The Matchmaker, Chapter 2, Revision 4.5
I gradually leaned back in the passenger seat of Futana's car and stared at the streetlights passing above the windshield. Was this all real? It seemed like something that could not be happening.
But here I was, a sixteen year old girl, and there Futana was, a twenty-one year old guy. Things were so backwards. I leaned towards Futana and looked at him. "So how do you deal with it?"
He was concentrating heavily on driving but gave me a glance. "Do what, sis?"
"How do you cope? How do you keep it from changing you?"
Futana pulled the car over and unbuckled. "Get out." I sat there, bemused, until finally Futana banged gently on my window. "Get out, sis. Now. I have to show you something."
I unbuckled and opened my door, which turned out to be facing an alleyway. Before I could begin to wonder what was there, Futana had me out of the car and against the wall. "You want to know how I cope, baby sister? You want to know how I get through the day!? This is how!" He furiously pulled off his jacket and unbuttoned his shirt. "You know. I used to genuinely like boys. I used to think about them nonstop, day and night. Then I turned thirteen, and BAM! Suddenly, when other girls were having their first periods I was turning into a boy once or twice a day! I was completely unable to look at a guy without turning into one myself. If there were any justice in this world I would have breasts and a boyfriend right now, but instead I have a dick and thirty girlfriends."
On a whim, I leaned onto my 'sister' and gave 'him' a hug, my emotions getting the better of me.
Futana's voice, low and comforting, came to me. "There are advantages, at least. We're far stronger than most normal people will ever get to be and more agile as well. Many of our ancestors have been some of the greatest martial artists, and a few of the greatest drag queens, of all time."
I tightened my hug around Futana until, finally, things began to feel distinctly odd. Annoyed at his breaking of the moment, I immediately brought my foot down, hard, on his toes.
"What?" He sounded so indignant for someone who had just got caught feeling his little sister up. "I was getting bored and depressed! I just needed something to cheer me up!"
"Feh." I shrugged noncommittally and got into the car, ignoring Futana entirely until he returned to the driver's seat and we began moving towards the Department Store once again.
***
I could hardly believe my eyes as we approached the Women's section of the large department store that Futana had chosen. They had more bras and panties than the Men's section had articles of clothing in general. A few clerks chuckled knowingly as Futana grabbed a few of the more colorful pairs and led me to a dressing room. It genuinely surprised me when Futana stopped in front of the last dressing room in the row, handed me a pair, and then motioned me into the little cubicle.
"What!? You don't expect me to wear them, do you?" He grinned and pulled the door to the dressing room shut as I slowly disrobed and tried to put the bra on.
"Er... Futana"
The smile in his voice was evident. "Yes, Sister dear?"
"How do I put this on?"
Futana opened the door after a short pause, got in behind me, now in female form, and closed the door.
"Okay, Futaba-chan," she said, putting her hands on top of mine, "first you want to make sure both of your breasts are in the cups," she demonstrated with my hands while looking over my shoulder. "Next, you want to make sure that the shoulder straps are snug." This was odd... something was wrong.
"Eh, Futana?"
"Yea, baby?" Futana slid her hand down my front, from whence I promptly removed it which as much force as possible.
"Don't call me that!" Of all the times... "Do you smell something burning?"
"Of course not, Futaba. Why would there be something...? Oh wait, I do smell that!"
As if on cue, the fire alarms went off.
Futana panicked. "Geez! Futaba-chan, let's get outta here!"
It was my turn to panic. "But what about my-"
"Worry about your clothes later! This just makes it more fun!" He hoisted me up on his shoulder kicked the dressing-room door open, and began to run towards the exit.
I turned halfway around to see a large metal box going on a collision course with my head.
***
When I came to I was freezing cold and heard the sound of a grown man in tears.
"That's it. We're never going shopping again! First Akane causes an explosion while testing a microwave oven," I sat up to see a mustachioed man yelling at three girls, who were all sitting down and looking forlorn. "Then Nabiki refuses to leave until she can get a deal on a new air-conditioner for the house, putting herself and the store's clerk in danger," The girl to Akane's left seemed to be chagrined, until I realized that her attention was not on the man, but on the head-sized dent in the metal box that sat at her feet. "And then Kasumi distracts Ranma as he's carrying said air-conditioner outside and he manages to knock Kahoru Iroka's daughter unconscious!"
I almost passed out again from the sheer ridiculousness of it. Why would Kahoru Iroka's daughter be here, anyway?
A hand tapped me on the shoulder and then placed a bathrobe over my mostly-bare body. "Are you awake, honey?" a velvety voice purred.
I nodded, not daring to turn around for fear that it was just Futana trying to mess with me. The hand quickly withdrew and the voice rose. "Good evening everybody! Now wasn't that a scare?"
A few nervous chuckles came from the crowds of people that had gathered.
"We're all just lucky the fire department made it on time now, aren't we? Let's all thank our firefighters" During the short round of applause that followed, I finally managed to get up to see who was putting on such a show. It was the most beautiful woman that I'd ever seen; She also looked strikingly familiar, for some reason.
Futana walked up to the woman and smiled cheerily in boy form. "Hi, Mom! The Tendos seem okay but they're still awful sorry about hitting Futaba over the head with that air-conditioner."
"Um... Futana?" I tugged on my older brother's shirtsleeve.
The woman hushed the two of us and then stepped up to a makeshift pedestal that must have been erected for that purpose.
"Hello again, everybody. For those of you who don't know me I'm Kahoru Iroka," she flashed a grin as all of the audience gasped in awe, "You can check out my new movie, Action Babe 6, playing at the Nerima Cinema right now." A few people left the crowd in search of the theater as the woman flashed a bit of leg. "Anyway. I'd like to introduce to you two people who are very special to me: my son Futana-kun, and my daughter, Futaba-chan." I could hardly believe my ears, and was quite ready to run away, but Futana caught my arm and gave me a glance that said I would not want to miss this. "It's my fondest hope that you'll be seeing as much of them as you do of me, minus those dirty pictures in the tabloids. I'd also like to thank the Tendos for being so helpful." there was a slight applause and a surprised look from the mustachioed man. "And we'll see you all later."
Kahoru Iroka bowed and led Futana and me into a trailer that was waiting near the firetrucks.
The minute we were in the trailer, she held her breath for a moment, and then distinctly changed in figure, becoming my father. "Well, that could have come at a better time, now, couldn't it?" I looked at the clock on the wall and noticed that it had been about three hours since Futana and I left for the store. Dad picked a laptop off of a desk in the rear end of the trailer. "You have fan mail, Futaba-chan."
"Eh?" I was still a bit dazed, to say the least.
"Get with the program, Futaba," Futana leaned over my shoulder as I looked at the `Futaba' folder of the `Kahoru Iroka' inbox, which contained three-hundred and fifty messages." You just got picked up on national news in front of a burning building in nothing but panties and a bra! A star is born!" I was saved by a knock on the trailer door.
It was Ranma, in girl form. "Hi, Futaba. The Tendos were wondering if, since they gave you a concussion and all, you'd like to go over to their place and...." Ranma suddenly paused and looked around. "Hey! Where'd your mom go?"
