Disclaimer: All rights of all the characters herein belong to Rumiko Takahashi and the various syndicates that publish her works. I am but a poor writer that doesn't get paid for her work.
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Shadowed Edge writing
Presents
Black Dreams
By Shadow Dancer
Chapter 3
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"I just couldn't stand losing to a boy." Her words run around in my head, and I don't know whether I should scream, cry, or just shut down. Here I am, having a good time sparring with a friend...and she just declares that she would hate who I once was.
Well, she didn't say hate, per se, but she did say she couldn't stand losing to a boy. And all that I was, all that I am, is male.
My stomach rumbles and twists, and I hastily swallow a taste of bile. It's been several hours since we came off of the ship, and I've not eaten since then. Also, the morning fruit gifts stopped the day we left port, but somehow I've been able to eat while on the ship.
I just hope I can still eat now.
I never did figure out why I feel sick like this, nor why I need to eat fruit in the morning, to keep anything down all day. I doubt Father would know, but maybe a doctor here...
I step out of the dojo, and the oldest girl steps up to me with a towel and some bathing supplies, "Here, you should take a bath." she comments to me, smiling.
"But, I..." I stammer quietly. I don't want to have a bath in a strange house. I don't even know how long Father and I will be here.
Probably just long enough to steal something from them. Just like he always has.
"You've been exercising, haven't you?" She comments again, and I feel trapped by the suggestion.
I nod hesitantly, and then whisper, "I prefer to bathe alone." I look up at her smiling visage.
"Just remember to put the occupied sign out, and you should be fine." Again that vapid comment and smile. I just hope I don't get into more trouble...
I nod again, and then slip into the house, padding nearly silently into the bathing area.
I strip off my clothes, and put the sign up on the inner door, and then proceed to scrub down. I scrub, and scrub...and it isn't until the sting of torn skin that I realize that I'm trying to scrub away the sticky, dirty feeling of being used. Again.
Blood slowly wells along my legs, and I sniffle softly. I trace my fingers along my legs, over the area scrubbed raw by my own strength, and then look up as I hear the door opening.
The Inner door.
I turn, and look up in fear, dreading that it is the guide, or someone else...
No, it's only Akane, who looks at me in surprise. "You're bleeding!" she exclaims, as I hastily pull the towel over my body again, concealing me from her sight. "Hang on, let me help."
"Get out." The words are ugly, terrible things. They feel as dirty as I do. Akane stares at me in shock, and I repeat, "Get out. I don't bathe with others."
Akane is glaring at me now, "We're both girls, it shouldn't be a problem. It saves on water this way too."
"You know what privacy is?" I keep my eyes on her face, and I can feel the fear and fury both whipping around inside of me, it's hard to focus on one or the other...
"We're both girls." she repeats, as if that is an answer to everything.
I glare at her for another second, and then pick up the rinse pail. I put the towel off to the side, wash the soap and blood off of me, and then pull the towel around myself again. "Forget it," I mutter, slipping past her, "You go bathe, I'm done."
"But the furo...?" Her anger has died down at my responses, but mine hasn't.
"I don't care. I'm leaving." Words of finality, I hope she understands how much she hurt me just now.
I doubt it.
"Well fine!" she growls, slamming the door shut behind me, "See if I care!"
Tears trickle down my cheeks as I pull my clothes back on, and step out into the hall again.
"That wasn't very nice of you." I hear from beside me. I look around, and notice the middle Tendo sister standing beside the entrance to the bathroom.
"Is it any nicer for her to barge in on me, when I wanted privacy?" I reply coldly. I think she must be very good at sneaking around, I didn't even sense her there. She doesn't show much martial ability though.
A faint smirk crosses her face as she replies, "Possibly. Your Father is in the family room waiting for you." I look at her for a second, wondering what she's thinking. I then shrug and walk around her, wiping the tears from my eyes so father doesn't see.
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Father glares at me as I step into the family room and demands, "Why haven't you changed back yet?" there is a hint of fear in his eyes; I wonder what he's thinking?
I shrug as I kneel at the table, "I didn't see the need to. Not like we're going to be here long, right?" Come on, Father, tell me what your plot is for this place.
"Soun Tendo is an old friend of mine. We trained together under the same master." he stumbles over the word, and I wonder what he's afraid of this time. He continues, "Sixteen years ago, Soun and myself decided to unite the two schools of Anything Goes in marriage. As you can see, Soun was blessed with three daughters, and you, my son..."
