Chapter 24: Shopping Mall Excitement!
Saturday afternoons were a bustling time around Wakaba. Especially at Ucchan's, which had become one of the main hangouts for girls getting off school before they went off for an afternoon of Shopping. Why girls in particular? The very hansdome cook of course. Ukyo was happy for the customers, but had heard rumours that some of the boys were worried about visiting lest they be teased that they too wanted their meal served by a handsome guy.
With Ranma and Hibari both getting so much open attention from the male populace of Wakaba High School it left the few tattered remains of Ukyo's femininity feeling insulted. Of course what really hurt was the lost income from potential customers.
Ukyo was lost in thought on her way over to open up shop when a gentle voice called out to her. Turning to see the source she was a bit surprised to see Rie hurrying her way.
"Kuonji-kun," Rie called out. "You walk really fast."
"Ah, well yeah. The quicker I open the restaurant the quicker I can start serving customers," the chef replied. "And please, luv, call me Ukyo."
"Sorry Ukyo-kun," Rie said with a slight bow. "I-I was wondering if I could ask your for help?"
"What sort of help?" Ukyo asked. Rie was sweet, and she felt a kinship with her, but they were still only acquaintances really.
"I.. I..." Rie began, before bending into a deep bow. "I would like you to take me on as an assistant at your restaurant."
Ukyo nearly stumbled in surprise, taking a moment to compose herself. "The path of an Okonomiyaki chef is difficult and takes dedication. You can't just pick it up on a whim. I'll need to know your heart it truly in it... What is it that's driving you?"
"Well... this might sound silly, but it really matters to me," Rie replied nervously as she stood back up. "After Shiina rejected me in favour of Hibari I knew I needed to prove my self worth, just to myself at least. I need to find a challenge of some sort to overcome. And thinking back to the artistry you put into your cooking... If I could become even a quarter as good as you it would prove I have worth. It would e-especially help knowing I can do something better than Hibari."
Ukyo watched as tears started to form in the dark haired girls eyes, and felt her heart move at Rie's motivation. To prove yourself after being rejected in love... that was truly the noblest of goals. Rie would also likely help bring in more male customers. Not only was she cute, but her figure was easily up there with Shampoo or Ranma.
"Very well. Meet me on Monday after school. You will have a trial period as a waitress," Ukyo said.
"Monday? I could help today," Rie replied nervously.
"Weekends are much too busy to take on a new assistant. Monday is slow enough I'll be able to show you the ropes," Ukyo explained.
"Oh! Yes, of course. I'm sorry."
"Also, sugar, you don't need to apologise so much."
"S-sorry... I... oops."
Ukyo laughed for a moment. "Calm down Rie-chan. You're not on trial for a couple days. I'll see you Monday."
Ukyo was smiling as she began to jog towards her restaurant. Some of her boy issues had likely just been fixed. Of course her real boy issues with Ranma were going to take a lot more work.
The Oozora siblings and Ranma were gathered around the kitchen table, nibbling away on the afternoon snack Tsugumi had prepared for them. The black haired boy was struggling to pace himself, years of conditioning to expect his food snatched away made that hard, but he didn't want to be rude. And had started to grow self conscious about the judgemental stares of the Oozora family when he ate at his normal pace.
Instead he tried his best to focus on the conversation as Suzume recounted her week. Apparently she'd taken Katagiri out on a date only to have him ask about the 'gorgeous redhead' staying with her. While Ranma struggled with awkward feelings over the boy being infatuated with a girl who didn't exist Suzume explained that her answer to the question was to slap him.
"Suzume-chan, that wasn't very polite," Tsugumi said.
"I said it was a date and I paid for his admission... he shouldn't have brought up his other crush," the little blue haired girl countered with a pout.
"I agree with little sis," Hibari replied. "Katagiri was out of line."
"You two... such rambunctious girls," Tsugumi muttered softly to herself.
Tsubame's eye twitched. "Girls? Girls!? Don't tell me he's pulled you into his perversion too, Tsugumi. He's our brother."
Hibari stuck her tongue out at Tsubame and lifted some of her still red hair. "If you think that's perverted you'll really flip when you hear about who Ranma and I are dating tomorrow."
