[ffml][ranma]If Thats the Way You Want It

At last, this thing is going some where! (Sobs uncontrolably
into fathers shirt.) Err...sorry dad... First thing, I want
to thank everyone who gave me advice on this. Second, if
anyone finds anything wrong with it, let me know. It is
never too late for c&c. Anyway, enjoy.
P.S. And don't critique me on the punctuation. I dont care.

This being my second fanfic one would think that it is
better than my first. Don�t be so sure. I only hope that
people do enjoy it. These characters and places are
copyright of Rumiko Takahashi and I claim no custody of
them. Plus if she sues me the only thing she'll get is
pocket lint.
Without further delay, here is�

If That�s the Way You Want It

Ranma and Akane were walking home from their forced 'Date'.
Ranma's day had gone fairly well. Kuno and his sister were
sick, too ill to get out of bed. Ryoga was lost. No one had
seen him for days. Ranma thought.
None of his fiancees had bothered him either. Ukyo was on
vacation and Cologne had taken Mousse and Shampoo back to
china for an annual Joketsuzoku meeting. And Shampoo didn�t
leave willingly without Ranma. Finally, even Akane hadn't
tried arguing all day even through their date. That meant
his head was intact.

He was happy. No, not happy. Content was more like it. He
would be happy when his life became normal. Like that was
going to happen any time soon. Still he wasn�t going to
complain. <What could possibly ruin my day? > He thought. He
looked around nervously. <You shouldn�t have said that! > he
thought, mentally slapping himself. He looked around one
more time before settling down. Everything was fine. Well,
almost.

"Have you been listening to me?" Akane snapped. Ranma
noticed that she looked peeved.

"You were talking?" Ranma asked looking confused.

Akane scowled. "You jerk!" she yelled. "For once why can't
you listen to me?" She placed her hands on her hips and
glowered at him.

Ranmas mouth got away from him before he had a chance to
stop it. "Because you are a good teacher."

"And just what do you mean by that?" Akane shouted, her face
purple with rage. She had her face inches away from Ranmas.

"Just what it sounds like!" Ranma shouted back. "If you
would listen to me, maybe I'd listen to you."

Akane backed away a little. "Well if you weren't such a Baka
maybe I might." Neither one of them noticed the growing
crowd surrounding them.

"Geeze, that was un-cute."

"What?"

"I said you are uncute." Ranma stated matter-of-factly.

"Pervert!"

"Tomboy!"

"I really, really hate you!" Akane screamed at the top of
her lungs. Ranma stood there with his mouth hanging open,
his reply frozen in his throat. She had never said that in
that tone of voice. "Why do you always do that to me?" Akane
continued. Ranma was still too stunned to speak. "When you
showed up, I thought I could have another friend but�noooo."
She shook her head sarcastically; "You have to be a guy. And
my fiancee of all things!"

Ranma finally regained his senses. "Hey! It's not my�"

"Shut up!" Akane yelled. "I'm not finished. My life would be
a whole lot better if you had been a girl." With that she
whirled and stomped off toward home.

As he watched he storm off her could only feel hurt at her
words. It wasn�t his fault that he'd been born a guy, or
been betrothed to her, yet she still thought it was. "Fine
Akane," he paused. "If that�s the way you want it."
Then the crowd began clapping.

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Akane ripped the door open and stomped in the house. "I'm
home!" she called, maliciously. Anyone with an ounce of
sense would have gotten miles away from this person, but
Kasumi wasn�t just anyone.

She poked her head around the corner. "Akane? What's wrong?"
she said sounding concerned.

Akane's icy glare was refocused on her older sister, but it
melted away when she saw Kasumi's smile. "Ranma and I had
another fight," She said dejectedly.

Kasumi walked around to her sister and gave her a hug.
"Really?" she asked. "What started it?"

Akane's anger flared again. "Him not listening to a word I
say!" she crossed her arms and turned away. "That jerk never
does."

"If you listened to him sometimes, he might start listening
to you Akane."

Akane's anger erupted, and she had no trouble directing it
at her sister. "Oh sure," she said. "Take his side." Before
Kasumi could reply, Akane whirled around and stalked off.

