Title: Portia's Plan

Author: Shareon

Summary: The Tendo family wanted Shiho to act as somebody's betrothed. The request sounded ordinary enough. A crossover between "P.A. (Private Actress)" and "Ranma 1/2."

Chapter 1: Introduction

One of the perks of Shiho's work was that it brought her into contact with a wide variety of situations: the star witness of a murder investigation, the spirit of a girl's deceased mother, the illegitimate daughter of a politician, the mistress of a man seeking a divorce. The roles somebody would hire a private actress to play were as diverse as they were lucrative, and as the best actress in the Hi Ao Production Company, Shiho got the most difficult requests. That also meant she got the most interesting ones.

In comparison to her history and credentials, acting as somebody's betrothed was downright pedestrian. It was one of the most commonly requested jobs in the semi-secretive industry. Any number of people could have done it, and done it for far cheaper than her. Beauty always carried a premium, and that premium was dwarfed by the price of beauty combined with talent and skill.

Ironically, its very banality was what drove Shiho's curiosity towards the request. The only reason somebody would be interested in hiring her specifically was if there were some very particular circumstance which made the job especially difficult to do. Maybe the man had a family full of actors, who were always hard to fool. Maybe the man wanted to escape the romantic attentions of a member of the yakuza, which would make the job dangerous to perform. There had to be something.

She got her first hint of what the secret behind the request could be when she pushed open the door to the company office. Sitting within were the boss and his secretary. Additionally, there were three visitors: a man and two girls. Both of the girls looked to be about the same age as Shiho.

One of the girls had flowing hair almost as long as Shiho's own was, and her toned and athletic body spoke of a life spent in vigorous activity. By nature of her profession, Shiho was physically fit, but this girl was at an entirely different level. She wore a blue, long-sleeve shirt and a yellow, A-line dress.

The other girl bore a close family resemblance to the first. It was hard to be sure, but it appeared like she was the older sister of the first girl. Her hair was cut into a bob, and she wore a fashionable red and white sweater as well as some blue shorts. She was the misfit of the three visitors, her body suggesting a more sedentary lifestyle than the other two.

Finally, there was the man. He appeared to be approximately in his 40s, with long hair and a prominent mustache. The dark gray keikogi he wore combined with his obvious physical fitness to suggest he was a practicing martial artist.

Shiho automatically began analyzing the situation. It was unusual, but not unheard of, to be engaged to a man thrice her age. One obvious scenario which came to mind was that she could be a gold digger trying to inherit a fortune, which could explain the presence of the two other girls as well. Alternatively, she could be a hopeless romantic who had had her life saved in some strange situation. Or she could be the unwitting pawn in some political machination. There was no end to the number of stories she could think of.

"This is Shiho Kobayakawa-san," the boss said, gesturing for Shiho to come closer. "These are the clients: Soun Tendo-san, and his two daughters, Nabiki-san and Akane-san."

Shiho turned her attention to Soun and asked, "What's your story?"

"Direct, isn't she?" Nabiki asked. She was the girl with the bob cut.

"The sooner I get the details, the sooner I can start planning out the role," Shiho said to Nabiki. She addressed Soun once again. "So why do you want me to act as your fiancee?"

Soun coughed. He said, "It's... uhh... not me."

"It's me," Akane said. A light blush touched her cheeks.

Shiho paused. The surprise declaration had abruptly and effectively derailed her thought process. She turned to Akane and asked, "Did you just say I'm supposed to be engaged to you?"

"Uhh..." Akane's blush intensified, and she looked to the ground at her side. "Yes."

Shiho looked down at herself to check if there could be a source of confusion. She was wearing a comfortable blouse and a long skirt with a floral pattern. Her clothes weren't revealing as such, but they did make it very clear that she was a girl.

"Are you a boy?" Shiho asked. She was fairly sure what the answer was, but that warranted a check as well.

Akane looked back at Shiho, fierce defiance in her eyes. "Of course not!"

Of the multitude of jobs Shiho had been imagining since her pager had beeped at her, the thought that she might need to act like she was engaged to another girl had never crossed her mind. The situation was obviously impossible. It wasn't legal for two girls to marry, so no matter how good a performance she put on, nobody would believe they were engaged. Yet it was also inconceivable for the boss to have made such a basic mistake. There had to be something else going on.

"Then how am I supposed to be engaged to Akane-san if we're both girls?" She had been curious as to what the big secret behind the seemingly ordinary job was. Apparently she was about to find out.

Nabiki reached over to Shiho from the couch she was sharing with Akane and offered out a pamphlet. She said, "Here."

Shiho took the sheet of paper and gave it a closer look. Featured on its front was a picture of some shallow pools of water and some tall stalks of bamboo. Its title read, "The Cursed Springs of Jusenkyou."

"There are some springs in China," Nabiki said as she settled back into the couch. "The legend is that anybody who falls into one of them will be cursed to take the shape of whatever drowned there. One of the springs is niangniquan: the spring of drowned girl."

