Chapter 4

Revealing

Disclaimer: I don't own this series or any other series. I am just floating an idea. I am making no money, nor plan to, off this venture. If you think of suing me over this, then grow up.

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Also, please check out my other stories. I try to keep a constant level of dedication to all of them.

Thanks to my proofreader, Howard. Without him, my stories would definitely have a lower quality to them.

I wrote this story to get it out of my head, as well as deal with the Chibi-Usa/Ranma/Hotaru match-up that I picked up from Meanings of Life by Kuraiko Kurohoshi. A great and funny story you should read if you have the time.

"Thank goodness for showers!" Though, Ranma had to admit, it wasn't as nice as soaking in a furo, allowing the excess heat to relax you after a hard day's training or, often in his case, a hard night's trying to sleep.

But it definitely made it easier to wash your hair. And it was nice to not have to wash himself as a female every once in a while.

I have to tell them, today, about the curse. There's no way around it. I know that the Jusenkyo magic is still with me. And even if I can spend more time as male now—assuming what happened yesterday wasn't a fluke or something weird like the magic needs some time to rev up the water magnet part—they'll find out sooner or later. I can't do the same thing I did at the Tendo's. They deserve to know about Jusenkyo.

And about the Neko-ken. Usa said she had a pet cat named Diana. And Hotaru said she had two friends with "friendly" pet cats as well. So, odds are I'll run into one of them soon—the Saotome luck for being screwed over by events is just waiting to get me.

However, Fate decided it had waited long enough.

Haruka quietly disrobed inside the bathroom. Michiru had left their room minutes before, saying she needed to get a bath, and Haruka was planning on surprising her lover in the shower.

How was she supposed to know that Ranma had beaten Michiru to the shower and that Haruka's lover was currently making breakfast?

So, Haruka slipped her hand past the shower curtain and shut off the hot water. She always loved hearing Michiru scream at that prank.

Unfortunately—or fortunately, depending on whose point of view we are looking at—Ranma was so deep into his thoughts that he didn't notice Haruka's presence.

However, he did notice when the water temperature dropped and he became a she. "WHAT THE HELL?"

That was enough to snap Haruka out of her early morning stupor, to rip back the shower curtain to reveal a naked redhead, covering herself and who was currently giving Haruka the evil eye—the same evil eye, oddly enough, that Ranma had practiced after learning it from his mother.

The two stared at each other—Ranma at her face and Haruka at Ranma's...assets.

"PERVERT!" Ranma ripped the curtain closed again, and stood in the cold water, waiting for the perverted guardian of Hotaru to leave the bathroom. After a minute, she was tired of freezing. "You can leave now."

"Sorry." Haruka walked out in a stupor; her mind too busy trying to commit the hot redhead's body to memory, before going to find her lover to ask about the new...gift that she found in the shower.

After she left, Ranma turned the hot water back on, glad that the time she had spent waiting for Haruka to leave hadn't frozen her body solid. Now back to male, Ranma only had one line of thought. Gone were the thoughts and worries of revealing his curse and phobia to them.

Damn it, why is it perverted tomboys are always walking in on me?

Michiru was busy making a large breakfast, resigning herself to a quick shower after Ranma got out. He had returned last night depressed, saying, in the morning, he would tell them what had happened to him when he went to check in on his home and family.

Whatever it was must have been bad. I know Setsuna told us that he would never be able to go back. But still, what had he discovered last night that was so bad that he couldn't tell us? Is he afraid, like he said last night, that the trouble that hounds him will come and attack us?

Her musings were stopped short.

"WHAT THE HELL?"

That wasn't anyone I know. She was a little worried about what had happened when her quick mind figured most of it out. Well, I did tell Haruka I was going to take a shower. How was I supposed to know she would need to be told it wasn't me in there? What if it had been Setsuna, Hotaru, or Ranma that she—

"PERVERT!"

Yep, definitely Haruka's work.

It wasn't much longer after that, when her wayward lover came downstairs and quickly pulled her into a passionate kiss. "I don't know who she is, but I say we keep her. She looks...fun."

Yep, whomever it was that had said it, was correct. Haruka is a pervert. "Dear, maybe we should first find out who this mysterious female is before you decide to invite her into our reindeer games."

"I can explain that."

