When Curses Collide
Chapter 2
Yuki had been blessed with both good looks and better than average senses, but he was sure that in this instance the piercing scream from the bathroom was heard not only by himself and Shigure (who almost swallowed his pencil) but also by people sitting down to breakfast in Siberia. He barely had time to wince before something red shot past him and through the nearest wall in a hail of splinters. Coughing politely and pulling wood chips out of his hair, he turned to face the obvious cause of the destruction as an orange cat stalked into the room and snarled at a bug-eyed Shigure:
"What are YOU lookin' at?"
"Oh my, Kyo." Shigure covered his mouth in surprise and confusion. "Tell me you didn't!"
"I didn't do ANYTHING!" yelled Kyo, his fur standing on end. "This crazy girl bumped into me as I went into the bathroom and I changed..." he trailed off. "Why was there a naked girl in our bathroom?" his fury changed suddenly into embarrassment.
"Stupid cat." Yuki's voice was filled with contempt. "There was no naked girl in the bathroom. There was a BOY called Ranma who we had invited to stay with us. You changed all on your own. Don't tell me you're ILL again..."
"Either that, Kyo, or - " Shigure began.
"Or NOTHING! There was a girl in there, and I'm going to prove it right now!" said Kyo as a clatter of pots from the kitchen reminded them that there was still someone in their house.
"At the very least, we'd better try to find Ranma" said Shigure sombrely. He knew that if Ranma had seen Kyo's transformation then the future for him was not good. Yuki nodded agreement, and the two got up and followed Kyo to the roughly human-shaped hole that led into their kitchen.
There, getting shakily to her feet stood a young girl about 14 years old. A young, NAKED girl. Her hair was as red as Kyo's was orange, and she looked more than a little terrified. She was now covered in garbage from her dive into the kitchen and there was a banana peel in her hair. This didn't seem to concern her so much, since once she noticed the trio in the doorway her eyes grew as wide as dinner plates.
"G-G-Get it away from me..." she whimpered, backing into the counter as far as she could go.
For once, Kyo and Yuki were speechless. Kyo was trying unsuccessfully not to stare, and Yuki was wondering if his day could possibly get any more mysterious. Where on Earth was Ranma? It was left to Shigure to ask the most obvious - okay not the most obvious, but an important - question.
"Get what away?" he asked, seemingly oblivious to the chaos around him.
"The c...the ca..." the girl stammered, still retreating. Kyo had only just grasped her meaning and was about to snap out a response when a large puff of orange smoke temporarily robbed him of his breath, and his feline status.
The effect was like a lightning strike. The girl jerked as if she had been slapped, and sat down abruptly on a bag of garbage. Then she seemed to realise she was naked, and tried to remedy the effect with a strategically placed frying pan and an arm. Kyo yanked a tablecloth off a shelf and wrapped it round his waist, his face the colour of the girl's hair.
After the few seconds where modesty was temporarily restored to all parties, Shigure finally got round to asking THE most obvious question.
"Excuse me Miss, but who are you?"
The girl, her head down in embarrassment, staggered to her feet and bowed as best she could with one arm crossed over her chest and the other holding a piece of kitchenware in a very personal place.
"I'm Ranma Saotome." she mumbled. "Sorry 'bout this."
Yuki and Kyo just stared in astonishment as a loud thump from behind them told them that their older cousin had fainted dead away.
Everyone had moved as if in a trance since the "incident" in the kitchen. Ranma had sprinted for the bathroom after his announcement, and locked the door. Vigorous splashing could be heard from inside. Shigure and Yuki numbly returned the lounge and kitchen to a semblance of order, both of them determinedly avoiding the pans as they did so. Kyo had somehow got dressed and seated himself in the lounge with a riceball, occasionally staring in confusion towards the shut bathroom door. Eventually there were no more tasks to be done, and so they just waited. When the door to the bathroom finally opened and Ranma returned to the lounge, it was like opening Pandora's Box.
"Ranma! Are you alright?" concern from Shigure.
"Huh!" Yuki had had quite enough of impossibilities for one day.
"Those are MY PANTS!" Kyo, of course.
Ranma just stood frozen in the doorway, unsure what to do as the words were fired at him. He had washed away as much of the garbage as he could, returned to male form and got dressed in the clothes the Sohma family had given him. Thankfully they were masculine enough to at least partially restore his dented dignity. He tugged at his pigtail as he fumbled for an answer, but he really didn't know how to begin. He'd never had to explain his curse before, and how was he to explain the cat-fist training? It didn't help that he was full of questions himself. He didn't remember all too clearly - the terror from his phobia had lingered for several moments - but he was sure that the...animal...had changed into a boy. The same boy that was apparently demanding that he remove his trousers immediately. He inwardly sighed as he realised his strange life had suddenly, inexplicably become even more complicated.
"It's a long story..."
