Ranma One-Akane
By Ron Dow75
2: In a Lather
Kasumi in the same pink skirt and yellow blouse but fresh
white frilly apron and matching hair bow from yesterday
called from the bottom of the stairs, "Akane!! Akane, are
you ready?!!" She hesitated about going upstairs and
checking on her poor baby-sister. "It's time for
breakfast!"
Nabiki was already dressed in her slip, blue jumper with
the bow in the back and short puffy sleeve white blouse
school uniform. "She missed her usual morning jog. It makes
me wonder just how effective this puppet-thing of Dr. Tofu
is."
Kasumi tried to reassure herself, "The doctor said sleep
was the best thing for her at that point."
Nabiki commented, "Just before he fell down the stairs."
Why he did things like that was something nobody ever
talked about with Kasumi.
Kasumi asked, "Didn't you say he gave her something to make
her sleep through the night?"
Nabiki tried not to shudder. "Acupuncture." Everybody had a
weak point; needles were hers.
Kasumi smiled, "That's good. I hear sleeping pills can be
addicting. I'm sure acupuncture isn't."
Nabiki commented, "I should hope so."
Kasumi turned to look back up the stairs. "I should go and
check on her."
Nabiki checked her watch, "Give her five more minutes. If
she isn't down, she just isn't going to be keeping to her
usual behavior patterns."
Kasumi headed up the stairs anyway. She paused to ask,
"What was that word, again?"
Nabiki, thinking her big-sister wanted to believe in a
magic word to go with the Tofu's magic spell, said, "'Wild
Stallion'."
Kasumi nodded, but said, "Shouldn't it be 'Wild Mare'?
Akane is, after all, a female."
Nabiki's business voice came out, "'Wild Stallion' has more
punch, as they say in advertising, and that makes it more
effective as a trigger." Then her tone changed, "Besides,
she's not the type to be part of a herd; she creates herds.
A stallion more suits her."
Kasumi said, "All the more reason for it to be 'mare'.
You're right, though, about her being not as feminine as
she could be. Do you think we can get the doctor to do
something about that, too?"
Nabiki shook her head, "Tofu said for her to get her
memories back, she has to be surrounded by familiar people,
and places, doing familiar things. And doing them in the
same way as she did them before."
Kasumi sighed, "And that means acting like, forgive me,
Akane, a tomboy."
Nabiki checked her watch, again, "And it means going to
school like she usually does. If she doesn't come down, and
have her breakfast..."
Kasumi beamed up at the top of the stairs at the ponytailed
"Akane! You dressed yourself." Dr. Tofu said amnesia could
reduce a person to the level of a two-year-old.
"Not exactly." Feeling stupid and like a pervert, a
frowning Ranma wondered how far they could see under the
blue dress she had on from down there. {Don't think about
it; don't sweat it; it's not my body. I'm not really a
girl, so this ain't really my body they're looking at...}
Nabiki said, "You made it under the wire, Akane."
Ranma saw that the shorthaired teen was in the same dress
outfit as she was in. {A school uniform. That means -Ugh!-
school. And school is, is-out in public.}
Nabiki continued, "I don't have all that much faith in this
hoodoo treatment, but if it saves us from more expensive
ones, I'm glad to see it doing its magic."
Kasumi chided, "Nabiki!"
Nabiki answered, "Look, I want Akane back to as normal as
she gets, too. But I think that means we need to think of
back-up options: In case this one doesn't work! That's the
bottom line, here."
Kasumi got misty-eyed, "Thank you, Nabiki."
Before things got saccharin, Nabiki told Akane, "Come on,
and eat breakfast, so I can walk you to school!"
Ranma asked, "School!?!" She had hoped the body had dressed
her this way because it didn't know she was too 'sick' to
go. "Walk me?!" the chances of her escape lessened again.
Nabiki told her, "Yes. I've been elected your baby-sitter
until I can get you home."
Everything moved when Ranma went down the Japanese-style
narrow, steep stairs. But she didn't jiggle as much as she
was afraid she would. It seemed to her as if the body knew
how to minimize most of the unnecessary squirming of the
only firm layer of fat (Gross!} she had under her skin.
Kasumi put her hands together, "She moves almost normally."
Nabiki said, "What were you expecting? She's not a zombie."
Kasumi answered, "Or a clockwork doll," backing down the
stairs to allow her baby-sister to come down.
***
The only action that she felt was her own, so far, was the
tying up of the stupidly long hair in a ponytail in back
and out of the way. {It probably looks like the older
sister's. But at least there's no bow!}
The frown locked on an unhandsome face, Ranma found herself
sitting girl-style, not boy-style on the tatami floor. Her
knees were together, and her heels were under her thighs.
When it was time to get up, she was sure she would rise the
same way she lowered herself, with the balls of her feet,
her toes gripping. Very Japanese, she'd found in her
travels.
And it didn't let her forget that she had hips, thighs and
a butt, in that order. {And a tiny waist to accent it all.}
Her stomach growled. {Girls do that?} she thought naively.
