Children: Chapter 3

The next morning went rather smoothly, everyone got up on time, and headed off to school. Ranma had decided to go to school today as a male, probably due largely in part to Taiiku's comments about how cute he was. As expected, his sister engaged him in some amount of teasing on the way there, about having a crush on a girl he just met. School proceeded much as Ranma was used to; he paid attention in all of his classes, and took down detailed notes on every subject he was in. He suffered through the embarrassment of gym class, where, sure enough, one of the guys managed to sneak up and pour water on him. Ranma retaliated in the only way she really knew how, and kicked the guy square in the crotch. This didn't do much for Ranma's social standing, but that and a quick hot shower, made him feel tons better. Lunch came again, and Ranma sighed, sitting under a familiar tree. "Finally. Lunch. No one's going to bother me." Ranma said.

Taiiku sighed; she'd heard through the gossip network, during lunch, that the guys had gotten Ranma again. The only thing that made her giggle about it was the fact that the little shy girl she met the day before actually delivered such a nice, well placed blow. 'Should give him a couple weeks, at least.' Taiiku thought. She looked around casually, before sitting down to eat her lunch, and was glad she did, when she spotted Ranma sitting under his tree, far off from everyone else. "Poor guy..." She said, to no one in particular, before heading over. Ranma must not have noticed, because he seemed exceptionally surprised when she cleared her throat, trying to get his attention.

"Oh!" He exclaimed, looking up. Suddenly, he blushed, and looked down. "T-taiiku... I didn't see you there. Hi." 'What is she doing over here?' Ranma thought, struggling to get himself to stop blushing. 'She's so cute...' He thought.

"Well, you see me now, right? Mind if I sit down? This looks like a nice place to eat." Taiiku said, not waiting for a response before she took a seat on the soft grass, beside him. She crossed her legs as they stretched out straight in front of her, slim and muscular as they were, capped in frilly white socks and standard shoes.

"Go right ahead... I don't mind. It's nice to have the company, actually." Ranma said, managing a smile as he looked over at her. Something about Ranma's deep blue eyes, and warm smile must have been overwhelming, as a soft pink tint began to appear on Taiiku's cheeks as well. "So, how's your day been going?" Ranma asked, adding under his breath, "Has to have been better than mine."

"Pretty good." Taiiku answered, sighing again. "I heard about what happened to you. People are so mean. Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm ok, I guess. It's not like they hit me or anything, they just want to... Look at me. It's embarrassing." Ranma said. He started to fumble with his lunch.

"Why don't you talk to the principal about it?" Taiiku said, starting to open her lunch as well. "I'm sure he'd have to do something about it."

"He just says that it is normal guys teasing... Since the faculty thinks I'm a guy, that's all they say. Some people can be so thick." Ranma said.

"Well, Ranma, those guys are just jerks. Don't worry about them, ok?" Taiiku said, smiling sweetly, green eyes shining, framed by thick black lashes. Her lips had a shiny look to them, and they were drawn into a delicate curve.

"Ok... I won't." Ranma said, pausing for a long moment before he spoke up again. "I...um... Just wanted to tell you..." Ranma fumbled, not being able to say it.

"Go ahead, Ranma. I'm listening." Taiiku said, staring straight at him unintentionally.

"You look really nice today, Taiiku." Ranma said, putting his hand behind his head, as he grinned shyly.

"You look pretty nice too, Ranma." Taiiku said. Wait, he was flirting with her... Did this mean what she thought it meant? She did think Ranma was cute, and she had said that she wanted to meet him and all that... Maybe this was just how things went?

"So, your mom's letting you wear mascara? Your eyelashes look nice." Ranma said. He was unaware that most people would find this a rather odd question, and statement, to come from a guy.

Giggling, Taiiku replied, "Why, yes, Ranma. She is. Thank you for noticing." 'Oh, he *is* cute... It's sweet of him to notice."

"Sorry, I know that was sort of a girlie question to ask. I just noticed, and I thought I'd say something. Guess I should think more though." Ranma said, turning bright red.

"Hey, it's ok. If I were like you, I'd probably ask some silly guy question every now and then. Most guys wouldn't even notice a girl's eyelashes. I think it's sort of sweet, actually... that you appreciate it." Taiiku said. In between their conversation, the two had somehow managed to eat their lunches, and now the bell was ringing. "Time to go back to class... Too bad we don't have the same teachers, it's nice talking to you." Taiiku said. She suddenly got an idea, and her face brightened up. "Hey, Ranma! I've got a competition today. I'd... really like it if you'd come watch." Taiiku said.

"I think I can do better than that." Ranma replied, smiling. "I'm thinking about joining the team. Who knows, I might make some more friends, and we'd get more chance to hang out too. That is if you don't mind hanging around with a girl like me."

Taiiku giggled, putting her hand over her mouth, "That sounds great, Ranma. The other girls may be a little hard on you, but hey, I'll be there, can't be that bad, can it?"

"No, I don't guess so." Ranma said, smiling. "I'll be there. See you later!"

