Oyu no Ranma
A Ranma ½ fanfic by Zorknot
First Bathing- Hot water
4-9-19-3-12-1-9-13-5-18: 18-1-14-13-1 ½ 9-19 15-23-14-5-4 2-25
18-22-13-9-11-15 20-1-11-1-8-1-19-8-9.
What has come to pass: After spending a long
time thinking about his problems in the Tendo furo Ranma gets himself stuck as
a girl when he hears Akane in the next room. Witness the aftermath
~~~~~[Splash]~~~~~
Ranma lowers herself into the
furo.
Nothing happens.
Ranma is alone now and the
massive emotional typhoon that whipped about her yesterday has quieted down to
about the level of a severe thunderstorm. This leaves Ranma free to once again
take account of her situation. It feels weird to be in hot water while female.
More than a month of having the curse made it seem almost normal to be female
in cold water. Cold water became synonymous with "girl" and hot water
with "man," but now… now it doesn’t matter what kind of water she is
in.
Feeling a little depressed by
this thought she sinks deep into the furo and thinks about how her life has
dramatically changed for the worse…again. She looks around the Tendo washroom
now hoping to find some distraction in the surroundings, which were still a
little, new to her. On the floor beside the furo wall, she finds the vial.
It’s still there from when she
was with Akane.
~~~~[ ~~~~
"So, have you been training
long?" Akane asks as she relaxes at the other end of the furo, naked.
"J-just
about as l-long as I can remember." Ranma answers trying to get as far away
from Akane as possible without appearing to. She realizes she still has
the vial in her hands and that she is using it as a worry rock.
"It shows… You’re really
good." Akane’s brow tensed in a slight frown of concern. "Are you okay,
Ranma?" She asks, nakedly nudging Ranma’s foot with her own.
"Eeep!" Ranma says as she seems to jump a foot into the air at the
contact. Akane giggles au natural. "S-sorry," Ranma says sheepishly.
"I…It’s j-just I ain’t
used to taking baths with… girls. Er.. I mean other girls." Ranma winced a bit at this
correction. She had practically called herself a girl! Seeing Akane in the
clothes she was born in, though, it was a lot safer at the moment to be a girl.
"Oh that’s right!"
Akane exclaims in the buff, "You were pretty much by yourself during your
training weren’t you?"
"Yeah," Ranma nodded
her head and rubbed the vial with her thumbs, "Just me an’ Pops mostly.
Ukyo trained with us for a little, but he don’t really
count."
"Oh, well my sisters and I
take baths together all the time. It’s a lot nicer actually. Here turn around.
I’ll show you." Akane insists nudely.
Ranma hesitantly turns her back
to Akane. This is actually more or less what she wanted to do when Akane got
here, but… she didn’t want to be rude or maybe she just didn’t think of it.
Ranma is somewhat relieved that she doesn’t have to see Akane’s extreme
nakedness, but she wonders what the girl has in mind. "Eeep!" She says again as she feels Akane’s
hands on her shoulders.
"Relax, Ranma, I’m just
going to massage your back…You’re so tense!" Akane kneaded Ranma’s
shoulders, vigorously working out the kinks. The sensation varies from moderate
pain to intense pleasure. It is quite easily the best massage Ranma got since
that one in the odd temple with the trained gorilla…
"Mmmmh…
You got strong hands, Akane" Ranma is having a hard time not relaxing now.
For many mammals, there are
things that will make them your friend for life. For dogs, you rub their belly.
For cats, you gently scratch the top of their head. For horses it’s their nose.
Humans may be beyond such things, but not by much. Massage someone’s back
sometime and see if they don’t treat you a little
nicer afterwards.
"I’m not hurting you am I? My sisters sometimes say I’m a little too
forceful."
"Nah… that’s perfect!"
Ranma exclaims, giddy from pleasure mixed with
nervousness.
"You’re still too tense…Let
me try something." Like a switch turning off, all of Ranma’s nervousness
is gone and she is completely relaxed.
Everything’s okay. Fine. Hunky dorey, and smooth sailing.
So she’s going to be a girl for
the next six months.
So she’s sitting naked in the
bath with an equally naked girl.
So her father is going to disown
her.
So Shampoo is going to kill her.
That’s all cool with Ranma….at
the moment these petty concerns are no more than the wisps of smoke of a
village burning many hundreds of kilometers away. Hardly
anything to concern oneself with now amidst fields of rosy blossoms and
flitting birds. Note how sweetly the flowers’ fragrance mixes with the
scent of brimstone. Watch how gracefully the colorful spring birds
fall from the sky… like feathery raindrops. Yes, all is right with the world...
"Hey! It worked! Does that feel better?"
"Akane, I love you."
Ranma says breathily. The air is thick with dramatic irony.
Akane giggles "I guess it
does!" Akane continues, softer now that there is less resistance, but with
more precision. Ranma starts purring. "Hey, that’s weird! How are you
doing that?"
"Learned it from a few cats
while they were eating my flesh and tearing through my sensitive skin with
claws of angry death." Ranma says dreamily. "Wow. I’ve never been
this relaxed before, what’d you do?"
"It was a relaxation
pressure point I found in one of the books Kasumi was reading." Akane
replied woodenly apparently a little shocked at Ranma’s answer. "First
time I was able to do it."
"That’s amazing. Kasumi’s
the older one right? I didn’t take her for a martial artist."
"Oh, she’s not in the
traditional sense," Akane replied cheerfully shaking off her earlier
surprise, " but she knows more pressure points
than almost anyone else I know. Well, except for Tofu-sensei of course."
"Tofu?"
"Yes, he’s our family
doctor. He really knows a lot. He’s been training and working at the clinic
since he entered high school. He’s back here working on his doctoral
thesis."
"He ain’t
a doctor yet?"
"He’s already a licensed
chiropractor, but he’s getting a second degree in…Occult Medicine or something
like that. He went through college pretty fast so he’s still very young…almost
Kasumi’s age in fact…" Akane stops massaging Ranma’s back
"Is something wrong?"
Ranma asks, turning around. Akane is looking thoughtful, leaning against the
furo wall. Its odd, she’s not a naked girl anymore…now
she’s a person…a friend…maybe more. Ranma blinks. It was just a massage… not
anything big. Still if she were a man right now… She’s not a man now? Well of
course not! She drank what was in that vial didn’t she? She’s going to be a
girl for six months now, and you know what? She doesn’t care! So she’ll just be
best friend she can be to Akane and after the six months is over…she’ll let the
pieces fall where they may. Hey look! Those clouds in the sky look like cute
little black bunnies!
"Oh it’s nothing."
Akane says with a smile. "So you and Ukyo…were you two close?"
