Togetherness
By M. Zephyr
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is a trademark of Rumiko Takahashi and VIZ Communications, and its characters have been borrowed without permission. This story was written for non-commercial purposes only.
Ranma x Akane. Two teenagers, strangers to one another, find themselves forced more closely together than they could possibly have imagined.
Chapter 5. Together Under One Roof
When Akane's family visited her again that evening, Ranma remained behind. He was reluctant to intrude on the family reunion in spite of both fathers trying to persuade him otherwise. Their argument that he was the girl's fiancé and therefore ought to be there only strengthened his resolve. Eventually the two sisters and their father left without him.
Genma immediately went out for a drink. Ranma decided to familiarize himself with his new surroundings, starting with the guest room in which he and his father would be staying. He found that the old man had already unpacked for both of them, so he took a few minutes to check that everything was still there. After reassuring himself on that point, the boy continued on through the rest of the house.
He did not venture inside any of the bedrooms, but only took a quick peek through the open doors, identifying the rooms by the nameplate on each door. The bedrooms on the second floor, aside from the guest room, all belonged to the Tendo daughters. Back downstairs, Ranma spent some time checking out the contents of the kitchen cabinets and refrigerator, before heading outside.
He looked with approval on the dojo, and experimented inside by doing a few kata. All in all, a very nice place. In fact, a place he wouldn't mind staying for a while, if it weren't for the price he was expected to pay. Just where did his pop get off thinking that he could tell Ranma who to marry?
His inspection over, Ranma climbed onto the roof of the house, where he watched the colors of the sunset spreading across the sky. He caught himself about to make a mental comment to Akane about the view, and sighed. It still felt rather strange not to have her present as a constant, if unseen, companion. He gave another sigh at the thought of how the two fathers wanted to make them constant companions of a very different sort.
Why were they so insistent on it? Couldn't they just be happy that she was back, and leave things at that? Ranma tried to determine how he felt about the idea of being engaged to Akane, the way their fathers wanted. He certainly didn't feel ready to be engaged to anyone, but no one seemed to care about his opinion.
The two of them had gotten to know one another pretty well over the past couple of weeks, what with internal conversations, sharing dreams, and experiencing every waking moment together. He had come to think of her as a friend. He'd never had a female friend before. Come to that, he hadn't had too many friends at all before. He and his father had moved around too much.
She did have a short temper, and she was pretty quick to accuse him of behaving stupidly (though not always without some justification, Ranma admitted grudgingly). Akane seemed at times to be just as impulsive as himself. Additionally, her opinion of males was so low as to barely acknowledge their humanity. On the other hand, their days together seemed to improve her opinion of him, personally.
No, he wasn't ready to be engaged yet, but no doubt someday he would marry. What sort of girl would he want? Cute. Okay, maybe that was shallow of him but it was unrealistic to think it didn't matter to him.
Akane was definitely cute.
Any girl who hung around him for long would have to be very interested in martial arts.
Akane was a martial artist, and possibly a fairly good one, from what little he'd been able to tell so far.
Ranma knew that he didn't always make the best choices for himself, so it would be good if he were to end up with someone who was ready to set him straight when he needed it.
Akane was obviously more than willing to do that. ‹A bit excessively,› he thought to himself with a smile.
Did he want to be engaged to Akane? No. Every time he came back to that thought, it was answered the same way, he wasn't ready for something like that. Unfortunately, it looked like his pop and Akane's dad weren't planning to give them any choice in the matter. He considered running off again, as he had started to do when his pop first told him, but that impulsive idea was looking more and more unpalatable. He was only sixteen; trying to live on his own would be extremely difficult, and he would likely be forced to give up his martial arts to manage it.
Then there were the curses. What girl in her right mind would want to be engaged to a guy who changed into a girl with a drop of water? Of course, Akane was the one person who would be able to truly understand what it was like, first after having lived through it with him for two weeks, and now being stuck with the same curse herself. Well, the same curse in reverse, as it were.
For that matter, there probably wouldn't be too many guys who would want to hook up with her, once they found out about her curse. Ranma tried to think how he would feel about Akane's curse, if she and he actually did become a couple. His imagination failed him at that point.
Ranma jumped down into the yard, then walked into the dojo. He decided to drive these concerns out of his mind temporarily with a hard workout. The young martial artist began the motions of a complex kata.
Over at the hospital, Akane's family had finally left, and she was alone, settled in for the night. She wasn't sleepy yet, which was a good thing as she had an awful lot to think about. That she was alive, against all expectations. The curse. The change in Nabiki. Her father trying to force her into an engagement with Ranma. The changes at school.
Okay, start simply. The changes at school. No more Kuno. The hentai horde disbanded, unless they wanted to go to jail. Effective administrators. All of that sounded good, and there wasn't really anything for her to do except to enjoy it, once she was out of here and back in school.
She was alive after all. Her mouth curved into a smile and her eyes glistened moistly. She had spent two weeks convinced that she was dead and would never be reunited with her family, and now all of that was proven false. There was a huge joy in finding herself alive again, and she was determined to try to live her life more fully from this point on.
The curse. Her smile disappeared at the thought. She had the same curse as Ranma, albeit in reverse. She looked like his identical twin in her cursed form, just as he looked like her in his. Akane sighed heavily. She could foresee numerous embarrassing incidents looming in the future, arising from people mixing up the two of them. Then she grinned evilly. In fact, it might be fun to generate a few such incidents on purpose.
To say that she was unhappy about having such a curse was a gross understatement. At least, the two weeks she had spent with Ranma as he tried to learn to live with his curse meant that she wasn't completely unprepared. She recalled once again her statement that she would have no choice but to live with it if she had such a curse. Unfortunately, that was no more than the simple truth. One way or another, she would have to manage.
Now how about the changes in Nabiki? Akane shook her head over how her own sister had callously contributed to the problems in her life, nearly leading to her death. But the consequences of her actions had clearly been devastating for Nabiki, who seemed determined to change her behavior. Akane reflected that she and her middle sister had always had more rivalry than either had with Kasumi, but it looked possible that the two of them might be able to get along much better in the future. Of course, there was still the possibility that Nabiki might revert to her old ways. Akane decided to take each day as it came, and hope for the best.
Finally, and very tentatively, Akane pulled out the notion of being engaged to Ranma and examined it. Unbeknownst to Akane, that selfsame boy was, at that very moment, engaged in a similar examination of the same idea.
Akane started with the fact that she very strongly didn't want to be engaged to anyone at this point. Her opinion of boys was still extremely low. But at least Ranma wasn't a pervert, or as big a jerk as most boys. In fact, while still trapped in his head, she had even told him she had come to think of him as a friend. It had been a major shock to her that she could so regard any boy her age. But he was just a friend, right? Nothing more? Akane considered for a moment what she felt for Doctor Tofu, despite the man's obsession with her sister Kasumi, then angrily pushed the thought aside.
