"Speech"
'Thought'
#Panda Sign#
Spell
The next morning
Ranma slowly rose into a sitting position upon her futon, arms remaining limply at her side. Staring blankly forward with her eyes half closed, she smacked her lips together several times. 'Something feels— off.' She thought, looking over to see her mother still peacefully asleep on a futon next to her. Ranma's eyes lazily moved to where her father usually slept as a panda but found his spot empty.
'Why am I a girl?' She questioned and glanced down at her prominent bust. 'Oh— Chibi-Usa.' Ranma realized, finally noticing that the pink haired child was no longer sleeping at her side. 'Can I sleep with you?' She mimicked the time traveler's voice in her mind. 'This is the first time I've been out on my own and I'm scared. Pwease?'
Groaning in disgust at the manipulative little girl, she flopped back down, and wrapped herself back up in the comforting embrace of her covers. 'It'll be nice to sleep in for a change.' She thought dreamily; already drifting back into the wonderful land of sleep.
"Are you up yet?" Chibi-Usa asked as she barged back into the room, interrupting Ranma's attempt to avoid her father for the morning. "Come on! It's time to train!"
"No." Ranma gave her supposed cousin a baleful look before sticking out her tongue in defiance.
"Ranma." Nodoka mumbled in her sleep. "Be manly and help your cousin train."
Ranma chose to ignore her mother's sleep talking, it was a fairly common occurrence, and her mother never remembered what she said. "Pop can teach her the basics." She mumbled back from under the covers, already halfway asleep.
"But Ranma, if you don't get up I'll tell your mom about—." Usa hopped heavily across the room to kneel down next to her head, and whispered in her ear.
"That's— low." She snarled slowly, instantly alert.
"I'm short." Chibi-Usa replied smugly.
"Let's get started then!" Ranma caught the pink haired girl by surprise, grabbing her by the hand and rushing out of the room too fast for her to react.
Lunch
Ranma took very little time to empty the bento Kasumi had made for him. Of course he savored every bite, but he didn't waste time with frivolous pursuits like breathing between them. Glancing at Akane, his fiance rolled her eyes at his smug look of satisfaction. He had put his new cousin through a rigorous amount of calisthenics to get her warmed up before leaving Chibi-Usa to Genma's tender mercy. A little bit underhanded and cruel, but Genma wouldn't let anything too bad happen to Chibi-Usa, especially with Nodoka watching over his shoulder.
But he would have to wait to see how Chibi-Usa fared during the day. So currently he was discretely listening to a nearby conversation between five of his female classmates. Yuka and Sayuri, a pair of Akane's friends were within the huddle that was occasionally glancing in his direction.
"No way!" Keiko shook her head sideways vigorously, her short cut black hair adding to the effect. "She has bright red hair."
"I don't know, it seemed kind of orange to me." Another named Sachiko shrugged.
"It was definitely Ranma as a girl red." Yuka added.
"Yup, a really beautiful shade of red just like Ranma-chan's. But Theia's is styled and well taken care of." Keiko pointed over towards him. "Not like his mess." The other girls briefly snickered and he struggled not to respond.
'Liar!' He wanted to shout across the room. 'You wish they had hair as wonderful as mine, Keiko!'
"Theia is taller too." Sayuri idly pointed out causing Ranma to wince.
'I'm not that short.' He frowned, his female form just needed to hit her growth spurt, that's all. 'I should be almost as tall as Kasumi.' He fumed and crossed his arms.
"Even if Theia wasn't wearing heels she'd still be taller than Ranma." Sachiko said shyly.
"Why are we even bringing up Ranma?" Emiko, a girl who had always held him in disdain asked. "We know they can't be the same. Theia's a beautiful Sailor Senshi, he's just a pervert who beats up people."
"Because none of us were saying the two are the same?" Yuka rolled her eyes. "We're just comparing hair color."
"Seriously Emiko, everybody knows Ranma is a weirdo but you don't have to make every conversation your personal platform to complain about him." Sayuri complained.
Ranma didn't get to hear anymore because Hiroshi and Daisuke decided to take seats between him and the group of girls. He had been genuinely interested in how the disguise magic was making them rationalize away and dismiss any similarities.
"I can't believe we missed seeing a senshi last night." Hiroshi bemoaned and dropped his head to the desk.
"Heard you were off scamming eats, usually you're involved in that kind of craziness." Daisuke gave him a suspicious look. "Tell us the truth, you were out with another fiance, weren't you?"
"I was just getting food. " He leaned back on his chair and closed his eyes. "This place had a huge selection of dango and what can I say? I had to try everything."
"Senshi or dango?" Hiroshi held up his hands as though he was weighing the two options. "Senshi definitely! And Theia likes to bounce around, so plenty of opportunity to see under that itty bitty skirt she wears as she jiggles about." The boy finished with a perverted giggle.
Ranma fell over backwards, toppling over the desk behind him, and sending another skidding to the side.
"That's quite the reaction, you don't think Ranma has the hots for Theia, do you?" Daisuke asked, drawing the entire classes attention.
Hopping back up to his feet with a tiny blush on his cheeks, he smacked Hiroshi over the head. Pausing, he then hit Daisuke as well. "Don't you two idiots think of anything else?" He barked, choosing to ignore the initial burst or comments from the rest of the students. Fixing the desks and chairs in a flash, he sat back down as though nothing had happened.
"Why'd you hit me?" Daisuke whined.
"Cause I do not have the hots for Theia and I know you were thinking about stupid perverted stuff." He defended his brief bout of violence and crossed his arms. 'Dumb perverts, can't even have the tiniest shred of respect for the uniform.'
"Hey Dai, why am I dumb enough to talk about girls in front of Ranma?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ranma demanded defensively, causing the other teen to sweat heavily.
"That I should really go use the restroom before class starts again." Hiroshi scrambled out of his seat to navigate past all the desks to get out of the room.
Akane hummed to herself as she walked home from school next to Ranma. "Ranma and Theia, sittin' in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g." She got out before a withering glare from the dark haired boy made her stop. "Admit it, it's funny."
"No it's not!" He protested and tried to incinerate Akane with his glare.
"You're right." She shut her mouth tightly, struggling not to snicker. "It's hilarious." She burst out laughing and nearly fell on her side.
"Oh, ha ha!" Ranma laughed sarcastically before pushing Akane's forehead with an index finger. "I wonder if you'll be laughing tomorrow?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" She didn't see how this could stop being funny.
"Well if Theia is supposed to be my new fiance— you didn't blow up at me."
"So?"
"So since you didn't get angry, I'll just mention how you're really interested in sharing— and Theia."
"You wouldn't dare." She warned dangerously.
"I wonder if Ucchan would love to hear about your new, agreeable attitude?" He teased and bounced out of the way of her trying to punch him. "Shampoo would probably joke about how the pervert-girl really just wants girl-girl love." He continued while sticking out his tongue.
"Ranma!" She shouted and was nearly able to clock him with her bookbag.
"Nya." He continued to bounce around just out of her reach. "Too slow tomboy!"
"Compared to you, everyone is a tomboy!" She shouted back. "You're so girly you may as well be a princess!" Akane was going to continue chasing her annoying fiancee when swinging around she nearly ran into a girl her own age, who was calmly standing in the street. "Oops, I'm sorry." She apologized over nearly running the bystander over.
"Princess of what?" The girl asked with a soft and calm voice. She possesed strangely intense but gentle lavender eyes beneath a chin length bowl cut of very dark violet hair.
"Um— nothing, he's just an idiot." She answered, not sure how to feel about the look being directed at her. The other teen was wearing a simple, knee length, dark purple dress that complimented her eye and hair color along with a simple dark blue silk shawl wrapped around her shoulders. She was slightly shorter than Akane with a slim but attractive build.
"Hey Hotaru." Ranma landed nimbly next to her and gave the new girl a small wave of his hand.
"You know her?" Akane turned to narrow her eyes at the Jusenkyo cursed teen.
"How else would I know her name?" He blinked owlishly at her as though she was the dumbest person alive. Akane's eyes narrowed into tiny little slits and her lips pursed into a thin line. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?" He asked before she suddenly reached forward, intending to grab him and repeatedly slam him through the concrete. Only for her fingers to bounce painfully off an invisible barrier between them.
