Webdragon Nullifier 122. The very name strikes terror into the hearts of stout people in a world of superhuman martial artists, and magical items. Yet, such people have a relationship with the Nullifier that is tentative, dangerous, yet necessary to the utmost degree. Webdragon presents Nullifier 122, a fanfic - remastered and reworked. [WARNING : It has some semi-lemon bits but don't let them distract you from the story within.] C&C is welcome. Ranma 1/2 = (C) of Shogakukan Nullifier 122 by Webdragon Nullifier 122 ----------------- Part One : Divisions ------------------------- It is a special day at Furinkan High School. Today, the annual festival and fair of all the departments is in full swing. The Arts department is staging its own production of "The Monkey King" while the Home Economics classes have been whipping up a batch of goodies. The Science department is proudly showing off its homemade landmines and improved chloroform gas while the Sports department is roughing it up in the field and in the dojo. Akane and Ranma are touring each exhibit one by one. "Wow! Ranma, look at these dresses! The Fashion students are really something!" Akane touched a dark red dress with admiration. Ranma looked unimpressed at the assortment of dresses with low-cut bosoms and he snorted in derision. "What's wrong? Don't think you'll look good in them?" Akane peered at Ranma with a sly look on her face. "WHAT?! Keep it down, stupid!" "I'm just kidding! Ranma, you're such a dope sometimes." "What makes you think I'll wear a dress?! I'm a guy!" "Not in your normal form, idiot! In your girl body! Come to think of it, you'd really look good in one of these dresses. Especially this red one." Akane takes the red dress out and puts it on her front. "HEY!! I'm a GUY, alright? So what if I'm a girl half the time. It's not my fault anyhow." He looked so hurt that it was over-exaggerated and Akane laughed. Ranma glared at Akane suspiciously as she put the dress back. "Hey! What's so funny?!" "Can't you take a joke?" Akane walks around to another dress. "Akane!" It was Sayuri. "Come take a look at this dress!" Akane examines a blue dress, noting the satiny feel of silk. She blushes slightly when she sees the slit on both sides of the dress, the better to show the legs off. Her blush turns even redder upon noticing the low cut bosom. Sayuri notices Akane's blush and she laughs. "The better to catch guys with, Akane." Sayuri leans closer and she whispers into Akane's ear. "If you *really* wanted to catch Ranma's attention, why not buy this dress?" "What!? What makes you.....", Akane drops her voice to a whisper, "...I mean...what makes you think I want Ranma anyhow? He's insensitive, he insults me, he....." "Don't be coy, Akane. Anemi and the girls know." Sayuri raises her voice. "Anyway, I'll sell it to you cheap. Only two thousand yen. That's a steal compared to the sort of dresses you find in the department store." "No thanks, Sayuri. Hey, are you still up for the slumber party?" "Yes! Tonight, at your place, seven p.m.? All of us are coming!" "That's great, Sayuri!" "I hope P-Chan will be there, too. If you can find him, that is." "I'll try my best to find him. I promise." "Hey!" It was the fashion teacher. "Quit dawdling and come help me, Sayuri!" Sayuri waves to Akane as she and Ranma leave. "Well, these seem almost like the last of them. Let's go home. I'm starving!" Akane turned about at Ranma's words, after having waved goodbye to Sayuri. "What was that?" she asked. "I said, these must be, like, the last of them. I'm hungry and I want to go home." "No. Don't you think of anything else but your stomach, Ranma? We're not leaving yet." "Why not?" Ranma looked almost beside himself in indignant outrage. "The map I have here says that there's one more exhibit just around the corner." "*One* more measly, crummy...ooof!" Akane removes her elbow from Ranma's stomach. "Why are you so insensitive? Now I know you're really a guy, and not just a sex-changing pervert! A guy is always so insensitive! Give them, whoever it is, a chance at least!" "At least I don't go boo-hooing over the slightest thing, like girls do." Ranma hops out of range of Akane's elbow. "By the way, who is it?" Akane stared hard at the map, looking at it from different angles and even turning it upside down. "It...doesn't say. It just says `61'." "Yeah, yeah. Let's get it over with." As the two round the corner it seems as if the brightness and the cheer of the atmosphere suddenly reversed itself and turned into darkness and gloom. No lights were on in this corridor, only candles lit the way to the Exhibit 61. "This is creepy!" Akane instinctively inches close to Ranma, but she catches herself and forces herself to walk at least a foot or two apart from him. "Reminds me of somebody, though....." The two halt as they see Gosunkugi sitting behind a booth with the words `Voodoo Items' on the sign. Various puppets hang from frayed bits of cord under the sign, dangling above trinkets and bottles of potions. He stands up and looks forlornly at them. It seems as if nobody had visited his stand since he had it set up. The counter beside the stand stood at a grand total of zero. Gosunkugi turns his dark-rimmed eyes to Akane. "H-hello, Akane!" "Umm...you're Gosunkugi, right?" Akane peered at Gosunkugi and tried to place a name to the face while Ranma waved rather condescendingly to him. "Hey, weirdo! Watcha got over there?" Akane glares at Ranma and almost elbows him in the stomach. "Be polite, stupid!" "Okay, okay!" Ranma walked up to the stand and scanned it. Mallets, nails, various potions, candles and matches...all of it seemed like junk. Ranma spends some time looking through the paraphernalia, picking and discarding items as he listens to Gosunkugi's speech with a disinterested ear. Ranma picks up an ornament. "What's this?" "That amulet is supposed to take your warts away." "Right." Ranma tosses it back on the heap of junk and fishes through it with his hand. Eventually, his fingers settled on a tiny bottle of liquid that looked, for all the world, like a bottle of perfume. Yet, no such perfume swirled inside its container with a life of its own. "Hey, what's this? Cologne?" "That's a bottle of Nullifier, Blend 122. It's supposed to cure curses, illnesses, and...." "Just more of your jun..I mean, your stuff. Hmph. Supposed to cure curses and.....", Ranma double takes. What did Gosunkugi say, again? "Did you say...cure curses? Akane leaned forward in interest. "Cure....curses?" she asked with a bit of hesitation. , she thought, "Why, yes I did. But it's pretty old stock and....." "Can it really cure curses? Can it?" exclaimed Ranma, nearly beside himself in excitement. "Just follow the directions, Saotome." Ranma looks at the label. "But...but it's in Chinese!! I can't read that!" "Did I forget to mention that it's from the Baiyan-Kalan Range, Qinghai province of China? Apparently it was a tribal treasure of some sort. Now, it's a family heirloom." "How did your family get possession of such an important object?" Akane took the Nullifier from Ranma and looked at it. "My father was given it by a man. More, I cannot tell." "Well, how much for it?" Ranma started to dig into his pockets. "You can have it, if you wish. I don't really think it will have much effect after all these long years. Besides, you people were the only ones to visit my stand today. It makes me feel like I've accomplished something with this little gesture of mine." "Thank you, Gosunkugi." Akane bows, and still manages to jab Ranma in the side with her elbow. "T-thanks, man" Ranma sketches a short, quick bow. "Anytime." Gosunkugi flicks off his flashlight and plunges the hallway into darkness. The black-out lasts only a few seconds and the lights come back on in the hallway. Ranma and Akane are surprised, and more than a little spooked, to see no sign of Gosunkugi or his stand. It was almost as if he had disappeared. "C'mon, Ranma. Let's get out of here." Akane could fairly feel the goosebumps rising out of her skin and travelling all over her body in droves. "Y-yeah. Let's." Half an hour later, Ranma and Akane are on their way home. Ranma examining the bottle with much interest, somehow keeping his balance on the fence at the same time. He even went as far as to open it and take a sniff of the contents. "Hmmm...it...it smells funny." Ranma restoppered the bottle. "Hey, are you sure you want to use that thing?" "What if it can really cure me, Akane? Nullifier, Blend 122. Sounds pretty important. If it sounds important, it has a good chance of being important." "How are you going to read the directions on it?" Akane turned her attention back to the path. "I'm not. You go on home, Akane. I'll just be a second." "Why? What do you mean....oh. Nekohanten? I'm coming along too." "Ummm...okay, if you want." Ranma seemed quite a bit nervous at Akane accompanying him to the Nekohanten and he showed it by fidgeting constantly. The two reach the restaurant in short order and the both of them walk in. The place is nearly full and they managed to find a two-seater table. Shampoo flounces over and gives Ranma a hug. Akane simply sipped at her tea, seeming to pay no attention, but the tea cup shook with her effort not to crush it into tiny bits. "Ranma! Shampoo so happy see you! Shampoo go get ramen for Ranma! On house!" Shampoo starts to bounce away but Ranma grabs a corner of her apron and pulls her back. She looks surprised at first, but it quickly changes to a smile. Akane's cup cracks, just a little. "Could you also bring the old ghoul too? I wanna speak with..." An expertly aimed chopstick shot out of the kitchen and landed smack on the side of Ranma's head. Moving with incredible speed, a short figure came out of the kitchen and stood at Ranma's side, just in time to catch the chopstick as it fell. The diners clapped at this incredible feat of skill and speed. "Who's an old ghoul, sonny boy?" "I...uh..take that back." "I see my future son-in-law still needs a little ironing-out. Well, enough of all that. What was it you wanted to see me about?" "It's about this." Ranma fishes out the Nullifier from his pocket and he hands it to Cologne, who peers at it in astonishment. "It's a...a Nullifier, Blend 122. My tribe used to have one of these. It was old when I was a young girl just three hundred years ago. I was told by a village elder about its use but I forget what she had said. It has been so long, you know. Anyhow, how did you get a hold of this? It is exclusive to the Bayan-Kalan Range of the Qinghai province of China and it has never been duplicated outside of China." "We got it from Gosunkugi." Akane sets her tea cup on the table. "Gosunkugi?" Ranma leans back on his chair and Shampoo leaves, to take customer's order. Cologne gives the bottle back to Ranma. "He's some nerd at our school who thinks that magic is real and voodoo curses work." "What's his background?" Akane sighs. "We don't know. Nobody knows, not even the teachers. Why do you ask?" "Oh, don't worry about it, dear." "But I'm not really following any of this. Can you explain it to us, please?" Cologne contemplates that question for a few moments, then she nods and hops up on a seat. She motions Akane and Ranma close, so others wouldn't hear what she had to say. "Our tribe had suffering from a band of marauding tigers. Not a week would go by without one of our tribe getting mauled or killed by these beasts. A travelling sorcerer by the name of X'ian Taolu managed to destroy each and every one of the beasts. In gratitude, we gave him two of our treasures. One was this Nullifier, Blend 122. I don't remember the second item, but it was the most important of all." "So....this is your Nullifier, then?" said Ranma as he held the bottle up to the light, to show off the swirling, purple liquid. "It's very possible, son-in-law." "But that would make the man who gave the Nullifier to Gosunkugi's father over three hundred years old!" exclaimed Akane in surprise. "You would be surprised to find out just how irrational our world is. Stranger things have happened, and will happen again." "What's that supposed to mean?" asked Ranma. "Exactly what it means. Take me, example." "No thanks." "As an example, foolish boy, not as your bride. Unless....you really mean it?" Ranma looks sick at that thought and Cologne smirks in triumph. "Okay, whatever. What do the instructions say on the side?" Akane took the bottle from Ranma and gave it to Cologne. "It says to use it while taking a bath in water that's neither hot nor cold. I assume that means lukewarm water. Effects will occur after a few minutes. That's it. Exactly what its effects are, I don't remember." "Alright!! I can give this one a try then, right?" Ranma held the bottle carefully. "No, not yet. The elder told me its exact purpose and I wouldn't want my future son-in-law to be exposed to unpredictable magic. Let me try and remember it before you use it, boy. The water is the key....." "She's right, Ranma. Who knows what it would do?" Ranma was in possession of another possible cure for his condition, and he knew it well. Such cures had come and gone, and while he felt that it was yet another cure in a long succession of cures - he still couldn't help but feel a huge thrill of excitement and anticipation. His curse could be nullified for good! All he had to do was use the Nullifier 122 and whatever happens, happens. If he got cured, so much the better. If he didn't, it won't cost him anything. At least, he hoped so. Cologne hops off the chair and starts to walk back to the kitchen. "I'll get Shampoo to bring you two some ramen", she calls over her shoulder. On the house. Remember, son-in-law, not to use it until I remember what it's used for." She leaves and heads back into the kitchen, deep in thought. Shampoo comes out after a short while and places two orders of ramen on the table. Ranma and Akane eat their food and leave to walk back home. The afternoon sun rose high and a cool wind sweeps the leaves from the path. The two walk into the Tendo residence. Kasumi is drying a new batch of clothes on the line. Soun and Genma are playing go, each trying to outmanoeuvre the other. A bird trills its song on the branch of a cherry blossom tree, which overlooks a pond, where graceful carp swim. Nabiki is watching TV, and Happosai...well, only God knows where he is, or what he's doing, and He's not telling. Akane takes her shoes off and steps into the house. "I'm home! Kasumi, I don't need dinner tonight, I already ate. Nabiki?" "Yes?" "Did anyone call for me?" "Yes. Sayuri called at about five. Said something about a slumber party and she would be coming with Anemi.....and two others." Akane checks her watch. It was 5:30. "Sounds fine to me. Thanks, Nabiki." "I ought to charge you for that, but you're my sister and I'll make an exception this time." Akane heaves a sigh at Nabiki's mercenary character, yet she knows at the same time that Nabiki did have a soft spot in her heart for friends and family, no matter her outside demeanour. Kasumi stepped out of the kitchen and she beckoned to Akane. "Akane, could you come and help me make the treats for the slumber party?" Her words on Akane were instantly electrifying, making Akane pep up with newfound vigor. "I'd love to!" She was already following Kasumi into the kitchen. Ranma snorts and takes his leave, to go practice in the backyard. He sets up a circle of straw dummies and he begins to warm up, to stretch his limbs and to get into the mood. Then he launches himself into a flying kick, with his right foot just brushing the side of a dummy's face. He followed up with his left foot from behind in a roundhouse, slamming the ball of his foot into the dummy's side. Then, spinning like a top, he delivered backhand after backhand to its face with frightening speed and power, each strike making the dummy shake and sway, and culminated with a punch from his right fist that focused all the power of his ki and his muscles and broke the dummy off its stand, sending it flying to the far end of the backyard - some 30 metres away. But he wasn't finished yet. He still had three opponents remaining. A sidekick later and another straw dummy went to join the first. He leapt high into the air and landed a kick on the third, then using the third as a springboard, he bounced off and kneed the fourth in the head. In seconds, it was all over. The wreckage of four straw dummies lay about him and he wasn't even sweating. He needed more of a challenge than just fighting against set targets, but what could give him a serious workout? More importantly, who could? Kuno was a joke, and so was Mousse, although they were far superior to the best *average* martial artist. He sparred with Akane sometimes, but he found her too little of a challenge to make their matches interesting. Not that he told her, as he would be liable to receive a mallet on the head for his comments. He needed someone with whom he didn't have to pull his punches, or pass up opportunities for easy victories due to flaws in defenses, and that person would still have to give him a run for his money. That someone was Ryoga. Through their days as budding martial artists, Ranma had the advantage of a tutor - in his father, that was, while Ryoga had nobody but himself and his determination to beat Ranma. Ranma was surprised that Ryoga was such a good martial artist without having been taught in any school or by any tutor. Ranma looked about for him, hoping to see a glimpse of his bandanna, or his red umbrella and his heavy pack, or even a little black pig. He saw none of what he was looking for, even after leaping onto the rooftop with a single bound. He suddenly lost interest in working out today, as there were no challenges worthy of him on the horizon, and he went inside to take a bath. It felt strange, but refreshing to take a break from his usual routine. As he stepped by the kitchen, he heard Kasumi asking Akane to fetch her ingredients and other things - and he did not hear her asking Akane to make the sweets. Though Kasumi seemed rather oblivious at times, Ranma was not really surprised to see such insight and thoughtfulness in her - she wasn't about to let Akane, with her underdeveloped `cooking' skills, make the sweets that would seal her friends' collective fates. Ranma grabs his bath stuff from his room and puts the Nullifier bottle into his bath pail. He was not about to let it go out of sight just yet! He stripped his clothing off and hung it on pegs behind the door, taking care to lock it as he did, then he filled the tub with hot water while he sat on a plastic chair. Then he tipped a bucket of cold water over himself and she shivered at the chilliness. She pours more cold water on herself, making sure that she washed every inch of herself. She lifts each of her breasts, mumbling and muttering to herself as she pours the water under them. When she was a guy, she never had to do this! It irked her to see, and feel, body parts that only a girl should be most familiar with. The tub was almost full of hot water and she turned the tap off. Now she would let it cool down a bit while she soaped herself. As she was smaller as a girl, she could get herself soaped faster and thereby getting into the hot tub sooner. She couldn't deny herself the fact that she had a killer body, for a teenage girl. Her breasts were the largest of any girl, part-time or not, in Furinkan High and her figure rivalled that of Shampoo in pleasing contours. What made all the difference was that this body was *hers*, and not belonging to another girl. As she scrubs her back, she started to wonder what it would be like to be free of the curse...right now. Wonder changed to curiosity, and curiosity quickly turns into temptation. The little bottle seemed to beckon to her, seemed to invite her to pour its contents into the bath. Ranma-chan sat unmoving for quite a long time, thinking and weighing the pros and cons of using something she didn't even know about. But she was, by nature, stubborn and unwilling to wait. What does the old ghoul know anyway? She waited until the bath water had cooled to lukewarm, then she opened the bottle and slowly let a single drop fall out. The purple liquid dissipated quickly. Ranma-chan hesitates for a second, then she washes the soap off herself with a bucket of hot water and he gets into the tub. He thought he felt a slight tingle but wasn't sure. Convinced that not enough Nullifier was used, Ranma tips it just enough for another drop. Unfortunately, through a combination of soapy hands and blind fate, the bottle slips from his grip and falls with a plop into the tub. Cursing, he flailed blindly under the surface of the water with his hands, grabbing for the bottle, but it kept slipping out of his grasp - as if it had a mind of its own. After three futile tries, he managed to get a hold of it and he held it up. Where once was purple liquid, now only water remained. The tingle started even as his eyes widened in the realization of what he did. The sensation felt like tiny needle pricks on the part of his body that was submerged in the lukewarm water. The tingle quickly increased in intensity and Ranma tried to get out of the bath. But his legs felt like lead and the water seemed as viscous as wet cement. He tried to call for help but nothing came out, just a strangled croak. The tingling now probed the beginning of real pain, and Ranma was helpless! Suddenly an explosion of light burst forth from the waters and engulfed Ranma, delivering him into the realm of unconsciousness. * * * "Ice cream, everyone!" Kasumi stepped out of the kitchen with a tray that had a tub of ice cream and a number of bowls and spoons. Practically everyone dropped whatever they were doing and they rushed for the table. Kasumi smiles as she begins dishing out the treat. It was one of the many things everyone liked about her - she was apt to spring pleasant surprises in subtle, yet tangible ways. Akane took a spoonful of the ice cream and she licked it. Then she looked around. "Where's Ranma? He loves this flavor of ice cream", she asked. "Last I saw of him was when he went to take a bath, like half an hour ago. You know, he's been in there awfully long.....", replied Nabiki. "Oh, my. I hope there's nothing wrong. I'll go check on him", assured Kasumi as she stood up. Akane shoos Kasumi back and seats her in her chair, pushing a bowl of ice cream before her. "Don't worry about him. Let's keep his share in the freezer. He's bound to come out any moment now." Minutes pass and everyone finishes their ice cream and go back to whatever they were doing before. Soon, an hour has passed since Ranma went inside the bath. Kasumi turns to Akane. "Akane, why don't you go check on Ranma?" "Sure. Whatever you say. I hope nothing has happened...." Akane gets up and she runs to the bath, fearing the worst. * * * Ranma-chan woke up in the bath, feeling the cool water on her lower torso and the air on her upper torso. She found herself slumped in one corner of the bath, one arm dangling over the edge and the other on her lap, both her legs folded beneath her. She sat up straight and examined herself for any injuries. She found none. Ranma-chan glances over the edge of the tub and sees the empty bottle of Nullifier lying there. "Well....that didn't seem to work. Oh well, just another thing that seemed to be a cure." She raises herself out of the tub. And falls straight back on her butt, splashing a considerable amount of water out of the tub. She rubbed her eyes once, then twice. Ranma was *right there* at the other end of the tub. She was so shocked that she couldn't even think, nor move, nor react in any other way than to stare in surprise. Ranma awoke from unconsciousness and lay looking at the bath ceiling for a long moment or two. He could feel the cool water of the bath lapping at his body. He tentatively felt himself from head to toe, making sure as to what sex he was at the moment. No mistake about it, he was male. A grab in between his legs confirmed that to him. And that meant.....Ranma bolted upright, a huge smile on his face. He heard a little splash from the other end of the tub, and looked up. Ranma stared at Ranma-chan sitting at the other end of the tub, who was staring back just as surprised, and as naked, as he was. "Ummm....this is just a dream, right?" asked Ranma-chan as she fidgeted not a metre from Ranma. "It must be a dream. No way there could be my female self right across from me. No way." Ranma rubbed his eyes and pinched his skin. "But...I'm right here. Why is it....I mean...why are you.....there?" "I...I should ask you the same question. This has gotta be a dream! I mean....I'm male and I'm here...and you're female and over there. It just...just doesn't make sense!" Ranma bangs his head on the tub, a decision he immediately regretted for he cut his forehead on the edge. He felt the pain searing on his head and he felt the blood dripping from the cut. He tasted the blood. It tasted salty. This couldn't be a dream! In addition to the pain, he felt the stirrings of sexual arousement beginning, just by looking at his naked female form. He remembered what he was thinking about before, when he had been female and soaping himself, and he turns beet red. He never realized how exact and accurate his thoughts had been until now....! Ranma-chan saw Ranma's reddening face. Putting one and one together, she crossed both her arms across her breasts and turned her lower body away from Ranma. "S-sorry. Are you...are you real?" Ranma inches a little closer to Ranma-chan. "As real as that!" Ranma-chan shrinks away from Ranma and nods at the growing erection between Ranma's legs, not daring to take her arms off herself. "I can't help it! If you're real, then take my hand. I want to feel you, to see if you're...you're really real." Ranma stretches out a hand which Ranma-chan slaps away, and quickly covers herself again. "You pervert! How dare you try and feel me!" Ranma looks at the reddening slap mark on his hand and he looks back up at Ranma-chan. "It's true. You're real." "This has gotta be a dream! I can't be with you. You are me. I am you. We are the same people.....unless.... the Nullifier really did work. But, I thought it was supposed to nullify curses..." "It did. I'm not female." "I'm...I'm gonna put some hot water into the tub." Still holding an arm over her breasts, she gets out and walks over to the tap, which was near by Ranma. She bends over and turns the hot water tap on. She leaves the tap running and she sits right next to the taps, letting her body get the hot water first. Ranma sat there, mesmerized by the naked beauty next to him. "What's the matter? Never seen a real guy before?!" growled Ranma-chan. She splashes some really hot water on herself, oblivious to the pain. Ranma winced. "What guy? I...I mean...you're still a girl." Ranma-chan shot to her feet and tore her arms from her breasts. "I-AM-NOT-A-GIRL! I'm a guy now! See?" Ranma-chan thumps a hand on her chest and stands up, dripping water from her graceful curves, long legs. Ranma's eyes goggle as he takes in her water-slicked breasts, wet and shiny flanks, and her wet and still-dripping pubic hair. Ranma-chan looks down at her body. "Eeeeeeeeaaaahhh! I'm....still a girl!!" She dunks her head back under the scalding hot water. "This should....owww!....this should do the trick!" "No, stop, you fool! You'll get boiled alive!!" "Shut up, you!! I'm a guy, not a girl! C'mon, change, damn it!" Ranma grabbed Ranma-chan by the shoulders and dragged her kicking and screaming from the jet of near-boiling water shooting out the tap. She tries to throw herself under the tap again but Ranma flung both arms around her body and pulled her from the tub. His hands were clamped tight around her firm breasts, which made rather excellent hand holds. His still-erect manhood poked hard against her butt and Ranma-chan shrieked. She turns around and slugs Ranma one across the face. "PERVERT!! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!!" "H-hey! I didn't mean to do that! I was only trying to help you!" Ranma backed away defensively, one hand trying vainly to cover himself, the other in a defensive posture. Ranma-chan looked steamed, literally. Her upper torso was completely red from the near-boiling water. Suddenly conscious of her nakedness, she sinks to her knees and covers herself with her hands, which she pulled away immediately because even a mere touch on her scalded skin was pure agony. "Wh-why didn't I change back? Why? WHY??!?" "The Nullifier! It did work! But instead of curing my curse completely, it....sort of, like, separated my female half from my male half, or something. So we aren't cursed anymore, it's just that I'm back to normal and you're in a normal girl's body." Ranma stands up, still holding himself, and gets a towel. "Here, you put this on until we get this all sorted out......" The bathroom door slams open and Akane runs in, one hand clapped over her eyes. Ranma yelps in fright. "Ranma?! Is there something wrong?!" cried Akane. Ranma, in a supreme act of willpower, willed his manhood back to normal and covered himself with the towel in record time. Ranma-chan is still examining herself, trying to find out why she didn't change back. "A-Akane!" stammered Ranma. Ranma-chan took little notice. "Is Shampoo in here again?! I heard a girl's voice in here, Ranma! No use hiding, Shampoo!" Akane pulls a mallet from behind her back. "Come here, you...little...!" "Akane! Shampoo's not in here...in fact...." "In fact what? She's hanging all over you like a cheap suit? There's too much mist in here to see! How hot did you have the water anyhow, like boiling?" Ranma-chan heard nothing but the sound of her own heartbeat, and she saw nothing but her female body. Why didn't she change back? Why was she still a girl? The full horror of the situation was only beginning to assert itself onto her mind. She was no longer male. She was a female, for good it seemed. Nothing felt right. The situation was not good, for her at least, she felt very painful all over, and nothing of her body seemed to move or feel okay. Damnit, she was a guy, not a girl!! Akane stumbled into the bathroom, blindly swinging. At length, she simply dropped her hand from her eyes and she stalked the bathroom, ears tuning out the sound of the hot water tap. Through the billowing clouds of steam coming from the super-heated bath, she could make out Ranma searching for his clothing ....and a female form on the bath floor, hands out and resting on either side of her, her head turned down. "Ah-hah! There you are, Shampoo!! Hii-yaaa!" Akane lifts the mallet up over her head and brings it down on whom she thought to be Shampoo. "Aaaaahhhh!!!", cried Ranma-chan as she catches the mallet in both hands, just two or three inches from her head. "Nnnnnggrrrrrr! Die, you!!" growled Akane as she leaned into the mallet and strained against Ranma-chan's strength. Bit by bit, due to Akane's leverage, Ranma-chan's arms began to give out to the tremendous pressure. "A-Akane!! I'm Ranma!! Take a good look!" cried out Ranma-chan in desperation. "R-Ranma?" Akane looks over at Ranma in his towel, and back at the still-undefined female shape on the floor, but she did not let up on Ranma-chan. Seeing that, Ranma ran over and turned the tap off. Then he opened a window, to let all the steam out. The bathroom clears and Ranma-chan is revealed, kneeling before Akane, naked and holding off her attack. Akane let the mallet drop from nerveless fingers as she stared from Ranma to Ranma-chan and back. "What is going on here?! Ranma!" She turns on Ranma, who pulls his towel tighter. Ranma-chan dropped the mallet and she put her hands on the floor beside her, resting them. Now her thoughts were focused on Akane and she looked upwards. "Umm....the Nullifier dropped into the bath. All of it spilled into the water and then this happened." Akane knelt down next to Ranma-chan and she tentatively reached out a hand, and touched her, getting a wince and a small gasp of pain from Ranma-chan. "Ranma? Are you alright?" asked Akane. "Yeah," replied Ranma. "She means me, stupid. Well, I got burnt by the hot water. I didn't change back though...", said Ranma-chan. She closed her eyes and lowered her head. Akane looked Ranma-chan over, and she noticed finger marks on Ranma-chan's breasts - four finger marks per breast and a finger mark on either side of her back, corresponding to the level of her breasts. In other words, it looked as if someone had grabbed her from behind. "Who did that to you?!" exclaimed Akane. She looked up at Ranma. "Ranma!! You PERVERT!!" "I was only trying to pull her away from the hot water tap, stupid! Tell her!" Ranma yelled at both Akane and Ranma-chan alike. Akane got a towel from the rack and draped it over Ranma-chan. Ranma-chan's skin begins to return to normal. Two Ranmas. Akane looked them over and she sighed. If it weren't for her daily diet of wackiness and crazy events, she would have been much more surprised at this. It wasn't any crazier than super strength soba, or fathers that turn into pandas and it didn't seem any more earthshaking than those. There was always a cure, right? At least, that was what Akane was hoping for. She couldn't handle TWO Ranmas running about, could she? Akane picks the Nullifier bottle up. "You used the Nullifier, didn't you?" It was a fact, not a question and Ranma knew it. "Yeah.....", replied both Ranma and Ranma-chan. "...and it cured me of the curse!!" finished Ranma. "...it gave me the curse!!" finished Ranma-chan. Ranma and Ranma-chan look at each other at each other's words, then Ranma-chan frowns. "What are doing in my body?!" she yelled. "Your body? This is *my* body, not yours!!" Ranma pulled his towel tighter in a protective motion. "But I'm a guy, not a girl!! My body is a guy's body, not this girl's body! It's...it's *your* fault that I'm a girl, for good it seems!!" "Wha...