Vegas Rules (Ranma 1/2)

[Strawberry]

Hi folks. It's been a long time since I sat and wrote fanfiction, but I've had an itch to scratch for writing a Ranko fic for a long time, made especially clear by cleaning out the vaults of AO3 and FFnet for them.

As a heads up, and because it's going to be blindingly obvious this is an alternate universe transgender Ranma fic with Ryoga as primary ship. There, I said it. Yeah this one's likely going to be full of some standard fanon cliches but sometimes it's like a warm, familiar blanket hey?

I have the rough shape for the majority of the fic plotted out and am rather feverishly wracked with The Muse for it, so I'm taking advantage and writing it as much as possible. It'll likely be in three parts, though I'm tempted to have each part be a separate fic as they'll deal with the past, then the present, then the future.

Chapter names primarily are probably going to be ripped from Devin Townsend's "Empath" album, primarily the second song "Genesis" which kind of covers the themes for this. Somewhere, deep inside Berry is still a teenage girl who loved a good songfic!

However, I hope you enjoy!

I'll be putting it up on FFnet and AO3 at some point too, so I'll update this post with links. Also please bear with me with headers and threadmarks as the last time I posted a thread on essvee it was... a long time ago.

Anyway, I present for your edification and fanfic giggling:

Ranma 1/2 - Vegas Rules
Part 1 - Exit The Chaos, Stage Left

Chapter 1 - Genesis​

Receive this love,
Receive this love,
If you're saying in your mind: 'You're better off dead'
Well before the madness comes to claim your name,
A million years would go by!
Tell us a story!

~Genesis, Devin Townsend

((Last revised 27/06/2021))

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{​

Ryouga Hibiki was very lost.

This, in itself, was not unusual. One of his several nicknames (at least one of those not involving pigs or pork products thanks to Ranma and his insufferable way of getting under Ryouga's skin) was 'The Eternally Lost Boy', after all.

What he was currently trying to figure out was the way to the Tendou Dojo so he could see his…

Well, he guessed, 'friends' was the word. Rivals? Friendly enemies? Frenemies? Yeah, 'frenemies' seemed about right. Especially these days. His long training trip had ended, and he'd been looking forwards to spending some time with them and maybe beating on Ranma a few times just to make sure his chief rival hadn't gone soft.

But he'd gotten really lost this time. Worse than ever before. For quite a long time. Months and months of "Is this the way to Nerima?". He was sure it was always a skip after Sapporo, but for some reason it hadn't materialised.

He nabbed a passing person. How odd for Osaka, they weren't Japanese, and were dressed in a waistcoat and trousers. "Excuse me – I'm looking for Nerima, Tokyo, I don't suppose you've-"

["Sir is this a joke?"] The man asked, in English. ["You're aboard the cruise ship Genesis, and we're not long bound from the United Kingdom. Please excuse me."] The man made to leave but couldn't escape Ryouga's grip.

Ryouga's English these days wasn't too bad, though that could be said for most languages in the places he tended to end up. Had he said the UK? That was way further than he'd been lost in a long time. Maybe he should pick up a souvenir.

["Excuse me, sir?"] The waiter asked again and Ryouga was about to grill him for more answers when a sultry and yet familiar voice almost purred at him. Except purring would probably be as far from this person's mind as possible given the ailurophobia.

["I take care of it, Waiter-san."] The girl's voice came, speaking thickly Japanese-accented English and a shiver ran down Ryouga's spine as the waiter moved away. A woman his own age walked towards him. Well, strutted might be the better word.

Red hair swept back, then hung in curls down from a pinned ornament on the back of her head, right down to the small of her back. Jade earrings dangled from her ears. Clear blue eyes crinkled in warmth and surprise at him, faint freckles lightly dusting her cheeks. And then there was the dress she wore. It was the same jade green as her earrings. A Sleeveless and sheer cheongsam, complete with a thigh slit rather further up than what would normally be considered decent anywhere outside of… wherever he was. Ryouga gulped as he saw she was wearing green heels and tanned stockings. There was a tantalising hint of green silken underwear just on the edge of the slit.

He stared at her owlishly, wondering if he should hold his nose before the nosebleed began or if it was too late.

"Oh come on, Ryouga-kun." She batted her eyelashes at him coquettishly and there was familiarity in her blue eyes. "Don't you recognise me? Am I so changed?" A smile of satisfaction flickered across her face as he stammered a negative out, the expression doing little to calm his nerves.

"Ranchan, don't play with the poor dear. You know how fragile he is!" Another voice came over the woman's shoulder and she shrugged, turning her head behind her to roll her eyes and speak in far less feminine words.

"Fine, Nabs, jeez. I was only enjoyin' myself. Ya know how much fun it is to mess with a boy's head." She laughed, "You taught me that!"

The woman hooked an arm through his and led him, stammering away to sit at the booth where she appeared to be having drinks with… another attractive young woman, this one with bobbed hair and a little black dress. Emphasis on little. Brrr. Ryouga desperately wished for both a tissue and a cold shower, order of business optional, possibly together. Silver and gold necklaces and bracelets hung around her neck and wrists. His hand went straight to his nose in lieu of the tissue.

"I think you broke him." The one with black hair said and he knew that voice! "Again. Or it was me. This is probably my most provocative one…"

"Wait… N-N-Nabiki?!" He exclaimed. "T-Tendou Nabiki?!" She inclined her head, a sly smile on her face.

"The one and only Ice Queen of Fuurinkan High, pig-boy."

"Wh-which means-" He turned with horror to look properly at the girl who'd brought him over, her eyes wide and oh so innocent. "Ranma?!" He all but shrieked. For a moment she looked smug and superior at him, and then it melted away into his chief rival's face as she set into a fit of cackling giggles that completely ruined the 'sultry sex kit-puppynowaitthatmakesnoactualsense-' look she'd been going for.

"Oh, Ryouga, you're priceless! Can't believe you didn't recognise me and start yellin' about killin' me!" She picked up a glass and started drinking, then patted the booth seat beside her, snapping her fingers in the air at a nearby waiter.

Ryouga sat down, looking confused and more lost than usual as a drink was delivered to sit in front of him. He took a sip and found it was pineapple juice and coconut water, which was refreshing and thankfully non-alcoholic. "You know I-I don't do that so m-much anymore!" He stammered, looking anywhere but at the two girls sharing the booth.

Nabiki grinned at the martial artist next to Ryouga. "Wow, alright, you're definitely the one that broke his precious little boy brain, Ranko. Also, you owe me ten thousand Yen. Pay up."

Ryouga looked between the two of them and took another sip of his drink. There wasn't any alcohol in it but just tasting it made him feel somehow… classy. He paused halfway to another sip. "Wait… RanKO? Like that dumb name you used to trick your mother?"

Ranko groused and handed the bills over to Nabiki, ignoring Ryouga's outburst. "Ugh, fine, you win this time, Nabs. At least The Plan can go ahead now. Took him long enough, but I told you he'd turn up!" She paused. "Yanno, eventually. Just didn't know when." She deflated. "Coulda done with maybe a week or two more with the food here…"

Nabiki counted the money and grinned. "Easy to spot the patterns in pig-boy's movements when you stick a GPS sensor into his backpack."

"Hey, that's cheating!" Ranko grumbled.

"Um…" Ryouga held his hand up. The two ignored him.

"You're only saying it's cheating because you didn't think of it!" Nabiki crowed, stuffing the money into her purse and looking remarkably pleased with herself.

"Er…" Ryouga tried again.

"Well, yeah! Ain't nothin' to it when you do that!" Ranko shot back. Ryouga flinched at the tone of her voice but she was grinning, not angry. Like it was a game the two of them played. When did Ranma become such good friends with Nabiki?

Nabiki snorted. "Speak nicely, Ranko. What would your mother think?" She asked, eyebrow raised.

"Excuse…" Ryouga held his hand up higher. They carried on speaking as if he wasn't there.

"Mom- Excuse me," Ranko sat up primly from the slouch she'd affected, "Mother would probably call me most uncouth." The two giggled conspiratorially. "But she also did tell me to have a blast and do whatever I wanted so sometimes I am uncouth just 'cause I wanna be!"

"EXCUSE ME!" Ryouga all but yelled, and the two girls turned to him in surprise.

"Oh, yeah, you're still here. What's up?" Nabiki asked. Ryouga blushed as she leaned forwards and he tried (and failed) to keep his gaze around her eyes. He settled for looking at Ranko, though that wasn't much better. At least her dress didn't have so much cl-cl-flesh on display. Except those thighs, that little peek of – looking right away now!

"First of all, what's going on?" He asked a little plaintively, "And what's with Ranko?"

Ranko eyed him and took a sip of her own drink. It looked like a non-alcoholic daiquiri. "What's with 'Ranko', Ryouga-kun? Maybe because it's my name."

Ryouga, for all of his dumbassery throughout life and ability to jump to frankly ludicrous conclusions, had spent a long time schooling his instinctive reactions to Ranma's tomfoolery, those being to yell he was lying or doing something to trick or hurt Akane. Instead he took a deep breath, counted to ten and controlled that urge. "Ranko is a girl's name." Ryouga said, folding his arms with a sneer he knew would infuriate his rival.

It absolutely failed as she grinned at him. "Yeah, well, this look like a guy to you?" Ranko indicated herself, slipping one leg to cross over the other exactly where the thigh slit was and making Ryouga forget himself for a moment. Nabiki snickered as she saw what Ranko was doing.

"B-buh… b-but you're a-a-a-"

Ranko's eyes narrowed. "I… wouldn't finish that thought, Ryouga." She said, in a low voice. "Not as loudly as you like to proclaim sometimes, at least." She saw him quiver and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Oh for- fine, just… get it outta ya system. But quietly." He caught Nabiki nodding at him with a menacing gleam in her eyes.

"-A boy." He whispered, lamely. Nabiki rolled her eyes.

"Ryouga, you've not seen me in what, a year now?" Ranko asked. Ryouga nodded, looking shocked a moment. It'd been that long? "A lot can happen in a year, believe me. All that crap that happened with the fiancées and the amazons and Saffron and stuff seemed to happen over like nine months, if that."

Ryouga's brain performed an emergency course correct to deal with the overload of information.

"W-wait, hang on! You're here with Nabiki – Ranma, how dare you do this to Ak-" He stopped his rising voice when Ranko's finger landed on his lips, a dangerous look in her eyes to match the one Nabiki was giving him. He looked down. The nails were painted green and were longer than he'd ever seen Ranma's grown. He turned his eyes back to hers. Now that he looked, she had light makeup on. Violet eyeliner, light eyeshadow, mascara. Lipstick.

"Ranko." She said. "My name is not Ranma. It's Ranko. Kanji for 'Orchid', then 'Child' if you have to write it down. Got that?" She asked, some of her old belligerence coming to the fore. She picked up her drink in her free hand and finishing it. "Are you going to behave? Talk nice and quiet and not skydive to conclusions like you normally do? Ya gonna hear me out?"

Ryouga nodded at the look, eyes wide. "A-ah… Y-yes," He swallowed, "R-ranko-san."

She smiled at him; the anger gone as quickly as it had come. "Good. Thank you, Ryouga-kun. Now as for why I'm here with Nabiki, and not, say, her no-doubt lovely younger sister is a long, complicated story. Also, me and Nabs ain't engaged."

"I think you mean 'Nabiki and I aren't engaged'." Ranko rolled her eyes. "We've got time for the story though, now he's here." Nabiki quipped. "You can leave any time, provided he agrees. Even take that couple of extra days."

Ryouga eyed them. "Agrees to what?" He asked cautiously through Ranma's finger. Ranma shrugged and removed the finger on his lips.

"We'll tell you later – and I mean that. We will." Ranko grinned. "We've got a great plan. Drink up, buddy boy, you're escorting two hot ladies around to a place we can talk in earnest." She made a face as she downed the remains of her daiquiri. "Well, we'll escort you. Knowing you you'd get lost just standin' up."

Ryouga was about to argue, but another look from Ranko silenced him. "Come on, Ryouga." She said, offering her arm. He tentatively took it, embarrassed that she was right regarding his directional capabilities.

The whole time he was following meekly (Meekly! Him! Hibiki Ryouga!), Ranma's arm in his was a distraction.

How the hell had Ranma 'man amongst men', macho jerk to end all macho jerks, decided to be… this. Sure, he could still see Ranma in there. He'd always moved with grace and there was never any denying his skill in the art.

But Ranko moved with feminine beauty that quite frankly made him a bit too hot and bothered to function properly, and wouldn't have been possible for Ranma at all.

There's gotta be some trick! He tried to reason. It's always a trick with Ranma. But he'd promised to hear her out first, and even though he really wanted to just make the universe go back to normal and yell what he recognised as a catchphrase, he wanted to keep his promise.

A waiter moved past, caught his foot on a carpet and a cup of tea splashed onto Ranko's (thankfully bare) arm. Ryouga felt like yelling 'Watch out' but it was too late. He was about to see that dress rip as her muscles grew and...

...And nothing happened. He stared as she turned and winked at him while the waiter apologised profusely. "Locking Ladle, Ryouga-kun." She said softly. "I meant it when I said I knew who I was. No more curse. They owed me for Saffron and that… that bullshit wedding."

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{

​

Ryouga tried to focus on Ranko as she guided him through the twisting corridors of the ship. It was easier when someone led him like this. Focusing on a person nearby helped him keep going in the right direction.

Though… focusing on Ranko gave him other problems. Hot, bothered problems, and he knew she was aware of it because she kept turning her eyes to him and smiling a soft smile and oh kami-sama did she have to enjoy this teasing so much?

They entered another large bar, though it took Ranko some fast talking to get Ryouga in, given he wasn't dressed up like they were. There were far fewer people here and definitely of a more… upper crust variety. How on earth had these two been able to access this place?

"VIP Lounge." Ranko shrugged. Nabiki grinned at him.

"Helps to know the right people, pig boy." She said, correctly guessing his train of thought.

"Pig…" Ryouga's face drained of colour. "You know." he whispered. Ranko eyed him. Oh kami, they know.

"Yeah, she does. I told her." His head whipped to her, betrayal in his eyes and he was about to yell when her arm around his tightened painfully. "Calm down." She said, icily. "Of course I told her. Why would I honour a promise that harms another girl?"

Another girl. He sighed. Akane probably knew, so there was no way he was welcome at the Tendou Dojo anymore. "O-oh." Ryouga swallowed and Nabiki glared.

"Oh, we'll talk about that later, pig boy, believe it. But you should be thanking your companion there. I was going to make yakiton outta you. She convinced me otherwise."

"Cost me enough yen…" Ranko muttered to herself and Ryouga swallowed again as they sat down at a table.

Nabiki disappeared and returned after a minute or two's uncomfortable silence with a pitcher of some fruity drink. Ranma poured herself a glass and drank some down after Nabiki did the same. Ryouga hesitated and then did so too. Mango and passion fruit. It was good. Probably fresh juice given how upper class this whole place was.

"So… uh…" He rubbed the back of his head now he had a free hand. "H-how did you get… where are we?"

"Cruise ship, currently en route out from the United Kingdom." Nabiki replied coolly.

"It's a long story." Ranko said, looking at the table. She looked up at him and smiled, the smile somehow wistful. "And it actually starts because of you."

"M-me?" Ryouga asked.

"Yeah." Ranko said, laughing. Ryouga flushed. It wasn't a belly laugh, or one of Ranma's cruel, pointing laughs, but a feminine giggle that did little to help Ryouga's discomfort. "You remember during that first fight in Nerima you told me you'd 'take away my happiness'?"

Ryouga swallowed and looked a little shamefaced. "Y-yeah. I'm… I'm sorry 'bout that." He said. Ranko waved him away.

"It's fine, Ryouga. I know you're good people. Trust me, I wouldn'ta brought you to this lounge with me and Nabs if I didn't wanna see you." Nabiki nodded, but looked bored, like she'd heard this before.

Ranko took a long sip of her drink and leaned back on the stool she sat on, looking up at the ceiling as the chandelier swayed very gently with the ship's motion. "Yeah. You said that and I asked Akane 'Am I happy?' as a kind of shitty joke 'cause life had just got real complicated." She laughed that laugh again and his stomach flipped the same knots it always did when a pretty girl laughed, "Turns out it was a deeper question than I thought."

 

[Strawberry]

Alrighty, here's chapter 2. It was a little more difficult to write as I got distracted by stuff further down the line. It's also that this isn't the chapter of realisations but more someone lighting a taper to light the conflagration.

On timeframes, I've worked out it'll probably be early October when Ranko first speaks with Nabiki for help.

I'd also considered using She and He for whichever form Ranko's in during the deadname times (barring people saying the words out loud), but felt better putting it as he/him during that time since that's what she thought she identified herself as before. It'll likely be the same if I end up with any other nannichuan/nyaniichuan cursed people. Pronouns be important to me, yo.

---------------------
Last revised 27/06/2021
---------------------

Chapter 2 - There Lived A Bird Who Was Just So Sad

Once upon a time,
In a tiny little town,
In a tiny little house,
Where no one came around,
There lived a bird who was just so sad.

-Sprite by Devin Townsend

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{

​

"Am I happy?" He'd asked Akane that first time.

"Don't ask me!" She'd replied.

His response to Ryouga's words back in that first big fight, intended as a crappy joke all those months ago had started to haunt him lately.

Nerima had been unusually quiet in the past few months. Ever since that… incident with Saffron, some of the usual suspects had backed off. Slightly. His life was still a joke. A tangled mess of honour-bound relationships, assaults and fights.

A fiancée-filled, never ending chaos. He'd long given up on trying to control the madness that his life had begun. The only thing he could really do was dodge the worst of it and hope that somehow, he could just survive.

Ranma Saotome sighed as he looked up from the Tendou Dojo roof at the stars. The relative quiet had given him something he'd not had for months. Time to think. Thinking, as many will know, when it involves Ranma is usually either bad or earth-shattering for someone. Usually him. But since the wedding fiasco he'd had more and more time to think.

And it was driving him mad.

"Am I happy?"

Could he be happy? He mentally listed the things wrong with his life.

Engagements.

Akane's jibes and insults. Her violence when his chronic foot-in-mouth syndrome reared its head. Granted that would be his fault but did she have to hit so often for such small insults now? What happened to those glorious moments where they just… held one another after Saffron? When they were both too raw from almost-grief and trauma to argue, where they could converse quietly, with no insults and no violence?

Shampoo and her myriad issues not to mention turning into a c-c-c-feline quadruped. (He'd made some progress on mastering his fear, paltry though said progress was. He could now, confidently, say the word c-c-c-c-cat once in about twenty times without stammering for a full minute!)

Always on edge, always fighting.

What good was there in his life?

He snorted. What a dumb question. There was good, even if it seemed hidden sometimes with all the madness that circled him.

There was Akane. Despite their fights and her tendency to mallet, they were friends. When she smiled his heart fluttered and he let it, even if Pops'd call him a pathetic girly man for it. Even if whatever they'd had just after Saffron seemed to be slowly dying to their inability to just talk, they still spent a lot of time together.

Kasumi was like the big sister he'd never, ever had. Sweet, kind and nurturing. On the few times he'd needed to talk without anyone seeing or hearing, he'd spoken to her and she'd always steered him right. Always, even if it had been advice he hadn't wanted to hear.

Even Nabiki, her mercenary tendencies aside, treated him like a little brother. The Tendou sisters treated him like he was part of a… well, part of a…

Like a family.

"Pop never made me feel like that. Not once." He said quietly to himself. Even Akane had in a way, they certainly bickered like sisters, especially when he was in girl-mode. It was always different then, too, almost more natural for them, and usually far less violent than boy-mode. His insults tended to be friendlier in that form, her mallet less ready to swing.

Maybe he could stay as a girl for a while, see how that worked out if he could shut his big mouth. They could be sisters and maybe he'd not have to get malleted so often.

Wait.

Wait.

What?

Ranma's hands clawed at his head from where it rested on his arms. No. No, it was the curse talking. Had to be. Not the first time it had tried to do this. Feeling right when he changed, that sort of thing?

Right?

He decided for now to skip that last thought because it hit his insecurities that little bit too much.

For good things, even Ryouga, who set this whole chain of thought off was more like a friendly rival than an enemy and he always looked forwards to the few times they could just… hang out, instead of fighting. The guy was good company when he wasn't being a stubborn asshat with a bee in his bonnet about whatever thing he thought Ranma had done this time.

Sometimes he wished he didn't have so much fighting going on in his life. The Art was great, sure, but he was starting to get sick of fighting. It wasn't worth the constant harassment. He'd give up the art if it meant a… quiet…

His eyes went wide.

He dropped off the roof and went into the house. It was quiet inside. Kasumi had gone… somewhere. He didn't know where. Pop was out on a trip; he'd been really spooked by the last time Mom had come and wanted to get away. He sighed. Really need to come clean ta Mom.

Soun was also out, but that was his regular work with the council keeping him late. Akane was… Somewhere. Kami-sama only knew where, probably with her friends Sayuri and Yuka.

Talking with Akane was… well the best way to put it was dodge training. It didn't help that he had chronic foot-in-mouth syndrome that he'd at long last acknowledged. So she'd have been out even if she'd been here.

He snorted. Some fiancée. Some friend he could see romantically, if they couldn't even talk like civilised people.

Ranma felt a need to talk to someone. It was rare for him to want to talk to someone let along need to articulate his thoughts and he didn't want to let the feeling go. Somehow, he sensed that it was necessary to do it, like his life would take a turn for the worse if he didn't. And it was already bad enough.

Swallowing, he realised everyone being out left only one person to talk to, and she'd probably charge by the microsecond.

Nabiki.

Beggars couldn't be choosers but just maybe this time he shouldn't-

Tentatively he reached out to the mercenary girl's door, swallowed his fear and knocked.

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{

​

While Ranko described her thought process for that night, Ryouga once again found himself feeling that rare thing. Sympathy for Ranm- Rank- Saotome. As she was describing what had started all this, she'd seemed to retreat from what he'd been seeing as a grinning, flirtatious girl into something more like a whipped dog. And it didn't work. She'd been so confident just a moment ago.

Nabiki made an unhappy waving motion and stood up. "I don't wanna be sober when you're talking about my one moment of weakness in this life, Ranchan." She said. "Pretty sure you don't want to be either."

She disappeared to the bar, and Ryouga looked at Ranko's defeated face again. She played with her fingers on the bar, swirling liquid around. She looked almost ashamed.

The silence stretched between them, taut and brittle, and he swallowed. He wanted to say something, to comfort her (comforting Saotome? The world had gone mad), anything to stop that look of shame that had fixed itself. He couldn't think of anything to say though, so he stayed quiet and let the silence thicken until it was almost a physical thing.

The thunk of a pitcher landing on the table made him jump and the scent of alcohol in it made Ryouga's eyes widen.

"First one's on me tonight, kiddoes!" Nabiki declared. She put down three glasses and grinned at them.

Ryouga blinked. "You guys… have been drinking?"

"Nabs has, a fair bit." Ranko said, shrugging and losing some of her funk. "I mean, I've been drunk a few times, but it's mainly been either by accident or because some asshat was hitting on a pretty girl." She smiled. "Said pretty girl bein' little ol' me."

Ryoga wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh or start shaking her to bring things back to normal. This was so far out of his comfort zone it wasn't even funny anymore. At least she didn't have that look on her face anymore.

The huge clock on one wall ticked and then twelve bell rings sounded out. "Well guess what?" Nabiki grinned at Ranma as a large glass was placed in front of her by a waiter, and the mercenary girl poured a glass from the pitcher for Ryouga. "Happy birthday, girlfriend!" She said brightly. "You just turned nineteen!"

Ranko blinked. Then she looked over at the wall clock that had dates on it. April 1st​. So she had. "…Oh. Huh. Yeah. I forgot about that…" She shrugged. "…Never really celebrated. Last time was not too far from Saffron and all that stuff, then there was talkin' to you, then Mom, then all that time with Himeko… Just never came up I guess."

Ryouga blinked. Who was Himeko?

Nabiki grinned at Ranko. "Oh, I know Ranchan. That's why tonight is the m-"

"Don't say those words, Nabs…" Ranko growled. Nabiki winked mischievously. "Those are not words to say lightly. They're bad luck."

"Martial Arts Birthday Celebration!"

Ranko tensed up as if expecting something to happen. When a waiter plonked down another drink in front of her and another placed a giant ice cream sundae with fudge and chocolate sauce, she jumped about three feet off the stool with a shriek. Nabiki burst out laughing at her.

"Happy birthday, you dork!" The middle Tendou girl beamed. "It's only a jinx if you let it be!"

"Seriously Nabs, them words are cursed to all hell." Ranko groaned, burying her face in her hands. A small smile flitted across her face at Nabiki though. "…but thanks."

Ryouga scratched his head, confused and took a sip of his drink. His eighteenth had gone by without much fanfare. Hard to have fanfare when you're spending it in Mongolia. Well, that nice couple in the ger had given him some arkhi he guessed, which was the closest to celebrating it he'd got in a while.

Ryouga made a face like the drink tasted awful. But it wasn't the drinks that made the foul taste in his mouth. "I. Ugh. I agree with Ranm-" He saw her shoulders tense. "Ranko. Sorry."

"S'alright."

"But they are cursed words."

Ranko giggled. "Ain't they just the cursiest words you ever heard? Everythin' back in that madhouse were 'Martial Arts Walkin' To School' or 'Ma-'" Her voice stopped a moment. "I ain't temptin' fate. 'Emm Ayy Cheese Eatin' Championships' or some stuff like that, yanno?"

"Your language went right down south again, Ranchan." Nabiki commented.

"Ah suck it, Nabs, Mom ain't here." Ranko grumbled.

"Doesn't mean I don't get to tattle on you when we get back from this place." Nabiki smiled and stretched. Ryouga looked away. At least he was starting to get used to the sight of the two of them, or he'd be embarrassing himself more.

Ranko held her fingers up. "Naw, ya don't get to tattle." She drawled. "Ya gotta 'member, Nabs. 'Vegas Rules'. You taught me that."

Nabiki laughed and gave Ranko a proud look. "I guess I did, Ranchan. Well remembered."

"Anyway," Ranko said, seeming to slip back into the more feminine speech pattern she'd been speaking when he'd first seen her here almost automatically. "Things like 'Emm Ayy Tea Ceremonies'. Kami, why can't people just do a normal tea ceremony?"

Ryouga felt like he was following half a conversation. "…'Vegas Rules'?"

Nabiki grinned at him. "It's our pact. 'What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.' This whole trip's under the rule. Unless we both agree to talk about it, neither of us will. You're gonna have to be a part of it, pig boy."

"Could you maybe stop calling me-" he asked a little plaintively.

Nabiki's look turned to steel and her manner turned icy. "No." Ryouga swallowed and looked down.

"R-right. Sorry."

Ranma picked one of her drinks up and took a long sip, making a noise after that made Ryouga very uncomfortable. "Ohhhh, this is good, Nabs. How'd you figure I liked that strawberry liqueur and is that…?" She smacked her lips, took another long sip and nodded, "Cherry too…"

Nabiki fanned herself. "Well, a girl has her secrets, but mostly just watching. You like sweet stuff."

"Yeah… Sake makes me go ick. No idea why Pops drinks so much of it."

"'Cause your father is a wastrel alcoholic with some really bad habits and attitudes not out of place a few hundred years back?"

"Well, except that." Ranma laughed and took another long sip, looking at the treat Nabiki had ordered. "Never really celebrated a birthday before…" She started in on the sundae. With sparklers lit and a 'happy birthday!' sign on it in English, it was approximately half her size, with so many different types of ice cream and chocolate cake that Ryouga felt ill just looking at it.

What really made him feel ill was watching Ranko consuming the sundae. Ordinarily that would be because putting food in front of a Saotome was akin to throwing stuff into a blender with hole at the bottom. It just disappeared and sprayed the area around it with debris. Not this time. She ate it a small bit at a time, all ladylike spoonfuls and delicate movements, and making moaning noises as she ate that made him start getting bothered again.

He shifted in his seat uncomfortably, unable to look away.

Nabiki's eyes wandered over him knowingly, then went over Ranko eating, a smirk on her face. She shook her head, obviously entertained. "Since missy here's going to be busy for at least a few minutes, possibly longer given those foodgasm noises, I'll take over."

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{

​

Nabiki Tendou sat in her combination office/room/data storage and thought. Thinking wasn't a rare thing in Nabiki's life. She thought constantly. One had to be on edge to one-up the people she was used to doing, though with the lull in fiancée drama lately she'd pushed back some of her operations.

Nabiki liked money, and she liked her reputation. Quite how she'd gone from knowing a couple of secrets and running a couple of betting pools to apparently being a master spy was beyond her, but people at school before she'd graduated had started treating her like she was omniscient.

Naturally she'd not done anything to discourage this reputation. It amused her no end.

Tonight's thinking though was partly about the past, and partly about the future.

It all boiled down to that farcical wedding. For once from one of the many things she'd done, she felt bad about that. Ranma had changed over time from an annoying lodger who did jack-all about the house to almost…

Well, almost a little brother. Still annoying but he's family, so what can you do?

Thankfully, while she wasn't as super clever as everyone seemed to think, nor was she particularly wanting to become yakuza, she'd been considering ways that she could at least help him map the chaos. Originally, she'd planned to make a profit from it. Now she wanted to see if she could stall it.

A hesitant knock at her door made her look up and she opened it to see said boy standing there. Contrary to his usual macho-jock, self-assured face, he looked almost… unsure. A part of her wanted to take advantage of it, but the part of her that wanted to make reparations for the wedding fiasco overruled it. That had gotten so far out of hand that even with the money she'd made she'd actually felt bad.

Especially when Ranma had looked at her after, like she'd just kicked a puppy in front of him. The betrayal in his face had set her insides boiling in guilt.

She didn't like the feeling that look evoked in her. It made her want to apologise profusely.

Ranma rubbed the back of his head nervously as he looked at Nabiki. "H-hey. Um." He said quietly. Nabiki eyed him.

"Saotome. I hope this isn't a stupid plan you're enacting." She said and he shook his head. "Good. What can I do you for?"

He looked confused at the wording but muttered something. At her arch look he cleared his throat. "Can… can we talk?" He asked, a little plaintively. Her eyebrow arched further. "Just… talk. I got stuff on my mind and… Well you're good at people…"

She considered a moment. "Sure. No charge." She said, stepping back to let him into her room, then closed the door. He sat gingerly on the bed while she sat at her desk. "What's eating you? I've noticed you on the roof talking to yourself a lot."

"Oh, just… stuff." He said, drawing knees up to his chest. He'd somehow moved to squatting on the bedpost when she sat down. Nabiki shook her head. Martial artists. Gods she was sick of living with martial artists.

Ranma always did seem to prefer high-up places now that she thought on it. The roof, a bedpost, fences, walls, roofs. Perhaps there was more to it like a sense of security. The mercenary part of her whispered to use it as leverage but she put it down. Now was not the time if he had been brave and/or desperate enough to come to her for help.

"That's pretty vague, Ranma." She said, folding her arms.

"Y-yeah well… Maybe this wasn't such a good…" He started moving from the post.

Nabiki shook her head. "Stay there, I've got things to tell you myself." He looked at her curiously, and she smiled her cold smile. "I actually wanted to apologise."

"…What d'ya want?" He asked automatically. She stared. Then she sighed.

"I guess I deserve that."

"Well?" Ranma asked, not budging and Nabiki shook her head.

"No, I mean it. I'm sorry. I've treated you like garbage and tried to justify it to myself for any number of reasons, but there's really no excuse. So. What have you been thinking while moping about up there?"

Ranma looked down. "Er…"

Nabiki shrugged. "Suit yourself, Saotome, but you looked like you needed someone to talk to before you exploded everywhere."

"Am I happy?" He blurted out. "I… don't know. If I am, I mean."

Nabiki looked confused. "Are you… happy?"

He bowed his head. "Y-yeah. I don't get it. Y'see I was thinkin' of the first time Ryouga turned up and a couple of other times, yanno, his greatest hits of sayin's. And one hit me from back when he first turned back up- he said 'I'll destroy your happiness'. Back then I asked 'Kane whether I was, cuz it was a shitty joke." He pursed his lips. "…Only, I don't think it was a joke, yanno?"

Nabiki looked thoughtful. "You're saying you're unhappy?"

He made a chuffing noise not unlike his father's panda form and moved down to the bed itself again, looking ashamed. "I… dunno. Yes. No. Maybe? I tried listin' good things but they jus'… I dunno." He looked more ashamed. "Ain't that dumb? Sure I've got loads to be thankful for but… I dunno if I'm happy about it."

"Mmhmm." Nabiki said, shifting on her chair. "Ranma, what do you want?"

"I-" he began. "H-help from-" She waved a hand at him irritably.

"No, not from me right now. From life. You know, what're your dreams?"

"To be the best martial artist ever!" He tried to light up, but it didn't seem to work. And he deflated pretty much immediately.

"That's your dad's one. And aren't you kind of already getting there?" Nabiki pointed out. "That and all that 'man amongst men' crap, though I guess having a seppuku pledge does make him want to get that one down pat. What does it even mean?"

Ranma looked at her. "You're… right. About the martial arts thing." He frowned. "And that… you know, it is vaguely worded…"

Nabiki pressed further. "So what do you want to do with your life, Saotome? Forget your asshole dad, forget all this crap with engagements, forget anything else. What do you want to do with your life?"

"I…" He looked more ashamed than he had before, and she was surprised to see tears on his face. "I don't know."

"Good." Nabiki said.

"Good?"

"It's the only wise answer, if you've only put that paltry amount of thought into it."

He wiped his eyes, frowned and then looked at her. "Have you got some water? I'll feel better as a girl for this. You know," He laughed nervously, "I almost thought tonight maybe I should stay as a girl for a while and see if I fight with Akane less." He laughed more nervously. "I mean she beats her sisters up way less."

Nabiki stared. It lasted a while. Finally, she winced. "Hoo boy. I've not been looking forwards to this talk." She said. He looked confused. "You." She pointed. "Stay there. No running away. I think we've got some stuff to talk about, Saotome."

She disappeared for about ten minutes and returned with a tray. On it were several glasses. "I wanna try something while you're in a thinking mood, Ranma." She said. He eyed the tray.

"What?" He asked, before she poured the cold glass over him.

Instantly there was a buxom redhead sitting on her bed instead of the black-haired boy. Nabiki smiled. She preferred Ranma's girl half. He always seemed to relax more when he was in it.

That was why she had the tray.

"I'd noticed something, you know." She said conversationally. Set the line and… cast! "You're way less tense now. Why's that?"

