Akane Two-Ranma
By Ron Dow75
01: To Be a Warrior at Last?
[This takes place before, on the more familiar
timeline, Akane Tendou even knows Ranma and Genma
Saotome even exists.]
Nude and wet, Akane had just gotten out of the
furo/sunken bathtub in her family's Japanese-style
bathroom. Even after the soak, she was still cursing
herself for having let Kuno get a strike on her with
his wooden bokken sword. The boys at school were her
only real challenge as a martial artist. If
Upperclassman Kuno had won, not only would her honor
be at risk, but her reputation as a girl! He already
had a warped view of the world. What would he say
happened if he did a date from her!? Even people
THINKING she might kiss him--
"Ohrr!" She growled, and kicked the bar of soap that
had strayed away from the shower area beside the
furo. The force of her exasperation sent it bouncing
off the blue tile walls.
Kasumi called out: "Akane! Will you clean the tub
after you're done?! Dr. Tofu says his herbal
ointment leaves a ring!"
Annoyed, now, at having to be distracted from her
annoyance, Akane answered, "Okay!" turning to do the
chore. Her foot landed on the soap that had slid
back to her.
The girl with her hair tied up found herself falling
towards the tub: She screamed!!
Meanwhile, in Juusenkyo, a panda leaped from the pole it
had landed on, and attacked a ponytail teen in a
gi/martial artist's uniform while he was distracted
talking to their Chinese Guide. The brunette boy was
struck, and falling towards one of the springs: He
screamed!!
Splash!
In the suddenly cold water, Akane felt something
unbelievable being linked to something even more
unbelievable!! It was almost a relief when the
second replaced the first.
But then her fear of drowning, her fear of water
began to set in: The girl with hair tied in a short
ponytail found the bottom, and rose in a pond that
was above the waist deep. Something told her it
should've been below the waist
There was something different about her body. First
of all she was tenser--and getting tenser--than she'd
felt even before, every smaller muscle tightening.
Second she was no longer nude; on her was the
familiar feeling of a kempo-gi coat and pants
(though she'd never worn one this wet). And third,
and perhaps most attention grabbing were the greater
curves she felt from larger top to lighter bottom!
Confused, Akane opened up the front of the soiled,
white gi, and looked at her now size D boobs.
"AAAAAA!!" her now different voice screamed.
Somebody had been talking: "...Now whoever fall spring
take body of young girl (ha, ha)."
Her shocked mind finally told her it was a man
talking: Akane quickly pulled the wide-open top
closed. Tight! {Aw-ch, moved too fast.}
Her new face scowling, her blush caught up with her.
She wanted to turn away, retreat until she could get
her bearings. {It's always an advantage to know as
many of the 5 Answers as you can before you fight.}
But she had no answers. {I don't know this man--I
don't even know how I GOT here!!} Her fists up
against the larger bust she felt {Or LIKE this!!},
she had to stare up at him, read his moves, and
prepare herself as much as she could for an attack.
That increased her already immense tension. It also
screamed that this wasn't her body! {Even the voice
I think with isn't mine!!}
The wide man in brown Mao clothes and yellow-star
cap said in accented Japanese, "Oo, do not look at
me like that, Miss--I mean sir!" And he pointed to
the Chinese ideographs on the long, ringed placard
book he was holding, "I not do this. Is "Spring of
Drowned Girl"! Nan-niichuan! I repeat: There very
tragic legend of girl who drown in spring, one
thousand five hundred year ago. Now whoever fall in
spring take body of young girl."
Akane raised her higher voice, "That DOESN'T explain
how I--"
Just as she was beginning to deal with two (three??)
uncertainties at once, a huge black-and-white furry
creature landed on ground near the Chinese man. It
tried to stay erect on its hind legs {WHY is it
wearing a white gi coat and, and...Eastern-
style/loops-instead-of-earpieces glasses around one
ear??}, but fell over onto its fore ones, too.
It lost the fight, and fell onto its jowls, with
only its rump up.
Akane cried, "EE! What IS that?!"
The Chinese-looking man said, "I repeat that, too?
That, sir, is your father. He fall..."
Akane started wading towards the pool's edge,
"Dad!!?! He's here, too!?!" {If this weirdness can
happen to me, why couldn't it happen to somebody
else in our house?!}
The Chinese man flipped over to another placard in
the ringed book, "...into Xiong-mao-nicuan, "Spring of
Drowned Panda"! Very tragic story of panda who drown
two thousand year ago. The legend say whoever fall
in spring take body of panda!"
