Chapter 9. Sunday, July 10

“I do this for you, Akane-chan,” Ranma-chan said, as she plunged the tanto into her own heart. “So that you can have the man you deserve.” Akane, standing with a man her dream failed to render with much clarity but was presumably supposed to be Ranma-chan’s male nemesis, watched in resignation.

“It has to be this way, doesn’t it?” Akane said sadly, “So I can be happy. You have to be… him.”

Ranma gurgled as the blood in her mouth welled up, unable to speak. But she wanted to say something. She wanted to—

She woke up with a start, her heart racing. Why did her sleeping mind have to keep tormenting her with horror shows? She hugged Mr. Bunny to her chest, trying to calm down. After a few minutes, she sat up and looked at her reflection. “Well,” she said to herself, “I may not be long for this world, but while I am this version of me, I’d better make the most of it.”

In that moment, she felt like she’d finally arrived at a good perspective on her situation. Yes, of course she was going to work to get the Phoenix Pill and return to being… him, but while she was this girl, she might as well embrace the experience. She was still Ranma Saotome, and maybe, she thought, she was the best Ranma Saotome there ever was. She was more sure than ever that she was an even better martial artist—his one real claim to fame. She’d make him regret he ever changed back.

She got up, washed, dressed, and fixed her hair. As she looked in the mirror, she felt a sense of determination. “I am Ranma Saotome,” she said firmly. “And fuck you, Ranma-kun.”

* * *

She found Akane in the kitchen, partway through helping Kasumi with breakfast. “Hey, Akane-chan!” she said with clear pleasure in her voice, “my amazing sparring partner, fashion advisor, and all around BFF, whatcha makin’, and can I help?”

Akane briefly wondered if Ranma was putting on an act, because her greeting seemed a little bit over the top, but she appeared to be completely sincere and genuinely happy to see her. “Oh, hey, Ranma-chan! I was just making the miso soup again. I haven’t really started, so, yeah, we can totally make it together!”

Like the previous time they’d made the soup together, Ranma did a lot of the prep work, but kept asking Akane questions as she put things together. What was that ingredient? Was she sure it was the right one? What were the quantities again? Ranma pointed out, gently, that Akane was very good at chemistry, and cooking really wasn’t that different. She should think of cooking like setting up a reaction: you needed to have everything measured out carefully in advance, apply the right amount of heat at the right time, and so on. You couldn’t cut corners or stop paying attention to all the pieces.

Akane usually hated it when people tried to correct her in the kitchen only to have it come out as a disaster anyway, but with Ranma it was different. She was patient and kind, and she really wanted to help Akane do well. Akane found herself relaxing and enjoying the process more than she had in a long time, and the end result, while not quite as good as Kasumi-oneechan’s, was still vastly better than anything out of a packet.

Genma was less pleased about Ranma’s behavior. “What the hell is this, Ranma? You’re supposed to be a boy! Boys don’t cook, they fight! Someone needs to knock some sense into you.”

“Better not be you, Pop,” Ranma replied firmly. “You’ve got precious little sense to knock into anyone.”

“I’ll show you precious little sense!” Genma bellowed, jumping up from the table and charging at Ranma. Before he could reach her, Akane stepped between them.

“Stop it, Genma-san,” she said firmly. “Ranma-chan is who she is right now, and we need to respect that. If you want to help her, then support her, don’t try to force her into some mold that doesn’t fit.” She paused, then added, “You’ll have your boy back soon enough, won’t you? So just be patient.”

“I don’t need to be told what to do by a girl!” Genma said, pushing her aside. He lunged at Ranma several times, but each time, Ranma deftly sidestepped, until they’d both ended up outside. Then, out of nowhere, Ranma produced a large mallet. With a single swing she sent Genma flying into the pond, where he immediately transformed into his panda form. The wet panda held up a sign saying, “Time out!”, indicating that he was giving up for now. Ranma, the mallet now nowhere to be seen, just walked back inside.

