Children: Chapter One.
It had been discovered, at an exam following Ranma and Akane's difficulty having children, that Akane's body could not support a child. Not thinking before he spoke, Ranma volunteered his girl form. 9 months, and a whole load of new experiences later, two beautiful twins were born, Ranma, and Akama. This is their story.
It was a busy morning in the Saotome household. Akane was yelling at the twins to get out of bed for school, while Ranma slowly cooked the breakfast for the family. He was smiling broadly at getting Akane to not cook today, a feat that had to be done carefully to avoid a mallet to the head. She was getting better, though. In the other room, it seemed that another little fight between the twins had broken out.
"Mom! She said I looked 'cute'." The younger Ranma said, currently female, and in the female school uniform. She stuck her tongue out at her sister, before grabbing a brush and sitting down at her small, mirrored table.
Ranma's room was oddly decorated in blue and pink, one could have almost seen a line dividing the room in half, if it were not for the swirls that mixed the coloring. The room had been constructed with two smaller closets, as opposed to one larger one, a small mirrored dresser with a wooden jewelry box sitting on it, and a large chest of drawers. One of the closets contained clothing that would have been considered strictly 'male' clothing; pants, jeans, T-shirts, his school uniform. The other closet contained strictly 'female' clothing; dresses, skirts, blouses, and things of that sort. The drawers contained the more bulky items, folded sweaters, and sweatpants and shirts, along with undergarments. Ranma's father had brought him up to not be forced into choosing one side of his curse over the other, therefore, Ranma had grown up with almost a split personality. He could be masculine and rough one day, with subtle hints of femininity, and delicate and sweet the next, with underlying maleness. Ranma was a complex person, with an even more complex life, perhaps even close to his father's. No fiancées yet though.
"What, I was just complimenting my *adorable* sister, mom." Akama said, rather sarcastically. A similar peek inside Akama's room would have revealed posters of martial artists spread over each of the walls, a rarely used mirrored table, and one large closet which contained a few more typically 'feminine' choices, though the major factor in Akama's room, wardrobe, and life, was masculinity. The more expected 'girlishness' could be found deeper, but that was a closely guarded part of Akama's life. Akama's personality seemed to be a hybrid of what most people saw in Akane as tomboyish behavior, and Ranma's stubbornness, slightly sloppy speech, and arrogance. Akama cursed being forced to wear the female uniform as she tugged at the frilly white socks required for female students, and brushed off the skirt. Given the choice, Akama would have rather just worn what her father was often told to have worn to school.
Unknown to her parents, Akama would also, on occasion, bind her chest with bandages, as she was developing into a woman much faster than she preferred. This gave her a much less feminine figure, and she figured if they were going to force her to wear that ridiculous skirt, she could at least make it to where all the boys wouldn't be staring at her chest all day. 'Stupid boys...' she thought, wrapping the uncomfortable bandages around her chest several times. The pain was not as present in her mind as it had been in the past, because she'd been training with her father, and one of the more recent lessons was withstanding pain from your opponent. As Akama saw it, her figure *was* her opponent.
"Don't make fun of your sister, Akama. You know she has enough trouble with her curse without you teasing her about being a girl." Akane said, peeking out of the bathroom in the hall. "Really, I'd think you'd be sweeter to your sister, Akama. She's the only one you've got."
"I'm glad for that..." Akama mumbled, under her breath, as she pulled on the uniform's shirt, and straightened it, tucking it into the skirt.
"I heard that!" Ranma called, from the other room, as she brushed out her scarlet hair. In appearance, Ranma had grown up looking more or less like her father, In both forms. The resemblance was fairly stunning, actually. Akama had grown up looking like her father's girl side, only her hair was a deep dark red, almost to where it was just black with red tones. Ranma was 'developing' at the same time her sister was, but unlike her sister, she made no effort to wrap it up, or conceal it. All she did was blush furiously when her mother took her bra shopping.
"Girls, stop fighting." Akane said, sternly. "Don't make me go take over cooking breakfast from your father." A smirk passed across Akane's face.
"More like 'go overcook breakfast.' " Akama said, snickering, finishing getting dressed.
"Do not talk to your mother in such a disrespectful tone." Akane said.
"I'm sorry, ma." Akama responded, walking out of her room, and heading for the table. Her sister was soon to follow behind her, still fussing with her uniform.
'Ugh, stupid bra... I could always just go as a guy, but I already got dressed and everything, plus the guys have really been mean lately' Ranma thought, as she took her seat, and began eating. She noticed her father looking at her strangely, so she looked up and blinked. "Something on my shirt, dad? Something in my teeth?" Ranma said.
The elder Ranma answered, "No, just looking at what a beautiful young lady you're becoming, Ranma. Although... Is that lipstick?"
'Caught....' Ranma thought, frowning. "Yeah, dad... It's a nice shade, right?" She asked.
"It looks wonderful on you, dear." Ranma's father said, smiling, causing his daughter to blush a nice pinkish-red.
"Yeah, it looks wonderful on a *girl* like you, Ranma." Akama said, coming to the table, obviously annoyed at her current state of dress.
"Didn't your mother just say something to you about that, Akama? I don't want you teasing your sister. You will be sparring with me after school, correct?" The elder Saotome said. Ranma's daughter simply ate her breakfast quietly, sighing some over the repeated teasing.