"Ouch!" She hissed, having nearly jammed several of her fingers. 'What was that? Some Senshi power?'
"Akane, this is Usa's friend, Tomoe Hotaru." Ranma introduced as though she hadn't just been thwarted in her pervert bashing attempt by a mysterious force.
"Your cousin's friend?" She looked suspiciously between the two, noting that this Hotaru girl was their own age, putting her nearly a decade older than Usagi.
"I used to be Chibi-Usa's nanny." Hotaru explained smiling pleasantly, hands clasped in front of her hips. "Ranma-san told me that she was staying with him for martial arts training, I just wanted to check in and see how she was doing."
"Oh—." Akane continued to give Ranma suspicious glances out of the corner of her eye, mulling over that story. "When did he tell you?" She asked, remembering that Usagi had only appeared late last night and she couldn't recall Ranma making any phone calls or going anywhere.
"I sent her a text before I went to sleep." He answered.
"You don't have a cell phone." She scoffed at the idea.
"Sure I do." Ranma appeared to reach into his pocket and pulled out a silver cell phone and used his thumb to push the top up to reveal a keypad. "It was hard to get one that was tough and waterproof but totally worth it."
"So who else are you texting?' Akane asked dangerously, mind furiously listing all the possible females he could be talking to without her knowledge.
"Nobody really— kind of a waste to have it." He shrugged, ignoring her accusation. "Say Akane, aren't you being rude by not introducing yourself?"
"Good afternoon, I'm Tendo Akane." She greeted tersely with a small bow before turning back to Ranma. "Don't change the subject, why would you need that? Who could you possibly be calling?" She demanded, not wanting him to just slip this by her.
"Way to make a first impression." He rolled his eyes and put his cell phone away. "Don't mind her, once she's calmed down, she's a lot nicer." He told the new girl as they simply walked away from her. "When she's not being a violent maniac."
Hotaru giggled demurely, falling into step next to the dark haired boy, and appearing immensely amused by something. "That's funny, how can she be both nice and a violent maniac?"
Ranma just shrugged in response.
Akane's anger fizzled at Ranma's strange reaction. That he even had a cell phone was enough to make her mind sputter to a grinding halt. He was also acting very friendly with this former nanny. First she had found out that he was one of the Sailor Senshi and now she was finding out that he had more secrets.
Tendo Home
"Gee Pop, I thought you were going to train her." Ranma remarked glibly, enjoying the angry pout on Chibi-Usa's face as she kept her arms crossed, and made a point to ignore him. She was sitting on the floor with her legs stretched out straight in front of her, a handful of small bandages decorating her knees. Usa was dressed in a blue shirt and white shorts that were completely inappropriate for training.
"It was just the first day." Genma answered him, speaking in his wise old sensei voice. "I needed to gauge what level she was at."
Ranma nodded in agreement, earning a darting glare from the pink haired girl. He almost felt bad for whatever horror Genma would come up with in the pursuit of training, but then he remembered her little blackmail this morning. 'If she knows to use that kind of thing against me then she knows how my mother would react.' This was a perfect proxy punishment as far as he was concerned.
Akane was flanking him closely, occasionally giving Hotaru a suspicious look. Kasumi was kneeling next to the living room table, preparing something cool to drink for everyone. His mother was next to Usagi, having finished applying the unnecessary bandages on the girl's minor scrapes.
"It looks like you did your best on the first day." Hotaru complimented the traveler from the future from her place next to him.
"I sprained my ankle." Chibi-Usa blurted out.
"So only light training tomorrow." Nodoka instructed Genma making Usagi pale momentarily. The Saotome matriarch finally turned her attention away from Chibi-Usa to notice Hotaru. "And who is this young lady?" She asked him, Hotaru's presence having remained unnoticed by the spectacle of Usagi, until she had spoken.
"I am Tomoe Hotaru, it is a pleasure to meet you Saotome Nodoka-san." The dark purple haired girl greeted and bowed. "I used to be Usa's nanny and Ranma has told me a great deal about you."
"Has he?" Nodoka and Akane asked at the same time with two very different inflections.
"When did he do this exactly?" Akane demanded.
"It was awhile ago." Hotaru answered absently, not paying much attention to the youngest Tendo sister as she knelt down next to Chibi-Usa. "Let me help."
"No— no need." Chibi-Usa laughed nervously.
"But it'll slow down your training if I don't, right?" The dark purple haired girl held her hands over Usagi's sprained ankle. A bright pink glow surrounded the small girl's legs, focused primarily on her ankle, it pulsed strongly than diminished until vanishing completely. "There— all better."
"Oh thank you so much." Chibi-Usa gushed sarcastically with a grimace and gently flexed her ankle.
"What a useful talent, if only I had that on hand when training the boy." Genma salivated in greedy wonder at the ability. Ranma joined Chibi-Usa in grimacing. "Who taught you how to do that, girl?" He asked, wringing his hands together in anticipation.
"It's a— personal— ability." Hotaru answered with a small blush at the attention.
"My son always has such interesting friends." Nodoka boasted, looking impressed by the results of Hotaru's healing.
"With you around I could really train her seriously." Genma clapped Hotaru on the shoulders, nearly knocking the girl over. "How about it? Want to stay and help your friend out?"
Ranma covered his mouth with a hand to hide his smirk at the horrified look that crossed Chibi-Usa's face as the pink haired girl realized just how bad this could turn out for her. Hotaru had a sort of deer in headlights look to her as Genma waited expectantly for her answer.
"I'm sorry Saotome-san but I must decline your offer. I live too far away for it to be practical." Hotaru politely declined.
"But—." Genma looked like he wanted to cry.
"But I think Usa's training in the martial arts is important so I'll stop by when I can." Hotaru added cheerfully.
"I do have this special training idea for tomorrow to jump start her progress— where she may or may not lose a hand. Can your healing reattach limbs?"
"I prefer not to." She answered clinically.
Chibi-Usa clutched desperately at Ranma's shin. "Help me." She begged in a tiny voice.
Ranma rolled his eyes and bopped his father over the head. "Pop you have to work up to that kind of thing."
"Hotaru-san, will you be staying for dinner?" Kasumi asked, breaking up them going into various ways to train Chibi-Usa. The pink haired girl looking like she wanted to have a heart attack.
"It's short notice but you're more than welcome." Nodoka chimed in, her gaze lingering between them in a way that told Ranma she was clearly happy to see another pretty female in his life.
"I'm sorry but I need to start heading back. Thank you very much for the offer." Hotaru bowed to both of the women before addressing him. "I was able to get a pair of tickets for you." She dug into her bag and pulled out an envelope to give to him. "They should be good seats."
"Thanks Hotaru." Ranma took the envelope before anyone else with grabby hands could beat him to the punch.
"Ranma— tickets to what?" Akane asked with narrowed eyes.
"I better show you before you flip out and destroy another house." He sighed dramatically and handed one to his fiance.
"An orchestra?" The short haired girl asked without being impressed, allowing Kasumi to take the ticket from her.
"How lucky, it's for the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra." Kasumi shifted the ticket so that Nodoka could see. "That's so romantic." She hummed dreamily and allowed Akane to take it back.
"It's not like it's a date or anything." He said defensively, fidgeting as Hotaru roller her eyes at him.
"Way to go boy! Let's get you dressed for the wedding." Genma grabbed him and tried to pull him out of the room.
"Stuff it old man!" He kicked his father out the doorway and into the yard. "Quit getting stupid ideas!"
"Now, now, it is quite romantic, son." His mother added calmly. "I'm not sure where you get that from." She glanced towards Genma in annoyance.
"I didn't even say I was going to take Akane." His shoulders slumped upon realizing that his mother and the two Tendo sisters were now ignoring him completely.
"What was that? You wanted to take some boy from school?" Chibi-Usa's childish voice cut into the three o lder females line of question, all of whom immediately locked their eyes on him.
Ranma's eyes widened in horror. "No." He shook his head violently side to side. "That's not true."
"Then why would she say it?" Nodoka asked, instantly siding with the seemingly innocent child.
"She's just a little kid, she doesn't know what she's saying." He laughed nervously. Not wanting to verbally admit that the plan was to take Akane because it would only encourage his father's marriage plans.
"Nuh uh, this morning you mentioned how you had to find the perfect dress." Usagi added helpfully.