No, Akane didn't want to be engaged to anyone, yet her father seemed determined to push her into it. She would continue trying to talk him out of it, but what if he wouldn't listen? She shook her head at the thought of leaving her family, her home; there was no way that she could do that.
Akane had occasionally dreamed about some man coming along, sweeping her off of her feet, and the two of them living happily ever after. But she had never given it serious thought before, not really. Now, with an engagement being pressed upon her, perhaps she should think about what she did want. At the least, it might help her to organize her arguments against her father.
All right, first thing, he would have to be a martial artist, a good one, at least as good as herself. Otherwise she wouldn't be able to respect him.
Ranma was the first guy Akane had ever met who was unquestionably a better martial artist than herself.
Shaking this thought off, she returned to her considerations. Although it wasn't required, it would be nice if the man she married was good-looking.
Akane sighed, thinking about how her friends were going to react on meeting Ranma. All of them would be drooling rivers.
Telling herself to focus, Akane tried to imagine herself as a wife and mother, in the far distant future of course. A loving husband. Well-behaved children. Cooking the meals. Keeping the house clean and tidy. In short, living a peaceful and serene life.
She snorted quietly. Who was she kidding? She knew well enough that she had a temper. She'd always had one, although it did become much worse after the horde began attacking her. Any guy who married her couldn't be someone who would shrink from a good argument.
There had been a few incidents involving hot words between her and Ranma during the previous two weeks. He was certainly more than willing to argue with her.
Akane began to feel a little worried about the points she was making to herself. Was she really willing to consider an engagement with Ranma?
No. At the very least they were too young, not ready for something like that. And most definitely Ranma was too young and unready for marriage. He was barely civilized. It might not be his fault, given how he'd been raised on the road by a man who was lacking more than a few social graces himself, but that didn't change the fact. Ranma was arrogant, impulsive, inclined to making stupid decisions. Akane thought a little guiltily about her own hot temper and tendency to impulsiveness. Okay, so they both had some growing up to do. All the more reason not to get engaged.
Even more reluctantly, Akane considered their curses. She tried to imagine herself in the company of a boy who changed into a girl. She shuddered as she thought of the rumors which would circulate. Then she thought about her own curse, and sadly wondered whether any man would ever be able to bring himself to accept her, curse and all. Ranma, at least, would understand, all too well. But how did she feel about his own curse? She tried to imagine them being engaged, what it would be like, given that he turned into a copy of herself. She clenched her fists, not sure herself exactly what she felt about it all.
Both Akane and Ranma slept fitfully that night, plagued by dreams of weird weddings, where Ranma as a female was wearing a white gown in the western style, and Akane as a male was wearing a tuxedo.
The next day began early for Ranma, with the sun barely showing over the horizon. Genma grabbed his sleeping son and tossed him through a window. Ranma landed in the koi pond, where he promptly changed into Akane's twin. Even before he resurfaced, Genma leapt out of the window, following him down, and the morning sparring match entered full swing. At one point, Ranma knocked his father into the pond as well, transforming him into a panda bear, but that didn't stop them, or even slow them down. They continued fighting until Kasumi called them in for breakfast.
Nabiki and Soun were already at the table, Soun hidden behind a newspaper while Nabiki looked bleary-eyed at their two guests. In an acid voice, she remarked to the room at large, "I hope this isn't going to be a daily occurrence. Last night was the first good night's sleep I've had since ... it happened. Too bad it was interrupted at dawn by the sound of someone destroying our yard."
"The boy needs his practice," the panda's sign read, as he began shoveling food into his mouth. To his mind, that was one of the benefits of his curse, the ability to 'talk' and eat at the same time. As Ranma began eating, the two elder Tendo sisters struggled with the appearance that the youngest sister had joined them once more. It was all the more disturbing after Ranma and his father began fighting over their breakfast, trying to steal each other's food.
Nabiki decided to try ignoring the sight, at least for the moment. She was dressed in her school uniform, ready to go, and as she stood up she announced, "I'm leaving for school now. I'll be going by the office today to see about getting you registered for classes, Ranma. Daddy says that you'll be attending the same school as Akane and myself, Furinkan High School."
Ranma looked at the panda in confusion, and inquired, "I'm going back to school?"
The panda quickly wrote, and held up its sign. "Yes. We're staying, so you're going to school here."
Ranma was still confused. "Why? You never thought much of school before."
The panda reached over and smacked him with a paw. Soun spoke up from behind his newspaper. "You're going to marry my daughter and run the dojo. You need an education."
Ranma sighed, but decided not to argue about it for the moment. Nabiki picked up a school bag and walked out of the door. Ranma reflected that she really did look a lot better this morning. Once he finished his breakfast, Ranma headed for the furoba so that he could wash off after his morning's exertions and change back to male form.
After that, and after Genma had also reverted to human form, Ranma found himself cornered alone by both his father and Soun Tendo. The two men proceeded to harass him about the engagement and the need to unite the schools. They told him more of the details about the agreement between the two families. Ranma didn't mean to start shouting. He didn't want to be too discourteous to his host Mr. Tendo, but he was nonetheless quite hot under the collar by the time they were done. Also by that time, he was feeling considerably more trapped than before. It felt like they were trying to tie him down with ropes of honor.
Kasumi left the house a little while later, heading to the market and saying that she would be back in an hour or two. The two fathers settled down to a shogi game. After several minutes of observation it became apparent that the object was more about which of them was the better at cheating. Feeling restless, Ranma announced that he was going out for a walk, to have a look around Nerima. Genma simply waved his hand in response.
He did not do as he said, but instead headed straight over to the hospital. He had become accustomed to talking with Akane all day long over the two weeks she was stuck inside of his head, and he found that he missed talking with her. Not that he put it that way to himself.
He had no trouble finding his way to the hospital, and went straight up to Akane's room without stopping at the front desk. Ranma hesitated at the door, wondering whether she would want to see him, or what they would talk about if he did go in. Then he berated himself. He'd managed to talk to her all through those two weeks, right? How much harder could it be now? He lifted his hand and knocked.
A soft voice from inside called out, "Come in." Feeling very nervous, Ranma swung the door open and stepped inside.
Akane looked rather startled to see Ranma walking through her door, and she sounded slightly worried as she said, "Ranma?" She had expected him to accompany her family when they visited last night, though she refused to acknowledge even to herself that she had felt disappointed when he had not. Now he was here by himself.
"Hi ... umm ... Akane," he started. "I ... ahh ... just thought maybe I could come over and we could, you know, talk. I suppose - well, this sounds stupid, but - I've got kind of used to hearing your voice. Besides, I figure, who else can we really talk with about, well, you know, what happened in China? And I thought, you see, that if I came over now, then we wouldn't have to worry about watching our words since no one else is around to hear."
