A/N: This means though and *this* means italics. Heh heh, today is the
chapter you've all been waiting for (maybe): The Hot Water Disaster! And,
thanks to the overwhelming victory, Ranko and Ryoga will be paired later on
in the story.
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Now we must skip backwards about a week and a half, back to the tiny village next to the Youkai Caves. Bring yourself back to the man and his wife, and Ranko staying with them. Now picture Ranko having a good time, enjoying herself and generally getting along, winning with her martial arts skills.
Wrong. Ranko was having a difficult - to say the least - time.
She couldn't remember why she was at this place, the Youkai Caves, or so they were called. She didn't remember coming here with anyone else. . .no surprise, since she didn't remember the grounds in the first place. She was unable to answer the kind yet nosy questions posed by the man and his wife. Somehow she got the impression that the answer, "I'm sorry, I have amnesia" was not going to work with them. The man wanted straight, sure replies, and his wife bustled around, yet was always eavesdropping.
Ranko shifted uncomfortably on the floor, trying to eat her miso soup. The man started to talk over her head, as though he thought she was deaf.
"What I don't understand, my dear," he said to his wife, "is what a young girl alone would be doing at the training grounds by herself. Or maybe not by herself. And from the look of it, she went into a cave."
Ranko tried to pretend to be deaf, for her sake.
"She claims it was the first cave," continued the man with an air of superiority. Ranko supposed he had a reason to, since he lived here after all. "No one has ever come out of there alive. If she has been there, truly, maybe we could know what lurks there."
The girl tried to listen to this part. Maybe she could find out what had happened to her - if anything *had* happened.
"She doesn't seem to want to talk about it," said the wife. She took the last bowl of soup from Ranko, who didn't protest. "I suppose she must have had a reason to be here. Maybe she went to train."
The man quirked an eyebrow at Ranko, who attempted not to shrink back into herself. "Were you training?'
"Uh, yeah, I think," she replied, trying to sound like she really knew what she was talking about. "Yes, I was. Yes."
He stood and stretched. "Then I don't suppose you'll object to a match in the morning? Only the best martial artists go into that first cave. I would offer you the bath, but. . ." He glanced at the clock. "It is a little late. Would you like it?"
"No, thank you," said Ranko. "I'll wait until tomorrow. I think."
The wife appeared, carrying a slightly faded and patched yukata. "Here, child," she said. "You may borrow this for the night. I'll wash those dirty Chinese clothes."
"Wait!" said Ranko. She reached into her pocket and drew out the crumpled letter. "I want to keep this."
The wife looked pleasantly puzzled, but, "It's yours, dear," was all she said.
Ranko woke the next morning, forgetting where she was again. For a terrible five minutes, she even forgot who she was. Then she drew the letter from inside her yukata, and read it. "Ranko," she whispered, clinging to the name like a drowning man clinging to a life raft, "My name is Ranko." She sat up and suddenly remembered the match.
Crap! I don't know how to fight. . .I'm only a girl. . .What will they do when they learn about me? she wondered, trembling slightly. It'll pose more questions. . .ones I don't think I'll be able to bull my way through.
"Child, are you awake?" asked the wife in a slightly patronizing voice. "Ah, yes you are. I've found a gi in your size, Ranko-chan." She came in and put the pale white outfit on Ranko's legs. "My husband's waiting for you outside in the yard when you're ready." She left as quickly as she had come, twittering like a bird.
Ranko held up the gi. Her hands shook a bit, and she took a deep breath to calm herself. "How do you put this on?" she asked herself, but managed to do it anyway. In fact, her hands seemed to know what do instinctively. Her brain protested, wondering how she knew this so well, but her hands tied the sash quickly and efficiently. Flipping her pigtail over her shoulder, she knew in her heart that she had done this before. But when, and where?
The man was waiting in the yard. Ranko shuddered a bit to see muscled limbs, corded and almost as big as Ranko's thighs. The man was facing a wooden practice dummy. He stood, concentrating. Then he let out a shout of, "HA!" and fired a punch at it. Ranko was amazed that she could see his huge arm moving as if in slow motion. The fist hit the dummy, and it rocked backwards but stayed rooted in the earth. He swore slightly and wiped sweat from his brow, then caught sight of her.
