Chapter Four: The Explanation
The two martial artists squared off in defensive poses, staring at one another in disbelief. Yuki was shirtless, and Ranma was dripping wet, but they were deadly serious as they assessed each other as possible threats. Ranma, who was more used to random strangers turning into animals, broke the tense silence. "What are you?!" he demanded. "How can you turn back without hot water?"
"Who are you? And what is with this fixation about hot water?!" Yuki shot back. The stranger, by luck or design, was between him and the door.
"Saotome Ranma, of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts" the pig tailed boy identified himself.
"Sohma Yuki" came the reply.
Ranma sized up the boy before him. Tall and slender, with a delicate build and somewhat feminine features, Ranma would almost have dismissed him as a threat, but for his stance, which made it abundantly clear that Yuki practiced the Art. Plus, seemed to be able to change form without getting wet. I know I didn't splash him with any water from the kettle… how did he change back? And why is he acting dumb about the hot water? Surely he can see that I'm cursed too…A thought struck him
"You ever been to China?" he asked.
Yuki, puzzled, responded "What! No. Why?" He simply did not understand the stranger's seemingly random questions. He noticed that the stranger was looking less tense, but was still in a defensive stance. Yuki responded by relaxing slightly as well but decided to remain alert in case this was a ploy by the stranger – no, his name was Saotome – to get him to drop his guard.
"So you're not Jusenkyo cursed?" Ranma asked, to be sure.
"What's that?"
Ranma was confused, but elaborated. "I fell into the Spring of Drowned Girl. When I'm splashed with cold water, I turn into a girl. Hot water turns me back into a boy."
He watched Yuki try to process this information. It was fairly obvious that this person was cursed (that, or Shampoo had slipped more freaky Amazon drugs into his food recently) but this Yuki's curse was not influenced by water temperature. He wondered what the trigger was. It couldn't hurt to ask – the rat was out of the bag, so to speak.
"If you're not a Jusenkyo victim, why'd you transform when it started to rain?"
Yuki eyed Ranma warily, wondering how much he should tell. It seemed that Saotome had been completely open and honest about his affliction, and Yuki's sense of honour was demanding the same of him. A lifetime of keeping his shameful secret battled with a tiny speck of hope. Maybe, there was someone else who was not a Sohma could actually understand … "It wasn't the rain. I change into a rat when I'm hugged by a member of the opposite sex."
"Man, that's rough." Ranma winced. He suddenly felt that maybe his trigger wasn't so bad after all - Imagine changing every time you were hugged. He shuddered at the idea. With his numerous fiancées, that kind of trigger would be a nightmare!
Yuki's thoughts were running along a different vein. "That chef, though, she knew about your curse?"
"Yeah. That's U-chan. She makes the best okanomiyaki around" Ranma said, getting slightly side tracked and relaxing completely. Yuki also lowered his arms and asked hesitantly "Is she the only one who knows your secret?"
"Nope. There's a few of us with Jusenkyo curses running around here…" Ranma did not sound exactly thrilled with the situation – resigned was more like it.
"Really?! Ordinary people accept you, even though you are cursed? You live a normal life?" Yuki exclaimed.
Ranma snorted 'My life ain't what most people would call normal' but kept the thought to himself, and instead shrugged and said "Well, I've only been like this for a short while, but yeah."
"I've been like this my whole life…" Yuki murmured. Akito's voice floated through his head, sneering, telling him that he would be rejected if people found out about his secret. For the second time in his life, Yuki was being shown that Akito's cynical view of the world wasn't as well-founded as everyone believed. Everybody at the Main House remembered Hatori's experience, how Kanna had been driven away, and Momiji's mother abandoning him. Akito had seemed right after these tragedies. After witnessing Hatori's pain, Yuki had believed Akito - that nothing lay before him except denunciation and misery if the secret got out. But… Kanna had left not when she found out about the curse; but after that confrontation with Akito himself. And Honda-san, even when threatened with memory erasure had smiled and asked to still be his friend. His friend. He'd never really had friends before. He'd never let anyone get too close, always held himself apart. He didn't want to be hurt. He didn't want to be rejected. So he'd pushed the world aside, rejecting it before it could do it to him.
Oblivious to Yuki's thoughts, Ranma continued "People who genuinely care for you accept it… I've managed to wind up with a few too many fiancés, and it hasn't put any of them off … Even though Kodachi and Kuno refuse to accept the obvious…" Ranma was being uncharacteristically philosophical.
The sound of running feet distracted the two martial artists and they turned as one, both instinctively taking defensive stances as the door crashed open.
Akane had guessed that Ranma, in girl form, would probably be looking for hot water, and U-chan's was the closest place to get it from. She simply could not understand why the idiot had taken off with Tohru's friend – Ranma was a lot of things - stupid being one of them! - She thought angrily, but he'd never crashed into someone and then kidnapped them to prevent them telling anyone about his curse before. It wouldn't have worked anyway; he'd left a witness at the scene. Akane and Tohru entered the shop and Ukyo looked up. "Oh, hello Akane." Akane smiled through clenched teeth and replied "Hi Ukyo – have you seen Ranma?"