"It's not me! It's this stupid girl body! Not my fault it feels really nice!" He said. Immediately he put his hand over his mouth. Nabiki laughed. Reel him in.

"Oh, come on, Ranma-chan don't tell me all girls are not tense. Akane's so tense most of the time you could run a bow across her and get a clear note on a good day." Ranma looked askance at her and she rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah, bad metaphor. Anyway, how much time do you spend in girl form, lately?" She asked.

"Uh…" He said, looking down at his body. "S-some of the time. I keep getting splashed."

"Do you?" Nabiki asked. Ranma looked to the side. "Really? I'd swear it was on purpose a lot of the time."

"Alright! I like eating ice cream in this form more!" He yelled, and Nabiki sighed.

"Alright. That's fine." She said, calmly. Ranma swallowed. She eyed him. "Ranma, I'm not my sister. She flies off the handle over the dumbest shit. If you want to be a girl and eat ice cream, be my guest. Ignore what your dumbass father says and my psycho little sister yells. Be whatever form you want to be comfortable in." She grinned. "You're easier to talk to like this, you know?"

"I-I am?"

"Yeah. How to…" She snapped her fingers and grabbed a nearby folder with some old photos in it. She held two up to the currently-girl-shaped-boy. One was of Ranma in boy-form, the other was of girl-form Ranma, and in both he was asleep. "Check these out." She pointed to the girl-form one. "See here, you look really relaxed. Like you've not a care in the world." She pointed to the boy-form one. "And here you're really tense. See?"

He snorted. "Just those two." He said, sounding uncomfortable. "Doesn't prove nothin'. I'm a guy!"

Nabiki rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine, but look here." She showed him a bunch more. "Every single one of these is the same. You can't say you don't see it! When you're a boy you're all tense and unhappy, when you're a girl you just seem to… relax, I guess?"

"Fine. What's the point?"

Nabiki held a glass of hot water out and poured it over his head, turning him back to his boy-form. "The point is, Ranma, which form are you the most comfortable with?" She asked. "Also, I hope we figure this out before my bed gets much wetter."

"Wouldn't be if you'd stop pourin' water on me." Groused Ranma. He rolled his shoulders. "Could it be that. Yanno. Testing Zone stuff?"

Nabiki laughed. "Testosterone, idiot. And maybe, maybe not. How do you feel right now?"

He pursed his lips, making an effort not to run away or shy away from the question. She'd only make him regret it.

"Er… tense. Nervous. Kinda hungry."

Nabiki nodded. "Alright, hold onto that impression." She said, picking another glass up. She turned him back into girl-form. "How about now?"

"Do we have to…" She looked at him sharply and he swallowed, but focused inwards. "Uh… I guess… Nervous, really hungry."

"But not tense?"

"…No." He said, softly. There was a wondering tone to his voice, and he flexed his hands. He looked at them and then hugged himself.

"Ranma, how do you feel in this body? I'm not going to tell anyone, I won't use it against you, I won't charge you or anything. No one will find out. If I were to lock you into this body, this girl's body right now, forever, how would it make you feel?"

"I don't…"

"Answer the question, Saotome." Her tone was clipped again. She was getting tired of having to use that voice; but it seemed like the only way he'd actually respond half the time.

Teenagers! She thought, then smiled at the irony given she was still nineteen herself.

"I…" He squirmed. "I guess… It… wouldn't be that bad… I mean it's not so much bein' a girl as it is the constant changin' back and forth. I like how I look in nice clothes and the changing means I can't… But Akane would call me a pervert for saying that…"

"Yeah well, Akane's the poster child for suppressed desires, Ranma." Nabiki said bluntly. "She'd not know a real pervert if it came up and touched her boobs."

"I think she'd know that one at least." Ranma gave a wan smile. "And the perv'd be in orbit. But… ain't she right?"

"It might surprise you to know that Akane can be absolutely wrong about a lot of things, Ranma, especially when it comes to people being 'perverted'. Your body's your body, it's not like you're using it to get into locker rooms and stuff." She paused as he went red and she remembered the Japanese nanniichuan incident. "Not without a really dumbass reason, anyway."

Nabiki sighed. "Look, far as I'm concerned you're fine using that body to get ice cream, which is an excellent hustle by the way, but then you're always like," She made like a gorilla, "'Hurr hurr I'm Ranma Saotome, I'm a macho jock' and I always thought it kinda smacked of 'The lady doth protest too much'."

Ranma squirmed again and let out an embarrassed laugh. "I don't sound nothin' like that!" He said.

"Oh yeah, you do. You absolutely do." Nabiki said bluntly. "Alright, enough on your no doubt interesting gender issues." Ranma flinched, "That's just an extra to what you came for. You were asking if you were happy, right?"

"Y-yeah."

"And you said you don't know if you are?"

"Yeah." The redhead seemed easier at accepting that as he was currently. Nabiki nodded.

"Alright then. You do much meditation?" She asked.

"S-some."

Nabiki sat back down on her chair. "Well then. Here's what you'll need to do." She raised a finger. "There's a number of things you need to think on and get the time to do so. I think you need to meditate on who you are, what you want and what you need out of life. Meditate on everything, analyse it all. See what makes you happy." She held up another finger. "Not what makes your father happy. Not Akane, not Daddy, not anyone else but you. Find what drives you. What's really there, in your heart of hearts." She held her hand into a fist. "What is the heart, at the core of Saotome Ranma?"

Ranma nodded, playing with his fingers. Nabiki was always curious about how he adapted to his girl form. It was so small. Well, except for the chest, which was something he often seemed proud of, especially when it came to fighting with Akane. Everything else was smaller though, including arms, hands and fingers. How did one adapt to losing that much height?

She shook herself. "And… what we were discussing earlier. With you being tense? Maybe try it in both forms? Finally, maybe meditate on that. Find out, follow the thread of why you feel less tense. Go back to Jusenkyo, or even before. Look, I'm crap at advice, this is mainly throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks."

She smiled at him, and he blushed. It wasn't her usual cold smile but something actually warm, like a big sister would give her annoying kid sibling. "And maybe think about what I've said about your forms. Follow your heart, find your centre. All that good bullshit from meditation."

Ranma eyed her but there seemed to be a spark in his eyes that hadn't been there before. "I… will. S'real hard to focus though. Everyone attacks me and stuff. Tryin' to get time to think's impossible."

"I can't believe I'm offering this for free." Nabiki growled. "I'll run interference for a month. That's all the time I can reasonably give."

Ranma blinked. "You'd… do that for me?"

Nabiki shrugged. "It's what a good sister should do, and I've been pretty far from that. From tomorrow I will give you the Tendou Nabiki guarantee that you will have time to think." She patted his arm, then helped him off the bed and pushed him out the door.

Ranma stood outside of Nabiki's room with more questions than he'd had answered.

The first being who the hell was that and what did they do with Tendou Nabiki?

 

[Strawberry]

Sorry it took a while. This one got long and I had to redo a few parts.

----------------------------------
Last revised 27/06/2021
----------------------------------
Chapter 3 – And At The Heart Of It All There Was Nothing

What could I say?
What should I say?
It took all my words and my fantasy worlds,
And at the heart of all there was nothing!
- Genesis by Devin Townsend

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{
​

Nabiki finished speaking and Ryouga noticed that in his absorption in the tale, the sundae had been finished. Ranko was downing her first drink and Nabiki was already calling over another waiter. Ranma looked fuzzily up at him. He looked down. There were a couple of glasses there. Maybe that wasn't the first one. He'd been pretty absorbed in the tale and felt another pang of unfamiliar sympathy.

"Ranm-ko, you… felt like that?"

"Yeah yeah, Ryouga, laugh it up." She scowled.

"I… wasn't laughing." He said, confused.

"Yeah but don't tell me it didn't cross your mind." She said waspishly. He looked to Nabiki, not really able to deny it, but not really understanding why she was so off all of a sudden.

"…I guess so. Sorry."

"Ah, s'alright." She looked unhappy and sighed forlornly. "Hate feelin' weak, even now. Mom says it's fine for a lady to feel weak as long as she don't believe she is."

Ryouga took another sip of his own drink, noting it was still the first. He shrugged. "I don't think it's weak." He said, "Wanting to be happy."

Ranko nodded, laying her head on her folded arms, lips pursed. "I know that now, Ryouga." She said, tapping her head. "But I've still got damage here from how Pop raised me that's real ingrained." She looked at him and smiled, and his chest tightened. "Still a work in progress. Ain't all of us?"

Nabiki stood up and went to the bar again. He wasn't sure where she was putting all these drinks. She returned with something multicoloured and sharp-smelling. There was even one of those cocktail umbrellas.

Ryouga wondered idly if he could get one of those weighted for his cursed form.

Ranko sat herself up and looked uncomfortable. "I think Nabs has the right idea, I'm way too sober for this next bit."

They were both silent for a while until Ranko walked off with an order for him to not move, then returned swaying a little and with two new drinks. She put one down next to him, then sat back down. She took a long drink, made a face, then took another.

"Right." She said. "Tellin' ya about my introspection month. Well, Nabs was as good as her word."

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{
​

Ranma went down to breakfast the next day in girl-mode. Partly it was testing some of what Nabiki had said, but partly it was because he couldn't be bothered the night before to grab a bath. He'd slept well for once.

He still wasn't sure if it was the body or the thinking or having an ally who just seemed to understand.

Akane eyed him as he sat and picked at his food. That worried her; his usual vacuum cleaner of a mouth would've inhaled seconds and thirds by now on a normal day. But normal days seemed to be going to the side more and more frequently.

Soun and Genma weren't even in the room, the panda appearing to have taken a several-day training trip after his wife's last visit. Soun had left again, his role on the council taking more and more of his time lately.

When Ranma left to go and change, Akane looked at her sisters. Kasumi simply smiled, but then looked worriedly after the redhead, while Nabiki had her usually inscrutable face dialled to eleven this morning.

"Akane," the girl with the bobbed hair finally said after looking thoughtful for a while, "Mind if I borrow your fiancé to walk to school this morning? He owes me money, and I figure it's best to press him then. Might even get to the bottom of whatever funk's got him today." She shrugged. "For a price, of course."

Akane would've said something cutting, but her own worry for Ranma overrode her usual response and she nodded, standing up and going to get ready for the day. She'd not been able to get much out of him herself. All they'd had is a number of shouting matches. Nabiki might be able to coax it out of him.

Kasumi looked at Nabiki sharply after Akane had left. "I hope you aren't going to be too cruel, Nabiki dear." The eldest Tendou sister said, eyes unusually harsh. Nabiki smiled at her big sister and shook her head.

"I've got a plan, Sis. Might need your help with some of it, but you can't breathe a word to anyone else."

Kasumi nodded. "What do you need?"

Nabiki put down a chart. Kasumi looked at it. "This is what I'm calling the Chaos Engine." She said softly. "I've been mapping it for a while to… use."

Kasumi pursed her lips. "Use?"

"Yeah." Nabiki shrugged. "Originally for profit. But now I think our little brother needs some space."

Kasumi smiled proudly at Nabiki. "Little Brother?"

"He asked me for help." Nabiki hissed to her eldest sister. "Me! Either he was desperate or there really is no one else to turn to. And… he's family. Annoying, loud, obnoxious and with as much grace as a deflated beach ball but he's still family, and I won't let everyone else screw him up anymore like they have been doing. Not Akane, not Daddy, not his mother or his father."

Kasumi's smile grew wider. She nodded and looked the chart over. "What's your plan?"

As Nabiki began to explain her plot for the next month, Kasumi got the giggles.

When Ranma came down to the family room, still in girl-mode he found Nabiki and Kasumi talking lightly, Kasumi giggling as Nabiki explained with a chart she rolled up when he saw them. He stiffened until she gave him a nod.

"Saotome, I'm borrowing you this morning to get you to school." She said. "It's on the way to college, and we need to talk about your debts."

Kasumi's smile didn't flicker like it usually did when Nabiki mentioned debts and he stared a moment in surprise, then rubbed the back of his head. "What about 'Kane?"

"I asked her first; she's gone ahead."

"Alright then." Ranma nodded.

"Would you like some hot water, Ranma-chan?" Kasumi asked. "I can heat some up for you."

"That's alright." Ranma said, shrugging. "I'd only get splashed on the way to school."

Kasumi eyed Nabiki at Ranma's total lack of response to the honorific and then schooled her features. "Alright then." She said with a smile. She handed a triple-size bento over. "I noticed you didn't eat much breakfast. You'll get hungry later."

Ranma blinked and seemed almost to want to say something to Kasumi for some time, but then looked down. After a moment he spoke. "Thanks, One- I mean," He pinked, "Thanks Kasumi."

"You're welcome to call me onee-san if you really want, Ranma-chan." Kasumi said gently. "You are family, you know that right?"

Ranma swallowed thickly. "I, uh… yeah. Alright." He said. The moment was broken by Nabiki tugging on his arm.

"Come on, squirt, let's get you to school before I'm sick from the mushy display." She said with a teasing lilt to her voice. "You can witter on about stuff while keeping me company on the way to school."

Naturally that wasn't what happened. Nabiki sucked at her teeth as they turned the corner from the Tendou house and stretched. "Alright, Saotome, I've got a plan mostly down to get you your space." She said.

"You do? That fast?" He sounded hopeful as he cradled the book bag and bentou to his chest. She'd never seen him this hesitant before. Had this just been the talk she'd had or was it something built up?

"Of course, I am a master planner." She said modestly. "Actually, I've been mapping the chaos you're the centre of for a long time. Now, I'm not going to give you details you can blab to anyone, and I've got a feeling telling you anything about this part of the plan will simply backfire and cause you worse problems." She shook her head. "I hate it when plans go awry in that kind of way. I've already got a couple of things in place, but I should have the remainder by tomorrow. The next day at the latest. You'll have your time to think."

Ranma stopped in his tracks and Nabiki eyed him. He suddenly bowed low. "…Thanks, Nabs."

She waved him off. "Payment for services rendered."

"What, you mean all those 'risky' photographs?"

"It's 'Risqué', you idiot." She said good-naturedly and they carried on walking. "Just enjoy the quiet and get that thinking done, alright? We only have one shot at this peace, and it'll be a nightmare to keep juggling it."

"…Thanks, onee-san." He said again, so quiet she almost didn't hear it. She smiled and rolled her eyes. Maybe she should give Akane lessons on dealing with Ranma. He was way more compliant if you weren't bickering constantly. Or hitting him.

For a price, of course. And after he'd sorted himself out in the head department.

And maybe after she'd had a talk with Akane regards to the amount of violence that was appropriate when someone put their foot in their mouth.

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{
​

Nabiki had been as good as her word. Kuno had disappeared, apparently on a quest to china to track Ranma down and bring him to pay for his crimes.

He saw hide nor hair of the amazons for the whole month. Apparently, they'd needed to go to a conclave at home that required all three of them to travel and stay in China.

Ukyo was still Ukyo, but after the wedding she'd backed off somewhat. She hovered in the background, an almost comforting presence. She'd seemed content to leave him his space after he'd spotted Nabiki having a talk with her.

Kodachi had been institutionalised. Not for the first time, but it at least kept her out of Ranma's hair.

Ryouga was off on his training journey; Ranma almost missed him as he'd been the only one to be decent about the wedding.

Ranma didn't know how Nabiki had done it and somehow, he didn't really want to know. It was like she'd tamed the wild storm of chaos that was his life, even if temporarily.

All in all, life was peaceful in Nerima for the first time in a long while.

He and Akane still fought but it almost felt rote by now and he kept trying not to goad her so much. Soun still sobbed but that was Soun for you. Genma didn't come back from his trip, and his mother appeared to have taken a short holiday; so there was little chance of an accidental meeting.

For the first time in his life, Ranma had peace and quiet. And he took advantage. He meditated from the moment he got home from school to when he went to bed. Sometimes he'd meditate over his homework, sitting with Akane, the two of them just sharing a companionable silence.

Sometimes he'd be boy-mode, other times girl-mode as he tried to piece himself together and reach his centre. Nabiki had scoffed about it but she clearly had never felt the need for meditation or believed in it much. Ranma knew some of the tricks. Finding your centre was one of the core parts of any martial art.

Akane seemed to have noticed but was holding her tongue and mallet more than usual. Like him she was glad for the respite. Almost invisibly the tension in her shoulders and his from the madness that normally surrounded them started to relax. They fought less each day

Desperately, Ranma searched within himself.

Two weeks later, Ranma knew. He knew with a sickening feeling that made him want to curl up on his futon and never wake up.

Two weeks of meditation and thinking and digging had let him reach the core of his being.

What he found terrified him.

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{
​

Somewhere in the story, Ranko had moved them to another table and night had fallen. Ranko was talking about her struggles to see inside herself. Ryouga wasn't sure why she'd had such trouble. He found his centre most of the time. Sure, what was there was different at times, but his drive was always there.

Once it had been to kill Ranma, but time had diluted that, but he still knew who he was. What he wanted.

Ranko had lapsed into silence just before she'd started to actually say what she'd found, when Ryouga found himself being taken to the side by Nabiki. "Ryouga needs the toilet." She said to Ranko. "Wouldn't do to have him get lost and ruin the plan."

Ranko waved her off and returned to contemplating her drink. It was clear from her body language she really didn't want to talk about this next bit.

Nabiki led Ryouga over towards the restrooms and let him go in before grabbing his arm after he came out.

"We've got to talk, pig boy." The middle Tendou said, eyes sharp. He gulped and nodded.

"About P-chan?" He asked. "I-I know I-"

"No. About Ranko." Nabiki said softly and he looked over to where the petite redhead sat looking pensive, chin resting on her hands while she kicked her feet idly, the green heels skidding off the floor. "Ugh, I keep telling her not to scuff those, she'll ruin them for tomorrow's photoshoots…"

"Photoshoots?"

"We'll explain later. Look, I know you're kinda blinkered when it came to her old self, but are you sure you're not going to go off on one at her?"

"I haven't yet!" Ryouga said hotly. "What do you take me for, an angry moron?"

"Yes." Nabiki's tone was scathing. "Unless you've changed more than I thought on that journey."

Ryouga should have been offended but he saw the concern in Nabiki's eyes as she looked over at Ranko. "Look, pig-. Look, Ryouga. That girl's my sister in everything but blood. I love her like she is my own blood. And right now, she's feeling very alone, even with me here."

Ryouga looked curious. "Why?"

"Because she loves her friends and family, even if the chaos about her pisses her off. And thanks to the plan that we came up with, thanks to me, she's not been able to see or interact with them in a very long time."

"Why not?"

"It was necessary. I wanted her to have more room to move, to become herself, and unfortunately as you know, anything like that needs sacrifice." Nabiki sighed. "I wish it wasn't so, but it was needed so she can have a chance to find herself."

"…But it sounds like she already has?" Ryouga was confused. Was this some girl thing he wasn't aware of?

"No, not really, Ryouga." Nabiki said. "She's been Ranko and Himeko and a couple of other names, but they were made up people for a specific purpose. Ranko's her name now but even finding out who she wasn't isn't enough to have found out who she is. That's why we've come up with a plan for her to have some time to do so, and that hinges around you."

"M-Me? Why me?"

"Because you've got something that no one else has; you respect what she wants. You respected her wishes before. None of the others really did, not really. And, most importantly Ryouga, you're her friend."

Ryouga swallowed and Nabiki patted his arm. "Can I ask you to do something for her tonight?" She asked. "Can you stay with her?"

He went red. "St-stay?!"

Nabiki sighed. "Not like that… just… she's told me this stuff, but I don't think telling me has let her process it properly. Can I count on you to be a shoulder for her tonight, and when she's gotten drunk enough and cried her little heart out, to bring her back to the suite of rooms we share?"

Ryouga looked uncomfortable. "I… well, I'd get lost?" Nabiki shook her head and proffered a keycard.

"Have Ranko direct you then. But I think I'm not helping her open up to you. I'm too involved."

Ryouga took the card. "…Alright. As long as she doesn't try to fight me."

"She doesn't really do a lot of that anymore." Nabiki shrugged. "But that's her tale to tell. Now, while you two lovebirds are sharing drinks and stories, I'm off to do business in the lounge. No missing a good opportunity to network!" She pushed him towards the table where Ranko sat and grinned. "Go get 'em, tiger!"

Ryouga turned to see she'd vanished into the crowd and then back to Ranko, managing to make his way over to where she was and sitting next to her again. "Hey."

She jumped and looked at him. "Oh…" She said, rubbing the back of her head. "H-hey. Sorry, was in a world of my own."

"S'alright."

"Where's Nabs?"

"She went off to 'not miss a good opportunity to network'."

Ranko laughed. "Yeah, that's Nabs. I love her to bits but kami-sama she can be such a mercenary. Great manager though."

"She's a manager?" Ryouga wasn't surprised.

"More precisely, she's my manager." Ranko took a long drink from her current glass and swayed a little. "She's really good, if intrusive and occasionally annoying and way too fond of candid shots when I least expect them."

"Candid shots?"

"You know, taking a photo when someone's not expecting it. Still life an' all that."

The bandanna-wearing boy made a connection, "You're a model?" Ryouga looked startled.

"Sort of. Yeah. Well, model, idol, kind of occasional singer…" She looked almost embarrassed. "We hadta make our money to get here somehow. Mom might be independently wealthy, but she insisted we make the money for this dumb trip ourselves since we dreamed our plan together. So, we did."

"But why a model?"

Ranko held her hand up and ticked off her reasons. "I'm hot, I've got a great rack, I've got a great soprano singing voice, I'm not really all that modest…" She shrugged, then looked at him curiously. "You're really confused by that?"

"Well, yeah, the Ran- Saotome I knew wouldn't even dare."

Ranko smiled, "Well, I ain't the same idiot, idiot. Just partly the same idiot." She said. She pushed a drink over to him. "C'mon, s'not that fun if you don't have a few yourself too. Plus, it'll make talkin' easier. And I know your birthday weren't that long ago, neither so let's just say dual 'emm ayy anythin' goes birthday celebration' and leave it at that."

He took the proffered drink and took a long sip. He blinked. "That's good!" He said, looking surprisedly at the redhead sitting next to him. She smiled at him and winked.

"Oh, I know what boys like you like~" She smirked, and he felt that hot and bothered feeling creeping up again. She shook her head and laughed. "You're so easy to tease, Ryouga. It's real sweet."

"Y-yeah w-w-w-ell, when a pretty girl-" He shut his mouth, blushing furiously.

"Oh, pretty am I?" She laughed a tinkling laugh and put her hand on his arm gently when he looked affronted. "I'm playing with you, Ryouga. It's like sparrin' but verbal. You wouldn't imagine the interesting skills I've learned in the last six months while I tried to escape the madness vortex."

He kept blushing and took another long gulp of his drink. The warmth seemed to settle into him, pooling in his stomach. "I… bet." He said, frowning.

Ranko sighed and motioned to a waiter, conversing in broken English a moment before nodding and handing some money over. She drained her current glass. "I am way too sober for this. Let's get a couple down us before I get into my deep, dark secrets." She eyed him. "Feel honoured, Ryo-chan, I don't just divulge that sorta thing to jus' anyone. But…" She smiled at him and he blushed again, "I guess you're my second oldest friend."

Ryouga managed a smile. "…Thanks." He said.

"You're welcome, P-Chan." She smirked. Then she stretched, her arms above her head and he looked away. "I don't mind you looking, you know. I ain't Akane." She said conversationally. "I'm sexy and I know it."

That sounded familiar to Ryouga, but he still looked away until she'd finished.

"Plus, I've been in very skimpy bikinis in some photoshoots. This dress ain't nothin' after them, believe me." He choked on his drink and she snickered. "Even I was kinda off about wearin' them sometimes."

They sat together in an oddly comfortable silence for a while while Ranko was waiting for her next drinks order to arrive.

"Hey Ryouga?" Ranko asked after a short while, breaking the silence. "What happened with Akari? You guys break up or something? She wouldn't say when I popped in on the way here, but I could tell somethin' was up. She seemed kinda sad."

Ryouga looked down and took another long drink. "…Yeah. I got lost too often. We were in love but not in love, I guess." It still hurt to think about, but at least he was still welcome on the few times he stumbled there.

Ranko patted his arm. "I'm sorry." She said sincerely. "You guys seemed good together."

He nodded morosely. "That's partly why I kept away so long; I think. Just needed to process. Do some thinking about my life."

Ranko smiled at him sadly. "Guess we both needed time to grow up, huh?" She asked.

"Something like that, yeah. We're still good friends and I still visit from time to time when I end up in the area, but it's not the same."

Ranko sighed. "It never is, is it?" She picked her glass back up and sighed. "Finishin' school, leavin' home… I mean it's gonna be worth it in the end, but s'been a year of changes, more than that I guess if you include the insanity that was everything upta Saffron."

She ran a finger around the rim of her glass and shook herself. "Guess I should carry on, huh?"

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{
​

Slowly, surely, moment by moment, Saotome Ranma peeled apart the core of his being.

It had finally 'clicked' with a combination of meditation methods across several martial arts. Principles even outside of the art that he'd cribbed together from dumb TV shows Akane had been watching.

At first, he imagined his self was an orange, but that wasn't the best analogy. It was layered strata, like that drawing of the world that was in the science books.

The crust, the outside, the mantle within, leading to the outer and inner cores.

He looked out into his dreamspace, eyeing the vague flashes he saw there. Nothing felt quite real, but he centred himself again and began walking through the mindscape, pondering the questions he'd had running through his mind.

What do I want to be?

"The greatest martial artist in the world."

No, that was what he was. Part of that was ego, part of it was that after killing a kami as powerful as Saffron, there had to be some truth in it.

He dove deeper, moving from the crust.

What do I want to be?

"A man amongst men."

No. That was his father's dream, a dream to escape seppuku from a contract that was entirely too vaguely worded. And… Did he really want it?

Ranma dove deeper into his mind, pulling his life to pieces and examining every facet, every piece with a speculative eye.

The Art. That was his father's dream, to raise the greatest martial artist. It was a wonderful dream, and the Art was sustaining in a way that he couldn't explain.

But it wasn't everything. It wasn't his drive, it was just what he did. As naturally as breathing, the Art was there, suffusing his spirit. He didn't have to live for the art because his every breath was sustained by it, every moment was a part of it, whether intentional or not. That was not his drive.

To be a man… What did that even mean? To act macho, to claim to be the greatest? How pointless, you either were or you weren't. It was an impossible goal, and worse it was a trap designed to hold him back. Keep him stupid.

"To marry Akane."

That rang hollow even as he spoke the words. That, too, had been his father's dream. His and Soun's. Ranma had feelings for Akane, but day by day they were trickling away because he just couldn't tell her, and even if he did the likelihood she would admit her own feelings was low.

Were his father's sticky fingers all over everything in his life? The attitudes, the misogyny, the stupid damned superiority that had been drilled into him all his life.

In the relaxed and objective space, he found himself in, he examined himself more and found himself wanting. He watched his memories of interactions. Places where his ego had gotten him into trouble. The arguments he'd had with Akane. Sure, it wasn't entirely his fault and she was far too volatile, but he could do better. He could be better than that.

Ego was important, pride was important, but he saw how it damaged him.

All of that being chased by the various fiancées while he tried to find a way that didn't dishonour them or him.

Diving deeper, and deeper he recognised things that he'd thought were drives were not, just reactions to events beyond his control. And how he was controlled.

Honour was a trap, he realised, and he was being led into an impossible situation where his honour would tie him down as thoroughly as any rope.

Shampoo who claimed to be his husband by way of laws that by rights shouldn't apply to a non-citizen of the Joketsuzoku.

Ukyou, his Ucchan, his best friend, who claimed to be his fiancée by right of his father stealing her father's okonomiyaki cart as a dowry, tarnishing Ranma's honour at the same time as he did so to poor Ukyou. But she, while not as bad as others, was still intent on Ranma paying her back.

Why? He hadn't stolen the cart; he'd been a small child who loved his best friend.

Back and forth, back and forth, like a toy being grabbed by sisters who all wanted to play with it and thought their claim legitimate.

Didn't he have a choice in his own life?

Every moment of this was agony, as he confronted the lies, the mistakes, the dumb things that had happened and all of the pain he'd both caused and felt.

Another layer through and he settled onto the ground of the dreamscape once more, a cold uncertainty washing over him. So far, he'd found nothing. Nothing that drove him but everything he reacted to. Nothing was his by choice, it had all been foisted on him by others.

He was so close now. He could feel it, like the beating of his heart or the calm in, out of his breathing.

Before him was the core of his being. That tiny, shrunken part of him that had wants and needs, that was his driving force.

What I want.

It was so small. Was everyone this small, he wondered, or did others have a building filled to bursting? What was Akane's centre like?

He knew she had dreams of acting professionally, of being her own person. He knew she drove herself and did what she needed, but also what she wanted.

Nabiki, his unlikely ally in all of this, she knew what drove her. It was obvious, but there was a subtlety to her actions he'd meditated on, especially after their talk and her help. Nabiki was driven but she was never forced to do something she didn't want to do.

Was it that simple?

Slowly, he reached out and peeled away the last layer and stared blankly. His eyes widened and a cold, deep terror lanced through his gut.

"This is…"

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{
​

Ryouga was getting concerned. Ranko had started drinking more and more heavily as the explanation had gone on. She'd taken a long time explaining how she'd attained the waking dreamstate she'd found herself in – cobbled together from martial arts and bad daytime TV shows. He'd snorted. Classic Saotome. Make some bullshit up, throw it at the wall and something'd stick.

He had to admit that if it had led to this redheaded girl sat next to him drinking and spilling her guts then it must have been effective. 'Anything Goes', after all.

As she'd spoken of her mental trip, she seemed to withdraw and need a longer pause between each sentence. She had a shame in her bearing so deep that he wasn't sure how to respond. Then she'd laugh, but it would be bitter, or slightly hysterical.

Ryouga reached out and patted her arm a few times and tried not to show how disturbed he was on his face.

"So, I'm running through all these layers. All these… yanno, facets of my being." She swayed drunkenly, looking miserable.

"You don't have to." Ryouga said softly, interrupting her train of thought. "Tell me, I mean." She gave him a grateful look, sucked in a deep breath and shook her head.

"I gotta tell someone that ain't Nabiki or Mom. And you need to know." She took a long gulp from her current drink. "You deserve to know, given what we're gonna be askin' of you."

Ryouga nodded. "If you're sure." He said, not believing how soft he was being with his chief nemesis-stroke-rival. "So, what did you find?"

She was silent a moment, mouth working, swallowing as she stared and tried to force the words out.

"Sa-. Ranko." He said. "It can't be that bad, right?"

"Nothing."

"What?"

"You found… nothing?" He asked. She nodded. "Really?" Nod. "How?"

She was silent for a while longer. Eventually she sighed and closed her eyes. "…Yeah. Well I just…" She took a slurp of her drink and hiccupped a moment. Then she let out a very unladylike belch and giggled. "Scuse me." Her face went back to serious.

"I just… took a look at all of my arts, all of my words, all of my trials, all of my… manly... man… man… yanno, stuff… Everythin' that was 'me'. Everythin' I thought was me." Her face fell further, and her voice lowered to a whisper of pain as she put her drink down and hugged herself as if cold. "And at the heart of it all there was nothing!"

Ryouga stared. Ranko was crying. Actual factual tears, not just crocodile ones or the few tears he'd already seen today.

She let out a choked sob that spoke of real, deep pain. "Nothing, Ryouga! I was an empty shell, just wrapped up in… in honour and duty an' an' bein' a 'man amongst men', whatever the hell that means! And to hell with my own wants and needs!" She took a longer gulp of her drink, almost viciously slamming the glass back down.

"Nooo, I gotta be a good boy for Pop. I gotta marry Akane, Ukyou, Shampoo. No, I gotta be a 'man amongst men', sign the fuckin' seppuku clause while my mom wanders around with the family fuckin' honour blade for ten fuckin' years! Oh yeah!" She took another long gulp. "Which was signed with finger paints! Because I was FOUR FUCKIN' YEARS OLD AND TRUSTED MY PAPA!" The yell caused a couple of other patrons to look in her direction and she waved them off irritably.

"I don't…"

"And then, right in the middle of it all. Right where I should find what I actually wanted, what I needed, I found nothing at all!" She sucked in a shuddering breath and sobbed a few times, "jus'… Nothin'. An' it's not the kinda nothin' where you're fulfilled, there was jus'… jus' nothin'. The box was empty an' I was just confronted with this… this lie that I was someone."

She trailed off and just carried on sobbing into her drink. "Someone worth anythin'. But it was all a lie." She buried her head in her arms and keened her misery into the table. "All a lie."

Ryouga didn't know what to do. He had never been good with people; he'd never been good with Ranma especially. He'd never been good with pretty girls crying, and for all she was his rival she was a pretty girl crying in front of him.

He shook his head. No. No, there was someone in front of him, in pain. It didn't matter at that moment who or what it was.

Tentatively, Ryouga reached his arms out and put them around Ranko, holding her gently while she shook.

There weren't any more stories after that. Ranko alternated between crying and drinking and pretty soon Ryouga put his hand over the glass she was about to drink. "I think you've had enough." He said softly, one arm still around her to give her comfort. He was still blushing, but he managed to control himself to come across as serious.

Ranko looked at him blearily and he let go of her to let her sway in her seat. She blinked a few times and nodded. "Y-yeah, you're right. I can barely feel my fingertips…"

She held her hands in front of her and nodded, inspecting them. She tried to stand up and immediately fell down. Ryouga sighed and moved to her side, helping her up. She stumbled, then leaned on his arm. "…Sorry 'bout this." She said softly. He shrugged.

"S'alright, Ranko. It's your birthday. I think you can be allowed to be drunk on your birthday."

"And for cryin' on you all night. Guess I pent up more'n I thought."

He nodded. "I guess you did. It's fine." She stumbled, pointing the way, though they only got halfway before she slumped onto a bench on the deck. She took off the shoes and then tried to stand but fell back down. Ryouga sighed and she blinked at him. "Feet ain't co-ope… co-opera… workin'." She said a little plaintively. He sighed and squatted in front of her.

"Hop on." He said. "You can point me to the cabin."

She squinted a moment and then flopped onto his back. He straightened up and tried not to think about the two mounds of flesh poking him in the back as he settled her down, nor how close his hands were to her thighs. No sir, he was not thinking about those at all.

He kept his huge pack on one of his arms, but after all these years it felt like it barely weighed anything.