He gave her a wry smile. "Confident, aren't we? Not even warming up, are we?"
Ranko could tell he didn't like her much. "Um, no."
He gave a snort of laughter. "Don't get too confident, little girl. First, I want to see you throw a punch at that dummy." His nod indicated what he had just hit. "If you can do better than me, I'll consider trying you out." His tone suggested that he thought she couldn't.
Ranko didn't have much confidence in herself, either, but the sound of his voice, slightly superior and condescending, the sound of one who thinks he is a master, got on her nerves. "Really? Well, just watch me pound you into the ground." Amazed, she could read her feelings: He's not much. Big and muscular, but he's not much. And he has no real force except for his muscles behind his punches. Real easy. Shaking her head slightly, she went and moved into a fighting stance in front of the dummy.
The man's jaw nearly dropped as he felt the girl's aura rise. He watched her walk over to the dummy, moving with the stride of a fighter. He could nearly see the glow of Ranko's aura as she positioned herself with easy grace, and stared straight at the dummy. He could *feel* her concentration, her determination. Well, I never! he thought. She might have something in her after all.
She crouched, feeling her slow anger grow hotter as she thought of the man's lightly sarcastic comments, flavored with the fact that he thought she was a weakling who couldn't hurt a fly. I'll. . .show. . .him! she thought, punctuating each word in her mind with a flare of her aura. Practically glowing, she stared straight at the practice dummy, then drew back her right fist and let it fly with a force that rivaled a speeding semi.
"HA!"
The man's jaw did drop this time as the wooden dummy, the ground it was on, part of the fence, and a good deal of land on the other side flew into the air. There was a huge explosion as Ranko released her pent-up frustration in one powerful right hook. The wife came out and fainted when she saw the damage to her property. There was a loud commotion as several neighbors arrived to see what was the problem. Fingers pointed and tongues wagged - was it really that girl?
The aura faded, and so did Ranko's anger. Looking in astonishment at her hands, which still seethed with internal fires, she gazed then at the destruction, and back at her palms. They were sweating. Nervously she wiped them clean on her gi, then turned with dread and faced the man and his wife. Or rather, the man only, since his wife was flat on the ground.
His eyebrow rose. With a visible effort not to give in to his amazement, he said calmly, "I see you have a lot of potential. I have a brother who lives close to Tokyo. He runs a dojo and trains young martial artists. I think you would fit in nicely there."
Ranko looked at him, fear in her eyes. Fear of what she was, fear of him, and fear of this unknown place she was being sent to. His look softened slightly as he read those fears. "He has two daughters about your age." This was only a guess, since he didn't know Ranko's age. Neither did she. "Don't worry, I'm sure you can get more out of his dojo than you could here."
The girl nodded slightly, then went back into the house for a nice hot shower.
~~~~~~~~~~~
"This is going awfully slow."
Akane sighed and tried to ignore Nabiki's complaints. She leaned back against the cart's side and closed her eyes. This was their first day of travel outside Tokyo, on the road Genma and Ranma had taken. Nabiki held the guidebook in front of her, and occasionally marked their progress. She was unhappy with the results. Genma sat, remarkably silent, in the front with the driver. His memory of the road wasn't too complete, but he was able to recognize various landmarks. Soun and Kasumi had been left at home. Shampoo and Ukyo were discussing what they would do with Ranma when they found him, and Mousse was sitting in duck form next to Shampoo. She has splashed him when he started to get a little too clingy. Personally, Akane was surprised that Shampoo and Ukyo were agreeing on most of their ideas, but she knew the peace would not last long. Luckily, Kuno and Kodachi had been easily taken care of. Knocked out with some of Kodachi's own potions (thanks to Shampoo) and tied up, they had been left in the basement of their house.
"How long did it take you guys to get there?" Nabiki asked Genma in exasperation.
