Akane, Nabiki, and Kasumi sat at the table, their father practically vibrating with excitement. All three girls knew that that was an ominous sign, even if it was a nice bit of variety from his usual moping.
"Okay, dad, spit it out before you explode," Nabiki said, getting a brief glare from Kasumi for her tone.
"Saotome is coming! And he's bringing his boys!" Soun announced.
"Who?" Nabiki asked, continuing to take the lead.
"And, how many boys?" Akane added, not liking the sounds of this.
"Uh... well, he had triplets? So, hey, maybe each of you girls will find a husband tonight," Soun declared.
"Why would any of us be finding a husband?" Kasumi asked.
"Oh, well... Saotome and I promised that we'd have at least one of each of our kids marry to unite the schools. All three of you wou—"
"You promised WHAT!?" Akane shouted.
"Are any of them cute, at least?" Nabiki asked, her tone more tired than angry.
"Uh... well, uh... they've been training in China for a while, so I, uh... I haven't..." Soun stammered, only to be distracted by the sound of the front door opening. "I think that might be them!"
Using that as his excuse to escape his glaring daughters, Soun hurried off towards the genkan. Arriving, he found himself initially distracted by a panda. Eyes drifting down, he realised there were three teenages accompanying the panda in question.
"Are you three Saotome's?" Soun asked, sure they would explain the panda soon enough.
The three nodded.
"I'm Saotome Gekijirou," said the tallest one, distinct for his shoulder length black hair flowing loose and chaotic, wearing a casual sleeveless shirt that showed off toned arms.
"Saotome Kaito, here," the short haired redhead said, flashing a distinctly un-masculine peace sign. Kaito was wearing loose Chinese styled clothing.
"And I'm Saotome Youichi," the ponytailed redhead added. Youichi was slightly shorter than Kaito (both of them were much shorter than Gekijirou) and was dressed similarly.
"Well, they're all pretty cute, but the redheads are kind of pretty boys," Nabiki said, having appeared beside Soun. "And short."
"There's a reason for that," Kaito said with a shrug.
"What would that... wait," Soun muttered, his eyes drifting down a little. Both redheads had rather prominent chests, and... he quickly realised those definitely were not pectoral muscles. "Oh. You-you're g-girls?"
"Girls?" Akane said, showing up on Soun's other side, a slight sparkle in her eyes. "I... why is there a panda?"
"Don't know. Don't care. Boy's mine though, calling dibs," Nabiki said, stepping forward and grabbing Gekijirou's hand. "As long as you aren't too obnoxious I'm rather liking the view so far."
Gekijirou responded by turning rather red as Nabiki pulled him off towards the living room, stammering half sentences in a rough sounding accent. Soun himself felt a little nervous about how she was smiling. When did his daughter become so... so...
"Oh my, I'm not sure what to feed a panda," Kasumi said, walking past Nabiki and towards the genkan. "Seven people and a panda, on such short notice... I suppose I'll figure something out."
"I can help ya out!" the long haired redhead said, beaming away. (Youichi was it? That struck Soun as an oddly masculine name.) "I always did the cookin' when we were travellin'."
"That would be appreciated, thank you," Kasumi said, leading the small redhead off towards the kitchen.
That just left him, Akane, the short haired girl Kaito, and the panda.
Akane was eyeing the panda nervously as she approached Kaito. "So... you have your own martial arts school?"
"Oh, yeah," Kaito said. "Gekijirou's the one who's really into the martial arts, but I dabble a bit."
"Well, I'm sure it would still be fun to spar a bit, if you'd like? I know so few girls who are also into martial arts," Akane said.
Kaito, for a second, looked oddly confused. "Oh! Y-yeah. It's a rather male dominated interest, isn't it?"
Akane nodded. "Mhm. Come on, the dojo is out back!"
Soun smiled, watching the two girls hurry off before returning to the living room. He half worried Nabiki might have gotten up to something indecent while left unsupervised, going off the look in her eyes earlier. Thankfully she was just sitting next to Gekijirou hanging on his every word.
The boy was a blushing mess and seemed quite innocent. Soun, for his part, was a little embarrassed about how vague Nabiki's questions about his martial arts experience was. Surely he'd taught all his daughter more information on styles and techniques than she was currently showing an understanding of?
Kasumi showed Youichi around the kitchen a bit before they started brainstorming dinner options. The cheerful little redhead offered up some surprisingly good ideas.
"Well, dad never liked spendin' more on food than he could get away with, so I've learned to get pretty creative," the short girl replied. "Especially when we were travellin'."
Kasumi nodded."Father made questionable grocery choices when we were younger too. I took over groceries by age 12 to have better cooking options."
Akane had tried to open casually, but had found herself missing Kaito by a mile. The other girl, with her short and messy hair, was nothing but smiles as she dodged and swerved around Akane's strikes. Akane redoubled her efforts, slipping into the full concentration she gave fights with Kuno. She almost hit Kaito, then the other girl jumped back, before bounding off of one of the pillars along the side of the dojo. Kaito leapt over Akane's head, Akane being transfixed by the acrobatic display and just watching the graceful curve until Kaito landed behind her.