---------------------------
Twenty minutes later Ranma trailed off into silence. He had explained to them in stumbling sentences about his curse and his fear of cats, choosing to skirt around the moment in the bathroom as much as possible. The orange haired boy - Kyo, Ranma knew now - had glared at him through most of his tale, but at some point he had seemed to sag, and now he was stubbornly looking down at the table, slowly drawing circles on the wood with his finger. Yuki and Shigure were just staring at him with a mixture of shock and sympathy. Finally it was Yuki who spoke.
"Thank you for explaining Ranma, I know it must have been hard for you. Please sit down." he gestured to a space beside him and Ranma gratefully flopped onto the cushion, throwing a curious glance at Kyo who did not look up. He was now tugging at a beaded bracelet on his wrist.
"I think we have some explaining to do as well, Ranma." Yuki continued. "We do not usually tell this to people, but I think in your case an exception can be made." he met Shigure's gaze, and they both nodded imperceptibly.
"Has this got something to do with the...er..." Ranma looked fearfully back at the bathroom and then at Kyo, who sensed his attention and looked up. Ranma's blue eyes met furious amber ones and he gulped, trying his hardest not to think about how cat-like they were and failing miserably. Eventually Kyo muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "Damned rat!" and stomped out of the room and up the stairs. Yuki and Shigure totally ignored him, and Yuki continued the conversation as if nothing had happened.
"Yes Ranma. You see, yours is not the only type of curse..."
Ten minutes later and Ranma was glad he was sitting down. He had thought his own curse was bad enough, but what Yuki described to him was just incredible! For an entire family to be born cursed and have to keep it a secret! He thought about what Yuki had told him - Each member of the family was possessed by the spirit of a different animal. - Yuki had said his spirit was the rat, and Shigure's the dog. And so if Yuki ever tried to get close to a girl... Ranma didn't even want to think about it! And Kyo... his spirit was Ranma's worst nightmare! Not only that, but Yuki had made it clear that Kyo was not welcome in the family. It seemed things between them were very strained. Ranma really wanted to ask why, but Yuki didn't seem to like talking about Kyo, and Shigure always smoothly avoided the subject. He settled for trying to overcome his curiosity in other ways.
"How do you manage at school?"
"With difficulty, like you it seems." Yuki smiled a little as he saw Ranma wince, recalling the amount of water dodging he had done earlier. "We are supposed to go to same-sex schools, but I was a bit ...stubborn. I wanted to live as normal a life as I could. Overall I have not regretted my choice, although sometimes after a close call I tend to think I must be crazy to take the risk."
Ranma nodded in understanding. He knew how it felt to want to be normal and fit in.
"Um, can I ask a stupid question?" he stammered after a few seconds thought.
"The answer is: 'Yes, but very carefully!'" said Shigure, giggling. He was abruptly silenced by a book thrown at his head by Yuki.
"Idiot!" Yuki held his head in his hands.
"What did he mea - ?" asked Ranma, puzzled.
" - Never mind, it's nothing." said Yuki, a little too quickly. "Please continue. I'm sure your question isn't stupid."
"I was just gonna ask about... y'know... the curses. My Pop, he turns into a panda like I said. I only saw it a few times but when my Pop changed it looked different to when...er...Kyo...did it. I was Just wonderin' why...er...if you knew why."
Yuki thought for a moment. "Your changes look different?"
"Well, yeah I think so." Ranma scratched his head. "When Kyo...you know...It was like a cloud appeared 'round him for a second and I could have sworn I heard some kinda noise..."
"That's right." said Yuki. "There's always a cloud - we're not sure what it is, but it only appears for a second - and you can hear the change too if you know what to listen for."
"Well with ours it's not like that." Ranma sat thoughtfully. "It just...works. No cloud or nothin', and I think you can see it happen if you look close enough, though it only takes a few seconds." he shuddered at a past memory.
"Perhaps the cloud and noise is the spirit inside us?" suggested Yuki. "I never really thought about it before, but that could be the sign of the spirits of the Zodiac being present and affecting us."
"You might be right, Yuki." said Shigure, smiling. "I never really thought of it that way, but it's an interesting thought."
"I don't think my curse has anything to do with spirits." said Ranma. "I mean, a spirit might have caused the spring to be cursed, but I don't think there's a spirit here now, and I am certainly not bein' controlled by some spirit girl!" he finished, almost angrily.
"Well that makes sense, since you got your curse in a totally different way to us. It's logical that it could have a different source and a different way of operating." said Yuki calmly. "I'm just interested in the fact that your curse seems to activate ours."
"Huh?"
"Even though you weren't born a girl, your girl body still activates our curse. At least, I am assuming that's what happened." Yuki glanced at the ceiling as if expecting to hear something.
"What do you mean?" Ranma was getting confused again.
"Did you bump into Kyo while you were a girl, or did he just change?"
"Oh! I bumped into him...or he bumped into me." Ranma squirmed at the thought of Kyo seeing his naked girl form.