The girl's father was sitting across from her. He was famed
by a view of the garden. {Don't they ever close that garden
door! It's mocking me: "Escape is so close, so far..."}
"Er, uh, so, Akane, how are you feeling, today?"
Ranma said, moodily, "I don't want to talk about it." {I
wish I could stop thinking as easy. I don't want to listen
to the sound of her voice at all.}
Nabiki sat at one end of the table, studying her more
blatantly, "That's not like the Akane we know. She's let's
everybody know how she feels."
(Mr. Tendo muttered, "I really didn't mean that kind of
feeling.)
A kneeling, still smiling Kasumi set one of the bowls of
misao soup in front of their father; "It would help you
feel better. A girl has to express herself."
Nabiki raised an eyebrow towards Kasumi but let it go. This
was Akane's time.
Ranma snorted, "By expressing herself, you mean girls just
naturally have to talk." He couldn't miss that on his
travels. {Look at that, even their dad is nodding.}
Kasumi ladled soup into another bowl for Nabiki, who told
her stubborn baby-sister, "Look, Akane, you have amnesia.
Just sulking and not talking is not going to jar any
memories loose."
Ranma glanced at her, then down {A bust.} at the place the
next bowl would go. Sulking, "You don't want to hear about
what I remember."
Judging by Akane's tone, Nabiki said, "I had a good reason
to do whatever it is you remember I did to you."
Kasumi reminded, "Nabiki, everybody has their own
perspective. I think it's encouraging she has any memories
of you, no matter inconsiderate you are in them." She
ladled Akane's bowl.
Nabiki said, "Oh? And what kind of memory fragments does
she have of you? You're not ALWAYS happy and cheerful, you
know."
Rising Japanese-style, Kasumi brought the breakfast soup
over to Akane; "I always try to be: Show your own family
the friendly demeanor you show to the public. It's a way to
show respect to others, something that all who value the
traditional Japanese ways should do."
The soup was placed in front of Akane. She glanced at it,
then the Nabiki chick, "Does she always talk like that?"
Nabiki said, "No. I think she's trying to give you advice
on how you should behave today." And she gave a clearly
fake smile, "Japanese are famous for smiling even when they
don't want to. It comes from generations of samurai slicing
off the heads of whoever displeased them."
Peasant warrior Ranma well knew about that. But looking
back at Kasumi, she had to ask, "Are you sure that's fake?"
***
They let Ranma use her lips for eating. Instead of doing
his Thief-About-to-Run eating technique {Stupid Pop!
Where'd he get the idea to name it that, anyway?}, she ate
in a more civilized, and at a much more maddeningly slow,
pace. If it weren't for the fact that the other sisters did
a more lady-like job of it, Ranma would've called it eatin'
dainty. {Even the dad does a better job at it. This girl
must not be much of a girl. I guess I should be glad. What
if I'da ended up in the example of the perfect Japanese
hausfrau, Kasumi?} That sent a shudder through her. {And
I'd all the time hafta smile about it!}
She stole glances at the other one, Nabiki. {What if it'd
been her? What kinda girl is she? She don't look like she
smiles much. It sounds like she keeps testin' the
boundaries of her situation. Does that include wearin' more
sensible underwear than this girl!? -Man, this bra and
panties are gettin' to me!}
Ranma hadn't finished, when Kasumi started clearing the
table, "It's time to go, you two."
Ranma said, "Do I have to?" even as she rose female
Japanese-style, and the skirt feeling more like a skirt.
Mr. Tendo suggested, "Perhaps we should allow her time to-"
Nabiki took her baby-sister by the shoulders and directed
her towards the door to the inner hall, "Doctor's orders.
As soon as Akane gets into her normal routine, the sooner
her Akane act won't be an act, however wonderful that
thought is."
Ranma agreed, "That's a wonderful thought."
The body, too, was reluctant to go to school, so Nabiki had
to push her along.
After putting on their blue uniform jackets, Nabiki made
Akane carry their leather bookbags. Ranma asked the taller
girl, "Am I suppose to do this everyday?"
Nabiki toyed with the idea of saying yes. She sighed as she
gave it up. "You're carrying it, so my hands are free to
use on you, if you give me the first sign of trouble."
{So that's what having a big sister is like. Welcome to the
bottom of the peckin' order, Ranma.}
At least she slid the door open for her.
Then she shoved her out into the world.
A cold day in March world! {How can girls stand wearin'
dresses!!} Ranma screamed in shock inside, as she felt the
stiff, damp breeze reaching up towards her panties.
At the slightest lifting of the slip and skirt, the body
brought both bags down to keep it in place.
Nabiki had to slow down, "Well, come on. Take those bags
away, and let's hustle! You know what happens when you're
late to school."
{Is it any worse than this wind?} Ranma fumed. If it was a
man she was suppose to be worried about, at least then it
would be somebody she could do something about. Using
Ranma's martial arts skills, she might even get to get rid
of some of this incredible frustration she was feeling. {If
I had my freewill back, that is!}
With the big sister keeping within striking distance, Ranma
was marched through the tidy court to the high, but open
fortress-like gates. She was so intent feeling chilly, and
jiggly, and girly, and stupid, and trapped, and, and things
her limited vocabulary had no words for that the terrain
she was passing through really didn't register in Ranma's
mind. That a martial artist didn't take constant
surveillance of their surroundings was a measure of just
how obsessed she was. What was most new and threatening
wasn't OUT there.
