* * * * *
Blurry vision is never a good thing, Akane knew, especially when running at
nearly full tilt, but at the moment, she didn't care. She was both angry
with that insensitive macho jerk Ranma and anguished at what he had done to
her hair. Her lovely, sable hair, the hair that she had been growing for
_years_ to be longer than her oldest sister's. She had finally succeeded a
month ago; now, she could get the attention of her heart's one, true
desire--Ono Tofu-sensei.
A real man, unlike all of those stupid _boys_ at her school. Kind, warm,
sensitive...handsome... Her cheeks tinted rose at that thought. And he was
in reach, too. Just as soon as she could finally get him to notice _her_ as
a woman and drag away all of his affections from her main obstacle--her own
sister Kasumi.
Well, her oldest sister was engaged to that scumbag of an insensitive jerk
Ranma, so that should help her own cause, even if she hated that idiot's guts
twice over. Mangling her hair like that...
"Akane! Where's Ranma?"
Her thoughts broken, Akane tried to stop running and turn around.
Unfortunately, she didn't notice part of the sidewalk was raised up; blurry
vision made sure of that. Expectantly and unavoidably, the toe of her shoe
caught the slab and refused to let go, which had the inevitable effects of
sending the rest of her crashing down on her face. Hard.
It was official; Akane was beyond embarrassed now. Losing to a _boy_ last
night was bad enough. Being beaten within less than three seconds by
Nabiki's watch and within an inch of her life by her assortment of hurts and
bruises was grounds for "I'm never going to live this one down." Having the
same boy screw over her hair so brazenly was another big embarrassment. Now,
this....
"I should have stayed home today..."
"Probably, but then, what would your fan club do without you?" Nabiki said, a
smirk creasing one corner of her face at a sharp angle.
Pushing off the ground, she responded. "They can all go to hell, far as I'm
concerned. Kunou-sempai can lead the way!"
"My, aren't we a bit touchy this morning. So, where is Ranma?"
Her voice was almost tangible with acid. "Who cares about that stupid jerk?"
"Mmm...that would most likely explain your new hairstyle."
Akane growled. "Shut up, Nabiki." She stood up, then faltered a little, one
eye wincing its indication of pain.
"You won't be in much shape to handle your fan club if you're hurt, you know."
Determination lit her afire. "I'm fine." She put weight on her injured leg,
trying her best to ignore the pain shooting up from her kneecap.
"Uh huh. And I'm the Prime Minister of Japan." Shrugging a little, Nabiki
slipped an arm around Akane's back. "Come along, let's get you to
Tofu-sensei's clinic and have your knee checked out. If he has any brains,
Ranma will have gotten help from Kasumi and will pass by here."
"What's with everyone's infatuation with that jerk?!" Akane snapped angrily.
"Father, I can understand. Kasumi, I can understand. But you, Nabiki?
Usually, you would be exploiting him by now. What gives?"
The middle Tendo daughter regarded the youngest one calmly for a moment. "He
made Kasumi laugh," came her simple reply.
She stared dumbly at her older sister, then snorted derisively. "What does
that have to do with anything? She laughs all the time."
"Name one time."
"Sure! It was...no...back when..." She tapped her chin. "No, not that
time, either...aha! What about the time when she went to Tofu-sensei's
clinic and he first started dancing with his skeleton, huh? What about that?"
"I remember that time. Believe me, she wasn't laughing; in fact, she was
kind of afraid of the good doctor after he turned a patient into a human
pretzel."
"Oh..." Akane knew better than to challenge Nabiki's memory; it was better
than an elephant's and sharper, too. Still, she wasn't convinced, judging
from the frown pulling at one corner of her mouth.
Nabiki knew that frown, too. "Tell me, Akane, how does she laugh?"
She furrowed her brows in deep thought. She gave up shortly, grumbling a
bit. "All right, Nabiki, you're right, okay? He can make Kasumi laugh, so
he's special. He's still a big jerk!" With a huff, she hobbled off to the
good doctor's office.
Nabiki shook her head. "Honestly, little sister..." Shrugging a little, she
followed Akane down the sidewalk.
* * * * *
Ranma sighed. The day was not going as well as it should have. For
starters, he was going off to attend school, his least favorite thing to do
with his time. It bored him so much, he would be likely to doze off in class
before half an hour had elapsed. Secondly, he was practically railroaded
into the idea by Nabiki, and if there was any one thing that he hated, it was
being forced to do something. Not surprisingly, he hadn't been bossed around
very much since he acquired his curse; in fact, Genma had been calling him
"son" instead of just "boy" since a day after their dip in Jusenkyou's cold
waters. It was strangely exhilarating the first time he had been addressed
that way, and he unwittingly beamed at his father.
However, those thoughts didn't disturb the young man unduly. That particular
honor went to himself, more importantly, how he had been behaving as of late.
He didn't understand it. One moment he was exuding power, control of his
destiny, and all encompassing confidence in every facet of his life. Then
next moment, he felt so...like his old self. Was it because of the curse?
It would explain a lot, but the curses affect the body, not the mind. Right?