Genma thought for a bit, then answered, "I think. . .three or four days, maybe."
Nabiki threw up her hands but nearly lost the guidebook. "Damn! Ranma's been out for almost two weeks. Who knows what he'll think by then."
Akane shifted position and focused on the passing scenery. I hope he's all right, she thought to herself. The trees started to get blurry as she became drowsy. I'm. . .I'm worried for him. . . She would, of course, never tell anyone else how worried she was for Ranma. She'd never hear the end of it, since she had always acted like she didn't care about him. Her head bobbed, and she sank into sleep.
Shampoo glanced over and heard Akane snoring softly. "What Ukyo think we do to Ranma?" she asked Ukyo. She couldn't believe it, really. Here she was, talking to one of her enemies about the issue they fought over. But, she reminded herself, this was for Ranma. She was putting up with Ukyo's comments for Ranma's sake.
The spatula-wielding okonomiyaki chef lowered her eyelids. I don't believe it! Talking with this cat girl, who changes into the one thing my Ran-chan hates. . .Of course, this is for him. This is for his sake. Maybe if she kept telling herself that, she would start to believe it. In response, she said, "I was thinking of dumping hot water onto him. Maybe that would wake him up, like it did for Genma."
The Chinese girl was doubtful. "And if it no work? Then what?"
Ukyo growled under her breath. "I don't know. What do you think?"
Shampoo smirked slightly. She had the upper hand here, with a Plan B. "Shampoo think of attack Ranma with memories. Show him friends, bring to dojo. *Something* wake in Ranma, then he remember!"
Ucchan dug her fingernails into the wood, admonishing herself to not get frustrated over the cat-girl's tone. "And if that doesn't work? Do you have a Plan C?"
"Of course no!" said Shampoo scornfully. "That Ukyo plan!"
Their arguments continued. Gradually Genma fell asleep, and the two girls as well.
~~~~~~~~~~~
"Whoo! That's cold!"
Ranko shook her head and hair out, spraying small drops of water in the bathroom. She soaped herself and washed her hair, cleaning it of the sweat and dirt that had accumulated since she had woken up at the caves. She was disgusted at how dirty she was, at how filthy the water washing her off looked. Finally convinced that she was clean, she looked at the bath of hot water, but decided not to step in yet. Instead, she contemplated what had happened so far in her life.
"I have amnesia," Ranko listed, reluctantly. "I've ended up with these two people who don't really like me. I've discovered that I have really good martial arts skills. I blew a hole in the man's yard, and now I'm being sent to his brother for training." She snorted. "I hope I recover my memories soon. Who the hell *am* I?!"
The letter lay in her room, in the pocket of her Chinese pants, half- forgotten. The only link to her past.
Ranko shivered. "Guess I should get in, then," she said with a slight sigh, looking at the inviting hot bath. Rising, she made her way over, gazed at the clear pool - thinking of how dirty it would look afterward - and got in.
"EEEEEEEYAAAAAAAHH!!!"
The scream resounded through the house, out the open door, and was heard by the small group of people in the couple's yard. It was a yell of pure horror. The man glanced up, wondering what had caused the sound. The group he was talking too shifted uncomfortably.
"I didn't know you had a boy in the house," one person remarked.
The man looked perturbed. "I don't," he replied, and went to investigate.
Fingers less elegant, legs less smooth and round! Body less curvy - no, not curvy at all! Ranko stared in helpless dismay, looking at her chest. 'Her' chest no longer. It was flat, a boy's chest. Cautiously he touched it. It felt real. Nerving himself for the worst, he dared to look between his legs. Yes, she had turned into a boy; her whole body had changed and mutated to look like this. He sat in numb shock.
"Who the HELL am I?" he gasped. His voice was rough and male. This was just another mystery to add to the already large list.
Just then the door slammed open, and Ranko found himself staring into the eyes of the man who owned the house. They were dark with surprise.
~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hyah!"