*my* fault?! Are you forgetting that YOU put the Nullifier into the bath, shorty!?" Ranma was pointing at Ranma-chan in accusation. Akane folded her arms, and a bluish battle aura began to play about her as she fought to retain some control of her anger. "So did you!! And who are you calling shorty?!" "You!!" "Hey....guys.....", began Akane. "And you're a pervert 'cuz you tried to...." "I already told you, I was trying to help save your worthless skin from boiling alive, but I see you're an ingrate!" "What do you mean by `ingrate'?!" screeched Ranma-chan. Ranma smirked. "And I can see you're a *girl* as well!" he said with a sly look on his face. "Why you....!" "Girly-girly-girr....ly!" Ranma-chan grabs a bucket and flings it at Ranma, who catches it and whips it back. Ranma-chan dodged the missile and threw a bottle of shampoo, and Ranma dodged that as well. "See, I knew it!! Girls can't even throw straight!" taunted Ranma as Ranma-chan hefted the bath chair. "Eat this!!" screamed Ranma-chan as she began to throw it at Ranma, who made a face at her. "ENOUGH!! The both of you, shut up!" Akane had lost her cool and she whirled on Ranma. "You're at as much fault as she is, but the least the BOTH of YOU could do is to stop fighting!" Ranma-chan turned to Akane. "But he's cured and I'm not! That makes it *his* fault!" she shrieked. "Huh?" Akane didn't see the reasoning behind that. Ranma walks away. "Well, I'm not gonna stand around here like this", he called back over his shoulder even as he grabbed his clothing and left. "HEY, IDIOT!! THOSE ARE MY CLOTHES!!!", yelled Ranma-chan as she wrapped the towel securely about her body and ran after her male counterpart. Akane follows Ranma-chan out the door. Ranma was in his room, his pants on, and he was about to put on a shirt. when Ranma-chan tore in, wet, dripping and clothed in only a slip of a towel. She glares at Ranma in anger. "That's my favorite shirt you're wearing!!" she growled. "No it's not!! It's my favorite shirt!" "Give that to me!" Holding the towel in place with one hand, Ranma-chan grabbed at the shirt with the other and tried to take it away. Ranma contemptuously pulls it away from Ranma-chan's one-handed grip. Ranma-chan fairly snarled in anger and she took hold of the shirt with both her hands, pulling with all her might and leaning backwards. Unfortunately her towel took a mind of its own and fell from her body, exposing her nakedness to Ranma. Yelping in fright, Ranma-chan let go of the shirt and made a grab for her towel. Ranma couldn't resist the temptation and he kicked the towel into the air with one foot and caught it. Ranma-chan screeched and lunged for the towel but Ranma dangled it just out of reach. "Ha ha ha! Too short to reach it.....shorty?" Ranma dangled it again. Ranma-chan presses up against Ranma and stretches up for the towel, bringing a good part of her nude body against Ranma's own. There seemed to be a slight crackle of electricity as that happened, that both of them thought they could hear and feel, but nothing out of the ordinary happened just yet. Ranma noted, somewhat absently, how *soft* yet firm her breasts were - how silky her skin felt against his......how was it he never noticed such things when Shampoo did the same thing? This was his female side, for crying out loud! "GIVE ME THAT!!!" shrieked Ranma-chan in desperation. She too felt her own body against Ranma's, and she did not like how it felt at all. At least, that was what her mind told her. She was a guy, and he was a guy, and guys shouldn't, musn't, do stuff like this. Yet, her body sang a whole different tune altogether. It bombarded her with new feelings, new sensations - things she had never experienced before. Like the *excitement* she felt coursing throughout her body when the tips of her breasts rubbed against Ranma's abs, for he was still unclothed from the waist up. Or how she began to feel all hot and bothered below, and she resisted an urge to reach down and rub between her legs - to quell whatever was happening there. "Ranma!!!!" Both Ranma and Ranma-chan turn around at that voice. Ranma had only enough time to witness a fist flying at his face before he was whacked into the wall. Akane picked the towel up and gave it to Ranma-chan, who was covering herself with both hands. "Th-thanks, Akane." Ranma-chan gratefully takes the towel and she wraps herself in it. Akane turns to Ranma. "Ranma, you pervert!!" she snarled at him. Ranma-chan became outraged at that. "Hey, it's his fault!!", she yelled in protest. "Not you, idiot!! Him!!" Akane shot back while pointing at Ranma, who was just getting up from Akane's punch. "O...oh. Sorry." With that, Ranma-chan began to hunt around for clothes. Akane interposed herself between Ranma and Ranma-chan, looming dangerously over Ranma. "Alright, Akane! Alright!! Enough with that `I'm gonna kill you' look, already! I was just playing with her...!" "HIM!! I'm a guy, not a girl!!!" Ranma-chan had turned about with a shirt and a pair of pants in her hands. "A guy that has a pair of real breasts and nothing between *her* legs?" *WHACK* A clock had somehow been displaced from the top of the clothes drawer and now it was attached to Ranma's face. Ranma-chan dusted her hands off and she looked for a private place to begin changing. Seeing none, she looked at Akane with a pleading expression on her face while holding her clothes up - and Akane drags an unconscious Ranma out of the room. The door shuts behind Akane and almost immediately she heard running. "What's all the noise all about? Kasumi just told me that there seemed to be a fight going on up here!" Soun was climbing the stairs with Genma, Nabiki and Kasumi in tow. Genma adjusts the glasses on his face. "Ranma, my boy. You have fighting spirit, and so do you, Akane, but you two should keep it in the dojo, not in the house...." began Genma. Nabiki turned Ranma's head towards her. "Wow, I guess this is what you would call a `timely appearance'", punned Nabiki. "Cut it out, Nabiki. Dad, I'd....I'd like you to meet Ranma....and Ranma." "Ranma...and Ranma?" Soun looked confused, as did everyone else. Ranma's door opened and Ranma-chan breezed out, in her favorite red shirt and black pants. She was adjusting her hair with her hands, smoothing it back and making sure nothing was sticking out, and she seemed to be looking for something to look into - to see her reflection. Then she noticed six pairs of eyes on her and she turned to face them all. "What? What's wrong? Is it my hair?" asked Ranma-chan. She pulled her pigtail around and examined it with a critical eye. "Akane...tell me it's a dream", said Soun. "It's NOT a dream, Dad." "It's a dream for me, Akane!" Nabiki had produced a camera and she was twirling it around on one finger. "Oh...are they really separate people, but with the same mind?" asked Kasumi. "But I'm still Ranma, even though he's stolen *my* body...", began Ranma-chan. "*Your* body? Your body is that girl's body. My body is this guy's body. Seems pretty fair to me." "No it's not!! You're the one who screwed up by putting the Nullifier into the bath!!" "Hey, I thought I already...." "Oh, my. Where are you going to sleep, Ranma?" asked Kasumi. "In my room, Kasumi. Where else?" replied Ranma. "She means me, dummy. In my room, where else?" said Ranma-chan. "Didn't I just say that?" "So you did. It's *my* room and I ain't gonna share it with nobody!!" "No, it's *my* room and I ain't gonna share it with..." "It's *both* your rooms. And you'll both have to stay there because we don't have any other guest rooms", finished Akane. Ranma and Ranma-chan look sullen for a long moment, and they wondered if they should fight to see who would get the room. Then, they simply grumbled their assent with Akane's order. Everyone heard a tapping sound coming from below and Kasumi looked over. Cologne hopped up the stairs on her stick and landed before everyone. "Cologne!", cried Akane, "thank God you're here! Can you tell us what's going on around here?" "I was cleaning up in the Nekohanten when I suddenly *sensed* something had happened. It felt somewhat related to my roots as an Amazon, and I figured it had to be the Nullifier. I rushed over here as soon as I could and now I see the Nullifier has done its work. I guessed as much." "Guess....at what?" "The Nullifier works by cancelling the Jusenkyo curse and creating two separate individuals. Our tribe used it in times of desperate need, when the tribe is falling low in numerical superiority versus other rival tribes. It was our secret weapon, and it ensured the survival of our tribe over many generations. Our strongest warrior, or warriorress, would jump into either the Spring of Drowned Woman, or Spring of Drowned Man, respectively. Then they would use the Nullifier to separate their cursed form from their normal form. Then....." "Oh my...they get married, then?" Kasumi had a hand to her lips in astonishment. Everyone else looked confused until after they digested Kasumi's observation. "You mean....you mean...they sleep together!?" Ranma and Ranma-chan looked at each other with revulsion in their eyes. "I know that I'm not gonna sleep with that guy!!" Ranma and Ranma-chan pointed at each other. "If the Nullifier had been new stock, you would have had no choice." "Huh?" "New stock Nullifier has something called a lust spell. It makes the two split halves get feelings of incredible lust for each other. In other words, they would...how you say....*get together* and *have fun*. The two of you would be having a lot of fun right about now, and for two or three days to come. No pun intended." Akane looked rather sick at Cologne's words. Cologne continued. "BUT, luckily for the both of you it was old stock Nullifier. The lust spell had deteriorated as the dweomer fell prey to the dragon lines of ki, losing its energy to those dragon lines. You wouldn't understand, suffice to say that it's probably a good assumption to believe that the lust spell is gone for good, perhaps." Everyone else took Cologne's words at face value, but only Nabiki smirked and eyed Ranma and Ranma-chan with new interest. Cologne turned about and she left, without a word or a sound. Ranma-chan casts a dark look over her shoulder at Ranma as she went downstairs. The rest of the family dispersed, no more surprised at this than at anything else. Except for Akane. "Ranma, come over here for a sec." Akane beckoned to Ranma. "Why?" Ranma was already moving. "Just come! I want to talk to you." Ranma goes over to Akane and she leads him just around the corner, where nobody could overhear her. She waited until she was sure that Nabiki and Ranma-chan were out of earshot - indeed, she could hear Nabiki talking to Ranma-chan downstairs, and when Ranma-chan replied she didn't sound pleased. Akane turned her attention to Ranma. "Ranma, I want you see the situation from...Ranma's point of view. The female one, I mean." "What? Why should I?" Akane ignored that and she asked, "Do you know why she's so angry? "She's blaming me, but we all know that me and her are the same person. We both dropped the Nullifier into the bath, I mean. That's the thing she's blaming me for." "Exactly. She knows that it was her fault, and I've never known..um..you or her to blame other people for something that wasn't their fault. She's ticked off because...you....you don't care at all that she's stuck as a girl. You're too...too self-absorbed over your cure. You're not paying enough attention to her problems because you're too busy celebrating the end of *your* problems." Akane looked Ranma in the eyes, to tell him that she was dead serious. Ranma's face reddened slightly in embarrassment from receiving a lecture from Akane, feeling almost like he was a dog who had done something bad and was being scolded for it. He felt some resentment at first, at being talked to this way, but gradually - as he looked at Akane and she looked back at him - he came to see the truth of her words. He reflected on his behaviour, and he saw that he had been very disagreeable, and not understanding enough. He did as Akane asked, and he imagined himself stuck as a girl....and he shuddered. What made it more strange, and morbidly fascinating, was the fact that Ranma-chan was him in mind and soul, if not in body. In effect, he was stuck as a girl, yet uncursed at the same time. Ranma looked away from Akane. "Yeah....I guess...that I ought to go make up with him....err.... her...whatever." "Don't say that. He, or she, is a person and not a `whatever'. Now, tell her that you're sorry. I mean, tell him that you're sorry." Akane turns away and she nearly bumps into Kasumi, who was holding an armful of bedding for the new `addition' to the family. She apologizes and leaves. Kasumi walks into Ranma's room. Ranma slowly makes his way downstairs and he sees Ranma-chan, one hand on her forehead and playing with her red bangs, and Nabiki sitting next to her. Nabiki seemed to be speaking to Ranma-chan, who was smoothing her shirt front and her hair. "My dear Ranma! Think of the financial possibilities! I already have a plan going on that is sure to make you a bundle!! ALL you have to do is to cooperate." "No thanks, Nabiki. I don't feel like selling my body for money just now." "Who says you have to sell your body? Listen...." "No thanks, I said." "Sh...I mean, he said `no thanks', Nabiki", said Ranma as he strode up to Ranma-chan, who turned about and transfixed him with a stare. "Did I say I needed your help, you....you imitation? Why....", began Ranma-chan, trying to start an argument. Ranma ignored that as he grabbed Ranma-chan by the waist, tucked her under his arm and ran outside, and away from Nabiki. Ranma-chan was shocked for a few seconds, then she started kicking and struggling. Ranma leapt to the top of the Tendo Dojo and he deposited his bundle of red hair and flailing limbs on the roof. Ranma-chan picked herself up and she growled at Ranma, then she began to stride towards him with every intention of beating him up. How dare he do that to her?! Ranma waited impassively, until Ranma-chan threw a punch and Ranma intercepted it with one hand. He caught it and he tried to turn it into a flip but Ranma-chan twisted out and quickly kicked Ranma's legs out from under him. Ranma twisted in midair, slammed his hands on the roof and executed a kicking manoeuvre from his almost-prone position. Ranma-chan yelled as she flipped out of range and landed at the far end of the roof. "You damned copy!!" spat Ranma-chan, "I'm gonna take you apart at the limbs!!" "Ranma....won't you listen to me, for a moment?" asked Ranma in a calm voice as he relaxed his guard. "Shut up!!" Ranma-chan's form suddenly blurred as she moved with almost-supernatural speed and rammed an elbow into Ranma's gut. Ranma let out his breath and he rolled with the strike. Ranma-chan pressed her attack, slamming a foot into the roof even as Ranma rolled away. After leaving a long line of foot imprints on the roof, Ranma-chan flipped into the air and let out a shout as she launched a leap kick aimed at Ranma's head. Ranma dodged it and made a grab for Ranma-chan, but she deflected his arms and began to do a series of kicks and punches, all executed at incredible speed. Ranma was able to dodge and parry most of her frenzied attacks, but a kick and two punches slipped through his defenses and connected with his stomach and back, respectively. He did not attack back even though he saw one or two opportunities to do so. Ranma-chan, seeing that he wasn't attacking back, snarled and lunged with a flying roundhouse with her right foot. Ranma ducked it, and Ranma-chan followed up with her left foot while she was still suspended in the air. Ranma popped back up and caught the foot, immobilizing it, and he sought to bring her down on the roof. Ranma-chan yelled in derision as she kicked his forearm and made him release her. She landed on her feet, leapt high in the air and landed on the other end of the roof, where she readied another stance. thought Ranma-chan as she watched Ranma fold his arms and watch her. Ranma-chan began to emit a blood red battle aura, focusing her energies into the space between her two hands, into a super concentrated Mouko Takabisha. She gritted her teeth as she felt the hot ki coalesce and make heat waves around her. She was going to finish this once and for all! The energy poured forth from her ki reserves, and intensified in destructive power, until she thought she could hold it no longer. With a cry, she thrust her hands out at Ranma and unleashed the blast. It exploded forth from her hands as a huge beam of red energy, searing the air as it tore across the length of the roof, destroying roof tiles in its wake and roaring like a thing alive, bent on destroying Ranma where he stood. Ranma thrust his hands out and unleashed a blast of blue energy to counteract Ranma-chan's Mouko Takabisha. The two incredible blasts met at the halfway point on the roof and exploded outwards in a fiery spectacle of red and blue warring for dominance. Ranma-chan's forehead began to bead with sweat, but Ranma seemed to be maintaining complete control. Slowly, bit by bit, the blue engulfed the red and began pushing back on the red beam, encroaching on Ranma-chan. Then, as if the red beam had broken from its foundations, Ranma-chan's blast gave out and dissipated, letting the blue energy sweep in triumphantly, and strike her. She felt her clothing singe, and her hair burn a bit as her world became brilliant blue, then black. Ranma walked over to Ranma-chan and he reached down to her, to lift her up, but Ranma-chan snapped out of her unconsciousness and kicked at Ranma. He blocked it and pinned her legs with his own. She growled and lashed out with her right hand at Ranma. But she was still dizzy and weak from being struck by Ranma's energy blast, and she did nothing more than get a grunt of pain from Ranma. Ranma quickly pinned her arms on either side of her with his own. Ranma-chan's chest heaved as she felt a measure of fear creep into her. He had won, and he had her at his mercy and pleasure. She quelled her fears and stared Ranma in the eyes, infusing as much courage as she could into her gaze. "Okay, you won, you bastard. Now, finish it! It won't end until one of us is down!!" Ranma-chan snarled in the face of her seeming doom, and she stared at Ranma defiantly - unwilling to turn away from her end. "NOW will you listen to me? All I want to say is....so...sorry for being such a jerk in the bathroom." Ranma looked into Ranma-chan's eyes, using Akane's technique to tell Ranma-chan - with his facial expression and eyes - that he was dead serious. Ranma-chan blinked, and she lost some of her anger. He was apologizing? She quickly narrowed her eyes again. "You're...you're lying!" Ranma-chan glanced at Ranma's hands and feet, which were holding down her own. "You're a pervert, as well as a liar!! Look at you, on top of me like this!! I'm a guy too! Let - me - go!! Arrrgghh!!" Ranma-chan struggled hard but Ranma was just too strong, too heavy. "I just want to say that...now I understand what you're going through....." "Let - me - go!! Damn.....damn you!!" Ranma-chan struggled again, feeling quite the butterfly pinned to the board, and she also felt rather vulnerable with the whole of her body undefended by her hands and feet. She was open to anything that Ranma would do to her! "....and I want to make up to you. I'm sorry, Ranma, for not seeing things from your p-point of view." Ranma let Ranma-chan go and he stood up. Ranma-chan bounced to her feet and she bunched her fists up. "Now...now you're gonna pay, you!" "Then...if it makes you feel better, you can hit me." Ranma turned about and he waited for Ranma-chan to hit him. He imagined that it would be pretty painful, but he saw no other way to reconcile with her. Ranma-chan stared at him incredulously, then she set her face and she ran towards him. With a cry, she leapt into the air and executed a flying roundhouse, followed by six punches - all of them aimed at his pressure points - two elbow strikes and a number of sidekicks, ending with a standing roundhouse and a kiai shout of released power. None of which so much as touched Ranma, even though he was standing stock still. Ranma-chan was panting and she moved to attack again, but she fell to her hands and knees, her pigtail pointing down as if in defeat. She...she couldn't hit him. Not after what he had said to her. She just couldn't. He had apologized to her, and she just couldn't hit him. Couldn't. Musn't. Ranma-chan felt herself gently helped to her feet, and she looked up into Ranma's face. He looked concerned. "Are you alright, Ranma?" he asked her. "I'm....I'm alright." She found no more words to say as she got to her feet and turned away from Ranma, and she stared out over the whole of Nerima - trying to collect her thoughts, but they just kept slipping away. They didn't say anything for a long, long time. Then Ranma coughed and he turned slightly away from her. "Like I said, I'm sorry that you're...you're stuck as a girl. But, there's always a cure. We...we can go to Cologne and ask her." "Yeah. Listen....I'm just as good as you are at this sort of thing, which is not saying much, but....but I...", Ranma-chan hesitated and she turned around, not meeting Ranma's gaze, "...I want to say I'm also sorry." "For what?" "For....attacking you just now." She fidgeted a bit. "Why?" "Because...because I shouldn't have. I...was just too angry, I guess, and lost control." "But you and me give each other a real good workout when we fight! I mean, I liked sparring with you better than fighting with Ryoga." Ranma-chan looked up in surprise, and she saw him smiling. And what a reassuringly good sight that was to her. The last vestiges of her anger and doubt fell away. "You...you thought that? I...I guess I...I mean, we can look at it *that* way....if you want." "Yeah. Come on. Let's make up. Ummm...friends, or whatever?" Ranma held out his hand and Ranma-chan took it after a slight hesitation. She smiled shyly and he grinned back at her. Then, like an infection, it quickly turned into giggles and chuckles, then outright laughter. Ranma and Ranma-chan let out all their bad feelings, and their tension, and fears, in their laughing fit, and they had to hold each other to keep from falling down and off the roof. Presently, their laughter passed and they found themselves in each other's arms. The wind blew Ranma-chan's pigtail into Ranma's face and he took a sniff of it involuntarily. It smelt...nice, fresh, and it had a scent to it that he couldn't quite place down - but it still excited his senses and made him feel....good. He could only describe it as the way a girl would `smell', the scent of a woman as it were, and he found that he liked it. He became aware of her small body against his own, her breasts on his chest, and her hands on his back. Ranma-chan opened her eyes and she took a sniff of him. He smelt of sweat, and Ranma-chan wrinkled her nose at that, but she could also detect something else that made her want to keep him close to her - so that she could be held in his strong arms and rest her head on his chest and..... With a cry, Ranma-chan pushed herself off Ranma and she turned away and folded her arms across her chest, as if to still her beating heart. She looked fearfully at him over her shoulder. What was happening to her?! Ranma had his mouth open in surprise and he reached out to her, then he let his arm drop. The moments ticked by with unnatural slowness, and all they were aware of were themselves and the wind playing around Ranma's shirt collar and Ranma-chan's hair and shirt, and cherry blossom leaves flying by on the wind, and Ranma's deep eyes and....Ranma-chan's own eyes...and the way.....their pigtails........waved to each other from over their.......their shoulders...........and....... "Ranma!! Ranma!!! Where are the two of you?! Your ice cream is melting!" Akane's voice snapped the two of them out of their daze and they quickly leapt down from the roof. The next half-hour passes uneventfully, with Ranma and Ranma-chan exploring the newness of their peculiar relationship. Each knows what the other would do, or say, in advance, so there was little need for talking. At exactly the same time, the two would turn on the TV set and watch the same channels. Eery that it is, almost all the family had no trouble adapting to the strange situation. Kasumi went on with her work, Soun and Genma played shogi endlessly and Nabiki readies her camera in the anticipation of a perfect shot. Only Akane felt a little unnerved at the near-perfect synchronization of the two - and more than a little jealous of Ranma-chan. Imagine, Ranma's girl-side was more popular with him than she was! The doorbell rang and Akane ran for it. "Oh, the slumber party!! I nearly forgot! My friends are here!!" She practically tears the door open, to admit Sayuri, Anemi and two other girls, all of whom were standing on the porch, duffel bags in hand. "Hi, Akane! Ready for the slumber party?" greeted Anemi. "You bet! Come on in!" With that, Akane ushers them inside. Sayuri begins to introduce their other friends. "Akane, this is Erika...", the girl with short, black hair bows, "...and she's from another class. And this is Sayaka.....", the girl with glasses bows and smiles. "Pleased to meet you both!" With that, the girls begin to chat animatedly as they drift towards the living room, where Ranma-chan sat watching the TV. Ranma was sprawled out at the opposite end of the couch Ranma-chan was sitting on, doing his best imitation of a couch potato. The girls first notice Ranma-chan, with her red hair. "Hey, Akane. Isn't that Ranko, your country cousin?" asked Sayuri. "Well...umm...." "She's the one who won that rhythmic gymnastics thing two years ago. And she fought that Mousse guy and won! The way I hear it, she's as strong as that cute guy from your class", spouted Erika. "Oh, him! Hmm...yes...she's as skilled as that Saotome...how do you call him....hunk! He's a knockout, that Saotome." That was Sayaka. "Saotome...h-hunk?" Akane's jaw had dropped at that and she struggled to get a hold on herself. Knockout? Hunk?! Ranma?!! Just how popular was he outside of the class anyhow? She turned a suspicious eye on him. Sayuri saw Akane acting like a fish out of water and she quickly moved over to Sayaka and Erika. "Umm, you guys....!" she began. "Don't you know? He's the one with the pigtail and he never wears a uniform. Even Hinako-sensei couldn't get him to wear the uniform, and she's a tough one! That psycho-nutcase principal of ours can't even get Ranma to cut his pigtail", gushed Erika, "I hear that nerd Gosunkugi keeps telling everybody that he's cursed, or something like that, but I don't believe a word of that junk. Nobody who looks as good as he does can be cursed!" "Isn't that the truth, Erika? Wait...wait a minute. WHO'S that lying on the couch next to Ranko? Hey....that's...that's.....Ranma Saotome!" "It's....it's him!" For one of the few times in her life, Erika was at a loss for words. "He's...uh...he's Akane's fiance." Sayaka turned to Anemi. "Anemi, what are you talking about? What fiance?" "Umm....Ranma Saotome is Akane's fiance....", clarified Sayuri. "Fiance?! Wow, how romantic!" exclaimed both Sayaka and Erika as their eyes went a little bit starry. "Our parents arranged it....when we were young, so don't blame me for it." Akane was smiling. Smiling too much, that was. Sayuri and Anemi were *quite* familiar with how Akane built up to her tantrums. She had two options, it seemed. She could either fire up instantly, or she could conceal her anger beneath a veneer of cheer and let it all out at a later time. Either way, it wouldn't be very friendly of Akane, to say the least. "Still! You're his fiancee, and he is your fiance!!" squealed Erika. "You mean to say that you and Ranma are....", began Sayaka and she locked her pinkies together. "Ha ha ha! Not quite that!" Akane folded her arms. "Lucky you. Wait till the girls hear this....they'll be so heartbroken!" Erika turned her attention back to Ranma. "Akane, come here for a sec," said Sayuri, "I wanna talk to you." She leads Akane away. Erika and Sayaka are still sneaking peeks at Ranma. Anemi is sizing up `Ranko', who was sitting next to Ranma. Then Sayuri turned to her friend. "We know how jealous you can get......" "Jealous? Of whom? That Casanova?!" "Don't be so mad, Akane. Remember, these girls are not from our class. We can't tell everybody how to think of your fiancee." "But..." began Akane. "But what? You know that you're getting mad for no other reason than to find an excuse to hit Ranma, again. Come off it, Akane! It's not his fault that Sayaka and Erika like him...." Akane considered Sayuri's words for a moment, then she gave her a slight nod of assent. "Well.....I guess so." "Okay. Come on, let's go get Ranko for the slumber party. The more, the better. Besides, I'd like to get to know her better since she's not always around." Akane and her friends walk over to the couch. Ranma and Ranma-chan look up from the TV simultaneously. Both of them look bored stiff. Akane introduced Sayaka and Erika to Ranma and Ranma-chan. "Hello, Ranma", greeted Sayuri. "Hey, you're Akane's friend, right?" Ranma began to pull himself into a sitting position. "Yes." Sayuri turns to Ranma-chan. "You're Ranko, right?" "N..I mean...yes! That's me, Ranko Tendo!" stuttered Ranma-chan in surprise. "Wanna join our slumber party?" asked Anemi. "Umm, I don't know......", began Ranma-chan but Akane cut in. "Ranko, you'll be starting school tomorrow. This it'll be a good time to make some friends. Come along." Ranma-chan looks up at Akane, into her brown eyes twinkling with amusement - and just a hint of concern. Why should Akane feel concerned over her? She was going to find a cure, like she has always done, and she will return to normal! There's nothing to worry about. Ranma-chan almost told Akane to relax, and not to worry, but something stopped her from doing so. , she thought, <...that wouldn't be a very good idea, now would it?> She didn't want to go to school as a girl, nor was she desperate to make friends with the girls but she did see the wisdom of Akane's words. It would only be for the time being, and it would be better for her in the long run. When she gets cured, she could have friends among the girls. Of course, that would mean that she would have to be a girl to be friends with them, but that was really quite beside the point since friends were friends. Besides, they were not martial artists in any way and they weren't likely to give her too much trouble, unlike girls like Shampoo and Kodachi. It was with this train of thought that Ranma-chan used to convince herself to peel her body off the couch and do something more productive. "Oh, alright. This program was starting to get boring anyways", she said as she stretched out the kinks in her body. "You go on ahead and enjoy yourself...er...Ranko." Ranma resumed his imitation of a couch potato with great effectiveness. "Yeah, sure *Ranma*." She smiled at Ranma to let him know that she was only joking. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed one of Akane's friends, with short hair, leaning in to whisper to a girl with glasses. , she thought. "Look at him! I'd give anything to be in Akane's shoes right now!" whispered Erika. Ranma-chan could just make it out, but she surreptiously leaned closer to listen in on the conversation. "Do you think he'll be in our slumber party?" joked Sayaka. Erika suddenly looked over at Ranma-chan, who immediately turned her eyes to the ceiling and pretended not to have heard. Then Akane, Ranma-chan, Sayuri, Anemi, Sayaka and Erika troop up to Akane's room, whereupon they unpack their stuff and begin to change into their PJs. Ranma-chan pretends to search around Akane's closet for some PJs, thereby avoiding having to look at the girls. At length she picks out a pink PJ with the words `China' on the front, and she begins to leave the room, PJ draped over her arm. "Where are you going, Ranko?" asked Anemi, who was already clutching a blanket. "Uhh....I'm going to the bathroom. To change." Ranma-chan wondered if the jig was up. "You don't have to go some place private to change. We're all girls, after all. Nothing we haven't seen, right?" Sayuri was just beginning to pull her PJ's on as she spoke to Ranma-chan. Akane gives Ranma-chan a look that said `play along'. Ranma-chan sighs and takes her shirt off. "Ranko, where's your bra?" asked Sayaka. "My what?" Ranma-chan was confused. Why would she need a bra...unless..... "Your bra. Why aren't you wearing one?" Erika's words finally jogged Ranma-chan's brain into gear and she put two and two together. Girls wore bras. "Oh, well....it's kinda less restricting not to wear one in the house. When I go out, I wear one." Ranma-chan silently congratulated herself on her quick save. "Be careful that you do wear a bra when you go out of the house, then. Guys have eyes for that sort of thing. Sometimes I even think they have eyes on the back of their heads." Sayuri laughed at Anemi's joke. "Uhh....yeah. I'll remember that. I will." The girls get themselves acclimatized to Akane's room and atmosphere, making small talk as they cuddled up to their pillows. Ranma-chan talks with the girls, and she learns more about them. She somehow found it less boring and more interesting than she would have thought. Then, as the small talk died down, Ranma-chan felt as if she might fall asleep at any moment, so warm and comforting was Akane's bedroom. Akane's bed was soft, cozy and had a nice color tone to it, and Ranma-chan was almost half asleep, leaning against a bunch of Akane's pillows and listening to the girls chatter and chatter and...... "Now, what shall we do first?" The abruptness of Sayuri's words woke Ranma-chan up from her dozing state and everyone turned their attention to Sayuri. "I know! Let's try and match up the guys we are likely to date next week!" Ranma-chan nearly choked after Anemi had said *that*. She? Go out with a guy?! About as much chance as her friend back in her home neighbourhood going out with a girl! *That* guy had never been able to get a date with a girl since she had known him from grade school. Each girl gave a list of qualities she'd like to find in a boy, and the rest of the group gave their opinions on which boy, in Furinkan or other schools, would suit that girl the most. Sayaka went first, followed by Anemi, then Erika, followed by Sayuri - and everyone, even Ranma-chan, gave Hiroshi as Sayuri's boyfriend. Sayuri had looked rather embarrassed, and she had quickly denied it and rejected Hiroshi as her boyfriend. Akane was next. "Well, I'd sure like him to understand me, to appreciate me for what I am, never to fight with me or call me names, and never run around with other girls." Akane looked smugly at Ranma-chan, who rolled her eyes and lay back on Akane's bed, folding both hands behind her head. "Ranma can't be like the guy Akane is describing", said Sayuri and Akane nodded in agreement. Ranma-chan shot a hand in the air. "I don't think so! Ranma isn't like that at all!" she cried in protest. Sayaka turned to her. "How is he, then?" she asked. "And how do you know so much about him?" pressed Erika. "Well, living here under the same roof as him tends to give you some insight into his character. He's nice, good tempered, and doesn't have *much* of a *choice* when girls come to *date* him." Ranma-chan had been listing off Ranma's points with her fingers, counting them out as needed. "What do you mean that y-....I mean, he doesn't have a choice?!" cried Akane. "Shampoo always has that odd cure for the curse. If she doesn't, then she has that odd trick up her sleeve to make m-...him go out with her. Kodachi...you know...we needn't say more about *that* one. And Ukyo has never gone out on a date with Ranma, so don't you go attacking her needlessly." "Not once?" Akane looked skeptical. "Not once." Ranma-chan noticed that she had sat up and she lay back down. , she thought in triumphant. "Then twice?" "He - has - never - gone - out - on - a - date - with - Ucchan! Get it?!" Ranma-chan sat up again and she started to get annoyed. What was it with Akane? Did she believe her, or not? "No need to get so worked up about this, Ranko. It's only a game, after all." Sayuri was always the mediator inside and outside the classroom. "Yeah. Sorry about that." Ranma-chan flopped back down on the bed. "Anyways, back to the topic. Which guy really suits Akane?" Akane's friends confer for a few minutes, including Ranma-chan in their circle. Ranma-chan wasn't listening, as she was looking at Akane, who was looking back in turn. The two exchange gazes which gave away nothing that either could pick up on. The conference ended shortly and everyone else turned back to Akane. "Well, what's the verdict?" asked Akane and Ranma-chan in synchronization. "Well, the only guy we know that doesn't run around with girls....." began Sayuri. "Wait till you hear it!" added Erika. "It's...Gosunkugi!" finished Sayaka. "AAAAHHHH!! No way!!" shrieked both Akane and Ranma-chan, again as one person. "He doesn't fight, never calls anyone names...a-appreciates and understands girls - if he had a girlfriend, so this is just an...an assumption - and never runs around with other girls! He's p-perfect!!" Anemi collapses into laughter after sputtering out her words. The laughing was so contagious that soon Ranma-chan and even Akane were joining in. The laughter dies down and Sayuri wipes away a tear and looks at Akane. "Akane, you're asking too much of a guy. We all know that no guy can be exactly like what you described. Nobody is perfect, no matter how much we want them to be." "Well, I think somebody's quite perfect for me! And I'm not telling!" piped in Erika. "Same here", added Sayuri with a smile. "Oh, you guys! We all know who you two want!" teased Akane and she laughed somewhat maniacally after. Sayuri and Anemi looked rather nervous, and so was Ranma-chan, but Sayaka and Erika were having the time of their lives. "Ranko, now it's your turn. Give us your list!" squealed Erika. Sayaka nodded at Ranma-chan. "W...what? My list? I...I mean....", stuttered Ranma-chan as she looked back between Akane and Erika. "Don't be a spoilsport, Ranko! Come on, it's just in fun!" said Sayuri. "But....but I...", Ranma-chan began again. Then Akane gave her the `play along' look, and Ranma-chan crumbled. "Oh...alright...! He's....uh...he's gotta be...uh....strong! Yeah, that's it! Strong! And handsome, I guess....and skilled in martial arts. Yeah, he's gotta be skilled....and independent......an..and...." "Say no more! I know who is perfect for you!" squealed Erika. "Hey!" blurted Akane, though it was unintentional as she quickly covered her mouth with her hand. "Don't worry, it's not Ranma", reassured Sayuri. Sayaka and Anemi nodded. It seemed as if only Ranma-chan and Akane did not know the verdict. "Well.....we don't even know his name, but we know how he's dressed...!" said Sayuri. "Well, who is it?", queried Akane. "Yeah, who is it?", piped in Ranma-chan, who leaned forward with some morbid interest. Sayuri held her hands up, to still any whispers. Then she cleared her throat and began. "Akane, who's that guy who keeps visiting you? You know, the one with that big and heavy pack, a red umbrella, and wears a bandanna? He keeps fighting Ranma all the time!" "RYOGA?!!?" shrieked Ranma-chan and Akane at once. "That's it! Ryoga! He's always travelling by himself, he's skilled in martial arts, very strong and he's cute! *I'd* say he's as cute as Ranma!" "Now that you mention it...yes. He's just as nice looking." added Sayaka. Erika looked at Ranma-chan slyly. "So, Ranko. When are you gonna go out with Ryoga?" she asked. "G-go out with Ryoga?! But....but...he's...ummm...he's hard to find!" stammered Ranma-chan. "I saw him just today. He passed the Tendo dojo, like seven or eight times. He had a tanuki statue on his back, a huge one mind you, and he looked rather tired." Sayaka was looking at Ranma-chan while she spoke. "I'm sure he would jump at the chance to date you, Ranko." Ranma-chan thought, and shuddered just a bit. Just. "Okay, all of you. Enough with games for now, let's eat!" cried Akane in delight as she pulled out the treats and sweets. All the girls tear into the treats and bonbons made and baked by Kasumi. Ranma-chan again gets another chance to know the other classmates whom she had never had a chance to mingle with. She was surprised to find that she really did enjoy talking with them, pleasantly astonished at the breadth of their knowledge and intelligence - certainly the guys she had hung out with had no room in their head for anything else except for having fun and girls, and having fun with girls, the latter of which was probably another good reason why not to hang out with her usual male friends while under this special curse. After a short while, thanks to Ranma-chan's voracious appetite, all the treats and bonbons are gone and the girls turn to other things. Akane brought a small colour TV up to her room and they watched an anime about a romantic comedy. Ranma-chan noticed that all the girls, other than her of course, were fully spell-bound by the story unfolding on the TV screen. Sayaka and Anemi lay on the carpeted floor in front of the TV, their attention far away at the boarding house where the anime is taking place. Erika, Sayuri and Akane lay or sat on the bed and clutched pillows and blankets as they followed the actions of the members of the boarding house. Ranma-chan was also on the bed but she didn't quite understand how these girls could lose themselves so much in a TV show with practically no action!! Ranma-chan yawned a bit and lay back, resting. The anime episode ended and the girls started talking about what had just happened. Sayaka was the first to speak. "Oh, that's so sad! Why did he have to run away? Didn't he know how much she truly loved him? Didn't he know that she would never jump the gun and marry someone else?" "And all because of that guy's sister's wedding! That poor, young man didn't know that it wasn't her wedding....", added Sayuri. "And the part when the movers came to Room 5 and moved all his stuff out? She knew then that he really was serious about running away! You could almost cry for him!" piped in Erika. Anemi spoke next. "Then she went to his new apartment...and saw that freeloading woman tenant living under the same roof as he is?" "Yeah, like, what was she to think? She didn't know that woman didn't have the money to move out!!" cried Erika. "Ranko, what did you think of that? Wasn't it heartbreaking?" asked Sayuri. "No, not really. She didn't take the time to understand him, and vice versa. It's both their fault and that's what they deserve." "Ranko! Is your heart made of stone? Where are your feelings?" cried Erika. "Didn't you feel anything for that poor guy?" asked Sayaka in curiosity. "Nope. Not a thing." Then, after a while to recover from the anime episode, the girls begin to chat about school affairs and classroom things. Their social lives seem to intertwine very tightly with aspects of their everyday life. Erika complained about how her mother limited her use of the phone to call boys. Anemi grumbled about how she was grounded for spending too much time out with her friends. Sayuri and Sayaka smile and listen sympathetically. Akane and Ranma-chan were little more than spectators, interjecting a comment now and then. The hour grew late and the girls pull out their pillows and blankets. Ranma-chan excuses herself and returns to her room, with much objection since everyone thought she was deserting them. She apologized to them, then she left and let Akane deal with them. Ranma-chan padded down the hallway and she went inside her room. Ranma was already beginning to get ready for bed. He turned at Ranma-chan's arrival. "Hey, what's with the PJ's?" he asked. "Be quiet, you." Ranma-chan yawns. "Oh man...I didn't know it was so tiring!" "What's so tiring?" "That slumber party thing." Ranma looked confused. "I thought you would be wide awake....being close to all those girls and all that." "What makes you think I was there for the girls?" "The same thing that tells me how I would have liked to be in there." "No. Not really. The program was getting boring and I needed to meet with my new friends." Ranma-chan yawned again and she began to walk over to her futon, which was next to Ranma's. "New friends? What's wrong with Hiroshi and Daisuke? What about the guys?" "I'm a girl for now, remember? Until I find a cure I can't hang out all the time with the guys." "Hmmm...you're right. Those guys only think of......" "Girls. Yes, I know", finished Ranma-chan. Ranma sat down and he winced as he touched his stomach and his back, the spots where Ranma-chan had hit him earlier before. Ranma-chan edged close to Ranma. "Does it hurt?" she asked. "Uhh...yeah. Can't really lie about that, can I? How did *you* get so strong, anyhow?" "Strong?" asked Ranma-chan in confusion. She? In female form? She wasn't *nearly* as strong as Ranma... "I mean, you only hit me three times, and it already hurts like hell!" "Oh....I see what you mean. Well, when I kicked you, I did a quick Tenshin Amaguriken on you there - about twenty or thirty times. The punches were about forty to fifty each. Does it really, really hurt?" "What do you think? You only hit me about a hundred and thirty times, right?" Ranma sounded sarcastic as he lay back on the bed, and winced as his sore back touched the futon. Ranma-chan considered him for a moment, then she smiled, reached over and pulled his shirt up. Ranma yelped as he pulled his shirt back down. "W-what was that for?!" "Stupid. Come on, pull that shirt up. I'll rub those sore areas for you." Ranma-chan pulled his shirt up, slowly, and Ranma did not object to her delicate hands expertly kneading his abs and taking away the pain. Such a smooth and gentle touch did Ranma-chan possess, along with more than a little bit of sexual arousal as her fingers ran between his well defined abs. "Mmm...what's this?" asked Ranma-chan as she eyed Ranma's shorts. "None of your business!!" Ranma grabbed a pillow and stuffed it between his legs. "Of course." Then, after a while, Ranma-chan pulled Ranma's shirt back down and she sat back a bit. "That felt so good, I feel like a new man!" "Turn over." Ranma-chan indicated that he should roll over with her finger. "Why?" "You forget about your bruises on your back. Turn over or I'll make you." Ranma obliged and he rolled over. Ranma-chan pulled his shirt up and she began to rub his muscled back. "I feel like a dog, you know, being told to turn over. And it's not the first time today that I feel this way, too." "Yes...so obedient. Move up?" "Yeah....near the shoulder blade." Ranma-chan slowly ran her fingers up to that spot and she massaged it to perfection. Then Ranma-chan patted Ranma and she lay down on her futon, face down. "Now it's your turn to give me a back rub", she said. "What?!" "It's only fair. I scratch your back, you scratch mine." "I...I guess so. Pull your shirt up, will ya?" Ranma-chan pulls her shirt up to her neck and lets Ranma work her back with his hands. Ranma marvels at the softness of her back and the smoothness of her skin while running his hands from the small of her back up to her shoulders and back down again. He could catch just a glimpse of her breasts, hidden partially by her shirt and her back, and it served to excite him even more. He turned his eyes away and he thought of something, anything, to say - to break the silence. "So, uhh....what do you think of the girls?" "They're smarter than guys but they're too emotional. Crying over some dumb show about a guy who lives in a boarding house with a bunch of tenants and a beautiful manageress." "Doesn't sound too exciting. Does it have any action?" "More to the right, please. Sorry?" "I said, does it have any action?" Ranma shifted his hands to the right and massaged that area. "No. Not a bit. Just a bunch of tear-jerking scenes strung one after another." "Is it anime?" "Yup. No way you could pay anybody to do something like that......but whoever wrote that story must be one helluva writer, to get even AKANE crying a bit. You know how much of a tomboy she is, no? Ooh! Do that again." "Do what again?" Ranma paused. "Rub that spot again. It feels good...." Ranma-chan trailed off. "Your wish is my command." At length, Ranma finishes his massaging of Ranma-chan and they both lie on their futons, and go to bed. Ranma-chan puts her head on her pillow and she falls asleep within seconds. Ranma let his eyes travel a moment longer on the slim, beautiful figure on the futon next to his. He noted the slim shoulders, the delicate arms and the long legs. He had no idea that he was this ravishing when asleep. With some effort he wrenched his gaze away from his female counterpart. Ranma reflected on the events of the day. This was strange. And weird. Here he was, and there was his female side. In essence, two people with the same mind. But, he hoped to find a cure so that this crazy event, though just another nutty event in his life, would be over with. Ranma goes to sleep, wondering where in the world he could find a cure for Ranma-chan. And he also wondered if he should..... As Ranma-chan slept, she started to dream. She felt herself, in female form, taking a hot bath. Suddenly she was grabbed from behind by strong hands which immobilized her own. She screamed in terror and she tried to see who was behind her, but she couldn't. She heard Ryoga's voice from behind her, saying `Date with me'. She feels his body press up behind her and he said `Date with me' once more. She shrieked at the top of her lungs and the nightmare shattered into a thousand bits of darkness which scatter across the infinite expanse of the dreamscape. She finds herself standing on a vast plain of green, knee-high grasses, clothed in her normal clothing. A range of white-capped, mist-shrouded mountains lie far off to her right. The sun is high in the sky and a few clouds scud across the horizon. A wind blows and passes through the tall grasses with a swish, and ruffled her hair. A person off in the distance, distinctly a man or a young man with short, black hair, ran towards her. She somehow knew that she was seeing this guy, but who was he? Her dream ended at this point and all was darkness thereafter. Ranma-chan tossed and turned on her futon, disturbed by the mysterious omen yet reassured in some inexplicable way. She feels, yet doesn't feel, a subtle change taking place in her body, one of many yet to come. Darkness closed in upon Nerima ward, and soon only the chirps of crickets broke the silence that is the night. The night of a new beginning.) ------------------------------End Part One------------------------------ I can't tell you how relieved I am to have finished revising part 1. Now, only about 5 more parts to revise!! ^_^ Do tell me how the revision looks, alright? (email to : kmark@odyssey.on.ca) Revision Date : Thursday 1997, February 2nd, 1:21 am. Alright! Part two has just been refitted for 1997! After reading the old part two, and comparing this one to the old one, do tell me what you think - by way of whatever mailing list we are all using, of course. Ranma 1/2 = (C) of Shogakukan Nullifier 122 By Webdragon Part 2 : Revelations and Realizations ------------------------------------------------- Morning broke over the land of the rising sun and birds soared above Nerima Ward, chirping their greeting song to the golden sun ascending into the sky. Dewdrops graced the tip of each stalk of grass and every leaf on every tree. For a short moment, the paradise that was lost when man abandoned Nature and turned to machinery, was present and glittered with a promise to remain till the end of time... Then the first car backed out of its driveway and the dream was shattered. As if by chain reaction, more cars filled the streets within minutes and the quiet morning was drenched in the sounds and smells of a typical Tokyo day. Kasumi, always up at the crack of dawn, knocked on Akane's bedroom, calling to the girls within and reminding them of school. Immediately what sounded like a free-for-all ensued behind Akane's door as all the girls doffed their PJ's and pulled on their uniforms, desperate to get ready and get into school before the bell rang. Kasumi, always unruffled by any daily event, smiled and walked over to Ranma's room and knocked on it. "Ranma! Ranma! Mr. Saotome! Wake up, it's morning already! Ranma and Ranma? The both of you have school! And I won't be home to cook lunch this afternoon so you two will have to eat out just for today" she called. Ranma slowly opened his eyes at Kasumi's words, then he rolled over and he encountered.....a female chest not an inch from his face. His hand was suspended just above his female side's chest and if he hadn't had such good reflexes he might have touched her........During the night Ranma-chan had rolled off her futon and onto his, half curled up near Ranma, as if for warmth. She slept on her side, facing Ranma, with both her hands supporting her head. Her right leg was curled up, with her other leg straight out. He backed away slowly. When he was out of range, he shook Ranma-chan by the shoulder. "Wake up. We have school, you know", he said as he shook her. "Ssschoool?" slurred Ranma-chan as she came half-awake. Ranma shook her again. "We're gonna be late unless you wake up! You don't want to tangle with the teacher, now do you?" Ranma-chan woke up with an annoyed look on her face, then she begins to take off her PJs. First came the top half, revealing the fact that she had worn nothing else under, then the bottom half. After taking the PJs off, she was left in her boxers and she begins to look for her clothes, grumbling all the while. Ranma cursed himself for being a hentai and he looked away from his female self, searching for his clothes as well. They dressed up, finished their washroom duties, then they tore out of the house with Akane and her friends. Ranma and Ranma-chan were running in perfect balance on the fence, while Akane and her friends brought up the rear. They managed to get into their classes in time and Akane said goodbye to Erika and Sayaka as they headed off to their classes. Everybody was already seated and waiting for the last minute stragglers to come in. As Ranma, Ranma-chan and Akane walked in, the whole class gasped. Ukyo's eyes went wide in surprise. "Hey....isn't that Ranko?" whispered Hiroshi to Daisuke. "But she's the same girl who won that Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics Tournament, right? Didn't she use Ranma's name?" replied Daisuke. They fell silent as Ranma-chan followed a little uncertainly behind Ranma, over to Hinako. "Ranma Saotome, who's the girl with you?" asked Hinako. "She's Akane's cousin, who came to register in this class", replied Ranma. Ranma-chan nodded in agreement. "I'm....Ranko Tendo" she said, but without the airheaded-ness she reserved for times when her mother was around. "Well, Ranko. You can sit next to Ukyo over there. Ukyo, will you raise your hand please?" After that, Hinako turned to her books and began to turn to the day's lesson. Ukyo raised her hand and Ranma-chan sat next to her childhood friend. Class started, then Hinako had to leave - at the summons of the principal. Ukyo turned to Ranma-chan. "R...Ranma? Is that you?" she asked as she looked from Ranma-chan to Ranma, and so forth. Ranma-chan tried to smile reassuringly, but she didn't succeed in calming Ukyo down a whit. She leaned in close to Ukyo. "We'll tell you after class. Let's not talk about it right now." Ukyo nodded silently, but she intended to get some answers out of her as soon as possible. Time flew by and the lunch bell rang. A few boys made their way over to Ranma-chan, who smiled nervously at them all as they clumsily made passes at her. Embarrassed at last beyond anything, Ranma-chan stood up, opened the window and took off. Ukyo hesitated for a moment, then she dropped the book she had been reading and followed Ranma-chan as well. Ranma-chan hopped from window ledge to window ledge, getting cries of surprise from the students still in them, until she landed on the roof of the school. This was her place where she could get away from the usual madness of school. This was to be her place of solitude, of precious minutes spent in beautiful silence. Ranma-chan put a hand against a wall and leaned on it, letting out a sigh. She did not miss the look on Ukyo's face when she had walked in. She still didn't know how to feel about it. Should she be sad? Insulted? Even....happy? No, she decided. Never happy. She heard a sound behind her and she whirled around. Ukyo was standing there, with both of her hands clasped together. Ranma-chan relaxed, but not by much, and she forced a smile. "H..hi, Ukyo. Look, you're probably wondering why there is two of me, right?" asked Ranma-chan. Ukyo nodded and Ranma-chan continued. "See, we had this potion called a Nullifier, blend 122, and we used it by....well...accident, I guess. What it does is nullify the curse and make two separate, uncursed people. I'm just the female half." "And...and Ranma is uncursed?" asked Ukyo, a touch of hope in her voice which Ranma-chan did not, could not, miss. "Y..yeah. But I'll get cured! You'll see! There is always a cure, and once I get a hold of it, everything will be back to normal!" Ranma-chan was desperate to stress that point to Ukyo. She would find the cure and everything would go back to the way it had been in the first place. "Like it was normal to begin with in the first place, sugar." "Yeah, but at least I'll be one person then." Ukyo sat down and she rubbed her forehead. The fact that Ranma, her fiance, had been cured was great news - the best news so far regarding him - however there remained the matter of Ranma-chan. What if there wasn't a cure for the Nullifier? What then? And even if there was a cure, that would mean that Ranma would be cursed once again. Still, if it came down to choosing, Ukyo would always choose the lesser of two evils. And her choice was to find a cure for Ranma and his female side - for the alternative, while attractive, did not sit well with her at all. Ranma was more than her friend. In fact, he had been more than her friend since childhood, and she had never stopped loving him since the time he had to....leave. She couldn't refuse him anything, within reason of course, nor could she abandon him like he did her a decade ago. Yes, that was it. Abandonment. Abandoned by Ranma, abandoned by one of the only ones who had mattered to her in life, Ukyo had cast aside all the other cares in her life and dedicated her mind and soul on being the best in what she did - cooking okonomiyaki. A strange goal, some may say of it, but a worthy goal nonetheless. Now, she was faced with a decision, one that asked her to abandon the most important person in her life - Ranma. And Ukyo was afraid that she knew who would be the one to go - should a cure for the Nullifier never be found. She imagined the fates were laughing at this most ironic twist in her life. Abandon him as he had abandoned her. Could she love two people at once? For that matter, could she love a girl - no matter if she knew the truth about that `girl' or not? Yet, she could not give up her love for Ranma in an instant. He meant too much to her to do that. Ukyo looked up, almost shyly, at Ranma-chan. "Why don't the two of you come over this afternoon to my restaurant? And bring Akane too, okay? I'll treat you all to free food", offered Ukyo. Ranma-chan's eyes went starry at the thought of free food, especially at the Ucchan's, and she thanked her. Ukyo spent the rest of her time in class thinking and wondering, weighing the consequences of certain actions, and sighing a lot. Ranma-chan frequently asked her if she was alright, and she kept reassuring her that she was. It was just that the situation was not, but she didn't tell Ranma-chan that. Hinako, seeing Ukyo looking rather unwell, gave her leave to go home for the day. Ukyo thanked her and left. The Ucchan opened early and the hordes of customers, waiting for her, poured in. Soon, okonomiyaki were flying left and right. All who frequented the Ucchan noticed the change in mood of their chef, and one or two ventured to ask Ukyo what was the matter. She shrugged off their questions, perked up with a forced smile, and fed them all to contented silence. School ended, Ukyo could tell by Furinkan's bell, and in short order Ranma, Ranma-chan and Akane stepped into the restaurant. As usual, it was packed full, except for the counter seats, which all the regulars knew were unofficially reserved for Ukyo's friends. The regulars nodded at them, used to seeing them visit Ukyo all the time. A small black pig sat on the counter, in front of a plate with a half eaten okonomiyaki. It looked around, and squealed in delight as it saw Akane. Then its eyes widened in confusion as it saw Ranma and Ranma-chan side by side. It blinked once, then twice. Ranma-chan mouthed the words, "I'll explain later", to the pig, and it squealed uncertainly. "P-Chan!", cried Akane as P-chan leapt into her arms, "What are you doing here?" "He...sort of walked in. I felt that I had to...uh...you know, feed him, or something. Can't expect a pig to pay, can't you?" Ukyo looked embarrassed at her words. "Thanks, Ukyo!" said Akane as she scratched her `pet pig' behind the ears. "No problem. Say....why did it take you guys so long to get here anyhow?" asked Ukyo as she flipped an okonomiyaki with one spatula, the other spatula scraping the grill clean. "*You* skipped out on your classroom cleaning duties...so we had to do your share of it!" cried Akane with as much mock outrage as she could put into her voice. "Aww, Akane. I'm sorry....let me make it up to you with an okonomiyaki of your choice, okay?" pleaded Ukyo jokingly, a grin on her face. "B-bribery won't get you anywhere, Ukyo", warned Akane. Her stomach grumbled at that moment and Ranma snickered. Akane jabbed an elbow in *his* stomach. "A hungry stomach won't get you anywhere, Akane. Come on, take me up on my offer." Ukyo already knew how it would turn out. Akane would.... "Alright. Fine. But just this once!" "Alright, Akane! One okonomiyaki coming up!" With that, Ukyo spun an okonomiyaki to her and Akane began to dig into it, trying to keep a facade of anger on her face, which softened to her normal features after a short while. She could never really stay angry at Ukyo for long...mainly because she was kind, sweet, and generous. In fact Ukyo was much like her in a number of ways. She was almost everything a stereotypical girl was not - strong, stubborn, free-willed and quick tempered. Ukyo, when she first arrived in Furinkan High, had been dressed as a boy and acted like one too. Since then, she had changed a great deal. She wore her a gi of a sort, with the words `good' all over it, and she also wore a bandola filled with mini spatulas. Akane looked at Ukyo, who was smiling and chatting with another customer, even as she cooked an extraordinarily tasty looking okonomiyaki. Akane turned away and looked long and hard at her okonomiyaki. Ukyo was so...so...much more beautiful than her. She had long hair, beautiful skin and a great figure. She felt so lumpy and ugly compared to her. Jabbing her okonomiyaki with a fork and savagely ripping a piece off, she popped the morsel in her mouth and took great satisfaction in chewing it. P-Chan leapt out of her arms and started gobbling his food. Ranma-chan watched Akane stab her food with uncharacteristic vigor. She saw that her eyes were slightly narrowed and her brow was creased. Her gaze travelled upwards and she looked at Ukyo, who was preparing an especially delicious-looking okonomiyaki. Ranma-chan began to lose herself in looking at Ukyo, trying to imagine how she had looked like when she was playing with....him in her childhood, but she just couldn't picture her being the way she had been. She had grown and changed alot since those days. She turned around and put her elbows on the wooden counter behind her, and let her memories travel back a decade, to a time when little had troubled him. She could remember the town where he and Ukyo had stayed. She thought of the `safari' adventure he had with Ukyo back then, a wild romp through the flowering meadows........ [Ranma jumped onto a rock in the middle of the meadow and looked about with a hand shading his eyes. Dragonflies zipped all about and insects filled the air. The chirping of birds drifted off a scattering of nearby trees. He looked up into a gloriously blue sky that seemed to stretch forever and ever, encompassing the entire world that was his birthright. He took a deep whiff of the sweet summer grasses that reached up from the moist earth to the shining sun which gave freely of its light, and he exhaled slowly. It was so good! The heady aroma of flowers seemed to swirl and drift all about him, encouraging him to take another breath. And another. He closed his eyes and let out an impulsive cry of exultation, the shout of somebody who was completely content with the world about him, akin to the majestic symphony of nature which now sang its praise and gave its thanks to the gods for creating such a wonderful world. The cricket chirped, the birds sang, dragonflies flitted in the air and dodged the drifting dandelion puffs swirling in the breeze and spiralling up, and up, and upwards into an endless summer sky. Ranma turned around. Ukyo ran up to the rock he was on and squeezed herself next to him. Ranma graciously let him take her spot on the rock; after all, she was his friend. Ukyo was his best friend in the world. , he said to his friend. Ukyo bobbed her head up and down, and she sat on the rock. Ranma remained standing and looked at the grass covered hill which lay just ahead of the meadow, then he looked over at Ukyo. Ukyo had a handful of flowers in her hand and she was counting out the stalks, humming a tune to herself as she did. Ranma leapt off the rock and started to run to the hill. , he called to his friend even as he ran. Ukyo threw the flowers away and started after her friend. The two surmounted the hill with no difficulty and the two stood at the peak, looking down at the land all around. The greenery was gone and the two friends looked down at the town and its concrete structures. Cars rushed to and fro, and people thronged the sidewalks. Ranma shuddered. People were not meant to live so closely packed together. He looked back down the hill and the welcome sight of the forest and the meadow greeted his eyes. , asked Ukyo. A far off voice echoed through the large meadow, . A man wearing a bandanna, a pair of glasses and a karate gi, stepped from out of the concealing shade of the trees at the far end of the meadow. With that, Ranma sprinted towards his father, eyes fixed ahead and not looking back. Ukyo shook off her lethargy and sprinted after Ranma....] Ranma-chan chuckled to herself. Back then, she had thought Ukyo was a boy, like her. She turned back and looked at Ukyo, both hands under her chin. No way anybody could mistake her for a boy again, and those who disagreed were either stupid or blind. She had legs that looked so slim and sexy, especially while she was wearing tight, black jeans. She smiled and closed her eyes, walking the paths of her memories, memories of Ukyo. Ranma was perplexed. First, Akane was placated all too easily by Ukyo. Then his female self sighed dreamily and seemed to stare off in the distance. And now, he saw Ukyo cooking the best and most delicious-looking, and smelling, okonomiyaki, putting her customers' orders on hold for the time being, occasionally looking at Ranma and giving him a smile. What's with the puppy dog eyes, Ucchan?, he was tempted to ask, but he said nothing. "Ranma! Here it is!" cried Ukyo happily as she scooped the okonomiyaki up and placed it on a plate, then giving it to Ranma. 'Th-that was for...for me? Wow. I would have never thought that....anyways, thanks, Ucchan!" With that, Ranma begins to eat the okonomiyaki. Ukyo smiled at him. "Anytime, Ranma. And now, the same thing for you, Ranchan", said Ukyo to Ranma-chan as she began to pour another okonomiyaki on the grill. Ranma-chan snapped out of her dream-state and she smiled at Ukyo. "Thanks, Ukyo." "Say, Ukyo. Could you take my order?" asked a customer waiting at the counter. "I had ordered a super deluxe combo okonomiyaki ten minutes ago, and I still haven't received it. I know your friends are over, and I respect that, but I have to be at a business meeting in twenty minutes, so....", said another customer. "Ahh...alright. Ranchan, I hope you understand", said a flustered Ukyo as she quickly began to whip up okonomiyaki for the two customers. "Umm...okay, Ucchan", said Ranma-chan uncertainly. It was beginning to get to rush hour, and both of them knew it. Murphy's Law had a way of showing up when it was not needed, especially in a certain Ward situated in a certain city. "I'll try my best, Ranchan. Just sit tight." Ukyo started to take orders and to fill them out. However, as if on cue, a horde of people flooded the restaurant at that moment. Ukyo was kept extremely busy trying to take orders, fill them and collect the money - all by herself. Ranma-chan looked hopefully at Ukyo but Ukyo did not have the time to even talk with her, so busy as she was. Eventually, Ranma-chan tried to say something to Ukyo, to tell her that she was leaving, but Ukyo was already running into the back of the restaurant to get more supplies. The counter was already burgeoning with hungry people and when Ukyo came back, Ranma-chan tried again. "Ukyo, I....", she began. "Not now, Ranma!" said Ukyo in an exasperated tone. Ranma looked up from his food and Ukyo scowls. "Not you, Ranma. I meant Ranchan. I'm very busy right now." Ukyo looked very flustered and she kept glancing at the stack of orders on her table. Then she ran into the back for something else that she had forgotten. Ranma-chan got up and she left the restaurant. Ranma-chan knew that it was selfish of her to get angry at Ukyo, for not getting a free meal, but she still couldn't help herself from feeling....betrayed. She had taken time out for Ranma, why hadn't she taken time out for her? Ranma, seeing his female side leaving, got up and ran out after her. Akane waved to Ukyo, who didn't even see the wave, and she too left. "Ranma! Wait up for us, man!" cried Ranma as he jogged towards Ranma-chan, Akane following up at a fast walk while holding P-chan. Ranma-chan turned around, a slightly exasperated look on her face, then she relented and slowed down. "Where're you going in such a hurry?" asked Akane as she drew up with both Ranma and Ranma-chan. "To Nekohanten. Come on, let's go. Maybe I can get something to eat there." With that, Ranma-chan started to shuffle off to Nekohanten. As usual, the place was also packed, but the three manage to find a table. Within a minute or so, Cologne hopped over to their table with three bowls of ramen balanced on one hand. No sooner does she set the food down when Ranma-chan grabbed two bowls and started to devour their contents. Ranma took the third bowl, and looked up at Cologne. "Where's Shampoo? Your hands seem kinda full now, with all these people in here....", he asked her. *Crack* The cup in Akane's hand had shattered into pieces. Akane looked at the mess on the table in surprise. Cologne frowned a little. "You will reimburse me for the cup, of course." "S-sorry. I...I guess I must have been holding it a little too hard." Ranma-chan rolled her eyes. Funny how that happens. "She's out delivering, son-in-law, and won't be back until tonight. I have to go. And before you ask, no, I have not remembered a cure for the Nullifier." With that Cologne hopped away. They finished their food and return home. Ranma-chan staggered over to the couch and she threw herself full on it, snuggling up on one side, and turning the TV on as she did. Then she folded her arms across her chest, remote in one hand, and she thought about what had happened today. It still didn't seem fair that Ukyo had catered to Ranma first, instead of to her. After all, she was him, right? She was still Ranma, not `Ranko'! She still felt a little bit betrayed by Ukyo, her childhood friend, even though Ranma-chan knew that she really was being obstinate with her view of the situation. Ranma-chan knew it was unfair to assume that Ukyo had an obligation to her, but it still didn't quell the feelings of depression within her. She sighed. Then she felt a finger tap her from behind. It was Akane, holding P-Chan. "Ranma....could you hold P-Chan for me? I'm going to go to the washroom for a sec, and I don't want him wandering about", said Akane, as she held out her pet pig with both hands. Ranma-chan grunted and she took P-Chan. "Bwee?" asked P-Chan in piggy. Ranma-chan chuckled and she filled him in on the current situation. P-Chan nodded sagely, as well as a pig could, and he started to stroll away. Ranma-chan caught him and pulled him close to herself, squishing P-Chan to her chest. "Oh no, you're not going nowhere, buddy. Your owner wants you to stay. You know, *heel*? *Stay*?" P-Chan glared at Ranma-chan with narrowed eyes and he squealed in angry protest over Ranma-chan's comparison of him to a trained dog. Ranma-chan made a face at him, and P-Chan made one back as well. That was when P-Chan realized what the *soft* things were that had been pressing on his back. He began to turn red, as much from embarrassment as from the blood threatening to find a way to burst from his snout, and he tried to squirm free. Ranma-chan, totally oblivious to P-Chan's predicament, continued to watch TV. She started to feel a little better now, over the disappointment at the Ucchan's. Time certainly healed all wounds, and it was now working to deaden some of the pain within her. The pain was not much to begin with, but it was still there. Just that sense of rejection when Ukyo..... "Ok, Ranma, I'll take P-Chan back." Without looking up, Ranma-chan took P-Chan and handed him to Akane over her shoulder. "P-Chan! Your face is all red! Oh, poor baby....come on. Let's go and get some tidbits for my widdly piggy...?" Akane kept cooing over P-Chan while heading to the kitchen. Ranma-chan shuddered. , she thought as she switched to another channel, which was a documentary about the way men and women thought. Ranma came up to the couch with a bag of chips and a can of pop in his hands and he eyed Ranma-chan, who was now lying straight out on her side and taking up the whole couch. "Hey, move it! Where am I gonna sit?" Ranma demanded. Ranma-chan stuck a tongue out at him but she pulled her legs close to herself, leaving a small space for Ranma to sit. "Thanks a lot for the *HUGE* favor," commented Ranma with just a touch of sarcasm. "Anytime. Gimme some chips." Ranma gave her a handful of chips and Ranma-chan devoured them. Ranma took a drink from his pop and put it on the floor, preparing to settle back and watch TV. Ranma-chan leaned down, grabbed it and took a drink from it. "Hey, that's my pop!" cried Ranma in protest. "So that makes it mine as well! Don't whine!" "Gimme that back!" Ranma swiped the can from Ranma-chan and he drank the whole thing. Ranma-chan snuck a handful of chips from the bag when Ranma wasn't looking, and she stuffed it in her mouth. "Do you....think there.....really is a cure for....me?" asked Ranma-chan between munches. Ranma eyed Ranma-chan suspiciously as he looked into his chip bag and found a handful missing. "Why shouldn't there be?" replied Ranma at length. Ranma-chan sighed. "I mean.....if the three hundred year old ghoul doesn't know, then how the heck are *we* supposed to know?" Ranma-chan sounded depressed. "Well.....she just didn't remember, that's all. You've got to give her time to remember," said Ranma in an attempt to console Ranma-chan, who sighed again and turned from her side until she was lying on her back with both legs bent and slightly spread, facing Ranma, but with her head turned to the TV. Ranma couldn't help but sneak a peek at Ranma-chan, especially in her new position. Her legs moved slightly to and from each other, the knees touching once in a while, and the rise and fall of her chest was quite a sight for Ranma to see, while the region between her legs attracted the most attention from his wandering eyes. And all that compounded this was the fact that he was less than an inch from Ranma-chan, practically on top of her. He felt his heart thump a little faster, and the tips of his ears burning with some embarrassment. Another change, less obvious but completely impossible to ignore, began and he quickly slapped a couch pillow on his lap to conceal it. Time passed and Ranma began to get tired of learning how differently a man and a woman thought, due to biological differences or upbringing, or other factors, and he held a hand out to Ranma-chan. "Pass the remote. Let's watch something more interesting." "No, I wanna watch this", replied Ranma-chan petulantly. "That's just a stupid documentary! Let me have it, then we can watch something with action in it, or something like that." "And this isn't interesting?" Ranma-chan sounded surprised. She found it very fascinating to learn the way men and women flirt with one another. For instance, some women flirted by tossing their head and making their hair fly to one side and hang down....then they exposed their neck and assumed a shy/demure/hungry look, usually while crossing their legs and blushing a little. Such actions were instinctive, according to the program, and excited the male to no small end. The male, on the other hand......Ranma-chan turned the volume up so that she could hear it better. "No, it's *not* interesting." With that, Ranma reached over to grab the remote from Ranma-chan. She pulled it away from him and held it to herself, sitting up at the same time and edging a little further away from Ranma. "Well, I think it's interesting. So, you can't have the remote," said Ranma-chan. She turned her head so that her pigtail hung over her left shoulder and her neck was quite exposed to Ranma, and added (with a slight purr, learnt from the TV program), "but....maybe you think you can take it away from me?" Ranma knew a challenge when he heard one, and he rose to meet it. He made a grab for the remote but Ranma-chan clutched it close to herself, while starting to giggle a bit. Growling, Ranma launched himself onto Ranma-chan, who squealed and fought to keep the remote from Ranma's grasp. The two wrestled on the couch, Ranma on top and trying to rip the remote from Ranma-chan's hands, Ranma-chan laughing and enjoying herself. Ranma made a snatch for the remote, but Ranma-chan pulled it away at the last moment - from her chest. Unable to halt his forward momentum, Ranma's hand landed on her left breast with his fingers completely encircling that tender portion of female anatomy. "Oh!" cried Ranma-chan as she blinked and she looked down at Ranma's hand, touching that portion of her body, and Ranma looked too, the sweat starting to bead on his forehead. , thought Ranma. "Uh...I'm uhh....sorry," stammered Ranma as Ranma-chan laid the remote by her side and pried Ranma's hand off of her chest with both her hands. "That's...that's alright. No big deal. I mean, I'm still a guy, right?" replied Ranma-chan with no small amount of uncertainty. She blushed a bit and turned away from Ranma. She could almost still feel his hand on her breast, even though he wasn't touching it. It was like it was still there. , thought Ranma-chan as she tentatively rubbed her breast, to get the phantom feeling off her skin. "I didn't mean to...uh...grab you in there. I was aiming for the remote." "I know. Don't worry about it. It was all my fault anyhow." "Alright...if you say so. Now, gimme the remote." "No." "Say again?" "No. No means no." Ranma-chan grabbed the remote and started to smile a bit, awaiting Ranma's inevitable reaction..... Ranma pretended to relax, then he snapped into action and lunged at Ranma-chan, straddling her and wrestling with her again, trying to rip the remote from her hands. She laughed, and shrieked, and kicked her legs ineffectually, and turned her body from side to side, denying Ranma the chance to get the remote. Ranma finally pinned Ranma-chan on her back with one strong hand, then he snatched the remote from her hands and held it up in triumph. "Finally!! Now I can watch something more interesting!!" he cried. "That...that was fun!! Let's do it again!" squealed Ranma-chan between bouts of giggling fits. "Do what again?" Ranma and Ranma-chan froze at that voice. Akane. Ranma looked up and he saw Akane watching both of them. P-Chan, in her arms, watched with wide eyes and perked ears. Ranma was suddenly aware that his legs were on either side of Ranma-chan, and his left hand was just beneath Ranma-chan's breasts, the fingers splayed out to keep her immobile. He was also aware of the fast beat of her heart in synchronization to his own. Likewise, Ranma-chan was also aware of how close Ranma was to her. His legs were on either side of her and touching her sides, and his body blocked the light from above. She felt a bit of heat between her legs, a not-unpleasant sensation that turned her face red with shame as she realized that she *liked* the way her body was reacting to Ranma's. Her nipples were starting to harden a bit, and they were starting to show through her shirt. Either Ranma or Akane would notice her sexual arousement in a moment - Akane more so, as she was a girl too - and Ranma-chan felt her face redden some more. "Uh...Akane! I...I...uh....", began Ranma somewhat intelligently. "Aw, come on, Akane. It's not like you have anything to worry about when I'm around him. I mean, we were just fighting over a dumb, old remote, and we weren't doing any of *that*...!" "Hey! It wasn't like that at all!" cried Ranma. Ranma-chan smiled mischeviously at Ranma. "Smile at me, will you?!" growled Ranma with mock anger as he began the attack dreaded by people worldwide. He slid two hands up Ranma-chan's sides and began to.....tickle her. She squirmed about on the couch, squealing with laughter and trying to pull Ranma's hands away from her but failing. Akane relaxed as she saw the innocence of the whole incident, as Ranma and Ranma-chan play on the couch. The shrieks of Ranma-chan's protest and laughter, mingled as one, brought a half-smile on Akane's face. She was happy that it was nothing more than play fighting, but she still felt a portion of jealousy. Ranma had *never* played with her the way he was playing with Ranma-chan. He had never tried to tickle her, nor play fight with her, and she felt more jealousy as she watched Ranma and Ranma-chan. Jealousy because she hadn't received as much attention as Ranma-chan was. Jealousy because Ranma-chan was genuinely enjoying herself, while Akane was left out of it. Akane wondered how much better her relationship with Ranma would have been if he played with her, the way he was doing with Ranma-chan, instead of insulting her. Even now, deep within her, she felt the desire to be in Ranma-chan's place, enjoying and having fun with Ranma. But since she was a latecomer, she was already out of it and unable to join in. And Akane being the way she was, she was *NOT* likely to tell Ranma of her feelings. So Akane concealed her feelings of envy and desire beneath a mask of calm and curiosity, out of a deep and abiding consideration for the feelings of the two roughing it up on the couch in a play fight. , thought Akane as she walked up to the couch where Ranma-chan was being tickled to such a degree that she actually had tears in her eyes. "Okay, enough, Ranma. Can't you see that she's already given up?" said Akane to Ranma. Ranma gave Ranma-chan a last tickle then he got up from her and sat down on the couch, changing the channel. Ranma-chan wiped the tears from her eyes and she began to sit close to Ranma - perhaps unconsciously, perhaps intentionally. Literally butting in, Akane interposed herself between Ranma and Ranma-chan, sitting quite close to Ranma. She stared straight ahead at the TV, P-Chan in her arms, as Ranma and Ranma-chan looked at her with surprise and confusion, respectively. Akane had never sat quite so close to him as she did now and it surprised Ranma quite a bit. She was closer to him than she was to Ranma-chan, he noted. Ranma-chan was confused, and a little hurt. She didn't know how she knew, but she knew that Akane had butted in because she seen her as a threat to her relationship with Ranma. , thought Ranma-chan with more than a little unkindness. Feeling bold, Ranma-chan sat closer to Akane, until their legs were touching. She was a girl as well, at least for the time being, and that gave her more courage to do what she did. As Akane looked at her with surprise, Ranma-chan leaned in close to Akane. "It was just in fun, Akane. We weren't doing anything other than play fighting," said Ranma-chan to Akane in a whisper. "Why are you trying to explain? There's nothing to explain", replied Akane in a whisper as well, a forced smile on her face. Ranma-chan knew and she was not fooled by it. "Look, I'm the same person as he is, Akane, so don't worry. But tell me....why're you so mad?" "I'm not angry." Akane turned away. "Yes you are." Ranma-chan leaned closer. "No, I'm not. You and Ranma were just playing, that's all, right?" "Y-yeah....and...your point is?" Akane took a while to answer as she wondered if she should tell this female version of Ranma. She seemed different than Ranma already, despite her protests to the contrary, and she seemed more.....more reasonable. And easier to talk with. The barriers of gender seemed to have been lifted between Akane and this female Ranma, and somehow Akane knew she could disclose more of her mind to her than to Ranma. Somehow, Akane felt more comfortable around Ranma-chan than Ranma. There was an absence of that element of awkwardness she always felt around Ranma, or Ryoga, or other guys for that matter. In summary, Ranma-chan was *different* in some way. Akane stood up and she motioned for Ranma-chan to follow her. Ranma-chan followed Akane, leaving a confused Ranma behind. They needed to have a private talk - girl talk as it were, and Ranma was not included in it. Akane led Ranma-chan up to the upper deck, then she turned and faced the outside world, turning her back on Ranma-chan. "Okay, what was it you wanted to talk to me about, Akane?" "Well....Ranma....? You were just playing with Ranma, right?" "Duh! What else? I'm him, and he's me! Of course I was just playing with him! What's wrong with that?" "Nothing." Ranma-chan could still sense that Akane was not quite finished, and she was withholding something. Ranma-chan went up to Akane and she laid a hand on her shoulder. Akane jumped a little. "What's wrong, Akane?" Ranma-chan asked. "Nothing's wrong, Ranma. Nothing." Akane hugged P-Chan a little tighter. "That's not true. You're not telling me something. Come on, Akane. You can tell me. I'll not say a word about it if you do. You look like you're sad, or something." "I'm not sad." "Yes you are. That long face, and the way you're looking out at something that I can't see. Come on, Akane....", Ranma-chan squeezed Akane's shoulder, "Tell me." There was a long moment of silence, then Akane sighed and turned to Ranma-chan. If she wanted to know, then so be it! "Al....alright. It's just that...you know....Ranma has never...I mean...." Akane faltered a little. "Go on," encouraged Ranma-chan. "I mean...he's never shown such...affection for me. He...he hasn't ever played with me the way he did with you. I mean, you're him and he's you, but I'm....well...." Akane trailed off into silence, leaving Ranma-chan to interpret as best as she could. P-Chan blinked a little, then he narrowed his eyes. There was silence as Ranma-chan digested Akane's words. So that was it. Akane was jealous of Ranma-chan and Ranma. , thought Ranma-chan, Really, Akane had nothing to worry about. After all, Ranma-chan would find a cure and then she would become one person again, with Ranma. That was all there was to it. Then Akane wouldn't have to worry, right? "Akane....that's...uh...." Ranma-chan faltered and Akane turned away. "Why don't you have anything to say, Ranma? After all, you're him and he's you, right?" Akane sounded a little cheated, a little betrayed. P-Chan squealed in agreement. "What I was going to say was......you know....he...no, me and him, wouldn't have.....minded playing with you. It's just that...uh...we didn't know how you'd take it....and we were afraid you might get...m-mad." They had wanted to, but didn't do it for fear of getting her mad? Akane felt all the weight of the missed opportunities to get on better terms with Ranma, and she suddenly felt a lot sadder than before. She kept him at a distance because of her frequent use of the mallet or the avenging fist to hit him for things which she later found out were not really his fault. The magic mushrooms that Shampoo had fed Ranma, and later Akane, had been one such incident in a line of many. As far as she could remember, that was one of the few times when she had openly apologized to Ranma for mistaking the facts of the situation. She felt the hand on her shoulder reach down to her free hand and squeeze it. She looked up in surprise at Ranma-chan, who was smiling a little as she held Akane's hand. The wind blew and ruffled both Ranma-chan and Akane's hair, and clothing. "Don't worry, Akane. Everything will work out. When I get cured, and become one person again, I'll...I'll try to be...n-nicer to you. I'm also kinda sick of getting hit by you....maybe things will change. Who knows until we try, r-right?" "Ranma...." began Akane. P-Chan jumped out of Akane's arms and he started to run away at full speed. "P-Chan!! Come back!!" Akane pulled her hand from Ranma-chan's, and she started to run after P-Chan, then she turned back and looked at Ranma-chan with gratitude. For a moment, as their eyes locked, Ranma-chan and Akane shared a bond like no other. Then the moment shattered as Akane turned and dashed after her pet pig, calling loudly. Ranma-chan sighed and she started inside, after Akane. Ranma was perplexed, again. First, Ranma-chan and Akane had left to talk about something which did not involve him, to his knowledge anyways, and now Akane was thumping down the stairs and chasing after P-Chan, who was running as fast as he could. As P-Chan ran by the couch, Ranma snagged him by the bandanna and held him up. P-Chan's legs moved furiously as he squealed threats at Ranma, but Ranma just dangled him until Akane came to retrieve her pet. "P-Chan! What's wrong, baby?" asked Akane to P-Chan, yet not expecting an answer. Ranma turned to Ranma-chan. "Hey, what's up with Ryoga?" he asked her. Ranma-chan sighed. "Ask him yourself later on. I can't tell you." With that, Ranma-chan turned on her heel and left the living room. As Ranma-chan was on the way to the dojo, she was just passing by the front door when it slid open and a figure stepped inside, a long bundle on her back. Ranma-chan stopped dead in her tracks as her gaze travelled from the floor to the beautifully embroidered kimono up to the face that resembled her own to an uncanny degree. There was only one word she could form at the moment. "M-mom...", whispered Ranma-chan. "Ranko-chan! How are you?" said Nodoka Saotome in greeting as she stepped up to Ranma-chan and hugged her. Ranma-chan was still too stunned to do anything but slowly hug her mother back. Akane came upon the scene while on the way to the kitchen, P-Chan in her arms, and she too stopped dead in her tracks. Nodoka disengaged herself from Ranma-chan and hugged Akane in greeting as well. "Akane-chan! You're looking well, and growing up too!" exclaimed Nodoka. "A-Auntie Saotome...! We weren't...expecting you....", began Akane. "I'm sorry, dear. I really should call before coming over, don't you think? Silly me." "Hey, Ran...M-mom?" said Ranma as he rounded the corner in pursuit of Ranma-chan. Time seemed to stop for a moment. The effect of seeing her son, after ten long years, was absolutely profound on Nodoka. Her sword-shaped bundle slid to the ground from nerveless fingers, her eyes widened with astonishment, then she ran over to Ranma and hugged him, the tears already coming to her eyes. She couldn't form any words to express her joy and excitement at seeing her son, her only son, standing before her in the flesh. Long were the times when she had imagined holding her son again, like she had done over ten years ago when he was just a child of six. Now, her dreams realized, she was as happy as any mother reunited with her child can be. Then she held Ranma out at arm's length and looked into his face, and eyes. "Tell me you're him!! Tell me you're my son, Ranma Saotome!!" she whispered fiercely. "M-mom...I'm Ranma", whispered Ranma, feeling a lump in his heart - and an incredible amount of strange emotions in his throat. He had never experienced this before, not in his life, but it seemed like he had been saving all of it up for this moment. , thought Ranma. And Nodoka wept tears of incredible joy, and of hopes fulfilled. Ranma wept too, for reasons he did not know but would understand later on. Akane wiped tears from her eyes and hugged P-Chan a little tighter. Then she thought to turn to Ranma-chan, to see how she was reacting to all of this, but she was nowhere to be seen. Ranma and his mother sat down for a long reunion talk - after a thoroughly frightened Genma was hauled out by Soun, that was. Ranma-chan reappeared and she sat down next to Akane, who was also sharing the couch with her two sisters. Genma, Nodoka and Ranma sat down at the table, while Soun stood behind the couch. Mother embraced father, and son, and questions were asked, and answered. Periodically, Nodoka threw in comments on how `manly' Ranma looked, earning huge sweat drops on Genma's forehead, and general assent from the Tendos. Ranma and Genma recounted their travels, albeit cutting out the part about Jusenkyo, and Nodoka listened intently. Akane glanced over at Ranma-chan, who was looking down at her feet and sighing once in a while. She looked to be quite unhappy, and sad, and Nodoka picked up on that with a mother's instinct. "Ranko-chan....why do you look so sad? This should be a time for joy, not for long faces!" said Nodoka as she laid a hand on Ranma-chan's knee. "Time...for joy?" mumbled Ranma-chan. "Why, yes. My son has returned after ten years - only God knows how much I have missed him!" "Yeah. I know, A-auntie Saotome." Ranma-chan's shoulders slumped a little. "Have you met him yet? Isn't he so much like a man now? Why, to think that only ten years ago he was just a child in my arms...!" "Y...yes, Auntie. I've met Ranma. E...excuse me, I've gotta go some...somewhere." With that, Ranma-chan got up. "Oh, I'm sorry, Ranko. Is that why you're looking so worried? You must have a date with your boyfriend, right? Yes, I understand the feeling." Ranma-chan stopped and she turned around, slowly. Ranma and Akane watched Ranma-chan intently. Nodoka looked up into Ranma-chan's face and she smiled. "Come now, don't let me keep you waiting! He might get impatient and leave, you know. Boys are like that, always looking for someone better when the best person for them is right in front of their noses. Well, not all of them. Anyway, a healthy girl like you really should enjoy life to the fullest, while you're young and beautiful." Ranma-chan looked as if she was about to disclose something to Nodoka; her mouth worked silently, and her hand was half-raised, but she looked uncertain as to what she was going to say. Finally she turned around and left without a word. Akane got up, excused herself, and followed after Ranma-chan. Inside her room, Ranma-chan reached back and deliberately pulled her hair tie off. Her pigtail untwirled and spread out into a fan of red hair, covering half of her back. She brushed it out with her fingers and looked into a mirror. , she thought to herself. Now, even more so, she looked like any normal girl, and she was a little disturbed by that. She quickly tied her hair back in a pigtail, then she flopped down on her bed, letting the soft futon accept her body and comfort it. , she repeated over and over in her mind, tears coming out even though she tried hard to keep them in. Downstairs, the chatter increased in volume, as Nodoka let all her pent-up emotion out, gathered over ten, long, years. She could hear Ranma telling Nodoka more about his training and journeys to many places, and Nodoka exclaiming in joy and happiness. Ranma-chan pulled the comforter closer to her, trying to find solitude in the dark confines of her room, but she failed. The clock read six in the afternoon, hardly even time for bed. At last, she grabbed Ranma's pillow and stuffed it around her ears. With the sound muffled, she drifted in and out of sleep, always on the edge of the land of dreams, but never setting foot within that fabled country - for the sounds of merriment from below keep her from sleeping. Her door opened and somebody stepped inside, hesitantly. "Ranma?" It was Akane. Ranma-chan turned away from Akane. "Go 'way. Just leave me alone," muttered Ranma-chan. "I can't, Ranma. I...know what you're...." "No, you don't," said Ranma-chan, sulking a bit now. "Yes, I do, if not even better. I....I don't even have a mom anymore, Ranma. Think of how sad I am whenever I think of her. I'm sorry for you, and all that, but....at least you still have a mother." "It doesn't seem that way, though. I'm only Ranko-*CHAN*. Your country cousin. How the heck am I supposed to tell her that I really am Ranma, too?!" Ranma-chan's voice was starting to rise. "Who says you have to tell her? If you get cured then...." "But what if I don't get cured?! Then suppose what if I told her the truth of me and Ranma? I think `ritual suicide' kinda sums up the whole thing, in two words." Ranma-chan hugged her comforter tighter. Akane started to step towards her. "But...." "But what? Heck, what if she doesn't even believe me?" "She will....after your dad changes into a panda, in front of her. Come on, Ranma, stop being sorry for yourself. You'll find a cure, and then everything will be back to normal." "I've been looking for a cure for so long, and after this Nullifier `cure', I don't think I'll be looking for a cure again." "Don't say that, Ranma! Keep searching for one!" Akane reached over and she touched Ranma-chan, briefly. "Akane! Akane! Where is my son's fiancee? Come down, Akane, so I can see how well the two of you look together!" cried Nodoka from downstairs. "Ack! I can't believe she just yelled tha....Ranma?" Akane quickly swallowed her embarrassment as she turned Ranma-chan over. Ranma-chan had a few tears in her eyes, and she wiped them away quickly. "You...you go on downstairs, Akane. I'll...I'll be fine. I haven't seen my mom for ten years...so what's a little while longer, anyhow?" Ranma-chan sounded quite depressed. "Ranma...." "Go already. I...I need time to think. I mean, I've only lost my manhood, maybe my best friend, my identity, and....and...." Ranma-chan trailed off as she looked at Akane, then she reached over and tentatively touched Akane's hand. Akane watched in wonder as Ranma-chan squeezed her hand in her own. Akane watched as Ranma-chan struggled to find the words to finish her sentence, to tell Akane what or *whom* she had also lost. Then Ranma-chan seemed to give up and she let Akane's hand go. "Ranma....are you sure you'll be alright?" "Yeah. Go and sit next to Ranma, or something. Let my mom see how the *two* of you look, together." "That's not what...." "Akane!! Where are you?" called Nodoka again. "Ranma...!" pleaded Akane. Ranma-chan did not answer. After a moment's hesitation, Akane got up and she left, gently shutting the door after her. * * * Ukyo finally closed her restaurant, relieved to be able to breathe easily once more. She counted the cash in her drawer; almost seventy thousand yen in bills, cheques and coins. She sighed. This money would go to paying for her overhead, and her suppliers and a whole bunch of others. She expected to pull out a profit of about 28 000 yen out of today, but that was about it. Ukyo swept the restaurant up - it was in remarkably clean condition considering how busy it had been. Then she scraped her griddle clean, threw the grease away and began to put her ingredients away. She methodically put away the sauce, the prepared toppings and anything she could find. At last, only a tray covered with some wax paper remained. She lifted the wax paper, to see where this thing would go to. An extra-large size bowl of batter, covered with cling-wrap, sat on a plate in the middle of the tray. Her specially prepared ingredients, intended only for the most expensive okonomiyaki on her menu, were arranged neatly around it, and there was a little piece of paper on top of the bowl written side facing down. Curious, she picked the paper up and read it. It was in her own handwriting and it read, "For the other Ranchan." It was as if her heart had stopped, and there was nothing in the world but the bowl of batter and the piece of paper in her trembling hands. Ukyo sat down heavily, and she felt the sensation of having failed someone. In her rush for much-needed profit, she had neglected Ranma-chan, when she had already promised herself that she wouldn't. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't even seen Ranma-chan leave the restaurant. She had probably been too busy to notice. Ukyo put the bowl of batter, and the ingredients, in the refrigerator and she finished cleaning. Then, with a last look at the seat where Ranma-chan had been sitting on, she turned the lights out and headed upstairs for a shower. * * * Ranma finally managed to leave the little company gathered in the living room, and he headed upstairs, fully intending to crash and sleep for a week. He entered his room and shut the door behind him. Then he fumbled around in the darkness for the light switch, and flicked it on. The first thing he saw was Ranma-chan, curled up on her futon and with her back to the door, facing the window. Even with the bright light, she did nothing more than stir a little bit. He remembered how Ranma-chan had left the living room, as if she had been very glad to leave. Seized by some emotion, or perhaps sympathy, Ranma made his way over to Ranma-chan and he slowly knelt down near her. Something caught his eye, and he leaned over to see what it was, blocking the light from Ranma-chan's face. , thought Ranma as he hesitantly touched the wet spot on the pillow, near Ranma-chan's eyes. "I would really appreciate it if you turned the lights off...", mumbled Ranma-chan as Ranma withdrew his hand from the pillow. "S-sorry," stammered Ranma as he got up quickly and turned the lights off. "That's alright....everybody's sorry. Sorry for me, that is." "How long...have you been in here?" asked Ranma. "Since I left the living room. Haven't been able to sleep since." Ranma-chan did not even twitch, and Ranma laid a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, are you alright?" he asked with concern. Ranma-chan seemed to hesitate, then she turned over and sat up. Ranma couldn't see her face, because of the darkness of the room, but he imagined she looked tired. At least, that was what her body posture seemed to suggest. Her shoulders were down, her neck bent a little, and her arms lay limply on her lap. "No, I'm not alright. So, did you tell mom all about what we did?" There was a note of jealousy, and a bit of anger in her voice. It made Ranma flinch, to be on the receiving end of such personal bitterness - made even more personal since Ranma-chan was the same as he, barring physical differences. "Y-yeah. Except for the Jusenkyo part. We cut that one out." "Why?" It seemed to Ranma that this was the real question that Ranma-chan had been leading up to. Why not tell their mother about Jusenkyo, about the spring of drowned girl? Why not speak of how she had nearly had a heart attack when she had felt her new body all over? Why not relate about all the troubles and worries that her female body had gotten her into? Why not come out with the truth, the truth about `Ranko-chan' and Ranma? "You know as well as I do why I did not. Are you forgetting that stupid promise our dad made before he left to train?" Ranma-chan looked at him like one would look at an idiot, as if to say "of course I know that, why ask?", then she folded her arms up over her knees and drew her legs close to her. At length, she spoke. "I've been thinking. Can we tell mom about....about me and you? I mean, tell her that I'm really Ranma." "It may not be a good idea. See, if she believes our story, she might hold *you* to the promise. Remember, dad said that he'd make us `a man amongst men', or we would commit seppuku - and....and you don't look like a....man right now. Sorry." Ranma-chan narrowed her eyes involuntarily at Ranma's words, but she knew he meant no harm. She had already known the direction Ranma's answer would take - she just needed to hear it. For what reason, she did not know, but she just...had to. Maybe to convince herself that telling her mother was not the best course of action. Maybe not. At any rate, not only might her mother, in the name of honor, force her to commit seppuku but she might also force Genma to commit seppuku as well - thereby following the promise to the word. Ranma-chan fidgeted a bit, then she turned a little away from Ranma. "I'm....I'm glad that you and mom are happy at being reunited. But I think you understand why I....couldn't stay and listen. She refers to me as `Ranko'. I'm NOT Ranko. I'm Ranma. Ranma Saotome. But she does not know that, does she? Did you hear that comment she made about a `boyfriend' for...for me?" "Yeah. I nearly choked." "*I* choked. And I was not very happy. In fact, I was more than a little mad at her....and you." "Why me?" "You're the one getting all the attention. Mother finally meets her long-lost son. Long-lost son finally meets mother, without the curse. But what about me? I'm the curse. I don't belong. Sorry, I'm just rambling. Don't mind me." Ranma laid a hand on Ranma-chan's shoulder and he turned her around. She did not resist, but neither did she look up to meet his eyes. Ranma spoke, softly. "Do you really want to tell mom? I mean, right now. Tell her, and get it over with. Are you afraid of dying, Ranma?" "You know the answer as well as I do. But....there's another reason. Not only is the threat of death stopping me from telling mom, it's also....also...I dunno. Let me put it this way. She was expecting a manly son. Like you." Ranma-chan stopped and she waited for Ranma to reply. He should know what she meant. "And...and you don't want to tell her, because it could be a great disappointment for her.....and for you." "Yeah." "I know. I was kinda expecting that." Both of them knew the real reason behind the unspoken decision to keep the secret from their mother. Ranma-chan didn't want to go before her mother as a girl, when she really was a guy inside. Their mother had gone through ten years of hoping that her son would be manly, and masculine - and, as well, fearing that her son would not be a `man amongst men'. Ranma-chan did not want her mother to see her as she was - not until she got a cure for the Nullifier 122 *and* a cure for the spring of drowned girl curse. Then the whole matter can be hushed up and nothing more would be said of it. End of all their worries, and troubles. At length, Ranma and Ranma-chan lie down to sleep in their respective futons, and Ranma-chan fell asleep - secure in the knowledge that someone, at least, knew her dilemma. She should have told Akane about her problem. That thought floated through her mind just before sleep fell upon her and whisked her away to the land of dreams. Within her body, strange and weird changes were happening. Ranma-chan tossed and moaned as her body went through a change according to a schedule that only it knows. It readjusted itself to its new condition, starting to erase old instincts and replacing them with instincts of the new body. The wind rustled the leaves of trees in the Tendo backyard, blew the drapes open and let the light from a million million stars bath Ranma-chan, in starlight. Tomorrow would come soon enough, and with it, explorations of the new self. -------------------------- Whew. Part two down. Four more to go. If you have any comments, please post them on whatever mailing list we are currently using at the moment. ^_^ - WD I'd like to thank all the people who have privately emailed me their requests for part 3 of Nullifier 122 - on and off the FFML. Thank you for your support. Now, on to the show! Ranma 1/2 = (C) of Shogakukan "Nullifier 122" by Webdragon Part Three : A Balm in Nerima --------------------------------------- Morning broke the hold of night on the world, and the first heralds of the dawn awaken and sing their birdsong, the melodies drifting on the morning air. The sun rose high into the pale blue Saturday sky, casting its molten rays into the air and warming the day. Breakfast had been served in the Tendo household and both families were about to eat. Nodoka sat next to Genma on one end of the table, while Soun sat at the other end. Nabiki and Kasumi sat together while Akane sat by herself, leaving a space for Ranma. Ranma pounded down the stairs, seated himself next to Akane and he grabbed a pair of chopsticks. The table is now fully occupied by all seven people. Ranma-chan was the only one left out and she stood silently behind Ranma. "Here, Ranko! You can sit next to me", offered Akane as she indicated a spot between her and Ranma. Ranma-chan cast a grateful look at Akane before squeezing in. Her petite size was to her advantage now since there wasn't much room at the table to begin with. After breakfast, everyone dispersed, to do whatever they would do. Akane found Ranma-chan sitting on a rock by the pond, staring into the waters and watching the carp swim in their environment. A cool wind stirred the waters and the floating cherry blossom petals. Akane moved to stand next to Ranma-chan, then she nudged her. "Hey, Ranma," said Akane. "What?" Ranma-chan turned to look up at Akane. "Are you alright now? I mean, last night...." Ranma-chan did not reply as she turned away from Akane, now staring out at the seemingly endless expanse of blue sky, high above Nerima. At length, she stood up. "I'm okay, now. I think. But I don't wanna bring it up, not just yet," she said in a single breath. She paused and took in a breath. Akane touched Ranma-chan's arm. "If...you feel you need somebody to talk to, Ranma, there's always me. Okay?" Akane smiled as best she could, trying to feel the way she looked. Ranma-chan touched the hand on her arm, brushing her fingers lightly on Akane's. "Okay", she replied in a small voice. Then she smiled uncertainly. "I will, Akane." Ranma-chan pulled herself quickly away from Akane, the red already starting to color her face with embarrassment, and Akane did likewise. At that moment, Ranma popped out of his window and landed before the two girls. He was just tucking his shirt in. "Well, I'm off", he said as walked away. "Where're you going?" called Akane. Ranma-chan turned away. "Duh, Akane. Where do I go every Saturday? To Daisuke's, to hang out with the guys! Seeya!" With that, Ranma turned around and began to leave but he stopped short - as if he had just realized something. Ranma turned around and looked at his female side's glum face, her dejected posture, and knew the reason why. He cast a guilty look at Akane, who raised her eyebrows in a "Why're you looking at me for?" way. "Hope you enjoy yourself, Ranma," said Ranma-chan in a semi-dull voice. Ranma winced a bit at that. "Hey, I can't help it the way things are now...!" pleaded Ranma, nervously wringing his cap, as if it were a thing alive. Ranma-chan just gestured in the general direction of Daisuke's house, without looking at Ranma. "You go on and have fun. Don't let me stop you." "Hey, you can come along if you want! I'm not stopping you at all!" said Ranma in protest. "Nitwit. After what happened yesterday in the classroom? It'd be a dream come true for those guys!" "Then why're you so mad?" asked Ranma in confusion. "Just go already, Ranma." Akane grabs Ranma-chan's hand and leads her away. Ranma stood there for a moment, silent as anything, then he turned and left. "Well, I'm going to go shopping!" declared Akane brightly. She began to walk upstairs to her room, and Ranma-chan followed close behind. "Shopping?" she asked Akane as she ascended the stairs one by one, following behind the short-haired girl. She looked as good behind as from the front, thought Ranma-chan absently... "Yeah, you know? Clothing, perfume, hair conditioner..." Akane paused for a second and considered Ranma-chan for a moment. "Bras...dresses..." "Somehow, I don't like the sound of that," muttered Ranma-chan under her breath. "I heard that. Anyway, wanna come along? I might need someone to carry my stuff." "Why not? Have nothing else better to do anyways." "Good." Akane opened her room, paused in the entrance for a second, then she opened the door a little wider and she said to Ranma-chan, "C....Come in." "What?" exclaimed a surprised Ranma-chan, her eyes wide as she looked from Akane to the door and back again. "Just come in. I need your help for a bit." Ranma-chan peered about in confusion as Akane shut - and locked - the door behind them. Then she walked over to the drawer, opened it and started rifling through its contents. Ranma-chan sat down on Akane's floor, cross-legged. "Akane...what's this all about?" "Ah hah! Here they are! Well, Ranma? What do you think?" Akane was holding out a white T-shirt and a pair of dark green shorts. Ranma-chan blinked. Akane smiled. "Well?" prodded Akane. "Well what?" Ranma-chan had her arms folded across her chest, her head bent quizzically at Akane. "Are they alright on me?" said Akane as she modeled in them. "Why're you asking me for?" "I need a second opinion, that's all." "Uhh...they look fine on you. I guess." "Good." Akane turned around and stuffed them back into her drawer. "Hey! Didn't I just say they looked fine on you?" protested Ranma-chan, who had just a hint of annoyance on her face. "That's why I put them back. Everybody knows a *guy's* opinion about a girl's clothes means squat!" said Akane as she began to search her drawer again, but she was shaking with the effort to contain her laughter. "Oh...I...but...." stammered Ranma-chan, who was very confused now. What was Akane up to? "Come on. It was just a joke, Ranma. Jeez, what Sayuri said was true, then. Guys are just *so* dense!" "Oh...yeaaah?" said Ranma-chan, rising up from Akane's bed with pillow in her hands, a smile beginning to creep on her face as she realized that Akane was only playing with her. Akane stuck her tongue out at Ranma-chan and a pillow fight ensued. Ranma-chan whacked Akane with the pillow, and Akane retaliated with a nearby pillow. The two girls screamed with laughter as they traded swipes and smacks. Ranma-chan pinned Akane to the floor and began to whack her mercilessly with her pillow in her right hand. Akane had already lost her weapon and was just trying to pull the Ranma-chan's weapon away from her...until she tugged wrong and pulled Ranma-chan down on her, so that their faces weren't more than an inch apart. Ranma-chan noted that Akane's breasts weren't *quite* as small as she had thought them to be, nor was Akane quite as flat-chested as she had made her out to be. In the place of a growing realization, Ranma-chan felt something which she had never before felt - a little tingle of something, like an electric current, down below...which served to create heat from between her legs...and not only that, she felt some ....stimulation from the tips of her breasts...her nipples, she realized, from contact with Akane. Akane felt Ranma-chan's body on top of hers, the red-head's breasts touching her own. Her breath came more quickly now as she looked into Ranma-chan's face, at her delicate features and less pronounced profiles. So much unlike a man's, too much to be mistaken for the male Ranma. Too stunned to do anything more than lie beneath Ranma-chan - whose legs were entangled in Akane's - Akane did nothing, said nothing. The two lay there for a moment or two, staring into each other's eyes, before Ranma-chan bounced up and flipped away from Akane, whereupon she landed and put a hand on her chest, to still her pounding heart. Oh boy, was she gonna get it this time! She prepared for the inevitable mallet...but it never came. Akane was just sitting there, a hand on her chest as well, and looking at Ranma-chan. "S...sorry, Akane. I...I should have been more alert. I mean, I shouldn't have lost balance like that, and..." began Ranma-chan uncertainly but Akane just waved her off. "No big deal. Forget about it." She paused for as second. "So...what do you think I should wear, then?" "Why ask me? You'd only say that my opinion stinks," said Ranma-chan with mock sullenness. Akane managed to look hurt without really meaning it. "Oh, come on. I was just joking. I know, you pick!" She got up, went behind Ranma-chan and pushed her over to the drawer. Ranma-chan dipped her hand hesitantly into Akane's drawer and looked through the clothing. At length, she selected a pair of jean shorts and a striped T-shirt with the words "Solo Mon" on the top and the picture of a surfer at the crest of a big wave. Akane ushered Ranma-chan out into the hallway, then she changed. She and Ranma-chan left the house five minutes later, and they rounded a corner on their way to the mall just down the street. There were many other shoppers heading to and from the mall, an indication of its popularity. The sides of the streets were packed with parked cars; the noise from the vehicles and crowd were almost deafening. Akane and Ranma-chan pushed their way through the crowd and ran into the mall. "Hey, Akane! Over here!" came a call by the fountain inside the mall. It was Sayuri and Anemi. "Hey, you guys!" replied Akane, waving at her two friends making their way towards her and Ranma-chan. Ranma-chan turned to Akane in astonishment. "Your friends are here, too!?" she asked. "What? Something wrong?" replied Akane. "Akane! You've brought Ranko-chan!" exclaimed Sayuri in excitement. "Ni...nice to meet you, Sayuri," greeted Ranma-chan. "When did you transfer here, Ranko?" Anemi asked. Ranma-chan hesitated for a second, glancing at Akane as she did. "About a week ago...I guess," she replied after a while. Akane and Sayuri were chatting it up, leaving Anemi to converse with Ranma-chan. "Do you like it here, Ranko?" "Yeah. I mean, I've visited Nerima...once in a while and I've come to like this place." "You're living with Akane, right? Or are you living with your parents?" Ranma-chan was at a loss for words. She *was* living with her parents. Heck, she was living with herself! But how could she tell Anemi that? "Let's go, you guys! First stop, lingerie!" called Akane as she followed Sayuri to a nearby store. "L..lingerie!?" Ranma-chan felt her cheeks turning red at the thought. Before they could enter the store a group of boys bumped into the girls. It was Hiroshi and two guys whom Ranma-chan did not recognize - they were probably Hiroshi's other friends, thought Ranma-chan. But where was Ranma? She looked around but she couldn't see him. Maybe he was only hanging out with Daisuke. Akane and Sayuri exchanged pleasantries with the guys while Ranma-chan watched on (she noted that Sayuri said very little to Hiroshi, but she looked as if she wanted to)...until one of Hiroshi's buddies noticed her. He whispered to his friends surreptiously - Ranma-chan pretended not to notice - and then he hesitantly made his way over to her. He faltered a bit, but he seemed to draw upon some reserve of courage and he forged on until he was standing three feet away from her. "Hi...uh....you must be the new student...that Hiroshi was telling me about. I'm Kyusaku. Wh-what's your name?" he asked without looking into Ranma-chan's face. He had short hair and his appearance was pleasing, if not handsome. Ranma-chan shook her head. Why should she care if he was good looking or not? She mentally slapped herself and took a deep breath before looking up at the guy. "Ranko Tendo. Say, are you Hiroshi's friend?" she asked, careful not to look into his eyes. Her left hand crept up and began smoothing out her hair and playing with the tip of her pigtail. She was aware that her heart was beating faster for some reason unknown to her, and she made an effort to calm herself. Still, a bit of red - so slight as to be almost pink - colored her cheeks. "Yep. We're just out walking around, hanging out, having fun...you know, the whole bit." He paused and Ranma-chan did not pick the thread of conversation up. There was silence for a few moments as boy and girl studied each other while trying to seem as if they weren't. Ranma-chan's eyes travelled from Kyusaku's feet, to his waist - she noted that it was quite trim - up to his chest...and she hesitated for a moment before she glanced up into his eyes. He too was looking at her and he blushed when he noticed Ranma-chan watching him. In the background, Ranma-chan was aware of the three girls and two guys watching her and Kyusaku, and she reddened. She should just get this over with. , she thought desperately. "Did you...see a guy with a pigtail - just like mine...", Ranma-chan turned to show Kyusaku her pigtail, "but he has black hair and he's wearing Chinese clothes?" "Nope. The only one I have seen wearing Chinese clothes today...is you." Kyusaku coughed and he seemed to lose his initial front of confidence, "You know...uh...you look great in Chinese clothes." A groan came from the Hiroshi and his friend, who were both watching the exchange between Kyusaku and Ranma-chan. The girls made no outward comment. Ranma-chan felt something like revulsion ...and pride, perverse no doubt, at Kyusaku's compliment. She didn't know whether to feel insulted or not, and that fuelled the next twenty seconds or so of an indecisive wrangling of her pigtail. Finally, Ranma-chan flicked her pigtail behind her back. "T...thanks," she replied at last. She smoothed out a few wrinkles on her shirt front - getting gape-mouthed stares from the guys - then she raised her eyes until they met Kyusaku's own for a moment. "Well...I..uh...gotta go now. Seeya." With that, she went around Kyusaku, but she miscalculated and she accidently bumped into his side - with her chest. Her breasts rubbed against him - she noted that his body seemed trim enough - then they dislodged from their `obstacle' and Ranma-chan whirled around, an unnamed fear settling in her stomach. "Uh...sorry `bout that. Wasn't looking where I was going," apologized Ranma-chan without looking up at Kyusaku. Her face was flushed crimson with shame as she met up with the girls. Sayuri bid goodbye to Hiroshi - him alone - and the female troupe proceeded uninterrupted to the lingerie store. Akane dropped back a ways and walked beside Ranma-chan, who was trying her best to look unconcerned and unaffected by what had just happened. "Really, Ranma. You knew he was trying to hit on you, and I was half-expecting you to clock him one on the face," she whispered. "Yeah, but Hiroshi was watching. Otherwise, I woulda whacked him." She didn't sound very convincing and Akane picked up on that. "Somehow, I don't think you would have." "Yeah? Just tr..try me." Ranma-chan held up a clenched fist. Akane snorted. "Whatever. In any case, don't let it affect you. I mean, they only see a girl...and they don't know that you're a guy underneath all that and..." Akane trailed off when she saw Ranma-chan feeling the spot where her chest had touched Kyusaku's body. "Uh...Ranma. What are you doing?" "Hmmm.....oh! I...I was just trying to get the feeling off. I..I can still feel my...you know...", she indicated her breasts, "...and, like I said, I can still feel it touching him." There was another reason, but she took care not to tell Akane. When she had brushed against Kyusaku like that, she had felt a tingle of pleasure that seemed to be a part of her, yet not, at the same time. And she had determined that the source of her pleasure had been her nipples. Even now, they were starting to harden and stand out, so Ranma-chan loosened her shirt a little to allow some slack for the changes in her body. "Sure. Don't do it in public...girls don't do stuff like that...I mean...you're a girl now, and you don't want people looking funny at you, do you?" With that, Akane moved further up until she was on par with Anemi. Sayuri dropped back a bit, to talk with Ranma-chan. "So...Ranko...how do you like the guys around here?" she asked. Ranma-chan thought she could detect another motive for Sayuri's question totally unrelated to that of idle chit-chat, but she couldn't decipher it. "They're...uh...good looking, yeah. Good looking. Especially that Ranma, but he wasn't here. Too bad," she said, feeling some pride when Sayuri nodded in agreement. "What did you think of that Kyusaku guy?" she asked Ranma-chan, who was starting to get into the mood of things now. If there was one thing she knew how to do well, that was how to act like a girl - and she had plenty of experience doing so. "He's...cute.....but I think Hiroshi, the guy with the light brown hair in our class, is better looking, by far," said Ranma-chan, watching Sayuri's reaction carefully. She was not disappointed. Sayuri seemed to be thinking and she said nothing to Ranma-chan for a while. A sneaking suspicion entered her head and she considered it for a moment. Could it be that Sayuri liked Hiroshi? The way she looked at him, but never seemed to talk with him...how was it she never noticed it before the Nullifier change? "Then you like Hiroshi, right Ranko?" asked Sayuri in a carefully neutral tone. "I never said that. I just think he's...uh...cuter, that's all." Ranma-chan gritted her teeth at her words mainly because she had never spoken like that before. , she told herself deep down, "I see. So you're saying you'd rather go out with Kyusaku than Hiroshi?" "I never said that either. I mean...I don't really know who I'd rather go out with....but Ranma takes the cake anytime. Too bad Akane watches him like a hawk." "Yeah, that she does," replied Sayuri, seeming mollified now. The four girls went into the first feminine clothing store they saw. Akane strolled about the aisles for quite a while, and she looked at various negligee, lingerie and anything that sounded French. She stopped to examine a particularly frilly-looking bra when there was a little commotion in the change booth and Sayuri popped out of the change room, and waved to Akane and Anemi. "Oh, Akane! Anemi! Come look!" she called while trying to pull someone out of the change room. "No! Don't look!" came Ranma-chan's voice from inside. Sayuri tugged harder but Ranma-chan resisted. "Where, where?!" cried Anemi. Ranma-chan was finally pushed out of the dressing room by Sayuri and Akane's jaw dropped open. Ranma-chan was topless except for a frilly bra that barely covered her bosom. She tried desperately to get back in the dressing room but Sayuri blocked the way. Anemi and Akane felt twinges of jealousy looking at Ranma-chan's generously endowed attributes, but they pushed those feelings away. "Why didn't you have a bra underneath, Ranko?" asked Sayuri from behind Ranma-chan. "I...uh...must have forgot mine at home. Oops." Ranma-chan blushed and crossed her hands over her chest. "That looks good on you, you know?" commented Akane, who received a sharp glare from Ranma-chan in reply. "No, really, Ranko! It does...uh..suit you. The style, I mean. Now, the size is another matter...." added Sayuri. Ranma-chan shrank back into the change room, and she looked at herself in the mirror. Then she slowly removed her hands from her chest, sliding them down her smooth stomach until they lay by her sides. Sayuri was right. The bra was about a size too small and she could practically see her breasts but for the nipples. "Ha..hand me the next size up, willya?" called Ranma-chan from the change room. Sayuri handed her the correct size and Ranma-chan shut the curtain on the three girls without. She fumbled a bit with the strap on her back, then the bra just popped off and she was left completely topless. She took a moment to admire her body in the mirror, noting with wonder how well-formed her breasts were, how smooth yet firm her skin was - before she took the larger size bra and placed each cup over her breasts. They felt restrictive at first, but she could see the benefits almost immediately. For one, her nipples wouldn't be visible under her shirt. And they would keep her breasts from bouncing about too much when she walked or ran. And, because they were padded, they made her seem bigger than she really was. Not that it really mattered to her of course, she decided quickly, she certainly wasn't out to get any guys! But she couldn't suppress an almost-perverse thought, one that whispered to her that she could get any guy she wanted even without looking bigger than she was.... "Ranko! Are you nearly finished in there?" "Y..yeah! Coming!" she called as she quickly unhooked the bra, pulled her shirt on and left the change room. With some money lent by Sayuri, Ranma-chan bought that bra and then the four of them headed from store to store. Purchases mounted, as if some demon had gotten on all of the girls' backs, exhorting them to buy, buy and buy, and soon Ranma-chan was carrying an armload of Akane's stuff. Even she wasn't exempt from the influence of the shopping bug - as a two bags of clothing attested to in her left hand, containing her bra, three pairs of panties, a pair of shorts and - of all things - a mini-skirt. The last item had been bought under pressure from the other girls, no doubt to see how well she looked in that mini-skirt before the other girls would consider buying the same thing. Tired from an hour of shopping, not to mention hungry, the girls head to the food court and set their purchases down by a table. Sayuri and Anemi head off to buy their food. "Akane, I'm gonna go and order something to eat now, okay?" said Ranma-chan to Akane. "Sure, Ranko." "Be right back!" Ranma-chan wandered from store to store, looking for a special food item that would catch her fancy. Her stomach growled angrily at her, berating her for taking so long to decide what to eat. Surprised at this, Ranma-chan stopped for a second. She had been starting to feel more and more hungry the last two nights, as if her body had been burning the calories like crazy every time she went to sleep. And she felt a little bit more changed each morning she woke to. , she thought. Her stomach snarled and she clenched her stomach muscles tightly, to stop the sound. She felt a tap on her shoulder and she turned around. Ukyo stood there, dressed in a miniskirt, white sweater and tights , with a little white ribbon in her long, brown hair. She looked stunningly cute, an improvement over her usual appearance in her normal attire. Ranma-chan felt a twinge of....jealousy? Impossible! Why would she feel jealous of Ucchan? She tried to dismiss it as a figment of her imagination, but it wouldn't go away no matter how much she tried. She found herself looking at Ukyo's breasts and comparing them with her own. Unconsciously, she also started checking her figure against Ukyo's. "Ranma, what are you looking at?" asked Ukyo quizzically. "Huh? Oh! Nothing! Nothing!" She forced her eyes upwards. "O-okay. What are you doing here anyway?" "I'm here with Akane, 'cuz she wanted me to carry some stuff for her while she shopped. And now I'm looking for something good to eat." As if to make the point, her stomach growled. "To....eat? Hey, why not drop over my restaurant at noon? I'll treat you to a free okonomiyaki or two, to make up for the one you missed last night." Ukyo looked hopeful. "Well...," began Ranma-chan but she trailed off when she remembered how much yen she had - just enough to buy that tank-top Sayuri was talking about. "I don't want to sound rude, but you sure you can manage to prepare my okonomiyaki? I mean, Saturday is such a busy day for you." "Sure I can. You just watch, Ranchan." Ukyo smiled. "Well...alright. So what brings you here?" Ranma-chan began walking with Ukyo out of the food court. "Well, it's like half past eleven right now and I open shop at noon. I'm just here to...I guess, shop...and have fun. My work schedule's so busy that I try to relax whenever I can, you know." "Yeah, I understand." The two friends did not say anything more until they stood at the entrance to the food court. "Well, I'll be seeing you later then, Ranchan!" With that, Ukyo smiled and waved goodbye to Ranma-chan, who waved back. Then she headed back to the table. Akane looked up from tapping the table impatiently with her fingers. Sayuri and Anemi were still out ordering their food. "What took you so long, Ranma? And where's your food?" she asked with some annoyance. "I was talking to Ukyo, Akane, and she offered to give me some free food later on. If I dropped by her restaurant." "Ukyo? What did you and her talk about?" Akane leaned forward in interest. "Like I said, she wanted me to drop by and have some food on her. I said yes. Besides, I don't have alot of money left from what you and Sayuri lent me." She did not disclose to Akane exactly what she was saving the money for. "Okay. If you say so. I'm gonna go and get some food, so you stay and watch the shopping bags, alright?" "Okay." Within minutes, after Akane had wandered off in search of food, Sayuri and Anemi return to the table with their trays of food. Sayuri had a plate of fried rice and Anemi had two hamburgers and some fries. "Ranko! Finished already?" exclaimed Anemi in surprise. "I'm gonna go to a restaurant later on," replied Ranma-chan. "Which one?" "Ucchan's Okonomiyaki." "You're going to Ukyo's restaurant? She can cook, that's for sure." Ranma-chan's stomach growled a bit at that and she looked up with an embarrassed smile at the two girls. "I'm getting hungry just thinking about it..." she offered by way of an explanation. "If you're hungry, just take a fry or two," offered Anemi. Ranma-chan smiled gratefully and took Anemi up on her offer. "Hey, you guys! You don't mind if I bring a friend to sit with us, do you?" It was Akane, from behind Ranma-chan. "Who?" asked Sayuri, peering behind Ranma-chan. "It's that Ryoga guy," whispered Anemi back. "Ryoga?!" Ranma-chan whipped her head about, to see Ryoga being lead to the table by Akane. "Ranm...I mean, Ranko!?" blurted Ryoga in surprise. Akane sat Ryoga down and began to talk to him in a friendly manner, drawing his attention back to Akane. "Oooh, they *do* know each other!" whispered Sayuri to Anemi in obvious delight. "Wonder how far they have gone?" whispered Anemi back. "Not very far at all," said Ranma-chan. "How do you know?" That was Sayuri. "Well, have you ever seen Ryoga and Akane out on a date before?" "We weren't talking about him and Akane, Ranko. We were talking about you." "What?!" Ranma-chan flushed scarlet, the waves of red quickly expanding from her cheeks to include nearly her entire face and her neck. "So, how far have *you* gone?" said Sayuri slyly as she poked Ranma-chan's arm with a finger. "N-Not far!! Cut it out, you guys!" protested Ranma-chan, embarrassed as anything. "Then you'll just have to try harder, Ranko," advised Sayuri, "You see, some guys are just naturally harder to get through to...and..." "Stop! Time out! It's not like that at all!" cried Ranma-chan, getting strange looks from diners in their immediate vicinity. Her chest heaving a bit from her embarrassment, she settled back in her seat again. "Then why is he blushing like that? For that matter, why are *you* blushing?" prodded Sayuri. "I am?" Ranma-chan felt her face. "Yeah. Anyways, why don't you go over and sit next to him? Real close, okay?" Sayuri smiled mischeviously, which set Anemi to giggling and embarrassed Ranma-chan even further. "It's obvious that he likes you....so you have the advantage. We girls always do." Ranma-chan glanced over at Ryoga, who seemed to be on the verge of saying something profound to Akane. She made that assumption because Ryoga's face was red, he wasn't even looking at Akane, and his hands fiddling with each other. Or perhaps it was intuition that told her that Ryoga was about to tell Akane how he really felt about her. In any case, even though it wouldn't *directly* affect her if Ryoga declared his love for Akane, Ranma-chan still felt an obligation to disrupt any of Ryoga's attempts - for the male Ranma, if not for herself. Making sure that Ryoga was looking skyward, unnoticing of anybody or anything but the ceiling and his thoughts, Ranma-chan silently relocated until she was sitting right next to him. She glanced at Akane, whose pupils were starting to dilate into dangerously small dots and eyebrows beginning to `v' up, and she looked over at Sayuri and Anemi - both of whom were watching intently - before she made her mind up and laid a hand on Ryoga's. "Oh....