TWILIGHT EXISTENCE
by Scott K. Jamison
(Note: Ranma 1/2 and the related characters created by Rumiko Takahashi,
no infringement intended.)
Prologue
My first clear memory is of Jyuusenkyo. In fact, you could say I
was born there, bursting out of a watery womb, a scream coming from my
lips as I breathed air for the first time.
Ranma would tell me to cut the poetic crap.
I hauled myself out of the pool, looking around the valley. It
seemed familiar, though I didn't remember being here before. I shivered
in the chill morning air. How had I fallen in there? I couldn't
remember.
There was a man in a funny-looking uniform shouting in what I
guessed was Chinese, and some broken Japanese. Something about tragedy
and drowning and curses. Well, yes it would have been tragic if I
drowned. There was a giant panda chewing on bamboo nearby. The strange man
went over to it, and tried to nudge it to walk. He asked me to help.
Not too sure about this, was it a tame panda? I walked over.
About halfway there, I had to readjust my wet clothes. They were awfully
big on me, and looked like boy's attire. What was I doing in them? Come
to think of it, who was I? I must have amnesia from the fall, I
surmised.
Either the panda was tame, or it took a liking to me, because it
nuzzled my face and let me lead it to a hut the uniformed man indicated
to us. His speech still didn't make much sense, he was saying something
about hot water as he set a kettle on to boil.
As soon as it started steaming, he poured it out on the panda.
To my utter shock and amazement, the animal shrank and changed into a
bald middleaged fellow I was sure I'd seen somewhere before.
"You see, hot water change to normal. Now you, young sir." He
began pouring the water over me.
I blacked out, just as the words "young sir" were registering.
When I woke up, the scene had changed. We were in some Chinese
village, at least the panda and I were. The uniformed man was gone. It
was raining. I still had on the same oversized clothes.
I found a roofed clearing and led the panda in. Then I
remembered what hot water had done before. I managed to wave down a
passing woman who had a little Japanese, and asked for hot water. She
brought some by, and a couple of steamed buns, for which I thanked her.
I wondered why I was in China if I didn't speak any Chinese.
I ate a bun, and poured the hot water on the panda. It changed
into the man I'd seen. Still a bit of a shock. Somehow, he was pulling
on clothes, a white martial arts outfit and a bandanna, as well as
glasses. To this day, I have not figured out where his clothes come from
and he won't tell me.
"Ranma! Thank heavens! Now your turn!" He grabbed for the water.
"Oh, no, I'm not blacking out again, thank you. Who's Ranma?
And who are you?"
"Ranma Saotome! Don't you recognize your own father? The Guide
warned me, but I didn't believe him! What a tragedy has befallen my
son!"
So my name was Ranma Saotome. A boy's name, surely? And this
man, Genma, claimed to be my father. But surely he hadn't said "son"?
"Um, Mr. Saotome...Father...don't you mean 'daughter'? After
all, I *am* a girl." I opened my shirt just a bit, to emphasize my
point. Not too far, though. I have my modesty.
He stiffened in shock, and looked as though he were about to
cry. Then he began to explain.
According to him, I'd been born a boy, this "Ranma", and we were
martial artists on a training journey. We'd come to this place,
Jyuusenkyo, the Valley of Cursed Springs, and I'd insisted on sparring
right there. In the process, we'd pushed each other into pools that
things had drowned in a long time ago. Now whoever fell in took on the
form and mind of the original victim. He'd fallen into the Spring of
Drowned Panda, and I'd fallen into one where a girl had died.
Well, that did explain a lot, and I had seen him turn back from a
panda with my own eyes. But there were a couple of holes in his story.
"But if I have the mind of the girl that drowned, why don't I
have any of her memories?"
"I don't know. But perhaps it's for the best. I will still make
a manly man of you yet, Ranma!"
That sounded like a truly horrible idea. I didn't want to be any
kind of a man! I was so shocked I didn't realize he'd got hold of the
hot water.
The next time I woke up, I was wet again, this seemed to be what
brought me out, and was walking with the uniformed man (the Guide) and
the panda towards another village. The Guide said Joketsuzoku was known
for its many female warriors. I didn't like the sound of that. Combat
was so unfeminine!
We stopped to watch some of the women in a tournament. It looked
very dangerous. A purple-haired girl seemed to be winning. I pitied
her. No man would want to marry such a violent woman! Unfortunately, I
lost track of the panda, and soon found him gobbling up the feast that
had been spread for the winner. I was a little amazed he was eating the
meat too, I thought pandas were vegetarians...
The purple-haired girl, her name sounded like Shampoo, was very
angry. She barely accepted my apology, and it took most of Father's
money to pay for the meal. Of course once it was bought, I had some
too. The Guide suggested we wait until outside the village before
changing Father back.
He was very angry at what I'd done.
"You fool! You should have challenged her in the tournament,
since the winner got the food."
"Challenged her? Father, I don't know any martial arts. I
would've gotten creamed!"
"...'Don't know any martial arts?' But surely..." He grinned
and swung at me. I backflipped out of the way. I was very surprised.
Apparently my reflexes were quite good.
"So you haven't forgotten everything. Let's see you on the
offensive. Attack me!"
"What?"
"Attack me! Make a fist and swing!"
"I can't do that. Fighting is unladylike."
"AAHHGG! My son has become a wimp!"
"I'm not your son! I'm a girl! Can't you accept that?"
It seems he couldn't, as I was hit with hot water and blacked out
again.
This time, we were in a coastal city, and many different
languages reached my ears. It was my first time in a big city, and I
drank everything in wide-eyed. We passed through the market, and I saw
one vendor had beautiful dresses for sale. I looked down at the wet baggy
martial arts outfit I was wearing and sighed.
"Father," for he was in human form this time, "could you buy me a
dress? I need something else to wear."
He nearly choked on the mango he was eating. "Ranma! What would
you want a dress for?"
"I want to look pretty for a change. This outfit is so ugly!"
"Ranma, I know it's hard to believe, but after waking up from
being a panda a few times, I know that you do not want to put yourself
in an embarrassing position. Suppose that I did buy you that dress.
Then you got splashed with hot water and returned to being a boy.
You'd die of embarrassment!"
He did have a point there. If a girl wears boys' clothes, she's
making a fashion statement. If a boy wears girls' clothes, everyone
thinks he's a pervert. I tried to hide my disappointment.
"Besides, we don't have any money for new clothes."
Maybe so, but I promised myself one day I would wear a pretty
dress and makeup and jewelry, so there!
Then he told me we were going back to Japan, to visit his old
friend Tendou, who had a martial arts dojo. He mumbled something about
having an engagement there.
He must have poured hot water on me while I slept, because the
next thing I knew, we were in Tokyo, the Nerima part, and it was
raining. Father had turned into a panda again, but I had a map in my
hand, and soon figured out we were only a few blocks from the Tendou
home. I pulled him along as best I could.
It was a nice big house, surrounded by an actual lawn, and there
was a training hall on the grounds. I hoped the Tendous would be the
forgiving sort.
Apparently the Tendous were expecting us, because as soon as I
raised my voice to panda-Father to try and get him through a door, they
scrambled out to see us.
They were: A man about my father's age, with long hair and a
thick mustache, in a greenish gi; A very grown-up looking young woman
in an apron, and her hair in a ponytail, who looked very feminine (I
liked her already); A slightly younger girl with short hair, in jeans,
who looked a little sharp-featured; and a long-haired girl in a white
gi (great, a tomboy.) They all looked very surprised.
"Father, do you know who this is?" asked the eldest. Mr. Tendou
(I guessed) shook his head.
"Sure, shorty here and a giant panda just happened to wander in
off the street. Happens all the time." sniped the short-haired one.
The tomboy just looked angry.
"Pardon me," asked Mr. Tendou, "but who are you?"
"I'm Ranma Saotome. Sorry about this."
"Ranma! At last you've come!"
He hugged me really really hard, then pulled back all of a
sudden. He looked at me again, more carefully this time.
The short-haired girl poked me in the breast. "Dad, Ranma's a
girl."