"I guess you could say
that…We did nearly everything together. We went fishing we sparred, I even
helped him cook okonomiyaki a couple times. His dad was an okonomiyaki chef,
and I tell you, you haven’t had okonomiyaki ‘till you’ve had Kuonji
Okonomiyaki!" Ranma lets out a chuckle. Slogans are so funny aren’t they?
Let’s see if Ranma had a slogan it could be Ranma, the amazing aquatransexual,
just add water! Or…better yet…Ranma ½, yin and yang were never so much fun! Yes
that’s perfect! If Ranma ever becomes a prostitute, that’s the one she’s
sticking with.
Akane smiles slightly but
there’s a slight sadness in her eyes. "So what happened?"
"Well, when I was about
seven or so, Pops sat me down and asked ‘Which would you rather have Ukyo or
okonomiyaki.’" Ranma says her father’s words in a silly voice. "I was
a kid and I didn’t know any better…so I said okonomiyaki. Last I saw of Ucchan he was trying to catch up to us while Pops ran off
with his father’s okonomiyaki cart! Isn’t that funny?"
"I didn’t realize you were
that young at the time."
"Hmm? Oh! You thought…nah it was nothing like
that. But he’s probably pretty cute…now" Did I just say that? Did I
just call a guy cute? Shhh… shhh. It’s all cool. Bloody
feathers in the sky, burning roses waving in the wind… Akane still looks a
little down. "Hey…you look like you could use a back rub yourself. I ain’t as good as you, but I know a few things…" Ranma
wonders at what she just asked. She wonders if the relaxation point will wear
off suddenly making her a bundle of nerves again. She decides to stop
wondering.
"Okay." Akane turns
around giving Ranma easy access to her shoulders. Ranma puts the vial on the
floor by the furo and starts massaging Akane’s shoulders. Now, what was it
that gorilla did? Oh right! Put the fingers like this and the thumb…
"Ooh that feels good!"
Akane moans. After a minute or so Ranma has gotten all of the tension she could
find out of Akane’s back. "Ranma," She says in a near whisper,
"I love you too." And Akane and Ranma live happily ever after.
…in a
different universe perhaps. In this one, Akane is just joking. She giggles and Ranma joins
her. "Seriously, though… neither of my sisters can ever work out all
kinks. You must have done this before."
"Well Pops and I stopped at
this weird temple for a day or so. Surprised I remembered any of it
really."
"Ranma, what happened to
your father?" Ranma pauses her massaging. <Akane still thinks Pops is a
panda!>
A little of the nervousness
comes back as Ranma tries to think of a way to explain Jusenkyo and why she was
still a girl and why if she was really a man she was sitting in the furo with
another girl naked without even trying not to look. Ranma wonders about that
last one herself. It’s okay man, groovy. Flames
wave gently in the breeze, glowing embers fall gracefully from the sky…damn "I…uh…Pops…well
Pops and I we went to this training grounds called Jusenkyo see and uh…"
It is more or less at this
moment that the furo door slides open again revealing Nabiki, fully clothed and
wielding a camera. shashin!
Goes the camera with a flash. "Oh now I know
I can get some good money from that one." Nabiki drawls.
Ranma stares at Nabiki
dumbly…Akane however is not nearly as tacit in her response. "Nabiki!
I told you! No more pictures of me in the furo!"
Ranma is in awe of the intense
anger coming out of Akane. She looks from Akane to Nabiki…Does this sort of
thing happen a lot?
"You two might want to get
dressed. Daddy still thinks Ranma is a boy, and there’s a strange man here who
says he’s her father."
"Hey," Ranma says,
taking a little offense, "he ain’t that
strange!"
"Hmmm, so he is your
father…interesting." Nabiki closes the furo door with a thoughtful
expression.
"Honestly!"
Akane fumes beside Ranma. "I’m sorry, Ranma, I should have warned you
about Nabiki."
"S’alright,"
Ranma assures her friend, " ain’t
like it was your fault or nothing. Is she always like that?"
"Pretty much." She sighs. "Hey let’s get dressed,
I’m starting to prune!"
"Um…okay." Ranma gets
out of the water first and grabs a towel.
"So tell me, Ranma…"
Akane says mischievously, "How is it that you are natural redhead?"
When Ranma realizes the
implications of that remark her body almost matches her hair in hue. The
effects of the relaxation point haven’t gone away yet, but they’re fading fast.
In fact, the extra bit of calm is a bit of a pain now. Ranma might have
normally responded to such a question with a "Why dya
want ta know" or something to that affect to
immediately dissolve the nervous tension. Now she is just
relaxed enough that she feels like giving an answer. The problem is, for
the life of her, Ranma can not think of one. "I…It’s a long story, Akane."
Ranma says.
She can see the tiny bit of
confusion in Akane’s eyes. Any oriental born with red hair would have to know
the story of how such a thing came to be. It was just too weird to be ignored.
Ranma hopes that confusion doesn’t turn into suspicion, and that Akane holds
back on the questions until Ranma can find better answers for them. But what
answers could Ranma possibly give that wouldn’t make her seem crazy or
perverted…or that weren’t outright lies?
Lying might work actually… but
though the remaining effects of the relaxation point allowed her to consider
it, Ranma knew she could never really lie her way out
of this. She was a terrible liar and besides, what did that monk at the temple
say? Oh yes, "Always be true to your friends, especially if one of them is
a seven hundred pound gorilla."
Looking, at Akane, Ranma can’t
help but be reminded of that gorilla…
It’s going to be a long night Ranma thinks as she dries herself off.
~~~~]~~~~
It was.
It was an extremely,
horrendously long night.
While in the year or so since
Ranma left for China with her father she hadn’t actually been anywhere that had
an honest to goodness furo in it, she had lived in enough dojo the nine or so
years previous to know what to expect. She knew for instance, that it was bad
form to go into the furo without washing first with cold water. This, she
learned at a fairly young age, was because the water in the furo wasn’t changed
that often and it wasn’t nice to make other people bathe in dirty water. The
owners of the furo tended to get rather irate about that. Ranma knew this from
experience.
She also knew that staying in
the furo for long periods of time was not a good idea, especially after a work
out. This was because you could lose consciousness and drown, or worse, you
could get sick and throw up, making a mess. This made the owners of the furo
rather irate. Ranma knew this from experience.
Another thing she knew was that
one should not allow oneself to be in the furo with a member of the opposite
sex, especially if that person was related to the owner of the furo, because
that sort of thing tended to make people rather irate. Due to Genma’s
unfortunate encouragement of a 13 year old boy named Ranma, she knew this too
from experience.
From all this experience she had
also learned to ignore the robes that often hung in the anterooms connecting
the wash room to the rest of the house. One had to be absolutely sure one
wasn’t going to be kicked out of the house by the owner of the robes before
using them. Otherwise one tended to find that one has quite inadvertently
stolen a robe and must now spend a few nights in jail. While Ranma’s record
with the police showed no criminal behavior, a certain "Kumon Ryu" had a rap sheet a
mile long in which several of the earlier entries included the theft of a furo
robe. Ranma once asked Pops if there were an actual person named Kumon Ryu. Pops just told him to
shut up.
