Part 6:
Ranma had made it only a few steps into the Tendo home when their mother had spotted them and pulled them into a hug.
"Oh, I was worried about you when—what happened to your hair, dear?" Nodoka asked.
Ranma looked up at her and blushed a little. "Er, well… I was kinda hopin' to explain that to everyone in one go? Or, well, get them to explain it?"
Ranma gestured over their shoulder to the Kasuga family, their mother's eyes following before lighting up with recognition.
"Takashi? Is that you?"
The Kasuga father nodded. "It seems my son and yours kind of… bumped into each other."
"Bumped… oh! Oh my!" Nodoka said, putting her hands on Ranma's shoulders and backing up to take a better look at them. "You two did look like twins when you were little… still, it's impressive you still both look so alike."
"So we really are related to them?" Ranma asked.
Nodoka gave a nod.
"Um… what does any of this mean?" Tendo Akane asked.
"We'll gather everyone up and explain, Akane, dear," Nodoka replied, leading Ranma off to the living room.
"YOU LEFT HIM WITH HAPPOSAI!?" Ranma shouted, slamming a fist into the table and glaring at their father.
Genma shrank back, eyes glancing to see the glare coming from his wife. He shrank back a bit more. "I thought he was you. You can handle yourself."
Ranma's eye twitched, before they pulled themself into a hug, rocking back and forth. "My poor body."
"Who, or what, is Happosai?" Kurumi asked.
Nabiki shook her head. "You do not want to know."
"That's just making me more curious," Kurumi muttered.
Kasumi gave a soft smile. "Hopefully you won't have to find out. Grandfather Happosai is… unpleasant."
"I think I'd like to know just what my son is dealing with," Takashi said, glancing towards Soun. It was clear he planned a father to father conversation and did not hold all that high an opinion of Genma.
"He's… handsy," Soun muttered. "I—"
"The old lech is a creep who should be in prison!" the youngest Tendo shouted, slamming the table herself (and cracking it in the process).
"W-well… probably… but he'd escape," Soun offered.
"He won't actually hurt Kyousuke. Not if everything I've heard about him is true," Ranma added. "At least, not physically."
Tendo Akane watched quietly as Ranma ran through some katas in the dojo. It was strange, the body Ranma was in looked so like their boy side, yet they were stumbling through moves that were only of middling difficulty.
"You're standing too high in that stance," she said, walking up to push them down.
"I know! I… I know,' Ranma replied, trying to soften their tone. "I know exactly what I should be doing, but this dumb body doesn't listen."
Akane gave a nod. She didn't really have a response for that. She also felt her own temper bristling. As much as she cared for Ranma, she'd always felt awkward about spending time with their boy side. She was just more comfortable with another girl, after everything… and now Ranma was going to be stuck as only a guy for who knew how long.
"Manami and Kasumi-san wanted me to tell you two that dinner is ready," a mischievous feminine voice called out from the door.
Glancing over, Akane felt her cheeks grow a little hot. That redhead was rather nice on the eyes, after all. She looked more mature than Ranma's girl mode. A bit taller, with similar curves and a longer face…
Akane quashed that feeling, though. Firstly, she and Ranma were engaged. Secondly, the other redhead was also named Akane, and, well, that was just weird, wasn't it?
Kyousuke lay in his tent, staring at the ceiling.
He was never going to even fantasize about using his hypnosis powers on a girl ever again.
[Author's note: a low bar, I know. But Kyousuke can kind of be trash sometimes.]
The Kasugas had gone home after dinner, leaving Ranma behind. Well, Ranma in Kyousuke's body. They'd spent the night in the room they tended to share with their mother. The night had been fairly peaceful, Ranma working through their homework for the summer.
Ranma had gotten up early the next morning, running through some basic drills. They felt a bit silly, training a body they were going to hopefully be out of soon, but knew they had to keep training their mind, at least. At breakfast the slow reflexes of Kyousuke's body had seen them barely get any food as Genma stole it all. Frustrated and hungry, they got dressed. They chose one of their less Chinese outfits, and headed down to the genkan to toss some shoes on.
"Are you heading out?" Akane asked as Ranma tied their laces.
Ranma nodded.
"I wouldn't risk going near Shampoo when you're weak like this… Ukyo might be bad enough," Akane said.
"'m not goin' ta either of 'em," Ranma muttered, standing up and trying to ignore the flaring worry about being weakened again.
"You aren't? Where are you going then?" Akane asked, walking over.
Ranma could see there was genuine concern in her eyes, and so let out a breath. "Kyousuke has a part time job. I gotta go in."
"Oh," Akane said softly. "When will you be back?"
