I hope that this will be the last or second-to-last draft of this 
chapter. I need to get to work on Chapter 2 ^_^


Question: What if the Tendous were related to the Shimerus?


Akane-chan Change

written by Phil Hacker

Chapter I: An Unlikely Match

**********

Soun Tendou strained to keep himself calm as he once again read the
telegram that had just arrived. It read:

DEAR TENDOU STOP BRINGING RANMA FROM CHINA STOP
HAVE EVERYTHING UNDER CONTROL STOP SHOULD
ARRIVE TONIGHT STOP SAOTOME

This was wonderful news. After all these years he would finally get to
see his dear friend Saotome. He had to tell the children at once.

"Listen up! Kasumi! Nabiki! Akane! Futaba!"

There was no response. He would have to track them down himself.

***

First stop was the kitchen. Kasumi was there, getting an early start on
supper.

"Kasumi?"

Kasumi looked up from her cooking. "What is it, Father?"

***

Soun opened the door to Nabiki's room. Sure enough, she was lying on
her bed, reading a manga and sucking on a popsicle.

"Nabiki!"

"Hm?" Nabiki looked up at her father.

***

Akane and Futaba, however, were not in their rooms, nor could Soun
find them anywhere in the house.

"Where are those two?" he asked himself.

***

The two children in question were, at that moment, sparring in the dojo.

"Ready?" asked Futaba.

"Ready," his cousin replied.

They charged at each other and briefly exchanged blows before breaking
off to reengage. Futaba had tagged Akane's shoulder, but Akane had
struck him squarely in the stomach. While Akane was somewhat more
experienced, they were closely matched in strength, though Futaba had
the advantage in speed. The match could go either way.

This went on for several minutes until both teens collapsed on the floor
in an exhausted heap. It was a draw. They lay still for another minute,
then Akane sat up groggily.

"Whew. That felt good," she said.

"Next time we do Anything-Goes Wrestling. I'll getcha then," Futaba
responded, also sitting up.

"Yeah, you and what--" Akane was cut off by the sound of applause
coming from the door.

"Very good, you two. With the way you get along with Futaba, I'm
surprised that you keep saying that you hate boys so much, Akane,"
Nabiki said.

"Futaba's not a boy, he's family," Akane snapped. "Besides, he's been
living with us for over a year and a half since his mother died."

"Whatever. Anyway, I came out here to tell you two that Daddy's got
something important he wants to tell us."

***

"A fiance?"

"Yes," Soun replied. "He's the son of a friend of mine. If one of you
three girls were to marry him and carry on this dojo, then the legacy
of the Tendou school of Anything-Goes Martial Arts would be secured.
His name is Ranma Saotome."

"Wait a minute!" Akane interrupted. "I don't remember any Saotomes in
the tribal list of families. Are they new?"

"Actually, no. You see, my friend's family is not of our tribe, but 
theirs
is the only other school of Anything-Goes Martial Arts that I know to
exist. This marriage will fuse both schools into one."

This elicited a gasp from all four children.

"You mean he's an outsider?" Kasumi asked. What was strange was not
that their father had arranged a marriage for them; that was common
enough among the members of their tribe, but for the marriage of one of
the tribe to an outsider being encouraged by the parents of both was
almost unheard of.

"She's right, Daddy," said Nabiki. "There's no way any of us could
marry an outsider boy. Futaba, on the other hand..."

"No way!" Futaba exclaimed. "Besides, I've already got someone."

"Oh yes," said Naibki. You and that Shima girl. Her friend's got some
good moneymaking ideas, but she needs a few lessons in restraint and
subtlety.

"Still," commented Kasumi, "A Shimeru girl marrying an outsider boy...
Are you sure about this, Father? After all, whenever anyone from our
tribe gets tense or excited, we change gender."

"Ranma and his father have been on a long training mission," Soun
continued, ignoring them. "Recently, they crossed into China.

"Cool!" said Futaba. "I've always wanted to go there."

"Big deal," said Akane. "Anybody can do that."

"What's he look like?" asked Kasumi.

"Is his family rich, or important or something?" asked Nabiki. If their
father wanted one of them to marry an outsider, there had to be
*something* to gain from it.