Akane had enough! Freeing her fists from their hold
on the kempo-gi's lapels to get a grip on her
sanity, she yelled, "That's ridiculous!! People do
not turn into other things!"
The Chinese man blinked. "But you are girl now(?) I
see you peep!"
She took a swipe at the idiot, "Of course I'm a
girl!" {Can't you see these caricatures of
breasts!?} She reached out and took hold of one of
the FOUR {WHY would I think that number was
important--I'm in a situation, here!} bamboo poles in
the water to steady herself.
The Chinese man said, "Oo, I not hear Nan-niichuan
change personality, too, like Fuushan-niichuan,
"Spring of Drowned Priest"." Just speaking of it,
had him flip over to that placard. "I need read
again "Guide to Accursed Grounds, Annotated
Edition"."
The panda was nodding as if it understood what the
man was saying as it walked up beside him.
Akane's foot slid on the muck on the bottom of the
pond. She grabbed a pole in time. Feeling the
heavier swing of those boobs, she looked down; she
saw her reflection for the first time. "Who is
this!!?!" Those too blue eyes, that too red hair,
that too cute face, that too, too built, petit body:
{THESE aren't mine!!!}
The Chinese man smiled, "That is tragic reaction I
expect." He flipped to, "You fall in "Spring of
Drowned Young Girl", Nan-niichuan. There very tragic
legend..."
Akane had to quickly back away from slashing claws,
"Dad! What do you think you're DOING!!?!" He foot
slipped! If she hadn't been grasping the pole, she
would've gone under--Maybe drowned!!
"DAD!!" she screamed, looking for the chance to pull
him in {' Easier thought of than done, when I ache
like this}. If he wouldn't help her out {He KNOWS
how much I hate ponds and pools and the like!},
she'd climb on him and help herself out!
Got it! "Now, to flip--"
The Chinese man cried, "Eww, no, sirs! Very bad you
fall into TWO accursed ponds when in accursed-form!"
This time the panda listened to him. As it brought
its foreleg back, the newly made redhead came with
it as she determinedly clung on. Her gi pants were
water logged and dripping.
The Chinese man flipped through his book of
placards, "Most tragic example...Oo, I do not have one
for "Yeti-Riding-Bull-Holding Crane-with-Eel". Name
must be too long. Chinese name is too long, also, to
tell to people who do not know language, anyway."
Lowering the book, he told them, "You fall into Nan-
niichuan you become young girl...panda!"
The creature dropped, and ran as fast, and
awkwardly, as its four legs could carry it.
Having let go, Akane yelled, "DAD!!!" as she now
struggled to keep from rolling {Ow, larger boobs at
least make better stop-wedges.} into yet another
pond. Cramp! Cramp! {Come on! You've dealt with
cramps before!...} Just not all over her body.
= = =
The Chinese man, hesitantly, approached, "I help.
You not make splash?"
Akane had more than one reason to yell, "Go near
that water!!?! Of course not!!"
He reached down and pulled her by her exposed feet
and ankles away from the pond's edge. He repeated to
himself that this wasn't really a beautiful young
girl; this had been a teenage boy just a few minutes
ago, named Ranma. As 'sir' was dragged further from
the water, the incredible, competing tensions eased
enough for him to notice. To help him take his mind
off of her softening body, he returned to his
favorite topic, "Juusenkyo is one of many accursed
grounds around world. They first become training
ground when warrior come, meet challenge of
different body. After he master old, he master new.
Then he is true master warrior."
On the damp earth and grass, Akane thought, {Am, am
I here to be a warrior?} She didn't understand how
she came to be chosen {I haven't mastered my OWN
body, yet}; but she DID understand the concept. A
warrior--especially a martial artist needed to be in
harmony with their body, thought and action wed as
one. Right now she had TWO different sets of
reflexes and habits fighting each other. One was
that which came with her new body. Without them, she
would be like a fish out of water, since her the new
body responded differently than her old one. The
other was that which she used to control her OWN
body. All that was left of her old body was what her
mind held onto. It was like a ghost to her. The
faster she could learn to adapt her mind to a body
she wasn't used to, the more ready her mind would be
able to adapt to other problems: Like injuries,
fatigue, temperature, hydration...even, perhaps,
magic!