I interrupt him, "And I'm to marry one of them, without even knowing their names. Right. Did you tell your so called friend what training you put me through?" I stare into Father's eyes until he flinches and turns away, "I didn't think so. I think you should tell him, before this goes any further."
"How dare you treat your Father so!" oh, fun, one of Father's rants again, "After all that I have done for you to train you to be the best martial artist..."
Again I interrupt, "Thankfully, you didn't finish some of that training." I growl at him. Father, startled, stops mid-tirade. I notice out of the corner of my eye that one of the Tendo girls is watching. Fine, they need to know this as well. I continue, "So are you going to tell your friend about the places you had me 'trained' at?" A gasp from outside the door fails to catch Father's attention, "Oh, you might tell him. But knowing you, you'll try to say you paid for it, instead of selling me to them. How do you think any of them will react to being given a fiancee who isn't pure?"
Father snarls, "I won't tell him, and neither will you. That is in the past, and a failure on your part. If you hadn't panicked like that."
I snort, "If I hadn't panicked? Pops, you left me there for two days. I wasn't panicking, I was being assaulted."
"A martial artist must be prepared to give his life for the art!" Father gets out, glaring at me, "He must be prepared to take whatever is necessary to learn his skills."
"My life, yes," I growl in return, "My manhood is another story. But the point is moot, now." Father blinks at my response, and is about to speak again when the Tendos start filing into the room.
Soun and the girls kneel at the table. The eldest girl looks worried; she must have been the one who was listening. The middle girl still has that smirk on her face, as though she knows everything. Well, she thinks she does at least. And Akane is glaring at me, probably due to my comments in the bathroom.
Soun turns to his daughters and starts to introduce Father and I, "So, everyone, this is my good friend."
"Genma Saotome." Father looks almost regal as he declares his name. Almost, Father turns and continues, "And this is my son."
I look at the girls, "Ranma." I state. The middle girl looks incredulous, as though she believes that we are lying to her. Akane sits and fumes, while the eldest girl just stares at us with a slightly vacant smile on her face.
"I can't believe this," Akane growls, "You are obviously female, how can you be this man's SON? A BOY?" Her voice rises in volume and pitch as she finishes, nearly screeching out the last. I wince at the tone in her voice, and sigh. She snarls at me in fury, "What happened to your pet panda, anyways?"
Father speaks up, "That is a long and sad tale. The boy and I were travelling in China, and we found a training ground called Jusenkyou in the Quing Hai province along the Bayankala Mountains. The boy insisted we fight among the pools..."
I snarl, "Get it right Pops. You were the one who jumped to the poles first, and ignored the guide." I glared at Father until he started to sweat.
"Yes, yes, very well. I jumped to the poles to begin training, and when Ranma attacked..." I continue to glare at him, and he stutters, "Err, umm, I attacked Ranma while he was talking to the guide, knocking him into one of the pools. In fury, Ranma chased me into another one."
I snarl, "Forget it. I found a knife or something at the bottom of the pool, and when my idiot Father was moaning about me never being a 'man among men' whatever that is, I took a swing at him. He was startled enough to jump back into one of the pools, and the pool turned him into a panda."
"Yeah right," Akane snorts, "Like we could believe a story like THAT." I raise an eyebrow, and then accidentally drop my glass of water on Father. Instant panda. I smirk at everyone's open-mouthed stare.
"As I said, Father turned into a panda when he landed in the pool. The pool I landed in turned me into a girl." I shrug, "Father turns back into a human with hot water."
The middle daughter smirks at how I put it. She doesn't say anything however. Soun does, though. "Well, your problem isn't so bad. These are my daughters, Kasumi, nineteen, Nabiki, seventeen, and Akane, sixteen. Choose one to be your fiancée."
I stare at the man incredulously for a minute, and then Nabiki speaks up, "Oh, Akane would be best for 'him'." I can hear the smirk oozing throughout her tone.
"Well, if you think that way," I decide to turn the tables, just because, "Then maybe I should choose you? You seem a smart girl, whereas Akane is merely violent." Nabiki gets this startled look in her face that is surprising, considering how calm and composed she's been so far.
The look disappears with another smirk, "Hmm, that is true. So, are you a lesbian?"
I blink at Nabiki, confused, "What is a lesbian?"
Nabiki's smirk grows into a grin, "Why, a lesbian is a girl who likes other girls. That IS what you are, right?"
I jump back in shock, "Hell no, I'm a guy!" That stops me for a second, and I sit down, "I used to be at least." Tears threaten to fall from my eyes as I remember...
Father snarls at me, "Grrr growf grrr grr!" it takes him a second to realize that he's not in human form yet. Idiot.
