Son Turned Daughter, Chapter 64
An unusual disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is the trademark of Rumiko Takahashi and VIZ Communications, and its characters have been borrowed without permission. And Son Turned Daughter was originally written back in 2002 by fanfiction author Tangent. Please see the first two chapters of this series under his pen name. This series has been written for noncommercial use only.
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SPOILERS. This chapter is full of reminders of events that went on in previous chapters. But it will get you up to speed.
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Chapter 64
The memory of seeing what she looked like nude, front, side and back within grasping distance clung on. S/he had the identical body. But without looking into a mirror, s/he couldn't appreciate the full-on views. Even with a mirror, having to feel herself from the outside in meant more sensations than just the sights were added. Her martial arts' body awareness made her more conscious of them all. Her girl brain accepted them. Mostly. A part of the curse knew the gender's drawbacks and Ranma's memories agreed with 'her' evaluations. The newly awakened Ranma-kun homed in on them, emphasized them and was out to discover new flaws not considered before. All the better to define he herself as a man trapped in a body the real Ranma didn't want.
And trapped s/he was, and all because Shampoo's ghoul Old Lady had snuck in a Cat's Tongue attack!
The her past self back there in the furoroom was becoming more pathetic to her. She had volunteered to be trapped as a girl. In school, then out of it.
"Why?!" s/he stopped to forcibly ask herself. (And lowered her frown down at the interplay between the iron corset and her softness. Ugh: Cleavage!)
"It hada be 'cuz I was still under the Old Man's anti-pervert conditionin'! Until it was broken, I really had no interest in sex. When I finally did get it, turned out I didn't even have a clue about what bein' a man was about. A man among men was basically just about winnin' at fightin'." S/he paused to think about what s/he had just said. "Yeah…that sounds about right.
"Man, I know I'm a man, now, even when girl! Goin' to the Reservoir and drainin' the lust from the guys at Ucchan's was a turbo boost to my slow start. But I really only felt like a pure and total man after seein' Benten…" S/he flushed at the flashback of being in the underground bathhouse with the most absolutely beautiful woman in the world. Nude.
But Benten was like a living idol too perfect to profane by even a graze….
Ranma's girl body, on the other hand, could be touched. Wanted to be touched.
Won't be touched! she vowed, making a determined fist. The fighter strode down the Tendō outside hall.
"...Oh, my! Ranma left the school's locker room unclothed below the waist?" Kasumi was saying. (She had been serving homemade treats as bribes for the details.)
"And that is why the idiot wants to wear panties," Nabiki informed her older sister (And took a couple of the treats.)
"And why Ranma…," (Akane shot Nabiki a dirty look for calling her friend an idiot,) "wore the blouse and slacks in front of the girls who hid his boxers and boy clothes. To be accepted by the girls, he has to seem more like a girl."
"Ranma isn't the only idiot," Nabiki said. "You allowed a crossdresser to be in the middle of girls getting naked."
"Ranma's NOT a crossdresser! He has everything the other girls and I have–And nothing else!"
"But he can have something else. And he is a boy at heart."
"I'm on the lookout!" Akane turned to the wavering Kasumi. "If he does the least little thing perverted…." The mallet appeared in her startled hand. It took a moment before she nodded her head at it and said, "Yes! I will."
"And we can always uninvite him as a guest," Kasumi said with a satisfied nod.
Choking, her heart feeling ready to break, Ranma fled out into the evening and over the property wall.
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S/he continued wandering aimlessly through the streets. "Stupid Akane! Jerk Nabiki! Even Kasumi. She said I could call her Big Sister."
"...It was Akane that drug me into the girls locker room. It wasn't my idea. Man, was I ever embarrassed and gunshy! That's what left me distracted and open to going out in the middle of the sports field half-naked! Bein' bare don't mean much to me. We saved on laundry when we where we could be nudists. Out in nature.
"–Man; no: Girl! Everybody was seein' I had no dick. Especially the guys out there, starin' and thinkin' of takin' me down. I was a massive blow to my pride as a guy. I lost it: turned girl and run off bawlin' my eyes out! Then they all hadda think I was a real girl. A pathetic way to be a accepted as a girl. No, a crossdresser. My secret came out at the tournament. Girl-Only tournament: Ha!"
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Cologne slid down her staff and stood next to Benzaiten, the most powerful god she had ever personally known. She, too, was following what the Olympic-sized scrying pool was reflecting of the redhead in only an iron corset and lingerie, listening to the soprano sound waves of the pigtailed girl. "I take it my future son-in-law feels compelled to speak his mind out loud?"
With a satisfied smile, Benten nodded. "The Ranma from this time is linked by the Kitiban to this divining water. The purpose of divination is to reveal truths. The male half of the two-in-one mortal needs to reveal his own truths. To himself."
Cologne looked at the other hand mirror laying at the bottom of what was once a bathhouse pool. "I take it the Nanban is to send the girl half back time to give the, uh, two-in-one truth a different perspective?"
