Ryoga couldn't stop staring at Ranko, much to her annoyance. She had paused in her story to put Hisako in her room, the little bundle having fallen asleep after a quick feeding and burping. Ryoga hadn't been able to pull himself away while Ranko had set to the task, humming something under her breath as she heated a bottle of milk that was in the fridge, and as if she'd done it for years, expertly bottle-fed Hisako while cooing at her. 'Geez… Three years, and Ranma acts like he's always been a girl.' He thought to himself with a bitter tone, growling at her back as she cleaned the bottle and set it in a dish strainer. He took the opportunity while her back was turned to finally look around the small apartment. It was plain, but much nicer than he ever expected it to look. It certainly didn't look as if a man lived here, but it didn't quite look like a woman lived here either. And it was clean, certainly cleaner than his own room at home, he observed with chagrin. Ranko huffed under her breath as she finally sat before him again, drying her hands on a towel hung on a blue and white striped apron she had put on. "Excuse me, where was I..?" She mumbled as she tried to remember where she had stopped in her story telling. "You were about to get what you deserved for being a pervert in the bath." Ryoga smirked as Ranko flushed angrily. "... Right, anyway…" She spoke through clenched teeth.
Ranko groaned as a ray of sunlight blared across her shut eyelids. She lifted her arm weakly to try and swat the offending light away, but accidentally smacked something soft and hard. "P-Pops, get the window, would ya'? 'S too early…" She winced at how pathetically hoarse and broken her voice was, as if she had been screaming for hours and hours. The thing that she had mistaken for Genma jolted awake suddenly, dashing away and Ranko breathed a sigh of relief as the light suddenly disappeared. She felt a pair of hands grab her shoulders and she winced in pain, grimacing as her aching shoulders protested. "C-c'mon pops, not today, please… I think Ryoga beat me again, feels like I got hit by a truck…" She half-whimpered and tried to push Genma away when she realized her hands were squeezing something soft and squishy. 'Huh, that don't feel like pops…' She thought with a frown. "-ar me? Ranko, please say something, can you hear me..?" A feminine voice said above her, making her screw up her face in confusion. "Y-yeah, I can hear… Who..?" She tried to respond, but her scratchy voice suddenly sent her into a coughing fit, and she was surprised and grateful when a cool glass touched her lips, tipping her head back and greedily gulping down the offered water.
"Easy Ranko, not so fast dear. Doctor Condo said you were out of immediate danger, but I don't want you to push yourself just yet." The voice above her gently chided her, and she slowed her gulping to sips until the tickle in her throat had passed. "Doc-, who..?" Ranko groaned, blearily peeling her eyes open and looking up. She didn't recognize the woman above her, and blinked a couple of times to clear the blurry fog over her vision. She had dark hair and was evenly toned, and it looked like she was older than Ranko, but not by much. But her eyes, almond shaped in the colour of wild honey, looked down at her with mixed concern and amusement. Ranko blinked up at her in confusion before she remembered where her hands were, and she moved so fast she swore the woman was fussing over her own afterimage for a moment. "I'msorryi'msorryi'msorryi'msorry!" She quickly mumbled and waved her hands in front of her, much to the woman's shock. Ranko suddenly felt woozy, and violently ill as she nearly fainted, collapsing to the floor as the woman cried out in concern. Ranko felt herself being held in strong but gentle arms, being held up as a cool breeze came over her face. Her head was throbbing, and she opened her eyes again to see the woman was sitting her up against her lap, fanning her with her hand.
"Ranko dear, please don't move about." She spoke soothingly, waiting for Ranko's cheeks to gain a little bit of colour before gently standing her up and supporting her back to the couch she had been sleeping on. Ranko was in no mood to disagree at the moment, her head was pounding as if a hundred tiny Ryogas were practicing the breaking point on her brain. "Wha-what happened..?" Ranko groaned weakly. She received nothing but silence for a moment before the woman slowly spoke up again. "What… What do you remember, Ranko?" She spoke hesitantly, but when Ranko opened her eyes again, the woman's face held nothing but concern. "I remember, uh… The snowstorm? I got lost in it tryin' ta find my tent… I guess it's long gone by now." She smirked to herself and the woman offered her a strained smile. "Then, uh, I found that restaurant, and that's all I remember." Ranko finished, looking up at the woman's still concerned but not slightly relieved face. "Well, you fell into the café where I work at least. My name is Tomoe Mikazuki, my… Roommate, her name is Ogawa Haruhi, we were both working there last night when you came in, nearly frozen and starved to death." Mikazuki explained carefully, and Ranko wondered at the hesitation in her voice when she spoke of her roommate. "Ah, geez… I didn't mean ta scare you guys, I mean, I've been in worse shape before…" Ranko tried to explain, but winced guiltily at the horrified look Mikazuki gave her. "I, I mean, not like that weren't bad, I just mean, uh, ah hell, I ain't explainin' myself good… L-look, I mean, I'm a-.." Ranko paused suddenly, biting her tongue. She didn't know why, but for some reason, she didn't want her to know she was a martial artist.
