AKANE IS ENGAGED TO…

FEMALE RANMA!

CHAPTER 4

PREVIOUS CHAPTER REVIEWS/COMMENTS

AO3 Xadlly: I'm enjoying the extra chaos of this version of events. I am also really looking forward to Ryoga being tossed into the chaos to see what happens. - Xadlly the imp girl

AO3 NerkloLC: OMG i didn't even think about Ryoga yet, but you are right, he is the first to appear, i expect something like on the "Adventures of guykane" tbh, him giving up and trying to woo Ranma is Hilarious ajsjsj -Nerklo the Idkbutyoudiditfirstsoiwantedtoseemcool.

Response: Well I have good news for you my heterochromatic reader, even more future cannon events will become even more chaotic once I sink my teeth into them. And trust me, you will definitely enjoy what I have planned for Ryoga if your liking the story so far.

As for my very appreciated commentor with the exposed skull. I actually had read that series you mentioned and a few similar series as well.

To be clear though, I came up with the idea for this long before I read them, but reading those series did affect how this one will turn out. To give a minor spoiler, I originally planned on Ryoga fighting with Ranma over Akane like in cannon. Obviously, this would be a funny twist of everyone thinking Ryoga was gay and him having to deal with that every time he tried to make a move on Akane in public. With Shampoo also joining the fight for Akane with Ranma as a rival but less crazy in cannon due to events you will see later on when they're introduced. But Now I changed it, but I won't tell you how I changed it exactly. Just know that you're not too far off the mark, but it won't be as 'straight'forward as you may expect.

FFN Toshima(CHAPTER 2): Ranma will always be the king/queen of misunderstanding.

Response: Normally I would not cover a comment/review from a previous chapter after I already posted the next chapter. But in this case I genuinely laughed so hard upon getting the notification and reading that I had to point this one out. You have no idea how much misunderstands Ranma is going to rule over in the coming chapters. So if you liked what was technically the first chapter of the actual story, then your going to be glad you followed my story.

AO3 NercloLC: Oh no, oh no, Ranma, you should bring a thermos tomorrow, Now if you want them to not think of you as a girl, even better, bring the panda!

[Obviously, i enjoy the comedy too much to really want that]

Oh shoot, question, aside from looking chinese does this Ranma know any of the lenguage? I've seen some fics where he actually speaks it a little after taking it from the masters, but doesn't read it a lick, anyways great work, didn't expect to appear on the comments from initial chapter hohohoho

Response: No need to worry about the curse reveal being too early. This is a slow burn fic estimated to be around a hundred chapters minimum when completed. So, all the arcs will get their sweet time in the spotlight.

As for your language question. Ranma will eventually learn to read and write it, but right now they only know a few select words and phrases due to their travels.

AO3 Caimano: Storia interessante, voglio proprio vedere come si sviluppa. Hai sicuramente acceso la mia curiosità.

TRANSLATED: Interesting story, I really want to see how it develops. You definitely sparked my curiosity.

Response: Thank you for the compliment, and I hope you really do comeback for more as it progresses. The changes to the cannon events has only just begun.

AUTHORS NOTES

I should warn you all, this chapter has major feelings so prepare the tissues if you are sensitive. It will also give a glimpse as to how Dr. Tofu will help the two engaged teens and what his overall role will be in the story. So enjoy them in the future as they slowly enter the story more and more as one of the main characters.

Also, just one last thing moving forward, though I may be repeating myself. Yes, though is a difference between innate intelligence and knowledge. Intelligence can be defined as how well one can understand and learn something new. While knowledge can be described as an accumulation of information that has been memorized.

Ranma has proven in cannon to be lacking in knowledge. But some people mistake a chapter ¾ into the series and what it says. There is a gag in that chapter where multiple people repeatedly say he has horrible test scores, but his reaction when it's finally revealed is not one of panic but calmness. Which to me, indicates that Ranma had to have semi-decent scores, otherwise even he would fear them being revealed to all of Japan and by extension the world. While yes Japan does have some of it not the highest testing standards for high schools around the globe. He would have been kicked out quickly in cannon if he didn't meet the minimum passing grades at least regularly.

