Ranma 1/2
Ranma and Hikaru
by: Kimura Ayame
PART 3: Two-Timing
In the middle of the first day of school, Kunou had finally recovered from his crash through the window. Nabiki asked, "So, Kunou, what sent you through the window?"
Kunou sighed, "Whilst the fiend Saotome Ranma distracted me, a surprise attack from my lavender-haired goddess defeated me, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High."
Nabiki frowned, "Lavender-haired... you mean Hikaru?!"
Kunou's eyes began to tear, "Such a picture of feminine grace and beauty, she of the lavender hair has conquered my heart!"
Nabiki muttered, "Why not? You've already lost your mind." She continued, out loud, "What about Akane?"
Kunou frowned, as if trying to remember, "Akane? Oh, yes, Akane, the purest of all girls..."
Nabiki allowed herself a moment of genuine anger, "You are not going to two-time my sister!"
Kunou scoffed, "Don't be so vulgar. I merely refuse to deceive myself by choosing one over the other. They are both so..."
"Unattainable."
"Not exactly what I was thinking." Kunou paused, deep in thought, "It would seem that this Saotome Ranma has some dalliance with my goddess of beauty and grace..."
Nabiki interrupted, "He's not with her. He's my fiancé."
"Your fiancé, hm? No wonder I detest him so."
Suddenly, a girl behind them looked at Nabiki, "You're the new boy's fiancée? I'm sooo jealous!"
Another girl piped up, "Yeah, if he's engaged to Nabiki, we don't have a chance!"
A chorus of girls agreed, though some made comments implying that Nabiki could probably be bought off from the engagement. Nabiki felt her money-making instincts activate...
... She ignored them. At least where Ranma was concerned. "So, Kunou, you want this lavender-haired goddess of yours, hm? I may be able to arrange something. Don't expect too much, though."
"I see. It will cost more."
Nabiki smiled, "I see you get it, Kunou-chan."
"Never call me that, Tendou Nabiki."
"Okay, Kunou-chan."
---
Back at the Tendou dojo, Hikaru was very happy to get her own gi back after it had dried. Kasumi watched as she went off to take a bath and change, then went back to reading the book she had borrowed from Dr. Tofu. With the house perfectly tidy, the groceries well-stocked, her younger sisters and Ranma at school, and Soun off doing... whatever it was he did during the day, Kasumi and Hikaru pretty much had the house to themselves. Kasumi smiled to herself, 'It's almost like we were...'
She cut off the thought. Where had that come from? Well... okay, Hikaru's natural male form was attractive, but...
She frowned, 'But what?' Sure he wasn't really older than her, but he was the same age. And hardly boring at all. It was probably impossible to be boring when you have a curse that changes your gender depending on what temperature water happens to be when it touches you.
She was interrupted from her thoughts by a man's voice, "You ready?"
Kasumi jumped, "Oh... Hikaru..."
Hikaru was back in male form, wearing his gi again, "Don't tell me you forgot?"
"Oh! No... of course not!" She stood up and put the book down, "I've just been waiting for you to finish your bath."
---
Ranma and Akane, still standing in the hall, remained quiet, almost refusing to talk to each other. After a long silence, Akane huffed, "It's your fault, you know."
Ranma froze, "Wait a minute, my fault?! I tried to speed things up for you!"
"I don't need your help, you... pig!!!" She readied her buckets to splash the boy next to her.
"Sheesh, Akane... a little touchy about this, aren't you?" Ranma dodged two streams of water from Akane and... somebody else.
Kunou came charging down the hallway, "Saotome! What know you about the goddess of the lavender hair?!"
Ranma frowned, puzzled, then realized who Kunou was talking about. He groaned, "Kunou... if you knew what I know, you would definitely not be interested in her." He dodged Kunou's attacks and began running, "Follow me! We'll take this outside!"
Kunou chased after him, "Coward! You flee from a man-to-man battle?!"
As Ranma leapt out of the building, he luckily had aimed to the left, avoiding the pool below and landing safely on the ground. He then watched, chuckling to himself, as Kunou fell into the pool face-first. He grinned and leaned against a tree, "Alright, Kunou. Whenever you're ready."
Kunou pulled himself out of the pool and stood up, fuming, "Wretched Saotome!!! Your trickery will not defeat the Blue Thunder!!!"
---
One of the students watching frowned, "Blue Thunder? When did that start?"
Nabiki sighed in boredom, "This morning, when he introduced himself to Ranma-chan."
---
Kunou was even more pissed that Ranma wasn't even standing ready, just leaning against a tree, "Peasant!!! You mock the great Kunou Tatewaki?!"
