TWILIGHT EXISTENCE
by Scott K. Jamison
(Note: Ranma 1/2 and the related characters created by Rumiko Takahashi,
no infringement intended.)
Prologue
My first clear memory is of Jyuusenkyo. In fact, you could say I
was born there, bursting out of a watery womb, a scream coming from my
lips as I breathed air for the first time.
Ranma would tell me to cut the poetic crap.
I hauled myself out of the pool, looking around the valley. It
seemed familiar, though I didn't remember being here before. I shivered
in the chill morning air. How had I fallen in there? I couldn't
remember.
There was a man in a funny-looking uniform shouting in what I
guessed was Chinese, and some broken Japanese. Something about tragedy
and drowning and curses. Well, yes it would have been tragic if I
drowned. There was a giant panda chewing on bamboo nearby. The strange
man went over to it, and tried to nudge it to walk. He asked me to help.
Not too sure about this, was it a tame panda? I walked over.
About halfway there, I had to readjust my wet clothes. They were awfully
big on me, and looked like boy's attire. What was I doing in them? Come
to think of it, who was I? I must have amnesia from the fall, I
surmised.
Either the panda was tame, or it took a liking to me, because it
nuzzled my face and let me lead it to a hut the uniformed man indicated
to us. His speech still didn't make much sense, he was saying something
about hot water as he set a kettle on to boil.
As soon as it started steaming, he poured it out on the panda.
To my utter shock and amazement, the animal shrank and changed into a
bald middleaged fellow I was sure I'd seen somewhere before.
"You see, hot water change to normal. Now you, young sir." He
began pouring the water over me.
I blacked out, just as the words "young sir" were registering.
When I woke up, the scene had changed. We were in some Chinese
village, at least the panda and I were. The uniformed man was gone. It
was raining. I still had on the same oversized clothes.
I found a roofed clearing and led the panda in. Then I
remembered what hot water had done before. I managed to wave down a
passing woman who had a little Japanese, and asked for hot water. She
brought some by, and a couple of steamed buns, for which I thanked her.
I wondered why I was in China if I didn't speak any Chinese.
I ate a bun, and poured the hot water on the panda. It changed
into the man I'd seen. Still a bit of a shock. Somehow, he was pulling
on clothes, a white martial arts outfit and a bandana, as well as
glasses. To this day, I have not figured out where his clothes come from
and he won't tell me.
"Ranma! Thank heavens! Now your turn!" He grabbed for the
water.
"Oh, no, I'm not blacking out again, thank you. Who's Ranma?
And who are you?"
"Ranma Saotome! Don't you recognize your own father? The Guide
warned me, but I didn't believe him! What a tragedy has befallen my
son!"
So my name was Ranma Saotome. A boy's name, surely? And this
man, Genma, claimed to be my father. But surely he hadn't said "son"?
"Um, Mr. Saotome...Father...don't you mean 'daughter'? After
all, I *am* a girl." I opened my shirt just a bit, to emphasize my
point. Not too far, though. I have my modesty.
He stiffened in shock, and looked as though he were about to
cry. Then he began to explain.
According to him, I'd been born a boy, this "Ranma", and we were
martial artists on a training journey. We'd come to this place,
Jyuusenkyo, the Valley of Cursed Springs, and I'd insisted on sparring
right there. In the process, we'd pushed each other into pools that
things had drowned in a long time ago. Now whoever fell in took on the
form and mind of the original victim. He'd fallen into the Spring of
Drowned Panda, and I'd fallen into one where a girl had died.
Well, that did explain a lot, and I had seen him turn back from a
panda with my own eyes. But there were a couple of holes in his story.
"But if I have the mind of the girl that drowned, why don't I
have any of her memories?"
"I don't know. But perhaps it's for the best. I will still make
a manly man of you yet, Ranma!"
That sounded like a truly horrible idea. I didn't want to be any
kind of a man! I was so shocked I didn't realize he'd got hold of the
hot water.
The next time I woke up, I was wet again, this seemed to be what
brought me out, and was walking with the uniformed man (the Guide) and
the panda towards another village. The Guide said Joketsuzoku was known
for its many female warriors. I didn't like the sound of that. Combat
was so unfeminine!
We stopped to watch some of the women in a tournament. It looked
very dangerous. A purple-haired girl seemed to be winning. I pitied
her. No man would want to marry such a violent woman! Unfortunately, I
lost track of the panda, and soon found him gobbling up the feast that
had been spread for the winner. I was a little amazed he was eating the
meat too, I thought pandas were vegetarians...
The purple-haired girl, her name sounded like Shampoo, was very
angry. She barely accepted my apology, and it took most of Father's
money to pay for the meal. Of course once it was bought, I had some too.
The Guide suggested we wait until outside the village before changing
Father back.
He was very angry at what I'd done.
"You fool! You should have challenged her in the tournament,
since the winner got the food."
"Challenged her? Father, I don't know any martial arts. I
would've gotten creamed!"
"...'Don't know any martial arts?' But surely..." He grinned
and swung at me. I backflipped out of the way. I was very surprised.
Apparently my reflexes were quite good.
"So you haven't forgotten everything. Let's see you on the
offensive. Attack me!"
"What?"
"Attack me! Make a fist and swing!"
"I can't do that. Fighting is unladylike."
"AAHHGG! My son has become a wimp!"
"I'm not your son! I'm a girl! Can't you accept that?"
It seems he couldn't, as I was hit with hot water and blacked out
again.
This time, we were in a coastal city, and many different
languages reached my ears. It was my first time in a big city, and I
drank everything in wide-eyed. We passed through the market, and I saw
one vendor had beautiful dresses for sale. I looked down at the wet
baggy martial arts outfit I was wearing and sighed.
"Father," for he was in human form this time, "could you buy me a
dress? I need something else to wear."
He nearly choked on the mango he was eating. "Ranma! What would
you want a dress for?"
"I want to look pretty for a change. This outfit is so ugly!"
"Ranma, I know it's hard to believe, but after waking up from
being a panda a few times, I know that you do not want to put yourself in
an embarrassing position. Suppose that I did buy you that dress. Then
you got splashed with hot water and returned to being a boy. You'd die
of embarrassment!"
He did have a point there. If a girl wears boys' clothes, she's
making a fashion statement. If a boy wears girls' clothes, everyone
thinks he's a pervert. I tried to hide my disappointment.
"Besides, we don't have any money for new clothes."
Maybe so, but I promised myself one day I would wear a pretty
dress and makeup and jewelry, so there!
Then he told me we were going back to Japan, to visit his old
friend Tendou, who had a martial arts dojo. He mumbled something about
having an engagement there.
He must have poured hot water on me while I slept, because the
next thing I knew, we were in Tokyo, the Nerima part, and it was raining.
Father had turned into a panda again, but I had a map in my hand, and
soon figured out we were only a few blocks from the Tendou home. I
pulled him along as best I could.
It was a nice big house, surrounded by an actual lawn, and there
was a training hall on the grounds. I hoped the Tendous would be the
forgiving sort.
Apparently the Tendous were expecting us, because as soon as I
raised my voice to panda-Father to try and get him through a door, they
scrambled out to see us.
They were: A man about my father's age, with long hair and a
thick mustache, in a greenish gi; A very grown-up looking young woman in
an apron, and her hair in a ponytail, who looked very feminine (I liked
her already); A slightly younger girl with short hair, in jeans, who
looked a little sharp-featured; and a long-haired girl in a white gi
(great, a tomboy.) They all looked very surprised.
"Father, do you know who this is?" asked the eldest. Mr. Tendou
(I guessed) shook his head.
"Sure, shorty here and a giant panda just happened to wander in
off the street. Happens all the time." sniped the short-haired one. The
tomboy just looked angry.
"Pardon me," asked Mr. Tendou, "but who are you?"
"I'm Ranma Saotome. Sorry about this."
"Ranma! At last you've come!"
He hugged me really really hard, then pulled back all of a
sudden. He looked at me again, more carefully this time.
The short-haired girl poked me in the breast. "Dad, Ranma's a
girl."
He collapsed.
"Actually, I'd like to be called 'Ranko" instead. Yes, I'm a
girl, so you can stop poking me, um, what's your name?"
"Nabiki Tendou. This here's my sister Kasumi, the one doing
first aid on Dad; and she's Akane." She slid an arm around my shoulder.
"Father's trying to marry us to a *girl*?" asked Akane.
I stopped cold. Then "engagement" didn't mean "appointment", it
meant...
"We need to have a discussion. Do you have any hot water handy?"
As soon as I got him out of panda form, Genma Saotome was going
to explain why he'd ruined my life!
Part One
I helped Akane and Kasumi move their father to a more comfortable
position while Nabiki was fetching the water I asked for. ("Hot water?"
I heard her mumble. "Is someone pregnant?") He was stirring now, but it
was pretty obvious he was still in shock.
"Ranm--Ranko, where's your father? Daddy said you both were
coming." asked Akane.
"You'll see him in a minute or two," I replied truthfully.
Nabiki brought in the kettle. I thanked her and poured the
steaming water over the panda, who once again became Genma Saotome. The
Tendou sisters gave gasps of surprise, and I couldn't resist a triumphant
"tah-dah!"
"Ranma, did we make it to the Tendou house?"
"Yes, Father. Now would you explain what the big idea is about
engaging me to another girl? Well?"
Mr. Tendou sat up. "Yes, Saotome, do explain. You quite
specifically told me you had a son." He didn't look too happy.
"Ranma *is* my son! He's under a curse, here, I'll show you."
He made a grab for the kettle, but I danced back, keeping it out of
reach.
"Oh no you don't! You're not putting me to sleep again!"
"Sleep? Curse? Will one of you please explain?" Mr. Tendou
looked terribly confused.
"If he pours hot water on me, I black out."
"It's the curse! Cold water makes my son think he's a girl."
"Darn good impression of one too." quipped Nabiki.
"I don't *think* I'm a girl, I *am* one! And I'm tired of you
acting like I'm some sort of embarrassment!" Tears started coming, I was
so angry.
"Don't cry Ranko, it's going to be all right." said Kasumi,
pulling me towards her, not quite hugging me.
"Ranko?" Father looked stunned.
"Ranma's too much a boy's name. Ranko's what I want to be
called."
"I won't have it!" he roared, and managed to get the kettle away
from me. I cowered as the hot splashing sent me away.
I woke up in a pond behind the Tendou house, sopping wet as
usual. I was really beginning to hate this. It was dark out now. As I
walked back to the house, Father came sailing past me into the pond,
where he turned into a panda again.
I was still angry with him, so I kept on walking.
Akane stood in the doorway, breathing heavily. She looked at me,
eyes filled with rage and pity.
"Your father is a jerk! My father is a jerk! And Ranma is an
especially BIG jerk!" She spun on her heel and went upstairs.
Mr. Tendou was back on his feet, but still looked a bit shaky.
"Sorry about that, Ranma, she's very high-spirited girl. But I'm sure
you two will be very happy together." He went out to the yard.
"Um...what did I miss?"
"We met Ranma, the boy version that is," answered Nabiki, "and
found out about Jyuusenkyo and what it did to you folks. Pretty scary
stuff. Then Dad decided that we should go ahead with the engagement
anyway."
"What `engagement anyway'?"
"Oh, that's right, you don't remember. It seems that Uncle
Saotome and our father were students together and became very good
friends. They made a vow that their children would get married to join
the families." Kasumi explained.
"But I'm a--"
"Well, actually, Ranma didn't seem to like the idea much either,
but then there was some hooha about `family honor'. So Akane got picked
to be the lucky girl."
"She didn't look too happy about it."
"Oh, she and Ranma got into a fight about some silly thing or
another, so she threw him out of the house. And Uncle Saotome for good
measure. My, look at him playing with Father and that tire. He's
adorable!"
"Then let him stay that way for a while."
"You don't like your father much, do you, Ranko?" asked Nabiki.
I had to think about it for a moment. I hadn't done much
thinking, just reacting. "I guess I don't. Every time I see him, he's
trying to get rid of me. He seems to think I'm some sort of monster
that's taken over his son."
"And how do you feel about Ranma?" asked Kasumi.
"I...I don't know what to think of him. I don't even know what
he looks like."
"Oh. Well," said Nabiki, "he looks a lot like you, but taller,
and he's a boy of course. Same pigtail, but his hair isn't as glossy.
Could easily pass for your brother. Next time he's around, I'll take a
picture for you."
"Really? But then I guess he *is* my brother in a way." I
shivered as a draft came in.
"Oh my. We should get you out of those wet clothes before you
catch cold. A nice hot bath will--"
"No! No hot water!"
"That's right, hot water turns you back into Ranma. He doesn't
like blacking out either."
"Tough. He had sixteen years of life; I've been awake...umm..."
I counted up "...less than a whole day! It's my turn."
