Chapter Text
On a quiet Sunday, Ranma snuck into Akane’s room, snatched a yellow sundress and stuffed it into his backpack. He already secured shoes and a wig with long black hair, which he was sure no one would recognize him with. This Sunday was especially fitting, since nobody would bat an eye, if Ranma was missing. Akane was out with friends, Nabiki had to tend to a scheme, Pops and Soun were probably busy playing Shogi and Kasumi would be happy to not have him stand in the way. With everything packed, Ranma leapt out the window and searched for the closest public restroom.
Standing in line at the parfait cafe was nerve racking. Even though Ranma made sure that no one would recognize him, he still looked over his shoulder every now and again, in the fear of the Panda suddenly appearing and scolding him. Or maybe Akane’s clique could randomly show up. And yet, standing in public, in a dress, was making his heart flutter. Nobody knew that he was actually a man and everybody would treat him as they did every other woman. And that was… nice… When it was finally Ranma’s turn to order, he pushed those thoughts aside and put on his cutest voice and ordered his snack.
Standing in front of him, the three parfaits waited patiently to be eaten and Ranma wanted to do nothing but that as fast as possible. Yet, instead of wolfing it down, like he usually did, he realized it wasn’t very ladylike. And although he wasn’t actually a lady, he figured that doing things as close to the book would likely help get it out of his system more. So, he savoured every small bite from his parfait with a small ‘mmmmh’, until his spoon started increasing the pace at which the sweets were shoveled into his mouth.
‘No, it can’t be’, Akane thought to herself. She just passed the parfait cafe she took Ranma to, some weeks ago, following his head injury, and recognized a strangely familiar face, wearing the same dress she had at home and eating three parfaits at record pace.
“Akane, you coming?”
Akane was so lost in thought, she hadn’t noticed that she had fallen behind.
“Yeah, hold on”
She smiled at Yuka and Sayuri and caught up to them again. ‘I’ll check my closet when I get back home.’
Walking into the clothing store, Ranma was immediately overwhelmed, when a store clerk spotted him and shoved different kinds of clothes in his face, hoping Ranma would leave with one of them. Although it was weird, putting on girly clothes, when he wasn’t scamming someone, it was weirdly fun, putting on a fashion show for the store clerk.
‘This will definitely make the girliness go away’, Ranma thought, as he spun around in a long white dress.
Once Ranma was done and walked out of the store, he noticed just how late it had gotten, as the sky had taken on a darker shade, and he started to panic. Now they would definitely know he was missing and he still had to return Akane’s dress!
Ranma took a running start and legged it over the roofs back to the Tendo Dojo, all while ensuring that he did not dirty Akane’s dress.
Grumbling, Akane slammed her closet shut. Her dress was indeed missing and there was really only one suspect she had in mind. She walked over to the guest room and aggressively knocked. After a small pause, a male Ranma opened the door, looking annoyed and slightly exhausted.
“What d’ya want, tomboy?”
“Don’t call me that!” Akane snapped back. “Where is my dress?”
“How should I know? You probably just missed it.”
And like that, the door slammed in her face again.
“Stupid Ranma” Akane mumbled to herself. She walked back to the room, opened the closet again, and was stunned. The yellow sundress that was missing, the one the girl in the parfait shop was wearing, was now front and center in her closet. She held her hand out to the dress and felt its fresh creases. Her brows furrowed. She swore Kasumi had ironed it just recently…
After slamming the door in Akane’s face, Ranma breathed a sigh of relief. He had just parcoured all the way back to the dojo in record time, while making a quick stop at Dr. Tofu’s to sneakily splash himself with hot water. In the dojo he had to sneak into Akane’s room to return the dress, dash back into his own room and remove his wig. In all that panic, he had completely forgotten to remove Akane’s shoes, which were squeezing on Ranma’s feet.
He took the shoes, put on his normal ones and snuck downstairs and returned Akane’s shoes to their usual place, just in time to be called to dinner by Kasumi.
The table was silently watching the Saotomes fighting for their food again. After coming home to a silent house without fighting, Nabiki was still curious as to what Ranma was up to during that time.
“So, Ranma. I know you were busy today, you know, doing things more important than your training to be a ‘Man amongst Men’. So, what were you doing?” She gave Ranma an innocent grin.