Some people try to deny this by using the misspelled kanji as evidence, saying it's Fannon. But to me, that is just his particular quirk, like how Akane can never realize Ryoga is P-Chan in cannon. Even then, it is just a joke used every so often focused on calligraphy. So that doesn't mean his father neglected to at least teach him some basics in other subjects.

When the grades are revealed, they are clearly not listed alphabetically as Ranma is revealed after Akane but his speech bubble blocks it. So even though we do not know his exact grades, ruling out alphabetically listed when read out by the media to the public, that must mean they listed them in order by number. Since Akane got a good score, not to spoil exact number but I will say its safely up there. Either Ranma was so nonchalant about his bad grade that a lot of the school is barely passing or failing, which I doubt. Or he actually got a decent score on his tests and slowly improved from barely passing at start of the series to decent scores near the end. So if it seems odd that I stop making as much jokes about Ranma bad grades, that is because he does improve them relatively quickly in cannon.

JAPAN

FURINKAN HIGH

HALLWAY

THIRD PERSON POV

Closing the door to the classroom, they turned to Nabiki who handed Ranma the shoes and a pair of socks. "First put those on, your shoes are too big in female form, and you will have to go to school as a girl for a while." Nabiki told them, with Ranma gratefully accepting the properly sized footwear while still questioning what the second half of what she said meant.

"What do you mean by that Nabiki?" Akane asked her, wondering how their problem was solved if Ranma had to keep using his girl form.

With sigh, she shook her head at her little sister's occasional obliviousness. "Yesterday we got a call from the school telling us you had to start wearing the boy uniform and using the boys' facilities. But I was able to get them to back off from that by threatening to bring in a third-party doctor to confirm your physical gender. Though they said if you're caught doing anything dirty to the girls then they will enforce their original plan, not that you would do anything." Nabiki told Akane, seeing the fury on her sister's face, causing her to cover her little sister's mouth with her hand to avoid yelling. Making a shush sign and pointing to the classroom, Akane understood and calmed down, removing her sister hand from her mouth.

… there was silence for a moment before Akane punched the wall, making a shallow imprint of her fist in the wall... "How dare they call me a pervert, when they…" Akane was about to go on a tangent when she realized something "... What about Ranma?" Akane asked her sister, feeling she should help focus at least a little bit on the Ranma problem after he really saved her today.

"When I suggested we prove his curse with hot and cold water, they rejected it. So, we need to wait for a school-wide event where we can show everyone all at once." Nabiki said, not wanting to charge Ranma for her old shoes and the socks since she failed to get an immediate resolution like she had assured him. She may not be a martial artist, but if she learnt anything from her father and mother, it was to follow/honour one's own principles. So, she had to make it right since she failed to keep her word with the other party, at least she somewhat salvaged it for the other party.

Drooping his head slightly disappointed, he raised it when Akane patted him on the back. "Thanks, Nabiki, at least you tried." Ranma told her, relieved for any help in this pain of an ass situation.

"No worries, just remember that you can probably get away with using the boy's toilet, but you still should change privately in an empty bathroom with Akane watching the door for you after PE." Nabiki reminded Ranma, not sure herself how far that pain in the ass vice-principal would take this.

JAPAN

FURINKAN HIGH

AKANE & RANMA HOMEROOM

THIRD PERSON POV

When they got back into class, Nabiki asked the teacher for a note of which he obliged as unlike the vice-principal, as his position did not require him to go through the headache of arguing with her. With that out of the way for now, they continued class, despite the fact they also heard the bathing together issue from the outburst earlier. Once the first bell for break rang however, the teacher immediately bolted out of the classroom, not wanting to get in the middle of this mess more than they had to.

Ranma and Akane were immediately surrounded by their classmates who bombarded them with questions, quickly devolving into a Q&A session like they were celebrities at a convention.

