Ranko smirked as Relina cheered her on. "Your turn."
Wufei bit his lip in concentration as he contemplated his current condition. "C'mon Wu-man! This is for all the males in the world!!!"
The Chinese boy growled as he pulled a fan out of no where and whapped the yelling idiot. "Duo, shut up! Don't call me Wu-man and I am trying to concentrate here!"
Duo rubbed his sore head and grumbled. "I was only cheering you on, sheesh."
The other ex-pilots chuckled and Wufei couldn't help but sigh. "I know, I know. I didn't hit you too hard anyway."
Heero leaned on his hand and then yawned slightly. "So have you found a way to counter her attack yet?" Wufei shook his head. "Trowa, Quatre, any idea?"
They shook their head. The other ex-pilots stared when the Japanese boy rolled his eyes. "And you call yourself men." Wufei stood up growling.
"What are you implying?!"
He raised his left eyebrow. "Are you that dense?" More growling. "Don't blow a fuse, Wu-man. Move over, I'll take over from here."
"Don't call me Wu-man!!"
Heero just shrugged. "Whatever." He said nonchalantly as he moved the black go piece. He smirked at the only two girls. "Challenge that."
The two girls looked at each other. The redhead turned her head to the left slightly. "Is it me or am I rubbing off on them? Especially Heero?"
"It's not just you." Relina glanced back at the five ex-pilots. "Heero never smirks. Or shrugs. Or speak nonchalantly. Or call Wufei Wu-man."
Ranko looked at Heero thoughtfully. "Actually...those are all of MY characteristics...Oh my.."
"Do you always treat your friends like they aren't there?" Ranko shrugged at Trowa's question.
Wufei tapped his foot impatiently. "Well are you going to play the game or what?"
"If you want to lose so early into the game then so be it." Ranko placed the white go piece on the board. "I win."
Relina giggled at the shocked look on her friends' faces. It was priceless! "Looks like Onna 10 points and Otoko 0 points."
Duo sighed extravagantly. "Ohh..it was boring anyway!" He turned to look at Quatre, who was smiling sheepishly. "I think that we let them win enough for today don't you?"
Ranko and Relina just looked at each other knowingly while Trowa and Quatre smartly remained quiet. It seemed that Trowa and Quatre were the only ones who didn't receive too many of Ranko's habits.
Duo sweatdropped when the redhead just smiled at him knowingly. "Is this how boys act all the time when they lose?"
"Uh.."
She just giggled and he started laughing with her. So did the rest of the gang.
Ranko stood up stretching a bit which caused Duo to blush slightly at the way her movements affected her clothing. Ranko had decided not to put the clothing Wufei chose for her to waste. She had to admit that some of them made her look..feminine. More so than usual.
Relina was about the same size as Ranko so she wore an outfit similar to Ranko's. Ranko was wearing a tight blue tank top that made her eyes glow in a way that wasn't mortal. With the way she always went about she decided not to wear any of the skirts or dresses any time soon. So instead she wore a short khakis that was extremely comfortable to her.
The ex-Queen of Earth wore a small red shirt and khaki pants. It seemed that the 'switch' between her and Ranko made her realize that pants were a blessing. She didn't have to be unfeminine in pants either. Her khaki pants weren't too baggy nor were they the extremely tight jeans that some girls wore.
Relina shot her female friend a knowing smirk when she noticed that Duo was slightly red.
Ranko stared back at her confused. Relina sighed. Sometimes Ranko could be so dense. She glanced at Heero who seemed to have also shot Duo a knowing look since Duo was chasing the laughing 'perfect soldier' around. She shook her head. Everyone sure had changed ever since Ranko's arrival. It might have been selfish of her to ask Ranko to sacrifice her friends and family but she really didn't want to lose her friend. And she had a feeling that the others felt the same way, even Heero. Especially Duo and Wufei.
Ranko was like a little sister to Heero and the others. Of course that excluded Duo and Wufei, she added silently. She looked away from Heero and Duo. She watched Wufei closely and it occurred to her that he didn't have that look in his eyes anymore whenever he looked at Ranko.
It was love that she saw in Wufei's eyes but it wasn't the kind of love that a man felt with his wife. It was more of a sibling love.
She smiled slightly. Wufei was a softy at heart she knew that. No matter how much he seemed to yell and get irritated at Duo, she knew he considered Duo like a brother.
"So what do you think we should do? I think that ten rounds of go is enough." Ranko stated then sipped her glass of water.
"Hmm..I don't know. There aren't any good movies showing. The carnival's not coming until next month." Duo said leaning against the wall.
Quatre rubbed his chin. "What about that opera concert?" He sweatdropped at the look the others gave him. "Uh..bad idea." Trowa sighed as he patted his friend's shoulder.
"It's okay, Quatre. You tried." Quatre smiled at him and Trowa smiled back.
"Thanks."
Wufei rolled his eyes. "Oh stop the mushy stuff already." The two blushed.
Ranko gave Wufei a disapproving look. "Wu-chan!" He glared at her but didn't say anything. "I can't stand doing nothing anymore! I'm going for a walk."
Relina stood up in unison with Duo. "I'll come too!"
"I guess I'm going to." Relina smiled at Heero. The others sighed and decided to go as well.
Wufei shrugged. "Beats staying in the house the whole day."
"I guess it's settled then." Ranko said as she started out the door.
++++++++
"Eein. Is everything ready?" She questioned her general. The blonde man nodded and she smirked evilly.
"The day has finally arrived. After today peace will no longer be known." The raven-haired woman laughed. She turned to Eein. "Commence the operation."
"Hai, Leila-sama."
++++++++
"So..what do you think?" Ranko asked.
Duo blushed. "Well..uh..um.." He stared at her blue eyes. "*mumble*"
She leaned closer to him. "I didn't quite catch that."
