Matchmaker2
The Matchmaker, Chapter 2

I gradually leaned back in the passenger seat of
Futana's car and stared at the streetlights passing
above the windshield. Was this all real? It seemed
like something that could not be happening.

But here I was, a sixteen-year old girl, and there
Futana was, a twenty-one year old guy. Things were so
backwards.I leaned towards Futana and looked at him.
"So how do you deal with it?" 

He was concentrating heavily on driving but gave me a
glance. "Do what, sis?"

"How do you cope? How do you keep it from changing
you?"

Futana pulled the car over and unbuckled. "Get out." I
sat there, bemused, until finally Futana banged gently
on my window. "Get out, sis. Now. I have to show you
something."

I unbuckled and opened my door, which turned out to be
facing an alleyway. Before I could begin to wonder
what was there, Futana had me out of the car and
against the wall. "You want to know how I cope, baby
sister? You want to know how I get through the day!?
This is how!" He furiously pulled off his jacket and
unbuttoned his shirt. "You know. I used to genuinely
like boys. I used to think about them nonstop, day and
night. Then I turned thirteen, and BAM!  Suddenly,
when other girls were having their first periods I was
turning into a boy once or twice a day! I was
completely unable to look at a guy without turning
into one myself. If there were any justice in this
world I would have breasts and a boyfriend right now,
but Instead I have a dick and thirty girlfriends."

On a whim, I leaned onto my sister and gave her a hug,
my emotions getting the better of me and causing me to
complete the change to my female side.

Futana's voice, low and comforting, came to me. "There
are advantages, at least. We're far stronger than most
normal people will ever get to be and more agile as
well. Many of our ancestors have been some of the
greatest martial artist, and a few of the greatest
drag queens, of all time."

I tightened my hug around Futana until, finally,
things began to feel distinctly odd. Annoyed at his
breaking of the moment, I immediately gave a swift
knee right between Futana's legs.

"What?" He sounded so indignant for someone who had
just got caught feeling his little sister up. "I was
getting bored and depressed! I just needed something
to cheer me up!"

"Feh." I shrugged noncommittally and got into the car,
ignoring Futana entirely until he returned to the
driver's seat and we began moving towards the
Department Store once again.

***

I could hardly believe my eyes as we approached the
Women's section of the large department store that
Futana had chosen. They had more bras and panties than
the Men's section had articles of clothing in general.
A few clerks chuckled knowingly as Futana grabbed a
few of the more colorful pairs and led me to a
dressing room. It genuinely surprised me when Futana
stopped in front of the last dressing room in the row,
handed me a pair, and then motioned me into the little
cubicle.

"What!? You don't expect me to wear them, do you?" He
grinned and pulled the door to the dressing room shut
as I slowly disrobed and tried to put the bra on.

"Er... Futana"

The smile in his voice was evident. "Yes, Sister
dear?"

"How do I put this on?"

Futana opened the door after a short pause, got in
behind me, now in female form, and closed the door.

"Okay, Futaba-chan," she said, putting her hands on
top of mine, "first you want to make sure both of your
breasts are in the cups," she demonstrated with my
hands while looking over my shoulder. "Next, you want
to make sure that the shoulder straps are snug." This
was odd... something was wrong.

"Eh, Futana?"

"Yea, baby?" Futana slid her hand down my front, where
I promptly squashed it against the door.

"Don't call me that!" 

"...Do you smell something burning?"

"Of course not, Futaba. Why would there be
something...? Oh wait, I do smell that!"

As if on cue, the fire alarms went off.

Futana panicked. "Geez! Futaba-chan, let's get outta
here!"

It was my turn to panic. "But what about my-"

"Worry about your clothes later! This just makes it
more fun!" He hoisted me up on his shoulder kicked the
dressing-room door open, and began to run towards the
exit.

I turned halfway around to see a large metal box going
on a collision course with my head.

***

When I came to I was freezing cold and heard the sound
of a grown man in tears. 