"Dunno. I agreed t' do some martial arts practice with one of the coworkers after the shift," Ranma replied. "Don' really wanna be rude and cancel fer no reason, but the Kasugas say I can't really explain."
"Why can't you?" Akane asked.
"Most people get weirded out 'bout psychic stuff, I guess?" Ranma said, shrugging a little.
There was an awkward silence for a moment. Not sure what to do, Ranma sharply muttered 'so, bye' and then hurried off. This body still wasn't up to roof hopping, so Ranma jogged toward the nearest subway station. They did their best to avoid any of the usual trouble spots, though the old woman did manage to splash them. They'd learned that water magnetism was a family trait, not a Jusenkyo trait and that Kyousuke often ended up dunked.
Or it might have been a 'both' situation. That would probably take math to figure out. Math that was beyond them.
They were, thankfully, more or less dry by the time they made it down to Setagaya. That meant the run around at the ABCB cafe was only unpleasant due to the occasional demanding customer. Both Madoka and the Master were there, it being a busy Saturday. That helped balance the chaos a bit, and gave them more chances to to a quick break.
Either way, their shifts passed soon enough and Ranma was now left with Madoka. She'd changed into more athletic clothing after the shift, Ranma having simply worn some of their regular kung-fu pants the whole time. They had no idea what to do, though. Well, they knew what to do on the martial arts side. Not the 'left with Madoka' side. If they wanted to still seem like Kyousuke and avoid suspicions they should respond to any of Madoka's romantic gestures. But that would be disloyal to Akane.
"Do you want any help with stretches?" Madoka asked, a soft smile on her face as they arrived at a quiet open field.
"I, uh, I think I know enough?" Ranma replied, nervously rubbing the back of their head.
Madoka gave a nod, and went about her own stretches. Ranma got through some basics fine, until they tried a quad stretch and found themselves wobbling, this body having far inferior balance to their own. It wasn't that the move was difficult, but they'd put less thought into balance than was needed. Madoka had caught them before they were balanced, though.
"Moving too quickly again, aren't you, Kyousuke?" Madoka asked.
Ranma couldn't help blushing at how close her face was.
"S-sorry. A little impatient with myself," Ranma replied, after a moment of being flustered.
The dark haired girl nodded slowly. They were silent for a moment, Ranma suddenly feeling extremely self conscious of their current form. Not the part of it being their cousin's, but the part of it being tall and male. If they'd been in their small and female form they'd have melted into Madoka's arms for sure. She had a good firm grip.
Instead they cleared their throat and broke away, resuming their stretches. Madoka gave a nod and did the same.
They both ran through some general warm ups, before Ranma slid into a kata (that they claimed to have seen on TV sometime). Madoka gave soft advice, without the judgmental edge Akane had seemed to have. It was probably due to differing expectations of Ranma's (or Kyousuke's) ability, but it was nice to hear a softer tone right now.
"Did you want to try running through a little sparring?" Madoka asked.
"Oh, I… well, it's kind of awkward as a guy spars a girl and then people get all judgy," Ranma replied, squirming self-consciously.
"I spar with Hino-kun fairly often," Madoka replied.
It took Ranma a moment to place the name, recalling the tanned boy with poofy hair. "Well, he's younger, but… I guess we cou—"
"There you are!"
Ranma and Madoka turned, spotting the redheaded Akane jogging their way.
"Oh, hello Akane-kun," Madoka said, her smile looking slightly strained.
"Hey there, Madoka-chan," the redhead replied, beaming away. "I'd love to stay and enjoy your wonderful company but Ra—ah-herm… but Kyousuke's m-dad phoned asking where he was. It's getting a bit late and they had family plans."
Madoka gave a nod, before turning to Ranma with a smile. "Sure thing. We'd done the main part of our workout anyway."
"I'll, uh, see you next shift?" Ranma offered to the dark haired girl.
"That sounds nice," Madoka said with a smile that made Ranma's heart quicken nearly as much as one of Akane's would have.
Tendo Akane's. Not Kasuga Akane's. Why did they have to end up with a cousin who shared a name with their fiancee?
Before they could think about that any further, the redheaded Akane grabbed them by the hand and started dragging them off down the street.
"What's the rush, anyhow?" Ranma protested.
"Your mom was doting on Kazuya yesterday, and apparently the brat snuck up to Nerima on his own hoping she'd buy him chocolate and sweets," the redhead explained. "Your mom thinks he's adorable, but it's getting a bit late and she wanted me to pick him up."
Ranma nodded. "So why do I have to come along too?"
"You technically don't, but I saw you flirting with Madoka-chan, and I don't think your dear fiancee will be very happy about that," she said.
"Which fiancee?" Ranma asked, adopting a sarcastic tone as they approached the subway station.