"What's Ranma like, anyway?" Kasumi and Nabiki asked in unison.

"I don't know," admitted Soun.

"You don't know?" Nabiki repeated.

"I've never met him."

'Oh, please. I don't believe this,' though Akane.

There came a noise from the front door.

"Put me down!" a girl's voice shouted. "I can walk on my own just fine!
*You're* the one who's injured!"

"We have visitors!" Kasumi exclaimed.

"It must be them!" Straining to contain the tension lest she change,
Nabiki stood up and rushed to the door.

"Saotome, my friend! We've been waiting!" Soun rushed after her.

A few seconds later they came running back. Nabiki had finally lost it,
and was now male.

Immediately behind them was a large panda, followed by a rather small
redheaded girl. Strangely enough, the panda's left paw was bandaged,
and it had a patch over its right eye.

"Whoa, it's a panda!" exclaimed Futaba.

"So, this is your friend?" asked Kasumi.

Soun shook his head.

"Oh, so this panda's just a pet or something?" Nabiki-kun demanded.

The girl stepped forward and spoke in a small voice. "I'm Ranma
Saotome. Sorry 'bout this."

"Oooh, she *is* cute," remarked Nabiki-kun.

Barely able to contain his excitement, Soun embraced the new arrival.
After releasing her, he quickly ran out of the room. A loud, feminine
whoop was heard from the hall.

Akane approached Ranma. "I'm Akane Tendou. You'll have to forgive
Dad.. He can get a little...emotional at times."

'What's going on here?' Ranma wondered. 'Weren't they expecting a
boy? And why is that tall boy with the brown hair looking at me like
that?' Realization of one possible explanation hit her. Maybe they
*hadn't* been expecting a boy. 'No! Pop couldn't've--I mean, really!' 
She
shivered involuntarily.

"Why don't we go out in the dojo while everybody calms down. You do
Kempo, right?" Futaba asked. He bowed. "I'm Futaba Shimeru, Mr.
Tendou's nephew. Pleased to meetcha."

"Well...yeah." Was he trying to make a pass at her? She hoped not.

"Well then, why don't we spar a little?" Futaba offered. "Wrestling's
more my specialty, but I can do enough Kempo to beat most non-
pros."

"Uh, okay," she said nervously.

Akane grabbed Futaba as they left the room. "What do you think you're
doing?" she whispered harshly. "We don't even know yet whether
Ranma's one of us or not. Dad says Ranma's an outsider, but he could
be wrong."

"What harm could a little sparring match do?" Futaba asked.

"You know you can't control your excitement during a fight. You could
leak our whole secret."

"I think you've got me confused with yourself. Anyway, if you're really
worried then come watch us. Besides, until we can get her calm, we
won't know for sure if she's one of us or not."

"Well, all right," Akane conceded.

Ranma stared as the two cousins argued. It was painfully obvious who
was the topic of their conversation, but she really didn't want to
interfere in a family argument. The other two soon noticed that they
were being watch, and quickly broke off.

"Come on." Futaba motioned for Ranma to follow them as they headed
for the dojo.

***

"Let's see just how good you are." Futaba took a defensive stance.

Ranma also took a defensive stance. For several minutes, Akane
watched as neither opponent moved. Finally, Futaba decided to break
the deadlock. He charged at Ranma and launched several punches at
her that would easily get past the defenses of an amateur. In that
moment, Ranma proved that she was no amateur. To his surprise,
Ranma was dodging every blow, sometimes by scant millimeters.

For Futaba, who prided himself on his speed, this was maddening. He
brought a deeper level of concentration into play in an effort to keep
from changing. As a by-product of their ability to change genders when
excited, the people of the Shimeru tribe had developed great powers of
concentration in an attempt to control the change. A Shimeru who had
mastered all of the techniques could control the change in most
situations. It was too bad that few ever reached that level.

Futaba pressed his attack, but remained unable to connect. Ranma, on
the other hand, had already connected with several moderate blows to
his chest, head, and shoulders. He was going to have a few bruises when
the match was over.