Ranko managed to get him pointed in the right direction and he simply followed her finger as she mumbled into his ear about nonsense. Eventually they came to a door and she pushed forward with a keycard she filched from his pocket that opened the lock and Ryouga struggled in with the wiggly redhead on his back. He blinked at the size of the suite, a large bed to one side. This must have been a seriously luxury cruise.

"Th' bed'll do me, noble steed!" Ranko slurred and he made his way to the large bed, gently letting her down onto it. She slumped there a moment and then lay on her back to look at him. "Thanks, Ryouga, yer a good friend." She grinned at him. "If I weren't half as drunk I think I'd find an interestin' way to thank ya, but right now it'll just hafta be 'thanks'."

He went red and she shook her head amusedly. After a moment she swore to herself and knelt up on the bed, reaching for her eyes. He watched as she struggled with two clear lenses that she put into a little pot on the side of her bed. "Fuckin'… lenses." She grumbled and then brightened. "Hey Ryo-chan, check this out!" She reached over and pulled a pair of sophisticated glasses onto her face, then gigglesnorted. "Just need that long wig an'…"

He blushed, embarrassed but looked confused. "You wear glasses now?"

"Yeah, only small presc… presc… strength, but it's a whole heap better." She patted the bed. "Hey, siddown, you're gonna be stayin' in here." She pointed to a pile of cushions and blankets on a sofa. "Figgered it's best to get you set up here an' look!" She pointed to string tied up around the place. "Nabs's made it Ryouga-proof too!" She leaned back.

"Oh." Ryouga said. She looked at him and grinned.

"What? Not happy ta sleep in a room with a pretty gal?" He sighed and shook his head as the drunken Ranko tried to sit up and failed, falling back. "Woof, I'm dizzy. Yanno when ya so drunk everythin's spinnin'? Got that real bad right now."

It was several more minutes of mumbling before Ranko's weight on the bed plopped down next to him. She looked serious a moment. "Hey… Ya mind… doin' somethin' else for me?" She asked. "Ain't got the right ta ask ya, but I'm drunk enough ta do so without bein' too embarrassed..."

"What is it?"

"Could ya… hold my hand while I get ta sleep, before ya go over ta the sofa? Jus'… need someone ta do that. Get nightmares sometimes… C-C-Cats. Closer ta the surface these days."

He smiled at her. "Sure. Let me get the lights too."

Ranko grinned as he did and while his back was turned, shrugged off the cheongsam and took her earrings out, pulling on an oversized shirt. Her tights went sailing somewhere over into the room, as did the bracelets. She stumbled back to the bed and fell on it face-first.

She lay there a moment while the lights went out and then a weight settled on the bed next to her. She held a hand out and a strong, rough, warm hand took hers. "Thanks Ryouga. Yer a gem." She said quietly, before dropping off and snoring almost immediately.

Ryouga chuckled to himself. Some things never changed. He looked at the small hand clutched in his own, the soft fingers flexing. He tried to extricate himself and failed. Sighing, he simply lay where he was and listened to her snores until they lulled him to sleep.

 

[Strawberry]

Chapter 4 finished, sorry for the wait!

---------------------------------
Last revised 27/06/2021
---------------------------------

Chapter 4 – Let There Be You

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

So, let there be light,
Let there be moon,
Let there be stars and let there be you,
Let there be monsters, let there be pain,
Let us begin to feel again!

-Genesis by Devin Townsend

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{

Ryouga woke to something tickling his nose and blinked bleary and faintly hungover eyes. Hair. It was hair tickling him. Small, strong arms were wrapped around his, plunging his wrist into what could only be a very female chest.​

He swallowed then looked down past the red hair. He was still fully clothed. Experimentally he tried breaking the hold Ranko had on his arm.

He couldn't budge and he had to content himself to lie there while she snored at him. He sighed and tried to think about cold things. He was terrified she'd wake up and feel him getting excited. Her thigh was rubbing a particularly sensitive area and it was the morning.

Ranko made a groaning noise as she woke and smacked her lips. "Uuuuuugh. Mouth tastes like dead rat." She moaned and opened her eyes, shutting them immediately from the glare. "I ain't never drinkin' again." She shuddered against him. "Then 'gain, said that last time. S'fun while you're doin' it though."

Her eyes opened again, and she looked at him a moment evenly. "You aright there, Ryouga?" He nodded. She shifted uncomfortably and moved slightly away, relieving him of pressure on certain sensitive areas. "Ah, sorry. Yeah you were poikin' me a bit."

"Sorry!" He said, nervously and she shrugged, letting go of his arms so he could have his hand back and not stuck in her cleavage.

"Eh, s'jus' mornin' wood, Ryouga. I know what it's like." Ranko sat up on the bed and stared at him a moment as he sat up too, though he winced and felt stiff from the awkward position he'd been sleeping in. He cast a glance at her face and tried not to smile. "…I fell asleep in my makeup, didn't I?" He nodded, trying not to laugh. "I look like Pop after a cold bath, right?"

He nodded and she sighed, rolling off the bed and standing up, then wincing. "Fuck, it's too bright this mornin'." She complained. "Hey, you wanna get some rest, Ryouga, be my guest, I'm grabbing a shower." She looked over her shoulder and laughed. "Don't come in unless you wanna join."

He just looked confused and she sighed. "Get some sleep or something, I need you awake to tease you properly."

Ryouga gladly did so and only woke a little while later because of needing to go to the toilet. He followed the lines of string set down apparently by Nabiki and stopped outside the bathroom. He couldn't hear anyone inside it, and he wasn't sure how long he'd been sleeping for, so he opened the door confidently, only to be stopped in front of a surprised and very naked Ranko. She just eyed him a moment. He expected to be punted, or malleted or even yelled at for his trespass.

Instead she broke down laughing, full rich belly laughs like she'd used to. "My GAWD Ryouga, that brought me some fuckin' flashbacks!" She chortled after she'd finally calmed down and wrapped herself in a towel. "About had one to the time I met Akane in my cursed form."

Ryouga had been confused but after a moment he saw the funny side. "Akane would've malleted either of us."

Ranko wiped tears from her eyes and chuckled. "Yeah well, like I said last night, I ain't 'Kane. I don't mind you sneakin' a peek, if it's an accident or I'm showin' the goods off. Heavens know I've had my share of mishaps." She laughed again, Ryouga decided he liked hearing her laugh more freely. "I'll try to reduce how much I wander my room naked, might save you the blood loss."

Standing up, she tugged on her towel to make sure it was secure and patted his arm on the way out. "Long as it's an accident no one gets hurt, but you go peepin' on purpose on me, or heaven forbid, Nabs, you're in for a world of pain." She smiled to try to take the sting out. "Not that I think you will, you're pretty decent, nuzzling-sessions-in-Akane's-cleavage aside. I'll let you take a piss and have a shower, I've gotta get ready for a photoshoot." She made a face and walked out, shutting the door behind her.

Ryouga sighed and went about his morning business. He thought to go and get his pack for some clean clothes when he noticed a folded pile with his name on it. Looking at them they were his signature style, but better made and brand new. They looked pretty decent and he wondered who'd got them for him – Ranko or Nabiki.

Ryouga emerged from the bathroom in his clean clothes and hair dripping a while later to find Ranko sitting on a couch with Nabiki putting makeup on her face. The redhead was dressed in a slinky cheongsam again, and he remembered how she'd always wear Chinese silk clothes before. Obviously some things hadn't changed even if they were far more feminine versions of the attire.

Nabiki nodded to him as she concentrated and Ranko just sat there. Once Nabiki had finished, Ranko stretched and unpinned her hair from the single bun it had been in for convenience and let the red curls spill down her back. Ryouga blinked.

"I never knew your hair was curled in that form."

Ranko grinned. "Eh, it's more ringleted and we used some stuff to make it a touch curlier. Also you only ever saw me with it in a braid." She sighed happily as Nabiki fetched a brush and started running it through her hair. "Glad to see you found the clothes." She said, looking him over in approval.

"Wasn't hard to source some good quality versions of what he wears, though if you're planning on bringing him to the lounge tonight for more drinks I think we'd better get him into a suit at some point." Nabiki muttered. "Took a lot of fast talking last night to get you in, you know?"

Ryouga nodded. "I can wear a suit." He said. "I'm interested in hearing all about how you became… as you are. You're uh, very different."

"So're you, in a lot of ways Ryouga. You're way more mature in some. Still get nosebleeds and stammering when you see a girl though." Ranko grinned at him. "It's real sweet."

"S-sorry about earlier." He said. She shrugged.

"Accident. It happens. Used to happen to me with annoying regularity."

Nabiki laughed. "At least that's not too problematic anymore, huh?"

"Got that right, Nabs." Ranko leaned back as Nabiki put a set of hairpins in, then stepped around to look at her critically. "I mean 'Kane'd call me a pervert for yanno, normal shit like bathing with women and stuff but she's the most repressed person I've ever met. Gal just needs ta get laid, though I think whoever she ends up with might not survive."

"Funny." Nabiki went back behind Ranko and started fiddling with the pins again until she was satisfied. "I think we're done. Photoshoot's on the deck later, better get to it. Breakfast first though."

Ranko stood up and nodded. "Let's go." She said. And before his eyes she subtly changed. Her stance morphed from the feminine but relaxed one she'd been using all morning into a sharp, ladylike step. Her entire demeanour changed until he was certain he was looking at someone else. It threw him for a moment before he shook himself. Ranko had always had a thing for acting.

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{​

Ryouga watched as Ranko ate. And ate. And ate. She ate daintily, perfectly politely and yet the food still kept disappearing. He couldn't catch any of the food vanishing and whenever he looked, she was still eating with impeccable manners. It was infuriating, and he knew she was aware of it judging by the smirking that she kept casting to him. Nabiki just ate like any normal person, without the food vanishing into thin air when he wasn't looking.

"So, let me finish my story about thinking, then later on I'll tell you the aftermath when I went to Nabs at the end of it. This bit's pretty short."

"Felt like forever to me. You weren't trying to steer the madness." Nabiki shrugged and took a long drink of her coffee.

Ryouga kept eating his food as Ranko laughed.

"Yeah. I don't think 'Kane knew what the hell was going on. Confusing her seemed to completely trip her anger issues to off. This one time she caught me in the furo…"

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{​

Akane walked in on Ranma sitting fully clothed near the furo after finding him missing from the rest of the house. She'd not taken her own clothes off as she was looking for the sticker from one of her bottles of conditioner and she was positive she'd accidentally dragged it into there.

Walking in on each other had happened a couple of times before with them both being unclothed, even recently. But rather than punting him to orbit, she'd just apologised and closed the door, bright red but not wanting to disturb their peace. Ranma had reacted like she'd been about to hit him the times he'd walked in on her, but all she did was sigh and close the shouji, leaving him to shout a quick apology. His reaction had ashamed her a little for some reason and she'd been thinking recently how nice it had been that they'd not argued so much.

Anyone with half a brain could tell something was going through Ranma's mind. She wasn't sure what. He'd grown quiet, withdrawn over the last couple of weeks. Was it something Nabiki had done?

She thought a moment. No. Nabiki and Ranma had… almost been getting on. And that was weird – Ranma was getting on with most people. With him in this thoughtful state of mind, he didn't put his foot in his mouth nearly as often. Nor did his ego seem to be making him claim to be the best.

In fact, he was hardly talking at all. Just sitting there at night with his eyes closed and legs crossed, an expression of searching on his face.

She'd asked Kasumi, but her eldest sister had simply shrugged. "He's probably going through some things, trying to think about the last year. It's certainly been a busy one!" She'd said, and then refused to speculate more, citing that Ranma had little enough privacy as it was, and it was about time he got room to think.

Akane shook herself from the memories, but Ranma simply looked up at her and actually smiled. "Glad we're fully clothed here 'Kane. Don't wanna get punted." He said. "I'll be out in a bit; I'm just testing stuff."

Akane looked at him and nodded. "Alright. What's going on?" She folded her arms and leaned against the wall.

"What do you mean?" He looked shiftily from side to side and she balled her fists.

"Don't treat me like I'm stupid, Ranma, what's your plan?! You're always up to something when you get quiet like this!" She stopped as she saw a hurt look in his eyes. He clenched his fists and almost rose, but then stopped, deflating. She caught a look that she'd never seen in his eyes. A pained, miserable look. He schooled his features but the small glimpse she'd seen sent a hollow pit into her stomach.

"Yeah, usually, I guess." He admitted. "Not this time. I'm seeing how my different sides feel." He indicated the hot and cold water.

"Why?" She asked.

"I dunno, just workin' through some stuff, I guess. Plus, it makes sense, yanno?" She blinked.

"Oh, because you can practice better to compensate for the change?"

"Yeah, somethin' like that." He said. "You mind givin' me some privacy?"

"Oh… uh, sure." Akane walked to the door. She stopped. "Hey, Ranma?" She asked.

"Yeah, 'Kane?"

"When you've finished with whatever it is you've got planned… you think we could… try to keep it civil like we have recently?"

He smiled at her. "I'd like that, 'Kane. I think we'll always fight sometimes, though."

"Well, if you weren't such a jerk…" She smiled and tried to show she didn't mean it entirely.

"An' if you weren't an uncute tomboy…" Ranma had a weird smile on his face. She forced the anger down; it had obviously been a joke. After a moment she smiled and they both laughed. "I'll try if you do, 'Kane, but I can't promise I'll always be good. You an' I'll always be needin' each other's insecurities, I think."

"That's alright. As long as you try. I'll try too." Akane left, feeling like despite the lightness of their words, something significant had passed between them. She bit her lip as she walked down to her room to have a think.

Akane wasn't stupid, she knew that something was changing between them. Something huge. She wasn't entirely comfortable with it. She felt the drift, too, after their return to their normal relationship after Saffron. She felt like she'd had something in her reach before that wedding… And now it was slipping away because she couldn't admit anything, even to herself.

Was this what childhood's end felt like? Sometimes she felt way older than eighteen after all of the crazy stuff that had happened. She shuddered to think how old Ranma felt, given how much more had happened to him.

Ranma, meanwhile looked at the two cups in front of him, one full of hot, one full of cold.

"Once more." He said softly and reached for the cold to confirm.

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{​

Ryouga couldn't believe the way the crowd had just… parted for Ranko as they finished their breakfast and walked to another destination on the ship, and how she took it in a warm, yet distant way. Shouts of 'Ranko-sama, look this way!' were common and she simply acknowledged them with a warm, demure smile and a nod, or a wave, or a blown kiss. But the crowd parted anyway until she reached a door and entered in, casting a wave to what had seemed an adoring crowd.

Following between her and Nabiki, he was blushing at some of the things they'd been saying about his presence near to her, speculating that they were secret lovers, or family or something. Ranko didn't seem to notice but Nabiki just kept a mysterious smile on her face and every time someone in the crowd asked her who Ryouga was, she simply replied with "No comment" and moved on.

They emerged into a wide space on top of the ship, with a screen and a few other pieces of furniture scattered around, as well as an enclosed area to the front. Lights were already set up and Nabiki quickly seemed to switch to cold professionalism.

It was on the deck that Ryouga watched Ranko and Nabiki work, and he had to admit even with the limited amount of knowledge he had of the professional model's career, the two of them were good. Ranko had a natural affinity for the posing and movements needed and Nabiki had the eye for photography.

Watching the two of them move around one another, bouncing ideas and laughing, he could see how close they were. Nabiki hadn't been lying when she said Ranko was her sister.

Ryouga simply sat in a place they'd set for him and watched as they worked, and worked, and worked. A change of clothes (he'd turned around so as not to see) later and Ranko was wearing another dress. It was exhausting just to watch, but the two of them just kept going and going.

Eventually they wrapped up and both seemed satisfied. They made him turn around again and when he was told it was alright to look, he found Ranko in a simple green sun dress. She held out a bundle to him that one of the help had brought while he'd been sat there. "We're heading to get some food, there's a bit of a dress code. There's a shirt, some pants in there. A jacket, though you don't need to wear it. And you'll have to change your shoes. The help'll take our other stuff back to the suite."

Ryouga took the bundle and went to the corner he'd had assigned to him, casting a glance back. Both women were resolutely looking the other way, chatting idly. He quickly changed and found that the clothes fitted him well. His hand brushed through his hair and he took the bandanna off, wrapping it about his wrist. He pushed a hand through his hair again after it fell in his face, but there wasn't a lot he could do with it.

"I'm done." He said, standing and feeling awkward in the shoes, pants and formal shirt that he'd been given. His new clothes were in a pile and he waited while they turned around. Ranko gave a thumbs up. Ryouga had kept the jacket off and simply hung it on his arm.

"You clean up nice." Ranko said happily. "I mean, I thought you would but hey. Hungry?"

His stomach growled and she snickered. "Lunch and story time it is!"

They soon found themselves more or less alone in a larger dining room. Everyone else seemed to be outside enjoying the sun and he noted it was early afternoon. Ranko had ordered 'the usual with a bit extra' and the staff had simply bowed to her and carried on. Clearly, they knew how much she could eat.

As they waited for their dinner, the redhead turned to him. "Hopefully this next bit's a tad more positive than last night's." She commented as she picked up a breadstick from a glass and ate it in seconds, still politely, somehow.

"You came into my room and broke down." Nabiki pointed out. "As I recall there was a lot of pain there."

"Yeah, but this was good pain. It set me on the path to start looking for who I was, not who I wasn't. And gave me the name to that feeling I'd had my whole life. All in all, I consider it a positive thing. Better than what I'd been doing anyway." There but for the grace of the god of culinary arts went five more breadsticks, faster than he could blink.

Nabiki shrugged and sipped at the wine she'd ordered. "Well, let's tell him or he'll be in limbo forever. Want me to take this bit up?"

"Please. I'm gonna go mad without more food. Lemme go hunt breadsticks." She stood and walked to an empty table, snatching the glassful from there, though they'd all gone by the time she returned to their table.

Nabiki turned to Ryouga. "So, there I am, orchestrating the chaos that was Nerima in the bad days. Juggling Amazons, Kuno, Akane, Ranko's dad, everything really. The only help I have is from Kasumi, and then this snot-nosed kid here." She pointed at Ranko who stuck her tongue out as she walked away for more breadsticks, "Comes into my room three weeks into possibly the greatest working of my life to tell me what she'd found and then broke down completely."

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{​

Nabiki sighed and rubbed her temples as she sat at her desk. She had one more week of this to go but it had been a migraine inducing mess from the word 'go'.

Ranma did seem to be using the time well. She'd seen him sitting in the dojo, or with his eyes closed at the dinner table after eating at a reasonable speed. She'd found him in the bathroom a few times, alternating between splashing cold and hot water on himself.

If he could find out about himself through this then it'd have been worth it. She had to admit, it had also been kind of fun to orchestrate everything that happened. A lot of it was obvious manoeuvring of one person to target another. A rumour here, a sighting there. A letter arriving in haste. She'd never worked so hard on a scheme.

Someone knocked on her door and she walked over to open it. Ranma stood outside in his girl form, looking unsure. There was a deadness to his eyes, a sort of hopelessness that she'd never seen. He had hollow circles under them and the way he carried himself was about as far from his usual cocky posture as it was possible to be.

He rubbed the back of his head. "Er… hey onee-san." He said awkwardly. "Can I talk to you again?"

She eyed him, then motioned him in, closing the door behind him and letting him sit on the bed, where he didn't migrate to the bed post this time. She sat at her chair and looked him up and down.

"You look like crap." She observed. He shrugged and let out a bitter laugh.

"Don't see the point in looking any other way than how I feel."

"Did you find what you needed?" She asked. "I've got a week of this left in me, then it'll collapse. There'll probably be fallout."

He winced but bowed his head low. "Thanks, onee-san for your help."

"That's so unlike you."

"Y-yeah well…" He sighed. "I've done nothing but think…" He trailed off.

She waited a moment, then arched an eyebrow. "…And?"

"Nothin'." He said, looking down. "Found nothin'."

She shook her head and sighed forlornly. "You're really something special, aren't you? What a waste of-" She stopped. Tears were tracking down his face, dripping into his lap.

"…No, that's what I f-found. Nothin'. Deep inside of me." He sniffled. "L-like I was… just a shell." He sucked in a deep, shuddering breath. "But it's all… a lie. I'm just… nobody. There's nothing I have that's me. Just everyone else's honour and duty and…" He choked back a sob. "There's nothing inside me."

Nabiki stood up, walked to the bed and sat down, pulling the sobbing redhead into a hug. "It's alright." She said, not knowing what else to say.

"It's not!" Ranma bawled. "I j-just dunno what ta do anymore! I-It's all a l-l-l-lie an' I don't know e-even who I a-a-am! I'm empty! Hollow!"

Nabiki kept soothing him, murmuring nonsense. Ranma eventually managed to calm down but was still sniffling as he sat back. "Well. So." Nabiki floundered. "I'm going to admit something here. I don't know what to say or do."

Ranma nodded morosely. "I know the feelin'. I just keep thinkin' how pointless everythin' is. Like… what's the point in carryin' on if there's nothin' inside me?"

Nabiki looked sharply at him. "You are not committing seppuku on me." He blanched and she sighed. "Sorry."

"S'ok, Nabs, I know you don't mean it badly. I just… what do I do now?"

Nabiki was silent a long moment, tapping her chin, putting her thoughts in order. "I'll have a think while we talk." She brightened. "Let's speak of something else for now. Did you think about that other stuff we discussed?"

Ranma curled in on himself again and nodded. She eyed him.

"I'm a freak." He said softly. "…I think… I'm a girl. Inside, outside…" He held the tiny hands of his girl form in front of his face. "This body feels so nice. And it's right. Like everythin' just… clicks when I'm in it. Everythin's grey when I'm not like this."

Nabiki nodded. She'd figured this herself recently. It hadn't hurt that she'd known a few trans girls in her past and had seen similar signs. "How do you mean?"

He sighed. "There's this… feelin', I guess. When I'm in boy-form it's oppressive. Wrong, like everythin's just out of line. I didn't used to notice it but when I realised it was there it just… grew, and grew, and grew. Now I can't ignore it. It's like my mind's screamin' at me when I'm in boy-form. But it goes away when I turn to girl-form." He put his head in his hands. "Kami-sama, I'm such a pathetic freak… I can't stop cryin', I'm a boy who thinks he's a girl…"

Nabiki gently took his hands and removed them from his face. "Ranma, you are not a freak. This is normal, you're just discovering something about yourself. Do you know what the word 'transgender' means?"

"Er… No."

"At its simplest, it's someone who was born in one gender but identifies as another. It's… a lot more complex than that, really, but that's the basic gist. Someone born a girl might feel that they are a boy, for instance, or…"

"Someone born a boy feels they're a girl…" Ranma nodded. Nabiki smiled.

"Yeah. That feeling you described? It sounds like something called 'dysphoria'. I've had friends who were transgender too and they said similar stuff. It doesn't make you a freak, it just makes you a little different. And that's not a bad thing."

Ranma looked unsure, so she pressed on. "Let's try something. I'm going to say some stuff about you as a boy, then as a girl and I want you to tell me how each makes you feel. OK?"

He nodded and she grinned at him, letting go of his hands. "Alright, first… Ranma's my little brother. He's a sweet guy sometimes and I love him, but man is he an annoying shit. He'd be a cute boy if he didn't put his foot in his mouth so often trying to be a man amongst men."

Ranma shuddered a moment, rubbing his arms together. "That felt… weird. Wrong. Yanno, like when you put shoes on and they're supposed ta be your size but they're all pinchy?"

Nabiki nodded. "Alright, how's this for size?" She made a warm smile. "Ranko? Yeah that's my babiest sister. She can be such a little shit, but I love her. Sweet girl when she wants to be, which isn't very often because she's got chronic foot-in-mouth disease."

Ranma's face had a smile on it that wasn't intentional. "That felt. Uh… that felt nice." He said. "Like it was… Yanno, right."

Nabiki nodded. "Yep. Thought so." She looked at him directly. "So. What are you going to do about all this?"

Ranma's face crumpled. "I… dunno."

"Ranma." Nabiki sighed. "Alright, let's plot something up. I've got a weekend away planned for this long one coming up. It's part of the plan, as I'm going somewhere the idiot crowd won't attend, and I've set up a bunch of wild goose chases for them in the meantime."

"Alright… but what's that ta do with me?"

"Come with me. Let's give it a test. Sticking around here won't be good for you figuring yourself out. We'll call it a girls' weekend out. The whole time you can be Ranko-chan, my littlest sister. We can make sure what you're feeling is right. If it's not, we had a fun weekend smashing gender identity stuff around, if it is then you've found the key to who you are." Nabiki grinned.

"I... dunno. Won't 'Kane get suspicious?" He frowned. Nabiki smiled dangerously.

"Leave that to me. She'll think I'm just stringing you along like I used to. I'll infer you owe me a debt or something. My reputation precedes me." The girl with the bobbed hair grinned wider. "In fact, we could do some photoshoots while we're out there. Half and half profits when we get back. Nabiki's honour."

Ranma blanched. "I'll uh… think about that one."

"You're one of the cutest girls I know in a swimsuit."

"I said-"

Nabiki laughed. "Aww come on, Ranko-chan, don't we both deserve a little profit from the madness?"

He was silent a moment.

"…Ranko." He said, staring at her. "…You used that name we use to trick Ma."

Nabiki nodded. "So I did. Easiest one to think of. You like that name?"

"I… guess."

"Well hey, there's the first step. For both your problems. Do you want to be Ranma or Ranko?" Nabiki smiled and he looked up at her, confused. "My friends, who are like you, they chose a new name for themselves. Your mom calls your Ranko, and it seemed to perk you up a bit. Maybe give it a whirl for a couple of days? You don't like it; you can always choose a different name."

"…Yeah, alright." He nodded. "Ranko. Saotome Ranko." He tried. He rolled it around his head. "I'm Saotome Ranko, pleased ta meet'cha."

"Then there's pronouns." Nabiki nodded.

"Pronounce?"

Nabiki facepalmed. "You know, it's a good thing you're cute because you've not got much else in that head of yours." Ranko grinned at her for the first time that day and stuck his tongue out. She rolled her eyes. "Anyway, pronouns. You know how people call you 'him' and 'he'?"

Ranko nodded sadly. "…Yeah. Now I'm thinkin'… It feels weird, yanno? Kinda like… every time someone says it, I get a little cut or something, but it's inside my chest. I've only been noticing it since I've been thinking but now I can't stop..."

"That seems pretty normal to me. So, let's go with calling you she and her from now on?"

Ranko thought for a moment, then switched into a cross-legged meditation pose. "Gimme a minute. Gonna try something."

Ranko closed his eyes. Focusing on that dreamstate world. What was that dumb line from that dumb anime again…?

I… am I.

"Hi, I'm Ranko. Please take care of me!" Said in polite, feminine tones. Maybe not quite that polite.

I am I.

It felt like a switch flipping inside. One to the other, or more precisely setting right what once was wrong. Like when Kasumi was mixing a batter and she was helping, and they used the wrong setting and it went everywhere until they put the mixer to the right speed. Something inside just clicked into place as if it had always been there. Like the point in doing a jigsaw where it starts making sense, with that one piece that sets the rest up to be solved.

I am I.

That tiny little ball inside, empty of anything had something in it, suddenly. Nothing concrete, and so fragile it might disappear at any time. But it was there. A spark, a desire to know.

I am I. I am Ranko.

Pleased ta meet'cha!

Ranko opened her eyes and smiled at Nabiki, tears in her eyes. "…There's something in there now." She said softly. "Something new."

She looked around the room. Nothing had changed, nothing on the outside. But it was like seeing for the first time again. Looking through new eyes. Looking through a new self.

"Feel better?" Nabiki asked.

Ranko looked inside. She was still mostly empty. She didn't know who she was. Everything was new and perhaps the world wasn't ready for her yet, but she was here. She knew who she wasn't.

It was terrifying, exhilarating, wonderful and appalling all at once.

Exit Saotome Ranma, stage left. The lead actor, leaving the role for the last time, secure that whoever came after would be better.

Enter Saotome Ranko, stage right. The understudy taking over from the lead as if born to be.

Ranko smiled at Nabiki again and took in a shuddering breath. "…Yeah." She said softly, and started to cry again.

Nabiki put her arms about the shorter girl again and held her close.

"Why are you crying, squirt? You've found something that's yours and no one can take it from you. Not a thing to be sad about."

Ranko took a moment to breathe normally, but still crying, she managed to speak a few words.

"I'm not sad. I'm just." She sniffled. "I'm really happy."

Nabiki smiled. "I'm glad you are, little sister." She said as she held the redhead close.

 

[Strawberry]

Oh, that took less time than I thought. Here's chapter 5!

------------------------------------
Last revised 28/06/2021
------------------------------------

Chapter 5 - Shine on the Borderlands

Go, light a fire…
And sing what you desire!
'I desire a good life'
Gotta have a good good life…
(Gotta have a good good life)

Her hair's like the burning sands,
You'll give her your heart in hand,
Her beauty's beyond compare,
but woe to those who've seen her.

-Borderlands, by Devin Townsend

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{​

Ryouga found himself watching Ranko again as the petite redhead ate and ate. And ate.

He was positive she was using some kind of Martial Arts Dining skills because though she appeared to be eating politely and slowly, the food was still disappearing at a prodigious rate as Nabiki and she took turns telling the story.

"It really is like you to bullshit up a meditation method from every martial art, anime and crappy kung fu movies and actually have it work." Ryouga commented, shaking his head. Ranko laughed richly.

"Oh yeah, I never expected it to work at all. But… it did." She smiled broadly at him. "And it helped."

Ryouga nodded at her. "…Yeah. It sounds like you had a rough time of it. I can't… really imagine how you must have felt. All that 'man amongst men' crap and being a macho jerk… To have it all just…" He sighed. "I can't imagine how world-shattering it all is."

Ranko's expression clouded, but she nodded. "Yeah, well, when you realise you're nothing but a lie it's pretty fundamentally shaking. Sometimes it feels like shit Pop programmed into me. Still catch myself thinkin' the same stuff even now. After that… I guess actually being a girl was kinda more of an afterthought. A good one, and one I needed after all that crap."

Ryouga paused. Swallowed. Thought a moment and then swallowed again. He mumbled something and Ranko cocked her head at him, looking curious.

"Y'alright there, Ryouga?"

"I'm sorry." He said quietly. It sounded sincere, mostly because it also sounded like it had been dragged out of him with torture implements. "I've attacked and blamed you for all sorts of things, and you were in all that pain all that time and… I'm just sorry about it all, you know?" He shook his head.

Ranko grinned at him, cheeks tinged a little pink. "Ahh, thanks, I guess? I mean it ain't like I didn't deserve half the stuff you were doing to me. I was a little shit, too." She smiled more genuinely. "So I'm sorry for bein' such a shit to you, too."

"Apology accepted." Ryouga nodded. He grinned suddenly. "But don't think I'm gonna go easy on you next time I try to kill you."

Ranko smirked back. "Oh, I'm countin' on it, P-chan." She said, cracking her knuckles. She paused as a thought occurred to her. "Oh hey, you've not seen me practice these days have you? I don't do a lot of the old grapplin' stuff so much."

Ryouga blinked. "You… don't do martial arts anymore?" He asked faintly. "Jeez, I knew your world fell in on itself but that's…"

Ranko bapped him on the back of the head. "Idiot, that's not what I said. I don't do as much as I used to because all that shit was Pop's dream, not mine, sure, but the Art's like… I dunno, breathin'. S'just something I just do and am. But my techniques nowadays are real different and I use different tools now." She grinned. Ryouga looked confused. "Oh, we actually do some similar stuff. Let's just say I take after my mother more than I thought."

Ryouga shrugged. "If you say so. I'd like to see."

"Sure. I'll let you watch me practice tomorrow. We're doing a video shoot on one of the stops for the ship, so we'll have solid ground. Might even deign to spar a little! You'll enjoy watching the Path of the Silken Breeze, trust me. It's pretty cool if I say so myself." Ranko smiled at him and went back to eating.

Nabiki was checking something on a phone and pursed her lips.

"Ranchan I'm not sure on that issue with 'Kokoro'." The middle Tendou daughter said suddenly, putting her phone away. "They're being weirdly insistent on pushing the timeframe up past where I'm comfortable with it not interfering with the plan."

Ranko shrugged, fork halfway to her mouth, putting it back down a moment, demeanour changing entirely into a professionalism that was made Ryouga look at her funny. "Hmm. Not much we can really do from here, and it's a pretty out of the way fashion mag. You worried it might show up back home?"

Nabiki shrugged. "Not sure. Maybe. It does circulate in Tokyo, but Nerima's not exactly Harajuku..."

Ranko shrugged. "Eh, then let 'em. If they're that keen to use my image, it means we can keep 'em sweet for later pics. We're not so well-in with that one that we can afford the bad rap tellin' 'em no will bring."

"I'm not so sure but you're the boss. I'm just the manager." Nabiki stuck her tongue out at Ranko, who shrugged.

"We're far enough away now that they'll have no idea how to get to me, and we're almost go for Phase 2 as it is." The redhead flicked her eyes to Ryouga. "Providing he agrees."

Ryouga cleared his throat. "Agrees to what?"

Ranko smiled at him. "We'll ask after the tale's been told. That OK?" He nodded. She turned back to Nabiki. "Tell 'em it's fine, Nabs, but they owe us a favour for pushing the timeframe forward."

Nabiki nodded and pulled her phone out again, dialling and starting a clipped conversation. Ranko seemed to melt from the professional demeanour back to the seemingly carefree wild girl that had been talking before.

"Well, while Nabs gets some business out the way, how about we talk that trip?"

"Sure." Ryouga said, shrugging. "You look happy to share this bit."

"Eh, that's because unlike a lotta bullshit that's happened the past six months this was nearly one hundred percent great. Apart from a couple of perverts on a train I had to convince to maybe not grope."

Ryouga laughed nastily. "Oh, I bet they regretted trying it on you."

Ranko smiled back just as evilly. "Broken hands ain't no joke. Still, apart from those hiccups it was pretty good. Actually, I went from your house because it ain't Nabs if she doesn't make some over-complicated plan."

"My house?"

"Yeah. I was pretty familiar with it, someone had to feed Shirokuro when you weren't about."

Ryouga blinked. "That was you? I always thought it was Mom and Dad."

Ranko grinned at him. "Surprise! It was your adorable redheaded friend. Didn't your Mom tell you? She thought I was your girlfriend the one time I caught her at home."

Ryouga went red and stammered and Ranko laughed, patting his arm. "Ahh, I set her straight and told her we were just rivals. And that I had a fiancée and was looking forwards to getting married to her." Ranko gave another of the giggles that had gotten him bothered the night before and it still didn't help. "So your Mom thinks I'm a lesbian."