"W-which? How many do you have?" Kasuga Akane asked, eyes going wide.
"Uh… three active engagements, that I know of? I've sorted out a couple so far, though?" Ranma replied, before seeing the look their cousin Akane was giving them. "Listen, my pops kept promising my hand in marriage in exchange for things. I didn't ask for any of 'em."
"Why do the boys in this family get to hog all the cute girlfriends?" Akane muttered as they reached the station platform, crossing her arms.
Ranma was ready to protest about only being half boy when a voice called out 'Kasuga!'. Ranma had been answering to the name long enough to turn, while the redhead accompanying them had answered to it all her life.
For a moment Ranma thought the person how had called them was a delicate nerdy boy, but, as the figure approached, they reassessed that to a butch girl (who might still be nerdy?). She was also kind of cute, though Ranma had to admit they'd always been a sucker for short haired and/or boyish girls.
(Sure, they were also a sucker for Shampoo, but a girl that cute who could lift 150kg one handed had to meet anyone's standards, surely?)
"Haven't seen you all summer, how are you, Kasuga?" the girl said, grinning away.
"Uh… fine?" Ranma offered.
"Always hanging out with one beautiful girl or another, I see," the bespectacled girl said. "Must make your girlfriend sooo jealous."
"Um, well, this is my cousin?" Ranma replied.
"Kasuga Akane," the redhead said. "And you are?"
"Sugi Hiromi," the boyish girl replied. "I'm your cousin's classmate. We knew each other at his old school too."
"Oh really?" the redheaded Akane asked, a nervous look in her eyes.
"Yeah, we… oh! My train!" Hiromi said as the westbound train arrived. "We'll talk another time!"
The two cousins gave the girl an awkward wave. Akane seemed deep in thought, but Ranma wasn't sure what about. Their train arrived soon after, though, and the pair hopped on.
It took a couple of transfers to get up to Furinkan, Tokyo being an obnoxiously massive city. They made the trip all the same, the redheaded Akane asking Ranma more information about their various engagements the whole trip. Ranma gave vague answers to most things, honestly preferring to pretend many things involved had never happened.
"You really thought she was a boy?" the redhead asked as they got closer to the Tendo Dojo.
"Ucchan's a real tomboy, ok?" Ranma grumbled.
"You and Kyouske both need to get better at telling girls from guys," she replied. "Apparently he thought Madoka was a boy when she was younger too… and then there's his constant questions about my femininity. Just because I happen to have taste and like girls more than guys…"
"Heh, you and A—Tendo Akane should really hang out more, then," Ranma said as they reached the door.
"Your fiancee's a lesbian too?" the redhead asked, an eyebrow raised.
"What? N—er… I just meant she tends ta find guys annoyin' is all," Ranma replied, cheeks growing hot as they remembered many soft and tender moments shared when they were both girls.
As such they simply stewed in flustered silence while removing their shoes. The redheaded Akane looked confused, and also intrigued. She seemed about to say something when Kasumi arrived from the kitchen.
"Oh, good, you're both here," Kasumi said. "Kasuga-chan, your little brother should be in the living room with auntie Nodoka. I suspect he might end up with a cavity after all the chocolates she's given him."
"Mom and dad'll be thrilled," the girl grumbled. "Kazuya and his sweet tooth…"
"Will you and him be staying for dinner?" Kasumi asked.
"Oh, no. We couldn't," the redhead replied. "We'll grab something on the way home. He's already imposed on you all enough."
Kasuga Akane had read Kazuya an abbreviated form of the riot act after they left the Tendo dojo, knowing that their mother would provide him with the long form when they got home. The little six year old brat sneaking across half of Tokyo just to get pampered by his aunt… she half wanted to strangle him. Her poor Aunt Nodoka couldn't resist his charms, though. Kazuya just had to look just like Ranma had before leaving on that deranged training journey and pulled at her heart.
There was something strange with the genetics in her family, she knew that much. All the boys looking so similar…
She also knew she was hungry, and didn't feel like waiting until they got the trains back to Setagaya. Plus, something smelled wonderful.
Turning to the source of the smell, the redheaded Akane spotted a restaurant called 'Ucchan's'. That had to be the one run by Ranma's one fiancee.
And didn't Ranma say they got free food there?
The redhead summoned up her Power, feeling the slight buzz in the back of her mind as her hypnosis set to work. She'd been training with it, and could now generally fool a small group of people at a time.
"C'mon, twerp. Let's get some dinner," she said.
"What are you planning, sis?" Kazuya grumbled.
He was immune to her Power, but could sense she was using it.
"Free food," she said, before heading into the restaurant.
The brunette behind the counter glanced at her, before lighting up with a smile. "Ran-chan!"
