Chapter 41: Not Your Usual Girls

Ranma was running through general toning with some finger push ups as the stereo over in Hibari's room played the B-52s. It was good lively music for working out, and he was glad Hibari had given him the idea of using music to make the more boring parts of exercise pass quicker.

The click of the door opening drew his eyes up, and he saw Suzume there, blushing a little as she looked at him. Clearly she was enjoying the rare chance to see him shirtless. Ranma couldn't help smirking while finishing a couple more push up, getting to a clean 50. He then launched himself up to a standing position and grabbed a towel to get some sweat off.

"Did ya have somethin' to tell me, or are ya just here to enjoy the view?"

"Oh!" Suzume yelped, her blush shifting to a more embarrassed one. "I... uh, Co-chan is back. Hibari has him out in the dojo with a kettle. Said you'd want to talk to him?"

"Ah, yeah. Thanks," Ranma said, grabbing his water bottle and pouring a little onto black hair that turned red as the water flowed down. "I think I'll try on that push up bra Hibari bought me."

Suzume nodded. Tsugumi had told her she might be pushing close to bra age soon, and so she'd asked Hibari about all the options. She considered herself an expert now, and was certain Ranma was going to be trying to seduce Ryoga. Maybe her and Hibari were going to try for one of those 'threesome' things Hibari had gotten shushed by Tsugumi for talking about?

She was lost in her efforts at detective-like reasoning and barely noticed Ranma walked past in a red cheongsam blouse (that almost verged on dress, reaching down to Ranma's thighs due to her short stature).

"Took you long enough," Hibari said as Ranma reached the dojo.

Hibari had a certain little pig curled up happily on her lap, though Co-chan glared at Ranma as the shorter girl walked in.

"Blame the little blue terror. She's going to be quite the flirt when she grows up, I'm certain," Ranma replied with a slight giggle. "So, how's our handsome guest?"

"He seems happy enough, though I think he's a little impatient to regain his humanity," Hibari said, wiggling a kettle sitting beside her.

Co-chan glared briefly at Ranma again, before hopping off Hibari's lap so she could pour some hot water on him. It was only then that he realised he was about to be naked in front of his crush (again), and began to blush as the transformation hit. Suddenly a black pair of kung-fu pants hit him in the face and he pulled them on before realising that Ranma was suddenly pants-less. Ryoga decided to ignore the odd feeling that came with borrowing Ranma's clothing.

"Okay, so... what's going on?" Ryoga asked, trying not to blush as he realised Ranma's chest looked even larger than usual.

"We've got a little deal for you, my handsome friend," Hibari said, sliding up to Ryoga's side until she was whispering in his ear. "A very generous offer."

"W-what kind of offer?" Ryoga stammered.

Suddenly the more curvaceous girl of the pair was on his lap, chest brushing against his.

"Two girlfriends... more or less," Ranma said, eyelashes fluttering coyly.

"Huh? Wha—how?" Ryoga asked, not quite following.

Hibari leaned her head on Ranma's shoulder and joined the other in giving Ryoga puppy dog eyes. "We both think you're handsome. And so, if we both like you, then why wouldn't we invite you to join our relationship?"

Ryoga's face contorted into an awkward grimace and his eye twitched slightly. "I.. I can't. I swore I'd only date girls and Ranma... well, you know."

Suddenly the girl in his lap was staring daggers at him. "What? Am I not enough of a woman for you!?"

"What do you think?" Ryoga short back angrily, glaring down at Ranma.

The short girl shoved herself back away from him and leapt into a standing position.

"I'm plenty feminine!" Ranma shouted while delivering a roundhouse to Ryoga's head that sent the boy flying a couple metres across the dojo.

Before Hibari could stop her, Ranma had stormed out. The remaining girl glared at Ryoga instead, wanting to give him a piece of her mind before leaving.

"Seriously, Hibiki? Have you seen Ranma lately? She's plenty woman when she wants to be."

