Later that day, when Terry was heading home after a hard working day, he 
stumble upon a familiar person on the street. Ryouga was at that moment 
(like most of the time) lost and desperately looking for his way back to 
either the Tendou dojo or Furinkan high. 

"Hey, Ryouga." Terry said "Lost again?"

"Oh hi, Terry." Ryouga said back "Well... yeah. But that's not a big 
surprise, is it?"

"Where were you heading?" he asked.

"The Tedou dojo." Ryouga answered, he then noticed that Terry was caring 
a baseball bat with him "What's that for?"

"What? this?" Terry asked pointing at the bat "I just got a job as 
Furinkan's baseball coach. I have to build a team for next month for a 
game against a team that's coming all the way from Kyoto. Say... like to 
join the team? I'm a little short on players."

"Well... I don't know." Ryouga stated "I don't know the rules very well."

"Hey come on, it'll be fun." Terry declared "Besides, Akane is entering 
and...."

"She is?" Ryouga interrupted "Okay! Then I'm in! [This is my chance to 
be near her!]"

"Practice will start next Saturday in Furinkan's baseball court." he 
added "Do you think you'll make it there on Saturday?"

"Sure!" he responded "I'll start looking for the place right now!" he 
then left towards a random direction.

"Ryouga, wait! That's not the way to Furinkan high!" he told him, 
unfortunately, Ryouga already left.

Terry sighed. At least Ryouga was going to have five days to get to the 
place. He might get there this Saturday (or the next one!). After a short 
pause, Terry went back on his way only to be ambushed not long after by 
flying black rose petals. A maniacal laughter was heard on the background 
and Kodachi made her appearance.

"I think we have important matters to discuss of, Terry Bogard." she 
made clear.

"We do?"



				***




Saturday morning. Furinkan's baseball court had quite a peculiar (but no 
less dangerous!) group. Ranma, Akane, Ukyou, Ryouga, Kuno, Kodachi, 
Shampoo and Mousse were all  waiting for Terry to arrive. As you might of 
guessed, they weren't waiting patiently. As a mater of fact, a riot was 
about to start. Most of the players weren't told about their new teammates, 
and they didn't take the news very well. Ranma wasn't told about Ryouga 
entering the team, which didn't gave him a rather good surprise. Ryouga 
wasn't too thrilled himself. He was told that Akane was in the team, but 
he didn't knew that Ranma and that good-for-nothing-samurai-boy-wanna-be 
Kuno Tatewaki were going to be his teammates as well. 
Ukyou, Kodachi and Shampoo weren't staring at each other in the most 
friendly way either, and Akane wasn't looking too happy of seeing Ukyou, 
Kodachi and Shampoo so close to Ranma.

"You've got to be kidding!" Ranma told Ryouga "You? in the team? Yeah 
right! Are you some sort of handicap for us?"

"Look who's talking!" Ryouga replied "I'm here to fix all of your goof 
ups Ranma! You can't send a half-man to do a real man's job!"

"Who're you calling a half-man?" Ranma asked him "Why don't you go and 
roll over into the mud P-chan!"

"Who're you calling P-chan??" 

"Stupid spatula girl won't be getting in Shampoo's way!" Shampoo warned.

"Get a life you hussy." Ukyou stated "You're not even from this school. 
Why don't you just leave to do one of your ramen? At least you have 
*some* talent for that."

"You look for fight?" 

"Any time you're ready!" Ukyou made clear.

"Akane Tendou!!" Kuno declared "How noble of you to join me in our 
school's sport event. We shall both vanquish our opponents with the 
strength that our pure love shall bring us!"

"Get your hands off of me, you pervert!!" Akane shouted as she punched 
Kuno unconscious.

"Shampoo!! Don't worry! I shall protect you!" Mousse said as he held on 
to Kodachi.

"Unhand me, you blind fool!" Kodachi ordered as she tried to reach for 
her clubs.


Everyone was solving his or her own problems, differences or love affairs, 
creating what would be similar to a melee. The baseball court was looking 
more like a war zone at the moment. 
Terry finally showed up and made use of his whistle to calm down his 
players. 

Since that didn't work, he had to enter the fighting zone to put an end 
to it personally. 
After sustaining some minor bruises and scratches, everyone managed in 
calming down and Terry was able to make his announcement.

