*****
I am submitting this for an author who does not have Internet access.
C&C is appreciated! BTW: The author is in search of pre-readers for
his story! Anyone interested pleae send mail to the above address of
Talon@sgi.net.
Special thanks to the Current Prereader- Allison M Yoneyama 
*****
RYO 3/4     
  A Ranma 1/2 fanfict by Tangent
    Pre-reader edition
 
DISCLAIMER: "Ranma 1/2" and all the characters therein belong to
Rumiko Takahashi and Viz Video. This is a fan fiction produced for my
own enjoyment and for passing on without profit. Other characters that
come into play in this fanfict may or may not be pulled from other
sources (including other fanficts, R.P.G.s, manga, anime, literature,
or possibly even *GASP* American comic books!). As far as I know, the
character, Ryo/Ryo-chan/Ryoko, is my own idea.

WARNING: Mature themes are included in this chapter. While not a Lemon
fanfict, certain parts of this chapter do get a little racy. Also,
Ryo-chan wrestles with her inner despair in this chapter, which will
be a recurring theme in this series, so at times things may get a
little 'dark' as it were. I will try to balance this out with an
appropriate amount of humor. You have been warned.

        CHAPTER TWO: BUT I'M A GUY!

After Genma's explanation, The Saotomes and the Tendos separated into
smaller groups. Genma stayed with Soun, trying to get his old friend
to believe his story (with little success).  Nabiki had nabbed Ranma,
leading him off to talk about his journeys (and to find out if he
really believed that his sister had been a boy up until a little over
three weeks ago). Kasumi returned to the kitchen that was her
sanctuary, and pondered the problem at hand. Akane decided to show Ryo
the Dojo.
"So, what do you think?" asked Akane, referring to the Dojo. She was
interested in how it compared to others that the new girl had seen in
her travels.
"Seems okay, I guess" Ryo started. "Well maintained, clean..." [if you
discount the remains of cinder blocks and breaking boards, that is].
"Lots of practice room. You really should tidy up before you leave it,
though."
"Um, how did y-" Akane started to ask.
"Well it was either you or your father, and no offense meant, but
you're the one who looks like she just had a workout" commented Ryo
casually.
Akane flushed, slightly embarrassed. "Well, Nabiki said that Daddy had
important news, so..."
"Hey, it's okay. I understand" Ryo consoled the obviously flustered
girl. [Sheesh! I'm getting almost as bad as Ranma!] she thought. [I've
got to remember that I'm not on the road with just him and Pop
anymore].
"Well, how about a little match then?" asked Akane, feeling better.
"After I clean this mess up, of course."
"Sure" responded Ryo, whose spirits lifted somewhat. After the curse
happened, martial arts were one of the few things that kept her from
sinking into a pit of dispair. It was one of the few things she had
left of her tattered and torn self-image. "Here, let me help..."
In short order, the Dojo was once again presentable, and the two faced
off against eachother. Akane adopted a basic Kempo stance, while Ryo
simply took a relaxed guard position in response. Akane, seeing that
Ryo wasn't going to lead off, took the initiative with a series of
punches and kicks, which Ryo either dodged or blocked. Ryo, after
getting the feel of how Akane fought (even going so far as to let a
few hits in past 'her' defenses in order to gauge their power),
finally went on the offensive.
Akane found herself hard pressed to defend herself from the little
redheaded dynamo. In fact, she was loosing rather badly, and knew it.
She signaled for a stop, conceding defeat. "You... You're pretty
good," she admitted.
"You're not half bad yourself, Akane," replied Ryo, surprising the
raven-haired girl she had been sparing with. There was no arrogance in
that voice, only appraisal. Akane felt much better about loosing the
match.
"Well, I'm just glad you're a girl," Akane confided.
"Why's that?" asked Ryo, confused.
"It's just...that I'd really hate to loose to a boy," elaborated Akane
as she headed back out of the Dojo.
"But I'm a guy, remember," retorted Ryo. "At least I was a guy,
anyway," she continued, beginning to feel depressed again.
"Doesn't count," chided Akane, not seeing how her words were hurting
Ryo. "You're a girl now, and you better get used to being one." She
pointed out; also not noticing that Ryo had stopped following her.
[She's right,] thought Ryo, sinking deeper into depression. [I'm a
girl now, and that's how the world sees me.] She wandered off to mull
this over in the privacy of her own dark thoughts.