He collapsed.
"Actually, I'd like to be called 'Ranko" instead. Yes, I'm a
girl, so you can stop poking me, um, what's your name?"
"Nabiki Tendou. This here's my sister Kasumi, the one doing
first aid on Dad; and she's Akane." She slid an arm around my shoulder.
"Father's trying to marry us to a *girl*?" asked Akane.
I stopped cold. Then "engagement" didn't mean "appointment", it
meant...
"We need to have a discussion. Do you have any hot water handy?"
As soon as I got him out of panda form, Genma Saotome was going
to explain why he'd ruined my life!
Part One
I helped Akane and Kasumi move their father to a more comfortable
position while Nabiki was fetching the water I asked for. ("Hot water?"
I heard her mumble. "Is someone pregnant?") He was stirring now, but it
was pretty obvious he was still in shock.
"Ranm--Ranko, where's your father? Daddy said you both were
coming." asked Akane.
"You'll see him in a minute or two," I replied truthfully.
Nabiki brought in the kettle. I thanked her and poured the
steaming water over the panda, who once again became Genma Saotome. The
Tendou sisters gave gasps of surprise, and I couldn't resist a triumphant
"tah-dah!"
"Ranma, did we make it to the Tendou house?"
"Yes, Father. Now would you explain what the big idea is about
engaging me to another girl? Well?"
Mr. Tendou sat up. "Yes, Saotome, do explain. You quite
specifically told me you had a son." He didn't look too happy.
"Ranma *is* my son! He's under a curse, here, I'll show you."
He made a grab for the kettle, but I danced back, keeping it out of reach.
"Oh no you don't! You're not putting me to sleep again!"
"Sleep? Curse? Will one of you please explain?" Mr. Tendou
looked terribly confused.
"If he pours hot water on me, I black out."
"It's the curse! Cold water makes my son think he's a girl."
"Darn good impression of one too." quipped Nabiki.
"I don't *think* I'm a girl, I *am* one! And I'm tired of you
acting like I'm some sort of embarrassment!" Tears started coming, I was
so angry.
"Don't cry Ranko, it's going to be all right." said Kasumi,
pulling me towards her, not quite hugging me.
"Ranko?" Father looked stunned.
"Ranma's too much a boy's name. Ranko's what I want to be
called."
"I won't have it!" he roared, and managed to get the kettle away
from me. I cowered as the hot splashing sent me away.
I woke up in a pond behind the Tendou house, sopping wet as
usual. I was really beginning to hate this. It was dark out now. As I
walked back to the house, Father came sailing past me into the pond,
where he turned into a panda again.
I was still angry with him, so I kept on walking.
Akane stood in the doorway, breathing heavily. She looked at me,
eyes filled with rage and pity.
"Your father is a jerk! My father is a jerk! And Ranma is an
especially BIG jerk!" She spun on her heel and went upstairs.
Mr. Tendou was back on his feet, but still looked a bit shaky.
"Sorry about that, Ranma, she's very high-spirited girl. But I'm sure
you two will be very happy together." He went out to the yard.
"Um...what did I miss?"
"We met Ranma, the boy version that is," answered Nabiki, "and
found out about Jyuusenkyo and what it did to you folks. Pretty scary
stuff. Then Dad decided that we should go ahead with the engagement
anyway."
"What `engagement anyway'?"
"Oh, that's right, you don't remember. It seems that Uncle
Saotome and our father were students together and became very good
friends. They made a vow that their children would get married to join
the families." Kasumi explained.
"But I'm a--"
"Well, actually, Ranma didn't seem to like the idea much either,
but then there was some hooha about `family honor'. So Akane got picked
to be the lucky girl."
"She didn't look too happy about it."
"Oh, she and Ranma got into a fight about some silly thing or
another, so she threw him out of the house. And Uncle Saotome for good
measure. My, look at him playing with Father and that tire. He's
adorable!"
"Then let him stay that way for a while."
"You don't like your father much, do you, Ranko?" asked Nabiki.
I had to think about it for a moment. I hadn't done much
thinking, just reacting. "I guess I don't. Every time I see him, he's
trying to get rid of me. He seems to think I'm some sort of monster
that's taken over his son."
"And how do you feel about Ranma?" asked Kasumi.
"I...I don't know what to think of him. I don't even know what
he looks like."
"Oh. Well," said Nabiki, "he looks a lot like you, but taller,
and he's a boy of course. Same pigtail, but his hair isn't as glossy.
Could easily pass for your brother. Next time he's around, I'll take a
picture for you."
"Really? But then I guess he *is* my brother in a way." I
shivered as a draft came in.
"Oh my. We should get you out of those wet clothes before you
catch cold. A nice hot bath will--"
"No! No hot water!"
"That's right, hot water turns you back into Ranma. He doesn't
like blacking out either."
"Tough. He had sixteen years of life; I've been awake...umm..."
I counted up "...less than a whole day! It's my turn."
"All right, we'll see about at least getting you dry though."
Kasumi was a good as her word, drying me off with big fluffy
towels in the bathroom's changing room. It felt so good to be dry for a
change! I also got my first good look at myself in the mirror. I was a
pretty girl, if I do say so myself, with cute features and a busty
figure. The pigtail made me look a bit young, but that was okay.
Nabiki came in. "Akane's still sulking in her room and won't
open her door. You'd better talk to her, Sis. So I got one of my
nightgowns instead. Remember, Ranko, this is just a loaner. I'll want
it back."
Nabiki's taller than I am, so it was too large for me, dragging
on the floor. But still, it was the first nice--and dry--thing I'd ever
worn. I twirled around to get the feel of it.
"Thanks Nabiki! It's so pretty!" I stopped to look at myself in
the mirror again. "Do you think boys will like me?"
"You're gonna knock 'em dead, kid."
Kasumi just smiled.
"I should get a picture of you to show Ranma too" said Nabiki,
holding up her camera.
So I posed, and then she wanted a couple more shots just to make
sure. During the fourth pose, I started yawning.
Kasumi looked at me. "Why Ranko, you're half-dead on your feet.
Bedtime for you, young lady."
"But I can't be *yawn* sleepy yet!" I protested. "I haven't had
enough time!"
"Ranma's been up all day," pointed out Nabiki. "Apparently it
carries over."
"It's not fair. I want to be awake!" I whined like a small
child.
"Don't worry Ranko. I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot of
you."
Kasumi showed me to a guest room, arranged a futon and blankets,
and tucked me in, all in what seemed like one fluid motion. She can be
very efficient when she wants.
"I'll look in on you again when I've settled Akane. Okay?"
"Okay." I wondered if this was what it was like to have a
mother. I wondered if I did have a mother. I'd have to ask in the
morning. I suppose Kasumi came back, but I really was tired, and was
asleep soon. Doing it naturally was a lot nicer than blacking out.
My awakening was the usual rude one, though.
I was out on the street with Akane, who was wearing a bluish
dress and carrying a schoolbag. I had one in my hand too, so I guessed
it was her school uniform. I was back in Ranma's red and black outfit,
wet as usual.
"Are we going to school?" I asked, just to make sure.
"Of course we--oh, right. Hi, Ranko. Yes, Furinkan High. But
we'd better stop on the way and get you turned back."
"Do we have to? I just woke up."
"Ranma's the one registered, and it'll be as a boy, so he should
be the one to arrive, I think." She giggled. "You should have heard him
grousing this morning about waking up in Nabiki's nightgown! Uncle
Saotome nearly tore it off of him."
"Are you okay with him now? You were pretty upset last night."
"Yes, well...it wasn't entirely Ranma's fault. He's been under a
lot of strain because of his blackouts and your father's reaction to the
curse, and then he gets engaged to a girl he doesn't even know! Add in
that I don't much like boys and have a bit of a temper...It wasn't a good
first meeting for either of us."
"I guess not. But are *we* engaged?"
"I dunno. I don't think our fathers can legally *force* Ranma
and me to marry, and I'm pretty sure same-sex marriages are illegal in
Japan. So I'd say we weren't engaged, though Daddy and Uncle Saotome
might have other opinions. Oh, here's Doctor Tofu's."