"All right, we'll see about at least getting you dry though."
Kasumi was a good as her word, drying me off with big fluffy
towels in the bathroom's changing room. It felt so good to be dry for a
change! I also got my first good look at myself in the mirror. I was a
pretty girl, if I do say so myself, with cute features and a busty
figure. The pigtail made me look a bit young, but that was okay.
Nabiki came in. "Akane's still sulking in her room and won't
open her door. You'd better talk to her, Sis. So I got one of my
nightgowns instead. Remember, Ranko, this is just a loaner. I'll want
it back."
Nabiki's taller than I am, so it was too large for me, dragging
on the floor. But still, it was the first nice--and dry--thing I'd ever
worn. I twirled around to get the feel of it.
"Thanks Nabiki! It's so pretty!" I stopped to look at myself in
the mirror again. "Do you think boys will like me?"
"You're gonna knock 'em dead, kid."
Kasumi just smiled.
"I should get a picture of you to show Ranma too" said Nabiki,
holding up her camera.
So I posed, and then she wanted a couple more shots just to make
sure. During the fourth pose, I started yawning.
Kasumi looked at me. "Why Ranko, you're half-dead on your feet.
Bedtime for you, young lady."
"But I can't be *yawn* sleepy yet!" I protested. "I haven't had
enough time!"
"Ranma's been up all day," pointed out Nabiki. "Apparently it
carries over."
"It's not fair. I want to be awake!" I whined like a small
child.
"Don't worry Ranko. I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot of
you."
Kasumi showed me to a guest room, arranged a futon and blankets,
and tucked me in, all in what seemed like one fluid motion. She can be
very efficient when she wants.
"I'll look in on you again when I've settled Akane. Okay?"
"Okay." I wondered if this was what it was like to have a
mother. I wondered if I did have a mother. I'd have to ask in the
morning. I suppose Kasumi came back, but I really was tired, and was
asleep soon. Doing it naturally was a lot nicer than blacking out.
My awakening was the usual rude one, though.
I was out on the street with Akane, who was wearing a bluish
dress and carrying a schoolbag. I had one in my hand too, so I guessed
it was her school uniform. I was back in Ranma's red and black outfit,
wet as usual.
"Are we going to school?" I asked, just to make sure.
"Of course we--oh, right. Hi, Ranko. Yes, Fuurinkan High. But
we'd better stop on the way and get you turned back."
"Do we have to? I just woke up."
"Ranma's the one registered, and it'll be as a boy, so he should
be the one to arrive, I think." She giggled. "You should have heard him
grousing this morning about waking up in Nabiki's nightgown! Uncle
Saotome nearly tore it off of him."
"Are you okay with him now? You were pretty upset last night."
"Yes, well...it wasn't entirely Ranma's fault. He's been under a
lot of strain because of his blackouts and your father's reaction to the
curse, and then he gets engaged to a girl he doesn't even know! Add in
that I don't much like boys and have a bit of a temper...It wasn't a good
first meeting for either of us."
"I guess not. But are *we* engaged?"
"I dunno. I don't think our fathers can legally *force* Ranma
and me to marry, and I'm pretty sure same-sex marriages are illegal in
Japan. So I'd say we weren't engaged, though Daddy and Uncle Saotome
might have other opinions. Oh, here's Doctor Tofu's."
The sign said that Dr. Toufuu Ono practiced shiatsu, moxibustion,
bonesetting and other traditional medical arts. While Akane asked the
housekeeper for some hot water, I looked around the office. I nearly
jumped out of my skin when a bony hand fell on my shoulder from behind.
"Good morning."
"Yeek!"
"Oh, did I startle you Miss? I'm Doctor Toufuu and this is my
skeleton Betty." He made the skeleton wave hello. The doctor was a
friendly-looking man somewhere in his thirties. He had on an informal
kimono and wore round glasses. He smiled so nicely I relaxed again.
"May I help you, Miss?"
"No thank you, Doctor, I'm just waiting for someone."
"Yes? Oh, hello, Akane."
She'd come out of the kitchen with a kettle. She lowered her
eyes a bit.
"Good Morning, Doctor."
"Are you in need of my services today? Any injuries?"
She swayed a bit and kicked one of her feet. "Um, no, I don't--I
mean I haven't done anything like that lately. We just needed some hot
water."
I wasn't sure, but Akane sounded different when she talked to Dr.
Toufuu.
"Haha! Well, I won't keep you then. Have fun at school." He
went into his inner office.
"This Dr. Toufuu..." I began.
"Oh, he's the family doctor. He's been fixing my scrapes and
bruises since I was little."
"You're sweet on him, aren't you?"
"Oh, just pour the water."
"Myself?"
"Ranma will appreciate the gesture, I hope."
"He'd better." I lifted the kettle and it was lights out.
Lights on, and I was riding the panda in the rain, hanging on for
dear life. Akane opened a door, and I steered us in. It was a small
outbuilding, I guessed on the school grounds.
"What in the world? *owch*" as I realized the side of my neck
hurt. Felt like a bad bruise.
"I guess Ranma underestimated Upperclassman Kunou."
"Who's he?"
"His full name is Tatewaki Kunou, but no one ever uses his given
name. He's the captain of the kendo team and kind of the big man on
campus. He has a big crush on me, unfortunately. When I turned him down
for the umpteenth time, he declared no boy could date me unless they
defeated me in combat first."
"And they let him get away with that?"
"Like I said, he's big man on campus, plus he said he's thrash
anyone who tried to get around it. And since I'm the only kid in school
who can take him in a fight..."
I was right! A violent tomboy. Though under the circumstances,
she had a right to defend herself.
"So this morning, the boys attacked me as usual, be glad you
missed it, it was a real mob scene, and I stomped them, same as always.
Ranma made some flippant remark, then Upperclassman Kunou showed up and
took offense at Ranma being so `familiar' with me. Before I knew it,
they were about to have a duel right there!
"Just as they got going, the rain started. I guess your father
must have followed us to school, and snatched you away just in time."
"First nice thing he's done for me. Thanks, Father." I told the
panda.
Akane eyed him. "Actually, I think he was just afraid people
would see you."
She held up another kettle.
"Rain's stopped for now, so back to boy."
"Couldn't I just go to school instead of Ranma?"
"As soon as we brought your father back to normal, he'd object.
And no, we can't just leave him like that, much as we might like to."
"Okay, but this is absolutely the last time today. The next
time, I'm not changing! Off.
To Be Continued....
SKJAM!
"I've been cheated, been mistreated, wh-en will ah-I be loved?"
TWILIGHT EXISTENCE
by Scott K. Jamison
(Takahashi disclaimer)
Part Two
On again, underwater. I stroked for the surface, and was about
to break it, when I was grabbed from behind. Whoever it was squeezed my
breast really hard, so much it actually hurt! While I'm not normally
violent, a girl's allowed to defend herself against that sort of thing,
so I elbowed the creep off of me.
Turned out I was in the school swimming pool. You'd think Ranma
would learn to avoid that kind of thing if he didn't like blacking out.
The pervert was a tall guy in kendo gear minus the armor, floating face
down. Fortunately, he rolled over and breathed, so I didn't have to try
and haul him out.
I walked back into the school, looking for Akane. She met me
near the door.
"I guess Ranma just wasn't fated to be in school today." she
admitted with a slightly exasperated look.
"I'll take notes for him." I promised.
The teacher was curious as to why I was now sitting at Ranma's
desk, but seemed reasonably satisfied with Akane's explanation that I was
Ranma's sister and would fill in for him until he got back from where
he'd had to go.
It was nearly the end of the period when the door slammed open
and the pervert from the pool walked in, bokken in hand.
"Where is the treacherous coward Ranma Saotome?"
The teacher replied, "The bell has not rung, Mister Kunou. There
are still three minutes left in this class."
"My mission is of great import, and I will not brook delay. I
ask again, where is the coward?"
Akane was about to speak, but I beat her to it. "Ranma is *not*
a coward."
"And what would you know of such matters, fair flower?" Pompous
as all get out, but a real smooth talker.
"I'm Ranko Saotome, Ranma's sister."
"What is this? Such a beautiful maiden related to that defiler
of women? But if he be not coward, then whence has he gone? For he has
twice vanished when I, Tatewaki Kunou, the Blue Thunder of Fuurikan High,
rising star of--"
Boy sure loved to hear himself talk, so I interrupted.
"He had to leave on urgent affairs. But we're very close. So
close that what you do to him, you do to me." I lowered my collar so he
could see the bruise on my neck.
"Say it is not so, pig-tailed girl! Like unto the Corsican
brothers, harm to him is harm to you?" He was handsome when he looked
concerned.
"Exactly."
"But yet I must still satisfy my honor!"
"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get another chance to fight Ranma.
Just keep the consequences in mind."
He left, trying to find a way out of the dilemma.
The bell rang, and Akane came over.
"I'm very impressed that you stood up for Ranma that way."
"Yes, well, I don't know much about Ranma yet, but I couldn't let
him be called a coward when it was on account of me he vanished."
The rest of the school day went pretty smoothly. Akane
introduced me to some of the other girls; the boys introduced themselves.
One named Hiroshi was especially persistent. I flirted with them a bit,
but Akane rather unsubtly kept things from getting too serious.
As I was leaving, one of the teachers told me it would be better
if I wore a uniform like the other girls. I promised I would if my
father let me. Of course that would probably be when apples grow on ivy
trees.
Akane took me straight home, so I could see the whole route.
Kasumi intercepted us at the door, so we avoided the living room,
where our fathers were playing shogi. Upstairs, Kasumi showed us what
she'd done to my room. There was a sign on the door now, a yin/yang
symbol that read "Ranma & Ranko". Akane thought it was appropriate. The
duck nameplate on her door was apparently due to an old family joke.
Inside, Kasumi had labeled three shelves "Ranma", "Ranko" and
"Both." The closet was divided the same way. My shelf had a small
makeup kit on it, Ranma's a shaving kit.
"I don't think Ranma shaves yet, but I didn't want to play
favorites." The "Both" shelf had some generic toiletries. Since we were
the same person, we might as well share our toothbrush.
She'd also fixed up a pair of bright yellow pajamas to be
adjustable. "this way, you'll have something to sleep in, whichever way
you are. Later, we'll go shopping and get you some personal things."
I thanked Kasumi for all the nice things. She went to finish
supper, and I looked at the makeup case. I just had to try it out!
Lipstick and mascara and eyeshadow and rouge and some stuff I wasn't too
clear on, but tried anyway.
I found Akane and Nabiki studying in Nabiki's room. I've noticed
that Nabiki is always eating. Not a lot at a time, but constant
snacking. When she saw me, she spat out her potato chips and started
laughing at me. Akane tried hard to stifle her giggles, but she was
amused too.
"What?" I asked. "Don't these shades go together?"
"Ha-ha-have you ever put on makeup before, Ranko?" asked Nabiki,
trying to return to her usual straight face.
"Well...no, but since I'm a girl, I should be able to, right?"
She steered me to a mirror. I looked awful, like a half-painted
clown!
"It takes practice to put makeup on properly," explained Akane,
"and since you seem to have Ranma's general knowledge, I'll bet he's
never put on makeup either."
She showed me how to remove makeup, something else I hadn't
known, and she and Nabiki helped me do it right.
"The trick," said Nabiki, "is to use just enough to enhance your
face, rather than call attention to itself."
We were called down to supper. As soon as Father saw me, he
exploded.
"Ranma! Why are you wearing makeup? That's for girls! I didn't
raise you to be a sissy."
"I'm Ranko, Father, Ranko! I *am* a girl. Don't you want your
daughter to look pretty?"
He threw his miso soup on me. Blackout time again.
I woke up to Dr. Toufuu's smiling face, and only a little wet
this time. I also wasn't wearing a shirt, so I quickly crossed my arms
to cover myself.
"Good afternoon, Ranko. You've been brought in for a physical.
Is this your first time?"
I nodded. Everything was a first time for me.
"I realize you might be a little nervous, so I'll have Akane come
in to keep you company, okay?"
"Okay." I would've preferred Kasumi, but I learned later that
would have been a bad idea. I was soon very grateful for Akane being
there though, because parts of the exam were very embarrassing. While he
poked and prodded, the doctor asked about my life so far, and gave me a
quick anatomy lesson. He gave me a pamphlet to read later on female
biology, just in case I needed more information.
Eventually, he told me I could put back on my clothes, and
stepped out. I breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "What happened?"
"Let's see," said Akane, "you were up last at supper, right?
Uncle Saotome yelled at Ranma for wearing makeup, Ranma was embarrassed
to find out he really *was* wearing makeup, but refused to wipe it off
before he got a chance to eat. Ranma has quite an appetite. He and your
father were snatching food back and forth from each other like starving
dogs!
