Chapter 28: Black And White And Dread All Over
Bliss.
Absolute bliss.
Kodachi was lost; absolutely, wonderfully, blissfully lost in her girlfriend's embrace. The taste of her lips on Kodachi's own was like honey, the smell of dried sweat on her skin may as well have been roses. She never wanted this kiss to end, especially considering that Akane seemed to be getting more and more… adventurous with her tongue as time went on.
It was a clumsy sort of adventurousness, but it was appreciated nonetheless.
Each move on Akane's part sent a chill down Kodachi's spine, and Kodachi could practically feel it pooling under her rear, soaking through her clothes, and—
…Hm. Wait a minute.
Kodachi opened her eyes (to be greeted by a close up on Akane's still-closed ones) and glanced at the ground, while simultaneously removing one of her hands from her girlfriend's back and placing it on the hard-packed dirt beneath her.
It was damp.
With some reluctance, she broke away from Akane's kiss (and with some satisfaction she noted the hungry, slightly puzzled way the other girl leaned forward) and stared at her hand, small bits of cold wet dirt sticking to it.
"Um", she said. "Akane, darling, have you noticed that things have gotten slightly… wet?"
"WH-WHAT?!" Akane gasped, immediately jolting away from her girlfriend, turning beet red and laughing nervously. "Ah-ha-haa… I mean… n-nope! I don't feel anything wet! Why would I be wet?"
"Huh", Kodachi said. "It must just be the ground then. How odd."
Slowly, as the pleasant pink fog retreated from her brain, Kodachi remembered what had been happening before she'd gone under and gasped.
"The Nyannīchuan!"
As Akane found herself toppling out of her girlfriend's lap and fully back into reality, she remembered that there had been this whole thing happening when she had arrived at the circus to apologize. Looking over to what was happening with everyone else, she was greeted by quite the sight.
Ranma was still tied up, shouting obscenities which were being directed at both Mousse and Shampoo. The two of them, soaked to the skin, were standing in the epicenter of a rapidly-expanding area of damp soil, the parched earth quickly absorbing whatever had spilled. Kodachi, after practically throwing Akane off of her, had scrambled over to Ryoga, who was for some reason crying while covering himself in scoops of wet dirt.
…Wait, Akane thought as she suddenly remembered something important. It's 'herself' now, isn't it?
After another couple of seconds, she remembered something else important.
Shampoo and Mousse are both still human.
Setting that aside for the moment and getting to her feet, she elects to leave Kodachi and Ryoga alone for the time being (which is just as well, because her girlfriend seems to currently be trying to bury herself up to her own neck) and walks over to where Ranma is suspended in the air, slowly revolving on his— er, her rope.
"H-hey, Ranma", she said with a nervous grin. "How's it hanging?"
If her fiancée caught the pun, she didn't show it. "It's Ranko", she said with a glare."Ain't goin' by Ranma anymore."
"O-oh", Akane said, looking down. "I-I'm sorry, Ranko."
"Mm." she grunted. After a couple of seconds spent staring down at the other girl, she said, "So, Akane, I know this afternoon is gonna be hard to top, but could you see to maybe lettin' me down again?"
There was a moment where Akane's fists clenched, where color rose in her cheeks and her hackles raised, but she quickly deflated, sighing and saying, "right. Yeah, of course Ranko. One second."
She untied the rope from where it was fastened, and the second she did so she found herself being pulled into the air with a yelp, Ranko's larger and heavier birth form lowering slowly to the ground.
"Akane!" Ranko called up as she touched down.
"R-Ranko!"
"Just let go, it's fine! I'll…" Ranko sighed. "I'll catch you."
"No you won't, you're mad at me!" Akane yelled down.
"Hey, just 'cause I'm mad at ya doesn't mean I won't catch you", Ranko shouted back. "Now hurry up and let go, or I'll untie myself and let you drop that way! I've got a couple girlfriends to check on and I'm gettin' a little impatient."
Despite the day she'd had and the situation she was currently in, Akane began to chuckle softly.
"What's so funny?" Ranko asked irritably.
Akane, giggling, simply replied; "You're such a bitch sometimes."
Ranko joined in, face cracking into a smile and laughing as she let go of her end of the rope.
