All rights go to their respective owners. Rated T for language, and references to mature subjects (just one, really)
~(Ranma 1/2 X2)~
"Oi! Let us down, oyaji!" A redhead yelled, as she pounded on the back of an overweight panda. Slung over the other shoulder was an unconscious black-haired pigtailed boy, a large welt on the back of his head.
The panda lifted up a sign, which read, 'Quiet, Ranma!' *sign flip* 'You're acting like a girl!'
"Who you callin' a girl!?" Ranma-chan yelled, as her struggles increased.
Soon enough, the panda reached it's destination. Entering a gate, it walked up to the wooden door and knocked.
"Baka oyaji, let us go!"
*knock* *knock*
"Oh! That must be Ranma!" Nabiki exclaimed, as she jumped up from where she sat on the table and ran for the door, Soun hot on her heels.
Akane looked at Kasumi, who shrugged.
"Outta the way!" Nabiki yelled, as she ran back, Soun right behind her, with a panda chasing the two.
"Ey, oyaji, can't ya tell they're scared spitless!"
The panda seemed to heed Ranma-chan's advise, as it stood before the Tendo family. Setting down Ranma-chan, it proceeded to toss the unconscious teen onto the floor, where he proceeded in slapping him awake with a sign that read: 'Boy, wake up!'
"How rigorous..." Soun exclaimed, as he witnessed the slaps. Turning his attention to Ranma-chan, he asked, "You wouldn't be..."
Ranma-chan looked down to the floor, the reminder of her condition sending her into depression. "Ran... ko. Ranko Saotome. Sorry 'bout this."
Just then, Ranma-kun was roused awake, jerking up with a blow from the sign.
"That's Ranma." Ranko said, pointing to Ranma-kun.
"At last, you've come!" Soun exclaimed, as he brought Ranma into an embrace. "The schools will finally be joined, oh happy day!"
Ranko looked down, depression practically rolling off her in waves. 'It ain't fair,' she thought. 'Why did I hafta be so stupid?'
"Hey, Ranko."
Ranko looked up, meeting Akane. "Yeah?"
"Do you want to spar?"
Ranko somehow knew Akane didn't want to leave solely for the spar, although that was mostly what Akane must've wanted. She asked for Ranko's sake.
Ranko smiled a bit. "Sure"
Akane smiled, making Ranko blush a crimson red, before leading the redhead out into the dojo.
'Wow, she's really cute when she smiles.' Ranko thought, as she walked into the dojo.
"So, you're a martial artist, right?" Akane asked, as she faced off Ranko in the center of the dojo.
Ranko shook her head before focusing on the upcoming match. "Yeah, I've practiced tha Art for as long as I could remember." she said, as she crossed her arms behind her in a relaxed stance.
Akane smiled at the redhead. "Good, then that means I won't have to hold back as much," she said, as she settled into her stance.
At an unannounced signal, Akane rushed Ranma, swinging a blow she believed to be just above Ranko's ability.
Ranko however, shifted her body, letting the blow pass harmlessly past her head. Akane looked at her, confused, before she was sent staggering back from a bone-jarring impact that rattled her defences.
As she staggered back, she tripped, landing on her rear. Looking up while rubbing her sore bottom, she saw Ranko looking at her with an outstretched fist, blinking at her in astonishment.
She quickly got back up, laughing nervously. "Ehehe, I guess I got my ass handed to me, huh?" She commented, to which Ranko stared.
And stared.
And stared.
Finally, the awkward silence broke, as Ranko chortled, which escalated into full-on laughter. "Bwaa hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" She was joined by Akane soon enough, the two laughing until tears came to their eyes.
"Man, I needed that." Ranko said, as she wiped a stray tear from her eye. "I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard." she said, as she turned to fully face Akane. "You're alright. Friends?"
Akane smiled, as she nodded. "Friends."
"WHAT?!"
Akane jumped at the sound, while Ranko lifted a delicate eyebrow. "What's that all about?" She asked, while Akane slowed her heartrate back down.