Akane struggled to prove her merit by pushing
herself up off the ground on shaky arms. The more
weight they had to support, the more they trembled.
The Chinese man offered his hand, "In days of lore,
warrior fight warrior in great contest of cunning.
They try keep each other from hot water. You have
twelve hour find hot water, or have accursed-
body...forever."
Akane heard that: "Half-a-day, or, or...." She looked
off in the direction the panda she thought was her
dad had run.
The Chinese man nodded, "Panda. It not change back."
At the thought of the danger her father was in,
Akane forgot about herself. Before she knew it, she
was up on her new feet.
The Chinese man said, "Sir! You are fast learner!
Come, we get hot water at guest cabin."
Akane shook her head, as she began to limp away on
smaller legs and feet {and narrower waist}; "I have
to find Dad while I still can! And this body is
going to slow me down too much as it is."
The man tried to explain, "But, sir! When you get
your own body back, you track faster."
He was right of course. But that would be the easy
way. That was not the way of this place. "I was
brought here, to become somebody truly worthy of the
name, warrior. That is what I've wanted all of my
life." Then a catch developed in her new throat.
"It's what I HAVE to be. It's my sacred filial duty.
My obligation...my debt of honor." She then sounded
like she was fighting back deeper emotions that had
been released. "I was born to be a martial artist,
and that is how I must die."
The Chinese man said, "Oo, sir is serious. I not
argue with someone who think like that. I go get hot
water ready."
Akane nodded as she heard him leave. He called her
"sir", and that was how she felt. When a MAN
honestly called a woman that {As opposed to a girl
friend} it was a sign that she was recognized for
something that was outside her gender. {' Not that
women couldn't do most of the things guys could.}
Then her cute face got Akane's more familiar frown,
{...If guys would let them. Women's Liberation is
something that's never really taken hold in the
East.}
Trying to close her stiff fingers into a fist ended
up only having them look like claws. "Sometimes, I
wish I were a guy. I certainly wouldn't have to
fight off girls like I have to guys." {Can you
honestly imagine a group of girls fighting over a
guy!?!} Then she had a second thought, {Well, may be
a singer-idol. But NOT a guy whose only thing he's
has going for him is he's rich and handsome. Just
look at Kuno.} Just the thought of his name, and her
old reactions wanted to imprint themselves on her
new, smaller, tighter, hotter, wetter...
The twitching caused a taut leg to twitch, and skip
again, sending her foot towards the brink of one of
those springs. She bent down to physically restrain
it--only to get a backache! She made the back arch,
and she waddled on. {Kuno and his SAMURAI, grand-
standing stunt!!} she cursed! {It's because of HIM I
started having feels like this!} Her mood had
darkened even more, "I honestly think the reason
I've been challenged to all those fights this
semester is because the boys can't take ME
seriously. No matter how many times I win, they
refuse to accept they could lose to a...mere," the
word 'mere' had a acrid taste, "girl."
{...And THIS "cute little thing" of a body is even
more of a girl! *I can't even take it seriously.
{But that must be the whole point why I was given
this ego-diminishing form!} she told herself as a
way to fend off the attack on her pride from BOTH
sides, the part of her that wanted to be a respected
martial contestant, and the part that wanted to be a
desired marital prize. {If I can overcome this
handicap, then I can overcome just about anything!}
And when she got back to Nerima, she'd show
everybody that her own Akane-body was more than a
match as a girl for this Cupy Doll's, too...
= = =
In HIS rush to keep from falling in a spring that
would make him female as well, the panda had
actually stumbled along a path that took it by three
other springs. "Honestly! If Dad had just kept his
head, he could have avoided nearly all of them. We
were on the edge of the springs area, after all."
Relieved that she had passed the last of them, Akane
took one last wary look at that one. What if some
animal or insect fell into it, and suddenly rose up
out of it to attack her? Her mind found a very
strange thought to ease her fear, {If you can become
a combination of things with the water of more than
one of them, then you could become something half-
human and half-animal.
{But where ARE they? I haven't heard of
anthropomorphic creatures running loose.} She shook
her head to rid herself of the wild thought. {I wish
I'd never listened to the Anime Club going on about
American cartoons.}
She headed off towards woods at the base of the
mountains ahead, trying not to think of a Disney
dimension, a Warner Brothers dimension, a Hanna-
Barbera dimension, a...
