Alex V Morgan
16th January 2003, 09:54 PM
Ranma Nibunnoichi : Reflections
By: A. V. Morgan (avmorgan27@attbi.com)
A continuation of the Two Ranmas manga story arc (V35 P1-4). Sexual
humor and innuendo, nudity and violence. Consider yourself warned.
Disclaimer: Ranma Nibunnoichi, and the associated cast and concepts are
the property of Rumiko Takahashi and those publishers and distributors
to whom she has given official rights. This work, in no way intends to
infringe upon those rights. The ideas explored are those of the author,
and should not be construed to express the opinions or intentions of
the creator or associated agencies.
BOLD Emphasis
~Italics~ Thought/Flashback
*SoundFX* ^_^;
[Sign] O.O [Arrrrgh! Panda's can't TALK!]
------------------------------------------------------------------
Part Thirty-Six: To See the Naked Truth
------------------------------------------------------------------
Unnoticed through the morning battle and the long period of
gathering reinforcements and negotiating with Happosai, the sun had
ascended upon its natural arc in its usual, stoic fashion. In a week
of unprecedented disruption, this morning had seen such disturbing
changes it was almost impossible to believe the world had not
stopped on its axis. Ranma did not know if she took comfort in
seeing the shadows shift and shorten, heralding the approach of mid
day. In the wake of Nodoka's declaration, the witnesses discretely
excused themselves from the presence of Ranma, Ryouga and Akane, who
remained lost in a shell-shocked silence, unable to look at each
other. As Soun and Genma busied themselves with shipping Happosai
out of the country, Kasumi had proceeded outside to gather the
clothes discarded in, and beside, the koi pond. Ranma was one of the
few cursed individuals fortunate enough to be able to wear the same
clothes through transformations. No one really understood the slight
of hand Genma used to shed and resume wearing his usual dirty gi,
but the likes of Shampoo, Mousse and Ryouga always left a sodden
heap of clothes they could not resume wearing until they had been
dried.
It had become so common for them to lose complete outfits in or
around the Tendo compound that they usually snatched an outfit
Kasumi had washed and stored for them. This had been the case when
Mousse was returned to human form by Nodoka's curiosity and a hot
kettle of tea. However, since Mousse could never retain his entire
arsenal during the shift from human to duck, his discards were
significantly more trouble for Kasumi to deal with. Mousse was not
unusual in taking Kasumi's laundering service for granted, but after
watching Kasumi labor to pick up hundreds of discarded weapons that
Mousse deployed in the morning battle, Shampoo took an atypical
interest in helping Kasumi in the yard. Her work as a waitress had
made Shampoo adept at working around water without getting wet
enough to change to her cat form, so she sorted through the odd
assortment of objects Kasumi shook out of his damp robes.
One object, in particular, caught her attention. A bottle of water.
A bottle of very special water. A cruel smile played at her lips as
she thought of locking certain male obstacles in their smaller, more
vulnerable forms. Pocketing the bottle, while these evil thoughts
were pondered, she continued to sort weapons. Because of his curse,
Mousse had duplicated his entire arsenal numerous times, so he had
probably reequipped himself when he got dressed and the weapons
Shampoo was sorting would just go into storage in the Tendo Dojo. It
would probably be a while before her unwanted paramour realized he
had lost the chisuiiton water flask.
By the time she was done with her task, Shampoo had realized that
there was only enough water to lock one individual, and had begun
the difficult task of trying to decide if Mousse or Ryouga was the
greater threat. It took only a second to realize that it was Ryouga
who now stood as her greatest rival. While it was true that his
involvement was with Ranma, she knew how the council of elders
thought. They would look at the situation involving the mirror and
conclude that it was Ranko, not Ranma, who had consummated the
marriage. The issue was confused enough that it would take a while
to reach that conclusion, but as far as Shampoo was concerned, it
was a forgone conclusion. The only thing Shampoo could do now to
make her claim stronger than Ryouga's was to have sex with the real
Ranko before the council deliberated--and of course, Ranko was
currently female.
With a small growl, she gathered the pile of weapons in her arms and
delivered them to the storage closet of the dojo. As she put them
away, she fumed over the way things had gone. Because of Mousse,
Ranko was cured. Her male side completely erased. That severely
weakened Shampoo's position. Only the fact that Ranko had been a
boy, because of Togenkyo water, exempted her from the law forbidding
amazons to deliberately assume a sex changing curse. Shampoo doubted
she would have much of an opportunity to bed Ranko between visiting
Jusenkyo and their return to the village. If only she had some
nanniichaun water now!
The heart ache was tearing her up inside. It was the same agony she
had suffered the night she had first confronted the mirror split
Ranma. What she had believed, after confronting Copy-chan in the
bath, was true this time. In fact, it was even worse. Instead of a
boy trapped in a girl's body, Ranko was a girl trapped in a girl's
body. If Fa Shen's memories were taken into consideration, and they
should be, since Ranko had made it known that they were surfacing,
she was an amazon girl to boot. Not exactly prime husband material,
Shampoo chuckled morosely, but thanks to that original
misunderstanding, she had been forced to accept that she loved the
person and had long since accepted that person could be as female as
herself. She had been forced to understand that a big part of
"Ranma's" attraction for her was the fact that he could be a she. In
"Ranma" she had the hope of a friend as well as a husband--a sister
in arms, as well as a lover.
As the situation unfolded and Fa Shen became part of the picture,
even as Ranko declared herself a completely independent entity from
Ranma, and a girl, the attraction had only grown. Shampoo knew how a
reincarnated amazon fit into her native society, especially one who
crossed over from male to female. Ranma had been the perfect man for
Shampoo from the beginning. Ranko was simply perfect. A woman
legally entitled to take a wife, and with everything she had
absorbed from Ranma, more than man enough to fulfill Shampoo's
hopes, dreams and desires.
It hurt a lot more, now that she had confronted them, to see those
hopes, dreams and desires shattered by the loss of that male form.
Not for the first time, she wished she had not restrained herself in
her efforts to seduce the boy. Even though she had invested the time
and trouble to use instant nanniichaun on herself, to find out
exactly how males ticked and what buttons to push, he had proven
immune to her subtle manipulations. As the woman, it was her
prerogative to consummate their marriage, and she could be as
aggressive as she wanted. The problem was, she wanted him to want
her. She wanted him to love her. She enticed and encouraged, she
threw herself at him shamelessly, but silently demanded him to make
the critical move. She would have been content to wait forever if it
had not been for Ryouga. If she had slept with the boy-girl just
ONCE, nothing could have threatened their union. If Shampoo was not
terrified that the transformation would kill Ranko, Shampoo would
grab a packet of instant nyanniichaun and use it right then and
there. If Shampoo did not hold back, there was no way any male could
resist her. Not even one who had become female in her own mind.
"Shampoo want break something!" Shampoo snarled.
"What are you so upset about, Sugar?"
Shampoo spun around at the sound of Ukyo's voice. The girl was
paused in the act of entering the dojo, one hand gripping the shoji
lightly, the other flipping her long, dark pony-tail off her
shoulder.
"What not to be upset about?" Shampoo challenged, dismissing her
rival as a threat for the moment. Shampoo wondered how serious the
okonomiyaki chef was about continuing her pursuit of Ranma. She had
flung that challenge mostly to irritate Genma, but in the wake of
Nodoka's declaration it would be quite a battle to actually win him.
After hearing about what had happened between Ranma and Ryouga, it
was unlikely she would even want to. Even discounting the fact that
they all the fiancées had some difficulty with transferring their
affections from Ranko to Ranma, the one attraction Ranma held for
all of them was his fierce masculinity. But, why turn away from the
girl you love to pursue a boy who was girl enough to do THAT?
"Well," Ukyo smirked, "Akane's staked her claim to Ranma. She
probably wasn't thinking, but she challenged Ryouga and Ranma's mom
took her seriously. I don't know if you caught the look on Ranko's
face when she went all psycho-possessive over Ranma, but I think she
just blew her chances with Ranko big time."
"That so?" Shampoo perked up. One less rival was good news,
especially with the addition of male competitors for Ranko's love.
Still, if Ukyo thought it was good news, then it was not all good
news for the amazon. "What you do? You also engaged to Ranma."