Kasumi, aware that the guests would probably like to clean up before
dinner (and that Akane had yet to do so herself), had drawn a bath for
them. Mr. Saotome had been the first to take advantage of it, glad for
a respite from the calm accusations of his friend. He had to admit it
to himself (finally), that without any proof, no one other than his
sons would be likely to believe him. Well, no one besides his wife,
Nadoka, but he wasn't about to tell her until after a cure had been
found. He valued his life too much to risk what he thought he reaction
would be. [I should never have made that promise] he thought.
Kasumi went to check up on Nabiki and Ranma, and found them up in the
main guestroom. Nabiki was helping Ranma set up the room for his
father and himself while they talked. He had given her a summery of
their travels, but few details unless she asked for them specifically.
He also had a tendency towards setting his sister's stuff out along
with his father's and his own. Not that she could tell right away, but
it became evident when he had started arranging their things into
three separate areas.
"Mmm... Ranma," Nabiki asked dryly, "you don't think your sister is
going to sleep in the same room with you and your father do you?"
"Ah...Oh yeah, I forgot," murmured Ranma, blushing lightly. "I still
have a hard time thinking of Ryo as my sister," he explained, "I mean,
even after Jusenkyo, I've never made the adjustment to the fact that
he's now my 'sister'. It's still hard for me to think of him that
way." He started putting Ryo's things back into one of the packs.
Nabiki saw that there were very few items of female apparel among the
clothing that Ranma was putting back, and they were all new in
appearance. [I guess they really did believe that Ryo was a boy,]
thought Nabiki (referring to the twins, not their father).
"I can see that," commented Nabiki, "especially since you keep
referring to her in the male sense."
"It's not as if I can help it or anything," Ranma replied defensively.
"Up until three weeks ago, Ryo was a guy, remember." After a short
pause, he continued. "This has been very hard on Ryo. He...she...has
been very depressed since the incident. Pop and I have even been
afraid to let her bathe alone, although I don't really think that
he...she...would really kill herself."
"You don't mean to say that you've been bathing with her have you?"
Nabiki asked in a low, dangerous tone. This was not lost on Ranma.
"No no no! Nothing like that at all!" he explained rapidly. "We just
made sure that we used the public baths while there were other people
inside in case she tried anything stupid! That's all! Really!" [That
was close,] thought Ranma. [Ryo's right. I've really got to learn to
think before I put my foot in my mouth]. Ranma still wondered at the
fact that his twin was so much more contemplative than he was. Weren't
they both raised on the road? By Genma of all people?
[Oh my!] thought Kasumi, who had listened in on the conversation for a
moment. [That poor girl!] Resolving to do something to bring up Ryo's
spirits later, Kasumi finally interrupted their conversation. "The
bath is ready, Ranma. Your father is already in there. You've just
come from a long trip, why don't you join him?"
"Okay, fine," said Ranma, resignedly. [Like I really want to have
anything to do with that baka after what he did to Ryo. Still, he is
our father.] With that, he got up and headed for the bath.

Nabiki was lost in contemplation. Ranma obviously really did believe
that Ryo had been a boy up until three weeks ago, and it seemed likely
that Ryo did as well. What Mr. Saotome had done to his daughter was
beyond comprehension. No father should do that to his daughter. No
father in his right mind would. Even if (as extremely unlikely as it
was) their story was true, his actions were unpardonable.
The problem at hand was that, apparently, Ryo still thought of herself
as a boy. Something would have to be done about that, or there would
be problems later.
"That baka's made quite a mess of things," she commented quietly to
herself (referring to Genma).