Nabiki commented, "I didn't realize the inner you was so
modest."
Ranma heard that, but didn't know what brought that on.
Another breeze tried to blow her skirt up, but pressing the
bags even harder on the sides of her right and left legs
kept most of it down. {From the reactions I'm gettin' from
it, I think this body doesn't likes wearin' dresses almost
as much as I do.}
Splash!
A wet Ranma cried, "What!!?!" {Ain't I cold enough!!}
The old lady in an orange kimono who'd done it to her kept
on sprinkling her libation as if she wasn't aware of what
she'd done.
Nabiki said, "The infamous 'Ladle Lady'."
Ranma yelled, "Who is she!?! If she can't see me, she can
at least hear me, can't she!?!!" She was facing more the
old woman than Nabiki.
Nabiki again put her hands on her sister's shoulders again,
and pushed her on, "Not when she's like this. She's 'in
touched with the gods', 'on another plane'. I've heard
she's done some strange things because 'they directed her
to'. Most of them have to do with water."
Ranma asked, "Water? Why water?"
Nabiki said, "The Shinto water god is her personal patron
god. Come on, let's get a towel from Dr. Tofu."
Ranma tried to catch a stray thought. {Isn't there
something about Suijin and women...}
***
Ranma's pace, for some reason, became more brisk as they
approached the doctor's clinic. She didn't have to be
shoved along, or inside. {She would, if this was my idea. I
hate doctors!} "I thought you said we were going to be
late?"
Nabiki said, "We are. But as long as we are, we might as
well be late enough to avoid the Big Scene."
Ranma asked, "'Big Scene'?"
A man's strong and kindly voice said, "Akane! Nabiki! This
is a pleasant surprise." He wore a black martial arts' gi.
Ranma said, {I want to yell!!}, "You're, you're the one who
pulled the sneak attack on me yesterday." {He didn't even
give me a chance to use whatever martial skills I have
left! -Why couldn't this body give me decent show of
righteous indignation!!?!}
The brown-brunette said, "I merely applied a Vulcan nerve
pinch."
Nabiki was not amused, "Doctor, please! No jokes. Akane's
in no condition to appreciate them."
Dr. Tofu leaned forward, moving his Western-style glasses
as he studied Akane; "How is our patient, today? I trust
the turtle-over-snake technique I applied has her at least
acting like her old self."
Ranma felt her heat rising, "You're, you're the one
responsible for this... this... -Too! I have to be act like
a girl because of you!!" Her heart started beating faster.
Dr. Tofu said, "Curious reaction."
Nabiki just rolled her eyes up. "She's more of a tomboy
than we thought."
The good doctor said, "I don't know about that. Akane's
body appears to be flushed. Her pupils are dilated. And her
breathing rate has increased."
Ranma could hear the blood pumping in her ears.
Nabiki defended her sister's (and thereby her family's, and
thereby her own) reputation, "Surely you're not one of
those who believes just because we all know she acts like a
boy she doesn't like boys."
The educated man said, "Of course not."
Her feverish skin becoming moist, Ranma struggled to tell
them-HIM!- "Well... I... don't. I, don't, like, boys." The
signals in her crotch were arguing something else. {What a
time to find I have a piece of my manhood left! Stupid:
You're barking up the wrong tree, here!!}
Nabiki said, sarcastically, "That's obvious." If it were
anybody but the trusted, and observant, family doctor,
Nabiki would've been more embarrassed for them both. To
Tofu, she said, "We came in here to dry her off. May we
borrow a towel and leave before she starts to, 'drool'?"
Tofu said, "Uh, yes. We can't let her appear at school, uh,
wet."
Under her uniform's jacket, {Stupid, irritatin', too big,
copycat nipples!} Ranma discovered yet something else
boobs did to bug her.
As the handsome man turned to fetch one, Nabiki asked, "You
wouldn't have a secret technique to.... Never mind! I guess
it's really something a guy wouldn't be interested in
knowing."
***
Bookbags in hand, Ranma was still a little unsteady in her
white ankle socks and deck shoes as they hurried off to
school. The skirt flagging behind her, the bra only
limiting the range of the bounces, she had something worse
on her mind, "It feels like I'm wearing a diaper."
Nearly beside her, Nabiki said, "Of course they do! We need
something to keep you from embarrassing everybody! For a
moment there, I thought you might flow like any girl in a
hentai manga."
Ranma told her, "I'm not a pervert!" {I just feel like one!
The wrong kind, too: Gettin' bothered over a guy! If it'd
let me, I'd puke.}
Nabiki said, "Let's hope not! Your conscious is not really
in control of the brakes right now. Just make sure you see
me in the third floor girls room after your first period
(an unfortunate homonym)."
