Ranma Aqua-Isekai'd, by Chaos Orchid
Chapter 9: Ranma's First Time As a Girl
Flashback: Ranma remembered back to when he thought he was saving Eyeshadow. Hopping down the side of the mountain to escape a weapon's blast so hot it evaporated a rising spring into scalding steam, the small but very womanly redhead had slipped in her rush. He had thought he had caught her. But, instead, it was this guy in her clothes. He had looked typically Japanese though with thicker eyebrows. And now that he was honing in on details, his hair was longer than what was in style. The style was simple but cut and trimmed in a way a girl would have it and with a wave. It was Eyeshadow's style, too. Was he wearing her clothes again?
When Ranma shifted in his arms, to see, one of Eyeshadow's boobs got in the way. ? How could there be room between him and...himself?
"Red, I shall save you from that cad!" Who? Ranma saw that it was that Hairdo guy. And behind him in the street, grinning, was Sweetie. Had Cologne's kid granddaughter called the guy with memory problems outside just so he would-
Suddenly, the Japanese guy holding him(?) was hurrying-and stumbling-backwards! A second later an anvil whizzed a centimeter close to Ranma's feet! It sent busted cobblestones at him(?) as it crashed and buried itself into the street.
"Stop it, Hairdo! It's me: Eyeshadow!" yelled the guy with thick eyebrows.
"I have perfect twenty-twenty vision and I don't see you wearing any eyeshadow! I do see you molesting Red!"
"I'm not!"
"Release her!" And Hairdo swiped at him (and Ranma) with one of his long sleeves.
Seemingly out of nowhere over his head (and Ranma's), a small bookcase's worth of books and scrolls appeared and fell towards them!
The guy claiming to be Eyeshadow tried to escape backwards again, but this time he did stumble and fall. He took Ranma down with him. And while he(?) was lying on top of the guy, it was Ranma that would be hit by the weight of most of the books!
Using his(?) feet and hands, he(?) flailed at and hit the books out of the way. And in the seconds it took to do that, there was a blur of motion among the books and scrolls. Ranma caught the last of the books. Only then did she see what the blur had been.
Cologne had caught the same book at the same time. She smiled only somewhat guiltily. "Books are more precious in this world."
Ranma watched as the young woman took the book over to add it among the others that where now collected on a small bookcase.
"Okay, Meddler, tell me what's goin' on!" Ranma demanded, jumping up and into the Stance, ready to battle. Only he(?) wasn't ready. Something felt wrong with his(?) body. Very wrong! And yet he(?) refused to understand what it was!
"Red! I have rescued you!" Hairdo cried, rushing towards Ranma with his arms prepared to hug.
But Cologne got in his way. "Hairdo, I need something from you!"
Hairdo instantly, if reluctantly, turned into her assistant. "Of course, Elder! What is it that you want?"
"This!" And young woman pulled from one of his sleeves a full-length mirror.
"Couldn't you have picked a better time to check on your beauty, Elder?" he asked.
"It isn't for me!" And she swung the mirror around until it faced Ranma
Well, Ranma had thought it was a full-length mirror, but she knew now it couldn't be. Instead of his reflection, it showed a girl that looked very much like Eyeshadow. They weren't the same, they weren't twins, but they could be sisters. She wasn't wearing the dress he(?) had last see her wearing. This redhead was wearing the same clothes Ranma himself(?) was wearing, the kung fu outfit. It was baggy on her, of course, because she was so small, but the only half-hidden curves filled it out in a pleasing fashion. Her face was pleasing, too. It was cute with no makeup but did have blue eyeshadow….
Ranma's hand went up to touch his(?) own eyelids. And so did the image in what…couldn't…be…a…mirror-!
"You did this, Meddler! You wanted to make me a girl like you made Eyeshadow a girl! Change us back! Make us guys again!" And she-not a he(no question mark this(!) time)-attacked!
The mirror mocked Ranma, so she broke through it!
Cologne wasn't on the other side, where Ranma had expected her to be. "Western superstition says it's seven-years bad luck to break a mirror, Ranchan, and you already have a Chaos Seed in you."
"I'll bring chaos to you, Meddler! -Hey! Get off me, Hairdo!" The guy finally got to hug his 'Red'.
"Stop that!" Eyeshadow yelled, running to help Ranma. "We're no longer engaged, Hairdo! It's over!"
"Did you hear that, Red!? You don't have to marry that stranger! Let's not wait until I'm eighteen, let's get make love now!"
"No way, Stupid! Get your hands off of me before I forget about the Code and beat up the weak-You!"
"Beat me if that arouses your passions, Darling Red! I'm an expert in healing! I do work in the herbal shop!"
"Okay, you asked for it-"
"Enough!" Cologne cried. Out from her own long, wide sleeves came a bottle of water.
The guy with the thick eyebrows and the girlish do was splashed and Eyeshadow herself appeared in his place. "Yoohoo, Hairdo! It's me, Red!"
"Red?" He blinked. And looked at the redhead his arms were wrapped around. "Red?"
"See!? I ain't Red!" Ranma glared (way) up at him.
"Red!" he cried, letting go of one to go after the other redhead.
"Here we go again!" Eyeshadow cried, dashing and dodging away from his groping hands.
"Hmph! Better her than me," Ranma said, merely looking on.
"But for how long?" Cologne was now standing more than a short arm's length beside her, towering in her stilt shoes.
"Do I want to know?"
"You'll see. -Eyeshadow! Jump to the rooftop!"
