Chapter Text
Nabiki spent her morning walk to school stuck in her own thoughts.
Which is probably how she ran straight into a big guy panickedly walking down the street.
“Hey dude, watch where you’re going!”
“I’m sorry!” responded the man. He was clad in a sleeveless yellow top, had his hair held back by a yellow bandana, and had black pants. “Um… by the way… Do you happen to know where Ranma Saotome is?”
Nabiki internally grinned so hard you could see her gums.
“I do-”
“Yes-!”
“But! I’m gonna need a little bit of help from you.”
“Um… What is it?”
“Ah wait! One question, do you happen to know what ‘Jusenkyo’ is?”
His face turned dark, “Unfortunately, I do.”
Ranma’s second day had been, in his opinion, better than the first.
Sure, the gossip mill hadn’t stopped, and Akane was still being assumed to be a lesbian, but aside from her increased anger, Ranma had finally had some calm.
The lunch group had decided to move to the backyard of the school, and generally, everything seemed like it was about to be-
“RANMA SAOTOME! PREPARE TO DIIIIIIIIIE!”
“Who the hell are you!?” Ranma yelled back.
“Don’t act like you don’t remember me! You remember the bread wars! And leaving me behind!”
“Oh yeah! You’re uhhh- I uhhhhh- ummmmm-”
“Akane, your girlfriend is kinda a bimbo,” Asami deadpanned.
“She’s not my girlfriend,” Akane replied.
“It’s Ryoga HIbiki! How could you forget!” the boy yelled at Ranma.
“Ohhhhhhhhhh yeah now I remember you! You’re the guy Pop’s stole the Okono-”
“Nope.”
“OH! Bandana guy!”
Ryoga let out an annoyed grunt. “Doesn’t matter! You know what you did to me! Prepare to die!”
“What did I do to y-” Ranma began, before having to dodge a well timed punch.
“You didn’t even come to our duel! Then I followed you to China, and what did you do!? You knocked me into those damned springs!” Ryoga sent out kicks and threw multiple bandanas at Ranma, forcing Ranma to retreat to the forest behind the school while Akane tried to follow.
“I was waitin’ for a whole week! …I think,” Ranma yelled back. Ryoga threw another bandana straight towards her. “The hell are those things gonna do!? Give me a new headband?” Ranma teased.
Ryoga proceeded to throw one at some trees… or at least he tried to, but his aim was so off, it ended up cutting clean through the hair of a girl who happened to be following them.
“Oh fuck,” Ranma said, staring at Akane in horror.
Ranma quickly hopped past mossy rocks and tree roots, hoping to lose Ryoga, despite the ongoing pursuit. Obviously that was stupid, unless-
He's the guy who always gets lost! Now I remember.
Ranma began making her movement sporadic, until he found a creek close to the backyard of a family home.
He ran back down the path of the creek, hoping to find another clearing to lose Ryoga in.
What he found instead, was a waterfall without any dry rocks, with all the wet ones lacking the friction he'd need to get away from Ryoga.
“I have you cornered Saotome! Prepare to-”
Hoping for a conversation to give him time to either get away, or prepare for a fight with a much larger man as a small girl, Ranma yelled back before Ryoga could finish his sentence. “Wait! What the hell even happened in China, I don’t remember seein’ you!”
“You kicked me straight into the spring of the drowned piglet!”
“Ohhhh so you’re cursed too.”
“You call that a curse!? I’d much prefer to be a girl than a g- I mean a piglet!”
“What were you about to say?”
“Shut up!” Ryoga proceeded to kick Ranma straight in the knee, but on his way down, Ranma tried knocking the taller boy into the creek. Ryoga fell in, and with a splash, a small piglet with a bandana around his neck scampered out of the water, and left for elsewhere.
Ranma laid on the ground that Ryoga had kicked her from. It was a hell of a powerful kick, and she had begun experiencing something she hadn’t experienced since she was ten years old, pain.