{If Pluto is a dog, then what is Goofy?...}
= = =
Akane veered to the left. "There seems to be a spot
up there with a lot of bamboo. That is what pandas
eat, isn't it?" She shuddered at the thought of her
dad having to live off of that. "It took Kasumi's
best efforts to get him to eat what he did eat! If I
remember right, bamboo can barely give a panda
enough nutrition."
"Bwaoo!"
Akane looked to her right in time to see the black-
and-white creature lumbering towards her upright. "--
At least this one looks well-fed.
"Dad!! Stop playing around, you've got to--" The
panda wasn't slowing down!
Feeling like a deer caught in the headlights, Akane--
broke free and acted!
She tipped herself over onto the ground at her side,
and let the clumsier beast run past her.
The panda had to fall down onto its front paws to
stop a few feet beyond her. It then turned, and
charged at her again.
Akane was still on her slimmer back on the ground
looking at more than 150 kilograms of beast coming
for her. "Dad, is, is this your way of trying to
help me?" Suddenly, she remembered again why she
thought they were here. She wanted to make him proud
of her. "Yes: I will become a warrior among
warriors!"
The monster leaped. "I won't let you down!" She
brought her new shorter legs up at almost the right
spot under the thick coat of fur. Grunting with all
of the body's might, she used its own enormous
weight against it. "You--Or Mom!!" Feeling like she
had added the strength of another women to the two
she already had, she tossed her father's figure
meters away.
His panda form landed on skidded its side, almost
rolling over onto its other side.
Panting from the effort, and feeling sore but good,
Akane stared at her challenger, calculating its
battle plan. {Dad should continue attacking me until
one of us can no longer move. He owes it to me for
neglecting my training!}
She channeled her own will through the reflexes of
the body she was in. It was still like a child
learning to do something new with her body, but at
least she was no longer constantly fighting with it.
She stood up, as erect as her aching muscles would
allow. "Come on, Dad. We have twelve hours to make
up for ten years."
There was surprising little anger in her.
= = =
In a blood-red sunset, a red-ponytailed girl,
bruised, scratched, and exhausted rode belly down on
the back of her panda. Her dirty kempo-gi was in
shreds. "We...still...have...a few...more...hours,"
she wearily said into its fur.
"Beh-rah," it said, not sounding pleased.
Finally the Chinese guide's soft voice could be
heard, "Sirs! Sirs, over here!" The wide man in
brown was standing outside a one-room cabin built in
the Chinese manner. There was a campfire pit off to
the side of the dirt path to its one, now open,
door. A bright fire and large plume of smoke acted
as signals.
The only man in sight said, "I have teakettle
ready!" holding it up as a greeting.
= = =
As soon as the panda had reached the front of the
cabin, it rose onto its hind feet, letting the girl-
form tumble off of its hairy back into the grass
with dirt patches.
"Owch-ch!" she groaned. "You're just mad because it
was a draw...." She was too fatigued to do anything
but lay where she'd fallen. She mumbled, "I fought a
wild animal to a stand-still...," as she closed her
eyes again.
"Bwah vra rraa," was its only comment as it took the
teakettle from the guide.
The guide demonstrated, "Pour over head, shoulders,
chest: Above heart. Hot water make you man again."
It asked, "Br-hot-d?" But deciding to be brave about
it, it let a trickle come out of the kettle's spout
onto its furry head.
The extra mass melted off of him. Underneath was a
stout, muscular, hairless, and nude man. But at
least he had his glasses on. He adjusted the straps
around his ears as he looked down on the person
cursed to be a girl. "You disappoint your father,
boy! You've allowed a girl's body to make you forget
everything I've taught you!"
And with that, he took the lid off of the teakettle,
and tossed the contents at the soft body lying at
his feet. "You're not ready to be called a man."
"AAAA!! That's HOT!!" cried a tenor voice.
Notes Below:
In the movie "Freaky Friday", the mind transfer
happened just as the mom took a drag on her
cigarette (HOT), and the daughter took a mouthful of
ice cream (COLD).
I think having to deal with the ghost of your old
body (just as an amputee has to) is what would most
likely happen if you could change bodies. And,
unlike other body-changing stories, it fit in with
the plot of this story.
I chose to interpret Pantyhose Tarou's curse having
started with a man who fell into four springs and
then had drowned his accursed form(s) in another
because: (a) It's the simplest explanation. (b) It
allows for more story options! Especially when (c)
matched up against what happens when somebody has
their uncursed form cursed again. That is for the
next chapter.