Ukyo waved that off. "Well, Ranma can't marry both Ryouga and Akane,
so it's pretty obvious he can't marry me too. I won't just drop it,
but I am sure, one way or the other, I will lose Ranma. It's so
tragic," she posed dramatically in grief, holding the back of one
hand to her forehead. Shampoo eyed her suspiciously, but Ukyo was
not going to point out little details that would come out, which
would suggest the perfect way to satisfy her family honor through
marriage to Ranko. With the life Ukyo had led, there was sufficient
documented evidence for Ukyo to be proven either male or female. A
nanniichaun curse would see to it that she was a perfect match for
Ranko, whatever she chose to be officially. A good strategy was like
a good recipe, she just needed to get all the ingredients right,
keep an eye on the temperature as things heated up, and make all the
right moves at the right time.
"Spatula-Girl plan on lose?" Shampoo glared.
"Sometimes it's better to get the consolation prize," Ukyo shrugged.
It was more than a hint, but it was not as if the other girl did not
know her intentions inside and out. Ukyo already knew she had one
incredible advantage over Shampoo. She could get a boy curse. She
also had, ironically, spent over half her life living as a boy.
Taking her charade one step further was a bit frightening, but for
Ranko, she would not hesitate to do it. She saw the anger creeping
into Shampoo's eyes and sighed. "Stop it, Shampoo," she snapped
sternly, but without malice. "I know you want her too, and yeah, it
means we're still rivals, but things are a lot more complicated now
that the boys are in on this too."
Shampoo blinked in surprise. "What you get at?"
"I think it's kinda obvious, Shampoo. Nodoka's really hung up on
honor. If Ryouga wins Ranma, she's going to think of marrying Ranko
to Akane, girl or not, to honor the families' pact. If Akane gets
Ranma, then Ryouga will go after Ranko, and thanks to your amazon
laws, he has a good chance of getting her," Ukyo frowned in
frustration. "I'm not even going to go into what Mousse is up to.
Ranko's still a fiancée magnet, so the only way to improve the odds
for you and me is to work together to make sure no one else gets a
shot at her."
Shampoo considered what Ukyo was proposing very carefully. Thinking
aloud, she found herself returning to the thoughts Ukyo had
interrupted. "Shampoo could weaken Lost Boy's claim to Ranko if
stupid mirror no make fatal for Ranko to transform. Maybe make
possible for Ranko defeat stupid Mousse in challenge, too," she
muttered.
Ukyo scratched her head in thought. "I don't understand. I thought
Ranko was freed from the mirror's effects when her curse was cured."
Shampoo paused. "Shampoo thought, Ranko need have full ki to close
self off from mirror. Cure curse just mean no can transform, so no
give mirror chance to suck off last ki," she countered.
"I thought the reason she still had ki was because it was locked in
her curse so the mirror could not get it unless she changed. She was
completely paralyzed until Cologne cured her and let that ki free.
If the mirror was still able to drain her, wouldn't it be draining
her now?" Ukyo braced her hands on her hips. She thought carefully
about what Cologne had said about it. The curse had stored up ki
like a battery, so Cologne had tried to lock it to keep any of that
energy from coming out. Only, she had not locked it, she had cured
it. Ranko had been able to start moving after that, and when her ki
was boosted by Ranma, she had been able to move much better. Why had
the mirror stopped draining her? "There was nowhere for the mirror
to send the ki," Ukyo realized.
"What?"
"Ranma and Fa Shen had all the ki they needed when they took over
the reflections. They each had enough to seal themselves off from
the mirror and Ranko, so the mirror didn't have anywhere to send
more energy and stopped draining. The curse protected Ranko just
long enough for them to break the circuit," Ukyo concluded, feeling
proud of herself for figuring it out.
"We go check with Great-Grandmother and Doctor. It sound good, but
Shampoo want be sure!" the purple-haired girl insisted, dragging
Ukyo along as she ran out of the dojo and into the house. If Ukyo
was right, Shampoo knew how to make a man out of Ranko. As soon as
she could do that, it was well past time her husband made a woman
out of Shampoo.
-------------------------
Shampoo and Ukyo noticed that Ranma, Ryouga and Akane were still
frozen in place as they passed the entrance to the Tea Room in
search of Cologne and Tofu. Ukyo quickly guessed where they would
find Cologne. The chef had attempted to corner Nodoka and bring up
the matter of her own engagement while Shampoo was helping Kasumi,
and had looked on as Nodoka supervised Genma and Soun carrying out
the exile of Happosai. Thus, Ukyo had overheard as Nodoka commanded,
and Soun delegated to Cologne, the removal of Happosai's belongings
from the Tendo home. Nodoka wanted to ensure the old master would
never be welcomed back into the house her children resided in and
Cologne was probably the only person who could safely handle the
dangerous artifacts certain to be found among his more mundane
possessions. Since many had been stolen from her tribe, she had been
eager to clear out the room, and had conscripted Mousse to assist
her. Doctor Tofu, however, had taken Nodoka aside as soon as
Happosai was shipped off. They had gone together to his clinic,
Nabiki informed Shampoo and Ukyo, to discuss the gender issues faced
by Ranma and Ranko.
"Is fine, Great-Grandmother can answer question best."
"Thanks, Nabiki. Come on, Shampoo."
Nabiki watched as the rival fiancées entered Happosai's former room
and continued down the hall to check on her little sister. Just the
fact that Shampoo and Ukyo were up to something together did not
bode well for the future, but Nabiki was much more concerned about
what Akane would do to Ryouga once she got over the shock of
Nodoka's declaration. When it had come up, the idea of Ranma ending
up married to Ryouga had been perversely funny, but seeing the boy
hug her to his chest and profess his love, and not seeing Ranma even
twitch, let alone brain him for it, simply shocked Nabiki to the
core. Akane's plan had worked all too well, and once Akane came down
from her tower of outrage and disbelief, she would be quick to
forget this was her own fault and lash out at Ranma and Ryouga with
every ounce of spite she possessed. Nabiki had picked up a yukata
before encountering Shampoo and Ukyo and, finding the lover's
triangle still rigid with brain lock, draped it over Ryouga's naked
back and shoulders when she entered the Tea Room.
Pausing beside all three, she waved a hand in front of their eyes
and decided none of them were ready to come back to reality any time
soon. Glancing outside, she saw Kasumi hanging laundry. The fathers
had left right after Nodoka, no doubt headed to a bar to celebrate
the banishment of Happosai, so there were only two people left to
account for. Nabiki vaguely remembered Fa Shen dragging Ranko
upstairs while Nabiki was calling the freight company to send a
truck to pick up Happosai. She headed upstairs to the guest room to
find out what they were up to.
For their part, Fa Shen and Ranko had spent the time since excusing
themselves distracting themselves from everything that was going on.
Fa Shen had taken one look at Ranko, dressed in an oversized shirt
and panties, and insisted on finding her something more appropriate
to wear. Fa Shen herself wanted to change out of the pajamas she had
fought in, after trading outfits with Ranma. Ranma's wardrobe was
eclectic and limited, but she found a collection of matching outfits
Ranko, as Ranma, had used as a waitress at the Cat Café. Naturally,
when it had been necessary to dress the part, during the Cat Tongue
ordeal, Ranma had purchased multiple sets of the same feminine,
Chinese silk outfit. Once they had changed, Fa Shen assisting Ranko,
they were just grateful that they had something comfortable to wear.
Fa Shen had proceeded to primp and polish their appearance,
introducing Ranko to some of the feminine arts she was sorely
lacking in her upbringing. By the time Nabiki walked in on them, the
pair had become so identical that only Ranko's weakness gave her
away.
"You know, I would think the two of you would be trying to
accentuate your differences," Nabiki commented after her first
appraising glance.
"Oh, hi, Nabiki," Ranko greeted.
"Hey, I just thought, after a year of being stuck as Ranma, she
might wanna try being like me for a change," Fa Shen grinned. She
put a finishing touch on the cosmetics she had been applying to
Ranko's face, using the supplies Nodoka had provided the night
before for the date, and leaned back to admire her work. Considering
the primitive materials she had used in her own time to enhance her
natural beauty, Nodoka's simple make up kit was a treasure trove.
She turned to study their reflections in the mirror and smiled at
her new twin. "Now we look like a respectable pair of amazons!"
"Speaking of amazons," Nabiki coughed politely. As they turned to
regard her, Nabiki continued, "Did either of you plan to let Nodoka
know that Ryouga might be Ranma's husband by amazon law?"
Ranko stiffened instantly, but Fa Shen closed her eyes thoughtfully
for a moment before staring wide eyed at Nabiki. Confronted by
Nodoka, she had thrown herself into the memories she acquired during
her awakening to pass as Ranma. She had not entirely shifted back to
her normal way of thinking until Nabiki pointed out what she should
have already concluded. "I can't believe I didn't think of that!"