When Ranma was about halfway
through putting her boxers back on, she noticed that Akane was looking at her
with her nose scrunched in mild disgust. Ranma got that sinking feeling she
always got when she felt like she was going to learn something.
"You were just wearing
those weren’t you?"
"Uh…yeah." Ranma admitted.
"You don’t think that’s
gross?"
"Well, it ain’t like I got another pair with me or nothing. ‘Sides
boxers are pretty loose so it ain’t so bad."
Ranma said defensively.
"We do have robes you
know." Akane informed Ranma putting one on, illustrating her point.
"Um…" Ranma wasn’t
sure she should share her reasons for not using the robes.
Akane nodded sagely…a reaction
Ranma would later learn came from her father, "You HAVE been on the road a
long time haven’t you?"
"Yeah…so?"
"Well you don’t talk like a
girl at all and no girl I know wears boxers, much less the same ones every day.
You act like you’re a boy or something! What do you do during your physiology (seiri)?"
Ranma was shocked at how on the
money Akane was. She wasn’t quite sure what she meant by her question though…
"Um… I don’t go to school so I don’t have Physiology."
Akane looked confused for a
moment then smacked herself in the head. "No! Not
your Physiology! Your
PHYSIOLOGY, your menstruation (gekkei)!"
"Oh…What’s
menstruation?" Ranma was a bit confused.
"You know what Physiology
is but you don’t know what menstruation is? Honestly! It’s like you just became
a girl yesterday!"
"Actually I’ve been a girl
for about a month now…off and on." Ranma answered truthfully, her eyes
wide. Was Akane a mind reader or something? If the others were this sharp there
was no way Ranma could keep her manhood a secret!
Akane looked at Ranma
quizzically and then… she laughed. Her laugh was infectious, even if Ranma
didn’t know what she was laughing about, and she found herself chuckling
slightly along with her. "You had me going for a little while there,
Ranma! Really you’re such a kidder! Sorry I don’t mean to bother you about it,
but my sister Kasumi is always telling me to stop being such a tomboy…if she
knew about you she’d have a fit!"
"Huh?" Ranma felt like
she and Akane had been having two completely different conversations.
"Oh don’t worry. You’re a
guest after all. I’m sure she won’t bother you about it too much." Akane
put her hand to the door out of the laundry room and paused. "Still, maybe
you’d better come upstairs with me and let me see if I have anything that fits
you. If you stay here you’re probably going to have to start school. I get
enough comments just from me knowing martial arts. If you show up they’re going
to peg you for a dyke for sure." Akane exited and closed the door.
"Dyke?…school?
I ain’t gonna go to
school!" At least, she hoped not. Not after what happened LAST time.
What happened last time was long
stretches of insurmountable boredom punctuated by brief intervals of mild
amusement…mostly involving bread. There was only one other martial artist there
and he was just on the positive side of pitiful. Ranma couldn’t even remember
his name now, Ryo-ohki Chibiga
or something like that.
Ranma looked at her boxers. It
WAS kind of gross to have to put them on again. Akane seemed nice and it didn’t
seem like Ranma and her father were going to get kicked out any time soon.
Ranma shrugged and took a robe out of the closet and put it on and exited the
laundry room.
Akane was at the foot of the
steps when she came out so she decided to follow her. She forgot where Akane
was going. It is said that no one can think of more than seven things at the
same time. Ranma was juggling about fifteen thoughts at the time. So it was
that she also paid no attention to Pops and Tendo-san having a heated argument
on the porch by the stairs.
Akane stopped halfway up the
stairs, almost making Ranma bump into her. "You aren’t a lesbian, are
you?" Ranma was unprepared for the question. She was reminded briefly of
what Tasuke had said a month and a half ago. If she
liked girls…Did she still like girls? Looking at Akane’s back, something that
would have surely incited a reaction in her male form, she couldn’t be sure.
What she felt when she thought of Akane was a warm fuzzy feeling that she
previously only felt from her father from time to time and Ukyo. What did that
mean?
"Uh…no?" Ranma’s answer was as good as any and,
as far as she could tell at the time, not a lie. She’d have to think about it
more later though.
~~~~~*~~~~~
Like now for
instance. Am
I a lesbian? Ranma asks herself, looking at the vial in her hand. What does
that mean? Does it mean she is still a man?
No.
It just means that she is a girl
who likes other girls.
Ranma throws the vial at the
wall, hoping it would break, but it only tingle tangles loudly on the tiles and
rolls back to the side of the furo. Ranma picks it up again. Tasuke was right. She has to admit that at least for the
next five months and 29 days and whenever she is cursed after that she is a
girl. No amount of rationalization or wishing will change that fact. Physically
she is female, and that is the only requirement for girlhood. That doesn’t mean
she has to like it.
But is it okay then for her to
be a lesbian? Is it okay for other people? Ranma had never had this
conversation with her father, but she is pretty sure he wouldn’t be any help at
all. As far as Ranma can tell there isn’t anything wrong with it, but then why
is everyone so hung up about it?
Ranma isn’t any surer of her
answer to Akane’s question than she was back then. Still, wanting some kind of
closure on the matter, she decides that if she does still like girls, she will
try to keep it a secret as long as people don’t know about her being a man.
Ranma remembers Akane’s response…
~~~~~*~~~~~
"That’s good," Akane
said continuing up the steps, "That’s the LAST thing I need right
now." There was a severe undercurrent of anger affecting her voice.
When they got to Akane’s room,
Ranma suddenly remembered why they were there. "Um… I ain’t
so sure about this…"
"Ranma, believe me, things
will go a whole lot smoother if you just try to fit in."
"What do you mean?"
"Well for one thing the way
you talk is all wrong. Try being a little more polite and use ‘atashi’ instead of ‘ore’ when speaking about yourself. I know ‘ore’ sounds cooler, but what works in
anime doesn’t work in real life."
"You’ve used ‘ore’
before?" Ranma asked.
Akane sighed, "When I was
little. It got me cast as Romeo in our elementary school play. That was NOT
fun." Akane opened a drawer in her dresser and offered Ranma a pair of
panties. "Here, you can borrow these until you can get some of your
own." Ranma just stared at the forbidden item before her. "Well, put
them on!" Ranma hesitantly took the underwear. She was going to be a girl
for six months after all…
Ranma was still staring at the
garment in her hand when she noticed that Akane had already put her underwear
on and was putting on a bra. "Let me guess," Akane conjectured as she
fastened her bra together, "your father never thought to buy you feminine
underwear. Am I right?"
"Yeah…" That was
certainly true.