"You will pay for this." Ranma hissed venomously down to the sinisterly smiling pink haired girl. "Hey Hotaru, look at the time, didn't you say you had to get back?' He shuffled the other Senshi quickly from the room before his mother could stop him.
"Ranma, what is this about a dress?" Nodoka demanded after him.
"Nothing!"
Later that night
"Ugh, all this studying is going to rot my brain." Ranma whined and tossed his book aside. 'What do I care about history books that ignore all the big stuff?' Kasumi was kneeling nearby, studying an old dark leather bound book that he had been able to scrounge up.
"Your mom will be upset if you don't." Chibi-Usa hummed while laying on her stomach with her head propped up by one of her hands, and a manga spread out before her. Usa's other hand was occupied repetitively raising and lowering a dumbbell.
"I agree with your mother." Kasumi answered him. "You shouldn't waste your natural advantages."
"It's just not interesting." Ranma narrowed his eyes and flicked one of the red eyed child's odangos in annoyance. "And you shouldn't talk."
"Shouldn't talk about what?" Akane asked curiously, entering into his room with her own textbook in hand.
"Being a pest." He answered and started to slowly pull Usagi's manga out from beneath her till she slapped his hand.
"Leave my manga alone." The pink haired girl warned ominously. "And why do I have to do this?" She whined, switching the dumbbell to her other hand.
"It's part of training." He hid his smirk, having come up with this little exercise t o try and annoy the small child.
"Don't pick on her, Ranma." Akane took a seat next to the time traveler. "I just checked on Ryoga and he doesn't really seem any better. Do you know—." The youngest Tendo sister paused and glanced at Chibi-Usa. "Maybe we should we bring him to a doctor?"
"He's fine." Ranma waved off her concern. "He was just eating some food I brought him earlier, he needs rest."
"If you think so."
"Your boyfriend will be fine in the end." Usa added and Akane blushed after a moment.
"He's just a friend, not a boyfriend. A boyfriend is something very different." Akane explained in embarrassment. "But you'll learn that when you get older."
Ranma gave Akane a brief half-lidded stare before shaking his head. 'She's over nine hundred.' He decided it would be best not to get into that with Akane, ever.
"Ranma, what does this word mean?" Kasumi asked while pointing into the book.
"You may." He answered after a second of thought.
"What kind of book is that?" Akane asked, finally noticing the ancient book that her big sister was reading from.
"Ranma is helping me learn Lunarian." The homemaker answered proudly, shifting over to show Akane the book.
"Lunarian?" Akane took the book right from her sister's hands and studied the text. "This looks like my autograph. Are they the same?"
"Seems like a good possibility." He nodded and earned a small glare from Akane.
"So how much have you learned?" Akane asked her sister with interest.
"Not very much." Kasumi admitted. "The sentence structure is very different and there are a lot of long words to learn."
"You're getting it really quick." He pointed out. "It's not easy and you're mostly going from that book."
Kasumi thanked him in Lunarian causing Akane's face to scrunch up in confusion at the smooth and gentle sounding phrase. "What did you say?"
"Thank you." Chibi-Usa answered absently.
"For what?" Akane asked.
"No, that's what she said." Ranma sweated, noticing that Akane had caught Usagi's little slip up.
"How did you know that though?" Akane asked the little girl who finally realized she had been caught.
"Uh— they talked about it before you got here." Chibi-Usa quickly answered and Akane seemed pacified by that response.
"Were you planning on offering to teach me as well?" Akane asked him in an overly casual way.
"I didn't know you wanted to learn." He shrugged. "Do you?" Ranma enjoyed tutoring Kasumi on the dead language and the memories it could summon. It would be nice if Akane was as interested as her elder sister.
"Maybe— I don't know." Akane admitted.
Ranma caught the distinctively quiet footsteps of his mother before he saw her round the corner into the room. Carrying a familiar silk wrapped bundle in her arms, her eyes took stock of everyone in the room before settling on him. "How is everyone?" She asked pleasantly. "Studying hard, Son?"
"Yup— uh— just taking a break." He answered awkwardly, still not really knowing how to make small talk with his own mother.
"Be sure to study hard." She instructed. "Akane, I was wondering what you were planning to wear to the concert?"
"I hadn't thought about it." Akane admitted.
"Do you mind if I make a few suggestions?" Nodoka asked hopefully.
"Of course not, Auntie." Akane beamed at the attention.
Ranma slowly twisted his head to one side, watching as Nodoka excitedly began to chat with Akane on various options on what to wear to the concert. He knew from experience that girls spent far more time than guys on prepping themselves but he hadn't expected his mother to focus in on Akane with such gusto.
It reminded him of how his mother had tried so hard to make the fictitious Tendo cousin, Ranko into a proper young lady. He had brushed it off as her being desperately lonely and wanting to mother someone. But he was here now, she didn't need a proxy, and if she wanted him to be manly than why wasn't she trying to make him look the part? Since she had found out that he and Ranko were the same person, she had been hovering close by. Had he mistaken her presence for attention? Because he certainly hadn't mistaken it for affection.
"I'm going to go practice." He excused himself, not wanting to think about his mother any further for the evening.
Ranma came to the end of her kata, standing calmly in the center of the dojo with her feet together and hands held in front of her chest. Breathing slowly and deeply, she found that physical activity was not helping to clear her mind. She had changed into a girl to see if her minorly boosted mystical senses could tell if there really was anything wrong with Ryoga, but she hadn't been able to notice anything further. 'I wonder if I should get Ami to stop by with her computer just to be sure.'
The lost boy was trying to walk off his continued lethargy, making circles around the dojo, and keeping his hand on the wall to not get lost. Kasumi had appeared shortly after she had begun practicing and was keeping an eye on Ryoga as well.
"You doing alright?" She asked, not really able to keep a teasing tone from creeping into her voice. Watching him occasionally pause and take stock of his position was far too tempting of a target.
"I'm fine." He snapped without thinking, scratching briefly at his forearms. "Just can't believe I lost like that."
"Don't worry about it." She waved a hand dismissively. "I lost to those monsters before too."
"Really?" He asked incredulously. "You lost— and you admit it?"
"Well yea, but I didn't need to get saved by a girl." She smiled toothily at the angry scowl that was directed her way.
"Ryoga-kun you were very brave and you have nothing to be ashamed of." Kasumi shot her a disapproving look. "And Ranma needed to be saved by a girl as well." The homemaker added.
"Kasumi!" Ranma whined childishly. "Why would you lie like that?"
"Shut up Ranma!" He barked loudly, growling under his breath and clenching his fingers through the wood. "I'm not going to be mocked by you."
"Not sure what you could do about it." She mock cleaned her fingernails.
"I'm going to get better, train harder, and finally get my revenge!" Ryoga announced angrily.
"Revenge for what? You're still on that?" Ranma asked in confusion. "What insignificant slight do I have to answer for now?"
Nabiki chose that moment to barge in through the door. "Hey Saotome, get in here, and get your mom out of my closet."
"Why would she be digging in your closet?" She asked with a groan, not wanting to deal with an uncooperative Ryoga along with an angry Nabiki.
"She's playing dress up with Akane and is stealing my stuff to do it."
"Now why would she be doing that?" Kasumi asked suggestively. "You're not borrowing clothes without permission again, are you?"
"Of course not!" Nabiki recoiled at the accusation. "But you need to hurry, I don't want any of my stuff getting ruined when you two go on your little date."
"You're going on a date with Akane?!" Ryoga shouted, wildly charging her.
"What's it to you?" Ranma barely took notice of the clumsy attack, easily redirecting him to be thrown face first into the wood floor. "You shouldn't be pushing yourself- not in your condition." She watched him struggle to push himself up from the wood, concerned that he was going to hurt himself.
Ryoga regained his feet, wavering enough that she expected him to fall over. Slowly turning to face her, she nearly gulped at the look of pure hatred that was etched into his face. "The next time I see you, I'll destroy you." He spat.
Ranma watched silently as the lost boy made his way across the dojo and retrieved his heavy traveling pack that she had returned earlier. "Ryoga- hey come on." She rushed over to where he was trying to lift his backpack. "It's not the end of the world that you got saved by a girl."
"Ryoga-kun, you don't seem very well, why don't you stay another night?" Kasumi offered hesitantly.
