Chapter 55: Serving Up A Challenge

Ranma sat in the warm tub, staring over at the mirror. Her hair was still red. Her face was still soft. And... her boobs were definitely still there.

The waterproof soap really worked.

She got out of the tub and dried herself off. It was strange, but... as she got away from the warm water the weird filling lessened. By the time she was dressed again things felt more or less normal.

Ranma headed over to the kitchen, wondering if she could grab a small snack from the leftovers, when she heard a shout from Ibari. She was pretty sure she knew what he was upset about, but still wanted to check it out.

"You're on board with this?" Ibari shouted, pointing at Tsubame.

He was sitting at the table, while Hibari and Suzume were watching tv and Tsubame was sitting at the table with a clementine partially eaten in front of her. She looked rather unimpressed by her father's anger.

"It'll smarten them both up," Tsubame replied sharply. "They'll see what being a woman is really about."

Hibari rolled her eyes.

"I... you really think it will smarten them up?" Ibari asked, leaning in.

Tsubame nodded. "Definitely. All the blood and pain down there will spook them."

It certainly seemed to spook Ibari, who turned pale and began to study the table. "Y-yeah, that makes sense."

Ranma decided to ignore them, plopping down beside Hibari and Suzume, ready to watch some more of the cooking anime Suzume was so invested in lately.

"Are periods really that bad?" Suzume whispered to the two older girls.

Ranma and Hibari could only shrug.

"We'll tell you next month," Hibari replied.

Suzume nodded thoughtfully. "Maybe I should try to get a boy curse then, if they're so bad as Tsubame is saying."

Ranma lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Being stuck again was getting to her... it was only a few hours, but the idea of another month without changing made her antsy. She knew there was a challenge at hand, but still...

Ranma found herself trying to picture the reverse, trapped in male form. It felt... less strange, but that may have been familiarity. It was what she grew up with. But it was nagging at her confidence in her femininity.

Her spiral of self doubt and confusion about all things gender was interrupted by the sound of the dividing door between her and Hibari's room sliding open. Ranma lifted herself up on her elbows to see what was up as Hibari quietly walked over.

"Is everything okay?" Ranma asked.

Hibari stopped at the edge of the bed and leaned in towards Ranma. "Things are okay on my end, but what about on your end? You've definitely been antsy ever since we made the bet."

"I... I can handle it," Ranma said, her eyes dropping a little.

Suddenly, she found Hibari's hand on her chin, turning her face towards Hibari's. Ranma managed a 'wuh?' before she had Hibari's lips against her own. It wasn't a long kiss, but it was enough to calm her somewhat.

"That... that helped," Ranma mumbled.

Hibari nodded, and then the taller girl slipped under the covers beside her, pulling her into a hug. "You've got this."

Ranma let herself soften in Hibari's embrace. "Do I, though? I ain't totally a girl."

"This doesn't prove if you're a girl or not," Hibari replied. "Is Ukyo a girl, just for having had a few periods?"

Ranma blinked in the darkness. "I... well, if Ucchan wanted to be a girl, then he could be, right?"

"Sure. The same as you or me or Shampoo or anyone else," Hibari said. "But, is Ukyo a girl right now?"

"Uh... probably not?" Ranma replied.

She felt Hibari nod. "What this bet is about is whiping the dumb grin on Tsubame's face. And getting some bragging rights. Don't forget that."

"Thinkin' about it like that certainly makes it less scary," Ranma mumbled, turning around to face Hibari. "Still gonna get squirmy about not gettin' to change though."

"That's very understandable," Hibari said, before wiggling down a bit, until she was firmly looking 'up' at Ranma (as much as 'up' meant anything when they were both laying on their sides). "Does that help?"

Ranma felt herself blush a little before she laughed. "A bit, yeah. You dork."

"Hey, I don't mind. Your face is nice to look at, but there's some nice stuff down here too," Hibari said, wiggling her eyebrows.