Soon, the two girls walked towards the rest of the group, with Ranko rubbing her shoulder and Akane looking slightly miffed. The look quickly disappeared and was replaced with one of concern when she was presented with the sight of her girlfriend lying face down in a shallow ditch, groaning morosely into the dirt. As she hurried off to Kodachi's side, Ranko walked over to Shampoo, who was still wringing water out of her hair.
"How're you holdin' up, Shamps?" she asked.
"It is… odd." the Amazon said, giving her fingers an experimental flex. "Has been long time since last time I still have hands after cold water hit me." She gave her girlfriend a reassuring smile. "I am fine, otherwise."
Ranko kissed Shampoo on the cheek. "Glad to hear it. And, uh," she glanced at the sodden martial artist next to them, currently looking like he was doing his best impression of the ghost of a drowning victim, his heavy, wet hair covering his face. "How's Mousse?"
"Hard to say, he has not said anything since we were splashed." Shampoo cocked her head to the side and "hm"-ed softly. "You know, is funny, but it almost look like nothing happen to him."
Ranko had to admit that Shampoo had a point. His already-voluminous robes had masked any of the more obvious changes, and it was only the fact that said robe was looking even more voluminous than usual and he was now ever so slightly shorter than Ranko's birth form that tipped her off that any change had occurred at all.
At least, until he managed to get his hair out of his face.
Freezing in her tracks, promises to help deal with dysphoria evaporating in her throat, Ranko instead let her jaw drop in awe. Mousse's features, already classically beautiful in his male form, had taken on an almost unreal beauty, like he had just jumped out of a shoujo manga and fallen into a lake. Small, round lips above a gently pointed chin, exceptionally soft skin, and massive, dazzlingly green eyes, all framed by long black hair. The effect would have been completely spellbinding if it weren't for the fact that he was still in the process of spitting said hair out of his mouth. And the fact that he was, well. Mousse.
"Yeah?" he asked, squinting at Ranko and thoroughly ruining the effect of his new, larger eyes. "What do you want, Saotome?"
"Uh," Ranko said, regaining her composure. "I mean, I was gonna ask you if you were feelin' alright, considerin' what just happened to you."
"Hm? Me? I'm fine. Honestly, if anything it's nice to not be a duck." After some shuffling, he managed to find his hands somewhere in the oceans of cloth that were his sleeves, and began to inspect his new body. "...Oh, that's new", he said as he patted an apparently modestly cushioned chest.
"You… you're fine?" Ranko asked. "You don't, like, feel uncomfortable or nothin'? Like your whole body is wrong? Anything?"
"Nnnnope. Can't say that I do." Mousse continued patting himself down, lingering slightly on his hips and rear before fishing in a pocket for his glasses. Almost immediately, they slid down his nose, having been made for a larger head. "There's certainly some annoyances, and my body feels different, but not bad."
Ranko just stared at him, utterly dumbfounded, as he spotted Shampoo and shrieked with joy, practically pouncing on her.
"Oh Shampoo", he cried, once again pulling her into a hug. "Isn't it wonderful?"
"I-Isn't what wonderful?" she asked, squirming slightly in Mousse's grip.
"The fact that we can finally be together, of course!" Mousse said, a desperate, hopeful gleam in his eye. "I couldn't care less if I'm a boy or a girl, I just want to make you happy! And now, thanks to my new girl curse, I can!"
Shampoo distractedly patted Mousse on the head before placing her hands on their shoulders, gently extricating herself from their embrace. "That is… very nice, Mousse. Shampoo is very happy you learned this about yourself. Now…" She looked Mousse dead in the eyes, bright smile never leaving her face and her gentle voice never wavering as she said "...Shampoo is going to punch you as hard as she can."
Before Mousse could respond, Shampoo drew back her hand and clenched it into a fist, bringing it around and landing a nasty uppercut onto their jaw. The blow sent them flying into the remains of the water tank, where they lay dazed in a puddle, mumbling Shampoo's name.
Ranko looked from their half-conscious form, to Shampoo who was panting with anger and exertion, and finally to Akane who was attempting to get Kodachi and Yoiko to pull themselves out of the dirt.
"So!" she announced to the group at large. "Anyone else in the mood for a sleepover?"
