Please tell me if this comes out as garbled garbage or
whatever, because this is the first time I'm sending fanfics this way.
I'd like to thank all the people who have privately emailed me their
requests for part 3 of Nullifier 122 - on and off the FFML. Thank you
for your support. Now, on to the show!
Ranma 1/2 = (C) of Shogakukan
"Nullifier 122"
by Webdragon
Part Three : A Balm in Nerima
---------------------------------------
Morning broke the hold of night on the world, and the first
heralds of the dawn awaken and sing their birdsong, the melodies
drifting on the morning air. The sun rose high into the pale blue
Saturday sky, casting its molten rays into the air and warming the day.
Breakfast had been served in the Tendo household and both families
were about to eat. Nodoka sat next to Genma on one end of the table,
while Soun sat at the other end. Nabiki and Kasumi sat together while
Akane sat by herself, leaving a space for Ranma. Ranma pounded down
the stairs, seated himself next to Akane and he grabbed a pair of
chopsticks. The table is now fully occupied by all seven people.
Ranma-chan was the only one left out and she stood silently behind
Ranma.
"Here, Ranko! You can sit next to me", offered Akane as she
indicated a spot between her and Ranma. Ranma-chan cast a grateful
look at Akane before squeezing in. Her petite size was to her advantage
now since there wasn't much room at the table to begin with.
After breakfast, everyone dispersed, to do whatever they would do.
Akane found Ranma-chan sitting on a rock by the pond, staring into the
waters and watching the carp swim in their environment. A cool wind
stirred the waters and the floating cherry blossom petals. Akane moved
to stand next to Ranma-chan, then she nudged her.
"Hey, Ranma," said Akane.
"What?" Ranma-chan turned to look up at Akane.
"Are you alright now? I mean, last night...."
Ranma-chan did not reply as she turned away from Akane, now
staring out at the seemingly endless expanse of blue sky, high above
Nerima. At length, she stood up.
"I'm okay, now. I think. But I don't wanna bring it up, not just
yet," she said in a single breath. She paused and took in a breath.
Akane touched Ranma-chan's arm.
"If...you feel you need somebody to talk to, Ranma, there's always
me. Okay?" Akane smiled as best she could, trying to feel the way she
looked. Ranma-chan touched the hand on her arm, brushing her fingers
lightly on Akane's.
"Okay", she replied in a small voice. Then she smiled uncertainly.
"I will, Akane."
Ranma-chan pulled herself quickly away from Akane, the red
already starting to color her face with embarrassment, and Akane did
likewise. At that moment, Ranma popped out of his window and landed
before the two girls. He was just tucking his shirt in.
"Well, I'm off", he said as walked away.
"Where're you going?" called Akane. Ranma-chan turned away.
"Duh, Akane. Where do I go every Saturday? To Daisuke's, to
hang out with the guys! Seeya!" With that, Ranma turned around and
began to leave but he stopped short - as if he had just realized
something. Ranma turned around and looked at his female side's glum
face, her dejected posture, and knew the reason why. He cast a guilty
look at Akane, who raised her eyebrows in a "Why're you looking at
me for?" way.
"Hope you enjoy yourself, Ranma," said Ranma-chan in a semi-
dull voice. Ranma winced a bit at that.
"Hey, I can't help it the way things are now...!" pleaded Ranma,
nervously wringing his cap, as if it were a thing alive.
Ranma-chan just gestured in the general direction of Daisuke's
house, without looking at Ranma.
"You go on and have fun. Don't let me stop you."
"Hey, you can come along if you want! I'm not stopping you at
all!" said Ranma in protest.
"Nitwit. After what happened yesterday in the classroom? It'd be
a dream come true for those guys!"
"Then why're you so mad?" asked Ranma in confusion.
"Just go already, Ranma." Akane grabs Ranma-chan's hand and
leads her away. Ranma stood there for a moment, silent as anything,
then he turned and left.
"Well, I'm going to go shopping!" declared Akane brightly. She
began to walk upstairs to her room, and Ranma-chan followed close
behind.
"Shopping?" she asked Akane as she ascended the stairs one by
one, following behind the short-haired girl. She looked as good behind
as from the front, thought Ranma-chan absently...
"Yeah, you know? Clothing, perfume, hair conditioner..." Akane
paused for a second and considered Ranma-chan for a moment.
"Bras...dresses..."
"Somehow, I don't like the sound of that," muttered Ranma-chan
under her breath.
"I heard that. Anyway, wanna come along? I might need
someone to carry my stuff."
"Why not? Have nothing else better to do anyways."
"Good." Akane opened her room, paused in the entrance for a
second, then she opened the door a little wider and she said to Ranma-
chan, "C....Come in."
"What?" exclaimed a surprised Ranma-chan, her eyes wide as she
looked from Akane to the door and back again.
"Just come in. I need your help for a bit."
Ranma-chan peered about in confusion as Akane shut - and locked
- the door behind them. Then she walked over to the drawer, opened
it and started rifling through its contents. Ranma-chan sat down on
Akane's floor, cross-legged.
"Akane...what's this all about?"
"Ah hah! Here they are! Well, Ranma? What do you think?"
Akane was holding out a white T-shirt and a pair of dark green
shorts. Ranma-chan blinked. Akane smiled.
"Well?" prodded Akane.
"Well what?" Ranma-chan had her arms folded across her chest,
her head bent quizzically at Akane.
"Are they alright on me?" said Akane as she modeled in them.
"Why're you asking me for?"
"I need a second opinion, that's all."
"Uhh...they look fine on you. I guess."
"Good." Akane turned around and stuffed them back into her
drawer.
"Hey! Didn't I just say they looked fine on you?" protested
Ranma-chan, who had just a hint of annoyance on her face.
"That's why I put them back. Everybody knows a *guy's* opinion
about a girl's clothes means squat!" said Akane as she began to search
her drawer again, but she was shaking with the effort to contain her
laughter.
"Oh...I...but...." stammered Ranma-chan, who was very confused
now. What was Akane up to?
"Come on. It was just a joke, Ranma. Jeez, what Sayuri said was
true, then. Guys are just *so* dense!"
"Oh...yeaaah?" said Ranma-chan, rising up from Akane's bed with
pillow in her hands, a smile beginning to creep on her face as she
realized that Akane was only playing with her.
Akane stuck her tongue out at Ranma-chan and a pillow fight
ensued. Ranma-chan whacked Akane with the pillow, and Akane
retaliated with a nearby pillow. The two girls screamed with laughter
as they traded swipes and smacks. Ranma-chan pinned Akane to the
floor and began to whack her mercilessly with her pillow in her right
hand. Akane had already lost her weapon and was just trying to pull the
Ranma-chan's weapon away from her...until she tugged wrong and
pulled Ranma-chan down on her, so that their faces weren't more than
an inch apart.
Ranma-chan noted that Akane's breasts weren't *quite* as small
as she had thought them to be, nor was Akane quite as flat-chested as
she had made her out to be. In the place of a growing realization,
Ranma-chan felt something which she had never before felt - a little
tingle of something, like an electric current, down below...which served
to create heat from between her legs...and not only that, she felt some
...stimulation from the tips of her breasts...her nipples, she realized,
from contact with Akane.
Akane felt Ranma-chan's body on top of hers, the red-head's
breasts touching her own. Her breath came more quickly now as she
looked into Ranma-chan's face, at her delicate features and less
pronounced profiles. So much unlike a man's, too much to be mistaken
for the male Ranma. Too stunned to do anything more than lie beneath
Ranma-chan - whose legs were entangled in Akane's - Akane did
nothing, said nothing.
The two lay there for a moment or two, staring into each other's
eyes, before Ranma-chan bounced up and flipped away from Akane,
whereupon she landed and put a hand on her chest, to still her pounding
heart. Oh boy, was she gonna get it this time! She prepared for the
inevitable mallet...but it never came. Akane was just sitting there, a
hand on her chest as well, and looking at Ranma-chan.
"S...sorry, Akane. I...I should have been more alert. I mean, I
shouldn't have lost balance like that, and..." began Ranma-chan
uncertainly but Akane just waved her off.
"No big deal. Forget about it." She paused for as second.
"So...what do you think I should wear, then?"
"Why ask me? You'd only say that my opinion stinks," said
Ranma-chan with mock sullenness. Akane managed to look hurt without
really meaning it.
"Oh, come on. I was just joking. I know, you pick!" She got up,
went behind Ranma-chan and pushed her over to the drawer. Ranma-
chan dipped her hand hesitantly into Akane's drawer and looked through
the clothing.
At length, she selected a pair of jean shorts and a striped T-shirt
with the words "Solo Mon" on the top and the picture of a surfer at the
crest of a big wave. Akane ushered Ranma-chan out into the hallway,
then she changed. She and Ranma-chan left the house five minutes
later, and they rounded a corner on their way to the mall just down the
street. There were many other shoppers heading to and from the mall,
an indication of its popularity. The sides of the streets were packed with
parked cars; the noise from the vehicles and crowd were almost
deafening. Akane and Ranma-chan pushed their way through the crowd
and ran into the mall.
"Hey, Akane! Over here!" came a call by the fountain inside the
mall. It was Sayuri and Anemi.
"Hey, you guys!" replied Akane, waving at her two friends making
their way towards her and Ranma-chan. Ranma-chan turned to Akane
in astonishment.
"Your friends are here, too!?" she asked.
"What? Something wrong?" replied Akane.
"Akane! You've brought Ranko-chan!" exclaimed Sayuri in
excitement.
"Ni...nice to meet you, Sayuri," greeted Ranma-chan.
"When did you transfer here, Ranko?" Anemi asked.
Ranma-chan hesitated for a second, glancing at Akane as she did.
"About a week ago...I guess," she replied after a while. Akane
and Sayuri were chatting it up, leaving Anemi to converse with Ranma-
chan.
"Do you like it here, Ranko?"
"Yeah. I mean, I've visited Nerima...once in a while and I've
come to like this place."
"You're living with Akane, right? Or are you living with your
parents?"
Ranma-chan was at a loss for words. She *was* living with her
parents. Heck, she was living with herself! But how could she tell
Anemi that?
"Let's go, you guys! First stop, lingerie!" called Akane as she
followed Sayuri to a nearby store.
"L..lingerie!?" Ranma-chan felt her cheeks turning red at the
thought.
Before they could enter the store a group of boys bumped into the
girls. It was Hiroshi and two guys whom Ranma-chan did not recognize
- they were probably Hiroshi's other friends, thought Ranma-chan. But
where was Ranma? She looked around but she couldn't see him.
Maybe he was only hanging out with Daisuke. Akane and Sayuri
exchanged pleasantries with the guys while Ranma-chan watched on (she
noted that Sayuri said very little to Hiroshi, but she looked as if she
wanted to)...until one of Hiroshi's buddies noticed her. He whispered
to his friends surreptiously - Ranma-chan pretended not to notice - and
then he hesitantly made his way over to her. He faltered a bit, but he
seemed to draw upon some reserve of courage and he forged on until he
was standing three feet away from her.
"Hi...uh....you must be the new student...that Hiroshi was telling
me about. I'm Kyusaku. Wh-what's your name?" he asked without
looking into Ranma-chan's face. He had short hair and his appearance
was pleasing, if not handsome. Ranma-chan shook her head. Why
should she care if he was good looking or not? She mentally slapped
herself and took a deep breath before looking up at the guy.
"Ranko Tendo. Say, are you Hiroshi's friend?" she asked, careful
not to look into his eyes. Her left hand crept up and began smoothing
out her hair and playing with the tip of her pigtail. She was aware that
her heart was beating faster for some reason unknown to her, and she
made an effort to calm herself. Still, a bit of red - so slight as to be
almost pink - colored her cheeks.
"Yep. We're just out walking around, hanging out, having
fun...you know, the whole bit." He paused and Ranma-chan did not
pick the thread of conversation up.
There was silence for a few moments as boy and girl studied each
other while trying to seem as if they weren't. Ranma-chan's eyes
travelled from Kyusaku's feet, to his waist - she noted that it was quite
trim - up to his chest...and she hesitated for a moment before she
glanced up into his eyes. He too was looking at her and he blushed
when he noticed Ranma-chan watching him. In the background, Ranma-
chan was aware of the three girls and two guys watching her and
Kyusaku, and she reddened. She should just get this over with.
<Think of something, anything...>, she thought desperately.
"Did you...see a guy with a pigtail - just like mine...", Ranma-
chan turned to show Kyusaku her pigtail, "but he has black hair and he's
wearing Chinese clothes?"
"Nope. The only one I have seen wearing Chinese clothes
today...is you." Kyusaku coughed and he seemed to lose his initial front
of confidence, "You know...uh...you look great in Chinese clothes."
A groan came from the Hiroshi and his friend, who were both
watching the exchange between Kyusaku and Ranma-chan. The girls
made no outward comment. Ranma-chan felt something like revulsion
..and pride, perverse no doubt, at Kyusaku's compliment. She didn't
know whether to feel insulted or not, and that fuelled the next twenty
seconds or so of an indecisive wrangling of her pigtail. Finally, Ranma-
chan flicked her pigtail behind her back.
"T...thanks," she replied at last. She smoothed out a few wrinkles
on her shirt front - getting gape-mouthed stares from the guys - then she
raised her eyes until they met Kyusaku's own for a moment.
"Well...I..uh...gotta go now. Seeya." With that, she went around
Kyusaku, but she miscalculated and she accidently bumped into his side
- with her chest. Her breasts rubbed against him - she noted that his
body seemed trim enough - then they dislodged from their `obstacle' and
Ranma-chan whirled around, an unnamed fear settling in her stomach.
"Uh...sorry `bout that. Wasn't looking where I was going,"
apologized Ranma-chan without looking up at Kyusaku. Her face was
flushed crimson with shame as she met up with the girls.
Sayuri bid goodbye to Hiroshi - him alone - and the female troupe
proceeded uninterrupted to the lingerie store. Akane dropped back a
ways and walked beside Ranma-chan, who was trying her best to look
unconcerned and unaffected by what had just happened.
"Really, Ranma. You knew he was trying to hit on you, and I was
half-expecting you to clock him one on the face," she whispered.
"Yeah, but Hiroshi was watching. Otherwise, I woulda whacked
him." She didn't sound very convincing and Akane picked up on that.
"Somehow, I don't think you would have."
"Yeah? Just tr..try me." Ranma-chan held up a clenched fist.
Akane snorted.