"I really feel sorry for them." Kasumi said to no one in
particular as she went into the kitchen.

Akane plopped down at her desk and tried to do some
homework. However she could only concentrate on her argument
with Ranma. "That baka was probably thinking about Ukyo or
Shampoo or Ko�no. Even that pervert Ranma wont go that far."

She got up and sat down on her bed. Her anger began to fade
as the tears started. "Ranma you jerk," She sobbed. "Why
can't we get along."

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Meanwhile, Ranma paced in front of the dojo thinking (Yes
Ranma can think when he has to.) about what Akane said. What
she said had hurt him deeply and he wasn�t about to let it
slide. <What am I going to do? > He thought. "Stupid
tomboy�" he unconsciously muttered.

He stopped pacing and scratched the back of his head. The
words she had said played in his mind�"My life would be a
whole lot better if you were a girl�"

Ranma smiled. "That�s it!" he exclaimed. "I'll give her
exactly what she wants." Then he stopped for a moment.
Visions of what he had to do played through his mind. Acting
girlie and dressing to match didn�t sound like a good idea.
But he couldn�t think of another way to get back at Akane
without hurting her. Of course this would hurt a little but
not as much as his other plans.

"Then it's settled." He mumbled to himself. "I'll do it. The
whole nine yards. P-p-panties and everything." He shuddered
at that thought. But he had to make it convincing. Anyone,
especially Happosai, could check for panties anytime they
felt like it. "I need to be so girlish, she'll want 'me'
back." He reached into his pocket and fished around for some
money. He knew that he didn�t have a lot, maybe one thousand
yen but he needed to buy the clothes. Finally finding it, he
pulled the wad of bills out and began counting them. When he
finished, he resisted the urge to faint. He had over 10,000
yen in his hand. "Wow!" he exclaimed. "Should get me a few
outfits." He stopped wandering and looked around. His walk
had taken him into the financial district. He shrugged. "At
least I don�t have to ride the train." He quickly got his
bearings and headed in the general direction of the mall.

Ranma stopped suddenly, letting the flow of people move
around him. He thought. "As Ranko of course." He added
sadly. After stopping at a nearby drinking fountain and
getting the stares of a very large crowd, Ranma-chan headed
for the mall. "I wish I didn�t have to see her like this�"

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"Dinner time!"

Kasumi's voice rang out to Akane. She came down the stairs
wearily and scanned the table with red puffy eyes expecting
to see Ranma already stealing food from his father's plate.
But she only saw a fat panda stuffing its face. <Where is
he? > She thought angrily. She sat down and watched everyone
else arrive. First her father came, then Nabiki reading a
book, then Kasumi sat, having finished serving. But no
Ranma. Jealousy reared its ugly head. "Where's Ranma?" she
asked.

Nabiki looked up from her book, The Art of MoneyMaking.
"What? He's not here?" Akane looked at Nabiki like she was
stupid. "I honestly don�t know. Anyone?" Everyone else at
the table shook their heads in a negative. "Sorry." She said
before going back to her book.

Akane scowled and picked at the food on her plate. "That
pervert's probably with Ukyo."

She had enough time to pick up some rice before Soun and
Genma ambushed her.
"Don�t be silly daughter." Soun said. "You and Ranma belong
together. The perfect pair."

Genma-panda stood proudly. [That�s right Tendo.] flip [Your
daughter is the only one�] flip [�for my son.]

"I couldn�t have put it better my self Saotome." He clapped
his furry friend on the back. "Akane. Admit your love
for�Akane?"

He turned around in time to see the front door shut.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ranma put another outfit back on the rack. "Arrgh! I can't
do this." She shouted. She was lucky that this store was
having a clearance otherwise the 10,000 yen would have
gotten her squat.

"Do you need some help miss?" the sales lady asked as she
popped up behind her. She was tall and thin with blonde
hair. (I'm not saying all blondes are bad. So please don�t
flame me.)

Ranma jumped away. "Aaahhhh!" she screamed. "Don�t do that."

"What?" the sales lady asked innocently.