"Rooftop!? I already showed I can't-Oh, the power!" And she did jump, and she did reach the top of the building. "Eureka! I'm a martial artist! A great one!"
"Red!" With Eyeshadow out of sight, the only redhead in view was Ranma. Now the lovesick guy was racing back towards her.
But Ranma was gone, too.
She was on the rooftop. "Stop using my own power!" The battle was on, both were totally matched in abilities and even techniques. But Ranma had the definite advantage of experienced! After a couple of minutes, she had won!
But Eyeshadow lost her balance. Ranma stood and watched her fall. "Aw, she can save herself." Because she had a direct line to everything she herself could do. And letting her use that meant she was admitting Eyeshadow was her equal.
The question of whether Eyeshadow could have landed safely on her own was left unanswered. Ranma was there to catch her. She held her in a princess carry. So very girl+girl yuri.
Ranma dropped her. Eyeshadow landed on her butt.
"Did you have to do that!?" she yelled, using Ranma's own speed to jump up onto her feet!
"Red!" from behind, Hairdo pulled both redheads into his hug.
As one, the two redheads tossed them so far he landed three streets away.
"Well, that was entertaining," Cologne said as she walked up to them.
"Entertainin'!? You don't mind the guy who works for you gettin' hurt!?"
"Hairdo has been through Breaking Point training. He's much tougher than he looks. Much tougher. And, as he said, he knows both traditional and special healing techniques. The more he has to use them, the sooner he remembers them despite his disability."
"You're soundin' like my Old Man and that don't make me feel good about you, Meddler!"
"Do tell. I wonder when I'll meet him. Perhaps another divination is in order." She took out a teakettle. "There's also that other soul that became cursed shortly after you and your father. I should find him, too."
"How? With tea leaves?" Ranma sneered.
"Oh, this isn't for reading tea leaves." And she poured the kettle's hot water onto Eyeshadow.
Tsukiko Keshōdai was back. His kung fu shirt was white, while Ranma's was red.
"He even steals my style!" she felt like snarling.
"Oh, get over yourself!" Cologne told her. "This is China! Kung fu is as common here as karate is in Japan."
"There are other things to wear! Why don't he go back to wearin' a dress!"
"I don't like being a crossdresser!' Tsukiko defended himself.
"Yeah, right. -Okay, Cologne, do your magic and make me a guy again!"
"I already told you: It's out of our hands! It's the Ranma on That-side, the other world, where the switch is. Cold water makes him have the body you have now and hot water returns him to the body you had minutes ago!"
"Why should I believe a meddler like you!? You appear to be the witch of this place! You gotta know a spell to change me back into a guy! -Hey! Didn't you say something about cheats(!)?!"
"Tell him about the cheats, already!" an old woman yelled from her second-story window of the building across from Cologne's. "The sun's gone down and it's officially night! There should be some peace and quiet!"
"Stay out of this, Scent! I'm still your sensei and outrank you!"
"But not for long! Your time is running out! I'm counting down the days on my calendar!"
Ranma groaned. Here was yet somebody else she was going to regret knowing. But she reminded herself she didn't have to know her yet. Hopefully.
"I hate to admit it, but the old battleax is right," the young woman told them. "We should return to my manse."
"Why should I?" Ranma crossed her arms over her chest. Felt boobs. And uncrossed them.
"You were asking about cheats that could give you a male body. If only temporary."
"I'll meet you there!" And Ranma ran to Cologne's place, jiggling-and worse-all the way. It made he feel totally awkward-absolutely the worst thing for a martial artist!
She was waiting in the front shop part of the building. She had gotten the impression that this was something like a drug store. Hairdo had even said that was where he worked, a place where traditional Chinese medicines were in the form of herbs and other things. So it made sense to her that at least some of the witch's potions would be here. "So, give me a cheat! Let me become a guy again!" she said even as the front door was opened.
"Impatient, aren't you. It isn't so bad being a woman, you know," Cologne said,
"Maybe if you're born a girl and don't know no better! And I never secretly wished I was a girl like that guy there!"
"I did not want to change my sex! I never thought about it once until I became cursed!" Tsukiko vehemently answered back.
"But you been wishin' since! If you didn't secretly wish, you'd be gettin' back to bein' a guy every chance you had!" Ranma was also vehement.
"It's too early for you to understand, Boy!" Elder Cologne stepped in. "You'll understand the advantages of being a woman. Eventually."
"Never!" Her voice was piercing.
"Eventually." It came out in a ragged sigh for Cologne. But the road to Eventually began with a single step. (And another and another and…) "I'll start you out with Instant Nánnìquán, Nannichuan. Some people and animals have an allergic reaction to it, so I have to-"
"Red!
Ranma screamed as Hairdo ran into the shop, ready to begin where he had left off! Self preservation in the form of male pride preservation took over and her desperate Anything-Goes reflex had her search for something-anything!-she could use set in! On the counter were foil packets of the kind she had seen at the Animal Town ramen shop; A rat-like animal had taken some of its powder and turned into a human. But she had taken the girl kind, Nyannichuan. The ideograph on the label this packet promised to change him into a man: Nannichuan!
She tore open the packet and swallowed all of the powder in one gulp!
"Fool!" Cologne yelled. "It's internal use only! You're not supposed to take it internally!"
[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []
NOTES:
Sēn Tǔ, 'Scent' is Cologne's main rival and is next in line to become the leader of the Tribe of Women Heroes. She just has to wait until Cologne either becomes a teenager…or dies.