"Yeah, pops. Don't think you're gonna beat me today, I got your number, old man." Akama said, starting in on her breakfast, with a speed that brought back memories. Soon, she finished, and prodded her sister. "Ain't you done yet, Ranma? Man, I always gotta wait on you." Akama whined.
"Yeah.. I'm done. Let's just go, ok? I'm gonna have a long day today." Ranma sighed, as her father looked at Akama, frowning.
"Akama, that is not how I want to hear you speak. Haven't you learned anything from me? You will not be taken seriously if you don't act appropriately." The Saotome patriarch said.
"You used'ta talk like this all the time, dad. I'm gonna be late for school though, I'll talk to ya later." Akama said, grabbing up her books, watching her sister do the same. "Bye ma!" Akama shouted, going past her sister as she walked out the door.
A familiar, but slightly different scene was their walk to school. Ranma was walking along the sidewalk, while her sister walked along the fence. "People can see straight up your skirt, sis. Don't you care?" Ranma said.
"I'll just beat 'em up if they try to take a peek, sis. You don't gotta worry about me." Akama responded.
"Sis, could you come down here for a second, I really need to talk to you." Ranma said, watching Akama drop down. "This morning... Sis, I can hardly take it anymore. You tease me, the guys tease me, the girls hate me... I don't have any friends but my books. It's just getting a little hard, you know? I mean, when I was walking to breakfast, I thought about changing clothes, being a guy at school, and I realized that no matter what, I'd have a long, hard day. The guys are still going to tease me, and the girls are still going to look at me weird. I just wish I had one person who understood."
"Hey, Sis... I didn't mean'ta make you feel bad." Akama said, continuing, "I mean... You are pretty and all. I guess I'm a little jealous of ya." Akama kept her head up with her hands folded behind it, walking straight along.
"Jealous of me? That's a new one. Who would be jealous of me? Thanks to this stupid curse, I don't even know who I am. Sis, are you a girl or a guy?" Ranma asked, receiving the expected answer of 'A girl, sis'. Ranma continued, "Well I don't know which I am. I know my birth certificate says I'm a guy, but does this look like a guy to you? Do guys have to go bra shopping with their moms? Do guys wear skirts, and cotton panties, and pink lipstick? I could same sort of things about me being a girl. I just don't know anymore."
"You get to be a guy whenever you want though, Sis. I hate being a girl, I feel like I'd be stronger if I weren't a little, weak girl. What brought this up anyways, Ranma? I thought you were doing good the other day, you and dad had that talk about when he was in school, Did something happen?" Akama asked.
"There was this guy, sis..." Ranma said.
"What'd he do? If he touched you, I'm gonna give him a lesson he won't forget. Noone messes with my family and gets away with it!" Akama said, getting angrier by the second.
"He just kissed me. He said I was pretty, then he hugged me, then before I knew it, he kissed me. He just kissed me in the middle of the hall, just like that. I didn't know what to do. I just ran in the bathroom and locked the door." Ranma said all this, almost breaking into tears. "Something else too... While I was in the bathroom, I had to, ya know... Use the bathroom...and there was" She stopped, blushing bright red and staring at her feet, stopping.
"You just tell me who he was, sis, I'll take care of him." Akama blinked and stopped, catching the end of Ranma's statement, "Oh, Sis, don't tell me. You got your period, didn'tcha? Man, I'm sorry sis. Why didn'tcha tell ma or me? You shouldn'ta had to go through that alone."
"W-well, I was just... Embarassed. How could I come home and tell dad that his little boy just had his first period? I can see how that conversation would go. Dad would get all excited, or worse, he'd burst into tears like grandpa does. If I told mom, She'd want to take me out shopping again or something. Nothing good ever happens on those shopping trips, sis." Ranma said, sighing. "I found that stuff under the sink in mom's bathroom. I think I got it taken care of for now."
"Well, if you don't want to talk to mom or dad about it, Sis, I think you should atleast talk to Aunt Kasumi about it. You know she's always good for advice." Akama said, tugging Ranma to start walking again, which they did.
"I think I just need to talk to Mom about it. She'll be better to talk to than Aunt Kasumi, I think. This is one of those mother-daughter things, isn't it?" Ranma asked, to which Akama nodded.
"I think you should talk to pops again 'bout how you've been feelin' 'bout bein' a girl, too, Sis. He's hadta go through this sometime too, ya know. At least I think he'd had to, heh, what with havin' kids and all." Akama said.
"Yeah, sis.. I think I'm gonna have to talk to them both. Just lay off on the comments for a little, huh? I-it's a really hard time for me lately, I need my sister behind me." Ranma said, somewhat sadly.
"You know I'm always behind ya, Sis. I love ya, you're my sister, heh. Only one I got, like ma said." Akama said, reassuring Ranma with an arm around her shoulder.
"Thanks, Akama. It really means a lot to me." Ranma sais, smiling. "You know, for what it's worth, you look really nice today, Sis."
"Aww, come on." Akama blushed faintly, a sight not seen often, and not to anyone outside family. "I ain't interested in all this girly stuff. If I had it my way, I'd be in black, baggy pants, and a red shirt, just like dad's old one." A small pause, before Akama added a bit, very quietly. "Thanks."