"Whatever. In any case, don't let it affect you. I mean, they only
see a girl...and they don't know that you're a guy underneath all that
and..." Akane trailed off when she saw Ranma-chan feeling the spot
where her chest had touched Kyusaku's body. "Uh...Ranma. What are
you doing?"
"Hmmm.....oh! I...I was just trying to get the feeling off. I..I
can still feel my...you know...", she indicated her breasts, "...and, like
I said, I can still feel it touching him." There was another reason, but
she took care not to tell Akane. When she had brushed against Kyusaku
like that, she had felt a tingle of pleasure that seemed to be a part of
her, yet not, at the same time. And she had determined that the source
of her pleasure had been her nipples. Even now, they were starting to
harden and stand out, so Ranma-chan loosened her shirt a little to allow
some slack for the changes in her body.
"Sure. Don't do it in public...girls don't do stuff like that...I
mean...you're a girl now, and you don't want people looking funny at
you, do you?" With that, Akane moved further up until she was on par
with Anemi. Sayuri dropped back a bit, to talk with Ranma-chan.
"So...Ranko...how do you like the guys around here?" she asked.
Ranma-chan thought she could detect another motive for Sayuri's
question totally unrelated to that of idle chit-chat, but she couldn't
decipher it.
"They're...uh...good looking, yeah. Good looking. Especially
that Ranma, but he wasn't here. Too bad," she said, feeling some pride
when Sayuri nodded in agreement.
"What did you think of that Kyusaku guy?" she asked Ranma-chan,
who was starting to get into the mood of things now. If there was one
thing she knew how to do well, that was how to act like a girl - and she
had plenty of experience doing so.
"He's...cute.....but I think Hiroshi, the guy with the light brown
hair in our class, is better looking, by far," said Ranma-chan, watching
Sayuri's reaction carefully. She was not disappointed. Sayuri seemed
to be thinking and she said nothing to Ranma-chan for a while. A
sneaking suspicion entered her head and she considered it for a moment.
Could it be that Sayuri liked Hiroshi? The way she looked at him, but
never seemed to talk with him...how was it she never noticed it before
the Nullifier change?
"Then you like Hiroshi, right Ranko?" asked Sayuri in a carefully
neutral tone.
"I never said that. I just think he's...uh...cuter, that's all."
Ranma-chan gritted her teeth at her words mainly because she had never
spoken like that before. <This is just to keep up appearances>, she
told herself deep down, <Whatever I say will mean nothing when I get
a hold of a cure!>
"I see. So you're saying you'd rather go out with Kyusaku than
Hiroshi?"
"I never said that either. I mean...I don't really know who I'd
rather go out with....but Ranma takes the cake anytime. Too bad Akane
watches him like a hawk."
"Yeah, that she does," replied Sayuri, seeming mollified now.
The four girls went into the first feminine clothing store they saw.
Akane strolled about the aisles for quite a while, and she looked at
various negligee, lingerie and anything that sounded French. She
stopped to examine a particularly frilly-looking bra when there was a
little commotion in the change booth and Sayuri popped out of the
change room, and waved to Akane and Anemi.
"Oh, Akane! Anemi! Come look!" she called while trying to pull
someone out of the change room.
"No! Don't look!" came Ranma-chan's voice from inside. Sayuri
tugged harder but Ranma-chan resisted.
"Where, where?!" cried Anemi.
Ranma-chan was finally pushed out of the dressing room by Sayuri
and Akane's jaw dropped open. Ranma-chan was topless except for a
frilly bra that barely covered her bosom. She tried desperately to get
back in the dressing room but Sayuri blocked the way. Anemi and
Akane felt twinges of jealousy looking at Ranma-chan's generously
endowed attributes, but they pushed those feelings away.
"Why didn't you have a bra underneath, Ranko?" asked Sayuri
from behind Ranma-chan.
"I...uh...must have forgot mine at home. Oops." Ranma-chan
blushed and crossed her hands over her chest.
"That looks good on you, you know?" commented Akane, who
received a sharp glare from Ranma-chan in reply.
"No, really, Ranko! It does...uh..suit you. The style, I mean.
Now, the size is another matter...." added Sayuri.
Ranma-chan shrank back into the change room, and she looked at
herself in the mirror. Then she slowly removed her hands from her
chest, sliding them down her smooth stomach until they lay by her sides.
Sayuri was right. The bra was about a size too small and she could
practically see her breasts but for the nipples.
"Ha..hand me the next size up, willya?" called Ranma-chan from
the change room. Sayuri handed her the correct size and Ranma-chan
shut the curtain on the three girls without.
She fumbled a bit with the strap on her back, then the bra just
popped off and she was left completely topless. She took a moment to
admire her body in the mirror, noting with wonder how well-formed her
breasts were, how smooth yet firm her skin was - before she took the
larger size bra and placed each cup over her breasts.
They felt restrictive at first, but she could see the benefits almost
immediately. For one, her nipples wouldn't be visible under her shirt.
And they would keep her breasts from bouncing about too much when
she walked or ran. And, because they were padded, they made her
seem bigger than she really was. Not that it really mattered to her of
course, she decided quickly, she certainly wasn't out to get any guys!
But she couldn't suppress an almost-perverse thought, one that
whispered to her that she could get any guy she wanted even without
looking bigger than she was....
"Ranko! Are you nearly finished in there?"
"Y..yeah! Coming!" she called as she quickly unhooked the bra,
pulled her shirt on and left the change room.
With some money lent by Sayuri, Ranma-chan bought that bra and
then the four of them headed from store to store. Purchases mounted,
as if some demon had gotten on all of the girls' backs, exhorting them
to buy, buy and buy, and soon Ranma-chan was carrying an armload of
Akane's stuff. Even she wasn't exempt from the influence of the
shopping bug - as a two bags of clothing attested to in her left hand,
containing her bra, three pairs of panties, a pair of shorts and - of all
things - a mini-skirt. The last item had been bought under pressure
from the other girls, no doubt to see how well she looked in that mini-
skirt before the other girls would consider buying the same thing.
Tired from an hour of shopping, not to mention hungry, the girls
head to the food court and set their purchases down by a table. Sayuri
and Anemi head off to buy their food.
"Akane, I'm gonna go and order something to eat now, okay?"
said Ranma-chan to Akane.
"Sure, Ranko."
"Be right back!"
Ranma-chan wandered from store to store, looking for a special
food item that would catch her fancy. Her stomach growled angrily at
her, berating her for taking so long to decide what to eat. Surprised at
this, Ranma-chan stopped for a second. She had been starting to feel
more and more hungry the last two nights, as if her body had been
burning the calories like crazy every time she went to sleep. And she
felt a little bit more changed each morning she woke to. <Strange, I've
never eaten this much, even when I had been a girl half the time>, she
thought. Her stomach snarled and she clenched her stomach muscles
tightly, to stop the sound.
She felt a tap on her shoulder and she turned around. Ukyo stood
there, dressed in a miniskirt, white sweater and tights , with a little
white ribbon in her long, brown hair. She looked stunningly cute, an
improvement over her usual appearance in her normal attire.
Ranma-chan felt a twinge of....jealousy? Impossible! Why would she
feel jealous of Ucchan? She tried to dismiss it as a figment of her
imagination, but it wouldn't go away no matter how much she tried.
She found herself looking at Ukyo's breasts and comparing them with
her own. Unconsciously, she also started checking her figure against
Ukyo's.
"Ranma, what are you looking at?" asked Ukyo quizzically.
"Huh? Oh! Nothing! Nothing!" She forced her eyes upwards.
"O-okay. What are you doing here anyway?"
"I'm here with Akane, 'cuz she wanted me to carry some stuff for
her while she shopped. And now I'm looking for something good to
eat." As if to make the point, her stomach growled.
"To....eat? Hey, why not drop over my restaurant at noon? I'll
treat you to a free okonomiyaki or two, to make up for the one you
missed last night." Ukyo looked hopeful.
"Well...," began Ranma-chan but she trailed off when she
remembered how much yen she had - just enough to buy that tank-top
Sayuri was talking about. "I don't want to sound rude, but you sure you
can manage to prepare my okonomiyaki? I mean, Saturday is such a
busy day for you."
"Sure I can. You just watch, Ranchan." Ukyo smiled.
"Well...alright. So what brings you here?" Ranma-chan began
walking with Ukyo out of the food court.
"Well, it's like half past eleven right now and I open shop at noon.
I'm just here to...I guess, shop...and have fun. My work schedule's so
busy that I try to relax whenever I can, you know."
"Yeah, I understand."
The two friends did not say anything more until they stood at the
entrance to the food court.
"Well, I'll be seeing you later then, Ranchan!" With that, Ukyo
smiled and waved goodbye to Ranma-chan, who waved back. Then she
headed back to the table. Akane looked up from tapping the table
impatiently with her fingers. Sayuri and Anemi were still out ordering
their food.
"What took you so long, Ranma? And where's your food?" she
asked with some annoyance.
"I was talking to Ukyo, Akane, and she offered to give me some
free food later on. If I dropped by her restaurant."
"Ukyo? What did you and her talk about?" Akane leaned forward
in interest.
"Like I said, she wanted me to drop by and have some food on
her. I said yes. Besides, I don't have alot of money left from what you
and Sayuri lent me." She did not disclose to Akane exactly what she
was saving the money for.
"Okay. If you say so. I'm gonna go and get some food, so you
stay and watch the shopping bags, alright?"
"Okay."
Within minutes, after Akane had wandered off in search of food,
Sayuri and Anemi return to the table with their trays of food. Sayuri
had a plate of fried rice and Anemi had two hamburgers and some
fries.
"Ranko! Finished already?" exclaimed Anemi in surprise.
"I'm gonna go to a restaurant later on," replied Ranma-chan.
"Which one?"
"Ucchan's Okonomiyaki."
"You're going to Ukyo's restaurant? She can cook, that's for
sure."
Ranma-chan's stomach growled a bit at that and she looked up with
an embarrassed smile at the two girls.
"I'm getting hungry just thinking about it..." she offered by way
of an explanation.
"If you're hungry, just take a fry or two," offered Anemi. Ranma-
chan smiled gratefully and took Anemi up on her offer.
"Hey, you guys! You don't mind if I bring a friend to sit with
us, do you?" It was Akane, from behind Ranma-chan.
"Who?" asked Sayuri, peering behind Ranma-chan.
"It's that Ryoga guy," whispered Anemi back.
"Ryoga?!" Ranma-chan whipped her head about, to see Ryoga
being lead to the table by Akane.
"Ranm...I mean, Ranko!?" blurted Ryoga in surprise. Akane sat
Ryoga down and began to talk to him in a friendly manner, drawing his
attention back to Akane.
"Oooh, they *do* know each other!" whispered Sayuri to Anemi
in obvious delight.
"Wonder how far they have gone?" whispered Anemi back.
"Not very far at all," said Ranma-chan.
"How do you know?" That was Sayuri.
"Well, have you ever seen Ryoga and Akane out on a date
before?"
"We weren't talking about him and Akane, Ranko. We were
talking about you."
"What?!" Ranma-chan flushed scarlet, the waves of red quickly
expanding from her cheeks to include nearly her entire face and her
neck.
"So, how far have *you* gone?" said Sayuri slyly as she poked
Ranma-chan's arm with a finger.
"N-Not far!! Cut it out, you guys!" protested Ranma-chan,
embarrassed as anything.
"Then you'll just have to try harder, Ranko," advised Sayuri, "You
see, some guys are just naturally harder to get through to...and..."
"Stop! Time out! It's not like that at all!" cried Ranma-chan,
getting strange looks from diners in their immediate vicinity. Her chest
heaving a bit from her embarrassment, she settled back in her seat
again.
"Then why is he blushing like that? For that matter, why are
*you* blushing?" prodded Sayuri.
"I am?" Ranma-chan felt her face.
"Yeah. Anyways, why don't you go over and sit next to him?
Real close, okay?" Sayuri smiled mischeviously, which set Anemi to
giggling and embarrassed Ranma-chan even further.
"It's obvious that he likes you....so you have the advantage. We
girls always do."
Ranma-chan glanced over at Ryoga, who seemed to be on the
verge of saying something profound to Akane. She made that
assumption because Ryoga's face was red, he wasn't even looking at
Akane, and his hands fiddling with each other. Or perhaps it was
intuition that told her that Ryoga was about to tell Akane how he really
felt about her. In any case, even though it wouldn't *directly* affect
her if Ryoga declared his love for Akane, Ranma-chan still felt an
obligation to disrupt any of Ryoga's attempts - for the male Ranma, if
not for herself.
Making sure that Ryoga was looking skyward, unnoticing of
anybody or anything but the ceiling and his thoughts, Ranma-chan
silently relocated until she was sitting right next to him. She glanced at
Akane, whose pupils were starting to dilate into dangerously small dots
and eyebrows beginning to `v' up, and she looked over at Sayuri and
Anemi - both of whom were watching intently - before she made her
mind up and laid a hand on Ryoga's.
"Oh....*Ryoga*....." cooed Ranma-chan in a voice that resembled
Akane's, but with as much sexiness and promise she could project into
it. The idea was to get Ryoga to do something stupid, then reveal
herself to Ryoga and get him all angry. Then he would lose sight of his
goal of declaring his love for Akane as he would be fighting with
Ranma-chan...
Akane began to stand up but Sayuri and Anemi pulled her down,
and whispered to her. Then the unexpected happened. Ryoga's arm
came down on her shoulders and pulled her close to him. She
practically collided into him face first with a whump that took some of
her breath away and left both her hands pressed up against his body. At
first, at the unfamiliar contact, Ranma-chan tried to pull away but her
efforts were weak and uncertain. She had begun to ask herself the
question of whether she really wanted to pull away from Ryoga, because
she was feeling things she had never felt before.
And this time it was not just sexual excitement, like the previous
contact with Akane or Kyusaku...she too felt comforted, protected by
her `embrace' with Ryoga. His arm felt like a ton of bricks but while
it was heavy, it was also warm and practically covered much of her
upper back. And, his smell was nice too - she didn't know how to
describe it. It was just...good. He smelt good. His shirt, which was
right up to her nose, had that same smell to it that made her feel
relaxed, and good at the same time. And his body...her hand, hidden
from view by her body, slid off his hand and touched the hard muscle
of his leg, and experimentally made its way up his side, touching his abs
briefly, and....she jerked it back with a muttered curse. WHAT THE
HELL WAS SHE DOING!?!?