"That's it. We're never going shopping again! First
Akane causes an explosion while testing a microwave
oven," I sat up to see a mustachioed man yelling at
three girls, who were all sitting down and looking
forlorn. "Then Nabiki refuses to leave until she can
get a deal on a new air-conditioner for the house,
putting herself and the store's clerk in danger," The
girl to Akane's left patted a familiar-looking
metallic box that was sitting at her feet and smiled.
"And then Kasumi distracts Ranma as he's carrying said
air-conditioner outside and he manages to knock Kahoru
Iroka's daughter unconscious!"

I almost passed out again from the sheer
ridiculousness of it. Why Kahoru Iroka's daughter be
here, anyway?

A hand tapped me on the shoulder and then placed a
bathrobe over my mostly-bare body. "Are you awake,
honey?" a velvety voice purred.

I nodded, not daring to turn around for fear that it
was just Futana trying to mess with me. The hand
quickly withdrew and the voice rose. "Good evening
everybody! Now wasn't that a scare?"

A few nervous chuckles came from the crowds of people
that had gathered.

"We're all just lucky the fire department made it on
time now, aren't we? Let's all thank our firefighters"
During the short round of applause that followed, I
finally managed to get up to see who was putting on
such a show. It was the most beautiful woman that I'd
ever seen; She also looked strikingly familiar, for
some reason.

Futana walked up to the woman and smiled cheerily in
boy form. "Hi, Mom! The Tendos seem okay but they're
still awful sorry about hitting Futaba over the head
with that air-conditioner."

"Um...Futana?" I tugged on my older brother's
shirtsleeve.

The woman hushed the two of us and then stepped up to
a makeshift pedestal that must have been erected for
that purpose.

"Hello again, everybody. For those of you who don't
know me I'm Kahoru Iroka," she flashed a grin as all
of the audience gasped in awe, "You can check out my
new movie, Action Babe 6, playing at the Nerima Cinema
right now." A few people left the crowd in search of
the theater as the woman flashed a bit of leg.
"Anyway. I'd like to introduce to you two people who
are very special to me: my son Futana-kun, and my
daughter, Futaba-chan." I could hardly believe my
ears, and was quite ready to run away, but Futana
caught my arm and gave me a glance that said I would
not want to miss this. "It's my fondest hope that
you'll be seeing as much of them as you do of me,
minus those dirty pictures in the tabloids. I'd also
like to thank the Tendos for being so helpful." there
was a slight applause and a surprised look from the
mustachioed man. "And we'll see you all later."

Kahoru Iroka bowed and led Futana and me into a
trailer that was waiting near the firetrucks. 

The minute we were in the trailer, she held her breath
for a moment, and then distinctly changed in figure,
becoming my father. "Well, that could have come at a
better time, now, couldn't it?" I looked at the clock
on the wall and noticed that it had been about three
hours since Futana and I left for the store. Dad
picked a laptop off of a desk in the rear end of the
trailer. "You have fan mail, Futaba-chan."

"Eh?" I was still a bit dazed, to say the least.

"Get with the program, Futaba," Futana leaned over my
shoulder as I looked at the `Futaba' folder of the
`Kahoru Iroka' inbox, which contained three-hundred
and fifty messages." You just got picked up on
national news in front of a burning building in
nothing but panties and a bra! A star is born!" I was
saved by a knock on the trailer door.

It was Ranma, in girl form. "Hi, Futaba. The Tendos
were wondering if, since they gave you a concussion
and all, you'd like to go over to their place and..."
Ranma suddenly paused and looked around. "Hey! Where'd
your mom go?"

"She already left," I said quickly, "Can I go to
dinner at Ranma's, Dad?" I began to run out of the
trailer door before waiting for an answer.

"Er, Futaba?" Futana grabbed my shoulder. "Aren't you
forgetting something?"

"What, Futana?"

She pointed to my clothing, which was not much.

***

A pair of white jeans and a black T-shirt later I was
walking on a sidewalk as Ranma, now male, walked along
a fence above me.

"How do you do that?"

I marveled at his perfect balance as he hopped off the
fence and landed smoothly on one foot, smiling
mischievously at me. "Want me to show you?"

Before I could protest I was lifted up by the waist
and placed gently on top of the fence.

"Now walk forward." Ranma's voice in my ear was smooth
and encouraging as I put one foot in front of the
other, teetering dangerously in between falling on
hard cement that lay to my left and getting dunked in
the aqueduct that loomed to my right. Ranma's hands
felt like the only thing keeping me aloft, then he let
go, and I was free.