Akane sighed, "I would have
had the same problem if it weren’t for my sisters. My mom passed away when I
was very young, and my father couldn’t handle buying panties. Said it reminded
him too much of the past or something. Just put them on, they’re more
comfortable than you’d think."
Woodenly, Ranma complied.
Moments later, Ranma Saotome, man among men, was wearing panties. Ranma crossed
a point of no return and could not go back. Her notion of herself suffered a
major upheaval. Meanwhile, in the outside world, nothing changed. No
earthquakes or tidal waves altered the landscape, the sun did not stand still
in the heavens, and Ranma was still Ranma, only now with panties. Ranma had
difficulty getting past this.
"I’m sorry ‘bout your
mom." Ranma said trying to distract herself from…herself.
"Oh its
alright, I still miss her…I still sometime wish I could have her back, but I’ve
gotten used to her not being here. You just have to move on you know?"
Akane put on a bra and pulled out an outfit from her closet. A
white blouse with a light red overdress. It was a sort of casual version
of the girls’ school uniform.
This made Ranma think about what
she was wearing again. The panties weren’t uncomfortable, if one discounted the
fact that they were a little small and so continually felt like they were
falling off. Ranma would hate to have them on if she changed into a guy though.
The garment seemed to be built to point out that its wearer could in no way be
a male. Changing into one would thereby mean experiencing anything from extreme
discomfort to excruciating pain. Ranma noted this for future reference as Akane
put her fingers to her chin in thought. "Now, bras… I think you’re a
little bigger than I am in the chest…"
"Hey!" Ranma
protested.
"Oh I wasn’t insulting you that’s a good thing!"
"It’s a pain in the
ass." Many times Ranma wondered morosely why, if she had to be a girl, she
had to have such big breasts. They attracted all kinds of unwanted attention,
they got in the way during a fight, and she couldn’t even LOOK like a man with
them. She had tried to bind her chest once…she later decided she’d rather have
someone kick her in the balls once in her male form than go through that
torture for a day.
"I think I know what you
mean. You do know about sports bras right?" Ranma shrugged, "You
don’t," Akane sighed. "Sports bras are great, Ranma. They’re the only
feminine product that I am absolutely sure was invented by a woman. I don’t
know how I’d get through my morning jog without one that’s for sure."
"Really." Ranma said…she could already tell what
was going to happen next.
"Here," Akane tossed
Ranma an odd article of clothing. It was stretchy and looked somewhat like a
bra crossed with a tank top. "I’m a 38 and you look like about a 40. My
normal bras wouldn’t fit you but that should."
Ranma sighed. Why am I doing
this again? Ranma asked herself. Oh yeah she thinks I’m really a girl
and I have to keep her thinking that. An odd thought occurred to her. She
was…worrying about clothes. Another line had been crossed. Dammit!
She quickly pulled the sports bra over her head. It was snug but…Ranma had not
known how much stress there had been on her back until it was suddenly
lessened. Oddly something about it seemed familiar to Ranma. "This is sorta like a jock strap!"
"Funny you should say that.
The first sports bra was actually made in 1977 by Hinda
Miller and a friend when they sewed two jockstraps together." Akane had
just put on her blouse and was about to pull on the light red dress when she
said this.
"Huh?"
"I did tell you I was
absolutely sure that it was invented by a woman didn’t I? The lady at the store
was a little…enthusiastic." Akane furrowed her brow a bit in slight
confusion. "What kind of childhood did you have, Ranma. I mean you know
about jock straps, but not sports bras?"
Before she realized it Ranma found
herself saying, "I haven’t seen my mom in ten years. For all I know she
could be dead too." She was better at this selective truth telling then
she thought… Or maybe she just was tired of not talking about it with her
father.
"Oh I’m sorry!" Akane
was now fully clothed. "After I find something for you to wear, maybe I
could ask my sister to find out about her for you. "
Akane offered as she started going through her closet.
"Who,
Kasumi?"
"She might actually know
already," Akane said as if considering a new thought, moving a box out of
the closet and on to the bed. "But I was thinking of Nabiki."
"The
pervert?!" Ranma
spoke without thinking again.
Akane stopped rummaging through
her closet. "You know…I never thought of it before…but she IS a little perverted
isn’t she?" Akane stopped kneeled down. Huh? What’s this?" Akane
retrieved a dusty notebook from the dark of the closet. She opened it. She
closed it again. Then she opened it again. Then she screamed.
Ranma was caught quite
unprepared for this. Her thoughts ran something like this: What’s that!? A scream? Akane’s scream! What’s going on? Nothing. Why did she scream? Should I ask her? Maybe she’s
upset. Is it my fault? I don’t know. What’s that sound? Footsteps.
Her family! They’re coming up here? What are they going to think when they see
me? I better go hi-
Soun Tendo burst into the room
followed shortly by Nabiki with Kasumi and Genma bringing up the rear. Ranma
was frozen mid-sprint. "Now I ask you, Daddy. Is that a boy or a girl?," Nabiki drawled motioning toward Ranma’s state of
dress, which left no room for doubt as to her current sex.
"A girl," Soun replied
absently.
"What is the meaning of
this, boy?" Genma demanded.
"What’s wrong, Akane?"
asked Kasumi as she entered the room ignoring Ranma.
"It’s this!" Akane
replied. It was just some crummy notebook. That was it. That was what she was
screaming about. Ranma’s mouth opened in disbelief. "I was looking in the
closets for some clothes for Ranma and there it was. Isn’t this Mother’s
notebook?"
Kasumi took the notebook and
opened it. Her father looked over her shoulder and exclaimed "It IS her
book!"
"Hey it is," agreed
Nabiki, "I can recognize her handwriting."
Ranma hurriedly put the furo
robe on. Maybe everyone would forget…
Pop stared straight at Ranma.
"I asked you a question, boy."
"Good grief, Mr. Saotome!
Why won’t you and Daddy listen! There is no way THAT is a boy!" Nabiki
exclaimed frustrated.
"Uhh…
so that’s your mother’s note book, Akane?" Ranma asked trying to get the
subject back off her.
Akane nodded.
Kasumi closed the notebook
reverently. "All of her cooking recipes are written in this one book. All
of her secrets."
"Secrets?" Ranma asked. It was a knee-jerk response
that she had developed after ten years of hidden martial arts techniques,
trapped evil spirits, and ancient Chinese curses.
"Yes," Nabiki piped
up, "secrets. Like, how is it that your father thinks that you’re really a
boy, where did you get that ridiculous hair color, and most importantly, and I
ask this with no intended disrespect, why are you still here?"
"N-n-nani?" Ranma responded. The last question stung. This place was already
beginning to feel like a home with Akane and Kasumi here, but Nabiki was right,
what reason did she have for staying if she wasn’t anyone’s fiancée?