"D-Did you two really take a bath together?" one girl asked red faced as she covered her mouth shyly.

"N-NO! It was an accident!" Akane responded back, embarrassed by the accusation but now no longer blaming Ranma for it like she did previously.

With a gulp one of the boys asked Ranma, "S-So is Akane actually a guy down there?"

"YOU SICK PERVERT!" Ranma exclaimed, punching him into the front wall of the class.

"SHE'S RIGHT, THAT'S A DISGUSTING QUESTION FOR YOU BOYS TO ASK, GUYS REALLY ARE PERVERTS!" one of the girls exclaimed, upset at the questions they directed to Ranma about Akane.

"DON'T LUMP ME IN WITH THEM JUST BECAUSE I AM A GUY!" Ranma bit back at them, creating an awkward silence.

"Ranma-chan… are you actually a Ranma… kun?" the first of the girls who broke out of their shock asked him.

"Damn straight I am, just because I look like this doesn't mean I am a girl got it? My old man spent more than enough time trying to beat that damn lesson into me." Ranma said, always saying one word too many, genuinely shocking even Akane.

Though she knew her father's friend seemed like a harsh teacher, and even harsher parent, to the point he would be deemed a bad parent. Akane would have never assumed he reached the point where Ranma would consider it anywhere near actual abuse, rather she assumed he would only consider it harsh training. "Ranma… I…" Akane tried to speak up, even go as far as apologize due to how harsh she was with him when they first met, but she couldn't find the words for it.

Ranma winced as he waved his hand at Akane in a dismissive manner. "No need to be worried for me, it made me stronger so at least I got something out of his horrible parenting." Ranma declared, smiling nervously, only now realizing what he said a moment ago sounded like his father abused him… which wasn't wrong, but he did not want to be seen as a weak victim of the annoying bastard.

"HOW HORRIBLE!"

"WE WON'T FORCE YOU TO BE A BOY LIKE HE DID, SO DON'T WORRY!"

"I HAVE SOME GOOD CREAMS THAT HELP WITH SCARS AND BRUISES."

This was just a few of the reactions as the girls ran up to and hugged a confused Ranma while the guys backed off. They even gave Akane more space in the coming days as Ranma seemed to worry about her more than himself. So, they had to take it easy on Akane to take it easy on Ranma. Both guys and the girls in the school came up with a new theory however about their engagement that day. A theory where Ranma and Akane were both trans-gender and Akane father was trying to literally straighten them out due to not being tolerant of their life decision… With her father trying to use this engagement to convince Ranma dad to treat them like the girl they clearly were.

Classes continued after the break like normal… at least until they got to classical Japanese literature. This is where Ranma showed his true educational ignorance as he barely could read half of it. That was due to his father keeping him out of school for years so inconsistently when he was younger and the significant gap between when he last attended middle school. Everyone else however, assumed he was a girl who grew up in China and not Japan.

The teacher gave up on him quickly and would have used a racial slur when Akane stepped in just saying "Sir…" which silenced them quickly. Not due to Akane by herself, but because all the girls also glared at them in unison defending Ranma. As a result, no more questions were sent his way after the teacher had recommended to Ranma that they get someone to help tutor them on their Japanese.

Luckily for Ranma, lunch was mostly a break from classes, though he would need to ask Akane for help tutoring him at this rate. It was when Akane opened her lunch box she gave it an odd look.

"Kasumi omelet looks different than it usually does." Akane commented, seeming hesitant to eat it.

"Hm? Oh yeah, I made that one, she said it was more intense than it was supposed to be." Ranma told her matter of fact, warning her as Kasumi was caught off guard by it herself.

"YOU MADE IT!?" Akane exclaimed in a questioning tone, surprised for some reason Ranma helped cook part of her lunch.

"Calm down, she said it tasted good… but I only started cooking with spices since I came to your house, so I am still learning how to balance them." Ranma told her, internally wondering if his different taste buds in female form made that much of a difference when cooking. Seeing how Akane had not touched her food yet after Ranma took a bite of his own lunch, he sighed. "Fine, I will help you." He said with amused reluctance as he fed her a piece of the omelet using his chopsticks.