Akane watched their fight intently. It was obvious that Ranma had
superior speed and skill, but she seemed a bit off balance, almost as
though she were used to having greater reach and power. It sort of
reminded her of herself when she first started changing, only in 
reverse.
Maybe Ranma really *was* one of them...

'Okay, time to get serious,' Futaba thought. He focused all of his 
effort
into his attacks, taking blows from Ranma that he would normally be
able to stop, yet he was still unable to connect. He would have to end
this soon, one way or another, before his frustration got the better of
him. Mustering all of his strength, he launched a single suicide punch
against Ranma...except that she wasn't there. Ranma had disappeared
from his view. He spun around...just in time to see Ranma's fist connect
with his face, sending him sprawling.

"Man, you're *good*," said Futaba after they had caught their breaths.
"I couldn't even  touch you."

"You're not too bad yourself, for somebody who says he's just an
amateur," replied Ranma, smiling. "You just gotta work a bit more on
that speed. Whatever strength you have won't do you much good if you
can't connect with anything. I haven't been training for twelve years 
for
nothing."

"It's nice to have a sparring partner around who can keep up with me
and Akane," said Futaba.

"You only win when I let you," insisted Akane. "Besides, Ranma's
waaaaay better than you." She giggled. Sure, her cousin wasn't all that
good, but his ego needed to be taken down a notch or two once in a
while.

"In your dreams, Coz. Didn't I fight you to a draw oh, what, an hour
ago?"

"Well, you'd just better watch your back the next time we spar," said
Akane. "I'm going to check on everyone. See you." She quickly left the
dojo. A few seconds later she stuck her head back into the room. "Oh,
and Ranma? I don't think you're going to find me quite as easy to beat."
She smiled at them briefly before ducking out again.

"Strange girl," Ranma commented.

"She's always like that." Futaba sniffed the air. "Phew. Maybe you
should take a bath. You've been on the road all day, haven't you?"

"Well...yeah," Ranma admitted. "But, really--"

"Go on. It's not like a little hot water's going to hurt you or 
anything."

Ranma saw that arguing would get her nowhere. Besides, it was only a
bath. What could go wrong?

***

'What am I gonna do?' Ranma thought as he relaxed in the bathtub.
'Man, what a crazy family. They didn't seem worried at all that I was a
girl. What's up with that? I hope Pop didn't tell them I was really 
female
or something. That Futaba guy seems okay, and maybe that younger girl
with the long dark hair. What was her name again? Akane?

'Well, they're bound to find out sooner or later. I guess I may as well
just go out like this.' He rose from the tub.

***

Akane locked the bathroom door and began to undress.

'I guess she's already in there,' she thought, noticing the red shirt in 
the
laundry. 'Well, as long as I can keep my cool...' She grabbed a towel
and slid open the door to the bath.

What she wasn't prepared for was the sight of a strange, naked boy
standing in the bathtub. She stared at him for a few seconds. Could it
be--? "Ranma...?"

"Um, Akane, I, uh..." Any second now, he knew, she was going to
accuse him of being a pervert for staring at her naked. He tried to 
avert
his eyes, but they kept wandering back to her face. At least they 
weren't
wandering lower.

"Whew, that's a relief," said Akane. "You too, huh? There's nothing
like a relaxing bath to make a new person out of you." She hoped that
he had caught her joke. She was definitely relieved to find that her 
father
had been wrong. Ranma wasn't an outsider; he was one of them.

Ranma relaxed as he realized that she wasn't going to kill him. Then,
her words finally penetrated into his brain. She had called him by his
name! But how did she know?! And what did she mean by "him too"?
Could it be that she too--?

"Mind if I join you?" she asked. Carefully, she dropped her towel to the
floor and climbed into the tub.

Ranma's brain was on overload now. A girl had walked in on him in the
bath and, instead of being angry, had pretty much thrown herself at him.
What was more, she seemed to know about his curse and not mind it at
all. In his mind there was only one thing to do.

Panic.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Ranma grabbed his towel and ran
out of the bathroom, screaming.

'He panicked...but he didn't change?' Akane thought as he left the
room. 'What's going on here?'