By Ron Dow75
01: To Be a Warrior at Last?
[This takes place before, on the more familiar
timeline, Akane Tendou even knows Ranma and Genma
Saotome even exists.]
Nude and wet, Akane had just gotten out of the
furo/sunken bathtub in her family's Japanese-style
bathroom. Even after the soak, she was still cursing
herself for having let Kuno get a strike on her with
his wooden bokken sword. The boys at school were her
only real challenge as a martial artist. If
Upperclassman Kuno had won, not only would her honor
be at risk, but her reputation as a girl! He already
had a warped view of the world. What would he say
happened if he did a date from her!? Even people
THINKING she might kiss him--
"Ohrr!" She growled, and kicked the bar of soap that
had strayed away from the shower area beside the
furo. The force of her exasperation sent it bouncing
off the blue tile walls.
Kasumi called out: "Akane! Will you clean the tub
after you're done?! Dr. Tofu says his herbal
ointment leaves a ring!"
Annoyed, now, at having to be distracted from her
annoyance, Akane answered, "Okay!" turning to do the
chore. Her foot landed on the soap that had slid
back to her.
The girl with her hair tied up found herself falling
towards the tub: She screamed!!
Meanwhile, in Juusenkyo, a panda leaped from the pole it
had landed on, and attacked a ponytail teen in a
gi/martial artist's uniform while he was distracted
talking to their Chinese Guide. The brunette boy was
struck, and falling towards one of the springs: He
screamed!!
Splash!
In the suddenly cold water, Akane felt something
unbelievable being linked to something even more
unbelievable!! It was almost a relief when the
second replaced the first.
But then her fear of drowning, her fear of water
began to set in: The girl with hair tied in a short
ponytail found the bottom, and rose in a pond that
was above the waist deep. Something told her it
should've been below the waist
There was something different about her body. First
of all she was tenser--and getting tenser--than she'd
felt even before, every smaller muscle tightening.
Second she was no longer nude; on her was the
familiar feeling of a kempo-gi coat and pants
(though she'd never worn one this wet). And third,
and perhaps most attention grabbing were the greater
curves she felt from larger top to lighter bottom!
Confused, Akane opened up the front of the soiled,
white gi, and looked at her now size D boobs.
"AAAAAA!!" her now different voice screamed.
Somebody had been talking: "...Now whoever fall spring
take body of young girl (ha, ha)."
Her shocked mind finally told her it was a man
talking: Akane quickly pulled the wide-open top
closed. Tight! {Aw-ch, moved too fast.}
Her new face scowling, her blush caught up with her.
She wanted to turn away, retreat until she could get
her bearings. {It's always an advantage to know as
many of the 5 Answers as you can before you fight.}
But she had no answers. {I don't know this man--I
don't even know how I GOT here!!} Her fists up
against the larger bust she felt {Or LIKE this!!},
she had to stare up at him, read his moves, and
prepare herself as much as she could for an attack.
That increased her already immense tension. It also
screamed that this wasn't her body! {Even the voice
I think with isn't mine!!}
The wide man in brown Mao clothes and yellow-star
cap said in accented Japanese, "Oo, do not look at
me like that, Miss--I mean sir!" And he pointed to
the Chinese ideographs on the long, ringed placard
book he was holding, "I not do this. Is "Spring of
Drowned Girl"! Nan-niichuan! I repeat: There very
tragic legend of girl who drown in spring, one
thousand five hundred year ago. Now whoever fall in
spring take body of young girl."
Akane raised her higher voice, "That DOESN'T explain
how I--"
Just as she was beginning to deal with two (three??)
uncertainties at once, a huge black-and-white furry
creature landed on ground near the Chinese man. It
tried to stay erect on its hind legs {WHY is it
wearing a white gi coat and, and...Eastern-
style/loops-instead-of-earpieces glasses around one
ear??}, but fell over onto its fore ones, too.
It lost the fight, and fell onto its jowls, with
only its rump up.
Akane cried, "EE! What IS that?!"
The Chinese-looking man said, "I repeat that, too?
That, sir, is your father. He fall..."
Akane started wading towards the pool's edge,
"Dad!!?! He's here, too!?!" {If this weirdness can
happen to me, why couldn't it happen to somebody
else in our house?!}
The Chinese man flipped over to another placard in
the ringed book, "...into Xiong-mao-nicuan, "Spring of
Drowned Panda"! Very tragic story of panda who drown
two thousand year ago. The legend say whoever fall
in spring take body of panda!"
