Chapter 50: Model

Four teens sat in the family room above the Neko Hanten, Cologne sitting across from them as they explained the new information.

"Hm... splitting incense is a dangerous thing. This man must be an idiot to play around with it," Cologne said, shaking her head a bit. "I wonder what he was even trying to do."

"He wanted vengeance of some sort," Nabiki said. "What could it do that would cause that?"

"Well, under normal circumstances it splits one's evil urges into a separate shadow of a being. He could have hoped that this shadow would have tormented Ranma or the inhabitants of the Oozora home in general," Cologne replied. "Instead you two were sharing a dream, and ended up in the wrong bodies. Unfortunately, it also means this is a messy switch... a merger seems quite possible if we take too long."

"S-so, how do we fix it?" Ranma asked. "I mean, as much as I like Hibari, that merger idea sounds freaky."

"Sadly I'm not overly familiar with splitting incense. I would need some samples to work out a cure," Cologne explained.

"Alright. So we swoop in and steal a few sticks. Sounds easy enough," Hibari replied.

"Not sure how easy that will be. The creep is surprisingly aware of anyone touching his stuff. I learned that the hard way," Nabiki muttered. "We'll need some way to lure him out... probably for a few hours to be honest. His room is also a complete disaster and I have no idea how he finds anything in there."

"Hm, so we need a distraction of some sort," Ranma said, nodding to herself. "We should probably recruit Kousaku. He spends more time with the old slime than the rest of us, probably knows how to distract him."

Hibari found herself approaching the Tendo home with Nabiki, having been sent to scout the situation. What she found, even just from the Genkan as she was removing her(/Ranma's) shoes did not impress. The old man had apparently been painting the walls, poking random holes in the floor, and... just generally being a nuisance.

Suddenly the tiny creep in question bounded up to Hibari and Nabiki from the kitchen, his eyes narrow. "You! Why did you have to wake up before the incense worked?"

"You were noisy?" Hibari offered, feeling insulted that a man this pathetic was putting both her and Ranma into such a perilous situation.

"Bah! I was just too excited about separating your feminine and masculine sides... My mind was filled with pictures of a busty cute redhead in lingerie! And now it's not going to happen!" Happosai fumed, displaying a toddler-like temper tantrum. "I can't even beat you up properly when you're like this, because I can see the delicacy of femininity in your eyes still. You're the worst, you know that?"

Hibari smiled and bowed. "Why thank you."

One had to savour the little pleasures.

"Don't thank me! Gah!" Happosai roared, bounding off down the hallway. "I'm too much of a gentleman for my own good!"

"Too much of a sexist is more like it," Hibari muttered under her breath, getting a laugh from Nabiki.

"Let's go upstairs. I know Akane's up there at least," Nabiki said.

Hibari nodded and followed her up. The pair headed to Akane's room, Nabiki knocking on the door.

"Who is it?" Akane's voice asked.

"Nabiki and a friend."

There was a sound like furniture moving around before the door at last opened a smidge. "What's going on? Oh, and, hi Ranma. Sorry that the house is a mess."

"Not your fault," Hibari replied. She wasn't going to talk about what was actually happening with Happosai potential in earshot. Who knew what he'd try with that information?

"Do you know where Sakamoto is?" Nabiki asked.

"He's hiding at Daisuke's last I heard. I don't envy him, the old worm's been using him as a punching bag since he got back from Siberia," Akane explained.

"Thanks! We're trying to fix things, wish us luck," Hibari said with a smile.

Kousaku and Daisuke were locked in a round of Joe and Mac when the doorbell rang. Daisuke let out a tired sigh, before pausing the game.

"I'll see who it is... don't unpause, okay?"

Kousaku shrugged. "Yeah, sure. I'm not really very good at it anyway. I definitely need your help."

Kousaku sat and listened to the music for a few moments while he waited for Daisuke to return, trying to ignore the pain from the various bruises all over his body. When the brown haired lad did return, Kousaku was surprised that he was being followed by Ranma of all people.

"Kou-sa-ku!" the black haired teen said with a grin. "Just the boy I was looking for."