Ranma challenged her, "Why!!?!" She had been starting to
feel her own-self coming out. {And I don't mean the stupid,
weak-kneed girl's! A real girl wouldn't be this pissed!!}
Nabiki told her why, "To make sure you get a new pad! We
don't want your scent attracting the animals. You already
have enough boys after you when you DON'T give them any
encouragement!"
Ranma told her, "Just let any boy get near me, and I'll
give them encouragement!!" And as a demonstration of her
meaning, she raised one of the bags, her small hand a fist
around its handle.
Nabiki almost smiled. "That's the attitude! It would've
been too strange to think underneath it all you were really
boy-crazy."
Despite and because of all of the novel sensations, Ranma
burned off some of her fury by speeding up, "I'm not! I
hate boys!" She started developing a double-handed martial
arts bookbag technique: "Hate boys! Hate boys! I really,
really hate BOYS!!" {Damn unmanly nipples!!}
***
After a winding jog with four intersections, they came to
an extra long block. At its end were the walls of a large
compound. The wide entrance with its out-of-sight gate up
ahead suggested that it was meant to be a public place.
Looking over the wall, Ranma saw the clock tower so common
to Japanese schools. It read '8:35'.
Matching her, now, Nabiki said, "At least we're not as late
as we could've been. At least we should be able to get you
to class without the Big Scene."
{There, she said it again.} "WHAT Big Scene?"
They had just turned into the gate, when: "Fairest, most
worthy Akane..."
Nabiki slowed to a halt, groaning, "Unless, that is, we run
into Kuno-Baby."
She glared at 'Shooting Star', the president of the
Furinkan High kendo club as he held his wooden bokken sword
out towards them. "...the only girl to truly challenge this
samurai's heart, I have composed an ode to thee. 'There
once was a girl from Nerima, who liked to'-"
Nabiki yelled, "Kuno!! Stop it right now: Stop ALL of it!!
Because of you, Akane's not herself!! You got a strike on
her, and now, and now-" Nabiki became choked up. 'No!
Mustn't let anybody see me like this! I don't let things
get to me! I'm the Ice Queen!'
She turned to Akane behind her, "Well, just don't stand
there-Cream the creep!!"
{I think that's what this body wants to do,} Ranma growled
in disgust. After dropping the bookbags, the girl's body
had become frozen, unable to take its eyes off of the
stupid jerk wearing a kendo-uniform at school during school
hours. {Okay: So girls might find him tall and handsome
with a good physique-but he was nothing to soak the bandage
that doctor gave me to put in the panties, is he!!?!}
Nabiki cried, "Akane!? What's your problem?!! Where's your
programmed response!?! Kuno's the bell, and you're Pavlov's
dog: Sic 'em!!"
Kuno lowered his bokken. "Then it is true. At long last I
have won my prize. I do not know whether I should be
exultant in my hard fought victory, so earnestly..."
Nabiki yelled, "Akane!! Don't tell me-Tell EVERYBODY-you
really do have feelings for the jerk!?!"
{DOES this stupid Akane-girl have feelings for this first
(samurai, upper-) class creep!?!} Ranma just didn't know!
She did not know how to interpret the sensations the body
was giving her. They were certainly different from the one
it felt when she was at the clinic. {I've never been good
at knowin' with my own feelings, let ALONE a girl's!!}
The six-foot-tall boy hadn't broken from his speech, "...or
lament the loss of a will that was as a whetstone to the
sword of my..."
Nabiki cried, "Akane!! Don't let him finish his speech!!"
Suddenly the rumbling that had been building reached the
level on the Richter scale that it could no long be
ignored. It might have been thought an earthquake if it
weren't accompanied by a growing din of voices.
Teenage boys' voices!
The main doors of the broke open at their hinges as a surge
of high-schoolers in sports uniforms, boxing-shorts, sumo
loin clothes, fencing protectors, leotards, or martial
arts-gi/uniforms came rushing out! And they all gave voice
to one name: "Akane!"
"Akane! Don't waste yourself on him!"
"I love you, Akane!"
"If you're open, let ME be your match!"
"Meet me, Akane!"
"Akane, sugar, honey, stick with me!"
"Try your indiscriminate grappling with me!"
"Let me serenade you with my El Kabong!"
"You're too much of a woman for one man!"
"You're our idol, Akane!!"
"We love you!!"
"...Nay! The fruits of love triumphant should not just be
savored, but enjoyed! I come to you, Ak-" Kuno's speech was
cut short when he was trampled by the horde.
And still Akane was like a deer caught in the headlights-Of
a bullet train!! Nabiki shouted with all her might:
"WILD STALLION!!"
"RANMA!!" Ranma answered, leaping into the middle of the
assault of boys. {I'm outa the spell!!} She punched,
deflected, dragon-clawed, and ducked. {Yes!! I'm back to
actin' like myself!} She chopped, evaded, jabbed, and
rolled away from a lucky hit. {I'm doin' what I'm best at:
Martial arts!!} She elbowed, kneed, and even back-kicked!
{This is who I am!!} "RANMA means THE WILD STALLION!!"