They got to the school, and proceeded through the day in a mostly normal fashion. Since Ranma had gone to school female, he was spared the guys trying to run cold water over him. However, she wasn't spared the embarrassment of having to use the janitor's bathroom to change into and out of her gym uniform. Ranma was always intensely interested in her classes, finding nothing else to really get into. Martial arts just didn't grab her attention like they did her sister's, nor did much other athletic activity. Ranma was completely content being the smart one. Lunch eventually came, the one time that Ranma could be guaranteed a reasonable amount of privacy. "Wonder what dad packed for my lunch today..." Ranma said, to herself, sitting under a tree. She peeked inside the package, and pulled out a small slip of paper. It read, 'To my beautiful daughter, I hope your day at school goes wonderfully, Love, Your father'. Ranma had to force back tears at this nice surprise, usually her dad was not one to do such things.
Akama slipped up beside her sister, and sat down, opening her lunch. "Hey, sis." Akama said. "That was... Really sweet, what dad wrote in our lunches, huh? It's.. nice to know that all guys aren't total jerks." Akama smiled, and put her arm around her sister, right before noticing the tears collecting in her eyes. "Sis? What's wrong?" Akama asked.
"Nothing. It's just..." Ranma was near sobbing, as she held up the note. "I guess I just let my feelings get the best of me, heh. I'll be ok. At least girls get to cry, huh, sis?" A few tears fell out of Ranma's eyes, as she ate her lunch slowly, resting against the tree. Her hair blew in the slight breeze, and her skirt fluttered around a bit as well. Ranma just crossed her legs and continued eating.
"Aww, Sis..." Akama cautiously pulled herself closer to her sister, hugging her a bit tighter. "It's ok. You can cry on my shoulder if you want to. 'kay? What're sisters for anyways?" Akama smiled, as she said this.
"This? I suppose... heh." Ranma laid her head on her sister's shoulder, and sat there for a while, just enjoying the rare warmth that her sister exhibited from time to time. She put an arm around her sister's waist, and hugged her back, before sitting up and moving away. "Thanks, Akama. I mean it." Ranma said.
"Hey, don't get used to it, girlie." Akama said, smirking. "Can't ruin my reputation by bein' soft. Potential opponents might use that against me."
"Oh, of course. Opponents. I see." Ranma said, giggling, happy in the reassurance that her sister actually did love her, no matter what she said. The rest of the day went by fairly easily, Ranma got involved in her studies again, and the time simply melted away. Finally, the last bell rang, dismissing all of the students to leave the building. Ranma, along with many other girls and boys rushed out the classroom doors and headed home. Ranma soon caught sight of her sister, and ran over. "Hey, Akama. Could you wait for a little before you take off, I have to... well.." Ranma trailed off, nodding towards the bathroom. "The girls are going to chase me out if I go in there now, and I sure can't go in the guys one looking like this. It'll only be a few minutes before everyone's gone anyways. Please?" Ranma asked, smiling in her best impression of her dad's 'cute little girl' act.
"Oh, alright. Ya gotta stop makin' that face though. It freaks me out. Ya look just like Pops did that one time he was a little short on money that time we went out ta eat." Akama said, grinning. "Just hurry up when everyone clears out, kay'?"
"Alright... Thanks, sis." Ranma said. She leaned back against the wall, and watched everyone leave from the bathrooms, and eventually, the school was empty. Ranma walked on into the bathroom, and did what she went in there to do, and then she went to the sink, and started washing her hands. Just then, another young woman walked in, she was fairly tall, with brown hair, and stunning green eyes to go with an overall cute face. Her body was slim and toned, much like an athlete's would be. Her chest was starting to develop a bit as well, as such things started to happen around this age. She was dressed in the normal school uniform, but she carried a duffel bag with her. "Oh! I'm sorry, I thought everyone had left already." Ranma exclaimed, blushing brightly. 'She's... really cute.' Ranma thought.
"It's ok, really. You seem a lot more surprised than I am to see a girl in the girl's restroom." The other girl said, giggling lightly. "I'm Taiiku Migaru." She said, going into one of the stalls, taking the bag with her. "I'm pretty new here, so I don't really know a lot of people, what's your name?"
"R-Ranma Saotome." Ranma said, stuttering a little, as she saw the girl's clothes fall to the floor of the bathroom. About a minute or so later, Taiiku came back out of the bathroom dressed in a tight swimsuit, and a pair of yellow shorts. She folded the uniform, and put it in the bag. The tight garment, of course, only enhanced her figure for Ranma to see, and Ranma's cheeks responded by turning even pinker. "That's a really pretty swimsuit, Taiiku." Ranma said, asking, "Are you on the swim team here?"
"So the body and the outfit gave me away huh?" Taiiku said, giggling again. "You seem sort of shy, Ranma. I'm sorry if I'm embarrassing you, normally I'll just change in the locker room, but today I was a little rushed. Now I'm going to have to put up with all those goofy guys staring at my chest all the way down the hall. Guys can be such jerks, huh? And of course, I have to be 'blessed' with this figure when I don't have time for the attention it attracts." By now, Ranma was giggling as well. "What?" Taiiku asked.