Kousaku stared at the other teen a moment, feeling weird at how much cute energy Ranma was giving off, despite being in male form. Saotome already made Kousaku feel confused enough when a girl... he didn't need more confusion.

"W-what can I do for you?" Kousaku asked, scrambling to his feet. "If it's about fighting Happosai... I'm not really in any shape to help with that."

Suddenly 'Ranma' placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled softly at him. "I just need advice, don't worry. We need a distraction so we can sneak into his room and steal a couple things."

Kousaku found himself blushing and trying to pretend Ranma was in girl mode right now. He was straight after all... right? "I, uh... I think the only distraction that would really work with him is young girls. Or a very large collection of underwear."

'Ranma' nodded. "Well, let's head back to the Neko Hanten and get planning!"

Kousaku found himself being dragged off by the hand. There was no denying that he was blushing, and also that his crush on 'Ran' might be bleeding over to Ranma proper.

Ukyo, Ranma, Hibari, Nabiki, and Shampoo were deep in planning. Kousaku, meanwhile, had been smiling giddily for some reason after finding out that Ranma and Hibari had been bodyswapped, and wasn't contributing too much. Mousse had popped in from time to time, mostly to bring snacks (which Ranma and Nabiki caused to disappear quite quickly).

"So, we're agreed that we don't have the budget to lure him out with underwear alone," Hibari said, fingers tapping against the table as she thought things over.

"I'd volunteer as distraction normally, but, well, since I'm in your body, Hibari... I don't know," Ranma muttered.

"Hm... you know, I think I have an idea for getting back at the old creep that kind of uses yours, so... I give you permission," Hibari said with a mischievous grin.

"W-what do you have planned?" Ranma asked, feeling more than a little worried. That grin was never a good sign.

Hibari just kept smiling. "Don't worry my cute little head about it."

"Well, I can't help," Ukyo said. "Fumiko and I went down to Yokohama and grabbed some of the waterproof soap they sell. So... I'm going to be staying a guy for a while."

"I am fine with being bait," Shampoo said. "I will keep cold water with me if things get too annoying though."

"We'll need Kousaku to be involved in luring him over, I think," Ranma said.

"Huh, what?" Kousaku asked, coming out of whatever thoughts he was up to.

"I'll want Nabiki's skills for my plan though. Plus, she knows the Tendo house the best," Hibari replied.

"I'll try to figure out who else can be a distraction," Ranma muttered. "There's gotta be a way to not have to involve too many girls."

At that moment Mousse walked in with some more snacks and an idea struck Ranma. "Hibari, I think I'm going to need to borrow some of your Jusenkyo packets."

"What fo—ooh! That's a fun idea," the girl in Ranma's body replied.

Nabiki and Ukyo had followed Hibari to the Oozora home and up to her bedroom, both wondering just what her plan was. All Nabiki had known was that Hibari wanted her to bring her camera.

"So, what's going on?" Nabiki asked.

"Well, you heard Happosai. His plan was getting to see Ranma in lingerie. Let's give him some pictures... but not of the red haired Ranma," Hibari said with a grin.

Nabiki could help smirking. "Ooh, he's going to hate that. I like it."

"I'll sit down and enjoy the show then?" Ukyo said, walking over to sit on the bed.

"It might be fun if you participate a little, since two guys in cute girl's lingerie will probably go over even better," Hibari said while picking through her underwear drawer.

Ukyo blushed. "I... that feels like an added level of confusion I'm not sure I'm ready for."

"Well, join if you get comfortable," Hibari said as she started stripping, before pausing a moment. "Uh, I'd be fine if I was myself, but, Nabiki, would you be willing to turn around while I'm properly nude? Just don't know how I feel about another girl looking at my fiance's body. And I'm even more unsure how Ranma would feel about it."

"I, uh, okay. Kuonji's fine though?" Nabiki asked, a bit sarcastic as she turned around.

"Ukyo changes with Ranma at school all the time... and might not count as a girl?" Hibari said, turning to Ukyo for input.

"Yeah... I'm a chef first. Anything else second. I'm not sure what the 'else' is though," Ukyo replied.