The pigtailed boy shrank a bit, still a bit embarrassed he was actually going through with this. Hibari was one thing, but a boy who actually looked and acted like one? Yet there was no denying he did feel something in regards to Shui.
Tsubame meanwhile took a few moments to piece together what Hibari meant. "Wait... you're going on a date with two people? Th-that's beyond perverted."
Hibari rolled her eyes, but Ranma felt a need to defend their position.
"I-well, ya see... Shui thinks it could work. And he's our friend. And-and," Ranma began to fuss with pressing his fingers together. "And maybe I kinda think he's handsome. And so does Hibari. So... so we're just gonna give it a shot."
"Oh, but that does remind me," Hibari said, "Ranma, have you decided how you're going on the date?"
The pigtailed boy stared at the (still) red haired girl trying to read her face for clues as to what she meant. "How... like we're takin' the train ain't-Oh! Ya mean boy form or girl form... Well, Shui is kinda touchy so... I figure there's less hassle if I go in girl mode?"
Hibari gave a smile like she knew a secret. Tsubame meanwhile began to fume.
"Th-that's... Gah! I don't actually know if that's better or worse than you going in boy form," the brown haired Oozora sister sighed as bent over to rest her chin on the table. "I'm going to have a nervous breakdown I swear."
"Just go with the flow, Tsubame. You're the one making things harder than they need to be," Hibari replied.
The date of the date had finally arrived. A pair of redheads stood under a tree as they watched the throngs of people go by on the way to their Sunday shopping destinations. Hibari was wearing a sky blue dress and white cardigan, while Ranma had chosen his orange shirt with red bowtie, accompanying it with green shorts borrowed from Hibari.
"These things barely cover my butt," Ranma whispered while trying to pull the shorts down slightly (embarrassed by the number of boys checking out his legs). And trying to deal with the constant sensation he had of being watched.
"That's the point, Ranma," Hibari replied, pinching Ranma's rear. "You've got a nice bottom. Might as well embrace that."
"I know it's nice. I just don't really care about telegraphin' that to every guy that walks by," Ranma grumbled.
"I offered you a longer skirt," Hibari said, giving a short shrug.
"I'm a guy... I ain't wearin' one if I'm not doin' a disguise," the adorable redhead replied, pouting.
Hibari rolled her eyes and chuckled a bit. She was about to tease Ranma further when Shui came into view.
The handsome Chinese teen was dressed in skinny jeans, doc martin boots, and an unbuttoned Mao jacket overtop of a Godzilla t-shirt.
"Well, that's certainly a... look," Hibari said as Shui practically bounced over towards them.
"Is fashionable, no?" Shui asked, posing a bit to show off the look. And specifically how tight those pants were in the rear.
Both Ranma and Hibari blushed a bit at the sight.
"I... we've got a train to catch don't we?" a flustered curvy redhead declared, still baffled about his sexuality.
"Mhm, it's a bit of a trip to Ikebukuro," Hibari replied, grabbing both Ranma and Shui's hands to lead them off towards the train.
Ranma sat awkwardly between Shui and Hibari on the train. Shui had made sure to rest an arm over Ranma's shoulders, and Hibari was leaning so that her head was resting on Ranma's while she held Shui's arm.
It was almost too much human contact for Ranma, yet there was something invigorating about it. Ranma could sense that Hibari was being protective of him. Letting Shui know that he was something of a guest here, and that she and Ranma were in charge of the date.
It then suddenly struck Ranma that this was his first proper date with Hibari... and he was in girl mode. The shorter redhead began to blush at the realisation.
Shui and Ranma both followed Hibari a bit apprehensively into the record store. Shui had never really shopped for music, and was overwhelmed by the shear number of albums present. Ranma had flipped through Hibari's record collection once or twice, and was beginning to grasp just how massive and varied the world of modern music was, but had another reason to feel nervous.
Hibari had a specific album in mind and had rushed off to find it while the other two hung back a bit.
"I really hope we don't get a repeat of last time," Ranma whispered to Shui.
"Last time?" Shui asked.
"Mhm. Shampoo smashed through a wall and chased us over half of Nerima," Ranma muttered. The feeling they were being followed was something Ranma just couldn't shake.
"Oh," Shui replied. Internally adding: 'I didn't realise that was a record store. Then again I wasn't paying much attention... I wish Ranma would say my real name without making that disgusted face.'