"I said..of course not, you are definitely not uncute." She blushed and the others laughed.
Wufei pretended to pout. "That's not fair, Duo has a thinmph!" Ranko stared at Duo who laughed nervously as his hand covered Wufei's mouth.
Duo growled menacing at Wufei and whispered softly. "You keep quiet!" When he finally removed his hand from Wufei's mouth, all Wufei did was laugh. It seemed that the tables had turned.
Everyone laughed except for Duo and Ranko. Duo was too busy glaring at Wufei and Ranko was just plain confused.
She glanced at the frowning Duo and smiled slightly. She reached over to tap him but stopped suddenly. She whirled around and stared ahead her danger sense blaring. She turned her head to look at the others. They had stopped laughing and to her surprise they seemed to have felt the same thing she did.
"I can hear something coming." Heero turned to Relina giving her a reassuring look. "Don't worry, we'll handle it. Go somewhere safe okay?" She nodded her head worried. After a while she turned to leave.
Ranko stood in front of Heero and stared hard into his eyes. "You know what's going on?" He nodded his head slowly. She turned to the others. "You too?" They nodded. She grinned. "Then mind telling me?"
"Well.." Duo started as he rubbed the back of his head. "Remember I told you about the wars before you arrived? The Gundams?" She nodded in affirmative. "You see..all of the Gundams and any machines were supposed to have been destroyed but..it seems that someone has continued to manufacture weapons. So..that thing that you sense is probably a mobile suit."
Ranko cracked her knuckles. "How fun." She smiled before she realized something. "Why didn't you guys go hide with Relina?"
"The other thing..you know those Gundam pilots?" She nodded and they gulped slightly. "We're them."
"Oh." She shrugged. "I guess you can help somehow even without your machines." She turned around and jumped to the rooftop of one of the tall buildings. Glancing back she hoped that the five of them wouldn't distract her or get in the way.
+++++++
Duo looked towards Ranko's direction and his eyes widened. "RANKO WATCH OUT!" Ranko looked away quickly and jumped off the building as a missile crashed into the spot she had stood.
She landed next to Duo on her knees lightly. Her eyes seemed to flash violet when she looked at the demolished building. Duo sighed in relief when he saw that she was safe.
Ranko growled as she stood up and clenched her fists. Several of the mobile suits from the Protectors arrived to fight off the three attacking machines.
One Leo landed near them and Ranko whirled around in a ready stance. Heero stood in front of her and held his hand out to stop her. "She's our ally." Ranko relaxed slightly.
The latch opened and a tall woman wearing an army uniform stepped out. She pulled off her eye protection and placed it over her blue hair. "Heero." Although her face was solemn Ranko could tell that she was beautiful.
"Lieutenant Noin, what is going on?" Heero asked. Ranko stared at him frowning slightly. His voice was so cold.
Noin sighed. "Come in here and look at this." Heero leapt up onto the mobile suit in one jump causing Ranko to raise her eyebrow. Heero was more than he appeared to be. The others are probably the same.
Heero sat in the pilot's seat as Noin pulled up the message she had received. "Here, this was broadcast to all of the bases."
It started with a beautiful dark haired woman smirking. Her purple eyes were filled with a murderous glint. "Hello, lowly soldiers of Earth." Heero grit his teeth at her insult. "I am a direct person so I am here to declare war. I am the rightful ruler of Earth and all of its colonies. Surrender or face the consequences." She smirked. "By the way, it starts in one hour. Are you ready?" The transmission ended with her laughing.
"Who the hell does she think she is?! If I see her I'm going to give her a whack or two." Heero turned his head and was surprised to see Ranko standing next to him.
Ranko clenched her fist. "Are you ready? Heck yeah." She leapt off the mobile suit leaving Heero and Noin staring at her.
Noin turned to Heero. "She is?"
He smiled slightly which caused her to stare at him in surprise. "Ranko Saotome. She's full of surprises."
The woman nodded slowly before Heero followed Ranko out of the machine. "Take care Heero." She had a small smile on her face before the hatch closed.
+++++++
Wufei slammed his fist on the table in frustration while the others just frowned. Relina sighed as she watched the ex-Gundam pilots. "I suppose we were lucky that the 'Protectors' fought off those machines. A few buildings were demolished but fortunately the occupants had evacuated." Ranko spoke from where she was leaning on the wall.
"I can't believe how useless we are without our Gundams. I never regretted detonating them before but now I do!" Wufei growled with his head down. Quatre had a worried look on his face. He knew how much it mattered to Wufei that they couldn't protect the people. He himself felt that way too.
Duo sighed as he slumped in his chair. "This stinks." Everyone nodded his or her heads and Relina almost fell off her chair when she heard a loud beeping sound. "What in the world..?"
Heero stood up from the couch and picked up the laptop. He opened it and a familiar face appeared on the screen.
Relina gasped while Ranko looked at the man curious. "Zechs."
The blonde man smiled when he heard his name. "Relina." His eyes darted toward the males in the room. "I have something to show you that will solve your current problem."
They all glanced at each other confused.
+++++++
They walked into the dark room as the large doors opened. Relina winced slightly when the bright lights filled the room. Her brother gave her a small smirk before pressing the remote control in his hand.
Ranko crossed her arms as the walls were removed. She glanced at her friends curiously when they gasped, eyes widening.
"Sandrocke?!" "Deathscythe?!" "Heavy Arms?!" "Wing Zero." "Shenlong!?" They gasped in unison.
The pilots walked toward their Gundams and placed their hands on their respective Gundams. The redhead rubbed her chin. She looked up at the huge machines. "So they all have names, huh? What's the name of this one?"
They all turned their heads to stare at Ranko in shock. Standing before the martial artist was a sixth Gundam.
End Chapter Seven.