Akane once again came through
for her. "Cut it out, Nabiki! Just because Ranma didn’t turn out to be
your knight in shining armor doesn’t mean you have to treat her so badly. She’s
our guest, at least until she and her father can find a place of their
own."
"Easy for you to say, Miss
‘I hate boys.’ You actually wanted something like this to happen. Well,
since you two seem to be getting along so well I suppose all that there’s left
for me to do is say congratulations on your engagement." Nabiki waved them
off cheerfully as she turned to leave, "I hope you enjoy your lives
together."
"Why you…you …you PERVERT!"
Nabiki stopped in the doorway.
She didn’t turn around but said, "That’s a bit like the pot calling the
kettle black, isn’t it, little sister? I mean, I saw you in the furo. I
have pictures."
"You took pictures of your
sister in the furo?" Soun asked on the verge of a demon head.
"Yeah I was in there too.
And you know how she kept fondling my breasts." Ranma added. She really
didn’t like Nabiki at all. First she treated Ranma like crap, that was bad
enough, but her own sister?
"Oh my! That is perverted!"
Ranma continued. "No
offense, Tendo-san but if Nabiki was a guy I would’ve clocked her good."
"If Nabiki were a
boy," Akane simmered, "she’d be dead!"
Then Genma said something to
Ranma at just the wrong time. "You were in the furo with a girl? Boy, have
you not learned your lesson yet?"
"Hey I was a girl at the
time!" Ranma winced right afterwards.
This confused Akane out of her
anger. "Does your father think you are a boy, Ranma?"
"Uh…yeah." That was true enough.
"Well…I guess that explains
the jock straps…" Akane said absently.
Nabiki whirled around, smiling
triumphantly "Looks to me like we’ve got a whole room of perverts. All we
need is for Kasumi to bring out her trashy romance novels and we could have a
party!"
"Oh
my!" Kasumi
said, blushing.
"Oh no! It’s not like that! Ranma and I were
just having an innocent conversation…" Akane tried to cover her error.
"About
jockstraps?"
Nabiki raised an eyebrow.
"Saotome?" Soun was crying in streams.
"Yes,
Tendo?" Genma
replied.
"You and your daughter can
stay as long as you want. I don’t think I can handle this alone."
"Very well, Tendo. I need
to speak with my…child and then I’ll join you downstairs."
Soun nodded. "Come,
children. It’s been a while since we’ve had a Family Discussion. I think we’re
long overdue." With that he left the room and the Tendo daughters
followed.
Akane paused before leaving and
said, "I’m sorry I screamed, Ranma, I wasn’t thinking it’s just…"
"I know…it was your
mother’s notebook. You couldn’t help it." Akane nodded and turned to
leave. "Akane?" She turned around. "Th- thanks."
"For
what?" Akane
asked, confused.
"For bein a friend."
"Oh! You too! And hey if
you find anything you think will fit go ahead and borrow it okay? I won’t
mind." Akane smiled brightly and left.
Now there was only Genma and
Ranma.
"I begin to see your
reasoning, son…but I still want an explanation. Why are you still a girl?"
Ranma had thought of a million
answers to that question since her bath with Akane, but now she knew she could
only use one: the complete and utter truth. She told her father everything. How
she found Tasuke’s restaurant, how Tasuke gave her the vial, how she kept the vial in her
pigtail for two weeks while they traveled back to Japan, and how on today the
last day the magic infused water in the vial would work she was about to throw
it away when she heard Akane outside of the washroom. "…so now I’m stuck
like this for six months… maybe even forever. Tasuke-sensei
said it usually wasn’t permanent."
"I see. Why didn’t you tell
me about this sooner?"
"Aw, come on, Pop. You’re always telling me how I need to be more manly
and crap and you were giving me a hard time about leaving ya
all the way to
Genma sighed. "Right.
Normally I’d be upset, but…seeing what I saw just now… You acted like a
true martial artist today Ranma. You fulfilled a debt of honor to Akane by
being there for her and thanking her. Maybe this will be a good thing. Maybe
after all this is over…we can go home."
"Huh?" Ranma was
stunned. Her father was actually being cool about this! And what was that bit
about being able to go home?
"You should know that I’m
not at all happy about this. I don’t know how I’m going to explain this
to Soun. But what’s done is done. Tomorrow morning we spar. Don’t think I’m
going to go easy on you just because of what happened…girl."
Ranma winces
"Pops!"
"Why don’t you pick
something pretty to wear," said Genma darkly as he too left the
room. Ranma could hear him muttering something about worthless sons as he went
down the stairs.
Ranma looked at the clothes in
Akane’s closet…"The hell with that!" Ranma said as she left
Akane’s room to go to her own. She wasn’t about to go through a girl’s clothes
and she wasn’t going to wear some silly dress. Especially not
then….
The sports bra and panties
though, they were okay.
When Ranma came down the stairs
she was wearing her other pants and her yellow shirt with the little red bow.
She picked that one because she knew Genma hated it. He explained once that it
was something Ranma’s mother might have picked out for him. For this reason it
became one of Ranma’s favorite shirts despite it being a little, well, girly.
The Tendos and Genma were
sitting around the low table. Nabiki was trying to explain to her father that
the only reason they had a home at all was because of her intricate system of
surveillance and bet taking. Soun was having none of it. "I don’t care,
Nabiki. Selling pornographic pictures of your sister is going too far. No
cameras or recording devices for a month and that’s final. I’ll start accepting
students again, maybe get a government job. We don’t want your help if you’re
not going to earn your money responsibly. If I had known about this
earlier…"
"You wouldn’t have done
anything about it." Nabiki accused, "You’ve been completely worthless
ever since Mom died. Admit it! The only reason you’re doing something now is
you have your buddy here to back you up."
Akane stood up, the area around
her tinged with red. "How dare you call Dad worthless!"
"Sit down please,
Akane," Soun said stonily, "Remember…control."
Akane wavered for a few seconds
before complying. "Yes, sensei," she said as if agreeing to follow a
secret plan.
Ranma wasn’t sure what to do. It
seemed like the Tendos were having some sort of family crisis…and it seemed
like it was her fault. She was just about to get lost when her father spoke up.
"Ranma, daughter, come sit by me." Hesitantly, Ranma did so.
She had to keep up appearances at least for now.
If looks could kill, the glare
Nabiki gave Ranma would have turned her into dust…shortly after performing a
live autopsy… with instruments covered in salt. "What does the jockstrap
girl have to do with any of this?"
"Nabiki-chan, Ranma-chan is
a guest, and all guests deserve to have a nice family dinner. Would anyone like
some tea?" Kasumi got up.
"Kasumi, sit down. No one leaves this table until this matter is settled,
even if it means we don’t eat tonight. You need to learn not to escape to the
kitchen every time something goes wrong." Kasumi sat back down, looking
very worried.
