Chapter 3
When Ranma made it back to the empty lot, she crawled into Ryoga's tent and found his portable burner, as well as his kettle. She didn't think that he'd mind what he didn't know about, and it was the most convenient source of hot water besides. After she checked to make sure that there was enough water inside of the kettle, she took it and the portable burner outside of the tent, placed the former on top of the latter, and a second later the water in the kettle was being heated.
With that done, she went over to the spot where she had undressed before, behind the tent, and began to do so again. It took her no time at all, and soon she was feeling around the back of her head, through a thick mane of hair. When she didn't succeed in finding an opening, she furrowed her brow and felt around a bit more meticulously. When that failed to turn up anything, she lost her patience and began to pull at the hair of the skin suit.
"Ow, ow, ow...!" She cried out, when she gave the hair a particularly-hard yank.
She rubbed the spot that smarted, as she considered the implications of what had just happened. Frowning, she raised one of her hands to one of the horns on the side of her head, pulled on it, and felt it firmly affixed to her skull. Then she felt the back of her neck, then between her shoulders, and felt no evidence of a seam. Now that the pieces were beginning to fall into place, she looked over her shoulder, at the tail, and — hesitantly — tried to move it... and succeeded.
Her eyes became as wide as saucers as she gasped out, "You've gotta be kidding me..."
"You also have a pair of functioning wings," a woman's voice suddenly informed her.
"What!?" Ranma exclaimed, her narrowed eyes darting this way and that as they searched for the source of the voice. "Come out, where I can see you!"
"I'm afraid that I can not," the voice responded, sounding regretful.
Ranma, however, wasn't concerned about any particulars regarding the voice, aside from where it had come from. Now that she had that figured out, she focused her attention on it. Turning to face Ryoga's tent, which had been empty just moments before, she began to take a purposeful step toward it when she heard the voice again.
"Stop!"
Ranma felt compelled to stop, so she did. Then she gave herself a mental slap for responding to the voice's command and angrily said, "Why should I?"
"I simply can't risk being seen," the woman explained, stressing her words.
Unsatisfied with that answer, Ranma said, "not my problem," as she reached out with one hand and gripped the top of the tent.
"Please!" The woman pled, sounding desperate. "Don't!"
Ranma didn't make a move to throw the tent away, but neither did she relax her grip on it. With a measured tone, and a steady glare, she asked, "What do you want?"
"You wish to know what has happened, don't you?" She queried.
"No, of course not," came Ranma's sarcastic reply.
The woman in the tent didn't respond immediately. When she did, she calmly said, "I only have so much time, so I must make this quick." Ranma stood attentively as she went on to say, "Your family comes from a very old dragon lineage. So old, in fact, that no dragon traits are expressed for several generations at a time. Even when they are, only the most superficial traits have survived to your generation."
"What does that have to do with me getting stuck in this skin suit?" Ranma impatiently asked.
"I'm getting to that part," the woman replied, voicing some of her annoyance at being interrupted. "The fact is that the skin suit you put on is the shed skin of a dragon half, which is the result of a union between a human and a dragon. One that just happens to be your ancestor."
Ranma took a moment to absorb that information, however strange it sounded, before she carefully asked, "So... You're saying that my relation to this dragon half, and wearing her shed skin," she shuddered a bit at the thought, "is why I'm stuck like this?"
"Only partially," she answered. "There are two other factors, as well: your curse, and nature itself."
"Huh?" Was Ranma's intelligent response. "What do you mean?"
"It's a simple matter with your curse," she began to explain. "Magic, being rather exotic and raw nowadays, has a tendency to express its nature wherever possible. When the magic of Jusenkyo worked its magic on you, it was attracted to the exotic traits of your bloodline, which weren't being expressed. Thus your red hair and blue eyes, for example."
"The other factor is a bit more complicated," she went on. "There's a kind of natural order to things: if this happens, then that happens; and if that happens, then this happens. A sort of balance is reached by swinging to and fro between opposing forces, since each counterbalances the other. Are you with me, so far?"
"I think so..." Ranma replied with evident uncertainty, as she rubbed the back of her head with her free hand. "It's kinda like when an opponent has many advantages over you, so you have to find at least one weakness that can make all of those advantages amount to nothing... Right?"
"I suppose that's one way of looking at it, yes," She agreed. "There's an imbalance of power. Depending on how great the imbalance is, and how long it lasts, will determine the potential ability of the counterforce to act. In this case, since there's too much order and control, the counterforce will cause random and chaotic things to happen. And such was the case when you wore that shed skin: you had enough ties to it, and this kind of dragon half — in particular — has the kind of power that could turn the tide."