The Goddess of the Seven Lucky Gods smiled. "Elder, what would you say are the chances for that?"
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"...Akane's been keepin' an eye on me. She can do it better as a friend. A maybe "friend". Only until I mess up too badly for her. Then she's gonna use all those hammers she learned about in the tournament. She maybe not even need the trainin' I've been givin' her.
"Geez! She knows the Breaking Point. She can explode people!"
Ow. S/he clutched her bosom and leaned the other hand against a property wall. She hurt. And in a way none of her healing techniques could fix. "It wouldn't feel so bad if I were back in my born-bod, now. A girl feels and senses things more 'n a guy. Textures, smells, colors, sounds…."
That tact did not last very long.
"I would still hurt."
And why?
"Akane." That was why. That smile as she said, So, do you want to be friends. Yes, s/he had. "Friends. I never had friends before. …or that's what I'd thought. With the stupid Old Man always draggin' me off for more trainin', I learned I couldn't keep a friend. Never had a phone or a mailbox. Spent most of my time out in the wild when not in school. And most of those were dojos. I learned to forget the ones I had made, like Ukyo and Ryōga. I was less lonely if I didn't miss somebody.
"That resolve changed while I was sparin' in a trainin' hall with somebody offerin' to be my friend. The first girl who had. I didn't know about Ukyo bein' one, too. Yeah. Yes! That was when I realized I could have a friend! Because of the stupid marriage agreement, Pop has to stay in one place! At least a year. I never enjoyed sparin' more. Akane was so fun to be with.
"And she was even gigglin' when she said, I'd really hate to lose to a boy.
"She didn't like boys? I could only be her friend if I wasn't a boy? That smile, that laugh, they were so tempting.
"Only she was gonna find out. Very soon. Pop'd make sure everybody knew I was a guy. A man among men. I manned up and told her the truth.
….
"No I didn't. I told the truth because I was a coward. If she was gonna reject me, I wanted her to do it quickly. Then I could forget about her as a friend. I would be less lonely, because I wouldn't miss her."
Ranma screamed out in pain! It was too late, now. S/he would always miss Akane!
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As evening was turning into night, the chill was beginning to break into her thoughts. Thin skinned, women had a greater sense of cold. And the metal s/he was in was making it worse. Goosebumps popping up on her smooth skin, s/he noticed s/he was near the Nerima shopping street. Now s/he was reminded of her hunger. Only s/he was also reminded that all s/he had with her were her iron corset and (sort-of boxer-like) tap panties. No money.
"I can at least go inside that restaurant we stayed outside of during the Girl-Only Slave-for-a-Day Tournament."
Not looking where others were going, one wave of "bathhouse" maleness passed around and over her. Looking, s/he saw a red-faced salaryman. He was staggering, probably going somewhere after a nomikai, drinking gathering after work. He steadied himself against a shop's rolled down door. "I need to get home to Mei more often. I'm more horny than I've been in a long while." Then he continued on... "What a sudden fantasy; I never felt so much of a sexy woman at once. Hope I remember it when I'm sober…"
"Am I feelin' horny, too?" s/he asked herself. The he in her wasn't, s/he was sure. But the other 'her'? "I need to ask the Doc how many women don't get the clues. Or wanna. Is my crotch hotter, my panties wetter, my–
"What am I talkin' about?! I can't ask, 'cuz I must be a ghost. I was killed fightin' those bugs. Or that horde of hentai. Or Kuno. Ugh! Better dead than his wife.
"I'm cold and hungry and maybe horny because I'm a gaki. But what desire am I bein' punished for? Wantin' to be the best martial artist? Pride? Wantin' to always be eatin'? Gluttony? Wantin' sex? Lust? Wantin'... *choke* A friend?..."
Wandering again, s/he found s/he had wandered through the opened door of the local izakaya. The pub was only less busy as it was the middle of the week and too small for a large nomikai group. When those were divided into smaller and smaller drinking gatherings, then the more loyal customers could wander in. S/he'd seen the panda hanging from that tree, but was too focused on her misery to put two and two together. Besides, s/he had fresher memories of "My Old Man and Tendō shouldn't be here. I'm pretty sure they usually do a drinking walk, a nomibaraki, to the cheaper places. (Growl! Like that yatai bā, booze wagon, where s/he just hadda lose a fight with a guy who was a master of martial arts bartending and, drunk, attacked a guy who turned out to be the headmaster and owner of Furinkan High!) Maybe s/he should leave and
–there was a table with some uneaten food! S/he was seated before s/he knew s/he had moved.
Only….
"How am I supposed to eat if I can't pick up nothing?" S/he tried, though. Her teeth and mouth went through the pork cutlet; her lips didn't touch the straw in the iced coffee (or coffee liqueur?). "Aw, man! What kinda gaki am I? They aren't even given the chance to turn into ashes and dust before I swallow the stuff. I had least hoped I'd get a chance to taste the forbidden food first."