Megumi threw a punch at her sister and then ducked. Hitomi took the blow with a tightened stomach, but felt it like a blow from her father. The two girls separated and studied each other, each searching for a weakness. Hitomi saw a large girl, not fat but large, with a buildup of muscle that her age contributed to. Megumi's hair was tangled around her face, sticking to sweat on her forehead that the sweatband hadn't caught. Megumi saw a short girl, barely five feet tall, petite for her sixteen years. Her build was slim, her muscles less developed. Shoulder-length blonde hair caught in her eyes, and she wiped it away. In that instant, Megumi struck.
Hitomi fell with a yelp of surprise as her sister's foot connected with her left cheek, knocking her down. She rolled, trying to hit the ground with her whole body, but failed. The back of Hitomi's head connected with the wooden floor, and she reeled with the blow. When her eyes focused again, she found herself staring at her sister's fist.
"Nice job," Megumi said casually, "but you have to learn to ignore the little things."
Hitomi didn't take her sister's offered helping hand, and got up by herself with a growl. She hated it when Megumi acted so - so high-and-mighty. She just thinks she's better because she's older, she thought resentfully. Dad can still kick her ass.
The seventeen-year-old girl retrieved her towel from the side and wiped her face. Hitomi took her towel sullenly and copied her sister. They were silent for a while, and then Megumi spoke again.
"Isn't that girl supposed to come today?"
Hitomi wished she dared ignore her sister, but felt the need to show off slightly. "Yes. Her name is Ranko, and she has amnesia," she replied slightly boastfully. "She's the one who knocked down Uncle's yard."
Megumi took a sip of water. "She must be pretty good, then."
The blonde didn't answer. She hoped this Ranko was good enough to beat her sister. Megumi could use a little beating. She was too confident, too sure of herself. She was smug and self-centered, and liked to criticize people in a way that didn't sound directly insulting. However, Hitomi was expert enough in that field to be able to tell. "Dad went to get her in his car," she said finally. "He left four days ago; he should probably be able to get back sometime today."
"Dad drives too quickly," Megumi said scornfully. "Of course he will."
"Dad drives like a maniac," Hitomi muttered.
Within ten minutes, the girls had changed into yukatas and brushed out their hair. Megumi's tresses were long and chestnut-colored, and she put it up in a bun, turning this way and that to admire herself. Applying some makeup, she decided that she looked presentable and went out.
"Girls!" called their mother, Sakura. "Your father has returned. I want you to greet our new guest politely." She knew, better than most, of the fighting her daughters had.
Ranko got out of the car and walked towards the front door. She was shaking slightly from nerves. She felt as though she had been kicked out of the other house because of her weirdness. Luckily, the old man there hadn't told his brother about it. Now she knew she could *never* take a bath with the sisters. Never! How embarrassing it would be if her weird secret got out. This man here, Kouji, did not know of it, and she sure as hell wasn't going to tell him. Bracing herself, she opened the door, dressed in her cleaned Chinese outfit. Two sets of identical hazel eyes stared back at her. The girls looked so pretty in their yukatas. Nice, normal girls. Girls who didn't have amnesia or a strange curse.
"Hi," she said, trying a smile. "My name's Ranko."
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Rekkas' Random Ramblings (formerly known as the Chat Section: There you go. The end of the third chapter, finally. I'm sorry I haven't been able to update more frequently! School stuff, you know. I hope people will still like this story, even though I have now introduced a couple of made- ups. . .actually, a whole made-up family. Now, I hate Mary Sues as much as the next person, so if my two girls start to act Mary Sue-ish, please tell me!! But give them a chance for another chapter or two. I made them definitely NOT perfect, at least so far, and I hope they stay that way. And thanks to all the people who voted, Ryoga or Kuno as the romantic interest, Ryoga has won!! I think I'll be able to fit him into the story much better than Kuno. . .Anyway, expect him sometime in. . .say, two chapters. Maybe less, depending on the size of one chapter. This one, for example, was very very long. But anyway, this still holds: Please tell me of any questions you have about this story, or suggestions. All are looked at. And I got a lot of constructive criticism last chapter!! That makes me feel very good. That kind of review is the most helpful to me. And I think that's the end of the Random Ramblings for this chapter.