*Ryoga*....." cooed Ranma-chan in a voice that resembled Akane's, but with as much sexiness and promise she could project into it. The idea was to get Ryoga to do something stupid, then reveal herself to Ryoga and get him all angry. Then he would lose sight of his goal of declaring his love for Akane as he would be fighting with Ranma-chan... Akane began to stand up but Sayuri and Anemi pulled her down, and whispered to her. Then the unexpected happened. Ryoga's arm came down on her shoulders and pulled her close to him. She practically collided into him face first with a whump that took some of her breath away and left both her hands pressed up against his body. At first, at the unfamiliar contact, Ranma-chan tried to pull away but her efforts were weak and uncertain. She had begun to ask herself the question of whether she really wanted to pull away from Ryoga, because she was feeling things she had never felt before. And this time it was not just sexual excitement, like the previous contact with Akane or Kyusaku...she too felt comforted, protected by her `embrace' with Ryoga. His arm felt like a ton of bricks but while it was heavy, it was also warm and practically covered much of her upper back. And, his smell was nice too - she didn't know how to describe it. It was just...good. He smelt good. His shirt, which was right up to her nose, had that same smell to it that made her feel relaxed, and good at the same time. And his body...her hand, hidden from view by her body, slid off his hand and touched the hard muscle of his leg, and experimentally made its way up his side, touching his abs briefly, and....she jerked it back with a muttered curse. WHAT THE HELL WAS SHE DOING!?!? "Ran..ko. What are you doing?" asked Akane, one eyebrow twitching dangerously, her eyes closed as if to keep her gorgon-like gaze from turning Ranma-chan to stone with the anger she felt boiling within herself. Why couldn't she leave poor Ryoga alone?! "R...Ranko?" murmured Ryoga, coming out of his delirious daze now. "Yoo hoo....!" cooed Ranma-chan. "Yoo...hoo?" Ryoga looked down at Ranma-chan - the female form cuddled right next to him and smiling cutely, "YOU!! Why I ought to....oof!" Ranma-chan removed her elbow from Ryoga's midsection and said, "You ought to what?" "I see. This isn't their first time fighting," commented Sayuri to Anemi. "And they made such a beautiful couple together, too," said Anemi back to Sayuri. "But why did Ryoga get angry?" "No idea." Both girls watched Akane and Ryoga glare at Ranma-chan, who managed to ignore both of them while stealing a fry or two from Akane's tray. At length, Akane sighed and turned to Ryoga. "Thanks for stopping a moment, Ryoga. Lucky I managed to get a hold of you, otherwise you'd have walked right by me," said Akane with a smile. "Y-yeah. I thought this place looked familiar, but then again I have seen many places like this one. If I had know earlier, I would have stopped by to...to visit you." , thought Ranma-chan, remembering that she had only been holding P-chan yesterday. Akane and Ryoga exchange some more goodbyes, and good wishes, then Ryoga shoulders his pack - rising powerfully to his feet even with his heavy umbrella and laden backpack - and he began to wander off in the general direction of the mall's exit. "Seeya, Ryoga!" called Ranma-chan after him. Ryoga didn't even look back. "Ranko? Come with me here a sec, okay?" Akane got up and started to move off. "Where to, Akane?" "Just come with me." "O-okay," said Ranma-chan while scratching her head, perplexed. The two girls head to the washroom. Akane looked about inside the washroom and made sure that they were alone. Then, after Ranma-chan had entered the washroom, Akane locked the door, rushed Ranma-chan and slammed her against the wall, pinning her by the shirt. "WHAT were you doing to poor Ryoga?!?" snarled Akane. "Hey, hey! Take it easy, Akane!!" cried Ranma-chan, holding her hands up in defense. "Take it easy?! You torment my friend ceaselessly and you tell me to take it easy??! I've had it up to here," Akane puts a hand above her head, "with your vendetta against Ryoga! Why can't you just make up to him?" "Make up to him? But..." "No more excuses, RanKO!!" The extra emphasis on the `ko' made Ranma-chan flinch a bit, "I bet you enjoyed staying so close to him, eh?" She knows! "I couldn't help it, Akane! Really, I couldn't!" protested Ranma-chan. "Couldn't help what?!" "I couldn't pull away from him! He...." "Oh, sure. And next you're going to tell me that you actually did like him hugging you!" Akane's voice was full of sarcasm. "Yes." A few seconds crept by in silence. "Come again?" asked Akane. "I said yes. I didn't feel sick or anything, if that's what you're gonna ask..." Akane dropped Ranma-chan, who slumped against the wall but kept looking at Akane, who didn't look at Ranma-chan at all. There was a tentative rap-rap on the door right at that moment, and Akane opened it up. Two girls, the same age as Akane, stood there. "Are you two finished yet?" asked the one with the long hair. Her companion had a hat on. "Eeeep. How long were...were you two out here?" said Akane in a small voice. "Ever since we heard a loud thump against the wall," said the one with the hat. "Yeah, sounded like somebody hitting the wall, or something. You know, you should take her advice and go make up to your boyfriend. But...why were you mad because she," the girl pointed at Ranma-chan, "hugged your friend? I thought he was her boyfriend...?" "None of your business. Come on, Ranko. Let's go back to the others before we attract more attention." Akane leads Ranma-chan back to the table. Akane finished her food in big helpings, punctuated by a glance at Ranma-chan now and then, who was carefully examining her hands. Ranma-chan shrank under Akane's scrutiny and she fidgeted, always doing something, anything, to avoid looking at Akane. Gradually, the tension eased between the two as Akane gets caught up in chatting with her friends. Finally their food was finished and the four girls headed off for more shopping. Ranma-chan selected two pairs of jean shorts and a T-shirt, with the words "Wet 'n Wild" printed on its front. Sayuri and Anemi headed off to a different section of the store, while Akane pulled Ranma-chan into the swimsuit section. Ranma-chan looked over the swimsuit section's selections, and picked out a one piece swimsuit colored a dark blue with the words "Body Glove" emblazoned on the bust. It was cut so that the entire back was exposed except for a tiny strip of material running from one side of her breast, around her back, and to the other breast. It had a zipper running from the navel to the middle of the bust. Ranma-chan went into the dressing room and comes out in a little while, wearing the swimsuit. She struck a pose, both hands with fingers entwining above her head, bending backwards slightly and tilting her head. She peeked over at Akane. "H..how's it look, Akane?" she asked in a small, uncertain voice. "Well....", said Akane as she circled Ranma-chan once, noting the amount of skin exposed with a critical eye, "don't you think it's a little too *open*?" "I've worn less to the beach before, Akane. I just wanted to know if it's....you know, good looking." "Why? Planning on catching some guys with it?" asked Akane teasingly. "NO! It's just that if I have to, you know, wear a swimsuit, I might as well look good wearing it, you know? It's kinda hard to explain." Ranma-chan dropped her pose and walked back into the change room. She drew the curtain shut and turned the light on inside. "Are you gonna try something on, Akane?" she asked as she stripped. "No, I already have eight swimsuits at home." With a gentle tug the swimsuit came off her bust and she rolled it down her body, bending over in the process and feeling the unfamiliar, but strangely pleasurable sensation of her breasts hanging down and swaying slightly with her efforts. It came off and she straightened up. She reached for her boxers but she hesitated a bit. Now would be a good time to try on those panties for real...so Ranma-chan walked up to the curtain and pulled it back just enough so that only her face was visible. "Hey, Akane..." she called to Akane, who had wandered off a little ways with both their bags. Akane turned around. "Yes?" "Can you...er...hand me a pair of....you...you know." "Know what?" "P...panties", whispered Ranma-chan loud enough for Akane to hear, but not for anybody else. "What was that, Ranma? Say again?" said Akane, cocking a ear towards Ranma-chan, who blushed as red as the curtain that covered her naked body from view. "C-can you pass me my bag of s-stuff, Akane?" she asked in as steady a voice as she could manage. "Sure, but pass me the swimsuit or the saleslady might think that you're stealing it, or something." Ranma-chan nodded, picked up the swimsuit and handed it out to Akane. Unfortunately, she was leaning too hard on the curtain and three of the supporting rings holding the curtain up on the metal rod broke. Ranma-chan stumbled forward and managed to catch herself by grabbing onto the curtain and hanging on for dear life. "Ra..Ranko! Get back in there!!" cried a horrified Akane as she jumped in front of Ranma-chan and any other shoppers that might be about, for Ranma-chan was half out of the changeroom - totally naked. "S...sorry! The curtain broke, and..." "Will you get back behind the curtain already?! What if someone came along right at this moment?!" "Right, right." Ranma-chan ducked behind the curtain again and quickly put on a pair of panties, and her new bra. Then she pulled her shirt and pants back on, put on her shoes and stuffed her boxers into her shopping bag. Then she tapped Akane on the shoulder and both girls went off to the cashier's, to pay for Ranma-chan's purchase. Smiling to herself in satisfaction, Ranma-chan placed her new swimsuit alongside her mini-skirt (now why did she even buy that mini-skirt in the first place?) and all four girls left the store. Now that they had exhausted their supply of cash, they merely wandered from store to store, window shopping. Anemi plastered herself against the glass of a women's store, her eyes fixed on a white and sky-blue cheongsam in the store display, until Sayuri peeled her off and tugged her along their trek around the mall. Finally their enthusiasm ran out and their tired legs told them that it was time to go home, to mull over the day's purchases, to contemplate the meaning of spent money. Sayuri and Anemi promised to call Akane and have a "three-phone" conversation, with Sayuri's new telephone service that her dad - a businessman - had gotten, which allowed threeway conversations, simultaneously. Ranma-chan and Akane stepped out of the mall, and they immediately wilted under the sweltering heat and smell of burning car oil, and smoke. They had no idea that it was so hot outside the mall! Of course, the mall was air-conditioned and they had spent the better part of four hours inside of it. The sun still rode high in the sky and a giant, digital clock above a bank told the two of them that it was only two p.m. "Akane, if you want to you can go on home. I'm going to Ucchan's for some food," said Ranma-chan as she wiped her forehead with her hand. "I'm coming along too." "You're still hungry? I thought you had eaten enough to last you a week back in the food court," joked Ranma-chan. "I'm not a pig like you, Ranma. But her okonomiyaki *are* delicious, I'll admit that." "And what won't you admit? That you don't like Ukyo?" asked Ranma-chan defensively. Akane had no right to attack Ukyo like that...! Akane cast Ranma-chan a slightly hurt look. "It's *Shampoo* I don't like...Ukyo is a much nicer person than that bimbo." "Oh. So you like Ukyo, then?" "I didn't say that." "But you implied it." "I still didn't say that I liked Ukyo. After all, she's always acting like she owns you, and she doesn't seem to realize that I...I mean...forget it." Akane shut her mouth, hoping Ranma-chan hadn't caught too much. What made her slip up and tell Ranma-chan things she would not even *dare* mention to Ranma!? "As long as you and Ucchan get along fine, I'll be happy..." said Ranma-chan, trailing off a little bit at the end of her sentence. "Oh, of course! We get along just fine, me and Ukyo...it's just that when she tries to get Ra...I mean...never mind." There she went again! Talking to Ranma-chan as if she were not Ranma, but Ranko! She really must watch herself there. "Okay." Ranma-chan smiled at Akane, happy that she had managed to find this one common ground upon which the two of them could agree upon. Ukyo was her friend, and perhaps Akane's, and Ranma-chan was glad. Pushing aside the blue drapes of the Ucchan, the two girls embraced the succulent smell of sizzling okonomiyaki, and their mouths began to water - especially Ranma-chan's, since she hadn't eaten at all. The place was packed with people, but two seats remained conspicuously empty by the counter - almost as if Ukyo had been anticipating Ranma-chan and Akane's arrival at her restaurant. Speaking of which, Ukyo looked up from frying a large batch of okonomiyaki. Her hair, which was undone the last time Ranma-chan saw it, was now pulled back into a ponytail and fastened with a white headband. She wore her usual chef's shirt, and her black tights, and she sported a bandolier filled with her throwing spatulas. Her fighting spatula was nowhere to be seen. "Hey, Ranchan! Akane! I've been waiting for the two of you!" called Ukyo as she fried the food and sprinkled ingredients all over the okonomiyaki. "Sorry to take so long, but all four of us wanted to window shop some more," replied Ranma-chan. "That's alright, Ranchan. Pull up a seat and I'll just be a second." Ukyo glanced over at Akane, and broke into a smile. "You too, Akane." "Thanks, Ukyo." Akane sat beside Ranma-chan, who leaned over with a grin on her face. "Now, what was it that you're saying about liking Ukyo, Akane?" she prodded slyly in a whisper. "Come on, Ranma. One okonomiyaki is not going to solve everything...!" whispered Akane back. "How about two? Or three?" "You know that's not the point." Akane turned away from Ranma-chan and adjusted herself on her seat. "Food is not going to buy my friendship, Ranma. You should know that by now." "So, Ukyo treating you to some free okonomiyaki doesn't mean a lot to you?" "I don't even know if it's going to be free. Even if it was free...yes, it does mean something, but...she can't expect to solve all of her problems with a little food. I mean, between us and Ukyo, not...you know...between you and Ukyo." Ranma-chan could have sworn Ukyo flinched a bit at that, but she wasn't sure whether it had happened or not - or, if it did, exactly why. Akane picked up a chopstick and began fiddling with it. Ukyo finished that batch of food and came over to the two girls, her spatula and batter bowl at the ready. "Okay! Now, I'll cook that deluxe okonomiyaki for you, Ranchan. Akane, which one was it you wanted...?" asked Ukyo with a smile. "Oh...I...just an okonomiyaki. The cheapest one on the menu, I guess." Akane began to search the menu for the cheapest. Figures. Ukyo wasn't going to give her free food after all, not this time. "Nonsense, Akane. Since this is free, you might as well get something worthwhile eating. I know, I'll give you the Seafood Delight special." "Free? I...thanks, Ukyo. Sure." "Nothing to it." Ukyo began to pour the batter for the two okonomiyaki. "So, how was your shopping, Akane?" she asked. "It was great! Me, Sayuri, Anemi and Ranma here went shopping for four hours." "What did you get?" Ukyo swiped a little more cooking oil on the grill. "Just a dress, and a pair of jeans, and some other stuff. Ranma here got..." "Hey! Keep it down, willya?" shushed Ranma-chan. Ukyo stopped frying and leaned over the counter at Ranma-chan. "What *did* you buy?" asked Ukyo with a small smile on her face. Ranma-chan blushed in embarrassment and clamped her legs tight on the shopping bag beneath the counter, on the floor. "J...just a few things. Nothing important," she stammered in reply. "Did you have fun, too? I mean, going around and looking at stuff?" Ukyo resumed cooking. "Depends," said Ranma-chan evasively, her face reddening even more. She did have fun, but it would be the last thing for her to admit right here, right before Akane and Ukyo. "On what?" "Nothing. It wasn't fun carrying those shopping bags for Akane. I thought she had bought an elephant, or something. My arms were hurting when we walked out of the mall!" To emphasize that, Ranma-chan rolled her left sleeve back and felt her arm with her right hand. "I wouldn't say the same thing if I were you, Ranma. Remember that Bodyglove swimsuit, and your...," Akane's voice dropped to a whisper, "panties and your bra?" "Keep it down, stupid!" whispered Ranma-chan fiercely. "Then don't go saying that I bought so much stuff when I really didn't," replied Akane evenly, "It's not like I'm rich or anything. Besides, Sayuri bought more than I did." "Well...I see that the two of you bought something, at least. Sure wish I had the time to walk from store to store, the way you two did." Ukyo sounded a bit wistful. "Why? Just take a day off and go." Ranma-chan traced circles in the hardwood counter with her finger. "With whom? It's no fun going by yourself, and if it's not going to be fun, then I'd rather be back here earning my living." "Just go with Akane, or some of your other friends at school. You hang out with Sayuri, don't you?" Ukyo shook her head. Ranma-chan, surprised, turned to Akane. "Akane...Sayuri doesn't hang out with Ucchan?" asked Ranma-chan. "No. They just...you know, know each other. That's all." "Then who do you hang out with, Ucchan?" asked Ranma-chan in curiosity. Ukyo was quiet for a few seconds, then she shook her head and quickly flipped two okonomiyaki onto two plates and handed the first one to Ranma-chan, then the Seafood Delight to Akane. "Here, you two. Enjoy. Excuse me, but I've got to take care of some customers up front." Ukyo whirled, to face the customers. The paying ones, that was. Ranma-chan turned to Akane. "Akane...I know you don't hang around with her, but do you know who does?" Ranma-chan took a big bite out of her okonomiyaki. "The thing is...Ranma...nobody. She only sees me when she comes over to see you. Other than that, I don't think she has any...I mean...I don't know." Akane stared down at her okonomiyaki guiltily, her appetite suddenly diminished. Ranma-chan, on the other hand, was shamelessly wolfing down her XL okonomiyaki - at least, it seemed that way to Akane. Akane poked Ranma-chan on the shoulder and the red-haired girl turned to her, still munching on a mouthful. "What?" she managed after a few moments of chewing. "Do you think Ukyo's mad at me?" whispered Akane. Ranma-chan glanced at Ukyo. She seemed fine enough, and looked at everyone - including Akane - enough times to convince Ranma-chan that she was not angry at all. "Naw. I don't think so. Come on, eat up." "Okay. If you say so...." "Stop being a worry-wart and eat, already. Ukyo's not like that, to get mad over something that is not really your fault!" Ukyo was aware that Ranma-chan and Akane were talking about her, and Ukyo cast her thoughts back to what Akane had said. , thought Ukyo. To think she had assumed that female Ranma would suddenly be reunited with male Ranma, and that Akane would recognize that this was Ukyo's way of trying to be friends with her - all with the wave of a spatula - coupled with free food. Ukyo sighed inwardly. The demands of her business had eaten into her social life, and now she could only count the two Ranmas, and perhaps Akane, as her friends in Nerima. Then again, since Ranma wasn't a friend in the platonic sense, and her relationship with Akane was doubtful at times, it remained to see that Ukyo had no friends at all. Sure she knew the schoolgirls in her class, but did they hang around her at lunchtime? They gravitated to their friends, most notably Akane, but Ukyo was always left alone. They hadn't noticed Ukyo standing alone, by herself, so caught up were they in gossip and whatnot...or perhaps they would have seen Ukyo attempting to make some friendly conversation with the guys - and of course, *they* took it the wrong way. One boy had even asked her out on a date. She had declined politely, citing her busy work schedule. And now, as she watched Ranma-chan and Akane talk about their trip in the mall, about what they had bought respectively, and about Sayuri and Anemi and a host of other girls, Ukyo was reminded of what she had given up in order to establish her business, her livelihood. Truly it is said that business has no space allotted for emotions. She hugged herself inwardly for a moment, gathering strength, then she turned back to the two girls. Akane was slowly finishing her food, and Ranma-chan was trying to sneak a piece or two from Akane's plate, getting smacks on the wrist for her efforts. "Stop it, Ranma! Get your own okonomiyaki!" "But, the way you're eating it we'll never get out of this restaurant!" "You sound as if you're anxious to leave." Akane munched on her okonomiyaki, savouring its taste and Ranma-chan's obvious impatience. "No, I'm not...I didn't mean it that way." Ukyo watched the two girls playfully arguing back and forth, her heart warmed by that sight, and she almost joined in but a customer rang the bell by the counter and she moved to serve him. After she was done, she turned back but her opportunity was lost. Akane was finishing the last piece and Ranma-chan had stopped fidgeting. By all looks, they were ready to leave. "Leaving now, Ranchan?" asked Ukyo. Ranma-chan nodded and she stood up. "Thanks, Ucchan! That was great cooking, as usual." Ranma-chan hesitated for a second, then she said, "Well...see you later, Ucchan, and take care!" "See you, Ranchan." Ukyo watched Ranma-chan walk out the door of the Ucchan. Akane wiped her hands on the napkin, thanked Ukyo and began to leave. "Umm, Akane?" "Yes, Ukyo?" replied Akane, turning around. "I was wondering...when are you going shopping next? Because I'd like to come along then." "I...uh...I'm not. Not for a while, anyhow, until my Dad gives me more money. Sorry." Akane stood still, very still, and tried not to stare at Ukyo. "I see. Well, keep me in mind when you go next, okay?" Ukyo felt crushing disappointment entering her heart and she let out a sigh. Too bad. Ukyo had feared that Akane would still be closed to subtle hints of friendship, and this rebuttal, though quite plausible, came as a sting to Ukyo's heart. "Okay." Akane began to leave once more, but she turned back again. "Ukyo?" "Yes?" "I'll see you some time." Akane smiled. "Bye." And Akane left. Ukyo stood there for a moment, then she threw herself into her work and time lost its meaning in the scrape of her spatula and the hiss of frying okonomiyaki. By the time Ranma-chan and Akane reached home, it was three o'clock and sundown was still quite a ways off. Ranma was home, and reading a book on martial arts techniques while lying on the floor with a glass of icecream near the book. The panda played shogi with Soun and Kasumi was helping Nabiki with her laundry. Ranma-chan pulled on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt in the privacy of her room, then she headed downstairs. Her gaze came to rest on Ranma, lying prostrate on the ground with his hands supporting his head, reading his book - and she suddenly felt a little hot. She admired his body from the vantage of the stairs, feeling her nipples harden under her bra, and she began to walk down the stairs. Feeling somebody watching him, Ranma turned around and peered up at Ranma-chan. "Hey, come have a look at this book I found at the bookstore!" he called to Ranma-chan. "Okay." Ranma-chan got down on her hands and knees and pretended to peer at the book. Ranma, who was in front of her, was pointing out various stances and blocks, but Ranma-chan wasn't listening. Every instinct in her body told her that she was enjoying the sight of Ranma's muscled back and defined arms, but her mind was screaming bloody murder. Still, unable to pull away, Ranma-chan remained where she was, giving only a token gesture to acknowledge that Ranma was speaking while letting her eyes roam, and roam. She blew a small puff of air into his face, hoping to get him to look at her, and he glanced up involuntarily - right into her loose T-shirt. He was speechless for a moment then he got to a sitting position. Ranma-chan leaned back on her legs and put both hands on her knees. "You're...you're wearing a bra" he stammered, pointing a finger at her chest. Ranma-chan grinned. "You like it? It cost me 850 yen, and it feels just fine." She patted her chest and her breasts bounced enticingly. Ranma gulped and wiped some sweat from his forehead. "No, that's not the way I meant it! I mean, why're you wearing a bra?" "Well, duh! I gotta...you know...wear something underneath? It's like underwear, but we call it lingerie." "That's still not what I meant! Stop jumping around the question and give me a straight answer." "Well, you see...since I'm gonna be a girl until we get the cure, I might as well observe feminine decency. I mean, I can't go around without a bra...Mom would only take me out bra-shopping again. This way I get it over with." Ranma-chan seemed to hesitate, playing with her pigtail as she did, then she cast her gaze downwards, as if repentant. Her hands crept to the base of her shirt and her slim fingers took hold of it. "But...if you're so concerned...." Then Ranma-chan slowly pulled her shirt up and off her, so that she was topless save for the bra. Ranma's eyes went wide. "Put your shirt back on!" he whispered fiercely. "Well, since you don't want me to wear a bra, I...guess I'd better take it off now." She rolled her eyes and reached ever-so-slowly to her back to undo the bra, thrusting her chest out in the motion. Ranma grabbed her hands and pulled them forward. Then he grabbed her shirt and began to try and pull it on Ranma-chan. "Hey, leggo of me! I was just joking! I wasn't really gonna take it all off!" she cried in muffled tones under her shirt, her face hidden from view. "Yeah? Well what's all this talk about feminine decency after all, huh?" said Ranma as he finally succeeded in putting the shirt back on Ranma-chan. She pouted and began to tuck her shirt in. "I was just playing with you, that's all. No need to attack me like that." Ranma grumbled something back, then he settled down to read the book again. Ranma-chan crawled over to Ranma's side and curled up beside him, but without their bodies touching. Ranma seemed to take no notice. , she thought as she began to sneak peeks at him again, feeling erotic pleasure once more. It had been said that similar minds thought alike. Ranma could feel Ranma-chan's body next to his, even though they weren't physically touching. He turned to relieve the pressure put on one elbow and took a good, long look at the female next to him. Ranma-chan's legs were curled up and away from him, and her petite body excited him in a way that made him shift his position in order to make himself more...comfortable. His eyes lingered on her curves, and travelled all over her body to rest on her tight shorts and her smooth, exposed legs. He peeked up and admired the way her slim arms, and shoulders seemed to complement her breasts and the soft skin of her neck. Her hair looked especially silky up close, especially against her peach-soft skin, and Ranma restrained his impulse to reach over and touch it. As time progressed, Ranma found his mind straying off the martial arts book more and more. Ranma-chan edged closer to him and Ranma tried to blot out perverted daydreams concerning him and Ranma-chan. At that moment, looking at Ranma-chan, he wondered how she would feel if he leaned over and put his arms around her, then one thought lead to another and soon - in the privacy of his mind - he was fantasizing about sex. He looked at Ranma-chan, at her breasts underneath a T-shirt that was almost sheer, but not quite. For some reason she looked more sexy with her bra on, than off... A fantasy flitted through his mind and he imagined Ranma-chan without any clothing on, and in the bath with him. She was right next to him, and her hands were flitting almost playfully under the water, near his legs...With an effort he banished the fantasy before it could develop any further. His gaze lingered on her for a moment longer before he forced himself to look at her face. Ranma-chan looked up at that moment, apparently