“You really do like doing my thing better than me, don’t you, Ranma-chan?” Akane asked with a chuckle. “You’re way more of a tomboy, yet cuter into the bargain, and now you’re even pulling off my mallet technique. It’s a good thing we’re on the same team or sparks might fly!”

“Sparks might fly anyway,” Ranma replied with an alluring tone and a mischievous grin. “But, yeah, until we get the Phoenix Pill, I’m not going to hold back on being this version of me. But it’s not to outdo you, Akane-chan, it’s because you’re such a big influence on who I am. When I think about how to be the best version of me, I think about you and what you do. You’re strong, smart, kind, easy on the eye, and you never give up.”

Akane’s face reddened. “You’re making me blush, Ranma-chan,” she said softly. “You inspire me, too. I’m so glad we’re friends.”

Akane’s mind hung on that last word… It wasn’t really right, was it? They were more than just friends, weren’t they? Although she didn’t exactly know what to do with it, she had something of a growing crush on this version of Ranma. She almost told her that as far as she was concerned, Ranma could stay this way as long as she wanted and that she didn’t have to rush to get the Phoenix Pill from Cologne, or even bother to get it at all if she didn’t want to. But she knew that Ranma wanted to go back to being him, and saying all that would hurt his feelings. He’d just said it again, hadn’t he, with the whole bit about “until we get the Phoenix Pill”? And he’d also said that he was basically just channeling her vibe back to her. No doubt that was why they were getting along so well, but that didn’t mean he wanted to stay like this. Akane sighed inwardly. She’d just have to be content with what they had now, and hope that when Ranma was back to being him, they could figure out a way to still be close, even if it wasn’t the same.

“You know, Ranma-chan,” Akane said, “you don’t have to spend all your time hanging with me. If you wanted to spread your wings a bit, you could find other people to use as role models, too.”

Ranma sighed inwardly. She heard what Akane was really saying—she needed her space, and while she liked hanging out with Ranma-chan, it just reminded her of what she was missing without Ranma-kun. It was right there in the word she’d used: “friends”. That was all they could ever be if she stayed a girl. She understood.

“Yeah, I get it, Akane-chan,” she replied, trying to keep her tone neutral. “I was thinking of going out to get a few groceries for Kasumi-oneechan anyway; it’s not really fair that we expect her to always take care of us and do all the shopping and errands, too.

“So, yeah, I guess that’s an adventure that Ranma-chan can handle on her own.”

* * *

Kasumi was delighted by Ranma’s offer and made a list of some things she was low on as well as a few things that would make the evening’s dinner a little more special. As she prepared to leave, Ranma decided to skip the local shops and take the train one stop to Higashioizumi, to check out the Food Hall (a larger supermarket), figuring the extra distance would let her be out and about on her own where no one knew her.

She decided to wear one of the dresses Akane had insisted she buy. It was a simple sundress, light blue with small white flowers, that came down to just above her knees. She paired it with a light cardigan and some comfortable flats. She brushed out her hair, eschewing the rumpled look she’d been rocking for the last few days. She liked the way her new clothes felt, and when she checked herself in the mirror, she thought she looked pretty cute, too. “I am Ranma Saotome,” she told the girl in the mirror, “and I’m off to run errands.”

* * *

Rather than go straight to the supermarket, Ranma decided to explore the area a bit first. On previous visits to Higashioizumi she’d just hit a couple of specific stores and then head back to the station. So she’d never really gotten more than a vague sense of the area.

She had, however, seen some things in passing—interesting buildings, cool shops, cafés, museums, parks, places to people watch—that seemed like they were worth a closer look. So today’s goal was to have a bit of fun and do something a bit different, not just do the shopping and catch the next train.