After calming down, Akane looked at her incredulously. "You mean you don't know?" At Ranko's head shook, she proceeded to explain. "Apparently, our fathers knew each other a long time ago, and created two seperate branches to the school of Anything Goes. One day, they had the bright idea to join the schools... through marriage."
Ranko stood there for a bit, until... "WHAT?!"
"So, that panda was you?" Nabiki asked, giving the bald martial artist a hooded stare.
Genma nodded in confirmation, ignoring the glares thrown his way by his son and... daughter. "Yes, me and the boy fell victim to the horrors of Jusenkyo."
"Which is..." Nabiki pressed on. She wanted to humor the crazy old man.
Genma adjusted his glasses, as he went on. "A legendary training ground that has been forbidden for countless ages. It consists of bamboo poles placed randomly amongst pools of water, each of which has it's own tragic story."
Nabiki wasn't sure she believed the overweight martial artist, but the sudden drop in the redhead's mood have her pause.
Maybe his story has some merit...
"Here sir, is legendary training ground of accursed springs." The Jusenkyo guide said, as he led the father-son duo through the path in the woods.
Behind him, Genma studied the grounds, eyeing it for it's potential.'Feh,' he thought, frowning. 'This looks like any other training ground.' Turning towards his pony-tailed son, he said; "What do you think, boy?"
Ranma eyed the training ground, before snorting. "This place ain't so impressive."
"Will you just get to the point, oyaji?!" Ranma exclaimed, as Genma frowned at him.
"I'm getting there boy, now be quiet!"
Genma leaped at Ranma in a flying kick iconic to the Saotome style, which Ranma evaded easily, hopping out of the way and retaliating with a sweeping ax kick.The blow struck home, sending Genma flying towards the bamboo poles. He reached for one, grabbing it with both hands, and was about to pull himself up......when it snapped.
Up on his pole, Ranma chuckled with barely restrained mirth as he watched Genma land in one of the pools below. "That's what you get for stuffing your face all the damn time, oyaji." He said, as he shook his head.
He waited there for a good ten seconds, before calling out to Genma. "Oi, oyaji! Are ya done already? We barely even got start-" A figure suddenly leaped out of the spring, landing on a bamboo pole effortlessly, body poised in a martial arts stance. "-ed?"
When Ranma proceeded the image in front of him, he responded accordingly. "What the fuck?!"
Standing in a martial arts stance atop of a nearby bamboo pole was a panda, a stretched-out gi on his back, and a pair of glasses hanging off of it's face.
By this time, the Jusenkyo guide had finally caught up to the previously sparring pair. "Oh no, this very bad!" he said. "Honored customer fall into spring of drowned panda. Tragic story of panda who drown there two thousand year ago. Now whoever fall in spring cursed to take body of panda."
Ranma, having heard the Jusenkyo guide as he dodged his father's renewed assault, turned to him in shock. "W-wait, you never said anything about this!"
With a mighty "Growf!" (Which was probably supposed to be a crude taunt over how distracted his foolish son was), Genma-panda struck Ranma with an overhead paw swipe, throwing the teen into the waters below.
"Oh no! Honored customer fall into spring of drowned girl!" The guide commented, as the spring bubbled with Ranma's struggles. "Is very tragic story of girl who drowned there one thousand five hundred year ago."
Ranma finally broke the surface, now considerably shorter, as well as sporting a new hair color.
After climbing out of the spring, Ranma nearly fell over. His balance was off, his reach was shorter, and he felt an impending sense of dread. Slowly, almost as if in a trance, Ranma opened his gi, discovering something that hadn't been there seconds ago. A quick check down below revealed the absence of other key points for his native gender.
Ranma took a deep breath, as a red haze filled her vision. "Pops," she said, in a voice that sent shivers down Genma's spine. "you have ten seconds to get away from me, before I violently beat you to death."
Genma ran for his life.
"GET BACK HERE, YA USELESS PANDA!" Ranma roared, as she chased Genma-panda through a path near the Jusenkyo springs. "I'M GONNA SKIN YA ALIVE!"
Genma kept running.
Nearby, a certain lost boy was standing near a cliff overlooking Jusenkyo. After a few seconds of consulting his handmade map, he finally gave up, balling it up before throwing it off the cliff in anger. "WHERE THE HELL AM I NOW?!"