This made the other girls squeal as Akane blushed and turned away as she chewed. Ranma did not understand this reaction until one of them whispered an indirect kiss, then it made sense to him, causing him to blush as well. Akane was not one to take a hit and just let it go, so she picked up an octopus shaped weenie from his box and popped it into his mouth.

"... pervert, here's a taste of your own medicine." Akane told him, barely able to look his way before Ranma turned away from her as he chewed his food. This got another squeal from the girls as many of them were saying the two were perfect for one another. After that they ate normally, and made small talks with the girls, some of them offering to teach Ranma how to use other makeups her natural looks do not cover.

The fact that Kuno didn't show up to bother them made everyone concerned. Ranma and Akane on the other hand, had silently credited that to Nabiki. Considering Kuno made her seem like a liar who deceived them all by the gender mistake he caused about Akane. The two martial artists could only guess how pissed she was with him or what she would do to him.

JAPAN

FURINKAN HIGH

HALLWAYS/COURTYARD

THIRD PERSON POV

As soon as the bell rang for the end of the day, Ranma had passed his bag to Akane and knelt, telling her to get on his back. Not taking no for an answer due to being able to see her tough act and knowing she couldn't walk home on her own. Ranma had convinced her somehow to let him carry her on his back. As they got closer to the front door, they saw Nabiki dragging a half conscious Kuno with his head full of bumps and his nose bloodied.

"Why are you dragging him like that?" Ranma asked her, with Akane nodding along with his question.

"You first, why is she on your back?" Nabiki shot back, with Ranma shrugging thinking it was fair to ask.

"She didn't break anything, but she did get a few sprains, with a lot of cuts and bruises from her fight this morning. For some reason she thought they wouldn't believe Kuno and attack her half assed like they did up until now." Ranma said with the second half sarcastically getting an ear pinch from Akane for it. "HEY!" He exclaimed lightly, more annoyed than hurt.

"Fair enough, as for your question… he began accusing me of tricking Akane to pretend to be a girl so I could trick them into buying sexy photos of her. So, I grabbed his sword and used dads basic martial arts lesson he taught me when I was little to beat him for a satisfyingly good few minutes." Nabiki, responded seeing a seething glare from Akane and a shocked jaw dropping look from Ranma, making the elder Tendo sister roll her eyes.

"Oh please, will you calm down, they were just photos of you in your training gi. Those perverts had very low standards so the most I had to show was some collarbone or exposed upper arm muscle." She defended herself, pointing out how none of the pictures were particularly naughty.

"THAT DOESN'T CHANGE WHAT YOU DID!" Ranma and Akane answered in unison, both not liking the idea of some selling pictures of them. Though Ranma was upset more out of sympathy for Akane as he had yet to experience this. This unison response caused whispers as the two sighed before continuing on to Dr. Tofu.

But the horde from earlier blocked their way, at least until Nabiki strained to pull up Kuno to reveal his face to them. "I did this. Not Akane. Not Ranma. No one but me, so unless you also want to feel all the fury I myself have today, I suggest you all move aside now." Nabiki said with an ice-cold glare worthy of her nickname 'Ice Queen Of Furinkan High scaring them to either side of their group as she dropped Kuno.

JAPAN

DR. TOFU CLINIC

THIRD PERSON POV

When they got there, the good doctor freaked out at the sight of Akane and Ranma, though mostly Akane as she was in worse condition than Ranma. "W-What happened?" Dr. Tofu asked as Ranma laid Akane down on the bed he was appointed to.

"Well to put it bluntly… the boys think Akane has a devil's horn and decided to try and kill her." Ranma explained before getting wacked in the head by an embarrassed Akane.