"I think I know how you feel. Guys are always staring at me too. They can be jerks, a lot of the time." Ranma said, smiling a bit through the heat she felt on her face. "Hey, they do have a reason to stare though, you're pretty."
"Aww, Thanks, Ranma. You're a really sweet girl. You know, I did see this one really cute guy though; I think it was the first day I was here. I've seen him other times, but just when I get ready to go say hi, I have to run off and do something. That's the way it goes, I guess." Taiiku said.
"Ooh, a mystery guy, what'd he look like?" Ranma asked. Taiiku started describing this person, and before long, Ranma's look turned to surprise, realizing that the person being described was she, in her guy form. 'Oh, man... This is just great, a girl thinks I'm cute, and the first place I meet her is the women's restroom. Just my luck.' Ranma thought.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Taiiku asked, putting a hand on Ranma's shoulder.
"N-nothing, heh. Just thinking. He sounds kind of cute, not that I sit around judging guys all day or anything." Ranma said. 'Just great, Ranma, Just great. Now when you do tell her who you are, you're going to have to explain this. Man, she'll never understand." Ranma thought, feeling strangely uncomfortable with the girl's soft hand on her shoulder.
"He looks cuter than he sounds, trust me. I'd love to meet him." Taiiku pulled her arm back, looking in the mirror, and messing with her hair a bit.
'Might as well get it over with... no need to drag it on... she likes you! You like her!' Ranma thought, before he blurted out, quietly. "It's me."
Taiiku looked shocked for a moment, then she laughed. "Oh, come on Ranma, we've only been friends for a few minutes and you're already teasing." Taiiku said.
"No, Seriously... You're a really sweet girl, and pretty, and I want to be friends with you, but if I didn't tell you, it'd just be worse later." Ranma said, tears starting to form slightly in the back of her eyes.
"Well, I guess you're right, Ranma. If you think it's really important, then go ahead. You know, you're really a nice girl, if a bit shy. No reason we couldn't be friends." Taiiku said, smiling reassuringly.
"Well... I was born with this curse. My dad had it, and I got it. Whenever I get hit with cold water, I turn into a girl. And hot water makes me a guy. The same guy you saw." Ranma was staring down at her feet by now, embarassed.
Taiiku just stood there, blinking, not really ready to believe it. "Y-you're joking, right? So are you a guy, or a girl?"
"Sort of..." Ranma said, lightly.
"Sort of what?" Taiiku retorted, a bit angry.
"Sort of both. I was born as a guy, but I don't really feel much like one, sometimes." Ranma said. She grabbed two paper cups from the dispenser over the sink, and filled one with hot water, and one with cold water. "I'll show you this, if you really want to see. The reason that I had to wait for everyone else to leave, is that all the girls think I'm a guy, and all the guys try to turn me into a girl, so they can stare at... me."
"That's terrible..." Taiiku said. 'If she really was born with it... There's nothing she could do about it, poor girl, it must be so hard.' She thought, before speaking up again. "Well, show me, I guess. At least I'll get to meet that cute guy."
"Yeah, but will he look as cute in a skirt?" Ranma said, laughing nervously as she poured the little bit of hot water over herself, triggering the transformation. "Hi..." Ranma said, blushing redder than her female form's hair color. Taiiku blinked a bit, and blushed herself, looking down at her current state of dress. Her next reaction, however, was a bit shocking. She started giggling. Loudly. Ranma just made a confused face, and stared at her. "What? What's so funny?" Ranma said, while thinking 'Why hasn't she run off yet?'
"Still... umm... You're still cute. But the skirt is a little... much." She broke out in fits of giggling again, and soon, Ranma started to laugh a bit too. "Those other people sound just plain mean, Ranma. This IS something you were born with, right? You can't control that. They have no right to be mean to you like that. If you still want to, I'd love to be your friend." Taiiku smiled, and put her hand out. "One thing though, Try to only wear skirts when you're actually a girl, ok?" As she broke out into another fit of laughter, she watched Ranma pour the small cup of cold water on his head, and change back to a girl.
"Deal. Besides, my guy side doesn't have the legs for a skirt." Ranma said, winking as she shook Taiiku's hand.
"Ranma, you're hilarious." Taiiku said. 'And so cute...' She giggled, thinking.
"What is taking you so long in here, Ranma?" Akama said, bursting in through the door in a rush. "I'm gonna miss sparring with dad."
"Who's that, Ranma?" Taiiku asked.
"My sister." Ranma said, grinning, going over and hugging Akama. "Sis, this is Taiiku. I just met her, but she's really nice, I think I finally got a friend." Taiiku smiled brightly, and Ranma did the same.
"Nice to meet ya, glad you and my sis are gettin' along." Akama said, impatiently. "Come *on* sis, I'm already late!"
"Bye, Taiiku." Ranma said, smiling, noticing that Taiiku was doing the same. "Have fun at practice!"
"I will." Taiiku blushed lightly, remembering that she was still in the very form-fitting swimuit. "I guess I'll see you around, then. Bye!" She waved as Ranma and Akama rushed out the door. "He really must be strong, to deal with that so well... And I did notice him looking at me, he couldn't hide it." Taiiku said, giggling once more, starting out the door. 'Maybe something will happen, I guess I'll have to wait and see.'