Both girls turned to see male Ranma in a wet towel. "And before you start asking if I was sleeping with the girl in the shower—" He stopped speaking abruptly and moved to the sink. After filling a glass with cold water, he went back to the two girls and placed a hand from each girl on his pecs. "I picked up a curse in China—a shape shifting curse that is activated by cold water and deactivated with hot." Ranma then proceeded to pour the water over his head, turning into his female form.

Both girls were very familiar with the Sailor Starlights. But they maintained their height when they became female, and that was only during the time they spent in Sailor form.

They were not used to seeing someone shrink and become female.

Ranma, however, was twitching. Michiru gave the breast that she found in her hand a slight squeeze, to make certain that what she saw and felt was real.

Haruka—being a perverted tomboy like Ranma thought she was—was currently testing it in every way possible with one hand. "Could you two please stop doing that?"

Michiru immediately dropped her hand, and then smacked Haruka's away.

Ranma filled the glass with hot water and changed back. "If you got any questions, I'll fill you in on the rest during breakfast. I'll understand if you don't want me to stay here."

With that said, Ranma went back upstairs to finish getting dressed, while the two women stared at him as he left.

The perverted tomboy now only had one thought. If Hotaru and Usa don't want her, maybe Michiru and I can ask her to be our consort. So what if she becomes a he? It's not like I never wanted to have children of my own.

Yes, a very perverted tomboy indeed.

Breakfast was a somber affair. The young girls had only gotten a few names from Ranma to give to the Inners. They had decided to set this Ryoga Hibiki as Makato's future husband, and Tatewaki Kuno as Minako's. They had Mousse planned for Ami, and that Happosai person planned for Rei. But they were making drastic changes to the last one—the guy almost sounded like he was Rei's grandfather.

Now, Ranma had said he had to tell them a few things, but was going to wait to after their meal. They would still have plenty of time to get to school if they got a ride, and Setsuna was already driving Ranma in to authorize him to take the entrance exams.

After the meal was finished, and he helped Michiru take the dishes into the kitchen, he returned with two glasses of water.

"Okay, first off, I need to explain some of the weird stuff I've had happen to me. I'll do my curse first, since I want to be dry when I go to school. And please, no questions until I'm finished, okay?"

The girls all nodded their approval. "First, I have what's called a Jusenkyo curse. My idiot father—proving that you don't need a reason to be a complete idiot—took me to a cursed training ground in China with hundreds of pools. Each had something unique drown in them, so, if you're unlucky enough to get knocked into one, you pick up a curse and change into whatever last drowned in them." He upended the cold water glass over himself, shrinking into his female form. "I fell in the Nyannichuan: The Spring of Drowned Girl."

The others could only stare.

"First off, I don't look like the girl that drowned in the spring. I look like a younger version of my mom, so I guess it makes you look like what you'd've been if you'd been born that way. Second, I am a guy who changes into a girl, not the other way around. Third, I only like girls, even in this form. Finally, ain't no cure, so I'm stuck with this until I die or find some way to gain control over it; from what I've read on the subject, it should be possible. The curse is triggered by cold water and undone by hot water." She upended the second glass over her head, becoming male once again. "Any questions before I move onto the next one?"

Hotaru meekly raised her hand. "So, you're the same person, no matter what the form?"

Ranma smiled at her, putting her at ease. He still hadn't decided if he wanted a relationship with either of the girls who expressed interest in him, but he still at least wanted her as a friend. "Yep, no matter what, I'm always Ranma." Unless of course someone hits me too hard in the head and she makes another appearance. But they don't need to know about...that.

The others finally nodded their consent for him to continue.

"The second thing is I'm terrified of cats. My idiot father put me through some training called the Neko-ken. I'm trying to undo the damage his stupidity did to my mind but, until then, I'm barely able to be in the same room as a cat. Maybe in another month or two, I can stand to have one near me, but it'll take time. I won't explain how you're taught the Neko-ken, but the other option to learning it in training is to die. Maybe later, I'll tell you the rest, but you don't want those images in your head during school."

They nodded once again, with Usa deciding that Diana would have to spend a while longer living with her Mom. Then she realized that she had to move back there tonight, herself, as she was only staying with Hotaru for the weekend.

"Finally, I...I can't go home. I just learned last night this isn't even my world, or my universe. Sailor Pluto explained it all to me, and said I could ask you for help. I can understand if my problems make you feel uncomfortable, and I'll leave if you want me to."

"No, Ranma, we will not ask you to leave."

He turned towards Setsuna. "Are you sure? I don't mind if you don't want the trouble that always follows me around. I can always head out and look for a way home."

