Complimenting Opposites
A Ranma � fanfict by Tangent
Pre-reading and editing assistance by:
Lord Talon;
Nevrmore;
And some guy named Steve
DISCLAIMER: 'Ranma �' and all characters therein belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty and Viz Video. This fanfict has been produced for my own enjoyment and to pass on without profit. Other characters that come into play in this fanfict may or may not be pulled from other sources (including other fanficts, RPGs, manga, anime, literature, or possibly even *GASP* American comic books!).
WARNING: Nudity plays a major role in this chapter, but doesn't result in sex (despite Nabiki's best intentions.). Just thought I'd warn everybody before hand. If this bother's you, you probably haven't watched a lot of Ranma anyway.
CHAPTER TWO: Fun in the Furo, Nabiki Style!
Akane didn't really know what to make of Ranma Saotome. In her mind, a part of her assumed that he (or was it she, since Ranma was currently a girl?) was automatically a hentai because of his (her?) age and true gender. To this part of her way of thinking, the curse just made matters worse because Ranma just had to be taking some perverse advantage of it somehow. The fact that she almost had become engaged to him (her?) hadn't really helped matters on this emotional front.
On the other hand, she knew that she wasn't being fair to someone that she hardly knew at all. In Ranma's favor, he (she?) had promptly offered an honorable way out of the engagement as soon as he (she?) had become aware of it, stating that it would be wrong to enforce an engagement to someone who was known to be cursed. During his (her?) explanations, Ranma had inadvertently revealed himself (herself?) to be a terribly lonely individual whose father was borderline abusive (just which side of the border Genma was on was a matter of opinion and perspective). Akane found that she couldn't help but to feel sympathy for Ranma. This was at serious odds with her other feelings.
Nabiki's acceptance of Ranma, and desire to be engaged to him was something totally unfathomable to Akane for the moment, as she wasn't particularly aware of how lonely her own sisters were. Being harassed by dozens of boys every morning had distorted her perspective of such matters considerably. Nabiki was as lonely in her own way as Ranma was, due to the attention that Akane drew away from the boys at school. Akane could not see that her cool, calm, and collected sister was drawn to Ranma's wild, fiery, and chaotic nature like an opposing magnetic pole.
For the moment, Akane had subconsciously decided that Ranma was tolerable. Inexplicably, Ranma was worthy of Akane's respect and sympathy while in girl form, but was still a hentai while in guy form. This disparity would probably sort itself out as time went by, even if she never became consciously aware that it had existed in the first place.
Unsure of what to do, she went back to the Dojo to break cinder blocks.
After Genma had returned from the furo, Ranma had gone to take her own bath (and restore her true form as a guy). Leaving her dust and sweat stained clothing in the changing room hamper, and setting a fresh set on the washing machine for later, she entered the furo. Ranma stopped in disgust as she saw the state that her father had left the room in. Going back into the changing room, she searched for a few cleaning supplies before returning to the furo.
"Oyaji no baka," Ranma muttered under her breath as she set about cleaning up the mess Genma had made. "At least you remembered to turn yourself back into a man first," she continued, being able to tell that much from the clues that her father had left behind. "I swear though, you are such a slob!" Ranma continued to straighten out the furo, putting off her own bath until after the room was once again clean.
Nabiki followed her older sister into the kitchen, hoping to ask for advice. After their mother had died, Kasumi had become a sort of surrogate mother to the family at the expense of her own adolescence. Just how much help Kasumi could be was something that Nabiki didn't know, but she needed someone to talk to, and Akane was out of the question. Soun was talking to his old friend, catching up on their lives, so was unavailable for such matters. Besides, in his own way, he was just as hard to approach about such matters as Akane was (they were both so emotional and prone to overreact and jump to conclusions).
"Kasumi?" Nabiki started, and then hesitated. She wasn't particularly sure that this was such a good idea after all. Kasumi was usually such a bright and cheerful person, so Nabiki had to wonder if she would even understand the problem.