"... I'm… can you explain it to me Nabiki while I check her injuries?" He told her as he began looking her over and telling Ranma where to get the stuff he needed. It took a while for him to receive the explanation, but when he did get the full picture. "Oh wow, here I wanted to study your curse Ranma and the effects it had on his body, but worse yet, my impartiality as a doctor is being called into question!" Dr. Tofu exclaimed as he bumped his closed fist into his open hand, now done with Akane.

"THATS WHAT HAS YOU MAD!" Ranma exclaimed as the good doctor laughed.

"Now, now, I was only joking. But in all honesty, this is ridiculous and if they refuse to hear me out then I cannot help you much." He responded to Ranma as he began treating their few cuts and checking for any bone damage. He found a sprained wrist that made Ranma cry lightly, with the bad news that he would need to rest it from training. "Though it was good that you carried Akane here, you should have let her know your wrist was hurting and rest it. But it should be fine if you move it a little for lighter tasks." Dr. Tofu told Ranma, seeing how little care the young man had for himself.

"It's fine, I moved and fought before with much worse injuries." Ranma told them, not liking being looked down upon by others… especially Akane, it hurt him even more for some reason he couldn't understand.

Nabiki, who was getting tired of sighing, just shook her head. "I figured that was the case, on the bright side no one seems to want to openly argue with Ranma about declaring himself a man. Granted, they won't believe him either but still, at least they want to be supportive of him. Especially with how accidentally revealed how he was a victim of his dad's abuse to the girls according to what they told us." Nabiki said, laughing lightly and cynically.

"I AM NOT A VICTIM!" Ranma told her back furiously, hating that the word was used to describe him in any way shape or form. While this declaration made Akane sad, it caused the other two to raise an eyebrow.

"BUT YOU ARE RANMA! There is nothing wrong with being unable to defend yourself from him when you were younger, just like I couldn't protect myself this morning." Akane told him as she stood up, staring strongly but then went softer as she compared his situation to what she went through today to empathize with him. To her shock, rather than him calming down like she wanted to try and help him do like he did for her earlier, he instead snapped at her harder.

"THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BEING WEAK AND BEING STUPID! SO DON'T USE YOUR STUPIDITY AS AN EXCUSE TO SAY I'M WEAK OR A VICTIM." Ranma yelled at her, sending her falling back into her chair she stood up from as Ranma moved past her back to the house.

"That… THAT JERK! THAT IS WHAT I GET FOR TRYING TO CHEER THEM UP!" Akane yelled, crossing her arms over her chest with a huff. But when she turned to look at her sister and the doctor, they both just shook their heads. "WHAT!" She responded, knowing that their looks meant disappointment.

"I may not be Kasumi, but even I know not to try and comfort someone by calling them weak. And he wasn't wrong either, if you had actually thought about it, you should have snuck in through the back assuming they would be angry with you given what Kuno made them think." Nabiki told her sister.

"But they never fought me seriously before." Akane attempted to rebuttal to her older sister words, who looked done with their conversation.

"I am going to go home and try to convince Ranma to apologize, probably by tomorrow. Can I leave the remainder of the explanation to you?" Nabiki asked Dr. Tofu who gave her the go ahead to go home.

"Oh, I almost forgot, make sure you tell Ranma not to change back tonight in case it makes his injury worse." Dr. Tofu asked her to get a nod from the middle Tendo daughter who figured Ranma might not be in a rush to change back if he was sulky enough.

"Don't tell me you're going to say I was in the wrong?" Akane sounded offended as she tried to confirm what he was about to say.

"Well, if I had to say who was wrong, I would say both of you were in the wrong here. But it seems you only gave a half-hearted effort to emphasize with him." He told her as he laughed lightly at the look of confusion on her face. Shaking his head he decided to start the explanation from the ground up. "Let's start with the catalyst of the situation, Ranma transformed in front of the school, correct? Was it on purpose or by accident?" Dr. Tofu asked her, seeing her think for a few seconds.

"I would say yes, and by accident since he wanted to hide his curse." Akane responded to him, now able to think clearly with her always being more relaxed and calmer around the doctor.