Ranma tilted her head back and thoughtfully said, "That letter did mention something about a great power. Speaking of which..." She leveled her gaze on the tent once more, and resentfully added, "You never mentioned anything about getting stuck with this body."
"Would you have worn it if I had?" The woman calmly countered.
"Well, no..." Ranma admitted.
"I know what you're concerned about," she stated softly. "And the answer is this: yes, you can — become normal again, I mean."
"How?" Ranma queried, who sounded quite eager to find out.
"There are two ways," she answered with a sigh, as if resigning herself to being completely open and honest about it. "The first is by convincing those on the side that's responsible for the imbalance to change you back, but I suspect that they'll consider it better to just kill you."
"You don't say..." Ranma deadpanned.
"The other way," she continued, "is through me."
"Then, by all means, do it," Ranma said, as she withdrew her hand from the tent, crossed her arms, and stood expectantly. "I didn't ask for this."
The woman hesitantly answered, saying, "I'm afraid that I can't do it at the moment."
"What!?" Was Ranma's immediate response, unaware of the wisps of flame that had appeared within her mouth. She uncrossed her arms, held them stiffly at her sides, and angrily said, "But you just said—!"
"I didn't say that I could do it right now," the woman calmly elaborated. "I won't have the power to overcome the counterforce until you're no longer such a vital part of it."
Ranma glared balefully at the tent, as if intent on setting it on fire with her gaze, and asked, "Which means...?"
"I won't be able to do it until the balance is restored," she answered, "or the counterforce finds a better means of conveying its influence."
"So, let me get this straight..." Ranma began, as she closed her eyes and made an effort to keep her cool. "Basically, either I get killed, or I act as this force-thingy's tool to balance stuff out?"
"I know you're upset," the woman said, sounding apologetic. "However, you must understand how important this—" There was a pause before she exclaimed, "I need to go!"
"Wait, what!?" Was Ranma's shocked response, who was stunned by the sudden announcement.
"I thought I'd have more time..." The woman said, sounding anxious, before she urgently added, "Listen, Ranma! Be vigilant, and be wary of anyone who bears distinguishing marks on their face!"
Ranma blurted out, "B-but...!"
Thinking quickly, she immediately moved to the front of the tent, knelt down, and cast the flaps aside. However, much to her dismay, she found no one inside. She thought that she had seen something moving on the ground, but she decided that she had only imagined it after confirming that nothing was there.
She slowly got to her feet, then lowered her eyes to the ground, pursed her lips, and reflected upon everything that she knew thus far. The most obvious was the fact that the skin suit, which had actually been the shed skin of a dragon half, was now her own skin. Then, there was some force of nature or another that was trying to take advantage of her, which was partially responsible for her current body. And who could forget the mysterious woman herself, who appeared to have gotten her into the mess that she now found herself in?
"At least she sounded sincere," Ranma thought.
That didn't really mean much, though. Everything could have just been an act, for all that she knew; and it certainly wouldn't have been the first time that someone had tried to trick her. The only thing that she could do was wait and see how things unfolded. If that woman's advice toward the end had meant anything, then she should probably expect trouble to come and find her. If that turned out to be the case, well... If it was unavoidable, she might as well work toward getting herself back to what amounted to normal again; especially because of a sneaking suspicion that she had about her new body.
Speaking of which, she turned her attention to the kettle and saw that steam was billowing out from its open spout. Even though the water was boiling-hot, that didn't stop her from tipping the kettle over her head: because she didn't feel like waiting for the water to cool down to a more comfortable temperature. To her surprise, the hot water didn't burn her at all, as it splashed and cascaded down her body. Unsurprising, however, she found her body unchanged.
With a sigh, she thought, "It figures..."
She frowned and considered what to do. While being stuck in a female form wasn't new to her, the circumstances were a bit... different, for lack of a better term. And having to explain why she had worn the skin suit in the first place was going to be troublesome. Be that as it may, it might just give her the strength that she would need to get herself back to normal, if the other method of return wasn't possible. It was worth a try since she had no idea what that mysterious woman was trying to do, or what business she had in getting her involved. She usually wasn't an unreasonable person when it came to giving someone aid, but she was being imposed upon too much in this case, and hadn't been given enough information about what was going on.
Then, realizing that she was still up and about in the nude, she looked around and found a few onlookers outside of the empty lot's entrance. There was what appeared to be a middle-aged businessman who held a briefcase in his hand, a male jogger who was currently jogging in place, and a delivery boy on a bike. However, when they noticed that they had caught her attention, their blissful expressions changed to ones of panic before they made an effort to vacate the vicinity as quickly as possible.