"Now run!" He laughed joyously as I began to sprint
along the fence, falling almost immediately on the
side of the fence.

I winced as the concrete came speedily closer to my
head, promising unconsciousness, or worse, but
marvelled to find that the surface that caught me was
not the rock-hard ground, but a pair of strong, gentle
arms.

"Perhaps you should practice for a while, first."
Ranma smiled at me and placed me on my feet.

***

We arrived at the Tendo Dojo early, and Ranma
immediately ushered me to their rather luxurious furo.

"You're sweating like crazy, Futaba-chan," he said as
he handed me a towel rather forcefully. "I'm sure
you'll have an easier time when you get practice, but
for now you could do with a hot soak."

With little more protesting I pushed Ranma out of the
bathroom, disrobed, gave myself a quick scrub-down,
and sank into the bath with a sigh of relief. I hadn't
had such a chance to relax since this entire mess
started!

pop...

It didn't take me long to find out what had happened.
I had changed back. At a loss for what to do, I tried
to think of something, anything exciting, and only
managed to make myself blush.

I muttered a silent expletive and wrapped a towel
about my waist, not want to appear uncovered. 

Having no other alternative, I called out for Ranma.

As I heard his voice, I opened the furo door and took
a step forward.

"Hi, Ranma."

After a rush of footsteps the door slid to reveal
Ranma, clad in black pants and covered in sweat. At
first he seemed startled, then his eyes hardened as he
took a look at me.

"I see." He carefully closed the door. "Come into the
dojo when you're dressed. I'll leave a pair of boxers
here.

He seemed to be taking things rather well, so I
hurriedly got dressed and rushed into the dojo to find
Ranma sitting there, now dry, silently looking at a
wall.

"When were you planning on telling me, Futaba?" He
didn't move at all, the only sign that he was not a
statue was the slight movement of his mouth and the
clenching of his fists.

"I'm sorry, Ranma...I-" in a flash Ranma's fist was
mere inches from my nose, Barely managing to keep my
cool, I fell to the floor.

"Don't make excuses. I almost trusted you. Almost. Do
you enjoy messing with other peoples' minds so? Do you
get high on how much you can hurt someone? It figures
that you were the first girl that I was ever
comfortable with. You're a guy. Naturally. Why can't
one damn thing make sense here!?" Ranma slowly
withdrew his still-tense fist and went back to sitting
in the middle of the dojo, eyes closed.

"You can go after we eat. I'm not going to hurt you.
Don't bother letting me know when you leave. Kasumi
will probably have dinner ready in a few minutes."

I heaved a sigh and walked out of the dojo, slinking
past Akane as she rushed past me towards Ranma.

"What the hell are you thinking, you dummy!?" The yell
startled me as walked from the dojo, having been
mostly lost in my own thoughts up until that point.

Some muffled comments failed to make it to my ears. 

"So what, Ranma? Futaba's the first person with a
curse that you've met who's not trying consistently to
kill or marry you and you blow her off because she
doesn't tell you about it on the first day you meet
her? Have you no idea what you're doing?" There was
the sound of a splash of water. "Stay that way, for
all I care."

"Get lost, you tomboy!" Ranma's angered voice, now
feminine, shocked me in its vehemence. "I trusted her!
I thought she was my friend, and yet she don't tell me
nuthin! You try having that happen to you!"

"I did, Ranma." Akane's voice, now soft and pained,
pierced the sound of the bustle around the house as it
all died off in anticipation, waiting for Ranma's next
move. "The day we met, do you remember that? You had
so many chances to tell me, but no. You had to wait
until I was suitably nude to appear in front of me. Do
you remember that?"

There was no longer any noticeable sound in the house
as Akane's angered footsteps left the vicinity of the
Dojo, running past me and leaving the front gate to
slam violently as she left the Tendo grounds.

I made my way over to the Koi pond and sat on the
boulder that nestled near it as if for that purpose.

I heard the shuffling of Ranma getting up leaving the
Dojo, barely breathing in my apprehension. Gradually
she appeared in the doorway leading out from the tea
room and sat down next to me.