Akane nodded. All of that made sense to her, and she was relieved to be given a reason why she didn't feel like objecting to his coming over by himself. In fact, she was surprised at how good it felt to hear his voice again. She motioned over to the chair and said, "Please have a seat."
After sitting down, Ranma looked around the room as an alternative to looking directly at her. "I see you still have the room to yourself," he commented, as he looked at the empty bed.
"Yeah, I suppose it's a little hard to find people who are willing to put up with my sharp tongue," she replied a little wistfully. Akane had been thinking earlier that it was a bit lonely lying here with no one to talk to.
"Aww, it's not that bad." Ranma turned to look at her. Her temple was as much of a mess as before, but her color and eyes were looking good. "You look a lot better than you did yesterday. What have the doctors told you?"
Akane smiled, and Ranma sucked in his breath. For the first time he dimly understood why a schoolful of boys had been willing to fight over her. For himself, he wanted to see her go on smiling like that.
"The doctor who came by this morning told me he can't believe how quickly I'm getting better. They're going to keep me at least another night for observation, but he said that if I continue to improve at this rate, they'll probably release me tomorrow morning."
"Hey, that's good news." Ranma smiled at her, but then the smile drooped a little. "Or at least it would be, if those two old men would stop going on and on about this stupid engagement business. They were bending my ear big time about it this morning, until I was ready to smash something."
Akane giggled. "That's not saying much," she teased. "You're always ready to hit something."
"Oh yeah? Well, just you wait. After you come home, they'll probably gang up on you, too."
"Oh." Akane's smile disappeared. She looked at him thoughtfully. "So why haven't you run off yet? You were ready enough yesterday. What's stopping you today?"
Ranma looked out the window, avoiding her gaze. "Seems to me that you were pretty eager for me to be running yesterday, too."
The silence stretched out between them for a couple of minutes before he continued, in a rush of words. "Look, I'm not ready to get engaged to anyone. I'm too young. You're too young. Unfortunately, I'm having a hard time getting our pops to listen to me when I say that."
He stood up, feeling too nervous and restless to sit still, and walked over to the window. He leaned on the sill, his forehead against the glass. "But I'm having second thoughts about running away and trying to live on my own. I'm only sixteen, and it'd be pretty hard. I'd have to get some sort of job, assuming I could find anybody to hire someone my age, or rent me a place to live. I expect I'd have to kiss my martial arts training good-bye."
He turned around again, but looked down at the floor instead of at her. "Besides, pop and your dad told me some stuff this morning. They were telling me about that stupid agreement they made and how it was worded. If I walk out, I don't just stain my own honor, but the honor of the Saotome name. Or however much honor is left to the name after the things pop's done. You know how much honor means to me." He shuffled a foot, hoping that she would understand.
Unfortunately for her own peace of mind, Akane did understand. During their time in China, they had enjoyed several long conversations on the subject of honor. At the time Akane had been pleased at how similar Ranma's feelings about it were to her own. Now she felt that sense of honor closing around them like a trap. "So what do we do?" Akane asked quietly.
Ranma shrugged. "I ain't sure there's a lot we can do. Everyone else is acting like we're already engaged. Even your sisters seem to feel that because I was able to wake you, uh, the way I did, that we're somehow destined for one another. You know your family better than I do. I was hoping you might have some ideas. The only thing I can figure is to just keep telling them, over and over again, that we're not engaged 'cause we never agreed to it."
Akane shook her head. "I already told them, several times, that I didn't accept this engagement. They just ignored me. You're right - as far as they're concerned, we're already engaged. I'm not sure how to convince them."
Ranma suggested in a tentative tone, "What if we were to start fighting whenever they're around? Argue, call each other names, that sort of thing? Do you think we could convince them that we're obviously a bad match?"
Akane thought it over. "Ranma, I only knew your father for those two weeks, but ... do you think any of that would bother him at all?"
Ranma hung his head. "No. He'd probably just say something stupid about how couples fight all the time, and continue to insist that we're engaged."
Akane nodded. "That's what I thought. I think my own father would do the same. My sisters might be a bit upset by it, but in the end it's our fathers that we need to convince. I'm just not sure that would work. Besides, I'm not sure that I'd want to act that way."
A glum silence descended for a couple of minutes. Then Ranma cleared his throat and asked, "Speaking of how I, um, woke you ... you don't really think it was the kiss that gave you the curse, do you?"
Akane shook her head. "No, I think it probably has something to do with being inside your head for those two weeks. Most likely, that I was there when you got your curse. Maybe the magic works on a person's spirit as much as their body, and I was there in spirit ..."
"But you're a girl," he objected. "And the pool I fell in was supposed to curse a person to turn into a girl."
Akane shrugged. "I still think that's the best explanation. The guide said the magic of Jusenkyo has a mind of its own. Maybe the curse affected you directly, and then somehow reflected onto me. And because it was a reflection, it was reversed. Or, if you think there's some other reason, why don't you tell me what it is? Anyway, does it really matter now?"
Ranma leaned back against the glass of the window. "I suppose not. I just didn't want to think I was contagious, able to give the curse to other people. Or you being that way, either, if it comes to that."
Akane nodded, understanding. "I'm sure we can't pass the curse along like that. The guide seemed to know a lot about them, and I'm sure he would have mentioned it if something like that could happen. Besides, the fact that Nabiki didn't get the curse seems to prove it doesn't work that way." Her eyes suddenly lit up, and she gave a giggle. "On the other hand, if I could give the curse to someone else through a kiss, maybe I'd grant Kuno's fondest wish and kiss him." She thought this over, and her face twisted nauseously. "Then again, maybe not."
Ranma smiled tolerantly. "Well, at least you won't have to fight him, or the other guys, in the morning anymore."
Akane smoothed a rumple in her sheet. "Yeah, it made me so furious, the way they wouldn't get a clue." She sighed pensively. "I tried to convince myself it was a sort of training. Not that any of them were very skilled." She turned and gave Ranma a long look, making him feel very nervous. There was a request she wanted to make of him, something that she'd been thinking over since she woke up, even though it meant swallowing her pride to do so.
Taking a deep breath, Akane gathered her courage and began. "You know, umm, I got to see a lot of your martial arts skill, you know, when we were traveling together. Both in your own body and in your cursed form. And, well, I don't like admitting it ... actually, I hate admitting it, but you're better than I am ... even when you're using my body. As long as you're going to stick around anyway ... do you think ... could you work with me, help me get closer to your level? After all, if you can make my body do those things while you're inside it, you ought to be able to teach me to do the same when I'm the one inside it. What do you think?" She turned anxious eyes on the boy, while biting her lower lip.
Ranma looked scared. "Uh ... why would you wanna do that?"
Her voice, when she finally replied, was puzzled. "What do you mean, why would I want to? I'm a martial artist too. I want to be the best I can be. Isn't that what you want - to be the best that you can be? I think you could teach me a lot. What would you say if I asked why you would want to get better at martial arts?"