“Fuck fuck fuck fu-”
“Ranma!” yelled an out-of-breath feminine voice.
Akane appeared through the trees, finding an opening that Ranma had failed to.
“‘Kane!? Your- Your hair!”
“I- I know,” Akane said, gritting her teeth as to not yell.
“Now everyone's gonna think you're a lesbian!”
“You-! YOU JERK! I came here to SAVE you, and this is how you respond!?”
“Hey I ain't need savin’,” Ranma said, slowly trying to get up, “I'd be just fiiii OWWWW…” Ranma had managed to get themself on their feet, only to immediately feel the pain in their knee and fall over once more.
Akane considered making fun of the injured Ranma, but decided to just pick her up in a princess carry instead as she began walking back from where she came.
“Hey! Whatta doin’!"
“You obviously can’t make it back to the school alone like this! I had no choice!
“But I- I- I’m a man! You can’t-”
“Nobody’s even going to recognize you like this! Jeez…”
“Wh- Whattabout the other school kids!”
“You’re just a girl to them! Jeez, calm down you big idiot!” Akane’s feet crunched a stick or two right as she made it back to the clearing that made up the backyard of Furinkan High School.
“Hey! We made it back! Ya can-”
“I have to take you to the infirmary!”
“Whaddo they know! They ain’t ever seen a martial artist’s recovery time! In fact, I bet I could-” Ranma interrupted herself by jumping out of Akane’s arms, but as they landed on the ground, they could only inhale sharply before falling down on said ground.
Akane looked at Ranma unamusedly. “Do you need help down there? Or is it less embarrassing to crawl to the infirmary?”
“Shut up…”
The live-in fiancés had made it to the infirmary without any more bickering, as after Ranma’s knee gave out on her the second time, a sharp pain began to piss Ranma off much more than being carried like a princess to her destination.
The nurse had inspected Ranma’s leg, and came to the exact conclusion Ranma did not want to hear at that moment.
“Well, it seems as though you’re lucky it isn’t broken… unfortunately if your attacker doesn’t go to Furinkan, then there isn’t much we can do… but I would suggest you rest for a couple days.”
“What! But I-”
“You heard her Ranma,” Akane stated firmly.
Ranma was left pouting on her bed while the nurse thanked Akane for bringing her there. After Akane left, the remaining time they had until Akane picked them up to bring them back to the dojo left them time to ponder the words Ryoga had uttered to her about his curse.
‘He’d rather be me than the pig’, I mean duh, who wouldn’t? But he almost said a different word… one that started with a ‘g.’
He’d much prefer to be a girl than a ‘g’......
There’s no way.
He’s like the most ‘MAN UP!’ guy I know except Pops…
But then that one guy we met in Australia… I wonder if there are people who are the other way around?
Guys that want to be girls… hmmmm… Maybe I should ask someone more knowledgeable about that.
Getting to know other queer people was for the best.
They were desperate people. Give them an inch and they’ll repay you for life.
That’s the main reason Nabiki even stayed ‘after school’ for anything stupid like a GSA. Sure, it wasn’t really a club, and no teacher officially approved such a ‘taboo’ thing, but that just made everything easier for Nabiki.
If there wasn’t a club, then there wasn’t a need for a teacher to report someone like her exploiting her fellow classmates. Even if those classmates just wanted to make out with her in return.
An easy tradeoff for such loyal allies.
Though on days where she had to stay three whole hours after school for all of this, Nabiki had to wonder if any of this was even worth it.
She wouldn’t dwell on it too much, however, because emotions made you weak.
And if there was one thing Nabiki wasn’t, it was weak.
[Oink!!]
What the hell was that!? Nabiki looked above her, noticing that the oink she had heard was not from where you’d actually find a pig.
Above her sat a black piglet wearing a familiar bandanna somehow in a tree.
“What the hell?” Nabiki mumbled.
She was about to walk off and just consider it an odd thing that happened far too frequently in Nerima for ‘odd’ occurrences to actually be odd, but once she turned around, she thought about exactly what she’d seen for a second.