Kaito smirked and bowed with a flourish.
So Akane lightly karate chopped her on the head while she was bowing.
"Ow," the small redhead said, her tone playful as she stood up, rubbing her short hair.
"Not my fault you got distracted," Akane said, grinning away. Her heart was still raising, presumably leftover adrenaline from the fight. "Still, you're so nimble! How did you learn to move like that?"
"Geki...Gekijirou has a short temper, if you know how to tease him. I like teasing, so I had to learn how to dodge," Kaito replied, sounding rather proud. "Not very good at going on the offensive though."
"Ah, yeah. I'm best at defense too, though I'm more trained in throws and counters than dodging," Akane said. "So glad to have another girl to spar with though."
Kaito's grin shifted a little.
Kasumi vaguely noticed a man with glasses had appeared in the living room, just visible through the two door frames.
"Is that your father?" she asked to Youichi.
The ponytailed redhead turned away from the cutting board and leaned a bit to see. "Ah, yeah, that's him."
"He seems... boisterous. I wonder if the marriage arrangement was his idea?" Kasumi said, half to herself, so used to the kitchen being her private abode.
"I wouldn't be surprised," Youichi muttered. "I'm just glad Gekijirou took one for the team. I've already got a boyfriend after all... as much as dad doesn't like it."
Kasumi stared at her wok for a moment, before turning back to Youichi. "He was the only one who could have been chosen, no? Or were you not sure if my father had sons?"
"Whaddya..." Youichi started, before looking down. "Oh. Right. I got so inta cookin' I forgot I looked like this right now... Uhh... here, I'll show ya."
The small redhead stepped over to the sink, turning the hot water on and filling up a cup. A moment later the cup had been dumped on Youichi's head and the redhead was now a boy with hair on the edge between black and brown. He was still a bit on the small side, and rather baby faced, but definitely a boy.
Kasumi dropped her wooden spoon.
"How did you...?"
"Little curse we picked up in China. Dad fell in the panda spring. Kaito and I fell in the girl spring," Youichi replied. "And Geki... uh... he's fine."
"Oh, changed back, did you, Youichi?" Genma's voice called out. "Good lad."
Youichi walked over to the living room with the tea he and Kasumi had been preparing. "Yeah, I didn't really see a reason not ta, since Gekijirou's taken your little promise on his shoulders."
Nabiki looked up, having been rather focused on Gekijirou's jawline, and not cared much that her father's friend had shown up. The other boy required at least a brief assessment, though, in case he was as handsome as Gekijirou.
He'd been called Youichi though... and, well, his hair was darker and he was taller, but there was no denying he looked just like the Youichi girl from earlier. Nabiki couldn't help being confused, and hated not being in the know.
"What's going on?" she asked.
"Ah, well, it's like Saotome-kun was telling me, he fell into a cursed spring in China, turning him into the panda we saw earlier," Soun explained. "Meanwhile Youichi and Kaito fell into a spring that turns anyone who falls in into a girl."
"What?" Nabiki asked, turning to look at the three Saotomes in the room, checking for any sign of deception.
"Oh, Saotome-san was the panda?" Kasumi said, standing in the hallway.
"For real?" Nabiki asked again.
Kasumi nodded. "I saw Youichi change myself."
Nabiki stared at her for a moment, before her eyes drifted back to Gekijirou. "W-what about you?"
"Er, well..." the boy stammered, blushing. "I, uh..."
"A man should be more decisive, Geki!" Genma barked, his tone rather harsh. "You promised to be an example to you brothers!"
"I'm not used ta cute girls flirtin' with me, alright!?" Gekijirou shouted back.
"Man up!" Genma shouted slamming his hands on the table and glaring over at his son.
Gekijirou mirrored his moves, glaring back. "You wanna fight old man? I can beat ya even bluer these days!"
An option clicked in Nabiki's head. It wasn't a terrible option. She was an open minded and modern woman, who'd accept cute boys of all types. She picked up the kettle and splashed some of the contents onto Gekijirou.
"Is this your card?" Kaito said, holding up the five of spades.
Akane stared in wonder. "I... how did you? I'm still holding it..."
"Are you sure?" Kaito asked.
Akane looked down, and stared in confusion at the queen of hearts in her hand. "H-how?"
"The queen of hearts is the beauty of the deck. It's no wonder she'd be drawn to the hands of a cute girl," Kaito replied with a tone that if Akane didn't know better... no, that was definitely flirting.
Akane felt her cheeks go hot. Normally she'd protest, but it was just the two of them in the dojo. No one could call her any names for liking another girl's attention. No one had to know. Just her and a very cute girl...
"I'd like to expand past card tricks, but... never really had the budget for proper magic equipment. Just an instruction book, a deck of cards, and a lot of boring travelling with the family," Kaito was explaining as she shuffled her deck back up. "Quick change skills would be fun."
Akane vaguely nodded, her heart in her throat. Kaito had flirted with her. They were alone. Could she... could she try to kiss the other girl? She couldn't believe herself for wanting it, but... that pixie cut haired girl was just radiating such confident lesbian energy it was giving Akane courage herself.