She started by heading away from the station toward one of the busier streets. The train had been okay, but she was surprised to find that being out on the streets by herself felt kind of weird. Without Akane, who’d been with her every time she’d been away from Nerima since Cologne’s Cat’s Tongue attack, she found herself paying more attention to people around her than she usually did, and that made her feel a bit self conscious at first—was she doing anything weird? Were people staring at her?

Not only that, but on her own she found herself more aware of what she was wearing and her (lack of) height compared with most of the people around her. She was surprised that she felt a little bit vulnerable, which was a new and disturbing experience.

But she shook the feeling off. She was Ranma Saotome, skilled martial artist and grappler. She might look vulnerable, but none of these people posed any threat to her.

Her confidence back, she was able to put her other worries aside, too. She was fine, and she was going to have some fun.

She wandered through some side streets, admiring the architecture and checking out the merchandise in the windows of the small shops. There were quite a few hair salons in the area, too, which got her thinking. Maybe she should do something else with her hair? She’d want Akane’s advice, of course, but it might be worth talking to her friends at school, too….

After about twenty minutes, she took a break, stopping at a café for a coffee and a pastry. She sat at a table on the sidewalk, letting her enjoy both the atmosphere of the café and the bustle on the street. She smiled to herself, and noticed a few people smiling back at her. There was something liberating about being able to blend in as just another girl out and about in the city.

She realized she’d let her guard down more than she should have when a man’s voice said, “I don’t know who you are, but you aren’t ‘Ranko Saotome’.” Uh-oh. Ranma tensed up, but she realized that her chair was too close to the table for her to stand up quickly. Instead, she twisted in her seat to see Ryoga standing behind her, looking mildly annoyed. He moved to sit in the chair across the table from her and she turned back to face him. This is bad.

She’d have to play innocent, at least for now. “Um, hello again. You’re Ryoga-kun, right? Akane-chan’s friend?”

“I spent time with Ranma growing up,” he continued, ignoring her greeting. “If he had a sister, I’d know about it.”

All his attention was focused on her face as he asked, “So who are you really?”

She tried to imagine explaining her situation to Ryoga, but it was all just too complicated, and he might attack her before she’d finished. On top of that, she was so surprised that she actually found herself panicking a little. She really didn’t want a fight with Ryoga. Unable to come up with a better idea, she tried another lie. “I’m Eve,” she said, “a friend of Akane’s. She’d noticed I looked a bit like this Ranma Saotome person, and when you thought you saw a family resemblance, she thought it would be fun to introduce me as his sister.”

Ryoga scrutinized her even more closely. “More lies… I can tell. And that means you really are Ranma Saotome, aren’t you? We still have a score to settle, you know, and hiding out as a girl isn’t going to let you escape that forever.”

Crap. Oh, well, we knew it wouldn’t last. “I’m not hiding from anyone,” Ranma replied haughtily. “You’ll get your match up with… with him soon enough. But right now, I’m stuck in my girl form and I’m just trying to make the best of it. Haven’t you ever been stuck in your pig form for a while?” She sighed. “Not everything is under our own control all the time, Ryoga-kun.”

Ryoga had, in fact, spent three days stuck as a pig and had more than once narrowly escaped being cooked for dinner, so he definitely understood the frustration of being at the mercy of forces beyond his control. He sighed too. “Okay, time out. We’ll resume our feud when I have a boy I can actually fight.”

That settled, he asked, “Are you really calling yourself ‘Eve’ now?”

“No; it was just the first name that came to mind,” Ranma replied. “You can just call me Ranma-chan if you like. We’ve known each other long enough.”

Ranma wanted to change the subject, so she asked Ryoga about what had happened since he’d headed off in the wrong direction at the intersection. Somehow he’d made it to the other end of Japan and back again since yesterday afternoon, but his explanation of how he’d managed that was, as expected, far from coherent.

“If you come back to the dojo with me after I’ve done the shopping, Ryoga-kun, you can get a hot bath, we can wash your clothes, and you can rest up a bit,” Ranma offered. Feeling generous, she said, “Akane would be delighted to see P-chan again, too, if you wanted to go that route.” While the whole P-chan thing was usually a source of annoyance, the idea of Akane smiling as she doted on him seemed like a positive thing. Akane deserved to be happy, after all.