"See you this afternoon, Ranma." Taiiku said, trailing off as she walked away, "Silly guy..."

The two of them returned for the rest of their classes, although Ranma couldn't help but watch as Taiiku walked away, feeling this strange stirring in his emotions. 'She really is a nice girl, I'm glad we're getting to know each other better... I hope I can make more friends.' Ranma thought. He picked up the pace again, seeing how he'd fallen behind the wave of other students. The rest of the day went fairly smoothly, Ranma did get embarrassed a few times, however, when the teacher called on him, and he was caught daydreaming.

Eventually, the end of the day came, and Ranma nervously went down the hall, looking for his sister. They caught each other, and Akama was tugging at her uniform and sighing. "Here I am, stuck in this... Skirt, and you get to go around however you want... I tell ya, I'd switch places with you any day, Ranma." Akama said.

"Sure you would, Sis. Sure you would." Ranma said, sighing a bit as well, before he remembered the swimming competition. "Hey Sis..." Ranma said, "You want to go to a competition for a little while? It's a swim meet, and it's supposed to start in a few minutes, I think."

'Hmm...' Akama thought, 'Wasn't that girl a swimmer? I think she was... My brother's got a crush, this is just too good.' "Eh, sure, I suppose. I don't have anything else 'ta do today." She said.

The two of them proceeded down the halls, eventually pushing open the heavy doors that led to the pool area. Many swimmers were stretching and warming up in the pool, apparently the meet hadn't started yet. People were already filling the stands, and Ranma had to move to the far end of the stands. Not that he didn't want to, of course, this kept him away from the majority of the people, and closer to the swimmers. Soon, the competition started up with some races. Several different schools were represented, and Fuurinkan won almost as may times as it lost. One of Taiiku's events came up, the high dive, and Ranma snapped back to attention, so that he wouldn't miss anything. Taiiku stood up on the platform, and smiled, before executing a near perfect dive, cutting the surface of the water with hardly a splash. The judges gave her fairly decent scores, enough to secure her a spot on the top three. The end of the meet came, and while Fuurinkan didn't win as many events as the team would have liked to, you could see that the team was still proud of its performance.

After most of the people had left, Taiiku came over to where Ranma and Akama were seated. Taiiku had removed her diving cap, but she was still in her swimsuit, with only a towel across her shoulders. She had her duffel bag with her, as well, carried firmly in her hand. Smiling at Ranma, she said, "Thanks a lot for coming, Ranma. It really means a lot to me to have friends here to support me."

"I... um... Enjoyed watching you. Thanks for inviting me." Ranma said. He didn't notice it, but he was staring at Taiiku as she put down her bag, and pulled out a pair of shorts, putting them on. Akama did notice though, and snickered lightly, elbowing her brother.

"Hey, stop that." Ranma whispered.

"You're staring at her harder than the panda does a big meal, Ranma. Stop *that.*" Akama whispered back.

"So, Ranma, I guess you got to see some of how this goes. I can't wait until you join the team, I'll have a lot to teach you." Taiiku said, flipping her slightly messy brown tresses behind her. Her green eyes flashed at Ranma in a wink, and that made a bright pink color flush over his cheeks. Taiiku giggled, and impulsively kissed one of Ranma's flushed cheeks, before skipping off to the locker room. "See you tomorrow, Ranma!" Taiiku called back.

Akama laughed out loud as soon as Taiiku had retreated into the locker room, then Akama put her arm around her brother's shoulders. "She is pretty cute. Talented too, athletic. She seems to like you, Ranma. That little kiss was definitely a flirt. Good goin' Ranma."

Ranma put a hand on his cheek and sighed happily, looking down. He *would * love when he got on the team, but how would he act around Taiiku? Before that, though, he'd atleast need a swimsuit. "Hey Sis, Can I ask you something?" Ranma asked.

"Sure, go ahead, Ranma." Akama said.

"Would you... Help me pick out a swimsuit for the team? I'd ask mom, but... You know how she gets with shopping sometimes, especially for me when I'm a girl." Ranma said.

"Sure, Ranma. You 'an me'll go." Akama said. "Just don't expect me to get all girlie and tell you what color looks better on you or anything."

"Sure." Ranma said, smirking, "I'd *never* expect my sister to act like a girl." Ranma laughed a bit, putting her arm around Akama's shoulder.

"Hey, be quiet. I'm plenty feminine." Akama said.

"Oh, Sis... You know I'm just playing around with you. Let's see if we can find one before we go home so Mom can't get me to go later." Ranma said.

"Sounds good." Akama said. The two of them started for a nearby shopping mall, still carrying their backpacks, and still dressed in their uniforms. They soon arrived at their destination, a not overly tall building. The two went in and quickly found their way to a shop decorated with a window display showing scenes of water activities, a large yellow and orange paper sun, and sand. The mannequins in the display looked terribly over-excited, and Akama couldn't help but chuckle.