"Well, but it's different for me," he protested. "I'm a guy."
"What the hell does that matter?" Akane yelled. "Do you think that only boys can be martial artists?" She recalled some of the stupid things she had heard Genma spout in China. "That sounds like something your father would say."
Ranma didn't know what to say to this. Everything inside of him rebelled at agreeing with his pop. On the other hand, the idea of putting Akane through what he'd gone through to reach his level of skill ... there was no way he could do that. So he simply stood there, like a deer staring at onrushing headlights.
Akane looked at him staring at her and remarked bitterly, "So you don't think I'm worth training, I suppose. Even though we have exactly the same two bodies. I thought we were friends."
Ranma swallowed nervously and closed his eyes. "We ... we are. Look, you know what my pop is like, and he's the one that raised me. At least ... at least give me a little time. I gotta think about this. Okay?"
She gave him a hard, measuring look. She had spent two weeks out on the road with Ranma and his father. Akane tried to imagine what it would have been like living with Genma Saotome for ten years, but her imagination failed her. Ranma had said he would think about it. Maybe she should let him have a chance to adjust to the idea. It wasn't as if her body was in shape for training at the moment, anyway.
"You promise to think about it?" Akane demanded. "Not just ignore it because it makes you uncomfortable?"
Ranma nodded and Akane sighed. She told him, "Okay. We'll drop the subject for the moment. But we are talking about this again, someday soon."
The young man standing at the window looked very uncomfortable, head hanging. He didn't want to disappoint Akane, but at the moment he couldn't see how to do what she wanted either. There were a few things it would be safe to show her, but he was painfully certain she wouldn't be satisfied with them.
Deciding to change the subject, Ranma tentatively asked, "Going back to an earlier point. Do you think there's any way to talk our dads out of this engagement?"
Akane lay back, looking weary. "I don't see how. We'll continue to deny it. As far as I'm concerned, we're not engaged. Nobody asked for our opinion. But I suspect that everybody else is going to treat us like we are. We'll just have to try not to let it upset us too much, and keep telling them, over and over, that we can't be engaged if we haven't agreed to it."
Ranma finally sat back down. "Yeah. Okay, I guess we know where we stand there. We both know we're not really engaged. We both realize everybody else is going to say we are. We're both bugged about that." He decided that this hadn't been the best choice of a change of subject, so he announced the other bit of news from earlier. "Nabiki told me this morning she was going to get me registered as a student at Furinkan High School."
Akane's eyes widened. "That's the school I go to."
Ranma nodded. "Yeah, so she said. For that matter, you mentioned the name a couple of times in China when you talked about your life here. Anyway, I was a bit surprised, my pop's not all that big on school, but he agreed that I should go." After a pause, he added, "I think your father talked him into it."
"Oh." Akane lay there and wondered how long it would be before the other students learned that he was supposed to be engaged to her, and their likely reactions when they did. It probably wouldn't take very long, the way rumors spread at her school. Hell, they'd probably know before she even went back to school. They might even know already.
Then another thought occurred to her. "Ranma, how are we going to keep these curses secret at school?"
Ranma blinked at her, confused. "I wasn't planning to pour water on my head and show them."
Akane sighed. "Do you remember all of those so-called accidents in China? It seemed that whenever we turned around, something dumped water on you. The same thing's going to happen here, just wait and see. We'll be outside at lunch and a freak rainstorm will pass over. Somebody holding a bucket of water for punishment in the hall will trip and spill it on one of us. You'll fall out a window and into the swimming pool. I don't think we're going to be able to hide it for long."
The boy snorted, "I think me falling out the window into the pool is a bit of a stretch." Still, as he thought this over, he was uncomfortably aware that she had made a good point. He asked plaintively, "Can't we try to keep it secret?"
Akane answered this question with another. "How long do you think we can hide it if we try?"
The boy hung his head again. "Not very long, I suppose. So what do we do, just come right out and tell them? Do you know how humiliating that would be?"
Akane looked him in the eye. "I'm no more anxious to face that than you are. Still, they're going to find out eventually, and I think we should be prepared for when they do."
Ranma gave her a weak smile. "I suppose so. Boy, they're gonna be in for a shock the first time it happens, aren't they? Suddenly, there's gonna be either two of you or two of me. Which reminds me." He paused and gave her a calculating look. "I saw that uniform that Nabiki was wearing this morning. You might want to try to get permission to wear something else. That would look pretty weird on you when you change into a guy. Besides, remember that time I changed back into a guy while wearing those panties?"
Akane returned his smile, though her cheeks colored. "That was a bit uncomfortable, wasn't it? You're right, I probably should do something about that. I suppose that means we'll have to tell the principal about our curses, at least. He'd be the one who'd have to give us permission to wear something else."
"I suppose," Ranma agreed. "Y'know, the clothes I wear fit pretty well whether I was male or female. You might try wearing something of the same sort yourself."
Akane thought about this a little, and then her smile turned positively wicked. "You know, Ranma, I was thinking earlier that we're probably going to get into a situation or two where people are going to mix us up. As long as we're stuck with these curses anyway, and people are insisting on treating us as some sort of couple, what do you say we make them pay for putting us in this spot?"
"What do you mean?" His brow furrowed, not understanding.
Akane spoke coaxingly. "What I mean, is, that I do exactly what you just said. I start wearing the same style of clothes you do. If one of us is in our cursed form, then people won't know which of us is which. For that matter, if one of us is male and the other female, they wouldn't be certain whether we're in our original forms or both of us are in our cursed forms."
Ranma pointed out, "We wear our hair differently. Remember, the hairstyle didn't change when we transformed."
Akane lifted a hand and waved it airily. "That's a minor detail. All we need to do is find a hairstyle that we're both comfortable with, that includes your dragon's whisker. Like, maybe a ponytail, tied at both the top and the bottom."
Ranma thought about it, amused in spite of himself at the idea of his pop being uncertain whom he was addressing. For that matter, it might help to keep things interesting at school, which otherwise promised to be pretty boring. Still, he pointed out another problem, "What about your forehead there? That's pretty obvious right now, and even after it heals it's bound to leave a scar."
Akane pouted. "Oh, stop being a spoilsport. All right, I admit that until it heals a bit, we're probably not going to get away with anything, but it won't take long to heal enough. Our hair will cover most of it, especially if we wear it in bangs, unless somebody looks really close. For that matter, I might be able to cover it with makeup, or fake one on you." She bared her teeth. "Maybe you'll even do something to upset me, and I'll give you a matching scar."
"You can be vicious sometimes, you know?" He was smiling while he said it, though. "It would be a good way to get back at our families for not listening to us about this engagement business. I also like the idea of fooling our teachers and classmates occasionally. Could be fun." He turned a curious eye on her. "I hadn't really got the impression before of you being someone who'd act that way, y'know, in school and all. I figured you as being more serious about that sort of stuff."
