Author's note: Hello again. :) Oh, just so you know... any criticism you can make is highly appreciated and anything you say, I will make sure to take into account.
Also, I hate to use the word 'pervert' in certain contexts, but the anime really does do that. Ugh. Do be aware of that.
Lastly, does anyone have any idea what to call the teacher and principal? Haha. I haven't given them names yet.
Chapter Three: Perfect Strangers
Ranma, currently female with her book bag on her back, stared up at her new school with unease. It wasn't the fact that she was starting a new school that was bothering her, though. Hell no. It was the fact that she was being made to do it as a girl. Not only that, but she was wearing the most revolting uniform the world over.
She couldn't even bear looking at the thing anymore, because it was so disgustingly cute. She was a guy and liked baggy masculine clothing, so the fact that she was wearing it made her sick to her stomach. Honestly, if anyone but her mother had suggested this, she would never have caved, but she'd been so overwhelmed with emotions around the woman that she'd stupidly agreed.
She hadn't, of course, known what she'd be in for with the uniform. Quite frankly, that had been the part of the conversation that she'd been least interested in. She'd been far more focused on the whole 'I'd like you to go to school as a girl' part. Therefore, when it had come to actually buying the uniform – which Genma had refused point blank to help them do – she'd completely freaked out. She sighed as she remembered the events.
"Whoa!" Ranma said, backing away from the uniform that the store owner was holding. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!"
"What's the matter, Ranko?" Nodoka asked.
"Mom, there is no way in hell that I'm wearing that!"
"But, Ranko, this is the school uniform..."
Ranma placed her back against the nearest wall. "I don't care! I'd rather go to school like this!" She indicated the red Chinese shirt and dark blue slacks that she was wearing.
Nodoka gave her a light frown. "Now, Ranko... in other schools, they might allow that... but Shinkisekai, while perhaps lax in other areas, has a strict dress code."
"Then why don't I just go to school as a guy, then? I don't need to hide from Shampoo and Ukyo, anyway! I'm no coward!"
Nodoka sighed. "I know you're not, Ranko, but..." Tears formed in Nodoka's eyes, so she placed her kimono sleeve over her face. "I just wanted you to be safe... and to be able to spend some time with you, as your mother..."
Ranma faltered. She'd never admit it, but crying females were just as big as weakness for her as cats. "Mom..."
"If you're found, you'll either be dragged off to China or killed. I don't want either of those to happen..."
"Mom, I..." Ranma began to fidget uncomfortably. "I can take care of myself, you know... When Shampoo and Ukyo find me... I'll be able to hold them off..."
Nodoka sniffled, lowering her sleeve and looking her in the eye. "Please, Ranko... try to imagine what this must feel like for me. You're my only so- daughter and I... I'd feel so helpless if Shampoo and Ukyo came for you. At the very least, let me insure that you're safe at school."
Ranma really couldn't take anymore. The immense guilt that her mother was making her feel was tying her heart into knots. The woman really knew what buttons to press when it counted. Slowly, she dragged herself across the room, to where the store owner was still holding the uniform and, eyeing the disgusting thing like it was poisonous to the touch, she took it from her. Holding it at arm's length, to keep it as far away from her as possible, she carried it into the changing room.
Ranma shook her head, dispelling the memory, before focusing back on the situation at hand. As much as she hated being a girl, she was doing this for her mother... and, on the bright side, at least she wasn't stuck as a girl. She could change back whenever she liked.
She cringed as she imagined turning into a boy while dressed in the girls' uniform. She was certain that she'd die of embarrassment if that happened and, likely, never live it down. Fortunately – and she never thought she'd use the word 'fortunately' for that – hot water tended to be a lot harder to come by than cold water, so she figured that she'd probably be okay.
At that moment, a slight breeze picked up and blew the long pleated skirt around her legs. She shuddered in disgust as the skirt brushed across silky smooth legs. Among other things, she'd always hated that about her curse; whenever she reverted to girl form, her legs were always perfectly shaven. It was rather similar to the fact that her girl form always wore black mascara and purple eye shadow, despite her never putting it on in boy form. She shuddered again; her girl form was way too feminine.