It had been discovered, at an exam following Ranma and Akane's difficulty having children, that Akane's body could not support a child. Not thinking before he spoke, Ranma volunteered his girl form. 9 months, and a whole load of new experiences later, two beautiful twins were born, Ranma, and Akama. This is their story.
It was a busy morning in the Saotome household. Akane was yelling at the twins to get out of bed for school, while Ranma slowly cooked the breakfast for the family. He was smiling broadly at getting Akane to not cook today, a feat that had to be done carefully to avoid a mallet to the head. She was getting better, though. In the other room, it seemed that another little fight between the twins had broken out.
"Mom! She said I looked 'cute'." The younger Ranma said, currently female, and in the female school uniform. She stuck her tongue out at her sister, before grabbing a brush and sitting down at her small, mirrored table.
Ranma's room was oddly decorated in blue and pink, one could have almost seen a line dividing the room in half, if it were not for the swirls that mixed the coloring. The room had been constructed with two smaller closets, as opposed to one larger one, a small mirrored dresser with a wooden jewelry box sitting on it, and a large chest of drawers. One of the closets contained clothing that would have been considered strictly 'male' clothing; pants, jeans, T-shirts, his school uniform. The other closet contained strictly 'female' clothing; dresses, skirts, blouses, and things of that sort. The drawers contained the more bulky items, folded sweaters, and sweatpants and shirts, along with undergarments. Ranma's father had brought him up to not be forced into choosing one side of his curse over the other, therefore, Ranma had grown up with almost a split personality. He could be masculine and rough one day, with subtle hints of femininity, and delicate and sweet the next, with underlying maleness. Ranma was a complex person, with an even more complex life, perhaps even close to his father's. No fiancées yet though.
"What, I was just complimenting my *adorable* sister, mom." Akama said, rather sarcastically. A similar peek inside Akama's room would have revealed posters of martial artists spread over each of the walls, a rarely used mirrored table, and one large closet which contained a few more typically 'feminine' choices, though the major factor in Akama's room, wardrobe, and life, was masculinity. The more expected 'girlishness' could be found deeper, but that was a closely guarded part of Akama's life. Akama's personality seemed to be a hybrid of what most people saw in Akane as tomboyish behavior, and Ranma's stubbornness, slightly sloppy speech, and arrogance. Akama cursed being forced to wear the female uniform as she tugged at the frilly white socks required for female students, and brushed off the skirt. Given the choice, Akama would have rather just worn what her father was often told to have worn to school.
Unknown to her parents, Akama would also, on occasion, bind her chest with bandages, as she was developing into a woman much faster than she preferred. This gave her a much less feminine figure, and she figured if they were going to force her to wear that ridiculous skirt, she could at least make it to where all the boys wouldn't be staring at her chest all day. 'Stupid boys...' she thought, wrapping the uncomfortable bandages around her chest several times. The pain was not as present in her mind as it had been in the past, because she'd been training with her father, and one of the more recent lessons was withstanding pain from your opponent. As Akama saw it, her figure *was* her opponent.
"Don't make fun of your sister, Akama. You know she has enough trouble with her curse without you teasing her about being a girl." Akane said, peeking out of the bathroom in the hall. "Really, I'd think you'd be sweeter to your sister, Akama. She's the only one you've got."
"I'm glad for that..." Akama mumbled, under her breath, as she pulled on the uniform's shirt, and straightened it, tucking it into the skirt.
"I heard that!" Ranma called, from the other room, as she brushed out her scarlet hair. In appearance, Ranma had grown up looking more or less like her father, In both forms. The resemblance was fairly stunning, actually. Akama had grown up looking like her father's girl side, only her hair was a deep dark red, almost to where it was just black with red tones. Ranma was 'developing' at the same time her sister was, but unlike her sister, she made no effort to wrap it up, or conceal it. All she did was blush furiously when her mother took her bra shopping.
"Girls, stop fighting." Akane said, sternly. "Don't make me go take over cooking breakfast from your father." A smirk passed across Akane's face.
"More like 'go overcook breakfast.' " Akama said, snickering, finishing getting dressed.
"Do not talk to your mother in such a disrespectful tone." Akane said.
"I'm sorry, ma." Akama responded, walking out of her room, and heading for the table. Her sister was soon to follow behind her, still fussing with her uniform.
'Ugh, stupid bra... I could always just go as a guy, but I already got dressed and everything, plus the guys have really been mean lately' Ranma thought, as she took her seat, and began eating. She noticed her father looking at her strangely, so she looked up and blinked. "Something on my shirt, dad? Something in my teeth?" Ranma said.
The elder Ranma answered, "No, just looking at what a beautiful young lady you're becoming, Ranma. Although... Is that lipstick?"
'Caught....' Ranma thought, frowning. "Yeah, dad... It's a nice shade, right?" She asked.
"It looks wonderful on you, dear." Ranma's father said, smiling, causing his daughter to blush a nice pinkish-red.
"Yeah, it looks wonderful on a *girl* like you, Ranma." Akama said, coming to the table, obviously annoyed at her current state of dress.
"Didn't your mother just say something to you about that, Akama? I don't want you teasing your sister. You will be sparring with me after school, correct?" The elder Saotome said. Ranma's daughter simply ate her breakfast quietly, sighing some over the repeated teasing.
