The rumor mill!  In Shiro's head, the words were ominous and even somewhat 
threatening.  When he had first heard the term, he had laughed it off and 
thought that the effects, spoken of with such horror, had been greatly 
exaggerated.  Now, as he and Mariko walked down the street, he looked at the 
sly, "knowing" faces of the students they passed and realized that the power 
of the rumor mill had not been exaggerated one bit.  He gave a silent apology to 
the young woman in whose face he had laughed when she had spoken about the 
power of gossip, knowing now that she had been right after all.

"Smith-sensei?  Are you all right?"  Shiro blinked and looked up, meeting 
the eyes of one of the students...Fumiko, wasn't it?  No matter.

"I'm fine," he replied.

"Oh," she said, glancing slyly between him and Mariko.  "I see.  Well, I don't 
want to interrupt anything, so I suppose I'll be seeing you later."  She 
winked at him and walked off.

"Wait-Fumiko!" Shiro protested, suddenly realizing how he and Mariko 
appeared.  "It's not like that!"  But she was gone.  Shiro sighed.

"Shiro?  Is something wrong?" Mariko asked.

"Um...no, not really," he answered.  There was really no need to worry Mariko
by telling her about the wild rumors that were flying around Furinkan.  
"Come on, let's go inside before all the tables are taken."

*****
Lack of Common Sensei
created by Winston Smith

Chapter 26: For Love, Justice and Apple-Flavored Pocky!
by Sharyna Tran

Ranma 1/2 created by Rumiko Takahashi

<> indicates English speech
*****

"Hi Sakura!" Kira said cheerfully as she walked into the young teacher's lab.

Sakura barely glanced up from her experiment.  "Oh, Kira.  Hi."

The American girl ignored Sakura's somewhat cool greeting and peered 
curiously at the experiment.  "What's that?"

Sakura hissed in warning and practically jerked it away from Kira.  "Watch 
it!" she snapped.

Kira stepped back, somewhat hurt.  "Geez, I'm sorry.  You don't have to blow 
up at me like that, just because I messed up with the love potion or whatever 
it was."

The science teacher sighed.  "I'm sorry Kira, I didn't mean to sound so harsh.  
I've had a tough day, is all."

"Ah," Kira said understandingly.  "So, how've things been with Shiro?"

"How would I know?" Sakura shrugged.  "I haven't had a chance to talk with 
him since I picked him up from Dr. Tofu's.  Why do you ask?"

"I was just wondering if something had happened between you two," Kira 
answered.  "Especially since I heard from one of the students that he's 
currently with Mariko at some coffee shop or other."

Sakura's eyes widened.  "Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure, yeah.  Don't you want to go check on them, make sure they're
not...doing anything that will mess with m-our plans?"

Sakura looked doubtfully at her experiment.  "But I can't just leave this 
here..."

"Fine," Kira shrugged.  "I'll do it myself.  Be back later!"  And with that, 
she walked off.

"Wait-Kira!" Sakura protested in vain.

***

Kira walked into the coffee shop and, after a bit of peering, caught sight of 
Shiro and Mariko seated at a corner table.  Most discreet young women would 
have left them alone and taken issue with Shiro later.  Not so Kira.  

"Shiro, I need to talk to you," she stated as she walked up to him.

He almost glared at her.  <I'm in the middle of a conversation, Kira,> he said 
to her in English, as if she were a little girl.

<Don't talk down to me!> she flared, also lapsing into English.  <Now, I need to 
talk to you!>

<Is it important?> he asked.  

She paused.  It wasn't really an important issue, and she had no intention of 
telling Shiro about Sakura's pursuit, but she'd be damned if she'd just sit by 
and let him chatter on with Mariko, ruining Sakura's chances with him.  
<Yes.>

Shiro gave an irritated sigh and turned to Mariko.  "Just a moment," he told 
her.  "I need to have a word with my cousin."

Mariko nodded politely and watched them withdraw.  She'd only understood 
a few words of their exchange, but the gaijin had sounded impatient.  Briefly, 
she wondered what could be so important, then shrugged it off and turned to 
other thoughts.

Mariko, contrary to popular belief, was neither blind nor deaf.  She had 
indeed heard several of the rumors floating around, but it had never 
occurred to her that they were anything more than jokes.  Shiro?  With her?
She wrinkled her nose as she ran her mind through that prospect.  It was true 
that Shiro had helped her immensely, and that she was extremely grateful to 
him.  She enjoyed their conversations and took his advice to heart.  He was 
indeed handsome, charming, and kind, even if he didn't realize it.  But still, 
for some reason, Mariko thought that the idea of them together as a couple 
was just...well, silly in a way.  

"Kawai-sensei?"  Mariko looked up to see Nabiki Tendo.  "May I have a word 
with you?"

"Of course," Mariko told her, gesturing to the seat opposite.  "Do you need 
some help with schoolwork?"

"Not exactly," Nabiki answered smoothly, a polite smile on her face.  "It's 
about Smith-sensei."