The sign said that Dr. Tofu Ono practiced shiatsu, moxibustion,
bonesetting and other traditional medical arts. While Akane asked the
housekeeper for some hot water, I looked around the office. I nearly
jumped out of my skin when a bony hand fell on my shoulder from behind.
"Good morning."
"Yeek!"
"Oh, did I startle you Miss? I'm Doctor Tofu and this is my
skeleton Betty." He made the skeleton wave hello. The doctor was a
friendly-looking man somewhere in his thirties. He had on an informal
kimono and wore round glasses. He smiled so nicely I relaxed again.
"May I help you, Miss?"
"No thank you, Doctor, I'm just waiting for someone."
"Yes? Oh, hello, Akane."
She'd come out of the kitchen with a kettle. She lowered her
eyes a bit.
"Good Morning, Doctor."
"Are you in need of my services today? Any injuries?"
She swayed a bit and kicked one of her feet. "Um, no, I don't--I
mean I haven't done anything like that lately. We just needed some hot
water."
I wasn't sure, but Akane sounded different when she talked to Dr.
Tofu.
"Haha! Well, I won't keep you then. Have fun at school." He
went into his inner office.
"This Dr. Tofu..." I began.
"Oh, he's the family doctor. He's been fixing my scrapes and
bruises since I was little."
"You're sweet on him, aren't you?"
"Oh, just pour the water."
"Myself?"
"Ranma will appreciate the gesture, I hope."
"He'd better." I lifted the kettle and it was lights out.
Lights on, and I was riding the panda in the rain, hanging on for
dear life. Akane opened a door, and I steered us in. It was a small
outbuilding, I guessed on the school grounds.
"What in the world? *owch*" as I realized the side of my neck
hurt. Felt like a bad bruise.
"I guess Ranma underestimated Upperclassman Kunou."
"Who's he?"
"His full name is Tatewaki Kunou, but no one ever uses his given
name. He's the captain of the kendo team and kind of the big man on
campus. He has a big crush on me, unfortunately. When I turned him down
for the umpteenth time, he declared no boy could date me unless they
defeated me in combat first."
"And they let him get away with that?"
"Like I said, he's big man on compus, plus he said he's thrash
anyone who tried to get around it. And since I'm the only kid in school
who can take him in a fight..."
I was right! A violent tomboy. Though under the circumstances,
she had a right to defend herself.
"So this morning, the boys attacked me as usual, be glad you
missed it, it was a real mob scene, and I stomped them, same as always.
Ranma made some flippant remark, then Upperclassman Kunou showed up and
took offense at Ranma being so `familiar' with me. Before I knew it,
they were about to have a duel right there!
"Just as they got going, the rain started. I guess your father
must have followed us to school, and snatched you away just in time."
"First nice thing he's done for me. Thanks, Father." I told the
panda.
Akane eyed him. "Actually, I think he was just afraid people
would see you."
She held up another kettle.
"Rain's stopped for now, so back to boy."
"Couldn't I just go to school instead of Ranma?"
"As soon as we brought your father back to normal, he'd object.
And no, we can't just leave him like that, much as we might like to."
"Okay, but this is absolutely the last time today. The next
time, I'm not changing! Off.
To be continued...
Chapter Two
On again, underwater. I stroked for the surface, and was about
to break it, when I was grabbed from behind. Whoever it was sqeezed my
breast really hard, so much it actually hurt! While I'm not normally
violent, a girl's allowed to defend herself against that sort of thing,
so I elbowed the creep off of me.
Turned out I was in the school swimming pool. You'd think Ranma
would learn to avoid that kind of thing if he didn't like blacking out.
The pervert was a tall guy in kendo gear minus the armor, floating face
down. Fortunately, he rolled over and breathed, so I didn't have to try
and haul him out.
I walked back into the school, looking for Akane. She met me
near the door.
"I guess Ranma just wasn't fated to be in school today." she
admitted with a slightly exasperated look.
"I'll take notes for him." I promised.
The teacher was curious as to why I was now sitting at Ranma's
desk, but seemed reasonably satisfied with Akane's explanation that I was
Ranma's sister and would fill in for him until he got back from where
he'd had to go.
It was nearly the end of the period when the door slammed open
and the pervert from the pool walked in, bokken in hand.
"Where is the treacherous coward Ranma Saotome?"
The teacher replied, "The bell has not rung, Mister Kunou. There
are still three minutes left in this class."
"My mission is of great import, and I will not brook delay. I
ask again, where is the coward?"
Akane was about to speak, but I beat her to it. "Ranma is *not*
a coward."
"And what would you know of such matters, fair flower?" Pompous
as all get out, but a real smooth talker.
"I'm Ranko Saotome, Ranma's sister."
"What is this? Such a beautiful maiden related to that defiler
of women? But if he be not coward, then whence has he gone? For he has
twice vanished when I, Tatewaki Kunou, the Blue Thunder of Furikan High,
rising star of--"
Boy sure loved to hear himself talk, so I interrupted.
"He had to leave on urgent affairs. But we're very close. So
close that what you do to him, you do to me." I lowered my collar so he
could see the bruise on my neck.
"Say it is not so, pig-tailed girl! Like unto the Corsican
brothers, harm to him is harm to you?" He was handsome when he looked
concerned.
"Exactly."
"But yet I must still satisfy my honor!"
"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get another chance to fight Ranma.
Just keep the consequences in mind."
He left, trying to find a way out of the dilemma.
The bell rang, and Akane came over.
"I'm very impressed that you stood up for Ranma that way."
"Yes, well, I don't know much about Ranma yet, but I couldn't let
him be called a coward when it was on account of me he vanished."
The rest of the school day went pretty smoothly. Akane
introduced me to some of the other girls; the boys introduced
themselves. One named Hiroshi was especially persistent. I flirted with
them a bit, but Akane rather unsubtly kept things from getting too
serious.
As I was leaving, one of the teachers told me it would be better
if I wore a uniform like the other girls. I promised I would if my
father let me. Of course that would probably be when apples grow on ivy
trees.
Akane took me straight home, so I could see the whole route.
Kasumi intercepted us at the door, so we avoided the living room,
where our fathers were playing shogi. Upstairs, Kasumi showed us what
she'd done to my room. There was a sign on the door now, a yin/yang
symbol that read "Ranma & Ranko". Akane thought it was appropriate. The
duck nameplate on her door was apparently due to an old family joke.
Inside, Kasumi had labeled three shelves "Ranma", "Ranko" and
"Both." The closet was divided the same way. My shelf had a small
makeup kit on it, Ranma's a shaving kit.
"I don't think Ranma shaves yet, but I didn't want to play
favorites." The "Both" shelf had some generic toiletries. Since we were
the same person, we might as well share our toothbrush.
She'd also fixed up a pair of bright yellow pajamas to be
adjustable. "this way, you'll have something to sleep in, whichever way
you are. Later, we'll go shopping and get you some personal things."
I thanked Kasumi for all the nice things. She went to finish
supper, and I looked at the makeup case. I just had to try it out!
Lipstick and mascara and eyeshadow and rouge and some stuff I wasn't too
clear on, but tried anyway.
I found Akane and Nabiki studying in Nabiki's room. I've noticed
that Nabiki is always eating. Not a lot at a time, but constant
snacking. When she saw me, she spat out her potato chips and started
laughing at me. Akane tried hard to stifle her giggles, but she was
amused too.
"What?" I asked. "Don't these shades go together?"
"Ha-ha-have you ever put on makeup before, Ranko?" asked Nabiki,
trying to return to her usual straight face.
"Well...no, but since I'm a girl, I should be able to, right?"
She steered me to a mirror. I looked awful, like a half-painted
clown!
"It takes practice to put makeup on properly," explained Akane,
"and since you seem to have Ranma's general knowledge, I'll bet he's
never put on makeup either."
She showed me how to remove makeup, something else I hadn't
known, and she and Nabiki helped me do it right.
