Chapter 9

Ranma had considered ditching school after the kitsune had left, but she decided that it would be best to not act in haste. While she was certainly keen on getting herself back to normal, or what passed for it, she had to admit that Inari's invitation was a bit dubious. The kami in question wanted to offer their help by showing her where her own kind lived, but just what — exactly — did that entail? What did she have to gain from that if she didn't want to be one of them in the first place?

Still, if there was a chance of changing herself back without having to force herself to change who she was as a person, the least that she could do was see Inari and ask for more details. She knew that it would be for the best if she changed how she felt and thought about certain things, since she wasn't of a mind to abandon the life that she had, and thus the situation at the crux of her current predicament — that being her engagement to Kasumi. However, the idea of making herself go through such a change of character just didn't sit right with her.

On one hoof, she wanted nothing more than to just put her problems aside and stop thinking about them, for her own peace of mind if nothing else. On the other hoof, she wanted more time to think about the prospects of responding to Inari's offer. On the other other hoof, she wondered if she had the luxury to ignore her problems for any length of time, instead of trying to address them as soon as possible. And on yet another hoof of the "other" variety, she worried that she might choose to visit others of her own kind as a form of escapism.

So, in the end, she decided to return to the classroom. She reasoned that she could spare a few hours either thinking about the situation or finding a distraction, and the aforementioned setting could provide her with both. Besides which, if she ended up spending a lot of time in her current form, and it wasn't enough of a reason to keep her out of school, she figured that it would be best to find out if it would work out now in order to get it over with.

The reception that she got from her classmates — as she re-entered the classroom from the balcony — was a quiet one, even though she had once again become the center of their attention. Seeing their reservation to speak even though the first period class had yet to start, and the questions behind some of their gazes, among a fair number of dirty looks and those of betrayal, she assumed that they had learned about her identity while she had been absent. Either way, she ignored them and went to her desk, which — surprisingly — was not beyond her body's new dimensions to accommodate. It wasn't a particularly good or comfortable fit, but it worked well enough and she imagined that it could be improved with some adjustments.

After the first period teacher arrived and took his place behind the lectern, he paused upon noticing her and stared for a few seconds. However, he'd probably seen and been through enough at the school to be able to pretend that nothing strange was afoot, so that was probably why it didn't take him long to get back on track and start his lesson. Considering the possibility of inviting trouble upon oneself when acknowledging or getting involved in strange matters that wasn't one's own, it wasn't a surprising or uncommon response.

That didn't stop a lot of her classmates from staring at her, of course; especially when she began to use her telekinesis to write with her pencil. Or tried to, at least: she quickly found that the level of control needed to write legibly, without making the characters many times larger than they needed to be, was well beyond her current ability. She didn't even realize how good of a distraction that she had found in the problem, with the necessity to overcome it for the sake of school work not even occurring to her, because she could only see positive things coming out of gaining more control over her new ability.

Time began to fly by in the same manner that the pages of her notebook did, as she worked to improve the efficiency of her writing without a care for what the rest of the class were being made to do. Aside from being interrupted by a couple of notes being sent her way, which she responded to if the questions being asked weren't stupid and/or too personal, she spent the entire period trying to make the more stroke-intensive kanji that she knew of smaller and smaller. She didn't get them as small as she would have liked by the time that the period ended, but was otherwise satisfied that she had made some progress.

During the break between classes, several of her classmates — mostly boys — gathered up the nerve to approach her at her desk to ask questions and engage her in light conversation. It was a fairly awkward affair for both sides, at first, but it didn't take long for everyone to relax. She was only annoyed by a question about her curse, regarding whether she still turned into a girl or not, since quite a number of guys were disappointed to hear that she was stuck with her new appearance for the time being.

Akane had her own crowd, asking her questions that they weren't comfortable conveying to Ranma directly, which didn't help much since their desks were next to each other, though plenty were more interested in her side of the situation seeing as they were either fellow girls or friends. She handled the situation with enough patience and grace, all things considered. The hardest part was talking about the contest, and her loss, but — thankfully — a few of her more insightful friends had made sure that the conversation didn't linger on that sore spot for very long.

After the initial curiosity and interest had more or less been sated, their classmates ceased to bother them as much between periods — not any more than usual, anyway. However, due to word of yesterday's events being spread from another source as well, with Nabiki and Tatewaki being the likely culprits, the third break saw other students straying from their classrooms to visit theirs, and with it certain information that Ranma and Akane had held out on began to circulate amongst their classmates — particularly, that Ranma was now engaged to Kasumi.

Ranma and Akane didn't want to talk about it — not just yet. However, they were aware that the whispers would end and they'd be confronted about it come lunch time, since there wasn't a lot of time for it during the third break and lunch would provide a lot of time and opportunity for many people to pursue the matter. That didn't stop the notes from coming during class, but a non-confrontational method of communication such as that was easy enough to disregard.

