
what happened to Yui. 
---------------- 
	Later that day, he walked to his class. He felt a sort of daze fall over him. He tried 
to shrug off the mood, but that was even worse. The more he tried to forget, the more he 
remembered. 
	Then he felt someone grab his shoulders. He turned around sharply, and found 
Moeko standing there.
“Hikaru-kun, are you alright?” 
“Yes, Moeko…Thanks for your concern.” he muttered, and turned to continue 
walking. She walked next him, holding his shoulder. He turned to look at her, and she let 
her hand fall to her side.
“You know, when I first saw you, I thought you were too shy.”
“Well, I’m not too keen on talking.”
“You used to be. I remember when that guy, Kamui, was still around. You guys 
were always joking with each other.”
“That was a long time ago, Moeko.”
“That was only five years ago, Hikaru-kun. Geez, you act like an old man.”
“You think?”
	“Watch out.” She muttered.
	Mousse felt like he had walked into a padded wall. He stepped back a little, and 
looked up. The giant, Mousse bumped into, was at Clamp on a Basketball Scholarship. 
He looked down at Mousse, trying to stare him down. 
“Sorry about that.” Mousse said, he sidestepped, and went around him. Moeko 
hurried after him, giving the giant a nervous smile.
She caught up to Mousse, and laughed a little, grabbing his arm.
“Hikaru-kun, Do you know who that was?”
“Not really.”
	“That was Isamu Mano. He’s only the best basketball player at Clamp.”
	Mousse smirked, “You seem to know a lot about him,”
	She blushed at that, “We’ve knew each other since grade school, but he really 
changed when we got to Clamp.”
	“Well, he seemed to have noticed you.”
	“Are you kidding? He looked like he was ready to cream you.”
	“I don’t think so. I’ve dealt with worse.”
	“Oh? Like what?”
	“Nevermind.”
	“You’re so strange, sometimes.”
	“You’ve only known me a day, Moeko.”
	“Not true. I’ve seen you around. You know who really likes you?”
	“Not really.”
	“One of my other friends. Her name’s Ranko.” She saw that Mousse was no 
longer next to her, and looked back to see he had stopped in his tracks.
	“Ranko what?”
	“Ranko Saotome. Her dad is a teacher here, I think. He looks like a bit of a 
pervert if you ask me, though.” she whispered. That made Mousse think about the night 
he had found Ranma trying to force himself on Yui.
	“I knew her when I first transferred to Clamp, but we didn’t talk much.”
	“According to her, you didn’t talk much.”
	“Can we drop this, and get back to your old boyfriend.”
	“Isamu is not my boyfriend.”
	“Then, why is he looking at us?”
	She saw him looking back, and turned with him see the basketball captain leaning 
on the wall. He was looking at Mousse with a snarl, and cracked his knuckles loudly.
	“Looks like your boyfriend is jealous.”
	“He’s not my boyfriend.”
	“Well, he seems pretty upset that you’re walking with me. Do you two have a 
history of some sort?”
	“He’s the one that started ignoring me, Hikaru. Can we drop it?”
	“Okay, just don’t bring up Ranko, okay?”
	“You’ve got a deal.”
	“What’s up with you two, anyway?”
	“Well, she used to like me when we were kids.” 
“Used to like you?”
“I just wanted to be friends. She didn’t take it very well.”
“Hikaru, she’s one of the friends I was talking about. You mind if she comes to 
the movies with us?”
He flinched at that a little, “Well, I don’t mind. I was hoping I could relax a little, 
actually. That’s why I didn’t want to go to the festival.”
“You will, Hikaru…Unless you still like Ranko.”
	“Well, no…That was a long time ago. I’m a little older now, if not wiser. I’m just 
trying to pull myself together.”
	“The First Honors student for five years in a row, except for 2004, when you were 
out sick for a full year.”
	“You knew about that?”
	“Well, I don’t know what happen that year. Some said pneumonia, others said you 
were killed in a car accident. Someone even said you were kidnapped by aliens.”
	“That’s a pretty unique theory.”
	“Not really. The guy who said that was a big fan of science fiction movies.”
	“Oh, alright. Well, you were saying Ranko is one of your friends. Who’s the 
other?”