Akane had enough! Freeing her fists from their hold
on the kempo-gi's lapels to get a grip on her
sanity, she yelled, "That's ridiculous!! People do
not turn into other things!"
The Chinese man blinked. "But you are girl now(?) I
see you peep!"
She took a swipe at the idiot, "Of course I'm a
girl!" {Can't you see these caricatures of
breasts!?} She reached out and took hold of one of
the FOUR {WHY would I think that number was
important--I'm in a situation, here!} bamboo poles in
the water to steady herself.
The Chinese man said, "Oo, I not hear Nan-niichuan
change personality, too, like Fuushan-niichuan,
"Spring of Drowned Priest"." Just speaking of it,
had him flip over to that placard. "I need read
again "Guide to Accursed Grounds, Annotated
Edition"."
The panda was nodding as if it understood what the
man was saying as it walked up beside him.
Akane's foot slid on the muck on the bottom of the
pond. She grabbed a pole in time. Feeling the
heavier swing of those boobs, she looked down; she
saw her reflection for the first time. "Who is
this!!?!" Those too blue eyes, that too red hair,
that too cute face, that too, too built, petit body:
{THESE aren't mine!!!}
The Chinese man smiled, "That is tragic reaction I
expect." He flipped to, "You fall in "Spring of
Drowned Young Girl", Nan-niichuan. There very tragic
legend..."
Akane had to quickly back away from slashing claws,
"Dad! What do you think you're DOING!!?!" He foot
slipped! If she hadn't been grasping the pole, she
would've gone under--Maybe drowned!!
"DAD!!" she screamed, looking for the chance to pull
him in {' Easier thought of than done, when I ache
like this}. If he wouldn't help her out {He KNOWS
how much I hate ponds and pools and the like!},
she'd climb on him and help herself out!
Got it! "Now, to flip--"
The Chinese man cried, "Eww, no, sirs! Very bad you
fall into TWO accursed ponds when in accursed-form!"
This time the panda listened to him. As it brought
its foreleg back, the newly made redhead came with
it as she determinedly clung on. Her gi pants were
water logged and dripping.
The Chinese man flipped through his book of
placards, "Most tragic example...Oo, I do not have one
for "Yeti-Riding-Bull-Holding Crane-with-Eel". Name
must be too long. Chinese name is too long, also, to
tell to people who do not know language, anyway."
Lowering the book, he told them, "You fall into Nan-
niichuan you become young girl...panda!"
The creature dropped, and ran as fast, and
awkwardly, as its four legs could carry it.
Having let go, Akane yelled, "DAD!!!" as she now
struggled to keep from rolling {Ow, larger boobs at
least make better stop-wedges.} into yet another
pond. Cramp! Cramp! {Come on! You've dealt with
cramps before!...} Just not all over her body.
= = =
The Chinese man, hesitantly, approached, "I help.
You not make splash?"
Akane had more than one reason to yell, "Go near
that water!!?! Of course not!!"
He reached down and pulled her by her exposed feet
and ankles away from the pond's edge. He repeated to
himself that this wasn't really a beautiful young
girl; this had been a teenage boy just a few minutes
ago, named Ranma. As 'sir' was dragged further from
the water, the incredible, competing tensions eased
enough for him to notice. To help him take his mind
off of her softening body, he returned to his
favorite topic, "Juusenkyo is one of many accursed
grounds around world. They first become training
ground when warrior come, meet challenge of
different body. After he master old, he master new.
Then he is true master warrior."
On the damp earth and grass, Akane thought, {Am, am
I here to be a warrior?} She didn't understand how
she came to be chosen {I haven't mastered my OWN
body, yet}; but she DID understand the concept. A
warrior--especially a martial artist needed to be in
harmony with their body, thought and action wed as
one. Right now she had TWO different sets of
reflexes and habits fighting each other. One was
that which came with her new body. Without them, she
would be like a fish out of water, since her the new
body responded differently than her old one. The
other was that which she used to control her OWN
body. All that was left of her old body was what her
mind held onto. It was like a ghost to her. The
faster she could learn to adapt her mind to a body
she wasn't used to, the more ready her mind would be
able to adapt to other problems: Like injuries,
fatigue, temperature, hydration...even, perhaps,
magic!