"Well, before Happosai let the cat out of the bag, we told Nodoka
about Ranko and her twin being amazons, and Cologne explained how
that effected Ranko and Ranma when she explained what was really
going on. Your mom kind of overlooked all of that when she made her
declaration, Ranko," Nabiki pointed out.
"I don't think this is a good time to bring this up to her," Ranko
flinched.
"I don't know," Nabiki waved her off. "I mean, Nodoka seemed to find
the whole amazon thing interesting at first. It's just possible that
she might actually respect their laws and customs. Wouldn't it be
better to find out now, before you're all dragged before the amazon
council?"
"Gyaaa! From what Cologne said, the only way Ranma can get out of
bein' married to Ryouga is if they decide he's really married to
me!" Ranko stuck out her tongue. Her disgust was less toward the
thought of ending up with Ryouga, and more toward being forced into
a relationship period. She was still angry about Mousse's challenge,
and the laws that were pushing her into it. The whole idea of her
being an amazon was not one she cared to take seriously, but she was
not being given any choice. Shaking her head, she argued, "That's
not gonna happen any time soon. Mousse won't take us to Jusenkyo
until he's fought me, and Ranma would have to get to Jusenkyo before
he can, ah, er, heal me."
Without even mentioning how it worked, the thought of what Ranma and
Fa Shen had been willing to do to heal Ranko brought blushes to the
girl's faces. Even Nabiki could not help herself. "I still can't
believe you two were thinking of doing that," she chuckled, nudging
Fa Shen in the ribs. "For one thing, you're practically the same
person, but you were both the wrong sex! How could you even THINK of
doing that?"
Fa Shen cleared her throat and blushed a little harder. "Don't take
this the wrong way, but, it was a lot easier to think of doing it as
a boy than as a girl. I'm not, ah, really that comfortable about
letting a boy..." she cut herself off. How did she explain the
problems she had with men challenging her from the very onset of
puberty? How could she explain how Ranma being a girl would have
removed the threat a male partner presented to her.
"You mean you wanted to do it as a boy!?" Nabiki and Ranko gaped.
"Well, that's a hell of a lot better than doing it WITH a boy!" Fa
Shen shouted in instant embarrassment. The way they stared at her
did not help her regain her cool. Crossing her arms, she glared at
them, "Just look at Ranma! She did it with a boy and now he's
practically her husband! And she's really a BOY inside! What do you
think it'd do to a real girl like me, if sex is really that good!"
"Uh..." Ranko's mind balked at trying to answer.
"You know, this is the modern world, guys. You don't have to marry
someone just because you have sex with them," Nabiki rolled her
eyes. Fa Shen settled back, about to point out that even in her
tribe sex did not require marriage, but Nabiki cut her off with her
next comment. "I suppose you just thought, if you were a guy at the
time, it wouldn't really count, Fa Shen?"
Fa Shen swallowed the argument she had been poised to deliver and
thought about the question. Nodding her head, she answered, "I
suppose that's part of it. I mean, I could tell that Ranma wasn't
exactly scared of doing it, and that it would probably be a lot of
fun, but the whole point was that we wanted to help Ranko. If I was
still a guy now, I'd be willing to do it for that reason."
Ranko looked at her oddly. There was something hesitant in how she
said that, as if there was something that went unsaid. Curious, and
suspicious, she pressed, "Are you sure that's all it was? You just
wanted to help me?"
Fa Shen gazed back at her, unconsciously giving her a look similar
to the one she gave Ranma once she got used to the proposition. To
her shock, Ranko seemed to recognize the look and swallowed hard.
"It's the memories, isn't it?" Ranko demanded.
Fa Shen stiffened. "What are you talking about!?"
"I know that look. Copy-kun and Copy-chan both gave me that look
when they were puttin' the moves on me. Even when they were just
thinkin' of it. Because of me, you can remember a whole year of
tryin' to be a guy, thinkin' like a guy havin' all these girls
chasin' after you!" Ranko accused.
Fa Shen sighed and her shoulders sagged. After a moment she nodded
in defeat. "You have no... Actually, I guess you do have an idea. This
was Copy-kun's body and... he really, really wanted Copy-chan. He even
wanted you, Ranko. His head was full of naughty thoughts. After he
got your memories, and became a cured Ranma, he... those feelings
changed," Fa Shen confided. She stood and went to the window.
Looking out, and speaking over her shoulder, she continued. "As a
matter of honor, he was trying to take the engagement with Akane
seriously. He wanted to delay getting married, since he wasn't sure
how they felt about each other. He didn't know if he loved her
because... well, he didn't feel the same about her as he did about you
and Ranma."
Ranko and Nabiki exchanged glances, half wondering if they wanted to
hear more, unable to resist listening for it.
"It was totally perverted, how much he wanted you. He thought some
of it was just Copy-kun, and some of it was feeling cut off from his
female half. Because Cologne warned him how dangerous it would be,
he never seriously thought about having sex with either of you, but
he couldn't stop fantasizing about it. He was afraid of what would
happen if anyone suspected, so he hid all these feelings. Could you
imagine what Akane would do if she thought her fiancé wanted his
girl half more than her?" she challenged.
Ranko and Nabiki cringed.
"I never suspected," Nabiki mused, in disbelief.
"I should have known. I can remember it. It hit me when I took a
bath with the other Ranko the next morning. Copy-chan was just as
bad, and I had to fight off being attracted to that Ranma. Copy-kun
almost got me that first morning, so I knew I had to be careful. If
I dropped my guard when I thought I was a guy, I was doomed thinking
I was a girl and having her feelings inside me," Ranko admitted.
Fa Shen turned to face them, relieved to know that Ranko understood
exactly what she was going through. "It would be so easy, and it
would be for such a good reason. I'm glad I'm back to normal, but,
it's kind of a shame that it happened too soon. It's an itch I can't
scratch and I'm afraid it'll drive me to get cursed too," she
finally revealed her real fear. She covered her face, "I don't know
how to deal with it. I'm turned on by my own body."
Ranko stared at her. She understood the feeling, but she had kept
the impulses under control in her own case. Apparently, her male
reflection had really fed the fire to leave Fa Shen in this insane
position. "I am really sorry about this, Fa Shen," she blushed,
taking responsibility for her projection.
Fa Shen forced herself to smile, dropping her hands to show her
face, "Hey, it's not so bad. I mean, I didn't really think I could
come back from the dead and not have to pay some kind of price. At
least I don't have all that testosterone in my system making things
even worse."
Nabiki blinked. "I didn't think anyone knew about testosterone when
you were alive," she commented idly.
"One of the good sides to having Ranko's memories. I can understand
the world I am in now and can think in its terms," Fa Shen shrugged.
She thought for a moment and grinned, "By the way, Nabiki. She's a
whole lot smarter then you ever gave her credit for. Ranma too."
Nabiki frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Did you ever wonder why Ranma found school so boring?" Fa Shen's
grin widened to show all of her brilliant, white teeth. It did not
take long for Nabiki to get what she was implying.
"You have to be kidding! Ranma's a complete idiot! He's utterly
clueless about anything besides martial arts! No offense, Ranko, but
it's true," Nabiki declared hotly. Fa Shen and Ranko exchanged looks
and then gazed back at Nabiki, smiling innocently. Nabiki sniffed.
She was not going to buy it. She knew that Ranma had potential, but
he was too single minded and lazy to have the kind of intelligence
Fa Shen was implying. Maybe the ancient amazon was smart, but Nabiki
refused to believe she had ever underestimated Ranma. How could
anyone raised and educated almost entirely by Genma possibly be
smart? It was ridiculous.
Rather than argue with the pair, who were smirking with absurd self-
confidence, Nabiki excused herself to check up on Akane and the love
birds once more. As she came down stairs, Kasumi noticed her and
informed her that Cologne had returned to the Cat Café with Shampoo
and Mousse and would return with lunch for all of them. Nabiki
smiled to herself, wondering what treasures they had retrieved from
Happosai. It was a shame to let all of Happosai's legacy go like
that, but it was definitely safer for everyone in the house to have
it gone. Poking her head into the Tea Room, she sighed in
exasperation. The three teens were still frozen in place.
-------------------------
On some level, Akane had been aware of what was going on around her.