This took Ranma out of his chopstick fight with his father, placing his attention on Nabiki now.
“I, uhh… I was… y’know. Checking up on the old ghoul, if she found anything to fix this curse! Yeah, that’s what I was doing!”
While Ranma gave Nabiki a proud grin, she could notice Akane squinting her eyes at him.
Interesting…
But before Nabiki could say anything more, Ranma noticed that Genma had taken this time to steal Ranma’s rice bowl and devour it. Ranma took his father by the shirt and precisely threw him into the koi pond.
“You already had enough rice, ya fat panda!”
Ranma stepped out of the bathroom, completely ready to fall into his mattress and return to normalcy tomorrow. No more feeling weirdly happy about his girl side and miserable on his guy side. He would go right back to being a true ‘Man amongst Men’. Just before going into the guest room, however, Kasumi approached Ranma.
“Ranma. When I was cleaning today, I noticed a pair of Akane’s shoes missing.”
Ranma sputtered. “What? Nooo…”, he chuckled sheepishly, rubbing his head in the back. He desperately needed to come up with an excuse, or else Kasumi would figure out what he had been up to-
“If you ever need shoes for your female form, just ask. It must be uncomfortable walking around with something that doesn’t fit, right?”
Kasumi knew that he had gone out in his female form! But she didn’t call him a pervert or a creep for it… It was refreshing.
“Uh, yeah. Thanks for the offer Kasumi. Good night.”
Kasumi smiled. “Good night, Ranma”
He was almost through one of the worst schoolweeks he had experienced, since arriving in Nerima. Not because the material was too difficult for him. That happened long ago already and Ranma just kind of checked out since then. Even now, while he was sitting there pretending to listen to the English teacher, he couldn’t help but think back at the incredible Sunday he had experienced and longed for it again. This had gone on for the entire week and reached such levels, that he allowed a classmate to snipe his face with a ball because he wasn’t paying attention. He sighed and let his head slam on the table.
Akane couldn’t help it anymore. She was pretty sure Ranma had been crossdressing during the weekend, but she still cared about him. Seeing him sighing, like he had lost all joy in his life was unbearable to her. He had refused to truly talk to her this entire week and he would just brush her off, if she tried to make sure he was okay. He needed real help, and she knew who could provide him with that. So, when the English teacher's waffling was finally interrupted by the bell, Akane speedily packed her bag, took Ranma by the arm and dragged him with her. Ranma protested and resisted, but Akane didn’t let up.
“Hey, what’s the big deal, tomboy?”, was the first coherent sentence Ranma came up with.
“I’m taking you to doctor Tofu. There is obviously something very wrong with you. You even lost at football this week! That never happens!”
“That was a fluke! I’m fine! And when did you start caring for me anyways?”
Akane stopped and her face darkened. Did he really think that she did not care for him at all? She grabbed the edges of her skirt tightly. Was she that bad of a fiance, no, scrap that, friend?
Ranma didn’t see Akane’s expressions from behind and started mocking her.
“What now? The tomboy too tired to make a true Man amongst Men follow her?”
Akane violently pulled Ranma along and started walking again, causing Ranma to trip and fall with a loud “Hey!” and get dragged along the floor.
“‘Man amongst Men’ my ass”, Akane muttered.
Being dragged across the floor over half of Nerima was not fun, but Ranma could breathe a sigh of relief, when Akane finally slowed down enough for Ranma to stand upright. She had dragged him all the way to doctor Tofu’s clinic and right in front of his feet.
“Ah. Akane, Ranma. What brings you here? Do you need a checkup?” Doctor Tofu turned to Ranma. “Did she hit you with a baseball again?”, he asked teasingly. To which Akane blushed and stammered.
“That wasn’t on purpose! And he should’ve paid more attention!”
“Well, you seem like your normal self and Ranma seems fine to me. Did you just want to come and say hi?”
Akane smiled. “That as well. But Ranma has been acting weird lately. He doesn’t usually pay attention in class, but somehow it has been worse this week! I thought that maybe he fell on his head again, but he’s just as rude as ever, so that can’t be it”
Ranma blew Akane a raspberry. “I told’ya I’m fine, tomboy. You’re just overthinking it”
Akane swung her bag at Ranma, which he dodged by jumping above it. “Sorry, for taking care of you! But I guess your thick skull never understands anything, unless it’s beaten into you!”
