Chapter Text
Akane was laying on the roof of the dojo with her hands clasped behind her head looking at the sky, listening to the sounds of Ranma’s feet hitting the wooden floor and the training dummies, alone with their problems. Like always.
Like freaking always.
It was something that always bothered her about her supposed fiance. Yes, they did make a lot of progress in their relationship. They talked - quite a lot actually - and they’d really started to understand each other much more than before.
Which didn’t mean that when something was seriously wrong Ranma would ever really pull that fucking shoe out from their mouth and actually talk to her about it. It has already been four days of them not changing into their boy form even once with no explanation… It was infuriating.
Almost as much as the fact that Akane wouldn’t actually have noticed this if not for Yuka’s question the other day.
“Hey, Akane,” the long haired brunette started while the three of them were eating lunch on the roof. “What’s going on with Ranma?”
“Huh?” she cocked her head, not really understanding her friend’s question. “Nothing that I know of. Why are you asking?”
“She means that Ranma has been attending school in her girl form for three days straight,” Sayuri said, joining the conversation. “I don’t think I saw her in her guy form once this week, which is rather strange for them, don’t you think?”
“Exactly!” Yuka nodded vigorously at the other brunette. “Ever since her curse went public, Ranma's form was constantly changing, like a few times a day, right? But she’s staying in her girl form constantly for the past few days now… isn’t it weird?”
Akane’s chopsticks stopped in the midair as her friend's words finally started to sink in.
“Well, when you say it like that…”
It’s not like she was intentionally ignoring the fact that Ranma’s form started changing. It’s just that Akane finally stopped carrying about them changing forms. Both of them were Ranma anyway.
Has she really stopped noticing things about them ever since that happened? Or was that because of the failed wedding and the agreement they made? They wanted to wait longer, try to just be friends for now… was that the cause of her not noticing anything?
Akane wasn't sure, but she wasn't going to leave it at that. And so, right after school she cornered Ranma in their house and asked them about it… only to bounce off a wall. That damn reddish-pink haired dummy decided to play it all off as ‘something she had to deal with on her own’ and told her to ‘not worry about it’. Like hell she won’t be worrying about it, they were her fiance for god’s sake!
It’s not like things were really bad. If they were, Ranma would have told her. But it was frustrating that whatever was troubling the redhead, they decided to bottle it up deal with… whatever it was, some sort of gender awakening, another case of their curse being locked or some new scheme, she just didn’t want anyone else to know about it.
And so there she was, laying on the roof of the dojo, wondering how to get through that thick skull of theirs and make them talk to her… but wasn’t really successful in figuring it out. Yet.
The sound of training stopped, making Akane’s whole body tense up. Has Ranma finished their training? She specifically wanted to wait for them to finish, thinking that she would be able to figure out any type of strategy to convince the redhead to talk to her… but she still had nothing. She was daydreaming the whole time!
She clicked her tongue in frustration and was about to jump down and try to improvise something, but the sound of the door sliding open made her whole body freeze. Someone else walked in on Ranma before her.
Maybe I won’t need to improvise anything after all?
“W-what are you talking about, Ma?”
Nodoka watched her child’s eyes tremble, trying not to look to the side, clearly hiding something.
“Your curse, Ranma,” she said gently, cocking her head. “You haven’t changed into a boy in four days. I think it’s reasonable for me to think that there's something wrong with it, don’t you think?”
She was watching her child going through the motions for the past few days, constantly lost in thought, distracted while alone and skittish whenever they noticed her. And always sporting this reddish-pink hair with no trace of the black haired boy in sight.
It was clear to everyone that something was obviously wrong.
“The Tendos told me about the other times your curse was locked, Ranma. I’m not mad at you, really. I just want to know what is going on so that I, or rather we can help you.”