Between wanting to avoid that and making up her mind to see what Inari's angle was, Ranma decided that lunch time would be a good time as any to visit one of the kami's Shinto shrines. She'd have to stop by the house first, though, since it would be rather rude — even for her — if she didn't tell her mother and Kasumi where she was going, and why. As far as her mother was concerned, she also wanted to show her some initiative, in order to stave off any rising doubt about her manliness for a bit longer. As for Kasumi... Considering what she had shared with her last night, she didn't think that disappearing without a word, or any direct contact, would be wise.

Before the bell signaled the end of fourth period, and — therefore — the start of lunch, she had the presence of mind to write Akane a note that said, "I've decided to follow a lead that might help me change back. Will you be okay?"

After reading the note, Akane turned to regard her and stared for a moment, searchingly, before she offered a weak smile and raised a thumb in reply.

While she was relieved by the answer, she also felt a little guilty about leaving Akane to deal with their gossip-hungry peers all by herself. However, there was a certain aspect about the situation that said peers could only get from the horse's mouth, literally speaking, and she would much rather avoid the subject altogether. Even if Kasumi wasn't an older woman, or herself a horse, it was no business of theirs what they did together, and she certainly didn't want to hear any of their speculations on the matter when she refused to speak about it.

When the bell finally rang, she opened a window with her telekinesis and flew out of the classroom before anyone else could get out of their seat. She didn't waste any time putting the school behind her because she wanted her detour at the house to be brief, so she could find out what the deal was with Inari. False hope wasn't something that she wanted or needed, so she felt it best to address what was up for offer now and get it over with. If it turned out to be useful, the sooner she might get her problem resolved; if useless, she could put it behind her and move on to something that might prove more worthwhile.

It didn't take her long to see where she lived from the sky, though she was already quite familiar with where it was relative to the school. Flying directly to her destination got her there in record time, and it wasn't long before she landed in the garden, between the koi pond and the house. She absently noted the laundry that had been left out to dry as she trotted toward the living room, where she saw Kasumi sitting at the table all by herself.

She opened her mouth and prepared to greet her, but stopped short of doing so and paused just outside of the house when she noticed the subdued expression on her face, as she stared down at the tabletop. It was a rare sight to behold, to be seeing her in such a state, and it made her wonder about the cause. She was pretty sure that she was within Kasumi's peripheral vision, though, and to have not been noticed yet said something about what might be on her mind.

The ability to deal with this kind of situation in a proficient capacity wasn't among her repertoire of social skills. In fact, she could be rather bad about addressing matters where certain emotions were involved, no thanks — in part — to the effects that the neko-ken had on her actions. As such, she was rather tempted to act like she hadn't noticed anything and hope for the best.

However, this was the woman that she was engaged to marry, without question, and — unlike other people that she could mention — she'd yet to give her a reason to fear some kind of trouble for trying to communicate with her on a more personal level. She wasn't the type to get too touchy-feely, defensive, possessive or happy if someone were to express concern for her, as far as she knew.

After a moment of indecision, she hesitantly spoke up and said, "Kasumi? Is... something wrong?"

Kasumi was jolted out of her reverie and regarded her with confusion. "Ranma?"

Rather than address the reason for why she was there right then, instead of being at school, Ranma entered the house and made her way over to the table in silence. As she did so, she checked to see if they had any privacy, and had mixed feelings when she didn't sense anyone nearby: because she was unsure about following through with her decision, and might have latched on to an excuse to back out of it. She could hear the sound of water running in the kitchen for a few seconds, and again by the time she sat down across from Kasumi, so she concluded that her mother was preoccupied with washing the dishes for the time being.

Trying to act as casually as she could, despite how awkward and nervous she felt, she looked Kasumi in the eye and prompted her with a simple, "Well?"

"Oh..." Kasumi worried her lip as she considered her response, since she was speaking to her newly-betrothed, before deciding on an answer with a sigh that was equal parts relief and resignation. "Well, Tofu came to visit me earlier..."

A silence fell between them, because Ranma was late in realizing that she would need to help carry the conversation along if she wanted to know anything more. Neither of them had made a habit of sharing personal matters with others, so opening up to each other wasn't an ideal way of changing that. Still, they were willing, and Ranma — in particular — could be quite stubborn when she set her mind to something.

"What did he do?" She questioned, her brow slightly furrowed.

Kasumi was a little surprised by what was being implied, but she was quick to clear things up. "Oh, no, it wasn't anything he had done. He just wanted to know why I had done to him... what I did." She sighed, and began to slouch a bit. "He took my answer pretty well, all things considered, but I..." She lowered her head and cast her eyes to the table. "I'm ashamed by what I've done, and it has been weighing on my mind ever since he left."

The thought of Kasumi being the wrongdoer, rather than the victim of the wrongdoing, made Ranma pause and wonder if she wanted to learn anything more about it. While it was certainly intriguing what someone like Kasumi could have done to wrong someone, she was wary of sating her curiosity because of all of the land mines that she had stepped on in the past; especially now that she had a greater awareness and control of her actions.