"Appear behind me." Ranma said. She mentally kicked herself
in the butt for letting someone sneak up on her. "Make some
noise next time."

The saleslady tried not to laugh. "'K. Sorry. Anyway, need
some help?" When Ranma nodded she smiled maniacally, whipped
out a measuring tape and began taking measurements with
lightning speed. She muttered a few times before standing
up.

"What's the verdict, doc?" Ranma asked.

"Well, aside from the fact that you're not wearing a bra,"
Ranma blushed, "You are a very pretty young lady."

Ranmas mind kicked into defense mode. "Hey!" she shouted.
"I'm a guy!"

The sales lady looked at her strangely. "Yeah." She said.
"Whatever." (See. She has some common sense. Ow! That hurt.)
"How much money ya got?" Ranma handed her the bills. She
counted them and gave them back. "'K" She turned around and
headed toward the back room. "Be right back."

Ranma tapped her foot anxiously while she thought. <Should I
do this? > She asked herself. <What if Akane takes it the
wrong way? > She shook her head. <Naw�she had it coming. But
what if I like being this way�> she shook her head again.
"Never happen."
"What?" the sales lady said from behind her. Ranma jumped
away, thumb, pinky and forefinger extended in surprise.

"Gaaaahh." Ranma shouted. "Didn�t you go that way?" she
asked throwing a thumb over her shoulder. She finally got a
feeling of the blonde's aura and she felt that it was very
strong.

The sales lady shrugged. "Eh�whatta ya gonna do?" She handed
a bundle of clothes to Ranma. "Here, try these on."

Ranma hefted the staggering mass of clothes and stumbled
into the nearest dressing room. After setting the mountain
of cloth down, he took the top outfit off. A rather plain
pink sundress, not unlike the one she already owned. She set
it in the 'no-go' pile. The next item was a black silk skirt
and red blouse. Ranma stared at them for a few seconds.
<Should I? > She asked herself. Her mind nodded and she shut
her eyes as she dressed. After struggling with the zipper
she found that it fit her like a glove. <That lady knows her
stuff. > Ranma thought. Her mind lingered on the aura she
felt. <She's probably a martial artist.> That outfit went in
the 'go' pile. Outfit after out fit followed, most going in
the 'no-go' pile for being too feminine. The few outfits
that were in the 'go' pile consisted of; the black and red
skirt-blouse combo, a pair of black leggings, a few other
blouses and skirts, a blue dress, two pairs of jeans, a
couple T-shirts, one pair of slacks, and two pairs of khaki
shorts. (Whew!)

She picked the pile of no go clothes and took them to the
sales lady, watching a few items fall from the stack. "Here
ya go." She said as the other woman took the items.

"O.K. How do they fit?" she asked.

"Great." Ranma responded from inside the dressing room. She
finished picking the dropped items up, a pair of short jeans
and a�bra. "Wait up."

The sales lady turned around and looked at the pretty red
haired girl. "Yes?"

Ranma looked at the clothing in her hands. "Never mind."
<I'll need these. > She thought.

The sales lady smiled, knowing the plan was working. She
knew that Ranma was a tomboy from the moment she came in.
But Ranma accepted the bra. She walked back out into the
department store. "That all?" she asked.

Ranma nodded then cringed as another thought entered her
head. "Hold on." She said as she trotted over to the
lingerie section. She shuddered mightily as she picked out a
few pairs of panties and another bra and went back to the
counter. Closing her eyes and looking away, she set them
down. "T-these too."

The sales lady smiled. "Total is�9451 yen." She took the
10000 yen from Ranma and gave her the change. "Have a nice
day."

"You too." Was Ranmas response.

After she left, the sales lady smiled and watched the money
disappear. "Hope that money helped." Her smile widened.
"You'll need all the help you can get to make a good girl,
Ranma Saotome." Then she disappeared in a puff of smoke.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nodoka Saotome finished gathering her things for her visit
to the Dojo. Hopefully she could catch her family before
they 'disappeared ' on another training trip. She knew that
they were hiding from her but she couldn�t tell why. Maybe
they thought she'd carry out that stupid promise. At least
she gave them incentive to make Ranma a manly man. Forget
the katana this time.