"But that still doesn't explain how we're supposed to be engaged. The government would never accept two girls marrying each other," Shiho said. She hopped up to sit on the boss's desk.

"Jusenkyou isn't a permanent change. It's only when the victim is splashed with cold water that they transform. Hot water changes them back," Nabiki said. "You'll really be a boy and only turn into a girl temporarily."

"Is any of that actually real?" Shiho asked. She leaned forward and waved the pamphlet in front of her for emphasis.

"I think so, but I haven't found anybody who's actually been there or met anybody who's been there," Soun said.

"It's like Kuchisake-onna and Hanako-san," Nabiki said. "As long as people believe it, it doesn't matter. I already have some people spreading the rumors about it at school."

"Ugh... This sounds so complicated," Shiho said. She mussed up her hair in frustration. "Why not just hire a male P.A.?"

"And put some unknown man in a position to take advantage of my daughter?" Soun lunged out of his chair and onto his feet. "Absolutely not!"

"Okay. I was just curious," Shiho said. She held her hands up in a placating gesture. She then turned to Akane. "So why do you want me to act as your fiance?"

"We were told you were the best," Akane said.

"Thanks, but I meant why do you want anybody to act as your fiance? What are you trying to accomplish?" Shiho asked.

"There's a bunch of boys..." Akane made the word sound like an insult, "... at school. They keep trying to get me to date them, day after day. I just want them to stop."

"We're thinking if Akane were already engaged to be married, then everybody would leave her alone," Nabiki said.

"Have you tried telling them to stop?" Shiho asked. Hiring a private actress was typically the penultimate option people considered, not the first, but after hearing the complicated scenario the Tendo family had presented regarding Jusenkyou, she was prepared to believe that they favored wacky hijinks over simple solutions. That wouldn't be a problem as such, but it would still be preferable to know that in advance of taking the job.

"Of course. Every day," Akane said. She cracked the knuckles in her hands. "But they just don't know when to give up. It's annoying."

"What about the school? Can't you get them to stop it?" Shiho asked.

"Don't you think I've tried?" Soun asked. "They refuse to get involved. The principal of the school is the father of one of the boys, and nobody is willing to go against him."

"I see," Shiho said. "Well, pretending to already be engaged is a pretty normal way of scaring people away. The biggest problem I'm seeing is how to convince anybody to take it seriously. Nobody really gets married while they're still in school."

"That's not a problem," Soun said. "There's an old training buddy of mine. We made an agreement back when we were younger that if we both had children, they would get married so we could merge our two schools of martial arts. Unfortunately, Saotome-kun was never blessed with a child, but if he had had a son, he would have named him 'Ranma.' You're going to be Ranma Saotome, the heir of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts."

"That sounds like it could work," Shiho said. An arranged marriage could certainly be a convincing explanation as to why somebody Akane's age was already engaged. The situation was somewhat contrived, but it wasn't implausibly so. "How advanced are we supposed to be?"

"Advanced?" Akane asked.

Shiho hopped off of the desk and approached Akane. She asked, "How far have we gone? Are we at A, B, or C?" It was important to know how physically intimate she was supposed to be. A couple who had never kissed acted very differently towards each other than a couple who had shared a bed.

"What?" Soun shouted. He was on his feet again. "You dare suggest that my daughter has done anything like that before marriage?"

Akane was blushing so brightly that Shiho could almost feel the heat radiating off of her, despite the fact that Akane was staring at the ground.

"Okay, okay," Shiho said. She raised her hands up in a placating gesture once again. "I think it's safe to say we haven't gotten to A yet."

"Does that mean you're willing to take the job?" the boss asked.

"Yes," Shiho said.

Something still felt off to her, like she was missing something important, but that was more common than not at the start of a contract. Her jobs always had some hidden twist to them. The counterpoint to the perk of encountering a wide variety of interesting situations was that Shiho was also constantly facing unpredictable challenges. From fielding impromptu questions about the influence of Gustave Courbet upon Pierre-Auguste Renoir's early paintings to escaping the murderous designs of serial killers, Shiho had faced any number of surprises in the past. No matter what twist this job ended up having, she was sure she could handle it.

Shiho could have just pretended to be a generic martial artist. She was already experienced with stage fighting, so she knew how to take an impressive stance and how to look good both throwing and receiving a punch.

However, that simply wasn't good enough. If she was supposed to be the heir to a school of martial arts, then she wanted to know what made that school better than every other one out there. It was the details which added the verisimilitude needed to provide a truly convincing performance. Saying she was studying to be a doctor was one thing, but saying she was studying to be a hematologist due to her aunt having developed leukemia back when she had been a young child was quite another.

For that same reason, in addition to Soun, Akane was present as well. They were supposed to be betrothed to each other, which meant that Shiho and Akane needed to have some kind of shared history and relationship. A few days spent together was woefully inadequate, but it was infinitely better than having nothing at all.