"…Aren't you?" Ryouga managed after a moment. "I mean, you always liked girls and was always yelling you didn't want boys… And you're actually a girl so…" Ranko shrugged.

"Eh, I'm more pan these days than lesbian. I kinda like girls a tiny bit more I guess? They're softer. But a guy's pretty good to cuddle with too. Prefer athletes either way, somethin' about hard muscle holdin' ya softly, gently. All that raw power around ya…" Her face went dreamy a moment. Ryouga's brain short-circuited a moment. What the hell.

"You've uh… y'know…?" Ryouga asked, going scarlet and putting a hand to his nose.

Ranko snickered. "Hah! That'd be telling." She said, shrugging, then after a moment seemed to decide something. "Well, alright. Yeah. No strings attached." She took in a breath and went a little red, "I've… been… yanno… 'with' a couple of people on this cruise. Men, women. Not gonna name names or point 'em out, but it definitely weren't Nabs. We're sisters and that'd be seriously messed up." She made a face. "Bleh, that ain't the worst mental image I've had but it's up there."

Ryouga felt a little faint but nodded. Ranko trailed some of the condensation from her water glass on the table. "I guess… Well, I mean, as 'Ranma' I was always, yanno, afraid of contact with people. A kiss was a real big thing? But I mean, all that got me was bein' lonely and unhappy. A whole bunch of idiot assholes chasin' me either to beat me up or marry me, or both, and to hell with what I wanted."

Ryouga sighed softly and looked ashamed. "…Yeah. Sorry."

"Ah, you apologised already. Besides we really were just bad to each other in general. Anyway, I figured since I'm looking for a new start, I'd at least try some new things like intimacy. Even sex. If I didn't like treatin' it so casual, I'd stop until I got serious with someone, yanno?"

Ryouga nodded. "So?"

Ranko smiled and stretched languidly, obviously very aware of what that stretching was doing to him and enjoying every moment of the teasing. Part of him told him honestly that he was still enjoying the view, even if it was his chief rival. "It's… actually kinda nice. Pleasurable, even. Really good workout if you get someone with some stamina." She paused a moment and laughed. "…Not a lotta folks can keep up with me. But it's… I dunno, just fun to fool around. Long as you're careful, yanno, protection and the like." Ranko laughed embarrassedly. "It takes a lot of discipline not to get all worked up about it like I used to, but I decided that I at least deserve to try the whole physical intimacy thing and enjoy it while I'm here. 'Vegas Rules' an' all that."

Ryouga cleared his throat awkwardly after a moment of his imagination running away with him and she started. "…Yeah, um, sorry, enough on my sex life." She drank down her water and grinned. "So that weekend…"

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{​

Ranko woke up on the Friday they were to leave with excitement in her heart. It felt like it was hammering in her chest and she was both elated and terrified at the same time.

Nabiki had gone over a plan with her the night before – she was to approach a different train station to Nabiki and join her train there. She'd decided to go from Ryouga's house since it was familiar to her but no one else, including Akane given that Ranko had had to guide her there and back before.

It was still extremely early, so she had the house to herself as she washed herself down and returned to her room.

Grinning slightly to herself, she pulled out then dungaree dress that she'd worn as 'Hibiki Yoiko' and set it on her bed, then, looking around to make sure she wasn't being watched, rummaged in the lingerie drawer her mother had insisted be filled when she'd realised 'Tendou Ranko' was so much of a tomboy, she had nothing but boy's boxers. Being somewhat indifferent to fashion previously, Ranko had just gone along with whatever Nodoka had said to get, to the point that she had some extremely racy underwear sitting in a drawer in her room that she'd never intended on wearing.

Until now. Ranko sighed, then summoned her courage and picked out underwear that looked a little less racy than most of it, but still nice to her but she still didn't really understand fashion.

Not that she thought her mother did either. Nodoka's clothing tastes tended to the ultra-feminine and modest while her underwear tended to be full on lingerie, no holds barred. And she'd thought Akane was repressed…

She looked at the garments and fear flooded her again. She could just hear the words in the back of her head. Pervert. Freak. Weak girl. She tensed and tried to force herself to move, to put the garments on.

They were hers, she kept repeating in her head. They were hers and she was a girl and it was fine to wear them. She'd worn them before, no problem, what was different now?

Pervert. Freak. Weakling.

Ranko grit her teeth. "No." She growled. "I am not." She finally moved her hands and started determinedly putting the underwear on.

She'd just changed into it and matching bra, wondering at how snug and comfortable the panties felt on her girl's body as opposed to her boxers, trying not to let the words cascade through her mind again and make her take them off, when her room door opened and Nabiki strode in like she owned the place.

The middle Tendou stopped as she saw Ranko standing in her girl's underwear and blinked, then went slightly red. "Oh wow, I uh… sorry. Wasn't thinking." She snickered after a moment. "But blue stripey ones, really?"

Ranko went slightly red as well but calmed the hammering of her heart and the panic seeping in her mind. "Y-yeah w-well, I'm glad you ain't 'Kane. She'd have malleted me. And hey! They go with the outfit." She paused. "I think. Either way, have you seen the other stuff Mom bought?"

Ranko rummaged in the drawer and brought out a pair of lace panties that were practically nothing, then a thong, then a bodysuit that was basidally lace and string. The couple of bras she showed Nabiki weren't much different. Ranko, still red, stuffed them back in her drawer. "It's either lace lace lace or 'yamato nadeshiko with one hell of a night life' and no in between. These're about the sanest set I own, and I figured now that I know I'm a girl I should start thinkin' about what I wear." She laughed. "How fuckin' weird is this? I feel like I should be nervous bein' in my bra and panties with you there but it don't matter." She tried not to let it show that she was nervous, but like always she was playing a part.

Nabiki laughed. "Well, that's being a girl when other girls are around, I guess. They're fine."

"They're comfy, is what they are. Can't believe I've gone this long without wearin' proper underwear for my forms. Goodbye back pain. I hope."

Nabiki laughed again and closed the door behind her. "Right. Let's talk something else or I'm just going to get weirded out with you talking like that." She shook her head. "Let's go over the plan one last time." Ranko nodded and started putting on the clothes while Nabiki sat on the bed and went through the plan point-by-point. Thigh-high black socks, a mid-length sleeved tee shirt with horizontal black and white stripes and short dungaree dress over. She tied her hair into two long braids and then looked into the mirror.

Nabiki grinned as Ranko made a noise of approval. "Kami-sama you look adorable." She said. "All sugary-sweet. Like someone's overdeveloped little sister."

Ranko laughed. "I used this outfit on Ryouga, watch." She rummaged around in another drawer for a red and black bandanna, tying it into her hair, then found the fake fangs she'd used in the 'Yoiko' disguise, putting them in. She grinned at Nabiki.

"I'm Hibiki Yoiko, pleased to meet'cha onii-chan!" She made a 'V' sign.

Nabiki stared. "Are you sure you're not wanting to go into acting?" She asked. "You just… totally morphed into someone else in front of me."

Ranko grinned, returning back to herself but keeping the fangs. "Anything Goes Martial Arts Acting." She says proudly. "I dunno, I kinda enjoy it. And tricking Ryouga ain't too hard, he's tricked with a wig and glasses. I think he's got that… face blindness thing…"

Nabiki shrugged. "Fair. That'll help. So while we're out you can be Tendou Ranko, OK?"

"Yup. Got that one down. I'll be your overdeveloped little sister instead." She smirked.

Nabiki laughed. "Alright then. So, you go from Ryouga's and meet me at the next station from Furinkan. We'll take the train to the central station, where we'll find a bathroom for you to change into less obvious clothes and get you made up so as to be unrecognisable. Then after a few different changes of train and one final meet at the last station, it's off to the beach."

Ranko got a questioning look on her face. "It seems really complicated, onee-san."

Nabiki nodded at her. "It is, but we have to be careful extracting you." She smiled at the happiness that crossed Ranko's face, the excitement. "Got something else to let you know. You ever heard of 'Vegas Rules'?"

Ranko shook her head as she sat down next to Nabiki on the bed.

"It's like this. Las Vegas is a place in America where there's a lot of casinos and stuff, and one rule some people have is that 'what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas'."

Ranko looked at her curiously. "We ain't going to Vegas though."

"Still stands. This weekend's for us to cut loose and really, we both need to get out of our own headspace. I've still got a headache from controlling the Chaos Engine."

"…That sounds like a video game." Ranko mused. Nabiki laughed.

"It's what I call the madness that surrounds you. You're the fuel, the catalyst that keeps it running. Be funny to see what happens when we take you out of it. Extracting you's at least as dangerous as siphoning fuel from a car with a straw."

Ranko laughed and Nabiki put a companionable arm over her shoulder. "I'm glad I'm able to help you, squirt." She said warmly, losing her 'ice queen' demeanour. "Honestly. You're way more interesting than you ever let on." She grinned cheekily, "Imouto-chan."

Ranko seemed on the verge of saying something before she blushed and looked down, a pleased smile on her face. Nabiki could guess the emotions running through her and knew how her trans friends had craved that kind of validation. "Well, anyway, this trip's under Vegas Rules. I'm not going to say anything to anyone about what happens here unless you agree and vice versa. Pinky swear."

She held out her little finger and Ranko took it with her own. "Thousand needles, onee-chan." The redhead said. Nabiki squeezed her close once.

"Alright, let's get breakfast and you headed out early."

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{

​

"I'm going to try to teach Akane to cook again." Kasumi said sweetly when Ranko and Nabiki both turned up to the breakfast table, Ranko in her first outfit of the day. The two suitcases Nabiki was rolling behind her had the actual clothing she would wear. Among other stuff. "You two had best move quickly though. I packed breakfast so you can eat on the go."

Ranko stared at the eldest Tendou in amazement. "…I'm buying you something really nice while we're out, onee-chan." She said quietly. "Thank you. You didn't have to do that for me."

Kasumi put her hands on Ranko's shoulders and smiled into her eyes. "I'm glad you found yourself, imouto-chan." She said, then brought her into a hug. "I'll run interference this weekend, I just want you two to have a nice time."

Ranko stared, a thrill of fear going through her. "H-how… How do you…?"

Kasumi gave her a squeeze. "I'm the big sister, imouto-chan. I just know. Come and talk to me when you two get home." She let Ranko step back. "And don't let my sister corrupt you too much into her wanton ways!" She giggled, and Ranko found herself giggling too. She stopped and put a hand to her mouth.

Nabiki's grin was like the cat that ate the canary, and Ranko went red. Kasumi's giggles intensified and the three enjoyed a moment together. Ranko basked in that moment. For the first time she could remember she felt like she belonged somewhere. A few tears came to her eyes and she surreptitiously wiped them away.

"I really do hope you enjoy yourselves." Kasumi said as she got herself under control.

"We will." Nabiki said with a grin. "Best get moving, squirt." She made a shooing motion. Ranko nodded, stepping onto the genkan to change shoes into her mary-janes, and then leaving to head to Ryouga's house.

She walked quickly but didn't do her usual fence-walking. Nabiki had said to try to keep an illusion of being someone else up, so she switched to skipping and humming, playing into the Yoiko role.

Ranko liked acting. Being able to pull off a part was always fun, especially when it tricked people. She didn't like hurting them, but Ranko had always been mischievous and it was fun to prank people.

Kuonji Ukyou was out for a morning walk before opening up Ucchan's and wondering, not for the first time, why Tendou Nabiki had simply asked her to give Ranma some space for a month or so. Nabiki had shrugged at the time and just told her the pigtailed boy was going through some things after that whole wedding debacle and the thing with Saffron.

She wasn't originally going to listen to Nabiki until she remembered that he'd not really been the same since, especially to her and Shampoo. Distant, and obviously very unhappy. So, she'd done so, left her Ranchan alone. It had pained her to do so but she wasn't going to be the fiancée that tipped him over the edge. She was better than that, she should have been better than that at the wedding.

Sighing to herself, she carried on walking, stretching in the early morning sun and rolling her neck. She caught sight of a young girl in a dungaree dress and with bright red hair that reminded her of Ranma's female form. Though this obviously wasn't him. Ranma never skipped.

Or looked happy and carefree anymore.

Damn, that guilt kept coming.

The girl was skipping and humming happily, trailing her hands across a hedge. Her hair was in twin braids with a bandanna keeping a fringe out of her eyes and Ukyou internally squee'd at how adorable and carefree she was.

"Good morning, miss!" The girl called politely as she got closer to Ukyou, a beaming smile on her face showing pointed little fangs. "It's going to be a lovely day! Yoiko's real happy about that!"

Ukyou gave a smile. "Good morning to you too, miss… Yoiko was it?"

"Yeppers!" The girl nodded excitedly. Ukyou saw that she wasn't so much younger than Ukyou, maybe a few years, just short. Though she was certainly… overdeveloped in other ways. Ukyou was almost jealous, but the girl didn't seem to notice that she was. "Well, Yoiko's gotta go feed her doggy!" She said and skipped off.

Ukyou smiled and carried on walking, shaking her head. That girl was probably going to be a holy terror later on in life. She'd looked a little like Ryouga… Maybe the next time the lost boy found his way to her shop she'd ask, probably a cousin with those fangs.

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{

​

Ryouga laughed, half disbelievingly. "Oh you didn't. You tricked Ukyou by pretending to be Yoiko again? You asshole, I can't believe you did that!"

Ranko giggled again, "Oh I did. You've no idea how terrifying it was to trick Ucchan. But I did it. Trickin' you is one thing; you've got a shitty memory for faces. But Ucchan?"

"That's… annoyingly true. Stop making me agree with you." Ryouga groused. Ranko laughed again.

"You seem to latch onto other stuff, hair and clothes, probably why you didn't recognise me at first…"

"That's because I don't expect you to be smoking hot and wearing a dress that would kill every male in Nerima with chronic bloodloss." Ryouga thought. Then he paused at Ranko's insufferably pleased expression. "Oh kami-sama, I said that out loud didn't I?"

Ranko's eyes glittered. "Smoking hot, Ryouga?" She grinned and mock-fanned herself, "Wow. A lady could get hot and bothered herself with that compliment." She looked him over and 'hmm'ed. "Yanno… You're not so bad yourself." She said in a throaty whisper. "Not bad at all. If that shirt was any tighter it'd be painted on them muscles. And boy, I am a fan of muscles lemme tell ya."

Ryouga moved slightly away, flushing again. "Ranm-ko!" He said, "What the hell, can you just switch on that act or…?"

Ranko sat back and snickered. "Not an act, Ryouga. You, my friend, are A-grade hotness, at least in the looks department. I'd'a killed for that musculature when I was a boy. Now I'd kill to have it wrapped around me. Mm!" She fanned herself again. "It's a pity about your dress sense but you somehow do make those tunics work."

Ryouga's flush deepened. "Stop playing with me." He demanded angrily and she actually looked hurt. But she didn't react with anger as he expected.

"I'm not playing with you, Ryouga." She said calmly. "We're adults now. Well, almost I guess, one year for back home, though technically we're adults where we are. But we can have adult conversations, and one of those conversations has to do with our relative attractiveness." She picked up a glass of juice that she'd obtained somewhere during her telling the story. "Plus, I kinda stopped bein' bashful about admitting attraction when I decided to see who I was."

"You're… attracted… to me?" Ryouga asked in a faint voice. "Oh, that's just weird to hear, Ranko."

"Good, though, I hope." She shrugged. "I ain't gonna lie to you, Ryouga. I wouldn't do that to ya." She grinned at him. "Don't worry, I won't try to jump ya bones if you don't want me to." She winked. "But let me know if you'd be up for it, alright? Don't have to have strings attached to enjoy company. I'd definitely enjoy yours."

"But… why me?" Ryouga looked genuinely perplexed, but then he saw Ranko looked equally perplexed.

"Are you kidding? Why not you, Ryo-chan? You're smart enough, you're good looking, I'd bet you've got stamina for days. Probably the only man that could keep up with me!" Ryouga stared at her, putting his hand on his nose. "When you're not being an angry asshole, you're a genuinely nice guy. And I peeked a little too, once or twice back in the day and I'd bet you'd be more than enough for me."

Ryouga's face went red and he looked faint. Nabiki prodded Ranko. "Alright stop blowing the poor boy's mind, Ranchan, or he'll explode. This tablecloth really doesn't need blood all over it."

Ryouga gratefully nodded to Nabiki as Ranko pouted, the expression doing nothing for his constitution. After a moment she laughed and then sighed. "Ah well. Anyway, where were we…?"

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{

​

Shirokuro was as affectionate as ever and Ranko took a moment to put some food and water into her bowls and give the patchwork dog a good fuss. She got a few cute 'awoo's in return and considered it a completed work. "Good girl." Ranko said happily, then locked the house back up as she ran to the local train station, waiting for Nabiki's train.

Once on board she spotted the middle Tendou sister and clambered over her into the window seat next to her, radiating 'excited little sister' energy as much as she could. "Nabiki-nee-chan!" She exclaimed loudly as Nabiki sighed at her appearance.

"Ranko, stop climbing everywhere, you'll flash everyone again! The world doesn't need to see your underwear!" Nabiki scolded, getting into her own act. Ranko actually pouted and sat with her arms folded, still clearly invested in her 'Yoiko' guise.

"'Kay, but it's boooooring." She huffed.

"Well, be good, or I'll not buy you ice cream when we get there."

Ranko's face fell and Nabiki laughed. She leaned in close. "Clean break, squirt?" She asked quietly. Ranko nodded and giggled suddenly.

"I ran into Ucchan." She whispered. "She must've thought I was Ryouga's sister because she didn't recognise me."

Nabiki's heart rate rose slightly. "If she recognised you at all or realises it's going to be hell."

Ranko laughed. "Naw, she was too busy gawking at a cute girl skipping down the road."

The rest of the first train journey passed in companionable silence broken only by Ranko acting the excited little sister. How much of it was an act, Nabiki didn't know but she was certainly entertained by it.

The next station they reached, Nabiki pushed Ranko into the ladies' room despite her whispered protests and blush, and Nabiki passed over a green sundress and ribbon, telling Ranko to tie her hair up in a bow. She also passed over new shoes and bundled the 'Yoiko' outfit into the suitcases, then she handed Ranko a compact makeup case.

She watched with some amazement as Ranko expertly applied her own makeup, though Nabiki added some final touches of her own.

"Where'd you learn all that, squirt?" She asked, smiling at the effect that Ranko looking in the mirror had on the redhead's confidence. Her shoulders straightened and her nerves seemed to disappear. Ranko shrugged as she adjusted the straps of the sundress.

"Here and there. There was a kunoichi once… and I sometimes hang out with Konatsu when I go to Ucchan's and Ukyou's busy. I figured at the times I was learning that since he's there I might as well get some training in for if I ever had to do something with my girl-mode." She blushed prettily and tied her hair up with the ribbon. Nabiki stared at the curls falling down Ranko's back, reaching further than usual now they were out of the pigtail.

"I'd kill to have curls like this. Why don't you let people see them more?" She asked, grabbing the ends and studying them.

"Always up in a pigtail because Ranma's a 'man amongst men'." Ranko shrugged and finished tying the bow. Nabiki offered her a small powder blue bolero to go over the top of the sundress to protect Ranko from the sun and the redhead twirled in front of her. "How do I look?"

"Gorgeous, actually." Nabiki managed to say after a moment. "If you weren't actually a girl, it'd be so unfair." She laughed as Ranko blushed again. "You're really easy to embarrass, squirt. Come on, we've got a lot of changes." She held out a list to Ranko with trains and times to catch. "Catch you on the platform before we head off proper."

Ranko grabbed one of the suitcases and wheeled it out behind her, then waited for Nabiki to pass her before looking at the paper. The two separated, one suitcase each and boarded two different trains heading to different stations.

On the first train some pervert tried to grope her backside but with a judicious application of pressure points to his wrist, he was left without use of his hand the rest of the day.

Ranko found it a headache to follow the route, but after a couple more stops and changes, they both boarded the same train from the same platform and the two girls sat down on their proper train, sighing in relief.

"Thank the kami that's done with." Ranko said, massaging her temples. "I don't think I could've taken more train changes, onee-chan."

Nabiki leaned back in the comfortable seat she was in and nodded wearily. "I had three more train changes than you, squirt, stop complaining. But I think we're good. Didn't see any of the wrecking crew around, and no one's attacked you yet, so I'd hope we've made a clean break."

"How'd you distract everyone?" Ranko asked, leaning on the table and playing with the can of coffee she'd bought at the station. The bentou that Kasumi had given them with their breakfast lay devastated and empty next to Ranko.

Then she grinned. "Well, the Amazons are still in China and will be for a few more weeks. Kasumi's taking care of Akane. Here's hoping she gets cooking through the girl's skull this time."

"I meant it when I said we're buying her something really nice. I wouldn't wish that fate on anyone, never mind someone as wonderful as Kasumi-nee-chan."

Nabiki nodded. "Yeah, when you're right you're right, squirt. As to Ukyou, I just asked her to leave you alone as you'd had a lot on your mind since Saffron and the Wedding. She's always the easiest to deal with."

Ranko nodded and then sighed. "Ucchan's my best friend. I just wish she'd stop trying to marry me. I'm not interested in her."

Nabiki shrugged. "We'll figure it out." She said, and found she meant it. All the Chaos Engine ever did was hurt Ranko, and now that she'd more or less informally adopted Ranko as her sister, that meant it was hurting her family.

Nabiki took care of things that hurt her family.

"As to the Kunous, I got Kodachi institutionalised and her brother found out about you going to China."

"…I didn't go to China." Ranko said, wide-eyed.

"Kunou-baby doesn't know that." Nabiki said, grinning.

Ranko shuddered. "I'm glad we're friends, onee-chan. I'd hate to be your enemy. You're scary as hell."

Nabiki just laughed. "Well, like it or lump it, squirt, I'm on your side now, so your enemies should be worried. Big sis has to look after her little sis, and frankly I've been shitty about it. To you and Akane, and I really should have been better." Ranko blinked. Nabiki shrugged. "Guess it wasn't just you having introspective times and not liking what she found." Nabiki smiled at her and held out her little finger. "I've got your back, imouto-chan. Hell or high water."

Ranko blushed and took the finger with her own little one. "Hell or high water." She echoed. "You need muscle if someone's tryin'a hurt you, onee-chan. I'll hurt them back. I'm no 'man amongst men' but I still kick incredible amounts of ass."

The two sat back and then both started giggling at how serious they'd gotten, relaxing as the countryside sped past.

Eventually they reached their destination – a small beach town, and Ranko effortlessly lifted both fairly heavy suitcases in her arms and the two wandered down the road to their hotel.

Once they got into the room, Ranko walked into the room, dropped the cases and went to the bathroom. She stepped out after washing her hands, grinning at Nabiki. "Alright, so what fir-?" Nabiki was calmly changing into her swimwear, and Ranko turned around, slapping her hands over her eyes.

"Sorry! Sorry!" She babbled, "Shouldn't have looked! Please don't hit me!"

Nabiki shook her head. "Ranko, it's perfectly fine for two girls to change at the same time. You know I haven't got anything you don't currently have. Speaking of currently having things, you did pack the soap?"

Ranko nodded, hands still over her eyes, her confident bearing from earlier crumbled away. "Used it this morning, it should last until the day after tomorrow, but I'll still keep using it each night so I don't turn into my cursed form. I just…"

Nabiki finished changing into her rather daring swimwear, putting an overly long shirt on top and walked over to Ranko, pulling the redheaded girl's hands from her eyes. Ranko trembled and Nabiki sighed.

"Where's all that confidence from earlier gone, squirt?" She asked.

Ranko shook her head. "I-I was…" She swallowed. "Mostly j-j-j-just acting. I'm actually t-t-terrified." Nabiki was impressed she'd admitted it, "If you'd b-b-been Akane…"

Nabiki shook her head at Ranko. "I'm not, and I think I'm going to have words with my darling sister if she's trained you to be that afraid of seeing someone naked. That's something we'll have to break you of. People get naked. It happens."

Ranko shivered and Nabiki smiled at her. "Ranko, you're a girl. I know you're a girl, I watched you realise you were a girl, fully. I've had trans friends before, some of them went through how you're feeling now. You're not a pervert, you're not a freak. OK?" She shook Ranko's hands in hers. "I need you to not be a basket case on me here. Can you pull yourself together for me? We're here to relax and have a normal weekend like two normal sisters at the beach. You know, sunning ourselves, driving the boys -and girls- mad, and using that cute face of yours to destroy the local ice cream businesses." She grinned.

Ranko sucked in a deep breath and then let it out. "O-OK. I'll try." She said, shivering again. "It's just… all that stuff Pop programmed into me a-and Akane's constantly hitting me…"

"I get it, don't worry. And I'm going to tell her to stop calling you a pervert. Given your reactions, I'd bet you don't even… er…. 'explore' yourself." Ranko blushed beet red and shook her head. Nabiki coughed awkwardly and let go of the redhead's hands. "Well, I'm going to tell you now, my sister's incredibly repressed and I feel bad for whoever is her first time because that is going to be explosive. Whether it ends well or not I really hope they survive." Nabiki shrugged. "Most everyone explores themselves. I do it. I'd bet Kasumi does it. Hell, I bet your mom does it given her husband's been away for twelve years."

Ranko made a face, grossed out and Nabiki laughed. "Oh come on, she can't buy that kind of lingerie for you and not be… how did you put it… 'Yamato Nadeshiko with one hell of a night life'!"

Ranko blushed even deeper and Nabiki laughed, walking to the other side of the room. She unzipped one of the suitcases and knelt by it as she rummaged. "Now. I've brought a variety of clothing for you, but we're going to take a swim first. So I got you these." She pulled out two swimsuits – a one piece and a bikini. The one-piece had the characters for Ranko's new name stitched on then in gold lettering and was black with a green highlight on the side. It was a lot like her old 'Boy' marked swimsuit.

The bikini was a halter-neck one in jade green with a bow decoration on the top and a side-tied tanga. "Your choice, squirt. Bikini or one-piece?"

Ranko stared at them both, thumbs twiddling a moment. She swallowed. "A-ah…" She said, shyly. "I d-don't know."

"Come on… Ranchan…" Nabiki smiled as Ranko started at her best friend's nickname coming from the middle Tendou, "You'd be cute in either. Don't worry about sun protection, we've got these!" She pulled out two straw hats, another oversized white shirt and two pairs of sunglasses, plus sunblock. "I'd personally recommend the bikini, since we'd match, but it's really up to you."

Ranko still stared. "Um." She said, sounding unsure still. "I g-guess the bikini then?" She tried to smile but it was a fleeting thing. Nabiki grinned, tossed the bikini and the shirt to her, then waited for her to change. Ranko went red and turned around to take her clothes off. Nabiki sighed.

"You were in your underwear with me earlier, Ranko, what's changed about that?"

"I-I don't know. I'm j-just scared." Ranko said softly. "It's like I'm fighting Pop and… and Akane's voices in my head telling me I'm a pervert…" She gritted her teeth and Nabiki nodded to herself.

"How about this, then? Take it as a challenge. I know you're not doing the whole stupid 'accept every challenge' bullshit now you know it's not really your responsibility, but how's this for a personal challenge? Beat those voices. They're wrong. There's nothing wrong with you, nothing freaky, nothing perverted. And who the hell cares anyway? Everyone can be a little perverted." Nabiki didn't realise she was ranting until she shut herself up and saw Ranko had turned and looked at her wide-eyed, mostly undressed.

"O-oh." She said. Nabiki tossed her head, her bobbed hair flying with her disdain.

"I'm going to kill your father when I get my hands on him. Make a nice panda-skin rug." Nabiki snarled. "What a piece of shit, this with the neko-ken, all the other crap he put into your head, all the stupid shit that makes you unhappy. Damn him, and damn your mother for that stupid fucking contract!"

Ranko started backing off, looking genuinely scared again, and Nabiki reigned in her temper. Her face fell. "And damn me for letting all this shit with Akane happen under my watch." She said, miserably. Ranko tentatively walked over and reached a trembling hand out. She swallowed and hugged Nabiki who stiffened a moment, then relaxed into the hug. "Sorry, squirt. Like I said, I looked inside and didn't like what I found either." She pushed Ranko away, trying to lighten the mood. "Now get changed, we've got beach life to catch up on!"

 

[Strawberry]

Alrighty, Chapter 6! Sorry it took so long!

All in the past this one.

Themes for this chapter:

Shoji Meguro - New Days
Shoji Meguro - Your Affection (Konichi ver.)

Both summery themes from Persona 4


------------------------------------
Last revised 28/06/2021
------------------------------------

Chapter 6 – Beach Episodes, New Days

Highly spirited with pride,
Saving those left under the forgotten houses,
Highly spirited with courage,
Taking all the blame,
Seems losing the game,
Days go by without quiet nights,
Flowers blossom When you believe.

-Your Affection (Konishi ver.) – Shouji Meguro

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{​

Ranko found one thing about the beach, once she'd calmed down and stopped feeling bad about being herself, dressed as she was.

She loved the feel of the sun on her skin.

Lying on her stomach on the towel, she luxuriated in the heat – still warm despite the lateness of the year and sighed contentedly, wiggling her toes happily into the sand behind her.

This is the life.

Next to her, another contented sigh told her Nabiki was just as happy as she was.

"I didn't know." Ranko said, sleepily. "This felt so good."

Nabiki's answer was just as sleepy. "What about that time with the cat tongue thing?"

"Was… too busy chasin' that stupid pill to enjoy the sun properly…" Ranko mumbled. She turned around to lie on her back and looked across at a gaggle of boys who were openly admiring her. She tensed, and Nabiki hear her sharp intake of breath. The bob-haired girl cast a glance to the group from her position on her stomach, then to Ranko and smiled.

"Don't worry about them, squirt, they're just admiring the view. It's a good view."

Ranko blushed and shook her head. "I don't think I'd get used to that…"

There was a click and Nabiki grinned at Ranko. She held out the digital camera for the redhead to look at the photo. "Well, you should. You seem to like girls at least so tell me. Isn't that an attractive girl?"

"Yeah… but that's also me, so it's weird to say."

Nabiki shook her head. "Lie back down, squirt, they'll bother us if they want to. We can just tell 'em no if they try anything." She snickered. "I mean I don't think anyone could survive trying anything with you that you didn't want."

Ranko took a moment to gather herself, then did so and closed her eyes again, enjoying the sun. Eventually she sat up and stretched, then sighed. "I'd like to get some ice cream, onee-chan." She mumbled. Nabiki held up some notes from her purse, still with her eyes closed.

"Vanilla, two scoops for me, Ranchan. Go work your magic."

Ranko took the money and stood, working the kinks out of her legs and shrugging on the oversized shirt, then walked over to where there was a stall.

Finding that the bikini plus hat plus shirt plus her combination worked just as well here as in Nerima for mugging ice cream vendors out of extra scoops and syrup, she returned to Nabiki and handed her the overloaded cone, then sat next to her.

The two spent a companionable few minutes eating their ice cream before Ranko sighed happily and leaned back.

"What's on your mind, Ranchan?" Nabiki asked, finishing up her own ice cream.

"I dunno." Ranko said, cricking her neck from one side to the other and looking up at the sun. "I just feel… really nice here." She smiled. "Just relaxed, yanno? No crazy fiancées, no stupid martial arts competitions. I'm just Ranko here with my big sis Nabiki."

Nabiki grinned. "That's the idea, kiddo." She said, finishing up the cone and leaning back herself. "I promised you a long, normal weekend. Good thing we're off school on Monday, too."

Ranko smiled. "Four days. So we're going back Monday night?"

"Friday now, let's not think about it." Nabiki stretched and held out a pair of string-tie sandals and a pair of denim shorts. "Let's get some food instead. Get dressed." Ranko donned the shorts and sandals and stood there looking awkward as she buttoned the shirt. Nabiki smiled at her after pulling her own clothes on. "I've got a better idea." She said, taking the bottom of the shirt and tying it over Ranko's midriff, then doing up a couple of buttons to keep it secure. She left most of it undone though, so the effect was to both cover and show off Ranko's bust.

Ranko looked at herself in a nearby surface and the smile on her face almost outshone the sun a moment. Nabiki grinned inwardly. Good. Get that confidence back up.

"Now, what you thinking of getting? Reckon you can work your magic on a street vendor or you fancying something more substantial?"

Ranko laughed. "You know me."

"Sure I do, squirt." Nabiki said, laughing as the pair exited onto the main road of the beach town. "You want both. We'll destroy the vendors first I guess."

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{​

It was a while later that found the two girls heading back to their room after a very satisfying set of short meals in which the two used their wiles to get more than their fair share of food, Nabiki absolutely approving of the way Ranko could tie any one of the vendors up with her almost innocent gestures and purposeful not-quite-flirting. Combined with the outfit she'd provided, Ranko's guileless gestures and Nabiki's own wiles, they'd never stood a chance.

As they stepped past an alleyway, a man emerged in the disappearing light and a couple of others came up behind the two. Both stopped, an eyebrow raised and Nabiki sighed. "What do you want?"

"Give me your wallets, ladies, and we might let you off." He leered, "Not too quickly, though."

Ranko looked at Nabiki.

Nabiki looked at Ranko.

Both of them burst out laughing.

"What? Quit laughing!" The first man growled. Then he howled as Ranko's fist buried itself in his gut before he was flung at one of his compatriots, both going down in a tangle of limbs. Ranko poked one in the chest.

"Boop."

The man dropped like a stone and Ranko kicked him into his friends, sending them down the street with a thunk.

The third approached Nabiki and found that while the girl wasn't the martial arts monster her redheaded sister was, she'd still been raised in a house where the weakest member, IE her, could still keep up with the basic stuff for self defense.

And had zero scruples or time for fair fights.

Hence the man found a foot being driven into his crotch hard and yelped squeakily until Ranko punted him to land with his friends.

Nabiki sighed. "Glad I'm with you, Ranchan." She said, letting out an explosive breath again. "But really? 'Boop'?"

Ranko danced on her feet, eyes alight. Nabiki looked away. "Ha! Pity there ain't no good martial artists here." She said, then walked over to the mugger-pile, looking down. "You boys run off with your tails between your legs. See you near here again I'll not hold back." She picked up a rock and crushed it in her fist. "Your balls end up like this rock, alright?"

The men winced and the ones who hadn't been kicked in the nuts crossed their legs. Ranko nodded and returned to walking with Nabiki, putting her arms behind her head. "Some people, huh?"

Nabiki shook her head. "I guess other places outside of Nerima don't have all the nutcase martial artists there."