"She already left," I said quickly, "Can I go to dinner at Ranma's, Dad?" I began to run out of the trailer door before waiting for an answer.
"Er, Futaba?" Futana grabbed my shoulder. "Aren't you forgetting something?"
"What, Futana?"
She pointed to my clothing, which was not much.
***
A pair of white jeans and a black T-shirt later I was walking on a sidewalk as Ranma, now male, walked along a fence above me.
"How do you do that?"
I marveled at his perfect balance as he hopped off the fence and landed smoothly on one foot, smiling mischievously at me. "Want me to show you?"
Before I could protest I was lifted up by the waist and placed gently on top of the fence.
"Now walk forward." Ranma's voice in my ear was smooth and encouraging as I put one foot in front of the other, teetering dangerously in between falling on hard cement that lay to my left and getting dunked in the aqueduct that loomed to my right. Ranma's hands felt like the only thing keeping me aloft, then he let go, and I was free.
"Now run!" He laughed joyously as I began to sprint along the fence, falling almost immediately on the side of the fence.
I winced as the concrete came speedily closer to my head, promising unconsciousness, or worse, but marvelled to find that the surface that caught me was not the rock-hard ground, but a pair of strong, gentle arms.
"Perhaps you should practice for a while, first." Ranma smiled at me and placed me on my feet.
***
We arrived at the Tendo Dojo early, and Ranma immediately ushered me to their rather luxurious furo.
"You're sweating like crazy, Futaba-chan," he said as he handed me a towel rather forcefully. "I'm sure you'll have an easier time when you get practice, but for now you could do with a hot soak."
With little more protesting I pushed Ranma out of the bathroom, disrobed, gave myself a quick scrub-down, and sank into the bath with a sigh of relief. I hadn't had such a chance to relax since this entire mess started!
pop!
It didn't take me long to find out what had happened. I had changed back. At a loss for what to do, I tried to think of something, anything exciting, and only managed to make myself blush.
I muttered a silent expletive and wrapped a towel about my waist, not want to appear uncovered.
Having no other alternative, I called out for Ranma.
As I heard his approach, I opened the furo door and took a step forward so see Ranma-chan standing right in front of me, completely nude.
At first I saw confusion in her eyes, rightfully enough, but then, as I got a good look at her my own transformation set in, and he stood in front of a half-nude Futaba-chan.
"I see." If the scene had not been more tense, I would have laughed at her inadvertant pun. She carefully closed the door. "Come into the dojo when you're dressed. I'll leave a pair of boxers here for you.
She seemed to be taking things rather well, so I hurriedly got dressed and rushed into the dojo to find Ranma sitting there, now male, silently looking at a wall.
"When were you planning on telling me, Futaba?" He didn't move at all, the only sign that he was not a statue was the slight movement of his mouth and the clenching of his fists.
"I'm sorry, Ranma... I-" in a flash Ranma's fist was mere inches from my nose. Barely managing to keep my cool, I fell to the floor.
"Don't make excuses. I almost trusted you. Almost. Do you enjoy messing with other peoples' minds so? Do you get high on how much you can hurt someone? It figures that you were the first girl that I was ever comfortable with. You're a guy. Naturally. Why can't one damn thing make sense here!?" Ranma slowly withdrew his still-tense fist and went back to sitting in the middle of the dojo, eyes closed.
"You can go after we eat. I'm not going to hurt you. Don't bother letting me know when you leave. Kasumi will probably have dinner ready in a few minutes."
I heaved a sigh and walked out of the dojo, slinking past Akane as she rushed past me towards Ranma.
"What the hell are you thinking, you dummy!?" The yell startled me as I walked from the dojo, having been mostly lost in my own thoughts up until that point.
Some muffled comments failed to make it to my ears.
"So what, Ranma? I heard what you two were saying! Futaba's the first person with a curse that you've met who's not trying consistently to kill or marry you and you blow her off because she doesn't tell you about it on the first day you meet her? Have you no idea what you're doing?" There was the sound of a splash of water. "Stay that way, for all I care."
"Get lost, you tomboy!" Ranma's angered voice, now feminine, shocked me in its vehemence. "I trusted her! I thought she was my friend, and yet she don't tell me nuthin! You try having that happen to you!"
"I did, Ranma." Akane's voice, now soft and pained, pierced the sound of the bustle around the house as it all died off in anticipation, waiting for Ranma's next move. "The day we met, do you remember that? You had so many chances to tell me, but no. You had to wait until I was suitably nude to appear in front of me. Do you remember that?"
There was no longer any noticeable sound in the house as Akane's angered footsteps left the vicinity of the Dojo, running past me and leaving the front gate to slam violently as she left the Tendo grounds.
I made my way over to the Koi pond and sat on the boulder that nestled near it as if for that purpose.
I heard the shuffling of Ranma getting up leaving the Dojo, barely breathing in my apprehension. Gradually she appeared in the doorway leading out from the tea room and sat down next to me.
"So... tell me how you fell in the spring." Ranma didn't look directly into my eyes, but stared at the pond that lay in front of us and clenched her fists over and over again, seeming to take solace in the wiry muscles that adorned her feminine knuckles.
"It's not like that for me, Ranma." I didn't have to fight to get the control of my voice. I didn't have to hold back tears. I just had to speak. It was so odd that I never had to think about how easy it was to speak before. "I'm not just a guy or a girl. I'm not cursed. As far as I can tell, Futaba-chan and Futaba-kun are parts of a whole of me. But they're also the same person. I am the girl you met yesterday, and I am the guy you see now. There is no cure for me because I'm naturally this way."
Ranma kept her gaze away still. "But why didn't you tell me? Of all people, I would be the most likely to understand, don'cha think?"
"Would you, Ranma? I don't change with water, but emotional excitement. I don't have the possibility of ever being with a woman! Have you ever thought about that? Have you? Did you ever think of what it would be like to utterly lose everything that society tells you makes you a man?" I drew my hand back for a slap, my vehemence overtaking me.
Finally, she looked into my eyes. "Yes. Yes I have. Please, Futaba. Complete the motion?"
"Huh?" His sudden emotion, startling me, caused me to allow my arm to drop.
"Hit me. Right in the face. I've been an idiot. A jerk. Whatever Akane wants to call it, I've been that. I didn't think I'd ever have the possibility of becoming a girl forever, but I did fear it. It just hurt me, because you were so different from the other girls-"
"I still am, to say the least." Despite myself, I let out a laugh.
Ranma smiled weakly, and then sniffed, his smile growing. "It smells like Kasumi's almost done cooking dinner. You'll want to try this."
We made our way back inside to find that Akane had already returned and that she and the Tendos already sitting at the table. They were looking at us expectantly over what could only be described as a feast.
Ranma and I sat down quietly, side-by-side, and glanced at the others around the table. Finally, Akane shrugged noncommittally and began to eat, breaking the tension.
***
After dinner Ranma and I sat out on the roof and looked at the stars, chatting idly about the excitement of the day and comparing notes on curses and the like.
