Chapter 2: Passing the Reins

With the way Akane had been staring at him all through school, Ranma was glad it was a Saturday. It gave her fewer classes to stare at him. He didn't know what was on her mind. Maybe she was mad at him for not telling her about the whispers. Maybe it was the plan to let the spirit of the spring stretch her legs from time to time with his body that was making her uncomfortable. Or... maybe she just thought he was crazy, hearing a voice in his head. Even though she'd talked to that voice herself on multiple occasions.

Either way, he made a run for it as soon as the final bell rang. He couldn't handle that look any more. What he wanted was answers. Answers he hoped Cologne could offer.

It didn't take long for him to bounce across the roofs of Furinkan between the high school and the Neko Hanten. There was still a bit of a lunch rush, but he was feeling too impatient to wait for a quieter moment. He hopped down from the roof across the street and strolled in. As expected, Shampoo tackled him with a hug that all but knocked him off his feet. The girl was nearly as strong as Ryoga, he swore.

"Hey, Shampoo," he managed, under the iron vice that was her hug. "Is the old mummy around?"

"Great grandmother is in the kitchen. Surely airen prefers Shampoo's company, though?" the girl asked, nuzzling her head against his chest.

"I've got questions 'bout the curse and meditations," Ranma replied, wiggling his way out of her grip.

"Oh…. Okay. Shampoo will take you to her."

Ranma nodded, following her back to the kitchen. Cologne was slicing up some green onions when they arrived, gracefully wielding a knife nearly as long as she was tall.

"Great grandmother, airen has questions for you," Shampoo said.

The ancient woman looked up at him, one eyebrow raised. "What is it now, son-in-law?"

"It's, uh... it's about the spirit a' the curse," Ranma said.

"Spirit of the curse?" Cologne asked, her eyes filling with what Ranma read as curiosity.

Ranma fussed, scratching the back of his neck. Why did she seem so confused by the question?

"Yeah? The, uh... the spirit a'... well, I think it's the girl that drowned? Or... may some sorta spirit that formed from the magic a' the spring proper? But, well, she, uh, whispers t' me sometimes? An', apparently, she's taken over twice? Once when I banged my head real bad and then yesterday when my mum came by, and, uh... well, that ain't important. What's important is that I wanna know how I can, like, talk with her and maybe control when she takes over?" Ranma said, growing ever more worried with how the other two were staring at him. "...what?"

"I've not heard of spirits of the cursed speaking to those afflicted by Jusenkyo's magic," Cologne said. "Shampoo, have you had anything like that?"

Shampoo shook her head. "No, great grandmother."

"Well, of course ya ain't. Cats are silent and sneaky things," Ranma replied.

"Shampoo knows many cats that are very talkative?"

"Well, yeah. Real ones. But head cats ain't."

Shampoo opened her mouth, before closing it and shrugging. "Shampoo supposes airen would know about that."

"Perhaps your own 'head cat', as you put it, was why the spirit of the Nyannichuan could latch onto you. I will have to do some research, child," Cologne said. "As for ways to control an exchange... I am unsure. It is not a common request. If she is a spirit, though, a shamanistic trance inspired meditation could work. I should have some texts that you could consult upstairs."

"Uh... are they long?" Ranma asked.

"Reading is good for you, son-in-law," Cologne replied with a soft chuckle to herself.

"Time consumin' though. I got homework t' worry 'bout too," Ranma said.

"Work on your school work first. I will come up to help you when the lunch rush ends," Cologne replied. "You have free access to the apartment upstairs, as always, son-in-law."

"Thanks!" Ranma said, waving before rushing off.

Ranma had ended up getting bored about halfway through his homework. It was hard to focus when he knew there was a full ghost living in his head. Curiosity getting the better of him, he began to poke through Cologne's library. His Chinese wasn't great (while his Tibetan and Mongolian were all but non-existent) but he knew his kanji well enough to generally figure out what was generally being talked about. He could usually improvise around what he couldn't understand. Sure, there were mixups sometimes, like the time back in China when he'd ended up at a soup restaurant while looking for a hot spring, but for the most part it worked.

After a bit of digging, he had an idea. He maybe could have waited for Cologne, but... she was Cologne. She wasn't to be trusted, and looked down on everyone. Not a pleasant study partner. Also, Shampoo would probably run up before Cologne, proving a further distraction.

He'd try the new meditation the next day, after his sparring with pops. It would probably take a bit to figure out, even with him being a prodigy and all that, and Akane usually used the dojo on Saturdays after school.