Like Ranma, she had turned her attention to Nodoka when she made her
announcement, and froze staring off into the back yard. With the
image of Ryouga possessively hugging Ranma to his chest, and her
relaxing back into his grip, seared into her mind, she had no desire
to return her gaze to the couple. It was bad enough to know that it
was her own fault those two were together, and worse still to
remember that she had spoken up to suggest Ranma might want to
remain a girl to preserve her relationship with Ryouga. In both
cases, she had acted in the interests of a person she wanted to
consider her friend, with whom she had not expected to be
romantically entangled. Neither the girl she had set up with Ryouga,
nor the boy who woke up in her, was not the person she thought she
was in love with. Those feelings, she had been positive, were
attached to Ranko. Even though she accepted the idea that Ranko was
really a girl, even if she had an interest in being male, Akane had
accepted her feelings for her and proceeded to ponder how far she
would go to be with Ranko.
Unfortunately, time to think was a luxury she had not been afforded.
Instead of having the day at school to mull over the situation,
Nodoka and Happosai had clashed and everything had come completely
unhinged. In the mirror trap, watching Ranma panic and fall into
despair when her father proposed marrying her to Ryouga, Akane had
felt her heart go out to her. If there was anything she understood,
after watching what Ranko had gone through, it was that nothing
could injure a person like Ranma more than the loss of her identity.
Ranko had made it clear how she felt about being a boy and a girl,
and it had been easy to see the difference it made to Ranma when she
learned of the plan to go back to Jusenkyo. However well she adapted
to being a girl, Ranma HAD to be a boy for her own sake. For various
reasons, she needed to be a girl too, and being forced to be one or
the other was certain to harm her. Unfortunately, that seemed to be
what her parents demanded. Ranma had to be a perfect son, and
failing that, a perfect daughter. Akane had instantly objected, and
argued that Ranma had every right to be who she... he... wanted to be.
Even though it diminished her chances with Ranko to suggest that she
was better suited to assuming the obligation of Nodoka's daughter,
she had pointed it out to encourage Ranma. Even though Ranma
reminded her that even as a half man, their fathers would still
expect a male Ranma to marry Akane, she supported "him". At that
point, after seeing the same pain in Ranma she had seen in Ranko, it
had become clear to Akane that Ranma could be just as worthy of her
love as Ranko. She had learned that lesson on her date. In a moment
of self honesty, she even admitted she would prefer to love the one
who was at least a man in his own mind. She just did not have it in
her to become the man in the relationship, to take a curse that
would let her be a suitable mate for Ranko. Akane doubted she would
ever love another girl the way she loved Ranko, and it was not even
that she expected Ranko to be a man for her. Akane would be happy to
have her just the way she was, uncursed and all. She was just afraid
she could not be what Ranko wanted, needed.
When Ranma perked up at her suggestion, rallied around her support
for his manhood, Akane had allowed herself to believe part of his
motivation was to escape from a possible marriage to Ryouga. A
willingness to pursue her instead. It had seemed like there was a
chance for things to go back to normal, but this time without the
fighting and misunderstandings between them. She was prepared to
stand by Ranma and argue against Nodoka, to preserve Ranma's
manhood. She had been shaken when the "message" from Nodoka to Ranma
broke the girl's spirit. Akane had been unable to understand what
had happened, and began to worry when Nodoka took Ranma aside to
talk to her. She fought to keep herself calm, waiting for them to
come inside, so she could find out what Nodoka's plan was. She was
ready to step in and champion Ranma in spite of her unexpected
submission, but Nodoka had done something completely unexpected.
Nodoka had revealed P-Chan's real form. In that instant, all
rational thought had been blown out of Akane's mind. Taken
separately, Ryouga and P-Chan were two of her best friends in the
world. In hindsight, she could see the similar qualities that had
endeared them to her. They were both loyal and attentive friends,
trusted companions, fellow victims of Ranma's insensitive goading
and insults. The problem was, P-Chan was her trusted pet and
confidant. She told him her secrets, let him sleep in her bed,
anguished over his prolonged absences and loved him in an innocent
and uncomplicated fashion. For all his good qualities, Ryouga was
not entitled to that degree of intimacy with her, so it came as a
double blow to learn that he was P-Chan. In one instant, she lost
the security blanket that little pig had been for her fragile heart,
while at the same time realizing that a friend she trusted with her
life had abused her trust and innocence on a scale she could hardly
comprehend. Worst of all, she suddenly remembered all the hints
Ranma had dropped from the beginning and realized what a complete
fool Ryouga had made of her!
One harmless splash of hot water, and Akane had suffered the
greatest betrayal of her entire life. Without a single thought, she
reared up and attacked with every intention of killing the bastard
on the spot. Blind rage was not enough to get through four of the
best martial artists of her generation, and deadly threats lashed
out to strike the abomination she could not reach. She did not even
hear Nodoka's soft question to Ryouga as she raved in absolute fury.
When Nodoka repeated the question, she heard it, but it did not
register until Ryouga embraced Ranma and answered. All of her rage
died at the proclamation of love, as Akane realized the full extent
of the betrayal. She did not need Ryouga to remind her how she had
set herself up, as she shouted her disbelief. One look at Ranma's
reaction to the protective embrace had ripped out her heart. A
faint, new hope, a mere glimmer of a possibility glimpsed in Ranma,
had opened the tiniest chink in her armor, and the sight of Ranma's
relief at Ryouga's declaration of love punched through to slay Akane
on the spot.
All the rage and hatred awakened toward Ryouga turned inward on
herself, and the horror of realizing that she could hurt this bad
and not just die forced her to try and spit the fatal arrow back at
Ryouga. There was a time when Ryouga had prompted her to say she
hated him, to unlock the full potential of the shishihokodan. She
obliged, not meaning it in the least. This time, when she said she
hated him, she wanted the words to consume his soul. After that, all
there was was her pain, her confusion, her loss expressed in such
weak, stunned words. It was so horrible to realize what a monster
Ryouga was, and know that she had betrayed Ranma into his embrace.
Without even thinking about it, she asserted her own claim, dropping
the gauntlet over Ranma. Nodoka had picked up her challenge and made
it official, shocking them all by announcing that Ranma's very
identity hinged on who or what she chose: Be a man with Akane, or a
woman with Ryouga.
Akane realized at once that there was something she had missed. Some
reason why Nodoka had declared she could not see Ranma as her
daughter unless she married Ryouga. She had been locked up trying to
understand this irrational decree, unable to even summon up the
exact words Nodoka had used. Her mind had darted around, trying to
come to grips with Ryouga's curse, Ranma's hints, the damning
question of why he had not told her, but seeing how hard he had
tried to keep the pig away from her. It would have been so simple to
turn her head and ask. Except, she could not bear to see the person
she had decided to love in HIS naked embrace. She could still see
them from the corner of her eye, and knew neither of them had moved
a hair since Nodoka dropped the bomb. If she so much as glanced in
their direction the odd calm brought on by shock would dissolve into
a rage that truly frightened her. For the first time in her life,
she realized she was capable of murder, and Ranma stood between her
and her chosen target.
She did not want to be a murderer. She did not know how to control
the hate and anger waiting for her to slip out of her trance. She
wished her mother was there. She hurt so bad.
Balanced on a knife's edge, her mind desperately trying to distract
itself from the blood lust howling inside her, she focused on the
missing piece, straining for the elusive key to Nodoka's rationale.
Unfortunately, she did not realize that she had been protecting
herself from that very understanding. Thus, when she finally
succeeded in pinning it down, it was really the failure of all her
efforts. As clear as a bell, she heard Nodoka's words ring in
memory. "To preserve your honor as a girl, as MY daughter, you must
marry Ryouga." Akane frowned in confusion. More words, from before
that, "... you would HAVE to marry Ryouga after last night." A
trembling started as Akane's hands fumbled in her lap. It spread
from there to claw up her arms and legs to gnaw at her stomach, as
she noticed a faint motion that drew her attention to the couple
across from her. Unable to stop herself, her eyes drifted over and
Akane realized that she had caught Ranma shifting the something into
Ryouga's hand. She focused on the panties clutched in Ryouga's fist.
The message from Nodoka, delivered by Nabiki, which had so deeply
puzzled Akane, had been a pair of black, silk panties. The very
panties "Ranko" had worn for her date. The blinding, enraged hatred
that had gnawed on her soul poured through her, doubling and
redoubling in intensity as she realized what had happened on that
date. Akane was on her feet, lunging for Ryouga, hands clawed to rip
his heart out of his chest--even if they had to tear through Ranma
to reach it--before she knew what was happening.