"The trick," said Nabiki, "is to use just enough to enhance your
face, rather than call attention to itself."
We were called down to supper. As soon as Father saw me, he
exploded.
"Ranma! Why are you wearing makeup? That's for girls! I didn't
raise you to be a sissy."
"I'm Ranko, Father, Ranko! I *am* a girl. Don't you want your
daughter to look pretty?"
He threw his miso soup on me. Blackout time again.
I woke up to Dr. Tofu's smiling face, and only a little wet this
time. I also wasn't wearing a shirt, so I quickly crossed my arms to
cover myself.
"Good afternoon, Ranko. You've been brought in for a physical.
Is this your first time?"
I nodded. Everything was a first time for me.
"I realize you might be a little nervous, so I'll have Akane come
in to keep you company, okay?"
"Okay." I would've preferred Kasumi, but I learned later that
would have been a bad idea. I was soon very grateful for Akane being
there though, because parts of the exam were very embarrassing. While he
poked and prodded, the doctor asked about my life so far, and gave me a
quick anatomy lesson. He gave me a pamphlet to read later on female
biology, just in case I needed more information.
Eventually, he told me I could put back on my clothes, and
stepped out. I breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "What happened?"
"Let's see," said Akane, "you were up last at supper, right?
Uncle Saotome yelled at Ranma for wearing makeup, Ranma was embarrassed
to find out he really *was* wearing makeup, but refused to wipe it off
before he got a chance to eat. Ranma has quite an appetite. He and your
father were snatching food back and forth from each other like starving dogs!
"Then Ranma got mad at me for putting makeup on him. That
would've been another fight, but Nabiki managed to convince him he'd have
been worse off with that first mess on his face.
"Today Ranma actually made it all the way through school without
getting wet. He and Kunou finally had their matchup. Ranma won, but I
wonder if Junou wasn't holding back just a bit because of what you told
him."
"Could be. He seemed to have some sense of honor, though groping
me in the pool wasn't very nice."
"He thought you were Ranma. It's an easy mistake."
"There is no Ranko!" came an angry voice from the next room. My
father. We moved closer to the door to eavesdrop.
"Mr. Saotome, please calm yourself." came the measured tones of
Dr. Tofu. "I'll explain agian in layman's terms. When the curse is
active, all of Ranma's personal information--the memories that make him
uniquely Ranma--is blacked out. It's kind of a magical amnesia. The
resulting person was a blank slate, like a newborn child who somehow had
a junior high education. Since the female body is the only one she
knows, it's natural to her, and she's built her identity around it. Thus
her choosing the name Ranko."
"This is a disaster! My son cursed with the mind of a woman!
Isn't there anything you can do?"
"I've looked at the literature, and there's no known cure for the
effects of Jyuusenkyo. And some of the attempted cures...let's just say
the results make your current situation look like paradise."
"There must be someone who can help!"
"*You* can help, Mr. Saotome. You can help by accepting that you
have, for all intents and purposes, two children now, a son and a
daughter, who happen to share the same physical space. *Both* your
children need your love and support now. And their mother should be
notified."
"NO! I mean, Mrs. Saotome is unavailable at present. I'll have
to handle this myself."
"Unavailable?" What did that mean? If he'd meant dead, he would
have said so, right? At least now I knew I had a mother, even if she was
out of the country or something.
Their voices got low, then we heard Dr. Tofu coming back. Akane
and I rushed back to the examining table, but he could tell we'd been
listening. He just smiled.
"I'm happy to say that aside from your...condition...both you and
Ranma are amazingly healthy specimens. Barring any surprises in the
blood tests, you both get a clean bill of health. However--" he started
scribbling on a note pad, "I'll send a note to your school excusing you
from taking showers or swimming, since those activities could cause some
embarrassment."
"Thank you, Doctor." It would be really embarrassing to wake up
in the boys' shower at that. Possibly even dangerous.
Akane and I made our farewells, Akane dragging it out just a
bit, and went into the waiting room. My father was there, holding a
kettle. I was beginning to have a dread of those things.
"I need to talk to Ranma."
"No." I snatched the kettle away, careful not to spill it. "You
can talk to me."
He struggled to contain his anger.
"Please." I could see how painful uttering that word was to
him. "I *need* to talk to my son." He sounded sincere.
"All right, but only after you talk to me."
His shoulders slumped, and he pressed his hands into fists
several times.
"Akane, could you leave us?" She left, but reluctantly.
"This is difficult to say...I dedicated my life to teaching Ranma
the martial arts. I saw a promise in him, that he could become one of the
greats, a man among men. He was doing so well, I knew he would be manly,
thanks to my instruction. But now...it's all gone sour."
"That was all you wanted Ranma to be? A manly martial artist?
You didn't have room for anything else?"
"It would have been enough. All other needful things would have
followed. Look, I don't know how to talk to a daughter. I never had
one, never expected one--"
"Never *wanted* one?" I'd hit another nerve than I'd expected; I
saw it in his eyes, a look of guilt.
"There was once--but no, the past is gone. It seems I have a
daughter now, like it or not. Welcome to the family...Ranko."
"Thank you for your welcome." It was a start, anyway.
"May I talk to Ranma now?" I nodded and poured the water.
I was at the side of the school, in Ranma's outfit, sopping wet.
I heard a voice from above, "You should be more careful where you dump
things! Suppose someone had been outside?"
It was approximately lunchtime (my stomach was growling.) Around
the corner came Kunou, again in kendo garb.
"Ranma Saotome, base jackanapes! Show yourself that I might give
you the thrashing you deserve!" He screeched to a halt when he saw me.
"Od's bodkins! 'Tis the pig-tailed girl! How fare you, Ranko
Saotome?"
"I'm fine, Upperclassman Kunou."
"Hast seen thy brother? He has once again eluded my grasp."
"He had to leave again. I'm sure you'll be seeing him."
Kunou turned as if to leave, but spun back.
"It has struck me, as a bolt from the blue, that while your
impertinent brother enshackles the lovely Akane Tendou in an unwanted
engagement, I know nothing of your own arrangements. Are you engaged
also?"
"Um, actually I'm not seeing anyone right now."
"Splendid! Then will I grace you with my presence on a date!
Would Saturday night be acceptable, my lily of the valley?" Fast worker
a little too fast. Sure he was handsome, but the way Akane talked about
him made him seem awfully possessive. And he wanted to thrash my other
half, which wasn't good for my health.
"I barely know you, Upperclassman. And I don't know if my father
will allow me to date yet." True enough, and I suspected my father would
choke at the very thought.
"I see. Very well, I shall delay my suit until you have
consulted with your father. Fare well until we do meet again." This
time he left for real.
Unfortunately, lunch period was over, so I had to attend all the
afternoon classes hungry.
Part Three
My tummy was growling something fierce by the time Kasumi met
Akane and me after school. Nabiki had "business" to take care of; when I
asked what kind of business, Akane just looked embarrassed, so I dropped
the subject.
We stopped at an ice cream shop to take the edge off my hunger.
It's very hard to eat like a lady when your stomach is screaming "send
food now!" But I controlled myself and took dainty licks. Akane was
looking at me funny, but turned away when I looked back. Kasumi and I
chatted about my day in school.
Our next stop was a large discount store. There were so many
pretty things! I dashed from rack to rack, looking for the cutest
dresses.
"Oh, this is pretty! Do you think these would look cute on me?
Mauve blouse and chartreuse skirt...is that a bit much?"
Suddenly I realized there was a sort of bluish glow around Akane,
and she had a snarl on her face. "Stop it, Ranko! Just stop it!"
People turned and stared. I was scared of Akane.
"I'm sorry, Akane! I didn't mean to--what did I do?"
The glow died down a little as she looked me in the eye. "You
really don't know? Then it's not deliberate?"
"What's not deliberate?"
"The high-pitched voice, the overdone feminine gestures and
poses, your obsession with `cute' and `pretty' and `ladylike', all that
stuff! It's like you're some kind of parody of a girl made up of all the
stereotypes of someone who'd never met one!"
"But...this is the way I've always been."