"I'm going to have to start charging him rent if he does." Nabiki remarked crassly, earning a glare from her elder sister for her rudeness.
Ryoga suddenly regained his lost strength, hoisting his pack up onto his shoulders with only a tiny grunt of exertion. "Leave me alone." He whispered hatefully and stomped towards the exit.
"Fine, I'll leave you alone." Ranma crossed her arms in a huff and looked away from the lost boy. "But don't go blaming me when you get hurt cause you're such a stubborn ass!"
Ryoga ignored her remark and paused only long enough to stare Nabiki down.
"What are you waiting for? I have things to discuss with Saotome." The middle Tendo asked irritably before waving her hand dismissively. "Shoo."
"I don't like when you take advantage of me." He growled harshly, shocking not only Nabiki but Ranma and Kasumi as well. Snorting, he stomped his way out of the dojo.
"What's his problem?" Nabiki jerked her thumb at the doorway as soon as she recovered from the strange way Ryoga was acting.
'Guess I shouldn't have teased him.' Ranma just shrugged at Nabiki's question.
"Do think it's wise to let him leave?" Kasumi asked, Ryoga already being out of earshot.
"If he can lift that stupid umbrella I'm sure he's strong enough to get by." She snorted and unclenched her fists. 'I'm not ever that stubborn— am I?' She glanced around evasively, hoping that if she had voiced that question out loud the answer would have been no.
"Alright, ignoring that idiot and the question of when you got turned into a girl—." Nabiki drawled. "What are you going to do about your mother?"
"Oh I can help with that." Kasumi offered cheerfully, making Nabiki wince. "I'm sure I'll find a few things that need to be laundered."
"No need, I'm sure Saotome can handle his mom, right?" Nabiki laughed nervously but was dragged from the dojo by her elder sister.
"I insist." Kasumi reaffirmed.
'I don't think Nabiki would have any of my clothes.' Ranma looked skyward in thought before shrugging. 'Kasumi will tell me if she does.'
Two days later
Akane's cheeks tinged red as Nodoka complimented her finished look and Ranma's supposed reaction to it. Turning her body in all different directions to see her reflection in the full length mirror mounted on the wall, she smirked confidently, knowing that she would catch not just Ranma's eyes.
Grabbing some of the fabric near her hips and pulling it slightly away from her skin, she twisted side to side, enjoying the soft material as it slid across her legs. Nodoka had been generous enough to purchase it for her the day before. The saleswoman had said it was an empire waist evening dress. It was a simple light violet, shoulderless dress down to mid calf; the only decoration being a small border of ruffles around the top and a wide shimmering band that circled just under her breasts.
"I wonder if that nice Hotaru girl ever tries to get my Ranma's attention." Nodoka wondered absently, picking at some imaginary out of place fiber on Akane's western style dress. "Does she spend a lot of time around him?"
"I wouldn't know." She answered honestly, fuming silently over the possibility considering her new knowledge that Ranma had a life she was completely clueless about. "Didn't you ever meet her when she was Chibi-Usa's nanny?"
"No I didn't." The Saotome woman answered slowly, looking away deeply in thought. "But she seems like a respectable young lady. Usa-chan certainly seems to like her."
"Waaa! My baby girl is going on a date!" Her father burst into the room and glomped onto her, nearly pulling down her shoulderless dress in the process.
"Dad." She groaned, trying to pry him off.
"Please stop." Nodoka shook her head in disgust and was able to pull him away by his ear. "You'll ruin all the work we put into her look."
Soun sniffled before nodding. "Right! Akane do your best on your date with Ranma, make your father proud! And then we can have the wedding when you get back!"
"As wonderful as that would be, that will not be happening tonight." Nodoka corrected. "Unless Akane-chan wants too?"
"No!" She answered quickly and shook her head vigorously side to side.
"Some other time then." Nodoka began to shoo her from the room. "We've made my son wait long enough and you don't want to actually be late."
Akane agreed with that sentiment, she wasn't the type to spend endless hours on her appearance, and she had grown eager to finally get going. She had expected to find Ranma waiting impatiently somewhere around the living room or mooching food from Kasumi in the kitchen. But the only thing the two of them found was Genma casually lounging in the living room.
"Husband, where is Ranma?" Nodoka asked, obviously eager to show Akane off.
"Upstairs with Kasumi and Usagi." He answered absently, sparing only a moment to notice their presence.
"Isn't it wonderful, Saotome?" Soun asked gleefully. "Our children are finally getting along."
"Dad." Akane groaned.
"I hope my hair isn't messed up." Ranma's voice complained loudly as several footsteps were heard coming down the steps at the far end of the hall.
"It's fine." Kasumi responded in a tired voice, as though this had been a repetitive complaint.
"Can't I at least put it back in a pigtail?"
"No!" Chibi-Usa shouted in response.
"Didn't you say you wore your hair like this before you needed the dragon whisker?" Kasumi asked.
"Yea but—."
"It's good to try new styles." Chibi-Usa suggested.
"So says the girl who's going to spend a millenia looking like a pink bunny." Ranma replied sarcastically.
"If you make fun of my hair— you'll go bald!" Usagi threatened. "Momma will put a curse on your entire family! A thousand years of baldness!"
"She'd get distracted by a shiny yen and forget what she was doing."
"That's Usagi!"
Akane glanced at her possible mother in law and shared a look of confusion at the banter between Ranma and the nine year old girl. "Do they usually act like this?"
"I don't know." Nodoka answered with a small shrug of her shoulders before reaching up to wipe away an imaginary tear. "Usa-chan is a true Saotome just like my Ranma, it's so wonderful that they are getting along so well."
The doorbell chimed and Kasumi announced that she would answer before she instructed Ranma to hurry up and see if Akane was ready. Planting her hands on her hips, Akane waited impatiently for Ranma to finally enter the room. He finally did, one hand outstretched to hold Chibi-Usa at bay as she struggled to punch and kick him in a comical fashion.
"Hope you weren't waiting long." He apologized before fully noticing her dress. "Hey not bad Akane."
"You too." She answered his lazy compliment more timidly.
Ranma was wearing a tuxedo like she remembered from that whole ordeal with Shampoo and the jewel that reversed a person's feelings. It was nicely pressed and cleaned, something she didn't know was possible with his clothing. Inspecting his hair, it was no longer tied back into a pigtail but a simple ponytail. Ranma even looked like he had even had it trimmed. The only splash of color to his black and white ensemble was a tiny pin near his breast pocket that was gold, red, and blue.
"Picture!" Nodoka all but shouted. "I need to take a picture!" She looked around wildly to find a camera that was helpfully produced by Nabiki.
"Here you go." Nabiki added.
"Hopefully it doesn't break from the ugly." Usa sneered and stuck out her tongue at Ranma.
'What's Nabiki up to?' Akane thought suspiciously of her sister, being quickly herded to stand next to her fiance.
"All three of my daughters are getting along!" Soun starting to cry in happiness.
"You do look nice." She added under her breath, fidgeting as Nodoka excitedly posed both of them before stepping back to take the picture.
"That dress looks great on you." He answered, blushing lightly from giving her a compliment.
A click and a flash alerted them to Nodoka taking her photograph. "One more, don't move!" She ordered, lining up a second then a third picture.
Kasumi finally returned from answering the door to interrupt the impromptu photoshoot. "Your ride is here."
"Mom, we have to go." Ranma groaned.
"Our ride?" Akane looked to her elder sister for an explanation but Kasumi wasn't paying attention.
"Alright, okay— just— I think I have a good one." The woman fidgeted with the camera, as though she would snap a quick shot.
"Better hurry." He whispered and grabbed her hand to pull her towards the front door. Agreeing with him, she fell into step next to him. At the entrance, Ranma put on a pair of shiny black dress shoes while she donned a set of matching violet pumps. The heel was higher than she usually wore but she figured that she would be fine, even though she was tripping every couple of steps just getting to the front gate.
"Ranma, there's a limo here." She remarked, blinking repeatedly as the longer than normal black car waited with the driver already opening the door for them to get in.
"Hotaru's family was able to set it up for us." Ranma explained, waiting for her to get in first.
'She has money, is cute, and Ranma gets along with her?' Akane realized as she ducked her head down to hurriedly sit in the back seat. 'How long has he been seeing her behind my back?' She thought suspiciously with her fists tightly clenched.