"Ranma?"
He slipped back into the present time, and turned his head to face his
fiancee. "Yeah, Kasumi?"
"Tell me, why are you walking on top of that fence?"
"Hm?" He glanced down to his feet. Sure enough, they were busy moving his
body atop of a fence. "Oh, it's just practice for keeping my balance. I've
been doing this ever since I was a kid." He took a few steps more, then
somersaulted from his perch to the pavement, landing perfectly and lightly on
his feet before her. "It's almost second nature."
"My. You are very good."
He grinned at her. "Thanks. Pop didn't pull any punches when he was
training me, unlike--"
He was suddenly splashed directly in the face with some cold water.
Saiyajin-Ranma spat out a mouthful of water, turning an annoyed eye at its
source. An old woman, ladle and bucket in hand, was splashing the sidewalk.
"..."
"Ranma, what's wrong? Didn't you see her there?"
"No, I didn't." He squirted the last of the excess water out between his
lips. His eyes never left the woman or her bucket. "If there's anything
annoying about my...'curse,' it's got to be being a water magnet. A real
blind spot." Abruptly, Saiyajin-Ranma disregarded her and turned his
attention back to Kasumi. "So, anyway, didn't your pop show you stuff like
that?"
Kasumi blinked for a second. "Stuff like what?"
"You know, balancing on fences and other things?"
"Well...Father did show us how to balance..."
"...but not like this, ne?"
"...no...not like that..."
He grinned, then, clapping his hands together. "Wanna learn?"
She looked up at him. "Wha-AAH!" The next thing Kasumi was aware of, the
ground was falling out from underneath her. She squeezed her eyes shut,
afraid to look anywhere else.
"You can relax now," came the deep voice belonging to Ranma's cursed form.
Slowly, Kasumi's eyes peeled open. Immediately, she knew something was
amiss. Everything seemed so much shorter than she last remembered.
"Wh-where am I?"
"Atop of the fence."
"I'm what?!" She froze almost immediately. Standing on top of a ten foot
fence was more than enough to elicit such a reaction. "Wh-wh-what am I
d-d-doing up h-h-here?!"
"Just relax, Kasumi. I gotcha." He emphasized the point by squeezing her
waist. "We're gonna learn how to balance."
"Ranma-kun, please get me down!"
"Oh, c'mon..."
She felt a draft, and a second later, horror dawned on her. A blush darkly
burned across her cheeks. "I'm wearing a dress! Someone might see--!!"
"If some guy tries to take a peek, he'll wish he hadn't when I'm done with
him."
Kasumi involuntarily shrank back from the edge of malice in his voice, which
only added to her fright. "Please, get me down..."
Saiyajin-Ranma could have sworn he saw tears beginning to form in her eyes.
He sighed. "All right..." He swept her up into his arms. Automatically,
she snapped hers around his neck tightly.
"Not so tight, okay?"
She loosened her deathgrip a little. "I'm sorry."
"S'all right." He hopped off of the fence, landing back on street level.
"Here ya go," he said, letting her feet touch the ground.
She stepped back shakily, letting her nerves settle and her racing heart to
slow down. "Th...thank you, Ranma-kun..."
"No problem. And just call me Ranma." He drew her firmly against his chest,
which caused the eldest Tendo daughter to gasp in surprise. His face came in
closer to hers, the smile resting on his face spoke of something more than
just simple friendliness. "After all, we are engaged, ne?"
Kasumi felt very nervous, being so close to him. She tried to push herself
away from him, but she couldn't budge. "R-ranma, you're going to be late for
school..."
"Who cares?" His face inched closer to hers.
She almost whispered, feeling a strange tug upon her being. "I...I do."
"You do?" He seemed somewhat surprised.
"Yes."
"Really?"
She smiled a little, if a bit nervous. "Yes. I want you to succeed in your
education."
Saiyajin-Ranma straightened a bit, his jaw set as he ran the past few moments
through his head. After a pause, he looked back down at Kasumi. "Okay.
Let's go." He let go of her and turned back towards the direction they were
heading.
Now it was Kasumi's turn to be surprised. That was all it took? Now, she
felt a bit disappointed he didn't put up more resistance. She shook her head
then. "What am I thinking about?" She asked under her breath.
That was when she noticed the tail waving at her from beneath the hem of
Ranma's red Chinese shirt.
"Ranma-k--" She cut herself off a little abruptly. "Ranma?"
He looked over his shoulder. "Yeah?"
"Aren't you going to change back?"
"What for? I like this form."
"Well, that may be so, but you certainly can't go around looking like that."
He turned around fully and crossed his arms over his chest. "And why not?"
She took an involuntary step back. "Ah, well, what if someone tries to pull
your tail while in classes?"
He shuddered at the mere thought. Genma pulled his tail once before by
accident. It took him close to an hour to recover from the intense pain.
"M-maybe you got a point. I'll just run back home and--"
"There isn't any time left; school will start soon enough. Come on; we can
get some hot water at Tofu-sensei's clinic."
"Ooookay. If you insist. Lead the way."