"Then Ranma got mad at me for putting makeup on him. That
would've been another fight, but Nabiki managed to convince him he'd have
been worse off with that first mess on his face.
"Today Ranma actually made it all the way through school without
getting wet. He and Kunou finally had their matchup. Ranma won, but I
wonder if Kunou wasn't holding back just a bit because of what you told
him."
"Could be. He seemed to have some sense of honor, though groping
me in the pool wasn't very nice."
"He thought you were Ranma. It's an easy mistake."
"There is no Ranko!" came an angry voice from the next room. My
father. We moved closer to the door to eavesdrop.
"Mr. Saotome, please calm yourself." came the measured tones of
Dr. Toufuu. "I'll explain again in layman's terms. When the curse is
active, all of Ranma's personal information--the memories that make him
uniquely Ranma--is blacked out. It's kind of a magical amnesia. The
resulting person was a blank slate, like a newborn child who somehow had
a junior high education. Since the female body is the only one she
knows, it's natural to her, and she's built her identity around it. Thus
her choosing the name Ranko."
"This is a disaster! My son cursed with the mind of a woman!
Isn't there anything you can do?"
"I've looked at the literature, and there's no known cure for the
effects of Jyuusenkyo. And some of the attempted cures...let's just say
the results make your current situation look like paradise."
"There must be someone who can help!"
"*You* can help, Mr. Saotome. You can help by accepting that you
have, for all intents and purposes, two children now, a son and a
daughter, who happen to share the same physical space. *Both* your
children need your love and support now. And their mother should be
notified."
"NO! I mean, Mrs. Saotome is unavailable at present. I'll have
to handle this myself."
"Unavailable?" What did that mean? If he'd meant dead, he would
have said so, right? At least now I knew I had a mother, even if she was
out of the country or something.
Their voices got low, then we heard Dr. Toufuu coming back.
Akane and I rushed back to the examining table, but he could tell we'd
been listening. He just smiled.
"I'm happy to say that aside from your...condition...both you and
Ranma are amazingly healthy specimens. Barring any surprises in the
blood tests, you both get a clean bill of health. However--" he started
scribbling on a note pad, "I'll send a note to your school excusing you
from taking showers or swimming, since those activities could cause some
embarrassment."
"Thank you, Doctor." It would be really embarrassing to wake up
in the boys' shower at that. Possibly even dangerous.
Akane and I made our farewells, Akane dragging it out just a bit,
and went into the waiting room. My father was there, holding a kettle.
I was beginning to have a dread of those things.
"I need to talk to Ranma."
"No." I snatched the kettle away, careful not to spill it. "You
can talk to me."
He struggled to contain his anger.
"Please." I could see how painful uttering that word was to him.
"I *need* to talk to my son." He sounded sincere.
"All right, but only after you talk to me."
His shoulders slumped, and he pressed his hands into fists
several times.
"Akane, could you leave us?" She left, but reluctantly.
"This is difficult to say...I dedicated my life to teaching Ranma
the martial arts. I saw a promise in him, that he could become one of
the greats, a man among men. He was doing so well, I knew he would be
manly, thanks to my instruction. But now...it's all gone sour."
"That was all you wanted Ranma to be? A manly martial artist?
You didn't have room for anything else?"
"It would have been enough. All other needful things would have
followed. Look, I don't know how to talk to a daughter. I never had
one, never expected one--"
"Never *wanted* one?" I'd hit another nerve than I'd expected; I
saw it in his eyes, a look of guilt.
"There was once--but no, the past is gone. It seems I have a
daughter now, like it or not. Welcome to the family...Ranko."
"Thank you for your welcome." It was a start, anyway.
"May I talk to Ranma now?" I nodded and poured the water.
I was at the side of the school, in Ranma's outfit, sopping wet.
I heard a voice from above, "You should be more careful where you dump
things! Suppose someone had been outside?"
It was approximately lunchtime (my stomach was growling.) Around
the corner came Kunou, again in kendo garb.
"Ranma Saotome, base jackanapes! Show yourself that I might give
you the thrashing you deserve!" He screeched to a halt when he saw me.
"Od's bodkins! 'Tis the pig-tailed girl! How fare you, Ranko
Saotome?"
"I'm fine, Upperclassman Kunou."
"Hast seen thy brother? He has once again eluded my grasp."
"He had to leave again. I'm sure you'll be seeing him."
Kunou turned as if to leave, but spun back.
"It has struck me, as a bolt from the blue, that while your
impertinent brother enshackles the lovely Akane Tendou in an unwanted
engagement, I know nothing of your own arrangements. Are you engaged
also?"
"Um, actually I'm not seeing anyone right now."
"Splendid! Then will I grace you with my presence on a date!
Would Saturday night be acceptable, my lily of the valley?" Fast worker
a little too fast. Sure he was handsome, but the way Akane talked about
him made him seem awfully possessive. And he wanted to thrash my other
half, which wasn't good for my health.
"I barely know you, Upperclassman. And I don't know if my father
will allow me to date yet." True enough, and I suspected my father would
choke at the very thought.
"I see. Very well, I shall delay my suit until you have
consulted with your father. Fare well until we do meet again." This
time he left for real.
Unfortunately, lunch period was over, so I had to attend all the
afternoon classes hungry.
To Be Continued....
SKJAM!
"Only the lonely, know the ache I feel inside..."
TWILIGHT EXISTENCE
by Scott K. Jamison
(standard disclaimer)
Part Three
My tummy was growling something fierce by the time Kasumi met
Akane and me after school. Nabiki had "business" to take care of; when I
asked what kind of business, Akane just looked embarrassed, so I dropped
the subject.
We stopped at an ice cream shop to take the edge off my hunger.
It's very hard to eat like a lady when your stomach is screaming "send
food now!" But I controlled myself and took dainty licks. Akane was
looking at me funny, but turned away when I looked back. Kasumi and I
chatted about my day in school.
Our next stop was a large discount store. There were so many
pretty things! I dashed from rack to rack, looking for the cutest
dresses.
"Oh, this is pretty! Do you think these would look cute on me?
Mauve blouse and chartreuse skirt...is that a bit much?"
Suddenly I realized there was a sort of bluish glow around Akane,
and she had a snarl on her face. "Stop it, Ranko! Just stop it!"
People turned and stared. I was scared of Akane.
"I'm sorry, Akane! I didn't mean to--what did I do?"
The glow died down a little as she looked me in the eye. "You
really don't know? Then it's not deliberate?"
"What's not deliberate?"
"The high-pitched voice, the overdone feminine gestures and
poses, your obsession with `cute' and `pretty' and `ladylike', all that
stuff! It's like you're some kind of parody of a girl made up of all the
stereotypes of someone who'd never met one!"
"But...this is the way I've always been."
Kasumi stepped in. "I've noticed that when Mr. Saotome turns
into a panda, he doesn't really act like a wild panda, but more like one
that was trained by a circus or something."
"That's right!" I answered. "I remember thinking it was tame
because it followed me so easily."
"And," said Kasumi, "I'd suspect that Mr. Saotome hasn't seen
many real wild pandas. Just ones in circuses and zoos."
"That's where most people see pandas nowadays." admitted Akane.
"Now, from what Ranma was telling us earlier, when he was in
school, it was all-boys' schools, and his father raised him alone. I
don't want to be harsh on Mr. Saotome, but some of his views on women are
rather old-fashioned, and he's passed them on to his son."
Akane nodded. "I noticed. Boy, have I noticed."
"So when Ranko was `born', the only instructions she had on `how
to be a girl' were the ones in Ranma's general knowledge. And since
Ranma doesn't know much about girls..."
"Ranko has faulty instructions!"
"Um...are you saying that I'm not really a girl after all?"
"Oh my. Not at all! It's just that right now, you're working
with a very narrow and somewhat skewed definition of what a girl is and
how she should act. As you get some more experience, you'll see which
things are really important, and which are just silly cliches to be
tossed away. Sometimes rigid male/female categories just aren't
appropriate. Oh, and that blouse and skirt definitely do not match."
Now that Akane was calmer, we continued shopping. Looking back
now, I can admit I had atrocious tastes in fashion, but at the time I
rather resented the way Akane vetoed most of the things I liked. We
ended up buying three rather plain sets of skirts and blouses that all
went well together so I could switch them off and create the illusion of
a larger wardrobe.
I had freer choice of lingerie, though Akane warned me Ranma
would go ballistic if he woke up in some of the frillier items. A pair
of nice shoes (no high heels yet) and a small pair of clip-on earrings
(piercing was out of the question as long as I was sharing a body)
rounded out the ensemble.
We also picked up some clothes for Ranma, Kasumi having got his
sizes beforehand.
Then we stopped to pick up some takeout chicken so Kasumi
wouldn't have to cook supper. She likes cooking, loves it really, but
even she needs a break now and then. Especially when at the time, she
was the only one in the house who knew how. Then it was back to home.
Yes, I was thinking of it as home by now.
As we gathered at the table, I showed off one of my new outfits.
Nabiki and Mr. Tendou made appreciative noises. Father gritted his teeth
and grabbed the table with white-knuckled hands. I felt a twinge of
sympathy; this was obviously not easy for him.
After dinner, Nabiki let me know there was mail waiting upstairs.
On my shelf lay a bouquet of red roses with a scroll attached,
and a small envelope. The flowers were from Kunou. His writing style
was even more stilted than his speech, but the gist of the note was that
he was looking forward to dating me. He seemed quite certain I would
accept, and, yes, assumed I'd rushed right home to beg Father for
permission.
I was somewhat torn. The roses were a very romantic, if somewhat
extravagant, gesture, and it would be nice to have a date. But Kunou's
assumption that I would fall right into his arms rankled a bit. And
there was the fact that I was...what was a good word for it?...naive
about some things. I decided I should ask Nabiki more about him, since
they seemed to be in the same grade.
The smaller envelope had a photograph inside of a very handsome
boy with his hair in a pigtail, wearing a red silk shirt I was all too
familiar with. So this was Ranma. He looked a decent enough sort, but
perhaps that was just the family resemblance. I unfolded the letter.
[Dear--What do I call you?] it began. [Little Sister, Ranko-chan,
Hey You? Um...Dear Ranko, I guess. Akane says I should write this so we
can start thinking of each other as real people. I guess she has a
point. Up till now, you've been sort of this big blank spot in my life
that other people tell me about. Nabiki gave me a picture of you, so I'm
keeping it in front of me as I write. You do look kind of cute, cuter
than that tomboy anyway.
[What do you say to the sister you've never met? Some of the
basics, I guess. I'm sixteen years old, and I've been learning martial
arts from my father most of that time. In fact, I can't remember a time
when I wasn't on the road with Pops, just stopping long enough to get
some schooling. I don't really have any other hobbies, though I'm good
at most sports.
[Before all this happened, Pops was talking about me entering
tournaments soon, making a name for myself. Now he just seems to want to
get me married off as quickly as possible. It's really irritating. I
was just starting to look forward to dating and finding out what kind of
girls I like, and now I'm engaged to one I barely know!
[I suppose Akane ain't the worst girl in the world, but she's so
angry all the time! And I don't hardly do anything to deserve it,
really. Maybe if we didn't have this stupid engagement pressuring
us...After all, she is kinda cute when she smiles.
[Hoping to hear from you, Ranma]
I looked at his picture again. I tried to imagine him talking.
What did he sound like? I pictured him as a little rough around the
edges, but brave and strong. And very irritating. I found a piece of
paper and began writing.
[Dear Ranma,
[Thank you for writing. I am very happy to hear from you.
[I've only been awake a few days, so I'm not sure what I want to
do yet. Especially since it seems some of my impulses aren't necessarily
the right ones.
[You're quite handsome. We don't look much like Father, do we?
I guess we take after Mother. Do you know anything about her? Father
told Dr. Tofu she was "unavailable", whatever that means.
[Yes, I've noticed Akane is kind of irritable. Just try to be
pleasant and explain things calmly. You might also try apologizing if
whatever set her off is remotely your fault.
[Upperclassman Kunou, the one you've been fighting, wants to date
me. I'm not sure about him, so what do you think?
[Sincerely, Ranko.]
I put the letter up on Ranma's shelf, along with one of Kunou's
roses. No sense wasting them. I brought the rest down to Kasumi, who
put them in water.
After that, I did some homework. Just because we were a split
personality was no reason we should fall behind at school.
I knocked on Nabiki's door and she let me in.
"What can I do you for, Ranko?"
"I'd like to know more about Upperclassman Kunou, please."
"Sure. Smile for the camera." She took a couple of pictures.
"Well... Kunou's not really a bad person, but he's a little off in the
head. Half of the time he thinks he's living in a samurai movie where
he's the brave hero protecting his warrior maiden love. The rest of the
time he goes for other girls. For the past year or so, he's been fixated
on Akane--and whichever other girl catches his fancy for a few days.