------------------------------------------------------------------
End of Part Thirty-Six
------------------------------------------------------------------
By: A. V. Morgan (avmorgan27@attbi.com)
A continuation of the Two Ranmas manga story arc (V35 P1-4). Sexual
humor and innuendo, nudity and violence. Consider yourself warned.
Disclaimer: Ranma Nibunnoichi, and the associated cast and concepts are
the property of Rumiko Takahashi and those publishers and distributors
to whom she has given official rights. This work, in no way intends to
infringe upon those rights. The ideas explored are those of the author,
and should not be construed to express the opinions or intentions of
the creator or associated agencies.
BOLD Emphasis
~Italics~ Thought/Flashback
*SoundFX* ^_^;
[Sign] O.O [Arrrrgh! Panda's can't TALK!]
------------------------------------------------------------------
Part Thirty-Six: To See the Naked Truth
------------------------------------------------------------------
Unnoticed through the morning battle and the long period of
gathering reinforcements and negotiating with Happosai, the sun had
ascended upon its natural arc in its usual, stoic fashion. In a week
of unprecedented disruption, this morning had seen such disturbing
changes it was almost impossible to believe the world had not
stopped on its axis. Ranma did not know if she took comfort in
seeing the shadows shift and shorten, heralding the approach of mid
day. In the wake of Nodoka's declaration, the witnesses discretely
excused themselves from the presence of Ranma, Ryouga and Akane, who
remained lost in a shell-shocked silence, unable to look at each
other. As Soun and Genma busied themselves with shipping Happosai
out of the country, Kasumi had proceeded outside to gather the
clothes discarded in, and beside, the koi pond. Ranma was one of the
few cursed individuals fortunate enough to be able to wear the same
clothes through transformations. No one really understood the slight
of hand Genma used to shed and resume wearing his usual dirty gi,
but the likes of Shampoo, Mousse and Ryouga always left a sodden
heap of clothes they could not resume wearing until they had been
dried.
It had become so common for them to lose complete outfits in or
around the Tendo compound that they usually snatched an outfit
Kasumi had washed and stored for them. This had been the case when
Mousse was returned to human form by Nodoka's curiosity and a hot
kettle of tea. However, since Mousse could never retain his entire
arsenal during the shift from human to duck, his discards were
significantly more trouble for Kasumi to deal with. Mousse was not
unusual in taking Kasumi's laundering service for granted, but after
watching Kasumi labor to pick up hundreds of discarded weapons that
Mousse deployed in the morning battle, Shampoo took an atypical
interest in helping Kasumi in the yard. Her work as a waitress had
made Shampoo adept at working around water without getting wet
enough to change to her cat form, so she sorted through the odd
assortment of objects Kasumi shook out of his damp robes.
One object, in particular, caught her attention. A bottle of water.
A bottle of very special water. A cruel smile played at her lips as
she thought of locking certain male obstacles in their smaller, more
vulnerable forms. Pocketing the bottle, while these evil thoughts
were pondered, she continued to sort weapons. Because of his curse,
Mousse had duplicated his entire arsenal numerous times, so he had
probably reequipped himself when he got dressed and the weapons
Shampoo was sorting would just go into storage in the Tendo Dojo. It
would probably be a while before her unwanted paramour realized he
had lost the chisuiiton water flask.
By the time she was done with her task, Shampoo had realized that
there was only enough water to lock one individual, and had begun
the difficult task of trying to decide if Mousse or Ryouga was the
greater threat. It took only a second to realize that it was Ryouga
who now stood as her greatest rival. While it was true that his
involvement was with Ranma, she knew how the council of elders
thought. They would look at the situation involving the mirror and
conclude that it was Ranko, not Ranma, who had consummated the
marriage. The issue was confused enough that it would take a while
to reach that conclusion, but as far as Shampoo was concerned, it
was a forgone conclusion. The only thing Shampoo could do now to
make her claim stronger than Ryouga's was to have sex with the real
Ranko before the council deliberated--and of course, Ranko was
currently female.
With a small growl, she gathered the pile of weapons in her arms and
delivered them to the storage closet of the dojo. As she put them
away, she fumed over the way things had gone. Because of Mousse,
Ranko was cured. Her male side completely erased. That severely
weakened Shampoo's position. Only the fact that Ranko had been a
boy, because of Togenkyo water, exempted her from the law forbidding
amazons to deliberately assume a sex changing curse. Shampoo doubted
she would have much of an opportunity to bed Ranko between visiting
Jusenkyo and their return to the village. If only she had some
nanniichaun water now!
The heart ache was tearing her up inside. It was the same agony she
had suffered the night she had first confronted the mirror split
Ranma. What she had believed, after confronting Copy-chan in the
bath, was true this time. In fact, it was even worse. Instead of a
boy trapped in a girl's body, Ranko was a girl trapped in a girl's
body. If Fa Shen's memories were taken into consideration, and they
should be, since Ranko had made it known that they were surfacing,
she was an amazon girl to boot. Not exactly prime husband material,
Shampoo chuckled morosely, but thanks to that original
misunderstanding, she had been forced to accept that she loved the
person and had long since accepted that person could be as female as
herself. She had been forced to understand that a big part of
"Ranma's" attraction for her was the fact that he could be a she. In
"Ranma" she had the hope of a friend as well as a husband--a sister
in arms, as well as a lover.
As the situation unfolded and Fa Shen became part of the picture,
even as Ranko declared herself a completely independent entity from
Ranma, and a girl, the attraction had only grown. Shampoo knew how a
reincarnated amazon fit into her native society, especially one who
crossed over from male to female. Ranma had been the perfect man for
Shampoo from the beginning. Ranko was simply perfect. A woman
legally entitled to take a wife, and with everything she had
absorbed from Ranma, more than man enough to fulfill Shampoo's
hopes, dreams and desires.
It hurt a lot more, now that she had confronted them, to see those
hopes, dreams and desires shattered by the loss of that male form.
Not for the first time, she wished she had not restrained herself in
her efforts to seduce the boy. Even though she had invested the time
and trouble to use instant nanniichaun on herself, to find out
exactly how males ticked and what buttons to push, he had proven
immune to her subtle manipulations. As the woman, it was her
prerogative to consummate their marriage, and she could be as
aggressive as she wanted. The problem was, she wanted him to want
her. She wanted him to love her. She enticed and encouraged, she
threw herself at him shamelessly, but silently demanded him to make
the critical move. She would have been content to wait forever if it
had not been for Ryouga. If she had slept with the boy-girl just
ONCE, nothing could have threatened their union. If Shampoo was not
terrified that the transformation would kill Ranko, Shampoo would
grab a packet of instant nyanniichaun and use it right then and
there. If Shampoo did not hold back, there was no way any male could
resist her. Not even one who had become female in her own mind.
"Shampoo want break something!" Shampoo snarled.
"What are you so upset about, Sugar?"
Shampoo spun around at the sound of Ukyo's voice. The girl was
paused in the act of entering the dojo, one hand gripping the shoji
lightly, the other flipping her long, dark pony-tail off her
shoulder.
"What not to be upset about?" Shampoo challenged, dismissing her
rival as a threat for the moment. Shampoo wondered how serious the
okonomiyaki chef was about continuing her pursuit of Ranma. She had
flung that challenge mostly to irritate Genma, but in the wake of
Nodoka's declaration it would be quite a battle to actually win him.
After hearing about what had happened between Ranma and Ryouga, it
was unlikely she would even want to. Even discounting the fact that
they all the fiancées had some difficulty with transferring their
affections from Ranko to Ranma, the one attraction Ranma held for
all of them was his fierce masculinity. But, why turn away from the
girl you love to pursue a boy who was girl enough to do THAT?
"Well," Ukyo smirked, "Akane's staked her claim to Ranma. She
probably wasn't thinking, but she challenged Ryouga and Ranma's mom
took her seriously. I don't know if you caught the look on Ranko's
face when she went all psycho-possessive over Ranma, but I think she
just blew her chances with Ranko big time."
"That so?" Shampoo perked up. One less rival was good news,
especially with the addition of male competitors for Ranko's love.
Still, if Ukyo thought it was good news, then it was not all good
news for the amazon. "What you do? You also engaged to Ranma."