"First of all," he began "I'd like to thank all of you for coming. But It 
looks like we're still one player short. So I think I'll be playing as 
well in the team. Second thing I wanted to point out, is that THIS is only 
baseball. So there's no point in going after your teammate's blood no 
mater what previous argument you had in your lives. That goes double for 
EVERYONE! We're here to play and win against team Kyoto next month. So try 
not to kill each other before the match, okay? Now... are there any 
questions?"

Akane raised her hand.

"Yes Akane?" he asked.

"Excuse me, Terry." she began "But when are we going to know which will 
be our positions for the game."

"I'll have to see what all of you can do first." he told her "Then I'll 
decide where to put each one of you acording to your skills. Any other 
questions?"

"I have one." Ukyou said as she raised her hand.

"Let's hear it."

"In spite of where we end up," she started "can I be as far away as 
possible from Shampoo?"

"Then may I take her place in case she must be near her?" Mousse added.

Conflict between the teammates was beginning to grow. Especially after 
that last remark from Ukyou. Terry blew into his whistle to calm everyone 
down. Fortunately, this time it worked. He spoke again afterwards.

"No mater in which position you'll end up," he pointed out "you'll have 
to learn to work together with everyone. This game requires team work if 
we want to win. Any one else has a question?"

"Just one." Ranma spoke "If we're only nine... How are we going to train 
properly. We need more players."

"I know that, Ranma." Terry explained "Believe me, I looked everywhere for 
more players with no great success. You're the only ones I managed in 
finding [That's why I'm taking the risk of putting all of you guys 
together, no matter how dangerous or stupid this combination of players 
may be!]. Fortunately, Furinkan's former baseball team is willing in 
helping us train. They're not willing to enter the team thought. I was 
hoping we'd have at least spare players to put in the bench in case 
someone got hurt. But it looks like that won't be possible. If there's 
nothing else you want to know let's start then. We only have a month."

At the other side of the court, Nabiki was standing while taking pictures. 
This time she wasn't aiming at Terry though. The school board hired her 
to take some photos for the school's yearbook. While the rest of the team 
was putting on there baseball gear Terry approached her.

"So, Nabiki," he began "What brings you here?"

"Hello, Terry." she said casualy "I'm just here to take some pictures 
for the school's yearbook."

"Not for free, I'm guessing." Terry remarked.

"Just making a little extra money." Nabiki pointed out "There's no shame 
in admitting it."

"I never said there should be." Terry declared with a smile "So, what do 
you think of our team so far?"

"I see you were desperate to form a team by putting all of *them* 
together." she told him "I don't think that's one of your greatest ideas 
so far."

"Okay, so they have their differences." he said "But I'm sure they'll 
manage to work things out. After all, this is only a sport. I'm sure this 
will teach them to work as a team."

"Well excuse me for interrupting you, coach," Nabiki spoke "but your team 
players are beating up on each other right now." as she pointed at the 
dirt cloud that was forming around the area where the fight was taking 
place.

"Great!!" Terry declared upset as he ran towards the other players to, 
once again, put an end to the fight "I can't take my eyes away for a 
second!" 

[Poor guy.] Nabiki thought [He just doesn't know what kind of trouble he 
got himself into this time.]



				***



(Training session #1. Four weeks from the game.)

Terry was holding a clipboard as he observed the other players and took 
notes according to which were their cons and pros in baseball. 

Right now, Ryouga was the batter up while Mousse was the pitcher. Mousse 
began to turn around the ball in the palm of his hand as he awaited for 
the proper moment to do the throw. After analyzing the situation, he 
threw the ball in a fast curve. It was an excelent throw. 
Too bad it ended up hitting Ryouga in the head.
Terry sighed and began to write down on his clipboard.

[Mousse,] he thought [Pros: Fast throw with excelent curve effect. Cons: 
Can barely see where he's throwing the ball. NOTE: The team needs 
baseball helmets!]

After he stopped writing, Terry saw Ryouga betting the living hell out 
off Mousse as a way to say "Thanks for throwing the ball at my face, you 
idiot!!". 
Terry sighed once again and handed the clipboard to Nabiki who was now 
the official coach's assistant. He then went to stop the fight.

A couple of minutes later, Shampoo is substituting Mousse as the pitcher 
and Ukyou was the batter up. The two of them looked at each other with a 
cold glare. Shampoo raised her left leg as she charged the throw. The ball 
seemed to be entering the atmosphere which such speed. When Ukyou tried to 
hit the ball, the strength of the blow snatched the bat off her hands 
leaving her with no pleasant feeling at her hands.