She blinked as Mikazuki tilted her head, waiting for her to continue. "Uh, I'm a traveler! Yeah, I-I'm used ta roughin' it outside, that snowstorm just kinda came outta nowhere is all, heh…" She grinned sheepishly at Mikazuki's disapproving headshake. "It's still not right, a young girl like yourself living on the road. Why, when we found you, you were covered in blood and had boy's underwear in your, erm, you know where… It took almost an hour in the bath to get you all cleaned up! We thought you had been…" Mikazuki suddenly slammed her mouth shut, refusing to even think about it. Ranko paled and once more felt violently ill. "A-a bath..? Y-you bathed me..?!" She croaked out, her cheeks flushed bright red, nearly as bright as her hair. Mikazuki nodded, looking a little confused by Ranko's ashamed reaction. "Good heavens yes, you were so covered in filth and we were worried you might catch an infection if we let you stay like that. You look much better than when you arrived, that's for sure." She teased Ranko a little, but quickly stopped when she saw the girl still had an ashen expression over her face. "Ranko, I'm sorry. But it's alright, we're both girls and the doctor is used to seeing women in a state of undress. He was very professional with you, he even made sure Haruhi and I were there to help." Ranko's head jerked up suddenly, her rosy cheeks once more pale and her eyes wide with shock. "Y-ya mean… N-nothing happened ta me in the bath..? I-I didn't, ya know, change or nothin'?" She spoke silently with a hint of hysteria, looking deep into Mikazuki's eyes. "Um, w-well, you did have, a bit of a fit…" Mikazuki admitted, rolling up her sleeves on her nightgown and showing Ranko an array of shallow but bright red scratches. "The second you hit the water, you started thrashing and screaming, it was all we could do just to scrub you. You, um, kind of hit your head on the side of the furo and knocked yourself out." She hung her head slightly, scratching at her ear as Ranko absorbed this information.
"You mean you didn't change? In the bath? How did you get your curse locked so fast, you idiot?! You'd only been gone like, three months!" Ryoga barked at her as she made a hasty shushing motion with her hands, beckoning to the door to her room. "I bet you were planning on using your girl side to escape me and the Tendos, weren't you?!" Ryoga accused her, a little more quietly since he didn't want to drag a baby into a screaming match. "I didn't lock myself you idiot!" She quietly snarled at him, crossing her arms in a huff. "Especially not for a dumb reason like that! One of the bars of soap that I had in my pack was one of those Jusenkyo waterproof soaps, and I'd been using it for almost a week before this incident. I was waterproof, not locked!" She explained quickly, glaring at him over the accusation. "Still, that proves you at least planned on being a girl for a long time!" He growled triumphantly, having caught Ranma in his lie. "Moron, it works both ways! And it was an accident!" She sighed in exasperation, throwing her hands up. They sat silently, fuming at each other for a couple of minutes. "Fine, now that that's over with, can I keep telling my story?" Ranko snapped at him, adjusting her feet underneath her as Ryoga sat back on the couch again. He nodded silently, still examining her with narrow eyes.
'I didn't change?!' I… I guess it's a good thing, b-but still,' Ranko thought to herself, lost in her own thoughts. 'I haven't been near the Amazons in months… Hopefully it's just temporary…' She didn't notice that Mikazuki was worriedly trying to get her attention until the woman gently grabbed her shoulder and shook her slightly. "Hey, are you alright?" She asked her softly, concern shining in her eyes as Ranko looked up. "Y-yeah, gomen, I'm just, uh, shy about my body…" Ranko mumbled an excuse and Mikazuki nodded sagely. "I promise Ranko, all we did was make sure you were clean. I wish we could've given you some clothes that fit, but you're just so tiny." Mikazuki gently teased her as Ranko blushed. The woman stood up and Ranko took a moment to examine herself. She was wearing a woman's t-shirt, much to her chagrin, but she couldn't complain at the plain light grey shirt, except for the fact that it was so big on her that it was barely hanging onto her shoulder. At least it covered her bottom, which made her blush when she realized she was wearing panties that were also much too big on her, but the sides had been tied into knots to make it at least a little tighter around her hips. It seemed more cushiony in the crotch area for some strange reason, like it was… "Gomen Ranko, I don't know if you prefer pads or tampons, but I don't use tampons myself so that's all I had." Mikazuki smiled sheepishly at her before moving away from the couch and the shocked girl, walking into the kitchen to heat up some more broth and noodles for Ranko. Said redhead slowly sat herself up and hugged herself tightly, closing her eyes and shaking her head to try and purge those thoughts. 'So that's why I was bleeding, it's that, that thing, that girls have, ick…' She thought in mild relief.