Genma sneezed as Ranma joined him in the furo (Japanese style
bathroom- very roomy, with a large tub set in the floor, and no
toilet. That is elsewhere in the house).
"What's up, Pop?" asked Ranma, not really caring. "You catching a cold
or something?"
"No, I don't think so" Genma replied, not catching his son's tone.
[Somebody must be talking about me] he thought.

Later, after Genma and Ranma were done with their bath, Kasumi went to
find Ryo.
Ryo had secluded herself on the porch, and was once again struggling
between despair and her conscience. She loved her brother dearly, and
what she was contemplating would hurt him grievously. Especially since
he had risked his own manhood to save her life. Certainly because he
had saved her life at all. No, she couldn't do this, as much as it
pained her not to. She couldn't hurt her brother like this.
"Ryo-chan," Kasumi called out, having just found her. "The bath is
ready."
Ryo twitched at the suffix, then replied. "All right. I'll head right
there." She got up and went straight for the bath.
Kasumi was about to go look for her sisters when something caught her
eye. Something that told her that Ryo's problems went deeper than she
had dared to fear. Ryo had left it behind when she got up to leave.
[Oh my!] she thought as she rushed off to find her sisters. They
needed to know this before they said or did something to push the poor
girl towards concluding the act that Kasumi could only assume that she
had interrupted.
Back on the porch lay the tanto, out of its sheath and ready to use.

 "We've got to hurry," said Nabiki as she and Akane made their way to
the bath. "Ranma had said that they were afraid to let her take a bath
alone after the incident at Jusenkyo. With Kasumi finding the tanto
and all, I believe that their fears are well founded." The two girls
wasted little time getting undressed, starting almost before they were
even completely through the changing room door. They quickly spotted
that Ryo's clothing was indeed in the hamper as they tossed their own
attire in to it as well. Then they entered the main bath chamber.
Ryo hadn't gotten very far along with her bathing, having just rinsed
the soap off of her body before getting up from the stool. She was
just about to enter the tub for a good hot soak when Akane and Nabiki
came into the room with concern written all over their faces. Ryo
turned, startled, and got a very good look at their nude bodies. She
promptly feinted.
It was true that Ryo was somewhat used to the appearance of the female
body after three weeks, both her own and others (thanks to the fact
that her brother and father had insisted that she use the female side
of the public baths). However, she had actually endeavored not to
consciously look at other naked women. Sure, she had to deal with her
own body, but that was just it. It was her own body, regardless of how
it had changed, and she wasn't about to admit to anyone that she had
been experimenting with her new sensations. She was actually somewhat
ashamed of herself for doing so in the first place, and in the
beginning had lied to herself about why she had done so. Being
thorough while bathing had been her very first excuse to herself, but
she had come up with a few others (some lamer than others in her
mind).
To actually see, directly, two very kuwai, naked ladies walk in on
her, especially after just scrubbing herself down, was too much for
her admittedly unbalanced psyche to take just at the moment. Feinting
seemed to be the most appropriate response for her subconscious to
have her perform.
"You know, Akane," observed Nabiki dryly, "if Ryo-chan keeps reacting
like this, gym class is going to be very interesting for you." She
privately berated herself [Damn! I should have come in here alone with
my camera. An opportunity like this is just priceless!] Then she
thought some more [On the other hand, there's no way of telling how
she would respond to my selling nude photos of her. I haven't actively
trained in the Art for years now, and she just came back from a
training journey.]
"Well...I suppose she would be shy around girls, having been raised as
a boy and all..." Akane responded, uncertainly. "But still, didn't you
say that Ranma and Mr. Saotome made her use the Public baths?"
"Yes, but apparently little Miss Saotome had tried to be a perfect
gentleman about it," Nabiki guessed, amused. "It's not too hard to
divert your gaze in a wide open area like that. We seem to be the
first girls that she has had a very good look at." With that Nabiki
started to wash herself off. Akane followed suit, and the two scrubbed
one anothers' backs while waiting for Ryo to recover. They had rinsed
down and had gotten into the tub by the time that she started to come
around.
"Uhh..." groaned Ryo, lightly. "Wh...what happened?"
"Oh, Ryo baby, I see you're awake again" Nabiki quipped, turning
around in the tub and placing her hands under her chin as she rested
her elbows on the rim of the tub. Of course, this provided Ryo with an
excellent view of her bosom, which she had also laid on the rim,
between her elbows. This was deliberate, as Nabiki wanted to test this
girl who had been raised as a boy for amusing reactions. She wasn't
disappointed.
Ryo blushed and diverted her gaze, embarrassed. [Is Nabiki even aware
that she is doing that?]. She started to collect herself, and tried to
think of something to say. She saw that Akane was in the tub with her
sister, and that her expression hinted that she was concerned about
Ryo, possibly for more reason than the fact that Ryo had feinted. Ryo
could read the hurt in her eyes, and knew. [I was contemplating
seppuku earlier, and forgot the tanto on the porch when Kasumi called
me to the bath. They have no idea that I've rejected it as an option.]
She felt ashamed for dishonoring her hosts in this manner, and doubly
so for how they must think of her.
Akane and Nabiki both noticed that Ryo's flushed complexion had spread
down from her face, rapidly becoming a full body blush. Akane's heart
went out to the poor girl. [How hard it must be for her. Raised as a
boy all this time only to find out that she's been a girl all along.
And that tanto! If Kasumi hadn't interrupted her, would she have
really committed suicide on our porch?] She couldn't tell that the
pity in her eyes pained Ryo to the core of her being.
Nabiki merely faced the problem with the calm, almost casual,
expression she had practiced so hard to maintain over the years since
their mother had died. Yes, her heart went out to this lonely soul
before her, but she herself barely recognized this fact, and she
certainly wasn't ready to show any signs of it to herself, let alone
anybody else. No, Ryo wasn't going to get any special treatment out of
her. Not for any reason. At least not right at this moment.
"Why, Ryo-chan!" Nabiki teased. "Are you really that excited to see
us? You've gotten so hard!" with that, she reached out and flicked one
of Ryo's erect nipples with a finger. Akane gasped at the fact that
her sister would do such a thing. Ryo was shocked right out of her
depression.
"You do realize that if you keep doing that, I'm going to have to do
something about it," warned Ryo.
"What, this?" asked Nabiki, the picture of feigned innocence. "What
are you going to do?" She poked Ryo in the breast again, as she had
done earlier in the day.
"THIS!" cried Ryo, as she jumped into the tub after the stunned
Nabiki. A massive tickle fight between the two ensued. Akane just
stared at the two in utter amazement for a moment before the 'war'
escalated to include her as well. In short order, the three were
giggling, laughing, and splashing around enough for the rest of the
household to check up on them.