Kasumi stepped in. "I've noticed that when Mr. Saotome turnes
into a panda, he doesn't really act like a wild panda, but more like one
that was trained by a circus or something."
"That's right!" I answered. "I remember thinking it was tame
because it followed me so easily."
"And," said Kasumi, "I'd suspect that Mr. Saotome hasn't seen
many real wild pandas. Just ones in circuses and zoos."
"That's where most people see pandas nowadays." admitted Akane.
"Now, from what Ranma was telling us earlier, when he was in
school, it was all-boys' schools, and his father raised him alone. I
don't want to be harsh on Mr. Saotome, but some of his views on women are
rather old-fashioned, and he's passed them on to his son."
Akane nodded. "I noticed. Boy, have I noticed."
"So when Ranko was `born', the only instructions she had on `how
to be a girl' were the ones in Ranma's general knowledge. And since
Ranma doesn't know much about girls..."
"Ranko has faulty instructions!"
"Um...are you saying that I'm not really a girl after all?"
"Oh my. Not at all! It's just that right now, you're working
with a very narrow and somewhat skewed definition of what a girl is and
how she should act. As you get some more experience, you'll see which
things are really important, and which are just silly cliches to be
tossed away. Sometimes rigid male/female categories just aren't
appropriate. Oh, and that blouse and skirt definitely do not match."
Now that Akane was calmer, we continued shopping. Looking back
now, I can admit I had atrocious tastes in fashion, but at the time I
rather resented the way Akane vetoed most of the things I liked. We
ended up buying three rather plain sets of skirts and blouses that all
went well together so I could switch them off and create the illusion of
a larger wardrobe.
I had freer choice of lingerie, though Akane warned me Ranma
would go ballistic if he woke up in some of the frillier items. A pair
of nice shoes (no high heels yet) and a small pair of clip-on earrings
(piercing was out of the question as long as I was sharing a body)
rounded out the ensemble.
We also picked up some clothes for Ranma, Kasumi having got his
sizes beforehand.
Then we stopped to pick up some takeout chicken so Kasumi
wouldn't have to cook supper. She likes cooking, loves it really, but
even she needs a break now and then. Especially when at the time, she
was the only one in the house who knew how. Then it was back to home.
Yes, I was thinking of it as home by now.
As we gathered at the table, I showed off one of my new outfits.
Nabiki and Mr. Tendou made appreciative noises. Father gritted his teeth
and grabbed the table with white-knuckled hands. I felt a twinge of
sympathy; this was obviously not easy for him.
After dinner, Nabiki let me know there was mail waiting
upstairs.
On my shelf lay a bouquet of red roses with a scroll attached,
and a small envelope. The flowers were from Kunou. His writing style
was even more stilted than his speech, but the gist of the note was that
he was looking forward to dating me. He seemed quite certain I would
accept, and, yes, assumed I'd rushed right home to beg Father for
permission.
I was somewhat torn. The roses were a very romantic, if somewhat
extravagant, gesture, and it would be nice to have a date. But Kunou's
assumption that I would fall right into his arms rankled a bit. And
there was the fact that I was...what was a good word for it?...naive
about some things. I decided I should ask Nabiki more about him, since
they seemed to be in the same grade.
The smaller envelope had a photograph inside of a very handsome
boy with his hair in a pigtail, wearing a red silk shirt I was all too
familiar with. So this was Ranma. He looked a decent enough sort, but
perhaps that was just the family resemblance. I unfolded the letter.
[Dear--What do I call you?] it began. [Little Sister, Ranko-chan,
Hey You? Um...Dear Ranko, I guess. Akane says I should write this so we
can start thinking of each other as real people. I guess she has a
point. Up till now, you've been sort of this big blank spot in my life
that other people tell me about. Nabiki gave me a picture of you, so I'm
keeping it in front of me as I write. You do look kind of cute, cuter
than that tomboy anyway.
[What do you say to the sister you've never met? Some of the
basics, I guess. I'm sixteen years old, and I've been learning martial
arts from my father most of that time. In fact, I can't remember a time
when I wasn't on the road with Pops, just stopping long enough to get
some schooling. I don't really have any other hobbies, though I'm good
at most sports.
[Before all this happened, Pops was talking about me entering
tournaments soon, making a name for myself. Now he just seems to want to
get me married off as quickly as possible. It's really irritating. I
was just starting to look forward to dating and finding out what kind of
girls I like, and now I'm engaged to one I barely know!
[I suppose Akane ain't the worst girl in the world, but she's so
angry all the time! And I don't hardly do anything to deserve it,
really. Maybe if we didn't have this stupid engagement pressuring
us...After all, she is kinda cute when she smiles.
[Hoping to hear from you, Ranma]
I looked at his picture again. I tried to imagine him talking.
What did he sound like? I pictured him as a little rough around the
edges, but brave and strong. And very irritating. I found a piece of
paper and began writing.
[Dear Ranma,
[Thank you for writing. I am very happy to hear from you.
[I've only been awake a few days, so I'm not sure what I want to
do yet. Especially since it seems some of my impulses aren't necessarily
the right ones.
[You're quite handsome. We don't look much like Father, do we?
I guess we take after Mother. Do you know anything about her? Father
told Dr. Tofu she was "unavailable", whatever that means.
[Yes, I've noticed Akane is kind of irritable. Just try to be
pleasant and explain things calmly. You might also try apologizing if
whatever set her off is remotely your fault.
[Upperclassman Kunou, the one you've been fighting, wants to date
me. I'm not sure about him, so what do you think?
[Sincerely, Ranko.]
I put the letter up on Ranma's shelf, along with one of Kunou's
roses. No sense wasting them. I brought the rest down to Kasumi, who
put them in water.
After that, I did some homework. Just because we were a split
personality was no reason we should fall behind at school.
I knocked on Nabiki's door and she let me in.
"What can I do you for, Ranko?"
"I'd like to know more about Upperclassman Kunou, please."
"Sure. Smile for the camera." She took a couple of pictures.
"Well... Kunou's not really a bad person, but he's a little off in the
head. Half of the time he thinks he's living in a samurai movie where
he's the brave hero protecting his warrior maiden love. The rest of the
time he goes for other girls. For the past year or so, he's been fixated
on Akane--and whichever other girl catches his fancy for a few days.
He's absolutely sincere in loving two girls at once, at least for a
while. And right now he's got his eye set on you."
"You know about that?"
"I happen to have an excellent information network, kiddo. That,
and Kunou asked me to deliver the roses while raving about his
`pig-tailed goddess.'"
"Oh."
"If you date him, he is generous, you won't lack for pretty
things as long as he's interested. But don't be surprised if he dumps
you for the next pretty face that comes along. Only Akane seems to stick
in his mind so far."
"Um, thanks, Nabiki."
"No problem. One more for the road, okay?" She really seemed to
like taking pictures.
At this point I realized that if I wanted Ranma to answer my
letter promptly, I'd have to let him read it. So I took a pair of his
trousers to the changing room, rinsed off and slipped into a hot bath.
Too bad I couldn't enjoy it myself.
I woke up still in the bathroom, no, *back* in the bathroom,
judging by the light. Ranma had left a set of his clothes in the change
room, along with another letter.
[Morning!] it read.
[We'll work out what's best for us, I guess.
[Mom's alive? Come to think of it, Pops never did actually tell
me she was dead. I just sort of assumed it after a while. I'll see if I
can squeeze any news out of him.
[Kunou? You gotta be kidding me! If you've got to date someone,
and I really wish you wouldn't, try and at least make it someone I can
stand. Just thinking about that guy makes my skin crawl.
[Anyhow, I figure it's your turn to arrive at school in the
morning. Wake me up at lunch, and I'll take notes on the afternoon
classes.
[Hang tough, Ranma.]
I dressed in the baggy clothing (at least it was dry) and went
down to breakfast. As I was eating, I got an idea. I got up, scribbled
a message on a piece of paper, folded it, and handed it to Father.
"What's this then?"
"I'm going to ask you a question, but I don't want you to get
angry or upset. Instead, just say what's written there, okay?"