I sat, wondering and asking, enjoying the temporary stability of my male form as I searched the sky for some hint of the future.
"I guess I've been having my own identity crisis, since I got this curse." Ranma, to my right, flexed his hands and looked at them, seeming to find something truly interesting about them. "When I came to the top of that pool, it was as if I was dying, when I guess I was sorta being born. It changed everything."
"At least you had some warning. One minute I was a guy, and the next I was a girl. No springs, no training. Just poof. I look at some pictures, I pass out, and I wake up female."
The pause as the light that came From Akane's window and illuminated the Tendo yard died down, leaving only the stars to pierce the darkness
After a while Ranma spoke. "So... what does it feel like?"
I leaned onto my side and looked at him. "Honestly, I have no idea. For a while I was sure I was female. That was the night I met you. But whenever I'm calm and in guy form I'm sure of being a guy. I don't quite know all of the provisoes of this form-changing yet, but I'm certain that I will have to do some major sorting of my identity."
"You see, I never had that," Ranma's voice had an edge in it. "I've always been a guy. No matter what, I was always Ranma Saotome. I never liked guys, was never even remotely attracted to them, and never will be. The only difference for me is being a little more physically sensitive and a little less strong. All the same, everything seems different anyway."
I sighed with intentional gravity and finally let loose what had been on my mind.
"Why?" Perhaps I could have phrased the question better.
Ranma simply stared at me.
"Why do you two prolong this, when you two always hold each other at arm's length anyway?"
Ranma got up and slipped in through his bedroom window. "Call your parents if you want to stay here tonight," the quiet mumble came. The conversation was over.
***
I walked alone, towards Furinkan, the amber dawn tickling my eyes as I casually approached the front door nearly a half-hour early only to find Ranma waiting there for me, fury in his eyes.
"Do you really want to know, Futaba-chan?" He began to walk purposefully towards me, lust in his eyes, and I likewise began to back off, afraid of what would come of this.
"I'm a guy right now, Ranma." That didn't last, as my nervousness brought on my conversion to female-side.
"Do you want to know why I can't love Akane, Futaba-chan?" Ranma drew me close and enfolded me in an iron grip, kissing me furiously.
I attempted to pull away from his mouth. "Ranma! You're hurting me!"
Ranma obliged and loosened his grip as he tipped me over and kissed me gently.
I finally reciprocated, feeling oddly comforted, as if I could let go with him, even as he took my shirt off I still leaned on him, enjoying the security.
***
I awoke from the dream on the couch in the Tendo tea room where I had stripped down and slept the night before. After sitting up slowly and wiping the sweat from my eyes, I felt a bit of a twisting ache across my hips as well as pain in my back and head, and found that Kasumi was standing there looking at me quizzically.
"Are you okay, Futaba-chan?" The worry in her voice was apparent.
I got up and rubbed the back of my head.
"I'm fine. Just a bit of a stomach ache. Why?"
She pointed to the center couch cushion, where there was a small spot of blood.
"That's odd. I don't remember having a bloody nose...."
"That's not where your nose would have been, Futaba-chan. Come with me." Kasumi seemed to be holding back laughter, and then when I got where she was leading me I found out why.
She placed a box in my hand. "These are pads. I'm assuming that you wouldn't be entirely comfortable with tampons so you can use them for now. We had this in case Ranma's first period ever came. That never happened and I don't think it will, so you can have these."
I was having a hard time calming down and getting back into male form....
"You're kidding, right? Someone spilled red dye on the couch or something. Right!? Hey! Why were you standing over me, anyway?" I was getting close to hysterics at this point.
She looked sheepish. "You were making very weird noises in your sleep. I couldn't even tell whether it was a good dream or a bad dream...."
It was my turn to look sheepish. "I think it was a good dream. I'm still sorting it out."
I quickly brushed Kasumi out of the bathroom so I could place the pad into the panties I had worn to the Tendo home, put them on, and then came out and asked Akane where a phone might be.
"There's one near the kitchen. Feel free to use it."
I sprinted downstairs and dialed my house as quickly as I could.
"Ugh?" The fact that the answer was utterly inarticulate pegged the person on the other end as Futana.
"Futana! I was bleeding when I got up this morning and Kasumi said I was having my period. My insides hurt and I feel really strange. What's going on?" I was almost in tears by the time I took a breath.
There was simply a sigh on the other end. "Just a minute. I'm getting dad."
"Son? I want you to calm down. You're going to be stuck as a female for the next couple days or so, until your period is over. It happens to all of us. There are other side affects but I'm sure you'll find those out." The click on the other end of the line told me that Father had hung up as I sunk to the floor, confused and despaired. As if this wasn't bad enough, it was getting pretty hot, too.
"P-p-p-pretty Lady!"
Something was suddenly clamping onto my chest in what at the time felt like the most uncomfortable way that was possible, this lasted for about ten seconds of me screaming and trying to pry it off and for two more seconds as Ranma appeared, pummeled the thing as it was still attached to me, and launched it into lower earth orbit.
I crumpled to the floor and cried my eyes out, not caring about whatever male dignity that I lost in front of Ranma, not that it mattered. He was staring at me blankly, drooling slightly and walking towards me.
I was thanking all of the gods when the pot came flying and hit him in the head.
"What was that...?" I managed to croak out a few words when Akane entered the room, following her well-aimed pot.
"The first one was Happosai. You'll get used to him. I'd suggest using mallets, as they're quite effective. The second one was Ranma, but I've never seen him act that way before. He's not usually quite that bad."
"What was he doing?"
"Well. From experience with the boys at school, I'd say he was lusting after you." Akane quirked an uneasy smile. "Great way to start the morning, isn't it?"
I made my best effort to smile too as Akane's sisters and their father came into the kitchen.
"What was all that racket about?" The Tendo patriarch scanned the room until his eyes lay upon me, at which point he began to walk towards me with arms outstretched. "Pretty lady!"
Kasumi quickly apologized and dragged Soun Tendo out of the kitchen, struggling the entire way.
"Does this happen to you often, Futaba-chan?" Akane's elder sister, Nabiki, looked at me quizzically.
I shook my head confusedly. "I don't know! I mean-No! I've only had three days experience at this!"
Nabiki made a little noise and ran to get her bag. "Well, I guess we'd better head to school!" Akane nodded at me and the three of us quickly left the Tendo residence in the direction of Furinkan, skipping breakfast in our haste to vacate the Tendo home and the odd occurances of the early morning.
***
As we approached Furinkan, a mob of boys began to coalesce, Kuno at the head. Akane sighed and approached Kuno.
"What are you guys doing? I thought we already agreed that you were going to stop attacking me!"
Kuno gave Akane a loving smile and then turned to me.
"Alas, my sweet Akane Tendo. A Lass indeed. We are simply surveying the new wondrous goddess of Furinkan, the green-haired Aphrodite that stands before me. Rest assured I have not given you up. No, indeed! I have simply found another love. Such is the tortuous life of Tatewaki Ku-" We were spared the rest of Kuno's babble by a random pineapple hitting him in the back of the head and the late bell ringing. For some reason, though, none of the boys moved.