***

Genma surveyed the room. Everyone had calmed down after the initial
confusion, and were now seated in a circle in the livingroom.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Genma Saotome. This is my
son..." Genma gestured with his unbandaged right hand. His right eye
was still covered by the patch; the swelling wouldn't go down for
another few days yet.

"Ranma," Ranma concluded.

Nabiki was the first to speak. "So, we finally get to meet the male
Ranma."

"But I thought Father said that he wasn't---" Kasumi began.

"Don't worry, girls. My friend Saotome has taken care of everything."

"Huh?" Ranma asked. He was more confused than he had previously
thought possible. Akane had changed sexes, and done it without water?!
And she wasn't shy about it at all? He had a feeling that they weren't
telling him everything.

"Indeed," said Genma. "Watch." Grabbing a fire bucket, he doused
Ranma with it.

"Whadja do that for?!" Ranma-chan demanded.

"So I see," observed Nabiki.

Futaba was wondering how exactly Ranma was able to change genders
while calm like that. Even he had to think exciting thoughts for nearly 
a
full minute before he could change.

"As you can see, everything is just fine and dandy," said Genma.

"Whaddaya mean 'fine and dandy'?!" Ranma-chan retorted. "You did
this to me! You made me like this on purpose!" She grabbed Soun's
beer our of his hand and threw it in Genma's face.

Everyone else gasped as Genma was suddenly replaced by a giant
panda. The panda immediately took a combat stance and began fighting
Ranma-chan.

"Would somebody mind explaining just what is going on here?" asked
Nabiki.

"I'm sure that they will explain everything after they've calmed down a
bit," replied Soun.

***

"Ah yes, it was a month ago near the base of Mt. Quanjing, in the
Bayankala range in China's Quinghai province. A few years ago I had
heard of a legendary place of great magic...

***

The Guide faced his two clients and gestured at the training ground
behind him. "Here, Mr. Customer, we come to famous legendary
training ground of accursed springs, Jusenkyou." He held up a card with
the kanji for "Jusenkyou" on it so that there would be no doubt to his
clients as to the name's meaning.

"This place ain't so impressive,' said Ranma, looking around. The
landscape consisted of level, grassy ground dotted here and there with
small ponds, most of which had bamboo poles sticking up out of them.

"Mr. Customer is very strange one, no? This place very dangerous.
Nobody use it now. There more than one hundred spring here, and each
have own tragic legend to tell."

Genma leaned close to the Guide and whispered something into his ear.

"Oh? Yes. Many people come Jusenkyou, ask for that spring in
particular. Still, as official Jusenkyou Guide, I required to warn you. 
Is
Mr. Customer absolutely certain?"

"Oh, yes," Genma responded.

The guide led them carefully through the training ground. "Be careful
you no fall in spring," the guide warned. "You no will like results."

"What's the big deal about coming to see one dumb little spring in the
middle of nowhere, anyway?" Ranma asked impatiently. "I mean, why'd
we have to come all the way out here?"

"These springs are said to be magic, boy," replied his father. "I've 
been
planning to come here for a long time."

Finally, the three arrived at one spring in particular. It seemed little
different that most of the others, although it was one of the larger 
ones.

"Come, take a look into the water of this spring," said Genma.

Obediently, Ranma bent forward to gaze into the spring's waters.
Instead of his normal reflection, however, he saw a pretty, redheaded
girl about his own age. "Who's that?" he asked.

"That's you, my boy. Or at least it will be when you come out." Before
his words had time to sink in, Genma grabbed Ranma and tossed him
into the spring.

When Ranma surfaced, he heard the Guide explaining to him.

"You see, you fall in Nyanniichuan. There very tragic legend of girl who
drown in spring one thousand, five hundred year ago. Now, whoever
fall in spring take body of young girl. Is curse of Jusenkyou."

Gulping, Ranma looked down. He had breasts! In fact, he wasn't a he
any more! "AAAAAAHHHHH!"

Ranma-chan leaped out of the pond and charged at her father. "I'LL
KILL YOU!!!" she screamed. She grabbed Genma and threw him into a
nearby spring.

"Oh, too bad," said the Guide. "Mr. Customer fall in Shonmaoniichuan.
There very tragic legend of panda who drown there two thousand year
ago. Now, whoever fall in spring take body of panda. Is very cursed
spring."