Akane took a moment to move at that point. A girl that cute looking at her like that… man did she envy Ranma.
"Hey there, Ucchan," Kasuga Akane replied, knowing that Ukyo would hear the voice she wanted to hear, despite Akane not quite knowing what Ranma sounded like. "Any room for us for a quick dinner?"
"Of c—ooh! He's adorable," Ukyo said, leaning forward to look at Kazuya. "He looks just like you did when you ate those mushrooms! Who is he?"
Mushrooms? Akane shook her head, dismissing that. "He's my kid cousin Kasuga Kazuya. My mom just found out some of the family had moved to Tokyo and we've been hanging out."
"He's adorable!" Ukyo said. "C'mon. I'll give ya both something tasty, on the house, of course. I'm guessin' a Ranchan special for you, and what did you want handsome?"
Kazuya asked for just a small side. If Akane had been paying more attention she'd have made a jab about him having ruined his appetite with candy, but… she wasn't. She had a cute girl fawning over her right now. A cute girl with a cute accent. That soft Kansai slang in a lovely (oddly familiar) voice… Akane couldn't help smiling softly at the other girl.
"I will say, I'm glad you're actin' calmer than you were at the beach, sugar," Ukyo said as she tossed a plate over Akane's way.
"Oh, heh, yeah… I think I had gotten too much sun or something," Akane replied, while silently sending grumpy thoughts Kyousuke's way.
The idiot did not appreciate girls enough.
Kyousuke blinked. He recognised these hills.
"Now which way was it from here," the mosquito of a man said as Kyousuke caught up to him.
"Where are we going?" Kyousuke asked, adjusting the backpack that he was pretty sure weighed more than he did.
He didn't really want to think about what was in the backpack, but, well… he did. As much as he wanted to improve after being subjected to the old pervert's groping, he was still a heterosexual teenage boy. He found a mountain of lingerie distracting.
"I've got a friend around here who can probably figure out what's wrong with you," Happosai replied with a nod. "It's not fun when you don't have your fire. Well, it's fine if you exchange that fire for more femininity like that one time, but… somehow you're less feminine too. Your chi tastes all wrong because of it. Let's go!"
Kyousuke's eye twitched. Was this old creep some sort of chi parasite?
Was that a thing?
Kyousuke remained tempted to use the Power on the old creep, but suspected that wouldn't end well. He could endure a little more hiking through the mountains.
Especially with these hills becoming very familiar. Maybe his grandparents existed in this parallel universe thing-y and he could get help from them? Assuming they'd still recognise him as their grandson. This version of him had different parents after all.
Parallel universes were confusing. Still, it made a bit more sense than that one where Akane was leading a biker gang and somehow Komatsu and Hatta were cops. Despite being 15.
Kyousuke did a double take at the building they'd just walked up to. This was his grandparents home!?
Happosai tossed the front door open and shouted out Kyousuke's grandfather's name.
"You home, you lanky grump?" Happosai called out with a laugh.
A few moments later Kyousuke's grandfather emerged from around a corner. "Happosai you old gremlin, what brings you around? And who's the young girl?"
Kyousuke winced at the reminder of which form he was stuck in. It was Japan. It rained a lot. There weren't many hot baths to be had on the road.
"A student," Happosai replied. "Someone I'd like to talk to you about, actually. Probably privately, due to… you know."
Kyousuke's grandfather nodded. "Of course, of course. Dear, can you come keep one of our guests company?"
"Sure, I could use someone to help peel potatoes," Kyousuke's grandmother called back.
"Mhm, follow me this way," grandpa Kasuga said, leading Kyousuke down a hallway he knew well. "I must say, I'm surprised to see a lovely young girl such as yourself training with old Happosai."
Kyousuke could only grimace. He needed a hot bath, and then maybe his grandparents would recognise him? Maybe.
Instead he just sat quietly at the table, his grandfather heading off while his grandmother was focused on the sink. It took a minute or two for her to turn around, a colander full of potatoes in her hands. She did a double take when she looked at him.
"My, you really look like my granddaughters, you know that?"
Kyousuke blinked. "I… do?"
His grandmother nodded. "That same baby face as the twins, but otherwise so like Akane. Or, I suppose, like Nodoka did at your age…"
Nodoka? Wasn't that the name of the mom of this 'Ranma' version of him? Or… was something else happening here?
"Wait one second… your internal voice," his grandmother said.
"Pardon?" Kyousuke replied.
"I'm not quite as good at mind reading as little Kazuya, but I can pick up a voice that sounds rather deeper than your normal voice. And seems very familiar," the old woman said with a raised eyebrow.
"If you get me a kettle I can maybe explain a few things," Kyousuke replied.