"Ran..ko. What are you doing?" asked Akane, one eyebrow
twitching dangerously, her eyes closed as if to keep her gorgon-like gaze
from turning Ranma-chan to stone with the anger she felt boiling within
herself. Why couldn't she leave poor Ryoga alone?!
"R...Ranko?" murmured Ryoga, coming out of his delirious daze
now.
"Yoo hoo....!" cooed Ranma-chan.
"Yoo...hoo?" Ryoga looked down at Ranma-chan - the female
form cuddled right next to him and smiling cutely, "YOU!! Why I
ought to....oof!"
Ranma-chan removed her elbow from Ryoga's midsection and said,
"You ought to what?"
"I see. This isn't their first time fighting," commented Sayuri to
Anemi.
"And they made such a beautiful couple together, too," said Anemi
back to Sayuri.
"But why did Ryoga get angry?"
"No idea."
Both girls watched Akane and Ryoga glare at Ranma-chan, who
managed to ignore both of them while stealing a fry or two from
Akane's tray. At length, Akane sighed and turned to Ryoga.
"Thanks for stopping a moment, Ryoga. Lucky I managed to get
a hold of you, otherwise you'd have walked right by me," said Akane
with a smile.
"Y-yeah. I thought this place looked familiar, but then again I
have seen many places like this one. If I had know earlier, I would
have stopped by to...to visit you."
<Liar>, thought Ranma-chan, remembering that she had only
been holding P-chan yesterday. Akane and Ryoga exchange some more
goodbyes, and good wishes, then Ryoga shoulders his pack - rising
powerfully to his feet even with his heavy umbrella and laden backpack
- and he began to wander off in the general direction of the mall's exit.
"Seeya, Ryoga!" called Ranma-chan after him. Ryoga didn't even
look back.
"Ranko? Come with me here a sec, okay?" Akane got up and
started to move off.
"Where to, Akane?"
"Just come with me."
"O-okay," said Ranma-chan while scratching her head, perplexed.
The two girls head to the washroom. Akane looked about inside
the washroom and made sure that they were alone. Then, after
Ranma-chan had entered the washroom, Akane locked the door, rushed
Ranma-chan and slammed her against the wall, pinning her by the shirt.
"WHAT were you doing to poor Ryoga?!?" snarled Akane.
"Hey, hey! Take it easy, Akane!!" cried Ranma-chan, holding her
hands up in defense.
"Take it easy?! You torment my friend ceaselessly and you tell me
to take it easy??! I've had it up to here," Akane puts a hand above her
head, "with your vendetta against Ryoga! Why can't you just make up
to him?"
"Make up to him? But..."
"No more excuses, RanKO!!" The extra emphasis on the `ko' made
Ranma-chan flinch a bit, "I bet you enjoyed staying so close to him,
eh?"
She knows!
"I couldn't help it, Akane! Really, I couldn't!" protested Ranma-
chan.
"Couldn't help what?!"
"I couldn't pull away from him! He...."
"Oh, sure. And next you're going to tell me that you actually did
like him hugging you!" Akane's voice was full of sarcasm.
"Yes."
A few seconds crept by in silence.
"Come again?" asked Akane.
"I said yes. I didn't feel sick or anything, if that's what you're
gonna ask..."
Akane dropped Ranma-chan, who slumped against the wall but
kept looking at Akane, who didn't look at Ranma-chan at all. There
was a tentative rap-rap on the door right at that moment, and Akane
opened it up. Two girls, the same age as Akane, stood there.
"Are you two finished yet?" asked the one with the long hair. Her
companion had a hat on.
"Eeeep. How long were...were you two out here?" said Akane in
a small voice.
"Ever since we heard a loud thump against the wall," said the one
with the hat.
"Yeah, sounded like somebody hitting the wall, or something.
You know, you should take her advice and go make up to your
boyfriend. But...why were you mad because she," the girl pointed at
Ranma-chan, "hugged your friend? I thought he was her boyfriend...?"
"None of your business. Come on, Ranko. Let's go back to the
others before we attract more attention." Akane leads Ranma-chan back
to the table. Akane finished her food in big helpings, punctuated by a
glance at Ranma-chan now and then, who was carefully examining her
hands. Ranma-chan shrank under Akane's scrutiny and she fidgeted,
always doing something, anything, to avoid looking at Akane.
Gradually, the tension eased between the two as Akane gets caught up
in chatting with her friends. Finally their food was finished and the four
girls headed off for more shopping.
Ranma-chan selected two pairs of jean shorts and a T-shirt, with
the words "Wet 'n Wild" printed on its front. Sayuri and Anemi headed
off to a different section of the store, while Akane pulled Ranma-chan
into the swimsuit section. Ranma-chan looked over the swimsuit
section's selections, and picked out a one piece swimsuit colored a dark
blue with the words "Body Glove" emblazoned on the bust. It was cut
so that the entire back was exposed except for a tiny strip of material
running from one side of her breast, around her back, and to the other
breast. It had a zipper running from the navel to the middle of the bust.
Ranma-chan went into the dressing room and comes out in a little while,
wearing the swimsuit. She struck a pose, both hands with fingers
entwining above her head, bending backwards slightly and tilting her
head. She peeked over at Akane.
"H..how's it look, Akane?" she asked in a small, uncertain voice.
"Well....", said Akane as she circled Ranma-chan once, noting the
amount of skin exposed with a critical eye, "don't you think it's a little
too *open*?"
"I've worn less to the beach before, Akane. I just wanted to know
if it's....you know, good looking."
"Why? Planning on catching some guys with it?" asked Akane
teasingly.
"NO! It's just that if I have to, you know, wear a swimsuit, I
might as well look good wearing it, you know? It's kinda hard to
explain." Ranma-chan dropped her pose and walked back into the
change room. She drew the curtain shut and turned the light on inside.
"Are you gonna try something on, Akane?" she asked as she stripped.
"No, I already have eight swimsuits at home."
With a gentle tug the swimsuit came off her bust and she rolled it
down her body, bending over in the process and feeling the unfamiliar,
but strangely pleasurable sensation of her breasts hanging down and
swaying slightly with her efforts. It came off and she straightened up.
She reached for her boxers but she hesitated a bit. Now would be a
good time to try on those panties for real...so Ranma-chan walked up to
the curtain and pulled it back just enough so that only her face was
visible.
"Hey, Akane..." she called to Akane, who had wandered off a
little ways with both their bags. Akane turned around.
"Yes?"
"Can you...er...hand me a pair of....you...you know."
"Know what?"
"P...panties", whispered Ranma-chan loud enough for Akane to
hear, but not for anybody else.
"What was that, Ranma? Say again?" said Akane, cocking a ear
towards Ranma-chan, who blushed as red as the curtain that covered her
naked body from view.
"C-can you pass me my bag of s-stuff, Akane?" she asked in as
steady a voice as she could manage.
"Sure, but pass me the swimsuit or the saleslady might think that
you're stealing it, or something."
Ranma-chan nodded, picked up the swimsuit and handed it out to
Akane. Unfortunately, she was leaning too hard on the curtain and
three of the supporting rings holding the curtain up on the metal rod
broke. Ranma-chan stumbled forward and managed to catch herself by
grabbing onto the curtain and hanging on for dear life.
"Ra..Ranko! Get back in there!!" cried a horrified Akane as she
jumped in front of Ranma-chan and any other shoppers that might be
about, for Ranma-chan was half out of the changeroom - totally naked.
"S...sorry! The curtain broke, and..."
"Will you get back behind the curtain already?! What if someone
came along right at this moment?!"
"Right, right." Ranma-chan ducked behind the curtain again and
quickly put on a pair of panties, and her new bra. Then she pulled her
shirt and pants back on, put on her shoes and stuffed her boxers into her
shopping bag. Then she tapped Akane on the shoulder and both girls
went off to the cashier's, to pay for Ranma-chan's purchase.
Smiling to herself in satisfaction, Ranma-chan placed her new
swimsuit alongside her mini-skirt (now why did she even buy that mini-
skirt in the first place?) and all four girls left the store. Now that they
had exhausted their supply of cash, they merely wandered from store to
store, window shopping. Anemi plastered herself against the glass of a
women's store, her eyes fixed on a white and sky-blue cheongsam in the
store display, until Sayuri peeled her off and tugged her along their trek
around the mall.
Finally their enthusiasm ran out and their tired legs told them that
it was time to go home, to mull over the day's purchases, to contemplate
the meaning of spent money. Sayuri and Anemi promised to call Akane
and have a "three-phone" conversation, with Sayuri's new telephone
service that her dad - a businessman - had gotten, which allowed
threeway conversations, simultaneously.
Ranma-chan and Akane stepped out of the mall, and they
immediately wilted under the sweltering heat and smell of burning car
oil, and smoke. They had no idea that it was so hot outside the mall!
Of course, the mall was air-conditioned and they had spent the better
part of four hours inside of it. The sun still rode high in the sky and a
giant, digital clock above a bank told the two of them that it was only
two p.m.
"Akane, if you want to you can go on home. I'm going to
Ucchan's for some food," said Ranma-chan as she wiped her forehead
with her hand. <Man, it's hot!>
"I'm coming along too."
"You're still hungry? I thought you had eaten enough to last you
a week back in the food court," joked Ranma-chan.
"I'm not a pig like you, Ranma. But her okonomiyaki *are*
delicious, I'll admit that."
"And what won't you admit? That you don't like Ukyo?" asked
Ranma-chan defensively. Akane had no right to attack Ukyo like
that...!
Akane cast Ranma-chan a slightly hurt look. "It's *Shampoo* I
don't like...Ukyo is a much nicer person than that bimbo."
"Oh. So you like Ukyo, then?"
"I didn't say that."
"But you implied it."
"I still didn't say that I liked Ukyo. After all, she's always acting
like she owns you, and she doesn't seem to realize that I...I
mean...forget it." Akane shut her mouth, hoping Ranma-chan hadn't
caught too much. What made her slip up and tell Ranma-chan things
she would not even *dare* mention to Ranma!?
"As long as you and Ucchan get along fine, I'll be happy..." said
Ranma-chan, trailing off a little bit at the end of her sentence.
"Oh, of course! We get along just fine, me and Ukyo...it's just
that when she tries to get Ra...I mean...never mind." There she went
again! Talking to Ranma-chan as if she were not Ranma, but Ranko!
She really must watch herself there.
"Okay." Ranma-chan smiled at Akane, happy that she had
managed to find this one common ground upon which the two of them
could agree upon. Ukyo was her friend, and perhaps Akane's, and
Ranma-chan was glad.
Pushing aside the blue drapes of the Ucchan, the two girls
embraced the succulent smell of sizzling okonomiyaki, and their mouths
began to water - especially Ranma-chan's, since she hadn't eaten at all.
The place was packed with people, but two seats remained
conspicuously empty by the counter - almost as if Ukyo had been
anticipating Ranma-chan and Akane's arrival at her restaurant. Speaking
of which, Ukyo looked up from frying a large batch of okonomiyaki.
Her hair, which was undone the last time Ranma-chan saw it, was
now pulled back into a ponytail and fastened with a white headband.
She wore her usual chef's shirt, and her black tights, and she sported a
bandolier filled with her throwing spatulas. Her fighting spatula was
nowhere to be seen.
"Hey, Ranchan! Akane! I've been waiting for the two of you!"
called Ukyo as she fried the food and sprinkled ingredients all over the
okonomiyaki.
"Sorry to take so long, but all four of us wanted to window shop
some more," replied Ranma-chan.
"That's alright, Ranchan. Pull up a seat and I'll just be a second."
Ukyo glanced over at Akane, and broke into a smile. "You too,
Akane."
"Thanks, Ukyo." Akane sat beside Ranma-chan, who leaned over
with a grin on her face.
"Now, what was it that you're saying about liking Ukyo, Akane?"
she prodded slyly in a whisper.
"Come on, Ranma. One okonomiyaki is not going to solve
everything...!" whispered Akane back.
"How about two? Or three?"
"You know that's not the point." Akane turned away from Ranma-
chan and adjusted herself on her seat. "Food is not going to buy my
friendship, Ranma. You should know that by now."
"So, Ukyo treating you to some free okonomiyaki doesn't mean a
lot to you?"
"I don't even know if it's going to be free. Even if it was
free...yes, it does mean something, but...she can't expect to solve all of
her problems with a little food. I mean, between us and Ukyo,
not...you know...between you and Ukyo."
Ranma-chan could have sworn Ukyo flinched a bit at that, but she
wasn't sure whether it had happened or not - or, if it did, exactly why.
Akane picked up a chopstick and began fiddling with it. Ukyo finished
that batch of food and came over to the two girls, her spatula and batter
bowl at the ready.
"Okay! Now, I'll cook that deluxe okonomiyaki for you, Ranchan.
Akane, which one was it you wanted...?" asked Ukyo with a smile.
"Oh...I...just an okonomiyaki. The cheapest one on the menu, I
guess." Akane began to search the menu for the cheapest. Figures.
Ukyo wasn't going to give her free food after all, not this time.
"Nonsense, Akane. Since this is free, you might as well get
something worthwhile eating. I know, I'll give you the Seafood Delight
special."
"Free? I...thanks, Ukyo. Sure."
"Nothing to it." Ukyo began to pour the batter for the two
okonomiyaki. "So, how was your shopping, Akane?" she asked.
"It was great! Me, Sayuri, Anemi and Ranma here went shopping
for four hours."
"What did you get?" Ukyo swiped a little more cooking oil on the
grill.
"Just a dress, and a pair of jeans, and some other stuff. Ranma
here got..."
"Hey! Keep it down, willya?" shushed Ranma-chan. Ukyo
stopped frying and leaned over the counter at Ranma-chan.
"What *did* you buy?" asked Ukyo with a small smile on her
face. Ranma-chan blushed in embarrassment and clamped her legs tight
on the shopping bag beneath the counter, on the floor.
"J...just a few things. Nothing important," she stammered in
reply.
"Did you have fun, too? I mean, going around and looking at
stuff?" Ukyo resumed cooking.
"Depends," said Ranma-chan evasively, her face reddening even
more. She did have fun, but it would be the last thing for her to admit
right here, right before Akane and Ukyo.
"On what?"
"Nothing. It wasn't fun carrying those shopping bags for Akane.
I thought she had bought an elephant, or something. My arms were
hurting when we walked out of the mall!" To emphasize that, Ranma-
chan rolled her left sleeve back and felt her arm with her right hand.
"I wouldn't say the same thing if I were you, Ranma. Remember
that Bodyglove swimsuit, and your...," Akane's voice dropped to a
whisper, "panties and your bra?"