A wet panda climbed out of the spring and began to run away from
Ranma-chan and the Guide.

"Don't think you're getting away that easily!" Ranma-chan screamed,
giving chase to the fleeing panda.

***

"That explains the bandages," commented Nabiki.

"What great lengths you had to go to to allow our two schools to be
joined!" Soun marveled. "Imagine, finding a magic curse that would
allow your son to change genders as easily as this." He threw his iced
tea at Ranma, who promptly switched to female.

"Hey!" Ranma-chan protested. "What the hell does my being a girl have
to do with anything, anyway?!"

"You mean you haven't told him?!" Soun glared at Genma.

"Well...it sorta slipped my mind, I guess."

"Would somebody mind telling me what the *hell* is going on here?!"
Ranma-chan demanded.

"Well, you see," Futaba began, "Everyone in our family, actually,
everyone in our 'tribe', since there are technically nearly twenty 
families
with over a thousand of us, has a genetic trait unique to us. Whenever
any of us gets tense or excited, we change genders. It seems your father
thought that, if you could change sexes as well, you could marry into
the family."

"What?!" Realization began to sink in. "If you want me to marry one of
them...and they all change sexes when excited...then...then *that*
means THAT I'M SUPPOSED TO BE THE BRIDE!?!!" She grabbed
Genma and hoisted him by his shirt. "Tell me this is all a joke Old 
Man,"
she growled, hatred in her eyes.

"Um, well...no, it isn't."

"Wrong answer!" Ranma-chan threw her father into the koi pond.

Everyone stared as Ranma-chan and the panda began fighting again.
The panda was doing surprisingly well against her for someone with an
injured paw and no depth perception.

"Well, not the bride," Soun explained. "However, you must realize that
our family's unusual, er, trait means that it's the girls who are the
fathers."

"WHAT?! YOU MEAN I'M SUPPOSED TO GET PREGNANT?!?!!"
Ranma-chan became angrier still and pressed her attack on her father
even harder. Several blows broke through the panda's defenses. The
others heard a sickening crunch as one blow struck the panda's lower
chest.

"Cut it out!" Futaba and Nabiki each grabbed one of Ranma-chan's
legs, while Akane and Kasumi each grabbed one of her feet to keep her
from kicking. With great effort, and some help from Soun, they
managed to pin Ranma-chan to the ground.

"Whoa, calm down!" Futaba said. "I know it's a big shock and all, but
killing your dad isn't going to do anything except make him dead."

"That's the freakin' point!" Ranma-chan screamed. "This is all his 
fault!"

"Well, you have to admit," Kasumi said, "Ranma *did* grow up
expecting to be male all the time. This must really be a shock for him"

"So did I until the first time I changed, but you didn't see me trying 
to
kill anybody over it," said Futaba.

"It's really not as bad as it sounds, Ranma," said Soun.

Ranma-chan continued to struggle. "You can't do this to me! I'm a
*MAN*!!!"

Kasumi pressed a spot on Ranma-chan's neck, which caused her to go
limp but remain conscious.

"I'm sorry, Ranma, but you have left us no other choice," she said.
"Now, I am going to release you, but you must cease your attack on
your father for now." She pressed several more points around Ranma-
chan's upper spine.

Ranma-chan sat up groggily, but said nothing. She glared at her father.

"Fortunately, hot water deactivates the curse," said Genma after he had
poured the contents of a teakettle onto himself. Ranma-chan smiled
sadistically as he clutched his chest in pain. Transforming with a 
cracked
rib had not been a good idea, he found out too late.

"Then everything should work out just fine," said Soun. "I have three
daughters: my eldest daughter, Kasumi, nineteen, my middle daughter,
Nabiki, seventeen, and my youngest daughter, Akane, sixteen. Pick
whichever one you want, and she'll be your fiancee."

"Father, I really don't know if I can marry an outsider," said Kasumi.

"You know," said Nabiki, "maybe we should pair him up with Akane."

"What?!" Akane demanded. "Why me?"

"Well, you both love martial arts, and this would be the perfect excuse
for getting rid of all of those boys at school," said Nabiki.