Akane shrugged. "Don't mistake me, I do want to do well in school. But for two weeks I thought I was dead, and now I'm alive again. I feel ... I dunno, like I want to have a little more fun. I think for some time now that I've been too serious about everything."
Ranma grinned. "All right, then. I'll be your partner in crime for the sake of having some fun."
Akane returned his grin. "It's more likely that I'll be your partner in crime, and you know it." Her grin became even more feral. "Besides, I want to make daddy pay for getting me into this."
Ranma sat back in a companionable silence, and they each contemplated their own thoughts. They were both thinking about how strangely twisted together their lives had become, and both were feeling grateful that they had been given a chance to get to know one another before yesterday. They both shuddered as they considered what that day might have been like if they had met then for the first time, only to be told that they were being forced into an engagement.
There was a knock at the door, shattering the peace which had fallen between them. Akane looked up and called, "Come in."
The door opened to admit Kasumi. She looked at Ranma with surprise, and quietly exclaimed, "Oh my, Ranma-kun. I didn't expect to find you here."
Ranma reached back and grabbed the end of his pigtail, fiddling with it nervously. "Yeah, well, I didn't have much of anyplace else to go this morning. I was getting kind of tired of pop and your dad nattering on about me and Akane being engaged, so I thought I'd come and talk to the one person who agrees with me about our engagement. You know, that we're not. Thought we'd cry on each other's shoulders, sort of."
Kasumi gave him a puzzled look mixed with a smile, as if she didn't quite comprehend his words but was determined to be cheerful anyway. As she turned back to Akane, Ranma stood and headed for the door. He said, "Hey, it was nice talking to you this morning, Akane. Keep up your spirits, I'm sure you'll be back home tomorrow. Then you can add your voice to mine in telling those two old fools that we're not really engaged." Akane told him good-bye, and he walked out the door, closing it behind him.
When Ranma returned to the Tendo home, he found that Nabiki had already arranged for him to take the entrance exam that very afternoon at one o'clock. He found the school without too much trouble, but things became more difficult after that. The exam didn't go smoothly, in fact the boy was sweating bullets by the time it was over. Ranma was pretty sure he had gotten at least some of the stuff right. He only hoped that it was enough.
When the exam was done, Ranma asked for permission to speak to the principal. He was informed that the man was very busy due to the state of disarray in which he had found the school. But after he demonstrated the curse for her, the secretary did agree to try to get him a little time. At least, she agreed to do so once she was able to uncross her eyes and speak again.
It took almost an hour, but eventually the secretary ushered Ranma into the principal's office. After properly greeting Principal Watanabe, he began to explain about the curse. The principal interrupted the boy, scolding him for wasting his time with nonsense. Ranma didn't reply verbally, he just walked over to a side table where a pitcher of water sat, and demonstrated. He was then obliged to get some hot water, change back, and demonstrate several more times.
After the man recovered from the shock, Ranma was able to explain how he had received the curse in the first place, and how cold and hot water triggered the transformation. He described how accidents with water seemed to seek him out, emphasizing the practical need to wear clothing which was suitable to either form. All of that was the easy part. Then he tried to explain about Akane.
Of course, the principal knew who Akane Tendo was, and that she had been hospitalized in a coma. After all, that was how he had come to hold his current job. But as Ranma told the tale of waking her with a kiss and the discovery of the mirrored curse, he watched dumbfounded as the stern older man's eyes grew moist. As he wrapped up the story, the principal pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed at his eyes.
"That ... that was beautiful," the man behind the desk said with a catch in his throat. "So romantic. You and Miss Tendo are obviously soul mates, destined for one another."
"Say what?" Ranma protested.
"Soul mates," he repeated. "Two souls who are meant to be together, for all time. A coma is no obstacle to you. Your curses only draw you closer together. Ohhh ... I can't wait to get home and tell this tale to my wife. In fact, I believe I will telephone her now."
Ranma had no idea how to respond to this. "Uh, right ... so, about permission for Akane and me to wear something other than the school uniform?"
The principal gave a deep sigh, and seemed to pull himself together. "Yes, yes. I must remember that I am in charge here. It would not do to waive the uniform requirement without at least giving the matter a little thought. I will call you later with my decision."
Feeling a little dazed from the interview, Ranma bowed to the man, then left the office.
The next morning, Soun Tendo received a call from the hospital informing him that his daughter would be released at eleven o'clock. Shortly before eleven, Soun, Kasumi and Ranma left together, walking over to the hospital. Kasumi carried a change of clothing for Akane. The doctor was in the process of checking her out when they arrived. When he finished, the men stepped back out while Akane got dressed.
A nurse arrived with a wheelchair, and Akane was all but forced to sit in it for the ride down to the entrance. She only gave in when the nurse stood in the doorway and refused to let her leave the room otherwise. However, when they got outside and Akane stood up, she nearly fell right over again. Both her father and Ranma managed to catch her though.
The nurse, deciding that her patient had not paid sufficient attention to her physician, started to lecture her. "Now, dear, you're not really ready to walk on your own yet. The doctor did warn you, you know. Move around for brief periods today to build up your strength. Get a ride to school tomorrow, don't walk there. You ought to be okay sitting in class, and walking around a little between classes. You're not to participate in gym at all this week."
Timidly, Kasumi responded, "I'm afraid we don't have a car." She turned to Akane and said, "I suppose that father could carry you home. Or Ranma. After all, he is your fiancé."
Two voices reacted simultaneously.
"He is not my fiancé!"
"I am not her fiancé!"
Kasumi looked bewildered. Ranma and Akane turned to regard each other after their mutual outburst, then gave each other weak smiles and shakes of their heads.
There was still the question of who would carry Akane home. Ranma contemplated an image of himself doing so, and immediately realized how much more difficult it would be for them to deny that they were a couple if people saw him carrying her through the streets like that. He protested, "I'm sure she'd much rather be carried by her father."
Akane looked back and forth between Soun and Ranma, biting her lip, trying to decide on the lesser of two evils. She wasn't happy with her father about pushing the engagement, and Ranma had become a friend, but on the other hand being carried by the latter would look too much like she had accepted the arrangement. She sighed and said, "I think that daddy should carry me. After all, I only just met Ranma. And we're not engaged."
"But Akane, what about my weak back?" her father objected. "I really think that your fiancé should carry you."
"Since when do you have a weak back?" Akane asked with mock sweetness.
"Er, I threw it out after you were injured?" he ventured. When it became apparent that this wasn't passing muster, he sighed and lifted his daughter into his arms.