He's absolutely sincere in loving two girls at once, at least for a
while. And right now he's got his eye set on you."
"You know about that?"
"I happen to have an excellent information network, kiddo. That,
and Kunou asked me to deliver the roses while raving about his
`pig-tailed goddess.'"
"Oh."
"If you date him, he is generous, you won't lack for pretty
things as long as he's interested. But don't be surprised if he dumps
you for the next pretty face that comes along. Only Akane seems to stick
in his mind so far."
"Um, thanks, Nabiki."
"No problem. One more for the road, okay?" She really seemed to
like taking pictures.
At this point I realized that if I wanted Ranma to answer my
letter promptly, I'd have to let him read it. So I took a pair of his
trousers to the changing room, rinsed off and slipped into a hot bath.
Too bad I couldn't enjoy it myself.
I woke up still in the bathroom, no, *back* in the bathroom,
judging by the light. Ranma had left a set of his clothes in the change
room, along with another letter.
[Morning!] it read.
[We'll work out what's best for us, I guess.
[Mom's alive? Come to think of it, Pops never did actually tell
me she was dead. I just sort of assumed it after a while. I'll see if I
can squeeze any news out of him.
[Kunou? You gotta be kidding me! If you've got to date someone,
and I really wish you wouldn't, try and at least make it someone I can
stand. Just thinking about that guy makes my skin crawl.
[Anyhow, I figure it's your turn to arrive at school in the
morning. Wake me up at lunch, and I'll take notes on the afternoon
classes.
[Hang tough, Ranma.]
I dressed in the baggy clothing (at least it was dry) and went
down to breakfast. As I was eating, I got an idea. I got up, scribbled
a message on a piece of paper, folded it, and handed it to Father.
"What's this then?"
"I'm going to ask you a question, but I don't want you to get
angry or upset. Instead, just say what's written there, okay?"
"Is this some kind of trick, bo--girl?"
"Yes, but trust me, please. Now there's a boy at school,
Upperclassman Kunou, who's in Nabiki's grade. He's asked to date me--"
Father's frown was turning into a grimace.
"--and I told him I would need your permission to start dating.
May I?" and I pointed to the paper. He scanned it and looked somewhat
relieved.
"`I do not think you are ready to start dating boys, Ranko.
Perhaps when you have more experience dealing with them.'" He was still
frowning, but not nearly as much.
"Thank you, Father." And I kissed him on the cheek.
He felt his cheek as I rushed after Akane out the door. I
remember he looked...puzzled.
Kunou was waiting at the gate to the school. "I, Tatewaki Kunou,
Blue Thunder of Fuurikan High, do challenge you, Ranma--Where's Ranma?"
"He'll be in this afternoon, Upperclassman. I'll be taking his
morning notes."
"Ah, the lovely Akane Tendou is accompanied by the equally
beautiful Ranko Saotome today! What bliss! I shall gladly take both--"
"My father said `not yet', Upperclassman Kunou."
"Eh? Does he not know who I am?"
"Perhaps not. But the answer is still no."
Akane put in, "And I wouldn't date you at all, even if my father
*did* approve it!" Then she pushed him out of our way.
He sat there in the dirt, mumbling something about "hard to get."
At lunch, Kunou came up to the circle of girls Akane and I were
sitting in, carrying what looked like a bundle of pink cloth. It turned
out to be a doll with blonde hair.
"I have something serious to ask you" he said as he thrust it at
me.
"What's that?"
"It is a cute little dolly. And my question is, are you certain
you told your father exactly who you intended to date?"
The doll was awfully tempting. My instinct said "you *love*
dolls!" But something else told me, "watch out! If you take it, he'll
want something in return..."
"I gave Father all the information he needed. Really, you don't
need to bring presents to someone who isn't going to be dating you."
"I insist you take it. A thing of beauty is a joy forever, and
if I cannot yet taste your sweet lips, then I must console myself with my
other love, sweet Ak--" Akane punched him out. I was beginning to
appreciate that being a tomboy was not necessarily a bad thing.
After lunch, Akane found a kettle, and I went away.
That night, Ranma and I had a "discussion" by way of pen, paper,
and a large supply of hot and cold water. We decided to trade off school
days, and negotiate the weekends. That way, I could wear a uniform on my
days (there wasn't too much danger of accidental transformation for me.)
Since I didn't want to practice martial arts, we picked
gymnastics as a hobby for me to stay in shape. I was really quite good
at it, I found.
I also began cooking lessons from Kasumi. Though Ranma claimed
otherwise, apparently we already had some training in field cookery, and
I soon began to be able to follow recipes.
Life settled into a pattern...for all of a week.
To Be Continued....
SKJAM!
"History shows us again and again how nature points out the folly of
man."
(Scene: Scott's apartment. Scott, Ranma and Akane are sitting
around with packed luggage nearby.)
Ranma: So what's this Thanksgiving stuff about?
Scott: It's an American custom. We set aside one day each year to be
grateful for what we have. Especially us religious types.
Akane: What are you grateful for, Scott?
Scott: I'm still alive, for starters. I have a decent family that got a
little larger this year, I've mostly been employed and on decent jobs,
and I made some new friends. You guys.
Ranma: So this means we have to listen to your Uncle Helmar praying at
great length again?
Scott: Nah, he's going to Montana this year. Probably my Gramma Fish
will lead the prayer. Oh, did I mention the custom of having a really
huge meal of favorite foods?
Ranma: All right! Now that I can be truly thankful for!
Akane: That means lots of cooking! I'll be glad to help!
Ranma: Umm...Akane...it's supposed to be a joyous occasion?
Akane: Relax! I just got back from Ranma Flambe! I should be able to
remember the recipes.
Ranma: If you say so. So, Scott, when your sister coming to pick us up?
Scott: Another hour or so.
Akane: So how about another chapter of Worse?
Scott: No can do. Still waiting for the fight choreography. How about
Twilight Existence instead?
Ranma: But I don't even get an onstage appearance in that one!
Akane: That's the one where the Jyuusenkyo springs alter minds as well
as bodies, right?
Scott: Yes. So Ranma's female form is in effect an entirely different
person who calls herself Ranko.
Ranma: Not that it seems to have made much difference yet. I'm still
engaged to Akane, I'm still fighting Kunou...
Akane: You're still a jerk...
Ranma: Hey! You weren't so thrilled with Ranko either.
Akane: At least she has an excuse.
Ranma: But me and Ranko did start communicating, which is probably a
good thing.
TWILIGHT EXISTENCE
by Scott K. Jamison
(Takahashi disclaimer)
Part Four
It is not true that I'm smarter than Ranma. We have the same
brain, after all. But I can see where people might think so. Ranma was
brought up to believe that the best solution to any problem was to smash
it physically. When that doesn't work, he's at a bit of a loss. I,
conversely, got saddled with the rather sexist instinct that women should
never be physically aggressive or violent. So my first impulse is
usually to talk my way out of bad situations, even when fighting would be
better. But talking looks smarter than fighting to most people, so there
you are.
The Tendou family was getting tired of explaining everything
twice to us, so we started keeping a diary. It became part of our
standard equipment, along with the umbrella Ranma carried to ward off at
least some changes, and the thermos of hot water. Well, at least he was
*supposed* to carry them. He wasn't when the next important incident
happened.
I woke up on the street, unable to move my legs.
"It's okay for a girl to carry a girl, right?" Akane asked.
"Sure, I guess. What happened?"
Akane ranted about Ranma's insensitivity for a while, but I got
her calmed down after a few minutes. I wished they could get along
better, after all, I had to live with Akane too.
It seemed Ranma had during his latest fight with Kunou discovered
that one of Nabiki's businesses was selling pictures. Pictures of Akane
and me. Selling them to Kunou. Ranma made the mistake of asking why
anyone would waste good money on pictures of Akane. She'd hurt him worse
than Kunou had ever done.
Then they'd gone to see Dr. Toufuu. "Ranma seemed fine when we
left the clinic, then his legs stopped working. He said it was too
embarrassing for a boy to be carried by a girl, so I splashed him and
here we are."
"Hmm. I wonder if Dr. Toufuu didn't play a little joke on Ranma.
Though why would he do that?" And why didn't Nabiki cut us in on the
profits?
Ranma said in the diary later that Dr. Toufuu had told him Akane
was really a nice girl and Ranma would come to see that. If that's why
the doctor played his joke, I guess it backfired a bit.
A couple of days later, I was cuddling Anne (the doll Kunou gave
me) as I read Ranma's latest entry.
[Ryouga showed up today. Wanted revenge. Got lost again.]
As you can well imagine, I felt Ranma had been a little too
terse. So I wrote [Ryouga who? Why does he want revenge? And what do
you mean, "lost again"?] Then I filled in some details of my own day.
I put Anne back on my shelf (Ranma won't touch her. He says the
doll gives him the willies.), picked up a pair of trousers, and went to
start a hot bath. Pity I can never finish one.
When I was next able to read the diary, I got Ranma's reply.
[Ryouga Hibiki. He was my buddy in junior high. I used to walk
him home all the time, because he gets lost real easy. We sparred a lot
cause I used to get the last bread at lunch. He thinks I ran out on a
duel with him and has only now caught up to finish it. Like I said, he
gets lost a lot. If he shows up, tell him to stay in one spot and turn
back into me real quick.]
Well, that was a little bit more helpful. I'd have to ask Akane
if she knew what Ryouga looked like.
As I mentioned previously, I'd begun practicing gymnastics to
stay in shape. Mr. Tendou had rigged some equipment for the purpose;
Akane apparently had never been into the more acrobatic aspects of the
martial arts. I worked out for a while, then tried a reasonably
difficult routine on the uneven bars.
When I dismounted, I realized Father was in the dojo. I hadn't
heard him come in.
"Not bad." he said in a flat voice, his face neutral. It was the
closest thing I'd had to approval from him yet. "You should hold your
left leg just a little straighter on the reverse swing." I tried the
routine again. He was right. This time I smiled and he almost did.
Then Nabiki came in and started taking pictures of me in my
sweaty leotard.
"Nabiki, are you going to sell these pictures to Kunou?"
"And anyone else who has the cash, yep."
"Do you make a profit at it?"
"A modest one. Why do you ask?"
"Don't models normally get paid?"
"Oh. Point. Consider this as partial payment for your room and
board. You know how much your father eats?"
"I'll have you know I can pull my own weight!" snarled Father.
"Good, because I don't think anyone else can." sniped Nabiki.
Father had taken a part-time odd-jobs position with Dr. Tofu, but
it didn't pay much, and he couldn't work when it rained. He really
didn't like being reminded that we were essentially freeloaders. He
started growling in the back of his throat.
I could see this could be bad, so I stepped in. "I'm glad to
help where I can. But no embarrassing pictures, okay?"
Nabiki smiled what I've come to recognize as her "money" smile.
"No embarrassing pictures. Gotcha." She left, but the mood was spoiled,
so Father and I finished our workouts in silence.
A few days later, I was woken particularly rudely in midair being
pushed up by a cold geyser. A bit ahead I saw a red circle, an umbrella?
I used the force of the water to launch over it.
When I landed, I saw it was an umbrella, a bamboo one at that.
It was being held by a boy about my age, very muscular-looking, wearing
worn travel clothing and with a yellow-and-black bandana holding back his
hair. He looked very angry, then shocked.
"Well?!" I asked.
"W-w-wait a sec..." he stuttered. "Why are you...that
is...where..."
"Who are you? Ryouga? What's going on?"
"R-R-Ranma?"
"Do I look like Ranma, mister?"
Akane ran up. "Ranko! Your--your--your torso!"
I looked down and saw to my dismay that there was a huge tear in
my shirt right across my breasts. No wonder the boy looked so shocked.
"Oh my."
"You didn't notice a draft?" asked Akane.
I crossed my arms to cover myself.
"Ranma! You...you..." the boy started to say.
"I'm not Ranma. I'm Ranko, his sister, and--"
"Ha! To think you would resort to such trickery to avoid me,
Ranma! I don't know how you made yourself look like a girl, but that's
the same tear I put in your shirt, and the same cut on your cheek." (So
that's what stings, I thought.) "It won't fool me! No mercy, Ranma!"
He pulled several bandanas from under the one he was wearing. He
whirled them until the sounded like propellers, then threw them. Somehow
this boy had learned the legendary trick of making cloth act like metal,
so his bandanas were in effect throwing blades. Their flight plan was
pretty erratic though, and some veered into the path of the boys who'd
just caught up to us.
"I'll get some hot water!" yelled Akane as she turned.
"No! It's dangerous!" I called. "Don't move!" But she ran
anyways.