Akane stared at me, and then back at the boys. "That's odd. They've never acted this way. They usually left me alone if there were any of them left standing when class started.
"I apologize, Akane Tendo, for we have found one whose beauty is even more entrancing then your own, and we intend to fight her, and fight for her, with all of our hearts." The dim-witted swordsman charged at me and roared a battle cry.
The Blue Thunder became more of a boneless puddle when I gave him a piledriver, but that's when more of the boys decided to attack.
Five minutes later I was standing over the pile of boys and brushing my hands off, searching for my bag which I seemed to have dropped.
"Are you looking for this, Miss?" A barely-conscious male voice came from beside me, sounding rather nervous.
I turned to see a muscular man of about Ranma's age in a yellow shirt and black pants trying to look away from me and holding my bag towards me as if it were a rotten tuna with one hand, while clamping his nose with the other.
"Yes. Thank you." I took the bag from him and bowed as politely as I could.
"You're welcome!" The boy sprinted in the opposite direction and somehow ended up running into the main school building, which was behind me, and knocking himself unconscious.
I shrugged and sprinted up to my classroom and barged through the doorway only to find that the classroom was entirely female, including Ranma-chan.
"Why are you late, Miss Shimeru?" Hinako-sensei gave me as stern a look as she could manage.
I stammered out a response as quickly as I could. "The boys out front attacked me, and I-"
"Those delinquents!" Hinako looked very angry. "How dare they attack a defenseless girl! I'm going to go teach them a-"
"That's okay, Sensei." I interrupted her tirade as I stared pointedly at the floor, hoping that my blush would not show. "I took care of them."
"You what?" The diminutive teacher stared at me unbelievingly.
Ranma-chan rose her hand and pointed outside, where the pile of unconscious boys was reaching all the way up to our third-story window.
I apologized hastily. "I'm very sorry, Sensei, but they made me so mad! I felt like I just wanted to be alone and all they wanted to do was fight me!"
Hinako suddenly nodded sympathetically and directed me to sit down. I promptly took my seat and wrote a note to Ranma.
What was with you this morning? Why were you acting so perverted?
-Futaba
A few minutes later a note came to me, but when I tried to read it, I could not decipher the handwriting.
Luckily, a few minutes after that, as Hinako was still trying to decide what to do with the class I received another note.
Futaba,
Ranma says he didn't know what came over him.
-Akane
Soon after that came an announcement over the school's PA system.
"Attention all da keikis an Wahines! Dis is yo principal! Class today is gonna be bein cancelled cause there be only one a da boys in class today. Have a nice trip home!"
Akane and Ranma got up with one synchronized motion and cheered loudly.
As I sat there dazed, thanking my lucky stars that I wouldn't have to deal with the boys any more, Ranma-chan tugged on my arm.
"Hey, Futaba? Wanna go to Ucchan's with Akane n' me? We're gonna hang out for a bit."
I wanted to go with her so much, but I couldn't, I was simply too exhausted.
"I'm going home. I'm tired." I avoided Ranma's eyes and slunk out of the classroom, leaving my newfound friends dumfounded in my wake.
***
"Are you sure?" Futana sat at the foot of my bed, a few minutes later, and looked into my eyes sympathetically.
I sighed and nodded plaintively.
"I can't help it, Futana. What am I going to do?"
Futana grinned. "First of all, I'd suggest avoiding him and every other guy during your period. I'm really sorry I didn't tell you about that, by the way. I don't get periods, you see. Only the men do."
I gave the now cackling Futana the strongest glare I could manage which - because of my state of exhaustion - was quite pitiful. "That doesn't explain why Dad didn't tell me on the phone. He would have known about the `little problem' of ejecting hundreds of times the amount of pheromones during our period."
The only allowance Futana gave me was an innocent shrug. "Take that up with him when he gets home, Futaba. Either way, you've got another day or so of this, so be ready." She strutted out of the room and left me to the slight delirium that followed as I tried to reconcile myself to the pain-but-not-entirely that made me feel so alien.
Gradually I realized that, though I had wished to do so, sitting there would do me no good. I slung a coat over my shoulders and sped down the stairs and out of my house, hunting down that spot near the river where I had carried Ranma the other day.
As I approached the bridge, a tired voice hailed me.
"Since you're here, I think we should talk."
Assuming it was Ranma, I nodded to myself and sat outside of the bridge, facing the eddies of the river as they played among the rocks, trying to find their way out to the ocean.
"You know. When I first found that you had something like the Nyannichuan curse I dearly wanted to hate you. I wanted to hit you over the head with the the tea-room table." The laughter that reached me was bitter, pained. "I was afraid of you. I was afraid of how you'd turn out."
I turned around ducked under the bridge to find something unexpected. Akane.
"I was afraid, too, Akane." I tried to keep my voice level and not show how surprised I was. "I was afraid for you and Ranma. I was afraid that you two were going to leave each other forever and that it was going to be my fault, and yet the very next day you two are back to normal, getting along fairly well and not throwing anything at each other that can do permanent damage." Akane half-turned to look into my eyes, and I saw that she had been crying.
"I wanted to hurt you, and then I heard what Ranma was doing, and realized...." She let out a slight sniffle and turned away once more.
"Realized what?" I sat down and slid in closer to Akane.
"I've been growing to love Ranma, but, at the same time, I've been growing to hate him." She picked up a small pebble and skipped it a few paces into the river, avoiding my gaze. "He can be so strong, so caring to me. He's so wonderful when he's like that. When everything seems that it's getting too good to be true, though, he lets his pride get the better of everything and ruins it all."
I stared at my knees and tossed a pebble in myself, but failed to skip it very far. "When I first met Ranma, I didn't know what to think. She was so beautiful, even drenched by the rain. At that time you had just tossed her through a wall, which also made me feel a bit sorry for her." Akane drew her knees closer in and buried her face in them. I mentally kicked myself and changed the subject. "Anyway, even when I found out that he was a, well, a he, he was still supportive, like we had been friends for years."
"He always made fun of how tomboyish I was," Akane let her knees go and leaned back against the underside of the bridge. "I could never tell whether he was serious about it or not, but it always made me so angry."
I made an attempt to break the ice with an innocent question. "You could always try to exaggerate yourself in the opposite direction, for him?"
Akane shrugged. "I don't know. I've tried everything, it seems. I've cooked, cleaned, and sewed but everything seems to come out wrong."
"I hate to sound blunt, but are you any good at any of that?"
Akane shot me an accusing look, but immediately looked back towards the river and laughed a bit. "Not really."
I patted Akane on the back and carefully stood up, feeling much better. "Keep trying, Akane. There is good in both of you. I know you can get back together." I quickly scuttled out from under the bridge and made my way back home, high hopes in my head for the next day.
***
Ranma 1/2 is the property of Rumiko Takahashi and Viz. Futaba-Kun Change is the property of Studio Ironcat and Hiroshi Aro.
All other characters and events are mine ^_^
lease send C&C!