Hibari proved to have a few 'outfits' chosen, and had fun posing for the various shots. Nabiki was busy playing with camera angles. Ukyo, meanwhile, just sat quietly, trying to fight the confusion of effectively having their fiance(e) sitting in front of them posing provocatively in barely any clothing.

"You're not very good at manly poses, Hibari," Ukyo said, hopping up. "Move your shoulders up a bit."

The chef walked over and began to adjust Hibari's stance a bit, moving her arms a little... or more technically Ranma's arms. Which was turning Ukyo's cheeks hot. Looking up, Ukyo looked into those bright blue eyes and... couldn't tell if they felt like they were looking into Hibari's eyes, or Ranma's eyes...

But Ukyo did know they were getting lost in them either way.

The only response to slide into Ukyo's mind was simple: a kiss.

Hibari's eyes opened wide in response, too shocked to hear the click of Nabiki's camera. Ukyo was good enough at leading that Hibari had to struggle not to return it. Maybe she'd been a little too angry with Ranma for giving in before. But, she managed to hold out until Ukyo began to back away.

"W-who was that kiss for?" Hibari asked as Ukyo broke the kiss.

"I... I don't really know," the chef mumbled, beet red.

"Well... maybe figure that out, considering the risks involved with the mindswap," Hibari replied, trying to hold down a blush of her own.

"Sorry. I'm sorry," Ukyo stammered, guilt bubbling up into their heart. "I, uh... I'll go now. You can come get me when the photos are developed."

"You don't have to go, you just have to behave a little," Hibari replied, trying to sound friendly. Why had things had to have gotten so complicated? She liked Ukyo, at the very least as a friend.

"No, no. I'll leave. I'm just risking worsening your blurring issues," Ukyo said, shaking their head. "I just hope Shampoo is behaving herself."

"You look cute," Shampoo said, as the trio sat in the (otherwise) empty Wakaba girls' change room. "Do not worry."

"I just can't believe I'm actually doing this," Mousse muttered, shivering as he stood in only a bra borrowed from Hibari and some 100 yen store underwear. And also physically female.

"Hey, you agreed we should keep the number of actual girls dragged into being bait for the old slime to a minimum. This is the best way to do that," Ranma replied, dressed in a full gym uniform to not give Mousse too much of a free show of Hibari's body (even if she wasn't sure Hibari would mind that much).

Knocking at the door drew everyone's attention and Ranma hurried over to answer. Slipping it open she saw a very frazzled looking Ken and Haruki.

"H-hi. Is, is that offer real?" Ken asked. "We get to see you and that cute waitress girl topless if we help run a distraction?"

"Yeah, you'll definitely get a chance to see me without a shirt at some point. And Shampoo," Ranma replied, trying not to let her jealousy over other guys seeing Hibari like that... it was all her own doing. (And tried to ignored how she was feeling similar about the guys seeing Shampoo...) "You just have to help out with distractin' the old creep who taught po-uh, Ranma's dad."

The two boys nodded.

Ranma opened the door a bit more to let them in, only to find the two of them standing stiff and still.

"What's wrong?" Ranma asked.

"I-I mean, that's the girls's change room," Haruki stammered. "I... it's sacred ground. Walking in casually feels wrong... we need to wash and purify first or something."

"Riiight," Ranma muttered. "Well, say some mantras or whatever and then get in here."

The boys blushed (worse), nodded, and hurried in. Where they were immediately splashed by a grinning Shampoo and transformed by the instant nyannichuan.

"Gyahh! That was cold!" Haruki gasped, before blinking and looking down at himself. "Oh! I'm a girl now... not much in the boobs department."

"Yeah, you look pretty mousy," Ken replied. "Waoh, my voice sounds so high pitched!"

"I... dang, you look cute," Haruki said, staring at Ken for a bit.

Ranma nodded, leaning in a little. "Yeah, not too bad."

"Wait, is-is this a permanent curse?" Haruki asked, his eyes growing wide with fear.

Ken paled similarly.

"Nah, just a one off," Ranma replied.