“Bad swing! I easily dodged that”, Ranma teased her, pulling down an eyelid.
“You are unbelievable! Do what you want, I tried” And with that, Akane stormed out of doctor Tofu’s clinic.
Ranma watched as Akane ran off toward the Tendo Dojo. Maybe he should try teasing her a bit less. Suddenly, he heard doctor Tofu clearing his throat behind him.
“You should perhaps try being a bit nicer to Akane. She would likely return the favor then”
“Hmm” Ranma knew that what Tofu said was likely correct, but most of the time, those insults just slipped out of him, not being able to stop them.
“But now that you’re here already, might as well check up on you. Akane said that you’re paying even less attention to class? Has there been anything on your mind?”
Well, yeah, quite a lot. But only one thing was taking up most of his time. But telling Tofu that, would for sure get him into trouble for even thinking those thoughts. No. It was better to keep it a secret.
“Nah. As I said before, I’m fine. Just realized how worthless most of the stuff they teach in school actually is”
Tofu frowned. “You’d be surprised how useful some of it may be. But if you say you’re sure… Ah, before you go, may I check your ki, to see if it is in balance?”
Ranma shrugged. “Sure”
Ranma sat on doctor Tofu’s examination chair with his eyes closed and breathed in… and out… Just as instructed. He could feel doctor Tofu placing his hand on his shoulder, gasping slightly, then moving on to take his arm and place two fingers on his wrist. Then he took them away and Ranma let his arm fall again. Then, he could then hear doctor Tofu’s calming voice again.
“Please stay seated and try to continue breathing in a regular pattern. Now think of what has been keeping your mind lately”
Ranma complied. He thought of Sunday. The dress, the shoes, the wigs. The delicious parfaits, the surprisingly fun clothes shopping. The fact that it was not meant to be. That he could never return to that. That he was a pervert, a creep, a-
“Interesting…”
Tofu’s mumbling brought Ranma back to the doctor’s office and his eyes fluttered open. Doctor Tofu was kneeling in front of him, watching his chest, mumbling something to himself. He stood up again and looked Ranma in the eyes. Ranma could see that he was worried. Did he know? That doctor was some sort of magician, and if someone were to find out, it would be him.
“Ranma. I can tell that something is bothering you. If you wish to talk to me about it, I am always here. I took an oath to never tell anyone of anything that is discussed here without approval. Not even with family members. If you need some more time to think about it, that is okay”
Ranma was surprised at the serious and earnest tone in Tofu’s voice. Would it really be okay for him to put his thoughts and feelings out there? Even if it was only doctor Tofu, that seemed like a huge step. Maybe even a step in the wrong direction.
Doctor Tofu started talking again. “Your ki is completely off balance and that might affect your ability to practice martial arts. As I said, I am always here, if you want to talk”
Affecting his martial arts? Was it really that big of an issue for him? He stood up.
“Thank you, doctor Tofu. I will think about your offer” Ranma bowed to doctor Tofu.
“My pleasure, Ranma”, Tofu responded.
As Ranma was almost out of the gate of Tofu’s clinic, he shouted from inside again.
“And be nicer to Akane. She really is a nice girl!”
Ranma mulled over doctor Tofu’s words the entire way home. He knew Tofu took this seriously and that he probably wouldn’t spill, but something else he said was worrying him too.
“Affecting my martial arts?”, he mumbled.
He was currently walking through a park, not far from the dojo. He approached a sakura tree on a hill that looked like it had a sturdy base. He balled his fists, channeled his inner ki, and with a loud “kiai!”, he punched the tree with full force. And Ranma was stunned. Usually the tree would simply fall over, but this time, it simply swayed around, as if it was laughing at him. One of the pink leaves landed on Ranma’s head, which he quickly discarded.
He slumped down at the tree trunk and took his knees in his hands. Not even a crack. Maybe doctor Tofu was right. And Pops definitely wouldn’t be happy about that. He looked down at the pond in the park. The fish swam through it peacefully, while a mother and a child seemingly tried to count them. Ranma started doing so as well. Maybe it would help him calm his nerves.