"Is this some kind of trick, bo--girl?"
"Yes, but trust me, please. Now there's a boy at school,
Upperclassman Kunou, who's in Nabiki's grade. He's asked to date me--"
Father's frown was turning into a grimace.
"--and I told him I would need your permission to start dating.
May I?" and I pointed to the paper. He scanned it and looked somewhat
relieved.
"`I do not think you are ready to start dating boys, Ranko.
Perhaps when you have more experience dealing with them.'" He was still
frowning, but not nearly as much.
"Thank you, Father." And I kissed him on the cheek.
He felt his cheek as I rushed after Akane out the door. I
remember he looked...puzzled.
Kunou was waiting at the gate to the school. "I, Tatewaki Kunou,
Blue Thunder of Furikan High, do challenge you, Ranma--Where's Ranma?"
"He'll be in this afternoon, Upperclassman. I'll be taking his
morning notes."
"Ah, the lovely Akane Tendou is accompanied by the equally
beautiful Ranko Saotome today! What bliss! I shall gladly take both--"
"My father said `not yet', Upperclassman Kunou."
"Eh? Does he not know who I am?"
"Perhaps not. But the answer is still no."
Akane put in, "And I wouldn't date you at all, even if my father
*did* approve it!" Then she pushed him out of our way.
He sat there in the dirt, mumbling something about "hard to get."
At lunch, Kunou came up to the circle of girls Akane and I were
sitting in, carrying what looked like a bundle of pink cloth. It turned
out to be a doll with blonde hair.
"I have something serious to ask you" he said as he thrust it at
me.
"What's that?"
"It is a cute little dolly. And my question is, are you certain
you told your father exactly who you intended to date?"
The doll was awfully tempting. My instinct said "you *love*
dolls!" But something else told me, "watch out! If you take it, he'll
want something in return..."
"I gave Father all the information he needed. Really, you don't
need to bring presents to someone who isn't going to be dating you."
"I insist you take it. A thing of beauty is a joy forever, and
if I cannot yet taste your sweet lips, then I must console myself with my
other love, sweet Ak--" Akane punched him out. I was beginning to
appreciate that being a tomboy was not necessarily a bad thing.
After lunch, Akane found a kettle, and I went away.
That night, Ranma and I had a "discussion" by way of pen, paper,
and a large supply of hot and cold water. We decided to trade off school
days, and negotiate the weekends. That way, I could wear a uniform on my
days (there wasn't too much danger of accidental transformation for me.)
Since I didn't want to practice martial arts, we picked
gymnastics as a hobby for me to stay in shape. I was really quite good
at it, I found.
I also began cooking lessons from Kasumi. Though Ranma claimed
otherwise, apparently we already had some training in field cookery, and
I soon began to be able to follow recipes.
Life settled into a pattern...for all of a week.
Part Four
It is not true that I'm smarter than Ranma. We have the same
brain, after all. But I can see where people might think so. Ranma was
brought up to believe that the best solution to any problem was to smash
it physically. When that doesn't work, he's at a bit of a loss. I,
conversely, got saddled with the rather sexist instinct that women should
never be physically aggressive or violent. So my first impulse is
usually to talk my way out of bad situations, even when fighting would be
better. But talking looks smarter than fighting to most people, so there
you are.
The Tendou family was getting tired of explaining everything
twice to us, so we started keeping a diary. It became part of our
standard equipment, along with the umbrella Ranma carried to ward off at
least some changes, and the thermos of hot water. Well, at least he was
*supposed* to carry them. He wasn't when the next important incident
happened.
I woke up on the street, unable to move my legs.
"It's okay for a girl to carry a girl, right?" Akane asked.
"Sure, I guess. What happened?"
Akane ranted about Ranma's insensitivity for a while, but I got
her calmed down after a few minutes. I wished they could get along
better, after all, I had to live with Akane too.
It seemed Ranma had during his latest fight with Kunou discovered
that one of Nabiki's businesses was selling pictures. Pictures of Akane
and me. Selling them to Kunou. Ranma made the mistake of asking why
anyone would waste good money on pictures of Akane. She'd hurt him worse
than Kunou had ever done.
Then they'd gone to see Dr. Tofu. "Ranma seemed fine when we
left the clinic, then his legs stopped working. He said it was too
embarrassing for a boy to be carried by a girl, so I splashed him and
here we are."
"Hmm. I wonder if Dr. Tofu didn't play a little joke on Ranma.
Though why would he do that?" And why didn't Nabiki cut us in on the
profits?
Ranma said in the diary later that Dr. Tofu had told him Akane
was really a nice girl and Ranma would come to see that. If that's why
the doctor played his joke, I guess it backfired a bit.
A couple of days later, I was cuddling Anne (the doll Kunou gave
me) as I read Ranma's latest entry.
[Ryouga showed up today. Wanted revenge. Got lost again.]
As you can well imagine, I felt Ranma had been a little too
terse. So I wrote [Ryouga who? Why does he want revenge? And what do
you mean, "lost again"?] Then I filled in some details of my own day.
I put Anne back on my shelf (Ranma won't touch her. He says the
doll gives him the willies.), picked up a pair of trousers, and went to
start a hot bath. Pity I can never finish one.
When I was next able to read the diary, I got Ranma's reply.
[Ryouga Hibiki. He was my buddy in junior high. I used to walk
him home all the time, because he gets lost real easy. We sparred a lot
cause I used to get the last bread at lunch. He thinks I ran out on a
duel with him and has only now caught up to finish it. Like I said, he
gets lost a lot. If he shows up, tell him to stay in one spot and turn
back into me real quick.]
Well, that was a little bit more helpful. I'd have to ask Akane
if she knew what Ryouga looked like.
As I mentioned previously, I'd begun practicing gymnastics to
stay in shape. Mr. Tendou had rigged some equipment for the purpose;
Akane apparently had never been into the more acrobatic aspects of the
martial arts. I worked out for a while, then tried a reasonably
difficult routine on the uneven bars.
When I dismounted, I realized Father was in the dojo. I hadn't
heard him come in.
"Not bad." he said in a flat voice, his face neutral. It was the
closest thing I'd had to approval from him yet. "You should hold your
left leg just a little straighter on the reverse swing." I tried the
routine again. He was right. This time I smiled and he almost did.
Then Nabiki came in and started taking pictures of me in my
sweaty leotard.
"Nabiki, are you going to sell these pictures to Kunou?"
"And anyone else who has the cash, yep."
"Do you make a profit at it?"
"A modest one. Why do you ask?"
"Don't models normally get paid?"
"Oh. Point. Consider this as partial payment for your room and
board. You know how much your father eats?"
"I'll have you know I can pull my own weight!" snarled Father.
"Good, because I don't think anyone else can." sniped Nabiki.
Father had taken a part-time odd-jobs position with Dr. Tofu, but
it didn't pay much, and he couldn't work when it rained. He really
didn't like being reminded that we were esentially freeloaders. He
started growling in the back of his throat.
I could see this coulod be bad, so I stepped in. "I'm glad to
help where I can. But no embarrassing pictures, okay?"
Nabiki smiled what I've come to recognize as her "money" smile.
"No embarrassing pictures. Gotcha." She left, but the mood was spoiled,
so Father and I finished our workouts in silence.
A few days later, I was woken particularly rudely in midair being
pushed up by a cold geyser. A bit ahead I saw a red circle, an
umbrella? I used the force of the water to launch over it.
When I landed, I saw it was an umbrella, a bamboo one at that.
It was being held by a boy about my age, very muscular-looking, wearing
worn travel clothing and with a yellow-and-black bandana holding back his
hair. He looked very angry, then shocked.
"Well?!" I asked.
"W-w-wait a sec..." he stuttered. "Why are you...that
is...where..."
"Who are you? Ryouga? What's going on?"
"R-R-Ranma?"
"Do I look like Ranma, mister?"
Akane ran up. "Ranko! Your--your--your torso!"
I looked down and saw to my dismay that there was a huge tear in
my shirt right across my breasts. No wonder the boy looked so shocked.