"Good, good. Now you tried to emphasize with him before, but did you still blame him for everyone assuming you were a boy now, rather than Kuno who started the rumor?" He asked, seeing hesitance in how she spoke.

"OF COURSE I DO! Well, I mean he is at least half responsible, Kuno wouldn't have come to such a conclusion of Ranma and Nabiki didn't give him fuel for the idea." She told him honestly how she saw it.

"I see… but even though you were only mistaken as a boy, how do you think Ranma felt when he got cursed a couple weeks back and literally became a girl? After all, he still considers himself a man on the inside, doesn't he?" He decided to go just a bit faster with his probing questions.

"I BET THAT PERVERT ENJOYED IT! HE JUST DOESN'T WANT TO ADMIT TO IT AND ACTS LIKE IT BOTHERS HIM, I SAW HIM HELPING KASUMI COOK!" She bit back, now showing the doctor where the fault laid in her logic and interpretation.

"Let's do a mental exercise, what if all your life you struggled and tried your best to be treated like a girl, then suddenly you were treated like a boy out of the blue." He told, already guessing her response.

"THAT IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW AND IT'S HORRIBLE!" Akane yelled at him in frustration as she recalled her own past when she was compared to the boys instead of the other girls. That was when it started to dawn on her what she just said. Causing her to retreat into a more subdued tone and body posture compared to before. "It was horrible, and I ignored how bad Ranma must be feeling from his curse." She said quietly, only looking up when he put his hand on her shoulder.

"Yes, that's right. Though it is limited, based on what you told me about how he said he grew up the past sixteen years with his dad. I would assume any sign of weakness was probably met with harsh reprimand for not being 'man enough' by their older and warped standards. So, when you called him a victim his mind turned it to weak, then it turned weak into…" Dr. Tofu trailed off so Akane could finish it herself.

"Not being a man… I told him to his face he wasn't a man and invalidated the entirety of his life so far since his life has been nothing but training with that in mind." Akane responded, wanting to cry despite seeing the doctor respond with a nod indicating she was right.

"He was probably already on the verge of snapping from it, but with the curse he got, all his pain mixed with his fear and confusion since he is physically both genders now. Though I made sure to practice the spiritual side of medicine for my patients. I only minored in psychology as part of my medical training so I could be wrong here. But unlike you who had a mostly stable family that made sure you trained in safety he did not have that luxury and a proper childhood. So now pushed over the edge and now able to live in a stable environment his childish side is showing in bad ways. And rather than calmy correcting you for your mistakes like Nabiki did earlier, he was unable to do so, snapping at you." He told her, taking a sip of his tea to rest his throat as it all sunk in for Akane.

"So then… what am I even supposed to or even can do for him at this point." Akane asked, now feeling horrible, as bad was no longer significant enough to describe it. She ignored how his curse has ruined his life, and she probably made it worse treating him like he was at fault for this shotgun engagement they had to deal with.

"You give him small but subtle emotional support until he is ready to talk about and confront his trauma. It will take time for him to do so, but as he does, he will become more mature and eventually he will let you help him. But you need to be patient and help him feel like he is still a man despite his curse, even in small ways. Otherwise, he would likely have developed worse habits and personality traits as time went on. But how you help him is up to you." He told her, seeing her on the verge of breaking down and allowed her to hug him crying it out for a good few minutes.

Lifting her head up she looked at him. "Can it even work?" Akane asked him sincerely, as she began to realize that she was more likely the one that betrayed his trust after their first meeting.

"I don't know about your arranged marriage, but if it's simply fixing things so you can become friends… then yes it can work. From what I heard and seen, Ranma is a kind person deep down so just be patient with him. I also wouldn't call him stuff like pervert since he already feels awkward to say the least. Well at least when it comes to being both physically a boy and a girl. Given how he is a young man, he will most likely want to talk to me first, so don't worry if that happens. It is always easier for young men to come to an older man they look up to for help rather than girls their age." He told her, making sure to add a couple of warnings in there for her.