From Inu_Ranma. (Inu_Ranma@yahoo.com)
I gradually leaned back in the passenger seat of Futana's car and stared at the streetlights passing above the windshield. Was this all real? It seemed like something that could not be happening.
But here I was, a sixteen year old girl, and there Futana was, a twenty-one year old guy. Things were so backwards. I leaned towards Futana and looked at him. "So how do you deal with it?"
He was concentrating heavily on driving but gave me a glance. "Do what, sis?"
"How do you cope? How do you keep it from changing you?"
Futana pulled the car over and unbuckled. "Get out." I sat there, bemused, until finally Futana banged gently on my window. "Get out, sis. Now. I have to show you something."
I unbuckled and opened my door, which turned out to be facing an alleyway. Before I could begin to wonder what was there, Futana had me out of the car and against the wall. "You want to know how I cope, baby sister? You want to know how I get through the day!? This is how!" He furiously pulled off his jacket and unbuttoned his shirt. "You know. I used to genuinely like boys. I used to think about them nonstop, day and night. Then I turned thirteen, and BAM! Suddenly, when other girls were having their first periods I was turning into a boy once or twice a day! I was completely unable to look at a guy without turning into one myself. If there were any justice in this world I would have breasts and a boyfriend right now, but instead I have a dick and thirty girlfriends."
On a whim, I leaned onto my 'sister' and gave 'him' a hug, my emotions getting the better of me.
Futana's voice, low and comforting, came to me. "There are advantages, at least. We're far stronger than most normal people will ever get to be and more agile as well. Many of our ancestors have been some of the greatest martial artists, and a few of the greatest drag queens, of all time."
I tightened my hug around Futana until, finally, things began to feel distinctly odd. Annoyed at his breaking of the moment, I immediately brought my foot down, hard, on his toes.
"What?" He sounded so indignant for someone who had just got caught feeling his little sister up. "I was getting bored and depressed! I just needed something to cheer me up!"
"Feh." I shrugged noncommittally and got into the car, ignoring Futana entirely until he returned to the driver's seat and we began moving towards the Department Store once again.
***
I could hardly believe my eyes as we approached the Women's section of the large department store that Futana had chosen. They had more bras and panties than the Men's section had articles of clothing in general. A few clerks chuckled knowingly as Futana grabbed a few of the more colorful pairs and led me to a dressing room. It genuinely surprised me when Futana stopped in front of the last dressing room in the row, handed me a pair, and then motioned me into the little cubicle.
"What!? You don't expect me to wear them, do you?" He grinned and pulled the door to the dressing room shut as I slowly disrobed and tried to put the bra on.
"Er... Futana"
The smile in his voice was evident. "Yes, Sister dear?"
"How do I put this on?"
Futana opened the door after a short pause, got in behind me, now in female form, and closed the door.
"Okay, Futaba-chan," she said, putting her hands on top of mine, "first you want to make sure both of your breasts are in the cups," she demonstrated with my hands while looking over my shoulder. "Next, you want to make sure that the shoulder straps are snug." This was odd... something was wrong.
"Eh, Futana?"
"Yea, baby?" Futana slid her hand down my front, from whence I promptly removed it which as much force as possible.
"Don't call me that!" Of all the times... "Do you smell something burning?"
"Of course not, Futaba. Why would there be something...? Oh wait, I do smell that!"
As if on cue, the fire alarms went off.
Futana panicked. "Geez! Futaba-chan, let's get outta here!"
It was my turn to panic. "But what about my-"
"Worry about your clothes later! This just makes it more fun!" He hoisted me up on his shoulder kicked the dressing-room door open, and began to run towards the exit.
I turned halfway around to see a large metal box going on a collision course with my head.
***
When I came to I was freezing cold and heard the sound of a grown man in tears.
"That's it. We're never going shopping again! First Akane causes an explosion while testing a microwave oven," I sat up to see a mustachioed man yelling at three girls, who were all sitting down and looking forlorn. "Then Nabiki refuses to leave until she can get a deal on a new air-conditioner for the house, putting herself and the store's clerk in danger," The girl to Akane's left seemed to be chagrined, until I realized that her attention was not on the man, but on the head-sized dent in the metal box that sat at her feet. "And then Kasumi distracts Ranma as he's carrying said air-conditioner outside and he manages to knock Kahoru Iroka's daughter unconscious!"
I almost passed out again from the sheer ridiculousness of it. Why would Kahoru Iroka's daughter be here, anyway?
A hand tapped me on the shoulder and then placed a bathrobe over my mostly-bare body. "Are you awake, honey?" a velvety voice purred.
I nodded, not daring to turn around for fear that it was just Futana trying to mess with me. The hand quickly withdrew and the voice rose. "Good evening everybody! Now wasn't that a scare?"
A few nervous chuckles came from the crowds of people that had gathered.
"We're all just lucky the fire department made it on time now, aren't we? Let's all thank our firefighters" During the short round of applause that followed, I finally managed to get up to see who was putting on such a show. It was the most beautiful woman that I'd ever seen; She also looked strikingly familiar, for some reason.
Futana walked up to the woman and smiled cheerily in boy form. "Hi, Mom! The Tendos seem okay but they're still awful sorry about hitting Futaba over the head with that air-conditioner."
"Um... Futana?" I tugged on my older brother's shirtsleeve.
The woman hushed the two of us and then stepped up to a makeshift pedestal that must have been erected for that purpose.
"Hello again, everybody. For those of you who don't know me I'm Kahoru Iroka," she flashed a grin as all of the audience gasped in awe, "You can check out my new movie, Action Babe 6, playing at the Nerima Cinema right now." A few people left the crowd in search of the theater as the woman flashed a bit of leg. "Anyway. I'd like to introduce to you two people who are very special to me: my son Futana-kun, and my daughter, Futaba-chan." I could hardly believe my ears, and was quite ready to run away, but Futana caught my arm and gave me a glance that said I would not want to miss this. "It's my fondest hope that you'll be seeing as much of them as you do of me, minus those dirty pictures in the tabloids. I'd also like to thank the Tendos for being so helpful." there was a slight applause and a surprised look from the mustachioed man. "And we'll see you all later."
Kahoru Iroka bowed and led Futana and me into a trailer that was waiting near the firetrucks.
The minute we were in the trailer, she held her breath for a moment, and then distinctly changed in figure, becoming my father. "Well, that could have come at a better time, now, couldn't it?" I looked at the clock on the wall and noticed that it had been about three hours since Futana and I left for the store. Dad picked a laptop off of a desk in the rear end of the trailer. "You have fan mail, Futaba-chan."
"Eh?" I was still a bit dazed, to say the least.
"Get with the program, Futaba," Futana leaned over my shoulder as I looked at the `Futaba' folder of the `Kahoru Iroka' inbox, which contained three-hundred and fifty messages." You just got picked up on national news in front of a burning building in nothing but panties and a bra! A star is born!" I was saved by a knock on the trailer door.
It was Ranma, in girl form. "Hi, Futaba. The Tendos were wondering if, since they gave you a concussion and all, you'd like to go over to their place and...." Ranma suddenly paused and looked around. "Hey! Where'd your mom go?"
