The cursed pond

By ChibiNaomi

Hey all. This is my first fanfiction. It has some Ranma ½ feel to it. I even used some names from Cardcaptor Sakura hehe. The story isn't finishd yet, but if I get enough positive reviews, I will continue for sure! I don't own Sailor Moon, Naoko Takeuchi does. Please enjoy!

"Finally, we're in China!" shouted Usagi happily. Usagi and her family had been on a long boat ride from Japan to China for the summer break, and Usagi became quite restless.

"Geeze, calm down Odango-Atama." exclaimed Usagi's little brother Shingo. Usagi's face became very red from the hated nickname.

"Shut up you little monster! I get that all the time from Mamoru-baka, I don't need it from you!"

Mamoru was some guy Usagi met one unfortunate day. She had once hit him on the head by mistake with a scrunched up failed maths test, and he insulted her by making fun of her hair style as well as her failed test. Usagi had a unique hairstyle: it was blonde and kept in two buns on the sides of her head with pony tails coming out of them. Mamoru thought they looked like dumplings and so he nicknamed her Odango-Atama.

Shingo didn't look interested in what Usagi was saying and turned to their mother Ikuko.

"Mama I'm hungry!! Can we eat now, pleeeeeeease?" He pleaded with her with big eyes that always let him get his way. The whole family were pretty hungry, except for Usagi.

"You guys go on ahead and I'll meet you at the hotel later. I'm gonna explore China! And with that, Usagi ran off.

Usagi enjoyed gardens and was always interested in seeing a traditional Chinese one, so that was her first stop. The flowers there were beautiful. The White Nelumbo lotus flowers floated carelessly in the scattered ponds around the gardens. The fluttering of the dragonflies wings that drifted near was the only sound that disrupted the silence. After an hour there, Usagi sat down on a bench near one of the cute little ponds. After a minute or two, Usagi noticed a sign. It wasn't very noticeable, just a large stone among other rocks and blended in the background of the beautiful scenery. Usagi wouldn't have looked at it if it wasn't for the fact that the dragonfly she was looking at had landed on it. The writing inscribed on the stone was nearly worn away, as if it had been carved in centuries ago. It was difficult to read and you would have to go right up to it to make anything out.

Her curiosity got the better of her and she went to examine it. It read "The cursed pond of the drowned fisherman. Five hundred years ago it is believed, a young fisherman drowned here. It is said some who have fallen in this pond have turned into that very fisherman so he may continue to live again." Usagi just stared.

"Wow…" was all she could say.

Suddenly, a large withered crow took to the air out of a near by tree and cried out as if it were in pain. It flew past Usagi's head and into another tree, leaving fallen feathers trailing behind it. This shocked Usagi out of her daydream-like state, making her lose her balance and she fell straight into the pond.

"Its cold!!" screamed Usagi throwing her arms about for balance as she emerged from the pond. But at the same time she did, so did a man scream the exact words. Which was strange thought Usagi. Ignoring that for the time being, Usagi looked down at her clothes. The water had made them cling to her body and for some reason, her short red top and jeans felt very tight on her and shorter as well. This puzzled Usagi greatly because clothes wouldn't normally do that when wet, but when spin dried. She felt her feet rub against her normally over sized trainers and had the urge to take them off. Usagi pulled out her pony tails as they were a mess. She had gone from not having a care in the world to truly regretting about visiting the gardens. Even the soft humming of the dragonflies were grating on her nerves. She was about to get up when a Chinese girl around the same age as her ran up to her.

"Oh my goodness!" She said in very good English.

"Are you okay?" Before Usagi could even answer, the girl was called over by who Usagi guessed as the girl's parents.

"Meilin is this your boyfriend Syaoran?" asked the mother in Chinese. Usagi understood only parts of the conversation. Meilin turned a bright red.

"No Mama! He has brown hair, not blonde." And with that, they left a confused and still-in-the-pond Usagi behind.

"Boyfriend? Thanks very much (!)" Spat Usagi. Once again, a man spoke over her. Then something caught Usagi's eye, her own reflection in the water. Her clothes were tight and too short like she thought, her face was not its normal shape but the thing that really grabbed her attention, was that her breasts seemed to be missing.

Usagi tried to scream, but was too shocked. He got up ever so slowly, still looking at himself. He twisted and turned around to see what else had changed. People walking past him started to walk faster after seeing him standing in the pond like that. He now had a flat bum, had become six foot rather than five foot and five inches and though he didn't want to, he looked down his trousers to see what he had. He immediately went red in the face and just a little bit sick to the stomach.

"Oh shit oh shit oh shiiiiiit…." That was all Usagi was able to say.

'This is a joke right? A dream? What the hell did I eat last night?? That brat Shingo must have put something into my food! What do I do? I can't go back to the hotel looking like this.' Usagi tried to think of something while having a mini panic attack.