"You're a perv sometimes, ya know that?" Ranma replied, sticking her tongue out.

"Careful about sticking your tongue out in bed, unless you intend to use it," Hibari countered, sticking her own tongue out.

"Use... like, well, we're talkin' already ain't we?" Ranma asked.

Hibari buried her face in her hand, her blush visible despite the dim light. "You're so innocent sometimes, Ranma. It's adorable."

Ranma stood in front of the class, everyone staring at her. She'd been stuck in girl mode before, they didn't have to act so surprised. Then she rolled her eyes as some of the boys cheered.

"I do think will have to keep you changing in the nurse's office. It wouldn't be appropriate to have you changing with the girls," the teacher said.

"It's too late for swimming, so I don't mind that," Ranma replied.

Gym class ended up a bit more co-ed than usual, the teacher having a headache and deciding to let the class just play volleyball in whatever groups they chose. Ranma, Hibari, Ukyo, and Shui had congregated into a group, and were casually bouncing the ball about.

"Bein' stuck this short is gonna drive me nuts," Ranma muttered, lobbing the ball over to Ukyo.

"I had to be short most of my life," Shui replied, receiving the ball and tossing it over to Hibari. "Just climb on things. Or people."

"Just remember not to do it again when you're big again," Ukyo said, pointing at Shui with their thumb. "Or you end up knocking people over like someone."

"I have the whole lifetime of habits to unlearn," Shui replied with a pout.

"It's cute, don't worry," Hibari said, tossing the volleyball Ukyo's way.

"Can be intimidatin' though," Ranma said. "Specially when I'm this short, and you're that tall."

Before Shui could reply, the gym door slammed open, drawing everyone's attention over to Jun, panting with a slightly manic grin on her face.

"I just heard the news!" Jun shouted, excitement sparkling in her eyes.

"What news?" Ranma whispered to Hibari.

"Pretty sure you being 'stuck' in girl mode," Hibari whispered back.

Ranma gave an 'oh' and nodded. "Oh kami... she's gonna want me on the volleyball team again, ain't she."

"I heard that the principal is ready to switch over your registration! You can join the team at last!" Jun said, eyes sparkling. "We've got a big game tonight too! It's like fate!"

"Even if I can technically join the team if the principal fudges my paperwork, I ain't really one for team sports," Ranma grumbled, crossing her arms to pout.

"The same for me," Hibari added.

Jun looked, for a brief moment, utterly crushed. Ranma and Hibari were both left feeling a little guilty, until Jun's eyes steeled with a cold determination.

"The team needs you two. I've been playing nice up until now, but you leave me no alternatives," she said, her eyes cold as she walked over to one of the clumps of students in the gym.

For a brief second Hibari wondered if they were about to have to deal with a hostage situation or... something, when Jun grabbed the volleyball from that group.

"All or nothing! If you can return my signature attack serve, then I'll give up, but... no one has ever managed to return it!" Jun shouted, lobbing the ball into the air.

Then she hit it, Jun's shout nearly drowned out by the crack like gunfire when she hit the ball. Ranma saw the ball race towards Hibari like a bullet and rushed ahead to defend her. Hibari was more fragile than she was, so Ranma decided to take the impact, using a sloppy, but passable, form of volleyball stance. The ball hit with enough force Ranma felt some of the wood floor beneath her crunch and swore it was like being punched by Ryoga.

The ball itself shot up in the air as Ranma found herself falling onto her rear. To her surprise, Hibari's foot was on her shoulder a second later, the taller girl launching herself up, using Ranma as a spring, with a determined look in her eyes. It was a look Ranma so rarely saw on her carefree fiancée, but a look that made her heart race.

Then Ranma noticed a few crackles of an energy of some sort, white energy dancing about on Hibari's raised arm. That energy transferred to the ball as Hibari hit it, and... well, Ranma's eyes couldn't keep up with the ball. One instant Hibari was hitting it. The next it was gone. Ranma's eyes moved to where she assumed Hibari was aiming, to find Jun splayed on the ground. The ball was still nowhere to be seen, until Ranma noticed others looking up, and let her eyes drift up to see the ball was lodged in the ceiling.