"They seem to be having a tickle fight," reported Kasumi as she came
back out of the changing room and into the hallway. Personally, she
felt very relieved that Ryo was enjoying herself. For that matter,
Soun, Genma, and Ranma were relieved as well. Kasumi had given them
quit a scare when she had told them about finding the tanto that Ryo
left behind. Although none of the other traditional gear had been
present, it was clear to their minds that the young girl had at least
been considering seppuku as an option.
Ranma could feel his tension flowing away. [I haven't heard you laugh
since Jusenkyo, Ryo. I'm glad to hear that you're still able to. We'll
get through this, somehow.] Conviction set in his heart as he made an
oath to himself. [Be strong, brother. I will help you get through this
in any way that I can. I swear it!]
Genma, while he was glad that his 'daughter' had at last found even a
moment of happiness, worried that the curse may still be turning 'her'
more feminine as time went on. [Listen to yourself, Ryo. Giggling like
a schoolgirl. Who knows what'll be next? Dressing in skirts? Wearing
make-up?] This, by the way, would later prove to be unusually
prophetic of him. [It breaks your father's heart.]
Soun was simply glad that his daughters seemed to have the situation
well in hand. Counseling would have to be arranged for the girl, that
much was now glaringly obvious, but the immediate danger was over. He
already knew that his friend's daughter would end up sharing a room
with one of his own daughters, but now he put some more thought into
the idea. [Nabiki would probably be the wisest choice, since she's the
most likely to treat her at face value. At least until she knows what
to make of Ryo. And perhaps, by helping Ryo, my little Nabiki may
finally be able to help herself cope with the loss of her mother in
some other way besides closing herself off.] Soun was aware that his
middle daughter had been becoming more and more mercenary in nature as
time went by, but hadn't really known what to do about it. Nabiki had
refused to open up to a counselor thus far. Now, there seemed to be at
least a partial solution before him, if the two troubled girls could
be put together.
"Come," Soun beckoned, "we should head back to the other room."