The End
By Ron Dow75
2: In a Lather
Kasumi in the same pink skirt and yellow blouse but fresh
white frilly apron and matching hair bow from yesterday
called from the bottom of the stairs, "Akane!! Akane, are
you ready?!!" She hesitated about going upstairs and
checking on her poor baby-sister. "It's time for
breakfast!"
Nabiki was already dressed in her slip, blue jumper with
the bow in the back and short puffy sleeve white blouse
school uniform. "She missed her usual morning jog. It makes
me wonder just how effective this puppet-thing of Dr. Tofu
is."
Kasumi tried to reassure herself, "The doctor said sleep
was the best thing for her at that point."
Nabiki commented, "Just before he fell down the stairs."
Why he did things like that was something nobody ever
talked about with Kasumi.
Kasumi asked, "Didn't you say he gave her something to make
her sleep through the night?"
Nabiki tried not to shudder. "Acupuncture." Everybody had a
weak point; needles were hers.
Kasumi smiled, "That's good. I hear sleeping pills can be
addicting. I'm sure acupuncture isn't."
Nabiki commented, "I should hope so."
Kasumi turned to look back up the stairs. "I should go and
check on her."
Nabiki checked her watch, "Give her five more minutes. If
she isn't down, she just isn't going to be keeping to her
usual behavior patterns."
Kasumi headed up the stairs anyway. She paused to ask,
"What was that word, again?"
Nabiki, thinking her big-sister wanted to believe in a
magic word to go with the Tofu's magic spell, said, "'Wild
Stallion'."
Kasumi nodded, but said, "Shouldn't it be 'Wild Mare'?
Akane is, after all, a female."
Nabiki's business voice came out, "'Wild Stallion' has more
punch, as they say in advertising, and that makes it more
effective as a trigger." Then her tone changed, "Besides,
she's not the type to be part of a herd; she creates herds.
A stallion more suits her."
Kasumi said, "All the more reason for it to be 'mare'.
You're right, though, about her being not as feminine as
she could be. Do you think we can get the doctor to do
something about that, too?"
Nabiki shook her head, "Tofu said for her to get her
memories back, she has to be surrounded by familiar people,
and places, doing familiar things. And doing them in the
same way as she did them before."
Kasumi sighed, "And that means acting like, forgive me,
Akane, a tomboy."
Nabiki checked her watch, again, "And it means going to
school like she usually does. If she doesn't come down, and
have her breakfast..."
Kasumi beamed up at the top of the stairs at the ponytailed
"Akane! You dressed yourself." Dr. Tofu said amnesia could
reduce a person to the level of a two-year-old.
"Not exactly." Feeling stupid and like a pervert, a
frowning Ranma wondered how far they could see under the
blue dress she had on from down there. {Don't think about
it; don't sweat it; it's not my body. I'm not really a
girl, so this ain't really my body they're looking at...}
Nabiki said, "You made it under the wire, Akane."
Ranma saw that the shorthaired teen was in the same dress
outfit as she was in. {A school uniform. That means -Ugh!-
school. And school is, is-out in public.}
Nabiki continued, "I don't have all that much faith in this
hoodoo treatment, but if it saves us from more expensive
ones, I'm glad to see it doing its magic."
Kasumi chided, "Nabiki!"
Nabiki answered, "Look, I want Akane back to as normal as
she gets, too. But I think that means we need to think of
back-up options: In case this one doesn't work! That's the
bottom line, here."
Kasumi got misty-eyed, "Thank you, Nabiki."
Before things got saccharin, Nabiki told Akane, "Come on,
and eat breakfast, so I can walk you to school!"
Ranma asked, "School!?!" She had hoped the body had dressed
her this way because it didn't know she was too 'sick' to
go. "Walk me?!" the chances of her escape lessened again.
Nabiki told her, "Yes. I've been elected your baby-sitter
until I can get you home."
Everything moved when Ranma went down the Japanese-style
narrow, steep stairs. But she didn't jiggle as much as she
was afraid she would. It seemed to her as if the body knew
how to minimize most of the unnecessary squirming of the
only firm layer of fat (Gross!} she had under her skin.
Kasumi put her hands together, "She moves almost normally."
Nabiki said, "What were you expecting? She's not a zombie."
Kasumi answered, "Or a clockwork doll," backing down the
stairs to allow her baby-sister to come down.
***
The only action that she felt was her own, so far, was the
tying up of the stupidly long hair in a ponytail in back
and out of the way. {It probably looks like the older
sister's. But at least there's no bow!}
The frown locked on an unhandsome face, Ranma found herself
sitting girl-style, not boy-style on the tatami floor. Her
knees were together, and her heels were under her thighs.
When it was time to get up, she was sure she would rise the
same way she lowered herself, with the balls of her feet,
her toes gripping. Very Japanese, she'd found in her
travels.
And it didn't let her forget that she had hips, thighs and
a butt, in that order. {And a tiny waist to accent it all.}
Her stomach growled. {Girls do that?} she thought naively.