“N-no-, n-nothing is wrong with it, Mom, I swear.” Ranma doubled down, but their eyes finally gave up and looked down onto the wooden floor. “It’s just… I-”
Nodoka sighs, feeling once again a quick but intense pain in her chest at the sight of her own child being so defensive and scared of her. Her lips formed a single line for just a second as she decided with all of her determination that this was it. She grabbed Ranma’s chin and gently pulled it up, forcing the smaller redhead to look up at her mother once more.
“Ranma, listen to me,” she started, having a really hard time maintaining her calm demeanor while looking into those anxious, reddish-pink doe eyes of her child. “I know that I wasn’t… the best parent to you. I screwed it up, I admit that. I made you hide who you truly are and as much as I want to say that you didn’t need to do it and that I would have accepted you the way you were back then… I can’t do that, and I’m sorry.”
She bit her lip, feeling nervous and absolutely defeated thinking about the whole thing. No one wants to admit to their kids that they were the one in the wrong, but this was probably the only time she would have the opportunity to reach out to Ranma and actually reach them. She let go of her child, feeling her hands curling into fists and her own face frowning while thinking back to those dark, absolutely miserable years of her life spent alone in their family home.
“I just… I was so lonely when you and your father were gone. Back then, when he took you on that training journey I was much younger, much more… naive and dead set on following our traditional values.” she said, with a short, empty chuckle. “Over ten years of being away from your family in the name of tradition… let's say that I didn’t really take that well. And when the two of you finally came back… I just… I guess I didn’t want all those years of us being apart to be for nothing. Why was I deprived of the privilege of seeing you growing up if…”
…if all of it was stupid and meaningless in the first place, she finished in her head, not wanting to undermine everything that Ranma went through through all those years. It was clear that - even if far away from Nodoka - her child grew up to be a great martial artist and a really remarkable person. The very idea that she was blind to all of this and was only fixating on that damned ‘masculine’ aspect of Ranma made her feel incredibly stupid and embarrassed.
But most of all, she felt sorry that her own flesh and blood was so afraid of her that they needed to hide themselves from her.
“It took me some time to see that my actions were doing nothing other than tearing our family apart… forcing you to hide who you are and lie to me. I’m really sorry that I forced you to do that.”
It was her turn to look down. She shut her eyes, not even thinking of looking at her child’s face, knowing that the words she was just saying should have been said much, much sooner. She cursed Genma in her mind for making everything worse for her and Ranma. If only he just found her and talked to her beforehand, maybe everything wouldn’t get so twisted and screw up the way it did… maybe all of this could have been avoided.
She was an accomplice in all of this though, and she knew she needed to own it. That was probably the only way to win her child’s trust back. This was what everything right here was about. Everything that mattered.
“Ranma, It doesn’t matter what body you have or which gender you actually want to be,” she said quietly, her voice filled with guilt. “I just want you to know that I love you, and I want you to be happy. It took me some time to realize this, but… it’s true. You can trust me, I promise. I…”
The rest of her words escaped her and her eyes flew open when she felt two arms wrapping around her midsection. Nodoka watched wide eyed as Ranma hugged her, uncertain at first then much more decisively, desperately, hiding their head in her kimono.
“M-mom, I-I… I’m sorry,” her child’s voice was muffled, quiet and more vulnerable than she’d ever heard. “I-, I just didn’t… I didn’t want to lie, really. I-... I just didn’t want to disappoint you… a-and…”
At that moment Nodoka’s body moved on its own, hugging the smaller redhead’s back, as if she wanted to shield her child's trembling body from the rest of the world.
“Shhhhh, sweetie, it’s alright,” she said, gently stroking Ranma’s reddish-pink hair. “You didn’t disappoint me in any way, really. Everything’s gonna be alright, I promise you.”
It was probably the first time - not counting the time when they were pretending to be Ranko - that Nodoka was able to embrace Ranma like this, and the first time that the Saotome Matriarch saw her child this small and vulnerable. She’d never really comforted them like this and - for the first time since… she wasn’t even sure how long - she actually felt like a true mother. There was this warm and fuzzy sensation that was spreading through her whole body when she realized that both of them were finally hugging each other without any real constraints. Just a mother and her child in each other’s embrace.