"Think we lost em?" He asked with a friendly smile plastered on his face, almost casually placing his hand on her own as the limo slowly pulling away from Akane's home.
"Uh— yes." She nodded, her anger evaporating, and a small blush spreading over her cheeks. Turning her hand over to lace her fingers together with his, she returned his smile.
"Ya know what else is great? A couple other Senshi are going to cover Nerima tonight." Ranma announced happily like he had been able to get out of doing a chore.
Akane hadn't even thought about Ranma's responsibilities as a Senshi. "Are you ever going to introduce me to them?" She asked, worried that he kept his two lives separate because he was embarrassed of her for some reason. Depending on his response, he may have ruined the entire evening.
"Of course." He answered without thought. "But aren't I good enough? Ya know, taking you to this concert and everything? Woe is me! To be so overlooked! My own fiance ignoring me for other women!" He bemoaned dramatically.
"Alright I get it." She groaned. "And your acting needs work."
Sailor Saturn's boots settled on solid ground as she completed her teleport. Holding the Silence Glaive vertically with one hand, Hotaru opened her eyes to look around at the rooftop she now stood on. Chibi-Usa was waiting for her, already transformed into her senshi state, the pink haired girl had her arms crossed and was tapping her right foot irritably.
"How could you do that?" Usagi demanded as though her pink and white visage covered in heart motifs could be terrifying.
"Do what?" She asked innocently.
"Healing me the other day. Now Uncle Genma thinks he can do whatever he wants to train me and you'll just magically appear to make me all better!" Usa waved her hands animatedly in front of her.
"You seem to be doing alright to me." Hotaru remarked, casually put her weight on the Silence Glaive, and trying unsuccessfully to hide her amusement. "And shouldn't you be happy to be trained by the same person who taught Ranma?"
"Yea— but that's not the point!" Usa stomped a foot in frustration.
"Is the point that I missed you too?" She asked and placed the Silence Glaive on the roof to gather her small friend into a big hug. "Why didn't you tell me you came back again?"
Chibi-Usa hugged her back after a moment. "You grew up— I didn't know if you would want a little kid like me around." She admitted with a small sniffle.
Hotaru pushed the smaller girl away to hold at arms length and gave her a cross look.
"So I was wrong?" Usa admitted childishly and looked away. "Sorry."
"You're forgiven if you defeat a monster tonight." She let go of Chibi-Usa to cross her arms.
"What?!"
"You have been taking your training seriously— haven't you?"
"If that's what it takes, I'll go find one right now!" Chiba-Usa announced and ran to the edge of the roof. "Uh— where am I supposed to just find one?"
Akane enjoyed the pleasant buzz of excitement as the concert ended and the applause slowed to a stop. Some of the performance had dragged but overall it had been amazing. All the individual pieces, the duets, and the big full orchestra made it such an incredible evening she didn't think she would be able to stop talking about tomorrow at school.
Even Ranma had been a positive. He sat attentively throughout the entire thing and when she occasionally glanced over to him, while holding his hand, he even seemed genuinely interested in what was going on. It just seemed so out of character for him to be interested in the fine arts. Especially when she remembered how he acted during the Romeo and Juliet play they tried to put on.
'Not everything is perfect though.' She thought, as they filed out of their seats to leave. While she had thought her dress was upscale and appropriate, there were so many women here who looked like they had spent a fortune on just their accessories. It made her feel like she was some country bumpkin wearing a thrift shop dress.
"Akane, you alright?" Ranma asked as she paused to fumble with her purse.
"Me? I'm fine." She answered evasively.
"I'll tell you a secret." He sat back down in an empty seat and motioned for her to sit as well.
"What?" She asked softly.
"In my past life— I never liked going to anything like this."
"Really?" She questioned, intensely interested in more details about Ranma's Senshi past.
"Yea." He glanced around to make sure that no one was paying attention. "I couldn't go anywhere without drawing a crowd. Even if it wasn't, they'd still try to make everything in my honor."
"Your honor?" She asked incredulously before remembering that Ranma was a Sailor Senshi.
"It was always— weird." He admitted. "They'd want blessings and would try anything to get me to stay. Everyone was always so excited to see a Senshi and what I could do for them."
"So you were a real celebrity?" Akane wondered how that would have worked with an ego the size of Ranma's.
"Something like that." Ranma smirked. "You want to tell me why you've been fidgety and watching everybody else the entire time?"
"You noticed?" Her eyes widened in shock, having never expected him to be that observant.
"Well?"
"Just forget it." She crossed her arms irritably. "Can we go? It's personal." Akane was not going to let Ranma know how out of her element she felt, he would never stop teasing her about it.
"It's okay— I never liked getting dressed up either." He sighed dramatically. "I was a tomboy too." He hummed to himself as he left her sitting in the seat.
"You dress in a sailor fuku and want to act like you're a tomboy?" She called after him far too loudly before reigning in her anger, realizing that she just admitted to being a tomboy. Her voice had echoed in the increasingly empty hall but no one seemed to be paying any attention.
"Yelling isn't very lady—like." He chastised and wagged a finger at her in disapproval. "Quit moping, we have to go thank Hotaru's parents."
Chibi-Usa launched yet another ineffective attack as the slow monster lumbered towards her and Sailor Saturn. Having lured the large creature away from the shopping district to a cordoned off construction site, she was having trouble because all of her attacks bounced harmlessly off the nearly four meter tall giant's skin. Long gorilla like arms dragged on the ground as it slowly tried to catch her. Her training may have been paying off as she effortlessly avoided the gray skinned ogre monster's attacks.
"So how do you feel about Theia taking Akane to the concert?" She asked Hotaru, more bored at this point than anything else.
"It's none of my business who Theia takes anywhere." Saturn responded tersely, standing off to the side and letting Usa deal with the threat. "She prefers to do her own thing."
"And—?" She drawled suggestively, pausing long enough to give her friend a half lidded stare.
"And it's not my place to intrude." The senshi of silence snorted and crossed her arms.
Realizing she was about to be squashed as the monster brought both hands down to swat her small form like a bug, Usagi jumped backwards and away from the impact point. The monster growled deeply as its hands met only dirt.
"Why don't you try some martial arts?" Hotaru suggested helpfully, still purposely not getting involved.
"Why didn't I think of that sooner?!" Usa exclaimed sarcastically. "I'll just walk up— and I'll punch and kick this monster in the shins! It only ignores all my best magical attacks. Nothing could possibly go wrong!"
The monster gave a rough growl that almost sounded like agreement before it went back to trying to crush her.
"You're agreeing with a monster." Hotaru pointed out.
"But he has a point!" She called back, rolling between the giant's legs. Facing the monster again, she threw several punches and kicks as it slowly turned around that did more to hurt her knuckles than the demon. 'Ugh, how am I supposed to beat this thing? Magic doesn't work and it's so tough and heavy that it doesn't even notice being hit?'
The cheerful chime of a bicycle bell was the only warning she had before the monster fell forward to crash loudly into the dirt, creating a tiny indentation from its massive weight. Perched precariously on top of the demon's head was the back tire of a bicycle, the front held up in the air as a purple haired Chinese girl balanced while holding a take out food container in one hand.
"Nihao!" The bicycle riding girl greeting happily. "Shampoo curious why little girl fight big monster man?" She asked in broken Japanese.
"Uh—." Chibi-Usa glanced between the teen and the monster groaning in pain. "That's a dangerous demon, you shouldn't be on its head." She pointed out.
"Oh?" Shampoo raised an eyebrow before hopping her bike down to ride over to her. "Shampoo not worried, is strong warrior."
"But you should be." Usagi stood a bit taller, noticing that the monster was slowly standing up, and wondering what could be done about it. She was just a little girl after all, Hotaru would be able to defeat it in a snap if she wasn't standing by in amusement. "If it touches you then it'll steal all your energy and you'll die."
"Is slow and dumb." Shampoo left her bicycle to hand Usa the carry out box. "No worry."
'Does she ever change?' She thought, not liking her chances of stopping someone like Shampoo from facing off against the now recovered monster.
The purple haired girl turned towards Hotaru looking for confirmation. "Is no person right? Evil demon?"
Hotaru nodded in response, her posture with the Silence Glaive being held across her body showing that she was no longer expecting to be a spectator but would have to step in to finish the fight.