Ukyo waved that off. "Well, Ranma can't marry both Ryouga and Akane,
so it's pretty obvious he can't marry me too. I won't just drop it,
but I am sure, one way or the other, I will lose Ranma. It's so
tragic," she posed dramatically in grief, holding the back of one
hand to her forehead. Shampoo eyed her suspiciously, but Ukyo was
not going to point out little details that would come out, which
would suggest the perfect way to satisfy her family honor through
marriage to Ranko. With the life Ukyo had led, there was sufficient
documented evidence for Ukyo to be proven either male or female. A
nanniichaun curse would see to it that she was a perfect match for
Ranko, whatever she chose to be officially. A good strategy was like
a good recipe, she just needed to get all the ingredients right,
keep an eye on the temperature as things heated up, and make all the
right moves at the right time.
"Spatula-Girl plan on lose?" Shampoo glared.
"Sometimes it's better to get the consolation prize," Ukyo shrugged.
It was more than a hint, but it was not as if the other girl did not
know her intentions inside and out. Ukyo already knew she had one
incredible advantage over Shampoo. She could get a boy curse. She
also had, ironically, spent over half her life living as a boy.
Taking her charade one step further was a bit frightening, but for
Ranko, she would not hesitate to do it. She saw the anger creeping
into Shampoo's eyes and sighed. "Stop it, Shampoo," she snapped
sternly, but without malice. "I know you want her too, and yeah, it
means we're still rivals, but things are a lot more complicated now
that the boys are in on this too."
Shampoo blinked in surprise. "What you get at?"
"I think it's kinda obvious, Shampoo. Nodoka's really hung up on
honor. If Ryouga wins Ranma, she's going to think of marrying Ranko
to Akane, girl or not, to honor the families' pact. If Akane gets
Ranma, then Ryouga will go after Ranko, and thanks to your amazon
laws, he has a good chance of getting her," Ukyo frowned in
frustration. "I'm not even going to go into what Mousse is up to.
Ranko's still a fiancée magnet, so the only way to improve the odds
for you and me is to work together to make sure no one else gets a
shot at her."
Shampoo considered what Ukyo was proposing very carefully. Thinking
aloud, she found herself returning to the thoughts Ukyo had
interrupted. "Shampoo could weaken Lost Boy's claim to Ranko if
stupid mirror no make fatal for Ranko to transform. Maybe make
possible for Ranko defeat stupid Mousse in challenge, too," she
muttered.
Ukyo scratched her head in thought. "I don't understand. I thought
Ranko was freed from the mirror's effects when her curse was cured."
Shampoo paused. "Shampoo thought, Ranko need have full ki to close
self off from mirror. Cure curse just mean no can transform, so no
give mirror chance to suck off last ki," she countered.
"I thought the reason she still had ki was because it was locked in
her curse so the mirror could not get it unless she changed. She was
completely paralyzed until Cologne cured her and let that ki free.
If the mirror was still able to drain her, wouldn't it be draining
her now?" Ukyo braced her hands on her hips. She thought carefully
about what Cologne had said about it. The curse had stored up ki
like a battery, so Cologne had tried to lock it to keep any of that
energy from coming out. Only, she had not locked it, she had cured
it. Ranko had been able to start moving after that, and when her ki
was boosted by Ranma, she had been able to move much better. Why had
the mirror stopped draining her? "There was nowhere for the mirror
to send the ki," Ukyo realized.
"What?"
"Ranma and Fa Shen had all the ki they needed when they took over
the reflections. They each had enough to seal themselves off from
the mirror and Ranko, so the mirror didn't have anywhere to send
more energy and stopped draining. The curse protected Ranko just
long enough for them to break the circuit," Ukyo concluded, feeling
proud of herself for figuring it out.
"We go check with Great-Grandmother and Doctor. It sound good, but
Shampoo want be sure!" the purple-haired girl insisted, dragging
Ukyo along as she ran out of the dojo and into the house. If Ukyo
was right, Shampoo knew how to make a man out of Ranko. As soon as
she could do that, it was well past time her husband made a woman
out of Shampoo.
-------------------------
Shampoo and Ukyo noticed that Ranma, Ryouga and Akane were still
frozen in place as they passed the entrance to the Tea Room in
search of Cologne and Tofu. Ukyo quickly guessed where they would
find Cologne. The chef had attempted to corner Nodoka and bring up
the matter of her own engagement while Shampoo was helping Kasumi,
and had looked on as Nodoka supervised Genma and Soun carrying out
the exile of Happosai. Thus, Ukyo had overheard as Nodoka commanded,
and Soun delegated to Cologne, the removal of Happosai's belongings
from the Tendo home. Nodoka wanted to ensure the old master would
never be welcomed back into the house her children resided in and
Cologne was probably the only person who could safely handle the
dangerous artifacts certain to be found among his more mundane
possessions. Since many had been stolen from her tribe, she had been
eager to clear out the room, and had conscripted Mousse to assist
her. Doctor Tofu, however, had taken Nodoka aside as soon as
Happosai was shipped off. They had gone together to his clinic,
Nabiki informed Shampoo and Ukyo, to discuss the gender issues faced
by Ranma and Ranko.
"Is fine, Great-Grandmother can answer question best."
"Thanks, Nabiki. Come on, Shampoo."
Nabiki watched as the rival fiancées entered Happosai's former room
and continued down the hall to check on her little sister. Just the
fact that Shampoo and Ukyo were up to something together did not
bode well for the future, but Nabiki was much more concerned about
what Akane would do to Ryouga once she got over the shock of
Nodoka's declaration. When it had come up, the idea of Ranma ending
up married to Ryouga had been perversely funny, but seeing the boy
hug her to his chest and profess his love, and not seeing Ranma even
twitch, let alone brain him for it, simply shocked Nabiki to the
core. Akane's plan had worked all too well, and once Akane came down
from her tower of outrage and disbelief, she would be quick to
forget this was her own fault and lash out at Ranma and Ryouga with
every ounce of spite she possessed. Nabiki had picked up a yukata
before encountering Shampoo and Ukyo and, finding the lover's
triangle still rigid with brain lock, draped it over Ryouga's naked
back and shoulders when she entered the Tea Room.
Pausing beside all three, she waved a hand in front of their eyes
and decided none of them were ready to come back to reality any time
soon. Glancing outside, she saw Kasumi hanging laundry. The fathers
had left right after Nodoka, no doubt headed to a bar to celebrate
the banishment of Happosai, so there were only two people left to
account for. Nabiki vaguely remembered Fa Shen dragging Ranko
upstairs while Nabiki was calling the freight company to send a
truck to pick up Happosai. She headed upstairs to the guest room to
find out what they were up to.
For their part, Fa Shen and Ranko had spent the time since excusing
themselves distracting themselves from everything that was going on.
Fa Shen had taken one look at Ranko, dressed in an oversized shirt
and panties, and insisted on finding her something more appropriate
to wear. Fa Shen herself wanted to change out of the pajamas she had
fought in, after trading outfits with Ranma. Ranma's wardrobe was
eclectic and limited, but she found a collection of matching outfits
Ranko, as Ranma, had used as a waitress at the Cat Café. Naturally,
when it had been necessary to dress the part, during the Cat Tongue
ordeal, Ranma had purchased multiple sets of the same feminine,
Chinese silk outfit. Once they had changed, Fa Shen assisting Ranko,
they were just grateful that they had something comfortable to wear.
Fa Shen had proceeded to primp and polish their appearance,
introducing Ranko to some of the feminine arts she was sorely
lacking in her upbringing. By the time Nabiki walked in on them, the
pair had become so identical that only Ranko's weakness gave her
away.
"You know, I would think the two of you would be trying to
accentuate your differences," Nabiki commented after her first
appraising glance.
"Oh, hi, Nabiki," Ranko greeted.
"Hey, I just thought, after a year of being stuck as Ranma, she
might wanna try being like me for a change," Fa Shen grinned. She
put a finishing touch on the cosmetics she had been applying to
Ranko's face, using the supplies Nodoka had provided the night
before for the date, and leaned back to admire her work. Considering
the primitive materials she had used in her own time to enhance her
natural beauty, Nodoka's simple make up kit was a treasure trove.
She turned to study their reflections in the mirror and smiled at
her new twin. "Now we look like a respectable pair of amazons!"
"Speaking of amazons," Nabiki coughed politely. As they turned to
regard her, Nabiki continued, "Did either of you plan to let Nodoka
know that Ryouga might be Ranma's husband by amazon law?"
Ranko stiffened instantly, but Fa Shen closed her eyes thoughtfully
for a moment before staring wide eyed at Nabiki. Confronted by
Nodoka, she had thrown herself into the memories she acquired during
her awakening to pass as Ranma. She had not entirely shifted back to
her normal way of thinking until Nabiki pointed out what she should
have already concluded. "I can't believe I didn't think of that!"