Meanwhile, Ranma had already rushed in and started looking around, muttering to herself. "This one? No, too skimpy... This one? No, I don't like purple. This one? Naah, I need a one-piece, probably." Hoping to lessen the stress of this particular shopping excursion, Ranma resolved to buy the next suit he grabbed, provided it was the right size. He reached into the rack, eyes closed, and pulled out a blue, one piece suit, with a print of water drops across the front. Once his hands made contact with the material, he opened his eyes and smiled. "Wow... This is cute." Ranma said. "Right size too... Guess I'll get this one." Ranma proceeded to the checkout, and paid for the suit, blushing and laughing when the clerk asked if it was a present. "Yeah... A girl I know is joining the swimming team." Ranma said.

Akama had slipped into the store, and secretly picked out a small two piece, bright red bikini that had caught her eye. For some reason, she'd felt hurt at her brother's comment about her femininity. Such things weren't all that important in Akama's life, although every once in a while, she'd get this little tingling of a feeling that said it wanted to be girlie, if only for a little. Giving in to the feeling eventually, as she did most times, she waited until Ranma left, and paid for the suit. The clerk smiled broadly and said how nice she thought it'd look on Akama. Laughing very nervously, and staring at the floor, Akama mumbled some small thanks, then rushed out of the store. Unfortunately, she forgot to hide the sack, and her brother immediately questioned her when they met up again.

"What's in the sack, Sis?" Ranma asked. "You didn't get a new suit, did you?"

"Um.. ehe.. No!" Akama replied. Ranma wasn't at all convinced, but he decided to stay quiet about it, instead pulling out the suit he'd bought. "Looks great, Ranma." Akama said, very disinterested, and only wanting to get home to hide the garment that she felt so happy, and at the same time, guilty, for buying. They did get home, but not before Ranma's restraint broke, and several attempts to peek inside the bag were made. Ranma didn't ever get to actually see what her sister bought, and as they came through the front door of their house, Ranma's curiosity faded again. Akama sighed, as she walked into her room and took out the smallish swimwear, holding it to her body.

'Hey, stop that. You're not one of those stuck up preppy girls, Akama.' A nagging voice in her head said.

"....But I am a girl." Akama whispered, before tucking the swimsuit away in a back drawer.

Meanwhile, Akane was smiling brightly as Ranma showed her mother the new suit. "Oh, it's beautiful, Ranma." Akane said. "Go try it on!" Ranma walked into the bathroom, a bit excited herself. A splash of cold water, and some changed clothes, and Ranma came back out in the somewhat tightly fitting blue garment. All in all, Ranma actually made quite the cute swimmer. Akane gasped and smiled, rushing over and hugging her daughter tightly. "You look great, Ranma. That swimsuit is a little more... clingy... than what I'd prefer, but I guess I can let you keep it." Akane said.

Ranma Sr. walked in just then, and smiled brightly. "You look very cute, dear. Is that your suit for the swim team?" He asked.

"Yeah.. dad..." Ranma replied, embarrassed already at the attention she was getting. "I think I'm going to go show Akama." Red-faced, Ranma hurried off to her sister's room. She opened the door, and apparently surprised Akama. Ranma saw her sister hurriedly stuff away some little something, before turning around.

"Oh, hey Sis." Akama said, pretending like everything was normal. "Wow, looking good. 's probably good you don't like guys... ya know, romantically. You'd get way too many dates looking like that." A smirk went over Akama's face, as she said the last comment.

"Who says I'm *not* interested in guys?" Ranma said, smirking right back. "Just because Taiiku happens to be a very cute girl, doesn't mean I don't notice guys." Ranma was, of course, lying, but this is what went on between the sisters, a constant teasing cycle.

"Oh, be quiet. I know ya don't like guys." Akama said. "You do look cute though, Sis."

"Thanks. It means a lot to me, Akama." Ranma said, hugging her sister tightly.

"Go on, huh? You're interruptin' me." Akama said, after hugging back. Ranma left slowly, closing the door behind her. Akama moved over, and pressed in the lock with a shallow click. She went over and pulled the two-piece suit from her drawer once again, going over the material in her hands. "I don't want to be one 'a them preppy snobs only worried about boys 'n clothes and girlie stuff like that. I jus' can't do that... I feel like I have to act more like a girl though. Man, I'm jus' thinkin' screwy. I'm feminine enough how I am..." After a frighteningly long period of doing absolutely nothing but going back and forth in her head, Akama pulled off her uniform. Looking at herself in the large mirror in her room for just a moment, she blushed brightly, seeing a body that looked eerily like her sister's. After shaking her head to rid this notion, she pulled on the two pieces of the swimsuit, and looked again into the mirror. The bottom part rested just on her hips, and covered all the necessary areas, while at the same time showing off her toned, muscular legs and thighs. The top part held her in place decently enough, giving the suit a nice shape. Akama blushed again, realizing how unrestrained her femininity was going for the time being. She didn't mind that much, actually, she sort of liked it. That nagging voice came back to her head, telling her to stop acting so silly and go train. Akama pulled off the swimsuit, and re-dressed, heading out back. "I ain't gonna be one 'a them frilly idiots, but I don't have to act like some man either. I'm gonna start bein' me." Akama thought, as she started her warm-up.