"Well, let's go catch up with Hibari," Ranma said, filling that silence that was left by Shui's thought.
"Oh, right," Shui nodded.
The pair caught up to Hibari, who was deep in the M's of the alternative domestic music section. The currently red-haired girl was smiling and holding an album up.
"I've been looking for this thing for ages," she said, beaming away.
"The Worst of Moonrider... Why would you want the worst?" Ranma asked.
"It's a joke title," Hibari replied, rolling her eyes. "And they've got Don't Trust Over 30 for half off. I love this store."
"They've got quite a lot of albums I recognise from your room," Ranma said.
"Mhm, that's why I brought you, Ranma. You can start your collection with all the best albums. They've got P-Model, Plastics, Moonrider, Yellow Magic Orchestra... all the best stuff. A good foreign selection too, like Culture Club, Japan, and the Cure."
"Wait... how is Japan foreign?" Ranma asked, Shui also trying to process that.
"It's the band name. They're English," Hibari explained.
The shorter redhead nodded and looked over some of the records in the Moonrider section, but came to a stop halfway.
"Ya know, it seems kinda silly for me ta buy the same records you've got in the room beside me," Ranma said. "Not much point in having two copies in the same house is there? I mean, if we both wanna listen to the same album we can just open up the divider between our rooms."
"I... You know, you're right," Hibari replied. "Well... I'd say I've got all the best albums domestic albums here already, but for foreign albums... I've only really got a couple of bands I follow there. Let me go track somebody down to set you up with some foreign stuff to sample."
Hibari rushed off again, clearly in her element in this store. Ranma felt himself envying her. Sure, he was better in a fight, but she was no slouch. And she'd managed to have all these other interests and skills that he was just starting to realise were things. He couldn't help but wonder how things might have turned out if he'd led a more normal childhood.
A line of thought that froze when the image of himself in current form wearing one of Hibari's outfits popped in his head. The petite redhead shook his head, trying to dislodge the image, but found it replaced with his birth form now wearing the outfit. He was surprised how the idea of loose hair and a little makeup made the mental image still feel feminine.
"Tongzhi Ranma okay?" Shui asked, while picking up couple of Moonrider albums.
Ranma looked up at his handsome date and began to feel silly. Here he was, on a date with a boy. And a girl who was technically born a boy... or however he was supposed to word that. And he was in girl mode.
"Just thinkin' about what a pervert I am," Ranma muttered. There had to be a reason pops had talked about the importance of being a man... Ranma just had to remember what it was.
Ranma's introspection was interrupted by Hibari hurrying over with twenty-something woman in tow behind her. "Maon-chan says she'll hook you up with some foreign SP's to listen to."
"Hibari-chan assures me that you like her music collection, so I think I can offer a few musicians you might like, miss," the kind looking brunette added.
Ranma grimaced a bit at being called 'miss', those feelings of guilt welling up once more, but followed the woman quietly.
"Now, I think a fairly safe start is some Bowie-san," Maon explained, handing Ranma a pair of headphones.
The small redhead put the headphones on and the woman pressed play. Looking over Ranma saw the title on the single was Rebel Rebel. The sound of guitar and drumsticks hit Ranma quickly. Despite only half following the English lyrics Ranma's head began bobbing up and down.
"I think she likes it," Maon said with a smile while pausing the record. Once the small redhead had removed the headphones she gave a smile. "So, a Bowie fan now?"
"That was pretty good," Ranma replied.
"Now then, let's try something a little more synthetic. Depeche Mode perhaps? We recently received a decent collection of foreign synthpop thanks to a foreigner having to move home so you've come at the perfect time to build a distinctive collection," Maon explained as she put another record on.
Hitting play once Ranma had put the headphones on the small redhead was hit with a barrage of technological sounds. Soon a number of English voices began singing. Enjoying the strongly synthetic sound Ranma glanced over to see the single was called People Are People.
A slew of artists followed: The Buggles, Pet Shop Boys, Alphaville, New Order, Aztec Camera and lastly the B-52s. Ranma was fascinated by all of them. And realised that listening to all this foreign music would certainly help with learning English pronunciation. It seemed to almost be becoming easier with each song to follow the lyrics.