The fanged boy rubbed the side of his head gingerly. "Okay, yeah. I think I misworded that one. Would probably have been better to say Ranma's too much guy for me. I spend a lot of time alone, thinking. And I realised that I was being a bit of an idiot when I thought I liked guys. I was so wrong about you, as your little sister explained so passionately the last time I was around... and that left only Ranma. And... I think Ranma was always a bit of a part-time girl, y'know?"

Hibari had found herself sitting down again, listening intently. This was actually a thought out reason, not just a knee jerk response of fear, that Ryoga was giving her. She felt the duty to discuss it. "It makes sense. I'd hoped, because I don't like the idea that so much of what I like about her is the side effect of magic. Kuonji's just not the most reliable with identifying gender tells, so I didn't have much to go on."

Ryoga nodded. "Yeah, I was thinking back on middle school a lot. And I remembered there were days where Ranma would really sway his hips, and just seemed so much more interested in fashion or whatnot. Though he'd always get super defensive and macho if anyone mentioned it. And, I don't know, maybe I had a crush then, maybe I didn't, but I definitely have a thing for her now. But only her. And Ranma isn't always her."

Hibari nodded. "I remember my own fears early on when Ranma was just showing whispers of girlness and I hadn't been sure if i could handle that. I proved pretty bi, but I can't expect that to be true of everyone."

Ryoga smiled weakly. "Sorry. I do envy you though, I can only imagine how nice it must be to be able to love all of Ranma."

Hibari smirked. "It's pretty nice."

"D-don't tell Ranma though, please? I know I'd get teased to no end if he found out."

"Yeah, that's probably true," Hibari said, laughing a bit at the thought. "Since you gave me an honest and decent reason, I'll behave."

It was the next afternoon, a bit after school, when Ranma asked to have a makeup tutorial from Hibari and Tsugumi. Makeovers were nice and all, but she wanted the skill to do it herself. It was complicated, and Ranma had to retry a number of times, but she picked it up well enough. Right afterwards she'd done her best to pick out a cute outfit, and decided she'd swing by the Neko Hanten to show off her handiwork. Hibari however found herself drafted into modelling for Tsugumi.

Ranma walked along the streets of Nerima, illuminated by the golden glow of evening, smiling as she went. Knowing the route well, Ranma grew lost in thought as she watched the stars start to poke into visibility as the sun grew fainter and the purple of early night spread across the sky.

At least that was what had her attention. Then she bumped into a boulder of a human being.

"Oh, sorry miss. I wasn't paying a—Yoiko? Is that you?" Ryoga asked, a bright red blush spreading across his face.

Ranma blinked. How on earth did Ryoga recognize her as Yoiko, but not herself?

She had half a mind to tell him the truth, to make him suffer now, like had been the original plan with the Yoiko plot (before her feelings got muddled)... but she had a clearer goal now. She was going to prove she was enough of a woman to him. No one slighted Saotome Ranma's femininity and got away with it. (And the way the second rejection had hurt showed Ranma she did still have a crush on the oaf. Apparently she liked her boys muscular, going off him and Shui... who sort of counted. At least aesthetics wise?)

"Hibiki! I was just thinking about you. Are you free tonight?" Ranma asked, cute mode engaged.

"I think so?" Ryoga replied, looking like he was honestly trying to mentally check a schedule.

"Well, this is a special treat. Let's go get sushi!" Ranma declared, grabbing Ryoga by the hand and rushing off in the opposite direction from the Neko Hanten.

Ranma buried her face in her hands as Ryoga bit another pair of chopsticks in half as he nervously ate his sushi. How was she supposed to prove her femininity to him if he couldn't tell wood from seaweed? Swallowing her annoyance, Ranma decided to start up some conversation.

"So, how many dates do we need to go on before I can start telling my friends I have a hunk of a boyfriend?"

"Y-you have a boyfriend?" Ryoga asked, having only half listened.

"If you're okay with saying we're a couple," Ranma said, before picturing a shirtless Ryoga and Shui in seductive poses to help generated a false blush. "Oh, I do hope I don't seem too forward?"

"Does that mean I could call you my girlfriend?" Ryoga replied, his voice giddy with excitement and, not noticing he'd picked up a soy sauce bottle instead of a roll of sushi, bit into it.