Back in the furo, Ryo could feel the weight of misery lift from her
shoulders as the tickle fight continued. The laughter was having a
cathartic effect on her troubled spirit, allowing her to finally open
up. She felt happy for the first time since she had been cursed at
Jusenkyo, really and truly happy. Which is why it came as a complete
surprise to all three girls when she suddenly hugged Nabiki and stated
sobbing uncontrollably.
Neither Nabiki nor Akane knew what to make of it, and after a moment,
settled on trying to console her. Ryo just kept crying as she released
the grief in her troubled heart. Somewhere in her subconscious, all
the pain she had locked up inside herself had spotted the opening and
went for it. Like a bullet train.
After a while, the grief passed, and Ryo noticed that she was hugging
Nabiki. And that her own breasts were pressed firmly against Nabiki's.
Blushing once again, she let go.
"Um...sorry about that" Ryo apologized sheepishly. "I don't know what
came over me."
"It's all right," said Akane reassuringly, "You've been having a rough
time of it. We understand"
"Besides," quipped Nabiki, "I found it quite... intriguing." Which,
surprisingly enough, she did. Nabiki had never thought of herself as
someone who would be interested in girls before. She had always had an
eye for the cute guys, and pretty much had viewed other girls as just
other people.  She had found Ryo's body pressed against her own to be
surprisingly... pleasant. And something about the girl opening up to
her had clicked with something deep inside Nabiki. Maybe...just
maybe...this was someone to whom she could finally...
"NABIKI!" accused an outraged Akane, "what do you think you're
doing!?"
"Whatever do you mean, Akane?" Nabiki asked in mock innocence. "I
would've thought that you, of all people, would know. What, with you
hating boys like you do." Nabiki turned her head back towards Ryo, and
winked.
"I do not hate boys! It's just that..." Akane stopped, catching
herself. "Ooooh! You're making fun of me again, aren't you?"
"Bingo!" was Nabiki's cheerful response. Ryo, unable to help herself
any longer, started laughing again.

Ryo was too busy thinking about what Nabiki had said and done in the
furo to really pay any attention during dinner, so missed the decision
to register her as 'Ryoko' Saotome.

Later that night, Nabiki helped Ryo set up a futon on the floor of her
room. Akane was still angry with both of them, and. Nabiki was the
only one behaving as if absolutely nothing was wrong with Ryo
(everyone else was walking on eggshells where Ryo was concerned, which
was driving Ryo nuts). The end result was that Ryo and Nabiki were
indeed paired up in the same room together. After talking with Nabiki
for a bit, Ryo drifted off to sleep. She wondered what the next day
would bring.

END CHAPTER TWO

OMAKE THEATER PRESENTS: Kasumi's Hidden Side
(With special thanks to Lord Talon, who suggested this idea.)

Kasumi looked at the Tanto that Ryo had left behind when she wandered
off to the bath. [Oh my!] she thought, [something will have to be done
about this!] With that thought, Kasumi gathered up the tanto and its
sheath, her intent clearly in mind, and headed off.
In her room, Kasumi lay the tanto on her bed and went to her closet.
Opening it, she could see upwards of a hundred bladed weapons, along
with whips, chains, and assorted leather outfits (consisting almost
entirely of straps). From the closet, she pulled something, and took
it to her bed.
"This will make you all better!" She chirped happily, as she began to
polish the tanto.

END

NEXT CHAPTER: The twins' first day at a new school. My Name
is...Ryoko?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
I give you Freedom! That monster will trouble you no more!
 Your hero has arrived at last!"
 Mr Masamichi Fujisawa