The girl's father was sitting across from her. He was famed
by a view of the garden. {Don't they ever close that garden
door! It's mocking me: "Escape is so close, so far..."}
"Er, uh, so, Akane, how are you feeling, today?"
Ranma said, moodily, "I don't want to talk about it." {I
wish I could stop thinking as easy. I don't want to listen
to the sound of her voice at all.}
Nabiki sat at one end of the table, studying her more
blatantly, "That's not like the Akane we know. She's let's
everybody know how she feels."
(Mr. Tendo muttered, "I really didn't mean that kind of
feeling.)
A kneeling, still smiling Kasumi set one of the bowls of
misao soup in front of their father; "It would help you
feel better. A girl has to express herself."
Nabiki raised an eyebrow towards Kasumi but let it go. This
was Akane's time.
Ranma snorted, "By expressing herself, you mean girls just
naturally have to talk." He couldn't miss that on his
travels. {Look at that, even their dad is nodding.}
Kasumi ladled soup into another bowl for Nabiki, who told
her stubborn baby-sister, "Look, Akane, you have amnesia.
Just sulking and not talking is not going to jar any
memories loose."
Ranma glanced at her, then down {A bust.} at the place the
next bowl would go. Sulking, "You don't want to hear about
what I remember."
Judging by Akane's tone, Nabiki said, "I had a good reason
to do whatever it is you remember I did to you."
Kasumi reminded, "Nabiki, everybody has their own
perspective. I think it's encouraging she has any memories
of you, no matter inconsiderate you are in them." She
ladled Akane's bowl.
Nabiki said, "Oh? And what kind of memory fragments does
she have of you? You're not ALWAYS happy and cheerful, you
know."
Rising Japanese-style, Kasumi brought the breakfast soup
over to Akane; "I always try to be: Show your own family
the friendly demeanor you show to the public. It's a way to
show respect to others, something that all who value the
traditional Japanese ways should do."
The soup was placed in front of Akane. She glanced at it,
then the Nabiki chick, "Does she always talk like that?"
Nabiki said, "No. I think she's trying to give you advice
on how you should behave today." And she gave a clearly
fake smile, "Japanese are famous for smiling even when they
don't want to. It comes from generations of samurai slicing
off the heads of whoever displeased them."
Peasant warrior Ranma well knew about that. But looking
back at Kasumi, she had to ask, "Are you sure that's fake?"
***
They let Ranma use her lips for eating. Instead of doing
his Thief-About-to-Run eating technique {Stupid Pop!
Where'd he get the idea to name it that, anyway?}, she ate
in a more civilized, and at a much more maddeningly slow,
pace. If it weren't for the fact that the other sisters did
a more lady-like job of it, Ranma would've called it eatin'
dainty. {Even the dad does a better job at it. This girl
must not be much of a girl. I guess I should be glad. What
if I'da ended up in the example of the perfect Japanese
hausfrau, Kasumi?} That sent a shudder through her. {And
I'd all the time hafta smile about it!}
She stole glances at the other one, Nabiki. {What if it'd
been her? What kinda girl is she? She don't look like she
smiles much. It sounds like she keeps testin' the
boundaries of her situation. Does that include wearin' more
sensible underwear than this girl!? -Man, this bra and
panties are gettin' to me!}
Ranma hadn't finished, when Kasumi started clearing the
table, "It's time to go, you two."
Ranma said, "Do I have to?" even as she rose female
Japanese-style, and the skirt feeling more like a skirt.
Mr. Tendo suggested, "Perhaps we should allow her time to-"
Nabiki took her baby-sister by the shoulders and directed
her towards the door to the inner hall, "Doctor's orders.
As soon as Akane gets into her normal routine, the sooner
her Akane act won't be an act, however wonderful that
thought is."
Ranma agreed, "That's a wonderful thought."
The body, too, was reluctant to go to school, so Nabiki had
to push her along.
After putting on their blue uniform jackets, Nabiki made
Akane carry their leather bookbags. Ranma asked the taller
girl, "Am I suppose to do this everyday?"
Nabiki toyed with the idea of saying yes. She sighed as she
gave it up. "You're carrying it, so my hands are free to
use on you, if you give me the first sign of trouble."
{So that's what having a big sister is like. Welcome to the
bottom of the peckin' order, Ranma.}
At least she slid the door open for her.
Then she shoved her out into the world.
A cold day in March world! {How can girls stand wearin'
dresses!!} Ranma screamed in shock inside, as she felt the
stiff, damp breeze reaching up towards her panties.
At the slightest lifting of the slip and skirt, the body
brought both bags down to keep it in place.
Nabiki had to slow down, "Well, come on. Take those bags
away, and let's hustle! You know what happens when you're
late to school."
{Is it any worse than this wind?} Ranma fumed. If it was a
man she was suppose to be worried about, at least then it
would be somebody she could do something about. Using
Ranma's martial arts skills, she might even get to get rid
of some of this incredible frustration she was feeling. {If
I had my freewill back, that is!}
With the big sister keeping within striking distance, Ranma
was marched through the tidy court to the high, but open
fortress-like gates. She was so intent feeling chilly, and
jiggly, and girly, and stupid, and trapped, and, and things
her limited vocabulary had no words for that the terrain
she was passing through really didn't register in Ranma's
mind. That a martial artist didn't take constant
surveillance of their surroundings was a measure of just
how obsessed she was. What was most new and threatening
wasn't OUT there.
