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“Here,” Ranma mumbled as he set down the kettle. “I bought you hot water. Oh, and Kasumi packed you some clothes, I didn’t touch them, I swear,” he added as balanced a bundle wrapped in paper with his other hand. On the ground, the white duck flapped her wings excitedly before giving him a look. “Yeah, yeah, I know,” the pigtailed boy sighed, “I’m putting it down and I’ll go wait outside, I won’t peek inside else you’re gonna kill me, I know. Hey!” he yelped as the duck hit his foot with her beak. “What was that for?! You…” he started to say, the words ‘uncute tomboy’ burning his lips before he thought better of it. “Never mind. I’ll be outside when you’re done.”
And with that, he left, making sure to slam the door behind him to show that yes, it was locked, and crossed the road to go sit on a bench further away. He was too far to hear the kettle being knocked over, but close enough to see movement through the garden shack’s small window, where a human-tall figure had suddenly appeared. Reversing his head, Ranma looked at the cloud, silently counting in his head and wondering how long he’d take Akane to change this time. She was becoming faster at it by force of habit, but…
He was up to twenty before the shack’s door finally opened and the short-haired girl slipped out, dressed in cute-looking pink overalls and a striped tee-shirt Ranma couldn’t remember seeing in the laundry before. Probably new clothes. Kasumi always picked nice things for those ‘emergency bundles’, as if she knew that it would help Akane feels better about the… situation.
Ranma said nothing as Akane made her way to the bench, and only moved a bit to the side when she made it clear through glaring she wanted to sit down as well. She flopped down inelegantly, but he felt too tired to tease her about it.
“… that’s the third time today,” the short-haired girl finally said after several minutes of silence. She sounded upset, but it was hard to say if she was angry or just sad. Probably both, knowing her.
“I know,” Ranma answered quietly. “Sorry about that. There are… there are days like that. When it happens, I don’t bother trying to change back.” It happened too often for comfort, too, those days where rain wouldn’t stop, or someone would knock back a bucket full of cold water in his path, or a pipe would burst when he tried to clean his hands, or the old lady would hit him with her water-charged ladle several times in a row.
Akane glared. “Easy for you to do that; at least you’re still human! Are you expecting me to do the same as a duck?”
“Of course not!” Ranma snapped back, annoyed; why did she always have to turn everything into an argument? “I’m just saying there are bad days and we just have to deal with that, me, Pops,…” he almost added Ryoga’s name, but… He was still keeping that one secret under wrap; he had promised, after all.
“Me?” Akane finished instead, laughing self-depressingly. She seemed to curl into herself and Ranma had to fight himself not to reach out and… do what, exactly? Pat her shoulder? She’d punch him in turn, for sure. “I… we can’t keep living like that,” the girl said after a moment. “I know that I…” she hesitated and looked at him, as if she wanted to say something. Excuse herself, maybe? But instead, she just shook her head. “I can’t keep transforming like that all the time. I keep losing clothes left and right, and the people at school…”
“Someone tried to trigger your transformation on purpose again?” Ranma growled, making his fists crack. If one of the boys had tried to ogle Akane when she changed into an human again…
“I took care of it,” Akane replied in a clipped tone, which meant that Ranma’s guess was probably right. “He won’t do it again. And the girls have been pretty supportive. But it’s… I don’t know how much longer I can live with that,” she sighed, looking small and vulnerable as she admitted it.
And Ranma felt for her, truly he did. He became a girl and it was wrong and uncomfortable most of the time, but Akane (and Ryoga too, come to think) was right that he risked a lot less than her, as he was still human when he transformed, at least.
Akane? Akane could get picked up like a pet by someone like that crazy girl Asuza. Or hit by a car. Or caught and put on the menu in a fancy restaurant.
The thought almost made him squirm.
“Your Dad and Nabiki are putting money asides; with any luck, we may be afford a trip to China in the next six months,” Ranma tried to point out helpfully instead, though he had his doubt about it. Not about Mr. Tendo, mind you; it was obvious the man was doing his best to try and find a solution to Akane’s predicament. He had taken to give classes all days long to bring in money and that was kinda cool, to see him so involved when Ranma’s Pops was still an old, useless fat panda about it. Nabiki, though… well, Ranma wouldn’t put it past her to actually be stealing in the ‘Jusenkyo Trip Fund’. He didn’t have any proof, but knowing her…
Wherever Nabiki was stealing or not, though, that didn’t change the fact the fund regularly got emptied to pay for other things. Usually property damages caused by irate challenges, Kuno on a row, Shampoo still refusing to use doors like a normal person,…
Six months was probably a generous estimation, but if it could cheer up Akane… well, that was just a little white lie, and there was nothing wrong with that, was it?
“You really believe so, Ranma?” the girl asked him, looking so hopeful that Ranma gulped.
“O… Of course!” he stammered. “Would that face lie to you?” he pointed at himself.
“All the time,” Akane chuckled, but it wasn’t bitter this time, so it was definitely progress, right? “Let’s get home… Husband,” she said after a moment, rising to her feet.
“Sure… Wife,” Ranma replied, though he gave the sky a worried look as he followed her.
Given how dark the clouds were growing, what were their chances to get back to the Dojo before the incoming rain triggered another transformation?
End