A small black piglet wearing the same bandanna the big oaf she ran into this morning was wearing.
Said big oaf knew about Jusenkyo, the place where people turn into other living… things whenever they touched cold water.
It had rained in the middle of the day.
During the fight that had unfortunately seen itself be taken to the forest before anyone would want to bet on it.
That’s that Ryo kid, isn’t it?
Nabiki, against her own better judgement, began shimmying up a tree.
To save a pig.
What has my life come to?
After grabbing the pig by his bandanna and getting back down from the tree she’d just climbed, her mission would be simple.
Find this idiot hot water.
She kept the piglet in her arms, it made sounds that were probably some attempt at thanks, but Nabiki just ignored them, deciding she wasn’t going to deal with them. Instead, she found her way back to the house she practically co-owned with Kasumi, said her hellos, and took the pig into the bathroom.
She dropped big piggy oaf into the hot water, and just as she suspected, the same musclehead from her morning walk to school appeared in the tub.
“Thank you! Oh my god, I didn’t think I’d-”
“Yeah, whatever, how’d your fight with Ranma go?”
“Um… I said everything you wanted me to say… I kicked her in the knee and I-”
“You WHAT!?”
“...I kicked her… in the knee… cause it was a fight-”
“You listen here, you big oaf,” Nabiki began, getting in Ryoga’s face, “If you actually want to uphold our deal, there will be no injuries to Ranma . Making her stop doing martial arts will just piss her off! Do you have any idea how hard it’ll be to make her want to-”
“The only reason I’m followin’ through with your stupid deal was because I got to beat her up anyways! Besides, I went easy on her, she’s a girl after a-”
Nabiki turned the water heat down in the middle of Ryoga talking, interrupting him and turning him back into a piglet.
“I think I like you better as a stupid little pet than a stupid big human.”
“We’re home!” Kasumi heard from the front door.
“Welcome back!” She replied, turning around, only to find Akane with her petite redheaded girlfr- fiancé in her arms. “Oh my! I didn’t know you two were already so close!”
“We ain’t,” Ranma replied, pouting.
“She just got her knee kicked in and couldn’t stand up, I’m just pitying her.”
“Hey! Also stop callin’ me a girl! I ain’t-”
“Well we should probably get that checked out then, huh?” Kasumi said.
“Yeah.”
“Let’s go to Dr-”
“I already went to a doctor! She said I was-” Ranma started.
“That was a nurse, moron,” Akane interrupted.
“Same thin’! They’re all just quacks anyways! They ain’t understand that…”
Akane and Kasumi began to tune Ranma out while they discussed what to do.
“Should I just check her out? See if she really does need to go to Tofu’s office?”
“Yeah,” Akane said, putting Ranma into Kasumi’s arms.
“Thank you dear, I’m glad you trust me with her.”
“N-Not like I really care about the idiot!”
Ranma’s ears perked up at the insult. “Hey! Stop callin’ me ‘at I ain’t an idiot, tomboy!”
“Get her out of my sight please.”
“Sure thing!”
Despite Akane’s words, she had come to see Ranma in their now shared bedroom while Kasumi checked up on her.
“You seem to be doing fine other than that one small twist, honey, a few days of rest should-”
“I ain’t gonna rest! I got the art to-”
“ Now, dearie ,” Kasumi said with force, “I wouldn’t want you hurting that cute little face of yours~” Ranma blushed beet red.
“Kasumi!” Akane yelled.
“What?”
“Y- y- you can’t just- I- Th- that’s my fiancé you’re talking to!”
“But she’s a girl right now, surely that would matter less to you, right?” Kasumi feigned innocence as she looked back at her sister.
“B- b- but-! I- Whatever!” Akane went back to her schoolwork.
“Y-yes… ma’am,” Ranma replied, being broken out of the shock of being talked down like that.