Ranma dodged his sword attack, but the tree didn't. As it fell, Ranma said, "I have a feeling I'll be making a habit out of mocking you, Kunou." He vaulted over Kunou's head, dodging a whole series of incoming strikes. In the half-second it took Kunou to realize his opponent had moved, Ranma had knocked him down with a kick to the head. In fact, that's why Kunou realized his opponent had moved.
Ranma shook his head at the pitiful figure below him, "Face it, Kunou, you've got no chance against me."
Kunou didn't answer, or even move. He was unconscious.
The students above gasped, murmuring their surprise at the newcomer defeating Kunou so easily. The girls from Nabiki's class whined once again about how unfair it was that Nabiki had already snagged him, while the girls from the other classes whined for the first time. Nabiki was quite satisfied about her fiance's work. Especially since it wouldn't cost her a single yen.
---
Meanwhile, Kasumi and Hikaru had bought a decent amount of clothing for Hikaru, who started to leave. Kasumi watched him, "Where are you going?"
"Home. We're done, right?"
Kasumi seemed confused, "I thought you wanted clothes for your girl half, too?"
"I don't really think that'll help much. I mean, I change whenever cold water hits me. I'll end up wearing these clothes as a girl anyway."
"What if you have to go somewhere as a girl?"
"Not likely."
"Didn't that happen today?"
Hikaru began to argue, but realized something. Kasumi was right, and she wasn't giving up. He gave in, "Alright, but I have to change first."
"Hm? Into what?"
Hikaru sighed deeply. It was amazing how Kasumi could be so intelligent and insightful one second, and completely naïve the next.
Kasumi understood, "Oh! You mean... that..."
---
After school, three girls approached Nabiki. Nabiki glanced in their general direction -- potential customers were to be treated politely, if a bit coldly, "Yes?"
One of the girls asked, "You're Ranma's fiancée, right?"
"Yes."
Another girl asked, "And you live together, right?"
Nabiki was getting annoyed, "Yes, we live in the same house."
The third girl spoke, "So you can get us information, right?"
"That depends."
The girl in front handed Nabiki five thousand yen. Nabiki put on her classic smirk, "Well, for five thousand yen, he's been training in the martial arts with his best friend for eleven years. He just came to the Tendou dojo yesterday, to make good on an agreement between our fathers. I agreed to become his fiancée."
One of the girls stared at Nabiki, "You've only been engaged for a day?! Haven't you at least gone on a date?"
Nabiki grinned almost evilly, but retained her neutral coolness, "How much?"
The girls sighed in exasperation as rather large sweat drops formed on their heads. Nabiki knew she had just gained three new regulars.
---
Later that day, Onna-Hikaru, wearing the clothes Kasumi had given her, was walking back to the Tendou dojo with Kasumi. They had bought mostly Chinese-style martial arts outfits for Hikaru's female body, though they also got a few dresses and some casual street clothes. Kasumi had insisted that they all looked cute on Hikaru, and the lavender-haired girl hadn't had the willpower to argue. Which made Hikaru's female wardrobe about three times as large as her male wardrobe. Before that day, Hikaru had never really paid much attention to how much variety there was in women's clothing. Now, she was practically swimming in it.
Kasumi decided to start a conversation on the way home. Mainly because she was curious about Hikaru. "So... um, how long have you been cursed?"
Hikaru thought about it for a second, "Probably a bit more than a month."
Kasumi bit her lip... her next question might be a bit too sensitive, and she wasn't certain how to ask. But the question was just nagging at the back of her mind. In the end, she managed to ask in the most polite way possible. "Um, how much do you... change?"
"What do you mean? You've seen me... it's a complete physical transformation."
"What about... other things?"
Hikaru shook her head, "I don't think so. Well... it's kind of weird. I'm not sure how to explain it. Sometimes I automatically react differently than I would as a guy, but I don't realize it until afterward. It's like... my instincts are different. Nothing majorly different, just... little things." She chuckled to herself, "I don't even know what that means, so it probably doesn't really answer your question."
Kasumi smiled, "Not really... but it's okay." She was satisfied with the answers she had gotten so far. She continued, "If you want, we can be friends, Hikaru-chan."
Hikaru stopped, a bit taken aback by the "-chan" suffix Kasumi had suddenly added to her name, "What?"
"I said that we can be friends. I think that since you have a girl's body, it might help you if you had a close girl friend to talk to. Don't you think?" In her own innocent way, Kasumi was being extremely intuitive.
"Um... I guess..." Hikaru smiled, "Yeah... I think I'd like that."
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Notes on Japanese terms in this chapter:
1. 'yen': If you don't know the Japanese monetary system, what the hell are you doing reading this? Go watch some Ranma DVDs, or buy a few volumes of the manga.