"Yes, Nabiki?" Kasumi responded, pausing in her preparations for dinner. She could see that something was troubling her sister. Possibly something having to do with her engagement to Ranma. She hoped Nabiki hadn't changed her mind, as their fathers were almost certain to enforce the marriage agreement since she had accepted it even after Ranma had offered a way out.
"It's about Ranma." Nabiki began.
"Oh dear," Kasumi replied softly. "You're not having second thoughts about the engagement are you?"
"No.it's not that," Nabiki reassured her sister. "It's just.I've never really felt this way before.about anyone." Nabiki's confusion was evident in her voice. Confusion was not a state that she liked to be in or admit to, so she was having trouble expressing it even to Kasumi.
"How do you feel, Nabiki?" Kasumi asked.
"I'm not sure." Nabiki began haltingly. "At first I just wanted a chance at a guy before he became one of Akane's followers, and hadn't given much thought to how he might feel," she admitted, beginning to feel a little guilty about it. "Then this curse thing comes up, and I almost gave up on the idea. I.I'm glad that I didn't though. When Ranma explained what had happened, he.she.revealed quite a bit about herself. More, perhaps, than she would have revealed if she had been asked directly. I.I think I like her.a lot. I.don't know. This is just so sudden."
"It will be fine, Nabiki," Kasumi assured her sister. "Just give yourself some time to sort out your feelings, and don't be afraid to come to me if you need help. Traditionally, there is at least a year between being introduced and the wedding ceremony in arranged marriages. You have plenty of time to deal with the situation. Get to know Ranma better. Perhaps you will find out more to like about her."
"Thanks, Kasumi," Nabiki responded, feeling a little better. A year would give her time to find out if she really liked Ranma as much as she thought she did. The marriage would go on regardless, unless she decided that she truly hated Ranma for some reason, but she doubted that this would be the case. She had been perfectly willing to become engaged to someone she had never met, and saw no real reason not to marry Ranma even if it turned out to be merely a marriage of convenience. She had just come to realize that this could be a marriage of love as well, and found herself hoping that this would be the case when the time came.
"I'm glad to have helped, Nabiki," Kasumi replied, hoping that things would work out for the best.
Nabiki wandered off towards the furo. A nice hot soak would be just the thing to calm her trembling heart down.
Ranma had just finished cleaning the furo, and was putting the supplies back in their places in the changing room when Nabiki walked in on her. Ranma froze, unsure as to what she should do. She was currently a girl, so in that respect it was no big deal for another girl to see her naked body. On the other hand, she was really a guy, never mind what the curse did to her body, and she was naked in front of a girl. Unable to resolve the disparity, Ranma was locked in hesitation.
"Well, your curse seems to be complete," Nabiki remarked dryly, noting her fianc�e's dilemma. She then set her own set of fresh clothing on top of Ranma's and began to take off her kimono. In a way, Nabiki was glad that Ranma was obviously out of sorts. It allowed her to recenter herself and gain control after having been so insecure only moments ago.
"Ah.er." Ranma stammered, not quite believing what her fianc�e was doing.
"Relax, Ranma," Nabiki instructed in amusement as she continued to undress herself. "It's not as if we have anything that either of us hasn't ever seen before." Ranma tossed the implications of this statement around for a moment before Nabiki continued. "Besides.I think it's only fair that we see what we'll be getting later. Don't you agree?" Nabiki's tone and expression took on a more seductive feel as she eyed Ranma up and down.
"Umm.ah." Ranma continued to stammer as she grew flustered and embarrassed. Nabiki took hold of her arm and guided Ranma back into the furo.
"Now, you'll wash my back, and I'll wash yours, and we'll talk about ourselves," Nabiki stated firmly.
"Ah.okay.I guess." Ranma finally responded, more than a little confused. Fortunately, Nabiki's deft handling was diffusing her embarrassment considerably.
"And then I'll get to see what you look like as a guy!" Nabiki exclaimed happily, relaunching Ranma down her emotional rollercoaster.
"Ack!" was all Ranma could say at this point.