Akane had been at Shinkisekai High School for a week so far and was, for the most part, enjoying herself. She'd gotten her wish of being left alone by boys and she actually was starting to get to know some of those boys rather well. This had been an unexpected bonus, as it hadn't been what she'd been aiming for. It had turned out that some of them were actually pretty nice.
On the downside, however, girls fawned over 'Akashi' left, right and centre. At least they didn't gang up on her every morning, like the boys in Furinkan High had, but it was still really embarrassing. Akane considered herself perfectly heterosexual, but she couldn't exactly say that she wasn't interested in girls, because, then, they'd see her as some kind of pervert. Instead, she'd had to nod, smile and accept compliments, while her stomach churned in awkwardness.
Another thing that greatly depressed her, even more than the fawning girls, was the fact that she could no longer join in with her gym class. Sports had always been a big part of her life, alongside martial arts, but the fact that she was really a girl meant that she couldn't get changed in the boys' locker room. If she did, they'd know her secret instantly and stare like perverts at her. She shuddered.
"Gooood morning, class!" the teacher yelled down her microphone. Akane feared that yesterday's headache might come back again. They had to put up with this microphone far too much.
"Good morning, Miss," the class replied.
"Now, it's time to introduce our new student!"
Akane perked up, intrigued. New student? she thought. But I showed up only last week...
The teacher pointed dramatically at the door. "Please enter!"
Everyone was silent as the door slid open and a female figure stepped in, closing the door behind her. There were gasps from the males sitting closest to Akane as the girl walked over to the teacher's desk.
She didn't blame them. The first thing that anyone would notice about this girl was her crimson red hair – which was a very unusual colour in Nerima – that was tied into a pigtail. Once you got past that, your eyes travelled to her face, which was incredibly beautiful. As the girl stood by the teacher's desk and looked out at the class, Akane felt a small stab of jealousy. Who was this girl? And why should she be blessed with such angelic features? Akane realised that she was being petty, but the incident with Dr. Tofu had left a slight scar on her self-esteem.
"Hey," the girl said coolly.
A chorus of murmuring broke out around the classroom, but, unlike the week beforehand, Akane could hear what a few of them were saying.
"Oh, my God," one guy muttered, "she's gorgeous."
"What a sexy beast," another guy muttered with a growl. This caused Akane to shudder in disgust. "I'll take some of that any day..."
Great... she thought, more perverts... She suddenly felt sick at the thought.
"She's so pretty..." one girl muttered.
"I wish I had her hair..." another girl muttered.
The teacher dramatically pointed a finger at the red-haired girl. "This is Ranko Saotome!" she said, her eyes sparkling. That wasn't saying much, though, as Akane had seen the woman's eyes sparkle at Math problems. "She's a local girl..." The teacher flipped her fringe. "But, for the last month..." She leaned forward and bellowed into the microphone. "She's been travelling around China!"
"Ooh!" one guy muttered.
"Wow, China!" one girl muttered.
The teacher lowered her voice slightly. "Now..." She covered her eyes, as if shielding them from the sun, and Akane wondered if she did that every time her class got a new student. "Ah!" She snapped her fingers. "There!" She pointed. "That seat by Akashi will do nicely!"
Akane nearly fell off her chair in shock. "Huh?" She looked to the side of her and saw that there was, indeed, an empty seat there. Honestly, she'd forgotten all about that.
"Sure thing, teach," Ranko replied. She then walked over her new desk, took off her book bag and sat down.
As Akane pulled herself back into a sitting position, she stared in intrigue at Ranko. The girl didn't seem to be the slightest bit phased about being greeted by a nutcase with a microphone. It was almost as if... she was used to weird people... She also didn't look too happy, either. Maybe she was nervous, like Akane had been on her first day? Or, maybe, she'd been forced to come to school, when she really didn't want to? She shook it off and faced forward. It was none of her business, anyway.
Recess couldn't have come soon enough for Ranma. She'd never been fond of school the few times that she'd had to attend it and this one was no exception. Honestly, she'd never had much use for school, anyway. Since her number one goal in life was to take over the Saotome School Of Anything-Goes Martial Arts, she didn't really need to learn any of these stupid subjects.