"Nonsense, Ranma, if we wanted peace and quiet, we wouldn't be living in Juuban." Michiru stood up and gave the boy a hug. "So you have some problems; name one person who doesn't."

The other girls followed suit, encircling him within a warm embrace. Michiru kept an eye on Haruka, who kept casting quick glances at her own cup of ice water.

For the first time in a long time, Ranma felt accepted.

Soon though, Ranma was feeling dejected again.

He accepted it when the girls told him he needed to go to school. After all, if he wanted to teach Anything Goes in this world, he needed to have a degree or two to prove he knew what he was doing. And interning again, like he had with Tofu, might not be an option.

He turned down the idea to go to some advanced high school like Michiru and Haruka had gone to; stating that his lack of knowledge would be flunking him out before the first week was through. He offered to go to Juuban High School if he could actually pull off some decent grades—which actually might be possible, since he could finally get some decent sleep. There'd be no panda keeping him up, no rival keeping him awake because he somehow was upset with Ranma, and no weird educators either draining his chi or throwing pineapple bombs at him.

The girls laughed at him, until he told some stories about Mousse, Pops, the Kunos, and Ms. Hinako.

One thing was certain to them; Ranma would have no problems handling the weird things that occurred in this world.

He had just finished testing at Juuban High for placement. But he spent those three hours straining his mind to the limits. Now the computer tabulated results were in.

"I'm in tenth grade...again."

Damn irony. He was right back to where he started. First, a perverted tomboy walked in on him. Then he was dumped into the tenth grade in a new school.

Patterns, aren't they a wonderful thing?

Loki was busy, setting things up. His new interest was deemed to live an interesting life. If he worked hard—a relatively new concept for Loki: working hard at something that didn't involve a prank on someone else—he might be able to earn favors from the others deities and, perhaps, even a few demons.

"Let's see. He has a gender curse from some place called Jusenkyo. Hmm, must be from that other reality. It stinks of rogue chaos magic. Then we have his fear of cats. Maybe I should get Bast to visit him in his dreams. He has weird people always challenging him, and weird things happening around him. Now we combine that with the usual chaos around the Sailor Senshi and..."

Loki smiled. "I think we have the new Number One series for the Ethereal Television Network."

And once again, Ranma's daily occurrences were to become public amusement for the gods and demons.

The only problem was that Loki had no idea what to call it. If it was just Ranma, he could call it Ranma ½, but with Sailor Moon added into it, he had no suggestions.

Oh well, that can be worked out in post-production.

At the same time, the main target—er, star of the Ethereal Television Network was floating above the backyard of his new home, flying through a kata to improve his movements in the air.

Ain't never had to fight anybody in the sky since I learned the Flight Technique, but that don't mean another wannabe like that thing that brought me here won't wanna challenge me in the air.

Damn it! Stuck inside the city like this, there ain't no place to practice my energy attacks. I got 'em down, but I gotta get my reserves up. Hmm. Maybe if I use my ki and spirit energy and see if I can make myself heavier. Doing that, combined with my normal and revised kata, I should be able to make my reserves stronger.

But not right now. I'm still not up to a hundred percent. At best, I'm in the seventies. After tonight, though, I'm back to training at the max.

But as he finished the kata, and landed to begin his final stretching, he had to wonder. What do I do now? It's not like I can count on these people to take care of me for the rest of my life. And it don't really look like there's any way home. With any luck, the old ghoul and the pervert'll just decide I'm dead. Of course, with my luck, if they did try to get me back, I'd just get pushed into a similar reality. Probably one where that world's Ranma had already been killed by some suitor or enemy, and I'd be stuck dealing with all of the crap from his 'abandoning' them.

I can already hear Ryoga screaming, "Ranma, how dare you die and leave Akane alone!

"Prepare to die!"

What do I want? Do I wanna stay here and spend the rest of my life in a universe where I got no past? Should I try and make a living here? True, this Tokyo seems more likely to have some pit fights to earn some easy cash in. Hell, a tournament might give me enough money to start out on my own. If this place is anything like Nerima, the youma attacks'll have made rent cheaper here than in some crappy neighborhoods.

Hell, it ain't like I'll ever find my own way home. Everybody says those Senshi are real powerful, perhaps the strongest fighters in this world. If they don't know a way to send me back...

Then, again, should I even try to look? I got a good thing going here. Plus, considering how much luck I've had looking for a Jusenkyo cure, do I wanna repeat the past?