Ryoga frowned at the P-chan comment, but he agreed. Given his propensity for getting lost, he stayed close to Ranma’s side as they worked their way through the supermarket, helping her find everything on Kasumi’s list. A few times, he fetched something from a high shelf for her. He picked up a few things for himself, as well; experience had taught him that it was always a good idea to have some extra food in his backpack. He never knew when he’d find himself in the middle of a field or on top of a mountain with no shops or civilization in sight, so he was happy to take advantage of the opportunity to stock up.

Ryoga found it strange watching this version of Ranma. She—definitely she—seemed so… domestic? Normal? No one was leaping out to challenge this girl. No one was chasing her, either, and they weren’t surrounded by waves of destruction. She also seemed… content? No, more than that—she seemed like she was happy.

But he knew it had to be another one of Ranma’s weird plans. There was no way that Ranma Saotome, of all people, would ever choose the life of a girl over being a martial artist. Still, Ryoga could see the appeal of a respite from all the chaos. From that perspective, he actually felt a little envious, as his own life had hardly ever been comfortable or stable.

He was still mulling over those thoughts when they reached the station. They were standing on the platform when the train beside him sounded its door-closing chime, and, to avoid being left behind as so often happened, he leapt inside just before the doors closed, cutting off whatever Ranma had started to say. Through the window, he saw her on the platform looking nonplussed and pointing to a different train that was just arriving on the other side of the platform. He’d done it again. He’d gotten on the wrong train. He looked at Ranma-chan helplessly as his train pulled away.

On the train home, Ranma felt sorry for poor Ryoga-kun. He had it much worse than she did. Having a pig as his cursed form seemed so much more perilous than her own curse—he couldn’t even speak—and his constant state of disorientation must make his life a nightmare. Still, she thought, at least he probably never wonders if he should stay in his pig form forever. Or maybe, given the way Akane doted on P-chan, he did. Who knew what might be true in this absurd world they lived in?

* * *

When she arrived back at the dojo, Akane was waiting for her. She looked a little anxious. “Hey, Ranma-chan,” she said, “how was your trip? Did you have any adventures?” She followed Ranma into the kitchen and helped her put things away.

Ranma smiled. “Yeah, it was fun, although I also ran into Ryoga-kun again. He finally figured out who I was. I tried to bring him back here like we did yesterday. We made it all the way to the station, but he got on the wrong train before I could stop him. He could be anywhere by now. Yokohama, most likely.”

Akane laughed. “That sounds like Ryoga all right,” she said. “But you two didn’t fight? That’s a good thing, right?”

“Yeah.” Ranma looked down briefly. “I guess we’ve declared a truce for now.”

Not fighting was good, but Ryoga’s attitude still annoyed her. “Of course, I could totally take him down right now if I wanted to, but in his eyes, Ranma-kun is the martial artist and I’m just a girl,” she added, rolling her eyes. “I kind of wanted to set him straight, but our whole feud is based on stupid misunderstandings to begin with, so it seemed fitting to just let yet another one provide an excuse to let it go. At least for now.”

She frowned deeply, getting lost in her thoughts. Sooner or later, she and Ryoga were going to fight again, no matter what she did. Although she thought—hoped?—Ryoga’s insistence on a “fight to the death” was more bluster than a really serious threat, she couldn’t be sure. Plus, while Ryoga was very strong and could do a lot of damage, she had no doubts at all about who was the better martial artist. She’d have to be having a really bad day to lose any fight between them.

She knew that Akane was aware of all of that, and she’d probably be annoyed (or worried, which she’d express as anger) if Ranma went on and on about it, so she said nothing, contenting herself with imagining how their fight might go.