"Now," Soun started
again, "Nabiki, you should know that you aren’t helping your case at all
by being so defensive. This isn’t like you. It makes me think…the problem may
be worse than I know." Soun gave Genma a glance then continued "From
now on, there will be some changes that will affect all of you, including you,
Ranma. First, I will not tolerate anymore perverted behavior from any of
you!" Soun calmed down, then spoke again. "Let me clarify. I consider
‘perverted behavior’ to be any act that exploits some one’s body or private
possessions without their consent. So far the only one that I know to be
perverted here is Nabiki," Soun paused, letting it sink in, "…but I
will be watching all of you. Second, as long as Genma and his daughter are
staying here I want you to treat them with the respect they’re due. Genma is an
old friend of mine and I’ll not permit his daughter to be alienated from us
simply because she’s not a boy. Finally, I want Genma to train all of you in Anything goes."
"NANI?" Everyone, including Genma asked.
"Since there is no secure
heir the pressure is on you, my daughters to teach your children the Art so
that someday our schools can be joined. Which reminds me, do you have a
boyfriend, Ranma?"
"Um…no," Ranma replied
nervously. She wanted to get angry and tell Soun that she was a man and of
course she didn’t have a boyfriend, but of course, she couldn’t do that.
Soun sighed, obviously
disappointed. "I’ll try not to pressure you too much, but please at least
keep the possibility open." Yeah, like that’s going to happen. Soun
looked at everyone at the table "Now, does anyone have anything to say or
ask?" Kasumi raised her hand. "Yes,
Kasumi-chan?"
"Does this mean we can date
whomever we like now?"
"Yes. Since there’s no
longer any possibility of you being married to a Saotome…you are free to date
whomever you choose."
"Oh
my!"
"Tendo-kun?" Genma asked.
"Yes,
Saotome-kun?"
"You say you want me to
train your daughters…I was wondering what exactly you meant by that."
"Just train them as you
have your own daughter. Akane tells me she’s quite a bit beyond her in skill, I
realize you won’t be able to get them to Ranma’s level but if you could just
teach them enough so that they can represent our school…"
"Whoa! Hold on there! I
wouldn’t wish Pop’s training on my worst enemy! You don’t know what yer asking for, Tendo-san!"
Soun smiled at Ranma, "Yes,
your father must have been a good teacher. I’m sure his methods weren’t half as
strenuous as our master’s."
"Oh yeah? Did your ‘master’ ever tie you up, smear
fish paste all over you, and throw you into a pit of starvin’
c-cats?"
"No…" Soun admitted
glancing at Genma, "he tied us up, covered us with fish paste, and forced
us down the throat of a wh-whale with only a rubber
hose to give us air. I still have scars from the stomach acid."
"Was that some kind of
whale fist training or something?" Ranma asked in disbelief.
"No, we just asked him what
whales ate…"replied Genma with a shudder. "We
were five at the time."
"Daddy?" Nabiki spoke, "I don’t think I’ll
be participating in the training if you don’t mind…"
"No, Nabiki I’m afraid you
must. Kasumi and Akane too. I have been too lenient
with you all. I’ve tried to be a good father, but I couldn’t ever be a good
sensei to you. I think you all need that, but yes, Genma no cats or wh-whales please."
Genma nodded solemnly. The table
was silent for a few moments then Nabiki spoke again. "I still don’t see
how you’re going to keep this place running without my help, Daddy. Even if you
got a better job and the students started coming in, you would be struggling
just to break even…face it, you need me." Nabiki smirked.
Something about Nabiki’s smirk smacked
of a challenge. Ranma wasn’t about to let it go unanswered. "Um…I could
work at a restaurant or something, maybe I could pay
rent… I got some experience in
"Oh Ranma-chan would make
an excellent waitress!" Kasumi exclaimed.
"That’s not exactly what I
had in mind…" Ranma grumbled sullenly.
"Good. It’s settled then. I
hereby call this family meeting adjourned. Kasumi, you may start dinner."
With that, Nabiki went to her room and Akane followed Kasumi into the kitchen.
That left Ranma, Genma and Soun at the table. "Ranma…Genma told us all a
story of how you and he went to Jusenkyo." Ranma’s eyes went wide.
"Genma’s always been talented at making a good story. I just want you to
know that I tend to believe the first one he told me…" Soun glanced pointedly
at Genma "…the one about you being a boy, more. But you are a girl now for
whatever reason, and so I will treat you as such, until you prove to me
otherwise." Soun stood up. "Genma, I’m going to my room right now.
Please keep anyone from coming in until supper’s ready." Then Soun walked
in his room, and slammed the door shut. Genma sat in front of the door indian-style. After a few moments Ranma thought she could
hear wailing coming from inside the room.
"I hope you learned your
lesson tonight, girl." Genma said flatly. "And you’d better start
looking for that job, right after you go to school tomorrow."
Ranma didn’t say anything in
protest, she just gulped and nodded. Something bothered her about how her
father spoke just then. It wasn’t that he insisted she go to school, it wasn’t
even the almost natural way in which he called her a girl. No, the thing that
bothered her is that he was right. She had acted foolishly when she drank the
vial. She hadn’t thought of how it would affect other people, she had only
thought of the consequences to herself, and then only in passing. Furthermore,
the implied threat in Genma’s voice was not that he would punish her. It was
that he would lose all respect for her. Ranma really didn’t quite realize these
reasons at the time, though. At the time she just felt extremely young and
stupid. At the time she just suddenly had the urge to hug her father, or maybe
just to cry. Since she’d rather die than do that, she left to see how Akane and
Kasumi were doing in the kitchen.
~~~~~*~~~~~
Ranma looks at the vial in her
hands back in the furo. It will not break. It was in her hair for two weeks in
Ranma realizes that she can’t
really bring herself to throw it away. It means something now. Something important. And if she left the vial in the trash,
she’d be leaving that…something behind as well.
At least she had a good
breakfast this morning. After witnessing first hand how abysmal Akane’s skills
at cooking are…Ranma is glad to be alive.
~~~~~*~~~~~
"Do you know how to cook,
Ranma-chan?" Kasumi said to Ranma when she entered the kitchen. Her voice
betrayed her desperation.
"I guess a little."
Ranma admitted.
"That’s Ranma Saotome for
‘I’m a master chef.’" Akane translated with a giggle.
"Well I learned to cook out
on the road, and I did work in a restaurant for a while…" Ranma explained
a little embarrassed. Cooking was a woman’s art, and should only be done if
necessary, or so the little Genma in her brain told her. Her father always
teased him about it, when he would make meals on the road. But
if Ucchan could do so could he, and so he always
worked to perfect his methods. After Jusenkyo, he was a little more
sensitive about the issue though. "Oh and when I was young I’d help out my
friend with his Okonomiyaki making every now and then, but I really wasn’t any
good."
"Do you think you can cut
the vegetables while I help my sister?" Kasumi asked hopefully.
