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This was not how Ranma Saotome wanted to spend his Saturday afternoon, evening and sunday morning. He’d would instead have been spending the time training, thinking up new techniques or really anything else than this.
“What if Akane meets someone else, boy. You can’t let someone sleep with her!” his father, Genma Saotome, part time panda, part time child abuser and full time idiot, had said, before kicking Ranma into the Koi pond.
Thus a rather morose Ranma (after being restored to male form) was following behind Akane on the way to a Sleepover. Blame it on Pops having no idea what sleepover actually was. Not that Ranma really knew either, just that it was apparently something girls did, because Akane had told him that it was only for her, Yuka and Sayuri.
“You don’t have to do this, Ranma. I’m a grown woman. I don’t need a chaperone.” Akane had told him, but Ranma had shrugged it off. He had been told to go. Besides Akane’s martial arts was only decent, while Yuka and Sayuri had no skill, so what if another Chinese prince decided to kidnap Akane?
--
So this was how he found himself in Sayuri’s parents living room. He could see that both Akane and Yuka were uncomfortable with the idea, they didn’t really need a boy at their sacred girly ritual. But Sayuri however had said it was fine, as long as Ranma was in girl form. He had grumbled, then poured some cold water over her hands and now was a much shorter redheaded girl.
First they started out preparing all sorts of snacks. Ranma had to admit they looked nice. She asked to cut vegetables and took advantage of Anything Goes Martial Arts Cooking to slice everything in precise pieces. Akane had been grumbling about the unfairness of her not being allowed in the kitchen, so she had been sent to the store to pick up their drinks.
The sleepover had started with Sayuri picking a movie. Ranma had not really been paying too much attention, instead being busy eating some of the carrot sticks with a delicious dip. After the first 10 minutes Ranma finally did start paying attention. Apparently it was rather mushy, about a couple of strangers having some misunderstandings, but then as the plot progressed, they started being all kissy kissy.
The next movie started, but it ended up running in the background, as Sayuri had suggested they had to paint nails. At first Ranma had been firm on saying No. “I’m a man, dammit,” but when Sayuri had then showed that they had nail polish remover and that what happened in a sleepover stayed a secret, Ranma had finally agreed.
--
Yuka was sporting a pair of beautiful blue nails, with some some tiny yellow stars. She was quite stunned at the precision and skill Ranma possessed. But apparently being an incredible talented martial artist also gave one an artistic gift. Except of course Sayuri’s nails, done by Akane, looked rather average. No fancy details, simply standard nail red nail polish.
Next Ranma was getting her nails done. Yuka remarked how well-kept Ranma’s nails were, making the redhead blush and say it was because of the curse. So now Ranma had some nice purple nails, mumbling how she looked girly and how she was a guy.
After that they had a light dinner. Most weren’t really that hungry, having already snacked, but they got indian takeout. It had been delicious and Ranma had really enjoyed the curry.
And so the evening continued. Ranma started relaxing more as the next movie started. While this was girly, it wasn’t really that bad. Akane, Yuka and Sayuri were all surprisingly good company. While the movie was running, Yuka suggested they did eachothers makeup. Ranma had agreed a bit faster this time. She had used makeup a few times as part of her disguises, just a tiny bit.
Ranma had been completely stunned as she had seen the made up face in the mirror. Even reaching out to the mirror, touching it. She had been very silent for an hour after that, somehow seeming off in her own world.
--
It was while they were chatting about school that Akane noticed that Ranma rejoined the conversation. They spoke about their teachers, their classes, favourite subjects, studying for exams and so on. While Ranma was not a great student, she still give her input and did so. Akane smiled as she noticed how Ranma seemed to be smiling. She actually rarely saw the pigtailed martial artist smile, he or she, depending of form, was always so serious.
But the evening took a strange turn just 15 minutes later. One that made Akane wonder if she had entered the Twilight Zone.
It had been a rather innocent question. Yuka had asked “Who is the hottest guy?” It was aimed at Akane and she had started blushing. It wasn’t like Ranma needed more ego and Ranma’s guy form was definitely the hottest guy.
“I’d say Ryouga. I mean have you seen those abs and pecs?” And then silence complete silence, with Akane, Yuka and Sayuri all staring at Ranma who apparently simply had answered the question on instinct. It was then Ranma realized what she had said, had slapped her hands in front of her mouth and had run off to the bathroom.