"Yeah, pops. Don't think you're gonna beat me today, I got your number, old man." Akama said, starting in on her breakfast, with a speed that brought back memories. Soon, she finished, and prodded her sister. "Ain't you done yet, Ranma? Man, I always gotta wait on you." Akama whined.
"Yeah.. I'm done. Let's just go, ok? I'm gonna have a long day today." Ranma sighed, as her father looked at Akama, frowning.
"Akama, that is not how I want to hear you speak. Haven't you learned anything from me? You will not be taken seriously if you don't act appropriately." The Saotome patriarch said.
"You used'ta talk like this all the time, dad. I'm gonna be late for school though, I'll talk to ya later." Akama said, grabbing up her books, watching her sister do the same. "Bye ma!" Akama shouted, going past her sister as she walked out the door.
A familiar, but slightly different scene was their walk to school. Ranma was walking along the sidewalk, while her sister walked along the fence. "People can see straight up your skirt, sis. Don't you care?" Ranma said.
"I'll just beat 'em up if they try to take a peek, sis. You don't gotta worry about me." Akama responded.
"Sis, could you come down here for a second, I really need to talk to you." Ranma said, watching Akama drop down. "This morning... Sis, I can hardly take it anymore. You tease me, the guys tease me, the girls hate me... I don't have any friends but my books. It's just getting a little hard, you know? I mean, when I was walking to breakfast, I thought about changing clothes, being a guy at school, and I realized that no matter what, I'd have a long, hard day. The guys are still going to tease me, and the girls are still going to look at me weird. I just wish I had one person who understood."
"Hey, Sis... I didn't mean'ta make you feel bad." Akama said, continuing, "I mean... You are pretty and all. I guess I'm a little jealous of ya." Akama kept her head up with her hands folded behind it, walking straight along.
"Jealous of me? That's a new one. Who would be jealous of me? Thanks to this stupid curse, I don't even know who I am. Sis, are you a girl or a guy?" Ranma asked, receiving the expected answer of 'A girl, sis'. Ranma continued, "Well I don't know which I am. I know my birth certificate says I'm a guy, but does this look like a guy to you? Do guys have to go bra shopping with their moms? Do guys wear skirts, and cotton panties, and pink lipstick? I could same sort of things about me being a girl. I just don't know anymore."
"You get to be a guy whenever you want though, Sis. I hate being a girl, I feel like I'd be stronger if I weren't a little, weak girl. What brought this up anyways, Ranma? I thought you were doing good the other day, you and dad had that talk about when he was in school, Did something happen?" Akama asked.
"There was this guy, sis..." Ranma said.
"What'd he do? If he touched you, I'm gonna give him a lesson he won't forget. Noone messes with my family and gets away with it!" Akama said, getting angrier by the second.
"He just kissed me. He said I was pretty, then he hugged me, then before I knew it, he kissed me. He just kissed me in the middle of the hall, just like that. I didn't know what to do. I just ran in the bathroom and locked the door." Ranma said all this, almost breaking into tears. "Something else too... While I was in the bathroom, I had to, ya know... Use the bathroom...and there was" She stopped, blushing bright red and staring at her feet, stopping.
"You just tell me who he was, sis, I'll take care of him." Akama blinked and stopped, catching the end of Ranma's statement, "Oh, Sis, don't tell me. You got your period, didn'tcha? Man, I'm sorry sis. Why didn'tcha tell ma or me? You shouldn'ta had to go through that alone."
"W-well, I was just... Embarassed. How could I come home and tell dad that his little boy just had his first period? I can see how that conversation would go. Dad would get all excited, or worse, he'd burst into tears like grandpa does. If I told mom, She'd want to take me out shopping again or something. Nothing good ever happens on those shopping trips, sis." Ranma said, sighing. "I found that stuff under the sink in mom's bathroom. I think I got it taken care of for now."
"Well, if you don't want to talk to mom or dad about it, Sis, I think you should atleast talk to Aunt Kasumi about it. You know she's always good for advice." Akama said, tugging Ranma to start walking again, which they did.
"I think I just need to talk to Mom about it. She'll be better to talk to than Aunt Kasumi, I think. This is one of those mother-daughter things, isn't it?" Ranma asked, to which Akama nodded.
"I think you should talk to pops again 'bout how you've been feelin' 'bout bein' a girl, too, Sis. He's hadta go through this sometime too, ya know. At least I think he'd had to, heh, what with havin' kids and all." Akama said.
"Yeah, sis.. I think I'm gonna have to talk to them both. Just lay off on the comments for a little, huh? I-it's a really hard time for me lately, I need my sister behind me." Ranma said, somewhat sadly.
"You know I'm always behind ya, Sis. I love ya, you're my sister, heh. Only one I got, like ma said." Akama said, reassuring Ranma with an arm around her shoulder.
"Thanks, Akama. It really means a lot to me." Ranma sais, smiling. "You know, for what it's worth, you look really nice today, Sis."
"Aww, come on." Akama blushed faintly, a sight not seen often, and not to anyone outside family. "I ain't interested in all this girly stuff. If I had it my way, I'd be in black, baggy pants, and a red shirt, just like dad's old one." A small pause, before Akama added a bit, very quietly. "Thanks."