Pops was really going at him for the Sunday Morning spar. He'd woken Ranma before dawn, and was pulling out all the stops. They were both pretty tired by this point, as the smell of breakfast finishing up filled the air, but Genma was showing no signs of slowing his assault.

"The heck, pops? Ranma said, pausing the yawn. "Ain't we done enough practicin' for th'smornin'?"

"You need to man up, boy. Your mother is here, and you've started slipping," Genma hissed, launching another attack.

Ranma was able to block his father effectively enough, having passed his old man's level some time ago, but it was still tiring to keep at it.

"I ain't slippin' any!" Ranma countered, landing a knee in his father's gut and forcing the heavily built man to stumble back.

"Then what do you call that display of weak girliness you gave when your mother arrived? Arranging to go shopping with her next weekend?" Genma replied, punctuating his question with a flurry of kicks.

"It wasn' me. It's the spirit a' the curse! Maybe yours ain't an issue 'cause it's just a lazy animal. Or maybe 'cause we couldn't tell the difference if the panda took over," Ranma said, bouncing off a rock on the edge of the koi pond to throw a flying ax kick at his father.

"Well, I suppose that's more reason to hurry up and get yourself cured!" Genma shouted, blocking and launching a counter offensive.

Ranma dodged the first few strikes, but Genma's words hit where his fists failed. Ranma froze up, as he realised curing the curse would get rid of her. The spirit. Ranko… whatever he should think of her as. While he was hit with a wave of uncertainty about that, his father landed a kick that sent him stumbling back into the koi pond.

Ranma floated back to the surface, face down and female, as he wondered about it. You weren't supposed to want to be possessed, right?

"Maybe I need to dig another pit," Genma muttered as Ranma floated, barely audible. Probably too quiet for anyone not trained to be on alert at all times like Ranma to have heard.

A wave of fear spread over the redhead as he floated, images of the cats filling his mind. He pulled himself into a ball, sinking into the pond as his subconscious screamed at him to protect his face.

Luckily, Kasumi called out that breakfast was ready and it broke the momentary lapse.

Ranma ate quickly, trying to ignore the mixture of fear and confusion bubbling in his stomach. He was glad he was in girl mode, so he could eat his fill faster and get away from his father sooner. He excused himself and hurried off, bounding up to the roof.

Once there, he hugged his legs close to him, staring down at the koi pond. He couldn't see his reflection from up here, but he could picture it well enough. The little redhead who apparently looked just like his mom. And that the girl in his head was connected to.

She was defenseless, wasn't she? Totally at his mercy. If he cured the curse, she'd surely be washed away along with this form. He supposed that was for the best, logically. She'd never be a proper person, just sitting in his head. She wasn't even really alive, right?

But he was a martial artist. And a martial artist was supposed to defend the defenseless, weren't they? Even if his father had never actually practiced that, at least when there wasn't a reward involved, Ranma believed in it. He needed something to aspire to, since his own father was no role model. There were other lessons that he'd liked too, but 'protector' was a title that had always spoken to him.

He felt a deep memory slide into place of protecting a girl once… Ucchan, maybe? But he'd thought she was a…

Ranma shook his head. He'd met other kids when he'd travelled. He was sure he'd protected more than a few girls from bullies or animals. He'd wanted to make his father proud of him. To be the son his father wanted him to be.

He wasn't focused on that last part as much any more, though. So he hopped down, and headed into the dojo. Akane had plans with some friends today, which meant it was his. So he was going to work on his meditation ideas.

Akane called out that she was home after her afternoon out, but was met with silence. Confused, she removed her shoes and headed in. The kitchen was empty. A little more walking revealed Kasumi in the living room, Ranma curled up next to her, sleeping. Kasumi had a finger raised to her lip, shushing Akane before she could yelp.

Akane padded softly over to Kasumi's side, glancing at the sleeping redhead.

"The cat?" she whispered.

Kasumi nodded. "I think Ranma was trying to wake her up, and got the wrong one."

Akane glanced down at the sleeping 'cat' again, noticing she looked peaceful. He? It? She tried to always think of Ranma as a 'he' and the cat was part of Ranma, but… also wasn't Ranma, so… Akane didn't know how to think about the redhead right now. Especially now that she knew there was also a girl there, sleeping somehow deeper than the cat currently was.

"I didn't know you could calm it down too?" Akane whispered.