Ranma struggled to remind herself that sticking with this would end in her getting more than she lost by being around him. "Of course, silly."

"Thanks," Ryoga replied softly, blushing furiously. Then he took another bite into the soy sauce container. "You know, maybe we should try a different sushi place next time? This one seems to have a lot of crunchy things... and some of it is way too salty."

Ranma could only give a grimace. She'd have her victory, but at what cost?

Well, at least Ryoga had paid before he'd excused himself to go to the washroom and ended up apparently getting lost.

Shampoo was wrapped in a towel, fresh from her before bed shower, as she checked that her alarm clock was set for the morning. Then something hit the window. Shampoo turned to the closed curtain, wondering if it was a bird or something.

Another thwack.

Shampoo narrowed her eyes. That had better not be Mousse trying to get in after a night on the prowl as a cat. Or that perverted kid hoping she'd look out the window nude again.

Another thwack.

Shampoo sighed and headed over, adjusting her towel up a bit just to annoy any perverts. She didn't care about being seen, but they cared about seeing. Confident nothing interesting was visible she slide in front of the curtain and opened the window to take a look.

Thwack.

This time the pebble hit her square in the forehead.

"Oh Buddhas and Kami... sorry Shampoo!" Ukyo's voice shouted up.

"What the heck are you doing down there, Kuonji!? You have a phone! You can call, like normal person. There's no need to throw the small stones at my window in middle of the night!"

The gakuran clad teen visibly winced. "Sorry. I was just out for a walk, thinking about things, and was passing by."

Shampoo sighed. "Wait there. I'll come down."

Shampoo closed her window before she got a reply and headed downstairs. The restaurant was eerily still as always for this time of night as she crossed it to open the front door.

"That was right qui-Kami! Where's your clothes, girl?" Ukyo asked, blushing furiously.

Shampoo shrugged. "We're both girls. I see no reason to dress... you have seen other girls naked, right?"

"Uh..." Ukyo froze a moment. "Oozora as a blonde only, I think."

Shampoo nodded as she closed the door. "Ah, well, in that case..."

The blue haired girl let her towel drop, giving the other a very good view. Ukyo's eyes widened before she spun around and grabbed a napkin to cover her nose. "I suppose that's revenge for the pebble?"

Shampoo blinked. A girl reacting like that to other girls... it seemed downright odd to her. Maybe Ukyo was just a lesbian with a lack of exposure, but...

"So, why are you here, spatula-kun?"

"Ranchan told me she trusts you, even though you've tried to kill her and other craziness. So she said I should ask you how to regain her trust," Ukyo said, doing a very poor job of maintaining eye contact.

"It's probably the curse," Shampoo replied. She had a scheme, and was going to lead things where she wanted. "Gives a common ground with both airen. Especially after locking self to try to my prove love."

Ukyo nodded. "So, get a boy curse and lock myself for a bit? Doesn't sound to bad... apart for the cost of getting to Qinghai. Any chance I could order Nannichuan water for delivery?"

"Transporting Jusenkyo water is dangerous. Not usually done. Instant and a lock might be enough though? Willing to try?"

"Do you have any ready?" Ukyo asked.

"Mhm. A packet or two. And I know cat's tongue technique. Follow me, spatula-boy."

"You know I don't like that nickname," Ukyo grumbled while walking behind the very nude and very well proportioned waitress.

Shampoo glanced over her shoulder and smiled. "It is about to become more accurate though, no?"

"I... I guess you're right."

It had been two days. The youngest Tendo had been hiding in her room ever since the fight. Staring at the empty seat at the breakfast table hammered home that Nabiki was, honestly, getting tired of it. All this for hair.

"I'm going to go talk some sense into her," Nabiki grumbled.

"She'll come down when she's ready," Kasumi replied softly.

Kousaku and Soun watched silently, sticking to eating their breakfasts as they worried an argument could break out.

"And she'll be even more behind school. And even more stressed out. Which will lead to more yelling and breaking things," Nabiki countered, standing up and marching off. She wasn't going to be talked out of this.