She watched as the guy next to her – called Akashi, if she remembered right – stood up and made his way across the room. Watching him, she noticed something odd about his face; it was strangely thin and delicate for a boy. She shook it off as nothing important and chuckled, wondering vaguely if Akashi had ever been teased for looking so feminine.
Two hands suddenly landed on her desk. "Hey, there!" a female voice said.
Ranma looked up and saw that the owner of the hands was a girl with long black hair and green eyes. She was smiling brightly, whilst being flanked by two other girls. One had long dark green hair tied into two ponytails and brown eyes and the other had shoulder-length dark brown hair and dark purple eyes.
"Hey," Ranma replied, suddenly feeling awkward.
She'd never been terribly good around girls. Their presence always made her feel nervous and that had only heightened after Shampoo had kissed her boy form on the lips. At the time, she'd been so stunned that her heart and brain had both malfunctioned at the same time.
"Ranko, wasn't it?"
"Uh, yeah..."
"Nice to meet you!" The girl lifted her hands off the desk and placed her wrists on her hips. "I can tell, just by looking at you, that we're gonna be great friends!" She pointed to herself with her thumb. "I'm Reina." She pointed to the dark green-haired girl with her index finger. "That's Rin." She pointed to the dark brown-haired girl. "And that's Ruka."
Ranma nodded as Reina lowered her arm. "Nice to meet you all."
"So," Rin said, "you wanna hang out with us, Ranko?"
"Uh..." Ranma wasn't sure whether she was comfortable with that. She'd been hoping to find some guys to hang out with, instead, but, maybe, in her current form, this was a better option. "Okay, sure."
"Great!" Ruka replied.
"I knew you'd come round," Reina said. She then grabbed a recently-vacated chair, pulled it up to Ranma's desk and sat down on it. "Pull up some chairs, you two."
"Okay!" both Rin and Ruka replied as they pulled up their own chairs and sat down on them.
Well... Ranma thought, as she looked over the three pretty girls that were sitting around her, this is weird...
"We took an interest in you the moment we saw you," Reina explained with a light smirk. "Can you guess why?"
"Um... no."
"Well," Rin replied, "one reason is that you're really pretty."
Ranma's stomach churned. She honestly wasn't sure whether or not she was happy about that comment. "Uh, thanks..."
Reina nodded. "Mmm-hmm," she said, "I love your hair, personally."
"And I love your eyes!" Ruka said.
"But that's not the only reason, is it, Reina?" Rin asked with a slight smirk.
Reina shook her head. "Not at all," she replied.
"Just think of our four names and you should get it, Ranko!" Ruka chirped happily.
Our names? Ranma thought. Let's see... Ranko... Reina... um... Rin... and Ruka... Ranko, Reina, Rin and Ruka... Her eyes widened in disbelief. "No way..." she said.
"That's right," Reina replied.
"All our names begin with 'R'!" Ruka added. "Isn't that cool?"
"Very cool, I'd say," Rin replied.
How strange, Ranma thought, as she smiled in amusement.
From the moment that she'd sat down, Akane had noticed something strange about Benjiro, Chikao and Daichi. All three of them had been staring mindlessly at Ranko. Only when the red-haired girl had been joined at her desk by three other girls did the boys turn away from her.
"That girl is so beautiful," Benjiro said dreamily. "I've never seen anything like her."
"Dude, she's hot," Chikao said, grinning. "I wonder what she looks like naked."
Akane bristled at that comment, but chose not to inflict pain on the guy, just in case it aroused suspicion about her.
"Yeah," Benjiro agreed, "seeing that would be pretty cool." He looked at Daichi. "Wouldn't it, Daichi?"
Daichi had been staring down at the desk, so his head shot up at the mention of his name. "Huh? Oh..." He looked over at Ranko, then blushed. "Yeah... cool..."
Chikao leaned forward on the desk. "I'd do her," he said. "What about you, Akashi?"
Akane was busy quietly fuming, so she jumped at the sound of her 'name'. "Me?" she asked. She took a moment to compose herself, then huffed in defiance. "Yeah, right. I'm not interested."