"Not nearly as easily as you can," Kasumi replied quietly, indicating a bowl in the corner. "It took a full turkey breast before she fell asleep. It's a good thing father and uncle Genma had left before she came out of the dojo. I'm sure there would have been a fight."

Akane nodded, reaching out to lightly pet the red haired girl(?)'s head. Ranma's body twitched a little, a soft 'mreow' escaping before their head rose, deep blue eyes blinking awake.

"Akane?" the redhead asked.

"Ranma?" she replied.

The redheaded nodded. "Did I wake her up then?"

"You're curled up in a ball," Akane pointed out.

Ranma looked down. "…oh. The… the cat?"

Kasumi nodded. "She behaved herself, though. Mostly just meowed at me until I fed her."

Ranma blushed as he sat up. "I, uh… I guess I need more practice with that meditation… maybe I gotta actually wait f'r Cologne next time."

"That might be best," Kasumi replied softly.

"I feel burnt out right now, though," Ranma mumbled. "It wasn't an easy meditation."

Ryoga had shown back up in town on Monday. That had taken up Ranma's afternoon and evening, pig brain wanting to gain vengeance for some imagined slight Ranma had supposedly done.

He'd managed to get to the Neko Hanten on Tuesday, but had run into Mousse. The bespectacled idiot had decided Ranma was there to seduce Shampoo. Which meant another evening wasted.

Wednesday was eaten up by studying for a test.

Thursday by catching up on homework from the past three days.

Friday he'd been called in to work at Ucchan's, and he'd known that the Neko Hanten would have been too busy to bother with anyhow.

So that led to him visiting Cologne on a Saturday again, this time waiting until after the lunch rush. She'd been disappointed in his impatience the previous week, but decided the wasted time had been all the lesson he'd needed in patience. Trying to get meditation advice from her had turned into a full multi-hour lesson on spirits, however. One which he'd ended up tuning out for a lot of.

How anyone could expect him to sit still and pay attention for that long was beyond him.

"All that said," Cologne said as he tuned back in, noticing a tone shift that indicated her lecture was ending, "I still couldn't find anything in the literature about Jusenkyo spirits. I think that this girl may be from another source… unless it's due to the Neko-ken training that you were more open to serving as a medium for a spirit."

"Uhhh… maybe?" Ranma offered.

Darn it. She wasn't giving a general review.

Cologne was also staring at him with those bug eyes of hers.

"You need me to repeat the instructions, don't you?" she asked, her voice sounding tired.

"Uh, well, it was a lot t' take in," Ranma replied, scratching at his cheek.

"Youths," she muttered, but then she gave him the short form instruction.

There was less focus on the rapid breathing trance ideas he'd latched on to, and more about trying to picture a field to converse with the spirit. It seemed simple enough. He gave a quick thanks and hurried back to the Tendo Dojo.

With the night being warm enough, he decided to try meditating on the roof. Cologne had suggested an open field, but… knowing the cat had taken over last time, his mind went to one of those prison meeting areas. Like you saw in the movies. The glass divider and the little telephone to one side. He figured it would let him talk to whichever of the two came up without risking the cat attacking him.

Then he waited.

He was starting to lose focus, his body getting fidgety, when a blurry form appeared behind the glass. He wasn't sure if the glass had turned foggy from his own lack of focus, or if the figure across lacked definition itself. He picked up the phone.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Hello?" a voice replied. Though it sounded like an echo. But… like his girl voice?

He felt a drop of rain land on him. Then another. Then a downpour broke out. His focus was shattered.

Well, the redhead supposed to himself as he hopped down, that went better than last time.

Unfortunately for Ranma, he'd only just defeated his father in their morning spar when his mother had arrived. He'd barely had time to jump in the koi pond himself before she'd seen him, let alone had any time to try to wake the girl up again.

"Oh, Ranko, what are you doing?" his mother asked.

"Uh… mister panda fell in and I was trying to help him get out?" he offered in his best attempt at a girly voice.

Akane buried her face in her hand behind Nodoka.

"He's a very big creature. You should get Tendo-san to help," Nodoka replied. "Well, I suppose I can wait for you to get washed up and dressed."

Ranma grimaced as he hopped out of the pond. "S-sure thing, auntie. Won't be a moment."

Akane had been keeping Nodoka busy with stories about how Ranma liked to show off in gym class when she spotted the redhead coming down the stairs. The redhead was wearing one of Ranma's more feminine soft pink Chinese tops with a forest green knee length a-line skirt and white leggings (or thigh high socks).