It didn't take long to reach Akane's door. Knocking was an option, but it wouldn't help. Bracing for something to be chucked at her head, Nabiki opened the door.

Amazingly, there were no projectiles thrown at her head. Akane was lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Something in Nabiki told her to close the door behind her before she walked across the room and sat down on the foot of the bed.

"Alright, jockette, how long is this moping session going to last?"

"I'm not moping. I'm thinking," Akane replied, not bothering to sit up.

"Careful. That's generally my job in this family."

The youngest Tendo sat up and glared at her sister. "Just so you know, it isn't just the hair."

"I hoped it wasn't," Nabiki replied. "But you are seriously stubborn, so I wasn't totally sure."

"Gee, thanks."

Nabiki shrugged as Akane glared at her. "So, what's it really about?"

"Three years of trying to prove I'm actually a young woman down the drain. Though, in hindsight, the fact that all I really succeeded at was growing my hair kind of says volumes, doesn't it? The cooking lessons were a failure. Sewing efforts are better left unmentioned. I'm such a hypocrite," Akane said, wrapping her arms around her legs and staring over at the wall.

"Okay, ignoring your hyper domestic and conservative view of womanhood, I'm not following where the hypocrisy factors in?"

"Ran... er, Ranma. I got so defensive and upset because I had bonded so close to him. I thought I'd found another girl who was just as much of a hopeless tomboy as me. Who was just worried she was messing up and going to be declared unfit for womanhood. And then it turns out she's a guy... but Hibari was right. My condition isn't that different. I was practically a boy as a kid."

Nabiki tried her best not to laugh. Akane was just so over the top about things sometimes. "Well, I'll admit that I did wonder as a kid if you were trying to convince dad you could be the 'male heir' aunt Ikumi said it was a shame he lacked... but, seriously, you're way too high strung about this stuff. A haircut can't rob you of your womanhood. And have you ever seen me cook more than instant noodles?"

"Uh... I think Kasumi made you help with the last New Years dinner?"

"I was drafted against my will, and she didn't give me anything more than veggie chopping duty," Nabiki protested. "Anyhow, what about sewing?"

"Um... no. Never seen you sew."

"What other stereotypes do you need to be reminded don't matter? I think I can be here a while. Kuno has a presentation in history class, and that's probably going to be an all day event."

Akane couldn't help giggle. "I bet he has a costume."

"Definitely. And there'll be a twenty minute rant about the history of the katana, whatever the topic is. You should have seen the teacher when he had to give a presentation on Algeria and somehow spent fifteen minutes on Akechi Mitsuhide."

Akane laughed enough she ended up snorting. "I needed that. Thanks. Still... I might have been chasing stereotypes, but that doesn't change the fact I'm far from feminine. And my confusion about how I treated Ranma."

"What do you say we let Kasumi clean your hair up a little and then we go off to Wakaba and find your friends. Or do you want to keep that style? Messy cuts are 'punk', right?"

"This is just a disaster, I want it cut," Akane replied, getting to her feet. "Also a proper meal. I've been running on energy bars and leftovers from the fridge at three AM for too long. Got some serious gut rot going on."

Nabiki followed her sister downstairs feeling accomplished. Helping someone else out for a change actually was kind of nice. Maybe those trust building exercises the Oozoras insisted she took as part of orientation had been useful. Even if she'd found them infuriating.

The next hour or so went smoothly . Kousaku went to school. Soun asked why Nabiki wasn't going and just found himself getting glared at. Akane ate quite a bit, while Kasumi hemmed and hawed over her hair.

"There's no way around it. The front top is so short, you have two choices," Kasumi said at last, having run through several magazines to try to find alternatives. "Either a mullet or a pixie cut."

"Pixie cut. I'll go all in," Akane said calmly.

Kasumi nodded and the three went to the furo for the easy to clean floors, Akane carrying a chair in with her. As Kasumi cut, Nabiki prodded Akane into discussing her fears with failing to meet femininity. Nabiki was a bit disappointed by her older sister's simplistic positions, saying that you were what you were born. Only when reminded about Ranma by Nabiki did she relent that maybe there was some thought to be given.