also lost in thought over something. Ranma-chan snapped her gaze up the moment Ranma looked up, her face flushed red in embarrassment. How is it that she felt so...hot near Ranma? A flicker of a daydream had entered her mind, a little thingy concerning herself and Ranma. The both of them had been naked and lying on a bed. She had been lying on her back and Ranma had been rubbing warm oil all over her while straddling her with both legs on either side of her, his hands lingering on her breasts and tickling the tips of her nipples. "What're you guys doing?" Both Ranma and Ranma-chan looked up in surprise, to see Akane standing over them. She was wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top, the latter article of clothing getting a wide-eyed look from Ranma and a slightly-jealous glance from Ranma-chan. "Uh...just reading a book. What's it look like?" asked Ranma-chan petulantly. "Yeah, what's it look like, Akane?" piped in Ranma. Ranma-chan got to her feet and folded her arms across her chest. Ranma did not get up at all, actually turning his body so that the lower portion was facing away from Akane. "Oh, just asking, that's all." With that, Akane walked away and both of them heaved sighs of relief. Then Ranma-chan squatted before Ranma and tapped him on the head. Ranma looked up. "Yeah?" "Since it's so hot today, let's go to the ice cream shop and have something. I still have a bit of money in my room." "That's *my* money." "Which makes it mine as well. What's yours...is mine." Ranma-chan got up and walked upstairs, to her room. Ranma followed close behind, the book forgotten on the floor as he followed the petite, pig-tailed girl. As he walked behind her, he was struck by how sexy she looked from behind while walking up the stairs. He stared at her butt all the way up, and he tripped on the top step as a result. He windmilled his arms but still fell right on Ranma-chan, knocking her to the ground as a result. "Oooof!" Ranma and Ranma-chan exclaimed at the same moment, Ranma on top of Ranma-chan. He, and the fall, had knocked the wind out of her. "S..sorry! I tripped...and I guess I fell on you," said Ranma by way of apology. "That's okay. It was just an accident," mumbled Ranma-chan from under Ranma. Ranma liked the feeling of his body on top of Ranma-chan's, especially the way her butt was... "Would you get offa me already? You're heavy, you know!" protested Ranma-chan and Ranma quickly rolled off. She got to her feet, cast Ranma a glance, then opened her room door and got her money. The two of them told Kasumi where they were going, then they walked to the ice-cream store. Ranma trailed behind Ranma-chan, the urge to admire her curvaceous body making him slow his pace deliberately in order to remain behind her. Her shorts reached about halfway down her thighs and she was wearing sandals, so quite a bit of leg was exposed to see. She looked so different wearing clothing other than what she usually wore, decided Ranma, and so much sexier too. Especially the way she walked, the way her arms swung, and her pigtail swinging she looked from side to side, but her most attractive quality - looking from the back - were her hips, and her butt....Inside he knew he should not be looking at the female version of himself, but the compulsion to was almost addictive in itself. Ranma-chan suddenly stopped, but did not turn around. Ranma stopped too. "What's wrong?" he asked quizzically. "Is something wrong with the way I'm dressed, or something?" she asked without looking at him. Ranma felt his face color in spite of himself and he looked away from Ranma-chan. "No...actually, you're dressed fine," he managed to get out. His ears were burning and he fought to calm his pounding heart. Ranma-chan turned around and stepped close to Ranma. "Then why have you been looking at me all this time?" she asked softly, peering up into his eyes with her own. "Well...uh...that's because...ah heck. That's because I like the way you look, okay?!" shot back Ranma defensively. He was never good at lying anyways. "So you're saying I look...great?" asked Ranma-chan, her hand stealing to her pigtail and smoothing it out behind her. "Y-yeah. I guess. Look, I'm sorry already for staring at you..." "Oh, don't worry about it! If you really wanna know, I've also...uh..." "Also what?" Now Ranma was getting suspicious and he folded his arms across his chest. Ranma-chan blushed and turned to keep walking, but Ranma reached out and pulled her back. "Don't you run away on me now. You've also....?" Ranma-chan swallowed nervously and glanced around, as if to make sure that they were alone. Then she leaned up on her tiptoes, placed her hands on his left shoulder to support herself, and put her lips close to his ear. "I've been getting these...feelings lately, whenever I look at you. They're not bad or anything, or painful, but...it's kinda hard to explain," she whispered. "What kind of feelings?" he pressed, now determined to know. "Exciting ones." Ranma-chan shrugged as she dropped back on her heels. She had never realized how much taller her male side was over herself. Taller, broader and tougher. "Gee, that tells me much. Come on, you've got to give me more to work on." Ranma-chan, who was less than a foot from Ranma, tried her hardest to keep looking at his face and not at the rest of his body. "Okay...I...I don't feel the same like I used to be. You know, before the Nullifier, even when I...we were in cursed form, I know we never had those feelings before, the ones that I'm feeling whenever I look at.....at...you," finished Ranma-chan lamely. "Just tell me what those feelings are already, okay?" "Alright. You know how you feel when you see a really hot chick walking by?" "Yeah. Oh no. You don't mean to say that...you...." "Yup. And not just you, but other guys," Ranma-chan paused for a second then resumed, "I don't even know why I'm telling you this stuff. You probably think I'm weird or something by now, right?" "But don't you....I mean....don't you feel sick, or wrong, when you get those feelings you're talking about?" "At first, I do. I think to myself `okay, I shouldn't be doing this', but a few moments later I find myself enjoying it. I try to look away, but I don't because...it just felt natural to me. I mean, looking at guys. Like you." On impulse Ranma-chan stepped right up to Ranma and wrapped her arms around him. "Wha...what're you doing?" whispered Ranma in a hoarse voice. "Indulging myself. Humor me, okay?" Ranma-chan could smell Ranma that close up, with her face resting on his chest and her breasts pressing on his stomach. She slowly reached an arm up to his head, to pull his head closer to hers. Strangely, he did not resist - rather, he went along with the motion. Their faces were inches apart, hot breath threatening to obscure their vision - even though they didn't wear glasses - then Ranma-chan tilted her head and slowly, tentatively put her lips on his. Then they kissed - for just a moment - and Ranma-chan broke it almost immediately. That felt good! It was almost like an electric current had run from his lips to hers, and that current had stimulated her body. Even now her nipples were hard and pushed a little into her bra. And between her legs she began to get hot, and she rubbed her legs together to help ease the feeling. She glanced down and she saw a telltale sign that Ranma was as aroused as she was, and she blushed. It had been pressing on her loins through the material of Ranma's pants when she had kissed him, and she hadn't even known it. "Uh...I don't think I should indulge you any further. I mean, what you're doing...is wrong! And...." protested Ranma as he tried weakly to push Ranma-chan off of him. Ranma-chan touched her lips, then she licked them. Strange how she could still feel his kiss. Ranma-chan reached up and gently pulled Ranma's head down again, so that his cheek was caressing her own. Then she pulled back a little, and went in for another kiss, but Ranma jerked his head away and disengaged himself from Ranma-chan. She stumbled back a bit but caught her balance. "I'm sorry," she said after a while, "I got carried away, I guess. I mean, this is all so new to me...and it wasn't so bad after all. And something tells me you kinda enjoyed it, too. "I did not!" But it was a lie and Ranma knew it. He had liked having that female body right against his own, with Ranma-chan's soft, yet firm curves melting into him, becoming a part of him it had seemed. But most importantly, the kiss was something in its own category. How to describe those luscious lips on his own, kissing ever-so-gently and passionately? What words could capture the feeling, the rapture of sharing an intimate act with her? "Whatever. Come on, let's go get our icecream before people start staring at us." Ranma-chan whirled, pigtail flying, and jogged off to the icecream store. Ranma followed. Ranma and Ranma-chan took a seat in the store and a waitress came up to serve them shortly. "May I help you?" she asked. "One strawberry sundae, and a banana split," said Ranma-chan. "Thank you, it'll be just a moment." It came to no surprise to Ranma that Ranma-chan had known exactly what he had wanted, for obvious reasons. The shrill ring of a bicycle bell, the sound of air rushing past a falling object, and the screech of tires on concrete were the only warning sounds that trouble had arrived. Without even bothering to lock her bicycle a certain cutie with lavender hair ducked under the canvas awning. Counting a wad of bills in her hands, Shampoo walked into the shop. , thought Shampoo, in her native tongue of course. Thinking in Japanese was supposed to help her learn the language better, faster, but what better way to ensure a facade of stupidity than limited knowledge of the main language in this country? At least she did not have to fake her accent. Great-great-grandmother had taught her that trick. She scanned the restaurant for a booth all to herself - and caught sight of Ranma-chan guzzling a banana-split. One could almost hear the targeting beeps and see the crosshairs as the Amazon weaved her way around tables to Ranma-chan. Ranma was hidden from view by the booth's high-backed seats. With an extra bounce in her step, she walked over to Ranma-chan's table. What a pleasant surprise, to see her husband-to-be here! "Ni Hao!! Ranma, you want to date with Shampoo!" Shampoo made it sound like a fact, not a request. "Oh...no. Shampoo." It was all Ranma-chan managed to get out between mouthfuls of icecream and banana. "Oh well. I suppose she was going to find out sooner or later, if Cologne didn't tell her," said Ranma in resignation. Shampoo reached the booth, and saw the two Ranmas. The wad of bills drop and scatter all over the floor from nerveless fingers, and Shampoo's eyes were wide with astonishment. "No, I suppose she didn't tell her," quipped Ranma-chan to Ranma. "Ni men liang ke ren...Shampoo mean, why there two of you? Is Shampoo dreaming?" "Shampoo, your money!" "Oh!" Shampoo bent down and gathered all of the bills back up into one wad. Then she sat down heavily, beside Ranma, and looked at him questioningly, before staring over at Ranma-chan. Ranma took this opportunity to fill her in on the situation. "Shampoo no mind so much. Shampoo only ask for boy-type Ranma!" With that, Shampoo latched onto Ranma and began to cuddle him. Ranma-chan couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment at Shampoo's behaviour - Shampoo was usually very devoted to him, even when he was a girl, but now that the curse was practically lifted from Ranma....Ranma-chan quickly finished her icecream up. "Well, I'll leave you two lovebirds together..." she said in an offhand tone and got up to leave, her hands in her pockets. "Wait! Don't go!" cried Ranma with the urgency of a swimmer with a cramp. "Wo ai ni!" Shampoo tightened her grip on Ranma and began to grow a little more aggressive in her cuddling, knocking Ranma onto his back in a tangle of limbs and tablecloth. Patrons began to lean over, to see what was the matter. "Your dish, sir," said the waitress as she placed a strawberry sundae by the window ledge, where it would be safe from the `action'. "Shampoo! Shampoo!" Ranma-chan leaned out of her booth and saw a robed figure silhouetted against the bright street. It had sounded like Mousse, and Ranma-chan's suspicions were confirmed when the figure got out of the glare and was revealed for who he was. Mousse pushed his glasses onto his head and smoothed his long hair back, his robes fluttering with the wind blowing into the store. He peered out at the bicycle parked outside the store. "Her bike's here, so she must be inside! Shampoo!" called Mousse again as he walked further into the store. "Hi ya, Mousse! Shampoo's down there!" said Ranma-chan in greeting, while pointing down at a furiously blushing Ranma and a slightly miffed Shampoo. "Saotome!! What are you doing with my Shampoo?!" cried Mousse, pointing accusingly at Ranma-chan. "I ain't doing nothing. Why don't you ask Ranma down there, not me?" said Ranma-chan, crossing her hands behind her back. Shampoo snorted in derision. "Is true, stupid Mousse. Ranma taking Shampoo on date. We just having fun *before* date," Shampoo said before hugging Ranma anew, amidst gasps of surprise from all nearby patrons, who were now *really* trying to lean close and peer inside the booth. "It's not that way!!!" cried Ranma to a couple in the next booth, who were peeking around. Mousse looked long and hard at both Ranma-chan and Ranma. "So...you aren't....I mean....what are YOU doing to Shampoo, but if you're there...then...." he said without making much sense. "Time to get new glasses, Mousse. You're seeing double!" said Ranma-chan with a smile. "Maybe you're right..." said Mousse as he removed his glasses and put his hands into his sleeves, "...but you're still taking advantage of my Shampoo! Prepare to die, Saotome!!" Mousse threw his arms out wide. Six blades shot out of his left sleeve and a wickedly curved sword appeared from his right. Shouting a battlecry, Mousse leapt to strike...and proceeded to mangle a nearby plant. "Idiot," said Ranma-chan to herself as she made her exit, glad to leave the chaos behind her. Glad, but sad in a way because while nothing had changed for Ranma, it seemed that everything had changed for her. She strolled out of the restaurant, went down the street, turned a corner and bumped into somebody, and she stumbled back a few feet. "Oompff! Sorry 'bout that, guy. Are you alrigh...K..Kuno?!" Ranma-chan began to back away. But it was too late. Kuno threw himself on Ranma-chan and began to nuzzle her head with his chin. "Oh, pig-tailed goddess! What strange turn of fate doth draw us together, like the heavenly spheres in symphonic harmony!" he cried, accompanied with a paroxysm of cuddling and dramatic weeping. "Let *go* of me, you freak!!" shrieked Ranma-chan from within Kuno's embrace. She struggled ineffectually but couldn't free herself. "How can I let you go now, my love!! How can one such as I possess the strength of will to let the one, true love of my life go?" "Like this!!!" *CRACK* The business end of a mallet was introduced to Upperclassman Kuno's head and said individual released Ranma-chan and slid off of her, to lie on the ground with eyes crossed and limbs akimbo, like a dead frog. A growing bump on his head and a small groan were the only indications that Akane's mallet had only knocked him out. A pity. "Honestly! Are you all right, Ranma?" asked Akane, the mallet still in her hands and at the ready should Kuno come back to consciousness. "I...guess so. Nothing broken here." Ranma-chan laughed at her own joke. Akane was not so amused. "Where's Ranma? I thought I saw the two of you walk out together, to go somewhere...?" "Being nosey today, aren't we Akane? He's back in the icecream shop, being pawed over by Sham...I mean...he's just having a...uh...friendly talk with....a friend." "Don't lie to me, Ranma! Shampoo's here, isn't she?!" She hefted her mallet and stomped off towards the ice cream shop. Ranma-chan tried to hold her back but Akane hardly noticed Ranma-chan's feeble attempts to prevent bloodshed. Through the window of the ice cream shop, Akane and Ranma-chan could see Shampoo still clinging onto Ranma, who was valiantly trying to finish his sundae. Mousse was berating the two, waving his weapons threateningly over the couple in the next booth over. Ranma saw Akane and Ranma-chan, and more importantly, the infamous mallet. His eyes went wide with fear and he tried to pry Shampoo off him. "RANMAAAA!!!!" yelled Akane as she stomped into the ice cream store, to loom over Ranma and Shampoo, her left eye twitching dangerously. "Akane! What you do here?" cried Shampoo, looking up at her arch rival, her hands still resting on Ranma's chest. "That's a question I ought to ask you! What are *you* doing here?!" With that Akane grunted, lifted her mallet over head, and brought it swinging down on Shampoo. Shampoo cried out as she whipped out a concealed bonbori and blocked the strike. "This is not the place for a fight, you guys!!" cried Ranma-chan, waving her hands desperately. "Yeah, yeah! Quit it already!!!" Ranma yelled from beneath Shampoo. He saw both Akane and Shampoo doing their blue aura thing and he cringed. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!!" yelled Akane to Shampoo. "AKANE DIE!!!" snarled Shampoo as she sought to land a blow with her bonbori. "DIE, RANMA!!!" roared an angry Mousse at a table. There was general bedlam for a few minutes as Akane traded swipes from her mallet with Shampoo's bonbori. Ranma-chan pulled Ranma out from the fight and the two make a *very* quick exit. Mousse was still stabbing the table with a spear when Akane and Shampoo noticed that the person they had been fighting over had run away. They turned as one and burned out the door in a madcap chase after both Ranmas. "Why me?! Why does it always have to be me?!" Ranma was running for all he was worth down the street, beside Ranma-chan. "Because it's you, I guess!" replied Ranma-chan. "Well you don't have to rub it in just because you don't have to worry about stuff like this, now!" "What do you mean by that?" Ranma-chan had a little frown on her face. "I mean, you're a girl.....oh, leap up here." In one smooth motion both Ranma and Ranma-chan leapt gracefully over the top of a nearby store, to land on its roof. Then they quickly hid themselves behind an air-intake. Ranma-chan turned to Ranma, who was less than a foot from her. "Say what?" she asked. "Nothing," he replied evasively, his eyes darting furtively here and there as if he expected the Akane and Shampoo to loom out of mid air. "No, tell me!" cried Ranma-chan, who grabbed Ranma's arm and shook it. "Are...are you sure?" Ranma looked at his female half closely, involuntarily noticing the light play of the wind on her hair, the highlights and features like his own...yet so very different, as a girl. There was nothing said for a few moments. "Very," Ranma-chan replied at last. She had been lost in the azure gaze of her male half, instinctively reacting to his manly features, and absently noting how broad his shoulders were in comparison to hers. "Okay. If you say so, but don't tell me that I didn't warn you. I was gonna say that..now that you're a girl, you don't have psycho chicks chasing after you anymore." "Yeah, that's true." Ranma-chan turned away from Ranma and folded her arms across her chest. "Did I say something wrong?" he asked in a worried tone. Ranma-chan paused for a moment, then she let a grin appear on her face unbeknownst to Ranma. "Not really. You know, the reason why they're chasing after you is because you're handsome." "Thank you." "No, really." Ranma-chan turned back to Ranma and inched a little closer to him, "You *are* handsome." "So...you're trying to say that because I'm handsome, girls like Shampoo, Kodachi, and Ukyo chase after me." Ranma puffs his chest out a little and preens himself. "That's right. But...there is one thing I feel I have to tell you." "What?" Ranma-chan traced circles in the roof, then she looked up at Ranma. "You know about what I said about having those weird feelings? You know, looking at guys and stuff like that?" said Ranma-chan. Ranma looked sick. "Yeah. And your point is?" "Point is I feel those feelings to be a part of me, you know, just like how you feel certain stirrings, or urges, when you see cute girls." "But, you've already told me that, didn't you?" "Yes, but it seems to be a part of me. It's...it's so hard to explain. It's like my body is causing it, but my mind does not really accept it. Yet." Ranma-chan had her hands clasped together and she was wrangling her fingers. "What do you mean by `yet'?" "I mean, right now I'm sorta fifty-fifty on this thing, but later I might be one hundred percent." "I don't get you," replied Ranma with a blank look on his face. "Then...why don't you get this?" Without another word Ranma-chan slowly slid herself on Ranma and pushed him ever-so-slowly on his back, on the roof. Ranma stared up in speechless surprise as Ranma-chan ran hands up his sides, to his face, and dipped her head close to his. The tip of her pigtail hung over her shoulder and tickled his ear, but all he could see...and feel was Ranma-chan's face a mere inch away from his own, their noses almost touching. Such eyes, and eyelashes as could only belong to an angel yet were present on Ranma-chan....her bangs hung straight down and mingled with his own, red against black, fire and dark mystery. Her body seemed to melt into his. Then she kissed him lightly on the lips, still looking into his eyes. Ranma broke the kiss. "Ranma...what are...what are you doing?" he whispered to the female lying on him, very acutely aware of her breasts squishing on his chest. Already he felt himself reacting to her body and Ranma-chan smiled as her leg brushed against his growing manhood. "Indulging myself again. Sort of like a treat after my dessert, you know?" she said in a sultry tone, batting her eyelashes at Ranma. She pulled herself up to a straddling position, her hands on Ranma's chest. Ranma could feel a heat radiating from where Ranma-chan was sitting on him, his stomach. "I...I feel like I'm riding a horse, or something, sitting on you like this." "Well...our names mean `horse', so what's so strange about that?" Ranma found himself enjoying the feel of Ranma-chan's body on his own, and her fingers on his chest, but.... Her left hand began to trace nameless patterns on his chest and she flipped her pigtail over to her other side; that was when Ranma rolled out from under Ranma-chan and got to his feet. Ranma-chan rose as well, a surprised look on her face. "I...I think they're gone by now. Come on, let's go home already," said Ranma in an uncertain voice. "What? We're....we're not going to....go any further? Even just a little?" asked Ranma-chan, her hands clutching Ranma's left arm tightly. Ranma did not answer as he gently shook Ranma-chan's hands off of his arm and leapt off in the direction of the Tendo Dojo. Ranma-chan followed close behind. It was fast approaching dark in Nerima Ward and both the Tendo and Saotome families were about to have their supper. A night breeze brushed the wind chimes and the tinkling noise resembled that of a bird's song. A carp leapt out of the water and caught an insect. The night was quiet and there were no automobile sounds to ruin the sacredness of the evening. Kasumi stepped out from the kitchen. "Supper is ready, everybody!" she called. "Yes, come and eat!" called Nodoka from the kitchen. She was wearing her sword-shaped bundle on her back. Within minutes the entirety of both families were seated around the table, their rice bowls and chopsticks at the ready. Akane jockeyed with Ranma-chan for space, because Ranma took up quite a bit of space by himself. Nodoka put a rice cooker by the side of the table. After a moment's pause, she turned to Ranma-chan with a rice ladle in her hands. "Ranko, could you please help me hand out the rice?" she asked Ranma-chan, holding out the rice ladle. Ranma-chan blinked, then she got to her feet. "Uh...s-sure, I guess." "You are such a sweet girl, Ranko!" Nodoka exclaimed with a smile on her face. Ranma-chan filled the rice bowls and flipped them to everybody in a flourishing move. Nodoka calmly put the food on the table even as spinning bowls landed all about her in precise order. The two families settled and began to eat. Ranma-chan, just as hungry as Ranma, who was wolfing down his food, began to do the same as her male counterpart. "Ranko...it is unseemly for a girl to eat like that," admonished Nodoka in a motherly tone. "Mmmff?" said Ranma-chan intelligently as she stuffed more sukiyaki beef into her mouth, wolfed it down and swilled a glass of pop immediately after. "Ranko, please be more ladylike." "Alright..." mumbled Ranma-chan in a sullen and miffed tone. "This food is great! More please!" cried Ranma as he held out his rice bowl to his mom. The rice cooker was closest to Ranma-chan. "Ranko, I don't mean to impose on you but will you please fill up the rice bowl for Ranma?" Nodoka said nicely. Ranma-chan's chopsticks, reaching for a carrot, suddenly impaled the vegetable in one swift move. "What?!" she cried. "Please, Ranko? You're closest to the rice cooker...and it's only proper for the man to sit." "She is ever the traditionalist, eh Saotome?" whispered Soun to Genma. "Sometimes I still think she is living in the past," Genma said back in a hush-hush voice. Ranma-chan simmered a bit, glaring at Ranma angrily for a moment before snatching the rice bowl from Ranma's fingers and filling it up with rice until it was overflowing. Then she held it with two hands and presented it to Ranma. "Would you like a manicure with that, Ranma? Or a backrub while you eat?" she asked solemnly, with a straight face as she practically shoved the rice bowl in his face. Akane stifled a giggle and Ranma turned red. "Thanks, err...Ranko. I think." He looked up at Ranma-chan with an apologetic look on his face. "Anytime." That had been delivered practically in a snarl and Ranma-chan plopped back on her cushion, squirming her way between Akane and Ranma again. "Does anybody know where Mr. Panda is? I have a whole bagful of peelings and trash that I'm sure Mr. Panda would eat," said Nodoka after a while. There is a noticeable shudder from Genma's end of the table. "After all, it must be very hard to feed a panda his size, wouldn't you agree?" "I'm afraid Mr. Panda is not here at the moment, Auntie Saotome. He probably won't return for a long time, I think," said Akane, glancing at Mr. Saotome for a moment then back at Nodoka. "Oh, is that right? I'm so sorry, you all must miss him. He was a nice pet, though." Ranma and Ranma-chan glared at Genma, who hid his face behind his bowl. "Ranma, why don't you tell me about your trip to Jusenkyo? Did you train very hard there?" Nodoka asked as she reached for a shrimp fritter, then she looked around the table. "Is it just me, or did everybody suddenly go quiet?" "N-no, Auntie Saotome...just remembering some stories Ranma...and his father told us!" stammered Akane. "Mom....didn't I tell you about my training trip already?" pleaded Ranma. "Yes you did, but you did not elaborate. Tell your mother, will you? It's been ten years since I had seen you, and you have grown tall and strong. You are my son, and you are all I can ask for. Please." Nodoka smiled at Ranma, the smile of a mother made happy by reunion with her son - bridging the gap of a decade and attempting to fill up the years in between, as it were. Ranma-chan found she had suddenly lost much of her appetite. Her chopsticks clattered by her bowl and she began to half-heartedly drink her bowl of hot soup. "Me...and Dad had this really intense swim over to China...then we hired a guide to take us to the Cur...I mean...to Jusenkyo training grounds." Ranma paused for a moment. "Go on, please." Nodoka smiled encouragingly. "Sure..we trained some and I...almost hit Dad into the Spring of Drowned Panda." Genma stiffened and Ranma suddenly realized his mistake. "Spring of Drowned.....Panda?" asked Nodoka wonderingly, tapping her chopsticks thoughtfully on her bowl. "Sure, you know...like there is a curse that changes those who fall into the springs into whatever had drowned there a long time ago when they're splashed with cold water, and then they turn back to human form when splashed with hot water, and I've heard it is not so bad being a panda, and you can change back to normal by jumping into either the Spring of..." "So, there must be alot of springs there?" Nodoka asked again. "Lots of springs. Yeah." Ranma wiped a sweat drop from his forehead. "All kinds of drowned animals? Even people?" "Maybe. I'm...I'm not sure." "Imagine if you had fallen into a spring, my son! Oh, the horror of my only, manly, son being cursed with a cursed body! It would be my duty as a mother to help such an inflicted son in the only way that I can." Nodoka grimly unshouldered her bundle and placed it by her side, patting it once. Ranma, Ranma-chan and Genma pale simultaneously. "It.....would be a very terrible tragedy indeed, dear," whispered Genma, staring at the bundle by his wife's side. "Yes, dear. A very terrible tragedy indeed. Imagine if my son had fallen into a spring, dear, because of you. Bad enough that he would be some sort of animal half the time. Imagine if he had fallen into a spring where some poor girl had drowned a long time ago! The humiliation of having a son, who was not a son!! The Saotome line would have to end there, to save our family honor." Nodoka patted the bundle again, a determined look on her face. Ranma shot to his feet and wiped his mouth. "I'm done! That was great, mom, Kasumi, and now I think I'm gonna go do some homework, then watch TV, then something, I think. See ya!!" Ranma makes a very quick exit. Ranma-chan wolfed down the last bit of sukiyaki beef and got up. "Well...I'm full. I gotta go...uh...do some homework. Yeah, that's it. See ya later!!" She follows Ranma out as quickly as she could on a full stomach. Nodoka looked after Ranma-chan for a few moments. "Sometimes I think Ranko picks up too many bad habits from Ranma. To think Akane's cousin would spend more time with my boy than with Akane. She is unlady-like some of the times, but she's a good girl," said Nodoka at last, breaking the silence. "Yes, Auntie Saotome. She may be strange sometimes, but then she was brought up in the country, you know," replied Akane. "Ah, yes! Thank you, Akane. I forgot that little detail. I suppose a country upbringing can influence the way a lady should act. Tell me, Akane, does Ranko have a boyfriend?" "Ummm....no." "She is pretty enough to get one easily enough, don't you think?" "Right." The two families continued to eat in silence for about ten minutes, then Nodoka looked up and said, "A stray thought had just crossed my mind. Isn't it strange, though, how Ranko looks so much like Ranma?" This was definitely not Genma's best dinner to date, with constant and heartpounding shocks such as his wife's uncannily accurate observations. "Strange, isn't it?" he managed to force out. "They dress the same, have the same pigtail and they even look a little similar! Of course, Ranko is a girl and Ranma is a boy. Ranko should dress more femininely though. She should also let her hair down, but she still looks beautiful even with her pigtail." "Oh...uh...Auntie Saotome?" "What is it, Akane?" "Ranko IS dressing more femininely, or will be. She had just bought some new clothes today at the mall - for girls." "Did she? Well...I'll go ask her later to let me have a look at her clothes. Girls shouldn't wear anything too racy, or boys might get ideas. Well...if everybody is finished eating...just leave the bowls and chopsticks where they are, and leave everything to me and Kasumi." Akane took some time to bring all the dishes into the kitchen, then she went outside - in the direction Ranma and Ranma-chan went to. She looked around but she saw nobody and was about to head back inside when she glanced up at the roof. There were two figures silhouetted against the moon, just above her room. Ranma and Ranma-chan. Akane ran back inside, upstairs to her room and slowly pushed her window open. "...never been so scared in my life! I thought, for sure, she was gonna find out that I had really fallen into a spring!" That was Ranma, and Akane stayed as quiet as she could. "*I* left before she could draw any conclusions from the way that we look alike, dress alike, talk alike, and everything." "Everything?" Ranma-chan replied. Akane folded her arms. "Except for...you know." "Oh, right." There was a long pause. Akane narrowed her eyes slightly and tried to crane her head out of the window - to see what the two are doing. "Still, anyways, let's be more careful around her, okay? I'm gonna go and catch up on my homework, like I said I would. I dunno about you." "I'm already done. You've really got to be more responsible for school work, you know." There is the sound of rustling clothes as Ranma-chan leapt off the roof. Ranma left similarly after a short while. Akane closed her window and fell on her bed, deep in thought. Ranma-chan fell onto the couch and turned the TV on. She surfed the channels, looking for something exciting. A football game came on and she watches it for some time, before changing to an action movie. Bored of the action movie, she randomly picked a channel and changed to it. **And now, the first annual fishing tournament, right here on this channel!! Watch as Mr. Takayama begins the exciting process of waiting for an unsuspecting fish to take a bite!! See the thousands of dollars of equipment he uses in order to outsmart his prey!! Witness the...