She hefted the basket onto her shoulder and reached for the
door but stopped. She had an overwhelming feeling that she
needed the sword. For what she couldn�t tell, but she needed
it. She stooped over and picked it up along with her basket
and again reached for the door�but paused and listened. She
could hear murmuring from the other side. <Prowler? > She
thought. <It might be�> She listened carefully before moving
but the sound had stopped.

Carefully, as not to make any noise, she set the basket down
and unsheathed the katana. She poised to attack if need be
and readying her self, flung open the door.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'Ranko' fiddled with the bra strap, pulling it back into
place. The stupid thing was annoying. The strap kept falling
off her shoulder. Sure, she had worn a bra before, but none
of them were as bad as this one. "Dammit!" she shouted as it
fell off for the millionth time. "How can girl's deal with
this."

After she had purchased the clothes, she stopped off in the
bathroom and changed, thinking that if she showed up in
these clothes, she might convince Auntie Nodoka that she
wanted to be 'more feminine'.

Ranko shuddered on the virge of tears. God, she wished that
she didn�t have to call her mother that. Why was she even
doing this? All she had to do was talk to Akane. No Akane
would just call her pervert. She would call her that anyway,
now. Who cares?

Ranko was snapped away from her thoughts as the strap fell
again. "I hate this thing!" she shouted. After adjusting it
she checked the address of her moms house again. "I'm here."
She said. "Here goes nothing."

She reached up to knock on the door when it flung open and
she saw a Katana stop inches from her face. She shrieked and
covered her head. "Don�t kill me!" she screamed.

Nodoka pulled the sharp blade away from the girl's head.
"Ranko?" she asked. "What are you doing here?"

Ranko opened her eyes and peered at her mom. "I'm here to
see you�" she said in a sad tone. Instantly she was in
Nodoka's arms.

"Thank you dear, but why?" she asked looking in Ranko's
eyes.

Ranko looked away. "Um�I need girl lessons?"

Suddenly Nodoka was embracing her again. "I knew you'd come
around," She said, crying tears of joy.

Ranko hugged back, although hesitantly. <If only you knew
mom. > She opened her eyes. <I'm in way over my head here. >

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was nine p.m. and Ranma had not come back yet. While no
one seemed worried, everyone was holding it back.
Well�everyone but Soun. He was crying. He was always crying.
But that aside�

"Where is that Baka!?" Akane suddenly blurted out. "I just
know he's out there with one of those other girls."

Nabiki smelled opportunity. (It had given up knocking and
started giving off an odor) "Akane could you limit your
jealous outbursts to one every five minutes? I'm trying to
read here." She checked her watch. 9:01. It took less than a
minute. She eyed Genma who gulped nervously. She knew that
he would pounce her anygiven moment and was dissapointed
when he didn't.

Kasumi escorted her father into the kitchen and tried to
calm him down with little success. "Father, Ranma is a big
boy. He can take care of him self."

"But {sob} what if he is {wail} hurt?" Soun cried.
(Literally)

"He won't be. Please calm down Father. We can't replace the
carpet again." She smiled when Soun's sobbing quieted down
to whimpers

Suddenly the phone rang. Akane had the receiver to her ear
in a flash. "Moshi moshi?" Everyone crowded in close to hear
the conversation. "What?!" Akane shouted. "I was�we were
worried about you!" Pause. "You're what?! You can't stay
there! No I�click�" She set the receiver down and scowled.
"That was Ranma. She is staying with Ukyo." She stormed up
to her room.

Soun began to cry again. "Waaahhhh! Now our families will
never be united!"

Kasumi tried to comfort him again. "Nonsense father. Ranma
loves Akane and you know it. Its probably just a sleep
over."

"Sh-shes right Tendo." Genma said, trying not to fume over
his ingrate son, his eye twitching with the effort. "I-it's
just a sleep over."