"Then I was right, you did activate it. I only asked because our curse can in some cases be triggered by emotions or extreme exhaustion as well as physical contact." said Yuki, eyeing Ranma curiously.
"Oh..." was all Ranma could think of to say.
"Say Ranma." said Shigure suddenly. "What do you say to a little experiment?" He got to his feet and went into the bathroom. Yuki, knowing his cousin's mind all too well, guessed what was coming.
"Shigure, don't you dare!" he warned.
"It's all in good fun, Yuki!" called Shigure cheerfully from the bathroom. The sound of running water could be heard through the corridor. Ranma had a very bad feeling about this.
"Our curses are not "fun" you idiot!" Yuki was looking angry now.
"Oh come on Yuki dear!" cooed Shigure, sliding back into the room with a glass in his hand. "Just this once!" he turned a predatory gaze on Ranma. "Now now, Ranma. As you are my guest in this house, what do you say to doing me a favour in the name of science and let us compare curses?" He held up the glass, arms wide, a grin spreading across his face. Ranma just stared.
"Shigure! That's disgusting!" Yuki growled. "You are such a pervert!"
"Oh! You wound me!" mourned Shigure, not looking in the least bit hurt. "All I wanted was to see how careful we had to be from now on while dear Ranma was staying with us!"
"You want to see him as a girl again, you mean." said Yuki contemptuously.
"Well yes that too. But you can't blame me! I'm a lonely old man!" Shigure struck a dramatic pose, only just managing to balance the water he held before it landed on the floor. "What do you say, Ranma?"
"Er..." Ranma blushed furiously. Shigure had been so nice to him, but what he was suggesting...he wasn't sure how serious the guy really was.
"Well I did start the comparison thing in the first place." he conceded, to Shigure's whoop of delight.
"Hurray! Let's get started!" he held out the water. Before Ranma could even think of taking it, Yuki grabbed it from Shigure's outstretched hand.
"No way." he said firmly. "You are not making him do this."
"But Yuki..." protested Ranma faintly. He didn't want to upset his host, no matter how crazy he seemed.
"Don't worry about it Ranma." said Yuki. "There has got to be a more scientific way than this idiot suggested. I just can't think of one right now." he looked annoyed. "But what I do know is, you shouldn't let him take advantage of you like that!" with that he dragged a protesting Shigure out of the room and when he returned a few minutes later only faint protests could be heard upstairs. When Yuki had closed the door behind him, Ranma held his hand out soundlessly for the glass of water.
"Ranma, you don't need to - "
"Might as well get it over with. You were probably goin' to see sooner or later anyway."
"But -"
"Just give it here." Ranma held out his hand again, and this time Yuki put the glass into it." Taking a deep breath, he poured it over his head.
Yuki watched in fascination at the change, then blushed and looked away as he realised he was staring and that the girl - Ranma - was trying to adjust Kyo's wet clothing so that it didn't fall off her small body.
"I'm finished now." sniggered Ranma, and Yuki looked up to find the redhead looking at her with some amusement.
"What's so funny?"
"Just that for someone born into a family of people with curses, you certainly embarrass easily!"
"We don't er... change with girls..." stammered Yuki. "That is... girls who are cursed and boys who are cursed don't activate the change so I have never, um..."
"Oh, right sorry." Ranma twitched. "My other clothes are better equipped for this. But now I am like this weren't we going to see what happens with your curse?"
"That would mean...ah..."
"What?"
"Well, you know how our curse is activated?"
"Through physical...oh." He'd almost forgotten about that. "Does it have to be really –" he began plaintively.
"- close contact, yes." Yuki finished for him, looking at the floor.
"Well I could just bump into ya, like I did with Kyo." suggested Ranma.
Yuki considered this. "I guess so, but we'd have to be careful we didn't stop at the last minute, and you'd have to be careful not to squash me."
"Huh?"
"Rat, remember?" Yuki grinned. "I guess we could give it a try."
They squared off at opposite ends of the room. Each acting more like this was a fight to the death rather than a little purposeful collision. Yuki braced himself in an athletic stance, and Ranma in his normal combat position. Each took the measure of the other, judging speed, power and accuracy. Each wondered over and over "What will it be like?" Finally the tension exploded, and the two charged with identical yells.
It was swift, brutal and ended in a bang and a puff of grey smoke. Kyo bounded down the stairs three at a time and threw open the door of the lounge to find a wet girl with a huge bump on her head lying on the now broken table. It only took a couple of seconds for him to register the unconscious rodent on her chest.
"Just what the hell are you doing, you damned rat?"
Ranma woozily lifted his head.
"Not his...fault." he managed to get out. "…Faster than I thought."
Then he collapsed back into a senseless heap, only dimly registering a rat with Yuki's voice apologising to his shirt.
Author Notes – Again, please don't take this story too seriously. I kind of know where I am going with it, but it's taking longer than planned (as usual.) Thank you everyone who reviewed the first chapter – you're what kept me going!