"So...tell me how you fell in the spring." Ranma
didn't look directly into my eyes, but stared at the
pond that lay in front of us and clenched her fists
over and over again, seeming to take solace in the
wiry muscles that adorned her feminine knuckles.

"It's not like that for me, Ranma." I didn't have to
fight to get the control of my voice. I didn't have to
hold back tears. I just had to speak. It was so odd
that I never had to think about how easy it was to
speak before. "I'm not just a guy or a girl. I'm not
cursed. As far as I can tell, Futaba-chan and
Futaba-kun are parts of a whole of me. But they're
also the same person. I am the girl you met yesterday,
and I am the guy you see now. There is no cure for me
because I'm naturally this way."

Ranma kept her gaze away still. "But why didn't you
tell me? Of all people, I would be the most likely to
understand, don'cha think?"

"Would you, Ranma? I don't change with water, but
emotional excitement. I don't have the possibility of
ever being with a woman! Have you ever thought about
that? Have you? Did you ever think of what it would be
like to utterly lose everything that society tells you
makes you a man?" I drew my fist back as my excitement
overcame me and the change set in, raising my voice an
octave or two even as I felt the minor disorientation
that came with the change.

Finally, she looked into my eyes. "Yes. Yes I have.
Please, Futaba. Complete the motion?"

"Huh?" His sudden emotion, startling me, caused me to
allow my arm to drop.

"Hit me. Right in the face. I've been an idiot. A
jerk. Whatever Akane wants to call it, I've been that.
I knew that I would never have the possibility of
becoming a girl forever, but I did fear it. It just
hurt me, because you were so different from the other
girls-"

"I still am, to say the least." Despite myself, I let
out a laugh.

Ranma smiled weakly, and then sniffed, his smile
growing. "It smells like Kasumi's almost done cooking
dinner. You'll want to try this."

We made our way back inside to find that Akane had
already returned and that she and the Tendos already
sitting at the table. They were looking at us
expectantly over what could only be described as a
feast.

Ranma and I sat down quietly, side-by-side, and
glanced at the others around the table. Finally, Akane
cracked a satisfied grin.

***

After dinner Ranma, Akane, and I sat out on the roof
and looked at the stars, chatting idly about the
excitement of the day and comparing notes on curses
and the like.

I sat, wondering and asking, enjoying the temporary
stability of my male form as I searched the sky for
some hint of the future.

"I guess I've been having my own identity crisis,
since I got this curse." Ranma, to my right, flexed
his hands and looked at them, seeming to find
something truly interesting about them. "When I came
to the top of that pool, it was as if I was dying,
when I guess I was sorta being born. It changed
everything."

"At least you had some warning. One minute I was a
guy, and the next I was a girl. No springs, no
training. Just poof. I look at some pictures, I pass
out, and I wake up female."

Akane stood up and yawned, still maintaining her
relative silence, and slid down through the window
that led to her room.

After a while Ranma spoke. "So...what does it feel
like?"

I leaned onto my side and looked at him. "Honestly, I
have no idea. For a while I was sure I was female.
That was the night I met you. But whenever I'm calm
and in guy form I'm sure of being a guy. I don't quite
know all of the provisoes of this form-changing yet,
but I'm certain that I will have to do some major
sorting of my identity."

"You see, I never had that," Ranma's voice had an edge
in it. "I've always been a guy. No matter what, I was
always Ranma Saotome. I never liked guys, was never
even remotely attracted to them, and never will be.
The only difference for me is being a little more
physically sensitive and a little less strong. All the
same, everything seems different anyway."

I sighed with intentional gravity and finally let
loose what had been on my mind.

"Why?" Perhaps I could have phrased the question
better.

Ranma simply stared at me.

"Why do you two prolong this, when you two always hold
each other at arm's length anyway?"

Ranma got up and slipped in through his bedroom
window. "Call your parents if you want to stay here
tonight," the quiet mumble came. This conversation was
over.

***

I walked alone, towards Furinkan, the amber dawn
tickling my eyes as I casually approached the front
door nearly a half-hour early only to find Ranma
waiting there for me, fury in his eyes.

"Do you really want to know, Futaba-chan?" He began to
walk purposefully towards me, lust in his eyes, and I
likewise began to back off, afraid of what would come
of this.