Nabiki commented, "I didn't realize the inner you was so
modest."
Ranma heard that, but didn't know what brought that on.
Another breeze tried to blow her skirt up, but pressing the
bags even harder on the sides of her right and left legs
kept most of it down. {From the reactions I'm gettin' from
it, I think this body doesn't likes wearin' dresses almost
as much as I do.}
Splash!
A wet Ranma cried, "What!!?!" {Ain't I cold enough!!}
The old lady in an orange kimono who'd done it to her kept
on sprinkling her libation as if she wasn't aware of what
she'd done.
Nabiki said, "The infamous 'Ladle Lady'."
Ranma yelled, "Who is she!?! If she can't see me, she can
at least hear me, can't she!?!!" She was facing more the
old woman than Nabiki.
Nabiki again put her hands on her sister's shoulders again,
and pushed her on, "Not when she's like this. She's 'in
touched with the gods', 'on another plane'. I've heard
she's done some strange things because 'they directed her
to'. Most of them have to do with water."
Ranma asked, "Water? Why water?"
Nabiki said, "The Shinto water god is her personal patron
god. Come on, let's get a towel from Dr. Tofu."
Ranma tried to catch a stray thought. {Isn't there
something about Suijin and women...}
***
Ranma's pace, for some reason, became more brisk as they
approached the doctor's clinic. She didn't have to be
shoved along, or inside. {She would, if this was my idea. I
hate doctors!} "I thought you said we were going to be
late?"
Nabiki said, "We are. But as long as we are, we might as
well be late enough to avoid the Big Scene."
Ranma asked, "'Big Scene'?"
A man's strong and kindly voice said, "Akane! Nabiki! This
is a pleasant surprise." He wore a black martial arts' gi.
Ranma said, {I want to yell!!}, "You're, you're the one who
pulled the sneak attack on me yesterday." {He didn't even
give me a chance to use whatever martial skills I have
left! -Why couldn't this body give me decent show of
righteous indignation!!?!}
The brown-brunette said, "I merely applied a Vulcan nerve
pinch."
Nabiki was not amused, "Doctor, please! No jokes. Akane's
in no condition to appreciate them."
Dr. Tofu leaned forward, moving his Western-style glasses
as he studied Akane; "How is our patient, today? I trust
the turtle-over-snake technique I applied has her at least
acting like her old self."
Ranma felt her heat rising, "You're, you're the one
responsible for this... this... -Too! I have to be act like
a girl because of you!!" Her heart started beating faster.
Dr. Tofu said, "Curious reaction."
Nabiki just rolled her eyes up. "She's more of a tomboy
than we thought."
The good doctor said, "I don't know about that. Akane's
body appears to be flushed. Her pupils are dilated. And her
breathing rate has increased."
Ranma could hear the blood pumping in her ears.
Nabiki defended her sister's (and thereby her family's, and
thereby her own) reputation, "Surely you're not one of
those who believes just because we all know she acts like a
boy she doesn't like boys."
The educated man said, "Of course not."
Her feverish skin becoming moist, Ranma struggled to tell
them-HIM!- "Well... I... don't. I, don't, like, boys." The
signals in her crotch were arguing something else. {What a
time to find I have a piece of my manhood left! Stupid:
You're barking up the wrong tree, here!!}
Nabiki said, sarcastically, "That's obvious." If it were
anybody but the trusted, and observant, family doctor,
Nabiki would've been more embarrassed for them both. To
Tofu, she said, "We came in here to dry her off. May we
borrow a towel and leave before she starts to, 'drool'?"
Tofu said, "Uh, yes. We can't let her appear at school, uh,
wet."
Under her uniform's jacket, {Stupid, irritatin', too big,
copycat nipples!} Ranma discovered yet something else
boobs did to bug her.
As the handsome man turned to fetch one, Nabiki asked, "You
wouldn't have a secret technique to.... Never mind! I guess
it's really something a guy wouldn't be interested in
knowing."
***
Bookbags in hand, Ranma was still a little unsteady in her
white ankle socks and deck shoes as they hurried off to
school. The skirt flagging behind her, the bra only
limiting the range of the bounces, she had something worse
on her mind, "It feels like I'm wearing a diaper."
Nearly beside her, Nabiki said, "Of course they do! We need
something to keep you from embarrassing everybody! For a
moment there, I thought you might flow like any girl in a
hentai manga."
Ranma told her, "I'm not a pervert!" {I just feel like one!
The wrong kind, too: Gettin' bothered over a guy! If it'd
let me, I'd puke.}
Nabiki said, "Let's hope not! Your conscious is not really
in control of the brakes right now. Just make sure you see
me in the third floor girls room after your first period
(an unfortunate homonym)."
