Chapter 3 Ranma's Story

Ranma started her story by saying, "My father wanted my brother to be the best martial artist in the world. He felt the only path to getting there was through masculinity. He was so obsessed it that he started to treat me just the same as my brother so that I could improve my martial arts."

Akane asked, "Did you and your brother get along?"

Ranma looked away. She closed her eyes and said, "Yes. We're very close, but my father was never happy with me. He always said that girls were too soft. I was always a bit of a tomboy, but dad wasn't satisfied with me just acting like a boy. He wanted me to …to dress like one too."

Akane patted Ranma's shoulder and said, "So that's why you're wearing boxer shorts, then?"

Ranma nodded.

"Have you ever worn a bra and panties before?"

"Yes, years ago. We were living in a hotel in China after our training trip in the mountains … ended badly. Pops was pulling some dirty tricks to get money and food to pay for the room. One evening, he said he ran into someone from his past who he called 'master'. He told me he was going out with him that night and wouldn't be back until later.

Ranma looked at a light bulb hanging from the ceiling and explained, "He came back early in the morning wearing a mask and carrying a large bag. I asked him what was in it, but he wouldn't tell me. He was tired, so he went to bed not long after he showed up. I was really curious about what was in the bag, so I snuck a look. It was full of panties and bras."

Akane fumed, "That thieving pervert."

"Yeah, I was pretty sure it was stolen. It was pretty obvious; some of them had names sown on them. Anyway, I was curious about them but wasn't sure what to do. I knew if he woke up and saw me looking into his bag, he'd be upset. I grabbed a big handful of them. It was the first time I've ever held something like that in my hands. I played it safe and stashed them away where he couldn't find them.

"The next morning, he went into the public bath to clean off, I stayed home and took the opportunity to look at the bra and panties I had been hiding. I tried them on and was amazed at how comfortable they felt… and how feminine it made me feel. I also felt guilty for disobeying him." Ranma looked up and sighed. Her eyes shimmered a little. "Unfortunately, I was spending too much time trying them all on, and he showed up at the door while I was modeling them in the mirror."

"How embarrassing." Akane sympathized.

"He threw his bath kit on the ground and yelled at me. He asked, 'where did you get that?'. I was so scared, I could barely answer him. I told him I was sorry." Ranma sighed. "The last thing I ever wanted to do was to disappoint him. But he was…very angry with me. He ripped all of my underwear off of me and said if he caught me wearing it again, he'd disappear and never come back."

Akane looked shocked yet sympathetic. She asked delicately, "What happened after that? Did you obey him?"

"Yes, for a while. But by the time I was 14, I was pretty big in the chest already. I quickly learned that it was nearly impossible to go without some kind of support. I rebelled and thought I'd just sneak a bra on during our training trip in the mountains. I was careless during one our sparring matches and my shirt tore open accidentally. He saw my bra and he looked shocked. He didn't order me to take it off; instead he said 'I'm going for a walk.' and left."

"He came back after a couple of days. He said he knew how to fix everything." Ranma rubbed her arms and shuddered, "It was when he got back that things got bad. He had a book on some kind of ancient training technique he wanted to try that would 'put the fight back in me'. I was worried that he hated me, so I couldn't help but agree to whatever he wanted.

"He said, 'I am going to show you the training method of the legendary Cat-fist.' He led me to an abandoned warehouse. Then he had me stand still while he tied me up. I think I started freaking out when he opened a trap door. I tried to ask him what he was doing, but he wouldn't answer. H-he took out some fish sausages out of the bag and began to wrap them around me then said, 'I thought I trained you hard enough and toughened you up. But then you disappointed me.' He held up the bra I wore before. He threw it into the pit. I could hear a strange mewling sound. When I looked down, I saw a small room with hundreds of ... hundreds of...c-cats."

Akane covered her mouth in horror.

"H-he pushed me into the hole and I landed on the floor with all of those sausages, then he shut the trap door and locked me in."

Akane put her arms around Ranma and hugged her. She held the girl at arm's length and said, "I'll can never forgive him for what he's done to you. I'll kill him."

"No, Akane-chan, please don't do anything," Ranma pleaded, "He's too strong. Why do you think I haven't done anything so far?"

Akane said, "I don't care how good he thinks he is. If I ever see him lay a hand on you, he's a dead man. What kind of monster would do something like that to their own child?"

"He does have a softer side to him." Ranma defended, trying to calm Akane down, "When I started to have nightmares about c-cats, I would cry in my sleep. After two weeks of this, he disappeared. There was a note by my bed. It said, 'I'll be back when I can find a cure.' I know it sounds bad, but I was sure he was mad at himself for making me suffer."

Akane shook her head, "Ran-chan, he left his only daughter in a Hotel with no way to survive. I know you want to believe he's acting in your best interests, but he isn't good for you."

"I won't defend my father's actions. I did suffer because of him leaving like he did…" Ranma said, trailing off in thought. The truth was, her father was trying to find a cure for the curse, even if he did leave her with no way to survive. She had been kicked out of the hotel room and slept outside. She was female most of the time because of being outside in the rain and having no access to hot water. She continued, "…I begged for food to survive. Sometimes I flirted with guys when that didn't work. One of them offered to give me a place to stay. When I arrived at his place, he tried to undress me against my will. I beat him up, but it left me shaken. One day, I was in the market feeling sorry for myself. I asked a guy if he'd buy me some food when a lady said, 'A proper young lady shouldn't act like that.' She asked me where my parents were, and when I told her about my father, she took me in."

"Thank Kami-sama." Akane said, slightly relieved.

"She was so wonderful. She enrolled me in school, bought me clothes and gave me a room of my own. I was really happy. Things were going well. My adopted mother really cared about me. She helped me with my fears, too."

"A year went by and I had made some friends and adjusted to my new life until one day I came from school wearing my school uniform. I heard some shouting in the living room, so I went to see what was going on. My father was there… enraged and shouting with my foster mother. He said that there was no way he'd allow me to be raised like a sissy. Anyway, I was still scared of him, so I apologized to him and told him it was my foster mother's idea to wear the girl's clothes and promised him I'd take them off. He said that wasn't good enough; but I stood up to him and said I wouldn't go. He punched me in the face, and my foster mom called the police. Before he ran off, he said, 'I just went all over China to find a cure for your weakness and this is how you repay me?'" Ranma knew the cure was for her curse so she could "man up" and get over her girlish fears, but couldn't tell Akane that.

"What happened after that?"

"He snuck into my room at night, knocked me out and kidnapped me. When I woke up, I was back in the mountains. That's when we met up with the Amazons and were chased out of China."

"I don't understand something, Ranko. Why didn't your brother try to help you? How could he stand by while you're being abused?"

Ranma realized her mistake. She didn't think to add her male self into the story. She said, "Because he was afraid of his father like me."

Akane hugged Ranma tightly and said, "You're safe now. I won't let anything happen to you."

Ranma hugged back and rest her head on the taller girl's shoulder. She let some tears fall and said, tremulously, "I hope so."

"Let's not think about it. How about we go have a sparring match, okay?"

Ranma nodded.