"Well, before Happosai let the cat out of the bag, we told Nodoka
about Ranko and her twin being amazons, and Cologne explained how
that effected Ranko and Ranma when she explained what was really
going on. Your mom kind of overlooked all of that when she made her
declaration, Ranko," Nabiki pointed out.
"I don't think this is a good time to bring this up to her," Ranko
flinched.
"I don't know," Nabiki waved her off. "I mean, Nodoka seemed to find
the whole amazon thing interesting at first. It's just possible that
she might actually respect their laws and customs. Wouldn't it be
better to find out now, before you're all dragged before the amazon
council?"
"Gyaaa! From what Cologne said, the only way Ranma can get out of
bein' married to Ryouga is if they decide he's really married to
me!" Ranko stuck out her tongue. Her disgust was less toward the
thought of ending up with Ryouga, and more toward being forced into
a relationship period. She was still angry about Mousse's challenge,
and the laws that were pushing her into it. The whole idea of her
being an amazon was not one she cared to take seriously, but she was
not being given any choice. Shaking her head, she argued, "That's
not gonna happen any time soon. Mousse won't take us to Jusenkyo
until he's fought me, and Ranma would have to get to Jusenkyo before
he can, ah, er, heal me."
Without even mentioning how it worked, the thought of what Ranma and
Fa Shen had been willing to do to heal Ranko brought blushes to the
girl's faces. Even Nabiki could not help herself. "I still can't
believe you two were thinking of doing that," she chuckled, nudging
Fa Shen in the ribs. "For one thing, you're practically the same
person, but you were both the wrong sex! How could you even THINK of
doing that?"
Fa Shen cleared her throat and blushed a little harder. "Don't take
this the wrong way, but, it was a lot easier to think of doing it as
a boy than as a girl. I'm not, ah, really that comfortable about
letting a boy..." she cut herself off. How did she explain the
problems she had with men challenging her from the very onset of
puberty? How could she explain how Ranma being a girl would have
removed the threat a male partner presented to her.
"You mean you wanted to do it as a boy!?" Nabiki and Ranko gaped.
"Well, that's a hell of a lot better than doing it WITH a boy!" Fa
Shen shouted in instant embarrassment. The way they stared at her
did not help her regain her cool. Crossing her arms, she glared at
them, "Just look at Ranma! She did it with a boy and now he's
practically her husband! And she's really a BOY inside! What do you
think it'd do to a real girl like me, if sex is really that good!"
"Uh..." Ranko's mind balked at trying to answer.
"You know, this is the modern world, guys. You don't have to marry
someone just because you have sex with them," Nabiki rolled her
eyes. Fa Shen settled back, about to point out that even in her
tribe sex did not require marriage, but Nabiki cut her off with her
next comment. "I suppose you just thought, if you were a guy at the
time, it wouldn't really count, Fa Shen?"
Fa Shen swallowed the argument she had been poised to deliver and
thought about the question. Nodding her head, she answered, "I
suppose that's part of it. I mean, I could tell that Ranma wasn't
exactly scared of doing it, and that it would probably be a lot of
fun, but the whole point was that we wanted to help Ranko. If I was
still a guy now, I'd be willing to do it for that reason."
Ranko looked at her oddly. There was something hesitant in how she
said that, as if there was something that went unsaid. Curious, and
suspicious, she pressed, "Are you sure that's all it was? You just
wanted to help me?"
Fa Shen gazed back at her, unconsciously giving her a look similar
to the one she gave Ranma once she got used to the proposition. To
her shock, Ranko seemed to recognize the look and swallowed hard.
"It's the memories, isn't it?" Ranko demanded.
Fa Shen stiffened. "What are you talking about!?"
"I know that look. Copy-kun and Copy-chan both gave me that look
when they were puttin' the moves on me. Even when they were just
thinkin' of it. Because of me, you can remember a whole year of
tryin' to be a guy, thinkin' like a guy havin' all these girls
chasin' after you!" Ranko accused.
Fa Shen sighed and her shoulders sagged. After a moment she nodded
in defeat. "You have no... Actually, I guess you do have an idea. This
was Copy-kun's body and... he really, really wanted Copy-chan. He even
wanted you, Ranko. His head was full of naughty thoughts. After he
got your memories, and became a cured Ranma, he... those feelings
changed," Fa Shen confided. She stood and went to the window.
Looking out, and speaking over her shoulder, she continued. "As a
matter of honor, he was trying to take the engagement with Akane
seriously. He wanted to delay getting married, since he wasn't sure
how they felt about each other. He didn't know if he loved her
because... well, he didn't feel the same about her as he did about you
and Ranma."
Ranko and Nabiki exchanged glances, half wondering if they wanted to
hear more, unable to resist listening for it.
"It was totally perverted, how much he wanted you. He thought some
of it was just Copy-kun, and some of it was feeling cut off from his
female half. Because Cologne warned him how dangerous it would be,
he never seriously thought about having sex with either of you, but
he couldn't stop fantasizing about it. He was afraid of what would
happen if anyone suspected, so he hid all these feelings. Could you
imagine what Akane would do if she thought her fiancé wanted his
girl half more than her?" she challenged.
Ranko and Nabiki cringed.
"I never suspected," Nabiki mused, in disbelief.
"I should have known. I can remember it. It hit me when I took a
bath with the other Ranko the next morning. Copy-chan was just as
bad, and I had to fight off being attracted to that Ranma. Copy-kun
almost got me that first morning, so I knew I had to be careful. If
I dropped my guard when I thought I was a guy, I was doomed thinking
I was a girl and having her feelings inside me," Ranko admitted.
Fa Shen turned to face them, relieved to know that Ranko understood
exactly what she was going through. "It would be so easy, and it
would be for such a good reason. I'm glad I'm back to normal, but,
it's kind of a shame that it happened too soon. It's an itch I can't
scratch and I'm afraid it'll drive me to get cursed too," she
finally revealed her real fear. She covered her face, "I don't know
how to deal with it. I'm turned on by my own body."
Ranko stared at her. She understood the feeling, but she had kept
the impulses under control in her own case. Apparently, her male
reflection had really fed the fire to leave Fa Shen in this insane
position. "I am really sorry about this, Fa Shen," she blushed,
taking responsibility for her projection.
Fa Shen forced herself to smile, dropping her hands to show her
face, "Hey, it's not so bad. I mean, I didn't really think I could
come back from the dead and not have to pay some kind of price. At
least I don't have all that testosterone in my system making things
even worse."
Nabiki blinked. "I didn't think anyone knew about testosterone when
you were alive," she commented idly.
"One of the good sides to having Ranko's memories. I can understand
the world I am in now and can think in its terms," Fa Shen shrugged.
She thought for a moment and grinned, "By the way, Nabiki. She's a
whole lot smarter then you ever gave her credit for. Ranma too."
Nabiki frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Did you ever wonder why Ranma found school so boring?" Fa Shen's
grin widened to show all of her brilliant, white teeth. It did not
take long for Nabiki to get what she was implying.
"You have to be kidding! Ranma's a complete idiot! He's utterly
clueless about anything besides martial arts! No offense, Ranko, but
it's true," Nabiki declared hotly. Fa Shen and Ranko exchanged looks
and then gazed back at Nabiki, smiling innocently. Nabiki sniffed.
She was not going to buy it. She knew that Ranma had potential, but
he was too single minded and lazy to have the kind of intelligence
Fa Shen was implying. Maybe the ancient amazon was smart, but Nabiki
refused to believe she had ever underestimated Ranma. How could
anyone raised and educated almost entirely by Genma possibly be
smart? It was ridiculous.
Rather than argue with the pair, who were smirking with absurd self-
confidence, Nabiki excused herself to check up on Akane and the love
birds once more. As she came down stairs, Kasumi noticed her and
informed her that Cologne had returned to the Cat Café with Shampoo
and Mousse and would return with lunch for all of them. Nabiki
smiled to herself, wondering what treasures they had retrieved from
Happosai. It was a shame to let all of Happosai's legacy go like
that, but it was definitely safer for everyone in the house to have
it gone. Poking her head into the Tea Room, she sighed in
exasperation. The three teens were still frozen in place.
-------------------------
On some level, Akane had been aware of what was going on around her.