"I'll make it!" Then she tripped over a tree root. Akane's
clumsiness actually saved her far worse injury, since several cloth
blades whirred through the space she'd just occupied, slicing only her
skirt.
I ran to help her up, and the boy took advantage of my
distraction to throw his umbrella at me.
"It's over!" he yelled, pulling out more bandanas. "Even if you
dodge my umbrella, my bandanas will strike you from every direction!" and
he threw more cloth knives.
Instinctively, I kicked the umbrella away from me, right into
several of the knives. Then I picked up Akane and leapt away as fast as
I could.
The boy ran after us. "Running away, coward?!"
I didn't waste breath replying.
We finally touched down on a roof, where Akane and I gasped for
breath in a tight embrace. Then we realized what we were doing. Akane
edged away from me. We were both blushing.
We stared at each other for a moment then both said "You--what?!"
"You didn't have to go running like that..." I said.
"You couldn't beat him as a *girl* could you? I had to--"
"Why would I want to beat him? Is this that Ryouga guy?"
"Yes! And he's got the strength of a monster!"
Suddenly, the bicycle shelter we were on collapsed (I found out
later Ryouga used his belt to cut the supports.) Akane grabbed me and
jumped as Ryouga leapt up. His belt narrowly missed us. We landed, but
Akane cried in pain. When she'd tripped over that root, she must've hurt
her ankle.
"Akane, we've got to get out of here!"
"Ignore me, will you?!" roared Ryouga, whipping his belt out
again.
"Give it a rest!" I retorted, as I leapt away with Akane again.
Ryouga released the belt, and I realized we couldn't dodge in
time. But Akane didn't. She twisted around in an attempt to shield me,
and the cloth buzzsaw sheared off half her hair. An inch closer, and
she'd have lost a shoulder blade.
The other students finally caught up just in time to see this.
One of them, Sayuri I think, asked, "A-Akane?"
I tried to get Akane's attention, but she just stared into space
as though in shock. I hadn't realized it before, but Akane did care
about her appearance after all. And her beautiful long hair had been
shredded.
"Caught in public--with a haircut like that! She's lucky she
didn't just die!" said Yuka, another of the girls.
"Are you all right, Ranko? And how'd your shirt get ripped?"
Sayuri again.
The boys all crowded closer. Daisuke asked "And where'd Ranma
go?"
"Wait a minute! Who cares?!" I dissembled. "What matters
is...Akane."
Ryouga (I'd forgotten all about him) sneered. "Feh! She didn't
get an injury, did she?"
"No, but she sure got a bad cut, you bully!"
"Yeah!" said someone in the crowd. "Some he-man, picking on a
couple of girls!"
"But I...Ranma...that is..."
"Hey, when Ranma finds out what you did to his fiancee and his
sister, you're going to be in a world of hurt."
Akane just stood there looking stunned. Ryouga's face softened.
"If it will make you fell any better, Miss," he said, "hit me!
Lay it on me!"
She did.
I helped Akane limp off.
When we were out of sight, I said, "I'm sorry, Akane. Ranma
would have been able to protect you."
"If it wasn't for Ranma, I wouldn't need protecting!" She
slammed her fist into a telephone pole as punctuation. Then she winced
as her weight fell on her bad ankle again.
"We should go see Dr. Toufuu."
As we walked, I thought of Ryouga. A most peculiar boy.
To Be Continued....
Next time: Akane gets a new do! And Ryouga's horrible secret!
SKJAM!
"We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing"
TWILIGHT EXISTENCE
by Scott K. Jamison
(Takahashi Disclaimer)
Part Five
The clinic was closed when we got there. Dr. Toufuu's note said
he'd be back in a couple of hours. Apparently, he was so old-fashioned
he actually made house calls. Rather than wait there, we went the little
ways home for a rest first.
I quickly wrote up the end of the Ryouga fight in our diary, then
checked up on Akane. She was sitting in her room staring into space with
a melancholy expression.
"Are you all right, Akane?"
"Just...remembering. I don't care about my hair! So leave me
alone!" She shoved me out the door and slammed it. Akane has these
angry moods when she can't be reasoned with, but she calms down pretty
quickly if you let her or she's distracted.
Sure enough, three minutes later, Akane came out with a pair of
scissors and a calm expression. We walked down to the kitchen where
Kasumi was making supper. She was tasting the soup.
"Mmm. Delicious!" She put down the saucer, then started on the
stirfry. At that moment, she heard us enter. "Oh, Akane! And how was
your--"
When she saw what had happened to Akane's hair, Kasumi's arms
went up in shock, sending the pan of food flying. Good thing I was there
to catch it and save the stirfry.
"Do you have to overreact to everything, Kasumi?" asked Akane
with a bit of a smile. Actually, it's about as shocked as I've ever seen
Kasumi. She's normally pretty unfazeable.
"But...but...but...your hair!"
"I'm afraid it's my f--" I began.
"I just felt like a change, that's all! Can you fix it up for
me?" asked Akane.
While Kasumi did some quick barbering, I held down things in the
kitchen.
When she returned, Kasumi said, "Thank you, Ranko. But isn't it
Ranma's turn today?"
In all the excitement, I'd forgotten. I fetched a new shirt (the
old one being pretty badly torn) and Kasumi poured the hot water.
I woke up in the drainage canal with Akane looking over the
fence. Her hair was pretty short now, and looked kind of cute.
"Haha. Gotcha."
"What was that for?"
"Oops. I--um--sorry, Ranko."
I hauled myself out onto land.
"What did Ranma do this time?"
"Well...he was very meek and nice...and he said he liked my hair
better this way."
"So you threw him in a canal? You are seriously weird, Akane."
"Not exactly threw...I don't know why I did that, really. I felt
so...uncomfortable...when he complimented me."
"He probably won't make that mistake again."
"What did you say, Ranko?" Her voice rose dangerously.
"If you make him black out when he's nice to you. Ranma's not
going to try to be nice to you anymore. You *would* like him to be nice
instead of insulting you all the time, right?"
Akane tried to calm herself. "Yes--no--I don't know!" She took
a deep swallow. "I guess...I'm afraid, a little bit. I've never even
been on a real date, and now Daddy is pushing for me to marry someone I
barely know! I feel like if I admit I kind of like Ranma, we'll just be
shoved into a wedding. I don't want to lose control of the most
important decision of my life!"
"I hear you. From what he writes, Ranma feels the same way.
After all, he loses control of his life to me every time he gets wet. He
doesn't want to lose any more control, so he tries to keep you at arm's
length. Least ways, that's how it looks to me."
"But you've had pretty much no control over your life so far, and
you manage to be nice, even to Kunou."
"That's because I'm *supposed* to be nice. I don't know how much
control I have over even my own feelings." My tummy growled. "Must be
time for dinner. Hope Kasumi saved some for us."
We laughed and headed for home.
Later, Ranma wrote me that Akane had cried on the doctor's
shoulder, and said she was over Dr. Toufuu. I wrote back that he should
make more of an effort to be consistently nice to Akane so she wouldn't
be so suspicious when he was kind.
It took Ryouga a little over three days to return from wherever
he'd gone.
I woke up in the Tendou's pond. It was dark and rainy out, and I
was wearing just a sleeveless t-shirt and shorts. Ryouga landed on the
border of the pool, umbrella open above him.
"So! I was right! You *are* Ranma in disguise!"
"It's not a disguise, Ryouga, I really--"
"Silence! No matter your shape, I shall have my revenge!"
"Would you cut that out? I don't even know what you're getting
revenge for!"
"I'll say one thing...before I send you to hell." Thunder
rumbled. "When you ran out on our duel, I followed you...all the way to
China!!" Lightning flashed nearby.
I stalled. "Um...you mean you went to Jyuusenkyo...and you
transform into something when you get wet?"
"Silence! The time for words is past!" He jump-kicked at me,
and I barely dodged. He kept coming at me, and I kept dodging, trying to
think of some way to convince him to stop. About the only thing saving
me was that he was very carefully holding the umbrella above him. Sure
seemed like he didn't want to get wet. But if he'd been to the Valley of
Cursed Springs, wouldn't he know I wasn't really Ranma?
Suddenly, an object flew from the house and impacted Ryouga on
the back of the head. (I found out later it was a dumbbell thrown by
Akane.) He dropped the umbrella, then realized what he'd done. He
veered and leapt over the wall.
"Ryouga!" I cried, and followed. I had to see what the rain had
done.
Half a block away, I found Ryouga's pack, and just beyond it,
Ryouga, nursing his head in his hands. The rain hadn't done anything to
him! So much for that theory.
"Ryouga?" He didn't respond. "Excuse me, are you all right?"
Ryouga looked up at me, and there was no recognition in his
eyes. "Wh-where am I?"
"About half a block away from the Tendou Dojo."
"Where's that?"
"In Nerima. I know you get lost, but--"
"Why am I here? Do you know me?" As far as I could tell, he
sincerely didn't know. A new suspicion began forming.
"I think you'd better come back to the dojo with me. Get your
head looked at." I stretched out my hand.
"O-okay." He took it, and I led him back. On the way, we passed
a stray dog that growled at us. It made me a little frightened, so I
made Ryouga hurry.
Once inside, I told Ryouga to wait, grabbed a couple of towels
and the first aid kit from the kitchen, and set a kettle to boil. I put
some iodine on the lump on his head, then we started drying off.
"Thank you, Miss...um..."
"Ranko Saotome. And you are?"
"I,,,I don't know." I'd suspected as much.
"What's your first memory?"
"Um...I was in a pool with a bamboo post sticking out of it.
There were a bunch of other pools. I don't remember how I got there."
"That was Jyuusenkyo, I'll bet, in China."
"Oh. That explains why everyone spoke Chinese for the next day
or two. I wandered around for a while, then spilled some tea on myself
and blacked out. Ever since, I've been waking up cold and wet, and
blacking out every time I touch hot water."
"Welcome to the club. It happened to me too."
"You mean I'm not the only one? But then--"
Just then, Akane entered.
"All that racket at 2 A.M.! Oh, you finally got Ryouga calmed
down, Ranko?" He looked at her, no recognition there either.
"Not exactly, Akane. *This* fellow was born at Jyuusenkyo, just
like me!"
"But I thought those springs changed you into something else."
"Good point. I wonder..." Then I noticed he was staring at my
chest. The wet scooped-neck t-shirt was still plastered to my skin and a
little blood was trickling from his nose.
"Etchi! No peeking!" as I draped my towel for better coverage.
"Sorry." he said, but he was grinning. Then I noticed something
odd.
"Akane, doesn't Ryouga have fangs?"
"Yes."
"Fangs? And who's this Ryouga you keep talking about?"
"Say `Ah.'"
"Ahh." Sure enough, no fangs.
"Well, Ryouga is, for lack of a better term, your other half. He
apparently fell into one of the Cursed Springs. They change your body
and steal your memory. My other half, Ranma, fell into the Spring of
Drowned Girl, and I came out. You must have fallen into the Spring of
Drowned Boy, or something like that. So you don't look too different."
"Ryouga...`Good Fang'? That's a pretty silly name."
Akane frowned. "Well, what's your name, then?"
"I...I don't know. I've been calling myself Daremo."
"`Nobody'?! That's an awful name!"
"You do need a better one," I said, "like...um," my eye lit on
one of Nabiki's manga, "Shinnosuke, maybe?"
"That does sound better."
Akane nodded agreement. "I like it. It has a good feel to me
for some reason."
When I got around to actually reading the manga a few days later,
I discovered it probably wasn't the best inspiration. But at the time,
Shinnosuke Hibiki was pleased.
"Oh, and this is Akane Tendou. This is her house."
"Pleased to meet you, Miss."
"Likewise." She yawned. "It's nearly 3 A.M.! Let's all turn
in, and we can sort this out in the morning. Shinnosuke, you can bunk in
Uncle Saotome's room tonight. He's a heavy sleeper, so you shouldn't
wake him if you're quiet."
I changed into my pajamas and went to bed. I remembered
Shinnosuke's grin. He was a handsome boy...
The next morning, Kasumi had to call three times to wake me up.
Since it was my day to go to school, I took a cold sponge bath (which
also woke me up the rest of the way) and dressed in my girl's uniform.
Father hadn't liked that idea, but finally relented on my promise not to
get Ranma into any embarrassing situations. And not wearing Ranma's
clothes all the time helped establish us as different people to help hide
our secret.
Shinnosuke sat at the breakfast table, looking kind of dazed as
everyone whirled by him.
"Morning, Shinnosuke!"
"Morning, um, Ranko, right?"
"Right! Please pass the rice."
We ate for a bit.
"Um, Ranko?" Shinnosuke asked.
"Yes?"
"This Ryouga person...does he know about me?"
I mock-slapped my forehead. "That's right! You spent a couple
of days wandering away from Jyuusenkyo before you turned back, so he
probably never got an explanation! Ryouga probably thinks that spring
gave him brain cancer or something. No wonder he's so hot on revenge!"