"Oh, that's very… colourful, Ranko," Nodoka said.

The redhead replied with a strained smile while entering the living room. "Uh.. th-thank you auntie… could I talk to Akane-chan for a second?"

"Sure, sure. I'll be in the genkan," Nodoka replied.

As soon as Nodoka left the room, the redhead leaned in and shot Akane a whisper. "She's not wakin' up."

"Wha—Ranko?"

"No. I'm Ranma. That's the prob—"

"I meant Ranko's not waking up," Akane hissed.

"Oh… y-yeah. I'm plenty stressed out, but she ain't jumpin' in t' take the wheel. What do I do?" Ranma whispered quickly.

"I… I'll come with you to run interference if you need help," Akane muttered. "I'll get Kasumi to call Yuka and cancel my plans."

"S-sorry, Akane," Ranma replied, nervously fussing with his ponytail.

Akane let out a tired sigh. "For once it's honestly not your fault. Ranko made the plans and is the one not waking up."

"Thanks," Ranma said, smiling her way.

Akane had noticed, watching Ranma attempt to play the part of Ranko, that he honestly wasn't very good at it. The whole bus ride over to Hikarigaoka Mall, Ranma had been severely fidgety. Ranko had been energetic too, but it was… different. Ranko really did feel like a girl, the way she got enthusiastic at different things from Ranma.

Nodoka wasn't really noticing. Whether it was due to her not having spent enough time with both Ranma and Ranko or she was just chalking it up to nervousness, Akane wasn't sure. She didn't want to press, though. Instead she kept Nodoka busy with the story of the ice skating match. At least as best she could without touching on Ranma's curse.

She had more or less reached the end of that topic as they arrived at the mall. Walking in, Nodoka headed over to the directory. Akane and Ranma both tried to guess what she was looking for as they read the directory too.

"Ah, there we are," Ranma's mother said, nodding to herself. "Third floor."

"W-where are we goin'—going?" Ranma asked.

"I noticed that you, well, you seem lacking in proper… undergarments, Ranko," Nodoka said, blushing a little.

"I… how'd… how did you notice… auntie?" Ranma asked.

Nodoka tilted her head and raised her eyebrows, surely searching for a polite way to phrase the matter. (It was something Kasumi did a lot.)

"Let's say… well," she then dropped her volume to barely above a whisper. "You jiggle, dear. Quite a bit. Some boys on the bus were staring."

Akane felt her cheeks go hot as Ranma likewise went red.

"Oh," Ranma barely managed to whisper.

"Yes. So… let us go," Nodoka replied.

Ranma marched stiffly after his mother, Akane following behind. She had half a mind to ask Nodoka which boys, so she could go beat them up for… for… well, what? It was Ranma's body. Ranma was a boy. They wouldn't have stared if they'd known that, right? Plus, it was Ranma's fault choosing not to ever wear a bra.

But, also, Ranma owning bras made Akane's cheeks burn. That wasn't something a boy should own.

He couldn't borrow them from a girl, though. That would also be wrong. Not to mention the only girl around with a big enough chest to lend a bra to Ranma was Shampoo, and that would end in disaster.

Akane was still lost in the dilemma as they arrived at the lingerie shop in question.

"What size are you, anyhow, Ranko dear?" Nodoka asked as they entered the store.

"Uhh… I, uh… I had a recent growth spurt, so I dunno?" Ranma offered, staring at the floor, his cheeks as red as his hair.

"Oh my. That will not do. We need to make sure you're properly fitted. I'll call an attendant to measure you," Nodoka replied.

Ranma's face flipped up towards his mother, horror in his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something when his eyes began to dart around the store, dancing between the laciest and raciest items on display. Akane had half a mind to punch him for ogling like that, ticked he was being so immature, when his eyes rolled back and his face went pale. Akane realised he hadn't been excited by seeing the bras, but terrified at the idea of having to wear them.

Akane stepped forward, steadying the redhead. Ranma raised a hand to his forehead, before shaking his head.

"Oh no, are you alright, dear?" Nodoka asked, hurrying over.

"F-fine, auntie. I just… my mother was never around, it was just me and my daddy. And he usually just told me to wear a sports bra. Having an auntie like yourself show me the ropes is something I never dreamed would happen," the redhead said with a smile. "I want to understand everything."

"Ranko?" Akane whispered into the redhead's ear.

She nodded. "S-sorry about being late. I… last night, Ranma seemed to somehow lock me away. It was very hard to get out."