"Okay." Shampoo gave a big smile as the monster reached towards her with one hand.
"Watch out!" Usa cried out before Shampoo moved.
The monster stared down in shock at its hand that was no longer attached, severed cleanly just above the wrist by a sword Shampoo had pulled out of nowhere. There was no blood, only sand that sporadically spurted from stone arteries in the otherwise clean edge that showed a perfect cross section of its insides. The monster pulled back and let loose a loud metallic roar with enough force to physically shake Usa.
"No wonder why it hurt to hit it, that thing's made of rock!" Usa exclaimed in shock, having expected it to be some kind of flesh and blood demon.
"Wrong weapon." Shampoo commented after analyzing the damage she had done. The sword vanished to be replaced by a brightly decorated blue chui.
The rock monster roared again and moved as quickly as it could to attack Shampoo with its one good arm. Shampoo barely acknowledged the attack, leaping up and bringing her mace directly down on top of its head. Usa turned away and shielded herself as the monster literally exploded from the force of the impact, showering the vacant lot in small and large chunks of rock.
When the clearing was finally quiet, she blinked her eyes several times, and inspected the devastation. The largest pile of rock was where the monster had been standing while the rest of the construction site was littered by large and small pieces. Some were recognizable, others just amorphous chunks. Shampoo was standing proudly on the pile with her mace lazily resting on her shoulder.
"Shampoo no see what big deal was about." The purple haired girl commented just as the remains glowed with a sickly green light before dissolving with an audible hiss and noxious odor. "Ew." Shampoo bounced away from the former monster to where her bike was still standing unharmed. "If play sailor senshi again, shouldn't play with real monsters." She chastised Usa and took the takeout box back. "Have much fun." The warrior girl waved and sped away on her bike.
"That was a bit odd." Sailor Saturn remarked and came to stand next to Usa to watch Shampoo vanish down the road behind a fence.
Usagi gave off a little sigh and turned to her grown up friend. "But that still counts."
"As half." Hotaru nodded. "Maybe more like a third."
Ranma dragged a reluctant Akane into the area for performers only. Of course he moved like he owned the place, and received only a few glances from the staff. Mostly because of Akane's wide eyed staring like she was a small child. The only time he had to stop was to ask for directions to room eleven.
Room eleven was an old sound proof practice room large enough to fit two pianos but with a low ceiling. When it had fallen out of use for a larger, newer room, it had been converted into a lounge with several comfortable chairs and a couch for the performers while waiting renovation.
"Hello?! Hello?! Hello?!" He called out upon entering room eleven, childishly giddy over the way his voice died on the sound proofed foam walls.
"Why do you have to be so embarrassing?" Akane groaned and lightly slapped him in the back of his head.
"If no one else was here you would be doing it too." He answered haughtily.
The only occupants were two well dressed women. Tenoh Haruka, a tall blonde with a short masculine styled hair was wearing an expensive black tuxedo. She was sitting hip to hip on a loveseat with Kaiou Michiru, still wearing the elegant green gown she had worn during the show. On a small table between the furniture was a tray with various finger foods.
"You really know how to make an entrance, Ranma." Haruka joked, rising with Michiru from their seat.
"I'm so sorry!" Akane apologized profusely. "I don't know why he has to be such an idiot all the time." The youngest Tendo sister paused and her eyes lit up. "You're Kaiou Michiru! I loved your performance." She gushed.
"Really? Which part did you enjoy the best?" Ranma asked before the sophisticated woman could give her own reply.
"Well—." Akane's mouth opened and closed without a word. "That's um— hard to say—."
"You should know the name of it— right?" He continued, poking at his volatile fiance because he was unable to resist the easy target.
"As if you know!" Akane countered his teasing by challenging him.
Smirking confidently he replied. "It was the Gavotte en Rondeau from the Bach Partita, and in E major." Akane glared at him for a moment before she hastily pulled out a program from her purse to confirm. "You were great." He complimented Michiru as Akane angrily fumed at the page expecting him to suddenly be wrong.
"Ranma, you shouldn't pick on your beautiful fiance." Haruka chastised him. "You know to be more tender with a sweet girl's heart. There's no reason to pick on her for not knowing specifics, you don't need to know the name to recognize wonderful music."
'Really? You're going to pull that stuff with Akane?' Ranma stared at the blonde in disgust while Akane clasped her hands together and smiled brightly at the flattery. Michiru seemed to have a similar line of thought as himself, the woman with sea green hair cutting down Haruka with a sideways glance that went unnoticed.
Haruka left Michiru's side to take one of Akane's hands within her own. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance at long last. My name is Tenoh Haruka and Ranma's description of your beauty was woefully inadequate."
"Love, leave the poor girl alone." Michiru warned as she crossed her arms delicately. "And you remember how Ranma-san told us she responds to romantic advances."
"I only mind when it's done by stupid perverts." Akane sneered back at him. "Which usually means boys like Ranma."
"Yea." He agreed, struggling not to laugh. "She doesn't like boys." His statement causing the two women to have to stifle their own laughter.
"And just what is so funny?" She growled, barely noticing Haruka lean forward to whisper in her ear.
"It's wonderful to hear that, because I'm a woman."
"Another crossdresser?" Akane groaned and slapped her forward. "Why is this a consistent thing with you Ranma?"
"Consistent?" He asked in alarm. "Well I guess there's Ucchan, Konatsu, that moron Tsubasa, I guess Taro kind of counts since he loves pantyhose so much, Shinnosuke and his grandpa did with Ryoga when we fought that orochi."
"I wasn't asking for a list!"
"You weren't kidding when you said she was a little spitfire, Ranma." Haruka laughed to herself while Michiru watched in reserved amusement.
Akane ignored the blonde to stay focused on him by leaning towards him. "And why exactly were you telling them about me?"
"They wanted to know about who I was taking to the concert." He leaned away from the shorter Akane, hoping that she wasn't about to erupt in violence. "They're paying for it after all."
"Wait—." Akane blinked repeatedly and looked between the two women several times. "You said Hotaru's parents gave us the tickets."
"I did."
"But they're girls."
"Yes." He agreed.
"Curse?"
"No."
"Hotaru-chan is adopted." Michiru finally volunteered, clearly uninterested in making Akane play twenty questions.
"Why didn't you just say that?" Akane turned to glare at him angrily.
"You didn't ask." He answered lamely, seeing that she was ready to explode. "I'm sorry." Ranma apologized and saw that it was clearly still not enough so he floundered while trying to come up with something suitable to placate his fiance's anger.
"Don't feel too bad." Haruka butted in, saving him from imminent harm. "He thinks you're cute when you're angry."
"Haruka! Don't say that! You know she's not cute, she doesn't have a cute bone in her body, she's a tomboy through and throug h!" He waved his arms animatedly in the air in panic, even though Akane seemed to be more focused on the idea of him calling her cute.
"Now Ranma." Haruka put an arm around his shoulders. "You two are engaged. You shouldn't be embarrassed to say nice things to her. Pleasant comments lead to even more enjoyable— bedroom activities." Ranma's face blushed crimson along with Akane's. He rapidly sputtered out denials at the same time as his fiance.
"Haruka." Michiru warned as a distraction before a camera flash went off. "Perfect!" She announced gleefully at taking a picture of him and Akane with her cell phone.
Akane sobered up instantly and grabbed him by the ponytail to pull away from Haruka. She then shoved his head forward in a bow before letting him rise. "Thank you very much for the wonderful evening, but we need to be going."
"What? But we just got here." Ranma whined, wanting to sample some of the high class food. "Look at all the food we can try!"
"I'll make something when we get home." She answered, dragging him away from the two women.
"No!" He exclaimed in horror, feet skidding across the floor as he resisted Akane's pull. "Haruka— Michiru, save me!"
"Remember foreplay and have fun you two!" Haruka answered his desperate plea with a tiny wave.
'I'll remember this.' He cursed the blonde who had doomed him. Ranma felt his phone vibrate angrily in his pocket, so he let Akane do the work as she stomped down the hall. Checking the message, he found that Michiru had sent the photo to all of the senshi. ' Oh this won't end well at all.' He groaned.
"Ranma." Akane spoke calmly. "I don't want to find out that you've been talking about me to more perverted lesbians."