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Now we must skip backwards about a week and a half, back to the tiny village next to the Youkai Caves. Bring yourself back to the man and his wife, and Ranko staying with them. Now picture Ranko having a good time, enjoying herself and generally getting along, winning with her martial arts skills.
Wrong. Ranko was having a difficult - to say the least - time.
She couldn't remember why she was at this place, the Youkai Caves, or so they were called. She didn't remember coming here with anyone else. . .no surprise, since she didn't remember the grounds in the first place. She was unable to answer the kind yet nosy questions posed by the man and his wife. Somehow she got the impression that the answer, "I'm sorry, I have amnesia" was not going to work with them. The man wanted straight, sure replies, and his wife bustled around, yet was always eavesdropping.
Ranko shifted uncomfortably on the floor, trying to eat her miso soup. The man started to talk over her head, as though he thought she was deaf.
"What I don't understand, my dear," he said to his wife, "is what a young girl alone would be doing at the training grounds by herself. Or maybe not by herself. And from the look of it, she went into a cave."
Ranko tried to pretend to be deaf, for her sake.
"She claims it was the first cave," continued the man with an air of superiority. Ranko supposed he had a reason to, since he lived here after all. "No one has ever come out of there alive. If she has been there, truly, maybe we could know what lurks there."
The girl tried to listen to this part. Maybe she could find out what had happened to her - if anything *had* happened.
"She doesn't seem to want to talk about it," said the wife. She took the last bowl of soup from Ranko, who didn't protest. "I suppose she must have had a reason to be here. Maybe she went to train."
The man quirked an eyebrow at Ranko, who attempted not to shrink back into herself. "Were you training?'
"Uh, yeah, I think," she replied, trying to sound like she really knew what she was talking about. "Yes, I was. Yes."
He stood and stretched. "Then I don't suppose you'll object to a match in the morning? Only the best martial artists go into that first cave. I would offer you the bath, but. . ." He glanced at the clock. "It is a little late. Would you like it?"
"No, thank you," said Ranko. "I'll wait until tomorrow. I think."
The wife appeared, carrying a slightly faded and patched yukata. "Here, child," she said. "You may borrow this for the night. I'll wash those dirty Chinese clothes."
"Wait!" said Ranko. She reached into her pocket and drew out the crumpled letter. "I want to keep this."
The wife looked pleasantly puzzled, but, "It's yours, dear," was all she said.
Ranko woke the next morning, forgetting where she was again. For a terrible five minutes, she even forgot who she was. Then she drew the letter from inside her yukata, and read it. "Ranko," she whispered, clinging to the name like a drowning man clinging to a life raft, "My name is Ranko." She sat up and suddenly remembered the match.
Crap! I don't know how to fight. . .I'm only a girl. . .What will they do when they learn about me? she wondered, trembling slightly. It'll pose more questions. . .ones I don't think I'll be able to bull my way through.
"Child, are you awake?" asked the wife in a slightly patronizing voice. "Ah, yes you are. I've found a gi in your size, Ranko-chan." She came in and put the pale white outfit on Ranko's legs. "My husband's waiting for you outside in the yard when you're ready." She left as quickly as she had come, twittering like a bird.
Ranko held up the gi. Her hands shook a bit, and she took a deep breath to calm herself. "How do you put this on?" she asked herself, but managed to do it anyway. In fact, her hands seemed to know what do instinctively. Her brain protested, wondering how she knew this so well, but her hands tied the sash quickly and efficiently. Flipping her pigtail over her shoulder, she knew in her heart that she had done this before. But when, and where?
The man was waiting in the yard. Ranko shuddered a bit to see muscled limbs, corded and almost as big as Ranko's thighs. The man was facing a wooden practice dummy. He stood, concentrating. Then he let out a shout of, "HA!" and fired a punch at it. Ranko was amazed that she could see his huge arm moving as if in slow motion. The fist hit the dummy, and it rocked backwards but stayed rooted in the earth. He swore slightly and wiped sweat from his brow, then caught sight of her.