"I'm a guy right now, Ranma." That didn't last, as my
nervousness brought on my conversion to female-side.

"Do you want to know why I can't love Akane,
Futaba-chan?" Ranma drew me close and enfolded me in
an iron grip, kissing me furiously.

I attempted to pull away from his mouth. "Ranma!
You're hurting me!"

Ranma obliged and loosened his grip as he tipped me
over and kissed me gently.

I finally reciprocated, felling oddly comforted, as if
I could let go with him, even as he took my shirt off
I still leaned on him, enjoying the security...

***

I awoke from the dream on the couch in the Tendo tea
room where I had stripped down and slept the night
before. After sitting up slowly and wiping the sweat
from my eyes, I felt a bit of a twisting ache across
my hips as well as pain in my back and head, and found
that Akane was standing there looking at me
quizzically.

"Are you okay, Futaba-chan?" The worry in her voice
was apparent.

I got up and rubbed the back of my head.

"I'm fine. Just a bit of a stomach ache. Why?"

She pointed to the center couch cushion, where there
was a small spot of blood.

"That's odd. I don't remember having a bloody nose..."

"That's not where your nose would have been,
Futaba-chan. Come with me." Akane seemed to be holding
back laughter, and then where I got where she was
leading me I found out why.

She placed a box in my hand. "These are pads. I'm
assuming that you wouldn't be entirely comfortable
with tampons so you can use them for now. We had this
in case Ranma's first period ever came. That never
happened and I don't think it will, so you can have
these."

I was having a hard time calming down and getting back
into male form...

"You're kidding, right? Someone spilled red dye on the
couch or something. Right!? Hey! Why were you standing
over me, anyway?" I was getting close to hysterics at
this point.

Akane looked sheepish. "You were making very weird
noises in your sleep. I couldn't even tell whether it
was a good dream or a bad dream..."

It was my turn to look sheepish. "I think it was a
good dream. I'm still sorting it out."

I quickly brushed Akane out of the bathroom so I could
place the pad into the panties I had worn to the Tendo
home, put them on, and then came out and asked Akane
where a phone might be.

"There's one near the kitchen. Feel free to use it."

I sprinted downstairs and dialed my house as quickly
as I could.

"Ugh?" The fact that the answer was utterly
inarticulate pegged the person on the other end as
Futana.

"Futana! I was bleeding when I got up this morning and
Akane said I was having my period. My insides hurt and
I feel really strange. What's going on?" I was almost
in tears by the time I took a breath.

There was simply a sigh on the other end. "Just a
minute. I'm getting dad."

"Son? I want you to calm down. You're going to be
stuck as a female for the next couple days or so,
until your period is over. It happens to all of us.
There are other side affects but I'm sure you'll find
those out." The click on the other end of the line
told me that Father had hung up as I sunk to the
floor, confused and despaired. As if this wasn't bad
enough, it was getting pretty hot, too.

"P-p-p-pretty Lady!"

Something was suddenly clamping onto my chest in what
at the time felt like the most uncomfortable way that
was possible, this lasted for about ten seconds of me
screaming and trying to pry it off and for two more
seconds as Ranma appeared, pummeled the thing as it
was still attached to me, and launched it into lower
earth orbit.

I crumpled to the floor and cried my eyes out, not
caring about whatever male dignity that I lost in
front of Ranma, not that it mattered. He was staring
at me blankly, drooling slightly and walking towards
me.

I was thanking all of the gods when the pot came
flying and hit him in the head.

"What was that..." I managed to croak out a few words
when Akane entered the room, following her well-aimed
pot.

"The first one was Happosai. You'll get used to him.
I'd suggest using mallets, as they're quite effective.
The second one was Ranma, but I've never seen him act
that way before. He's usually quite self-controlled."

"What was he doing?"

"Well. From experience with the boys at school, I'd
say he was lusting after you." Akane quirked an uneasy
smile. "Great way to start the morning, isn't it?"

I made my best effort to smile too as Akane's sisters
and their father came into the kitchen.

"What was all that racket about?" The Tendo patriarch
scanned the room until his eyes lay upon me, at which
point he began to walk towards me with arms
outstretched. "Pretty lady!"

Kasumi quickly apologized and dragged Soun Tendo out
of the kitchen, struggling the entire way.