** Ranma-chan hit the power button on the remote and dropped it beside the couch. Then she lay down on the couch and curled up on one side, her feet hanging slightly over the edge. Questions circulated around in her thoughts, demanding answers - such as what she should be doing about her current condition. She knew she should really be trying to find a cure, to merge herself and Ranma back into one person...but that raised yet another question - if she did, then whose personality would be dominant? What would happen to the other, discarded personality? Would everything be the same as ever? Deep down inside herself, so far that she nearly did not admit it even to herself, she found she had little or no problem living as a girl, the way things were. Apart from Kuno, she had no problems getting along as a girl in Nerima. Throughout her sortie in the mall she knew she had been getting looks of envy and looks of admiration from girls and guys, respectively, and the funny thing was...she did not mind it at all. Rather, she exulted in the knowledge that she was beautiful enough to warrant those emotions from other people. Since there was nothing else to do, she decided to head upstairs and go to bed. There was school tomorrow and Ranma-chan did not feel like running to school in the morning in an effort to beat the bell. Yawning slightly, she rolled off the couch and headed upstairs. She opened her door and shut it behind her. Then she slowly stripped off her shirt and flung it over her shoulder. She would pick it up in the morning. Her hands behind her back absently undoing her bra, she cast about the room for her nightclothes. Her gaze travelled from corner to corner, to the dressing table, to Ranma sitting at the desk gaping at her, to the clothes pegs on the wall, to....she did a double-take and whirled. "Ranma!? What are you...oh. I..forgot." Ranma-chan blushed in shame and quickly turned to present her back to Ranma. "That's okay. At least I was treated to a show." "You pig! Is that all you ever think about?" cried Ranma-chan, craning her head over her shoulder. "Why don't you ask yourself the same question? After all, you are me, right?" "Now it's different! I'm a girl and you're a guy!" "What's the big deal? It's not like I haven't seen your...I mean, our female body in the mirror plenty of times. Naked." "Pig." Ranma-chan held her shirt against her chest and began to hunt around for her nightclothes. "Whatever." Ranma went back to scribbling in his notebook, albeit with much less enthusiasm, if that was possible. Ranma-chan found her nightclothes and put the shirt on. Then, with a quick glance at Ranma, she pulled her pants off and pulled her PJs on. It was red in color, and it had little patterns of star-shaped fishcake slices, the ones with the pink swirl in their middle. Satisfied that everything was in place, she looked over at Ranma's hunched form. "Well, I don't know whether I should apologize or whether I should wait for you to thank me..if you know what I mean." "Thank you," Ranma replied dryly. "Pervert." Ranma turned around, a frown on his face. "Now, how is that being perverted? I mean, a guy watching a girl take her top off..." he began. "Yeah, but I didn't mean to take my shirt off in front of you!" "So you're saying that if I *asked* you to strip for me, would you do it?" "Are you nuts?!" Ranma just shrugged his shoulders and returned to his homework. Ranma-chan smoothed her hair and checked her pigtail with her fingers. The scribbling of Ranma's pencil on the paper was the only sound in the room. Ranma-chan started to pace about the room, wondering whether she should go to bed without a bath first. She stopped pacing the room and walked over to Ranma at his desk. She peeked over his shoulder, letting her pigtail fall over her shoulder and in front of his face. Ranma swatted at her pigtail as Ranma-chan looked at the incomprehensible lettering in his notebook. "Doing your English assignment?" she asked. "Yup. Tonight sure is boring as hell." "Boring is only what you make of it. I...I know a way to get rid of that boredom." Ranma-chan let an evil smile creep on her face and leaned closer. Ranma flicked at her pigtail again. The atmosphere in this room was so...so...sexy. Her closeness to Ranma was beginning to arouse her. She started to think of little `assignments' that she and Ranma could help each other with. She dipped her head close and allowed her face to lightly caress his neck. Ranma suddenly went stock still. "Ran...Ranma. What are you doing?" whispered Ranma at last. "Do you need to ask? This ought to take your mind off of your assignment..." she whispered huskily. Delicate fingers crept their way onto his shoulder, and massaged the muscle there, then they made their way down his neck to his chest and began to caress his pectorals. Her lips touched his right earlobe, then she began to nibble on it. When Ranma winced involuntarily, Ranma-chan turned Ranma around in his chair and gently tugged him from his seat, falling back on the futon behind her as she did. Ranma did not resist as he got up half-way off his chair, and Ranma-chan began to lower herself down on the futon, her eyes lowered seductively. Her chest rose up and down slightly, her nipples quite visible through the material of her nightshirt. "No," said Ranma, half-heartedly attempting to get Ranma-chan to release him. Ranma-chan stopped for a moment. "What do you mean, `no'?" "Is this even right? I mean, we're the same person, right? Even though I...I feel good right now, I don't..." "Don't think. Just do...okay?" "But..." Already Ranma's resolve was weakening under the charm of the female before him, halfway to the futon beneath her. "Shhh. Don't say another word. Third time's the charm...so indulge me once more." She put her hands on Ranma's shoulders again and pulled the both of them down on the futon, Ranma falling onto Ranma-chan but breaking the fall with his hands on either side of her. Then Ranma felt gossamer-soft lips on his own, and he suddenly found himself kissing Ranma-chan with passion; yet his passion was not really born of his lust for Ranma-chan. His kisses, so long held in check, were not meant for Ranma-chan. He might try to deny it but Ranma-chan was but a conduit through which his emotions may be channelled through. That thought was momentarily perished as the curvaceous female beneath him ripped her night shirt open and squirmed out of it. Her luscious, peach-soft skin glowed in the light of the lamp on Ranma's desk. Her body rippled with pleasure, and undulated in a fascinating manner, rubbing her taut breasts on Ranma's chest and his well-defined abs. Ranma noticed that shadows hid in all of the most interesting places on Ranma-chan. She started to unbuttton Ranma's shirt with one hand, while the other pulled Ranma closer to her by the small of his back. The lust of the moment almost overwhelmed Ranma as he unconsciously began to help pull Ranma-chan's pants off of her, but a female face leapt to the forefront of his mind's eye. She had short hair...was it black?..and her name..it is so hard to remember! Ranma-chan began exploring the inside of his mouth with her tongue. Oh the sheer pleasure!! His shirt was already completely unbuttoned and her hands traced their way on paths of rumpled clothing to his pants. Ranma's hands continued to slowly pull Ranma-chan's pants further below her hips - until she was dressed only in a tiny pair of sheer panties and nothing else. She wriggled in ecstacy, her panties beginning to come off from contact with her butt and the futon, and the temperature in the room seemed to suddenly shoot up. Ranma-chan rolled over and straddled Ranma, her legs spread apart and she was on her knees. Ranma's legs were stretched out and in between her legs. Their loins were touching and only three layers of clothing separated their naked skin. Through the sheer material of Ranma-chan's panties, Ranma could almost see her pubic hairs. His hands clapped on her flanks and began to stroke her skin; Ranma-chan moaned and placed her hands on his chest and began to massage. Ranma felt himself reacting, and Ranma-chan gasped as her groin came in contact with Ranma's. In a single motion, Ranma pulled Ranma-chan's panties down - exposing her in her full nakedness. Curving legs, womanly figure, well formed breasts and slim arms - she was a girl, no, a woman that no male in his right mind could resist. Shyly, certainly, Ranma-chan pulled her panties off of her legs. A flurry of hands later and Ranma's pants were pulled down to his kneecaps - until he was only wearing a pair of boxers, tent-shaped in his groin area. Ranma-chan smiled and restraddled Ranma again. She dipped her head close to his, and began to kiss him again, with more vigor and passion than before, then she broke it - mainly for air - and sat back up and looked down at him, her head tilted to one side and letting Ranma's eyes travel all over her smooth throat down to her breasts, sliding over her arms and firm belly in a way that made Ranma-chan thrill with pleasure, before stopping for a long moment in the region between her legs. As Ranma-chan flipped her pig-tail back over her shoulder, and put her hands on Ranma's boxers to pull it off and leave him naked as well, the face from before appeared again in Ranma's mind. He knew he shouldn't be doing this with Ranma-chan, because...because of this female. Somehow, he knew her...and knew that continuing further with Ranma-chan would only hurt her, if she should find out. cried a voice triumphantly in his mind, . His boxers came off and he heard Ranma-chan gasp, then he felt her fingers wrap around his manhood and began to direct it into herself. Her pubic hairs brushed the tip of his penis and his breath quickened. His hands seemed to move of their own accord, moving up her sides to clasp her breasts and to squeeze them gently. Ranma-chan sighed in pleasure, her eyes closed. But there was something else. A nameless concept beyond words impressed itself on his mind and his feverish brain registered the short haired female's face. He began to surge back to a recollection. Her name....was....it was.... "Akane!!" Ranma cried out. "What?! Where?!" Ranma-chan looked about in fear, her hands still gripping Ranma's manhood. Not seeing Akane anywhere, she turned back to Ranma with a questioning look in her eyes. When Ranma did not answer Ranma-chan released him and rolled off, to lie beside him on the futon. Her hands were clenched into little fists, and she was gritting her teeth even as tears began to roll down her cheeks. Ranma sat up, remembering to pull his boxers back up to his waist, and he hugged his knees to his chest. "Why?" whispered Ranma-chan. "Because I cannot. I..I mean...I will not. Not with you, and neither should you with me. It's...just not right." Ranma cast around for Ranma-chan's clothing, as she was still naked, but he didn't see it. "Why is it `just not right'? I didn't feel sick, or think it was wrong...and from the looks of it, neither did you." Ranma-chan felt her left breast, where Ranma's fingermarks were still evident. "You're a guy too, in case you've forg..." "I am NOT a guy! Look at me! LOOK!" Ranma-chan had shot to her feet and was cupping her breasts with both hands and glaring down at Ranma, who was desperately looking for Ranma-chan's nightclothes with one eye, while the other was glued to Ranma-chan's naked figure. "You are me, and that is one of the reasons why I stopped going any further!" "LIAR! You enjoyed it...no...you were PAWING all over me!" "Shhh! Keep it down or else everyone will come upstairs to see what the matter is!" whispered Ranma fiercely, his hands reaching out and pulling Ranma-chan down to his level, his hands firmly clasped on her hips - entirely by accident. Ranma-chan covered her breasts with both hands and she knelt down, her head turned to one side. Even now, Ranma could feel himself getting aroused and he too turned to face away from Ranma-chan. "So. I see. I thought that you, of all people, would understand the stuff I'm going through...but you don't. You're just like the others, going on with your life while I am left behind," said Ranma-chan at length, in a calmer voice. "That's not it! In any case, what does that have to do with why I stopped going any further?!" "Nobody has enough consideration to accommodate me! Look at Ukyo, and...A-Akane! Think *they* are willing to have *me* when they have you?!" Ranma-chan began to search around for her clothes, still on her knees and `walking' around on them. "What we were about to do wasn't love at all! It was just...I don't know...sexual stuff!" "Would you even begin to go all the way with somebody you don't love?" asked Ranma-chan as she turned her head around to look at Ranma. "Of course not...but..." said Ranma, wondering where she was leading to. "Then WHY did you even go along with me in the first place? I thought I really had something going there, and that you loved me enough to do it with me and..." "Like I said...having sex has nothing to do with love! I hate to bring this up but prostitutes have sex and they don't love the man they have sex with!" Ranma began to pull his shirt on. "OH! So you're saying that I'm a prostitute, huh?! First you reject me, then you insult me! I...I don't even want to look at you for the rest of my life!" cried Ranma-chan as she quickly pulled her nightclothes on and began to leave the room, but Ranma dashed over to her and put his hand on her shoulder to stop her. "I didn't call you a prostitute at all, so calm down and just listen to me for once!" Ranma-chan shrugged Ranma's hand off her shoulder but he slapped his other hand on her left shoulder. Growling, Ranma-chan twisted around and tried to kick Ranma's legs out from under him but Ranma blocked the strike and trapped her legs with his own. Lowering himself quickly to the futon he subsequently held her hands immobile with his own, using his greater strength and weight to keep her pinned to the futon. "Let me go right now or I'll scream and bring everybody running!!" she snarled in his face. "Listen to me for once, willya?!" cried Ranma, but Ranma-chan began to take in a breath - to scream bloody murder and to bring the entire household down on his fool head. There was no time to think, only that split-second of decision making - culminating with Ranma plastering his lips on Ranma-chan's and kissing her. Her eyes registered shock, then fury, but quickly changed to a mollified look followed by obvious pleasure. She struggled to free herself, in order to better act as a participant than a spectator, but Ranma was not about to let her go...so she settled for the kiss, and she was just about to get into it when Ranma broke it and pulled his head up out of reach. "Why'd you stop?" asked Ranma-chan. "Because...even though I really want to go on, I don't want to." "You're not making much sense...and will you let me go already?" Ranma-chan wiggled from side to side, but she couldn't squirm her way out. In fact, she rather liked having Ranma on top of her - it was just that she couldn't do anything more than lying on the futon or struggling to get free of him. She began to wonder if this was a prelude to whatever they had just left off, a sort of macho-type sexual thrill for Ranma to have Ranma-chan under his control. She decided she didn't like it for that aspect, if it was like what she suspected it to be. "If I let you go, will you promise to sit down and listen to me for a little while? Please?" Ranma-chan considered his request, then she nodded and Ranma immediately released her. "Okay....now talk," Ranma-chan demanded. "Look...even right now you look so beautiful...and sexy and all that, and I really wanted to go further with you...but I can't." "What do you mean you can't? You were all over me, and you were liking it too!" Ranma-chan pointed at Ranma's manhood, which was making its presence known under his boxers. He flushed red and pulled a blanket over himself. "So I liked it, but I couldn't help it!" he protested. "So why did you stop? We were doing so well, and I finally thought I had found somebody who understood me..." "I understand you, but I - don't - love - you! I mean, not in the way I....not in that way!" "Well-l-l...excuse *me* for exposing myself to you...you must probably be so sick that you want to throw up." Ranma-chan folded her arms across her chest and sulked there. Ranma moved over to Ranma-chan and put his arms around her, and shook her once but Ranma-chan did not change her expression and only turned away from Ranma. "Look...I might as well come out with it. I love Akane, you know that don't you? And I love her enough to hold myself back, not to go any further...because if I didn't I'd be betraying her." Ranma spoke softly, with feeling and emotion. Ranma-chan was silent and she was holding the front of her nightshirt with both hands, keeping it closed protectively over herself. Her hair, silky smooth, waved over her forehead and danced around her eyebrows and the tips of her ears from the breeze coming in from the open window. Ranma halted for a moment, then he continued. "Look...let's get this all straightened out, okay? You are me, and we both know we love Akane, and we wouldn't consider doing a thing like this with another...person because that would betray our...you know...with Akane." Ranma-chan turned to look at him, then she nodded in reply. Ranma continued, "So why are you doing this in the first place at all?" "Maybe...maybe I'm not you any longer. You ever think about that? Maybe I'm not the Ranma I used to be...and I'm beginning to change into....somebody different," Ranma-chan whispered softly, feeling her pigtail with her right hand and smoothing out her hair at the same time. "That's like saying that you don't love Akane any longer, because if you did you wouldn't have even tried to seduce...I mean...tried to...err..kiss me and all that." "Yeah...well, so what if I wanted to *seduce* you? There you are again, thinking that I'm still the same as you are. Fact is, I'm not the same any longer and you'd better get used to it." Ranma-chan got up and walked over to the window, looking out into the Nerimean night, watching the streetlights flicker and cut bright swathes through the darkness to illuminate the ground in defined boundaries of light. "What are you saying here?" Ranma had moved to stand behind Ranma-chan. "Are you saying that...that you don't love Akane any longer?" Ranma-chan did not reply and when Ranma laid a hand on her shoulder she shook it off and began to walk away quickly. She wrenched the door open and shut it firmly behind her, leaving Ranma to stare after her. Then he bent down and began to rearrange the futon, for it had been seriously messed up by their short-lived, but well-remembered caper. The bathroom door shut and Ranma-chan began to strip, pulling her clothes off in a business-like manner, taking no time to feel that tingle of erotic pleasure as her fingers held her panties by the sides and pulled them down her long, smooth legs - and neither did she let herself enjoy the sensation of bending over to pull her panties off, or the feeling of her breasts dangling before her. She straightened, and undid her pigtail before the mirror. Her hair slowly untwirled behind her to become a wave of vibrant, beautiful red hair that cascaded past her shoulders. She placed a hand on the mirror and touched the image of herself, wondering at how different she looked now with her pigtail undone. More like a real girl now. She turned away and began to fill the bathtub with hot water, the steam rising off it first in slender tendrils that became billowing clouds which quickly filled the entire bathroom with mist, fogging up the mirrors until she couldn't see herself. She pulled out a long bathstool and sat on one corner, and she began to fill up a bucket with cold water. A bar of soap made its way out of its plastic case and Ranma-chan dumped the bucket over herself, thrilling in the sudden shock of cold water on her skin, already feeling the goosebumps rising up. As Ranma-chan turned away and bent over to fill up another bucket with cold water, she heard the door open and somebody step inside the bathing area. Before she could say anything, the sliding door to the bathtub opened and Akane stepped inside, wrapped only in the briefest of towels. There was silence for a few moments of surprise and indecision before Akane made her way to where Ranma-chan was on her knees beside a bucket of cold water, which was overflowing constantly because Ranma-chan had forgotten all about the tap. "You should turn that tap off, you know. You don't want to waste water, do you?" said Akane as she pointed at the cold water tap. Ranma-chan turned it off with one hand, her other arm covering her breasts. "Akane...I...I'll go wait outside until you're finished," was all Ranma-chan could get out before she got up and began to walk outside, her arm still held tightly over herself. "Don't be stupid...it's not like I haven't seen a naked girl before, you know." With that Akane undid her towel and pulled it off of herself. "And it's not like *you* haven't seen naked girls before...like that first time in the bathroom when we met." Ranma-chan gulped as Akane sat down beside her on the stool and poured the cold water over herself from Ranma-chan's bucket. Then she opened her own plastic soapholder case and began to soap herself down, using a bathsponge to help. Ranma-chan stared at Akane, more with extreme surprise rather than a voyeuristic eye, watching as Akane stroked the sponge over her arms and belly and breasts. Akane glanced over at Ranma-chan. "What's wrong? Don't have soap of your own? You can use mine, if you want to," said Akane. "N-n-n-no...that's alright...I..I've got some soap of my own." Ranma-chan hastily grabbed her soap and began to soap herself up quickly, but in her haste her soap kept slipping out of her hand and she kept constantly having to chase after it as it ran around the bathroom floor like it had a mind of its own. "Ranma...calm down already. It doesn't matter since we're both girls! Now if the other Ranma were here, it'd be a different story, ne? We'd beat the lust out of him with our trusty, dusty wooden buckets!" joked Akane as she lifted her wooden bucket up and waved it threateningly. Ranma-chan got an intense look in her face then she settled down and began to soap herself again, but more calmly this time and more deliberately. She began to look around for a back scrub but there was none. "Do you want me to wash your back? I'll do it if you'll do mine in return." Akane turned around. Her body had little patches of soap bubbles here and there in certain spots, her skin was wet and slick with water and soap, and she made no effort to cover herself from Ranma-chan. "Yeah, sure. I'll scrub your back if you'll scrub mine." Ranma-chan hesitated for a moment then she turned around on her bathstool and bent over. Moments later she felt Akane's silky smooth fingers run all over her back, spreading soap wherever they went. "So...how'd you like your first shopping trip?" Akane asked as she gathered Ranma-chan's hair up and moved it over her shoulder, then slowly rubbed her neck and shoulders with soap. "It was good. Thanks for taking me along, Akane. All the clothes I bought fit me perfectly and look very well on me, I think." "No problem. Next time, we're bringing Ukyo along too, okay?" Akane's fingers had moved to Ranma-chan's slim shoulder blades. "Akane...what do you think Ukyo thinks of me?" asked Ranma-chan after a little while. Akane stopped for a second, then she resumed, this time moving lower down Ranma-chan's back. "Why do you ask?" Akane paused to rub her hands with more soap. "I...I just want to know, that's all." "Well...I think she still considers you as her fiance, and..I..I still think she loves you." Akane fell silent, and she began work on the small of Ranma-chan's back, albeit slower this time, her fingers moving absently as if she were deep in thought. "I see. You really think so, then?" Ranma-chan's voice had a note of suspicion, and that put Akane on the defensive. "Why don't you go...go ask her yourself? Only she knows her true feelings for you, not me." "So you really think Ukyo...uh...goes both ways, then?" asked Ranma-chan. Akane dug her fingers into Ranma-chan's back, getting a yelp of pain from the latter. "Akane....that hurt!" protested Ranma-chan, reaching back to grab Akane's hands. "*WHAT* makes you think I even said that?!" Akane cried as she slapped Ranma-chan's hands away and resumed soaping her back. "Well, you said she still loves me and everything, so she must also still love Ranma...the other one, that is, so that just lead me to that conclu...yow!" Akane had dug her fingers again and Ranma-chan whirled around, long hair flying, to face Akane. "Look, Akane...if you're gonna wash my back you don't have to use me as your scratching post while you're at it!" complained Ranma-chan, rubbing her back with her hands. "You're the one suggesting I'm a sicko by saying that I suggest that Ukyo went both ways! You've see the way she looks at the other Ranma and...oh..." Akane trailed off when she looked into Ranma-chan's face. "Yeah. I guess so. She's a girl, and can't help herself for preferring the male Ranma over me, right?" said Ranma-chan bitterly, picking up the bucket and washing the soap from her body. Then she motioned for Akane to turn around. "But...but she still thinks you're a guy underneath...I just know it, Ranma!" said Akane as she turned around on the bathstool and leaned forward a bit, to let Ranma-chan soap her back. "And how do you know that, Akane?" "Well...I...I just do. Call it intuition." "Female intuition? She can still kiss me and not be sick, right?" Ranma-chan's hands stroked Akane's back. "I'm not about to speak for her, Ranma, and you shouldn't either. Look, I have this feeling that she loves you just as much as the male Ranma...I know it just like I know you're really a guy. Believe me." "If you know I'm really a guy, then why are you letting me soap your back?" asked Ranma-chan, now working on Akane's shoulder blades. When Akane did not answer, Ranma-chan said, "Or is it that you consider me a girl already?" "That's not true! You're still a guy, and I know it. It's just that you're...you're a girl. Right now, I mean, and it doesn't matter if we have a bath together because....because..." Akane trailed off as Ranma-chan turned Akane around, and placed her hands on her shoulders. "If you still think I'm a guy, then kiss me," said Ranma-chan, looking down at Akane. Akane's breath quickened from panic because her range of vision was filled with Ranma-chan's slim shoulders, lean arms and breasts; she looked up, but it did nothing to quell the sick feeling in her gut because *she* was asking *her* to kiss *her* and Akane did not know what to do, for Ranma-chan was actually Ranma and she was serious about this and this was almost what she had been hoping for...but....but....! Ranma-chan knelt down to Akane's level, hands still holding her shoulders, and she began to move closer to Akane. Akane did not twitch a muscle as the redhaired female came closer, and closer, until the tips of their breasts were just touching. Then Ranma-chan pressed herself close to Akane, their breasts now embracing and sending feelings of revulsion throughout Akane's body. Ranma-chan's delicate features dipped close to Akane's face, and lips like silk brushed against Akane's own. "NO!!" Akane shoved both hands on Ranma-chan's chest, pushing the other girl off her and onto the floor as the last vestiges of her shout dissipated into the steamy atmosphere. Ranma-chan had struck the hard and unforgiving floor of the bath area, and she rolled over to one side with one hand supporting her, the other hand feeling her bruised bottom. "That is *the* most disgusting thing you have *ever* done, Ranma!! You're really a pervert, aren't you?!" Akane cried. "Did you think I was really gonna go any further than that? I just wanted to see what you would do, that's all. Guess I was right." "That...that's different! I'm a girl, and you're one too! That's why I didn't like it at all!" Akane protested. "You're just like Ranma. Going on with your lives while you leave me behind. What if I was male right now, instead of female? What then?" Akane delayed her answer as she washed the soap off her body and climbed into the hot tub with Ranma-chan, then she turned her back on the other girl. "I'd...I'd probably enjoy it. Still, what you did was disgusting...and revolting...and I don't want you to EVER do it again, or else! You got that, Ranma?" "I just wanted to kiss you, that's all. Guess I know where I stand with you, and all that." Ranma-chan rested her arms on the edge of the bathtub and sighed. Both girls were quiet for another five minutes, then Akane spoke. "Ranma....I'm sorry if I overreacted...but that sort of thing has never happened to me before." "It's alright." There was surprised silence for the span of five full seconds. "Come again?" asked Akane. "I said, it's alright. If even you cannot stand to kiss me, much less tolerate my touch, then I...I definitely don't think Ukyo can, either." Ranma-chan turned around and looked into Akane's eyes, showing her the seriousness of her words and impressing the gravity of the situation upon her. Akane digested that, and she saw what Ranma-chan was trying to imply. She reached out and tentatively took hold of Ranma-chan's left hand, and held it with her own and squeezed it gently. "Ranma...I'm sorry, I really am, but I can't bring myself to...I mean, I can but I won't enjoy it. I won't like it at all." Akane was feeling quite ashamed of herself, taking Ranma for granted while ignoring not taking Ranma-chan into account all this while. "That's okay, Akane. I won't ask you or make you do something that I know you wouldn't like...from now on. I only...only want the best for you, Akane. It's alright now." "What do you mean it's alright? You're a guy trapped in a girl's body...right now and only the antidote to the Nullifier can return you to normal! What about....." Akane trailed off, unwilling to say the words. "About what?" asked Ranma-chan. When Akane did not reply, Ranma-chan said, "Let me tell you something, Akane. When I held you to myself just now, and I was about to kiss you, it was the hardest thing for me to do in my life. I was using every bit of concentration not to...to feel sick and turn away from you." "You mean....you mean you felt the same way I did?" "Yeah. But it's alright, Akane. I'll find a way to fix everything, you just wait and see. I always do, don't I?" Ranma-chan squeezed Akane's hand back and smiled encouragingly. Akane and Ranma-chan finished their baths and dried themselves off. Then Ranma-chan said goodnight to Akane and headed back to Ranma's room, feeling a strange sense of contentedness for the first time since the split two days ago. For the first time, she felt somewhat at peace with herself, as if she found a path to travel and was taking the first steps on it down to her destiny. She left her hair undone and free. She opened her room door and shut it behind her. The only light in the room was from the desk lamp and the open window where moonlight streamed in. Ranma was lying on his futon, and he was still wearing only his shirt and boxers. His form, illuminated slightly by the desk lamp, rose up and down in rhythm, snores punctuating each fall of his chest. She placed her futon next to his, flopped down on it and let herself fall ever-so-gradually into a state of semi-sleepiness. Then her eyes shut and she was asleep. Male and female, two of one, their rhythmic snores seemed to complement each other, blending into a mixture of deep snores and delicate snores - punctuated by a snort now and then from Ranma. It was truly the sleep of the contented, at least for Ranma-chan. Outside a storm began to brew in the skies. Dark clouds, darker than the night, covered the starry skies and gathered over the entirety of Nerima Ward. A distant rumble of thunder growled in the distance as lightning bolts flashed from the heavens and lit up the world for a brief second. Then rain started to fall, first in tiny droplets, then a light drizzle, followed by a deluge of rain hammering the Tendo residence and stirring up the carp pond. Kasumi sat by the table near the porch and mused over a cup of hot tea as she waited for the adult members of the two families to return home. -------------------- *Finally*! Only two more to go, then part six will be taken off the backburner.... - WD =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=\ My fanfic hoard lies at-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=\ http://members.tripod.com/~WebDragon/index.html =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=/