At that moment, Genma (still in panda form) barreled past the eternally lost boy, knocking him off the cliff in his panic to escape. Ryoga let out a panicked yell as he was knocked off, catching Ranma-chan's attention.
Glancing at the lost boy as he splashed into a spring, Ranma sighed in relief as a mop of black hair rose out of the springs, instead of some animal. "YA ALMOST DID IT AGAIN, OYAJI!" Ranma yelled, as she resumed her chase.
"Look, not that it isn't entertaining, but can you get to the point?" Nabiki asked, slight irritation showing on her face.
Genma glared at the girl as he muttered something about how the young have no respect for their elders. Ranma promptly smacked him upside the head.
"I'll take it over from here. Oyaji was still hidin' from me when I screwed myself over" Ranma said, as Ranko winced.
"Here it is, Honored Customer, Spring of Drowned Twins." The Jusenkyo guide said, as he navigated through the cursed springs, Ranma-chan following him. "Tragic story of twins who drown here one thousand one hundred year ago. Is also only working cure for Jusenkyo. But it come at terrible price."
Ranma was beyond listening, simply staring at the spring. "Yeah, yeah, terrible price. Does it work?"
The guide nodded, frowning a bit. "Spring work as cure. It work by separating cursed one-" *Splash!*
The guide blinked, as he found himself talking to thin air. Turning back towards the spring, he found a triumphant male Ranma pull himself out of the pool.
Before Ranma could celebrate, a frustrated voice came from the spring.
"Dammit!" Ranma-chan yelled, as she glared at her still female body. "I thought you said this was supposed to work! And where the hell are my clothes?!"
"Wh-wha? How?" Ranma-kun said, starting at his girl form, until he noticed that the only thing she wore was her birthday suit.
Hearing him, but not believing it, Ranma-chan turned slowly, until she faced a blushing Ranma-kun, whose gaze was firmly locked onto the ground. Ranma-chan quickly realized what was amiss and sunk into the spring, face burning a brighter red than her hair.
A few minutes later found the three back inside the Jusenkyo guide's hut, with Ranma-chan wearing the top portion of Ranma-kun's gi, which was thankfully large enough to cover her ample assets.
"What happened?" Ranma-kun asked, while nervously eyeing his former cursed form. She had been shell-shocked since the reality that she was stuck in her current body has settled in. He was watching over her in case she did something drastic. "I thought you said that the spring would remove my curse."
The guide shook his head, a frown on his face. "Honored Customer misunderstand me. Spring of Drowned Twins work as cure, is true. But it work by splitting cursed one in two. One un-cursed, one forever cursed. Spring also give blessing of Jusenkyo to one's who use spring to cure one's curse. Other spring no work again, Jusenkyo see to that."
"So what you're saying, is that I'm stuck like this."
Both the guide and Ranma-kun turned to face Ranma-chan, who had raised her head from having the floor to look at the guide.
He nodded sadly. "I very sorry for you, but is true."
"So uh, she's really..."
"Yeah."
Nabiki turned to look at the redhead, who at some point in the story had moved and was sitting just outside the sliding doors, staring out into the koi pond.
Akane was torn on whether to call Ranko a pervert, or feel sorry for her. On one hand, she was really a boy in a girl's body. Who knew what perverted things she's done to herself. On the other hand, she got stuck that way trying to cure her curse. Akane stood up, and went outside.
Kasumi looked worryingly at the redhead. The poor girl must feel so lost right now, being stuck in a foreign body, instead of her own.
"It kinda bothers me a lot, ya know." Ranma said to the older two Tendo girls. Genma had already left to celebrate the joining of the schools earlier with Soun. "I've been trying ta help 'im, but I've been on tha road for so long, and I've never really stayed in one place too often. It's always just been me an' pop, so I don't know what ta say to 'im"
As Akane sat next to Ranko, Ranma spoke again. "Ya know, she tried ta kill herself." "What?!" "It's true. It was 'bout a few days later, we were in a village where the women were the ones in charge, and the men were second class. Pop had jus' eaten the grand prize for this fighting tournament they were havin' and-"
Meanwhile, Akane had sat down next to Ranko.