"Oh my."
"You didn't notice a draft?" asked Akane.
I crossed my arms to cover myself.
"Ranma! You...you..." the boy started to say.
"I'm not Ranma. I'm Ranko, his sister, and--"
"Ha! To think you would resort to such trickery to avoid me,
Ranma! I don't know how you made yourself look like a girl, but that's
the same tear I put in your shirt, and the same cut on your cheek." (So
that's what stings, I thought.) "It won't fool me! No mercy, Ranma!"
He pulled several bandanas from under the one he was wearing. He
whirled them until the sounded like propellors, then threw them. Somehow
this boy had learned the legendary trick of making cloth act like metal,
so his bandanas were in effect throwing blades. Their flight plan was
pretty erratic though, and some veered into the path of the boys who'd
just caught up to us.
"I'll get some hot water!" yelled Akane as she turned.
"No! It's dangerous!" I called. "Don't move!" But she ran
anyways.
"I'll make it!" Then she tripped over a tree root. Akane's
clumsiness actually saved her far worse injury, since several cloth
blades whirred through the space she'd just occupied, slicing only her
skirt.
I ran to help her up, and the boy took advantage of my
distraction to throw his umbrella at me.
"It's over!" he yelled, pulling out more bandanas. "Even if you
dodge my umbrella, my bandanas will strike you from every direction!" and
he threw more cloth knives.
Instinctively, I kicked the umbrella away from me, right into
several of the knives. Then I picked up Akane and leapt away as fast as
I could.
The boy ran after us. "Running away, coward?!"
I didn't waste breath replying.
We finally touched down on a roof, where Akane and I gasped for
breath in a tight embrace. Then we realized what we were doing. Akane
edged away from me. We were both blushing.
We stared at each other for a moment then both said "You--what?!"
"You didn't have to go running like that..." I said.
"You couldn't beat him as a *girl* could you? I had to--"
"Why would I want to beat him? Is this that Ryouga guy?"
"Yes! And he's got the strength of a monster!"
Suddenly, the bicycle shelter we were on collapsed (I found out
later Ryouga used his belt to cut the supports.) Akane grabbed me and
jumped as Ryouga leapt up. His belt narrowly missed us. We landed, but
Akane cried in pain. When she'd tripped over that root, she must've hurt
her ankle.
"Akane, we've got to get out of here!"
"Ignore me, will you?!" roared Ryouga, whipping his belt out
again.
"Give it a rest!" I retorted, as I leapt away with Akane again.
Ryouga released the belt, and I realized we couldn't dodge in
time. But Akane didn't. She twisted around in an attempt to shield me,
and the cloth buzzsaw sheared off half her hair. An inch closer, and
she'd have lost a shoulder blade.
The other students finally caught up just in time to see this.
One of them, Sayuri I think, asked, "A-Akane?"
I tried to get Akane's attention, but she just stared into space
as though in shock. I hadn't realized it before, but Akane did care
about her appoearance after all. And her beautiful long hair had been
shredded.
"Caught in public--with a haircut like that! She's lucky she
didn't just die!" said Yuka, another of the girls.
"Are you all right, Ranko? And how'd your shirt get ripped?"
Sayuri again.
The boys all crowded closer. Daisuke asked "And where'd Ranma
go?"
"Wait a minute! Who cares?!" I dissembled. "What matters
is...Akane."
Ryouga (I'd forgotten all about him) sneered. "Feh! She didn't
get an injury, did she?"
"No, but she sure got a bad cut, you bully!"
"Yeah!" said someone in the crowd. "Some he-man, picking on a
couple of girls!"
"But I...Ranma...that is..."
"Hey, when Ranma finds out what you did to his fiancee and his
sister, you're going to be in a world of hurt."
Akane just stood there looking stunned. Ryouga's face softened.
"If it will make you fell any better, Miss," he said, "hit me!
Lay it on me!"
She did.
I helped Akane limp off.
When we were out of sight, I said, "I'm sorry, Akane. Ranma
would have been able to protect you."
"If it wasn't for Ranma, I wouldn't need protecting!" She
slammed her fist into a telephone pole as punctuation. Then she winced
as her weight fell on her bad ankle again.
"We should go see Dr. Tofu."
As we walked, I thought of Ryouga. A most peculiar boy.
TWILIGHT EXISTENCE
by Scott K. Jamison
(Takahashi Disclaimer)
Part Five
The clinic was closed when we got there. Dr. Tofu's note said
he'd be back in a couple of hours. Apparently, he was so old-fashioned
he actually made house calls. Rather than wait there, we went the little
ways home for a rest first.
I quickly wrote up the end of the Ryouga fight in our diary, then
checked up on Akane. She was sitting in her room staring into space with
a melancholy expression.
"Are you all right, Akane?"
"Just...remembering. I don't care about my hair! So leave me
alone!" She shoved me out the door and slammed it. Akane has these
angry moods when she can't be reasoned with, but she calms down pretty
quickly if you let her or she's distracted.
Sure enough, three minutes later, Akane came out with a pair of
scissors and a calm expression. We walked down to the kitchen where
Kasumi was making supper. She was tasting the soup.
"Mmm. Delicious!" She put down the saucer, then started on the
stirfry. At that moment, she heard us enter. "Oh, Akane! And how was
your--"
When she saw what had happened to Akane's hair, Kasumi's arms
went up in shock, sending the pan of food flying. Good thing I was there
to catch it and save the stirfry.
"Do you have to overreact to everything, Kasumi?" asked Akane
with a bit of a smile. Actually, it's about as shocked as I've ever seen
Kasumi. She's normally pretty unfazeable.
"But...but...but...your hair!"
"I'm afraid it's my f--" I began.
"I just felt like a change, that's all! Can you fix it up for
me?" asked Akane.
While Kasumi did some quick barbering, I held down things in the
kitchen.
When she returned, Kasumi said, "Thank you, Ranko. But isn't it
Ranma's turn today?"
In all the excitement, I'd forgotten. I fetched a new shirt (the
old one being pretty badly torn) and Kasumi poured the hot water.
I woke up in the drainage canal with Akane looking over the
fence. Her hair was pretty short now, and looked kind of cute.
"Haha. Gotcha."
"What was that for?"
"Oops. I--um--sorry, Ranko."
I hauled myself out onto land.
"What did Ranma do this time?"
"Well...he was very meek and nice...and he said he liked my hair
better this way."
"So you threw him in a canal? You are seriously weird, Akane."
"Not exactly threw...I don't know why I did that, really. I felt
so...uncomfortable...when he complimented me."
"He probably won't make that mistake again."
"What did you say, Ranko?" Her voice rose dangerously.
"If you make him black out when he's nice to you. Ranma's not
going to try to be nice to you anymore. You *would* like him to be nice
instead of insulting you all the time, right?"
Akane tried to calm herself. "Yes--no--I don't know!" She took
a deep swallow. "I guess...I'm afraid, a little bit. I've never even
been on a real date, and now Daddy is pushing for me to marry someone I
barely know! I feel like if I admit I kind of like Ranma, we'll just be
shoved into a wedding. I don't want to lose control of the most
important decision of my life!"
"I hear you. From what he writes, Ranma feels the same way.
After all, he loses control of his life to me every time he gets wet. He
doesn't want to lose any more control, so he tries to keep you at arm's
length. Least ways, that's how it looks to me."
"But you've had pretty much no control over your life so far, and
you manage to be nice, even to Kunou."
"That's because I'm *supposed* to be nice. I don't know how much
control I have over even my own feelings." My tummy growled. "Must be
time for dinner. Hope Kasumi saved some for us."
We laughed and headed for home.
Later, Ranma wrote me that Akane had cried on the doctor's
shoulder, and said she was over Dr. Tofu. I wrote back that he should
make more of an effort to be consistently nice to Akane so she wouldn't
be so suspicious when he was kind.
It took Ryouga a little over three days to return from wherever
he'd gone.