Both of them stay like that for some time, content with each other’s presence even after Ranma finally calmed down. Nodoka felt a deep, profound sense of happiness and accomplishment with her child’s relaxed body in her arms. For her that moment was like a dream come true.
Even so, as much as she would rather stay like that much longer, there was still a matter of Ranma’s current appearance. She let her arms slump a little, before she moved away slightly from the redhead and looked down at her expectantly.
“So… about your curse…?”
She watched several different emotions go through Ranma’s face within a second before her child finally let out a huge, long sigh.
“Y-yeah, it’s locked.” They finally admitted, sounding more tired than frustrated while doing so. “I don’t… I’m not really sure how it was locked though. I was trying to figure it out on my own but haven’t had any luck so far.”
Just as I thought, Nodoka sighs too before shaking her head.
“And you really didn’t think of asking anyone for help? Even Akane?”
Ranma’s eyes grew wide for a second. It was just a moment, and their face quickly went back to normal, but she caught a glimpse of it, a strange look of guilt and uncertainty. Whatever the reason was, it was clear that there was more to it that she thought it would be.
“N-no I… t-there’s a reason why…” Ranma stummered, before deflating and looking down at her feet again. “Can we drop it, Ma? Please?”
Nodoka looked at the smaller redhead for a long while. As much as she was upset with Genma for hiding the engagement with the Tendos from her, it didn’t change the fact that Akane was Ranma’s fiance for a year now. Hiding things from the person that you will one day marry wasn’t something that she would have approved, but…
…she already achieved more than she thought was possible right now and she didn’t want to spoil it by grilled them more about this topic, especially when it was clear that it seemed to be a delicate matter.
She had no other choice but to let it go. For now.
“Alright, have it your way.” Nodoka relented, patting her child on the head. “But that’s enough with this ‘I'll figure it out on my own’ nonsense.”
“Do you know anyone who could help us figure out what’s wrong with your curse?”
Ranma visibly relaxed at the news that they won’t need to explain themselves further and nodded a few times.
“I think that Dr. Tofu may be able to help. He knows about my curse and has helped a lot in the past. He’s really good at his job.”
Nodoka wasn’t sure if she should be glad that Ranma actually knew someone who potentially could help with their curse or be exasperated that they didn’t go to that doctor right after learning that their curse is locked.
“Very well, then,” she nodded, peeling a strand of wet hair from Ranma’s neck. “We will visit him… after you make yourself a little bit more presentable,” she sent her kid an amused smile. “Now off you go into the furo, girl. I won't let my daughter walk around town all sweaty like that.”
“D-daughter?!” Ranma’s eyes seemed to almost pop out from their sockets. Nodoka giggled at the sight of her child’s face.
“I told you, didn’t I?” She said with an amused grin. “It doesn’t matter which body you have. Buuut as long as you are a girl I expect you to at least try to be a little bit more… presentable. I won’t allow my ‘daughter’ to go out of the house looking and smelling like some waif.” she added, stepping back and pointing to the door. “Now off you go.”
Ranma looked at her for a long moment before just nodding and running towards the main house of the Tendo Dojo. Nodoka watched them go, only letting herself exhale when she was sure her child was out of earshot. She could feel her legs wobbling a little as she finally let go of all the stress. She felt strange, tired and restless at the same time. But more than anything she actually felt… happy.
“That went… much better than expected,” she told herself as the big stupid grin suddenly appeared on her face.
“Now, let’s hope this Dr. Tofu will be able to help Ranma with h-, with their curse. Kami knows that my child really could use a break…”
“Alright, we’re here Auntie Nodoka,” said Akane walking a few steps ahead of the two redheads. “Come to think of it, we haven't visited Dr. Tofu in quite a while, I wonder how he’s been all this time…”
Ranma begrudgingly nodded, giving his fiance a side eye, still too anxious and irritated to make a direct eye contact.