Akane nodded. She'd find out what Ranma had done later. Right now they had to focus on the shopping trip. So she sat awkwardly as Ranko had her chest measured, ignoring the fact that the body being measured was also her fiancé's. And how Ranma having a larger chest than her always drove her up the wall.

Ranko would be more polite about it, no?

"My, my. That's an E60, miss. Nearly an F60," the attendant girl said. "How have you been going braless without back pain issues?"

"Um… like I said, they grew in quickly?" Ranko replied.

Akane bit her tongue as her blood pressure rose. An F60!? Akane was barely a… no. No. She wasn't going to get into a chest measuring contest. That was so… so… masculine feeling? Boys were supposed to be the ones measuring… things.

"We don't have a huge amount of bras to choose from in that size, unfortunately," the attendant said. "Well, we have more E65s. Since you're probably still going to grow a bit taller, you might want to look at those."

Ranko nodded.

"We're having a buy two, get one free, sale for bras right now," the assistant said. "Plus 10% off sports bras and underwear, right now."

"Both you girls, go grab a few. I'll pay," Nodoka said with a soft smile.

"Me too?" Akane asked, pointing to herself.

"Of course. My shop does quite nicely. I can certainly afford to treat my son's fiancée," Nodoka replied.

"You have a shop?" Akane asked.

"Oh, yes. A flower shop. Well, we moved locations. We had to sell the old one in Toshima, but the developer paid very good money for it," Nodoka replied. "The new one in Musashino is turning a better profit than the old one ever did, too."

Akane blinked. Nodoka hadn't really seemed like a business owner type, but maybe Akane's views on the matter were just skewed by Nabiki's cutthroat attitude towards capitalism.

"W-well, thank you, auntie," Akane said with a smile, before hurrying off to Ranko's side.

She began looking through her own selection, which she was somewhat excited to see was a larger selection, even if the bras themselves were smaller. She noticed Ranko looking deep in thought, however, and turned to the other girl.

"Are you ok?" she whispered.

"I… I think I remembered something about Nodoka working with flowers when Ranma was little. The memory feels funny, though," Ranko mumbled.

"Funny how?" Akane asked.

"I… do not not know. Just… most of Ranma's memories feel so distant. Because they happened to someone else. That one, though… it must be because he forgot he remembered it?" Ranko replied, before flashing a smile, and holding up a red and black bra that looked rather sporty. "Do you think, would Ranma be ok with this?"

Akane blinked. "P-pardon?"

"Well, if I'm the spirit of the curse, then this body is at least sort of mine, and I am not very comfortable with the idea of Ranma wandering around without a bra and boys staring," Ranko said, her cheeks red.

Akane blinked. That worked! If it was Ranko's bra, then she could share it with Ranma, and there was nothing perverted about Ranko owning it. Akane nodded.

"If he refuses I'll work with Kasumi to force him," Akane replied.

Ranko gave her a smile. "Thank you, Akane-chan!"

Ranko hugged her, a bit stronger than she maybe should have. Akane figured that was Ranko not understanding her own strength, as Ranko let go with an 'oops' at Akane's pained gasp.

The two girls went back to picking out some new bras to try on, before heading to the changerooms to make sure they fit right. Akane was blushing at her reflection, thinking the lacy blue little thing she'd picked out would surely make Ranma's heart race if he saw it when the attendance called out to her through the curtain.

"Would you like some tea, miss?"

"I'm good, thank you," Akane replied.

"Understood. How abou-woAH!" the girl yelped.

Akane heard the clattering of a tray and teacups. There was a high pitched yelp from Ranko's changing area.

"Are you ok, Ranko?" Nodoka called out, her voice getting closer.

A figure dropped beside Akane, fast enough she almost struck the taller masculine form. Her hand froze a few centimetres from Ranko's face. A face wearing that same look of pain and sorrow she remembered from every other time the girl was turned into Ranma's birth form.

"Help," she whispered, her voice soft and breathy.

Akane noticed an unclasped bra held against a muscular and masculine chest, Ranko apparently struggling to maintain modesty. Akane struggled not to be distracted by that sight. It seemed to give a forbidden allure to that chest that normally wasn't there…

"One sec," Akane replied, reaching down to pull her shopping backpack up.

She pulled a bottle of water out, and poured it on the other girl's head, ignoring how wrong it felt to be relaxed around Ranma's birth form while half undressed. Ranko changing back helped.

"Ranko? Where are you?" Nodoka called out.