"Is it true?"
Ranko took her time answering Akane's question, opting to state at the koi fish a little while longer. The silence lasted for a few minutes, until she broke it.
"Y-yeah, it's true."
Akane stared at the koi fish, watching them swim in lazy circles within.
"How do you feel about it?"
The question came as a surprise, having expected pity, or to be shunned now that Akane new the truth about her, but Akane sounded genuinely curious.
Ranko looked around, checking for any eavesdroppers. Finally, she turned to Akane, and sighed. "Please don't tell my Pop about this, but I'm terrified."
"Why?" Akane asked, scooting over closer to listen to Ranko better.
"Akane, I've been raised as a boy my whole life. I've trained for over ten years in the Art. Then, a few months back, we came to Jusenkyo, and I became cursed. Sure, I was pissed at my Pop, but I could still change back. But in those first few minutes after I fell into the spring, I was terrified that I wouldn't be able ta change back." Ranko shook her head. "And then I asked the guide for a cure. I got a cure, alright," she said, muttering darkly.
"Is that all?"
Ranko shook her head, nervousness, and a bit of fear, creeping into her face. "That ain't even the worst part. The damn curse is screwin' with my head. Makin' me think different." She started holding her head in her hands. "I'm a guy, dammit!" She exclaimed, before whispering, "An' I'm not supposed ta bleed down there." She then brought her knees to her chest, and wrapped her arms around them. "Ya must be thinkin' I'm some kinda freak now, huh?" She asked, depressed.
"You're not a freak, Ranko. I think that your curse is trying to slowly change you into a girl from the outside in." Akane said, as a thoughtful look passed on her face. "Who else knows about this?"
"Ranma knows. He's the first person I told. I was freakin' out, and wanted ta know if he was goin' crazy too." Ranko said, as she looked back to the koi.
After a while the two stood up, taking a bit of time to wipe dust out of their respective outfits. "By the way," Akane asked, just before they both went back inside. "Why are you named Ranko, while the other one's Ranma?"
"We came up with the name after we left China." Ranma said, as she looked at Akane. "Me an' Ranma were gettin' tired of being confused when Pops said our name." Wrapping her arms behind her head, Ranko winced as she took a whiff of herself.
"Damn, I need a shower, bad." She said, as she frowned. Turning to Akane, she asked, "Do you mind if I use your bathroom ta wash up? I stink."
Akane checked herself over, quickly finding out that she needed a bath too. "Sure, you can use it. I need a bath too." She said, making Ranko's eyes widen.
"B-but, I, I'm a guy!" Ranko exclaimed, as Akane sighed.
"I know that," she said, turning to Ranko as she did so, "But you need to get used to the idea of bathing with women in public baths, or in a locker room at school. I'm not comfortable with this, but as your friend, I'm willing to help you adjust to being a full-time girl."
"I ain't no girl." Ranko said, as she crossed her arms over her chest. Doing this, she corrected herself. "Up here," she said, pointing at her head.
"Look, the way I see it, you're going to have to adjust to being a girl, especially with your curse changing you. Now, you can accept this and get used to it quickly, or you ignore it and hide from it like a coward." Akane said, as her frustration bled into her voice.
Ranko bristled at that comment. "I ain't no coward."
"Then let's go, before I lose my nerve." Akane said, as she began leading them to the furo.
" ...Hey, you aren't gonna get...grabby or anything, are ya?"
Stopping momentarily, Akane turned to Ranko and crossed her arms. "I'm not a pervert."
"Just makin' sure."
I'm pretty sure I had a good start for a story in which Akane has both a friend and a confusing relationship with her fiancee, but I couldn't really see where this would go. Eventually, I would've brought Ryoga in, who would be cursed by the Spring of Drowned Girl.
I had intended this story to be one where the feelings of the characters where explored, but I know for a fact I'm not going to do well on it at ALL.
Feel free to use it, and hey, maybe I'll get around to actually starting this again.
Edit: fixed the spacing, should be easier to read now.