It was, after the initial confusion at Ranko's suggestion had worn off, agreed that yes, everyone present would very much like to spend a night together with their respective girlfriends. Kodachi graciously volunteered her house for the sleepover (more out of formality than anything, her place being the only house remotely large enough to accommodate everyone comfortably) and the group left the circus for the Kuno estate.
"I cannot believe that he- that they", Kodachi groused at the gates, having been debriefed by Ranko and Shampoo about Mousse's gender situation."got splashed with something that Yoiko or I would kill for the chance to use for ourselves, and they don't even care."
Shampoo, it turned out, was at least as fluent in English as she was in Japanese, and proposed that for the time being they used the English gender-neutral pronouns for Mousse. Currently, she was giggling cutely every time her girlfriend used the foreign pronoun.
"Heehee! Where did Kodachi learn English? Your accent is so cute, airen!"
The tall girl let out a weary sigh. "Father hired Tatchi and I an English tutor years ago. And I suspect that the person he hired was selected for a very specific reason."
"Well don't hold out on us!" Akane chimed in as the massive wooden doors began to groan open. "Give us a sample!"
Kodachi gave her girlfriends a pained look before taking a deep breath and, in a heavily twangy American accent, said "Well, like, I talk like I'm in some kind of American surfer flick, yaknow?"
Shampoo threw back her head in laughter and Akane made a halfhearted attempt to stifle her own laugh, while Kodachi began to blush. Behind them, Ranko squeezed Yoiko's hand, both to get her attention and as an attempt to comfort her after what had happened.
"Hey, how're you holdin' up, babe?" she asked, trying to make contact with her girlfriend's sad, brown eyes.
"I'm… okay. Really", Yoiko said, cutting off Ranko's objection. "I'm okay. It's not like I'm any worse off than I was this morning. It's just… I was so close, you know? To not only curing my pig curse but to being able to pass as a girl as easily as you can."
"Yeah…" Ranko said, leaning into Yoiko. Even if they were much closer in height with her in her birth form, her girlfriend's solid bulk was immensely comforting. Plus, this way she was able to enjoy something that was sure to life Yoiko's spirits.
"Hey babe, I think your hormones are really starting to work their magic." she said, rubbing up and down against Yoiko's side a little for good measure. "Definitely somethin' squishy here." Smirking, she snuck a look at her girlfriend's face, which was an almost uniform red aside from her eyes and protruding canines. If she strained her ears, Ranko could just make out the fact that Yoiko was mumbling something.
"Sorry, what was that?"
"I-I said 'thank you', hun." Yoiko said, blushing even harder. "You're right. I just wish it was faster, you know?"
"Mm." Ranko grunted in reply. "Hey, at least we're both dating someone who can get her hands on instant girl powder. That's pretty nice."
Yoiko nodded, smiling. "Yeah. Yeah, it is."
Ranko nudged Yoiko's side playfully. "And even if she didn't have the powder, Shamps is a delight and we're lucky to have met her, right?"
"Uh…" Yoiko began, not disagreeing with Ranko but wondering what, precisely, had brought that on, before noticing that Shampoo was slyly looking over her shoulder at the pair of them. With a laugh, she said, "Yep! An absolute delight, alright."
The polycule made their way into the Kuno estate, with Sasuke flitting about them, eventually becoming so overburdened by the girls' prizes and purchases that the small man was no longer visible. As he hobbled away, Shampoo's massive plush bear threatening to engulf him, Kodachi clapped her hands together.
"Right! I think it's high time we all change out of these stuffy yukata and into something more comfortable, hm?"
This earned her a couple of raised eyebrows, considering that her and Yoiko's yukatas were so badly soiled that it was difficult to make out what color they were meant to be. Still, it was hard to argue.
"Yeah, good idea", Ranko said. "Uh, I figure you've got something for us to change into?"
"Oh yes", Kodachi replied, nonchalantly waving a hand. "I phoned ahead of time and had Sasuke take care of that."
"Er", Yoiko said, doubt creeping into her voice. "How did you have him take care of it? He didn't break into our rooms and root around in our closets, did he?"
After an exceptionally long and awkward pause, Kodachi pointed to a wrist with no watch on it and said, "Heavens! Look at the time! You all really should phone home to let someone know where you are!"