"Does this happen to you often, Futaba-chan?" Akane's
elder sister, Nabiki, looked at me quizzically.

I shook my head confusedly. "I don't know! I mean-No!
I've only had three days experience at this!"

Nabiki made a little noise and ran to get her bag.
"Well, I guess we'd better head to school!" Akane
nodded at me and the three of us quickly left the
Tendo residence in the direction of Furinkan.

***

As we approached Furinkan, a mob of boys began to
coalesce, Kuno at the head. Akane sighed and
approached Kuno.

"What are you guys doing? I thought we already agreed
that you were going to stop attacking me!"

Kuno gave Akane a loving smile and then turned to me.

"Alas, my sweet Akane Tendo. A Lass indeed. We are
simply surveying the new wondrous goddess of Furinkan,
the green-haired Aphrodite that stands before me." We
were spared Kuno's babble by a random pinecone hitting
him in the back of the head and the late bell ringing.
For some reason, though, none of the boys moved.

Akane stared at me, and then back at the boys. "That's
odd. They've never acted this way. They usually left
me alone if there were any of them left standing when
class started.

"I apologize, Akane Tendo, for we have found one whose
beauty is even more entrancing then your own, and we
intend to fight her, and fight for her, with all of
our hearts." The dim-witted swordsman charged at me
and roared a battle cry.

The Blue Thunder became more of a boneless puddle when
I gave him a piledriver, but that's when more of the
boys decided to attack.

Five minutes later I was standing over the pile of
boys and brushing my hands off, searching for my bag
which I seemed to have dropped.

"Are you looking for this, Miss?" A barely-conscious
male voice came from beside me, sounding rather
nervous.

I turned to see a muscular man of about Ranma's age in
a yellow shirt and black pants trying to look away
from me and holding my bag towards me as if it were a
rotten tuna.

"Yes. Thank you." I took the bag from him and bowed as
politely as I could.

"You're welcome!" The boy sprinted in the opposite
direction and somehow ended up running into the main
school building, which was behind me, and knocking
himself unconscious.

I shrugged and sprinted up to my classroom and barged
into the door only to find that the classroom was
entirely female, including Ranma-chan.

"Why are you late, Miss Shimeru?" Hinako-sensei gave
me as stern a look as she could manage.

I stammered out a response as quickly as I could. "The
boys out front attacked me, and I-"

"Those delinquents!" Hinako looked very angry. "How
dare they attack a defenseless girl! I'm going to go
teach them a-"

"That's okay, Sensei." I interrupted her tirade as I
stared pointedly at the floor, hoping that my blush
would not show. "I took care of them."

"You what?" The diminutive teacher stared at me
unbelievingly.

Ranma-chan rose her hand and pointed outside, where
the pile of unconscious boys was reaching all the way
up to our third-story window.

I apologized hastily. "I'm very sorry, sensei, but
they made me so mad! I felt like I just wanted to be
alone and all they wanted to do was fight me!"

Hinako suddenly nodded sympathetically and directed me
to sit down. I promptly took my seat and wrote a note
to Ranma.

What was with you this morning? Why were you acting so
perverted? 
-Futaba

A few minutes later a note came to me, but when I
tried to read it, I could not decipher the
handwriting.

Luckily, a few minutes after that, as Hinako was still
trying to decide what to do with the class I received
another note.

Futaba,
Ranma says he didn't know what came over him.
-Akane

Soon after that came an announcement over the school's
PA system.

"Attention all da keikis! Dis is yo principal! Class
today is gonna be bein cancelled cause there be only
one a da boys in class today. Have a nice trip home!"

Akane and Ranma got up with one synchronized motion
and cheered loudly.

As I sat there dazed, thanking my lucky stars that I
wouldn't have to deal with the boys any more,
Ranma-chan tugged on my arm.

"Hey, Futaba? Wanna go to Ucchan's with Akane n' me?
We're gonna hang out for a bit."

I wanted to go with her so much, but I couldn't,
because when I looked into those sapphire eyes I
realized what had brought me through the last few
days.

But I could not admit it. Not yet.

"I'm going home. I'm tired." I avoided Ranma's eyes
and slunk out of the classroom, leaving my newfound
friends dumfounded in my wake.