He gave her a wry smile. "Confident, aren't we? Not even warming up, are we?"
Ranko could tell he didn't like her much. "Um, no."
He gave a snort of laughter. "Don't get too confident, little girl. First, I want to see you throw a punch at that dummy." His nod indicated what he had just hit. "If you can do better than me, I'll consider trying you out." His tone suggested that he thought she couldn't.
Ranko didn't have much confidence in herself, either, but the sound of his voice, slightly superior and condescending, the sound of one who thinks he is a master, got on her nerves. "Really? Well, just watch me pound you into the ground." Amazed, she could read her feelings: He's not much. Big and muscular, but he's not much. And he has no real force except for his muscles behind his punches. Real easy. Shaking her head slightly, she went and moved into a fighting stance in front of the dummy.
The man's jaw nearly dropped as he felt the girl's aura rise. He watched her walk over to the dummy, moving with the stride of a fighter. He could nearly see the glow of Ranko's aura as she positioned herself with easy grace, and stared straight at the dummy. He could *feel* her concentration, her determination. Well, I never! he thought. She might have something in her after all.
She crouched, feeling her slow anger grow hotter as she thought of the man's lightly sarcastic comments, flavored with the fact that he thought she was a weakling who couldn't hurt a fly. I'll. . .show. . .him! she thought, punctuating each word in her mind with a flare of her aura. Practically glowing, she stared straight at the practice dummy, then drew back her right fist and let it fly with a force that rivaled a speeding semi.
"HA!"
The man's jaw did drop this time as the wooden dummy, the ground it was on, part of the fence, and a good deal of land on the other side flew into the air. There was a huge explosion as Ranko released her pent-up frustration in one powerful right hook. The wife came out and fainted when she saw the damage to her property. There was a loud commotion as several neighbors arrived to see what was the problem. Fingers pointed and tongues wagged - was it really that girl?
The aura faded, and so did Ranko's anger. Looking in astonishment at her hands, which still seethed with internal fires, she gazed then at the destruction, and back at her palms. They were sweating. Nervously she wiped them clean on her gi, then turned with dread and faced the man and his wife. Or rather, the man only, since his wife was flat on the ground.
His eyebrow rose. With a visible effort not to give in to his amazement, he said calmly, "I see you have a lot of potential. I have a brother who lives close to Tokyo. He runs a dojo and trains young martial artists. I think you would fit in nicely there."
Ranko looked at him, fear in her eyes. Fear of what she was, fear of him, and fear of this unknown place she was being sent to. His look softened slightly as he read those fears. "He has two daughters about your age." This was only a guess, since he didn't know Ranko's age. Neither did she. "Don't worry, I'm sure you can get more out of his dojo than you could here."
The girl nodded slightly, then went back into the house for a nice hot shower.
~~~~~~~~~~~
"This is going awfully slow."
Akane sighed and tried to ignore Nabiki's complaints. She leaned back against the cart's side and closed her eyes. This was their first day of travel outside Tokyo, on the road Genma and Ranma had taken. Nabiki held the guidebook in front of her, and occasionally marked their progress. She was unhappy with the results. Genma sat, remarkably silent, in the front with the driver. His memory of the road wasn't too complete, but he was able to recognize various landmarks. Soun and Kasumi had been left at home. Shampoo and Ukyo were discussing what they would do with Ranma when they found him, and Mousse was sitting in duck form next to Shampoo. She has splashed him when he started to get a little too clingy. Personally, Akane was surprised that Shampoo and Ukyo were agreeing on most of their ideas, but she knew the peace would not last long. Luckily, Kuno and Kodachi had been easily taken care of. Knocked out with some of Kodachi's own potions (thanks to Shampoo) and tied up, they had been left in the basement of their house.
"How long did it take you guys to get there?" Nabiki asked Genma in exasperation.
Genma thought for a bit, then answered, "I think. . .three or four days, maybe."