"S-sorry," Ranko called out. "I jumped in surprise, and landed in Akane's stall."

"Oh my," Nodoka said, on the other side of the curtain. "That's an impressive jump."

"She has trained a little in the Saotome School of Anything Goes," Akane explained.

"Oh! It can be such a beautiful style. I'd love to see you practice some day," Nodoka replied.

The rest of the shopping trip was less eventful, Ranko buying a couple of skirts and blouses. As well as a few pairs of underwear that were unisex enough to make Nodoka raise an eyebrow. They'd gone their separate ways at the end, Nodoka having a different bus to catch to head home. She did promise she'd call again soon, though, to spend more time with both girls.

They were riding the bus home when Ranko's stomach growled and Akane decided they could grab food on the way. She'd expected to have to spend her allowance if she'd wanted anything, so promised Ranko it would be her treat.

Walking along Furinkan-cho's main street, Akane glanced between the various restaurants. She wasn't really sure what she wanted, and Ranko seemed simply overwhelmed by the choice.

"Oh! Ranchan! Akane-chan!" Ukyo called out, standing up from sweeping the front of her shop.

"H-hey, Ukyo-kun," Akane began, realising it would be hard to dodge the cheerful Osakan now that she'd spotted them.

Though, Ukyo's cooking was good. As well as cheap and filling. She supposed it wasn't too bad to visit her. Especially since she wasn't technically with Ranma right now, so they'd be able to avoid the awkward flirting Ukyo usually did.

"You guys hungry?" Ukyo asked.

"Quite," Ranko replied.

"C'mon in. Place is right quiet at the moment," Ukyo said, waving them over and all smiles.

Akane forced herself to smile and headed into Ucchan's, Ranko following along. Ukyo slipped around the grill as the other two sat down, setting their shopping bags down at their feet.

"What cans I getcha, Tendo-chan?" Ukyo asked.

"Umm… the seafood special, I suppose?" Akane replied.

"Right. No bacon for you, as always?" Ukyo asked.

Akane nodded.

"And a Ranchan Special for Ranchan, right?" Ukyo added, pretty much a statement.

Ranko shook her head. "N-no thank you."

Ukyo blinked. "Pardon?"

"Well, she's not Ranma right now… at least, not exactly," Akane explained.

"…Not Ranma?"

"I… we think that I am the spirit of the Nyannichuan curse," Ranko replied softly.

"She's apparently been whispering to Ranma since he got cursed," Akane explained. "She accidentally took control one time, and now she seems to be able to take control like the cat, just… with different circumstances."

"Ranma is being very kind and letting me… out? Just a little bit, now and then," Ranko replied, her cheeks red. "I honestly do not know how to repay him."

"Very polite, ain'tcha?" Ukyo replied, leaning over with a playful smirk. "You ain'ts trying to steal Ranchan, though, ares ya?"

Ranko's blush spread to her entire face. "W-what? I… we've got the same body? How could I? B-besides. I know that Ranma… well…"

Ranko's eyes glanced towards Akane, before falling back to the counter. Ukyo's eyes then slid over to Akane, who could only shrug. How could she tell what the other girl was thinking?

"Mhm… well, do ya gots a name, miss spirit?" Ukyo asked, her voice softer now.

"R-Ranko. I am going by Ranko," the redhead replied.

"And what sort of okonomiyaki would ya likes, Ranko-chan?"

"Um…" the girl said, biting her lip a little as she thought. "I… I do not know if this is perhaps a Chinese dish that you do not make, but… a green onion pancake sounds good? A vegetarian one, though? With lots of yam? Ooh… and perhaps a little cheese on top?"

Ukyo stared at Ranko, and dropped her spatula. "V-veggie and cheese negiyaki?"

In Akane's opinion, she looked like she had seen a ghost. Which Akane supposed wasn't totally inaccurate, with their theory about Ranko, but it was odd for the reaction to hit as this point.

"Is… is that not allowed? I… I do not know why, but the smell in here makes me crave that…" Ranko said.

Ukyo walked around the counter, Akane watching her with confusion, while Ranko watched with fear as she walked up to Ranko. Then the Osakan girl leaned forward and hugged the redhead tightly.

"W-w-wha?" Ranko asked.

"It's been a long time since I got that order. I was wonderin' why Ranma never asked for it anymore," Ukyo said, continuing to hold Ranko. "I can't tell ya what's going on, but I can tells ya that I'm pretty sure you ain't from Jusenkyo."