Ranko snickered as they walked into their room. "Won't bother us again, I hope. Or maybe I hope they do so I can beat on 'em some more. I hate guys who try assault on women." Nabiki looked over as Ranko grinned at her. "Sometimes I'd go out, dressed up, and really play up the 'young girl out alone and late' act until I drew the local scumbags back home. Always was a treat to beat up assholes who think they're tough by attacking young women."

Nabiki shook her head. "The things you keep from me, Ranchan."

Night-time found the pair outside on the beach again, having little else to do. As they sat watching the waves come in and out, Ranko smiled gently.

"Oh, hey there." A girl's voice carried over to them and they looked over. The group that had been nearby all day were still there. It looked like they'd set up a small campfire and were sat around it. "You two staying nearby?"

Ranko shrank a little, but Nabiki grinned easily. "Sure. We're in that hotel there. I'm Tendou Nabiki, this is my little sister, Ranko."

"Hi…" Ranko said, smiling shyly.

The girl grinned back at Nabiki. She looked to be about nineteen. "Ahh, chaperoning the little one. How often we big sisters must put our own plans on hold to help our developing imouto-chans, huh?" She winked and looked Ranko over, waggling her eyebrows suggestively. "Not that yours needs much more developing. Any more and she might get back strain." Nabiki laughed and Ranko joined in embarrassedly. The girl giggled. "I'm Ogata Chihiro." She pointed to the group. "My sister, my boyfriend, my brother and my best friend're staying here for the weekend."

"Ranko and I are doing the same." Nabiki said, shrugging. "It's late but we got a long weekend from school and thought we'd escape the madness of home."

Chihiro laughed. "It is nice to get away, isn't it?" She said. "Want to join us? We're staying in the same hotel so it'd be nice to have a bigger group. Plus I figure otherwise we'll be tripping over one another anyway."

"I'm good for it." Nabiki said, she looked over at Ranko, who was being quiet and nudged the redhead. "How about you, Ranko?"

Ranko looked up and smiled. "Sure." She said, standing up. Nabiki joined her and they picked their things up, wandering over to the group. Ranko shrunk a little behind Nabiki as they approached.

"Hey guys, this is Tendou Nabiki and Ranko, here the same as us." Chihiro announced, grinning and brushing her long brown hair out of her eyes.

The group turned from where they'd been talking and all of them gave a grin and a bow. Chihiro introduced them, starting with a wiry boy about Kasumi's age. "Him with the long brown hair is Tanaka Souta, my less-than-better-half."

Souta put a hand to his chest and a wrist to his forehead. "Oh! My lady doth wound me gravely! Verily, I shall have to punish her accordingly later!" He waggled his eyebrows. Chihiro groaned.

Ranko squirmed slightly as the boy reminded her uncomfortably of Kunou Tatewaki, and Chihiro seemed to notice. "Souta's kind of a dork, don't mind him. He's mostly harmless."

"S'okay." Ranko said in a small voice. Nabiki cut in.

"Ranko's got boy trouble with some asshat who won't leave her alone and talks all old fashioned like that. Not your fault, Souta-san."

Souta sat up straight and gave Ranko a gentle smile. "Ah, sorry about that. I'll try not to do so with you. Ranko-san."

She smiled back at him. He had a nice smile, she thought, nothing like Kunou. "Thank you." She said.

Pointing to a girl that looked like her, only a little shorter and a little rounder, with brown hair in a pageboy cut, Chihiro continued the introductions. "That's Rei, my sister. She's probably about your age I guess Ranko-san. How old are you guys again?"

"I'm nineteen and Ranko's eighteen." Nabiki said, nodding to Rei, who looked shy but smiled at the two without saying anything. Ranko gave her a short bow but stayed quiet too.

"Yeah, same age." Chihiro pointed to a girl with black hair in a hime cut and pale skin that looked to be already suffering under the sun. "That's my best friend Katakura Sawako." The girl gave a frightening grin and then a more normal smile.

"The pleasure is mine, Nabiki-san, Ranko-san." She said in a quiet voice.

The final boy she pointed to shared Rei's looks, though he had hair dyed blonde and a shy grin. "That's Rei's twin brother, Kippei. He's obviously the same age as her and you guys."

"H-hi." Kippei said shyly, smiling at the two, but more noticeably at Ranko. She sighed inwardly; she knew that look. Heavens above she hoped there wouldn't suddenly be another fiancé to add to her list.

At least he was cute.

She flinched and her face paled as she reeled in shock at the thought. Nabiki took her arm reassuringly. "You OK there Ranchan?"

Ranko swallowed and nodded. "Y-yeah… J-just shocked at a thought. I'm f-fine."

Chihiro grinned at the two of them and they walked into the area around the small campfire. The others had moved some logs and folding chairs, so the two sat down nearby and the conversation carried on.

Ranko mainly stayed quiet and let Nabiki do the talking. Where had that thought come from? She liked girls, damn it. Didn't she? Or like everything else, was that a lie? Could she like boys as well as girls or instead? 'What if's kept piling through her mind. Without the rock of an identity to cling onto, she kept wondering exactly what was true in her life.

"-nko. Earth to Ranko. Hey, Ranko. Wake up!" She blinked and Nabiki was grinning at her. "Oh, you were in a world all your own." Ranko blushed at everyone grinning at her and Nabiki offered her a stick with a marshmallow on. "We're trying that American thing."

Ranko took the stick and looked confused a moment, before seeing everyone holding it to the fire. She did so and then ate the melted, gooey mess. It just tasted like melted marshmallow. "I'm not sure I see the point, onee-chan." She said, laughing. "I'd rather just eat marshmallows!"

Chihiro grinned. "That's why we try things out, Ranko-chan, to see if they're worth doing!"

Ranko smiled at the honorific, even though Chihiro wouldn't know, couldn't know how good it felt.

"What were you thinking about, Ranko-san?" Sawako asked in that quiet voice of hers. Ranko blushed deeply and Nabiki grinned.

"Was it boys?" She teased. Ranko blushed deeper.

"No!" She exclaimed. Nabiki laughed.

"Girls then?" At her words Rei shifted uncomfortably, and Ranko went even more red. "Ah, we're all friends here, Ranchan, come on." Ranko shook her head and stayed red. Nabiki ruffled her hair and let the question pass, turning to Chihiro. "Where are you guys from then?"

"Ah, Tokyo, that most wonderful city!" Souta said, popping an uncooked marshmallow into his mouth. Chihiro wrestled him for the bag a moment and he grinned after acceding to her. "Juuban in Minato. You see some crazy things there, trust me!"

Ranko laughed. "Not as crazy as Nerima!"

"You're from Nerima?" Rei asked quietly. Something seemed a little off about Rei. She couldn't put her finger on it but definitely felt different to Chihiro, Sawako and Nabiki. Ranko shrugged to herself, she always seemed off to people too.

"Yeah, it's kinda a madhouse." Ranko laughed.

"I heard there was nothing but loony martial artists there." Kippei said, smiling at them. "You guys wouldn't happen to be…?"

"Well I mean," Nabiki drawled, "You gotta be at least somewhat proficient just to survive in that madhouse. I'm well enough to defend myself in the most basic ways but Ranko here's the real artist. She's good. Real good."

Ranko blushed but stuck her thumb in her chest. "You kiddin', Nabs? I'm the best!" She grinned.

"Thought you were going to try not to be egotistical anymore?" Nabiki shot back. Ranko shrugged.

"It ain't egotistical if it's the truth! Thought that altercation earlier woulda reminded ya of that."

Nabiki smiled at Ranko. It was good to see some of her confidence back. Maybe beating up those idiots had been good for her self-esteem, reminding her that no matter the shattering of who she was, she still had skills way above everyone else.

"True, you still kick ass."

Souta perked up. "Oh, it was you who beat up those assholes in the alleyway earlier, didn't you?" Ranko pinked but nodded. He laughed. "I thought I recognised the red hair, but it was from far off. They kept accosting people but ran off real quick when you guys nailed 'em."

Nabiki grinned at him. "I just nutshotted one, Ranko threw 'em around."

Ranko flexed an arm, patting her bicep. "Told ya, I'm the best. Those guys weren't nothin'."

Rei giggled and put a hand to her mouth. "You must be a tomboy." She said.

Ranko laughed and rubbed the back of her head. "I have… tendencies I guess, yeah." She shrugged. "I'm tryin'a be more feminine but I still like ta fight."

Nabiki shook her head amusedly and the group split into a couple of different conversations.

Talking with Rei and Kippei turned out to be nice. Rei, for some reason, fascinated Ranko, but she couldn't figure out why. It wasn't bad, just something she seemed to recognise in the girl. Maybe she sounded a bit familiar. Some kind of kinship. There was something about the girl that sparked something questioning in Ranko's mind. Kippei seemed nice, too, and very enthusiastic about martial arts.

Sawako joined their discussion partway through, though 'joined' might have been too emphatic a statement. Mostly she was quiet and only added a couple of words here and there.

Eventually Ranko was convinced into a demonstration of her kata by the three of them and she stood up, making sure her shorts were securely buttoned and the tied-shirt was still firm.

Hopping over to just on the beach she started a kata that simulated her fighting a few opponents, though she kept it slow and light, and eventually just lost herself in it.

When she finally finished, blinking in the firelight and shaking her head, she heard clapping and looked over. The group was all watching her, and she gave a mocking bow, then walked back to them.

"Wow." Kippei said, enraptured. "That was awesome, Ranko-san!" He grinned. "I could imagine you fighting like a whole crowd of people, like WAPAH, ZAPP!" He made punches in the air and promptly fell backwards off his log with a squawk.

Rei facepalmed as everyone else laughed. "Oh hell, he'll be like this all night now. But that was really good!"

Ranko smiled at the two as Nabiki returned to chatting with Chihiro. Ranko found herself sitting near Sawako, the black-haired girl smiling softly. "It was good." She confirmed. "Though I imagine more impressive with a crowd of people to actually fight."

"You shoulda seen my fi-sister last year. She hadta fight like half the boys in school. Really good at just bashin' in heads in a crowd, that girl." Ranko said, thinking back.

"My, Nerima certainly sounds lively. I think all we have are magical girls. Maybe." Sawako laughed. Ranko shrugged.

"Ya get used to it." She said, rolling her neck and tugging on the shirt to retie it. "I'm just glad to get out for a bit."

Sawako nodded. "It's always nice to get away from ourselves sometimes."

The evening piled on and Ranko found herself drawn into one or two more conversations until Nabiki stretched and yawned. "Well, squirt, I think we'd all better turn in. It's getting late and we'd be best off to get some sleep if the great food vacuum here is to get the comped breakfast."

Ranko's stomach gurgled loudly at that and she blushed while Chihiro tossed the remaining marshmallows to her. "It's dangerous to go hungry, Ranko-chan, take these!"

Souta rolled his eyes. "Chi, has anyone ever told you you're a fuckin' nerd?"

She smirked at him. "You do. Several times a day." She kissed his cheek.

"Yeah well, you're a nerd, Chi."

"And you got the reference, asshole, so who's the real nerd?"

"Only 'cause you've subjected me to the torturous ways of nerd-dom." He kissed her back.

Ranko and Nabiki stood and bowed to the group, who waved. Chihiro grinned at the two. "Join us again tomorrow night?"

"Sure." Nabiki said, stretching. "It's been fun hanging around with other folks our age who aren't trying to kill or marry us."

"What?" Sawako asked. The rest looked at them and Ranko shrugged.

"Trust me, you guys're better off not knowin'." She said, smiling. "Thanks for the marshmallows." She popped one in her mouth and followed Nabiki back to their hotel room.

Nabiki quickly changed into her nightclothes and Ranko was about to throw on a tank top and boxers as normal, though she thought after a moment she should try something else.

Going to her suitcase, she pulled out another oversized shirt that went to her knees and a pair of panties and pulled those on instead, fighting the thoughts in her head the entire time. She wasn't a freak. She wasn't a pervert. She was Ranko, and Ranko wore girls' bedclothes and underwear. They were hers.

Sitting on her bed while Nabiki went to the bathroom, she looked at the ceiling and smiled, munching on the marshmallows she'd been given.

"All good, Ranchan?" Nabiki asked, grinning at her as she sat on her own bed. "Have fun with our new friends?"

Friends… Ranko smiled to herself. "Yeah. They seemed cool. I liked Rei and Kippei, though Sawako was cool too. Chihiro and Souta were a bit er…"

"Lovey-dovey?" Nabiki asked, raising an eyebrow as she grinned.

"Yeah. Still not used'ta seein' it yanno? People bein' affectionate."

"Well, I mean the only ones who do are your lunatic fiancées so yeah, I get you."

Ranko shrugged. "But they were nice anyway."

Nabiki nodded. "Yep. Nice to know people that aren't martial arts weirdoes."

"Hey! I resemble that remark!"

Nabiki laughed and Ranko joined in.

"Hey onee-chan?" Ranko said in a quiet voice after they'd calmed down and Nabiki had turned the lights out.

"Yeah?"

"…Thanks." The redhead said. "For everything."

Nabiki felt warmth run through her at having done something good for once. "You're welcome, sis."

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{​

The next day found Ranko wandering around the town with Kippei and Rei, dressed in the dress and shoes Akane had bought her that one time with the rock. She smiled inwardly at that. Maybe that incident had been her real self, taking a peek out.

Nabiki had pushed her into it, telling her that she was going to spend the day with Chihiro, Sawako and Souta, and that she needed to make friends outside of the family.

The twins were both fairly excited but were obviously trying to behave as the three of them wandered into an arcade. Ranko sighed. She wasn't great at video games. She perked up when they went to the section that had basketball tossing and other games needing hand-eye coordination though, and quickly racked up a number of tickets before the three of them were ask politely, yet firmly to leave as they'd already won all they could.

Ranko dumped most of the tickets on free ice creams since that was one of the great things at this arcade and she quickly made the twins look slightly green as she ate, and ate. Eventually, with five empty sundae glasses in front of her to their one each, she leaned back and patted her stomach.

"Wow." Rei said, eyes wide.

Kippei nodded. "What she said. Where the heck does that go?"

Ranko shrugged. "I'm a martial artist, I burn calories like you'd never believe. Could probably put away twice that if I was really thinkin' about it."

"I repeat. Wow." Rei said. She smiled at Ranko. "Kami-sama, I wish I could put food away like that but as you can probably tell I just look at bacon or ice cream and my hips start to expand." She shrugged and waggled a slightly pudgy hand.

"Thought that's what you wanted?" Kippei asked slyly and she blushed.

"Only so far!" She insisted. "I like having curves!"

Ranko chuckled. "I'd probably be huge if I didn't practice every day."

Kippei nodded. "With five sundaes down you, I'd think so!"

The three got up from the table and wandered down the street, Ranko stretching. Ahead they saw the others and Ranko waved as they passed, the three heading to the beach.

"Hey, Ranko?" Rei asked after a moment.

"Yeah?"

"How'd you get so good at martial arts?"

Ranko put her hands behind her head as she walked, unknowingly setting off nosebleeds in half the boys in her vicinity and causing an envious glance from Rei. Kippei was too far gone in martial arts fanboying to notice.

"I travelled with my Pop for years, seekin' out the best trainin'. Was interestin' but kinda harrowin' for a long time. Ya gotta live, eat, breathe the Art, yanno?"

Kippei nodded enthusiastically. Once he'd gotten used to the redhead's casual speech and somewhat lacking modesty (at least in terms of self-confidence, Ranko hadn't had any accidental wardrobe malfunctions yet), he'd started pestering her about martial arts constantly. Not that Rei hadn't been much better, but it was nice to give the twins (heavily edited) stories from Nerima and watch their reactions.

As they reached the beach, she was describing one of her fights with Ryouga, when she caught sight of said lost boy. "Oh, shit!" She muttered and ducked out of the way and into a shop doorway. The twins looked at her weirdly, then at the empty street.

"I think whoever it was is gone." Kippei muttered and Ranko sighed.

"Yeah, not someone I wanted to run into right now." She said, coming back out. "Not that I think he'd recognise me."

"Why not?"

Ranko froze. "Uh… no reason." She said lamely. Rei looked at her curiously but said nothing further and Kippei shrugged.

"Ex-boyfriend?" Kippei asked.

"Er… somethin' like that." Ranko said.

"Fair enough."

That evening, around the campfire, Ranko was a little jittery as she told Nabiki about seeing Ryouga and Nabiki just shrugged. "I don't think he'll see you here, not as you are. He probably expects the pigtail and black hair, and it's currently down and red, so you're fine."

Ranko nodded, but she stayed quiet the rest of the evening, just basking in the warm chatter of everyone. At the end of the night, Sawako of all people sat down next to her and smiled, the quiet girl handing her a can of coffee. "Here. You've not had any drinks like Chi-chan and Souta and trust me, they'll be putting them away." She pointed and Ranko saw Nabiki also drinking some beer with them.

Ranko rolled her eyes but shrugged. She remembered Nabiki's words about 'Vegas Rules' and knew Nabiki needed the break as much as she did.

"Thanks Sawako-san." She said, smiling at the quiet girl. Rei and Kippei had wandered away from the logs to stare out at the sea, talking quietly, so Ranko just sat with Sawako until the black-haired girl spoke up.

"You seem a bit down." She said, still in that quiet voice. "I don't mean to sound rude but having spoken a few times you seem a girl who's all about action. You seem rather pensive at the moment. Want to talk about it?"

Ranko drew her knees up to her chest and leaned on them, not looking at the black-haired girl with the hime cut. "I don't really make a habit'a talkin' to people I only just met about my problems." She said sourly. Sawako laughed gently.

"I thought so. But still, if you wanted to get anything off your chest, well. I am studying to be a therapist and it'd be good practice. And confidential." She motioned to the drinking trio with her own can of coffee. "And to be honest I'm less rowdy than your sister or my friends."

"What about those two?" Ranko hiked a thumb at the twins who'd sat down.

"Oh, they've got their own issues." Sawako leaned in closer and whispered conspiratorially, "I think they have their own crushes on you already." She giggled and moved away.

Ranko sighed. "Just great. More of that is not what I need."

Sawako raised an eyebrow. "You have a problem with people crushing on you?"

"More like trying to get engaged to me." Ranko sighed. "No one ever gave a damn what I think though."

Sawako patted the redhead's arm. "Those two just like you, I don't think they're planning on marriage. Sometimes it's just a crush."

"After a day?"

Sawako shrugged. "On these trips, at you guys' age? It happens. It's pretty normal, and pretty harmless. You've certainly made an impression on them with your martial arts talks and showing off."

Ranko sighed again. "Really have issues with that happenin'." She shook her head. Sawako smiled at her.

"Ah, like I said; it's harmless. Not everyone's going to want to marry you."

Ranko sighs. "Alright. I guess I should be a bit less paranoid about that…"

Sawako laughed. "You think?"

The twins finished whatever they were talking about and made their way back to where Ranko and Sawako were now sitting quietly, just looking up at the stars.

Kippei smiled at the two and sat down on the log, Rei following suit. "Oof, glad we're still having warm weather. Sometimes there's a chill coming this time of the year."

Ranko nodded absently, wary of the twins now. Rei looked at her askance. "Ranko-chan?" She hazarded. Ranko swallowed the thrill of the honorific down and just tried a smile.

"Sorry, Sawako told me somethin', s'just hard to process it fully."

Rei seemed to take a strange offense and glared at Sawako. "Hey! That's not your thing to-"

"Wasn't that, Rei-chan." Sawako said calmly. Then her eyes twinkled mischievously. "I just told her you two had a hero-worship crush thing going on."

Rei and Kippei both went red and stammered, Ranko looking at Rei oddly. What had she been worried about?

"O-oh." Kippei said softly. "W-well, I mean…"

Ranko sighed, closed her eyes and thought about how to proceed. She sat up and opened her eyes. "It's fine, Kippei, Rei, I'm kinda flattered." She rubbed the back of her head, slightly red in the face. "But I'm really not lookin' for anything like a date or anythin' like that right now. Have somethin' of a situation with fiancées back home."

The two looked morose but nodded.

"Hey, cheer up guys, I'd still like to be friends if you'll have me."

"Of course we will, Ranko-chan!" Rei enthused, taking her hands and shaking them happily. "I thought we already were! Hey where's your phone? Let's exchange numbers so we can email!"

Ranko managed to extricate her hands and rubbed the back of her head. "I uh… don't have one. Can't aff… I mean, I fight a lot so it might get broke. I might pick one up though so if you guys've got cards I'll take 'em before we go home!"

There was a click and Ranko looked over to see Nabiki standing there with her camera, grinning at the group. "Just getting holiday snaps." She said innocently. Then again, Ranko knew the girl could be extremely sneaky about photoshooting so she was letting Ranko know she was doing it. Ranko gave her a smile and a subtle nod. She'd like some memories of this weekend, with normal people, being just Ranko.

The thought of going home depressed her already and she still had a full day and a half before they were due to go home.

She spent the rest of the evening talking with the twins and Sawako, occasionally interrupted by a consistently more and more drunk Nabiki, Chihiro and Souta who seemed determined to out-compete one another as to how loud they were getting.

At one point Ranko was shocked to see Sawako go over to the group only to promptly be soundly kissed by a swaying Nabiki, who proclaimed to Chihiro and Souta that that was how you kissed your other half.

Sawako went red, but didn't seem to actually mind as she sat back down near the three younger members of the group. She giggled slightly at Ranko's surprised expression, while Kippei and Rei just rolled their eyes.

Eventually the night died off and Ranko managed, with some cajoling, to get Nabiki to bed. While they sat, Ranko changing into the oversized shirt and panties she'd been sleeping in rather than boxers, she looked at the still-tipsy middle sister. "S-so uh… you like girls onee-chan?"

Nabiki sat up in her bed, head resting on her hand. "Ehhh." She slurred, "I like both. Don' matter to me what skin ya got, yanno?" She smiled. "An' Sawako's cute."

Ranko blushed as she lay on top of the covers of her bed. "Hey, onee-chan?"

"Mmm?"

Ranko fought the harsh words in the back of her head. They weren't true, just crap programmed into her. "I think… I could like both too." She admitted.

"Thas nice." Nabiki said. "S'more for you ter find when yer wanna special fren'."

Ranko laughed. "Go to sleep, Nabs, you're drunk." She said fondly.

Nabiki's soft snoring was the only response.

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{​

Nabiki the next morning was up far later than Ranko. The redhead had grown bored listening to her snoring and had left a note saying she was on the beach. She'd then changed into her bikini, thrown on her shorts and shirt, tying it up as Nabiki had, then donned her sandals and hat, and the pair of sunglasses Nabiki had given her, then wandered out.

She met Chihiro and Souta on the beach, both looking worse for wear in the sunlight, though probably not as bad as Nabiki would be when she emerged, blinking, from her grotto. She gave them a wave as she set the stuff she'd been carrying down.

Souta whistled. "You're not kidding on the strength, Ranko-chan." He said, grinning.

Chihiro nodded.

"What?" Ranko asked. She looked. She had a cooler with soft drinks she and Nabiki had bought the previous day, the large beach umbrella and several towels. "Ain't much."

"'Ain't much' she says, carrying it all in one hand." Chihiro shook her head and winced at the sharp pain. "You Nerimans are mad."

Ranko stuck her tongue out at the older girl and spread the towel, sitting down on it and undoing her sandals. She smiled at the two of them after though, stretching. "You guys had fun last night?"

"Yeah, don't remind me." Souta groaned. "And being up this early is killer."

"Eh, s'nice to see the sun. Pop usually wakes me up by kickin' my ass so waking up when I want to makes a nice change." Ranko said, picking out a melon soda from the cooler and opening it. She drained about half and stood up. "You guys mind watching the stuff? Feel free ta use the shade from the umbrella to get outta the sun." She cricked her neck and stretched again. "I've got to do my kata."

"The twins'll be unhappy they missed this." Chihiro said, laughing.

Ranko decided on a more meditative kata this morning than the showy one of the other night. As her body ran through the rhythms, idly noting that she'd need to change certain aspects of the kata to account for the fact that this was her real body now, and her male form was the wrong one.

Closing her eyes she felt at peace again, letting the happy memories of the previous night and day wash over her, even the twins' little crush Sawako had told her about was a nice memory, mainly because rather than glomp her or try to marry her, they'd just said it was because she was cool and left it at that. And she'd had fun with Sawako occasionally teasing them about it later on.

It had felt good to almost-flirt with them in a harmless way. It was like… verbal sparring, almost. Fun. She smiled more warmly and changed to a more furious kata, punches and kicks. She thought back to Nabiki's kiss with Sawako the previous night, and the drunken confession that her older sister didn't care what someone was, boy or girl.

That felt like a nice attitude to have, and she wondered idly as she changed to a grappling kata from another school why she'd felt hung up on liking boys, or rather, everyone. After all, with her experiences on both sides of the fence so to speak, she didn't really have room to be picky, did she?

The thought put her at peace, and she finished her morning kata with some chi manipulation. Strangely it was more difficult to fire a moko takabisha, and she felt a slightly different emotion fuelling it. Probably the body or her recent decisions having affected her confidence in some way. She'd have to seek out some guidance or meditation on it.

As she opened her eyes after winding down, she found the twins and Sawako had joined Chihiro and Souta, and the group clapped for her. She rubbed the back of her head embarrassedly, but proudly, and gave them a mocking bow, before walking back over.

"Kami-sama, Ranko-chan," Rei gushed, "That was so cool!"

Kippei grinned broadly, "You fired some kind of energy blast, like Dragonball!" He made a kamehameha motion with his hands. "Like POW!"

Ranko groaned at their enthusiasm and made to sit down. Before she did however, Kippei sprang to his feet, followed by Rei. Then the two of them got on their knees and bowed.

"Teach us, Ranko-sensei! Teach us your secrets!" They said in unison, bowing together. Ranko went more red.

"Guys!"

"Please, Sensei!" Rei cried. "Teach us your ways!"

Ranko sighed and shrugged. "Fine, but nothing major. Just basic stuff, right?"

The two nodded excitedly and Ranko grinned evilly at them as an idea occurred to her. "Then I have two words for you, students." They gulped. "Anything Goes." She thought a moment, tapping her chin. "Oh, and one more word actually." Her grin widened into a predatory baring of teeth. "Run."

She spent the next half an hour running the twins ragged up and down the beach, chasing them and tagging at them with jabs from her finger. Every time they tried to hit her back with a jab she wasn't there, or was above them, lightly tapping their forehead as she was upside-down in the air.

Eventually they collapsed near Souta and Chihiro, who'd been joined in the meantime by a groaning Nabiki.

"Please. No… More…" Kippei groaned.

"I think… We… made a mistake…" Rei huffed, turning onto her back and staring at the sun.

"Students!" Ranko barked, and the two stiffened. "Now we've warmed up…"

"Warmed up?!" Rei moaned.

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{​

The rest of the weekend passed by in a blur for Ranko. She and Nabiki went shopping a couple of times but mostly the two of them spent time with the group they'd met. Ranko had never felt so relaxed, so normal.

Sure she was still practicing katas and martial arts (and driving the twins into the ground whenever they mentioned wanting to do more martial arts, but it was always in good fun and they seemed to be enjoying it), but beyond that she'd managed to relax in a way that she never had been able to before.

She spoke with Nabiki about the stuff that had happened in the last few years in their time alone, the two trying to understand where everything was going wrong.

At midday on Monday, Nabiki sighed and stood up regretfully from the towel. "We'd best get going, squirt."

Ranko sighed too and reluctantly stood. She looked over at the others. "Guess we're off." She said.

"Oh… When's your train back?" Chihiro asked from where she was sat with Souta's arms around her waist. "We're heading back to Tokyo on the four o'clock."

Nabiki grinned. "Same. We just have to pack everything up. Juuban's a bit closer than Nerima."

Ranko shrugged. "Could stop by M- Auntie's." She said. Nabiki eyed her. "…Good point." She conceded to the unspoken words.

Chihiro grinned at the two. "Well, we can travel as a pack then. A great gaggle of weirdoes from two weird areas." Souta smiled at her.

Ranko beamed as brightly as Rei and Kippei at the thought of spending more time with their new friends.

The rest of the afternoon went by in a blur, the group found an empty spot on the train heading back and kept speaking.

At Juuban they all got off the train, and milled around a short while – Nabiki and Ranko had a train to catch that would then let them take more of a roundabout route to Ranko to find a place to change again. Ranko once more had a list of trains to change at in her pocket, including one swap-over where she'd change into girl-mode 'Ranma', then another where she'd change into boy-mode and make her way back.

It felt like going back into prison after the wonderful weekend she'd had with Nabiki and their new friends. Like she was putting shackles back on her wrist, going back into the madness. Inside she felt like screaming, like staying on the train and never stopping, or staying here at Juuban and never going back to Nerima.

Kippei and Rei both looked crestfallen as they had to say goodbye, pressing cards with their contact details into Ranko's hands as Nabiki and the others swapped contact details via their phones. Sawako, too, handed the redhead a card with an enigmatic smile.

Before they leave, the twins threw both of their arms around Ranko, squeezing her tight, and she found herself choked up, tears rolling from her eyes and her throat closing up. "Th-thanks for a lovely weekend, guys. You and your family and Sawako r-really made it nice." She blubbered, wondering what was wrong with her for a moment before realising she'd miss these two and the others.

Nabiki eventually gently tapped Ranko on the shoulder and she pulled away. "I'll find a way to say hello." She promised as she went back to the middle Tendou. She gave Sawako, Chihiro and Souta a bow each. "Thanks for a great weekend guys, I've never been so relaxed."

"Ah it was nothing, Ranko-chan." Chihiro grinned. "Best of luck with all the weirdoes back home."

"Th-thanks." Ranko sniffed.

The group wandered off, waving the whole time, and Ranko spent a moment wiping her eyes.

"You OK, Ranchan?" Nabiki asked. Ranko shook her head.

"No." Ranko said. "I don't want to go back. It's like going to prison again. Don't make me go back, onee-chan."

Nabiki put her arms around her sister and held her close.

"Ranchan, I promise you. I promise you now. We're going to destroy that Chaos Engine that runs your life. I've been thinking over the weekend. Give me the week to plan." She held Ranko's shoulders out and looked in her sister's eyes. "I swear to you now, we're getting you out."

 

[Strawberry]

Chapter 7!

Also oh wow, this got chosen as the User Fiction pick of the month! I'm actually... kinda speechless. I'd never thought something of mine, let alone a fic for Ranma of all things would get that kinda attention. Thank you very much for choosing it, guys that did so!

I hope everyone who reads enjoys as much as I enjoy writing it!

And (with shameless self-promotion) I do have another fic on essvee and a couple others on Ao3 if Vegas Rules alone isn't satisfying your Ranma 1/2 fic itch!

Chapter 7 - Why?

Darling, are you feeling alright?
You look rather pale,
And all our friends are,
All our friends are watching us!

(I wanna go home)

Why run away?
Why, why, why?

Darling, are you seeing inside?
The wolves are alive,
And all our faith is,
All our faith is wrong!

Let me go home!

- Why by Devin Townsend

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{​

Ryouga sighed as Ranko finished talking about the beach weekend and looked up at the sky. "'Normal' friends, huh?" He asked.

Ranko, who'd changed into a bikini – possibly the same one she'd described in the tale, given that Nabiki's was matching it – grinned. "Yep. Sorry Ryouga, you don't count as normal. Neither do I, really."

They'd migrated to near a pool. Ryouga had been worried about the water when Ranko had suggested it, but she'd rolled her eyes and handed him a package with waterproof soap in it. "Don't think I'm an idiot, Ryouga." She'd said.

They'd not gone in the water yet though; Ranko hadn't been lying when she'd said she loved the sun. Both her and Nabiki were in lounge chairs, sunbathing, and Ryouga just lay back on his own lounge chair. They'd dressed him up again, this time in a pair of trunks and a Hawaiian shirt. He was positive Ranko was messing with him, but given he knew how playful she could be when not actively malicious he found he didn't mind too badly.

Actually, this was probably the most relaxed he'd been in… ever, really. He closed his eyes and let the sun warm him while she and Nabiki talked. There wasn't anyone around them, not even staff.

"So anyway, yeah, at that point I was pretty much done with the whole thing. I didn't know who I was – still don't, not really – but I knew who I wasn't, and I wasn't Ranma, I wasn't wanting to be stuck in that place with no hope and all that chaos, yanno?"

"Mmm." Ryouga said, sighing. "I get you. I was trying to find my way to Nerima when I got here but part of me wondered if it was really worth it." He admitted. "Like you said, the chaos."

Ranko sighed as well and turned so she was resting on her side, facing him. "Well, I'm glad you're here instead." She said simply, giving him a smile as she pulled her sunglasses onto the top of her head. "Get you some time away from everything that ain't a training trip."

Ryouga blushed and nodded, trying not to look at her too closely lest his nasal blood vessels burst. "I can see why you enjoyed that weekend off. Your friends sounded nice. Do you still talk to them?"

Ranko shrugged. "A bit. I had to have a couple of escapes when I was Himeko for a while, and they provided a good reason since Juuban is far enough from Nerima that I could relax."

"When you were 'Himeko'?" Ryouga asked, puzzled.

"Oh, yeah, that comes later after we went to see Mom." Ranko waved him off. "Spoilers." She laughed and lay back, looking up at the blue, blue sky. "Hey Nabs?"

"Mmm?" Came the sleepy response.

"I think we'll take tomorrow off from telling the story, though I do want to get to Mom's training to give him an idea of what I'll be doing. You think we got time?"

Nabiki raised herself from where she'd been napping on her front and blinked. Then her brain kicked in and she shrugged. "Maybe? I mean that's when we got you out and the prep work alone was a nightmare. Then again, it wasn't a nightmare that needs a lot of description… Yeah. I think you've got time as long as you don't spend the evening going at it like rabbits or something." She grinned.

Ryouga went bright red, but Ranko guffawed. "Nabs, you'll break the poor boy. I'm trying to introduce him to such things gradually. Don't want him nosebleedin' when he's hips deep in someone."

Ryouga put a hand to his nose. "Can't you two stop that?" He whined plaintively. "I'm not good with… that sort of thing, and hearing you joke is enough to set my nosebleeds off."

Ranko giggled mischievously at him and batted her eyelashes. "Why, Ryouga-kun, aren't you all grown up now? This is grown up talk!" She snickered and returned to being more normal Ranko. "Eh, 'flirty' is definitely something I've found out about myself, though personally I think it's more Nabs' fault."

"Yeah, yeah, blame me." Nabiki muttered, turning so she was lying on her back instead.

"Well, it's either you or Mom, Nabs. Haven't seen any of the others in over six months." Ranko stuck her tongue out at Nabiki. "And I don't think it's Mom."