Let's look at this objectively. I got no obligations in this world, so no new fiancée every three weeks. Only two girls've claimed any interest in me, and that's 'cause they happened to pray before my arrival. They said they'll let me get used to the idea and try to respect my wishes not to force me. They claim they won't be jealous and are willing to share me 'cause "good men are too rare to waste our time with an unattached bad one." Hell, they even trust me! And 'cause they want me to choose them both, it's kinda like having only one fiancée, really. Heh, probably the only way for me to get down to just one.

I got a great place to stay, filled with people that accept me for who and what I am. They feed me well and only insist I go to school and try my best. They don't wake me up at all hours to try and prove that they're still better than me. They don't ignore my existence until they need something. They ask for my opinion. Heck, they even gave me an allowance to treat my sweet tooth.

What are the downsides? Sure, I got two girls after me, but they give me space and respect it when I wanna be left alone. There is a perverted tomboy here who likes my girl side way too much. Juuban High says I gotta wear a normal school uniform, so I have to go get measured for an adjustable men's uniform. I ain't wearing the skirt! Those fuku are way too revealing, even for Shampoo. I'd have to work hard in school, which would mean less time for practicing the art. And of course, I gotta go to college before I even think about opening a dojo or teaching.

Could I really make a future for myself here? I mean, Hotaru and Usa are both great young women. I don't understand why either of them is having a hard time finding someone. I need to ask them about that. I mean, it's not like they change sexes. What could they possibly be hiding? "Like they're those Sailor Senshi."

"Who told you?"

Ranma stopped in his tracks, slowly turned, and lowered his head to the voice that said that. In the source's place sat a small pink cat with a gold crescent on its forehead.

"Don't be mad at them; they're really nice girls."

Cats he was used to. A talking cat was something Ranma had no idea how to handle. Even the Neko-ken fear wasn't up to dealing with that.

Diana watched as the male's eyes went to the back of his head and he fell over, fainting to the ground.

"Well, that was new. I wonder how long I have to wait before Little Lady gets here. I have to let her know she shouldn't be telling people who she really is."

Said girl was eating lunch outside of school with Hotaru. So far, the evil plan they had come up with—with the help of Hotaru's adopted parents—had created quite a stir with the two boy-crazy Inners. Both could currently be seen on either side of Ami, trying to convince the girl to try and locate their future husbands

Both girls could barely suppress releasing an evil cackle at how well the plan was working. At this rate the two girls would be kept busy searching for men who didn't exist—well, not in this universe. When Ranma came to classes tomorrow, the chances of either of them giving Ranma one hundred percent of their attention was almost zero.

Usa sipped her tea. "Our plan is working perfectly."

Hotaru merely nibbled on her sandwich. "Agreed. We simply need to keep it going until Ranma has chosen us."

"Psst, Usa, Hotaru."

The duo turned to see a black female cat with a gold crescent on its forehead. "Luna, what's up?" Hotaru began to worry. For the cats to come to school, something had to be wrong.

Luna looked around; making certain no one would see her talking. "I was hoping Diana was here with you. She said she missed you over the weekend. Maybe she's waiting for you at home."

The moon cat, as well as the Inners, caught sight of a purple and pink blur as the two self-appointed fiancées ran for all their worth back to Hotaru's home.

Luna just stared. "Why do I get the feeling it's going to be one of those months?"

Omake!

Both girls turned to see Ranma in a wet towel. "And before you start asking if I was sleeping with the girl in the shower—" He moved towards the sink and got a glass of cold water, followed by placing a hand from each girl on his pecs. "I picked up a curse in China—a shape shifting curse that is activated by cold water and deactivated with hot water, not boiling." Ranma then proceeded to pour the water over his head, turning into his female form.

Both girls were very familiar with the Sailor Starlights. But they maintained their height when they became female, and that was only during the time they spent in Sailor form.

They were not use to seeing someone shrink and become female.

Ranma, however, was twitching. Michiru gave her breast a slight squeeze to make certain that what she saw was real.

Haruka, being a perverted tomboy that Ranma thought of her, was currently testing it in every way possible. "Could you two please stop doing that?"

Hotaru and Chibi-Usa chose this time to walk in and notice what was happening. Frowning angrily Hotaru screamed out her attack as she pulled off her belt from her school outfit. "Sexual School of Martial Arts Special Attack: Leather-belt Lash!"