"Keep it down, stupid!" whispered Ranma-chan fiercely.
"Then don't go saying that I bought so much stuff when I really
didn't," replied Akane evenly, "It's not like I'm rich or anything.
Besides, Sayuri bought more than I did."
"Well...I see that the two of you bought something, at least. Sure
wish I had the time to walk from store to store, the way you two did."
Ukyo sounded a bit wistful.
"Why? Just take a day off and go." Ranma-chan traced circles in
the hardwood counter with her finger.
"With whom? It's no fun going by yourself, and if it's not going
to be fun, then I'd rather be back here earning my living."
"Just go with Akane, or some of your other friends at school. You
hang out with Sayuri, don't you?"
Ukyo shook her head. Ranma-chan, surprised, turned to Akane.
"Akane...Sayuri doesn't hang out with Ucchan?" asked Ranma-
chan.
"No. They just...you know, know each other. That's all."
"Then who do you hang out with, Ucchan?" asked Ranma-chan in
curiosity.
Ukyo was quiet for a few seconds, then she shook her head and
quickly flipped two okonomiyaki onto two plates and handed the first
one to Ranma-chan, then the Seafood Delight to Akane.
"Here, you two. Enjoy. Excuse me, but I've got to take care of
some customers up front." Ukyo whirled, to face the customers. The
paying ones, that was. Ranma-chan turned to Akane.
"Akane...I know you don't hang around with her, but do you know
who does?" Ranma-chan took a big bite out of her okonomiyaki.
"The thing is...Ranma...nobody. She only sees me when she
comes over to see you. Other than that, I don't think she has any...I
mean...I don't know." Akane stared down at her okonomiyaki guiltily,
her appetite suddenly diminished. Ranma-chan, on the other hand, was
shamelessly wolfing down her XL okonomiyaki - at least, it seemed that
way to Akane. Akane poked Ranma-chan on the shoulder and the red-
haired girl turned to her, still munching on a mouthful.
"What?" she managed after a few moments of chewing.
"Do you think Ukyo's mad at me?" whispered Akane.
Ranma-chan glanced at Ukyo. She seemed fine enough, and
looked at everyone - including Akane - enough times to convince
Ranma-chan that she was not angry at all. <Heck, she's even
smiling!>
"Naw. I don't think so. Come on, eat up."
"Okay. If you say so...."
"Stop being a worry-wart and eat, already. Ukyo's not like that,
to get mad over something that is not really your fault!"
Ukyo was aware that Ranma-chan and Akane were talking about
her, and Ukyo cast her thoughts back to what Akane had said. <She's
right. Giving free food is not going to solve my problems>, thought
Ukyo. To think she had assumed that female Ranma would suddenly be
reunited with male Ranma, and that Akane would recognize that this was
Ukyo's way of trying to be friends with her - all with the wave of a
spatula - coupled with free food. Ukyo sighed inwardly. The demands
of her business had eaten into her social life, and now she could only
count the two Ranmas, and perhaps Akane, as her friends in Nerima.
Then again, since Ranma wasn't a friend in the platonic sense, and
her relationship with Akane was doubtful at times, it remained to see
that Ukyo had no friends at all. Sure she knew the schoolgirls in her
class, but did they hang around her at lunchtime? They gravitated to
their friends, most notably Akane, but Ukyo was always left alone.
They hadn't noticed Ukyo standing alone, by herself, so caught up were
they in gossip and whatnot...or perhaps they would have seen Ukyo
attempting to make some friendly conversation with the guys - and of
course, *they* took it the wrong way. One boy had even asked her out
on a date. She had declined politely, citing her busy work schedule.
And now, as she watched Ranma-chan and Akane talk about their
trip in the mall, about what they had bought respectively, and about
Sayuri and Anemi and a host of other girls, Ukyo was reminded of what
she had given up in order to establish her business, her livelihood.
Truly it is said that business has no space allotted for emotions.
She hugged herself inwardly for a moment, gathering strength,
then she turned back to the two girls. Akane was slowly finishing her
food, and Ranma-chan was trying to sneak a piece or two from Akane's
plate, getting smacks on the wrist for her efforts.
"Stop it, Ranma! Get your own okonomiyaki!"
"But, the way you're eating it we'll never get out of this
restaurant!"
"You sound as if you're anxious to leave." Akane munched on her
okonomiyaki, savouring its taste and Ranma-chan's obvious impatience.
"No, I'm not...I didn't mean it that way."
Ukyo watched the two girls playfully arguing back and forth, her
heart warmed by that sight, and she almost joined in but a customer rang
the bell by the counter and she moved to serve him. After she was
done, she turned back but her opportunity was lost. Akane was
finishing the last piece and Ranma-chan had stopped fidgeting. By all
looks, they were ready to leave.
"Leaving now, Ranchan?" asked Ukyo. Ranma-chan nodded and
she stood up.
"Thanks, Ucchan! That was great cooking, as usual." Ranma-
chan hesitated for a second, then she said, "Well...see you later,
Ucchan, and take care!"
"See you, Ranchan." Ukyo watched Ranma-chan walk out the
door of the Ucchan. Akane wiped her hands on the napkin, thanked
Ukyo and began to leave.
"Umm, Akane?"
"Yes, Ukyo?" replied Akane, turning around.
"I was wondering...when are you going shopping next? Because
I'd like to come along then."
"I...uh...I'm not. Not for a while, anyhow, until my Dad gives
me more money. Sorry." Akane stood still, very still, and tried not to
stare at Ukyo.
"I see. Well, keep me in mind when you go next, okay?" Ukyo
felt crushing disappointment entering her heart and she let out a sigh.
Too bad. Ukyo had feared that Akane would still be closed to subtle
hints of friendship, and this rebuttal, though quite plausible, came as a
sting to Ukyo's heart.
"Okay." Akane began to leave once more, but she turned back
again. "Ukyo?"
"Yes?"
"I'll see you some time." Akane smiled. "Bye."
And Akane left. Ukyo stood there for a moment, then she threw
herself into her work and time lost its meaning in the scrape of her
spatula and the hiss of frying okonomiyaki.
By the time Ranma-chan and Akane reached home, it was three
o'clock and sundown was still quite a ways off. Ranma was home, and
reading a book on martial arts techniques while lying on the floor with
a glass of icecream near the book. The panda played shogi with Soun
and Kasumi was helping Nabiki with her laundry.
Ranma-chan pulled on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt in the privacy
of her room, then she headed downstairs. Her gaze came to rest on
Ranma, lying prostrate on the ground with his hands supporting his
head, reading his book - and she suddenly felt a little hot. She admired
his body from the vantage of the stairs, feeling her nipples harden under
her bra, and she began to walk down the stairs. Feeling somebody
watching him, Ranma turned around and peered up at Ranma-chan.
"Hey, come have a look at this book I found at the bookstore!" he
called to Ranma-chan.
"Okay." Ranma-chan got down on her hands and knees and
pretended to peer at the book. Ranma, who was in front of her, was
pointing out various stances and blocks, but Ranma-chan wasn't
listening. Every instinct in her body told her that she was enjoying the
sight of Ranma's muscled back and defined arms, but her mind was
screaming bloody murder. Still, unable to pull away, Ranma-chan
remained where she was, giving only a token gesture to acknowledge
that Ranma was speaking while letting her eyes roam, and roam.
She blew a small puff of air into his face, hoping to get him to
look at her, and he glanced up involuntarily - right into her loose T-
shirt. He was speechless for a moment then he got to a sitting position.
Ranma-chan leaned back on her legs and put both hands on her knees.
"You're...you're wearing a bra" he stammered, pointing a finger
at her chest. Ranma-chan grinned.
"You like it? It cost me 850 yen, and it feels just fine." She
patted her chest and her breasts bounced enticingly. Ranma gulped and
wiped some sweat from his forehead.
"No, that's not the way I meant it! I mean, why're you wearing
a bra?"
"Well, duh! I gotta...you know...wear something underneath? It's
like underwear, but we call it lingerie."
"That's still not what I meant! Stop jumping around the question
and give me a straight answer."
"Well, you see...since I'm gonna be a girl until we get the cure,
I might as well observe feminine decency. I mean, I can't go around
without a bra...Mom would only take me out bra-shopping again. This
way I get it over with."
Ranma-chan seemed to hesitate, playing with her pigtail as she did,
then she cast her gaze downwards, as if repentant. Her hands crept to
the base of her shirt and her slim fingers took hold of it.
"But...if you're so concerned...." Then Ranma-chan slowly pulled
her shirt up and off her, so that she was topless save for the bra.
Ranma's eyes went wide.
"Put your shirt back on!" he whispered fiercely.
"Well, since you don't want me to wear a bra, I...guess I'd better
take it off now." She rolled her eyes and reached ever-so-slowly to her
back to undo the bra, thrusting her chest out in the motion. Ranma
grabbed her hands and pulled them forward. Then he grabbed her shirt
and began to try and pull it on Ranma-chan.
"Hey, leggo of me! I was just joking! I wasn't really gonna take
it all off!" she cried in muffled tones under her shirt, her face hidden
from view.
"Yeah? Well what's all this talk about feminine decency after all,
huh?" said Ranma as he finally succeeded in putting the shirt back on
Ranma-chan. She pouted and began to tuck her shirt in.
"I was just playing with you, that's all. No need to attack me like
that."
Ranma grumbled something back, then he settled down to read the
book again. Ranma-chan crawled over to Ranma's side and curled up
beside him, but without their bodies touching. Ranma seemed to take
no notice. <All the better>, she thought as she began to sneak peeks
at him again, feeling erotic pleasure once more.
It had been said that similar minds thought alike. Ranma could
feel Ranma-chan's body next to his, even though they weren't physically
touching. He turned to relieve the pressure put on one elbow and took
a good, long look at the female next to him. Ranma-chan's legs were
curled up and away from him, and her petite body excited him in a way
that made him shift his position in order to make himself
more...comfortable. His eyes lingered on her curves, and travelled all
over her body to rest on her tight shorts and her smooth, exposed legs.
He peeked up and admired the way her slim arms, and shoulders seemed
to complement her breasts and the soft skin of her neck. Her hair
looked especially silky up close, especially against her peach-soft skin,
and Ranma restrained his impulse to reach over and touch it.
As time progressed, Ranma found his mind straying off the martial
arts book more and more. Ranma-chan edged closer to him and Ranma
tried to blot out perverted daydreams concerning him and Ranma-chan.
At that moment, looking at Ranma-chan, he wondered how she would
feel if he leaned over and put his arms around her, then one thought lead
to another and soon - in the privacy of his mind - he was fantasizing
about sex. He looked at Ranma-chan, at her breasts underneath a
T-shirt that was almost sheer, but not quite. For some reason she
looked more sexy with her bra on, than off...
A fantasy flitted through his mind and he imagined Ranma-chan
without any clothing on, and in the bath with him. She was right next
to him, and her hands were flitting almost playfully under the water,
near his legs...With an effort he banished the fantasy before it could
develop any further. His gaze lingered on her for a moment longer
before he forced himself to look at her face. Ranma-chan looked up at
that moment, apparently also lost in thought over something.
Ranma-chan snapped her gaze up the moment Ranma looked up,
her face flushed red in embarrassment. How is it that she felt so...hot
near Ranma? A flicker of a daydream had entered her mind, a little
thingy concerning herself and Ranma. The both of them had been naked
and lying on a bed. She had been lying on her back and Ranma had
been rubbing warm oil all over her while straddling her with both legs
on either side of her, his hands lingering on her breasts and tickling the
tips of her nipples.
"What're you guys doing?"
Both Ranma and Ranma-chan looked up in surprise, to see Akane
standing over them. She was wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top,
the latter article of clothing getting a wide-eyed look from Ranma and
a slightly-jealous glance from Ranma-chan.
"Uh...just reading a book. What's it look like?" asked Ranma-
chan petulantly.
"Yeah, what's it look like, Akane?" piped in Ranma. Ranma-chan
got to her feet and folded her arms across her chest. Ranma did not get
up at all, actually turning his body so that the lower portion was facing
away from Akane.
"Oh, just asking, that's all." With that, Akane walked away and
both of them heaved sighs of relief. Then Ranma-chan squatted before
Ranma and tapped him on the head. Ranma looked up.
"Yeah?"
"Since it's so hot today, let's go to the ice cream shop and have
something. I still have a bit of money in my room."
"That's *my* money."
"Which makes it mine as well. What's yours...is mine." Ranma-
chan got up and walked upstairs, to her room. Ranma followed close
behind, the book forgotten on the floor as he followed the petite, pig-
tailed girl. As he walked behind her, he was struck by how sexy she
looked from behind while walking up the stairs. He stared at her butt
all the way up, and he tripped on the top step as a result. He
windmilled his arms but still fell right on Ranma-chan, knocking her to
the ground as a result.
"Oooof!" Ranma and Ranma-chan exclaimed at the same moment,
Ranma on top of Ranma-chan. He, and the fall, had knocked the wind
out of her.
"S..sorry! I tripped...and I guess I fell on you," said Ranma by
way of apology.
"That's okay. It was just an accident," mumbled Ranma-chan
from under Ranma. Ranma liked the feeling of his body on top of
Ranma-chan's, especially the way her butt was...
"Would you get offa me already? You're heavy, you know!"
protested Ranma-chan and Ranma quickly rolled off. She got to her
feet, cast Ranma a glance, then opened her room door and got her
money. The two of them told Kasumi where they were going, then they
walked to the ice-cream store.
Ranma trailed behind Ranma-chan, the urge to admire her
curvaceous body making him slow his pace deliberately in order to
remain behind her. Her shorts reached about halfway down her thighs
and she was wearing sandals, so quite a bit of leg was exposed to see.
She looked so different wearing clothing other than what she usually
wore, decided Ranma, and so much sexier too. Especially the way she
walked, the way her arms swung, and her pigtail swinging she looked
from side to side, but her most attractive quality - looking from the back
- were her hips, and her butt....Inside he knew he should not be looking
at the female version of himself, but the compulsion to was almost
addictive in itself. Ranma-chan suddenly stopped, but did not turn
around. Ranma stopped too.
"What's wrong?" he asked quizzically.
"Is something wrong with the way I'm dressed, or something?" she
asked without looking at him. Ranma felt his face color in spite of
himself and he looked away from Ranma-chan.
"No...actually, you're dressed fine," he managed to get out. His
ears were burning and he fought to calm his pounding heart. Ranma-
chan turned around and stepped close to Ranma.