"Oh... I... I kind of hit that a bit too hard," Hibari said as she stood back up from her landing.

"Is... uh, is Ootori still breathing?" Ukyo asked, stepping up to them.

"Uuh..." Hibari and Ranma said in unison, before hurrying over to check.

Jun was definitely breathing, though she was definitely very unconscious.

"Jun-sama!" a girl's voice shouted.

Looking up, they saw the volleyball team gathered together, one girl rushing forward and grabbing Jun's hands. That girl then burst into tears.

"She's dead! Struck down so young!" the girl wailed.

"She just needs to go to the nurse's office or something," Hibari said.

The crying girl nodded, her eyes a bit blank. She then tried to pick up Ootori, only to not get very far.

"I will help," Shui said, stepping forward to pick Jun up in a bridal carry and head to the nurse's office.

The confused and crying girl followed, not letting go of Jun's hand.

Ranma and Hibari waited a moment, not sure what to say, until the noticed the rest of the volleyball team whispering between each other and looking a little panicked.

"Right. She said they have a big game today," Ranma said.

Hibari let out a sigh. "And now they're down their star player... fine. Just so the rest of the school doesn't hate me..."

Hibari stepped forward to the confused volleyball players and cleared her throat. The gaggle of girls turned with confusion (and a little fear) in their eyes.

"As an apology for knocking Jun out cold, Ranma and I will offer you all a one time deal of us helping out," Hibari said.

"Hey! I didn't... I'm still registered as a guy," Ranma protested.

"You know the principal can fix that," Hibari said.

"You... you two will really help us?" a ponytailed girl asked.

Hibari shrugged. "You girls didn't do anything, it was just Jun and her excessive crush. So we'll help."

The remaining team members burst into a cheer.

It bothered Ranma a little how happy the Principal was to set up a female student account for her.

She was distracted from that when she was handed her green Wakaba volleyball uniform as soon as she found Hibari again. She wished it were a slightly darker green (as that complimented her hair well, at least in her opinion), but knew that uniforms weren't really that customisable.

"Alright, let's get to the changeroom then, so we can get ready and talk strategy," a girl with a black bob said.

The rest of the crowd nodded and starting heading off while Ranma was panicking.

"I... I can't go... like, with the rest of ya... I—" she stammered.

The team froze up, all turning back to Ranma. The girls exchanged nervous glances before the bob haired girl gave a shrug.

"Listen, Ranma, captain Ootori isn't the only lesbian on the team. Since you're stuck in girl mode, as long as you don't do anything weird, I don't think we really have any reason to mind," the girl said.

"Besides, you're bi, aren't you, sweety?" Hibari said. "I certainly remember you crushing on Hibiki pretty bad. And having a soft spot for Shui's nice muscular form..."

Ranma's cheeks made a good effort at mimicking the colour of hair. "I... I mean, a little."

"Exactly. So you're really just suited to changing with the girls as the boys," Hibari said, grabbing Ranma by the hand.

"So, uh," Ranma asked, trying to distract from entering the changeroom with girls other than Hibari. "Who are we playin' against?"

"Furinkan."

Wakaba's gym was pretty nice, in Nabiki's humble opinion. She suspected the Oozora group had been laundering some money though the school, considering how nice some of the facilities had been. She should ask about that, if she found Hibari after the game.

Right now she was busy getting a feel for the distances, adjusting the focus on her camera.

"Why didn't we contact Oozora and Saotome to sit with them?" Kousaku asked, somewhere to her left.

"Because they're both talkative girls, and I like quiet while I work," Nabiki replied, not removing her eye from the viewfinder.

"Oh, okay," Kousaku said softly.

She'd almost not brought him either, but getting from Furinkan to Wakaba meant two buses, and she wanted someone to carry her cameras and other equipment for her. Normally she'd rope Akane into it, but, well...

