Author's Note: This was loosely inspired by a story that's on here somewhere with number 879923 and professes to be 'the Ranma world set in America'. I read it and it was okay, but I wasn't sure what the point of writing it was, since all it changed was the characters' names. I figured hey, I can do better than that... so here's where I'll try.

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VOLUME 1: Page 1 – Eviction Notice

The worst day of Toria's life began like any other; her clock radio went off at 7 AM, jarring her out of a perfectly good dream and into the reality of a freezing cold room and the wailing voice of some pseudo-punk singer she couldn't be bothered to remember the name of. She hit the snooze button, rolled over, and pulled the blankets up around her, intending to doze for a few minutes before getting up. The springs in her ancient mattress creaking unhappily as she wiggled around, trying to get comfortable.

Two and a half minutes later, she was jolted awake for a second time, as somebody knocked violently on the door of her trailer.

"Henderson!" shouted the Landlord. "It's Monday! Let's see some money!"

Toria sat up sharply and shook her head hard. It was only 7:03 AM! What in the world did he want this early in the morning? It couldn't be the rent. She'd talked to him about that only yesterday, and he'd given her until the end of the week.

"Henderson!" he repeated, pounding harder. Toria winced as she imagined the flimsy door giving way under his fist.

"Okay!" she called, pushing the blankets back and scrambling to her feet. How in the world did her bedroom floor manage to be ice-cold right through the rug? It was an old and moth-eaten rug, yes, but it ought to hold some warmth. "I'm coming, just a sec!" She found a pair of socks, and pulled a hoodie on over her pajamas. "I'm coming, honest! Please don't break the door!"

She zipped up the front of her sweatshirt and ran to the front door. The morning sun was shining directly on the front of the trailer, and it was painfully bright in her eyes, but they adjusted after a moment and there was the Landlord – a short, skinny, unshaved man in his usual trappings of lumberjack shirt, sunglasses, and an inch-long cigarette dangling out of the corner of his mouth.

"See? Here I am," said Toria.

He nodded curtly. "Great. Where's your rent?"

Toria felt her insides twist in sudden panic. "My rent?" she repeated blankly.

"Yeah," he said. "As in the three hundred bucks you owe me? Where is it?"

"You said I had until Friday."

"Something came up," the Landlord replied. "I've got debts I need to pay, too, y'know. Got anything for me?"

Toria shook her head. "No, we talked about this yesterday, remember?" she asked, trying hard to keep down an urge to panic. She felt like she'd spent the entire last week on the verge of panic and she needed to get it under control. "I don't get my paycheque until Friday! I can't pay you until then."

"I need it now."

"But I don't have it now!" Toria protested.

The Landlord look his cigarette out of his mouth and knocked a bit of ash off the end, but not enough to visibly shorten it. His cigarettes represented one of the great mysteries of the universe to Toria; somehow, they were always an inch long. She'd never seen him light a fresh one, or throw an old one away. The only reasonable conclusion she'd been able to draw was that he'd found a place that sold inch-long, pre-smoked cigarettes.

"Nothing?" he asked. "I'll take an installment."

"I have nothing," said Toria. "Honest, I'm completely broke. I think I might have a few dollars in my purse, but that's it."

He nodded. "Fine then... scat."

Toria blinked. "What?"

"Scat," he repeated, pointing with a thumb towards the road. "I'm tired of you being late with your payments. Grab your junk and get, and I can rent this place to somebody who'll pay for it."

"No, wait!" said Toria. He couldn't have just said that. There was no way... this had to be a bad dream! She'd been having a little trouble keeping up with the stuff she needed to pay for, and he'd threatened to evict her, but he couldn't actually be doing it. Nobody was that heartless! "You can't just order me out!"

"Well, guess what, kid," he said. "I just did. I'm not supposed to be renting to minors to begin with."

"But..." She stopped and took a deep breath so that she wouldn't burst into tears; Toria hated crying in front of other people. "I'm really sorry I've been late! I'm trying to keep up! You said you'd let me stay the rest of the week. I can give you the money on Friday."

"Sorry doesn't feed my dog," said the Landlord. "Pay or go."

"Well, what about my deposit?" she asked desperately.

"I'll consider that to be last month's rent," he replied. "Are you leaving, or are we going to stand here and argue about it all day?"

"You want me to go now?" Toria couldn't believe what she was hearing.

The Landlord rolled his eyes. "No, tomorrow! Yes, now! As soon as possible."

"But can't I at least take a shower?" she begged. "I'm not even dressed! What about breakfast?"

For a moment, she was actually afraid he was going to say no, but he looked at his watch and said, "fine. You've got an hour, and then I want you out. Hurry up."

"Yes, sir," sighed Toria, defeated.

"You can swing by my office and turn in your key when you go," said the Landlord. "Don't be late."

"No, sir."

"Good. I'll see you at eight." The landlord caused a minor disruption in the space-time continuum by dropping his cigarette on Toria's front porch and stepping on it, then turned and walked away without so much as a goodbye.

"Yes, sir," said Toria, though he was out of earshot, and shut the door.

---

It was, in fact, only 7:40 when Toria dutifully handed in her key and left the trailer park, lugging along two green garbage bags full of what she was trying not to think of as her 'worldly possessions.' Thinking of this as 'leaving home with all her worldly possessions on her back' was just stupid. She was 'getting the hell out of that dump and taking her stuff with her,' thank you very much, goodbye, goodnight, and good riddance.

Which only left the question of where she was going to go now.

She would have to make a stop on the way to school and buy a newspaper. The classifieds would probably have something affordable... it was amazing how little you could get away with paying for a place when you were past caring about exactly what kind of a hole it was. After four months, even that filthy little trailer had started to feel like home, and it was hard to imagine anyplace that could actually be worse.

Unfortunately, it was also hard to imagine a place that would let her stay, even for a few days, without making a deposit, and she wasn't going to be able to afford to do so until Friday. Toria's supervisor liked her and tried to be lenient, but had made it clear that she absolutely could not give anyone any part of their salary until payday.

So what could she do until then? Perhaps she could find someplace at school to hole up for a few nights? But the building was locked in the evenings, and she needed to get in and out in order to go to work. That wouldn't do. Nor could she stay at work; the security people were always checking places to clear out drunkards and bums.

The thought occurred to her that if worst came to worst she could always ask her friends for help... but there was something in her that rebelled violently at that idea. Worst hadn't come to worst yet. When Toria had been living with her mother, they'd gone through periods when Mrs. Henderson was out of work. They'd had loans called in and things taken away from them, but they'd always managed somehow. What would she have said in this situation?

She'd have said what she always said, of course: "think positive, baby. We'll pull through." And they had.

Well, what was the positive here? Not having to go back to the trailer park or deal with the Landlord again, those were definitely pluses... as was the fact that Toria had a good twelve hours before she'd actually have to find somewhere to go. In the mean time, she had first school and then work, both of which represented a roof over her head and place to keep her things for a while... and the entire day to figure out what she was going to do.

With these cheering thoughts in mind, Toria made a detour to the convenience store and spent the last of her money on a paper. That was another positive, she decided... since it was so early, there'd be nobody much at school and she could read the classifieds without having to worry about anybody asking her what she was doing.

That was the spirit! Think positive, and pull through... and Toria meant to do exactly that!