"Then why have you been looking at me all this time?" she asked
softly, peering up into his eyes with her own.
"Well...uh...that's because...ah heck. That's because I like the
way you look, okay?!" shot back Ranma defensively. He was never
good at lying anyways.
"So you're saying I look...great?" asked Ranma-chan, her hand
stealing to her pigtail and smoothing it out behind her.
"Y-yeah. I guess. Look, I'm sorry already for staring at you..."
"Oh, don't worry about it! If you really wanna know, I've
also...uh..."
"Also what?" Now Ranma was getting suspicious and he folded
his arms across his chest. Ranma-chan blushed and turned to keep
walking, but Ranma reached out and pulled her back. "Don't you run
away on me now. You've also....?"
Ranma-chan swallowed nervously and glanced around, as if to
make sure that they were alone. Then she leaned up on her tiptoes,
placed her hands on his left shoulder to support herself, and put her lips
close to his ear.
"I've been getting these...feelings lately, whenever I look at you.
They're not bad or anything, or painful, but...it's kinda hard to
explain," she whispered.
"What kind of feelings?" he pressed, now determined to know.
"Exciting ones." Ranma-chan shrugged as she dropped back on
her heels. She had never realized how much taller her male side was
over herself. Taller, broader and tougher.
"Gee, that tells me much. Come on, you've got to give me more
to work on."
Ranma-chan, who was less than a foot from Ranma, tried her
hardest to keep looking at his face and not at the rest of his body.
"Okay...I...I don't feel the same like I used to be. You know,
before the Nullifier, even when I...we were in cursed form, I know we
never had those feelings before, the ones that I'm feeling whenever I
look at.....at...you," finished Ranma-chan lamely.
"Just tell me what those feelings are already, okay?"
"Alright. You know how you feel when you see a really hot chick
walking by?"
"Yeah. Oh no. You don't mean to say that...you...."
"Yup. And not just you, but other guys," Ranma-chan paused for
a second then resumed, "I don't even know why I'm telling you this
stuff. You probably think I'm weird or something by now, right?"
"But don't you....I mean....don't you feel sick, or wrong, when
you get those feelings you're talking about?"
"At first, I do. I think to myself `okay, I shouldn't be doing this',
but a few moments later I find myself enjoying it. I try to look away,
but I don't because...it just felt natural to me. I mean, looking at guys.
Like you." On impulse Ranma-chan stepped right up to Ranma and
wrapped her arms around him.
"Wha...what're you doing?" whispered Ranma in a hoarse voice.
"Indulging myself. Humor me, okay?" Ranma-chan could smell
Ranma that close up, with her face resting on his chest and her breasts
pressing on his stomach. She slowly reached an arm up to his head, to
pull his head closer to hers. Strangely, he did not resist - rather, he
went along with the motion.
Their faces were inches apart, hot breath threatening to obscure
their vision - even though they didn't wear glasses - then Ranma-chan
tilted her head and slowly, tentatively put her lips on his. Then they
kissed - for just a moment - and Ranma-chan broke it almost
immediately. That felt good! It was almost like an electric current had
run from his lips to hers, and that current had stimulated her body.
Even now her nipples were hard and pushed a little into her bra. And
between her legs she began to get hot, and she rubbed her legs together
to help ease the feeling. She glanced down and she saw a telltale sign
that Ranma was as aroused as she was, and she blushed. It had been
pressing on her loins through the material of Ranma's pants when she
had kissed him, and she hadn't even known it.
"Uh...I don't think I should indulge you any further. I mean, what
you're doing...is wrong! And...." protested Ranma as he tried weakly
to push Ranma-chan off of him. Ranma-chan touched her lips, then she
licked them. Strange how she could still feel his kiss. Ranma-chan
reached up and gently pulled Ranma's head down again, so that his
cheek was caressing her own. Then she pulled back a little, and went
in for another kiss, but Ranma jerked his head away and disengaged
himself from Ranma-chan. She stumbled back a bit but caught her
balance.
"I'm sorry," she said after a while, "I got carried away, I guess.
I mean, this is all so new to me...and it wasn't so bad after all. And
something tells me you kinda enjoyed it, too.
"I did not!" But it was a lie and Ranma knew it. He had liked
having that female body right against his own, with Ranma-chan's soft,
yet firm curves melting into him, becoming a part of him it had seemed.
But most importantly, the kiss was something in its own category. How
to describe those luscious lips on his own, kissing ever-so-gently and
passionately? What words could capture the feeling, the rapture of
sharing an intimate act with her?
"Whatever. Come on, let's go get our icecream before people start
staring at us." Ranma-chan whirled, pigtail flying, and jogged off to the
icecream store. Ranma followed.
Ranma and Ranma-chan took a seat in the store and a waitress
came up to serve them shortly.
"May I help you?" she asked.
"One strawberry sundae, and a banana split," said Ranma-chan.
"Thank you, it'll be just a moment."
It came to no surprise to Ranma that Ranma-chan had known
exactly what he had wanted, for obvious reasons. The shrill ring of a
bicycle bell, the sound of air rushing past a falling object, and the
screech of tires on concrete were the only warning sounds that trouble
had arrived. Without even bothering to lock her bicycle a certain cutie
with lavender hair ducked under the canvas awning. Counting a wad of
bills in her hands, Shampoo walked into the shop.
<Finally! Payday at last. Benefits follow hard work like sunshine
after rain, as great-great-grandmother says. Now...I think I'll have
something nice and cold to eat, to treat myself to>, thought Shampoo,
in her native tongue of course. Thinking in Japanese was supposed to
help her learn the language better, faster, but what better way to ensure
a facade of stupidity than limited knowledge of the main language in this
country? At least she did not have to fake her accent. Great-great-
grandmother had taught her that trick.
She scanned the restaurant for a booth all to herself - and caught
sight of Ranma-chan guzzling a banana-split. One could almost hear the
targeting beeps and see the crosshairs as the Amazon weaved her way
around tables to Ranma-chan. Ranma was hidden from view by the
booth's high-backed seats. With an extra bounce in her step, she walked
over to Ranma-chan's table. What a pleasant surprise, to see her
husband-to-be here!
"Ni Hao!! Ranma, you want to date with Shampoo!" Shampoo
made it sound like a fact, not a request.
"Oh...no. Shampoo." It was all Ranma-chan managed to get out
between mouthfuls of icecream and banana.
"Oh well. I suppose she was going to find out sooner or later, if
Cologne didn't tell her," said Ranma in resignation.
Shampoo reached the booth, and saw the two Ranmas. The wad
of bills drop and scatter all over the floor from nerveless fingers, and
Shampoo's eyes were wide with astonishment.
"No, I suppose she didn't tell her," quipped Ranma-chan to
Ranma.
"Ni men liang ke ren...Shampoo mean, why there two of you? Is
Shampoo dreaming?"
"Shampoo, your money!"
"Oh!" Shampoo bent down and gathered all of the bills back up
into one wad. Then she sat down heavily, beside Ranma, and looked at
him questioningly, before staring over at Ranma-chan. Ranma took this
opportunity to fill her in on the situation.
"Shampoo no mind so much. Shampoo only ask for boy-type
Ranma!" With that, Shampoo latched onto Ranma and began to cuddle
him. Ranma-chan couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment at
Shampoo's behaviour - Shampoo was usually very devoted to him, even
when he was a girl, but now that the curse was practically lifted from
Ranma....Ranma-chan quickly finished her icecream up.
"Well, I'll leave you two lovebirds together..." she said in an
offhand tone and got up to leave, her hands in her pockets.
"Wait! Don't go!" cried Ranma with the urgency of a swimmer
with a cramp.
"Wo ai ni!" Shampoo tightened her grip on Ranma and began to
grow a little more aggressive in her cuddling, knocking Ranma onto his
back in a tangle of limbs and tablecloth. Patrons began to lean over, to
see what was the matter.
"Your dish, sir," said the waitress as she placed a strawberry
sundae by the window ledge, where it would be safe from the `action'.
"Shampoo! Shampoo!"
Ranma-chan leaned out of her booth and saw a robed figure
silhouetted against the bright street. It had sounded like Mousse, and
Ranma-chan's suspicions were confirmed when the figure got out of the
glare and was revealed for who he was. Mousse pushed his glasses onto
his head and smoothed his long hair back, his robes fluttering with the
wind blowing into the store. He peered out at the bicycle parked outside
the store.
"Her bike's here, so she must be inside! Shampoo!" called Mousse
again as he walked further into the store.
"Hi ya, Mousse! Shampoo's down there!" said Ranma-chan in
greeting, while pointing down at a furiously blushing Ranma and a
slightly miffed Shampoo.
"Saotome!! What are you doing with my Shampoo?!" cried
Mousse, pointing accusingly at Ranma-chan.
"I ain't doing nothing. Why don't you ask Ranma down there, not
me?" said Ranma-chan, crossing her hands behind her back. Shampoo
snorted in derision.
"Is true, stupid Mousse. Ranma taking Shampoo on date. We just
having fun *before* date," Shampoo said before hugging Ranma anew,
amidst gasps of surprise from all nearby patrons, who were now
*really* trying to lean close and peer inside the booth.
"It's not that way!!!" cried Ranma to a couple in the next booth,
who were peeking around.
Mousse looked long and hard at both Ranma-chan and Ranma.
"So...you aren't....I mean....what are YOU doing to Shampoo, but
if you're there...then...." he said without making much sense.
"Time to get new glasses, Mousse. You're seeing double!" said
Ranma-chan with a smile.
"Maybe you're right..." said Mousse as he removed his glasses and
put his hands into his sleeves, "...but you're still taking advantage of my
Shampoo! Prepare to die, Saotome!!"
Mousse threw his arms out wide. Six blades shot out of his left
sleeve and a wickedly curved sword appeared from his right. Shouting
a battlecry, Mousse leapt to strike...and proceeded to mangle a nearby
plant.
"Idiot," said Ranma-chan to herself as she made her exit, glad to
leave the chaos behind her. Glad, but sad in a way because while
nothing had changed for Ranma, it seemed that everything had changed
for her. She strolled out of the restaurant, went down the street, turned
a corner and bumped into somebody, and she stumbled back a few feet.
"Oompff! Sorry 'bout that, guy. Are you alrigh...K..Kuno?!"
Ranma-chan began to back away. But it was too late. Kuno threw
himself on Ranma-chan and began to nuzzle her head with his chin.
"Oh, pig-tailed goddess! What strange turn of fate doth draw us
together, like the heavenly spheres in symphonic harmony!" he cried,
accompanied with a paroxysm of cuddling and dramatic weeping.
"Let *go* of me, you freak!!" shrieked Ranma-chan from within
Kuno's embrace. She struggled ineffectually but couldn't free herself.
"How can I let you go now, my love!! How can one such as I
possess the strength of will to let the one, true love of my life go?"
"Like this!!!"
*CRACK*
The business end of a mallet was introduced to Upperclassman
Kuno's head and said individual released Ranma-chan and slid off of
her, to lie on the ground with eyes crossed and limbs akimbo, like a
dead frog. A growing bump on his head and a small groan were the
only indications that Akane's mallet had only knocked him out. A pity.
"Honestly! Are you all right, Ranma?" asked Akane, the mallet
still in her hands and at the ready should Kuno come back to
consciousness.
"I...guess so. Nothing broken here." Ranma-chan laughed at her
own joke. Akane was not so amused.
"Where's Ranma? I thought I saw the two of you walk out
together, to go somewhere...?"
"Being nosey today, aren't we Akane? He's back in the icecream
shop, being pawed over by Sham...I mean...he's just having
a...uh...friendly talk with....a friend."
"Don't lie to me, Ranma! Shampoo's here, isn't she?!"
She hefted her mallet and stomped off towards the ice cream shop.
Ranma-chan tried to hold her back but Akane hardly noticed
Ranma-chan's feeble attempts to prevent bloodshed. Through the
window of the ice cream shop, Akane and Ranma-chan could see
Shampoo still clinging onto Ranma, who was valiantly trying to finish
his sundae. Mousse was berating the two, waving his weapons
threateningly over the couple in the next booth over. Ranma saw Akane
and Ranma-chan, and more importantly, the infamous mallet. His eyes
went wide with fear and he tried to pry Shampoo off him.
"RANMAAAA!!!!" yelled Akane as she stomped into the ice
cream store, to loom over Ranma and Shampoo, her left eye twitching
dangerously.
"Akane! What you do here?" cried Shampoo, looking up at her
arch rival, her hands still resting on Ranma's chest.
"That's a question I ought to ask you! What are *you* doing
here?!" With that Akane grunted, lifted her mallet over head, and
brought it swinging down on Shampoo. Shampoo cried out as she
whipped out a concealed bonbori and blocked the strike.
"This is not the place for a fight, you guys!!" cried Ranma-chan,
waving her hands desperately.
"Yeah, yeah! Quit it already!!!" Ranma yelled from beneath
Shampoo. He saw both Akane and Shampoo doing their blue aura thing
and he cringed.
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!!" yelled Akane to Shampoo.
"AKANE DIE!!!" snarled Shampoo as she sought to land a blow
with her bonbori.
"DIE, RANMA!!!" roared an angry Mousse at a table.
There was general bedlam for a few minutes as Akane traded
swipes from her mallet with Shampoo's bonbori. Ranma-chan pulled
Ranma out from the fight and the two make a *very* quick exit.
Mousse was still stabbing the table with a spear when Akane and
Shampoo noticed that the person they had been fighting over had run
away. They turned as one and burned out the door in a madcap chase
after both Ranmas.
"Why me?! Why does it always have to be me?!" Ranma was
running for all he was worth down the street, beside Ranma-chan.
"Because it's you, I guess!" replied Ranma-chan.
"Well you don't have to rub it in just because you don't have to
worry about stuff like this, now!"
"What do you mean by that?" Ranma-chan had a little frown on
her face.
"I mean, you're a girl.....oh, leap up here."
In one smooth motion both Ranma and Ranma-chan leapt
gracefully over the top of a nearby store, to land on its roof. Then they
quickly hid themselves behind an air-intake. Ranma-chan turned to
Ranma, who was less than a foot from her.
"Say what?" she asked.
"Nothing," he replied evasively, his eyes darting furtively here and
there as if he expected the Akane and Shampoo to loom out of mid air.
"No, tell me!" cried Ranma-chan, who grabbed Ranma's arm and
shook it.