As if on cue, the Furinkan girls walked out from their changeroom, Akane nodding along as one of the other girls ran over some last minute detail with little miss substitute. Nabiki began clicking away with her camera. The other girls on the team were fairly cute, and their pictures would sell alright, but Akane was still the most popular subject.

"Oh! Hey, look at that," Kousaku said, sounding like he was gesticulating away.

Nabiki ignored him, taking more photos. He'd get the message soon enough.

"Did you know about that?" Kousaku asked.

She took a couple more pictures.

"Nabiki? You aren't even looking, are you?"

The girls were doing some quick stretches. Those were always popular shots.

"Nabiki?"

She felt her body shudder, not able to ignore Kousaku's pestering any longer.

Letting go of a relaxing breath she lowered her camera and slower turned to him. "What do you want, Sakamoto?"

The boy just pointed, down towards the other side of the gym, the colour drained from his face. The Wakaba girls were doing their own warmups. And... the team included two rather familiar redheads.

"Oozora and Saotome? What... what are they doing over there?" Nabiki asked, mostly to the air.

"So you didn't know they'd be playing?" Kousaku asked.

"No. Darn it... why do Hibari and Akane have to be on different teams?" she muttered, wondering how well she could take pictures through the net.

"Yeah, it is a shame for friends to have to compete against each other," Kousaku said.

Nabiki blinked, turning to him. "I don't care about that. It's that behind is the best angle for both Akane and Hibari."

Kousaku made a face at that. "It's disturbing that you think about your own sister like that..."

"What I-ew, no. I know because I've learned what sells. I'm not checking out my own sister... honestly," Nabiki replied, sneering a little.

"Ah, well... that's good. Still think it's weird how you sell pictures of her, though."

Nabiki rolled her eyes. "The school newspaper takes the same sort of pictures. I just have a better camera. Now, come on, let's wiggle over a bit, I want to have clearer shots of the Wakaba team too. Furinkan boys are already interested in Hibari and Ranma after that fight. Even with Ranma's condition."

Kousaku nodded meekly. He might complain a bit, but he was really pretty well wrapped around her finger. The boy was useless for cute girls and easily cowed.

Ranma slid into her position near the front for the team when she heard someone call her name. It took a moment for her to realise that someone was on the other side of the net.

"Akane? You're on the Furinkan volleyball team?" Ranma asked.

"I'm a substitute," Akane replied. "I never guessed you for a team sports person, though."

"Ah, yeah, Hibari kind of put the team captain in the infirmary, so her an' me are subbin' in," Ranma replied, nervously scratching the back of her head.

"Oy! No fraternising with the enemy on the court!" one of Ranma's new teammates hissed.

"Yeah, yeah," Ranma muttered, before giving Akane a shrug.

As the ref called up the Furinkan captain and Wakaba's acting captain for the coin toss. Ranma silently went over the rules in her head, as she understood them, while the toss happened. Her main duty was as a spiker, since she could jump like nobody's business and was confident in her ability to hit the ball about as hard as Hibari. Her aim might not be quite as trained, but she just had to hit a target the size of the other half of the court, if she sent it over fast enough.

It was Furinkan's serve first, Ranma hovering in her front corner. The ball arced gracefully overhead, where two Wakaba girls hurried over to try to catch it. The one backed off just before a collision though. That ball went up, and was then set to the other front corner player, leaving Ranma with nothing to do but watch it head over to the other side. The Furinkan team were more organised, no near collisions. The ball was back over a moment later. This time it at last ended up in the air over Ranma, who leapt up and smacked it with all the force she could manage.

It seemed the Furinkan girls were surprised to see her jump so high, considering her stature, as only Akane responded at first, though she was too far from where it landed to make it in time.

Ranma landed with a happy pose, tossing a thumbs up to the girl beside her. "Woo, point: us!"