	“Why? You think you might’ve broken her heart too?”
	“No. I don’t of myself as likable.”
	He saw another girl running up to them. She had long, black hair, and skin as 
white as snow. For some reason, she reminded Mousse of his mother, Achika. He shook 
his head to clear it. 
	“Moeko, what’s up, girl?”
	“Yuki, this my friend, Hikaru.” Moeko went to her friend’s side, and grabbed her 
arm.
	“Yuki Tanaka. Pleased to meet ya. Moeko’s told me lots about you.” Yuki 
laughed, until Moeko nudged her in the side.
	Mousse bowed, “Pleased to meet you.” He saw Moeko raise her other arm to the 
air. She looked past him, and started calling out, “Ranko! Hey, Ranko!”
	He felt someone punch into his back, and winced a little. Then Ranko came out 
from behind him, and went on to hug her friends.
	“Hikaru, you know Ranko.” Moeko laughed.
	“We’ve met.” Mousse muttered.
	“We sure have,” Ranko laughed, and leaned in towards Mousse. 
	She whispered, “You jerk.”
	“Well, at least you’re not too angry.” he muttered.
	“Who says I’m not?” she bit out.
	“Ranko, all of us are going to a movie. Want to come with us?” Moeko asked.
	“Well, I-” Ranko looked to Mousse, and saw him staring off into nowhere, “Sure, 
I’ll go. What time?”
	Moeko turned her smile towards Mousse, “Hikaru, what time?” 
	“Um, six is fine.” 
	“Well, come by our dorm, Hikaru.” Moeko whispered tenderly, leaning against 
him, she turned to Yuki smiling, “Then, we’ll drop by to pick you up, Yuki.”
	Ranko couldn’t stand it anymore, and purred, “Is it alright if I invite a friend of 
mine?”
	Moeko shrugged, but she had a nervous look on her face as soon as Ranko went 
up to Isamu Mano. Ranko grabbed his arm, and pulled him over to the small group.
	“Isamu,” she purred, “would you like to come with us to the movies?”
	“Yeah, sure,” when he saw Mousse, he snarled, “Is he coming, too?”
	“Yeah, but don’t worry about him.” Ranko told him soothingly. She turned to see 
Mousse’s reaction, which was calm, even indifferent. This made her even angrier, 
making her reach around Isamu’s neck, and pulling him down to kiss her. He held her for 
a moment.
	Mousse looked at his watched, “Oh no, my next class is in five minutes. I’ve gotta 
go.” He waited until Moeko let go of him, and started to run back down the hall as he 
waved back at the girls, “See you later, Moeko, Yuki, Ranko!
	“Darn, we better get to class, too, Yuki!” she grabbed her friends arm, and pulled 
her along as the two of them laughed.
	Ranko was still kissing Isamu when they left, but now he was moving his hand 
down to her bottom. Then he reached under her skirt, making her release his neck, as she 
reached down to pull off his arm. She opened her eyes as he began to fondle her, trying to 
push him off. She looked around and saw Mousse’s junior grad ring on the floor, and 
hoped he would come back for it.
	She began to moan in desperation, and felt the footsteps come closer to them. She 
could see her father come up behind Isamu, his face stern. She could see he was straining 
to keep from hurting this guy.
	“Would you let go of my daughter?” Ranma said calmly, through grit teeth.
	Isamu let go of Ranko, but she could feel his hands clench into fists. She felt his 
knuckles rub against her thighs. He almost dropped her as he turned to face the 
newcomer, growling in feral anger. That was when he saw Ranma looking back at him 
with the same expression. Isamu dropped the growl, and forced a smile.
	“Professor Saotome, what’s up?”
	“I was about to ask the same. What are you up to, Mano-kun?”
	“Nothing, sir. I’m serious.”
	“Mano-kun, lying isn’t going to help you. Come with me.”
	“Daddy, I-”
	“Ranko, let me handle this. If you have a class, go now. If not, go to the library. 
Do you understand?”
	She nodded. She waited until they were gone, and went to where Mousse’s ring 
was. She bent down to pick it up, and began to sob, {Why didn’t you come for me, 
Hikaru?}	
Continued…
Ending Theme: Thanatos…(If I Can’t be Yours.)
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Trailer
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