I woke up in the Tendou's pond. It was dark and rainy out, and I
was wearing just a sleeveless t-shirt and shorts. Ryouga landed on the
border of the pool, umbrella open above him.
"So! I was right! You *are* Ranma in disguise!"
"It's not a disguise, Ryouga, I really--"
"Silence! No matter your shape, I shall have my revenge!"
"Would you cut that out? I don't even know what you're getting
revenge for!"
"I'll say one thing...before I send you to hell." Thunder
rumbled. "When you ran out on our duel, I followed you...all the way to
China!!" Lightning flashed nearby.
I stalled. "Um...you mean you went to Jyuusenkyo...and you
transform into something when you get wet?"
"Silence! The time for words is past!" He jump-kicked at me,
and I barely dodged. He kept coming at me, and I kept dodging, trying to
think of some way to convince him to stop. About the only thing saving
me was that he was very carefully holding the umbrella above him. Sure
seemed like he didn't want to get wet. But if he'd been to the Valley of
Cursed Springs, wouldn't he know I wasn't really Ranma?
Suddenly, an object flew from the house and impacted Ryouga on
the back of the head. (I found out later it was a dumbbell thrown by
Akane.) He dropped the umbrella, then realized what he'd done. He
veered and leapt over the wall.
"Ryouga!" I cried, and followed. I had to see what the rain had
done.
Half a block away, I found Ryouga's pack, and just beyond it,
Ryouga, nursing his head in his hands. The rain hadn't done anything to
him! So much for that theory.
"Ryouga?" He didn't respond. "Excuse me, are you all right?"
Ryouga looked up at me, and there was no recognition in his
eyes. "Wh-where am I?"
"About half a block away from the Tendou Dojo."
"Where's that?"
"In Nerima. I know you get lost, but--"
"Why am I here? Do you know me?" As far as I could tell, he
sincerely didn't know. A new suspicion began forming.
"I think you'd better come back to the dojo with me. Get your
head looked at." I stretched out my hand.
"O-okay." He took it, and I led him back. On the way, we passed
a stray dog that growled at us. It made me a little frightened, so I
made Ryouga hurry.
Once inside, I told Ryouga to wait, grabbed a couple of towels
and the first aid kit from the kitchen, and set a kettle to boil. I put
some iodine on the lump on his head, then we started drying off.
"Thank you, Miss...um..."
"Ranko Saotome. And you are?"
"I,,,I don't know." I'd suspected as much.
"What's your first memory?"
"Um...I was in a pool with a bamboo post sticking out of it.
There were a bunch of other pools. I don't remember how I got there."
"That was Jyuusenkyo, I'll bet, in China."
"Oh. That explains why everyone spoke Chinese for the next day
or two. I wandered around for a while, then spilled some tea on myself
and blacked out. Ever since, I've been waking up cold and wet, and
blacking out every time I touch hot water."
"Welcome to the club. It happened to me too."
"You mean I'm not the only one? But then--"
Just then, Akane entered.
"All that racket at 2 A.M.! Oh, you finally got Ryouga calmed
down, Ranko?" He looked at her, no recognition there either.
"Not exactly, Akane. *This* fellow was born at Jyuusenkyo, just
like me!"
"But I thought those springs changed you into something else."
"Good point. I wonder..." Then I noticed he was staring at my
chest. The wet scooped-neck t-shirt was still plastered to my skin and a
little blood was trickling from his nose.
"Etchi! No peeking!" as I draped my towel for better coverage.
"Sorry." he said, but he was grinning. Then I noticed something
odd.
"Akane, doesn't Ryouga have fangs?"
"Yes."
"Fangs? And who's this Ryouga you keep talking about?"
"Say `Ah.'"
"Ahh." Sure enough, no fangs.
"Well, Ryouga is, for lack of a better term, your other half. He
apparently fell into one of the Cursed Springs. They change your body
and steal your memory. My other half, Ranma, fell into the Spring of
Drowned Girl, and I came out. You must have fallen into the Spring of
Drowned Boy, or something like that. So you don't look too different."
"Ryouga...`Good Fang'? That's a pretty silly name."
Akane frowned. "Well, what's your name, then?"
"I...I don't know. I've been calling myself Daremo."
"`Nobody'?! That's an awful name!"
"You do need a better one," I said, "like...um," my eye lit on
one of Nabiki's manga, "Shinnosuke, maybe?"
"That does sound better."
Akane nodded agreement. "I like it. It has a good feel to me
for some reason."
When I got around to actually reading the manga a few days later,
I discovered it probably wasn't the best inspiration. But at the time,
Shinnosuke Hibiki was pleased.
"Oh, and this is Akane Tendou. This is her house."
"Pleased to meet you, Miss."
"Likewise." She yawned. "It's nearly 3 A.M.! Let's all turn
in, and we can sort this out in the morning. Shinnosuke, you can bunk in
Uncle Saotome's room tonight. He's a heavy sleeper, so you shouldn't
wake him if you're quiet."
I changed into my pajamas and went to bed. I remembered
Shinnosuke's grin. He was a handsome boy...
The next morning, Kasumi had to call three times to wake me up.
Since it was my day to go to school, I took a cold sponge bath (which
also woke me up the rest of the way) and dressed in my girl's uniform.
Father hadn't liked that idea, but finally relented on my promise not to
get Ranma into any embarrassing situations. And not wearing Ranma's
clothes all the time helped establish us as different people to help hide
our secret.
Shinnosuke sat at the breakfast table, looking kind of dazed as
everyone whirled by him.
"Morning, Shinnosuke!"
"Morning, um, Ranko, right?"
"Right! Please pass the rice."
We ate for a bit.
"Um, Ranko?" Shinnosuke asked.
"Yes?"
"This Ryouga person...does he know about me?"
I mock-slapped my forehead. "That's right! You spent a couple
of days wandering away from Jyuusenkyo before you turned back, so he
probably never got an explanation! Ryouga probably thinks that spring
gave him brain cancer or something. No wonder he's so hot on revenge!"
"Revenge? On who?" asked Shinnosuke.
"Ranma, my other half. Apparently, Ryouga blames him for what
happened. We should really find out what's going on with him."
"Easily done." said Father, tipping a kettle over Shinnosuke's
head.
The boy's eyes glazed over for a second, then refocused on me,
filled with rage.
"This time, you won't escape, Ranma! Die!!" he screamed, fangs
bared as he launched himself across the table. I wasn't able to dodge in
time and he fastened his fingers around my throat.
"REVENGE!"
It took Father, Mr. Tendou and Akane combined to pry him off me.
"Please let's not be violent at breakfast." admonished Kasumi.
Nabiki took pictures.
"Please listen Ryouga! I know they're in the same body, but
Ranko isn't Ranma! Whatever he did, she isn't responsible!"
"Oh, the girl with the hair. Akane, was it? It looks better
now. Okay, I'm listening."
So Akane told him.
"Ranma turns into this wimpy little girl, and whenever I black
out, I'm actually becoming this Shinnosuke guy? That would explain a
lot."
"Right. How did you end up at Jyuusenkyo anyways?"
"Well, after Ranma ran out on our duel," Ryouga shot me a
venomous glance, "I was eventually able to discover he'd gone to China
with his father. It took me a year of searching, but at last I caught up
to them. I charged at my enemy, screaming a challenge, only to have him
deliberately duck at the last moment. It was only then I discovered
they'd been standing next to a cliff. I went over and into a pool. I
blacked out when I hit the water, and woke up two days later and miles
away with tea all over my clothing. Only now do I fully understand what
Ranma did to me."
Nabiki gestured at her watch. "Fascinating as all this is, we're
running late and I for one do not intend to carry any pails today." She
left, and Akane and I followed quickly.
"Bye, Ryouga!"
"Hey, wait--"
The day itself was rather uneventful, though I did get caught
doodling during algebra; I'd been thinking about Shinnosuke and Ryouga.
How alike were they, having nearly the same body?
I would not find out that day, though. When we returned from
school, Ryouga was gone. Kasumi said he'd asked directions to Furinkan
High. It would probably be a while before we saw him again.
Scott Jamison
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