Ryouga looked lost again. Ranko grinned at him and settled back onto the lounger, looking up at the sky.

"Where were we…?"

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{​

Ranko arrived back in her boy-form to the Tendou dojo to find everything basically as she'd left it. Kasumi was patiently working Akane through cooking something and simply smiled at her as she entered. Akane, in lieu of a proper greeting, shoved a plate of something under her nose which made her blanch, but after swallowing her first response, she took a spoonful of the stuff and eventually worked up the courage to eat it.

It wasn't like it was her fault, the stuff looked positively radioactive. But as it touched her tongue she blinked. She chomped down on the spoon. Then she took another spoonful, bizarrely curious at the taste. Then another. Her eyes widened as she finished the plate.

"Akane!" She yelled, and the short-haired girl flinched as Ranko put the plate down and grabbed her hands. "Akane! That was edible!" She grinned like a loon at Akane. Her stomach gurgled. "And actually… you got any more?"

Akane took her hands back and wordlessly put some more on the plate. Ranko ate a mouthful, tasting it more slowly this time. "It's not… amazing. It's not great, or even, really very good." Akane's face darkened with every word, "But it's honestly the best thing you've ever made, Akane. I could eat this again, no problem!"

Kasumi took a spoon and tried it. "Oh my!" She said, putting a hand to her cheek. "Sh- He's right!"

Nabiki walked in, looking bored. "What's all the yelling?"

"Akane made edible food!" Ranko grinned. "Edible, not bad at all, food!"

"You're kidding me." Nabiki eyed her like she'd grown an extra head, then took a spoonful and tried it herself. The spoon clattered to the table. "Jeez, Saotome, when you're right you're right." The middle sister said, looking faint.

Akane sat down at the table, her face a conflicted mess. "I don't know whether to be angry or to celebrate." She muttered. "And when do you guys all get on so well? Did something happen on that trip?"

Ranko coughed on her current mouthful, but Nabiki just smirked. "I'll say." She drawled, holding up her camera. "I got some really great material. Probably enough for little-ol' Ranko-chan's debts to be fully paid off."

Ranko eyed Nabiki while Akane looked at her. "She didn't do anything too bad to you did she, Ranma?"

Ranko flinched and turned to Akane. "Nah, jus' the usual embarrassin' stuff, yanno? Makin' me dress up in bikinis fer photoshoots an' shit." She shrugged. "Like I said back in Jusendo." She winced and Akane's face twitched. Both still had scars from that. "It's kinda part of me now, yanno? Might as well get profit outta it, and I made sure ta demand five percent this time for myself."

Nabiki laughed. "Which will be a good amount with these pics, trust me."

Akane looked between the two of them and shrugged. Everything seemed normal. Or at least as normal as it had been lately.

Ranko finished her last plateful and nodded approvingly. "Thanks, 'Kane, that really hit the spot. Looked like someone had poured toxic waste on the plate, but I'm impressed." She grinned at Kasumi and with a flourish, from her suitcase brought out an old-looking book she and Nabiki had found in an out-the-way store. "Saw you was lookin' at Doc Toufu's shiatsu stuff, found this. Cost most'a what Nabs said I'd earn, but figured you'd like somethin' nice. And for you 'Kane…" She dug around and brought out a necklace made of shells and small stones she'd found.. "Sorry it ain't quite as fancy as Kasumi's, I kinda broked myself buyin' hers before I found yours…" She rubbed the back of her head. "But I made it myself from shells on the beach I found an' liked. I made one for me, too." She lifted a necklace with shells on out of her top, then put it back. "Just wanted a souvenir."

Akane took the necklace and gave Ranko a smile. "Thanks… You're right, it's not fancy. But you made it so it's unique." She walked over and kissed Ranko on the cheek, "Thank you, Ranma." There was that twitch again. She wondered what it meant a moment, before Ranko put a hand over the cheek, going red.

Akane laughed as the pigtailed martial artist walked out and to her room in a daze. Nabiki cleared her throat. "Awww, how cute." She said, grinning. Akane blushed.

"Shut up Nabiki!" She hissed. Kasumi's giggles overrode her and then the elder Tendou motioned to the kitchen.

"Let's keep cooking, Akane dear." She said, smiling.

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{​

The next week passed by excruciatingly slowly for Ranko. Everything after that initial return seemed to slip back into the chaos-filled hell.

She hadn't been lying to Nabiki when she'd said it felt like going to prison.

The amazons returned, and even Ukyou seemed to have perked back up into her chasing ways.

Some of it seemed worse than before – now the scales were off her eyes, she couldn't even pretend that she was balancing everything for honour. Right now, all she was doing was balancing to survive.

She hoped Nabiki would keep her word, but she didn't get chance. Either she'd be being chased by Shampoo or an angry Mousse, or Cologne would be stalking her. Or Ukyou would show up and try to get her to date the chef.

Of course, if that happened, Konatsu would get pissed off, even if Ranko desperately pointed out to the kunoichi that she wasn't interested.

Then there'd be the chasing, the assaults, and Akane getting pissed off. Malletting would follow and it was back to that same loop. That wonderful momentary truce they'd had was shattered the first time Ranko was tripped up by Shampoo's chúi and landed on Akane's chest. Stammered apologies and the fact that she was in girl mode at the time didn't seem to matter; the short-haired girl still sent her flying.

By Thursday, Ranko was sick of it. So sick of it, she spent the entire day out on the river in her real form just walking the fences over and over and dodging anyone that came her way.

That evening, Akane heard a snuffling sound above her and wondered what it was. She opened her window and peeked out. It was crying. A girl was crying on the roof, in the rain. She'd not heard it originally because the sound of the raindrops on the roof were masking much of it, but she peered further and saw a flash of red hair.

Ducking back into her room, Akane thought furiously. Ranma never, ever cries, but that voice was definitely his in his girl form.

She peeked out again, and saw Kasumi on the roof now, and then she was joined by Nabiki too. Both of her elder sisters put their arms around Ranko and then the redhead let out a choked sob and really started bawling.

Akane watched and felt bad. She'd already hit the pigtailed martial artist twice today and broken her promise to hear the reasons out before jumping to conclusions. They'd gone right back to spinning their wheels.

Though she did note that she had heard far, far fewer insults this week, and even the ones she'd had sent her way lacked the usual fire.

Pulling on a waterproof jacket, she flipped onto the roof and approached silently until she was close, when Kasumi's head snapped up to see her. Ranma had his back to her and she hissed through her teeth. He was in his boxers and muscle shirt, and they were soaked through. Her sisters at least had had the common sense to put waterproof jackets on as she had.

Akane paused, feeling like an intruder. Even Nabiki was holding onto Ranma, muttering into his ear. Since when had they been buddies?

Then again, hearing that kind of crying coming from someone as strong as Ranma of all people set something off in her heart. A feeling of shame, and guilt, and anger at everyone else who'd done this to him.

She nodded to herself and then approached the three, kneeling in front of Ranma, taking his hands and squeezing.

Ranko flinched on seeing Akane and tried to tug her hands out, but she held on with a force that was both gentle and unyielding.

"Let's get her inside." Akane said. She eyed the clothes. "Warm clothes and a towel. A bath?"

"No bath." Ranko stammered. "No thanks."

"Rank-ma." Akane looked askance as Nabiki corrected herself. "Come on, let's get you in. Hup!"

Akane helped lift the redhead and in short order they had the dripping martial artist on the floor of the furo. Akane was rubbing her head down with a fluffy towel and Ranko was just sitting there. "Sorry for earlier." Akane said after a moment. "I did promise. You've kept yours, and I haven't."

Ranko stayed quiet.

"What were you crying about?" Akane asked as the silence deepened.

"Nothin'." Ranko said, shrugging her shoulders.

"We can talk, you know." Akane said quietly. Ranko snorted derisively. "We can!" The shorter haired girl said indignantly.

"No, 'Kane." Ranko said softly, bitterly. "We can't. Not anymore."

Akane paused in her towelling of Ranko's hair. "…Was it about me?" She asked in a small voice, already knowing the answer.

Ranko shrugged. "I guess. You. Everyone. I'm just sick of everythin'."

Akane resumed rubbing the hair as Kasumi walked in with a large shirt and some of the underwear from the Tendou Ranko collection. Akane eyed it and Kasumi shrugged.

"There weren't any other clean clothes and since she didn't want a bath to turn into a boy, I thought it best to use something she already had that would be dry from what Auntie bought her."

Akane looked and Ranko shrugged. "Might as well, I guess they are mine after all. Don't need to borrow those overalls again."

Akane gave her a faint smile. "You looked cute in them though."

"Guess I did." Ranko said, taking the clothes from Kasumi. Akane frowned again. Ranma admitted he looked cute? Too much was changing lately, and it unsettled her.

She finished drying Ranko's hair and rested her head against the towel a moment. "…Sorry." She said again and Ranko's head bobbed in a nod, but she said nothing else.

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{​

After a little time spent in the pool, Ranko still showing a competitive streak a mile long and trying to outdo him in swimming stamina, leading to him having to drag her out of the pool and onto the side before she drowned herself, the two women donned shorts and tee shirts before motioning for him to follow them for food.

Ranko still definitely liked food a whole bunch and Ryouga somehow found that very comforting. As much as she'd clearly changed or, by the sounds of it, was still changing, a love of good food was something the two of them had always had in common. Their odd friendship-stroke-rivalry-stroke-enmity had been born of bread, after all.

Sitting at what felt like a barbecue grill area, not the fancy restaurant they'd been at before, he was pressed to try several different, more western foods from a buffet table.

Every time he'd look away from his plate and at something else, Ranko would have refilled his plate (and her own) and she'd be cajoling him into trying something on it.

Ryouga felt… relaxed. Even though he knew it was his old rival there, he didn't really care anymore. He was having fun, and that felt right. And she seemed to want to include him on that, given the rib nudges with her elbow and the sharing of old stories, seen through slightly rose-tinted glasses.

Eventually, Ranko ordered drinks and grinned at him. "Alright, let's get to my 'Escape From Nerima'." She emphasised the words and he looked blankly at her. "We really gotta rent some movies for ya." She sighed.

Nabiki laughed. "So, a week after we get back, I finally figured out what to do. And Ranko… was not happy about it."

"Yeah well, you weren't dancin' to the tune of a seppuku contract."

"I wasn't the one bloody stupid enough to be willing to go through with it." Nabiki hissed, and for the first time, Ryouga saw an anger from Nabiki to Ranko, a real anger.

Ranko looked down. "…Yeah. Yeah, I know. I shoulda told you. But you know I had to."

Nabiki glared. "I don't know if I'll ever forgive the scare you gave me, Ranko. I don't want to lose my sister."

Ranko looked ashamed. "Yeah. Yeah, I know. I'm sorry."

Ryouga looked between them and cleared his throat. "I'm… missing some context."

"Yeah, you'll get it soon." Ranko groused, picking her drink up and taking a long gulp. "Huh. Don't think crème de menthe is for me, Nabs." She said, straightening up and pointing at a waiter, who came over. After a moment conversing in broken English and some money changing hands, he brought over several pitchers of sharp-smelling drink to the three of them.

Ranko pushed one pitcher and a glass over for Ryouga and he poured himself some. It turned out to be some kind of cocktail and he sipped at it slowly. He knew he had bad alcohol tolerance, and Ranko wasn't downing the drinks like she had been the other night so she definitely wasn't on the drunken express. She grinned, poured herself a drink and took a long gulp, sighing.

"Ahh. Better. Anyway, the beginnings of The Plan." She smiled at him.

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{​

Nabiki knocked on Ranko's door in the middle of the night a few days after the crying incident and she sat up. Kasumi had 'conveniently' forgotten to wash her boxers and tank tops again, so she was sleeping in the clothes her mother had bought her. Akane hadn't even commented, and Genma was still away, so she had her room to herself.

Ranko sleepily padded to the door and opened it, blinking at Nabiki standing there in her pyjamas. "Yeah?" She asked, yawning.

Nabiki motioned to her to follow, and Ranko followed her down the stairs and out to the dojo. Nabiki had a bag with her that she opened and placed some sheets of paper down on. Ranko looked at the complex charts and raised an eyebrow. "…Making plans?"

Nabiki smiled, shushed her with a finger and then began speaking in a low voice.

"I have the plan ready, and now everything's in place. We need a few specialist items I think you'll be able to get if you're sneaky enough, but those aside…"

Ranko felt a bubbling in her chest. "…I can be free?" She asked. Nabiki nodded. "Free to just… find myself and stuff?"

"Yeah, squirt, free for that. This isn't going to be easy, though, and before we settle down – you do know you'll have to come back eventually, right?"

Ranko nodded. "I know, onee-chan. But I will be coming back as me. Not anyone else, me, and I'll sort everything then because I'll know who I am."

"Good. I can run some interference, but I say we can get about a year of time."

"…That long?"

Nabiki grinned and held one sheet out. "First stop is getting you out to the outskirts of Nerima. We need people to think you've gone on a training journey to China or something, for one of those cures. I've a few ideas bouncing that'll also interest the other cursed folks, so it should get them out of our hair."

"Why stay in Nerima?" Ranko asked.

"Because they'll think you ran away." Nabiki said, shrugging. "If you're in the area in disguise then they can't do anything about it. That's just part of the first phase though."

Nabiki picked another paper up. "We'll have to disguise you, maybe lock your curse and go all-in on your impending girldom. Something I'm sure you'll have no problem with." She snickered.

Ranko laughed softly. "I think I can manage, onee-chan."

Nabiki nodded. "So we'll need to have you a headquarters here in Nerima, not too close, and not too far, that's somewhere I won't be looked at funny for visiting. We can't afford an apartment. And you've got to be there for… well, till the end of the school year. I'm not fucking up your grades for this."

Ranko looked at Nabiki's face. "I'm… not that clever, onee-chan…"

Nabiki sighed. "Yes, you are Ranko. You just don't apply yourself. You're strategic as hell in combat. But enough on that." She looked at the map. "You aren't going to like where we're going to have to go."

When Nabiki told her, Ranko nearly screamed, but managed to keep it to a harsh whisper.

"Are ya INSANE, Nabs? I can't go there!"

"It's the only place!"

"Yeah, because I'd have to have lost the plot to go there!"

Nabiki pointed. "No one. And I repeat, no one would think to look for you there!"

"Yeah, Nabs, but that's because I'll be six fucking feet under!"

"So? If she refuses, it's not like you have to agree to the contract."

"She's my mom, Nabs."

"Doesn't matter. If she starts swinging, we escape, alright?"

Ranko spent a long moment quietly, and then she nodded. Nabiki didn't like the look in her eyes, but let it drop. Ranko had good self-preservation instincts.

Nabiki pointed. "OK, so we hole you up at your Mom's house if she agrees, for four months. We disguise you and lock your curse there so you're in girl mode all the time. There's things we can do to disguise you, maybe introduce you as either a new student or something like that."

Ranko sighed. "That'll look suspicious, though, another redhead joining after I've left?"

"We can dye your hair or something, or a wig. Besides, one shower in the locker room will dissuade anyone from knowing it's you. And if you're actually wearing girls' clothes that fit and not fighting or anything, I think there's a chance. You can be a really good actress when you put your mind to it."

Ranko nodded. Then she pointed to the third sheet Nabiki had produced. "What's that?"

"That's a cruise ship. Once we get out of Nerima after the school year, we should both relax. We'll have to figure out the money, but it'll be worth it. After that… well I can get you lost in the world. You can go on a journey to find yourself for a few months before you come back."

Ranko looked the plan over. "Onee-chan, it's all a bit… vague."

Nabiki shrugged. "You gave me a week. Besides, it's all hinging currently on your Mom and how she takes you being… you."

Ranko looked down. "…Yeah. I guess." She swallowed, then looked up. "When do we start?"

"Tomorrow." Nabiki grinned at Ranko's shock. "Get while the getting's good, imouto-chan. Tomorrow I want you to put only a change of clothes into your bag instead of the school books. I'm going to play hooky and visit your Mom's house officially to cause trouble and squeeze some money out of her for information on her son's whereabouts."

Ranko eyed her a moment and then laughed. "That reputation of yours does come in handy, onee-chan."

Nabiki shrugged. "What can I say? It works for me. Anyway, you get changed somewhere out the way. Make sure it's one of the outfits she bought for you as Tendou Ranko and try to look tomboyish yet you're trying to be feminine. So, you know, basically normal." She dodged the swipe and laughed. "Once I've gone in, you knock on the door and we'll go from there."

Ranko shivered. "I'd rather not… but if it's the only way…"

"There are others, but this has the best chance of success." Nabiki shrugged. "Once we're in, follow my lead. We're going to demonstrate the curse, then you're going to tell her everything that's happened."

"Nabs… is that a good idea?" Ranko asked, looking worried. "I mean we've only really gotten on recently and you've done… stuff to me… I'm not gonna lie if I have to."

Nabiki looked down. "If she gets pissed off with me, fine. I deserve it. You know how I feel about the things I did to you."

Ranko circled her sister in a hug and held her a moment. "And you know I've forgiven most of it, and the other stuff don't matter." She said quietly, squeezing Nabiki close. Then she separated and smiled bashfully.

"Thanks, Ranchan, means a lot. After you've told her, we'll gauge her reaction and then we'll ask for her help."

Ranko nodded.

The next morning, Ranko woke early and stuffed one of the outfits into her bag; a light sundress with a shawl, tights, mary-jane shoes. She also put a small makeup compact into the bag and then a ribbon. She fetched out a small pair of fake glasses, too, and put those in ready.

She dressed in her usual Chinese silks and switched to her boy form, sighing as the dysphoria really got started quickly this morning. The wrongness pervaded everything again like it had never left.

She dug into a loose floorboard under the matting of the room and pulled out a scripted wooden box. Pulsing some chi through it, she checked the contents and nodded, satisfied, She sealed it back up and put it into the bag, too. From what Nabiki had said, this would be useful stuff to take.

She looked around the room. With a pang, she realised it would probably be the last time she'd see it for a long while.

Then she walked out into the corridor, yawning and stared at Akane.

"You're up early." The short-haired girl said, a touch of suspicion in her face.

"Couldn't sleep properly, and without Pop to throw me out the window in a morning my sleep routine's all off." Ranko shrugged. "Hey 'Kane?"

Akane was walking off but stopped and turned around. "Yeah?"

"Sorry for the other day. And thanks for apologisin'. Meant a lot, even if I was too outta it at the time ta 'preciate it." She rubbed the back of her head. "I hope someday we get on way better, huh?"

Akane smiled. "Yeah."

Ranko felt a twist in her heart at the thought of what she was going to do, but Nabiki had expressly forbidden her from saying goodbye outright. Even so…

"See ya around, ya cute tomboy." Ranko said, grinning as she went down the stairs.

Akane was about to draw her mallet when the actual words spilled into her head. "Wait… what? Ranma!" She ran to the stairs and looked down at the pigtailed martial artist. "What the hell did you…?"

Ranko winked at her. "I'm goin' on ahead, 'Kane. Take care awright?" Then without another word she went to the genkan, changed her shoes and was out, whistling as she put her hands behind her head.

Akane stayed at the top of the stairs, bright red, for about a half hour before Nabiki broke her out of it by laughing as she walked down the stairs.

"Ranma got your tongue there, imouto-chan?" The bob-haired girl teased. "You could fry an egg on your face right now!"

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{​

Nodoka was sweeping the front of her genkan in her usual kimono when she spotted a familiar face headed towards her house.

"Auntie!"

"Nabiki-chan, how lovely to see you, dear!" Nodoka said warmly. Nabiki eyed her; even now she had the Saotome family honour blade tucked under one arm, wrapped as always. "But isn't this a school day?"

Nabiki shrugged. "I'm playing hooky. Besides, I've got important information to share with you and it couldn't wait!"

Nodoka pursed her lips. Nabiki really should be in school right now, but at the same time the girl was mercenary enough for Nodoka to know whatever information she had was important.

"It's to do with Ranma!" Nabiki announced. "He's coming today!"

Nodoka dropped her broom and the honour blade. "He… he is?" She looked at Nabiki, who nodded.

"Yes, Auntie, I managed to convince him to come here. He won't be long!"

Nodoka picked the broom and katana up and walked back into her house. "Come in, dear!" She bubbled. "Come in, let's get some tea!"

Nabiki looked at the genteel woman as she followed. The moment she'd mentioned her child the woman had brightened to an incredible level. Like hearing her child's name was a balm to her soul and Nabiki felt a pang as she realised how much constantly 'missing' seeing Ranko had been.

She hoped that was a good sign regarding the stupid contract.

In short order the two of them were seated in the family room with tea and Nodoka was pressing Nabiki for details on 'Ranma's' recent exploits. She gave a toned down, swapped version of the recent weekend getaway.

"Oh, I thought Akane was the one engaged to him?" Nodoka asked. "Not you."

Nabiki smiled and rubbed the back of her head. "That's right, I just borrowed him. Really, I took him more as a pack mule and fake boyfriend, Auntie, you know how men are at the beach and I just wanted to get away. Besides, I fed him all sorts of food and he forgave me for using him like that." She giggled. "Besides, it also made Akane very jealous and he takes note when that happens!"

Nodoka tittered. "Just so. Ah, how manly he must be."

Nabiki eyed her and inwardly laughed. Nodoka had no idea.

The doorbell rang and Nodoka shot to her feet. "That must be him!" She cheered excitedly and Nabiki smiled warmly to see it. Nodoka bustled to the genkan and slid the door open, and then her happy mood diminished a little, but not entirely. "Oh! Ranko-chan, how lovely to see you!"

Ranko smiled at her mother warmly. She'd changed en route after using a similar set of changing trains and outfits to the weekend away and now had the dress, tights, shoes and shawl on, as well as her hair in a bow. She'd put the stylish glasses on, though the frames weren't any strength, and she'd done a subtle makeup job. "Hello M-Auntie!" She said brightly. "Look!" And she gave a twirl.

"My my, dear, you do certainly look fetching and less of a tomboy than usual! That's one of the outfits I bought for you isn't it?"

"Yep! Thank you Auntie. May I come in?"

"Cerainly, dear. Your cousin is already here." Nodoka stepped to the side to let the redhead in, and she changed her shoes while the auburn-haired woman looked out on the street. "You haven't seen my son have you, Ranko-chan? Nabiki-chan said he'd be coming by."

Ranko twitched slightly. "Not yet, Auntie. Why don't we go and sit and wait?"

Nodoka scanned the street and then deflated slightly. She slid the door shut and looked a little down. Ranko walked to her and put a hand on her arm as the older woman sighed forlornly.

"He'll be here, Auntie, he promised me and Nabiki both." She said gently. "Come on, let's sit down and have some tea." She linked her arm with Nodoka's and led the auburn-haired woman to the family room, where she sat her down and poured a cup of tea for herself.

Nodoka brightened after a short time. "Oh, where are my manners, girls? I'm sorry, I was just very excited to see my son."

Ranko smiled. "It's fine. Besides, I think… Ranma might be closer than you think."

"Really?" Nodoka asked.

"Yes. Nabiki?"

Nabiki nodded and stood up, going to the kitchen and returning with a tray. Nodoka looked curious a moment at the several cups of water, hot and cold. She put the tray in front of Ranko and Nodoka looked absolutely lost.

"What is this, Ranko-chan?"

Ranko smiled sadly at her mother. She clutched the object in her pocket – one of the reasons she'd chosen this dress was the pockets, after all. "I'm going to show you a magic trick." She said, standing up and taking her hand out of the pocket, taking her glasses off and then picking up a glass of hot water. "Are you watching closely?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Prestige intensifies

 

[Strawberry]

Wow, quick turnaround!

Alright that's mainly because a chunk of this I'd had written since the first couple of days I was writing the fic!
---------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 8 – Mum's The Word

Faked our deaths,
Lit a match,
Closed the door,
Waited for the flash.
Greyhound Station,
We paid in cash,
Miss Lazarus,
We're coming back!

They say it's darkest before the dawn,
We've been in this town for far too long,
They say it's darkest before the dawn,
We're moving on, we're moving on, we're moving on!

- Sunset by The Midnight

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{​

Ranko pretended she wasn't terrified out of her wits by upping the showmanship. Nabiki saw through her, of course; Nabiki knew how she tended to ham up the performances when she was nervous; and Ranko was so far beyond nervous right now that 'panicked' was on another planet.

"Are you watching closely?"

She poured the hot water on her head and Nodoka stared in shock as the girl she thought she knew grew taller, her bust disappeared, her hair turned black, her arms more muscled and less lithe, her frame bulkier, and a little hunched, as if a weight settled on it.

Nodoka found herself looking at a boy. A familiar-looking boy. In a dress, but a boy, nonetheless.

"Hi Mom." Ranko said. "Long time no see."

Nodoka stared, speechless. Ranko waved.

"And for my next trick…" She poured cold water on herself and returned to the busty redhead.

Nodoka gasped, and her breath started hitching. Nabiki knelt next to her and rubbed the small of the older woman's back until she'd calmed down.

That is until Ranko poured hot water again and returned to her boy form. This time she knelt and took her mother's hands while Nodoka tried to control her breathing.

Once Nodoka had calmed down, Ranko smiled at her uneasily. "So y'can probably see why I haven't been around. Pop didn't much fancy havin' his insides become outsides."

Nodoka's heart clenched. The contract. Oh kami-sama, that stupid contract.

"R-Ranma?!" She stammered, and Ranko nodded. It'd do for now. "Is that… is that you?!"

"It's me." Ranko confirmed. "I missed you, Mom." She said, squeezing Nodoka's hands. "I'm real glad ta meetcha properly."

Nodoka pulled her hands from Ranko's and then threw her arms around her child. "Oh, my Ranma! My baby!" She wailed and squeezed her closer.

"M-mom." Ranko managed to say, her own eyes filling with tears. After a short while, Nodoka pulled away and sat back.

"How?!" she demanded to know, worry and fear, longing, joy and pain all warring on her face as she tried to maintain equilibrium. "Why?! What happened to you?!"

Ranko shifted uncomfortably and then she splashed herself with cold water again, sighing in relief. Tights and panties were not designed for male anatomy, at least not the ones she was wearing. Nodoka noticed and frowned, and Ranko smiled at her. "Sorry Mom, it's a long story, but also I don't wanna have certain bits squished up the whole time I'm tellin' ya. Ain't comfy, and trust me, I know."

Nodoka blinked, then went as red as Nabiki did, but she nodded in acceptance of the reasoning.

Ranko took in a deep breath and looked at her mother. "Mom, this is gonna be a real doozy of a story. Nabs'll back me up on all of it. It's not gonna paint her in a good light, but I want you to know now – Nabs is my sister in everything but blood and I have forgiven her." Her hands closed around the object in one of the large pockets this dress had. Nabiki probably wouldn't forgive her for what she was going to pull, though.

"And every bit of this story's gonna be true, even if it's unbelievable." Nodoka stared as Ranko took a long sip of tea, looking back through her memories. "That awright, Mom?"

Nodoka looked at her child and nodded, emotions still warring in her eyes.

Ranko took in a breath and started to tell Nodoka about her life.

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{​

Ryouga eyed Ranko. "You… You told your mom about being… Uh… you?" She nodded.

"Yeah." She laughed ruefully.

"But the seppuku pledge your Pop told you about…?" Ranko shrugged. "Wh-what happened?"

"I told her about everythin'. Everythin'. The journey, the curse, the ridiculous bullshit I'd been through all that time." Ranko took a drink from her glass and swayed a little. Ryouga wondered if she was getting drunk. He was starting to feel… fuzzy. His lips especially.

"And she didn't…?"

Ranma looked down at her glass and Nabiki scooted next to her, putting an arm around the redheaded girl. "I'll tell this bit." She said, looking at Ryouga. Ranma nodded. Ryouga saw tears dropping to the table but he couldn't tell if they were happy or sad.

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{​

Ranko told her everything.

Training. Going hungry. Beatings.

Genma lying, cheating, stealing, using Ranko as nought but coin.

The Cat Fist – Nabiki had had to restrain Nodoka for a moment as she shrieked in outrage.

Everything that had happened in her life she laid bare for her mother to see. She left nothing out, but she tried to keep it as neutral as possible. Whenever it became biased, she admitted her bias.

She told her of China, of Jusenkyo, of the Spring of Drowned Girl, of her curse and Genma's.

The Amazons, Shampoo, Mousse, the Kisses.

Returning to Japan and going to the dojo.

Akane. Kasumi. Nabiki.

The spar, the furo, the engagement.

School, the horde, Kunou.

Ryouga, the fights.

As she moved on with her story, all of the insanity that happened during the last few years, Nodoka's face grew more and more pale, and more and more outraged and angry.

When she described Jusendo, Nabiki was crying softly. She hadn't known how bad it had gotten. None of those who'd been there had really spoken about it to anyone who hadn't gone. What could they say? Akane and Ranko both still had trauma left from it.

Ranko found herself crying about it, wrapping her arms around herself as if cold. She'd not told anyone how she'd felt during that time, but it poured out of her now. Misery and terror and absolute horror at the fact that she'd taken a life, even if that life had come back.

What's worse was her feeling like she'd someday have to do it again. Or whether she'd balk so much the next time. She knew she was capable of it, like it was always an option now. She hated that she could consider it, even though it gave her the chills.

She told Nodoka how everything had changed… and then gone back to normal. The maelstrom that never seemed to end, never left her alone. Never let her think or even find a way out. How she and Akane had drifted, even though they'd been so close and now there wasn't much hope left.

"…So that's it. Up to a month or so ago." Ranko finished quietly, bowing her head. Nodoka stared at her in shock and outrage. She felt weak, and trembled, partly in rage, partly in the horror of all that had happened.

"I-" Where could she begin? That stupid, stupid contract. She couldn't judge her child, not for a second. He'd already been through so much.

The silence between them all deepened until it became almost a physical thing, crawling over them in the late-morning light. No one wanted to speak, to break it. Like there was a spell in the air, turning it thick.

"…There's more, Mom." Ranko said quietly, eventually breaking it. She bowed her head even lower, looking ashamed. Her face twisted and fear slammed through her entire system.

"More?!" Nodoka all but shrieked and Ranko winced. "There's more than that… that maelstrom of horror?!" Ranko nodded, eyes still on the floor.

"Y-yeah." She said. Nodoka eyed Nabiki, now sitting quietly next to her child. The girl hadn't spoken much, barring a couple of times to clarify or corroborate. Ranma's retelling of events had made it clear how much she'd hurt him and Nodoka could see the regret in those piercing eyes and her flinching when the worst things were brought up.

That and that her son clearly trusted the girl with the bob and cold eyes to visit where he clearly thought he would be forced to die showed that something had happened to make him forgive her.

Nabiki took Ranma's hand and Nodoka's eyebrow raised, before she noticed none of the usual signs of teenage love. It was more like… a big sister caring for her sibling. He hadn't been lying, then. It looked a little odd, but she nodded approvingly. Ranma clearly needed someone stable and the frosty demeanour that permeated Tendou Nabiki clearly helped Ranma to calm. Nodoka schooled her expression, mind a-whirling.

One thing she had noticed was that when Ranma had demonstrated the curse, only a moment afterwards he'd splashed himself with cold water. The excuse he'd given was true, female underwear was not for male anatomy. And the clothes were some that she'd picked up for 'Tendou Ranko' herself. But why was he wearing those clothes and not the strange boy's clothes 'Ranko' had been wearing before Nodoka bought them for her?

Certainly he seemed to have a flair for the dramatic, but she already knew 'Ranko' as something of a tomboy so…

She stared and a hand went to her mouth for a moment. An inkling began to spark into her mind. One that filled her with shame. Not for her child, but of herself. She thought she knew where this was going to go.

And she knew why there was that awful terror running through her child. Why whenever she moved her child flinched and behind those blue, blue eyes a naked terror boiled, almost incandescent.

Kami-sama why did I make Ranma sign it too?

"I… well. Um…" Ranko fiddled with her fingers, red hair falling over her eyes. "Y'see I…" Nabiki squeezed her hand and it all came out in a rush. "I'm… I'm not a boy Mom. I don't feel like a boy, I'm not… I'm not Ranma. In a w-way, I r-really am R-ranko. I… like that n-name more." Nodoka's eyes widened and she flinched a moment, head whirling, guess correct. "I-I… when I change it f-feels so… right. So much better than when I'm a boy…" she swallowed and looked down. "I'm… I'm a girl. I think… I think I was always a girl. Even before Jusenkyo. Even when I was little."

Ranko's rushing babble wasn't easy to follow but Nodoka managed to follow the thread of time from when she'd spoken to Nabiki that night, to wrestling with her gender identity, to the crazy, lunatic plan she and Nabiki had conceived to get away from the madness. Oh, my child. My brave, strange child.

And then came the part she herself had been afraid of. Ranma… No, Ranko, stood up, knelt and then bowed low, forehead touching the floor. Her hand went into her pocket and pulled out an object that made Nabiki hiss in shock. Shoulders shaking, with one hand holding up an object. Nodoka's eyes widened and she felt even more faint. A tantou.

"I h-have shamed you, m-mother." The redhead stammered out, absolute fear in her voice. Fear of me. No child should have that fear of their parent. Oh, what have I done? "I understand I am to be h-h-held to the contract I-I and my f-f-father s-signed. I am no 'man amongst men'. Father failed, I failed. I accept my punishment, but please spare yourself and father. You shouldn't die for my failure." Her arm trembled where it held the tantou, and the redhead made as if to begin drawing it.

Nodoka stared and then cast a glance to Nabiki, who was half out of the seiza position she'd been sitting in, looking terrified and unsure. Clearly, this had not been part of whatever plan they'd concocted to speak with her.

Nabiki bit her lip and looked at Nodoka. As subtly as she could, Nodoka shook her head as Ranko continued to stutter out apologies and confess what she thought her shame.

"My child." Nodoka's voice was calm, but an undercurrent of fear ran through it. She schooled her expression to coldness out of habit. Ranko flinched. This was it.

There was a rustling as Nodoka reached into her kimono and pulled a piece of paper out. Nabiki's eyes widened further and she stood up to object, but the mercenary girl found Nodoka's katana at her neck before she'd had chance to move.

They froze, Ranko looking up from the floor in shock at Nodoka's speed. Nabiki standing there with a blade pointed at her, trying not to breathe too hard.

Quick as lightning, Nodoka moved, and both Ranko and Nabiki flinched. There was a sound like ripping silk, a whistle and then a long 'shing' noise, with the click of a blade returning home to its scabbard. Ranko felt at her neck. She didn't feel any blood pouring from it. She looked up again.