About halfway home, a rotating water sprinkler on the other side of a wall sent its spray over the wall, wetting both Ranma and Akane, and inevitably Soun Tendo as well. The man staggered as the body in his arms shifted, and he attempted to mentally adjust to the fact that he now appeared to be carrying Ranma. The only clues to the true nature of the situation were that the figure in his arms still wore Akane's dress, and had her hairstyle and injury.
Soun groaned after the transformation. Looking to the side at his daughter's twin, he commented, "Your body is a good deal heavier than Akane's." He took a moment to shift his grip, achieving a better balance. They then continued on their way.
As they walked, Akane talked with her sister about her clothing situation. "Kasumi? I'm going to have to make some changes to my wardrobe. This isn't at all comfortable right now. Ranma's body is bigger and these clothes don't fit so well. Not to mention that I look ridiculous like this." Her father made no comment, but from his expression it was clear that he agreed.
Akane saw that her father was uncomfortable carrying his daughter who was a boy wearing a dress. This pleased her, causing her to feel like she was getting a little of her own back for the surprise engagement. But she wanted more. She pretended to hide her face, but the wicked grin and wink she bestowed on Ranma warned him that she was up to something.
In a distressed tone, Akane added to her previous comment. "Besides, the panties I was wearing are suddenly awfully uncomfortable. They don't have nearly enough room for everything that's in them."
She smirked at the blushes she had managed to raise on both her father's and Kasumi's faces. Ranma thought she was laying it on a bit too thick. He gave her a scowl of reproof. She wrinkled her nose at him and shrugged. But when she continued, her tone of voice was a bit quieter.
"Ranma told me yesterday that the curse seems to attract water. I need clothes that will fit either body. Maybe the sort of thing that Ranma wears? They seem pretty suitable. What do you think?"
Kasumi seemed a little startled by this notion, but a closer look at the fit of the demure dress she'd selected on her sister's currently male body convinced her that something, indeed, would need to be done. She then looked at Ranma's clothes, and saw how they still fit reasonably well, despite his change to female form. "I guess you're right, Akane. Ranma's clothes do seem to fit him fairly well, male or female."
When they reached the Tendo home, Soun carried Akane to the top of the stairs and then, at her request, put her down. Leaning on Kasumi, Akane shuffled down the hall and into her room. Ranma remained downstairs to get some hot water to change back, then to rummage around in the refrigerator and see what he could find to eat.
While he was eating, the school secretary called to inform Ranma that he had passed the entrance exam, though only by the skin of his teeth. He could begin attending classes tomorrow. The secretary wanted him to come by the office to pick up a copy of his schedule and the other requirements for school. Ranma suggested instead that perhaps she could give them to Nabiki to bring home for him. This was readily agreed to.
The secretary then added, "Principal Watanabe also said to tell you that due to, er, 'extenuating circumstances,' he has decided to waive the school uniform requirement for yourself and Akane Tendo. I suppose that's a reference to, ah, er ... well, none of my business, really."
Remembering the demonstration he had given her in order to get the appointment with the principal, Ranma replied, "Yes. The uniform would make things a bit awkward. And ... Akane has the same problem. Please don't ask."
A few more polite words were exchanged, before they hung up. Ranma stuffed the last of his lunch into his mouth, then went upstairs to let Akane know that he would in fact be going to Furinkan High School. He also told her of the decision about the school uniforms. This came as a surprise to Akane, since she didn't know that Ranma had already taken steps to deal with the matters they had discussed.
As he was leaving her room, Akane asked him to send Kasumi in. A little while later, Kasumi came back downstairs and asked Ranma if he would accompany her. When they left the house, though, he discovered that he'd been tricked. They were going out shopping for clothes, something which he regarded as being about on a par with having teeth pulled.
Even worse, she wanted him in order to get clothes for Akane. Afterward, Ranma prayed that no one would discover that the older girl managed to talk him into transforming in order to try on the clothes she selected. In fact, he had gone so far as to swear Kasumi to secrecy about it.
However, the most stressful result of the shopping trip came later, something that Ranma hadn't foreseen. He went up to see if Akane would like some help walking around, since she was supposed to practice from time to time to build up her strength. When he opened the door and entered the room, he saw her wearing one of her new outfits. Quite unexpectedly, Ranma found himself wondering whether she was wearing any of the new undergarments Kasumi had purchased, sports bras and some type of silky shorts the older sister had called tap pants.
The thought caused him to freeze, overwhelmed by nervousness, and speechless as a result.
"Yes, Ranma?" Akane asked politely, while wondering if he would make any comment on her new clothes.
Ranma tried to get his tongue to make some sound, but it was behaving in a most uncooperative fashion. His face felt hot, and he began to worry that he might be blushing. He closed his eyes and tried to picture Akane in her cursed form instead, hoping that might help.
"Are you all right?" Akane inquired solicitously. His face seemed a little flushed, though she was puzzled as to the reason.
The new image he had conjured up finally got his tongue untied. Speaking quickly, Ranma asked, "Hey, Akane, you ready to try walking around some more?"
She grimaced. "Yeah, I guess, but let me try it on my own." Ranma watched carefully as she made her way unsteadily downstairs, before she finally collapsed on the couch in the family room.
From her sprawled position, Akane noticed Ranma looking at her worriedly. She gave him a rueful smile. "Guess I'd better work at walking a bit harder if I want to get around school tomorrow, huh?"
Ranma nodded, giving her a critical look from head to toe. "Yeah, we should get you on your feet every half hour for the rest of today, as far as you can bear to walk each time. Maybe some calisthenics in between." He sat down at the end of the couch, and put his hands on the soles of her feet. "Push," he commanded.
Akane wearily did so for several repetitions. Ranma then went up the stairs and back to her room. He had seen a box of weights in there earlier, and brought down a couple of the smaller ones. "Here," he said, handing them to her. "Spend a little while building up your arm strength, too."
"Slave driver," the girl muttered, but took the weights and started pumping her arms up and down, one after the other. She paused after doing so a dozen times, the muscles in her arms protesting, wondering how long it was going to take to get her body back into shape.
A little wearily, Akane commented, "It seems there are some forms of training you don't mind helping me with."
Ranma looked away, apparently embarrassed. "Aww, this ain't nothing. Not like what you really want me to do. You do realize that even if you talk me into it, it'll be a while before you're in shape for it?"
Akane nodded, and by mutual unspoken agreement they let the subject drop once more.
When Nabiki got home that afternoon, it was clear that she'd had a look at Ranma's schedule. She looked over at Akane sitting on the couch and her grin only grew wider, then she turned back to Ranma. "Hey, Ranma-kun, guess what? You've been put into the same homeroom as Akane. In fact, your schedule is identical to hers except for when she's in home ec and gym. I guess the two of you are just fated to be together, huh?" She chuckled at their protests as she walked out and went upstairs to her bedroom.