She was in a really great mood for a moment. The talk with her mother, one that she was dreading unlike anything before turned out to be so unexpected and incredible she just couldn’t help but start crying right there in the middle of the dojo… while being held by her mom with nothing but love and care. She just couldn’t believe it.
And then soon after Akane shows up, saying that ‘she just walked near the dojo and heard that you will be going to Dr. Tofu’s. Walking near the dojo my ass, she was probably eavesdropping the whole time, she thought, more embarrassed than angry.
Akane was Ranma’s fiance. Even if they decided to be friends for now, it didn’t change the fact that both of them cared for each other, it was clear that she was just concerned about the redhead and wanted to know what’s going on with her and her curse, that wasn’t the problem.
The problem was that she didn’t want anyone to witness her and her mother at the moment. It was just too personal, too… vulnerable for Ranma to share it with anyone else. It was very hard to have a really private moment in the Tendo Dojo but this was one of those moments that she wanted to be just for them - private. Only for her and her mom.
Akane ‘walking in’ on it was rude and mildly irritating, but she guessed that she kind of deserved that.
She was keeping that night a secret from her fiance after all.
“Ranma, are you coming?” Her mother brings her back from her musing. The redhead blinked a few times realizing that she’d just stopped walking for a moment. She shook her head and once again joined her mother's side before walking into the clinic.
She couldn’t help but smile a little, noticing how close she was standing next to her mom. She still didn’t trust her fully - she wasn’t sure when or even if she ever will - but the fact that she was able to be so close to her and not feel the need to project as much boyish behavior as possible to make sure that she won’t question her masculinity was a great relief. She wished that they could stay like that, no matter what. It would be very nice to have a mom that wouldn’t require walking on eggshells around her.
She could only hope.
The interior of the clinic was just as clean and empty as always. Ranma couldn’t help but wonder how this place was even able to keep running with such a small number of patients other than the usual - mostly older - residents of Nerima. Just one more mystery that she wasn’t really interested in solving at the moment.
“Hello, Dr. Tofu!” Akane welcomed the good doctor who was casually sitting in the reception area reviewing a rather thick stack of papers.
He looked up at the sound of the entering patients and smiled at them with his usual, professional demeanor.
“Hello Akane, Ranma,” he said, nodding at the two of them before switching his attention to the other redhead. “I don’t think we’ve met, I’m Ono Tofu and this is my clinic. Nice to meet you Mrs…?”
“Nodoka, Nodoka Saotome, I am Ranma’s mother,” she said before bowing towards the doctor. “I heard that you helped my child numerous times in the past. I would like to express my gratitude in the name of our family.”
Ranma and Akane were trying really hard to stifle a chuckle, seeing as Dr. Tofu immediately went flustered seeing the older redhead bowing to him. He immediately stood up and urged the Saotome Matriarch to raise her head.
“There’s nothing to be thankful for, I was just doing my job,” he said, scratching the back of his head looking really embarrassed. He then switches his attention once more - but this time rather desperately - towards the two younger girls. “I have a feeling that you didn’t come here just for that, am I right? Did something happen?”
Her previous amused smile disappeared in an instant under the man’s eyes. Just for a moment, Ranma was able to forget about her problems, about why she was even here in the first place… but now all of it came back to her, making her grimace.
She steals a glance at Akane, still pretty sure that she was eavesdropping the whole time in the dojo, but not having any proof.
“You could say that, Dr. Tofu. My curse was locked…, she sighs, feeling defeated and anxious. “...again. Not sure why though. I thought that maybe you could do a check up? See if something’s not right?”
The relief on Tofu’s face was palpable, he must have been really embarrassed by Ranma’s mother for some reason.
“I can certainly do that, I would want you to remember though as always that magic curses aren’t really my speciality and I can miss something during the examination.”