Nabiki threw up her hands but nearly lost the guidebook. "Damn! Ranma's been out for almost two weeks. Who knows what he'll think by then."
Akane shifted position and focused on the passing scenery. I hope he's all right, she thought to herself. The trees started to get blurry as she became drowsy. I'm. . .I'm worried for him. . . She would, of course, never tell anyone else how worried she was for Ranma. She'd never hear the end of it, since she had always acted like she didn't care about him. Her head bobbed, and she sank into sleep.
Shampoo glanced over and heard Akane snoring softly. "What Ukyo think we do to Ranma?" she asked Ukyo. She couldn't believe it, really. Here she was, talking to one of her enemies about the issue they fought over. But, she reminded herself, this was for Ranma. She was putting up with Ukyo's comments for Ranma's sake.
The spatula-wielding okonomiyaki chef lowered her eyelids. I don't believe it! Talking with this cat girl, who changes into the one thing my Ran-chan hates. . .Of course, this is for him. This is for his sake. Maybe if she kept telling herself that, she would start to believe it. In response, she said, "I was thinking of dumping hot water onto him. Maybe that would wake him up, like it did for Genma."
The Chinese girl was doubtful. "And if it no work? Then what?"
Ukyo growled under her breath. "I don't know. What do you think?"
Shampoo smirked slightly. She had the upper hand here, with a Plan B. "Shampoo think of attack Ranma with memories. Show him friends, bring to dojo. *Something* wake in Ranma, then he remember!"
Ucchan dug her fingernails into the wood, admonishing herself to not get frustrated over the cat-girl's tone. "And if that doesn't work? Do you have a Plan C?"
"Of course no!" said Shampoo scornfully. "That Ukyo plan!"
Their arguments continued. Gradually Genma fell asleep, and the two girls as well.
~~~~~~~~~~~
"Whoo! That's cold!"
Ranko shook her head and hair out, spraying small drops of water in the bathroom. She soaped herself and washed her hair, cleaning it of the sweat and dirt that had accumulated since she had woken up at the caves. She was disgusted at how dirty she was, at how filthy the water washing her off looked. Finally convinced that she was clean, she looked at the bath of hot water, but decided not to step in yet. Instead, she contemplated what had happened so far in her life.
"I have amnesia," Ranko listed, reluctantly. "I've ended up with these two people who don't really like me. I've discovered that I have really good martial arts skills. I blew a hole in the man's yard, and now I'm being sent to his brother for training." She snorted. "I hope I recover my memories soon. Who the hell *am* I?!"
The letter lay in her room, in the pocket of her Chinese pants, half- forgotten. The only link to her past.
Ranko shivered. "Guess I should get in, then," she said with a slight sigh, looking at the inviting hot bath. Rising, she made her way over, gazed at the clear pool - thinking of how dirty it would look afterward - and got in.
"EEEEEEEYAAAAAAAHH!!!"
The scream resounded through the house, out the open door, and was heard by the small group of people in the couple's yard. It was a yell of pure horror. The man glanced up, wondering what had caused the sound. The group he was talking too shifted uncomfortably.
"I didn't know you had a boy in the house," one person remarked.
The man looked perturbed. "I don't," he replied, and went to investigate.
Fingers less elegant, legs less smooth and round! Body less curvy - no, not curvy at all! Ranko stared in helpless dismay, looking at her chest. 'Her' chest no longer. It was flat, a boy's chest. Cautiously he touched it. It felt real. Nerving himself for the worst, he dared to look between his legs. Yes, she had turned into a boy; her whole body had changed and mutated to look like this. He sat in numb shock.
"Who the HELL am I?" he gasped. His voice was rough and male. This was just another mystery to add to the already large list.
Just then the door slammed open, and Ranko found himself staring into the eyes of the man who owned the house. They were dark with surprise.
~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hyah!"