I'm pretty sure I know what he's trying to say though, "I don't know why, but I haven't been able to change back. One of the people we met might have been able to tell me why, but Father managed to do something to piss them off, and I doubt we are welcome there again. Just like everywhere else." I look down at the ground, dejected.
I hear soft footsteps walk out of the room, then back in again. A splash, and Father yells, "It need not be that hot Tendo!" I know what is coming, and unless I hold still, I doubt they'd believe...
Searing hot water falls upon my head, soaking my hair...my stomach wrenches and I curl protectively around it.
"It's true," Kasumi comments softly, "She wasn't lying."
Akane starts to snarl, "So what are you? You are a girl, and you say you were a boy. You're nothing but a PERVERT!"
"Now Akane," Kasumi replies soothingly, "It's not nice to call people names. You don't even know if Ranma is a pervert, you're just..."
"She saw me naked in the bathroom." Akane snarls in return, glaring at me.
I glare back at her, snarling, "I've had enough. You walked in on me in the bathroom, not the other way around. And I had the occupied sign up, which you ignored. If anything, YOU'RE the one who's a pervert. And what's this about wanting to be my friend, anyways? You just act like it, and then when you've got what you wanted, you turn around and say you hate me, and everything about me. Of all the friends I've had before, you've lasted the shortest. And it was your own fault as well."
"Why you..." Akane stands and stomps around the table, raising her hand back behind her head.
Some part of me, a small part, believes that she's still a friend. A friend who has the right to hit me for what I've done... Then there's the other side of me, the side gaining strength and momentum. Akane wasn't ever a real friend; she just went through the motions and then stopped.
Akane's hand swings down, and I watch it in slow motion as I reach up with my hand. Gold, silver and steel glint from the fingers that wrap around Akane's wrist long before her hand gets close enough to land. I watch as her face slips from fury, to confusion, to pain. Seconds pass, maybe minutes. I don't know how long it takes before I remember the deal I made with that weapon. I watch as Akane stumbles back, confused and hurt, at things that only she can see.
"I...I didn't say that." she whispers in denial, shaking her head and landing on her knees.
Soun starts yelling, "What did you do to Akane? Let her go you monster!" Apparently he is ignoring the fact that I've already let go, from the point that Akane fell to her knees. Nabiki also looks furious, and Kasumi, well, she looks rather calm, all things considered.
Words tumble from my mouth, but it isn't me saying them. "From the pain you choose to give, I gift back to you in turn, if you learn your lessons then, you will understand that which you have sown." I look down at the bracelet and rings on my hand, and whisper, "She didn't know." forgetting for a second that other people are close enough to hear me.
Nabiki's reply tears my gaze away from my hand, "Of course she didn't know, how could she? You didn't tell her anything, and then you let her take a swing at you." Nabiki's glare seems to get past my defences, and almost I reply in heat.
Then another voice intrudes upon my thoughts, a voice not mine, but familiar, "Target did not know, confirmed. All day, confirm?" I try to reply silently, 'Deny all day. Once only.' The voice reverberates between my ears, "Pain returned once only, situation 'did not know', confirmed. Command ignition." I stare at the rings as they flash with the words. Seconds pass, and I realize that everyone around me is silent, but for heavy breathing from Akane. Then...
"You bastard." someone snarls, not Nabiki or Soun. I look up into Akane's eyes as she glares at me in fury, "You complete and utter bastard. You are nothing but a pervert. You probably enjoy your 'new' body." Her words rip at my heart, and the sarcasm in her accusation hurts more, "What did you do to convince your Father to pretend you're a male, huh? You make me sick!"
Soun calms down a lot when he realizes that Akane is paying attention to everything again. Soun laughs, "Well, that's not a problem then. As we are joining the two schools of Anything Goes, I say we should engage Akane to Ranma, what do you say, Genma?"
I answer before Father can say anything, "No."
Soun stares at me, "Wha-wha-what? What do you mean, no?"
I glare at him, "I mean no. I refuse to be engaged to someone who thinks I am a pervert. No matter what I did, I did for honour. If she can't accept that, I cannot accept her. I don't think I could accept Nabiki, either. She seems rather quick to attack me as well. How about you, Kasumi, shall we make it three for three?" I look over at the oldest girl, looking into her eyes. Almost daring her to say something.
Kasumi returns my look calmly, asking only, "What did you do for honour?"
I look at her silently, and then lower my eyes. Staring at my hands, I reply, "I paid for my father's greed the only way I could. He had no money to give, and I only had things given to me by people who trained me. When that ran out...I did what I could."