Both boys let out a sigh of relief.

Another knock on the door distracted Ranma while Shampoo dragged the two boys off to get changed. Ranma opened the door again to find Kousaku with two of his friends.

"Ooh, she's really cute," the lighter haired boy said.

"So, you two must be Hiroshi and Daisuke," Ranma said.

"Guilty as charged," Hiroshi replied.

"So, we're really going to get to see some magic?" Daisuke asked.

"Yeah, step on in," Ranma replied, glancing over to see Mousse with a bottle of instant jusenkyo filled water and read to splash.

The boys were splashed as soon as they crossed the threshold. A similar discussion about how they looked followed (Daisuke looked elegant, not much in the chest department, but proved to have hips to make up for it... and had actually grown a few centimetres, Hiroshi ended up petite and adorable). Ranma had to raise an eyebrow at the way Hiroshi had blushed at Daisuke's compliments. She couldn't guess what it meant, and was honestly surprised to have even noticed.

Was that a sign the merger could be happening? She hoped not.

Either way, she explained how it was a one time shift, and there would be no lasting impacts. Daisuke looked relieved, while Hiroshi seemed... unreadable to Ranma.

Kousaku left a few moments later, muttering something about never looking at Hiroshi and Daisuke the same in future. The remaining teens (most of whom were busy staring at Shampoo's mostly undressed form, and driving Ranma up the wall in the process) spent the next few minutes discussing the distraction plan. It mostly consisted of running away and trying to beat up the old letch once Kousaku brought him around.

"H-hello, is anyone there?" Rie's voice gently called out from the doorway.

The collected teens turned to see her, all staring in confusion for a moment.

"Rie? What are you doin' here?" Ranma asked.

"Ukyo-kun told me what was happening, and I thought I should really help out," Rie said, slipping in.

"Rie... Rie... she's seeing me like this," Mousse muttered.

"I don't know if you wanna get involved in this," Ranma said. "The old creep's... grabby."

"Shampoo's here," Rie replied, as firmly as she could. "I can handle it too. I consider you two some of my closest friends."

"Uh... I mean, I guess. I appreciate you doin' this for me and Hi-Ranma," Ranma said. "It ain't gonna be fun."

"I will protect you," Shampoo declared boldly.

"M-me too!" Mousse declared, hurrying up to Rie's side.

"Oh, uh, thank you?" Rie said, clearly not recognising who Mousse was.

"The photos are done developing," Nabiki's voice said over the phone. "Tell Kousaku to start the operation in 20 minutes."

Akane nodded, before remembering that wouldn't be perceptible over the phone. "Sure thing."

"So," Kousaku's voice called out from the hall outside the changeroom, "I hope this helps you forgive me for what happened, sensei."

"If the girls are cute enough," Happosai's voice replied, sounding as petty and annoying as ever.

Ranma's eye twitched. This wasn't going to be fun.

Ranma hurt as she raced down the empty halls of Wakaba High School, Happosai hurrying after her. Apparently Hibari hadn't completely healed from her run in with Taro, and her ribs were aching as a result (also, she'd forgotten how annoying running with breasts and no bra was). But she had to lead the little slime away from the others. Mostly for Rie's sake.

"So shy! You don't need to run away from my love!" Happosai called out.

Ranma felt a shiver down her spine, slipping around a corner and... colliding into someone rather muscular.

"Oh, sorry mi—Hibari?" Ryoga said, before taking in Ranma's current state of toplessness. His cheeks quickly turned bright red, until the blood pressure in his cheeks resulted in a nosebleed.

"Uh, hey?" Ranma offered, not really sure what else to say.

"They you are, my little blue eyed beauty," Happosai called out as he rounded the corner near them. Ranma shivered reflexively.

Ryoga, as overwhelmed as he was, could still tell the girl in front of him was frightened by this old man. Seeing Hibari's face filled with fear wasn't something he liked, and he slipped forward defensively shielding the redhead behind him.

"I don't know who you are pal, but Hibari clearly doesn't like you," the fanged boy bellowed, preparing for a fight. (If Hibari was running, then this guy had to be a pretty good fighter.)