“Good girl!” Kasumi gave Ranma a pat on the head.
“That's a guy, Kasumi! He'll be fine, I'm sure.”
“Well, yes, she'll be fine…” Kasumi began, ignoring Akane's first exclamation, “Though, it may still be beneficial for her to go see Dr. Tofuu just for a checkup…”
“R-really Kas I ain't-” Ranma began.
“ Dearie. ”
“Ok! I- I'll go…”
“Besides, he's quite knowledgeable on Ki, I'm sure you'll like him much more than the nurse you saw today.”
“Mhm! Yep! Wiiiiiiillll do!”
“Tomorrow, of course.”
“Mhm! Ok!”
With her diagnosis finished, Kasumi left Akane's room knowing full well that Ranma would take likely upwards of a week to recover.
Though, given the kid’s Ki, it was more likely to take just over a few days.
Long enough to damage Ranma's ego.
Kasumi was pleased with herself.
Ranma had been given crutches that Kasumi made sure she used all the way to Dr. Tofuu's clinic. He'd also been told to stay in his girl form in case ‘anything happened’ to injuries when his forms swapped. He was not happy with either, let alone the situation he found himself in.
To him, he shouldn't have even let himself be cornered by Ryoga, and while he had no doubt that he would've won had the pig not ran away, he still felt a sense of shame about getting hit at all.
After all, many years ago, his father taught him very thoroughly how not to get hit, by hitting him over and over.
He'd stopped doing that recently though.
Pops is slackin’ on his own trainin’, clearly!
Either way, Ranma had been sitting down waiting for this ‘Tofuu’ guy to arrive for nearly ten minutes.
He checked around the room a third time in a row.
Behind him was a wall of pamphlets, while the rest of the room was just a few more chairs.
This time, however, out of complete boredom, he picked up a pamphlet entitled “Gender Identity and Sex,” flipping through it mindlessly.
What he found intrigued him to no end.
Wow… Have I really been missing that information my whole life?
…
There's no way, right? This can't possibly mean…
…
No… I can't believe it….
Well……
Maybe it's right.
Ryoga has been a girl without him knowing!
Shocked out of his mind, Ranma made sure to pocket the pamphlet right as he was called in for his checkup.
Next time I see ‘im, I'm gonna blow his mind…
Ranma limped out of the doctor's office. Having had to explain his whole backstory having worn him out, he found a bench nearby to chill before being forced to return to laying on Akane's floor because bed would mean pervert and he not he isn't he not girl caufs he not perv-
“RANMA SAOTOME! PREPARE Toooo…. oh,” Ryoga interrupted before seeing Ranma's crutches. Ryoga took a seat next to Ranma.
“Not gonna fight me?”
“I don't fight the injured.”
“Really? How noble of you,” Ranma huffed.
The two of them sat on the bench in silence for a little while. The serenity of their surroundings being a strange background to their intense staring match.
“Oh! Ryoga, I got a thin’ for ya’,” Ranma said, digging through their pocket.
“If this is some sort of trick, then trust me! I will defend my-” Ranma presented the pamphlet to Ryoga. “Whuzzis?”
“Somethin’ I think you should read over, I gotta go before Kasumi thinks I've somehow died doin’ all’is.”
Ryoga waved Ranma off.
“Wait a minute. Who's Kasumi?” He asked himself, before giving up and opening the pamphlet.
…
Holy shit…
Did Ranma finally figure it out herself!?
I gotta tell that one Nabiki chick! I gotta…
Ryoga stared more intensely at the pamphlet he was reading.
It was starting to get worryingly similar to things Ryoga had experienced.
They started subconsciously asking themself the questions the pamphlet posed them.
Oh shit…
…
Screw findin’ Ranma! I'm goin’ back to Jusenkyo! I wanna be a girl!
Ryoga stood up and began walking down the street, only pausing when she realized she had no idea where she was going
…
She kept walking in random directions, hoping to get herself lost enough that she ended up in Jusenkyo.