The girl rolled her eyes. "We only get the point if we served. We do get the serve now, though."

Ranma blinked. "That's an annoying rule."

The other girl shrugged. "That's volleyball. Now, come on, let's do a rotation."

The front middle meant Ranma got the ball right away, once Furinkan had returned it. The Furinkand girls were a little less surprised by her jump, but still visibly nervous about the force of her spike. She managed to get in four points for Wakabe before the Furinkan side took back control of the serve.

The serve found itself between two Wakaba girls. This time the two didn't stop in time, and a collision occurred. Luckily the ball bounced off the one girl's knee as the pair fell over, and Hibari dove to recover it, but the rest of the team were distracted, and Ranma was too far to save her recovery.

The next serve went similarly, though the girls halted to avoid collision and both missed the ball as it thudded against the ground. Ranma rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration.

The next serve she tried to get for herself, though her attempt at a volley had minimal control, flying chaotically into the stands.

"What was that about?" the one girl shouted.

"Well, you two weren't going to get it!" Ranma countered.

"Your job is just spiking. We can handle things!" the other girl replied. "We're a little out of it without our captain, but we're still better at this game than you."

"Then act like it!" Hibari shouted from her corner.

The other girls straightened up, looking spooked.

They managed to get the next volley over to Hibari, who's spike proved just as terrifying to the Furinkan girls as Ranma's had. That gave them the serve back, though it rotated Ranma into a corner again.

It did put Hibari in the front though, which made spiking much easier for her. Wakaba gained the upper ground at this point, Ranma and Hibari both in a good position to both barrage the Furinkan side. That set up let them push their score up until nearly the 25 points needed to end the first match before Furinkan finally got control of the serve again.

Furinkan managed to score two more points before Wakaba regained the serve. This rotation left Ranma serving. A quick whisper to a teammate confirmed something she'd seen on tv once, and so Ranma went to the edge of the gym floor and tried a running jump serve, effectively spiking the ball from the serving zone. She managed it twice, barely hitting the court both times, but getting just enough points to end the match.

The second match saw Furinkan open the serve, Akane getting on serve. Her serve seemed like a simple underhand serve, but the strong spin she imparted left the Wakaba team unable to predict where the ball would go when they tried to receive it, earning Furinkan twelve points before finally losing the serve. (Akane was too embarrassed to admit she didn't actually know how she imparted that spin, it had just happened the first time she'd ever served a volleyball and she didn't know any other way to do it.)

The rotation left Ranma in the back middle of the Wakaba court, which was probably the worst spot for someone who could spike and not much else. They barely managed two points before Furinkan regained the serve. Ranma's poor volleying, but stubborn refusal to just sit things out, contributed to the general tripping up on the Wakaba team's side. This let Furinkan grab another seven points, before Hibari managed to get in a spike to regain the serve for Wakaba.

This saw Hibari move to serving, which she took to with similar passion as Ranma had earlier. Her powerful serve got Wakaba just ahead of Furinkan before they lost control again. Losing control was very bad news, because it left both Hibari and Ranma in the back, where spiking options were severely limited (though not impossible, with how well the two redheads could jump). Furinkan still managed to hit 24 points before Wakaba took back the serve, the rest of the Wakaba team still a bit disorganised without a clear chain of command. They only held the serve for a single rally, messing up and losing it again, before Ranma could take advantage of being back in the front.

There was another brief break as the set ended. Ranma used the moment to stretch. Hibari, meanwhile, berated the rest of the team, ticked off that she'd gone and sacrificed her evening to help them out and they were barely trying. Ranma couldn't help giggling a little at the spooked look in the eyes of the other girls.

"Hey, so... Saotome, right?" the girl across the net asked.

"Huh? Yeah?" Ranma replied.

"My brother was at that fight of yours and... aren't you a guy?"

Ranma gave a shrug. "Sometimes."

The girl stared blankly for a moment. "I... then what are you doing on the girls' team?"

"Sometimes I'm a girl. Now is one of those sometimes."