"Shiro?  What about him?"

"There have been some...stories floating about," Nabiki began.

"Oh, you mean those jokes about he and I?  Aren't they funny?" Mariko 
giggled.

"Jokes?"

"Well, aren't they?  I mean, who would really think that Shiro and I are a 
couple?  It's silly!"

Nabiki looked at Mariko speculatively.   It seemed that this one actually 
wasn't interested in Shiro.  The second Tendo daughter decided to test this 
theory.  "Apparently, he does."

Mariko blinked.  "Shiro...thinks of me-us like that?"  She wrinkled her 
nose again.  "That's...I..."

"You really aren't interested in him like that, are you?" Nabiki muttered 
quietly.  "Well, this changes the complexion of things a bit..."

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing," Nabiki waved it aside.  "Anyway, what do you plan to do about it?"

"I...I don't know," Mariko stammered, flustered.  "I..."

"Do you want me to talk to him about it?" Nabiki asked.

Mariko's eyes brightened.  "Oh, would you?  Really?"

"Well, that depends," Nabiki told her.  "How much money do you have on you 
right now?"

***

Shiro narrowed his eyes as Kira finished her story.  "That's it?  That's the
'important thing' you wanted-no, that you HAD to tell me?"

Kira blinked innocently.  "What, don't YOU think it's important?"

Her cousin sighed.  "I'm sorry, no.  Kira, I'm not IN America.  I don't CARE 
who won the Super Bowl!  Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to my 
table."

"Mind if I join you, since your companion seems to have left?" Kira asked.

"Wha?" Shiro turned to his table, only to see it empty.  "Where'd 
Mariko go?"

"She left some time ago," Kira replied, satisfied at Mariko's departure even 
if she'd had no part in it.

Shiro whirled and glared at her.  "You know, sometimes I wonder if Aunt 
Katherine ever bothered to teach you any manners."

Kira blinked.  "What?"

"You seem to think that common courtesy is a thing of the past.  What makes 
you think that you can just walk into the middle of a conversation and 
DEMAND that one of the participants come with you, just so you can tell them
some unimportant bit of foreign sports trivia?  Yes Kira, I was actually 
TALKING with Mariko when you barged in.  It IS possible for someone to have 
a conversation that doesn't concern you, that you need to know nothing about, 
and that you have no business interrupting.  Do you understand that concept, 
or is it too close to politeness for you to comprehend?"

"Gee Shiro, you sure seem to be taking this personally," Kira gibed, 
seemingly oblivious to Shiro's scathing remarks.  "Did I break up something
intimate between you and Mariko?  If I did, I'm sorry."  She was quite 
obviously insincere.  

Shiro gritted his teeth.  "Kira, there is nothing going on between me and 
Mariko-or anyone else for that matter.  I am sick and tired of the 
rumor-mongering and innuendos that have been flying around, and I don't 
want to have to deal with your little schemes on top of that.  What are you
plotting?"

"Now, why would I go and tell you that?" Kira teased.

Her cousin narrowed his eyes.  "I've told you already Kira, don't start 
your matchmaking games.  I don't need you messing around in my personal 
life, so if that's what you're planning, you can butt out."

***

Principal Kuno glanced about the Hawaii-infested interior of his office.  
He'd been hearing some interesting things about that new English teacher, 
and it was time to discuss certain issues with him.  He pressed the intercom 
button.  "Hinako-chan, bring in that new English teacher."

"Sure thing!"  Miss Hinako chirped.  

Principal Kuno sat back, satisfied.  In a few moments, there was a cautious knocking at his door.

"Um...Principal Kuno?  It's me, Shiro?" Shiro said, poking his head in.

"Ah, come in, brudda!  Have some coconut juice!"  Principal Kuno offered, 
tossing a coconut at him.

Shiro barely managed to catch it.  "Er, thank you."

"Now sit down!  I gots ta have a word with you!"

"Of course," Shiro answered a bit shakily, sitting down.  He hoped this 
wasn't going to be his termination-with all that had been going on lately, 
the last thing that he needed was to be fired.

"I hear you been gettin' into trouble with the wahinis, brudda!"

Shiro blinked.  Apparently the rumor mill was even more powerful than he'd thought, if word had gotten to Principal Kuno about it.  "I'm not sure where 
you've heard that, Kuno-sensei, but I can assure you that nothing like that's interfering with my teaching habits-"

"Don't bother callin' me that, brudda," Principal Kuno told him, "We be 
havin' ourselves a real American man-to-man talk, so you won't be needin' to 
be so formal."

"A...man-to-man talk?" Shiro asked nervously, thoughts of doom running
through his head.

=====

Author's notes:

I didn't get to do as much as I wanted to in this part.  Feh.

Thanks to 2F for the extension, and Brian for title ideas.  Thanks and apologies 
to Jesse, who offered to pre-read.  Apologies to anyone else who helped me out 
that I forgot.

=====
Live well, eat chicken, and bye!

Sharyna