"I suppose, if it isn't just what you're born, like may be the case for Ran, then... hm, well, it depends if the decision is external or internal. It could be internal, like religion? Most of us take bits of Shintoism and bits of Buddhism, and maybe a few snippets of Christianity. But you don't have to take a test so society can tell you which you are. You get to say which you are," Kasumi said, pausing from the haircut as she confronted an issue she never realised could be an issue. "If it's external... hmm, I don't like that idea... oh, but if it is like religion, could you say you just don't care? That seems so unusual. Hm..."

"Maybe we can postpone breaking Kasumi's worldview until she's done with cutting my hair, okay Nabiki?" Akane said, worried about what a distracted hairdresser could mean.

Nabiki shrugged, "Fine, fine. I just find it all interesting. Mostly because I never thought about it until Ranma showed up, and now I found out that little miss 'act, don't think' had actually be working on the concept for years. I've got catching up to do."

"I think about plenty of stuff," Akane muttered. "My average in year 8 was better than yours was."

Nabiki rolled her eyes. But she couldn't help wondering about it all. What if her younger sibling wasn't a sister? She'd spent a lot of time thinking after that conversation with Hibari. She was pretty that she was a girl through and through, but if Akane had doubts... or was this just like when she was little and started being convinced everyone had the same issue as her mother when they showed the tiniest hint of a symptom?

Akane felt lighter as she and Nabiki got off the train at Oizumi station, and it wasn't just due to having less hair. Her identity crisis was (mostly) averted. She was still unsure about quite a lot of things, but Nabiki had helped her to at least feel like she was facing decisions, rather than having to atone for failure.

Of course, heading towards a Yakuza home made her feel a little nervous.

"How far of a walk is it now?" Akane asked.

"I'd say it's about a twenty minutes," Nabiki replied. "Or we can wait for a bus, but we managed to just miss it if the schedule over here's to be trusted."

"Let's walk," Akane said.

Nabiki nodded and led the way, heading away from the busy commercial streets around the train station and into quiet suburban lanes that felt much the same as their own neighbourhood. They made it a fair distance before Akane had to speak up what was bothering her.

"It's not too intense, is it? With all those thugs around and such..."

Nabiki let out an honest laugh. "Not at all. Genma and Ibari try to be intimidating, but their mostly harmless goofballs. Besides, we'll probably be hanging out with Tsugumi until Ranma and Hibari get home from class."

"Thank goodness," Akane replied.

The pair picked up their pace again, making it a few blocks before a guy their age rounded a corner directly in their way. He had spiky hair, silk clothing, and eyes filled with hatred.

"You're the Tendo girls, yes?" he asked, his speech having a soft Chinese accent.

"Who wants to know?" Nabiki asked, while Akane slid in front of her, getting ready to slide into a combat stance.

"The nemesis of your martial arts 'school'," the young man replied. "If one of you would be so kind as to volunteer to be my hostage you'll find yourself much less injured."

Akane shifted into a fighting stance, fists raised. "I don't know what you're problem is, buddy, but I'm ready to give you a fight, if that's what you want."

"You think you can take me? I'm insulted, short girl," the vile lad replied.

With that he lunged, crossing the space between them and throwing his fist fast enough Akane barely had time to block. Nabiki backed off to safety while Akane tried a counter attack. Their assailant blocked her blows, though there was a little surprise on his face, having obviously expected much less from her.

"Well what do you know, you're actually almost a warm up," the guy replied while pulling out a long bit of tan coloured silk. "But I'm bored of you."

Suddenly he lashed out, managing to use the silk like a whip. As it wrapped around Akane's forearm she was momentarily distracted by the realization of just what it was.

"Pantyhose?" she muttered, flabbergasted.

Then her opponent yanked and she was thrown off her footing. Before she could recover more of the silk stockings were wrapped around her legs. Then her foe delivered a blow to the back of her head that left her unconscious.