"Are...are you sure?" Ranma looked at his female half closely,
involuntarily noticing the light play of the wind on her hair, the
highlights and features like his own...yet so very different, as a girl.
There was nothing said for a few moments.
"Very," Ranma-chan replied at last. She had been lost in the azure
gaze of her male half, instinctively reacting to his manly features, and
absently noting how broad his shoulders were in comparison to hers.
"Okay. If you say so, but don't tell me that I didn't warn you. I
was gonna say that..now that you're a girl, you don't have psycho
chicks chasing after you anymore."
"Yeah, that's true." Ranma-chan turned away from Ranma and
folded her arms across her chest.
"Did I say something wrong?" he asked in a worried tone.
Ranma-chan paused for a moment, then she let a grin appear on her face
unbeknownst to Ranma.
"Not really. You know, the reason why they're chasing after you
is because you're handsome."
"Thank you."
"No, really." Ranma-chan turned back to Ranma and inched a
little closer to him, "You *are* handsome."
"So...you're trying to say that because I'm handsome, girls like
Shampoo, Kodachi, and Ukyo chase after me." Ranma puffs his chest
out a little and preens himself.
"That's right. But...there is one thing I feel I have to tell you."
"What?"
Ranma-chan traced circles in the roof, then she looked up at
Ranma.
"You know about what I said about having those weird feelings?
You know, looking at guys and stuff like that?" said Ranma-chan.
Ranma looked sick.
"Yeah. And your point is?"
"Point is I feel those feelings to be a part of me, you know, just
like how you feel certain stirrings, or urges, when you see cute girls."
"But, you've already told me that, didn't you?"
"Yes, but it seems to be a part of me. It's...it's so hard to
explain. It's like my body is causing it, but my mind does not really
accept it. Yet." Ranma-chan had her hands clasped together and she
was wrangling her fingers.
"What do you mean by `yet'?"
"I mean, right now I'm sorta fifty-fifty on this thing, but later I
might be one hundred percent."
"I don't get you," replied Ranma with a blank look on his face.
"Then...why don't you get this?"
Without another word Ranma-chan slowly slid herself on Ranma
and pushed him ever-so-slowly on his back, on the roof. Ranma stared
up in speechless surprise as Ranma-chan ran hands up his sides, to his
face, and dipped her head close to his. The tip of her pigtail hung over
her shoulder and tickled his ear, but all he could see...and feel was
Ranma-chan's face a mere inch away from his own, their noses almost
touching. Such eyes, and eyelashes as could only belong to an angel yet
were present on Ranma-chan....her bangs hung straight down and
mingled with his own, red against black, fire and dark mystery. Her
body seemed to melt into his. Then she kissed him lightly on the lips,
still looking into his eyes. Ranma broke the kiss.
"Ranma...what are...what are you doing?" he whispered to the
female lying on him, very acutely aware of her breasts squishing on his
chest. Already he felt himself reacting to her body and Ranma-chan
smiled as her leg brushed against his growing manhood.
"Indulging myself again. Sort of like a treat after my dessert, you
know?" she said in a sultry tone, batting her eyelashes at Ranma. She
pulled herself up to a straddling position, her hands on Ranma's chest.
Ranma could feel a heat radiating from where Ranma-chan was sitting
on him, his stomach. "I...I feel like I'm riding a horse, or something,
sitting on you like this."
"Well...our names mean `horse', so what's so strange about that?"
Ranma found himself enjoying the feel of Ranma-chan's body on his
own, and her fingers on his chest, but.... Her left hand began to trace
nameless patterns on his chest and she flipped her pigtail over to her
other side; that was when Ranma rolled out from under Ranma-chan and
got to his feet. Ranma-chan rose as well, a surprised look on her face.
"I...I think they're gone by now. Come on, let's go home
already," said Ranma in an uncertain voice.
"What? We're....we're not going to....go any further? Even just
a little?" asked Ranma-chan, her hands clutching Ranma's left arm
tightly. Ranma did not answer as he gently shook Ranma-chan's hands
off of his arm and leapt off in the direction of the Tendo Dojo. Ranma-
chan followed close behind.
It was fast approaching dark in Nerima Ward and both the Tendo
and Saotome families were about to have their supper. A night breeze
brushed the wind chimes and the tinkling noise resembled that of a
bird's song. A carp leapt out of the water and caught an insect. The
night was quiet and there were no automobile sounds to ruin the
sacredness of the evening. Kasumi stepped out from the kitchen.
"Supper is ready, everybody!" she called.
"Yes, come and eat!" called Nodoka from the kitchen. She was
wearing her sword-shaped bundle on her back.
Within minutes the entirety of both families were seated around the
table, their rice bowls and chopsticks at the ready. Akane jockeyed with
Ranma-chan for space, because Ranma took up quite a bit of space by
himself. Nodoka put a rice cooker by the side of the table. After a
moment's pause, she turned to Ranma-chan with a rice ladle in her
hands.
"Ranko, could you please help me hand out the rice?" she asked
Ranma-chan, holding out the rice ladle. Ranma-chan blinked, then she
got to her feet.
"Uh...s-sure, I guess."
"You are such a sweet girl, Ranko!" Nodoka exclaimed with a
smile on her face.
Ranma-chan filled the rice bowls and flipped them to everybody in
a flourishing move. Nodoka calmly put the food on the table even as
spinning bowls landed all about her in precise order. The two families
settled and began to eat. Ranma-chan, just as hungry as Ranma, who
was wolfing down his food, began to do the same as her male
counterpart.
"Ranko...it is unseemly for a girl to eat like that," admonished
Nodoka in a motherly tone.
"Mmmff?" said Ranma-chan intelligently as she stuffed more
sukiyaki beef into her mouth, wolfed it down and swilled a glass of pop
immediately after.
"Ranko, please be more ladylike."
"Alright..." mumbled Ranma-chan in a sullen and miffed tone.
"This food is great! More please!" cried Ranma as he held out his
rice bowl to his mom. The rice cooker was closest to Ranma-chan.
"Ranko, I don't mean to impose on you but will you please fill up
the rice bowl for Ranma?" Nodoka said nicely.
Ranma-chan's chopsticks, reaching for a carrot, suddenly impaled
the vegetable in one swift move.
"What?!" she cried.
"Please, Ranko? You're closest to the rice cooker...and it's only
proper for the man to sit."
"She is ever the traditionalist, eh Saotome?" whispered Soun to
Genma.
"Sometimes I still think she is living in the past," Genma said back
in a hush-hush voice.
Ranma-chan simmered a bit, glaring at Ranma angrily for a
moment before snatching the rice bowl from Ranma's fingers and filling
it up with rice until it was overflowing. Then she held it with two hands
and presented it to Ranma.
"Would you like a manicure with that, Ranma? Or a backrub
while you eat?" she asked solemnly, with a straight face as she
practically shoved the rice bowl in his face. Akane stifled a giggle and
Ranma turned red.
"Thanks, err...Ranko. I think." He looked up at Ranma-chan
with an apologetic look on his face.
"Anytime." That had been delivered practically in a snarl and
Ranma-chan plopped back on her cushion, squirming her way between
Akane and Ranma again.
"Does anybody know where Mr. Panda is? I have a whole
bagful of peelings and trash that I'm sure Mr. Panda would eat," said
Nodoka after a while. There is a noticeable shudder from Genma's end
of the table. "After all, it must be very hard to feed a panda his size,
wouldn't you agree?"
"I'm afraid Mr. Panda is not here at the moment, Auntie Saotome.
He probably won't return for a long time, I think," said Akane, glancing
at Mr. Saotome for a moment then back at Nodoka.
"Oh, is that right? I'm so sorry, you all must miss him. He was
a nice pet, though."
Ranma and Ranma-chan glared at Genma, who hid his face behind
his bowl.
"Ranma, why don't you tell me about your trip to Jusenkyo? Did
you train very hard there?" Nodoka asked as she reached for a shrimp
fritter, then she looked around the table. "Is it just me, or did
everybody suddenly go quiet?"
"N-no, Auntie Saotome...just remembering some stories
Ranma...and his father told us!" stammered Akane.
"Mom....didn't I tell you about my training trip already?" pleaded
Ranma.
"Yes you did, but you did not elaborate. Tell your mother, will
you? It's been ten years since I had seen you, and you have grown tall
and strong. You are my son, and you are all I can ask for. Please."
Nodoka smiled at Ranma, the smile of a mother made happy by reunion
with her son - bridging the gap of a decade and attempting to fill up the
years in between, as it were.
Ranma-chan found she had suddenly lost much of her appetite.
Her chopsticks clattered by her bowl and she began to half-heartedly
drink her bowl of hot soup.
"Me...and Dad had this really intense swim over to China...then
we hired a guide to take us to the Cur...I mean...to Jusenkyo training
grounds." Ranma paused for a moment.
"Go on, please." Nodoka smiled encouragingly.
"Sure..we trained some and I...almost hit Dad into the Spring
of Drowned Panda."
Genma stiffened and Ranma suddenly realized his mistake.
"Spring of Drowned.....Panda?" asked Nodoka wonderingly,
tapping her chopsticks thoughtfully on her bowl.
"Sure, you know...like there is a curse that changes those who
fall into the springs into whatever had drowned there a long time ago
when they're splashed with cold water, and then they turn back to
human form when splashed with hot water, and I've heard it is not so
bad being a panda, and you can change back to normal by jumping into
either the Spring of..."
"So, there must be alot of springs there?" Nodoka asked again.
"Lots of springs. Yeah." Ranma wiped a sweat drop from his
forehead.
"All kinds of drowned animals? Even people?"
"Maybe. I'm...I'm not sure."
"Imagine if you had fallen into a spring, my son! Oh, the
horror of my only, manly, son being cursed with a cursed body! It
would be my duty as a mother to help such an inflicted son in the only
way that I can." Nodoka grimly unshouldered her bundle and placed it
by her side, patting it once. Ranma, Ranma-chan and Genma pale
simultaneously.
"It.....would be a very terrible tragedy indeed, dear," whispered
Genma, staring at the bundle by his wife's side.
"Yes, dear. A very terrible tragedy indeed. Imagine if my son
had fallen into a spring, dear, because of you. Bad enough that he
would be some sort of animal half the time. Imagine if he had fallen
into a spring where some poor girl had drowned a long time ago! The
humiliation of having a son, who was not a son!! The Saotome line
would have to end there, to save our family honor." Nodoka patted the
bundle again, a determined look on her face.
Ranma shot to his feet and wiped his mouth.
"I'm done! That was great, mom, Kasumi, and now I think I'm
gonna go do some homework, then watch TV, then something, I think.
See ya!!" Ranma makes a very quick exit.
Ranma-chan wolfed down the last bit of sukiyaki beef and got up.
"Well...I'm full. I gotta go...uh...do some homework. Yeah,
that's it. See ya later!!" She follows Ranma out as quickly as she could
on a full stomach. Nodoka looked after Ranma-chan for a few
moments.
"Sometimes I think Ranko picks up too many bad habits from
Ranma. To think Akane's cousin would spend more time with my boy
than with Akane. She is unlady-like some of the times, but she's a good
girl," said Nodoka at last, breaking the silence.
"Yes, Auntie Saotome. She may be strange sometimes, but then
she was brought up in the country, you know," replied Akane.
"Ah, yes! Thank you, Akane. I forgot that little detail. I suppose
a country upbringing can influence the way a lady should act. Tell me,
Akane, does Ranko have a boyfriend?"
"Ummm....no."
"She is pretty enough to get one easily enough, don't you think?"
"Right."
The two families continued to eat in silence for about ten minutes,
then Nodoka looked up and said, "A stray thought had just crossed my
mind. Isn't it strange, though, how Ranko looks so much like Ranma?"
This was definitely not Genma's best dinner to date, with constant
and heartpounding shocks such as his wife's uncannily accurate
observations.
"Strange, isn't it?" he managed to force out.
"They dress the same, have the same pigtail and they even look a
little similar! Of course, Ranko is a girl and Ranma is a boy. Ranko
should dress more femininely though. She should also let her hair
down, but she still looks beautiful even with her pigtail."
"Oh...uh...Auntie Saotome?"
"What is it, Akane?"
"Ranko IS dressing more femininely, or will be. She had just
bought some new clothes today at the mall - for girls."
"Did she? Well...I'll go ask her later to let me have a look at her
clothes. Girls shouldn't wear anything too racy, or boys might get
ideas. Well...if everybody is finished eating...just leave the bowls and
chopsticks where they are, and leave everything to me and Kasumi."
Akane took some time to bring all the dishes into the kitchen, then
she went outside - in the direction Ranma and Ranma-chan went to. She
looked around but she saw nobody and was about to head back inside
when she glanced up at the roof. There were two figures silhouetted
against the moon, just above her room. Ranma and Ranma-chan.
Akane ran back inside, upstairs to her room and slowly pushed her
window open.
"...never been so scared in my life! I thought, for sure, she
was gonna find out that I had really fallen into a spring!"
That was Ranma, and Akane stayed as quiet as she could.
"*I* left before she could draw any conclusions from the way
that we look alike, dress alike, talk alike, and everything."
"Everything?" Ranma-chan replied. Akane folded her arms.
"Except for...you know."
"Oh, right."
There was a long pause. Akane narrowed her eyes slightly and
tried to crane her head out of the window - to see what the two are
doing.
"Still, anyways, let's be more careful around her, okay? I'm
gonna go and catch up on my homework, like I said I would. I dunno
about you."
"I'm already done. You've really got to be more responsible for
school work, you know."
There is the sound of rustling clothes as Ranma-chan leapt off the
roof. Ranma left similarly after a short while. Akane closed her
window and fell on her bed, deep in thought.
Ranma-chan fell onto the couch and turned the TV on. She surfed
the channels, looking for something exciting. A football game came on
and she watches it for some time, before changing to an action movie.
Bored of the action movie, she randomly picked a channel and changed
to it.
**And now, the first annual fishing tournament, right here on this
channel!! Watch as Mr. Takayama begins the exciting process of
waiting for an unsuspecting fish to take a bite!! See the thousands of
dollars of equipment he uses in order to outsmart his prey!! Witness
the...**
Ranma-chan hit the power button on the remote and dropped it
beside the couch. Then she lay down on the couch and curled up on one
side, her feet hanging slightly over the edge. Questions circulated
around in her thoughts, demanding answers - such as what she should
be doing about her current condition. She knew she should really be
trying to find a cure, to merge herself and Ranma back into one
person...but that raised yet another question - if she did, then whose
personality would be dominant? What would happen to the other,
discarded personality? Would everything be the same as ever?