"Now if I'm any judge, and frankly I should be, given the fact that I live here, this is my room", she muttered as she approached a door.
"What if it's not?" Akane asked.
"Well then worst case scenario, it's a room with no phone." Kodachi replied, turning the doorknob and pushing the door open.
As it happened, there was a scenario worse than there simply being no phone in the room. And it was one that involved a (thankfully fully clothed) Tatewaki laying on his bed, being straddled by Hiroshi, who dropped the recently-removed shirt that he had clenched in his hand while the two of them stared at the girls in the doorway like deer in headlights.
For several seconds (though it might have been days), the only sound was that of the ticking of a wall clock. Eventually, Ranko broke the silence with a low whistle and said, "Lookin' good, Hiroshi!" For his part, Hiroshi turned a very intense shade of red and clasped his arms to his bare chest.
"Get out", Tatewaki intoned flatly.
"B-brother dear!" Kodachi said, paying a great deal of attention to a poster on the wall. "W-what a surprise! So I, uh. I see I accidentally happened upon your room."
"Get. Out."
"Yes, yes, of course! Er… if I could ask a favor of you, actually?"
"Absolutely not. Now get out!"
"Hey, what's happening?" Yoiko asked from the back, leaning in behind Ranko and Akane to try and get a better view.
"My god", Tatewaki cried. "Is there a sign, on the outside of my door, that says: 'Welcome to the bedroom of Tatewaki Kuno! Please, interrupt the intimate moment that is transpiring within!'"
"Shampoo did not see one." said the purple-haired girl, wriggling between her girlfriends and popping out in the front. "Oh, it's the boy who was on a date with airen Ranko when I first saw her in Japan. Hello again!"
Hiroshi, still in something of a daze, simply waved vaguely back at her.
"Tatchi, brother dear, I promise to get out of your hair, but if we could simply make use of your phone for a moment—"
Tatewaki reached for his cellular phone at the side of his bed and hurled it straight over his sister's head, where it embedded itself in the wall of the hallway opposite his room much like the brick it resembled.
"OUT!"
Before thanking him, Kodachi wisely elected to shut the door first.
"Yes… yes, we're alright, dad."
Akane was sitting on Kodachi's bed, cradling Tatewaki's borrowed phone to her head while dressed in pajamas that very definitely belonged to her, and had in fact been folded and put in her drawer that very morning. Ranko, Yoiko, and Shampoo had similarly been presented with sleepwear unnervingly plucked directly from their closets (Ranko had also taken the opportunity to get herself a splash of cold water), and were now lounging comfortably in a pile together.
"...We're spending the night at Kodachi's place. …Supervision? Um…"
Thinking frantically, Akane landed on something technically true.
"... Kodachi's brother is here. …Wait, dad, what do you mean 'which one?'"
It was the sharp intake of breath coming from beside her on the bed that made her realize what Soun had meant. "What should I tell him?" she hissed in a stage whisper, her hand over the mouthpiece of the phone.
"Just… tell him the truth!" Kodachi whispered back. "Tell him it's Tatewaki!"
Akane nodded. "I-it's Tatewaki…Yes, yes. Of course we will. …Okay, dad, love you too."
After ending the call, she flopped down onto the bed, staring at the ceiling. She was vaguely aware of the fact that all eyes in the room were flitting between her and the phone.
"I… I don't know what we should do about dad…" Akane said.
"Well I mean", Ranko said. "He seemed cool about Yoiko and I being 'boys' who were datin'. And Nabiki being bi."
"And with you, too, Akane!" Yoiko chimed in.
"Yeah, but that's different." retorted Akane. "What if he's not okay with you three being trans?"
Kodachi laid a hand on Akane's. "Darling, we'll simply have to face that situation when it happens. For what it's worth, I think your father has shown himself to be a remarkably tolerant man." She gave her girlfriend a warm smile before catching the eye of both Yoiko and Ranko. "And if the two of you ever feel the need to come out to him, I'll be right there with you."
Ranko beamed. "Thanks, Kodachi."