The chef nodded as she expertly flipped the two okanomiyaki on the grill. "Yeah, he's out the back – there was some fighting earlier on…" she trailed off in surprise as Akane as Tohru looked at each other and then took off towards the back room, Akane in the lead. Ukyo was tempted to follow, but one glance at the okanomiyaki told her it was almost ready – rather than let it burn, she resolved to wait and find out what was going on later.
Akane burst into the room followed by Tohru. The two girls stopped short at the sight that met their eyes. Yuki was still shirtless, and Ranma, while fully clothed, was standing barefoot in a puddle of lukewarm water, in boy form. Both were in defensive stances. Yuki was looking surprised at their entrance, while Ranma was assessing Akane's mood to determine if evasive action was going to be required. Tohru, misinterpreting the situation dashed between the two yelling "No! Please don't fight! Fighting is bad! I'm sure we can –ah!" her words ended in a squeal as her foot slipped in the puddle. Yuki reflexively dived forward to try to catch her, there was a 'poof!' as he transformed when their bodies touched. Tohru braced herself for a nasty meeting with the wooden floor, but someone else had caught her. She looked up into Ranma's blue eyes as she regained her footing. Tohru looked closely at Ranma. He is certainly a boy she thought, with black hair… but for a minute I could have sworn he was a girl with red hair… and Yuki-kun transformed when they collided…maybe Yuki-kun transformed from shock or weakness?
"Umm, are you okay there?" Ranma asked. Tohru blushed bright red as she realised she'd been staring. She was bowing and thanking Ranma, while trying to apologise for being clumsy at the same time (the result was rather garbled) when she realised that Akane was pale with shock, and the pig tailed boy was staring at the ground. Or, to be more precise, Yuki in rat form, on the ground.
Yuki sighed.
Tohru moaned "Yuki-kun, I am so sorry! I swore to take the secret to my grave, and all I've done is reveal it to everyone! I am nothing but a burden!" she was quickly heading towards hysterics, and Yuki interrupted "It's alright, Honda-san. I'd already explained the curse to Saotome-san to clear up the misunderstanding at the corner."
Akane had jumped rather violently when Yuki began to talk. Ranma shifted uncomfortably. "This is Sohma Yuki. He's cursed too, but his curse is activated by hugging a person of the opposite gender." Akane, recovering slightly nodded "Umm…okay. I guess that answers how you managed to carry off someone of his size" she managed. Ranma shrugged "Ran into him, and it started raining. I transformed, so did he… and took off to try and find hot water for the pair of us…"
Tohru was still gazing at him. "Um, transformed? Curse?" she squeaked. Akane smiled reassuringly at Tohru, glared at Ranma and said "Please wait here for a moment…I'll explain everything" and left the room. She was back a few seconds later, carefully carrying a glass of water. She turned to Tohru and asked "Is this the boy that ran into Yuki on the corner?"
"Yes." Tohru replied after a moment's hesitation. Akane threw the water over Ranma. Tohru squeaked in shock as he changed into a girl. "What did ya do that for?!" Ranma's female voice demanded shrilly. Ignoring the now red haired girl she asked brightly "Is this the girl that absconded with Yuki?" Tohru nodded, her turquoise eyes huge.
"Ranma suffered an accident while on a training trip in China. He fell into one of the cursed springs at Jusenkyo. When he is splashed with cold water - or caught out in the rain without an umbrella - he turns into a girl. Hot water will reverse the effects and turn him back to normal." Akane explained to the bewildered Tohru.
Grumbling to herself, Ranma retrieved the kettle, and dumped the dregs over her head. The water was still warm enough to change her back into a boy.
Akane turned and glanced down at Yuki. Tilting her head to the side she asked "What's the trigger to undo your transformation? Do you need us to get anything?"
"No thank you Akane-san. We revert back to our normal forms after a short time."
"Really? How long does it take? I hope you don't mind me asking…"
Yuki shook his head. "No, its okay." For now a tiny voice in his head whispered. Unbidden, the memory of his childhood playmates having their memories wiped rose up. He dismissed it and started to explain "The length of time varies-" was as far as he got before his sudden reversion back to human interrupted. Faces flaming, Tohru and Akane bolted out of the room to give Yuki some privacy to put his clothes back on.
The boys emerged a few minutes later, dry and fully dressed as Ukyo served up the okanomiyaki.
Ukyo smiled and said "Great timing, Ranma honey!" as she placed before him. She continued "I just gave the rat the most popular toppings, because I didn't know what he'd prefer. Have you found out why he wants to kill you yet?" Ranma, who appeared to be engaged in an attempt to break the world record for fastest time to eat an okanomiyaki, was unable to respond around the huge mouthful he'd just tackled. Turning to Yuki she appraised him and winked. "You certainly look better now, sugar! You looked like a… drowned rat… before. Ranma's is on the house, and if you don't kill him, I'll give you a ten percent discount."
A/N: I apologise to all my readers for taking so long to get this chapter out. My muse went on holiday, and wouldn't come back! She's back now and being put to work! I'd like to thank all those kind people who reviewed - especially Seshut (my beta) and Cylon One who has reviewed all chapters so far! Have a Merry Christmas!