She had been nervous, even (dare she admit it), scared when she had started bleeding a few days ago, and had considered spending her last few yen on a doctor visit. But, if that's all it was, at least it was something normal. Well, normal enough. Another voice called out from the front door and Ranko craned her neck to get a peek at the other woman of the house. "Tadaima!" "Okaeri!" Mikazuki called back, coming out of the kitchen with a bowl of steaming broth. "Ah, food time for the lost one!" Haruhi joked, walking past the couch and planting a small kiss on Mikazuki's cheek, much to the redhead's confusion. Mikazuki blushed slightly and glanced at Ranko, offering a bright smile to Haruhi. "Maybe not so lost for long, she's finally awake Haru-chan." Mikazuki quipped right back, kneeling down next to Ranko and offering her a spoonful of broth. "Well well well! Welcome back Ranko!" Haruhi grinned and crouched down next to Mikazuki, watching as the embarrassed girl tried to take the spoon away from her. She wasn't having it though, and Ranko eventually gave in and allowed Mikazuki to feed her a spoonful of broth at a time. "Th-thank you Ogawa-san, Tomoe-san, fer takin' me in… Sorry 'bout this." Ranko carefully chose her words. Nodoka had always shown disapproval over Ranko's horrible speech and manners, and she guessed she ought to at least try to show these women some politeness. Haruhi tsked and Mikazuki giggled however, gently tipping another spoonful of broth between Ranko's lips.
"Now now, none of that, you can just call us Haruhi and Mikazuki. Honorifics make me feel old." Haruhi shuddered dramatically and Mikazuki giggled again, nudging her with her elbow. Ranko couldn't contain a small giggle of her own at the women's antics. 'They're real friendly, ain't they?' She mused as she swallowed more broth. She surprised herself when she politely refused another spoon of broth, her stomach had protested, claiming itself full even though Ranko had only drank a little more than half the broth. "G-gomen, I don't know why but I'm already full." She apologized and Mikazuki shook her head. "It's alright dear, I didn't really expect you to even drink that much. You're all skin and bones!" She sighed to herself and stood up again, taking the broth into the kitchen while Haruhi stayed behind. "So, how do you feel kiddo?" She asked Ranko, who smiled shyly. "I-I'm fine, I think. Just a little worn out and confused." She answered honestly. Haruhi shook her head and pursed her lips. "A damned shame we met you like that. All grimy and covered in blood and all I mean. You're a very beautiful girl once you're all cleaned up." She winked at Ranko conspiratorially and the girl blushed heavily, pulling the large blanket over herself as Haruhi nearly keeled over from laughing so hard, only for Mikazuki to shoo her away with her own stifled giggles.
"Wow, what a pair." Ryoga smirked and rolled his eyes. "Figures, weird attracts weird around you." Ranko suddenly jumped to her feet and lashed out, her bare hand slapping him across the cheek as her own cheeks burned in fury. "Don't. Don't you ever say one bad thing about them." She hissed venomously, her battle aura flaring brightly as she stuck her face in his. He blinked in shock, rubbing his cheek as he stared at this avatar of hatred before him. She breathed heavily for a moment before blinking, closing her eyes and taking a couple deep, calming breaths. She stayed silent for a moment after her battle aura faded, before suddenly seeming to collapse on herself. She looked tired all of a sudden, Ryoga realized. 'How out of practice is he? A battle aura like that the old Ranma could've sustained for much longer and wouldn't have left him looking so drained like that.' He mused to himself in confusion. Ranko sighed and placed a hand over her eyes. "G-gomen, Ryoga, it's just late and I'm tired. Hisa-chan woke me up and I was just trying to get her back to sleep when you found me." Ranko explained with a strained tone. "Gomen, my guest room isn't set up right now, the couch is all I have to offer you." She sounded truly apologetic, which rocked Ryoga again. "Wha..? Huh? You mean you want me to sleep here?" He asked her incredulously. "What do you mean? It's not like I can kick you out, you're my friend, and my guest." She explained as if it were the simplest thing in the world. She pointed down the hallway, where three doors hid rooms he hadn't seen yet. "The bathroom is the second door, on the right, if you need it. Doors on the left are my bedroom and, um…" Ranko blushed suddenly, turning away from Ryoga and starting to her bedroom. "Well, nevermind. Oyasumi, Ryoga." Ryoga was silent, so Ranko sighed, rolled her eyes, and stepped into her room, closing the door behind her and leaving Ryoga to sit on the couch by himself. "O-oyasumi, Ranma…" He whispered to himself.