Back at the Tendo household, things were decidedly less lively. Kasumi vaguely wondered if her home looked deserted from the outside, considering more than half its usual residents were out for the night, their rooms dark. Nabiki had left a little while ago, with her… friend. Kasumi's lips, already drawn tight in a frown, twitched at the corner. Her little sister and that Kikuko girl… they'd always been close, she should have known. Should have known that a friendship between girls like that would, would… would end up perverted like that, even if it was between two girls who were far more sweet and innocent than Nabiki and one of her cronies. Even two girls like…
Kasumi was surprised to feel something warm and wet slide down her face and drip onto her chest. She wiped her eyes and composed herself the best she could, staring at the door that she was, against her better judgment, standing in front of. It was one that previously been occupied by Mister Saotome and Ranma (her lips twitched again), but Genma had been the sole inhabitant since the arrival of Ryoga (another twitch) and the decision to have the two boys bunk together (her lips pulled back over gritted teeth in a snarl).
Yes, this was right. It had to be, or else…
…Or else…
She shook her head to bring herself back to her senses. Steady, Kasumi, she admonished herself. You can't falter now. Raising a shaky hand, she gulped, steeling herself before knocking.
This is it, she thought, breathing heavily. I'm doing this. Genma Saotome was rude, loud, self-serving, and all around unpleasant, but…
But what other allies did she have? Nabiki wouldn't have been her first choice even before learning about what she got up to, Akane had been… had been caught up in all of this thanks to the boys, and her own father was just letting it all happen! As thoroughly odious as Genma was, he at least was aware of the fact that boys were supposed to date girls, and girls were supposed to date boys.
In the face of all that, what other choice did she have?
And so Kasumi stood in the hall, in the dark, on this precipice, at this as yet uncrossed Rubicon, teetering, as it were, over this point of no return.
She knocked on the door.
"Mister Saotome", she asked with a slight tremble to her voice. "Are you awake?"
One second passed. Then two. Then five. He's asleep, Kasumi thought. I-I suppose I'll just ask him tomorrow, then. She sighed, in both resignation and a not small amount of relief, and began to relax her shoulders just in time for the door to swing open. Taking up nearly the entire door frame was a massive, furry, refrigerator-proportioned panda holding up a sign that read: What is it?
It was absurd. Something that big shouldn't be silent, there should be the heavy thud of footfalls,the floorboards should creak, something! It was startling enough that Kasumi jumped and made a small noise in fright, which invited a gravelly chortle from the currently ursine Genma.
"M-m-mister Saotome!" she stuttered, brushing some loose strands of hair out of her face. "S-sorry to bother you so late, but may I come in? There's something… important I feel the need to bring to your attention."
With a cockeyed look and a shrug of his furry shoulders, Genma stepped aside and allowed Kasumi in. "Gowaaar?" he asked, motioning towards a hotplate and a kettle he had set up next to his bedroll.
"Oh… no, no, that's quite alright", Kasumi said. "I believe it will be easier for me to say what I want without any interruptions."
She sat down awkwardly on a patch of floor that was mostly clear of alcohol bottles and takeout wrappers, grabbing at the hem of her dress to keep it close to her. When she looked up, she was greeted by the dull, half-lidded stare that she had to remind herself belonged to her father's best friend and not an actual panda. After a couple seconds of staring, Genma grunted and picked up his sign, underlying the words that were already written on it.
What is it?
"R-right, yes…" Kasumi gulped, and then broke eye contact as she looked down at her hands, which were busy gripping the fabric of her dress. "Well, you see, I-I'm just… I'm worried, mister Saotome. Akane is such a nice girl, and I want what's best for her, and, well, earlier today I learned that she and Kodachi were, well…" Her vision went blurry, and when she blinked a couple of damp patches had appeared on her lap. "They're apparently…" She looked over her shoulder, as if to check if they were being watched. "Lesbians! And don't you give me that", she snapped at Genma, who had audibly snorted. "Oh, sure, it was easy for you to make the assumption that Akane was… was some kind of 'dyke', as you put it! But she's my baby sister, and I thought that she and Kodachi were just good friends! I thought Kodachi was the very picture of a refined young lady! I'm hurt, mister Saotome, I just want to protect my baby sister and everyone else in this house is against me, except for you. That is why I'm here. That, and…"
Kasumi closed her eyes and took several deep breaths, to calm herself down and keep her voice steady. When she opened them again, she looked Genma in the eyes and said;
"We need to talk about your son, mister Saotome."