Akane struggled to prove her merit by pushing
herself up off the ground on shaky arms. The more
weight they had to support, the more they trembled.
The Chinese man offered his hand, "In days of lore,
warrior fight warrior in great contest of cunning.
They try keep each other from hot water. You have
twelve hour find hot water, or have accursed-
body...forever."
Akane heard that: "Half-a-day, or, or...." She looked
off in the direction the panda she thought was her
dad had run.
The Chinese man nodded, "Panda. It not change back."
At the thought of the danger her father was in,
Akane forgot about herself. Before she knew it, she
was up on her new feet.
The Chinese man said, "Sir! You are fast learner!
Come, we get hot water at guest cabin."
Akane shook her head, as she began to limp away on
smaller legs and feet {and narrower waist}; "I have
to find Dad while I still can! And this body is
going to slow me down too much as it is."
The man tried to explain, "But, sir! When you get
your own body back, you track faster."
He was right of course. But that would be the easy
way. That was not the way of this place. "I was
brought here, to become somebody truly worthy of the
name, warrior. That is what I've wanted all of my
life." Then a catch developed in her new throat.
"It's what I HAVE to be. It's my sacred filial duty.
My obligation...my debt of honor." She then sounded
like she was fighting back deeper emotions that had
been released. "I was born to be a martial artist,
and that is how I must die."
The Chinese man said, "Oo, sir is serious. I not
argue with someone who think like that. I go get hot
water ready."
Akane nodded as she heard him leave. He called her
"sir", and that was how she felt. When a MAN
honestly called a woman that {As opposed to a girl
friend} it was a sign that she was recognized for
something that was outside her gender. {' Not that
women couldn't do most of the things guys could.}
Then her cute face got Akane's more familiar frown,
{...If guys would let them. Women's Liberation is
something that's never really taken hold in the
East.}
Trying to close her stiff fingers into a fist ended
up only having them look like claws. "Sometimes, I
wish I were a guy. I certainly wouldn't have to
fight off girls like I have to guys." {Can you
honestly imagine a group of girls fighting over a
guy!?!} Then she had a second thought, {Well, may be
a singer-idol. But NOT a guy whose only thing he's
has going for him is he's rich and handsome. Just
look at Kuno.} Just the thought of his name, and her
old reactions wanted to imprint themselves on her
new, smaller, tighter, hotter, wetter...
The twitching caused a taut leg to twitch, and skip
again, sending her foot towards the brink of one of
those springs. She bent down to physically restrain
it--only to get a backache! She made the back arch,
and she waddled on. {Kuno and his SAMURAI, grand-
standing stunt!!} she cursed! {It's because of HIM I
started having feels like this!} Her mood had
darkened even more, "I honestly think the reason
I've been challenged to all those fights this
semester is because the boys can't take ME
seriously. No matter how many times I win, they
refuse to accept they could lose to a...mere," the
word 'mere' had a acrid taste, "girl."
{...And THIS "cute little thing" of a body is even
more of a girl! *I can't even take it seriously.
{But that must be the whole point why I was given
this ego-diminishing form!} she told herself as a
way to fend off the attack on her pride from BOTH
sides, the part of her that wanted to be a respected
martial contestant, and the part that wanted to be a
desired marital prize. {If I can overcome this
handicap, then I can overcome just about anything!}
And when she got back to Nerima, she'd show
everybody that her own Akane-body was more than a
match as a girl for this Cupy Doll's, too...
= = =
In HIS rush to keep from falling in a spring that
would make him female as well, the panda had
actually stumbled along a path that took it by three
other springs. "Honestly! If Dad had just kept his
head, he could have avoided nearly all of them. We
were on the edge of the springs area, after all."
Relieved that she had passed the last of them, Akane
took one last wary look at that one. What if some
animal or insect fell into it, and suddenly rose up
out of it to attack her? Her mind found a very
strange thought to ease her fear, {If you can become
a combination of things with the water of more than
one of them, then you could become something half-
human and half-animal.
{But where ARE they? I haven't heard of
anthropomorphic creatures running loose.} She shook
her head to rid herself of the wild thought. {I wish
I'd never listened to the Anime Club going on about
American cartoons.}
She headed off towards woods at the base of the
mountains ahead, trying not to think of a Disney
dimension, a Warner Brothers dimension, a Hanna-
Barbera dimension, a...