Deep down inside herself, so far that she nearly did not admit it
even to herself, she found she had little or no problem living as a girl,
the way things were. Apart from Kuno, she had no problems getting
along as a girl in Nerima. Throughout her sortie in the mall she knew
she had been getting looks of envy and looks of admiration from girls
and guys, respectively, and the funny thing was...she did not mind it at
all. Rather, she exulted in the knowledge that she was beautiful enough
to warrant those emotions from other people.
Since there was nothing else to do, she decided to head upstairs
and go to bed. There was school tomorrow and Ranma-chan did not
feel like running to school in the morning in an effort to beat the bell.
Yawning slightly, she rolled off the couch and headed upstairs. She
opened her door and shut it behind her. Then she slowly stripped off
her shirt and flung it over her shoulder. She would pick it up in the
morning. Her hands behind her back absently undoing her bra, she cast
about the room for her nightclothes. Her gaze travelled from corner to
corner, to the dressing table, to Ranma sitting at the desk gaping at her,
to the clothes pegs on the wall, to....she did a double-take and whirled.
"Ranma!? What are you...oh. I..forgot." Ranma-chan blushed
in shame and quickly turned to present her back to Ranma.
"That's okay. At least I was treated to a show."
"You pig! Is that all you ever think about?" cried Ranma-chan,
craning her head over her shoulder.
"Why don't you ask yourself the same question? After all, you
are me, right?"
"Now it's different! I'm a girl and you're a guy!"
"What's the big deal? It's not like I haven't seen your...I mean,
our female body in the mirror plenty of times. Naked."
"Pig." Ranma-chan held her shirt against her chest and began to
hunt around for her nightclothes.
"Whatever."
Ranma went back to scribbling in his notebook, albeit with much
less enthusiasm, if that was possible. Ranma-chan found her
nightclothes and put the shirt on. Then, with a quick glance at Ranma,
she pulled her pants off and pulled her PJs on. It was red in color, and
it had little patterns of star-shaped fishcake slices, the ones with the pink
swirl in their middle. Satisfied that everything was in place, she looked
over at Ranma's hunched form.
"Well, I don't know whether I should apologize or whether I
should wait for you to thank me..if you know what I mean."
"Thank you," Ranma replied dryly.
"Pervert."
Ranma turned around, a frown on his face.
"Now, how is that being perverted? I mean, a guy watching a girl
take her top off..." he began.
"Yeah, but I didn't mean to take my shirt off in front of you!"
"So you're saying that if I *asked* you to strip for me, would you
do it?"
"Are you nuts?!"
Ranma just shrugged his shoulders and returned to his homework.
Ranma-chan smoothed her hair and checked her pigtail with her fingers.
The scribbling of Ranma's pencil on the paper was the only sound in the
room. Ranma-chan started to pace about the room, wondering whether
she should go to bed without a bath first. She stopped pacing the room
and walked over to Ranma at his desk. She peeked over his shoulder,
letting her pigtail fall over her shoulder and in front of his face. Ranma
swatted at her pigtail as Ranma-chan looked at the incomprehensible
lettering in his notebook.
"Doing your English assignment?" she asked.
"Yup. Tonight sure is boring as hell."
"Boring is only what you make of it. I...I know a way to get rid
of that boredom." Ranma-chan let an evil smile creep on her face and
leaned closer. Ranma flicked at her pigtail again. The atmosphere in
this room was so...so...sexy. Her closeness to Ranma was beginning
to arouse her. She started to think of little `assignments' that she and
Ranma could help each other with. She dipped her head close and
allowed her face to lightly caress his neck. Ranma suddenly went stock
still.
"Ran...Ranma. What are you doing?" whispered Ranma at last.
"Do you need to ask? This ought to take your mind off of your
assignment..." she whispered huskily.
Delicate fingers crept their way onto his shoulder, and massaged
the muscle there, then they made their way down his neck to his chest
and began to caress his pectorals. Her lips touched his right earlobe,
then she began to nibble on it. When Ranma winced involuntarily,
Ranma-chan turned Ranma around in his chair and gently tugged him
from his seat, falling back on the futon behind her as she did. Ranma
did not resist as he got up half-way off his chair, and Ranma-chan began
to lower herself down on the futon, her eyes lowered seductively. Her
chest rose up and down slightly, her nipples quite visible through the
material of her nightshirt.
"No," said Ranma, half-heartedly attempting to get Ranma-chan to
release him. Ranma-chan stopped for a moment.
"What do you mean, `no'?"
"Is this even right? I mean, we're the same person, right? Even
though I...I feel good right now, I don't..."
"Don't think. Just do...okay?"
"But..." Already Ranma's resolve was weakening under the charm
of the female before him, halfway to the futon beneath her.
"Shhh. Don't say another word. Third time's the charm...so
indulge me once more."
She put her hands on Ranma's shoulders again and pulled the both
of them down on the futon, Ranma falling onto Ranma-chan but
breaking the fall with his hands on either side of her. Then Ranma felt
gossamer-soft lips on his own, and he suddenly found himself kissing
Ranma-chan with passion; yet his passion was not really born of his lust
for Ranma-chan. His kisses, so long held in check, were not meant for
Ranma-chan. He might try to deny it but Ranma-chan was but a conduit
through which his emotions may be channelled through. That thought
was momentarily perished as the curvaceous female beneath him ripped
her night shirt open and squirmed out of it.
Her luscious, peach-soft skin glowed in the light of the lamp on
Ranma's desk. Her body rippled with pleasure, and undulated in a
fascinating manner, rubbing her taut breasts on Ranma's chest and his
well-defined abs. Ranma noticed that shadows hid in all of the most
interesting places on Ranma-chan. She started to unbuttton Ranma's
shirt with one hand, while the other pulled Ranma closer to her by the
small of his back. The lust of the moment almost overwhelmed Ranma
as he unconsciously began to help pull Ranma-chan's pants off of her,
but a female face leapt to the forefront of his mind's eye.
She had short hair...was it black?..and her name..it is so hard to
remember! Ranma-chan began exploring the inside of his mouth with
her tongue. Oh the sheer pleasure!! His shirt was already completely
unbuttoned and her hands traced their way on paths of rumpled clothing
to his pants. Ranma's hands continued to slowly pull Ranma-chan's
pants further below her hips - until she was dressed only in a tiny pair
of sheer panties and nothing else. She wriggled in ecstacy, her panties
beginning to come off from contact with her butt and the futon, and the
temperature in the room seemed to suddenly shoot up. Ranma-chan
rolled over and straddled Ranma, her legs spread apart and she was on
her knees.
Ranma's legs were stretched out and in between her legs. Their
loins were touching and only three layers of clothing separated their
naked skin. Through the sheer material of Ranma-chan's panties,
Ranma could almost see her pubic hairs. His hands clapped on her
flanks and began to stroke her skin; Ranma-chan moaned and placed her
hands on his chest and began to massage. Ranma felt himself reacting,
and Ranma-chan gasped as her groin came in contact with Ranma's. In
a single motion, Ranma pulled Ranma-chan's panties down - exposing
her in her full nakedness. Curving legs, womanly figure, well formed
breasts and slim arms - she was a girl, no, a woman that no male in his
right mind could resist. Shyly, certainly, Ranma-chan pulled her panties
off of her legs. A flurry of hands later and Ranma's pants were pulled
down to his kneecaps - until he was only wearing a pair of boxers, tent-
shaped in his groin area. Ranma-chan smiled and restraddled Ranma
again. She dipped her head close to his, and began to kiss him again,
with more vigor and passion than before, then she broke it - mainly for
air - and sat back up and looked down at him, her head tilted to one side
and letting Ranma's eyes travel all over her smooth throat down to her
breasts, sliding over her arms and firm belly in a way that made Ranma-
chan thrill with pleasure, before stopping for a long moment in the
region between her legs.
As Ranma-chan flipped her pig-tail back over her shoulder, and put
her hands on Ranma's boxers to pull it off and leave him naked as well,
the face from before appeared again in Ranma's mind. He knew he
shouldn't be doing this with Ranma-chan, because...because of this
female. Somehow, he knew her...and knew that continuing further with
Ranma-chan would only hurt her, if she should find out. <She won't
find out!> cried a voice triumphantly in his mind, <As long as both of
us keep our mouths shut...!>. His boxers came off and he heard
Ranma-chan gasp, then he felt her fingers wrap around his manhood and
began to direct it into herself. Her pubic hairs brushed the tip of his
penis and his breath quickened. His hands seemed to move of their own
accord, moving up her sides to clasp her breasts and to squeeze them
gently. Ranma-chan sighed in pleasure, her eyes closed.
But there was something else. A nameless concept beyond words
impressed itself on his mind and his feverish brain registered the short
haired female's face. He began to surge back to a recollection. Her
name....was....it was....
"Akane!!" Ranma cried out.
"What?! Where?!" Ranma-chan looked about in fear, her hands
still gripping Ranma's manhood. Not seeing Akane anywhere, she
turned back to Ranma with a questioning look in her eyes. When
Ranma did not answer Ranma-chan released him and rolled off, to lie
beside him on the futon. Her hands were clenched into little fists, and
she was gritting her teeth even as tears began to roll down her cheeks.
Ranma sat up, remembering to pull his boxers back up to his waist, and
he hugged his knees to his chest.
"Why?" whispered Ranma-chan.
"Because I cannot. I..I mean...I will not. Not with you, and
neither should you with me. It's...just not right." Ranma cast around
for Ranma-chan's clothing, as she was still naked, but he didn't see it.
"Why is it `just not right'? I didn't feel sick, or think it was
wrong...and from the looks of it, neither did you." Ranma-chan felt her
left breast, where Ranma's fingermarks were still evident.
"You're a guy too, in case you've forg..."
"I am NOT a guy! Look at me! LOOK!" Ranma-chan had shot
to her feet and was cupping her breasts with both hands and glaring
down at Ranma, who was desperately looking for Ranma-chan's
nightclothes with one eye, while the other was glued to Ranma-chan's
naked figure.
"You are me, and that is one of the reasons why I stopped going
any further!"
"LIAR! You enjoyed it...no...you were PAWING all over me!"
"Shhh! Keep it down or else everyone will come upstairs to see
what the matter is!" whispered Ranma fiercely, his hands reaching out
and pulling Ranma-chan down to his level, his hands firmly clasped on
her hips - entirely by accident. Ranma-chan covered her breasts with
both hands and she knelt down, her head turned to one side. Even now,
Ranma could feel himself getting aroused and he too turned to face away
from Ranma-chan.
"So. I see. I thought that you, of all people, would understand
the stuff I'm going through...but you don't. You're just like the others,
going on with your life while I am left behind," said Ranma-chan at
length, in a calmer voice.
"That's not it! In any case, what does that have to do with why I
stopped going any further?!"
"Nobody has enough consideration to accommodate me! Look at
Ukyo, and...A-Akane! Think *they* are willing to have *me* when
they have you?!" Ranma-chan began to search around for her clothes,
still on her knees and `walking' around on them.
"What we were about to do wasn't love at all! It was just...I don't
know...sexual stuff!"
"Would you even begin to go all the way with somebody you don't
love?" asked Ranma-chan as she turned her head around to look at
Ranma.
"Of course not...but..." said Ranma, wondering where she was
leading to.
"Then WHY did you even go along with me in the first place?
I thought I really had something going there, and that you loved me
enough to do it with me and..."
"Like I said...having sex has nothing to do with love! I hate to
bring this up but prostitutes have sex and they don't love the man they
have sex with!" Ranma began to pull his shirt on.
"OH! So you're saying that I'm a prostitute, huh?! First you
reject me, then you insult me! I...I don't even want to look at you for
the rest of my life!" cried Ranma-chan as she quickly pulled her
nightclothes on and began to leave the room, but Ranma dashed over to
her and put his hand on her shoulder to stop her.
"I didn't call you a prostitute at all, so calm down and just listen
to me for once!"
Ranma-chan shrugged Ranma's hand off her shoulder but he
slapped his other hand on her left shoulder. Growling, Ranma-chan
twisted around and tried to kick Ranma's legs out from under him but
Ranma blocked the strike and trapped her legs with his own. Lowering
himself quickly to the futon he subsequently held her hands immobile
with his own, using his greater strength and weight to keep her pinned
to the futon.
"Let me go right now or I'll scream and bring everybody
running!!" she snarled in his face.
"Listen to me for once, willya?!" cried Ranma, but Ranma-chan
began to take in a breath - to scream bloody murder and to bring the
entire household down on his fool head. There was no time to think,
only that split-second of decision making - culminating with Ranma
plastering his lips on Ranma-chan's and kissing her.
Her eyes registered shock, then fury, but quickly changed to a
mollified look followed by obvious pleasure. She struggled to free
herself, in order to better act as a participant than a spectator, but
Ranma was not about to let her go...so she settled for the kiss, and she
was just about to get into it when Ranma broke it and pulled his head up
out of reach.
"Why'd you stop?" asked Ranma-chan.
"Because...even though I really want to go on, I don't want to."
"You're not making much sense...and will you let me go already?"
Ranma-chan wiggled from side to side, but she couldn't squirm her way
out. In fact, she rather liked having Ranma on top of her - it was just
that she couldn't do anything more than lying on the futon or struggling
to get free of him. She began to wonder if this was a prelude to
whatever they had just left off, a sort of macho-type sexual thrill for
Ranma to have Ranma-chan under his control. She decided she didn't
like it for that aspect, if it was like what she suspected it to be.
"If I let you go, will you promise to sit down and listen to me for
a little while? Please?"
Ranma-chan considered his request, then she nodded and Ranma
immediately released her.
"Okay....now talk," Ranma-chan demanded.
"Look...even right now you look so beautiful...and sexy and all
that, and I really wanted to go further with you...but I can't."
"What do you mean you can't? You were all over me, and you
were liking it too!" Ranma-chan pointed at Ranma's manhood, which
was making its presence known under his boxers. He flushed red and
pulled a blanket over himself.
"So I liked it, but I couldn't help it!" he protested.
"So why did you stop? We were doing so well, and I finally
thought I had found somebody who understood me..."
"I understand you, but I - don't - love - you! I mean, not in the
way I....not in that way!"
"Well-l-l...excuse *me* for exposing myself to you...you must
probably be so sick that you want to throw up." Ranma-chan folded her
arms across her chest and sulked there. Ranma moved over to Ranma-
chan and put his arms around her, and shook her once but Ranma-chan
did not change her expression and only turned away from Ranma.