Then, Usagi noticed more writing on the sign. He quickly scrambled over to it and read it feverishly, forgetting he was still in the pond. "If you are destined to lead a half life of both genders, you must learn the way of water. To change back into your former self, bathe in hot water. But if cold is to ever touch you, a man you will be again."

Usagi ran back to the hotel with tears running down his face not caring if it wasn't manly, he wasn't supposed to be a man full stop! Just as he got there though, his parents were leaving to have a romantic stroll together. Usagi glanced down as if the pavement was the most interesting pavement he had ever seen and walked straight past them. They didn't even notice their new son. Usagi unlocked their room to find Shingo crashed out on the sofa in the living room. Usagi let out a sigh of relief and jumped into the shower.

The hot water scolded Usagi's skin, but straight away Usagi got shorter and curvy again. Usagi looked down and thanked whatever God or Gods that had helped. But then she remembered it wouldn't last.

'What do I do? It's not like I can ask for help, everyone will think I'm mad and even if I prove it, it will scare the shit out of my parents and they might kick me out! Who'd want a freak in the family if they can help it?' Usagi was starting to have mini panic attacks again and began chewing her nails.

Usagi took a deep breath.

'Calm down, you can get through this... I'll just bring extra clothes around with me if I have any problems. But that means getting clothes… Crap! Damn, I'll have to borrow some of papa's stuff for the time being.' With that settled Usagi got dressed into her night gown and went straight to sleep for the night wishing it would be over in the morning. No such luck.

The next day, Usagi woke up and had forgotten what had happened. So when she splashed cold water onto her face in the bathroom, he had to cover his mouth from screaming. Turning on the hot tap quickly, Usagi splashed more water on. But as it was so hot, Usagi did scream this time. "Kami-sama!" But in mid sentence Usagi's voice went from deep to high so her papa Kenji, who had heard thought it was just Shingo breaking his voice at long last.

Usagi for the rest of the hoilday, managed not to have too many problems. She did this by telling her parents that she was ill and that she didn't want to leave the hotel. By the end of the two weeks, it was time to go home.

The boat ride home went way longer then the one getting there did. As soon as they got indoors, Usagi jumped up the stairs to her room and locked the door. She opened her suitcase and pulled out her newly bought clothes. She planned on bringing them to school with her just incase anything were to happen.

'Damn, I feel like Clark Kent jumping into phone boxes to change into superman. What powers do I have though? Being taller and owning something I don't want...' Usagi sighed. It would have been funny to her if this was a manga or something. But it was her life and it wasn't doing her any favours.

She sat on the edge on the bed to think of a name for her male self.

"…. I can't think…"

School came along far to quickly for Usagi to like. But she did miss Naru-chan and even Umino, so she had to grin and bear it. Usagi got up late like always so she quickly grabbed her toast, shouted her goodbyes and started her daily sprint.

"Please don't let anything happen today…." whispered Usagi to herself. But as if some devil had overheard, something DID happen. An elderly man was washing his car. As soon as he finished, he chucked the water out onto the road. This hit Usagi straight in the face. "Oh I'm sorry!" the man cried, but no one was there to hear him.

Usagi in her male form had quickly taken off to the nearest alley to change. Once Usagi emerged, he was wearing worn out looking jeans and shirt. He thought to himself that buying things from a charity shop would be better because the clothes would look like he had always worn them. But truth be told it was because he had no money for anything better.

'Okay, I'll take a quick shower at school and explain to Haruna-sensei why I'm late….' Usagi had just turned a corner when suddenly he bumped into someone and fell over. "God damn Odango-Atama, watch the hell where you're going for once!"

Usagi looked to see he had just bumped into Mamoru. Suddenly Usagi froze and his heart skipped a beat. How on earth did he know it was her? "Excuse me?"

Mamoru had been looking at the floor when walking had closed his eyes as soon as he bumped into Usagi. 'Great…' thought Mamoru. 'First day back at college and already I'm bumping into Odango-Atama.' Ever since Usagi chucked that ball of paper at him, they were always bumping into each other alot and fighting.

But then, Mamoru heard a male voice. He opened his eyes to be greeted by a boy of his age, similar (if not a bit shorter) height, and long blonde hair in one pony tail. This wasn't Odango-Atama, but he sure could pass off as her brother! They both had those blue eyes hat just seem to pierce right into you. That was something that always unnerved Mamoru about Odango-Atama. Mamoru blushed to his ears. "Oh err, sorry, you see I usually bump into this clumsy air headed girl around this time of day."

The young blonde looked like he was about to explode. He stood up, brushed himself off and waited for Mamoru to do the same. "It's okay." He mumbled. "Just now I'm REALLY going to be late for school." Mamoru felt slightly guilty. Plus he couldn't shake off the feeling he knew this guy. Then Mamoru had an idea. "Hey my house is only a minute away. Why don't I give you a lift?"

To be continued?