By nightfall, Akane was getting around the house on her own, if a bit slowly. She went out to the dojo but found that even a beginning kata was beyond her present strength. Nonetheless, she was starting to feel confident that she really would be able to manage school the next day. When she'd first come downstairs, she'd been scared that she would still be too weak. Now, it looked like it would merely be a minor ordeal.
On coming back in from the dojo, Akane decided to take her evening bath. It was a ritual performed a thousand times before, and the habit carried her along easily, without the need for conscious thought. After undressing in the outer room, she picked up her towel, stepped through into the bathing room and stopped in her tracks, shocked. Ranma froze as well, in the process of climbing out of the furo, one foot in and one out, staring back like a wild animal which has been surprised. She looked at him looking back at her, both of them unclothed, fully exposed.
They maintained that tableau for several long seconds, neither one moving, until Akane suddenly whipped around and retreated into the changing room. She quickly pulled her clothes back on, but found she didn't have the energy to do more. She collapsed on the bench in that room, suddenly feeling too tired to walk any further.
When the door to the bathing room opened again, a minute or so later, Ranma peered through, a towel modestly wrapped around himself. He wilted slightly under her glare, but protested, "Hey, you're the one who walked in on me!"
The glare intensified. Akane replied in a scathing voice, "Perhaps, but you're supposed to put the 'Occupied' sign on the door."
"Er, what 'Occupied' sign?" he asked nervously. Akane pointed. There it was, clear and unmistakable, hanging in plain sight on the wall near the door. "Oh. That 'Occupied' sign." He scratched the back of his head in a nervous gesture. "Sorry 'bout that."
Akane sighed. "You're just lucky I'm too weak to punch your lights out. What I'm still trying to figure out is why I haven't screamed my head off."
Ranma shrugged. "Maybe it's the fact that for a couple of weeks, we bathed together every day. Not to mention other unmentionable acts that people have to do every day. We've already seen each other's bodies quite a few times now."
Akane frowned at him. "It's not the same thing. If this ever happens again, I am going to crush you flat, tie a stone to you, and drown you in that furo. Understand?"
"Um, understood. It won't happen again." Ranma picked up his clothes and left the room, hoping that he wouldn't encounter anyone else until he reached the guest room and could get dressed.
Once she was alone again, Akane sighed, and started slowly removing her clothes once more. The truth was, she suspected that what he had said was correct. While it had been a shock to see him like that, and to have him looking at her, those sights were not brand new to them. She had seen his male body numerous times already, as he had seen her female body. Furthermore, with their curses, they were each going to become very familiar with both of those bodies. Under the circumstances, mounting the proper outrage for what had happened would have taken just a little too much effort for her fatigued state.
As she sat on the stool and poured the water over herself to rinse, Akane felt the increasingly familiar tingle which signaled the activation of her curse. Feeling very guilty for doing so, Akane took the time to examine her male body carefully, knowing all too well that it was a duplicate of Ranma's body. It seemed so strange to have one of those. She washed it carefully, examining it with her hands and wondering at the new sensations. She watched bemused as it slowly grew into that state she had surprised on Ranma several minutes earlier. She wondered if Ranma had made as careful an examination of his female body, the twin to Akane's own, at some point in the last couple of days. Now that he need no longer worry about her internal voice yelling at him for doing so.
She decided probably not, given the overall shyness about such matters he had exhibited during the time she was in his head.
Troubled by the thoughts going through her own head, Akane hurried to the furo, trying to ignore the unfamiliar bobbing weight below. She sank down into the hot water blissfully, feeling her body transform back to a more familiar form. She tried to forget Ranma, and curses, and anything other than the pleasant heat surrounding her.
Before breakfast the next morning Akane watched while Ranma and his father sparred. It was the best way she could think of to spend the time. After all, she was far from being ready to resume her early morning jogs.
Breakfast itself was not an easy meal for four of the six at the table. Soun barricaded himself behind his newspaper, trying to pretend nothing was different. Genma on Soun's left was in his panda form, which made his uneasiness less obvious, as he greedily devoured his food. Nabiki, on Genma's other side, already in her school uniform, and Kasumi at the other end of the table, had no such means to hide their feelings.
The cause of their discomfort was the remaining pair on the final side of the table. Akane and Ranma might have been identical twins, both in female form, looking like Akane, and even dressed in matching clothing. The only way to tell them apart was their hair, the damp state of Ranma's clothes from his dip in the pond, and the healing injury on Akane's temple. They were acting like they didn't even notice everyone else's discomfiture.
After breakfast, Ranma changed back to his male body once more, then met Akane and Nabiki as they prepared to leave for school. Akane turned to her father with a frown, noticing that he was busy setting up a shogi board. Since he made no move to get up, she turned away with a huff and prepared to walk out the door on her own. Except that Ranma put out a hand to stop her.
Noting the byplay, Kasumi turned toward Soun and said, a trifle impatiently, "Father. Don't you remember? The nurse said that Akane wasn't to walk to school this morning. We agreed that you were to carry her."
Their father looked up, a woebegone look on his face. He reached a hand behind himself and winced. "Ohhh ... did I forget to tell you? Yesterday, when I was carrying Akane and she changed to a boy, I pulled a muscle in my back. It stiffened up overnight. I'm sure that I couldn't possibly carry her all of the way to the school."
"And who's supposed to carry me, then?" Akane asked in dangerous tones.
"Your fiancé, of course!" Soun replied happily. "There's no other choice."
"Hey, now! Just a minute ..." Ranma began.
Genma, who had changed back to human, interrupted his son. "What kind of a man are you, Ranma? Will you force your fiancée to walk all the way to school in her condition? Are you that hard-hearted?"
Ranma growled. "Shut up, old man! Do the two of you really expect us to believe that story about a pulled muscle? Besides, I don't see anything wrong with your back, pop."
Akane's anger was submerged under a look of uneasiness, as she pictured Genma Saotome carrying her. "Er, Ranma, I don't think ..."
Her father, paying no attention to his daughter, answered Ranma. Tears sprang into his eyes. "You don't believe me? Ohhh, my future son-in-law thinks I'm a liar. He's so cruel that he wishes me to strain my already sore back."
Akane once again looked angry. "Of course we don't believe you! This is just some stupid scheme ... ooooh!" She trailed off wordlessly, closing her eyes and clenching her fists. "If this keeps up we're going to be late for school! Ranma ..."
She turned to him, then paused before letting out a deep breath. "Would you ... mind? It doesn't mean anything, whatever these two fools think. I don't want to be late, my first day back, which is all that's going to happen if we keep arguing."
Ranma blew out an exasperated breath. "Pop, I'm gonna get you for this," he muttered. It wasn't that he was averse to carrying Akane. She was a friend, and she was in need of help. He was just worried about the rumors that might circulate when people saw them. "Okay, Akane. Let's go."