The Saotome house was modest. It was designed in the style of Japanese architecture from decades earlier. Its outside featured numerous rectangular sections between horizontal and vertical wooden beams. The doors and windows had a papery appearance to them, as was also traditional. The upper floor was patterned very similar to the ground floor, and it was topped with a dark, tiled roof. It was effectively indistinguishable from any number of neighboring houses along the street.

Waiting at the front door of the house was a man approximately in his 40s. He wore a martial arts keikogi, his being an off-white approximately the same color as the walls beside him. He had a pair of glasses on his face and a bandanna covering the top of his head.

"Saotome-kun!" Soun cried out, confirming Shiho's assumption that the man in question was in fact Genma Saotome, the master of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts.

"Tendo-kun! Come in, come in," Genma said. He gestured emphatically. "And Akane-chan. You're looking stronger every day. We should spar later."

"Hello, Saotome-ojisan," Akane said. She gave a greeting bow and then entered the house with everybody else.

"Thank you for your help," Soun said.

Shiho closed the door behind them.

"Of course. Of course," Genma said. He looked at down at Shiho. "Then you must be that girl they want to pretend is my heir."

"That's right, but please, call me 'Ranma,' or whatever else you'd call your son. It's better to get into the habit now," Shiho said. Amateurs always made mistakes, from showing a lack of surprise at a supposedly unexpected event to calling out the wrong name in a moment of stress. The fewer opportunities they had to make one, the better. Akane and Nabiki were the two for whom it was really important to get right, but it would make it easier for them if she were consistent with everybody.

To that end, Shiho had dressed the part as well. She wore a red shirt and black trousers, which was appropriate enough for either a boy or a girl to wear. They were both slightly looser than could be ideal, which was intentional in keeping with the idea of a Jusenkyou transformation.

Genma looked Shiho up and down as if he were a casting director interviewing for a role. He then said, "There's no way I'd have raised such a pathetic heir."

"That's what I'm here for," Shiho said. "I need you to teach me what I need to do in order to not look like a pathetic heir."

Genma crossed his arms in front of him. He said, "Impossible. It'd take years of training to even begin learning the basics of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts."

"I don't need to know it. I just need to look like I know it. It's like in the movies. The actors don't actually know how to do all those things they're doing. They just need to look like they do," Shiho said. It was far harder to fake things in the world of private acting, without any scripts or tactical camera positioning to hide behind, but it wasn't impossible.

Genma scoffed.

"Just show me what I should know. Like what would you do if somebody were to challenge you to a fight?" Shiho asked.

Genma scoffed again.

"Saotome-kun. Please. Just show her your opening stance," Soun said.

"It's a waste of time," Genma said, but he moved to an open area of the living room. He stepped forward with his left leg, his right foot remaining behind twisted sideways, until his feet were separated by approximately a meter of distance. He raised his arms as well, his left hand level with his shoulder and his right hand near his stomach, both of which were held slightly open. His stance looked vapid, transitional, and undedicated. He said, "Here."

"Like this?" Shiho asked. She adopted a position similar to Genma's. It felt slippery and unstable.

"Hmm..." Genma said. He punched forward. Shiho did likewise, her thrust giving expression to the desire for motion she felt.

Genma bounced twice on his feet. "Ha!" He jumped up with a twirl, kicked high into the air, completed a full revolution, and landed back on his feet as if he had never moved in the first place.

Shiho concentrated. She bounced twice on her feet, jumped up with a shout, kicked out, and landed back down. She hadn't managed to do a complete spin, but she did get most of the way there.

"Hmm..." Genma said again. He stepped in front of Shiho. "Hit me."

"What?"

"Hit me," Genma said. He gestured to his chest. "As hard as you can."

Shiho clenched her fist, as she had learned in all of her stage combat practice, and punched forward.

It smashed into Genma's open palm with a sharp thwap that Shiho felt as much as heard.

"Harder!" Genma shouted.

Shiho pulled back and punched forward again. Genma once again caught the punch, this time with a small grunt.

"Harder!" Genma shouted, louder this time.

Shiho reared back, focused herself, and punched forward with as much force as she could muster. It was met this time not with Genma's palm but with the open air as the man tapped the side of her arm. The next thing she knew, her feet were flying out from under her due to a sharp impact, and she was falling. She twisted herself and rolled as she hit the ground. Reflexively she looked up at Genma, who was descending upon her with a fist of his own. Instantly she threw up her arm to block the strike as best she could and braced for impact.

Which never came.

"That was pathetic!" Genma shouted. He loomed over Shiho, his fist close enough to her arm that she could feel the body heat from it. "But maybe not entirely useless." He stood up again and looked at Soun. "Give me a week, and I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you, my friend," Soun said.

Last Updated: September 30, 2021