"She already left," I said quickly, "Can I go to dinner at Ranma's, Dad?" I began to run out of the trailer door before waiting for an answer.
"Er, Futaba?" Futana grabbed my shoulder. "Aren't you forgetting something?"
"What, Futana?"
She pointed to my clothing, which was not much.
***
A pair of white jeans and a black T-shirt later I was walking on a sidewalk as Ranma, now male, walked along a fence above me.
"How do you do that?"
I marveled at his perfect balance as he hopped off the fence and landed smoothly on one foot, smiling mischievously at me. "Want me to show you?"
Before I could protest I was lifted up by the waist and placed gently on top of the fence.
"Now walk forward." Ranma's voice in my ear was smooth and encouraging as I put one foot in front of the other, teetering dangerously in between falling on hard cement that lay to my left and getting dunked in the aqueduct that loomed to my right. Ranma's hands felt like the only thing keeping me aloft, then he let go, and I was free.
"Now run!" He laughed joyously as I began to sprint along the fence, falling almost immediately on the side of the fence.
I winced as the concrete came speedily closer to my head, promising unconsciousness, or worse, but marvelled to find that the surface that caught me was not the rock-hard ground, but a pair of strong, gentle arms.
"Perhaps you should practice for a while, first." Ranma smiled at me and placed me on my feet.
***
We arrived at the Tendo Dojo early, and Ranma immediately ushered me to their rather luxurious furo.
"You're sweating like crazy, Futaba-chan," he said as he handed me a towel rather forcefully. "I'm sure you'll have an easier time when you get practice, but for now you could do with a hot soak."
With little more protesting I pushed Ranma out of the bathroom, disrobed, gave myself a quick scrub-down, and sank into the bath with a sigh of relief. I hadn't had such a chance to relax since this entire mess started!
pop!
It didn't take me long to find out what had happened. I had changed back. At a loss for what to do, I tried to think of something, anything exciting, and only managed to make myself blush.
I muttered a silent expletive and wrapped a towel about my waist, not want to appear uncovered.
Having no other alternative, I called out for Ranma.
As I heard his approach, I opened the furo door and took a step forward so see Ranma-chan standing right in front of me, completely nude.
At first I saw confusion in her eyes, rightfully enough, but then, as I got a good look at her my own transformation set in, and he stood in front of a half-nude Futaba-chan.
"I see." If the scene had not been more tense, I would have laughed at her inadvertant pun. She carefully closed the door. "Come into the dojo when you're dressed. I'll leave a pair of boxers here for you.
She seemed to be taking things rather well, so I hurriedly got dressed and rushed into the dojo to find Ranma sitting there, now male, silently looking at a wall.
"When were you planning on telling me, Futaba?" He didn't move at all, the only sign that he was not a statue was the slight movement of his mouth and the clenching of his fists.
"I'm sorry, Ranma... I-" in a flash Ranma's fist was mere inches from my nose. Barely managing to keep my cool, I fell to the floor.
"Don't make excuses. I almost trusted you. Almost. Do you enjoy messing with other peoples' minds so? Do you get high on how much you can hurt someone? It figures that you were the first girl that I was ever comfortable with. You're a guy. Naturally. Why can't one damn thing make sense here!?" Ranma slowly withdrew his still-tense fist and went back to sitting in the middle of the dojo, eyes closed.
"You can go after we eat. I'm not going to hurt you. Don't bother letting me know when you leave. Kasumi will probably have dinner ready in a few minutes."
I heaved a sigh and walked out of the dojo, slinking past Akane as she rushed past me towards Ranma.
"What the hell are you thinking, you dummy!?" The yell startled me as I walked from the dojo, having been mostly lost in my own thoughts up until that point.
Some muffled comments failed to make it to my ears.
"So what, Ranma? I heard what you two were saying! Futaba's the first person with a curse that you've met who's not trying consistently to kill or marry you and you blow her off because she doesn't tell you about it on the first day you meet her? Have you no idea what you're doing?" There was the sound of a splash of water. "Stay that way, for all I care."
"Get lost, you tomboy!" Ranma's angered voice, now feminine, shocked me in its vehemence. "I trusted her! I thought she was my friend, and yet she don't tell me nuthin! You try having that happen to you!"
"I did, Ranma." Akane's voice, now soft and pained, pierced the sound of the bustle around the house as it all died off in anticipation, waiting for Ranma's next move. "The day we met, do you remember that? You had so many chances to tell me, but no. You had to wait until I was suitably nude to appear in front of me. Do you remember that?"
There was no longer any noticeable sound in the house as Akane's angered footsteps left the vicinity of the Dojo, running past me and leaving the front gate to slam violently as she left the Tendo grounds.
I made my way over to the Koi pond and sat on the boulder that nestled near it as if for that purpose.
I heard the shuffling of Ranma getting up leaving the Dojo, barely breathing in my apprehension. Gradually she appeared in the doorway leading out from the tea room and sat down next to me.
"So... tell me how you fell in the spring." Ranma didn't look directly into my eyes, but stared at the pond that lay in front of us and clenched her fists over and over again, seeming to take solace in the wiry muscles that adorned her feminine knuckles.
"It's not like that for me, Ranma." I didn't have to fight to get the control of my voice. I didn't have to hold back tears. I just had to speak. It was so odd that I never had to think about how easy it was to speak before. "I'm not just a guy or a girl. I'm not cursed. As far as I can tell, Futaba-chan and Futaba-kun are parts of a whole of me. But they're also the same person. I am the girl you met yesterday, and I am the guy you see now. There is no cure for me because I'm naturally this way."
Ranma kept her gaze away still. "But why didn't you tell me? Of all people, I would be the most likely to understand, don'cha think?"
"Would you, Ranma? I don't change with water, but emotional excitement. I don't have the possibility of ever being with a woman! Have you ever thought about that? Have you? Did you ever think of what it would be like to utterly lose everything that society tells you makes you a man?" I drew my hand back for a slap, my vehemence overtaking me.
Finally, she looked into my eyes. "Yes. Yes I have. Please, Futaba. Complete the motion?"
"Huh?" His sudden emotion, startling me, caused me to allow my arm to drop.
"Hit me. Right in the face. I've been an idiot. A jerk. Whatever Akane wants to call it, I've been that. I didn't think I'd ever have the possibility of becoming a girl forever, but I did fear it. It just hurt me, because you were so different from the other girls-"
"I still am, to say the least." Despite myself, I let out a laugh.
Ranma smiled weakly, and then sniffed, his smile growing. "It smells like Kasumi's almost done cooking dinner. You'll want to try this."
We made our way back inside to find that Akane had already returned and that she and the Tendos already sitting at the table. They were looking at us expectantly over what could only be described as a feast.
Ranma and I sat down quietly, side-by-side, and glanced at the others around the table. Finally, Akane shrugged noncommittally and began to eat, breaking the tension.
***
After dinner Ranma and I sat out on the roof and looked at the stars, chatting idly about the excitement of the day and comparing notes on curses and the like.