Megumi threw a punch at her sister and then ducked. Hitomi took the blow with a tightened stomach, but felt it like a blow from her father. The two girls separated and studied each other, each searching for a weakness. Hitomi saw a large girl, not fat but large, with a buildup of muscle that her age contributed to. Megumi's hair was tangled around her face, sticking to sweat on her forehead that the sweatband hadn't caught. Megumi saw a short girl, barely five feet tall, petite for her sixteen years. Her build was slim, her muscles less developed. Shoulder-length blonde hair caught in her eyes, and she wiped it away. In that instant, Megumi struck.
Hitomi fell with a yelp of surprise as her sister's foot connected with her left cheek, knocking her down. She rolled, trying to hit the ground with her whole body, but failed. The back of Hitomi's head connected with the wooden floor, and she reeled with the blow. When her eyes focused again, she found herself staring at her sister's fist.
"Nice job," Megumi said casually, "but you have to learn to ignore the little things."
Hitomi didn't take her sister's offered helping hand, and got up by herself with a growl. She hated it when Megumi acted so - so high-and-mighty. She just thinks she's better because she's older, she thought resentfully. Dad can still kick her ass.
The seventeen-year-old girl retrieved her towel from the side and wiped her face. Hitomi took her towel sullenly and copied her sister. They were silent for a while, and then Megumi spoke again.
"Isn't that girl supposed to come today?"
Hitomi wished she dared ignore her sister, but felt the need to show off slightly. "Yes. Her name is Ranko, and she has amnesia," she replied slightly boastfully. "She's the one who knocked down Uncle's yard."
Megumi took a sip of water. "She must be pretty good, then."
The blonde didn't answer. She hoped this Ranko was good enough to beat her sister. Megumi could use a little beating. She was too confident, too sure of herself. She was smug and self-centered, and liked to criticize people in a way that didn't sound directly insulting. However, Hitomi was expert enough in that field to be able to tell. "Dad went to get her in his car," she said finally. "He left four days ago; he should probably be able to get back sometime today."
"Dad drives too quickly," Megumi said scornfully. "Of course he will."
"Dad drives like a maniac," Hitomi muttered.
Within ten minutes, the girls had changed into yukatas and brushed out their hair. Megumi's tresses were long and chestnut-colored, and she put it up in a bun, turning this way and that to admire herself. Applying some makeup, she decided that she looked presentable and went out.
"Girls!" called their mother, Sakura. "Your father has returned. I want you to greet our new guest politely." She knew, better than most, of the fighting her daughters had.
Ranko got out of the car and walked towards the front door. She was shaking slightly from nerves. She felt as though she had been kicked out of the other house because of her weirdness. Luckily, the old man there hadn't told his brother about it. Now she knew she could *never* take a bath with the sisters. Never! How embarrassing it would be if her weird secret got out. This man here, Kouji, did not know of it, and she sure as hell wasn't going to tell him. Bracing herself, she opened the door, dressed in her cleaned Chinese outfit. Two sets of identical hazel eyes stared back at her. The girls looked so pretty in their yukatas. Nice, normal girls. Girls who didn't have amnesia or a strange curse.
"Hi," she said, trying a smile. "My name's Ranko."
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Rekkas' Random Ramblings (formerly known as the Chat Section: There you go. The end of the third chapter, finally. I'm sorry I haven't been able to update more frequently! School stuff, you know. I hope people will still like this story, even though I have now introduced a couple of made- ups. . .actually, a whole made-up family. Now, I hate Mary Sues as much as the next person, so if my two girls start to act Mary Sue-ish, please tell me!! But give them a chance for another chapter or two. I made them definitely NOT perfect, at least so far, and I hope they stay that way. And thanks to all the people who voted, Ryoga or Kuno as the romantic interest, Ryoga has won!! I think I'll be able to fit him into the story much better than Kuno. . .Anyway, expect him sometime in. . .say, two chapters. Maybe less, depending on the size of one chapter. This one, for example, was very very long. But anyway, this still holds: Please tell me of any questions you have about this story, or suggestions. All are looked at. And I got a lot of constructive criticism last chapter!! That makes me feel very good. That kind of review is the most helpful to me. And I think that's the end of the Random Ramblings for this chapter.