S/he barely gave any thought on how s/he was able to stay on the seat and ground. (When s/he met a ghost monk or priest, s/he could ask them to explain the metaphysics. If s/he cared at the time.) With nothing to distract her, s/he fell back into her heartache. "Akane betrayed our friendship. And Big Sis, too. I was supposed to be like a part of the family. Nabiki was just tellin' the truth I didn't see 'cuz I was too ignorant, stupid for wantin' to do what a "friend" said. Idiot."
"Ryūto, I've been to a nomikai and a nikaikai and I may end up at sankaikai, if we can find a place to crash. Not in the street, this time. I really need something to eat, but my money has to help pay for the booze."
"If you and your dōryō workmates spend that booze money here, you can have what Sota left. Should of seen it. His girlfriend forcibly reminded him he promised her a dinner at Labistro. Take my advise and never date a martial artist, Harutō."
Harutō sat in Ranma's seat while s/he was still in it. Then s/he was sitting inside of Harutō! S/he felt a surge of horniness – His! "Stop it!" s/he demanded, wishing s/he could use her martial arts body awareness to counter the rising lust.
To her happy surprise, it worked. Even more happily, s/he felt her hands in his. Enhancing his speed, it only took a moment to eat the pork cutlet, rice, cabbage! The tonkatsu sauce made it especially delicious! Her head was spinning with how….
…drunk s/he was. If s/he had more practice, s/he could have worked out what body-awareness techniques s/he would need counter the effect. In the meantime? Ah, the coffee! Coffee was supposed to be good against booze, right? This iced drink was very sweet.
And was coffee liqueur. S/he lost her body awareness. Of Harutō. He got out of the chair. "I'm going to order pork cutlet the next time I'm in a drinking gathering, Ryūto. I'm a little hungry, but I'm not as trashed."
"Yeah, and I know why," Ranma groaned. "A ghost is a spirit and shouldn't drink spirits."
Sloshed, s/he became the stereotypical drunk that wanted to talk about her troubles. So like a gaki. "Friends - Feh, who needs them? I never needed them before. No, I didn't! You can't miss what you don't have, right(?) Why, I wouldn't've even 've tried to play girl if it wasn't for…." More than just the booze shifted the world beneath her. "Huh?
"Really? I'm not imagin' it 'cuz I'm drunk, am I?… No, it was Nabiki herself who convinced Akane and me to be go girl at school. And not just to get back at my idiot pop or registerin' me as a girl to break my will. Let me think; let me think,…. Huh?" S/he interrupted herself when a busboy finally came to the table. S/he got up and went out the door behind somebody else leaving. S/he was somewhat unsteady on her feet, but her trained-in skills helped her stay on them.
"The walk will do me good, help me clear my head…help me think of why they thought I should play girl.
"Uh, hmm…My guy pride'd've been humiliated, a no go in Japan, if the teacher introduced me as a girl and I'd have to explain to everybody why I wasn't(?) Yeah, sort of right. It was less humiliatin' tellin' them I was a girl raised as a boy, the son-and-heir pop wished he had. If I was actually his daughter. And he would've if it were true. But Nabiki'd been right. It was so cliche, they bought it.
"She also said swimmin' was required. Couldn't wear guy trunks then. Well, I could, but I'd still have to cover my boobs. No way to hide these water balloons, then. But everybody'd find out about my curse. I wasn't ready to deal with that. Man! It was only 'cuz of the tournament my secret came out.
"But what really sold it was me not havin' to be on always on guard against cold water! No more water magnet! I was already girl when Pearl-san splashed me on my way to school and showed me that! She was waitin' to prank me, but couldn't!" And s/he laughed.
And s/he disappeared.
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"So that's what you meant by the Kitiban being activated by the opposite key of the Nanban Mirror. Laughter, not tears," Cologne said.
Benten smiled. "Any expression merriment would do. Provided, that is, there is a place-time s/he has in mind. Remember, even the tears from an onion can activate the Nanban Mirror.
"And the place-time my future-son-in-law went to is back to the Tendōs. Put in a state of confusion as by the jolt of being taken out of time and substance, she jumped to the wrong conclusion when she heard how the girls were discussing how they should treat the unknown stranger living with them. Then she remembered how differently they acted the next morning. And since. She went back to find out what changed their minds about her.
The irritating goddess merely kept smiling. For a God of Eloquence, she was, again, mum. Cologne frowned. Could she match her in verbal dexterity and find a point of attack?
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Yes, I have a very good idea how the metaphysics of what Ranma is going through on the other side of the Kitiban Mirror works. But the details are best left to the next chapter.
But it must be understood that when "Ranma-gaki" is inside somebody, s/he is more like a passenger, not a driver. At best, s/he can use her martial arts skills to influence them through their overlapping brain stems. They do not share thoughts. Only when the host is unconscious, can Ranma take control of the body. The lessons are in empathy.