"Revenge? On who?" asked Shinnosuke.
"Ranma, my other half. Apparently, Ryouga blames him for what
happened. We should really find out what's going on with him."
"Easily done." said Father, tipping a kettle over Shinnosuke's
head.
The boy's eyes glazed over for a second, then refocused on me,
filled with rage.
"This time, you won't escape, Ranma! Die!!" he screamed, fangs
bared as he launched himself across the table. I wasn't able to dodge in
time and he fastened his fingers around my throat.
"REVENGE!"
It took Father, Mr. Tendou and Akane combined to pry him off me.
"Please let's not be violent at breakfast." admonished Kasumi.
Nabiki took pictures.
"Please listen Ryouga! I know they're in the same body, but
Ranko isn't Ranma! Whatever he did, she isn't responsible!"
"Oh, the girl with the hair. Akane, was it? It looks better
now. Okay, I'm listening."
So Akane told him.
"Ranma turns into this wimpy little girl, and whenever I black
out, I'm actually becoming this Shinnosuke guy? That would explain a
lot."
"Right. How did you end up at Jyuusenkyo anyways?"
"Well, after Ranma ran out on our duel," Ryouga shot me a
venomous glance, "I was eventually able to discover he'd gone to China
with his father. It took me a year of searching, but at last I caught up
to them. I charged at my enemy, screaming a challenge, only to have him
deliberately duck at the last moment. It was only then I discovered
they'd been standing next to a cliff. I went over and into a pool. I
blacked out when I hit the water, and woke up two days later and miles
away with tea all over my clothing. Only now do I fully understand what
Ranma did to me."
Nabiki gestured at her watch. "Fascinating as all this is, we're
running late and I for one do not intend to carry any pails today." She
left, and Akane and I followed quickly.
"Bye, Ryouga!"
"Hey, wait--"
The day itself was rather uneventful, though I did get caught
doodling during algebra; I'd been thinking about Shinnosuke and Ryouga.
How alike were they, having nearly the same body?
I would not find out that day, though. When we returned from
school, Ryouga was gone. Kasumi said he'd asked directions to Fuurinkan
High. It would probably be a while before we saw him again.
To Be Continued....
Next time: Oh, come on! We all *know* what comes next! But there's
just one little problem...
SKJAM!
(Scene: Scott's apartment, which for once is actually decorated
a bit for Christmas. Akane is attempting to knit something (soft
sculpture? hard to tell) while Shampoo is writing furiously, tongue
tucked in one corner of her mouth.)
Shampoo: How you spell "true-sew"?
Akane: T-r-o-u-s-s-e-a-u, I think. But that's not going to work.
Shampoo: Hah! Shampoo not know why she not think of this plan sooner!
(Scott and Ranma enter, bearing several bags (mostly from grocery
stores) and go into the kitchen. Scott comes back out.)
Scott: Whatcha writing, Shampoo?
Shampoo: Letter! We no have Christmas in Amazon village, so Shampoo not
get gifts from Santa all this time. So Shampoo send him letter, saying
she will forget all gifts he owe her, if Santa help Shampoo get Ranma for
Christmas!
(Scott considers telling her there's no Santa Claus, then
remembers who he's talking to and where she came from...)
Scott: Shampoo, Christmas isn't about how much or what you get.
Presents aren't even the main point of Christmas.
Shampoo & Ranma (together): They aren't?!
Scott: You should sit down for this. The "Real Meaning of Christmas"
speech takes a while. Now, many years ago in the city of Bethlehem...
(Scott tells the Christmas Story. Most of our readers should
know it by heart, even if they never celebrate Christmas...)
Scott: ..."For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten son,
that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."
And that's the real meaning of Christmas.
Shampoo: Okay! But Shampoo confused. Where Santa come in?
Scott: That's another long story.
Akane: And one that will have to wait. It's time for another chapter of
"Twilight Existence."
Shampoo: Shampoo not remember that one.
Ranma: Well, in this one, the Jyuusenkyo springs change minds as well as
bodies, so my female side is pretty much a whole other person who calls
herself "Ranko."
Akane: Things have progressed pretty much as before, although Ryouga now
turns into a boy named Shinnosuke instead of P-chan.
Shampoo: Shampoo marry Ranma in this one?
Ranma: Actually, Ranko didn't fight you in this world, so you aren't
hunting her down. I doubt it.
Shampoo: How come Shampoo never get marry Ranma?
Scott: There was "Deep Reflections".
Shampoo: How come Shampoo never marry Ranma in happy stories?
Scott, Ranma and Akane: *sigh*
TWILIGHT EXISTENCE
by Scott K. Jamison
(Takahashi Disclaimer)
Part Six
[That was *Ryouga*?] wrote Ranma in our diary. [I remember some
guy jumping by while I got a stone out of my shoe. I guess he was
shouting something; I wasn't paying attention. If I'd've known it was
Ryouga, I would've gone to see what happened to him.
[Pops is still changing the subject whenever I ask about Mom. I
think him turning into a panda one time was actually deliberate! You try
asking him. But I got a funny feeling maybe we don't wanna know.]
I inscribed the details of my own day (mine tended to be less
eventful than Ranma's, so it was a short entry.) It was still several
hours till supper, and Father had given me a small allowance, so I
decided to get some snacks. It was cool out, so I put Ranma's jacket on,
and a Mao hat.
Unfair though it may be, cuteness definitely has its advantages.
For example, when I stopped by the sweet bun shop, all I had to do was
turn on the cute and the counterman said, "You're such a sweet little
girl! Here, have another bun--for free!"
"Oooo! Golly! Thank you so much!" My appetite is just as big
as Ranma's, in proportion to my size. Extra food is something not to be
passed up. But "cute" doesn't work on everyone. Pity, that.
As I walked down the street, I heard shouting from an empty lot,
so I rounded the wall to see what was up. (I share an unhealthy
curiosity with my brother.) Three figures in gym sweats, their heads
wrapped in bandages, surrounded a girl in a school uniform I didn't
recognize. She had a ponytail tied to one side, and was carrying a gym
bag. Even though the others were carrying clubs, she carried herself as
if she were the one in charge of the situation.
"We're finishing you off here and now!" shouted one of the
bandaged figures. "Prepare to die!!"
The ponytailed girl didn't hesitate. She drew a gymnastics
ribbon from her gym bag as she dropped it, and unwound the ribbon with a
snap.
"Forgive me, please, if I've failed to convey my message!!" she
said, as she whipped the ribbon about, knocking her opponents off their
feet. "If I may restate it...perhaps this...or this...or *this* will be
clearer!" She was repeatedly lashing them with the ribbon, actually
cutting their clothing, and possibly the skin beneath. Even though her
voice was smooth, I could see bloodlust in her eyes and cruelty in her
smile. I had to stop this somehow.
The next time the ribbon was on the backswing I snagged it. The
ponytailed girl wasn't at all thrown off balance, though she was
obviously surprised.
"Don't you think that's enough?" I asked. "I mean, you've
already won, right?" I was hoping she could accept her victory and move
on.
"You caught that ribbon as if it were nothing." she replied. "If
you'll forgive me, you seem to be no ordinary girl."
"Uh, yes...I guess you could say that!" I was a long way from
ordinary, indeed.
"Good...because I prefer not to treat girls--" she flipped her
foot and brought one of the discarded clubs to her hand, "--with ordinary
courtesy!!" She lunged at me with the club. I ducked and rolled out of
the way. She did a very nice somersault, and we came up facing each
other. I tried to look more brave than I felt.
She gave me a crooked smile. "Well. You are very good! Heh."
She produced a flower from her sleeve and tossed it to me. "Remember.
I'm called the Black Rose of Hebereke Girl's School. Kodachi...the Black
Rose. Please don't forget it." Then she bounded off, laughing like a
madwoman.
"Miss Kodachi, you forgot your...gym bag." But she was already
out of sight.
The bandaged people started weeping. "Oh, how humiliating!"
"Hey, what's with the crying? You attacked her, remember?
Besides, I thought boys didn't cry."
"We're not boys!" one said as they ripped off the bandages hiding
their faces. "We're the Fuurinkan rhythmic gymnastics team!" They were
really beat-up looking, but still recognizable as girls from my class.
And from the look of it, they'd been beaten up *before* they attacked
Kodachi.
"Say, you're Ranko Saotome, aren't you?" asked one, Hiroko. "You
live with Akane Tendou?"
"That's right."
"We'll have to go to Plan B then. Could you take us to the Dojo,
please?"
I dropped off Kodachi's gym bag at the nearest police box and we
proceeded to the Tendou home.
I fetched some tea while Kasumi found Akane. Then the girls
explained their problem.
"Every member of the team...injured?!" Akane asked.
"We were ambushed!" replied Hiroko.
"Now we'll have to withdraw from the match!" put in another girl.
"Then...you want me to take your place?" Akane looked puzzled.
"Please, Akane! There's nothing else we can do!" pleaded Hiroko.
"You see, this next match...is Martial Rhythmic Gymnastics!"
"What's that?" I asked.
"Simply put, the schools' champions fight with the techniques of
rhythmic gymnastics!"
"Fight? Girls beating each other up with ribbons and clubs?
That sounds awful!"
Hiroko shrugged. "It's a relatively new wrinkle. Truth to tell,
most of us aren't very good at fighting. Even if we weren't so injured,
we probably couldn't have beat Hebereke in next week's match. But
this..this *cheating* is just too much!"
"I'm still not sure I get it..." said Akane, "but all right! I
will avenge you!"
"Ohhh, thank you, Akane!" They clutched her hands as though
there were no tomorrow.
After dinner, Akane and I went out to the training hall. She had
put on her gi, and was looking at the equipment the gymnasts had left
behind.
"I shouldn't have agreed so quickly. I don't even know how to
use these things. Maybe you should be doing this, Ranko. You're pretty
acrobatic."
"You know I don't like violence. You'll do fine, Akane."
"Excuse me." came a male voice from the doorway.
"Ryouga?"
"Shinnosuke, actually." Ryouga's other half smiled as he came
in. "Good to see you folks again. Would you believe Ryouga doesn't have
his own address written down anywhere?"
"Sounds about right. I'm afraid I don't know where he lives
either. You, Ranko?"
"No, but Ranma knows where he used to live. You can ask him
later."
"Thanks. What's up with you girls?"
I explained the circumstances as Akane warmed up. She took a
club in each hand, leapt into the air, twirled the clubs...and dropped
them.
"Is that supposed to happen?" asked Shinnosuke. Akane flushed
red.
"Very funny. Let's try the ribbon." It quickly became obvious
she didn't know how to use that either.
"Are you supposed to get tangled up?"
"Shh!" I warned. I could see Akane's frustration rising.
Next, Akane tried the hoop. Unfortunately, she didn't quite
clear the hoop as she somersaulted through it, and it snapped.
Shinnosuke was about to say something, but I put my hand over his mouth.
"That does it!" snarled Akane as she stamped her foot.
Shinnosuke took my hand off his mouth. "I remember seeing some
notes on rhythmic gymnastics in my backpack. Maybe Ryouga knows
something about it. I'll go check." He left the hall.
Akane's attempt to use the ball was equally disastrous. She
burst into tears. "I'm a klutz! I'm a klutz! I'm a klutz!"
"Don't worry, Akane. With some practice, your natural grace will
come through."
"I can instruct you." came a voice from the door. It was Ryouga.
I could tell now by his bearing. Much more self-assured than Shinnosuke,
almost arrogant.
"Ryouga...?" asked Akane, just to make sure.
"Yes. According to this note," he held up a piece of paper, "you
need some training in martial rhythmic gymnastics."
"You know that stuff?" I asked. "Where'd you learn it?"
"The same place I learned my other weapons skills...and no, I do
not care to say where that was. Observe. The ribbon." He picked up the
long strip of cloth, untangled it, and then spin-snapped it at me. The
ribbon struck four times right next to me. If I'd flinched, I could have
been hurt.
"That was amazing, but you should be more careful of Ranko." said
Akane.
"Gosh." Ryouga blushed while making the ribbon hover. I
suspected he still harbored some resentment towards me.
After a couple of hours, Ryouga called a halt.
"That's enough special drilling for today." I thought so too.
He'd been using me as the demonstration target. Never quite connecting,
but coming way too close.
Panting heavily, Akane said "Thank you...so much."
"You handled the ribbon very well. You're making very quick
progress."
"Do you really think so, Ryouga?"
In fact, she'd tangled herself up again. I held my tongue,
though. Akane was still dangerously frustrated.
I untangled her, and Akane went to take a bath to soothe her sore
muscles while I made tea for Ryouga. I decided I'd change out of my
leotard when it was my turn for the bath.