If Genma really knew where Ranma was he'd have a heart
attack.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Saying that Ranma was tired would be an understatement. A
rather large under statement. She had crammed a lifetime
worth of femininity lessons into a few hours and she was
physically exhausted. Most of that stuff she had blocked
out, like boy friends and such. The other stuff she had
absorbed like a sponge. She knew how to walk like a girl,
act like a girl and now, talk like one. Luckily she found
that it wasn�t as bad as she thought it would be.

She still had a plan though. After stashing her stuff in a
safe place she quickly dressed in her usual Chinese outfit.
She had three more stops before going home and initiating
the bulk of her plan. The first was the Neko-Hanten.
Hurrying over there, Ranma extracted a flask of hot water
and upended it over her head. He rung the water out of his
pigtail and began to pick the lock.

His mind screamed at him that this was dishonorable, but
this was the only way to get what she needed without
arousing too much suspicion. He already knew where to go.
Silently he crept over to the drawer where the waterproof
soap was kept and took out two bars. About a month ago he
heard that Shampoo received another shipment of the stuff.
Then he dumped a cup of cold water on him self and snuck out
the window.
Her next stop was the local bathhouse�

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Surprisingly, the soap worked. When they had gone through
the original incident with the soap, Shampoo said that it
would keep you from changing. She didn�t say that it would
lock you in the form you are in currently. Luckily, it only
lasted a week at most but that was long enough for Ranma.
She needed to be able to not change for a while.
She finished toweling off with her eyes closed. After all,
she wasn�t a pervert and she did have to go in the women's
side of the bathhouse. Finally finished, Ranma quickly
redressed and walked out into the night.

Her next stop was Ukyo's place. She was the one person would
be willing to help. She was her best friend after all and
she didn�t like Akane all that much. she thought. <But I need help. But
she is my best friend and I don�t want to hurt her.>

Her mind began to reel as she walked, <Maybe I shouldn�t do
this at all. I mean, Akane might listen to me for once. Heh.
Fat chance. Besides, I already bought the clothes. I mean,
this is what she wanted.> Ranma was so wrapped up in her
thoughts that she didn�t notice she was at the Ucchan until
she walked into the door with a resounding thud.

She staggered about with a lump forming on her head before
slumping to her knees and passed out as the door opened.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ukyo awoke with a start, rubbed her eyes and checked the
clock. It was only ten o'clock but seeing as she just got
back from her vacation, she was very tired. And something
had just slammed against her door, waking her up. She should
have been angry but she was too tired to be angry. The
'vacation' was exhausting. Most likely it was a cat but she
couldn�t be too sure. She threw on a robe, grabbed her
spatula from the wall and went down the stairs.

Many things went through her mind as she went down. The most
obvious things were, Some other things were, The thing furthest from her mind was
who was at the door.

Finally reaching the door, she opened it and was surprised
to see Ranma on her knees at her feet. She dropped her
spatula in surprise as many things ran through her head. The
main one that Ranma was proposing to her. "Oh Ranma! You do
love me." She said, kneeling over and scooping her up in a
hug. Then she noticed that Ranma was unconscious and female.
"Ranma? Ranma, are you Okay?" she said.

When Ranma didn�t answer, she became frantic. "Dammit Ranma,
answer me!" she cried slapping her lightly. She pulled her
hand back and noticed that it was bloody. "Oh my god!
Ranchan!" Ukyo screamed. She dragged Ranma up stairs and
plopped her down on a futon then ran to her bathroom to get
the first aid kit.

Ranma regained consciousness very painfully as Ukyo left.
The light in her eyes hurt. She sat up and rubbed her
forehead where the cut and bump were located, wincing in
pain.
"Man, what hit me?" She laid back down on the pillow and
closed her eyes, remembering her plan. she thought.

Finally, Ukyo rushed back in, obviously relieved to see
Ranma awake. "Ranchan! You're okay!" she cried immediately
glomping onto her fiancee. "I was so worried." She tried to
keep the tears in check but failed miserably, letting them
flow.

Ranma cringed back at the sight of her tears. One of her few
weaknesses were girls crying, but she had to pull this off.
For Akane. She gently put her hands around Ukyo and hugged
her. "I'm fine Ucchan. I can take care of myself." She broke
the embrace, "So. How have you been?"