From Ranma’s shifting expressions, Akane could tell pretty much exactly what she was thinking about. She’d heard it all before, and she really didn’t need to hear it again. Ranma’s current unfocused look also told Akane that she couldn’t let it go. She needed a distraction, and Akane knew just the thing. She reached out and touched Ranma’s arm to get her attention, then said, “Hey! Do you want to train a bit before dinner? I know we didn’t do much yesterday, so maybe we could try some speed moves again?”

Ranma smiled. “Actually, I had an idea for something different—a whole new technique.”

Akane was always fascinated by the new techniques Ranma came up with; she’d even adapted some of them for her own art, although he had rarely been interested in helping. Seeing Ranma-chan adopt a more inclusive attitude was a welcome change and she was eager to hear all the details.

Ranma’s idea was a powerful new distraction technique which she called the Sincerity Silken Cinch-Up. You’d get close to your opponent, and then open your heart to them, telling them something deeply surprising. Done right, all their attention would be directed at your face, searching for clues to determine whether your revelation was genuine, which, of course, it had to be for the technique to work. While they were focused on reading your face, your hands would be looping a lightweight silk ribbon around and around their body, doing it so quickly and lightly that they wouldn’t notice. Once the silk was in place, a quick tug would cinch them up tight, immobilizing them. Friday’s fight with Kodachi had been the inspiration.

Akane was impressed. “That sounds amazing, Ranma-chan! We should totally practice that, but, uh…  I don’t think I’m quite in the headspace for any more emotionally vulnerable confessions today. Maybe we can just work on the silk-wrapping part this time around?”

“Absolutely,” Ranma replied. “You just need to concentrate on my face and try to notice what you can see out of the corners of your eyes. We have to make sure you can’t see what I’m doing with my hands.”

In practice, the technique was far more difficult than they’d imagined. Peripheral vision is highly sensitive to movement, and even with Akane focusing intently on Ranma’s face, she could sometimes see little movements in Ranma’s shoulders as she tried to loop the silk around her.

Ranma had the opposite problem—she couldn’t see what her hands were doing because she had to maintain eye contact with Akane.

After a couple of hours of practice, they were both exhausted and frustrated, but they had made some progress. Akane could no longer see Ranma’s hands or shoulders moving, but Ranma was still having problems getting the silk to do what she wanted; it seemed like she either couldn’t get the silk looped around Akane’s body properly, or, if she did get it right, Akane felt it happening and could pull away before Ranma could cinch it tight. They decided to call it a day and try again later.

* * *

Akane wanted to study more for the upcoming end-of-term exams after dinner, so Ranma returned to the dojo for more practice by herself. She set up a dummy and tried to perfect the technique on her own. It required insane levels of precision, and that meant it needed intense focus. She had to know exactly where each limb was with millimeter precision, and she needed to be able to throw and catch the silk with just her fingertips. At some point she stopped practicing with the silk, and switched to a more fundamental exercise: blindfolding herself and moving about the room quickly, then returning to the dummy and trying to place her hands just a fraction of an inch in front of it. She failed quite badly at first, but she’d done this kind of training before and she knew how to maintain her focus. After many repetitions, she started to notice some gradual improvement.

The exercise helped her perfect an internal map of exactly how her body moved in space. She’d done similar things as Ranma-kun—learning to fight blindfolded or in total darkness—but she found that she was once again outdoing him. This new body map was more detailed, more precise, and in her focused state she felt wonderfully centered and in control. She wondered briefly if she was erasing the body map he had built up over many years of training, but she was unsympathetic. Screw you, Ranma-kun. This is my body. You can deal with any problems when you get it back…. If you ever do.

* * *

Worn out by the evening’s work, she headed to her room to get ready for bed. When she was done in the bathroom, she crawled into bed and pulled Mr. Bunny close. The mini massager stayed in the drawer. She was too exhausted to think about that kind of stuff right now. And anyway, she was content enough as it was. It had been a good day. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.