"They're not— well yea they are, but you should be more thankful." He suddenly pulled himself free from Akane's grasp and grabbed her hand to stop her from stomping more cracks in the floor. "They're nice, they're good to Hotaru, and they just spent all this money so we could go to the concert when they didn't even know you."
"It's not— well not like that." Akane sighed. "Ranma, why didn't you ever tell me you were friends with people like that?"
"You're busy, I'm busy, so I didn't really think you would want to know." He answered with a shrug. "Haruka really was just playing around. She didn't mean anything."
"Well I didn't like it. People like that just— weird me out." Akane admitted.
"Really Akane?" He asked in a deadpan voice. "You don't even know them."
"It doesn't really matter, just leave me out of it if you're going to talk to them." She crossed her arms irritably and stared him down, daring him to disagree.
"Alright—." He felt bad over her reaction but this may not have been the best way to introduce Akane to Haruka and Michiru. Ranma felt sure that she would come around but with his teasing she was too upset to think straight. It wasn't like Akane was all that reasonable to begin with after all. "Did you at least like the concert?"
"Yes— I did like the concert." She conceded with a cute pout.
"Ya know that limo driver has to take us where we want. So let's go get something to eat." He suggested, hoping dearly that she had forgotten her intent to make him something. "My treat." He added to sweeten the deal.
"Not Ukyo's or Shampoo's— right?"
"Of course not." He chuckled nervously, cursing the fact that his other fiances ran two of his favorite restaurants.
Ranma knew that something bad h ad happened the moment he entered into the room he shared with his parents. The light was on with Nodoka kneeling in the center of the floor, family sword placed before her. He stopped halfway through the door, seeing the look of controlled disgust on her face. Placed to her left were several stacks of properly folded clothing that he immediately recognized as his entire stock of female clothing.
"Sit." Nodoka commanded sternly.
He slid the door closed and did as she ordered. Waiting in an uncomfortable silence, he picked nervously at his tuxedo, hearing her breathing noisily through her nose as she looked between her sword, him, and his clothes.
"Mother." He immediately stopped talking when she raised up a hand. His attempt at formality was apparently wasted.
"You spent a considerable amount of time hiding from me as Ranko. I understand that I— pressured you into wearing clothing inappropriate for your true gender." Nodoka took a slow and very deep breath before continuing. "I expected after declaring you manly and that the ruse was over that I would not find you willingly wearing female clothes."
'She declared me manly?' He didn't remember her making that announcement. "It's not— I mean."
"When I caught you wearing my kimono the other day, I accepted it as a simple relapse that wouldn't occur again after seeing my reaction." Nodoka sighed, the disappointment in her voice practically filling the room. "I took it upon myself to do laundry this evening while you were out on your date with Akane, your fiance, and when I was putting your clothing away properly I found these. Carefully placed where I would have otherwise missed them."
Bowing his head, Ranma felt his throat tighten up, stopping him from explaining himself. His mother was one of the few people that he did not want to disappoint. She had expectations for him, some of which were insane, but there were plenty of others that were reasonable.
"Son— you're going to get rid of these and you'll put all of this behind you." She explained, sounding less strict and more concerned. "It's for the best that you put this deviancy to rest."
"I— I can't." He choked out.
"You— can't?" She asked slowly, the hard edge returning to her voice.
"Uh— occasionally I can't change back right away. It's nice to have stuff that fits." He fumbled with his hands worriedly, hoping that this would be enough to assuage her desire for him to purge his clothing.
"You're not in the wilderness, hot water is a luxury you can easily obtain. The only reason you could possibly have to remain a girl is if you want to. Why would my manly son want to spend time as a girl?"
"There are reasons." He really didn't want to mention occasional trips out with the other senshi or random days he simply spent as a girl. Nodoka was right about hot water, there was no other reason to explain why he didn't change back quickly. "Can't it be enough that there are times I need them?"
"No!" She yelled, making him recoil in surprise at the normally composed woman's outburst. "Explain!"
Wilting under his mother's anger, he responded in a tiny voice. "I don't think you really want to know."
Nodoka finally responded after a long silence, her voice no longer filled with anger. "Ranma— son— whatever it is that makes you think you have to spend time as a girl, I'm sure we can find a solution."
"It might be better if I show you." His shoulders slumped as he double checked that no one was listening outside the door. Seeing that the hallway was empty and everyone in the home had the good sense not to respond to Nodoka's earlier outburst, he slid the door closed, and turned around to lean against it. Seeing that his mother was watching him with a look that alternated quickly between curiosity, disappointment, anger, and sadness he raised a hand above his head and made a fist.
"Water." He spoke softly and flexed his hand causing enough water to squeeze between his fingers to fall on his hair, activating the curse. Dropping her hand to her side, she flicked her fingers to get rid of the excess moisture clinging to her skin. Nodoka was staring at her with wide eyes, shocked over the sudden display of a strange power. She would have to pay the price of using senshi magic as a male but the demonstration would help get the point across.
"Was that magic?" Nodoka asked slowly.
"Yes." Cupping her hands upwards in front of her chest, a silver half circle brooch appeared. "Sailor Theia, Make Up." The brooch snapped open into into a full circle to reveal an orange flame filling the inside. The flame pulsed brightly as a white light surrounded only her form for several seconds. Starting at her feet, the glow rose upwards like a flame to reveal her uniform. As it finally passed by her head, her now differently styled hair rose up with the light before falling into place on her back.
Her low heels made soft clacks on the wood floor as she took several steps towards her stunned mother who had recoiled at her approach. "In a long forgotten magical kingdom I was Princess Euryphaessa and the Sailor Senshi Theia." She introduced with as much grandeur as she could muster while worrying about Nodoka's reaction. "When everything came to an end, our kingdom destroyed, my Queen sent me forward to be reborn along with the rest of the Sailor Senshi."
"Are you really my Ranma?" She asked, voice quivering with emotion, and covering her mouth with a hand.
"Yes." Ranma answered, struggling to keep the sadness she felt from being heard. Nodoka's reaction made her feel like she was back at their first meeting, when her own mother had looked at her like she was a complete stranger. Kneeling down in front of her mother as close as she dared, she smoothed out the tiny flare of skirt her uniform had as best she could. "I'm Ranma, just like I've always been, and will always be."
"You don't talk like him— and you move like a woman."
"Oh—." She felt her cheeks heat up at her mother noticing that. "Even though Euryphaessa and I are the same person, she had a great deal more experience in emotional discussions, and I guess I just fell into her mannerisms for a moment."
"So you're a princess named Eu—Eu— Euryph—" Nodoka struggled to pronounce the alien sounding name, her face scrunched up in concentration.
"Everyone used to just call me Theia, but please I'm just Ranma." Ranma laughed nervously at being reminded of her past lifes name troubles. Seeing that her mother was giving her a far off stare and was likely being lost, she allowed her senshi form to dissipate; leaving her wearing an ill-fitting tuxedo once again. "You could say I'm her but it would be more accurate to say we're us. The only difference is the world we live in."
"This must be my fault." Nodoka raised her right hand to cover her mouth in worry. "It's Jusenkyo— if only I hadn't let Genma take you— or if I set better guidelines this might not have happened." The woman rambled on in a near panic.
"Mother." Ranma reached out and grabbed her parents hand, shocking her with the contact. "I wouldn't say it was the best move— that contract— and Pops. But Jusenkyo is the only way you can still have a son." Seeing that she only increased Nodoka's confusion she continued. "Only a woman can be a senshi. If I had become aware of my past self without Jusenkyo— and I changed, I would be a girl permanently."
Feeling awkward about holding her mother's hand, she let it go. "As long as I'm careful, and I don't transform as a guy, I can keep being your son." She tried to smile as reassuringly as possible.
"Why would you need to ever do that then?" Nodoka asked in confused horror.
Ranma took in and released a slow breath. "Because no one else can. It's my burden to bear."
"What is so important that you would risk losing yourself for?" Anger saturated her mother's voice, the woman not understanding the scope of Ranma's purpose.
"To bring life." She answered with as much reverence as she could. Feeling weighed down by the immensity of her responsibility. "And protect it."
"Who told you this? Why would you trust them?" Nodoka was taken aback by how she had responded.
"My mother— and then my queen. But I've always known— it's a fundamental part of who I am."
"I never told you such a thing." The Saotome woman looked at her dubiously.