“Oh, who am I kidding? This is awful”
When Ranma arrived at the Tendo dojo, he announced his arrival and noticed everyone already eating away at the dinner table. Kasumi motioned to a seat next to her, which was, surprisingly, not next to Pops, who was staring at Ranma with disappointment written all over his face, yet unable to say anything in fear of upsetting the woman of the house.
“You can sit here. That way you could still get something to eat” Kasumi said, while giving Genma a quick glare, but she quickly returned to her meal.
“Thanks, Kasumi”
Ranma sat down at his designated seat and started eating, absentmindedly staring at his food.
“So, Ranma. How was your meeting with doctor Tofu? You were there for a while…” Nabiki gave him a smug grin. But he didn’t care. He didn’t want to talk right now. Ranma just continued eating his food, even as he could tell that Nabiki was starting to get frustrated with him. He could hear Nabiki asking more questions, but he again ignored them. He didn’t want to talk. Even as both Nabiki and Akane stared daggers at him.
After finishing dinner, Ranma practiced some katas in the guest room, used the furo and went to bed. Somehow, without even doing a lot today, Ranma was exhausted. But he had made up his mind. Tomorrow, on Saturday, he would try spending the day as a girl again. He knew it wouldn’t work, but he was still holding out for the slimmest chance of him getting it out of his system without having to talk to doctor Tofu about it and taking this phase of his to the grave.
Akane woke up late for once. Had her alarm not gone off in the morning? It was already 9am. She sluggishly walked out of bed towards her closet to choose her outfit for the day. Maybe the nice yellow sundress would work-
It wasn’t there. But she swore that it had been right there, last time she checked. She looked around. Maybe she was as unorganized as Ranma suggested, after he-
Then it dawned on her. Ranma! That bastard!
She sprinted out of her room, down to the living room, passing Genma and her father and finding Kasumi in the living room, sipping some tea.
“Akane, you don’t usually wake up this late, but it’s good that you’re resting every now and again. I saved some breakfast for you” Kasumi gave Akane a sweet smile.
“Where is Ranma?” She did not care. She wanted that creep to stop going through her wardrobe doing who-knows-what with her clothes.
“He was up before everyone else today and left as I made myself ready to make breakfast. He said that he was off for a one-day training trip. Is everything alright?”
“Uh, yeah”
Akane sat down at the table. She would catch Ranma red-handed. But first, she needed some breakfast. Manhunts did not go well on an empty belly.
Ranma was sitting in a park, not far from a shop he scammed a bag of sweet buns from. He had been very early and found himself helping them open up shop for the day, for which they gave him the buns.
“Heheh, suckers”, he muttered, while forcing down an entire sweet bun. It was sweet, warm and fluffy. It made him feel at ease.
Ranma hadn’t expected for it to be so nice to simply walk around Nerima, while being a girl. As a guy, he had often gotten bored while doing so, but right now, he was able to appreciate even the subtlest of things, as if being a girl opened his eyes more. He’d never noticed how green the grass could be, the people walking around in a rush or simply enjoying their day or how the breeze made his dress cling to his body.
He stood up and continued walking, until he got to a more busy part of Nerima, where he windowshopped for a while. Suddenly, his senses told him that danger was close. He frantically looked around, yet he recognized none of the faces in the crowd. Maybe farther away?
Then she saw it. Someone was watching him, while peeking out from behind a building, but as soon as Ranma saw them, they ran into an alleyway. Ranma took up the chase, slower than he wanted to, as he had to push through a crowd.
“Hey, wait up! If you want something from me, face me directly!”, he shouted.
Ranma arrived where the mysterious figure had just stood and looked into the tight alleyway they disappeared into and caught a small glimpse of them turning a corner. Ranma wasted no time. Ranma started running and-
Thud!
Someone ran straight into him and he landed on the floor. Ranma could hear the guy running into him blabbering some halfassed apology, which Ranma was too annoyed for right now.
“Hey! Watch where you’re going, idiot! You can’t just run around-”
Ranma looked up at the guy and realization struck his face. The bandana. The fang. Ryoga.