Against her normal judgment, Akane raised her hand up, and cupped Kaito's cheek. The redhead's eyes went wide, though Akane read it more as surprise than anything. She felt herself hovering, though, waiting for an invitation to move a little closer.
"WHAAAAT!?" Soun's voice blurted from the main house, loud enough to make both girls jump.
Akane dropped her hand, hurrying towards the house. Kaito passed her as they ran, both arriving into the living room a few seconds later. Arriving, Akane was furiously confused. There was a man, a boy, and a girl, all of whom she'd not seen before. Well, the boy standing beside Kasumi looked familiar and... no, the girl next to Nabiki also looked familiar. But... the boy looked like the Youichi girl from before, and the girl looked like the boy, Gekijirou, before.
"What was that for?" the... girl(?) shouted at Nabiki.
"I just wanted to make sure you weren't secretly an animal or something," Nabiki replied, defensively.
"Of course I ain't an animal!"
"Well your dad turned into one. So, it made sense an animal could turn into a person with them," Nabiki protested.
"You were trying to trick one of my girls into marrying a girl, Saotome-kun?" Soun shouted at the man in glasses.
"He's a boy now too!" Saotome countered, crossing his arms. "Just because his water temperature settings are flipped from the other two doesn't change that."
"Other two? What's going on?" Akane asked, turning to Kaito, since she was closest.
"Ah, looks like the jig is up," Kaito muttered, looking a little embarrassed.
Soun had been calmed down enough to listen to the Saotomes' story, though he still didn't like the idea of one of his daughters marrying a girl. No matter if she was tomboyish and had a curse than turned her into a boy. There were two actual boys available, after all. Sure... they had curses that turned them into girls, and both... well, they were a bit soft... softer than their bro-sister, but... boys were boys and girls were girls and a father had to look out for his daughters, no?
"Th-there's a few other options here," Soun said, as the explanation about the cursed springs wrapped up. "Akane, you and Kaito were getting along weren't you?"
Akane made a strange noise and turned rather red in response.
Kaito, who'd turned back male part way through the conversation and was looking fairly handsome, gave an odd grin. "I guess I wouldn't mind. Things weren't going how I'd expected, but they weren't exactly going poorly."
Suddenly a cup bounced off his forehead, with an impressive thwack.
"You're a pervert! Don't you dare flirt with me!" Akane shouted, looking on the edge of tears.
"Hey, I didn't do anything. You were—"
This time it was the kettle that bonked off his forehead, with an even more impressive twang. The boy fell over at that moment, though his family looked unconcerned.
"M-maybe you'd like Youichi better, Akane?" Soun offered.
"I've had enough of boys. I don't want to share the house with three of them, let alone date any!" Akane fumed.
"W-well, Nabiki, what do you think of Youichi?" Soun asked.
Nabiki's eyes drifted to her father, to Youichi, and then back to her father. "He's not really my type."
"Y'know, normally I'd wanna know why," Youichi said, "but... the feelin' is mutual, so I'm not bothered."
"B-but, why?" Soun asked.
The pair shrugged. Something about their gestures seemed oddly in sync.
Soun decided not to press it further, since he still had a few more options. "W-well, Kasumi, you and Youichi were getting along fairly well?"
"They're all too young for me, father," Kasumi replied gently.
"B'sides, I've got a boyfriend anyway," Youichi muttered.
"What?" Soun asked, glancing to Genma. "What sort of family are you running?"
Genma crossed his arms and let out a huff. "I didn't approve before. Jusenkyo means Gekijirou can replace him as a male heir though, so I'm begrudgingly allowing it now."
Soun's eye twitched. "Alright, then: Nabiki, you and Kaito are engaged. He seems the only normal boy."
"I like Gekijirou fine," Nabiki hissed.
"You've talked to hi-her for maybe three hours. You don't know her. And she's a girl," Soun insisted, trying to hold onto some shred of sanity in all this.
It did feel weird to reject Gekijirou, sitting there the most muscular and masculine looking of the three siblings, but... well... it wasn't proper, was it?
At this point Kaito sat up, looking a little dazed still. "What did I miss?"
"Apparently Tendo-san thinks yer a 'normal' boy," Youichi said. "So you're getting to be engaged to Nabiki."
"Me? Normal?" Kaito asked, before bursting into laughter. "I was liking where things were going with Akane-chan though. Didn't realise how interesting being the girlfrie—"
Akane leapt across the table, tackling him. The pair spun a bit, until she lobbed Kaito into the yard with a judo throw.
Against the odds Kaito fell into the koi pond.
A moment later a screaming redhead emerged, flailing her arms. "F-f-f-fish! Get 'em off! Get 'em off! Get 'em off!"
Soun's eyes drifted over to Genma. "That's going to be another long story, isn't it?"
Genma nodded. "Not my proudest moment."
"Tell me tomorrow," Soun muttered, watching Kaito running around the yard in a panic. "I'm not ready today."
At some point, in the chaos, Nabiki had slipped onto Gekijirou's lap. Soun didn't even have the energy to protest.