"Not interested?" all three boys asked in shock, as they leaned across the desk.
"You're kidding, right?" Benjiro asked.
Akane suddenly felt foolish. She'd only told the truth, but, maybe, she should have lied, instead. She wasn't going to change her story now, though. "No," she replied.
There was a pause. "Dude..." Chikao said, "are you gay, or something?"
Akane bristled again. Homosexuality was always a sensitive topic with her. She didn't know why. Maybe it was because she was fed up with male perverts and wanted to believe she could feel safe among females. Maybe she was afraid of how other people would treat her if they thought she was gay. Either way, there was no way she was allowing anyone to think her alter ego was some kind of pervert, so she went with the safest possible response.
"What? No!"
"You sure?" Daichi asked.
"Yes!"
All three boys leaned back in their chairs. "Okay, then," Benjiro replied. "So, who do you like?"
Akane jumped again at the unexpected question. "Hmm?"
"Yeah," Chikao said, "there must be someone you like the look of, right?" He waved his arm around the classroom. "Anyone you like in here?"
Akane groaned. No, she thought, the only person I like is Dr. Tofu. "Not really..." She paused, realising her mistake. She quickly tried to fix it. "Give it time, though." She forced a smile. "I'm sure I'll find someone."
Benjiro smiled back at her. "Yeah, okay," he replied.
Akane was relieved. Phew... safe...
"So, then, Ranko," Reina said, smirking slightly as she placed her arms on the desk, "what do you think of Akashi?"
Ranma blinked in confusion. "Akashi?" she asked.
"Yeah," Rin said excitedly, "isn't he cute?"
Ranma looked at her, wondering if she was insane. "Uh..."
"Of course she thinks he's cute!" Ruka said. "Who doesn't think he's cute?"
"I wouldn't mind seeing him in the shower," Reina said.
Rin giggled. "Reina!" she admonished. "How bad!"
"Don't deny you wouldn't, either."
"He's so cute!" Ruka squeaked. "I wanna marry him."
Ranma sighed in irritation. She looked over at Akashi to see what the appeal was, but, when nothing struck her, she looked away again. "I really don't see it, to be honest," she said.
"What?" all three girls asked in shock, as they leaned across the desk.
"Honestly?" Reina asked.
Ranma shrugged, not caring in the least that they considered this weird. It was the truth, after all. She really didn't find Akashi attractive. "Yeah," she replied.
There was a pause. "You're a lesbian, aren't you?" Rin asked.
"Yeah," Ruka agreed, "that must be it."
It took a lot to annoy Ranma, but this made her bristle. As a man among men, homosexuality was completely out of the question. If anyone ever got such an impression from his boy form, his reputation would be ruined. Anything involving his girl form utterly disgusted him, but he didn't want that reputation ruined, either.
"No! Don't be stupid!"
All three girls leaned back in their chairs. "So, you do like guys?" Reina asked.
Damn... Ranma thought, thoroughly irritated that they'd backed her into a corner. Working her brain furiously, she came up with an excuse. She leaned back in her chair and smirked. "I just haven't seen anyone I like yet, is all."
"Ohhh," Rin replied, "okay."
Reina shrugged. "Alright, whatever," she said.
Damn right, too, Ranma thought. Suddenly, a thought struck her. "You know," she said, "I'm surprised you three aren't fighting over who should get Akashi."
The three girls looked at each other, then there was a pause. Ranma was starting to wonder whether she'd said the wrong thing when all three burst out laughing.
"Interesting thought there, Ranko," Reina said.
"Fight over him!" Ruka said.
"Yeah, right," Rin added.
Eventually, they calmed down. "No, we're above that, Ranko," Reina explained. "The three of us have been friends for years..."
"Yeah!" Ruka agreed. "And we've always shared the same taste in boys, anyway!"
Rin shrugged. "It's kinda pointless fighting, you know?" she said.
Ranma was genuinely amazed. In all her travels, she'd never come across a group of people that were so selfless towards one another, especially since they all shared the same love interest. She smiled, pleased with the new friends that she'd made after so long on the road. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad settling down, after all.