And then suddenly the next song started up with melancholic sounding lyrics Ranma couldn't follow at all.
"I thought my English was actually sorta decent these days," Ranma muttered as the song picked up a bit.
Maon paused the record briefly. "Sorry, yeah, this one isn't in English. It's from Nena, she's German."
"Oh," was about all the small redhead could say. It did sound enough like English Ranma had to guess the two countries were close by, but that's about all Ranma really knew. That and some distant memories of history class were Germany was mentioned during a war or three.
Having acquired a small pile of albums already, Ranma realised it was time to hurry over to the cash register lest this shopping trip cost a fortune. Ranma found Hibari and Shui not far away, the elegant redhead having helped Shui acquire a good pile of Japanese albums. Seeing Ranma approach Hibari turned around and lit up at the sight of all the albums Ranma had picked out.
"Ooh, Pet Shop Boys! A good choice. B-52s are very nice too from what little I've heard. And Bowie is always good," Hibari said, leaning over to Ranma's personal space. Her chest rubbed against the shorter redhead's shoulder.
Knowing that the softness Ranma felt was from Hibari's actual body rather than padding like it usually was made the shiver that ran down Ranma's spine at the contact stronger than usual. "T-thanks."
"We should go pay now, yes?" Shui asked.
Maon had reached the cash before them and was smiling happily as they approached. It took her only a moment to ring up the nine records Ranma had purchased. "That will be 5 432 yen please."
"F-five thousand... I got a little carried away. Maybe I'll put some of it back," Ranma said with a bit of sadness. All the records were so good...
Hibari slid past and placed a 5000 yen note with a few coins on the counter. "Don't worry, I've got you covered."
Ranma turned to thank her, but was intercepted by Hibari leaning in to whisper in Ranma's ear: "It pays to have a sugar momma."
Ranma felt torn between blushing and objecting, which instead result in the smaller redhead breaking into a giggling fit.
With Ranma's purchase paid for Shui moved forward and dropped off the selection Hibari had helped with.
"4 205 yen please, sir," Maon said, blushing a bit as she looked at the hunk across the counter.
Shui nodded and produced the cash required after a quick glance revealed Hibari was busy invading Ranma's personal space and giving the smaller redhead a tickle attack. Which was making Ranma's giggling fit grow even worse.
After a moment's hesitation Shui leaned down and said to both of them: "We go somewhere else now?"
"Oh! Yeah. There's another store just down the street we need to visit," Hibari replied, straightening up and heading confidently towards the door.
Ranma meanwhile was looking severely embarrassed while hurrying after the taller redhead. That giggling fit was serious non-masculine, and Ranma's blush had reached the curvy cursed boy's ears at this point.
The next store on Hibari's shopping list proved to be a clothing boutique. Just as was the case with the record store the women working there seemed to be reasonably familiar with Hibari and thrilled to see her.
"Oh! You dyed your hair," the girl with longer black hair said.
"Huh? Oh yeah, basically," Hibari replied cryptically.
The other girl, with short brown hair, produced a tray from behind the counter with a tea kettle and several cups. "We've decided to start offering free tea for customers, if you or your friends would like any?"
"I-I'm fine! Thank you," Hibari said, her voice just the slightest bit frightened.
"And you two?" the girl said, turning to Shui and Ranma.
"I'm good too!" Ranma blurted, scurrying away from the warm water.
"M-me too," Shui added, moving away only slightly less frantically than Ranma.
Hibari raised an eyebrow at that. Shui had always seemed very careful around soup. Now running away from tea... while she'd seen Shui and Shampoo in the same place it suddenly occurred to Hibari that that didn't mean Shui lacked a curse.
'I suppose it's possible he was born a girl and sought Jusenkyo the same way I'm hoping to go there,' Hibari thought to herself while aimlessly poking through clothing options. The truth was that she wasn't really looking to expand her wardrobe. She was much more curious how long Ranma would last in the store without giving in to temptation.
Unfortunately her master plan crumbled as the door rang to signal a new entrant to the store. Glancing over the three of them saw a tall bespectacled lad with a buzz cut and flowing white robes.
Shui's eye twitched. "Mousse... always Mousse. Can I no have one date? Last I saw you were in parcel being mailed to China!"