"Why did you do that for???" she shouted at her. 

"Team no need weakling!" Shampoo told her "If you no can hit ball, you 
no good for team. Stupid spatula girl is not strong enough. No good bride 
for Ranma either."

"I'll show you a strong swing!" Ukyou declared enraged as she took another 
bat and ran towards Shampoo with no very friendly intentions.

"Nabiki..." Terry began as he gave her the clipboard "Hold this for me 
please while I take care of those two." he then headed towards the girls.



(Training session #2. Three weeks from the game.)

[Let's see,] Terry thought as he consulted his clipboard [Ranma has a good 
arm for a pitcher, but I need someone like him on the open field to throw 
back the ball as fast as possible in case the batter sends it to the other 
side. Akane isn't as strong as Ranma, but she's a decent catcher. I think 
she'll do fine in one of the bases. Ryouga is stronger than Ranma which 
makes him reliable as a gardener. And Kuno...]

Terry interrupted his thinking to see Kuno who was the batter up at this 
moment. Ranma threw the ball and Kuno managed in hitting it. But the ball 
split in half as he touched it.
Terry put his hands over his face as a sign of lost cause. He then began 
to take notes again.

[And Kuno,] he thought while he wrote [is obsessed in using his boken 
instead of a bat!] he then went to him.

"Kuno," he began "in this game, the batter uses a bat. That's why he's 
called a batter in the first place. So why don't you try using a bat 
instead of your boken?"

"A true warrior never leaves his weapon!" Kuno arrogantly declared "I 
refuse to depart from my selected weapon no matter what your argument may 
be!"

"Nabiki," Terry said to her "you try to talk to him. Maybe you can 
convince him."

"Certainly." she stated, then she took Kuno by the arm and headed to 
another side of the court "Let's go Kuno-chan, we have some business to 
talk about."

Moments later, Kuno and Nabiki return after exchanging a couple of words. 
Kuno wasn't looking too happy about it but he finally left behind his 
boken and grabbed a bat. Terry went to Nabiki a little curious of how did 
she managed that.

"So what did you had to do to convince him?" he asked.

"Easy. We just made an agreement," she said "I promised to keep in secret 
some valuable information about his..."

"Okay forget it, I don't wanna know!" Terry interrupted as he raised his 
hands. 

Later on, Kuno is standing with his bat as Ranma is ready to make another 
pitch. Unlike last time the ball was struck and not sliced. The ball went 
flying over second base and Kuno began to run towards first base which 
was guarded by his sister.
Just as everyone was expecting Kuno to reach first base; Kodachi threw at 
him a bouquet of black roses. The young kendoist instinctively grabbed the 
bouquet and a couple of seconds later, it exploded releasing some of 
Kodachi's paralyzing gas. Her brother fell on the ground a couple of feet 
before reaching first base.
Terry lowered his head frustrated.

[If it ain't the brother, it's the sister who's causing problems!] he 
thought [Do I have to frisk her every time before each training?]

Everyone was looking at Kodachi while giving her the well known *Was that 
really necessary?* look. Kodachi just smiled innocently to all of them.

"There's no need to be upset." she claimed "My duty consists in keeping 
the adversary away from my post, isn't it?"



(Training session #3. Two weeks from the game.)

Everybody was gathering around Terry as he told each one which were going 
to be their positions for the day of the game.
Mousse ended up being the catcher. Not because that was the best place 
for him to be. But because that's where he was less disturbing. His sight 
didn't let him be in any other place. Being stuck in home he'd only had 
to receive throws from the pitcher and some other occasional throw. On top 
of that, Terry took the liberty of tainting the ball in a pink fluorescent 
color so it would be easier for him to spot.
In first base, Kodachi would be standing. That is, once she promised she 
wouldn't be doing any of her tricks.
Akane was going to be in second base and Kuno would be on third. Akane 
wasn't too happy for being stuck between the two Kuno siblings, especially 
when one wanted to date her and the other to get rid of her. It was going 
to be hard trying to work together with those two.
On the right side of the field, as gardeners, Ukyou and Ryouga would be 
taking care of things. And at the left side, also as gardeners, Ranma and 
Shampoo would be positioned (much to the disapproval of many other players, 
namely Kodachi, Mousse, Akane and Ukyou.).
Terry was going to be the pitcher, not by choice, but because that seamed 
to be the safest place for him to be in.

