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Chapter 2: To Gain a Son is to Lose a Daughter

"Ack! A man's chest! Get away from me! Get away!" Happosai screeched. Due to absorbing ki from a man thinking it was female ki, he withered and fell to the floor, effectively spilling the rest of the Nannichuan water.

Soun could only stare in horror at his child sprawled on the floor. The feet were wide and calloused, not small and feminine like a young woman should have no matter how intensely she trained in martial arts. The legs were longer and sturdier, covered with sweatpants that seemed smaller than before. Quickly moving his gaze upward, Soun stared at the flat chest stretching the red t-shirt that concealed it, but there was no doubt it was a man's chest. Afraid to see the look on Akane's face, Soun softly closed his eyes and took a deep breath. After a moment he lifted his head and opened them, meeting his daughter-turned-son's gaze.

The eyes were the same, he noted, albeit a bit darker than before. What was once a light chocolate-brown color had become a darker shade that made it difficult to read the emotions going through his youngest child's mind.

Akane pushed her wet bangs from her face, realizing her hair was now jet black instead of the deep midnight blue she was used to seeing. That hair seemed to be a checkpoint in all the major turns of her life. She began to grow it long when she first discovered what it meant to have feelings for a man. When it was abruptly cut short again, she realized it was a simple crush compared to how she began to feel for a certain pig-tailed boy. And now the color indicated she was more or less permanently stuck with a curse she never anticipated she'd fall victim to.

Frankly, she wasn't surprised with the turn of events. It was partially why Soun couldn't find that hint of anger, shame, or even sadness he was sure would spill from Akane in waves.

"A-akane dear, are you alright?" he tentatively asked.

Akane awkwardly stood up, testing out her new legs. She felt a surge of power as she did so, the strength in her muscles making her feel renewed strength. She brought her hands to her chest to assure herself that certain assets really were gone. Akane wasn't exactly disappointed however, since she instead felt firm pectorals that were awkward under her bra. Moving slowly downwards, she lightly touched the rock hard abs that didn't feel all too different from Ranma's in those rare times when he carried her in his arms.

A soft blush spreading across her face, Akane dropped her hands and looked back up at her father. She wasn't anywhere near ready to explore her body further, and would prefer to discuss her predicament for the time being.

Soun had observed Akane getting to know her new body, and it touched something deep inside him. It was watching a newborn seeing the world for the first time. Soun couldn't help it. The tears came as easily as it always did, but this time the wailing was absent.

Whenever Soun started on his daily waterworks, his loud cries never failed to put a comedic air to it. However, it was only a façade. No one ever questioned if his pain was real and his daughters were no different. He was always easy to hurt, even before his beloved wife passed on. Those days he never cried out loud because he knew his pain would hurt her as well. But it hadn't mattered because his dear Kimiko knew anyway. When she left the living world, the need to hide his pain went with her. From that day onward, the people around him just went with the explanation that his wife's death was the sole reason he was so emotionally fragile, without ever delving further into the matter.

As time went on, Soun realized his daughters were moving on without him. Kasumi took control of the household chores, Nabiki found her way with money, and Akane continued training herself in martial arts. It was then he knew the time had come to hide his pain once again and continue his life, and that's when the flooding tears and woeful wails became a common occurrence.

But now, he truly knew an unfixable mistake had been made with his own actions as the root cause. He had meddled far too many times in his youngest daughter's choices. He refused to teach her to fight any longer, so she became far too lax in her skills. He engaged her to a boy neither of them knew without her consent, so she seemingly lost the chance to be his friend at the very least. For nearly a year now he had allowed a different boy disguised as a pig to share her bed for Kami's sake! And now with a chain of bad decisions, his daughter became his son.

For once Soun knew exactly what Ranma felt when Akane would inevitably become raging mad and declare him her most recent subject of hatred. Before he could hear what Akane had to say however, another voice spoke up.

"Don't tell me a one-of-a-kind beauty like Akane-chan has just been turned into this abominating species of humankind?! A man?!" It would be a wasted effort on both Soun and Akane's part to mention that Happosai himself was a man.