Akane started tidying up the Dojo after she was done reducing cinder blocks to rubble. She felt a lot better, and had decided to be civil to Ranma after all. Ranma was sure to be done with the furo by now, so Akane decided that once the Dojo was clean it would be a good time to get cleaned up herself.
"Wouldn't it be easier to wash your hair if you undid your braid?" Nabiki asked, curious. Surely Ranma couldn't be that lazy.
"Um.maybe," Ranma replied. After a moment she thought of something. "I've got to be careful, but I suppose I should show you why I keep my hair sealed." Ranma began to untie the binding of her pigtail.
"Sealed?" Asked Nabiki.
"Yes," Ranma confirmed. "Sealed. You see.between Jusenkyo and Joketsuzoku I stopped a guy who was steeling a bowl of rice porridge from some restaurant owner." Ranma removed the binding and started running her fingers through her hair to undo the braid.
"Very noble of you," Nabiki commented, wondering what this had to do with Ranma's pigtail.
"Not really," Ranma corrected. "I was starving and hadn't yet learned my lesson about letting my hunger dictate my actions." With her hair now loose, Ranma filled a bath pail with cold water and handed it to Nabiki.
"What's this for?" Nabiki prompted.
"It's to change me back into a girl before the effect of the Dragon Whisker effect gets out of hand," Ranma explained. "Watch my hair and splash me with the cold water as soon as you see the effect."
"What effect?" Nabiki queried. "The change of color?"
"No," Ranma said as she got the showerhead ready. "This." With that, Ranma turned the hot water tap just long enough to change into a guy. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen. Nabiki was just about to redirect her gaze to check out Ranma's more masculine endowments when she saw his hair suddenly start growing at a phenomenal rate. She quickly splashed her fianc� as he had requested, but between the time when her arms started moving and when the water hit Ranma, the hair had already grown to reach the floor.
"That's.that's amazing!" Nabiki exclaimed.
"If you say so," Ranma conceded. "I personally find it annoying, myself." She began to braid her hair again, wishing that she had thought to get some scissors before demonstrating the Dragon Whisker effect to her fianc�e. "Anyway, the only thing that keeps it from growing like that when I'm male is if my hair is braided and bound with the Dragon Whisker itself. The guy was nice enough to let me have it, for which I'm grateful, for I'd have been forced to remain in my cursed form for months while I waited for the potency of the whisker to wear off."
"Does it work on baldness?" Nabiki asked, thinking off the possibilities.
"Actually, that's exactly what it's for," Ranma explained. "The only reason it causes my hair to grow so fast is that I wasn't bald. In fact, the guy said that, judging from the speed of growth, I wasn't inclined to go bald either. Apparently, that trait was only from my pop's side of the family and I didn't inherit it."
"You didn't tell your father?" Nabiki wondered as she began to help braid Ranma's hair.
"Oh, I told him all right," Ranma corrected. "Hmmm. Stop when it's at about the point it had been tied off before. I like it that long."
"Will do," Nabiki readily agreed, as she hadn't really been looking forward to braiding the entire length anyway. "But your father wears that bandanna." she prompted.
"Only to protect his stubble while it grows back at a more natural rate," Ranma informed her. "I talked it over with the guy, and he agreed to prepare some of the special porridge for my pop if he agreed to help protect the Dragon Whisker. Wars have been fought over it, and many people have died trying to get it."
"You seem to be trusting me with a lot of information," Nabiki pointed out.
"You're my fianc�e," Ranma pointed out. "You deserve to know. Besides, it's not as if the Dragon whisker is worth anything without the secret of how to prepare the porridge properly. Neither my pop nor I know that bit of information." Ranma felt Nabiki stop braiding and reached back. Satisfied that the desired point had been reached, she tied her hair with the Dragon Whisker once again. "Heh.It's a good thing my pop doesn't know that secret, or he probably would have tried to sell the Dragon Whisker to the highest bidder he could find. He may be aggravating at times, but I'd really hate to have to kill him in order to protect that secret."
"You'd do that?" Nabiki wondered as half-formed plans withered away in her subconscious.