The girl grew even more confused, seeming to count something on her fingers, before the whistle blew and the last set began.

Ranma rolled her shoulders and slipped into a better stance. She was going to do her best to make sure Hibari hadn't sacrificed her evening in vain. Ranma had been told not to worry too much about blocking, to keep her role as simple as possible, but she was pretty sure she understood the swing of things enough, now.

When the Furinkan ball came over, she launched herself into the air and smacked it down back at the opposing side. The Furinkan team scrambled for a moment, and missed the response. It was Wakaba's serve. The current server was no one amazing, but Ranma was feeling excited. That jumping smack was making her heart race. The next rally ended at her instant spike again, winning a point. She found herself blocking every ball that came over, now that she was sat in the front middle. It felt... oddly primal.

After an amount of rounds she'd not really bothered to count, Ranma found herself confused when there was no sound of a serve. Turning, she found Hibari gesturing to the referee for a time out. The ref seemed confused why the team that was winning so totally would ask for that, but shrugged and blew the whistle. Ranma saw concern in Hibari's eyes as the taller girl walked over.

"You okay, Ranma?" she asked.

Ranma cocked her head to one side. "Muh?"

"You're, uh... you're moving and acting very... cat like. I even saw your jaw wiggling with excitement earlier," Hibari said, her voice soft.

"Oh," was all Ranma could manage. She... yeah, she'd kind of stopped thinking. "I'll... I'll stop blocking then, before I destroy anything."

Hibari nodded. "That's probably for the best."

"Wait, are you talking about the cat thing where she can claw through metal?" Akane asked from across the net.

Hibari nodded. "She wasn't that far gone, but... yeah."

"S-sorry," Ranma muttered, blushing a bit.

"Ah," Akane said, before turning to the others. "We should probably forfeit, just to be safe. My sister told me what she can get like as a cat."

Ranma felt her heart fall and waved her hands in a way she hoped read as placating. "Woah-woah! I don't want to ruin everybody's fun! I can keep it under control!"

The girls on the other side shrugged.

"It's already 19-0," one said.

"I haven't touched the ball this set," a girl on the Wakaba team said.

"Can I get an explanation about the cat thing?" one of the Furinkan girls asked, though Ranma was too flustered to properly process it.

"Ah! I'm sorry! I just... I just got excited," Ranma mumbled, eyes falling to the floor. "I didn't mean to ruin things for everyone..."

One of the Wakaba girls let out a sigh. "It's not fair that you're that adorable, Saotome. Very well, if the Furinkan team is open to finishing, we'll happily accept."

"An honourable defeat is better than conceding!" Akane declared firmling, getting mumbled agreements from her teammates.

Hibari waved to the referee, who looked as confused as ever, blew the whistle and the game resumed.

In hindsight, Ranma probably over corrected, becoming almost afraid to jump or hit the ball, allowing Furinknan to regain the serve and score a few points. Still, the point lead she'd given Wakaba meant that there was no real need to hurry. Wakaba regained the serve after about 8 points from Furinkan, and the rotation put Hibari back in front, who could go all in without any fear of going cat.

The game ended with a bang, Hibari cracking out her wood shattering spike to finish the night.

Even the stands filled with Furinkan students erupted as they saw the splinters and dust settle. A few Furinkan girls looked terrified as well, realising that that could have hit them at any point.

Hibari gave a grin, an eyebrow waggle, and a bow.

"I definitely see why Ootori-sempai wanted you two on the team," one of the Wakaba girls said, as Hibari soaked in the cheers and Ranma tried to figure out how she felt about the wolf whistles some of the boys were doing.

"We're not joining," Ranma replied, deciding to ignore those guys.

"Aw..." another girl sighed.

"We've got lots of other responsibilities, sorry," Hibari said as she strode past, waving at the stands some more.

"Yeah, and... I don't think volleyball is good for my mental health, sorry," Ranma added, before hurrying after Hibari.