{If Pluto is a dog, then what is Goofy?...}
= = =
Akane veered to the left. "There seems to be a spot
up there with a lot of bamboo. That is what pandas
eat, isn't it?" She shuddered at the thought of her
dad having to live off of that. "It took Kasumi's
best efforts to get him to eat what he did eat! If I
remember right, bamboo can barely give a panda
enough nutrition."
"Bwaoo!"
Akane looked to her right in time to see the black-
and-white creature lumbering towards her upright. "--
At least this one looks well-fed.
"Dad!! Stop playing around, you've got to--" The
panda wasn't slowing down!
Feeling like a deer caught in the headlights, Akane--
broke free and acted!
She tipped herself over onto the ground at her side,
and let the clumsier beast run past her.
The panda had to fall down onto its front paws to
stop a few feet beyond her. It then turned, and
charged at her again.
Akane was still on her slimmer back on the ground
looking at more than 150 kilograms of beast coming
for her. "Dad, is, is this your way of trying to
help me?" Suddenly, she remembered again why she
thought they were here. She wanted to make him proud
of her. "Yes: I will become a warrior among
warriors!"
The monster leaped. "I won't let you down!" She
brought her new shorter legs up at almost the right
spot under the thick coat of fur. Grunting with all
of the body's might, she used its own enormous
weight against it. "You--Or Mom!!" Feeling like she
had added the strength of another women to the two
she already had, she tossed her father's figure
meters away.
His panda form landed on skidded its side, almost
rolling over onto its other side.
Panting from the effort, and feeling sore but good,
Akane stared at her challenger, calculating its
battle plan. {Dad should continue attacking me until
one of us can no longer move. He owes it to me for
neglecting my training!}
She channeled her own will through the reflexes of
the body she was in. It was still like a child
learning to do something new with her body, but at
least she was no longer constantly fighting with it.
She stood up, as erect as her aching muscles would
allow. "Come on, Dad. We have twelve hours to make
up for ten years."
There was surprising little anger in her.
= = =
In a blood-red sunset, a red-ponytailed girl,
bruised, scratched, and exhausted rode belly down on
the back of her panda. Her dirty kempo-gi was in
shreds. "We...still...have...a few...more...hours,"
she wearily said into its fur.
"Beh-rah," it said, not sounding pleased.
Finally the Chinese guide's soft voice could be
heard, "Sirs! Sirs, over here!" The wide man in
brown was standing outside a one-room cabin built in
the Chinese manner. There was a campfire pit off to
the side of the dirt path to its one, now open,
door. A bright fire and large plume of smoke acted
as signals.
The only man in sight said, "I have teakettle
ready!" holding it up as a greeting.
= = =
As soon as the panda had reached the front of the
cabin, it rose onto its hind feet, letting the girl-
form tumble off of its hairy back into the grass
with dirt patches.
"Owch-ch!" she groaned. "You're just mad because it
was a draw...." She was too fatigued to do anything
but lay where she'd fallen. She mumbled, "I fought a
wild animal to a stand-still...," as she closed her
eyes again.
"Bwah vra rraa," was its only comment as it took the
teakettle from the guide.
The guide demonstrated, "Pour over head, shoulders,
chest: Above heart. Hot water make you man again."
It asked, "Br-hot-d?" But deciding to be brave about
it, it let a trickle come out of the kettle's spout
onto its furry head.
The extra mass melted off of him. Underneath was a
stout, muscular, hairless, and nude man. But at
least he had his glasses on. He adjusted the straps
around his ears as he looked down on the person
cursed to be a girl. "You disappoint your father,
boy! You've allowed a girl's body to make you forget
everything I've taught you!"
And with that, he took the lid off of the teakettle,
and tossed the contents at the soft body lying at
his feet. "You're not ready to be called a man."
"AAAA!! That's HOT!!" cried a tenor voice.
Notes Below:
In the movie "Freaky Friday", the mind transfer
happened just as the mom took a drag on her
cigarette (HOT), and the daughter took a mouthful of
ice cream (COLD).
I think having to deal with the ghost of your old
body (just as an amputee has to) is what would most
likely happen if you could change bodies. And,
unlike other body-changing stories, it fit in with
the plot of this story.
I chose to interpret Pantyhose Tarou's curse having
started with a man who fell into four springs and
then had drowned his accursed form(s) in another
because: (a) It's the simplest explanation. (b) It
allows for more story options! Especially when (c)
matched up against what happens when somebody has
their uncursed form cursed again. That is for the
next chapter.