"I'd crossed the ocean to prove my love to Shampoo. A second time just further proves my love for her. I just have to free her from this world of deviants. I knew I'd find the three of you soon enough. I just had to wait outside the Oozora compound to track Saotome each day," the bespectacled Chinese teen announced.
"Track me? I'm good at knowin' when I'm being tracked, and I ain't seen ya," Ranma replied, emerging from between the clothing racks to get a clear view of Mousse.
"Hah! I've followed your every move," Mousse declared. "Why you went to an elementary school on Thursday, drove around and visited a few stores on Friday, or spent half of yesterday grocery shopping I don't know... but I was there!"
The other three stared in disbelief as they tried to process what Mousse just said. Hibari was the first to recover and shot the boy a judgemental glare.
"You're as dumb as you are blind. You followed Suzume, Sabu, and Tsugumi. You just got lucky today!" she countered.
"I... Nonetheless I find you three deviants here now at my mercy today!" Mousse announced, attempting to recover his intimidation factor.
"Mousse," Shui began, "do you see Shampoo here? No? Then leave us alone."
Mousse took a moment to look around and see if his beloved was actually somewhere to be seen. After verifying that she wasn't visible he turned back to Shui. "Hah, I'll defeat you three either way. For I've brought Saotome's bain!"
The three other teens were confused for a moment as Mousse produced a small balloon.
"This balloon contains water of Jusenkyo's cat spring," Mousse announced. "I hit Saotome and he'll be a lost cause! Hahaha!"
Ranma yelped and slipped back amongst the various clothing racks, while the two attendants yelped and ran to hide in the changerooms (they had no idea what was going on, but saw the fighting stance taken by Shui and Hibari). Mousse however apparently struggled to tell one redhead apart from the other (even while wearing his glasses) and threw the water balloon with surprising speed and accuracy towards Hibari.
Shui could only watch as horror as Hibari proved a sliver too slow at dodging and took the balloon to her face, only to vanish into her clothing. Her yelp of shocked shifted to a feline yowl, though she went silent almost immediately afterwards.
Ranma's head nervously poked out from between a few dressed to look down at where Hibari had stood. The emergence of a small pale yellow creature from his nightmares from Hibari's clothing led Ranma to shiver. (A more accurate description was a blue eyed flame point thai cat.)
Both Ranma and Shui saw red. Overcome with rage at Mousse both teens charged him. The speed of their rage filled assault caught Mousse off guard. Ranma managed to leap up enough to punch him in the face, which was followed nearly instantly by Shui's knee to his gut. The combined blows knocked Mousse into the counter.
Shui was the first to launch a follow up, swinging a fist at Mousse's head, however the other teen dodged at the last second. Instead Shui's hand slammed into the edge of the tea tray. Four sets of eyes watched the tea kettle full of hot water fly up into the air. One set watched hopefully, two mostly out of curiosity, while the fourth set watched in terror. The kettle slammed into the ceiling before bouncing down, directly onto Shui's head.
As the kettle cracked open and spilled it's hot contents onto Shui the others watched in shock as the handsome boy shrunk down into Shampoo's curvy form.
"I-I... Sh-Shampoo?" Ranma stuttered.
The blue haired girl turned around and gave Ranma a weak smile. "N-nihao."
Ranma's next question was briefly interrupted by the sounding of Mousse muttering incoherently before fainting and falling over.
Ranma's own connection to consciousness was also quite tenuous at this stage, but there were questions that needed answering. "You... but when we went to the beach... both of-of you were there?"
Shampoo's face fell as she turned away. "Instant twin spring powder. Give bad headache."
Ranma could only stare as while processing the information. Shui, the handsome and warm boy Ranma had started to open up to the idea of being interested in was a lie. A mere act played by the manipulative and murderous girl standing there. Standing there sobbing?
No. No, it had to be an act too. If she would go through all this to pretend to be someone else then a few crocodile tears were easy.
"Y-you're even more messed up than I realised," Ranma muttered, trying to ignore how confusing a subject Shampoo was right now.
What Ranma had to do was figure out how to get Hibari and head home while overcoming how terrifying the redhead found her current form.
A few minutes earlier as Mousse prepared to make his move there was another familiar face on the streets of Ikebukuro.