"You're no fun," Happosai replied. "I've had a very bad month, and I just want to make it better by showing some love to the beautiful girls around. Out of my way!"

The tiny man launched himself at Ryoga, proceeding to deliver a blow to his gut that was the strongest the fanged boy had ever felt. Ryoga stumbled back a few steps, bending over in pain.

"Ow," he muttered.

"You're still standing? That's annoying. Won't last though," Happosai declared, charging forward again.

This time his barrage was faster and lighter blows, overwhelming Ryoga's defenses. The fanged boy finally spotted an opening after what had to be five hundred blows, and threw his fastest punch. Unfortunately the opening proved to be purposeful, Happosai pulling Ryoga's blow along to send the lad flying into a nearby wall.

"I recommend you stay down, son," Happosai declared with glee, taking a victorious pose.

At least until Ranma kicked him in the head like she was trying to send a soccer ball into a net. The old man was soon lodged into a wall not far from Ryoga.

"Ha! Take that! I'm the best!" Ranma announced, cracking open a cheerful laugh.

Her laugh faded when the little creep dislodged himself. And he grinned.

"So feisty! It makes it more—"

Happosai had been cut off by Ryoga swinging his umbrella like a golf club and sending the diminutive grandmaster flying out the window.

"Die!" Ryoga shouted, with his hand cupped to his mouth, before he turned and gave Ranma a grin.

Ranma raised an eyebrow. "I, uh, good hit?"

"Do you get it though?" Ryoga asked.

"Get what?"

"You're supposed to shout four when you make a golf swing. So I translated it. But conjugated it like it was 'death' instead," Ryoga explained, his grin getting wider as he explained the complicated pun he was quite proud of.

Only for it to end with him being bonked on the head by Shui.

"Golfers shout fore not four," the hunk of a cursed girl said flatly.

"What?" Ryoga asked, before taking in that Shui was wearing only a pair of gym shorts. He had no idea what to make of that. He could tell the 'lad' was as muscular as he was and a not insignificant amount taller. "Do I... do I know you?"

"Liu Shui," Shui replied with a quick bow. "We have met, I think. But briefly."

Ryoga nodded awkwardly. "Well, uh, it's good to get a proper introduction? I'm Hibiki Ryoga."

Ranma had been distracted by looking out the window, trying to guestimate how far away Happosai had flown. At least it was in the opposite direction from the Tendo dojo, so hopefully helped to buy some time.

"Is, uh, is Shui like Ranma?" Ryoga suddenly whispered into 'Hibari' 's ear, causing Ranma to jump a little.

"Pardon?" Ranma asked, firmly confused.

"Y'know, sort of a girl?" Ryoga whispered, glancing over to Shui's departing form.

Ranma's attention followed, getting distracted for a moment by the cursed girl's toned back.

"Uh, sorta?" Ranma replied. "Er, you should ask Shui yourself."

"That makes sense... the hip wiggle definitely draws the eyes," Ryoga muttered.

Ranma's eyes were drawn towards where Ryoga's were leading, even if the view was quite familiar.

The body-swapped teen blinked and did a quick headshake. "I hope we bought the other's enough time."

She then found herself smacked in the face by some fabric. Catching it, she realised it was one of Ryoga's shirts.

"Uh, until you can get your own shirt from... wherever," the blushing boy replied.

Ranma nodded and pulled it on. It struck her for a moment how much is smelt of Ryoga. And the woods. It was kind of a nice smell.

Rie offered Mousse a towel as he transformed back into himself, trying not to be too frazzled by his lithe from.

"Thanks," Mousse muttered, not able to meet Rie's eyes.

"I, um... thank you for protecting me," Rie said. "And... I'm sorry for not recognising you until you turned into a cat."

"That's fine. I just sort of wish you hadn't seen me like that," Mousse muttered.

"W-why not?" Rie asked, placing a hand on Mousse's upper arm.

"It's, just... it's embarrassing enough when you see me as a cat. A second cursed form..."

"You're you either way," Rie said.

"I guess," Mousse muttered, looking at Rie at last.