Ranma didn’t mind one bit, as long as Dr. Tofu won’t ask her any questions that could make her think back to that night with-
She quickly strangled the thought and straightened her back with a smile.
“Doesn’t matter doc, I trust you.”
Ono smiled back at her and nodded.
“Alright then, let’s see what we can do.”
They followed him to his office, where Ranma underwent a series of tests she was already familiar with. Once inside she followed Dr. Tofu’s instructions: sit here, stand there, cover one eye and read letters out loud, hold your arm like that, stand on the scale, breathe deep. Most of those tests were rather useless, but Ranma told herself that she didn’t really give him any leads so he probably decided to go through with a full general examination.
The redhead didn’t complain and just went through the motions, she even was able to sort of relax a bit. Dr. Tofu was very professional during the exam, calm, collected and sharp, the total opposite of the clumsy and sometimes rather silly demeanor he had whenever he wasn’t treating a patient… or stood near Kasumi.
The only thing that was sort of distracting and unnerving about all of this was her mother and Akane who not only followed Ranma into the doctor's office but were actively observing every move she or Ono made during all of it.
She thanked the Kami that she wasn’t asked to remove her shirt. Her mom said that she didn’t care about her body but she wasn’t sure what she would say if she learned that she wasn’t wearing a bra and she wasn’t keen to find out… especially not here.
“Well, nothing seems to be wrong with you Ranma,” Dr. Tofu said after a while, his face glued into his own notes. “Your body temperature is slightly higher than normal, but not much. If not for your curse, I would say that you have the body of a perfectly healthy girl, there’s nothing wrong on that front.”
Ranma shot a glance at her mother, still rather skittish about being called a ‘girl’ with her present, but she seemed to be more relieved than displeased at the moment.
“Now let’s see if we can see anything abnormal about other things, shall we?” Ranma’s attention was back at Dr. Tofu as his hands gently touched her own before prompting her to close her eyes and relax a bit.
Ranma kind of regretted not putting as much effort into ki techniques as into regular martial arts techniques. There were so many applications of this, like Ryoga’s hardening technique or… whatever was Ono doing to her right now.
The only thing she could feel was this strange feeling of warmth and… presence? moving slowly underneath her skin. It was very weird and kind of itchy, making her want to move away but the warm sensation that was accompanying it was easing it enough for her to keep sitting still. She wished she knew how to do that, then she could probably do more with her own body than see the balance between her yin and yang ki…
The redhead pondered if she should ask Dr. Tofu to teach her how to do it herself when suddenly his presence abruptly retreated from her body, making her wince.
Ranma opened her eyes to see a glimpse of bewilderment on the man’s face, but a fraction of a second later that expression was gone, replaced by his usual, calm and professional demeanor.
“Honestly, I’m not sure,” he said, scratching himself on the back of his head. “Because of your curse the balance of your ki is shifting and I couldn’t get a good hold on it, but…”
Dr. Tofu was silent for a few moments, frozen with his hand touching his chin, lost in his own thoughts as if he was all alone in his office, before he blinked and looked into the redhead’s eyes once again.
“Ok Ranma, let’s do it this way,” he said, clasping his hands together. “I don’t want to make any unnecessary conclusions just yet, but let’s meet again in two weeks,” he paused for just a moment before continuing. “If your curse is still locked I will do another check-up and then - if I’m right - I’ll have more news for you. For now though, I guess you just need to be patient.”
Ranma looked at Dr. Tofu with a mixture of disappointment and exasperation. She hated when someone clearly knew something but decided to keep it to themselves, especially when it concerned her personally… and right after she caught him making a strange face right after reading her ki.
Not even talking about being stuck as a girl for another two weeks and coming back here for just another check-up. What exactly would he be able to tell her after two weeks he wouldn’t be able to see now? She didn’t get it.
“Sooo, you think you know what’s wrong but you won’t tell me because…?”