"Stupid water main, breaking on a Sunday," Ukyo muttered to herself as she peered into various store windows. "A weekday and they'd probably have it fixed by the time I'd opened up shop... bleh. At least what Hibari said was true, there do seem to be a lot of sales going on around here. I'm sure I can find a uniform for Rie to wear."
The sound of maniacal laughter suddenly drew Ukyo's attention. Turning around she found herself looking in at a tall guy about her age dressed in white robes confronting... was that really Ranma, Shui, and Hibari? She found herself blinking in disbelief as all chaos broke out in the store.
Hibari was transformed into an adorable kitten? Which seemed to scare Ranma for some reason?
Wait... Shui... Shui was Shampoo?
Taking a moment to compose herself Ukyo burst into the store, spatula drawn in case Shui/Shampoo tried anything.
"Ucchan? W-were you following us?" Ranma asked, the small redhead looking at her with overwhelmed and confused eyes.
"I honestly just happened to be in the area, Ranchan."
Ukyo just wanted to rush over and wrap Ranma in her arms, telling the adorable petite girl everything would be fine... except that girl was a boy. Ranma would probably call that an insult to masculinity or something. Instead her eyes turned to the cat she knew was Hibari, before looking back towards Ranma.
"You're scared of her right now... why, Ranma?" she asked.
"I-I've got a bad past with cats," Ranma replied, looking exceptionally embarrassed.
Ukyo nodded and walked over to Hibari to scoop up her and her pile of clothing in one motion. The cute yellowish cat actually began to purr in Ukyo's arms.
"Come on, Ranma. Let's go find her some warm water."
Ranma nodded and hurried over to follow Ukyo out the door. The redhead paused momentarily on the threshold, turning to look at Shampoo. The Chinese girl was now curled over, sobbing hysterically and for a brief moment Ranma debated halting to comfort her. But the pigtailed teen turned away and ran after Ukyo, convinced this had to be an act. Shampoo was just too cold and ruthless to have actually started to care of them... surely?
Ranma quietly hurried after Ukyo, trying not to look into the bundle of clothing she was carrying. Struggling to forget just what Hibari looked like right now.
After a couple blocks of running Ukyo came to a halt. "This restaurant should have a bathroom. Come on."
Ranma nodded and followed her into the small and dimly lit udon shop. Ukyo made sure to keep Hibari well hidden in her clothing while walking up to the counter.
"Could I use your washroom quickly?" Ukyo asked the man behind the counter. "If it's customers only I'll be happy to buy something afterward."
The middle aged and partially balding man continued to clean his workspace, but did grunt a reply. "'S quiet right now. Go ahead."
"Thank you," Ukyo replied with a brief bow before rushing off towards the washrooms.
Thankfully they were single occupant and Ukyo ran into the men's room. She locked the door behind her and placed the pile of clothing which contained Hibari onto the floor. Looking down at her friend who was now a cat while she waited for the sink to heat up Ukyo wondered why Hibari was making that unimpressed face. Of course, maybe that was just the standard face for cats... Ukyo had never really spent all that much time around animals.
Finally the water heated up enough that she hoped it would be enough to change Hibari. Cupping her hands she winced a bit as the near scalding water filled the leaky bowl of her palms. Trying not to spill too much (as she had no idea how much it took to cause a transformation) she carried the water over and split her hands apart above Hibari.
The small cat was replaced with a very naked Hibari in the blink of an eye. A transformation that caused Ukyo to blush furiously and spin away as she processed just what she'd seen.
"Sorry! I... I didn't mean to peak," Ukyo said, staring intently at the wall away from Hibari.
The blonde in question was busy pulling her undergarments on. "It's... well, you've seen guys naked in the changeroom all the time, so... I'm willing to guess you didn't see anything new," Hibari sighed.
"Still, it feels different with you. I guess because I'm seeing a secret," Ukyo replied.
"That makes sense. It did feel different when I saw you compared to the girls in gym," Hibari said as she pulled her dress over her head. "I'm definitely going to put these in clothes in the laundry and get a bath when I get home... It's safe to turn around though."
Ukyo did so, and felt more comfortable seeing Hibari fully clothed. "Are you okay though? Your voice sounds kind of funny."
"Eep! I managed to keep up that instant Jusenkyo long enough I forgot about pitching up," Hibari replied, her voice sliding back up to its normal pitch. "Thank you for catching that."