Like Ranma, she had turned her attention to Nodoka when she made her
announcement, and froze staring off into the back yard. With the
image of Ryouga possessively hugging Ranma to his chest, and her
relaxing back into his grip, seared into her mind, she had no desire
to return her gaze to the couple. It was bad enough to know that it
was her own fault those two were together, and worse still to
remember that she had spoken up to suggest Ranma might want to
remain a girl to preserve her relationship with Ryouga. In both
cases, she had acted in the interests of a person she wanted to
consider her friend, with whom she had not expected to be
romantically entangled. Neither the girl she had set up with Ryouga,
nor the boy who woke up in her, was not the person she thought she
was in love with. Those feelings, she had been positive, were
attached to Ranko. Even though she accepted the idea that Ranko was
really a girl, even if she had an interest in being male, Akane had
accepted her feelings for her and proceeded to ponder how far she
would go to be with Ranko.
Unfortunately, time to think was a luxury she had not been afforded.
Instead of having the day at school to mull over the situation,
Nodoka and Happosai had clashed and everything had come completely
unhinged. In the mirror trap, watching Ranma panic and fall into
despair when her father proposed marrying her to Ryouga, Akane had
felt her heart go out to her. If there was anything she understood,
after watching what Ranko had gone through, it was that nothing
could injure a person like Ranma more than the loss of her identity.
Ranko had made it clear how she felt about being a boy and a girl,
and it had been easy to see the difference it made to Ranma when she
learned of the plan to go back to Jusenkyo. However well she adapted
to being a girl, Ranma HAD to be a boy for her own sake. For various
reasons, she needed to be a girl too, and being forced to be one or
the other was certain to harm her. Unfortunately, that seemed to be
what her parents demanded. Ranma had to be a perfect son, and
failing that, a perfect daughter. Akane had instantly objected, and
argued that Ranma had every right to be who she... he... wanted to be.
Even though it diminished her chances with Ranko to suggest that she
was better suited to assuming the obligation of Nodoka's daughter,
she had pointed it out to encourage Ranma. Even though Ranma
reminded her that even as a half man, their fathers would still
expect a male Ranma to marry Akane, she supported "him". At that
point, after seeing the same pain in Ranma she had seen in Ranko, it
had become clear to Akane that Ranma could be just as worthy of her
love as Ranko. She had learned that lesson on her date. In a moment
of self honesty, she even admitted she would prefer to love the one
who was at least a man in his own mind. She just did not have it in
her to become the man in the relationship, to take a curse that
would let her be a suitable mate for Ranko. Akane doubted she would
ever love another girl the way she loved Ranko, and it was not even
that she expected Ranko to be a man for her. Akane would be happy to
have her just the way she was, uncursed and all. She was just afraid
she could not be what Ranko wanted, needed.
When Ranma perked up at her suggestion, rallied around her support
for his manhood, Akane had allowed herself to believe part of his
motivation was to escape from a possible marriage to Ryouga. A
willingness to pursue her instead. It had seemed like there was a
chance for things to go back to normal, but this time without the
fighting and misunderstandings between them. She was prepared to
stand by Ranma and argue against Nodoka, to preserve Ranma's
manhood. She had been shaken when the "message" from Nodoka to Ranma
broke the girl's spirit. Akane had been unable to understand what
had happened, and began to worry when Nodoka took Ranma aside to
talk to her. She fought to keep herself calm, waiting for them to
come inside, so she could find out what Nodoka's plan was. She was
ready to step in and champion Ranma in spite of her unexpected
submission, but Nodoka had done something completely unexpected.
Nodoka had revealed P-Chan's real form. In that instant, all
rational thought had been blown out of Akane's mind. Taken
separately, Ryouga and P-Chan were two of her best friends in the
world. In hindsight, she could see the similar qualities that had
endeared them to her. They were both loyal and attentive friends,
trusted companions, fellow victims of Ranma's insensitive goading
and insults. The problem was, P-Chan was her trusted pet and
confidant. She told him her secrets, let him sleep in her bed,
anguished over his prolonged absences and loved him in an innocent
and uncomplicated fashion. For all his good qualities, Ryouga was
not entitled to that degree of intimacy with her, so it came as a
double blow to learn that he was P-Chan. In one instant, she lost
the security blanket that little pig had been for her fragile heart,
while at the same time realizing that a friend she trusted with her
life had abused her trust and innocence on a scale she could hardly
comprehend. Worst of all, she suddenly remembered all the hints
Ranma had dropped from the beginning and realized what a complete
fool Ryouga had made of her!
One harmless splash of hot water, and Akane had suffered the
greatest betrayal of her entire life. Without a single thought, she
reared up and attacked with every intention of killing the bastard
on the spot. Blind rage was not enough to get through four of the
best martial artists of her generation, and deadly threats lashed
out to strike the abomination she could not reach. She did not even
hear Nodoka's soft question to Ryouga as she raved in absolute fury.
When Nodoka repeated the question, she heard it, but it did not
register until Ryouga embraced Ranma and answered. All of her rage
died at the proclamation of love, as Akane realized the full extent
of the betrayal. She did not need Ryouga to remind her how she had
set herself up, as she shouted her disbelief. One look at Ranma's
reaction to the protective embrace had ripped out her heart. A
faint, new hope, a mere glimmer of a possibility glimpsed in Ranma,
had opened the tiniest chink in her armor, and the sight of Ranma's
relief at Ryouga's declaration of love punched through to slay Akane
on the spot.
All the rage and hatred awakened toward Ryouga turned inward on
herself, and the horror of realizing that she could hurt this bad
and not just die forced her to try and spit the fatal arrow back at
Ryouga. There was a time when Ryouga had prompted her to say she
hated him, to unlock the full potential of the shishihokodan. She
obliged, not meaning it in the least. This time, when she said she
hated him, she wanted the words to consume his soul. After that, all
there was was her pain, her confusion, her loss expressed in such
weak, stunned words. It was so horrible to realize what a monster
Ryouga was, and know that she had betrayed Ranma into his embrace.
Without even thinking about it, she asserted her own claim, dropping
the gauntlet over Ranma. Nodoka had picked up her challenge and made
it official, shocking them all by announcing that Ranma's very
identity hinged on who or what she chose: Be a man with Akane, or a
woman with Ryouga.
Akane realized at once that there was something she had missed. Some
reason why Nodoka had declared she could not see Ranma as her
daughter unless she married Ryouga. She had been locked up trying to
understand this irrational decree, unable to even summon up the
exact words Nodoka had used. Her mind had darted around, trying to
come to grips with Ryouga's curse, Ranma's hints, the damning
question of why he had not told her, but seeing how hard he had
tried to keep the pig away from her. It would have been so simple to
turn her head and ask. Except, she could not bear to see the person
she had decided to love in HIS naked embrace. She could still see
them from the corner of her eye, and knew neither of them had moved
a hair since Nodoka dropped the bomb. If she so much as glanced in
their direction the odd calm brought on by shock would dissolve into
a rage that truly frightened her. For the first time in her life,
she realized she was capable of murder, and Ranma stood between her
and her chosen target.
She did not want to be a murderer. She did not know how to control
the hate and anger waiting for her to slip out of her trance. She
wished her mother was there. She hurt so bad.
Balanced on a knife's edge, her mind desperately trying to distract
itself from the blood lust howling inside her, she focused on the
missing piece, straining for the elusive key to Nodoka's rationale.
Unfortunately, she did not realize that she had been protecting
herself from that very understanding. Thus, when she finally
succeeded in pinning it down, it was really the failure of all her
efforts. As clear as a bell, she heard Nodoka's words ring in
memory. "To preserve your honor as a girl, as MY daughter, you must
marry Ryouga." Akane frowned in confusion. More words, from before
that, "... you would HAVE to marry Ryouga after last night." A
trembling started as Akane's hands fumbled in her lap. It spread
from there to claw up her arms and legs to gnaw at her stomach, as
she noticed a faint motion that drew her attention to the couple
across from her. Unable to stop herself, her eyes drifted over and
Akane realized that she had caught Ranma shifting the something into
Ryouga's hand. She focused on the panties clutched in Ryouga's fist.
The message from Nodoka, delivered by Nabiki, which had so deeply
puzzled Akane, had been a pair of black, silk panties. The very
panties "Ranko" had worn for her date. The blinding, enraged hatred
that had gnawed on her soul poured through her, doubling and
redoubling in intensity as she realized what had happened on that
date. Akane was on her feet, lunging for Ryouga, hands clawed to rip
his heart out of his chest--even if they had to tear through Ranma
to reach it--before she knew what was happening.
------------------------------------------------------------------
End of Part Thirty-Six
------------------------------------------------------------------