"I would've had to try," Ranma confirmed. "I made a promise to help protect the Dragon Whisker, and so did Pop. If Pop sold the Whisker and the secret of how to prepare it, he would've had to commit seppuku to regain his honor. Knowing Pop, I would've had to try to kill him." Ranma said this in an off-handed manner that indicated to Nabiki that, while the point was moot, she meant every word of it. Her subconscious mind found the withered remains of her nascent plans to have profited from the secret and bludgeoned them into oblivion out of a sense of self-preservation. "Don't let my pop fool you. He may behave like a loser most of the time now, since he became cursed, but he is a Master of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts. Between that and the fact that I really wouldn't want to do it despite what he had done to me, I would've had a pretty hard time trying to kill him."
"I.see." Nabiki commented, shocked. "Um. wait here, I'll go get some scissors from my room."
"Okay," Ranma replied, seemingly unaware that she had unnerved her fianc�e. [I hope I didn't scare her too badly,] Ranma thought to herself. [The reason I didn't watch the guy make the stuff was so that I wouldn't find myself forced to choose between my honor and Pop's life. I really don't know if I could bring myself to try to kill him for any reason. By itself, the Dragon Whisker is only important to me, and that's as a seal.] Ranma hadn't liked scaring her fianc�e either, but the discomfort that she felt when she noticed that Nabiki seemed to be considering the potential profit that the Dragon Whisker might bring her prompted her choice to do so.
Ranma allowed her worry to show itself on her features while Nabiki was gone. What she had done felt too much like a deception to her, even though it was one of omission. After a moment, she put it out of her mind and composed herself. Nabiki had set off warning signals and Ranma had responded to them, as she would have in a battle. Better a harmless scare now than potential trouble later.
Akane finished tidying up the Dojo and headed for her room, deciding to get something nice to put on after her bath. She decided that it really wouldn't do to make too bad of an impression on her sister's fianc� until she found out how she really felt about him. She spotted a towel clad Nabiki returning to the Furo as she headed for the stairs. [Oh! Maybe if I hurry, I can talk to Nabiki in private and ask her about her engagement!] So thinking, Akane rushed up the stairs and into her room.
Nabiki had tied off Ranma's hair twice more before cutting it, using a couple of ribbons. The first section she cut prior to her fianc�e stepping into the furo, while the second was cut after Ranma had been restored to his true form. This gave her two cut-off ponytails of approximately equal length, one red and the other black. She dipped the red one in the furo as she got in, noticing that it didn't change color.
"So, What are you going to do with the hair?" Ranma asked, figuring that Nabiki had to have some reason for tying it with ribbons and cutting it twice in the manner that she had.
"Oh, I thought it would be good to have mementos for later, once the Dragon Whisker effect wears off," Nabiki explained. "Besides.do you notice something about this section of hair?"
"Um, what?" Ranma asked. Then he blushed furiously as he felt something that was provoking an involuntary reaction. "Ah. could you move your foot, please?"
"Only if I get to use my hands instead," Nabiki told her fianc� as she continued to feel him up with the foot in question. "You really didn't give me a chance to look, you know." Ranma grew flustered and embarrassed at this response and her continued action, which put Nabiki back on top of the game. Whether he had meant to or not, Ranma had scared her and put her off center earlier, so she amused herself with a little erotic revenge. Besides, she liked the physical response that she was getting. It told her so much about what she had to look forward to.
"Ah.er.okay, I guess," Ranma conceded. After a moment, he continued. "I really wish you would stop, though. It's really embarrassing and I'm having trouble thinking straight."
"Oh, all right. If you insist," Nabiki acquiesced, removing her foot. Ranma sighed in relief. "But you've got to let me look at it later," she stated firmly. "After all, you've seen everything I have, and I still haven't seen what I'm getting."
"But you felt it." Ranma said uncomfortably.
"With my foot, Ranma," Nabiki pointed out. "Although we could use our hands if you want to put us on even ground!" she said happily.