***

"Are you sure?" Futana sat at the foot of my bed, a
few minutes later, and looked into my eyes
sympathetically.

I sighed and nodded plaintively.

"I can't help it, Futana. What am I going to do?"

Futana grinned. "First of all, I'd suggest avoiding
him and every other guy during your period. I'm really
sorry I didn't tell you about that, by the way. I
don't get periods, you see. Only the men do."

I gave the now cackling Futana the strongest glare I
could manage which - because of my state of exhaustion
- was quite pitiful. "That doesn't explain why dad
didn't tell me on the phone. He would have known about
the `little problem' of ejecting hundreds of times the
amount of pheromones during our period."

The only allowance Futana gave me was an innocent
shrug. "Take that up with him when he gets home,
Futaba. Either way, you've got another day or so of
this, so be ready." She strutted out of the room and
left me to the slight delirium that followed as I
tried to reconcile myself to the pain-but-not-entirely
that made me feel so alien.

Gradually I realized that, though I had wishes to do
so, sitting there would do me no good. I slung a coat
over my shoulders and sped down the stairs and out of
my house, hunting down that spot near the river where
I had carried Ranma the other day.

As I approached the bridge, a tired voice hailed me.

"I knew you'd come here. I think we should talk."

Assuming it was Ranma, I nodded to myself and sat
outside of the bridge, facing the eddies of the river
as they played among the rocks, trying to find their
way out to the ocean.

"You know. When I first found that you had something
like the Nyannichuan curse I dearly wanted to hate
you. I wanted to hit you over the tea-room table." The
laughter that reached me was bitter, pained. "I was
afraid of you. I was afraid of how you'd turn out."

I turned around ducked under the bridge to find
something unexpected. Akane.

"I was afraid, too, Akane." I tried to keep my voice
level and not show how surprised I was. "I was afraid
for you and Ranma. I was afraid that you two were
going to leave each other forever and that it was
going to be my fault, and yet the very next day you
two are back to normal, getting along fairly well and
not throwing anything at each other that can do
permanent damage." Akane half-turned to look into my
eyes, and I saw that she had been crying.

"I wanted to hurt you, and then I heard what Ranma was
doing, and realized..." She let out a slight gasp and
turned away once more.

"Realized what?" I sat down and slid in closer to
Akane.

"I've been growing to love Ranma, but, at the same
time, I've been growing to hate him." She picked up a
small pebble and skipped it a few paces into the
river, avoiding my gaze. "He can be so strong, so
caring to me. He's so wonderful when he's like that.
When everything seems that it's getting too good to be
true, though, he lets his pride get the better of
everything and ruins it all."

I stared at my knees and tossed a pebble in myself,
but failed to skip it very far. "When I first met
Ranma, I didn't know what to think. She was so
beautiful, even drenched by the rain. At that time you
had just tossed her through a wall, which also made me
feel a bit sorry for her." Akane drew her knees closer
in and buried her face in them. I mentally kicked
myself and changed the subject. "Anyway, even when I
found out that he was a, well, a he, he was still
supportive, like we had been friends for years."

"He always made fun of how tomboyish I was," Akane let
her knees go and leaned back against the underside of
the bridge. "I could never tell whether he was serious
about it or not, but it always made me so angry."

I made an attempt to break the ice with an innocent
question. "You could always try to exaggerate yourself
in the opposite direction, for him?"

Akane shrugged. "I don't know. I've tried everything,
it seems. I've cooked, cleaned, and sewed but
everything seems to come out wrong."

"I hate to sound blunt, but are you any good at any of
that?"

Akane shot me an accusing look, but immediately looked
back towards the river and laughed a bit. "Not
really."

I patted Akane on the back and carefully stood up,
feeling much better. "Keep trying, Akane. There is
good in both of you. I know you can get back
together." I quickly scuttled out from under the
bridge and made my way back home, high hopes in my
head for the next day.

***

Ranma 1/2 is the property of Rumiko Takahashi and Viz.
Futaba-Kun Change is the property of Studio Ironcat
and Hiroshi Aro.
All other characters and events are mine ^_^
lease send C&C!
>From Inu_Ranma. (Inu_Ranma@yahoo.com)

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