Ranma grumbled a bit about bothersome perverts while she got herself dressed. When she finished, she took a moment to take down Ryoga's tent, put that and the rest of his belongings either on or into his backpack, and then hoisted it over her shoulder. Remembering the letter that was still in the box, she picked it up and tucked it away, inside of her shirt. Now she just had to deal with things at home, and have some breakfast. If she was lucky, she'd also be able to attend school on time.
When Ranma got home, she didn't announce her return. Instead, with her shoes in one hand and Ryoga's backpack in the other, she went up the stairs to the second floor, with the intention of dropping off her load in her family's room. However, just as she had finished ascending the stairs, she saw Nabiki rounding the corner ahead of her, who was dressed for school.
Nabiki approached, and it was with an inquisitive expression on her face that she stopped in front of her and asked, "Ranma...?"
"In the flesh," Came Ranma's sour response.
Before Nabiki could ask for the meaning of her response, she noticed that the redhead's attention had been diverted to something behind her. She looked down the hall, after turning aside, and saw her sister, Kasumi, coming toward them. She must have just finished informing Akane about breakfast being ready, since that was why she was currently on her way to the living room.
"Why, hello!" Kasumi greeted Ranma warmly, before turning to Nabiki with a smile and asking, "Is she a friend of yours?"
"That," Nabiki measuredly said, as she pointed at the only other girl in the hallway, "is Ranma."
"Oh, my," Kasumi responded, as she raised one of her hands to her cheek. To Ranma, she said, "I'm sorry. I didn't recognize you."
"No problem," Ranma replied, with a dismissive shrug of her shoulders.
Kasumi tilted her head to one side, with a thoughtful look on her face, and a strange look in her eyes, before she asked, "You're wearing what came in that package several weeks ago, aren't you?"
"Pretty much," Ranma casually responded.
Then, realizing that she was holding Ranma — as well as Nabiki — up, Kasumi said, "Well, breakfast is ready, so come down and eat when you're ready." She paused, and seemed about to say something more, but didn't.
Ranma nodded her head belatedly in reply, because she had expected Kasumi to continue, before she said, "Thanks, Kasumi. I'll be down in a minute."
Appearing to be satisfied with that answer, Kasumi smiled, moved around Ranma, then made her way down the stairway. Sensing an opportunity, Ranma began to move as well, in the direction of her family's room. Nabiki, however, wasn't going to let her escape that easily.
"Not so fast, Ranma."
With her back still facing her, Ranma paused and let out a sigh. "What is it, Nabiki?"
"What does it do?" Nabiki inquired.
Turning around to face her, with a dumbfounded look on her face, Ranma asked, "What does what do?"
"The skin suit," Nabiki replied, as she crossed her arms. "Other than looking so realistic, of course."
"Well..." Ranma hesitated, since she was put on the spot. "Uh... It does lots of things."
One of Nabiki's eyebrows quirked up at that. "Such as helping you win against Ryoga?"
Seeing Ranma wince with evident shame, she stepped up to her, leaned forward, clasped her hands behind her back, and innocently asked, "Don't tell me that you were going to keep it a secret?"
Ranma sighed with resignation, and not so little annoyance. "What do you want, Nabiki?"
Smiling brightly, Nabiki said, "Come to my room, after school, to find out."
With that said, she turned about and went downstairs to have breakfast, as if she hadn't a care in the world. Ranma quietly cursed Nabiki before she finally went into the guest room that her family shared. She set Ryoga's backpack aside and went to the closet, where she replaced her shoes with an identical yet smaller pair. Then she sat down, stared at the floor, and crossed her arms while she thought about her most recent problem.
It wasn't a surprising development, really. She had known that she would have to deal with all kinds of highly-likely problems when she had opted to return home, since she hadn't known how long she would have needed to stay away from said home — and certain people, in particular — before her situation could be resolved. However, even before she had put on the skin suit, she had not been so naive as to think that nothing could go wrong.
The blame couldn't really be placed on fate or luck, though. While being unable to remove the skin suit had undoubtedly ruined a plan that would have worked otherwise, she wouldn't have needed to use the skin suit — in the first place — if she hadn't been lax in her training. While Ryoga was out seeking challenges and learning new things, all she usually did was maintain her current level of skill, knowledge and strength. It made it more likely for her to be challenged, but it also raised her chances of encountering trouble when the situation became serious.
She had no one to blame other than herself. She knew the shame that came with loss, the embarrassment that she would likely have to endure when she failed to uphold the image that she presented to her peers, and the danger of being perceived as unmanly in the eyes of her mother. She knew, yet she never seemed to learn and act accordingly.
Her stomach chose that time to growl, so she sighed, got to her feet, and mentally prepared herself for the inevitable. She only hoped that she could eat her breakfast in peace before she had to explain the situation. Perhaps it would work out in her favor if she entered the living room casually and acted like nothing was wrong...
She snorted and muttered, "Yeah, right..."