"Did you steal?" her words are kind, soft. I don't know how she can be like this, almost no one has ever been kind to me before.
"No, I didn't steal," I reply with a shudder, "I..."
Nabiki speaks up, "That's enough, we don't need to know any more."
Akane snarls yet again, "I told you, she's a pervert."
"Now Akane," Kasumi admonishes, "What have I told you before about assuming things? For all you know she could be a perfectly nice girl, and you accusing her of being a pervert could be hurting her."
I sigh, "I'm a boy, Kasumi. Or at least I used to be. And I don't think I'm a pervert. I just...did what needed to be done."
Father laughs, "That's my boy! So, you're going to choose Akane, right?" The tone of menace in his voice would work much better if he had been able to back it up. I'm his meal ticket, after all; he can't afford to do too much damage to me.
I glare at Father and reply, "No. If you two were so set on joining the schools, then you should have made sure that any of your friend's daughters would accept me. Akane doesn't accept me, and the other two don't practice, or at least don't practice very often." I continue to glare at Father until he looks away.
Father coughs and turns to Soun, "Well old friend, we can train up one of your other daughters to help join the schools, right?"
Soun glares at Father, "I don't know if I could condone engaging one of my daughters to your daughter, friend. For all we know you could be trying to pull a fast one on us. That IS how our master taught us after all." Soun looks at me askance, and then focuses on Father again, "We can let you stay here, for now. Until we know for certain that Ranma is what you claim, we will put the engagements aside. They should make efforts to know each other, however, and if your claims should prove true, we will make the engagement official."
Nabiki smirks at me as she comments; "Now daddy, you should know better than that. This is the twentieth century, arranged marriages just don't happen anymore!"
Soun confidently replies, "Arranged marriages did happen sixteen years ago, and that is when this was arranged. You wouldn't go against you family's honour, now would you?"
"Like a pervert like her could have honour!" Akane snarls. Suddenly I find myself wishing that the rings hadn't touched her...or that I had let her deal with it. Maybe I'll let it continue next time, if she pushes the issue again.
I stare at Akane, and then lower my eyes. I try to keep my voice calm as I ask, "What makes you think I'm a pervert, Akane? Tell me honestly, why do you think that?"
Akane yells, "You came here trying to get married to another girl! That's what makes me think that! And then you come up with this lame excuse that you used to be a boy until some stupid cursed spring, and now you can't change back. How are we to believe that when you can't even prove it!"
"I...I..." I find myself unable to reply as I'm faced with a rather awkward question.
Suddenly, my stomach growls, and Kasumi brightly comments, "Oh my, I think it's time for dinner." Silently I thank her for the interruption. And I am rather hungry, as I haven't eaten anything since the ship. My stomach roils uncomfortably as I think about that last meal...
Everyone sits in silence as Kasumi brings food and plates out to the dining room. I continue to think about a way to prove that I am what I say I am, but it's hard. Without being able to change back, I really have no way to prove myself. The delicious aroma of the food being brought in makes my mouth water, and my stomach grumbles louder.
"Hey, Ranma?" Someone calls in a quiet voice.
I look up, "What?" I reply, confused. Nabiki seems to be the one who called me, apparently, and she just waves in a 'never mind' manner. I shrug, and look at the food again, holding back from attacking the food like Father usually does by sheer will. I want to be polite, they are taking care of us after all. Father, on the other hand, doesn't wait much past the food hitting the table before he starts eating.
I wait until the Tendos all say, "Let's eat." before filling my plate. Father's already on his second helping, now. Everyone is eating the food with great enjoyment, and I raise my first bite to my lips. The rice is barely touching my tongue when my stomach lurches. I quickly put my chopsticks down again, and then stand up. I struggle to keep my stomach from rebelling as I quickly walk to the bathroom, and I'm only barely over the toilet when I start throwing up.
I'm at the toilet for probably five minutes when I hear someone come in. "Are you alright?" Kasumi asks quietly.
I look up at her from my kneeling position, and whisper, "I don't know. I...I just can't eat anything." I'm sure tears are dripping from my eyes, so I brush at them with my hand. My fingers come away wet...it figures. "I don't know why this is happening." I mutter softly, looking down again.
"How long has this been happening?" Kasumi gently inquires.
I shrug, still looking down at my hands, "A couple months. I haven't been able to eat much since my change...I was fine when we were on the boat, and before that fruit would help. But...before I was had the fruit in the mornings, I couldn't keep anything down."
Kasumi stands there silently for a minute, and then asks, "Did you have sex?"