Floating in the air was the pledge, cut into tiny, tiny pieces. Some paint was on one and the beginning of the character for Ranko's old name was on another as they floated by the redhead.

Nodoka looked down at Ranko. Ranko looked up at Nodoka. Abject terror stared up into abject horror. Nodoka's mind was frozen. Her child was so afraid of her. What had Genma done to her to make her think any sane mother would make her child commit seppuku? Shame, grief, rage and hurt slammed through her. Rage at Genma, at herself for wanting something to control her husband with, to make sure he did well training Ranma. Grief that she'd missed her child's years because of this stupidity and hurt that Ranko had thought it was serious for her. Shame that she'd failed her child.

She was a failure as a mother. The shame almost caused her to take the tantou and drive it into her own neck.

But under all of it was a fierce, burning pride. Her child had suffered so much and was still the person in front of her. Damaged, clearly, but whole. Alive. Hold her you idiot! She berated herself, but she couldn't move a muscle. Her child had faced all those horrors she'd had explained to her and still come out strong. She'd been wrong, felt wrong her whole life and fought, and fought and even though she'd been so afraid she still came to tell the truth to her mother, even though she'd clearly expected Nodoka to force her to fulfil the contract and die. And she'd been ready to do it.

Hold her! Nabiki breathed in. The moment seemed to last a lifetime. Paper flew to the floor in the beams of sunlight coming in from the windows, rustling softly. Everything was quiet, like no sound would emerge until someone moved.

Do it, Auntie! Nabiki thought. Hold your daughter! Come on! The two just looked at one another. Ranko looking up from the floor with terror on her face and underneath it all the tiniest spark of hope in those deep blue eyes. Nodoka standing there with hand on her sheathed katana, looking down with that same fear and hope mixed.

The moment broke when Nodoka's eyes filled with tears and she rushed down to grab Ranko into her lap, throwing the tanto the redhead carried and her katana behind her and crushing the petite girl to her chest like she'd never let go. Nodoka rocked back and forth with her daughter in her arms and wept like a broken-hearted child.

"M-my baby!" She howled. Ranko teared up and started to sob as the moments caught up to her and she held onto Nodoka as if drowning. "Oh, my baby, what have I done to you?!"

"M-mom…" Ranko wailed. Nabiki found herself tearing up, barely remembering her own mother's arms around her. She rubbed her eyes and sat down to wait. She'd give them all the time they needed.

Ranko and Nodoka were on the floor sobbing and crying for a long time. Nodoka couldn't seem to get any coherent words out, just wailing that spoke of grief and loss and the fear of a mother who almost lost her child due to her own stupidity. Ranko vented her terror of the day, her fear of her mother and the mixed pain and joy she felt at that moment.

Nabiki breathed a shaky sigh of relief as the crying began to slowly subside. What Ranko had done was so far out of the plan that they might as well have scrapped it. She was really going to do it too. Idiot didn't even tell me she was. I'm going to kick her ass later. She rubbed her eyes again and controlled her hitching breathing.

As the two calmed down, Nodoka stopped holding on so tightly to Ranko and she looked down at her daughter.

Her daughter!

Ranko looked up, eyes red and puffy, breath still hitching, tears still flowing from her eyes. Nodoka smiled a gentle, tender smile at her and softly wiped the tears from Ranko's eyes. Then she kissed the girl's forehead.

Nabiki couldn't take it. Her throat was thick, her breathing hitched and she could feel her tears coming again. She stood up abruptly, not noticed by the two in their moment and went to the bathroom to have her own cry in private. That scene had brought emotions and memories she'd long buried for her own good. But maybe she could cry about it for a bit today. Just for a bit she could drop the 'Ice Queen' persona, as always on her own.

In the living room, the two were still holding each other. "My daughter." Nodoka said, staring in wonder into her daughter's eyes. "You could never shame me." She ran her hands through Ranko's hair and smiled. "Never. Girl or boy, or cursed, or either. There is no shame in you."

"B-but it's n-not…"

"Not what? Right? Traditional" Nodoka closed her eyes and squeezed Ranko to her closely again. "I have no place to judge you even if I were inclined to." She's so petite. "You are you. And to hell with tradition if it causes you such pain! I will not be a mother who tells her daughter she deserves to die!"

"Y-you do."

"D-do what?"

"Have the right to j-judge me."

"Why?"

"B-because you're…" Ranko swallowed. "My Mom. What… what you think. It's important to me. You're my Mom."

Nodoka buried her face in Ranko's hair. "I'm so sorry about the contract." She shuddered, "I never meant it to be for you. Never."

"But Pops said…" Ranko shivered in remembered terror.

"Ranma," Her child twitched, and she sighed and smiled apologetically, rubbing her daughter's back. "Ranko. Your father is, putting it mildly, an idiot." Her voice grew thick a moment. "Would you have trusted him in my place?"

"N-no." Ranko said quietly. "But I wouldn't have made my baby sign it, neither."

Nodoka winced but took the words in anyway. "Yes. And you're right. I was a fool and should have thought my actions through. I suppose it's lucky you aren't half the fool either of you parents are."

Ranko shivered and laughed gently. "No, I think I definitely inherited that ability to leap before I look, Mom."

Nodoka held her close and tittered, smelling a scent of lotus flowers on her daughter. "Well, at least you learned to be better, even if it's only recent, dear."

Ranko sucked in a long breath and began to cry again and Nodoka held her closer. "S-sorry Mom, I'm not s-s-sad. I'm just… h-happy. And r-relieved. And I just…"

Nodoka held her daughter closely for some time longer after that.

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{​

"Nabs?" The bathroom door slid open and Ranko walked in. She saw Nabiki sitting on the floor against the wall and knelt by her, pulling the bob-haired girl into a hug. Nabiki wasn't crying anymore, but she was breathing a little shakily.

"Hey Ranchan. Didn't want to disturb your own cuddle with your… your mom." Nabiki said, breath catching. "I'd give anything to see mine again and seeing you two reunite was… It hurt."

"Oh, Nabs…" Ranko said softly and held her sister closer. "I won't say I understand your pain, 'cause I don't. When I thought Mom was dead, it had been a fact in my life for so long I hadn't even thought about it before. When I knew she was alive it was wonderful though, so if I apply the opposite, I can guess how bad it is."

Nabiki nodded and Ranko helped her up, taking hold of her hand. "Come sit with us. Don't cry alone. No one should. You and Kasumi-nee-chan taught me that the other day."

Nabiki followed her into the family room and Nodoka smiled a watery smile at the bob-haired girl, her face understanding. "Nabiki-chan. I'm sorry, I should have comforted you, too."

"No, Auntie, you had your daughter to look after."

Nodoka shook her head. "Kimiko was very precious to me, Nabiki. Losing her so soon after losing Ranko was a blow. I wish I'd been there for your family, but…"

"It's fine, Auntie. I just got over emotional after seeing you reconcile. And I was worried about my idiot sister here going so far off script I wasn't sure what was about to happen."

Nodoka nodded, her face a mask of pain. "Yes. I'll take my fair share of the blame for that."

Nabiki laughed. "Then in my book you are already better than your husband. He's allergic to taking responsibility for his actions."

Nodoka sighed. "I'd hoped some time in the world would have tempered that. Never mind." She looked between the two. "Ranko dear, as wonderful as it is to finally meet my daughter, I can tell you have something of an ulterior motive. I know telling me what happened wasn't you trying to save yourself from the seppuku pledge." She gestured at the pile of paper shards on the low table. "Because you were willing to go through with it. Why did you choose now to reveal yourself?"

"Mom…" Ranko closed her eyes and looked down. "I… wanted to escape." She said softly. "I can't deal with it anymore. I found everything about me was a lie. I've nothing inside my centre but my desire to know who I am, to explore my womanhood, to find out what I want and what I need. But beyond that… everything else is manipulation, or lies, and just… I'm a worthless shell."

Nabiki started and shook her head, but Ranko just carried on.

"…Nabiki here has been my hero through all of this. Her and Kasumi-nee-chan. They're my sisters, Mom. In all but blood. Akane would be too but…"

"Your feelings for her are complicated?"

"Puttin' it mildly." Nodoka's eyes narrowed in reproval and Ranko tried speaking more politely. Nabiki laughed internally at her. "But I just… I can't handle it anymore. When I thought I was Ranma, when I thought other people's honour debts were mine, or didn't want people to hurt because of me, so I let myself get hurt instead… I could just deal with it. Now? I can't. I broke down after less than a week, Mom."

Nodoka frowned. "I could step in for you, dear. A mother's word is important to these things."

"Naw, Mom. They're mine to deal with. Not mine to fulfil, but mine to end." Ranko shifted. "I just… need to know who I am before I do. And for that… I just… I need time."

Nodoka nodded. Nabiki reached into her bag and placed down her charts. "I mapped every bit of chaos in Ranko's life. The only place no one will ever think to look for her is here."

Nodoka closed her eyes, a look of pain flitting across her face. "I think I know why."

Nabiki smiled at her. "If I thought you were actually going to make her fulfil the contract, I wouldn't have brought her here to you." The mercenary girl said. "I am very protective of my family. Had you tried to make her do so I would have made your life difficult in every way I could."

Nodoka smiled at her. "It's good my daughter has such allies."

"But I did not think you would. Above all else you are her mother, and while some would balk at her being transgender, I did not think you would. I saw your longing and what you wanted, and all you wanted was your child back. I am sorry but… I exploited that to help Ranko."

Nabiki stared evenly at Nodoka, expecting a rebuke. Instead she got a gentle chuckle and a pride she hadn't thought she'd see. "Ranko, dear, are you sure Nabiki wouldn't have been the one to be engaged to if you were a boy?"

Ranko paled and laughed. "Maybe, Mom, but I don't think my wallet or dignity would have escaped intact. And she's my sis, so I don't really wanna marry her."

"A shame. Still, I am impressed by this plan, Nabiki-chan, even if it's a little vague on the details."

Nabiki actually blushed under the praise. "Thank you, Auntie. I don't want my sister hurt anymore, so it gave me something of a driving force to finish it."

"Commendable. So." Nodoka looked at Ranko. "It looks like you're wanting to live with me, Ranko dear?"

"…If that's okay, Mom. No one would look for me here…"

Nodoka smiled brightly, cheering up. "I think I would be suitably happy for that. When can it happen?"

"Right now, actually." Nabiki said, smiling at Nodoka. "This is the extraction phase. Effectively I have to have Ranko go to ground in a place that's still in Nerima – hiding in plain sight and all that."

"Hmm. Correct, if she leaves, they'll chase her and find her. They won't think to look here as only the Tendou family really knows I exist, and they only know of the contract. Genma won't come by, he is far too much of a coward to face me without Ranm… Ranko." She looked over at Ranko. "I'm sorry dear, it might take me a while to fully wrap my head around it. I'll try harder."

Ranko smiled warmly at her mother. "It's alright Mom, as long as you try."

Nodoka beamed at her daughter and then looked at the plan. "We'll need to tighten this up a little. But of course, you can stay here. I won't have you on the streets."

"Thanks, Mom." Ranko said, looking down and surreptitiously rubbing at her eyes.

"I assume you have made preparations for her wardrobe?" Nodoka looked to Nabiki who nodded.

"Kasumi-nee-chan will bring it piecemeal. I know she occasionally visits with you, so it won't look odd."

Nodoka nodded. Then she looked at part of the plan. "So, what is 'locking'?"

Ranko beamed. "Stopping my curse from activating and turning me into a boy." She said. "In short term I can use waterproof soap, but it's only temporary."

Nabiki sighed. "I wish we had that locking ladle that you mentioned from Herb."

Ranko grinned and took the scripted box from her bag. She ran her chi through it and opened it up. Inside, Nabiki saw several vials, labelled in Chinese. As well as that were some stones, bags of powder and a small book. "I took this from Cologne one time when she had me working. The vials are a potion made from the chiisuiton water and some herbs from Jusenkyo."

"Daughter, I do not approve of stealing." Nodoka said sourly. Ranko waved her off.

"Mom, those assholes were going to use these on me when I thought I was a boy, so I'd acquiesce to their dumb laws for a 'cure' despite that these are at best temporary."

Nodoka frowned at the curse but let it slide this time. There was plenty of time and training to go later to make her daughter more feminine, even if she despaired of her ever being truly ladylike. "I see." She said. "So, they would stoop so low?"

"Yep!" Ranko said angrily. "But this works in my favour. I want to speak to Prince Herb again, see if I can't visit and use the proper ladle to have it permanently locked, but these temporary locks will do for now. They've a chance to go full, but it's low. Each vial has a different potency, the longest I've got here is a four-month lock." She grinned. "And whaddya know, bein' locked won't be a curse for me!"

She pointed to the book. "This came with it. I think it's a spellbook or somethin'. The box was originally scripted so only the old ghoul could open it but I've got powerful chi and I know a little scripting. So, I modified it and now only I can open it. And it'll give anyone not me a nasty surprise if they try, so even if she knew I took it and took it back, she'll find it detonating in her face." Ranko laughed nastily. "Serve her right after all the horrible things she and her granddaughter and that idiot Mousse have done."

Nabiki looked proud. "Wow, Ranko, I didn't know you had it in you, but this is perfect. Why didn't you use this last week?"

Ranko sighed. "Didn't want them figuring me out. Not until I know who I am. Not 'til I've found myself."

"How do you know you can trust them to be what they appear?"

"I asked Herb." Ranko said, shrugging. "I described the box and the things in it and he advised me what they were. Said I 'should be careful of those amazon dogs trying something underhanded now they know force is off the table'."

Nabiki looked curious. "I thought you were enemies?"

"More like rivals really by the end. He's not so bad when you get past the asshattery. Kinda like me." Ranko chuckled and her mother gave her another look which made her squirm.

Ranko picked up the four-month vial. "Don't mean I can't do it now, though." And she downed it without further comment, making a face. "Oh, that tastes awful." She rinsed her mouth with tea and then picked up a cup of hot water Nabiki poured from a kettle for her. "Here goes." She said.

She dumped it on her head.

Nothing happened. Joy bubbled up inside her and she let out a happy laugh, grabbing another cup of hot water and pouring it on herself. She did this about five times and her grin grew wider and wider.

Eventually, she stopped, hair dripping. "…Finally." She whispered. "Finally, I'm me all the time."

Nodoka watched and smiled softly, bittersweetly. As much as she knew she'd come to love her daughter, she still missed her son. But that ache would fade with time.

 

[Strawberry]

Chapter 9!

In which we learn of her mother's Path and the start of her training to begin her freedom.

Freedom, it turns out, is bought by shackling oneself for a time.

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{

Chapter 9 – From Within and Without You

I am reminded now,
Of all the years gone by,
No use in crying now,
It's time to say goodbye,
Turn the page on all we are,
Always searching,
Turn the page on all we were,
Always searching...

- Evermore by Devin Townsend

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{​

Several empty drinks glasses were now scattered on the table and both Ranko and Ryouga were somewhat flushed. Nabiki was as cool as ever, but even she was slurring her words slightly.

"That sounds… a rush. So… you didn't have to do it?"

"Naw. Mom's been good to me, Ryouga." Ranko grinned at him and nudged him. "She's my Mom after all."

"I guess. I should try staying at home a while, see my own."

Ranko smiled at him. "When we're done here, I'll get you there, if you'd like? Save you a bit of wanderin'. I always liked your Mom."

Ryouga nodded. "Thanks. That'd be nice."

Ranko shrugged and took a long gulp of her drink, though he noticed no sharp smell from it, so she'd probably switched to fruit juice. He pushed what was left of his pitcher away. He was about as buzzed as he felt comfortable being. Sitting here with Ranko and Nabiki felt warm, but he didn't want to get more drunk now.

Nabiki stood up and stretched. "I'll turn in early, I think. Got an early morning setting up the cameras tomorrow after we dock so I'll head off. You kids have fun and don't do anything I wouldn't." She smirked at them both and Ranko rolled her eyes.

"Not a long list, sis, but fine."

Nabiki wandered off and Ranko turned to Ryouga. "So, where was I? Ah, yeah. We spent the rest of the day talking about the plan and hoo boy. You think Nabs has a labyrinthine mind? Mom's… Well, she's still kinda, I dunno, Mom, and kinda ditzy but she's sneaky as fuck too. But it goes with her path of the Art."

Ryouga perked up. "Path?" He scratched his head. "An actual Path huh? I didn't figure your mom to be like that with how you'd talked about her back when you were Ranma."

Ranko shrugged and took another long drink of her juice. "Neither did I until she brought it up, but it's called the Path of the Silken Breeze."

"Sounds girly."

"Oh, it is, trust me, but I like girly these days." She motioned at herself. "Well, mostly, I still think I'm kinda a tomboy and… I dunno, I'm alright with that."

"Hey, nothing wrong with a tomboy."

"Exactly my fuckin' point! Gawd!" Ranko ran a finger around the rim of her glass. "Fuckin' 'Kane taking it like an insult when it ain't. Tomboys are fuckin' hot and I should fuckin' know, bein' both one and hot!"

Ryouga went a little red but then he cleared his throat. "Did you find out her reaction to you disappearing?"

"Who?"

"Akane-san's." Ryouga said, and he faltered a moment. There wasn't that usual warmth there. Maybe some of the tale that Ranko had told had numbed him a little. Hard to see good the way Ranko described the malletting even if Ranko had admitted she deserved at least some of it.

"Ah." Ranko looked at the table. "Yeah, she did. She told me I couldn't say goodbye, but I left a card in Akane's room for her to find. But I don't think she ever found it because it's got my secret number on it, just in case. I told her to text me and then only ever call if she was absolutely desperate. An' she's never given me the first text…"

"Oh. Does Nabiki know?"

"Nope." Ranko sighed. "I know, I know, I shouldn't keep it from her but yanno, it's Akane."

"Yeah."

"Well, Nabs went home that night and Akane was frantic as hell. Though apparently she just thought I was out frolicking with that bitch Shampoo."

"'That Bitch'? You didn't like her?"

"Fuckin' bitch tried to kill me the first day we met, then was all over me, what the fuck do you think I think of her and her little fuckin' cohort of psychos?" Ranko spat. "Fuckin' grandmother'a hers tryin'a kidnap me, that fucking moron Mousse who skydives to conclusions worse than you? Fuck all of 'em. Especially after Jusendo, fuck every one of the fuckers. If I never see another person from some fuckin' shithole in the middle of nowhere in China that ain't Herb, I'll die a happy girl."

Ryouga put a hand on her shoulder and Ranko quietened. "Sorry." She mumbled after a moment. "S'just… I gotta go back, Ryouga. I have to go back sometime, and now that I'm one hundred percent girl, the kiss of marriage is gonna be off, and those fuckers are gonna put the kiss of death back on."

She rested her elbows on the table, head on her palm. "And… I dunno if I'm gonna have to kill one of them to make them back off." She said quietly. "It's an option, and one I've been aware I'm capable of since Saffron."

Ryouga squeezed her shoulder. "I think you can do it without killing, Ranko." He said quietly to her. She put her small hand over his. He smiled as he realised it was still as warm as it had been when she was Ranma. Somehow it was reassuring.

"Thanks, Ryouga. You're a good person. But I will if I have to, if they don't stop or go too far." Her tone hardened. "You think Cologne is gonna stop?"

"No, but you're clever enough to get rid of them." He squeezed her shoulder again. "I believe in you."

Ranko actually went red and looked at the table, embarrassed. "Thanks, man." She said, voice thick. He smiled and withdrew his hand.

"You're welcome." He said, happy to have managed to embarrass her for once, and not even with a bad thing.

Ranko sat up and cleared her throat awkwardly. "Anyway, it was a few days later when she realised I weren't comin' back. Nabs told me that's when Akane got really upset." Ranko had that look of self-recrimination he was learning to recognise as her guilt eating at her. Ryouga breathed out a long sigh.

"You loved her, didn't you?" He asked, softly.

Blue eyes flicked to him. "…Yeah. I did." She said, just as softly. "But no one would let us just… be together. That wedding bullshit was really the nail in the coffin for us." She sighed forlornly. "I'd'a married her, Ryo-chan." Her tone was morose. "I still love her though it's not the same love I had, but she's family." Ranko sniffled. "If she forgives me when I get back."

Ryouga took a moment, then put a hand on her shoulder. "Akane will forgive you, Ranko. She…" He sighed. "She loved you too."

Ranko nodded. "I don't wanna marry her or go out with her anymore, but she's… was… my best friend. Even if we argued, even with the malletin', even with me pickin' on her an' callin' her horrible names, we were still friends." She sniffled again. "I really miss her."

Ryouga squeezed her shoulder. She reached out and took the front of his shirt. "C-can I…?" She leaned towards him and he watched with surprise as she rested her cheek on his sternum. She breathed out. "S-sorry. I just need someth- someone stable right now." She gave a watery smile and blinked tears from her eyes. "Feeling a bit f-fragile." She burrowed into his chest and Ryouga made a decision.

Slowly, he encircled the petite redhead and just held her gently while she shook, tears spilling into his clothes. "Hey, come on now." He said softly, "Why are you crying?"

She sniffled and tried to control the sobs, "I just… miss my family." She said into his chest. "I've not spoken to them for months and months as me except for Nabs and Mom, an' I really miss 'em. It's been real hard to not give up an' jus'… tell 'em."

Ryouga kept his arms around her. "Well, the Saotome I know doesn't give up." He said, the words resonating through his chest and Ranko smiled softly as she felt the vibrations against her head. They were somehow comforting for her to feel.

"I guess." She said, shrugging in his arms. "Thanks, Ryouga. You're a gem when you ain't tryin'a kill me." She shivered a couple of times, then looked up at him. "Yanno, Ryouga, I never thanked ya."

"For what?"

"I think… you were the only one who understood at that weddin'." She sighed, her speech turning back to its usual cadence in that odd mixture of feminine politeness and rough country bumpkin he'd been getting to know so well. "Ya didn't turn up ta attack me or 'Kane, ya wasn't even gonna turn up 'cept fer ya bad luck and direction." She giggled, "I think I can forgive ya for wantin' that nannichuan though."

He nodded. "I'm sorry it went wrong." He whispered. "I bet it could've been beautiful."

She shivered in his arms. "Not your fault." She muttered, "Was mainly Nabs' fault. She 'pologised but before that I was real mad."

"You guys're really good friends now, aren't you?"

Her head moved against his sternum. "Uh huh. She's been good to me since then, Ryouga."

A gentle push from his chest and she wiped her eyes. Reluctantly he let her go and she sat back where she was. "Thanks. Needed something solid, an' you're about as solid as they come, Ryouga. I've never seen much that fazes you physically." She winked. "Except nubile lady flesh."

"Y-yeah well…" He chuckled nervously. "I guess we all have weaknesses."

"Hibiki Ryouga admittin' weakness, me cryin' in his arms. The world truly has gone mad." Ranko quipped, giggling.

"Yeah, well, I never ascribed to that 'man amongst men' crap your dad told you about. Men can feel."

"I know." She said, a sad look in her eyes. "Pop taught a lotta shite."

Ryouga shrugged. "Does he know?" He asked. "About you as Ranko, I mean."

She pondered, then shook her head. "Unless Mom told him, and she said she wouldn't. So probably not. I'll hafta face that music sometime when I get back."

"I'd have thought you'd hate him for all the crap he put you through." Ryouga said angrily. "Just the stuff I know's enough to make my blood boil now I know about it."

Ranko looked sad and curled her head on her arms again. "Pop's complicated. Sure, he's an idiot, and I don't know if Mom wants him back to be her husband or to make a panda-skin rug of him, but he's still my dad, yanno?" She sighed a long, deep sigh. "I guess I'll see when I meet him again, an' whether he accepts me for bein', yanno, me."

"I think he's evil." Ryouga said, "No one who isn't would teach you the neko-ken."

Ranko shuddered and closed her eyes. The fear was closer to the surface these days, regardless of therapy. "W-well, apart from that. But… Evil's just a word, Ryouga." She smiled at him. "Mom had this friend once, foreign girl. She said that under the skin, it's simple pain."

Ryouga made an intrigued 'hmm' and Ranko continued. "Pop ain't evil. Just a dummy who was too focused to see the damage he were doin' to his child. Same with Mom an' that pledge. She made it so she could control Pop, but it ended up makin' me so scared of her I had to pretend to be someone else."

Ryouga acquiesced and sighed. "I guess. Still…"

Ranko opened her eyes and smiled at him, patting his hand. "But thanks for the support." She sat up. "I guess I should tell you about my change to her path, and of Himeko."

Ryouga nodded.

"So, after we'd nailed down the plan, Mother had a bombshell to drop in my lap. I always thought she was just an Iajutsu artist, but it turned out I was way off."

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{​

Ranko stared at the ceiling of her new (old?) room and pondered. She'd come up to have some quiet while Nabiki and her mother hashed some stuff out on the plan that they didn't want her disrupting by knowing. She'd have felt a little insulted if she didn't know how chaos liked to congregate around her, and if you don't know you can't tell people.

It had been a day or two since they'd come here, and she was starting to get used to the place, though it still felt weird not to have Kasumi just being there, or Akane yelling at her. It was so quiet, she felt jumpy.

It didn't help that probably half the ward was torn up while people looked for her.

There was a knock at her door and Nodoka bustled in, smiling at her daughter. "Hello, dear." She said warmly, and Ranko found she couldn't stop smiling back. It felt so good to finally talk with her mother.

Nodoka sat on her bed and Ranko sat up, cross legged. Nodoka poked her forehead. "Sit nicely, dear, don't show off your underwear to all and sundry."

Ranko switched to a more polite sitting position and Nodoka sighed forlornly. "I am going to have my work cut out for me." She said softly and Ranko looked curious.

"How so, Mom?" She asked.

"Making you more feminine for a start. I think you're always going to be a tomboy but even then there are things you're going to need to do that you just… don't have the socialising to realise, I suppose."

Ranko fidgeted. "Bein' brought up as a boy by a mysog… whatever that word Nabs uses for Pop ain't exactly good for bein' a girl." She muttered.

"Isn't. Not 'ain't', Ranm- Ranko dear." Nodoka smiled at her. "And you'll need to learn. I'm just glad my Path is going to be conducive to this, since we're going to hide you in plain sight."

"You are?" Ranko asked. "How? It ain… isn't like I'm not recognisable." She pointed to her hair.

Nodoka smiled at her and then something happened. Her features shifted as if by magic and something odd happened to her presence. It was like Ranko couldn't notice her. She could still see her mother sitting next to her on her bed, but it was like she didn't care. Had her hair colour… no, it was still black, like it had always been.

Wait, no it hadn't…

Ranko blinked and looked sharply, using some of her chi tricks to look. The auburn reset itself, but it took effort to see it. Her mother's face wasn't unrecognisable. There just didn't seem to be much point in thinking of it as her mother.

Ranko looked, really looked, and her mother's image snapped back into focus as whatever she'd been doing was broken. Nodoka smiled at her daughter.

Ranko stared in shock. "What was that Mom?" she asked. "That was… freaky. Like you'd become someone else, except you weren't. Except that… I knew it was you."

"It's my Path, dear. The Path of the Silken Breeze." Nodoka patted her hand. "It makes you unassuming. In the background. It's a way of being in the world, walking through the world." She tittered. "I suppose unlike many martial arts, it's less bending with the wind, than becoming the wind itself. For who notices the gentle breeze?"

Ranko's eyes glittered and she gripped her mother's hands as she knelt on the floor. "Teach me!" She exclaimed. "Mother, please teach me! It's like the Umisenken only a bajillion times better!"

Nodoka's smile widened into something genuinely joyful. "You wish me to? Truly, and not because of your need?"

"Mom I… That was incredible. Somethin' in what you did just sorta sang to me!" Rank gripped her hands tighter. "I'll do anythin' to learn it!"

Nodoka's smile dipped slightly. "Dear, it is still a martial art. But it is a weapon-focused one. Sash, sword and pendulum blade. I know you mainly go unarmed so…"

Ranko shrugged. "I ain't… am not worried about using weapons, Mom." She smiled. "I've done it before even if I'm better hand-to-hand. But even so, that was incredible. It was like I didn't want to know who you were, or woulda just… believed you if you'd'a given me a completely different name. Like you just had… always been there, like that." She bubbled happily, gushing her praise at her increasingly flustered mother. "It was like… the kunoichi stuff I've done before couldn't even compare. I mean sure they were sneaky-like but that was literally bein' someone else in front'a me, and I'd bet if I hadn't known who you were or you hadn't been doin' it slightly wrong to show me I'd'a been fooled entirely."

Nodoka blushed brightly at the praise, and she freed a hand to wipe a tear. "Oh, I never thought…" She said thickly. "I never thought I'd get to pass this on to a daughter…" She sniffled. "I couldn't have another child after you were born, dear, so I resigned myself to never being able to."

Ranko threw her arms around Nodoka and held her mother close. "I wanna start right now, Mom!" She said, "I wanna learn because it's yours and because it kicks ass!"

"Language, dear." Nodoka murmured, but sighed into the hug, holding her child close as she revelled in actually being able to do so. She managed to hold back and put both of her hands on Ranko's shoulders. "It will be useful for what we need you to do, as well. You'll need to at least be adept before we release you to school."

Ranko looked rebellious. "Do I hafta go back there?"

"Have to, dear, and yes. Before all of this crazy plan of yours really lifts off, I want you to have good grades. No daughter of mine is going to have low grades, especially since Nabiki-chan seems to think you're very clever when you want to be."

"But Mom!" Ranko whined.

"No buts. Now, come down and we'll discuss what we need to with you."

Ranko followed her mother downstairs, where Nabiki was putting the finishing touches to some paperwork.

"Ah, there you are." She grinned as they sat down. "Now then. We're going to hide you at Fuurinkan." Nabiki laughed. "How do you feel about bein' a rich girl Yamato Nadeshiko?"

"I'd say you were nuts if you think I'd be able to keep that kinda disguise up for any length of time."

"Ranchan, you're better than you give yourself credit, and Auntie will do the rest for you." Nabiki grinned. "Of course, if you think you aren't up to it…"

Ranko glowered. "I ain't stupid Nabs, I know you're baiting me. But fine. I'll be the most prim an' proper girl you ever did see. I'll greet an' leave everyone with gokigenyou until they're sick of hearin' it."

"Sit up straight and speak properly, dear." Nodoka murmured as Nabiki held up some paperwork.

"Well then. This pretense is going to need to be constant." The mercenary girl grinned at her. "And I mean it. You're going to have to become this person completely, here and at school. Never know when people will be watching. You might get some time off occasionally, probably bathtime, but if you don't think you can do that we'll have to figure something else out."

Ranko folded her arms. "I told you. I'll do it." Her tone was her old stubborn 'I am doing this now and you can't stop me'.

"Alright then, 'Himeko-chan'." Nabiki smiled and pushed across an ID card. On it was a photograph of Ranko with coppery hair; closer to ginger than her normal bright red. In fact, it looked a little different to her, though not in any way she'd consider blatant Small bits of the face and the eyes were pale blue. "Auntie demonstrated her Path to me earlier and we figured that I could knock something together that looks like you but a little different. Auntie says that's key to her Path, not changing too many things outright."

Ranko looked to her mother. "…Do you think I can learn that so quickly, Mom?"

Nodoka smiled softly. "Dear, I'm told you're a prodigy. If anyone can learn fast, it's you, and you don't have to spend years training to use your chi for this, which is where most of the technique training goes."

Ranko swallowed the lump in her throat at her mother's praise. "Oh."

Nabiki cleared her throat. "Back on track. You must become this person, Ranko. As of now you have to become Nayotake Himeko."

Ranko looked the card over. "Do I get a history or anything?"

Nabiki nodded and pushed a folder across. "I built this over the last couple of days. Officially you're Auntie's niece, come here to learn her Path. You used to attend a prestigious girls' school, hence you'll be prim and proper."

Nodoka looked over to Ranko. "There is a short ceremony you must go through." She said, eyes twinkling in mirth. "You might not like it, but it's important."

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{​

"Student." Nodoka stood above her.

"Yes, Sensei." Ranko bowed.

"Do you wish to learn this path? Do you believe it is right for you?"

"Yes, Sensei."

"And why is that?" Nodoka asked, a gleam in her eyes.

Ranko recited the words she'd been made to write, her face beet red. "Sensei, all of my life I have been uncouth, a shame upon our great ancestors. I have besmirched women whilst being a woman myself. My honour is in tatters and masculinity has failed me."

"Very well. Are you prepared to cast away your masculinity? Seek wisdom on the route to womanhood?"

"Yes, Sensei." Ranko bowed again. She had a small smile that she tried to hide even though she was still blushing. Nodoka would've punished her if not for the slight smile she herself had.

"Very well. I accept you as a student. This will be gruelling. It will be hard. You will not complain, you will follow my orders."

"Yes, Sensei."

"First," Nodoka folded her arms. "You must learn the tenets of being a lady of war. The Path of the Silken Breeze is not for those who are uncouth in their methods."

"Yes, Sensei."

"And you must have your weapon."

"Yes, Sensei." Ranko held her arms out and Nodoka dropped a long, red silken sash with an embroidered swirl of black along it. Attached to one end was a large orb and a small crescent blade, and on the other was a short, straight sword. Then another set was dropped, this one a jade green with blue embroidery, the blades wooden for practice.

"These are the weapons of the Path of the Silken Breeze. Weapons to become the wind itself."

"Yes, Sensei. Thank you, Sensei."

Nodoka smiled down at the girl at her feet. "Stand up, Himeko-chan. Let's get started."

"Yes, Sensei."

Ranko. No, she told herself, Himeko. Himeko nodded to her mother… No, aunt, and stood demurely, awaiting instructions.

Nodoka paced around her, correcting her posture and Himeko grimaced as she was found wanting.

It was later at night that she fell onto her bed, wincing. Great gods above her mother was a taskmistress worse than half the sensei she'd had growing up!

Rubbing bruised and aching muscles, she winced again at a particularly tender one.

Despite the bruises she was excited. The things she'd seen her mother doing with the silk sash with the blade on the end, and the sword – no katana, tantou or other Japanese blade but a straight blade that looked more western than anything.

The sash work reminded her of Ryouga, and she wondered if she could somehow have him show up to teach her some of the ways.

"Himeko-chan?" Nodoka knocked on the doorframe. Himeko looked up at her, weariness on her face and made sure she was sitting correctly before the lecture started. Nodoka was merciless in her teaching, though Himeko knew it wasn't entirely because she wanted her daughter to be proper, but also because Himeko needed to be perfectly ladylike before she'd be allowed out.

Apparently 'Everything is Training' wasn't just a tenet of Anything Goes.

"Yes, Sensei."