"Um.I'll pass, thank you," Ranma demurred shakily. Then, in a desperate attempt to change the subject, he continued. "So, about the hair.?"
"Well, it doesn't change once it becomes separated from you," Nabiki explained, pleased to have won this round. She definitely felt a lot better. She would have gone on, but Akane chose this moment to enter the room.
Fortunately for Ranma, he was facing Nabiki and away from the door when she came in. As it was, Akane just stared at the two in the furo as her smiling sister waved at her and Ranma tried to slowly disappear into the water.
"I don't believe you two!" Akane exclaimed. "You need a chaperone!"
"I don't see the problem, Akane," Nabiki responded in dry humor. "We're engaged, after all. Why don't you join us?" she offered. "We are all going to be family."
"Actually, Nabiki, I think she has a point." Ranma said quietly, deliberately not looking towards Akane.
"Don't think you're off the hook, Saotome!" Akane huffed angrily as she wrapped the towel that she had been carrying around herself. Despite her comment, her feelings about Ranma were mixed. He hadn't turned to look at her while she was naked, which was good. On the other hand, he was taking a bath with her sister, which was bad. Of course, knowing Nabiki, she had probably walked in on him. But he was still in here with her. Akane's head began to hurt.
"I think she took that well." Nabiki commented after her sister had left the room. She was quite content, now that she had flustered both Ranma and her sister. "Hey, are you all right?" she asked, noticing that Ranma seemed pale and a little vacant.
"." Ranma was rapidly approaching mental shut down from having been in the same room with two girls while all three of them had been naked. And he had never even looked at Akane. Unable to deal with the unfamiliar pressure, Ranma's world went dark.
Ranma recovered later, finding that she had been laid out on a futon and had a comforter laid over her. She took a moment to get her bearings before she opened her eyes. She noticed that she was female, of course, and assumed that Nabiki had changed her back in order to make her lighter. When she opened her eyes, she noticed that the Tendo sisters had gathered around her.
"Ranma." Akane started, seeing the neo-girl's eyes open. "I'd like to apologize. Nabiki explained what had really happened earlier." Which, in itself, had been embarrassing to Akane since Nabiki had gone on in lurid detail. Added to this was the embarrassment that she felt from having seen him naked, after Nabiki had come to get help carrying Ranma. Nabiki had correctly pointed out that Ranma had not even seen Akane when she had barged in on them in the furo, so she was the one being the voyeur. Especially given the fact that she could clearly see what Ranma had when they dragged him out of the furo.
Nabiki, for her part, had nearly panicked when Ranma had gone under. He turned out to be too heavy for her to easily get all the way out of the furo, especially while slick with water. She had draped one of his arms over the side to keep him from going back under, then had gone to get help. Once they had him out of the water, Nabiki got the showerhead and sprayed Ranma, hoping that the girl form would be lighter. Ranma was lighter as a girl, but not by much. Akane had explained to her that it was probably muscle weight that was making Ranma so heavy. Akane was heavier than she appeared to be for much the same reason.
"." Ranma still felt a little out of sorts and tried to get her bearings again. "It's okay, Akane. It was just an accident."
"I'm glad you feel that way," Kasumi said gently. "But they shouldn't have walked in on you," she continued, her tone taking on an effect of quiet reproach. "And I should have shown you where the sign was." (The sign in question said 'Occupied, please do not enter,' and had fallen behind the washing machine while Ranma had been looking for the cleaning supplies).
"It's all right," Ranma stated as she sat up. "These things happen." Ranma's left eye began to twitch when she noticed what she had been dressed in. "Ahhhh! What am I wearing!?"
"Oh, that?" Nabiki chirped happily at Ranma's discomfort. "That's just an old thing of mine. Do you like it?" Said item of apparel was tiny, lavender, and transparent. Ranma could see the pink panties that the neglig�e barely reached, and it was obvious that she wasn't wearing a bra.for which, Ranma was actually half-way grateful for. As it was, she passed out again.
"Oh my!" Kasumi remarked.
END CHAPTER TWO.
Tangent
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