"Ryouga, do you still have a problem with me?" I asked. "If you
do, I'd like to get it out in the open so we can talk about it."
"Oh, I don't have a problem with you, but there is something I
need to discuss with Ran--" as he tossed his tea in my face and I blacked
out.
I came to at the side of the school again, running. I looked
behind to see the groundskeeper had been using a hose to water the
flowers. He didn't seem to have noticed my change, probably because he
was too busy chewing out Kunou, who'd tripped over the hose. The
swordsman apologized, then approached me.
"Ah, fair Ranko Saotome. I see that once again your brother has
departed on one of his mysterious errands. Someday I shall learn how he
manages to vanish in the twinkling of an eye, and always when I am just
about to triumph."
"Good afternoon, Upperclassman."
"Odd. It occurs to me that I have never seen you two together.
Then again, I don't believe most of the students here had seen me with my
own sister before this morning."
"Your...sister?"
"Did not your brother inform you?"
"I haven't had a chance to re--er, talk to him yet."
"It has come to my attention that my sister Kodachi has taken a
fancy to Ranma Saotome." Kodachi was Kunou's sister? Come to think of
it, there was a family resemblance. "Thus it is that this upcoming match
shall decide if she or Akane is to be Ranma's love."
"Whaat?!" I couldn't believe Akane had agreed to such a stupid
thing.
"It is quite likely, I fear, that the lovely Akane Tendou will
lose this battle, but it will be to her gain. For in losing her unwanted
attachment to your brother, she will again be free to express her true
affection for myself."
"Upperclassman Kunou, are you by any chance on heavy medication?"
"Why, no, my health is quite fine, but I thank you for your
concern, my pigtailed goddess. Ah, the bell rings. 'Tis to class we
must now wend our weary way. Till we meet again, Ranko."
I hurriedly checked the diary. No entries since the last time
I'd read it. I used the next period to update my portion. Fortunately,
I wasn't caught. Akane later attributed this to the teacher knowing I
took lots of notes and assuming I was just more enthusiastic than usual.
Between periods, I searched for hot water, which is harder to
find than you might think since I couldn't openly use the washrooms or
the showers. Finally, I managed to cadge some from the teachers' lounge.
Too bad Ranma ended up late for his next class.
I was finally able to read Ranma's reply the next day.
[Woke up feeling kinda confined, and with Ryouga sniggering at
me. He said I didn't deserve Akane cause I was only half a man. Told
him I was enough man to pound him. He pointed out I was wearing a girl's
leotard. Said he'd be happy to show Akane what a real man was like.
[Got angry, started chasing him. All over the house, including
into Akane's bedroom. Turns out we interrupted Kodachi ambushing her,
though didn't know it at the time. Ended up on roof fighting the jerk,
though too tight clothing made it uncomfortable. Sorry 'bout you
leotard, will get you a new one.
[We accidentally knocked someone off roof. I went to catch. Was
Kodachi, as she later introduced herself. She came on to me, gave me
roses with some kind of paralysis gas on them. Tried kissing me but
Akane chased her off. Not sure where Ryouga went.
[Akane covered me with jacket, but it blew off. Awfully cold on
roof, couldn't move for a couple of hours.
[Told Akane about gas this morning, not sure if she believed me.
At school, met Kodachi again. Still coming on to me. Told her I already
have fiancee. Akane's useful after all. She challenged Akane for
privilege of relationship with me. Nice to be wanted, but Kodachi's
obviously nuts.
[Worse, she's Kunou's sister. He's all in favor of me dating
her, which makes me *really* worried about the girl.]
Akane's comment was, "No way am I losing to her! Black Rose,
watch out!"
To Be Continued....
Next time, a pivotal match!
SKJAM!
"Consider the peril inherent in Beryl, she's--not--gneiss!"
TWILIGHT EXISTENCE
by Scott K. Jamison
(Takahashi disclaimer)
Part Seven
People sometimes ask me, "Don't you kind of resent Ranma?" The
answer, obviously, is yes. Who wouldn't resent someone who by their very
existence robs them of any chance at a normal life, to whom they lose
hours, days, sometimes even precious weeks? And Ranma resents me just as
much.
That said, there really isn't much point in holding a grudge.
Sure, we could play nasty, horrible tricks on each other, but revenge on
yourself is a game you just can't win. So we cooperate instead, until a
cure can be found one way or the other. Not that we don't get each other
in trouble by accident...
Ryouga disappeared a couple of days into Akane's training, but
she'd managed to get the basics down by then. Ranma and I alternated as
targets, and by two nights before the match, she'd gotten quite good with
the rhythmic gymnastics equipment.
I won the coin toss, so I woke up early Sunday morning in the
bathroom. I dressed in skirt/blouse combo #8, reminding myself to save
up money for some new clothes. I checked the diary.
[Akane's doing much better. Never thought she'd improve this
much. Maybe she's not a klutz at all. Finally met Shinnosuke when he
came back last night. Seems like a nice fellow. He threw a bandana at a
ball Akane was about to trip over and got it out of the way. We thanked
him, but no interference is allowed during matches, so had to start over.
Noticed Akane still favoring ankle she hurt earlier, recommended she tape
both, one for support, other to confuse issue. Don't want to give
Kodachi too obvious a target. Wish her luck from me!]
I went down to breakfast. Akane seemed a little distracted. She
started eating her napkin by mistake!
We arrived at Hebereke Girls' School by noon, the match to start
at one o'clock in Gymnasium Two. Kodachi greeted us near our dressing
room.
"Ranko here will be acting as my second." explained Akane, now
fully alert. For some reason, all the other girls on the gymnastics team
had been unable to attend.
"So, the pigtail girl." Kodachi's eyes flashed recognition. "We
have met before, have we not?"
"Yes. I'm Ranma's sister, by the way."
"How...interesting." She held out a hand to Akane. "May the
best girl win."
Akane caught her by the wrist. "Hold it." She twisted Kodachi's
hand palm up, to reveal what was concealed there.
"My, my. How did these tacks get between my fingers?" Akane
looked decidedly unconvinced by Kodachi's innocent act. We went into the
dressing room.
"Wow." stated Akane. "If you let your guard down for a second...
Hm?"
I was looking as a bouquet of black roses on the table. A card
with them said [Good Luck from the Black Rose.] Akane held her breath,
took a flower from the bouquet and dunked it into the aquarium also on
the table. Almost instantly, the fish inside became sluggish.
"Sleeping potion."
"Say, Akane, isn't an aquarium a pretty unusual fixture for a
dressing room?"
"Come to think of it, you're right! I think I get it. When she
attacked me in my bedroom, Kodachi said something about `fighting in all
fairness.' She has a pretty twisted idea of what's fair, but if you can
figure out the rules she's playing by...hmm."
At one, we entered the auditorium.
"And now...the champions of the schools!" There was a lot of
cheering. It was definitely a home crowd, the few "Akane" signs
outmatched by the huge "Kodachi" banners. Nevertheless, there were
Fuurinkan students there, including Kunou in a ringside seat. He and
Kodachi exchanged brief words; I couldn't hear them over the crowd.
Several of the Hebereke girls were staring longingly at the handsome
upperclassmen. Too bad he seemed interested only in girls who didn't
want him.
The announcer spoke again. "In this corner, from Hebereke Girls'
School, Kodachiiii Kunouuu!" There were deafening cheers. She wore a
leotard with black rose embroidery, clearly custom-made.
"And in this corner, from Fuurinkan High School...Akaane
Tendouuu!" Akane smiled and waved as the Fuurinkan students applauded.
I noticed none of the other Hebereke gymnasts seemed to be present
either. Very odd.
Kunou shouted "Do not allow yourself to be too badly injured,
Akane Tendou! I will soothe your hurts with my tender kisses!"
"Yeah, right." grumbled Akane, then she concentrated on Kodachi.
"Champions to the center!" shouted the referee. "Now...shake
hands."
Kodachi suddenly gasped and pointed to one side. "Look! Over
there!" Akane looked, as did the referee and myself. When we looked
back, somehow a chain with a weight at the end had gotten attached to
Akane's arm.
"Carelessness is your enemy." smirked Kodachi.
At that moment, Shinnosuke walked up. "Sorry I'm late. Ryouga
managed to get us here, but got splashed, and I wasn't sure where the
match was."
The bell rang, and the match began.
As the contestants circled each other, the ringside announcer
explained the rules. "No time limit, no bare-handed blows. The match
ends when one contestant is knocked completely down, and if either
contestant falls from the ring she will be an immediate loser!"
Akane didn't seem much bothered by the chain as she launched her
first attack. But Kodachi's tricks included rigged equipment. Her rope
was actually a disguised rod, and her clubs had retractable spikes! I
appealed to the referee, but she was in Kodachi's pocket and pretended
not to notice anything wrong. Even Kunou seemed displeased by his
sister's tactics.
"I do all this that I may date Ranma!" declaimed Kodachi. "Oh,
how inspiring the lengths to which I'll go!"
"There's no chance he'll go out with you!" snarled Akane as she
slammed the weight into Kodachi's face.
"Yeah! And I don't like you either!" I shouted.
"And what is it to you, pigtail girl?" asked Kodachi as she
pushed Akane back with her spiked club.
"I happen to be very close to my brother, and we both think
you're nuts!"
"You dreadful girl! You--you--you--you--" Suddenly she realized
Akane had gotten away. Kodachi called for a hoop. It proved to have a
razor edge. Akane barely managed to knock it away with the chain.
I threw Akane a couple more clubs and she twirled them like
nunchaku.
"Heh. How laughable!" taunted Kodachi. "Now witness the secret
technique of the Black Rose! The Blow of a Thousand Hands! At full
frenzy!" Her hands blurred, and it looked like she was attacking with a
dozen clubs at once. I blinked, and realized she was!
I tossed a ball to Akane, who used it to knock the clubs out of
the air and Kodachi's hands. I winced when I saw that at least some of
the blows had gotten through. The Fuurinkan students booed this display
of foul play.
"This is only the beginning!" assured Kodachi. "The essence of
Martial Rhythmic Gymnastics is control of an endless arsenal of weapons!"
Not for the first time, I wondered what lunatic had thought this sport up
to begin with.
Taking a corner post, Kodachi snagged the round bell with her
ribbon. Akane barely managed to block it with the chain weight. I don't
think Kodachi realized how strong Akane was, or she would have used a
heavier handicap. Next it was a chair, so Akane countered by using her
own ribbon to snag a table.
Kodachi countered the table by pulling her own brother into the
ring! He naturally smashed the furniture with his bokken rather than be
hit, then was propelled right back out (and none too gently!) The
referee and judges didn't hesitate to declare this tactic valid.
I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Father, carrying a steaming
kettle and tea cups.
"Father! Be careful with that! Remember what I'm wearing!"
"Oh. Right. I'll just be over here then..." He sat down a
small distance away and poured himself some tea.
I turned my attention back to the fight. Kodachi and Akane were
exchanging ribbon attacks, and Akane was definitely getting the worst of
it. But she was gritting her teeth and refusing to give ground. "A
battle for the ages!" the announcer called it.
Then Kodachi spotted the teakettle and snatched it with her
ribbon. "Even a cockroach will surrender in the face of the attack of
the boiling water!"
Akane dodged most of the stream of water Kodachi poured out, but
I could hear her gasp as some touched her skin. It was definitely hot!
Kodachi laughed.
Akane jumproped the chain again in an aerial attack. But Kodachi
tossed the kettle into the air, slicing it in half with her ribbon. Hot
water went flying everywhere...including on me. I think I heard
Shinnosuke say "uh-oh" just before I blacked out.
I woke up with a spray of cold water coming into my nostrils. I
stepped back and found I was in a shower room, still fully clothed in
what I'd been wearing before, and standing next to Father's panda form.
By careful timing, I was able to turn on the hot water, turn off
the cold water and get out the shower entrance before I got hit with
another blackout. Father walked out a moment later. We were both
sopping wet and miserable-looking.
"I'm sorry, Ranko. I should have known this would happen
eventually."
"It's all right, Father. How were you to know Kodachi would do
that?"
"Time for another training trip! I hear Korea is nice this time
of year."
"Huh?" Then I realized what he was talking about. "You want us
to run away?"
"Think of it as a tactical withdrawal. We can't stay here now
that your secret is out." He produced a backpack from seemingly nowhere.
"Why not? Okay, it's going to be rough now that people know what
I do. But I'm not going to run away until I see whether I can hack it."
I moved to the door.
"No, Ranko! You don't underst--" and I was out in the hallway.
We were still at Hebereke, and students were pouring out of the gym,
talking excitedly. I pushed my way through the crowd back into the
auditorium. It was almost empty.