"Auntie when we're not training will do, Himeko-chan. I was wondering if you would like to take a bath and relax a little as we discussed?"

"Yes please, Auntie." Himeko modulated her speech to be quiet and soft. She wasn't entirely successful and winced, but at least it was bath time, and she could drop the act.

They'd agreed that the only time she could be Ranko again would be in the bath and when allowed by Nodoka on certain occasions.

Himeko stood up and followed Nodoka into the baths and, once they were ensconced in the bath, Ranko luxuriated in being a girl while she was bathing with no fear of any soap wearing off and turning into a boy.

"Mom…" Ranko said, sitting back and sighing. "Thank you."

"For what, dear?" Nodoka asks, looking up at the ceiling.

"For accepting me." Ranko smiled at her as Nodoka looked down. "As who I am. And for agreeing to train me. It means a lot, Mom."

Nodoka beamed at her daughter. "You're welcome dear. I'm just glad to see you, regardless. All I want is a happy child. Though I will be glad when you don't have to be Himeko. I want to live with my baby Ranko, not my niece Himeko, as lovely as she'll undoubtedly be once you have the Path started properly."

Ranko blushed but smiled shyly. "I'd like that, Mom. I think once we've got everything done and I've found myself, then sorted that chaos out…" She yawned. "I'd like to stay with you. As me."

Nodoka's face lit up. "I'd like that, dear."

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{​

Ranko stretched as the two of them stood up and smiled again as Ryouga looked away. Ah well.

"You didn't describe her techniques very well…" He grumbled and she laughed, patting his arm.

"That's because I want them to be a surprise for tomorrow. But trust me, you'll like them." She thought for a moment. "You wanna meet her?"

"…Who, your mom?"

"No, dumbass, Himeko." Ranko slapped his arm as the two of them made their slightly zigzagging way down the corridor.

"Isn't she just… you?" Ryouga asked, holding the door open for her. She rolled her eyes at him.

"Thanks. Don't treat me soft though, Ryo-chan." She said, laughing, "I can still kick your ass."

"You wish." Ryouga said, stumbling after her. Ranko grabbed onto his arm and held on so they were both steadied. "Always was… better'n you."

Ranko laughed again. "You and what army, bacon breath?"

Ryouga flushed but didn't rise to the bait. It had lacked the old sting of Ranma's taunts. He recognised it as her way of flirting with him, and that still felt weird as hell. Still, it wasn't unfriendly at least. "Anyway, Himeko's you, right?"

Ranko stumbled along in silence for a while until they reached where she wanted to get to and he found himself at the front of the ship with her. She dragged him onto a bench and looked up at the moon. "Eh, not quite. S'complicated."

"How?"

"S'like… She ain't another person, but she ain't exactly… yanno, me, I guess? We're the same person but we're different in lotsa ways."

"That makes no sense." Ryouga pointed out.

"S'like method actin'…" Ranko explained. "Y'get so into the role that y'start believing it a little. She's kinda like that. She's just… another me. Especially since I use chi to keep her goin'. And… I have to keep my chi all wrapped up inside an' veiled."

Ryouga still looked nonplussed and Ranko stood up. She swayed a moment, grimaced and then leaned back against the railing nearby. "Look away." She said, and he did.

There was a shuffling, and his senses picked up a change in the air, as if a wind had blown and cleared the place out.

"You may look now, Ryouga-kun." The voice was different. Calm, polite. Formal, with cut glass elocution and cadence. Quiet and softly spoken.

Ryouga looked over. A girl stood next to the railing, hands clasped demurely in front of her.

She was wearing the same sundress Ranko had been wearing, but her shoulders were lightly dusted with some freckles standing out. It was a little more pale than Ranko's skin, as well. Her hair was a coppery, almost-ginger red, shining in the moonlight, and the glasses on her face accentuated her pale blue eyes. She smiled softly at him, a relaxed and demure expression. "Gokigenyou." She said, bowing, the copper curls bouncing as she moved with a grace that he couldn't believe. Every movement was like a dancer's, nothing wasted, nothing unnecessary.

Ranko moved in the same kind of way, but Ranko's movements while not aggressive were full of a fiery energy; a passion, a life that sometimes seemed to run away with her. This girl moved like the world moved around her, like… Well, a gentle breeze. Cool, and calm, and soothing in some strange way he couldn't figure out.

"U-uh…" He said, brain flash-fried a moment. "Excuse me, miss, have you s-seen my friend?"

"Oho." She tittered, hand going to her mouth as she giggled politely. "I did not think this would fool you so well, Ryouga-kun." She bowed again. "I am Nayotake Himeko."

Ryouga blinked as she straightened up. "I… see. I'm pleased to meet you."

"Likewise, Ryouga-kun. However, I would ask you scan my chi."

Ryouga frowned but did so with his limited ability and then frowned more. He could scarcely feel her. Her chi was wrapped around itself, but it felt weak. Far, far weaker than Ranko's ever was – hers had always been a bright beacon unless she was hiding it, and even then it was a banked furnace, a ball of light crushed down. Her old name of 'wild horse' had been apt indeed, for she'd had energy that would burn at slightest provocation.

This girl was like the wind, a gentle breeze, barely there. The way she moved was lithe and calm, and she moved to stand in front of him, hands still clasped in front of her. "Please try to hit me." She said, softly, smiling at him from behind her glasses.

"I c-can't do that, miss!" He sputtered.

"Ryouga-kun, I know you won't hurt me." She said, again in that soft voice. "Try to hit me. One punch is all I ask."

Ryouga swallowed, closed his eyes, and swung. He opened them to find that she was on the other side of the fist, as if she'd danced about it. "Try again. With your eyes open, please."

He did so and watched as she moved with the fist until she was simply standing there where his fist was not. He blinked. He tried again and she simply wasn't there.

"Sensei told me, it is not enough to bend like the wind, to practice the Path of the Silken Breeze, you must become the wind itself." Himeko said, a gentle smile on her face. "Who do I remind you of, Ryouga-kun?"

Ryouga watched as she sat herself next to him, legs together, hands clasped on her lap and looking at him from under her lashes. Those pale blue eyes and copper hair shone under the moon and he swallowed. The gentle movements, the soft smile, the politeness. "…Tendou Kasumi." He said.

Himeko nodded, a pleased smile dancing across her face. "Indeed. I do not think Sensei taught her, but her way of being is very similar. She actually taught me a very important lesson which I'm sure Ranko-chan will tell you later when she reaches that point in her story." Himeko tittered again.

"So… you're not… really the same person?" Ryouga asked, confusion on his face. He wasn't getting any of it.

Himeko thought a moment. "No, we are the same person. But when I am Himeko, I am like this, and when I am Ranko I am… otherwise. I am not a separate person in her so much as a useful role. But to keep the disguise up, one must throw herself entirely into the role lest it be lost to the mist." She giggled. "Goodness, I sounded like Kunou Tatewaki-san there. My apologies."

"That's alright."

"What I am saying is that we are one and the same. It is not like the neko-ken, in which I dissociate and become the c-c-c-c-cat." She tripped her words up and sucked in a deep breath, visibly keeping herself calm. "It is just a role to play, one I must play completely else it won't work, especially with the chi manipulation involved."

"I… guess that makes sense?"

Himeko eyed him and stood up. "Well, I had best put myself away so you two can get some sleep for your spar in the morning." She leaned over and he felt a press on his cheek as she kissed it. "Thank you for listening to her, Ryouga-kun. I hope you enjoy tomorrow. Gokigenyou."

Stepping back, she gave him another smile as she bowed. Then as he watched, and she stared, some veil lifted and he was looking again at the vivid red hair, the deep blue eyes and her stance relaxed into the feminine, but relaxed pose she'd had most of the time.

Ranko grinned at him. "You like her?"

Ryouga put a hand to his cheek. "I… guess. So it's not like another you, or anything, but when you have to use the skills, you go all-in?"

Ranko nodded. "Yeah, somethin' like that. It actually is what inspired some of the Umisenken for Pop, though his is imperfect. I've got a couple of others I can use though I don't break 'em out often. If I ever have to go around in Nerima I have to be Himeko, though."

Ryouga nodded. "A technique requiring all focus. That's pretty strong." He grinned widely. "Now I'm really looking forwards to tomorrow's spar."

Ranko sat back next to him and looked up at the moon. Then she leaned on his shoulder companionably and smiled. "Me too, Ryouga. I missed fightin' ya. Always felt like we could both just cut loose with each other."

Ryouga blushed but smiled at her. "Yeah. And seeing what new crazy stuff you'd learned and showing my own off was always good. I wish we'd just been friendly the whole time."

"Ah if wishes were horses, Ryouga, we'd never have to walk." Ranko snickered and then sighed. "This is nice. You're a good leanin' post."

Ryouga rolled his shoulder. "You're bony."

"Am not!" Ranko protested, smirking at his obvious barb.

"Are too."

Ranko stuck her tongue out at him and pulled down her eyelid. "Only you'd complain about a hot girl usin' you as a pillow!"

The two bickered good-naturedly as Ranko guided Ryouga back to the suite of rooms and stuffed a pack with a pair of silk pajamas into his arms. "Get changed." She said. "If you're gonna stay on the couch ya might as well dress nice at least."

Ranko wandered to the bathroom as Ryouga shrugged and changed where he was. He cast an eye to the short corridor to this room. Nabiki's room door had been closed but there'd been a few thumping noises coming from it that made him blush and Ranko grin proudly as they went into Ranko's own room. He made his way to the small couch which had blankets and pillows on it and sat down.

Ranko came out of the bathroom in a lacy nightdress that wasn't the usual large-shirt-and-panties she seemed to be wearing these days. Somehow he managed not to nosebleed, but he guessed he was getting used to Ranko's dressing habits. "Gal likes to dress fancy to sleep sometimes." She explained, shrugging and climbing on the bed, leaning back on it and looking up at the ceiling.

Ryouga laughed and went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and use the toilet, then followed the string out to see Ranko on the bed snoring already. He shook his head. The more some things changed, the more they stayed the same.

He settled onto the couch and then lay down, eyes on the redhead who sprawled over the bed. Shaking his head, he closed his eyes.

He was woken later in the night by whimpering and looked over to see her curled up and shivering. Frowning, he sat up. Moonlight came in through the suite's small windows, but the room was otherwise dark save for an alarm clock's numbers.

Three AM. He'd had some sleep.

Padding over to the bed, he looked down at her. She'd not had nightmares like this all the time before, right? Or had she and just not told anyone.

After what he knew of the neko-ken and her growing up he figured there were many reasons for Ranko to have bad dreams. He sat on the side of the bed she was facing, softly so as not to wake her, and took her small hand in his since it stuck towards him. He squeezed it gently.

She seemed to calm down immediately, and the frown on her face loosened into a more contented expression.

He could admit to himself that he'd always thought Ranko's girl side was lovely. How else could she have fooled him so often? But in the moonlight through the window, she glowed a little and he blushed at her tacit admittance she found him attractive. She'd certainly changed in the time since he'd seen her, especially in how forward regarding that sort of thing she was.

Maybe he should try to be better himself?

He shook his head. Either way it wasn't important right now. He gently let go of her hand and picked the blankets up, putting the thin ones over her so she could get some warmth. Then he padded back to his couch and curled back up.

Ranko's sleepy voice carried over the room and he couldn't tell if she was asleep or awake. "Thanks, 'yoga…"

"You're welcome." He said quietly, but with no response he figured she'd been asleep.

Looking forward to the morning spar, he dropped off to sleep himself.

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{

Some more cute RanRyo scenes and a few bits of this had been written early on.

As for the Path of the Silken Breeze... blame a lot of rereading Cradle, which honestly as a series is just begging to be crossed over with Ranma. I will be doing eventually I guess though, it's in the plot bunny pile.

As to the weapons, inspired by a certain MMO class I enjoyed but I'll see if anyone can guess it before I tell you next chapter after their spar.

I hope you guys liked Himeko! Also a reference because I can't stop myself!

 

[Strawberry]

Sorry for the delay guys, I got really invested in finishing up Changeling, my other Ranma fic.

Now that's complete, I'm going to start running this one more, as well as one on Ao3 I don't post on essvee.

Chapter 10 - Dance With Somebody

Take off your armour,
Friend of mine,
I have no arrows,
But I got time,

All your sorrow,
Keeps you glued to your seat,
Can we get you out of your head,
And into your feet?

And it's not that the rest of us don't have the blues,
It's just that some dance partners need a dance partner too.

Is that you?

-Dance With Somebody by The Midnight

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{

Ryouga walked with Ranko along the ground, thankful to be on solid earth once more. Getting off the ship hadn't been difficult – they'd already given him a ticket and somehow made it seem as if he'd boarded with them. Walking along, Ranko was holding several flight cases of equipment by herself, though she'd foisted some onto him too.

"So we're gonna fight in a decent empty lot we hired. The fans love it when I get martial and I figured with you there I can really pull out the stops."

Ryouga smiled. "So you're gonna show me the fighting part of the 'Path of the Silken Breeze'?"

Ranko nodded. "Yep." She grinned. "Well, some of it. Some of it's my own stuff."

He pointed at her footwear. "You're fighting in those heels?"

"Gotta have some kinda handicap, Ryo-chan. Besides, I learned to fight in these pretty well." Ranko laughed at him. "I'll swap 'em out if it gets too serious, don't worry, but I like how they look anyway."

Ryouga nodded and stopped as they entered a large, vacant lot with clear ground. Nabiki seemed to just be finishing setting some things up and the two martial artists walked over to her to put the flight cases down. Ranko cricked her neck and started opening the cases, setting down odd prisms in the corners of the lot, making a perimeter. The fanged boy looked at her quizzically.

"Protective thingamajigs powered with a burst of chi. Protects bystanders and stuff from a fight, given we can both get a li'l carried away." Ranko explained. "Herb gave 'em me, apparently given their nature they use 'em to protect dojos in Musk territory since they get a little… rowdy."

Ryouga looked curious. "You visited Herb?"

"How else you think I got perma-locked? All he wanted was a fight for it. And some uh… Other stuff too." She pinked. "I'll tell ya about it later." Ranko coughed.

Ryouga took off his pack and laid it outside the perimeter as Nabiki set more equipment up. Ranko walked onto the lot, heels clacking on the ground.

The redhead was dressed in a cheongsam split on both sides, though her legs were bare. The slits were high enough that he could see the line of something underneath, though he tried not to focus on it. Around her waist was a sash of silk in a jade green colour, with blue embroidered designs on it. At her right hip hung a wooden straight sword, about a two feet from hilt to tip, and on the other hip was an orb of crystal, faintly glowing, with a wide crescent blade on a very short chain under it.

She stared at him, her hair bound up behind her in two buns atop her head, some curls spilling out of them down, and her gaze was half-lidded, as if she wasn't paying much attention. She'd gone with the green eyeshadow and bright lipstick, though he wasn't sure if she had any other makeup on. She gave him a look full of mischief, a smirk that promised something interesting. Ryouga blushed at the look and tore his own gaze away, starting some stretches. He heard her doing the same and then looked over to see her moving.

Moving might have been the worst word for it. Flowing was better, being, even better. He couldn't sense any intent from her in her kata. His excitement grew as he looked forwards to the spar.

Ranko finished limbering up, dropping into a casual stance. "Alright, Ryouga, ground rules. I'm not going to be makin' anything capable of cuttin'. I'm assuming your own bandanna trick can also be set not to do the sliceydicey stuff?" He nodded. "Alright then. Go until one of us is down and out?" He nodded again. She smiled and blew him a kiss. "Good boy. You usin' the brolly?"

He hefted the umbrella and looked unsure. "Maybe. Is it just those things on your hip?"

Ranko's smile was slow. "Ah, it can be unless ya push me too hard, then my secret weapon comes out."

He blinked and then laughed. "Alright, I'll keep the umbrella then."

Ranko grinned, and then pressed her fists together, giving him a bow, then executed a curtsey. Her entire demeanour changed, slipping from friendly to blank in a moment. "Looking forwards to this." She said, her tone an odd mix of the very polite Himeko from last night and her own relaxed tones. She sounded excited.

Ryouga nodded and hefted the umbrella. Ranko stood in a classic pose of hers, the 'hit me, I'm open' stance that always infuriated the people she fought with. He almost laughed. The more things change…

Nabiki stood just outside the protective square and held her hand up. "Ready?" Both nodded. "Begin!" She chopped her arm down.

Ryouga exploded into motion, bringing the umbrella up and swinging it down with incredible force.

The heavy umbrella impacted the floor of the lot as Ranko moved to the side, her feet tattooing his chest. Kami, those heels hurt! Ryouga fell back, wincing as he spied her standing there again. She was loosening the sash, but hadn't drawn the sword or blade yet, and had a smile of satisfaction on her face. Ryouga winced at the pain in his chest as it faded. Even with bakusai tenketsu training she'd managed a flurry of blows enough to cause him pain. He'd lost count at fifty in that short time.

Great heavens above was she fast. Faster than she'd ever been before. He remembered her male form had always had more power, her female more speed but this was insane.

He circled her warily. He knew his own strengths and with Ranma they'd been pretty solidly matched. He was strong, and he was steady and built like a tank to boot. He had some speed, what martial artist of their calibre didn't? But he didn't have Ranko's insane speed, nor her adaptability.

He aimed a kick that she dodged, then another, and she flipped back away from the one he'd sent out as a feint. Ryouga smiled tightly. He'd have to fight a little dirty. He made as if to action a kick, but went into a flip and as he did used his free hand to bakusai tenketsu the ground, sending a shower of pebbles and dirt her way. He didn't wait to see if she'd dodged, he instead swung his umbrella round, getting a satisfying 'oof' from her as it smacked into her and sent her tumbling.

She hadn't gone down though. Once again in that weird way she twisted in the air, and then the air was full of her sash, dragging the ground and bouncing her to a stop as she landed on her feet with a click of her heels. She grinned at him. "Dirty trick, Ryo-chan. Can't believe you've been takin' pointers from Anything Goes."

Ryouga grinned back at her. "Learned from the best dirty trickster after all."

"What, Pop? Happosai? I'll have you know I'm an honourable lady." She stuck her tongue out at him, but her hands were busy with the orb. He watched as her delicate hands uncinched the sash from about her and she started swinging the wooden pendulum blade in a lazy vertical circle. "Well, ya get one trick outta me if you're gonna breaking point me."

Ryouga grinned and hefted his umbrella. "Come get some then." He said, launching himself at her and bringing it down, then following it up with a kick when he knew it would miss.

Something grabbed his leg, sending a shiver of chi through him, and then he was tossed back, landing on his feet and skidding back.

The air around Ranko was alive with her sash. It flared and flapped in an unseen wind, writhing around her like a snake made of silk. She grinned as she twirled the blade and then sent it flying forward. He dodged to the side, but the wooden blade caught under his shoulder and spun him while a part of the sash impacted his chest. A moment later he felt her feet on his chest, a tattoo of kicks slamming into his sternum again and again. He hefted his umbrella, only to feel it torn away.

Ryouga growled as she grinned at him, flipping away as he sent bandannas flying at her. Her cheongsam moved with her, the sashes too and he found himself at the mercy of the pendulum blade heading to his head while the sash grabbed at his leg. He jumped and threw some bandanas to the floor to press the sash down, but it nimbly dodged as the blade curved on the end of the sash and went round his neck.

Ryouga scrabbled at it as it drew him towards Ranko, who stood in the middle of her swirling sash. She had an odd, serene smile on her face as she rolled her neck and readied a kick.

Ryouga whipped a bandana from his wrist and threw it at Ranko. Her dodge sent him sailing past her, but he freed his neck from the pendulum blade and dropped out, grabbing the sash in two more bandanas and pulling. The entire thing slammed into the ground and he stomped onto the sash, leaving it on the floor.

Ranko watched him. He noted she'd only gotten close to deliver a kick or two, but mostly stayed away. It certainly lined in with her telling him she didn't do much grappling anymore. But this was like fighting several opponents at once, all coordinated. He grinned at the rush as she sighed, the silk sash flying through the air and trying to grab him in its folds.

He dodged but kept his foot on the end of the sash, and then he saw her put hand to her hip and draw the wooden short sword from it. She grinned as she ran a hand down it, script lines activating at her chi until it hummed. "Well then, Ryo-chan…" She purred at him. "Looks like you've got me opening the whole bag of tricks."

Ranko leapt. She was twenty feet into the air, the sash underneath her trailing behind her (did that thing ever end? He wasn't sure it did. It already must have been at least sixty feet long by now. Did she run out?

He was still appreciating the ballistic arc, the way the cheongsam flapped in the breeze of her flight, the way it revealed what she was wearing underneath- Part of the sash grabbed his leg while he was distracted and flung him into the air, off the end. The pendulum blade slithered through the air after him, hooking under his armpit and dragging him up.

Ranko was flying down to meet him, the sword dancing in her hands as she weaved some kind of complex arc in the air. Burning chi in a green hue surrounded her and then expanded like a halo, moving behing her in a circle. She gripped the short sword with two hands, angling it so it would pierce his chest, had it been a real sword.

Ryouga, flying up towards her, had only a moment to think. He spun his bandanas and lassoed her legs as she fell, using the bandanas like bolas. She didn't seem to notice as she still fell, that smile still on her face as the ring of green chi behind her lit up and pushed her forward.

The sword bounced off his sternum once, he felt the shock, but he'd grabbed it with his bandana and tore the sword to the side, throwing it away.

It came back and bounced off his head. Stupid! He berated himself, it's still attached by a sash!

Now there were two projectiles flying through the air about him, each of them striking as Ranko moved back in the air using that strange green chi halo. She grinned at him and blew him a kiss, trying to untie her legs. He grinned and lashed out with a kick while grabbing the sword in one hand and keeping it still.

The kick connected with her stomach and she made an 'oof' sound as she careened back in the air. He threw two bandanas, and while she was still moving back they wrapped around her hands, tying them together.

Both of them landed, Ranko hard on her backside and he on one leg, the other wrapped in the silk sash. The sword in his arm kept moving, the sash curling and constricting his arm.

Ranko looked up at him with her tied legs and hands and then grinned naughtily. "Well, well, Ryouga-kun. I never pegged you for tyin' a gal up to have your way with her."

He kept his gaze on the sashes around him. Somehow, she was still dangerous with her hands tied. The sash was like his bandanas, only much more flexible. Sure, he could use them to cut and to hold, and reinforce with chi, but this was like trying to fight the wind itself. If he swatted the sash, it picked him up, if he tried to keep it in one place, it moved. Ranko's grin widened.

"Kami above, this is insane. How are you doing this?" He growled and Ranko's smile grew mischievous.

"Mom is an excellent trainer. That and I am still an Anything Goes practitioner." She wiggled her feet and managed to escape her bonds, standing up. Her hands were still tied, but she stood in front of him, grinning. "Good work on the bandanas, but you've probably caught on that I don't really need my hands."

As if to prove her point, the short sword bonked him on the head before retreating back to her, along with the crescent blade. Ranko managed to unbind her hands with a quick application of the sash and rubbed her wrists, catching the pendulum blade in her left hand and the sword in her right. She let the pendulum drop a few feet, so she was holding the sash again and started to swing it in lazy circles.

Her face was flushed, and she was breathing hard. Ryouga, too, and he realised how much he'd missed this.

Then she was attacking again, and this time it wasn't with the sash flying around but as a direct weapon to swing the pendulum blade. He reinforced two of his bandanas to use as short sticks, parrying her hits. Where the blade wasn't circling and slamming at him, the sword was getting into his guard. Ranko was relentless in her assault, making him step back.

Then she got her feet involved and he remembered how much those heels hurt when they hit him. He could see little puffs of chi fly from her feet so she must have been enhancing them as she hit. Where had she learned that trick?

He blocked with his bandanas-turned-sticks and managed to catch her off guard, slipping them under her leg and slamming her to the ground, delivering another bakusai tenketsu to shower her in debris.

She pirouetted away, the sash around her sending the rocks and dirty flying away. He followed it up with another bakusai tenketsu on a rock, pelting her as he spun several more bandanas.

In response she threw the pendulum blade at him, the sash sailing behind it as it. He blocked with crossed arms, but she countered with the sword, forcing his arms apart and planting a high kick that sent him into the air.

The sash grabbed his arm and he grinned, reaching for the pendulum blade to keep it- it wasn't there!

He looked and saw it was a second sash around his arm, writhing and flicking at him like a living thing. He cursed and reached for it, slicing at it with a bandana, only for another sash to gab his other arm. Between them, his bones protesting at the movement, they forced his arms behind his back.

He looked down to see her jumping over him, smiling still as she delivered more kicks, then a third sash, the original this time, with the pendulum blade, wrapped around his legs and she delivered a spectacular axe kick to his head, sending him plummeting down.

He knew it was spectacular because he'd gotten a view of what she was wearing under that cheongsam and it was definitely not a leotard, nor was he entirely sure why there were ties on the side in ribbons and hey wasn't he falling and-

Ryouga slammed into the ground like a dump truck falling from a bridge, leaving a shallow crater. Ranko's sashes were still wrapped about him, his arms tied behind his back as the redhead herself landed gently on his back, driving him back into the ground. Perched there with one leg crossed over the other, she gave a wink to Nabiki's cameras, blew a kiss and then thwacked Ryouga on the head with her wooden sword.

"You yield yet, Ryo-chan?" She purred into his ear as she leaned over his prone body.

"N-no…" He groused, twitching but unable to remove the sashes tying his hands and legs together. Coupled with her weight atop him and that they were pulling him to the ground with not inconsiderable force, he couldn't move.

Ranko grinned and kept leaning over, making sure to press herself very closely to him. "Oh, I don't know about that. I guess you're not the only one who likes tyin' people up, huh? What if you an' I…" She whispered some rather dirty ideas involving the sash and his bandanas into his ear. "Whatcha think?"

Her only answer was a choked noise and a small pool of nosebleed on the floor as he fainted. Standing up, she grinned as the sashes all slithered away, the extras returning to her chi space and the main sash returning to her arms as she put the sword back to her hip and retied it about her waist. Perching on a nearby rock, she crossed one leg over the other and let Nabiki take some extra shots while she preened.

Sure, she probably wasn't as cocky as she'd been before, but she still loved to show off her talent, and it had been months since she'd had a workout like that. He'd really nearly forced her to pull out the final stops, and when that particular weapon was involved you know someone on her mother's Path was in trouble.

Not that Ranko really practiced a pure version of the path. She really needed to come up with a name for her variant. Silken Storm maybe? Eh, she'd decide later, she was crap at naming things.

Ryouga groaned as he came to and sat up blearily. "Ah hell." He said, rubbing his head.

"You OK there, Ryouga? I think I piledrivered ya into the dirt a bit hard. Sorry."

He rubbed some more at his forehead. "S'alright, I think you pounded me harder back when you were Ranma."

Ranko giggled naughtily. "Oh, really now, was that durin' the whole koi rod thing? Or is that just poor phrasing?"

Ryouga went bright red. "N-no! I never, I mean we d-d-didn't…"

Ranko laughed again, mischief in her eyes. "I know, Ryouga, don't worry. Not that I'd mind some'a that sugar now, but I'll wait for you to be ready for it." He kept blushing. "Man, you really are bashful." She sighed and stood up, walking over and then leaning up to kiss his cheek. "Thanks for a great workout, by the way." She said, smiling as she sauntered over to Nabiki. "Yo! Nabs, how was the footage?"

As the two started discussing, Ryouga put a hand to his cheek and looked over at Ranko standing next to Nabiki. His heart fluttered a little as he heard her make that giggle again, and then give him an almost instinctive glance with her eyes and a smile that was definitely unconscious.

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{​

Ryouga looked about the café he and Ranko had retreated to after helping Nabiki put all the equipment away. The bob-haired middle Tendou had cited wanting to get it edited and uploaded 'before any randos on the street watching kung fu fights did', leaving the redhead and the lost boy to wander the city they found themselves in.

"Where are we, anyway?" Ryouga asked.

"I dunno." Ranko shrugged. "Somewhere in Spain, I think. Annoyingly, no habura esupanoru." Her accent was terrible.

Ryouga shrugged back. "I speak some, enough to get by. Spain's just after the Alps, right?"

"Uh…"

"I mean it's like Nerima is a hop and a skip after Sapporo. I know I can find Nerima if I'm in Sapporo."

Ranko turned to look more directly at Ryouga. "Huh. I always thought it was random."

"…It is, most of the time. Sort of? I can't explain it, but I know that Nerima's after Sapporo, and whenever I end up in Hokkaido it's after some time in Alaska."

Ranko pondered a moment. "That's… weird. Especially given the distances involved." She took a moment to enjoy a sip of coffee and sighed. "Well, stick with me an' Nabs for a bit. I don't want you wanderin' off before we're done with the story an' what we're gonna ask of ya."

Ryouga shook his head. "It sounds like you made a plan and then hinged on me doing something. Can't you just tell me?"

Ranko sighed. "I… guess I could." She admitted. "Don't tell Nabs I did, but she'll guess. I'd bet half my bank account that she's got listening devices attached to me for moments like this."

"Sucker bet." Ryouga grinned at her.

"Well, long as she don't mind sex noises I don't exactly have deep dark secrets she's unaware of, 'ceptin' the card I gave Akane with my phone number and some instructions on." Ranko sighed. "Right, the thing…"

She sat up straight in what Ryouga was coming to recognise as her 'serious business Ranko' mode. "So… ya can probably tell, I've hadta pretend to be like, a bunch of different people, and also at no point had I really found myself in that mess, right?"

Ryouga nodded. "Right."

"So… I wanted to find myself. Not find who Nayotake Himeko, or Rena Mizuko, or Kaname Yoiko were, Saotome Ranko." Ranko looked down at her coffee and kicked her legs. "I mean, I got some ideas already, but I just… I don't think I know myself so well." She sighed again. "So… I figured, to find myself, I gotta get lost somewhere that the only person I hafta be is me."

She smiled at him. "That's where you come in, Ryouga. Ya see, I know of one person for whom getting' lost is an art form."

Ryouga snapped his gaze to her. "So what, you just want me to cart you around?! Is that all I am?"

Ranko shook her head. "No, idiot, I want to travel with you. You must see some real interestin' things and… I dunno. You're the only one of that lot of idiots who decided to leave me alone at the wedding. Everyone there was trying to do their own thing. 'Ceptin' for Akane, you're the only one who thought about what I wanted. You're my friend, Ryouga."

Ryouga's ire left as quickly as it came. "…Sorry. I guess I just…"

"I getcha. And you don't have to do it. I've got some things to give you if you do, but I'll probably do so even if you don't agree. I just…" She folded her arms and rested her chin on them, looking at him. "Wanna wander a bit. See the world when I'm not bein' trained in ways that make torture look appealin'. And I always thought it must be real lonely for ya." She smiled sadly at him. "No one goin' with you, just on the road all the time. Specially without Akari to come back to, or our scraps to return to."

Ryouga looked down at his lap. "…Yeah."

Ranko sat up and reached across, taking one of his hands and squeezing it. "You don't have to say yes or no quite yet. Just… think about it, alright? I'd like to go with you, see what you see, see how the world is for you. I think it'd be interesting, and to be honest, you're the only person I'd trust to go with like that. Maybe Akane would, but I'd be dodging mallets all the time."

Ryouga looked at her and shrugged. "I'll think about it." He said, softly. "Thanks for telling me."

Ranko smiled at him. "You're welcome, Ryouga. I'm not gonna lie to you again, no tricks or anythin'." She let go of his hand and leaned back on the chair, sighing.

"Hey let's check some stuff out and get back to the ship, huh?"

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{​

Nabiki looked up from her laptop as Ranko and Ryouga burst into the room singing. Ranko's voice was still the same soprano she'd been perfecting during their time making the money to come on the cruise, but Ryouga's could wake the dead.

What really caught her attention was Ryouga's outfit. He'd swapped his tunic outfit for what appeared to be an outfit for a mariachi band.

"Hora senorita!" Ranko yelled, Ryouga echoing and tipping his hat. The two of them were flushed with laughter and she wasn't entirely sure if they were drunk or just high from some dumb antics.

"You two dorks realise that mariachi is Mexican, not Spanish, right?" She eyed Ryouga. "Wait, what am I saying, of course you don't. Ranko wouldn't know good geography of anything outside of China or Japan and you're… you." She said to him.

Ranko shrugged. "Doesn't matter, we still got the outfit and sang."

"Oh kami, please don't tell me you got caught by someone with a camera."

"Nah, I did that chi blurring thing with wind. Ain't gonna cut into your profits."

Nabiki sighed and closed her laptop. "And you're both drunk."

Ranko giggled. "Maybe a little." She said.

"What happened?"

"Martial Arts craziness." Ranko said, laughing bitterly. "What else, Nabs? Guess I can't always escape it!" She rolled her neck, making a satisfied noise. "Naturally, Ryouga and I make a fuckin' awesome team, even if I wasn't dressed for the occasion. Did you know this moron knows trumpet?"

"Hey, I had to learn an instrument in school!" Ryouga protested. Ranko waggled her fingers.

"Man, if he could do things with his fingers like that with a lady you'd think he'd be less bashful."

"Ranko could you stop?" Ryouga sounded plaintive.

"Why?" She challenged. "I like flirtin', and you're so receptive to it! Lookit them ears burn!" She beamed and poked him.

Nabiki sighed. "Nice to see you two getting on."

"Aw, he don't mean to be grumpy." Ranko grinned. She hooked an arm around Ryouga. "But look at him, ain't he cute? Just wanna take him to the bed an' nibble him a bit."

Ryouga went red, though not as red as he would have had he not had a few. Neither was particularly drunk, but they were at least tipsy. He grinned. "Ehhh, I'm not sure I'd enjoy being eaten…"

Ranko grinned at him. "Oh, I bet I could change your mind on that." She said. "For now, it's dinner time!" Ranko paused and then laughed naughtily. "Well, dinner as in food, not-"

"Yes, I think we both know what you mean." Nabiki said. "I can't believe I'm the one telling you to slow down."

"Yeah yeah." Ranko said, moving to drop her bags in her room while Ryouga followed her. They both returned no longer laden and Ryouga having taken the jacket and hat off.

Nabiki sighed and followed the two out of the suite once they'd put their souvenirs down.

Someone had to watch these two idiots while they sobered up.

}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{

I hope the fight scene was fun - I've never felt I was very good at describing them so I'm kinda nervous about this one since it's Ranko debuting her path.

She hasn't dug out ALL the tricks yet, but she's got most of the basics there for a spar. There will be a time in Part 3 when she does pull all the stops though.

I might explain what else the idiots got up to but there'll be more RanRyo fluff later on!