"Theia's mother." Ranma corrected, having only the vaguest memories of the woman. "My oath to my Queen is eternal, death and rebirth were always a possibility. And there would be no greater dishonor than if I ignored my duty and oaths, right?" She asked, trying to appeal to something Nodoka valued.
"It would. But that still doesn't explain why you have all this clothing?"
"Oh— heh heh." Ranma laughed nervously and scratched at the back of her head. "About a third of them you bought me." She pointed out before adding. "The rest is a mix of things I got myself or were given to me by the other Senshi."
Nodoka narrowed her eyes in response, clearly not happy with Ranma's response.
"It's not that simple for me." She paused to compose her thoughts. "When I go out to fight monsters, I can't be worried about becoming a girl forever; that means going out like this." She gestured down to herself. "And you have no idea how annoying it is to constantly pull your pants up or having your chest worn raw cause you're bouncing all over the place. Why do you think I wear silk?"
"Women in our family are blessed with enough— bounce to draw a man's eye." Nodoka looked away, a tiny mischievous smile on her face.
Ranma raised an eyebrow, mildly curious for a moment over what her mother was remembering. That was before she decided that what the elder Saotome's look spoke of, was not something she wanted to know or think about her parents doing. "Mom?" She took the risk of interrupting whatever ecchi fantasy her parent was absorbed in.
Nodoka was jerked so hard from her daydream that she nearly fell over. Composing herself as best she could, the elder Saotome female slowly stood up, and headed for the door. "Excuse me."
"Mom, you can ask me whatever you want." Ranma suggested desperately, spinning on her knees to continue facing her mother. "Please— I want you understand."
"I can tell, I just need some time— alone." She answered evenly, struggling to remain calm.
Ranma couldn't watch her mother exit the room, dropping her eyes to stare at the floor. "I just didn't want to disappoint you." She knew how important Nodoka viewed her being a man. Over a decade of waiting, giving up her child on the hope that he would turn out better without her around. Ranma felt like she owed it to her mother to let her live with that vision; even if it would only be for a few more years.
Ryoga wheezed as he struggled forward, feet dragging across the dirt, and arms hanging limply at his side. He was deep in a forest with no clue how far he was from civilization or if he was on another continent. His traveling pack and umbrella had been left behind hours ago because he was unable to carry the weight any further. Dirt and worn clothing were the norm for him, but he was even more filthy than usual, having fallen over several times.
Pausing to lean against a tree, he wiped away the thick layer of sweat dripping relentlessly in his eyes. Hugging himself, he slid down the tree to curl his knees up to his chest as he was suddenly freezing cold. Rubbing his shoulders to try and ward away the cold, he shivered uncontrollably, and his teeth clattered together audibly.
'I know I heard people.' He looked down at his arms and gulped. A day ago he had noticed dark black spots appearing on his forearms. Ryoga knew enough that this wasn't a normal occurrence, and he had immediately set off to find someone who could check on the worrying development. Only a few hours after he had noticed the marks, the phantom pains had struck him.
Weakly slamming a fist into a tree root, he cursed his horrible sense of direction that had led him ever further away from help.
Ryoga's stomach heaved and he tried to cry out in pain but nothing would come out. Falling to the side, it felt like he was being torn apart from the inside out. Tiny claws hacked and slashed, tunneling their way up and down his body. Choking and coughing over every breath, he collapsed bonelessly when it finally passed, leaving him with only a brief reprieve before the pain was replaced by a maddening itch.
Unable to reach inside of himself to satisfy the urge to scratch, he could do nothing but roll about on the ground. Struggling to raise himself up into a kneeling position, he gripped the nearby tree tightly and bashed his head into the trunk repeatedly until it snapped. Dropping back down, he sighed in momentary relief. 'I'd rather be dizzy.'
'Nabiki.' His mind locked onto an image of the girl. This had all begun when he had to fight those demons for her. She had taken advantage of him again and he hated it. Ryoga felt a bit better with that realization, it was something for him to focus on rather than the sickness breaking down his body.
Ryoga hated Nabiki and everyone else who had it so easy. None of them had to deal with even a fraction of his problems. None of them had to endure such a wretched existence. They couldn't understand why he was so desperate for even the tiniest amount of affection. Tears started to race down his face as he stared upwards at the rapidly darkening sky. He had allowed himself to be used and abused.
His life had revolved around abusive women for so long that he didn't remember what it was like to actually have someone care about him. Nabiki, with her vicious schemes. Kasumi, with her calm disregard and false niceness. Akari, who wanted him to be her sumo pig. Akane had to know by now that he and P-chan were the same, yet she continued to use him as her pet, confiding her hopes and fears to him. Expecting him to care about her petty problems while she laughed behind his back with the worst of the lot, Ranma.
It didn't matter that Ranma was not born a girl, no man could be so comfortable wearing that body with such comfort. Pretending to be his fiance, flirting with him by hiding behind deviously cruel disguises, stealing his first real kiss, and flaunting her beautiful form whenever possible. Ranma could defeat him with a flash of female flesh and a giggle because Ryoga was a gullible idiot. Worst of all, Ranma had tricked him into believing that he had a sister. Ryoga had wanted so badly to be able to protect her, to have someone in his life who knew the horror of his family's curse. But it turned out to be just another trick, a joke to amuse that cruel red head.
Liquid fire roiled in his stomach, rising up in his throat to lodge in the back of his mouth. Turning over on his stomach, he tried desperately to throw up, but he could do nothing but gag ineffectually. Another wave rushed up to violently expel black mass from his mouth. Sobbing as he struggled for breath, Ryoga covered his mouth as it continued slowly oozing a thin black, cold ichor through his fingers.
Spitting out more of the liquid, it continued to rise up through his throat to leak from his mouth. Feeling twitches and spasms around his body, he struggled to find his way back to his feet. "Help." Ryoga tried to cry out but all he could produce was a wet hacking cough, splattering more of the oily liquid over himself.
'Ryoga was so stupid. I should have went for help sooner.' His body exploded in intense and blinding pain. If only he had been smarter, if only he hadn't been some gullible schmuck. He was finally able to scream in pain as he felt bones all over his body snap. All he knew was misery as it happened again and again, completely aware as his body was consumed.
Yamadera Koichi, an average Japanese man, grumbled as he pushed himself roughly through the branches of a small tree. "Go check on that noise, she says." He stumbled and nearly fell as the last tree limb released his coat suddenly. "Damn it!" He straightened up and fixed his clothing. "She is going to owe me for this."
He was simply not built for going out and checking on scary noises in the woods right before dark. Sure his house was only a measly thirty meters from the edge of the forest but it might as well be kilometers away with the thick brush. Stopping as he found the original source of the noise, he scanned the fallen tree with small flashlight.
"Wow— it's snapped right in half." Which was made even more odd by the fact that no trees nearby had been touched in the slightest. "What's that?" He moved the light to illuminate a discarded set of clothing covered in some kind of black liquid dried to a thick crust.
The crack of a nearby twig altered him to someone standing next to him. Koichi's eyes widened in horror as a thickly muscled hand shot out to grip him by the throat with incredible strength. Choking, his knees bent, and he was nearly folded over backwards. Eyes bulging from his head, he stared helplessly at the two cruelly glowing orange eyes.
"So little." A cultured and amused teen girls voice spoke from a short, porcine muzzle. "Your energy that is. It's just not very impressive. Not very much at all." The monster's lips tried to pull up into a smile around two prominent lower tusks. "But you have to take what you can get, you understand— right?"
Her fingers loosened around his throat, allowing him to gasp for breath.
"I asked you a question." She snorted piggishly in impatience.
"Please— please don't hurt me— I have a wife and— two kids." He pleaded desperately through rapid breaths.
"Oh! You do?" The monster girl exclaimed dramatically, releasing him to fall on his backside. "I'm so sorry I had no idea. I couldn't possibly kill you now. Please accept my most sincerest of apologies. You should get back to your family as quick as you can so that they know you're safe."
Looking wildly between the monster and the surrounding trees, he panicked, and fumbled to grab his flashlight before he took off running as fast he could away from the demon. In his mad dash, he failed to notice that the demon was calmly following him. Orange eyes gleaming in the rapidly approaching dark.
Author Notes
A crack side story will be posted by Bree R, titled Sun and Moon: A Night Shift omake. Please check it out.