"Okay, now that we've settled that," Terry began "Let's start practicing! 
We only have two weeks left before the game!"

Everybody went to their respective positions. After a couple of weeks, 
everyone was more or less working together. Terry still had to interfere 
each time a riot blew up but fortunately that wasn't as often as before. 
That didn't mean that there weren't plenty of riots. It just meant that 
everyone got in a fight every ten minutes instead of five (which is pretty 
good in Nerima standards).
After an hour or so, everyone was ready to practice batting. Ryouga was 
holding on to the bat impatiently waiting for the throw. The pitcher was 
one of Furinkan's former baseball players. 
At that moment, Terry was looking at his clipboard as he checked the 
observations he had about Ryouga.

[Good arm, strong pitch, very reliable as a player.] he noticed [Quite a 
fast runner too, doesn't strike too much unlike Akane. But still...]

<WHAM!>

The ball flew up into the sky. It was quite impossible to get it now. 
Ryouga, proud of himself, let go of the bat and began to run towards first 
base. Terry pulled a disappointed, and no less frustrated face as he saw 
where was Ryouga running to.

"Ryouga!!!" he shouted "You're heading towards third base!! First base is 
in the opposite direction!!"



(Training session #4. One week before the game.)

"Okay, Ranma!" Terry spoke "You're the next batter up!"

Ranma stepped inside the field while swinging around his bat. Everyone 
else was in their respective places. Terry decided it would be better if 
they had to face one another in this session. Terry was now holding the 
ball in his right hand. After a small pause, he threw the ball.

"Strike one!" Nabiki claimed right after Ranma swung his bat. 

Ranma wasn't looking to upset about that. He took a firm grasp on his bat 
and awaited the next throw. That was one of his qualities, he never lost 
focus in spite of the pressure. 
Terry caught the ball after Mousse sent it to him. After checking second 
base and third base, he threw it again.

"Ball!" Nabiki said again.

Ranma was still looking cool. Terry took the ball and observed at the 
signs Mousse was making him. He then threw a curve but this time Ranma 
managed in hitting it.
It wasn't one of Ranma's best hit though. The ball was heading between 
second and third base right after bouncing next to where Terry was. Ranma 
began to run towards first base. Akane (who was in second base) threw 
herself to intercept the ball before it crossed the running line. She 
landed on the ground but managed in taking a hold of the ball. She 
immediately stood up and sent the ball towards Kodachi who was in first 
base.
Ranma noticed this out of the corner of his eye and threw himself towards 
first base. Kodachi however, prepared herself to receive Ranma with open 
arms, not giving a damn about the ball. Ranma made impact on her and they 
both landed on the ground with Ranma on top of Kodachi. 
That was a very compromising position!

"Why Ranma-sama..." Kodachi began as she wrapped her arms around Ranma's 
neck "I never knew you were this daring... I like that..."

"Safe!" Nabiki claimed [But not for long...]

As most of you might of expected it, the typical female jealousy routine 
along with some assistance from the male cast, began.

"RAAANNNNMMMMMAAAAA!!!" Akane shouted as she began to run to first base 
"Just what do you think you're doing!?!"

"You dirty gymnastics psycho!!" yelled Ukyou as she began to run towards 
them as well "How dare you put the moves on *my* Ranchan?!?!"

"Crazy gymnastics girl no touch groom!!" Shampoo declared.

"How dare you, Ranma Saotome, to practice you lechery with my own sister 
in front of all of us!!" Kuno growled as he took his boken "I Tatewaki 
Kuno, Blue Thunder of Furinkan high, shall punish thee!!" 

"Shampoo!! Wait!" Mousse said "Let me take care of this!"

"Ranma!!!! How dare you do that in front of Akane!?!" Ryouga yelled "I'm 
putting and end to your womenazing schemes right now!"

Everyone, except for Terry and Nabiki, was heading towards first base to 
clobber either Ranma or Kodachi. After a couple of seconds, painful moans 
and brutal noises came out of first base. Terry sat down, took off his 
cap and put his hand over his face.

[This is going to be a good game! This is going to be a good game! This is 
going to be a good game! This is going to be a good game!] he repeated in 
his mind hopelessly.

"Do you think we should stop them?" Nabiki asked as she approached him.

"Later."