I stare at my fingers, thinking. Should I tell her everything, or not? What can she do, really? Hate me? After a minute, I decide to put it all on the line, "Pops...he ate a lot. We ran out of food several times on the way back, and I refused to steal. I paid at first with what few valuables we had, and Pops never kept money long enough to spend on food, it was always alcohol. So when the valuables ran out...I paid the only way left to me."
Kasumi kneels beside me, and touches my cheek, pulling my head around to look at her in the eye, "When was your last period?"
I stare at her confusedly for a minute, and then ask, "What's a period?"
Kasumi looks at me shocked, and then tries to clarify, "You know, your bleeding time? It happens every month to girls from puberty on."
I shake my head, replying, "Umm, I don't know what you're talking about. I've only been a girl for two months, I didn't grow up knowing these things like you."
Kasumi blinks, "You've only been a girl for two months? So you've never bled from down there?" she points to my female spot with a faint blush on her face.
I blush even more when I shake my head, "No, never. What does that mean anyways?"
Kasumi stares at me, and then asks, "So you don't know what happens when a girl has sex with a man?"
I look down at my hands again, whispering, "Other than the man having fun, and me feeling dirty afterwards, no. I have no idea what you're trying to tell me."
Kasumi stares at me in shock, and then stands up again, "I'm sorry, you'll have to speak to the doctor about this." Her voice is cool, almost cold. Quite unlike the smile and perkiness from earlier.
I don't know what I did, but I hope I can make amends, "I'm sorry." I whisper.
Kasumi just sniffs, then stalks out of the bathroom. There's nothing else to call it, her footfalls are still quiet, but her entire body has an air of...fury.
I continue to stare at my hands, then whisper, "That's two now. If Nabiki starts hating me..." I don't want to think about it. This is the first place I've been invited in to stay for a while. Maybe when everything is decided, things can be different.
Yeah, right. In my dreams, and not very likely ones at that.
"You'll have to excuse my sister," I didn't even hear Nabiki walk up. Not surprising, really. She continues, "I'm afraid that Kasumi has rather strong opinions on the idea of sex before marriage. I seriously doubt she'd marry you now, with what you told her."
I sigh, then look up, "Yeah, I kinda figured as much, Nabiki. Can YOU tell me what's going on? Do you know why I'm so sick?" I'm grasping at anything that makes sense right now, I feel adrift and alone. I don't like this feeling.
Nabiki replies, "Yeah, I have a guess. You would want to talk to a doctor, however, just to make sure. Do you honestly not know what a period is? Have you never had a monthly before?"
I shake my head, "No, I don't even know what you're talking about. Pops never told me anything about that, and he tended to keep me away from having female friends." I grumble, "Not that he let me have many MALE friends either, but at least there were one or two."
Nabiki smirks, "Well, speaking of friends, can you tell me what school you went to before?"
I shrug, replying, "Otokouri Academy, over in Ota." Nabiki looks at me in surprise for a second, then down at my chest. I smirk, "I didn't have these four months ago, Nabiki. I was a man...or at least male."
Nabiki returns the smirk, "You'll have to forgive me if I don't believe you for now. And the name you used there was...?"
I shrug, "Ranma Saotome. Same name I've used all my life." I look back down to the toilet, just in time for the remainder of my stomach crawl up my throat and out my mouth. I spit out the remaining bile, then ask, "Again, what does it mean that I'm sick like this? You have an idea, please tell me."
Nabiki shuffles her feet for a second, then replies, "It means you may be pregnant."
I blink owlishly, then shakily ask, "What do you mean, pregnant?" I'm honestly confused at that. Only girls can get pregnant, right?
Nabiki blinks back, "Are you for real?" When I nod, she sighs, "You definitely have to talk to our doctor then. I don't believe this."
I whimper as the idea works its way through my head, "But...I can't be pregnant. I'm not a real girl!"
"You sure look like one to me." Nabiki replies, smirking.
I shake my head, "No, this body was made by that curse. I can't be pregnant...I just can't!" I can't seem to stop thinking about that one word, "I'm too young to be a daddy..." I trail off, looking at Nabiki hopefully.
Nabiki shrugs, saying, "Yeah, well I could be wrong. It's happened before," under her breath she whispers, "about ten years ago," I don't think she meant for me to hear that, she continues again in a normal voice, "but you could just be really sick. Doctor Kurokina would be able to tell you for certain, though." Nabiki smirks again, and then comments, "Anyways, you wouldn't be this kid's father. You'll be its mother."
That little bit if information proves to be too much for me. I let the shock wash over me, bringing blessed unconsciousness with it.
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