I sat, wondering and asking, enjoying the temporary stability of my male form as I searched the sky for some hint of the future.
"I guess I've been having my own identity crisis, since I got this curse." Ranma, to my right, flexed his hands and looked at them, seeming to find something truly interesting about them. "When I came to the top of that pool, it was as if I was dying, when I guess I was sorta being born. It changed everything."
"At least you had some warning. One minute I was a guy, and the next I was a girl. No springs, no training. Just poof. I look at some pictures, I pass out, and I wake up female."
The pause as the light that came From Akane's window and illuminated the Tendo yard died down, leaving only the stars to pierce the darkness
After a while Ranma spoke. "So... what does it feel like?"
I leaned onto my side and looked at him. "Honestly, I have no idea. For a while I was sure I was female. That was the night I met you. But whenever I'm calm and in guy form I'm sure of being a guy. I don't quite know all of the provisoes of this form-changing yet, but I'm certain that I will have to do some major sorting of my identity."
"You see, I never had that," Ranma's voice had an edge in it. "I've always been a guy. No matter what, I was always Ranma Saotome. I never liked guys, was never even remotely attracted to them, and never will be. The only difference for me is being a little more physically sensitive and a little less strong. All the same, everything seems different anyway."
I sighed with intentional gravity and finally let loose what had been on my mind.
"Why?" Perhaps I could have phrased the question better.
Ranma simply stared at me.
"Why do you two prolong this, when you two always hold each other at arm's length anyway?"
Ranma got up and slipped in through his bedroom window. "Call your parents if you want to stay here tonight," the quiet mumble came. The conversation was over.
***
I walked alone, towards Furinkan, the amber dawn tickling my eyes as I casually approached the front door nearly a half-hour early only to find Ranma waiting there for me, fury in his eyes.
"Do you really want to know, Futaba-chan?" He began to walk purposefully towards me, lust in his eyes, and I likewise began to back off, afraid of what would come of this.
"I'm a guy right now, Ranma." That didn't last, as my nervousness brought on my conversion to female-side.
"Do you want to know why I can't love Akane, Futaba-chan?" Ranma drew me close and enfolded me in an iron grip, kissing me furiously.
I attempted to pull away from his mouth. "Ranma! You're hurting me!"
Ranma obliged and loosened his grip as he tipped me over and kissed me gently.
I finally reciprocated, feeling oddly comforted, as if I could let go with him, even as he took my shirt off I still leaned on him, enjoying the security.
***
I awoke from the dream on the couch in the Tendo tea room where I had stripped down and slept the night before. After sitting up slowly and wiping the sweat from my eyes, I felt a bit of a twisting ache across my hips as well as pain in my back and head, and found that Kasumi was standing there looking at me quizzically.
"Are you okay, Futaba-chan?" The worry in her voice was apparent.
I got up and rubbed the back of my head.
"I'm fine. Just a bit of a stomach ache. Why?"
She pointed to the center couch cushion, where there was a small spot of blood.
"That's odd. I don't remember having a bloody nose...."
"That's not where your nose would have been, Futaba-chan. Come with me." Kasumi seemed to be holding back laughter, and then when I got where she was leading me I found out why.
She placed a box in my hand. "These are pads. I'm assuming that you wouldn't be entirely comfortable with tampons so you can use them for now. We had this in case Ranma's first period ever came. That never happened and I don't think it will, so you can have these."
I was having a hard time calming down and getting back into male form....
"You're kidding, right? Someone spilled red dye on the couch or something. Right!? Hey! Why were you standing over me, anyway?" I was getting close to hysterics at this point.
She looked sheepish. "You were making very weird noises in your sleep. I couldn't even tell whether it was a good dream or a bad dream...."
It was my turn to look sheepish. "I think it was a good dream. I'm still sorting it out."
I quickly brushed Kasumi out of the bathroom so I could place the pad into the panties I had worn to the Tendo home, put them on, and then came out and asked Akane where a phone might be.
"There's one near the kitchen. Feel free to use it."
I sprinted downstairs and dialed my house as quickly as I could.
"Ugh?" The fact that the answer was utterly inarticulate pegged the person on the other end as Futana.
"Futana! I was bleeding when I got up this morning and Kasumi said I was having my period. My insides hurt and I feel really strange. What's going on?" I was almost in tears by the time I took a breath.
There was simply a sigh on the other end. "Just a minute. I'm getting dad."
"Son? I want you to calm down. You're going to be stuck as a female for the next couple days or so, until your period is over. It happens to all of us. There are other side affects but I'm sure you'll find those out." The click on the other end of the line told me that Father had hung up as I sunk to the floor, confused and despaired. As if this wasn't bad enough, it was getting pretty hot, too.
"P-p-p-pretty Lady!"
Something was suddenly clamping onto my chest in what at the time felt like the most uncomfortable way that was possible, this lasted for about ten seconds of me screaming and trying to pry it off and for two more seconds as Ranma appeared, pummeled the thing as it was still attached to me, and launched it into lower earth orbit.
I crumpled to the floor and cried my eyes out, not caring about whatever male dignity that I lost in front of Ranma, not that it mattered. He was staring at me blankly, drooling slightly and walking towards me.
I was thanking all of the gods when the pot came flying and hit him in the head.
"What was that...?" I managed to croak out a few words when Akane entered the room, following her well-aimed pot.
"The first one was Happosai. You'll get used to him. I'd suggest using mallets, as they're quite effective. The second one was Ranma, but I've never seen him act that way before. He's not usually quite that bad."
"What was he doing?"
"Well. From experience with the boys at school, I'd say he was lusting after you." Akane quirked an uneasy smile. "Great way to start the morning, isn't it?"
I made my best effort to smile too as Akane's sisters and their father came into the kitchen.
"What was all that racket about?" The Tendo patriarch scanned the room until his eyes lay upon me, at which point he began to walk towards me with arms outstretched. "Pretty lady!"
Kasumi quickly apologized and dragged Soun Tendo out of the kitchen, struggling the entire way.
"Does this happen to you often, Futaba-chan?" Akane's elder sister, Nabiki, looked at me quizzically.
I shook my head confusedly. "I don't know! I mean-No! I've only had three days experience at this!"
Nabiki made a little noise and ran to get her bag. "Well, I guess we'd better head to school!" Akane nodded at me and the three of us quickly left the Tendo residence in the direction of Furinkan, skipping breakfast in our haste to vacate the Tendo home and the odd occurances of the early morning.
***
As we approached Furinkan, a mob of boys began to coalesce, Kuno at the head. Akane sighed and approached Kuno.
"What are you guys doing? I thought we already agreed that you were going to stop attacking me!"
Kuno gave Akane a loving smile and then turned to me.
"Alas, my sweet Akane Tendo. A Lass indeed. We are simply surveying the new wondrous goddess of Furinkan, the green-haired Aphrodite that stands before me. Rest assured I have not given you up. No, indeed! I have simply found another love. Such is the tortuous life of Tatewaki Ku-" We were spared the rest of Kuno's babble by a random pineapple hitting him in the back of the head and the late bell ringing. For some reason, though, none of the boys moved.