“Because I could be wrong,” he said, spreading his hands with a shrug. “It’s quite common in healthcare, that’s why we sometimes wait or do more tests… it’s not a good thing to just tell the patients what we think before making sure that we’re right,” he patted the redhead on her shoulder. “Trust me Ranma, if I was one hundred percent sure what’s wrong with you, I would tell you about it.”
Ranma looked sceptically at the doctor’s face. That does make sense but even so she wasn’t happy about it…
…or if her mom was.
“Well… ok, I guess-,” she said, stealing another glance at the older redhead, but again, she wasn’t even looking at Ranma. She seems to be lost in thoughts instead. “I guess I can wait.”
“Dr. Tofu is right, Ranma, you just have to suck it up,” Akane said, crossing her arms under her chest. “It’s not like you were running around trying to get your curse work again anyway,” she added with an amused half-smile.
Ranma shoots his fiance a nasty glare.
Ono nodded at the redhead with a short chuckle.
“As I said, when it comes to your health, it’s better to be safe than sorry. No matter what the… problem is.”
The redhead could only sigh at that, she didn’t really have a choice. It was this or going to Cologne and that… she really didn’t want to go to that Old Ghoule right now. She was just too good at reading Ranma and too nosy to not pry into her business.
“Thank you very much for your time, Dr. Tofu,” her mother said, bowing once again towards the man. “I really appreciate what you do for Ranma.”
Ono looked up at the older redhead, looking much calmer than the last time. He smiled and nodded respectfully.
“My pleasure. I really wish I could be of more help than that…”
Yeah, you and me both, Ranma thought, still feeling a little bit irritated by Dr. Tofu’s secrecy. Even so, she didn’t argue, not wanting to upset her mother who clearly was very happy with the man’s work.
And so she kept her mouth shut about it, bowing gratefully at the doctor and followed after her mom out of the clinic and back to the Tendo Dojo, bracing herself for another two weeks of uselessly trying to figure out how to get her curse running again and probably be teased into oblivion about it once the whole house knew that she was stuck this way.
Man, this sucks…
Hmm, this’s actually pretty good.
The girl was munching on a grilled squid while her legs were dangling from the rooftop of the Tendo Dojo.
“Do you think the doctor noticed?” She asked, glancing at the black blob that finally showed himself next to her.
Her familiar’s form shivered a little before he finally took the form of a bird-like creature and plopped right next to her on the roof.
“I believe so, I was watching from the window and I’m pretty sure he noticed.”
“You’d better be right about that,” she pouted, taking a massive bite of her squid. “It’s been four days already and I’m bored as hell. I shouldn’t have given you an opportunity to come up with a plan this time, Crow. You really-”
The rest of her sentence died out when both of them noticed three women - two redheads and one with black hair - walking through the gate of the Tendo Dojo.
It didn’t take long before they could hear rather loud voices coming from inside.
“How did it go, Boy? Did you find a way to turn back or should I start looking for a husband for you?”
“What the hell was that supposed to mean, Old Man?!”
“I think he was wondering if you finally decided to drop the ‘man among men’ act and joined the other side, Saotome.”
“Like hell I did! How did you even come up with this?”
“Well, your secret closet is starting to get pretty full now, isn’t it?”
“Ranma dear, what is Nabiki-chan talking about?”
She took another bite of her snack and grinned, finally somewhat satisfied.
She wasn’t sure if letting Crow choose a strategy this time was really a good idea. She wanted to see something new, but she really wasn’t sold on the idea of the familiar coming up with something not just new and interesting but something that actually had a chance to work…
…and apparently it actually started working.
“Ok, maybe I’ve been a little too quick to judge,” she shrugged, finishing her meal and starting to get up, stretching out her back with a satisfied groan. “It’s finally starting to be a little entertaining. But don’t you think we should spice things up a bit now? I think I have a pretty funny idea of where to start…”