Ranma challenged her, "Why!!?!" She had been starting to
feel her own-self coming out. {And I don't mean the stupid,
weak-kneed girl's! A real girl wouldn't be this pissed!!}
Nabiki told her why, "To make sure you get a new pad! We
don't want your scent attracting the animals. You already
have enough boys after you when you DON'T give them any
encouragement!"
Ranma told her, "Just let any boy get near me, and I'll
give them encouragement!!" And as a demonstration of her
meaning, she raised one of the bags, her small hand a fist
around its handle.
Nabiki almost smiled. "That's the attitude! It would've
been too strange to think underneath it all you were really
boy-crazy."
Despite and because of all of the novel sensations, Ranma
burned off some of her fury by speeding up, "I'm not! I
hate boys!" She started developing a double-handed martial
arts bookbag technique: "Hate boys! Hate boys! I really,
really hate BOYS!!" {Damn unmanly nipples!!}
***
After a winding jog with four intersections, they came to
an extra long block. At its end were the walls of a large
compound. The wide entrance with its out-of-sight gate up
ahead suggested that it was meant to be a public place.
Looking over the wall, Ranma saw the clock tower so common
to Japanese schools. It read '8:35'.
Matching her, now, Nabiki said, "At least we're not as late
as we could've been. At least we should be able to get you
to class without the Big Scene."
{There, she said it again.} "WHAT Big Scene?"
They had just turned into the gate, when: "Fairest, most
worthy Akane..."
Nabiki slowed to a halt, groaning, "Unless, that is, we run
into Kuno-Baby."
She glared at 'Shooting Star', the president of the
Furinkan High kendo club as he held his wooden bokken sword
out towards them. "...the only girl to truly challenge this
samurai's heart, I have composed an ode to thee. 'There
once was a girl from Nerima, who liked to'-"
Nabiki yelled, "Kuno!! Stop it right now: Stop ALL of it!!
Because of you, Akane's not herself!! You got a strike on
her, and now, and now-" Nabiki became choked up. 'No!
Mustn't let anybody see me like this! I don't let things
get to me! I'm the Ice Queen!'
She turned to Akane behind her, "Well, just don't stand
there-Cream the creep!!"
{I think that's what this body wants to do,} Ranma growled
in disgust. After dropping the bookbags, the girl's body
had become frozen, unable to take its eyes off of the
stupid jerk wearing a kendo-uniform at school during school
hours. {Okay: So girls might find him tall and handsome
with a good physique-but he was nothing to soak the bandage
that doctor gave me to put in the panties, is he!!?!}
Nabiki cried, "Akane!? What's your problem?!! Where's your
programmed response!?! Kuno's the bell, and you're Pavlov's
dog: Sic 'em!!"
Kuno lowered his bokken. "Then it is true. At long last I
have won my prize. I do not know whether I should be
exultant in my hard fought victory, so earnestly..."
Nabiki yelled, "Akane!! Don't tell me-Tell EVERYBODY-you
really do have feelings for the jerk!?!"
{DOES this stupid Akane-girl have feelings for this first
(samurai, upper-) class creep!?!} Ranma just didn't know!
She did not know how to interpret the sensations the body
was giving her. They were certainly different from the one
it felt when she was at the clinic. {I've never been good
at knowin' with my own feelings, let ALONE a girl's!!}
The six-foot-tall boy hadn't broken from his speech, "...or
lament the loss of a will that was as a whetstone to the
sword of my..."
Nabiki cried, "Akane!! Don't let him finish his speech!!"
Suddenly the rumbling that had been building reached the
level on the Richter scale that it could no long be
ignored. It might have been thought an earthquake if it
weren't accompanied by a growing din of voices.
Teenage boys' voices!
The main doors of the broke open at their hinges as a surge
of high-schoolers in sports uniforms, boxing-shorts, sumo
loin clothes, fencing protectors, leotards, or martial
arts-gi/uniforms came rushing out! And they all gave voice
to one name: "Akane!"
"Akane! Don't waste yourself on him!"
"I love you, Akane!"
"If you're open, let ME be your match!"
"Meet me, Akane!"
"Akane, sugar, honey, stick with me!"
"Try your indiscriminate grappling with me!"
"Let me serenade you with my El Kabong!"
"You're too much of a woman for one man!"
"You're our idol, Akane!!"
"We love you!!"
"...Nay! The fruits of love triumphant should not just be
savored, but enjoyed! I come to you, Ak-" Kuno's speech was
cut short when he was trampled by the horde.
And still Akane was like a deer caught in the headlights-Of
a bullet train!! Nabiki shouted with all her might:
"WILD STALLION!!"
"RANMA!!" Ranma answered, leaping into the middle of the
assault of boys. {I'm outa the spell!!} She punched,
deflected, dragon-clawed, and ducked. {Yes!! I'm back to
actin' like myself!} She chopped, evaded, jabbed, and
rolled away from a lucky hit. {I'm doin' what I'm best at:
Martial arts!!} She elbowed, kneed, and even back-kicked!
{This is who I am!!} "RANMA means THE WILD STALLION!!"
The End