"You must be joking! Why don't we give him to Futaba?"

"No thanks," said Futaba. "Besides, the agreement was to match Ranma
with one of the children of Soun Tendou. Maybe we should hold off on
deciding until Ranma has...adjusted."

"There's no way I'm marrying some perverted freak!" Ranma-chan
insisted. She felt that she had had her fill of this insane plan.

"What'd you call me?!" Akane demanded.

"You heard me! Your whole family's a bunch of sex-changing freaks!"

"So what're you?!"

"I never wanted to be a girl; it's the Old Man's idea and I'd be glad
to get rid of it!"

"If that's the way you feel about me and my family, I want nothing to do
with you!"

"How was *I* supposed to know your whole family'd be a bunch of
freaks?! I never wanted to be a girl, or to marry any of you!"

"See? They're already acting like a perfect couple!" Soun laughed.

"If you don't want to marry me, then that's just fine!" Akane turned her
back on Ranma-chan.

"Goodbye!" Ranma-chan turned to leave.

"Ranma, just where do you think you're going?" Genma demanded.

"To find a way to get rid of this stupid curse," Ranma-chan replied. She
turned back to face Akane. "And if you think I'm going to marry some
girl who turns into a guy, you're even crazier than I thought."

Akane finally released what was left of her weakening control over her
anger. He looked around for something heavy to clobber Ranma with.
The table was handy, so he brought it crashing down onto his head.

"I supposed that we *could* postpone the decision until a better time, 
at
that," said Soun.

***

Ranma-chan awoke with a splitting headache. She looked around to find
that she was in a bedroom. She had no idea whose it was, though.

"Oh, good. You're awake," said Nabiki.

"You'll have to forgive Akane," said Kasumi. "She doesn't take well to
insults.

"You know," said Nabiki, "before you go insulting our family's trait, 
try
to remember that *you* are now one of us."

"Don't remind me," said Ranma-chan. "It's all--"

"...your father's fault. Yeah, yeah. Do you think *I* asked to have the
trait? I couldn't help being born with it any more than you could help
being born with your color hair, or eyes, or whatever."

"I know it's all a big shock to you," said Kasumi. "You need some time
to adjust. I asked Father to postpone deciding which of us you want.

"You know, no offense intended, but I really wish I'd never come here."

"None taken," said Nabiki. "But you know, I think Akane likes you."

"What? No way! She hates me!"

"Not really. You see, normally she wouldn't even speak to most
outsider boys unless she had to. Except for that last argument, which
*you* caused, she's been nicer to you than she's been to any outsider
boy her age in nearly a year.

"Um, you're not just trying to match me up with her for your own
benefit, are you?"

"Would I do that?" Nabiki smiled her best "trust me" smile.

"Well...If you say so." She stood up.

"Are you still planning on killing your father?" asked Nabiki.

"Nah, I'll let him suffer. Death's not good enough for him," she said as
she left the room. She needed another bath to wash the iced tea out of
her hair.

***

Akane-kun scowled as he climbed out of the bathtub. 'Insult me and my
family, eh? That...that ungrateful...arrrrgh!'

As he headed out of the bath, he came face-to-face with Ranma-chan.
He noticed that she was just as naked as himself.

"I, um...that is..." Ranma-chan flushed with embarrassment.

"Why, you...! Akane-kun reached back and tried to slap Ranma-chan
across the face. However, she was faster than he was, and his hand
ended up denting the tiled wall instead.

"AAAAAUUUUUGHHHH!" Akane-kun screamed, partly from anger,
but mostly from the pain in his hand.

***

"I just don't know what to do with you. Coz," Futaba said as he
bandaged Akane-kun's hand. "Maybe you should give him a break. It
sounds to me like he was railroaded into this whole thing."

"Well..." Akane-kun began.

"Just give it a while," said Genma, who was busily tending to his own
wounds. "Things are bound to get better sooner or later."

"Only because they can't get much worse," Ranma grumbled to himself.

[End Chapter I]

**********

Author's note: Yes, we will be seeing Futana and Misaki later. The FKC
characters are two years older than in the FKC series, so all of their
canon adventures have already occurred.


Phil

prohackr@hotmail.com


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