"I, uh, I also think you're adorable as a cat," Rie added, before blushing. "If that-er, that doesn't upset you."

"Really? Because, I'll admit, petting and ear scratches feel so good in that form, I wouldn't mind getting some more of that from you," Mousse replied.

"Oh, definitely!" Rie said with a grin.

"Should we give you two some privacy?" Daisuke asked, standing awkwardly in the corner of the shower room.

The young couple blushed furiously, before blurting an apology in unison.

Ranma, Shampoo, and Kousaku were waiting impatiently in the Neko Hanten restaurant area. Ryoga had gotten lost on the way over, while Mousse and Rie had gone upstairs to Mousse's room, with a bottle of water.

"I'm going to die," Kousaku muttered. "He's going to kill me."

"We can try contacting the authorities?" Shampoo offered, her voice sounding genuine, but her smile a little too large. "Maybe the Japanese police can put you in witness protection if you are so scared?"

"He's not going to kill you, Sakamoto," Ranma snapped, the redhead's impatience not handling Kousaku's panicking well. "Pops said him and uncle Soun tossed him in a cave for ten years and he ain't killed either of them yet."

"Huh, I guess that's true," Kousaku muttered. "So, I'm just going to get beaten, not killed... I guess that's still better."

"I just hope they'll be back soon, I'm starting to worry he caught them," Ranma said, before a sudden crack of thunder hit close enough that the building almost seemed to shake.

Ranma instantly found a Shampoo in her lap, the girl clung to her, eyes wide. Clung rather firmly.

"Uh, you okay there, Shampoo?" Ranma asked, finding breathing a little tricky under Shampoo's vice like grip.

"Da Sheng... so loud," Shampoo whispered, looking so adorable.

"It's just lightnin'?" Ranma said.

"That just lightning? But... never heard so close. Not much lightning back home," Shampoo said, her grip loosening as she looked over to Kousaku for confirmation.

"Yeah, just a close storm," Kousaku said, thunder rumbling from a little further away just after he spoke.

"Oh," Shampoo said, nodding a little. And... blushing?

Ranma glanced down, noting Shampoo wasn't moving from the body switched Saotome's lap. Kousaku clearly noticed the same, and was also looking more than a little envious.

The jingle of the door opening distracted them all, revealing a very soaked trio of Nabiki, Ukyo, and Hibari. Shampoo was on her feet in an instant, Ranma hurrying after a split second later while running over to the trio.

"How did it go?" Shampoo asked, grabbing Hibari (or, most correctly Ranma's) hand.

"Good, good," Hibari replied with a sort of stiff grin. "Ukyo's got the incense."

"Come on then, Spatula boy, we will go find great grandmother!" Shampoo declared, dragging Ukyo off.

Nabiki gave Ranma a wink before heading over to sit with Kousaku. The young martial artist had no idea what to make of that, but instead turned to Hibari, who seemed... distracted by her current chest. Ranma was preparing to ask what was up when her chest twitched. Ranma was unsure what had happened, when Hibari made her left breast hop a little. Then the right one.

"I'd always wondered if your pecs were strong enough to move these girls," Hibari said, repeating the process. "This is fun!"

Ranma began to blush. "I, um, maybe it's not something to do in the middle of a restaurant though."

Hibari looked up, eyes big and innocent. "Why not?"

"I dunno, it just don't see like somethin' a girl should be showin' off in public," Ranma declared, feeling so weird about Hibari's occasionally showing less modesty than she had herself. Especially with Hibari in her body.

"Alright, alright... I'll go get a kettle then," Hibari muttered before heading towards the kitchen.

"A ket-ya don't need ta go that far," Ranma said, hurrying after. "Bein' a girl is more comfortable for ya, right?"

"If I'm going to have access to a beautiful chest like this, I don't think I could resist experimenting," Hibari replied dramatically, placing the back of her hand against her forehead. "Besides, the longer I have these girls, the harder it will be to give them back. They're so lovely. So I should probably turn back sooner than later."

Ranma had to shrug and nod. "I suppose that's true. I am pretty well built."