Kodachi had apparently already left. Akane was lying on the
floor near the ring, being looked at by a Hebereke student wearing a
"medic" armband. A few students, including Kunou, were hovering around
them and not being terribly helpful. Other Hebereke students on
janitorial duty were cleaning the aisles.
Akane looked really beat up. There were bandages on at least a
dozen places, there was a red scald mark on her thigh, one cheek was
swollen and discolored, and her leotard was barely holding together. But
she was smiling.
"I won, Ranko! I beat her!"
"um...yeah. Good work, Akane!"
Kunou laid a hand on my shoulder. "Ranko Saotome. It seems that
Akane Tendou has succeeded in defending her attachment to your brother--"
"I wasn't fighting for *Ranma*!" protested Akane.
"--despite the fact that he is now known to be a crossdresser."
"Huh?" I asked. Hadn't he realized what was going on?
"At last it is clear how the wretched Ranma Saotome has so often
eluded me. By some signal he arranges for you to meet him, you exchange
clothing, and he slips away in feminine guise."
"That's not--"
"I admire your loyalty to your brother, lovely pigtailed girl,
but we all saw him wearing your garments, and the conclusion is quite
obvious. Ranma is a pervert."
"But--"
"Do not fear, Ranko, for despite your brother's bizarre habits, I
would still date with thee! Your innocent charms have quite mazed my
evergreen heart and--"
"Hoohoohahohoo!" Kodachi was back in school uniform, her head
bandaged. "Congratulations, Akane Tendou. You are the only woman ever
to defeat the Black Rose. Too bad your prize is a booby."
"Come again?"
"I should have realized it from his odd attire on the rooftop,
but I was so starved for male companionship I ignored it. But now I
realize that Ranma Saotome is unmanly, and no fit match for me! However,
he should do quite nicely for you. Hahoohohoo!" She bounded off.
"My sister." said Kunou. "Truly a twisted individual. Now,
where was I?"
"About to be reminded that I don't have permission to date boys
yet." I replied. I helped Akane to the dressing room, where we struggled
to put her uniform on.
"They didn't see it?" I asked.
"I guess everyone was watching the fight, so they didn't notice
anything wrong until Ryouga started laughing at Ranma and teasing him.
When Kodachi saw him in your dress, she was so shocked, she completely
dropped her guard!
"So I clubbed her upside the head. I feel a little dirty,
attacking from behind like that, but like she said, `Carelessness is your
enemy.'" She winced as she slipped into a shoe. "About the only part
that doesn't hurt right now is my ankles. Let's stop by Dr. Tofu's place
on the way home."
Ryouga had apparently gotten lost, but Father turned up again and
carried Akane on his back. He seemed worried, even though we explained
that no one seemed to understand the true connection...
To Be Continued....
Next time, the Golden Pair! But less dialogue stolen directly
from Viz, praise Tezuka!
SKJAM!
"It's the end of the world as we know it"
TWILIGHT EXISTENCE
by Scott K. Jamison
(Takahashi disclaimer)
Part Eight
Understandably, Ranma was less than thrilled with the rumors
going around at school about him. Akane told me he was acting even more
macho than usual in an effort to dispel any "unmanly" impressions.
Either it worked, or fear of being pounded stilled tongues, as by
the end of the week, the only person who still brought up cross-dressing
was Kunou.
My week was rather frustrating as well, as I kept trying to ask
Father about Mother. He deflected or ignored all my attempts, and
refused to talk about Ranma's life before they went on the road.
"That knowledge would only bring you sorrow, Ranko. It is best
you do not ask." Of course, this pronouncement only made me more curious
about the woman who was so important to me, yet I had never met.
Akane was healing nicely, and asked Father to show her some new
moves. "I only won that fight by luck. Next time I want to win with
skill." She admitted to me, but asked me not to tell Ranma, that she
didn't want him to think of her as a liability.
We went shopping Saturday afternoon, as my outfit had pretty much
been ruined during the fight with Kodachi. Akane said we'd go skating
afterwards.
Akane tried to show me the differences in style and color that
made one outfit fashionable and another awful, but my taste still ran
towards the garish and overfrilly. So it was a struggle to find things I
liked she wouldn't veto.
As we headed towards the ice skating rink, we ran into Ryouga.
He put on a big fanged smile when he saw us.
"Hello, Akane, Ranko. What are you doing in Hiroshima?"
"This is Tokyo, Ryouga. Oh, you have the wrong map!" Akane
gently indicated which was the proper one from the maps sticking out of
his pack.
"Thank you. That reminds me, I have something for you." Ryouga
dug into his pack and pulled out a stuffed animal. It was a little black
pig he'd tied one of his bandanas around. "To commemorate your victory."
"That's so sweet! Thanks a lot, Ryouga. We're going ice
skating. Would you like to come with us?"
He blushed a bit. "I-I'm afraid I can't. Places to go, you
know. See ya!" He ran off before we could stop him.
"Shyer than you would think, eh Ranko? Hmm, I think I'll call it
`P-chan'." She gave it a hug, then put it in her shopping basket.
"Um, Akane, you do realize he's being nice to you just to get
back at Ranma, right?"
She smiled. "I don't think it's *just* to get back at Ranma.
And since my fiance is about as romantic as a rock, maybe this will give
him a much-needed hint."
"Did I hear you right? You just voluntarily called Ranma your
fiance?"
"Well, he is, at least as long as our fathers have anything to
say about it. And I can see some good in him, when he lets his guard
down a bit. I don't think I'll be ready to get married to anyone for a
long time, if ever. But we should at least work on getting along."
"That would be nice." Unspoken was the other major obstacle to
the engagement. Me. As long as I was around, Ranma would only have a
half-life, and vice-versa. We were trapped in a twilight existence, not
quite here nor yet there. Could we really subject Akane--or anyone
else--to a half-marriage?
I tried to put glum thoughts aside as we entered the arena. I
rented a pair of skates, and Akane already had her own. It soon became
abundantly clear that I couldn't skate, but Akane could, quite well.
After a couple of minutes coaching, she got me at least able to stand up
in the darn things, then went to talk with some of her friends.
While I struggled to keep my balance, I didn't notice someone
skating up to me.
"May I be of assistance?" It was a tall, tousle-haired fellow in
a white "formal wear" skating costume. He had handsome features and a
sparkling smile.
"Um, yeah, I could use a little h--" I admitted, as he swept me
up in his arms.
"All right then, put your left foot down, good, now push with
your right foot, no, a little to the side, no, a *little* to the side,
now the same with the feet reversed, that's it..." He held me very
close, which was comforting and frightening at the same time.
We went three times round the rink, and I began to sense my
balance adjusting to the skates.
"I think I'm all right now. I'll try it on my own. Um, you can
let go."
"But my dear girl, no Mikado Sanzenin skating lesson is complete
without the crowning touch!"
"Wh--*mfml!*" He took me all the way into his arms and gave me a
big kiss right on the lips! My first kiss, and it was someone I didn't
even know. From the gossip of the other girls, I'd thought a first kiss
would be incredibly romantic and passionate. But instead it just felt
odd, and a little mechanical, as if he'd practiced this a little too
often.
"Leggo!" I said, pushing him away. He skated off looking smug.
"Another satisfied customer." he was saying.
"Don't let it get to you, honey." said an older girl. "He pulls
that stunt on all the cute beginners. Sanzenin has some kind of neurotic
need to kiss girls. Heck, with his looks, most girls volunteer. A
couple even go back for seconds. Fools." She sighed, and skated off.
Akane caught up with me, and we skated for a bit longer. I was
still no great shakes at it, but I wasn't falling nearly as much at the
end.
Afterwards, we got a snack in the attached cafe. (Extra-cushiony
seats on the chairs, good planning.) Akane got P-chan out of her bag to
look at on the table.
"You look like a pretty good skater, Akane."
"Thank you. My mother taught me when I was little. I was really
clumsy at first, and I almost gave up, but Mom kept encouraging me, and
eventually I got the hang of it." Her smile was a little sad. Akane
didn't talk about her mother much, but I knew she missed her.
Suddenly, there was a high-pitched squeal. "Charlotte!" An arm
darted in and grabbed the stuffed pig. "Charlotte come to Mommy!"
It was a wavy-haired girl in a skating costume so cutesy I felt
jealous. She was bouncing up and down, holding P-chan above her head and
giggling.
"Give that back!" said Akane. She reached for the toy, but the
other girl bounced out of the way.
"Mine! Azusa's darling Charlotte!"
Then it was plucked from her fingers. It was the boy from the
rink, Sanzenin.
"I must apologize for my partner--"
"Gimme back Azusa's Charlotte!" the girl shrieked, pounding him
with her tiny fists.
"--but she has the unfortunate habit of naming any cute thing she
sees and making it hers." Azusa had grabbed a tray from a passing waiter
and was bashing her partner over the head with it. He seemed used to the
sensation.
"Um, thank you--"
"The only thanks I could want is your sweet lips meeting mine."
He bent towards Akane, who stiff-armed him.
"--but I'm not *that* grateful." She grabbed her piglet back,
and we left.
We met up with her friends outside.
"You turned down a kiss from Mikado Sanzenin?!" wondered Ritsu.
"He's so dreamy!"
"How many times do I have to tell you, I hate boys."
"Oh, riight."
"Besides," I put in, "he isn't really all that good a kisser."
At least I hoped so. It would be really sad if it didn't get any better
than that.
"Major slam! At least he has his Martial Pairs Skating to fall
back on."
"Martial Pairs Skating?" Akane seemed as surprised as I was.
"Couples fight on an ice skating rink. Mikado and his partner
Azusa Shiratori are the Golden Pair, champions of Kolkhoz High. You mean
you've never heard of them?"
"I only skate for fun, and I've never had a partner, so I don't
pay attention to team events."
For some reason, Ranma took that stolen kiss a lot more seriously
than I did.
[How *dare* he!] I'm gonna find this Sanzenin jerk and pound his
face into hamburger!]
Fortunately, I was able to read that before he actually caught up
with Mikado. I quickly scribbled, [Don't, Ranma! It isn't that big a
deal. Besides, he does Martial Pairs Skating, so if you challenge him,
he'll choose that form of combat. First, unless there's something you've
been holding back, you don't skate any better than I do, which makes you
a liability on the ice. Second, it's a team event, and you don't have a
partner. You'd have to learn to work with someone, probably Akane.]
I think it hurt Ranma's pride a little, but he admitted I was
right, at least about the skating part. So he took every afternoon for a
week to practice skating with Akane (which really ate into our monetary
and time budget, but he said he'd make it up to me later.) Then another
week of practicing combination maneuvers with Akane, which made her feel
good, even though they were clumsy together at first.
"I think we were almost going to kiss for real last night," Akane
confided. "We were so close and talking so seriously! But then it
turned out the whole family was listening in, and we got so embarrassed
we started fighting again." I was secretly a little glad they hadn't
kissed. I wasn't sure I wanted them to get along *that* well!
Then they finally went out and challenged the Golden Pair. The
skaters had forgotten all about Akane and me by then, but after Mikado
tried to kiss Akane again, and Azusa tried to steal Ranma's pigtail (she
named it "Bearnaise") there was enough fresh animosity to make a match
inevitable.
I am given to understand the match itself was quite spectacular
(there's a wonderful writeup in the Kolkhoz High school paper for that
week) but since I wasn't there, I'll just quote a bit of what Akane told
me about it.
"Then they got us in something called the Couple Cleaver, where
they whirled us around real fast. The idea was to make Ranma let go of
me to save himself, but he wouldn't let go! Finally, Azusa lost her grip
and both Ranma and I were flung away! Ranma tumbled us in midair so he
took all the damage from hitting the wall. How are you feeling, by the
way?"
"I hurt all over. He must have shocked *everything*." I replied.
"I begged him to stay down, but Ranma insisted on continuing,
especially after Mikado started bragging how he was going to take me away
again.
"Ranma and I went towards them, and when he told me what he
wanted to do, I thought he was crazy at first. But I went along, and we
were right back in the Couple Cleaver. But this time Ranma tricked them,
and it was the Golden Pair who went flying! After they hit the wall,
they were easy pickings, and we won."
Akane smiled again. "You know, I think just maybe Ranma actually
loves me!"
To Be Continued....
Next Time: "What's *she* doing here?!"
(Author's notes: This started, like most of my stories, as a vague
spamfic. It quickly grew into a viable alternate concept. There are a
couple of "Worse" style intros in here, done while Worse itself was in
hiatus. Hope they didn't throw you too much.)
comments to majks@cyberx.com, please, and my previous stories can be seen
at http://geocities.datacellar.net/Tokyo/Flats/5990 . See you again soon!
SKJAM!
"Learn a few foreign words or phrases: "Where is the toilet?" "Give me
your money." Foreigners will be flattered and it will speed up your
visit." (From the "Viking Handbook" by Dik Browne)
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