The pair headed out into the main restaurant to find a tiny redhead consuming a bowl of udon, while three empty bowls sat on the counter already.
"S-sorry," Ranma said after putting what was now the fourth empty bowl down. "I was sorta panickin' and there was food here an'... eatin' kinda calms me down sometimes."
Ranma quickly handed over the money for lunch, scooped up the bag with the records purchased earlier and they set off. Ukyo still needed to do her shopping, but was happy to walk them back to the train station.
As they walked every slightest sign of cold water made Hibari jump, usually trying to hide behind Ranma. The small redhead however would flinch every time they touched. Ukyo felt a brief sense of opportunity at Ranma's sudden apprehension around her main competition, but that feeling was replaced with a tsunami of guilt. Hibari was her friend too, and the new tension was in no way Hibari's fault.
Mousse woke up with a splitting headache. As his eyes adjusted to the dark he realised he was shackled to a spot on the floor. Fussing a bit with the chains led to a nasty clanking noise.
Suddenly the far side of the wall split open into a blast of blinding light, and a figure walked towards him.
«Put your glasses on, Mousse,» Shampoo's voice ordered in the dialect of their homeland.
Mousse reached up and found that his glasses were resting on his forehead. He slid them down to take in Shampoo's beauty. He was still very groggy, but some part of his brain was trying to warn him about... well, he wasn't sure, but it involved Shampoo.
«You've ruined things for me, Mousse. And you've quite possibly ruined things between my beloveds. Why can't you just take a hint?» Shampoo asked, her tone harsher than Mousse had ever heard.
«I just want to save you... not only are those foreigners unworthy of you, but they would rather spend time with a third... deviant than enjoy your company. I can't see you trapped like that,» Mousse replied, attempting to sound as noble and courageous as possible.
«Third... you idiot. I always knew you had selective hearing and sight, but memory too?» Shampoo shot back before producing a bottle of water. She poured it over her head and shifted into her male cursed form.
Mousse felt the revelation of earlier flood into his brain and he very nearly fainted again, but for Shui slapping him. Mousse held onto consciousness, but found himself unable to look up at Shui's form.
«I knew it. Even you won't look at me like this,» Shui said before grabbing Mousse's jaw and forcing him to look at her. Her voice was dripping with anger. «You'd better look though. To get a small taste of what you're doing to Ranma and Hibari. Come on... what's wrong? You'd always watch me when I told you not to, back when we were young.»
Mousse closed his eyes and winced, «H-he's n-not really cursed. I was going to curse them both properly, but when I'd almost filled a barrel with water from the cat spring that sniveling peon of Beijing caught me. He hit me with a spray bottle like some common tomcat and tried to chase me down. I had to dive into his shack to escape, and managed to grab a few packets of Instant Jusenkyo. T-that's what I used.»
Shui's face shifted into one of Shampoo's classic full face smiles for a brief moment. Normally that was a sight Mousse would give anything to see, but this wasn't the face of Shampoo that he loved so much. That and it was replaced with a local of total contempt.
«Your incompetence has saved your skin, Mousse. At least for now,» Shui all but spat before leaving and locking the door behind her.
Once she was a few paces from the door the sense of relief that at least something hadn't gone totally wrong today led to Shui skipping down the hall towards the telephone. Excitedly the cursed girl dialed the family number to the Oozora home.
"Hello?" Tsugumi's voice asked from the other side.
"This is Shui. I do not know what Ranma and Hibari have said, but have good news. Stupid Mousse only use Jusenkyo powder. Hibari not cursed," Shui explained giddily.
"Oh? Oh! Yes... little br-sister will be thrilled to hear that. But... what happened today? Hibari and Ranma both came home in a terrible mood," Tsugumi asked.
"I-it is complicated. Not my place to explain," Shui replied, her heart dropping once more. "But please, tell I am sorry. Sorry for everything."
Having heard that Hibari's transformation was a one off put Ranma at ease, but Shui's true identity still left the pigtailed martial artist (now back in male form) with a headache. Shui was a girl with the opposite curse. Ukyo and Hibari were both girls by opposite definitions. Staring at the ceiling Ranma was left with one thought.
"None of this makes any sense... what even is gender?"