The three of them picked up their school supplies and left the house together, giving one last scowl apiece in the direction of the two fathers. At the gate, Akane turned and looked at Ranma resignedly. When he made no immediate move, she raised her eyebrows inquiringly. Finally, trying to ignore the smirk on Nabiki's face, Ranma stooped in front of Akane so that she could climb onto his back.
As they came up beside the canal, Ranma crouched slightly, then sprang up onto the fence beside it and continued walking along the top. Akane exclaimed, "Eek! What are you doing?" She struggled a little, forcing Ranma to stop and pay attention to his balance.
"Hey, stop struggling idiot! You're gonna make me fall!"
Akane went still, while Nabiki stared at them curiously. In a grim voice, Akane said, "Okay, I'm holding still. Now will you please tell me just what the hell you're doing?"
Ranma stared back at her. ‹She ought to know this,› he thought to himself. ‹I did it several times when I had the chance in China.› Out loud, he explained, "Balance training. Pop says everything ought to be training of some form. So when I'm out walking, if I have the opportunity, I walk along something like this to exercise my sense of balance."
Akane gritted her teeth, as Ranma started walking along again. "Okay, I actually understand that. But why are you doing it while carrying me?"
Ranma wanted to shrug, but it was a little difficult while she was on his back. "Why not? As long as you're not wiggling around, it isn't any harder than doing it by myself. You don't have to worry, I've done this sort of thing a lot. Usually with a great big pack on my back. Which was a whole lot heavier than you."
Akane sighed. "If you fall down while carrying me, you and I are going to have words. Loud and piercing words. The kind that leave scars."
Ranma turned his head to grin at her. "Don't worry. Nothing like that's gonna happen." Nabiki continued walking along the sidewalk underneath them, shaking her head at these antics. She was beginning to grasp just how much what she thought of as her normal life was going to be turned upside-down in the coming days.
As they neared the intersection where they were to turn, Ranma leaped off of the fence, landing clear on the other side of the street. He turned to smirk at Akane and asked, "So, how was that for a landing? Eh?" Before she could form a reply a wave of water washed across them.
Ranma took a moment to re-center himself, now that he was female and was carrying a male body on his back. Akane's snide comment was, "Oh yeah, perfect landing Ranma. Right in front of someone tossing water on the sidewalk." Ranma turned to the side and observed an elderly woman holding a ladle, who was looking at them in some consternation.
As Nabiki crossed the street and joined them, she asked, "Shouldn't a martial artist have more awareness of his surroundings than that, Ranma-kun?"
Ranma growled at both girls. "Laugh it up, you two. But now we gotta go back home and bathe. I got no intention of showing up as a girl for my first day."
"But we'll be late," Akane protested. "Look, all we need is hot water, right? C'mon, there's a place just a couple blocks further where we can get some."
"Doctor Tofu's?" Nabiki asked. Akane nodded, and Nabiki walked off leading the way.
After a couple of blocks Ranma saw a clinic up ahead. Nabiki went inside but Akane had Ranma stop just outside. He put Akane down to let her stand on her own feet temporarily. While they waited, a bony hand suddenly landed on Akane's shoulder and both spun around to find themselves looking a skull in the eye. The two teenagers jumped in fright, with Ranma ending up clutching the top of a wall and Akane halfway up a lamppost clinging to it.
As they each caught their breath, they saw a man with glasses who was holding onto the skeleton. Akane dropped back to the ground and shyly said, "Oh, hello Doctor Tofu."
The doctor turned a puzzled glance on the young man who had just addressed him. "Um, hello. Do I know you?" He turned to Ranma and greeted him with, "And hello to you, Akane. What brings you by my clinic this morning? No new injuries I hope?" Then he started looking even more confused as he took in Ranma's pigtail, and the lack of the healing injury. He turned back to Akane, and studied her healing wound. "Uh-h-h ...?"
At that point Nabiki emerged from the clinic with a kettle. "Hello Doctor Tofu," she called brightly. Then she handed the kettle to the young man who had first addressed the doctor and said, "Here you go, sis."
Akane's voice trembled a little as she searched for something to say. "Um, it's a little hard to explain, and we're already in danger of being late for school. I'm Akane, and this ..." She gestured toward the girl with Akane's face. "... is Ranma Saotome, a guest at our house. We both have water activated curses. Maybe we can come by and tell you about it later." She poured the water on her head, changing back to her female body. Then she handed the kettle to Ranma and took the towel Nabiki was holding out to dry herself off. Ranma poured the water, also changing, and Tofu's eyes crossed as he watched the pair appear to exchange bodies.
Nabiki added helpfully, "Ranma is Akane's fiancé. They just got engaged."
Tofu was feeling a little numb from all of the shocks. "Uh, aren't they a trifle young to be engaged?"
Akane yelled, "Nabiki!" Then she turned to the doctor and said, "We are not engaged. That's just some stupid idea of our fathers." Turning to the other two, she declared, "We've got to be going, or we really are going to be late." Ranma got Akane up onto his back again, and he and Nabiki took off at a trot, leaving a seriously confused doctor staring after them.
Doctor Tofu Ono gazed down at the skeleton in his hands, and addressed his next words to it. "Betty-chan, did Kasumi Tendo come by the clinic this morning? Did I forget? Except ... the hallucinations induced by her visits usually aren't quite so very strange."
Author's note:
Stick around for the conclusion of the story in Chapter 6, "Together Interchangeably."
For those who are curious about the source of an author's inspirations, the ideas for this story arose more or less in the following stages.
In reviews of other stories of mine, some people have complained that Ranma and Akane would certainly want to engage in sexual intimacies as two females.
I have sometimes wondered whether, were Akane cursed to become male instead, these same people would advocate as strongly that they would certainly want to engage in such acts as two males.
There are of course numerous fanfics out there where Akane receives a Nanniichuan curse. So I had no interest in just writing a generic story where Akane has such a curse. Also Ranma isn't really Ranma without his curse to turn female.
For some reason, while reflecting on such thoughts, I was reminded of a passage from the fantasy novel Demons of the Dancing Gods by Jack Chalker. Joe (the hero) received a "pure were" curse, which turns him into whatever animal he is standing near at moonrise on the nights of the full moon. The sorcerer Ruddygore talks to him about the woman who bit him, saying that she and her husband have such a curse and "... most of the time they just turn into each other. They seem to think it's fun. At least it's appealingly kinky." (This is not a recommendation for the book. In my opinion, despite a few good scenes, it is much inferior to the first book in the Dancing Gods series.)
Naturally this inspired the idea of having Akane and Ranma turn into each other, instead of just having Akane turn male and Ranma turn female.
As a means to accomplish this, I decided to have Akane present in spirit inside Ranma when he is cursed, and have the pattern for his curse taken from Akane instead of his DNA. At the same time, I had the magic of the curse reflect off of Ranma's spirit onto Akane's, so that she gets the same curse, only reversed. This assumes that the curse is anchored in the spirit rather than the body.