The next 5 minutes had also been rather quiet, with the three remaining girls just staring at eachother, none of them really knowing how to react. And wondering if that was for real, if it was not some collective hallucination. Finally Akane had sighed, gotten up and said “I’ll talk to him,” then walking off to the bathroom.
--
She found the door to be unlocked, entered and saw Ranma sit in one corner, hands wrapped up around her legs. Ranma’s eyes were wet with tears and she looked sad.
Akane sat down. “It’s okay, Ranma,” she then began. “Nobody else will know what you said. But still, you are right, Ryouga is actually hot.” She saw Ranma’s head drop a bit, her hands moving up to cover her face.
“Are you gay, Ranma?” she then asked. It was the one question that had been on her mind ever since Ranma slipped up. In return she got a shrug. “It’s okay if you are.” She honestly wasn’t sure about that. She was supposed to marry him, how would their marriage be if Ranma was only into guys?
“I don’t know Akane. I don’t know what I am. Just that I’m a perverted freak,” she heard Ranma mutter.
“Hey, it’s not really perverted if you like guys. Sure some people will be against it, but is not that bad. Nabiki is bi, she knows a bunch of gay people.” She took a deep breath, time to tell a secret of her own. “I think I’m bi too.”
“It’s not just that. I don’t know who I am. What I am. Am I a man or a woman? Gay or straight? I hate this, I hate feeling like this. I hate mom and dad, I hate that I have to be this ideal man amongst men. Every single day I live in fear that I am revealed as a fraud. That mom orders me to kill myself. That you’ll look at me like the pervert that I am. That I’ll be kicked out of the dojo.” Ranma speaks, in between sobs, tears running from her eyes.
Akane reaches out and embrace the smaller girl. She is unsure what exactly is happening, but she’s at least hoping she can comfort her fiance. Finally she asks. “Can you explain some of that? I mean you’re a guy, no matter if you’re in a boy body or a girl body.”
“That’s the problem. I don’t think so. I just don’t know. It’s so confusing, not knowing if you are a man or a woman. In my mind I hear this voice tell me that I must be a man. It sounds like pops. But there’s another part of me that really enjoy being a girl. That spring really messed me up, made me more confused. You don’t know how terrible it is to fall into that spring and then suddenly you just feel... right? As if there was something in you that was broken and then when you find out you are now a girl, you no longer feel that way?” Ranma explained, letting out more sobs.
“I had to be a man, I couldn’t feel like a girl. I was Ranma Saotome. Pops had told me how weak girls were, I just couldn’t really be one. And then the hot water turned me into a boy again and I realized that the wrongness was there. It had always been there, I just had gotten used to it.”
The red head sighed. “I really hate my curse, yet I also somehow love it. I fear that I’ll one day just give in and let it consume me. But it is also there on my bad days. Those days where the feeling of something being completely wrong dominate my thoughts and feeling that Ranma is a completely different person than I am. Jusenkyo kinda removed those bad days. When I feel them coming, I can just go girl form and it seems to just go away.”
Akane stared at Ranma. Mouth moving, but no words come out. She knew exactly what Ranma described there, and things started making a bit more sense. The overcompensation, a constant need to assert masculinity. Akane had been questioning herself a year ago. One of the terms she came to learn was transgender, which seemed to somehow apply to Ranma. She herself had been more focused on understanding her fascination and attraction to other girls.
--
The two spend hours in the bathroom. Akane helping Ranma come to terms with not being a pervert or a freak, but instead a transgender girl. The redhead seemed to accept the explanation, but it also brought out her worries about that promise to be a man amongst men and the couple of crazy parents she had to dal with.
It was almost midnight when Akane returns with Ranma behind her. Sayuri and Yuka looks at the two, but don’t say anything. Not until a slightly blushing and worried looking Ranma gives Akane a nudge. "Ranma is a trans girl,” Akane then simply says as explanation, surprising the two friends.
The rest of the night the 4 girls talk, now mostly focusing on Ranma. Akane, Sayuri and Yuka do try to be as cautious and gentle with their questions to avoid upsetting Ranma, but as she finds herself more and more accepted she opens up more and more.
When they return to the Dojo around noon Sunday Ranma is a much happier person. Of course only Akane, Sayuri and Yuka knows why and they don’t discuss it. But Ranma finds that she had 3 great supports for the day when she finally is ready to confront her parents.