"Sure…I guess. Hey are you
going to use your mother’s notebook?"
"Um…yes." Kasumi
replied nervously picking it up and hugging it to herself possessively.
"So what’s so special about
it, if ya don’t mind me asking.
I mean I know it was your mother’s and all but…"
"Come on, show her,
Kasumi!" Akane prodded. Hesitantly Kasumi nodded and opened the book in
front of Ranma. "Look March 2nd: Cabbage rolls, March 3rd: Stir fry rice,
March 4th: Prawns and chili sauce…"
"Wow! She really liked to
strap on the ol’ feed bag huh!" Ranma could see
Akane was not amused, "Er…bad joke, sorry."
Akane smiled slightly. "That’s
not why its special, baka!”
"Not only are daily menus
listed, but she gives tips on picking proper ingredients. The preparation is
described in the most…minute…detail. It is only because of this book that I can
cook as well as I can." Kasumi explained.
"Oh. That’s pretty cool I
guess. Why’s it so small?"
Kasumi looked a little startled
and then gave a smile that seemed a little wider than it should be and said
"Who knows?"
"Right. Well, I guess I better get started on
those vegetables…" Ranma said moving to the lettuce, tomatoes and other
things on the counter. Kasumi was hiding something. Ranma was sure of that… but
she was also sure it was none of her business.
She was just about to throw the
vegetables in the air to start cutting them in the manner she was accustomed to
when Kasumi reminded her to wash them first. Chagrined that she would forget
something like that Ranma did so. And then she started, whipping her knife
through the air in rapid precise strokes so that the tomatoes would be cut in
perfect wedges, the celery in perfect sticks, and that everything would land in
the bowl in a symmetrical arrangement. This was the Art. This was what Ranma
loved. And when everything landed as it was supposed to and fell into place
like pieces in a child’s toy…Ranma was truly happy.
Kasumi and Akane clapped
enthusiastically. "See, oneechan?" Akane
giggled "I told you she was being modest."
"Oh that wasn’t cookin’ ,
really. There’s this dojo Pop and I went to…specialized in knife and dagger
training. They do that sorta thing all the time over
there."
"Well, I wish I could do
that!" Akane said sincerely.
"Um…I think we should start
with something a little more simple, Akane-chan."
Kasumi said nervously.
Ranma remembers wondering why
Kasumi was so worried. She remembers seeing the disappointment in Akane’s eye.
She remembers wondering why Akane was acting like a kid finally getting a
chance to explore a forbidden section of town. She kept thinking that surely
Akane knew how to cook, after all, she was a girl right? Why was it Ranma was
the one helping Kasumi and not Akane? But that was before Kasumi tried to teach
Akane how to boil water.
Often during traumatic events it
seems like time slows down. It was like that with this.
Imagine a scene in slow motion.
A Japanese girl, sixteen years old with long black hair tied in a ribbon and
wearing a frilly apron over a light red dress lifts her hand up and waves
dismissively…up…down..up…She speaks and her voice is low and distorted "Oh I
already know how to boil water Kasumi! I don’t need the book for
that!" Now she takes a coffee mug and slams it down on the range. Vibrations
ripple out eerily from the impact point. The mug cracks. "Oh I guess I
better tape that up first!" The young girl reaches down to open the
cabinet under the sink. There are pots and pans here. "Where’s the masking
tape, Kasumi?"
An older, more mature looking
girl also with long hair stares in horror. "Akane…maybe you should try…a
larger container?" She says desperately.
"Oh! I guess you’re
right!" The young girl, like an eighteen wheeler swerving to avoid a small
dog, picks up the largest pot in the cabinet and slams it down on the range.
The mug shatters. "Oops! I forgot that was there! I guess I better fill
this first huh?"
"Akane-chan, you may want
to wash that out, I was using that for the laundry, and it still has some
bleach…"
"I’m sure it’ll be
fine!" The girl smiles as she fills the massive pot (more like a basin
really) almost to the top with water. Then she hauls it back and slams it on
the range again.
"Hey
uh…Akane? Dontcha think that pot’s a bit big?"
"Well obviously."
The girl says in response. The girl looks at the pot impatiently "Why
isn’t this boiling? I know!" She finds some stir-fry oil.
"Akane-chan, I don’t
think…"
The girl pours half the oil out
trying to get it underneath the large pot.
"Umm, Akane…Could ya please stop…"
She realizes she hasn’t turned
the range on yet. She turns on the gas but nothing seems to happen. You start
to tense up as it seems you are the only one that hears the tiny hissing sound.
"Akane?!"
The girl,
after looking perplexed for way too long smiles and presses the little red
button…
There’s something strangely
beautiful about an explosion. The colorful folds of fire rush toward you like
an exotic flower, and it makes you think of your childhood, that time you did
such and such with so and so and one or both of you did something incredibly
stupid. It makes you think of growing up, and all the lessons you learned along
the way. You think of all things you could have said to all the people you
never paid much attention to before to make them like you or get them pissed
off properly. You think of all these things and before you know it, your life
is flashing before your eyes. If you’re lucky, you’re someone with swift
reflexes and all this is going on while you are throwing yourself down to the
floor.
Ranma considered herself extremely lucky.
She managed to bring Akane down
with her, and Kasumi was already huddled in the far corner of the room so she
was safe. After the initial explosion there remained the tiny problem of the
oil blazing all over the stovetop. Ranma learned then that water doesn’t work
that well against that type of fire. Akane learned that neither does Chlorox. Kasumi ended up saving the day with a few bags of
salt. All of the damage was pretty much localized around the stove and sink
area and it wasn’t that extensive, still Kasumi was visibly shaken from the
whole ordeal so Ranma offered to cook the rest of the meal outside. Kasumi
relented and that night the Tendos and Saotomes ate around a fire in their
backyard. The police, as Ranma found out later, called after a bit, but they
were lenient and just told Tendo-san not to make a fire again without a permit.
Everyone was impressed with how
good the food was. Open fire cooking usually consists of boiling water for rice
and sticking fish or some other animal on a sharpened sticks and burning it
thoroughly. Ranma managed, from sheer trial and error experience, to cook a
meal that was not only edible but good. It was barbecue, Japanese style.
"Saotome," Soun
declared, "Your daughter will have no problem finding a husband."
"She’s my little
princess." Genma deadpanned. Ranma kicked him into the pond. After a good
ten-minute spar, which provided entertainment for the Tendos.
Ranma sat down between Akane and Kasumi a little winded.
"That was a very nice meal,
Ranma-chan, I never knew you could do that on an open
flame."
"Yeah, the trick is to keep
the ashes from getting into the food. Then you gotta
keep everything moving ‘cause otherwise ya get charcoal..."
Akane was crying
"What’s wrong Akane?"
Ranma asked. She couldn’t stand it when girls cried.