Akane stared at me, and then back at the boys. "That's odd. They've never acted this way. They usually left me alone if there were any of them left standing when class started.
"I apologize, Akane Tendo, for we have found one whose beauty is even more entrancing then your own, and we intend to fight her, and fight for her, with all of our hearts." The dim-witted swordsman charged at me and roared a battle cry.
The Blue Thunder became more of a boneless puddle when I gave him a piledriver, but that's when more of the boys decided to attack.
Five minutes later I was standing over the pile of boys and brushing my hands off, searching for my bag which I seemed to have dropped.
"Are you looking for this, Miss?" A barely-conscious male voice came from beside me, sounding rather nervous.
I turned to see a muscular man of about Ranma's age in a yellow shirt and black pants trying to look away from me and holding my bag towards me as if it were a rotten tuna with one hand, while clamping his nose with the other.
"Yes. Thank you." I took the bag from him and bowed as politely as I could.
"You're welcome!" The boy sprinted in the opposite direction and somehow ended up running into the main school building, which was behind me, and knocking himself unconscious.
I shrugged and sprinted up to my classroom and barged through the doorway only to find that the classroom was entirely female, including Ranma-chan.
"Why are you late, Miss Shimeru?" Hinako-sensei gave me as stern a look as she could manage.
I stammered out a response as quickly as I could. "The boys out front attacked me, and I-"
"Those delinquents!" Hinako looked very angry. "How dare they attack a defenseless girl! I'm going to go teach them a-"
"That's okay, Sensei." I interrupted her tirade as I stared pointedly at the floor, hoping that my blush would not show. "I took care of them."
"You what?" The diminutive teacher stared at me unbelievingly.
Ranma-chan rose her hand and pointed outside, where the pile of unconscious boys was reaching all the way up to our third-story window.
I apologized hastily. "I'm very sorry, Sensei, but they made me so mad! I felt like I just wanted to be alone and all they wanted to do was fight me!"
Hinako suddenly nodded sympathetically and directed me to sit down. I promptly took my seat and wrote a note to Ranma.
What was with you this morning? Why were you acting so perverted?
-Futaba
A few minutes later a note came to me, but when I tried to read it, I could not decipher the handwriting.
Luckily, a few minutes after that, as Hinako was still trying to decide what to do with the class I received another note.
Futaba,
Ranma says he didn't know what came over him.
-Akane
Soon after that came an announcement over the school's PA system.
"Attention all da keikis an Wahines! Dis is yo principal! Class today is gonna be bein cancelled cause there be only one a da boys in class today. Have a nice trip home!"
Akane and Ranma got up with one synchronized motion and cheered loudly.
As I sat there dazed, thanking my lucky stars that I wouldn't have to deal with the boys any more, Ranma-chan tugged on my arm.
"Hey, Futaba? Wanna go to Ucchan's with Akane n' me? We're gonna hang out for a bit."
I wanted to go with her so much, but I couldn't, I was simply too exhausted.
"I'm going home. I'm tired." I avoided Ranma's eyes and slunk out of the classroom, leaving my newfound friends dumfounded in my wake.
***
"Are you sure?" Futana sat at the foot of my bed, a few minutes later, and looked into my eyes sympathetically.
I sighed and nodded plaintively.
"I can't help it, Futana. What am I going to do?"
Futana grinned. "First of all, I'd suggest avoiding him and every other guy during your period. I'm really sorry I didn't tell you about that, by the way. I don't get periods, you see. Only the men do."
I gave the now cackling Futana the strongest glare I could manage which - because of my state of exhaustion - was quite pitiful. "That doesn't explain why Dad didn't tell me on the phone. He would have known about the `little problem' of ejecting hundreds of times the amount of pheromones during our period."
The only allowance Futana gave me was an innocent shrug. "Take that up with him when he gets home, Futaba. Either way, you've got another day or so of this, so be ready." She strutted out of the room and left me to the slight delirium that followed as I tried to reconcile myself to the pain-but-not-entirely that made me feel so alien.
Gradually I realized that, though I had wished to do so, sitting there would do me no good. I slung a coat over my shoulders and sped down the stairs and out of my house, hunting down that spot near the river where I had carried Ranma the other day.
As I approached the bridge, a tired voice hailed me.
"Since you're here, I think we should talk."
Assuming it was Ranma, I nodded to myself and sat outside of the bridge, facing the eddies of the river as they played among the rocks, trying to find their way out to the ocean.
"You know. When I first found that you had something like the Nyannichuan curse I dearly wanted to hate you. I wanted to hit you over the head with the the tea-room table." The laughter that reached me was bitter, pained. "I was afraid of you. I was afraid of how you'd turn out."
I turned around ducked under the bridge to find something unexpected. Akane.
"I was afraid, too, Akane." I tried to keep my voice level and not show how surprised I was. "I was afraid for you and Ranma. I was afraid that you two were going to leave each other forever and that it was going to be my fault, and yet the very next day you two are back to normal, getting along fairly well and not throwing anything at each other that can do permanent damage." Akane half-turned to look into my eyes, and I saw that she had been crying.
"I wanted to hurt you, and then I heard what Ranma was doing, and realized...." She let out a slight sniffle and turned away once more.
"Realized what?" I sat down and slid in closer to Akane.
"I've been growing to love Ranma, but, at the same time, I've been growing to hate him." She picked up a small pebble and skipped it a few paces into the river, avoiding my gaze. "He can be so strong, so caring to me. He's so wonderful when he's like that. When everything seems that it's getting too good to be true, though, he lets his pride get the better of everything and ruins it all."
I stared at my knees and tossed a pebble in myself, but failed to skip it very far. "When I first met Ranma, I didn't know what to think. She was so beautiful, even drenched by the rain. At that time you had just tossed her through a wall, which also made me feel a bit sorry for her." Akane drew her knees closer in and buried her face in them. I mentally kicked myself and changed the subject. "Anyway, even when I found out that he was a, well, a he, he was still supportive, like we had been friends for years."
"He always made fun of how tomboyish I was," Akane let her knees go and leaned back against the underside of the bridge. "I could never tell whether he was serious about it or not, but it always made me so angry."
I made an attempt to break the ice with an innocent question. "You could always try to exaggerate yourself in the opposite direction, for him?"
Akane shrugged. "I don't know. I've tried everything, it seems. I've cooked, cleaned, and sewed but everything seems to come out wrong."
"I hate to sound blunt, but are you any good at any of that?"
Akane shot me an accusing look, but immediately looked back towards the river and laughed a bit. "Not really."
I patted Akane on the back and carefully stood up, feeling much better. "Keep trying, Akane. There is good in both of you. I know you can get back together." I quickly scuttled out from under the bridge and made my way back home, high hopes in my head for the next day.
***
Ranma 1/2 is the property of Rumiko Takahashi and Viz. Futaba-Kun Change is the property of Studio Ironcat and Hiroshi Aro.
All other characters and events are mine ^_^
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From Inu_Ranma. (Inu_Ranma@yahoo.com)