They got to the school, and proceeded through the day in a mostly normal fashion. Since Ranma had gone to school female, he was spared the guys trying to run cold water over him. However, she wasn't spared the embarrassment of having to use the janitor's bathroom to change into and out of her gym uniform. Ranma was always intensely interested in her classes, finding nothing else to really get into. Martial arts just didn't grab her attention like they did her sister's, nor did much other athletic activity. Ranma was completely content being the smart one. Lunch eventually came, the one time that Ranma could be guaranteed a reasonable amount of privacy. "Wonder what dad packed for my lunch today..." Ranma said, to herself, sitting under a tree. She peeked inside the package, and pulled out a small slip of paper. It read, 'To my beautiful daughter, I hope your day at school goes wonderfully, Love, Your father'. Ranma had to force back tears at this nice surprise, usually her dad was not one to do such things.
Akama slipped up beside her sister, and sat down, opening her lunch. "Hey, sis." Akama said. "That was... Really sweet, what dad wrote in our lunches, huh? It's.. nice to know that all guys aren't total jerks." Akama smiled, and put her arm around her sister, right before noticing the tears collecting in her eyes. "Sis? What's wrong?" Akama asked.
"Nothing. It's just..." Ranma was near sobbing, as she held up the note. "I guess I just let my feelings get the best of me, heh. I'll be ok. At least girls get to cry, huh, sis?" A few tears fell out of Ranma's eyes, as she ate her lunch slowly, resting against the tree. Her hair blew in the slight breeze, and her skirt fluttered around a bit as well. Ranma just crossed her legs and continued eating.
"Aww, Sis..." Akama cautiously pulled herself closer to her sister, hugging her a bit tighter. "It's ok. You can cry on my shoulder if you want to. 'kay? What're sisters for anyways?" Akama smiled, as she said this.
"This? I suppose... heh." Ranma laid her head on her sister's shoulder, and sat there for a while, just enjoying the rare warmth that her sister exhibited from time to time. She put an arm around her sister's waist, and hugged her back, before sitting up and moving away. "Thanks, Akama. I mean it." Ranma said.
"Hey, don't get used to it, girlie." Akama said, smirking. "Can't ruin my reputation by bein' soft. Potential opponents might use that against me."
"Oh, of course. Opponents. I see." Ranma said, giggling, happy in the reassurance that her sister actually did love her, no matter what she said. The rest of the day went by fairly easily, Ranma got involved in her studies again, and the time simply melted away. Finally, the last bell rang, dismissing all of the students to leave the building. Ranma, along with many other girls and boys rushed out the classroom doors and headed home. Ranma soon caught sight of her sister, and ran over. "Hey, Akama. Could you wait for a little before you take off, I have to... well.." Ranma trailed off, nodding towards the bathroom. "The girls are going to chase me out if I go in there now, and I sure can't go in the guys one looking like this. It'll only be a few minutes before everyone's gone anyways. Please?" Ranma asked, smiling in her best impression of her dad's 'cute little girl' act.
"Oh, alright. Ya gotta stop makin' that face though. It freaks me out. Ya look just like Pops did that one time he was a little short on money that time we went out ta eat." Akama said, grinning. "Just hurry up when everyone clears out, kay'?"
"Alright... Thanks, sis." Ranma said. She leaned back against the wall, and watched everyone leave from the bathrooms, and eventually, the school was empty. Ranma walked on into the bathroom, and did what she went in there to do, and then she went to the sink, and started washing her hands. Just then, another young woman walked in, she was fairly tall, with brown hair, and stunning green eyes to go with an overall cute face. Her body was slim and toned, much like an athlete's would be. Her chest was starting to develop a bit as well, as such things started to happen around this age. She was dressed in the normal school uniform, but she carried a duffel bag with her. "Oh! I'm sorry, I thought everyone had left already." Ranma exclaimed, blushing brightly. 'She's... really cute.' Ranma thought.
"It's ok, really. You seem a lot more surprised than I am to see a girl in the girl's restroom." The other girl said, giggling lightly. "I'm Taiiku Migaru." She said, going into one of the stalls, taking the bag with her. "I'm pretty new here, so I don't really know a lot of people, what's your name?"
"R-Ranma Saotome." Ranma said, stuttering a little, as she saw the girl's clothes fall to the floor of the bathroom. About a minute or so later, Taiiku came back out of the bathroom dressed in a tight swimsuit, and a pair of yellow shorts. She folded the uniform, and put it in the bag. The tight garment, of course, only enhanced her figure for Ranma to see, and Ranma's cheeks responded by turning even pinker. "That's a really pretty swimsuit, Taiiku." Ranma said, asking, "Are you on the swim team here?"
"So the body and the outfit gave me away huh?" Taiiku said, giggling again. "You seem sort of shy, Ranma. I'm sorry if I'm embarrassing you, normally I'll just change in the locker room, but today I was a little rushed. Now I'm going to have to put up with all those goofy guys staring at my chest all the way down the hall. Guys can be such jerks, huh? And of course, I have to be 'blessed' with this figure when I don't have time for the attention it attracts." By now, Ranma was giggling as well. "What?" Taiiku asked.