Akane finally found that familiar feeling creeping up past the recesses of her mind. Not having an extreme reaction was far too odd, so it wasn't hard to accept the anger. It looked to blame someone for all the misfortunes that befell her that day, and Happosai was a legitimate target. Forming a fist with her male hands, Akane stomped toward the old man to give him a beating like she never gave before.

Before her right hand could impact his head though, it was halted by Happosai's smoking pipe. Akane then felt a weird sensation that lasted less than half a second before she slammed against the opposite wall. She realized she had been thrown by the old creep.

"Akane!" And there was the typical wail she was waiting for. With exception to her newly acquired curse, it seemed things were finally returning back to normal.

Akane landed on her knees and lifted her head to glare at Happosai. "What's your problem?" came the deep alien voice from her mouth. "It's all your fault the water spilled on me!"

Happosai crossed his arms and closed his eyes, trying to give the pretense that he was about to say something wise. It didn't work. "If you're dead set on giving me that attitude, then I guess I can just waltz out of this room right now and announce to all of Nerima about your new gift from Jusenkyo," he replied in a haughty voice.

Not as wise as it was sneaky. Soun's face showed panic while Akane's eyes widened. Now that she was given a few minutes to really think of what it meant to be cursed, she had to consider how others would react to it. There wasn't a doubt the students and teachers at school would be gossiping about it for weeks. Shampoo and Ukyo (maybe even Kodachi if she stopped being so delusional for a few seconds) would laugh at her and use the curse as another reason why she wasn't fit to be anyone's wife. And Ranma, oh Ranma, he'd scoff and agree with them.

"Not surprising the tomboy became a real boy!" he'd say. "And to spill the cure to my curse on yourself just proves how clumsy you are. I wouldn't live long enough to last through a wedding ceremony with you, tripping all over the place!"

"Don't you dare tell anyone!" Akane all but shouted.

"Oh? And what would I get in return for keeping such a big secret?"

"Anything that isn't perverted."

Happosai tapped a finger to his chin, deep in thought. The room was silent for a few minutes before Akane lost her patience.

"Well?!"

"I want to train you."

The other two gaped in shock. Happosai wanted to train a new student that was a female no less? Surely the universe wasn't content with just cursing Akane that day. It had to throw a few more surprises in for good measure.

Akane almost agreed when she remembered why training with Happosai would be worse than spending a lifetime with the devil. Images of running from angered restaurant owners, stealing panties and sake from unsuspecting women and their husbands, and starving every other day because her teacher was too much of a bum to find his own food ran through her mind in a flash.

Unconsciously shuddering, Akane replied stubbornly, "I don't need any training. I can handle myself just fine."

"Really now? Then how do you explain how I got this and you never even noticed?" Happosai taunted, holding up a very familiar looking bra with his pipe.

"What the!" Akane's hands flew to her chest and she realized that her bra was indeed gone. Snapping flaming eyes back at the old man, Akane leapt at him and demanded to have the piece of underclothing back.

Happosai merely bounced off the walls avoiding her hands by centimeters and gleefully sang, "You want it, come and get it! You claim you can fend for yourself then prove it to me!"

Akane's useless attempts to get her bra back continued while Soun was conflicted with how to deal with the situation. He pathetically raised his arms in calming gestures and gave weak protests about the other two messing up his room. His failure eventually brought tears to his eyes and he was reduced to sobbing.

Akane was soon worn out and slowed to a stop next to the bed. Her anger was not appeased however, and she refused to give in to Happosai's request to train her. Strengthening her resolve, she declared to the both of them, "I've had a rough day. Once I get take a warm bath to change myself back and eat a hot meal made by Kasumi, I'll have enough strength to get my bra back. Just you watch!" And she stomped out the door.

Soun and Happosai stared out the open doorway in awe at Akane's audacity.

"Soun, your daughter can be a little impulsive sometimes."

"Oh, Master! It's all my fault she's like that!"

Meanwhile, Akane had gathered fresh clothing from her room and was heading for the bath, where an unsuspecting Nabiki had just stepped into the steaming waters of the furo.