"Look...I might as well come out with it. I love Akane, you know
that don't you? And I love her enough to hold myself back, not to go
any further...because if I didn't I'd be betraying her." Ranma spoke
softly, with feeling and emotion.
Ranma-chan was silent and she was holding the front of her
nightshirt with both hands, keeping it closed protectively over herself.
Her hair, silky smooth, waved over her forehead and danced around her
eyebrows and the tips of her ears from the breeze coming in from the
open window. Ranma halted for a moment, then he continued.
"Look...let's get this all straightened out, okay? You are me, and
we both know we love Akane, and we wouldn't consider doing a thing
like this with another...person because that would betray our...you
know...with Akane." Ranma-chan turned to look at him, then she
nodded in reply. Ranma continued, "So why are you doing this in the
first place at all?"
"Maybe...maybe I'm not you any longer. You ever think about
that? Maybe I'm not the Ranma I used to be...and I'm beginning to
change into....somebody different," Ranma-chan whispered softly,
feeling her pigtail with her right hand and smoothing out her hair at the
same time.
"That's like saying that you don't love Akane any longer, because
if you did you wouldn't have even tried to seduce...I mean...tried
to...err..kiss me and all that."
"Yeah...well, so what if I wanted to *seduce* you? There you are
again, thinking that I'm still the same as you are. Fact is, I'm not the
same any longer and you'd better get used to it." Ranma-chan got up
and walked over to the window, looking out into the Nerimean night,
watching the streetlights flicker and cut bright swathes through the
darkness to illuminate the ground in defined boundaries of light.
"What are you saying here?" Ranma had moved to stand behind
Ranma-chan. "Are you saying that...that you don't love Akane any
longer?"
Ranma-chan did not reply and when Ranma laid a hand on her
shoulder she shook it off and began to walk away quickly. She
wrenched the door open and shut it firmly behind her, leaving Ranma
to stare after her. Then he bent down and began to rearrange the futon,
for it had been seriously messed up by their short-lived, but well-
remembered caper.
The bathroom door shut and Ranma-chan began to strip, pulling
her clothes off in a business-like manner, taking no time to feel that
tingle of erotic pleasure as her fingers held her panties by the sides and
pulled them down her long, smooth legs - and neither did she let herself
enjoy the sensation of bending over to pull her panties off, or the feeling
of her breasts dangling before her. She straightened, and undid her
pigtail before the mirror. Her hair slowly untwirled behind her to
become a wave of vibrant, beautiful red hair that cascaded past her
shoulders. She placed a hand on the mirror and touched the image of
herself, wondering at how different she looked now with her pigtail
undone. More like a real girl now.
She turned away and began to fill the bathtub with hot water, the
steam rising off it first in slender tendrils that became billowing clouds
which quickly filled the entire bathroom with mist, fogging up the
mirrors until she couldn't see herself. She pulled out a long bathstool
and sat on one corner, and she began to fill up a bucket with cold water.
A bar of soap made its way out of its plastic case and Ranma-chan
dumped the bucket over herself, thrilling in the sudden shock of cold
water on her skin, already feeling the goosebumps rising up.
As Ranma-chan turned away and bent over to fill up another
bucket with cold water, she heard the door open and somebody step
inside the bathing area. Before she could say anything, the sliding door
to the bathtub opened and Akane stepped inside, wrapped only in the
briefest of towels. There was silence for a few moments of surprise and
indecision before Akane made her way to where Ranma-chan was on her
knees beside a bucket of cold water, which was overflowing constantly
because Ranma-chan had forgotten all about the tap.
"You should turn that tap off, you know. You don't want to waste
water, do you?" said Akane as she pointed at the cold water tap.
Ranma-chan turned it off with one hand, her other arm covering her
breasts.
"Akane...I...I'll go wait outside until you're finished," was all
Ranma-chan could get out before she got up and began to walk outside,
her arm still held tightly over herself.
"Don't be stupid...it's not like I haven't seen a naked girl before,
you know." With that Akane undid her towel and pulled it off of
herself. "And it's not like *you* haven't seen naked girls before...like
that first time in the bathroom when we met."
Ranma-chan gulped as Akane sat down beside her on the stool and
poured the cold water over herself from Ranma-chan's bucket. Then
she opened her own plastic soapholder case and began to soap herself
down, using a bathsponge to help. Ranma-chan stared at Akane, more
with extreme surprise rather than a voyeuristic eye, watching as Akane
stroked the sponge over her arms and belly and breasts. Akane glanced
over at Ranma-chan.
"What's wrong? Don't have soap of your own? You can use
mine, if you want to," said Akane.
"N-n-n-no...that's alright...I..I've got some soap of my own."
Ranma-chan hastily grabbed her soap and began to soap herself up
quickly, but in her haste her soap kept slipping out of her hand and she
kept constantly having to chase after it as it ran around the bathroom
floor like it had a mind of its own.
"Ranma...calm down already. It doesn't matter since we're both
girls! Now if the other Ranma were here, it'd be a different story, ne?
We'd beat the lust out of him with our trusty, dusty wooden buckets!"
joked Akane as she lifted her wooden bucket up and waved it
threateningly.
Ranma-chan got an intense look in her face then she settled down
and began to soap herself again, but more calmly this time and more
deliberately. She began to look around for a back scrub but there was
none.
"Do you want me to wash your back? I'll do it if you'll do mine
in return." Akane turned around. Her body had little patches of soap
bubbles here and there in certain spots, her skin was wet and slick with
water and soap, and she made no effort to cover herself from Ranma-
chan.
"Yeah, sure. I'll scrub your back if you'll scrub mine." Ranma-
chan hesitated for a moment then she turned around on her bathstool and
bent over. Moments later she felt Akane's silky smooth fingers run all
over her back, spreading soap wherever they went.
"So...how'd you like your first shopping trip?" Akane asked as she
gathered Ranma-chan's hair up and moved it over her shoulder, then
slowly rubbed her neck and shoulders with soap.
"It was good. Thanks for taking me along, Akane. All the clothes
I bought fit me perfectly and look very well on me, I think."
"No problem. Next time, we're bringing Ukyo along too, okay?"
Akane's fingers had moved to Ranma-chan's slim shoulder blades.
"Akane...what do you think Ukyo thinks of me?" asked Ranma-
chan after a little while. Akane stopped for a second, then she resumed,
this time moving lower down Ranma-chan's back.
"Why do you ask?" Akane paused to rub her hands with more
soap.
"I...I just want to know, that's all."
"Well...I think she still considers you as her fiance, and..I..I still
think she loves you." Akane fell silent, and she began work on the
small of Ranma-chan's back, albeit slower this time, her fingers moving
absently as if she were deep in thought.
"I see. You really think so, then?" Ranma-chan's voice had a note
of suspicion, and that put Akane on the defensive.
"Why don't you go...go ask her yourself? Only she knows her
true feelings for you, not me."
"So you really think Ukyo...uh...goes both ways, then?" asked
Ranma-chan.
Akane dug her fingers into Ranma-chan's back, getting a yelp of
pain from the latter.
"Akane....that hurt!" protested Ranma-chan, reaching back to grab
Akane's hands.
"*WHAT* makes you think I even said that?!" Akane cried as she
slapped Ranma-chan's hands away and resumed soaping her back.
"Well, you said she still loves me and everything, so she must also
still love Ranma...the other one, that is, so that just lead me to that
conclu...yow!"
Akane had dug her fingers again and Ranma-chan whirled around,
long hair flying, to face Akane.
"Look, Akane...if you're gonna wash my back you don't have to
use me as your scratching post while you're at it!" complained Ranma-
chan, rubbing her back with her hands.
"You're the one suggesting I'm a sicko by saying that I suggest
that Ukyo went both ways! You've see the way she looks at the other
Ranma and...oh..." Akane trailed off when she looked into Ranma-
chan's face.
"Yeah. I guess so. She's a girl, and can't help herself for
preferring the male Ranma over me, right?" said Ranma-chan bitterly,
picking up the bucket and washing the soap from her body. Then she
motioned for Akane to turn around.
"But...but she still thinks you're a guy underneath...I just know it,
Ranma!" said Akane as she turned around on the bathstool and leaned
forward a bit, to let Ranma-chan soap her back.
"And how do you know that, Akane?"
"Well...I...I just do. Call it intuition."
"Female intuition? She can still kiss me and not be sick, right?"
Ranma-chan's hands stroked Akane's back.
"I'm not about to speak for her, Ranma, and you shouldn't either.
Look, I have this feeling that she loves you just as much as the male
Ranma...I know it just like I know you're really a guy. Believe me."
"If you know I'm really a guy, then why are you letting me soap
your back?" asked Ranma-chan, now working on Akane's shoulder
blades. When Akane did not answer, Ranma-chan said, "Or is it that
you consider me a girl already?"
"That's not true! You're still a guy, and I know it. It's just that
you're...you're a girl. Right now, I mean, and it doesn't matter if we
have a bath together because....because..." Akane trailed off as Ranma-
chan turned Akane around, and placed her hands on her shoulders.
"If you still think I'm a guy, then kiss me," said Ranma-chan,
looking down at Akane.
Akane's breath quickened from panic because her range of vision
was filled with Ranma-chan's slim shoulders, lean arms and breasts; she
looked up, but it did nothing to quell the sick feeling in her gut because
*she* was asking *her* to kiss *her* and Akane did not know what to
do, for Ranma-chan was actually Ranma and she was serious about this
and this was almost what she had been hoping for...but....but....!
Ranma-chan knelt down to Akane's level, hands still holding her
shoulders, and she began to move closer to Akane. Akane did not
twitch a muscle as the redhaired female came closer, and closer, until
the tips of their breasts were just touching. Then Ranma-chan pressed
herself close to Akane, their breasts now embracing and sending feelings
of revulsion throughout Akane's body. Ranma-chan's delicate features
dipped close to Akane's face, and lips like silk brushed against Akane's
own.
"NO!!"
Akane shoved both hands on Ranma-chan's chest, pushing the
other girl off her and onto the floor as the last vestiges of her shout
dissipated into the steamy atmosphere. Ranma-chan had struck the hard
and unforgiving floor of the bath area, and she rolled over to one side
with one hand supporting her, the other hand feeling her bruised bottom.
"That is *the* most disgusting thing you have *ever* done,
Ranma!! You're really a pervert, aren't you?!" Akane cried.
"Did you think I was really gonna go any further than that? I just
wanted to see what you would do, that's all. Guess I was right."
"That...that's different! I'm a girl, and you're one too! That's
why I didn't like it at all!" Akane protested.
"You're just like Ranma. Going on with your lives while you
leave me behind. What if I was male right now, instead of female?
What then?"
Akane delayed her answer as she washed the soap off her body and
climbed into the hot tub with Ranma-chan, then she turned her back on
the other girl.
"I'd...I'd probably enjoy it. Still, what you did was
disgusting...and revolting...and I don't want you to EVER do it again,
or else! You got that, Ranma?"
"I just wanted to kiss you, that's all. Guess I know where I stand
with you, and all that." Ranma-chan rested her arms on the edge of the
bathtub and sighed. Both girls were quiet for another five minutes, then
Akane spoke.
"Ranma....I'm sorry if I overreacted...but that sort of thing has
never happened to me before."
"It's alright."
There was surprised silence for the span of five full seconds.
"Come again?" asked Akane.
"I said, it's alright. If even you cannot stand to kiss me, much less
tolerate my touch, then I...I definitely don't think Ukyo can, either."
Ranma-chan turned around and looked into Akane's eyes, showing her
the seriousness of her words and impressing the gravity of the situation
upon her.
Akane digested that, and she saw what Ranma-chan was trying to
imply. She reached out and tentatively took hold of Ranma-chan's left
hand, and held it with her own and squeezed it gently.
"Ranma...I'm sorry, I really am, but I can't bring myself to...I
mean, I can but I won't enjoy it. I won't like it at all." Akane was
feeling quite ashamed of herself, taking Ranma for granted while
ignoring not taking Ranma-chan into account all this while.
"That's okay, Akane. I won't ask you or make you do something
that I know you wouldn't like...from now on. I only...only want the
best for you, Akane. It's alright now."
"What do you mean it's alright? You're a guy trapped in a girl's
body...right now and only the antidote to the Nullifier can return you to
normal! What about....." Akane trailed off, unwilling to say the words.
"About what?" asked Ranma-chan. When Akane did not reply,
Ranma-chan said, "Let me tell you something, Akane. When I held you
to myself just now, and I was about to kiss you, it was the hardest thing
for me to do in my life. I was using every bit of concentration not
to...to feel sick and turn away from you."
"You mean....you mean you felt the same way I did?"
"Yeah. But it's alright, Akane. I'll find a way to fix everything,
you just wait and see. I always do, don't I?" Ranma-chan squeezed
Akane's hand back and smiled encouragingly.
Akane and Ranma-chan finished their baths and dried themselves
off. Then Ranma-chan said goodnight to Akane and headed back to
Ranma's room, feeling a strange sense of contentedness for the first time
since the split two days ago. For the first time, she felt somewhat at
peace with herself, as if she found a path to travel and was taking the
first steps on it down to her destiny. She left her hair undone and free.
She opened her room door and shut it behind her. The only light
in the room was from the desk lamp and the open window where
moonlight streamed in. Ranma was lying on his futon, and he was still
wearing only his shirt and boxers. His form, illuminated slightly by the
desk lamp, rose up and down in rhythm, snores punctuating each fall of
his chest. She placed her futon next to his, flopped down on it and let
herself fall ever-so-gradually into a state of semi-sleepiness. Then her
eyes shut and she was asleep.
Male and female, two of one, their rhythmic snores seemed to
complement each other, blending into a mixture of deep snores and
delicate snores - punctuated by a snort now and then from Ranma. It
was truly the sleep of the contented, at least for Ranma-chan. Outside
a storm began to brew in the skies. Dark clouds, darker than the night,
covered the starry skies and gathered over the entirety of Nerima Ward.
A distant rumble of thunder growled in the distance as lightning bolts
flashed from the heavens and lit up the world for a brief second. Then
rain started to fall, first in tiny droplets, then a light drizzle, followed
by a deluge of rain hammering the Tendo residence and stirring up the
carp pond. Kasumi sat by the table near the porch and mused over a
cup of hot tea as she waited for the adult members of the two families
to return home.
--------------------
<Sigh> *Finally*! Only two more to go, then part six will be
taken off the backburner....
- WD