"I think I know how you feel. Guys are always staring at me too. They can be jerks, a lot of the time." Ranma said, smiling a bit through the heat she felt on her face. "Hey, they do have a reason to stare though, you're pretty."
"Aww, Thanks, Ranma. You're a really sweet girl. You know, I did see this one really cute guy though; I think it was the first day I was here. I've seen him other times, but just when I get ready to go say hi, I have to run off and do something. That's the way it goes, I guess." Taiiku said.
"Ooh, a mystery guy, what'd he look like?" Ranma asked. Taiiku started describing this person, and before long, Ranma's look turned to surprise, realizing that the person being described was she, in her guy form. 'Oh, man... This is just great, a girl thinks I'm cute, and the first place I meet her is the women's restroom. Just my luck.' Ranma thought.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Taiiku asked, putting a hand on Ranma's shoulder.
"N-nothing, heh. Just thinking. He sounds kind of cute, not that I sit around judging guys all day or anything." Ranma said. 'Just great, Ranma, Just great. Now when you do tell her who you are, you're going to have to explain this. Man, she'll never understand." Ranma thought, feeling strangely uncomfortable with the girl's soft hand on her shoulder.
"He looks cuter than he sounds, trust me. I'd love to meet him." Taiiku pulled her arm back, looking in the mirror, and messing with her hair a bit.
'Might as well get it over with... no need to drag it on... she likes you! You like her!' Ranma thought, before he blurted out, quietly. "It's me."
Taiiku looked shocked for a moment, then she laughed. "Oh, come on Ranma, we've only been friends for a few minutes and you're already teasing." Taiiku said.
"No, Seriously... You're a really sweet girl, and pretty, and I want to be friends with you, but if I didn't tell you, it'd just be worse later." Ranma said, tears starting to form slightly in the back of her eyes.
"Well, I guess you're right, Ranma. If you think it's really important, then go ahead. You know, you're really a nice girl, if a bit shy. No reason we couldn't be friends." Taiiku said, smiling reassuringly.
"Well... I was born with this curse. My dad had it, and I got it. Whenever I get hit with cold water, I turn into a girl. And hot water makes me a guy. The same guy you saw." Ranma was staring down at her feet by now, embarassed.
Taiiku just stood there, blinking, not really ready to believe it. "Y-you're joking, right? So are you a guy, or a girl?"
"Sort of..." Ranma said, lightly.
"Sort of what?" Taiiku retorted, a bit angry.
"Sort of both. I was born as a guy, but I don't really feel much like one, sometimes." Ranma said. She grabbed two paper cups from the dispenser over the sink, and filled one with hot water, and one with cold water. "I'll show you this, if you really want to see. The reason that I had to wait for everyone else to leave, is that all the girls think I'm a guy, and all the guys try to turn me into a girl, so they can stare at... me."
"That's terrible..." Taiiku said. 'If she really was born with it... There's nothing she could do about it, poor girl, it must be so hard.' She thought, before speaking up again. "Well, show me, I guess. At least I'll get to meet that cute guy."
"Yeah, but will he look as cute in a skirt?" Ranma said, laughing nervously as she poured the little bit of hot water over herself, triggering the transformation. "Hi..." Ranma said, blushing redder than her female form's hair color. Taiiku blinked a bit, and blushed herself, looking down at her current state of dress. Her next reaction, however, was a bit shocking. She started giggling. Loudly. Ranma just made a confused face, and stared at her. "What? What's so funny?" Ranma said, while thinking 'Why hasn't she run off yet?'
"Still... umm... You're still cute. But the skirt is a little... much." She broke out in fits of giggling again, and soon, Ranma started to laugh a bit too. "Those other people sound just plain mean, Ranma. This IS something you were born with, right? You can't control that. They have no right to be mean to you like that. If you still want to, I'd love to be your friend." Taiiku smiled, and put her hand out. "One thing though, Try to only wear skirts when you're actually a girl, ok?" As she broke out into another fit of laughter, she watched Ranma pour the small cup of cold water on his head, and change back to a girl.
"Deal. Besides, my guy side doesn't have the legs for a skirt." Ranma said, winking as she shook Taiiku's hand.
"Ranma, you're hilarious." Taiiku said. 'And so cute...' She giggled, thinking.
"What is taking you so long in here, Ranma?" Akama said, bursting in through the door in a rush. "I'm gonna miss sparring with dad."
"Who's that, Ranma?" Taiiku asked.
"My sister." Ranma said, grinning, going over and hugging Akama. "Sis, this is Taiiku. I just met her, but she's really nice, I think I finally got a friend." Taiiku smiled brightly, and Ranma did the same.
"Nice to meet ya, glad you and my sis are gettin' along." Akama said, impatiently. "Come *on* sis, I'm already late!"
"Bye, Taiiku." Ranma said, smiling, noticing that Taiiku was doing the same. "Have fun at practice!"
"I will." Taiiku blushed lightly, remembering that she was still in the very form-fitting swimuit. "I guess I'll see you around, then. Bye!" She waved as Ranma and Akama rushed out the door. "He really must be strong, to deal with that so well... And I did notice him looking at me, he couldn't hide it." Taiiku said, giggling once more, starting out the door. 'Maybe something will happen, I guess I'll have to wait and see.'