Haruka yelped and hopped around holding her backside as Usa took out her bra from her top and tossed it so it used the doorway like a slingshot before back flipping against it and rocketing foreword. "Sexual School of Martial Arts Special Technique: B-cup Bitch Slap!"

Michiru tried to shake herself as the tiny opened palm popped her in the face.

Haruka frowned angrily and picked up a pair of dirty panties from the laundry hamper and twirled them before throwing them hard. "Sexual School of Martial Arts Special Technique: Panty prison!"

The underwear tightly trapped each of the smaller girls with one of them in each leg hole. Hotaru spoke up before Haruka could grab back onto Ranma's exposed breast. "I always knew there was a reason you kept your ass so FAT!"

All four girls froze before freeing themselves and jumping at each other. Thus, the morning was full of hair pulling and screaming.

Ranma could only look on, still not realizing she was still topless. She had had four girls fight over her before, but never two staking claim to her guy side and two staking claim to her girl side. Why is it that this shit always happens to me?

In Asgard, a certain God of Mischief sneezed, nearly knocking out the feed for his new hit show. "I hope those censors allow Ranma's breasts on TV, otherwise we could lose some ratings."

Omake by Howard.

Hades kept running options through the time gate, exploring every avenue, trying to find that one perfect solution. After an eternity of searching—well, fifty-three minutes, twelve seconds at his processing speed but that's an eternity to him—he came up with a solution. The 'how' was the tricky part. Then it came to him.

It would require changing the past.

It would require changing the present of the Senshi

It would require changing the future of Crystal Tokyo.

It would require the violation of the very laws of the Time Gate, itself.

It would be a lot of fun.

Two point seven seconds later, he was finished. The past had been changed and the present was about to find out how much. All he had to do now was convince Pluto that it was something pre-existing that he'd discovered. If she knew that he'd changed time on his own, he'd never hear the end of it.

Determinedly hiding a mischievous smile, he summoned Lady Pluto.

Nine schoolgirls, three hidden moon cats, and two young men were waiting for the arrival of Setsuna. She'd called them all for a meeting that she claimed to be of vital importance to the present and the future.

Usagi and Rei were bickering over a manga as usual. Makato and Minako were lying on the floor together, mooning over the boys in a teen magazine. Usa and Hotaru sat together, holding hands and casting longing looks at Ranma. Haruka and Michiru sat together, holding hands and casting longing looks at each other. Ami was tapping away at her Mercury computer while Ranma and Mamoru had separated themselves from the girls and were enjoying a rare opportunity for some guy-talk.

Usagi looked over at Ami and asked, "When's Setsuna supposed to get here?"

"Now," Setsuna answered from right behind her.

Usagi jumped and screamed. After getting her wits back, she screamed, "Will you stop doing that?"

With her trademarked smirk, Setsuna simply walked past the girl to stand in the middle of the room. Once everyone's attention was on her, she spoke, "While researching onto the possible futures created by the addition of Ranma, I've discovered a heretofore unknown capability of our Henshin Pens. It seems that the romantic difficulties inherent in being immortal and were foreseen and a solution was created long ago. They knew it would be difficult to find man the equal of a Senshi. So they gave us this!" Holding her Henshin Pen aloft, she shouted, "PLUTO MAN POWER, MAKEUP!"

The traditional light show started as normal. But once Setsuna was naked, a brief deluge soaked her and obscured her from view. Through the water, her form seemed to melt and shift, growing slightly taller and taking harder, more angular lines. The water stopped, leaving the decidedly handsome male figure surprisingly dry. Then clothing formed on the figure, though thankfully, not the traditional Senshi fuku. He was now wearing a white T-shirt under a jacket that was the same green as onna-Setsuna's hair, though his hair was now black with green highlights. A brown leather belt held up his casual blue trousers and he was wearing matching penny loafers.

Almost instantly, Makoto glomped onto him screaming, "You look just like my old sempai!"

Usa and Hotaru transformed into handsome young men, then pointed at each other and said in unison, "You can be my boyfriend!"

A flurry of transformations and detransformations followed, leaving Ranma's head spinning. Soon all ten Senshi were paired up with each other—while Haruka and Michiru hadn't changed, they were discussing the exciting possibility of having their own children together.

Ranma sat back, suddenly relieved of the need for any romantic entanglements, and smiled.

That is, until Mamoru splashed him with a glass of water and said, "I guess that just leaves us."

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