"I’m so sorry Ranma! I just
wanted to help out, and I ended up almost k-killing everyone."
"Uh...heh
heh, that’s alright Akane. I mean so what if you
can’t cook?" Ranma tried to make Akane feel better but the explosion was
still fresh on her mind.
"I can cook just
fine!" Akane replied angrily.
"You’re...joking
right?" Ranma asked confused "You can’t even boil water, and that’s
pretty basic..."
"Ranma NO
BAKA!"
Akane got up and ran into the house.
Ranma followed her. Akane
stopped in front of the kitchen. "Akane, I..."
"Don’t come near me!"
She said as she swung her leg toward Ranma’s head in a hook kick.
Ranma dodged and used both her
hands to push the leg away, causing Akane to get slightly off balance. Ranma
then used her momentum to throw a spinning side kick to Akane’s sternum
knocking her to the floor. "C’mon, Akane, this is stupid. If ya wanna spar let’s go over to
the dojo or something." Ranma offered Akane a hand up.
Akane sat up but didn’t accept
the hand. Instead she buried her face in her hands and sobbed, "You don’t
understand!"
Ranma kept her hand out in the
same position for a moment or two and then, realizing it wasn’t going to be
that easy, retracted it and sat down next to Akane on the floor. "This is
about your cooking...isn’t it."
Akane nodded.
"Aw jeez,
Akane! That ain’t nothing to get upset about!
I mean your sister said even she couldn’t boil water at one time, and that’s
what the notebook starts out with so your mother musta
had the same problem. You just need some practice or something" Ranma had
an idea, "Hey you want some tea? Then you can
watch me while I do it and then you can try."
"Okay," Akane agreed
quietly.
Ranma got up and prepared the
tea, making sure her movements were slow and precise. When it was ready she
gave Akane a cup. "You think you can do that now?"
"Sure. Looks
easy!"
"I’ll just go ahead pour
then okay?"
"Uh
sure."
Ranma poured until the cup was
filled to the brim...and then she poured some more.
"Hey! Ow!
Stop pouring, baka!"
Ranma stopped. "Do ya get it? It’s one of those medal
for thingies."
"Huh?"
"Your father never told you
‘bout this? Okay, well see the cup’s like a medal for
your brain, and the tea, well that’s a medal for knowledge..."
"Oh you mean
‘metaphor’!"
"Uh...yeah, that’s what I
said ain’t it? Anyway your brain gets filled up with
knowledge right? Kinda like that cup gets filled with
tea. So after a while new knowledge can’t get in. It spills all over the place
and makes a big mess."
"Okay, so what?"
"Well you see if ya wanna learn something ya gotta empty your cup."
"Won’t I lose the knowledge
then?"
"That’s just it, once you
drink the tea it becomes a part of you right? Same with the
knowledge. Get it out of your brain, pretend like its not there and then
it just sorta becomes part of you and you can learn
something else."
"So... basically you’re
saying that I shouldn’t think I know something, when in fact I don’t."
"Uh...yeah, that’s about
it. There’s always something ya don’t know. And if
you just remember that you can perfect whatever it is you’re doing."
Akane drank her tea.
"So... you think ya can boil water now?" Ranma asked.
"I don’t know... but I’d
like to try." Akane smiled.
"Right, let’s try out that
notebook okay?"
Akane nodded.
"Um...urgh...Akane!...I...can’t breathe!"
"Oh
sorry!" Akane
released Ranma and wiped her eyes. "It’s just..." Akane carefully
took the teapot off the burner and turned the stove off. "Ranma do you
think you could be my sensei?"
"Jeez... I don’t know
maybe. I’ve never done anything like that before..."
"Come on Ranma, you just
did! No one’s been able to teach me like that!"
"But your father wants Pops
to train ya..."
"But my dad and your dad
are both men!"
Ranma wasn’t sure how to deal
with that one. "Er... Akane, there’s something you
oughta know..."
"I know! How about you
train me in cooking and the Art, and I’ll teach you
how do be more of a girl, deal?"
"Um...okay?"
"Great! This’ll be
fun!"
"Yeah...but really I gotta let you know something" Ranma couldn’t keep the
truth from Akane. It just wasn’t right.
"What is it?"
"Well you see, I’m really a guy." There. The truth was out. Ranma
looked at Akane to see what her reaction was.
Akane laughed "I’ll say!
I’ve got my work cut out for me!"
That wasn’t quite what Ranma was
looking for. "Er...no you
don’t understand... I was with Pop at Jusenkyo..."
"Oh your dad told us all
about that. Weird that the panda water would make him think you were a boy, but
I guess it isn’t that weird considering that it... well turned him into a
panda."
Ranma gave up. She just hoped
Akane didn’t hate her when she found out. She yawned and looked at the clock on
the wall. "Jeez, it’s kinda late, ain’t it?"
"You’re right! And
tomorrow’s your first day at school!"
~~~~~*~~~~~
"Growf
Groww!" Comes through the
door. Ranma has spent a little longer in here than she ought to. She
sighs. If she doesn’t leave soon, she’ll be late to school. And she’ll be going
to school as a girl. She really REALLY shouldn’t have
drank what was in the vial. If she throws it away
though, she’ll be giving up somehow. The vial is some sort of challenge. Can
Ranma get through six months of this? What if it’s permanent?
This morning, sparring Pops
she’d almost forgotten her troubles. And then he called her a girl again and
kicked her into the pond and it all came back. She didn’t retaliate just then,
she just sat in the cold water feeling defeated. Her father was still better
than her even after the ten years of training and with Ranma’s benefit of
youth. When her father realized his jibes weren’t having the same effect as
they usually did he slunk off to breakfast. For almost a minute she sat there,
thinking. She sat there as the koi swam around her and tried to come to terms
with the sick feeling she felt in her heart. She wasn’t sure what it was exactly.
Maybe it was that so many things that were certain were now unknown. Maybe it
was that she was frightened of what was coming, or maybe it was just that at
that time Ranma Saotome felt very much like a girl. Whatever it was she shook
it off, walked into the house, kicked her father into the pond and sat down for
breakfast.
Ranma ties the vial back into
her pigtail. She isn’t beaten yet. She’ll beat her father soon, whatever sex
she is. Besides she’s a sensei now, she has a responsibility to her student to
be the best. She has responsibility to herself. She gets up out of the furo and
dries off.
Ranma Saotome never loses.
~~~~~[Evaporation]~~~~~
Author Notes:
This was a chapter that would
not die. I liked writing it but boy am I glad its
done. I tried to keep everyone in character but if anyone’s OOC then I blame it
on the idea monster that lives in my brain. He can be a royal pain sometimes,
demanding scenes that would never happen in the anime and
what not.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed.
In particular Nemesis Zero who gave me an idea of how to start the sucker when
he complained about the vial. Now the thing’s going to be in the whole fic J