Kasumi glanced up and noticed the unsure expression on Ranma's face, since no immediate answer seemed to be forthcoming. After some consideration, she made sure that she could still hear Ranma's mother in the kitchen before she decided that now would be as good of a time as any to officially take her fiancé into her confidence. Ranma already knew one of her biggest secrets anyway, and it was her hope that being able to confide in each other would be good for their prospective relationship.

After drawing herself up and taking a measured breath, she softly said, "A few years ago, not long after my sixteenth birthday, Tofu approached me to confess his feelings. I had been aware of his interest for a while, but I hadn't known how to deal with it. At the time, I'd only recently realized and acknowledged my... inclination, and I was still trying to figure out how I might avoid suspicion if I kept turning men away."

"To make a long story short," she went on, with a rueful expression on her face, "I panicked. He didn't get a chance to finish his confession when — out of desperation — I struck his funny bone pressure point."

Ranma looked at her incredulously. "Funny bone... pressure point?"

Kasumi nodded her head faintly. "When applied, whatever the subject happens to be focusing their attention on the most — at the time of application — will cause them to act, well..."

"Funny?" Ranma supplied, with a shake of her head. She'd just assumed that it was some kind of strange quirk, even though it was a behavior that was at odds with everything else that she knew about the man. To think that Kasumi had been the cause... It explained, at least, why Kasumi had one of the doctor's shiatsu books all that time ago. She had wondered about it at the time, but had quickly forgotten all about it because of other matters.

Kasumi deflated a little, and looked down in shame. "I wanted to reverse it so many times, but he didn't really seem aware of his behavior. I was afraid he would realize that I had done something to him once he was no longer under the influence of the pressure point, and I didn't want to tell him why I had done it if asked, so I convinced myself that everything would work out if I kept my contact with him to a minimum. I thought — if given enough time — I could figure out another solution, but..."

She didn't need to finish that sentence, since Ranma knew how things had turned out. Tofu had been affected by the pressure point long enough for him to notice that something was wrong, despite the disconnect that it had caused between his normal behavior and how he had behaved with Kasumi. If their confrontation had ended well enough between them, though, it made her wonder if Kasumi had ended up telling him her sexual preference despite all of her past efforts to avoid it.

It also made her wonder about how she should respond. What Kasumi had done to Tofu hadn't been right, of course, but — at the same time — she could empathize with her. She knew how it felt to have something about oneself that one wished to keep hidden from others, because they didn't like the idea of being mistreated or ostracized. Plus, now that they were expected to marry, she felt like she should be supportive instead of reproachful. Unfortunately, it wasn't something that she had a lot of experience with, and she didn't have enough confidence to know if she would be able to say the right thing in the right way.

She was spared from her dilemma when she heard footfalls in the hallway, drawing closer, and she got to watch Kasumi fix her posture and put up a facade before her mother walked into the room. It had been the first time that she had seen such behavior from her, so it wasn't hard for her to pretend that she hadn't been expecting her mother when she appeared.

Her mother paused just inside of the room and frowned when she saw her sitting at the table. "Ranma? Why aren't you in school?"

"Oh, hey, mom," she said, playing it casual. "It seems like Inari wants to help me, so I thought: why wait? I just thought I'd stop by to let you know that I might be gone for a while."

Kasumi's eyes widened upon hearing a certain detail, while her mother had to close her mouth after it had gone slack, who belatedly asked, "Did you just say... Inari?"

"Yup," came Ranma's simple acknowledgement.

Overwhelmed by such news being delivered, her mother felt that it would be a good idea to sit down, and claimed her own side of the table.

"Do you know how long you will be gone?" Kasumi posed, since Ranma's mother hadn't objected outright, and because she had mixed feelings about them being separated for very long. She felt that she would have an easier time getting closer to Ranma as she currently was, since it would be awkward for her if she were a human man once more, and off-putting on top of that because of the pressures that would no doubt close in on them once they were compatible in "that way" again.

Ranma shook her head in reply. "I don't know. I wasn't told exactly how I would be helped. All I know for certain is that I can decide how long I'll be away, so I might not be gone for very long at all. I won't know for sure until I learn more."

After a moment of consideration, her mother decided to share her opinion on the matter. "Well, this is Inari that we are talking about. We should feel honored that they are willing to extend their aid to you. I would be willing to give you however much time you would need to pursue this stroke of good fortune, in order to reclaim your proper body, though I would hope to see you back in a reasonable amount of time."

"Don't worry," Ranma assured them both, as she rose to her hooves. "I wouldn't want to be gone any longer than necessary."

As Ranma's mother smiled in approval, Kasumi decided to respond with a token — fairly half-hearted — show of support, with a simple, "Be careful," and kept how she truly felt about the matter to herself.