Ukyo looked up, wiping the stray tears from her eyes. Then
she glomped back on. "Oh, Ranchan! This is the happiest day
of my life!" she began to cry again, and Ranma struggled to
hold back.

"Eh? Why's that?" Ranma asked.

Ukyo backed off. "Don�t you know?" she asked, genuinly
confused. Ranma shook her head. "You finally realized that
you love me more that Akane. You were about to propose to me
when something hit you on the head."

Ranma smiled cutely. "Why would I do that?" she asked. "Of
course I love you but as a friend." She leaned close to the
shocked Ukyo. "I'm not that kind of girl."

Ukyo backed further away, dumbfounded by what Ranma just
said. She mouthed the words back to her self. <�as a
friend�I'm not that kind of girl.> The conclusion she came
to is that Ranma hit her head too hard. "Ranchan, I'll be
right back." She said, dashing out of the room.

<Now comes the hot water.> Ranma thought. True to form, Ukyo
ran in carrying a glass on her hand. She emptied the
contents over Ranma's head and backed away horrified when no
change occoured.

"You-you�you're still�female." She said, panicked.

Ranma played her part, blinking her eyes and acting confused
her self. "Of course silly. What was I supposed to turn in
to? A man?" She watched Ukyo nod furiously. "Well I've been
a girl and I will always be a girl for the rest of my life."
Ranma tried not to cringe at those words.

Ukyo's eyes went blank and she stumbled over to her friend.
"Lay down Ranchan. You need some rest." She said, gently
pushing Ranma down on her back before passing out her self.

Ranma got up and fought off the dizzyness as she scooped up
her friend. "She certainly took that well." She said as she
took Ukyo to her room. She gently laid Ukyo on her bed and
kissed her on the forehead. "I really am sorry,"

Then she slowly shut the door and went to bed.

--------------------------------------------

Akane flipped over in her bed for the tenth time that
night. Though she would never admit it to her family, she
was deathly afraid for Ranma. She kept thinking that what
she had said the precious night had really hurt him and that
was the reason that he was at Ukyo's.

She had long admitted to her self that she loved him but she
couldn�t bring herself to tell him. She sat up in her bed
and put her face in her hands, trying to hold back the
tears. She didn�t need to cry over that jerk. That sweet,
kind, considerate jerk who she loved.
She looked over at her alarm clock and noted the time. It
was midnight and she had not gotten any sleep. Maybe working
out would tire her out. She got to her feet and dressed in
her gi then headed down the stairs. Sitting at the table,
Genma was looking out at the stars. "M-Mr. Saotome?" Akane
said. "What are you doing up?"

Genma didn�t look back at her to reply. "I couldn�t sleep."
He said plainly.

"Me neither." Akane said, sitting down next to him. "Why
couldn�t you? Worried about Ranma?"

Genma sat up straight. "Of course not. My boy can take care
of�." He trailed off. "Yes�yes I am. He never did this
before. I'm afraid that he is running away. He is my son
after all."

Akane patted him on the back. "He'll be fine. After all,
Ukyo is just his friend, right?"
Genma took this the right way. "You're worried about him,
aren't you?" he asked.

Akane took her normal path. Denial. "That jerk!? Of course
not!" she got to her feet and headed out to the dojo.

Genma chuckled to himself as he watched Akane begin her
kata. "You'll admit your feelings one of these days
Akane-chan."

Then he fell asleep.

Akane stopped in the middle of a kick and looked up at the
stars through an unpatched hole in the celing. "Ranma.
Please come back."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile on the coast�

"Well Shampoo, what are we going to do about Ranma?" Cologne
asked her granddaughter.

"Great-grandmother no worry. Shampoo have plan. Ranma be
Shampoo's for sure." She giggled as she held up a new herb
that they aquired at the meeting. "Shampoo make Airen hate
Akane."

End Part 1

Well part 1 of Revenge is done. I never had the intention to
make this a multiple part fic but I need to arrange my
ideas. I'll work on part 2 asap.
-Sel